USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, Vol. II > Part 20
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
series of resolutions, tendering to the President "what- ever aid in men and money might be required to enable him to enforce the laws and uphold the authority of the Federal Government," and on the 15th inst. Major- General Sandford offered the services of the whole First Division of the Militia of New York in support of the United States authority.
New York City, nevertheless, determined to make one more effort to avert the horrors of war. A memo- rial in favor of compromise measures was circulated. On the 18th of January a large meeting of merchants was held at the Chamber of Commerce, where a similar memorial was adopted, which was sent to Washington in February, with forty thousand names appended. On the 28th of January an immense Union meeting was held at the Cooper Institute, when it was resolved to send three commissioners to the conventions of the people of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, to confer with the delegates of these states, assembled in convention, in regard to the measures best calculated to restore the peace and integrity of the Union. The Crittenden Compromise was suggested in these meetings as a basis of pacifi- cation.
On the 22d of January the chief of the Metropolitan Police, John A. Kennedy, seized thirty-eight cases of muskets which were about to be shipped for Georgia, and deposited them in the State Arsenal of the city. Information of the seizure was at once sent to the con- signees, who appealed to Governor Brown, of Georgia. Mr Toombs, who was at Milledgeville, at once dis- patched a menacing telegram to Mayor Wood, demand-
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ing the cause of this act. The mayor apologized in reply, protesting that he had no authority over the police. Governor Brown retaliated by seizing two brigs, two barks, and a schooner, which were lying in the harbor, and sent word that they would be held till the arms were released. Governor Morgan referred the owners to the United States Courts for redress. They were soon informed, however, that the arms had been surrendered to their agent, G. B. Lamar, whereupon Governor Brown released the vessels, which quickly left the har- bor. Some delay, nevertheless, having arisen in the release of the arms, the governor seized three other vessels, all owned in New York, and held them till the arms were actually in the possession of the claimants. These arms were said to belong in part to private indi- viduals, and in part to the State of Alabama, and were supposed to be designed for the use of the insurgent government.
The end of this phase of the contest soon came. State after state seceded, fortress after fortress was seized, armies were form:d throughout the South, and a Provisional Government was organized at Montgom- ery. At length the blow fell. Fort Sumter, where Major Anderson and his little band had been for months beleaguered, was evacuated on the 14th of April, 1861. And here let us say, that it was owing to the gallantry of a sergeant of the New York police force, Peter Hart, who had formerly served with Major Anderson in Mex- ico, that the American flag remained unfurled to the end over the fort. When, in the thickest of the fight, the flag was finally shot down, after having been hit nine times, Hart volunteered to raise it again, and,
791
CITY OF NEW YORK.
climbing a temporary staff amidst a blinding hail of shot and shell, nailed the torn banner fast, and descended in safety. Sergeant Jasper had immortalized himself of old by a similar act of daring, close by, at Fort Moultrie. Mrs. Anderson had made a perilous journey to Fort Sumter early in January, for the purpose of carrying to her husband this brave auxiliary, in whose faith she had full trust, and who was permitted to remain on condition of being a non-combatant. He served the country bet- ter than by arms. At a time when all parts of the country are claiming initiatory honors, it is well not to forget that a New Yorker saved the stars and stripes from falling in the first historic battle of the great war, as a New Yorker, Lieutenant De Peyster, was the first to raise them anew over the Confederate Capital.
The uprising that followed the fall of Fort Sumter was unparalleled. The peaceful attitude of New York had led it to be supposed that she would cast her for- tunes with the South, or at all events stand aloof from the contest. Never was there a greater mistake. The crisis come, she nerved her energies to meet it, and from that hour to the close of the struggle, her citizens never faltered or withheld their blood and treasure. Those who had been most anxious for peace now vied with each other in asserting their determination to pre- serve the Union, and the mayor, who just before had urged the advantages of secession, issued a proclamation calling on all the citizens to unite in defence of the coun- try. On the day after the evacuation of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand men, to serve for three months, the quota for New York being thirteen thousand. The
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HISTORY OF THE
New York Legislature instantly responded by passing an act authorizing the enlistment of thirty thousand men, for two years instead of three months, and appro- priating three million dollars for the war. The State, nevertheless, like the country, was almost defenceless ; its arms had rusted in the half a century of peace that had gone by, and of its twenty thousand regular militia, only eight thousand had muskets or rifles fit for service, while its whole supply of field-pieces amounted to but one hundred and fifty. Steps were taken to supply the deficiency ; the regiments prepared to march ; the recruiting offices that were everywhere opened were seen thronged with thousands eager to enlist, and those were envied who were first accepted. And these volun- teers did not come from the dregs of the people ; the majority were young men of family and fortune, who held it an honor to serve as private soldiers in their country's cause. The Seventh Regiment, which was foremost in the field, is well-known as being composed of the best citizens of New York, and many other of the militia regiments claimed to be its rivals. Besides the regular militia, numerous volunteer organizations were formed under different names. The national flag was everywhere displayed, on public buildings and private residences, steamboats and railroad cars, and even the dresses of the citizens, who wore the stars and stripes in every conceivable form.
The enthusiasm was general throughout the Northern States, which vied with each other in sending troops to the defense of the menaced National Capitol. Five Pennsylvania companies, which had been hurried for- ward by Governor Curtin from the interior of the State
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
without waiting to organize them into a regiment, were the first to reach the spot. On the 18th of April the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment marched through New York on its way to Washington, and received a most enthusiastic welcome. "Through New York the march was triumphal," wrote Governor Andrew. Yet it had been predicted that the regiment would be attacked on its way through the city.
On the next day, the 19th, New York's favorite regi- ment, the Seventh, under the command of Colonel Marshall Lefferts, which had been drilling night and day, was to set out for Washington. At an early hour the sidewalks were densely thronged, and the streets seemed literally lined with banners. The moment was a thrilling one ; the city, that had known nought but peace within the memory of the present generation, was on the brink of a terrible war with those whom she had held as brethren, and was about to send forth her cherished sons to encounter its nameless perils. It was the first plunge ; and never, perhaps, did the emotions of the ensuing terrible years equal the intensity of that moment. The regiment formed in Lafayette Place in front of the Astor Library, about four o'clock in the afternoon. The surrounding windows, housetops, and even trees, were thronged with enthusiastic spectators. Just before they were ready to move, intelligence was received that three of their guests of the day before had been massacred on their way through Baltimore. An electric thrill ran through the crowd and steeled all hearts with a determination to avenge their deaths. Forty-eight rounds of ball cartridge were served out to the members of the regiment, and having formed in line,
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they marched through Fourth street to Broadway, down this great thoroughfare to Cortlandt street, and thence to Jersey City Ferry, and crossing the river, commenced their journey to Washington. Never had New York seemed gayer than on this sunny day, with hundreds of thousands of bright colored flags floating in the breeze, and hundreds of thousands of people assem- bled to take farewell of their departing brethren. The brilliant display that had lately greeted the Japanese Embassy and the Prince of Wales paled before this demonstration ; but the holiday garb was only external, and all hearts were filled with sadness at the the fratri- cidal war, the first scene of which was passing before them. Here we leave the gallant Seventh, the story of whose six days' march to the National Capitol has been so graphically described by one who speedily gave his life in defense of his country.
On the same day a meeting of the merchants of New York was held at the Chamber of Commerce, at which resolutions indorsing the action of the Government, and urging a blockade of all the Southern ports, were unanimously adopted, and a large committee of promi- nent capitalists was appointed to make arrangements for placing the nine million dollars still untaken of the Government loan. The announcement having been made that several of the regiments preparing to leave were embarrassed for want of funds, a collection was instantly taken up, and twenty-one thousand dollars were raised in ten minutes.
On the evening of the day that President Lincoln had issued his call for troops, several gentlemen had met at the house of R. II. MeCurdy, and resolved ou
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
measures for the support of the government. They determined to call a public meeting of all parties to aid in sustaining the government in this crisis, and ap- pointed a committee, consisting of a large number of influential citizens, to make the necessary arrangements. The members of this committee were notified of their appointment the next day, by a circular, and requested to meet at the Chamber of Commerce, on the corner of William and Cedar streets. A call was at once issued for a great mass meeting at Union Square, to be com- posed of men of all parties who were desirous of pre- serving the Union.
The great Union Square meeting will long be remem- bered. For the time, as complete unanimity of senti- ment prevailed as could ever be achieved among a million of people. All differences of opinion seemed hushed for the time, and the only thought was the common safety. The largest concourse of people that had ever been witnessed in New York assem- bled on the afternoon of the 20th of April, in Union Square. All the places of business in the city were closed. Four stands had been erected for the speak- ers; but these proved insufficient, and those who · were unable to obtain a place within hearing of the principal speakers, were addressed from the bal- conies, and even from the roofs of the houses More than a hundred thousand persons were supposed to have been present. Major Anderson and his officers were there, with the tattered flag of Sumter. The leaders of all parties joined in the demonstration ; dem- ocrats and republicans, conservatives and radicals, all were united in the first flush of excitement. The four
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presidents of the meeting were, John A. Dix, Ex-Gov- ernor Fish, Ex-Mayor Havemeyer, and Moses II. Grin- nell. Among the numerous speakers were Daniel S. Dickinson, Robert J. Walker, David S. Coddington, Professor Mitchell and Colonel Baker, both of whom were doomed to die in defence of their principles, and Mayor Wood, who, on his own responsibility, pledged the corporation of New York to fit out the brigade which Colonel Baker had offered to raise. The speeches were of the most stirring character, a list of patriotic resolutions was adopted, and a Committee of Safety was appointed, composed of some of the most distinguished men of New York, without reference to party, and charged to represent the citizens in the collection of funds and the transaction of such other business in aid of the movements of the government as the public interest might require. The Committee organized that evening under the name of the Union Defence Com- mittee. It was composed of the following citizens :- John A. Dix, chairman ; Simeon Draper, vice-chair- man ; William M. Evarts, secretary ; Theodore Dehon, treasurer ; Moses Taylor, Richard M. Blatchford, Ed- wards Pierrepont, Alexander T. Stewart, Samuel Sloane, John Jacob Astor, Jr., John J. Cisco, James S. Wads- worth, Isaac Bell, James Boorman, Charles H. Marshall, Robert H. MeCurdy, Moses H. Grinnell, Royal Phelps, William E. Dodge, Greene C. Bronson, Hamilton Fish, William F. Havemeyer, Charles HI. Russell, James T. Brady, Rudolph A. Witthans, Abiel A. Low, Prosper M. Wetmore, A. C. Richards, and the mayor, comp- troller and presidents of the two Boards of the Common Council of the City of New York. The Committee had
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
rooms at No. 30 Pine street, open during the day, and at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, open in the evening.
It was not enough to provide men ; money also was needed. On the 22d of April the Common Council, by the recommendation of the mayor, passed an ordi- nance authorizing a loan of one million of dollars for the defence of the Union, in pursuance of which Union Defence Fund Bonds, payable May 1, 1862, were issued. On the same day a meeting of the whole New York Bar was held, at which twenty-five thousand dollars were contributed for the same purpose. A loan of five hundred thousand dollars in aid of the families of volun- teers, payable July 1, 1862, was subsequently made by the Common Council. This was but a beginning. It
is estimated that in the course of three months, New York furnished one hundred and fifty millions to the government; and at the close of the year the secre- tary of the treasury reported that, out of the two hundred and sixty million dollars borrowed by the government, New York had furnished two hundred and ten millions. Boston had reduced the quota of her advance from thirty to twenty per cent, while New York took not only her own, but what Boston rejected. Without this aid, the government would have been forced, through lack of means, to consent to the dissolu- tion of the Union.
New York now presented the aspect of a military city. The City Hall Park was filled with barracks for the accommodation of the Northern and Eastern troops that passed through the city on their way to the seat of war. Sunday was destined to be marked by great events throughout the conflict, but of all the
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HISTORY OF THE
memorable Sundays during these four years, none per- haps was more impressive than the day after the great Union Square meeting. Sermons appropriate to the occasion were preached everywhere, and contributions were taken up to aid in fitting out regiments. In many of the churches, the flag was displayed, and the Star- Spangled Banner sung by the congregation after the service. The streets were thronged with an immense crowd assembled to witness the departure of the three regiments-the Sixth, Colonel Pinckney, the Twelfth, Colonel Butterfield, and the Seventy-first, Colonel Vos- burgh, that were to set out for Washington that after- noon. Bells were rung, cannon fired, and flags displayed on all the shipping and public buildings. The popular enthusiasm seemed unbounded. During the few re- maining days of the memorable month of April, the troops already mentioned were followed by the Eighth Regiment, Colonel Lyons ; the Thirteenth, Colonel Smith ; the Fifth, Colonel Schwarzwaelder ; the Second, Colonel Tompkins ; the Sixty-ninth, Colonel Corcoran ; the Ninth, Colonel Stiles ; and the Twenty-fifth, Colonel Bryan .*
On the 22d of April General Wool, the commander
* The New York City militia regiments which served for three months, at the expiration of which time they returned and were discharged, were as follows:
Regiments.
Commanders.
Left New York. No. of Men.
Second
Col. Geo. W. Tompkins
April 28
500
Fifth .
" C. Schwarzwaelder .
=
27
600
Sixth.
" Jos. C. Pinckney
21
550
Seventh .
4. Marshall Lefferts
66
19
1,050
Eighth
George Lyons
:
23
900
Ninth
John W. Stiles
30
800
Twelfth .
Daniel Butterficht
=
2]
900
Sixty-ninth.
=
Michael Corcoran
66
29
1,050
Seventy-first
=
A. S. Vosburgh
=
21
950
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
of the Eastern Department, which comprised all the country north of the Potomac and east of the Mississippi River, arrived in New York and fixed his quarters at the St. Nicholas Hotel. He had been preceded by Governor Morgan, who, having received orders from Washington to send on troops as fast as possible, had accepted the offer of Colonel Ellsworth's regiment of Zouaves, and commanded that rations and transportation should be furnished to all soldiers ordered to Washing- ton. A complication arose between these officials in relation to the Zouave regiment, which was full, and which the governor wished to reduce to seventy-seven men per company. None would go without the whole, and General Wool took the responsibility of ordering them forward at once. By way of reproof for his some- what irregular promptness in this and other matters, he was afterwards retired from service ; but the action was subsequently reconsidered, and he was restored to com- mand. The Union Defence Committee co-operated with him and aided him in hastening troops to the seat of war. The twenty-one regiments offered by the State over and above its quota had been accepted, and on the 24th of April an agent left for Europe with five hun- dred thousand dollars wherewith to purchase arms.
In the meantime, the women of the city set to work with one accord to prepare means for softening the labors of the soldiers in the field, and alleviating the sufferings of the sick and wounded. On the 25th of April a number of ladies met at a private house and formed the plan of a Central Relief Association. A com- mittee was appointed, with instructions to call a meeting of the women of New York at Cooper Institute, on the
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HISTORY OF THE
morning of the 29th inst., to concert measures for the relief of the sick and wounded. The largest gathering of women ever seen in the city responded to the appeal. David Dudley Field was chosen president, and the meet- ing was addressed by the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, Han- nibal Hamlin, the Vice-President of the United States, and others. An organization was effected, with Dr. Valentine Mott as president ; Dr. Bellows, vice-presi- dent ; G. F. Allen, secretary ; and Howard Potter, treas- urer ; and the corner-stone was thus laid of that noble institution, the United States Sanitary Commission, which followed the army everywhere, and assuaged the sufferings caused by war. Thousands of women, and even children, devoted themselves to scraping lint, knit- ting socks, making garments, and preparing delicacies for the sick and wounded whom they saw in perspective ; and scores of the most tenderly reared and delicate young ladies volunteered their services as hospital nurses, and went into training under the directions of the city physicians. The month of April, 1861, was a sub- lime era in the annals of New York, as in those of the whole country. Minor differences were forgotten, and, for the moment, all hearts in the great city seemed to beat in unison.
The work of forwarding troops went on, and by the 25th of May the authorized thirty thousand men had been raised by the State, and by the 12th of July they had been organized into thirty-eight regiments, officered, and despatched to the seat of war. Ten regiments were accepted in addition from the Union Defence Committee, in response to a call made by the President on the 4th o May for volunteers, and by the Ist of July the State
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
of New York had nearly forty-seven thousand troops in the field ; consisting of three months' militia, three years' militia, two years' volunteers, and three years' volun- teers. Of these, the Eleventh, New York Zouaves, Colonel Ellsworth, the first volunteer regiment in the field ; the Twenty-Eighth, Colonel Bennett; and the Fourteenth, Colonel Wood, left New York City in May, followed in June by the Eighth, Colonel Blenker ; the Tenth, Colonel McChesney ; the Garibaldi Guard, Colo- nel D'Utassy ; the Twelfth, Colonel Quincy ; the Thir- teenth, Colonel Walrath ; the Ninth, Colonel Hawkins ; the Sixth, Colonel Wilson ; the Fourteenth, Colonel McQuade ; the Thirty-Eighth, Colonel Hobart; the Eighteenth, Colonel Jackson ; the Seventeenth, Colonel Lansing ; the Thirty-seventh, Colonel MeCunn ; and the Thirty-first, Colonel Pratt, of the volunteers; and the Seventy-ninth, Colonel Cameron ; the Nineteenth, Colo- nel Clark ; Company K., Ninth New York, Captain Bunt- ing; the Twenty-first, Colonel Rogers ; the Twenty- sixth, Colonel Christin ; the Twenty-ninth, Colonel Von Steinwehr ; the Twenty-eighth, Colonel Donnelly ; the First, Colonel Montgomery ; the Sixteenth, Colonel Davies ; and the Thirtieth, Colonel Matheson, of the New York State troops. Money was poured out with a lavish hand ; churches, associations, and individuals liberally contributing everywhere to the outfit of the troops.
On the 8th of May General John A. Dix was ap- pointed Major-General of New York, and on the 15th of May, the other Major-Generalship was bestowed on James S. Wadsworth, who afterwards fell in the battle of the Wilderness.
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HISTORY OF THE
Time forbids us to follow the soldiers through their wanderings ; it suffices to say that there was not a land engagement in 1861, east of the Alleghanies and south of Washington, in which the brave New York soldiers did not participate. The first flag taken from the insur- gents was the trophy of two New Yorkers, William MeSpedon, of New York City, and Samuel Smith, of Queens County, Long Island, who, spying from Wash- ington a Confederate flag flying in Alexandria, went over and captured it. On the next day, another New Yorker, Colonel Ellsworth, the commander of the first volunteer regiment that marched from New York, fell while attempting to haul down the stars and bars. He was the first officer that had fallen in the struggle, and the first man, in fact, in the campaign. His death caused an intense excitement in New York, where he was well known, and where his ability and gallant bearing had inspired great admiration. His body was taken to Washington, where the funeral services were performed at the White House, President Lincoln officiating as chief mourner ; it was then brought to New York, where it lay in state for two days at the City Hall, after which it was escorted through the streets by an immense pro- cession to the railroad depot, whence it was taken to Colonel Ellsworth's native place, Mechanicsville, N. Y., for interment. Under the influence of the popular excitement, a regiment was immediately formed, under the name of the Ellsworth Avengers.
His fate but presaged that of thousands of others. To chronicle the sons of New York who fell in the san- guinary conflict would far transcend the limits of this brief sketch. The disastrous battle of Bull Run was
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
especially fatal to the New York troops, many of whom were killed or made prisoners, among others, Colonels Corcoran and Wood, who were held as hostages for the crew of a privateer imprisoned by the United States government on a charge of piracy. Immediately after this disaster, without waiting for additional authority from the Legislature, Governor Morgan issued a pro- clamation calling for twenty-five thousand troops to serve for three years. On the 1st of October the quota of the State was raised to one hundred thousand, and on the 1st of November to one hundred and twenty thousand men.
In the December election of 1861 George Opdyke, a New York merchant of earnest patriotism and untiring energy, was chosen mayor. This was a fortunate choice, which secured to the city, during the two most critical years of the war, the services of a loyal and effi- cient chief magistrate. Time forbids us to dilate on the events of the year farther than to say that, in spite of the Bull Run disaster, the result had been favorable to the Federal forces ; the Border States having been secured to the Union, the insurgents driven out of Western Virginia, the blockade maintained, and many important naval advantages won. During the year 1861 New York City had put into the field over sixty thousand volunteers, exclusive of militia ; and heavily as she had suffered from the loss of her Southern debts, had loaned to the general government more than one hundred million dollars.
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