USA > New York > Erie County > Elma > History of the town of Elma, Erie County, N.Y. : 1620 to 1901 > Part 15
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.During the balance of 1861 and most of 1862, both sides were getting their armies ready for business. Battles were fought in and near the border states from the Potomac to the Rocky Moun- tains and in these engagements, the Southern army was in a major- ity of cases victorious. Lee pushed his army into Maryland and the cry rang through the length and breadth of the North, "You can never conquer the South."
It was at first determined by Lincoln and his cabinet that the work was to put down the rebellion and thus save the Union, and not in any way to interfere with the institution of slavery if it could be avoided; and when the Federal army marched across the Potomac taking possession in Alexandria, of General Lee's place, making his house the headquarters of the commanding general, strict orders were given that no damage should be done to the grounds or buildings, and that the persons and slaves should not be molested.
After a while, where the Northern army had gained an advantage in the Slave States, fugutive slaves would come within their lines. General Butler called them "contraband of war," and they were afterwards called "contrabands;" but it was a question too com- plicated and of too much importance to be settled in that way.
In the latter part of August, 1861, John C. Freemont, who was in command in Missouri, issued a proclamation declaring martial law in Missouri and that under the decree of confiscation, the slaves were free. President Lincoln directed Freemont to modify his proclamation so far as it referred to slaves, and this was the condition wherever the Union army had success in the Slave States. It soon became known that the Southern Confederacy was taking into its army every able bodied white man, of suitable age, leaving the families and the army to be supported by the slaves. On March 13th, 1862, President Lincoln signed an Act of Congress entitled, "An Act to make an additional article of war," for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be observed and obeyed as such.
Article I. All officers and persons in the military and naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands, for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any person to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty, by a courtmartial, of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.
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Article II. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
Section 9 made all slaves of persons in rebellion against the government of the United States escaping from such persons, and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves found on or within any place occupied by the rebel forces, and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States shall be deemed cap- tives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves.
Section 10. No slaves escaping into any state, territory or District of Columbia from any other state shall be delivered up, unless the person claiming ownership shall make oath that he has not been in arms against the United States in the present rebellion ; nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto.
The Executive will in due time recommend that all loyal citizens of the United States shall be compensated for all losses, including the loss of slaves.
So it was that during the first year of the war, no word or act of the government could be construed as an act against the insti- tution of slavery.
On July 1st, 1862, President Lincoln made a call for 300,000 men and again on August 4th, he called for 300,000 volunteers.
Notwithstanding the frequent reverses of the Union army, and the constant efforts of the friends of the South, represented in the North by the Knights of the Golden Circle, and their helpers, to destroy confidence in the government, and to prevent enlist- ments; in the face of all this opposition, the loyal part of the North redoubled their efforts, and the response from the North to the call for soldiers was without a parallel in the history of the world.
On September 22d, 1862, President Lincoln issued his notice against slavery and proclaimed, " that all slaves held as such in any of the states on January 1st, 1863, should be free."
On January 1st, 1863, the rebellion being still on, President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, wherein he " ordered and declared that all persons held as slaves within the designated territory, (states having taken part in the rebellion,) are, and henceforth shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the United States with the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons." By this act, 4,000,000 slaves were to have their freedom when the rebellion was put down.
Thus was consummated the greatest event of the nineteenth century, and was a distinguishing feature of the war. From that time the Union forces began to be victorious.
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Only a very few incidents and early events of the Civil War are here noted, and these are given so as to furnish some idea of the condition of the country at that time.
It is not possible in the space to be allotted to a history of the town of Elma, that the whole itemized history should be given. It is sufficient to here say that the war continued with victories and defeats on both sides until April 9th, 1865, when General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House.
There are several very complete histories of the War of the Rebellion that give in full and detail all matters relating to the war.
On the evening of April 14th, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by J. Wilkes Booth, dying April 15th, term of office four years and forty days, and this act cast a gloom over the whole North, greater than anything that had transpired during the war. On the same evening, William H. Seward, Secretary of State, was assaulted and nearly lost his life. Both of these assaults were supposed to have been instigated and directed by leading men of the Confederacy.
On March 1, 1865, the aggregate of the Federal forces was 965,- 591, which by May 1st had increased to 1,000,576, when orders for disbanding were issued and on August 7th, 640,806 had been mustered out of the service and on November 15th, the number was increased to 800,963. The total loss of Union men was given as 316,000.
The Confederates reported their total forces as 549,226, losses unknown. They held of our men as prisoners in 1864, over 40,000, many of whom were starved to death in Salisbury, Libby, Dansville, Belle Island and other Southern prisons.
We held in 1864 over 100,000 Confederate prisoners in Elmira, Chicago, and other Northern camps.
Such a war could not be carried on for four years without using vast sums of money and as there was 'none to commence with in the Treasury, Congress called for loans and new issues of bonds, and more bonds and new calls were made as the needs of the government were presented and the people responded with a heartiness that astonished the nations of Europe; but it piled up a big debt as is here shown.
The Public Debt left by President Buchanan as a peace debt, in 1860 was $64,769,703. This was increased in 1862 to $511,826,272 and in 1864 to $1,740,690,489, in 1865 to $2,716,898,152, in 1866 $2,773,236,173,when it reached the highest point, in 1868 to $2,- 611,687,851, in 1870 to $2,480,672,428.
Some may ask, "What has all this about the War of the Rebellion to do in a history of the town of Elma?" The reply is that the town of Elma is considered by the inhabitants residing therein as no mean part of the State of New York, or of the United States,
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and as we were a part of the nation and had an interest in all its affairs, the history of that war is a part of our history, and while such an army, as before noted, was being put into the field and while all the states and all parts of every Northern State were responding to the President's call for volunteers, the State of New York having furnished 464,156 men, we desire here to show something of what the people of the town of Elma did in volun- teers and in bounties.
Records are at hand, only from the first call in April, 1861, to July, 1st 1863. During that time nearly all, if not all of the follow- ing named persons enlisted (several were drafted later and served a short time, whose names are not in this list), and the money and supplies here mentioned were furnished, and as the war con- tinued for one year and nine months longer, there can be no doubt but other men enlisted, whose names cannot now be learned, and more supplies were forwarded to the Sanitary Com- mission and Hospitals.
Here is an alphabetical list of those whose names can be learned who enlisted from the town of Elma, and most of them were in the service before July 1st, 1863.
Charles Anderson, 100th; John Anderson, ; Albert Aykroid, 94th; Melvin Aykroid, 94th; Andrew Baker, 10th Cav .; John Baker, 10th Cav .; Luke Baker, 100th; Obediah Baker, 98th; Robert Barnes, 94th; Martin Bender Scott, 900; Daniel Benzil, 10th Cav .; Philip Benzil, 10th Cav .; John F. Billington, 100th; Charles F. Blood, 10th Cav .; James Blood, 21st; Hermon Bohl, 10th Cav .; James Bowers, 78th; Brewer, 21st; Philander T. Briggs, 94th; John Brooks, 116th; James Chadderdon, 94th; John F. Chadderdon, 94th; Jordan W. Chadderton, 94th; Stanlius Chicker, 94th; Gilbert Chilcott, 10th Cav .; Lewis Chilcott, 10th Cav .; Almerin Clark, 78th; Thomas E. Clark, 94th ; Samuel Clements, 94th ; Thomas Clements, 116th; Timothy Clifford, 98th; Jason Cole, 94th; Perry Cole, 116th; George Davis, 98th; John Donner, 116th; Agust F. Drankhan, 94th; Michael Durshel, 7Sth; John Edner, -; William Eggert, 100th; Benjamin Farnham, 78th; Anthony Fellows, Lewis Fellows; Nicholas Fellows; Sherman Forbes, 49th; Delos Fowler, 116th; Theodore Fowler, Barnes Bat .; Isaac Freeman, 21st; Albert Fulford, 94th; John Garby, Wiederick's Battery; Joseph Garvin, 10th Cav .; James Gilmore, 100th; John Glaire, 94th ; Wm. W. Grace, 116th; George W. Green, 94th; Henry Hamilton, 10th Cav .; Jonas Hamilton, 10th Cav .; Michael Hanrahan, 116th; James Hanvey; Daniel P. Harris, Barnes' Batt .; Albert Harvey, 116th; Wm. P. Hayden, 100th; Haynes, 78th; Conrad Heagle, 5th Art .; Joseph Helmer, 116th; Joseph Hesse, 78th; Alexis Hill; Marcus Hill; Robert Hill, 116th; Theodore Hitchcock, 10th Cav .;
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Allen J. Hurd, 44th; Joseph Hunt, 100th; Wm. Joslyn; John Kilhoffer, 100th; Sylvester W. Kinney, 94th; John L. Kleberg, 100th; John Krause, 100th; Lawrence Krause, 94th; August Konnegeiser; Robert W. Lee, 49th; John Lemburger, 116th; John Linburger, 94th; Norton B. Lougee, 49th; Amos Matthews, 49th ; Frederick Michaelis, Wiedrick's Battery ; Wilbor Mitchell, 21st ; Hiram Munson, Musquito Fleet; John Munson; Henry Mutter, 116th ; Jacob Miller, Barnes' Battery ; Michael McCabe; Eli B. Nor- thrup, Barnes' Battery; Frank Noyes, 94th; David Palmer, 116th; Jesse W. Parker, 94th; Horace A. Paxon, 116th; Orvil Pomeroy, 116th ; Ira J. Pratt, 116th; Salem Pratt, 94th; Charles E. Radean, 49th; George P. Rowley, 116th; Charles Standart, 116th; Deforest Standart, 21st; Joseph C. Standart, 116th; Wm. Wesley Standart, 94th ; Hiram Sawyer, 116th; Peter Scheeler, 116th; John Schneider, Joseph Schuridt, 5th Art .; George Shufelt, 94th; Abram W. Smedes; Albert Smith, 116th ; George Smith, Barnes' Battery ; Godlip Strite, 10th Cav .; George W. Stowell, 116th; George Simmons, Battery G., 52nd; Almon Simmons; Charles Thayer, 116th; Luther J. Thurber, 94th; George W. Townsend, 116th; Chauncey P. Van Antwerp, 116th; Henry Van Antwerp, 116th; Wm. D. Wallace, 98th; Robert Watson 10th Cav .; Albert Wetherwax, 116th; Heman Worden, 10th Cav .; Isaac Wakeley ; Pennock Winspear. Total 126.
Here are the names of persons who enlisted, and the arm of the service in which they entered so far as can now be learned, viz .:
21ST NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS .- James Blood, Brewer, Isaac Freeman, Wilbor Mitchell, Deforest Standart.
44TH REGIMENT .- Allen J. Hurd.
49TH REGIMENT .- Sherman Forbes, Robert W. Lee, Norton B. Lougee, Amos Matthews, Charles E. Radeau.
78TH REGIMENT .- James Bowers, Almerin Clark, Michael Durshee, Benjamin Farnham, Haynes, Joseph Hesse. 94TH REGIMENT .- Melvin Aykroid, Albert Aykroid, Robert Barnes, Philander T. Briggs, James Chadderdon, John F. Chadder- don, Jordan W. Chadderdon, Stanlius Chicker, Thomas E. Clark, Samuel Clements, Jason Cole, August F. Dranken, Albert Fulford, John Glaire, George W. Green, Sylvester W. Kinney, Lawrence Krouse, John Linburger, Frank Noyes, Jesse W. Parker, Salem Pratt, George Shufelt, W. Wesley Standart, Luther Thurber.
98TH REGIMENT-Obediah Baker, Timothy Clifford, George Davis, Wm. D. Wallace.
100TH REGIMENT .- Charles Anderson, Luke Baker, John L. Billington, William Eggert, James Gilmore, Wm. P. Hayden, Joseph Hunt, John Kilhoffer, John L. Kleberg, John Kraus.
BARNES' RIFLE BATTERY .- Theodore Fowler, Daniel P. Harris, Jacob Miller, Eli B. Northrup, George Smith.
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WEIDERICK'S BATTERY .- John Garby, Frederick Michaelis.
SCOTT'S 900 CAVALRY .- Martin Bender.
116TH REGIMENT .- John Brooks, Thomas Clements, Perry Cole, John Donner, Ambrose Fry, Delos Fowler, William W. Grace, Michael Hanrahan, Albert Harvey, Joseph Helmer, Robert Hill, John Limburger, Henry Mutter, David Palmer, Horace A. Paxton, Orvil Pomeroy, Ira J. Pratt, George P. Rowley, Hiram Sawyer, Peter Scheeler, Albert Smith, Joseph C. Standart, Charles Standart, George W. Stowell, Charles Thayer, George Townsend, Chauncey P. Van Antwerpt, Henry Van Antwerpt, Albert Wetherwax.
10TH CAVALRY .- Andrew Baker, John Baker, Daniel Benzil, Philip Benzil, Charles F. Blood, Hermon Bohl, Gilbert Chilcott, Lewis Chilcott, Joseph Gavin, Henry Hamilton, Jonas Hamilton, Theodore Hutchinson, Godlip Strite, Robert Watson, Herman Worden.
MUSQUITO FLEET, on Mississippi River .- Hiram Munson.
5TH ARTILLERY .- Conrad Heagle, Joseph Schuridt.
REGIMENT OR ARM OF SERVICE NOT KNOWN .- John Anderson, John Edner, Anthony Fellows, Lewis Fellows, Nicholas Fellows, James Hanvey, Alexis Hill, Marcey Hill, William Joslyn, August Konnegeiser, John Munson, George W. Simmons, Almon Simmons, John Schneider, Abram W. Smedes, Isaac Wakeley, Pennock Win- spear.
RECAPITULATION .- In 21st Regiment 5, 44th Regiment 1, 49th Regiment 5, 78th Regiment 6, 94th Regiment 24, 98th Regi- ment 4, 100th Regiment 10, 116th Regiment 29, 10th Cavalry 15, Scott's 900 Cavalry 1, Barnes' Rifle Battery 5, Wiederick's Battery 2, 5th Artillery 2, Regiment not known 17. Total 126.
Most of these 126 enlisted before July 1st, 1863. Very likely some names have been overlooked.
At that time there were about 450 voters in the town. The United States Census for 1860 gave the total population of the town as 2136. Before the close of the war, by volunteer and draft, fully one-third of the voters were, or had been in the army.
How much money was paid out in the town of Elma to promote enlistments before July 1st, 1863? The answer is $4112.
How much was raised by individual subscriptions? Answer : $1051.
The persons who subscribed $25, or over, were: Christopher Peek $124, Clark W. Hurd $124, Lewis Northrup $124, Wm. M. Rice $62, Joseph B. Briggs $62, Paul B. Lathrop $60, Horace Kyser $57, Zenas M. Cobb $42, Charles Arnold $31, Chester Adams $25, and $340 in smaller sums, making a total of $1051.
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At a special town meeting it was voted to raise $4000, by tax on the property of the town, to be used in the payment of bounties to volunteers. Of the $1051 which had been raised by subscription, $939 was paid back, being a part of the $4000 voted at the town meeting. This left the amount actually paid of $4112. Chris- topher Peek, supervisor, James Tillou, Clark W. Hurd, Charles Arnold and Warren Waters were a committee to take charge of and pay out, this $4112.
While our soldiers were in the field, and the men at home were raising money as a bounty to hire more soldiers, the women of the town were showing their patriotism by doing what they could to furnish supplies for the hospitals and the Sanitary Commission.
There was no aid by church organizations as such, but many persons and families sent to soldiers in the hospitals and in the field, boxes and parcels of which there is no record. Ladies' Aid Societies were organized in almost every neighborhood where they held their weekly meetings, to procure and make such articles as were needed by the Sanitary Commission, and these supplies were forwarded to their destination.
Before July 1st, 1863, there had been sent by the ladies of the town the following, viz .:
Cash, $15.00; dried fruit, 314 pounds; groceries, 42 pounds; honey, 85 pounds; soap, 6 pounds; sage, 1 pound; eggs, 26 dozen; lint, 26} pounds; bandages, 343 pounds; compresses, 120 pounds; pads, 13; bundles of old linen, 6; bundles of old cotton, 6; towels, 30; bed sacks, S; bed quilts, 2; bed comforters, 7; bed blankets, 4; sheets, 48; pillows, 19; pillow cases, 22; feather cushions, 2; hop cushions, 4; husk cushions, 2; double gowns, 1; pairs of drawers, 21; pairs of socks, 45; handkerchiefs, 56.
This is only a part of what the ladies furnished, for their work was continued during the four years of the war, to the very close.
No doubt, much more than the above was prepared and sent forward by individuals of which no account was kept and there- fore no mention can be made, but the above shows the patriotic spirit of most of the people of the town of Elma in this war of the Rebellion.
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CHAPTER XIV.
CAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR.
The Slave Holders' Rebellion, or the Civl War in the United States which commenced in 1861, forms one of the extraordinary chapters for the historian to record. States which had, and should continue to have a common interest in the government were in this war arrayed against each other in deadly strife; families were divided, parents against children, brother against brother, min- isters and people of the same church faith were divided, each praying for the defeat of the other.
The first gun of the war was fired at 4.30 o'clock, on the morning of April 12th, 1861, when the rebel batteries in Charleston Harbor, under command of General Beauregard, opened fire on Fort Sumter, commanded by Major Anderson; and the war continued until the main Confederate army commanded by General Lee, surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, April 9th, 1865.
During the war more than 1,000,000 men had been enrolled in the Federal army, and more than 600,000 men had served in the Confederate army.
The total loss in the Federal army was about 316,000 men besides those who died in Southern prisons and from disease contracted in the camp.
The Confederate loss was never reported but they lost about 4,000,000 slaves and other property the value of which was never known.
The war caused an increase in the United States public debt from $64,770,000 dollars in 1860 to 2,773,237,000 dollars in 1866, at which time the debt reached its highest point.
With many who had not given much thought as to the affairs of the general government, the question was often asked, "Why was there a war between the North and South, or between the Slave and Free States?" And since the close of the war the same question has often been repeated. The answer, in time of the war, as given by those who were well posted in the matter was, "that the slave holders were determined to control the affairs of this govern- ment; that from the first they had used the institution of slavery as a lever to enable them to gain and hold the balance of power; that notwithstanding their persistence and threats to protect and
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extend that institution, they had at the election in 1860, been so thoroughly defeated that in madness, they had decided to do their best to destroy the Union; and after several of the slave holding states had by their legislatures adopted ordinances of secession, they organized a Confederate government and then attempted and did capture the United States forts, thus beginning war."
The proceedings of Conventions and the debates in Congress are matters and record of history to which the reader is referred for full particulars.
A reference to some of the principal events which from the formation of the government in 1787 to the commencement of the war in 1861, had been the cause of difference between the Slave and Free States and were the subjects of debates in Congress and of discussion throughout the country and a few extracts from speeches made in Congress on these questions will be here given for those who have not the time or opportunity for a more extended research and which will show the spirit and determination of the political leaders in the South for the protection, extension and perpetuation of slavery, and in that way to hold the balance of political power in the United States; and also show the spirit and determination of the leaders and people of the North to check the extension of that institution.
The questions of extension and non-extension of slavery were by the Southern leaders brought to the front on the admission of every new state and were the cause of debates in Congress, and kept alive the fire of difference between the political parties and between the people of the Slave and Free States; the differences and the excitement between the two sections growing more and more bitter and serious each year until the war was actually begun.
In the convention to frame the Constitution of the United States in 1787, on the question of representation in Congress, the Southern slave holders demanded that their slaves should be enumerated with the whites, but a compromise was made by allow- ing five slaves to be counted as three freemen in the apportionment for Representatives. The African slave trade was another source of trouble in framing the Constitution. Most of the delegates wanted the trade abolished but the delegates from South Carolina and Georgia having declared that if there was to be no slave trade, there would be no Union, a compromise was made that the trade should be abolished after twenty years.
The purchase of the Louisana Territory from France in 1803, brought in additional territory, the South claiming the whole as slave territory. The question was not settled until after a long and bitter debate in Congress, with threats of dissolution of the
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Union from the Southern members, when Missouri was admitted as a Slave State, March 6th, 1820, with a compromise resolution that in the future no Slave State should be erected north of 36° 30' north latitude, that being the north line of Arkansas. It was thought at the North that this compromise measure would for- ever settle the question of slavery extension.
On the admission of Arkansas and Michigan in 1836, a most heated debate was had in Congress in which the Missouri Compro- mise was endangered by the Southern cry of disunion and balance of power. In 1842, in the discussion in Congress on the admission of Texas, Mr. Wise said, "let one more northern state be admitted and the equilibrium will be gone and gone forever." The South demanded Texas to save the balance of power. The leading object of the annexation was to strengthen slavery and save to the South the control of the government. The southern members of Congress and the people all through the Slave States raised the cry of "Texas or disunion."
1845-1850.
For more than three years the discussion on the question, of the admission of Texas into the Union was very heated in Congress and by the people North and South; the North generally being opposed, and the people of the South in favor of the admission as that would give to the South the balance of power, as they then thought, for all time. Texas was admitted in 1845 as a Slave State with the privilege of being divided into four more states when occasion required.
War with Mexico was the result of annexation, and on May 11th, 1846, President Polk, in a communication to Congress said, "The Mexicans have at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow citizens on our own soil." The result of the war was that by the treaty with Mexico in 1848, we acquired California and other territory for which we paid $18,000,000 to Mexico.
The debate in Congress on organizing the territory of Oregon and the admission of California as a state was long and bitter.
On January 29th, 1850, Henry Clay of Kentucky, leader of the Whig party in the United States Senate, submitted a series of resolutions proposing an amicable settlement of the whole slavery controversy. This was called an "Oninibus Bill," because it carried so many different subjects. The resolutions in part were as follows: "California, with suitable boundaries, ought to be admitted as a state, without restriction as to slavery.
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1850.
Appropriate governments ought to be established in all the territory acquired from Mexico not assigned to California without restriction as to slavery.
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