The Confederate Union War

by Alan Sewell

  Mr. Lincoln picked up Pinkerton’s report and began reading.

  “Pinkerton’s report is titled A Report of Recent Movements of Soldiers by Rail and Ship in the Confederate Union.”

  The Cabinet Members, Senators, and Congressmen became silent.

  “My agents in the Confederate Union report the widespread movement of men and equipment to the seaports, river ports, and railroad terminals on the Atlantic Coast and Mississippi Valley.

  “In Virginia the movement is toward Hampton Roads.

  “In North Carolina it is toward Wilmington.

  “In South Carolina it is toward Charleston.

  “In Georgia toward Savannah.

  “In Florida toward Jacksonville.

  “In Alabama toward Mobile.

  “In Louisiana toward New Orleans.

  “In Mississippi toward Vicksburg.

  “In Arkansas and western Tennessee toward Memphis.

  “In the central and eastern portions of Tennessee and in the northern portions of Alabama and Georgia, the movement of men and material is transiting through Nashville en route to Central Illinois. An increase in train arrivals from central and eastern Kentucky is reported at Louisville.

  “These reports are based on arrivals and departures observed by my agents stationed in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Louisville.”

  Lincoln flipped the page.

  “The movement of Confederate Union men and material towards the Northwest is presumed to be preliminary to the renewal of the offensive against Grant’s line in Illinois and McDowell’s in Indiana.

  “Conversations heard by our agents at the Confederate Union Atlantic seaports indicate that a simultaneous renewal of the campaign against Philadelphia is about to commence. It is indicated to be a combined assault by land and sea.”

  “How did Mr. Pinkerton get this information to us?” asked Secretary of State Seward. “And how current is it?”

  “Pinkerton works out of Louisville,” replied Mr. Lincoln. “He left there three days ago and came into our lines at Cincinnati.”

  “So the Confederates are preparing to strike us again,” said Thad Stevens. “What are we going to do about that?”

  “We have our reserve armies in training around Chicago, Columbus, and Albany,” Secretary of War Simon Cameron answered. “I’d suggest we get them on the way to Grant, McDowell, and Fremont at once. They can complete their training when they get to the line.”

  John Sherman looked alarmed. “Shouldn’t we hold some men back for other contingencies? What if the Confederates are planning to make their main thrust against Cincinnati?”

  “We could send half the reserve armies forward now and hold the other half back in case we need them at Cincinnati or some other place later,” suggested Iowa Congressman William Vandever.

  “That would mean dividing the forces,” answered Cameron. “That might leave us with too few men to defeat the Confederates at the decisive points of attack.”

  “We should make the best use of Pinkerton’s intelligence,” advised Senator Ben Wade. “Otherwise why did we hire his agency? If he says the attack will be directed at the Northwest and Philadelphia then I think we should concentrate our men on those lines to repel it.”

  Lincoln threw his hands up. “This is what vexes me! I am advised on all sides of each military decision. Then, no sooner am I decided on a particular course, than I am advised to do something else. Fremont advises me that he should be unleashed to take the offensive to the Confederates and free their slaves. Yet I am advised by others to order him into New Jersey. Now I am advised by some to send our reserve armies to the front, and by others to hold them back! I am at a loss as to know what to do.”

  John Sherman raised his head. “You’re not getting sound advice from military people. You’re getting it from us, and we don’t have military instincts. It’s no wonder the advice is inconsistent.”

  “That point is well taken,” Lincoln acknowledged. “But where can I obtain expert military advice? Most of our prominent military men followed Lee and McClellan in remaining loyal to the Confederate Union. Winfield Scott and Henry Halleck are neutral and won’t help me. I don’t dare pull back Grant, McDowell, or Fremont to come here and advise me when they are urgently needed at the fronts. So who can I turn to?”

  John Sherman didn’t answer the question, but he thought that perhaps his brother Cump could be useful in advising the President.

  “Excuse me,” he said. “I’ve got to take care of a few errands before we leave. I’ll meet you at the station at three o’clock.” Then he left to telegraph his brother Cump in Lancaster to meet him in Columbus.

  11

  Columbus, Ohio, September 30, 1861

  “How can you keep straddling the fence?” John Sherman asked his brother Cump. “The Confederates have rejected every fair offer of peace. They’re getting ready to strike us again. Won’t you please help us or else go back and fight for your Confederate friends? But for Lord’s sakes, do something.”

  Cump Sherman looked skyward as he contemplated how to answer his brother. Dark clouds were scudding in from the north. He felt a gust of cool air blow across his face, the first fresh breeze of autumn. The breeze unfurled the “Gold Star” flags of the Republic of Free America and set them flapping around Capitol Square. A band played a spirited rendition of ‘Yankee Doodle’ near the speakers’ platform.

  The Republican Wide Awakes who had not yet gone off to war stood in ranks holding torches and singing along. They were joined by some of the new recruits who had gone into training at Camp Dennison just outside the city. The uniformed recruits were conspicuous by the gold shirts they wore on top of their blue trousers. Many of the civilians in the crowd sang along too. Sherman looked at the lithographed flyer promoting this rally. The banner across the top showed the image of “Miss Columbia” wielding a sword while holding the Free State Flag.

  How can you keep straddling the fence? It was a good question. He wished he knew how to answer it.

  Until now he had been nonchalant about the war, not much caring whether Ohio maintained itself under the flag of the United States of Free America or was forced back into the Confederate Union. Having served many of his military assignments in the South, and being well regarded there, he had no quarrel with his Confederate friends. He had no brief against the Free States either, believing that if they wanted a country of their own badly enough to invoke the right of revolution, they had every right to fight for it. But it wasn’t his fight.

  Under no circumstances will I draw my sword against my family and friends in Ohio. Yet it would be just as painful for me to fight for the Free States of America, which would mean fighting to dismember the Union. I suppose I could go off to San Francisco, as I first thought, and try to ignore the war. But everybody out there would be asking me why I wasn’t in the fight. They would think me a shirker and a coward. And perhaps they would be right. But how can I involve myself in a cause I am not certain can or should prevail? But John is also right that I’ve got to do something. Torturing myself with indecision will surely drive me insane.

  Cump supposed that many other Northerners were wrestling with that same dilemma. They would be those middle-aged people like him who had grown up in the era before 1850 when Northerners and Southerners had compromised over slavery, when they had fought together on the same side in Texas and Mexico.

  Those who voted Democratic, and even many moderate Republicans, did not care for the divisive rhetoric of the noisy Northern Abolitionists any more than they cared for the Southern “Fire Easters.” Like Cump they could not bear to fight against their friends and families in the Free States, but they could not bring themselves to fight with them against the old Union either. Cump thought again: It’s not our fight.

  So far the Free State Republicans had left these “fence sitters” alone. They had turned away thousands of their own partisans who wanted to fight but couldn’t be armed or equipped, so why worry about dragooning p
eople who were indifferent to their cause?

  In recent weeks the Free Staters had even convinced themselves that the war was winding down. Grant and McDowell had succeeded in stabilizing a well-fortified front across Illinois and Indiana. It wasn’t the Ohio River frontier the Free Staters wanted, but it was far enough south to encompass most of the Republican constituency. In the East the Free Staters had, with a bit of luck brought about by Fremont’s daring reconnaissance, sent the Confederates reeling back from Gettysburg and out of the State of Pennsylvania.

  Would the Confederates not be long in concluding that peace based on Free State independence was preferable to continuing the war to force those crazy Abolitionists back into the Confederate Union? Once passions cooled they would surely agree to seek peace on the basis of Horace Greeley’s proposal, which the Free State Government had already endorsed. An air of satisfied complacency had settled in over the Free State Republicans, who smugly assumed that their independence was a done deal.

  All of that seemed to have changed in a hurry. His brother’s telegram asking him to come up from Lancaster to attend this rally and hear Mr. Lincoln sounded urgent. Now John had informed him that the Confederates were preparing to renew their assault. Perhaps there would be definite news about that. Well, let’s see the show. It must be a good one if they’ve brought old Abe Lincoln down here.

  The Free State Republicans began their show. The first speaker was Governor William Dennison. The Republicans are shameless about parading that imposter around. Dennison had been defeated by a few hundred votes by the Democratic candidate in the elections for state offices. The Republicans had declared the office vacant when they took Ohio out of the Confederate Union and appointed Dennison to fill it. But however illegitimate Governor Dennison’s appointment was, Cump had to admit that he cut a fine figure. A distinguished-looking man in his mid-40’s Dennison spoke with the voice of confident authority:

  “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to hear us today. We have people here from all across Ohio, and some from Michigan, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

  “Our speakers include the Heroes of Delphi and our free citizens of color whom they rescued. And most importantly, our President has come down from Cleveland to make the keynote address.

  “Let me begin by thanking you for your patriotism with our government’s finances. Our farmers, merchants, and manufacturers are accepting the government’s new-issue currency at par with gold as the law requires. That is allowing us to buy what is necessary to arm and equip the men who are fighting for us.”

  The governor paused while the people whistled and cheered.

  “I am pleased to announce that the opening of duty-free transit to Montreal has restored our overseas trade. Our seasons’ first harvests are being loaded this very day. Our farmers and merchants have received their first advances from the British and Canadian factors.”

  The farmers, merchants, and bankers in the crowd cheered loudly.

  “That is the good news,” continued Dennison. “The not-so-good news is that, contrary to all reasoned expectations, the Confederates have spurned our most sensible and fair minded offers of peace. Their armies and navies are reported to be preparing to renew their war against us. We must prepare ourselves to throw them back again, as we did at Gettysburg, while inflicting losses sufficient to convince them that their mad quest to conquer us is futile. We will not be conquered!”

  Thunderous cheers again erupted across Capitol Square. It seemed to Cump that the displacement of air from the roaring crowd set the flags and banners to flapping again.

  “I regret that we could not accept all of you during our first call for volunteers. We were short of arms, equipment, and of officers qualified to train you. I am pleased to say that those shortages have been alleviated. We have just received ten thousand new and refurbished rifled muskets from the Springfield Armory. And we’re accepting any and all civilian firearms, including shotguns, squirrel guns, and pistols. All firearms are useful for the close-in defensive fighting that we expect to be engaged in. Bring us your surplus firearms and black powder. There can never be too much gunpowder in time of war!”

  The crowd laughed a little at Dennison’s understatement of the obvious. Dennison smiled too and continued. “Be assured that all able-bodied men over eighteen will be accepted for service and that all will be armed.”

  At least they are doing some things right thought Cump. They are learning from their mistakes.

  “I know that some of you are still wondering why you should fight for the Republic of Free America.”

  Cump felt that eyes were watching him. When he glanced sideways his brother John was indeed staring at him. Are you listening, Cump?

  “Allow me to introduce you to some people who can explain why our cause of Free State Independence is worth fighting for. Please welcome the Heroes of Delphi. Let’s hear first from Eddie Bates and Emma Brown of Cass County, Michigan.”

  The Governor shook hands with a thirtyish-looking man with a chocolate-brown complexion who stepped up to the podium. The black fellow wore a well-tailored suit and a hat. He smiled and began speaking with an informal but booming baritone voice that carried across the square.

  “Thank you, Governor. My name is Eddie Bates. I’m one of the five free Negroes kidnapped by slave raiders in Cass County, Michigan and freed four days later at Delphi.”

  A hush fell over the square as the crowd gave Eddie its attention. Only the flapping of the flags and banners broke the silence.

  “Two days stand out in my life,” said Eddie. “The first was when my Pa took us off from our slave quarters in Maryland. We left in the middle of a night pouring the worst rain I’ve ever seen. Pa said the patterollers wouldn’t be able to track us with their Nigger dogs ‘cause the rain would wash away our footprints. So we went on through that pourin’ rain. We took the old Indian trails through the woods until we reached the Cumberland Mountain.

  “We were powerful hungry up on that mountain, and we were plumb worn out. But Pa kept sayin, ‘A little further, just a littler further, chillun, just a little further to Freedom.’ And one morning, the sun come up, and we saw a little town down in the valley. Pa went down to see about it. He came back and says, ‘We are in Pennsylvania! We are free!’ He got down on his hands and knees and kissed the ground.

  “Pa knew to look for the Quakers, because folks said that Quakers helped the slaves that run away. So we stayed hid up there on that mountain till Pa found where the Quakers met. Those Quakers sure enough did take us to Michigan. We settled in Cass County where folks protect Negroes from slave catchers.

  “We prospered there as free men and women. I worked for the Quaker farmers until I grew up. In between the planting and harvest the Quakers educated me and the other colored children in their schools. When I grew up I took me a wife.” he looked at Emma. “And then I went to work as a baker for my own account. We have made many good friends in Cass County. We were living a life blessed with the freedom that the Good Lord meant for all people to have.”

  A smattering of applause went through the crowd. Eddie smiled broadly.

  “Thank you. And that brings me to the second most memorable day of my life. That was last May the 10th. It started out as a beautiful spring day. I had just woke up. Emma was cooking breakfast. Suddenly the dogs started barking, then four strangers busted through the door. They knocked me down, shackled me, and stuffed a rag in my mouth. But Emma tricked those men. She told them they could eat our breakfast. While they were filling their faces she snuck out the back door and rode into town to get help from Sheriff Parker.

  “The Slavers bound and gagged me and the other Negroes. They nailed us in coffins and threw us in a wagon. They hauled us around in those coffins four days with no food or water. Kept me wallowing in my own filth, my arms and legs stiff and aching. I wanted to scream but couldn’t with that rag stuffed in my mouth.”

  Eddie looked at his wife Emma and put his arm around her.

&n
bsp; “If it hadn’t been for this brave lady who rode off to alert the sheriff they would have taken all of us across the Ohio River and sold us back into slavery, that is if any of us lived long enough to get there. Now I’ll turn the story over to the heroes who saved us.”

  Eddie sat down and Sheriff Parker took the stage.

  “Thank you, Eddie. Like Eddie was saying, Emma kept a cool head. She fed the Slavers then snuck out the back and rode three miles into town in her nightclothes to tell me what had happened. We got together a posse of Cass County men to rescue Eddie and the other Negroes. I sent riders out to every county seat in northern Indiana and northwestern Ohio to alert people to be on the lookout for them.

  “The Slavers were discovered taking the Negroes down the Tippecanoe to the Wabash. Some of our friends from St. Joseph’s County, Indiana got there first and blocked the river. We got there the next day.

  “We told the slavers they could go home if they’d let the Negroes go. Their answer was to fire on us. We lost five our Cass County men killed that day. Those men didn’t give up their lives because they were Republicans or Abolitionists. They gave their lives to save their friends and neighbors and fellow citizens of Cass County, Michigan from being returned to slavery. ‘No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends.’”

  Sheriff Parker paused. Many of the women and a few of the men had teary eyes.

  “And maybe they died fighting for their own freedom too. Maybe they knew that if they didn’t stop the Slavers here and now, they would have come back again and again, thumbing their noses at us, and kidnapping any person of color off the fields and streets that they took a fancy to. Our men felt that it was better to fight, and to lay down their lives if necessary, than to be become slaves of the Slavers!”

  The crowed roared its approval. The Wide Awakes banged their drums.

  “Now let me introduce Lewis Schneider of the late Elmer Ellsworth’s Chicago Zouaves Militia Company.”