USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume I > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
Undoubtedly there were other regiments, Federal and Confederate, the statistics of which are imperfect, whose losses were fully fifty per cent., or per- haps more; but the average per cent. of killed and died of wounds was far below that of the regiments above mentioned. It was about 4.7 per cent. of Colonel Fox's total of 2,326,168, and about 7 per cent. of Colonel Livermore's total of 1,556,698.
The figures given in the foregoing tables do not fully represent the fighting in campaigns such as those of Grant and Sherman in the Spring and Summer of 1864. The battles beginning with the first day's fight in the Wilderness, May 3, 1864, and ending with that of Spottsylvania, May 12, were really parts of one continuous battle in which the Federal loss, according to Colonel Livermore, was 26,815 in killed and wounded, and 4,183 missing. So the battles of the Atlanta campaign in the month of May, 1864, were really parts of one continuous battle in which the Federals, with an effective force of 110,123, lost in killed and wounded 10,528 and in missing, 1,240, and the Confederates, with an effective force of 66,089, lost in killed and wounded 9,187. Even these figures do not convey an accurate idea of the desperate fighting and the enormous losses in the last year of the war. Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, in his "Recol- lections of the Civil War," p. 211, has compiled from the official reports a table showing the losses in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James in Grant's Richmond campaign, from the beginning, May 3, 1864, to the surrender at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. It shows the following totals :
Killed. 15,139
Wounded. 77,748
Captured and Missing. 31,503
Total.
124,390
Some idea may be formed of these enormous losses if we consider that they far exceed the great army with which Sherman began his Atlanta campaign, and that they more than twice outnumber the army with which Rosecrans started on
84
H.REGT.
CO. I. 67TH. REC
H.REG
CHARLES A.C.H
YOWREN .
A,87TH REGT
WILLIAM
SHOWALTER ?
JESSE
BALLARD
CO. H. 520
EGT
CCO.A.38TH.REGT.
JAMES H. SMITH,
CO.184TH. REGT
HENR
IONS ..
IN
LIAI
G
SON.
SHIPL
E
INDIANA INFANTRY.
WIL
CC
II3
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
his Chattanooga campaign. They also outnumber all the American troops engaged in the whole of the Mexican War. And yet these figures represent only the Federal losses and do not take into account those of the Confederates.
The magnitude of the battles of the Civil War, compared with those of the Revolution, will be seen by comparing the following summary of the losses at Chickamauga and Gettysburg with the summary given of the Revolutionary losses.
LOSSES AT CHICKAMAUGA.
Killed.
Wounded.
Missing.
Total.
Federals
1,657
9,756
4,757
16,170
Confederates
2,312
14,674
1,468
18,454
Total
3,969
24,430
6,225
34,624
Killed, wounded and missing:
Confederates
18,454
34,624
Killed and wounded :
Federals
16,170
Federals
11,413
Confederates
16,986
28,399
LOSSES AT GETTYSBURG.
Killed.
Wounded.
Missing.
Total.
Federals
3,155
14,529
5,365
23,049
Confederates
3,903
18,735
5,425
28,063
Total
7,058
33,264
10,790
51,112
Killed, wounded and missing:
Federals
23,049
Confederates
28.063
Killed and wounded:
Federals
17,684
Confederates
22,638
40,322
51,112
The statistics give us only a hint of the development of a citizen into a soldier, and, to understand this fully, we must read such books as General Humph- reys's Virginia Campaign and General Cox's Atlanta Campaign. These are not mere eulogies, such as are found in regimental histories and memorial day ad- dresses. They are careful statements of facts by men fully conversant with them. They tell of such heroic fighting on both sides as was never surpassed in any war in the world. The men of the North and the South that fought in 1864 in the Richmond and Atlanta campaigns were veteran soldiers, whose training and ex- perience had raised them to the highest grade of efficiency. We read of repulses but of few panics. The men on both sides went where they were ordered, stood as long as they were commanded to stand, and retreated only when it was apparent to their officers that to stand longer would result in useless slaughter.
8
CHAPTER VII.
THE STORY TOLD BY THE STATISTICS CONTINUED-INDIANA STATISTICS.
SUMMARY OF TROOPS FURNISHED TO THE U. S. SERVICE-THE SAME REDUCED TO A THREE-YEAR BASIS-STATE TROOPS ADDITIONAL TO THE VOLUNTEER FORCE -NUMBER OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS ISSUED-WAR EXPENDITURES- KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS-CALL FOR TROOPS-INDIANA'S BATTLE RECORD-COMMANDERS OF THE MILITARY DISTRICT OF INDIANA-COMMAND- ERS OF DEPARTMENTS WHICH HAVE EMBRACED THE STATE OF INDIANA- NATIVITY OF INDIANA SOLDIERS-HEIGHT AND AGES OF INDIANA SOLDIERS- DELEGATES TO THE PEACE CONVENTION OF 1861-GRAND TOTAL OF ENLIST- MENTS BY STATES, DURING THE CIVIL WAR-ANOTHER VIEW OF GOVERNOR OLIVER P. MORTON.
TROOPS MUSTERED INTO THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Infantry .- Officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates 175,776
Cavalry .- Officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates. 21,605
Artillery .-- Officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates. 10,986
Grand total U. S. volunteers from Indiana .208,367
Reduced to a three-year basis. 153,576
TERMS OF SERVICE.
For the term of three years 165,717
For the term of one year. 21,642
For the term of nine months. 742
For the term of six months. 4,082
For the term of one hundred days 7,415
For the term of three months
6,308
For the term of sixty days. 587
For the term of thirty days
1,874
Grand total. 208,367
. SUMMARY OF TROOPS FURNISHED.
Commissioned officers at original organization. 6,293
Non-commissioned officers and musicians at original organization 1,112
Enlisted men, privates, at original organization.
Recruits, privates. 137,401
35,836
Re-enlisted, veterans. 11,718
Unassigned recruits, regular army, etc. 16,007
Grand total, troops furnished for U. S. service. 208,367
Add State troops, ( Indiana Legion), see statement below 51,400
Grand total of troops furnished for U. S. and State service. 259,767
115
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
ACCOUNTED FOR AND UNACCOUNTED FOR.
Officers and enlisted men accounted for officially. .194,588 Enlisted men not accounted for on the returns, (including those who died in dis-
tant hospitals, by the wayside, stragglers, etc., never heard from) 13,779
Grand total. . 208,367
STATE TROOPS ADDITIONAL TO THE VOLUNTEER FORCE.
The Indiana Legion, 1861-65.
Enlisted for home service and organized into companies, battalions and regiments employed in repelling rebel raids, guarding the Ohio River Border against Confederate invasion, etc .; 735 companies; aggregate number of men. 51,400
NUMBER OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS ISSUED, 1861-65.
To officers of volunteers, U. S. service. 15,430
To officers of the Indiana Legion, State service. 3.159
To enrolling officers, draft of 1862. 295
Total number of commissions issued during the war 18,884
WAR EXPENDITURES.
Paid by Counties, Townships, Cities and Towns: $ 4,566,898
For relief of Soldiers' families.
For miscellaneous military purposes. 198,866
For local bounties to Soldiers. 15,492,876
Paid by voluntary contributions :
For relief of Soldiers through State sanitary commission 606,570
State appropriation, Act of March 4, 1865:
For relief of Soldiers' families 1,646,809
Paid by the State:
For expenditures on account of the war, charged to the United States 4,373,593
Total amount expended. $26,885,612
KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS.
Commissioned officers of volunteers. 652
Non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. 23,764
Death of men returned as missing (estimated) 5,500
Discharged for wounds and died after reaching home (estimated) 5,500
Grand total. 35,416
CALLS FOR TROOPS.
First Call-75,000 men-Three months service, April 15, 1861.
Second Call-42,034 men-Three years service, May 3, 1861.
Third Call-300,000 men-Nine months service, August 4, 1862.
Fourth Call-100,000 men-Six months service, June 15, 1863.
Fifth Call-300,000 men-Three years service, October 17, 1863.
Sixth Call-500,000 men-One, Two or Three years service, July 18, 1864.
Seventh Call-300,000 men-One, Two or Three years service, December 19, 1864.
INDIANA'S BATTLE RECORD.
TOTAL NUMBER OF ENGAGEMENTS IN WHICH INDIANA TROOPS PARTICIPATED.
Virginia 90
Tennessee 51
I16
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Georgia
41
Mississippi
24
Arkansas 19
Alabama 18
Kentucky
16
Louisiana
15
Missouri
9
North Carolina
8
Maryland
7
Texas
3
South Carolina.
2
Indian Territory
2
Pennsylvania
1
Ohio
1
Indiana
1
Total engagements.
308
Total States, 17.
COMMANDERS OF THE MILITARY DISTRICT OF INDIANA.
(IN THE CIVIL WAR.)
Brigadier General Henry B. Carrington, from March 23, 1863, to April 15, 1863.
Brigadier General Milo S. Hascall, from April 15, 1863, to June 8 ,1863.
Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcox, from June 8, 1863, to September 11, 1863. Colonel John S. Simonson, from September 11, 1863, to May 23, 1864.
Brigadier General Henry B. Carrington, from May 23, 1864, to August 25, 1864.
Brevet Major General Alvin P. Hovey, from August 25, 1864, to September 25, 1865. Brigadier General Thomas G. Pitcher, from September 25, 1865, to August 17, 1866. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas J. Wood, United States Army, was Chief Muster- ing Officer and Post Commander at Indianapolis, from May -, 1861, until October 11, 1861.
Colonel John S. Simonson, United States Army, succeeded Colonel Wood as Post Commander, which position he retained until August, 1862.
Colonel Henry B. Carrington, United States Army, reported at Indianapolis as Chief Mustering Officer for Indiana, and Commander of the Post at Indianapolis, August 18, 1862, and continued to discharge the duties of those positions until he, as Brigadier General, was assigned to command the District of Indiana, March 23, 1863.
MILITARY COMMANDERS OF DEPARTMENTS WHICH HAVE EMBRACED THE STATE OF INDIANA. (In the Civil War.)
DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO.
Major General George B. McClellan, from May 3, 1861, to September 19, 1861. Brigadier General Ormsby M. Mitchell, from September 19, 1861, to November 9, 1861.
Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell, from November 9, 1861, to August 19, 1862. Major General Horatio G. Wright, from August 19, 1862, to March 25, 1863. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, from March 25, 1863, to November 16, 1863.
NORTHERN DEPARTMENT.
Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman, from February -, 1864, to October 1, 1864. Major General Joseph Hooker, from October 1, 1864, to July 5, 1865.
117
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO.
Major General Edward O. C. Ord, from July 5, 1865, to August 6, 1866.
DEPARTMENT OF THE LAKES.
Major General Joseph Hooker, from August 6, 1866.
NATIVITY OF INDIANA SOLDIERS. (In the Civil War.)
THIS TABLE SHOWS ALL THE FACTS THAT IT HAS BEEN POSSIBLE TO GATHER, EITHER FROM THE RECORDS OR FROM ESTIMATES MADE BY LATE OFFICERS.
There is no record of the nativity of about one-fourth of the soldiers who served from this State during the Civil War. A partial list is as follows:
Place of Birth.
Shown by Rolls.
Estimated.
Total.
Indiana
58,204
Ohio
22,911
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
9,228
Kentucky and Tennessee.
7,677
Other Slave States
5,947
Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin
2,124
....
. .
. .
Other Free States
146
Total American born
107,139
33,499
140,638
Germany
5,242
1,214
6,456
Ireland
2,985
112
3,097
England
1,084
29
1,113
Foreign Countries not designated.
948
2,461
3,400
Canada
611
9
620
Scotland
245
245
Total Foreign born.
11,115
3,825
14,940
Grand Total reported and estimated.
118,254
37,324
155,578
HEIGHT AND AGES OF INDIANA SOLDIERS. (In the Civil War.)
EXHIBIT SHOWING THE HEIGHT AND AGES OF 118,254 INDIANA SOLDIERS IN THE UNITED STATES SERVICE, CIVIL WAR.
There is no record of the descriptions of about 88,000 soldiers from this State.
Height.
No. of men.
Age-Years.
No. of men.
Under 61 inches
501
Under 17 years
270
At 61 inches
293
At 17 years
634
At 62 inches.
971
At 18 years
21,935
At 63 inches
2,503
At 19 years. 10,519
At 64 inches.
5,387
At 20 years
9,435
At 65 inches.
9,171
At 21 years.
9,705
At 66 inches.
14,373
At 22 years.
7,835
At 67 inches
15,328
At 23 years
6,789
...
New England States
902
118
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
At 68 inches
19,140
At 24 years 6,013
At 69 inches
15,472
At 25 years.
4,891
At 70 inches.
15,047
At 26 years
4,283
At 71 inches
8,706
At 27 years 3,738
At 72 inches.
6,679
At 28 years
3,929
At 73 inches
2,614
At 29 years
2,769
At 74 inches
1,357
At 30 years
3,001
At 75 inches.
406
31 to 34 years
8,361
Over 75 inches
336
35 years and over
14,127
Total reported
118,254
Total reported 118,254
DELEGATES TO PEACE CONVENTION, 1861.
Held at Washington, District of Columbia, in February, 1861, to prepare a plan of adjustment of the difficulties between the national government and certain revolted States in the South.
In pursuance of a joint resolution of the Indiana Legislature, passed January, 1861, the following delegates to said convention were appointed by Governor Morton, February 1, 1861: Caleb B. Smith of Indianapolis, Pleasant A. Hackleman of Rushville, Godlove S. Orth of Lafayette, Thomas C. Slaughter of Corydon, Erastus W. H. Ellis of Goshen.
GRAND TOTAL OF ENLISTMENTS.
Summary of the number of men called for by the President of the United States, and furnished by, and credited to, the States and Territories during the Civil War.
Men
Men paid
Aggregate reduced to a three years'
States and Territories.
Quota.
Furnished. Commutation.
Total.
standard.
Maine
73,587
70,107
2,007
72,114
56,776
New Hampshire
35,897
33,937
692
34,629
30,349
Vermont
32,074
33,288
1,974
35,262
29,068
Massachusetts
139,095
146,730
5,318
152,048
124,104
Rhode Island
18,898
23,236
463
23,699
17,866
Connecticut
44,797
55,864
1,515
57,379
50,623
New York
507,148
448,850
18,197
467,047
392,270
New Jersey
92,820
76,814
4,196
81,010
57,908
Pennsylvania
385,369
337,936
28,171
366,107
265,517
Delaware
13,935
12,284
1,386
13,670
10,322
Maryland
70,965
46,638
3,678
50,316
41,275
West Virginia
34,463
32,068
32,068
27,714
District of Columbia
13,973
16,534
338
16,872
11,506
Ohio
306,322
313,180
6,479
319,659
240,514
Indiana
199.788
196,363
784
197,147
153,567
Illinois
244,496
259,092
55
259,147
214,133
Michigan
95,007
87,364
2,008
89,372
80,111
Wisconsin
109,080
91,327
5,097
96,424
79,260
Minnesota
26,326
24,020
1,032
25,052
19,693
Iowa
79,521
76,242
67
76,309
68,630
Missouri
122,496
109,111
109,111
86,530
Kentucky
100,782
75,760
3,265
79,025
70,832
Kansas
12,931
20,149
2
20,151
18,706
Tennessee
1,560
31,092
31,092
26,394
Arkansas
780
8,289
8,289
7,836
North Carolina
1,560
3,156
3,156
3,156
I19
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
California
15,725
15,725
15,725
Nevada
1,080
1,080
1,080
Oregon
1,810
1,810
1,773
Washington Territory
964
964
964
Nebraska Territory
3,157
3,157
2,175
Colorado Territory
4,903
4,903
3,697
Dakota Territory
206
206
206
New Mexico Territory
6,561
6,561
4,432
Alabama
2,567
2,567
1,611
Florida
1,290
1,290
1,290
Louisiana
5,224
5,224
4,654
Mississippi
545
545
545
Texas
1,965
1,965
1,632
Indian Nation
3,530
3,530
3,530
Colored Troops
93,441
93,441
91,789
Total
.2,763,670
2,772,408
86,724
2,859,132
2,320,272
ANOTHER VIEW OF GOVERNOR OLIVER P. MORTON.
*
*
*
*
×
*
-X
.
At the outbreak of the war the attitude of Kentucky was uncertain. The sympathies of the governor, Beriah Magoffin, were wholly with the seceding states, and to President Lincoln's call for troops he had answered that "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister southern states." It was Magoffin's purpose to force Kentucky to secede, or, failing in that, to assume the position of "armed neutrality." The farce planned by Magoffin was not successful in the land of Henry Clay and soon ran its course, but, while it lasted, Indiana was practically a border state. It was fortunate for the state and for the Union cause that at this time there was in the office of governor a man of unquestioned loyalty, of tremendous energy, and of indomitable will. In the four years that followed, the name of Oliver P. Morton became a household word throughout the United States. No governor in any northern state met with more bitter opposition ; none worked for the success of the Union cause with more untiring energy, or looked after the welfare of the soldiers of his own state with more watchful and careful solicitude.
Morton was then in the prime of vigorous manhood-a man of far-seeing sagacity, of great endurance, of dauntless courage; a man who could have taken Cromwell's place in England, and who needed all of Cromwell's force of character to fill the place of governor of Indiana. Clearly foreseeing from the beginning the magnitude of the Rebellion and the tremendous efforts that must be made to suppress it, he often chafed under what he thought to be the puny and tardy measures of the Federal government. When the Federal authorities were too slow in supplying arms for the Indiana troops, he bought them on his own respon- sibility. When the government became short of ammunition, he established at Indianapolis an arsenal for its manufacture, soon having 600 men employed, and ammunition enough for the Indiana troops and some to spare to the government. When the legislature in 1863 adjourned, after refusing to make any appropriation to carry on the state government, he borrowed money sufficient for two years without closing a single state institution and without stopping the organization of a single regiment.
I20
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
The President's proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers was issued April [5 and six three-months' regiments with 4,683 men were required of the state of Indiana. Within a week 12,000 men had responded-twice as many as could then be armed. The four three-year regiments required under the President's call of May 3 were raised at once, and ten more besides in advance of the call in July, and before January 1, 1862, Indiana had 60,000 troops in the field.
The Morgan raid found Indiana almost destitute of armed soldiers, but within twenty four hours after Morgan had touched her borders 15,000 men were hastening to Indianapolis; and before two days had passed Morton had 30,000 assembled to repel the invaders.
No orator ever lived in Indiana whose speeches had such weight as those of Morton. He never attempted to be funny ; he never indulged in the "spread-eagle" style of oratory; he never resorted to the tricks practiced by the modern pro- fessional "spell-binder." But under his sledge-hammer logic all opposition went down as the gates of Torquilstone went down under the blows of Richard the Lion-hearted. Probably no one speech ever delivered in America left such a deep impress upon the public mind as Morton's Masonic Hall speech in 1866.
Morton's care for the Indiana troops in the field was proverbial throughout all the armies. Surgeons and nurses were sent by him to every battle-field. Often he went himself to give his personal attention to the care of the wounded. His strong hand was the chief support of the Indiana Sanitary Commission, whose special business it was to care for the sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals. No regiment passed through Indianapolis, either going to or returning from the front, that did not enjoy the fruits of his provident hospitality. His kind and sympathetic feeling for his suffering fellow men was not limited to soldiers of the Union armies. It extended to the Confederate prisoners confined at Indianapolis, and nowhere in the North were they more humanely treated.
He was omnipresent; now buried in the details of the work of carrying on the state government, or preparing troops for the field; now going about the state making speeches and infusing into the people some of his own enthusiasm; now visiting battle-fields and camps at the front-wherever he was most needed during the war he was always to be found. It was chiefly to his untiring efforts that Indiana enjoyed the distinction of having furnished to the Federal armies over seventy four per cent of the entire fighting population of the state. No obstacles stopped him ; his tremendous energy overcame them all; no disasters dismayed him -they only strengthened his courage and inspired him with renewed determination. He will live in history as the greatest war governor of his time.
CO.
PR
0
PRIVATE.CO.D.
PRIX
WILLIAM
DOWNS.
TURNER
H.JOHNSON:
JAN
BSHIRE.
PRIVATE
CO. D
PRI
TE CO.D.
THOMAS L. HARTLEY
CORPORAL
CO.D
RICHARD
CRAY
ROBERT
ROBE
STE
FLEMING.
MEN
2d INDIANA CAVALRY.
ATE CO, F.
PRIVATE.CO.D
CHAPTER VIII.
BRIEF MILITARY HISTORY OF EVENTS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
SUMMARY OF THE CIVIL WAR-THE CIVIL WAR BY CAMPAIGNS-CORRESPOND)- ENCE BETWEEN GRANT AND LEE.
At twenty minutes after four o'clock, on Friday morning, April 12, 1861, the first gun was fired that inaugurated the Great American Civil War. The cause leading up to this event was not of recent origin ; almost from the foundation of the government the slavery question had been a disturbing element in the politics of the Nation, and as early as 1820 so bitter had the feeling grown that when Missouri asked admission to the Union as a slave State, a threatened disruption was only prevented by the passage of an act through Congress known as the "Missouri Compromise." This bill, which was introduced by Henry Clay, of Kentucky, provided for the admission of Missouri as a slave State, but forever prohibited slavery north of a certain latitude named in the measure. The passage of this law, for a time, satisfied the extreme men of both sections; but in 1850, California demanded admission to the Union with a constitution forbidding slavery. The contest was re-opened with more determination and bitterness than had existed thirty years before. The trouble was again allayed by a series of compromise measures, carried through Congress by Clay.
For many years prior to 1860, the South had practically controlled legislation in Congress, and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the rendition by the Supreme Court of the Dred Scott Decision, created great indignation at the North, many declaring the acts unchristian and unworthy of a civilized nation, and some of the free States retaliated by passing what were known as Personal Liberty Acts, and when, in 1853, a bill introduced in Congress by Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, was passed by that body, repealing the Compromise of 1820 and re- opening the slavery question north of the line described in that act, and giving to the settlers the right to determine for themselves whether slavery should exist within the boundaries of their state when admitted, the excitement became intense and created such a diversity of political opinion that no less than four distinct political parties appeared in the field in 1860 and asked for the suffrages of the people at the national election, to be held in November of that year.
One party nominated as its candidate for President John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, then Vice-President of the United States, and Joseph Lane of Oregon for Vice-President, and declared in their platform of principles, that the constitu- tion, of its own force, carried slavery into the territories, and that it was the duty of Congress to sanction and maintain the same by appropriate legislation.
Another party, led by Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, and Herschel \. John-
122
HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
ston of Georgia, its nominees for President and Vice-President, declared that Congress had neither the right to sanction or forbid slavery in the territories, but that the people thereof should determine the question for themselves.
A third party presented Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, as its leader, with Han- nibal Hamlin of Maine for Vice-President, and denounced as false the doctrine that the constitution carried slavery into the territories; denied that they desired to interfere with the domestic relations of any state, but avowed their determination to resist the extension of slavery by congressional legislation.
Still a fourth party, with John Bell of Tennessee as its candidate for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice-President, adopted the rather vague and indistinct platform of "The Union, the Constitution and the Enforcement of the Laws."
The contest for the supremacy was determined and bitter, and resulted in the election of Mr. Lincoln by a decided majority. As soon as the result was declared by the electoral college, South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession and withdrew from the Union, declaring that a sectional President had been elected, whose views were hostile to the institutions of the South. The action of South Carolina was followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, in the order named, and later by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
In February, 1861, delegates from the six first named states met at Mont- gomery, Alabama, and organized a new government under the name of the "Con- federate States of America," adopted a constitution and elected Jefferson Davis of 'Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, Vice-President. After the secession of Virginia the seat of government was removed from Mont- gomery to Richmond, and remained there until the close of the war and the col- lapse of the Confederacy.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.