J. R. Sipes stated last night to R. Doane and F. Remy that I was
an abolitionist, for the purpose of injuring my character. As I
never cast any other than a Democratic vote or expressed other
than Democratic sentiments, I denounce these three above-named
persons as wilful and malicious lying scoundrels. Sipes and
Morton owe me borrowed money for the last two years. I would
like to have a settlement. I never asked any one to vote for me
as surveyor and I now withdraw my name as a candidate, and will
not serve if elected.
A. MILLS.
EL PASO, TEXAS.
2 O'Clock, P.M., August 6, 1860.
The men I denounced tacked their reply on the same tree, as follows:
_Notice_
A certain contemptible "pup," signing himself A. Mills, having
publicly published the undersigned as scoundrels, we have only
to say that he is so notoriously known throughout the entire
county as a damned black Republican scoundrel, we deem him
unworthy of further notice.
However, we hereby notify this fellow that his insignificance
shall not protect him in future.
W. J. MORTON,
J. R. SIPES,
JOHN S. GILLETT.
Then, I received this letter:
EL PASO, TEXAS,
August 7, 1860.
MR. MILLS:
SIR: I have noticed my name in connection with two
others denouncing us publicly as malicious, lying scoundrels.
For my part, I now ask of you an immediate retraction of the
same, and as publicly as your accusation.
JOHN S. GILLETT.
Gillett, a wealthy wholesale merchant, had fought a duel with an army
officer. As I paid no attention to his implied challenge, he sent word
he would attack me on sight. I always went armed, and though we often
met, he never carried out his threat. After the war he became a common
drunkard, very poor, living with a Mexican woman. I often met him, and
he frequently asked me for a quarter (which I gave him), stating that
he was hungry. What horrible miseries war brings about. He wanted to
be an honorable man.
In my address before the Society of the Army of the Cumberland
(Appendix 390) will be found a statement of some of the reasons which
led to political unrest in Texas, and particularly why vigilance
committees were formed in many counties. Many people were lynched;
principally Germans--especially at New Braunfels and vicinity--who
voted against secession or denounced the principle.
I was ordered before the vigilance committee of El Paso County by the
sheriff, John Watts. I told him no one man could take me, and I knew
that he was not coward enough to bring a posse. He said: "Mills, I'll
never come for you." And he never did.
I was notified by this same committee that the vote of the county must
be unanimous for secession, and that I would imperil my life if I
voted against it.
Phil Herbert, a violent secessionist and a personal friend of mine,
came to my house on election day and said, "Mills, are you going to
vote?" I said that I was. "Well," he said, "I know how you are going
to vote. I am going to vote for secession, but I would like to go with
you. If there is trouble, I will defend you." He had a pistol and
advised me to carry one, and we went together to the polling place.
This was in a large gambling house, in which was Ben Dowell's post
office. The judge of the election was Judge Gillock, recently from
Connecticut, a violent secessionist.
Herbert and I entered, arm in arm, and Herbert first presented his
ballot, which Gillock received and cast into the ballot box near
the door. I drew from my pocket a sheet of foolscap paper on which
was written, "No separation--Anson Mills," in large letters, and,
unfolding it, I held it up to the sight of half a dozen army officers
and others playing billiards, faro and other gambling games, saying,
"Gentlemen, some of you may be curious to know how I am going to vote.
This is my ballot." Gillock refused to receive it, but Herbert said,
peremptorily, "That is a legal vote. Place it in the box." And Gillock
did so. We left the room unmolested.
My vote was one of the two cast against secession in El Paso County,
when there were over nine hundred cast for secession. Some were legal,
but the majority, cast by Mexican citizens from the other side of the
river, were not.
My friends, particularly Herbert, felt it would be foolhardy to remain
longer. Herbert went to Richmond, joined the Confederacy, and was
killed in the Battle of Mansfield, La., at the head of his regiment.
I decided to go to Washington and join the Federal forces. The evening
before I left, Colonel Reeve, commanding Fort Bliss, invited me to
dinner with his adjutant, my classmate, Will Jones. During the dinner,
Colonel Reeve remarked that he did not want to obey Twiggs' order to
surrender to the Texans (text, 71) because he had large government
stores, which would be of great value in case of war to either the
government or the Confederates. Therefore, he wanted me to see the
Secretary of War, and explain the circumstances, and get him verbal
or written authority to take his command and this property into New
Mexico.
When I finally arrived in Washington, I explained the situation to
Judge Watts, who went with me to Secretary Cameron and delivered
Reeves's message. I agreed to take back to El Paso any verbal message
that the Secretary would entrust to me, but Mr. Cameron was so
uncertain as to what might happen that he refused, saying that Colonel
Reeve must act on his own judgment.
I had been prosperous and was well-to-do. But now men who owed me
refused to pay, and all I owed demanded immediate payment. It was all
I could do to raise money enough to take me to Washington. The baggage
allowance was but forty pounds, so I left everything I had to the
mercy of my political enemies. I did not dream that it would be twenty
years before I again saw El Paso.
IN WASHINGTON
We left in the coach on the 9th of March, 1861. I was one of eight
passengers. Some were going to Richmond and some to Washington, but we
agreed, as this was expected to be the last coach to go through, to
stand by each other and declare we were all going on business.
The secessionists had organized several companies of State troops
commanded by the McCullough brothers and others, with instructions
from the bogus legislature commission to take over the military
posts and property according to General Twiggs' treaty (text, 71).
We met part of this force, under the younger McCullough, near Fort
Chadbourne, and we were all excitement to know what they would do, as
it was rumored they would seize the mail company horses for cavalry.
Marching in columns of two, they separated, one column to the right
and the other to the left of the stage coach.
We told the driver to drive fast and to say he was carrying United
States mail. The soldiers laughed at this, and four of them, taking
hold of the right-hand wheels and four of the left, the driver could
not, with the greatest whipping, induce the horses to proceed. They
laughed again, and called out: "Is Horace Greeley aboard?"
Horace Greeley had been lecturing in California, and had announced his
return by the Butterfield route. The soldiers were familiar with his
picture and, after examining us, allowed us to proceed.
When we reached Denton, the county seat of Denton County, my old
friend Judge Waddell was holding court, and while the rest of
the party ate breakfast, I went to the courthouse. Judge Waddell
recognized me, adjourned the court and, taking my arm, walked out in
the courtyard. We were in full sympathy. He was a thorough Union man
and knew I would be glad to know the flag was still flying over the
McKinney courthouse. This was about the 13th of March. He was proud
that I was to join the Union Army, and said that if he was without a
family he would also go.
We arrived at the town of California, terminus of the Missouri &
Pacific Railroad, in a snowstorm. We had had but little sleep and
little to eat for several days. While waiting for the train for St.
Louis, I went to sleep in a chair so soundly my companions could not
waken me in time to catch the train. The hotel proprietor had me put
to bed. I did not waken until the next morning. I arrived at St. Louis
Sunday, found that there was no train out and, having a classmate
stationed at the arsenal, Lieutenant Borland, I decided to visit him.
I did not know that General Lyon had just captured General Frost and
the Missouri troops forming for the Confederacy in a camp outside
the city. There was a great crowd standing around the arsenal with a
sentinel outside the gate. I pressed my way through the crowd and told
the sentinel I desired to visit Lieutenant Borland. The sentinel would
not let me pass, but called the sergeant. The sergeant asked me where
I was from. When I answered, "From Texas," he said I could not enter.
Just then Captain Lyon, later General Lyon, came out. In a rough
manner he asked me where I was from and what I wanted. When I told him
I was simply passing through the city, he said, "Well, you had better
go back to your hotel, or I will put you in the guard house." I took
his advice.
Monday, I left for Washington _via_ Thorntown and Cincinnati. Telling
my father of my purpose, he called a neighbor, Harvey G. Hazelrigg.
"Well, Anson," said Hazelrigg, "my brother-in-law, Caleb B. Smith, is
Secretary of the Interior. I will give you a letter to him."
At Cincinnati I saw Lieutenant Jones' father and mother and gave them
the messages he did not want to pass through the mail; in effect,
that he would be loyal to his country, and that if ordered to fire on
Cincinnati by the Federal Government, under his oath he would execute
the order.
In Washington I found two captains in the Adjutant General's office,
Fry and Baird, one of whom had been adjutant at the military academy,
and the other my instructor when I was a cadet. I told them of my
desire for a commission, and asked them from what State I should
apply. They advised me not to apply from Texas, nor from Pennsylvania,
which would have several times its quota, as the Secretary of War was
from that State. Eventually, I applied from New Mexico.
Charlie Hazlett, of my class, from Zanesville, Ohio, later killed
while commanding a battery at Gettysburg, had been turned back to
the class below. I wrote him, asking if he could help me. Calling
a meeting of the class, he read my letter, and every member signed
the following recommendation, except four, who were to join the
Confederacy, and who sent an apology to me, stating that they did not
think it would be proper for them to sign:
UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY,
WEST POINT, N. Y.,
April 30, 1861.
LORENZO THOMAS, Adjutant General,
Washington, D. C.
DEAR SIR: We, the undersigned, members of the First
Class at the United States Military Academy, respectfully
recommend to your favorable consideration the claims of Mr.
Anson Mills, an applicant for a commission as Second Lieutenant
in the United States Army.
Mr. Mills was formerly a member, for nearly two years, of the
class preceding ours, when he resigned.
During that time his habits and character conformed to the
strictest military propriety and discipline, and we feel assured
that he would be an honor to the service and that its interests
would be promoted by his appointment.
Respectfully submitted.
Hazlett suggested I see General Scott and prevent the four cadets
above mentioned from getting their diplomas. Captain Townsend
introduced me to the General. When he read Hazlett's letter, he
said those four cadets should not receive their diplomas until they
had taken the oath. They never did graduate, and all four joined the
rebellion.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN CHARLES E. HAZLETT.]
A few days afterward, this class was prematurely graduated and
ordered to report to General Scott. They started in their cadet
uniforms, wearing their swords. In New York the police took them for
Confederates, and in Philadelphia the whole class was arrested and
detained all night, until the police got authority from Washington to
let them proceed.
Upon arrival at Washington, they reported to General Scott, who asked
them if they had all recently taken the oath. They replied that
they had and he, in the vernacular of the bibulous, said, "Well,
gentlemen, it is a good thing to take. I don't mind taking it every
morning before breakfast." He invited one of them to administer it to
him, and then, asking them in a body to raise their right hands, he
administered the oath to the whole class.
MY BROTHERS IN TEXAS
One of my first acts in Washington was to call on Secretary of the
Interior Smith. There were three or four gentlemen present, two being
members of the Cabinet, one of whom was Montgomery Blair, a graduate
of the academy.
I presented my letter. Mr. Smith read it, and in a violent rage,
said: "Well, so you are from Texas? Do you know what I wish? I wish
the Indians would come down on the people of Texas and murder the
men, women and children. They have received more consideration from
this government than any other State in the Union, and now they have
betrayed it."
I left the room, indignant, after addressing some plain remarks to Mr.
Smith.
The next day I met Mr. Blair, while walking.
"Mr. Mills," he said, "for heaven's sake don't repeat what happened
at Mr. Smith's last night, lest it get into the papers. Don't be
discouraged. Your experience at West Point will doubtless enable you
to get into the army."
I had heard nothing from my brothers, W. W. in El Paso, and Emmett on
the ranch, but some time after I received my commission and had left
Washington I saw in a New Orleans paper that W. W. had been taken
prisoner at Lynde's surrender, and that Emmett, in trying to escape
to California, had been murdered by the Indians, July 21st, at Cook
Springs, Arizona. All the passengers and the stage driver were killed
after a two days' siege in the rocks above the springs, and their
bodies had been found by the California column of troops going to El
Paso. Immediately I wrote to Mr. Smith, as follows:
TOLEDO, OHIO,
Oct. 7, 1861.
CALEB B. SMITH,
Secretary Interior.
SIR: I am sorry to acknowledge that your "hope and prayer,"
as expressed to me at your residence in April last--"that the
Mexicans and Indians would come down on the Texans and murder
the men and children and ravish the women," has been partially
heard. One of my two brothers (whom I left in Texas last March
and who, not being able to procure means to carry them to the
States, were compelled to go to Southern New Mexico for Union
sentiments, where they joined the 1st Regt. N. M. Vols.), was
brutally murdered by the Apache Indians, on the 21st of July at
Cook Springs. The other was taken prisoner at Lynde's surrender.
I think too much of our cause to speak publicly of these matters
at present, and only write you this note to remind you that I
shall one day hold you personally responsible for the above
language.
Very respectfully,
ANSON MILLS, 1st Lt., 18th Inf.
To this I received the following answer:
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
October 14, 1861.
LT. ANSON MILLS,
SIR: I am in receipt of your letter of the 7th inst.,
referring to a conversation which you allege occurred at my
house in April last. I have no distinct recollection of the
conversation to which you refer, but I know that I felt much
indignation toward the rebels and traitors of Texas, who not
only repudiated the authority of the Federal Government, but
expelled from the State the friends of the Union. I thought
there was less excuse for them than the rebels of the other
States, because they were indebted to the Federal Government
for protection against the Mexicans and Indians. In expressing
my indignation against their conduct I may have expressed the
hope that the Mexicans and Indians would attack them. I intended
to express only the wish that they might be made to feel the
value of the protection they had forfeited. I certainly did not
suppose that my language could be construed to imply a wish that
the Union men who had been expelled from their homes by these
rebels should suffer from such agencies.
I regret very much to hear of the misfortunes which have
befallen your brothers and which add to the long catalogue of
evils which have resulted from this most unnatural rebellion.
For the last five months I have been urging the War Department
to send troops to New Mexico to protect the loyal people of
that territory and keep the Indians in proper subjugation. If
my urgent request upon this subject had been complied with,
the disaster which has befallen your brothers would not have
occurred.
Very respectfully,
CALEB B. SMITH.
I learned later that the newspaper was incorrect and that my brother
W. W. was unlawfully seized by the Texans in Mexico as a spy.
Smith soon afterward left the Cabinet.
I learned later of the events which led to my brother's death. The
Texan Rangers, under the McCulloughs and Colonel Baylor, were rapidly
receiving the surrenders stipulated in the treaty between Twiggs
and the Texas commissioners. My brother, W. W., much persecuted and
threatened, wrote to Judge Watts of the disloyalty of Captain Lane and
several other officers at Forts Bliss and Fillmore. Then he went to
Santa Fe to confer with Colonel Canby, in command of the Department
of New Mexico, to explain the large quantities of government stores
at Fort Bliss, and the danger that they might fall into the hands
of the rebels. Colonel Canby had already sent Major Lynde with
reinforcements aggregating seven hundred and fifty men to Fort
Fillmore, directing Lynde to relieve Lane. Canby sent my brother to
Fort Fillmore to report to Major Lynde with dispatches.
Lynde was reluctant to believe many of his officers either disloyal
or in sympathy with those who were. My brother found that his letter
addressed to Judge Watts had been made public and both the loyal and
disloyal officers were angry, and treated him with much discourtesy.
Baylor had arrived in El Paso and received the surrender of Colonel
Reeve's command, with all his stores and property, and Reeve and his
troops had started on their march to San Antonio as prisoners. My
brother urged Lynde to retake Fort Bliss and the government property
with his seven hundred and fifty men, as Baylor was reported to have
only three hundred men, poorly armed and equipped. Lynde hesitated,
fearing Baylor's force was too large, but promised my brother if he
would go down to Paso del Norte on the Mexican side of the river and
ascertain positively that the strength of Baylor's command was no
larger than three hundred men, he would retake the place.
My brother traveled forty miles to Paso del Norte in Mexico at night,
where a mounted force from Baylor's command arrested him in this
neutral territory. Charged with being a spy, he was placed in irons
in the Bliss guard house and a court was being organized for his
trial and execution. Hearing of his arrest, Canby arrested General
Pelham, U. S. Surveyor General of New Mexico, who had resigned and
was proceeding to join the rebels. Canby then sent a flag of truce
to Baylor, stating that he would execute Pelham on the execution of
my brother. Baylor removed the irons from my brother, gave him the
liberty of the post, and he finally escaped and joined Canby, who
was marching with troops from New Mexico toward El Paso. He was made
lieutenant in the New Mexican Volunteers, and appointed on Colonel
Roberts' staff.
Meanwhile, Baylor, with less than three hundred poorly equipped
Texans, had moved on Lynde's seven hundred and fifty regulars, but
such was their demoralization that these Texans captured bodily every
man and all the supplies during Lynde's attempt to escape into New
Mexico.
General Sibley organized a force of about thirty-five hundred Texans,
to take the Territory of New Mexico, and reinforced Baylor, to
march on Fort Craig. Canby organized two New Mexican regiments, one
under Kit Carson, and moved to support Colonel Roberts, arriving
just before the Confederates. Canby had one thousand regulars and
about twenty-five hundred New Mexican volunteers, so the commands
were nearly equal. Crossing the almost impassible mountains, Sibley
appeared at Val Verde, six miles above Fort Craig, to engage in what
was, perhaps, the bloodiest battle for the numbers engaged, in the
whole war. Neither side was victorious, but Canby was compelled to
retire to Fort Craig, and Sibley passed on and overran the whole
Territory of New Mexico, even taking Santa Fe, but he was cut off from
any Confederate supplies.
Colorado raised two regiments of volunteers, which moved on Sibley and
drove him south, where Canby met him. Of the four thousand Confederate
troops that had entered New Mexico, only about fifteen hundred
reached Texas. El Paso was reoccupied, and my brother made collector
of customs. Another brother, Allen, eighteen years old, anxious to
participate in the allurements of the Western country, asked me to
send him to my brother, W. W., who had promised to make him deputy
collector, which I did by a supply train from Kansas City for Santa Fe.
Meanwhile, my brother Emmett, hearing of W. W.'s arrest and proposed
trial as a spy, endeavored to escape to California by taking passage
on the Overland Mail, where he met his death.
On February 8, 1869, while in Austin as a member of the constitutional
convention for reconstruction from El Paso, W. W. married Mary,
daughter of Governor A. J. Hamilton. In his El Paso home she shared as
loyally as any wife ever did in all his misfortunes and successes, his
joys and sorrows.
In 1897 W. W. was appointed United States Consul at Chihuahua,
Mexico, where we often visited. He worked there ten years, relieving
unfortunate Americans who, by reason of ignorance of conditions in
Mexico, got themselves into difficulties. The City of Chihuahua was
unfortunately the rendezvous and refuge for felonious, law-breaking
Americans, who could no longer live in their native land, and sought
Mexico, believing they could defy the laws of that country. Popular
report stamped Mexicans as lawless, with a government not stable
enough to punish them. Such conditions made my brother's position a
difficult one, as the following will show:
Three New Yorkers, including a physician and an insurance agent,
entered into a conspiracy to establish themselves in Chihuahua to
insure unsuspecting Americans for $20,000 each, murder them and
collect the money. The plan, which was practically carried out, was
this: The insurance agent approached eligible Americans residing in
Chihuahua, solicited insurance, offering very low terms, and stating
that the proposed victim, living in a lawless country where he was
likely to be killed and where whatever he had would be absorbed by
Mexican officials, should insure for the benefit of those dependent
upon him. Having written the insurance, he would tell his victim, "Now
my company is interested in your life. They direct me to admonish
you not to patronize Mexican physicians, as they are unskilled.
They authorized me to recommend to you Dr.----." The doctor then
recommended the victim to appoint an American administrator to see
that his estate would be kept out of the hands of Mexican officials.
He would recommend the third member of the gang.
In three cases the victim took the whole of the advice, appointed
the gang member his administrator, and called upon the criminal
doctor when ill. The doctor promptly killed him with poison, the
administrator took possession of his body, collected the money from
the company, and divided it among the three conspirators.
They had collected $20,000 each, for two victims, when the insurance
company sent a detective to investigate. He fixed the murder on the
doctor and discovered the other criminals. They were arrested by
the Mexican authorities, fairly tried--W. W. being present at the
trial--and sentenced to be shot.
A great clamor was raised in the American newspapers about the cruel
and barbarous conviction of innocent men by Mexican law. A member of
Congress, the lawyer employed by the men, and the relatives of each of
the condemned came to my brother with tears and pleadings, demanding
that he intercede with the State Department for their relief. W.
W. also received instructions from the State Department to make a
thorough examination and report. He was unable to find any palliating
circumstances, and reported through Ambassador Clayton his belief that
the Mexican judgment was just. The Secretary of State sustained my
brother, but the member of Congress, the lawyer, friends and relatives
of the condemned, besieged the great President Diaz with pathetic
appeals and tears, and, in the goodness of his heart, Diaz commuted
the sentence to imprisonment for life.