.H84 LIBRARY OF CONGRES 00005^71755 •>* v^v v----y \*™v* LOYAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 863 BROADWAY. JYo. 46. on) flje HJar ta Commenced AN APPEAL TO THE DOCUMENTS. SOUTIIEEM" DOCUMENTS ESPECIALLY QUOTED. (From, tlie Cincinnati Daily Commercial.) NEW YORK: Published by the Loyal Publication Society. 1864. produced these articles from the Enquirer, giving dates of pub- lication, and their authenticity is unquestioned and unquestion- able. Party spirit has changed all this. The war is daily and hourly declared, by men who do not conceive themselves to be traitors, or unfriendly to their country in any respect, to have been commenced by Abolitionists, and to have been unconsti- tutional in its character from the first, and to have been per- verted into a war for the negro. Even ex-Senator Allen goes about asking whether there would have been any war if there had been no Abolitionists, and the thick-pated butternuts clamor joyfully at the interrogatory, and repeat it as if it was the ker- nel of the whole matter, unanswerable, and the end of con- troversy. It is a good time to recur to the facts in the case — to the documents. CONCERNING ANTI- SLAVERY AGITATION. It has been asserted that the anti-slavery agitation in this country was injurious to the South, injured slave property, and. provoked the Southern people into an ungovernable rage. What is Southern testimony on this point? [From the Speech of Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, October 24, 1858.] " And what then [1833] was the state of opinion in the South ? Washington had emancipated his slaves. Jefferson had bitterly denounced the system, and had done all that he could to destroy it. Our Clays, Marshalls, Crawfords, and many other prominent Southern men, led off in the colonization scheme. The inevitable effect in the South was that she be- lieved slavery to be an evil, weakness, disgraceful — nay, a sin. She shrank from the discussion on it. She cowered under every threat. She attempted to apologize and excuse herself under the plea, which was true, that England had forced it upon her ; and, in fear and trembling, she awaited a doom that she believed to be inevitable. * * *, * * '0" Why, it would be difficult to find, now, a Southern man who feels the system to be the slightest burden to his conscience ; who does not, in fact, regard it as an equal advantage to the master and the slave, elevating both ; as wealth, strength, and power ; and, as one of the main pillars and controlling influ- ences of modern civilization, and who is not now prepared to maintain it at every hazard. Such have been the happy re- sults of this abolition discussion. * * * " For a quarter of a century it [slavery] has borne the brunt of a hurricane as fierce and pitiless as ever raged. At the North and in Europe they could have even let loose upon us all the dogs of war„ And how stands it now ? Why, in this very quarter of a century our slaves have doubled in numbers, and each slave has more than doubled in value." [From a speech by A. II. Stephens, of Georgia, July, 1859, on retiring {as he then supposed himself to be doing) from public life.-] ' " Nor am I of the number of those who believe that we have sustained any injury by those agitations. It is true, we were not responsible for them. We were not the aggressors. We acted on the defensive. We repelled assault, calumny, and aspersion, by argument, by reason and truth. But so far from the institution of African slavery in our section being weakened or rendered less secure by the discussion, my deliberate judg- ment is, that it has been greatly strengthened and fortified — strengthened and fortified not only to the opinions, convictions, and consciences of men, but by the action of the Government." CONCERNING THE PROPOSED COMPROMISE AFTER THE ELECTION OF LINCOLN. [From the speech of Mr. Iverson, Senator from Georgia, Decem- ber 5, 1860. Congressional Globe, Session 1860-61, part 1, commencing on page 10.] " Sir, before the 4th of March, before you inaugurate your President, there will be certainly five States, if not eight of them, that will be out of the Union and have framed a Consti- tution and form of Government for themselves. * * * You talk about concessions. You talk about repealing the Per- sonal Liberty Bills as a concession to the South. Repeal them all to-morrow, sir, and it would not stop this revolution. * * Nor do we suppose there will be any overt acts on the part of G Mr. Lincoln. For one, I do not dread these overt acts. I do not propose to wait for them." * * , . ■ * [From the speech of Robert Toombs, in the Senate of the United States, January 7, 1861. Congressional Globe, part 1, second session. Thirty-sixth Congress, page 267, third column of the page.'] " The Union, sir, is dissolved. That is an accomplished fact in the path of this discussion that men may as well heed. One of jour confederates has already wisely, boldly, bravely con- fronted public danger, and she is only ahead of many of her sisters because of her greater facility for speedy action. The greater majority of those sister States, under like circumstances, consider her cause as their cause, and I charge you in their name to day, ' Touch not Saguntum !' It is not only their cause, but it is a cause which receives the sympathy, and will receive the support, of tens and hundreds of thousands of honest, patriotic men in the non-slaveholding States. "I shall not spend much time on the question that seems to give my honorable friend [Mr. Crittenden] so much concern — the constitutional right of a State to secede from this Union. Perhaps he will find out after awhile that it is a fact accom- plished. Tou have got it in the South pretty much in both ways. South Carolina has given it to you regularly, according to the approved plan. You are getting it just below there [in Georgia], I believe, irregularly, outside of law, without regular action. You can take it either way. You will find armed men to defend both." THE AMERICAN FLAG FOUR TIMES FIRED UPON BEFORE TEE BOM- BARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER. The first time a hostile gun was fired at a vessel covered by the flag of the Union, in American waters, by American rebels, was on the 9th of January, 1861, when the Star of the West was fired upon from Morris Island. The spirit in which this was done may be learned from the following : [From the leading editorial, Charleston Mercury, January 10, 1861.] " She [South Carolina] has not hesitated to strike the first blow full in the face of her insulter. Let the United States Government bear or return, at their good will, the blow still tingling about their ears — the fruit of their own bandit temeri- ty. We ivotdcl not exchange or recall that blow for millions ! It has wiped out half a century of scorn and outrage ! Again, South Carolina may be proud of her historic fame and ancestry, without a blush upon her cheek for her own present honor. The haughty echo of her cannon has, ere this, reverberated from Maine to Texas, through every hamlet in the North, and down along the great waters of the Southwest." The effect of displaying the American flag on the Star of the West, is thus related by the Charleston Courier of January 10 : " A ball was fired athwart the bows of the steamer. The Star of the West displayed the stars and stripes. As soon as the flag was unfurled the fortification fired a succession of shots." The next case of artillery practice on American vessels was on the Mississippi river, at Yicksburg, the night of Sunday, January 13, 1861. The boat was the A. O. Tylor, of this city, Captain Collier. The artillery engaged was the Quitman Bat- tery, from Jackson. The fact that they were ordered to Vicks- burg, appeared in the following Associated Press dispatch : " Jackson, Miss., January 12, 1861. — Artillery was ordered to Yicksburg early this morning by the Governor to hail and question all passing boats." The full particulars of the firing and attempted firing upon the Tylor, were given in the Vicksburg papers with immense braggadocia at the time. They imagined they had just got out of the Union, having adopted the ordinance of secession on the 9th. The night of January 13th, 1861, was, in the latitude of Vicksburg, dark and rainy. The Quitman battery was planted 300 yards above the wharf-boat ! As the Tylor came along, un- suspecting evil, a shot was fired across her bows. The captain did not know what it meant ; supposed it was some political cele- bration. The Jackson artillerists had a twenty-four pounder ready, and when the Tylor did not heave to at the summons she did not understand, the Yicksburg Sun says : " The command was give*n to fire into her. The match was applied — the upper, portion of the priming powder (which we earn had just been put on) flashed, but the powder in the touch- 8 hole failed to burn, it having become moist or wet from the rain." That was the reason the boat was not iired into, and among her passengers were seven ladies. The artillerists primed again, but before they could train the gun on the boat, the Louisiana passed between the Tylor and the shore,, and by the time she was out of the way,, the Tylor was landing at the wharf-boat, as she had intended to do all along, and all on board were unconscious of danger until the landing was made, and the boat was boarded by the Mississippi soldiers. This was the amiable style in which the secessionists opened business on the Mississippi Kiver. They haven't any battery afc Vicksburg now to hail and question passing boats ! As soon as possible after the organization of the Confederate Government,, at Montgomery, the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Memminger, issued circulars ordering the establishment of a Custom-house at helms' Landing, on the Mississippi, the first landing below the Tennessee line, the State of Tennessee not then having seceded. Memminger's circulars were dated " Confederate States of America, Treasury Department, Mont- gomery, Alabama, February 6, 1861," and entitled : ^ " Circular of Instructions and Regulations relative to importa- tions from places above the Confederate States, by vessels navi- gating the Mississippi and other rivers." These circulars, which are lengthy, were published complete on the first page of the Daily Commercial, of March 22, 1861. They fill over two columns. The amount of it is the hot haste displayed by the rebels to levy tribute upon our commerce on the Mississippi River, or, as Mr. Memminger calls it officially in the body of his circulars, " The River Mississippi." The third case of firing on our vessels is recorded in the Savannah Republican of the 2d April, 18G1. On the Satur- day night previous to that date, the steamer George's 0ree& 9 Captain Willits, from Baltimore, was brought to below the city of Savannah. The Republican says : " Two balls were fired at her, one of which passed over her bow and the other over her stern." During the first week in April, 1861, a schooner was fired into in Charleston harbor. The following is a full account of the transaction : [From the Savannah Republican, April 5, 1861.] " The vessel fired into from the fort on Morris Island, has arrived at Savannah. The schooner is the JR. II. Shannon, Capt. Moutz, of Boston, and she was bound for this city, with a cargo of ice, consigned to A. Haywood. On Wednesday she was shrouded for many hours in a dense fog, during which she drifted, through mistake, over the Charleston bar. Soon after, the fog lifted. The Captain not knowing his whereabouts, found himself nearly abreast the fort on Morris Island, and while cogi- tating over his latitude and longitude, was greeted with a salute from the fort. He immediately ran up his colors — the stars and stripes— but that demonstration seemed an unsatisfactory answer to their summons. Several shot (32's) were fired into his rig- ging, one of which passed through his mainsail and one through his topsail. * * * The crew suffered no material damage from the shots, though one of them came most uncomfortably near the heads of the crew." HOW ANXIOUS THE SOUTHERN REBELS WERE FOR CONCILIATION. We select an article, a specimen of hundreds that appeared in the Southern papers at the time when the evacuation of Fort Sumter was being discussed in the North, and when the im- pression prevailed, North and South, that it would be evacu- ated, as a " military necessity." [From the Houston {Texas) Patriot, April 5, 1861. J " ' THE CHIVALRY ' HAS TRIUMPHED, AND THE NORTH ' EATS DIRT.' ******** " They have been forced to eat dirt, and bow down to the dominent Southern race, and their shrieks of rage are the only sounds heard from the North. Through the press ; from the workshop, from the starving masses ; from merchants ruined, from every trade and condition comes the cry, give up the forts ; let us eat dirt and live ; let us again bow to the superior race South ; let us live. The cowardly eighteen millions North told us we should not leave the Union. We did it openly and boldly, and they humbly acknowledged our Government as a necessity. They shouted the praises of the Stars and Stripes, and dared the chivalry to touch the sacred emblem. We have torn it down. We have placed in its stead the flag of the Con- 10 federate States- "We have dared tliem to coerce us, and resent the insult ; we have invited their vaunted numbers to the field, but the only cry that comes from the craven dogs is, military necessity, give up the forts, withdraw the troops, let us eat dirt and live. It is sickening to think of ever having lived in the same Government with such a people, but let us rejoice at our separation, and look Southward. The game North is beneath contempt, while Mexico invites us, by invasion of Texas, to re- enact our former achievements." THE SUMTER AFFAIR. The Charleston Courier, of April 4, 1861, has a report of a speech delivered by Senator "Wigfall, of Texas, to a serenad- ing party. General Beauregard, Governor Pickens, and other personages of the sort, were present. The following is a sen- tence of Wigfall's speech, as reported by the Courier, and it is full of the spirit which was master in Charleston then : " Whether Major Anderson shall be shelled out or starved out, is a question merely of expediency. The honor of South Carolina was vindicated when the flag of the United States was fired at, and it has remained vindicated, because they never have resented that shot." Let the reader mark every one of these words, for they need to be memorable ! "Wigfall told the truth as to Major Ander- son's situation. It was, with the Southern Confederates, "A QUESTION OF EXPEDIENCY," whether they would starve or shell out Major Anderson, and they deliberately chose to shell him out ; and the intent of the shelling was to precipitate the border slave States into the Southern Confederacy. The border States were tardy about going in. Virginia especially hung back. Her Convention contained a Union majority, and the Union men held their ground firmly, notwithstanding the howling mob that raved around the capitol of Virginia, led by such bloods as O. Jennings "Wise and Roger A. Pryor, threatening to punish the friends of the Union with sudden death. Pryor then represented the Petersburg (Va.) District in Congress. He proceeded to Charleston on a mission from the secessionists of Virginia to the South Carolinians, then in arms. 11 He arrived in Charleston on Wednesday, the 10th of April, 1S61, and stopped at the Charleston Hotel, where he was sere- naded in the evening, and made a speech, of which a verbatim report was published in the Charleston Mercury. He said he had come to tender to South Carolina " the tribute of his infinite admiration." He had never before, highly as he had estimated it, " appreciated the character of South Carolina in all its grandeur." There was no exhibition in history so morally sub- lime as that which she then presented. We quote from the Mercury's verbatim report : " Gentlemen, I thank you, especially that you have at last annihilated this accursed Union [applause], reeking with cor- ruption, and insolent with excess of tyranny. Thank God, it is at last blasted and riven by the lightning wrath of an outraged and indignant people. [Loud applause.] Not only is it gone, but gone forever. [Cries of ' You're right,' and applause.] In the expressive language of scripture, it is water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up. [Applause.] Like Lucifer, son of the morning, it has fallen, never to rise again. [Continued applause.] For my part, gentlemen, if Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to-morrow were to abdicate their offices and were to give me a blank sheet of paper to write the condition of reannexation to the defunct Union, I would scorn- ftdly spurn the overture. * * * * " * I invoke you, and I make it in some sort a personal ap- peal — personal so far as it tends to our assistance in Virginia — ■ I do invoke you, in your demonstrations of popular opinion, in your exhibitions of official intent, to give no countenance to this idea of reconstruction. [Many voices, emphatically, ' Never,' and applause.] In Virginia they all say, if reduced to the dread dilemma of this memorable alternative, they will espouse the cause of the South as against the interest of the Northern Confederacy, but they whisper of reconstruction, and they say Virginia must abide in the Union, with the idea of reconstruct- ing the Union which you have annihilated. I pray you, gen- tlemen, rob them of that idea. Proclaim to the world that upon no condition, and under no circumstance, will South Carolina ever again enter into political association with the Abolitionista of New England. [Cries of \ Never,' and applause.] " .Do not distrust Virginia. As sure as to-morrow's sun will rise upon us, just so sure will Virginia be a member of this Southern Confederation. [Applause.] And I will tell you, gentlemen, what will put her in the Southern Confederation in less than an hour by Shrewsbury clock — STKIKE A BLOW ! 12 [Tremendous applause.] The very moment that Wood is shed, old Virginia will make common cause with her sisters of the South. [Applause.] It is impossible she should do otherwise." And so Pryor discharged his mission. It mill be remembered that Wigfall, who, on the 4th, proclaimed the question of ex- pediency, and Pryor, who called for a blow, and begged for blood, figured as aids of General Beauregard in the attack upon Fort Sumter. Having determined that expediency demanded the shelling instead of the starving of Major Anderson out of Fort Sumter, that there must be a blow struck in order to take old Virginia out of the Union in an hour by Shrewsbury clock — that blood "was needed — Major Anderson was ordered to surrender Fort Sumter. He declined. A curious correspondence of great significance followed. The following communication — dated " Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A., April 11, 1861, 11 " P. M."— was sent by General Beauregard to Major Anderson : " Major, — In consequence of the verbal communication made by you to my aids, Messrs. Chestnut and Lee, in relation to the condition of your supplies, and that you would, in a few days, be starved out if our guns did not batter you to pieces" — Therefore, General Beauregard proposed that Anderson should state when his supplies would be exhausted ; and pre- tended to desire to spare the effusion of blood. Major Anderson replied under date of Fort Sumter, 2:30 A. M. } April 12, 1861 : " I will, if provided with the proper and necessary means of transportation, evacuate Fort Sumter by noon of the 15th in- stant, should I not receive, prior to that time, controlling in- structions from my Government or additional supplies." The following is the reply that Major Anderson received to this statement that he was on the point of starvation, and must within three days yield the fort : " April 12, 1861, 3:20 A. M. " Sir, — By authority of Brigadier-General Beauregard, com- manding the provisional forces of the Confederate States, we 13 have the honor to notify you that he will open the fire of his batteries upon Fort Sumter in one hour from this time. " We have the honor to be, " Very respectfully, " Your obedient servants, " James Chestnut, Jr., " Stephen D. Lee, " Capts. S. C. Army, and Aids-de-Camp." And the fire of the rebel batteries was opened accordingly. AFTER THE SUMTER BOMBARDMENT. The night after the surrender of Fort Sumter, Jeff. Davis and his cabinet were serenaded at Montgomery, and the Secre- tary of War, L. P. Walker, of Alabama, uttered these well- known words : "No man could tell where the war commenced this day would end, but he would prophesy that the flag which now flaunts the breeze here, would float over the dome of the old Capitol at Washington before the first of May." These words were uttered before any action had been taken by the President of the United States. It was a direct and official threat that the Capitol of the United States would be taken by the rebels. In what spirit this was received in rebel- dom, will be seen in the following extracts of papers of the day: [From the Richmond Enquirer, April 13, 1861.] " Attention, Volunteers ! — Nothing is more probable than that President Davis will soon march an army through North Carolina and Virginia to Washington. Those of our volunteers who decide to join the Southern army as it shall pass through our borders, had better organize at once for that purpose, and keep their arms, accoutrements, uniforms, ammunition, and knapsacks in constant readiness." We remember the above paragraph well, as it appeared at the head of the leading editorial column of the Kichmond En- quirer. 14: [From the New Orleans Picayune, April 18.] "The first fruits of a Virginia secession will be the removal of Lincoln and his cabinet, and whatever he can carry away to the safer neighborhood of Harrisburg or Cincinnati — perhaps to Buffalo or Cleveland." [From the Richmond Examiner, April 28.] "There never was half the unanimity among the people - be- fore, nor a tithe of the zeal upon any subject, that is now mani- fested to take Washington. From the mountain tops and valleys to the shores of the sea, there is one wild shout of fierce resolve to capture Washington City at all and every human hazard." [From the Goldsboro (N. C.) Tribune, April 24.] " We understand that Duncan K. McRae, Esq., who came here last night, bears a special order for one regiment of North Carolina troops to march to the city of Washington. They are to be ready in forty-eight hours from the notice. * * * It makes good the words of Secretary Walker at Montgomery in regard to the Federal metropolis. It transfers the lines of battle from the Potomac to the Pennsylvania border." [From the Raleigh [N. 0). Standard, April 24.] " North Carolina could send her full quota of troops to unite in the attack on Washington City. Our streets are alive with soldiers and officers, many of the latter being here to tender their companies to the Governor. Washington City will soon be too hot to hold Abraham Lincoln and his Government. North Carolina has said it, and she will do all she can to make good her declaration." [From the Eufala {Alabama) Express, April 25.] " With independent Virginia on one side, and the secession- ists of Maryland (who are doubtless in the majority) on the other, our policy at this time should be to seize the old Federal capital, and take Lincoln and his Cabinet prisoners of war. Once get the heads of the Government in our power, and we can demand any terms we see fit, and thus perhaps avoid a long and bloody contest." HOW VIRGINIA WAS PUT OUT OF THE UNION. It will be remembered that after Pryor's blow had been struck at Charleston — the blow that was to take old Virginia 15 out of the Union in an hour — the Convention of Virginia, in- timidated by the mob, adopted an ordinance of secession, sub- ject to the approval of the people at the polls. Then it was in- stantly the game of the secessionists to prevent a fair expression of the popular will. A letter from Senator Mason — J. M. Mason, now in England — dated Winchester, Virginia, May 16, 1861, and published in the Winchester Virginian of May 22, 1861, is a complete exposure of the whole plot. The letter was in answer to the question which, he said, had been repeatedly put to him — " What position will Virginia occupy should the Ordinance of Secession be rejected by the people at the approaching elec- tion?" He said : "The Ordinance of Secession withdrew the State from the Union, with all the .consequences resulting from separation. * * * For mutual defence, immediately after the ordinance of secession passed, a treaty or military league was formed by the Convention, in the name of the people of Virginia, with the Confederate States of the South, by which the latter were bound to march to the aid of our State, against the invasion of the Federal Government, and we have now in Virginia, at Harper's Ferry, and at Norfolk, in face of the common foe, several thousand of the gallant sons of South Carolina, of Ala- bama, of Louisiana, of Georgia, and Mississippi." He proceeded to argue that if the State remained in the Union, the troops from other States must be surrendered to the United States authorities. And, in conclusion, he put in a brief paragraph a full exposure of the modus operandi of se- cession. Thus : " If it be asked, What are those to do who, in their con- sciences, cannot vote to separate Virginia from the United States, the answer is simple and plain : Honor and duty alike require that they should not vote on the question ; if they re- tain such opinions, they must leave the State." So the pretended submission of the Ordinance of Secession to the people was a farce. The Richmond mob, and the other mobs, put the " Sovereign People" of the " Sovereign State," under their feet. If a citizen did not want secession, he must leave the State. He had no business to vote against it. 16 THE ALLEGED CHANGE IN THE CHARACTER OF THE WAR. We hear a great deal about the change in the character of the war. The following General Order of General Beauregard, issued more than a month before the battle of Bull Run, seems to be about as vehement a statement of the bad character of the war as has ever been made since : " Headq'es Department of Alexandria, ) Camp Pickens, June 5, 1861. J "A reckless and unprincipled enemy has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless of all moral, legal and constitu- tional restraint, has thrown his abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and imprisoning your citizens, and confiscating and destroying your property, committing other acts of violence and outrage too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enumerated. All rules of civilized warefare are abandoned, and they proclaim by their acts, if not by their banners, that their war-cry is booty and beauty. All that is dear to man — your honor and that of your wives and daughters — your fortunes and your lives — are involved in this momentous contest * * " G. T. Beauregard, " Brigadier General Commanding. " Official : Thos. Jordan, Acting Assistant Adjutant General." The Democratic party, we are told, are now opposing the war in consequence of " the change in its character." The following paragraph was published some time before the Crit- tenden Resolutions were heard of: [From the Dayton Empire, Saturday, April 15, 18G1.] "The Cincinnati Commercial wants Ohio to furnish ten thousand men at once. It says that this is not now a question of party. Of course not; this is the old cry whenever the Democracy is to be sold out. The Commercial will have a good, time getting these ten thousand men. We hope every Democrat in the Legislature will vote steadily against a dollar or a man. Wo have had nothing to do with bringing on the civil war, and we don't mean to do the fighting." The Dayton Empire was, at the date of this paragraph, the home organ of Mr. Vallandigham. It is not unlikely that he wrote the article. So it would appear the Vallandigham Democrats in Ohio commenced precisely at the point "not a man or a dollar" — recently the platform of the sneaking traitors in Kentucky. 60 "> '♦ ^ v % •*•»* ^ a? ••H'# *> V •1"°* ^ o°*.^&.°o j*.ti&X *♦.;&&% /^ ^ °Jlilr ^ «: ^ oil*" o **> ,.«•»•• ^ ,0* o^V I BOOKBINDING I Cram,, lie Pa I -J^ . • W ' ' ■» ^6 ,0 ° " * • ^>> 45°^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS II I ill 012 047 364 5