the great South Carolina leader, remarked
to John Quincy Adams that he did not
think the slave question, then pending in
the nation's councils, would produce a dis-
solution of the Union ; but if it should, the
South would, from necessity, be compelled
to form an alliance, offensive and defensive,
with Great Britain. Mr. Adams asked if
that would not be returning to the old



colonial state. Calhoun said, ^ Yes, pretty
much ; but it would be forced upon them."

Mr. Adams inquired whether he thought
if, by the effect of this alliance, the popu-
lation of the North should be cut off frt>m
its natural outlet upon the ocean, it would
ML back upon its rocks, bound hand and
foot, to starve ; or whether it would retain
its power of locomotion to move South-
ward by land.

Mr. Calhoun replied that in the latter
event it would be necese(ary for the South
to make their communities all military.

Mr. Adams pressed the conversation no
farther, but remarked, " If the dissolution
of the Union should result frx)m the slave
question, it is as obvious as anything that
can be foreseen of futiudty that it must
shortly afterward be followed by a univer-
sal emancipation of the slaves. A more
remote, but perhaps not less certain con-
sequence would be the extirpation of the
African race on this continent by the grad-
ually bleaching process of intermixture,
where the white is already so predominant,
and by the destructive process of emanci-
pation, which, like all great religious
and political reformations, is terrible in its
means, though happy and glorious in its
end."



Kard-TTp for a Blaoksmitli.
On the 4th of March, 1864, the citizens
of Fort Smith, Arkansas, raised a palmet-
to fiag in town, and one of the soldiers,
private Bates, company E, First cavalry,
went out and climbed up the tree upon
which the flag was suspended, took it down,
and brought it into the garrison. Captain
Sturgiss ordered him to take it and put it
back where he got it He said he never
would The Captain ordered him to the
guard house, and in going he tore the flag
in. pieces. He was then ordered to be
put in irons, and was sent to the black-
smith shop for that purpose ; but the smith,
a citizen, refused to put them on, and he
was disdiarged in consequence. D com^
pany, Fnrst cavaby, ferrier, was then order-



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THE BOOK OP ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION.



ed to put them on, and he refused, and
was also sent to the goard-house. £ com-
pany, First cavaby, farrier, then put them
on. The soldiery gave three shouts for
Bates, and for the blacksmiths who refused
to put the irons oi^



Ei^iUnr tha Anmeatr Proclainattmi at
**Bussanl*s Boost.**

When Sherman's men were climbing

the sides of ^ Buzzard's Boost," in their

gallant and successful movement at that

point, the rebels attempted to resist the

advance by rolling down heavy stones

from (he clifi& and rocky sides of the

mountain. The following story is told of

the occasion, on the authority of a staff

officer:



as the successor of the late Commander-
in-chie£

The President, accompanied by every
member of the cabinet, now visited Gren-
eral Scott at his own residence, and read
to him the order of retiracy, accompanied
with highly eulogistic expressions of the
national gratitude for his brilliant services
in times past, and regret at the necessity
of officially parting with him. The aged
Greneral stood up, and with him rose the
President and the members of the cabinet
Deeply affected by the occasion, the old
veteran said :

^ President, this hour overwhelms me.
It overpays all services I have attempted
to render to my country. If I had any
claims before, they are all obliterated by
this expression of approval by the Presi-



A corporal of the Sixty-fourth Illinois
halloed to the rebels, and told them if they J jent, with the remaining support of hb
would stop firing stones he would read cabmet. I know the President and his



to them the President's Proclamation.
The offer was at first received with deri-
sive yeUs, but they soon became quiet,
and the corporal then read to them the
Amnesty Proclamation. When he came
to some part they d'd not approve, they
would set up a fiendish yell, as if in defi-
ance, and then sent down an installment of
rocks by way of interlude. But the cor-
poral kept on in spite of such uncivil de-
monstrations, and finished the document,
when there was another outburst of yells,
mingled with laughter, and the old busi-
ness of tumbling down the rocks and firing
was again resumed. That corporal de-
served an appointment as President Lin-
coin's Secretary-at-large.



Oi&olal Farcfwell to Oeii«ral Soott
An event of profound interest to the
country occurred Oct. 31st, 1861, namely,
the resignation of Lieutenant-Greneral
Scott, the veteran commander-in-chief. This
was owing to his advanced years and va-
rious bodily infirmities. The request, on
such grounds, could not, of course, but be
complied with, and General McClellan was
at once notified that he had been selected



cabinet welL I know that the country
has placed its interests in this trying crisis
in safe keeping. Their counsels are wise :
their labors are as untiring as they aro
loyal, and their course is ihe right one.**

After these feW words, overcome by
emotion, and tottering from the effects of
wounds and infirmities, the old hero sat
down.

The President and each member of his
cabinet now bade farewell to the General
and retired.



Preaohlxiff the Bword— cmd TTsInc XL
The following telegraphic correspon-
dence passed between a mother in Balti-
more, and her son, the pastor of a church
in Boston:

Baltdcore, April 17th.
Mt Deab Son : Your remarks of last
Sabbath were telegraphed to Baltimore,
and published in an extra. Has God sent
you to preach the sword or to preach
Christ? Your Mother.

Boston, April 22d.
Mt Dear Mother : <^ God has sent**
me not only *^to preach the swcurd," but to



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PATRIOTIC, POLITICAL, CIVIL, JUDICIAL, ETC.



125



C8E IT. When this Government tumbles,
look amongst the ruins for your Son.



Iziflh Military ImaginatioxL

The following took place at a flag pre-
sentation in the Army of the Cumberland,
May 1, 1863. The flag was presented to
the Fifteenth Indiana Volunteers (on be-
half of the young ladies of Hascall, Indi-
ana,) by the chaplain, and received for the
regiment by General Wagner. The regi-
ment was in line, and the rest of the bri-
gade assembled to witness the ceremony.
The General, in the com*se of his speech,
^d:

**.Tell the young ladies of Hascall that
when the war is over their then sanctified
gift shall be returned to them, unless torn
to shreds by the enemy's bullets."

"An' thin we'll take 'em back the pole ! "
cried an Irishman in the regiment.

The brigade, oiBoers kud men, created
a breach of discipline by laughing immod-
erately, and Pat received a pass to go to
town next day.



Brownlow Prefbrs the '^ Direot** Boute to
Hell.

Parson Brownlow, at that time editor
of the Knoxville (Tenu.,) Whig, was re-
quested by General Pillow, in the early
part of the secession movement, to act as
chapkdn for that General's brigade in the
rebel service. The Parson replied in his
usual scathing and trenchant rhetoric, as
follows: **Sir — ^I have just received your
message through Mr. Sale, requesting me
to serve as chaplain to your brigade in
the southern army : and in the spirit of
kindness in which this request is made,
but in all candor I return for an answer,
that when I shall have made up my mind
to go to hell, I will cut my throat and go
directs and not travel round by way of the
Southern Confederacy."



XiOglalatfve Scene for a Painter.
The secret schemes of secession under,
taken by certain members of the ^Ken-
tucky l^islature gave great impetus, at



one time, to the rebel movements in that
State, especially as it was known that
John C. Breckinridge, one of the political
idols of the Kentuekians, would, under
certain circumstances, be found on the
conspirators' side. During the session of
that body, there appeared one day in the
Legislative Hall, a patriarchal old farmer
from a neighboring county, — one of that
kind for whom Kentucky has an instinct-
ive veneratioii, — who uncovered his snowy



John C. Breckinridge.

locks and sat down. At the first luU in
the debate, he rose slowly and said he
had a word to say, but was aware it was
out of order for him to speak before the
legislature while in session. His dignified
and venerable appearance arrested atten-
tion, and ** Go on I " "Go on ! " from sev-
eral voices, seemed to keep him on his
feet Again expressing his diffidence
at speaking out of propriety — "Hear!
hear I " resounded generally over the room.
The members' curiosity as well as respect
for the appearance and manner of the
man, was up, and a silence followed the
"Hear! hear!'* when the old hero de-
livered the following eloquent but laconic
speech:

'^Gentlemen; I am delegated by my
county to inform you, that if you hold a
secret session here, as you threaten to do,
not one stone of this capital will rest upon
another twenty-four hours after — good



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THE BOOK OF ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION.



day," and he left. Alas ! that those words
were derided, as they were, by that band
of misguided men, and that Breckinridge,
voluntarily falling from his high estate,
should at last fmd himself an outlawed fu-
gitive on a foreign shore.



Qearge Peabody BepiidJating the Bebel
OomnoLissiozier.

Mr. Dudley Mann, one of the repre-
sentatives of the rebel cause in England,
waited in behalf of thatr cause on our !
countryman Peabody, who happens to'
hold some $300,000 of repudiated Missis- !
sippi Bonds on which there is due more j
than $600,000 of interest Mr. Mami
was very magnificent and grandiloquent, j
but withal, prosy ; and Peabody, suffering
from gout and Mississippi Repudiation,
lost his temper. Shaking his clenched
fist at the rebel, he said, emphatically:
** If I were to go on 'Change and hunt up
th3 suffering and starved widows and or-
phans who have been ruined by your infa-
mous repudiation of honest debts, and
proclaim that you are here to borrow more
of our gold and silver to be again paid by
repudiation, fas I believe it is my duty to
do,) you would inevitably be mobbed, and
find it difficult to escape with your life.
Good morning. Sir."



and took possession of the depot and cars.
He inquired of the bystanders where the
engineers were to be found. " There goes
one," a maii replied. Colonel Kinsman
hailed him, and he approached. A coi.-
versation ensued, which showed some^
thing of the quality of the more demon-
strative secesh.



Btatlnff the Exact Alternative.
The active operations of General But^
ler^s army in Louisiana were confined, at
first, to sudden incursions into the enemy's
country, either for the purpose of rescu-
ing Union men, who were threatened by
their neighbors with destruction, or of
breaking up camps and roving gangs of
guerilhis. The guerillas were numerous,
enterprising, and wholly devoid of every
kind of scruple. The first dash by the
Federals into the inhabited, country was
made by Colonel Kinsman, who went fifty
miles or more up the Opelousas railroad
to bring away the families of some Union
men who had fled to the city, asking pro-
tection. He crassed the river to Algiers,



I



stating the Exact Alternatiw



"Are you an engineer? " asked Colonel
Kinsman.

" Yes."

" Do you run on this road ? "

"Yes."

"How long have you been on this
road?"

"Six years."

" I want you to run a train of cars for
me."

" 1 won't run a train for any d — Yan-
kee."
."Yes you will."

" No I won't"

"You will, and without the slightest
accident too."

^*ril die first"

" Precisely. You have stated the exact
altemcUive. The first thing that goes
wrong, you're a dead man. So march
along with us."

The man obeyed. Upon getting out o^
hearing of his townsmen, he appeared



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PATRIOTIC, POLITICAL, CIVIL, JUDICIAL, ETC.



127



more pliant, and the conversation was re-
somecL

" What is your name.^ *'

« Pierce."

"Pierce? Why that is a Yankee name.
Where were you born ? "

*^ In Boston."

"Are you married ? "

"Yes."

" Where was your wife bom?"

"At East Cambridge."

" How long have you been at the
South?"

"About six years."

"And you are the man who would'nt
run a train for a * — Yankee.' You
lire, indeed, a * — Yankee.' Go home,
and see that you are promptly on hand
to-morrow morning."

He was promptly on hand in the morn-
ing, ready to run the train for his con-
demned countrymen. But as competent
engineers were found among the troops, it
was thought best not to risk the success
of the expedition by trusting the renegade,
and the objects of the party were accom-
plished without his aid.



Senator I><ni«>las'8 Last Message to his
Sons.

For a considerable time previous to his

death. Senator Douglas was in a semi-



Mit. 8. A. DcraglM.



conscions condition ; but on the morning
of that event his mind and energies raUied



somewhat Lying at apparent ease in his
bed, but with the marks of death upon
his pale countenance, Mrs. Douglas, who
sat, soothing him gently, by his bedside,
painfiilly aware that the dreadful moment
of final separation was approaching, asked
him what message he wished to send to
his sons, Robert and Stephen, who were
then students at Greorgetown. He an-
swered not at first, and she tenderly re-
peated the question. He then replied
with a full voice, and emphatic tone —

" Tell them to obey the laws, and sup-
port the Constitution of the United '

States."

♦

Death Preferred to the Southern Oath.

John Beman, a watchman on board one
of the Western steamers, was deliberately
hung at Mound City for his patriotic fidel-
ity to the flag of his adopted country. He
was a native of Norway, came to this
country more than fifty years ago, and'
lived in Boston, where his children still
reside. He was first examined by a
"committee," was proven to have said
that he hoped Lincoln would come down
the river and take every thing ; that he
would die rather than live in the South-
em States, and much more of the same
sort The committee proposed to forgive
him if he would take an oath to support
the Southern States. He indignantly re-
pelled the proposition, and said he would
die first. Finding that he was determined,
beyond all appeals, they threw a rope
over the limb of a tree, and, stringing the
venerable patriot up twenty-five feet, they
left him to a halter's doom.



Nature in Ckmnoil upon the Union.
The Rev. Bishop Ames, of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, while preaching in
his usual fervid manner at a Western
camp-meeting, remarked that there had
been one grand Union Convention, the
proceedings of which had not been report-
ed by telegraph. Said the eloquent Bish-
op : "It was held amid the fastnesses of
the everlasting hills. The Rocky Moun-



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THB BOOK OF ANECDOTES OF THE REBELLION.



tains presided, the mighty Mississippi
made the motion, the Alleghany Moun-
tains seconded it, and every momitain and
hill, and river and valley, in this vast
country, sent up a unanimous voice — Re-
solved, That we are one and inseparable,
and what God hath joined together, no
man shall put asunder/*



** Nothing affin the Old Flaff."
After the battle of Fort Donelson, one
of the rebel prisoners waa asked if he was
not ashamed to fight against the .Union,
and the Grovemment which had done so
much for them. He' replied, "1 never
fought agin the Union, and 1 never wilL"
" What then were you doing at Fort Don-
ebon?" "I hugged the ground closer
nor ever I did before in my life." " Yes,"
peeped up a little shrill voice by his side,
" and you ran three miles to get out of
the way. You ran until you got tired
and then sat down and rested, and ran
again." "Were you forced into the
army ? " " Wal, no, not exactly forced ;
I knew I would be, so I j*ined. 1 thought
rd feel better to go myself! " " What do
you expect to gain by the rebellion?"
''We find our leaders have lied to us.
Our big men wanted to get rich and get
into office, and so they have got us into
this mess by their lies. We liave nothing
agin the old flag. All we want Is our
constitutional rights, according to the in-
strument under which our forefathers
lived. They told us the election of Lm-
coln would deprive us of these, and we
believed them. But we now know that
they were lies."



Calhoun's Bsoape ttom the Oallows.
The relative position of the National
Government and South Carolina, and of
the President of the United States and
John C. Calhoun, in the winter of 1833,
placed the latter in great personal peril,
which Ihs friends perceived and tried to
avert Among others consulted on the
subject was Letcher, of Kentucky, Clay's



warm personal friend. He knew that
South Carolina must yield, on some terms,
to the authority and power of the National
Grovemment, and he conceived the idea
of a compromise by which, in so yielding,
she might preserve her dignity. He pro-
posed it to Mr. Clay, who, sincerely desir-
ing reconciliation, entertained the idea,
and submitted it to Webster. The amaz-
ing intellectual plummet of the latter had
fathomed the turbid waters of Nullifica-
tion deeper than had even the brilliant
Kentuckian, and he instantly said :

** No ! — ^it will be yieldmg great princi-
ples to fiEiction. The time has come to
test the strength of the Constitution and
the Government."

He was utterly opposed to compromis-
ing and temporising measures with a rebel-
lious faction, and told Mr. Clay so ^ and
from that time he was not approached by
those who were willing to shield conspira-
tors from the sword of justice.

Mr. Clay drew up a compromise bill
and sent it to Mr. Calhoun, by Mr. Letcher.
Calhoun objected to parts of the bill most
decidedly, and remarked that if Clay knew
the nature of his objections he would at
least modify those portions of the bilL
Letcher then made arrangements for a
personal interview between these emment
Senators, who had not been on speaking
terms for some time. The imperious Clay
demanded that it should be at his own
room. The imperilled Calhoun consented
to go there. The meeting was civil but
icy. The busmess was immediately en-
tered upon. The principals were unyield*
ing, and the conference ended without
results. Letcher now hastened to Presi-
dent Jackson and sounded him on the sub-
ject of compromise ;

^^ Compromise ! " said the stem old man,
^ I will make no compromise with traitors.
I will have no negotiations. I will exe-
cute the laws. Calhoun shall be tried for
treason, and hanged if found guilty, if he
does not instantly cease his rebelbou;}
course."



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129



Letcher now flew to M'Duffie, Calhoun's
ardent iriend, and alarmed him with a
Btardmg picture of the President's wrath.
That night, after he had retired to bed,
Letcher was aroused bj a Senator from
Louisiana, who informed him that Jackson
would not allow any more delay, and that
Calhoun's arrest might take place at anj
hour. He begged Letcher to warn Cal-
houn of his danger. He did so. He
foimd the South Carolinian in bed. He
told him of the temper and intentions of
the Presidenti and the conspirator was
much alarmed.

Meanwhile Mr. Clay, and Senator Clay-
ton, of Delaware, had been in frequent
consultations on the subject. Clayton had
said to Clay, while the bill was lingering
in the House, ^ These South Carolinians
act very badly, but they are good fellows,
and It id a pity to let Jackson hang them ; "
and advised him to get his compromise bill
referred to a new committee, and so modify
it as to make it acceptable to a majority.
Clay did so, and Clayton exerted all his
influence to avert the calamity which hung
over Calhoun and his friends. He assem-
bled the manufacturers who had hurried
to the capital when they heard of the
compromise bill, to see whether they
would not yield something for the sake
of conciliation and the Union. At a sacri-
fice of their interests, these loyal men did
yield, and agreed to withdraw all opposi-
tion to the bill, and let it pass the Senate,
providing all the nullifiers should vote for
certain amendments made by the Lower
House, as well as for the bill itself. The
nullifiers in committee would not yield. The
crisis had arrived. The gallows was
placed before Calhoun. Clayton earnestly
remonstrated with him.

Finally, they concluded to vote as Mr.
Clayton demanded, but begged that gen-
tleman to spare Mr. Calhoun the mortifi-
cation of appearing on the record in favor
of a measure against which at that very
time, and at his instance, troops were being
raised in South Carolina, and because of



which the politicians of that State were
preparing to declare their secession from
the Union. Mr. Clayton would not yield
a jot. Calhoun was the chief of sinners
in this matter, and he, of all others, must
give the world public and recorded evi-
dence of penitence, whatever his mental
reservations might be. ** Nothing would
be secured," Mr. Clayton said, " unless his
vote appeared in favor of the measure."

The Senate met; the bill was taken up;
and the nullifiers and their friends, one
after another, yielded their objections on
various pretences. At length, when all
had acted but Mr. Calhoun, he arose, pale
and haggard, for he had had a most terri-
ble struggle. He declared that he had
then to determine which way he should
vote, and at the termination of his brief
remarks he gave his voice in the afiirma-
tive with the rest It was a bitter pill for
that proud man to swallow. The alterna-
tive presented to him was absolute humili-
ation or a course that would bring him to
the gallows. He chose the former. With
that act fell the great conspiracy to break
up the government of the United States
in 1832.



ICinlster FaiUkner and the Emperor Napo-
leon on Seoesaion.

The following interesting conversation
took place on New Year's day, 1861, be-
tween the Emperor of the French and
Mr. Faulkner, United States Minister to
the French Government The conversa-
tion possesses a special interest in view of
the fact that Mr. Faulkner, on his return
home became himself an avowed and in-
fluential secessionist, participating inti-
mately in the counsels of the leading con-
spirators. Afler the usual greetings, the
Emperor said :

"What is the latest intelligence you
have received from the United States?
Not so alarming, I trust, as the papers
represent it?"

" Like most nations, Sire," replied Mr.
Fanlkner, "we have our troubles, which



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THE BOOK OP ANECDOTES OP THE REBELLION.



have lost none of their coloring, as de-
scribed in the European press." *

^ I hope it is not true that any of the
States have separated from the General
CJonfederation," added Napoleon.

"The States still form one oonunon
government, as heretofore. There is ex-
citement in portions of the Confederacy,
and there are indications of extreme



Chas. J. Faulkner

measures being adopted by one or two
States. But we are familiar with the ex-
citement, as we are with the vigor, which
belong to the institutions of a free people.
We have already more than once passed
through commotions which would have
shattered into fragments any other gov*
enmient on earth; and this fact justifies
the inference that the strength of the
Union will now be found equal to the
strain upon it."

"I sincerely hope it may be so," re-
joined the Emperor, '^and that yon may
long continue a miited and prosperous

people."

,♦-

Such a Siffht as Thrilla the Nerves.
The vestry of Grace Church, Episcopal,
in New York, was desirous that an Ameri-
cka flag should wave from the very apex
of the spire of that magnificent structure,
the height being two hundred and sixty
feet from the ground. Several persons
offered to undertake the dangerous feat.



but on mounting by the interior staircase
to the highest window in the steeple,'
thought they would scarcely have nerve
to undertake it At last, William 0*Don-
nell and Charles McLaughlin, two young
painters in the employ of Richard B. Fo«-
dick, of Fiflh avenue, decided to make the
attempt Getting out of the little dia^
mond-shaped window about half way up«