CHAPTER II. RAISING THE REGIMENT. CALL FOR 300,000 MORE MEN. UCCESSES of the Union arms in the West in the early months of 1862, and the high expectations of the Army of the Potomac, led to a cessation of recruiting in the North. While there was a reduction in the Northern armies from battle and disease, the Southern armies had been greatly increased by conscripts. The refusal of troops which the early outburst of patriotism offered was a mistake by our government. On June 28, 1862, the loyal governors requested Mr. Lincoln "to call upon the States for sufficient men to speedily crush the rebellion," and he made a call for 300,000 volunteers. In Detroit there was no response until July 11, when the Advertiser and Tribune said: "Do the people realize that treason threatens to destroy our government? Hesitation now will confirm the invincibility of the rebellion and invite intervention." On July 12 Governor Blair's proclamation said: "It is the call of your country to defend its existence and the integrity of its territory. It comes by the blood of fellow citizens, dead, and wounded in battle. The thinned ranks of our gallant regiments, who have made themselves and the State illustrious, appeal to you to restore their wasted numbers." called for six new regiments, one from each congressional district, and recruits to fill up old ones. WAR MEETING TO PROMOTE ENLISTMENTS. To facilitate enlistments, the Mayor called a war meeting on the Campus Martius for Tuesday evening, July 15. The Free Press thus commended the call: TO ARMS! The Union is now in its greatest peril. Unless the people rush to the flag, the days of American glory will be gone forever. Let the meeting be marked by harmony, enthusiasm, patriotism. Let every man forget party and behold only his imperiled country. The federal union must be preserved. The folds of the flag must wave forever over all the territory the fathers left us or which we have acquired by the blood and treasure of the nation. At the appointed hour the space was filled with people for a long distance from the stand which had been erected on the site of the Soldiers' Monument. The following were the officers of the meeting: CAMPUS MARTIUS, DETROIT, MICH.-SCENE OF WAR MEETINGS, 1862.- DETROIT RIVER President, Mayor William C. Duncan; vice-presidents, Hon. Lewis. Cass, Captain Eber B. Ward, Judge B. F. H. Witherell, Hon. C. C. Trowbridge, Hon. John Owen and Hon. Duncan Stewart; secretaries, E. N. Wilcox and William A. Moore. The Mayor briefly addressed the meeting and then introduced the Hon. William A. Howard, who made a stirring address. He was followed by Theodore Romeyn. When T. M. McEntee arose to speak the noise of rowdies prevented him. Recorder Henry A. Morrow then spoke as follows: Fellow Citizens - We are met here now in the second crisis of our country. [Confusion among the crowd.] There is a mistaken feeling that this meeting is preliminary to a draft. Enough can be procured without such measures. Every one who can, should go, and the men who stay at home must support the families of those who go. This meeting is for inducing men to volunteer, and I for one, am ready to go. [Cheers.] Those of us who have no families should go. I do not propose that men of families shall perform duties that we young men should perform. [Cheers.] Let each man ask himself: 'Will I go?' [A voice-Will you go?'] I have already said I would. The government has done as much for me as for you and I am ready to assist in upholding it. [Cheers and confusion.] RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS. The meeting ended in confusion. A few dozen secession sympathizing rowdies were distributed about the crowd and their howls prevented the speakers from being heard. Windsor, across the Detroit river in Canada, had become the receptacle of a lot of Southerners who had re-inforced the mob. The instigators had reported that the meeting was to prepare for a draft. When Wm. A. Howard moved a committee to "draft" resolutions, an old eighth-warder exclaimed: "Did you hear that boys? Didn't I tell ye they are going to draft?" And the riotous howls began. The scoundrels seemed to have a spite against Capt. Eber B. Ward and Hon. Duncan Stewart, two noted Detroit business men and Unionists. They rushed for these gentlemen, and only by the utmost exertions of Sheriff Mark Flanigan did they find refuge in the Russell House. The mob next broke down the speakers' stand, tore the Union bunting into strings, and insulted the officers and speakers of the meeting. The venerable Lewis Cass barely escaped their vengeance as they rushed upon his carriage. Next the mob sought the Russell House entrance with the avowed intention of hanging Messrs. Ward and Stewart, but were met by Sheriff Flanigan and a deputy, with drawn revolvers, who held the mob at bay for an hour and until darkness ended the riot. The Advertiser and Tribune thus mentioned the affair: The meeting was one of the most melancholy spectacles it was ever our lot to witness. At an early hour, a rowdy element of formidable dimensions was present, composed of bigoted, ignorant persons who had evidently been tampered with through political prejudice. The Detroit Free Press thus spoke of the riot: We regret the disturbance at the meeting. So far as we can ascertain, the origin of the difficulty was a rumor that the government intended to draft. It was so utterly without foundation that we cannot resist the conviction that their motives were infamous. Yet, if the exigencies of the war require a draft, we do not see why it should be resisted. * * THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN PROJECTED. This disgraceful event occurred near the spot where General Hull humiliatingly surrendered the city to the British fifty years before, when General Lewis Cass broke his sword in disgust. It was a dark week for the City of the Straits. Other cities of the North were holding successful war meetings. Cititizens gathered in knots to discuss the matter. Deep humiliation and indignation prevailed. To wipe out the disgrace it was resolved at a meeting of patriotic citizens at the Michigan Exchange the next evening to raise an extra regiment in Detroit and Wayne County, in addition to their quota. |
