Isaac N. Arnold

“ The Confederate government being based on slavery, and the fact openly avowed that slavery was its corner-stone, how would it be received by Europe? and especially by those great nations England and France, both of which had so often reproached the United States for the existence of slavery? These powers and the world were now to be spectators of a conflict between an established government, perfectly free, on one side, and a rebellion organized by a portion of its citizens with the avowed purpose to erect upon its ruins a government based upon, and formed to protect and extend, slavery. ”

“ The names of Jefferson Davis and of his military associates grow dark, in contrast with those of the hero of Lundy's Lane, of the victors at Gettysburg and Nashville, and the blunt, honest, and chivalric sailor, who so gloriously triumphed over traitors at New Orleans and Mobile. Loyalty to a state may palliate, it cannot justify treachery and treason. Unless all moral distinctions are to cease, all good men who honor Scott and George H. Thomas must condemn Twiggs. ”

“ The shortest road to peace is the most tremendous preparation for war... It is with a sad heart, and with a grief I have never before experienced, that I have to contemplate this fearful struggle... But it is our duty to protect the government and the flag from every assailant, be he who he may. ”

“ Men looked searchingly into the eyes of every stranger, to discover whether he were a traitor or a friend. Standing in the most conspicuous position, amidst scowling traitors with murder and treason in their hearts, Lincoln was perfectly cool and self-possessed. Near him was President Buchanan, conspicuous with his white necktie, bowed as with the consciousness of duties unperformed; there were Chief Justice Taney and his associates, made notorious by the Dred Scott decision ”

“ With a population exceeding a million, she had only 115,000 slaves. Her interests were with the free states, yet she had a governor in direct sympathy with the traitors, as were the majority of her state officers. A state convention was called, but an overwhelming majority of Union men had been elected. The truth is, that although the slave power had succeeded in destroying the political power of her great senator, Thomas H. Benton, yet the seeds of opposition to slavery which he had scattered, were everywhere springing up in favor of union and liberty. ”

“ There were, at the time of the breaking out of the rebellion, and mostly in the rebel states, nearly four millions of slaves. How should they be treated? Should the government, by offering them freedom, make them its active friends, or alienate them by returning them to slavery? In the light of to-day it is difficult to understand why there should have been hesitation or vacillation in this matter. The transfer of four millions of people in the rebel states to the Union side would have been decisive. ”

“ The fall of Sumter and the President's call for troops were the signals for the rally to arms throughout the loyal states. Twenty millions of people, forgetting party divisions and all past differences, rose with one voice of patriotic enthusiasm, and laid their fortunes and their lives upon the altar of their country. The proclamation of the President calling for seventy-five thousand men and convening an extra session of Congress to meet on the 4th of July, was followed, in every free state, by the prompt action of the governors, calling for volunteers. ”

“ From Springfield, Douglas came to his home in Chicago, and, at the great "Wigwam," repeated his appeal for the Union. He said that we had gone to the very extreme to prevent war, and the return for all our efforts has been "armies marching on the national capital," a movement to blot the United States from the map of the world. "The election of Lincoln is a mere pretext," the secession movement is the result of an enormous conspiracy, existing before the election. "There can be no neutrals in this war--only patriots and traitors." ”

“ But while there were many rebel sympathizers and traitors among her slaveholders, and while many leading families gave in their adhesion to the conspiracy, the mass of the people were loyal. The governor of the state, Thomas H. Hicks, though he yielded for a time to the apparent popular feeling in favor of the Confederates, and greatly embarrassed the government by his protests against troops marching over Maryland soil to the defense of the capital, was, at heart a loyal man and in the end became a decided and efficient Union leader. ”

“ The Secretary of State fittingly rebuked this unworthy suggestion; alluding to an incident in the late war with Great Britain, he reminded the Governor of Maryland "that there had been a time when a general of the American Union, with forces designed for the defense of its capital, was not unwelcome anywhere in Maryland;" and he added, "that if all the other nobler sentiments of Maryland had been obliterated, one, at least, it was hoped would remain, and that was, that no domestic contention should be referred to any foreign arbitrament, least of all to that of a European monarchy." ”

“ In the Northwest, the mountain men rallied, organized, resolved to stand by the old flag, and protect themselves under its folds.
The secession of Virginia gave to the Confederates a moral and physical power, which imparted to the conflict the proportions of a tremendous civil war. She placed herself as a barrier between her weaker sisters and the Union, and she held her position with a heroic endurance and courage, worthy of a better cause and of her earlier days. ”

“ Half a million of men, citizen volunteers, at this call sprang to arms, and begged permission to fight for their country. The enthusiasm pervaded all ranks and classes. Prayers for the Union and the integrity of the nation were heard in every church throughout the free states. State legislatures, municipalities, banks, corporations, and capitalists everywhere offered their money to the government, and subscribed immense sums for the support of the volunteers and their families. ”

“ Thousands of Northern voters thronged the streets of Washington, only a very few of them conscious of the volcano of treason and murder, thinly concealed, around and beneath them. The public offices and the departments were full of plotting traitors. Many of the rebel generals--Lee, Johnston, Ewell, Hill, Stewart, Magruder, Pemberton, and others, held commissions under the government they were about to abandon and betray. Rebel spies were everywhere. The people of Washington were, a large portion of them, in sympathy with the conspirators. ”

“ Written pledges were widely circulated and signed, offering to the government the lives and property of the signers to maintain the Union. Great crowds marched through the principal cities, cheering the patriotic, singing national airs, and requiring all to show, from their residences and places of business, the stars and stripes, or "the red, white and blue." The people, through the press, by public meetings, and by resolutions, placed their property and lives at the disposal of the government. ”

“ This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise the constitutional right of amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Constitution amended. ”

“ Fellow Citizens of the United States: In compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, to be taken by the President "before he enters upon the execution of his office."
Apprehension seems to exist, among the people of the Southern states, that by the accession of a republican administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any real cause for such apprehension. ”

“ The active sympathy of the masses of European populations, and the cold and scarcely concealed hostility of the aristocratic and privileged classes, were early and constantly manifested during the entire struggle. This was, perhaps, not unnatural. In addition to the uneasiness which the rapid growth and commanding position of our country had created, the whole world instinctively felt that the contest was between freedom and slavery, democracy and aristocracy. ”

“ Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will not be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it. The new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. ”

“ Adams was instructed not to listen to any suggestion of compromise between the United States and any of its citizens, under foreign auspices. He was directed firmly to announce that no foreign government could recognize the rebels as an independent power, and remain the friends of the United States. Recognition was war. If any foreign power recognized, they might prepare to enter into an alliance also, with the enemies of the republic. ”

“ Governor Harris, of Tennessee, said: "Tennessee will not furnish a man for coercion, but fifty thousand for the defense of our Southern brothers." Governor Jackson, of Missouri, refused, saying: "Not one man will Missouri furnish to carry on such an unholy crusade;" and Virginia not only refused, through her governor, to respond, but her convention, then in session, immediately passed an ordinance of secession by a vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five. ”

“ To some of them he made an appeal, saying: "It will require the utmost skill, influence, and sagacity of all of us to save the republic; let us forget ourselves, and join hands like brothers to save the republic. If we succeed, there will be glory enough for all."
Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, had been the President's most formidable competitor for the nomination. He was the recognized leader of the republican party in New York, and he had been for many years a leading statesman in the anti-slavery ranks. ”

“ England did not recognize the Confederates as a nation. She did not choose war; but short of recognition, alliance, and war, it is difficult to see how she could have done more to encourage and aid the insurgents than she did.
When the insurgents raised the flag of rebellion, the army and navy were scandalized, and the nation disgraced, by large numbers of the officers deserting their flag. Nearly two hundred of the graduates of the military school at West Point deserted, and joined the rebel army. ”

“ There was the magnificent eastern front of the Capitol, looking towards the statue of Washington; and there were gathered together the Senate and House of Representatives, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Diplomatic Corps, the high officers of the Army and the Navy, and, outside of the guards, a vast crowd of mingled patriots and traitors. ”

“ The Confederates had seized the "arsenals, forts, custom-houses, post-offices, ships, and materials of war of the United States," excepting the forts in Charleston Harbor, and were constructing fortifications and placing guns in position to attack even these. While some of the border states seemed to hesitate, the rebel government resolved, for the purpose of arousing sectional feeling and prejudice, to bring on at once a conflict of arms. ”

“ The government was embarrassed by the number of men volunteering for its service. Hundreds of thousands more were offered than could be armed or received. Senators, members of Congress, and other prominent men, went to Washington to beg the government to accept the services of the eager regiments everywhere imploring permission to serve. ”

“ If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulties. ”

“ The power confided to me will be used to hold, and occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects there will be no invasion. no using of force against or among the people anywhere.
Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of each other. ”

“ He had to create an army, to find military skill and leadership by experience. In this respect the rebels had great advantage. They had been for years preparing. The Southern people were the more used to firearms and to violence. They had in the beginning a great superiority in their military leaders. The national government had not at the beginning any officers known to the administration, who were equal in skill to Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Johnston. Mr. Lincoln had to learn by costly experience who could win victories ”