36220021 encyclopedia of the american civil war

8/6/2019 36220021 Encyclopedia of the American Civil War

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Encyclopedia o f theAMERICAN CIVIL WARA Political, Social, and Military History

Volume IDavid S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler

Edi t o r s

F orew ord byJames M. McPhersonDavid J . Coles

Assoc ia t e E d i t o r

Gary W. GallagherJames M. McPhersonMark E. Neely, Jr.E d i t o r i a l B o a r d

C a T t O g r a p h , tr yDonald Frazier

Richard J. Thompson, Jr

ABC-CLIO

Santa Barbara, CaliforniaDenver. ColoradoOxford. England


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CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL

October 1862, Caldwell and his men scouted the areabetween Harper's Ferry and Charles Town and skir-mished heavily with Confederate forces there. Thefollowing month, Caldwell led his men in the Army ofthe Potomac's move toward the Rappahannock River.In the battle of Fredericksburg, Caldwell led hisbrigade against the heavily defended Confederate posi-tion on Marye's Heights. Very early in the advance, thebrigade came under heavy fire, an d Caldwell had diffi-culty rallying his men for the offensive. While in the

midst of trying to rum a fleeing regiment, he was struck inthe side by a Confederate bullet. He remained incommand, however, and continued to urge his men on.A s they pushed forward,he was hit again, this time in theleft shoulder, and was forced to leave the field. Hancockcommended Caldwell for his bravery in the battle.Returning to duty in February 1863, Caldwellcommanded his brigade in the battle ofChancellorsville, after which he was given command of .the division when Hancock was elevated to II Corpscommander. In the battle of Gettysburg, althoughHancock had been sent ahead by George GordonMeade to assess the situation in Gettysburg, theremainder of the corps, including Caldwell and his divi-sion, did not arrive on the field until early on 2 July.When Hancock was wounded the next day, Caldwelltemporarily assumed command of the corps. Hereturned to his division when Gouverneur K. Warrenassumed command of the corps. Periodically for theremainder of the year, Caldwell would assume commandof the corps when Warren was away from headquarters.In October 1863, Warren commended Caldwell forthe thankless job he had done in guarding the corps'advance at Bristoe Station and then guarding the corps'retreat. Late in the year, Caldwell commanded his menin the Mine Run campaign. In early 1864, he led his menin demonstrations along the Rapidan River.In March 1864, during the reorganization of theArmy of the Potomac in anticipation of Ulysses S.Grant's campaign against Robert E. Lee, Caldwell was

unceremoniously relieved ofhis divisional command andsent to Washington to serve on military boards. Heengaged in that type of duty for the remainder ofthe war.In April 1865 he was selected as one of the officers toescort Abraham Lincoln's body back to Springfield.Illinois. Caldwell remained in the army until beingmustered out of the volunteer service in 1866.After the war,Caldwell returned to Maine, where hepracticed law briefly. After serving as the adjutantgeneral for the state, he embarked on a diplomatic careerwhen he was appointed consul to Valparaiso, Chile. In1874 he w as appointed U.S. minister to Uruguay. Hereturned to the United States in 1882. He lived inKansasformore than a decade before accepting anotherdiplomatic post in 1897 as consul to Costa Rica. He338

remained there for twelve years before retiring in 1909.He died on 31 August 1912 in Calais, Maine.-D av id S . H eid le r and ]eann e T. Heid l e rSee also A ntie tam , Battle of; Bnstoe Station, Battle of;Frede r ick sbu rg, Ba t tl e 0(.Fo r fur ther reading:Brady , Robe rt , The S to ry o f One Regiment : T he E le ve nth M a i n eI n fa n tr y V o l un te e r s in th e W t J T of t he R e b e ll io n ( 1 8 9 6 ) .Maxfield, Alben. R o s t e r a n d S r a ti sr lc a l R e c o rd o f C om pany D o fth e Eleven th Regiment M a i n e I n fa n tr y V o l un te e r s: With a Sketch o fI rs S e r vi ce s in th e W t J T of th e Re b e ll io n ( 18 9 0) .

C ALH OUN, JO HN C ALDWELL(1782-1850)

U.S. senator, cabinet member,presidential candidate

jhn Caldwell Calhoun was born in 1782 nearAbbeville, South Carolina. Calhoun's educationalopportunities were limited, although they wereadvanced by the occasional tutelage offered by hisbrother-in-law, Reverend Moses Waddel. After hisparents' death and a period of self-education, Calhounentered Yale College, studying under the arch-FederalistDr. Timothy Dwight. He proceeded to study law for twoyears under Judge Tapping Reeve at the Litchfield LawSchool, the most prominent institution devoted to legaltraining during this period. Returning to his nativeSouth Carolina to practice law, a pursuit he considered"both dry and laborious," Calhoun was married andserved two terms in the South Carolina legislature beforebeing elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in1811. As a congressman, Calhoun continued to embodyrepublican principles and acquired a reputation as amoral statesman who regarded republicanism and patri-otism as synonymous: he supported the War of 1812; herevised James Madison's original national bank proposaland backed limited internal improvements; and hecontinued to praise a free economy and a regime foundedon "reason and equity" that wassurrounded by a world of"fraud, violence or accident."As many have noted, Calhoun supported "national"legislation during his early career, encouraging scholarsto inappropriately divide his life into stages based on hisperceived degree of attachment to a centralized politicalorder. The rising protectionist spirit in America wouldalso affirm Calhoun's wisdom in supporting the 1816tariff, even though he held subsequent tariffs in disdain.In 1817, President Monroe asked Calhoun to assumethe helm at the War Department, where he served until1825.Calhoun was generally considered too philosophicalfor such a practical post, but he accepted the appoint-ment out of a republican sense of duty. In the course oftwo terms in office, Calhoun completely reorganized and

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CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL

revitalized the War Department and its staff. resolved itsfinancial problems resulting from the War of 1812, anddemonstrated a new. more compassionate approach toNative American affairs. Calhoun also began reformingWest Point through a new spirit of openness in terms ofadmissions and administrative procedures. Calhoun hasbeen described as the ablest war secretary the govern-ment had before Jefferson Davis in 1853.

A broad spectrum of supporters encouraged Calhoun'scandidacy for president in 1824 against his fellowcabinet members William H. Crawford and John QuincyAdams, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, and war heroand newly elected senator Andrew Jackson. Initiallyentering the presidential field. Calhoun realized helacked adequate support and withdrew afterPennsylvania nominated Andrew Jackson. Acceptingthe vice-presidential nomination, Calhoun was electedby a large majoricy. The results in the presidentialcontest between Jackson and Adams were inconclusivein terms of the electoral and popular vote, and the elec-tion w as thrown into the House of Representatives,where Jackson's nemesis Clay served as speaker. In anunusual series of events. Clay came to Adams's aid. withthe House vote securing the election for Adams. Thepresident-elect proceeded to appoint Clay secretary ofstate. Many Americans considered the supposedarrangement between Clay and Adams a "corruptbargain." Calhoun believed the "corrupt bargain" haddisrupted the balance between preserving liberty andassuming power explicitly reserved to the people;"improperly acquired" power would doubtless be"improperly us ed, " he opined. Calhoun and eitherAdams or his representative engaged in a pseudonymousdebate about the sources of political power. Calhounbegan to separate himself from what he considered to beAdams's abuses of office, and he supported GeneralAndrew Jackson in 1828. It was as part of this ticket,later known as the Democratic Parcy,that Calhoun waselected vice president in 1828.The falling apart of the political union betweenCalhoun and Jackson is one of the most remarkableevents in American politics. Calhoun had hopedJackson would assume the republican political mantle.but his expectations were not fulfilled. Several centro-versies were ignited that raised questions about thecorruptibility of the adminisaation. The most importantof these concerned Mrs. Margaret Eaton, wife ofJackson's dear friend and secretary of war, John H. Eaton.Out of a sense of propriecy, Mrs. Calhoun and mostladies in Washington refused to receive her into theirhomes. After John Eaton made the controversy public,Calhoun was forced to respond; he stated that his wife'sactions amounted to a moral stance and not an act ofsnobbery, as it had been called.As a result of the dispute with Jackson over the

protective tariff. Calhoun resigned as vice president andwaselected to the Senate. In an attempt to moderate thecrisis posed by tariff-related concerns and the "ForceBill" in 1832, Calhoun questioned the prospect ofpreserving the union by force, and not relying on the"harmonious aggregate of the States." Up to this point inhis career as a statesman. Calhoun had made few state-rnents regarding slavery. Troubled by the increasinginfluence of abolitionism and the rise of sectionalconflict, Calhoun would devote the remainder of his lifeto defending the South and attempting to avoid conflict.Retiring from the Senate in 1843, he unsuccessfullypursued the presidency for the last time. In 1844,Calhoun was appointed secretary of state.Returning to the Senate in 1845, Calhoun served asa thoughtful critic of the war with Mexico, and he

suggested that the conflict would encourage disharmonybetween the North and South. In 1844, Calhoun hadhelped contain the truly revolutionary Bluffton move-ment, composed of his fellowSouth Carolinians. Manyleading South Carolina politicians threatened drasticresponses to a troublesome new tariff and the question-able status ofTexas. Calhoun's success at moderating theconflict demonstrated both his restraint in a crisis situa-tion and his lack of control over the politicians oftendescribed as "Calhounires" due to their intimate ties tothe statesman.Published after his death, Calhoun's two treatises on

political cheory and American constitutionalism,Disquisit ion and Discourse , demonstrate his hope thatAmerica could avoid the pending conflict. Calhoun'spersistent concern about the unequal treatment of theSouth would. he feared, lead to increased regionaltensions and to civil war. His last years were spentattempting to unify the South and avoid strife. On 31March 1850, Calhoun died in Washington, D.C. Indeath, Calhoun became a source of inspiration for theConfederate government, its leaders. and the South.Calhoun's understanding, albeit imperfect, of restraintwithin political order remains one of the most impor-tant characteristics of his political thought and hisachievement as a statesman. In Calhoun's interpreta-tion. the interposing and amending power of the statesimplicit in the Constitution could only augmentauthentic popular rule by allowing for a greater diffu-sion of authority. Calhoun's purpose was the preserva-cion of the original balance of authority and the fortifi-cation of the American political system against theobstacles it faced.

-H. L ee C he ek , Jr .See also South Carolina.For further reading:Wils on . C ly de N. John C. Calhoun: A Bib l iograph; , (1990).W ilts e. C harles M . J oh n C . C alh oun; S eclionaU st. 1840-18 ;0(1951).

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CANNON. WILLIAM

campaign. Canby reorganized the division. and also wasinstrumental inplanning and implementing the Unionassault on Mobile. Alabama, in April 1865. which led tothe fall of the city on 12 April and also the capture ofMontgomery on 27 April. Following Mobile. Canby wasagain promoted. this time to the command of theDepartments of the Gulf and Arkansas. although hissuccessesinAlabama did not gamer the public praisetheymight have. had they not come on the heels of Robert E.Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April.Despite the overshadowingofhis accomplishments, aswellas his being severely wounded by Confederate guerrillaforces during the Mobile campaign. Canby continued athis post for the remainder of 1865, and eventually acceptedthe surrender of the last remaining Confederatefield armies under Generals Edmund Kirby Smith andRichard Taylor.Following the war. Canby continued his militarycareer with the permanent rank of brigadier general inthe regular service. He served on an advisory staff inWashington and on Reconstruction duty in the Southbefore returning to the west in 1870. Canby finished outhis career in the PacificNorthwest ascommander of theDepartment of the Columbia and later the Division ofthe Pacific. It was while serving in this capacity thatCanby was attacked and killed by a group of ModocIndians under the leadership of the northern Californiawar chief Captain Jack during a meeting to renew peacenegotiations on 11 April 1873. -Daniel P . Barr

FOTfunheT reading:F ra zie r. D o na ld S . B l o o d an d Treasure: C o n f e d e r a t e Empire in theS o u t h w e s t (1995) .H all. M artin H . SibIe, 's New Mexic o C am pa ig n (1 96 0) .H ey man , M ax L. Prudent Sold i e r: A B io gr ap hy o f M a jo r G e ne ra lE. R . S . Canlry . 1 81 7- 18 73 ( 19 59 ).[os eph v, A lv in M . T h e CiviL War in the American We.5t(1991).

CA NE HILL , BA TTLE O F(28 November 1862)Ihe fall of 1862, Union brigadier general James G.Blunt's division of the Army of the Frontier wascamped near Maysville inthe extreme northwestern

comer of Arkansas. Seventy miles to the south at FortSmith on the Arkansas River was Confederate majorgeneral Thomas C. Hindman and a sizable army.Hindman ordered Brigadier General John S.Marmaduke to take his cavalry division over the BostonMountains and harass Blunt. IfMarmaduke succeeded infixing Blunt in place, Hindman intended to move northwith the remainder of his army and attack Blunt'sisolated division. The nearest Union reinforcementswere seventy miles awaynear Springfield, Missouri.Blunt refused to cooperate by remaining inert. When

he learned that a Confederate force was slowly windingthrough the mountains in his direction. he advancedthirty-five miles in two days and struck the vanguard ofMarmaduke's column near the village of Boonsboro,later known as Cane Hill. Surprised and outnumberedabout 5,000 to 2,000, Marmaduke retreated. BrigadierGeneral Joseph O. Shelby's cavalry brigade formed therear guard and fought a series of delaying actions thatallowed the rest of the division and its train to withdrawinto the Boston Mountains. The battle was actually anine-hour running fight that swirled steadily southwardacross twelve miles of rolling terrain. The fighting endedwhen the Confederates reached the safety of the narrowmountain passes. A s was generally the case inmountedengagements, losses were comparatively light for thenumbers involved: there were at least forty-one Unionand forty-five Confederate casualties.The next day Marmaduke rejoined Hindman on theArkansas River. Blunt returned to Cane Hill andremained there, despite being more than one hundredmiles south of the nearest supporting force and onlythirty miles north of Hindman's army. Shrugging offMarmaduke's tactical defeat at Cane Hill, Hindmanbelieved that Blunt had played into his hands by movingdeeper into Arkansas. He set in motion a second opera-tion to destroy Blunt that resulted in the battle of PrairieGrove on 7 December 1862. -William L. Shea

See a l so B lu nt. Ja mes G .; H indm an. T ho mas c. ; Shelby,Joseph O .For funheT reading:B ana sik, M ich ael E . E mb attled A rkan sas : T he P r air ie G r ov eC am pa ign o f 1 862 (199 6).S cott, K im A llen. and S tep hen B urg es s. "P urs uin g an E lus iv eQuarry: Th e Battle of Cane Hill, A rkansas." ArkaruasH i s r m i c a l Quarterl, (1997).

C ANNON, W IL LIAM(1809-1865)

Unionist, Delaware governorB orn in Bridgeville, Delaware, to Josiah and NancyCannon on 15 March 1809, William Cannonreceived an elementary-school education butnever attended high school. Cannon entered into acareer in business and demonstrated considerable abilityfor commercial ventures. Cannon became wealthy as amerchant and landowner and maintained a specialinterest in the production offruit. Within a fewyears,hemarried Margaret N. B. Laws.

As part of a family devoted to the Democratic Party,Cannon retained an keen interest in politics. Cannonwas active in promoting the welfareof his native SussexCounty, and he encouraged the construction of. theDelaware Railroad into the area.

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CAREY, HENRY CHARLES

As a Democrat, he was won sequential elections to theDelaware house of representatives in 1844 and 1846 an dserved as state treasurer in 1851. Within a decade,Cannon had established himself as a prominent politicianin Delaware. In 1861, he was selected as one of his state'sfive delegates to the Peace Conference in Washington. Hesupported the Crittenden Compromise as well as othermeasures to ameliorate tensions between regions. Whenall measures dedicated to preserving the Union appearedto fail, Cannon began to support the Republican Parry. Itis possible that in addition to his defense of union. he wasa l s o disappointed with the Democratic Parry's inability tofacilitate his ambition to become governor.

In November 1862. he was the Union Party's candi-date for governor. While the Democrats won a majorityin the state legislature. Cannon was elected by a smallmajority and was inaugurated in January 1863. His oppo-nent protested the presence of Federal troops at pollingbooths during the election and suggested the Lincolnadministration's decree to send troops was an attempt tohelp Cannon. Upon taking office, Cannon appointedNathaniel B. Smithers as secretary of state. Smithers wasa confidant who would have a great influence onCannon and perhaps serve as his chief political advisorand speech writer during the remainder of his life. Fromthe earliest moments of his governorship, Cannon wasan ardent supporter of preserving the federal union. Inhis inaugural address he urged more federal control andproclaimed his steadfast support for the union.

Throughout his governorship, Cannon was at oddswith the legislature, which was under the control of theDemocratic Party. At one point. the legislature passed alaw intended to outlaw federal arrests within the confinesof Delaware. Cannon responded by failing to recognizethe act. He suggested that following the order wouldweaken the state's devotion to the union. On 1 March1865. Cannon died in office. having served just over twoyears: He was succeeded by Gove Saulsbury, the presidingofficer of the Delaware Senate and a Democratic stalwart.-Lee Cheek

F o r further reading:H an co ck . H ar old B ell. D e l a U X J T e During !h e C i v i l W ar ( 1961 ) .1 0 u m a I o f ! h e H o us e o f R e p r e s e n u u i v e . s o f !h e S ra le o f D e l a w a r e(1863-1865).Munroe. Jo hn A. H i . s w r y o f D e l a w a r e (1993) .

CAREY, H EN RY CHAR LE S0793-1879)

Publisher, writer, and political economistHenry c. Carey emerged as the leading advocateof the American free laborer in the years imme-diately preceding the Civil War. Through histexts on political economy. numerous pamphlets, andnewspaper articles, Carey promoted the policies of high

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tariffs and an abundant money supply as the means for"elevating and equalizing the condition of manthroughout the world." The oldest son of Irish politicalrefugee and protectionist Mathew Carey, Carey inheritedhis father's deep disdain for the British rigid class systemand free trade policies.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Carey began workingin his father's publishing house at the age of nine. Heeschewed formal education, preferring to read and work.By the age of twenty-four he became a partner in Carey.Lea & Carey, one of the leading publishing houses in thecountry. In 1835, he wrote his first treatise, E s s a y on th eRate o f W ag es, in which he celebrated U.S. exception-alism and advocated free trade.

After his first book, Carey left the publishing businessand became a full-rime political economist. Hepublished his three-volume P r in c ip le s o f P o li ri ca l E c o nom yin 1837. He countered the primary theses of the twopillars of economic theory of this period, David Ricardoand Thomas R. Malthus, Carey rejected Ricardo's beliefthat land lost value and productive capacity over time;instead. Carey posited that the labor expended to makeland arable and fecund increased its value and, ulti-mately, the wealth of the nation. Similarly, Carey coun-tered Malthus's dark predictions that populationincreases led to a decrease in the quality of life. Instead,Carey believed that the economy of the United Stateswas boundless and would continue to grow. Carey's opti-mism for continued U.S. prosperity was based on hisfaith in democratic government, the guaranteed right ofprivate ownership of property, low taxes, and the highU.S. wages, contrasted with those in Europe.

The economic downturn of 1837 forced Carey toreappraise many of his tenets. Over the next several yearshe examined the tariff history of the United States andconcluded that high tariffs correlated with periods ofprosperity. In 1848. he published his revised views ontariffs in P a s t, P r e se n t, and Fu tu r e , and renounced his freetrade stance. He collaborated with New Yo rk Tribuneeditor Horace Greeley. writing a plethora of articles andeditorials on the virtues of protective tariffs. Careyproclaimed high tariffs as the best means for protectingthe wages of U.S. employees by decreasing the competi-tion that they faced from goods produced abroad bylower paid workers. Carey revealed his distrust formerchants and financiers, instead extolling the virtues ofproducers, including farmers, laborers, and manufac-turers. He believed that producers, working together "inharmony" in small towns throughout the country.formed the basis for future prosperity.

Carey's conversion to protectionism came at an inop-portune moment. The positive effects of the WalkerTariff of 1846, the discovery of gold deposits inCalifornia, and the beginnings of the industrial boomcombined to create a decade of prosperity. Carey


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Encyclopedia o f theAMERICAN CIVIL WAR

A Political, Social, and Military HistoryVolume IV

David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. HeidlerEdi t o r s

F orew ord byJames M. McPherson

David J. ColesA ss oc ia te E d ito r

Gary W. GallagherJames M. McPhersonMark E. Neely, Jr.E d it or ia l B o ar d

Cartograph'J b yDonald Frazier

Richard J . Thompson, jr

~&ABCCLIOSanta Barbara, CaliforniaDenver, ColoradoOxford, England


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RUFFIN, EDMUND

In January 1865 Kentucky Radical Republicansendorsed Rousseau in the race for a seat in the UnitedStates Senate, but James Guthrie defeated him. Rousseauwon a seat in the United States House of Representativesand resigned from the anny in November 1865. Hiscongressional tenure was controversial as he ignored hisradical supporters, supported Andrew Johnson, becamemore conservative, and protested the Freedmen's BureauBill and other legislation he considered too extreme. Heserved on the Committee on Military Affairs and skill-fully debated how Reconstruction should be pursued inthe South, criticizing Radical Republicans for their harshplans and severing ties with them. Rousseau was enragedby congressmen who had not fought in the war, butnevertheless vowed vengeance against the South. Whenhe beat Iowa congressman Josiah B. Grinnell in the facewith a cane, the House censured him. Although hiscolleague Thaddeus Stevens encouraged him to continuehis work, Rousseau chose to resign on 21 July 1866. Afterexplaining his behavior to his constituents, Rousseau wasreelected to fill his empty seat and remained in theSenate through 3 March 1867. President Johnsonrewarded Rousseau for his war service with a regular armycommission as brigadier general with the brevet rank ofmajor general. He was placed in charge of occupationtroops in the depanrnent of Louisiana, where he wasknown for h is empathy toward citizens. Rousseau died inNew Orleans , on 7 January 1869. Buried in ArlingtonNational Cemetery, he isalso memorialized with a monu-ment in Louisville'sCave Hill Cemetery.-E l izabe th D. Schafer

S e e a ls o B ue ll, D on C arlo s; K e ntu ck y; P e rry ville , B attle o f.FO T further reading:Abrams, P aul R . 'The A ssault Upon josiah B . G rinnell byL ov el l H . Ro us se au ." low a} oumaI ( 19 12 ).D aw son, Joseph G ., III. " Ge ne ra l L ov ell H. R ou sse au an dLou i si ana Recons truct ion . " Louisiana Hi s t o r y (1979). .Scha fe r . E l izabeth D. "J ad ed M ule s, T w iste d R ails, an d R aze dDepots . " Civ il Wa r ( 1991 ) .RUFFIN, EDMUND

0794-1865)Southern na t i o na l i s t and agriculturiste son of George Ruffin and Jane Lucas, Ruffinwas born into the antebellum Southern planterlass. His early years were spent in Prince George'sCounty, Virginia, where he was educated by a privatetutor. After the death of Edmund's mother, Ruffin'sfather married Rebecca Cocke. While isolated for longperiods during his youth, Ruffin became an avid readerand mastered numerous great works of literature beforereaching his teens.At sixteen Ruffin entered the College ofWilliam andMary. In less than a year he withdrew from the College,

as he was more attracted to romance than academic

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pursuits. While in Williamsburg he met Susan Travis, thedaughter of a well-established local family,and they weremarried in 1812. Answering the call to military servicein the War of 1812, Ruffin enlisted but never engaged incombat. Stationed in Norfolk. he complained ofconstant military drills and procedures. After six monthsRuffin was allowed to return home and he assumedcontrol over his ancestral plantation. Coggin's Point.Confronting health afflictions on a personal level andsoil infertility on a professional level, Ruffin began toponder the means of revitalizing his mind and his plan-tation. As a lover of literary pursuits, he combined hiswriting and agricultural interests, as well as h is experi-mental bent, in an effort to resolve the dilemma over soilinfertility. Following years of experimentation, hepublished an account of his successes and became thepublisher of the F a nn e rs R e gi st er , a respected fann publi-cation. In his successful transitions from agriculturalpursuits to journalism and back to fanning, Ruffin estab-lished himself as a leading student of soil science andAmerican agriculture.Ruffin's interests eventually turned from agriculture topolitics. Although elected to the Virginia state senate in1823, he did not complete his term of office. Ruffinapparently recognized that he was better suited as a

Edmund Ruffin (Ubrary o f Congress)


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RUGER. THOMAS HOWARD

writer and speaker than asa public servant. Earlier in lifehe had asserted that slavery w as an evil, but one thatcould be eliminated over time. A s the years and regionaltensions progressed, Ruffin came to endorse the neces-sity of slavery. A s a critic of all tariff measures, heclaimed such efforts were a "monstrous anomaly in freegovernment." Ruffin accepted the position of SouthCarolina in the Nullification Crisis, which affinned hisdevotion to state authority. He argued that a state wasallowed [0assume such a courseof action only ifthe goalwas to protect the state's citizens and the Constitution.Recovering this necessary responsibility of the states inrelation to the central government might make decisionmaking lessefficient. but would allow it to gain vastly inmoral power. In Ruffin's assessment, the interposing andamending power of the states implicit in theConstitution could only augment authentic popular ruleby allowing for a greater diffusion of authority.

A s tensions increased. Ruffin published many articlesendorsing the Southern position on slavery, aboli-tionism, and other disputed concerns. Disgruntled withthe inactivity of his native Virginia, Ruffin moved toCharleston in 1861, where on 12 April 1861 the sixty-seven-year-old Ruffin was allowed to fire the first shot, a64-pound Columbiad, against Fort Sumter. Althoughthe controversy over who actually fired the initial shotremains, Ruffin was received as a patron of the seces-sionist cause. After Virginia seceded, he returned to hisnative state and was a tirelessdefender of the South untilthe surrender at Appomattox. Ruffin became increasingdespondent, wishing that he could be "buried as usuallywere our brave soldiers who were slain in battle." On 17June 1865Ruffin committed suicide byshooting himself.

-H. L e e Cheek , J T .S e e also Fire-eaters.For further reading:C rav en , A ve ry O . Edmund Ruffin, Southerner (1982).Math ew , W . M . Edmund R uffin a nd th e Crisis o f S la v er y (1988).S ca rb or ou gh . W i ll iam K. , ed . Th e D U z r y o f Edmund Ruffin(1972-1989).

RUGER,THOMASHOWARD(1833-1907)Union geneTaLBorn in Lima, New York, to Jefferson Ruger andMaria Hutchins Ruger. Thomas Howard Rugermoved with his family to Janesville, Wisconsin,when he was an adolescent. In 1850 he accepted anappointment to the U.S. Military Academy. He gradu-ated third of forty-six in the class of 1854. Rugerremained in the arcny only one year before resigning tostudy law.For the five years after his admission to the barbefore the outbreak of the Civil War, Ruger practicedlaw in janesville. With the commencement of hostili-

ties, he accepted a commission as the lieutenant colonelof the 3d Wisconsin Infantry.He was promoted to colonel of the regiment inSeptember 1861. At the time the regiment was stationedin Maryland, and in the fall of 1861, Ruger spent muchof his time suppressing Confederate activity aroundFrederick. Later in the year, Ruger and his regiment.came under the command ofNathaniel P.Banks and theDepartment of the Shenandoah. In the spring of 1862they fought under Banks in the Shenandoah campaignagainst Stonewall Jackson. They COntinued to serveunder Banks at Cedar Mountain in August 1862.At Antietam, Ruger commanded a brigade and waswounded in the battle fighting on the Union right in thecornfield. He was unable to participate in theFredericksburg campaign because of his injuries. In thespring of 1863 he was promoted to brigadier general witha date of rank of 29 November 1862. In April 1863 hew as given command of a brigade of Alpheus Williams'sdivision in XII Corps. He fought at Chancellorsville andled his brigade in pursuit of Robert E . Lee in June 1863.On the morning of 2 July, Ruger assumed command ofthe division when Williams became corps commander.Positioned on the barb of the fishhook, Ruger so effec-tively led his men through the battle that he received abrevet promotion to brigadier general in the regular anny.In August 1863 Ruger and his brigade were sent toNew York City to restore calm in the wake of the draftriots there. The city was about to resume drawing namesfor the draft, and the government had learned its lessonfrom July and wanted plenty of troops visible on thestreets of the city. In the fall Ruger was sene from NewYork to the Army of the Cumberland in Tennessee,where he was headquartered at Tullahoma dealing withConfederate guerrilla raids. In the Atlanta campaign hecommanded a brigade in Alpheus Williams's division,XX Corps. He fought in all the major engagements ofthat campaign, and after the fall of the city, he was sentback to Tennessee to serve under John M. Schofield inthe Army of the Ohio. He distinguished himself at thebattle of Franklin, where he commanded a division ofXXlll Corps. Schofield commended him for bravery inthat battle and recommended that he receive a brevetpromotion to major general.In December 1864, Ruger was sent to Murfreesboro,Tennessee, where he patrolled from the town lookingfor Confederate guerrilla groups. In February 1865,Ruger and his division accompanied Schofield andXXIII Corps to Alexandria, Virginia, where theyembarked for the North Carolina coast to aid WilliamT. Shennan in his Carolina campaign. Ruger waspresent at the surrender of Joseph E.Johnston's army inApril 1865.Mer the surrender, Ruger remained inNorth Carolinaand temporarily commanded XXIII Corps in June 1865.

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SECESSION

however, urged patience, and he devised a plan that hebelieved would create an overpowering advantage for theNorth while limiting the loss of life. It also reflected therealization that in 1861 the North lacked the troopsnecessary to mount multiple land offensives to conquerthousands of square miles of enemy territory. Thoughinitially rejected, the North eventually enacted themajor components of the Anaconda Plan.In the summer of 1861, with growing pressure fromthe administration to act, Scott reluctantly approved anadvance in northern Virginia that led to the battle ofFirst Bull Run. A proponent of thorough training andpreparation, Scott saw his fears realized when the inex-perienced Union troops were defeated and sent runningback to WashingtOn. His caution along with his old agegradually caused administration officials to look else-where for military counsel. George McClellan, the newcommander of the Army of the Potomac, soon began toreplace Scott as the administration's chief adviser. Byautumn the rigorsof the job were more than SCOttcouldmanage. At over 300 pounds he suffered from gout,dropsy, and rheumatism; he was unable to mount a horseor to climb stairs unassisted. Because of his failing health,Scott resigned on 31 October.Although he left public life, Scott's influence on CivilWar generalship remained. Many of his subordinates.now commanding their own armies, executed turningmovements at places like Chancellorsville, Pea Ridge,and the Wilderness that were reminiscent of thosecarried out at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and other battle-fields of the Mexican-American War. And McClellan'sPeninsula campaign (1862) was remarkably similar tothe Mexico City campaign. Scott published his Memoirsin 1864. and he died at West Point in 1866.-7imomy D. l ohnson

See also Anaconda Plan; Lee, Robert Edward: McClellan,George Brinton.For further reading:Ellion, Char les Winslow. Winf i e ld Scott: T he S old ie r a n d !h eM a n ( 19 37 ).J oh ns on, T Im oth y D . Winf i e ld SCOtt: The Quest {o r Mil i taryGlo ry ( 1998) .

SECESSIONe verb "to secede" is derived from the Latinecedere,meaning "to withdraw" and referring toany act of withdrawal. Originally introduced inthe seventeenth century as a concept of political theory,secession assumed the existence of the modem state, aswell as the possibility ofdismemberment of that state. Inan American context, secession h as been understood asthe withdrawal by the Southern states from the FederalUnion followingthe election ofAbraham Lincoln to thepresidency inNovember 1860.The structure of the political system, the original

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intentions of some framers of the Constitution, and thecitizenry'sprevailing understanding of the political orderduring the early Republic encouraged a diversity of opin-ions regarding the fundamental nature of the Union.Concerns arose in many quarters during theConstitutional Convention and ratification process,especially among the anti-Federalists, who feared that anoverbearing national government would assume theauthority of the states. Article Two of the Articles ofConfederation had contained explicit provisions forprotecting states, initiating a system whereby "each stateretains its sovereignty." Various early state constitutionsincluded provisions outlining the primacy ofstates in theconfederal arrangement, often at the expense of a unifiedpolitical order. The most popular form of amendmentrequested during the state ratification conventions forthe Federal Constitution and proposed to the FirstCongress concerned a reserved powers clause. Thedefenders of the Constitution argued that such a provi-sion w a s unnecessary. James Madison suggested in TheFederalistNo. 39 that each state was "a sovereign body"only "bound by its voluntary act" of ratification. OtherFederalists, including James Wilson, AlexanderHamilton, and John Marshall at the Virginia ratifyingconvention, held that such a proposal was alreadypresent in the Constitution and that the new govern-ment would only have the powers delegated to it.Opposition to, and suspicion of, the proposedConstitution on the grounds that it would infringe uponthe privileged status of the states was widespread. Thedefenders of state authority viewed the states as therepository of reserved power, and many believed thatstates were invested with an equal, and perhaps superior,capacity to judge infractions against the federal govern-ment. The most significant assurances to this effect camein the Virginia ratifying convention from GeorgeNicholas and Edmund Randolph. As the spokesmen forthe committee that reponed the instrument of ratifica-tion, they noted that the Constitution would only havethe powers "expressly" delegated to it. If Federalistsdisagreed with the Stress on state authority, they gener-ally viewed a reserved power clause as innocuous. andMadison included such a provision among the amend-ments he introduced in 1789.

In the first Congress, Elbridge Gerry, a founder andanti-Federalist elected to the House of Representatives,introduced a proposal reminiscent of the Articles ofConfederation, leaving to the states all powers "notexpressly delegated" to the federal government. Gerry'sproposal was defeated, in pan due co concerns about thesimilarity between the language of his amendment andthe Articles. Others who cook a states' rights or strictconstructionist view of the Constitution, includingThomas Jefferson, persisted in defending state power.Before ratification of the Tenth Amendment, Jefferson


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SECESSION

advised President Washington that incorporating anational bank was unconstitutional, basing his opinionon the Tenth Amendment. Jefferson would latercompose the Kentucky Resolutions, which defended thestates as the sovereign building blocks of the Americannation and noted that the states retained a means ofprotection when threatened. To describe the process ofstate action, Jefferson supplied a new term, n u l l i f i c a . c i o n ,to note the immediacy and severity of the "remedy"necessary to prohibit the federal government fromabsorbing state authority.Defenders of the federal government, sometimesdescribed as nationalists or loose constructionists, arguedthat the Congress must assume more power if the needsof the country were to be met. Most prominent amongthe advocates of increased federal authority .wasAlexander Hamilton. For Hamilton, the explicit protec-tion of state prerogatives, or providing a mechanismagainst secession, was unnecessary, as the political orderalready protected states. The Consritudon, according tothe nationalists, already contained provisions for theexercise of federal power, including the "necessary andproper" and "supremacy" clauses.The Supreme Court addressed the controversy in itsMcCul loch v, Maryland (1819) decision. The high Courtupheld the constitutionality of a national bank, eventhough such an instirution w a s not specified in theConstirution. Indismissing a strict delineation of stateand federal authority, the Court under the leadership ofJohn Marshall extended the powers of Congress at theexpense of the states. On the other hand, the MarshallCourt affirmed the excepted notion that police powersbelonged exclusively to the states. Under Chief JusticeRoger Brooke Taney (1836-1864), the Court assumedmore of a strict constructionist posture.The emerging defense of state authority, and ulti-mately the secession of the South, was an interpretationof the American political experience, with an emphasisupon the perceived original dispersion of authority,sovereignty, and restraint within the Constitution of1787. According to this interpretation, offered by JohnC. Calhoun and Robert Y. Hayne among others, theoriginal systemwas predicated upon reserving the states'sphere of authority, while delegating sufficient authorityfor particular and limited responsibility to the generalgovernment. For Calhoun, this original diffusion,buttressed by a prudent mode of popular rule, was theprimary achievement of American politics. A necessarycorollary to his understanding of the regime's historicalevolution was the need to perpetuate the original visionof the Union for posterity's sake: "The Union: Next toour liberty, the most dear; may we all remember that itcan only be preserved by respecting the rights of thestates and distributing equally the benefit and theburden of Union," urged Calhoun. If, as Calhoun

suggested, America had "departed" from its "originalcharacter and srructure," a recovery of the older designwas necessary.For the defenders of states' rights and secession, theDeclaration of Independence initiated the legitimatedelineation of state and federal authority and a properly

consriruted mode of popular rule through first articu-lating the primary nature of the Union. According tothis view, which was shared by many Southerners, theDeclaration illuminated and explained the foundationsof the American republic as also resting upon a politicalcompact. In contradistinction to a social compact, apolitical compact did not unite individuals or govern-ments. Instead, such an agreement formed a republicwith the same equality of rights among the statescomposing the union, as among the citizens composingthe states themselves. The Declaration encouraged apolitical compact that had developed with "time andexperience" into a model ofpolitical and social stability.The Declaration preserved the locus of authority withineach individual state, and allowed for secession whengovernment "becomes destructive of these ends, it is theright of the people to alter or abolish it." For manyAmericans, the Declaration of Independence expressedthe foundation for popular rule and a territorial republicthat came to fruition in the Constitution. While theDeclaration appropriately described the status of "Freeand Independent States" as intrinsic to the republic, thedocument also confirmed the conceptional thesis ofsecessionist political theory: the states "ordained" orcreated the Republic. If the Declaration ofIndependence supplied the prologue to the originaldesign for the Republic, it was the Articles ofConfederation, the first American embodiment of thedesign. that incorporated this insight into the funda-mental law of the regime. For Southerners, the provi-sions and language of the Articles served as an authenticprecursor to the American Constitution. TheConstiturion of 1787was incomprehensible without firstassimilating the defense ofstates' rights contained in theArticles. Drafted in Stages from 1776 to 1777, theArticles extended and revised the Declaration'sennobling of diffused authority and the delineation ofstate autonomy, while establishing popular rule basedupon the deliberative, decentralized, community-centered participation of the citizenry. As in the case ofthe Declaration, the Articles perpetuated the originaldesign for the territorial division of the country, intoindependent and sovereign states, on which the seces-sionist argument would later rest.Bystrengthening the foundadons laid by the Articles,the Constitution provided the final and most profoundmanifestation of the secessionist view's defense ofpopular rule and the diffusion of political authority.While the Declaration and Articles contributed to this

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SECESSION VILLE, BATTLE OF

evolving discernment, the Constttution presented thedefinitive maturation from a confederacy [0a federalgovernment, resting upon the authentic, organic, anddelineatory manifestations of the states, although thecitizenry retained final and complete political authority.Such a constitution, in Calhoun's view,was most appro-priately identified asa concurrent constitution because itserved primarily as an exemplification of the states' rolein preserving the regime. The Constitunon alsoprovideda careful "enumeration" and "specification" of powerconsigned to the general government. In other words, byforming a concurrent foundation for the political order,it was argued that in times of crisis the states should exerttheir concurrent prerogative and repossess certain dele-gated power from the federal government ifneeded andin accord with the Constirution-especially in situationsin which che federal government had usurped powerfrom the states. Through the adoption of theConstirution, the American people accepted a "jointsupplemental government" that retained the states astheprimary voice of the people.

In situations in which the general government andthe states were in conflict, each possessed a "mutualnegative" on the other's actions, according to che seces-sionist argument. Defenders of secession often cited therecord of che Virginia ratifying convention and theTench Amendment to the Constitution as primaryevidence of the doctrine. The Virginia conventionprovided, along with its New Yorkcounterpart, the mosterudite and complete commentary on the interpretationof the fundamental law besides the records of theConstitutional Convention itself. In situations ofdisputed authority, che states possessed the right of self-protection, with secession serving as the ultimate mani-festation of such a response.Struggles over the basis of the Union arose after theratification of the Constitution, including Jefferson's andMadison's response to President John Adams and theAlien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Defenders of state andnational supremacy often changed positions dependingon their political needs. In an effort [0reduce the hard-ships incurred bythe War of 1812, some New Englandersheld a convention in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1814, asNew England states were threatening secession.The firstdebate over secession in America took place in New. England, not in the South.The ensuing crises over Missouri statehood(1819-1820) and nullification 0832-1833) increasedsecessionist tensions, but these problems were resolvedby compromise. The problem of slavery,compounded bythe rise of abolitionism, would intensify the conflict.After Southerners were able to defeat the WilmotProviso, the Compromise of 1850made resolution of theslavery problem more problematic. In 1854 SenatorStephen A. Douglas of Illinois, attempting to gamer1720

support from Southern congressmen for his legislationthat would organize the territories of Kansas andNebraska, reopened the issue of extending slavery intonew areas. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Actunified resistance to slavery in the North, and by 1854the Republican Party was dominant in the region. Theelection of James Buchanan to the presidency in 1856and the ill-fated ruling of the Supreme Court in the D r e dScott case in 1857, widened the sectional divide.Lincoln's election in 1860 galvanized Southern atti-tudes in favor of secession. In Lincoln the South saw athreat to its established way of life and fundamentalrights. The success of a minority political parry, theRepublicans, in electing a president was a source of somedisdain aswell. Agitated by the more radical advocates ofsecession, known as "fire-eaters," an d the failure of otherefforts to ameliorate the tension, South Carolina with-drew from the Union, having passed a secession ordi-nance on 20 December 1860. South Carolina wasfollowed in quick succession by Mississippi, Florida,Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. After the inci-dent at Fort Sumter in April 1861, and Lincoln's call fortroops, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and NorthCarolina adopted secession ordinances and evenruallyjoined the Confederacy.

-H.Lee C he e k, J r.S ee als o C alh o un , jo hn C ald w ell; E le ctio n o f 1 86 0; F ire -e ate rs ;T an ey , R og er B ro ok e; W ilm o t P r ov is o.Fo r fu rt he r r e ad in g:Berger, Raoul . F e d er a l i s m : T h e F o u nd e rs ' Des ign (1987 ).B u ch a na n, A l le n. S e c e s s i o n (1991).F reeh ling , W illiam W . Th e R o a d to Disunion: S e c e s s i o n i s t s atB a y , 1776-1854 (1990).G ord on , D av id , 0 0. S e c e s s i o n , Stare a n d Liben:y (1998).K am in sk i, J oh n P ., and G aspare J . Saladino, et al., eds . TheDocumenrary Hisrory o f th e R m i fi a u io n o f the Consri tu l ion , vo ls .8 -1 0 ( 19 93 ).Lence, Ross M., e d. U n io n a n d 1Jben:y: Th e P o l U i c ol P h i lo s o p hyofJohn C . Cal ho un (I992).

SECESSIONVILLE, BATTLE OF(16 June 1862)

Federal plans to occupy Charleston, SouthCarolina, in June 1862 faltered after Union troopslanded on James Island. About 9,000 Federalsmanaged to take up positions along the Stono River onthe southwestern part of the island, but delays allowedConfederate reinforcements to construct such strongfortifications that Major General David Hunter orderedno general engagement b e mounted until he explicitlyauthorized it. Aside from the Confederate defenses, theSouthern commander on James Island was BrigadierGeneral Nathan "Shanks" Evans, a veteran of Bull Runand Ball's Bluff-and he was not to b e trifled with.Evans's Union counterpart on the island was


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STEPHENS. ALEXANDER HAMILTON

lieutenant on 6 June 1848, as well as two earlier brevetsfor gallantry. Serving at various posts in California.Minnesota, Nebraska, and Kansas during the next thir-teen years, he made captain in 1855.The outbreak of the Civil War found Captain Steeleat Fort Leavenworth on the troubled Kansas-Missouriborder. He received a promotion to major and led acomposite battalion of regulars at Wilson's Creek. 10August 1861. On 23 September, Steele joined thevolunteer service as colonel of the 8th Iowa VolunteerInfantry, and he was upgraded to brigadier generaLon 29January 1862. He headed the District of SoutheastMissouri for several months until being transferred toMajor General Samuel R. Curtis's Army of theSouthwest. Steele commanded a division in Curtis'ssecond invasion of Arkansas, assisting in.the capture ofHelena on 12 [ulv 1862. 'During a brief stint as commander of the Army of theSouthwest beginning in September 1862, Steelereversed Curtis's policy of humane treatment for thethousands of runaway slaves who took refuge at Helena.He also rumed a blind eye to the excesses of dishonestNorthern cotton traders who flocked to the occupiedriver port,Steele reported to the Army of the Tennessee inDecember 1862 and took charge of another division. Heserved under Major GeneraL William T. Sherman: atChickasaw Bluffs and Arkansas Post. On 17 March1863, he was promoted to major general and proceededto lead a division of the X V Army Corps through theVicksburg campaign.Afrer Vicksburg's surrender, Steele returned toHelena on 31 July 1863 and assumed command ofUnion forces in Arkansas. In August, he set out with a12,OOO~manarmy to capture Little Rock. Despite stifling

heat and rampant sickness in his ranks, Steele maneu-vered his foes into abandoning Little Rock on 10September. The ease of his victory convinced him thathe had virtually broken Confederate resistance inArkansas. A conservative Democrat with little enthu-siasm for the Lincoln administration's racial policies,Steele treated Confederate civilians with such laxitythat many of his officers and men branded him aCopperhead.

In late March 1864, Steele, now the commander ofthe VII Army Corps and Department of Arkansas,marched into southwest Arkansas with 14,000 men tosupport Major General Nathaniel Banks's ill-fated thrustup the Red River toward Texas. Steele's campaign wentwell at first, as he outsmarted his outnumbered oppo-nents and took the fortified city of Camden withoutundue difficulty on 15 April. In the next ten days,however, Confederate cavalry captured Union supplytrains at Poison Spring and Marks' Mills, throwingSteele's logistics into disarray. The approach of three

enemy infantry divisions from Louisiana forced Steele toabandon Camden on 26 April, and he herded hisbattered army back to the safety oflittle Rock only afterhis subordinates fought a stubborn rear-guard action atJenkins' Ferry on 30 April.During the next few months, Steele seemed to stag-nate while many of his soldiers debauched themselves in.the bars and brothels of little Rock. Relieved as depart-mental commander by Major GeneraL Joseph J.Reynolds on 29 November 1864, Steele transferred tothe Department of the Gulf. He commanded the"Column from Pensacola" during the Mobile campaignin March and April 1865. Ironically, Steele's best unitwas a division of black troops, which gave him a finaltaste of glory by precipitating the capture of Fort Blakelyon ~ April. He finished the war as commander of theDistrict of West FLorida. . .

Steele resumed his career in the regular army, securingthe colonelcy of the 20th U.S. Infantry on 28July 1866.He was stationed on the West Coast and givencommand of the Department of the Columbia. While onleave in San Mateo, California, Steele suffered anapoplectic fit ashe was driving a carriage and took a badfall. He died as a result ofhis injuries on 12January 1868.-Gregory]. W Urwin

Se e a ls o A rk an sa s; B la ke ly , A la bama , B attle o f; H ele na , B ae deof. Jenkins' Fetty, Bartle of; Marks'Mills, Battle of. PoisonSpring, Battle of; Red River Campaign.Fo r { ur t he T r e c ul in g :Beam, Edwin C. Steele's Retreat f r o m Camden a n d rh e Baule ofJ e n k i n s ' F e r r y (1967).Christ, M ark K ., ed , Rugged an d S ub l im e : T h e Civil W ar inA r k an s as ( 1 9 9 4) .Moneyhon, Carl H. The Im pact o f rh e Civil W ar andReconstruct ion on Arkansas: P e rs ee en ce in rh e Midst o f R uin(1994) .Shea , William L. , an d E arl J . H es s. P e a R id ge: C iv il W arCampa ig n i n rh e W e s t (1 9 92 ).Spe rr v, A . F . His t o ry o f rh e 33d Iowa l nf ar u: ry V o lu nt ee r R e g im e n t,1863-6 (1999).

STEPHENS, ALEXANDER HAMILTON(1812-1883)

Confederate vice pTesidentS tephens was named for his grandfather, AlexanderStephens, a narive of Scotland and veteran of theRevolutionary War who settled in Georgia in theearly 179Os.Andrew Stephens, the only son of the elderAlexander to remain in Georgia, was a successfulfarmerand educator. He married Margaret Grier in 1806.Within months of young Alexander's birth in 1812, hismother died as the result of pneumonia. His fatherquickly remarried Matilda Lindsey, the daughter of alocal war hero. Matilda had great influence upon herstepson's Life,but the greatest inspiration to the young1857


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STEPHENS. ALEXANDER HAMILTON

A l ex and er S te p h en s ( L ib ra r y o /Congres s )

"Aleck" w a s his father. While not exhibiting any initialfondness for academic study, by 1824 Alexander wasconsumed with an interest in biblical narrative andhistory and he began to read widely. In 1826 AndrewStephens died from pneumonia, and Alexander's step-mother soon followed from the same affliction.Alexander w a s overcome by grief. He became disconso-late and fell into a state of melancholy. Alexander andhis brother Aaron were then taken in by their uncle,Aaron Grier. While living with his uncle, Alexander wasbefriended by two Presbyterian ministers, the ReverendsWilliams and Alexander Hamilton Webster. These mengreatly aided Alexander's personal and intellectualdevelopment. Out of his respect and devotion toReverend Webster, Stephens eventually changed hismiddle name to Hamilton. A s the result of the encour-agement offered by these clerics and others, the youngAlexander Stephens entered Franklin College, whichlater became the University of Georgia. At Franklin,Stephens was guided in his studies by the eminenteducator, Reverend Moses Waddel, the brother-in-lawand teacher of John C. Calhoun and many of theemerging leaders of South Carolina.Graduating first in his class at Franklin in 1832,Stephens had distinguished himself as a scholar and1858

capable debater. He accepted a position as a tutor andbegan an independent study of the law.After passing thebar examination, Stephens was elected to the state legis-lature, spending six years in the Statehouse and senate. Itwas becoming apparent that Stephens possessed thequalities necessary for political success.When his political coalition merged with the WhigPany, Stephens decided to run for the U.S. Congress in1843. A s a candidate, he defended the Whig Party's posi-tions on the national bank and tariffs. Stephens waselected, but within a shon time he received news that hisbrother Aaron had died. Stephens was again strickenwith a profound sense of loss. After arriving inWashington to assume his congressional seat, he w as sosick that he w as unable to the attend legislative sessions.On 9 February 1844, in his first speech as a member ofCongress, he challenged his own election! Stephenseventually became a Whig stalwart, campaigning forvarious Whig candidates and related causes, includingHenry Clay's unsuccessful presidential bid in 1844. Themajor issue before Congress at that time w as the annex-ation of Texas. In opposition to many Southerncongressmen, who viewed the annexation of Texas asessential to the preservation of a political equilibriumthat protected slavery, Stephens opposed expansion.Eventually, though, Stephens was forced to see the bene-fits of annexation for the South and the Whig Party, buthe opposed the measure if based solelyon the extensionof slavery.Troubled by what he believed to be President Polk'sbad management, including exacerbating tensions withEngland regarding Oregon and the situation in Mexico,Stephens became an outspoken critic of the administra-tion. Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to the Rio

Grande and a conflict transpired, prompting Polk tostate that a war had been initiated. While Congressprovided a declaration of war, Stephens agreed withCalhoun that the war could escalate into a greaterconflict. In conjunction with other Whigs, Stephenstried to limit his suppon of the war and to preventCongress from acquiring territory as the spoils of thecontest. He introduced legislation aimed at limiting theaggrandizing policies of the Polk administration. By 1847Stephens had become a central figure in the YoungIndians Club, a group of congressmen supporting thepresidential candidacy of General Zachary Taylor, whothey believed shared the worldview of Southern Whigs.After Taylor's election, Stephens w a s forced to recon-sider his suppon of "Old Zack." Stephens supponed thedoctrine of popular sovereignty because he believed it tob e a countervailing force against the Nonhern Whigswho wanted to admit California and New Mexico as freestates. Working with his fellow Georgian and friendRobert Toombs, Stephens challenged his Whigcolleagues to adopt resolutions forbidding Congress from


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STEUART, GEORGE HUME

ending the slave trade in the territories, but the effortfailed. Within a short period of time, Stephens hadmoved from being a valued supporter of the administra-tion to a critic and congressional opponent. He wasforced to leave the Whig Party, but he maintained hislegislative base of support in Georgia. In joining forcesagainst the Whigs during a period of electoral realign-ment, he assisted in the formation of the ConstitutionalUnion Party in Georgia.In the midst of the turmoil, Stephens eventuallyjoined the Democratic Party. He supported theCompromise of 1850 and was instrumental in the adop-tion of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Stephensthought the acceptance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act wasthe "mission" of his life. and that "his cup of ambitionw a s full."After unsuccessfully supporting various meas-ures designed to secure the position of the South.Stephens announced that he was retiring fromCongress.He was wearyand tired of confronting "restless. captious.and fault-finding people." He did not support extremistmeasures offered by his colleagues from the South, butremained an advocate of states' rights nevertheless. EvenasSouthern radicals encouraged secession after the elec-tion of Lincoln in 1860. Stephens urged restraint.pleading with his follow Georgians to evince "goodjudgment." and arguing that the ascendancy of Lincolndid not merit secession. In a celebrated exchange withthe new president, he reminded Lincoln that"Independent, sovereign states" had formed the Unionand that these states could reassert their sovereignty.When Georgia convened a convention in January 1861Stephens voted against secession, but when secessionwas approved by a vote of 166 to 130, he was part of thecommittee that drafted the secession ordinance.A s the Confederacy evolved. Stephens was selectedas a delegate and to many he appeared to be a goodcandidate for the vice presidency. He assumed animportant role in the drafting of the Confederateconstitution and in other affairs, eventually acceptingthe vice presidency. Early in his tenure as vice president,on 21 March 1861. he gave his politically damaging"Cornerstone" address in Savannah, extolling the supe-riority of whites. President Jefferson Davis was greatlydisturbed, as Stephens had shifted the basisof the polit-ical debate from states' rights to slavery. Stephens wasconvinced that slavery was a necessiry. The estrange-menr between Davis and Stephens increased. and byearly 1862 the vice president was not intimatelyinvolved in the affairs of state. Accordingly, he returnedto his home in Crawfordville. Pursuing actions hethought might assist in the denouement of the conflict.Stephens attempted several assignments. including adiplomatic sojourn to Washington. In July 1863President Abraham Lincoln refused Stephens permis-sion to come to the federal capital. In February 1865

Stephens participated in the failed Hampton RoadsPeace Conference.At the conclusion of the war. Stephens was arrestedand imprisoned at Fort Warren. Massachusetts. After hisrelease. he devoted the remainder of his life tocomposing A C o n st it ut io n al V i ew o f t h e Late W C l T Betweent h e S t a t e S , a two-volume defense of Southern constitu-tionalism. which appeared in 1868 and 1870. Accordingto Stephens, the foremost theoretical and pracncaldistillation of authority and liberty was found within theAmerican political tradition. The original system w a spredicated upon reserving the states' sphere of authority.For Stephens. this original diffusion. buttressed by aprudent mode of popular rule. was the primary achieve-ment of American politics.

-H. Le e C he ek, Jr .See a l so D av is, Jefferson : G eorgia: H am pto n R oad s P eaceConference; Toombs. Rober t Augusrus.For further reading:B ru mg ardt, Jo hn R . 'T he C on federate C areer of A lexand erS te ph e ns ." C i vi l War His tory (1981).R ab un . J am es Z . " A le xa nd er S te ph e ns a nd th e C o nf ed era cy ."Emo ry Umver si t1 Qu ar te rl y ( 1950) .Schott. Thomas E. Alexander H. Stephens o f G eo rg ia: ABiography (1988).S te ph e ns , A le xa nd er H . A C o ru riru lio na l V i ew o f r i t e Lue WarBetween r i t e Suues (1868 an d 1870: reprint, 1994).

STEUART, GEORGE HUME(1828-1903)

Confederate general

B orn the son ofGeorge Hume Steuart in Baltimore,Maryland. the younger Steuart was educatedlocally before receiving an appointment to theU.S. Military Academy in 1844. He graduated thirty-seventh of thirty-eight in the class of 1848 and w a scommissioned into the dragoons. Upon graduation hewas sent to Texas, where he served for seven years. A s acaptain of cavalry after 1855 he served at a variety offrontier posts in K a n s a s and Nebraska. He fought inseveral Indian conflicts before being detailed to partici-pate in Albert Sidney Johnston's Utah expedition. In1860 he returned to Texas. where he fought incampaigns against the Comanche.

During the secession crisis of early 1861. Steuartreturned to Maryland to await his state's decisionregarding disunion. After the firing on Fort Sumter andAbraham Lincoln's call for volunteers, he assumed thatMaryland would follow its neighbor Virginia Out of theUnion. In anticipation of that event. he resigned h iscommission and accepted the position of major generalof the Maryland volunteers who supported secession. Heworked through the remaining days of April into Mayprocuring weapons from Virginia to arm these troops sothat they would be prepared to defend the state once1859


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WEBSTER. DANIEL

agreement with the Confederacy. Believing that Britainwould enlist France to break the Northern blockade ofSouthern ports, Webb traveled to Brazil by way of Parisat the urging of American minister William Dayton.who persuaded him to speak with his many friends in theFrench government. Webb persuaded Napoleon andLord John Russell that such a move would not giveEurope a supply of Southern cotton. Before leaving forRio de Janeiro, he wrote Seward a twenty-five-pagememorandum with suggestions for prosecuting what hepredicted would be a short war. including the immediateexecution of all Southern leaders.In BrazilWebb was forced to deal with a nation that.save for the Confederacy, was the only large nationwhere slavery was both legal and an integral economicfactor. His predecessor as minister. R. K. Meade. was aSouthern sympathizer who had stressed the two nations'common interest in perpetuating slavery. Webb's goalw a s to correct those sentiments and to ensure that Brazilwould launch no interference in American affairs. Hisinsistence on criticizing Meade in his presentationspeech wasvetoed bythe Braziliansand led to tense rela-tions with the nation's leaders. Webb's efforts to stop theuse of Brazilian ports as refueling points by Confederateprivateers were similarly disapproved. Webb labeled thisa blatant "breach of neutrality."Webb won a significant victory, however, in thesummer of 1862, when he successfully blocked the sale offour Confederate ships to a British firm, which was plan-ning to sail them in safety under the Union Jack toEngland and there resellthem to the South. But tensionsover private Southern ships--which undercut U.S.commercial interests in South America-e-conrinueduntil the end of the war.Another of Webb's evenrual successes almost neverhappened because of his efforts to profit personally fromthe scheme. He persuaded Lincoln an d Seward to pressCongress to set up a route of mail steamers between, theUnited States a n d Brazil as a way to break Britain'scommercial monopoly in South America that requiredeven the United States to buy goods through London. Butthe president blocked the plan when he learned thatWebb, claiming that only he could win Brazil'sapproval,insisted that he be given the lucrative concession. Further,Webb claimed that Brazilwould only accept the plan ifhewere given long-term involvement. Lincoln and Sewardagreed that this was "entirely indefensible" and a flagrantviolation ofU.S. law.Eventually,Webb relented: the planw as approved, but without his involvement.Webb's other ambitious proposal was to colonizeemancipated American slaves in Brazil, a move hepredicted would simultaneously solve Brazil's laborproblem and rid the United States "of a curse which ha swell nigh destroyed her." Lincoln and Seward. whofavored colonization, were receptive. but the plan came

to naught on two counts: First, Brazilian lawbanned theentry of free blacks; and second. Seward soon realizedthat under Webb's proposal. the ex-slaves would not betrue freedmen but rather indentured servants.Webb at first tried to push Seward as the Republicanpresidential candidate in 1864, but eventually hesupported Lincoln. After the election. he pressed for apost in Europe but was flaelyrejected an d spent fourmore'years in Brazil. His heavy-handed efforts to mediate asettlement in the Paraguayan War almost disruptedU.S.-Brazilian relations and tarnished America's diplo-matic reputation in South America. His biographer.James Crouthamel, wrote that Webb's "conduct in Brazilwould comprise a handy 'How not to do' manual forAmerican diplomats today," noting that "the UnitedStates was decidedly less popular there when Webb leftBrazil in 1869 than it had been when he arrived."

-Eric FenmannSee also D ip lom acy, U .S.A .; G reat B ritain; N ew spapers ;W e bb , A le xan de r S te w ar t.For further reading:C ro uth am e l, J am e s L Ja me s W a uo n W e bb : A Biography (1969).H u ds on . F re de ric . J oum aJ is m in th e United Sta t e s f r o m 1690 co1 87 2 ( 18 73 ; re prin t. 1 96 8) .Mor t, F r ank Luther , AmeriamJournn l ism (1962).

WEBSTER, DANIEL(1782-1852)

Nationalist and American statesman

B orn on 18 January 1782 in Salisbury, NewHampshire, in the hill country of the upperMerrimack River, to Ebenezer Webster a nd hissecond wife, Abigail Eastman. Daniel was the youngestson in a family of ten children. Although raised in afarming environment, the young Daniel preferredworking in his father's tavern and conversing with theestablishment's visitors. The integrity, devotion tounion. and political acumen of Ebenezer Webster wouldsoon be evident in his son. As the boy became wellknown among the tavern patrons, he wasgiven the nick-name "Black Dan," owing to his dark hair and skincomplexion.

Following his early education at local schools andthrough his voracious reading of great works. Websterwas able to attend Phillips Exeter Academy andDartmouth College. At Dartmouth. he w as an activestudent who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Websterproceeded to study law under Federalist teachers and topractice law in his native New Hampshire. Aftermarrying Grace Fletcher in 1808, Webster became moreinterested in politics. After several unsuccessfulcampaigns. Webster was elected to the U.S. House ofRepresentatives in 1812. Establishing himself as a criticof the Madison administration. he believed the country

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should practice self-restraint while maintaining nationalintegrity. In approving the Hartford Convention's listingof complaints against the Federal government, he did notendorse the secessionist elements within the gathering.After moving to Boston and acquiring the reputationas an orator and defender of the nationalist tradition,Webster spent a great deal of time practicing law andpresenting cases before the Supreme Court, includingMcCulloch v, Mary land and Gibbon s v, Ogden . He waselected to the U.S. Senate in 1827. In 1828 he supportedthe prevailing tariff proposal. and this endorsement ledto a famous debate with Senator Robert Y. Hayne ofSouth Carolina. In the course of the debate, Websterdeclared: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one andinseparable!" These sentiments would embody his devo-tion to the importance of union for the remainder of hispolitical career.In 1836 and 1840 Webster unsuccessfully attemptedto obtain the Whig Party's presidential nomination; henevertheless served as secretary of state under presidentsHarrison, Tyler, and Fillmore. Webster returned to theSenate from 1844 until 1850. He supported theCompromise of 1850 in a famous speech on 7 March1850, criticizing secessionists and abolitionists as notpossessing enough devotion to the Union. It was aremarkable performance that had the effect of moder-ating sectional discord, even as it inflamedMassachusetts abolitionists. Webster remained unfor-given by them when he died two years later on 24October 1852.

-H. L ee C he ek , Jr .For further reading:P e te rs on , M e rrill D . The Grea t T r iu m vi ra te : W e b S !e T , Clay, a n dCalh o un ( 19 87 ).R em ini, R obert V . D anie l W eb s !eT : The M an and H is T ime(1997).

WEED. THURLOW(1797-1882)

J ou rn a l i s t and p o li ti ca l a d v is o r

Fewsubjects present a more apt personification ofthe era in American history when mass-basedpolitical parties developed and matured thanThurlow Weed. His political career spanned six decades;he was running election campaigns throughout the riseand the fall of the second pany system and still exer-cising his mastery of the "black arts" of political fixingafter the Civil War. The grandfather of modem"spin-doctors," Weed was so successful at controlling theparty machine, through bribery and blatant cronyism ifnecessary, that he was known as "the Dictator."Weed wasborn in Greene County, New York, the sonof a farmer and failed caner, and received little formalschooling. At the age of eighteen he had his first taste of

politics while working for two printers in Albany duringthe legislative session. The young Weed soon demon-strated an unusual aptitude for deal making and parti-sanship, finding ways of mobilizing coalitions of supportbehind particular projects. He edited the A lb a ny E v en in gJ c n m u : d for over thirty years, making it a leading advocatefor business interests and the state's promotion ofeconomic development. Itwas also famous for attacks on"licentiousness": drinking, gambling, and prostitution.Weed had always disliked slavery and, when sectionalconflict exploded into the political arena in the 1850s,he saw the partisan advantages of tarring Democrats byassociating them with the "Slavepower,"Although he w as instantly recognizable to his contem-poraries-in the form of caricatures in the weekly press,and because of the attention paid by his fellow newspapereditors to his political pronouncements--Weed neverheld or sought elected public office for himself. Much ofhis public influence w a s due to h is close connection withWilliam H. S e w a r d . The two became close allies in the1830s when Seward first entered ami-Masonic, thenWhig, party politics. The partnership of Seward andWeed w a s a gift to satirists: with his beaked nose, shortspindly legs, and puffed chest, Seward resembled awell-fed parrot, while the spidery Weed w a s tal l with aprotruding nose. Weed advised S e w a r d against seekingthe Republican nomination in 1856, but he energeticallypromoted h is candidacy in 1860and wasdeeply frustratedby the outcome at the nominating convention.During the secession crisis Weed was among thoseRepublicans who advocated compromise, at least inorder to prevent the secession of the upper South. Hetravelled to Springfield after the election to discuss thepolicy and composition of the new cabinet with Lincoln,acting as a spokesman for Seward, who remained inWashington expecting to be the controlling figurein thenew administration. Weed was deeply concerned aboutLincoln's enthusiastic embrace of old Democrats in hisnew cabinet-especially the appointment of Salmon P .Chase and Montgomery Blair to head the two depart-ments that dispensed the bulk of federal governmentpatronage, the Treasury and the Post Office. Once warbroke out, however, Weed wasan advocate of a "promptand stringent blockade," and he fully supported theadministration throughout the first year of the war.Weedpersuaded James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New YorkHera ld , to dampen down his opposition to the adminis-tration, and in November 1861Weed embarked on a tripto England to encourage support for the Union cause.From London, he warned Seward that the Britishgovernment was prepared to go to war with the UnitedStates over the Trent crisis, advising his friend that itwould be best to "tum the other cheek" an d release thetwo Confederate emissaries who had been illegallyseizedby the United States from a British ship.

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