SCHOFIELD'S ARMY--SHERMAN'S--THEIR OUTRAGES--UNION SENTIMENT--A
DISAPPOINTMENT--NINETY-TWO YEARS AGO--GOVERNOR GRAHAM--HIS
ANCESTRY--HIS CAREER--GOVERNOR MANLY.
The town of Goldsboro was occupied by General Schofield's army on the
twenty-first of March. No resistance was offered by the Confederates,
who had withdrawn in the direction of Smithfield, with the exception of
one regiment of cavalry, which had a slight skirmish with Schofield's
advance near the town. General Schofield's conduct toward the citizens
of the town was conciliatory. No plundering was allowed by him;
efficient guards were stationed, and beyond the loss of fences and
out-houses torn down for firing, etc., depredations on poultry-yards,
etc., and a few smoke-houses, there was but little damage done. But
in the surrounding country the outrages were innumerable, and in many
places the desolation complete. On the twenty-third of March General
Sherman's grand army made its appearance, heralded by the columns of
smoke which rose from burning farm-houses on the south side of the
Neuse. For thirty-six hours they poured in, in one continuous stream.
Every available spot in the town, and for miles around it, was covered
with the two armies, estimated at one hundred and twenty-five thousand
men. General Sherman's reputation had preceded him, and the horror and
dismay with which his approach was anticipated in the country were
fully warranted. The town itself was in a measure defended, so to
speak, by General Schofield's preöccupation; but in the vicinity and
for twenty miles round, the country was most thoroughly plundered and
stripped of food, forage, and private property of every description.
One of the first of General Sherman's own acts, after his arrival, was
of peculiar hardship. One of the oldest and most venerable citizens
of the place, with a family of sixteen or eighteen children and
grandchildren, most of them females, was ordered, on a notice of a few
hours, to vacate his house, for the convenience of the General himself,
which of course was done. The gentleman was nearly eighty years of
age, and in very feeble health. The out-houses, fences, grounds, etc.,
were destroyed, and the property greatly damaged during its occupation
by the General. Not a farm-house in the country but was visited and
wantonly robbed. Many were burned, and very many, together with
out-houses, were pulled down and hauled into camps for use. Generally
not a live animal, not a morsel of food of any description was left,
and in many instances not a bed or sheet or change of clothing for
man, woman, or child. It was most heart-rending to see daily crowds
of country people, from three-score and ten years of age, down to the
unconscious infant carried in its mother's arms, coming into the town
to beg food and shelter, to ask alms from those who had despoiled them.
Many of these families lived for days on parched corn, on peas boiled
in water without salt, on scraps picked up about the camps. The number
of carriages, buggies, and wagons brought in is almost incredible. They
kept for their own use what they wished, and burned or broke up the
rest. General Logan and staff took possession of seven rooms in the
house of John C. Slocumb, Esq., the gentleman of whose statements I
avail myself. Every assurance of protection was given to the family by
the quartermaster; but many indignities were offered to the inmates,
while the house was as effectually stripped as any other of silver
plate, watches, wearing apparel, and money. Trunks and bureaus were
broken open and the contents abstracted. Not a plank or rail or post
or paling was left anywhere upon the grounds, while fruit-trees,
vines, and shrubbery were wantonly destroyed. These officers remained
nearly three weeks, occupying the family beds, and when they left the
bed-clothes also departed.
It is very evident that General Sherman entered North-Carolina with
the confident expectation of receiving a welcome from its Union-loving
citizens. In Major Nichols's story of the Great March, he remarks,
on crossing the line which divides South from North-Carolina: "The
conduct of the soldiers is perceptibly changed. I have seen no evidence
of plundering, the men keep their ranks closely; and more remarkable
yet, not a single column of the fire or smoke which a few days ago
marked the positions of the heads of columns, can be seen upon the
horizon. Our men seem to understand that they are entering a State
which has suffered for its Union sentiment, and whose inhabitants would
gladly embrace the old flag again if they can have the opportunity,
which we mean to give them," (page 222.) But the town-meeting and war
resolutions of the people of Fayetteville, the fight in her streets,
and Governor Vance's proclamation, soon undeceived them, and their
amiable dispositions were speedily corrected and abandoned.
On first entering our State, Major Nichols, looking sharply about him,
and fortunately disposed to do justice, under the impression that he
was among friends, declares: "It is not in our imagination alone that
we can at once see a difference between South and North-Carolina. The
soil is not superior to that near Cheraw, but the farmers are a vastly
different class of men. I had always supposed that South-Carolina was
agriculturally superior to its sister State. The loud pretensions of
the chivalry had led me to believe that the scorn of these gentlemen
was induced by the inferiority of the people of the old North State,
and that they were little better than 'dirt-eaters;' but the strong
Union sentiment which has always found utterance here should have
taught me better. The real difference between the two regions lies in
the fact that here the plantation owners work with their own hands,
and do not think they degrade themselves thereby. For the first time
since we bade farewell to salt water, I have to-day seen an attempt to
manure land. The army has passed through thirteen miles or more of
splendidly-managed plantations; the corn and cotton-fields are nicely
plowed and furrowed; the fences are in capital order; the barns are
well built; the dwelling-houses are cleanly, and there is that air of
thrift which shows that the owner takes a personal interest in the
management of affairs," (page 222.)
It happens curiously enough that North-Carolina, ninety-two years ago,
made much the same impression on a stranger then traveling peacefully
through her eastern border; and his record is worth comparing with the
foregoing, as showing that her State individuality was as strongly and
clearly defined then as now, and that the situation of our people in
1773 closely resembled in some particulars that of their descendants in
1865.
"The soils and climates of the Carolinas differ, but not so much as
their inhabitants. The number of negroes and slaves is much less
in North than in South-Carolina. Their staple commodity is not so
valuable, not being in so great demand as the rice, indigo, etc.,
of the South. Hence labor becomes more necessary, and he who has an
interest of his own to serve is a laborer in the field. Husbandmen and
agriculture increase in number and improvement. Industry is up in the
woods at tar, pitch, and turpentine; in the fields plowing, planting,
clearing, or fencing the land. Herds and flocks become more numerous.
You see husbandmen, yeomen, and white laborers scattered through the
country instead of herds of negroes and slaves. Healthful countenances
and numerous families become more common as you advance. Property is
much more equally diffused through one province than in the other, and
this may account for some if not all the differences of character in
the inhabitants. The people of the Carolinas certainly vary much as to
their general sentiments, opinions, and judgments; and there is very
little intercourse between them. _The present State of North-Carolina
is really curious; there are but five provincial laws in force through
the colony, and no courts at all in being. No one can recover a debt,
except before a single magistrate, where the sums are within his
jurisdiction, and offenders escape with impunity. The people are in
great consternation about the matter; what will be the consequence
is problematical._" (_Memoir of Josiah Quincy, Jr._, page 123.) The
situation of North-Carolina during the last eight months of 1865
furnishes an exact parallel to the above concluding paragraph, and the
whole may be taken as a fair illustration of the oft-repeated sentiment
that history but repeats itself.
Major Nichols's impression of the old North State would scarcely have
been so favorably expressed had he known what reception her people
were to give the grand army. One week later, he writes: "Thus far we
have been painfully disappointed in looking for the Union sentiment in
North-Carolina, about which so much has been said. Our experience is
decidedly in favor of its sister State. The city of Fayetteville was
offensively rebellious;" and further on, "The rebels have shown more
pluck at Averasboro and at Bentonsville than we have encountered since
leaving Atlanta."
While the Federal armies lay at Goldsboro, trains were running day
and night from Beaufort and from Wilmington, conveying stores for
the supply and complete refit of Sherman's army. The Confederate
army, lying between Goldsboro and Raleigh, having no supplies or
reënforcements to receive, waited grimly and despairingly the order to
fall back upon Raleigh, which came as soon as General Sherman, having
effected his interview with General Grant, had returned to Goldsboro,
with his future plan of action matured, and once more, on the tenth of
April, set the grand army in motion. The scenes in Raleigh during the
first week of April were significant enough. The removal of government
stores, and of the effects of the banks; the systematic concealment of
private property of every description; the hurried movements of troops
to and fro; the doubt, dismay, and gloom painted on every man's face,
told but too well the story of anticipated defeat and humiliation.
If there were any who secretly exulted in the advance of the Federal
army, they were not known. The nearest approach to any such feeling
in any respectable man's breast was probably the not unnatural sense
of satisfaction with which men who had long seen their opinions
derided and execrated now felt that their hour of vindication was
arriving, the hour which every thoughtful man in the State had long
since foreseen. The united North was too strong for the South, and
the weaker cause--whether right or wrong--was doomed. I repeat, not a
thoughtful or clear-headed man in North-Carolina but had foreseen this
result as most probable, while at the same time not a thoughtful man
or respectable citizen within our borders but had considered it his
duty as well as his interest to stand by his State and do all in his
power to assist her in the awful struggle. Till the Northern people,
as a body, can understand how it was that such conflicting emotions
held sway among us, and can see how an honorable people could resist
and deplore secession, and yet fight to the last gasp in support of the
Confederacy, and in obedience to the laws of the State, it is idle to
hope for a fair judgment from them. This, however, contradictory as it
may seem to superficial observers, was the position of North-Carolina
all through the war, from its wild inception to its sullen close, and
as such was defended and illustrated by her best and ablest statesmen.
Foremost and most earnest in her efforts to maintain peace and preserve
the Union--for she was the only State which sent delegates to both the
Northern and Southern peace conventions--she was yet foremost also
in the fight and freest in her expenditure of blood and treasure to
sustain the common cause, which she had so reluctantly embraced; and
now the time was fast approaching when she was again to vindicate her
claims to supreme good sense and discretion, by being among the first
to admit the hopelessness and sin of further effort, and the first to
offer and accept the olive-branch.
Frequently during the winter of 1864-65, had the eyes of our people
been turned toward our Senator in the Confederate Congress, anxious
for some public expression of opinion as to the situation from
him, waiting to see what course he would indicate as most proper
and honorable. For of those who stood foremost as representative
North-Carolinians, of those who possessed the largest share of personal
popularity and influence in the State, it is not too much to say that
Ex-Governor GRAHAM was by far the most conspicuous and preëminent--the
man of whom it may be said more truly than of any other, that as he
spoke so North-Carolina felt, and as he acted, so North-Carolina
willed. And now, in the approaching crisis, there was no man by whose
single deliberate judgment the whole State would have so unanimously
agreed to be guided.
It may be well to pause here and glance at Governor Graham's
antecedents and associations, the better to understand his claims to
such prominence and such influence.
In a country such as ours, where hereditary distinctions do not exist,
it is peculiarly pleasant to observe such a transmission of principles,
and virtues, and talents, as is exhibited in the Graham family. The
father of Governor Graham was General Joseph Graham, of Revolutionary
fame, than whom there did not exist a more active and able partisan
leader in North-Carolina. In the affair at Charlotte in 1780, referred
to in a preceding number, when one hundred and fifty militia, under
Colonel Davie, gave the whole British army under Cornwallis such a warm
reception, most efficient aid was rendered by Major Joseph Graham,
who commanded a small company of volunteers on that occasion. He was
covered with wounds, and his recovery was considered by his friends
as little short of miraculous. But he was afterward distinguished in
many heroic exploits, and commanded in no less than fifteen different
engagements.
His youngest son, William Alexander, was born in 1804, in Lincoln
county, graduated at the State University in 1824, chose the profession
of the law, and entered upon public life as member of the General
Assembly in 1833, three years before the death of his venerable father.
The talents, patriotism, and energy which had distinguished the
Revolutionary patriot, were transmitted in full measure to his son, and
North-Carolina evinced her appreciation of his abilities by retaining
him in public office whenever he would consent to serve, from the time
of his first entrance. And Governor Graham has never failed, has never
been unequal to the occasion, or to the expectations formed of him,
however high. His very appearance gives assurance of the energy, calm
temper, high ability, and nerve which have always characterized him.
As a lawyer and advocate, his reputation is eminent and his success
brilliant; but it is as a statesman that his career is particularly to
be noted now. He was United States Senator in 1840, elected Governor
of the State in 1844, and reëlected in 1846. His immediate predecessor
in this office was the Hon J.M. Morehead, previously referred to as a
member of the Peace Convention at Washington; and his successor was
the Hon. Charles Manly--all Whigs--and Governor Manly, the last of
that school of politics elected to that office, previous to the civil
war. Governor Graham was appointed Secretary of the Navy in 1850,
by President Fillmore, which he resigned in 1852 on receiving the
nomination for Vice-President on the ticket with General Scott. He was
repeatedly member of the General Assembly, and in all positions has
merited and enjoyed the fullest and most unhesitating confidence of the
people he represented, worthy of them and worthy of his parentage.
His connection in politics having been ever with the Whig party, he was
thereby removed in the furthest possible degree from any countenance to
the doctrines of Nullification and Secession. Hence he had concurred
with Webster's great speech in reply to Hayne in 1830, with the
proclamation of Jackson in 1832, with Clay in 1850, and with the entire
policy of President Fillmore's eminently national administration.
In February, 1860, he visited Washington City to consult with such
friends as Crittenden of Kentucky, Hives of Virginia, and Granger of
New-York, on the dangers then environing and threatening the country,
the result of which was a convention nominating Bell and Everett for
the Presidential ticket, with the motto, "The Union, the Constitution,
and the enforcement of the laws." He canvassed the State on his return
home, for these candidates and principles, warning the people, however,
that there was a likelihood of Mr. Lincoln's election; and that in such
a case it was evidently the purpose of the Secessionists who supported
Breckinridge, to break up the Government and involve the country in
civil war. Party, however, was at that time stronger than patriotism,
and Breckinridge carried the State. On Mr. Lincoln's election,
Governor Graham made public addresses, exhorting the people to submit
and yield due obedience to his office. When the Legislature that winter
ordered an election to take the sense of the people on the call of a
convention, and at the same time to elect delegates, Governor Graham
opposed the call, and it was signally defeated in the State. He was
proposed as a Commissioner to the Peace Convention at Washington, but
was rejected by the secessionist majority because of his decided and
openly expressed Union sentiments.
After the attack on Fort Sumter, and the secession of Virginia and of
Tennessee, leaving North-Carolina perfectly isolated among the seceded
States, and with civil war already begun, Governor Graham decided to
adopt the cause of the Southern States, but with pain and reluctance,
not upon any pretense of right, but as a measure of revolution, and of
national interest and safety. He was a member of the convention which
in May, 1861, carried the State out of the Union, and from the date
of the secession ordinance he endeavored in good faith and honor to
sustain the cause of the Confederate States, but without any surrender
on the part of the people of the rights and liberties of freemen. In
the Convention of 1862, he delivered an elaborate speech in opposition
to test oaths, sedition laws, the suspension of the privilege of
_habeas corpus_, and all abridgments of the constitutional rights
of the citizen, either by State conventions, or by Legislatures, or
by Congress, which may be safely pronounced the clearest and ablest
vindication of the cardinal principles of civil liberty presented in
the annals of the Confederacy.
The expression of such views, such an evident determination that
the country should be free, not only in the end, but in the means,
coupled with great moderation of opinion as to the final result of the
struggle, and a total absence of all fire-eating proclivities, drew
down upon him the free criticism of the secession press and party,
many of whom did not hesitate to brand him as a traitor to the cause,
notwithstanding the assurances he gave of five sons in the army, some
one of whom was in every important battle on the Atlantic slope, except
Bull Run and Chancellorsville; two being present when the flag of Lee
went down on his last battle-field at Appomattox, while a third then
lay languishing with a severe and recent wound at Petersburg. Governor
Graham's sons derived no advantage from their father's distinguished
position in North-Carolina. They received no favors or patronage from
the Government, but were engaged in arduous and perilous service all
through, in such subordinate offices as were conferred by the election
of their comrades, or in the ordinary course of promotion.
No families in the State gave more freely of their best blood and
treasure in the support of the war than the Graham family and its
connections. Governor Graham's younger sister, Mrs. Morrison, wife
of the Rev. Dr. Morrison, of Lincoln county, the first President of
Davidson College, had three sons in the service, and four sons-in-law,
namely, Major Avery, General Barringer, General D.H. Hill, and _O
præclarum et venerabile nomen_, STONEWALL JACKSON! Perhaps no two
families entered upon the rebellion more reluctantly, nor in their
whole course were more entirely in unison with the views and feelings
of the great body of our citizens.
Major Avery, the youngest of Dr. Morrison's sons-in-law, was one of
five brothers, sons of Colonel Isaac T. Avery, of Burke; grandsons
of Colonel Waightstill Avery, who commanded a regiment during the
revolutionary war, and was a member of the Mecklenburg Convention, and
a colleague there of Major Robert Davidson, Mrs. Morrison's maternal
grandfather. Three of these five brothers fell in battle. The youngest,
Colonel Isaac T. Avery, named for his father, fell at Gettysburgh.
He survived his wounds a few minutes, long enough to beckon to his
lieutenant-colonel for a pencil and a scrap of paper, on which with his
dying fingers he assured his father that he died doing his whole duty.
His father, approaching his eightieth year, received the note, stained
with his son's life-blood, and died a few weeks afterward. The oldest
of the brothers, Waightstill, named for his grandfather, and the pride
of the family, was a son-in-law of Governor Morehead, and his colleague
in the first Confederate Congress. He fell in Kirk's raid near
Morganton. Governor Morehead,[13] who was, with the exception of the
distinguished President of the University, Governor Swain, the oldest
of the surviving ex-governors of the State, had two sons and two
sons-in-law in the army; the two latter were killed. Governor Graham's
immediate successor as governor--Charles Manly, of Raleigh--had three
sons in the army, all of whom saw hard service; and three sons-in-law,
two of whom were killed. There were not wanting those in the dark
hours of the contest who spoke of it as "the rich man's war, and the
poor man's fight." These examples show that it was the war of all. The
rich and the poor met together, and mingled their blood in a common
current, and lie together among the unrecorded dead. The history of
many families may be traced whose sacrifices were similar to the above
instances. And it is now the imperative duty of those fitted for the
work, to gather up these records for posterity, and for the future
historian and annalist of the country. Many striking coïncidences
and connections in family history, many most affecting instances of
unselfish devotion and of irreparable loss, are yet to be preserved by
hands eager
"To light the flame of a soldier's fame
On the turf of a soldier's grave."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 13: This distinguished gentleman has departed this life since
these sketches were first published in The Watchman.--Editor.]