256 



DELAWARE. 



address, he called upon the representatives of 

 Germany and France to aid in the restoration 

 of Poland. In April of the same year, he abol- 

 ished serfdom on his estates of Sieniawa, and 



cause of Poland with that of Turkey in th 

 councils of the Western powers, but without 

 success. His hotel at Paris was always a place 

 of refuge for his suffering countrymen, who re- 



gave the lands in fee simple to the serfs. Dur- garded him as in some sort the constitutional 

 ing the Crimean war, he attempted to unite the King of Poland. 



DELAWARE, the smallest State of the Fed- 

 eral Union, except Ehode Island, is bounded 

 north by Pennsylvania, e,ast by the Delaware 

 River and Bay (which separate it from New 

 Jersey) and the Atlantic Ocean, south and west 

 by Maryland. It is about ninety-six miles in 

 length, and thirty-seven in its greatest breadth ; 

 and includes an area of 2,120 square miles. The 

 population of the State in 1860 was, whites, 

 90,697; free colored, 19,723; slaves, 1,798. 

 The Governor is chosen for four years. The 

 Senate consists of nine members, elected for 

 four years, and the House of twenty-one 

 members, elected for one year. The Governor 

 in 1861 was William Barton, whose term ex- 

 pires in 1863. This State has been classed 

 with the Southern or slaveholding States, in dis- 

 tinction from the Northern and free labor States. 



On the 2d of January the Legislature assem- 

 bled at Dover, the capital; and on the next 

 day, the commissioner from Mississippi, Henry 

 Dickinson, appeared before the House, and 

 made an address. In the name of the State of 

 Mississippi, he invited Delaware to join the 

 Southern Confederacy which was about to be 

 formed. He claimed the right of a State to 

 secede from the Federal Union, and said, if it 

 was not admitted, war would be inevitable. 

 After his speech, the House resolved unani- 

 mously, and the Senate concurred by a major- 

 ity, that, " having extended to the Hon. II. 

 Dickinson, the commissioner of Mississippi, 

 the courtesy due him, as the representative of 

 a sovereign State of the Confederacy, as well 

 as to the State he represents, we deem it proper 

 and due to ourselves and the people of Delaware 

 to express .our unqualified disapproval of the 

 remedy for existing difficulties suggested by the 

 resolutions of the Legislature of Mississippi." 



In compliance with the requisition of the 

 Secretary of War, Governor Burton issued a 

 proclamation on the 23d of April, calling for 

 the enlistment of volunteers. It was as follows : 



Whereas a requisition has been made upon the un- 

 dersigned, as Executive of the said State of Delaware, 

 by the Secretary of War, for one regiment, consisting 

 of seven hundred and eighty men, to be immediately 

 detached from' the militia of this State, " to serve as 

 infantry or riflemen for the period of three months, 

 unless sooner discharged ; " and, whereas, the laws 

 of this State do not confer upon the Executive any au- 



thority enabling him to comply with such requisition, 

 there being no organized militia nor any law requiring 

 such organization ; and whereas, it is the duty of all 

 good and law-abiding citizens to preserve the peace 

 and sustain the laws and Government under which we 

 live, and by which our citizens are protected : 

 Therefore I, William Burton, Governor of the said 



State of Delaware, recommend the formation of volun- 

 teer companies for the protection of the lives and 

 property of the people of this State against violence 

 of any sort to which they may be exposed. For these 

 purposes such companies, when formed, will be under 

 the control of the State authorities, though not subject 

 to be ordered by the Executive into the United States 

 service the law not vesting in him such authority. 

 They will, however, have the option of offering their 

 services to the General Government for the defence of 

 its capital and the support of the Constitution and 

 laws of the country. WILLIAM BURTON. 



The State had no militia for the Governor 

 to call out, therefore his object was to encour- 

 age the formation of volunteer companies. 

 This was the utmost extent to which he could 

 officially act, and it was in compliance with the 

 wishes of a large majority of the people of the 

 State, who were resolved to sustain the Govern- 

 ment and defend the Union, without regard 

 to the person who might be the President of 

 the United States. On the 1st of May, the Gov- 

 ernor, finding that volunteers were freely offered, 

 issued the following orders : 



DOVER, DELAWARE, May 1, 1861. 



The undersigned, the constitutional commander of 

 the forces of the State of Delaware, directs that those 

 volunteer companies of the State that desire to be mus- 

 tered into the service of the United States, under the 

 call of the President, will rendezvous to the City of 

 Washington with the least possible delay, where they 

 will be mustered into the service of the United States 

 by Major Ruff, who has been detailed by the War De-' 

 partment for that purpose, and who has reported him- 

 self to me and received my instructions. The regi- 

 ment will consist of ten companies, to serve for the 

 period of three months. WILLIAM BURTON, 

 Governor, and Commander-in-Chief. 



A regiment was promptly formed and mus- 

 tered into the service of the United States. It 

 consisted of three-months men, and numbered 

 about 775 men. Subsequently, two regiments, 

 containing about 2,000 men, were enlisted for 

 the war, and equipped by the State, and mus- 

 tered in the United States army. 



Still a portion of the people of the State 

 were not disposed to sustain, by active efforts, 

 the hostilities in which the Federal Govern- 

 ment had now become involved. They thought 

 that the power of the North would be insuffi- 

 cient to bring the Southern States back into 

 the Union ; and if they ever again became a part 

 of it, they must come back voluntarily. As- 

 suming this position, the views entertained un- 

 der it were exceedingly various, and some pos- 

 sessed so great latitude as to embrace those who 

 favored the cause of the Confederate States. 

 To those even who honestly entertained these 

 views, war held out no prospect but that of mu- 

 tual destruction. A separation and an acknowl- 



