Those
in New England who brought on war assumed that the American South, like
the rest of the country, was their property, and had no right to
depart. Risking few of their own lives, they put at risk the lives of
many others – essentially raising a bounty-enriched army of foreign and
domestic mercenaries, impressed black slaves and well-paid substitutes
to fight their war.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Woe to Me to Live Among Such People:
“A
Northern woman who was a native of Rhode Island, but who had lived all
her married life in the South, returned after her widowhood to
Providence to be among her people. The following letter was written by
her to my mother [Mrs. Louis T. Wigfall]:
May 13, 1861.
“….We
are always delighted to hear from you – and indeed your letters and
Louis’s are the only comfort we have in this Yankee land surrounded by
people who have no sympathy with us, and who only open their mouths to
revile the South and utter blood-thirsty threats. This morning an
amiable lady wished she had Jeff Davis in front of a big cannon. We now
have sufficient proof of how much stronger hate is than love of country.
Where
was the patriotism of Massachusetts when the country was at war with
the English in 1812? I lived then at the South, and was ashamed of my
countrymen who refused to assist in the war. Massachusetts, which was
the leading State of New England, refused to let her militia leave the
State and when the US troops were withdrawn, to fight in other places,
applied to the Federal Government to know whether the expenses of their
own militia, who were summoned to defend their own State, would be
reimbursed by the Government.
When
our capitol at Washington was burned with the President’s House and
Treasury buildings, and other public buildings, why did they not go to
meet the British? On the contrary, they rejoiced at the English
victories, and put every obstacle in the way of the government.
Now
they are subscribing millions, and urging every man to go and fight
their own countrymen. It is not patriotism; it is hatred to the South
and woe is me, that I must live here among such people. God grant you
success, It is a righteous war and all the bloodshed will be on the
souls of those who brought it on.
I
think, however, that you at the South are wrong to undervalue the
courage and resources of the Northern States. They are less disposed to
fight, but they are not cowardly where their interests are concerned;
and will fight for their money. Where their property is at stake they
will not hesitate to risk their lives, and at present there is no lack
of money.
(A
Southern Girl in ’61, The War-Time Memories of a Confederate Senator’s
Daughter, Mrs. D. Giraud Wright, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905,
pp. 51-53)
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