Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-09-21
A Soldiers Speech to Soldiers.
SPEECH OF
CAPTAIN CHARLES B, ROCkWM,
Atthe GreatNob Mountain Meet
ing. Columbia County, On
wednesday, Aug. 80, '65.


ing. Columbia County, Gn
wednesday, Aug. 30, '65.
FRIENDS AND FELLOW CrTlZENs:-It
may be according to tactics to put raw re
cruits in front while these old veterans are
kept in reserve, but the position is painful
one. Inasmuch, however, as have been
assigned a position inthis assault on the en-
emy it is my duty to advance to the charge
and if rcpulsed | shall fall back upon the
reserves We have assembled here. as we
have n perfect right to do, alike to celebrate
the establishment of our party, and to re
new among our people their poical faith.
For four long years we have engaged in
bloody civil war, the garhs of mourning be-
fore me, the manned soldiers who have met
here prove the desperation Of the struggle,
were other evidence wanting. The ques-
tons are pertinent, what have we fought
for? Why is the fair land filed with Grip.
pies, with mourning-and why are we as Il
nation overwhelmed with debt? These are
the questions which have been assigned me,
and will endcavor to state what we fought
for, what we did not fight for, and what we
! should now insist upon. When we consider
the conflicting opinions of leading men, Of
different communities, the important So
/ luton of the question will be apparent.
| The subject is an old one; you have heard
it day 0f5cr day for the past four years; and
! | shall not pretend to give you any original
thoughts on the subject, but to revive old
ones to your mind.
The object of the South, | take it, was to
establish aseparate governmcntanong states
alike interested in the preservation of the in
stitution of slavery, which they claimed, had
been illegally interferrcd with. Other
causes mpelled them to this course, but this
was the main one The object Of the West,
besides the general one to maintain the I'm
ion Of our fathers, was to open and keep
open the navigation of the mississippi river,
that they might through it, send their'pro-
/ ducc to market. The masses of the Mid
die States were actuated by truly patriotic
impulses, though they knew that upon heir
borders would the contest be decided. The
object of the Fast, however, was not the
general one to preserve the Union, though
some men within its borders may have so
stated. IL was the desire Of vengeance
upon the South, and upon South Carolina
in particular. They were not opposed to
SECESSION because they had been advocates
Of that doctrine from the foundation Of our
government. Many Of my hearers may be
old enough to remember the Essex Junto
and the Hartford Convention. They may
remember the numerous petitions coming
from that portion of the United States to
Congress, praying for dissolution of the
Union. For over thirty years they have de-
cared that they would have no union with
Shareholders. You have not forgotten that
General Banks who has held high civil and
military positions under our government. ii
man whose name is synonymous with dis
union and defeat declared that che was
willing in certain contingencies to let the
Union slide. You have not forgotten that
a certain representative in Congress from
that goodly city of Boston, and who now
holdsa high diplomatic position under the
government, declared that "the time had
arrived when we must have an anti-slavery
Constitution, an anti-slavery Bible, and an
anti slavery God. a" Garrison's Libeutor, Il
prominent New England paper, and one
extensively circulated in the army by the
Sanitary Commission, long had at its head
as a motto, "1he Constitution is a covenant
with dcath-an agreement hell. =" These
men are types of New England sentiment,
and hate alike the Union and the Constiu-
ton. Nor were they actuatcd by desire
! to support the laws, because they had been
the first to break them; they have refused
to carry out the provisions of the fugitive
slave law, though founded upon direct
command Of the Constitution, and have set
up their own corrupt consclenccs as "thc
higher law, in following which they claim
I the right to break through all law5-all con-
: stitutions. These are the men whom | ar
raign before you as having been disloyal in
the past, and who, when the present wal
commemorative first they ever attempted
to support ndeavorcd to pGrvcrt its oh,
'jccts. But the handspring of their action
! tln IpVn pf pnIp and InNr hnN-n
rich by taking advantage Of the nation
; necessities, and the knowledge that they
!, were secure from invasion. But, fellow cit
izcns outside of New England, the grand
moving causi was patriotism, the desire to
Ipcrpetuatc the government of our fathers
and to transmit 1t to our postcrty, to resent
the insult to the flag before me, which the
sun is gliding with his setting rays. We
could not bear that one star should he taken
from its sky The blood of our fathers
was ombalmcd in its red, the purity of thcir
cause in its white, and the freedom they
, attained in its blue. These considerations in
duccd me and thousands of my comrades
to forsakc the peaceful ayocations Of life,
= and to bear our breasts to the storm Of bat
tie. There were no party distinctions, the
: Democrats were among the iirstto offer THEN
services.
Having shown the object of the people
let us consider the object of the adminisra
ton as publicly declared to us. Pres
ident Lincoln, in his inaugural address
said, II have no purpose, directly or indi
rectly, to Interfere with the institution o
slavery in the States where it now exists
believe have no lawful right to do so; anC
| have no inclination to do So >
The power confidcd to me will be used .tC
hold, occupy and possess the property and
places belonging to the government, and t,
, collect the duties and imposts; but bcyont
what may be necessary for these objects
there will be no INVASION no using of fore,
, against or among the people anywhere"
This was the dc Jared object Of the Prcsi
dent, but further in his proclamation calling
for -, 200 troops, he said it was 'to rcpos.
scss the forts, places and property of the
United States, and we should avoid dcyas-
tation or disturbance of peaceful citizens.
The famous Committee of Thirty-thrcc on
the state Of the Union, of which Thomas
H Corwin, now Minister of Mexico, was chair.
man, reported among other equally strong
resolutions, the following: "RcSolrrd That
we rccopdi2c slavery as now existing in iif
} teen of the United States, by the usage,
, and laws of those States; and we recognize
no authority, legal or otherwise, outside o
n State where it so exists, to interfere witt
slaves or slavery in such States, in disregard