University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2018 "Our people are warlike": Civil War Pittsburgh and Home-Front Mobilization Allen Christopher York University of Tennessee, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation York, Allen Christopher, ""Our people are warlike": Civil War Pittsburgh and Home-Front Mobilization. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2018. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4990 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Allen Christopher York entitled ""Our people are warlike": Civil War Pittsburgh and Home-Front Mobilization." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in History. Stephen V. Ash, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Daniel M. Feller, Martin Griffin,uk L e E. Harlow Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) “Our people are warlike”: Civil War Pittsburgh and Home-Front Mobilization A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Allen Christopher York May 2018 Copyright © 2018 Allen Christopher York. All rights reserved. ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Tina York. Her unwavering support and confidence in me are behind every accomplishment I can claim. If there is anything great about me, it is because she has believed in me. iii Acknowledgments Nothing in my beginning indicated that I would reach this level of scholarship. I came to this achievement through an unconventional path that was possible only through the help of those who chose to open doors for me. Rather than going off to college after high school, I set out to find my way in the United States Army. The experiences and influences my career presented inculcated in me a work ethic that have served me well in academia. As I continued to serve and deploy around the world, I steadily pursued my education until my career brought me to the University of Tennessee on an assignment to teach military history to ROTC cadets. Despite my having completed a Master’s degree in Baghdad rather than on a campus, the History faculty in Dunford Hall immediately welcomed me with confidence and encouragement. Catherine Higgs guided me through my first semester, helping a soldier integrate into the waters of graduate student debates. Christopher Magra early on challenged and helped me to broaden my understanding of the American experience. Daniel Feller was always accessible, frequently giving of his time to listen to my ideas and offer me candid guidance. Most of all, Stephen Ash’s professional and scholarly guidance led me to explore topics and to ask questions that greatly enriched the depth and quality of this study. He patiently directed me as I balanced the responsibilities of being a senior leader in the army with the rigor of original historical research. I will forever be indebted for his exceptional mentorship. As indebted as I am to the faculty who guided me, I owe even more to my family for their support. They have sacrificed alongside me, forgiving me for long nights in solitude, reading during family movie nights, and writing rather than playing catch. This project has been a part of their lives as much as it has my own. They have encouraged me when I needed a push and supported me when I needed a break. iv Abstract The Civil War was won by the Union through the effective mobilization of Northern society. Communities across the North were the essential actors in providing troops, producing war materiel, and rendering aid to soldiers. But historians of the Northern home front have primarily focused on dissent and opposition rather than explaining popular support for the war. Scholarship that has concentrated on mobilization has centered on the ideology that influenced it rather than the process by which it was carried out, and historians of the Civil War have largely viewed Northern society as a single entity rather than a conglomerate of individual communities. The Pittsburgh home front connected with and manifested support for the Union war effort in myriad ways that illustrate the importance of regional distinctiveness to understanding the role of Northern society in the war. Ultimately, Pittsburghers were mobilized by a strong sense of localism that made mobilization a matter of honor for the community, by an interpretation of events on the home front that drew parallels with the experience of soldiers on the front line, and by adaptations of existing traditions to promote mobilization. By interpreting the war in ways that fit their existing ideologies and by creating opportunities to directly participate in its prosecution, community leaders and organizers in Pittsburgh enabled the people to engage in the war rather than simply observe it. v Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One: “For the victory that must sooner or later crown their efforts”: Pittsburgh on the Eve of War………....……………………………………...8 Chapter Two: “Not only by expressions of sentiment, but by the exercise of physical force”: Reactions to Rebellion……………………………………………………...37 Chapter Three: “Every prominent point will bristle with cannon and bayonets”: Soldiers and Soldiering in the City...……………………………..………...69 Chapter Four: “The Country has a right to the services of her citizens”: The Draft, Emancipation, and Sustaining Local Volunteerism………..…..99 Chapter Five: “Your patriotism, as well as your honor . in the performance of your duties.”: Manufacturing a War Effort…………………………………………..…...120 Chapter Six: “The voluntary and spontaneous action of the people”: Benevolent Mobilization on the Home Front and Front Line…………….140 Chapter Seven: “Unite in doing honor to the deceased hero”: Managing Death on the Home Front..…………………………… ………173 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...198 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………201 Vita………………………………………………………………………………..216 vi Introduction On October 9, 1910, more than forty-five years after the Civil War came to an end, a week of public celebration commemorating the completion of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh began. On that Sunday morning, churches across the city held services with sermons all coordinated to honor the service and sacrifices of Allegheny County soldiers of the Union army. For the past seven years, veterans and prominent citizens from Pittsburgh had endeavored through committees to erect a monument to the men of their county who lost their lives in the Civil War that would be unlike any other in the nation. Rather than a pedestal and statue, this was to be a functional hall that would feature grand rooms for veterans’ groups to gather, featuring artifacts from the war and an elaborate auditorium seating 2,300 people. It was built, said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “in refutation of the theory that men forget.” Following the religious services, the hall was opened to Civil War veterans from the community. The finished two-story structure on a three-acre plot honored the actions of soldiers and citizens alike in Civil War Pittsburgh. More than two thousand soldiers crowded into the auditorium that afternoon with the emblems of their former corps proudly pinned to their lapels. Many were crippled and required assistance from the ushers—all of whom were members of the local Sons of Veterans chapter.1 The celebrations continued on Tuesday, beginning with a large parade. Formations of Union veterans, organized by their local chapters of the Grand Army of the Republic, American Veterans of Foreign Service, and the Union Veteran Legion, marched through the city streets to the adulation of cheering crowds. Marching with them were the city’s veterans of the Spanish- 1 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 25 January, 24 July, 16 August, 10 October 1910. 1 American War and the Sons of Veterans organization. Union veterans not affiliated with a local post were gathered into their own formation after providing satisfactory evidence of their service. The grand marshal was escorted by the storied local militia company, the Washington Infantry, whose service dated back to the Mexican War. The day was declared a holiday, with businesses closing their doors for what the local press declared “the biggest day in the lives of many who fought for the preservation of the Union and on whom a grateful public is now showering material expressions of gratitude.” An estimated 2,500 marched in the procession that ended at the hall for the official dedication, which began with commemorative speeches followed by a campfire that evening and then a Women’s Day. Speakers for the dedication included Mayor W. A. Magee, Governor Edwin Sydney Stuart, and Congressman John Dalzell; they extolled the part played by Allegheny County in the war and the “women who were called on to see their loved ones