The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-03-05
BORDER LOYALISTS.
Magnificent Devotion to Patriot
ism by the Sturdy Mountain
GERS.
DY coMRADE JOHN R. KING, 9TH ND,
PENSION. AGENT, WASHINGTON, d. c.

DY CoMRADE JOHN R. KING, 9TH MD,
PENSION AGENT, WASHINGTON, d. c.
Read before the District of Columbia
Loyal Legion)
While the brave deeds of men enlisted
in their country's service are written and
sung by historians and poets,
"Whose deeds are known
In words that kindle glory from the
stone;
but little has been said of the brave and
loyal men who stood on the border line
and defended the flag and the hearthstone
during the war of the rebellion. AT times
their homes appeared defenselesS. and no
force of armed friends was i'll sight; yer
the love they cherished for home and
country inspired them bravely to stand
before the foe, regardless of consequences,
believing that God ever defends the right.
When the clouds of war were gathering
over the country in 1861. and a distressing
civil conflict was imminent, there were
no citizens of the republic more thorough
~ aroused than We're those of the Border
States. Discussions, bitter and acrlmo-
NOUS, ran high; friendships and associa-
tons of lifetime We're severed: and
when, at last, the cloud burst and the first
gun of Sumter sounded the alarm from
1.-THE brazen throat of war; when the call
for troops was made. father was arrayed
against son, and brother against brother.
Social and business intercourse was sharp
ly defined along the line of lndlvlduai
prejudices, and prescription marked the
temner of the people. A peculiar feature
of this division of sentiment was that in
the mountain sections of those Border
States the Union sentiment largely pre-
dominated. and it was from these sections
of Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky. North
Carolina and Tennessee, that the quota
of troops for the Union army was recruit
ed.
In MARYLAND this division was distinct
IL marked In the western section the
feeling was overwhelmingly for the
Union cause. while the eastern and SOUTH
ern sections were largely dominated by the
lisloyal sentiment. When the Legislature
of the State was in session in Annapoils
in 1861. the presence at the place OF Gen
Butler and his command was too sug-
gestive to the secession schemers, ana II
was thought prudent to change their place
of meeting to Frederick City, which was
DONE and there the temporiZing policy was
continued. negotiations looking to the pas
sage of an ordinance of secession We're
being conducted. This aroused the ire of
the Western Marylanders; they would
brook no scheming in their midst for the
overthrow of the Government and the Sc
cession of their State; SO the loyal men
of Frederick and Washington Counties
formed a secret organization, known as
the Minute Men of g." and established
a line of pickets along the National turn
pike, from Frederick to Hagerstown. We
read in the story of Troy how the Greek
armies for 10 long years fought around
that beleaguered city: how the deeds OF
herOism have come over the tide of time
in the magnificent Homeric lines; how 1t
was arranged when the Greek chieftains
left their homes that when Troy fell the
knowledge of its fall was to be conveyed
back by signal fires on the hill tops and
mountain crests. flashing the news across
the valley and the sea to the homes OF the
Greeks, and how the faithful servant OF
Ag:memnon walked upon the hOusetops
night after night, watching for the blaZ-
ing fires that We're TO tell of the downfall
of Troy. So, in this test of Marylands
honor these patriotic sons, worthy OF their
sires of &c, watched night after night
for the signal which was to be flashed
over the mountain tops and proclaimed
over the valley, telling these faithful
watchers of the passage by that hump
Legislature of the ordinance of secession.
1t was arranged that Immediately upon
receipt of such news the loyal Minute
Men, from the mountains and valleys,
armed for the conflict, were to assemble
at Frederick City; when the lives of those
who voted for the ordinance would have
paid the penalty of their disloyalty. This,
however. was happily averted by the ar
rest and imprisonment of the most violent
members of the Legislature, and their in
generation in Fort Lafayette. by the or
der of Gen. George b. Mcclellan.
While large numbers Of men from these
States volunteered and were regularly
mustered into the service of the United
States Government tsome 10000 from
Maryland alone) probably the most heroic
and patriotic service was rendered by
thousands who remained ut home, compos-
ing. as il were, faithful rear guard
While it was essential that men should
be at the front to meet the armed opposi-
ton to the Government, it was just as
needful that a healthy public sentiment
should be created and maintained at home.
Many of you, l am sure, We're witnesses
of the
SUFFERING AND CRUEL TREATMENT
of these Southern loyalists in rebel prisons.
Among my saddest recollections of that
unhappy struggle are scenes witnessed at
Salisbury Prison in 1862, when. behind a
stockade, within that prison yard, were
huddled together thousands of loyal men
from the mountain regions of North Caro-
lima, whose only crime was loyalty to the
flag of their fathers. Torn from the
bosom of their families, and incarcerated
in that miserable pen, where they were
brutality treated and lily fed, they sicken-
ed and died and We're buried like dogs.
The story of the soldier who fought for
his country is told i'll history and song,
but those brave men who died a shameful
and wretched death for the same princi-
ple-wlo will tell their story. and on what
page of history will be written the sacri-
fees they made as a seal of their devotion
10 their country? The love of these Border
State loyalists for the Union was not ut
all times made manifest from mere words
alone When it became necessary TO de-
fend their homes and their fresides by
force of arms. there were plenty of them
who did not hesitate to use the trusty
mountain rifle. When Gen. Dix penned his
famous order: IF any man attempts TO
haul down tie American flag, shoot him
on the spot" lie little thought that old
Ishmael Day. of Maryland would be the
first one to obey the order. This old man
of 40 years, when he heard in July, CD
that Early had crossed the Potomac and
was invading Maryland. ran mp his flag
and. though his neighbors demonstrated
with him respecting the folly of such an
act and begged him - take it down. he
would not hearken, Dut swore that Inc
would shoot any man who attempted to
haul il down, and he was as good as his
word: for, on the next day, Early had one
man less to take back. The old man
thought it prudent to take to the bush. and
from his hiding place witnessed the de
struction Of his house by the Infatuated re