524 SELMA, MOBILE, AND NEW ORLEANS. 1 midnight, at the foot of the bluff on which the town stands, and whchi was then crowned with the ruins of the cotton warehouses and other buildings, fired by Forrest. We spent a greater part of the next day there. It, too, must have been a beautiful city in its best estate before the war. It was growing rapidly, being the great coal and cotton depot of that region. Its streets were broad, and many of them shaded; and, in all parts of the town, we noticed ever and full-flowing fountains of water, rising from artesian wells, one of which forms the tail-piece of this chapter. It received its title from Senator King of Alabama, the Vice-President elected with President Pierce. The name may be found in the poems of Ossian. We left Selma toward evening, and at sunset our vessel was moored a few minutes at Cahawba, to land a passenger whose name has been mentioned, as the entertainer of Wilson and Forrest. Our voyage to Mobile did not end until the morning of the third day, when we had traveled, from Montgomery, nearly four hundred miles. In that fine City of the Gulf we spent sufficient time to make brief visits to places of most KUINS AT THE LANDING PLACE, SELMA. historic interest, within and around it. Its suburbs were very beautiful before they were scarred by the implements of war; but the hand of nature was rapidly covering up the foot-prints of the destroyer. Although it had been only a year since the lines of fortifications were occupied by troops, the embankments were covered with verdure, and the fort or redoubt, delineated on page 507, was white with the blossoms of the blackberry shrub, when the writer sketched it. It was at a little past noon, on a warm April day, when we left Mobile for New Orleans, in the fine new steamer, Frances. We passed the various batteries indicated on the map on page 507, as we went out of the harbor into the open waters of the bay. A little below Choctaw Point, and between it and Battery Gladden, lay a half-sunken iron-clad floating battery, with a cannon on its top. The voyage down the bay was very delightful. We saw the battered light-house at Fort Morgan, in the far distance, to the left, as we turned into Grant's Pass, and took the inner passage. The waters of the Gulf were smooth; and at dawn the next morning, we were moored at the railway wharf on the western side of Lake Pontchartrain. We were at the St. Charles Hotel, in New Orleans, in time for an early break FLOATING BATTERY. 1 See page 519. 2 See page 518. 3 See page 513. 4 See page 443. • See page 440. STATUES AND SIGNIFICANT INSCRIPTIONS. 525 fast; and in that city, during his stay, the writer experienced the kindest courtesy and valuable assistance in the prosecution of his researches, from Generals Sheridan and Hartsuff. Having accomplished the object of his errand in that great metropolis of the Gulf region, he reluctantly bade adieu to his traveling companions for ten days (Mr. and Mrs. Hart), and embarked on the Mississippi River for Port Hudson and Vicksburg, in the steamer Indiana. That voyage has already been considered. 1 Two works of art, then in New Orleans, were objects of special interest, when considering the inscriptions upon each, in their relation to the rebellion. One was the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, in Jackson Square, the principal place of public resort on fine days and evenings, where the citizens may enjoy the fresh air and perfumes of flowers. On the pedestal of that statue, in letters of almost imperishable granite, might have been read, while the friends of the Conspirators had possession of the city, and were trying to destroy the Republic, the memorable words of Jackson's toast at a gatheringin Washington City, at the instance of Calhoun, to inaugurate a secession movement:-"THE UNION-IT MUST, AND SHALL BE PRESERVED." The other was a statue of Henry Clay, in the middle of Canal Street, on which, during all the period of the preparation of the slaveholders for actual rebellion, and whilst it was rampant in New Orleans, might have been read theso words of that great statesman: -" IF I COULD BE INSTRUMENTAL IN ERADICATING THIS DEEP STAIN, SLAVERY, FROM THE CHARACTER OF MY COUNTRY, I WOULD NOT EXCHANGE THE PROUD SATISFACTION I SHOULD ENJOY, FOR THE HONOR OF ALL THE TRIUMPHS EVER DECREED TO THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CONQUEROR." While no living lips dared, for many months, to utter a word of reproof to those who, in New Orleans, were trying to destroy the Union and establish an empire founded upon slavery, these mute but terrible accusers, rebuked the criminals unmolested. * See page 638, volume IL 526 PEACE SEEKERS IN RICHMOND. CHAPTER XX. PEACE CONFERENCE AT HAMPTON ROADS. -THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND. T THE opening of the spring of 1865, the Rebellion was so shorn of its inherent strength and props that it was ready to fall. The last effort to win peace by other means than by conquering it, had been tried in vain. That effort was a notable one, as the outline here given will show. We have seen how futile were the missions of Mr. Greeley to Niagara, and of Messrs. Jaques and Gillmore to Richmond, the previous summer, in the interest of peace. A few months later, Francis P. Blair, senior, a venerable politician of Maryland, who had given his support to the administration, and who was personally acquainted with the principal actors in the rebellion, then in Richmond, conceived the idea that he might bring about reconciliation and peace by means of his private influence. So he asked the President for a pass through Grant's lines, and on the 26th of December, Mr. Lincoln handed him a card on which was written-"Allow the bearer, F. P. Blair, Sr., to pass our lines to go south, and return," and signed his name to it. "I was informed," said Mr. Lincoln, in re ROBERT OULD. 1864. sponse to a resolution of the House of Representatives," "that Mr. Blair sought the card as a means of getting to Richmond, Virginia, *February 8, but he was given no authority to speak or act for the Govern1865. ment, nor was I informed of any thing he would say or do, on his own account, or otherwise." With this the self-constituted peace commissioner went to Richmond, where, for several days, he was the guest of Robert Ould, the Confederate Commissioner for the exchange of prisoners, and had several interviews with Davis. Finally, at the middle of January, he made his way back to Washington, with a letter written to himself by Jefferson Davis, in which the 1 See page 146, and note 2, page 447. PEACE CONFERENCE IN HAMPTON ROADS. 527 Chief Conspirator expressed a willingness to appoint a commission "to renew the effort to enter into a conference with a view to secure peace to the two countries." This letter Blair placed in Mr. Lincoln's hands. Ready to show his willingness for peace on proper terms, the President wrote a note to Blair, that might be shown to Davis, in which he said, "You may say to him that I have constantly been, am now, and shall continue ready to receive any agent whom he or any other influential person, now resisting the National authority may informally send me, with a view of securing peace to the people of our common country." With this letter Blair returned to Richmond, and his reappearance there excited high hopes of peace, for he was regarded as a commissioner authorized by the Government. The expression our common country," in Mr. Lincoln's letter, as opposed to Davis's words, "the two countries," deprived the latter of all hope of a negotiation on the terms of independence for the "Confederate States." But he was compelled to yield to the popular desire for an end of the war, and appointed commissioners to proceed to Washington to confer on the subject. These were Alexander H. Stephens, John A. Campbell, and R. M. T. Hunter. The latter was one of the most active members of the Confederate "Senate." They were permitted to go on a steamer only as far as Hampton Roads, without the privilege of landing, and there, on board of the vessel that conveyed them, they held a conference of several hours with the President and Secretary of State.' Feb. 8, 1865. Davis's commissioners were very cautious, yet, during the conference, what they desired and what the Government expected, were clearly defined. An amicable spirit prevailed, and question after question was deliberately discussed and disposed of. What they seemed most to desire was a postponement of the settlement of the real question at issue, and upon which the war was waged, namely, the separation of the "Confederate States" from the Union. They desired to bring about a sort of armistice, by which an immediate peace might be secured, and the trade and commerce of the different sections of the Union might be resumed. To this the President firmly replied, that the Government would agree to no cessation or suspension of hostilities, except on the basis of disbandment of the insurgent forces, and the recognition of the National authority throughout the Republic; also, that the complete restoration of the National authority, everywhere, was an indispensable condition of any assent, on the part of the Government, to whatever form of peace might be proposed. He declared that he should not recede from the position he had taken on the subject of slavery. The commissioners were then informed that Congress had, three days before, adopted an amendment to the Constitution, which would b January 81. 1 The President first sent Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, to meet the commissioners. He arrived at Fortress Monroe on the night of the first of February. He was instructed to insist upon (1.) the restoration of the National authority throughout the Republic; (2.) no reeeding on the part of the Executive from his position on the subject of slavery; and (8.) no cessation of hostilities until the Confederates should lay down their arms and disband. On this basis alone, he might hear what they had to say, and report to the President, but not definitely consummate any thing. Meanwhile a note, sent to General Grant by the commissioners, requesting permission for them to go to Washington, had reached the President, in which he found that they desired a conference "without any personal compromise on any question in the letter" of the President to Mr. Blair, meaning his expression of "our common country." On account of this proviso, Mr. Lincoln was about to recall the Secretary of State, when he was assured by an electrograph from Grant that the commissioners doubtless had a real desire for peace. With a desire that something might be done that should lead to a cessation of hostilities, he went immediately to Fortress Monroe, to join in the conference. 528 WAR MEETING IN RICHMOND. doubtless be ratified by the requisite number of States,1 for the prohibition of slavery throughout the Republic. The conference had no other result than that of the efforts made in July, which was to more clearly define the views of the Government and the ConThe commissioners returned to Richmond, when • Feb. 5, 1865, spirators. Davis laid their report, submitted to him, before the "Congress." On the following day a great meeting was held in Richmond, which was addressed by Davis and the Governor of Virginia. The former said, in reference to Mr. Lincoln's expression our common country": "Sooner than we should ever be united again, I would be willing to yield up every thing I have on earth, and, if it were possible, would sacrifice my life a thousand times before I would succumb." Then, with his usual pretense of confidence in final victory, he called upon the people to unite with those already in arms, "in repelling the foe, believing," he said, "that thereby we will compel the Yankees, in less than twelve months, to petition us for peace upon our own terms."3 The meeting passed resolutions spurning with indignation the terms offered by the President, as "a gross insult" and "pre meditated indignity" to the people of the "Confederate States." And at a great war-meeting held on the 9th, at which R. M. T. Hunter presided, it was resolved they would never lay down their arms until their independence was won. They expressed a belief that their resources were sufficient for the purpose, and they invoked the people, "in the name of the holiest of all causes, to spare neither their blood nor their treasure in its support." It has transpired that at that time, Davis and his fellow-Conspirators had. strong hopes of the support of foreign armies. But the speech of Benjamin See page 454. 2 At that conference, it is related that Mr. Lincoln insisted that the States had never separated from the Union, and consequently he could not recognize another Government inside the one of which he alone was President, nor admit the separate independence of States that were a part of the Union. "That," he said to Mr. Hunter, who had urged him to treat with Davis as the head of a Government de facto, "would be doing what you so long asked Europe to do, in vain, and be resigning the only thing the armies of the Union are fighting for." Hunter made a long reply, insisting that the recognition of Davis's power to make a treaty was the first and indispensa ble step to peace, and cited, as a precedent, the correspondence of Charles the First with the Parliament-a constitutional ruler treating with rebels. "Mr. Lincoln's face," says the narrator (said to be Alexander H. Stephens), then wore that indescribable expression which generally preceded his hardest hits, and he remarked: Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is posted in such things, and I don't profess to be. But my only distinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his head. That settled Mr. Hunter for awhile." From the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, cited in Raymond's Life, Public Services, and State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, page 668. 3 Davis appears to have spoken with much folly and arrogance. He denounced the President as "His Majesty, Abraham the First," and said that "before the campaign was over, he and Seward might find they had been speaking to their masters, when demanding unconditional submission."-A Rebel War (lerk's Diary, Feb. 7, 1865. 4 Jones, in his Rebel War Clerk's Diary, under date of January 24th, 1865, in recording the presence of Blair, in Richmond, says:-"The Northern papers say he is authorized to offer an amnesty, including all persons, with the Union as it was-the Constitution as it is," my obl motto in the Southern Monitor in 1837); butgradual emancipation. No doubt some of the people here would be glad to accept this; but the President will fight more, and desperately yet, still hoping for foreign assistance." Henry S. Foote, a member of the Confederate Congress (once United States Senator), says:-"The fact was well known to me that Mr. Davis and his friends were confidently looking for foreign aid, and from several quarters. It was stated, in my hearing, by several special friends of the Confederate President, that one hundred thousand French soldiers were expected to arrive within the limits of the Confederate States, by way of Mexico; and it was more than rumored that a secret compact, wholly unauthorized by the Confederate Constitution, with certain Polish commissioners, who had lately been on a visit to Richmond, had been effected, by means of which Mr. Davis would soon be supplied with some twenty or thirty thousand additional troops, then refugees from Poland, and sojourning in several European States, which would be completely at the command of the President for any purpose whatever." He adds, in that connection, that he was satisfied that Mr. Davis wonld, in sending peace commissioners, "so manacle their hands by instructions as to render impossible all attempts at successful negotiation."- War of the Rebellion, &c.. by Henry S. Foote. |