1863 December 5: How Wisconsin Regiments Voted, Including Using a Boot for the Ballot Box

The following articles are from The Polk County Press, December 5, 1863.  For reference, the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry included the Saint Croix Rangers (Company D); the Saint Croix Rifles were Company F of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry; the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry included the Hudson City Guards (Company G); and the 10th Battery of Wisconsin Light Artillery was composed of mostly northwest Wisconsin men.

HOW THE 2ND CAVALRY VOTED.—Captain Bently [sic],¹ of La Crosse, writes the particulars of the election in the 2nd cavalry, describing the modus operandi² as follows.  They had no ballot box, and he says:

A camp in the woods with the present army allowance of baggage, is a poor place to find boxes suitable for such purposes.  In our case one could not be found, but we have long since, in the army, learned to surmount difficulties, and we hit upon the following :  A cavalry boot nailed by one of the straps to the table, with a cover attached, was just the thing.  The polls were now declared open, and voting commenced.  Our next difficulty, and almost a dilemma, was to know how, in closing the polls for dinner to lock our ballot boot and secure the votes cast from intrusion.  To place a guard over the box (boot) perhaps would have been military, but was not according to “chapter 11.”  We constituted and agreed that the chairman of the board to whom the boot belonged, should “lock the box” by inserting his foot and wearing it until the polls should again  be opened!  This proved a success. the ballots kept safe; election over; votes cast.  The “copperheads,” “waxed we they there them,” by a unanimous Union vote of thirty-three.”

VOTE OF CO. F, 1ST WISCONSIN.—A letter from Co. F. gives the result of the election as far as that company is concerned :  The whole number of votes polled for Polk county was nine—all straight Union ticket except on sheriff.  KIMBALL received eight votes.

— The boys in the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry, at Baton Rouge, polled thirteen votes for the straight Union ticket, except on District Attorney, Mr. FREELAND receiving one vote.

— The election of some of the County officers will be decided by the returns from the 10th Battery.  As the vote stands, as far as heard from, every candidate on the Union ticket is elected.

1.  Charles S. Bentley, from La Crosse, Company D’s third captain. He won’t officially become the captain until June 27, 1864.
2.  A Latin phrase approximately translated as “method of operation.” We are used to hearing it used in TV crime dramas when the detectives talk about the criminal’s M.O., or modus operandi.

1863 November 21: Tidbits on the Election, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Rappahannock Station, and a Female Soldier

Following are the smaller items from the November 21, 1863, issues of The Prescott Journal and The Polk County Press.

From The Prescott Journal:

— The vote of Co. A. 12th [Wisconsin Infantry], seals the election of John Winn and Mr. Thayer [Charles Thayer], tight as wax.

What a Soldier Says.

Lt. CHAS. P. HYATT, Co. B, 2nd Wis, “Iron Brigade,” in a letter to us, enclosing the vote of the Company, says:

“If our friends at home are as anxious to see this war carried on until we have conquered an honorable peace, as we have shown ourselves to be, not only at the ballot-box, but on the battle field, then the triumph of the Union party will be so complete that we shall not fear for the result of this war.”

The Vote in the State.

Official returns from fifty one counties in this State, give LEWIS [James T. Lewis] 15,252 majority, with five counties more to hear from, which gave HARVEY [Louis P. Harvey] 767 majority.  The soldiers’ vote at [sic] far as received, gives LEWIS 4,607 majority, with fourteen regiments and five batteries to hear from.—The total vote cannot fall short of 25,000 majority for the Union ticket.

ANOTHER JOAN OF ARC.—A young girl at Brooklyn, New York, was seized with the idea that like Joan of Arc, she was born to lead her country’s armies.  She enlisted as a drummer boy in a Michigan regiment, hoping to rank up to the chief command.  She was shot at Chickamauga, and telegraphed to her father, “I expected to deliver my country, but the fates would not have it so, I am contented to die.  Pray papa, forgive me.”

From The Polk County Press:

THANKSGIVING DAY.—There will be services held at the School House in this village on Thursday the 26th inst., at 11 o’clock P. M.¹ in accordance with the Governor’s Proclamation, setting aside that day as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.  Preaching by Rev. J. S. AKERS.

OUR MAILS.—Our present Mail system is one which is to be much deplored.  As it is at present, we have but two mails a week from the East, arriving on Mondays and Fridays.—The increase of our business and population demand that we have a tri-weekly mail.  It is now time for our citizens to move in the matter and have the present system changed, so as to be beneficial to us all.  As it is now Osceola is worse off for mails than any other town in the Valley.—Let some of our enterprising citizens move in this matter immediately.

— Geographical knowledge is not one of the strong points of the London “Times,” as is evinced in its disquisition on the battle of Chickamauga, and the “Times” editor says that “the field of the engagements was one of the numerous streams that abound in the northern part of the state of Tennessee, called Chickamauga Creek.  The whole region is mountainous, thickly wooded, and intersected by rivers.  The Cumberland unites with the Tennessee, and the waters of both combined form one of the tributaries that fall into the Mississippi on its eastern bank.”²

— Since the commencement of the rebellion, the following forces have been called for by the President and Congress:

	By Proclamation, April 15, 1861	75,000
	By Proclamation, May 3, 1861	65,000
	By Act of Congress, July 22, 1861	500,000
	By Act of Congress, July 25, 1861	25,000
	By Proclamation, July 1, 1862	300,000
	By Order, July, 1863	300,000
	By Proclamation, October 17, 1863	300,000
		1,565,000

— BADGES OF HONORABLE DISTINCTION.— In a recent order the Secretary of War directs that for each battle in which every officer non-commissioned and private of the Invalid Corps may have been engaged and borne an honorable part, a scarlet braid, one-sixth of an inch wide, may be worn on the right arm, with a space of one-sixth of an inch between each braid.

This will become an honorable badge, showing the service the officer or soldier has performed and will be as highly prized by the brave wearers as the ribbons and crosses so proudly worn by the veterans of the European armies.

The Victory on the Rappahannock.

The fruits of the victory on the Rappahannock, are that LEE’s [Robert E. Lee] army has been constrained to retire south of the Rapidan ;  and it is further reported that Gen. LEE has gone to Chatanooga [sic]—but this is mere surmise.  The misfortune to the rebel army seems to have arisen from the over confidence of the rebel General, who transferred a small portion of his army to the north bank of the Rappahannock, which was gobbled up by two of our army corps.

1.  One wonders if this is a typographical error and should really have been 11 o’clock A. M.
2.  The Battle of Chickamauga marked the end of the Union’s “Chickamauga Campaign” in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. Chickamauga Creek is a short tributary of the Tennessee River, which it joins near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Tennessee River then empties into the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky.
The Battle of Chickamauga was fought near Chickamauga Creek in southeastern Tennessee over control of the railroad center at nearby Chattanooga. Prior to the battle, Union General William S. Rosecrans located his headquarters near the city of Chicamauga in northwestern Georgia, which is 12 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The area of the battle was gently rolling woodlands.

1863 November 14: George W. Gore Discharged, Captain Gurley Captured, and Other News

Following are the smaller items from the November 14, 1863, issues of The Polk County Press and The Prescott Journal.

From The Polk County Press:

— G. W. Gore,¹ Co. F. 1st Wisconsin Volunteers, who has been in the service over two years, returned home on the Enterprise last Tuesday. Our readers have read his interesting letters from time to time in the Press, and he is well known among us as a true patriot.  Mr. Gore has received his discharge on account of loss of sight, caused by gun-smoke.  We bid him welcome home.

— A democratic editor in Nevada territory says of the defeat of his party: “We met the enemy yesterday—and are out on parole this morning.”

THE FISK EXPEDITION.—This expedition which has been reported as massacred by Indians, has arrived at Bannock City, Idaho Territory, in safety—all well.  This news will relieve many anxious friends residing in this vicinity.

— Reports from Richmond give positive assurance that the rebels are starving Union prisoners.  The government ought to retaliate by hanging an officer for every man who dies from inhuman treatment.

THANKSGIVING DAY.— There will be services held at the School House in this village on Thursday the 26th inst., at 11 o’clock P.M. in accordance with the Government Proclamation, setting aside that day as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.  Preaching by Rev. J. S. Akers.

— A Chattanooga correspondent of the New York Times writes: Gen. Crook [George Crook], on the evening of the 21st ult., succeeded in capturing Captain Greeley [sic],² near Huntsville, Alabama.—He is a notorious gorilla [sic] chiefly noted for his murder of Brigadier-General McCook,³ a year ago. He soon got his just deserts [sic].

— A Rebel Surgeon, who was beastly drunk when our forces captured Little Rock, Arkansas, found himself amoung [sic] the Yankees when he got sober, and remarked that it beat Rip Van Winkle, that a man couldn’t go to sleep in the confederate states without waking up in the United States.

— Deputy Provost Marshal Vincent [William J. Vincent] returned from La Crosse on Tuesday last.  He states our quotas under the present draft to be 24 including the 50 per cent. for exemptions.  It strikes us that this is rather steep, but presume that the commissioner knows his regular business.—As the draft took place on the 9th inst., we may soon expect a few prizes to be distributed among us.

WARLIKE.—The New York papers say that never since the organization of the navy of the United States has there been seen so many United States vessels of war in the harbor as at the present time.  There are now no less than sixty-two vessels, carrying four hundred and forty guns—a larger force than that of the entire United States navy before the outbreak of the rebellion.

— It is stated that Gen. Butler [Benjamin F. Butler] has at last been assigned a command.  Report has it that he has been ordered to relieve Gen. Foster [John G. Foster] in command of the Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina.  The later officer being ordered to report at Washington.  As this department includes Fortress Monroe and the James river approaches to Richmond the gossips have it that the command may be made an exceedingly important one.

— Adjutant General Gaylord [Augustus Gaylord] had issued an order authorizing and giving directions for the organization of one or more companies of colored soldiers in our State.

— Slight skirmishing has taken place along the line of the Army of the Potomac, with results greatly in favor of the Union arms.

A MONUMENT TO THE SOLDIERS— The citizens of Bangor are to erect a monument of Concord granite, 27 feet high, in memory of the soldiers from what city who have fallen in defense of their country.⁴

— There are many stories current in camp as to what Gen. Rosecrans [William S. Rosecrans] replied to Gen. Bragg [Braxton Bragg] when he appeared before Chattanooga and demanded its surrender.  he accompanied the demand with the information that if not completed with he should shell the town.  Rosecrans received the flag and messenger with great courtesy, and returned for answer, “Shell and ___, this is none of my town.”

St. Croix Co. Election Returns.

Complete returns received from this County give the various Union candidates the following majorities: Whole State ticket 100, Elwell [Joseph S. Elwell], for Assembly, 110: Peabody, for Sheriff, 8: Baker, for District Attorney, 50:— Weld, for School Superintendent, 100: Hitz, for Clerk of court, 30: Fuller, for coroner, 50.

From The Prescott Journal:

—The sickness of our foreman, Mr. Gates compels us to issue a meager paper today as it is impossible to procure extra help.

— The Draft in Minnesota has been postponed till Jan. 5th.

—The Draft is an important subject of conversation now.  We can give no important information as to when, if ever, it will commence in this District.

— The report of the capture of Fort Sumpter [sic] turns out to be a hoax.

—A battle has been expected in Virginia for a day or two past, but at last advices, “quiet prevailed.”

— Maryland follows the fall fashions and elects unconditional Union candidates to Congress.

— Dunn Co. gave 150 Union Majority, T.C. Pound is elected to the Assembly from Dunn, Eau Claire and Chippewa counties.  Grant Co. gave 2,300 majority, and increase of 1,300 over Harvey’s majority.

Co. B, 6th Regiment.

We are indebted to Lieut. HYATT [Charles P. Hyatt] for the returns from this Company.  The vote was as follows:  Union State Ticket, 20;  Winn 20, Elwell 20, Young 16, Thayer [Charles Thayer] 18, Hatch [W. T. Hatch] 1.

1.  George W. Gore, from Saint Croix Falls, enlisted in the St. Croix Rifles (Company F of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry, 3 Years) on August 1, 1861.  He was discharged October 26, 1863, for a “disability.”

Frank B. Gurley in 1866²

2.  Frank B. Gurley (1834-1920) enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private and his company was assigned to a battalion commanded by Nathan Bedford Forrest. Soon after the battle of Fort Donaldson, Gurley was ordered home to recruit a new company, of which he was elected captain. The company became Company C in the 4th Alabama Calvary. On August 5, 1862, Brigadier General Robert L. McCook’s brigade of Federals begin to march south from Tennessee into Alabama, with McCook traveling in a wagon behind the main brigade with only a small cavalry escort. This small group was attacked by Gurley’s “guerrillas” and McCook was wounded, dying the next day. This small military skirmish was turned into a cold-blooded murder by the Northern press and—as we see here—aroused especially bitter feelings toward Frank Gurley. The press claimed that Gurley shot McCook while he was lying sick and helpless in an ambulance. Because of the political influence of the McCook family in the army and government, Frank Gurley became one of the most wanted “criminals” in the country. Gurley, however, did not realize how intensely he was hated in the North. In October 1863 Gurley was captured by Union troops and kept under poor conditions in prison while awaiting trial. But a fair trial was impossible, considering the anger and prejudice against Gurley, and he was found guilty of murdering General McCook. Gurley remained in prison for a year expecting to be hanged. Then in January 1865 he was mistakenly exchanged with other Confederate officers who had been prisoners-of-war.
This information about Gurley and the photograph come from a story on Gurley on the gurleyalabama.contactex.net website.
3.  Robert Latimer McCook (1827-1862) organized and was the colonel of the 9th Ohio Infantry, a regiment primarily composed of recent German immigrants. He commanded a brigade at the battles of Rich Mountain and Carnifex Ferry in 1861 and Mill Springs in January 1862. McCook was severely wounded at Mill Springs. McCook was promoted as a brigadier general of volunteers in March 1862, while still away from the army recovering from his injury. He rejoined his command before his wound had fully healed, and found that he could no longer travel long distances on horseback. McCook died from a mortal wound in the intestines, having been shot in a skirmish with the 4th Alabama Cavalry near Huntsville, Alabama. Northern versions claimed he was shot by Confederate guerrillas while lying helpless in an ambulance, but a Southern version disputes this.
4.  “Soldiers Monument, a 20-foot high obelisk near the entrance of the Mount Hope Cemetery, may be the oldest Civil War monument in the United States. It was dedicated in 1864, when the body of Bangor native Stephen Decatur Carpenter was laid to rest. Although his body was moved to a family plot at their request in 1881, those killed in action as well as veterans filled the plot, and in 1907 the Grand Army of the Republic fort and monument was dedicated, followed in 1960 by the 2nd Maine Regiment memorial near the gates of the cemetery.” (For more details and a photograph of the Monument, see the Maine Memory Network website.)

1863 November 14: The “Grand Union Pyramid” of the 1863 Elections

The following summary of the fall 1863 elections from around the country comes from the November 14, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.

THE ELECTIONS.

The fall elections in the Northern States are over and the results are now known to the public.  The Union cause is everywhere triumphant, and the country will now turn its attention to fighting the rebellion, and we trust with the same glorious results, as have attended the people in their struggles at the ballot box.—The following is the grand Union pyramid for 1863 :

OHIO.
IOWA.
MAINE.
KANSAS.
INDIANA.
VERMONT.
WISCONSIN.
M I S S O U R I.
M A R Y L A N D.
M I N N E S O T A.
I  L  L  I  N  O  I  S.
N  E  W    Y  O  R  K.
C  A  L  I  F  O  R  N  I  A.
W E S T    V I R G I N I A.
P  E  N  N  S  Y  L  V  A  N  I  A.
M  A  S  S  A  C  H  U  S  E  T  T  S.

“The union of lakes—the union of lands—
The Union of State none c an sever—
The union of hearts—the union of hands—
And the Flag of our Union forever
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .And ever !
And the Flag of our Union forever !

______

V I C T O R Y.

______

ELECTION NEWS.

ILLINOIS.—Specials to the Chicago Tribune claim that the majorities in Illinois will foot up an aggregate of 30,000 in the State.

NEW JERSEY.—The New Jersey Senate will stand fourteen Democrats to seven Unionists, —the House, 39 Democrats to twenty-nine Unionists, with one Member in doubt.

NEW YORK.—The New York Legislature will stand in the Senate, 21 Unionists to 11 Democrats, and in the Assembly 83 Unionists to 46 Democrats.  The Union majority in the State will range from thirty to thirty five thousand.

MISSOURI.—Both conservatives and radicals claim to have carried this State.  The last news from that quarter shows the conservatives to be some five thousand ahead, with the northern counties and soldiers’ vote to hear from, which will undoubtedly change the complexion of things materially.

PENNSYLVANIA.—It is ascertained officially that Governor Curtin’s [Andrew C. Curtin] majority will be about 15,000.  The ballance [sic] of the Union ticket is from four to five thousand behind.  The Legislature, however, is in a peculiar fix.  The House is a tie.  The Senate is by one majority Union; but that one Union Senator is Major White, now a prisoner in Richmond.  Should he not be exchanged, we don’t see how either branch can organize; unless, indeed, some Copperhead, in either House, shall become convinced of the error of his ways, and repent, that his own soul and his State may be saved.

WISCONSIN.—Returns from our own State grow better and better every day.  The Union State Ticket is elected by the house vote, by a majority ranging from fifteen to twenty thousand.  The soldiers’ vote will increase the majority ten thousand.

IOWA.—On the home vote Colonel Stone [William M. Stone], the Union candidate, receives a majority of 17,000, over General Tuttle¹ the Democratic nominee.  The soldiers’ vote so far as returned, amounts to 14.572, of which Stone received 12,248, and Tuttle 2,324.  According to this, and the soldiers’ vote yet to come in, the Union majority in Iowa will reach 36,000; which makes an interesting commentary on the scheme of Mahoneyizing² the Democracy of that State.

1.  James Madison Tuttle (1823-1892) raised a company of volunteers when the Civil War broke out; it became part of the 2nd Iowa Infantry, the first 3-year regiment organized in Iowa. Tuttle became the regiment’s lieutenant colonel in May 1861 and in September 1861 General Ulysses S. Grant promoted him to colonel of the 2nd Iowa. He led the first Union troops that entered Fort Donelson in February 1862, paving the way for the fort’s subsequent surrender to General Grant. At the Battle of Shiloh in April of that year Tuttle commanded a brigade and temporarily assumed command of the division when W.H.L. Wallace was mortally wounded.  He led the 2nd Division troops in fighting around the “Hornet’s Nest.” In recognition for his gallantry in action at Fort Donelson and Shiloh, he was promoted to brigadier general in June 1862. In 1863, Tuttle participatee in the Vicksburg Campaign and the capture of Jackson, Mississippi, where he again distinguished himself in action. He  parlayed his growing name recognition into a run for governor of Iowa as a Democrat. Republican William M. Stone was also a veteran of Shiloh
2.  Dennis Augustin Mahony (1821-1879) was a newspaper editor in Iowa and a highly partisan Northern Democrat of Copperhead sympathies. Mahony was also active in regional politics.

1863 November 3: Letter from Captain Maxson with the 12th Wisconsin

The following letter from Captain Orrin T. Maxson, written on November 3, 1863, appeared in the November 21, 1863 issue of The Prescott Journal.  Unfortunately, someone cut out an article on page two (the back side of our letter) that takes out a large section of this letter.  Instead we are left to gape through the hole at what appears on page 3!  The missing information appears to be more election results from the 12th Infantry.

A warning before reading this letter:  toward the end, Captain Maxson recounts the story of how a slave owner was treating one of his “laborers” and the punishment the Union officials gave him.  In relaying the account, Maxson uses the “N” word several times.

From Captain Maxson.

CAMP 12th WIS INF’TY. . . . . . . .
Natchez, Miss. Nov. 3d, 1863.

L. A. TAYLOR :  Sir :—As election is one of the battles of our times which are to decide the fate of our Country and the question of Democratic Governments for this generation, I take it for granted you would receive the result of the day in the precinct of Natchez.

The 12th Wisconsin cast 510 votes for Lewis, 12 for Palmer, 40 for Young, 26 for Elwell; Winn, 24; Thayer, 20; Maynard, 14; Sands 5; Lauder, 5; Wilcox and Hatch each one.

[. . .] heads to another years’ stay in the ___.¹  Of such the 12th had 12.

We are now taking the world very easy, we have an important duty, that of keeping the Mississip [Mississippi River] free from guerillas [sic] for a distance of about seventy-five miles.  This we do by frequent expeditions into the country each side of the river.  We have built barracks for winter use, but winter does not come.  One shuns the heat of the sun here now, as you would in the hottest days of July in Wis.  The leaves are green, and gardens clothed with flowers, as in July.  An iceberg from our Wisconsin homes would be grateful in our water pail.

We occasionally have a little fun with the old planters, who have been in the habit of treating their laborers with much more severity than they would their mules, as they did not fear the mules, while the everlasting nigger might get too high notions; consequently many believed they should beat them at least once a week to keep them good niggers.  A case occurred here a few days since; a Dr. Wood, a man much the form of Dunbar’s clock man — well, for stomach, a good match for John Dale, with a decided pompous style, accustomed to command with iron rule, appeared at the Provost Marshall’s  office with a complaint of insubordination against his chambermaid.

On investigation it was proven that the girl had made his bed, and the wife caused it to be made over.  It still was unsatisfactory, and the girl received orders to re-do her work.  She protested she could do it no different, when the Dr. knocked her down with his cane, and beat her, cutting her head severely, and desisted only when the cane was broken.  She, being contaminated with the notions which the Blacks in general have received from the soldiers, fled, and the case came before the Provost Marshall [sic].—The Dr. claimed the girl; the girl claimed protection.  After a hearing, the Provost ordered the Dr. to accompany a guard, to whom a commitment to jail was given.  Both started, but as on leaving the court-house the guard led the way toward the jail, Mr. gold-headed cane man halted and asked where they were going.  The guard told him to follow and he would learn, whereupon the Dr. refused, but being told he could take his choice, followed, or be followed by a bayonet, he concluded to make a philosopher of himself and submit to his necessity.  As the boys say, we was left playing checkers with his nose in the grates of the jail window.  The supposition is a few games will teach him that some folks have rights and feelings a well as others.

Hoping that the Union men will not only carry Wisconsin, but carry it by a crushing majority,

I am respectfully yours,
. . . . . . . . . . . . .O. T. MAXSON.

1.  The top half of the letters making up this last word in the sentence are missing, victims of the cut-out article. It looks like it could be “herd,” but without more context it is hard to say for sure what the word is.

1863 November 7: Two Deaths in Company A of the 12th Wisconsin, and Other News

Following are the smaller items from the November 7, 1863, Prescott Journal and Polk County Press.

From The Prescott Journal:

  A letter from the 12th Wis. says :  A few days ago C. A. Beebe, and last night Corp. J. M. George [sic: James McGeorge], of Co. A 12th Wisconsin, died. They were both good soldiers, and their loss to the company is irreparable.

   There is no war news of importance this week.

   River Falls did nobly for the Union State Ticket—rolling up an even 100 majority.  All honor to the banner Union town.

   Oak Grove well redeemed herself on Tuesday, giving 22 Union majority.  The loyal democrats there do not propose to be dragged into copperheadism.

   The splendid victories of Tuesday were not won by Republicans alone.  They were truly Union victories—the protest of loyal men against the action of all who would embarrass the Government—the pledge of aid to the Government in its work of crushing out the rebellion.

   We have not received anything like full returns from the interior of the State, but have enough to warrant us in estimating the majority of the Union ticket at not less than fifteen thousand, on the home vote.  The soldiers’ vote will swell this glorious majority to twenty-five thousand.—Mil. Sentinel. [Milwaukee]

Mr. Hatch says he expects the soldier votes have beaten him.  How unfortunate for a Union man to place himself in a position where he dreads the votes of the brave soldiers.

   We have now a united North in support of the War and the Government, heartily, unconditionally, and to the end.  That’s the whole story in a nutshell. —Mil. Sentinel.

   In Camp Randall Mr. Young and Mr. Elwell received 89 votes each; Lusk 1, Winn 21, Paine 2, Thayer 22, Hatch nary.  Lusk run one ahead of Hatch.  [Austin H. Young, Joseph S. Elwell, David M. Lusk, John W. Winn, Charles Thayer, W. T. Hatch]

 REBELLION AND SLAVERY.—“The rebellion is to slavery what a cough is to consumption, only its legitimate manifestation.  We cannot avoid the slavery question ;  we must settle it, or it will settle us most effectually forever.”  This plain language is from the Nashville Union.  It expresses not only the growing conviction of the whole people of the free States, but of every loyal man in the border and slave States, whether he be or not an owner of slaves.

From The Polk County Press:

— Election passed off quietly in this place as well as in other towns in the County.  There was plenty of work done by both parties and the result is highly gratifying to Union candidates.

ALL HAIL THE BANNER TOWN !—Lincoln is the Banner town in the County this year.  Nary a “Dimokrat” there.  She sends in her regular 15 votes all for the Union.  Bully for little Lincoln.

—  On the 30th Gen. Hooker [Joseph Hooker] was attacked by the rebels near Chattanooga, and after a severe battle repulsed them with great loss.

—  Horace Greely is writing a History of the War, for which a Hartford publishing house is to pay him the sum of ten thousand dollars.

Size of Meade’s Army.

A distinguished Washington official stated the other day that with the new conscripts, and the reinforcements from the immediate vicinity released by the employment of the Invalid Corps to man the forts, Gen. MEADE’s Army now numbers 90,000 men.  [George G. Meade]

—  The female soldiers discovered in the disguise of regular uniforms, are said to be good fighters.  The women who wear the breeches always are.

— A private letter from Detroit says:— “Vallandigham is terribly cast down by the result in Ohio.  He is fast putting an enemy in his mouth to steal away his brains.” [Clement L. Vallandigham]

—  The vote on the proposition for a State government in Nevada Territory was 8,162 in favor, and 1,502 against.  Nevada bids fair to come into the Union before her more Eastern sister Nebraska.

—  It is stated that while the South has lost over 200,000 soldiers within eighteen months the North has gained a population of 250,000 by immigration, which will largely exceed her loss by the casualties of war.

—  The patterns have been made and the preparations commenced at the Fort Pitt Foundry, Pittsburg [sic], for the casting of a gun which will have a bore of twenty inches.  Its length will be twenty feet, and its greatest diameter at the breech five feet four inches.  It will weigh about fifty-seven tons.

—  The Buffalo Aurora, a German paper, gives the following as the names of the Roman Catholic Generals now in the army of the United States:  [William S.] Rosecrans, [John G.] Foster, [Quincy A.] Gilmore [sic], [John] Newton, [William H.] French, Stone, [Michael] Corcoran, [Edward O.C.] Ord, [Amiel Weeks] Whipple, [James] Shields, [Thomas Francis] Meagher, [Eliakim P.] Scammon, [James A.] Mulligan, [John] Gibbon, [George] Crook, and [Michael K.] Lawler.

— The quotas apportioned under the last call so far as heard from are as followed :

	Maine,	.  .  .  .  .  .	7,591
	New Hampshire,   .  .  .  .  .  .		3,763
	Vermont,	.  .  .  .  .  .	3,331
	Massachusetts,	.  .  .  .  .  .	15,126
	Connecticut,	.  .  .  .  .  .	3,432
	New York,	.  .  .  .  .  .	38,268
	Delaware,	.  .  .  .  .  .	1,156
	Indiana,	.  .  .  .  .  .	18,997

1863 November 7: The Votes are Counted and “the United States is Ahead”

The following comes from the November 7, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.

Elections.

The people of Polk County have again deposited their votes in the ballot box.  The battle has been fought and the UNITED STATES is ahead.—The Union has been declared “one and inseparable;” the people have recorded that they are loyal, and stand firmly for the good old Stars and Stripes, Yankee Doodle, Bunker Hill, etc.  Patriotism and Honor are on the rise, while quietude, progress and prosperity dawn the brighter.—The people’s government is uppermost, and the chronic growlers rebuked once more.  The people are for themselves against all assailants ;  they have indicated their patriotism and love of country, while firmly reproving the rash and foolhardy few who resolutely pushed the Democratic party to the wall and sacrificed many good men in the vain hope that it would endorse their strange and un-American views.  Many of that party prefered [sic] defeat to dishonor, and united themselves under the banner of the Union party, rather than vote for men who know no duty to their country and spend their time in ranting against its government.  They could not and would not endorse the sentiment “war is disunion” and that “secession is no crime.”  Their sense of duty forbid a blind faith to party under such circumstances, and we have a result in consequence which, it is to be hoped, will be satisfactory.

The battle has been hotly contested, and Union principles and Union men have been victorious.  Well done faithful old Polk !  May you always stand as loyal and true as the victory just recorded has proven you to be.

Glory and victory is yet in store for the “old flag” and its bright and honored folds will yet wave over the land united under one Constitution and one Government.  All honor to the brave patriots of Polk.

1863 November 7: Glorious Union (Party) Victory

The headlines read a bit like a battle victory!  The following recap of the November 3, 1863, election is from the November 7, 1863, Prescott Journal.

ELECTION RETURNS ! !

GLORIOUS UNION VICTORY

PIERCE CO. 300 UNION.

ST. CROIX CO. 100 UNION.

POLK CO. 115 UNION.

Wisconsin largely Union.

MINNESOTA, NEW YORK and
MASSACHUSETTS LARGE
UNION MAJORITIES.

 PIERCE COUNTY.

In Pierce County the Union majority on the State and Legislative ticket is about 300—larger than the most sanguine hoped for.  We have not the full vote, but give the following list of majorities, which is very nearly correct.

	Prescott,	50		Union Majority
	Clifton,	50		”
	River Falls,	100		”
	Oak Grove,	25		”
	Trimbelle,	50		”
	P Valley,	35		”
	Union,	14		”
	Salem,	4		”
	Perry,	3		”
	Jabel	10		”
	Martel	60		Dem. majority
	El Paso,	25		”

Diamond Bluff is about a tie on the State ticket.  Trenton and Hartland will not be far from even.

John Winn is elected Clerk of the Board by a small majority.  The entire democratic party, aided by strong sectional feeling, and all the influence of Mr. Morton and his friends, could not wipe out John Winn.  He has been in the “Iron Brigade” too long to be whipped in a skirmish like this.

The vote on Mr. Thayer and Mr Hatch for Co. Supt. is very close, and nothing but the official canvass will determine which has a majority on the home vote.  In any event, the army vote will elect Mr. Thayer.  It is beginning to be pretty well understood that

— “That man is damned, who dreads the soldiers’ vote.”

ST. CROIX COUNTY.

The Union majority in St. Croix county, on the State and Legislative ticket, is about 100.  All the county officers on the Union ticket are elected.

POLK COUNTY.

Polk county gives the Union State ticket 114 majority, and elects the entire Union county ticket.  Judge Barron [Henry D. Barron] has 83 majority for the Assembly.  His election is certain.

WISCONSIN.

The returns from the State are too meagre¹ to estimate the result closely, though the Union ticket will probably have from 6,000 to 8,000 majority.  We give a few of the meagre returns received :

Dane County—Madison City—Palmer [Henry L. Palmer], 138 maj ;  gain on last year, 243.

La Crosse County—City of La Crosse, Lewis, 34 maj ;  Burton, Union Assemblyman, 39 maj ;  Benton, Democratic Treasurer, 64 maj.

Milwaukee City is 1,600 for Palmer ;  a loss of 2,200 from last year.  Three Union Assemblymen are elected—Hubbell, Caswell and Zimmerman—all gain.

MINNESOTA.

In Minnesota the entire Union State ticket is triumphantly elected.

	St. Paul     gave	250		Union	Majority
	Hastings,	115		do	do
	Reed’s Landing,	35		do	do
	Wabashaw,	100		do	do
	St. Anthony,	19		do	do
	Lake City,	125		do	do
	Red Wing,	138		do	do
	Stillwater,	106		do	do
	Winona,	90		do	do

.
1.  An old-fashioned way of spelling “meager.”

1863 November 7: Battle of Wauhatchie and Other News

The Polk County Press’ summary of the week’s news, from its November 7, 1863, issue.

The News.

Up to our latest dispatches by way of Mail, we have nothing of importance from the seat of war. there has been no fighting reported during the past week.  Returns from the Eastern elections indicate that Massachusetts has gone Union by a largely increased majority.  New York has undoubtedly gone Union.  The vote in New York city and Brooklyn shows a Union gain of 17,000.  From returns given in the St. Paul Press of the 4th we find that Minnesota has gone Union by a rousing majority.— Wisconsin has elected Lewis [James T. Lewis] by the home vote beyond a doubt.

The Union gain in Milwaukee is 2,200.  Three Union Assemblymen HUBBELL, CASWELL, and ZIMMERMAN are elected—all gain.  Other cities and counties show large Union gains.  Hannibal, Mo., has gone Radical Abolitionist two to one.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2.—The following was received to-day at the headquarters of the army :

CHATTANOOGA, Oct. 29, 11-30 P. M.  To Maj. Gen. H. W. Halleck [Henry W. Halleck] :

Since the fight of the night of the 2d the enemy has not disturbed us.¹

Gen. Joe Hooker took many prisoners, among whom are 4 officers, and 103 men ;  he also captured nearly 1,000 Enfield rifles.  His loss is 350 officers and men, killed and wounded.  [Joseph Hooker]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8.—the appointment of General Butler to the Department of which Fortress Monroe is at present the Headquarters is considered an earnest of a purpose to conduct the war in that quarter on what are briefly known as Butler principles.  [Benjamin F. Butler]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3.—All the able bodied troops under Gen. Martindale,² the Military Governor, are to be relieved from duty here and sent to the field. Their place will be supplied by the Invalid corps. The 157th Pennsylvania has already been relieved, and will leave to-day.

And on another page of the same paper:

The News.

NEW YORK, Oct. 29th.—A Chattanooga letter to the Herald says that deserters continue to come into our lines, notwithstanding the extraordinary measures taken by Bragg to prevent them.  [Braxton Bragg]

Nine men and a commissioned officer, Tennesseans, came in yesterday.  The officer, who is intelligent and apparently honest, tels [sic] a tale which is cheering and inspiring to all good Union men, and which corroborates previous information.

He says a full brigade of Tennessee troops, with their General at their head, attempted to come through our lines in a body one day last week.

A fight of a most sanguinary character ensued, in which artillery, musketry and bayonets were used for 3 or 4 hours, resulting in the overpowering the discontented Tennesseeans [sic] after some 800 men had been slaughtered on both sides.  The sound of the cannon had been heard in our lines at the time, but nobody could explain the meaning of the brisk fire, so close to the enemy’s rear.  The officer says the matter was hushed.

The health of the army at Chattanooga, notwithstanding the extraordinary hardships it has experienced, is very good.

A large field hospital is established near town, and the sick receive the best of care and food.  Grant is doing a great and good work here.  [Ulysses S. Grant]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1.—The following was received this morning at the headquarters of the army :

To Maj. Gen. H. W. Halleck—

CHATTANOOGA, Oct. 29.—In the fight of last night¹ the enemy attacked Gen. Geary’s Division, posted on the Waupatchie [sic], on three sides, and broke his camp at one point, but was driven back in the most gallant style by part of his force, the remainder being held in reserve.  [John W. Geary]

Howard, whilst marching to Geary’s aid, was attacked on both, flanks, the enemy occupying in force two commanding hills on the left and right of our army.  [Oliver O. Howard]

He threw forward two of his regiments and took both at the point of the bayonet, driving the enemy from his breastworks, and across Lookout Creek.

In this brilliant success over their old adversary, the conduct of officers and men of the 11th and 12th corps is entitled to the highest praise.

(Signed) GEO. S. THOMAS, [George H. Thomas]
Major General.

KNOXVILLE, October 30.—Our forces which occupied Loundon have retired to the north side of the river, and now occupy the heights commanding London.  Other dispositions unchanged.

Hawkins’ Band of Guerrillas Attacked and Defeated.

NASHVILLE, October 30.—Lieut. Col. Snively of the 1st Middle Tennessee Infantry³ attacked Hawkins, a guerilla chief near Penny Factory, and routed and pursued him to Centreville, where Hawkins made another stand and attacked the Federals while crossing the river.

Hawkins was again routed and pursued until his force was disposed with the loss of 20 killed and 66 prisoners, including Griffith, formerly editor of the “Nashville Union and American.”  Our loss was trifling.

NEW YORK, Nov. 1.—To Col. Robert Nugent. A. A. P. M. General, New York :

The representations made by Dean Richmond and Peter Cagger, in a printed circular, dated Oct. 27th, 1883, in respect to the action for the Provost Marshal General [P.M.G.] are untrue.  It is not true that the State of New York is charged with a deficiency for every citizen who paid the $300 commutation money and received no credit therefor.  On the contrary the State receives the same credit for a man who has paid commutation as if the drafted citizen had gone in person or furnished a substitute.

In like manner, towns which have raised the money to pay their quotas, receive the same credit as if actual substitutes had been furnished.

The President has ordered that every citizen, that has paid $300 commution [sic] shall receive the same receipt therefor as [i]f he had furnished a substitute, and is exonerated from military service for which he was drafted, to wit :  for three years.

As the misrepresentations of Dean Richmond and Peter Cagger have been published and circulated for electioneering purposes, it is proper that you give them immediate correction.

(Signed)
JAS. [James] B. FRY, P. M. G.

1.  This describes the Battle of Wauhatchie, which took place October 28-29, 1863, along the border of Tennessee and Georgia. The “2d” is a typographical error.
General Ulysses S. Grant had recently relieved General William S. Rosecrans of his command and replaced him with General George H. Thomas. Grant and Thomas initiated the “Cracker Line Operation” on October 26, 1863. It was designed to open the road to Chattanooga from Brown’s Ferry on the Tennessee River so supplies could get through to the Union army in Chattanooga. Simultaneously the Union troops would advance up Lookout Valley, securing the Kelley’s Ferry Road. Meanwhile, General Joseph Hooker marched with three divisions from Bridgeport and on October 28 Hooker’s column entered Lookout Valley, to the astonishment of Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg and James Longstreet. Hooker, while his force passed through Lookout Valley on October 28, detached General John W. Geary’s division at Wauhatchie Station to protect the line of communications to the southwest as well as the road west to Kelley’s Ferry. In one of the few night battles of the Civil War, the Confederate forces attempted to dislodge the Union force defending the ferry and close their supply line, but were defeated.
2.  John Henry Martindale (1815-1881) graduated from West Point but resigned from the Army a year later to study law, which he then practiced in New York state. In August 1861, Martindale was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers in the Union Army, and participated in all the battles of the Peninsula Campaign. After the retreat from Malvern Hill, he was brevetted a major general of volunteers, and appointed Military Governor of Washington, D. C., a post he held from November 1862 to May 1864.
3.  The 10th Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was originally recruited and designated as the 1st Middle Tennessee Infantry, largely from Irish-Americans.

1863 October 31: “Inaction at this time on the part of loyal men is criminal folly”

A final political plug for why the The Polk County Press thought it was so important for men to vote for the Union, from the October 31, 1863, issue of the Press.

WORK HARD.

Do the friends of the Union living in this Assembly and Senatorial District, properly appreciate the importance of electing the Union candidates, HENRY D. BARRON to the Assembly, and AUSTIN H. YOUNG to the Senate ?  It will be remembered that the so-called democrats in the Legislature last winter and the winter before did all in their power to rob the families of soldiers of the aid which the State had promised them, and they partially succeeded.  Their CHIEF MAN was HENRY L. PALMER, now, now democratic candidate for Governor.  Their PRESENT efforts are directed with especial reference to getting control of the Legislature, and in that event all sources of relief will be withdrawn.

To prevent such an infamous consummation, the Union men MUST elect their candidates.  Not a single vote should be lost.  All honorable appliances must be brought to bear.  Facts and figures should be sown broad-cast.  Men should work at the polls.  In short, no stone must be left unturned.  The work of the enemy MUST be counteracted.

Let no Union man be deceived !  Inaction at this time on the part of loyal men is criminal folly ;  yea, it is an impeachment of their own patriotism.

Let the people of these Districts see to it that BARRON and YOUNG are elected to the Legislature, and that no such opponents of the Government as Ritchie [James S. Ritchie] and Lusk [David M. Lusk] be allowed to represent them this winter at Madison.