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'IxiE 
 
 SOLDIER'S EIGHT TO YOTE. 
 
 WHO OPPOSES IT? WHO FAVORS IT? 
 
 THE KECORD OF THE 
 
 M'CLELLAN COPPERHEADS 
 
 Against allowing tho Soldier who fights, the Right to Vot« 
 while fighting. 
 
 [PREPARED FOR THE UNION CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE,] 
 
 By William E, Chandler, of N. H. 
 
 <; 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY LEMUEL TOWERS. 
 
 1864. 
 
~ /\ 
 
 E^S? 
 
THE SOLDIER'S RIGHT TO VOTE, 
 
 WHO OPPOSES IT? WHO FAVORS IT? 
 
 If the Soldiers will Vote the Copperhead Ticket and Indorse th^ 
 
 Chicago Surrender to Traitors hecause George B. M4>- 
 
 Clellan is the Candidate fm" President^ why 
 
 don't the Coppei'heads advocate giving 
 
 them the right so to vote, 
 
 ^BR^H^IM LINCOLN 
 
 And his Friends are WOT afrazd to Trust the Soldiers. 
 Why are George B, McCielJan and his Friends afraid to Trust them? 
 
 SOLDIERS! LOOK AT THE COPPERHEAD RECORD! 
 
 No argument can be adduced more convincing to the candid mind that 
 the real motives which actuate and contiol ^he McClellan politicians are 
 base, unpatrotic, and knovyn by themselves to be destructive of the best 
 inievest of tlie country, than their bitier and unyielding hostility enter- 
 tained always, and boldly exhibited wlieiiever they dare or are forced pub- 
 licly 10 declare th* mselves against the right of the soldiers in the army to 
 vote as well as fight ; to exercise some contiol by voting over the manage- 
 ment of that Government which they are fighting to preserve. 
 
 The Copperhi ad leaders know tli^t the soidieis who are perilling (heir 
 lives are undergoing bitter haidships, arw wimessing the death of their 
 comrades on the bitile field for the salvation of the country, are not to be 
 deceived in lela'ion to the great issues which are involved in the mighty 
 conflict of arms, now engaging the ati-mion of the whole woild, between 
 the soldiers of a free Republic, of a Peo|de's Government, and the armie* 
 of a pro-slavery, rebellious despotism. Knowing, therefore, that the sol- 
 diers, if they vote in the field, will vote larioticaliy, regardless of old party 
 ti^s, and that no glittering generalities of era tily woided letters of aceep- 
 anc- can blind the intelligentsoldier lo i lie esseitid treason of a paity plat- 
 form like that, ad^p el at Chicago, and supp -ited by every rebel and traitor, 
 North and South, the Copperhead Democracy have not hesitated to op- 
 
 // 
 
|>OBe, by every means in their power, all attempts to confer upon soldiers 
 in the field the right to vote. 
 
 The methods of this opposition of the Copperheads have been various. 
 They fear the toldieis and therefore oppose their light to vote, secretly and 
 by indirection when they can, but openly if they must. E;trly in the re- 
 bellion, when in some Statt-s the Deraucratic pai ty pretended to f upfiort the 
 war, tbey even went so far as likewise to pr>-tend to a willingness to allow 
 the soldiers to vote in the field, but when they believed they saw oiiportu- 
 niiies to ra;ike political capital out of the miseries of their count, y, to ob- 
 iaii) political power for Dera.icrats by reason of successive defeats of Unioa 
 armiefi, and by the absence from ihe polls of Uuion voters on the battle- 
 field, then they immediatefy exien.led those " constitutional i-crnples," 
 which they have so hypocritically advanced against every distinctive ad- 
 oaitiistrative measure adopted by Abraham Lincoln for prosecuiing the 
 war with effect and pulling down the rebellion, to all proposiuons to con- 
 fer upon the S(^ldiei8 in the field the right to vote. 
 
 They have pretended to be willing the soldiers should vote in the field 
 if they might constitutionally do 8.>, and yt t have opposed hraendmHnts of 
 the Coiifituution which would allow the right. They have affected to fear 
 that allowing so'diers to vote in the field would be productive of frauds, 
 but no pcesible safeguards against fraud that can be devised and proposed 
 to them, are sufficient to remove their pretended fears. In fact it la an ir- 
 vresiible conclusion from the whole Copperhead record on the subject, of tie 
 dgtit of the soldier to vote in the field. 
 
 First. That the pretended cousiiiuiional scruples of the McClellan Dem- 
 •i>rat8, their aflecitd fear of frauds, f-nd the advocacy of impracucdiJe and 
 destructive amendments have all been deceitful, base, faise-heartefl, and 
 C!>wardly assaults in the rear upoa the soldier; that whnt they aie ruoet 
 afraid of is not the casting of uvconstitutuatal and illegal votea in ihe field, 
 but that casting of the cengtitntiopal aud legal votes of the sold ers, which 
 will in November overwhelm aijd annihilate McClellan, Pendleton and the 
 infamous Ctiicago sunender to traitors. 
 
 Second. That the Copperhead leaders have had no confidence whatever 
 in tiieir boastings thit M. Clellan will cany the vote of the Army, but at 
 feeart have known and felt that their infauious schemes of de.-tioying the 
 Union and establishing a southern confederate despotism cou d only h% 
 accomplished by deceiving the people who will vote at home and by depriv- 
 ing the SOLDIERS confronting the aimies of the rebellion of the power to 
 defeat their ireusoauble plans by voting in the field. 
 
 Third. That, therefore, although democrats at some time may have pre- 
 iended, hypocritically, to f^vor the soldiers' light to vote while secretly at- 
 tempting to prevent arid destroy it, or m^y, through cowardly fear, have 
 dfiiKl mnke no 0| position where it wou'd have been fruitless, yet that the 
 actual positive present position of the C pperhead party and of George B. 
 McUiellan, who, holding his lOmmission as Major General in tJie Union 
 Army, a-sks for the suffrages <..f tiie soldies of that army, is that of open, 
 undisguised, relentless hostility to the r'ght of the Union soldier to vt)te 
 simply and sohly fur the reason that they believe the great majority ot the 
 ioUien of the Army are not for Oeorge B. McClellan and the Copperheads, 
 but ore for ABUAUAM LINCOLN, tlie CONSTITUTION .^nd the 
 UNION. 
 
MAINE. 
 
 Ta thft Pine Tree State with 30 Repub'icnn and 1 Democratic Senator 
 and a 121 Ii»^pubJicaii and 29 D^ inociau<* lepfeeeniativ.-s, ihe Coppei lien* %^ 
 alLhouuft. hitteily hostile to the ri^ht of soldiwia lo voie in the fit-Id mad© 
 only H show of opposition ia the legislaiuie to a proposed Hmemlment, of 
 the SiH'e Constitution se^'uriiig < he right. The vote he'bre the p^^opV, how- 
 ever, si OW3 thst even 17,000 majority for the Union candidate for G-'V«f 
 nor did not prevent the Copperhead ho tility t'roiv manifestuig it elf. 
 
 In the whole State the vote was, G.)v. Cony. 62 389; Howard, 46,476, 
 Constituiiunal Ameuduent, Y 8, 64,430; No, 19,127. 
 
 The whole Union vot>e and ab-^ut 2,000 oth«r votts were cat-t fur the 
 ametidmeiit, about 20,000 Detno<-rat8 boldly voted against it, and about. 
 halftti'ir voters did not vote at all. 
 
 In the counties, cities, and towns, where the vote for How«>d wms ih© 
 ia'g^st, there whs he largest vote against the nmendment and 'hevoie o& 
 lite Hin-n Iment sirikingiy corresponls lo the vote <or Governor. 
 
 lu York county, always Democratic nntil one year ago, the vote wan : 
 
 Cony. Howard. Yks. No. 
 
 York 6484 6903 6425 4Q24 
 
 Bangr..r, (the 2d city in the StHie) . . . 1668 791 1730 750 
 
 Alfied 153 166 160 150 
 
 Ber-ick 198 202 201 197 
 
 Dayton 74 103 74 100 
 
 Newdeld 144 171 146 162 
 
 ]No. Berwick 138 192 142 183 
 
 Part-onfield 190 246 188 2;i5 
 
 Sanifuro 210 267 214 268 
 
 Waterborough 180 236 180 225 
 
 And 80 the vote proceeds with no majorities against the amendment em- 
 oept in Copperhead towns. 
 
 JosKi'H HowAHD, the Copperhead Candidate foT OoverTwr, voted boldly 
 and openly against, the ameudioem ; also Manassch Smith, oandidate i» 
 1861 ; Phinbas Barnes, now a McClelian D-mocrat and a former candt- 
 ■dnie lor Governor; James W, Bradbury, formerly Democratic Utiife<? 
 Slates Senator; Jameb S. Wiley, formerly Democrat<c member of Cou- 
 gressfrom the Bingoi district; the editor of the Saco Democrat^ and mauj 
 -©ther prominent D'lnocratp. 
 
 It Mai. e bad given 17,000 majority for Joseph Hovtakd in8l«ad of for 
 •Governor Cony, would the Maine soldiers have voted on the 8th <^ 
 November I Let the record answer, 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 In the Granite State, the ancieut Gibraltar of New England Democracy, 
 Ibe right for soldiers to vote in the field for Presid^^ntial electors and repro- 
 sei'tativfS in Congress, hf*8 been secured only by the most determined pef- 
 sistency on the p.irt of the Union Repubicana ander most discoui aging 
 -«ij cumstances. 
 
In 1862 the Union members of the Legislature attempted to pa^s a bill 
 allowing soldiers to vote in tht field for Stat' and National offict^is. The 
 bill was opposed by the Copperheads hs unconstitutional and as " lurni.-h- 
 ing tho means for the destruction of the freedom and purity of eleiiions^ 
 for overthrowing our free institutions and establisl'iug in their place — as 
 chance may dictate — either anaicby or despotism." The only test vote 
 was 165 Union yeas, 123 Copperhead nays ; but the Supreme Cuurt having 
 decided the bill unconstitutional, the subject was postponed to the next 
 session. 
 
 In 1864 a bill allowing soldiers to vote for Presidential electors and re- 
 presentatives in Congress, was introduced by the Union members and 
 passed. The Supreme Court decided the same to be constitutional. The 
 Copperheads opposed the bill in every possible fi»rm, and every moiion 
 relative to it was carried by a strict party vote, — about 175 Union to 105 
 Copperhead votes. 
 
 During the debate the remnant of the battle-flag of the New Hrimpshire 
 Eleventh Regiment, which was rescued from the rebels in the desperate 
 fight in the exploded mine at Petersburg, was brought into the H;ill and 
 received with prolonged cheers from the Republicans; the Democrats re- 
 maiiiivg silent as the grave. 
 
 William Littlb, a Democrat from Ward 5, Manchester, warned the 
 Republicans to beware of passing the bill, for the Democracy were deter- 
 mined NOT TO SUBMIT to what they termed " violations of the Constitution" 
 by the Republicans, he asserting that attempts to pass soldier's voting bills 
 were " vio'ations of the Constitution." 
 
 John G. Sivclair, also declared that the Democracy of the country would 
 NE VER S UBMIT to the result of an election decided against them by 
 SOLDIERS' votes. 
 
 After the piissage of the bill the Copperheads induced the Governor to 
 enter into an unfortunate intrigue with them and to attempt to veto the 
 bill. The veto message was, however, sent to the House one day too lale^ 
 and being sent in an unusual way, by a Coppeihead member instead of the 
 State Secretary, the House refused to receive it. Thereupon, the Copper- 
 heads ci eat ed a mob on ihe floor of the House, interrupted business for 
 sfveral hours by jiotous biatuib^nces shout'ng — 'Revolution i Revolu- 
 tion ! " The Supreme Court finally decided that the veto message was sent 
 loo late, and that, the bill was a law with-ur, the siifnature of the Governor; 
 wrhereupon the Copperheads iusulted the Court, and HARRY BINGHAM^ 
 aow a Copperhead candidate tor elector, has denounced the Court as a po- 
 liticHl brothel, 
 
 Ex-President Franklin Pierce, aided by his former law partner, Josiah 
 Minot, Edward W. Harrington, Copperhead candidate for Governor, who 
 hoped '■^ every Union soldier would come home in a box,'' and John JI. 
 George, who siys the South caiino be conquered, and he thanks God for 
 it, iat'Oied iuc»saantly to d^fent t'le soldi^-is' right to vote. 
 
 If the Franklin Pierce, George B. McClellan democracy controlled New- 
 Hampshire^ how many of her soldiers would be permitted to vote in th© 
 4ield« 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 In the Green Mountain State the Copperhead party is so f mall and weak 
 that it dared not oppose the soldiers' right to vote which was promp'Jj 
 
secured to tfeera by the Republican legislature. The Supreme Court l)ave 
 decided the bill to be coDstitutional only so far as relates to voting for 
 President and Vice President and for members of Congress. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 In Rhode Island the right of the soldier to vote has been secured by an 
 amendment of the Constitution which was feebly opposed by the Demo- 
 cratic party at the vote before the people, but the Copperheads of Rhod« 
 Island, like those of Vermont, are powerless for actual mischief. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Governor Buckingham, in 1862, urged the Connecticut legislature to 
 pass a soldier's votiug law. Such a bill was introduced and passed the 
 Senate without oppositiion, it being unanimously Republican, but w^s bit- 
 terly opposed by the Copperheads in the House. They demaDded, and the 
 Unionists conceded, the imertion of a provision f^at the law should not 
 take efff ct if determined by the Court to be unconstitutional; but after 
 such provision was inserted the bill passed only by a strict party vote. 
 The Court decided, by the opting vote of its Chief Justice, a member of 
 the Copperhead McClellan party, that the bill was not constitutional and 
 so the Copperheads defeated the soldiers' franchise for that year. 
 
 Immediately the Unionists commenoed the work of amending the con- 
 stitution, Governor Buckingham recommended and the Union members 
 unanimously favored it. The Copperheads unanimously opposed it aad 
 fought every step of its progress. By a party vote it passed the successive 
 l^islaturee and was submitied to the people. Tbe Copperhead newspa^ 
 pers opposed it and openly appealed to their partisans to defeat it. By 
 these efforts of the Copperheads a large vote was casl against it, but it was 
 carried, thanks to the friends of Abraham Lincoln, by a majority of 10,000 ; 
 and the 8oldi»^rs of Connecticut will vote whether or not it suit such traitws 
 H8 Thomas H. Seymour and Isaac Toucey. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 The history of the struggle to secure the brave sons of the " Empire 
 State'' the right of suffrage, is fresh in the minds of all. On the lOth day 
 of February, 1863, a bill was introduced into the Assembly to allow tbe 
 soldiers to vote. On the 17th the Copperheads commenced their factions 
 opposition to it by m&tions to adjourn, &c., hoping thereby to stave it «ff 
 and defeat its passage. The Union Men, however, managed to secure a 
 vote which resulted in 65 Union Republican yens to 59 Copperhead n^js. 
 On the next day, ho ^vever. Governor Seymour came to the rescue of 
 -* his friendb" by VETOING THE BILL! accompanying his veto with a 
 message, which, for low craftiness and sophii-try, defies competition, and 
 is ouly equaled in its objects by another effort of his addressed to the riot- 
 ers, plunderers, and murderers in New York city whom he styled as "MY 
 FRIENDS." 
 
 Tlie Union men of the Empire State continued their efforts to seciire 
 he s -l.iiers the right to vote, and finally sueccKled by an amendment of 
 the Constitution to accomplish that result, although the McClellan D^ 
 
8 
 
 mocracy manifested the same presisteut and determined oppositioa an 
 their brother Copperheads in Pennpylvania aud Otiio, by VOTING 
 A€A1NST THE AMENDMENT of the Constitation by which that right 
 -was secured. 
 
 To repay (iovernor Seymour for his perfidy to the Union soldier, the re- 
 bel agents at iVta^ra and Chicago, made him President and chief ORATOn. 
 of the McClellan Convention ; although it was pub idy knuwn that he was 
 in f u 1 followship with Vallandigham, the Woods, Long, and Hairis, and 
 their pet candidate for the Presidency. 
 
 Soldiers and Citizens of New York! are you willing to cast your votes 
 for George B. McC ellan and Horatio Seymour who have been against you 
 from the beginning, and thereby g ve joy and comfort to the traitois at 
 Richmond ! Or will you vote for Abraham Lincoln aud Rkubbh E. 
 Fenton, the standifrd bearers ofUnioa, Liber y, and Law? 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 The action of those few States where the Democratic party have had 
 majorities in the legislatures, is especially conclusive as to the hostility of 
 the McClellan Pendleton party to the soldiers' light to vote. The session 
 of the New Jei8-y legislature in the spring of 1864, was besieged with 
 petitions presented by Union members, and f-igned by over thirty-seven 
 tkousand citizens, asking for the passage of a S' Mier's voting law. A care- 
 lolly prepared bill was presented and advocated by the Uni'-n members. The 
 Gopperliead mnjoriiy of the Committee on E'ections reported against the 
 bid. The minority report of Messrs. Jacob Birdsall and Wi Ham A. Haa- 
 ©ook, Unionistfl, stated most ©Icquently and forcibly the reasons why the 
 Wll should pass. 
 
 April 6, 1864. The bill was killed by the following vote: Union, yea» 
 1^ ; Democratic, nays 31 ; among which were the vote of Thomas Dunn 
 English, a notorious northern rebel, and Daniel Corey, who has been hn- 
 piisoned in Fort Lafayette for treasonable p' actices. 
 
 Such is the record of the New Jersey C pperheads. Do th'C gallant 
 New J^rsey soldiers, the heroes who have foug'it under the brave and no- 
 ble Phil. Kearney, know why they cannot vote against the Chicago sur- 
 render? 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 In the Keystone State, under old laws passed in 1813 and 1839, sol- 
 diers in the field were secured the right to vor«<, and exercised the light in 
 ftb« Mexican war. In 1861, also, the Union soldiers of Luzerine county 
 voted for proscuting attorney. The defeated can*li<la'e carried the ques- 
 tion to the Supreme Court and that Court decided the laws to be uncon- 
 »tituiional and rejected the soldiers' votes. 
 
 The opinion was delivered by Judge George W. Woodward, who, in it 
 declared that the law "opens a wide door for most odious frauds;" and 
 ioenltingly asserted, in answer to the argument that soldiers meiitoriously 
 deserve to have their right of suffrages preserv. d and secuied to tliem, "an 
 a court of justice, we cannot feel the force of any such consideration. We 
 have no bounty to grant to soldiers." 
 
 For Judge Woodward's aeal and alacrity in thus attacking the soldiers 
 
and tbeir riijht to votP, and for his declared sentiments directly justifyiiHf 
 the southern rebellion, he was nominated by tlie D-m<c a ic pa 'y f r Grov- 
 ernor in 1863, and b I'lly deft^ated by Governor Curtin. Just beioro the 
 electiou George B. MeClellan wrote the followini; leit^r: 
 
 Orange. N. J , October 12, 1864. 
 lo H»n. Charles Biddle, Chairman Democratic Central Cummittee: 
 
 Dear Sir: « « ♦ • I desire to state that, having 
 
 some days ago had a full conTereation with Judge Wooilwaid, I find that ecu 
 VIBW8 AGREED I icsrard his election as Governor of Pennsylvania as called f ■ r by 
 the interest of the nation * * • I would, were it in uiy power, give 
 
 to Judge Woodward my voice and vote. 
 
 1 am, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 GEORGE B. MoCLELLAN. 
 
 Thf Unionists of the Srate — the soldiers' li^ht to vt.te un< er the old 
 laws having been destioyed by Judge WoodwaM's dcfi iou — iiiimefiiately 
 origiuaied an amenHmeut to the Constitution whicli in due < ourse passed 
 the Legislature in 18t)3. In 1864, as required by the Const.iiuti-'n, it again 
 passed ihe leg'slaiure and was submitted to t'le jieuplf, T e vo e in the 
 Senate was — yeas 18, Uiiiohists and Republicms ; n lys 7, all Copper- 
 heads; and 8 Coppei heads dodged. Two ot the Coppei heads were dele- 
 gates to the CMic,;^go i.'oi!veution. 
 
 Ttie mnjoriiy beore the people in favor of the amendment was 94,60*7, 
 with the same results observable in the vote t'lat ex:st^<l in Miine, The 
 largest inaJMrilies f.r tie amendment weie in th^ R pui lican st ong olds, 
 and the only raajoriiies ag^iinstiit were in the Coppei head cuumits. 
 
 UNION COUNTIES. 
 
 Majorities for soldiers voting. 
 
 Lancaster 8933 
 
 Alleghany 8976 
 
 Bradford 4741 
 
 Erie 394ft 
 
 Chester 4932 
 
 Indiana -2807 
 
 Delaware 2108 
 
 Tioga :. 3127 
 
 SuBquehanua 2829 
 
 COPPERHEAD rOUNTIES. 
 Majorities against soldiers voting. 
 
 Berks 1934 
 
 Columbia 1020 
 
 Cambria 514 
 
 Clearfield 783 
 
 Lehi«h 1023 
 
 Moirroe 1186 
 
 Northam|iton 698 
 
 Pike 674 
 
 Wayne 777 
 
 The Pennsylvania sold'crs voted at the election in Oetober and will vote 
 for President and Vi.e Pr sident on the 8th of November, but do tHey 
 owe tl'eir right to vote to the Copperhead party, to Judge George W. 
 Woodward, or to George B. Mc Clellan ? 
 
 DELAWAKE. 
 
 In little Delaware, in which the Copperheads and traito'S still control 
 the Legi.laiure, of course the Union soldier has not bee^i allowed the right 
 
 to vole. 
 
 At a special session of the Legislature in 1862, Mr, H. H, Appleton, a 
 Union member of iheH'>use. introduced a b'li PdtithH, "An As 8*-c.iiring 
 the right of suffrage to volunteers from this State." Febru ry 6, 1862, 
 the vote was taken on its final passage and the bill was deteat»-d — 10 
 Union } eas, 1 1 Copperhead naye. 
 
10 
 
 Sucli iiijufitic-^' 86 tViie towards the Union soUliers ini/ht be expected of 
 * LfgisI ,tiiro wliich by a strict jiarty vote indefinitely postponed resolu- 
 lioiiB Hppr.iviiig the cjnilui t of Major Robert Auders n in defe' ding Fort 
 Sumter, wliifli refuses to aid the poor and sufferir^ fnniiliHS of Unitm yo\- 
 unte.TH, ur t'> pur. base a lot at the Gettysburg Cemetery for the iuteiment 
 of I'd iwHie's n.jble dead. 
 
 Wi y yhoulii such Copperheads desire to allow the soldiers to vote ? 
 
 OHIO. 
 
 In Oliio, at the be ^inBing of the rebellion, by the patriotic and volun- 
 tary HctijD of tbe R pahli ans in waiving their party orgHnizatioii, the 
 St^t^ WHS carried at tlie election in 1861 by a laige majority for the Union 
 caiidi 'Hte f<^ Governor, Divid Tod, and a legislntue was chosen without 
 referenc'i to old piity distinctions, containing a large Uuion majority, com- 
 posed of nearly as m^ny members of Democratic as o' Republican an- 
 lec+'dentP, the former preto-iding to be warmly in fnvor of ihe prosecution 
 ofihe wnr and of soldiers^ riffkts. During the Legislative session, Feb- 
 ruary *26, 1802, a sol iiei's voting bill was introduced «nd referred hy the 
 Spt'hker lo three war Democrats^ who had pai I S|)eci il attention to the 
 sul'j*-ct, Hhd pro''»?8ed extreme friendship for the bill. This committee re- 
 Isine I the bill five weeks, and reported it only two days before the time 
 fixed for adjdurnmeut, and too late for careful consideration, and by the 
 votes of ^oth parlies and by general consent the bill was postponed to the 
 next scfsion. 
 
 At the session in 1863, the De-^ocrats not da iag to oppose the bill 
 <.>pen!y. endeavored to kid it by indirection, A Copi'erh.aii amendment 
 wa* offered, that no soldier s vote shovld be cast for an officer in the military 
 •ervice, and voUd down — 18 Democatic year^, 1 Dem)caiic and 51 
 [Jnion nays. The Copp^-rheads endeavored lo a'tach a particular amend- 
 ment m the n -nge and failed. The Senate adopted the haine amendment, 
 and in ih^ Ib.use, the Copperheads knowing that a disagreement between 
 thp two Houses would defeat the bill entirely, now vote 1 against iheir own 
 amend tn-'Ut, which the House, to save the bill, consented to adopt, « earl7 
 all the Ui.oo members and 1 Democrat voting tor it. and 23 Democrats 
 against It. 
 
 In the first elections held after the passage of the 'aw, there were many 
 conn'ie^ whHrc the Dimocrnts had a majority on the honii vut'-, but the 
 Un'OM cHiidid^tes wcr^ elected by the home and soldiers vote. In many 
 Buch cH9'<s Copperhead county clerks unlawfully aid frauduleniy gave 
 oertific; 'e^ of election to the defeated Copperhend c mdidat. s, and this dis- 
 regHid of the soldier^-' voting law caused many electio.ip to he c .n tested 
 befor- lh.t c .urts, and in the Legislature, wh. r- Copperhead c tiididates 
 were d.-t rmiiieii to hold oflii-e against the will of a niajoiily of the h-gal 
 roU-rH of t'leir rnopective coui-ties. 
 
 lirtfofM the Supr.mH Court th« counsel prominent in attempting to 
 d.f- .t iIm. Hol.Jk^rK' ri^rht whs T. W. Birtley, now h MClellan and Pen- 
 dlelnn 'v.'wiicial.- for R .-.•tor at large. He not only aiiriied i.liat. the t>ill waa 
 uiiconHtititional, bu. thnt ii wai* impolitic and destructive of ihe liberties 
 o/tAr /«o/)/^. that Mllowinjr (he citixen soldiery of the c .uiitiy, wi o have 
 lett Kiel, h..„,..K and a e hacrificuig their lives tosiv- th-, liberties of the 
 ooui.t y. t. vote won d m:.ko ihe people "the sb»ves of desp tic power I" 
 
11 
 
 " There is not an instance upon record, in any ag^ or country, in which p tp" 
 ulnr afovemment has been preserved any considemble length of time after 
 the evercise of the eleolive franchise has been bt^stowed up n the army in 
 the field." As if the fiCe soldier voters of the IJiiion are to be compared 
 to the slavish population of old Rorae or modern France, and tho 1 berlies 
 of the people and popular government are dependent upon the political 
 asceu' ency of Vallondiyham^ Pendleton, and Fernando Wood, and the 
 nucoes-* of the bloody de^poli8m oi' Jefferson Davis/ 
 
 Foitunately the Supiime Court sustained the law. Judge Raney, the 
 only Democrat on the bench, alone dissenting; and the soldiers ot Oi»io 
 have the right to vote on the field, as their 40,000 votes for John Bruiigh 
 and 2,000 votes for Clement L. Vallandigham have appri>ed the country. 
 
 In the contested elections in the Legislature the Coppeihtr-ad.* umfnimly 
 voted to deprive the soldiers of the right which they had exercised to sus- 
 tain the most glaring frauds upon the ballot box, and to keep in office 
 Copperheads against the will of the people and soldiers of Ohio, particu- 
 larly in a case where h Copperhead had obtained his certificate by a forged 
 poll-book, proved to be fraudulent by the oath of the captain, fkat lieu- 
 tenant, and first sergeant of the company, who made the lawful return, 
 and by a comparison of the forged with the genuine poll book and the 
 muster roll of the coraany. 
 
 A bill being introduced into the Legislature to amend the former law 
 and prevent fiaud, was objected to by the Copperheads on the ground of 
 the unconstitutionality of all soldier's voting bills, and was passed by a 
 strict party vote, all the Union members voting for it, and nearly all the 
 Copperheads ag-iinst it. 
 
 Thus have the Democrats of Ohio, by delaying the passage of a soldier's 
 voting bill, which at first they did not dare openly appose, by disputing 
 the constitutionality of the bill both before and after a deci ions aj^ainat 
 them by the court, by sustaing desperate and wicked ftnuds uuon the 
 soldiers' right, a^d opposing all measures designed to prevent a repetition 
 of such frauds, proved the utter hypocrisy of their pretended sxrapathy 
 with and friendship for the soldier ; at last, taking a po>iiion against the 
 soldiers' right to vote in any form, a^ boldly as Clement L. Vall.iuditchara, 
 George II. Pendleton, an'i Alexander Long, have declared their treason 
 against the Constitution and Government for whi -h the soldiers are fight- 
 ing. 
 
 Is it any wonder that such men fear the Ohio soldiers' right to vote ? 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 
 In January, 1864, a bill allowing Michigan soldiers the right to vote 
 during the present war and no longer, was originated and supported by 
 the entire Union Rapuhlican party and resisted, upon the usual pretexts, 
 by every Copperhead. The Dctriot Free Press, and the entire Copper- 
 head press, oppose the passage of tht) bill. E. G. Morton, of Monroe, the 
 leading Demt.crat in the House of Representatives, opposed the bill in a 
 lengthy spech. Senat-rs W. A. Clark and W.E. PFerner, Copperheads, 
 imitating Bartly, of Ohio, said : " No Government evt-r survived the vote 
 of its armies." Febr a .ry 3d, a Copperhead named Gidley moved that the 
 title of the Act le : " A bill to teach our soldiers in the field their p')litical 
 duty, our people a disregard of Constitution and law, and to muke our 
 
12 
 
 ele jiona a farce." But the Union Men adhered to the bill, answ^rrd fa'riy 
 all tile C'PfiHi head arjuments, and paseed ihc^ bill by a party v. t — 18 
 Uiiicin, 10 Copperhead Seuators ; 69 Union, 23 Copperhead Represeiita- 
 tives vol fit?. 
 
 Lucius Fatterson, a leading Copperhead and delegate to a D^m^crHtit 
 Coiiveuuoii in Kt'iit couiity, u^ed, in lef'erence to the C<>p|>t-ih->id State 
 nomiiiatiitiis, the foil. >wiiig language : "We must insike a srong tici>et, 
 and if theae damned soldiers dou't eet back to vote, we shall c;irrv the 
 
 George W. Peck, a former member of Conerres*, the most promineni 
 Dfiiiocrwi in the ISrate, and chairman c<f the Michigan delegaii'.n at the 
 Chi(tag..Con\etii!on, said in a speech in March, 1863, before the Lansing 
 Dcmueiaiia Association : 
 
 "You Black Republicans began this war. You have carried it on for two 
 years. You have sent your uell hounds down South to devastate the country, 
 and what have you done? You have not conquered the South. You NEVKK 
 CAN conquer them. Aud why ? Because they are our brethren." 
 
 Sut h men, and the party to which they b lot g, could not well do oiher- 
 wiie than oppose the right of soldiers in the field to vote. 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 Illinois is one of those Slates where by unjust districting, the C pper- 
 hea'ls. although r.'p idinted by the popular vote, have retained romr •! of 
 the L-siislalure, and have therefore prevented the p .ssage of a soldier's 
 voting law. Goveiner Richard Yates, in January, 18e3, forijibly urged the 
 Letjis-latuie to p ss such a law, and petitions for the same result p )ured 
 int > ihe L^gisi;iture foni all parts of the State. T le Union Tntmhers 
 UT'j' d action, the C< ppei heads delayed it. Tlie petitions were referred by 
 Cppe'hea) votes to the Judiciary Committee which made \\> report. 
 The Uiii »i is s offered re^olutiOBS demanding a report, which at bsi caiue. 
 The C pperhead m^joiity of course opposing the bill as uuconaliru'ional, 
 and «sseiting t 'at to ifivest the so'ditr with the aight to vot"^, would be 
 dangerous to public liberty. The Union minority claimed that the pro- 
 posed law was cor stiiuiional, and denouiictd ihe C<pp-iheads u r detam- 
 ing the 6t)ldiHrs who weie [lerilling life aud limb lor the benefit of the 
 comniom country and humanity. 
 
 ]n tie det'at-i and on ihe vote the Union members sufported the bill, 
 and. a I the Democrats oppostid it. One prominent Demoernt said: "I 
 will >ever vote to allow the soldiers the right to tt/rannize over me. Who 
 are ihcs" so diers ? Th'^y nve organized ruffians and thieves sent by Lin- 
 coln into ihe South on an Abolition crusade," 
 
 The Union niembe's urged thnt a sol lier's voting law be passed, to be 
 void if t»ie Supreme Court decided is to be unconsntutional, f>ut the Cop- 
 perheads, although a niajority of the Couit were D-mocrats, defeited tliie 
 propo>ili 'n. VII the Union newspapers of the State advocated the 
 mta^ule, and the Democratic papers pposed it. 
 
 Thus, in the h ^me of Abraham Linioln and of the lamented Stephen A. 
 Doiig'a-", who on his dying coucl". said : " A 7nan cannot be a tiue Dem- 
 ociut unletiS he is a lin/al patriot" Copp-rheads calling themselves Dem- 
 oc rts have prevented su h men as the gallant John A. Logan and the 
 Bol'le fcoUliers of Illinois from voting because it would be "dangerous to 
 pui'lic liberty." 
 
18 
 
 WISCONSIK. 
 
 In Wisconsin, in the fall of 1862, Governor Solomon calleH an extra 
 wssi m ot the Legislature fur the purpose of iocreasuig the S'^ldirra' pay, 
 and allowed them the right to vole in the field. Id his message he said : 
 
 "The views of these brave and patriotic men should be heard through the ballot- 
 box and should have proper weight in shaping the destinies of our imperilled 
 country. Justice seems to demand that they should be rewarded in a different 
 manner for their patriotism than by a loss of one of the most important rights of 
 citizenship, especially in the present crisis." 
 
 The Ct'ppei heads den >unced the bill as " one of the most dangerous and 
 mischi''V0u.s political mensures ever devised," and a'so opp ised it as ua- 
 constitutsoual. The Att .rney General of State fumishtd the Ai^femhly 
 with a cle-ar and convincing • p nion, that the bill was constituiional, but 
 the Copperh-ads still opposed the bill, their newspapers attacked if, and 
 parliainei tary tactics were resorled to in ord«r so defeat it ; bur. ht f^s-t, in 
 Sept^inbpr, 1862, it passed — 19 Unionists to 7 Copp^rhtals lu thcs Senate, 
 and 52 Uuiunists to 40 Cpperheads in the Asseiubly. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER. 
 
 Am inquiry relative to the right to vote of the soldiers from other loyal 
 States, wh(»s« record on this subject has not been stated, would not m ite- 
 rially alter the general conclusious to be drawn from a survey of the whole 
 field. 
 
 In M><8sachu8ett8 the present constitution does not allow the passage oi 
 a eohiierb' V(»ti 'g law, a"d the process of amending the cotistituiion is so 
 diflBcult that the light could not be secured to the boldier in less tiian two 
 or tiiren years. 
 
 In Cnliforni^f, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri, by the efi'orts of the Union- 
 ists, and airainst the opposition of the Cobperheads, the soldiers' light to 
 vote has been more or less perfectly secured. 
 
 Ill Indiana the Legislature, controlled by treasonable Copp^rhfails who 
 have resisted ev^ry att.= mpt of the people's Governor, OliVcir P. Morton, to 
 raise men and money for the support of the Government and the desliuc- 
 tion of the rebellion, has refused the Union soldier the right to vote. 
 
 The c .nclusion of the whole matter may be stated in a few words : 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND ANDREW ' JO HNS ON ARE 
 FRIENDS OF THE SOLDIERS' RIGHT TO VOTE. 
 
 The Union Republicans of the loyal States have uniformly ^ind persistently 
 advocated the soldiers' right to vote. In States where the Unionists have 
 had a innjoriiy they have originated soldiers' voting bills ; their newspapers 
 and puhlic speakers h.ive urged their passage; if constitutional objei-tions 
 have been made they have contended for their constitat onal.ty in leg sla- 
 tures and before courts ; if real constitutional difficulties have existed they 
 have proposed and carried through the necessary constitutional amend- 
 ments; and, at list, after encountering innumerable difficulties and over- 
 coming unyielding Copperhead hostility, the right of the Union sold er to 
 vote for Presidential electors has been established in the conti oiling States 
 
14 
 
 of NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, and OHIO, and (ex epting Mas- 
 Bachuse fsfor reasons before sta-ed) IN EVERY OTdER STATE W HERE 
 THE UNION REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS HAD COMPLETE PO- 
 LITICAL CON 1 ROL. In short, ABRAHAM LINCOLN and bis suppor- 
 ters staud to-day as tlic distinct, positive and unqualified champions of 
 THE soldiers' RIGHT TO VOTE. IdIo the hands ot the Union soldiers in ihe 
 field ihey liave pUced the decision of the Presidential oontesl ot 1864, and 
 do not fear to await the result ! 
 
 GEOEGE B. McCLELLAN AND GEORGE H, PENDLETON 
 AEE ENEMIES OF THE SOLDIERS' RIGHT TO VOTE. 
 
 On the other hand the McClellan Democrats of the North have been 
 from the brginuing of the rebellion persistent and detei mined opponents 
 of the soldiers' right to vote. During the first year of the war, and in one 
 or two Stales where they have been in a hopelt-ss minority, ihey have 
 mfidb their opposition secretly or upon hypocritical prttet^res. But with 
 only this qualification the Copperhead leaders have aitai:ked the soldi r»' 
 riij^tii at all times, in all places, and undt-r all circumstances; <len"Uiiceiiig 
 soldiers' voting laws as unconstitutional, and if coustitutional, as inexi^edient, 
 IMPOLITIC, and DANGEROUS TO LIBERTY; ait-mpting to deieat them 
 by disliou^Ft and disgraceful expedients; and besides and wors- than t'lis 
 malii^iiHrit tiostility to their right to vote, attacking, slandering, and 
 
 DEFAMING THE SOLDIERS THEMSELVES, whose absence figl.tHiiT Hjiailist 
 
 rebels Hi tile S )utb, prevents them from repelling these cowariiy asuau ts 
 from rebels at home. Thes-^ McCiellau Democrats tiave opposed th^ sul- 
 dieis' rigtit to vote in every State where the rigtit has been tstfiblishHd'by 
 Union majorities, and in Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, and Delawarb, 
 theonl} SbHt-s where there has been an absolu'.e C. 'ppeihead legial .tive 
 m jonty, notwithstanding the earnest efforts of the Uniomsrs of those 
 State?, h- soldieis have been refused and defrauded of their just and con- 
 stitutional rii/ht to vote. In short Georg« 13 M Clel an, mow a vlajor- 
 G-uera! ja the Union Army,, and his siip'orteis -itand to dny «■« open, bit- 
 ter maUqnant RNEMIES OF THE RIGHT OF THE SOLDIERS OF 
 THAT UNION ARMY TO VOTE. Iti the bauds of she.e ..o . e -..Mi rs 
 upo 1 whose faii,hfulaa/s and bravery, upon whose siifterings and d^ wth 
 depend the momentous questiou whethei there shall be saved a C ust'tu- 
 tion, a Uuion, or a countrv for the American people, the VlcCleilan Cop- 
 pertieadb dare not also trusr. the decision whether ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 or Major-General GEORGE B. McCLELLAN shall be the next President 
 of t''e U»dted States. 
 
 Soldiers of thf Union, upon your action depHnda the fate of this na- 
 ticni. You can by bullet and bayonet destroy the southern rebellion nud 
 secuie tile blessings of pea^-e and a restored and perpetual Union to your- 
 selves and the people of the wjiole country. You will also decide the 
 result of the Presidential election now at hand. In the grent ceiitr.'il 
 S>ate.-, #hich will settle the contest, and in most of the other loyal StHies 
 the sofd'ers have been sscu.cd the right to vote by the persistent efl'oits of 
 thone Union citizens, who bel eve that those who fight for theii couniry, 
 •h.uld aiso be allowed lo vote while fighting. The political sentiment 
 which will, therefore, be formed in the army, will long before the election 
 
15 
 
 Mnd to the people at home a moral impulse, \9hich will have a controlling 
 influence upuu the home vote, and determine the result in the couutry. 
 
 With these great ffsnlts in your hands — the deatruction of the lebellion 
 and the election vt rulers of the nation — it js the hope and faith of every 
 tru-^ Union citizeu thnt while with victorious armb you are conquering the 
 rebeilon in your froa , you will also by emphatic and patriotic votes re- 
 buke the enim es in the rear, who would seek to negotinte a peace by the 
 surrender of aH thit your valor has conquered, and that you will elect those 
 candidates whose nomination was not cheereH, and whose election will 
 not b- applauded by the rebel armies — ABRAHAM LINCOLN and 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 Citizens of the Union, you are called upon for the first time to vote 
 for a President and Vice President while the country is engaged in a war 
 for iis e^cistence among the nations of the earth. Your soldiers iu the field 
 have been secured the right of suffrage, and will vote on the 8th of No- 
 vember. Will you vote as conscientiously and as fearlessly as they? 
 The questions at issue in the political contest are the same as these for 
 which they are fighting. Let not the people at borne desert theii soldiers 
 in the army, but let them ascertain their seatiments, realize their convic- 
 tion«, hih) iet the verdict on election day show that the PEOPLE and the 
 SOLDIERS art^ one and undivided, opposed to TREASON and REBEL- 
 LION, U(Ji>osed to COWARDLY SURRENDER and DISHONOR, and in favor of 
 mauitnininor, »< ali hazin's, without compromise with traitors in arms, the 
 CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION OF THE UNITEiJ STATES. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1884. 
 
 UNION CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 Hon. K I). MOROAN. of New York 
 
 '• J AS. Harlan, of lowa. 
 
 - L. M.MORRILL, of Maine. 
 {Senate.) 
 
 Hon. R B. WasHBURNR, ofllliooig. 
 " R.B. VAN VALKEN BURG, N.T. 
 ♦' J. A. GARFIELD, of Ohio. 
 " J. G. BLAINE, of Maine. 
 (House of Representatives \ 
 E. D. MOnGAN, Chairman. JA8. HARLAN, Treasurer. I). N. COOLEY, S««'y. 
 
 CoMMirrEE Rooms, Washington, D. C, Sept. 2, 1864. 
 Dear Sir : The Uninn Congressional Committee, in addition to 
 the documents already published, propose to issue immediately 
 the following documents for distribution among the people : 
 
 1. McClellan's Military Career Reviewed and Exposed. 
 
 2. George H. Pendleton, his Disloyal Record and Antecedents. 
 
 3. The Chicago Copperhead Convention, the Men who Com- 
 
 posed and Controlled it. 
 
 4. Base Surrender of the Copperheads to the Rebels in Arms. 
 
 5. The Military and Naval Situation and the Glorious Achieve- 
 
 ments of our Soldiers and Sailors. 
 
 6. A Few Plain Words with the Private Soldier. 
 
 7. What Lincoln's Administration has done. 
 
 8. Tlie History of McClellan's "Arbitrary Arrest" of the Mary- 
 
 land Legislature. 
 
 9. Can the Country Pay the Expenses of the War? 
 
 10. Doctrines of the Copperheads North identical with those of 
 the Rebels South.' 
 
 11. The Constitution Upheld and Maintained. 
 
 12. Rebel Terms of Peace. 
 
 13. Peace to be Enduring, must be Conquered. 
 
 14. A History of Cruelties and Atrocities of the Rebellion. 
 
 15. Evidences of a Copperhead Conspiracy in the Northwest 
 
 16. Seward's Auburn Speech. 
 
 17. Schurz's Speech. 
 
 18. Copperhead votes in Congress. 
 
 19. " Leave Pope to get out of his Scrape." 
 2^. Shall we have an Armistice? 
 
 The above documents will be printed in English and German, 
 in eight or sixteen page pamphlets, and sent postage free, accord- 
 ing to directions, at tlie rate of one or two dollars per hundred 
 copies. The plans and purposes of the Copperheads having been 
 disclosed by the action of the Chicago Convention, they should 
 at once be laid before the loyal people of the country. There is 
 but two months between this and the election, and leagues, clubs, 
 and individuals should lose no time in sending in their orders. 
 
 Remittances should be made in Greenbacks or drafts on New 
 York City, payable to the order of James Harlan. 
 Address — Free. 
 
 Hon. JAMES HARLAN, ' 
 
 Washington., D. C. 
 Yery respectfully, yours, ifec, 
 
 D, N. COOLEY, Secretary 
 
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