1864 March 19: General McClellan and Kentucky Neutrality, Plus a “phrenological reminiscence” of McClellan

We are missing the March 26, 1864, issue of  The Prescott Journal, and that issue of The Polk County Press has only small articles, so we will be printing several more items from the March 19th issues.

The first article is from The Polk County Press of March 19, 1864; the second from The Prescott Journal of the same date.  Later in 1864, General George B. McClellan will be the Democratic candidate for president, running against Abraham Lincoln.  Right now many of the newspapers supporting Lincoln and the Union party consider him to be a front-runner for the nomination and are already beginning to attack his record.

From The Polk County Press:

Important Omission in McClellan’s Report—
His Idea of a Complete Civil and Military Policy.
(From the Cincinnati Gazette.)

When the General took the command at Washington, and had succeeded legitimately to General Scott’s [Winfield Scott] torpid anaconda, he issued wise instructions to the various commanders round the circumference.  In his general order to General Buell [Don Carlos Buell] in regard to Kentucky, he wrote:  “It is possible that the conduct of our political affairs in Kentucky is more important than that of our military operations.  I cannot overestimate the importance of the former.”

It will be noticed throughout Gen. McClellan’s report that he conceived he had a special mission in political affairs.  His genius for political affairs had a good foundation on the negative pregnant that he had tried other things, and had found nothing adapted to his genius.  When he had held his army helplessly astride the Chickahominy, where is was disabled from attack, and divided to be attacked alternately on the right and left bank of the river, and when he had sacrificed his campaign, and withdrawn his shattered army to Harrison’s Landing, sacrificing his army stores and the costly equipment of that army, leaving thousands of sick and wounded to the tender mercies of the enemy, and disengaging Lee’s army for an invasion of the North [Robert E. Lee], the first thing he did was to sit down and write a letter to the President, to lay out for him “a civil and military policy covering the whole grounds of our national trouble,” and a way “of directing the whole course of national affairs in regard to the rebellion.”

But while the General-in-Chief impressed on Gen. Buell that the conduct of the political policy in Kentucky was most important, he neglected to lay down in any clear manner that political policy suited to the latitude of Kentucky.  Nor did he give to Gen. Buell the political and military policy that he had established for Kentucky.  To supply this important omission, and to correct some of the imperfections of the report as a history, and to show his capacity to lay out a comprehensive political policy to cover the whole ground of our national trouble, even if his military performance had not negatively established it, we reproduce the treaty between Gen. McClellan, on the part of the United States, and Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, on the part of Gov. Beriah McGoffin [sic],¹ which established the celebrated Kentucky neutrality, and made that State a barrier against the national forces, gave up Tennessee to rebel conquest, placed the Confederacy in quiet possession of the Mississippi river below Cairo, made Kentucky a recruiting ground and supply country for the rebels, and left it to be carried into the rebellion by the machinations and violence of the Secessionists.

This treaty was published at the time, and was never authentically denied.  Having been authoritatively published to the people of Kentucky as a treaty, an authoritative repudiation by General McClellan would have been required by good faith if it was not binding.  But it was acknowledged by being allowed to stand, and to bind the Kentucky people and Confederacy without denial.  Besides the military convenience it gave the Confederacy, it goes the whole length of the doctrine of the right of a State to separate herself from the nation, and to take sides in a secession, or to stand neutral until she gets ready to decide.  We reproduce it as one of the curiosities in the history of this war, and particularly of that most wonderful part of it, the McClellan reign, and as showing General McClellan’s ideas of a complete comprehensive, civil and military policy, which shall cover the whole ground of the controversy.

HEADQUARTERS KENTUCKY STATE GUARD, }
LOUISVILLE, June 10, 1861. }

Sir :—On the 8th instant, at Cincinnati, Ohio, I entered into an arrangement with Major General George B. McClellan, Commander of the United States troops in the States north of the Ohio river, to the following effect :

The authorities of the State of Kentucky are to protect the United States property within the limits of the State, to enforce the laws of the of the United States in accordance with the interpretations of the United States Courts, as far as those laws may be applicable to Kentucky, and to enforce with all the power of the State our obligations of neutrality as against the Southern States, as long as the position we have assumed shall be respected by the United States.

General McClellan stipulates that the territory of Kentucky shall be respected on the part of the United States, even though the Southern States should occupy it ;  but in the latter case he will call upon the authorities of Kentucky to remove the Southern forces from our territory.  Should Kentucky rail [fail?] to accomplish this object in a reasonable time, General McClellan claims the right of occupancy given the Southern forces.  I have stipulated in that case to advise him of the inability of Kentucky to comply with her obligations, and to invite him to dislodge the Southern forces.  He stipulates that if successful in so doing, he will withdraw his forces from the territory of the State, as soon as the Southern forces shall be removed.

This, he assures me, is the policy which he will adopt toward Kentucky.

Should the Administration hereafter adopt a different policy, he is to give me timely notice of the fact.

The well known character of General McClellan is a sufficient guarantee for the fulfillment of every stipulation on his part.³

I am, sir, very respectfully,
.  .   .  .  .Your obedient servant,
.  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  .S. B. BUCKNER,
.  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  ..  .   .  .  .Inspector General.

To his Excellency, B. Magoffin, Frankfort, KY.

From The Polk County Press:

A Bump-er to McClellan.

In a recent lecture in Maine, Fowler, the Phrenologist,² ralated [sic] the following phrenological reminiscence of “Little Mac :”

The father of George B. McClellan and himself were “old cronies,” as he expressed it ;  he often came into his office to listen to his examinations, and when, once on a time, the lad George was home from West Point the father brought his two sons to have their characters phrenologically descanted upon—Says Mr. Fowler :  “I remember all the circumstances as if it were but yesterday, and I remember the train of reasoning that then passed through my mind.”  “Never” with great emphasis, “never, in all my life, had I found such an inordinate development of the organ of “caution” as in the head of Geo. B. McClellan.  I also found the propelling faculties, combativeness and destructiveness, small, and I thought to myself, what is the sense or reason of sending such a natural coward to West Point!”

“But then I reasoned that there would probably never be any war to call for military genius and West Point might as well educate the cowards as any other institution.”  He said that his life had only proved his early convictions, and referring to the great seven days’ battle, related that a personal family friend was then in Richmond, and the plan of the battle was well known.  Lee said, “I know McClellan for a natural coward, and if I draw every available man from Richmond, and hurl our whole force upon his right wing he will not dare to move his left!”  He did so, and proved that he truly did know his adversary ;  for though McClellan could have swung his left wing over Richmond, he only sent forward a corporal’s guard to reconnoiter, and the golden opportunity was passed by.”

Fowler’s “Numbered divisions of the brain”³

1.  Beriah Magoffin (1815-1885) was the 21st governor of Kentucky (1859-August 1862). He was a states’ rights advocate, including the right of a state to secede from the Union, and he personally sympathized with the Confederate cause. But when the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a neutrality position, Magoffin ardently adhered to it, refusing calls for aid from both the Union and Confederate governments. Unable to provide effective leadership due to a hostile legislature, Magoffin agreed to resign as governor in 1862.
2.  Orson Squire Fowler (1809-1887) wrote and lectured on phrenology, preservation of health, popular education, and social reform, between 1834 and 1887.
Phrenology is a pseudoscience focused on measurements of the human skull and the skull’s bumps—hence the title of this article. Phrenology involved observing and/or feeling the skull to determine an individual’s psychological attributes. Phrenological thinking was influential in 19th-century psychiatry.
3.  From Orson S. Fowler’s Phrenological Chart (Baltimore, 1836).

1864 March 19: Colonel Streight’s Account of Rebel Treatment of Union Prisoners

The following is from the March 19, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

Rebel Treatment of Union Prisoners.

Col. STRAIGHT [sic: Streight],¹ who recently escaped from Libby Prison, has published a letter at the request of Mr. KELLOGG, of the House Military Committee, in regard to the treatment of Union prisoners by the rebels.  It fully confirms the statements of Col. HOBART [Harrison C. Hobart], and gives some additional details.  When in May, 1863, Col. STRAIGHT [sic] surrendered to FORREST [Nathan B. Forrest], it was expressly stipulated in writing, prior to the surrender, that his regiments should retain their colors ;  the officers their sidearms ;  and both officers and men their haversacks, knapsacks, blankets and all private property.  No soooner [sic], however, had they arrived at Atlanta than these terms were violated ;  the men were stripped of their blankets, knapsacks &c. ;  they were robbed of nearly all their money and most of their overcoats were taken.  The colors and side-arms were also taken.  The men were turned into an enclosure without shelter, destitute of blankets, overcoats, or any protection from the inclemency of the weather, for four days and nights while a cold storm prevailed.

Abel D. Streight, from the Library of Congress²

On arriving at Richmond their money was taken.  For a few days the officers were allowed to draw small sums of their money to purchase food.  This, however, was soon denied.  Subsequently the officers obtained permission to write home for money, food and clothing.  The food and clothing were generally delivered, but in no instance, within the knowledge of Col. STRAIGHT [sic], was the money handed over.  Col. S. very justly characterizes this detention of the money, after expressly agreeing to deliver, as “an act of perfidy that beggars all description.”  When he called the attention of the rebel authorities to the stipulations under which he surrendered, which he had in his possession, duly signed by the rebel General FORREST, Gen. WINDER [John H. Winder], the commandant of the prison, took them from him.

Col. STRAIGHT’S [sic] description of the rooms in Libby prison, their filth, and the misery endured there, corresponds with that given by Col. HOBART.  They suffered greatly during the winter from cold.  The condition of the privates on Belle Island is yet worse.  They have nothing to protect them from the weather.  Col. S. says:

All the prisoners are taken to Libby when they first arrive in Richmond, for the purpose of counting them and enrolling their names ;  consequently I had a fair chance to see their condition when they arrived.  Fully one half of the prisoners taken since May last were robbed by their captors of their shoes, and nearly all were robbed of their overcoats, blankets and haversacks.  At least one-third of them had been compelled to trade their pants and blouses for mere rags that would scharcely [sic] hide their nakedness.—Very many of them were entirely bareheaded, and not a few, as late as the middle of December, were brought in who had nothing on but a pair of old ragged pants and a shirt, being bareheaded, barefooted, and without a blouse, overcoat, or blanket.

I have seen hundreds of our men taken to the hospital thus clad, and in a dying condition.  I have frequently visited the hospital and have conversed with large numbers of dying men, brought there from the Island, who assured me that they had been compelled to lie out in the open air, without any medical attendance, though for several days they had been unable to walk.  Though destitute of anything like quarters, and nearly naked during the cold, stormy, and chilly fall season, the first and chief complaint of all those I saw and talked with was on account of an insufficient quantity of food.  I will here remark that in no instance have the rebel authorities furnished clothing or blankets to our men.  During the winter large numbers of our men were frozen.  I heard one of the rebel surgeons in charge say that there were over twenty of our men who would have to suffer amputation from the effects of the frost.  This was before the coldest weather had commenced.

Under Libby prison is a large cellar, with several cells partitioned off, some without windows.  Here in the midst of filth indescribable, in darkness, damp and hunger, some of our men are kept confined on one pretext and another, some from fear that they will attempt to escape, others for giving some imagined offence [sic] perhaps to some petty prison official.  Lieut. Reed,³ of the 3d Ohio volunteers, was thrown into one of these cells and kept there for forty-eight hours, without anything to eat or drink during the time.  He was not allowed any blankets nor his overcoat.  The weather was very damp and cold, and he, at that time, was suffering from a most severe wound in the hip.

Col. STREIGHT and Capt. REED⁴ of Ohio attempted to escape in December last.  For this he says :

We were taken back to the prison, put in irons, and thrown into one of these filthy holes called cells, where we were kept for three weeks on bread and water.  The weather was very cold during the time, and we nearly perished.  There was a large amount of filth in the cell which I could not induce them to remove nor could I get them to permit me to remove it.  I asked for paper, pen, and ink, to write to the rebel authorities.  I also asked for a box to sit on, of which there was a large number in the cells.  But everything was denied me.  At the time I was taken to the cell there were six of our men confined in one of these cells for attempting to escape.  They had been there for six days without blankets, and two of them were very sick.  They were released at the end of seven days of their confinement.

I might continue to enumerate instances of a similar character, but these will answer to give you an idea of what is daily taking place.  I cannot describe to you the loathsome filthiness of the cells.  They are infested with an innumerable number of rats and mice, and they have no mark of having been cleaned since they were first built.  It is needless for me to say that no man can survive long confinement in a place of this kind ;  and although I am acquainted with several persons who have been confined there, I do not know of one who can now be called a well man.”

Such is the chivalry of the men who are attempting to destroy this Union.  If it be urged in extenuation of their conduct that they have not the means to feed and protect their prisoners from the cold, so much the worse for them ;  so much greater the wrong and iniquity of their pretense to a separate nationality.  If they have not the means of feeding their prisoners they are violating every principle of justice and humanity in continuing a war which they are unable to conduct without disregarding every rule of honor and all the usages of war among civilized people.

1.  Abel Delos Streight (1828-1892) was a lumber merchant and publisher before the Civil War. He was appointed colonel of the 51st Indiana Infantry in December of 1861. Streight and his regiment saw very limited action during the first two years of their service. In 1863 (April 19-May 3), however, he led a notable raid—known as Streight’s Raid—into northern Alabama. This unsuccessful raid was coordinated with the more famous Grierson’s Raid. Streight’s Raid was poorly supplied and planned, and ended with the defeat and capture of Streight and his men by General Forrest. Streight was sent to Libby Prison. Eventually Streight was restored to active duty and placed in command of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, IV Corps, participating in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. He resigned in March of 1865 as a brevet brigadier general. Streight returned to Indianapolis were he served in the state senate, ran unsuccessfully for governor, and operated his publishing business until his death in 1892.
2.  This image of “Col. Abel D. Streight, 51st Ind. Inf. USA,” is from the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division (cwpb 05652). We have slightly cropped the top of the image.
3.  Edwin Reid—or E. N. Reed—second lieutenant in Company I, 3rd Ohio Infantry.
4.  This is probably Benjamin C. G. Reed, captain of Company E, 3rd Ohio Infantry.

1864 March 5: Sherman Defeats Polk at Meridian and Captures Selma

The following summary of the week’s war news comes from the March 5, 1864, issue of The Polk County Press.  1864 was a leap year, so our week now starts on Wednesday instead of Thursday—still Saturday in 1864.  We have so many articles from the February 27th issues, plus the Edwin Leavings letter of March 5, that this “week” will start on Thursday as usual.  But next week look for the new newspapers articles on March 12.

The second item below refers to the Battle of Meridian, which was fought February 14-20, 1864.  Union General William T. Sherman captured Meridian, Mississippi, inflicting heavy damage to it and to most of central Mississippi as he marched across the state and back again.

The News.

GRANT [Ulysses S. Grant] has advanced from Chattanooga towards Dalton, capturing Tunnell [sic] Hill after a severe fight.  Our loss is said to be light.  Our forces were within three miles of Dalton on the 26th ult., and severe fighting had taken place in which our forces were uniformly victorious.

SHERMAN has captured Selma, Ala., and at latest accounts was advancing on Montgomery, spreading consternation and terror throughout that State.  He defeated Polk [Leonidas Polk] at Meridian, cuting [sic] the rebel army in two and driving it before him.  He quarters his soldiers on the country he passes thro’.  He has probably captured Montgomery ere this.

The Army of the Potomac is said to be on the move, and will make a serious attempt to dislodge Lee [Robert E. Lee] from his position.

The rebel steamer Tuscaloosa has been seized by the British authorities, on the ground that she formerly belonged to the United States ;  had not condemned, and had been brought into an English port in violation of the neutrality laws.

The Congressional committee to whom was referred a bill to prevent military interference in elections, reported that the evil complained of was mostly imaginary, and legislation on the subject was not needed.

The long-heralded Freedom National Convention has met at Louisville, and adjourned after passing a series of radical resolutions.  The Kentucky delegation have called a convention of that State to appoint delegates to the Baltimore convention.

The supreme court have decided that they will not interfere in the Vallandigham [Clement L. Vallandigham] case.  Pugh¹ had better turn his attention to increasing the dime contrabutions [sic] for poor old Clement.

Very near one hundred and ten thousand new recruits have been formally mustered into the service since the 1st of November last, and many more thousands are known to be enlisted, although not mustered in.  For the past few weeks the enlistments have averaged 2,000 a day.  Of the number formally mustered in to the service, New York has furnished about 16,000 Ohio 16,000, Indiana and Illinois 12,000 each, Missouri about 7,000 and Pennsylvania only the same number.

Governor Stone [William M. Stone], of Iowa, has issued a proclamation hrohibiting [sic: prohibiting] persons liable to draft from leaving the State for Idaho.

A dispatch from Arkansas says, that while Col. Wood’s² 1st Arkansas were on the march to Mechanicsville a colored soldier straggled and was captured by the rebels and inhumanly butchered.  Col. Wood captured a rebel Lieutenant and two men, one of whom confessed to complicity in the murder of Col. Wood took them to the very spot where the colored soldier had been killed, and had them blindfolded and shot.

The President has received a dispatch from Conneticut [sic] announcing that the Union Convention had elected delegates to the National Convention, and instructed them to vote for Lincoln.

Returns received at the general land office show that 3,475 acres of public land were taken up in Minnesota in the month of January.

The Democrats in Connecticut have re-nominated Seymour,³ for Gov.  The Union men have re-nominated Gov. Buckingham,⁴ who beat him so bad last year.

1.  George Ellis Pugh (1822-1876) was a Democratic politician in Ohio, serving in the Ohio House of Representatives (1848-1850), as the 3rd Ohio attorney general (1852-1854), and as a U.S. senator from Ohio (1855-1861). Pugh lost his bid for re-election in 1860 to Salmon P. Chase, who became Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury. He is best known as a member of the counsel for the defense of Clement L. Vallandigham in 1863. During the Civil War, he fell into disfavor with the citizens of Ohio because he was a Democrat and for defending Vallandigham. Pugh ran in 1863 for lieutenant governor and in 1864 for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing both races.
2.  William F. Wood was colonel of the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry (African descent), an organization of African-American troops that was also known as the 46th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops.
3.  Thomas Hart Seymour (1807-1868) was a lawyer and a Democratic politician who served as the 36th governor of Connecticut from 1850 to 1853, and as Minister to Russian from 1853 to 1858. Seymour made two unsuccessful attempts to return to the governorship, in 1860 and 1863. Then in 1864 he was unsuccessful in gaining the Democratic nomination for President, losing to General George B. McClellan.
4.  William Alfred Buckingham (1804-1875), a Republican politician, was the 41st governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1866, and after the Civil War served as one of Connecticut’s U.S. senators from 1869 until his death in 1875. During the Civil War he was a strong supporter of Lincoln and the war effort.

1864 February 20: Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War

The following is from the February 20, 1864, issue of The Polk County Press.  This is the first time we have heard much about the Committee on the Conduct of the War.

The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a U. S. Congressional committee created to handle issues related to the Civil War. It was established on December 9, 1861, at the instigation of Senator Zachariah Chandler (Michigan) following the embarrassing Union defeat at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, and continued until May 1865. Its purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate states, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing emancipation and the use of black soldiers. The Committee favored the appointment of generals who were known to be aggressive fighters, and it often ended up endorsing incompetent but politically loyal generals. It was chaired throughout by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio and became identified with the Radical Republicans, who wanted more aggressive war policies than those of Abraham Lincoln.

War Committee.

The committee on the conduct of the war just authorized to be appointed, consists of Senators Wade, of Ohio, Chandler, of Michigan, and Harding, of Oregon; and Representatives Gooch, of Massachusetts, Julian, of Indiana, Odell, of New York, and Blair, of Missouri.  This committee is similar to the one heretofore in existence, the only difference being in the substitution of Harding and Loan in the place of ex-congressmen Andrew Johnson and Covode.  The new one, in addition to its duty of inquiring into the conduct of the war, is instructed to examine into all contracts and engagements with any department of the government, and is authorized to sit during the recess of congress, at any place which may be deemed proper.  Besides this, every facility is provided for a thorough investigation.

 1. Following are the members of Congress listed in this article:

• Benjamin F. Wade (1800-1878), a U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1851-1869. After the War he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican vice presidential nomination in 1868.
• Zachariah Chandler (1813-1879), a U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1857-1875. He was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Ulysses Grant, serving 1875-1877; chairman of the Republican National Executive Committee, 1868-1876; again elected in 1879 to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy and served from February 1879 until his death on November 1, 1879.
• Benjamin Franklin Harding (1823-1899) was a U.S. Senator from Oregon from 1861 to 1865. He held several territorial positions in Oregon before being senator.
• Daniel Wheelwright Gooch (1820-1891) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. He was first elected to fill the vacancy  caused by the resignation of Nathaniel P. Banks and served from January 31, 1858, to September 1, 1865 when he resigned. He was again elected to Congress and served from 1873-1875.
• George Washington Julian (1817-1899) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1861 to 1871. After the War he was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States as a Liberal Republican in 1872, and was appointed by President Cleveland surveyor general of New Mexico (1885-1889).
• Moses Fowler Odell (1818-1866) was a U.S. Representative from New York from 1861 to 1865.
• Francis P. Blair, Jr. (1821-1875) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri and served intermittently from 1857 to 1864, and a U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1871-1873. He resigned in July 1862 to become a colonel in the Union Army.
• Benjamin Franklin Loan (1819-1881), who was a U.S. Representative from Missouri, 1863-1869. He served as a Union brigadier general from 1861-1863.
• Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), a Representative and a Senator from Tennessee and a Vice President and 17th President of the United States.
• John Covode (1808-1871), a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1855 to 1870.

1864 February 13: Wisconsin’s Sharpshooters in Company G of the 1st U.S.S.S.

The following article is from the February 13, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.  Most of the men in Company G, 1st Regiment U.S. Sharpshooters—also known as Berdan’s Sharpshooters—were from Wisconsin.  Company G members William A. Heath, Thomas A. Kirkham, Bennett E. Loomis and Martin H. Wiltse were all from Oak Grove in Pierce County.

From the Wisconsin Sharpshooters.

Correspondence of the State Journal.

CAMP BULLOCK, VA., January 23, 1864.

Having a few leisure moments to spare, I thought I would improve the opportunity by writing a “Camp Letter,” so that the friends of the sharpshooters may know how we flourish.  In the first place be it known that after the November campaign over the Rapidan, we encamped near “Brandy,” on the grounds of John M. Botts, and were not long in putting our camp in shape for winter quarters.  Long huts, with shelter tents on top, and good large fire places (some of brick) attached, have our encampment an appearance anything but uncomfortable.  There we remained throughout December without anything special transpiring, our duties being principally picket and camp guard.  One great drawback existed, however, which was the scarcity of timber, although the great Virginia statesman had a patch of hard wood close by ;  which, however, being under guard, required, to smuggle the same without being caught, some little strategy on the part of the soldiers quartered near.  That any soldier did actually appropriate to his own use, any of Botts’ timber or Botts’ rails, I couldn’t testify, but as the weather at times was cold and unpleasant with snow, slush, &c., and firewood scarce, Mr. B. probably concluded that they did, as orders were frequently published forbidding it.  All trouble about Botts and his timber however, finally ended in a removal some two miles in advance the second week of the present month.  And although the season was so much advanced in wintry weather, yet has the weather been rather favorable than otherwise for this time of the year.  The consequence is that at the present writing the 1st division, 3d Army Corps is again comfortably quartered, and the sharpshooters of the 3d brigade have cut down many trees and chopped off the stumps, can now show a well drained and regulated camp on ground that ten days ago was covered with a dense forest of hard timber and no small amount of underbrush.  Talk about pioneers !  Why, Messrs. Editors, you ought to see Uncle Sam’s soldiers convert a forest into a village.  It’s no job at all—a mere matter of exercise.  It’s among them where you can find pioneers.  Every old soldier here is a carpenter, housebuilder and mason, with a knack of doing any other job you may call for ;  in fact a regular jack o’ all trades—not the least conspicuous of which is the culinary department.  Every soldier is a cook, and all know how to make “Johnny-cake” out of “hard-tack.”  Is it good? ask you.  Well, if there’s anybody up your way that doubts it, I should advise him by all means to come down here and try it on—besides many other little affairs that constitutes a soldier’s life.

The boys sometimes get a “box” from home, although naught as yet from the various Soldier’s Aid Societies formed throughout the State.  This however may be accounted for in the fact of our not being known as Wisconsin, Michigan, New York or other state troops, but simply U.S.S.S.—Uncle Sam’s Sassy Sogers.  [U.S. Sharpshooters]

The Company and Regiment are much reduced in numbers of effective men—many of whom are recruits of the fall of ’62.  The latter fact will account in a great measure for the small number of Veteran Volunteers furnished ;  our stock of old 3 year men being pretty much exhausted.

In Company G, nine Badgers, “old grey fellows” every one of them, I assure you, that is :  in the matter of grim visaged war and Virginia campaigning, have gone in for the new term and expect daily the arrival of their stipulated furloughs.  Their names are: James Ragin, an old hunter and a model soldier ;  George Whitson, i.e. “Buckshot,” a good-natured but sturdy veteran ;  Amos Sumner, a worthy pioneer ;  “our infant,” Michael Costalo, the big-fisted Badger boy ;  Westley Armfield, the humorous and fearless scout ;  “our Senator,” Abner Johnson, the accommodating commissary ;  John W. Rathbun, a young and toughened Badger ;  Henry W. Woodbury, Corporal of the Colors ;  and Seneca Hawes.¹

These men are every one old veterans and have participated more or less in the Company’s 22 engagements.  Some of them have been shot several times but not hard enough as yet, thank God, to stop their career as Union soldiers.  That they will continue to do their duty as heretofore I’ll back ’em.  The State of Wisconsin cannot fail to recognize her representatives in the organization of United States Sharpshooters, when the facts become more fully known, as they undoubtedly will be, at some future time, in regard to their doings in the Potomac Army.

Our present camp is named after a Philadelphia gentleman, who very kindly presented to every man in this division a pair of mittens, which have been distributed.  The general health of the camp is good, although a case of measles has appeared.  But don’t be alarmed, nobody’s afraid on’t—not by a darned sight.

There is naught at present of warlike news to communicate, although guerrilla parties are said to hover around, prepared at any moment to pounce upon the unwary sentinel and gobble him up, bag and baggage.  We receive the papers about three times per week, such as the Herald, Enquirer and Chronicle.  The former paper has, however, the greatest demand.  Your kindness in furnishing the Madison Journal so often gives the Badgers a view of home matters, and from its well stocked columns more general news can be found than in the Eastern papers—The Fox Lake Gazette is also frequently received.

We have now but one field officer left, viz :  Major G. G. Hastings, at present absent on detached service, the regiment being under command of Capt. Hetherington, of New York ;  the redoubtable Colonel, H. Berdan [Hiram Berdan], Chief of Sharpshooters under Gen. Burnside [Ambrose E. Burnside], having been discharged from service on account of physical disability.  The latest Company promotions are Willard S. Isham to Sergeant, and Emery Munsell and Edward F. Bean to Corporals.  A recruit has lately joined us, Conrad Murat, who has seen service before.²

S. S.

1.

• Westley Armfield, from Highland; he was wounded November 27, 1863 at Locust Grove; he will end the War in Company B of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry
• Michael Costello, from Union, was wounded at Chancellorsville; he will die May 25, 1864, from wounds received at the Battle of the Wilderness
• Seneca Hawes was from Middleton; he was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness; he will also end the War in Company B of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry
• Abner Johnson, from Skinner was wounded at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; was taken prison at Second Bull Run; he will also end the War in Company B of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry
• James Ragin, from Eau Claire, was wounded May 6, 1864, at the Wilderness and July 30, 1864, at Petersburg
• John W. Rathbun was from Madison; he will end the War in Company B of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry
• Amos Sumner, from Middleton, will also end the War in Company B of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry
• George Whitson was from Madison; he was wounded at Second Bull Run and on November 27, 1863, at Locust Grove; he will also end the War in Company B of the 36th Wisconsin Infantry
• Henry W. Woodbury, from Blue Mounds, mustered out in October 1864.

2.

• Edward F. Bean, from Union
• Willard M. Isham, from Madison
• Emery Munsell, from Madison
• Conrad Murat, from Wilton, was killed June 4, 1864, at Cold Harbor.

1864 February 6: Local Soldiers in the News, Plus Kit Carson, Napoleon Dana, and Confederate Sequestration

Following are the smaller items from The Polk County Press of February 6, 1864.

—Deputy Provost Marshal VINCENT [William J. Vincent], who took down our volunteers, has returned.  He says the boys are all right.  They went through without accident, except ELI TUTTLE, who had a fit on the way.  He has recovered.  Every man passed muster,— and “Vince” says they cannot be beat by any squad enlisted under this call.  “Vince” is right.

—Provost Marshal VINCENT had JOHN RICE,—who enlisted at St. Croix Falls, after that town’s quota was full,—credited to the town of Sterling.—The town of Sterling ought to show equal generosity by paying the expenses of the trip to La Crosse, as the balance of the towns have raised the liberal bounties which induced the men to enlist.

— Dr. A. D. Andrews, an old townsman of River Falls, and Surgeon in the 6th Wis. Reg., is at home again, where he is cordially welcomed by his appreciating fellow citizens.—He has served his country long and faithfully, and retires from active service by reason of protracted illness—having received an honorable discharge on account of indisposition.—”Well done, good and faithful servant,” is doubtless the sentiment of our town.—From the River Falls Reporter.

ARRESTED.—James Stone, of Star Prairie, who was drafted last November, went to Stillwater, and enlisted with a Minnesota regiment.  He was in this city Saturday and the Provost Marshal arrested him as a deserter, and sent him to La Crosse.  From the Hudson Star.

— Kit Karson [sic: Kit Carson] has been made a Brigadier General.

— The quota of Connecticut is full with 500 men in excess.

— Since November Indiana has sent 4000 recruits to old regiments.

— General Rosecrans has taken the command of the Missouri Department.  [William S. Rosecrans]

— Maj. Gen. Dana [Napoleon J. T. Dana] has been ordered to Matagorda Bay, Banks’ Depar’t. [Nathaniel P. Banks]

— Gen. Meade has been seriously ill at Philadelphia.  He is recovering.  [George G. Meade]

— The Union Members of the New Jersey Legislature have come out for Lincoln for next President.  [Abraham Lincoln]

— The rebel navy numbers 507 officers and 874 men.  The later are certainly well officered.

— The Cario [sic] Daily News nominates Gen. John A. Logan as the union candidate for Governor of Illinois.

— There is one item in the recent report of Mr. Memminger [Christopher G. Memminger], Davis’s Treasurer [Jefferson Davis], which shows that the rebels have not been inactive in a certain direction.  They raised only four million dollars by a war tax but they got two million and sixty thousand dollars by “sequestration.”  “Convey, the wise it call,” said Falstaff.  That is to say, they have made more than half as much by robbing loyal citizens as they have been able to wring from a “perfectly unanimous” people by taxation.

COLORED TROOPS IN NEW YORK.

The first regiment of colored troops raised in the State of New York, and know as the Twentieth regiment United states colored troops, the authority to raise which was granted by the Secretary of War on the 3d or December to the Loyal League club of New York City, stood with full ranks of one thousand and ten men on the 31st of that month. We believe that no regiment has fulled its ranks in less time than this since the war began. Over one hundred of the men are over six feet high.

1864 February 6: Company B of the 6th Wisconsin Getting Ready to Leave, and Other News

Following are the smaller items from The Prescott Journal of February 6, 1864.

— Our boys of the 12th Regiment have all re enlisted, and are daily expected home.  Let us give them a rousing welcome.

— We understand that Capt. Converse’[s] Co. will leave here some time next week.  [Rollin P. Converse, captain of Company B, 6th Wisconsin Infantry]

 Gen. Grant [Ulysses S. Grant], it is said, has forwarded to Washington his views on the way the war should be conucted [sic: conducted] in future to insure the earliest and most complete suppression of the rebellion.  These views are reported to be, the “concerted movement of all our armies under one policy, and, as far as practicable, under one direction.”  In a word, let there be less scattering fire and more concentration of purpose.

— Hon. Wm. Whiting [William Whiting], Solicitor of War Department, has decided that aliens who are subjects to foreign governments, having voluntarily enlisted in the service of the United States as substitutes for drafted men, are not entitled to be discharged from such service by reason of such alienage, but may, under the law of nations, be held to perform their engagements without giving the governments to which their alienage is due just cause of complaint.

— By direction of the President, Major General George Stoneman has been assigned to the command of the 23d army corps.  Brigadier General Getty [George W. Getty] has been appointed inspector on General Mead’s staff [sic: George G. Meade].

— The movement in Maryland in favor of immediate emancipation continues to grow in strength and must soon become irresistible.

— Arkansas is to follow Louisana [sic] in the work of reconstruction, and will hold an election on the 25th day of March.—After this election a State Convention will end forever what little may remain of slavery.

— John Brown’s daughter is teaching freedmen at fredmen [sic] at Fortress Monroe.

— The traitors in Ohio are raising ten cent subscriptions to pay Vallandigham’s board bill in Canada.  [Clement L. Vallandigham]

— Gen. Grant had gone to St. Louis to visit a sick son.

— The Kentucky Legislature has passed a bill prohibiting the importation of slaves into that State, the influx having cheapened the stock on hand and overflowed the market.

  Maj. Gen. McCLERNAND [John A. McClernand] recently sent in his resignation, being unwilling to hold a commission longer without employment.  It was not accepted, and he has been ordered to duty under BANKS [Nathaniel P. Banks].

THE FREEDMEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA.—A Beaufort (South Carolina) correspondent of the Boston Traveller furnishes a statement showing the prosperity of the freedmen of that place, under the impartial Government of the United States.  About thirty condemned horses were recently put up for sale, and to the surprise of everybody brought in some cases as high as $75, $100, and $140, though their estimated value was not over $20.  The purchasers were, in every case, freedmen, who promptly produced the “greenbacks.”  They have made money rapidly of late.  The same correspondent says that the Government plantations have been turned over to the United States tax commissioners, the present superintendents having been notified that their future services will be dispensed with.  The lands not sold in February will be leased.

1864 February 10: “I suppose that Mother will be rejoiced to hear that I am a strong temperance man”

The original letter is in the Frank D. Harding Papers (River Falls Mss AB), University of Wisconsin-River Falls University Archives & Area Research Center.

Hudson Wis. Feb. 10^th 1864

My Dear Father,

                                  Your letter I received last week all right.  I have just returned from a visit to Aunt Diantha’s at Eau Claire, Wis.  I found them all right with the exception of Uncle Thorpe, he has been sick for a long while and can’t live much longer.¹  Aunt is looking first rate – for her and was quite disapointed [sic] in not having Mother come with me.  She said that when she heard that I had returned to Hudson that she was sure that Mother had come with me.  Mary is the only un-married one that is living at home. Frank is with Julia at DeValls Bluff, Arkansas.²  Bertha married a Mr. Allen, a widower,³ and is very comfortably situated.  Aunt, Uncle & Mary are living with her.  Mariah’s husband (Mr. Simms) I didn’t see as he is away to work.  He has every thing very comfortable about his house and seems to be doing first rate.  They are all in much better circumstances than what they were when I was there before.  Aunt worries a great deal about Andrew.  He wrote them about one year ago from N. York and they have not heard from him since.  They are affraid [sic] that he is dead.⁴  I have written to Julia and when I hear from her will let you know.  [paragraph break added]

There is not much doing here this winter.  Money is scarce & business pretty dull but we look for better times in the spring.  We have had but very little snow this winter.  None until Jan. and not over six or seven inches since.  The weather has been quite warm and we manage to have a very fair time.  I suppose that Mother will be rejoiced to hear that I am a strong temperance man, belong to any quantity of temperance societies and haven’t drank any whiskey this year, any way.  I have also stopped smoking and don’t know but what I shall stop breathing soon.

I believe that I can think of nothing else to write you that would interest you.  Give my love to Mother and Diantha.  Write me soon.

1.  Andrew and Diantha Thorp were 71 and 60, respectively, in the 1860 federal census. Their children living at home in 1860 were Bircy[e] (24), Mary (22), Julia (20), Frances (18), and Andrew (13).
2.  DeValls Bluff is located on the White River in east-central Prairie County, Arkansas. Except for Helena, no other town in eastern Arkansas held such strategic importance to the Union Army during the Civil War as did DeValls Bluff. When water was low on the Arkansas River, many boats could not reach the capital city (Little Rock), but they could navigate up to DeValls Bluff. Men and materiel would be transferred to the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad’s trains to be transported to Little Rock. For that reason, DeValls Bluff’s port area was heavily fortified for the remainder of the War and was home to many soldiers and refugees. For more information, see the DeValls Bluff article in the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.
3.  Hardie Allen.
4.  Andrew Gabriel Thorp enlisted December 3, 1863, in Company I of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry and he survived the War, mustering out September 20, 1865.

Frank Harding letter of February 10, 1864, from the Frank D. Harding Papers (River Falls Mss AB) in the University Archives & Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls

1864 February 6: A Few Facts About the Conditions of the Confederacy

An article from the St. Paul Press, quoting a Confederate newspaper—the Richmond Whig—and reprinted in The Polk County Press of February 6, 1864, listed the deficiencies to be found in the Confederacy.

“A Few Facts.”

Under this  head the Richmond Whig of a recent date presents the following facts illustrative of the rebel condition :—Three thousand men in Longstreet’s corps are bare-foot ;  Johnson’s [sic: Joseph E. Johnston] army is suffering terribly for want of blankets and clothing ;  Lee’s [Robert E. Lee] soldiers are destitute of socks and other necessary clothing ;  and the whole energies of the Confederacy are summoned to supply the demand ;  the prospect for clothing next year is dark and gloomy ;  it cannot be got through the blockade, and there are no materials in the home market.  The sources both of leather and wool are diminishing every day ;  the supply of food is equally scant ;  very little bacon is left ;  beef is going and mutton will not feed great armies, even could it be  had ;  the crops are failing, and prices constantly going up ;  besides, there is no labor, without which there can be no production ;  the conscription is taking to the ranks all the whites, and the negro will not work.  Even if the would, he could not prevent famine, which would bring insurrection with it.  Then, without crops, horses cannot be fed, and an army without horses is a man without limbs.  Even now, horses sufficient to serve the purposes of the existing army are obtained with the greatest difficulty, so that it is utterly impossible to double the army and increase the trains, as some extravagantly talk of doing ;  still further, besides wagons and trains, muskets, cannon and ammunition must be had, and these it is not possible to procure.  There is now only a bare sufficiency of muskets and cannon to supply present needs, and as to ammunition, since Charleston and Wilmington have been closed, and the nitre beds of Tennessee torn from the rebel grasp, the supply can never be more than equal to the demands of the present army.

What a showing is this for the rebellion which started with such great expectations !  “An army poorly clad”—we used the language of the Whig “scantily fed, indifferently equipped, badly mounted, with insufficient trains, with barely enough ammunition,” and with nothing but want, suffering and defeat before it—this is the dependence, and the only dependence of the rebel leaders, who, three years ago, promised to water their horses in the Delaware river and flaunt their banner from the Capitol of the nation.—St. Paul Press.

1864 January 30: Support for Lincoln’s Re-election, and Various Items About General Grant, Including How He Got His Name

Following are the smaller news items from the January 30, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.

— Two hundred thousand dollars of the receipts of the Cincinnati Sanitary Fair have already been paid over to the Sanitary Commission.  Funds are still coming in, and it is thought that the total amount will reach $210,000—sixty thousand more than the Boston Fair.— This is an exhibit of patriotism and clarity of which Buckeyes may well feel proud.

— Resolutions endorcing [sic] the administration of Mr. LINCOLN [Abraham Lincoln] and renominating him for President have passed the Maryland House of Delegates.

— The California legislature, with only seven dissenting voices, favor the re-election of President LINCOLN.

— Some months ago, it will be remembered, Mr. Justice Woodward of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave an opinion adverse to the constitutionality of the conscription law, and granted an injunction restraining a federal officer from taking drafted men out of the State.  This injunction has just been dissolved and the decision of Judge Wood were reversed by the full bench of Judges (two judges dissenting.)

— Gen. GRANT has gone to St. Louis to visit a sick son.  [Ulysses S. Grant]

— A special dispatch from Leavenworth says a resolution recommending the re-nomination of Mr. Lincoln is now before the Kansas Legislature, and will probably be passed.

— A question affecting the banishment of VALLANDIGHAM is before the Supreme Court of the United States.  [Clement L. Vallandigham]

— Vice President STEPHENS has been taken ill at Augusta, Georgia.  The attack causes serious apprehensions.  [Alexander H. Stephens]

— The Union members of the New Jersey Legislature endorse President LINCOLN and recommend his re-nomination to the Presidency.

— The President has restored Gen. McCLERNAND [John A. McClernand] of Illinois, to his rank, and ordered him to report to Gen. BANKS [Nathaniel P. Banks].

—  The President has sent instructions to Gen. STEELE in Arkansas, to appoint an election for Governor in that State on the 28th of March.  [Frederick Steele]

— The House has reduced the exemption to $300, and refused to exempt Quakers and clergymen.

MAJOR GENERAL GRANT NOT U. S. GRANT.— In recent trip over the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, in company with Major General W. T. Sherman, that gentleman, who is a warm admirer of General Grant, related a circumstance as to how he obtained the initials of “U.S.,” which we do not recollect having seen in print.  He stated that General grant’s baptismal name was Hiram Ulysses, and he bore that name till he was appointed a cadet at west point.  The member of Congress who nominated him somehow got his name mixed up with that of his brother, and he was appointed as Ulysses Sidney, and that name once on the records at the Military Academy could not be changed.  He was baptised into the Military School as U. S. Grant, and he has ever since borne that name.

Important Order by Gen. Grant.

Gen. Grant has issued an order requesting all deserters from the enemy who come within our lines, to take the following oath before being allowed to go to their homes:

“I do solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God, that i will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of States thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not yet repealed, modified or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court, so help me God.

“Sworn and subscribed to before me at ___ this __ day of ___ 186_.”

It will be observed that the terms of this oath are similar to those prescribed in the President’s amnesty proclamation.