Abolitionists or Volunteers?

Historical Memory and Oneida County during

the American Civil War

By: Barry J. Fitzgerald

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In April 1861, following the shots fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, President

Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to put down the rebellion in the dissenting Southern states that now referred to themselves as the Confederacy. After the Union lost the first major battle in

August of the same year, Lincoln issued two more calls for troops. The initial and subsequent calls for volunteers were heard in all corners of the Union states. Oneida County, New York, answered the chief executive’s call without delay. By the end of the war, this upstate county had contributed a great deal to the Union cause, including five infantry regiments that bore the name of their home county. Thousands of Oneida County men enlisted to fight in a war that would decide the fate of their country.

Oneida County men fought for a variety of reasons. Their motives for enlisting however are not significantly different from other Union volunteers. Some enlisted to fight for the Union and for its preservation. Others fought to establish and/or retain their manhood and ego.1 Still, others fought with the wish to end the institution of slavery. Throughout the nation, citizens were beginning to grasp the scope of the war, but few it seemed were willing to see what was necessary to ensure that when the war ended, America would not be thrust into such turmoil again. Some knew that the institution of slavery would need to end if peace was to be achieved and maintained. Abolitionists and many Republicans with anti-slavery beliefs knew that it was at the heart of the problem. Yet this issue, which is so clear in retrospect, was all but obvious in the eyes of the foot soldier.

1 James McPherson examines soldiers’ motives for enlisting in the American Civil War in his book, For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997). He details the two most common forms of manhood in Victorian America: a dutiful son or husband, and “the hard-drinking, gambling, whoring two-fisted man among men.” McPherson also writes of another motive for enlistment that he connects with manhood: “the quest for adventure, for excitement, for the glory to be won by ‘whipping’ the enemy and returning home as heroes to an adoring populace.” He is able to connect these motives by looking at the letters of soldiers who “linked the themes of adventure and glory to concepts of manhood and honor” (pp. 26-27). 2

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Prior to the election of 1860, Oneida County had been known as a hotbed of anti-slavery activities.2 Parts of the Underground Railroad ran through towns and cities in Oneida County, and Utica, New York, was also a stop for Lincoln on his journey to Washington for his inauguration. The county was also the birthplace of abolitionist Gerrit Smith. The area’s reputation lasted well beyond the end of the Civil War and continues even to this day.3 Even though Oneida County had a reputation of voting along party lines that tended to be anti-slavery, the average Oneida County soldier did not fight to free the slaves. In fact, some were adamant that they would not fight to free them, and others failed to mention or even allude to the issue at all. Of course, there were some men who fought to preserve the Union and also wished to end the institution of slavery, but their numbers are fewer. Through the letters of some of Oneida

County’s soldiers, it becomes clear that, despite the area’s reputation as a center of abolitionism, the majority of Oneida County men did not fight to end slavery.

By looking at collections of letters and diaries of several Oneida County soldiers, this paper seeks to demonstrate the conflict between memory and history. The letters and diaries of these soldiers show that many men from Oneida County did not have any feelings at all that one could call abolitionist or anti-slavery. While the elections of 1860 show popular backing for local

Republican politicians, it is clear that they were not elected solely because the area was heavily anti-slavery.4 The writings of these men show that. They went to war to preserve the Union, or

2 It is important to note the difference between abolitionist and anti-slavery men. Abolitionists were proposing to end slavery, while those with anti-slavery beliefs felt that the spread of slavery should be stopped, not necessarily the institution. An article that deals with this issue is: William H. Pease and Jane H. Pease, “Antislavery Ambivalence: Immediatism, Expediency, Race,” American Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4, (Winter, 1965), pp. 682-695. 3 The county’s historical reputation today is regarded as an area of abolitionism. In reality, Oneida County was a hotbed for anti-slavery sentiments, not abolitionism. 4 The Republican Party was founded by a combination of smaller political factions like the Free Soil Party and others. One of the goals of the party was to stop the spread of slavery into the West. Eric Foner provides an in-depth look at the foundation and politics of the Republican Party prior to the Civil War in Free Soil, Free Labor, and Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War, (New York: Oxford University Press: 1995). 3

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 for reasons of pride and masculinity, but not typically to fight for the emancipation of slaves. In truth, some men chose not to reenlist after the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted in

January 1863. Not only had these volunteers had enough of their commanders, in both

Washington and on the field of battle, they also refused to risk their lives for the slaves’ freedom.

These men would not seem to fit the historical memory of Oneida County as a hotbed of abolitionist feelings.5 Certainly, this is not meant to be a paper that shows that men from Oneida

County were the only men in the United States who did not want to fight to free the slaves.

Rather, the purpose is to show that even though there is an existing reputation of this area as anti- slavery and/or abolitionist, many soldiers from the county were not representative of this political feeling.

The Historical Memory of Oneida County

Oneida County’s reputation as a hotbed of abolitionism has some basis in fact. As history has progressed however, the facts have become somewhat exaggerated and combined. Yet even as the historical memory might be somewhat misleading, there was a faction of abolitionists in

Oneida County. “The overriding memory, at least among historians, is that Utica and Oneida

5 David W. Blight’s book, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), covers the issue of historical memory and the Civil War in detail. Blight’s main discussion focuses on three different types of Civil War memory, (reconciliationist memory, the white supremacist vision, and the emancipationist vision), which clashed, and continue to clash to this day. His argument is that the reconciliationist vision overpowered the vision of the emancipationists, and the issues of slavery and emancipation were pushed aside in the interest of healing the wounds of the divided nation (p. 2). Though this discussion does not focus on the argument that I am making, Blight’s discussion is nonetheless significant because it addresses a disconnect between the history and the historical memory of the Civil War. In this case, the memory of Oneida County as a hotbed of abolitionism conflicts with the writings of the soldiers who fought for the Union. 4

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County made a significant contribution to the great debate on slavery.”6 The author who wrote this was making the case for the significance of the county in the abolitionist movement.

Religion had long been an influential part of Oneida County during this time period.

Presbyterians had founded the Oneida Institute in Whitesboro which was to become the first institution of higher education in the country to admit African Americans. Its critics referred to it as the “Negro School,” because it educated so many black students, including an influential member of the abolitionist movement, Henry Highland Garnet.7 The Oneida Institute also founded the first Abolition Society in the state and was an underground railway stop. Other graduates from the Oneida Institute, like Theodore Weld, lectured to local communities on the abolitionist movement and the horrors of slavery.8

In 1844, when the Oneida Institute fell on hard times, the property and school were sold to a religious group known as the Freewill Baptists. The Baptists opened the school to even greater numbers of students than had been enrolled before. It was renamed the Whitestown

Seminary, and it would remain open until 1884. An alumnus remarked, “Whitestown Seminary is the only school of a high order in this state, that is conducted upon the anti-slavery principle.”9

Many writers stress the importance of Oneida County for the abolitionist cause. Richard

Manzelmann, for example, wrote, “Ultimately, the impulse for this important movement can be traced back to Oneida County and this strange wedding between revivalism and reform.”10

6 Richard L. Manzelmann, “Revivalism and Reform,” in The History of Oneida County: Commemorating the Bicentennial of our National Independence, ed. Ruth W. Auert and others, (Utica: C.L. Hutson Co., Inc., 1977), p. 58. 7 Manzelmann, “Revivalism and Reform,” p. 57. 8 James S. Pula, “‘The Second Great Awakening’: Abolitionism in Oneida County,” in “With Courage and Honor”: Oneida County’s Role in the Civil War, ed. James S. Pula and Cheryl A. Pula, (Utica, NY: Utica College Ethnic Heritage Studies Center, 2010), p. 22. Weld wrote Slavery as It Is, a very famous abolitionist pamphlet 9 Milton C. Sernett, North Star Country: Upstate New York and the Crusade for African American Freedom, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002), p. 97. 10 Manzelmann, “Revivalism and Reform,” p. 58. 5

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Historian James Pula argues that, “the greater anti-slavery population of Oneida County had already made significant contributions to the development of the crisis about to sunder the

Union.”11 These authors minced no words when they discussed the vital role that the area played in abolition, but they may have exaggerated when claiming that the entire movement can be traced back to Oneida County. In addition to the abolitionist movement, Oneida County has also garnered a reputation as a stop on the Underground Railroad. This was certainly true, but the fact that the area had “stations” on the Underground Railroad does not mean that the county was abolitionist. Sociologist Jan DeAmicis notes that, “long before the Civil War ended the debate on slavery, the people of Oneida County made it clear that no law protecting slavery would be enforced here.”12 Abolitionist sentiment is common in the historical memory of the county, even though only a small percent of Oneida County was vocally abolitionist and the majority was not against the laws that protected slavery.

Oneida County as a Republican Stronghold

Oneida County was not a hotbed of abolitionism; it was a hotbed of anti-slavery movements and feelings. As explained above, anti-slavery politics did not focus on the elimination of slavery, but on preventing its spread. One of the political parties crucial to the formation of the Republican Party for instance, was the Free Soiler Party. Their name meant just what it says: Free Soil. They did not want the institution of slavery to move into the West.

Another example of anti-slavery is with President Lincoln. It is a well-established fact that

11 Pula, “‘The Second Great Awakening’: Abolitionism in Oneida County,” p. 42. 12 Jan DeAmicis, “‘Born in Slavery’: The Underground Railroad in Oneida County,” in “With Courage and Honor”: Oneida County’s Role in the Civil War, ed. James S. Pula and Cheryl A. Pula, (Utica, NY: Utica College Ethnic Heritage Studies Center, 2010), p. 1. 6

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Lincoln was not looking to free the slaves when he was elected, but he was campaigning to stop the spread of the institution. Another politician who fell into this category was an Oneida County lawyer who became one of the prominent members of the Republican Party. In the decade before the American Civil War, Roscoe Conkling made a name for himself in Utica as a lawyer, the county’s district attorney, Utica’s mayor, and as the area’s representative to Congress in 1858.

Conkling was reelected in 1860, failed in 1862, but regained his seat from 1864 to 1867, at which time he became a United States Senator, an office he held until 1881.13 Conkling’s later reputation as a Stalwart Republican in government showed the fissure that was emerging in the

Republican Party during Reconstruction. His outspoken nature as a conservative amongst his

Republican comrades showed that this Utica native was not a Radical Republican looking to end slavery from the war’s onset in 1861. Conkling was anti-slavery, not an abolitionist.

Conkling’s election to the House of Representatives was not the only Republican victory in Oneida County in the 1860 election. Lincoln won by a margin of more than 3,000 votes, while

Conkling achieved victory with a difference of 3,563 votes. The Republican candidate for governor, Edwin Morgan, also won reelection by a margin of 3,400 votes. In addition,

Republican John J. Parry won the county treasurer seat, and the Republicans took two of the four assembly seats in the county.14 While every Republican was certainly not abolitionist, the majority of them were anti-slavery. In the elections of that year, Oneida county voted predominantly anti-slavery. In less than two years however, the elections would have a different outlook. In the election of 1862, Conkling would lose his congressional seat, and the Democrats would also win the gubernatorial election when Horatio Seymour, a Democrat from Oneida

13 Ruth Weaver Auert, “Political Luminaries,” in The History of Oneida County: Commemorating the Bicentennial of our National Independence, ed. Ruth W. Auert and others, (Utica: C.L. Hutson Co., Inc., 1977), p. 92. 14 Henry J. Cookingham, History of Oneida County, New York: From 1700 to the Present Time (1912), (Chicago: S. J. Clark Publishing Company, 1912), pp. 118-119. 7

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County was the victor. Seymour won the state by more than 11,000 votes, but actually lost the county by nearly 500 votes. Even though Conkling lost, he was defeated in Oneida County by a margin of only 98 votes by Democrat Francis Kernan. In these midterm elections, the four county assembly seats split evenly.15

On the national level, the election of 1862 was one that ended with the Republicans retaining control of the House of Representatives, but by a much narrower margin than there had been in the previous two years. There was one main reason for this: the war. Many people did not like the way the Lincoln administration and the Republicans in general, were running the country during a time of war. Furthermore, when the Union Army suffered devastating defeat after devastating defeat, many felt that the war was heading in the wrong direction. Most

Americans were becoming war weary and horrific casualty numbers were beginning to pile up.

Moreover, Lincoln had been leaning towards an Emancipation Proclamation, and many knew that the Confederacy would never rejoin the Union peacefully with such a proclamation in effect.

The Democrats felt that such a move would either destroy the Union forever or prolong the war well beyond what many citizens would tolerate. Yet even with the depressed feeling of the country at this time, the Republicans retained the majority in the House, and they still controlled the government.

Oneida County was showing its true political colors by voting for Republicans even during this time of anti-Republican sentiment. Conkling only lost by 98 votes and Seymour could not even win his home county! Clearly, the anti-slavery portions of Oneida County were more powerful than the Democrats at this time, and their power was shown in these election results. For the Republican Party, 1862 was a bad year, most especially for the Lincoln

15 Cookingham, History of Oneida County, New York: From 1700 to the Present Time (1912), pp. 120-121. 8

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 administration. The Union armies, though with more men and materiel were not beating the undersized and undersupplied Confederate armies. Yet even with the military turmoil and defeats that haunted the Lincoln administration and his party, Oneida County was still showing substantial support for the Republican Party.

In 1864, the Radical Republicans criticized Abraham Lincoln for being too conservative, while the Conservative Republicans were accusing him of being far too radical. Many continued to question the Lincoln administration’s actions and called for a change in government. Despite some opposition in his own party, Lincoln was again nominated by the Republicans, who now called themselves the National Union Party. The party endorsed the “unremitting war to force the

‘unconditional surrender’ of Confederate armies and the passage of a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery.”16 The Democrats nominated George B. McClellan to run against Lincoln.

The Democrats ran on the platform of condemning Lincoln and his administration and called for an end to the war. Lincoln was reelected and Conkling regained his seat with a more than 1,000 vote margin. Republican Reuben Fenton ran and won the gubernatorial race, carrying the county as well. In addition, Republicans won the election for sheriff, county clerk, as well as half the assembly seats.17

Oneida County remained a Republican stronghold during the war. It is important to note that by this time, the Emancipation Proclamation had already been passed, and the country knew that the Civil War would decide the fates of both the country and the institution of slavery. When voters went to the polls in November 1864, they knew that they had two choices: they were either voting to bring victory in the war to the North and end slavery, or they were voting to end

16 James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), pp. 716-717. 17 Cookingham, History of Oneida County, New York: From 1700 to the Present Time (1912), p. 124. 9

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 the war and struggle to appease and reunite with the South. Oneida County voted to stay the course and reelected the Republican government. They took the advice of Abraham Lincoln’s campaign slogan: “Don’t change horses in the middle of a stream.” It appears that the county had no intention of doing so.

Oneida County’s “Boys in Blue”

Oneida County’s volunteers, on the other hand, did not follow this pattern of anti-slavery and Republican support that was seen in the elections. In 1860, the county had a population of

101,626. It is estimated that about 10,000 men from the county served in the Union Army between 1861 and 1865.18 Five infantry regiments would be formed from the volunteering

Oneida County men, and these regiments would bear the name of the county. Soldiers from

Oneida County also made up parts of many other infantry, cavalry, and artillery regiments. When

Lincoln issued the call for 75,000 volunteers, Governor Morgan called for 30,000 volunteers from the state of New York which was significantly higher than the quota that the state was ordered to fill.19 Men from Oneida County answered the governor’s call for troops, and in just over one month, two infantry regiments had been formed. Their desire to serve was sweetened by the offer of pay, although it was not a large sum or bounty, especially in the opening months of the war. Yet, “these puny rewards did not dim the enthusiasm of the people.”20 An Oneida

18 William Walker Canfield and J. E. Clark, Things Worth Knowing About Oneida County, (Utica: Thomas J. Griffiths, 1909), p. 136. 19 Howard Thomas, Boys in Blue from the Adirondack Foothills, (Prospect, NY: Prospect Books, 1960), p. 14. 20 Thomas, Boys in Blue from the Adirondack Foothills, p. 15. 10

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The unknown certainly captured a great many volunteers at this time. The Oneida men who enlisted in the Union Army did not know what they were going to be facing in the coming months and years. They really had no idea how long the war would last.22 Most of these men had never been out of their home county, let alone to the South, and they certainly did not have any experience in battle. These volunteers had no clue of the carnage that awaited them in the

American Civil War. A great deal was unknown to all volunteers on both sides. What was known, however, were the reasons they volunteered.

Anti-Abolition

One of the two regiments that answered the call for troops in May 1861 was the

Fourteenth New York Volunteer Infantry. Designated the “First Oneida,” it would serve until

May 1863. One of the First Oneida’s men was Utica-area native Daniel Perry. Perry and his unit, the Fourteenth New York State Volunteers, trained in Albany, NY. Whenever they drilled women and children went to watch. In a letter to his sister, Perry described what happened at many drills as the citizens left: “the Ladies waved their hankerchief and we returned it by waveing our caps [sic].”23 In another letter Perry wrote, “There was a large battle fought on

Sunday last which ended in the rebels coming out ahead, but I don’t think they will in the next

21 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 1 July 1861, Daniel Perry Papers, Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division, MSS.1 Per. 2. 22 A common misconception at the time was that the war would be over in a few months. This probably led to an increase in men enlisting because they wanted to be a part of it before the war ended. Several of the Oneida County soldiers discussed in this research wrote about their belief that this would be a short war. 23 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 11 May 1861. 11

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 one…We were not in the last Battle but expect to be in the next one.”24 Perry was a very typical soldier of his time. He was drilling and fighting for his country, but he also was showing a great deal of pride in his enlistment. The feelings shown in his letters illustrate his desire for honor and glory, which is inherently connected with the ideas of Victorian manhood. When Perry wrote these letters, he was unknowingly emitting a sense of manhood that was common among volunteers of the era.

In one letter to his sister Perry wrote with glowing pride over a review of his regiment.

The Fourteenth New York had been chosen as part of a Grand Review by the commander of the

Army of the Potomac, George B. McClellan. Perry wrote, “Some of the boys heard the general say while we were passing that our company was the best drilled on this side of the Potomac.”25

At this point, Perry had not participated in any major battles, and he was still clearly infatuated with the ceremonies and appearance of army life. He was so proud that he sent his photograph home just two weeks later.26 The long, cold winter months would have a significant effect on the attitude of this volunteer. At the end of January 1862, Perry again wrote his sister asking her to wait until she received a letter from him to write again, “which may be in a short time, and which may never be. it is very uncertain [sic].”27 This bout of depression faded quickly because in the next letter, Perry wrote about the Home Guards and their extravagant balls. “If they want a ball, let them come down here and live [and] sleep on a ball of mud.”28 Perry mocked the Home

Guards because they received all of the grandeur of soldiers, but did not fight, nor were they at risk of doing so. Perry felt he faced danger, and was part of the war, (yet there was no ball for him). These letters show that Perry’s main motivation for enlistment was his sense of manhood.

24 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 26 July 1861. 25 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 2 November 1861. 26 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 17 November 1861. 27 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 22 January 1862. 28 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 13 February 1862, (emphasis in original). 12

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He was insulted by the Home Guards’ reception because in his mind they were lesser men than he was.

Later, Perry would be wounded, and be unable to do his duty for some time. In

November 1862, he learned that he was not going to be discharged because of his wounds, and rejoined his unit. Yet he was upset with himself for not being able to fight. He also informed his sister that the men were owed six months of back pay.29 In January 1863, Perry wrote home to say that while he could get his discharge that month, he chose to wait until his term was up so he could get the one hundred dollar bounty owed him. “I think I have earned the bounty and I want it.” The same letter closed, “I am well, and am looking forward to the time when I shall be out of the service and be a free man.”30 Daniel Perry’s letters show the evolving motives for fighting that existed in a number of troops in the beginning of the war. He enlisted to fight in a short war and return home with all of the medals and glory of war. Less than two years after he enlisted, however, he was writing of the time that he would come home and “be a free man.” He further showed his feelings about army life and the war when he wrote home just one month later denouncing the draft, “I don’t want to see no brother or even relative of mine in this illbegotten army.”31

Perry’s letters include very few references to the cause of saving the Union or of the old rhetoric of the American Revolution common in many other soldiers’ writings. Importantly,

Perry does not mention the institution of slavery or African Americans until one of his last letters in March 1863, a little more than one month before he was to be discharged. On 14 March, Perry wrote his sister to dismiss her apparent feelings about emancipation:

29 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 15 November 1862. 30 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 5 January 1863. 31 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 25 February 1863. 13

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Then you think you would like to see all the Niggers free do you… I wouldn’t. Well to free the Niggers we will have to whip [sic] the Rebel Army completely out. And you don’t want me to fight any more, but want me to come home. Which I certainly shall and a good many others like me, if we live long enough. And if the whole Army was like me, going home shortly why the Confederates would come out victorious. I would like to see this thing settled and let the black all stay where they are. I don’t want to see them free, but enough about them. They aint worth talking about.32

This was the only reference that Daniel Perry made to slavery in all of his letters to his sister

Mary. Perry’s attitude about abolition and emancipation seem to have been influenced by his long and arduous tour of duty. At that point, Perry just wished to go home. He had had enough of the war and of the army. He wrote of his desire to stay in the Army long enough to receive his bounty and that was it. He also wrote about his desire to have the war end, and he knew that the war would last longer if emancipation was to go into effect. Perry’s attitude is quite surprising when one considers the above evidence of Oneida County’s political history. Where Perry came from did not matter when he made his opinion of the Emancipation Proclamation clear. He was certainly racist, but the overwhelming majority of the country was at this time. Perry’s distaste for the army also shows that he had matured beyond the boy that he was when he enlisted less than two years before.

Another Utica native by the name of Perry, no relation to the first, was Winfield M.

Perry. Winfield Perry joined the Second New York Heavy Artillery as the war was beginning.

This Perry was different from the first because he did comment on the issues of slavery and abolition several times. Just over a year after enlisting to fight for the Union, Perry wrote home to his mother stating, “I think this soldiering thing is about played out and if I ever get out of this

32 Daniel Perry to Mary Perry, 14 March 1863. 14

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I scarcely think my patriotism will let me enlist again.”33 Here was an Oneida volunteer who had had enough of the war after just one year. He admitted to his mother that he had enlisted out of a sense of patriotism and duty. Later in the letter, Perry wrote about abolitionism, saying that, “I see by the papers that Abolitionism has met with a serious chech [sic] in the state of N.Y. by this fall’s elections as well as in other states. I do not suppose that the elections pleased father much but I suppose that is where we would differ for I think they are capitall [sic] ones.”34 Here was another Utica native against the idea of abolition. He was fighting to preserve the Union, and he did not appreciate the efforts of the abolitionists. In January 1863, Perry wrote, “I guess the

Abolitionists of Trenton will begin to think of something else besides niggers and money when they see this war touch as near home as it has within the last month.”35 He was content with the defeat of the abolitionists and the way that the 1862 elections had gone, even though his county remained a hotbed of Republican sentiment.

Perry also commented on soldiers who did not enlist as early in the war as he had. Those that enlisted later were known as “bounty men,” while the original soldiers referred to themselves as “old soldiers.” He wrote, “Mother you can not imagine what a feeling there is between the old soldiers and the bounty men as these new Reg’ts are formed [sic].” The letter closed with the story of a bounty man who was bragging about his bounty, only to be ferociously beaten by more than twelve men, “because he said he enlisted for the bounty and not to fight.”36

Like Daniel Perry’s comments on the Home Guards, Winfield Perry’s comments on the “bounty men” show the difference between the “real” soldiers and the “fake.” Both Perry’s were a part of

33 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 7 November 1862, Winfield M. Perry Papers, Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division, MSS.1 Per. 3 (emphasis in original). 34 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 7 November 1862. 35 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 8 January 1863. 36 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 8 January 1863. 15

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 the older group of soldiers, and by showing their hatred for those who did not enlist as they did, they were showing another one of their reasons for enlisting: a sense of duty to their country.

Just over three weeks after his January 1863 letter, Winfield Perry wrote home and expressed his undeniable opinion about abolition and, more specifically, the Emancipation

Proclamation. Perry’s rant was an opinion that was not solely his; there were certainly a number of men who felt the same way.

But mother this Regt will never fight one inch to free the negroes. There are men in this Regt that would sooner fight the President himself than fight to free the negroes. It was not what they came for. They came to war for the union and if this is to be turned into a political war or in other words Abolition, Nigger, war they will not fight at all [sic]. I think these appropriations of money that Congress are making for the Negro had better be turned toward paying the soldiers who have been without pay for eight months. Their families at home in the poor house Suffering Starving [sic] even for the want of it. I need not go outside of this Co to find such cases. One Mr. Stowe of South Trenton or near there has a wife and three children his wife sick and the children not much better [sic]. They had to go to the Poor-house or Starve. Negro first and White Man afterwards is the motto of our government at the present day. It would seem as if our Army had lost confidence in their Commanders. The Commanders even [question] themselves at the way this war is being carried on, it would seem as if nothing had gone right since McClellan and Battle have been Superceded for freeing men I believe never lived [sic]. Now do not think I am turning toward the rebels, but mother I did not come down here to fight [for] Niggers, and the long and short of it is, I won’t.”37

There is little doubt about Winfield Perry’s feelings regarding the Civil War becoming a war to end slavery. Simply put, he did not want any part of it. A great many more of his letters offer snippets of his feeling about African Americans: “There were a lot of negros [sic] moved here to

Quarter this summer and by their carelessness some of the buildings caught fire and in working

37 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 31 January 1863, (emphasis in original). 16

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 to put it out I sprained my foot.”38 Perry’s letters give the reader a significant look into the mind of a foot soldier who was passionately against the idea of freeing the slaves.

As the war was ending, Perry’s opinions on Abraham Lincoln, and his policies changed somewhat. After the Civil War ended in April 1865, Perry was still in the Army. He had been wounded in June 1864, and he was still trying to recover. He was in a hospital in Alexandria,

Virginia when the war ended, and when Lincoln was assassinated. A man who had been so vocally against Lincoln’s proclamation went to visit the President’s remains in the capitol building. He wrote his mother of this experience and stated, “Mother it was to [sic] bad that

“honest old Abe” was not allowed to live to see peace proclaimed. I can say nothing against him now.”39 In another letter, he expressed regret: “Oh mother the negro’s [sic] are a thick as can be here in Alexandria you cannot think but that you were against a ‘nigger.’”40 Perry was sympathetic to the assassination of his Commander-in-Chief, and even showed some remorse about being “against a ‘nigger’” at one point. Yet while his opinions about Lincoln and the

Emancipation Proclamation may have altered slightly, it is clear that Perry still wanted nothing to do with African Americans. Even with his remorse, Perry’s attitudes about African Americans had not changed very much. Later in May 1865, Perry wrote to his sister Sophie about some of the Pennsylvania Dutch soldiers that were in the hospital, “One of them asked me sunday what my ‘tooth brush’ was for. I told him to brush my moustache with… Didn’t I laugh… They are worse than niggers are [sic].”41 He was an Oneida County man and he did not want emancipation for the slaves. He was from the area which we now consider a hotbed of abolitionism, and he was outspokenly anti-emancipation. In the case of the two Perry’s, the historical memory of

38 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 8 June 1863. 39 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 1 May 1865. 40 Winfield M. Perry to his Mother, 6 May 1865. 41 Winfield M. Perry to Sophie Perry, 24 May 1865, Winfield M. Perry Papers, Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division, MSS.1 Per. 3. 17

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Oneida County is inaccurate because it ignores the fact that there were a significant number of people, including soldiers, who did not want to fight for emancipation.

Indifference:

Of all of the letters and diaries that were researched for this project, the majority of soldiers who wrote these letters can be categorized as mostly indifferent when it came to the issues of emancipation and slavery. All the soldiers commented on everyday occurrences including battle, drill, picket duty, food, and other aspects of daily life in the army. Many of the soldiers commented on other things going on in the country, but failed to mention slavery or emancipation. This is an important trend when one considers the reputation of the county from which they came.

Alfred Gridley was born and raised in the Town of Marshall in the southern portion of

Oneida County. Shortly before the war began, Gridley moved to Wisconsin to try his hand in business out west. His letters reveal that this attempt was unsuccessful, and in September 1861, he enlisted in the Badger State Flying Artillery Company in Wisconsin. Alfred Gridley enlisted purely out of a sense of duty. In a September 1861 letter to his sister, Gridley wrote, “I believe it to be the duty of every young man to enlist for the war those that do not and can are either cowards or persons that have no feelings for their country [sic].”42 Without any hesitation, Alfred

Gridley detailed to his sister his motivation for enlistment. He continued in the same letter,

“Democrats have to support the war and I being a border ruffian Democrat of course should be

42 Alfred E. Gridley to Ellen Gridley, 27 September 1861, Gridley Family Papers, Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division, MSS.1 GRI. 1. 18

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 one to fight and if need be lay down my life to support the government.”43 By making this statement, Gridley showed that he was very aware of the national political stage, and he commented on the national issues regularly in his letters. Gridley later wrote, “If men do not come forward faster the government will draft in less than two weeks. Then the cowards will have to start. The Administration have been slow and easy so far [sic].”44 Gridley was referring to the possibility of a draft, which would become a reality less than two years later.

In a March 1862 letter, Gridley again wrote to his sister showing his patriotism and sense of duty, but he also revealed another of his motivations for fighting: a sense of manhood. “You may think it strange that we should be anxious to rush into danger, but you must know that we have been in the service over six months and most of the time doing nothing. We enlisted to fight the enemies of our government and all are anxious to assist in so good a work.”45 Yet even with his outspoken opinions of men in the North and their duty as Americans, he failed to mention the institution of slavery as a cause or as an issue that must be dealt with. Obviously, he admitted to being a Democrat, and he even exclaimed his support for Stephen Douglas in one of his letters, but he only mentioned African Americans once. In an April 1862 letter to his sister, Alfred

Gridley wrote about interactions with Confederate citizens (commonly referred to as “Secesh”) and their slaves: “Their negroes come inside of our lines and occasionally their owners call for them but they are politely informed that they are free [sic].”46 This is the only reference to slaves or slavery in his letters. He does not state whether he is for or against the emancipation of the slaves that his unit was granting. Alfred Gridley died shortly after this letter was written, and he

43 Alfred E. Gridley to Ellen Gridley, 27 September 1861. 44 Alfred E. Gridley to Ellen Gridley, 27 September 1861. 45 Alfred E. Gridley to Ellen Gridley, 3 March 1862. 46 Alfred E. Gridley to Ellen Gridley, 24 April 1862. 19

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 never had the chance to give an opinion on Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, or on the eventual destruction of the institution of slavery.

Alfred’s brother Oscar Gridley also enlisted in the Union Army when the war began. As a resident of Oneida County, he enlisted in the Eighth New York Cavalry Regiment in August

1862. His military career was very short-lived as he would perish as a result of disease just three months after enlisting. The small collection of letters that was amassed in these few short months does not delve into many political matters, but he did leave some hints about his reasons for enlisting. He wrote to his sister Ellen in September 1862, “I do candely wish that you could feeal confidence in me I shall return on of these days it is a soldier’s life that I am living [sic].”47 His sense of place as a soldier just weeks after enlisting shows the reader a great deal about his character. Oscar Gridley is another example of a volunteer striving for Victorian manhood. He also alluded to the ongoing pay problem in all of the Union armies at this point in the war. Other than that, however, Oscar only wrote about the daily life as a soldier in the cavalry. Although the small collection of letters does not provide much information about his politics and his thoughts on slavery, it would not be unreasonable to think that Oscar, like his brother Alfred, could have been a Democrat because he may have had the same political allegiances. Whatever his politics may have been, Oscar’s lack of acknowledgement of slavery or even of African Americans seems out of place in the history of Oneida County.

A fourth soldier who seemed indifferent to the institution of slavery was Dwight W.

Stannard. After he enlisted in the Ninety-Seventh New York Volunteer Infantry, also known as the “Third Oneida,” Stannard, a native of Forestport, was fighting as a matter of duty. Even when

47 Oscar Gridley to Ellen Gridley, 16 September 1862, Gridley Family Papers, Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division, MSS.1 GRI. 1. 20

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 he tired of the war, he wrote to his wife, “I shall go to my regment and take things as they come for I inlisted for the ware [sic].”48 Moreover, he too, had the ideal of Victorian manhood imprinted in his mind as he wrote, “If I could have my choyse [sic] which side I would like to fight on I think I would help the rebels for I think they are the most mean.”49 In another letter written in April 1862, Stannard wrote, “As for my self [sic] I am well and doing my duty like a man.”50 As the war progressed, Stannard constantly wrote about his hesitation to go into a fight, but he refused to acknowledge any fear. “I would give my bounty not to go in a nother fite not that I am a fraid but I have got throu so far and I don’t like to risk it enny more [sic].”51 He had enlisted because he felt it was his duty, and now his duty, and his manhood were not allowing him to even think that he might have been afraid.

Stannard also addressed some of the political issues of the time, and even had some interesting conspiracy theories revolving around the war being a moneymaker for the rich.52

Several of the letters he wrote dealt with “Father Abraham,” and the burden that the president bore because of the war.53 Even with all of his commentary on things outside the soldier’s world, he failed to explain his position on emancipation. In truth, Stannard makes very little reference to any African American whatsoever. Stannard, like the Gridley brothers, seemed to have voiced neither their opposition nor support for emancipating the slaves. These men had a sense of the war around them, and of some national political issues, but not slavery. Historical memory of the

48 Dwight W. Stannard to Alma C. Stannard, 17 February 1863, Letters of Dwight W. Stannard, Hamilton College Library Digital Collections, http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-sta&c=civ_sta . 49 Dwight W. Stannard to Alma C. Stannard, 17 February 1863. In this instance, Stannard was representing both types of Victorian manhood to which McPherson refers. 50 Dwight W. Stannard to Alma C. Stannard, 27 April 1862. 51 Dwight W. Stannard to Alma C. Stannard, 1 May 1864. 52 Dwight W. Stannard to Alma C. Stannard, 17 February 1863. 53 Dwight W. Stannard to Alma C. Stannard, 19 April 1863. 21

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 county as a center of abolitionism would seem to indicate that they should at least be against the spread of slavery, but it is not mentioned in these three soldiers’ letters.

A native of Clinton, New York, George W. Pearl enlisted in the 117th New York

Infantry, or “Fourth Oneida Infantry,” in 1862. Like many other soldiers, Pearl’s letters were filled with the everyday experiences of the average volunteer and he informs the reader of the reasons why he fought as well. Pearl wrote, “I like Soldering [sic] very well as long as my health continues good [sic].”54 In another letter he wrote, “My courage holds out very well.”55 His sense of patriotism and duty outweighed his homesickness, and he was proud to continue fighting.

Pearl was also very astute when writing about what was going on in the rest of the country. He asked his parents about the draft in Utica at one point. Additionally, he wrote of his choice for president in the election of 1864, at first disliking the thought of Lincoln’s reelection, but later hoping for his reelection. His opinion changed because he disliked the fact that George

McClellan had become, in Pearl’s opinion, so political.56 In a later letter, Pearl opined about the nearing end of the war, and the supposed peace talks between Southern governors and Lincoln.

“I think that they and Abe are holding private correspondence.”57

Pearl was very aware of what was going on, and he even asked his father’s opinion about the Emancipation Proclamation, “Father what do you think of the President’s proclimation [sic] we think here it will have a tendency to close the war by the first of January [sic].”58 His question is certainly intriguing. Surely one of Lincoln’s goals with the Emancipation Proclamation was to end the war quickly, and that was what Pearl was hoping for. His thoughts on the subject,

54 George W. Pearl to George A. and Marcia C. Pearl, 4 June 1863, Letters of George W. Pearl, Hamilton College Library Collections, http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-pea&c=civ_pea . 55 George W. Pearl to George A. and Marcia C. Pearl, 18 June 1863. 56 George W. Pearl to George A. and Marcia C. Pearl, 13 August 1864, 12 October 1864. 57 George W. Pearl to George A. and Marcia C. Pearl, undated, 12 October 1864. 58 George W. Pearl to George A. and Marcia C. Pearl, 7 October 1862. 22

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 however, are never given beyond this one sentence. He does mention African Americans in other letters, when he asked about a “Nigger Regiment” being formed in Utica, as well as when he detailed his daily experience with many “niggers,” whether he was having his uniform repaired, or if he was eating.59 George Pearl never gave his opinion on emancipation in his letters. He alluded to the issue a few times, but never gave a strong opinion either way. His wavering position on the 1864 election seems to show that he was uncertain about the objectives of each party, including the issue of slavery.

Waterville native Hermon Clarke also enlisted in the “Fourth Oneida” in 1862 out of a sense of duty. Being raised in a strong Democrat family, Clarke’s motivations did not follow politics. Rather, he seems to have been motivated by the thought of glory; the masculinity that emanates from many of his letters support this assertion. “Of course we feel very proud of our regiment, and are confident that if it is allowed to come together… it could soon become perfected in drill, and when opportunity is afforded, make its mark with those that have gone before it from Oneida Co.”60 Clarke showed a great deal of pride in his regiment when he wrote this letter to the Waterville Times. He continued, “The men are proud of their officers and the officers have reason to feel proud of their men.”61 Hermon Clarke served in the Union Army through the conclusion of the war, and his letters were full of references to politics and other national concerns.

Even though he was a Democrat, he and his father disagreed over what the Democrats should do to end the war. Hermon’s father, Silas Clarke, felt that the government should seek

59 George W. Pearl to George A. and Marcia C. Pearl, 4 June 1863, 21 May 1863. 60 Hermon Clarke to the Waterville Times, 9 September 1862, in Back Home in Oneida: Hermon Clarke and his Letters, ed. Harry F. Jackson and Thomas F. O’Donnell (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1965), pp. 29-30. 61 Hermon Clarke to the Waterville Times, 9 September 1862, pp. 29-30. 23

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 immediate peace, whether it saved the nation as a whole or not. His son, however, disagreed and wrote to his father about the significance of the invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederates:

I think it is the best thing they could do for our side. It must wake up the people [in the] North and learn them [sic] that something must be done besides talk of Union if they would have it. One thing is certain. We haven’t enough men in the field to whip the Rebs, and if the North wants peace they must send men enough to clean this part of the country entirely… In the daytime they (the citizens) are good Union men, and at night the devils are out with their guns shooting our pickets or running provisions into Rebel camps. Every man around here has taken the oath of allegiance, and [yet] almost every one of them is known to be doing all he can for the Rebs [sic], and they acknowledge it.62

He was clearly observant of the situation of the country as a whole. The “Peace Democrats,” (to which his father Silas belonged) felt that peace must be achieved immediately, but Hermon

Clarke felt that the duty he had enlisted for must be completed successfully, not only completed.

Hermon Clarke was a “War Democrat.”

Clarke did not write that his duty included the emancipation of the slaves, however.

Though he did not necessarily dismiss the Emancipation Proclamation, he certainly did not write in support of it either. Clarke had interactions with U.S. Colored Troops and his opinion of them was neither high nor low, which is seen in an August 1863 letter to his father. “There are three colored regiments on the Island, and they do good work… I am willing to let them fight and dig if they will; it saves so many white men.”63 He was clearly willing to let these Black soldiers fight, die, and dig, but not for any reason other than selfishness. His opinion of them was slightly more negative later in the war when he wrote his father about a battle in which the U.S. Colored

Troops were involved. “I see the New York papers give the credit of the battle [on the] 15th to

62 Hermon Clarke to Silas Clarke, 21 June 1863, in Back Home in Oneida: Hermon Clarke and his Letters, ed. Harry F. Jackson and Thomas F. O’Donnell (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1965), pp. 84-85. 63 Hermon Clarke to Silas Clarke, 9 August 1863, p. 100. 24

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 colored troops. Well I think 2/3 the number of whites would have done the work.”64 His approximation of the worth of Black soldiers is evidence of what he thought of African

Americans in general. He later wrote to his father about a battle in the Bermuda Hundred in which the soldiers charged a fortification, “niggers in front,” and immediately retreated, “and never stopped until the provost guard halted them.”65

Clarke never wavered on his position on the necessity of the success of the Union, even though he voted for the McClellan in the election of 1864. He also wrote to his father asking whether anyone questioned the success of the Union cause when the war was coming to a close.66 He had always been confident in the Union, but he did not write about his position on slavery. As with Pearl, Stannard, and the Gridley brothers, Clarke was seemingly indifferent to emancipation. He was mostly unappreciative of the involvement of the U.S. Colored Troops, and his letters were quite unaffected by the slavery that was present throughout the South where he spent most of his tour in the army. He was a citizen of Oneida County, but he was not one who voted Republican, and he was certainly not an ardent abolitionist. Like the four aforementioned indifferent soldiers, Clarke did not express his opinion on slavery and/or emancipation.

Rome native Rush P. Cady had a sense of dutiful patriotism at the outset of the Civil

War. Cady left his schoolwork at Hamilton College to put together a regiment of volunteers to fight for the Union. This was short-lived, however, and he would soon join the ranks of the

Ninety-Seventh New York Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the

“Third Oneida,” in March 1862. A few months later, he wrote home to his parents regarding the cause of the Union soldier. “Nearly, if not quite, all are strong in their expressions of sympathy

64 Hermon Clarke to Silas Clarke, 23 June 1864, p. 144. 65 Hermon Clarke to Silas Clarke, 2 August 1864, p. 150. 66 Hermon Clarke to Silas Clarke, 13 May 1865, p. 201. 25

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 for the government, & the Union Cause, & ex-ceedingly [sic] desirous that the war shall be speedily brought to an end.”67 Cady fought for the Union cause, and he would die as a result of wounds received in the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863. In one of the remembrances of the young man at his funeral the following was read: “He enlisted form [sic] a sense of duty; a sentence from one of his letters shows the feelings that actuate him, he says, ‘If I should be sacrificed in the great struggle to perpetuate the glorious institutions of our Government, then I may trust the assurance of Holy Writ that ‘God is good’ and ‘the He doeth all things well.’’”68

Using Cady’s own words, this speaker showed the patriotic sense of duty in this young man from

Rome.

Rush Cady’s many letters include the typical information about the life in an army camp, but he also made several statements about many issues like the government, lack of pay, and even the United States Colored Troops. In his early letters, however, the main issue that he wrote about was the Union cause.

It is terrible indeed to witness such wholesale slaughters, but the cause for which we fight, must triumph, though Thousands more should fall. The march of Progress has always been through bloody battle-fields, & is so now. Good men have always fought to maintain & defend great principles. Good governments cost blood & treasure in the founding & also the preservation. The individual man is but a tool for the promotion of the progress & welfare of the whole race.69

67 Rush P. Cady to Daniel and Fidelia W Cady, 25 June 1862, Letters of Rush P. Cady, Hamilton College Library Digital Collections, http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-cad&c=civ_cad . 68 Undated Sketch of Life of Rush P. Cady to D. Cady of New York, Letters of Rush P. Cady, Hamilton College Library Digital Collections, http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-cad&c=civ_cad . 69 Rush P. Cady to Eliza Warrenton, 4 July 1862, Letters of Rush P. Cady, Hamilton College Library Digital Collections, http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-cad&c=civ_cad . 26

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Cady’s motives are clear. He supported the government at all hazards, being one of the “good men” defending “great principles.” His sense of duty and his loyalty also show that he is another example of Victorian manhood. Despite his outspokenness regarding the Union cause in his letters, he never discusses the issue of slavery.

Cady did, however, write home about his desire to command a company of the U.S.

Colored Troops. “I have made application for the command of a Co. of Colored troops… I would be quite willing to go into a Colored Reg. as 1st Lt … The policy of organizing colored troops is an important one & is destined to be extensively developed [sic].”70 Cady continued by examining the possible benefits of commanding a company of U.S. Colored Troops. When he wrote that the policy was “important,” he was specifically referring to the attention that it would receive from the government. This was a way for Cady to advance, not show his support for the use of African American troops. In the same letter, Cady gave his reasons for wanting to leave his regiment. “I am desirous of leaving the 97th as I am entirely dissatisfied with its discipline.”71

Cady wanted to command a company of African American troops, but he did not explain that he thought that they deserved a chance to fight for their freedom. In fact, he never mentioned abolitionism or emancipation. He obviously had some willingness to fight alongside them, and he was clearly confident in the cause in which he was engaged. Yet other than constant support for the government, he never discussed emancipation or the end of slavery. This is an interesting fact. One would think that a man from this county would deal with the issue of slavery at least partially, but Cady, the outspoken patriot, failed to do so even once.

Another soldier who remained somewhat indifferent to emancipation and whether it was a cause worth fighting for was George B. Fairhead. A New Hartford native, Fairhead, enlisted in

70 Rush P. Cady to Fidelia W. Cady, 2 June 1863. 71 Rush P. Cady to Fidelia W. Cady, 2 June 1863. 27

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 the 117th New York Volunteers in July 1862. Using Fairhead’s diary, it is evident that he was fighting for the Union, and that he was not outspoken in any sense about emancipation. Fairhead wrote, “Sad that war should spread its blight over so many spots. Secession has already paid dearly for its work of Originating this conflict [sic].”72 He was clearly fighting to preserve the

Union. “The evil genius of traitorism must be throttled + crushed. What ever the price to either side [sic]. Fiendish hate must be counteracted by Loyal determination [sic].”73 He again referred to the evils of secession when the war was coming to an end and news was spreading about the assassination of President Lincoln, “This is a most diabolical climax to the Emination from Hell called Secession [sic].”74 Fairhead also illustrated in several of his diary entries his fight for

Victorian manhood when he chastised members of his unit for cowardice, including his superior officers.75

George Fairhead also interacted with both contraband slaves and with United States

Colored Troops. On the former he wrote, “They are a dirty, ragged set. I heard one of these women sware [sic] like a traitor.”76 His opinion on these contrabands was clearly low. Fairhead’s diaries give only snippets of daily life in the army, but they do provide a look into the feelings of an Oneida County soldier fighting near U.S. Colored Troops, whom Fairhead criticized in several diary entries. “The Negroe [sic] troops on our left charge with much impetuosity… I prevented a Negro soldier from killing a prisoner: retaliation for Fort Pillow.”77 He proceeded to criticize said troops for their “impetuosity,” but it may not have been the worst thing he could

72 George B. Fairhead Diary, Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division, MSS.1 FAI.1, 29 May 1864. 73 George B. Fairhead Diary, 29 May 1864. 74 George B. Fairhead Diary, 17 April 1865. 75 George B. Fairhead Diary, 31 May 1864. 76 George B. Fairhead Diary, 2 June 1864. 77 George B. Fairhead Diary, 13 June 1864. The Massacre at Fort Pillow was a horrific example of racism during the war, in which a band of African American soldiers surrendered only to be executed soon thereafter. 28

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 have said. Fairhead also wrote about his political affiliation, especially around the 1864 election writing, “I cast my vote for the Union Candidates.”78 His acknowledgement of his political affiliation further illustrates that he was aware of political issues.

Yet Fairhead does not write about slavery until January 1865, and even then, he did not specifically refer to it. Instead, he wrote about the destruction in the South with a biblical reference, “Now the buildings have been completely razed and on the old sites are huddled negro shanties built of ‘bastard split’ shingles [sic]. A skathing illustration of the fact that God will release the oppressed and punish the oppressor [sic].”79 Even though this could be inferred as opposition to slavery, it seems more likely that Fairhead was only making a biblical reference.

Fairhead made many other references to God in his diary, many more than any of the aforementioned soldiers. On his duty, Fairhead wrote, “How sad that sin shall cause such suffering and sorrow.”80 Fairhead’s faith is shown a great deal in his diaries, but he by no means states that he was fighting to free the slaves. He does, however, refer to them and their possible freedom by mentioning God. He never says, “I want to free the slaves,” and is therefore grouped as “indifferent.” The fact that he is not an abolitionist is further apparent with his consistent use of racial slurs that were uncommon among abolitionists. “Men are having much sport in mustering darks… The darkies who serve the officers are into it also, + every fresh one, or any one of themselves who shall do any thing to deserve it, has to take his turn [sic]. Every day has from 6 to 10 or 12 of these musters. It enlivens the monotony of this useless life.”81

78 George B. Fairhead Diary, 15 October 1864. 79 George B. Fairhead Diary, 15 January 1865. 80 George B. Fairhead Diary, 19 January 1865. 81 George B. Fairhead Diary, 27 May 1865. The term, “darkies,” was a racial slur, not a term that would be stated by an abolitionist. 29

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This group of soldiers, which I have labeled as “indifferent,” did not give their opinion on the subject of emancipation. Many of them had interactions with African Americans, whether they were soldiers, slaves, or former slaves. Yet none of the seven soldiers gave their opinion on the issue. The fact is that they were most likely indifferent to slavery or emancipation. These are personal letters and diaries. There was no reason for them to hold back on their feelings.

Winfield and Daniel Perry certainly had no problem expressing their beliefs about emancipation, but these seven men either hesitated or were simply indifferent to the issue. With the possibility of their indifference more likely, it is again remarkable that they do not deal with the subject at all. They are from Oneida County, the so-called birthplace of abolitionism, and a Republican stronghold, but they did not voice an opinion on the issues of slavery and emancipation. The two

Gridleys, Stannard, Pearl, Clarke, Cady, and Fairhead all represent a discrepancy between the historical memory of Oneida County as a hotbed for abolitionism and the actual history of fighting men from the county.

Pro-Abolition

Of these ten Oneida County soldiers, only one soldier made his anti-slavery and abolitionist feelings apparent through his letters. In actuality, John V. Ferguson can hardly be considered a typical soldier. Ferguson was the chaplain of the Ninety-Seventh New York

Volunteer Infantry. In his work with the “Third Oneida,” Ferguson had a great many experiences with soldiers on both sides, as well as with contraband slaves. In many letters written to his wife

Kate, Ferguson wrote about the life of a chaplain in the Union Army and of soldiering in general.

Ferguson also wrote about his feelings on slavery.

30

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“We are where Slave holders live, a few nights ago from the house about 20 rods from our camp 3 fine head of human cattle, took leave & they have not found them since. Ain't it really too bad! & all the time most you can see cattle of the same sort passing along with a bundle in hand for Washington or further North [sic].” 82

Here, Ferguson sarcastically mocked the slaveholder. A few lines later, he wrote what the war meant to him. “Slavery Must [sic] die where our armies go & let all the people who love our country say amen.”83 John Ferguson was as adamant about abolition as Winfield Perry was in his anti-abolition sentiments. He minced no words when he stated that the institution of slavery

“must die.”

Ferguson’s constant attack on slavery continued in his later letters as well. In a January

1863 letter, Ferguson chided the state of New York, and particularly the Democrats who helped elect Governor Horatio Seymour. Seymour had been invoking the states’ rights doctrine when he ran and was elected governor the previous November. Ferguson was noticeably perturbed with this invocation. “The State Rights doctrine is precisely what Jeff Davis pleads as the proof of the right to Secede & is fatal to any republican Government He (Seymour) [sic] seems determined to array New York against the administration which he denounces.”84 He later attributed this to nothing more than a typical Democratic Party feeling at the time. His next statement, however, opposed what the Democrats were trying to do. “Hundreds of negroes are hasting toward

Washington, free, yes, thank God free & no power on earth can again enslave them.”85 At this point in the war, only Republicans were looking to end slavery, but the common belief was that

82 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 4 May 1862, John V. Ferguson Letters, New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/97thInf/97thInfMain.htm (emphasis in original). 83 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 4 May 1862. 84 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 15 January 1863. 85 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 15 January 1863. 31

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 they were looking to do so from the beginning. Here, after the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, Ferguson reiterated his beliefs about the institution.

Just two weeks after his letter claiming that the destruction of slavery was necessary,

“where our armies go,” Ferguson wrote another letter which referred to the common appearances of slaves and of contraband slaves as well. Both, according to Ferguson, were happy to help the

Union cause, often being employed in the service of the Union.86 In fact, one of the cooks of the

“Third Oneida” was an African American from Little Falls, NY, named Enoch Moore.87

Ferguson gave no more information on Moore, but it is interesting to note that there was an

African American travelling and cooking for this regiment. Moore no longer cooked for him after a certain point, but the only reference to it is when Ferguson wrote about his new cook.

“We have a good boy now about fourteen a slave from Georgetown as handy as a girl & as neat

& good a cook as most any woman you can find we think much of him he cooks for us [sic].”88

Even though Ferguson was against the institution of slavery, he was more than willing to have a contraband slave to cook and clean for him.

Ferguson’s letters are an example of what the abolitionist soldier felt during the Civil

War. Yet of this collection of soldiers and their personal writings, Ferguson remains the only one to vocally denounce the institution of slavery. He fits the historical memory of the area as a hotbed of abolitionism. Yet the majority of these soldiers do not fit that profile. The majority appear ambivalent to the subject. In addition, two of these men were against any action to free the slaves. They did not enlist to fight for emancipation; they enlisted to preserve the Union.

They believed that the Union could not be saved without the elimination of slavery. Further, many of these men became weary of fighting rather quickly. In their minds, freeing the slaves

86 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 18 May 1862. 87 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 6 April 1862. 88 John V. Ferguson to Kate Ferguson, 15 June 1862. 32

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 would only exacerbated and lengthen the war, which is something they most assuredly did not want.

Oneida County’s Historical Memory vs. Oneida County Soldier’s Writings

The writings of these ten Oneida County soldiers were not uncommon to the foot soldier in the American Civil War, but they are strikingly different from the reputation of Oneida

County. The county was a hotbed of anti-slavery sentiments and Republicanism, but not of abolitionism. Many abolitionists could trace their roots back to the county, whether it was to the abolition parties that were founded in the area or with the Oneida Institutes. They were not the majority, and certainly did not represent the common feelings of the average volunteer from

Oneida County. This research has shown that there was only a small percentage of soldiers who even had a noticeable opinion on slavery, let alone for its abolition. Oneida County’s men did not fight to free the slaves. They fought out of a sense of duty and patriotism. It was soldiers like

John Ferguson who were the exception.

Indeed, soldiers fostered their own memories in the regimental histories that were written after the war ended. When Judge Bacon welcomed home the 146th New York Volunteer

Infantry, or “Fifth Oneida Infantry,” he spoke of their gallant successes and of the men they lost.

He also told the men, “In the coming days we shall rejoice in a united free republic, in all the broad borders of which the sun looks down upon no slave.”89 The war had just ended, and even though most of the men had not gone to war to end slavery, upon their return home, the local people accepted it as an acknowledged motivation for fighting. In another regimental history, the author introduces the work by explaining that this would cover the events of the war, and that no

89 Mary Genevie Green Brainard, Campaigns of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Regiment, (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1915), p. 309. 33

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 event could obscure the “significance of our late triumph over the Slave-holders’ Rebellion, nor dim the halo of that glorious era in our Nation’s progress.”90 This history was written a year after the war had ended, and the author, the regiment’s surgeon, was already talking about the almost divine mission to end slavery that the soldiers had undertaken. This is an early example of the historical memory beginning to shape the way that the war was viewed in Oneida County. This form of “reconciliationist” memory would take hold throughout the North. It was an attempt to justify the more than 600,000 deaths that had just occurred in little more than four years. As historian David Blight argues, these men searched for a way to excuse the blood that was shed.

Painting the war as a war to end slavery, and creating the image of the Union’s heavenly task to destroy the institution, helped justify what had just happened. This is how the memory began to form.

Oneida County’s historical memory as a center of abolitionism is not necessarily completely inaccurate. Rather, as stated before, it simply does not cover the majority of the men who enlisted in the Union Army. As Blight argues, historical memory can often be misleading. It has a tendency to blur the facts, and generally paints a more pleasant picture than was actually true. Many say that they enjoy studying the American Civil War because, “it was a simpler, better time.” This would be another example of historical memory. The truth is that it was no simpler than today. Historians have long sought to provide an accurate, thorough investigation into their subjects in order to show the actual history of the time. This paper has shown that many of the soldiers from Oneida County did not even opine their thoughts on slavery. Oneida

County was one of the initial areas to foster the growth of abolitionism, but it certainly was not an opinion that everyone shared. Yet in memory, the county, “would not only flaunt the laws

90 J. A. Mowris, A History of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment, New York Volunteers, (Hartford, Conn: Case. Lockwood and Company, Printers, 1866), p. vi. 34

Barry J. Fitzgerald HIS 456 Final Draft April 26, 2011 protecting slavery, but would not rest until slavery had been eliminated.”91 Some may have strived to fight the long arms of slavery that were beginning to reach into the North, but the majority of the county men who fought for the Union were not flaunting “the laws that protected slavery.” Oneida County men were no different from other Union volunteers. The majority of whom did not fight to free the slaves, even though their actions eventually led to slavery’s demise. As George Fairhead wrote, “We are a peacefully inclined people, but must be loyal to our Government.”92 Fairhead and the other soldiers represented the history of the soldiers from

Oneida County, not their historical memory.

91 Jan DeAmicis, “‘Born in Slavery’: The Underground Railroad in Oneida County,” p. 15. 92 George B. Fairhead Diary, 30 May 1865. 35

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BIBLIOGRAPHY: Secondary Sources: Auert, Ruth Weaver. “Political Luminaries.” In The History of Oneida County: Commemorating the Bicentennial of our National Independence, edited by Ruth W. Auert et all. Utica: C.L. Hutson Co., Inc., 1977. Blight, David W. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. Canfield, William Walker, and J. E. Clark. Things Worth Knowing About Oneida County. Utica: Thomas J. Griffiths, 1909. Catton, Bruce. America Goes to War: An Introduction to the Civil War and its Meaning to America Today. New York: MJF Books, 1958. Cookingham, Henry J. History of Oneida County, New York: From 1700 to the Present Time (1912). Chicago: S. J. Clark Publishing Company, 1912. Costa, Dora L., and Matthew E. Kahn. “Cowards and Heroes: Group Loyalty in the American Civil War.” The Quarterly Journal 118, no. 2 (May 2003), pp. 519-548. DeAmicis, Jan. “‘Born in Slavery’: The Underground Railroad in Oneida County.” In “With Courage and Honor”: Oneida County’s Role in the Civil War, edited by James S. Pula and Cheryl A. Pula. Utica, NY: Utica College Ethnic Heritage Studies Center, 2010. Foner, Eric. Free Soil, Free Labor, and Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press: 1995. Manning, Chandra. What this Cruel War was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War. New York: Vintage Books: A Division of Random House, Inc., 2007. Manzelmann, Richard L. “Revivalism and Reform.” In The History of Oneida County: Commemorating the Bicentennial of our National Independence, edited by Ruth W. Auert et al. Utica: C.L. Hutson Co., Inc., 1977. McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. McPherson, James M. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. McPherson, James M. What They Fought For: 1861-1865. New York: Anchor Books, 1995. Mitchell, Reid. Civil War Soldiers. New York: Viking of the Penguin Group, 1988. Nelson, Scott Reynolds, and Carol Sheriff. A People at War: Civilians and Soldiers in America’s Civil War: 1854-1877. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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Pease, William H. and Jane H. Pease. “Antislavery Ambivalence: Immediatism, Expediency, Race.” American Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4, (Winter, 1965), pp. 682-695. Pula, James S. “‘The Second Great Awakening’: Abolitionism in Oneida County.” In “With Courage and Honor”: Oneida County’s Role in the Civil War, edited by James S. Pula and Cheryl A. Pula. Utica, NY: Utica College Ethnic Heritage Studies Center, 2010. Sernett, Milton C. North Star Country: Upstate New York and the Crusade for African American Freedom. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002. Thomas, Howard. Boys in Blue from the Adirondack Foothills. Prospect, NY: Prospect Books, 1960. Primary Sources: Brainard, Mary Genevie Green. Campaigns of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Regiment. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1915. Cady, Rush P., Letters. Hamilton College Library Digital Collections. http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-cad&c=civ_cad . Clarke, Hermon, Letters. Back Home in Oneida: Hermon Clarke and his Letters, edited by Harry F. Jackson and Thomas F. O’Donnell. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1965. Fairhead, George B., Diary. Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division. MSS.1 FAI.1. Ferguson, John V., Letters. New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/97thInf/97thInfMain.htm. Gridley Family Papers. Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division. MSS.1 GRI. 1. Mowris, J. A. A History of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment, New York Volunteers. Hartford, Conn: Case. Lockwood and Company, Printers, 1866. Pearl, George W., Letters. Hamilton College Library Collections. http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc- main.php?id=col_spe-civ-pea&c=civ_pea .

Perry, Daniel, Papers. Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division. MSS.1 Per. 2. Perry, Winfield M., Papers. Oneida Historical Society Manuscript Division. MSS.1 Per. 3. Stannard, Dwight W., Letters. Hamilton College Library Digital Collections. http://elib.hamilton.edu/hc/hc-main.php?id=col_spe-civ-sta&c=civ_sta.

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