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Chapter VII
On the 5th of February, 1864, Governor Stone issued a
proclamation notifying the people that Iowa would be required to
furnish 6,000 more men to fill the State’s quota under the
President’s recent call for 200,000 additional soldiers; and that a
draft was ordered to begin on the 10th of March, if the
men were not furnished by that time. The Governor made a strong
appeal to the people to fill this quota with volunteers and thus
avoid the necessity for a draft. On the 14th, he issued
another proclamation, forbidding all persons to cross the Missouri
River before the 10th of March for the purpose of
avoiding the draft. Guards were placed at all of the crossings of
the river below Sioux City to enforce the order. The men required to
be furnished by Iowa under the late call of the President were
secured by volunteering, and a draft at this time was avoided. A new
enrollment act was passed by Congress early in July, 1864, by the
terms of which the President was authorized at his discretion to
call for any number of volunteers to serve in the army for one, two
or three years. It was provided that in case the quota of any
township or ward of a city should not be filled within fifty days
after the call, the President should immediately order a draft for
one year to fill such quota.
On
the 18th of July came another call of the President for
500,000 more volunteers; and if they were not furnished by the 5th
of September, a draft was ordered to begin immediately thereafter in
any township, or ward of any city that was delinquent. Up to this
time, by great exertions, Iowa had been able to furnish volunteers
to meet all calls made by the President, but now it became evident
that the quota under this call could not be filled without resort to
a draft.
The
progress of the war for the past year had, upon the whole, been
favorable to the Union cause but the Confederate armies were still
formidable, and had won some important victories. One of the
greatest battles of the war was fought at Chickamauga on the 19th
and 30th of September, 1863, where the Union army under
General Rosecrans, had been beaten by the Confederates under General
Bragg, with a loss of more than 18,000 men. The redeeming feature of
this bloody conflict was the magnificent fight made by the right
wing of our army under General Rosecrans with the main body had been
driven in confusion from the field. General Rosecrans was soon
afterward relieved of command, and was succeeded by General Thomas.
On the 11th of October General Grant, who assumed command
in person, reached Chattanooga and in November won the brilliant
victories of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which he
captured more than 6,000 prisoners and forty pieces of artillery,
after inflicting upon the enemy a loss of 3,000 killed and wounded.
In Louisiana our army under General Banks was led to a disastrous
defeat in the Red River campaign, through the incompetence of the
commanders, notwithstanding the brilliant fighting of the Iowa
regiments in his army. Banks lost about 5,000 men, and a large part
of his artillery, in this campaign, and what little reputation he
had as a military officer.
The
Army of the Potomac, under Meade, had accomplished nothing since the
Battle of Gettysburg, and was still lying idle on the banks of the
Rapidan, watching Lee. At last, the patience of the country became
exhausted over the long continued inaction of that great army, and
congress took radical action in the premises. The Administration
felt grateful to General Meade for the victory at Gettysburg an the
country shared this feeling, although there was a general conviction
in the North that he had neglected to reap the full fruits of that
victory by the extreme caution displayed in failing to make a
vigorous pursuit of Lee’s retreating army. As the months passed by
until nearly three-quarters of a year had elapsed and his
magnificent army had accomplished nothing, the belief became general
that Meade lacked the aggressive energy that was necessary in a
commander to crush Lee’s forces, capture the Confederate Capital,
disperse and destroy its usurping government.
The
initiative for a radical change came from the West. E. B. Washburn
of Illinois, on the 1st of February, 1864, in the House
of Representatives, introduced a joint resolution to revive the
grade of Lieutenant-General of our armies, a rank hitherto held only
by George Washington (General Scott being only a brevet). General
Garfield moved to lay the resolution upon the table, but the House,
by the decisive vote of nineteen to one hundred seventeen, refused
to table the proposition, and after amending the resolution by a
vote of one hundred eleven to forty-one, recommending Ulysses S.
Grant for the post, passed it by a large majority. It passed the
Senate by a vote of thirty-one to six. President Lincoln promptly
approved the measure, and on the 1st of March nominated
General Grant for the place, and he was promptly confirmed by the
Senate. This act was almost unanimously approved by the loyal people
of Iowa and the West. Iowa and western soldiers had from the first
served under Grant, and borne a prominent part in all of his great
victories. They had unbounded confidence in his military ability,
his untiring energy and his uncompromising fidelity to the Union
cause. They hailed his promotion to the command of all of the armies
of the Nation, under the President, as the sure harbinger of
ultimate success. He was summoned to Washington, accepted the
position, and was invested by the President with the command of all
of the armies of the United States. Leaving General Meade as
commander of the Army of the Potomac in name, General Grant made his
headquarters with that army, and thereafter directed all of its
movements. From that day it made no more retreats, but slowly and
surely with shot and shell crowded the Army of Virginia from one
defense to another, until its shattered remnants were compelled to
surrender.
In
July, while the Governor and Adjutant-General were putting forth
every possible effort to secure volunteers to furnish the quota of
the State under the late calls of the President, authority was
received from the War Department to raise two new regiments of
infantry to serve one, tow or three years, as the recruits might
choose. No new regiments were organized under this authority, and a
draft was made, beginning in September, 1864, to supply the
deficiency then remaining. An excellent class of men were secured,
who, as a rule, cheerfully took their places in the ranks, and made
good soldiers.
On
the 27th of July, a general order was issued by
Adjutant-General Baker for the enrollment and organization of the
militia of the State in pursuance of the acts of the Tenth General
Assembly. The number of companies apportioned to each county was
published in the order. On the 20th of August, the
Governor issued a proclamation in which he stated that he was in
possession of information that refugees from Rebel armies,
guerrillas and bushwhackers, guilty of robbery and murder of Union
men in Missouri, were daily coming across the line into Iowa,
ostensibly for the purpose of becoming citizens, but with the intent
to commit robbery and other crimes.
“I hereby forbid asylum in this State to this class
of people, and all peace officers in the first and second tiers of
counties on the southern border, and in the County of Pottawattamie,
and all militia officers of the State are commanded to stop and
detain suspected persons, and unless they can give satisfactory
account of themselves they must be refused permission to remain in
the State.”
In an official letter to the Adjutant-General on the 12th
of September, 1864, Governor Stone sets forth at length, some of the
serious dangers menacing certain localities from disloyal secret
organizations in efforts to organize the State militia. He writes:
“In several lodges of the ‘Sons of Liberty,’ a
treasonable organization which now exists in nearly every county in
the State, it was determined by them to unite in organizing military
companies under the militia law and use these to cover their
movements from public observation. While pretending to drill as a
militia company, they could practice the peculiar tactics of their
order without being compelled as now to seek concealment. Most of
the lodges in the southern part of the State are in constant
correspondence with their coadjutors in Missouri, and since and
since the first of July last their communications have been
characterized by the most unblushing treason, both to the Federal
and State Governments. Couriers are now running regularly on both
sides of the State line, and much of the extraordinary tide of
immigration now pouring in from Missouri is invited here by Iowa
conspirators under promise of fellowship and protection.
“When you reflect that on the first day of August
there were over 30,000 members of this secret order enrolled in this
State, bound together by oaths which, if obeyed, renders every one
of them an active traitor to the Union, and an abetter of civil
strife in our State; that large quantities of arms and ammunition
are being secretly brought into these counties to be used for
disloyal purposes, you may well conceive that the development of
their nefarious militia scheme, concocted in midnight conclaves,
became with me a matter of serious concern. The sad experience of
our Missouri neighbors in their late troubles with disloyal militia,
was a sufficient warning for me to carefully guard that point in
Iowa. I am informed by anonymous letters that my orders will be
disregarded and my authority set at defiance. These orders will
remain unchanged and be strictly enforced in every case. Companies
which disregard them will not be recognized or treated for any
purpose as portions of the State militia. If the conflicts which
they seem now desirous of inviting be forced upon us, they may find
us prepared at points where they least expect us, and on our part at
least there will be no blank cartridges used or shots thrown away.”
In one case on the Missouri border, a militia company
elected as its captain a man who had been dishonorably dismissed
from the United States service for the utterance of treasonable
sentiments. In another case the captain had been a notorious
Missouri guerrilla. In both of these instances the request for
commissions and arms were refused by the Governor and
Adjutant-General. Through the vigilance of these officers the secret
schemes of the disloyal conspirators to secure arms were defeated,
but they were able in some of the border counties to seriously
embarrass the organization of the militia.
On
the 8th of October, 1864, the Governor announced that the
number of men required from Iowa, under all calls up to that time,
was less than 4,000 and these were soon after furnished by the draft
then in progress. On the 16th of November, the
Adjutant-General issued an order requiring all militia companies
that had received arms from the State, to meet and drill once a
month, or surrender their arms.
On
the 30th of November, Governor Stone issued an address to
the people of Iowa, in which he called a special attention to the
acts of the last General Assembly requiring the levy of a special
tax for the aid of the families of soldiers in the service. He says:
“With the number of soldiers’ families augmented
beyond our anticipations, the necessity for additional public effort
in their behalf has been created. The receipts from taxes will prove
inadequate to provide for the increased number in many counties, and
further appeal to the generosity of our people is imperatively
demanded. For this purpose I request that Saturday, the 31st
of December, be set apart as a day for general contribution
throughout the State. If we could manifest a proper appreciation of
the proud name our soldiers have won for us on so many fields, and
prove ourselves worthy of it, let us greet them with the assurance
that their wives and little ones shall not suffer in their absence.
Let us unite in sending them such a token of our love as will cheer
them wherever they are around the flag of the Union, whether on the
land or on the sea.”
On
the 9th of December, Adjutant-General Baker, upon
learning that deserters from Price’s Confederate army were crossing
into southern counties of Iowa for the purpose of robbery and
murder, issued an order to the State militia in that region to be on
the alert, “and if these desperadoes enter the State to rob, steal
and murder, and are caught in the act, they are to be treated as
outlaws, and shot on the spot, or hung to the nearest tree.” These
energetic measures served to protect very generally the border
counties.
The
number of militia companies organized under the acts of the last
General Assembly, during the year 1864, was nine hundred and
seventeen. The returns for that year showed the enrollment of the
militia of the State to be 86,000. Of the militia, there had been
organized twenty-nine regiments and two battalions.
While the war was absorbing every energy of the National
Administration, and testing to the utmost limit the patience,
endurance and patriotism of the loyal people of the country, in this
fourth year of the conflict, the time for a Presidential election
was approaching. That election was to determine the most important
issue ever submitted to a vote of the American people. It was to
decide whether the Republic was to endure as one great nation, or be
divided into hostile factions, adopting different forms of
government, liable to form alliances with foreign nations for
selfish purposes, leading to endless danger of civil wars and
internal disorders.
The
reelection of President Lincoln would be notice to the Southern
Confederacy, to its friends in the North and to foreign nations,
that every power of our National Government would be put forth for
the suppression of the Rebellion until national authority was
restored in every State and Territory in the Union.
When the Rebellion began, through the influence of such leading
Democrats as Douglas, Stanton, Holt, Dix, Butler, Dickinson and
Andrew Johnson, there was a general uprising of the loyal people of
the country in support of the President in his efforts and measures
to enforce the laws and restore the authority of the Government.
Partisan strife and conflicts were for a time ignored, and a wave of
patriotic fever swept over the Northern States. But as the war
progressed, wide differences of opinion arose over the policy to be
pursued in dealing with the Rebellion and slavery. The disloyal
people of the Northern States were untiring in the organization of
the secret leagues before mentioned as the “Knights of the Golden
Circle” and the “Sons of Liberty.” These secret gatherings enabled
the disloyal to disseminate their doctrines with safety, and this
work went on unchecked until in August, 1864, when, as we have seen,
Governor Stone stated that the membership of these lodges numbered
more than 30,000 in Iowa. These organizations extended throughout
the States not engaged in the Rebellion. Their influence was
widespread and becoming a serious menace to the Government. I order
to counteract their treasonable conspiracies the loyal people
devised the “Union League,” a secret organization, which rapidly
spread throughout the loyal and border States. The purposes of this
league will be best understood by quoting a few passages from the
ritual:
“In times of peril to our Government and the Union it
becomes the sacred duty of all true patriots to unite in the
preservation of constitutional freedom and in thwarting the designs
traitors. It is a strange and sad necessity which compels American
citizens to band themselves together in this manner to sustain the
Constitution and the Union; but the Government under which we live
is threatened with destruction. We claim in no way to interfere with
your religious or political opinions, save that you shall at all
times and places seek to protect, preserve and defend the Government
of the United States. An oath was administered to each member in
which he swore “to support, protect and defend the Constitution and
Government of the United States and the flag thereof, and aid in
maintaining the laws of the United States, and to defend the State
of Iowa (or whatever State the member lived in) against invasion,
insurrection or rebellion, to the best of my ability. Furthermore, I
will aid and assist in electing true and reliable Union men, and
none others, to all offices of profit or trust, from the lowest to
the highest; and should I ever be called to fill any office, I will
there and then faithfully carry out the objects and principles of
this League. To defend and perpetuate Freedom and the Union, I
pledge my life, my fortune and my sacred honor.”
As
the time approached for the assembling of the National conventions
to nominate candidates fro President, there were found to be among
Democrats and Republicans, those who were working together for a
vigorous prosecution of the war for the Union, a considerable number
who were opposed to the re-nomination of President Lincoln for
various reasons. This element held a National Convention at
Cleveland, Ohio, on the 31st of May, at which about three
hundred and fifty persons were present.
The
resolutions adopted declared for a vigorous prosecution of the war
for the Union, the prohibition of slavery by amendment of the
constitution and a further amendment providing for election of
President and Vice-President by a direct vote of the people,
limiting the term of the President to four years. The convention
then proceeded to nominate John C. Fremont for President and John
Cochrane for Vice-President.
The first political State convention of the year was that of the
Rebellion party, held at Des Moines, on the 22d of February, to
choose delegates to the National Convention. The convention elected
the following delegates for the State at large: Wm. M. Stone, J. T.
Clark, Francis Springer and D. D. Chase. The district delegates
chosen were: G. W. McCrary, D. P. Stubbs, D. W. Ellis, J. S. Stacey,
J. S. Woodward, George Kern, G. D. Woodin, J. M. Hedrick, Cole Noel,
Frank Stewart, G. M. Woodbury and Peter Melendy. The resolutions
adopted warmly indorsed the Administration and its war policy, and
favored an amendment to the National Constitution abolishing
slavery.
The
Democratic State convention assembled at Des Moines on the 16th
of June, and nominated the following candidates for State officers:
J. H. Wallace for Secretary of State; H. B. Hendershott, Auditor; J.
B. Larsh, Treasurer; B. D. Holbrook, Register Land Office; T. M.
Monroe, Supreme Judge; and C. A. Dunbar, Attorney-General. For
Presidential Electors the following nominations were made; D. F.
Miller, John Swineforth, I. C. Mitchell, I. M. Preston, B. B.
Richards, J. E. Neal, A. Lormier and J. M. Stockdale.
A
Republican State Convention was held at Des Moines on the 7th
of July, at which the following candidates were nominated: C. C.
Cole for Supreme Judge; James Wright, Secretary of State; John A.
Elliott, Auditor; Wm. H. Holmes, Treasurer; Isaac L. Allen,
Attorney-General; J. A. Harvey, Register Land Office; C. B. Darwin,
W. G. Thompson, J. Van Valkenburg, S. S. Burdette, B. F. Hunt, Dan
Anderson, C. C. Mudgett and H. C. Henderson, Presidential Electors.
The National Republican convention, which was held at
Baltimore on the 7th and 8th of June,
renominated Abraham Lincoln for President by a unanimous vote, and
Andrew Johnson was nominated for Vice President on the second
ballot. The resolutions approved the determination of the
Administration to make no compromise with Rebels, the offer of no
terms of peace other than “unconditional surrender,” and the return
to allegiance to the constitution and laws of the United States, and
the complete extirpation of slavery from the soil of the Republic by
amendment of the Constitution. The resolutions applauded the
practical wisdom, unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to
the Constitution and the principles of American liberty, with which
Abraham Lincoln had discharge, under circumstances of unparalleled
difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the
Presidential office; approved especially the Proclamation of
Emancipation, and the employment, as Union soldiers, of men
heretofore held in slavery. They indorsed the Monroe Doctrine and
the encouragement of foreign immigration by a liberal and just
policy.
The
Democratic National Convention assembled at Chicago on the 29th
of August; Governor Seymour of New York was called to preside and,
in his opening address, foreshadowed the “peace policy” which was to
dominate the convention. Through their secret “orders” the anti-war
men had been able to secure a large preponderance of delegates in
the convention. From the speeches made during its sessions a few
extracts are here given to show the character of the utterances
which received the loudest applause. Rev. Chauncey Burr of New
Jersey said:
“The south could not honorably lay down her arms, for
she was fighting for her honor. Two millions of men had been sent
down to the he slaughter pens of the South, and the army of Lincoln
could not again be filled, neither by enlistment nor conscription.
If I ever uttered a prayer, it was that no one of the States of the
Union should be conquered and subjugated.”
Henry Clay Dean of Iowa said:
“For over three years Lincoln has been calling for
men, and they have been given. But with all the vast armies placed
at his command he has failed. Such a failure had never been known.
Such destruction of human life had never been seen since the
destruction of Sennacherib by the breath of the Almighty. And still
the monster usurper wants more men for his slaughter pens. Ever
since the usurper, traitor and tyrant has occupied the Presidential
chair, the Republican party has shouted ‘War to the knife, and the
knife to the hilt.’ Blood has flowed in torrents; and yet the thirst
of the old monster is not quenched. His cry is for more blood.”
Judge Miller of Ohio said:
“There is no real difference between a war Democrat
and an Abolitionist. They are links of one sausage, made out of the
same dog.”
C. L. Vallandigham wrote the platform adopted by the
Convention, which made the following declarations:
“This Convention does explicitly declare, as the
sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to
restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under a
pretense of military necessity of a war power higher than the
Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every
part, and public liberty and private rights alike trodden down, and
the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired.
Justice, humanity, liberty and the public welfare demand that
immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a
view to the ultimate convention of all of the States, or other
peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment,
peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the
States.”
Several other resolutions were passed denouncing tin bitter
terms most of the war measures of the Administration, as
usurpations, not warranted by the Constitution. General George B.
McClellan was nominated for President and George H. Pendleton for
Vice-President.
When
the issue was thus squarely made between a vigorous prosecution of
the war for the preservation of the Union and a cessation of
hostilities for the purpose of attempting a compromise with the
Southern Confederacy, the loyal people of the country realized the
fearful danger that confronted the Nation. Two attempting a
compromise with the Southern Confederacy, the loyal people of the
country realized the fearful danger that confronted the Nation. Two
attempts had recently been made to ascertain if it were possible to
effect any kind of settlement between the Government and the leaders
of the Rebellion, by which peace could be made by prominent leaders
of the Rebellion who asked leave to come to Washington and enter
upon negotiations and to be assured of safety on their journey.
President Lincoln made them the following reply:
“Any proposition which embraces the restoration of
peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of
slavery, and which comes by and with authority that can control the
armies now at war against the United States, and will be met by
liberal terms on substantial and collateral points; and the bearer
or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways.
(Signed) “Abraham Lincoln.”
Nothing more came of this attempt at negotiation, which was
begun early in July, 1864. Very soon after, two prominent citizens
of the North, with the knowledge of the President, but not by any
direct authority from him, went to Richmond on a peace errand, being
allowed to pass through the lines of both armies. They had a long
personal conference with President Davis, after which he presented
his ultimatum in the following terms:
"I desire peace as much as you do, but I feel that not one drop
of blood of this war is on my hands. I tried all in my power to
avert this war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind; it
would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came and now it
must go on until the last man of this generation falls in his
tracks, and his children seize his musket and fight our battles,
unless you acknowledge our right to self government. We are not
fighting for slavery. We are fighting for Independence, and that or
extermination we will have. Say to Mr. Lincoln for me, that I shall
at any time be pleased to receive proposals for peace on the basis
of our independence. It will be useless to approach me with any
other.”
Mr. Vallandigham, when banished to the Confederacy the year before
for treasonable utterances, had assured Mr. Ould that, “if you can
hold out this year, the peace party of the North will sweep the
Lincoln dynasty out of political existence.”
With a knowledge of all these facts, the Chicago Convention had
deliberately resolved in favor of an immediate cessation of
hostilities, that peace negotiations might be entered into. Under
these circumstances there could be no misunderstanding as to the
vital issues involved in the Presidential campaign of 1864. Never
before had the fate of the Nation been so clearly at stake in a
political campaign. All parties to the war recognized the supreme
importance of the approaching election. If McClellan should be
elected, it meant an end of the war upon the best terms that could
be made with the Southern Confederacy, which had been so clearly
stated by its President that there could be no misunderstanding.
However much the Democratic party in the North might have desired
the restoration of the old Union, due notice had been given by the
President of the Confederacy that such a proposition would not even
be considered. Peace, then, could only be secured by an abject
surrender of all that the Union army had, for more than three years,
been fighting to maintain. All of the superb patriotism of the
people, the sublime loyalty and heroic deeds of the Union soldiers,
the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of
millions of dollars, would have been in vain. Or, failing to bring
about peace, could the country afford to trust a vigorous
prosecution of the war for the Union to McClellan, who, as
Commander-in-Chief, was a most conspicuous failure.
The hope of the election of McClellan and the defeat of Lincoln was
the inspiration that sustained Lee’s army in its desperate
resistance to Grant’s terrific assaults upon its strong defenses all
through the months of the political campaign. No one realized more
clearly than the leaders of the Confederacy and its armies that the
reelection of President Lincoln would seal their doom. The political
campaign was one of unparalleled vigor, bitterness and stern
determination. Union sympathizers were firmly possessed of the
belief that the only hope of preservation of the Nation as one great
undivided Republic, was the strong endorsement of the war measures
and general policy of the President and Congress. They did not doubt
that the reelection of Lincoln would bring an early end to the
Rebellion, the destruction of slavery, and restoration of the Union.
While the Chicago platform and ticket received the support of the
“Copperheads,” and all disloyal elements in the North, as well as in
the five slave States, which still remained in the Union, it should
not be inferred that it was not supported by thousands of Union men.
There were hundreds of thousands of Democrats in these States, who
were loyal to the Union, but were opposed to emancipation, and to
the employment of negroes in the National army, and who believed it
possible to restore the Union with slavery as it existed before the
Rebellion. These men also supported McClellan. But, as the campaign
progressed, it became evident that the contest was, as tersely
stated by that great statesman, William H. Seward, when he said in a
public address: “The issue is squarely made up—McClellan and
disunion, or Lincoln and union.”
The country accepted that view, and on the 6th of
September, General Fremont withdrew as a candidate of the radical
Republicans for President, saying:
“The policy of the Democratic party signifies either
separation or re-establishment with slavery. The Chicago platform is
simply separation. General McClellan’s letter of acceptance is
re-establishment with slavery. The Republican candidate is, on the
contrary, pledged to the re-establishment of the Union without
slavery.”
In Iowa, the campaign was carried on with intense interest and
earnestness. Public meetings were held in nearly every school-house,
and the spirit of patriotism pervaded every neighborhood. Our State
had more than 50,000 soldiers in the Union armies, and they
represented a large majority of the families of the entire
population. Women how had fathers, brothers, sons or lovers in the
field, hospital or Southern prisons, could not restrain their
intense interest in the absorbing contest; they turned out to the
Union meetings, joined the processions, sang the war songs, and
helped to swell the enthusiasm. A “Peace Convention” was called to
meet at Iowa City on the 24th of August, which, among its
resolutions, declared:
“That the war now being prosecuted by the Lincoln
administration is unconstitutional and oppressive and is the
prolific source of a multitude of usurpations, tyrannies and
corruptions to which no people can long submit without becoming
permanently enslaved.
“Resolved, That, believing the war to be disunion, and
desiring to stop the further flow of precious blood for a purpose so
wicked as disunion, we respectfully urge the President to postpone
the draft for 500,000 men to be driven like bullocks to the
slaughter, until the result of an armistice and a National
Convention of the States is known.
“Resolved, That in the coming election we will have a
free ballot or a free fight.
“Resolved, That should Abraham Lincoln owe his
re-election to the electoral votes of the seceded States, under the
application of the President’s ‘one tenth’ system and military
dictation, and should he attempt to execute the duties of President
by virtue of such an election, it will become the solemn mission of
the people to depose the usurper, or else be worthy the slavish
degradation which submission under such circumstances would seem to
be their just desert.”
It will be seen by the action of this convention that Iowa
had its share of citizens who never ceased to do all in their power
to instigate resistance to the measures adopted by the Government to
overthrow the Rebellion. It was in the midst of this momentous
political contest that he draft was taking place to re-enforce the
Union armies in the field. The draft at this time was a crucial test
of the patriotism of the people, and was watched with intense
anxiety by the National and State Administrations, Congress and the
army. It was the most critical period of our national existence.
Would the Government stand the strain, and would the people sustain
the Administration, and , decree in the approaching election, that
the war would go on and the army be re-enforced by drafts until the
Rebellion was overthrown? These were the problems that the election
would settle. There could be no doubt as to the answer that Iowa
would give. Every indication pointed to an overwhelming endorsement
of the Administration. In the East there was a widespread feeling of
apprehension. But the October State elections in Ohio, Indiana and
Pennsylvania, relieved the anxiety as all gave large Republican
majorities.
At the November election, twenty-two out of the twenty-five states
remaining in the Union gave their electoral votes for Lincoln and
Johnson. Of these votes, Lincoln received two hundred and twelve,
and McClellan twenty-one. In fifteen of the States, the soldiers in
the field were permitted to vote. In twelve of these States the
soldiers’ vote was 119,754 for Lincoln, and 34,291 for McClellan. In
Iowa, the soldiers’ vote was 16,844 for Lincoln, and 1,183 for
McClellan. The total vote in Iowa was 88,966 for Lincoln, and 49,586
for McClellan. On the State ticket the average vote for the
Republican candidates was 90,033, and for the Democratic candidates
49,500. The election of the members of the new congress was also an
overwhelming approval of the Administration. Of the one hundred and
eighty-four Representatives chosen, one hundred and forty-three were
Union-Republicans, to forty-one opposition. The Senate, after the
election of the following winter stood forty Union-Republicans to
eleven opposition. This gave the supporters of the Administration a
majority of more than two-thirds in each branch of Congress.
The result of this election removed all doubt in the minds of the
mass of the people, both in the North and the South, as to the final
result of the terrible Civil War that had for more than three years
desolated the country. The leaders on both sides clearly saw what
the end must be. The officers of the Confederate Government and of
its armies lost hope in the success of their cause, although they
were impelled by their positions to continue the hopeless struggle
six months longer. When the news of the overwhelming approval of the
prosecution of the war was flashed over the civilized world, it was
accepted as the death blow to the Southern Confederacy.
When Congress assembled on the 6th of December, 1964,
President Lincoln, in his message, said:
“Judging by the recent canvass and its results the
purpose of the people in the loyal States, to maintain the integrity
of the Union, was never more firm, nor more nearly unanimous than
now…In affording the people a fair opportunity of showing to one
another, and to the world, this firmness and unanimity of purpose,
the election has been of vast value to the National cause.
“In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to
the national authority on the part of the insurgents, as the only
indispensable condition to ending the war on part of the Government,
I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery…While I remain in my
present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the
Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person
who is free by the terms of that Proclamation, or any acts of
Congress. If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it
an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, not I, must
be their instrument to perform it.
“In stating a condition of peace, I mean simply to say
that the war will cease on part of the Government whenever it shall
have ceased on part of those who began it.”
The President strongly urged the passage by the House of
the Constitutional Amendment (which had already passed the Senate by
a two-thirds majority) forever prohibiting slavery in the United
States.
These explicit declarations in the message left no uncertainty as to
the terms upon which the Civil War would be ended. The House
promptly passed the amendment by a majority of more than two-thirds,
fifty-six Democrats voting against it. All of the Iowa members, in
both House and Senate were warm supporters of the amendment.
During the winter, an attempt was made by three Confederate
commissioners, Stephens, Campbell and Hunter, on the part of the
Confederate Government, to secure peace on some basis of separation
from the Union. These commissioners were permitted to pass through
General Grant’s lines at Petersburg, to meet and confer with
President Lincoln and Secretary Seward at Fortress Monroe. A free
conference took place, but the President would concede no terms that
did not restore the Union of all of the States, and the Confederate
Commissioners were not authorized to surrender the independence of
the confederacy, and so ended the last effort to establish peace by
negotiation.
In the meantime, Sherman’s great army was sweeping through Georgia
and South Carolina with irresistible power. In it were a large
number of veteran Iowa regiments. Thomas had won a great victory
over Hood at Nashville and driven his army out of Tennessee. Grant
was closing the coils around Lee’s veteran army at Petersburg and
Richmond.
In the spring of 1865 the confederate cause was desperate. A most
merciless conscription had already dragged almost every able bodied
man of the middle and lower classes into the ranks. The wealthy
scions of chivalry were holding Government positions or filling the
offices in the army. The resources of men and money to be drawn upon
were exhausted and all realized that the collapse was near at hand.
Soon after the inauguration of President Lincoln, in March, it
was announced that Senator James Harlan, of Iowa had been invited to
a seat in his Cabinet, as Secretary of the Interior. The appointment
was especially gratifying to the people of our State. Mr. Harlan was
the first Republican Senator from Iowa, having been chosen in the
winter of 1855 to succeed General A. C. Dodge. He was a
representative of the Antislavery revolution in politics which had
just grown into control of the State, abut was not organized into
the Republican party until the next year. He was one of the trusted
leaders of the party, and had been kept continuously in the Senate,
where he now ranked among the ablest members of that body.
Early in April came the glorious news of the fall of Richmond,
the Capital of the Confederacy, and soon after the surrender of Lee
and his entire army to General Grant. The rejoicing in Iowa, and
throughout the North, was unbounded. The joy that entered the homes
of the thousands of Union soldiers cannot be described in human
language; neither can it be fully realized by the people of a later
generation. No one doubted that it was the last great battle of the
four years of war. Peace was coming again to the country, and the
National Government was again to be supreme over our vast domain.
The fearful list of killed and wounded that had brought woe and
desolation to countless homes through the long agonizing years,
would come no more.
Hardly had the news of the crowning victory and the dawning of
early peace, reached the distant parts of the country, when, like an
awful flash from a clear sky came the startling tidings of the
assassination of the President. No pen can describe the shock of
horror that paralyzed the hearts of millions of people as the
terrible details of the hideous crime were confirmed. They assembled
in the churches and school-houses all over the Northern States to
give public expression to their deep sorrow. Governor Stone, who was
in Washington at the time, issued a proclamation to the people of
Iowa, requesting them to assemble in their places of worship on the
27th of April, to testify their sorrow over this National
calamity; they were also requested to suspend their ordinary labor
on that day, and have all public offices draped in mourning. The day
was observed by all classes of people, and for the time partisan
differences were forgotten in the shock of a great crime and
calamity. |
