USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > History of Augusta County, Virginia > Part 28
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" STAUNTON, August 7, 1848.
DEAR SIR : At a public meeting of the citizens of the town of Staunton, and county of Augusta, held in this place on the 4th inst., it was unani- mously resolved to tender to you and the officers and men lately under your command in Mexico, a public dinner, and a committee was appoint- ed to make every arrangement for the same.
On behalf of that committee, and the community represented by them, it gives me much pleasure to convey to you, and through you to the offi- cers and men composing your command, their earnest desire that you should partake with them of a public dinner, to be given at this place on Friday next.
The people are grateful to the Mexican volunteers for the sacrifices they have made in defence of the interests and honor of the country, and are anxious to testify in a becoming manner their appreciation of such gallant and patriotic conduct.
They know that while it was not your good fortune to meet the enemy in the field, you endured all the hardships and privations of a soldier's life, and that you enlisted, not for a limited period, but with a determination to remain in the service till the war should be successfully and honorably ter- minated ; and they cannot consent that a favorable opportunity, when you are still together, should pass, without paying a tribute to such distin- guished patriotism.
Let me express the hope that you may find it convenient and agreeable to meet your friends and fellow-citizens on the occasion mentioned for showing you this evidence of respect and esteem.
With sentiments of high regard,
Your friend and ob't serv't,
JOHN L. PEYTON."
REPLY.
" STAUNTON, August 7, 1848.
SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this
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date, inviting me and the officers and men of my late command to partake of a public dinner proposed to be given by the citizens of Staunton and the county of Augusta on Friday next.
Although I have not the means of conferring generally with those, my late associates in arms, who are intended to be the objects of this public manifestation of esteem and regard, I do not doubt that it would be highly gratifying to them all to have the opportunity of meeting their friends and fellow-citizens and mingling their gratulations and sympathies around the festive board, after their long separation. The invitation therefore is most cordially accepted. With high respect,
TO JOHN L. PEYTON, ESQ.
Your friend and fellow-citizen, KENTON HARPER."
In pursuance of these arrangements, large numbers of our town and county people assembled in Staunton on August 11th, including many ladies, and, escorted by the Middlebrook Rifles, Capt. Shuey, proceeded to Ast's Grove, near Staunton. Here L. Waddell made an appropriate address of welcome to the officers and men, to which the Captain replied in befitting terms. After this a sumptuous dinner was served up, and the day closed with these festivities.
The Mexican war was concluded February, 1848, by the loss to Mexico of Texas, California, Utah, and New Mexico. Previous to this time, there had been an agitation for a change in the State Constitution. This move- ment was now renewed, and resulted in the Convention of 1850. The calling of this Convention was opposed, as had been that of 1830, by some of our wisest and best men. The party of innovation, or progress, as it was styled, proved in a majority, and the following delegates were elected from the county : Col. Geo. Baylor, and Messrs. D. Fultz and H. W. Shef- fey. A new Constitution was framed, submitted to a popular vote, and rati- fied in 1851.
ANA.
It may not be uninteresting to mention that after the signing of the treaty of peace in December, 1814, the British fleet, consisting of sixty sail, appeared off the coast of the Mississippi. A detachment of 15,000 men were landed, under command of Major-Gen. Sir Edward Packenham, and on the 8th of January, 1815, attacked the Americans, consisting of 6,000 militia, under Gen Andrew Jackson, before New Orleans. After an obstinate engagement, the British were put to flight, with the loss of their commander, and near 3,000 men killed, wounded and prisoners. The late Major-Gen. C. Rochforth Scott, R. A., C. B., Lieut .- Gov. of Guernsey in 1867-1872, author of " Excursions in Egypt and Candia, " The Life of the Duke of Wellington," &c,, who, when an ensign in the army, was en- gaged in the battle of New Orleans, informed the writer that the British officers, who had gone through the wars of Napoleon, declared they had never faced such a destructive and well-directed fire as that from Jackson's
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militia. He also said that after their retreat, the supply of provisions in the fleet was so small they must all have starved, but for the news of the treaty of Ghent, received a few days after the battle, which enabled them to go into the harbor of Mobile, Alabama. In numerous conversations . held by the author with another English friend, Col. Thos. Faunce, of H. M. 4th foot, whose father commanded that regiment in the battle of New Orleans, Col. Faunce confirmed Gen. Scott's account, and said it was almost a miracle the overweening confidence of Gen. Packenham had not led to the destruction of the entire British force.
CHAPTER XIV.
From the adoption of the new Constitution in 1851, for nearly ten years little of interest, nothing of importance, occurred in the State or county. Meanwhile, events taking place in the nation were hastening to a crisis between the two great sections of the Federal Union. While these events and disputes were going on, the sudden raid of John Brown aroused an excitement and created a tumult which startled the Southern people like " a fire-bell in the night." This raid, which contributed so much to kindle the flame of civil war, occurred on the night of the 10th of October, 1859, when Brown and a party of armed men made a sudden descent upon Harper's Ferry and seized the U. S. Arsenal. On the 18th the arsenal was recaptured, Brown was taken prisoner, tried for treason, found guilty and hanged December 2d, 1859. His fate made an extraordinary impres- sion upon the minds of the Northern people, and there was practically thenceforward only two parties in the country-one, the slavery, and the other, the anti-slavery party. On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was chosen President of the United States, and on the following 4th of March was inaugurated amid a grand display of military. The as- semblage of large forces of all arms at Washington was deemed necessary in view of events transpiring in the South.
On the 4th of February, 1861, the Confederate Government, composed of the Southern Cotton States which had seceded from the Federal Union, was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, and Jefferson Davis was on the same day elected President, and on the 12th-13th of April, Fort Sumter,
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S. C., was bombarded, when President Lincoln (15th of April) took the first material step for reducing the rebellious States to obedience by issuing a proclamation calling forth 75,000 militia, in which he " appealed to all . loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union." Thus, from a state of perfect tranquility, the country passed into one of war, and the whole land resounded with the noise of armaments, and the treasure of the people was exhausted in vast preparations for hostilities.
In all the Southern border States there was a large Union party, and on this party President Lincoln relied for support-too confidently, as the sequel will show. In the county of Augusta, a great majority of the people opposed secession, and were also opposed to coercion.
The people of Augusta had contributed their all in men and treasure to the formation of the Union, and they believed it still capable of protecting every interest of themselves and the entire country. At this crisis they wished to act in the spirit of moderation and compromise which charac- terized the framers of the Constitution, and as if the venerable forms of those who bequeathed it to us were " bending down to behold us, from the abodes above, and as if that long line of posterity were also viewing us, whose eye is hereafter to scrutinize our conduct." They felt that no local policy or feeling, no temporary impulse, should. cause them to aban- don their foothold on the Constitution and the Union, but that, so far as honor would permit, they should exert themselves to the end that these States should continue united-" united in interest and affection, united in war, for the common defence, the common renown, and the common glory, and united, compacted, knit together in peace, for the common prosperity and happiness of themselves and their posterity."
Entertaining these sentiments, and viewing the progress of affairs with painful distrust of the future, the people of the county, after due notice- the sober and solid men -- met in Staunton and appointed a committee to consider of the state of affairs, and at a future meeting to report the result of their deliberations. This committee was composed of men to whom the people were in the habit of looking in times of trouble for direction. They were all natives of the county, having a deep property stake in the community, and were of liberal education and of dispassionate minds and conservative characters. The result of their deliberations is contained in the following proceedings :
AUGUSTA COUNTY UNION MEETING.
Pursuant to adjournment, a large meeting of the friends of the Union in the County of Augusta, irrespective of parties, was held in the court-house, at Staunton, on Monday, November 26, 1860, Hon. Alex. H. H. Stuart in the chair, and John L. Peyton acting as secretary.
The committee, composed of the following gentlemen: Hon. A. H. H.
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Stuart, H. W. Sheffey, G. K. Harper, J. B. Baldwin, G. B. Stuart, John L. Peyton, John McCue, J. A. Waddell, Robert Guy, J. D. Imboden, Benj. Crawford, G. M. Cochran, jr., and George Baylor, who were appointed at the previous meeting to prepare them, presented the following preamble and resolutions :
The people of Augusta, in general meeting assembled, solemnly im- pressed with a sense of the danger which instantly threatens the existence of the Government and the Union of the States ; cherishing a hereditary loyalty to the Constitution of the United States ; citizens of a Common- wealth allied to the south in its domestic institutions, affections and sym- pathies, but bordering on the north, and, therefore, in immediate contiguity to the perils which may follow a dissolution of the Union ; far more vitally concerned in the issues of the conflict between the contending sections of the country than our more southern brethren can possibly be ; as deeply aggrieved as they by the recent election of a sectional President ; as keenly alive as they to the aggressive tendency of the step just taken by the north, and as firmly resolved as they to resist infractions of their constitu- tional rights, yet unwilling to believe the experiment of republican govern- ment a failure, deem it to be their privilege, and in view of the important interests at stake, their duty, speaking to the north as well as the south, calmly but firmly, to declare-
I. That the Constitution of the United States, under the protecting power of which the country has become so strong at home and so re- spected abroad, with checks and balances so wisely adjusted, by which abuses are controlled and grievances are redressed ; imperfect it may be in some respects, working badly it may be on some occasions, is neverthe- less the easiest yoke of government a free people ever bore, and yet the strongest protector of rights the wisdom of man ever contrived ; and so long as it continues to secure our equality and rights as citizens of a com- mon country " in the fullness of its spirit and to the highest extent of its honest interpretation," we will stand by and maintain it.
2. That the Union of these States, still esteemed by them as it was sixty-four years ago by the " Father of his Country," as the " palladium of their political safety and prosperity-as the main pillar in the edifice of their real independence-the support of their tranquility at home, their peace abroad -- and of that very liberty which they so highly prize," is, as it has ever been, the object of the unwavering attachment of the people of Augusta ; and as for them and their households they will cling to it until the stern command of honor and the conviction that their rights can no longer be preserved under it, shall compel them, in sorrow, to let it go !
3. That the right of each State to form and regulate its own domestic institutions is perfect and complete under the Constitution, and that any organizations or discussions in other States intended to impair that right, or incite forays upon our borders for the purpose of disturbing our peace or robbing us of our property, are flagrant wrongs and breaches of faith inconsistent with the tranquility of the Union.
4. That, apart from the consideration of the question whether, as Vir- ginia declared, in 1798, should be the case, to justify HER in " interposing to arrest the evil" of Federal power, there has yet been, on the part of the General Government, " a deliberate, palpable and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by the Federal compact," and apart also from the consideration of the right in itself, and the expediency in other
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respects of State secession from the Union, it is the opinion of this meet- gin that, bordering, as Virginia does, on that portion of the Confederacy from which danger to the institution of slavery is threatened, so far as her interests in that institution are concerned, secession is no remedy.
5. That sympathizing deeply with their brethren in the extreme south- ern states in their sense of the outrage inflicted on the sentiments of the south by the election of Lincoln ; but having still an abiding faith, if not in the sense of justice, in the intelligent self-interest of the American peo- ple; and confiding in the efficacy of constitutional means to protect their rights within the Union, the people of Augusta, as brothers speaking to brothers, bound together by the most sacred ties, beseech the gallant and patriotic people of the cotton states to pause and calmly consider the yet unimagined evils which must result from the dissolution of the Union, and before taking the step, from which there will be no receding, to unite with Virginia in testing the efficiency of remedies provided by the Constitution and within the Union !
6. That not regarding the mere election of any citizen to the Presidency in accordance with the Constitution and the laws as sufficient cause for breaking up the government, and therefore in the spirit of patriotic for- bearance, being willing to yield obedience to the Constitution and to ac- quiesce in the recent decision of the northern people, with no purpose to threaten or intimidate, but speaking as brave men to brave men, appealing to their loyalty to the Constitution and the Union, and to their regard for the peace, concord and continued happiness of a united country, the peo- ple of Augusta, who have been wont in times past, as Washington taught them, " indignantly to frown upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which bind together the various parts," solemnly declare to the peo- ple of the nonslaveholding states that the vexatious agitation of the sub- ject of slavery in Congress and in the northern communities, the distur- bance of our peace by the dissemination of incendiary documents in the south, the invasions of our rights of property in slaves by emissaries sent into our midst to decoy our slaves from our homes, the disregard by the governors and the people of the nonslaveholding states of their constitu- tional obligations in respect to the rendition of fugitives from service and from justice, the practical nullification by many of their state legislatures of the " Fugitive Slave Law," and the organization and triumph of a sec- tional party, united together by sentiments deemed to be hostile to the south, whose recent victory has been heralded by one high in its ranks as "the death-blow to slavery," constitute such grievances and outrages to the feelings and rights of the people of the south as will, if persisted in, extend over the whole south the fatal sentiment of disunion now so fear- fully on the increase. And the people of Augusta, convinced that there can be no permanent union without a strict adherence to the Constitution and a just enforcement of federative obligations upon the authority and people of the states, think they have a right to ask, nay, respectfully to urge, as essential to continued brotherhood between the north and the south that the people of the nonslaveholding states require their public servants to observe their constitutional obligations to the south, to remove from their statute books the acts intended to thwart, if not to nullify, the act of Congress concerning fugitive slaves, and that they instruct their representatives, as we shall instruct ours, to keep from the halls of Con- gress that bitter apple of national discord-the agitating discussion of slavery.
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7. That we cherish the sincerest sympathy and most fraternal regard for those noble and true men in the non-slaveholding states who have bat- tled so gallantly against faction and fanaticism in defence of the Constitu- tion of the country and the rights of the south, and that we are unwilling to desert them, and that we yet hope, with their aid, to beat back the ene- mies of our peace and bear aloft in triumph, " not a stripe obliterated nor a star obscured," the glorious flag of the Union.
8. That our Senator and delegates be requested, in discharge of the re- sponsible duties which will soon devolve upon them, in the spirit of har- mony and conciliation attempted to be expressed in these resolves, to bend all their energies to keep Virginia to her moorings as " the flag-ship of the Union," and to induce her, placed as she is between the north and the extreme south, with moderation, forbearance and wisdom worthy of her ancient renown, to exert her power and influence to preserve on the one hand the known and equal rights of her own people as citizens of a com- mon country, and on the other the harmony of the Union and the integ- rity of the Constitution ; and to this end they are authorized at whatever cost to adopt such measures as their judgments shall approve, to carry out the great work of mediation and pacification, which the people of Augusta invoke the General Assembly of Virginia to undertake.
Mr. J. H. Skinner moved as a substitute the following resolution, which was rejected :
Resolved, In view of the wrongs which have been done to Virginia and her sister southern states by the unconstitutional and unfriendly action of the northern states of the confederacy, growing out of the hostility enter- tained by them to the institution of domestic slavery, and in consideration of the dangers with which we are threatened by the inauguration of a sec- tional Republican Administration, elected upon principles which, if carried into action, would be destructive of our equality, our interests and our safety, and injurious to our honor, it is proper and all important, in our judgment, that a convention of delegates of the people of Virginia should be held, at an early day, to consider of the state of the Federal Union, to preserve said Union, if it can be done consistently with our rights under the Constitution, and at all events to protect the State of Virginia from any detriment.
A lengthy discussion took place upon the resolutions, in which the fol- lowing gentlemen participated : Gen. William H. Harman, Col. John B. Baldwin, R. D. Hill, J. A. Harman, J. H. Skinner, T. J. Michie, Gen. K. Harper, and Dr. E. G. Moorman.
The vote upon the preamble and resolutions was taken seriatim, and they were each and all passed by very large majorities.
On motion, they were ordered to be signed by the president and secre- tary, and published in the papers of Virginia.
A. H. H. STUART, President.
JOHN L. PEYTON, Secretary.
Though the people of Augusta were warmly attached to the Union, they sympathized deeply with their southern brethren. Standing between the north and south, they considered the occasion one presenting to them the opportunity to reconcile, if possible, all political differences between the two,-differences which they believed subordinate to the public good,
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and capable of adjustment within the Union and under the Constitution. Accordingly they convened in mass-meeting, as their forefathers had done in May, 1775, under the lead of their wisest and best men-men of temper and judgment, of virtue and prudence, and alike inaccessible to the seduc- tions or menaces of power. The meeting appointed the committee above mentioned ; this committee deliberated, and then came forward to the ad- journed meeting, whose proceedings have been above reported with the resolutions adopted, in which the truth was declared without diffidence and without acrimony, but in earnest and energetic terms, which left no mis- take as to their position. This was the cool, dispassionate action of the people of Augusta at a period of great excitement, and taken in order if at last driven to extremities they might assume with more decency that attitude of hostility to the government of our fathers which events might render necessary in the interest of their security and happiness.
While our delegates were striving in Richmond and Washington to secure peace and preserve the Union, the President's proclamation, calling forth 75,000 men, brought the people of Augusta to almost entire una- nimity. Though they did not believe in secession, they all maintained the right of Revolution, and were now of the opinion that the time for ex- ercising it had come. They indignantly resented the proclamation, com- ing at the time it did, considered war as rudely and recklessly forced upon them, and they not only accepted the issue, but, inflamed with rage at the insult, they flew to arms. From this time forward there were no Union men in Augusta, and few in Virginia.
The Staunton Artillery, commanded by Capt. J. D. Imboden, and the following officers : Lieuts. T. L. Harman, A. W. Garber, W. L. Balthis and G. W. Imboden ; Sergeants M. C. Garber, J. S. Shumate, U. V. Dab- ney, P. H. Prostor, W. T. Jewell, Powell Harrison ; Q. M. Sergeant A. H. Fultz ; Corporals P. Hounihan, M. Carmody, A. Weaver, C. Berkeley, W. J. Nelson, T.J. Galt ; Color Sergeant, T. Shumate ; Artificers G. M. Stan- ton, J. Rohr, J. W. Heiser, G. H. Hudson and C. C. Toothacre proceeded to Harper's Ferry and was attached to Stonewall Jackson's command.
The West Augusta Guard, of Staunton. also marched to that point, with the following officers : Capt. W. S. H. Baylor ; Lieuts. H. K. Cochran, J. H. Waters, J. Bumgardner, W. Blackburn; Sergeants C. T. Arnall, J. B. Engleman, J. C. Marquis, P. Scherer ; Corporals R. Bucher, P. Maphis, B. Wilson and R. Wilson.
Two companies of cavalry were immediately formed, the first under Capt. Wm. Patrick, which also proceeded to Harper's Ferry, and was attached to the First Regiment of Virginia cavalry. Subsequently, Capt. P. was promoted to be Major of the 11th battalion, and was killed at the second battle of Manassas. The second company was commanded by Capt. F. F. Sterrett, and marched from Churchville to Rich Mountain,
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and was attached to the 14th regiment, under command of Col. James W. Cochran, of Augusta, (a descendant of the Founder.)
Two regiments of volunteer infantry were also raised, the first called the 5th Virginia, the second the 52d Virginia. The 5th regiment was com- posed mainly of troops from Augusta, and was organized in May, 1861, at Harper's Ferry. The field officers were: K. Harper, Colonel ; Wm. H. Harman, Lieut .- Colonel ; Wm. S. H. Baylor, Major ; and Capt. James Bum- gardner, Adjutant. The 5th, with the 2d, 4th, 27th, and 33d regiments formed the First Brigade of Virginia infantry, and was under the com- mand of Col. T. J. Jackson, afterwards the celebrated "Stonewall " Jack- son, and acquired the distinction of "Stonewall Brigade" by the gallant fight they made at the first battle of Manassas. Company A. commanded by Capt. J. H. S. Funk, and Company K, commanded by Capt. John Avis, were from Winchester. In the autumn of 1861, Col. Harper re- signed ; Harman was promoted to be Colonel; Baylor, Lieut .- Colonel ; and A. Koiner was assigned to the regiment as Major. At the reorgani- zation, in March, 1862, Maj. Baylor was elected Colonel ; Capt. Funk, Lieut .- Colonel; Capt. H. J. Williams, Major ; and C. S. Arnall was com- missioned Adjutant. After the death of Col. Baylor at the second Manas- sas, Lieut .- Col. Funk was promoted to Colonel ; Maj. Williams to Lieut .- Colonel ; and Capt. Jas. W. Newton to be Major. Col. Funk fell at the battle of Winchester, Sept. 19th, 1864. The commandants of companies were : Company B-Rockbridge Rifles-Capt. S. H. Letcher, and was transferred in July, 1861, to the 27th regiment in the same brigade ; Com- pany C, Capt. Robert Doyle-after reorganization, Capt. Jacob Trevy ; Company D, Capt. H. J. Williams -- after reorganization, Capt. McHenry ; Company E, Capt. James Newton-after reorganization, Capt. Lycurgus Grills ; Company F, Capt. St. Francis Roberts-after reorganization, Capt. Peter Wilson ; Company G, Capt. Geo. T. Antrim-after reorganization, Capt. James Gibson : Company H, Capt. Asher W. Harman-after reorgani- zation, Capt. Richard Simms ; Company I, Capt. O. F. Grinnan-after reorganization-Capt. E. L. Curtis ; Company L, Capt. Jas. H. Waters- after reorganization, Capt. Thos. J. Burke. Capt. Milton Bucher, A. Q. M. and A. C. S.
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