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Chapter 2: The Democrats Grow Stronger
- University of Missouri Press
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9 Chapter 2 The Democrats Grow Stronger By the end of June 1862, many Northerners began to doubt that the war would end as they had hoped. The May 31–June 1 Battle of Fair Oaks had startled the Army of the Potomac’s leadership and ended the advance on Richmond . The new Confederate commander, Robert E. Lee, then launched an offensive against McClellan. In a series of engagements known as the Seven Days, Lee’s army, though suffering higher casualties, drove the Yankees back to the James River. Even as the opposing armies grappled with each other, President Lincoln sent a letter to the governors on June 30, asking them to raise an additional 150,000 men. However, it became apparent that the readiness to volunteer present at the war’s beginning was no longer there. Secretary of State William Seward arranged a meeting with Governors Andrew G. Curtin of Pennsylvania and Edwin D. Morgan of New York to draw up an appeal from the “loyal governors” to Lincoln, asking him to call for 300,000 men. This call went out across the North on July 7, the day after the War Department resumed the recruiting service.1 A rush of new recruits to join the army never materialized, so Congress debated what to do. The result was the Militia Act signed into law by the president on July 17. The debates on this bill included discussion about the use of free blacks and slaves by the military forces of the nation. Many congressmen had already gone home to either campaign for the upcoming elections or to help their states raise troops. The bill, in its final form, required the enrollment of all male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five in preparation for any future draft calls by the governors. Lincoln could issue quotas and call the state militias into federal service for a period not to exceed nine months. The president could supplement existing conscription laws of any state that had deficiencies in its drafting laws. The bill also stipulated that blacks who entered military service would receive ten dollars per month, three dollars less than white volunteers. The Militia Act also specified that any blacks serving in the army who had been owned by Rebels would be emancipated for their service to the country.2 10 The Fishing Creek Confederacy With recruiting for the July 7 call for 300,000 men progressing slowly, on August 4 the War Department ordered a militia draft for 300,000 additional soldiers. This call also included a special draft in those states that had not yet filled their volunteer quotas. In Pennsylvania,Adjutant General Edward Biddle, after consultation with Governor Curtin and county officials, realized that the state’s 1858 militia law had not been followed vigorously by most counties, and thus the militia enrollment rolls were very deficient. Curtin, on July 12, had notified county and city commissioners to perform their duty and check the militia enrollment forms. When the replies clearly supported Biddle’s position, Curtin asked the War Department to have US marshals in each county employ deputies to update the enrollment forms, while county physicians would conduct the required medical examinations of each man.3 The threat of a draft spurred volunteering in Pennsylvania. Local pride and peer pressure were partly responsible for this increase in volunteering. No town wanted to be accused of being unpatriotic, and in many small towns, local businessmen and wealthy patrons offered bounties to entice young men to enlist. Others enlisted to avoid the stigma of being drafted. In Columbia County, war meetings were held to discuss the idea of raising a bounty to pay soldiers who enlisted.At the first meeting in July, one of the three county commissioners was absent and no decision was made. By the time a second meeting was held in August, the call for 300,000 men had been made, and after much discussion the commissioners refused to take action because of the number of bounties that would have to be paid. Citizens who attended were not happy with the commissioners , and an afternoon meeting was held “at which the commissioners’ action was unsparingly denounced.” After this meeting, there was an altercation between a convalescent soldier and a drunk who cheered for Jeff Davis. A mob “maltreated” the drunk. “Some dozen or more republicans were arrested on a charge of riot,” it was reported. A trial was held in Hemlock Township, where the...