USA > North Carolina > North Carolina in the War Between the States > Part 6
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"EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
" RALEIGH, N. C., October 19, 1860.
"DEAR SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 6th, which reached me on the 12th inst.
" In compliance with your request I will give as accurately as it is in my power to do the views and feelings of the peo- ple of North Carolina upon the important subject of your communication. Political differences and party strife have run so high in this State for some years past, and particularly during the past nine months, that anything like unanimity upon any question of a publie nature could scarcely be ex- pected, and such is the case with the one under consideration. Our people are very far from being agreed as to what action the State should take in the event of Lincoln's election to the Presidency. Some favor submission. some resistance, and others still would avait the course of events that may follow. Many argue that he would be powerless for evil with a minority in the Senate and perhaps in the House of Representatives also, while others say, and doubtless with entire sincerity, that the placing of the powers of the Federal, Government into his hands would prove a fatal blow to the insti- tution of negro-slavery in this country. None of our public speakers, I believe, have taken the ground before the people that the election of Lincoln would of itself be a cause of secession. Many have said it would not, while others have spoken equivocally. Upon the whole, I am decidedly of the opinion that a majority of our people would not consider the occurrence of the event referred to as sufficient ground for dissolving the union of the States, for which reason I do not suppose that our legislature, which will meet on the 19th proximo, will take any steps in that direction, such for in- stanee as calling of a convention. Thus, sir, I have given
*Private Papers of Governor Ellis.
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you what I conceive to be the sentiment of our people upon the subject of your letter, and I give it as an existing fact without comment as to whether the majority be in error or not. My own opinions as an individual are of but little moment. It will be sufficient to say, that as a States-rights man, believing in the sovereignty and reserved powers of the States. I will conform my actions to the action of North Carolina, whatever that may be. To this general observa- tion I will make but a single qualification. It is this : I could not, in any event, assent to or give my aid to a practical en- forcement of the monstrous doctrine of coercion. I do not for a moment think that North Carolina would become a party to the enforcement of this doctrine, and will not, therefore, do her the injustice of placing her in that position, even though hypothetically.
" With much respect, I have the honor to be, your obe- dient servant,
"JOHN W. ELLIS.
" His Excellency, W.M. H. GIST, " Governor of South Carolina."
The legislature convened in regular session the 19th of November, 1860. The Governor's message to this body shows a prosperous condition of affairs with regard to the public debt and finances, works of internal improvement, agriculture, education, taxation and revenue, and the welfare of the State in general. In fact, never did prosperity and happiness more universally prevail among a people than it did among the people of North Carolina in the fall of 1860. But the cloud of war was upon the horizon. Governor Ellis, in the message referred to, thus alludes to the national situa- tion, viz .:
" The great body of the people of the Northern and South- ern States entertain diametrically opposite opinions upon the subject of African slavery; the former, that it is a social and a political evil and a sin ; the latter, that it is a system of
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labor eminently well adapted to our climate and soil, right and proper within itself, and that so far from being a sin, its establishment among us is one of the providences of God for civilizing and christianizing that benighted race.
" Were these sentiments entertained as abstract opinions merely, they would occasion but little disturbance to the Government. It is far otherwise, however. This sentiment with the people of the North has assumed the form of a bold and aggressive fanaticism, that seeks the annihilation of slavery in the South at all hazards and regardless of con- sequences. That such is its aim, the object and end of its daily and hourly labors, can no longer be the subject of a doubt.
" Impelled by this spirit the people of the Northern States have violated our rights to an extent that would scarcely have been borne by any other people on earth. They have deprived us of our property, through lawless mobs, acting under the sanction of a high public opinion, and often, too, with the connivance of their constituted authorities. Organ. ized societies, with them, have sent emissaries among us to incite slaves to insurrection and bloodshed. Inflammatory pub- lications, counselling slaves to rise against their masters, have been systematically circulated throughout the South by the dominant party of the North, sanctioned and indorsed by its most influential leaders. The legislatures of a large ma- jority of the non-slaveholding States have, by solemn enact- ments, openly and shamelessly annulled a provision of the Constitution of the United States for the rendition of fugi- tive slaves, and have legislated, directly and pointedly, with the view to prevent the owner from recovering such property.
" Courts of justice among them have, upon more than one ·occasion, totally disregarded a law of Congress, enacted to secure our rights of property, and delivered over fugitive slaves to attendant mobs, with a knowledge of their purpose, to prevent their reclamation by force.
" But little more than a year since an armed organization
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was deliberately planned and set on foot by political societies and men high in public confidence at the North, for the pur- pose of heading an insurrection of slaves against their mas- ters. The invaders came, and in the night time fell upon a weak and unsuspecting community, and murdered peaceable and unarmed citizens.
" When captured and executed for their treason and mur- der, they were lamented by the great body of the people of the North, as though they had fallen in the performance of some meritorions public service. It may be doubted whether history furnishes another instance among a civilized people where treason and murder have been so sympathized with and applauded. Since which time, men most prominent in these demonstrations have been elevated to the highest offices of State, thus evidencing the deep and pervading sen- timent of hostility in the North towards the institutions and the people of the South.
" Such of the invaders as escaped were harbored in the non-slaveholding States, and upon demand made, according to forms of the Constitution, the executives of two of those States, Ohio and Iowa, pointedly refused to perform their sworn constitutional obligations by surrendering them to the justice they had Hled.
" Enormities like these could not have been perpetrated towards the people of any foreign nation without involving the country in a war. Indeed, it is now but too manifest that the people of the Southern States have not, in this con- federacy, that protection for their property which the subjects of Great Britain, France, or any other foreign country can claim and enforce against us. Should the subjects of any for- eign government be despoiled of their property by the peo- ple of Massachusetts or any other non-slaveholding State, resti- tution and indemnity would be made by our Government upon demand, or reprisals and war against the United States would enforce indemnity. But should the people of Massachusetts forcibly deprive a citizen of North Carolina of his property,
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he would have no such remedy. and indeed no remedy at all, since the Constitution, which provides for such cases, has been wholly annulled by the State of Massachusetts.
" The forbearance with which the South has borne these indignities and wrong's has utterly failed to secure a cor- responding forbearance on the part of our aggressors. The spirit of fanaticism by which they are influenced, growing bolder by its lawless riot and unobstructed indulgence, has. at last so far united the Northern masses as to enable them to seize upon the General Government, with all its power of purse and sword. Two persons have been elected. respec- tively, to the offices of President and Vice-President, exclu- sively by the people of one section of the country, upon a principle hostile to the institutions and domestic polity of the other. Neither of them received an electoral yote in all the fifteen Southern States, and neither could have uttered, in many of them, the political sentiments upon which they are elevated to power, without subjecting himself to the penalty of the local criminal laws. A clearer case of a for- eign domination, as to us, could not well be presented; and that it will be a hostile domination, past occurrences and the circumstances under which they have been elected. forbid us to doubt. That any people, having a due appreciation of the principles of liberty, could long submit to such a domina- tion, it is impossible to suppose. They now tell us, that this election has been conducted according to the forms of the Constitution, and that, therefore, the people of the South should take no exception to the fact. They who themselves have utterly refused to be bound by that Constitution, now hold it up to us as a bond to secure us from defending our property and lives against their oppressions.
"It cannot for a moment be supposed that we could sub- mit to have the policy of the abolition party. upon which their candidate for the Presidency has been elected, carried out in his administration. as it would result in the destruc- tion of our property and the placing the lives of our people
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in daily peril: and even though this should not be inmedi- ately attempted. yet an effort to employ the military power of the General Government against one of the Southern States would present an emergency demanding prompt and decided action on our part. It can but be manifest that a blow thus aimed at one of the Southern States would in- volve the whole country in a civil war, the destructive con- sequence of which, to us, could only be controlled by our ability to resist those engaged in waging it. *
" In view of the perilous condition of the country, it is, in my opinion, becoming and proper, that we should have some- consultation with those States identified with us in interest and in the wrongs we have suffered ; and especially those lying adjacent to us.
"I also think that the publie safety requires a recurrence to our own people for an expression of their opinion. *
"I therefore recommend that a convention of the people of the State be called, to assemble immediately after the pro- posed consultation with other Southern States shall have terminated."
The Governor closes his message with recommending a thorough reorganization of the military force of the State and the formation of a corps of ten thousand volunteers. It is apparent from this message that Governor Ellis belonged to that party which regarded the election of Lincoln as suf- ficient evidence that North Carolina could no longer re- main in the Union with safety and honor. Such, however, were not, at this time, the views of the majority of the legis- lature and of the people of the State. A great many sets of resolutions were introduced in this legislature relative to national affairs. Some looked to compromise, some to a convention of all the States, some to united action on the part of the entire South, and some to immediate action on the part of North Carolina. These resolutions were repre- sentative of the opinions of the two parties. One class of
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resolutions contemplated an amicable adjustment without separation : the other class contemplated separation alone. But the question which drew the party lines was the propo- sition to call a convention of the people. The Secession party favored it; the Union party opposed it. An act was finally passed, submitting to the people the question whether or not a convention should be called. And now began per- haps the most heated political campaign that North Carolina had ever experienced. The best men in the State were arrayed on opposing sides, and under such circumstances it was to be expected that the ordinary voter would not easily decide how to cast his suffrage. The old traditionary love for the Union, however, prevailed, and the people decided that there was no cause to call a convention. This was a Union victory; but the rejoicings over it were of short duration.
On the 13th day of April, 1861, Fort Sumter was surren- dered. It is not necessary to speak here of the wild excite- ment which swept the North, and to state over again and account for that sudden revolution of opinion in the minds of those who, up to this time, were willing that the " way- ward sisters should depart in peace." But it is proper to mention that the call for troops, made by President Lincoln, on the Executive of North Carolina, produced at least equal excitement in that State. The leaders of what was known at this time as the Union party had solemnly declared that they would not. under any circumstances, be accessory to an attempt to coerce the seceded States. When the call came they kept faith, and rallied under the Confederate war-ban- ner. There were no longer two parties. All were for war, vigorous, determined war; war to the bitter end. There are no names recorded upon the muster-rolls of the Confederate army that shed more lustre on the war record of North Caro- lina than these Union men of 1860 and the spring of 1861.
Events now crowded rapidly upon each other. There was no longer a place for neutrality or diplomacy. The war
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had begun, and the hesitating Southern States were forced to take decided measures, and to rauge themselves, for weal or for woe, either for or against the new Confederacy.
On the 15th of April Governor Pickens, of South Caro- lina, dispatched Governor Ellis as follows:
" CHARLESTON. April 15, 1861.
"Fort Sumter has been surrendered after our batteries had committed terrible havoc. A fleet of vessels is off the har- bor with several thousand men. If they attempt to force an entry or a landing, we are prepared for them. We will do our duty. Reinforcements are said to have entered Fort Pickens, and a fleet to be off Pensacola. I suppose a gen- eral invasion is intended. Let me know if North Carolina is to stand and bear this.
"F. W. PICKENS."
On the same day Lincoln's proclamation, calling for 75,000 troops, was issued, and reads as follows:
" Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some- time past and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judi- cial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals of the law :
" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and do hereby call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to sup- press said combinations, and to cause the law to be duly executed. The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the several States by the War Department.
" I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this
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effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union and the perpetuity of popular gov- ernment, and to redress the wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service that will be assigned to the forces called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and other property of the Union which have been seized, and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistent with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any destruction of or interference with property or any dis- turbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country. And I hereby command all persons composing the combina- tions aforesaid to disperse and retire peaceably to their re- spective abodes within twenty days from this date.
"Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion. I do hereby, by virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. The Senators and Representa- tives are, therefore, summoned to assemble in their respective chambers at 12 o'clock noon, on Thursday, the 4th day of July next, then and there to take such action as in their wis- dom the public safety and interest may seem to demand.
" In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.
(Signed)
" ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"By the President :
"W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
Accordingly, on the evening of the 15th, Governor Ellis received the following dispatch :
" WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., April 15, 1861.
"To J. W. ELLIS :- Call made on you by to-night's mail for two regiments of military for immediate service.
"SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War."
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Governor Ellis, reclining upon the sofa in his office, unable to sit up, replied :
" EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, " RALEIGH, April 15, 1861.
" TO SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War.
" SIR : Your dispatch is received. and if genuine, which its extraordinary character leads me to doubt, I have to say in reply that I regard the levy of troops made by the adminis- tration for the purpose of subjugating the States of the South as in violation of the Constitution and as a gross usurpation of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina. I will reply more in detail when I receive your ' call."
"JOIIN W. ELLIS, " Governor of North Carolina."
Two days after Mr. Lincoln's proclamation-on the 17th- Virginia seceded and led off in the secondary secession movement of the northern tier of Southern States.
The course of Governor Ellis at this juncture was marked by promptness and energy. His mind was already made up, and there was, with him, no time needed for consideration to determine upon what should be his line of conduct. Ac- cordingly, on the 17th, he issued the following proclamation, viz. :
" Whereas, by proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, followed by a requisition of Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, I am informed that the said Abraham Lincoln has made a call for 75,000 men, to be em- ployed for the invasion of the peaceful homes of the South, and for the violent subversion of the liberties of a free peo- ple, constituting a large part of the whole population of the late United States; and, whereas, this high-handed act of ty- rannical outrage is not only in violation of all constitutional
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law, in utter disregard of every sentiment of humanity and Christian civilization, and conceived in a spirit of aggression unparalleled by any act of recorded history, but is a direct step towards the subjugation of the whole South, and the conversion of a free republie, inherited from our fathers, into a military despotism, to be established by worse than foreign enemies on the ruins of our once glorious Constitution of equal rights : .
" Now. therefore, I, John W. Ellis, Governor of the State of North Carolina, for these extraordinary causes, do hereby issue this, my proclamation, notifying and request- ing the Senators and Members of the House of Commons of the General Assembly of North Carolina, to meet in special session at the capitol, in the city of Raleigh, on Wed- nesday, the first day of May next. And I furthermore ex- hort all good citizens throughout the State to be mindful that their first allegiance is due to the sovereignty which protects their homes and dearest interests, as their first service is due for the sacred defense of their hearths and of the soil which holds the graves of our glorious dead. United action in de- fense of the sovereignty of North Carolina, and of the rights of the South, becomes now the duty of all.
" Given under my hand, and attested by the great seal of the State.
"Done at the city of Raleigh, the seventeenth day of April, A. D. 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of our inde- pendence.
"JOHN W. ELLIS.
" By the Governor :
" GRAHAM DAVES, Pricate Secretary."
The legislature convened, pursuant to the call, on the first day of May, 1861. It continued in session thirteen days, and passed the Convention Bill, fixing the time for the as- sembling of the convention on the 20th of May.
The change of public sentiment produced by Lincoln's
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call for troops is thus stated by the Governor in his message to this body, viz. :
" The outburst of indignation with which the proclamation of the President has been received by all the citizens of the State convinces me that I did not mistake the people whose chief magistrate I am. The alacrity with which they have sprung to arms-outstripping the slow forms of law, and enabling me to assemble an army from the plough and the work-shops in less time than it has required to convene the General Assembly-is proof that long years of peace and order have only made more dear to them their rights and liberties, and have not in the least impaired their readiness and their abilities to defend them."
The Governor had already taken possession of the forts and arsenals. He says :
" In discharge of a plain obligation devolving upon me as Governor of the State, and in virtue of the powers vested in . me as Governor and Captain-General and Commander-in- Chief of the Militia, I lost no time in taking possession. in the name of the State, of the forts, arsenals, and other prop- erty of the Federal Government within the State, and they are now held, under my orders, by adequate garrisons."
The remainder of the message is occupied with sugges- tions relative to the publie defense. The message closes as follows, viz .:
"I cannot close this communication without congratu- lating you upon the harmony of feeling and the union of purpose now existing among the people of every part of North Carolina. No sooner was it seen that our liber- ties were menaced by the usurper. than all party feuds were forgotten, and the patriotic fires that burned in the bosoms of our ancestors were rekindled in the breasts of their descendants. The hearts of the people everywhere are. prepared for the contest before us."
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This first extra session of the legislature in May, 1861, was a model for rapid and effective work. On the 1st, it passed the Convention Act. It provided for the manufacture of arms and other munitions of war. It created a military board, " to advise with the Governor relative to the appoint- . ment of all military aad naval officers, or such other matters respecting military or naval affairs as the General Assembly shall assign to said board." It passed an act providing for the public defense. authorizing the Governor to employ the military and naval force of the State " to repel invasions and aid the Confederate States of America." and authorizing him further to call for and accept twenty thousand volunteers, "with power to increase said volunteer force to the number of fifty thousand, if the public exigencies demand it." It also provided in detail for the execution of this law. It pro- vided forraising five millions of dollars to meet the demands upon the public treasurer. It organized the military de- partments. It also passed an act to raise and organize a "special force of ten thousand State troops to serve during the war. It provided for the payment of the volunteers. It provided for the erection of telegraph lines, and authorized the Governor to take possession of existing lines and control them if in his judgment the public safety should require it. It provided for taxation and revenue. It passed a "stay " law. It defined treason and provided for its punishment. It authorized the Governor to ereet batteries and fortifica- tions and to purchase vessels for coast defense at his discre- tion, and to draw upon the public treasurer for the money.
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