The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-11-20

W lllt nulIlDtl
mustered under the Union banners on sew
eral of the great battlefields of 1923 New
York mustered and put into the field nearly
100000; Pennsylvania, 33S 600; Ohio, 3l3, 600;
Illinois, 259, 600; Indiana, 1NG, 600. Massachu-
sets, 10000. These magnificent armies
for whether the men stood in the ranks at
the front with mus<ets in their hands or
were peacefully occupied at home they rep
resented the war strength of their common
wealths-were each under the control and
direction Of a single head. the governor of
the state which raised and equipped them
Suppose one of the four with the biz quotas
had risen in opposition to the government
What if Pennsylvania had posted her bat
talions on her northern border and said to
New York and New England, mo thor
oughfare for troops marching to make war
upon the south2" Not only 33S, 900 soldiers,
but about double that number, counting
every military man in the state, might have
backed up the threat
Suppose New York had taken a stand of
that kind and cut off New England If
either Indiana, with its 100000, or Ohio,
with over 100000, had joined hands with
Kentucky what II stumbling block would
thus have been cast in the way of Il united
north, and if the three greatest of the sol
N. L
sylvania and Ohio-with their million actu.
ally put under arms and u million more in
reserve, had declared for peace the north
couldn't have made war ut all Yes, these
great states were each nations in them
selves, had armies of their own and could
have made respectable showing as things
were in waging independent war. They
need not have waged war at all openly to
have changed the whole aspect of the
Union struggle.
The governors who rallied and marshaled
their people on the side of the old flag were
heroes in their spheres as truly as were the
war president and the field commanders in
theirs. Each was commander in chief of the
state militia. There were factious and CON
esrvative elements to subdue or convert, leg
islatures to inspire and an undercnrrent of
persistent anti-war feeling to neutraliZe
When the crisis came on the 18th of April
all hearts stood still until the states had
spoken, and for the time the several gov
errors were masters of the situation The
technical legality of the president : call was
questioned but no matter about technical
tiles if the governors chose to recognize the
call.
The first troops to reach Washington
Were the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts,
less delay by the famous war governors"
John \. Andrew and Andrew G. Curtin.
In these two executives the extremes of
Union sentiment We're represented. An
drew was radical, Curtin a conservative
Andrews soldiers travelled farthest were
the best equipped and spilled their blood
first. Curtin's men We're nearest the scene
of danger and reached there day ahead
of the Massachusetts boys, but they had
been snatchcd up on the spur of the mo-
ment and hurried off without arms or
equipments, anyway and anyhow, so that
they got there to show the good will of the !
Pennsylvaniaus and their governor An
drew had been at work for months. The |
day after he took the tgubernatorial chair, !
Jan. 5, 1861, he sent out secret messages
to the neighboring governors stating that |
he believed from advices from Washington |
that the national capital was in danger and |
that he would put the state militia on a
war footing. He advised the others to do |
the same When the presidents call was |
issued, he had five regiments, one battalion |
and one battery ready to march.
For four years Andrew was II leader
among northern governors in rallying sup |
porters to the Union cause lie wrote the |
address issued by the governors to the peo-
PIE uuliuS tut tlIh udNS Ol lSbS. l Ct us !
vehement Unionism and the passions of the |
hour did not blind him TO the claims of |
justice, He advocated emancipation as
sound policy, but he opposed arbitrary ar
rests for political opinions as an uncalled |
for tyranny. Curtin. who was later to vie
with Andrew in warlike zeal and activity, |
was wholly unprepared for war when it |
came He labOred until the last to pre-
serve tranquility. When that proved hone
less, he bent every energy to the prosecd-