For about the past six days, I’ve been dealing with one heck of a virus… and yesterday, I found out, courtesy of a professional diagnosis, that I’m battling the big “pig.” Fortunately, my battle with swine flu isn’t as tough as it could be. The doc says my immune system is apparently battling it rather well. Nonetheless, I’ve been on a roller coaster of viral symptoms. I think I’m feeling better for a while, then, usually sometime beginning in the afternoon, the battle becomes more “intense.” By far, this is the longest I have dealt with viral symptoms and usually see them moving along after about 24-48 hours.
So, not feeling much like posting anything too intense lately, I’ve fallen back a bit to some “casual work” on Wikipedia. What? You think blogging’s the only thing I do on the Web? 
History needs tweaking elsewhere as well… and there are also plenty of gaps to fill. For those interested in taking a peak at some of my casual work on Wikipedia, you can see it here. Though I’m about done with it, one of my largest projects there is making some major tweaks on the Bethany Veney entry. I’ve got to get some more stuff to post on HMDb sometime soon as well. Once I’m back to normal, I’ll be posting a few more items about the interesting and curious status of Unionism in western Maryland in 1861.
Sidetracking a bit (again) from the examination of western Maryland’s take on the “impending crisis” of 1861, I figured I’d post something else of interest from the Hagerstown Herald of Freedom and Torch Light. This comes from the February 8, 1860 issue. Nothing scary, just a touching 19th century “spirit story.” I always enjoy finding tales such as this. Regretfully, the type was misaligned in the printing, so I’m missing a few words from the article (indicated by “- – -“).
A BEAUTIFUL INCIDENT. – Some months ago, an amiable, beautiful and accomplished lady, the mother of three bright, interesting children, and the wife of a highly esteemed citizen, died suddenly and under peculiar and trying circumstances. – Her death was universally lamented, and her affected family has the deepest sympathies of the whole community. Among her children was a little angelic girl about five years old.
A lovely being, scarcely form’d or moulded.
A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded.The child often seemed to be thinking of her absent mother and frequently spoke of her, but she had not been more thoughtful or melancholy than many other children under similar circumstances. On a pleasant, balmy evening, just after the sun had set, the child with several other members of the family, including the father, were on the – - – of the house, enjoying the pleasant – - – when the child was observed to – - – gazing upwards, with her eyes upon some object, which seemed to – - – she continued in this for several moments when she clapped her hands gleefully, jumped upon the – - – and in an ecstacy of delight, and cried out, “papa, papa! There’s mother, there’s my mother! O! my dear beautiful mother, – do come home and live with us again!” The father with a melting heart spoke gently to the child and attempted to withdraw her attention; and told her that she was mistaken, her mother was not there. Yet the child continued to clap her hands joyfully, for some minutes, and declared it was her mother, she saw her “there, there!, there!” pointing with her finger – “I see her eyes!” All present were struck with amazement and awe, and none doubted that the spiritual little girl had really commuted with her mother. Peninsula News.
A couple weekends back, I had a chance to make a sweeping “history run,” starting at Loudoun Heights and ending up at Dam 5. All-in-all it was a full-bodied trip, and accomplished within seven hours. At Loudoun Heights, I finally had the chance to meet Craig Swain and his “assistant,” talked a bit, and took a quick look at the two remaining houses at the site where Mosby tried to take on Cole on an incredibly cold night on January 10, 1864. From there, I “pressed-on” through Martinsburg toward Clear Spring, did a cemetery walk at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, found two of three headstones I was hunting, and then moved-on to Rose Hill Cemetery for a shorter walk (where I found another grave of interest… Capt. Samuel Gideon Prather, Co. F, 1st Potomac Home Brigade Infantry). I then moved on to the once bustling village of Four Locks, which is now part of the NPS’ Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. I had been there before, but wanted to gather some additional photos. Not only that, but I had the chance to begin to imagine just how bustling a community it was back in 1861. While I was there, I think I saw one other visitor, and that was it. What once was a village is now a site with no people and relatively few remaining buildings from that time. Nonetheless, I was able to grab little glimpses of things that bore witness to a time in a place that has nearly been swallowed-up over time. I also had the chance to take yet another look at the Lock 49 lock tender’s house… in which (I recently discovered) my third great-grandparents Moore likely lived in 1858, while he served as lead lock tender at Four Locks. With this in mind, I also took another walk along the four locks (#47-50). The last time I visited, I tried to imagine how many times my ggg-grandfather Moore made it through the locks in his canal boat, carrying coal from Cumberland to D.C., and returning through the locks to get more. This time, I tried to imagine the rigors of life as the lead lock tender, a job that didn’t pay particularly well and could have been rather hectic. One of the things that struck me was how difficult it probably was, often depending on the number of boats moving through the four locks (each boat taking approximately 10 minutes to move through each lock, allowing the water levels to even off) and the odd and inconsistent hours at which they may have moved through them. I also took the time to imagine the community that has been portrayed, so far, in the newspaper articles that I have been featuring in posts (Four Locks is part of the Clear Spring District).
From there, I hit the road again, moving across the Washington County countryside to Dam 5, the site of Stonewall Jackson’s efforts (in December 1861) to severely hamper the efforts of the C&O canal to keep coal and other supplies running to Georgetown and Washington, D.C. He caused a little pain and discontent, but didn’t affect the canal as much as he reported. Had there been better weather… and a better time of the year… things may have been different.
You can see photos from part (Four Locks and Dam 5) of my “history run” via these links (here and here) to the HMDb.
As you may recall from my post from the other day, there was discussion about “Black Republicanism” playing a factor in the sweeping display of Unionism in the Clear Spring District. I mentioned in the same post, however, that only two votes were casts in the Clear Spring District for Lincoln. With that in mind, I thought it might be of value to see the votes for every district in the county. Lincoln was able to gather 95 votes from all of the districts in the county, but Bell won the majority vote, winning rather narrowly (92 votes) over the Breckinridge supporters.
This vote isn’t at all that much different from what was seen in the Shenandoah Valley in 1860. Constitutional Unionist John Bell took the majority vote in Virginia and, among the counties of the Shenandoah Valley took Jefferson, Berkeley, and Augusta. Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, on the other hand, took the majority of the counties in the Valley, including Frederick, Warren, Clarke, Page, and Shenandoah. Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas was successful only in Rockingham County. I also showed in a post from quite some time ago that Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln even gathered a few votes in Shenandoah County. All of this comparison between Washington County, Maryland and the counties of the Shenandoah Valley has me thinking, but I’ll get around to that in time. I’ m not quite at any conclusions.
The following article is from the November 14, 1860 issue of the Hagerstown Herald of Freedom and Torch Light.
THE OFFICIAL VOTE OF WASHINGTON COUNTY. – From the subjoined official returns of the Presidential election in Washington County, it will be seen that Mr. BELL has a plurality of Ninety-two over Mr. BRECKINRIDGE – that Mr. DOUGLAS received Two Hundred and Eighty three votes, and Mr. LINCOLN Ninety-five, and that the whole vote cast is Fifty-four Hundred and Twenty-seven, which is Two Hundred and Eighty-five less than was polled one year ago. Allowing One Hundred for the yearly increase of the voting population in a county as large as ours, and we find that the vote at the recent election was nearly Four Hundred short of a full one. We may safely assume and assert, from reliable information received from the several districts, that fully two-thirds of this back vote was anti-Democratic, and that if it had been cast Mr. BELL’S plurality would have exceeded Two Hundred in the county. Adding the DOUGLAS and BRECKINRIDGE vote together, it exceeds the BELL and LINCOLN vote. Ninety-six, but adding the DOUGLAS to the BELL vote, on the great principle of the “Union, now and forever, one and inseparable,” and it exceeds the sectional vote of the other two candidates Two Hundred and Eighty, and shows the county to be sound upon that momentous issue, and indeed among the most reliable in the State whenever another battle may be fought upon it. How soon our people may be involved in such a context, no man can foretell, but if the feeling of Secession which is now so rampant in the South, should be persisted in to the last extremity, it will not be long before there are but two parties in the State, the one bearing the flag and marching to the music of the Union, and the other in favor of Southern Confederacy:
| District | Bell | Breckinridge | Douglas | Lincoln | Whole No. Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharpsburg | 248 | 174 | 13 | 1 | 438 |
| Williamsport | 164 | 253 | 5 | 15 | 436 |
| Hagerstown | 480 | 505 | 30 | 12 | 1027 |
| Clear Spring | 253 | 181 | 7 | 2 | 444 |
| Hancock | 135 | 112 | 52 | 2 | 302 |
| Boonsboro | 288 | 261 | 9 | 14 | 573 |
| Cavetown | 109 | 241 | 51 | 13 | 415 |
| Pleasant Valley | 132 | 67 | 11 | 2 | 212 |
| Leitersburg | 145 | 102 | 21 | 5 | 273 |
| Funkstown | 171 | 138 | 25 | 2 | 336 |
| Sandy Hook | 71 | 55 | 32 | 1 | 158 |
| Tilghmanton | 113 | 125 | 1 | 5 | 244 |
| Conococheague | 98 | 96 | 1 | 2 | 197 |
| Ringold | 36 | 88 | 2 | 18 | 144 |
| Indian Spring | 124 | 77 | 23 | 1 | 228 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 2567 | 2475 | 283 | 95 | 5427 |
I realized that I should probably clarify something in my post from the other day, that the decline of slave numbers in Washington County should not be thought of in terms of attributable to manumissions alone. It should not be misconstrued as some “Utopia” for slaves, as there were some who continued to escape North (as we also saw from the “Black Republican Proclivities” post) and some who were sold deeper into the South (which, according to Ernst in Too Afraid To Cry, was done by some owners in Washington County as a form of severe punishment to a slave). In fact, the subject of the decline in numbers was mentioned briefly in a very short piece in one of the issues (1860) of the Hagerstown Herald of Freedom and Torch Light. Still, when the Maryland Legislature forbade (it’s a long story that I will probably need to discuss in another post) further manumissions (effective June 1, 1860), slaveholders in Washington County freed at least another 50 slaves. The dates of freedom on some of those papers, however, was set for the years between 1870 and 1875. The same article (June 13, 1860) that mentioned these numbers also pointed-out that manumissions were even greater in neighboring Frederick County, some slaveholders there freeing 130 slaves before the June 1 deadline.
I’ll get back to my thread of posts on Southern Unionism in western Maryland (which began here), but today, considering the 150th anniversary events surrounding John Brown’s raid over the past weekend, I want to post something rooted in thoughts of the raid. Actually, while scrolling through the old CW-era Hagerstown newspapers this weekend, I ran across this item of interest that was re-published in the Hagerstown Herald of Freedom and Torch Light on February 8, 1860 (from the Baltimore Patriot). By then, well, as my grandmother used to say “John Brown’s [was] dead and the big day is [was] over.” O.k., I can’t resist… I’m going to go off on a very brief tangent with this…
Yes, believe it or not, my grandmother (born in 1903) used to say that. The first time I heard it, the comment darn near knocked me on my tail because, even though a kid, I was a kid with a huge infatuation with the Civil War. Thus, it was one of my original introductions to the “memory” of the Civil War-era. How it trickled down in memory would be an interesting study, but that might be better left to a post unto itself… maybe in November.
Anyway, by February 8, 1860, the raid was almost four months in the past, but it was still fueling opinions. This particular article was generated from a letter written by John Minor Botts… yes, that’s right, the same Virginian who was later during the war known for his unconditional Unionists views. It seems that this would have been well received by those who were leaning toward Bell in the upcoming Presidential election. Botts shares his thoughts on Brown’s raid, but then gives us a little more as well. All-in-all, it’s an interesting read. That said, here’s the article…
John Minor Botts on the Condition of the Country.
HIS LETTER.
Mr. Botts is out in a long and interesting letter, in reply to an invitation of certain Opposition members of the Virginia Legislature to favor them with his views upon the various questions now agitating and distracting the public minds. It occupies eight and a half columns of one of the Richmond papers, and as we are precluded by its length from laying it extenso before our readers, we will try and give them the gist thereof.
JOHN BROWN.
This monomaniac on the subject of slavery, was taught, says Mr. Botts, by the dominant party of Virginia to believe that he had sympathizers, aiders and abettors to that State, amongst whom all the men of rank in the Opposition were numbered, including himself, but he does not believe that any others but those engaged in the Harper’s Ferry raid had any knowledge of it. His blood runs cold, and he shudders at the effort which has been made to involve directly and indirectly the Republican party in this assault upon Virginia. If he could be brought to believe in such an idea, he would as soon continue to inhabit a house in flames from roof to foundation, as to live in a political community with that party; but as he is opposed to lynch law, he would never condemn any man unheard upon any charge whatever, much less on such is one as this.
ABOLITIONISTS AND DISUNIONISTS.
The existence of these two classes of men does not involve, in his opinion, the complicity of the general population of either North or South with them. They of the North are no more called on to purge themselves of all connection with Abolitionists, than they of the South should acquit themselves of all participation in the treasonable schemes of Disunionists. If John Brown was a Republican, Cook and four others of his offers were Administration men. If these men had been from Southern States, or from Virginia, they would have suffered the penalty of their crimes without any excitement, but because they were from the North, the Union has been convulsed, and is regarded by even some conservative men as intolerable.
A HURRICANE IN A TEA-SPOON.
Mr. Botts does not believe there was any necessity for lionizing, martyrizing and canonizing John Brown, by the State of Virginia, as was done. The State has been run in debt a half a million of dollars, and dictatorial powers have been exercised, when there was no need for it. – But all this ado has phrenzied the public mind, and raised the drooping hopes of the Administration party for the moment, and he does not believe it to be accidental. It is the periodical visitation of the party in power, their leap-year of horrors, just before a Presidential Election. In a rapid review of the incidents of the Brown war, Mr. Botts fastens the responsibility of the military excitement upon Governor Wise, who avowed that he never had any fears of a rescue, but wanted a chance to put his boys in training. It was not a Tempest in a Tea Pot, but a Hurricane in a Tea Spoon!
THE CAPULETS AND MONTAGUS.
He regards the Abolitionists and the Disunionists as the Capulets and Montagus of the nation, and devotes a plague on both houses. He thinks they can only be put down by withholding from them all public office, patronage and influence, for we have become a nation of hunters after spoils. – Money, Place and Power are what the mischiefmakers make mischief for.
A WAR AGAINST SYMPATHY.
Mr. Botts sees nothing to justify, the clamor for Disunion and the preparation for civil war. Old Brown and his followers are dead and Mr. Botts would not wage a war against even the false law. He would not ‘smash up’ this great empire for any such cause. He does not believe there will be any more John Brownism again in this country.
Mr. Botts thinks this book contains a vast amount of incendiary matter for the non-slaveholders of the South, but he does not blink the fact, that it quotes largely from Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Patrick Henry, George Mason, Clay, Governor Hammond of South Carolina, Governor McDowell, Rives, Father Ritchie, Governor Wise, French Ambassador Faulkner, ex-Secretary W. Ballard Preston, and others, all of Virginia, against slavery. He believes, from the letters he has received, that if ever the House is organized, there is not one of the members who recommended this book, who will not purge himself of all purpose or endorse the offensive parts. If they do not, he will denounce them. But the endorsement of any book – no matter what its character, by 68 or 6800 men, is no cause for sundering this Union. – If the Union, however, is no longer durable, let those who are dissatisfied with it, go to Louis Napoleon for help, if they can.
BOSS POLITICIANS.
He would use the appellation ‘Democrat’ only in reference to the bossmen of the party in power, now seeking to break up the Union. The masses only execute the work cut out for them.
A BIRD’S EYE VIEW.
Mr. Botts next gives a masterly bird’s eye view of the policy pursued by the party that calls itself Democratic, howling clearly that Aaron Burr was its founder, and not Thomas Jefferson, and brings it down to the present time. – As a historical summary, it is unsurpassed by any thing that has yet appeared, for is outspoken truth. It tears the mask from the hideous features of the most corrupt cabal that ever controlled the government of a civilized country. At the proper time we shall lay it before our readers.
THE FIDDLERS IN ROME.
By the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the fire was kindled with which the Burrites now seek to burn down Rome, and the Fiddlers, Nero-like, are now hobnobbing at Washington, ‘dining, drinking wine, cracking nuts, and cracking jokes,’ says Mr. Botts, with as much unconcern as a company of drunkards. And they are calling upon the Whigs of the South to help them in their wicked assaults on the Union, but they call in vain on Mr. Botts. Doomsday may crack before he comes to their help, howl, rave, and tear their passions to pieces as they may, at the prospect of the loss of power.
PROFESSIONS VS. PRACTICE.
The pretence that it is the protection of slavery that animates the course of the Administration in refusing to organize the house, is proven by Mr. Botts to be utterly false; but while it is true that the Locofocos could have made Mr. Gilmer Speaker, we must beg to dissent from Mr. Botts, in his conclusion, that either Boteler or Maynard could have been elected. But by their refusal to go for Gilmer, they have shown that it is power and place and spoils that they are after, not the protection of slavery, which Mr. Botts shows is in no danger whatsoever.
WIND-MILLS.
The propositions to put Virginia upon a military footing, to establish armories and all that, are shown to be so many wind-mills of the cracked brain, that have devised them, and are ridiculed to the top of his bent.
PERPETUITY OF THE UNION.
The man who talks of dissolving the Union, is shown by Mr. Botts to be an ignoramus. It was made to be perpetual, and perpetual it will be of necessity. Its founders provided for its perpetuation, and omitted to provide for its dissolution. – His argument on this point is irresistible. We may reproduce it on some convenient occasion. He says, if Virginia should vote to withdraw, Maryland might vote to stay in. That she would, and there she would stay till the crack of doom, malgre Mr. Freaner.
THE STARS AND STRIPES.
Mr. Botts declares that there are not Locofocos enough alive to strip him of his birthright as an American citizen; that where the Stars and Stripes float, there will he be found, and that no power on earth can carry him out of this Union. To his sentiment responds the Baltimore PATRIOT – Amen! Even if Congress were to break up in a row, Mr. Botts contends it would not affect the law in a body, a quorum would still be [illegible… page shift for four lines]
CRIMINATION AND RECRIMINATION.
Mr. Botts excepts to the legislation in the free States, hostile to the recovery of fugitive slaves, but he does not think that this hostility is any justification for the perpetuation of the joke offering a reward for the heads of prominent members of the Republican party, originally published in the Richmond papers. He is against all crimination and recrimination. The recent lynching of Northern people in the South, he condemns in all their length and breadth.
HOME INDUSTRY.
He deals Locofocoists a terrible blow for its free trade policy and calls on Virginia to vote for the adoption of Mr. Clay’s American system of protection to Home Industry, and then, not till then, will Virginia be able to cope with the manufacturing States of the Union. This point is admirably put.
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.
Mr. Botts, in conclusion, is opposed to carrying slavery into free Territories by national legislation or by force of arms. In this particular he adopts Mr. Clay’s doctrine to the very letter. He calls on the Opposition party in the South to rally on this great principal, against the ‘nightmare politicians,’ who repealed the Compromise of 1820, and inaugurated the Act of 1854.
CHARACTER OF THE LETTER.
There is no public man in the Union who wields a more logical and a smoother pen than Mr. Botts, but much as we admire his general style of public speaking and writing, we think he has exceeded himself in his admirable Letter. It abounds in sarcasm, wit, genuine patriotism, hard sense, eloquence, unanswerable logic; it is John Minor Botts all over, and when we say this, we do not think we can say more in its praise. His name is associated in undying memory with that of Henry Clay, as his fidus Aehates, and we may be sure, when we read anything from his pen, that it will bear the impress of his master’s doctrines. The sprit of Mr. Clay breathes throughout every fine of this wonderful Letter. We trust it will serve to bring back those Opposition men everywhere in the South, who have been disposed to run after the false light of Locofocoism, upon the question of slavery.
Before I start with the article, I thought that I should point out… the Hagerstown Mail was a pro-secession publication, unlike Hagerstown’s Herald of Freedom and Torch Light. Apparently, the Mail, seeing all the talk (examples here and here) of strong Unionism in Clear Spring, thought that the town’s strong leanings toward Union might be influenced by one of the town’s rather prominent people… Lewis P. Fiery (a brother, by the way, of William Fiery, the future captain of Co. B of Cole’s Cavalry). More importantly, they suggested that Fiery was a “Black Republican.” Someone with the Hagerstown HF&TL objected, and made some good points (and some unanticipated). This is from the Feb. 6, 1861 edition of the HF&TL:
The Mail charges LEWIS P. FIERY, Esq., with Black Republican proclivities, and yet he and his father [Henry Fiery, Jr] have lost some thousands of dollars worth of Slaves, who made their escape to the Free States and Canada within recent years. Mr. FIERY is an ardent friend of the Union because he knows, as does every other well-informed man, that the slave interest in Maryland will be wholly destroyed if the Union should be finally dissolved. The most ultra Southern men in our midst are those who do not own a cent’s worth of slavery property, although some of them are abundantly able to possess themselves of thousands of dollars worth of it. They are, therefore, non-slaveholders from choice – not necessity – and should pluck the beam from their own eyes before they prate so lustily about the mote in the eyes of others.
Now… this little article offers some interesting challenges to modern thinking (at least in some) about the Union, the Confederacy, and the threatened longevity of the institution of slavery.
First, I’m going to spoil one thing (or make something more clear) by pointing out that another article (later, in early May) stated that, out of the Clear Spring District, there were only two votes for Abraham Lincoln. Though it doesn’t suggest who casts those votes, I don’t think Lewis Fiery and his father were the ones who voted in that way (frankly, I think it would have been at least three votes if the Fiery men were the ones… William Fiery being the potential third vote in such a scenario). From what I understand (though I need to do some additional research on this), the area, and even Washington County, leaned much more toward Constitutional Union Party Candidate John Bell, so “Black Republicanism” wasn’t the factor at hand. To me, it sounds as if the Mail was trying to stir the pot in an effort to influence more locals in favor of secession.
That said, it’s interesting to see the manner in which the author of this article specified that slaveholder interests were at stake in the crisis, and yet, the slaveholders felt that the institution would be best protected by looking-out for the Union. Was this a matter of “seeing the writing on the wall,” that the slaveholders of the deeper South who supported secession didn’t have a chance at winning a war? I’m not sure that’s it. Therefore, does this article reflect that these western Maryland slaveholders and non-slaveholders alike (though Washington County was a diminishing culture of slaveholding, it was still a culture in which slaves were a recognized part), realized that secession expedited emancipation far quicker than they hoped and brought with it an immediate impact on finances as opposed to a slow and gradual impact which would be much easier, not only on those who had invested in slaves, but the entire community? I think this has more weight behind it. I say this because, gradual emancipation was already occurring in Washington County.* You might recall, I mentioned in one of my posts from a while back that even my Moore ancestors in the Clear Spring area had ceased being slaveholders sometime after the death of my fourth great grandfather, James Draden Moore, in 1840. It looks like these folks sympathized, to some degree, with the deeper South regarding their beliefs/concerns over the impact that Abraham Lincoln might have on slavery. With the issue of secession being thrust upon the country, financial loss resulting from expedited emancipation seemed imminent. Even so, these western Marylanders weren’t so eager to forsake the Union in the interests of maintaining financial stability… or at least it seems.
*In Washington County, the number of free blacks had grown larger than the number of slaves by 1860, and the number of slaves had declined. In 1860, there were 1,677 free blacks as opposed to 1,435 slaves. In 1850, there were 1,828 free and 2,090 slaves. Of course, there is a factor behind the number of slaves that is missed if taking the number by itself. There was a practice, especially among Dunkers in Washington County, of buying slaves and either setting them free or holding them to an indenture of approximately seven years before they were freed. The “holding as indenture” part was also a time of education and skills-building in preparation for freedom. There is some great information about this, and a general discussion of slavery in Washington County found in Too Afraid To Cry, by Kathleen Ernst.
If you aren’t familiar with that particular part of western Maryland, Four Locks is just to the South of Clear Spring, and located on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Interestingly (at least to me), my third great grandparents Moore were listed as residents of Clear Spring AND Four Locks in the 1860 census. I suppose they may have been moving households to Four Locks from Clear Spring. Having bought (in July 1860) a flatboat for moving coal on the C&O Canal, by November, the family sold their Clear Spring property… but I digress.
A day after the Union meeting at Clear Spring (incidentally, I found a two-sentence blurb about the raising of a “Union Pole” at Clear Spring on January 16, 1861. The blurb closing with the remark, “They are always right in old No. 4,” meaning Clear Spring was in District #4), a Union meeting was held at Four Locks and the following was written in an editorial for the Herald and Torch…
Correspondence of the Herald and Torch
January 31, 1861Messrs. MITTAG & SNEARY –
Dear Sirs: – A large, and enthusiastic Union meeting, was held to-day at Four Locks, in district No. 15; more commonly known as the Indian Spring district. The youngest, of her sisters in Washington county, this virgin, mountain district, surpassed them all, in the zeal, the harmony, and heartful devotion of her citizens, to the cause of the Union and the Constitution.As an early hour, nearly two hundred persons had assembled, and in a few moments, owing to the admirable arrangements made for the purpose, the long and beautiful pole rose one hundred and thirteen feet in the air, with a splendid streamer near the top bearing the inscription in letters of living light, The Union Forever.
Scarcely had this been accomplished, before the ‘gorgeous ensign of the republic,’ tastefully prepared by the fair daughters of the vicinity, ascended amid the prolonged cheers of the multitude, until it reached its destined height; and catching the first fair breeze, it gracefully unfolded the stars and stripes, and continued to wave triumphantly ‘over the land of the free, and the home of the brave.’
The speaking commenced at twelve o’clock, and continued until four, during which time Capt. Isaac Nesbitt and J.D. Bennet, Esq’rs., of your town, and Lewis P. Firey, of Clearsprng, held the undivided attention of the audience, and frequently elicited the wildest outbursts of applause.
Several members of the Clearspring Band, were also present, with drum and fife, and enlivened the occasion with strains of the most delightful music.
After the speaking had closed, a large number of the visitors were invited to partake the hospitality of Messrs. Jacques and Hasset – and it is due to those gentlemen to say, by whom the writer, in company with many others, was so sumptuously entertained that they deserve the highest praise for their profuse liberality, their warm and generous hospitality, as well as for the admirable manner in which the while demonstration was conducted; and I cannot suggest this occasion to pass, without expressing my sincere thanks to them and to all connected with this first Union meeting in this district, for their zeal, energy, fervent patriotism, and whole-souled devotion to the Union.
And whatever may betide our glorious country in the future, for weal, or woe, the writer shall ever recur to that glad day, as one of the hallowed memories of the past, a gilded oasis in the trackless waste of time, to which he will turn to refresh his wearied spirit, or take fresh courage to go forward in the grand battle, to which he has pledged the earnest efforts of the noonday of his life.
A FRIEND OF THE UNION.
I know, this comes off as simply more “hurraying” for the Union from another little town in Washington County, Maryland, but I’ve got a curve ball coming with my next post.
Some are aware of my latest efforts in developing a unit history for Cole’s Cavalry, so I thought I’d occasionally share samplings of some findings.
One of the things that strikes me about some of the Marylanders in the unit is the way that they considered themselves Southerners… and most really were since the majority of men in the first four companies, excepting Company C (many from Gettysburg), originated south of the Mason-Dixon Line. So, some could certainly be considered Southern Unionists. The advantage that they had over other Southerners, however, was the ability (courtesy of the various efforts to suppress secessionist hotheads in the state) to take action on their sentiments and form in organized units. Additionally, for those Marylanders who remained civilians, there was the ability to express Unionist sentiment without repercussions (excepting, of course, the times when the Confederates came to town and the local secessionists came out of the woodwork and “ratted them out.” Then again, turnabout was almost certain, so even the most ardent secessionists might think twice about what they did, even when the boys in gray were in town).
Yet, whether uniformed or not, what was at the core when it came to Unionist beliefs of the people of Maryland? Well, I’m not quite that deep into it yet, but I am at a point where I can begin to grasp the thoughts of the families of some of those in Company B. Company B (William Fiery’s company) originated mostly from Clear Spring and the surrounding area. While I haven’t quite laid my hands on many first-hand accounts of the sentiments of each and every man (and I doubt that I will), courtesy of the local newspapers of the time, I have been able to peek through a window in time.
Now, keep in mind, Maryland was a slave state… and even though many western Marylanders had strong beliefs in the Union, they also had some opinions on those in the North who threatened the institution of slavery (as we see in the following set of resolutions that follow). It was a peculiar situation in which to be, but it makes for an interesting story all around. I’ll share some additional thoughts in later posts on the evolution of thoughts on slavery in western Maryland, as the war progressed.
Without further delay, let me get to the set of resolutions endorsed by the citizens of Clear Spring, Maryland late in January 1861 (this is from the January 30, 1861 issue of the Herald of Freedom and Torch Light, Hagerstown, Maryland) ….
Union Meeting in Clearspring
The citizens of Clearspring, Dist. No. 4, in favor of preserving the Union and endorsing the firm and decided course of our patriotic Governor, Thomas Holiday Hicks, held a large and enthusiastic meeting in the Academy in this town on last Wednesday evening.
The meeting was organized by calling to the chair Denton Jacques, Esq., and electing George Ernst, Vice President, and Dr. H.F. Perry, Secretary. With a view to save time, the usual appointment of a Committee to draft resolutions was dispended with, and citizens were invited to offer any resolutions they have previously prepared. – The following resolutions, offered by two citizens, were read and adopted by the meeting: –
Whereas, The period has arrived in the history of our country when the Constitution and the Union is in danger of being subverted and the great experiment of man’s capacity for self government about to prove a failure, from the insensate ambition and mad designs of partisan leaders in the Cotton States of the Union, who are now in open rebellion against the government, and are endeavoring to create among us the same frenzied excitement, and to withdraw us from the shelter of the Stars and Stripes, therefore we, the citizens of District No. 4, Washington county
Resolve, That we patriotically and religiously adhere to the Union of the States as the best form of government yet devised by man, that we will cling t it and stand by it to the last man with the firm conviction that within it is embraced all that is worth living for, national and individual honor, peace, security, the hope of prosperity, the hope of the world.
Resolved, That as citizens inhabiting a border county our interests are closely allied to the Union which affords is our only protection against the incursions of northern fanatics and our only hope for the restoration of our fugitive slaves, all of which must be surrendered in the event of its dissolution.
Resolved, That our interests are not identified with any section; that Maryland is neither a northern nor a southern state, but one of the United States, with her peace, her honor, her influence all centered in and indissolubly united with the Union, that to destroy the one is to destroy the other, and cast ourselves upon the open sea of revolution and anarchy without chart or compass to guide us upon the dangerous element.
Resolved, That the course of our esteemed Governor Thomas Holiday Hicks, in nailing old Maryland to the mast of the Union deserves the heartfelt thanks of every true American.
Resolved, That we most cordially approve of the stand he had taken in refusing to convene the Legislature of the State in a period of intense excitement, and by that means to hazard the moment interests of the Union and the Constitution in the precipitate judgment of the people, wrought up to the highest excess of passion by the exciting scenes transpiring around us and by the inflammatory appeals of partisan presses.
Resolved, That the final determination of President Buchanan to enforce the laws of the United States in the seceding States, thereby securing the friends of the Union of a fixed intention on his part to uphold the Constitution to the full extent of the powers conferred upon him, meets with our cordial approbation and receives our warmest support.
Resolved, That South Carolina from the earliest period, enjoying a large share of the offices and emoluments of the government, without any, unless imaginary infringements of her rights, and at the same time overtly or secretly plotting the dissolution of the union for more than thirty years, and now engaged in open rebellion, levying troops and seizing upon the property of the United States, is guilty of flagrant violations of law unparelleled in the annals of treason and richly deserves the unqualified condemnation and detestation of the civilized world.
Resolved, That the conduct of Major Anderson and his little band in seizing upon Fort Sumter and defending the flag of his country in the midst of the enemies is justly comparable with that of Leonidas and his Spartan band at the straits of Thermopylae, where he kept in check the countless myriad of Asia by his fearless band of devoted patriots.
Resolved, That while we acknowledge the right of coercion to be an innate principle of every government, as the very idea of government implies the right and power to enforce its authority, yet in the troubled state of the county this power should not be exercised except with a timely forbearance, and a wise discretion, conceding ample time for all other means of conciliation and adjustment.
Resolved, That the right of a state to secede at its pleasure is a political heresy, an insult to the dignity of our government, a watchword of treason, that we scorn it and denounce it as subversive of all government, law or order, that the peace and harmony of the Union, nay, its very existence, would be made dependent upon the whim or caprice of a single State, which at any moment, could sever her relations with her sister States, disrupt the Confederacy, and plunge the while country into anarchy and confusion.
Resolved, That the Constitution of the U. States, the offspring of seven long years of anxious struggle, baptized by the blood of the fathers of the revolution, matured by the wisdom and genius of Washington, Madison, Jefferson and Franklin, is eminently adapted to secure the chief end of all government, the happiness of its people, and is infinitely superior to any government capable of being devised by those arch conspirators and architects of ruin, Touey, Tombs, Rhett and Davis.
Resolved, That whilst we persist in a firm and decided demand for our rights, we prefer battling for those rights within the Union, and deprecate the secession of Maryland as a patricidal act, an insult to the memory of our fathers, a stain upon the fair page of our history, pregnant with incalculable mischief to our people and presenting no remedy for the past, no hope for the future, but offering instead the fierce distractions and untold horrors of civil strife.
Resolved, That we approve of Mr. Crittenden’s Compromise as an amicable adjustment of the difficulties distracting the country, and pledge for them our support as well as our best wishes for their noble and gifted author, who has been so anxiously laboring to avert the ruin impending over this, until now, much favored land.
Resolved, That the associations of the past, the anxieties of the present, the hopes of the future, the honor of the American name, the glory of a united people, a common destiny, all impels us by every generous motive that can move the human heart, to cling to the institutions of our ancestors, to revere the Constitution, the monument, of their wisdom, to maintain the Union as their priceless legacy, to bury sectional and party prejudices, and move onward and upward to that great destiny which we bid fair to assume among the nations of the earth.
Resolved, That we appeal to the citizens of Maryland in the name of all that is great and good in our past history, of all that is soul-stirring in the words Liberty and Union, of all that is venerable in the name of Washington or inspiring in the name of Clay, to adhere to the Constitution and the Union of States as the only safe-guard to ourselves and our posterity, and as the last hope of liberty throughout the world.
Resolved, That the Constitution and Laws of the United States, made in pursuance thereof, are the supreme law of the land, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding, and that the several acts of the northern states known as the Personal Liberty Bills, are in violation of the spirit of the Constitution and the Fugitive Slave Act, and that we earnestly appeal to the sense of Constitutional duty, to the honor and justice of those States to repeal them.
After the reading and adoption of the above resolutions, L.P. Fiery, Esq., and Col. H.W. Dellinger, were each called upon to address the meeting. They favored the citizens with a clear and interacting account of the origin and history of the present troubles in the States. They were listened to with great interest and attention.
On motion, it was
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the County papers.
DENTON JACQUES, Pres’t.
GEORGE ERNST, V. Pres’t.
H.F. Perry, Sec’ry.
Interesting Southern perspectives on the Constitution and Union. To me, it sounds little different than the sentiments expressed in most of the counties in the Shenandoah Valley at the same time in 1861 (just take a look at some of the newspaper accounts of Unionists meetings in Augusta County in the Valley of the Shadow Project), opposing secession, while also opposing “Northern fanaticism.” Yet, these people of Unionist thinking in western Maryland were empowered, even after Lincoln’s call for troops; something that those in the Shenandoah Valley, whether Unionists or those who were somewhere in-between, were not able to enjoy.
I’m curious to see what I might find next, in the article about the next major Union Meeting that took place in Clear Spring in April 1861. I’ll be sure to share once I’m able to get the info…
By the way, not all of Clear Springs citizens were Unionists. I know (so far) of at least one who was not. Daniel Henry Winders enlisted in Co. C, 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Robert E. Lee’s bodyguards and couriers) in 1863. Winders lived just a few houses away from the above-mentioned William Fiery…. adds even more flavor to the overall story!
The day after this Union meeting at Clear Spring, there was another held at nearby Four Locks on the C&O Canal. I cover this in my next post.
Thinking back to my post about Abraham Sosey’s headstone and a comment made about “murder” (a thought-provoking comment considering the nature of guerilla warfare in the Civil War), I thought I’d post a little something I read in C. Armour Newcomer’s book about Cole’s Cavalry (Newcomer was a member of Co. D of Cole’s Cavalry). In the portion that covers the night attack at Loudoun Heights (where Sosey was killed), Newcomer wrote,
Colonel Mosby, their old antagonist, had captured the pickets; he and his followers, many of whom were natives of Loudoun County, had crossed the mountain and fell upon the camp, and then fired a volley into the tents where Cole’s men lay sleeping, many of them no doubt dreaming of their sweethearts and loved ones at home. No one who has not experienced a night attack from an enemy can form the slightest conception of the feelings of one awakened in the dead of night with the din of shots and yells coming from those thirsting for your blood. Each and every man in the attack, was an assassin. But we should remember that war means to kill; the soldier in the excitement of battle forgets what pity is, and nothing will satisfy his craving but blood.
Pretty intense talk, but as we can see, Mosby’s night attack, while considered by those who experienced it an “assassin’s” venture, was a part of the unconventional warfare with which they had grown familiar. I think Cole’s men had a rather good grasp of the more complex dynamics of partisan/guerilla warfare. As I mentioned in response to the comment, had the attack truly fallen outside the conduct of warfare (even the expectations for conduct in unconventional “border warfare,” as Newcomer puts it in another paragraph), I think Cole would have taken more severe measures in dealing with those that he captured, including Mosby’s brother, “Willie.”
