USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 9
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While the trying days of 1864 were passing, the country filled as never before with the horrors of warfare, and while yet it seemed uncertain whether the tremendous exertions being put forth were to bear fruits of peace by honorable conquest, came the most im- portant political period possible under the American form of gor- ernment-a presidential campaign. The conventions of the two political parties attracted great attention, and through the eventful summer and autumn the contest waxed hot and bitter. The Re-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
publican convention met at Baltimore, and while it renominated President Lincoln and heartily indorsed him and his policy, declar- ing for a vigorous continuance of the war till honorable peace should be obtained, it associated with him a noted southern loyalist- Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. The Democratic convention met at Chicago and placed in nomination a ticket headed by General George B. McClellan for president and George H. Pendleton of Ohio for vice-president. This was a taking nomination, especially the head of the ticket; for regardless of party there were many through the country who felt that General MeClellan had not been fairly treated by the administration, and who, while they had great faith in his military abilities, regarded him as a political martyr. But what the ticket gained in strength from this source it lost by the platform adopted, which declared the war a failure and called for peace by compromise. The latter proposition was indefinitely worded, but its evident purport was such that it invited and received the support of all those in avowed sympathy with the rebellion, as well as those sincerely differing from Mr. Lincoln's administration as to details of public policy.
Each Massachusetts state convention indorsed the action and the candidates of the national body of like name. The republican gathering met at Worcester, September 15, Congressman Alexander H. Rice of Boston being the chairman ; over a thousand members were in attendance, and the session was enthusiastic and unanimous on all the important questions. Governor Andrew was renominated by acclamation with but three dissenting voices, and with the single exception of the attorney generalship there was no change in the rest of the ticket. Mr. Foster declining to run again, his place was filled by the nomination of Charles I. Reed of Taunton. Edward Everett of Boston and Whiting Griswold of Greenfield were named for presidential electors at large, the platform being in keeping with those of previous years. The Democrats met at Faneuil Hall, Bos- ton, six days later, Theodore HI. Sweetser of Lowell being president, and renominated their state ticket of 1863. While the convention indorsed the nominations made by the national Democratic conven- tion, it spoke strongly for the prosecution of the war, applauded the victory of Sheridan at Winchester, news of which had just been received, expressed sympathy with the soldiers, and called for a more prompt system of exchange of prisoners of war.
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ABOLISHIMENT OF SLAVERY.
The election came on the 8th of November, and not only was the result in the nation a triumphant indorsement of President Lincoln, but the verdict was given in Massachusetts in no uncertain manner. A heavy vote was cast throughout the state, of which the Republican ticket received 126,742 for president and 125,281 for governor; the Democratic ticket 48.745 and 49,190 respectively-the majority for Lincoln being 77,997 and for Andrew 76,091. The result of this election practically settled the fate of the rebellion. It was shown beyond question that the invincible determination of the people of the nation was for the vindication of the authority of the general government, and that not even a specious plea for peace and a ticket headed by a gallant and extremely popular soldier could shake the fixed purpose of the loyal masses.
The Massachusetts Legislature assembled on the 4th of January, 1865, and organized with Jonathan E. Field for president of the Senate and Alexander II. Bullock for speaker of the House of Representatives. Both officers on taking the positions to which they had been chosen congratulated their associates on the prospect of a speedy terinination of the war, and on the fact that when the national authority was again restored it would be over a nation freed from the blot of slavery. In the same vein was the inaugural of the governor, which was delivered on the 6th. Reviewing the part taken by Massachusetts in the great struggle, he stated the war debt of the Commonwealth incurred up to that time to be over 814,- 500,000, most of which was held by the citizens of the state; but on the other hand he showed that general prosperity had prevailed, as was attested by the increased deposits in the savings bank. Re- ferring to the latter fact he said: "The very depositors of savings, out of this increased aggregate of their modest earnings saved and deposited, could lend money enough to pay the whole war debt of the Commonwealth, and have left on deposit as much as they had when the war began and more than three millions of dollars be- sides."
At about this time the United States Congress adopted the amend- ment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. The President signed the resolution on the 2d of February and the following day it was ratified by the Legislature at Boston, the fact being telegraphed to the President by Governor Andrew in these words: "Massachu- setts has to-day ratified the constitutional amendment abolishing
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
slavery by a unanimous yea and nay vote of both branches of the Legislature, the Democrats voting affirmatively." It is doubtful if any other state exceeded this action either in promptness or in unanimity of expression.
Shortly before this event, an unexpected and saddening blow fell upon Massachusetts and the nation in the sudden death of Hon. Edward Everett, on the 16th of January. The transcendent abili- ties of Mr. Everett placed him among the foremost men of America, and although he had been a candidate for the vice-presidency on one of the democratic tickets in 1860, he gave his whole energies to the cause of the Union when secession became a certainty. In announcing the inability of the President and his cabinet to attend the funeral, Secretary of State Seward added: "The President of the United States and the heads of departments tender to the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts their condolence on the lamented death of Edward Everett, who was worthy to be enrolled among the noblest of the nation's benefactors."
But Mr. Everett had lived to see the great struggle practically concluded, for on the 3d of April, 1865, the glad intelligence went flashing through the country that Petersburg and Richmond had fallen and the beginning of the end had come. Secretary of War Stanton telegraphed the tidings to Governor Andrew, and the latter responded: "I give you joy on these triumphant victories. Our people, by a common impulse, abandoned business to-day for thanks- giving and rejoicing. The colored man, received last, got in first and thus is the Scripture fulfilled." The latter sentence was in reference to the fact that Weitzel's Division of the Twenty-fifth Corps, colored troops, was reported to have been the first infantry to enter Richmond. It were futile to attempt any summary of the joy which everywhere prevailed, and the many forms by which it was manifested throughout the state. If Boston led in the matter of demonstration, it was because her resources were the greater. In all portions of the Commonwealth bands played, whistles blew, bells rang, cannon were fired, public meetings were held ; but deeper than all was the joyful greeting of man to man, with tear-dimmed eyes, that at last the carnival of death and war's desolation was about to end, and to end in the restoration of the national gov- ernment, in the abolition of the cause of the rupture and the tri- umph of Union and Liberty. On the following day the governor
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THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
formally communicated to the Legislature the tidings ; Senator Wilson was present, and the excitement was too intense to allow of much public business being transacted. Among other demonstra- tions, a great meeting was held that evening at Faneuil Hall, pre- sided over by the mayor of Boston and addressed among others by Senator Wilson, Robert C. Winthrop and Frederick Douglass.
The days which followed were filled with excitement and mingled joy and sorrow. General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia on the 9th of April, and with this practical clos- ing of hostilities the exultation of the loyal people found renewed expression. It was not for long, however, for scarcely had the joy- ful tidings been accepted in their fulness when the terrible news of the assassination of President Lincoln broke in upon the rejoicing with such a shock as the country had never before known. In an instant consternation succeeded the exultation ; emblems of sorrow took the place of those of rejoicing ; a nation was plunged in a moment from the most exalted joy to the depths of grief. The sad event had fitting public notice everywhere in the state, and a copy of the resolutions adopted by the Legislature was forwarded by Governor Andrew to the widow of the President.
The war ended with the surrender of the various armies of the Confederacy, all of which soon followed the example of General Lee, and as soon as peace was assured the work of reducing the volunteer armies of the United States was begun. The troops which had been called from civil life were returned to the pursuits which they had left to take up arms, those of Massachusetts in com- mon with others. During the summer nearly all came home-such as were left of the fine organizations which had gone forth-though tro of three regiments on special duor served until sometime in - the headings of the respective o
a brief synopsis of the troops furnished by the state.
During the war, Massachusetts sent out as her quota for three months' service in 1861, five regiments of infantry, one battalion of riflemen and one battery of light artillery ; under the various calls for three-years' troops, 40 regiments of infantry, five regiments of cavalry, three regiments and a battalion of heavy artillery, 15 bat- teries of light artillery and two companies of sharp-shooters ; for one year, one regiment and two unattached companies of infantry,
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
with another regiment in the process of organization at the close of the war, one regiment and eight unattached companies of heavy artillery, and seven companies of cavalry ; for nine months, 17 regiments of infantry and one battery of light artillery; for 100 days, five regiments and ten unattached companies of infantry ; for 90 days, 13 unattached companies of infantry ; for six months, one battery of light artillery and one company of infantry. These organizations with the enlistments in the navy comprised a mem- bership of 159,165; in addition there were enlisted in the Common- wealth, for which it received no credit, five companies for the New York Mozart Regiment and some 600 men for the Ninety-ninth New York Regiment, commanded by Colonel Wardrop, formerly of the Third Massachusetts Militia. Adding these men-we have fully 160,000 as the contribution of Massachusetts to the loyal armies and navy during the war. From the nature of their service some of these organizations were not credited to the quota of the state, . but the adjutant general of the army at Washington allows a credit of 146,730, with 5,318 drafted men who paid commutation, against a quota under all calls of 139,095,- showing a wide margin above all demands upon the patriotism of the state. Of this num- ber, as nearly as can be gleaned from the records of the adjutant general's office, 442 officers and 12,534 enlisted men died in the service from all causes. The population of the state in 1860 was 1,231,066.
The total expense incurred by the state in raising and equipping troops reached $27,705,109, and that of the cities and towns as such was nearly as much more, making $50,000,000 in round numbers as the money cost to the state. Apart from the military service, great numbers of laborers were employed in building fortifications, working in the Charlestown navy-yard and at the Springfield Armory. At the latter establishment, during the five years from July 1, 1860, the production reached the great total of 805,636 muskets, with extra parts and repairs equal to 120,845 more. The rifle-musket as there produced was the standard weapon of the ser- vice, and undoubtedly the best muzzle-loading military arm ever manufactured.
It is scarcely necessary to refer to the political contest of 1865 further than to say that Governor Andrew, having rendered five years of the most devoted service, covering the entire period of the
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DEPOSIT OF THE BATTLE FLAGS.
war, declined to be again considered a candidate, and Alexander H. Bullock of Worcester was elected his successor by a large majority, although General Darius N. Couch, the accomplished soldier, headed the democratic ticket.
An interesting episode occurred on the 22d of December, 1865, when the battle-flags of all the Massachusetts commands which had been borne by them in the war-with a few exceptions-were carried in procession by survivors of the organizations and with touch- ing ceremonies deposited for perpetual preservation in Doric Hall at the State House. The flags were formally turned over to the governor by General Couch, who commanded the column, and were received by Mr. Andrew with eloquent words of appreciation, to be "preserved and cherished amid all the vicissitudes of the future, as mementoes of brave men and noble actions."
The Legislature having convened, Governor Andrew on the 5th of January, 1866, delivered his valedictory, reviewing at consider- able length the events of his administration ; his successor, Governor Bullock, was inaugurated the day following. The war period had passed ; the strange, trying duties which it had brought had been faithfully met ; saddened, chastened, yet rejoicing in the triumph of the great cause of right and human progress, the old Common- wealth, with fresh hands grasping the helm, turned once more to the arts and pursuits of honorable peace.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PUBLIC MEN OF MASSACHUSETTS-THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION- CHARLES SUMNER, THE STATESMAN -HENRY WILSON, "THE SOLDIER'S FRIEND" - MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - MINISTERS ADAMS, MOTLEY AND BURLINGAME.
T HIE fateful epoch found worthy representatives of Massachu- setts in the national halls of legislation-especially in the United States Senate, where Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson nobly upheld the name and fame of the Commonwealth. Mr. Sumner had been for ten years in the Senate. That high posi- tion was the first public office to which he was elected-it was the only one he ever filled. There his life work was wrought out. Born in Boston in 1811, he had taken his seat in the Senate at the age of 40, and the years of war found him at the zenith of his power and strength. He served during the rebellion as chairman of the Com- mittee on Foreign Relations-a position which soon became one of great importance. It was one to bring him close to the President and his cabinet in days of grave anxiety, and to call for the best qualities of his high and strong nature ;- but it was not one to bring him before the people. His greatest and worthiest service was in the council chamber, where the influence of his intellect did much to shape the course of the nation,-a potent force of which the world knew little.
Yet apart from the important duties of his committee, Charles Sumner was the center of a mighty influence in the Senate generally and beyond it. He had been from early manhood the uncompromis- ing foe of human slavery ; he had fought it determinedly, regardless of the fact that his attitude was costing him social and professional standing. Neither the loss of patronage from his lawyer's office at Boston nor the brutal assault of Brooks the South Carolinian in the Senate Chamber had for an instant affected his purpose. His
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CHARLES SUMNER, STATESMAN.
whole life rang to the key-note of the one word, "Justice," and now that the nation was plunged in fratricidal war, with the institution of slavery for the prime and only cause, he pleaded with all the energy of his great nature that the strong hand of war should cut away from the national life the monstrosity which deformed it. Every movement which looked to the strengthening of the hands of the administration had his support; he was at all times the fear-
CHARLES SUMINER.
less champion of those measures which sought to better the condi- tion of the black man. Mr. Sumner saw the nation pass through the ordeal of war with no serious foreign complications ; he saw the shackles struck from the bond man : the great purpose of the sena- tor's life was realized while he yet lived and wrought for its accom- plishment. Such in a very imperfect generalization was the work of the great man who stood close to the President, and to whom Mr. Lincoln said during the last week of his life: "There is no person with whom I have oftener advised throughout my adminis- tration than with yourself." This was a sentence which any man might be proud to hear from the lips of Abraham Lincoln-it was not too much for him to say to Senator Sumner.
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MASSACIIUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Senator Henry Wilson, two years the junior of Senator Sumner, had entered the United States Senate four years later than his col- league. The son of poverty and rising to eminence through the energy of his own endeavors, Mr. Wilson had come to the Senate with preliminary experience in both branches of his State Legisla- ture. He brought to the higher position great energy and industry, intense patriotism and a sublime moral courage. He was in all re-
HENRY WILSON.
spects in sympathy with Mr. Sumner, from whom he differed so much in personal characteristics. When Sumner was struck down in the Senate by Brooks in 1856, Mr. Wilson denounced the act as a brutal outrage; refusing to fight the duel to which he was im- mediately challenged, and denouncing "the code " as a relic of bar- barism, he yet announced his intention to defend himself whenever and wherever he might be attacked. During the war he was chair- man of the Committee on Military Affairs and of the Committee on the Militia ; no member of Congress did more faithful service than he, none had a keener comprehension of the nation's needs at all stages of the great contest. He had already served on the Mili- tary Committee during President Buchanan's administration, Jef-
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WILSON, THE SOLDIER'S FRIEND.
ferson Davis being chairman, and with no power to prevent had seen the naturally feeble military resources of the government manipu- lated in the interests of the plotters and made still more inadequate to the needs of the republic when the moment of trial came.
At the fall of Fort Sumter, Mr. Wilson urged the President to call for 300,000 men instead of the 75,000 actually asked for, but the number which he suggested was staggering even to Mr. Lincoln, while to many of his advisers, notably the secretary of war, the suggestion seemed preposterous. Wilson was one of the few who realized the desperate intentions of the Southern leaders. When the call was made he with difficulty persuaded the secretary of war to double the quota of Massachusetts and then hurried home to con- fer with Governor Andrew and the state authorities. From that hour his duties became unceasing and of the greatest importance. Returning to Washington he devoted much of his attention to the soldiers, especially those in the hospitals, where the great man found the time, as he certainly had the heart, to cheer and minister to the humblest private soldier. But his greater work was not neg- lected, and on the assembling of Congress in extra session, on the 4th of July, 1861, he was ready with the important bills which the military situation called for. At the close of the special session he returned to Massachusetts to aid his state in the work of enlist- ment, and to do this in a practical way recruited in person the Twenty-second Massachusetts Regiment, of which he was commis- sioned colonel, accompanying it to the front. IIe soon resigned his commission, however, and the better to familiarize himself with the service and its requirements became a volunteer aide on General Mc- Clellan's staff, which position he held till January, 1862, when duty again called him to active participation in the work of the Senate.
ITis position from this time on was one of immense responsibility. All the important legislation required in connection with the enor- mous military service of the ensuing four years was either origi- nated or passed upon by the committee of which Mr. Wilson was the head and the heart. In the single matter of commissioned officers, 11,000 nominations of all grades from second lieutenant to lieutenant general were referred to this committee for investigation and report ; interested parties naturally flocked to the committee with complaints, requests and "influence," and even the common soldiers-not the least welcome of his visitors-felt at liberty to
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
seek out Senator Wilson, "The Soldier's Friend,"-the man in whose great heart there was a warm corner for the humblest human being. Mr. Wilson prepared with his own hand a multitude of bills; among them those for bettering the pay and condition of the soldiers, and all of those relating to the military service of the blacks, freeing the families of colored soldiers as well as the men themselves, and abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. Like his colleague, Mr. Wilson never forgot that slavery was the corner-stone and the sole cause of the rebellion ; and with an influ- ence second to none he wrought unceasingly for the destruction of the system and the establishing of the constitutional equality of the negro.
Naturally the eminent ability of the two Massachusetts senators, who occupied so high a position in the national councils and attracted so much of the public attention, tended to overshadow the services of the Bay State representatives in the lower branch of Congress. Yet the latter were by no means unworthy of their high position, and a cursory glance at the men who composed the state delegation, with observation of the important duties to which they were called, will show that the reputation of the Common- wealth was well sustained in the national House of Representatives. The limits of such a sketch as the present do not allow of the fol- lowing out in detail of the part taken by each Representative during the period of the war; such a treatment would require a thorough review of all the legislation which came before Congress, for there was no measure affecting the interests of the nation which did not receive the careful attention of Massachusetts legislators. Neither does it need to be said that their voices and their votes were ever for the support of the national government and the furtherance of such measures as the vigorous and uncompromising prosecution of the war demanded. Nor does it appear that the voice of any rep- resentative from the state was lifted in unkind criticism of the ad- ministration. There were necessarily differences of opinion in re- gard to many measures ; but substantially the spirit which animated Governor Andrew as the executive of the Commonwealth, our soldiers in the field, and Senators Sumner and Wilson in their sphere, pervaded each Massachusetts heart and head in the' Hall of Representatives.
In the Thirty-sixth Congress, which expired March 4, 1861, with
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THE LOWER HOUSE OF CONGRESS.
the term of office of President Buchanan, Massachusetts had 11 Representatives, and the same number in the Thirty-seventh Con- gress, which covered the two years following. In the Thirty-eighth, however, the number of Massachusetts districts was reduced to ten, and the state delegation suffered accordingly. The members from the various districts, with the committees on which they served, are given below. Very naturally the bent of the congressman's labors was influenced by his committee work ; in that field to which he gave the most thought he was naturally best informed and most deeply interested ; though there were a few in the delegation, like Henry L. Dawes and George S. Boutwell, who rose to the quality of leadership, and seemed to grasp at once all the great issues of the momentous time. In naming these, therefore, as the more ver- satile and prominent members of the delegation, there is no dis- paragement of the faithful work of others who came less promi- nently before the public eye.
Thomas D. Eliot of New Bedford represented the First district in the two Congresses covering the period of the war, as he did in those preceding and following that epoch. During all of this time he was a member of the Committee on Commerce, which naturally became one of great importance after the complications growing out of the war began to take form. He was also a member of the select Committee on Confiscation, of the Committees on Emancipa- tion and on Expenditures in the Treasury Department of the Thirty- eighth Congress, and chairman of the select Committee on the Freedmen in the Thirty-ninth. At the opening of the special ses- sion of Congress in the summer of 1861, he was prominent in the advancement of measures for the increase of the United States navy, and to the various interests connected therewith he gave earnest attention during the entire war.
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