USA > Missouri > Recollections of the 26th Missouri Infantry, in the war for the union > Part 8
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THE PATRIOT.
"January 1, IS61.
The New Year! The phrase does not seem to startle a solitary thought from what I feel within me to be almost a sluggard's slumber. It falls upon my ear absolutely flat, meaningless, joyless, griefless, listless. I do not know why, but as a point in time it has no meaning beyond the hour of the day or the day of the week. My 'New Years' have heretofore been mostly spent in the city, in such a manner as to awaken memories of former ones ; and so I have looked back on those days as rounds that I have grasped from year to year in the ladder of my life. The ladder for the last year has been in a horizontal position, and I have just held on."
It is evident that the first months of 1861 were to Mr. Boomer months of fiery trial, that he was passing through a terrible conflict, and that he sometimes felt that he was fight- ing his way alone.
Born and brought up in Massachusetts, a State which had always taken extreme views upon the subject of slavery, he had heard and seen many things (as has been previously noticed) which were, he maintained, unjust to the South and aggressive on the part of the North-views which, if carried out, would certainly lead to difficulty. Ile always begged
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of his friends in the New England States to try to look at the subject from the slaveholder's point of view, and urged that hatred and violence would never convict men of a moral evil. Moreover, he abhorred quarrels, and in private life acted upon the principle of never contending. If he had disagree- ment with any person, he simply declared his position, but never used any means to vindicate his course; acting upon the common-sense principle of forgiving wrongs and letting them alone.
A letter under date of January 6, will give some idea of the workings of his mind upon this subject :-
"DEAR S -:- I did not receive the letter you say you wrote, and the postmaster does not know anything about it either. And the beautiful young lady-they (the young ladies) are myths sometimes ere you catch them, and I be- lieve your letter mythical. Send me the counterfeit and let me see (the young lady I mean ), and then I can tell exactly what the letter would or should have been, and you can write me a letter about something that is real; for we have in our times plenty of realities, and, though they are sad ones, they are ours.
"We (I mean the people ) have been working hard and long to get them, and, now that they are in our possession, the inquiry begins to dawn upon our awakening senses much as it did upon that young man who drew an elephant in the lottery, the story of which you know. I think we are much in the same condition as that perplexed young gentleman. The elephant is stirred up, sure enough, and I am afraid he will eat us all up. I wish, though. I had charge of him for a while; I would feed him on corrupt politicians till he died.
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"I wish you (I trust you did have) a merry Christmas and a happy New Year's day, and wish for the rest a hap- pier ending than beginning of this new year.
"I cannot try to cheer you or myself with the solace that comes to us in individual trials, when perhaps our great- est troubles are our highest hopes, and when we may reflect with pleasure that if our burdens are great we are lightening the load for another; for there is no hope in madness, and it goes down from father to son.
"You do not know how I am weighted down by these evil times; you cannot conceive it living where there is a union of feeling. You are on the border, where the realities of civil strife do not appeal to you as they do to us here, who may be occupying the theater of fearful tragedies, our whole 1 . State a battle-ground.
"If you did, if the far North, and the far South could hear the prospective cries of distress that come to our ears. and see through the medium we do, they would come to the conclusion, I think, that there had been a misunderstanding ; that, after all, there was no cause for such an awful quarrel and that the honor of both parties could be preserved with- out a resort to arms.
"I have hope, though, yet; for gentlemen have been known, when they arrived upon the ground to settle their private quarrels, attended in silence by friends and surgeons, in the coldest and grayest dawn of the morning, to listen, when the stillness preceding the conflict had become so deathly that they could hear well, to suggestions of the above description. I humbly pray it may be so with the impending quarrel of our country: else these times are sadly out of joint. I am determined to do all I can, when the time comes
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to make people listen to reason; and if all, both North and South, who think as I do, would only act, the trouble would be avoided."
May S.
"I was delighted to receive your letters, and think their sentiments are truly patriotic. I love my country, and shall try to serve it in this its hour of need. which is not to be done in this State without great prudence and greater sacrifices; but between a mal-administration of a government the best in the world and the chances of none at all, I have deliber- ately chosen, upon the ' Hamlet Undiscovered' principle, in favor of the former.
"I hope the President and his co-workers in power will be quiet with their Missouri army for a time at least, for we are stronger without them than with them, and have need of all our strength. Affairs are not pleasant in this State. The present picture, turn which way you will, is fearful to look upon, and still more so to contemplate for the future. It re- quires some physical and moral courage to travel through the towns and country at the present time, and a barrier has been placed in society in St. Louis which no one can pass. I am called an abolitionist by people here in the country, be- tween whom and myself there has been heretofore the high- est mutual respect. I don't like all this, but cannot help it. and think, with a worthy Carondelet alderman, that the best thing what one can do is to do the best thing what one can.' ·
"I have received your present, which gives me much pleasure. I return you my love, which now is all I can safely call my own; but in sending you this gift do not fear that I
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am robbing myself, for this possession, among its other vir- tues, is in no danger of suffering by division or a modern secession."
To his mother, under date of June I, he writes :
"In whatever light we view the present troubles of our country, it is a very serious affair, and the question must arise, whether the remedy used is not as bad as the disease to be cured. Civil War is a long and dreadful thing, and I have feared this for years. You of Massachusetts, who are one people, and sustained each by the sentiments of the other do not and cannot realize what war is in a community di- vided against itself, where the partisan feeling enters society and erects barriers between friends, neighbors, inmates of the same house, and members of the same family. Evil times have fallen upon us indeed, when that barrier widens from coolness to passion and from passion to arms. Yet such is the case here. In St. Louis a line is drawn through society, and across the barrier no social intercourse is allowed. Persons intimately connected with each other have met in arms.
"I have taken my position for the Union, and as a con- sequence for the government ; for between a good govern- ment badly administered and the uncertainty attendant on forming a new one upon its dismemberment, I could not hes- itate to choose. My position, therefore, in common with that of many others, is one that requires prudence as well as principle, and may involve much sacrifice.
"I have been pleased to see the promptness with which my native State, stimulated by patriotism, has responded to the call of her government believed to be in danger, and I
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am pleased with the whole North, which volunteers to sus- tain the rightful authority of law. The supremacy of law as such, whether believed to be just or unjust, is the only safe- guard of life, liberty, and property, and all differences should be adjusted under the law, until oppression marks the time to take up the sword.
"I cannot forget, however, that the good people of Massachusetts and other New England States did not dis- play upon the call of former executives the same willingness to rush to arms in wars with foreign powers, one of which was for defending the rights of their own commerce and seamen, as they now display in a war, at best, to chasten the errors of their brethren; and I hope, if Providence designs by these troubles lessons of wisdom, that it may be a part of that divine plan to distribute a small number among the peo- ple of the North. The North cannot be held entirely guilt- less in this fearful, awful war."
From journal, June 5 :-
"Have been to St. Louis; stopped at my old home, and found W- had a French consul housekeeping with him. I found also that extremely bitter hostility is felt towards the government in the aristocratic circles, which enters into every relation. both business and social. I feel utterly in- capable, at times, to understand this feeling; and I also feel sometimes that I would fly from the bitter cup before me.
"Here are men-'near a whole city full'-who have heretofore gloried in our government, and served it faith- fully, some of them-can they be disloyal now? There are
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men here who have proved themselves sound in judgment in everything pertaining to the political economy of our country. men that I honor, love, and revere, men that would not flinch from any sacrifice-can they be misguided now?
"I am overwhelmed by these reflections at times; but I must be just and honest with myself in this matter, cost what it will."
There is a pause here of some weeks; the pen makes no record either by letter or journal; the curtain is suffered to drop over the inner conflict still going on; no ear heard, no eye saw, save that which neither slumbers nor sleeps. But the following letter, bearing date July 15, gives proof that his heart was now at rest; that he had espoused openly the Union cause, although he had not then decided to take up arms in defence of his country.
"JEFFERSON CITY, July 15.
"DEAR S ---:- I am rain-bound here to-day, with thin and soiled garments; it is cold and disagreeable. It rains nearly all the time now-a-days, and I expect the storm of to- day will entirely ruin my wheat, which has been a long time in the field, and ought to have been thrashed long ago; for you must know, my dear S-, that I have partaken of the belligerent spirit of the times, and am determined to thrash that wheat. For this purpose I have made every preparation -have put all my implements of war into the field, have raised men and horsemen-and the first day I shall make the attack.
"My infantry will make the first charge. This manœu- vre will throw the enemy into such a position that, by a vigorous movement. of the cavalry, I will knock all their
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heads off; and by continuing hostilities in this manner I hope to show that my enemy is a mere man of straw.
"After I get my adversary into my own power. tightly imprisoned, I shall carry him away and sink him in a dark dungeon, and mash him, which I think will completely sub- jugate him; unless at some future time, perhaps when peace and plenty shall smile again, and we all are happy around the social board, trusting to the careless security of the times, and instigated by yeast, he shall rise again. But if that event should occur, I am determined to eat him.
"My dear sister, you will think I am carrying the simile rather too far; but you cannot judge of war in your peace- ful home. There are reckless, foolish men around me, and all over the State, who are continually exasperating the op- posite party, creating everywhere a petty civil war. There have been fatal fights within a few miles of me, in every di- rection; but so far, by common consent, we preserve amity and good neighborhood. I have tried every honorable means to maintain this state of things, and feel grateful for my success so far, as I am an avowed Union man. Such sentiments are not always to be expressed with safety. I tell all Union men who wish to take an active part in this con- test to join the army: secessionists the same: for the form- ation of home guards in this State is bad policy. I appeal to the selfish interests of all for industry, which is so necessary to both the soldier and the citizen, that it may not perish en- tirely throughout the State, as well as that the barbarities of such a strife may be prevented as far as possible. Our State is in a terrible condition, and it will be a long time before it recovers from it.
"Last night I received your letter, and will tell you, as
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near as can be told, what I am doing. I am 'existing ;' this is about all. I feel that my country is in trouble, and that it is a time when men, if they are needed, should not merely look on; and this feeling makes me uneasy, for the reason that my business connections are yet so elaborate and unset- tled that there seems to be a necessity laid upon me to attend to them-a necessity imposed upon me as much by obliga- tions to others as myself. There are so many people here to whom I furnish employment in my mills, and on the farm, in clearing up new ground in the vicinity-some mainly for the reason that it is their only means of obtaining the neces- saries of life-that in this I find a pleasant occupation.
"As for society, I have none, and feel little desire for any. Everything is so unsettled, and the times are so stir- ring and eventful, that to keep one's self fully informed leaves little time for other reading or study."
From journal :-
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"CASTLE ROCK, August 11, 1861.
"I went into Jefferson City this afternoon, and while there reports came of the death of General Lyon. It seems but a day since I met him here on his way to Springfield, and had such satisfactory converse with him. How often my mind has reverted to his pure, honest, sincere character, and the hopes it gave me in the service of his country; and now he has fallen ! A feeling of sadness at the loss of this heroic general has oppressed me beyond measure.
"In addition to this sad event, news reaches me of the death of C- G --. This brings to my mind a long train of memories, which the recollection of mutual associa- tion brings back from the past. A sorrowful picture of the
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horrors of war! The accounts of this battle, and the results it leaves, have begotten in me a feeling of personal responsi- bility, which leads to serious consideration.
"The action of the government seems inadequate to the necessities of the State, and the Union men here seem to rely too much upon the government to do, at least in part, their own work. I apprehend that Jackson and the Confed- erate forces will soon appear in large numbers at some point near the interior of the State, and that the friends of the re- bellion, more ready than the friends of the country, will join them in large numbers. Shall Union men look on? Will it be all that we can do to listen for the news ? I believe now is the time when my country, my native land, needs me and my all, and that here is the place.
"What can I do ? Just now words or votes or civil gov- ernment cannot do much. The appeal is to arms, and in arms must be met. I see but two ways-to take arms or look on. I have no family; am young; business considera- tions should not weigh. I cannot be of service as a private soldier, or even as a company officer. Physical disease and exposure have unfitted me to endure what would be neces- sary, and at the time needed, in those positions, I fear I should fail. Am I fitted for a higher position ? Could I fill it in such a manner as to make the forces I should command an absolute additional force? Could I obtain such a posi- tion?
"On my way home I sketched in my mind the scheme of raising a battalion of three companies, to volunteer for one year, as aid in suppressing the rebellion in Missouri. This is the State of my adoption and my love. My heart is here, my home is here, and the government of my fathers is
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mine. I must do something; and I ask the first of these questions intending to search myself in good faith; the sec- ond I shall set about solving to-morrow; and by the day fol- lowing I will try to decide."
The following letter to his mother will show the result of the foregoing reflections :-
CASTLE ROCK, August 14.
"DEAR MOTHER :- I am just home from Jefferson City, twelve o'clock at night. I was detained late by business, and came very near being detained all night by the picket guard, as Jefferson City is now under martial law.
"The war news you see by the daily press; I will not speak of it in general terms, but enclose you a paper showing what I intend to do. I have considered this step more seri- ously than any act of my life, and am firmly convinced that it is my duty. I hope that you and my father will approve it. .
"I have strenuously opposed that party which have un- necessarily aggravated the causes of this war; but that reck- less men have hurried the war upon us does not obviate the fact that it is here, and that good men must take firm, posi- tive ground. I love my country, and cannot consent to let it go without my effort.
"Pardon a short letter, as I have a great deal of writ- ing to do, and to-morrow I go to Linn, to address a meeting of our county. I am well, in good spirits, and love my father and mother as well as ever.
"Your affectionate son, "GEO. B. BOOMER."
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It would be impossible to describe the sufferings, the discouragements, the difficulties of such a stand as this brave young man took-that he would take up arms in defence of his country- and the almost insurmountable obstacles in the way of raising a regiment in such a disloyal atmosphere.
It is an easy matter to talk of acting from purely con- scientious motives ; it is no hardship to say that we will judge of things from their intrinsic merits, and that we will act independently, as those who must give account unto God. This is the theory, which if developed into action makes moral heroes in any and every sphere in life, whether they be kings or peasants, living in the city or country, laboring on the battle-field or in the humble shop. But it is not so easy to stand unmoved and fixed in the truth in the presence of adversaries. Human nature is weak; it loves approba- tion; and it is much more congenial for the heart to glide easily down the stream of popular sentiment than to buffet against the tide. It is hard to stand by one's principles. to be true to one's self, when on every hand. in looks, in words in conduct, we meet with opposition, with coldness, yea. with almost hatred. We are linked to our fellow-men by so many unseen but beautiful threads of sympathy. that when we feel that support to be gone, and we walk almost solita- rily and alone for truth's sake-suffer trial and persecution for its maintenance-the reason and judgment are very apt to find some ground, in the pressure of circumstances around us, for escaping so severe an ordeal.
It is easy to be generous in deed, magnanimous in ac- tion, heroic and self-sacrificing in life, when our ears are filled with public applause, when our hearts beat quickly with the approving smile and the meed of love, when by such
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acts we see friends increase, and our position in the com- munity greatly dignified thereby. But when there is no eye to see except to look coldly, when there is no ear to hear except to condemn. when there is no hope except in firm reliance upon principle, then comes ofttimes the night of weeping, the heart-searching, the inner voice uplifted to that Eye which is never shut, that Ear which is never closed.
But such training, although severe, often forms the noblest characters, and gives them a calm, unshrinking con- fidence in the cause they espouse. They may be weighted down by difficulties, oppressed by fears, but having thus triumphed over self, having fought this first great battle vic- toriously, there is little fear of faltering.
The most brave heroic act of Mr. Boomer's life was not in shedding his blood before the stronghold of Vicksburg, although on that sad evening the setting sun cast its lingering rays upon the pale brow of as true and loving a patriot as was ever graced by the "white plume of Navarre;" but it was while toiling for months in raising his regiment, poor and almost unfriended, that he displayed a courage and endur- ance more grand than the hottest fight of any battle-field could have offered. In the excitement of action the soldier . is stimulated by the circumstance of war, by martial har- monies, by the immediate hope of success, by many motives kindred to those around; he is sustained by a mighty host, a strength he believes invincible; he is impelled to deeds of daring which make the "world wonder," while at the same time they pronounce him a hero; but it is not so sublime, so pure, so lofty a heroism as that which is displayed by him who works for his country without the aid of sympathy or remuneration.
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The men of loyal hearts in Missouri at this period were a small band of patriots, so small and so widely scattered that each seemed as it were standing alone. But their pa- triotism was not a covering of blue and gold, to be put on for ambition or display; it was a patriotism that had passed through the furnace, and bore the test of purity. It was a patriotism that could bear "the crack of prowling rifles," that could look upon burning homes, murdered fathers, houseless wives, and fatherless children. The sufferings of the people of Missouri can never be told. They were accustomed to pass sleepless nights and perilous days, to see property in every form stolen. The Union and Confederate armies had both passed through the State, which combined with the bitter hatred and enmity of its inhabitants made it one scene of devastation and ruin.
It was at such a time as this that Mr. Boomer undertook to raise a thousand men to fight in the defence of our country and with such feelings as the following passage indicates he commenced the work :-
"I know that in taking this step many, I fear most of those I have best loved for years, will condemn and forsake me. In the dear city of my love my name will be spoken of as evil, and every plan of my life I yield. My family are too far away to give me the support I need, and which it would be their pleasure to bestow; but I cannot and would not do otherwise than I have done. The struggle is over, and I feel sure of success."
A friend at Castle Rock says :--
"Mr. Boomer had frequent conversations with me at the commencement of the war in regard to his own duty, in the
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then distracted state of the country, and upon mature reflec- tion he decided to raise a regiment. No sooner had he come to this decision than he promptly set about the work with all his known energy, and from motives of pure patriotism."
Another friend says :-
"How Mr. Boomer was to raise a regiment in our poor, disloyal country, was a mystery, and how he was to leave his large business interests and prepare himself for a military commander, was equally unaccountable. But he was a man, although young, who had the confidence of all who knew him, was beloved by all classes, and had that popularity which would insure his success if any one, under the unfa- vorable circumstances, could succeed.
"He first established his camp at Castle Rock, freely giving to the soldiers the use of his household furniture, his beds, bedding, table furniture, and everything he had which would add to their comfort. After a few weeks he changed his quarters to Medora. where he at the same time could give his personal attention to military discipline."
He had great difficulty in turning the minds of the peo- ple to right views of maintaining the government, and to aid in accomplishing this he travelled from town to town, ad- dressing the people, urging their loyalty, and many, says a friend, out of love to him joined his regiment. Sometimes days would pass without any apparent progress, and he would be told by his friends that he never could succeed ; but he heeded not such prophecies, only to put forth greater effort. There was a power in his soul which lifted him above the fear of defeat; amidst the ravings of the storm around he was calm and unshaken. "As anchored ships
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cling to rifted rocks amid howling tempests, so he clung to the truth," believing in its power to sustain.
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