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CHAPTER IX.

THE CALL TO ARMS IN CONNECTICUT.

Governor Buckingham Calls for Troops and Pledges his Private Fortune to Equip Them--The People and the Legislature Respond with Equal Patriotism-Camps of Enlisted Men at Hartford, New Haven and Norwich-Washington Cut Off-Governor Buckingham's Message to the President and How it was Sent and Received -The Early Volunteers-Governor Buckingham's Understanding of the Situation-Count de Gasparin's "Uprising of a Great People."

Governor Buckingham had just been elected governor for the fourth time. The newly-elected Legislature was also Republican in both branches. It would not assemble for a fortnight, but time was precious, and the Governor did not hesitate to assume the responsibilities of such a crisis, and relying upon the intelligence and patriotism of the people to sustain him in it, responded at once to the President's call for troops. This call for 75,000 men was made on Monday, April 15, two days after the fall of Sumter, and was telegraphed over the country to meet every man at his breakfast table or place of business that morning, summoning him to his duty in this matter. The Governor's order was issued the next day, as follows:

Whereas, the President of the United States, by proclamation, declares that the laws are now opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, and has called for the militia of the several States to the aggregate number of 75,000 men;

And, whereas, the Secretary of War has made a call upon the Executive of this State for one regiment of militia for immediate service;

Therefore, I, William A. Buckingham, commander-in-chief of the militia of the State of Connecticut, call upon the patriotic citizens of this State to volunteer their services and rendezvous immediately at the city of Hartford, reporting themselves to the adjutant general.

The very next day he issued another call for another regiment to rendezvous at New Haven, "having reason to believe that the arsenal at Harper's Ferry and other public property has been seized by the revolutionists, and there is immediate danger of subverting the government." Harper's Ferry was seized by Virginia two days later, but the arsenal and workshops were blown up by the officer in charge at the last moment, though more or less of the machinery was saved and removed to Richmond, where it was used to manufacture arms for the Confederacy. A much more serious loss overtook the government at this time, in the loss of the Norfolk navy yard. Virginia was expected to take possession of this navy yard and Harper's Ferry, as well as capture Washington. Had she succeeded in securing the ships of war at Norfolk, the heavy guns (so many of them splendid Dahlgrens), and the immense store of ammunition and material for ships and forts, it would have gone far towards supplying the Confederacy with a naval force, as Harper's Ferry would have armed their land forces. Fortunately, though at immense loss and hindrance to the government, these ships were fired and sunk, and everything else blown up, and thus kept out of the hands of the rebels. It was this peril which led the Governor to call for a second regiment before any order came for them.

He had already decided, the moment the President's first order came, to apply to the Thames bank of Norwich, of which he was a director, for a loan of $50,000 on his own personal security, for war purposes. Just then he received a telegram from Mr. E. C. Scranton, president of the Elm City bank, New Haven, tendering a loan to the State of

the same amount. The Thames bank immediately offered him $100,000 instead of $50,000. Then came, one after another, tenders of $20,000 from the Fairfield County bank, $20,000 from Rockville bank, $25,000 from the Mechanics' bank, New Haven; $50,000 from the Citizens' bank, Norwich; $500,000 from the several banks of Hartford (one-tenth of their capital), and the New Haven banks soon after voted a loan of the same proportions, so that the Governor soon had at his command more than a million of dollars, freely proffered to the State, with no other security for its repayment than confidence in their Governor, and in the intelligence and principle of their fellow-citizens. As showing that this confidence was not misplaced, it should be noticed that when the Legislature came together one of the first things done was to provide for such obligations, and it was voted without a dissenting voice to put $2,000,000 into the hands of the Governor, with which to arm and equip 10,000 men.

The above is by no means a complete account of the funds voluntarily furnished to arm and equip troops before any State appropriation was made. The thousands and hundreds of thousands contributed at the same time, to give bounties for enlistment and to provide for the families of those who volunteered, to say nothing of what went during the war to the Sanitary Commission, and the Christian Commission, and directly to favorite regiments and companies and individuals, would make an amount simply incredible. It should be noticed in regard to the loans made to the State, that the Governor's drafts upon the banks were in this form: "Sir-This will be presented by through whom I propose to avail myself of your patriotic offer of money to aid the State amid the present national calamities. Honor such drafts as he may draw on you and charge the same to the State, for the final payment of which I hold myself personally respon

sible"-thus pledging his private fortune and personal credit for all they were both worth.

The newspapers of the time and later records are full of information showing how troops were raised; how readily the people understood what to do, and how to do it, though neither the general government nor the State government could render them much assistance; how every city, town and village undertook the work and successfully accomplished it. Governor Buckingham had been very apprehensive of a more serious state of things in prospect than was generally supposed. This conviction was deepened especially by the result of the Peace Convention, when he became satisfied that the South would secede, and would fight, and fight fiercely, unless they could secure new guarantees for slavery, which they failed to secure. His letter to the President somewhat later, in regard to the extra session of Congress about to be held, suggesting legislation which he deemed necessary, and especially his urgent recommendation to raise a much larger army than was proposed, if we ever expected to put down such a rebellion, shows how well he apprehended both the spirit and the resources of the South. In his opinion it was to be no "sixty-days'" affair, nor to be finished up by "three-months' volunteers," nor by 75,000 men. Hence his recommendation of a force that seemed extravagant at the time showed his just appreciation of the present state of things, and his rare forecast of the future.

In prospect of such a state of things, the Governor, as early as January, had issued an order, as commander-in-chief of the militia of the State, calling attention to the "importance of filling up their ranks by enlistments, of a careful inspection of their arms and equipments, and being ready for such service as any emergency might demand." When the crisis came, and even before his call for troops was issued, on Sunday, the very day after Sumter fell, and

before any call for volunteers from either the President or the Governor could reach them, the people of Winsted had been invited from their pulpits to meet that evening in their largest hall, "to consider the duties of patriots in the present emergency." They were all actuated by the same loyalty to the government and love for the Union, and guided by the same good sense. For when a gentleman of prominence and political influence offered a resolution. in favor of withdrawing the United States troops from the forts within the seceded States, the proposition was received only with scorn and indignation. Instead of this, they prepared and signed an address to the Governor, requesting him to "adopt such measures as would give him an opportunity to place the resources of the State at the disposal of the general government," and with it went a list of one hundred young men, volunteering to go to the war. When the company came into camp, as it soon did, there was found, as a private in its ranks, Hon. John Boyd, a graduate of Yale College in 1821, the historian of his town and late Secretary of State, with his minister, Rev. Hiram Eddy, who became chaplain of the regiment. * The next day a similar meeting was held in New Britain, where the people pledged themselves to support the constitutional government, and offered their services to the Governor, and

It is said of this "white-haired John Boyd," who remained with his company and lived in the barracks until the regiment was sent into the field, that he was importunate to go with them but no one could be induced to pronounce him young enough for military duty, and he went reluctantly home." Rev. John Plerpont, however, the distinguished Unitarian minister and poet of Boston, a native of Connecticut, and graduate of Yale in 1804, was allowed to go, and marched into Virginia, at the age of seventy-six, as chaplain of the Massachusetts Twenty-second. As showing how all classes and ages breathed the same spirit: "The first to enlist in that Winsted company, and the youngest, was Samuel B. Horne, a private, seventeen years old, who was quite small of his age, and would have been rejected had it not been for his importunity. He served faithfully during t e three-months service, re-enlisted and bore a musket as private for eighteen months and was then promoted to a captaincy. He was in twenty-five battles, and was wounded three times, and served at the close of the war as provost marshal of the Eighteenth Army Corps. Two of his uncles were officers in the English army, ore of them on Wellington's staff at Waterloo."-[" Connecticut in the War," pp. 46 and 76.

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