[162] say, ‘I am exempt from responsibility in this hour of our country's peril.’ Resolved, That the people of Westport are devoted to the Union, and are loyal to the Government. The soil of rebellious Virginia now holds the bodies of two of her sons as pledges of her devotion, and as tokens of her loyalty. Resolved, Therefore, that each and every person who shall volunteer as a part of the quota of the town, under the last call of the President for three hundred thousand troops, shall receive the sum of two hundred dollars when he shall be mustered into service, provided he shall, at the time of his enlistment, be a resident of Westport. Resolved, That the selectmen are hereby authorized and instructed to go beyond the limits of this town for the purpose of securing volunteers, whenever they shall deem it expedient, legitimate, and proper, and upon such terms as they shall deem best. Resolved, That, provided we are personally compelled to submit to a draft, each person so drafted shall receive the sum of two hundred dollars, which he may use for the benefit of his family, or for the purpose of procuring a substitute. Resolved, That the town-treasurer is hereby authorized and instructed to borrow money at such time and in such sums as shall be found necessary to meet the bounty promised and actually paid to volunteers by authority of either of the foregoing resolutions. Resolved, That we remember with the highest respect and gratitude the brave men who have been or who are now in the field, in the service of our country. It may be well said they have borne the burthen and heat of the day. Those having fallen by the way, we mourn their loss, and posterity will know their names; if any have lost their health, they shall have our sympathy, and our children will remember the sacrifice. Resolved, That Westport shall have no conscriptions; and therefore a draft upon her citizens, in order to meet the second call of the Commander-in-chief for troops, should be avoided at every reasonable sacrifice, as well as by energetic and legitimate action.1863. Nothing of special interest appears to have been done, ‘in legal town-meeting,’ in regard to the war during this year, although the selectmen continued to recruit volunteers, and to pay State aid to soldiers' families. 1864. At a town-meeting held on the 23d of April, the following resolution was passed:—
This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
1871. E. P. DUtton and Co. Boston,.
Tufts University. provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.