LITMIR.BIZ

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They appeared before him, as commanded to, refused compliance, but asked time for deliberation; this being granted, to the full extent desired, and still persisting in their refusal they were placed in confinement. That they were not proceeded against with undue haste appears from an entry in a diary kept by one of Governor Johnson’s biographers which fixes the date as June 28.^[22] Three months had fully elapsed since the arrival of Mr. Johnson before the ministers were punished for their seditious utterances. To prevent interference with his executive functions he sometimes imprisoned judges. Other measures no less arbitrary have been the subject of much criticism. He declared that whenever a loyal citizen was maltreated five or more sympathizers with the Rebellion should be arrested and dealt with as the nature of the case appeared to require. When the property of Union men was destroyed remuneration should be made them from the property of the disloyal. The President seems to have approved of these reprisals. Nothing more clearly shows the demoralized condition of society in Tennessee than the necessity of adopting measures similar to those employed eight centuries before by the Danish and Norman conquerors of England to protect their followers from private assassination by the natives. With the natural leaders of the people, including bankers, physicians and clergymen, encouraging treason, men of inferior intelligence and station could not be expected to remain peaceful and contented citizens, and as preachers of sedition seldom lack numerous and sympathetic audiences the spirit of lawlessness increased. The Governor himself was threatened with assassination in the public streets and in public meetings, but he set such menaces at defiance and on at least one occasion addressed an assembly with his pistol on a desk before him.

      But the repression of the disloyal and the restoration of order by no means included the whole of his duties. Functions not less important remain to be noticed. To the duties of governor and general he added those of quartermaster and judge. Though thousands of loyal people flocked to him for arms and supplies, he proved equal to every demand, and from their number raised an army that did gallant service in the field. He fed, clothed and sheltered the poor without regard to the army in which their natural protectors were serving. Thus redressing grievances, relieving want and reinstating courts he worked with an intelligent and tireless energy, and when the timid prudence of General Buell would have allowed Nashville to fall into the hands of the enemy “the courage of Governor Johnson,” said a panegyrist, “stood a bulwark for its defence.”^[23] He had been scarcely three months in office when President Lincoln described him as “a true and valuable man, indispensable to us in Tennessee.” His zeal, his intense fidelity to the Union, his tremendous energy and undoubted courage peculiarly fitted him to rule in turbulent times. At the outset the only agencies left for the protection of life, liberty and property were force and arbitrary will; these he did not hesitate to employ.

      The foregoing account does not notice his activity in another field. His ultimate object, the establishment of civil authority throughout Tennessee, was kept constantly in view. To prepare for this event he addressed in May, 1862, large assemblies at Nashville and Murfreesboro, and in June at Columbia and Shelbyville.^[24] This work, however, was brought suddenly to an end later in the summer by General Bragg’s raid into Kentucky.

      From what has been related it appears, and the opinion will grow stronger with the progress of this narrative, that in appointing a military governor of Tennessee President Lincoln intended no more than to revive an office already known to the people of the United States; and though Mr. Johnson was expected ultimately to reinaugurate a loyal government throughout the State, his office was regarded primarily as an inexpensive means of holding territory wrested from, and assisting in military operations against, an enemy. Indeed, it is only in this view that his administration of the office can be regarded as a success, and that it was so considered in the North his nomination on the ticket with Mr. Lincoln is undoubted proof.

      Besides several colored regiments, the records for 1863 show that 25,000 Tennesseeans were then serving in the Union army, and every succeeding month increased their number.^[25] That the political advantage to be gained by restoring a loyal government was not the only or even the principal purpose of the President may be fairly inferred from the following letter:

      I am told you have at least thought of raising a negro military force. In my opinion the country now needs no specific thing so much as some man of your ability and position to go to this work. When I speak of your position, I mean that of an eminent citizen of a slave state and himself a slaveholder. The colored population is the great available and yet un-availed of force for restoring the Union. The bare sight of 50,000 armed and drilled black soldiers upon the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once; and who doubts that we can present that sight if we but take hold in earnest? If you have been thinking of it, please do not dismiss the thought.^[26]

      Besides supporting the view of the military governors taken above, this letter also makes it evident that the pressure of events had already convinced Mr. Lincoln that to save the Union it was necessary to possess the untrammeled use of every national resource.

      As early as June 8, 1862, the State was included in the department of General Halleck, who ten days later was requested by Mr. Lincoln to report any information of value relative thereto. The thought of a movement into East Tennessee was in the mind of the President again on June 30, when he informed the commander that he regarded the possession of the railroad near Cleveland fully as important as the taking of Richmond. Halleck, concurring in this opinion, telegraphed Buell that “the capture of East Tennessee should be the main object of the campaign,” the department commander believing its occupation would put an end to guerrilla warfare both in that region and Kentucky.

      The inactivity of General Rosecrans for six months after the battle of Murfreesboro left in the interior of the State a strong Confederate force whose presence discouraged all but the most pronounced loyalists; these, by means of meetings and speeches, kept a latent Union feeling alive. A convention, called by Brownlow, Maynard and others, was held at Nashville, July 1, 1863. Delegates were in attendance from forty counties; they took an oath of allegiance to the United States, and in a set of resolutions pronounced the various secession laws and ordinances void. Deeming it vitally important to choose a legislature, they invited Governor Johnson to issue writs of election as soon as expedient; with this request, however, he did not then think it prudent to comply.

      Other eyes were observing with interest the progress of events within the State. General Hurlbut, writing from Memphis, August 11, 1863, relative to the political situation in Arkansas, said he was satisfied that Tennessee was “ready, by overwhelming majorities, to repeal the act of secession, establish a fair system of gradual emancipation, and tender herself back to the Union. I have discouraged [he said] any action on this subject here until East Tennessee is delivered. When that is done, so that her powerful voice may be heard, let Governor Johnson call an election for members of the Legislature, and that Legislature call a Convention, and in sixty days the work will be done.”^[27]

      This desirable event was not long delayed, for by brilliant though bloodless victories both Knoxville and Chattanooga early in the following month were in possession of Federal armies. Then President Lincoln wrote his letter of September 11, which, because of its great importance, deserves to be reproduced in full:

      All Tennessee is now clear of armed insurrectionists. You need not to be reminded that it is the nick of time for reinaugurating a loyal State government. Not a moment should be lost. You and the coöperating friends there can better judge of the ways and means than can be judged by any here. I only offer a few suggestions. The reinauguration must not be such as to give control of the State and its representation in Congress to the enemies of the Union, driving its friends there into political exile. The whole struggle for Tennessee will have been profitless to both State and nation if it so ends that Governor Johnson is put down and Governor Harris is put up. It must not be so. You must have it otherwise. Let the reconstruction be the work of such men only as can be trusted for the Union. Exclude all others, and trust that your government so organized will be recognized here as being the one of republican form to be guaranteed to the State, and to be protected against invasion and domestic violence. It is something on the question of time to remember that it cannot be known who is next to occupy the position I now hold, nor what he will do. I see that you have declared in favor of emancipation in Tennessee, for which may God bless you. Get emancipation

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