USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 4 > Part 45
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
The question was raised immediately after the election of Lincoln in November by the preliminaries of secession in South Carolina; similar action was almost certain in the States of the far South. Faced with the actuality of a dissolu- tion of the Union, public sentiment in Massachusetts made a sudden shift in favor of conciliatory efforts. To wipe out the bad record which the State had in the Southern mind as a hotbed of abolitionism, a group of "broadcloth rowdies" took control of a meeting held to commemorate the anniversary of John Brown's death; others of like mind made violent demonstrations on the streets of Boston against Wendell Phillips, the abolition orator. The most important deliberate effort of this sort was a movement for the repeal of the Massachusetts Personal Liberty Law, formulated in an ad- dress written by Benjamin R. Curtis and backed up by a weighty list of signatures.
Andrew himself, a man of clear vision and well informed, was under no delusion concerning the South. Soon after Congress assembled in December he went to Washington to consult with Republican leaders, and in the course of his stay had a conversation with Senator Mason of Virginia. What Mason told him was not different from what scores of other
503
GOVERNOR ANDREW IN OFFICE
Southern leaders had said to their Northern acquaintances, both in Congress and out of it; but the conversation was im- portant for the reason that Andrew was the kind of man that he was and because, as Governor and Commander in Chief of the State militia, he could actually prepare for war and send troops to Washington when the government called. Andrew cared for union as well as for freedom; he cared for union and freedom in such a way that he could not accept a revolutionary proposal which would leave the Negro a slave in a newly constituted foreign country and which divided a people whom the logic of geography, race, ecomonics, and history designed to live under one flag. At this early stage, when many other leaders were wringing their hands and floundering in uncertainty, he recognized war as inevitable and accepted his own duty to prepare for it with unflinching energy.
When, however, Andrew took office in January, 1861, in the midst of confusion of opinion and division of counsel, the advice that he gave in his inaugural address, born of his newly formed resolution, was not particularly acceptable either to the "Union savers" or to the "disunionists," those extreme antislavery men who, hating the South, had no wish to hold it to the Union at the cost of war. The Personal Liberty Law he defended in a closely reasoned argument, showing that it was not in conflict with national legislation, that it had proved necessary in several instances for the protection of citizens of Massachusetts, and that there was no reason of "interstate politeness" why it should be repealed. Having thus justified the course of the Commonwealth in his characteristic fashion, which combined ardor with vigorous intelligence, he protested her devotion to the Union and her readiness to come to its defense. War was implied in his words: the implication was neither deprecatory nor aggressive, but rather, resolute. So strange, however, were these words on the lips of a Northern leader that their import was not generally realized. But for Andrew they were a pledge: he had received that morning from Washington news of danger to the capital; and that evening messengers went out into a raging storm to carry the warning to the governors of the five other New England States.
504
MASSACHUSETTS TO THE FRONT
THE SMELL OF GUNPOWDER
It was Charles Francis Adams, one of the Massachusetts representatives in Congress, who had sent word of the con- spiracy to seize the government, he having promised Andrew, when the latter was in Washington, to keep him informed. To meet the danger, he wrote, the State legislatures should appropriate money and organize men. All this, however, must be done discreetly : it must appear to originate spontaneously in the legislatures, and the object must seem to be legitimate defense of Government property and officials, not aggression. Carrying out another suggestion of Adams's, Andrew ordered that on January 8, the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, a salute of one hundred guns be fired on Boston Common and in other places in commemoration of General Jackson and the men who fought under him-also "in honor of the gallant conduct and wise foresight of Major Anderson, now in command of Fort Sumter." In explanation of this rather unusual method of inaugurating his administration, Andrew remarked that the people needed "to get accustomed to the smell of gunpowder." To carry out Adams's main suggestion, Andrew issued General Order Number 4, requir- ing the militia to weed out all of its members unable to render active service and to fill their places with men ready to respond to an emergency call.
UNCERTAINTY IN MASSACHUSETTS (JANUARY, 1861)
In the first weeks of the year the opposition in Massachusetts between the "disunionists" and the "Union savers" reached a high pitch of intensity. The Anti-Slavery Society, assembl- ing in Boston, was refused police protection by the mayor, and its meetings were broken up. A petition on behalf of the compromise measure of Senator Crittenden, which was spon- sored by such men as Edward Everett and Amos A. Lawrence and by them taken to Washington, aroused the ridicule of antislavery men. Finally, a proposal that Massachusetts should send delegates to a peace conference to be held at once in Washington brought representatives of both factions to Andrew's office with impassioned importunities for and against such action.
505
ANDREW PREPARES FOR WAR
Here again Andrew was guided chiefly by the advice which he was receiving from Adams in Washington, who at the moment was exercising his great talents for statesmanship and diplomacy in an endeavor to tide over successfully the weeks till the inauguration of Lincoln on the fourth of March, so that the Republicans, when they came into power, might find the government still functioning. Adams desired also that the compromise discussions should be conducted, on the part of the North, in such a considerate fashion that, if a break came the blame for it could clearly be put upon the shoulders of the southern leaders. "I hold the dissolution of the Union," he wrote to Andrew, "if in any way promoted by us . . . a great political blunder, if not a crime."
He now counseled the appointment of delegates to the Peace Conference, since the sessions of this body would partly fill up the month of February and delay, if not prevent, the seces- sion of Virginia.
Andrew adopted his suggestion, in spite of the protest of the antislavery die-hards, particularly Sumner. At the same time that he thus got himself into hot water with his friends, he aroused another portion of the community by a speech be- fore the legislature. Two Revolutionary muskets, one of them captured at Lexington, were to be presented to the State, having been bequeathed to it by Theodore Parker. Andrew's emotional nature was stirred to the depths, and the climax of his burst of fervid oratory was to kiss one of the muskets as he held it in his hands.
ANDREW PREPARES FOR WAR (JANUARY -FEBRUARY, 1861)
At the end of January Andrew again received warning that Washington was in danger. So serious did he believe the peril to be that he took vigorous action at once, although he well knew that his course would raise a storm of protest. He obtained from the legislature an emergency appropriation of $100,000; and a war council of military experts, sum- moned by him forthwith, approved plans for the purchase of overcoats, blankets, and knapsacks to the number of two thousand. Inasmuch as Andrew could not make public dis- closure of what came to him as confidential information, the reason for his warlike acts was popularly assigned to impul-
506
MASSACHUSETTS TO THE FRONT
siveness and lack of balance. On State Street his stock was law. "You had only to mention the word overcoat," wrote Henry Lee, "or speak of 'kissing the musket' ... to excite the risibles or call down the objurgations of any of the scof- fers, to whom these timely acts seemed the height of folly or wickedness."
On the other hand, his antislavery friends were put out with him, not only because he appointed delegates to the Peace Conference, an act which savored of "Union-saving," but also because, receding from his stand on the Personal Lib- erty Law in response to intimations from Washington, he consented to its modification. Thus he was at odds with both sides; he "wobbles like an old cart," wrote Bowles of the Springfield Republican.
THE CALL TO ARMS (APRIL 15, 1861)
In the midst of this commotion, the Governor went ahead steadily with his military preparations, and by the first of April, 1861, the militia was ready. Meanwhile the thoughts of all men, North and South, were straining toward Fort Sumter; the first shot was fired by the South, which light- heartedly committed the "political blunder" which Adams had so dreaded for the North. The little garrison, after its gallant defense, surrendered; and Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 militia to serve for three months. The war had begun! Andrew was justified in his foresight; but would a divided Commonwealth support him?
Whether supported by the people or not, Andrew's first duty was to get off the troops without delay. The four regi- ments to be sent numbered about 3100 men. In the serious problem of arranging for their transportation, Andrew fortu- nately had the assistance of John M. Forbes, a man of the highest ability and thoroughly at home in all matters connected with boats and railroads. Forbes had been a member of the Peace Conference, and while in Washington busied himself with a semi-official plan for the relief of Fort Sumter. He had also talked with the mayor of Baltimore and had reached the conclusion that the railroad route across that city would prob- ably be interrupted. Consequently, he advocated sending the troops by water, with the understanding that some of them
MASSACHUSETTS SENDS TROOPS
507
١
were to reinforce Fortress Monroe, which was held by a handful of regulars. Knowing what vessels were available for charter and where reliable captains were to be obtained, he acted as an unofficial Secretary of the Navy for Massa- chusetts. By the time the troops were assembled and the plan confirmed from Washington, he had the steamers provided, some to take the soldiers from Fall River to New York and others to sail direct for Chesapeake Bay.
MASSACHUSETTS SENDS TROOPS (APRIL 16-19, 1861)
Early in the morning of April 16, the first soldiers ap- peared at the Governor's summons. Three companies. of the Eighth Regiment, from Marblehead, detrained in Boston amidst a clamorous throng and marched through driving sleet to Faneuil Hall. For the five days thereafter the community gave thought to nothing but the troops: crowds filled the stations, followed the marching men, and stood before the State House while the Governor bade them farewell, again and again interrupting his ardent words and often drowning them in a universal tumult of feeling. The eye was never out of sight of flags, the ear never out of hearing of cheers and shouts. At the State House, much of the clothing, arms, and ammunition was deposited for distribution; and thither all varieties of individuals were thronging with every variety of suggestion and offer of help. Of course confusion was at its height, but the energy and tireless good will of the workers and a liberal disposition to cut red tape made it possible for the first regiment to start within fifty hours of the time when Andrew issued his order.
"By noon, April 17, the Sixth Regiment, which was to go off first, having received its equipment and having exchanged its old smooth-bore muskets for new rifles, drew up before the long and broad flight of the State House steps, and the Governor came down to give the regiment its colors and to bid it Godspeed. For a moment the throng of workers in the State House stopped; they crowded down the steps, the throngs of people from the street below surged up to meet them. Standing thus, the Governor for five minutes poured forth the feeling pent up within him for the last few days, surrendering himself, as was his wont, to the fullness of
508
MASSACHUSETTS TO THE FRONT
eloquence which served him so well at these times and which his ringing voice could send far out over an open-air crowd. At the end, he gave the colors into the keeping of Colonel Jones, who replied with a soldier's brevity. The regiment marched off, little dreaming what the future had in store for it. The Governor and his fellow workers returned to their tasks within; the crowd dispersed, still sobbing and cheering.
"This public act of parting between the Governor and his troops was the formal sign of the close reality of war, and the shock it gave was profound. Many, many times repeated during the next four years, the scene became famous; one may see it quaintly recorded on the soldiers' monument on Boston Common-the Governor, holding the colors, sur- rounded by his staff; before him the regimental officers and the troops, all eager to be off."
The departure of the Sixth-followed later in the day by two other regiments destined for Fortress Monroe, in all about 1500 men-was the first movement of armed troops anywhere in the North. On the day following, a fourth regi- ment left, the start of its march from the State House being the occasion for the war spirit of the people to mount higher than ever. With it, as brigadier-general, went Benjamin F. Butler, Andrew's opponent for governor on the ticket of the Breckinridge Democrats. Andrew had made the appointment in recognition of the rallying of men of all parties to the Union cause; but, owing to Butler's truculence and other undesirable qualities, the act was one which he later came to rue. It was found that a fifth regiment was necessary to complete the State's quota, and that departed three days later.
The first regiment to leave Massachusetts, the Sixth, having reached New York, took train for Washington. When march- ing through the streets of Baltimore, on its way from one station to the other, it was attacked by a mob; it fired in return upon them, and at the end of the affair there were dead as well as wounded on both sides. The regiment reached Washington that day; but so great was the frenzy in Baltimore that it was deemed necessary to burn the bridges on railroads leading from the north, and the Nation's capital was isolated. A week later the next Massachusetts troops arrived, having been eight days en route. It was during that anxious period of isolation
REGULAR REPUBLICAN TICKET.
YOR GOVERNOX, JOHN. A. ANDREW,
FOR LIEUT, GOVERNOR JOEL HAYDEN,
Por Secretary of the Commonwealth, OLIVER WARNER, of Northampton.
Fot Tresource and Heartver Grugrat, HENRY K, OLIVER, of Saleai:
Yor Attorney General, DWIGHT FOSTER, of. Worcester.
Ror Anlitar of Accounts, LEVI REED, of Abington.
Fer Commuitas, the Obundli District No. Three, JAMES M. SHUTE, of Somerville.
For Bonnier, For the Second Middicorx Senatoris! Patriot, JOHN C. DOOGE, of Cambridge.
For Representativos in the General Court, for the Reventh Hep- Tesontauive Dlatriet, of Middleerx County,
CHARLEY Beck.
HAMax R. HARDINo,
ANDR HOOKER,
Yor Sherif, CHARLES KIMBALL of Lowell.
For County Commissioner, EDWARD J. COLLINS, of Newton,
For Spatial Commissioner,
B. K. Haves, of Framingham,
W. W. Exasmow, of Shirley.
For Commissionara of Insolvency, for Middineex County, 1. FL. Waxmere, of Hopkinton, Huser HALDeIst, of Brighton, JAMES O. BOSWELL, of South Reading.
Yor District Attorney, for the Northern Blotlet, ISAAC & MORSE, of Lowell.
For Representative in Congruan, for District No. Four, SAMUEL HOOPER, of Burton.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library
HANDBILL OF THE ELECTION OF 1860
From Harper's Pictorial
Courtesy of Harvard College Library
THE BALTIMORE RIOT, APRIL 19, 1861
509
RISING OF THE PEOPLE
that Lincoln told the men of the Sixth: "I begin to believe there is no North. The Seventh Regiment [New York] is a myth. Rhode Island is another. You are the only real thing."
RISING OF THE PEOPLE (APRIL, 1861)
The shedding of the blood of Massachusetts soldiers by a rebel mob marked the climax of a week of thrilling events and intense emotional strain. The response of the Commonwealth to Lincoln's appeal began with the moment of its publication; it rose in a steady crescendo, contributed to by all conditions of men. With the news from Baltimore, the mood of exaltation became one also of consecration : for a second time the stand of Massachusetts men on the nineteenth of April had become a milestone in the Nation's history. The Nation! its govern- ment must be defended; it must be preserved-on these points the men of Massachusetts, whatever their opinions may have been in the past, were not divided. The Breckinridge Demo- crats, Cushing and Butler; the abolitionists, Garrison and Wendell Phillips; the old-line Whigs, Everett, Winthrop, and Lawrence-all forgot their distrust of Lincoln and of Andrew and the party to which they belonged; the Union only was uppermost in their thoughts. Cushing's help, however, An- drew could not bring himself to accept, for he felt that the seasoned politician, who had changed sides before to his own advantage, was now merely "riding in on the storm," as Forbes put it. "It was a sore disappointment to see Caleb come out on our side." If in the light of later events it may be thought that the Governor would have done better to take Cushing and reject Butler, at the moment the act would have required more than human wisdom as well as more than human charity.
In this outpouring of patriotism nothing was lacking: flags were raised, mass meetings held; men and women offered themselves freely, insistently, for every kind of service; money and supplies were pressed upon the Governor ; a flood of cloth- ing rose, tide-like, to the point of embarrassment; and articles of food-which, it soon became plain, Massachusetts must send her men at the front if they were to eat at all-poured in by the ton. Many of these gifts partook decidedly of the
510
MASSACHUSETTS TO THE FRONT
nature of "frills." "Their principal value (and that is price- less) is as a testimony of the patriotism, zeal, and generosity of the men and women who felt that they must do something for the cause." The determination of Andrew and his fellow workers to "put Massachusetts at the head of the column" and his success in doing so were recognized and acclaimed throughout the North. The efficient organization rapidly created to take care of the new activities was a model for other States. All these heightened the ardor of all citizens of the Commonwealth; a spirit of noble rivalry intensified patriotism.
THE SPIRIT OF MASSACHUSETTS (1861)
This feeling was carried still further because Massachusetts, in common with the rest of the North, was for some days cut off from communication with Washington; and because, when connection was restored, the Federal Government was too dis- organized to give coherent direction to affairs. So Massa- chusetts must perforce go her own way. The activities which Andrew undertook in consequence, with the backing of ad- visers having experience in conducting affairs on a large scale and used to business methods, covered a wide range. He cooperated with other northern States in opening a route to Washington and in making it secure; he put militia garrisons into the forts in Boston harbor; he lent military equipment to Maine; he sent an agent with a credit of £50,000 to Europe to obtain arms. He was even obliged to purchase two steamers to take to the Massachusetts regiments at Washing- ton and Fortress Monroe the provisions which the Federal Government was unable to supply.
Thus, at the very beginning of the war, the people of Mas- sachusetts, under capable leadership, were fused together and uplifted. The spiritual force by which this was brought to pass was well described by Andrew himself :
"I may testify to the impressions stamped forever on our memories and our hearts by that great week in April, when Massachusetts rose up at the sound of the cannonade of Sumter, and her Militia Brigade, springing to their arms, appeared on Boston Common. It redeemed the meanness and the weariness of many a prosaic life. It was the revelation
FROM TOWN MEETING TO REGIMENT 511
of a profound sentiment, of manly faith, of glorious fidelity, and of a love stronger than death. Those were days of which none other in the history of the war became the parallel. And when, on the evening of the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, there came the news along the wires that the Sixth Regiment had been cutting its way through the streets of Baltimore, whose pavements were reddened with the blood of Middlesex, it seemed as if there descended into our hearts a mysterious strength, and into our minds a supernal illumina- tion .... Never after did any news so lift us above ourselves, so transform earthly weakness into heavenly might. . .. The great and necessary struggle had begun, without which we were a disgraced, a doomed, a ruined people. We had reached the parting of the ways, and we had not hesitated to choose the right one."
CHANGING A TOWN MEETING TO A REGIMENT (APRIL, 1861)
This immense force of popular feeling was behind that en- listment of troops and preliminary drill and organization of a military force, which will be described in the following chap- ter. The authorities of Massachusetts were an unmilitary group, trying to create a military spirit and a military force out of a community which had hardly seen a soldier since the War of 1812, except for the limited participation of the Mexican War of 1846. This is the place for a brief account of the process by which Massachusetts became a recruiting ground for the 146,000 officers and soldiers who were enlisted from the State during the four years of Civil War. The beginnings of this process were slow and difficult.
From the day of Lincoln's first call for troops to the end of the war, Andrew's most important duty was to provide the man power which the government needed to crush the armies of the Confederacy. The desire for service on the part of men of military age showed itself in the formation of militia companies in every town and city; the existing militia regi- ments which had not been summoned went into camp. Daniel Webster's son Fletcher raised a new regiment in three days.
These militia organizations, however, by tradition and the nature of things were local. Each company chose the color and style of its uniform, having more regard for show than
512
MASSACHUSETTS TO THE FRONT
for use (whence Andrew's order for overcoats and blankets ). It elected its officers, owned its armory, was known by a special name, and in general was sufficient unto itself and jealous of rival organizations. The display it made at spring training or fall review further ministered to its local pride. That An- drew was able to bring these units together and send them out of the State was no small tribute to his energy as well as to the national feeling of the men.
Serviceable as the militia was for an emergency, it could not be used alone to fight a war; and on May 3 President Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers to serve for three years. These men were to be organized as State regiments, and the quota for Massachusetts, after considerable delay and uncertainly, was set at six. Although this number was much less than what Andrew knew Massachusetts could supply, the problem of organizing these regiments under the existing con- ditions was for the moment a sufficient tax on his judgment and strength.
QUESTION OF OFFICERS
The chief difficulty was the status of the officers, who were chosen by the men but whose commissions must be signed by the Governor. Already he was embarrassed by complaints as to the inefficiency of commanders in the regiments that had gone forward. If he fell in with the prevailing practice and merely accepted the officers chosen in this democratic manner, he would imperil the efficiency of the Commonwealth's contri- bution of men. On the other hand, if he applied a military standard of fitness, he would stir up a storm that might se- riously impede recruiting. Besides, the number of those who could thus qualify was small. Therefore many men whom he knew to be unsuitable, if not unfit, were commissioned in the first regiments. As he learned the necessity of doing his own thinking and gained in firmness, the task of "changing a town meeting to a regiment" became easier.
One exception was notable. On the first day of the war, the governor had approved the plan of George H. Gordon, a graduate of West Point, with experience in the Regular Army, for raising a regiment, every officer of which should be chosen by himself. Gordon knew where to find the right sort
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.