E467 .H7W2 :l 1 ■ i ^K^m LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ■ IIIIIPII 1 ■H ODOOH4^?Bfi?4 1 . 1 9^ "•* A^ <- 'VvT* 0^ ^ 'o,r- A <>^^ ^o ijfr « ^j" "^ LIVES OR Genera! Alvin P. Hovey >AND< IRA J. CHASE. By CHARLES M. WALKER, Of the Indianapolis Journal. [Copyright, 1888.] INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA : Union Book Company, Publishers, 59 Vance Block. 1888. Carlon <& Hollenbeck, Printers. HOVEY AND CHASE. LIFE OF GENERAL ALVIN P. HOVEY, Z.akv/er, Judge, Soldier, Diplomats and Statesman ; TOGETHEK WITH A SKETCH OF IRA J. CHASE, Soldier, Preacher, Orator, and Commander of tlie G. A. R., Department of Indiana. By CHARLES M. WALKER. 2v:?^;^ /^ INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: UNION BOOK COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 59 Vance Block. 1888. COPYRIGHTED 1888. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Ancestry, Boyhood and Early Legal Career 5 CHAPTER n. Service in the Constitutional Convention and on the Bench. 19 CHAPTER III. Military Career 31 CHAPTER IV. Military Career, Continued Ill CHAPTER V. Diplomatic and Congressional Service 154 Sketch of Ira J. Chase 185 Gems from Gen. Harrison's Speeches 194 The Confederate Idea 199 PREFACE. This little book has been prepared under the usual em- barrassments attending the writing of " campaign lives," and the results are doubtless apparent in defects of matter, form and arrangement. It has been compiled in great haste, and makes no pretension to literary merit, or to any other, ex- cept presenting in outline the record of a self-made man and a busy life. The subject is worthy of a more complete narrative. CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY, BOYHOOD AND EARLY LEGAL CAREER. In 1810 the white population of the Territory of Indiana was confined to a small area in the southern and southwestern portion, mainly near the large river courses. At that time the Territory had only four counties, viz.: Clark, Dearborn, Harrison and Knox; but their boundaries were extensive and almost unde- fined. Clark had a population of 5,670; Dearborn, 7,310; Harrison, 3,595, and Knox, 7,945. The total population of the Territory was 24,520. Vincennes was the capital, and continued to be till 1814, when the seat of government was removed to Corydon. In 1816 the Territory was admitted as a State. In 1820 it had twenty-nine organized counties and a total pop- ulation of 147,178 Posey, one of the newly organ- ized counties, had been carved out of Knox, and had a population of 4,061. It was named after Thomas Posey, who had been appointed Governor of the Ter- ritory in 1813. He was an officer in the Revolution- ary army, and, previous to his appointment as Gov- ernor, was United States Senator from Louisiana. He 8 ALVIN P. HOVEY. than the country for a poor boy who had to make his own way. Charles Hovey, an older brother of Alvin P., was a brick-mason, and worked at his trade in Mount Vernon, tiie county seat. With him Alvin learned the trade, and followed it for several years. There are still standing in Mount Vernon and vicinity brick chimneys built by him when a boy in his teens, silent witnesses of his honest work. Possibly a recol- lection of this early experience may have influenced him long afterward, when a member of Congress, to vote for the admission to his seat of a contestant who was himself a workingman. He continued to labor at his trade for several years, helping his sisters, who were very poor, and evincing the devotion to his fam- ily that has always characterized him. Those who knew him at this time say that, though extremely poor, he was full of ambition, pluck and aggressive- ness. " The boy is father of the man,'^ and these have been his ruling traits in later life. While he ^vas yet a poor boy ''roughing it'Mn Mount Vernon he attracted the attention of Hon. John Pitcher, a leading lawyer of the place, whose keen discernment saw there was ontcome in him, and who kindly interested himself in his education and development. This was grateful encouragement to the young man. Bricklaying was not altogether to BOYHOOD AND EARLY CAREER. 9 his taste. He felt he would like to qualify himself for a different line of employment, and determined to do so. He could make a living at his trade and help his sisters, but he felt that with the talents and energy nature had given him he ought to do rather better than that, and, perhaps, even make something of a mark in the world. It is every man's duty to make the most of himself and of his opportunities, and when a young man feels this sort of prompting he should obey it. Young Hovey determined to become a lawyer. This required a better education than he possessed, but he resolved to acquire it. There were no colleges in the west in those days, and the facilities for obtaining an education were exceedingly limited. But where there is a will there is a way, and this youth had a will. He had a bright, receptive mind, a desire for knowledge and a taste for reading. By attending the local school when he could, studying at night, avail- ing himself of such instruction as he could get, and, above all, by devouring and digesting a few good books, he laid the foundation of a good, practical edu- cation. A local teacher named Hull, who was the author of an English grammar, gave him private in- structions one year. Alvin had a taste for language, and became a thorough master of grammar. All this time he was working at his trade as a brick-mason 10 ALVIN P. HOVEY. though not yet twenty years old. The physical as well as the mental training of that period was of last- ing benefit to him. In 1840 he taught school for a year, thus paying his way and improving himself while instructing others. He had already formed the habit of systematic reading, and was familiar with Shakespeare and other English classics, and had been an extensive reader of histoi*y. There were few books in those days compared with the present, but they were more thoroughly read. A dozen good books read, re-read and thoroughly digested are better than a dozen libraries superficially skimmed. A liberal education may even be obtained without teachers. Colleges, professors and the appliances of education do not necessarily make scholars, nor even supply mental training. Men grow from within, not from without. The adventitious aids of education are almost as often an injury as a benefit. When the young man felt he had done enough in the way of preliminary education to justify him in be- ginning the study of law, he commenced reading with Judge John Pitcher, then and for many years one of the leading lawyers of Southern Indiana. Judge Pitcher had already done much to encourage him in obtaining an education, and, with so good a friend and instructor in the law, young Hovey found himself be- BOYHOOD AND EARLY CAREER. H ginning his new career under bright auspices. He had a sound mind in a sound body, and his ambition to become a lawyer was aided by tliat other great in- centive to hard work — poverty. Under these circum- stances he studied hard. Teaching school by day, reading law at night, and reciting at intervals to Judge Pitcher, he made such satisfactory progress that in February, 1843, he was admitted to the bar. By this time he was, for a young man, well known and popular. Having lived in Posey county all his life, he knew almost everybody, and almost everybody knew him. The story of his life, his orphanage, his work at his trade, his struggle with poverty, his kindness to his sisters, his difficulty in obtaining an education and his final mastery of the law were matters of common and good report among the people. Such things would naturally win a young man friends, and he had many. Fortunately, he possessed elements of character that enabled him to retain friends as well as to make them, and it soon became evident that he had a future before him. He began to get business at once, and, by prompt and faithful attention to it, had the satisfaction of seeing it steadily increase. The year after his admission to the bar, in November, 1844, he married Miss Mary Ann James. This furnished a fresli incentive and necessity for eifort, and he df'votod liimself with renewed energy to liis j>rofession. 12 ALVIN P. HOVEY. The Posey county bar at that time was one of the oldest and ablest in the state ; but Hovey held his own and obtained his share of business in the circuit. It is said that as a practitioner he was fearless and en- ergetic, but was not a brilliant advocate ; he must, however, have been an effective one. His qualities were not of the dashing kind, but were solid and sub- stantial, and he possessed that invaluable quality in a lawyer of always having a thorough knowledge of his case and a thorough mastery of his own resources. He had been practicing law a little more thaii two years when the war with Mexico began (184G). In- diana furnished five regiments of volunteers in that war, and Posey county raised one company, of which Enoch R. James was commissioned Captain, and Alvin P. Hovey First Lieutenant. Captain James was his father-in-law. The company was assigned to the 2d Indiana regiment, but the regiment and the State's quota being already filled, it was not mustered into service. Hovey's enlistment, however, within little more than a year after his marriage, shows that even then he was actuated by the same sense of duty and patriotism that impelled him to obey his country^s call many years later. Perhaps, also, he had an in- stinctive taste for military life, as ho certainly did possess marked talent in that direction. BOYHOOD AND EARLY CAREER. 13 After this episode he resumed the practice of his profession with all the energy of his nature. The career of a country lawyer is not particularly eventful, and the next few years ran along smoothly and pros- perously. Hovey was now rated among the leading lawyers of the circuit, and got his share of business. A somewhat noted case in which he was engaged about this time illustrates his kind feeling for laboring men and his characteristic tenacity in conducting a lawsuit. '' It was," says Mr. P. S. Heath, '' what is popularly known as the William Maclure case. Ma- clure died leaving an estate valued at between $150,000 and $200,000, which, at that period, was an immense fortune. He was a philanthropist, and devised the distribution of his property for the benefit of the poor. His will provided that all of his property should be given in the purchase of libraries for the ' men who labored with their hands, and who earned their living by the sweat of their brows.^ It provided, further, that sums not exceeding $500 should be expended in the purchase of libraries wherever there was an accu- mulation for a library amounting to fifty volumes. Alexander Maclure was appointed executor of the estate, and E.J. Rogers was his bonds'man. Alexander contended that the will was invalid, without effect, and soon after he took possession of the estate began to dispose of the lands the same as though they were his 14 ALVIN P. HOVEY. own. Rogers viewed the distribution of the property with some alarm, and went to Hovey for his advice. He stated that a retainer of $50 — which was considered a large fee at that time in Indiana — would be given for a thorough investigation of the law, and a carefully pre- pared opinion as to whether the will was binding, and whether the bondsman was liable for the estate on ac- count of the manner in which it was being distributed. Hovey replied that he would make an investigation of the law and render a decision in two weeks. At the end of that time he informed Rogers that the surety could be held for all of the personal property disposed of; that the will was valid, and that it would be sus- tained in court. The opinion was rendered upon the basis of a very old English law — a statute passed in the forty-third year of Queen Elizabeth. The decision, of course, excited a good deal of local comment, and many lawyers took issue with Hovey. They ques- tioned his judgment and his authority, and some of them went so far as to ridicule the opinion. " Mr. Rogers was satisfied, and immediately ordered Hovey to present the case to the court in such form that the bondsman might be released from all further liability. Proceedings were instituted against Alex- ander Maclure for violation of his duty. Judge Pitcher, who was Hovey's preceptor, and who yet lives in Southwestern Indiana, and is almost a conte- BOYHOOD AND EARLY CAREER. 16 narian, was pitted against him. The case was bitterly coutested, and attracted wide-spread attention. It is a matter of local history, and is fresh in the minds of all the old residents of the State. The battle which Hovey was fighting was regarded by all as a patriotic and philanthropic one. The heirs on one side were struggling for the property, while the poor people, the laboring classes who were anxious for libraries, were interested upon the other side. The Circuit Court de- cided against the position taken by Hovey, and he immediately took an appeal. The court above over- ruled the decision of the court below. The case can be found in the Fifth Indiana Reports, under the title, ^Sweeny against Sampson, Ex'r.' The victory was one which gave Hovey a State reputation. He had not only unearthed the fine points in a very old and what was regarded an obsolete law, but he had suc- cessfully combated a great issue with one of the best lawyers of the country. The case before the Supreme Court was closely watched by the ablest lawyers at the bar. After the decision of the Supreme Court Rogers moved to have Hovey made executor of the estate, and the people interested in the proceedings immedi- ately indorsed the motion. Hovey objected, upon the ground that he could not give the necessary |200,000 bond. The people, however, would not permit that to stand as an obstruction, and they procured the bond 16 ALVIN P. HOVEY. tlieriiselves. He then began lawsuits against more than fifty of the men to whom the lands had been deeded, and he won in every instance. He reduced the estate to cash, and it amounted to over |150,000. All of this he distributed in the purchase of libraries for the laboring people, as provided in the will, and hundreds of thousands have been benefited by that work. There are scores of libraries now open to the public in the State which had as a basis a share of the Maclure estate." A gentleman who lived in the immediate vicinity of General Hovey during the long period covering these contests in the courts, and the establishment of the libraries, says the earnestness evinced by the Gen- eral in his work elicited the admiration and the grati- tude of everybody. He was very enthusiastic in his work, and took great pride in carrying out the letter of the will, and seeing the benefits it brought about. He says, further, that in that early day the beneficiaries of this will, and, in fact, every one who was conversant with the merits of the case and the part General Hovey had borne in the matter, were deeply impressed by his disinterested and extra-professional efforts for the public good. His services in this matter are still remembered to his credit. Thus, working patiently and faithfully year after BOYliOOD AND t:ARLY CAREER. 17 year, the young lawyer laid broadly and solidly the foundations of his future career. Now as a lawyer, just as ten years before a brick-mason, he did good, honest work. It is the experience of most men that the early years of their adult life, when they are working hard, and perhaps living economically, to lay the foundation of a competence, are the happiest of their lives. No doubt General Hovey looks back to the early years of his law practice in Mount Vernon, before he had en- tered on a broader career, as among the happiest of his life. He had hosts of friends, a loving wife to whom he was fondly devoted, an interesting family of little children, a comfortable home, a good practice, excellent health and bright prospects. What more should a man want to make him happy ? By this time Hovey was beginning to take a pretty active part in politics — a business that has both made and marred many careers. Many a promising young lawyer has sacrificed his prospects, and many an older one his practice, by engaging in politics to the neglect of business. But it is also true that many lawyers have made politics a means of honorable advancement in their profession, and of bringing them into a wider sphere of action than they would otherwise have reached. Hovey was one of the latter. 18 ALVIN P. HOVEV. The Democratic party was then strongly in the as- cendency in Southern Indiana, and he had hardly be- gun to take part in politics before he was called upon to serve the people in important public capacities. His legal ability and political activity caused him to be elected, in 1850, a delegate to the convention to frame a new State constitution. At this time he was thirty years old. In ten years he had risen by his own unaided efforts from the position of a poor, hard- working mechanic to that of a leading lawyer at one of the best bars in the State, and had been elected by the people of his native county to assist in framing the organic law for the State. So rapid an advance- ment as this was not due to accident or luck. It evi- denced ability that was likely to bring its possessor still higher honors. SERVICE ON THE BENCH. 19 CHAPTER II. SERVICE IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AND ON THE BENCH. Mr. Hovey came to the Constitutional Conven- tion with an established reputation as a good lawyer and a pronounced Democrat. The work of framing a new. constitution for the State was, of course, mainly a legal and non-partisan work, yet the political views of delegates would inevitably find some expression in their speeches and votes, and, to some extent, in the constitution itself The political parties at this time were Whig and Democratic. The State was Demo- cratic, and a majority of the delegates to the conven- tion were of that party. Hovey^s colleague from Posey county, the distinguished Robert Dale Owen, was, like himself, a Democrat, and both took a leading part in the discussions and proceedings of the conven- tion. It was an able body, embracing many of the best men and brightest minds in the State, of both parties, and, in the main, was actuated by a sincere desire faithfully to discharge the important duty de- volved upon it^ — that of framing a constitution for a 20 ALVIN P. HOVEY. great and growing State, which, if adopted by the people, would become the organic law for a long terra of years. That they should frame a perfect constitu- tion was not to be expected, but that they made a very good one certainly can not be denied. With some amendments, it has served its purpose well, though some of the amendments, it should be added, have been very material. Hovey^s appearance in the convention was his first entrance in public life. He had practiced in the Supreme Court, and was known in professional ci-rcles at the capital, and was also known to the Democratic party managers as a rising young politician, but he had not what could be called a State reputation. At this time he was twenty-nine years old, of fine com^ manding presence, genial disposition, ready in making acquaintances and friends, and with an intellectual equipment sufficient to enable him to take and hold a leading place among the brightest minds in the State. The convention met October 7, 1850, and adjourned February 10, 1851. Mr. Hovey took an active and influential part in its proceedings. He spoke on a variety of important questions, and always spoke well. He had the style of a practiced speaker and good de- bater. His speeches show a thorough knowledge of law, a wide acquaintaoQe with history, and sound SERVICE ON THE BENCH. 21 views of the theory aud bcience of government. He believed thoroughly in the capacity of the people for self-govern nient, and that they were the true source of all power. Among other things, Mr. Hovey spoke against a proposition to abolish the grand jury system. In concluding an able argument on the subject he said : '^ Those who sent me here want but a few reforms, such as have been amply discussed throughout the State at large and known by experience to be neces- sary. They want no new-fangled ideas, no experi- ments, no Utopian plans; they want that which is known to be good to be given them now, and leave all that is uncertain and doubtful to be tested by the future. This I consider ti be sound doctrine, and I believe it is ' batter to bear the ills we have than fly to others which we know not of.' " He spoke against a provision to make the State offi- cers ineligible for re-election on the broad ground that it denied the capacity of the people for self-gov- ernment, was an unnecessary restriction of their natural rights, and was anti-republican in principle. He spoke against a provision to restrict the power of the State in borrowing money and contracting debt for public purposes. He took the ground that the people ought to have the right, through the General Assembly, to borrow money whenever the public wel- 22 AliVIN p. HOVEY. faro or necessities required it, and that this right should not be restricted by the constitution. In con- cluding this speech, after citing various reasons and arguments against the proposed measure, he said : "There is still another contingent event which might happen which would call for the exercise of the full sovereign power of this State. I approach its consideration reluctantly and with diffidence. I allude to the dissolution of our glorious Union, The storms and black clouds that seem hovering over the northern and southern horizon may break upon us much sooner than we anticipate. I hope and pray that such will not be the case ; but unless a better state of feeling shall calm the frenzied passions of the madmen of the South and the fanatics of the North, such a result is not to be classed among the impossibilities. And now, sir, in that event Indiana would resume her sover- eignty with a constitution prohibiting her borrowing, if necessary, the means to sustain it. If the dissolu- tion should be peaceable, no war, no public insurrec- tion, even though the people in mass should feel dis- posed to fortify our frontier, not one cent could Idc borrowed to do it. For these reasons, and a thousand more that time may teach us, I think we should reject the amendment." In the course of this speech he also said : '^ What is the duty of the constitutional reformer? Surely not to try experiments ; surely, not to try in how many ways he can impose checks and restrictions upon SERVICE ON THE BENCH. 23 the people. He should leave the people as free and untrammeled as a due regard to their prosperity and happiness will admit. Every unnecessary restriction that he imposes on the people is but an additional link in the chain that deprives them of their liberty. This wild course of adopting untried restrictions seems to rae to be striking at the very root of government/' The Select Committee on Homestead Exemption made a majority and minority report. The majority report favored homestead exemption, 'Ho consist of land or farm property not less in value than five hun- dred dollars.'' The minority report said, ^' That it is inexpedient to engraft untried principles into the or- ganic law of the State, and that more especially where the experiment can be much more readily and safely made by the legislative department. That it is both unwise and impolitic to distinguish between those who own, or may own, lands and those who have personal estate; and that, if the exemption prfnciple is estab- lished at all, it should be upon the broad basis of equality. The minority of the committee are of the opinion that a healthy credit system is one of the greatest blessings that the citizens of this State can enjoy, and are fearful that the sections reported by the majority of said committee, if adopted, would materi- ally injure, if not destroy, that system." The minority report was signed by A. P. Hovey ^4 ALVIN P. HOVEY. and Hiram Prather (of Bartholomew and Jennings counties). When this subject came up for debate Mr. Hovey spoke against the proposed homestead exemption pro- vision on the general grounds that it favored a par- ticular class and would prove injurious to the credit of the State. He concluded an able aro:ument on the subject by saying: *^If an exemption of live hundred dollars should be established in regard to real estate, I can see no sound reason why a like exemption should not be made to the owners of personal property. We should avoid making laws for one class to the injury of another. Without strong reasons to the contrary, the general rule should be, no law for the rich, no law for the poor, but a law for the whole people." He miglit have errcil iu his views, but there was much sound reason in his argument. In the course of another debate Mr. Pettit, of Tip- pecanoe county, speaking in behalf of homestead ex- emption, drew an historical illustration from the con- dition of the ancient Jews. Keplying to this, Mr. Hovey said : '' The gentleman from Tippecanoe has brought before the convention the fact that the ancient Jews lived under institutions giving to each a home, and argues their happiness and prosperity from that fact. Now, sir, 1 think there was some higher cause than that institution which guided that favored nation SERVICE ON THE BENClt. 'i5 to happiness aud prosperity. Yes, tbo same God that led their fathers tl\roiig"h the wiUiernevSs and the Red Sea was aronnd and about tlieni tor proteetlon, until they forsook llini, and then even their homesteads eoiild not shiehl them tVom destrnetion." He spoke stron^-ly in tavor of extendluiX and pro- teeting the property rights of married women and widows, espeeially witli reierenee to separate [>roperty. The above are some of the topies on whieh Mr. Hovey addressed tlie eonvention at some hMigth. He also took an aetive }>art in tiie running di'bates, and was always listened to with interest. Pbose who re- lueinber the proceedings of the eonvention say he was one of the readiest speakers and ablest debaters iu the body. Hovey^s service in the eonvention brought him into prominence and made him acquainted with the lead- ing men of the State. Among the prominent Demo- crats of that day was Josepli A. Wright, an excellent man, possessing many admirable qualities, ami at that time Governor of the 8ti\te. He served as Governor from 1849 to 1857 — the longest service of any Gov- ernor the State ever had. This happened through his serving one term under tiie old constitution and om* under the new. A few years later he became the leader of the Douglas wing of the Democratic party 26 ALVIN P. HOVEY. ill Indiana, and still later a prominent war Democrat and loyal supporter of the government. In 1850, the Legislature having authorized him to send a stone as a contribution from Indiana to the Washington monu- ument, he caused it to be inscribed, " Indiana knows no North, no South — nothing but the Union." He and Hovey had been acquainted before, but during the convention they became warm friends. They were somewhat alike in temperament, and had many things in common besides their political views. At that time Judges were appointed by the executive, and in the spring following the Constitutional Convention, Governor Wright appointed Hovey Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, embracing Posey and ten other counties. He was appointed May 31, 1851, and took his seat as Judge the following October. A good nisi prius Judge needs to be thoroughly versed in the law, prompt in his decisions, patient and courteous in his dealings with lawyers and liti- gants, and conscientious in his administration of jus- tice. Hovey made an excellent Judge. His legal knowledge proved ample, his decisions were prompt and clear, and his dispatch of business was remark- able. When he assumed the duties of Judge he also assumed the dignity that belonged to the office, and was rigid in maintaining the dignity of kis court. SERVICE ON THE BENCH. 27 Some lawyers, who preferred a loose and slipshod style, criticised Judge Hovey on this account, but all will admit that he was right. A Judge should main- tain the dignity of hio court under all circumstances, and he can hardly err on the side of rigidness. Judge Hovey served two years as Circuit Judge, making an excellent record, and retiring from the circuit bench early in 1854, An official indorsement of his service and record as Circuit Judge followed almost immediately, for in May, 1854, he was made a Judge of the Supreme Court, receiving this appointment, like the former one, from Governor Wright. Both were to fill va- cancies and unexpired terms. His service on the Su- preme bench was short, less than a year, but he ex- tended his reputation as an able jurist and a master of the learning as well as the principles of the law. He was nominated by the Democrats for Supreme Judge, but in the ensuing election was defeated by Hon. Samuel Gookins, who ran as the candidate of the Re- publican party — a party just then coming into notice, but destined to he heard from later. Judge Hovey was now deep in politics, and recog- nized as one of the leading Democrats in the State. He was a party man, but neither he nor anybody else foresaw the coming disruption of the party, or the 28 ALVIN P. HOVEY. extraordinary events which were impending in the not distant future. Early in 1856 he was appointed by President Pierce United States District Attorney for Indiana, and held the office two years. Its duties were directly in the line of his profession, and he discharged them with conscientious fidelity. This was the last office Hovey ever held as a Dem- ocrat. He was appointed to it by one Democratic President and removed from it by another. The Kansas-Nebraska struggle, the Lecompton and auti- Lecorapton war, the Douglas and anti-Douglas fight, were now fully developed, and the Democratic party was rent by internal dissensions. Factional lines within the party were closely drawn, and the bitterness of the opposing factions was intense. Politics and par- ties were in a chaotic state. The Democratic party was undergoing a process of disintegration, while the Kepublican party was not yet formed. Thousands of men who had hitherto acted with the Democracy were reluctant to do so any longer, but were not yet quite ready to enlist under a new uame and banner. Cau- tious men hesitated and timid men feared to make a complete transfer of their political allegiance from an old and powerful organization to a new and untried one. Yet great principles and motives were at work which were destined to triumph in the end. It was SERVICE ON THE BENCH. 29 the beginning of the end of the Democratic party as then organized. When the issue became clearly defined Judge Hovey ranged himself on the side of what was then called ^* squatter sovereignty ^^ in the territories, as against the constitutional extension and establishment of slav- ery. He was a "Douglas Democrat/' and for this reason President James Buchanan removed him from the office of District Attorney. His successor was a young Democrat whose views accorded with those of Mr. Buchanan, and who was destined to figure some- what in Indiana politics — Daniel W. Voorhees, By this time, 1858, the split in the Democratic party was complete. The party was, in fact, going to pieces. The Republican party was fully organized, and was coming rapidly to the front as the party of the people and of the future. It was receiving immense acces- sions of persons of all shades of previous political opin- ions, including large numbers of Democrats who refused longer to follow that party in the direction it was going. Among those who left the Democratic party at this time and joined the Republican was Judge Hovey. He was nominated for Congress this year, 1858, by the Republicans in the old First District, but was de- feated by Hon. W. E. Niblack. After the election 30 ALVIN P. HOVEY. Judge Hovey resurued the practice of his profession ill Mount Vernon, and was so engaged in 1861 when the call to arms came, which was to mark the begin- ning of a new era in his own history, as well as in that of the nation. MILITARY SERVICES. 3l CHAPTER III. MILITARY SERVICES. The long series of events which had been used by the plotters of secession as a pretext for an attempted dissohuion of the Union culminated in the election of Abraham Lincoln as President. This event was a turning point in the history of the nation. The steady aggression of the slave power had reached the open avowal of a purpose to dissolve the Union in the event of Republican success in 1860. While using the cry of ^^sectionalism" against the Republican party, the Southern Democracy had themselves erected the sectional standard by practically asserting that the government was nothing without slavery, and the con- stitution worthless unless slavery was to be both pro- tected and extended. Public sentiment, already de- bauched by a long and systematic course of Southern intrigue, was still further demoralized by the weak- ness and treachery of James Buchanan's administra- tion. Public corruption was the rule, and honesty the exception. Patriots blushed with shame, and traitors laid their plans openly. 32 ALVIN P. HOVEY. The election of Lincoln threw the South into a frenzy of rage. Four months of Buchanan^s adminis- tration still remained in which to work their policy of rule or ruin, and they no longer attempted to con- ceal their purposes. Dissolution of the Union was the Southern ultimatum — peaceably if they could, for- cibly if they must. The doctrine of secession was boldly avowed as a constitutional remedy against a Republican triumph, and the idea of preventing or ^' coercing " a State from going out of the Union was hooted at by every Southern Democrat, and a majority of those in the North. Thus, the fair and honest elec- tion of a Republican President was made a pretext for an attempt to dissolve the Union. The firing on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, was the first overt act of war on the part of the aggressors, and the opening scene of the great drama which was to convulse the country and engage the attention of the civilized world. Its effect upon the North was magical. Party lines were at once obliterated, and, for a time at least, the only line of demarcation among the people was between those who supported the gov- ernment and those who sympathized with the South* The former were an overwhelming majority. The at- tack upon, and surrender of. Fort Sumter was fol-^ lowed by the greatest popular uprising the world ever saw. MILITARY SERVICES. 33 The border States felt the shock and the strain more than others, and the border counties of these States most of all. One of these, separated only by the Ohio river from Kentucky, and more or less subject to Southern influence, was Posey county. While the storm was gathering, and before hostilities had actually commenced, some of the border counties realized the necessity of taking steps for local self-defense. Judge Hovey was one of the first to fully realize the signifi- cance of the attack on Fort Sumter, and the necessity of making military preparations. Loyal to the 'core, and ardent and impulsive by nature, he was roused to the highest pitch of patriotic indignation by this prac- tical declaration of war against the government, and he at once became one of the most prominent and active in devising measures of safety and defense. On the 21st of May the Board of Commissioners of Posey county " ordered that Robert Dale Owen and Alvin P. Hovey be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed to go to Indianapolis, or any other place they may deem . proper, to negotiate for arms for Posey county. The said agents are authorized and empowered to propose to the State of Indiana, on behalf of Posey county, to advance $10,000 for the purchase of arms, for the use of Posey county, in consideration of receiving from the State a like sum in State bonds. Said arms to be delivered to the Board of Commissioners of said county, 34 ALVIN P. HOVEY. and subject to their disposal under the laws of the State." This mission to Indianapolis brought Hovey into personal contact with Go.vernor O. P. Morton, who immediately recognized in him a valuable and pow- erful aid in the great work now about to be devolved upon him. They were acquainted before this time, and each knew something of the other\s ability, but they had not been thrown into close relations. Ho- vey was two years the older. Both had been Demo- crate, and both had left the party on account of the slaveiy question or questions growing out of it. Both realized the gravity of the present situation, and fore- saw the coming storm. Governor Morton was quick to read men, and had a keen eye for such as he could trust and utilize. In the gigantic work and responsibility devolved upon him he had need of all the loyal aids and helpers he could get, and most loyally did the noble sons of In- diana respond to his call and that of President Lin- coln through him. Hovey was one of those whom he early selected as one of liis trusted helpers. From the first visit of Hovey and Owen to Indianapolis to ob- tain arms for Posey county until the end of the war he and Morton were close friends and co-workers in the Union cause. Hovey was a man after Governor Morton's own heart — loyal, brave, fearless, zealous and MILITARY SERVICES. 35 untii'iiig, true to his country, his government and his party. The people of Indiana do not need to be reminded of the great labors performed and the immense serv- ices to the State rendered by Governor O. P. Morton during the war period. A volume might be written concerning them and the half not told. They will be remembered as long as the history of the war con- tinues to be read. It would be impossible here even to catalogue them. Among other things he did in the first months of the war was to organize what was known as the Indiana Legion for the defense of the State and other duty independent of the national gov- ernment. It proved a very valuable organization in more than one emergency, and became a sort of train- ing school for the army, out of which a large number of officers and men subsequently passed into the active service. Shortly after his return to Mount Vernon from his mission to Indianapolis concerning arms, Hovey, at the request of Governor Morton, assisted in raising and organizing a regiment for the Home Legion. It was the First Regiment, First Brigade, of the Legion, and was raised wholly in Posey County. Hovey was commisioned Colonel of the regiment " He evinced,'^ says the Adjutant-Generars report, '^the utmost zeal, energy and tact, to which the loyal people of his 36 ALVIN P. HOVEY. county responded with cordial alacrity, aud his com- mand was making rapid progress toward military efficiency when, about three months from the date of his appointment, he resigned his commission to accept the Colonelcy of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Volun- teers." His falher-in-law, Colonel Enoch R. James, succeeded him as Colonel of this Posey county regi- ment. By this time it had become pretty evident that the government had a long and hard struggle before it. The first battle of Bull Run, fought July 21, 1861, and re- sulting disastrously to the Union cause, had been fol- lowed by a call for additional troops, which opened the door for many who did not get in under the first call. The Twenty fourth Regiment was recruited in the coun- ties of Posey, Knox, Vanderburgh, Lawrence, Pike, Orange and Daviess. Hovey was commissioned Col- onel of the regiment August 13, 1861. The following brief sketch of its service will interest old members : The Twenty-fourth Regiment was organized and mustered into service at Vincennes July 31, 1861, with Alvin P. Hovey as Colonel, and on the 19th of August marched to St. Louis, joining Fremont's army at that place; it moved into the interior of Missouri, where it remained until February, 1862, when it was ordered to reinforce the army then investing Fort Donelson. Reaching Paducah, Ky., the day after the MILITARY SERVICES. 37 surrender of Fort Donelson, it proceeded to Fort Henry, where it remained until the march of Grant's army to Pittsburg Landing. It was engaged in the battle of Shiloh, losing many men and officers. Colonel Hovey being promoted a Brigadier-General on the 28th of April, Major Spicely became Colonel of the regiment. In May and June following it partici- pated in the siege of Corinth, and after the evacuation proceeded across the country to Memphis. In July the regiment was transferred to Helena, Arkansas, where it remained during the winter, engaged in sun- dry expeditions sent out from that post. In the spring of 1863 it joined Grant's army, and was with Hovey's division of the Thirteenth Corps during the campaign against Vicksburg, engaging in all the bat- tles and skirmishes, including the battles of Port Gib- son and Champion Hill. During the siege of Vicks- burg it was actively engaged in the trenches from the 19th of May until the 4th of July, and after the sur- render sailed for New Orleans, reaching that city in August. In the fall of 1863 the regiment was on duty at New Iberia, Louisiana, and subsequently at Algiers, near New Orleans, where, January 1, 1864, it re-enlisted as a veteran organization, and soon after visited Indiana on furlough. During the year 1864 it was stationed at different points in Louisiana. In January, 1865, it was transferred to Florida, remain- ing there until the movement was made against Mo- bile in April, when it moved to the vicinity of that city and participated in the siege, taking part in the battles and assaults. From here it was sent to Selma, 38 ALVIN P. HOVEY. Alabama, aod thence again to Galveston, Texas. Five companies of the regiment were mustered out July 19, 1865, and had a public reception at Indianapolis on the 4th of August, at which General Hovey and oth- ers delivered addresses. The rest of the regiment was not mustered out till the fall of 1865. The regiment, while organizing, rendezvoused at Vincennes. Along with Colonel Hovey's commission came marching orders, directing it to proceed at once to St. Louis. All old soldiers remember how green and undisciplined, yet how patriotic and warlike, new regiments were. " Scarcely had the Twenty-fourth pitched its tents in St. Louis," says Mr. Heath, " and entered upon the regular preparations for war, till the boys became anxious to fight.. Colonel Hovey\s com- bative disposition seemed to be catching, and it spread throughout the command an anxiety to move to the front. The Colonel went to General Fremont and told him that he wanted to move his troops out- side of the city, to which Fremont responded that the Twenty-fourth could be taken to any point in the vicinity desired, but that it should not be permitted to go beyond easy signal. Colonel Hovey moved to Carondelet, ju4 outside of St, Louis, where an open space suitable for drilliti<2: ground was found. Here the regiment was daily drilled from daylight to dark. The discipline was kindly but very po-^itively enforced. MILITARY SERVICES. 39 Some of the boys complained at that time at the hard work they were compelled to undergo, and it was here that the commander was accused of being '^ tyran- nical," but not many months were permitted to elapse before those same soldiers saw the wisdom of Colonel Hovey^s action, and they praised him for it. He in- sisted upon company and battalion drills, and dress parade late in the afternoon, and a night school for the officers. It was extremely hard work, but upon none did the duties fall so arduously as upon the com- mander. "When the new forces then at St. Louis were formed into divisions, Hovey was given command of one, although he was the youngest Colonel in that army. The ability he displayed- in drilling his men recom- mended him for the confidence which was thus im- posed." The service of the regiment in Missouri, though involving some laborious marches and useful expedi- tions, was not marked by any conspicuous military events. Its real history began after it was ordered to Tennessee. There it was brigaded with the Eleventh Indiana and the Eighth Missouri and attached to the Third Division of the Army of the Tennessee, General Lew. Wallace commanding. The brigade was in the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and'?, 1862, and the Twenty- fourth lost fiftv-one men killed and wounded. In his 40 ALVIN P. HOVEY. official report of the battle, General Wallace mentions Colonel Hovey among those to whom '^ the gratitude of the whole country is due." Colonel Hovey's of- ficial report shows that the regiment had hot work and hard fighting. He said : ^^ I say, with a pride I can not conceal, that the Twenty-fourth never faltered nor gave back one inch from the first charge in the morning until the enemy gave way in the evening. In an exposed condition in the open field, over hill, valley and woodland for more than three miles, as- sailed by every missile known in modern war, their march was onward, with loud cheers, and full of confi- dence in victory." For gallantry and services in the battle of Shiloh Colonel Hovey was promoted to Brigadier-General, his commission dating April 28, 1862. The next few months were spent in scouting, skir- mishing, etc. Without entering into detail as to General Hovey's movements and services, it is enough to say they were varied and important, and show that he had the confidence of his superior officers. June 24, 1862, General U. S. Grant, writing to General Halleck, from Memphis, Tenn., said : '' On my arrival. General Wallace applied for a leave of absence. I granted it to the extent of mv authority, the com- mand being left with General Hovey, who is fully qualified to fill the place of the former commander/' MILITARY SERVICES. 41 Memphis at this time "was a hot-bed of disloyalty. When General Grant established his headquarters there he found that constant communication existed between soldiers in the rebel army and their friends in Memphis, and he accordingly ordered the families of all persons in the rebel army or in the service of the rebel government to move south beyond the lines in five days from the date of his order, or take an oath that they had not furnished information to the enemy, and that they would not give intelligence to him in the future. After a short administration General Grant returned to Corinth, leaving the reins in the hands of General Hovey, who, still increasing the rigor of Federal rule, required all male residents of the city between the ages of eighteen and forty-five to take the oath of allegiance. Between one and two thousand succumbed, and five hundred who refused were exiled from the .city. The measure subjected General Hovey to severe criticism. The New York Herald, echoed by minor papers, sneered at the Indiana commandant, insinuat- ing that, clothed with a little brief authority, he was led into indiscreet arrogance, and accused iiim of in- creasing the strength of the rebel army by the addi- tion of at least a thousand men. Admitting the ac- cusation, General Hovey considered a thousand armed 42 ALVIN P. HOVEY. enemies without the Federal lines less dangerous than a thousand enemies within, even though the latter should be armed only with a bitter and venomous tongi.-^ General Sherman was of the same opinion, and on taking command of the post confirmed Hovey\s order, and added restrictions upon trade for the purpose of preventing the passage of gold, silver and treasury notes into the Confederacy. General Hovey remained in command at Memphis only a short time, and was then ordered to Helena, Arkansas. On the 2d of November, 1862, he was assigned to the command of the district of Eastern Arkansas, Department of the Missouri, headquarters at Helena. Here he commanded about 30,000 men, many of them Indiana troops, including the Eighth, Eleventh, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Forty-third, Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Regiments, and some Indiana bat- teries and cavalry. A characteristic incident which occurred at Helena is thus related: "While in command here another General Hovey figured in the history of the Federal army at Oldtown, near Helena. The second Hovey was in no way connected by blood or otherwise with General Alvin P. Hovey. The former's name was Charles E, Hovey, from Illinois, and he was called by MILITARY SERVICES. 43 the boys in blue ^ Cotton Hovey/ while the Indian ian was known as the ^Anti-Cotton Hovey/ " There was a great deal of cotton speculation going on among some of the Federal commanders, and the intense opposition to jobbery of this character on the part of the Indiana General was outspoken at all times. He never missed an occasion to denounce the specula- tors in the bitterest terms. Instead of participating in or countenancingthe speculations in cotton, General Ho vey burned cotton-gins and seed wherever he found them in the hands of the enemy, and advocated the depletion of the country as one of the surest means of driving the Confederates to a final surrender. •' The connection of several Federal officers with cot- ton speculations resulted in an investigation by a court of inquiry under Major-General McDowell at St. Louis. The reports and complaints made by General Hovey doubtless had much to do with bringing about this court of inquiry. The General flatly informed his superior commanders that he did not propose to longer wink at these transactions, and that he was very weary of placing his soldiers to guard the cotton belonging to speculators. On one occasion the Forty-sixth In- diana had lost several men who were placed to guard cotton under command of General Curtis, and this made General Hovey extremely impatient, and led him 44 ALVIN P. HOVEY. to call the attention of the Secretary of \Var to these affairs officially. "An incident occurred precipitating this action which was very fortunate for General Hovey, as it put an end to the cotton trafficking. A man named Sprague, con- nected with immense cotton-mills in New Jersey, passed up the river one day on a steamer loaded with cotton. General Hovey discovered and hailed the steamer with a cannon-ball, bringing it in. When Sprague stepped ashore and advanced toward General Hovey, the sight of the man made the latter's blood almost boil. General Hovey told him that if it was in his authority to do so he would -like to stretch the neck of every cotton jobber until they would not be recog- nized by their friends. Sprague was taken aback ; but he parried the thrust by coolly drawing from his pocket an order signed by Secretary Stanton, who had given him authority to pass through the Federal lines for that business. The authority to do this work did not, how- ever, cool the indignation of the officers and soldiers. General Townsend, Adjutant-General United States army, soon came down to Helena, and the soldiers be- ing assembled in the new 'Fort Curtis,' just finished he addressed them on matters pertaining to the condi- tion of the country. " The boys in blue cried aloud, ' Hovey !' ' Hovey !' and the General responded. He told the Adjutant- MILITARY SERVICES. 45 General to go back to WashiDgton and tell President Lincoln that he and his men were tired of fighting for cotton ; that he had lately marched into the very heart of Mississippi, and found Yankees and Jews dealing in cotton and acting like spies in every direction. Then General Hovey went to General Grant, at Young's Point, and told him that he wanted to leave the army and go home and enter private life if he could not be dissevered from every officer or man who was engaging in cotton speculation and barters, which were costing the lives of good men every day. He said that he would not further protect those who were dealing in cotton, and that he wanted to know then and there whether he should resign his commission in the array, or be relieved from further service at Helena. General Grant told him to go back and pick out 10,000 of the best men he had and come to him. This, General Hovey did; and this explains why he left Helena. ^^ While the court of inquiry was pursuing its in- vestigation General Hovey wrote General McDowell in reference to the confusion in the public mind about the two Hoveys. He received the following reply, which was a complete exoneration : "St. Louis, Mo., April 11, 1863. " General — I received last night your letter of the 6th. There is no misapprehension in the minds 46 ALVIN P. HOVEY. of the court as to which ^ General Hovey ' has been referred to in connection with traffic, etc., in cotton. The record of the court is clear on the same point. It may have happened, in the course of examination, that a witness, after having stated which Hovey he referred to, has stated that General Hovey did this oi- that without again saying General C. E. Hovey, or General Hovey, of Illinois. I have shown your letter to one of the reporters, and he will see that a notice is made of it in the papers. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, ''Irvin McDowell, Major-General. " Brigadier- General Ahin P: Hovey, commanding Twelfth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, Helena, Ark:' On the 27th of November, 1862, he left Helena in command of an expedition to the vicinity of Grenada, Mississippi, intending to create a diversion in favor of Grant's movement in another quarter. On this expedition Hovey commanded 5,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and fourteen field-pieces. After a long and hard march he succeeded in cutting the railroads, stampeding the rebel forces at Grenada, and returning safely through the enemy\s country witli slight loss. These aggressive expeditions were kept up during most of the winter. After General Hovey went to Helena, General W. T. Sherman wrote to him from Memphis, October 29, 1862: ^^ I was pleased to hear that you had succeeded MILITARY SERVICES. 47 to the commaDd at Helena. We should keep up a correspondence of ideas, for although we are in differ- ent departments we are near together.^' The rest of the letter was semi-personal and very friendly. A constant correspondence and close relations were kept up between Sherman at Memphis and Hovey at Helena. Following is General Hovey's official report of an expedition made about this time : Headquarters Expedition into Mississippi, ) Mouth of Ooldwater, Dec. 5, 1862. ' J General: I have the honor to report that, in con- formity with your orders, and orders heretofore re- ceived by me from Major-General Curtis, I embarked five thousand infantry of the Second and Fourth Di- visions, and two thousand cavalry, together with two sections from each battery belonging to said divis- ions, on board sixteen steamers at Helena, and disem- barked the same at Delta on the 27th ultimo. The cavalry, on the following day, under command of Brigadier-General Washburn, was pushed forward to the mouth of Ooldwater, a distance of forty- five miles and, after a spirited skirmish, drove the enemy's pick- ets from the east bank of the Tallahatchie. The pi- oneer company, under command of First Lieutenant, immediately coriimenced building a bridge across the Tallahatchie, which was finished by 4 o'clock p. m. on the next day, by which time the head of the infantry column had reached the west bank of the river. Be- 48 ALVIN P. HOVEY. fore dark, the cavalry, with six small guus, the Elev- enth Indiana, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dan. Macau- ley, Twenty-fourth Indiana, under Lieutenant-Colonel Barter, both commanded by Colonel W. T. Spicely, Twenty-fourth Indiana, had crossed the bridge. On the same night, November 29th, General Wash- burn dashed forward to within seven miles of Grenada. On the next morning, November 30th, to support his column and protect his rear. Colonel Spicely was ordered to advance the Eleventh and Twenty-fourth Indiana to Mitchell's Cross-roads, a point about twelve miles northeast of our camp, on the Tallahatchie. On the succeeding day, December 1st, the pickets of the Eleventh and Twenty- fourth, under command of Major Darnell, Eleventh Indiana, commenced a lively skirmish with the enemy across a small stream known on the maps as the Goe-na-pa-la-pha, which continued without much injury for several hours, and until our cavalry returned, when General Washburn caused his small guns to be brought to bear upon the enemy and they precipitately fled. A bridge was soon constructed over this stream, and the cavalry camped that night, with the infantry, on the field of the late skirmish. Brigadier-General Washburn fully and accurately describes his movements and several dashes in detail in his report, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. It gives me great pleasure to say that Brigadier- General Washburn's conduct during the expedition was dashing, bold, fearless and effective, and could not have been excelled. To the enemy our cavalry seemed MILITARY SERVICES. 49 ubiquitous — at Charleston, near Grenada, at Panola, Oakland, all within so short a time that the enemy sup- posed several columns were advancing on the rear of General Pemberton's array, and gave rise to the wildest conjectures as to the magnitude of our forces and designs. Major-General Grant in the mean time had been pressing the enemy near Abbeville, and as soon as the rebels were apprised of our presence in their rear an order was promulgated in their camp ordering three days' rations and preparations for retreat. Intercepted letters, prisoners and citizens confirm the fact beyond doubt. Our demonstration and diversion was complete, and before your order expressing satisfaction with our la- bors and ordering our return was received the whole body of the rebel forces under Pemberton had broken camp on the Tallahatchie and retreated to the south and east of our camp. On the 30th I ordered Captain Owen, First Indiana Cavalry, to proceed down the Tallahatchie and capture or burn the steamer New Moon. This he fully ac- complished by burning her^ and returned the same evening. In our several skirmishes we had many horses killed, and one man killed and fourteen wounded. I have every reason to believe the enemy suffered far more severely. Besides burning bridges on both railroads, cutting telegraph wires and tearing up the track,. our troops destroyed one locomotive and about thirty freight carSj and took forty prisoners. 50 ALVIN P. HOVEY. As for bravery, energy, endurance, forbearance and cheerfalness, the conduct of officers and men was admirable. Exposed for ten days to storms and cold, they seemed as fresh and ready for service on their re- turn as they were on the day of their embarkation. Their health, under the circumstances, is remarkable, and I can not refrain from saying that it may, to a great extent, be attributed to the watchfulness and care of Surgeons Jessup and Casslebury, and the med- ical corps under their charge. To the members of my staff, Captain John E. Phil- lips, Assistant Adjutant-General, Captain Owen, and Lieutenant McQuiddy, I am under many obligations for. their untiring energy, bravery and endurance. They fully performed their respective duties. I can not refrain from stating to you the effects of the great evil growing out of our commercial inter- course with the rebels. Unprincipled sharpers and Jews are supplying the enemy with all they want. Our forces penetrated ninety miles into the very heart of Mississippi, and everywhere we were met with boots, shoes, clothing and goods purchased by open and avowed rebels at Delta and Friar's Point. The " Yankees ^^ are deluging the country with contraband goods, and letters intercepted from the army show from whence they are receiving their supplies War and commerce with the same people ! What a Uto- pian dream ! Every secret of our camps is carried by these same men, who formerly sold their God for thirty pieces of silver, to our worst enemies for a few pounds of cotton. MILITARY SERVICES. 51 I have made three expeditions into the enemy's country beyond Helena, and everywhere I find the blighting effects of their cupidity. No expedition has ever been dreamed of at Helena that the blood- hounds of commerce have not scented out and carried to our enemies days in advance. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, Alvin P. Hovey, B.rig.-Gen. Commanding Expedition. To Brig. -Gen. Frederick Steele, Commanding Eastern District Arkansas. An attempt has been made, for political purposes, to pervert the spirit and meaning of this report by giv- ing an offensive construction to that part relating to the operations of " unprincipled sharpers and Jews." It is plain on the face of the report that General Hovey's indignation was directed indiscriminately against trading Jews, trading Yankees, and all who were engaged in contraband traffic. These commercial camp-followers and cotton-thieves of different nation- alities traded in contraband information as well as contraband goods, and supplied the rebels with mili- tary secrets as well as with the necessaries of life. It was too much to expect a loyal officer to regard such transactions with composure. Certainly, General Hovey was not the man to do it, and when his indignation found Yent he was not particularly choice in his lan- guage of denunciation. No fair-minded man, how- 52 AIA'IN P. HOVEY. ever, can fail to see that his mind was dwolling prin- cipally on the disloyal traffic that was being carried on, and that his indignation embraced all who were engaged in it. The actors in a great war, and under such circumstances as General Hovey was placed in, can hardly be expected to weigh their words as care^ fully as the writer of a diplomatic note or a magazine article. But, fairly construed, there is nothing in the reference to trading Jews or Yankees to give offense to honest and loyal men of either class. The activity of the "Copperheads^^ in Indiana dur- ing the winter of 1863 caused great indignation among the soldiers at the front. It was regarded, and rightly, as an attack in the rear, and the soldiers omitted no opportunity to express their opinion in regard to the treasonable machinations of the rebel sympathizers and cowards at home. While General Hovey was in com- mand at Helena the following address was issued. It was written by him, and signed by four other officers who had entered the service as Democrats : To the Democracy of Indiana: Having a deep interest in the future glory and wel- fare of our country, and believing that we occupy a position in which we can see the effects of the political struggles at home upon the hopes and fears of the rebels, we deem it to be our duty to speak to you openly and plainly fn regard to the same. MirJTARY SERVICES. ^^ The rebels of the South are leaning on the Northern Democracy for support, and it is unquestionably true that unjustifiable opposition to the administration is " giving aid and comfort to the enemy/^ AVhile it is the duty of patriots to oppose th? usurpation of power, it is alike their duty to avoid captious criticisms, that might create the very evils which they attempt to avoid. The name of Democrat, associated with all that is bright and glorious in the history of the past, is being sullied and disgraced by demagogues, who are appeal- ing to the lowest prejudices and passions of our peo- ple. We have nothing to expect from the South, and nothing to hope, without their conquest. They are now using their money freely to subsidize the press and politicians of the North, and with what effect the tone of some of our journals and the speeches of some of their leaders too plainly and painfully testify. We see, with deep solicitude and regret, that there is an undercurrent in Indiana tending toward a coali- tion of the Northwest with the South against the East- ern States. Be not deceived. Pause, for the love you bear to your country, and reflect. This move- ment is only a rebel scheme in disguise, that would involve you, alike with themselves, in the crime of rebellion, and bring to your own hearthstones the des- olation of a French revolution. Separation on either side, with peace in the future, is impossible, and we are compelled by self-interest, by every principle of honor, and every impulse of manhood, to bring this unholy contest to a successful termination. 54 ALVIN P. HOVEY. What! admit that we are whipped? That twenty- three millions of Northern men are unequal to nine millions of the South? Shame on the State that would entertain so disgraceful a proposivion ! Shame upon the Democrat who would submit to it, and raise his cowardly voice and claim that he was an Indi- anian ! He, and such dastards, with their offspring, are fit ''mud-sills" upon which should be built the lordly structure of their Southern aristocracy! And with whom would this unholy alliance be formed? With men who have forgotten their fathers, the,ir oaths, their country and their God ; with guerrillas, cotton-burners; with those who force every male in- habitant of the South capable of bearing arms into the field, though starving wives and babes are left behind I Men who persecute or hang, or drive from their lines, every man, woman and child who will not fall down and worship the Southern god. And yet free-born men of our State will sympathize with such tyrants, and dare even to dream of coalition ! Indiana's proud and loyal legions number at least seventy thousand effective men in the field", and, as with one great heart, we know they would repudiate all unholy combina- tions tending to the dismemberment of our govern- ment. In this dark hour of our country's trial, there is but • one road to success and peace, and that is to he as firmly united for our government as the rebels are against it. Small differences of opinion amount to nothing in this grand struggle for a nation's existence. Do not place even one straw in the way, and remem- MILITARY SERVICES. 55 ber that every word you speak to encourage the South nerves the arm and strikes the blow which is aimed at the hearths blood of our brothers and kindred. Alvin p. Hovey, Brigadier-General. William T. Spicely, Colonel 24th Ind. "William E. McLean, Colonel 43d Ind. George F. McGinnis, Colonel 11th Ind. James H. Slack, Colonel 47th Ind. HeleTm, Arkaiisas, February 2^ 1863. While at Helena General Hovey had command of about thirty thousand men, including twelve or fifteen Indiana regiments. He commanded brigades or di- visions in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Port Gibson, Champion\s Hill, Big Black, siege of Vicksburg, siege- of Jackson, Rocky-faced Ridge, Dalton, Resaca and Altoona Church, besides being engaged in many skir- mishes and small affairs, and was with Sherman in his march to the sea, down to Kenesaw. A mere mention of most of these must suffice. During the siege of Vicksburg General Hovey com- nanded the Twelfth Division of the Thirteenth Army C^rps (McClernand's). The division consisted of two brigades of infantry, the first commanded by General George F. McGinnis, embracing the Eleventh, Twen- ty-fourth, Thirty-fourth and Forty-sixth Indiana and the Twenty-ninth Wisconsin regiments. The second brigade, commanded by General James A, Slack, con- sisted of the Forty-seventh Indiana, Twenty-fourth 66 ALVlN P. HOVfiY. and Twenty-eighth Iowa, and Fifty-sixth Ohio regi- ments. The division had, also, four batteries of artil- lery and a small battalion of cavalry. General Hovey commanded this division during the preliminary opera- tions against and during the siege of Vicksburg, and it did its full share of the fighting. He was fortunate in his brigade commanders, and in the rank and file composing his command. His officers and men con- tributed in large measure to his success and that of the common cause. The battle of Champion\s Hill, May 16, 1863, was the most important of those immediately preceding the siege of Vicksburg. As the turning point of the final movement against Vicksburg, and virtually de- cisive of the final result, it was really one of the pv- otal battles of the war. It was so regarded by General Grant, who remarked afterward that Vicksburg was virtually won at Champion's Hill. So it was, and the great battle decisive of the control of the Mississippi river, and the fate of the Mississippi valley, was \^on by the valor of Western troops, mostly Indiana tramps, under an Indiana general. General Hovey's division bore a leading part in this engagement, and it would hardly be exaggerating to say that it and he \yere the heroes of the battle. With the surrender of Vicksburg and the battle of Gettysburg, General Sherman says the civil war was MiLltARY SERVICES. 57 practically ended in favor of the North. All that fol- lowed was simply carrying the war into ^' the last ditch.^^ The importance of the possession of Yicks- burg to the Union cause was early recognized. Imme- diately after the capture of New Orleans, Admiral Farragut proceeded up the river with a little fleet of mortar-boats. But the necessity of keeping Vicks- burg had been quite as well understood by the South. It was called the " Gibraltar of the Southern Confed- eracy.'' In April, 1862, New Orleans had been capt- ured by the North. Memphis, Island 10, and the chief points on the Mississippi above Vicksburg, were already in the hands of the United States. With Vicksburg, the Confederacy would lose its last hold on the great river. The Southern authorities, there- fore, held to their Gibraltar with a death grip. The struggle for its possession was a most determined one, and brought out very conspicuously General Grant's great and indomitable qualities. It was, in fact, a turning-point in his career as well as in the war. Several attempts to capture it had been made without success, and Grant now determined upon a new plan of operations, the success or failure of which might in- volve his own, and possibly that of the rebellion. A military critic says : " Grant was now at the turning-point, not only of this campaign, but of his whole career. He had not 58 ALVIN P. HOVEY. then th(? world-renowned fame with which we have so long been accustomed to associate his name; at that time he occupied a position in popular estimation sim- ilar to that held by Hooker, iiosecrans and Banks, who then commanded the other principal armies, and, like thera, he was on trial. He liad gained a great victory at Fort Donelson, and he had f )iight a most desperate battle, which was not a defeat, yet hardly a victory, at Shiloh, in the previous year. But for twelve months he had apparently done nothing, the defense of the Mempliisand Charleston Railroad, and its attendant battles of luka and Corinth, having made but little impression on tlie public mind. For the last throe motiths his army had been lost to sight in the overflowed swamps of the Mississippi, whence came rumors of abortive expeditions, camp-fevers and dissatisfaction. Many people were beginning to believe that Grant belonged to the same dreary class of failures as McClellan, Burnside, Fremont and Buell, and they importuned the President to relieve him. It was a gloomy period. The war had been in progress f)r two full years, and as yet the North had gained no I'cally decisive victory except at Fort Donelson. dur- ing the preceding summer the Army of the Potomac had been driven back to Maryland, and the Army of the Cumberland to the Ohio river. ]^oth armies had partially regained their ground, and then everything had come to a stand-still for months, in trying to break which the Army of the Potomac had only in- curred renewed defeat and slaughter at Fredericks- burg and Cliaucellorsville. Such was the general MILlTAllY SERVICES. hU situation, and in Grant's particular operations (lie prospect was as unpromising as everywhere else. lie was on a wrong trail — that was evident to every one ; and it would not have been difficult to prove that tiie responsibility for it did not rest upon (irant. Hut Grant's mind did not run in (lie directtion of arguing responsibility upon other peo})le's shoulders. He was accustomed to lake things as tiiey were, and to devote his whole eiiergies to making the best of" them, lie had now for two months tried every (ronceivable plan for crossing the low lands of the Yazoo delta, and reaching the high ground beyond the enemy's right flank. They had all failed. What should now be done? Three plans only were possible: First. To assault the enemy's batteries. S(>(H)nd. To go ha(;k (o Memphis and recommeucu^ a campaign along the Mis- sissippi Central Jlailroad. Thii-d. To find a way through the swam})s opposite Vicksburg, (m-oss the Mississippi near (irand ( uilf, and Operate against 1 he rear of Vicksburg, trusting to vic^tory for supplies." General Grant decided on the last j)lan, and, after a series ofdifTi(;ult movemeuts involving immense labor and the overcoming of almost insuperable obstacles, he finally succeeded, with the co-oj)eration of the gun- boats and transports, in placing his army across tlu; Mississippi river south of Vicksburg. He had in- tended to cross the river at Grand (iulf, but that })la(H' proved to be too strongly fortified to be rednefd by a river attack from th(^ front, and he determined to trv ^)0 AI.VIN r. IIOVI'lV. a lii(I(^ lower down, Mild, if |)()ssil)l(', (liinis tlic halicricH. Tlu! crossing wjis finally cfU'etcd at I5iMimsl)iir(), ISd;}, Tlie nexl few weeks weiHi lo wihu'ss a ^reat deal of JKU'd ii^^lilinnj. Within ei<;ld('en days from the lime tlu; first regiment of ()}rant^s army landed at Bruinsbnr^ (lie relxds had boon defeated iti several battles, and tiie defensive forces at Vieksbnrt!^ had been driven into and shnt up within their fori ilictat ions, never to come out ex<'ej)t as prisoners. A milihiry writei- says: " In thai lime h(> had marched about 'iOO miles, and, by keeping his army tojijether, had defeated the enemy's scattered do- tacshments in four engat^cunonts, all fouj»ht within six days; he had inllic^tcd a loss upon them of .S,()0() in killed, woundeil and missing;; h;ul ('a|)lui'e(l eiii:lity- ei<;ht pie(r(>s of I heir artillery, Jiiid, finally, had driven them into the ujin'ow defenses of V^ieksbui*^, eausinji; their outworks at Haines' Blull, Warrenton and (Jrand (Jnlf to be abandoned, and cstablishinp^ ids own base- on th(i ^'a/oo riv(M' in easy and safe reach (»!' his i!;un- boats and transports. lie had not only |)revented the junction of tlu* enemy's deta(^hm(Mits, but had still furliier scaltcrcHl their (bre(»s, so that I hey had fully 14,000 less men available in Vieksburii; at flu; elosi* of the period llian at liu; begiiinint;-. Duriiii;' these MIlJIAin SIOIiVKJKS. 01 (Mji;li(('('ii (lays (Jniut'H tncii li:i