USA > Illinois > The era of the Civil War, 1848-1870 > Part 26
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27 John Pope to Trumbull, June 16, 1861, John M. Palmer to Trumbull, July 8, 1861, Trumbull to Lincoln, October 1, 1861, Trumbull manuscripts.
28 Koerner, Memoirs, 2: 114; William H. Herndon to Trumbull, January 27, 1861, William Butler to Trumbull, February 7, 1861, W. B. Plato to Trumbull, March 29, 1861, Trumbull manuscripts.
29 Illinois State Journal, May 17, 30, 1861; Canton Weekly Register, May 14, July 23, 1861.
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THE APPEAL TO ARMS
himself and the Washington authorities.30 When in the late summer Fremont issued a proclamation declaring martial law in Missouri and authorizing the confiscation of the property of the rebels and the emancipation of their slaves, Lincoln instructed Fremont to withdraw the proclamation and upon the latter's refusal, the president as commander-in-chief for- mally annulled Fremont's action. Illinoisians, however, gen- erally felt that Fremont had shown himself equal to the emergency. Lincoln's disallowing order was roundly de- nounced. Many did not hesitate to declare Fremont right and Lincoln wrong.31
It was obvious that a serious breach had developed between the president and the western commander ; yet republican sym- pathies were with the latter rather than with the Illinois states- man in the White House. In September the report gained currency that General Fremont had been superseded. The editor of the Rock River Democrat described his feelings with utter frankness: "We felt like ripping and tearing things gen- erally; in fact, we felt like saying, let the government go to smash if it has done so foolish a thing. It is the settled conviction of the people of the West that Gen. Fremont is just the right man in the right place, and is promptly and rightly doing his duty, and if the Administration desires to outrage that sentiment it can find no surer way to do it than by super- seding Gen. Fremont." 32 When finally early in November the government did act to remove Fremont on the ground of incompetence, recklessness, and extravagance, a howl of indig- nation went up from the republican camp. Senator Trumbull had protested to Lincoln against the failure of the administra- tion to give Fremont a proper support. Gustave Koerner, the German republican leader, claimed that there was universal satisfaction with General Fremont at St. Louis and that the policy of the administration was "outrageous;" "the admin- istration has lost immensely in the Northwest," he declared.
30 Trumbull to J. R. Doolittle, August 31, 1861, Illinois State Historical Society, Journal, 2: 48-49; Trumbull to Lincoln, October 1, 1861, Trumbull manu- scripts; E. B. Washburne to S. P. Chase, October 31, 1861, Chase manuscripts. 31 Joliet Signal, September 3, 10, 1861; W. Kitchell to Trumbull, December 10, 1861, Trumbull manuscripts.
32 Rock River Democrat, September 17, 1861; Rockford Republican, October 17, November 7, 1861.
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THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR
Only from the democrats did the president receive a warm indorsement of his course; from the rankest copperhead sheets, even, came the assertion that the president deserved the praise of every honest union man.33
The first winter of the war came on with the deepest gloom prevailing among the staunchest union men of the west. Grant had led the Twenty-first Illinois into Missouri to participate in the expulsion of the rebels from that state and soon won promotion to the rank of brigadier general. He had next been assigned to the command of all the troops of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois which included the management of the great depot recently established at Cairo, his headquar- ters. On November 7, 1861, in order to make a diversion to prevent a junction of two confederate forces, he led 3,000 men into the jaws of death at the battle of Belmont. Grant suc- ceeded in effecting his main purpose but, after carrying the strong confederate position against great odds he was com- pelled to withdraw his raw troops among whom he maintained order with great difficulty. The withdrawal seemed an igno- minious flight to many disappointed union critics upon whom the heavy union losses in dead, wounded, and prisoners had a most depressing effect.
Coincident with the news of the battle of Belmont came the returns of the November election. As in the case of the municipal elections in the spring, the telegraph told of demo- cratic victories. This, too, was in spite of the appeal made by administration backers during the summer months to sink partyism in patriotism. "If we understand the matter rightly," declared the State Journal, " there are no parties. We are all for the Union, for the preservation of the government and for the speedy suppression of the rebellion." It had been argued that the amendment of the state constitution was an important work to be delegated only to leaders " able to rise superior to the excitements of feeling and exacerbations of passion that govern the labors of weak men." The democratic press re- sented such appeals, pointed to the instances where the repub-
33 Trumbull to Lincoln, October 1, 1861, Koerner to Trumbull, November 18, 1861, Trumbull manuscripts; Cairo Gazette, November 7, 1861; Jonesboro Gazette, November 9, 1861; Ottawa Free Trader, December 28, 1861.
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THE APPEAL TO ARMS
licans failed to carry these principles into practice, and rallied all democrats to their party candidates. The election, in which democratic candidates won out not only in the southern counties but also in Cook, Will, La Salle, Peoria, and other northern districts, was interpreted as proof that the people were opposed to the formation of a new union party. "If anything has been revealed by the election," declared the State Register, "it is the fact the people are beginning to discover that the democratic party is the only true Union party;" at any rate the election seemed to insure the framing of "a sound Democratic Constitution." 34
Did the election indicate that the citizens of Illinois, pro- tected in their private opinions by the secrecy of the ballot box, were unwilling to set their seal of approval upon the attempt to hold the southern states in the union by force? This was a question that no one dared to raise. It could not be denied that the convention movement had been taken up by the people in 1860 under republican auspices and that a year later repub- lican leadership had been rejected. Nor was there indisputable evidence either of the republican claim that their strength had been undermined by heavy enlistments or of the democratic charge that "the corruption, usurpation, and villainy" of republican officials had caused the revolution in political senti- ment. 35 Forty-five democrats, twenty-one republicans, seven " fusionists," and two members classed as doubtful composed . the body which, according to republican comment, was con- trolled by the rebel elements in Illinois politics. "Secession is deeper and stronger here than you have any idea," reported Governor Yates after the body had assembled at Springfield on January 7, 1862. "Its advocates are numerous and power- ful, and respectable." 36
The convention was organized under uncompromising democratic officials, not one of whom hailed from the region
34 Illinois State Journal, August 2, 1861; Chicago Tribune, August 14, Sep- tember 25, 1861; Illinois State Register, July 20, 27, November 15, 1861 ; Ottawa Free Trader, August 24, 1861; Joliet Signal, September 17, 1861; Cairo Gazette, November 14, 1861.
35 Illinois State Register, March 17, 1862.
36 He felt that the situation required the stationing of a regiment of well- armed soldiers at Springfield. Yates to Trumbull, February 14, 1862, Koerner to Trumbull, December 12, 1861, Trumbull manuscripts.
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THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR
north of Springfield. This led many to suspect that Egypt would attempt secession ; to their surprise, however, the leaders lacked courage to take any open anti-war stand. Judge H. K. S. Omelveny's resolutions aggressively defining state rights and a definite denial of the right of secession was adopted as an item of the bill of rights.37 They took pains also to make provision for taking the vote of the soldiers in the camps on the adoption or rejection of the constitution.
Not being committed to any very sweeping changes in the constitution, the democrats saw in the convention an opportu- nity to manipulate matters in the interest of party politics. They canvassed the conduct of the republican administration in war expenditures and showed that contracts had been let without legal warrant and at rates much higher than the federal government was paying for the same commodities.38 An investigation of the treatment of Illinois troops in the field was authorized, but General James W. Singleton of the com- mittee on military affairs returned a report vindicating Gov- ernor Yates and Quartermaster Wood. The convention framed an anti-bank provision and adopted a resolution instructing the auditor not to issue in the meantime circulating paper to any but specie-paying banks. A section was adopted, incorporating into the organic law the Negro immigration prohibition of 1853. A partisan apportionment arrangement gave equal rep- · resentation to the smaller southern counties and attached small republican counties to large democratic districts. The articles on banks, admission of Negroes, and congressional apportion- ment were to be submitted separately. A special election was provided for to be held on the seventeenth of June so that in the event of the adoption of the constitution an election of all state officers could take place the following November.39
All these propositions aroused the ire of the republicans. They attacked the convention as an illegally organized body ;
37 In a speech on April 19, 1861, Omelveny had advocated permission for seceding states to retire peacefully. Illinois State Register, January 27, 1862; Illinois State Journal, March 3, 1862; Ottawa Weekly Republican, Jan- uary 11, 1862; Chicago Tribune, January 10, 1862; Journal of the Constitu- tional Convention, 1862, p. 72, 1076.
38 Illinois State Register, January 27, 1862.
89 See the proposed constitution in full, Journal of the Constitutional Con- vention, 1862, p. 1072-1114.
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THE APPEAL TO ARMS
had it not, instead of accepting the oath to support the state constitution as prescribed by the law providing for its call, substituted the one taken by the convention of 1847? But the democrats replied that the substitution had grown out of the suggestion of Elliott Anthony, a republican member from Cook county, because the body could not without absurdity support that which it was its duty to amend, if not to wipe out alto- gether. The effort was made to get the convention to adjourn to a later date, if possible until January, 1863. The alleged reason was that the people were too deeply engrossed in the rebellion to give a proper consideration to the question of the revision of the constitution.40 The real motive was doubtless fear lest the republican state administration might be ousted in November, 1862. With the failure of these devices the republicans allowed the convention to drag out its work under protest, assuming that the people would dispose of the product as it deserved. When, therefore, the convention adjourned on March 24, the real fight began.
The republican press immediately assaulted the proposed constitution as a partisan work, "the new democratic bantling." It was grudgingly admitted by some that it contained provisions of merit but it was declared that in general they had not improved upon the document under which the state had pros- pered for nearly fifteen years and which was in reality " good enough;" 41 moreover, the transactions of the constitutional convention "were ungrateful, unpatriotic and treacherous." To the republicans the most dangerous feature of the consti- tution was the apportionment of the legislature; should the Egyptian minority rule the majority ? "Shall the manufactur- ing, agricultural and commercial interests of northern Illinois be put into Egyptian bondage?" queried the Aurora Beacon.42
The new constitution with its provisions for increased sal- aries and for new offices was charged with extravagantly imposing new burdens on the taxpayers at a time when
40 Illinois State Register, February 1, 17, March 3, 1862; Illinois State Journal, February 18, 1862; Chicago Tribune, January 29, 1862; Rockford Reg- ister, February 1, 1862.
41 Ibid., March 29, 1862; Illinois State Journal, March 27, 1862; Ottawa Weekly Republican, March 29, 1862.
42 Ibid., April 5, 1862; Aurora Beacon, April 24, 1862.
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THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR
retrenchment was the order of the day. The bank and Negro articles were roundly denounced. The document was sub- mitted to a general overhauling: "the new constitution
. changes the entire order of things, and sets every- thing afloat. We are satisfied under the present order of things," was a typical republican criticism.43 They called upon the people "to reject the Constitution entirely, without regard to its merits or demerits, as a rebuke to the Convention for its officious intermeddling with the war, and its attempt to cast odium upon the administration of Gov. Yates." 44
Almost all the corporations in the state joined the repub- licans in this war on the new constitution. Not only did the document openly defy the banking interests but also the Illinois Central railroad, which was forever bound by article IV to the payment to the state of the seven per cent of its earnings agreed upon in its charter. Associated capital in general was aroused by the provision that "all laws enacted after the adoption of this Constitution, which create corporations, amend existing charters, or grant special or exclusive privileges to indi- viduals, shall be subject to alteration, amendment or repeal."+5
The democrats tried to rally voters to the support of the constitution as a document in the interests of the people rather than of corporate privilege. They charged its opponents with having been "bought up" by the corporations, particularly the Illinois Central. John Wentworth, the Chicago republican leader, "the friend of the laboring people" and the opponent of banks, corporations, and special privileges, took the stump in favor of the new constitution.46 Other republicans announced that they intended to support the document as a whole, while rejecting certain of the articles submitted separately.
The state officials from Governor Yates down set busily at work in a rousing campaign against the new constitution; speakers of both party antecedents were put into the field, from Owen Lovejoy representing the strongest antislavery
43 Aurora Beacon, May 8, 1862.
44 Havana Battle Axe clipped in Illinois State Journal, April 4, 1862.
45 Journal of the Constitutional Convention, 1862, p. 1082; St. Louis Re- publican clipped in Belleville Democrat, April 5, 1862.
46 Joliet Signal, May 6, 13, 1862; Illinois State Register, May 8, 1862. Went- worth had become estranged from the " state house clique " at Springfield, see Trumbull manuscripts.
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271
THE APPEAL TO ARMS
republicanism to John Reynolds, the incarnation of old demo- cratic conservatism. They effectively played up in Egypt the bugaboo of increased taxes ; and as the contest neared its close, they dragged out the bloody head and raw bones of treason in a sentimental appeal to the partiotism of the voters of the state. Every band of traitors in the state, they said, was working for this humbug constitution, this Vallandigham document. "Why is it that every rebel sympathizer in Illinois is open mouthed for the adoption of the new Constitution ?" asked the Illinois State Journal on the day before election. "Down with the Secession Constitution," was the caption of the edito- rial in which the Chicago Tribune gave a final warning on election day.47
The commissioners appointed to take the vote of the Illinois troops outside of Illinois began their work early in April. With two regiments in Virginia, others on the remotest borders of Arkansas, besides the forces stationed in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, this was no small task. Early reports that the soldiers were going for the constitution caused con- siderable alarm; shortly, however, the returns went heavily against adoption. Sentiment throughout the state became in- creasingly hostile. Election day brought out a heavy vote except in Egypt where the fear of increased taxes and the charge of disloyalty rendered many democrats indifferent.48 With a majority of 16,051 against ratification the work of the constitutional convention was rejected. The taking of the soldiers' vote was not completed until well into the summer but added substantially to this majority. The articles pro- hibiting banking and the congressional apportionment were rejected by much smaller majorities while the sections pro- hibiting the settlement of Negroes and mulattoes in the state and prohibiting them from voting were carried by the over- whelming majorities of 107,650 and 176,271 respectively. The section requiring the legislature to pass laws carrying the pro- visions of the last two sections into effect was ratified with a majority of 154,524. On the basis of the returns Governor
47 Illinois State Journal, June 16, 1862; Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1862.
48 Jonesboro Gazette, June 28, 1862. In eleven of the strongest demo- cratic counties in Egypt the vote reflected a loss of nearly six thousand. Can- ton Weekly Register, June 24, 1862; Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1862.
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THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR
Yates in August issued a proclamation announcing the rejection of the constitution.49 This defeat was to prove but the begin- ning of a growing democratic discomfiture in state politics.
49 Election returns from the secretary of state's office; Illinois State Journal, August 5, 16, 1862.
.
XII. RECRUITING GROUND AND BATTLEFIELD
T "TO THE call to arms Illinois responded with an enthusiasm
that suggested the important part she was to play in fight- ing the battles of the union. Early in 1861 attempts had been made by the legislature to prepare the state for the civil strife that was impending. Governor Yates then called attention to the collapse of the militia system and to the failure of uni- versal conscriptive enrollment which other states had discarded for voluntary organizations. In spite of a theoretical enroll- ment of all able-bodied males, the state could marshal less than 800 uniformed militia, with less than 200 serviceable muskets to represent the $300,000 outlay that the federal gov- ernment had issued to the state.1 Yet the legislature hesitated to raise the issue of militia reconstruction at a time when it was hoped that the south might be pacified if its tender feelings about coercion should not be offended. Democratic assembly- men from the southern counties called attention to the serious- ness of the situation. William H. Green of Massac county suggested that his constituents "like a wall of fire" would oppose any attempt to invade the north; but "if the North were marched upon the South, her forces would be met on the prairies and made to march over the dead bodies of the men who people them." The senate, therefore, held up the bill for the reorganization of the militia - Richard J. Oglesby, chairman of the committee in charge, remarking that when the necessity should arise "the whole country, having the love of the Union at heart, would rise en masse, and, disregarding the hindrances of a militia law, volunteer their services to the proper authority of the State speedily and without delay." ?
1 Reports General Assembly, 1861, 1: 10-11 ; 1865, 1:21; cf. Senate Journal, 1861, p. 26.
2 See debate in Chicago Tribune, January 12, 1861; cf. report in Illinois State Register, January 14, 1861.
273
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THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR
When the news from Sumter was received on April 15 Governor Yates promptly issued a proclamation calling for six thousand troops to fill the government requisition. In less than five days volunteers in excess of the quota had reported for duty, sixty-two companies having been offered to the governor. Mass meetings were called in many communities ; the need of defending the union was eloquently placed before the assembled populace; and, after the speaking, volunteers for a local company were enrolled and the officers elected. Competition was keen between rival communities and com- peting officers, and the rush to recruiting stations was general. The first call, therefore, resulted in the organization of six regiments. The legislature summoned in special session responded to the further recommendations of the governor by appropriating $3,500,000-$1,000,000 for organizing and equipping ten new regiments, $500,000 for purchasing arms and building a powder magazine, and $2,000,000 for general purposes of state defense-while an extra regiment of cavalry and four companies of artillery were also provided for. By June all ten regiments had been accepted by the national government, together with an additional regiment of infantry (commanded by Colonel Hecker), a battalion of light artillery, and one regiment of cavalry-making nineteen regi- ments in all.3 Four other cavalry regiments were raised before the disaster of Bull Run in July which spurred the state to offer sixteen more regiments. Countless thousands of the lusty sons of Illinois only awaited further recruiting, and dozens of companies were tendered in anticipation of further requisi- tions upon the state, while most of the three months men reënlisted upon their return in August. So powerful was the flood of recruits that for a time, in spite of strong pressure on the war department, only one-fourth of the companies raised could be accepted; several companies, besides numerous indi- vidual recruits, therefore offered themselves to Missouri and other states.4 By the first of October forty-three regiments were already in actual service, more than the state of New
3 Illinois State Register, April 20, 1861; Grant, Personal Memoirs, 1:230- 231; Illinois State Journal, May 1, 8, 1861; Reports General Assembly, 1861, I : 17-21.
4 Ottawa Free Trader, August 17, 1861.
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RECRUITING GROUND
York had contributed, while enough men were enrolled in regiments in process of formation to give the state a total of nearly 70,000 troops. Before the end of the year Governor Yates was able to report in service fifty-eight regiments of infantry, eleven of cavalry, and eighteen companies of artillery, enrolling a total of 60,000 men.5 Two artillery regiments supplied with James' rifled cannon were also accepted after Governor Yates obtained an order from the war department authorizing regimental organization. Although by the summer of 1862 the secretary of war had refused to accept any more batteries from Illinois, since it had more artillery companies in the field than any other state, yet when the call came for addi- tional regiments of infantry the response was not only prompt but heavily in excess of the calculations of the war department. During the summer of 1862 sixty-one regiments of infantry were furnished together with two regiments of cavalry and six batteries, in all sixty-five thousand men. This made a total enlistment since the commencement of the war of nearly 135,000 men, divided between 125 regiments of infantry, 16 of cavalry, and 30 batteries. 6
The heavy enlistments of the late summer of 1862 may be accounted for largely on the basis of the choice that was to be offered between volunteering or being conscripted. In the weeks following August 23, an enrollment of the entire militia force of the state was made in case a draft to fill up old regiments should be required. Meantime the republicans of Illinois stoutly supported the stand taken by Senator Trum- bull in favor of federal conscription. He pressed the bill in congress against the opposition of the more timid and was rewarded by witnessing its enactment on March 3, 1863. The provost marshals and their assistants were soon at work pre- paring the rolls and making arrangements for the drawing. It was generally expected that the process of drafting would commence promptly, but hundreds of companies were sworn into service, and Illinois with volunteers far in excess of its quota was relieved from the operation of the draft.
5 Illinois State Journal, December 14, 1861.
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