USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > The Norwich memorial; the annals of Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, in the great rebellion of 1861-65 > Part 7
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About the same time appeared the following, from the rebel authorities, which shows how the recent successes by our armies affected them : "Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, do by virtue of the powers vested in me as aforesaid, call out and place in the military service of the Confederate States, all white men, residents of said States, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and not legally exempted from military service ; and I do hereby order and direct that all persons subject to this call, and not now in the military ser- vice, do upon being enrolled, forthwith repair to the con- script camp established in the respective States of which they may be residents, under pain of being held and pun- ished as deserters, in the event of their failure to obey this call, as provided in said laws."
This was decidedly a short metre process, as compared with our enrollment system, of which we have yet to speak.
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THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
It was coercive to an extent, that only the desperate straits to which the rebels were reduced, can explain. Little else was left a white citizen in the South to do, but to consult the family register, ascertain whether he was of the unfor- tunate age, if so, to kiss his wife, and, with a supply of corn- cake sufficient to last him on his compulsory journey, "re- pair to the conscript camp."
This conscription bill of the Confederate Congress was passed in March, 1862. Nearly a year later, Senator Wil- son, Chairman of the Military Committee in the United States, reported a bill for the enrollment of all able-bodied citizens, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, black or white, making them liable to military duty at the call of the President. All drafted persons were allowed to furnish an acceptable substitute, or on payment of three hundred dollars be discharged from liability to military ser- vice.
Upon the passage by Congress of this every-way reason- able act, in which provision was made for exempting those whom it would be unjust or needlessly severe to subject to military duty, the President appointed Acting Assistant Provost-marshals-general for each State, and Provost-mar- shals for each Congressional District.
The bill divided the national forces into two general classes. The first comprised all persons subject to do mili- tary duty, between the ages of twenty and thirty five ; all unmarried persons above the age of thirty-five, and under the age of forty-five. These classes, by the enrolling offi- cers were kept separate, and in the Adjutants' reports are divided, as if distinct. The second general class comprised all other persons liable to do military duty ; and these last were not to be called out until those first subject to duty had been called into service.
On July first, 1863, it was ordered by the War Depart-
97
THE DRAFT AND ITS RESULTS.
ment, that draft should be made from the enrolled militia of the first class, and fifty per centum in addition to the quota called for should be drafted to cover exemptions. The enrollment for this (the Third) District, showed that there were in First Class, 7,848; Second Class, 4,052 ; Third Class, 3,763 ; total, 15,663. Captain I. H. Bromley was appointed Provost-marshal. The enrolling officers under him, for Norwich, were Benjamin M. Leavens and Joseph T. Thurston. The quota of the State was fixed at seven thousand six hundred and ninety-two (7,692), the total number to be drafted (being the quota and an addi- tional fifty per centum), eleven thousand five hundred and thirty-nine (11,539). The quota of the District was fifteen hundred and sixty-nine, which, with addition prescribed, amounted to two thousand three hundred and fifty-four. There was great opposition to the draft in many parts of the country, culminating in terrible mobs in New York, Boston, and other cities.
The riot in New York was one of unprecedented bold- ness and barbarity, and raged from July thirteenth through the three succeeding days. The most revolting feature was the uniform maltreatment to which the harmless, affrighted colored people of the city were subjected. This outburst of ruffianism, thoroughly wicked and unjustifiable, origi- nated in the sympathy there was with the rebels, and was aided by the public utterances of men of doubtful loyalty, " who detested every form of coercion, save the coercion of the Republic by the rebels." The rioters were effectually put down, when the absent troops could be called in, and the blandly saluted " friends " of Governor Seymour were taught, to their bitter cost, that the government was not to be obstructed in the measures it legally adopted for the sup- pression of the rebellion. There were threats of similar vio- lence in Connecticut, and secret meetings of the so-called
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THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
" peace men " were held in various parts of the State. It was widely declared that they were organizing to resist what they called " conscription," and that an assault would be made upon the Provost-marshals' offices for the purpose of destroying the boxes, and preventing the draft. Governor Buckingham, however, showed no disposition to deal leni- ently with these domestic traitors, and promptly called for two battalions of volunteer infantry. The immediate ap- pearance of these, with a determination to put down any form of opposition to the measures of the National Execu- tive, had a wholesome effect, and the rampant peace men became quiescent. Norwich maintained its loyalty by mani- festing a desire to help on rather than retard the execution of the law. And yet there were signs of opposition, and secret threats of violence, that led many of our citizens to appre- hend trouble. On the day fixed for the drafting to take place, a vague undefined fear seemed to pervade the com- munity, without any very clear grounds for it. Some of our people went to the meeting prepared for an outbreak ; but fortunately for the good name of the town, and to the honor of the citizens, there was not the slightest indication of dis- order, nor any appearance of violent opposition to those who had the matter of drafting in charge. The utmost good- nature prevailed, and the factiously disposed, if there were any, submitted with excellent grace, and belied not the name of " peace-men," by which they were generally called. The drafted took their lot with cheerfulness, and those who es- caped were congratulated on the propitious fate which spared them the hardships of compulsory soldiering, or its expensive equivalents. Undoubtedly there was in our town, as more or less throughout the State, a bitter feeling of opposition to the "Conscription Act ; " but with us it had little influ- ence or character.
Here, as elsewhere, this latent hostility to the means
99
LOYAL LEAGUE ORGANIZED.
necessarily resorted to in order to put down the rebellion, led the most earnest and patriotic of our citizens to form a branch " Loyal League." A meeting was held in Treadway Hall, March twenty-seventh, to organize, and there it was voted to accept the pledge which had been adopted in the " League " at New York. The primary object of this asso- ciation was to " bind together all loyal men of all trades and professions, in common union, to maintain the power, glory, and integrity of the nation." P. St. M. Andrews was chosen president, with a long list of vice-presidents, comprising most of our leading men ; corresponding secretary, H. H. Starkweather ; recording secretaries, John A. Sterry, Geo. H. Rogers, Chas. E. Dyer ; executive committee, J. Lloyd Greene, John L. Devotion, Benj. B. Whittemore, Amos W. Prentice, John W. Allen, H. H. Osgood, John A. Sterry. The meeting then listened to addresses, by which the flow of patriotic sentiment was kept up till a late hour, General Nye, of Nevada, being the chief speaker. Thus was started in Norwich the "League," which throughout the country held in unswerving alliance the loyal masses, and assured the government of the reliable support of the ablest of its citizens. It only imparted a new flavor to the interest and enthusiasm of this meeting, that another of a totally oppo- site character was in session at the same time in Breed Hall, where the advocates of a treacherous and dishonorable peace held forth, and boldly proclaimed that "it was time to sheathe the sword." The contrast, now that the two gatherings stand side by side in history, is one which has lost none of its suggestiveness ; the latter remains rather as one of those war pictures, in which men are presented in an attitude that now appears far from creditable to their good judgment or their patriotism. The figure such make in the history of our commonwealth is one that posterity, grateful to those who were loyal from the beginning to the
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THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
end of our conflict, might for their sakes wish altered. The Benedict Arnold school of men failed not during our war to make almost as unfortunate exhibit, as did their more noted progenitors in our earlier struggle for national independence.
The result of the draft in this District was as follows : -
Drafted men accepted 46
Substitutes accepted 346
Paid commutation 232
Exempted for various reasons
1,463
Failed to report
267
Total,
2,354
In Norwich, four hundred and thirty-five were drafted, including a fair proportion of our most prominent and pa- triotic citizens. On Laurel Hill, fifteen were drafted out of an enrollment of but twenty-one. Most of those drafted, however, either were exempted, or else paid commutation, or provided substitutes, so that very few of them were per- sonally held to service.
On October seventeenth, the President called for an an- ditional force of three hundred thousand men, to serve for three years, or the war. The Legislature had just added three hundred dollars to the large bounty offered by the National Government, making such inducements for volun- teering as were never held out by any nation before. The State was called on to furnish five thousand four hundred and thirty-two volunteers before the fifth day of January, or else be subjected to a draft for nearly twice that number. The quota of Norwich was two hundred and six. Our citi- zens now roused themselves to secure the requisite number of recruits, and going to work with a will, they soon found that their efforts could be made successful. In spite of a driving rain-storm, a war-meeting was held in Breed Hall,
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GREAT DISTRICT WAR-MEETING.
Tuesday morning, November seventeenth, which was fully attended. Hon. David Gallup, of Plainfield, was chosen chairman, who made a brief statement of the objects of the meeting, and urged the prompt and wise devising of meas- ures likely to insure the filling up of the quota of the dis- trict, which was eleven hundred and three. Hon. J. T. Wait then addressed the assembly with much earnestness, allud- ing to the fact, that " the exigencies of the case admitted of but two alternatives. Men must either come forward and enlist, or we must inevitably submit to a draft for double the number asked for by volunteering. When we consider our wealth and our teeming millions of population in compari- son with the resources of our fathers, we ought to humble ourselves in the dust, if we cannot come forward and fully respond to the demands of the country." H. H. Stark- weather favored a plan by which a uniform system of re- cruiting might be established in all the towns of the district. Hon. Augustus Brandagee spoke with great warmth, enu- merating what Connecticut had done hitherto, and urging increased energy and sacrifice, now that the power of the rebellion was evidently waning.
Governor Buckingham spoke of the industry and dili- gence that would be necessary in all parts of the State if we wished to raise the requisite number of men, and stated that on the previous day he had received authority from the War Department to organize a regiment of colored infantry. The meeting adjourned for an afternoon session in the Town Hall, where, after stirring addresses, a county committee was appointed, with Hon. J. T. Wait at its head, " whose duty it should be to call one or more district mass meetings, and to take such other means, as a district committee, as may raise volunteers to be credited to the district." Every inducement in the way of bounties by the general govern- ment, State, and town was offered to secure enlistments.
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THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
The United States bounty amounted to three hundred and two dollars, that of the State was three hundred, while a veteran recruit received an additional offer of one hundred dollars from the general government. This made the sol- diers' wages under this last call, equal to the best received in any branch of mechanical industry.
A second war-meeting for the county was held December ninth, in Breed Hall, and continued through the afternoon and evening - Governor Buckingham presiding. Thus far recruiting had met with indifferent success. There seemed to be no lack of determination as to vigorously prosecuting the war, but the men needed for military service could not now be so easily found. Norwich was beginning to experi- ence the effect of her prompt contributions of volunteers hitherto made, while those who had not as yet offered their services, could with difficulty be spared from the positions they occupied. The war spirit of the town, however, was only the more thoroughly awakened, when confronted with this state of things. The enthusiasm produced by the turn- ing victories of the war which had occurred in mid-summer, had not spent itself. All deemed it unwise to falter, now that the army of the Potomac had defeated Lee, and on the bloody field of Gettysburg proved its patient, indomitable prowess. General Grant's victory at Vicksburg, and the surrender of Port Hudson to General Banks' command, had put new heart and hope into the people, and made the pros- pects of final triumph sure. And yet, it will be recalled by many, how the work of recruiting dragged in the au- tumn days of this year of great Union victories. The novelty and romance of the war had disappeared. The people were impatient to have it ended, and in New Eng- land towns the best and most available material was already in the service.
There was a commendable zeal displayed to avoid another
SUCCESS OF THE RECRUITING COMMITTEES. 103
draft, and to raise the town's quota in the more honorable and satisfactory way.
The selectmen and recruiting committees were cordially supported by the citizens in their efforts to raise the required enlistments. The result was in the end most creditable to the patriotism of Norwich, for not only was its quota of two hundred and six men filled up, but fifty-four additional recruits were secured, to apply on any subsequent call which the necessities of the military service might make impera- tive. The cost to the town of these recruits was twenty- three thousand one hundred dollars ($23,100). At the town meeting, January twenty-sixth, 1864, to which this report was rendered, provision was made for the enlistment of yet additional men, the feeling being wellnigh unani- mous that Norwich must be kept in advance of her assigned quotas, and be thus prepared for any further demand for troops the authorities at Washington might make. At the close of the year 1863, Connecticut had furnished for the army in the field twenty-six thousand and twenty-eight (26,028) men. Of these, twenty thousand four hundred and twenty-six were for three years' service, or the war ; five thousand six hundred and two for nine months' service, and twenty-three hundred and forty for three months' service. Every demand on the State for troops had been responded to with alacrity, and there was a surplus to its credit over all calls thus far made. In this particular, Norwich main- tained her leading position, and her war-record up to this time reflected the highest honor upon those who had gone forth in her name.
The Governor, in his message to the legislature at its special session in the fall of this year, thus summed up the situation of public affairs : "There are reasons why we should entertain high hope for the future. The proof of the diminished resources and power of our enemies ; the reason-
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THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
able success which has followed the advance of our armies : the highly prosperous condition of our national finances, hitherto unparalleled in the history of any people engaged in a protracted war ; the more just appreciation of our struggle by enlightened foreign powers, and their greater readiness to acquiesce in our right to settle internal differ- ences without their intervention ; the recent clear manifes- tations of public sentiment against a peace, which shall recognize rights forfeited by perfidy and rebellion ; the conviction deepening in the minds of all classes of intelli- gent, philanthropic, and religious men, that we are not only gaining strength and permanency to our government, but that the treachery of its professed friends has become the divinely-appointed means of promoting the cause of humanity, and the universal triumph of right and jus- tice ; - all these indications unite in urging us to renewed exertions to sustain the government, and inspire us with universal hope and confidence that we shall yet witness the execution of righteous laws over a united people throughout our undivided territory." On the whole there had been a steady gain made through this year. The Union armies, in the East and West, had achieved some signal victories ; the popular elections during the fall were an overwhelming rebuke to the disloyal factions in the North, that had sought to embarrass the government. In our own State, Governor Buckingham had been reëlected by a vote decisive enough to silence the peace-party, which made the rallying cry of their campaign, " No more war." The soldiers in the field sent in their earnest and emphatic pro- tests against yielding the State to the control of those "for whom they could have only unmitigated scorn and con- tempt." It was apparent that public opinion had grown to the full stature of the proclamation of freedom, and had ac- cepted the fact that slavery must die, and the Union be
105
REBEL VIEWS OF THE SITUATION.
maintained by the stern overthrow of all the forcible resist- ance which had organized itself into this obstinate rebellion.
The " Richmond Examiner," of the date of December thirty-first, 1863, furnishes us the out-look presented to the rebels at this period. "To-day closes the gloomiest year of our struggle. No sanguine hope of intervention buoys up the spirit of the Confederate public as at the end of 1861. No brilliant victory like that of Fredericksburg en- courages us to look forward to a speedy and successful ter- mination of the war, as in the last weeks of 1862. .. .. The Confederacy has been cut in twain along the line of the Mississippi, and our enemies are steadily pushing forward their plans for bisecting the eastern moiety. No wonder, then, that the annual advent of the reign of mud is hailed by all classes with a sense of relief, - by those who think and feel aright, as a precious season to prepare for trying another fall with our potent adversary." While the rebels were thus quietly established in the welcome mud-state, the ever-memorable year departed, carrying with it, for us, the record, not only of splendid victories, but of the grand rati- fication, and support by the people, of the edict of eman- cipation. While our foes bewailed their condition, and sought to be penitent "for sins which had occasioned their disasters," the North stood erect, hopeful, the ban- ners of its advancing armies carrying, not only the su- premacy of law, but liberty to the bondsmen. With the suppression of rebellion, now felt by all to be a certain thing, was to disappear the last vestige of our national dis- grace - American slavery. For us the year left only noblest memories, and "the advent of the reign of mud " was turned to good account by our forces, as they awaited the opening of the next campaign, flushed with victory, and full of confidence.
The enrollment act, which had aroused so much opposi-
106
THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
tion, and furnished the grand theme for all disloyal orators throughout the North, was not unproductive of good results. According to the report of the Secretary of War, rendered to Congress in December, "the law has been enforced in twelve States, yielding fifty thousand soldiers, and ten mill- ions of dollars for procuring substitutes." As the result of the President's emancipation edict, "over fifty thousand colored men (in the Gulf Department), are now organized, and the number will rapidly increase as our armies advance. The freed slaves make good soldiers, are excellently dis- ciplined, and full of courage."
The President concluded his annual message to Congress in December, with these words : " Our chiefest care must still be directed to the army and navy, who have thus far borne their hard parts so nobly and so well. And it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms, we do also honorably recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom, more than to others, the world must be indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and perpetuated."
The nation joined with him in this deserved tribute to the men, whose courageous achievements had made the year one of progress, and had gathered about its close omens that put all in good heart, as they faced the duties and campaigns of the next (the fourth) year of the war.
VII. 1864.
" Work, patriots, for the Union, Till the hour of triumph comes ! When the lusty shouts of victory Mingle with rolls of drums ; Till the shadowy clouds of Treason Have floated fore'er away, And the sunrise beams of hope and peace Tell of a brighter day."
HOWELLS.
T HE year 1864 opened full of promise. Every indica- tion from the South pointed to a vigorous, desperate effort on the part of the rebel leaders to make amends for their recent disasters. The latter sought to bolster up their courage by anticipating the reduction of our armies, through the departure of veteran troops, whose term of service would soon expire. This idea was sedulously spread abroad by the rebel press, and it operated for a while as a stimulant of hope, and was one of the means employed to keep up the courage and confidence of the Southern people. The " Wil- mington Journal" expressed the belief of the Confederate generals, when saying, " there is a feeling abroad in the land, that the great crisis of the war, the turning point in our fate, is fast approaching." The measures introduced and the laws passed by the Confederate Congress indicated the extremity to which they were reduced.
In January of this year the Congress at Richmond
IOS
THE NORWICH MEMORIAL.
enacted a law, that cach person exempted from the draft should devote himself, and the labor he controlled, to the production of provisions and supplies. These last it re- quired to be contributed for the use of the army, and be- sides the tithes called for by law, an additional tenth of all the bacon and pork produced was demanded. The sale of all these supplies for the army and families of soldiers, was provided for at designated prices by their Congress.
Up to about this period, no attempt had been made to organize colored persons in regiments for military service. The conscription act had done much to abolish those bar- riers of caste which had hitherto stood in the way of the government's calling on this loyal element of our population to serve in the army. Yet, in May, 1863, when application was made to the Chief of Police in New York for escort and protection for the Fifty-fourth Regiment colored volun- teers of Massachusetts, in marching through Broadway, he responded, that they could not be protected from insult and probable assault. In less, however, than a year afterward, two New York Regiments of colored men, raised mainly through the efforts of the Loyal League, marched proudly down this same street amid the cheers of thousands of ap- plauding citizens, and of all who witnessed their departure, not one ventured the insult of even a hiss.
At the special session of the Connecticut Legislature in November, 1863, a bill was passed for the enlistment and organization of colored volunteers. Massachusetts and Rhode Island had already led off in this direction, and now our own somewhat cautious, conservative State followed. The bill was bitterly denounced " as the greatest monstros- ity ever introduced into Connecticut ; " as a provision " to let loose upon the helpless South a horde of African bar- barians." The adjectives, however, of these excited oppo- nents made little impression, and the bill passed in the
109
CALL FOR COLORED VOLUNTEERS.
lower House by a vote of one hundred and twenty to seventy-one ; in the Senate, by a vote of fifteen to five.
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