The Civil War created a rip in our national fabric and re-wove it with historic change. It resonates to this day, and continues to influence and define how we, as Americans, view ourselves. It is arguably the most traumatic, transformative and talked about event in U.S. History. Despite all the research, all the interest, and all the experts, the American Civil War still has some secrets to reveal. This series will explore a Civil War that you weren't taught about in school...
The Pony Express brought news of the
attack on Fort Sumter to San Francisco on the 12th of April 1861, and from there it was
telegraphed throughout California[1]. On May 4th, a large display of
secessionist sentiment occurred in El Monte, a town twelve miles from Los
Angeles. Southern sympathizers, with between
forty and seventy armed horsemen, paraded the “Bear Flag” (a symbol of
California’s independence) through the streets in a show of Confederate sentiment[2]. Captain Winfield Scott Hancock, the U.S. Army's
only officer in Los Angeles, feared the secessionists (who also had possession
of a field gun, possibly a 6-pounder) were intent on attacking Los Angeles for
its store of weapons[3]. Hancock was reduced to arming his wife and a
few loyal Union supporters inside an improvised fort of wagons and boxes, to
await the secessionist assault[4]. This attack never materialized, but
secessionist sentiment remained high.
According to Hancock:
“…The
‘bear flag’ is being painted here (Los Angeles), and I think it will be paraded
soon, possibly next Sunday, or some other day when the company known as the
secession company drills. I have taken
all the precautions possible and that I think necessary, and I believe I can
get all the assistance I require until the troops arrive, from among the
citizens, to resist any open attack upon the public property…”[5]
Ten Days later, on May 14th,
Los Angeles was reinforced with fifty dragoons from Company K, 1st
Dragoons, from Fort Tejon and within the week, more U.S. military forces arrived
from Fort Mojave. This, along with
strong and open demonstrations by staunch Unionists, allayed fears of a
Confederate Los Angeles[6].
Visalia, a town in central
California, was an area of extreme secessionist sentiment. There were more secessionists/Confederates in
this area than anywhere outside the Confederacy[7]. Every day, secessionists would ride through
the streets proclaiming “hurrahs” for Jeff Davis and “Stonewall” Jackson[8]. Even the establishment of a U.S. military
instillation, Camp Babbitt, on October 8th, 1862, did little to
deter the local “secesh”, who openly attacked and killed a soldier of
the Second Regiment, California Cavalry stationed there. Here, more than anywhere else in California,
the threat of open insurrection was taken seriously. Nevertheless, a strong U.S. military presence
and proactive measures taken to quell secessionist sentiment in the area prevented
any real Confederate activity from taking a foothold[9].
San Bernardino was another California
town where secessionist sentiment ran hot.
According to Edwin A. Sherman, the editor of San Bernardino's pro-Union
newspaper, the Weekly Patriot:
“ …We are, and have been expecting a rising of the secessionists,
notwithstanding the late Union demonstration at Los Angeles, and nothing but
the presence of the U/S. troops prevents them from rising there. Secret meetings (undoubtedly meetings of the
Knights of the Golden Circle) continue to be held all over this lower country,
and secession and disunion is boldly avowed in our streets. Shooting continues to be the order of the
day, and drunken desperadoes and Southern cutthroats damn the Stars and Stripes
and endeavor to create disturbances all of the time…”[10]
While secessionist sentiment was
strong, actions were lacking against pro-Union demonstrations. Sherman writes:
“ …On the 4th of July the Union men were threatened that if
they raised the American flag they would be shot down. About 100 Union men armed themselves and
assembled at Don Luis Marsino’s house, raised a liberty pole and hoisted the
Stars and Stripes. Several secessionists
made their appearance, but seeing the determined attitude of the Union men left
immediately. The Union men throughout the
mines (Holcomb and Bear Valleys) took courage, and many have come out and
declared their sentiments…”[11]
Sherman declared there were about
1000 men in the Holcomb and Bear Valley mines, and one third of them were
“openly declared secessionists”, with “two-ninths” being neutral, and the rest
loyal to the Union. He placed the
percentages for San Bernardino at “two-fifths” secessionists, “one-fifth
positively declared neutral men” and the rest Union men[12]. He also stated:
“ …It is my candid opinion that if at least one company of U.S. troops
were stationed here it would be of great benefit to the Union men of this
section…”[13]
The above statement is telling. If a resident of San Bernardino thought the
threat of secessionist activity in the area required but a company (roughly 90
men) to avert the Confederates, then a regional threat must have been
minimal. Aside from a few outspoken
secessionists, some secretive pro-Confederacy groups, and scattered donations
of arms and money for the Confederate cause, San Bernardino's contribution to
Jeff Davis and the South was negligable for remainder of the War[14].
In the northern part of the State,
particularly San Jose (a town that sits on the southern end of San Francisco
Bay), pro-Confederate feelings were prominent, yet tempered by the high percentage
of pro-Union support[15]. According to Brewer, the feelings of “Breckenridge
Democrats”:
“ …is quite large in this state and is much feared. Some of its men are open and avowed
Secessionists, but the majority call themselves Union men, Peace
men, most bitterly opposed to the Administration and opposed to any war
policy—in fact, are for letting all secede who wish to…”
He goes on to say that:
“ …There are many more Secessionists in this state than you in the East
believe, and many of them are desperadoes ready for anything in the shape of a
row…”[16]
Although sentiment for both sides ran
high, the response from “secessionists” was surprisingly non-violent. At a social/political gathering near San Jose:
“ …There was much good humor, no fighting, some faint cheering for the
Union, some equally faint for Jeff Davis and his cause…”
Regardless of the fear expressed by
Unionists in the State, California Confederates were scarce. Again, according to Brewer:
“ …California is still for the Union, one and undivided…”[17]
Brewer also illustrates the passivity
of some Golden State secessionists:
“ …We are camped in the field of a Secessionist, but our Stars and
Stripes float from our tent. This is
about twenty miles northeast of Benicia and five miles from Suisun. We have been here now three days and will
leave tomorrow…"
And leave they did, unmolested.
Immigrants traveling to California
during the Civil War were mixed in their feelings, some were Union, others were
“secesh”. Political ideologies would
split some traveling parties, even in the face of marauding wild Indians and
bandits. In the end, although
secessionist camps (and “secesh” immigrants) existed in California, the
contemporary evidence shows they were far outnumbered, and California “ …was a strong Union State, and gave
every body a fair chance to live in peace and plenty…”[18].
*****
1. Don McDowell, The Beat of the Drum,
The History, Events and People of Drum Barracks Wilmington, California
(Santa Ana: Graphic: Publishers, 1993), p.172
2. John W. Robinson, Los Angeles in
Civil War Days, 1860-65 (Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop, 1977), p. 54
3. Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington: Government
Printing Office, Series I, Volume L, Part I), p. 476
4. John W. Robinson, Los Angeles in
Civil War Days, 1860-65 (Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop, 1977), p. 51
5. Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington: Government
Printing Office, Series I, Volume L, Part I), p. 480
6. John W. Robinson, Los Angeles in
Civil War Days, 1860-65 (Los Angeles: Dawson’s Book Shop, 1977), pp. 55-56
7. Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington: Government
Printing Office, Series I, Volume L, Part I), p. 236
8. Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, The
Confederate Minority in California (California Historical Society, Volume
XX, 1941), p. 160
9. Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington: Government Printing
Office, Series I, Volume L, Part I), p. 236
10. Ibid, p. 496-497
11. Ibid, p. 551-553
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. James Dennis Staley, The Organization
of Unionist Groups and the Stationing of Federal Troops in San Bernardino at
the Civil War’s Beginning (M.A. diss., University of Redlands, 1959), p.24
15. William H. Brewer, Up and down
California in 1860-1864 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1966), p. 179
16. Ibid, pp. 175-176
17. Ibid, p. 179
18. J. Ross Browne, J. Ross Browne’s
Illustrated Mining Adventures, California & Nevada / 1863-1865 (Balboa
Island: Paisano Press, 1961) p. 76