i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ( 013 703 198 A • Hollinger pH8.5 Mill Run F3.1955 t SENATE (EXTRA SESSION.) No. 1. ^ '«424 ADDRESS HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN A. ANDREW TO THE TWO BHANCHES OF THE legislature d glassaeljusetts, NOVEMBER 11, 1865. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS No. 4 Spring Lane. 18 63. /^- t- Sic •OS' /^' ADDRESS. Gentlemen of the Senate^ and of the House of Representatives : In view of the fact that the term of service of a part of the volunteer forces of the United States will expire during the coming year, and that theu' places have not been supplied by the result of the recent draft the President of the United States has issued his proclamation, under date of October 17, 1863, calling upon the Governors of the several States to raise and have enlisted into the national service, for the various companies and regiments in the field, from then* respective States, their quotas of three hundred thousand men ; and also proclaiming, that, if any State shall fail to raise the contingent assigned to it by the War Department under this call, then a di-aft for the deficiency thereof shall be made on the State, or on the enrolment districts of the State, for their due proportion of that number of men, which draft shall commence on the fifth day of January, 186-4. The contingent of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts under this call has been fixed by the War 4 GOVERNOR'S xVDDRESS. [Ex. Sess., Department at fifteen thousand one hundred and tiventy- six. This number is exclusive of any deficiencies under the recent draft of 1863 ; and the War Depart- ment has informed me that no draft will be made in January next, should the amount of this contingent be raised before that time by voluntary enlistment. But if a draft should become necessary through a failure to enlist the full number, it may be ordered to be executed not only to supply the numbers deficient under the present requisition, but also to include all prior and existing deficiency with which we may be charged by the Depailment of War. Such di-aft will be made in proportion to the eiu'olment of men in the fii'st class liable to draft, made by the United States Provost Marshals in the several congressional districts of the Commonwealth. To aid in the recruitment, the Secretary of War has offered to all persons who have served for a period of not less than nine months a bounty of $-402, of which $75, — includmg the pay of one month, — will be paid in advance. To new recruits a bounty of $302 is offered, of which the same amount will be i)aid in ad- vance, on their enlistment to go into old regiments in the field. Each volunteer, on his enlistment, will elect for himself the regiment he will enter. The national bounty offered to those who have served nine 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 5 months or more will be paid to them, whether they enlist into the veteran regiments and companies now organizing in this State or into old regiments in the field ; but the bounty to new recruits will be paid to those only who go into old regiments or companies now in the field. It will be remembered that, at the last session of the legislature a law wns enacted (chapter 91 of the Acts of 1863,) which is now in force, forbidding the payment of any bounty by the municipal governments of this Commonwealth. A bounty of fifty dollars each, to be paid by the governor to persons enlist- ing as Massachusetts volunteers, was provided for by the same statute, but no other or larger bounty is allowed to be paid under the laws of this Common- wealth. By another statute, passed by the same legis- lature, (chapter 122,) cities and towns were prohibited from votmg or appropriating any money to reheve or discharge men who should be di-afted ; and municipal officers were forbidden, under penalty of fine or im- prisonment, from paying any money belonging to their municipalities for that purpose, or for any bounty or gratuity to any volunteer or drafted man, except such as were authorized by existing laws. The aggregate bounty, which, under existing laws and regulations, can be paid to volunteers now. 6 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., enlisting, at the time of their enhstment, is $^50 by the State and $75 by the United States, of which snm the one month's advance pay of $13 forms a part. By a circular issued from the Office of the Provost Marshal General, in the War Depai'tment, under date of October 28, 1863, it is announced that the boun- ties, premiums and advance pay will be paid to all persons who may be accepted as recruits, in accord- ance therewith, in the following manner, viz. : — To every recruit who is a veteran volunteer, that is, every able-bodied man, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, who has heretofore been enlisted, and has served for not less than nine months, and can pass the surgical examination re- quired by the mustering regulations of the United States, one month's pay in advance, and a bounty and premium amounting to f -102, as follows : — 1. At tlic general rendezvous, and before leaving the same to join his regiment or company, one month's pay in advance, . . . $13 00 First instahncnt of bounty, . . . . 60 00 Premium, . . . . . . . 2 00 Total pay before leaving general rendezvous, $75 00 [This will be paid in cash, or checks for transmittal, in whole or in part, as the man may desire.] n 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 2. At the first regular pay-day, or two months after muster-in, an additional instalment of bounty, 150 00 3. At the first regular pay-day after six months' service, an additional instalment of bounty, 50 00 4. At the first regular pay-day after the end of the first year's service, an additional instal- ment of bounty, ..... 50 00 5. At the first regular pay-day after eighteen months' service, an additional instalment of bounty, 50 00 6. At the first regular pay-day after two years' service, an additional instalment of bounty, 50 00 7. At the first regular pay-day after two and a half years' service an additional instalment of bounty, 50 00 8. At the expiration of three years' service, or to any soldier who may be honorably dis- charged after two years' service, the remain- der of the bounty will be paid, ... 40 00 All of the above payments of bounty will be in addition to the regular monthly pay of thirteen dollars per month. To all other recruits, not veterans, accepted and enlisted as aforesaid, one month's pay in advance, and in addition, a bounty and premium amounting to $302, will be paid, as follows : — 1. At the general rendezvous and before leaving the same to join his regiment or company, the recruit will be paid one month's pay in advance, . . . . . ,. . $13 00 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., First instalment of bounty, .... $60 • 00 Premium, 2 00 Total pay before leaving general rendezvous, $75 00 [To be paid in cash or checks for transmittal, in whole or in part, as the recruit may desire.] 2. At the first regular pay-day or two months after muster-in, an additional instalment of bounty will be paid, $40 00 3. At the first regular pay-day after six months' service, in addition to his pay, he shall be paid an additional instalment of bounty, . 40 00 4. At the first regular pay-day after the end of the first year's service, in addition to his pay, an additional instalment of bounty will be paid, . " 40 00 5. At the first regular pay-day after eighteen months' service, in addition to his pay, an additional instalment of bounty will be paid, 40 00 6. At the first regular pay-day after two ye?irs' service, in addition to his pay, an additional instalment of bounty will be paid, . . 40 00 7. At the expiration of three years' service, or to any soldier who may be honorably dis- charged after two years' service, the remain- der of the bounty will be paid, . . . 40 00 If the government shall not require these troops for the full period of three years, and tbey shall be honorably mus- tered out of the service before the expiration of their term of enlistment, they will receive, upon being mustered out, tlic whole amount of bounty remaining unpaid, the same as 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 9 if the full term had been served. The legal heirs of recruits who die in service will be entitled to receive the whole bounty remaining unpaid at the time of the soldier's death. If the recruit continues in service for three years, the monthly pay of $13, and the bounty received as aforesaid, will amount, when averaged over the whole term of service : For veteran volunteers, per month, to . . $24 90 For other soldiers, not veterans, per month, . 21 30 If discharged at the end of two years, the pay and bounty received will be at the following rates : For veteran volunteers, per month, . . . 129 70 For other soldiers not veterans, per month, . 25 50 If honorably mustered out in less than two years, as not being required, the monthly rate of compensation will become increased, as the term of service is diminished. In addition to this, the volunteer is furnished with his rations, clothing, and medical attendance, and is paid in cash for such part of his allowance of clothing as he does not draw. Men enlisted under this Order will be permitted to select their own regiments, which however, must be old regiments in the field, excepting in the cases of those veterans who enlist in veteran organizations, and with the further exception that other new recruits, while they may, if they choose to do so, enlist in the veteran regiments, the provi- sions of this Order in respect to bounties will not be enjoyed by them. It has been represented to me by officers engaged in the recruiting service, as well as by many citizens 2 10 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., and magistrates, that these bounties do not offer sufficient pecuniary inducements to enable the re- quired number to be raised within the two months which scarcely remain to us. At the request of several municipal governments, and of divers pat- riotic and public spirited people of the Common- wealth, I have therefore called together the General Court for the single and special purpose of devising means to secure the contingent of volunteers assigned to Massachusetts, and to take such action in the premises as in its wisdom may be found expedient. With the present rewards of peaceful industry at home, and the expenditure requu*ed for the support of families left behmd them, it is believed that both the pay of a soldier and these proposed bounties com- bined, do not afford a sufficient pecuniary compensa- tion to attract volunteers in numbers large enough for the public need. And while I hold that the service of our Country in the field, in support of her rights and liberties, against her enemies in war, is of inesti- mable honor, and is incomparable with all rewards of pecuniary or material advantage, 1 am none the less convinced that the burdens incident to that service should be equitably shart d by all classes and members pf the whole community : — since all alike must share 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 11 in its benefits and will profit alike by the triumphs of the National arms. I cordially agree, therefore, with all those who advise such additional legislation as will better dis- tribute pecuniary burdens, alleviating them so far as they bear upon the soldier and his family, and equita- bly distributing their weight upon the people and the property of the Commonwealth. But, I venture respectfully to urge upon every mind the considera- tion that we ought not to legislate singly and only with a view to a present, technical, formal supply of our contingent. With the eye of patriotic statesmanship, we are bound to survey the whole field of present and future duty and responsibility. We must remember that the national cause is our own cause, its armies are our own armies, the men whom we are summoned to remforce are our own loyal, patriotic, brave and devot- ed brethren, to whose persistent valor it is due, under the blessing of God, that there is preserved to us a cause and a country, and that her symbolic ensign waves to-day over so many a scene of triumph dearly bought. We want not merely recruits, but men for the war ; not mercenaries, but patriotic soldiers ; men to whom the service means duty and honor for 12 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., themselves, happiness and welfare for their- children hereafter to the latest generation. I am not of opinion, regarding the matter in the light of experience or of the wisdom of men in other affairs, that any increase of the bounty in hand of $125 now due to the volunteer, paid in advance, is the measure needful or even desu'able for the procure- ment of real soldiers and honest service. Something is needed by many men to leave behind them at the moment of departure ; something to stock, the family supplies and to secure to them immediate and a certain independence from petty wants and cares. And that is already offered. But, it remains to propose to the soldier a compensation to be based upon the service actually rendered in the army, reasonably proportioned to the rewards of peaceful industry at home. This, I think, is what he wiU ask. No less than this ought he to be required to accept. And when this is pro- posed by the government, I cannot doubt that the liberal equity of its offer for the procurement of volunteers and for the avoidance of a draft, will be felt to illustrate the justice of its inexorable demands for reinforcements, according to the exigencies of the war, whenever they may occur hereafter. I am prepared, therefore, to assist in committing the Commonwealth to a policy of the payment of 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 13 regular wages to the Massachusetts volunteers, m addition to all other pay, allowances, bounties and advantages hitherto enjoyed Nor would I restrict the offer to those only who may enlist as a part of this new contingent. I would include all future recruits, and I would emphatically include all those enlisted men belonging to any of the Massachusetts regiments or batteries who may, under the authority of the President, reenlist for an addi- tional term. All volunteers having less than one year to serve, under the present enlistments, are authorized by orders from the Department of War to reenlist themselves in their original regiments, on the footing of veterans, for another period of three years, unless sooner discharged, such new term to begin forthwith. I hold it to be not only of grand importance to secure the existence of these war-worn regiments while the war shall last, and especially the services of these tried and brave old soldiers who compose them, but it would be only an act of grateful justice to proffer them the utmost advantages. ». Indeed, I cannot feel that it becomes the people of Massachusetts, at this period of the war, to act as if conscious only of the presence of an impending draft, and with a view only to its prevention. Gratitude, manliness, and honor, alike concui' with what I regard as the statesmanlike \ 14 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., policy of the situation, to encourage those meritorious and deserving, men to renew then* engagement to the military service. I have detailed thus carefully the facts and the figures, and have suggested in brief the argument illustrating the existing emergency in which originated this convocation of the General Court, in order that members may possess them, so far as they m ere at my own command, compactly arranged, and without the necessity of search. Gentlemen, the President of the United States de- mands a new recruitment of the army of the Union. And it must be had. Massachusetts is summoned to sujDply her proper contingent. She cannot falter and she will not fail. Three hundred thousand men added now to the National Ai'mies, skilfully distributed and led, marching in *aid of the forces already in the field, would sweep the rebellion from the face of the earth. Our columns fallmg on the enemy akeady conscious of his waning power, and barely delaying us now at Charleston, on the Rapidan, at Chattanooga ; incapa- ble — by lack of the population — to furnish soldiers to recruit agam his own wasting ranks, would crush out by their very weight and momentum every organized form of resistance. Rich in material resources, pros- perous even in the midst of war, strong in hope and 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 15 courage, and immensely superior in numerical force, the loyal people of the United States need only to avail themselves of this tide in thek aifairs to restore • almost at a blow the fortunes of the Republic, and to vindicate the inevitable supremacy of the National power. I have felt it my duty, freely and without reserve, to declare the impressions which reflection and expe- rience have made upon my own mind, touching the policy and the methods which the subject and its attending interests seem to recommend. I submit them, Gentlemen, to your judgment, confident that the conclusions at which you will arrive will be those of patriotic and wise men. " < I have not even suggested the possible alternative of municipal bounties. They are open to manifest objec- tions, too well appreciated by the present Legislature to require them to be exposed or stated. The " Act to provide for the reimbursement of bounties paid to Volunteers, and to apportion and assess a tax there- for," (chapter 218 of the Acts of 1863,) I assume to have established a policy in this regard from which the present General Court will not be disposed to depart. Regretting the necessity of imposing on the mem- bers of the General Court the duty of assembling at this unusual season, I beg leave to suggest that the 16 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., result of its deliberations will in great part depend for its value on the time within which that result is reached and promulgated. Had any interpretation of the powers of the Executive Department permitted, I would cheerfully have encountered any degree of responsibility for the purpose of avoiding to the Com- monwealth the expense, to the Senators and Repre- sentatives the inconvenience, and to the enlistment service the postponement, unavoidably incident to the necessity of resorting to an extraordinary session of the* Legislature. Gentlemen, — One other subject only claims consid- eration at the present moment. It is kindi'ed to that which is the special object of the session. It is the just payment, — according to their enlistment and their rights as soldiers, — of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth regiments of Massachusetts Volunteers. To my own mind, the right of these men, under the existing statutes, to the lawful pay and allowances of ^■olun- teers is demonstrably clear. But if it is doubtful, it is agreed, I believe, in all quarters, that it will be the duty and the pleasure of Congress to embrace an early opportunity to prevent, by positive legislation, the continuance of that doubt. Meantime I must embrace the earliest occasion to invoke the Legislature 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. ' 17 of Massachusetts to render justice to the men of these regiments, beyond the possibiUty of a doubt, by the appropriation of the needful means out of our own treasury, until the National Congress or the Executive Department shall correct the error. The employment of colored men as soldiers, usually regarded at the formation of these regiments as a mere experiment, has now become of universal acceptation. To the good conduct in camp, the pro- ficiency in drill, the aptness to learn, the cheerful, the enthusiastic and persistent valor of these colored volunteers of Massachusetts, is due, in the largest measure, the existing confidence of the people in the capacity of colored American soldiers, and the favor with which they are welcomed throughout the army. I have the most authoritative testimony that " your (our) infantry regiments }iav)e settled the question of the colored man s fitness for infantry service." But I remember with burning shame, that the men of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, who held the right of the advance on that terrible night of the 18th of July, in the assault on Fort Wagner, — ^led by that gallant young American,* whose spotless life, whose chivalrous character, and whose heroic death, there is no marble white enough to commemorate, — that these * Colonel Robert G. Shaw. 3 18 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sesa., men, wearing the uniform of the National army, car- rying the flag of the Union and the colors of Massachu- setts, accepted, sworn, and mustered into the volun- teer service, as a part of the contingent force of our own Commonwealth ; who have made a name for their race as enduring as history, and have fought as none others could have better fought ; — yes, A'S'ith burnmg shame, I daily remember, that these men — soldiers as they are — are denied the wages of soldiers, and are put off with the ton dollars per month, clothing included, prescribed for all man- ner of uninspected, unenlisted persons of African descent, who are employed under an exceptional statute, for whatever service they may be found competent. I think there can be no proposition of law more clear than this, viz. : that colored men are competent to be enlisted into the regular army of the United States, into the volunteer army of the United States, mto the navy of the United States, and to be employed in any arm of either service. The Mihtary Enlistment law of 1B14 required only that the recruit shall be a " free, effective, able bodied man, between the ages of eighteen and fifty years." (See Act of December 10, 1814.) It did not require a man to be under forty-five, nor a citizen, nor white, 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 19 in which three respects, it differs from the old Mihtia Act. The Naval Act of 1813 is not less clear. The Act of Congress, entitled " An Act more effectually to provide for the national defence, by establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States," required the enrolment of " each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States." This is the "first Militia Act. It was passed May 8, 1792. The Act passed on the 30th April, 1790, entitled " An Act for regulating the military establishment of the United States," requires " that the non-commis- sioned officers and privates shall, at the time of their enlistment, respectively, be able-bodied men, not under five feet six inches in height, without shoes ; nor under the age of eighteen, nor above the age of forty-six years." The Act of March 3d, 1795, preserves the same description, and in the same words. The Act of March 16th, 1802, "fixing the military peace establishment of the United States," and the Act of March, 1815, with a similar title, seem to requii-e the recruit to be an " efifective, able-bodied citizen of the United States, between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years." None of the Acts of Congress, however, exclude men from the army for color or extraction, though 20 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., some of them appear to do so, for want of citizenship. But the native-bom American is a citizen, whatever may be his complexion or descent. The prejudices of slavery which used to deny citi- zenship to the man of color, have been recently over- ruled by the opmion of the present Attorney-General of the United States, so that, if want of citizenship could have been an obstacle, that obstacle is -removed. If there were any necessary analogy, (which there is not,) between the eni'olment of the militia and the Acceptance of volunteers, then chapter 201 of the Acts of 18G'2 would remove that obstacle,, since the word "white," by that Act of Congress ceases to charac- terize the militia-man. And, in order that no possi- bility of doubt might ever exist in the mmd of even the most hesitant student of the law, it is pro\ided m the lltli section of the 195th chapter, Acts of 1862, " that the President of the United States is authorized to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the suppression of the rebellion, and for this purpose he may organize AND USE THEM in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare." This Act was unnecessary, because the President, in the laws authorizing him to accept Volunteers^ was 7iever restricted to the acceptance of white men, ^// 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 21 nor citizens, nor even, as I have before shown, was he Hmited to white men in the recruitment of the regular army. So that a man of African descent was as ehgible, even before this last enactment, to be a soldier, if he chose to enlist, and the President chose to accept him, as he was to be punished for crime if convicted. The only restriction upon the right of the President to accept black soldiers being, as I have before stated, merely the limitation (now obsolete) to white militia- men, it follows that the argument which would have precluded the President from accepting colored volun- teers, even before the 195th chapter of the Acts of 1862, would have prevented punishing a black man for crime : for if the laws did not expressly declare that a man of African descent could be enlisted as a soldier, neither did they declare that he might be hanged for piracy. But, under the 11th section of the 195th chapter of the Acts of 1862, the President is specifically authorized to employ persons of African descent, " and for this purpose he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare." Now, colored soldiers enlisted and organized in any manner, which would be legal, had they been white, under the President's orders. 22 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., or by officers serving under the President, who shall actually render service pursuant to their enlistment, are entitled to the pay which pertains to their rank and grade. Such a soldier disobeying the lawful orders of his superiors, would be punished according to the law martial, even to the infliction of the penalty of death, for cowardice before the enemy. Nor would he be permitted to plead his color as excuse for his offence. But what is the compensation fixed by law for members of volunteer organizations ? The answer is found in the 6th section of the 9th chapter Acts of 1861, and is expressed in these words: "That the officers, non-commissioned officers and ])rivates, or- ganized as above set forth, shall, in all respects^ be placed on the footing, as to tay and allowances, of similar corps of the Regular Army." A certain proviso in this section concerning the clothing allow- ance, applying to all volunteers, does not affect the argument. And, by the 63d chapter of the Acts of 1861, the pay of a private is fixed at $13 per month. I am advised that the colored soldiers of South Carolina, under ]\Iajor-General Hunter, were at fu'st paid without diminution of their wages. I learn from Major-Gencral Butler that such also were the orders concerning the colored Louisiana Volunteers, while 1863.] SENATE— No. 1. 23 he remained in the Department of the Gulf. I am informed that, in the Navy, there is and has been, no objection to paying its men, irrespective of color, according to the grade of their employment. And, even m the army, colored men acting in the capacity of stevedores and as employees of the Quartermaster's or of the Ordnance departments, are paid according to the value of their services, and sometimes even at the rate of one dollar by the day. I have stated the legal argument and also these additional facts because both the facts as well as the argument encourage the confident belief that this anomalous treatment of the colored, volunteers will not and cannot long continue. Meanwhile, I earnestly recommend the General Court, in simple justice to our own soldiers, and for the honor of the Commonwealth, to authorize the payment, reckoning from the date of their muster into the service of the United States, to all the enlisted men of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Regiments, of that portion of the lawful monthly pay of United States Volunteers which has been or may be refused them by the Paymasters of the United States. 24 GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. [Ex. Sess., »63. Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Represeutatives : I congratulate you and the people of the Com- monwealth on the happy omens, seen in the progress of our arms, in. the quality of the pubHc opinion, and in the tenacity of its patriotism, which auspicate the lasting glory of Our CouxNtiiy. '• We must forget all feelinprs save the one; We must resign all passions save our purpose ; yVii must behold no object save our country, And only look on death as beautiful, So that the sacrifice ascend to Heaven And draw down freedom on her evenDore.** LIBRARY OF CONGRESS V.:^^::^^ "•ihCit