Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1861-01-10
POSITION OF GEN. JOHN f. WOOL.


epistle above, We give au extract from
letter Of Gen. John Z. Wool, democrat
more than ONCE spoken Of for President, to
Mr.. Cass, dated Troy, Dee 8, 1860
South Carolina says she intends TO leave
the Union. Her Representatives H. Congress
say she has already left the Union. 1t would
seem that she is neither to be conciliated or
comfortcd. | command the Eastern Depart
ment, which includes South Carolina, Geor-
gia, FLORIDA, Alabama and Mississippi. You
know me well. l have ever been a firm. de-
cided, faithful, and devoted friend of nv
country. If | can aid the President to pre-
serve th4 Union. hope he will command nv
services 1t will never do for him or YOU to
leave Washington without every star in this
/ Union ia in its place. Therefore no time
should be lost in adopting measures to defeat
those who are conspiring against the Uniun
ilesltancy or delay may be no less fatal to
the Union than to the President, or your own
! high standing as a statesman.
. 1t seems to me that troops should be sent
to Charleston to man the Forts in that har
Dor. You have eight companies at Fort Mon
roe, Va. Three or four tf these companies
should be sent without moments DELAY to
Fort Moultrie. 1t will save the Union and
the President much trouble. 1t is said that
/ to send at this time troops to that harhur
would produce great excitement among the
people. That is nonsense, when the people
are as much excited as they can be- and the
leaders are determined to execute their long
medltated purpose OF separating the State
from the Union. So long as yon command
the entrance to the city of Charleston, South
Carolina cannot separate herself from the
! Union. Do not leave the forts in the harbor
in condition to induce an attempt to take
possession of them. 1t might easily be done
at this time. If South Carolina should take
them, 1t might, as she anticipates, induce
other States to join her,
Permit me to entreat you to urge the Pres
ident to send at once three or four companies
OF Artillery to Fort Moultrie The Union
can be preserved but it requires firm, dec-
| ded, prompt and energetic measures on the
part of the President. He has only to exert
! the power conferred on him by the Constitu-
ton and laws of Congress, and all will be
safe, and he will prevent civil war, which
never fails to call forth all the baser passions
of the human heart"
In another letter to a friend at Wash
ipgtop, the cid soldier speaks as follows:
Troy Dec. 81, 1860.
Ny Dcar Str.-South Carolina, after TWEEN
ty seven years-Mr. Rhett says thirty years
- o{ constant and unceasing efforts by her
leaders to induce her to secede, has declared
herself out of the Union and this, too, with
out the slightest wrong or injustice done her
people on the part ef the Government of the
| United States. Although she may have seiz-
ed the reyene cutter, and her reasonable Pal
metto flag flies over the United States Arse
! nal, the Custom House, Post Office, Castle
Pinckney and Fort Moultrie, she is not out
of the uuion, nor beyond the pale Of the
| United States. Before she can get out of
| their jurisdiction or control, a reconstruction
OF the Constitution must be had, or civil war
ensue In the latter case, it would GeGuiEe no
prophet to foretel the result.
1t is reported that Mr.. Buchanan has re-
ceived informally the Commissioners appoint
ed by the rebels of South Carolina to negoti-
ate for the public property in the barbor Of
Charleston, and for other purposes. 1t is al
so reported that the President disapproved of
the conduct of Major Anderson, who being
satisfied that he would not be able to defend
Fort Moultrie with the few men under his
command, wisely took possession of Fort
Sumter, where he could protect himself and
the country from the disgrace which might
have occurred If he had remained in Fort
Moultrie. Being the commander in the har
bor, he had the right to occupy Fort Sumter,
an act which the safety of the Union, as we'll
as his own honor, demanded. 1t is likewise
stated that apprehensions are entertained that
Major Anderson Will be required to abandon
Fort Sumter and reoccupy Fort Moultrie.
There can be no foundation for such appre
tensions, for surely the President would not
surrender The citadel Oft he harbor of Charles.
ton to rebels.
Fort Sumter commands the entrance, and
in : few hours could demolish Fort Moultrie.
So long as the United States keeps posses
sion of this fort, the independence of South
Carolina will only be in name, and not in
fact. If, howeVor, it should be surrendered
to South Carolina, which | do not apprehend,
the smothered Indignation of the Free States
would be reused beyond control 1t would
not be IN the power of any one to restrain it.
In twenty days two hundred thousand men
would be In readiness TO take vengeance on
all who would betray the Union into the
hands Of Its enemies. Be assured that do
not exaggerate the feelings of the people.
They are already sufficiently excited at the
attempt to dissolve the Union for no otner res.-
son than that they constitutionaly exercised
the most precious right conferred upon them
of voting for the person whom they eonsid
cred the most worthy and best qualified to
I'LL the aEhce of President. Fort Sumter,
~ g ouSht hot' anu presume Will notJ
be delivered over to South Carolina.
l am not however, pleading for the Free
States, for they are not in danger, but for the
Union and the preservation Of the Cotton
States. Those who SOW the wind must expect
to reap the whirlwind. The leaders of South
Carolina could not have noticed that we live
IN an age of progress, and that all Christen-
Dom is making rapid strides in the march of
civilization and freedom If they had they
would have discovered that the announce
ment of every victory obtained by the hero
OF the nineteenth century, Garibsldi, in favor
of the oppressed of Italy, did not fail to elec-
.trify every American heart with ioy and glad |
Whnrn L.