NASHVILLE. 



597 



sure that was brought to bear upon them." 

 The same writer adds : " Most of the stores 

 continue closed. But few male and fewer fe- 

 male inhabitants are visible upon the streets. 

 Victorious soldiery alone enliven them. Half 

 of the private residences are deserted, and add 

 further gloom to the aspect by their closed 

 doors and window shutters and grave-like still- 

 ness. Hardly less than a third of the popula- 

 tion must yet be absent." 



Senator Andrew Johnson, military governor 

 of Tennessee, by appointment of President Lin- 

 coln, Horace Maynard, M. 0., Emerson Ethe- 

 ridge, and other prominent Union exiles, ar- 

 rived at Nashville on March 12, and the next 

 evening delivered speeches, which were listened 

 to with considerable favor by a large audience. 



The newspapers of Nashville had all sus- 

 pended publication on the evacuation of the 

 city by the Confederates, but they soon reap- 

 peared, and one of Governor Johnson's first 

 official acts was to place them under military 

 supervision. The "Daily Times," in conse- 

 quence of this measure, was discontinued. On 

 the 10th of April, a daily paper was started, un- 

 der the title of the " Daily Nashville Union." 



On the 25th of March, Governor Johnson re- 

 quested the municipal officers to take the oath 

 of allegiance. The city council refused, by a 

 vote of 16 to 1, and the following reply was 

 accordingly sent to the governor : 



CITY HALL, NASHVILLE, March 27, 1862. 

 Gen. Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of the State 

 of Tennessee : 



SIR: Your communication of the 25th inst., requir- 

 ing the mayor, members of the city council, police, 

 and other city officials, to take an oath to support the 

 Constitution of the United States, pursuant to the first 

 section of the tenth article of the Constitution of the 

 State of Tennessee, has been received and duly con- 

 sidered. 



We respectfully beg leave to submit the following 

 facts for your Excellency's consideration : 



Since we have had any connection with the city 

 Government, which, in some cases, has been for sev- 

 eral years, we have never before been required to take 

 any other oath than the simple path of office, to dis- 

 charge our respective duties faithfully; and upon a 

 reference to the records of the city, running back for 

 twenty-five or thirty years, we find that no former 

 mayor nor aldermen have taken any oath to support 

 either the Constitution of the State of Tennessee or the 

 United States ; but the understanding seems to have 

 been that the provision of the Constitution referred to 

 applied only to State and county, and not to corpora- 

 tion officers. 



We have also consulted some of our best lawyers 

 upon the subject, and the majority of them are of 

 opinion that we, as municipal officers, do not come 

 within the purview and meaning of said section of the 

 Constitution, but that the same applies alone to State 

 and county officials. 



Under the foregoing facts and circumstances, and 

 we having taken the only oath ever taken bv, or re- 

 quired 01, our predecessors, and never having been 

 required to take any oath inimical to our allegiance to 

 the United States or the State Government, we re- 

 spectfully ask to be excused from taking the oath sent 

 us, honestly believing that, under the Constitution and 

 our charter, we are not properly subject to such re- 

 quirement, and believing that the same was made of 

 us under a misapprehension of what had been required 

 heretofore. 



On the 29th the mayor and several other 

 citizens were arrested for treason, and a few 

 days later Governor Johnson issued a procla- 

 mation ejecting from office the mayor and most 

 of the city councilmen, and appointing other 

 persons to fill their places. Numerous arrests 

 were made for disunion practices about the 

 same time. 



On April 24 the following resolutions were 

 adopted by the city council : 



Resolved, That the Mayor of the city of Nashville is 

 requested and instructed to have the flag of the United 

 States placed upon all public property belonging to the 

 Corporation. 



Itexolved, That the Board of Education are hereby 

 requested, during the present week, to take the oath 

 of office taken by ourselves and other officers of the 

 city. 



Resolved, That the Superintendent, together with 

 every teacher in each of the public schools of the 

 city of Nashville, shall be and they are hereby request- 

 ed to take the oath of allegiance prescribed to us with- 

 in five days from the passage of this resolution, or re- 

 sign their respective positions. 



The last resolution was lost in the board of 

 Aldermen. The condition of the city on the 

 1st of May is thus described by the " Union": 



" Our courts are proceeding pretty much as 

 formerly. The United States court is in session, 

 and the regular business pursuing its accustom- 

 ed channels. Process is being issued daily from 

 the circuit and chancery courts, returnable to 

 their next terms. The. magistrates' courts are 

 also in continuous session. Business is begin- 

 ning to recover and to wear its accustomed ap- 

 pearance, and as facilities are being opened 

 with the country, it is extending in all direc- 

 tions. Our city market is daily improving. 

 Prices are rapidly moderating to a reasonable 

 standard, and custom proportionately increas- 

 ing. The passenger and freight trains on the 

 Louisville and Nashville railroad are making 

 daily trips. The cars on the Tennessee and 

 Alabama road run as far as Columbia ; those on 

 the Nashville and Chattanooga road run as far 

 as Wartrace, and connect by branch road with 

 Shelbyville. Houses left vacant, some time 

 since, are now nearly all occupied, and the in- 

 quiry for houses to rent is becoming active. 

 This is the case with both dwelling and busi- 

 ness houses. Some sales in real estate are 

 being effected at reasonably good prices. Con- 

 fidence in our State currency is being restored, 

 and there is a corresponding appreciation in the 

 value of our bank notes." 



A great Union meeting was held at Nashville 

 on the 12th. (See TENNESSEE.) 



On the 24th several Confederate newspaper 

 offices and other establishments were seized by 

 the United States marshal, in accordance with 

 the general confiscation act passed by Congress. 



On the 29th General Dumont, commanding 

 the Federal forces at Nashville, issued the fol- 

 lowing order respecting trade with the interior : 

 General Orders Xo. 7. 



Wliereas, it is represented to me that salt, bacon, 

 coffee, iron, leather, medicines, and other goods, are 

 being sold in this city and finally find their way to the 

 enemy : 



