The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-09-04

mustered under the Union banners on sew
eral Of the great battlefelds Of 1923. New
York mustered and put into the field nearly
10000; Pennsylvania, 1886, 900; Ohio, 313, 900;
Illinois, 259, 900; Indiana, 106, 900; Massachu-
sets, lac, 900. These magnificent armies
Tor whether the men stood In the ranks at
the front with muskets 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 q single head. the governor OF
the state which raised and equipped them.
Suppose one of the four with the big quotas
had risen in opposition to the government
What IL Pennsylvania had posted her bat
talions on her northern border and said to
New York and New England, "No thor
oughfare for troops marching to make war
upon the souths" Not only 1886, 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 Englandl II
either Indiana, with its 100000, or Ohio
with over 100000, had joined hands with
Kentucky what a stumbling block would
thus have been cast in the way of united
north, and IL the three greatest Of the sol
dier producing states-New York, Penn
sylvania and Ohio-with their million actu-
ally put under arms and a million more In
reserve, had declared for peace the north
couldn't have made war at 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
cI hr1a - L.
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
stete militia. There were factious and con-
esrvative elements to subdue or convert, leg.
islatures to inspire and an undercurrent 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.
ernors were masters of the situation. The
technical legality Of the presidents 8 call was
questioned, but no matter about technical
tiles IL the governors chose to recognize the
call.
The first troops to reach Washington
were the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts
men. dispatched without moments use
less delay by the famous "war governors"
John A. Andrew and Andrew G. Curtin.
In these two executives the extremes Of
Union sentiment were represented. An
drew was radical, Curtin conservative.
Andrews soldiers travelled farthest, were
the best equipped and spilled their blood
first. Curtins men were nearest the scene
of danger and reached there day ahead
of the Massachusetts, boys, but they had
been snatched 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
Pennsylyanians and their governor. An
drew had been at work for months. The
day after he took the gubernatorial 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
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 leader
among northern governors in rallying sup
porters to the Union cause. He wrote the
address issued by the governors to the peo-
pie during the dark days of 1862. Yet his
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 warlke zeal and activity,
was wholly unprepared for war when it
came He labo,s,d until the last To pre-
serve tranquility. When that proved hope-
less. he bent every energy to the prosecu-