USA > North Carolina > North Carolina in the War Between the States > Part 7
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CHAPTER II.
Swift, however. as was the action of Governor Ellis the people were in advance of him. The Governor was under the necessity of proceeding by the means of official forms, and the delay which these forms necessarily required seemed an age to the excited and impatient people. They were not embarrassed by any of the restraints incident to formal pro- ceedings, and did not hesitate to act immediately and upon their own responsibility, knowing the necessities of the hour would fully justify them in public opinion.
Fort Macon, defending the entrance to the harbor and town of Beaufort, was taken possession of on the 11th day of April, 1861. by a company from Beaufort, under Captain Pender. The fort was not garrisoned, and Sergeant Alexan- der, United States Army, who was then in charge, offered no resistance.
The condition of Fort Macon at the time of its capture is given in the official annual report of Captain J. G. Foster, U. S. Engineers, dated October 1, 1861. He says : " This fort was taken possession of by the troops of the State of North Carolina about the middle of April. It was at that time in bad repair. A few guns (four, I believe,) were mounted on the southeast or sea front, but the carriages were decayed and weak. The site of the fort was tolerably well preserved by the temporary brush jetties that were con- structed last winter for this purpose."
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NORTH CAROLINA IN THE
On the 1st of January, 1861, the day of his inauguration for his second term of office, Governor Ellis was waited upon by a delegation from Wilmington. The delegation arrived in a special train, and was headed by William S. Ashe. Their - object, as they stated, was to obtain the sanction or authority of the Governor to take possession of Fort Caswell. to pre- vent it from being garrisoned by troops from the United States vessel Harriet Lane. The Governor declined. Not- withstanding his refusal. however, Fort Caswell was taken by the Smithville Guards, under Captain S. D. Thurston. about one week afterwards.
James Reilly, ordnance sergeant, United States Army, in charge at Fort Johnston, says in his report dated January 9, 1861. 9 o'clock A. M .. that on that morning at four o'clock Fort Johnston was taken possession of by a party of citizens from Smithville. They came to his door and demanded the keys. He replied that he would not surrender them with his life. They answered him that it was" no use to be obsti- nate, for they had the magazine already in their possession, and a party of twenty men around it, and were determined to hold it. if not by fair means they would break it open. Sergeant Reilly says that he considered and concluded it was no use to persevere, and upon the capturing party agreeing to give receipts therefor, he delivered to them the ordnance and ordnance stores at the post.
The sergeant, writing at the time these proceedings were going on, says : " They have taken out of the magazine at this post nearly all the musket cartridges in it; they are also taking the guns out of the block-house and mounting them. I would have telegraphed long since, had I an opportunity, to the department, but I could get no means of going to Wilmington-no person would hire me their horse or boat for that purpose."
The capturing party, leaving fifteen men in charge of Fort Johnston, proceeded to Fort Caswell on the same day, and taking possession, relieved Sergeant Dardingkiller, United States Army, then in charge of the post.
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On the next day Sergeant Reilly made another report, dated Fort Johnston. January 10, 1861. 11 o'clock A. M. He says : " I respectfully wish to state that the party of citizens: who took possession of Forts Johnson and Caswell yesterday have perceived their error. It seems that they were not sus- tained by the people which brought them into it, or caused them to create such an act of violence against the Federal Govern- ment. They were the leaders of a few fanatics in Wilming- ton, who sent a dispatch to this place that the department had ordered the revenue cutter forward with troops to garri- son Forts Johnston and Caswell, and that they should take possession of the forts before the Federal troops should arrive; that they would assist them with both men, money and pro- visions. They failed to do so. Then they came to both me and Sergeant Dardingkiller and asked us to take back the public property. I answered, ves, if there was none of it broken, or none of the ammunition expended. It was re- turned in good order." * *
Fort Caswell, however, was at once re-occupied by a party of citizens from Wilmington and Smithville. Frederick Dardingkiller, sergeant in charge, states this in a report dated Fort Caswell, January, 11, 1861. He says : " They took possession at 7 o'clock on the night of the 10th inst. The individual who represents them as commanding officer is a Mr. Hedrick, from Wilmington ; he has signed receipts to me for all the ordnance stores at the post and is using such of them as he needs." * *
Again was Fort Caswell vacated by the citizens, according to Dardingkiller's report, January 14, 1861. Captain Hled- rick left the post on that day and turned over to the sergeant all the ordnance stores except what he had expended.
The causes which led to the occupation of Forts Johnston and Caswell, and their subsequent surrender by the citizens of Wilmington and Smithville, together with other matter of interest, will appear in the following correspondence be- tween Governor Ellis and the War Department : *
War of Rebellion, Official Records, vol. 1, p. 4×4.
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" EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, " RALEIGH, January 12, 1861.
" His Excellency, JAMES BUCHANAN,
President of the United States.
" SIR : Reliable information has reached this department that on the 9th inst. Forts Johnston and Caswell were taken possession of by State troops and persons resident in that vicinity in an irregular manner. Upon the receipt of this information I immediately issued a military order requiring the forts to be restored to the authorities of the United States, which order will be executed this day.
" My information satisfies me that this popular outbreak was caused by a report, very generally credited, but which, for the sake of humanity, I hope is not true, that it was the purpose of the administration to coerce the Southern States, and that troops were on their way to garrison the Southern forts and begin the work of our subjugation. This impres- sion is not yet erased from the public mind, which is deeply agitated at the bare contemplation of so great an indignity and wrong, and I now most earnestly appeal to your Excel- lency to strengthen my hands in my efforts to preserve the public order here by placing it in my power to give public assurances that no measures of force are contemplated toward us. Your Excellency will, therefore, pardon mne for asking whether the United States forts in this State will be gar- risoned with Federal troops during your administration ? This question I ask in perfect respect and with an earnest desire to prevent consequences which I know would be re- gretted by your Excellency as much as myself. Should I receive assurances that no troops will be sent to this State prior to 4th March next, then all will be peace and quiet here, and the property of the United States will be fully pro- tected as heretofore. If, however, I am unable to get such assurances I will not undertake to answer for the conse- quences.
" The forts in this State have long been unoccupied, and
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their being garrisoned at this time will unquestionably be looked upon as a hostile demonstration, and will, in my opinion, be certainly resisted. .. Believing your Excellency to be sincerely desirous of preserving peace and preventing the effusion of the blood of your countrymen, I have deemed it my duty to yourself as well as to the people of North Carolina to make the foregoing inquiry and to acquaint you with the state of the public mind here.
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) " JOHN W. ELLIS."
To this communication Governor Ellis received the fol- lowing reply : *
" WAR DEPARTMENT, January 15, 1861.
"To His Excellency, JOHN W. ELLIS,
" Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh.
"SIR: Your letter of the 12th instant, addressed to the President of the United States, has by him been referred to this department, and he instructs me to express his gratifica- tion at the promptitude with which you have ordered the expulsion of the lawless men who recently occupied Forts Johnston and Caswell. He regards this action on the part of your Excellency as in complete harmony with the honor and patriotic character of the people of North Carolina, whom you so worthily represent.
" In reply to your inquiry whether it is the purpose of the President to garrison the forts of North Carolina during his administration, Iam directed to say that they, in common with the other forts, arsenals, and public property of the United States, are in the charge of the President, and that if assailed, no matter from what quarter, or under what pretext, it is his duty to protect them by all the means which the law has placed at his disposal. It is not his purpose to garrison the forts to which you refer at present, because he considers them entirely safe, as heretofore, under the shelter of that
* Ibid., p. 485.
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law-abiding sentiment for which the people of North Caro- lina have ever been distinguished. Should they, however, be attacked or menaced, with danger of being seized and taken from the possession of the United States, he could not escape from his constitutional obligations to defend and pre- serve them. The very satisfactory and patriotic assurances given by your Excellency justify him, however, in entertaining the confident expectation that no such contingency will arise. " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"J. HOLT, " Secretary of War ad interim."
Forts Johnston and Caswell were each in charge of one United States soldier, and were again taken possession of without difficulty. Captain Foster, in the same report, part of which has been given, says of Fort Caswell: "This fort was taken possession of on the 16th of April, 1861, by a militia company from Wilmington, N. C., commanded by Mr. John Cantwell. The fort keeper and ordnance sergeant were forced to leave, and all public property in the fort and .at Fort Johnston, Smithville, N. C., were taken possession of. At the time of this seizure very few guns were inside of the fort, and these were of inferior calibres, and without car- riages to mount them. The gorge of the main work and the right flank and gorge of the covered way were without traverse circles for guns, which was a serious want, as these parts now bear more directly than others upon the channel, which has shifted on the bar from the east to the west shore. The fort generally was in good repair, having been quite thoroughly repaired two years since. The shot furnaces were not in good order and required rebuilding, as is also the case with those at Fort Macon." *
On the 18th of May, 1861, Captain Foster makes the fol- lowing report to Capt. Joseph G. Totten, Chief Engineer, Washington, D. C., in reference to the second seizure of Forts Johnston and Caswell, viz .:
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" NEW YORK, May 18, 1861.
"GENERAL: I have the honor to report the circumstances connected with the seizure of Fort Caswell by the militia of North Carolina as they are reported to me by John Russell, fort keeper, who has arrived in this city.
" The fort was taken possession of by the Wilmington Light Infantry, Col. John Cantwell commanding, on the 16th of April. The force was subsequently increased, and a large force of laborers employed to mount the guns, to ereet tem- porary quarters on the terre-plains, to construct a railway from the wharf to the fort, to deepen the ditch of the fort, and to erect an earthen battery about one-half mile from the fort on the beach opposite the bar.
" The eighteen guns inside the fort were mounted, and four others of the same size brought there and also mounted, be- sides two guns at the main gates inside the fort. A consider- able quantity of provisions and many boxes of rifles were landed and stored in the fort. The lights in the light-houses and beacons are put out, and the Frying-Pan Shoal light- ship removed. A schooner was sunk in the new inlet to ob- struct the channel, but it does not appear to accomplish this completely, as vessels pass in and out by it. Fort Johnston was also in possession of the insurgents, but some excitement had arisen from the occurrence of two fires simultaneously- one inside the fort which consumed the large building called the hospital, and the other a private house outside of the walls. Both were supposed to be the work of incendiaries, and some negroes were suspected.
" The troops at Fort Caswell are actively employed in pre- paring for defense. making ball cartridges, &c., and W. H. C. Whiting, formerly of the corps of engineers, had been there to give the necessary directions as a major of engineers of the so-called Southern Confederacy.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" J. G. FOSTER, "Captain Engineers."
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In the month of October, 1860, the United States arsenal at Fayetteville was in charge of Capt. J. A. J. Bradford, United States Army. There were stored in this magazine a large number of small arms, gun-powder, and other muni- tions of war. The people of Fayetteville becoming appre- hensive for the safety of the arsenal, drew up a paper, which was signed by S. J. Hinsdale and others, and addressed to Archibald McLean, mayor of the city, and reads as follows, viz. :
"FAYETTEVILLE, October 20, 1860.
"SIR: The undersigned deem it important that there should be a company of United States soldiers in charge of the United States arsenal at this place, and desire that you make the necessary application for them as soon as practicable.
(Signed) "S. J. HINSDALE et al."
Mayor MeLean on the same day inclosed a copy of this paper in a communication which he addressed to Captain Bradford. The mayor says : " The high standing in point of respectability and influence of the parties whose names appear to the paper entitles it to every respect and induces me to submit the subject to your consideration.
"In submitting the application. I beg to call your attention to an excited state of feeling in the community, originating, as is alleged. in a sense of insecurity because of the large amount of arms and ammunition at your post, without adequate force for their protection. This fact strongly suggests that something should be done to allay apprehensions certainly existing, whether with or without sufficient cause."*
Captain Bradford replied on the 22d of the same month, stating that, "neither in the paper of request nor in your communication is there intimation of any menace against my post, nor have I intimation of any. I can see no necessity, therefore, for the presence of troops here at this time."
On the 23d another paper was addressed by the citizens
* War of Rebellion, Official Records, vol. 1, p. 482.
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to the mayor, signed by W. G. Mathews and others, request- ing the mayor to make direct application to the War Depart- inent for the troops, whose presence Captain Bradford thought unnecessary.
The signers say: " We know of no open attack that is meditated upon the arsenal. If we did, we, as citizens of Fayetteville and North Carolina, would know how to meet it. The raid at Harper's Ferry. and all subsequent events in the South, teach us that all mischief comes (and it is to be especially dreaded on that account) without menace. If any attempt is made on lives and property, it will not be made with light of day and with a warning beforehand, but at the dead hour of night, when all are unsuspecting. And when we look about to know what means the assassin has at hand to enable him to carry out his dreadful designs, we find them stored up in immense quantities at our very doors in the shape of United States muskets, swords, pistols, &c., with, as we are informed, large quantities of powder, with one single man standing as guard. We think our request not an unrea- sonable one, when we place it purely upon the assumption that you place it. Where there are arms there should be a guard to protect them, without any reference whatever to any peculiar state of affairs. It is hardly necessary to say in the close that these views of things grow out of the events most especially that had taken place within a year all over the South, and that all the unfortunate, untoward events have come at all times without a menace."
On the 25th the mayor addressed this application to Hon. J. B. Floyd, Secretary of War, and was answered immediately that the request for troops should be complied with as soon as practicable. Accordingly, on the first of November, Gen- eral Scott was directed by Secretary Floyd. to order "the company of Second Artillery, now at Fort Hamilton, New York, to proceed to Fayetteville, North Carolina, and take post at the North Carolina arsenal."* The order was made and the troops arrived in Fayetteville shortly thereafter.
* Ibid,, p. 4:4.
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It soon became rumored that these troops had been for- warded at the solicitation of Governor Ellis. The Governor was much incensed. He indignantly denied the rumor, and wrote, on the 16th of November, to Colonel E. H. Britton, editor of the Charlotte Ball fin, into which paper the rumor had been copied from the Norfolk Herald, saying: " I wish to say through your columns that I had no previous knowl- edge of the President's intention to send such troops to Fayetteville, and certainly never made any such request of him. I know nothing of his purposes in doing so, and regard the measure as wholly unnecessary within itself, and at this time exceedingly imprudent, as tending to increase the irri- tation of the public mind."
Governor Ellis inclosed this communication to Secretary Floyd on the 19th, and added : "I avail myself of the occasion to say, that a publication of the reasons that influenced the administration to send United States troops to Fayetteville, is due to the Executive and the people of North Carolina. Such a measure is here notoriously unnecessary, and has produced no little irritation in the public mind. Their imme- diate removal would be a proper and politie step, and, if the Government has any other use for them, one that would conduce to the interests of the public service. I ask, there- fore, that these troops be removed."*
Secretary Floyd replied to the Governor on the 22d. in- closing a copy of the letter from the Mayor of Fayetteville, and of the petitions of the citizens of that town. The Secre- tary expressed his regret, "that the movement of troops, made at considerable expense to the United States, and in- tended alone to give a sense of security to the feelings of the people who applied for the guard, should have been consid- ered by the Executive of North Carolina as a ground of com- plaint. It will give me great pleasure to remove the troops from the arsenal at your request," the Secretary concludes, "particularly as their services are much needed elsewhere."*
*Ibid., p. 181.
+Ibid., p. 481.
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EXECUTIVE AND STAFF OFFICERS.
Commander-in-Chief. Governor JOHN W. ELLIS,
(Jannary 1. 1859, to June 7, 1861.)
Col. EDWARD C. JORDAN. COL. JAMES R. LOVE, JR. Col. THOMAS H. HOLMES. Col. J. V. JORDAN.
Adjutant-General.
Col. JOHN F. HOKE.
Assistant-Adjutant-General. Col. R. M. RIDDICK.
Commander-in-Chief.
Governor HENRY T. CLARK,
(June 7, 1861, to September 8, 1862.) Aides-de-Camp.
Col. DANIEL M. BARRINGER. Lient .- Col. SPIER WHITAKER.
Adjutant-General.
Major-Gen. JAMES G. MARTIN. Staff Officers.
Capt. AUGUSTUS M. LEWIS, Paymaster. Capt. JOHN DEVEREUX. Asst .- Quartermaster.
Capt. S. GORDON, Asst .- Adi't-General. Capt. WILLIAM B. GULICK, Asst .- Adj't-General.
Capt. JOHN C. WINDER, Asst .- Adi't-General.
Capt. ABRAM MYERS, Asst .- Quartermaster. Cant. MOSES A. BLEDSOE, Asst. Quartermaster. Capt. JAMES SLOAN, Asst .- Commissary. Capt. THOMAS D. HOGG, Asst. Commissary. Capt. CHARLES W. GARRETT, Asst .- Commissary. Capt. ALEX. W. LAWRENCE, Ord. Department. Capt. W. W. PIERCE, Ord. Department.
Surgeon-General.
Col. CHARLES E. JOHNSON.
Commander-in-Chief.
Governor ZEBULON BAIRD VANCE,
(September 8, 1862, to April 26, 1863. )
Aides-de-Camp.
Col. DAVID A. BARNES. Col. GEORGE LITTLE. Lient .- Col. JOHN L. MOREHEAD.
Adjutants-General.
Major-Gen. RICHARD C. GATLIN. Major-Gen. DANIEL G. FOWLE.
Staff Officers.
Major JAS. H. FOOTE, Asst .- Adi't-Gen. Major WILLIAM A. GRAHAM, JR., Asst .- Adi't-Gen.
1st Lient. JOHN B. NEATHERY, Asst .- Adj't-Gen.
Ist Lient. GEORGEW. THOMPSON. Asst .- Adj't-Gen.
Major WILLIAM B. GULICK, Paymaster.
Major JOHN DEVEREUX. Quartermaster.
Major HENRY A. DOWD, Quartermaster. Major JAMES SLOAN, Quartermaster.
1st Lient. THOMAS WHITE, Quartermaster. 1st Lient. ISAAN W. GARRETT, Quartermaster. Major THOMAS D. HOGG, Commissary. Ist. Lieut. THADDEUS MCGHEE. Commissary.
Ist Lient. CHARLES H. THOMPSON, Commissary. 1st. Lient. JOSIAH COLLINS, Ordnaner. Ist Lient. JOIN A. BOYDEN, Ordnance.
Surgeon-General, (with assimilated rank of Colonel.)
COL. EDWARD WARREN. Surgeons.
PETER E. HINES, Medical Director E. BURKE HAYWOOD, Gen. Hospital, Raleigh.
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ROSTER OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICERS.
ROSTER OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICERS.
LIEUTENANT-GENERALS.
DANIEL HARVEY HILL.
First Lieutenant and Brevet Major 4th Art., U. S. A. Resigned in 1:49. Colonel of "Bethel" Regiment May 15. 1×61. Commissioned Brigadier-General July 10. 1861 ; Major-General, March 26. 1862; Lieutenant-tieneral. July 11. 1:43.
Commands.
Organized and commanded Camp of Instruction at Raleigh, N. C., May 1 to! May 25, 1861. Commanding Department of North ( carolina 1861. Commanded one of five divisions at Yorktown. Commanding Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina, Au- gust, 1:62. to July. 1-63. Commanding Division, Army Northern Virginia, composed of Brigades of Raine, Rhode, Garland. G. B. Anderson. Jackson's Corps, 1-02, 1:63; Brigades of Dole. Iverson, Rode and Colquitt. Jackson's Corps, 1-63. Commanding Corps in Army of Tennessee, at battle of Chicamanga. composed of Brigades of Deas, Manigalt, Sharp, Bentley : Divisions of Cleburne and Breckinridge. September 19th, 20th, 1863. Commanding Southern Division Lee's Corps at battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 19, 195. Brigade in Army of Northern Virginia, composed of 13th, 17th,218th, 21st Mississippi Regiments.
THEOPHILUS H. HOLMES.
Major Sth Iuft., U. S. A. Colonel Corps of Infantry, C. S. A., March 16, 1sol. Commis- sioned Brigadier-ieneral P. A. C. S., June 5, 1:d1 : Major-General. October 7, 1861 ; Lieutenant-General, October 10, 1862.
Commande.
In Charge of Defences of North Carolina, April 22. 1861. Commanding Brigade, Army of Potomac, 1561. Commanding Aquia District, Department Northern Virginia, October 22, 1861, to March, 1-62. Department of Trans- Mississippi, July 16. 1962, to March, 1863. Commanding District of Arkansas, March. 1863, to April, 1564. Commanding Reserve Forces in North Carolina, April. 1964.
MAJOR-GENERALS.
WILLIAM HENRY CHASE WHITING.
Captain Engineer Corps, U. S. A. Resigned and appointed Inspector-General of North Carolina Forces. Major Corps Engineers. C. S. A., March 16. 1sol. Brigadier-General, P. A. C. S., July 21, 1501. Major-General P. A. C. S., February 28 1863. Mortally wounded at Fort Fisher, January 21, 1565. Captured, and died at Governor's Island, N. Y., March 10, 1865.
Commands.
Brigade, Army of Potomae, composed of 20. 11th Mississippi. Ith Alabama and 6th North Carolina Regiments Infantry. Commanding Third Brigade, Army shenandoah. Division composed of Brigades of Hood and Law, Reilly's Battery of Artillery. Com- manding District of Cape Fear, Department North Carolina, December, 1:62, to February, 1863.
WILLIAM D. PENDER.
Resigned First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the First Dragoons, U. S. A. Colonel Sixth Regiment North Carolina Infantry, August 15, 1861. Brigadier-General, June 3, 1862 Major-General, May 27. 1863. Died July 18, 1863, of wounds received at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.
Commands.
Brigade, composed of 13th. 16th, 22d, 34th. 38th North Carolina Regiments, Anderson's Division, A. P. Hill's Corps, Army Northern Virginia. Dirision, composed of Brigades of Scales, (formerly Pender's) McGowan, Lane, and Thomas, Army Northern Virginia.
ROBERT RANSOM. JR.
Resigned Captain First Cavalry, U. S. A., May 24, 1861. Con. missioned Captain. Corps
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RUITER OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICERS.
Cavalry. C. S. A., March 16, 1861. Colonel Ninth Regiment . First Cavalry!, North Caro- lina Troop-, May . 1-81. Promoted Brigadier-General March 6, 142; Major-General May 20. 1863.
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