USA > New York > History of the Ninth Regiment N.Y.S.M. -- N.G.S.N.Y. (Eighty-third N. Y. Volunteers.) 1845-1888 > Part 3
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The Military Gazette had this to say of Company C :
The " City Guard " is composed of young men of the best families, and they were thought to be rather too slim and too nice to manage barbette and casemate guns. But Captain Lovell has shown that his young men are of the right kind. Not 'above the work and labor of the battery ; not too weak and effeminate for the service of heavy artillery.
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1860
CHAPTER II.
REBELLION-SECESSION.
The Presidential Election of 1860 .- Secession of South Carolina and Other States .- State of Feeling in the North .- " If Any One Attempts to Haul Down The Ameri- can Flag, Shoot Him on the Spot !" -- Official Documents .- Major Robert Ander- son .- Attack on Fort Sumter and its Surrender .- Excitement in the North. - The President's Call for Troops .- The NINTH Offers its Services .- Resignation of Colonel Van Beuren .- Recruiting under Difficulties .- Off for Washington .- Arrival at the Capital.
THE presidential election, held on November 6th, resulting in the choice of the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, so incensed the Southern wing of the Democratic party-which for over twenty years had controlled legislation at the National Capital-that they determined to withdraw their States from the Federal Union. They feared that the incoming administration might approve of laws detrimental to. the slave-holding interest and, asserting that the Constitution warranted them in taking this step, set about forming a " South- ern Confederacy." On the 20th of December the State of South Carolina, by its convention, issued the following :
THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA :
At a convention of the People of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at :+ Columbia, on the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there, by divers adjournments, to the twentieth day of December in the same year :
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled " The Constitution of the United States :"
We, the People of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by us in convention on the twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this State, ratifying amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed ; and the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the " United States of America," is hereby dissolved.
1861
SECESSION OF THE STATES.
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Done at Charleston, the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.
D. F. JAMISON, Delegate from Barnwell. President of the Convention, and others.
Attest : BENJAMIN F. ARTHUR, Clerk of the Convention.
The other States which were to compose the Southern Confederacy followed the lead of South Carolina early in 1861 ; Mississippi, January 9th ; Florida on the 10th ; Alabama on the 11th ; Georgia on the 19th ; and Louisiana on the 26th. On February ist, Texas went out ; Virginia on April 17th ; Askansas on the 6th, and North Carolina on the 20th of May. The Legislature of Tennessee passed an ordinance of secession on May 6th, subject to ratification by the people on the 8th of June; the result of the vote was an apparent majority for the ordinance, but this was brought about largely through the intimidation of Union voters by State troops, organized by Governor Isham G. Harris, a strong Seces- sionist.
The people of the North looked on in wonder and aston- ishment at this action of the " Cotton " States, and when those States began to arm and equip soldiers for the purpose of enforcing the secession movement, the loyal people were amazed. The South had already taken forcible possession of forts and arsenals, and the sad truth began to dawn on the minds of the loyal North that war, witht all its horrors, was inevitable -- that the " Irrepressible Conflict " was upon them.
This southern falacy of a Union based on dis-union at the option of any one of the contracting States, could not be tol- erated by the majority of the people of the North ; irrespective therefore of party affiliations, preparations were begun to oppose the action taken by their southern brethren.
At a meeting of the Board of Officers of the NINTH, held on the 5th of January, and upon request of the officers of Company C, a resolution was passed, dropping the name of "City Guard," Company C afterwards assuming that title
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1861
exclusively. On the 22nd, Captain Mansfield Lovell, in a let- ter to Company C, tendered his resignation.
Towards the end of the month, a cabinet officer electrified the North, and gave the key-note to the loyal people of the United States, by making use of an expression, in a telegram of instructions to a special agent of the government at New Orleans. This agent had been sent there by the Treasury Department for the purpose of securing the revenue cutters Robert McClelland and Lewis Cass, from seizure by the State of Louisiana. The agent, William Hemphill Jones, ordered Captain Breshwood, commanding the McClelland, to take his vessel to New York. On Breshwood's refusal to comply, Jones telegraphed to the Secretary of the Treasury and asked for further instructions. The following is the reply ;
Washington, Jan. 29, 1861.
WM. HEMPHILL JONES, New Orleans.
Tell Lieutenant Caldwell (presumably the Second officer) to arrest Captain Bresh- wood, assume command of the cutter, and obey the order I gave through you. If Captain Breshwood, after arrest, undertakes to interfere with the command of the cutter, Lieutenant Caldwell is to consider him as a mutineer, and treat him accordingly.
If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.
JOHN A. DIX, Secretary of the Treasury.
On the 9th of February, at Montgomery, Alabama, Jeffer- son Davis, of Mississippi, was elected Provisional President of the so-called " Confederate States," and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President, and they were inaugurated on the 18th of the month.
Washington's Birthday, the 22nd, was duly celebrated by the First division, N. Y. S. M., whose members, at an early hour, assembled at their respective drill-rooms. At sunrise, a salute of five hundred guns, ordered by Governor Edwin D. Morgan, was fired from the Battery. The Military was formed on Fourteenth Street, and after being reviewed by the Governor, wheeled into column by companies, and marched down Broadway, up Park Row, through the east gate of the City Hall Park, and in passing gave a marching salute to the
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1861
WAR-OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.
City Fathers. The NINTH paraded six companies of twelve files, with full band and drum corps.
On March 4th, President Lincoln was duly inaugurated, and the Ship of State entered upon a tempestuous sea. .
By special order No. 27, March 21st, A. G. O., Albany, Company. . B, of the Twenty-third regiment, "National Grays," was transferred to the NINTH, and became Company F. This company was organized and mustered into the State service, May 4th, 1860, but owing to the fact that a sufficient number had not been enrolled to entitle the organization to a regimental charter, the transfer was made. The officers of the new company and date of rank, were : Captain Allan Rutherford, May 9th, 1860 ; First-Lieutenant, Edward Thorn, same date ; Second-Lieutenant, Charles R. Braine, April 9th, 1861.
. On the 25th of March, a regimental order directed that the quarterly meeting of the Board of Officers be held on April 6th, at their room, No. 71 University Place, corner of East Thirteenth Street, at which the committee on regimental name would report. On the 29th, another regimental order was issued, from which we make the following extract :
The members of this command are hereby directed to appear, in full fatigue uniform at the City Armory, corner of Elm and White streets, on Friday evening, the 19th of April next, at eight o'clock, at which hour the Regimental line will be formed, for instruction and drili in street firing.
WAR.
The following are copies of official documents :
HEADQUARTERS, PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A. Charleston, S. C., April 11th, 1861.
SIR. The Government of the Confederate States has hitherto forborne from any hostile demonstration against Fort Sumter, in the hope that the Government of the United States, with a view to the amicable adjustment of all questions between the two Governments, and to avert the calamities of war, would voluntarily evacuate it.
There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the course pursued by the Government of the United States, and under that impression my Government has refrained from making any demand for the surrender of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer delay assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding the entrance of one of their harbors, and necessary to its defense and security.
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1861
I am ordered by the Government of the Confederate States to deniand the evacua- tion of Fort Sumter. My aides, Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee, are authorized to make such demand of you. All proper facilities will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together with company arms and property, and all private property, to any post in the United States which you may select, the flag which you have upheld so long and with so much fortitude, under the most trying circumstances,. may be saluted by you, on taking it down.
Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your answer.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, G. T. BEAUREGARD, Brigadier-General Commanding.
Major ROBERT ANDERSON,
Commanding Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S. C.
[The Reply.]
FORT SUMTER, S. C., April 11, 1861.
GENERAL : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication, demanding the evacution of this fort, and to say, in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligations to my Government, prevent my compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly, and courteous terms pro- posed, and for the high compliment paid me,
I am, General, very respectfully your obedient servant,
ROBERT ANDERSON, Major First Artillery, Commanding.
Brig .- General BEAUREGARD,
Commanding Provisional Army.
CHARLESTON, S. C., April 12th, 1861, three-twenty A. M.
SIR: By authority of Brigadier-General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you, that he will open the fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time.
We have the honor to be, very respectfully. your obedient servants,
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JAMES CHESNUT, JR., Aide-de-camp.
STEPHEN D. LEE, Captain, C. S. Army, Aide-de-camp.
Maj. ROBERT ANDERSON,
U. S. Army, Commanding Fort Sumter.
HEADQUARTERS PROVISIONAL FORCES. Charleston, S. C., April 12th, 1861.
Hon. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War.
SIR : I have the honor to transmit the enclosed copy of a correspondence with Major Anderson, in consequence of which our fire was opened upon Fort Sumter at half-past four o'clock this morning, as already communicated to you by telegraph. The pilots reported to me last evening that a steamer supposed to be the Harriet Lane, had appeared off the harbor. She approached slowly, and was lying off the main entrance, some ten or twelve miles, when the' pilot came in.
Respectfully, your obedient servant.
G. T. BEAUREGARD, Brigadier-General Commanding.
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1861
FORT SUMTER EVACUATED.
At half-past four o'clock, on the morning of the 12th, the Rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter. It is not necessary to rehearse the action of Major Anderson and his brave asso- ciates ; suffice it to say, that after a bombardment lasting nearly two days, and when most of his guns were dismounted and the garrison in danger of being destroyed in the conflag- ration caused by the burning buildings, the Major was obliged to surrender. The evacuation took place on the 14th, the vic- tors "graciously " allowing the vanquished to salute and haul down their flag, after which they were transferred to the steamer Baltic, lying off the bar, and conveyed to New York.
The news that the Rebels had " let loose the dogs of war," spread with lightning rapidity wherever there was telegraphic communication, and from thence by word of mouth to every hamlet in the land. From that moment, the citizens of the North and South-with a few exceptions -- casting aside party ties, made their choice to stand by their sections, each side appealing to the God of battles, and praying that He would grant them the victory.
In all the Northern cities, towns, villages and hamlets, meetings were held to discuss the strange situation. The people resolved to support the Government and those officers legally elected to enforce its laws, pledging their honor, lives, and treasure, to that end.
SUMTER .* BY J. WOODRUFF LEWIS.
I. Sullen clouds the night o'er-cast, But in the murky gloom, An eager host is gathering fast, Impatient for the bugle's blast- The martial note-to some the last, That summons to the tomb.
* These lines were written by Major Lewis, after reading the telegraphic account of the attack on Fort Sumter, and delivered at the close of an entertainment, " An Evening with the Poets," at Canton, N. Y., April 17, 1861, after which he announced his immediate departure for New York to enlist in the 9th Regiment for the War. The announcement was received with great enthusiasm.
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1861
II.
Hark, that roar ! Night thrills and quakes ! It is the signal gun !
That booming from the Battery wakes The mother's hopes and fears, and makes
The patriot heart, for loved one's sakes, Weep tears for War begun '
III.
And now the guns from Sumter tell Back the answering tale !
While from the shores adjacent knell,
The doom of men by shot and shell,
The fall-the groan-the wild farewell-
While battle-smoke, like pall of Hell.
Makes new-born widows pale !
IV.
Oh, shattered Hopes! Oh, night of Tears ! Do not thy curse extend !
By all the future's coming years,
By all humanity dreads and fears-
Oppression's bonds-the wrong that sears-
By each home that manhood rears-
By all a noble heart reveres- May God the Right Defend !
On the 15th the following was issued :
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A PROCLAMATION :
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, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by 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 hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.
I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long endured.
I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the force hereby called
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THE NINTH VOLUNTEERS.
1861
forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union, and, in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country ; and I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably, to their respective abodes, within twenty days from date.
Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion. I do, hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. The Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, 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 fifteenth 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.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President,
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
On the 19th, in obedience to order No. 5, the NINTH assembled at the City Armory, and after drill a meeting was held, resulting in the following :
HEADQUARTERS, 9TH REGT. N. Y. S. M., April 19th, 1861. SPECIAL ORDER, } No. 10.
The members of this command having voted unanimously to tender their services to their country, in this hour of its need, it becomes necessary immediately to take steps to place the Regiment upon a war footing, and recruit it to a war complement.
A Regimental Recruiting Stawon will therefore be forthwith opened, at the Armory of Company A (Captain Johnson), at Mo. 481 Broadway.
Commandants of companies will each detail two men from their respective com- mands daily, until further orders, whe will report for duty to the officer in command of said recruiting station, from eight A. M. till seven P. M.
An officer will be detailed to remain in command of said station, daily, from eight A. M. till seven P. M., as follows :
From Co. A, on Saturday 20th inst., ; from Co. C, on Monday, 22nd inst. ; from Co. D, on Tuesday, 23rd inst .; from Co. F, on Wednesday, 24th inst .; from Co. B, on Thursday, 25th inst. ; from Co. E. on Friday, 26th inst. ; from Co. G, on Saturday, 27th inst. ; and will report for subsequent days in the same order. Adjutant Coppinger, Captain Davis, Quartermaster Henriques, and Lieut. Banks are appointed to solicit and collect subscriptions to assist in defraying the expenses of equipping recruits.
By order of
COLONEL M. M. VAN BEUREN. J. B. COPPINGER, Adjutant.
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2S
THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1861
On the 23rd a special meeting of the Board of Officers was held, at which it was decided to petition the Adjutant-General, to allow the NINTH to serve as light infantry instead of heavy artillery. The application was informally made, and on the 8th of May the following extract from the letter received by Captain Rutherford was made public ;
A petition from the officers of the NINTH regiment to be ordered to do duty as light infantry has been received.
The application should properly come from the commandant of the regiment. Will you please get the Colonel, or, if he has resigned, the Lieutenant-Colonel, to make an application to that effect.
On the 7th of May, an inspection and parade was held in Washington Square, at half-past one P. M., the men appearing in fatigue uniform with overcoats.
On the 11th regimental orders No. 13 announced the acceptance of the resignation of Colonel Van Beuren, and ordered an election to be held on the 16th inst. to fill the vacancy.
Colonel Michael M. Van Beuren first entered the military service of the State of New York as a member of the " Napoleon Cadets," about the year 1840, of which company he was afterwards Captain. Next he was Major of the Ninety- seventh (ununiformed) regiment ; then Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twelfth regiment. On February Ist, 1854, he was elected Colonel of the Eleventh regiment, and resigned in May, 1858. Upon the re-organization of the NINTH, June 25th, 1859, he was commissioned its Colonel, and his appointment was endorsed by the Board of Officers on the following 6th of December. Although he desired to retire from active military life, Colonel Van Beuren testified his loyalty, and the interest he took in the fortunes of the NINTH, by contributing one thousand dollars towards equipping the regiment for the field.
On Thursday, the 16th, a meeting of the Board of Officers was held to elect a Colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel Hallick hav- ing refused to allow his name to be used, the choice fell upon ex-Colonel John W. Stiles, late of the Eighth and Third regiments. He was unanimously elected.
COLONEL JOHN W. STILES.
1861
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OFFICERS WHO REMAINED TRUE.
On the 19th day of April-the day upon which, through Governor Morgan the services of the regiment had been tendered to the government,-the NINTH was composed of only six companies, averaging about fifty men each. Stronger regiments were first accepted, however, until the State's quota, under the call for seventy-five thousand men, had been filled. Steps had been taken-as narrated-to fill up the companies, and also to raise new ones. Unfortunately for this purpose, a number of officers resigned. Those of the original officers who remained true to the interests of the regiment in this hour of need, and who were mustered into the U. S. Service on the 8th of June, were, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Hal- lick, Adjutant John B. Coppinger, Engineer Henry L. Stevens, Surgeon's-Mate Edward H. Andrew ; ---- -, Company A ; Lieutenants Louis Billon and John Deppeler, Company B; Lieutenant Charles E. Prescott, Company C ; Captain John W. Davis and Lieutenant Edmund R. Greene, Company D ; Captain William Atterbury and Lieutenant Henry S. Brooks, Company E; and Captain Allan Rutherford and Lieutenant Charles R. Braine, Company F. Company G, familiarly known as the "Growlers " during the war, was recruited during the month of April, through the efforts of the Captain of Company E, William Atterbury, Sergeant-Major John Hend- rickson, and Sergeant Joseph D. Wickham, who were elected on April 25th, Captain, First and Second Lieutenants, respect- ively. Lieutenant Coppinger and Corporal Matthew S. Gregory also exerted themselves to recruit the company. Company H, "the Hams," was originally organized by Mr. James Young, principally from the members of the Volunteer Fire Department, and the transfer of "fire laddies " from other companies; but as sufficient progress had not been made, about May 20th, Mr. Young withdrew, and Messrs. George Tuthill, John T. Lock- man and Charles E. Tuthill completed the organization, and were elected on May 24th to the various positions in the order named. In January, Captain Lovell of Company C, went South, where he was soon rewarded with a Major-General's
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1861
commission in the Rebel army, and assigned to the command of Department No. 1, headquarters at New Orleans.
The officers of the several companies, besides attending to. the recruiting, drilled their commands daily, generally choos- ing Washington Square for that purpose.
At this time the militia regiments -- with one exception, the Seventh,-had none other than company quarters, and those were not large enough for even company drill, battalion movements perforce were performed in the open air-in some convenient lot on the outskirts of the city, or in the public parks.
Great care was exercised in the selection of the men com- posing the NINTH, each applicant was obliged to undergo a critical examination by the surgeon, and so strict were the officers respecting persons of doubtful moral character, that few such gained admittance. While some financial aid was given by the Union Defence Committee, many of the mem- bers purchased their own uniforms. The fatigue uniform, worn upon entering the service, consisted of a cap of the French pattern, braided in gilt, the regiment's number in front; a jacket, and overcoat with cape of dark blue; the cuffs of jacket and coat, and coat cape, trimmed with red ; the trousers were dark blue with a stripe of red cloth down the sides. The equipments were of morocco with brass ornaments ; the regi- mental number was painted on the back of the knapsacks.
The regiment had now eight companies, embracing over eight hundred men, and after having waited for weeks in daily expectation of orders to proceed to Washington, the men became much dissatisfied and urged the officers to assume the responsibility and go ahead. Upon it being represented to them that the U. S. Government would gladly accept the services of the regiment on its arrival in Washington, it was decided to leave the city as soon as transportation could be secured, and without waiting for authority from the State of New York.
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