Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 1.
Frank Moore, Ed.

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[104] name, why not recognize it now? Why not to-day? Why not forever? Suppose those friends of ours from old Ireland, suppose he who has made himself one of us, when a war should break out against his own country, should say, “I cannot fight against my own countrymen,” is he a citizen of the United States? They are no countrymen longer when war breaks out. The rebels and the traitors in the South we must set aside; they are not our friends. When they come to their senses, we will receive them with open arms; but till that time, while they are trailing our glorious banner in the dust, when they scorn it, condemn it, curse it, and trample it under foot, then I must smite. In God's name I will smite, and as long as I have strength I will do it. (Enthusiastic applause.) O, listen to me, listen to me! I know these men; I know their courage; I have been among them; I have been with them; I have been reared with them; they have courage; and do not you pretend to think they have not. I tell you what it is, it is no child's play you are entering upon. They will fight, and with a determination and a power which is irresistible. Make up your mind to it. Let every man put his life in his hand, and say, “There is tho altar of my country; there I will sacrifice my life.” I, for one, will lay my life down. It is not mine any longer. Lead me to the conflict. Place me where I can do my duty. There I am ready to go, I care not where it leads me. My friends, that is the spirit that was in this city on yesterday. I am told of an incident that occurred, which drew the tears to my eyes, and I am not much used to the melting mood at all. And yet I am told of a man in your city who had a beloved wife and two children, depending upon his personal labor day by day for their support. He went home and said, “Wife, I feel it is my duty to enlist and fight for my country.” “That's just what I've been thinking of, too,” said she; “God bless you! and may you come back without harm! but if you die in defence of the country, the God of the widow and the fatherless will take care of me and my children.” That same wife came to your city. She knew precisely where her husband was to pass as he marched away. She took her position on the pavement, and finding a flag, she begged leave just to. stand beneath those sacred folds and take a last fond look on him whom she, by possibility, might never see again. The husband marched down the street; their eyes met; a sympathetic flash went from heart to heart; she gave one shout, and fell senseless upon the pavement, and there she lay for not less than thirty minutes in a swoon. It seemed to be the departing of her life. But all the sensibility was sealed up. It was all sacrifice. She was ready to meet this tremendous sacrifice upon which we have entered, and I trust you are all ready. I am ready. God help me to do my duty! I am ready to fight in the ranks or out of the ranks. Having been educated in the Academy, having been in the army seven years; having served as commander of a volunteer company for ten years, and having served as an adjutant-general, I feel I am ready for something. I only ask to be permitted to act; and in God's name give me something to do.

[The scene that followed the close of Professor Mitchell's eloquent and patriotic remarks baffles description. Both men and women were melted to tears, and voices from all parts of the vast mutitude re-echoed the sentiments of the speaker, and every one seemed anxious to respond to the appeal to rush to the defence of the country.]

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Remarks of Samuel Hotaling.

The next speaker was Mr. Samuel Hotaling, who called upon the citizens of New York to defend their flag, their homes, and the blessed heritage which our ancestors left us. He had been a farmer and a merchant, and he was now ready to be a soldier. This meeting is mainly held to stimulate us to action and to arms. We must shoulder our muskets and take our place, carry our swords to the Capitol at Washington, and even to Texas, for the protection of our friends and our country. The speaker went on to say that the motto of the rebels was Captain Kidd piracy. They were a band of traitors to their country and to their oaths; and what could we expect from thieves like them? He said he had never been a rabid abolitionist, but it was his opinion that Providence was as much at work now as He was when the children of Israel in Egypt received their emancipation under Moses.

He believed that in five years this warfare would produce such bankruptcy and starvation in the Southern States, that their white laboring people and their slaves would go into a state of anarchy, bloodshed, and San Domingo butchery, and that within that period the seceded States would petition the Federal Government for aid and money to transmit their butchering Africans among themselves across the Atlantic ocean to the land of their fathers.

Mr. Halleck then called upon all young men to enroll as volunteers, and to proceed to Washington to strengthen the Seventh Regiment. As for himself, he felt as if he would leave his wife and four children to go to Washington and take whatever part was necessary to maintain the Government. (Cheers.) He had voted against the party coming into office; but now, so help me God, I will do all I can to aid the Administration to the uttermost. He had come from the mighty Niagara, and he would assure them that in Western New York thousands of young men were prepared to enrol themselves to fight for the Union and the Constitution.

At Stand No. 3, located on the northwest side of Union Square, the meeting was called to order by Mr. Richard Warren, who nominated Mr. Wm. F. Havemeyer as Chairman of the meeting.

The following gentlemen acted as Vice Presidents:

Jno. A. Stevens,

R. A. Witthaus,

R. M. Blatchford,

Elijah F. Purdy,

Samuel B. Ruggles,

James Owen,

S. B. chittenden,

Thos, C. Smith,

August. F. Schwab,

Wm. Lyell,

Chas. P. Daly,

W. H. Hays,

Samuel D. Babcock,

A. V. Stout,

Geo. R. Jackson,

Jno. T. Agnew,

Francis Hall,

Thos. A. Emmett,

Wm. Allen Butler,

Edwin Hoyt,

Jno. E. Devlin,

James W. Beekman,

P. M. Wetmore,

Geo. S. Coe,

N. Knight,

Jno. A. C. Gray,

Cyrus Curtiss,

Henry A. Smythe,

David Thompson,

T. H. Faile,

Isaac Bell, Jr.,

Dan. P. Ingraham,

W. M. Vermilye,

J. L. Aspinwall,

Richard Schell,

Fred. Lawrence,

J. G. Vassar,

J. G. Pierson,

John H. Swift,

Allan Cummings,

Geo. B. DeForest,

W. C. Alexander,

Augt. Weisman,

H. D. Aldrich,

R. L. Kennedy,

R. Mortimer,

Horatio Allen,

Norman White,

Geo. T. Hope,

Ogden Haggerty,

John Wadsworth,

Josiah Oakes,

Loring Andrews,

F. L. Talcott,

Alfred Edwards,

John Jay,

Martin Bates,

W. H. Webb,

J. G. Brooks,

James G. Bennett,

R. B. Connolly,

Paul Spofford,

Smith Ely, Jr.,

O. Ottendorfer,

M. B. Blake,

Francis S. Lathrop,

Henry Pierson,

Isaac Delaplaine,

Richard O'Gorman,

Peter M. Bryson,

Charles W. Sanford,

Charles Aug. Davis,

Henry E. Davies,

Josiah Sutherland,

Anth'y L. Robinson,

James W. White,

M. H. Grinnell,

Geo. Opdyke,

G. C. Verplanck,

R. L. Stuart,

Jas. S. Wadsworth,

Simeon Draper,

J. Punnett,

Robt. J. Dillon,

Samuel Sloan,

Jno. C. Greene,

Jno. McKeon,

Royal Phelps.