Uncle Daniel's Story Of "Tom" Anderson, and Twenty Great Battles

by John McElroy

CHAPTER XVII.

MOBS IN THE NORTH.—LAWLESS VIOLENCE AND OUTRAGE BY REBEL
SYMPATHIZERS.—THE CLASH OF ARMS.—BATTLE OF THE CHAPARRAL
BETWEEN GEN. SILENT AND GEN. LAWS.
“One day thou wilt be blest,
So still obey the guiding hand that fends
Thee safely through these wonders for sweet ends.”
—Keats.

“After the battle of Middleton's Ridge some rest for Papson's troops was indispensable. As soon, how-ever, as it could be done consistently with the condition of things, Gen. Silent issued orders from his headquarters, then at Nashua, to Papson and Sherwood for a disposition of the troops to be made so as to protect the lines of communication between Louis City, Nashua and Chatteraugus north, and from Chatteraugus to Bridgeton, Huntersville and De Kalb west. This distribution was speedily made. The enemy was in no condition for serious offensive movements, and contented himself during the Winter with a continuous harassing of our troops whenever found in squads or small commands not sufficiently strong to make effective resistance.

“Near Huntersville a man by the name of John Cotton, with somewhere between fifty and one hundred men, was constantly raiding small corrals where only a few guards were left to watch them. His business seemed to be to steal mules and wagons, being one of the parties operating under a contract to plunder for fifty per cent, of the property so taken. He had the same authority and character of commission from the authorities at Richmond as Blackman and Beall, of whom I have heretofore spoken. During the Winter this man crossed the Little Combination River near Painter's Rock, and made a raid on Gen. Chas. Ward's corrals. Ward had been notified of the intention of John Cotton by a Union man named Harris, who resided near Huntersville. Gen. Ward had a company of infantry under cover near the corral, and about midnight Cotton made his appearance. The men who were watching for him remained quiet until he was near the corral, and then fired a volley into his raiders, killing three and wounding ten. They then rushed at Cotton, and he, with nine of his men, were taken prisoners. The wounded were cared for and the dead buried. The next day Gen. Ward organized a drumhead court-martial and tried those captured who were not wounded. The nine men claimed to have been forced into the service by Cotton, and were sent to Nashua and put to work, under sentence. John Cotton was treated differently. He was not troublesome again during the time that our troops remained at Painter's Rock. The understanding South and North among the friends of the rebellion was that raids were again to commence whenever they could be made at all advantageous to our enemies.

“The Knights of the Golden Circle, or 'Sons of Liberty,' began to be open and bold in their utterances and their villainous work. In New York they aroused their friends and got up mobs of such magnitude that they could only be suppressed by withdrawing troops from the field to operate against them. The recruiting offices were mobbed, offices and papers burned, and the officers brutally beaten; houses were set on fire in great numbers and destroyed. Many large stores were broken open and plundered by the mob. All helped themselves to dry goods, clothing, jewelry, watches, and whatever they discovered. Innocent men were brutally murdered in the streets. Women were driven from their houses and insulted in every possible way. Hospitals and asylums for orphans were plundered and burned, and the poor, helpless inmates driven into the streets. Children were clubbed and brained by brutes for no other reason than that they were colored. Wounded and sick soldiers were thrown on the sidewalks and left without aid or assistance of any kind. Poor negro men were taken from hacks and wagons and hanged to lampposts. In one instance a poor man was cut into halves as if he were a slaughtered beast. Men were sent from Canada, employed by Thomlinson and his co-conspirators, to come to New York and aid in this inhuman butchery.”

“My God! What brutality and inhuman cruelty! It does seem impossible that such things could have transpired in a civilized community!” said Dr. Adams.

“Yes,” continued Uncle Daniel, “it would really seem so. Yet these things did not only take place, but were carried on here in the North by the anti-war party, and were well known by all who were old enough at the time to understand matters; but they are now forgotten. Why, sir, mob violence was resorted to in many places. Inflammatory speeches were made in every community where they would be tolerated. Our people were alarmed everywhere in the North, and were preparing for great trouble at home in the absence of the army. Indiana was stirred up to white heat. Many outrages were perpetrated on the State soldiers who returned home on a furlough, and in many instances they were murdered. One old man by the name of Banty, who had two sons in an Illinois regiment—they being residents of that State at the outbreak of the rebellion—was tied to a tree in the woods some distance from home, and remained in this condition till rescued by his wife. It became so intolerable that troops were held at Indianapolis for protection to the city and country. The Governor, as well as other citizens, were threatened:

“In Ohio the same condition of things existed. Camp Chase was about to be attacked. Troops had, of necessity, to be sent for the safe keeping of the prisoners.

“At Coleston, Ill., the Knights of the Golden Circle attacked a squad of Union soldiers, who had just returned home from the army on furlough, and killed seven of them. In one county further south in Illinois, the name of which I have forgotten, there were quite a number of soldiers killed in secret. A man by the name of Geo. Akers, who had once been Sheriff of the County, but at the time of which I am speaking was the Head Center of the Golden Circle in that part of the country, was so strongly suspected of having soldiers quietly 'put out of the way,' that a search of his premises was made by a Provost Marshal, and in his mill, which was on his place, were found many suits of Union soldiers' uniforms, evidently taken from dead bodies. He was put in prison, but was aided to escape by his brother conspirators. In the same County a soldier by the name of Stacks, while home on a furlough, was called to his own door in the night and shot by one Honeycliff. I give these instances merely to have you understand the feeling and determination of the men in the North who sympathized with the rebellion, to aid it in all ways and by any means, no matter how foul or vile.”

“Uncle Daniel,” said Col. Bush, “I know about Akers and the cases you mention in Illinois, as I was sent there at that time with a battalion to look after those fellows, and you do not tell one-half the trouble there was in that part of the country.”