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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts CITIES AT WAR: UNION ARMY MOBILIZATION IN THE URBAN NORTHEAST, 1861-1865 A Dissertation in History by Timothy Justin Orr © 2010 Timothy Justin Orr Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2010 The dissertation of Timothy Justin Orr was reviewed and approved* by the following: Carol Reardon Professor of Military History Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Director of Graduate Studies in History Mark E. Neely, Jr. McCabe-Greer Professor in the American Civil War Era Matthew J. Restall Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Colonial Latin American History, Anthropology, and Women‘s Studies Carla J. Mulford Associate Professor of English *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT During the four years of the American Civil War, the twenty-three states that comprised the Union initiated one of the most unprecedented social transformations in U.S. History, mobilizing the Union Army. Strangely, scholars have yet to explore Civil War mobilization in a comprehensive way. Mobilization was a multi-tiered process whereby local communities organized, officered, armed, equipped, and fed soldiers before sending them to the front. It was a four-year progression that required the simultaneous participation of legislative action, military administration, benevolent voluntarism, and industrial productivity to function properly. Perhaps more than any other area of the North, cities most dramatically felt the affects of this transition to war. Generally, scholars have given areas of the urban North low marks. Statistics refute pessimistic conclusions; northern cities appeared to provide a higher percentage than the North as a whole. Out of a population of twenty million, the North sent two million, or ten percent of its total population to war. Three of the largest cities—New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston—numbering over 1,592,000 people altogether—alone sent 260,000 men to the seat of war, or sixteen percent of their combined populations. Thus, urban military history of the war offers a strange paradox: were northeastern cities the most important wellsprings of the war effort or were they thorns in the side of Union mobilization? This dissertation explores this question by examining Union army mobilization in four cities—New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore—explaining how each city came to raise and equip Union army regiments during all four years of the conflict. My study combines a variety of historical approaches, including urban history, military history, economic history, labor history, and political history, explaining how these metropolises mobilized for war in their own unique way. Contrary to the belief that cities offered the North a decisive advantage, this dissertation demonstrates how urban residents faced difficulties in extracting resources from their communities. Indeed, it suggests that the forces of urbanism and war ran counter to each other, placing northeastern city residents at tremendous disadvantage. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1. ―The Popular Sentiment is Everywhere Peaceful‖: Northeastern Cities in 1861……19 Chapter 2. ―A Perfect Frenzy of Excitement‖: The Cities Respond, April 1861—May 1861......67 Chapter 3. ―A Thousand Disappointments and Difficulties‖: Competing for Recruits, May 1861—October 1861……………………………………………………………………………105 Chapter 4. ―Northern Cities Do Not Furnish the Supplies as Expeditiously as the Wants of Soldiers Require‖: Supplying and Feeding the Troops, May 1861—December 1861……………………………………………………………………………………………..157 Chapter 5. ―Embarrassment, Delay, and Confusion‖:The Politics of Manpower, July 1861— April 1862……………………………………………...……………………………………….212 Chapter 6. ―Experience Should Guard Against Such a Blunder‖: The Call for ―300,000 More,‖ May 1862—August 1862………………………………………………………………...……..265 Chapter 7. ―Our Community Has Done Everything in its Power to Avoid the Draft‖: The State Drafts of 1862, August 1862—January 1863……………………………………………….….315 Chapter 8. ―Mourn For the Young! Mourn For the Brave!‖: Building Loyalty and Coping with Loss, September 1862—June 1863……………………………………………………………..356 Chapter 9. ―Draft and Be Damned!‖: Emergency and Conscription, June 1863—October 1863……………………………………………………………………….…………………….397 Chapter 10. ―Back to the Good Old System‖: Cities and the Sharing of Sacrifice, July 1863— April 1864…………………………………………………………………………………...….456 Chapter 11. ―We Are Full of Politics Here‖: Fighting to the Presidential Election and Beyond, May 1864—March 1865…………………………………………………………………….….521 Chapter 12. ―For this Nonsense, the Government Pays and the War Stands Still‖: Seeking Justice, December 1864—April 1865…………………………………………………………..582 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………611 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have had the distinct honor of working alongside many brilliant minds throughout the course of this project. First, I want to thank my advisor, Carol Reardon, for directing this dissertation. As all good advisors should do, she challenged me, read through countless drafts, and gave me clear and precise ―marching orders.‖ I received no better support than from her, and I can rightly say I could not have wished for a better advisor. I thank my lucky stars that the fates placed us together as mentor and protégé. I must also thank the other brilliant members of my committee, Mark E. Neely, Jr., Matthew J. Restall, and Carla J. Mulford, three gifted instructors at Penn State who do their institution great credit. Recognition goes to two other unaffiliated readers, Aaron Sheehan-Dean from the University of North Florida and Laura Lawfer, my dazzling fiancée, who loves and appreciates Civil War history, and in whom I place all trust. Importantly, I wish to convey my gratitude to the institutions that generously made my archival research trips possible. I wish to thank the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission‘s Scholars-In-Residence Program, the Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program at the New York State Archives, the ABC-Clio Research Grant from the Society of Military History, the Edwin Erle Sparks Fellowship at Penn State, the James Hamilton Hartzell and Lucretia Irvine Boyd Hartzell Pennsylvania History Program at Penn State, and two funding programs from the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State, the Lewis and Karen Gold Graduate Fellowship and the Lawrence and Gretchen McCabe Program Fund. All of these programs bettered my research experience and I hope they will continue aiding future scholars long after I have lapsed into unimportance. The world of history is lucky to benefit from such generosity. I would also like to thank the archivists and program members who aided my endeavors. Applause should go to Linda Shopes, Jonathan Stayer, Rich Saylor, and the staff at the Pennsylvania State Archives at Harrisburg; to Jim Folts, Dan Lorello, and the staff at the New York State Archives; to Max Moeller and the staff at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; to Richard Sommers, Mike Lynch, and the staff the Army Heritage Education Center at Carlisle; and to the staffs at the Massachusetts Historical Society at Boston, the Maryland Historical Society at Baltimore, the Massachusetts State Archives at Boston, and the Maryland State Archives at Annapolis. The archivists at these locations proved friendly and professional at all times, meeting my requests with alacrity. I must also thank Amber Moulton- Wiseman and Andrew and Jennifer Dangel for graciously opening their homes to me during my visits to Boston and Annapolis. I would also like to thank other faculty affiliated with Penn State‘s Department of History and Religious Studies—those not yet mentioned—from whom I learned the great lessons of academia. All the best to William Blair, Amy Greenberg, Daniel Letwin, Wilson Moses, Anthony Kaye, Sally McMurry, Lori Ginzberg, Paul Zeleza, Ben Vinson III, Alan Derickson, Kumkum Chatterjee, William Pencak, Anne Rose, and Nan Woodruff. I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge my real instructors in all matters of social importance, my ―comrades in arms‖ in the Department of History, my fellow graduate students, past and present. All the best to Adam Rogers, Alfred Wallace, Jonathan Steplyk, Will Bryan, Matt Isham, Tim Wesley, Sean Trainor, Antwain Hunter, David Greenspoon, Andrew Prymak, Kelly Knight, Rachel Moran, Daniel Kasper, Adam Tompkins, David Siry, Chad Chalfont, James Bailey, James Lewis, Mike Smith, Andrew Slap, Karen Younger, Bob Sandow, Lyndsey Scully, Matthew Trogdon, Matt Adams, Margaret Cohen, Lizzie Anderson, Anne Brinton, v Deirdre Fulton, Mary Faulkner, Rachel Mittelman, Russell Spinney, David Hensley, Jeff Horton, and many others too numerous to mention. Thanks also go to my friends and family, especially to my brother and sister, Katie and Andy; to my grandmother, Regina Schaub; and to my soon-to-be-in-laws, Carol and Woody. Most importantly, this dissertation owes its genesis to my parents. Had they not nurtured my love of history, I might be a nobody. This dissertation is a symbol of my love for them. vi This is for Mom and Dad, because they believe in me more than anybody else. vii Introduction: The “Endless and Noisy Chorus” of War. The tableaus of the Civil War stayed with its participants forever. Few scenes tugged at the heartstrings of northerners as did the unforgettable sight