Pension Records for Kentucky Confederates

Thanks to Jim Schmidt for bringing this link to Andy Hall's fine blog to my attention on facebook.

Andy shared this link to  a story about some new pension records available online, this time for Kentucky Confederates. See this further link to the Department of Confederate Pensions.

This could be a very nice tool and resource for researchers and I am glad to see Kentucky provide such a tool. Hopefully more Civil War era information will become available during the sesquicentennial and years beyond

Passenger Insurance for Railroads

This entry is not on the actual war itself, but on an issue very important in that time - train safety.This is the first time I had seen the idea of any kind of insurance provided for families of the victims of railroad accidents, but it makes sense that such an idea did occur to people.

I wonder if steamboats considered or had anything similar.

The Covington Journal of February 22, 1862 printed this brief piece.

Insuring the Lives of Railroad Passengers 
A bill has been introduced into the New York State Legislature enabling railroad companies to form associations for the compensation of the relatives of those who lose their lives in railroad traveling. The bill allows the companies to make a slight addition to their rates of fare for this purpose, and to insure the lives of their passengers in any good life insurance company if preferred. 

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The below photograph, courtesy of www.centerforhistory.org, is of an 1859 train wreck in Illinois. According to the link, 60 bodies of deceased passengers were removed immediately, but others were not found until days later. Dozens of people were also injured in the accident. (See the link for more details.)

New Book on the Aftermath of Perryville Out Very Soon

photo courtesy Amazon.com

 
I know I have been "Perryville-centric" this week, but I feel that battle and battlefield certainly are worth some attention.

Perryville Under Fire: The Aftermath of Kentucky's Largest Civil War Battle by Stuart Sanders of the Kentucky Historical Society  will be available after February 24th. The link goes to Amazon.com, where it is available for pre-order.

I've met Mr. Sanders and corresponded with him frequently. If memory serves, he wrote many (or maybe all?) of the interpretive signs at the Perryville State Historic Site. I look forward to reading this book and getting a perspective of how the battle affected local residents and communities.

Negroes in Ohio

This remarkable passage appeared in the Covington Journal of February 22, 1862.

Petitions are being sent to the Legislature of our State praying it to adopt measures to prevent the emigration of free negroes into Ohio. If the abolition scheme of freeing the whole slave population of the South succeed,  we shall then be overrun with this thriftless, worthless population. The fact is, all attempts of the abolitionists to interfere with slavery have only made worse instead of better the condition of the negro. The abolitionists are the worst enemies the negroes have ever had. [Mt. Vernon Banner]

(Note: the use of "emigration" instead of "immigration" and "succeed" instead of "succeeds" were in the original article. I chose not to clutter it up by using "sic.")
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Though I have read or heard it before, I still find it remarkable that anyone could consider abolitionists to be the "worst enemies" of African Americans, especially those enslaved. Even though freedom could be tough for formerly enslaved people to enjoy, to think that those supporting that freedom were worse to those people than slave owners, masters, overseers and slave hunters is tough to comprehend, but perhaps that is a bit of "presentism" influencing my gut reaction to this message.I do not live in an era where the inferiority of blacks is assumed, and the writer of these comments seems to believe that African-Americans would be worse off without thoughts or hopes of freedom (or freedom itself) being so frequently mentioned to them.

That way of thinking, though, may be part of the other noteworthy aspect of this message - it was from a Northern newspaper that was referring negatively to African-Americans and resorting to negative stereotypes. Students of the Civil War should (and many or most probably do) realize that racism was not just a "Southern thing" even though slavery only existed in the south. Many people in the north did not like African-Americans better than southerners did. Even some people who disliked slavery had difficulty imagining how whites and blacks could co-exist, Abraham Lincoln among them. Maybe this feeling towards African-Americans explains why the writer thought that people trying to help African-Americans were their "worst enemies."

Mt. Vernon is located in central Ohio, as the below map (courtesy of wikipedia) shows. Some information about the Mount Vernon Democratic Banner is also available.

Perryville Hike on May 5

I highly recommend anybody interested in the Perryville battle, or any history or Civil War enthusiasts/buffs in the region to join this free tour. Here is a link with more details about the when and where.

I was fortunate to take part in the fall hike Darryl led last November and loved it. Kentucky has done an excellent job of maintaining the battlefield, and it is a beautiful park. The views are wonderful and being on the land where the soldiers fought definitely gives a wonderful perspective on some of the challenges the soldiers faced, at least in regards to the many hills and valleys that make up the battlefield.

But I recommend this for more than just the battlefield itself. Darryl is very knowledgeable about the battle and the field itself and manages to put what happened throughout that day of fighting in perspective, pointing out what happened on the land where you are standing while pointing out other sections of the battlefield and how they related to the current position. I visited Perryville in spring of 2010 and enjoyed my walk around the battlefield, but going on an organized tour like this definitely added to the experience, with a lot of details I had forgotten or did not know.


Here is my blog entry including some of my thoughts and pictures from the fall hike.

I'm including again the Civil War Trust's battlefield map of Perryville. Please visit their site to find more details about the most recent preservation efforts at Perryville. The Civil War Trust is an excellent organization that has done a lot of good around the country, including Perryville.

The Heart of the Matter?

This little exchange printed in the Covington Journal on February 22, 1862 seems to capture the spirit of what many consider the main issue of the Civil War. It also shows that European intervention was something that concerned at least some people in the North.

The New York Tribune says:
"But for slavery we would have no civil war.

But for slavery, we would not now be menaced with the armed intervention of foreign powers, undertaken especially to consummate the disememberment (sic) of the nation.


Do you know how to put down the rebellion? DESTROY SLAVERY! 


Do you ask how to prevent European intervention by depriving it of its only occasion and only pretext? DESTROY SLAVERY!"


The Chicago Tribune replies: 


"But for abolitionism we would have no civil war.

But for abolitionism, we would not now be menaced with the armed intervention of foreign powers, undertaken especially to consummate the disememberment (sic) of the nation.


Do you know how to put down the rebellion? DESTROY ABOLITIONISM! 


Do you ask how to prevent European intervention by depriving it of its only occasion and only pretext? DESTROY SLAVERY!"

More Preservation efforts at Perryville

Here is the Civil War Trust's newest announcement about its efforts to save more land at Perryville. This time, 121 acres, featuring land known as the "Slaughter Pen," the scene of some extremely tough fighting.

Here is an image of the orginazation's map of the battlefield. More information can be found at their website, Civil War Trust Perryville information

It is truly a beautiful battlefield and I wish the current preservation efforts nothing but success.

Criticism of the First Lady

Mary Todd Lincoln courtesy history.com

  
Here is an article in the Covington Journal of February 8, 1862.

Life in Washington - Mrs. Lincoln - Fun in the White House
One of the saddest evidences of our social demoralizations as a people, and the depth and extent of that demoralization, is seen in the utter unconsciousness of the ruin and misery of this country which prevails in Washington. That unconsciousness seems to environ the White House. No woman ever had a better opportunity to show how much a patriot mother could do for her country than Mrs. Lincoln. It is sad that the gold en opportunity is thrown away. The New York Tribune says:


"Mrs. Lincoln is engaged in qualifying herself for the more delicate exigencies of her elevated station. She is about to resume, under competent professors, the study of the French language, with which her early education made her familiar, but the practice of which has long been interrupted by the quiet but unceasing occupations of domestic life. We also understand that, in other and similar ways, Mrs. Lincoln proposes to add to the many accomplishments for which she is already distinguished, and which supply to the saloons of the White House its most brilliant adornments."


The Washington correspondent of the New York Evening Post, referring to the prevailing gayety and thoughtlessness in the National Capital, adds:


"From Mrs. Lincoln, driving in her gaudy coach, and Mr. Lincoln, amusing himself with Herrman's feats of 'prestidigitation,' down to the young officers dancing gaily at the balls, every one seems to consider he present time one especially created for amusement. There is not the slightest seriousness any where that I have been able to discover; it is all fun. And any one who looks or speaks earnestly of the critical condition of affairs, is regarded as a bore by all but some of the few older heads. The mournful faces are all at the homes that the war has made desolate."


We should be glad to believe that this was an overwrought picture, but private advices leave us no room to doubt. Even the White House is made the scene of Herrman's wizard feats; and all while our soldiers are sick, suffering and dying nt he camps, the strength of the army wasting from inaction, and the very pillars of the Republic made to tremble by the fearful blows of rebellion. It is a sad picture. The Lord have mercy upon us!  [Dr. Clarke, in Ladies' Repository]

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Though complaints about the First Lady's shopping and spending habits may be fair criticisms, I wonder if this editorial was a bit too harsh. For one, how is learning a new language detracting from the war effort? Was she to spend every single moment of her life doing nothing but following the war and its tragedies? Also, during this time, Willie Lincoln was very ill (he would die on February 20, 1862) and caring for him certainly took a lot of her time and attention. Still, even if she fretted over her own son and participated in non-war activities, to say she was "unconscious" of the suffering created by the war seems to be an exaggeration.

As for the comments about President Lincoln watching the magic show and not understanding the seriousness of the war, that writer was clearly mistaken. He mentions "the army wasting from inaction," but Lincoln in fact was urging McClellan to take action, and this inaction frustrated the President as much or more than it bothered anybody else. Throughout the war, President Lincoln constantly showed that he understood the suffering caused by the war. I imagine he would have been quite surprised to learn that it was "all fun" for him. This paragraph from the New York Evening Post was simply wrong; perhaps some of the fancy balls were overboard, but even the citizens of the Confederacy - suffering as much as their Northern counterparts - occasionally threw parties to try to lift their spirits during these times.Some attempt to escape from the reality of the situation is not  soemthing

The reference to the "prestidigitation" show seems to be referring to the Herrmann family

Covington Journal articles on abolition and race

These come from the February 8, 1862 edition of the paper

Abolition Cowardice
The Chicago Times says "If abolitionism was not the embodiment of the meanest cowardice, it would not seek to introduce the black element into the war while the white population  of the loyal States is twenty-one millions against seven millions in the disloyal States. If we cannot whip out the rebels with these odds in our favor, we had better abandon the contest and plead guilty to the rebel taunt that we are an inferior people."


The Poor Negro
The Boston Herald exposes the fact that a notorious Abolition firm in that city, the members of which have sighed and groaned and cast up their eyes of the sufferings of the poor negro, until they have obtained a rich contract for supplying the army with drawers, are paying women sixpence a pair for making them. By hard word and over hours, the women thus employed can finish two pair a day. Twelve cents for a day and half a nights work! Oh, the poor, overtasked, suffering negro!

untitled article
A short-haired, thick lipped negro from Chicago was  hustled out of Kenosha in double quick time on Friday afternoon, for attempting to marry a white woman who came with him for the delectable purpose. The "roughs" got wind of the affair, and after (word missing, perhaps catching?) the darkey, escorted him to the depot, and gave him some good advice for regulating his conduct in such cases hereafter. 


As the train moved off bearing this colored Caesar minus his fortunes, we mused on the uncertainty of human affairs in general, and the absolute inconsistency of Abolitionists in particular. This poor fellow had heard of the social equality doctrines of Wisconsin Abolitionists, and was "stabbed in the house of his friends." After all, "blood will tell."  [Kinosha (Wis) Sentinel]

A Local Civil War Fact mentioned on TV

So I was watching "Only in America" with Larry the Cable Guy (I don't know why either, so don't ask) and they had a segment on squirrel hunting and said (I'm paraphrasing): "During the Civil War, the Confederates did not invade Ohio because they enlisted 15,000 squirrel hunters" before making some joke about the squirrels being happy about that.

I found it interesting that such a fairly obscure Civil War fact was mentioned in a show like that. I guess his writers may be Civil War buffs or maybe there just are not many interesting facts about squirrels and squirrel hunters out there.

Also, that is an actual bit of history mentioned on the History Channel (or "History" as it is now known.) That seems unusual too (Perhaps there were no "ancient alien squirrel hunters" they could discuss.)

Party Proscription

Here is another article from the February 1, 1862 Covington Journal. This has nothing relevant to national - or perhaps even statewide - news, but it's an interesting example of how politics, political feelings and maybe even pure rumors started to play a role in how a local government conducted business and how people's lives were affected. (I must also admit that it does seem unlikely that political sentiments had never been involved in such a decision before, especially in an era where politics was a dominant topic, but allowing a relative's possible beliefs to be the reason to deny someone a job was probably new.)

In selecting teaches for the Public Schools of Covington, a few days since, the Board, for the first time in the history of its transactions allowed party feeling to control the appointments. Four lady teachers - experienced, popular and thoroughly competent - were denied a re-appointment, not because they had taken any part in politics, but because a father or brother was supposed to entertain States Rights opinions. The day is not distant when the members of the Board will be heartily ashamed of the transaction.

A Sensible Representative

William McKee Dunn, courtesy wikipedia

 
The Covington Journal of February 1, 1862 included this commentary from an Indiana politician.

Mr. Dunn, A Republican Representative from Indiana, in a recent speech in the House, said:

"I tell you that, if the general emancipation of Slaves is to be our policy, our Union is forever gone, and there is no redemption for it. We might still have a Union of free States - a great and powerful Union - a Union which would in time throw its shadow over any other Confederacy on this continent; but as to restoring the Union as it was two years ago, it is impossible if we make this a war upon slavery. With four millions in bondage, with all the value of that property as it is called, interwoven with every other interest in the South, and forming the support alike of old age, middle age, widowhood and orphan hood, the attempt to blot it out of existence by a fierce foray on the part of the Government is as wild and chimerical a scheme as ever entered the brain of a madman."

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The "Mr. Dunn" referred to was  William McKee Dunn, who lost his 1862 re-election bid. This was likely part of the nationwide backlash against Republican policies, including President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and the progress (or lack thereof) in winning the war.  This link states that in the the October elections (after Lincoln's proclamation), the Democrats ended up "winning seven of the eleven congressional seats and a large majority in the state legislature."