Produced by Ed Ferris




Transcriber's note:

Footnotes are at the end of each chapter, except at the end of
each section in Chapter I. Duplicate notes were on adjacent pages
in the book.

Right-hand-page heads are omitted.

Names have been corrected (except possibly "Hurlburt").

LoC call number: E470.K18


SLAVERY AND
FOUR YEARS OF WAR

A POLITICAL HISTORY OF SLAVERY
IN THE UNITED STATES

TOGETHER WITH A NARRATIVE OF THE CAMPAIGNS
AND BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR IN WHICH
THE AUTHOR TOOK PART: 1861-1865

BY
JOSEPH WARREN KEIFER
BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS; EX-SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, U. S. A.; AND MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS,
SPANISH WAR.

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME I.
1861-1863

G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1900


Copyright, 1900

BY
JOSEPH WARREN KEIFER

The Knickerbocker Press, New York


To the

memory of the dead and as a tribute of esteem to the living officers
and soldiers who served immediately with and under the author in
battles and campaigns of the great American rebellion

This Book is Dedicated


PREFACE

The writer of this book was a volunteer officer in the Union army
throughout the war of the Great Rebellion, and his service was in
the field.

The book, having been written while the author was engaged in a
somewhat active professional life, lacks that literary finish which
results from much pruning and painstaking. He, however, offers no
excuse for writing it, nor for its completion; he has presumed to
nothing but the privilege of telling his own story in his own way.
He has been at no time forgetful of the fact that he was a subordinate
in a great conflict, and that other soldiers discharged their duties
as faithfully as himself; and while no special favors are asked,
he nevertheless opes that what he has written may be accepted as
the testimony of one who entertains a justifiable pride in having
been connected with large armies and a participant in important
campaigns and great battles.

He flatters himself that his summary of the political history of
slavery in the United States, and of the important political events
occurring upon the firing on Fort Sumter, and the account he has
given of the several attempts to negotiate a peace before the final
overthrow of the Confederate armies, will be of special interest
to students of American history.

Slavery bred the doctrine of State-rights, which led, inevitably,
to secession and rebellion. The story of slavery and its abolition
in the United States is the most tragic one in the world's annals.
The "Confederate States of America" is the only government ever
attempted to be formed, avowedly to perpetuate _human slavery_.
A history of the Rebellion without that of slavery is but a recital
of brave deeds without reference to the motive which prompted their
performance.

The chapter on slavery narrates its history in the United States
from the earliest times; its status prior to the war; its effect
on political parties and statesmen; its aggressions, and attempts
at universal domination if not extension over the whole Republic;
its inexorable demands on the friends of freedom, and its plan of
perpetually establishing itself through secession and the formation
of a slave nation. It includes a history of the secession of eleven
Southern States, and the formation of "The Confederate States of
America"; also what the North did to try to avert the Rebellion.
It was written to show why and how the Civil War came, what the
conquered lost, and what the victors won.

In other chapters the author has taken the liberty, for the sake
of continuity, of going beyond the conventional limits of a personal
_memoir_, but in doing this he has touched on no topic not connected
with the war.

The war campaigns cover the first one in Western Virginia, 1861;
others in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, 1862; in
West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, 1863; and in
Virginia, 1864; ending with the capture of Richmond and Petersburg,
the battles of Five Forks and Sailor's Creek, and the surrender of
Lee to Grant at Appomattox, 1865. A chapter on the New York riots
of 1863, also one on the "Peace Negotiations," will be found, each
in its proper place.

Personal mention and descriptions of many officers known to the
writer are given; also war incidents deemed to be of interest to
the reader.

But few generalizations are indulged in either as to events,
principles, or the character of men; instead, facts are given from
which generalizations may be formed.

The author is indebted to his friends, General George D. Ruggles
(General Meade's Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of the Potomac,
late Adjutant-General, U.S.A.), for important data furnished from
the War Department, and to his particular friends, both in peace
and war, General John Beatty and Colonel Wm. S. Furay of Columbus,
Ohio, for valuable suggestions.

J. W. K.
December, 1899.


CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
Slavery: Its Political History in the United States,
(I.) Introductory--(II.) Introduction of Slavery into the Colonies
--(III.) Declaration of Independence--(IV.) Continental Congress:
Articles of Confederation--(V.) Ordinance of 1787--(VI.) Constitution
of the United States--(VII.) Causes of Growth of Slavery--(VIII.)
Fugitive-Slave Law, 1793--(IX.) Slave Trade Abolished--(X.) Louisiana
Purchase--(XI.) Florida--(XII.) Missouri Compromise--(XIII.)
Nullification--(XIV.) Texas--(XV.) Mexican War, Acquisition of
California and New Mexico--(XVI.) Compromise Measures, 1850--(XVII.)
Nebraska Act--(XVIII.) Kansas Struggle for Freedom--(XIX.) Dred
Scott Case--(XX.) John Brown Raid--(XXI.) Presidential Elections,
1856-1860--(XXII.) Dissolution of the Union--(XXIII.) Secession of
States--(XXIV.) Action of Religious Denominations--(XXV.) Proposed
Concessions to Slavery--(XXVI.) Peace Conference--(XXVII.) District
of Columbia--(XXVIII.) Slavery Prohibited in Territories--(XXIX.)
Benton's Summary--(XXX.) Prophecy as to Slavery and Disunion.

CHAPTER II
Sumter Fired on--Seizure by Confederates of Arms, Arsenals, and
Forts--Disloyalty of Army and Navy Officers--Proclamation of Lincoln
for 75,000 Militia, and Preparation for War on Both Sides

CHAPTER III
Personal Mention--Occupancy of Western Virginia under McClellan
(1861)--Campaign and Battle of Rich Mountain, and Incidents

CHAPTER IV
Repulse of General Lee and Affairs of Cheat Mountain and in Tygart's
Valley (September, 1861)--Killing of John A. Washington, and
Incidents--and Formation of State of West Virginia

CHAPTER V
Union Occupancy of Kentucky--Affair at Green River--Defeat of
Humphrey Marshall--Battles of Mill Springs, Forts Henry and Donelson
--Capture of Bowling Green and Nashville, and Other Matters

CHAPTER VI
Battle of Shiloh--Capture of Island No. 10--Halleck's Advance on
Corinth, and Other Events

CHAPTER VII
Mitchel's Campaign to Northern Alabama--Andrews' Raid into Georgia,
and Capture of a Locomotive--Affair at Bridgeport--Sacking of
Athens, Alabama, and Court-Martial of Colonel Turchin--Burning of
Paint Rock by Colonel Beatty--Other Incidents and Personal Mention
--Mitchel Relieved

CHAPTER VIII
Confederate Invasion of Kentucky (1862)--Cincinnati Threatened,
and "Squirrel Hunters" Called Out--Battles of Iuka, Corinth, and
Hatchie Bridge--Movements of Confederate Armies of Bragg and Kirby
Smith--Retirement of Buell's Army to Louisville--Battle of Perryville,
with Personal and Other Incidents

CHAPTER IX
Commissioned Colonel of 110th Ohio Volunteers--Campaigns in West
Virginia under General Milroy, 1862-1863--Emancipation of Slaves
in the Shenandoah Valley, and Incidents


ILLUSTRATIONS

J. Warren Keifer

Andrew H. Reeder, first governor of Kansas Territory, Flight in
Disguise, 1855 [From a painting in Coates' House, Kansas City,
Missouri.]

Abraham Lincoln

Map of the United States, 1860 [Showing free and slave States and
Territories.]

General Ulysses S. Grant, U.S.A. [From a photograph taken 1865.]

Confederate Silver Half-Dollar

John Beatty, Brigadier-General of Volunteers [From a photograph
taken 1863.]

Rich Mountain and Cheat Mountain Country, W. Va.

General William T. Sherman, U.S.A. [From a photograph taken 1881.]

Major-General O. M. Mitchel [From a photograph taken 1862.]

Brevet Brigadier-General Wm. H. Ball [From a photograph taken 1864.]

Rev. William T. Meloy, D. D., Lieutenant 122d Ohio Volunteers [From
a photograph taken 1896.]

Major-General Robert H. Milroy [From a photograph taken 1863.]

Lieutenant James A. Fox, 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph
taken 1863.]

Map of Shenandoah valley [From Major W. F. Tiemann's _History of
the 159th New York_.]

Rev. Milton J. Miller, Chaplain 110th Ohio Volunteers [From a
photograph taken 1865.]

Rev. Charles C. McCabe, D. D., Bishop M. E. Church, Chaplain 122d
Ohio Volunteers [From a photograph taken 1868.]


SLAVERY AND FOUR YEARS OF WAR


SLAVERY AND FOUR YEARS
OF WAR

CHAPTER I
SLAVERY: ITS POLITICAL HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES
(I.) Introductory--(II.) Introduction of Slavery into the Colonies
--(III.) Declaration of Independence--(IV.) Continental Congress:
Articles of Confederation--(V.) Ordinance of 1787--(VI.) Constitution
of the United States--(VII.) Causes of Growth of Slavery--(VIII.)
Fugitive-Slave Law, 1793--(IX.) Slave Trade Abolished--(X.) Louisiana
Purchase--(XI.) Florida--(XII.) Missouri Compromise--(XIII.)
Nullification--(XIV.) Texas--(XV.) Mexican War, Acquisition of
California and New Mexico--(XVI.) Compromise Measures, 1850--(XVII.)
Nebraska Act--(XVIII.) Kansas Struggle for Freedom--(XIX.) Dred
Scott Case--(XX.) John Brown Raid--(XXI.) Presidential Elections,
1856-1860--(XXII.) Dissolution of the Union--(XXIII.) Secession of
States--(XXIV.) Action of Religious Denominations--(XXV.) Proposed
Concessions to Slavery--(XXVI.) Peace Conference--(XXVII.) District
of Columbia--(XXVIII.) Slavery Prohibited in Territories--(XXIX.)
Benton's Summary--(XXX.) Prophecy as to Slavery and Disunion.

I
INTRODUCTORY

Slavery is older than tradition--older than authentic history, and
doubtless antedates any organized form of human government.