Chapter IX: Close of 1861

Elation of the Rebels--Davis’s boast--McClellan appointed
Commander of Potomac Army--Proclamation of a National Fast--
Intercourse with rebels forbidden--Fugitive slaves--Gen. Butler’s
views--Gen. McClellan’s letter from Secretary Cameron--Act of
August 6th, 1861--Gen. Fremont’s order--Letter of the President
modifying the same--Instructions to Gen. Sherman--Ball’s Bluff--
Gen. Scott’s retirement--Army of the Potomac.

The victory of the conspirators at Bull Run, as was to have been expected, elated them no little. Their President in his message was supercilious and confident. Lauding the prowess and determination of his confederates, he said:

“To speak of subjugating such a people, so united and determined, is to speak in a language incomprehensible to them: to resist attack on their rights or their liberties is with them an instinct. Whether this war shall last one, or three, or five years, is a problem they leave to be solved by the enemy alone. It will last till the enemy shall have withdrawn from their borders; till their political rights, their altars, and their homes are freed from invasion. Then, and then only, will they rest from this struggle to enjoy in peace, the blessings which, with the favor of Providence, they have secured by the aid of their own strong hearts and steady arms.”

On the 25th of July, a new commander was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, upon the warm recommendation of Gen. Scott; George B. McClellan, who had already become favorably known from his conducting a successful campaign in Western Virginia. With the extravagance so characteristic of the American people, this commander--whose laurels were yet to be won--was hailed as a young Napoleon, lauded to the skies, and failure under him regarded as an utter impossibility.

And the General betook himself to the organizing, disciplining, and supplying his army, to which large accessions were continually making from week to week.

On the 12th day of August was issued the following proclamation:

“WHEREAS, A joint committee of both Houses of Congress has waited
on the President of the United States, and requested him to
‘recommend a day of public humiliation, prayer, and fasting, to
be observed by the people of the United States with religious
solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications to Almighty
God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessings on
their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace.’

“AND WHEREAS, It is fit and becoming in all people, at all times,
to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God; to bow
in humble submission to his chastisements; to confess and deplore
their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to pray, with all
fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offences, and
for a blessing upon their present and prospective action.

“AND WHEREAS, When our own beloved country, once, by the blessing
of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted with faction
and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand
of God in this terrible visitation, and, in sorrowful remembrance
of our own faults and crimes as a nation, and as individuals, to
humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His mercy--to pray
that we may be spared further punishment, though most justly
deserved; that our arms may be blessed and made effectual for the
re-establishment of law, order, and peace throughout the wide
extent of our country; and that the inestimable boon of civil and
religious liberty, earned under His guidance and blessing by the
labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all its
original excellence;

“_Therefore, I_, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
do appoint the last Thursday in September next as a day of
humiliation, prayer, and fasting for all the people of the nation.
And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and especially to
all ministers and teachers of religion, of all denominations, and
to all heads of families, to observe and keep that day, according
to their several creeds and modes of worship, in all humility, and
with all religious solemnity, to the end that the united prayer
of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace, and bring down
plentiful blessings upon our country.

“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed, this 12th day of August,
A. D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the eighty-sixth.

“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

And four days later the following:

“WHEREAS, On the 15th day of April, the President of the United
States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, Constitution,
and Government of the United States, which had broken out
within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida,
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in pursuance of the
provisions of an act entitled an act to provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress
insurrections and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in
force for that purpose, approved February 28th, 1795, did call
forth the militia to suppress said insurrection and cause the laws
of the Union to be duly executed--and the insurgents have failed
to disperse by the time directed by the President; AND WHEREAS,
such insurrection has since broken out and yet exists within the
States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; AND
WHEREAS, the insurgents in all the said States claim to act under
authority thereof, and such claim is not discarded or repudiated by
the persons exercising the functions of government in such State or
States, or in the part or parts thereof, in which such combinations
exist, nor has such insurrection been suppressed by said States.

“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, in pursuance of the Act of Congress approved July 13th,
1861, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the said States
of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas,
Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, except the inhabitants of
that part of the State of Virginia lying west of the Allegheny
Mountains, and of such other parts of that State and the other
States hereinbefore named as may maintain a loyal adhesion to the
Union and the Constitution, or may be, from time to time occupied
and controlled by the forces of the United States engaged in the
dispersion of said insurgents, are in a state of insurrection
against the United States, and that all commercial intercourse
between the same and the inhabitants thereof, with the exception
aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other parts of the
United States, is unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such
insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed; that all goods
and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of the said
States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the
United States, without the special license and permission of the
President, through the Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding
to any of the said States, with the exception aforesaid, by land
or water, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same,
or conveying persons to and from the said States, with the said
exceptions, will be forfeited to the United States; and that, from
and after fifteen days from the issuing of this proclamation, all
ships and vessels belonging, in whole or in part, to any citizen
or inhabitant of any of the said States, with the said exceptions,
found at sea in any part of the United States, will be forfeited to
the United States; and I hereby enjoin upon all District Attorneys,
Marshals, and officers of the revenue of the military and naval
forces of the United States, to be vigilant in the execution of the
said act, and in the enforcement of the penalties and forfeitures
imposed or declared by it, leaving any party who may think himself
aggrieved thereby, to his application to the Secretary of the
Treasury for the remission of any penalty or forfeiture, which the
said Secretary is authorized by law to grant, if in his judgment,
the special circumstances of any case shall require such a
remission.

“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.

“Done in the City of Washington, this, the 16th day of August, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the
eighty-sixth.

“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

The question as to the disposition to be made of the slaves of rebel masters presented itself early in the contest, and it was at once perceived that its settlement would be attended with no little embarrassment.

As early as May 27th, 1861, General Butler, in command at Fortress Monroe, had informed the War Department as to his views relative to the fugitive slaves--that they were to be regarded as “contraband of war”--and Secretary Cameron, under date of May 30th, had instructed that commander neither to permit any interference by persons under his command with the relations of persons held to service under the laws of any State; nor, on the other hand, while such States remained in rebellion, to surrender such persons to their alleged masters, but to employ them in such service as would be most advantageous, keeping an account of the value of their labor and the expenses of their support--the question of their final disposition to be reserved for future determination.

At about the same time, General McClellan, advancing into Western Virginia to the aid of the loyal men of that section, used this language in his address to the people:

“Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce
you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by
interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly--not
only will we abstain from all such interference, but we will, on
the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at insurrection
on their part.”

On the 8th of August, Secretary Cameron, in reply to a second letter from General Butler upon the same subject, said:

“GENERAL:--The important question of the proper disposition to
be made of fugitives from service in the States in insurrection
against the Federal Government, to which you have again directed
my attention, in your letter of July 20th, has received my most
attentive consideration. It is the desire of the President that
all existing rights in all the States be fully respected and
maintained. The war now prosecuted on the part of the Federal
Government is a war for the Union, for the preservation of all the
Constitutional rights of the States and the citizens of the States
in the Union; hence no question can arise as to fugitives from
service within the States and Territories in which the authority
of the Union is fully acknowledged. The ordinary forms of judicial
proceedings must be respected by the military and civil authorities
alike for the enforcement of legal forms. But in the States wholly
or in part under insurrectionary control, where the laws of the
United States are so far opposed and resisted that they can not
be effectually enforced, it is obvious that the rights dependent
upon the execution of these laws must temporarily fail, and it is
equally obvious that the rights dependent on the laws of the States
within which military operations are conducted must necessarily be
subordinate to the military exigencies created by the insurrection,
if not wholly forfeited by the treasonable conduct of the parties
claiming them. To this the general rule of the right to service
forms an exception. The act of Congress approved August 6, 1861,
declares that if persons held to service shall be employed in
hostility to the United States, the right to their services shall
be discharged therefrom. It follows of necessity that no claim
can be recognized by the military authority of the Union to the
services of such persons when fugitives.

“A more difficult question is presented in respect to persons
escaping from the service of loyal masters. It is quite apparent
that the laws of the State under which only the service of such
fugitives can be claimed must needs be wholly or almost wholly
superseded, as to the remedies, by the insurrection and the
military measures necessitated by it; and it is equally apparent
that the substitution of military for judicial measures for the
enforcement of such claims must be attended by great inconvenience,
embarrassments and injuries. Under these circumstances, it seems
quite clear that the substantial rights of loyal masters are still
best protected by receiving such fugitives, as well as fugitives
from disloyal masters, into the service of the United States, and
employing them under such organizations and in such occupations as
circumstances may suggest or require. Of course a record should
be kept showing the names and descriptions of the fugitives, the
names and characters, as loyal or disloyal, of their masters, and
such facts as may be necessary to a correct understanding of the
circumstances of each case.

“After tranquility shall have been restored upon the return of
peace, Congress will doubtless properly provide for all the persons
thus received into the service of the Union, and for a just
compensation to loyal masters. In this way only, it would seem,
can the duty and safety of the Government and just rights of all
be fully reconciled and harmonized. You will, therefore, consider
yourself instructed to govern your future action in respect to
fugitives from service by the premises herein stated, and will
report from time to time, and at least twice in each month, your
action in the premises to this Department. You will, however,
neither authorize nor permit any interference by the troops under
your command with the servants of peaceable citizens in a house or
field, nor will you in any manner encourage such citizens to leave
the lawful service of their masters, nor will you, except in cases
where the public good may seem to require it, prevent the voluntary
return of any fugitive to the service from which he may have
escaped.”

The Act of Congress to which allusion has already been made, as providing for the confiscation of the estates of persons in open rebellion against the Government, limited the penalty to property actually employed in the service of the rebellion, with the knowledge and consent of its owners; and, instead of emancipating slaves thus employed, left the disposition to be made of them to be determined by the United States Courts, or by subsequent legislation.

General Fremont, in command of the Department of Missouri, in an order dated August 30th, declaring martial law established throughout that State, used the following language:

“Real and personal property of those who shall take up arms
against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have
taken an active part with their enemies in the field, is declared
confiscated to public use, and their slaves if any they have, are
hereby declared free men.”

This order violated the above-named act, and could only be justified upon the ground of imperative military necessity. Some correspondence which passed between the President and General Fremont upon this topic, resulted in the following official letter, dated Washington, D. C., Sept. 11, 1861:

“MAJOR GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT:--

“SIR,--Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of the 2d inst., is just
received. Assured that you, upon the ground, could better judge of
the necessities of your position than I could at this distance,
on seeing your proclamation of August 30, I perceived no general
objection to it; the particular clause however, in relation to the
confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves, appeared to
me to be objectionable in its non-conformity to the Act of Congress
passed the 6th of last August, upon the same subjects, and hence I
wrote you, expressing my wish that that clause should be modified
accordingly. Your answer just received expresses the preference on
your part that I should make an open order for the modification,
which I very cheerfully do. It is, therefore, ordered that the said
clause of the said proclamation be so modified, held and construed,
as to conform with, and not to transcend the provisions on the
same subject contained in the Act of Congress entitled ‘An Act to
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes,’ approved
August 6, 1861, and that said Act be published at length with this
order.

“Your obedient servant,
“A. LINCOLN.”

In the instructions from the War Department to General Sherman, in command of the land forces destined to operate on the South Carolina coast, that commander was directed to govern himself relative to this class of persons, by the principles of the letters addressed to General Butler, exercising, however, his own discretion as to special cases. If particular circumstances seemed to require it, they were to be employed in any capacity, with such organization in squads, companies, or otherwise, as should be by him deemed most beneficial to the service. This, however, not to mean a general arming of them for military service. All loyal masters were to be assured that Congress would provide just compensation to them for any loss of the services of persons so employed.

This phase--varying and indefinite--at that time did that question present, which was at a later period to take, under the moulding hand of the President, body and form clearly defined and unmistakable.

The battle of Ball’s Bluff--the first under the direction of the new commander on the Potomac--fought October 21st was but Bull Run repeated; happily, however, on a somewhat smaller scale. A convenient scapegoat upon whom to throw the responsibility--General Stone--was found, and the indignation of the country was measurably, and for the time, appeased.

Directly after this affair, the veteran Scott having asked to be relieved from active service, his request was granted in the following highly complimentary order:

“_Executive Mansion, Washington_, Nov. 1, 1861.

“On the 1st day of November, A. D., 1861, upon his own application
to the President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General
Winfield Scott is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon
the list of retired officers of the Army of the United States,
without reduction in his current pay, subsistence, or allowances.

“The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that
General Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the army,
while the President and the unanimous Cabinet express their own
and the nation’s sympathy in his personal affliction, and their
profound sense of the important public services rendered by him
to his country during his long and brilliant career, among which
will ever be gratefully distinguished his faithful devotion to
the Constitution, the Union, and the flag, when assailed by a
parricidal rebellion.

“ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”

To General McClellan, now the ranking officer of the army, the duties of General-in-chief were assigned by the President.

The autumnal months passed away--gorgeous and golden--men thought them made for fighting, if fighting must be; but no fighting for the Army of the Potomac--an occasional skirmish only--mainly reviews.

The winter months came--the dry season had passed. The Grand Army being now thoroughly organized, disciplined, and equipped went--to fight?--no--into winter quarters.

And the people, patient ever and forgiving, when inclination impels, forgot Ball’s Bluff--forgot what they had hoped for--trusted in the prudent caution of the general in command, and waited for the springtide.