Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 1

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II > Part 1

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01146 6734

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SOUL LIBERTY

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ROGER WILLIAMS

STATUE OF ROGER WILLIAMS, IN HALL OF STATUARY, CAPITOL, WASHINGTON

RHODE ISLAND Three Centuries of Democracy

CHARLES CARROLL, A. B., LL. B., A. M., Ph. D., LL. D.

State Director of Vocational Education; Professor of Law and Government and Rhode Island Education, Rhode Island College of Education; Managing Editor of Quarterly Journal of Rhode Island Institute of Instruction. Author of School Law of Rhode Island, Public Education in Rhode Island, Rhode Island State Song, Etc.

VOLUME II

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK 1932

1225166

CHAPTER XXII. RHODE ISLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR.

ORT SUMTER, fired on April 12, 1861, was evacuated April 14. The next day President Lincoln called for 75,000 militia and Governor Sprague issued a procla- mation in which he summoned the General Assembly to meet in special session on April 17. The Governor's proclamation recited that "the President of the United States hath issued his proclamation, calling forth the militia of the several states of the union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress a combination of men in the several states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, now, and for some time past, opposing and obstructing the execution of the laws of the United States in said states, and in numbers too great to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the power invested in the marshals by law." Rhode Island's quota was one regiment. The Assembly promptly authorized the Governor "to raise, by detailing from the chartered companies of this state, or by voluntary enlistment, or by draft, so many regiments, battalions, or companies of troops for service within or without this state, and to arm and equip the same, as in his opinion the public service may require, or as have been or shall be called for by requisition of the President of the United States." The troops were to be "armed, clothed, equipped, provisioned, and furnished .... at the expense of the state until mustered into the service of the United States." The Governor was also authorized to enlist a regimental band, and in addition to the regiment of infantry, to raise a battery of artillery. The charters of the Providence City Guards, Providence Horse Guards, Wickford Pioneers and Narragansett Guards were revived. The General Treasurer was empowered to hire not exceeding $500,000 for military purposes ; the Assembly thanked the firm of A. & W. Sprague for its "very liberal offer of a loan of $100,000 in the present emergency," and the banks of Rhode Island for "prompt and liberal offers of loans to the state for furnishing and equipping the volunteers who may respond to the proclamation of the President of the United States." Flags and flagstaffs were ordered for public buildings. The Assembly completed the agenda for the special session speedily and adjourned.

RHODE ISLAND TROOPS AWAY-Governor Sprague had anticipated action by the General Assembly, and its proceedings principally were confirmatory. He had not hesitated to pledge the credit of A. & W. Sprague or to pay cash from the firm's coffers or bank accounts to accomplish his purpose of complying immediately with the President's request for troops. The latter were ready for mustering in as soon as the Assembly had acted. The Providence Marine Corps of Artillery, the Governor's own command preceding his election, furnished First Light Battery, Rhode Island Volunteers, Captain Charles H. Tompkins, which left Providence for the front on April 18, completely equipped for field service. The battery camped at Easton, Pennsylvania, remaining there for drill, and reached Washington via the Potomac River on May 2. The battery was mustered into the service of the United States for three months on May 7. For the regiment of infantry, 2500 men offered themselves as volunteers ; six companies from Providence, and one each from Newport, Pawtucket, West- erly and Woonsocket, were accepted to form First Regiment, Rhode Island Detached Militia. The origin of the companies was as follows: Providence First Light Infantry and Providence Mechanics Rifles each furnished two companies; Newport Artillery, Providence Artillery, Providence National Cadets, Pawtucket Light Guard, Woonsocket Guards, and Westerly Rifles, one company each.

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Ambrose E. Burnside, West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican War, who had resigned from the United States army to manufacture in Rhode Island the Burnside rifle, a breechloader, his own invention, was in New York. His reply to Governor Sprague's tele- gram, asking when he could come to Rhode Island to take command, was "At once." The work of enlisting, organizing, arming and equipping soldiers went forward so rapidly under the urgent drive maintained by Governor Sprague that Colonel Burnside and half the regi- ment, 544 officers and men, left Providence on the steamer "Empire State" for New York city on April 20, fifth day after the President's proclamation and third after the meeting of the General Assembly. The next day the detachment left New York on steamer "Coatzacoal- cus" for Annapolis. From Annapolis the detachment marched to Annapolis Junction, and reached Washington by train April 26. The second detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Pitman commanding, left Providence April 24, sailed from New York on steamer "Bienville" for Washington via the Potomac River and disembarked April 28. The regiment was mustered into the service of the United States for three months on May 2, on the grounds of the Capitol in the presence of President Lincoln. The regiment encamped at Camp Sprague, in a north- east suburb of Washington. There the First Light Battery also was stationed.

THE LAST PEACE OFFER REJECTED-The General Assembly met again on May 28. The legislation authorizing the Governor to raise and equip troops was amended to conform to new federal regulations. The proposed thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, a peace offering by Congress to the southern states as a guaranty that slavery would not be interfered with, was ratified by Rhode Island in the following language: "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state." The amendment failed of ratification by the required three-fourths of the states, and was forgotten altogether in the distraction of war. The Assembly appointed a "committee on retrenchment and reform," with instructions "that they inquire into the expenses of this state, and whether the same can be consistently retrenched." In view of unsettled conditions in the border states, the United States Naval Academy had been removed from Annapolis to Newport ; the General Assembly visited the academy, "witnessed with great satisfaction the proficiency in drill and in all mat- ters in which the young gentlemen connected with the institution have received instruction," and expressed in resolutions "the gratification which they have derived from their visit to the frigate 'Constitution.'" The latter had been removed from Annapolis with the academy. The Assembly offered to cede jurisdiction to the United States of any territory, not exceeding 150 acres, that might be acquired for the academy, and urged "our Senators and Representa- tives in Congress . . . to use their influence in procuring the permanent location of said academy at Newport."

Charles F. Brown of Warren, who had invented a breech-loading cannon, offered to build for Rhode Island the first "piece capable of forcing a six or eight- pound ball," provided the Assembly would make an appropriation to cover the cost. A com- mittee to which the Brown proposition was referred reported "that to grant the direct aid of the state in the manner requested would hardly conform to the spirit of our legislation, and might lead to the establishment of an improper precedent," although the committee desired "to state that they have examined the cannon (model) and witnessed its practical operation, and are convinced that it possesses extraordinary merit. It combines advantages not pos- sessed by other arms of its class, and must, in the opinion of your committee, take its rank as one of the most effective instruments of modern warfare." The Assembly adjourned May 31 to meet January 13, 1862, but was called to meet in special session on August 8, 1861, to revise the military law following the battle of Bull Run.

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SECOND RHODE ISLAND REGIMENT -- Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee joined the Confederacy after President Lincoln's first call for troops in April, 1861. Ken- tucky, Maryland and Missouri were saved by prompt action. President Lincoln called for additional volunteers, to serve for three years or during the war. The Second Rhode Island Detached Militia, afterward known as the Second Rhode Island Volunteers, Colonel John S. Slocum, included a battery of light artillery from the Marine Corps of Artillery, Captain Rey- nolds, and ten companies of infantry, enlisted: A, from Phenix, Natick and Apponaug; B, from Scituate, Johnston, and Cranston; C, from the Providence Artillery and Mechanics Rifles; D, from the National Cadets; F, from Pawtucket, Valley Falls and Central Falls ; G, from Bristol and Warren; H, from East Greenwich and vicinity; I, from Smithfield, Woonsocket and Greenville; K, from Newport and Middletown. The battery, on the steamer "Kill von Kull," and the infantry, on the steamer "State of Maine," sailed from Providence for New York on June 19, 1861. The troops reached Baltimore by rail on June 21, and Washington early June 22. With the regiment went Governor Sprague, Secretary of State Bartlett, and Bishop Clark. The regimental camp, pitched near Camp Sprague, was named in honor of the Bishop. The Rhode Island troops, except the First Light Battery, Captain Tompkins, which had been detached and sent to the support of General Patterson in the Valley of the Shenandoah, were at the battle of Bull Run or Manassas. They had been assigned to the Army of the Potomac, General McDowell; Second Division, Colonel Hunter ; Second Brigade, Colonel Burnside. The Second Brigade included the First and Second Rhode Island, the Second New Hampshire and Seventy-first New York Regiments.

The army marched into Virginia in three columns on July 16, Hunter's division in the centre. Governor Sprague, Colonel John A. Gardner and others joined Colonel Burnside's staff as aides. The objective of the movement into Virginia was occupation or isolation of Richmond, the Confederate capital; perhaps, as some at the North fondly hoped, the crushing of the Confederacy by a single blow. Contact with General Beauregard's defending Confed- erate army was established on July 18, when there was severe outpost fighting at Blackburn's Ford.

SECOND RHODE ISLAND OPENS BULL RUN BATTLE-The decisive battle was fought on Sunday, July 21. For the Sunday battle McDowell planned a wide circling movement, to be made under cover of night. Hunter's division was ordered to march so far to the right as to clear the Confederate left flank, and in the morning to attack the Confederates in flank and rear simultaneously with a vigorous frontal drive upon the Confederate left and demonstra- tions in force along the entire line. The flank movement was started hours after the time assigned ; it was delayed by obstacles that had not been foreseen, and the distance to be traveled had been underestimated. Consequently an attack that should have opened early in the morning was launched after mid-forenoon. Meanwhile Beauregard had been reinforced by General J. E. Johnston from the Valley of the Shenandoah, had learned of the flank move- ment, and had made disposition of his forces to meet it.

When Burnside's brigade, the Second Rhode Island in front, leading Hunter's division, emerged from a forest road on the Confederate left, it was met by musket fire from Con- federate regiments. Colonel Slocum at once deployed his column in line of battle, returned the Confederate fire, and advanced to the crest of a small hill, driving back the Confederates who strove for the same position. Captain Reynolds put his battery into action, sending the Confederates to cover. Of this phase of the battle Colonel Hunter, who was wounded later and relinquished command of the division to Burnside, said: "Burnside, I leave the matter in your hands. Slocum and his regiment went in handsomely. and drove the scoundrels." Slocum and the Second Rhode Island, including the Reynolds battery, had opened the battle of Bull Run; by vigorous and effective fighting they held the Confederates in check, thus giving Burnside opportunity to march the remainder of the brigade out of the woods and to

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form them in line of battle. The New York and New Hampshire regiments fell in at Slo- cum's right. Griffin's United States battery joined Reynolds. The First Rhode Island was held in reserve under cover of the forest, though exposed to shell fire from Confederate bat- teries. Colonel Porter brought up his brigade and the fighting became general.

The Second Rhode Island, including Reynolds and his battery, were so conspicuous for gallantry as to attract the attention and merit the admiration of the Confederate commander. Years after, in a carefully written review of the Bull Run campaign, he recalled the bravery of the Second Rhode Island regiment and the splendid Reynolds battery .* The "Richmond Dispatch" reported the attack on the Confederate left flank thus: "They pressed our left flank for several hours with terrible effect, but our men flinched not till their numbers had been so diminished by well-aimed and steady volleys that they were compelled to give way for new regiments. The Seventh and Eighth Georgia Regiments are said to have suffered heavily." The Georgia regiments mentioned fought directly opposite the Second Rhode Island. The First Rhode Island Regiment came to the assistance of the Second. During a lull in the fighting, when it appeared that the Confederates had been beaten, Burnside's brigade was relieved and marched to the rear. The troops were practically worn out by the fatigue of the long march the night before the battle, by hunger, by the intense heat of the midday July sun in Virginia, and by the exertion of the battle. At the rear they were supplied with food and fresh ammunition, and rested, thus preparing themselves for further service. The Second Regiment had suffered serious losses. Colonel Slocum and Major Sullivan Ballou had been mortally wounded. Captain Levi Tower and Lieutenant Henry D. Prescott, the latter of the First Rhode Island, had been killed in action. Captain S. James Smith was killed at Cub Run during the retreat after the battle. Twenty-four privates had been killed, and fifty-eight offi- cers and men had been wounded. Governor Sprague, a conspicuous figure on the battlefield, as he carried dispatches or rallied his Rhode Island soldiers after the wounding of Colonel Slocum, had a horse shot under him.

RHODE ISLAND COVERS RETREAT-Except the glorious part played by the Rhode Island soldiers, the story of the battle of Bull Run has been familiar. When it appeared that victory rested with the Union army, Confederate reinforcements arrived and turned the tide of bat- tle. McDowell ordered a retreat, because his last reserve had been exhausted. The retreat, like those of the Confederates at Fair Oaks Station and Malvern Hill, reflected the inexperi- ence of fresh troops. Civilians who had accompanied the Union army to witness a victory, fled precipitately toward Washington. Camp followers, sutlers, wagon drivers of supply trains and other non-combatants joined in the scramble and blocked the roads. Some sol- diers, also, forgetting discipline and tossing away arms and equipment, ran ingloriously, but not the Rhode Island regiments. They were with Burnside's brigade, which Burnside led as a rearguard, covering the retreat and disputing ground with the small forces of Confederates who followed. The confusion among the Confederates, because of reverses earlier in the day, was little less than that in the Union army, and no concerted forward movement was undertaken. Under cover of Burnside's brigade the Union army reached Centreville, from which a further movement back to Washington was ordered by McDowell. Of the six guns commanded by Reynolds, one was disabled and abandoned on the battlefield; four were car- ried off the field and abandoned later at Cub Run, on the retreat, because the bridge was so obstructed as to be impassable for cannon. The sixth, which had been disabled early in the battle, and sent to the rear, was recovered at Centreville, whence it was taken to Washington, the only union fieldpiece not lost to the Confederates. The Rhode Island General Assembly, in August, 1861, presented the cannon to Governor Sprague, with thanks "for the energetic action displayed by him both in the camp and upon the battlefield, and as a mark of esteem."

*Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume I.

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The fieldpiece was presented by the Governor in trust to the Marine Corps of Artillery. It is now mounted in the north vestibule of the State House at Providence, an interesting relic of the battle of Bull Run, and, besides that, one of the first rifled cannon actually used in warfare.

Colonel Burnside, for conspicuous service at the battle of Bull Run and on the retreat, was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers on August 6, 1861. The Rhode Island General Assembly, at the August session, 1861, adopted resolutions of thanks to "Ambrose E. Burn- side, late Colonel of the First Regiment, Rhode Island Detached Militia, for the prompt and patriotic manner in which he tendered his services to his adopted state at the call of our coun- try for soldiers to protect its capital and sustain its government under the national Constitu- tion; for his assiduous care and skillful conduct of the soldiers of this state placed under his charge; and for the skill and generalship displayed by him upon the field of battle, which, we are pleased to learn, has been recognized and rewarded by the national government." The Assembly also thanked "Colonel Wheatont of the Second Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, and the officers and men under his command for their heroic conduct upon the field of battle," and tendered "sympathies to the families of Colonel Slocum, Major Ballou, Captain Tower, Captain Smith, Lieutenant Prescott, and the other officers and privates who lost their lives in the battle near Manassas in Virginia.

CALIFORNIA SENDS COLORS-A group of native Rhode Islanders, resident in California, sent a set of colors to each of the Rhode Island regiments, described as consisting of "the national ensign and the state flag . .. . made of rich silk and . ... mounted on heavy staves; .... unsuitable, on account of their weight to be carried into action." With the colors were letters and an address to each of the regiments, signed by 175 Rhode Island Cali- fornians, reciting :

Our hearts were stirred with enthusiasm when we read here of the promptness with which our native state offered her thoroughly appointed regiments in the critical hour, for the protection of the capital. They swelled with sacred pride when we followed the story of Rhode Island's fidelity and discipline on the retreat from Manassas, and saw Rhode Island names gleam brightly through the mists which obscure that page in the annals of our righteous war. We pledge to you our sympathy and confess our admiration, and offer our gratitude in the flag and standard which will accompany this letter. They are the cordial gifts of the sons of Rhode Island resident in California. The Stars and Stripes are our own colors and emblems by the Pacific, and will be while her surf beats against the cliffs of the Golden Gate. The anchor is the emblem of our firm devotion to the cause for which you have perilled your lives, and are ready still to devote your treasures and blood. . . . Think of the breadth and majesty of the country for which you have unsheathed your swords, when you receive these colors. If you take them into battle, make a new vow under them to the Constitution, which diffuses blessings from the coasts of New England to the shores of Oregon. Pledge yourselves more deeply against the treason that would destroy it, and may the God of Justice and of Battles help and protect you in our common struggle for Order, Liberty and Law.

The report of the Adjutant General, 1861, concluded thus : "The First and Second Regiments and Second Battery performed gallant service at the battle of Bull Run. . ... It is unnecessary for me to remind your honorable body of the bravery displayed by the troops sent from this state. It is sufficient to say that the noble reputation achieved by the blood of her sons on previous occasions has been well sustained by our volunteers. Too much praise cannot be awarded to his excellency Governor Sprague for the diligence displayed in organiz- ing and forwarding the Rhode Island troops. His whole time and energy have been devoted to the work, and he has the proud satisfaction of knowing that no troops were sent into the field better equipped and disciplined than our own. Not only was it his pride to forward them expeditiously, but he was ever willing to accompany them, sharing alike their hardships and dangers."

+Succeeded Slocum.

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AFTER BULL RUN-The battle of Bull Run served the significant purpose of arousing Federal and Confederate governments to the magnitude of the struggle into which they had entered. The South had learned that Yankees could and would fight; the North had learned that Johnnies would and could fight. Both governments undertook immediately the work of reorganizing. Rhode Island acted promptly. Governor Sprague called the General Assembly to meet in special session on August 8, 1861, issuing a proclamation August 6, in which he declared that "it has become necessary in the present exigencies of the country that new exertions and sacrifices for the common good should be made by the people of this state and other loyal states, and that this state should forthwith raise new regiments of infantry and new companies of artillery in support of the general government." The Governor also stated that "the militia law of the state requires revision and amendment, inasmuch as the bounty for enlistment here by law provided is now rendered less necessary by the increased pay of volunteers, while it imposes a heavy burden upon the property and resources of this state, and tends, by the superior advantages thereby conferred upon troops enlisted here, to create dissatisfaction amongst troops enlisted in other states." The Assembly had offered a bounty of twelve dollars per month, payable in advance, in April; and in May had offered a bounty of twelve dollars per month, limited to three months, payable at the end of each month's service. The Assembly reduced the state bounty to fifteen dollars per man, and authorized towns "to appropriate and raise money for the payment of bounties as assistance to the volunteers and their families and dependents in the present war," exercising the same power "as they now have to raise money for ordinary town expenses." The General Treasurer was authorized to borrow $500,000 at not exceeding six per cent. interest, and issue state bonds therefor payable in ten years, and also to borrow not exceeding $500,000 at six per cent. from time to time on the credit of the state, "said money to be expended in enlisting, arming and equipping and mustering into the service of the United States, such of the military force of this state as has been or shall be called for by requisition of the President of the United States."

The Assembly also adopted a "resolution to sustain the general government in its effort to preserve the union," thus: "That in the present crisis of our public affairs there ought to be a full and sincere union of all political parties in support of the constitutionally elected gov- ernment of the United States; and that the General Assembly pledges to the President of the United States the best exertions of the government and people of Rhode Island, and its entire resources for the preservation of the union." In view of the number of aliens who offered themselves as volunteers, the Assembly proposed an amendment to the Constitution as follows : "Aliens who enlist or volunteer in any of the regiments of this state, and are honorably dis- charged therefrom, and who are now or may hereafter become naturalized citizens of the United States, shall be admitted to vote at all elections held in this state upon the same terms as native-born citizens of the United States." At the special session of August, 1862, a reso- lution was adopted in modified form as follows: "Alien residents of this state who have enlisted or volunteered, or who may enlist or volunteer in any of the regiments of this state, and shall be honorably discharged therefrom and who are now or may become naturalized citizens of the United States, shall be admitted to vote at all elections in this state on the same terms as native-born citizens of this state." The modified proposal was approved by the next General Assembly at the May session, 1863, but was rejected, 1346-2394, when submitted to the referendum in October, 1863.

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Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 1

Author: Carroll, Charles, author Publication date: 1932 Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716