blame game

Posted on August 22, 2013 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times August 22, 1863:

The War and Its Originators.

The difficulties of writing history could hardly be better exemplified than by a comparison of the versions of the origin of the war, given by Mr. DONNELL, the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons, and published in our columns on Wednesday, and that which is daily put forward by the rebel sympathizers at the North. According to Mr. DONNELL, who had personal cognizance of most of the steps taken “to precipitate the South into revolution,” the secession movement was due to a determination of certain Southern leaders that the South should be independent at any cost, grievance or no grievance; that they tried to convert the tariff into a pretext for separation, and, failing, fixed on Slavery as “the only question on which the South is likely to unite;” that they then agitated and intrigued in such manner as to make Mr. LINCOLN’s election a certainty; and as soon as he was elected, dragged the Southern people into a revolution upon a series of pretences, which the progress of events have all proved false, and foremost among them was the depreciation of Northern courage and tenacity. He denies, from first to last, that the North had any share in bringing about the war, beyond the fact that it existed and furnished something to separate from, and something to fight with.

The Copperhead version of the matter is, however, that the revolution was planned by HORACE GREELEY, HENRY WARD BEECHER, WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, WENDELL PHILLIPS, and a few other lecturers and editors of country newspapers; that these people found YANCEY, TOOMBS, DAVIS and WISE, et hoc genus omne, peaceably reposing on their plantations, intent upon growing cotton and leading a quiet life, and occasionally enlightening the country by a speech; that they proceeded willfully to goad these good men to madness by discourses on Slavery delivered in New-England, and articles upon it written in New-York, and which nobody in the South ever read or dared to read; and that, after long and patient endurance of the infliction, these gentlemen called their countrymen to arms, as the only mode of deliverance.

Happily, the historian will not have much difficulty in choosing between the two stories. The causes assigned by Mr. DONNELL are natural and ordinary ones; those assigned by the SEYMOURS and TILDEN, are novel, strange and extraordinary. The rebellion has been brought about, either by substantial grievances or else through the machinations of designing or ambitious demagogues. No political revolution has ever yet been caused in one community by articles and speeches published in another, even if they were read by the malcontents. The idea is absurd and ridiculous on the face of it; doubly so when, as in this case, the lucubrations which are generally assigned as the cause of all our woes, never circulated among those whom they are alleged to have goaded to madness; when no Southerner would have them in his possession, or know anything whatever of their tenor, except what he learned from the bunkum harrangues of his own agitators. How many men at the South, we should like to know, had ever heard or read an abolitionist lecture for twenty years before this war broke out? …

I doubt if the causes of the war were quite so black and white.

The July 16, 1863 letter to the editor of the Raleigh Standard from “A Southern Man” was attributedRichard Spaight Donnell. You can read it here

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post office resignations

Posted on August 21, 2013 by SUMPTER
Envelope addressed to Genl. Henry A. Wise, Roanoke Island, N. Carolina (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-33547)

worked in 1862

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch August 21, 1863:

Postal communication Stopped.

–Resignation of the Clerks in the City Post-Office. –Yesterday evening the clerks in the City Post-Office resigned in a body, and the business of that office has come to a dead lock. This is a serious affair, both to the citizens and Government, and we have taken the trouble to inquire into the facts of the case. There are employed in the City Post Office an assistant postmaster at $1,500 per annum, a chief clerk at $1,400, two box clerks at $1,000, two distributing clerks at $900, and twenty-three clerks at $400 M — or, in other words, twenty-three men who are to pay their coating, clothing, lodging, and washing bills out of a sum which is not equal to seventy dollars before the war. Of course these employees could not live — could not even get food for such a sum — and they applied to the Post-master General for an increase. This increase that official said he could not give unless Congress voted it, and the clerks, therefore, resigned last night, and were paid off. These clerks who ask this increase are men who work hard, day and night, seven days in the week, and are as much entitled to $1,500 per annum, we should think, as the clerks in the other departments, who work, on an average, from two to seven hours a day six days in the week. Of the justice of this demand, however, we need not speak, as we believe it is not disputed.

We don’t suppose any reasonable man has a doubt that this general abandonment of the post- office can be prevented, and all the confusion consequent upon it averted, if the Government (of which Mr. Reagun [Postmaster General John Henninger Reagan] is not the head) will allow the clerks the increase asked, and which is positively necessary to their support, and no one doubts that Congress would appropriate the amount it brought [ in in ] the deficiency bill, and legalize the rise in their salaries. Extraordinary expenses are no new occurrences in Governments generally, nor in this one, and a little common sense can very easily adjust, this difficulty in the Post-Office Department.

Price level in the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Based on Lerner (1956), Journal of Political Economy.

“everything else has gone up to enormous rates”

Earlier in the week it had been reported that the postal clerks had not had any wage increase since the start of the war. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch August 17, 1863:

Ferment in the city Post-Office.

–We understand the clerks employed in the city Post-Office have held a meeting to set forth their grievances in a series of resolutions, passed nem con, expressive of their indignation in regard to the course the Postmaster-General has pursued towards them, individually and collectively, in his passive indifference to their frequent appeals for an increase of salary. Since the commencement of the war their salaries have not been advanced one cent, while everything else has gone up to enormous rates. Their present salaries, excepting that of the chief clerk, range from fifty to seventy-five dollars a month, while their board bills amount to ninety and one hundred dollars per month! And then their labor is of the most onerous kind, working twelve hours per diem, Sundays and week days.

There seems to be a discrepancy in the reported clerk wages between the two articles. Ex-governor and Confederate General Henry A. Wise commanded the Confederate troops during the 1862 Battle of Roanoke Island. It is written that “nem con” is a contraction of a New Latin meaning “no one contradicting”.

According to the October 1863 Stranger’s Guide the Richmond General Post Office was located on the corner of Bank and 11th Street. You can view that intersection after the 1865 devastation at Richmond Then and Now.

The inflation graph is published at Wikipedia.

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Gorilla Gone from Gotham

Posted on August 20, 2013 by SUMPTER

150 years ago yesterday the draft resumed peaceably in New York City. Army, militia, and police forces were present in large if unostentatious numbers. A reorter found “no less than seven huge columbiads on trucks in the depot of the New-Jersey Central Railroad, as though they had just been brought from the interior.” The names were drawn by a certified blind man who also had a bandana covering his eyes – just to make sure. All 1100 names drawn were listed in this article from The New-York Times August 20, 1863:

new-york-draft (Harper's Weekly September 5, 1863

“RESUMPTION OF THE DRAFT—OUTSIDE THE PROVOST MARSHAL’S OFFICE, SIXTH DISTRICT—THE CROWD CHEERS. “

THE DRAFT.; Proceedings Yesterday in the Ninth Ward. No Attempt at Disturbance. The Names of the Drafted. Scenes and Incidents Inside and Outside.

In conformity with the notice given in the TIMES the renewal of the Draft was commenced yesterday morning, at 10 o’clock. It was generally known in the community that the National, State and Municpal authorities had made every possible preparation which could insure quiet and order, and prevent disturbance of any nature. Nevertheless, in consequence of the deep interest felt in the procedure by every man, woman and child in the City, a grea excitement was evidently pervading the people, and an anxiety in no degree feigned rested upon every mind. The Provost-Marshal-General, with admirable sagacity, selected the quiet Sixth District in which to commence the renewal, a District which is noted for its good order. At an early hour the Sixth-avenue, in the immediate neighborhood of Capt. FARR’s Headquarters, was crowded with people of every grade of life. All sorts and conditions of men were there, and although perfect order reigned, arguments pro and con the Draft were liberally entered into.

HEADQUARTERS.

The Headquarters are situated at No. 185 Sixth-avenue, and occupy the whole of the building, with the exception of the ground floor, The second floor is used as a series of offices for the Provost-marshal and Assistants, while the remainder of the building is used temporarily as barracks for the Guards. In front of the office waves the Star Spangled Banner while from the windows, depend in graceful festoons and patriotic drapery.

The room in which the drawing took place is large and airy, admirably adapted to the purpose. One-third of it is used by the officers and reporters, the rest, which is railed off by a stout wooden fence, being occupied by those who desire to witness the proceedings and “tremble while they hear.”

Upon a central table is placed the wheel of destiny, while at several adjacent tables and desks are placed seats for the official recorders.

All about the outside doorway were gathered great crowds of people; also a strong detachment of the Metropolitan Police, who looked as if they were ready and willing to add another chapter to “their honorable record.” Through the line of policemen no one was permitted to pass after the room up-stairs was filled. The stairway, the corridors, the various approaches to the room were filled with restless, anxious unable-to-see individuals, who continually stepped on each others’ toes, punched each others’ ribs and wasted each others’ patience. …

The military were prudently kept from sig[h]t, and passed their time monotously in the rooms above waiting for something to turn up; but they waited in vain.

At a little after 10 o’clock, Capt. FARR, accompanied by a blind man, whose altitude cannot vary much from seven feet, promenaded the office, after which the blind man took the oath and signed his name to the official declaration of support to the Government. Capt. FARR then announced that all things were ready, and that the “proceedings would now begin.”

THE DRAFTING.

The order from President LINCOLN was read, which, among other items, specifies the quota from the Sixth District to be, by Wards, as follows: First Sub-District, (Ninth Ward,) 1,100; Second Sub-District, (Fifteenth Ward,) 794; Third Sub-District, (Sixteenth Ward.) 1,181, which number includes the 50 per cent, additional to offset the anticipated exemptions.

Upon the table were placed several boxes containing the ballots, each one of which was enveloped in as India rubber band. These were counted, under the supervision of Alderman CHIPP, J.W. BOOTH, Esq., and JOSEPH D. BALDWIN, Esq., by Messrs. W.L. STEPHEN and CHARLES OAKLEY. It was announced by Alderman CHIPP that the number of ballots put in the boxes was 7,708, but the number-as counted showed but 7,698.

draft Harper's Weekly 9-5-1863

“RESUMPTION OF THE DRAFT—INSIDE THE PROVOST MARSHAL’S OFFICE, SIXTH DISTRICT—THE WHEEL GOES ROUND. “

The draft was next in order, and Commissione LAMONT announced that he would turn the wheel, the blind man CONKLIN BISHOP would draw the ballots, and Mr. SAMUEL F. SLEIGHT would read the names. The best of order and of good nature reigned throughout the room, and when the blind man was rendered entirely safe by means of a red and white bandanna, which was closely bound about his temples, the jocularity approached the tumultuous, and it was deemed proper by the ever active Policemen to suggest quiet. The wheel revolved, the blind man groped, the reader announced, and WILLIAM R. BIRDSALL was a conscript. Hearty guffaws and boisterous cheers followed the reading of the name, and various salutations greeted the recipient of Uncle Sam’s attention, so much so in fact that Capt. FARR mounted the table and informed the people that if that sort of thing continued he would be under the painful necessity of clearing the room; after which there was order for several minutes, and the drafting went on.

During the day no incident worthy of note occurred; everything was well done and passed off decently and in order. …

As name after name was announced to the multitude on the avenue, the comments were many and various, most of them, however, hilarious and good-humored. The undrafted had their fun out of the “elect” whom they intimately knew or even recognized. Very frequently, however, the biter was bitten, for just as some dry wit among the multitude had rallied his neighbor, inquiring whether, “now that he was one of Uncle ABE’s heroes, he would speak to common people any more,” his own title and cognomen would be bandied forth with a shout, and the “funny fellow” sneak off with an altered countenance to remedy one draft with another in perhaps both senses of the word. …

The Police were, as usual, on their beats, and seemed to be perfectly cool and secure, while it was evident to the experienced eye that the secret branch of their service was in full activity on all sides, carefully noting the popular undertow, and scenting out the faintest aroma of treason. As the day wore on, and no ticsin startled the town from its propriety, as commerce went its way undisturbed, and even the sensation bulletin boards looked dull and sleepy, everybody came to the conclusion that the hydra-headed monster of revolt was this time completely cowed, and finding “discretion the better part of valor,” did not dare to lift his front or even “mildly as a sucking dove.”

With night came the complete assurance of tranquility, and the draft in New-York was safely born. At midnight the only remonstrance heard in the streets was the last mournful cry of the vendors of “hot corn.” …

The two images were published in the September 5, 1863 ofHarper’s Weekly at Son of the South. Here’s a paragraph from the report in Harper’s that notes the changed demeanor on the streets:

Nothing could be more striking than the contrast between the city as it raved upon the four black days of July and as it smiled during the 19th day of August and the subsequent days of the resumed draft. Men who were gorillas when the black days were upon us, appeared, by comparison, to have become converted into very affable gentlemen. If you walked the highways and by-ways of the city on the morning of Wednesday, the 19th of August, it was at no peril of life or limb, as it most certainly would have been on Wednesday, the 15th of July. The gorilla appeared to have gone out of town. The swift and even-handed justice that has lately presided over affairs in the Recorder’s Court had certainly some little influence in bringing about this reform. So had the suggestive howitzer.

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“All honor to the Flag”

Posted on August 19, 2013 by SUMPTER

Six weeks after Gettysburg, the assistant surgeon for the 126th New York Volunteer Infantry wrote home to explain that newspaper accounts had missed the extraordinary courage of the 126th’s color bearers during the battle.

starcover from The Good Old Songs We Used to Sing, '61 to '65 (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21566/21566-h/21566-h.htm)

no sunshine patriots

From a Seneca County newspaper in 1863:

Letter from the 126th.

HEADQUARTERS 126th N.Y.V.,
NEAR WARRENTON JUNCTION, VA.,
August 15, 1863.

DEAR SIR:

In the various accounts of the battle of Gettysburg, published in the local press of our District, I see no allusion to our regimental colors, nor by whom they were borne upon the field. During the fight the colors had had five standard bearers, one of whom was killed, three wounded, and one escaped unharmed. At Harper’s Ferry, through the imbecility and treachery of those placed in higher command over us, we lost our colors, the beautiful banner borne by the regiment upon its departure from home; but at Gettysburg, wiser heads and truer hearts controlled us, and our colors came out of the fight unsullied, pierced seven times by the enemies’ balls, and torn twice by his shells. Our flag was carried into the thickest of the fight; five times its bearers were struck down, yet never for [a] moment did its folds trail in the dust. Fo[r] three long days did its faithful bearers cli[ng?] to its standard upon the bloody fields o[f] Gettysburg, yielding it successively only a[s] one was killed, three severely wounded and the remaining one bringing it off when victory had crowned our arms.

Gettysburg July 2 (by Robert Sneden Knox; LOC: gvhs01 vhs00148 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.ndlpcoop/gvhs01.vhs00148)

night of July 2nd

Sergeant ERASMUS E. BASSETT, of Co. B was the chosen standard bearer of the regiment. He carried the colors on the march and first planted the Stars and Stripes on the heights around Gettysburg on the morning of Thursday, July 2d. In the afternoon of the same day, when our left was pressed by the enemy in overwhelming numbers and the 2d Corps ordered to its suppor[t,] Sergeant BASSETT, bearing the colors of his regiment, advanced with it in the dreadful charge made by the 3d Brigade. When the Rebel lines began to waver; when the battle was nearly won, and victory seemed ours, he was struck by a ball in the leg yet he heeded not the injury. Rallying h[is] guard, and cheering those around him, he pressed on, but in an instant he was struck again, this time fatally, for he fell pierced to the heart, and died without a groan. In an instant his faithful guard avenged his fall, and the author of his death lay dead at their feet. Young BASSETT was good as he was brave. To know him was to admire. Of an amiable temper, always constant and attentive to his duties, he had won the esteem of all, and died universally beloved. the entire regiment mourns his loss.

Upon the fall of Sergeant BASSETT, Corporal AMBROSE BEDELL, of Co. E., took the standard, and bore the colors during the remainder of the fight that day.

Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day3

Hancock’s Corps still in the thick of it – July 3rd

On Friday, when the enemy sought to break our centre, Corporal BEDELL bore the colors into the fight. In a short time he was wounded, and Corporal HENRY MATTOON, of Co. D., seized the standard and gallantly bore the colors along. MATTOON soon fell wounded, and Private THEODORE P. VICKERY, of Co. H., next took the colors in a charge. In an instant VICKERY fell severely wounded, and for the fourth time, the colors were without a Standard Bearer.

At this juncture, Private LEWIS CLARK, of Co.K., a mere youth, seized the standard, and flaunting the Stars and Stripes defiantly in the enemy’s face, fore [bore?] them to the front, planting them near the Emmettsburg road, where the fight raged the fiercest, ylong [along?] which our regiment charged. Young CLARK subsequently carried the colors from the field, and delivered them to the custody of the “color guard.” I deem these brief facts in reference to the colors of our regiment worthy of notice, and trust that they will prove interesting. In thus referring to the brave color-bearers, I in nowise detract from others. The whole army in that terrible battle performed its duty nobly, and the 126th shares in its honors.

126th Inf Monument at Gettysburg

126th’s monument on Cemetery Ridge

Sergeant BASSETT has gone to his reward, BEDELL, MATOON and VICKERY linger in the hospitals with their wounds, yet we trust will ere long recover and receive the reward due their bravery. Young CLARK, unharmed, though none the less brave, has been promoted, and we doubt not further advancement awaits him. Come what may, a grateful country will ever remember them, and the army with which they acted. All honor to the Flag, its brave defenders, and those who so gallantly carried it through the bloody around Gettysburg.

Very truly yours, for the Union, the Flag, and the cause in which we are engaged.

CHAS. S. HOYT,
Asst. Surgeon 126th N.Y.V.

Erasmus E. Bassett

“good as he was brave”

Erasmus Bassett kept a diary, now held in Cornell University’s archives. Erasmus’ brother Richard, an officer in the 126th, found Erasmus dead on the battlefield and added this entry to the found diary: “12 O’Clock at night I find my Brother Erasmus lying dead where I took this from his pocket”. George Bassett, another brother, had been killed at Antietam.

According to the 126th’s roster Ambrose Bedell and Lewis Clark were both wounded at Spotsylvania. Theodore Vickery was killed June 22, 1864 “before Petersburg”. Charles S. Hoyt was promoted to surgeon of the 39th Infantry on May 20, 1864. Dr. Hoyt apparently was a prolific writer. Cornell owns a collection of the Hoyt Family Papers, including Charles’ diaries and scrapbooks. According to Caroline Cowles Richards, Dr. Hoyt wrote home when the 126th mustered in: “God bless the dear ones we leave behind; and while you try to perform the duties you owe to each other, we will try to perform ours.”

During Gettysburg the 126th was part of the 3rd Brigade, Third Division in Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps. The 126th’s Gettysburg monument summarizes its role during the battle. Eliakim Sherrill, the regiment’s colonel, was mortally wounded on July 3rd while he commanded the brigade and died the next day.

The following Thomas Nast illustration published in the September 20, 1862 issue of Harper’s Weekly at Son of the South pictured the gallant color-bearer of the 10th New York, but his “touching devotion to the flag” captures Dr. Hoyt’s theme.

union-flag_Picture2 Harper's Weekly 9-20-1862

A GALLANT COLOR-BEARER

Hal Jespersen’s map of July 3d at Gettysburg is licensed by Creative Commons.

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not much of a theater-goer

Posted on August 17, 2013 by SUMPTER
James Henry Hackett as Falstaff

Lincoln enjoyed Hackett’s Falstaff

From The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

To J. H. HACKETT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON August 17, 1863.

JAMES H. HACKETT, Esq.

MY DEAR SIR:—Months ago I should have acknowledged the receipt of your book and accompanying kind note; and I now have to beg your pardon for not having done so.

For one of my age I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay is to say, as I truly can, I am very anxious to see it again. Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read, while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any un-professional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.

Unlike you gentlemen of the profession, I think the soliloquy in Hamlet commencing “Oh, my offense is rank,” surpasses that commencing “To be or not to be.” But pardon this small attempt at criticism. I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard III. Will you not soon visit Washington again? If you do, please call and let me make your personal acquaintance.

Yours truly,

A. LINCOLN

According to President Lincoln’s Cottage Blog there is a good chance the book James Henry Hackett sent President Lincoln was Notes and Comments upon Certain Plays and Actors of Shakespeare

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private no more

Posted on August 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times August 16, 1863:

Jeff. Davis’ Private Letters.

The country will be interested and amused, if not instructed, by the letters received by JEFF. DAVIS from all sections and all sorts of men during the secession Winter, and which have been recently brought to light by the progress of our armies in the Southwest. We are rather surprised not to find in any of those which came from the North the injunction, “Destroy my communications, as I shall yours,” with which WEBSTER, the Treasury-note swindler, closes his circular to his victims. Certainly, if any of the writers had thought that his letter would ever be shown up in this way, he would have been most earnest to have it destroyed; or, rather, if he had a grain of common sense, he would never have written at all, “for there is nothing concealed that shall not be made known.” We hardly know which characteristics are more remarkably displayed in these documents, the ignorance and subserviency of those who wrote to DAVIS from the North, or the arrogance and deadly earnestness of his Southern friends.

A Professor in a New-York College writes in December, 1860, to propose a new scheme which he thinks would secure “everything which the Southern States desire.” He says: “Let the Territories remain free from Slavery while Territories. When the Territories become States, let them then or at any future time have the privilege of introducing Slavery at their own election.” This scheme, which differs but slightly from our old acquaintance Squatter Sovereignty, in that it assured the freedom of the Territories until they became States, the Professor says “may have already been presented,” but he had not seen it, and he therefore takes the liberty of suggesting it, prefacing his communication by the statement — “My sympathies are entirely with the South.” He should have known that the result of the experiment in Kansas had convinced the South that even if Freedom was not assured to the Territories, but Slavery was allowed an equal chance there, there was no hope of success, and that the Southern mind was made up to demand that Freedom should not even be put on an equal footing with Slavery. For a Professor, he does not seem to have been well posted. …

Mr. LAMAR, of Mississippi, rejoices over the victory at the recent election of “the friends of Southern independence, of firm and bona fide resistance,” and congratulates his leader in the conspiracy that now “any concession by the North Will fail to restore that sacred attachment to the Union which was once so deeply radicated in the hearts of our people.” We cannot but hope that GRANT’s guns and the victories which our gallant soldiers have won upon Mississippi soil, and even the ruins of her Capital, may be the means of renewing at least for the children of these people what concession would have been unable to restore to them.

We can hardly help envying sometimes the future historian of these dark and disturbed days — not that his toil will be a light one, for it will be a herculean task to overhaul the immense mass of information which has been and is yet to be gathered. But he will have opportunities for judging more fairly than we can, for getting behind the scenes, for knowing what were the secret springs and the underground courses of action, many of which are as yet for us but matters of conjecture. Such correspondence as this will then be invaluable, outweighing columns of partisan speeches and public writings. We are glad that these letters have been saved from perishing.

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Granted …

Posted on August 15, 2013 by SUMPTER

A Yankee general who could exploit the odds in his favor

US Grant book cover 1902

sung a fainter praise down South (1864 image on 1902 book)

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch August 14, 1863:

Gen Grant.

Military merit is so rare among the Yankee Generals that we are not at all surprised by the excessive laudations poured upon the head of Gen. Grant. Nor shall we so far imitate the Yankees as to endeavor to underrate Gen. Grant because he is our enemy. We look upon him as one of the best of the Yankee Generals, though that does not prove him a Napoleon, or even Wellington. He is active, persevering, and brave, but we have yet to see any proof that he possesses the military genius of the great Confederate leader. There is this marked distinction between the long caresser of magnificent victories achieved by the Confederates in the East and the various successes of the Federal in the West: our battles were won by inferior numbers against tremendous odds — Grant’s always by tremendous odds against inferior numbers. It is needless to say which required the best generalship.

Nor have we ever put much faith in the Western notion that the Western Yankees are much superior to the rank and file of their Eastern army. There were plenty of the Western Yankees in the Federal army about Richmond, and they fought no better than the Eastern men, and could run, when necessary, quite as fast.

We have full faith in the superiority of our Generals, of our soldiers,–the best soldiers the world has ever seen,–and, above all, in that Providence which always decides the fate of battles, which has constantly rescued us at all vital points and in every decisive emergency, and which never deserts those who do not first desert themselves.

Project Gutenberg provides the songbook.

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No Scrooge

Posted on August 14, 2013 by SUMPTER

I know from the schedule that 150 years ago today draftees from the Town of Tyre in Seneca County, New York appeared in Auburn for their examinations. Here’s a comment from a Democrat newspaper from Seneca County in 1863:

Mr. Ebenezer Munson, of Tyre, after having paid $900 for his three sons who were drafted, made this patriotic remark: “They may take my property, but give me my country.” Mr. Munson already has two sons in the army. – Courier.

How very patriotic! Had Mr. Munson practiced what he and his abolition friends profess, he wouls not have kept his sons from the army. Men and not money, has been the cry of the abolitionists since the draft commenced. They, however, sing quite a different tune when it directly affects them, and if it cannot be avoided by hard swearing, they almost invariably resort to some other method to clear themselves.

It so happens that but two of Mr. Munson’s sons were finally accepted by the Board, instead of three. A little more perseverance on his part, and another “rehearing” may result in releasing the other two.

The following section of the summary of examination results for the NY 24th Congressional District makes it look like Mr. Munson ended up paying the whole $900:

Jno Squires, T[y]re, paid $300.
Andrew J Bishop, Tyre, paid $300.
Smith W Lamb, do do do
Martin Lane, do do do
Chas. N Berry, do do do
Charles Hill, do do do
Jas. T Stevenson, do do do
Wm. H VanCleef, do do do
Albert Nichols, do do do
Stephen Munson, do do do
Geo. Munson, do do do
Thos. T Munson, do do do

My first thought was that there sure must have been some money in Tyre 150 years ago, but there were other reasons for exemptions in the town. For example, “Elijah D Chalker, Tyre, ulcers of leg.” I don’t know how you could fake that.

The 1863 commutation fee inspired a parody of an 1862 recruiting song [1]. “We are coming, Father Abraham, Three Hundred Dollars More” tweaked this:

father Abraham

or he’ll take the cash?

  1. [1]McPherson, James M. The Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. Print. page 602.↩
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high fuel prices

Posted on August 13, 2013 by SUMPTER

It might have been a blisteringly hot August in Virginia, but citizens  still needed fuel to cook (and it might be prudent to stock up on wood for the coming winter). On August 12th the editors of the Richmond Daily Dispatch compared wood vendors charging $35 per cord to Judas Iscariot. 150 years ago the newspaper published a rejoinder from one of the wood merchants, who detailed his costs.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch August 13, 1863:

The Price of wood.

To the Editors of the Dispatch:

In your paper of this date you (no doubt unintentionally) do great injustice to the wood dealers of this city, or at least to myself as one of them. You state as a fact, from unquestionable authority, that wood is put on the boats in the canal at a “total cost of $9.50 per cord,” and that it is sold at the basin for $35 per cord, thus leaving the impression on the public mind that the dealers (I being one of them,) realize a profit of $25.50 per cord. If this was so you ought to have marked the passage with twenty instead of three points of admiration. What it costs a farmer or wood chopper to put wood on the canal boats I do not know, but presume it cost twice $9.50 from the fact that I have an advertisement in your paper of this date offering to pay $16 per cord to haul wood six miles from town to my office on the basin bank, and have not yet had one offer to do so, although the advertisement has been in the paper one week. Another fact is that I pay from $27 to $28 per cord for oak wood at my yard on the basin bank, pay $4 to haul it out, 87½ cents per cord tax to the C. S. Government, 35 cents to the State, in all $33.22½, whilst I see the same delivered to customers as $34, leaving to me only 78 cents per cord profit to pay yard rent, ($400,) clerk’s hire, and to support a large family. If this is extortion, then the Devil help others, for I am sure God will not.

Richmond, August 12th, 1863.

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Waterloo exemptions

Posted on August 12, 2013 by SUMPTER

According to James M. McPherson’s discussion[1] of conscription in the North, “If a man’s name was drawn in this [draft] lottery, one of several things would happen to him next – the least likely of which was induction into the army.” Substitution and the $300 dollar commutation fee were allowed, and more than 20% fled to safer locales (Canada, the West, the woods). Three-fifths of those who appeared before the Enrollment Boards “were exempted for physical or mental disability or because they convinced the inducting officer that they were the sole means of support for a widow, an orphan sibling, a motherless child, or an indigent parent.”

The following paragraph from a Seneca County, New York newspaper in August 1863 gives some idea of this winnowing:

The drafted men of Waterloo reported at Auburn on Wednesday. Out of the 122 drawn not over 40 were accepted by the Board.

A page at the New York State Military Museum gives more details for Waterloo and the rest of the 24th Congressional District. Here is the main section that lists exemptions for Waterloo:

Henry Moran, Waterloo, constitutional syphilis.
Jno. Blake, ” injury of skull.
And Thorp, ” prolapsus ano.
John T Carl, ” inguinal hernia,
Edw Bates, ” over 35 and married.
Isaac Cary, ” ” ” “
J L Coon, ” loss of teeth.
S P Gabriel, ” support widowed mother, only brother in U S service.
Darwin E Slosson, ” disease of lungs.
E A Johnson, ” ” kidneys.
Hugh Fulton, ” loss of thumb.
Thos Godfrey, ” inguinal hernia.
Peter Fenn, ” splay feet.
Jas C Gray, ” varicose veins.
Fred C Brehm, ” ing. hernia.
H Manwaring, ” dislocation elbow.
Matthew Moran, ” varicose veins.
Hugh Burns, ” over 35 and married.
Dan’l Hogan, ” ” “
Patrick Welch, ” ” “
A J Prosser, ” ” “
Dan’l Pound, ” loss of sight.
Wm Redman, ” retraction first phalanx toe.
Wm Horsley, ” disease of lungs.
Jackson Lynch, ” feebleness and disease lungs.

Sprinkled throughout the rest of the page are mentions of Waterloo men left off for club feet, under 20 years of age, pulmonary disease, loss of teeth, and alienage. Back in May President Lincoln ordered that aliens would not be exempted if they had declared an intention to become U.S. citizens, so apparently some men from Waterloo convinced the authorities that had no designs on citizenship.

People lose their teeth even today, but it is true that some men tried to avoid the draft by losing their teeth because infantrymen needed teeth to “bite off the cartridge paper to load muskets”. Springfield’s MassLive reports advertisements for painless tooth extraction by the use of laughing gas. There was a good market for this service until surgeonds caught on and accepted men into the cavalry, which “used pistols and carbines which did not require the use of teeth.”

Seneca County Enrolled Drafted

the 33%

  1. [1]McPherson, James M. The Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. Print. page 601.↩
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