NO^TH CAROLINA. 



580 



to cooperate with North Carolina in requesting of 

 President Davis, in the name of these sovereign 

 States, that he tender to the United States a confer- 

 ence for negotiating a peace through the medium of 

 these commissioners. 



Resolved, That the Governor make known to each 

 of the other States of the Confederacy this action of 

 the General Assembly of North Carolina, and en- 

 deavor to secure their cooperation. 



Resolved, That whenever any five of the States 

 shall have responded by the appointment of com- 

 missioners, the Governor communicate the proceed- 

 ings, officially, to President Davis, and request his 

 prompt action upon the proposition. 



This proposition failed to be adopted. In 

 the Assembly it was proposed that the efforts 

 to negotiate should be renewed by the regular 

 appointment of Commissioners by Mr. Davis, 

 with the approval of the Senate of the Confed- 

 erate Congress, and that such appointment 

 should be made known to the whole world; 

 that it might be seen by all nations, whether 

 Mr. Lincoln would refuse to treat with regular 

 commissioners. For this purpose, the following 

 resolutions were offered in the Assembly : 



fiesohed, That the President of the Confederate 

 States, by and with the advice and consent of the 

 Senate, being the constituted authority under the 

 Constitution for the negotiation of peace, is hereby 

 requested to appoint commissioners for the purpose 

 of negotiating an honorable peace, and that publica- 

 tion thereof be made to the world. 



Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be fur- 

 nished to the President of the Confederate States, 

 our Representatives in Congress, and also to the Gov- 

 ernors of the several States composing the Confed- 

 eracy, with a request that they be laid before their 

 respective Legislatures, to the end that their cooper- 

 ation may be secured in the attainment of this object. 



This proposition likewise failed to be adopted. 

 It was well understood by those who compre- 

 hended the true state of affairs, that Mr. Lin- 

 coln could not receive any individuals or com- 

 missioners appointed or sent by the government 

 at Richmond, without thereby recognizing the 

 existence of that government. Doing thus 

 much would change the issue in the contest be- 

 tween the hostile parties. The advocates of 

 peace, therefore, took now the position that the 

 State alone should attempt to negotiate a peace 

 with the Federal Government. Those who 

 opposed this view, took the position that the 

 State should act in cooperation with the other 

 States engaged with her in the war. This be- 

 came the issue in the election for Governor in 

 August. Governor Vance represented the lat- 

 ter view, and Mr. Holden the former. They 

 thus were both in favor of peace, and became 

 the opposing candidates. Holden was stigma- 

 tized as " the peace-at-any-price candidate ;" in 

 the same manner as the peace men in several 

 of the northern States were designated. The 

 arguments urged in the political campaign show 

 the earnestness of the people. On the side of 

 Mr. Holden it was said : " We went to war to 

 protect the State sovereignty and to defend and 

 perpetuate the institution of slavery ; but if it 

 should appear that we are likely to lose both, 

 as rational beings we should pause and consider 

 well the direction we are taking. If the war 



should continue twelve months longer, \iith no 

 greater success to our arms, there is great dan- 

 ger that the institution of slavery will be hope- 

 lessly destroyed." 



Gov. Vance to support his views said : " Se- 

 cession from the Confederacy will involve us in 

 a new war a bloodier conflict than that which 

 we now deplore. So soon as you announce to 

 the world that you are a sovereign and inde- 

 pendent nation, as a matter of course the Con- 

 federate Government has a right to declare war 

 against you, and President Davis will make the 

 whole State a field of battle and blood. Old 

 Abe would send his troops here also, because 

 we would no longer be neutral, and so, if you 

 will pardon the expression, we would catch the 

 devil on all sides." 



The friends of Holden proposed to carry out 

 their plan by means of a Rtate Convention. To 

 this it was objected that the proposition for a 

 State Convention so closely upon the heels of 

 Mr. Lincoln's proposition to let one-tenth of 

 the people form a State Government, had a very 

 strong odor of disloyalty and treason. The 

 "peace-at-any-price men" were also aided by 

 the great number of deserters from the army 

 within the State. In the mountain frontier on 

 the western border, bands of them swarmed. 

 Some of the interior counties were also infested 

 by them. They represented nearly every State 

 in the Confederacy, and lurked in the swamps 

 and mountains, stealing, plundering, and in 

 many instances murdering the inbabitants. 

 They took possession of the town of Yadkin 

 and released all the prisoners in the jail, who, 

 doubtless, says the "Richmond Examiner," a 

 radical secession print, "immediately joined 

 them, and all became peace men together." 



The election took place in August. The vote 

 polled was 74,771 ; of which Gov. Vance 

 received 54,323, and Mr. Holden, 20,448. The 

 soldiers voted almost unanimously for Gov. 

 Vance. The vote in the hospitals at Richmond 

 was thus reported : 



At the Camp Winder Hospital, where there are 

 over thirteen hundred North Carolinians, the polla 

 were opened late, but by 1 P. M. three hundred and 

 fifty-four votes were recorded for Vance. One in- 

 mate, said to be crazy, got up and voted for Holden, 

 and went back to bed. In all the hospitals of Rich- 

 mond, where North Carolina soldiers were quartered, 

 the aggregate vote was : For Vance, 867 ; Holden, 25. 



The vote of the State in 1860 was 96,230. 

 The result of the election decided that the State 

 should seek to obtain peace only in cooperation 

 with the other States of the Confederacy. 



The blockade running operations of the State 

 became nearly suspended toward the latter part 

 of the year. The resort of the Tallahassee and 

 other cruisers to the commercial port of Wil- 

 mington, tripled the stringency of the blockade, 

 and caused the loss to the authorities and citi- 

 zens of many valuable steamers. One steamer, 

 the Advance, was stated by Gov. Vance to be 

 worth more in solid benefits to the Confederate 

 Government than all the cruisers it had ever 

 put afloat. The State of North Carolina made 



