USA > Ohio > Ohio in four wars, a military history > Part 6
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abnegation of the North. It was a surrender of every moral conviction on the question of slavery, and a humiliating acquiescence to every demand of the South. Mr. Corwin on January 21, 1861, in a speech in the interests of conciliation, urged all four of these propositions. He was willing to do anything to preserve the Union and call back the seceding states. This was his last formal speech in Congress. The spirit and tone of the northern congressmen in this session were almost appealing in their desire to prevent secession; even an amendment to the Constitution prevent- ing Congress from ever abolishing or interfering with slavery was adopted by the Senate and House, but before it could be ratified by the states all efforts at conciliation were lost by reason of the Southern States seceding. Only two states, Maryland and Ohio, gave their assent to the amendment. In all these compromise propositions, Mr. Corwin was foremost, and the willingness of Ohio to adopt the constitutional amendment referred to shows to what extent it was willing to go to preserve the Union.
While Ohio was ready to make every concilia- tory endeavor for national peace, the true senti- ment of its people was emphatic in the disap- proval of slavery and in an earnest feeling for its annihilation. Every movement, looking to the
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support of the Government, was undertaken. The Legislature which assembled on the first Monday in January, 1860, was confronted with a situation grave both in a national and in a state sense. Governor Dennison, in his inaugural ad- dress of January 9, 1860, expressed positive . views on the condition of national affairs. He severely condemned slavery for the evils that it had brought upon the country, and pledged Ohio's fidelity to the Union. His address was calm and temperate and evidently he had no expectation of the serious scenes and strife that were to fol- low. Governor Chase was elected United States Senator February 2, 1860, to succeed Senator George E. Pugh, who had been elected by the Democratic General Assembly in 1854. While there was some opposition to Mr. Chase on ac- count of his abolition sentiments, he was elected easily, he receiving 76 votes, Pugh 53, and Thomas Corwin 5. These last represented con- servatives within the Republican party.
As indicative of the desire of Ohio to give every evidence of non-sectional feeling, its General As- sembly in January tendered an invitation to the Legislatures and State officials of Kentucky and Tennessee to visit Columbus as guests of the State of Ohio. These two legislatures were as- sembled at Louisville to celebrate the opening of
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the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and a com- mittee of the Ohio Legislature, with James A. Garfield at its head, was appointed to proceed to Louisville and deliver the message on behalf of their State. The festivities which followed the acceptance of the Ohio invitation gave little indi- cation of the strained relations that were soon to obtain.
On January 26 the Governors of Kentucky and Tennessee and the General Assemblies of those states arrived in Columbus, and for three days they were given all possible honors and pleasures. In the evening the hotels and others buildings on High and other streets fronting the capitol were illuminated. The rotunda of the capitol glittered with hundreds of lights. Fireworks were dis- charged from the statehouse yard, and the night was brightened with colored fire. A levee was held at the statehouse and the officers of state and prominent citizens of the city were present to re- ceive their guests. On the next evening a meet- ing over which Governor Dennison presided was held, and for hours the delighted multitude lis- tened to the patriotic eloquence of three states. Governor McGoffin of Kentucky attracted es- pecial attention on account of his patriotic dec- larations and his repudiation of everything look- ing to a dissolution of the Union. "Sir," said
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. he, "we have no hearts or arms for fraternal strife, but, sir, we have millions of brave hearts and powerful arms ready to preserve this whole Union, and to protect and defend any American citizen of any section from insult or aggression from without." In contrast with this declaration is the subsequent action of Governor McGoffin in openly espousing the enemies of the Government in 1861, and his response to the call for troops made by the Secretary of War, April 16, 1861, in which he said: "In answer, I say emphatically that Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing our sister Southern States." If there was anything resultant from the demonstrations of these two states on this occasion but good fellowship and a good time, it was not apparent.
When the next General Assembly met on the first Monday of January, 1861, South Carolina had voted herself out of the Union by an Ordi- nance of Secession, and other states in the South were taking measures in the same direction. The Ohio Legislature, alive to the dangerous situa- tion, was inclined to do everything to avert the impending danger. It not only adopted the amendment proposed by the "Committee of Thirty-three," but expressed an almost similar spirit of conciliation. 7 On January 12, Senator
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Richard A. Harrison, a patriotic and conserva- tive member, offered a series of joint resolutions which was unanimously adopted by both houses. The substance of these resolutions was as fol- lows: 1. The people of Ohio believe that the preservation of this Government is essential to the peace, prosperity and safety of the American people. 2. The general Government cannot per- mit the secession of any State without violating the bond and compact of the Union. 3. The power of the National Government must be main- tained, and the laws of Congress enforced in the states and territories until their repeal by Con- gress, or they are adjudged to be unconstitutional by the proper tribunal. All attempts by State authorities to nullify the Constitution and laws of Congress, or resist their execution, are de- structive of the wisest government in the world. 4. The people of Ohio are opposed to meddling with the internal affairs of other states. 5. The people of Ohio will fulfill in good faith all their obligations under the Constitution of the United States, according to their spirit. 6. Certain of- fensive laws in some of the states are rendered inefficient by the Constitution and laws of the Federal Government which guarantee to the citi- zens of each State the privileges and immunities of the several states. The several State Govern-
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ments should repeal these offensive laws, and thus restore confidence between the states. 7. All Union men condemn the secession ordinances. 8. We hail with joy the firm, dignified and pa- triotic message of the President, and pledge the entire power and resources of the State for a strict maintenance of the Constitution and laws by the general Government, by whomsoever ad- ministered.
These resolutions were adopted with substan- tial unanimity. Only a few of the extreme Democrats voted against them. The sentiment in the Legislature among Republicans and Dem- ocrats was for union, and in opposition to seces- sion, and there was a general agreement of senti- ment that it was the duty of the Government to suppress any attempted revolution or rebellion. The Democrats who opposed some of these reso- lutions did so on the ground of policy or ex- pediency, and not on account of the principle declared for. It was difficult to unite the Re- publicans even on these propositions. It meant that Ohio was willing to sustain the Fugitive Slave Law and to repeal any State legislation that had been passed for the purpose of obstructing the operation of that law, and was in favor of other states doing likewise. Copies of these reso-
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lutions were sent to the President, both houses of Congress and the Governors of all the states.
Still hoping that an honorable peace might be maintained and the Union preserved, the Legis- loture responded to the call of the border states for a peace conference held at the request of the Legislature of Virginia in Washington. The
members appointed to represent Ohio were Sal- mon P. Chase, William S. Groesbeck, Franklin T. Backus, Reuben Hitchcock, Thomas Ewing, V. B. Horton, and John C. Wright, who died during the session, and who was succeeded by C. P. Wal- cott. This conference met February 4 and ad- journed February 27. It accomplished nothing.
Two days after President Lincoln was inaugu- rated, he nominated Senator Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, to be the Secretary of the Treasury, and on March 6 Mr. Chase forwarded the resignation of his seat in the Senate to Governor Dennison. On the 26th of March the General Assembly elected John Sherman, who had served in Con- gress since 1855, to be his successor. Mr. Sher- man had become conspicuous in the councils of the Republican party by his pronounced stand against the extension of slavery, and had acquired a national reputation by his service on the com- mittee to investigate the disturbances in Kansas and by his candidacy for the speakership of the
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House of Representatives. By his election to the senatorship Mr. Sherman commenced a fur- ther career that was to be marked by great dis- tinction and genuine statesmanship. It can be truly said of him that from his entrance into the House of Representatives in 1855 to the day that he laid down the portfolio of Secretary of State in President McKinley's Cabinet he was always a commanding figure in the history of his time. As Congressman, Senator and Cabinet officer John Sherman reflected great honor on himself and his State. As Secretary of the Treasury in President Hayes' Cabinet he took rank as one of the great triumvirate that history has col- lected from that office to live during our national life. There have been many great men who have been finance ministers of our country, but three have been placed in the Hall of Fame - Alexan- der Hamilton, Salmon P. Chase and John Sher- man.
The strain that had been upon the entire country was broken on Friday, the 12th day of April, 1861. It was the hope of the peace loving people of the Nation that the hostile guns that were trained upon i :t Sumter would by some providential interferen: : be intercepted by some thoughts of peace and patriotism that might arise in the hearts of the Southern people. The
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. passage of ordinances of secession one after an- other by the Southern States dissipated all these hopes. The Legislature of Ohio was considering at this very time the famous compromise resolu- tions proposed by Mr. Corwin in his celebrated report of the Committee of Thirty-three, and the constitutional amendments proposed by this com- mittee which would forever protect and save slavery to the Southern States was being favor- ably debated and voted upon by the Legislature of Ohio when the startling news came that Fort Sumter was being fired upon.
General Jacob D. Cox at this time was a mem- ber of the Ohio Senate. His subsequent career will form an important part in these pages. He describes in his "Military Reminiscences of the Civil War" how the news was received by the body of which he was a member, and he says: "Suddenly a Senator came in from the lobby in an excited way, and catching the Chairman's eye exclaimed, 'Mr. President the telegraph an- nounces that the secessionists are bombarding Fort Sumter !' There was a solemn and painful hush, but it was broken in a moment by a woman's shrill voice from the spectators' seats crying 'Glory to God!' It startled every one al- most as if the enemy was in their midst. But it was the voice of a radical friend of the slave,
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who after a lifetime of public agitation believed that only through blood could freedom be won.
"Abby Kelly Foster, who had been attending the session of the Assembly urging the passage vi Sofie measure enlarging the legal rights of married women, and sitting beyond the railing when the news came in, shouted a fierce cry of joy that oppression had submitted its cause to the decision of the sword. With most of us the gloomy thoughts that Civil War had begun in our own land overshadowed everything, and seemed too great a price to pay for any good; a scourge to be borne only in preference to yield- ing the very groundwork of our republicanism -- the right to enforce a fair interpretation of the constitution through the election of Presi- dent and Congress."
The next day the telegraph brought the news that Fort Sumter had surrendered, and on April 15 the State of Ohio was stirred to the depths over the call of the President for troops to main- tain the honor, integrity and existence of the National Union.
This generation can form no conception of the condition of the public mind at that time. There was a disposition on the part of the Legislature and the patriotic people of the State to grant all the money and enlist all the men necessary
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to preserve the Union, but there was a hopeless- ness in the situation born of unpreparedness. This can best be understood from the report of the Adjutant General for the year 1861. The mallory cation of the State and its readiness to take part in the defense of the Union is thus described by General C. P. Buckingham in his report for that year:
No one dreamed that a war could arise, demanding the utmost energies of the country without a sufficient note of warning to afford opportunity for at least some prep- aration. Resting in this fancied security, the people of Ohio lost all interest in military matters, so that they not only neglected to cultivate among themselves any- thing like military taste and education, but had come to consider every effort in that direction as a fit subject for ridicule: Hence, on the breaking out of the present war, the State was found to be comparatively without arms, organization or discipline to prepare her for the part it became her to take in the fearful struggle. Of the many thousand muskets received by the State from the Federal Government with which to arm and drill the militia. nearly all had been lost or sold for a trifle. The cannon had been used for firing salutes, and left exposed to the weather until rust and decay had rendered them and their equipments worthless.
A few volunteer companies had been formed fron time to time, and after a spasmodic existence for two or three years most of them had been disbanded or had dwindled to nothing.
WILLIAM DENNISON (From a painting by John Henry Witt in the Capitol in Columbus. )
Born in Cincinnati, November 23, 1815; was graduated from Miami University, 1835, admitted to the bar, 1840, and removed to Columbus; elected to the State Senate. 1845; Governor, 1860-62; appointed Postmaster-General by Lincoln, October, 1864, and served till July, 1866; died in Columbus, June 15, 1882.
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Almost the entire organization of the militia was merely nominal. Very many of the high officers were vacant, and the system, if it could be called so, had no working power. The only bright spots in this melani- choly picture were less than a dozen independent com- panies of volunteer infantry and seven or eight gun squads of artillery, called by law companies. Six of these, called a regiment but really comprising a single battalion, under the command of Col. James Barnett, took the field at once as then organized, and during the three months' service proved most efficient in the early part of the campaign in Western Virginia."
But the State promptly proposed to remedy all these defects, and through its Legislature took measures that placed Ohio in the very front ranks as a defender of the Union. It is worthy of observation and record that on this occasion party lines melted away under the heated patriot- ism, and Democrats vied with Republicans in rallying to the support of the Union and in re- sponding to the call of President Lincoln. On April 16, in less than twenty-four hours after the President's call for troops, the State Senate passed a bill for the appropriation of one million dollars to furnish arms to the troops raised in Ohio and for other military purposes. In de- tail the bill provided that $500,000 be appro- priated for the purpose of carrying into effect any requisition of the President to protect the
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National Government; $450,000 for the pur- chase of arms and equipment for the militia of the State and $50,000 as an extraordinary con- tingent fund to be used as the Governor might sce fit. The commissioners of the sinking fund were authorized to borrow this money at six per cent. interest. This bill was passed unanimously. Later on $1,500,000 additional was appropriated for use in case of invasion of the State. The General Assembly also provided by taxation for a fund to be applied to the relief of families of volunteers, which relief was to be continued one year after death of such volunteers as died in the service.
. James A. Garfield was at this time the leader of the Senate. He was at the head of what was known as the "Radical Triumvirate" composed of himself, Jacob D. Cox and James Monroe; one afterward distinguished himself as General, Governor of Ohio and Secretary of the Interior, and the other served in Congress from the Oberlin district and was also sent abroad on a diplomatic mission by President Lincoln. Mr. Garfield's contribution to the war legislation of this General Assembly was a bill defining and providing punishment for the crime of treason against the State of Ohio. It declared any resi- dent of the State who gave aid and comfort to
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the enemies of the United States guilty of trea- son against the State, to be punished by im- prisonment in the penitentiary at hard labor for life. Mr. Garfield sustained this bill, which afterward passed and became a law, April 26, by a very elaborate report, submitted to the Senate April 15, 1861. It is his first written expression relating to the Civil War. It is a scholarly and judicial document on the law of treason. "It should at any time startle us," says he in this report, "that all the acts of disloyalty and treach- ery enumerated in this bill may be committed against the State of Ohio, and yet subject the offender to no other charge than trespass or mal- feasance in office. Shall Ohio visit the extreme penalty of the law upon the murderer of a citi- zen and yet be powerless against him who shall plot the ruin of the State?" Again he says, "It is high time for Ohio to enact a law to meet treachery when it shall take the form of an overt act -- to provide that when her soldiers go forth to maintain the Union there shall be no treacher- ous fire in the rear. It is time for Ohio to de- clare to all her citizens and to all her sister states that the prosperity of the Union is her prosperity its friends her friends - its enemies her ene- mies -- its honor her honor -- its destiny her
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destiny, -- and whosoever strikes a blow at its life strikes also at hers."
To this and similar legislation there was but little opposition. It received the patriotic sup- port of the General Assembly without regard to party lines. A vigorous antagonism, however, was inaugurated against all legislation of this nature by Clement L. Vallandigham, the Demo- cratic Congressman from the Dayton district; he visited Columbus at this time for the purpose of dissuading his party associates from giving sanction to these and other war measures. He met with but little success in that direction. Mr. Vallandigham was one of the most brilliant and picturesque characters of the Civil War period in Ohio politics. As one of the most powerful factors against the prosecution of the war and as the leader of the peace party, as the radical element in the Democratic party called them- selves, he is worthy of extended attention and study. He was born at New Lisbon, Ohio, July 29, 1820, and was admitted to the bar in 1842. In 1845-6 he was a member of the Ohio legisla- ture and attracted attention by his marked ability and power of oratory.
In 1857 he was a candidate for Congress against Lewis D. Campbell, and was declared de- feated but was seated on a contest. He served
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from May 25, 1858, until March 3, 1863. While he repeatedly asseverated that he was neither a Northern man nor a Southern man, his actions and deeds were altogether friendly to the South. In the distressful period prior to the war, when there were threats frequently made by heated Southerners as to the dissolution of the Union, and ill-tempered recriminations by excited Northerners concerning a war that would follow any attempt at secession, Mr. Vallandigham did not hesitate in his positive way to indicate what his attitude would be in that direful time. As early as November 2, 1860, he expressed himself at a meeting in Cooper Institute, New York City, declaring in a public speech that "If any one or more of the states of this Union should at any time secede, for the reasons of the suffi- ciency and justice of which, before God and the great tribunal of history, they alone may judge, much as I should deplore it, I never would, as a Representative in the Congress of the United States, vote one dollar of money whereby one drop of American blood should be shed in a Civil War."
Mr. Vallandigham was obsessed with the idea that peace was to be desired and maintained at any cost whatever, even through a dissolution of the Union; and like many others, notably
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Horace Greeley, he was willing that there should be secession instead of war. At least that was his view in 1860 and 1861. He modified it later. In a speech delivered in Congress February 20, 1801, which attracted great attention throughout the country and shocked the Union sentiment of the North, Mr. Vallandigham supported a pro- posed constitutional amendment, framed by him, which provided for dividing the Union into four sections, viz .: the North, the West, the Pacific and the South. In this constitutional amend- ment proposed by him he recognized the right of secession, as one of the articles provided that "No State shall secede without the consent of the Legislature of the states of the section to which the State proposing to secede belongs. The
President shall have power to adjust with seced- ing states all questions arising by reason of their secession; but the terms of adjustment shall be submitted to the Congress for their approval be- fore the same shall be valid."
The author of this novel proposition claimed in his speech that his purpose was to save the Union, but he had no support from the rank and file of the Democratic party because it was ap- parent that the plan was destructive of national unity and contained the seeds of death for the American Republic. It was no secret at the time
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that Senator Garfield's bill to punish treason was aimed at Mr. Vallandigham, although there was no evidence of any overt act on his part against the Union.
The prompt response of the authorities of Ohio to Mr. Lincoln's call for troops and the united support of the Union men of both the Re- publican and Democratic parties showed that Mr. Vallandigham's influence to check the ris- ing sentiment of the State was not powerful. He communicated privately with the leaders of the Democratic party in a circular calling for a con- ference to consider the pending situation. How these circulars were received is told in "A Life of Clement L. Vallandigham" by his brother, Rev. James L. Vallandigham: "Mr. Vallan- digham immediately issued a private circular addressed to some twenty or more prominent Democratic politicians of the State, proposing a conference at Chillicothe on the 15th of the month, to concert measures to arouse the people to a sense of the danger which was so imminent from the bold conspiracy to usurp all power in the hands of the Executive, and thus 'to rescue the Republic from an impending military des- potism.' But four answers were received; three favorable and one adverse to the conference. It was not held." Thus Mr. Vallandigham failed
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in the preliminary stages of Ohio's preparation for the war to affect his party in the slightest de- gree, and it joined with its political opponents in standing for the Union. Leaving Mr. Vallan- digham for the present, we shall meet him later in a more critical period and under circumstances much different from these narrated. We shall find him at the head of a positive public senti- ment arrayed against the war for the Union and exercising powerful, malevolent influences to that end.
When President Lincoln on April 15, made his call to the states for troops, Ohio proceeded to immediately answer the demand. How well she succeeded in supporting the Government during 1861 is shown in the report of the Adjutant Gen- eral for that year. On December 31, 1861, the State of Ohio had furnished the following troops under various calls of the President: Infantry in the field, forty-six regiments; full in camp, eleven regiments; nearly full, eleven regiments; organizing, thirteen regiments; cavalry in the field, four regiments, one squadron, four inde- pendent companies ; full in camp, four regiments, one independent company; artillery in the field, twelve batteries; full in camp, eight batteries; organizing, nine batteries. In these organiza- tions the men enlisted from Ohio were placed,
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