USA > Illinois > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county, Illinois ; together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons and biographies of representative citizens. History of Illinois Digest of state laws > Part 9
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IIISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
the Governor and his party were at Nauvoo at the time when intel- ligence of the fact was brought there; that they had been attacked by the Nauvoo Legion, and had retreated to a house where they were closely besieged; that the Governor had sent out word that he could maintain his position for two days, and would be certain to be massacred if assistance did not arrive by that time. It is unnecessary to say that this entire story was fabricated. It was put in circulation, as were many other stories, by the anti-Mormons, to influence the public mind and create a hatred for the Mormons. The effect of it, however, was that by 10 o'clock on the 28th, between two and three hundred men from Quincy, under command of Maj. Flood, went on board a steamboat for Nauvoo, to assist in raising the siege, as they honestly believed.
VARIOUS DEPREDATIONS.
It was thought by many, and indeed the circumstances seem to war- rant the conclusion, that the assassins of Smith had arranged that the murder should occur while the Governor was in Nauvoo; that the Mormons would naturally suppose he planned it, and in the first out- pouring of their indignation put him to death, as a means of retalia- tion. They thought that if they could have the Governor of the State assassinated by Mormons, the public excitement would be greatly increased against that people, and would cause their extermination, or at least their expulsion from the State. That it was a brutal and premeditated murder cannot be and is not denied at this day; but the desired effect of the murder was not attained, as the Mormons did not evacuate Nauvoo for two years afterward. In the meantime, the excitement and prejudice against this people were not allowed to die out. Horse-stealing was quite common, and every case that occurred was charged to the Mormons. That they were guilty of such thefts cannot be denied, but a great deal of this work done at that time was by organized bands of thieves, who knew they could carry on their nefarious business with more safety, as long as sus- picion could be placed upon the Mormons. In the summer and fall of 1845 were several occurrences of a nature to increase the irritation existing between the Mormons and their neighbors. A suit was instituted in the United States Circuit Court against one of the apostles, to recover a note, and a marshal sent to summons
ILLINOIS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY-FOUNDED 1858-DESTROYED 1871-REBUILT 1874.
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the defendant, who refused to be served with the process. Indig- nation meetings were held by the saints, and the marshal threat- ened for attempting to serve the writ. About this time, General Denning, sheriff, was assaulted by an anti-Mormon, whom he killed. Denning was friendly to the Mormons, and a great outburst of passion was occasioned among the friends of the dead man.
INCENDIARISM.
It was also discovered, in trying the rights of property at Lima, Adams county, that the Mormons had an institution connected with their church to secure their effects from execution. Incensed at this and other actions, the anti-Mormons of Lima and Green Plains, held a meeting to devise means for the expulsion of the Mormons from that part of the country. It was arranged that a number of their own party should fire on the building in which they were assembled, in such a manner as not to injure anyone, and then report that the Mormons had commenced the work of plunder and death. This plot was duly executed, and the startling intelligence soon called together a mob, which threatened the Mor- mons with fire and sword if they did not immediately leave. The Mormons refusing to depart, the mob at once executed their threats by burning 125 houses and forcing the inmates to flee for their lives. The sheriff of Hancock county, a prominent Mormon armed several hundred Mormons and scoured the country, in search of the incendiaries, but they had fled to neighboring counties, and he was unable either to bring them to battle or make any arrests. One man, however, was killed without provocation; another attempting to escape was shot and afterwards hacked and muti- lated; and Franklin A. Worrell, who had charge of the jail when the Smiths were killed, was shot by some unknown person con- cealed in a thicket. The anti-Mormons committed one murder. A party of them set fire to a pile of straw, near the barn of an old Mormon, nearly ninety years of age, and when he appeared to ex- tinguish the flames, he was shot and killed.
The anti-Mormons left their property exposed in their hurried retreat, after having burned the houses of the Mormons. Those who had been burned out sallied forth from Nauvoo and plundered the whole country, taking whatever they could carry or drive away. By order of the Governor, Gen. Hardin raised a force of 350 men, checked the Mormon ravages, and recalled the fugitive anti-Mormons home.
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HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
MAKING PREPARATION TO LEAVE.
At this time a convention, consisting of delegates from eight of the adjoining counties, assembled to concert measures for the expul- sion of the Mormons from the State. The Mormons seriously con- templated emmigration westward, believing the times forboded evil for them. Accordingly, during the winter of 1845-'46, the most stupendous preparations were made by the Mormons for removal. All the principal dwellings, and even the temple, were converted into work-shops, and before spring, 12,000 wagons were in readiness; and by the middle of February the leaders, with 2,000 of their followers, had crossed the Mississippi on the ice.
Before the spring of 1846 the majority of the Mormons had left Nauvoo, but still a large number remained.
THE BATTLE OF NAUVOO.
In September a writ was issued against several prominent Mor- mons, and placed in the hands of John Carlin, of Carthage, for execution. Carlin called out a posse to help make the arrest, which brought together quite a large force in the neighborhood of Nauvoo. Carlin, not being a military man, placed in command of the posse, first, Gen. Singleton, and afterward Col. Brockman, who proceeded to invest the city, erecting breastworks, and taking other means for defensive as well as offensive operations. What was then termed a battle next took place, resulting in the death of one Mormon and the wounding of several others, and loss to the anti-Mormons of three killed and four wounded. At last, through the intervention of an anti-Mormon committee of one hundred, from Quincy, the Mormons and their allies were induced to submit to such terms as the posse chose to dictate, which were that the Mormons should immediately give up their arms to the Quincy committee, and re- move from the State. The trustees of the church and five of their clerks were permitted to remain for the sale of Mormon property, and the posse were to march in unmolested, and leave a sufficient force to guarantee the performance of their stipulations. Accord- ingly, the constable's posse marched in with Brockman at their head. It consisted of about 800 armed men and 600 or 700 unarmed, who had assembled from all the country around, through motives of curiosity, to see the once proud city of Nauvoo hum- bled and delivered up to its enemies. They proceeded into the
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE FOR DEAF AND DUMB, AT JACKSONVILLE,
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city slowly and carefully, examining the way for fear of the explo- sion of a mine, many of which had been made by the Mormons, by burying kegs of powder in the ground, with a man stationed at a distance to pull a string communicating with the trigger of a percussion lock affixed to the keg. This kind of a contrivance was called by the Mormons " hell's half-acre." When the posse arrived in the city, the leaders of it erected themselves into a tri- bunal to decide who should be forced away and who remain. Parties were dispatched to hunt for fire-arms, and for Mormons, and to bring them to judgment. When brought, they received their doom from the mouth of Brockman, who sat a grim and unawed tyrant for the time. As a general rule, the Mormons were ordered to leave within an hour or two; and by rare grace some of them were allowed until next day, and in a few cases longer time was granted.
MALTREATMENT OF NEW CITIZENS.
Nothing was said in the treaty in regard to the new citizens, who had with the Mormons defended the city; but the posse no sooner had obtained possession than they commeneed expelling them. Some of them were ducked in the river, and were in one or two instances actually baptized in the name of some of the leaders of the mob; others were forcibly driven into the ferry-boats to be taken over the river before the bayonets of armed ruffians. Many of these new settlers were strangers in the country from various parts of the United States, who were attracted there by the low price of property; and they knew but little of previous difficulties or the merits of the quarrel. They saw with their own eyes that the Mormons were industriously preparing to go away, and they knew "of their own knowledge " that any effort to expel them by force was gratuitous and unnecessary cruelty. They had been trained, by the States whence they came, to abhor mobs and to obey the law, and they volunteered their services under executive authority to defend their town and their property against mob violence, and, as they honestly believed, from destruction; but in this they were partly mistaken; for although the mob leaders in the exercise of unbridled power were guilty of many injuries to the persons of individuals, although much personal property was stolen, yet they abstained from materially injuring houses and buildings.
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HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
THE MORMONS REACH SALT LAKE.
The fugitives proceeded westward, taking the road through Mis- souri, but were forcibly ejected from that State and compelled to move indirectly through Iowa. After innumerable hardships the advance guard reached the Missouri river at Council Bluffs, when a United States officer presented a requisition for 500 men to serve in the war with Mexico. Compliance with this order so di- minished their number of effective men, that the expedition was again delayed and the remainder, consisting mostly of old men, women and children, hastily prepared habitations for winter. Their rudely constructed tents were hardly completed before winter set in with great severity, the bleak prairies being incessantly swept by piercing winds. While here cholera, fever and other diseases, aggravated by the previous hardships, the want of comfortable quarters and medical treatment, hurried many of them to prema- ture graves, yet, under the influence of religious fervor and fanati- cismn, they looked death in the face with resignation and cheerful- ness, and even exhibited a gayety which manifested itself in music and dancing during the saddest hours of this sad winter.
At length welcome spring made its appearance, and by April they were again organized for the journey; a pioneer party, con- sisting of Brigham Young and 140 others, was sent in advance to locate a home for the colonists. On the 21 of July, 1847, a day memorable in Mormon annals, the vanguard reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake, having been directed thither, according to their accounts, by the hand of the Almighty. Here in a distant wil- derness, midway between the settlements of the East and the Pacific, and at that time a thousand miles from the utmost verge of civili- zation, they commenced preparations for founding a colony, which has since grown into a mighty empire.
MEXICAN WAR.
During the month of May, 1846, the President called for four regiments of volunteers from Illinois for the Mexican war. This was no sooner known in the State than nine regiments, numbering 8,370 men, answered the call, though only four of them, amounting to 3,720 men, could be taken. These regiments, as well as their officers, were everywhere foremost in the American ranks, and dis-
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tinguished themselves by their matchless valor in the bloodiest battles of the war. Veterans never fought more nobly and effect- ively than did the volunteers from Illinois. At the bloody battle of Buena Vista they crowned their lives-many their death-with the laurels of war. Never did armies contend more bravely, determinedly and stubbornly than the American and Mexican forces at this famous battle; and as Illinois troops were ever in the van and on the blood- iest portions of the field, we believe a short sketch of the part they took in the fierce contest is due them, and will be read with no lit- tle interest.
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA.
General Santa Anna, with his army of 20,000, poured into the valley of Aqua Nueva early on the morning of the 22d of February, hoping to surprise our army, consisting of about 5,000 men, under Gen. Taylor and which had retreated to the "Narrows." They were hotly pursued by the Mexicans who, before attacking, sent Gen. Taylor a flag of truce demanding a surrender, and assuring him that if he refused he would be cut to pieces; but the demand was promptly refused. At this the enemy opened fire, and the con- flict began. In honor of the day the watchword with our soldiers was, "The memory of Washington." An irregular fire was kept up all day, and at night both armies bivouacked on the field, resting on their arms. Santa Anna that night made a spirited address to his men, and the stirring strains of his own band till late in the night were distinctly heard by our troops; but at last silence fell over the hosts that were to contend unto death in that narrow pass on the morrow.
Early on the following morning the battle was resumed, and con- tinued without intermission until nightfall. The solid columns of the enemy were hurled against our forces all day long, but were met and held in check by the unerring fire of our musketry and ar- tillery. A portion of Gen. Lane's division was driven back by the enemy under Gen. Lombardini, who, joined by Gen. Pacheco's divis- ion, poured upon the main plateau in so formidable numbers as to appear irresistible.
BRAVERY OF THE SECOND ILLINOIS.
At this time the 2d Illinois, under Col. Bissell, with a squadron of cavalry and a few pieces of artillery came handsomely into action
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and gallantly received the concentrated fire of the enemy, which they returned with deliberate aim and terrible effect; every dis- charge of the artillery seemed to tear a bloody path through the heavy columns of enemy. Says a writer: "The rapid mus- ketry of the gallant troops from Illinois poured a storm of lead into their serried ranks, which literally strewed the ground with the dead and dying." But, notwithstanding his losses, the enemy steadily advanced until our gallant regiment received fire from three sides. Still they maintained their position for a time with unflinching firmness against that immense host. At length, per- ceiving the danger of being entirely surrounded, it was determined to fall back to a ravine. Col. Bissel, with the coolness of ordinary drill, ordered the signal " cease firing" to be made; he then with the same deliberation gave the command, "Face to the rear, Bat- talion, about face; forward march," which was executed with the regularity of veterans to a point beyond the peril of being out- flanked. Again, in obedience to command these brave men halted, faced about, and under a murderous tempest of bullets from the foc, resumed their well-directed fire. The conduct of no troops could have been more admirable; and, too, until that day they had never been under fire, when, within less than half an hour eighty of their comrades dropped by their sides. How different from the Arkansas regiment, which were ordered to the plateau, but after delivering their first volley gave way and dispersed.
SADDEST EVENT OF THE BATTLE.
But now we have to relate the saddest, and, for Illinois, the most mournful, event of that battle-worn day. We take the account from Colton's History of the battle of Buena Vista. "As the enemy on our left was moving in retreat along the head of the Plateau, our artillery was advanced until within range, and opened a heavy fire upon him, while Cols. Hardin, Bissell and McKee, with their Illinois and Kentucky troops, dashed gallantly forward in hot pur- suit. A powerful reserve of the Mexican army was then just emerging from the ravine, where it had been organized, and advanced on the plateau, opposite the head of the southernmost gorge. Those who were giving way rallied quickly upon it; when the whole force, thus increased to over 12,000 men, came forward in a perfect blaze of fire. It was a single column, composed of the best soldiers of the republic, having for its advanced battalions the
SCENE ON FOX RIVER.
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veteran regiments. The Kentucky and Illinois troops were soon obliged to give ground before it and seek the shelter of the second gorge. The enemy pressed on, arriving opposite the head of the second gorge. One-half of the column suddenly enveloped it, while the other half pressed on across the plateau, having for the moment nothing to resist them but the three guns in their front. The por- tion that was immediately opposed to the Kentucky and Illinois troops, ran down along each side of the gorge, in which they had sought shelter, and also circled around its head, leaving no possible way of escape for them except by its mouth, which opened upon the road. Its sides, which were steep,-at least an angle of 45 degrees,-were covered with loose pebbles and stones, and con- verged to a point at the bottom. Down there were our poor fel- lows, nearly three regiments of them (1st and 2d Illinois and 2d Kentucky), with but little opportunity to load or fire a gun, being hardly able to keep their feet. Above the whole edge of the gorge, all the way around, was darkened by the serried masses of the enemy, and was bristling with muskets directed on the crowd beneath. It was no time to pause. Those who were not immedi- ately shot down rushed on toward the road, their number growing less and less as they went, Kentuckians and Illinoisans, officers and men, all mixed up in confusion, and all pressing on over the loose pebbles and rolling stones of those shelving, precipitous banks, and having lines and lines of the enemy firing down from each side and rear as they went. Just then the enemy's cavalry, which had gone to the left of the reserve, had come over the spur that divides the month of the second gorge from that of the third, and were now closing up the only door through which there was the least shadow of a chance for their lives. Many of those ahead endeavored to force their way out, but few succeeded. The lancers were fully six to one, and their long weapons were already reeking with blood. It was at this time that those who were still back in that dreadful gorge heard, above the din of the musketry and the shouts of the enemy around them, the roar of Washington's Bat- tery. No music could have been more grateful to their ears. A moment only, and the whole opening, where the laneers were busy, rang with the repeated explosions of spherical-case shot. They gave way. The gate, as it were, was elear, and out upon the road a stream of our poor fellows issued. They ran panting down
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toward the battery, and directly under the fight of iron then pas- sing over their heads, into the retreating cavalry. Hardin, McKee, Clay, Willis, Zabriskie, Houghton-but why go on? It would be a sad task indeed to name over all who fell during this twenty minutes' slaughter. The whole gorge, from the plateau to its mouth, was strewed with our dead. All dead! No wounded there -not a man; for the infantry had rushed down the sides and com- pleted the work with the bayonet."
VICTORY FOR OUR ARMY.
The artillery on the plateau stubbornly maintained its position, The remnants of the 1st and 2d Illinois regiments, after issuing from the fated gorge, were formed and again brought into action, the former, after the fall of the noble Hardin, under Lieut. Col. Weatherford, the latter under Bissell. The enemy brought forth reinforcements and a brisk artillery duel was kept up; but gradually, as the shades of night began to cover the earth, the rattle of mus- ketry slackened, and when the pall of night was thrown over that bloody field it ceased altogether. Each army, after the fierce and long struggle, occupied much the same position as it did in the morning. However, early on the following morning, the glad tidings were heralded amidst our army that the enemy had retreated. thus again crowning the American banners with victory.
OTHER HONORED NAMES OF THIS WAR.
Other bright names from Illinois that shine as stars in this war are those of Shields, Baker, Harris and Coffee, which are indissolubly connected with the glorious capture of Vera Cruz and the not less famous storming of Cerro Gordo. In this latter action, when, after the valiant Gen. Shields had been placed hors de combat, the command of his force, consisting of three regiments, devoled upon Col. Baker. This officer, with his men, stormed with unheard-of prowess the last stronghold of the Mexicans, sweeping everything before them. Such indeed were the intrepid valor and daring courage exhibited by Illinois volunteers during the Mexican war that their deeds should live in the memory of their countrymen until those latest times when the very name of America shall have been forgotten.
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THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
On the fourth day of March, 1861, after the most exciting and momentous political campaign known in the history of this country, Abraham Lincoln-America's martyred President-was inaugu- rated Chief Magistrate of the United States. This fierce contest was principally sectional, and as the announcement was flashed over the telegraph wires that the Republican Presidential candidate had been elected, it was hailed by the South as a justifiable pretext for dissolving the Union. Said Jefferson Davis in a speech at Jackson, Miss., prior to the election, "If an abolitionist be chosen Presi- dent of the United States you will have presented to you the question whether you will permit the government to pass into the hands of your avowed and implacable enemies. Without pausing for an answer, I will state my own position to be that sneh a result would be a species of revolution by which the purpose of the Government would be destroyed, and the obser- vanees of its mere forms entitled to no respect. In that event, in such manner as should be most expedient, I should deem it your duty to provide for your safety outside of the Union." Said another Southern politician, when speaking on the same sub- jeet, " We shall fire the Southern heart, instruct the Southern mind, give courage to each, and at the proper moment, by one organized, concerted action, we can precipitate the Cotton States into a revolution." To disrupt the Union and form a government which recognized the absolute supremaey of the white population and the perpetual bondage of the black was what they deemed freedom from the galling yoke of a Republican administration.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN DID NOT SEEK THE PRESIDENCY.
Hon. R. W. Miles, of Knox county, sat on the floor by the side of Abraham Lincoln in the Library-room of the Capitol, in Spring- field, at the secret caucus meeting, held in January, 1859, when Mr. Lincoln's name was first spoken of in caneus as candidate for President. When a gentleman, in making a short speech, said, " We are going to bring Abraham Lincoln out as a candidate for President," Mr. Lincoln at once arose to his feet, and exclaimed, "For God's sake, let me alone! I have suffered enough!" This was soon after he had been defeated in the Legislature for United States Senate by Stephen A. Douglas, and only those who are
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intimate with that important and unparalleled contest can appre- ciate the full force and meaning of these expressive words of the martyred President. They were spontaneous, and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Abraham Lincoln did not seek the high posi- tion of President. Nor did he use any trickery or chicanery to obtain it. But his expressed wish was not to be complied with; our beloved country needed a savior and a martyr, and Fate had decreed that he should be the victim. After Mr. Lincoln was elected President, Mr. Miles sent him an eagle's quill, with which the chief magistrate wrote his first inaugural address. The letter written by Mr. Miles to the President, and sent with the quill, which was two feet in length, is such a jewel of eloquence and prophecy that it should be given a place in history :
HON. A. LINCOLN :
PERSIFER, December 21, 1860.
Dear Sir :- Please accept the eagle quill I promised you, by the hand of our Representative, A. A. Smith. The bird from whose wing the quill was taken, was shot by John F. Dillon, in Persifer township, Knox Co., Ills., in Feb., 1857 Hav- ing heard that James Buchanan was furnished with an eagle quill to write his Inaugural with, and believing that in 1860, a Republican would be elected to take his place, I determined to save this quill and present it to the fortunate man, who- ever he might be. Reports tell us that the bird which furnished Buchanan's quill was a captured bird,-fit emblem of the man that used it ; but the bird from which this quill was taken, yielded the quill only with his life,-fit emblem of the man who is expected to use it, for true Republicans believe that you would not think life worth the keeping after the surrender of principle. Great difficulties surround you ; traitors to their country have threatened your life ; and should you be called upon to surrender it at the post of duty, your memory will live for- ever in the heart of every freeman ; and that is a grander monument than can be built of brick or marble.
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