23 chapters
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23 chapters
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. EXPLANATIONS AND PLEDGES.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. EXPLANATIONS AND PLEDGES.
T HE "History of the Great Rebellion," as some have called it, or of "The American Conflict," as others have called it, has been written over and over—by Greeley, by McClusky, by Abbott, by Kattell, by Pollard, and by others—and it is not my intention to write it again: but I Purpose, as Macaulay says in the first two words of that wonderful History of England in which, by the magic of his pen, he has made facts, which, until then, had lain only in the brains of old women, in the traditions of o
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CHAPTER II. RUNNING THE LAND BLOCKADE. KING COTTON BEHIND THE SCENES.
CHAPTER II. RUNNING THE LAND BLOCKADE. KING COTTON BEHIND THE SCENES.
O N the 4th of February, 1861, the Confederate Congress met at Montgomery, Ala. It was composed of nine delegates from Alabama, three from Florida, ten from Georgia, six from Louisiana, seven from Mississippi, three from North Carolina, seven from South Carolina—forty-five in all. They adopted the old Constitution of the United States, with the exception of five clauses. The first was a change in the preamble—making the States named, other than "We the people," the contracting parties; the secon
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CHAPTER III. ESTABLISHING STATIONS—FIRST TRIP AND FIRST PASSENGERS.
CHAPTER III. ESTABLISHING STATIONS—FIRST TRIP AND FIRST PASSENGERS.
T HE battle of Gettysburg, fought on the 2d and 3d of July, 1863, was one of the most important, if not the most important, battle of the whole war. The conflict had now been going on for over two years with varying success. Each side had used its utmost efforts for success, and to the general public the end seemed no nearer than in the beginning; but those behind the scenes saw things in a different light, and especially was this true of President Davis and his cabinet. While he and they well u
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CHAPTER IV. ANOTHER CONDUCTOR ON THE NEW LINE. CAUTION SLIDING THE
CHAPTER IV. ANOTHER CONDUCTOR ON THE NEW LINE. CAUTION SLIDING THE
I N the preceding chapter, mention is made of the fact that President Davis placed Colonel Newton Killgore on this same service; and in the same paragraph a brief account is given of his accomplishments, and the position he held in the United States army previous to the war. In this chapter we purpose to give a bird's-eye view of his services as conductor on this new line, for running the land blockade. Not long after the time when Colonel Abercrombie had started on his first trip for Washington
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CHAPTER V. NOBILITY AFTER THE NUGGETS. DIPLOMACY PROMPTING THE ACTORS.
CHAPTER V. NOBILITY AFTER THE NUGGETS. DIPLOMACY PROMPTING THE ACTORS.
I N September, 1863, cotton was quoted in New York city at 70 cents, gold at $1.29. The first indicated the great want for cotton by the manufacturers of this country, of England, and of other parts of the world. The second indicated the want of confidence, then existing, among the moneyed men of the world in the stability of this government. The great divorce trial then going on in the court of last resort—the Court of Arms—in which the South, as representing the wife, was complainant, and the
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CHAPTER VI. IN TIGHT PLACES AND OUT. SHREWDNESS PULLING THE WIRES.
CHAPTER VI. IN TIGHT PLACES AND OUT. SHREWDNESS PULLING THE WIRES.
T HE plan of our work admits of only one more chapter on the subject of running the land blockade, though, if space permitted, the entire volume might be filled with incidents connected with this one service. This chapter, therefore, must embrace a variety of incidents. On one of the trips, Colonel Abercrombie conducted Mr. Charles R. Dangerfield from Washington to Richmond, and return. Mr. Dangerfield was a large manufacturer, or the agent of manufacturers, of English arms, accoutrements, etc.,
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CHAPTER VII. JOHNSON IN A QUANDARY. THE HEART MASTERING THE HEAD.
CHAPTER VII. JOHNSON IN A QUANDARY. THE HEART MASTERING THE HEAD.
T here was another incident connected with the running of the land blockade which, though hardly sufficient for an entire chapter, is too important and too interesting to allow to pass without notice: for not until this is published will it ever be known outside of some half-dozen persons. The incident was as follows: On one of his blockade-running visits to Washington, Colonel Abercrombie learned that Senator Andrew Johnson, as it then was (though afterwards Vice-President, and still afterwards
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CHAPTER VII. PRISONERS, HOW USED AND HOW ABUSED. CRAFT AND CRUELTY
CHAPTER VII. PRISONERS, HOW USED AND HOW ABUSED. CRAFT AND CRUELTY
I N General L. C. Baker's "History of the United States Secret Service," four chapters are devoted to the subject of bounty-jumpers. In these chapters the startling facts are disclosed that on investigation, it was found that only one in four of the enlisted men reached the front that, in some instances, the entire quota of a township was filled with the names of bounty-jumpers, not one of whom ever really enlisted or went to the front; that desertions from the army became so common that to "eve
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CHAPTER VIII. GUERILLAS ON THE WAR-PATH. CUNNING AND DUPLICITY PROMPTING
CHAPTER VIII. GUERILLAS ON THE WAR-PATH. CUNNING AND DUPLICITY PROMPTING
T HE remark is attributed to General Grant that he had "less dread of the whole of General Lee's army than of Colonel Moseby's cavalry." To one unacquainted with the irregular, predatory mode of warfare of these bands, such a remark, from such a source, would seem impossible; but when it is known that cunning, deception, downright lying, and any amount of cruelty needed to their ends, were principles and practices which they regarded as fair; that they did not hold themselves amenable to army re
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CHAPTER IX. WHAT BECAME OF SLAVES DURING AND AFTER THE WAR. THE ALMIGHTY
CHAPTER IX. WHAT BECAME OF SLAVES DURING AND AFTER THE WAR. THE ALMIGHTY
I T is a well-attested fact, that there were many less slaves, or those who had been slaves, in the United States on the 9th of April, 1865, when General Lee surrendered to General Grant, near the Appomattox Court House, than when the war commenced by the firing on Fort Sumter, on the 12th of April, 1861. Had there been no war, and had the ratio of increase been the same from 1861 to 1865 as it had been for the previous four years, there would have been several hundred thousand more in 1865 than
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CHAPTER X. THE CONFEDERACY AS SEEN FROM WITHIN. PRIDE, PASSION, AND WANT
CHAPTER X. THE CONFEDERACY AS SEEN FROM WITHIN. PRIDE, PASSION, AND WANT
S INCE the war, we have seen, and had long conversations with, a reverend doctor, whom we had known for many years previous to the war, who resided in Virginia when the war commenced, was among the first to take part in it, and who continued in the service until the war closed. We have also met other Confederate officers since the war, some of whom had extraordinary facilities for obtaining information while the war continued. From all these we learned much beyond anything we had ever known befo
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CHAPTER XI. HOW ORDER WAS MAINTAINED. KINDNESS AND POWER (HAND-IN-HAND)
CHAPTER XI. HOW ORDER WAS MAINTAINED. KINDNESS AND POWER (HAND-IN-HAND)
T HE city of Alexandria is situated about seven miles below Washington, on the Potomac River. It was at one time a part of the District of Columbia, but, by a subsequent arrangement, was retroceded to Virginia. Prior to the war it was a place of considerable business; contained, probably, thirty thousand inhabitants; had some fine streets, and a few handsome buildings; and was a favorite place of resort, as well as of residence, for the more wealthy and influential citizens of that part of Virgi
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CHAPTER XII. JUDGE FREESE'S "BAYONET COURT" OTHER POWERS, AND HOW
CHAPTER XII. JUDGE FREESE'S "BAYONET COURT" OTHER POWERS, AND HOW
H ARDLY had the Provost-Court at Alexandria been organized before reporters for Northern journals began to call upon the General and upon the Judge for details of its doings, and soon thereafter reports, to a slight extent, of its operations began to appear in some journals under the caption of Judge Freese's "Bayonet Court"—the same as placed at the head of this chapter. One illustrated paper of New York city had a full-page cut, representing the Judge upon the bench in military uniform, with h
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CHAPTER XII. LOYALTY VERSUS DISLOYALTY. PREJUDICE AND SELF-INTEREST
CHAPTER XII. LOYALTY VERSUS DISLOYALTY. PREJUDICE AND SELF-INTEREST
T HE definition given by lexicographers to the word loyalty, namely, "faithful to the lawful government," is so plain that no one can fail to comprehend it; and yet such were the complications in the late war between the United States and the Confederate States, that to no word could a greater variety of significations have been given. The Northern man claimed that to be loyal one must be faithful to the United States government, and all who were not so were rebels. The Southern man claimed that
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CHAPTER XIV. DISLOYALTY AS AFFECTING THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY. ERROR AND
CHAPTER XIV. DISLOYALTY AS AFFECTING THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY. ERROR AND
A NOTHER class of cases brought before the provost-court at Alexandria related to disloyalty as affecting the property-rights of individuals. In the hasty evacuation of the city, when the Union troops were about coming in, many had left their carpets, furniture, pianos, bed? and bedding, cooking utensils, everything, indeed, except the clothing upon their persons and such few things as they could pack in trunks. In some cases, persons remaining in Alexandria had been given the keys of abandoned
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CHAPTER XV. A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS. JUSTICE SHIFTING THE SCENES AND
CHAPTER XV. A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS. JUSTICE SHIFTING THE SCENES AND
A NOTHER class of questions which came before the provost-court at Alexandria excited at the time a large amount of interest; was discussed to some extent by many of the ablest journals of the country; resulted in the payment of several old debts—amounting to many thousands of dollars—in an entirely new way; and as no correct account thereof has ever yet appeared in historical form, we purpose in this chapter to relate the facts and incidents connected with one or two of the cases. Though the ca
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CHAPTER XVI. LEGAL TECHNICALITIES IN CONFLICT WITH COMMON SENSE. ANOTHER
CHAPTER XVI. LEGAL TECHNICALITIES IN CONFLICT WITH COMMON SENSE. ANOTHER
ACT IN THE DRAMA.—PRIDE ON THE ONE SIDE AND JUSTICE ON THE OTHER PROMPTING THE ACTORS. T HERE is nothing so uncommon as common sense; nor is there anything more distasteful than common sense to such as pride themselves on technical knowledge. The doctor who would rather kill by rule than cure by reason, if the reason chanced to come from a sick-nurse, or from an old woman; and the lawyer who would rather lose a case by observing technicalities and following precedents, than gain it by exercising
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CHAPTER XVII. FACTS, FIGURES, AND FAIR INFERENCES.
CHAPTER XVII. FACTS, FIGURES, AND FAIR INFERENCES.
W HEN, on the 15th of April, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, as President of the United States, called for 75,000 men, for three months, to suppress the rebellion, he did it after repeated consultations with every member of his Cabinet, both when assembled in council and privately with each individual member. That Cabinet was one of the ablest, if not the very ablest, that any President of the United States ever had about him. William H. Seward had been Governor of New York, had long been United States S
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CHAPTER XVIII. WHY THE SOUTH HAS NOT DENOUNCED THE DEMOCRATIC
CHAPTER XVIII. WHY THE SOUTH HAS NOT DENOUNCED THE DEMOCRATIC
T HREE more questions, please, and then I will not trouble you more. What you have already said seems to be true, and yet so new and so strange are these revelations to my ears—stranger than any fiction I ever read in the works of Sir Walter Scott or others—that had you not substantiated each proposition with arguments drawn from antecedent probability, from sign, and from example, I could scarcely have believed them. But three queries yet remain in my mind. Allowing all that you have said to be
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CHAPTER XIX. — II.—HOW COMES IT THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, WITH SUCH A
CHAPTER XIX. — II.—HOW COMES IT THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, WITH SUCH A
T O answer this question, we would first direct your attention to the United States census returns for the years 1850,'60,'70, and 80. We only go back four decades, for from these we can draw correct conclusions just as well as if we commenced at an earlier date. These returns show that for the ten years preceding 1850 there arrived in this country from Europe 1,713,251 persons; for the ten preceding 1860, 2,598,214; for the ten preceding 1870, 2,491,209; and for the ten preceding 1880, 2,742,13
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CHAPTER XX. — III.—FROM ALL YOUR STUDY OF HISTORY, WHAT DEDUCTIONS DO
CHAPTER XX. — III.—FROM ALL YOUR STUDY OF HISTORY, WHAT DEDUCTIONS DO
YOU DRAW AS TO THE FINAL DECLINE AND FALL, IF SUCH A THING IS EVER TO BE, OF THIS REPUBLIC? T O the casual reader, the relationship that this question bears to "Secrets of the Late Rebellion, now Revealed for the First Time," may seem very obscure, but to our mind, that sees the end from the beginning, the relationship seems very close, as our readers will also see, we think, before we close the answer. Patrick Henry, in one of his outbursts of eloquence, said he "knew of no way to judge of the
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CHAPTER XXI. OF SPARTA AND ITS LESSONS.
CHAPTER XXI. OF SPARTA AND ITS LESSONS.
S PARTA was built by Lacedaemon as early as 1487 years before Christ; but it did not become a republic until Lycurgus remodelled its laws, eight hundred and eighty-four years before Christ. Though a representative form of government, and therefore a republic, yet it was so different from any other government that ever existed before or since, it may well be called unique, singular, sui generis. Its citizens, for instance, ate at public tables; the children were regarded as belonging to the state
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CHAPTER XXII. THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER.
CHAPTER XXII. THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER.
H AVING more than consumed the space allotted for this volume, we have neither room nor time left in which to write of the Roman Republic as its importance demands, and as indeed we should gladly have written. And yet we confess there is not, or ought not to be, any necessity for adding another word. If the lessons taught us from what we have learned of the three preceding republics have not opened our eyes to the dangerous tendencies of the Democratic party as a party; if we are not already con
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