USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1872, Vol. II > Part 26
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"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not a sail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government ; while I shall have the most solemn one to 'pre- serve, protect, and defend it.' I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our na- tnre."
The oath of office was then administered by Chief Justice Ta- ney; the procession was again formed, and Mr. Lincoln was es- corted to the White House.
For several weeks preceding the inauguration, that grand old patriot and war-worn hero, Lient. Gen. Scott, had been quietly collecting the scattered fragments of our little regular army, and transporting them to Washington. By the 4th of March, he had in this way gathered about a thousand effective and reliable men, and a few pieces of artillery, for the defense of Washington and the peaceable inauguration of the new President. During the ceremonies, he was standing by one of the guns, which were planted in such a way as to do fearful execution, in case of any attempt at violence on the part of the secessionists, ready to give directions in any emergency that might arise. When those glo- rions, patriotic and immortal words of the new President rang out upon the clear, still air, in the ears of the breathlessly listening thousands, and were reported to the old veteran, as he stood firm- ly, though anxiously at his post of duty :- " You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect and defend it,' "- in spite of military rule, he could not help exclaiming :-. THANK GOD! AT LAST WE HAVE A PRESIDENT !
To the surprise and disgust of the rebels, the President had been peacefully inaugurated, they had not been able to seize Washington, and many of their fondest calculations had not been realized. Their remaining plans were, therefore, more desperately
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carried on all over the South. It was not possible, with their views, for the secessionists, after all their long years of preparation, and after all their insolent bluster, to come back, and ask for terms of arrangement. Nor would it do to delay. Every moment passed in inaction was a moment lost to the cause of the rebels. Their blows must be sudden and decisive, to avail them anything. Ac- cordingly, at half-past four, on the morning of the 14th of April, 1861, fourteen batteries in Charleston harbor, manned and sustain- ed by ten thousand men, opened fire upon Fort Sumter, and the flag of the United States, thus inaugurating civil war in all its hor- rors, with tremendous energy. This formidable array was op- posed by about eighty soldiers of the United States, shut up with- in the fort, too few to man a tithe of its guns effectively. After a fierce bombardment of about 36 hours, and throwing against the beleaguered fort 2,361 solid shot, and 980 shells, it was agreed that the gallant little garrison should surrender the fort, on being allowed to take away all their individual and company property, their side arms, and their war-scathed flag, which they were to salute with a hundred guns before they hauled it down. Such were the terms demanded by Major Anderson, and accorded to him-after he was compelled to surrender.
" The battle now ceased. The fire was ere long extinguished, having destroyed nearly everything combustible, and the wearied men had a night of such rest as could be found in the midst of the ruins which surrounded them. About half-past 9 o'clock on Sun- day morning, the evacuation commenced. The booming of can- non echoed over the bay, as the heroic and indomitable band sa- luted the Flag, sinking from its staff, and then, as with the proud step of victors, the band playing "Yankee Doodle " and "IIail Columbia," they marched out of the main gate, with the Stars and the Stripes waving over them, and entered the transport Isabel, which conveyed them to the United States Ship Baltic, in the offing, by which they were carried in triumph to New York.
" Fort Sumter was the Bunker Hill of this Civil War. In both cases, a proud aristocracy were determined to subject this country to its sway. In both cases, the defeat was a glorious victory. This little band of heroes withstood the attack of an army, pro- vided with the heaviest batteries which Europe and America could afford. For thirty-six hours they contined the unequal con- flict. And then, when they had not another cartridge to fire, and not another biscuit to divide, they evacuated the ruins, the Stars
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and Stripes still waving over them, and they stepping proudly to the air of " Hail Columbia." The nation regarded it as a victory, and welcomed them as heroes. And the people of the United States will never cease to regard each member of the intrepid gar- rison of Fort Sumter with admiration and homage.
" The avowed object of the rebels, in their attack upon Sumter, was to cross the Rubicon in the actual inauguration of civil war, and thus to " fire the heart of the Sonth." It was supposed that the South, being thus committed, would be compelled, by pride, to continue the conflict, for southern pride would scorn to enter- tain the thought of apology and submission. This outrage upon our country's flag, this inauguration of civil war, which was to cost near half a million lives, to impoverish countless families, and to imperil our national existence, was received throughout the re- bellious cities. with all the demonstrations of pride and joy. Those who still loved their country did not dare to utter a remonstrating word, for an iron tyranny crushed them.
"But the uprising in the North was such as the world never witnessed before. The slaveholders at the South had so long been threatening blood and ruin, that the North had quite ceased to regard their menaces. There was hardly a man to be found in all the North, who had any idea that the Sonthern rebels would ven- ture to commence civil war. The bombardment of Sumter created universal amazement and indignation. As the news of the insult to the national flag, of the battle, and of the capture of the fort by the rebels, was flashed along the wires, excitement, perhaps unparalleled in the history of the world, pervaded every city and hamlet, and almost every heart. All party distinctions seemed to be forgotten. There were henceforth but two parties in the land, --- the rebels with their sympathizers, and the friends of the Union.
" On the next day, Monday, April 15, the President issued a call for three months' service of 75.000 volunteers, and summoned an extra session of Congress to meet on the 4th of July. The re- sponse of the loyal States to this call for troops was prompt and cordial in the highest possible degree. Never perhaps were a people found less prepared for war, than were the people of the Northern States. Accustomed only to peace, and not anticipating any foe, many of the States had not even the form of a military organization. All the energies of the people were consecrated to the arts of industry, not to those of destruction. We had neither soldiers nor officers. The men who had received military educa-
18
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tion at West Point, weary of having absolutely nothing to do, but to wear away the irksome hours, in some fort on the shore or in the wilderness, had generally engaged in other pursuits. They had become civil engineers, railroad superintendents, instructors in scientific schools, and thus had become in reality merely civil- ians who had studied the science and theory of war, but with no practical acquaintance with the duties of the field.
"This was not our shame, but our glory. We were men of peace and industy, and of great prosperity. We had not dreamed that traitors would rise to plunge this happy land into anarchy, and to destroy this best government,-best, notwitstanding all its imper- fections, -earth has ever known. Floyd had emptied the arsenals, and placed the guns in the hands of the rebels. Our little stand- ing army, consisting of but 10,755 men, officers and privates all told, he had scattered at almost illimitable distances over our vast frontier. Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of the Navy had equally dis . persed the fleet ; in fact, our neglected navy had fallen almost into decay. And more than all this, the majority of the officers in the army and in the navy, were men of slaveholding connections, many of whom openly avowed their sympathy with the rebellion, and they had become so lost to all sense of honor, that the betray- al of the Flag which they had sworn to protect,-a deed which all the rest of the world called infamous, they deemed chivalrous. Sneh was the condition of the North, when the war commenced."
Mr. Cameron thus describes the condition of the War Depart- ment, as he entered upon its duties :
" Upon my appointment to the position, I found the department destitute of all the means of defense; withont guns, and with lit- tle prospect of purchasing the materiel of war. I found the nation withont an army, and I found scarcely a man throughout the whole War Department in whom I could put my trust. The Adjutant General deserted. The Quartermaster General ran off. The Com- missary General was on his death-bed. More than half the clerks were disloyal. I remember that upon one occasion General Scott came to me, apparently in great mental tribulation. Said he, 'I have spent the most miserable day in my life ; a friend of my boy- hood has just told me I am disgracing myself by staying here, and serving this fragment of the government, in place of going to Virginia, and serving under the banner of my native State; and I am pained to death.' But the old hero was patriotic, loyal, and
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wise enough to say that his friend was wrong, and he was right in remaining where he was."
" The unanimity with which the whole North arose, in this cri- sis, all party differences being merged in enthusiastic devotion to the Union, is one of the most extraordinary events of history. Men who but a few days before had been bitterly hostile. were at once standing side by side, upon the same platform, in earnest co- operation to resist the andacious rebellion. Senator Douglas, one of the candidates for the Presidency, at this crisis, came forward with zeal and power, which will forever entitle him to the grati- tude of his countrymen. The overflowing majority of his party followed their illustrious leader in the magnanimity of his patriot- ism. On the Ist of May, Senator Douglas reached Chicago, Illi- nois, on his return from Washington. He was met at the depot, by an immense assemblage of citizens, who conducted him in a triumphal procession to the great " Wigwam," where ten thousand persons, of all parties, were seated, awaiting him. The Senator addressed them in the following strain, which thrilled the heart of the nation, and which will give him ever-during and grateful remembrance.
"' I beg you to believe that I will not do you or myself the in- justice to think that this magnificent ovation is personal to myself. I rejoice to know that it expresses your devotion to the Constitu- tion, the Union and the flag of our country. I will not conceal gratification at the uncontrovertible test this vast audience pre- sents-that, what political differences or party questions may have divided us, yet you all had a conviction that, when the country should be in danger, my loyalty could be relied on. That the present danger is imminent, no man can conceal. If war must come-if the bayonet must be used to maintain the Constitution- I say before God, my conscience is clean. I have struggled long for a peaceful solution of the difficulty. . I have not only tendered those States what was theirs of right, but I have gone to the very extreme of magnanimity.
"The return we receive is war, armies marched upon our Cap- itol, obstructions and dangers to our navigation, letters of marque to invite pirates to prey upon our commerce, a concerted move- ment to blot ont the United States of America from the map of the globe. The question is, Are we to maintain the country of our fathers, or allow it to be stricken down by those who, when they can no longer govern, threaten to destroy ?
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" What cause, what excuse do disunionists give us, for break- ing up the best Government, on which the sun of heaven ever shed its rays ? They are dissatisfied with the result of the Presi- dential election. Did they never get beaten before ? Are we to resort to the sword when we get defeated at the ballot box ? I understand it that the voice of the people expressed in the mode appointed by the Constitution, must command the obedience of every citizen. They assume, on the election of a particular can- didate, that their rights are not safe in the Union. What evidence do they present of this? I defy any man to show any act on which it is based. What act has been omitted to be done ? I ap. peal to these assembled thousands, that so far as the constitutional rights of slaveholders are concerned, nothing has been done, and nothing omitted, of which they can complain.
"There has never been a time, from the day that Washington was inaugurated first President of these United States, when the rights of the Southern States stood firmer under the laws of the land than they do now; there never was a time when they had not as good canse for disunion as they have to-day. What good cause have they now that has not existed under every Adminis- tration ?
"If they say the territorial question-now, for the first time, there is no act of Congress prohibiting slavery anywhere. If it be the non-enforcement of the laws, the only complaints that I have heard, have been of the vigorous and faithful fulfillment of the Fugitive Slave Law. Then what reason have they ?
" The Slavery question is a mere excuse. The election of Lin- coln is a mere pretext. The present secession movement is the result of an enormous conspiracy formed more than a year since, formed by leaders in the Southern Confederacy more than twelve months ago.
" But this is no time for the detail of causes. The conspiracy is now known. Armies have been raised, war is levied to accom- plish it. There are only two sides to the question. Every man must be for the United States or against it. There can be no neu- trals in this war; only patriots-or traitors.
"Thank God, Illinois is not divided on this question. I know they expected to present a united South against a divided North. They hoped, in the Northern States, party questions would bring civil war between Democrats and Republicans, when the South would step in, with her cohorts, aid one party to conquer the oth-
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er, and then make easy prey of the victors. Their scheme was carnage and civil war in the North.
"There is but one way to defeat this. In Illinois it is being so defeated by closing up the ranks. War will thus be prevented on our own soil. While there was a hope of peace, I was ready for any reasonable sacrifice or compromise to maintain it. But when the question comes of war in the cotton-fields of the South, or the corn-fields of Illinois, I say the farther off the better.
"I have said more than I intended to say. It is a sad task to diseuss questions so fearful as civil war ; but sad as it is, bloody and disastrous as I expect it will be, I express it as my conviction before God, that it is the duty of every American citizen to rally around the flag of his country.
"I thank you again for this magnificent demonstration. By it you show you have laid aside party strife. Illinois has a proud position-united, firm, determined never to permit the Govern. ment to be destroyed "
Such is a brief account of the origin and successive events in the opening of our great civil war. It remains for us to recount, in the succeeding pages, the part which Ancient Woodbury took in the Great Rebellion, giving the names and deeds of the heroic men who went forth to battle from our midst, at the call of our imperiled country, some of whom lie peacefully sleeping on many a glorious battle-field, all over our union, or within the honored and sacred enclosures of our beautiful National Cemeteries,
In the very opening of this faithful record of Woodbury's pat- riotic doings, in the great war of the ages for the immortal prin- ciples of liberty, the author has the happiness to say, that this ancient town, which has been true and faithful in all the conflicts which have arisen since 1670, in maintenance of the true princi- ples of a free government, were, in this final conflict of ideas, with some few solitary exceptions, in the cases of men with minds diseased,-an nnit in defense of the glorious old flag, and the cou- stitution of our fathers. This is well to be said by the author, who, from the first hour of the conflict, felt the great issues of the hour in the marrow of his bones, and was sensitively jealous of every exhibition of weakness, of faltering, or the slightest taint of treachery, under any circumstances, to the flag of the free.
As soon as the news arrived in town, that the rebels had opened fire upon Fort Sumter, and thus inaugurated a war against the honor and integrity of the Union, a patriotie ardor and wild en-
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thusiasm seized every heart. At the suggestion of leading citi- zens, the town committees of the Republican and Democratic par- ties issued a joint call for a mass meeting of all citizens, irrespec- tive of party, to take counsel in regard to the perils of the hour, and the proper measures of defense to be taken in common with the patriotic citizens throughout the land.
The following brief account of this meeting is taken from the Litchfield Enquirer, printed at the time, and shows the unanimity that prevailed among us.
" UNION MEETING .- The crisis in our national affairs, caused the citizens of Woodbury to assemble en masse, on Tuesday eve- ning, the 23d instant. Hon. N. B. Smith was called to preside, assisted by C. H. Webb, M. D., C. W. Kirtland, Lewis Judd, Henry Minor, William Cothren, James Huntington, Nathaniel Smith and G. H. Peck, Esquires, Vice-Presidents ; R. J. Allen and G. P. Allen, Esquires, were appointed Secretaries.
" A committee, consisting of Wm. Cothren, James Huntington and C. H. Webb, was appointed to prepare resolutions for the consideration of the meeting, and, during their absence, A. N. Lewis, Esq., sung " The Star Spangled Banner," with thrilling ef- fect ; and Nathaniel Smith, Esq., with his usual eloquence-in a stirring speech-caused the cord of patriotism to vibrate with un- wonted vigor. The Committee on Resolutions reported the fol- lowing :-
" Resolved, That this meeting, assembled irrespective of party affiliations, under a deep sense of our duties as citizens of a common country, do hereby declare that we have a deep and abiding trust in the principles of our fathers, in the constitution and laws of the United States, and the benign influence of our institutions.
" Resolved, That the present is not the time for political discus- sion or abstractions; for our country is in danger, to perpet- uate and sustain it is the duty of every good citizen ; and to up- hold and support the President in his patriotic endeavors, no man , who is not an alien to all that makes our government dear to us, will hesitate to pledge his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor in this our greatest peril.
" Resolved, That, as we have prospered under the old flag of the Union, we cannot and will not desert it now, but that we are ready, if need be, to lay down our lives in its defence.
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"These Resolutions, after a full and truly patriotic discussion, in which Messrs. W. T. Bacon, Jas. Huntington, Wm. Cothren, A. N. Lewis, C. H. Webb and Lewis Judd, participated, were- with the enthusiasm which now marks New England-unani- mously adopted.
" Wm. Cothren, Jas. Huntington, Charles S. Dayton, Sidney Hurd and William C. Beecher, were chosen a committee to solicit volunteers for the defence of our National Flag.
"G. P. Allen, Nathaniel Smith and R. I. Tolles were designated a committee to solicit aid for the families of the volunteers. A sub- scription paper was immediately circulated, but when our reporter saw it, only two names appeared on it, namely, Wm. Cothren and Daniel Curtiss, each having subscribed $500. Mr. Cothren, in ad- dition to his subscription, pledged the nett income of his business during the war. 1
" The volunteers were organized on Saturday, the 27th inst., and the following officers were appointed :--
" Captain,-Josiah G. Beckwith, Jr.
" 1st Lieut ,-Wilson Bryant.
" 2d Lieut.,-Geo. E. Harris.
" Orderly Sergeant, -Henry M. Dutton.
" Sergeants,-DeGrasse Fowler, Wm. H. Mckay, Chas. N. New. ton, Richard Spring.
" Corporals,-Burton Downs, Calvin A. Hubbard, Albert Win- ton, Geo. A. Chatfield.
" The name taken by the Company is the ' Woodbury Rifle Co.'"
Before this meeting closed, thirty-two young men had volun- teered for the defence of the country. Woodbury was in advance of the neighboring towns in its patriotic outburst, and men in the latter, impatient to obey, with alacrity, the call of duty, came in from all quarters to join our brave volunteers.
The subscription paper, alluded to in the foregoing report, was as follows, being drawn an id the excitement and noise of a crowd- ed public meeting. It shows the forethought, as well as the pat- riotism of the citizens :-
" We, the subscribers, agree to pay the sums set against our respective names, to Thomas Bull, Esq., from time to time, as they shall be called for, for the purpose of fitting out one hundred sol- diers from this town, for the United States' service ; and more par-
1 This promise was carried out to the letter.
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tienlarly, for the purpose of supporting the families of the soldiers who shall enlist, during their absence in the service of the United States. If one hundred soldiers volunteer, then we are to pay the whole of the following sums :- if a smaller number, then we are to pay pro rata, according to the number who shall enlist.
WOODBURY, April 23, 1861.
-NAMES .-
William Cothren, $500 00
Daniel Curtiss,
500.00
-and a multitude of others.
Within a few days, by the judicious efforts of the enlistment committee, a company was gathered to go to the succor of imper- illed Washington. But such was the ardent uprising in the State, that the three Regiments called for by the Governor, were much more than filled before notice of our patriotic contribution was received. These three regiments were enlisted, as was our company, for three months. Immediately, there was a call for men to enlist for three years, or during the war, and our noble company, which had enlisted only for the former term, with undi- minished ardor, signed enlistment papers for three years. They were to join Colt's Revolving Rifle Regiment, but as that organ- ization was afterwards given up, they finally became Co. E. of the 5th Regiment Conn. Vols., under Col. O. S. Ferry. This change gave the volunteers time to drill here for a time, instead of marching at once, without drill, or experience. They drilled here several weeks, and became quite proficient for raw recruits, and finally were ordered to Hartford.
During these hurried days, it was gratifying to see with what zeal all the inhabitants entered into the spirit of preparation, and hastened on the glorious volunteers. Contributions, in various sums, came in from all sides; alike, from the humblest and from the highest. All, priest and people, entered into the great work. As an example, the Committee, while urging on their work of re- erniting and collecting supplies for the soldiers and their families, (there were no bounties, then, family, or other bounty,) received the following letter from Rev. Charles E. Robinson, D. D., now pastor of a church in Troy, N. Y. :-
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
" Hon. William Cothren, Dr. C. H. Webb, and others of the Com. mittee for recruiting in the town of Woodbury :-
Gent :- Enclosed you will find $30, which I desire you to use for the best interests of our volunteers, with the most earnest prayers, and sincere, good wishes of their friend, and yours,-
CHARLES E. ROBINSON."
During the five weeks succeeding the patriotic meeting referred to, the volunteers were busy drilling, the Committee in recruiting, and the citizens, particularly the ladies, in soliciting contributions of every thing useful for the soldiers, who were to go in haste to the front. Haveloeks for the head, needle-books, towels, clothes, shoes, and red-flannel shirts, were prepared and distributed to the brave boys, who exhibited in turn a grateful recognition of their zeal and kindness. At length, the company was called to go to Hartford, to join Colt's Regiment, as they supposed. On Satur- day, the 18th day of May, the company, which had, from the color of the flannel the ladies had given them, gained the sobriquet of the " Woodbury Reds," but who called themselves the Woodbury Valley Rifle Company, " fell in," and after marching through the principal streets of the village, partook of refreshments in the grounds of the writer, where a large portion of the inhabitants of the town had assembled. to cheer them, on their departure for the unknown results of their patriotic venture. They were es- corted, by some of the leading citizens, to Hartford, preceded by the Woodbury Drum Corps. The streets were crowded with eit- izens, who made themselves hoarse with enthusiastic cheering. Flags floated everywhere, while every window was crowded with patriotic ladies, waving handkerchiefs, and in every way manifest- ing their respect and approval of the departing braves. At Water- town, the reception was no less enthusiastic, and as to the recep- tion in Waterbury, the following is taken from the AMERICAN of that date :-
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