USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > Historic days in Cumberland County, New Jersey, 1855-1865 : political and war time reminiscences > Part 9
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The canvass was warm and the result narrow majori- ties. Watson was chosen Sheriff by 156 majority. Bate-
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man. Assembly. First District, 292 majority; Maylin, As- sembly, Second District, 173 majority.
Charles Laning, Democratic candidate for Assembly- man, Second District, was the father of Samuel A. Laning. a former postmaster of Bridgeton. Laning, pere, was a man of earnest conviction, a Democrat of the Jeffersonian type. Quiet in demeanor, nevertheless firm. Apparently not popular. yet at every test a vote-getter. When the polls closed the first Tuesday in November, '63. the vote at the county seat stood : "Maylin, 301 : Laning. 264. Majority for Maylin, 37 votes. In Cohansey township, now the Third Ward of Bridgeton, Maylin's vote was 138; Laning's, 106. Majority for Maylin, 32 votes. Big run in war times for a Democrat in Cumberland County !
Election night the boys went wild. The Clerk's Office was crowded with shouting Republicans. Senator Ludlam occupied the chair and read the returns, now and then in- terjecting some witty remark which convulsed the assem- bly with laughter. Langley. Democratic candidate for Sheriff, was popular, and ran well in his Millville home. Not until a late hour was the result definitely known. News came by carriage and horseback. The last township heard from was Maurice River in the "wee sma' hours." Charles L. Watson had won. Then the enthusiastic crowds outside attempted to get into the office. Amid the tumult of strug- gling Republicans the apple barrel upset and "Roman stem" and "Turn-the-Lane" were trampled into mush upon the floor.
The election proved a general Republican victory. New York State, which had elected Seymour, Democrat. Governor in 1862, by 10,000 majority, reversed itself with 20,000 majority for the Republican ticket. New Jersey remained Democratic, but there was a Republican gain of 10,000 on the popular vote in the State.
One of the Bridgeton papers announced November 21 that "The oath of office was administered to our new
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Sheriff, Mr. C. L. Watson, on Tuesday, the Ioth inst. Mr. Watson will doubtless make a very acceptable and efficient officer. He is polite, gentlemanly and honorable, with all with whom he has dealings. The profits of the office are not sufficient to pay a man for his entire services."
The echoes of the election had barely died out when the attention of the nation was directed to the dedicatory ceremonies soon to be held on the historic battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa. By act of Congress the village cemetery of Gettysburg was purchased and prepared as a National cemetery for the gallant men who fell in that bloody conflict. Gettysburg was one of the five decisive battles that have set- tled the fate of nations, and throttled the enemies of Chris- tian civilization. It is a magnificent field of hill and valley, the scenery connected therewith being one of nature's mas- terpieces. The cemetery located on a rising knoll or knob of the foothills which a little further to the east and south rise into mountain ridges, overlooked the field upon which but a few brief months preceding
"The battle shout and waving plume. The drum's heart-stirring beat The glittering pomp of war. The rush of million feet."
had roused the passions of men to fever heat in a supreme effort for and against the supremacy of the Union, was sur- rounded by the debris of the great struggle not yet re- moved. Fresh graves appeared on every hand; marks of the battle were everywhere visible. The mountains and hills still retained a portion of the autumnal beauty which was their heritage at this, the closing of the year. The foli- age of many trees tinted the landscape with sombre colors. and the cedar and pine were green and bright in the midst of the picturesque scenery which, like a great panorama, opened to the eye from Round Top to Seminary Ridge, from the clump of trees on the north where gallant Rey-
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nolds fell to the distant hills in the south through which the shattered army of the Confederates vanished in despon- dency and in gloom. The hush of the dying. year had set its imprint on the field, on the forest, on the mountain. It was the 19th day of November. 1863. Propitious season for such solemn, touching and impressive ceremonies. Presi- dent Lincoln and his Cabinet, Governors of States, officers of the army and navy, foreign officials, soldiers upon whose bodies scars of the conflict were visible, together with a vast concourse of citizens, had gathered to witness the pro- ceedings. Edward Everett, Senator from the State of Massachusetts, a polished orator, who ranked second only to Webster in the forum of the world's great debates, had been selected to deliver the oration. The theme was great ; and it was in worthy hands. Mr. Everett's speech was one of the finest specimens of oratorical skill a great audience had ever listened to. It had been carefully prepared and memorized, and may be classed with the productions of Demosthenes or Cicero on great State occasions. At its conclusion it was encored by repeated cheers, so great was the admiration of Senator Everett's gifts as a classical speaker. While in the cars on his way from the White House to the battlefield. President Lincoln was notified that he would be expected to make some remarks at the con- clusion of Mr. Everett's oration. He had made no prepara- tion, but asking for some paper, a sheet of foolscap was handed to him, and in a seat by himself he took a pencil and wrote the address, which Arnold has said "for appropriate- ness and eloquence, for pathos and beauty, for sublimity in sentiment and expression, has hardly its equal in English or American literature." Mr. Everett had finished and turned aside to take his seat, when an earnest call for Lin- coln was heard through the vast crowd. Then rose the tall, homely form of Abraham Lincoln. His careworn face glowed with intense feeling. Slowly and deliberately he adjusted his spectacles, and began to read. With the utter- ance of the first sentence he appeared to be unconscious of himself, absorbed only with recollections of the heroic dead.
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As he proceeded his countenance seemed touched with the sunshine of heaven, and his voice rang far out upon the field "with bloody corpses strewn" with a resonance and a rhythm which bound the assemblage with a magician's spell. With bated breath, listening ear and eager eye, they waited upon the sentences which fell from the great man's lips.
In the newly erected rostrum, upon the historic field hereafter to be celebrated in song and story, there he stood- that able, lovable, tender-hearted, ilhistrious President. Listen !
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedi- cated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
"But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men. living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us. the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedi- cated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion. that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain ; that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom ; and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
The audience seemed to realize that the greatest actor in the world's greatest drama was before it. When the last
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sentence was uttered and the magnificent address ended, silence, deep and intense, rested upon all present, while their hearts were wonderfully stirred. There was no applause ; no cheers. Afterward Mr. Lincoln in an hour of medita- tion thought his speech was a failure, inasmuch as there was no applause. Later on he lived to learn that the highest honors ever paid a public speaker were his-the "silence which is golden" had placed the stamp of commendation upon its immortal sentences, henceforth to be the precious heirloom of posterity to remotest history.
Turning to President Lincoln, Mr. Everett said: "Mr. President, your speech will live when mine is forgotten." Prophetic sentence! Edward Everett's polished periods were long since forgotten-Mr. Lincoln's will live forever !
The nation was stirred with an intense excitement in July, 1863, because of the news from Richmond, the Con- federate Capital, that death sentence had been imposed upon Captain Henry W. Sawyer, a resident of Cape May, New Jersey. The Captain was well known in Cumberland County, and especially in Bridgeton, the county seat, where he had a number of personal friends, among whom was the Hon. John T. Nixon, Representative in Congress from the First New Jersey District. Many hearts were made sorrow- ful by the news of the sad position in which the gallant soldier was placed. Captain Henry W. Sawyer, afterwards Major, and Colonel by brevet, on account of meritorious conduct on the battlefield, then in command of Company K. First Regiment New Jersey Cavalry, was badly wounded in the first great cavalry action of the war, which occurred at Brandy Station, Virginia, June 9th. 1863. Captain Saw- ver was gallantly leading his company when he fell. and was left on the field. being overlooked when his regiment retired. He was captured by the Confederates and taken to Libby Prison. General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, a son of Gen- eral Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, was seriously wounded in the same engagement. He was conveyed by his Confederate friends to a farm house
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in llanover County, within a few miles of Richmond. Here a Federal raiding party under Colonel Spears, found young Lee, and carried him off as a prisoner of war to Fortress Monroe.
Among the officers confined in Libby Prison was Cap- tain John W. Flinn, of an Indiana regiment. The two cap- tains became great friends, little thinking that they were to figure so conspicuously in Civil War history. Sawyer was a large, handsome man, while Flinn was spare and of me- dium stature. Prison fare dealt hard with Sawyer, and he grew thinner day by day. Likewise Flinn, whose flesh with- ered away until he was a skeleton. Both were in rags, both despondent, hoping against hope for release from their un- fortunate condition. What was their surprise when, on the morning of July 6th, ali the Federal captains in the prison were summoned to appear before Captain T. P. Turner, commander of Libby. All appeared on the lower floor in good humor, supposing they were to be exchanged. Instead of receiving the news of their release they were informed that a special order had been issued from the Confederate War Department, directing that two captains should be selected by lot to be executed, in retaliation for the execu- tion of two Confederate officers by General Burnside.
The order created great excitement in the prison. The Confederate commander desired to know how he should make the selection, when Captain Sawyer suggested that a number of white and black beans should be placed in a hat, while the captains advanced and drew out a bean. The first black bean was to be the first death prize, and the second black bean the second death prize. Captain Sawyer stepped forward, put his hand in the hat, and drew the first black bean. Captain Flinn then came up. thrust his hand in the hat, and drew the second black bean. Deathly stillness pre- vailed during the drawing. In a few moments the matter of life and death had been decided. and Sawyer and Flinn were marked for execution.
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WAR TIME PICTURES-1-61-1-45
Major Henry W. Sawyer, First Reg. N. J. Cav. Vols. Libby Prison Fame
Capt. Roswell S. Reynolds Co. F, Fifth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. First Lieut. Henry W. Gaskill Co. K, Twelfth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
Major Josiah Shaw Fourth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Dr. John B. Bowen Surgeon Thirty-fourth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
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Lieutenant James W. Stradling, a comrade of Captain Sawyer, serving in the same company with him, in an article written for McClure's Magazine, in 1905, gives the state- ment of what followed, as he afterward received it from Sawyer's lips. The captain was of German descent, and his speech retained the quaint expression which he had in- herited from his ancestors, known as "Pennsylvania Dutch :"
"Mine Gott! Jim, I never felt so weak in all my life as I did when I found I had drawn a 'death prize.' My kind friend, Captain Flinn, was very pale and much weaker than 1 ; but we did not have much time to think about it, for a Confederate officer told us that his verbal instructions were to have us executed before noon, and that he would return in an hour, so we asked permission to have a few moments to write letters to our homes and to our friends before being executed. We were removed to a room by ourselves, and furnished with writing material, but we could not compose our nerves or our thoughts sufficiently to write. The Con- federate officer was as humane as he could be under the circumstances, and, instead of returning in an hour, did not return for two hours. In the meantime, we bade our com- panions farewell, and distributed a few trinkets we had on our persons, and then, after confiding to our warmest friends a few messages for our families, we waited as quietly as we could for the coming of the death summons. We did not have long to wait, for soon a Confederate officer appeared with a guard, and Flinn and I were marched to the street. where we found a cart waiting for us. We took our seats in the cart, and the Confederate officer and the guard of cavalry escorted us through the streets of Richmond. The cart, if I remember rightly, was drawn by oxen, and it did not move very fast, but a thousand times too fast for us. We had almost reached the city limits, when we met a prom- inent Roman Catholic Bishop, who stopped to inquire the cause of the intended execution. While the Bishop was in- quiring of the Confederate officer about us. Captain Flinn. who was a Catholic, said he was being executed without the 'rites of clergy." The Bishop, who was a great friend and
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admirer of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Con- federacy, exclaimed, 'that would never do.' and he re- quested the Confederate officer to move slowly and he would hasten to see President Davis, and, if possible, get a delay for a short time. The cart moved on, and the Bishop hurried at a rapid pace to interview President Davis. The Bishop was mounted on a full-blooded and a very spirited horse, and he seemed to us to go like the wind when he started for the residence of his friend. We moved on to a small hill on which was a single tree, and to this tree the cart took its way. When the tree was reached, ropes were placed around our necks, and we were doomed to be hanged. This would have been an ignominious death, if we had been guilty of any crime punishable by death; but we had committed no crime, and yet we did not want to die in that way. We had a slight ray of hope in the Bishop's interces- sion for us, but it was too slight to allay our fears for the worst. I was very weak. Mine Gott! Jim, I had never felt so badly in all my life before. I was so weak that the tree and the guards seemed to be moving in a circle around me. We stood up in the cart, so when it moved we would dangle between the earth and sky, and in this way our existence was to end. No courier from the Bishop was in sight, and, Mine Gott! Jim, the suspense was terrible for us to bear. The Confederate officer took ont his watch, and informed us that. while his instructions were to have us executed before noon, he would wait until one minute of twelve, and then, if there was no sign of a courier, the cart would be driven away, and the arbitrary orders of the War Department of the Southern Confederacy would be obeyed.
"Half-past eleven arrived, and yet no signs of any courier from the Bishop. Mine Gott! Jim, our legs became so weak that we could not stand any longer. so we re- quested that we might be permitted to sit down in the cart until the time for us to be executed arrived. Then we would stand up and the ropes could be adjusted to our necks and the execution concluded. The ropes were then untied, and we were permitted to sit down on the side of the cart. Ten
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minutes more passed in dead silence, and yet no eye could detect any signs of a courier. At the end of another ten minutes we stood up and the ropes were adjusted to our necks, and the Confederate officer was raising his sword as a sign to the driver to move away. when a cloud of dust was observed in the distance. The Confederate officer liesi- tated for a few moments, when a horseman covered with (lust and his horse covered with foam, dashed up, and handed him a dispatch. He opened it quickly, and read : 'Captains Sawyer and Flinn are reprieved for ten days.' Mine Gott! Jim, I never felt so happy in my life : and Flinn and I embraced each other, and cried like babies. The ropes were untied, and the cart started slowly back for Libby Prison. We never learned the name of the officer who was detailed to execute us. Our comrades were greatly rejoiced to see uis return alive, and made many inquiries concern- ing the postponement of the execution.
"On our return, we were taken to the headquarters of General Winder, where we were warned not to delude our- selves with any hope of escape, as retaliation must and would be inflicted ; and it was added that the execution would positively take place on the 16th, ten days hence. We were then conducted back to Libby Prison, and taken to the second story, to our old place on the floor. We were not permitted to remain there very long. when we were taken to the cellar and placed in a dungeon and isolated from the world and our companions : and the only company we now had were the rats and vermin, which swarmed over us in great numbers.
"After resting for a short time to compose my thoughts, I asked for writing material, which was furnished me, with a candle, and then on an old board for a writing desk, I wrote the following letter to my wife, which I started on July 6th, but did not finish until the next day :
"PROVOST GENERAL'S OFFICE.
"LIBBY PRISON, Richmond, Va., July 6th. 1863. "My Dear Wife :-
"I am under the necessity of informing you that my
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prospects look dark. This morning, all the captains in Libby Prison drew lots, for two to be executed. It fell to my lot and Captain Flinn's to be executed, in retaliation for two captains executed by General Burnside, in Tennes- see. The Provost General assures me that the Secretary of War will permit you and my dear children to visit me before I am executed. Captain Whilden or Uncle W. W. Ware, or Brother Dan, had better come with you; you will be al- lowed to return without molestation to your home. I am resigned to whatever is in store for me, with the consola- tion that 1 die without having committed any crime. My situation is hard to be borne, and I cannot think of dying without seeing you and the children.
"I have no trial, no jury, nor am I charged with any crime, but it fell to my lot. Proceed at once to Washing- ton. Government will give you transportation to Fortress Monroe, and come here by flag of truce, and return same way. Bring with you a shirt and some clothing for me. It will be necessary for you to bring evidence of my condi- tion. at Washington. This letter is sufficient.
"My pay is due from March the Ist, which you are en- titled to. Captain B. owes me fifty dollars, loaned him when we went on leave of absence; write him, and he will send it to you.
"My dear wife, the fortunes of war have put me in this position. If I must die a sacrifice to my country, being God's will. I must submit; I will die becoming a man and an officer. Write me as soon as you get this, and go to Captain Whilden ; he will advise you what to do. I have done nothing to deserve this penalty. But you must submit to your fate. It will be no disgrace to me, to you, or to my children ; but you may point with pride and say, 'I give my husband.' My children will have the consolation to say, 'I have been made an orphan for my country.' God will provide for you, never fear. Oh! it is hard to leave you thus. I wish that the ball that pierced through the back part of my head in this last battle had done its work ; but it was
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not to be so. My mind is somewhat influenced, for this has come so suddenly upon me.
"Write me as soon as you get this. Leave your letter open ; I will get it. Direct name and rank, via Fort Monroe.
"Farewell! Farewell! Let us hope it is all for the best.
"I remain yours until death,
H. W. SAWYER. Captain Ist N. J. Cav.
"The Confederate officer read it through, and then sent it through the lines under a flag of truce, with a lot of other mail from my fellow-officers.
"I calculated that it would require some four or five days for the letter to reach its destination, and then I knew that my wife would make superhuman efforts to save me ; and this was the only bright ray of hope that lighted up that dark dungeon cell in which I was placed. The letter reached my wife on the 13th, and she was greatly shocked and almost overcome, and when she read it again and compre- hended the full meaning of it, she collapsed ; but, realizing that any delay might prove fatal to me, she rallied, and as soon as she could make the necessary preparations, she, in company with Captain Whilden, started for Washing- ton, where she arrived on the night of the 14th of July. After eating a lunch, they proceeded to the White House, and secured an interview with President Lincoln, before ten o'clock. The President was greatly startled, as well as shocked and agitated, by the recital of the way I, her husband, was treated in the Confederate prison at Rich- mond, and, after encouraging her to be brave, he said : 'Mrs. Sawyer, I do not know whether I can save your husband and Captain Flinn from the gallows, but I will do all that is in my power. They are two brave men, and I will make extraordinary efforts to save them. If you and your friend will call before noon to-morrow. I will be pleased to inform you what action I have taken.' "
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The tender heart of President Lincoln was deeply touched when Mrs. Sawyer had finished her recital of her husband's condition, and he immediately set about finding a way by which the lives of Flinn and Sawyer might be saved. Hle sat up late that night conferring with Genera! Halleck and Secretary Stanton as to what was the best course to pursue. It was a delicate question, which must be settled in such a manner as would not establish a prece- dent. Retaliation for the two spies whom General Burnside had executed was not justifiable, in any view of the case. and Mr. Lincoln was loath to believe that the Confederate Government could approve such summary action in dealing with prisoners of war. Such a course was dishonorable in the extreme, and he felt that the Confederates must recede from the position taken after the matter had had due reflec- tion. In the meantime, the day of execution was approach . ing, and action must be prompt and decisive if Captains Sawyer and Flinn were to be saved.
The next morning, when Mrs. Sawyer again called. the President said : "I did not make up my mind, and did not arrive at a final decision in the case until three o'clock this morning. After that time I slept peacefully and felt greatly refreshed, for I believed my plan would save the two gallant men who were at that moment fighting the rats and vermin in Libby Prison."
This is the way in which Mr. Lincoln solved the pei - plexing question: General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee was still a prisoner, subject to the commands of the Presi- dent. If Sawyer and Flinn were to die for no cause, why should not the son of Robert E. Lee die in retaliation? Ac- cordingly, he issued the following order :
WASHINGTON, July 15th, 1863. Colonel W. H. Ludlow. Agent for the Exchange of Prison- ers of War :
The President directs that you immediately place Gen- eral W. H. F. Lee, and another officer selected by you, not below the rank of captain, prisoners of war, in close confine- ment. and under guard, and that you notify Mr. Robert
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