Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 56

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048

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The total number of Squirrel Hunters that en- listed from the State was 15,766 so far as is known. Of these 504 were from Hamilton County. Their service was recognized by a tele- gram to Secretary Stanton to the effect that the Minute Men or Squirrel Hunters had re- sponded gloriously to the call for the defense of Cincinnati and to this uprising should be attributed the retreat The Legislature passed an act in the following year authorizing the Governor to prepare proper discharges for the patriotic men of the State who had responded to the calls to the southern border to repel in- vaders and who would be known in history as

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the Squirrel Hunters and shortly afterwards the well known "Squirrel Hunters' Discharge" was issued by the State under the approval of Gov- ernor David Tod. Governor Tod's enthusiasm carried him to the point of accompanying each discharge with a letter reciting the enactment of the Legislature and pointing out that but for the gallant services of the corps "Ohio would have been invaded by a band of pirates deter- mined to overthrow the best government on earth, our wives and children would have been violated and murdered, and our homes plun- dered and sacked." Of course there was no jus- tification whatever for any such statement. The letter also called attention to the fact that the discharge might not be final and therefore that it would be well to keep the old gun in order, the powder-horn and bullet-pouch supplied and a few days' cooked rations prepared for future contingencies. The contingency arose the fol- lowing year at the time of Morgan's raid through Southern Ohio. ( For a full account of the siege of Cincinnati see Reid's Ohio in the War.)

THE BLACK BRIGADE.

An interesting feature of the defense of Cin- cinnati was the organization of the Black Bri- gade, the first organization of the colored people of the North actually employed for military pir- poses. An account of this written by Peter HI. Clark was published in 1864 and is valuable not only for the narrative of events but for the point of view, that of an educated negro living in this city throughout the war. Says Mr. Clark : "The city of Cincinnati always has been, and still is, pro-slavery. Nowhere has the prejudice against colored people been more cruelly mani- fested than here. . Further north or further south the feeling is not so intense; but here it almost denies him the right of existence. For about thirty years the city has, at intervals, been disgraced by ferocious outbursts of mob violence against the colored people and their friends, re- sulting frequently in loss of life, and always in the destruction of property. It is true that anti-slavery speakers have at times been allowed free utterance; but Cincinnati is a commercial as well as a pro-slavery city. Abolition buyers from the North and slaveholding buyers from the South jostle each other in her streets ; hence 1 the influential classes maintained free speech to conciliate abolition customers, while the rabble were permitted to mob colored people to placate slaveholders. Even this balance was broken when the traitor Yancey spoke for disunion in

a thronged house, and without interruption, while Wendell Phillips, speaking for the Union, was driven from the same platform by mob violence, and halls were closed, lest a lecture by Henry Ward Beecher should provoke a riot. Such was the state of the public mind when the siege of Cincinnati begun.'

At the outset of the war a meeting of colored citizens had been called to organize a company of Home Guards, not for the purpose of invasion but for the defense of the city. There seems to be but little question that this offer to take part in the great struggle was resented by a large number of the citizens and particularly by the authorities. Mr. Clark states and it is doubtless true that the police interfered with the meetings and that colored men were told that the war was a white man's war and that negroes were not wanted. General Wallace's proclamation upon placing the city under martial law on September 1, 1862, called upon "citizens for the labor ; sol- diers for battle" and Mayor Hatch's proclama- tion published the following morning stated that "every man, of every age, be he citizen or alien, who lives inder the protection of our laws is ex- pected to take part in the organization." The colored people naturally felt that they were in- cluded in so general a call. Before an oppor- tunity of volunteering had occurred, the authori- ties began impressing colored men for work upon the fortifications. The guard appointed for this duty was largely made up of special police and as is usually the case under such conditions were not men of special discretion or intelligence. They were not gentle in their methods and but little consideration was shown to men of color. They searched the houses of the colored people and it is claimed by Mr. Clark "old and young, sick and well, were dragged out, and, amidst shouts and jeers, marched like felons to the pen on Plum street, opposite the Cathedral." Here they were not treated with much consideration. It was not the habit of those days to treat col- ored people, free or slave, with consideration and it could hardly be expected that in the excite- ment of such a time the established methods of a century or more would be altered. However one paper, the Gazette, felt moved to demand that "our colored fellow-soldiers be treated civ- illy, and not exposed to any unnecessary tyranny. nor to the insults of poor whites. We say poor whites for none but poor-spirited whites insult a race which they profess to regard as inferior. It would have been decent to have invited the colored inhabitants to turn out in defense of the

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city. Then there would have been an opportunity to compare their patriotism with that of those who were recently trying to drive them from the city. Since the services of men are required from our colored brethren, let them be treated like men." An end to the ill treatment came upon September 4th, when Judge W. M. Dickson was assigned to the command of the negro forces of Cincinnati working on the fortifications near Newport and Covington. Judge Dickson immedi- ately substituted kindness for the harshness that had hitherto prevailed. The colored men were permitted to return to their homes to allay the fears of their families and to prepare themselves the better for camp life. The police were re- lieved of provost-guard duty and volunteers were asked for the Black Brigade. Owing to the con- fidence felt in Judge Dickson and the acting camp commandant, James Lupton, a large number came forward cheerfully to give their aid to the common cause. Drawn up in the line of march, they were presented by Captain Lupton with a national flag upon whose broad folds were in- scribed the words "The Black Brigade of Cin- cinnati." In Captain Lupton's address, calling upon the colored people to assert their manhood, occurred the prophetic words "slavery will soon - die; the slaveholders' rebellion, accursed of God and man, will shortly and miserably perish. There will then be, through all the coming ages, in very truth, a land of the free-one country, one flag, one destiny."

The Black Brigade labored apon the fortifica- tions in the rear of Covington and Newport for three weeks. The rank and file and all the com- pany officers except three were colored men. There was no complete military formation, the organization having reference to the service to which they were assigned. When Judge Dick- son took command of these forces working in the rifle-pits and trenches about Fort Mitchel on the Lexington road in the rear of Covington, he found that many had been marched off by the white soldiers to be employed as cooks and for other purposes. The colored people naturally resented this, especially as they feared that thev might be carried off to the regiments of the South where they might receive severe treatment. The commander stopped all this and marched them all back to the city to the intersection of Sixth and Broadway where he established headquarters and formed an organization. As already stated, they were permitted to go to their homes for the night preparatory to returning to labor at five o'clock in the morning. For some unexplained

reason the police seemed determined to treat these men with brutality and Judge Dickson 'in his report to the Governor complains that on two different occasions it became necessary to secure a peremptory order from the military authori- ties directed to Mayor Hatch, prohibiting the ar- rest of colored men except for crime.

About 700 men reported for duty to Judge Dickson of whom 500 were taken across the river to Newport and thence to the cemetery on the Alexandria road in the rear of Newport. Their special work lay between the Alexandria road and Licking River along the Cemetery ridge and Three Mile creek and embraced the making of military roads, the digging of rifle-pits and trenches, the felling of forests and the building of forts and magazines. In a few days the mien settled down to camp life, which they seemed to enjoy. According to Judge Dickson's report, "there was no occasion for compulsion, and for discipline, but a single instance. They labored cheerfully and joyfully. # Some dis- played a high order of intelligence, and a ready insight into the work they were doing, often making valnable suggestions. Upon one occa- sion, one of them suggested a change in the en- gineering of a military road ascending a steep hill. The value of the change was obvious when named, and admitted by the engineer, yet he ordered the road to be made as originally planned, and deprecated further suggestion.

"They committed no trespass on private prop- erty. In one instance, upon changing the camp, a German asked me if they could not remain longer, as they protected his grapes. They were not intimidated by any danger, though compelled to labor without arms for their protection."

While the soldiers stood in line of battle, the colored men worked nearly a mile in front with nothing to protect them from the enemy but the cavalry scouts. At one time they were so far in front of the lines that the commander of the forces at the nearest point took them for the enemy and ordered a battery to fire upon them. Fortunately the battery commander fired blank cartridges and then sent a flag of trucc. This was received by the Black Brigade with becoming formality and the fears of the redoubtable com- mander were allayed. During the first week they labored as did the whole fatigue force without compensation ; during the second weck they re- ceived as well as the white laborers one dollar a day and the third week a dollar and a half. Their labor ceased on the 20th of September and they returned to their homes, having won the esteem

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of their commanders and associates by their courage and conscientions adherence to duty. As they were ordered into line to return to their homes, Marshall P. H. Jones stepped forward in behalf of the brigade and expressed their thanks to Colonel Dickson for his interest in their wel- fare and his kindness throughout the trying time through which they had passed. He coupled with the name of Colonel Dickson those of "Timothy C. Day, William Woods, J. Stacy Hill, Jacob Resor, John W. Hartwell, J. M. Can- field, W. Dickson, William H. Chatfield and last though not least Captain James Lupton."

In conclusion the brigade presented to Colonel Dickson a sword and offered their services should circumstances at any future time call for them. Colonel Dickson accepted the sword with appro- priate words and the brigade with music play- ing and banners flying with their commander at their head marched through the streets of Cov- ington to the pontoon bridge and crossed to Cin- cinnati. At Fifth and Broadway they were dis- missed by Colonel Dickson, who there delivered his farewell address in which he stated that they had labored faithfully and had "made miles of military roads, miles of rifle-pits, felled hundreds of acres of the largest and loftiest forest trees, built magazines and forts. The hills across yon- der river will be a perpetual monument of your labors. You have, in no spirit of bravado, in no defiance of established prejudice, but in submis- sion to it, intimated to me your willingness to defend with your lives the fortifications your hands have built. Organized companies of men of your race have tendered their services to aid in the defense of the city. In obedience to the policy of the Government, the authorities have denied you this privilege. In the department of labor permitted. you have, however, rendered a willing and cheerful service. Nor has your zeal been dampened by the cruel treatment received. The citizens, of both sexes, have encouraged you with their smiles and words of approbation ; the soldiers have welcomed you as colaborers in the same great cause. But a portion of the police, ruffians in character, early learning that your ser- vices were accepted, and seeking to deprive you of the honor of vohmtary labor, before oppor- tunity was given you to proceed to the field, rudely seized you in the streets, in your places of business, in your homes, everywhere, hurried you into filthy pens, thence across the river to the fortifications, not permitting you to make any preparation for camp life. You have borne this with the accustomed patience of your race, and

when, under more favorable auspices, you have received only the protection due to a common humanity, you have labored cheerfully and ef- rectively.

"Go to your homes with the consciousness of having performed your duty-of deserving, if you do not receive, the protection of the law, and bearing with you the gratitude and respect of all honorable men. You have learned to suffer and to wait; but in your hours of adversity, re- member that the same God who has numbered the hairs of our heads, who watches over even the fate of a sparrow, is the God of your race as well as mine. The sweat-blood which the na- tion is now shedding at every pore is an awful warning of how fearful a thing it is to oppress the humblest being. Until our country shall again need your services, 1 bid you farewell." With these words and other words of praise ringing in their ears the members of the Black Brigade scattered to their homes, having earned for themselves an honorable place in the history of the city. The officers of the brigade were William M. Dickson, commandant ; Timothy C. Day, assistant adjutant-general; J. Stacy Hill, quartermaster ; William Woods, commissary ; James Lupton, volunteer aide and acting camp commandant ; and Jacob Resor, Jr., James M. Canfield, John W. Hartwell, William J. Dickson, William Il. Chatfield, Alexander Neave and David A. James, volunteer aides.

The brigade was divided into three regiments of 17 companies varying in number from 29 to 63 members. The total enrollment was 706. The captains were William W. Powell, James Van- sant, Isaac N. Delaney, H. B. Alger, William Scott, J. H. Dickson, Charles Hall, Simon Shep- herd, George Mack, W. 11. Looker, T. Perry, M. Jackson, James Mason, M. Bowdree, Charles Austin, John McAllister and Peter F. Fossett. (The Black Brigade, by Peter H. Clark.)

THE VALLANDIG11AM CASE.

A celebrated case tried in Cincinnati in the spring of 1863 was that of Clement L. Vallandig- ham. Vallandigham was one of the most re- makable men of his time. Ile was the leader of the Western Democrats, who opposed the war measures of the North. It is not necessary to suppose that these men had any real sympathy with the Sonth to the extent of wishing it any better fortune than the North. They believed however in what they called a peace policy. The war for the Union they regarded as a bloody and costly failure and they favored the secur-

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ing of peace by friendly intervention rather than. by force of arms. Vallandigham, himself in his speech to Congress in January, 1862, expressly opposed any separation of the North and South and urged the view that if peace were secured and the work of reunion begun, all would yet be well but if not, there was nothing before them but universal political and social revolution, anarchy and bloodshed compared with which the "Reign of Terror" in France was a merciful visit- ation. Naturally such views were regarded by the war party, both those who were Democrats and those who were Republicans, as treasonable in character. Vallandigham became the ex- ponent of the extremists of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and soon was known as the chief of the "Copperheads."

Burnside had been assigned after his defeat at Fredericksburg to the command of the De- partment of the Ohio with headquarters at Cin- cinnati. Ilis own quarters were on Ninth street and those of his adjutant-general on East Fourth street but the official headquarters of the dis- triet and the office of Gen. Jacob D. Cox, who was next in command, were on Broadway below Fourth in the house now occupied by the Cin- cinnati Society of Natural Ilistory. The adju- tant-general at this time was Maj. N. H. Mc- Lean, of the regular army. Here Burnside came into contact with the so-called "Copperheads" and was immediately thrown into a violent fury.

General Cox speaking of this time says: "Cin- cinnati was in a curious political and social con- dition. The advance through Kentucky of Bragg and Kirby Smith in the preceding year had made it a centre for 'Rebel sympathizers.' The fact that a Confederate army had approached the hills that bordered the river had revived the hopes and the confidence of many who, while wishing success to the Southern cause, had done so in a vague and distant way. Now it seemed nearer to them and the stimulus to personal activity was greater. There was always, in the city, a considerable and influential body of busi- ness men who were of Southern families; and besides this, the trade connections with the South, and the personal alliances by marriage, made a ground of sympathy which had noticeable ef- fects. There were two camps in the community, pretty distinctly defined, as there were in Ken- tucky. The loyal were ardently and intensely so. The disloyal were bitter and not always re- strained by common prudence. A good many Southern women, refugees from the theatre of active war, were very open in their defiance of

the government, and in their efforts to aid the Southern armies by being the bearers of intel- ligence. The 'contraband mail' was notoriously a large and active one.

"Burnside had been impressed with this con- dition of things from the day he assumed com- mand. His predecessor had struggled with it without satisfactory results. It was, doubtless, impossible to do more than diminish and re- strain the evil, which was the most annoying of the smaller troubles attending the anomalous half-military and half-civil government of the department. Within three weeks from his ar- rival in Cincinnati, Burnside was so convinced of the wide-spread and multiform activity of the dis- loval element that he tried to subdue it by the publication of his famous General Order No. 38. The reading of the order gives a fair idea of the hostile influences he found at work, for of every class named by him there were numer- ous examples. It was no doubt true that the Confederate authorities had constant corre- spondence with people in the Northern States, and that systematic means were used to pass in- formation and contraband merchandise through the lines. Quinine among drugs, and percus- sion caps among ordnance stores were the things they most coveted, and dealers in these carried on their trade under pretense of being spies for each side in turn. But besides these who were inerely mercenary, there were men and women who were honestly fanatical in their devotion to the Confederate cause. The women were especially troublesome, for they often seemed to court martyrdom. They practised of our forbearance to the last degree; for they knew our extreme unwillingness to deal harshily with any of their sex. Personally, I rated the value of spies and informers very low, and my experience had made me much more prone to contempt than to fear of them. But examples had to be made occasionally; a few men were punished, and a few women who belonged in the South were sent through the lines, and we re- (luced to its lowest practical terms an evil and nuisance which we could not wholly cure. The best remedy for these plots and disturbances at the rear always was to keep the enemy busy by a vigorous aggressive at the front. We kept. however, a species of provost court pretty active- ly at work, and one or two officers were assigned to judge-advocate's duty, who ran these courts under a careful supervision to make sure that they should not fall into indiscretions." (Cox' Reminiscences, Vol. I, pp. 453-454.)

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Burnside, however, in the opinion of many, chose a course in dealing with the opponents of the war policy which did more at the time to strengthen their cause than any other that he could have possibly devised. He did not realize that the course of events was dealing rapidly with the situation that was so exasperating to him and that in a short time public opinion and the victories of the North would completely over- whelm the Southern sympathizers in the North. Vallandigham, who whatever may have been his faults was a very brilliant and courageous man, was just the one to goad Burnside to despera- tion. He was at that time a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor and was constantly making speeches which undoubtedly touched Burnside in his tender point. That mil- itary official knew only military methods and on April 13th he issued the well known General Order No. 38, in which after announcing the penalty of death for overt acts he stated that the habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy would not be allowed. "It must be distinctly under- stood," said he, "that treason expressed or im- plied will not be tolerated in this department."

On the ist of May a Democratic mass meet- ing was held at Mount Vernon at which there was a large procession of citizens in wagons with the conventional 34 women riding in a decorated wagon to represent the 34 States of the Union. The American flag was carried on hickory poles, an implied tribute to Andrew Jackson, that he might not have relished, as putting down seces- sion by peaceful means had not been to his lik- ing. Many of the persons present wore butter- nut badges and pins made of heads cut out of old copper cents in defiant acceptance of the derisive term of "Copperhead," applied to them by their opponents.

Vallandigham was the principal speaker and he took special occasion to show his contempt for Burnside in his speech. He referred to the American flag as the flag of the constitution ren- dered sacred by Democratic Presidents. He de- clared that he stood by the constitution and was a free man and would not ask "Dave" Tod, Abra- ham Lincoln, or Ambrose E. Burnside for his right to speak and that his authority for so do- ing was higher than General Order No. 38 as it was General Order No. 1-the constitution. The only remedy for all evils he counseled was the ballot-box. Among the listeners were two of Burnside's captains in citizen's clothes who were sent there especially to take notes. The notes that they took were poor enough and give but

little impression of what Vallandigham actually said. So far as they go, they indicate that Val- landigham had at no time passed beyond his con- stitutional rights although there can be no ques- tion that he was most violent and irritating in his remarks. Their report to Burnside was suf- ficient to convince that irascible general that his general order had been outrageously violated. Without consulting an attorney or any of his officers, he ordered his aid-de-camp, Captain Hutton, with a company of the 115th Ohio to go to Dayton on a special train and arrest the cul- prit. The soldiers arrived at Vallandigham's house at half-past two in the morning of May 5th and thundering at the doors demanded ad- mittance, stating the purpose of their errand. They finally broke into the house and seized Vallandigham in his bed chamber and took him to Cincinnati, where he was incarcerated in the military prison. A. scene of wild excitement took place in Dayton and the Republican newspaper office was burned by the mob friendly to the pris- oner. Vallandigham issued an address insist- ing that he had committed no offense other than insisting upon his constitutional rights and had given no word, sign or gesture of sympathy with the disunionists of the South. He called upon his followers throughout the country to remain firm to their principles and the constitution and to the Union. On May 6th he was brought be- fore a military commission presided over by Gen. R. B. Potter for trial. Ile denied the jurisdiction of the commission and refused to plead but the trial was had nevertheless, with his counsel, George E. Pugh, George II. Pendleton and E. A. Ferguson, remaining in an ante-room. The two captains testified for the prosecution and the well known statesman, S. S. Cox, who had been one of the speakers at the Mount Vernon meeting, testified for the detense. No arguments were presented but Vallandigham entered a protest against the proceedings. An application was made to Judge Leavitt of the United States Court to take the prisoner out of the hands of the military officials on the writ of habeas corpus. The case was very ably argued by Hon. George E. Pugh, against Ilon. Aaron F. Perry and United States Attorney Flamen Ball but Judge Leavitt in a brief opinion denied the writ. On May 16th the court found Vallandigham guilty of publicly expressing, in violation of the general order referred to, sympathy for those in arms against the government of the United States and declaring disloyal sentiments and opinions with the object and purpose of weakening the power

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 56

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1048

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048