Your search returned 417 results in 242 document sections:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ...
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 2: preliminary rebellious movements. (search)
the 7th of December, an act, calling a convention of the people, was passed, which provided for the election of delegates on the 2d of January, 1861. and their assemblage on the 16th. The preamble to the bill declared that, in the judgment of that Assembly, the present crisis in National affairs demands resistance, and that it is the privilege of the people to determine the mode, measure, and time of such resistance. Power to do this was given to the Convention by the act. On the 14th of December, a large meeting of the members of the Legislature assembled in the Senate Chamber, and agreed to an address to the people of South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, urging upon them the importance of co-operation, rather than separate State action, in the matter of secession. Our people must be united, they said; our common interests must be preserved. The address was signed by fifty-two members of the Legislature. It was so offensive to the Hotspurs of the South Carolina
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 3: assembling of Congress.--the President's Message. (search)
before, as we have observed on page 44, Howell Cobb left the office of Secretary of the Treasury, because his duty to Georgia required it, and was succeeded by Philip F. Thomas, of Maryland. Cobb's letter of resignation was dated the 8th, but he did not leave office until the 10th. The President, too, conscious of his own impotence — conscious that the Goverment was in the hands of its enemies — and despairing of the salvation of the Union by human agency, issued a Proclamation on the 14th of December, recommending the observance of the 4th day of January following as a day for humiliation, fasting, and prayer, throughout the Republic. The Union of the States, he said, is at the present moment threatened with alarming and immediate danger; panic and distress, of a fearful character, prevail throughout the land; our laboring population are without employment, and, consequently, deprived of the means of earning their bread; indeed, hope seems to have deserted the minds of men. All cla
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 12: the inauguration of President Lincoln, and the Ideas and policy of the Government. (search)
ber, 1860, as we have seen, the public inquietude and the dishonest operations of Secretary Cobb caused much distrust among capitalists, and they were loth to buy Government stocks. Of a loan of twenty millions of dollars, authorized by Congress in June, 1860. one-half of it was asked for in October. It was readily subscribed for, but only a little more than seven millions of dollars were paid in. A few days after Cobb left the Treasury, Congress authorized the issue of treasury notes December 14. to the amount of ten millions of dollars, payable in one year, at the lowest rates of interest offered. Of these, five millions of dollars were offered on the 28th of December. The buoyancy of feeling in financial circles, after the retirement of Cobb, had now given way to temporary despondency because of a want of confidence in Thomas, his immediate successor, and the robbery of the Indian Trust-Fund. See page 144. There were bids for only five hundred thousand dollars. The semi-ann
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 2., Chapter 5: military and naval operations on the coast of South Carolina.--military operations on the line of the Potomac River. (search)
he work of the stone fleet was a failure A similar attempt had been made to close Ocracoke Inlet, in September, but with the same lack of success, the old hulks being either carried to sea by the strong currents, or so deeply imbedded in the sand as to be harmless. and the expected disaster to Charleston, from its operations, did not occur. But a fearful one did fall upon that city at the very time when this stone fleet was approaching. A conflagration commenced on the night of the 14th of December, and continued the following day, devouring churches and public buildings, with several hundred.stores, dwellings, manufactories, and warehouses, valued, with their contents, at millions of dollars. Let us now turn from the sea-coast, and observe events at the National capital and in its vicinity, especially along the line of the Potomac River. We left the Confederate army, after the Battle of Bull's Run, lying in comparative inactivity in the vicinity of its victory, with General
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 2., Chapter 18: Lee's invasion of Maryland, and his retreat toward Richmond. (search)
any further attempt to carry the position by storm; but General Burnside, eager to achieve victory, prepared to hurl his old corps. (the Ninth) on the following morning against the fatal barrier which had withstood French, Hancock, Howard, and Humphrey. He was dissuaded by the brave Sumner, who was supported in his opposition to the proposed movement by nearly every general officer; and it was finally determined to withdraw the troops to the north bank of the Rappahannock. For two days Dec. 14-15. they remained on the Fredericksburg side, while Lee, evidently ignorant of the real weakness and peril of his foe, fortunately maintained a defensive position, and was engaged during that time in strengthening his works in anticipation of another attack. On the morning of the 16th he was astonished by the apparition of a great army on the Stafford Hills, and seeing none in front of his line. During the night of the 15th Burnside had quietly withdrawn his entire force and all his guns,
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 2., Chapter 20: events West of the Mississippi and in Middle Tennessee. (search)
yed and subsisted, and the crops were saved. Two Congressional districts in Louisiana were now recovered, and in December the loyal citizens of New Orleans elected to seats in Congress Benjamin F. Flanders and Michael Hahn, the number of Union votes in the city exceeding by a thousand the number of votes cast for secession. General Butler was superseded in the command of the Department of the Gulf late in the autumn Nov 9. by General Banks. The latter arrived at New Orleans on the 14th of December, and was received by the commanding general with great courtesy. Banks formally assumed his new duties on the 16th, and on the 24th, Butler, after issuing an admirable farewell address to the citizens, See Parton's Butler in New Orleans, page 603. embarked in a steamer for New York. His administration had been marked by great vigor and justice, as the friend and defender of the loyal and the oppressed, and the uncompromising foe of the rebellious. General Butler found a large po
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 3., Chapter 22: prisoners.-benevolent operations during the War.--readjustment of National affairs.--conclusion. (search)
the late enemies of the Government, in the South and elsewhere. The majority in Congress felt strengthened by the popular. approval of their course, and went steadily forward in perfecting measures for the restoration of the Union. They took steps for restraining the action of the President, who, it was manifest, had determined to carry out his own policy in defiance of that of Congress. And as an indication of the general policy of the latter, concerning suffrage, a bill was passed [December 14] by a large majority of both Houses for granting the elective franchise in the District of Columbia, over which Congress has direct control, to persons, without any distinction on account of color or race. The President vetoed this bill, January 7, 1867. when it was re-enacted by the constitutional thirds of the members of both Houses in its favor. The steady opposition of the President to the measures for reorganization adopted by Congress, and the uniform interposition of his veto,
Horace Greeley, The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-65: its Causes, Incidents, and Results: Intended to exhibit especially its moral and political phases with the drift and progress of American opinion respecting human slavery from 1776 to the close of the War for the Union. Volume II., V. New Orleans and the Gulf. (search)
Year's. The fact was known to Jefferson Davis before it was to Gen. Banks--long before it was communicated from Washington to Gen. Butler. It is probable that the French Minister, whose Government had not been pleased with Gen. Butler's management in New Orleans, was the immediate source of Rebel assurance on this point. Gen. Banks's assignment to the Department of the Gulf is dated November 9th, but was not made known to him till some weeks afterward. Gen. Banks reached New Orleans Dec. 14th, was received with every honor, and on the 16th formally assumed the high trust to which lie had been appointed. On the 23d, Gen. Butler took personal leave of his many friends, and next day issued his farewell address to the people of New Orleans; leaving for New York, via Havana, by that day's boat. He was not then aware that he had been honored, the day previous, by a proclamnation from Jefferson Davis, declaring him a felon, outlaw, and common enemy of mankind, and directing any Conf
Horace Greeley, The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-65: its Causes, Incidents, and Results: Intended to exhibit especially its moral and political phases with the drift and progress of American opinion respecting human slavery from 1776 to the close of the War for the Union. Volume II., chapter 12 (search)
te Militia--men in the pay of this Government, and under the command of Gen. Halleck--were sent in pursuit of the fugitives. The hunt was successful. The slaves were caught, and returned to their traitor master; but not until one of them had been shot by order of the soldier in command of the pursuing party. Mr. Sumner followed in an able speech in advocacy; butt the subject was overlaid by others deemed more urgent; and the bill was not conclusively acted on. At an early period Dec. 14. of the session, Gen. Wilson had proposed a reference of all laws relating to persons of color in the District of Columbia, and to the arrest of fugitives from labor, to the Standing Committee on said District, with instructions that they consider the expediency of a compensated Abolition of Slavery therein; and he soon afterward introduced Dec. 16. a bill of like purport; which was read twice and referred Dec. 22. to the Committee aforesaid. Mr. Morrill, of Maine, duly reported F
Horace Greeley, The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America, 1860-65: its Causes, Incidents, and Results: Intended to exhibit especially its moral and political phases with the drift and progress of American opinion respecting human slavery from 1776 to the close of the War for the Union. Volume II., chapter 31 (search)
ith 2 guns; losing 30 killed and 175 wounded. Hood had established Dec. 4. his lines south of Nashville, with his salient on Montgomery hill, opposite our center, and but 600 yards distant. Wilson, with cavalry, was across the river at Gallatin, watching for raiders from Forrest's command. And now ensued a week of severe cold, wherein both armies were nearly torpid: the Rebels, worse clad and more exposed, probably suffering more sensibly. When at length the temperature softened, Dec. 14. Thomas issued orders for a general advance on our right next day; to cover which, Gen. Steedman, on our left, sharply and successfully attacked the enemy's right that evening: pushing it back toward Hood's center, and causing a movement from that center to its support. Morning broke Dec. 15. auspiciously. The weather was still mild, and a dense fog, lasting till near noon, concealed our movements. Gen. A. J. Smith. with his thinned corps, with Wilson's cavalry on his right, now mov
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ...