The south has lost its mind. The democratically elected President called for a small force as a cautionary measure, and they cry of lost liberty and disorder. Indiana shall meet its quota.
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Who are the troops ment for? Could they be coming for anyone but us? All the south wants is to leave in peace, but the north won't let that happen. The time has come for war, as we have got it forced apon us. The die is cast, and war has come. Remember when we see fields of dead, that it was the north that didn't let us leave in peace, and that they are responsible for this conflict.
-Governor Jackson of Missouri
Confederate States of America
-Governor Jackson of Missouri
Confederate States of America
Tyranny is the result of overbearing men trying to assume the reins of government! They will destroy our farms, ransack our cities, and ravage our land! Our people will be forced to flee! My fellow *true* Americans, Abraham Lincoln must now reap what he has sown! The only thing that is is pestilence, disease, and the destruction of freedom!
Governor Harris
Governor Harris
Our present political position has been achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations. It illustrates the American idea that governments rest on the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them at will whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established. The declared purpose of the compact of the Union from which we have withdrawn was to "establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity;" and when, in the judgment of the sovereign States composing this Confederacy, it has been perverted from the purposes for which it was ordained, and ceased to answer the ends for which it was established, a peaceful appeal to the ballot box declared that, so far as they are concerned, the Government created by that compact should cease to exist. In this they merely asserted the right which the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, defined to be "inalienable." Of the time and occasion of its exercise they as sovereigns were the final judges, each for itself. The impartial and enlightened verdict of mankind will vindicate the rectitude of our conduct; and He who knows the hearts of men will judge of the sincerity with which we have labored to preserve the Government of our fathers in its spirit.
The right solemnly proclaimed at the birth of the United States, and which has been solemnly affirmed and reaffirmed in the Bills of Rights of the States subsequently admitted into the Union of 1789, undeniably recognizes in the people the power to resume the authority delegated for the purposes of government. Thus the sovereign States here represented have proceeded to form this Confederacy; and it is by abuse of language that their act has been denominated a revolution. They formed a new alliance, but within each State its government has remained; so that the rights of person and property have not been disturbed. The agent through which they communicated with foreign nations is changed, but this does not necessarily interrupt their international relations. Sustained by the consciousness that the transition from the former Union to the present Confederacy has not proceeded from a disregard on our part of just obligations, or any, failure to perform every constitutional duty, moved by no interest or passion to invade the rights of others, anxious to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations, if we may not hope to avoid war, we may at least expect that posterity will acquit us of having needlessly engaged in it. Doubly justified by the absence of wrong on our part, and by wanton aggression on the part of others, there can be no cause to doubt that the courage and patriotism of the people of the Confederate States will be found equal to any measure of defense which their honor and security may require. An agricultural people, whose chief interest is the export of commodities required in every manufacturing country, our true policy is peace, and the freest trade which our necessities will permit. It is alike our interest and that of all those to whom we would sell, and from whom we would buy, that there should be the fewest practicable restrictions upon the interchange of these commodities. There can, however, be but little rivalry between ours and any manufacturing or navigating community, such as the Northeastern States of the American Union. It must follow, therefore, that mutual interest will invite to good will and kind offices on both parts. If, however, passion or lust of dominion should cloud the judgment or inflame the ambition of those States, we must prepare to meet the emergency and maintain, by the final arbitrament of the sword, the position which we have assumed among the nations of the earth.
We have entered upon the career of independence, and it must be inflexibly pursued. Through many years of controversy with our late associates of the Northern States, we have vainly endeavored to secure tranquillity and obtain respect for the rights to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a choice, we have resorted to the remedy of separation, and henceforth our energies must be directed to the conduct of our own affairs, and the perpetuity of the Confederacy which we have formed. If a just perception of mutual interest shall permit us peaceably to pursue our separate political career, my most earnest desire will have been fulfilled. But if this be denied to us, and the integrity of our territory and jurisdiction be assailed, it will but remain for us with firm resolve to appeal to arms and invoke the blessing of Providence on a just cause.
As a consequence of our new condition and relations, and with a vicar to meet anticipated wants, it will be necessary to provide for the speedy and efficient organization of branches of the Executive department having special charge of foreign intercourse, finance, military affairs, and the postal service. For purposes of defense, the Confederate States may, under ordinary circumstances, rely mainly upon the militia; but it is deemed advisable, in the present condition of affairs, that there should be a well-instructed and disciplined army, more numerous than would usually be required on a peace establishment. I also suggest that, for the protection of our harbors and commerce on the high seas, a navy adapted to those objects will be required. But this, as well as other subjects appropriate to our necessities, have doubtless engaged the attention of Congress.
With a Constitution differing only from that of our fathers in so far as it is explanatory of their well-known intent, freed from sectional conflicts, which have interfered with the pursuit of the general welfare, it is not unreasonable to expect that States from which we have recently parted may seek to unite their fortunes to ours under the Government which we have instituted. For this your Constitution makes adequate provision; but beyond this, if I mistake not the judgment and will of the people, a reunion with the States from which we have separated is neither practicable nor desirable. To increase the power, develop the resources, and promote the happiness of the Confederacy, it is requisite that there should be so much of homogeneity that the welfare of every portion shall be the aim of the whole. When this does not exist, antagonisms are engendered which must and should result in separation.
Actuated solely by the desire to preserve our own rights, and promote our own welfare, the separation by the Confederate States has been marked by no aggression upon others, and followed by no domestic convulsion. Our industrial pursuits have received no check, the cultivation of our fields has progressed as heretofore, and, even should we be involved in war, there would be no considerable diminution in the production of the staples which have constituted our exports, and in which the commercial world has an interest scarcely less than our own. This common interest of the producer and consumer can only be interrupted by exterior force which would obstruct the transmission of our staples to foreign markets - a course of conduct which would be as unjust, as it would be detrimental, to manufacturing and commercial interests abroad.
Should reason guide the action of the Government from which we have separated, a policy so detrimental to the civilized world, the Northern States included, could not be dictated by even the strongest desire to inflict injury upon us; but, if the contrary should prove true, a terrible responsibility will rest upon it, and the suffering of millions will bear testimony to the folly and wickedness of our aggressors. In the meantime there will remain to us, besides the ordinary means before suggested, the well-known resources for retaliation upon the commerce of an enemy.
Experience in public stations, of subordinate grade to this care and disappointment are the price of official elevation. You will see many errors to forgive, many deficiencies to tolerate; but you shall not find in me either want of zeal or fidelity to the cause that is to me the highest in hope, and of most enduring affection. Your generosity has bestowed upon me an undeserved distinction, one which I neither sought nor desired. Upon the continuance of that sentiment, and upon your wisdom and patriotism, I rely to direct and support me in the performance of the duties required at my hands.
We have changed the constituent parts, but not the system of government. The Constitution framed by our fathers is that of these Confederate States. In their exposition of it, and in the judicial construction it has received, we have a light which reveals its true meaning.
Thus instructed as to the true meaning and just interpretation of that instrument, and ever remembering that all offices are but trusts held for the people, and that powers delegated are to be strictly construed, I will hope by due diligence in the performance of my duties, though I may disappoint your expectations, yet to retain, when retiring, something of the good will and confidence which welcome my entrance into office.
It is joyous in the midst of perilous times to look around upon a people united in heart, where one purpose of high resolve animates and actuates the whole; where the sacrifices to be made are not weighed in the balance against honor and right and liberty and equality. Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent, the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice and sustained by a virtuous people. Reverently let us invoke the God of our fathers to guide and protect us in our efforts to perpetuate the principles which by his blessing they were able to vindicate, establish, and transmit to their posterity. With the continuance of his favor ever gratefully acknowledged, we may hopefully look forward to success, to peace, and to prosperity.
March-December 1860
Eastern North America
While most states in the South have already decided their secession from the Union Virginia is still undecided along with North Carolina. Virginia had a deadlock but finally a secession vote was able to be had The convention was made up of 150 representatives from each county in Virginia. The final vote after fierce debate was a close 76-74 vote for secession. The state of Virginia had seceded from the Union and was deploying it’s state guard to key points like Richmond and Norfolk, establishing defenses such as trenches and gun positions.(Virginian army fortified at key points, Virginia leaves Union)
Meanwhile in North Carolina having seen Virginia leave the Union also votes to leave out of the Union. Most of the farmers in the state don’t feel necessarily too well about leaving the Union, but most of the unrest about the decision comes from the mountain part of the state. Due to a lack of slaves most of the mountain population feel that leaving the Union was a terrible thing to do. Besides some riots it is able to be suppressed by the states troops who are deployed along the border to watch for any incursions from Georgia or in case of attack from other states.(North Carolina leaves the Union, not much support for Confederacy in Western part of the state)
In South Carolina where the Confederacy was started, the Governor sends out a call for all able bodied men to join the army via posters, pamphlets, and newspapers. The call is relatively unanswered despite vast support in North Carolina for the Confederacy. The few men who do join the army are mostly from the rural areas of South Carolina who are die hard supporters of the Confederacy.(+500 Militia)
On the coast of South Carolina however the Governor orders the army to secure the forts around Charleston. Having expected this to happen President Lincoln sends reinforcements to the forts around the Confederacy. In Charleston though the army sees Union supply ships carrying men and ammunition to the forts, the Confederates mass their artillery and bombard the ships. Most of the ships were lightly armed in order to carry the men and supplies and are forced back after taking many hits with one ship even sinking. The Confederates move on to Bombarding Fort Sumter and securing the forts resulting in the forts around Charleston being secured. (-500 Regulars to Pennsylvania, -50 regulars to South Carolina)
After hearing about the skirmish at Fort Sumter Governor Isham B. Harris decides to side with the Confederacy. While this was not voted on, it is taken relatively well in Western Tennessee while Eastern Tennessee is not very pleased at all. Which could possibly get even worse as the Governor calls for every able bodied man to serve the Confederacy and the State. What happens is in Western Tennessee it is well received and men respond to the call to arms and join the states army. Meanwhile in Eastern Tennessee near to none join the army due to their Unionist views. (+10,000 militia to Tennessee, Eastern part of state not happy at all)
The Governor of Mississippi also hearing the news about Fort Sumter declares secession from the Union and asks for volunteers to join the army. Many respond to this call to arms and while the state wishes to train them they lack most of the facilities to do so. Most of the volunteers and armed and receive basic training due to the amount of them there are. After receiving reinforcements the army is ordered to move out to Tennessee and support them. Appointed command of this army is Benjamin G. Humphreys which baffles most military men as to why but they just go with it and support the Tennessee forces. (+10,000 militia to Mississippi, Mississippi reinforces Tennessee)
In Georgia however a peculiar situation is occurring. The state has ordered for the economy to be stabilized and to prioritize buying goods from Confederate states. However having not joined the Confederacy this creates a dilemma. Most Confederates refuse to trade with them as they see them as Yankee lovers which causes some riots in the cities that the army is able to put down. The efforts to stabilize the economy go relatively unnoticed as they are starting to lack the capability to buy any goods from nearby states without leaving the Union.(Nothing happens)
The state of Arkansas after securing all federal property within the state decides to call for more regulars to come to the army and bolster its ranks. This goes poorly as a lot of men join the army but they once again simply lack the resources to train them as they need the weapons and ammunition badly for the regular army. The result is a lot of volunteer troops being basically trained and armed. (+5,000 militia to Arkansas)
Once again after hearing about Fort Sumter and the attacks in Charleston Louisiana declares its secession without a major vote for it or against it. The decision in well received in all areas of the state and the state sends out a call for volunteers and men to join the army. The state army sees recruits flock to the Confederate cause and by the end of the year have a sizable force at their disposal. With the new recruits, New Orleans is fortified with gun positions and the building of forts at the mouth of the Mississippi river.( +10,000 militia to Louisiana, mouth of the Mississippi river is relatively well fortified)
With Florida's secession it calls for volunteers to join the army, due to its small population few men join the army locally with most of the volunteers coming from Georgia which greatly increases Floridian ranks. With the much needed men attacks are ordered on Union forts that should have surrendered but did not due to Union troops reinforcing them.For most of the year the focus on knocking out each fort and turning it against the Union goes slowly. The forts fall one by one but heavily casualties are sustained. By the end of the year only Fort Zachary Taylor remains in control of the Union. (+15,000 militia to Florida, -5,000 militia to Florida, -500 regulars to New York)
In the North, New York is preparing for the war by looking for recruits to join the army. This is done with slogans and recruitment stations set up at every town and city in New York. Men flock to join the army thinking that a fast victory was at hand after Fort Sumter was attacked. Though most of them are not overly trained and are immediately sent to D.C. to wait for any Confederate attacks. (+20,000 militia to New York)
While New York is preparing Pennsylvania is relatively quiet, nothing of note happens besides some posters going up saying the Union is great. (No orders from Pennsylvania)
Massachusetts is in the same state with nothing going on and nothing being done about the war (No orders from Massachusetts)
In the more eventful part of North America Indiana orders the raising of troops and purchasing of war material from Union states. Most men join the army via volunteering while other were pressured to do so. While the purchase of war material goes relatively bad due to the fact other states need their material the amount of men in the army is able to balanced that out. The troops are then sent to man positions along the Ohio river North of Confederate positions. (+15,000 militia to Indiana, fortifications on the Union side of the Ohio river)
Illinois meanwhile also raises troops in order to meet the quota of President Lincoln, most of these come as well in the form of volunteers wanting to travel. Support goes through the roof for the Union and in later part of the year even more join the Union army. In order to arm these troops the war industry expands and accommodates all these new troops by the end of the year. Which also supports the economy some as they produce a little extra to sell to other states. (+1m to economy, +25,000 militia)
Finally in Ohio similar undertakings as in Illinois are begun to expand the war industry as well as the army’s fighting capability. Industry is expanded to include parts of steamship production as well as armaments for the troops to use. This is successful as cities like Cleveland are expanded in order to accommodate the new factories to produce weapons for war. In Cincinnati however most of the militia train and receive armaments from the new factories in Cleveland, by the end of the year you could perhaps call them regulars. In Columbus also forces train and prepare for war with the same successful results, by the end of the year there is almost no militia in the Ohio army. (All militia in Ohio now Regulars, +1m to economy)
In where most real fighting takes place Missouri begins a campaign of mass recruitment. It will take anyone regardless of fighting ability. While support is divided the Confederate supporters respond and provide some men to the cause while the Unionists just look on. With their militia forces they begin a campaign of restoring order to the rural areas. Some control is regained while the Northern rural areas are still in anarchy. Meanwhile the forces at the river merging continuing fortifying and get some wooden forts completed and arm them using supplies from Union armories. Though it appears the abolitionists might’ve been helped in the rural areas from someone…(+20,000 militia to Missouri, the river merging is now heavily fortified, -500 militia to Missouri)
President Lincoln also has hefty goals in addition to his attempted reinforcement of Fort Sumter and outlying forts. President Lincoln sends back all the Republican senators to go on speaking tours to sway the populace to support the reintroduction of the south into the Union. This goes poorly as most of the populations of the states they go to have already heard about Fort Sumter and the attempt at reinforcing it. While in some areas it raises support in other little care is given to what the Senators have to say. Another order of the President is the construction of better railways from Boston, to New York, to Philadelphia, and finally to D.C. While in theory it seems like a great idea most states who are expanding their industry currently require all the materials they can get for the war which leaves little material for the production of railways. Some material is found but it is only enough for the Boston to New York line. With finally Lincoln ordering the raising of troops to meet his quota which he is currently 15,000 men short of, towards the latter part of the year the needed men come in from states like Vermont and New Hampshire which surpasses the quota to 85,000.In addition the revolt in Maryland is easily put down and order is restored. Another front developing also is Lincolns order to institute a complete blockade of the south, however there is not enough ships to intiate a total blockade so only major ports are blockaded. (85,000 militia currently fill the quota, only Boston-New York line completed, support relatively unchanging, South under partial blockade)
Western North America
In New Mexico the government asks for volunteers to join the army and to mobilize all of their forces, this goes well even despite their small population as some numbers of secessionists arrive from California to help the cause. They also seize all of the border forts that they have and garrison them with these new troops. (New Mexico controls the border forts, +5,000 Militia to New Mexico)
In the western Union holdings in California the government begins raising troops in order to fight the New Mexicans who will surely invade as the Californian Government says. Though the New Mexican threat is mostly laughed off some troops join the army but California lacks the ability to independently train them. These new troops are sent into the New Mexico in order to secure Flagstaff by the end of the year. The plan is to cross the Colorado River and advance North from the south. The plan initially goes well until the Apaches ambush some of their supply trains which forces them to go back after only a month of marching. (+2,000 militia to California, -500 militia to California)
All meanwhile is quiet in Texas except for the seizing of Federal property. With some new volunteers who join the Texan cause the Texan forces quickly seize all of the Federal property within the state especially the Alamo and the muskets it holds. (+10,000 militia to Texas, Texas to controls all property in its state)
Foreign
While the Foreign powers look on the United States State Department attempts to persuade them to look on the rebels as the ones who started the conflict, have no reason to rebel, and are illegal. Most of what the State Department diplomats say fall on deaf ears, especially on the United Kingdom and the French Empire. The United Kingdom’s possession, India this year has not made as much in the past resulting in a large increase in Cotton prices causing the market to need the Southern cotton in North America. While the French do not care simply because they are considering aspirations on Mexico which would be heavily helped by a divided United States. The end result is the United Kingdom does not recognize the Confederacy but is treating them as a belligerent and will trade with them, the same goes for the French. (French and British recognize Confederacy as a belligerent)
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Francis Wilkinson Pickens, Governor of South Carolina
The past few months have made me both incredibly proud and disappointed in the people of this State. The successful occupation of Fort Sumter and the other forts of the Charleston area while fending off union reinforcements was an superb victory for our state and sets the tone for success in this war. Across the Confederacy men took up arms for our cause after hearing of this victory, all with the exception of our own state. Over the past 9 months a meager 500 militia men have answered my call to arms while other states have raised several thousand volunteers. Why is this? Do you not have pride in your state? in your way of life? Who will defend this state when the tyrant in Washington's 85,000 men gather for an invasion?
Once again i challenge you, the people, fight for our cause! We cannot hide behind the other armies of the Confederacy, we must do our part!
From the Desk of the Governor of Georgia
My fellow brethren of the State of Georgia,
It is with great contemplation that I have been mulling over letters and newspapers during the past months. The President of the United States has asked of us to give him troops to aid in the fight against the "vile rebels", yet, when I look upon what these "vile rebels" are, all I see are men fighting for their families and lifestyles. The "Brigadier General" of the Northern Empire State proclaims that the Confederation of the South is nothing more than a "little mess" created by "little rebels", however what I see, and what I presume most of us see, is an organized resistance and adherence to the Georgia Platform. The northern states have been nullifying the Fugitive Slave Act since its inception. Following the last month, President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis himself, has personally sent me a letter proclaiming the causes that this new Confederacy of states fights for.
Due to the federal and Northern states' continual breaches of the Georgia Platform, I have decided to have Georgia secede from the Union. May God bless Georgia and the South in their righteous struggle against the treachery and neglect of common courtesy from the North who sought to not even negotiate with the Confederacy and instead deems the peoples' will to be illegal and unconstitutional even though our forefathers had seceded from the British Crown years before. What we are seeing from the North is petty imperialistic notions that the people, unwilling to stay under the rule of an iron fist, should throw away their notions of cultural independence and slave under a foreign ruler and subject their children to an unjust ruler that was not of their choice to represent them in international and national politics.
~Joseph E. Brown
Yes Cheef, and an update on stuff the stats will come soon which most likely means a day or two.
Abraham Lincoln First Inaugural Adress
Fellow-Citizens of the United States:
IN compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of this office." 1
I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement. 2
Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that—
I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.
Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:
Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause—as cheerfully to one section as to another.
There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions:
No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution—to this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause "shall be delivered up" their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?
There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States"?
I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.
I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.
Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it—break it, so to speak—but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?
Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect Union."
But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.
It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.
I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to do it I will neither affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?
All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution; certainly would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.
From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. There is no other alternative, for continuing the Government is acquiescence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.
Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent renewed secession?
Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.
I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the Government. And while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.
One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, can not be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section, while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.
Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this. They can not but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution—which amendment, however, I have not seen—has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.
The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have referred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves can do this if also they choose, but the Executive as such has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.
By the frame of the Government under which we live this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.
My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Fellow-Citizens of the United States:
IN compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of this office." 1
I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement. 2
Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that—
I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.
Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:
Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause—as cheerfully to one section as to another.
There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions:
No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution—to this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause "shall be delivered up" their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?
There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States"?
I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.
I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.
Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it—break it, so to speak—but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?
Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect Union."
But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.
It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.
I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to do it I will neither affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?
All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution; certainly would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.
From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. There is no other alternative, for continuing the Government is acquiescence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.
Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent renewed secession?
Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.
I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the Government. And while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.
One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, can not be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section, while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.
Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this. They can not but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution—which amendment, however, I have not seen—has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.
The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have referred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves can do this if also they choose, but the Executive as such has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.
By the frame of the Government under which we live this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.
My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
The Battle of St. Louis
In Late 1860 Major General John C. Fremont was given orders to advance on St. Louis from Indianapolis with 20,000 men and take all forts if possible along the way. The main plan created by General Fremont was to advance on St Louis from the Northeast and cross the Mississippi River expecting the least amount of contact while all the Confederate forces were securing the rural areas of the state with some possible support from gun boats. Though early in the campaign Confederate sympathizers found their way to Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch's army of Missouri and informed him of large troop movements in the area. Knowing that this Union army must be a large invasion force McCulloch pulled back most of the Missourian army towards St. Louis and to prepare for Union attacks. By late December Fremont's army had gotten within striking range of St. Louis, he had halted and then prepared for an attack while waiting for Union gunboats. When the gunboats finally arrived on January 2nd, 1861 he had ordered his engineers to build small boats that will help them cross the Mississippi. While Fremont was preparing for an attack McCulloch received orders to not fire unless fired upon, which he thought quite strange as at this point it had to be known finally as a war. By January 5th both sides were ready for battle, McCulloch's army had been preparing by digging in0 on the west bank while Fremont's army had organized enough for an attack and had their artillery massed on Confederate entrenchments. At 10:00 AM the Union began their bombardment on Confederate positions and the engineers brought their rafts up at 11:00 AM and the crossing of the Mississippi began.
As soon as the Union troops had gotten into their rafts they came under attack from Confederate cannon fire, however it was not as heavy as it could have been due to the volunteers not exactly knowing how to work the guns. By 11:30 Union troops had landed with the support of the gunboats and became under rifle fire as they were struggling to get organized, with Confederate fire coming from the streets and from houses the riverside was littered with the bodies of Union troops. At 12:30 when Union troops had been organized they had started pushing into the town of St. Louis itself, the Confederate troops were pulled back to take up secondary positions and to fire down onto the street where the Union troops in line while marching down the street. Fremont witnessing the slaughter that was at hand ordered some reserves to outflank Confederate forces by landing a smaller force of 2,000 at Oak ville just south of St, Louis itself. McCulloch had not expected this and put in his trained regular troops to deal with the attackers. However this time the Union troops were prepared and fought until 4:00 when they had to retreat due to a lack of ammunition. By the end of the day the riverside was stained in blood and the streets were full of wreckage and bodies of fallen soldiers. The attack had been a failure but Fremont positioned his troops to the east of Mississippi and dug them in waiting for new orders from Washington. Confederate morale was high as this was their first major victory in the war, while their opposing troops had been demoralized at the senseless slaughter. A few days after on January 8th Fremont attempting to find a victory out of defeat crossed south and attacked Cairo.
While Fort Cairo was not the best defended fort the demoralized troops were reluctant to attack it and when they finally were ordered to after a few hours of rifle fire, some regiments went back to the supply train and refused to fight. This forced Fremont to once again cross the Mississippi and back to his starting position east of St. Louis. The Union army had been badly bloodied but due to Lincolns quota it is expected to easily recover and be ready again for action soon. Meanwhile the people of Missouri had heard about St.Louis and support for the Confederacy started to rise in some areas outside the cities. While most of the populace in Maryland were heavily now leaning to leaving the Union and joining the successful Confederacy. Though most of the populace in every other Union state still felt the way would be over soon but it is starting to look otherwise....(-2,000 militia to Indiana, -3,000 militia to New York, -2,000 militia to Missouri, -200 regulars to Missouri)
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Hurrah for Dixie! Victory at St.Louis! Hurrah, hurrah for Dixie!
-The Cheer of the Missouri Militia
-The Cheer of the Missouri Militia
OOC: Bakery Fort Davidson wasn't built yet http://http://mostateparks.com/sites/default/files/teachersguide[1]_0.pdf
Just a note orders are due Friday and each state gets 1 war and 1 internal order with presidents getting 2 internal and 4 war orders.
A CALL
for the Men of Alabama for the Defense
OF THEIR HOME-STATE.
for the Men of Alabama for the Defense
OF THEIR HOME-STATE.
My fellow Alabamians and Men of the South:
it is truly one of the greatest crimes perpetrated by Man when the laurel wreaths of a nation's People are stolen, their previous owners trampled under-foot by the tyrant that claims to do such acts in the name of Liberty. This is the Tyrant that has called for patience and moderation when it yet steals what is the People's, and it violates the document by which the very Nation itself exists, unperturbed by their own bold actions.
Our pleas for reason and the rule of Common Sense have fallen upon very deaf and very arrogant ears. That Tyrant within the City of Washington has refused us our properties and our God-given Liberties afforded by the Lord himself and by that document under which we have all lived for nigh upon one century. And even now, that Tyrant cries "Treason!" as he destroys the foundations of a nation built upon the principles of a government ruled by the People, with their consent in all actions it may take or contemplate, when those that have been trampled under-foot fight back for their lives! This is the Tyrant whose eyes have never graced that Declaration signed so many years ago in the Pennsylvania State House, which states, among others, the following:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
And as we have acted upon these natural Rights of Man, that very same Tyrant has moved to crush us in the act! And so, my fellow Alabamians, we must unite with our Brothers, with our fellow Men of the South! See how the brave Men of Missouri have crushed the Tyrant's minions at St. Louis!
It is thus that I, Governor of Alabama, call for 10,000 militiamen, of good health and sound in Mind and Body, to come to answer the call to serve their South and their Alabama. Moves will be made immediately to remove any remaining Federal presence from the lands and territories of the State, and we shall do our part in winning the independence for the Confederated States. Onward, for Dixie!
~ The Honorable Andrew B. Moore, Governor of the State of Alabama
