Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

CHAPTER ONE: "Goodbye the Drum Is Beating"

C H A P T E R I G The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was more than Southern white leaders could tolerate. After years of acrimonious compromise over whether the nation would embrace slave or free labor in the expanding western lands, many,North and South, understood that the results of the late presidential election would intensify the momentous question of what to do about slavery in a land whose creed emphasized freedom and human liberty. Many people sighed with relief that, whatever was to come, the issue would be settled once and for all. South Carolina acceleratedthe movement toward war when its state legislature voted to secedefrom the Union on December 2.0,1860. ByFebruary i, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had also voted themselves out of the Union. On February 4, a convention of the seceded states opened in Montgomery, Alabama, to form what would become the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davisbecame interim president of the new nation on February 18, fourteen days before Lincoln took his own oath of office. The two presidents' inaugural addresses demonstrated the commitment each held toward secession and union. Davis reminded Northerners of "the American idea that governments rest on the consent of the governed"; Lincoln responded to Southerners that the Union was"perpetual" 'oodbye the drum is beating" 69 and warned, "in your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war." As tensions increased, American men and boys raced to join militia units. In New York City, Robert Gould Shaw enlisted in the unit of high society, the Seventh New York National Guard. While he drilled in the armory and worked in the counting house of his uncle's mercantile office, Shawwrote to his family, who were vacationing in the Caribbean, of the "great state of excitement about Fort Sumter. First it was to be evacuated, then re-inforced.5 ' On April 5, Shaw wrote to his sister Susanna that he had been a disunionist for about two years, but now wanted "to see the Southern States either brought back by force, or else recognized as independent." He joined other Americans in hoping that Lincoln would act with firmness and finally confront the issue that had divided the country since its inception. One week later, Fort Sumter fell. Lincoln called for 75,000 men to put down the insurrection , and Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee quickly joined the Confederacy.The war had started. Private Shaw's Seventh Regiment became the first unit to reach the capital after Lincoln's call for troops. It was a time for bragging, adventure, and adjustment to military life. New York [RGS] April 5,1861 My Dear Susie, I didn't writeyoul lastweek because George and (I believe)Anna did.2 You probably had letters from Nassau by the same mails which brought them to us.3 They must havewritten to you direct, asthey sent nothing to us for you. I havejust comefromBoston, whereI went to escort Aunt Cora, whocame here to see Mimi off; so I haven't seen any of the Staten-Islanders for some days.4 I had a note from George to-day, dated 3d inst., in which he says that Anna is well, and that there has been "no re-inforcement asyet."5 The day before yesterday,I went to call on Annie Agassiz at Cambridge, and had a most pleasant visit.6 I sat with her and Ida (who looks as nice as ever) for some time, and then wewent over to the Museum to seeAlex.7 It is a splendid collection they have there, and Alex, seems to be in the right place. He has the principal care of it, you know. Harry is staying at Uncle Howland 's, where he is comfortable, though he seems a little lonely, as the family in Boston is so small now.8 We havevery exciting newsto-dayfrom the South. It is now almost certain 70 B L U E - E Y E D C H I L D OF F O R T U N E that Mr. Lincoln is going to re-inforce the United States forts, and in that case the Southerners will surely resist. All the vessels in the Navy are being got ready for sea, and severalsail from here to-day. Lincoln has kept his own counsel so well hitherto that...