The Restoration of Civil Government in the Southern States--The
Course Pursued in North Carolina--An Order from General Grant in
Regard to Cotton and Produce--Suggestions for the Reorganization
of Civil Government--A Provisional Governor for North Carolina.
Being in command in North Carolina at the close of the war, I was
connected for a short period with the very earliest consideration
of the vital question of the restoration of civil government in
the Southern States, in which I acted a more important part at a
later period. The moment the surrender of Johnston's army made it
evident that the end was near, the question arose, and was much
discussed among some of the prominent officers, as to the status
of the negroes in the South. The position was promptly taken by
me, as the responsible commander in North Carolina, that the question
at that time was solely one of fact. The President's proclamation
of emancipation was virtually a military order to the army to free
all the slaves in the insurgent States as rapidly as military
operations should bring them within its control. Whatever the
legal effect of the proclamation upon the status of slaves not
within the reach of the army when it was issued, there could be no
question of its binding obligation, as an order to the army, to be
executed and made practically effective as rapidly as it came within
the power of the army to execute it. Accordingly, the following
order was issued by me to give full practical effect to the
proclamation, and to maintain the freedom of all former slaves, so
long as the subject-matter should remain under military control.
This order, which was the first public official declaration on the
subject, was mentioned by one of the leading journals of New York
at the time as having at least the merit of "saving a world of
discussion." However this may be, little or no discussion followed,
and the freedom of all slaves in the States lately in insurrection
at once became an established fact.
"(General Orders, No. 32.)
"Hdqrs. Dept. of North Carolina, Army of the Ohio, Raleigh, N. C.,
April 27, 1865.
"To remove a doubt which seems to exist in the minds of some of
the people of North Carolina, it is hereby declared that by virtue
of the proclamation of the President of the United States dated
January 1, 1863, all persons in this State heretofore held as slaves
are now free, and that it is the duty of the army to maintain the
freedom of such persons.
"It is recommended to the former owners of the freedmen to employ
them as hired servants at reasonable wages; and it is recommended
to the freedmen that, when allowed to do so, they remain with their
former masters, and labor fruitfully so long as they shall be
treated kindly and paid reasonable wages, or that they immediately
seek employment elsewhere in the kind of work to which they are
accustomed. It is not well for them to congregate about towns or
military camps. They will not be supported in idleness.
"By command of Major-General Schofield:
"J. A. Campbell, Assistant Adjutant-General."
On the same day I issued the following:
"(General Orders, No. 31.)
"Hdqrs. Dept. of North Carolina, Army of the Ohio, Raleigh, N. C.,
April 27, 1865.
"The commanding general has the great satisfaction of announcing
to the army and to the people of North Carolina that hostilities
within this State have definitively ceased; that for us the war is
ended; and it is hoped that peace will soon be restored throughout
our country.
"It is now the duty of all to cultivate friendly relations with
the same zeal which has characterized our conduct of the war, that
the blessings of Union, peace, and material prosperity may be
speedily restored to the entire country. It is confidently believed
and expected that the troops of this army and the people of North
Carolina will cordially unite in honest endeavors to accomplish
this great end.
"All good and peaceable citizens will be protected and treated with
kindness, while those who disturb the peace or violate the laws
will be punished with the severity of martial law.
"The troops will be distributed so as best to secure the interests
of the United States government and protect the people until a
civil government can be established in harmony with the constitution
and laws of the United States.
"The most perfect discipline and good conduct are enjoined upon
all officers and soldiers, and cordial support upon all good
citizens.
"All who are peaceably disposed are invited to return to their
homes and resume their industrial pursuits. Such as have been
deprived of their animals and wagons by the hostile armies will be
temporarily supplied, as far as practicable, upon application to
the nearest provost-marshal, by loans of the captured property in
possession of the quartermaster's department. The needy will also
be supplied, for the time being, with subsistence stores from the
commissary department. . . .
"By command of Major-General Schofield:
"J. A. Campbell, Assistant Adjutant-General."
On May 4, I issued a circular to this effect:
"Local commanders and provost-marshals will encourage all refugees,
white and colored, to return to their homes; and for this purpose
will furnish them the necessary railroad passes and subsistence.
"Such persons must not be given passes to Raleigh or points on the
sea-coast, nor be permitted to congregate about towns or camps,
there to live in idleness."
On May 5, I wrote to General Sherman:
"When General Grant was here, as you doubtless recollect, he said
the lines had been extended to embrace this and other States south.
The order, it seems, has been modified so as to include only Virginia
and Tennessee. I think it would be an act of wisdom to open this
State to trade at once. I hope the government will make known its
policy as to organization of State governments without delay.
Affairs must necessarily be in a very unsettled state until that
is done. The people are now in a mood to accept almost anything
which promises a definite settlement. What is to be done with the
freedmen is the question of all, and it is the all-important
question. It requires prompt and wise action to prevent the negro
from becoming a huge elephant on our hands.
"If I am to govern this State, it is important for me to know it
at once. If another is to be sent here, it cannot be done too
soon, for he will probably undo the most of what I shall have done.
I shall be most glad to hear from you fully when you have time to
write. . . ."
Two days later I wrote to General Halleck:
"I have received your despatch concerning slavery, the treatment
of freedmen, etc. I will send you my orders issued some days ago,
which agree perfectly with your views on this subject. I have not
recognized in any way any of the civil officers of the State--not
being willing to act in such matters in the absence of any indication
of the policy of the government, and taking it for granted that
instructions would be given soon. In this connection, I desire to
suggest that the sooner a military governor is appointed for this
State, and steps taken to organize a civil government, the better.
The people are now in a mood to accept anything in reason, and to
do what the government desires. If I am, by virtue of my command,
to perform the duties of military governor, I would like to know it.
"If another is to be appointed, it ought to be done before I have
been compelled to do something which he may think it necessary to
undo. I think it would be eminently wise to retain in office
justices of the peace, sheriffs, and other inferior officers who
may prove to be loyal and worthy; but this should be done by the
military governor. I believe the administration need have no
anxiety about the question of slavery, or any other important
question, in this State. But the proper care of the freedmen should
be provided for by State legislation as soon as possible. I shall
be thankful for any information or instructions you may be able to
give me on these subjects."
A week later more precise rules governing the freedmen were issued:
"(General Orders, No. 46.)
"Hdqrs. Dept. of North Carolina, Army of the Ohio, Raleigh, N. C.,
May 15, 1865.
"The following rules are published for the government of freedmen
in North Carolina until the restoration of civil government in the
State:
"I. The common laws governing the domestic relations, such as
those giving parents authority and control over their children, and
guardians control over their wards, are in force. The parent's or
guardian's authority and obligations take the place of those of
the former master.
"II. The former masters are constituted the guardians of minors
and of the aged and infirm, in the absence of parents or other
relatives capable of supporting them.
"III. Young men and women under twenty-one years of age remain
under the control of their parents or guardians until they become
of age, thus aiding to support their parents and younger brothers
and sisters.
"IV. The former masters of freedmen may not turn away the young
or the infirm, nor refuse to give them food and shelter; nor may
the able-bodied men or women go away from their homes, or live in
idleness, and leave their parents, children, or young brothers and
sisters to be supported by others.
"V. Persons of age who are free from any of the obligations referred
to above are at liberty to find new homes wherever they can obtain
proper employment; but they will not be supported by the government,
nor by their former masters, unless they work.
"VI. It will be left to the employer and servants to agree upon
the wages to be paid; but freedmen are advised that for the present
season they ought to expect only moderate wages, and where their
employers cannot pay them money, they ought to be contented with
a fair share in the crops to be raised. They have gained their
personal freedom. By industry and good conduct they may rise to
independence and even wealth.
"VII. All officers, soldiers, and citizens are requested to give
publicity to these rules, and to instruct the freed people as to
their new rights and obligations.
"VIII. All officers of the army and of the county police companies
are authorized and required to correct any violation of the above
rules within their jurisdictions.
"IX. Each district commander will appoint a superintendent of
freedmen,--a commissioned officer,--with such number of assistants
--officers and non-commissioned officers--as may be necessary,
whose duty it will be to take charge of all the freed people in
his district who are without homes or proper employment. The
superintendents will send back to their homes all who have left
them in violation of the above rules, and will endeavor to find
homes and suitable employment for all others. They will provide
suitable camps or quarters for such as cannot be otherwise provided
for, and attend to their discipline, police, subsistence, etc.
"X. The superintendents will hear all complaints of guardians or
wards, and report the facts to their district commanders, who are
authorized to dissolve the existing relations of guardian and ward
in any case which may seem to require it, and to direct the
superintendent to otherwise provide for the wards, in accordance
with the above rules.
"By command of Major-General Schofield:
"J. A. Campbell, Assistant Adjutant-General."
On May 29, General Grant, from Washington, ordered me to "give
every facility and encouragement to getting to market cotton and
other Southern products. Let there be no seizure of private property
or searching to look after Confederate cotton. The finances of
the country demand that all articles of export should be gotten to
the market as speedily as possible." I answered at once:
"Your despatch concerning cotton and other products is received.
I some time ago removed all military restrictions upon trade, and
have given every facility for carrying cotton and other products
to market. The only obstacles in the way are the restrictions of
the Treasury Department. It would be a blessing to the country if
the whole system could be abolished. Now only one man in North
Carolina is authorized to buy cotton, and he does not pay money
for it. It is impossible for people to get their products to market
in this way."
The imperative need of the Southern States at the close of the war
was temporary military government, and permission, under such full
military protection, to reorganize their civil governments. In
the following letter to General Grant, dated May 10, I submitted
by views concerning the policy that ought to be pursued:
"I desire to submit to you my views concerning the policy that
ought to be pursued in North Carolina, leaving it to your judgment
whether or not to submit them to the President or Secretary of War.
I am now led to this mainly by a letter which I received on the
7th from Chief Justice Chase, giving some points of the policy
advocated by him, which, if adopted in this State, would in my
opinion lead to disastrous results.
"The points I refer to are briefly as follows, viz.:
"The organization of the State government to be left to the people
acting in their original sovereign capacity.
"In determining the right of suffrage, the old Constitution, amended
in 1835, to be followed in preference to the new one which was in
force at the commencement of the rebellion--the object being to
give negroes the right to vote.
"The first proposition is not, I think, open to serious objection.
With proper assistance from the military authorities, it can be
successfully carried out.
"The second proposition is the one to which I refer as specially
objectionable, and this for two reasons.
"First. The Constitution of the State as it existed immediately
prior to the rebellion is still the State Constitution, and there
is no power on earth but the people of the State that can alter it.
"The operations of the war have freed the slaves in this and most
other States, and, doubtless, slavery will be constitutionally
abolished throughout the country. But the United States cannot
make a negro, nor even a white man, an elector in any State. That
is a power expressly reserved by the Constitution to the several
States. We cannot alter or amend the Constitution of North Carolina,
as it now exists, without either first altering or else violating
the Constitution of the United States.
"If we hold that by the rebellion the States have lost their
existence as States, and have been reduced to unorganized Territories
under the absolute sovereign authority of the United States, then
undoubtedly we may declare that all inhabitants, white and black,
shall have equal political rights and an equal voice in the
organization of a State to be admitted into the Union. But I
understand President Johnson repudiates this doctrine; hence it
may be left out of the question.
"It appears to me beyond question that the Constitution of North
Carolina is now valid and binding as the law of the State, and that
any measures for the reorganization of the State government must
be in accordance with the provisions of that instrument. This, I
am convinced, is the unanimous opinion of the leading Union men of
the State.
"My second reason for objecting to the proposition is the absolute
unfitness of the negroes, as a class, for any such responsibility.
They can neither read nor write. They have no knowledge whatever
of law or government. They do not even know the meaning of the
freedom that has been given them, and are much astonished when
informed that it does not mean that they are to live in idleness
and be fed by the government.
"It is true they are docile, obedient, and anxious to learn, but
we certainly ought to teach them something before we give them an
equal voice with ourselves in government. This view is so fully
recognized as correct by all who are familiar, by actual contact,
with the negro character and condition, that argument seems
superfluous. I have yet to see a single one among the many Union
men in North Carolina who would willingly submit for a moment to
the immediate elevation of the negro to political equality with
the white man.
"They are all, or nearly all, content with the abolition of slavery.
Many of them are rejoiced that it is done. But to raise the negro,
in his present ignorant and degraded condition, to be their political
equals would be, in their opinion, to enslave them [the white
citizens]. If they did not rebel against it, it would only be
because rebellion would be hopeless. A government so organized
would in no sense be a popular government.
THE REORGANIZATION OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
"After careful consideration of all the questions involved, I am
fully convinced as to the best policy to be adopted in this State,
which I will submit in outline:
"A military governor to be appointed, who shall have command of
all the troops in the State; or the department commander be authorized
to assume, by virtue of his command, the function of military
governor, which naturally devolves upon him.
"The military governor to declare the Constitution and laws of the
State in force immediately preceding the pretended Act of Secession
(so far as the same are not inconsistent with the Constitution and
laws of the United States and the war proclamations of the President)
to be still in force.
"To make provisional appointments of justices of the peace, sheriffs,
and such other inferior officers as the State laws empower the
governor to appoint, to serve until the organization of a civil
government.
"To order an enrolment of all electors who may take the President's
amnesty oath.
"As soon as this enrolment shall be completed, to call an election
for delegates to a State convention. The qualifications of voters
and candidates to be those prescribed by the State laws, and that
they shall take the amnesty oath. All acts of the convention to
be submitted to the people, for their ratification or rejection,
at the same time with the election of governor and members of the
legislature, which would be ordered by the convention.
"I would confidently expect a convention, so chosen, to repudiate
the doctrine of secession, abolish slavery, and fully restore the
State to its practical constitutional relations to the Government
of the United States. The people are now ripe for such action.
They only ask to know what the government desires them to do, and
how they are to do it.
"If, however, they should fail to do this, I would regard them as
having violated their oaths, would dissolve the convention, and
hold the State under military government until the people should
come to their senses. I would have a lawful popular government or
a military government--the latter being a necessary substitute in
the absence of the former.
"I am willing to discharge, to the best of my ability, any duty
which may properly devolve upon me. Yet if a policy so opposed to
my views as that proposed by Mr. Chase is to be adopted, I respectfully
suggest that I am not the proper person to carry it out.
"If, however, after knowing my views fully, it be desired that I
execute the President's wishes, would it not be well for me to have
a personal interview with him, in order that I may fully understand
his plan and the principles upon which it is founded?"
The fundamental principles of my suggestion were:
First. The Constitution and laws as they were before secession,
modified to embrace the legitimate results of the war--namely,
national integrity and universal freedom.
Second. Intelligent suffrage, to be regulated by the States
themselves; and
Third. Military governments, in the absence of popular civil
governments, as being the only lawful substitute, under our system,
for a government by the people during their temporary inability,
from whatever cause, to govern themselves.
But these constitutional methods were rejected. First came the
unauthorized system of "provisional" governors, civilians without
any shadow of lawful authority for their appointments, and their
abortive attempts at "reconstruction."
Next the Fourteenth Amendment, disfranchising nearly all the trusted
leaders of the Southern people, and then the "iron-clad oath,"
universal enfranchisement of the ignorant blacks, and "carpet-bag"
government, with all their offensive consequences. If wise
statesmanship instead of party passion had ruled the hour, how
easily could those twelve years of misrule in the South, and
consequent disappointment and shame among its authors in the North,
have been avoided!
A PROVISIONAL GOVERNOR FOR NORTH CAROLINA
A "provisional" governor (William W. Holden) having been appointed
for North Carolina, I relinquished command of the department in
June, 1865, to enter upon more important service in respect to the
then existing military intervention in Mexico by the Emperor of
the French.