USA > Illinois > Jersey County > History of Jersey County, Illinois > Part 24
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Tolman and spend the night there, driving from Judge Tolman's home to Jacksonville the next day. When returning from Morgan County, he made it a point to spend the first night with Col. Charles H. Gregory at Whitehall, returning to his home on the day following. Thus, on these annual trips, he made it possible to have the opportunity of v! ing with and recalling reminiscences of their early life with his two pioneer friends.
In 1855 Chauncey Brown removed to Grafton, and in the fall of 1857, he purchased a farm and removed to Calhoun County, where he died in 1878, and was buried at Newbern Cemetery in Newbern Town- ship. Four of his daughters and one of his sons are still living, and two of them in Jerseyville, namely: Mrs. Delia Lurton, who is eighty- three years old ; and Mrs. Eliza M. Hamilton, the wife of the writer, who is aged seventy-six years. Mrs. Sarah H. Squier, another daughter, and formerly a resident of Jerseyville, is now living in Calhoun County, aged eighty-one years. The other living daughter of Chauncey Brown, is Mrs. Lucretia Buckstuhl of Louisville, Ky., who is seventy-eight years old, while the son, Thomas Brown, aged seventy-one years, lives in Louisiana. The children of Cyrus Tolman are all now deceased.
CONDITIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR
The institution of slavery was always a source of trouble between the free and slave-holding states. The latter were always troubled with the thought that the former would encroach upon their rights, and nothing could be done to shake this belief. Compromise measures were adopted from time to time to settle this vexed question, but the fears of the slaveholders were only allayed for a short time. Threats of secession were often made by the slaveholding states, but as soon as measures of a conciliatory character were passed, no further attempt was made to materialize their threats. Finally came the repeal of the Mis- souri compromise, and the adoption of a measure known as the Kansas- Nebraska bill.
The provisions of this bill opened certain territory to slavery, which under the former act was to be forever free. About the time of the passage of this act, the Whig party was in a state of dissolution, and the great body of that party, together with certain Democrats who were opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska bill, united, thus forming a new party to which was given the name Republican, having for its object the pre- vention of the further extension of slavery. The people of the south
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imagined they saw in this new party not only an effort to prevent the extension of slavery, but one that would eventually be used to destroy slavery in those states in which it already existed.
CAMPAIGN OF 1860
In 1860, four presidential tickets were in the field. Abraham Lin- coln was the candidate of the Republicans; Stephen A. Douglas of the National Democrats; John C. Breckenridge of the pro-slavery interests ; and John Bell of the Union party. The Union party was composed principally of those who had previously affiliated with the American or Know Nothing party. Early in the campaign there were thrcats of sccession and disunion in case of the election of Abraham Lincoln, but the people were so accustomed to southern bravado, that little heed was given by the North to what it was thought was only bluster.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina, by a convention of dele- gates, declared "that the Union now existing between South Carolina and the other states of North America is dissolved, and that the state of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the carth as a free, sovereign and independent state, with full power to levy war, and conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do."
On December 20, 1860, Governor Pickens issued a proclamation de- claring that "South Carolina is, and has a right to be, a free and independent state, and as such has a right to levy war, conclude peacc, and do all rights whatsoever that rightfully appertain to a free and independent state."
On December 26, 1860, Major Anderson evacuated Fort Moultrie and occupied Fort Sumter. Two days previously he wrote the Secre- tary of War, as follows :
"When I inform you that my garrison consists of only sixty effec- . tive men, and that we are in very indifferent works, the walls of which are only fourteen feet high, and that we have within 160 yards of our walls, sand hills which command our works, and which afford admirable sites for batteries and finest coverts for sharpshooters, and that besides this there are numerous houses, some of them within pistol shot, you will at once see that if attacked in force, headed by anyone but a simpleton, there is scarcely a possibility of our being able to hold out long enough for our friends to come to our succor."
His appeal for re-inforcements was seconded by General Scott, but
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were unheeded by President Buchanan, and entirely ignored by Secre- tary of War Floyd.
On December 28, 1860, South Carolina troops occupied Fort Moul- trie and Castle Pinckney, and hoisted the palmetto flag on the ramparts. On December 29, John B. Floyd resigned his place in Buchanan's cabi- net, charging that the President in refusing to remove Major Anderson from the Charleston harbor, designed to plunge the county into civil war, and added : "I cannot consent to be the agent of such a calamity." On the same day the South Carolina commissioners presented their of- ficial credentials at Washington, which, on the next day, were declined.
OTHER SECEDING STATES
On January 2, 1861, Georgia declared for secession, and Georgia state troops took possession of the United States Arsenal at Augusta and Forts Pulaski and Jackson.
Governor Ellis of North Carolina seized the forts at Beaufort and Wilmington, and the arsenal at Fayetteville. On the evening of Janu- ary 4, 1861, the Alabama and Mississippi delegations in Congress, tele- graphed the conventions of their respective states to secede, as there was no prospect of a satisfactory adjustment.
On January 7, 1861, the conventions of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee met in secession conclave. Secretary Thomas resigned his seat in the cabinet on January 9, on the ground that, contrary to promises, troops had been sent to Major Anderson. On the same day the Star of the West, carrying supplies and re-inforcements to Major Anderson, with her flag at her masthead, was fired into from Morris Island, and obeying instructions. turned homeward, leaving Fort Sumter and its gallant little band of heroes to the mercy of the rebels and traitors. On the same day, also, the ordinance of secession passed the Mississippi convention. Florida adopted an ordinance of secession on January 10, and Alabama on January 11. On the latter day, the rebels seized the arsenal at Baton Rouge, and Forts St. Philip and Jackson, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and Fort Pike at the entrance of Lake Pontchartrain. Pensacola Navy Yard and Fort Barrancas were surrendered to rebel troops by Colonel Armstrong on January 13. Lieu- tenant Slemmer, who had drawn his command from Fort McRea to Fort Pickens, defied Armstrong's orders and announced his intention to "hold the fort" at all hazards. The Georgia convention adopted an ordinance of secession on January 19. On the following day Lieutenant
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Slemmer was besieged by a thousand "allied troops" at Fort Pickens. Louisiana adopted an ordinance of secession on January 25. On Feb- ruary 1, the rebels seized the United States mint and customhouse at New Orleans.
A peace convention assembled at Washington on February 4. but adjourned without doing anything to quiet the disturbed elements.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERACY
On February 9, a provisional constitution was adopted at Mont- gomery, Ala., this being the constitution of the United States, "recon- structed" to suit their purpose. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen president; Alexander H. Stevens, of Georgia, vice president, of the Confederate States of North America. Jefferson Davis was in- augurated on February 18, and on February 25 it was learned that General Twigg, commanding the Department of Texas, had basely be- trayed his trust, and had surrendered all the military posts, ammuni- tion and arms to the Texas authorities.
INAUGURAL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated March 4, 1861, in front of the capitol at Washington, the ceremonies being witnessed by a vast con- , course of people. Before taking his oath, Mr. Lincoln pronounced in a clear, ringing voice, his inaugural address, to hear which there was an almost painful solicitude; the American people had awaited with irre- pressible interest. With that address and the administration of the oath of office, the people were assured, for all doubt, if any had previously existed, was removed. In the hands of Abraham Lincoln, the people's president, and himself of the people, the government was safe.
FALL OF SUMTER
Traitors were still busy plotting and planning, as they are today, when this country is again in the midst of a great war. Troops were being mustered in in all of the seceded states. On Friday, April 12, the surrender of Fort Sumter, with its garrison of sixty effective men, was demanded, and bravely refused by the gallant Robert Anderson, the heroic commander. Fire was at once opened on the almost helpless garrison by the Confederate forces, numbering several thousand. Re- sistance for any length of time was useless, and, at last, out of ammuni-
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tion, and scarred and scorched by flames from their burning quarters, the little band of heroic men were compelled to give up, and the na- tional colors were hauled down and were trailed in the dust, the dirt and mire not defiling them half as much as the Judas touch of those sworn to defend them. On Sunday, April 14, the news of the surrender was received in all of the principal cities of the Union. That was all, but it was enough. A day later, when the news was confirmed and spread throughout the country, the patriotic people were aroused from their dreams of the future, from undertakings half completed, and made to realize that, behind that mob, there was a dark, deep and well-organized purpose to destroy the government, rend the Union in twain, and out of the ruins erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would dare to question their right to hold in bondage the sons and daughters of men whose skins were black. The plans of the newly formed Confederacy, were doomed from their inception to sad and bitter failure, but it took years of the hardest of fighting, and the lives of some of the finest men to defeat these plans.
CALL FOR MILITIA
On Monday, April 15, President Lincoln issued the following procla- mation :
"Whereas, the laws of the United States have for some time past, and are now, opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the states of South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power vested in the marshals ; now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the constitution and the laws, have thought to call forth, and hereby do call forth the militia of the several states of the Union, to the number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed.
"The details for this subject will be immediately communicated to the state authorities through the war department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and to aid this effort to maintain the honor. the integrity and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long endured. I deem it proper to say that the first services assigned to the forces al- ready called forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union ; and in every event the
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utmost care will be observed, consistently with the object aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country ; and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this date.
"Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the powers in me vested by the constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. The senators and representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as in their wisdom the public safety and interest may seem to demand.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, on the fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States, the eighty-fifth.
"By the President,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
The last word of this proclamation had scarcely been taken from the electric wire before the call was filled. Men and money were counted by hundreds and thousands. The people who loved their whole country could not give enough. Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart, just as it does today. The farm, the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the college, the schoolhouse, every calling and profession offered the best men, their lives and their fortunes, in defense of the government's honor and unity. Party lines. were for a time ignored. Bitter words, spoken in moments of political heat, were forgotten and forgiven, and joining hands in a common cause, they repeated the oath of America's soldier statesman: "By the great Eternal, the Union must and shall be preserved."
FURTHER SACRIFICES
Seventy-five thousand men were not enough to subdue the rebellion, nor were ten times that number. The war went on, and call followed
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call until it seemed as if there were not men enough in all the free states to crush the rebellion. But to every call for either men or money, there was a willing and ready response. The gauntlet thrown down by the plotters of the South, was accepted; not, however, in the spirit with which insolence meets insolence, but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the President was plain under the constitution and laws, and, above and beyond all, the people, from whom all political power is derived, stood ready to sustain the authority of their representative and executive officers to the utmost extremity.
JERSEY COUNTY SENTIMENT
Settled as Jersey County was by many from the Southern states, it is in no wise derogatory to her that in the breasts of many of her citi- zens beat hearts in sympathy with the cause of the Southern confederacy, and that a feeling of ill will should prevail against the radical aboli- tionists. But to their honor be it said that many of these, who looked upon the movement of the South as being actuated by just motives, with a nobler patriotism, sank all sectional and political feelings in their devotion to the cause of the Union, and the "star-gemmed flag" of their country. Many of the citizens of the County of Jersey, and among them many of the most influential and respected ones, used every honorable means to defeat the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency, deeming that his defeat would be for the best interests of the country. But others worked equally hard to elevate the favorite son of Illinois to the executive seat, although a no less distinguished citizen of Illinois was one of his opponents. The vote in November, 1860, best shows the number of those who favored the election of Lincoln, who favored his opponents : for Lincoln, 910 votes ; for Douglas, 1,291; for Breckenridge, 11; and for Bell, 105. In the minds of all it seemed impossible that the South would secede, and that this glorious republic would be disrupted, the majority thinking that when the excitement of the political cam- paign had passed away, peace and prosperity would continue. But when the sad news of Anderson's surrender was made known through- out the land, no greater indignation at the outrage to our flag, was be- trayed anywhere than in Jersey County. Political rancor was hushed, partizan feeling was swept away, and pure patriotism animated the whole people.
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JERSEY COUNTY'S QUOTA
All throughout the long years that the dark cloud of war covered the country, the enlistment of men, the forming of new companies, the con- stant stir and excitement was kept up, and men, young, middleaged and old, pressed to the front. Many brave and gallant sons of Jersey County represented her in the ranks of the "blue-coated national defenders," men who stood in the red front of lurid battle, and always took a promi- nent part. Numbers of them laid down their lives on the altar of their country, and their bones enrich the soil of nearly every Southern state. From the Potomac to the Rio Grande, from Albemarle Sound to the Rocky Mountains, have their drums beat, and the ground re-echoed to their tread, and no more heroic soldiers led the van in many a stricken field than did the representatives from this section of the state.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE WOMEN
While the men were away on the tented field, the patriotic women at home were not idle. Although it was impossible to get the county to do anything in an official way for the relief of soldiers' families, many, as private citizens, thought it not only a duty, but a blessed privilege to render all the aid in their power. During the entire four years of war, we think but little actual suffering was experienced by any at home on account of the absence of their natural protectors, who were serving their country. Fairs and festivals were held for the pur- pose of obtaining sanitary supplies for those in the field, and Soldiers' Aid Societies were constantly investigating and relieving the wants of the needy at home, and in these movements then, as today, the women bore a leading part.
ROSTER OF JERSEY COUNTY
The following is a complete roster of the citizens of Jersey County who, in that trying hour of a nation's need, left wife, children and comfortable homes, and, shouldering the musket, went to the front in discharge of the patriot's duty. This roster is compiled from the Ad- jutant General's report, and other official and authentic sources. If there are any inaccuracies in spelling names, or omissions, the his- torian hopes they will be pardoned, as the rolls have been followed as nearly as possible, and no one has a higher appreciation of the "boys in blue," than the writer of these annals.
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SEVENTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Company F of the Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry had the fol- lowing Jersey County men: G. W. Bickner, William R. Elliott, J. H. Becker, Christopher Camp, George James, H. W. Phillips, and William James.
NINTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Jersey County had only one man in the Ninth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, and he was Charles Harris of Company A.
TWELFTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
George Yates of Company E, and Alexander Hamilton of Company I, represented Jersey County in the Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
FOURTEENTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
The regiment known as the Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry was organized for thirty days under what is known as the "Ten Regi- ment Bill," and was mustered into the state service at Jacksonville, where it rendezvoused on May 4, 1861. On May 25 of the same month it was mustered into the service of the United States, for three years, by Captain Pitcher, of the regular army.
The regiment remained at Camp Duncan, Jacksonville, Ill., until the latter part of June, 1861, under instruction in drill and other duties, contingent upon the life of a soldier, but upon the date above, they proceeded to Quincy, Ill., and upon July 5, were transferred to Mis- souri. The officers at this time were as follows: John M. Palmer, colonel ; Amory K. Johnson, lieutenant colonel ; Jonathan Morris, major ; and Robert P. McKnight, adjutant.
This regiment did some guard duty in Missouri, in connection with the Sixteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. On July 16, the regiment marched with other troops, under the command of Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, to Honeyville, Mo., in pursuit of the column under Gen. Martin E. Green, and arrived at that town on September 1, dispersing the forces of the enemy, capturing James Green, who had lately been a United States senator, and was a strong fomenter of secession and re- bellion. The regiment then proceeded to Rolla, where it remained but a short time, moving thence to Jefferson City, Mo., there joining with the forces under Gen. John C. Fremont, and participated in the memorable
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campaign against General Priee. Upon the conclusion of that cam- paign, the Fourteenth returned and wintered at Otterville, Mo.
In February, 1862, the regiment was ordered to join the forces under General Grant, at Donelson, but arrived at that place one day too late to participate in the engagement. Here it was brigaded with the Fifteenth and Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and the Twenty- fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under the name of the Second Brigade, and was assigned to the Fourth Division, under the command of Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, of this state. In the meantime Colonel Palmer, having been promoted to the rank of brigadier general, and Lieutenant Colonel Amory K. Johnson, having been made eolonel of the Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Maj. Cyrus Hall, of the Seventh Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, was appointed eolonel of the Fourteenth.
From Fort Donelson, the regiment proceeded to Fort Henry, where it embarked and was transported by steamboats up the Tennessee River to Pittsburgh Landing. Here, early in the morning of April 6, 1862, the regiment was called into line and marched half a mile to the front, where it met the enemy under General Prentiss. It was assigned a position on the left of the line, in Peach Orchard. The enemy imme- diately attacked it, but were repulsed; and it held its position from eight o'clock A. M. to three o'elock P. M., only then retiring under orders from Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, commanding the old fighting Fourth Division.
On the morning of the seventh, it held a position on the right of the line, and was hotly engaged until the battle closed and the victory was won. . During those two, long trying, bloody days, the regiment behaved nobly and was never broken or was driven back by the enemy, although often most heavily pressed, and this was the first time the regiment had been under fire. They sustained a loss of nearly one-half of the command present, and their eolors, which came out of the conflict with forty-two bullet holes through them, fully attest the fierceness of the eombat and the gallantry of the men in that memorable struggle. All the historians of this fearfully contested field highly compliment this noble band of heroes, who that day distinguished themselves in a most ter- rible sacrifice. In the grand charge on the seventh which was the con- summation of that splendid victory wrested from the arms of defeat. the Fourteenth Illinois was in the advance, and was led by Colonel Hall. In the official report of General Veach, commander of the brigade, he used the following words in speaking of this favorite body of men : "Colonel Hall, of the Fourteenth Illinois. led with his regiment that
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gallant charge of Monday evening, which drove the enemy beyond our lines and closed the struggle of that memorable day."
The regiment, also, took an active part in the siege of Corinth. during the month of May, 1862, and after the evacuation of that place by General Bragg, they went to Memphis, Tenn., and thence to Bolivar.
On October 4, 1862, the gallant Fourth Division, under General Hurlbut, was ordered to proceed to Corinth, as a forlorn hope, to relieve the beleaguered garrison of that place, but Rosecrans, before Corinthi was reached, had already severely punished the enemy, and the "forlorn hope" met its adversary at the village of Metamora, on the River Hatchie. After eight hours hard fighting, a glorious victory was gained, in which the Fourteenth Illinois sustained most nobly the reputation gained at Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing. The regiment constituted a part of the right wing of Grant's army in the march into northern Mississippi, through Holly Springs, to Yocena Patalfa, under the imme- diate command of General McPherson. General Van Dorn, of the Con- federate army, having captured Holly Springs, with its large amount of army stores, and Gen. W. T. Sherman being unable to effect a dislodgement of the enemy from Vicksburg, Grant's army was compelled to retreat, and January 18, 1863, the Fourteenth Illinois Regiment went into winter quarters at LaFayette, Tenn.
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