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手一年
The History of Fuller's Ohio Brigade 1861-1865
Its Great March, with Roster Portraits, Battle Maps and Biographies.
BY CHARLES H. SMITH Major Twenty-Seventh Ohio Regiment, Veteran Volunteer Infantry
CLEVELAND, OHIO 1909
1: 2015
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012
http://archive.org/details/historyoffuller00smit
. F8348.67
1652469
PRESS OF A J WATT CLEVELAND
THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE SOLDIERS OF FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE AND THEIR COMPATRIOTS IN MEMORY OF THEIR BRAVE DEEDS, THEIR TOILS, THEIR SUFFERINGS AND THEIR TRIUMPHS.
CHARLES H. SMITH Major 27th O. V. V. I. Historian
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1
JOHN W. FULLER Brevet Major General, Commander Ohio Brigade
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INDEX.
PAGES
PREFACE
17-18
OUR CONTRIBUTORS 19
GATHERING THE PICTORIAL PART 20
INTRODUCTION 21-22-23
CHAPTER 1.
Conditions of Affairs at the Opening of the War 24-25 The Call for Troops. Distribution of the Armies. .
CHAPTER 2.
The Organization of the Four Regiments 26-27-29-30
The Twenty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, Forty-third and Sixty-third.
CHAPTER 3.
Discipline of the Regiments .31-32
Battle of Wilson's Creek 31
Freniont's Order to Majer St
Movements of Forces under Major Sturgess 32-33-34
CHAPTER 4.
March to the Relief of Lexington, Missouri. 35-36
Hardships on the Way 35-36
Arrival at Kansas City 36-37
CHAPTER 5. March to Springfield. Missouri. 38-39
CHAPTER 6.
Territory in Possession of the Union Army 40
CHAPTER 7.
The Retrograde Movement of the Army 41-43
CHAPTER S.
The Great Winter March to St. Louis. 44-45
Advance upon New Madrid and Island Ten 46
CHAPTER 9.
Capture of New Madrid and Island Ten. .47-48-49-50-51
Report of General John Pope. 53-54-55-56-57-58-59-60
Report of General Schuyler Hamilton of New Madrid and Island Ten .60-61
Report of General D. S. Stanley
Report of Colone! John Groesbeck .61-62
.62-63
Report of Colonel J. L .. Kirby Smith 63-64
Report of Colonel John W. Sprague
64-65
Union and Confederate Forces Engaged in Battle at New Madrid and Island Ten 65-66
CHAPTER 19
Reminiscences of the Fort Pillow Expedition 67-68
Transfer of the Army to Hamburg Landing Middle, Tennessee. 67-68-69
CHAPTER 11
Preparation for Siege of Corinth. 70
Report of General D. S. Stanley of the Monteray Engagement. 70
Siege of Corinth. Engagement at Farmington 70-71-72-73
Report of General John Pope to Halleck 73
Capture of Corinth 73
Pursuit of the Enemy. 74
CHAPTER 12.
Reorganization of the Commands 75
Campaigns and Battles of luka and Corinth. 76-77
Battle of Iuka 77-79
Union and Confederate Forces Engaged at Fuka. 79-80
Reports of Battles by General Stanley and Colonel Fuller. 80-81
Pursuit of the Enemy 81-82
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10
FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
CHAPTER 13. PAGES
Battle of Corinth 82-83-84-85-86-87-89-90
Report of General W. S. Rosecrans 90-91-92
Report of Colonel John W. Fuller 92-94-96-97-98-99-100
CHAPTER 14.
A Hero at Corinth 101
Correspondence Accompanying the Message. 101-102
Report of Major Z. S. Spaulding. 102-103
Report of Lieutenant Colonel Edward F. Noyes 103-104
Report of Lieutenant Colonel Wager Swayne
Report of Colonel John W. Sprague 104-106
106-107-108
Report of Captain Edward H. Cummings, C. S. A., to Beauregard. 108-109-110
Partial Report of General Earl Van Dorn, C. S. A. 110-111
Partial Report of Pricc 111
..
Lieutenant Labruzan, 42nd Alabama, C. S. A. 111-112-113
CHAPTER 15.
Retreat of the Enemy from Corinth 114-115
Ussen Former Enmand at Corinth 115-116
Confederate Forces Engaged at Corinth 116-117
The Charge of the 27th Ohio at Corinth by Young. 117-118
Possibilities of Further Success. 118
CHAPTER 16.
Central Mississippi Campaign 119-120-121
Daily Marches of the Brigade. 119-120
Grouping of Forces. Formation of the 16th Army Corps. 121-122
CHAPTER 17.
Defeat of the Rebel General Forrest in Grand Raid on Grants Line of Communication. How it was Frustrated and the Enemy Expelled
from the Country 122-123-124-125-126-127-128
Battle of Parker's Cross Roads, December. 1862. 122
Pursuit of General Forrest .. 127-128
Forrest Abandons the Country 127
March of Great Severity 128
Heavy Tax on the Command. 130-131
Raid Through the Cherokee and Choctow Valleys. 132-133
Duty at Corinth and Memphis 133-134
CHAPTER 18.
March o Prospect, Tennessce 135-136
Order to Move to Prospect, from General Dodge to General Fuller. 136
CHAPTER 19. 137
Re-enlistments in the Regiments
Trip to Ohio and Return 137-138
CHAPTER 20.
Capture of Decatur, Alabama. 139
Changes and Re-assignment of Regiments of Fuller's Ohio Brigadc. 140
CHAPTER 21.
March to Chattanooga 142
General Grant's Plan of Campaign. 1-12-143
CHAPTER 22.
Campaign Through Northern Georgia. 144-145
Advance on and Battle of Resaca. 146-147-148
Battle of Dallas 149-150-151
Capture of Big and Little Kenesaw 152-153-154-156-157
Charge of Fuller's Ohio Brigade at Nick-ojack Creek. 157-158-160
Investment of Atlanta 162-164-165
Battle of Atlanta, July 22 165-167-169-171-172-173
Movement of Union Army to the Right. 173
Battle near Atlanta, July 28. 174
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11
INDEX.
CHAPTER 23.
Sherman's Great Flank Movement.
PAGES 178-179
Capture of Atlanta
180
Reports-
. Major General Sherman 182-183-184-185-186-187-188-189-190
Major General Dodge 190-191-192-193-194-195-196-197-198-199-200
Brigadier General Fuller 200-201-202-203-204-205-206-207-208-209-210
Colonel John W. Sprague. 211-212-213-215-216-217
Lieutenant Colonel McDowell .215-216-217
Colonel Churchill .218-219-220-221-222-223-224
Colonel Swayne 224-225-227
Major Fouts 228-229-230-231
Colonel John Cladick 231-232-233
Lieutenant Colonel Wm. H. Henry. 233 -- 234-235-237
CHAPTER 24.
Organization of the Union Army in the Field. 235-236 Forces under Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign. May 3 to Sept. 22. 1864. . 235-236 Effective Strength of the Army under Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign. . . 236-243 Strength and Losses of the Opposing Armies in the Atlanta Campaign. 236
Organization of the First Division, 17th Army Corps. 236
CHAPTER 25.
Movement of Confederate Army Northward. 237-238-239-240
Condition of Affairs in the Confederate Ranks, November, 1864. 241-242
Conquered Territory, Changes and Assignments.
CHAPTER 26.
Preparations for the March Through Georgia. 245
The March Through Georgia 246-247-248-249-250
Siege of Savannah
251-253-254-255
Raid to Altamaha River
Poem
255
Capture and Occupation of Savannah. 255
Property Captured and Destroyed. 256
Letter of Congratulation to Sherman. 256
Resolution of Thanks from Congress. 258
CHAPTER 27.
Transfer to Beaufort, South Carolina 258
CHAPTER 28.
General Order No. 3 258
CHAPTER 29.
Campaign Through the Carolinas .259-261
Whippy Swamp. Pocotaligo 261-263-264
Rivers Bridge. North and South Edisto Rivers 264-265-266-267
Capture of Columbia. Charleston 267-268
Movements on the Minsboro Road 268
Captured Cheraw. Fayetteville 268-269-271-272-273
Battle Bentonville. Goldsboro 273-277 CHAPTER 30.
Regiments in Organization of the First Division, 17th Army Corps. 278
Report of Sherman from Goldsboro
.279-280-281-282-283-284-285
Report of Fuller from Goldsboro 285-286-287 Report of Weber Concerning Operations February 2nd and 4th and March 21st. 1865 287-288 Report of Montgomery Concerning Operations January 29th, February 3rd and 9th 289-290
Report of Property Captured ( Mower) 290 Resolution of Congratulations 291-292 Re-organization of the Army. Changes in Commands 291-292
March to Raleigh, North Carolina 292-293
Surrender of Jolinston's Army 293 End of the War 294
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
CHAPTER, 31. PAGES
March Across Virginia .295-297
Review at Washington 297-298
Muster Out of Thirty-fifth New Jersey. 301
Twenty-fifth and Thirty-second Wisconsin 301
CHAPTER 32.
Order to go to Louisville. Kentucky. 303
Muster Out of Twenty-seventh, Thirty-nine, Forty-third and Sixty-third Ohio Regiments 304
Return of Soldiers to Their Homes
304
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Brevet Major General John W. Fuller 307-313
Major. General G. M. Dodge 314-316
Major General David S. Stanley 317-319
Brevet Brigadier General Mendal Churchill. 320-322
Brevet Brigadier General Somital Thanine
223
Major Charles I. Smith 324-326
Captain Charles W. Green
3.27
Colonel John Groesbeck
328-329
Colonel Edward F. Noyes
330-332
Colonel Daniel Weber
333-334
Captain W. H. H. Minturn.
335
Colonel Joseph L. Kirby Smith
336-338
Colonel Wager Swayne
339-340
Captain Hinchman S. Prophet
341-343
Brevet Major General John W. Sprague.
344-348
Brigadier General Charles E. Brown.
349-351
Colonel Oscar L. Jackson
352-358
Captain Andrew R. Robinson
359
Captain Charles M. Harrison
360-362
Captain Daniel, T. Thorne ..
363
Lieutenant Mathew F. Madigan
364
Lieutenant Peter Zinn
365-366
Adjutant Howard Forrer
367
Lieutenant Francis A. Gibbons
368-369
Sergeant Joseph H. Lapham
370-371
Thomas J. Sm th
.372-373
David McMullen
374-375
Charles I. Adkins
376-377
Judge Themas E. Scroggy
378-380
Sergeant Fred F. Adams
381-382
Corporal Isaac Jarvis
383-38
Sergeant Robert Terry
385-386
David Auld
387-388
James W. Conger
389-391
REMINISCENCES OF SOLDIER LIFE.
Reunion of Fuller's Ohio Brigade
393-394
General John W. Fuller's Address 395-406
Raid to the Altamaha River.
406
First Sergeant's Duties
407
Sixty-third Ohio Infantry
407-413
Battle of Colliersville
414-416
Colonel Horace Park's Address.
417-418
A Scout
418-419
Brave Acts Unrewarded
419-420
The Passage of the Salkahatchie and Edisto Rivers. 420-421
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1
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INDEX.
Incidents of the Last Days of the War. 422-423
The Twenty-seventh Ohio Veteran Infantry 423-425
An Incident at Rivers Bridge. 425-426
The Iron Nerve of a Soldier. 426
A Trip with Prisoners 427-429
Capturing the Flag 429
What a Drummer Boy Saw. 430-436
Incidents on the Mississippi River. 436-438
Address by General G. M. Dodge.
439-444
MISCELLANEOUS.
Camp of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Infantry. 445
Casualties in the War
445
Lessons of the War 446
Commanders of the Army of the Tennessee 446
Facts Worth Knowing
446
Organization
447
Darter of Nhin Caldiner
447
Official List of Battles
449-450
Roster of the Regiments --
Twenty-seventh Ohio
451-486
Thirty-nintir Ohio
488-536
Forty-third Ohio 538-584
Sixty-third Ohio
586-626
MAPS.
Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio Lines of March in Missouri. 42
Mississippi River Bend, New Madrid and Island Ten. 56
Battle of Corinth, Miss. Relative Positions of Forces Oct. 3rd and 4th 95
Battle of Corinth, Miss. Relative position of Union and Confederate Forces 96
Lines of March and Battle, Chattanooga to Atlanta. 163
Battle Lines, Atlanta. July 22nd, 1864. 170
Battle Lines, Ezra Church 175
Atlanta to Savannah Lines of March.
252
Campaign of the Carolinas, Lines of March.
270
PORTRAITS.
Major Charles H. Smith, Historian.
1
Our Commander, Brevet Major General John W. Fuller
2
Group of Officers of the Forty-third O. V. V. I. 28
Group of Officers of Fuller's Ohio Brigade .. 46
Rice B. Bostec, both a Confederate and a Union Soldier 53
Major General Grenville M. Dodge.
130
John McClay
179
Brevet Major Genera! John W. Fuller, Brigade Commander.
307
Major General Grenville M. Dodge.
314
Major General David S. Stanley
320
Major Charles H. Smith in Zouave Uniform
328
Colonel Edward F. Noyes
330
Colonel Joseph L. Kirby Smith
336
Colonel Wager Swayne
339
Captain H. S. Prophet 341
Brevet Major General John W. Sprague 344
Brigadier General Charles E. Brown .. 351
Colonel Oscar L. Jackson 352
Captain Andrew R. Robison 359
317
Colonel John Groesbeck
Brigadier General Mendal Churchill 324
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
Captain Charles M. Harrison
360
Lieutenant Peter Zinn
365
Lieutenant Francis A. Gibbons
368
Sergeant Joseph H. Laphanı 370
David McMullen 374
Charles I. Adkins
376
Judge Thomas Scroggy
378
Sergeant Fred F. Adams.
381
Corporal Isaac Jarvis
383
Sergeant Robert Terry
385
David Auld 387
389
George W. Wolf
392
John Beeman
392
John Smedley 392
David Auld, Drummer
430
ILLUSTRATIONS.
A Very Raw Recruit 30
Recruits. The First Drill
32
The Battle of Lexington. Missouri. 36
A Recruit and an Experienced Soldier.
47
Charging Through a Cornfield Taking the Top Rail
48
51
Debarkation of Fuller's Ohio Brigade on the Mississippi River at Watson's Landing
52
The Ohio Brigade Marching on Corinth. 71
Battle of Tuka, Miss. The Ohio Brigade Going Forward. 78
A Confederate Sharp Shocter at Corinth, Miss. 85
The 27th O. V. V. I. Capturing the Flag of the 9th Texas-Corinth, Miss.
88
The Battle of Corinth, Oct. 4th, 1862. Repelling the Confederate Assault.
93
The 43rd O. V. V. I. Defending Battery Robinett.
105
Fuller's Ohio Brigade Crossing the Tennessee River
140
Drum Corps-43rd Ohio ..
141
Battle of Resaca, Ga.
147
Badge of 15th Army Corps.
148
Battle of Resaca, Ga .- 43rd and 63rd Ohio.
149
Skirmish Line. "Feeling" the Enemy.
152
Battle of Kenesaw Mountain 155
Confederate Artillery Being Hauled up Kenesaw Mountain. 156
Charge and Capture of the Enemy's Works at Nick-ojack by the 27th and 39th Ohio Regiments 159
Battle of Atlanta, 16th Army Corps Engaged.
166
Battle of Atlanta, General Fuller with Flag at the Front. 168
Battle near Atlanta. Ezra Church
174
Seventeenth Army Corps Badge.
178
First Division, 17th Army Corps, Tearing up Railroad.
248
A Typical Camp Servant.
249
Battle of Atlanta. Defence of Supply Trains at Decatur
Battle near Atlanta. Driving the Confederate Lines 214
226
Battle at Salkehatchie River
262
Artillery in South Carolina Swamps. 271
Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina. 274
Grand Review of Sherman's Army 296
300
Survivors of the Brigade at Toledo, Ohio. 302
Regimental Flags of Fuller's Ohio Brigade. 305
Drum Corps, 43rd Ohio, After the War. 434
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Grand Review of Sprague's Brigade ..
First Division, 17th Army Corps, in South Carolina Swamps. 265
The 16th Army Corps Badge. 121
James W. Conger
PREFACE.
F ORTY-TWO YEARS had passed since the close of the Civil War, and yet no history had been written of the splendid services rendered to the government by the soldiers of the Twenty-seventh, Thirty- ninth, Forty-third and Sixty-third Regiments of Ohio Infantry, composing what was known officially and designated in the field as Fuller's Ohio Bri- rade This Brigade naver lact a Ang, but after four years of war, each one was brought back to Ohio with every star upon its folds shining more glor- iously bright, thereby reflecting the highest honor on the state of Ohio.
During the war I had kept a memorandum of events, jotted down as they occurred under my observation. My comrades urged me to publish it. and this I finally consented to do. At the annual reunion of the surviving members of the Brigade, held in Columbus, Ohio, on September 4th, 1907. a resolution was unanimously passed appointing me Historian and authoriz- ing me to compile and publish the military history of Fuller's Ohio Brigade. and to select assistants for the work. Their names were announced at the evening meeting as follows :
FROM THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OHIO: Captain Oscar Sheppard, E. C. Fuller (son of General Fuller and honorary member of the Brigade), Cap- tain J. A. Evans, Captain Jonathan Reese. Corporal Philip R. Harpel. Captain J. S. Stuckey, Captain C. C. Chadwick, Charles I. Adkins, First Sergeant E. S. Moorehead and H. C. Evans.
FROM THE THIRTY-MINTH : Captain W. H. H. Minturn, Captain Ethan O. Hurd. Captain Andrew R. Robison, D. T. Stathem, R. D. Wall, Sergeant J. H. Lapham, W. H. Garrett, John F. Harlan, Charles C. Barrows, and Frank Babb.
FROM THE FORTY-THIRD OHIO: James W. Conger, David Auld, Colonel J. H. Rhoades, Captain E. L. Lybarger, George H. Wise, James E. Graham, D. P. Host, Captain M. M. Murphy, Lieutenant Peter Zinn. Jolin McClay.
FROM THE SIXTY-THIRD: Colonel Oscar L. Jackson, First Sergeant Simon Jarvis, Joel A. Jarvis, Captain Reuben S. Mason, George B. Bartlett. Angus McDonald, H. Beckett, Joseph Bell. D. E. Heisey and J. W. Savely.
I entered upon this task with the sincere desire of doing justice to every officer and soldier who helped maintain our country's honor, and whose achievements made the Brigade famous. All deserve praise, but all that was accomplished by them could not be fully recorded in this volume. for the subject is too vast. No attempt at literary style has been made in the following pages-the desire is simply to preserve the military history of the Brigade. The labor necessary to prepare a work of this kind, takes years to accomplish and is much more difficult than would be supposed from an examination of its results. How faithfully and well it has been done can only be understood by those who are familiar with this sort of work.
To the survivors who have manifested their love of country, and to the rising generation who may yet learn that a land and a government such as ours is worth fighting for and dying for, if need be, i trust a perusal vi these pages will prove profitable and interesting.
MAJOR CHARLES H. SMITH, Historian.
Foot Note .--- All the material of the book has been collected from official records and from my memorandum, and has been verified by mem- bers of the Brigade.
OUR CONTRIBUTORS.
T THOSE who have most generousiy contributed toward the financing of this publication are General Grenville M. Dodge, Edward C. Ful- ler and Rathbun Fuller, sons of General John W. Fuller ; Mirs. Mary Mckenzie, niece of General Mendal Churchill; Alfred H. Swayne. son of General Wager Swayne; comrades James W. Conger and David Auld, Jr., and Colonel Oscar L. Jackson.
To Comrade Auld, we are indebted for his care in selecting the illus- trations, for his critical supervision of the engravings, and for his contri- bution of their cost. To him and to comrade Conger, we are further in- debted for encouraging words of advice and for time given to the detail of the work.
The above-named have aided the Historian in making it possible to save from oblivion the unsurpassed military record of Fuller's Ohio Bri- gade, to interest the veterans in their own memories, and in a measure to instruct succeeding generations who will read of the great struggle for a national existence and human liberty.
TO MY COMRADES OF THE OHIO BRIGADE.
It has always been with me a great and growing desire to see a com- plete record of what was suffered and the work that was accomplished for our country during those trying years 1861 to 1865 left to our prosperity, and it is now one of my greatest pleasures that I have been able to con- tribute in a small way to this work that has been carried through to com- Dletion under such great difficulties by our faithful friend and comrade Major Chas. H. Smith, (our Historian). This history of the Ohio Brigade and the drum that I carried to arouse the boys from their slumbers many times by the reveille, and some times by the long roll for battle, and marked time for their soldierly tread on many long marches and bloody field, will be among my most cherished relics.
When my name was mentioned by the Historian as one of the Com- mittee, on publication, I very much doubted my ability to add anything of value, but remembering my liking for drawing and sketching pictures of scenes that appealed to me during the war, I began to look over old trunks, drawers, etc., and soon unearthed many engravings, sketches, lithographs, photographs, maps, etc., long since forgotten. I never could pass anything in this line that referred to our Brigade and Regimental operations without annexing them to my collection. The result was that I had a great mass of crude material from which to build the pictorial part of the history. My fingers are not so nimble as in '61 to '65, but with the help of modern pho- tography, and the half tone art of reproducing. I am able to give you the result of my best efforts and a clearer understanding of many of our most important operations and struggles. I do not claim these are all original or infallible, but I do believe they more nearly represent the scenes as they appeared to you than the material from any other source at this late day could supply. If you enjoy their perusal as much as I have en- joyed their collection and preparation, them my recompense will be com- plete and I dedicate them to you.
DAVID AULD, Drummer, 43rd Ohio.
INTRODUCTION.
D ISPUTES between the states of the American Union originated with the formation of the federal government itself. The question of States Riglits was perhaps the most vital. Washington foresaw the danger and in his solicitude for the welfare of his people, and in contem- plating the causes which might disturb the union, gave voice to them in his farewell address in 1796. He said in part :
"It is necessary to have unity of government, which constitutes you one people, for it is the main pillar in the edifice of vour real independence. the support of your tranquility, at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highily prize. But it is easy to foresee that from different quarters and from different causes, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth, though often covertly and insidiously directed. It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union in your collective and individual happiness, accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity, watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest. Every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. You have in a common cause, fought and triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint council and joint efforts, of common dangers, suffering and successes. In union all the parts combined cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger. a less frequent interruption to their peace by foreign nations, and what is of more inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemp- tion from those broils and wars between themselves."
Up to 1832 there had been frequent murmurings of discontent among political leaders. President Jackson in his proclamation to the people of South Carolina, which state had undertaken to annul the revenue law and secede from the union, said in part :
"The power to annul the law of the United States assumed by one state is incompatible with the existence of the union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded and destructive of the great object for which it was formed. Our constitution does not contain the absurdity of giving the power to make laws, and another power to resist them. The
22 OK
FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
crisis that the conduct of South Carolina presents, would recur whenever any law of the United States displeased any of the states, and we should soon cease to exist as a nation. The constitution of the United States forms a government, not a league. Our government has the right by law of self defence, to punish offenders, to make war, levy taxes, exercise legislative and judicial powers, make treaties and all alliances, in the name of all. Troops are raised for the joint defence. In the preamble of the constitution made in the name and by the authority of the people of the United States, among the most important objects was one to form a more perfect union. That decisive step was taken jointly. We declare ourselves a nation jointly, not by several action. The several states agreed that they would collectively from one nation, declaring that every state shall abide by the determination of Congress. To give the right of resisting laws, coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws are right. is to give the power of resisting all laws, for by that theory, there is no appeal, the reasons alleged by the state, good or bad must preval! Public aninion is a sufficient guard against the passage of an unconstitutional act passed by Congress, one to the people and the states, the other to the judiciary. Our social pact in express terms declares that the laws of the United States, its Constitution and the treaties made under it, are the supreme law of the land and for greater caution adds that the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, everything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary, notwithstanding. No federative government could exist with- out a similar provision."
Agitation of the question of States Rights increased up to the election of Lincoln, who in his inaugural address, March 4th, 1861, gave expression to these memorable and patriotic words :
"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine. is the momentous issue of Civil War. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to protect and defend it. We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break the bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the Union. when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'
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