|
This Site:
Civil War
Harper's Weekly
Civil War Battles
Confederate Generals
Union Generals
Indians
Indian Tribes
Indian Territory
Custer's Last Stand
Republic of Texas
Westward Expansion
Mexican War
Slavery
Civil War Medicine
American Revolution
Winslow Homer
Thomas Nast
Mathew Brady
Western Art |
Quotes of General Sherman |
General Sherman in the Civil War |
Pictures of General William T. Sherman |
General Sherman's Memoirs
MEMOIRS OF GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN
By
William T. Sherman
FROM 1820 TO THE MEXICAN WAR, 1846
CONTENTS
-
FROM 1820 TO THE MEXICAN
WAR, 1846
-
EARLY
RECOLLECTIONS OF CALIFORNIA—1846-1848
-
EARLY
RECOLLECTIONS OF CALIFORNIA—(Continued)—1849-1850
-
MISSOURI, LOUISIANA, AND CALIFORNIA—1850-1855
-
CALIFORNIA—1855-1857
-
CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK, AND KANSAS—1857-1859
-
LOUISIANA—1859-1861
-
MISSOURI—APRIL AND MAY, 1861
-
FROM
THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN TO PADUCAH—1861-1862
-
BATTLE OF SHILOH—MARCH AND APRIL, 1862
-
SHILOH TO MEMPHIS-APRIL TO JULY, 1862
-
MEMPHIS To ARKANSAS POST—JULY, 1862, TO JANUARY, 1863
-
VICKSBURG—JANUARY TO JULY, 1863
-
CHATTANOOGA AND KNOXVILLE—JULY TO DECEMBER, 1863
-
MERIDIAN CAMPAIGN—JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1864
APPENDIX TO VOLUME ONE
Chapter I.
According to Cothren, in his "History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut,"
the Sherman family came from Dedham, Essex County, England. The first
recorded name is of Edmond Sherman, with his three sons, Edmond, Samuel,
and John, who were at Boston before 1636; and farther it is distinctly
recorded that Hon. Samuel Sherman, Rev. John, his brother, and Captain
John, his first cousin, arrived from Dedham, Essex County, England, in
1634. Samuel afterward married Sarah Mitchell, who had come (in the same
ship) from England, and finally settled at Stratford, Connecticut. The
other two (Johns) located at Watertown, Massachusetts.
From Captain John Sherman are descended Roger Sherman, the signer of the
Declaration of Independence, Hon. William M. Evarts, the Messrs. Hoar,
of Massachusetts, and many others of national fame. Our own family are
descended from the Hon. Samuel Sherman and his son; the Rev. John, who
was born in 1650-'51; then another John, born in 1687; then Judge
Daniel, born in 1721; then Taylor Sherman, our grandfather, who was born
in 1758. Taylor Sherman was a lawyer and judge in Norwalk, Connecticut,
where he resided until his death, May 4, 1815; leaving a widow, Betsey
Stoddard Sherman, and three children, Charles R. (our father), Daniel,
and Betsey.
When the State of Connecticut, in 1786, ceded to the United States her
claim to the western part of her public domain, as defined by her Royal
Charter, she reserved a large district in what is now northern Ohio, a
portion of which (five hundred thousand acres) composed the "Fire-Land
District," which was set apart to indemnify the parties who had lost
property in Connecticut by the raids of Generals Arnold, Tryon, and
others during the latter part of the Revolutionary War.
Our grandfather, Judge Taylor Sherman, was one of the commissioners
appointed by the State of Connecticut to quiet the Indian title, and to
survey and subdivide this Fire-Land District, which includes the present
counties of Huron and Erie. In his capacity as commissioner he made
several trips to Ohio in the early part of this century, and it is
supposed that he then contracted the disease which proved fatal. For his
labor and losses he received a title to two sections of land, which fact
was probably the prime cause of the migration of our family to the West.
My father received a good education, and was admitted to the bar at
Norwalk, Connecticut, where, in 1810, he, at twenty years of age,
married Mary Hoyt, also of Norwalk, and at once migrated to Ohio,
leaving his wife (my mother) for a time. His first purpose was to settle
at Zanesville, Ohio, but he finally chose Lancaster, Fairfield County,
where he at once engaged in the, practice of his profession. In 1811 he
returned to Norwalk, where, meantime, was born Charles Taylor Sherman,
the eldest of the family, who with his mother was carried to Ohio on
horseback.
Judge Taylor Sherman's family remained in Norwalk till 1815, when his
death led to the emigration of the remainder of the family, viz., of
Uncle Daniel Sherman, who settled at Monroeville, Ohio, as a farmer,
where he lived and died quite recently, leaving children and
grandchildren; and an aunt, Betsey, who married Judge Parker, of
Mansfield, and died in 1851, leaving children and grandchildren; also
Grandmother Elizabeth Stoddard Sherman, who resided with her daughter,
Mrs: Betsey Parker, in Mansfield until her death, August 1,1848.
Thus my father, Charles R. Sherman, became finally established at
Lancaster, Ohio, as a lawyer, with his own family in the year 1811, and
continued there till the time of his death, in 1829. I have no doubt
that he was in the first instance attracted to Lancaster by the natural
beauty of its scenery, and the charms of its already established
society. He continued in the practice of his profession, which in those
days was no sinecure, for the ordinary circuit was made on horseback,
and embraced Marietta, Cincinnati, and Detroit. Hardly was the family
established there when the War of 1812 caused great alarm and distress
in all Ohio. The English captured Detroit and the shores of Lake Erie
down to the Maumee River; while the Indians still occupied the greater
part of the State. Nearly every man had to be somewhat of a soldier, but
I think my father was only a commissary; still, he seems to have caught
a fancy for the great chief of the Shawnees, "Tecumseh."
Perry's victory on Lake Erie was the turning-point of the Western
campaign, and General Harrison's victory over the British and Indians at
the river Thames in Canada ended the war in the West, and restored peace
and tranquillity to the exposed settlers of Ohio. My father at once
resumed his practice at the bar, and was soon recognized as an able and
successful lawyer. When, in 1816, my brother James was born, he insisted
on engrafting the Indian name "Tecumseh" on the usual family list. My
mother had already named her first son after her own brother Charles;
and insisted on the second son taking the name of her other brother
James, and when I came along, on the 8th of February, 1820, mother
having no more brothers, my father succeeded in his original purpose,
and named me William Tecumseh.
The family rapidly increased till it embraced six boys and five girls,
all of whom attained maturity and married; of these six are still
living.
In the year 1821 a vacancy occurred in the Supreme Court of Ohio, and I
find this petition:
Somerset, Ohio, July 6, 1821.
May it
please your Excellency:
We ask leave to recommend to your Excellency's favorable notice Charles
R. Sherman, Esq., of Lancaster, as a man possessing in an eminent degree
those qualifications so much to be desired in a Judge of the Supreme
Court.
From a long acquaintance with Mr. Sherman, we are happy to be able to
state to your Excellency that our minds are led to the conclusion that
that gentleman possesses a disposition noble and generous, a mind
discriminating, comprehensive, and combining a heart pure, benevolent
and humane. Manners dignified, mild, and complaisant, and a firmness not
to be shaken and of unquestioned integrity.
But Mr. Sherman's character cannot be unknown to your Excellency, and on
that acquaintance without further comment we might safely rest his
pretensions.
We think we hazard little in assuring your Excellency that his
appointment would give almost universal satisfaction to the citizens of
Perry County.
With great consideration, we have the honor to be
Your Excellency's most obedient humble servants,
CHARLES A. HOOD,
GEORGE TREAT,
PETER DITTOR,
P. ODLIN,
J. B. ORTEN,
T. BECKWITH,
WILLIAM P. DORST,
JOHN MURRAY,
JACOB MOINS,
B. EATON,
DANIEL GRIGGS,
HENRY DITTOE,
NICHOLAS McCARTY.
His Excellency ETHAN A. BROWN,
Governor of Ohio, Columbus.
He was
soon after appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, and served in that
capacity to the day of his death.
My memory extends back to about 1827, and I recall him, returning home
on horseback, when all the boys used to run and contend for the
privilege of riding his horse from the front door back to the stable. On
one occasion, I was the first, and being mounted rode to the stable; but
"Old Dick" was impatient because the stable-door was not opened
promptly, so he started for the barn of our neighbor Mr. King; there,
also, no one was in waiting to open the gate, and, after a reasonable
time, "Dick" started back for home somewhat in a hurry, and threw me
among a pile of stones, in front of preacher Wright's house, where I was
picked up apparently a dead boy; but my time was not yet, and I
recovered, though the scars remain to this day.
The year 1829 was a sad one to our family. We were then ten children, my
eldest brother Charles absent at the State University, Athens, Ohio; my
next brother, James, in a store at Cincinnati; and the rest were at
home, at school. Father was away on the circuit. One day Jane Sturgeon
came to the school, called us out, and when we reached home all was
lamentation: news had come that father was ill unto death, at Lebanon, a
hundred miles away. Mother started at once, by coach, but met the news
of his death about Washington, and returned home. He had ridden on
horseback from Cincinnati to Lebanon to hold court, during a hot day in
June. On the next day he took his seat on the bench, opened court in the
forenoon, but in the afternoon, after recess, was seized with a severe
chill and had to adjourn the court. The best medical aid was called in,
and for three days with apparent success, but the fever then assumed a
more dangerous type, and he gradually yielded to it, dying on the sixth
day, viz., June 24, 1829.
My brother James had been summoned from Cincinnati, and was present at
his bedside, as was also Henry Stoddard, Esq., of Dayton, Ohio, our
cousin. Mr. Stoddard once told me that the cause of my father's death
was cholera; but at that time, 1829, there was no Asiatic cholera in the
United States, and the family, attributed his death to exposure to the
hot sun of June, and a consequent fever, "typhoid."
From the resolutions of the bench, bar, and public generally, now in my
possession, his death was universally deplored; more especially by his
neighbors in Lancaster, and by the Society of Freemasons, of which he
was the High-Priest of Arch Chapter No. 11.
His death left the family very poor, but friends rose up with proffers
of generous care and assistance; for all the neighbors knew that mother
could not maintain so large a family without help. My eldest brother,
Charles, had nearly completed his education at the university at Athens,
and concluded to go to his uncle, Judge Parker, at Mansfield, Ohio, to
study law. My, eldest sister, Elizabeth, soon after married William J.
Reese, Esq.; James was already in a store at Cincinnati; and, with the
exception of the three youngest children, the rest of us were scattered.
I fell to the charge of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, who took me to his
family, and ever after treated me as his own son.
I continued at the Academy in Lancaster, which was the best in the
place; indeed, as good a school as any in Ohio. We studied all the
common branches of knowledge, including Latin, Greek, and French. At
first the school was kept by Mr. Parsons; he was succeeded by Mr. Brown,
and he by two brothers, Samuel and Mark How. These were all excellent
teachers, and we made good progress, first at the old academy and
afterward at a new school-house, built by Samuel How, in the orchard of
Hugh Boyle, Esq.
Time passed with us as with boys generally. Mr. Ewing was in the United
States Senate, and I was notified to prepare for West Point, of which
institution we had little knowledge, except that it was very strict, and
that the army was its natural consequence. In 1834 I was large for my
age, and the construction of canals was the rage in Ohio. A canal was
projected to connect with the great Ohio Canal at Carroll (eight miles
above Lancaster), down the valley of the Hock Hocking to Athens
(forty-four miles), and thence to the Ohio River by slack water.
Preacher Carpenter, of Lancaster, was appointed to make the preliminary
surveys, and selected the necessary working party out of the boys of the
town. From our school were chosen ____Wilson, Emanuel Geisy, William
King, and myself. Geisy and I were the rod-men. We worked during that
fall and next spring, marking two experimental lines, and for our work
we each received a silver half-dollar for each day's actual work, the
first money any of us had ever earned.
In June, 1835, one of our school-fellows, William Irvin, was appointed a
cadet to West Point, and, as it required sixteen years of age for
admission, I had to wait another year. During the autumn of 1835 and
spring of 1836 I devoted myself chiefly to mathematics and French, which
were known to be the chief requisites for admission to West Point.
Some time in the spring of 1836 I received through Mr. Ewing, then at
Washington, from the Secretary of War, Mr. Poinsett, the letter of
appointment as a cadet, with a list of the articles of clothing
necessary to be taken along, all of which were liberally provided by
Mrs. Ewing; and with orders to report to Mr. Ewing, at Washington, by a
certain date, I left Lancaster about the 20th of May in the stage-coach
for Zanesville. There we transferred to the coaches of the Great
National Road, the highway of travel from the West to the East. The
stages generally travelled in gangs of from one to six coaches, each
drawn by four good horses, carrying nine passengers inside and three or
four outside.
In about three days, travelling day and night, we reached Frederick,
Maryland. There we were told that we could take rail-cars to Baltimore,
and thence to Washington; but there was also a two-horse hack ready to
start for Washington direct. Not having full faith in the novel and
dangerous railroad, I stuck to the coach, and in the night reached
Gadsby's Hotel in Washington City.
The next morning I hunted up Mr. Ewing, and found him boarding with a
mess of Senators at Mrs. Hill's, corner of Third and C Streets, and
transferred my trunk to the same place. I spent a week in Washington,
and think I saw more of the place in that time than I ever have since in
the many years of residence there. General Jackson was President, and
was at the zenith of his fame. I recall looking at him a full hour, one
morning, through the wood railing on Pennsylvania Avenue, as he paced up
and down the gravel walk on the north front of the White House. He wore
a cap and an overcoat so full that his form seemed smaller than I had
expected. I also recall the appearance of Postmaster-General Amos
Kendall, of Vice-President Van Buren, Messrs. Calhoun, Webster, Clay,
Cass, Silas Wright, etc.
In due time I took my departure for West Point with Cadets Belt and
Bronaugh. These were appointed cadets as from Ohio, although neither had
ever seen that State. But in those days there were fewer applicants from
Ohio than now, and near the close of the term the vacancies unasked for
were usually filled from applicants on the spot. Neither of these
parties, however, graduated, so the State of Ohio lost nothing. We went
to Baltimore by rail, there took a boat up to Havre de Grace, then the
rail to Wilmington, Delaware, and up the Delaware in a boat to
Philadelphia. I staid over in Philadelphia one day at the old Mansion
House, to visit the family of my brother-in-law, Mr. Reese. I found his
father a fine sample of the old merchant gentleman, in a good house in
Arch Street, with his accomplished daughters, who had been to Ohio, and
whom I had seen there. From Philadelphia we took boat to Bordentown,
rail to Amboy, and boat again to New York City, stopping at the American
Hotel. I staid a week in New York City, visiting my uncle, Charles Hoyt,
at his beautiful place on Brooklyn Heights, and my uncle James, then
living in White Street. My friend William Scott was there, the young
husband of my cousin, Louise Hoyt; a neatly-dressed young fellow, who
looked on me as an untamed animal just caught in the far West—"fit food
for gunpowder," and good for nothing else.
About June 12th I embarked in the steamer Cornelius Vanderbilt for West
Point; registered in the office of Lieutenant C. F. Smith, Adjutant of
the Military Academy, as a new cadet of the class of 1836, and at once
became installed as the "plebe" of my fellow-townsman, William Irvin,
then entering his Third Class.
Colonel R. E. De Russy was Superintendent; Major John Fowle, Sixth
United States Infantry, Commandant. The principal Professors were:
Mahan, Engineering; Bartlett, Natural Philosophy; Bailey, Chemistry;
Church, Mathematics; Weir, Drawing; and Berard, French.
The routine of military training and of instruction was then fully
established, and has remained almost the same ever since. To give a mere
outline would swell this to an inconvenient size, and I therefore merely
state that I went through the regular course of four years, graduating
in June, 1840, number six in a class of forty-three. These forty-three
were all that remained of more than one hundred which originally
constituted the class. At the Academy I was not considered a good
soldier, for at no time was I selected for any office, but remained a
private throughout the whole four years. Then, as now, neatness in dress
and form, with a strict conformity to the rules, were the qualifications
required for office, and I suppose I was found not to excel in any of
these. In studies I always held a respectable reputation with the
professors, and generally ranked among the best, especially in drawing,
chemistry, mathematics, and natural philosophy. My average demerits, per
annum, were about one hundred and fifty, which. reduced my final class
standing from number four to six.
In June, 1840, after the final examination, the class graduated and we
received our diplomas. Meantime, Major Delafield, United States
Engineers, had become Superintendent; Major C. F. Smith, Commandant of
Cadets; but the corps of professors and assistants remained almost
unchanged during our whole term. We were all granted the usual furlough
of three months, and parted for our homes, there to await assignment to
our respective corps and regiments. In due season I was appointed and
commissioned second-lieutenant, Third Artillery, and ordered to report
at Governor's Island, New York Harbor, at the end of September. I spent
my furlough mostly at Lancaster and Mansfield, Ohio; toward the close of
September returned to New York, reported to Major Justin Dimock,
commanding the recruiting rendezvous at Governor's Island, and was
assigned to command a company of recruits preparing for service in
Florida. Early in October this company was detailed, as one of four, to
embark in a sailing-vessel for Savannah, Georgia, under command of
Captain and Brevet Major Penrose. We embarked and sailed, reaching
Savannah about the middle of October, where we transferred to a small
steamer and proceeded by the inland route to St. Augustine, Florida. We
reached St. Augustine at the same time with the Eighth Infantry,
commanded by Colonel and Brevet Brigadier-General William J. Worth. At
that time General Zachary Taylor was in chief command in Florida, and
had his headquarters at Tampa Bay. My regiment, the Third Artillery,
occupied the posts along the Atlantic coast of Florida, from St.
Augustine south to Key Biscayne, and my own company, A, was at Fort
Pierce, Indian River. At St. Augustine I was detached from the company
of recruits, which was designed for the Second Infantry, and was ordered
to join my proper company at Fort Pierce. Colonel William Gates
commanded the regiment, with Lieutenant William Austine Brown as
adjutant of the regiment. Lieutenant Bragg commanded the post of St.
Augustine with his own company, E, and G (Garner's), then commanded by
Lieutenant Judd. In, a few days I embarked in the little steamer William
Gaston down the coast, stopping one day at New Smyrna, held by John R.
Vinton's company (B), with which was serving Lieutenant William H.
Shover.
In due season we arrived off the bar of Indian River and anchored. A
whale-boat came off with a crew of four men, steered by a character of
some note, known as the Pilot Ashlock. I transferred self and baggage to
this boat, and, with the mails, was carried through the surf over the
bar, into the mouth of Indian River Inlet. It was then dark; we
transferred to a smaller boat, and the same crew pulled us up through a
channel in the middle of Mangrove Islands, the roosting-place of
thousands of pelicans and birds that rose in clouds and circled above
our heads. The water below was alive with fish, whose course through it
could be seen by the phosphoric wake; and Ashlock told me many a tale of
the Indian war then in progress, and of his adventures in hunting and
fishing, which he described as the best in the world. About two miles
from the bar, we emerged into the lagoon, a broad expanse of shallow
water that lies parallel with the coast, separated from it by a narrow
strip of sand, backed by a continuous series of islands and
promontories, covered with a dense growth of mangrove and saw-palmetto.
Pulling across this lagoon, in about three more miles we approached the
lights of Fort Pierce. Reaching a small wharf, we landed, and were met
by the officers of the post, Lieutenants George Taylor and Edward J.
Steptoe, and Assistant-Surgeon James Simons. Taking the mail-bag, we
walked up a steep sand-bluff on which the fort was situated, and across
the parade-ground to the officers' quarters. These were six or seven
log-houses, thatched with palmetto-leaves, built on high posts, with a
porch in front, facing the water. The men's quarters were also of logs
forming the two sides of a rectangle, open toward the water; the
intervals and flanks were closed with log stockades. I was assigned to
one of these rooms, and at once began service with my company, A, then
commanded by Lieutenant Taylor.
The season was hardly yet come for active operations against the
Indians, so that the officers were naturally attracted to Ashlock, who
was the best fisherman I ever saw. He soon initiated us into the
mysteries of shark-spearing, trolling for red-fish, and taking the
sheep's-head and mullet. These abounded so that we could at any time
catch an unlimited quantity at pleasure. The companies also owned nets
for catching green turtles. These nets had meshes about a foot square,
were set across channels in the lagoon, the ends secured to stakes
driven into the mad, the lower line sunk with lead or stone weights and
the upper line floated with cork. We usually visited these nets twice a
day, and found from one to six green turtles entangled in the meshes.
Disengaging them, they were carried to pens, made with stakes stuck in
the mud, where they were fed with mangrove-leaves, and our cooks had at
all times an ample supply of the best of green turtles. They were so
cheap and common that the soldiers regarded it as an imposition when
compelled to eat green turtle steaks, instead of poor Florida beef, or
the usual barrelled mess-pork. I do not recall in my whole experience a
spot on earth where fish, oysters, and green turtles so abound as at
Fort Pierce, Florida.
In November, Major Childs arrived with Lieutenant Van Vliet and a
detachment of recruits to fill our two companies, and preparations were
at once begun for active operations in the field. At that time the
Indians in the Peninsula of Florida were scattered, and the war
consisted in hunting up and securing the small fragments, to be sent to
join the others of their tribe of
Seminoles already established in the
Indian Territory west of Arkansas. Our expeditions were mostly made in
boats in the lagoons extending from the "Haul-over," near two hundred
miles above the fort, down to Jupiter Inlet, about fifty miles below,
and in the many streams which emptied therein. Many such expeditions
were made during that winter, with more or less success, in which we
succeeded in picking up small parties of men, women, and children. On
one occasion, near the "Haul-over," when I was not present, the
expedition was more successful. It struck a party of nearly fifty
Indians, killed several warriors, and captured others. In this
expedition my classmate, lieutenant Van Vliet, who was an excellent
shot, killed a warrior who was running at full speed among trees, and
one of the sergeants of our company (Broderick) was said to have
dispatched three warriors, and it was reported that he took the scalp of
one and brought it in to the fort as a trophy. Broderick was so elated
that, on reaching the post, he had to celebrate his victory by a big
drunk.
There was at the time a poor, weakly soldier of our company whose wife
cooked for our mess. She was somewhat of a flirt, and rather fond of
admiration. Sergeant Broderick was attracted to her, and hung around the
mess-house more than the husband fancied; so he reported the matter to
Lieutenant Taylor, who reproved Broderick for his behavior. A few days
afterward the husband again appealed to his commanding officer (Taylor),
who exclaimed: "Haven't you got a musket? Can't you defend your own
family?" Very soon after a shot was heard down by the mess-house, and it
transpired that the husband had actually shot Broderick, inflicting a
wound which proved mortal. The law and army regulations required that
the man should be sent to the nearest civil court, which was at St.
Augustine; accordingly, the prisoner and necessary witnesses were sent
up by the next monthly steamer. Among the latter were lieutenant Taylor
and the pilot Ashlock.
After they had been gone about a month, the sentinel on the roof-top of
our quarters reported the smoke of a steamer approaching the bar, and,
as I was acting quartermaster, I took a boat and pulled down to get the
mail. I reached the log-but in which the pilots lived, and saw them
start with their boat across the bar, board the steamer, and then
return. Ashlock was at his old post at the steering-oar, with two
ladies, who soon came to the landing, having passed through a very heavy
surf, and I was presented to one as Mrs. Ashlock, and the other as her
sister, a very pretty little Minorcan girl of about fourteen years of
age. Mrs. Ashlock herself was probably eighteen or twenty years old, and
a very handsome woman. I was hurriedly informed that the murder trial
was in progress at St. Augustine; that Ashlock had given his testimony,
and had availed himself of the chance to take a wife to share with him
the solitude of his desolate hut on the beach at Indian River. He had
brought ashore his wife, her sister, and their chests, with the mail,
and had orders to return immediately to the steamer (Gaston or Harney)
to bring ashore some soldiers belonging to another company, E (Braggs),
which had been ordered from St. Augustine to Fort Pierce. Ashlock left
his wife and her sister standing on the beach near the pilot-hut, and
started back with his whale-boat across the bar. I also took the mail
and started up to the fort, and had hardly reached the wharf when I
observed another boat following me. As soon as this reached the wharf
the men reported that Ashlock and all his crew, with the exception of
one man, had been drowned a few minutes after I had left the beach. They
said his surf-boat had reached the steamer, had taken on board a load of
soldiers, some eight or ten, and had started back through the surf, when
on the bar a heavy breaker upset the boat, and all were lost except the
boy who pulled the bow-oar, who clung to the rope or painter, hauled
himself to the upset boat, held on, drifted with it outside the
breakers, and was finally beached near a mile down the coast. They
reported also that the steamer had got up anchor, run in as close to the
bar as she could, paused awhile, and then had started down the coast.
I instantly took a fresh crew of soldiers and returned to the bar; there
sat poor Mrs. Ashlock on her chest of clothes, a weeping widow, who had
seen her husband perish amid sharks and waves; she clung to the hope
that the steamer had picked him up, but, strange to say, he could not
swim, although he had been employed on the water all his life.
Her sister was more demonstrative, and wailed as one lost to all hope
and life. She appealed to us all to do miracles to save the struggling
men in the waves, though two hours had already passed, and to have gone
out then among those heavy breakers, with an inexperienced crew, would
have been worse than suicide. All I could do was to reorganize the guard
at the beach, take the two desolate females up to the fort, and give
them the use of my own quarters. Very soon their anguish was quieted,
and they began to look, for the return of their steamer with Ashlock and
his rescued crew. The next day I went again to the beach with Lieutenant
Ord, and we found that one or two bodies had been washed ashore, torn
all to pieces by the sharks, which literally swarmed the inlet at every
new tide. In a few days the weather moderated, and the steamer returned
from the south, but the surf was so high that she anchored a mile off. I
went out myself, in the whale or surf boat, over that terrible bar with
a crew of, soldiers, boarded the steamer, and learned that none other of
Ashlock's crew except the one before mentioned had been saved; but, on
the contrary, the captain of the steamer had sent one of his own boats
to their rescue, which was likewise upset in the surf, and, out of the
three men in her, one had drifted back outside the breakers, clinging to
the upturned boat, and was picked up. This sad and fatal catastrophe
made us all afraid of that bar, and in returning to the shore I adopted
the more prudent course of beaching the boat below the inlet, which
insured us a good ducking, but was attended with less risk to life.
I had to return to the fort and bear to Mrs. Ashlock the absolute truth,
that her husband was lost forever.
Meantime her sister had entirely recovered her equilibrium, and being
the guest of the officers, who were extremely courteous to her, she did
not lament so loudly the calamity that saved them a long life of
banishment on the beach of Indian River. By the first opportunity they
were sent back to St. Augustine, the possessors of all of Ashlock's
worldly goods and effects, consisting of a good rifle, several
cast-nets, hand-lines, etc., etc., besides some three hundred dollars in
money, which was due him by the quartermaster for his services as pilot.
I afterward saw these ladies at St. Augustine, and years afterward the
younger one came to Charleston, South Carolina, the wife of the somewhat
famous Captain Thistle, agent for the United States for live-oak in
Florida, who was noted as the first of the troublesome class of
inventors of modern artillery. He was the inventor of a gun that "did
not recoil at all," or "if anything it recoiled a little forward."
One day, in the summer of 1841, the sentinel on the housetop at Fort
Pierce called out, "Indians! Indians!" Everybody sprang to his gun, the
companies formed promptly on the parade-ground, and soon were reported
as approaching the post, from the pine-woods in rear, four Indians on
horseback. They rode straight up to the gateway, dismounted, and came
in. They were conducted by the officer of the day to the commanding
officer, Major Childs, who sat on the porch in front of his own room.
After the usual pause, one of them, a black man named Joe, who spoke
English, said they had been sent in by Coacoochee (Wild Cat), one of the
most noted of the Seminole chiefs, to see the big chief of the post. He
gradually unwrapped a piece of paper, which was passed over to Major
Childs, who read it, and it was in the nature of a "Safe Guard" for
"Wild Cat" to come into Fort Pierce to receive provisions and assistance
while collecting his tribe, with the purpose of emigrating to their
reservation west of Arkansas. The paper was signed by General Worth, who
had succeeded General Taylor, at Tampa Bay, in command of all the troops
in Florida. Major Childs inquired, "Where is Coacoochee?" and was
answered, "Close by," when Joe explained that he had been sent in by his
chief to see if the paper was all right. Major Childs said it was "all
right," and that Coacoochee ought to come in himself. Joe offered to go
out and bring him in, when Major Childs ordered me to take eight or ten
mounted men and go out to escort him in. Detailing ten men to saddle up,
and taking Joe and one Indian boy along on their own ponies, I started
out under their guidance.
We continued to ride five or six miles, when I began to suspect
treachery, of which I had heard so much in former years, and had been
specially cautioned against by the older officers; but Joe always
answered, "Only a little way." At last we approached one of those close
hammocks, so well known in Florida, standing like an island in the
interminable pine-forest, with a pond of water near it. On its edge I
noticed a few Indians loitering, which Joe pointed out as the place.
Apprehensive of treachery, I halted the guard, gave orders to the
sergeant to watch me closely, and rode forward alone with the two Indian
guides. As we neared the hammock, about a dozen Indian warriors rose up
and waited for us. When in their midst I inquired for the chief,
Coacoochee. He approached my horse and, slapping his breast, said, "Me
Coacoochee." He was a very handsome young Indian warrior, not more than
twenty-five years old, but in his then dress could hardly be
distinguished from the rest. I then explained to him, through Joe, that
I had been sent by my "chief" to escort him into the fort. He wanted me
to get down and "talk" I told him that I had no "talk" in me, but that,
on his reaching the post, he could talk as much as he pleased with the
"big chief," Major Childs. They all seemed to be indifferent, and in no
hurry; and I noticed that all their guns were leaning against a tree. I
beckoned to the sergeant, who advanced rapidly with his escort, and told
him to secure the rifles, which he proceeded to do. Coacoochee pretended
to be very angry, but I explained to him that his warriors were tired
and mine were not, and that the soldiers would carry the guns on their
horses. I told him I would provide him a horse to ride, and the sooner
he was ready the better for all. He then stripped, washed himself in the
pond, and began to dress in all his Indian finery, which consisted of
buckskin leggins, moccasins, and several shirts. He then began to put on
vests, one after another, and one of them had the marks of a bullet,
just above the pocket, with the stain of blood. In the pocket was a
one-dollar Tallahassee Bank note, and the rascal had the impudence to
ask me to give him silver coin for that dollar. He had evidently killed
the wearer, and was disappointed because the pocket contained a paper
dollar instead of one in silver. In due time he was dressed with turban
and ostrich-feathers, and mounted the horse reserved for him, and thus
we rode back together to Fort Pierce. Major Childs and all the officers
received him on the porch, and there we had a regular "talk." Coacoochee
"was tired of the war." "His people were scattered and it would take a
'moon' to collect them for emigration," and he "wanted rations for that
time," etc., etc.
All this was agreed to, and a month was allowed for him to get ready
with his whole band (numbering some one hundred and fifty or one hundred
and sixty) to migrate. The "talk" then ceased, and Coacoochee and his
envoys proceeded to get regularly drunk, which was easily done by the
agency of commissary whiskey. They staid at Fort Pierce daring the
night, and the next day departed. Several times during the month there
came into the post two or more of these same Indians, always to beg for
something to eat or drink, and after a full month Coacoochee and about
twenty of his warriors came in with several ponies, but with none of
their women or children. Major Childs had not from the beginning the
least faith in his sincerity; had made up his mind to seize the whole
party and compel them to emigrate. He arranged for the usual council,
and instructed Lieutenant Taylor to invite Coacoochee and his uncle (who
was held to be a principal chief) to his room to take some good brandy,
instead of the common commissary whiskey. At a signal agreed on I was to
go to the quarters of Company A, to dispatch the first-sergeant and
another man to Lieutenant Taylor's room, there to seize the two chiefs
and secure them; and with the company I was to enter Major Childs's room
and secure the remainder of the party. Meantime Lieutenant Van Vliet was
ordered to go to the quarters of his company, F, and at the same signal
to march rapidly to the rear of the officers' quarters, so as to catch
any who might attempt to escape by the open windows to the rear.
All resulted exactly as prearranged, and in a few minutes the whole
party was in irons. At first they claimed that we had acted
treacherously, but very soon they admitted that for a month Coacoochee
had been quietly removing his women and children toward Lake Okeechobee
and the Everglades; and that this visit to our post was to have been
their last. It so happened that almost at the instant of our seizing
these Indians a vessel arrived off the bar with reenforcements from St.
Augustine. These were brought up to Fort Pierce, and we marched that
night and next day rapidly, some fifty miles, to Lake Okeechobee, in
hopes to capture the balance of the tribe, especially the families, but
they had taken the alarm and escaped. Coacoochee and his warriors were
sent by Major Childs in a schooner to New Orleans en route to their
reservation, but General Worth recalled them to Tampa Bay, and by
sending out Coacoochee himself the women and children came in
voluntarily, and then all were shipped to their destination. This was a
heavy loss to the Seminoles, but there still remained in the Peninsula a
few hundred warriors with their families scattered into very small
parcels, who were concealed in the most inaccessible hammocks and
swamps. These had no difficulty in finding plenty of food anywhere and
everywhere. Deer and wild turkey were abundant, and as for fish there
was no end to them. Indeed, Florida was the Indian's paradise, was of
little value to us, and it was a great pity to remove the Seminoles at
all, for we could have collected there all the Choctaws,
Creeks,
Cherokees, and Chickasaws, in addition to the Seminoles. They would have
thrived in the Peninsula, whereas they now occupy lands that are very
valuable, which are coveted by their white neighbors on all sides, while
the Peninsula, of Florida still remains with a population less than
should make a good State.
During that and preceding years General W. S. Harney had penetrated and
crossed through the Everglades, capturing and hanging Chekika and his
band, and had brought in many prisoners, who were also shipped West. We
at Fort Pierce made several other excursions to Jupiter, Lake Worth,
Lauderdale, and into the Everglades, picking up here and there a family,
so that it was absurd any longer to call it a "war." These excursions,
however, possessed to us a peculiar charm, for the fragrance of the air,
the abundance of game and fish, and just enough of adventure, gave to
life a relish. I had just returned to Lauderdale from one of these
scouts with Lieutenants Rankin, Ord, George H. Thomas, Field, Van Vliet,
and others, when I received notice of my promotion to be first
lieutenant of Company G, which occurred November 30, 1841, and I was
ordered to return to Fort Pierce, turn over the public property for
which I was accountable to Lieutenant H. S. Burton, and then to join my
new company at St. Augustine.
I reached St. Augustine before Christmas, and was assigned to command a
detachment of twenty men stationed at Picolata, on the St. John's River,
eighteen miles distant. At St. Augustine were still the headquarters of
the regiment, Colonel William Gates, with Company E, Lieutenant Bragg,
and Company G, Lieutenant H. B. Judd. The only buildings at Picolata
were the one occupied by my detachment, which had been built for a
hospital, and the dwelling of a family named Williams, with whom I
boarded. On the other hand, St. Augustine had many pleasant families,
among whom was prominent that of United States Judge Bronson. I was half
my time in St. Augustine or on the road, and remember the old place with
pleasure. In February we received orders transferring the whole regiment
to the Gulf posts, and our company, G, was ordered to escort Colonel
Gates and his family across to the Suwanee River, en route for
Pensacola. The company, with the colonel and his family, reached
Picolata (where my detachment joined), and we embarked in a steamboat
for Pilatka. Here Lieutenant Judd discovered that he had forgotten
something and had to return to St. Augustine, so that I commanded the
company on the march, having with me Second-Lieutenant George B. Ayres.
Our first march was to Fort Russell, then Micanopy, Wacahoota, and
Wacasassee, all which posts were garrisoned by the Second or Seventh
Infantry. At Wacasassee we met General Worth and his staff, en route for
Pilatka. Lieutenant Judd overtook us about the Suwanee, where we
embarked on a small boat for Cedar Keys, and there took a larger one for
Pensacola, where the colonel and his family landed, and our company
proceeded on in the same vessel to our post—Fort Morgan, Mobile Point.
This fort had not been occupied by troops for many years, was very
dirty, and we found little or no stores there. Major Ogden, of the
engineers, occupied a house outside the fort. I was quartermaster and
commissary, and, taking advantage of one of the engineer schooners
engaged in bringing materials for the fort, I went up to Mobile city,
and, through the agency of Messrs. Deshon, Taylor, and Myers, merchants,
procured all essentials for the troops, and returned to the post. In the
course of a week or ten days arrived another company, H, commanded by
Lieutenant James Ketchum, with Lieutenants Rankin and Sewall L. Fish,
and an assistant surgeon (Wells.) Ketchum became the commanding officer,
and Lieutenant Rankin quartermaster. We proceeded to put the post in as
good order as possible; had regular guard-mounting and parades, but
little drill. We found magnificent fishing with the seine on the outer
beach, and sometimes in a single haul we would take ten or fifteen
barrels of the best kind of fish, embracing pompinos, red-fish,
snappers, etc.
We remained there till June, when the regiment was ordered to exchange
from the Gulf posts to those on the Atlantic, extending from Savannah to
North Carolina. The brig Wetumpka was chartered, and our company (G)
embarked and sailed to Pensacola, where we took on board another company
(D) (Burke's), commanded by Lieutenant H. S. Burton, with Colonel Gates,
the regimental headquarters, and some families. From Pensacola we sailed
for Charleston, South Carolina. The weather was hot, the winds light,
and we made a long passage but at last reached Charleston Harbor,
disembarked, and took post in Fort Moultrie.
Soon after two other companies arrived, Bragg's (B) and Keyes's (K). The
two former companies were already quartered inside of Fort Moultrie, and
these latter were placed in gun-sheds, outside, which were altered into
barracks. We remained at Fort Moultrie nearly five years, until the
Mexican War scattered us forever. Our life there was of strict garrison
duty, with plenty of leisure for hunting and social entertainments. We
soon formed many and most pleasant acquaintances in the city of
Charleston; and it so happened that many of the families resided at
Sullivan's Island in the summer season, where we could reciprocate the
hospitalities extended to us in the winter.
During the summer of 1843, having been continuously on duty for three
years, I applied for and received a leave of absence for three months,
which I spent mostly in Ohio. In November I started to return to my post
at Charleston by way of New Orleans; took the stage to Chillicothe,
Ohio, November 16th, having Henry Stanberry, Esq., and wife, as
traveling companions, We continued by stage. next day to Portsmouth,
Ohio.
At Portsmouth Mr. Stanberry took a boat up the river, and I one down to
Cincinnati. There I found my brothers Lampson and Hoyt employed in the
"Gazette" printing-office, and spent much time with them and Charles
Anderson, Esq., visiting his brother Larz, Mr. Longworth, some of his
artist friends, and especially Miss Sallie Carneal, then quite a belle,
and noted for her fine voice,
On the 20th I took passage on the steamboat Manhattan for St. Louis;
reached Louisville, where Dr. Conrad, of the army, joined me, and in the
Manhattan we continued on to St. Louis, with a mixed crowd. We reached
the Mississippi at Cairo the 23d, and St. Louis, Friday, November 24,
1843. At St. Louis we called on Colonel S. W. Kearney and Major Cooper,
his adjutant-general, and found my classmate, Lieutenant McNutt, of the
ordnance, stationed at the arsenal; also Mr. Deas, an artist, and
Pacificus Ord, who was studying law. I spent a week at St. Louis,
visiting the arsenal, Jefferson Barracks, and most places of interest,
and then became impressed with its great future. It then contained about
forty thousand people, and my notes describe thirty-six good steamboats
receiving and discharging cargo at the levee.
I took passage December 4th in the steamer John Aull for New Orleans. As
we passed Cairo the snow was falling, and the country was wintery and
devoid of verdure. Gradually, however, as we proceeded south, the green
color came; grass and trees showed the change of latitude, and when in
the course of a week we had reached New Orleans, the roses were in full
bloom, the sugar-cane just ripe, and a tropical air prevalent. We
reached New Orleans December 11, 1843, where I spent about a week
visiting the barracks, then occupied by the Seventh Infantry; the
theatres, hotels, and all the usual places of interest of that day.
On the 16th of December I continued on to Mobile in the steamer Fashion
by way of Lake Pontchartrain; saw there most of my personal friends, Mr.
and Mrs. Bull, Judge Bragg and his brother Dunbar, Deshon, Taylor, and
Myers, etc., and on the 19th of December took passage in the steamboat
Bourbon for Montgomery, Alabama, by way of the Alabama River. We reached
Montgomery at noon, December 23d, and took cars at 1 p. m. for Franklin,
forty miles, which we reached at 7 p. m., thence stages for Griffin,
Georgia, via La Grange and Greenville. This took the whole night of the
23d and the day of the 24th. At Griffin we took cars for Macon, and
thence to Savannah, which we reached Christmas-night, finding
Lieutenants Ridgley and Ketchum at tea, where we were soon joined by
Rankin and Beckwith.
On the 26th I took the boat for Charleston, reaching my post, and
reported for duty Wednesday morning, December 27, 1843.
I had hardly got back to my post when, on the 21st of January, 1844, I
received from Lieutenant R. P. Hammond, at Marietta, Georgia, an
intimation that Colonel Churchill, Inspector-General of the Army, had
applied for me to assist him in taking depositions in upper Georgia and
Alabama; concerning certain losses by volunteers in Florida of horses
and equipments by reason of the failure of the United States to provide
sufficient forage, and for which Congress had made an appropriation. On
the 4th of February the order came from the Adjutant-General in
Washington for me to proceed to Marietta, Georgia, and report to
Inspector-General Churchill. I was delayed till the 14th of February by
reason of being on a court-martial, when I was duly relieved and started
by rail to Augusta, Georgia, and as far as Madison, where I took the
mail-coach, reaching Marietta on the 17th. There I reported for duty to
Colonel Churchill, who was already engaged on his work, assisted by
Lieutenant R. P. Hammond, Third Artillery, and a citizen named Stockton.
The colonel had his family with him, consisting of Mrs. Churchill, Mary,
now Mrs. Professor Baird, and Charles Churchill, then a boy of about
fifteen years of age.
We all lived in a tavern, and had an office convenient. The duty
consisted in taking individual depositions of the officers and men who
had composed two regiments and a battalion of mounted volunteers that
had served in Florida. An oath was administered to each man by Colonel
Churchill, who then turned the claimant over to one of us to take down
and record his deposition according to certain forms, which enabled them
to be consolidated and tabulated. We remained in Marietta about six
weeks, during which time I repeatedly rode to Kenesaw Mountain, and over
the very ground where afterward, in 1864, we had some hard battles.
After closing our business at Marietta the colonel ordered us to
transfer our operations to Bellefonte, Alabama. As he proposed to take
his family and party by the stage, Hammond lent me his riding-horse,
which I rode to Allatoona and the Etowah River. Hearing of certain large
Indian mounds near the way, I turned to one side to visit them, stopping
a couple of days with Colonel Lewis Tumlin, on whose plantation these
mounds were. We struck up such an acquaintance that we corresponded for
some years, and as I passed his plantation during the war, in 1864, I
inquired for him, but he was not at home. From Tumlin's I rode to Rome,
and by way of Wills Valley over Sand Mountain and the Raccoon Range to
the Tennessee River at Bellefonte, Alabama. We all assembled there in
March, and continued our work for nearly two months, when, having
completed the business, Colonel Churchill, with his family, went North
by way of Nashville; Hammond, Stockton, and I returning South on
horseback, by Rome, Allatoona, Marietta, Atlanta, and Madison, Georgia.
Stockton stopped at Marietta, where he resided. Hammond took the cars at
Madison, and I rode alone to Augusta, Georgia, where I left the horse
and returned to Charleston and Fort Moultrie by rail.
Thus by a mere accident I was enabled to traverse on horseback the very
ground where in after-years I had to conduct vast armies and fight great
battles. That the knowledge thus acquired was of infinite use to me, and
consequently to the Government, I have always felt and stated.
During the autumn of 1844, a difficulty arose among the officers of
Company B, Third Artillery (John R. Yinton's), garrisoning Augusta
Arsenal, and I was sent up from Fort Moultrie as a sort of peace-maker.
After staying there some months, certain transfers of officers were
made, which reconciled the difficulty, and I returned to my post, Fort
Moultrie. During that winter, 1844-'45, I was visiting at the plantation
of Mr. Poyas, on the east branch of the Cooper, about fifty miles from
Fort Moultrie, hunting deer with his son James, and Lieutenant John F.
Reynolds, Third Artillery. We had taken our stands, and a deer came out
of the swamp near that of Mr. James Poyas, who fired, broke the leg of
the deer, which turned back into the swamp and came out again above
mine. I could follow his course by the cry of the hounds, which were in
close pursuit. Hastily mounting my horse, I struck across the pine-woods
to head the deer off, and when at full career my horse leaped a fallen
log and his fore-foot caught one of those hard, unyielding pineknots
that brought him with violence to the ground. I got up as quick as
possible, and found my right arm out of place at the shoulder, caused by
the weight of the double-barrelled gun.
Seeing Reynolds at some distance, I called out lustily and brought him
to me. He soon mended the bridle and saddle, which had been broken by
the fall, helped me on my horse, and we followed the coarse of the
hounds. At first my arm did not pain me much, but it soon began to ache
so that it was almost unendurable. In about three miles we came to a
negro hut, where I got off and rested till Reynolds could overtake Poyas
and bring him back. They came at last, but by that time the arm was so
swollen and painful that I could not ride. They rigged up an old gig
belonging to the negro, in which I was carried six miles to the
plantation of Mr. Poyas, Sr. A neighboring physician was sent for, who
tried the usual methods of setting the arm, but without success; each
time making the operation more painful. At last he sent off, got a set
of double pulleys and cords, with which he succeeded in extending the
muscles and in getting the bone into place. I then returned to Fort
Moultrie, but being disabled, applied for a short leave and went North.
I started January 25,1845; went to Washington, Baltimore, and Lancaster,
Ohio, whence I went to Mansfield, and thence back by Newark to Wheeling,
Cumberland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, whence I sailed back
for Charleston on the ship Sullivan, reaching Fort Moultrie March 9,
1845.
About that time (March 1, 1845) Congress had, by a joint resolution,
provided for the
annexation of Texas, then an independent Republic,
subject to certain conditions requiring the acceptance of the
Republic
of Texas to be final and conclusive. We all expected war as a matter of
course. At that time General Zachary Taylor had assembled a couple of
regiments of infantry and one of dragoons at Fort Jessup,
Louisiana, and
had orders to extend military protection to Texas against the Indians,
or a "foreign enemy," the moment the terms of annexation were accepted.
He received notice of such acceptance July 7th, and forthwith proceeded
to remove his troops to Corpus Christi, Texas, where, during the summer
and fall of 1845, was assembled that force with which, in the spring of
1846, was begun the Mexican War.
Some time during that summer came to Fort Moultrie orders for sending
Company E, Third Artillery, Lieutenant Bragg, to New Orleans, there to
receive a battery of field-guns, and thence to the camp of General
Taylor at Corpus Christi. This was the first company of our regiment
sent to the seat of war, and it embarked on the brig Hayne. This was the
only company that left Fort Moultrie till after I was detached for
recruiting service on the 1st of May, 1846.
Inasmuch as Charleston afterward became famous, as the spot where began
our civil war, a general description of it, as it was in 1846, will not
be out of place.
The city lies on a long peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers—a
low, level peninsula, of sand. Meeting Street is its Broadway, with King
Street, next west and parallel, the street of shops and small stores.
These streets are crossed at right angles by many others, of which Broad
Street was the principal; and the intersection of Meeting and Broad was
the heart of the city, marked by the Guard-House and St. Michael's
Episcopal Church. The Custom-House, Post-Office, etc., were at the foot
of Broad Street, near the wharves of the Cooper River front. At the
extremity of the peninsula was a drive, open to the bay, and faced by
some of the handsomest houses of the city, called the "Battery." Looking
down the bay on the right, was James Island, an irregular triangle of
about seven miles, the whole island in cultivation with sea-island
cotton. At the lower end was Fort Johnson, then simply the station of
Captain Bowman, United States Engineers, engaged in building Fort
Sumter. This fort (Sumter) was erected on an artificial island nearly in
mid-channel, made by dumping rocks, mostly brought as ballast in
cotton-ships from the North. As the rock reached the surface it was
levelled, and made the foundation of Fort Sumter. In 1846 this fort was
barely above the water. Still farther out beyond James Island, and
separated from it by a wide space of salt marsh with crooked channels,
was Morris Island, composed of the sand-dunes thrown up by the wind and
the sea, backed with the salt marsh. On this was the lighthouse, but no
people.
On the left, looking down the bay from the Battery of Charleston, was,
first, Castle Pinckney, a round brick fort, of two tiers of guns, one in
embrasure, the other in barbette, built on a marsh island, which was not
garrisoned. Farther down the bay a point of the mainland reached the
bay, where there was a group of houses, called Mount Pleasant; and at
the extremity of the bay, distant six miles, was Sullivan's Island,
presenting a smooth sand-beach to the sea, with the line of sand-hills
or dunes thrown up by the waves and winds, and the usual backing of
marsh and crooked salt-water channels.
At the shoulder of this island was Fort Moultrie, an irregular fort,
without ditch or counterscarp, with a brick scarp wall about twelve feet
high, which could be scaled anywhere, and this was surmounted by an
earth parapet capable of mounting about forty twenty-four and thirty-two
pounder smooth-bore iron guns. Inside the fort were three two-story
brick barracks, sufficient to quarter the officers and men of two
companies of artillery.
At sea was the usual "bar," changing slightly from year to year, but
generally the main ship-channel came from the south, parallel to Morris
Island, till it was well up to Fort Moultrie, where it curved, passing
close to Fort Sumter and up to the wharves of the city, which were built
mostly along the Cooper River front.
Charleston was then a proud, aristocratic city, and assumed a leadership
in the public opinion of the South far out of proportion to her
population, wealth, or commerce. On more than one occasion previously,
the inhabitants had almost inaugurated civil war, by their assertion and
professed belief that each State had, in the original compact of
government, reserved to itself the right to withdraw from the Union at
its own option, whenever the people supposed they had sufficient cause.
We used to discuss these things at our own mess-tables, vehemently and
sometimes quite angrily; but I am sure that I never feared it would go
further than it had already gone in the winter of 1832-'33, when the
attempt at "nullification" was promptly suppressed by President
Jackson's famous declaration, "The Union must and shall be preserved!"
and by the judicious management of
General Scott.
Still,
civil war was to be; and, now that it has come and gone, we can rest
secure in the knowledge that as the chief cause, slavery, has been
eradicated forever, it is not likely to come again. |
