USA > Illinois > Illinois, historical and statistical, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state, Vol. II > Part 20
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Gov. Yates had said, "we must not let our brave boys think that they are forgotten, but follow them in their many marches, with such things as they need for their comfort, which the gov- ernment can not supply, and with messages of love and encour- agement from home, wherever they go and at whatever cost."
To carry out this purpose involved the outlay of immense sums and the labor of many patriotic hands. In order that the work might be properly systematized and intelligently directed, the governor determined to establish a State sanitary bureau and appointed Col. John Williams, state commissary-general, its chief. A board of directors was appointed, consisting of Col. John
757
SANITARY COMMISSIONS.
Williams, William Butler, John P. Reynolds, Robert Irwin, and E. B. Hawley; Col. John R. Woods acted as secretary. State agents, for the purpose of dispensing relief and distributing supplies, were appointed at the places named as follows: C. T. Chase and Capt. C. W. Webster at Cairo, J. C. McCoy and A. A. Dunseth at Louisville, Col. Thomas P. Robb at Memphis, Edward I. Eno at Nashville, Dr. J. Weeks and M. E. Worrall at Chattanooga, E. C. Hackett at Duvalls Bluffs, Maj. John H. Woods at St. Louis, and E. Ransom in the home field.
So efficient and popular had been the work of these officers, that the legislature of 1865 passed a law authorizing the gov- ernor to appoint "military state agents" and providing for their compensation. Under this law, with the rank of colonel, were appointed: Walter D. B. Morrill, Selah W. King, Jackson M. Sheets, Thomas P. Robb, B. F. Bumgardner, Harry D. Cook, John H. Wickiser, Owen M. Long, M.D., and Newton Craw- ford, all of whom performed arduous and efficient services.
Auxiliary sanitary associations and soldiers aid-societies were formed, and fairs held in aid of the work in nearly every county in the State, the citizens responding with great liberality to all of the many calls made upon them.
The labors of the state commission were of incalculable value. It formed the connecting link between the needy, suffering soldier and those dear to him at home. In his privations it brought solace and not infrequently its ministrations called him back to life from the brink of the grave. Thousands were saved to their families and country through this instrumentality, who but for the assistance thus rendered would have been sacrificed. They, wasted and bleeding from wounds, were met returning by warm hearts and restored to home and health. Those incapacitated for service were furloughed or discharged and sent home to their families and friends. Their papers were properly made out and their pay collected and sent to them-over $300,000 passing in this way through the hands of the commission. They were lodged on their way in Soldiers' homes and were supplied with meals, rations, and clothing, and furnished with transpor- tation when able to travel.
The United-States sanitary commission, organized April 25, 1861, with Rev. Henry W. Bellows of New York at its head,
758
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
embraced in its field of operations the entire army. The Chi- cago commission was organized Oct. 17, 1861. Its principal officers and self-sacrificing and indefatigable managers were Isaac Newton Arnold, Mark Skinner, Ezra Butler McCagg, William Hubbard Brown, Dr. Ralph N. Isham, E. W. Blatch- ford, John W. Foster, James Ward, Cyrus Bentley, Benjamin Wright Raymond, Ira G. Munn, Wesley Munger, Jabez Kent Botsford, James B. Bradwell, Charles Goodrich Hammond, and Thomas Butler Bryan. The service rendered by these societies and kindred organizations was second only to that of our im- mense armies, which they supplemented.
Soldiers' homes and relief associations and hospitals were established, and agents appointed. Immense sums of money and large quantities of supplies were collected, partly by direct contribution and partly through sanitary fairs and other agencies -the total aggregating $1,056,192, of which $411,027 was in cash. This enormous fund was administered with rigid econ- omy and scrupulous fidelity, being applied, almost in its entirety, to the relief of sick and wounded soldiers.
In this great work the women of the State were not found wanting, and its success was in no small degree due to their unwearying devotion and noble self-sacrifice. Among those prominently identified with the movement in Chicago and who lent it invaluable aid were Mesdames Daniel P. Livermore, Abram H. Hoge, Henry Sayrs, Jeremiah Porter, Oliver E. Hos- mer, Christopher C. Webster, E. W. Blatchford, - Sloan, Beaubien, Myra Bradwell, C. P. Dickinson, Misses Culver, Elizabeth Hawley, Elizabeth Blakie, and Jeanie E. Mc Laren. Through their efforts, in addition to other work for the commission, a female-nurse association was formed, the object of which was to furnish to military hospitals trained nurses. At the head of this department were Mrs. Mary Bickerdyke, Mrs. - Edgerton, Miss Jane A. Babcock, Miss Mary E. M. Foster, and Mrs. D. M. Brundage.
In 1863, was also formed, in Chicago, the Ladies Relief Society to care for the families of soldiers. It was managed by Mesdames Abram H. Hoge, Edward I. Tinkham, C. A .. Lamb, and Henry D. Smith.
Another association of the "stay-at-homes" was the Christian
759
UNION LEAGUE OF AMERICA.
Commission, at the head of which, in Chicago, were John V. Farwell, Tuthill King, Benjamin F. Jacobs, Dwight L. Moody, Samuel P. Farrington, Jas. L. Reynolds, and Phineas L. Under- wood. Through this branch, $139,019 in cash, stores, and publications, were distributed. The branch at Peoria distrib- uted $54,863, and that at Springfield, $33,756.
But the efforts of patriotic citizens to mitigate the horrors of war and alleviate distressed soldiers were not confined to any one city or town. In every county either branch associations existed or fairs were held, and loyal men and women gave from their own home store-house the best they had, and all that could be spared to minister to the wants of their husbands and fathers, their sons, brothers, and neighbors in the field. It was a day of willing sacrifices and hearty offerings upon the altar of their country's liberty and unity.
The "stay - at - homes," in addition to the societies above named, formed another organization totally dissimilar to these in its aims and methods, but which wielded a mighty influence for good in its own chosen field. It was the secret political order known as the Union League of America, and had for its object countervailing results against the efforts of the secret orders of southern sympathizers. It came into existence in the summer of 1862, in Tazewell County, and rapidly spread over this and other states, attaining the proportions of a national organization within a year. In 1864, it embraced 1300 councils and had a membership of 175,000. Col. George H. Harlow, afterward secretary of state, was one of its chief promoters, and for many years grand secretary of the Illinois council. The order still exists, though in a modified form.
The favorable influence of the loyal press has already been adverted to and can not be too strongly emphasized. Many of those who have since become distinguished as editors and writers, gained their first laurels as war correspondents of leading daily papers. Among those in this State, who attained a well-earned reputation as being one of the ablest, was Joseph K. C. Forrest. He was a great friend of Gov. Yates, who honored him by appointing him a member of his staff with the rank of colonel. He was the leading Springfield correspondent during the war and subsequently followed the ex-governor, now
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
senator, to Washington. He is an entertaining and brilliant writer, and, at the age of seventy, still resides in Chicago and wields the pen with undiminished power.
The universally conceded influence of Song upon public senti- ment first found recognition in the historic saying of Andrew Fletcher, of Saltoun, two centuries ago, "give me the making of the ballads and I care not who makes the laws of a nation".
In no single direction, perhaps, were the contributions of Illinoisans to the success of the war more powerful and con- spicuous than in that of the songs of the war furnished by two of her citizens. "The Battle-Cry of Freedom," "Just Before the Battle, Mother," and "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching," were composed by George F. Root, who at the age of seventy is still an esteemed and influential citizen of Chi- cago. "Marching Through Georgia," "Kingdom Coming," and "Brave Boys are They," were the inspired strains of Henry Clay Work, who at the time and for many years afterward was also a resident of Chicago.
A confederate general, a few days after the surrender of Lee, on hearing these and other songs for the first time, sung by a Union quartette, exclaimed, "Gentlemen, if we'd had your songs, we'd have licked you out of your boots. Who couldn't have marched or fought with such songs?" Another one re- marked: "I shall never forget the first time I heard 'Rally Round the Flag.' T'was a nasty night during the 'Seven-days Fight,' I was on picket, when just before taps, some fellow on the other side struck up that song and others joined in the chorus. Tom B. sung out, 'Good heavens, Cap., what are those fellows made of? Here we've licked them six days running, and now on the eve of the seventh they're singing 'Rally Round the Flag.' I tell you that song sounded to me like the 'knell of doom' and my heart went down into my boots, and it has been an up-hill fight with me ever since that night."*
It is stated that after the battle of Stone's River a great many officers had become discouraged and being opposed to the proclamation of emancipation, tendered their resignations. A few days afterward a glee-club visited them from Chicago and they heard the new song "The Battle-Cry of Freedom,"
* Century Magazine, XXXV, 478.
SONGS OF THE WAR. 761
and the effect was little short of miraculous. It rang through the camp like wildfire, inspiring fresh courage and hope and enthusiasm. Day and night, from every tent in lusty harmony might be heard the chorus:
"The Union forever, hurrah! boys, hurrah! Down with the traitor, up with the Stars; While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom."
And thus through these songs, simple in melody but powerful in their appeal to the patriotic soul, the voice of Illinois was heard in every camp throughout the army -in the swamps of Virginia, on the sand-hills of Arkansas, along the bayous of the delta of the Mississippi, upon the mountains of Tennessee and Georgia,-recalling to the minds of the boys in blue, the prin- ciples which they were risking their lives to maintain, reanimat- ing their drooping spirits in the hour of defeat and inciting their loyal hearts to new acts of valor. They not only brought fresh cheer to the troops on tented fields, but stirred the patriotism and nerved the loyal heart at home. At every Union meeting, whether it was to recruit the army, to organize fresh bodies of troops, to raise funds for war purposes, or arouse enthusiasm at political meetings, that song and others, especially "Marching Through Georgia," and "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching," were sung by the entire audience, with electrical effect. Nor in these later days when the Angel of Peace spreads her wings over a reunited country has the echo of these Songs yet died away. As long as the Union shall endure, these cherished melodies will be sung around the "camp - fires" of veterans, in the family circle, and on national holidays; not in vindictive memory but rather in a spirit of loyal enthusiasm and of thanksgiving to the Power which has made us one people.
Thus in brief has been given a glance only at the part borne by Illinois in the great war of the rebellion.
The author is indebted to Hon. Lucien B. Crooker, of Mendota, author of "The Story of the 55th Illinois," for his assistance and many valuable suggestions in the preparation of the tables of losses in this chapter
49
CHAPTER XL.
Gov. Oglesby's Administration - [Continued ] - Changed Aspect of Politics-Reconstruction-Conventions and Elections of 1866-Twenty- fifth General Assembly- Re-election of United-States Senator Trumbull-Laws - New State-House-Political Conventions, Nomina- tions, and Elections of 1868-State Debt, Receipts, and Expenditures.
W TITH the close of the war and the incoming of a new national administration, with Vice-President Andrew Johnson at its head, new questions and political problems of grave import presented themselves. It very early became ap- parent that upon the questions growing out of the restoration of the states lately in rebellion to their forfeited place in the Union, and establishing the status of the newly-emancipated slaves, there was a radical divergence of opinions between the new executive and the great majority of the party whose suffrages had rendered possible his accidental elevation to the presidential chair.
The public utterances of President Johnson upon assuming the seat made vacant by the bullet of the assassin, were of such a character as to induce some leading, conservative repub- licans to fear that the catholic charity of the martyred Lincoln was to be replaced by a spirit of vindictive rancor. Johnson was loud voiced in his declaration that "traitors must be hanged and treason made odious," and offered a reward of $100,000 for the apprehension of Jefferson Davis and of $25,000 each for the arrest of other noted confederate leaders, and fears were expressed at the North that in the treatment of the late insur- gents, justice might be supplanted by revenge. Not many months passed, however, before all dread of the possibility of such a catastrophe was effectually dissipated. On May 29, 1865, the president issued a proclamation of amnesty and par- don, and during the two months succeeding, the wheels of civil government were set in motion in the seceded states by the
762
ORLIN H. MINER
SAMUEL W. MOULTON
WM. BROSS
ISHAM N.HAY NIE
JAMES C.CONKLIN
ERGU'S PTĘ CO
OR
EAST NY LIBRA
763 -
PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S POLICY.
appointment of provisional governors. These governments were controlled by men who for four years had devoted all their energies to the destruction of the Union, and openly avowed that their only regret was the failure of the cause which they had espoused. Their hatred of the national government was equalled in intensity only by their devotion to the memory of the defunct confederacy. The arbitrament of arms had not altered their convictions, and their every act was inspired by a determination to accomplish, by indirect means, at least a por- tion of those results which they had failed to achieve by the sword. With their consent, if not at their instigation, the "old flag" was openly and repeatedly insulted. Although the thir- teenth amendment to the constitution was formally ratified, state legislation was so shaped as virtually to deprive the freed- men of all the benefits of liberty. Unrepentant leaders of the rebellion appeared as claimants of seats in the halls of congress and arrogantly demanded the repeal of the test oath.
Such were the fruits of the presidential policy with which congress found itself confronted when called upon to grapple with the perplexing problems of reconstruction. Vastly differ- ent from the views of Johnson were the sentiments of the majority of both houses of the national legislature. What was at first a difference of opinion soon widened into an irreparable breach, and the rupture between the executive and legislative branches of the government was well nigh completed by the presidential vetoes of the measures popularly known as the Freedmen's-Bureau bill and the Civil-Rights bill of which Lyman Trumbull was the author. The open and uncompromising warfare between the president and congress that followed formed one of the most exciting eras of American political history. The president favored the immediate readmission of the states with full representation in congress, while the latter body contended that the lately - revolted states should not be admitted to a participation in the government of the country without first providing such constitutional guarantees as would secure the civil rights of all citizens of the republic, insure a just equality of representation, protection against claims founded in the rebellion, and the exclusion from positions of public trust of certain leading confederates. The attitude of the administra-
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
tion, supported as it was by the entire democratic party and press, inflamed partisan resentment to fever-heat. The country was fairly ablaze with excitement and constitutional lawyers were as plentiful as voters. The fourteenth amendment to the constitution having been rejected by the states lately in rebel- lion, congress evolved a new plan for reconstruction, which was engrafted upon the national statute-book, despite the president's veto, and the conflict between privilege and prerogative con- tinued until its culmination was reached in the world-famous impeachment of the chief magistrate, and the failure of the managers on the part of the house to secure the constitutional majority in the senate.
The republican state-convention met at Springfield, on Aug. 8, 1866, and was presided over by General Green B. Raum, James P. Root acting as the principal secretary. Gen. John A. Logan was nominated for congressman at large; Newton Bate- man, the then incumbent, was renominated by acclamation for superintendent of public instruction, and Gen. George W. Smith of Chicago, who had served as an officer with great gallantry and distinction in the 88th-Board of Trade-regi- ment, was selected for the state treasurership on the second ballot.
The platform adopted endorsed the congressional policy of reconstruction as in contradistinction to that of the president; approved the 13th amendment to the constitution; denied the right of the executive to encroach upon, or even to interfere with, the constitutional power vested in a coordinate branch of the government; endorsed the congressional test-oath; ex- pressed "unfeigned and heartfelt thanks to the soldiers and sailors for the achievements and triumphs which forever im- mortalize them and the Nation whose government they saved;" paid a tribute to the memory of the martyred Lincoln; and favored shorter hours of labor for the workingman.
The democratic state-convention assembled at Springfield, August 29, over which Gen. John A. McClernand presided. Col. T. Lyle Dickey was nominated for congressman at large on the second ballot; Gen. Jesse J. Phillips for state treasurer by acclamation, and Col. John M. Crebs for state superintend- ent of public instruction. This was essentially a soldier's ticket,
765
POLITICAL ISSUES OF 1866.
being made up of officers who had performed gallant services in the late war. The platform adopted contained planks favor- ing the reduction of hours of labor, as had that of the republi- cans; declaring sympathy with Ireland; and reaffirming alle- giance to the Monroe doctrine. The points as to which an issue was raised between the two parties were indicated in the resolu- tions which pronounced in favor of the taxation of all property, including United-States bonds, and of the substitution of green- backs for national-bank notes as a medium of circulation.
A "national union" convention of the supporters of President Johnson having been held at Philadelphia, August 17, the plat- form of that body on the subject of reconstruction was adopted. They declared that "slavery was abolished and forever pro- hibited," and that the enfranchised slaves should receive, in common with all other inhabitants, equal protection in every right of person and property; that the debt of the Nation was sacred and inviolable; recognized the services of the federal soldiers; and endorsed President Johnson and the policy of his administration.
On the issues thus raised joint-discussions were held by can- didates for congress in nearly every congressional district; notably between Gen. Raum and W. J. Allen, in the thirteenth; H. P. H. Bromwell and Gen. J. C. Black in the seventh; and between S. M. Cullom and Dr. Edwin S. Fowler in the eighth; while Gen. Logan and Col. Dickey met each other at Carbon- dale, McComb, and Decatur, at each of which places large crowds gathered to hear the debate. The republicans carried the State by an increased majority-that of Logan being 55,- 987. They elected 1I out of 14 congressmen and secured the legislature by an overwhelming majority-the senate standing 16 republicans to 9 democrats, and the house, 60 republicans to 25 democrats. It was apparent, however, that the returned soldiers had divided their vote very nearly impartially between the two parties.
There were three sessions of the twenty-fifth general assem- bly; the first from Jan. 7, to Feb. 28, 1867; the second from June II, to June 13; and the third, from June 14, to June 28.
Gen. A. C. Fuller had been transferred from the house to the senate, as had Daniel J. Pinckney; and with them appeared in
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
that body for the first time, Thomas A. Boyd, Greenberry L. Fort, Daniel W. Munn, and William Shepard.
To the house but 18 former members had been returned. Among these were Hugh Gregg, Wm. K. Murphy, Jas. C. Conk- ling, Jas. M. Epler, Malden Jones, T. C. Moore, Elmer Baldwin, Franklin Corwin, Stephen A. Hurlbut, E. B. Payne, and H. C. Childs. Among the new names on the roll were those of Erastus N. Bates, Robert P. Hanna, John H. Yeager, J. F. Alexander, James M. True, Edwin Harlan, J. B. Ricks, H. C. Withers, Robert M. Knapp, J. G. Fonda, Wm. M. Smith, Henry S. Greene, A. B. Bunn, Wm. Strawn, James Dinsmore, Joseph M. Bailey, Henry M. Shepard, Edward S. Taylor, Lester L. Bond, Joseph S. Reynolds, and Horace M. Singer.
The house was organized by the election of Franklin Corwin of LaSalle, speaker, who received 58 votes to 24 cast for New- ton R. Casey. Stephen G. Paddock was elected clerk of the house and Charles E. Lippincott secretary of the senate.
The governor's message was read to both houses on January 7. He congratulated the people upon the cessation of war and referred to the death of the president in the following well- chosen words: "Prompt to war, we were overjoyed at the return of peace. Our noble soldiers who sought the field and defied the conflict-who stood at the helm until the tempest subsided - have returned to all the employments of peaceful life, so naturally, and so rapidly, that but for the mangled forms of those we meet every day, and the noble and honored dead, who sleep behind, the dark hours of the four mad years would scarcely sadden us.
"Inspired by solemn duty and unalloyed respect for his high character as a citizen and statesman, I but respond to a natural and just expectation in recalling your thoughts to the death of Abraham Lincoln, the late president of the United States. In the maturity of life, at the moment of greatest usefulness to his country, when the gilded rays of the morning of peace were just beginning to dawn upon our distracted country, and the first impressions of joy to throb in his great heart over the august results of our own great struggle, and his own herculean efforts, for the peace, the security, and the perpetuity of the Union, he fell by the hand of a remorseless assassin. Our State
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RE-ELECTION OF SENATOR TRUMBULL.
was his loved home and here he sleeps in death. Illinois, justly proud of his imperishable fame, can not regret that he belonged to our whole county, and by our whole country shall be forever honored and mourned."
He exhibited a detailed statement of the public debt and of the receipts and expenditures of the State government; referred to the State census taken in 1865, which, although incomplete, showed a decided increase of products and manufacturing, as compared with 1860, and a marked growth in population, which was given as 2,141,510; referred to the condition of the state institutions; and recommended a revision of the State constitution.
The first work of the legislature, after effecting the organiza- tion of the two houses, was the election of a successor to Judge Trumbull whose term as United-States senator was to expire on March 4. Considerable hostility to Trumbull's reelection was developed, many republicans thinking that the honor should be conferred upon one of the heroes of the war. The opposi- tion finally concentrated in favor of John M. Palmer, and the claims of each candidate were discussed with no little warmth, there having been raised the issue of fact as to the source from which emanated the idea of citizenship embodied in the civil- rights bill introduced by Judge Trumbull, which both contest- ants claimed to have originated. Gen. Palmer was supported by Generals Oglesby and Logan on the ground that the office ought to go to a soldier.
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