Peoria County, Illinois - Chapter 14: The War for the Union, 1880

Chapter 14: The War for the Union

Presidential Campaign of i860 - Lincoln and tlie Presidency - An Eagle's Quill from Knox County - Lincoln's Inaugural Message - Southern States Resolve to Secede - Fall of Fort Sumter - Call for Troops - The Call Promptly Answered - lUinoisans in the P'ront - General Summary - Capture of the St. Louis Arsenal - Liberality and Patriotism - Messages of Love and Encouragement - Sherman's March to the Sea - Character of Abraham Lincoln - Triumph of Freedom - The Union Maintained - The " Prairie State " Boys in Blue - A Glorious Record - Death of Lincoln - Schedule Tables of Volunteer Troops organized in the State for the Great Rebellion.

On the fourth day of March, 1861, after the most exciting and momentous political campaign known in the history of this country, Abraham Lincoln - America's martyred President - was inaugurated Chief Magistrate of the United States. This fierce contest was principally sectional, and as the announcement was flashed over the telegraph wires that the Republican Presidential candidate had been elected, it was hailed by the South as a justifiable pretext for dissolving the Union. Said Jefferson Davis in a speech at Jackson, Miss., prior to the election, " If an abolitionist be chosen President of the United States you will have presented to you the question whether you will permit the government to pass into the hands of your avowed and implacable enemies. Without pausing for an answer, I will state my own position to be that such a result would be a species of revolution by which the purpose of the Government would be destroyed, and the observances of its mere forms entitled to no respect. In tliat event, in such a manner a* should be most expedient, I should deem it your dut)' to provide for your safety outside of the Union." Said another Southern politician, when speaking on the same subject, "We shall fire the Southern heart, instruct the Soutliern mind, give courage to each, and at the proper moment, by one organized, concerted action, we can precipitate the Cotton States into a revolution." To disrupt the Union and form a government which recognized the absolute supremacy of the white population and the perjietual bondage of the black was what they deemed freedom from the galling yoke of Republican administration.

Abraham Lincoln Did Not Seek The Presidency

Hon. R. W. Miles, of Knox county, sat on the floor by the side of Abraham Lincoln in the library room of the Capitol, in Springfield, at the secret caucus meeting, held in January. 1859. when Mr. Lincoln's name was first spoken of in caucus as a candidate for President. When a gentleman, in making a short speech, said, "We are going to bring Abraham Lincoln out as a candidate for President," Mr. Lincoln at once arose to his feet, and exclaimed, " For God's sake, let me alone I I have suffered enough I " This was soon after he had been defeated in the Legislature for United States Senator by Stephen A. Douglas, and only those who are intimate with that important and unparalleled contest can appreciate the full force and meaning of these expressive words of the martyred President. They were spontaneous, and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Abraham Lincoln did not seek the high position of President. Nor did he use any trickery or chicanery to obtain it. But his express wish was not to be complied with ; our beloved country needed a savior and a martyr, and Fate had decreed that he should be the victim. After Air. Lincoln was elected President. Mr. .Miles sent him an eagle's quill, with which the chief magistrate wrote his first inaugural address. The letter written b^- Mr Miles to the President, and sent with the quill, which was two feet in length, is such a jewel of eloquence and prophecy that it should be given a place in history :

Dear Sir : - Please accept the eagle quill I promised you, by the liaiid of our Representative, A. A. Smith. The bin! from whose wing the (juill was t.iken, was shot by John V. Dillon, in Persifer township, Knox county, Illinois, in February, 1857. Having heard that James Huchanan was furni>lied with an eagle quill to write his inaugural with, and Iwlicving that in i860 a Republican would be elected to lake hi> place, I determined to save this quill and present it to the fortunate man, whoever he might be. Reports tell us that the bird which furnished Buchanan's quill was a captured bird - fit emblem of the man that used it ; but the bird from which this ijuill was taken, yielded the quill only with his life - tit emblem of the man who is expected to use it, for true Republicans believe that you would not think life worth the keeping after the surrender of principle. Great difTiculties surround you : traitors to their country have threatened your life ; and should you be called upon to surrender it at the p»»i of duty, your memory will live forever in the heart of every freeman ; and that is a grander monument than can be built of brick or marble.

At the titni! of President Lincoln's accession to power, several members of the Union claimed they had withdrawn from it, and styling themselves the "Confederate States of America," organizetl a separate government. The house was indeed divided against itself, hut it shoultl not fall, nor should it long continue divided, wa,s the hearty, iletermined response of every loviil heart in the nation. The accursed institution of human slavery was the primary cause for titis dissolution of the Anicrican Union. Doulitb>ss other agencieti served to intensify the hostile feelings which existed between the northern and southern portions of our country, but their remote origin could be traced to this great national evil. Had Lincoln's predecessor put forth a timely, energetic effort, he might have prevented the bloody war our nation was called to pass through. On the other hand every aid was given the rebels ; every advantage and all the power of the Government was placed at their disposal, and when Illinois' honest son took the reins of the Republic he found Buchanan had been a traitor to his trust, and given over to the South all available means of war.

The Fall Of Sumter

On the 12th day of April, 1861, the rebels, who for weeks had been erecting their batteries upon the shore, after demanding of Major Anderson a surrender, opened fire upon Fort Sumter. For thirty-four hours an incessant cannonading was continued ; the fort was being seriously injured ; provisions were almost gone, and Major Anderson was compelled to haul down the stai's and stripes. That dear old flag which had seldom been lowered to a foreign foe by rebel hands was now trailed in the dust. The first blow of the terrible conflict which summoned vast armies into the field, and moistened the soil of a nation in fraternal blood and tears, had been struck. The gauntlet thus thrown down by the attack on Sumter by the traitors of the South was accejited - not, however, in the spirit with which insolence meets insolence - but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the President was plain under the constitution and the laws, and above and beyond all, the people from whom all political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the Rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the authority of their representative and executive officers. Promptly did the new President issue a proclamation calling for his countr3-men to join with him to defend their homes and their country, and vindicate her honor. This call was made April 14, two days after Sumter was first fired upon, and was for 75,000 men. On the 15th, the same day he was notified. Gov. Yates issued his proclamation convening the Legislature. He also ordered the organization of six regiments. Troops were in abundance, and the call was no sooner made than filled. Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart. The farm, the work shop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the college, the school-house - every calling offered its best men, their lives and their fortunes, in defense of the Government's honor and unity. Bitter words spoken in moments of political heat were forgotten and forgiven, and joining hands in a common cause, they repeated the oath of America's soldier-statesman : " By the Great Eternal, the Unionmust and shall be preserved.'' The honor, the very life and glory of the nation was committed to the stern arbitrament of the sword, and soon the tramp of armed men, the clash of musketry and the heav}- boom of artillery reverberated throughout the continent ; rivers of blood saddened by tears of mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and sweethearts flowed from the lakes to the gulf, but a nation was saved. The sacrifice was great, but the Union was preserved.

Call For Troops Promptly Answered

Simultaneously with the call for troops by the President, enlistments commenced in this State, and within ten days 10,000 volunteers offered service, and the sum of -11,000,000 was tendered by patriotic citizens. Of the volunteers who offered their services, only six regiments could be accepted under the quota of the State. But the time soon came when there was a place and a musket for every man. The six regiments raised were designated by numbers commencing with seven, as a mark of respect for the six regiments which had served in the Mexican war. Another call was anticipated, and the Legislature authorized ten additional regiments to be organized. Over two hundred companies were immediately raised from which were selected the required number. No sooner was this done than the President made another call for troops, six regiments were again our proportion, although by earnest solicitation the remaining four were accepted. There were a large number of men with a patriotic desire to enter the service who were denied this privilege. Many of them wept, while others joined regiments from other States. In May, June and July seventeen regiments of infantry and five of cavalry- were raised, and in the latter month, when the President issued his first call for oOO,000 volunteers, Illinois tendered thirteen regiments of infantry and three of cavalry, and so anxious were her sons to have the Rebellion crushed that the number could have been increased by thousands. At the close of 1861 Illinois had sent to the field nearly 50,000 men, and had 17,000 in camp awaiting marching orders, thus exceeding her full quota by 15,000.

A Va.St Army Raised In Eleven Days

In July and August of 1862 the President called for 600,000 men - our quota of which was 52,296 - and gave until August 18 as the limits in which the number might be raised by volunteering, after which a draft would \>e ordered. The State had already furnished 17.000 in excess of iier quota, and it was finst thought this nunil)er would be deducted from the present requisition, but that could not be done. But thirteen days were granted to enlist this vast army, which had to come from the farmers and mechanics. The former were in the midst of harvest, but, insjjired by love of country, over 50,000 of them left their harvests ungathered, their tools and their benches, the plows in their furrows, turning their backs on tlieir homes, and before eleven daj^s had expired the demands of the government were met and both quotas filled.

The war went on, and call followed call, until it began to look as if there would not be men enough in all the Free States to crush out and subdue the monstrous war traitors had inaugurated. But to ever\' call for either men or money there was a willing and ready response. And it is a boast of tlic people that, had the sujjply of men fallen short, there were women brave enough, daring enough, patriotic enough, to have offered themselves as sacrifices on their country's altar. On the 21st of December, 1864, the last call for troops was made. It was for 300,000. In consequence of an imperfect enrollment of the men subject to military duty, it became evident, ere this call was made, that Illinois was furnishing thousands of men more than what her quota would have been, had it been correct. So glaring had this disprojiortion liecoine. that under tliis call the quota of some districts exceeded the number of able-bodied men in them.

A General Summaky

Following this sketch we give a schedule of all tiie volunteer troops organized from this State, from the commencement to the close of the war. It is taken from the Adjutant General's report. The number of the regiment, name of original colonel, call under which recruited, date of organization and muster into the United States' service, place of muster, and aggregate strength of eacli organization, from which we find that Illinois put into her one hundrccl and eigiity regiments 25<'),000 men. ami into the United States army, through other States, enougli to swell the number to 2'.>0,000. This far exceeds all the soldiers of the Federal Government in all the war of the Revolution. Her total years of service were over 600,000. Slie enrolled men from eighteen to forty-five 3'ears of age, when the law of Congress in 1864 - the test time - only asked for tiiose from twenty to forty-five. Iier enrollments were otlicrwise excessive. Her people wanted to go, and did not take the pains to correct the enrollment ; thus the basis of fixing the quota was too great, and the quota itself, at least in the trying time, was far above any otlier Slate. The demand on some counties, as Monroe, for example, took every able-bodied man in the county, and liien did not inive enough to fill the quota. Moreover, Illinois sent 20,844 men for one hundred days, for whom no ereilil was asked. She gave lo the country 73,000 years of service aliove all calls. Witli one-lhirieenlh of the population of the loyal States, she sent regularly one-tenth of all the soldiers, and in the perils of the closing calls, when patriots were few and wearj', she sent one-eighth of all that were called for by her loved and honored son in the White House. Of the brave boys Illinois sent to the front, there were killed in action, 5,888 ; died of wounds, 3,032 ; of disease, 19,496 ; in prison, 967 ; lost at sea, 205 ; aggregate, 29,588. As upon every field and upon every page of the history of this war, Illinois bore her part of the suffering in the prison-pens of the South. More than 800 names make up the awful column of Illinois' brave sons who died in the rebel prison of Andersonville, Ga. Who can measure or imagine the atrocities which would be laid before the world were the panorama of sufferings and terrible trials of these gallant men but half unfolded to view ? But this can never be done until new words of horror are invented, and new arts discoved by which demoniacal fiendishness can be portrayed, and the intensest anguish of the human soul in ten thousand forms be painted.

No troops ever fought more heroically, stubbornly, and with better effect than did the boys from the " Prairie State." At Pea Ridge, Donelson, Pittsburg, Landing, luka, Corinth, Stone River, Holly Springs, Jackson, Vicksburg, Cl'icamauga, Lookout Mountain, Murfreesboro, Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, Chattanooga, and on every other field where the clash of arms was heard, her sons were foremost.

Capttjre Of The St. Louis Aesenal

Illinois was almost destitute of firearms at the beginning of the conflict, and none could be procured in the East. The traitorous Floyd had turned over to the South 300,000 arms, leaving most arsenals in the North empty. Gov. Yates, however, received an order on the St. Louis arsenal for 10,000 muskets, which he put in the hands of Capt. Stokes, of Chicago. Several unsuccessful attempts were made by the Captain to pass through the large crowd of rebels which had gathered around the arsenal, suspecting an attempt to move the ai-ms would be made. He at last succeeded in gaining admission to the arsenal, but was informed by the commander that the slightest attempt to move the arms would be discovered and bring an infuriated mob upon the garrison. This fear was well founded, for the following day Gov. Jackson ordered 2,000 armed men from Jefferson City down to capture the arsenal. Capt. Stokes telegraphed to Alton for a steamer to descend the river, and about midnight laud opposite the arsenal, and proceeding to the same place with 700 men of the 7th Illinois, commenced loading the vessel. To divert attention from his real purpose, he had 500 guns placed upon a different boat. As designed, this movement was discovered by the rabble, and the shouts and excitement upon their seizure drew most of the crowd from the arsenal. Capt. Stokes not only took all the guns his requisition called for, but emptied the arsenal. When all was ready, and the signal given to start, it was found that the immense weight had bound the bow of the boat to the rock, but after a few moments' delay the boat fell away from the shore and floated into deep water.

" Which way ? " said Capt. Miller, of the steamer. " Straight in the regular channel to Alton," replied Capt. Stokes. "What if we are attacked?" said Capt. Mitchell. " Then we will fight," was the reply of Capt. Stokes. " What if we are overpowered ? " said Mitchell. "Run the boat to the deepest part of the river and sink her," replied Stokes. "I'll do it," was the heroic answer of Mitchell, and away they went past the secession battery, past the St. Louis levee, and in the regular channel on to Alton. When they touched the landing, Capt. Stokes, fearing pursuit, ran to the market house and rang the fire bell. The citizens came flocking pell-mell to the river, and soon men, women and children were tugging away at the vessel load of arms, which they soon had deposited in freight cars and off to Springfield.

Liberality As Wkll As Patriotism

The people were liberal as well as patriotic ; and while the men were busy enlisting, organizing and equipping companies, tlie ladies were no less active, and the noble, generous work performed by their tender, loving hands deserves mention along with the bravery, devotion and patriotism of their brothers upon the Southern fields of carnage.

The continued need of money to obtain the comforts and necessaries for the sick and wounded of our arniy suggested to the loyal women of the North many and various devices for the raising of funds. Every city, town and village had its fair, festival, picnic, excursion, concert, wliich netted more or less to tlie cause of hospital relief, according to the population of the place and the amount of energy and patriotism displayed on such occasions. Especially was this characteristic of our own fair State, and scarcely a hamlet witliin its borders which did not send something from its stores to hospital or battlefield, and in the larger towns and cities were well-organized soldiers' aid societies, working systematically and continuously from the l)eginning of the war till itsclose. The great State Fair held in Chicago in May, 186.5, netted -S2-')0,000. Homes for traveling soldiers were established all over the State, in which were furnished lodging for ()00,000 men, and meals valued at 82, .500, 000. Food, clothing, medicine, hospital delicacies, reading matter, and thousands of other articles, were sent to the boys at the front.

Letters, messages of love and encouragement, were sent b)- noble women from many counties of the State to encourage the brave sons and brothers. in the Sontli. Below we give a copy of a printed letter sent from Knox county to the " boys in blue," as showing the feelings of the women of the North. It was headed, " From the Women of Knox County to Their Brothers in the Field." It was a noble, soul-inspiring message, and kindled anew the intensest love for home, country, and a determination to crown tlie stars and stripes witii victory:

" You have gone out from our homes, but not from our liearts. Never for one moment are you forgotten. Tiirough weary march and deadly conflict our prayers have ever followed you ; your sufferings are our sufferings, your victories our great joy.

" If there be one of you wiio knows not tiie dear home ties, for wlioui no mother prays, no sister watches, to Iiim especially we speak. Let him feel that tiiough he may not have one mother he has ma}iy ; he is tlie adopted child and brotlier of all our iiearts. Not one of you is beyond the reach of our sympatliies ; no picket-station so lonely that it is not enveloped in the lialo of our prayers.

" During all tlie long, dark months since our country called you from us, your courage, your patient endurance, your fidelity, have awakened our keenest interest, and we have longed to give you an expression of that interest.

" By the alacrity with wliicii you sprang to arms, by the valor with which those arms have been wielded, you have placed our State in the front ranks; you have made her worthy to be the home of our noble President. For thus sustaining the honor of our State, dear to us as life, we thank you.

"Of your courage we need not speak. Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Sliiloh, Stone River, Vicksburg, speak with blood-bathed lips of your heroism. The Army of the Southwest fights beneath no defeat-shadowed banner ; to it, under God, the nation looks for deliverance.

"But we, as women, have other cause for thanks. Wc will not speak of the debt we owe the defenders of our Government; that blooil-sealed bond no worils can cancel. But we are your debtors in a way not often recognized. You have aroused us from the aimlessness into which too many of our lives li:id <b-ifted, and have infused into those lives a noble pathos. We could not dream our lime away while our brothers were ilying for us. Even your sufferings have worked together for our good, by inciting us to labor for their alleviation, thus giving us a work worth}' of our womanhood. Every thing that we have been permitted to do for your comfort has filled our lives so much the fuller of all that makes life valuable. You have thus been the means of developing in us a nobler type of womanhood than without the example of your heroism we could ever have attained. For this our whole lives, made purer and nobler by the discipline, will thank you.

" This war will leave none of us as it found us. We can not buffet the raging wave and escape all trace of the salt sea's foam. Toward better or toward worse we are hurried with fearful haste. If we at home feel this, what must it be to you ! Our hearts throb with agony when we think of you wounded, suffering, dying ; but the thought of no physical pain touches us half so deeply as the thought of the temptations which surround you. We could better give you up to die on the battle-field, true to your God and to your country, than to have you return to us with blasted, blackened souls. When temptations assail fiercely, you must let the thought that your mothers are praying for strength enable you to overcome them. But fighting for a worthy cause worthily ennobles one ; herein is our confidence that you will return better men than 3'ou went away.

" By all that is noble in your manhood ; by all that is true in our womanhood ; by all that is grand in patriotism ; by all that is sacred in religion, we adjure you to be faithful to yourselves, to us, to your country, and to your God. Never were men permitted to fight in a cause more worth}' of their blood. Were you fighting for mere conquest, or glory, we could not give you up : but to sustain a. principle, the greatest to which human lips have ever given utterance, even your dear lives are not too costly a sacrifice. Let that principle, the corner-stone of our independence, be crushed, and we are all slaves. Like the Suliote mothers, we might well clasp our children in our arms and leap down to death.

" To the stern arbitrament of the sword is now committed the honor, the very life of this nation. You fight not for yourselves alone; the eyes of the whole world are on you ; and if you fail our Nation's death-wail will echo through all coming ages, moaning a requiem over the lost hopes of oppressed humanity. But you will not fail, so sure as there is a God in Heaven. He never meant this richest argosy of the natiocs, freighted with the fears of all the world's tyrants, with the hopes of all its oppressed ones, to flounder in darkness and death. Disasters may come, as they have come, but they will only be, as they have been, ministers of good. Each one has led the nation upward to a higher plane, from whence it has seen with a clearer eye. Success could not attend us at the West so long as we scorned the help of the black hand, which alone had power to open the gate of redemption ; the God of battles would not voucl'safe a victory at the East till the very foot-prints of a McClellan were washed out in blood.

" But now all things seem ready ; we have accepted the aid of that hand ; those footsteps are obliterated. In his own good time we feel that God will give us the victory. Till that hour comes we bid you fight on. Though we have not attained that heroism, or decision, which enables us to give you up without a struggle, which can prevent our giving tears for your Mood, though many of us must own our own hearts desolate till you return, still we bid you stay and fight for our country, till from this fierce baptism of blood she shall be raised complete ; the dust shaken from her garments purified, a new Memnon singing in the great Godlight."

On the 15th of November, 1864, after the destruction of Atlanta, and the railroads behind him, Sherman, with his army, began his march to the sea-coast. The almost breathless anxiety with which his progress was watched by the loyal hearts of the nation, and the trembling apprehension with which it was regarded by all who hoped for rebel success, indicated this as one of the most remarkable events of the war; and so it proved.

Iso General History Of Illinois

Of Sherman's army, forty-five regiments of infantry, three companies of artillery, and one of cavalry, were from this State. Lincoln answered all rumors of Sherman's defeat with, " It is impossible ; there is a mighty sight of fight in 100,000 Western men." Illinois soldiers brought home 300 battle flags. The first United States flag that floated over Richmond was an Illinois flag. She sent messengers and nurses to every field and hospital to care for her sick and wounded sons.

Chakacter Of Abraham Lincoln

One other name from Illinois conies up in all minds, embalmed in all hearts, that must have the supreme place in this sketch of our glory and of our nation's honor ; that name is Abraham Lincoln. The analysis of Mr. Lincoln's character isdifi&cult on account ot its symmetry. In this age we look with admiration at his uncompromising honesty ; and well we may, for this saved us. Thousands throughout the length and breadth of our co)uitry. who knew him only as " Honest Old Abe," voted for him on that account ; and wisely did they choose, for no other man could have carried us through the fearful night of war. When his plans were too vast for our comprehension, and his faith in the cause too sublime for our participation ; when it was all night about us, and all dread before us, and all sad and desolate behind us ; when not one ray shone upon our cause ; when traitors were haughty and exultant at the South, and fierce and blasphemous at the North ; when the loyal men seemed almost in the minority ; when the stoutest heart quailed, the bravest cheek paled ; when generals were defeating each other for place, and contractors were leeching out the very heart's blood of the republic ; when every thing else had failed us, we looked at this calm, patient man standing like a rock in the storm, and said, " Mr. Lincoln is honest, and we can trust him still." Holding to this single point with the energy of faith and despair, we held together, and under God he brought us through to victory. His jtractical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands. With such certainty did Mr. Lincoln fallow cau.ses to their ultimate effects, that his foresight of contingencies seemed almost prophetic. He is radiant with all the great virtues, and his memory will shed a glory upon this age that will fill the eyes of men as they look into history. Other men have excelled him in some points; but, taken at all points, he stands head and shoulders above every other man of 6,000 3'ears. .\n administrator, he saved the nation in the perils of unparalleled civil war; a statesman, he justified iiis measures by their success ; a philanthropist, he gave liberty to one race and salvation to another; a moralist, he bowed from tlie summit of human power to the foot of the cross ; a mediator, he exercised mercy under the most absolute obedience to law ; a leader, he was no partisan ; a commander, he was untainted with blood ; a ruler in desperate times, he was unsullied with crime ; a man, he has left no word of passion, no thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of jealousy, no i>urpose of selfish ambition. Thus perfected, without a model and without a peer, he was dropped into these troubled years to adorn and embellish all that is good and all that is great in our humanity, and to present to all coming time the representative of the divine idea of free government. It is not too much to say that away down in the future, when the repulilic has fallen from its niche in the wall of time ; when the great war itself shall have faded out in the distance like a mist on the horizon; when the Anglo-Saxon shall be spoken only by the tongue of the stranger, then the generations looking this way shall see the great President as the supreme figure in this great vortex of histor}-.

his coiuinaml in .\pril. 1S6."). Our;inniesat the time were up to their maximum strength, never so I'ormidable, uever so inviuciblc; and, until recruiting ceased by order of Secre- taiy Stanton, were daily strengthening. The necessity, however, for so vast and formidable numbers ceased with the disbanding of the rebel forces, which had for more than four years disputed the supremacy of the Government over its domain. And now the joy- ful and welcome news was to be borne to the victorious legions that their work was ended in triumph, and they were to be permitted " to see homes and friends once more."

Death Of Lincoln

But this work was scarcely done till a terrible event occurred at Washington. While President Lincoln was sitting in a theater with his wife and friends, an actor named John Wilkes Booth, maddened by Lee's overthrow, came unnoticed into his box, leveled a pistol, and shot the President in the head. The victim died the next morning. The assassin leaped upon the stage, escaped through the darkness, and fled. He was pursued, found concealed in a barn, and shot. The grief of the nation was very marked. No President had ever been put to so severe a test, and none, since Washington, had so endeared himself to the people. His honesty, simplicity, fidelity, and sympathetic nature, which never deserted him, had secured his re-election by a large majority. The colored people especially mourned for him as for a father. " He went through life bearing the load of the people's sorrows with a smiling face. He was the guiding mind of the nation while he lived, and when he died, the little children cried in the streets."

Oeneral History Ok Illinois

and sent to the field, commencing April, 1861, and ending December 31. 1865. with number of regiment, name of original commanding officer, date of organization and muster into United Stales' service, place of muster, and the aggregate strength of each organization.

Duels And Dueling

The code of chivalry so common among Southern gentlemen and so frequently brought into use in settling personal differences has also been called to settle tlie " affairs of honor" in our own State, however, but few times, and those in the earlier days. Several attempts at duels have occurred ; before the disputants met in mortal combat the differences were amicably and satisfactorily settled ; honor was maintained without the sacrifice of life. In 1810 a law was adopted to suppress the practice of dueling. Tliis law held the fatal result of dueling to be murder, and. as it was intended, had the effect of making it odious and dishonorable. Prior to the constitution of 18-18, parties would evade the law by going beyond the jurisdiction of tlie State to engage in their contests of honor. At that time they incorporated in the Constitution an oath of office, which was so broad as to cover the whole world. Any person who had ever fought a duel, ever sent or accej)ted a challenge or acted the part of second was disfranchised from holding office, even of minor importance. After this went into effect, no other duel or attempt at a duel lias been engaged in within tlie State of Illinois, save those fought by parties living outside of the State, who came here to settle their personal differences.

The Fikst Duel

The first duel fought within the boundaries of this great State was between two young military officers, one of the French and the other of the English army, in tlie year 176o. It was at the time the British troops came to take possession of Fort Chartres, and a woman was tlie cause of it. Tiie affair occurred early Sunday morning, near the old fort. They fouglit with swords, and in tiie combat one sacrificed his life.

Bond And Jones

In 1809 the next duel occurred and was bloodless of itself, but out of it grew a quarrel which resulted in tiie assassination of one of tlie contestants. Tlie principals were Shadracii Bond, the first governor, and Rice Jones, a brigiit young lawyer, who became quite a politician and tlie leader of his party. A personal dilVorcnce arose between the two, which to settle, tiie parties met for mortal comliat on an island in tiie Mississippi. The weapons selected were hair-trigger pistols. After taking their position Jones' weapon was prematurely discharged. Bond's second, Dunlaji, now claimed that according to tiie code Bond iiad the riglit to tiie next fire. But Bond would not take so great advantage of liis opponent, and said it was an accident and would not fire. Surli nol)le conduct touched tht! generous nature of Jones, and tlie difficulty was at once aniicaMy settled. Dunhip, however, liore a deadly hatred for Jones, and one day while lie was standing in the street in Kaskaskia, conversing with a lady, he crept up beliind iiim and shot him dead in his tracks. Dunlap successfully escapetl to Texas.

Rector And Barton

In 1812 the bloody code again brought two young men to the field of honor. They were Thomas Rector, a son of Capt. Steplien Rector, who bore such a noble part in the war of 1812, and Joshua Barton, They had espoused the quarrel of older brothers. The affair occurred on Bloody Island, in the Mississippi, but in the limits of Illinois. This place was frequented so often by Missourians to settle personal difficultiess, that it received the name of Bloody Island. Barton fell in this conflict.

Stewakt And Bennett

In 1819 occurred the first duel fought after the admission of the State into the Union. This took place in St. Clair county between Alphonso Stewart and William Bennett. It was intended to be a sham duel, to turn ridicule against Bennett, the challenging party. Stewart was in the secret, but Bennett was left to believe it a reality. Their guns were loaded with blank cartridges. Bennett, suspecting a trick, put a ball into his gun without the knowledge of his seconds. The word " fire" was given, and Stewart fell mortally wounded. Bennett made his escape, but was subsequently captured, convicted of murder and suffered the penalty of the law by hanging.

Pearson 7Lnd Baker

In 1840 a personal difference arose between two State Senators, Judge Pearson and E. D. Baker. The latter, smarting under the epithet of "falsehood," threatened to chastise Pearson in the public streets, by a " fist fight." Pearson declined making a " blackguard " of himself, but intimated his readiness to fight as gentlemen, according to the code of honor. The affair, however, was carried no further.

Hardin And Dodge

The exciting debates in the Legislature in 1840-'41 were often bitter in personal " slings," and threats of combats were not infrequent. During these debates, in one of the speeches by the Hon. J. J. Hardin, Hon. A. R. Dodge thought he discovered a jDersonal insult, took exceptions, and an "affair" seemed imminent. The controversy was referred to friends, however, and amicably settled.

M'Clernand And Smith

Hon. John A. AFcClernand, a member of the House, in a speech delivered during the same session made charges against the Whig Judges of the Supreme Court. This brought a note from Judge T. W. Smith, hj the hands of his "friend" Dr. Merriman, to McClernand. This was construed as a challenge, and promptly accepted, naming the place of meeting to be Missouri ; time, early ; the weapons, rifles ; and distance, 40 paces. At this critical juncture, the attorney general had a warrant issued against the Judge, whereupon he was arrested and placed under bonds to keep the peace. Thus ended this attempt to vindicate injured honor.

Lincoln And Shields

During the hard times subsequent to the failure of tlie State and other banks, in 1842, specie became scarce while State money was plentiful, but worthless. The State officers thereupon demanded specie payment for taxes. This was bitterly opposed, and so fiercely contested that the collection of taxes was suspended.

During the period of the greatest indignation toward the State officials, under the nom de plume of " Rebecca," Abraham Lincoln had an article published in the Sangamo Journal, entitled " Lost Township." In this article, written in the form of a dialogue, the officers of the State were roughly handled, and especially Auditor Shields. The name of the author was demanded from the editor by Mr. Shields, who was very indignant over the manner in which he was treated. The name of Abraham Lincoln was given as the author. It is claimed by some of his biographers, however, that the article was prepared by a lady, and that when the name of the author was demanded, in a spirit of gallantly, Mr. Lincoln gave his name. In company with Gen. Whiteside, Genera^ Shields pursued Lincoln to Tremont, Tazewell county, where he was in attendance upon the court, and immediately sent him a note " requiring a full, positive and absolute retraction of all ofiTensive allusions" made to him in relation to his "'private character and standing as a man, or an apology for the insult conveyed." Lincoln had been forewarned, however, for William Butler and Dr. Merriman, of Springfield, had become acquainted with Shields' intentions and by riding all night arrived at Tremont ahead of Shields and informed Lincoln what he might expect. Lincoln answered Shields' note, refusing to offer any explanation, on the grounds that Shields' note assumed the fact of his (Lincoln's) authorship of the article, and not pointing out what the offensive part was, and accompanying the same with threats as to consequences. Mr. Shields answered this, disavowing all intention to menace ; inquired if he was the author, asked a retraction of that portion relating to his private character. Mr. Lincoln, still technical, returned this note with the verbal statement " that there could be no further negotiations until the first note was withdrawn." At this Shields named General Whiteside as his "friend," when Lincoln reported Dr. Merriman as his "friend." These gentlemen secretly pledged themselves to agree upon some amicable terms, and compel their principals to accept them. The four went to Springfield, when Lincoln left for Jacksonville, leaving the following instructions to guide his friend. Dr. Merriman :

" In case Whiteside shall signify a wish to adjust this affair without further difficulty, let him know that if the present papers be withdrawn and a note from Mr. Shields, asking to know if I am the author of the articles of which he complains, and asking that I shall make him gentlemanly satisfaction, if I am the author, and this without menace or dictation as to what that satisfaction shall be, a pledge is made that the following answer shall be given :

" I did v/rite the ' Lost Township ' letter which appeared in the Journal of the 2d inst., but had no participation, in any form, in any other article alhiding to you. 1 wrote that wholly for political effect. I had no intention of injuring your personal or private character or standing, as a man or gentleman ; and I did not then think, and do not now think, that that article could produce or has produced that effect against you ; and, had I anticipated such an effect, would have foreborne lo write it. And I will add that your conduct toward me, so. far as I know, had always been gentlemanly, and that I had no personal pique against you, and no cause for any.

" If this should be done, I leave it to you to manage what shall and what shall not be published. If nothing like this is done, the preliminaries of the fight are to be:

" 1st. Weapom. - Cavalry broad swords of the largest size, precisely equal in all respects, and such as are now used b}- the cavalry company at Jacksonville.

" 2d. Position. - A plank ten feet long and from nine to twelve inches broad, to be firmly fixed on edge, on the ground, as a line between us which neither is to pass his foot over on forfeit of his life. Next a line drawn on the ground on either side of said plank, and parallel with it, each at the distance of the whole length of the sword, and three feet additional from the plank ; and the pa.ssing of his own such line by either party during the fight, shall be deemed a surrender of the contest.

" 8d. Time. - On Thursday evenin;.,' at r> o'clock, if you can get it so ; but in no case to be at a greater distance of time than Friday evening at ;"> o'clock.

" Any iireliminary details coming within the above rules, you are at liberty to make at your discretion, but you are in no case to swerve from these rules, or pass beyond their limits."

The position of the contestants, as prescribed by Lincoln, seems to have been such as both would have been free from coming in contact with the sword of the other, and the first impression is that it is nothing more than one of Lincoln's jokes. He possessed very long arms, however, and could reach his adversary at the stipulated distance.

General Histohy Of Illinois

Not being amicabi}' arranged, all parties repaired to the field of combat in Missouri. Gen. Hardin and Dr. English, as mutual friends of both Lincoln and Shields, arrived in the meantime, and after much correspondence, at their earnest solicitation, the affair was satisfactorily arranged, Lincoln making a statement similar to the one above referred to.

Shields And Butler

William Butler, one of Lincoln's seconds, was dissatisfied with the bloodless termination of the Lincoln-Shields affair, and wrote an account of it for the Sangamo Journal. This article reflected discreditably upon both the principals engaged in that controversy. Shields replied hj the hands of his friend. Gen. Whiteside, in a curt, menacing note, which was promptly accepted as a challenge by Butler, and the inevitable Dr. Merriman named as his friend, who submitted the following as preliminaries of the fight:

The parties to stand with their right sides toward each other - the rifles to be held in both hands horizontally and cocked, arms extended downwards. Neither party to move his person or his rifle after being placed, before the word fire. The signal to be :» " Are you ready ? Fire! One - two - three!" About a second of time intervening between each word. Neither party to fire before the word " fire," nor after the word " three."

Gen. Whiteside, in language curt and abrupt, addressed a note to Dr. Merriman declining to accept the terms. Gen. Shields, however, addressed another note to Butler, explaining the feelings of his second, and offering to go out to a lonely place on the prairie to fight, where there would be no danger of being interrupted ; or, if that did not suit, he would meet him on his own conditions, when and where he pleased. Butler claimed the affair was closed and declined the proposition.

Now Gen. Whiteside and Dr. Merriman, who several times had acted in the capacity of friends or seconds, were to handle the deadly weapons as principals. While second in the Shields-Butler fiasco, Whiteside declined the terms proposed by Butler, in curt and abrupt language, stating that the place of combat could not be dictated to him, for it was as much his right as Merriman's, who if he was a gentleman, would recognize and concede it. To this Merriman replied by the hands of Cai:)t. Lincoln. It will be remembered that Merriman had acted in the same capacity for Lincoln. Whiteside then wrote to Merriman, asking to meet him at St. Louis, when he would hear from him further. To this Merriman replied, denying his right to name place, but offered to meet in Louisiana, Mo. This Whiteside would not agree to, but later signified his desire to meet him there, but the affair being closed, the doctor declined to re-open it.

Pratt And Campbell

These two gentlemen were members of the Constitutional Convention of 18-17, and both from Jo Daviess county. A dispute arose which ended in a challenge to meet on the field of honor. They both repaired to St. Louis, but the authorities gaining knowledge of their bloody intentions, had both parties arrested, which ended this " affau-."