DELAWARE. 



DEKBY, GEORGE H. 



257 



edgment of the Confederacy were regarded 

 a* "the course of wisdom. Some believed that 

 bv peace ;uid conciliation, tho seceding States 

 might finally be induced to return. Tlie peace 

 moli in .Di-laware, Connecticut, and all the 

 m States, were thus actuated, although 

 some carried their views to an extreme. As a 

 u fact, they were men who loved the 

 Union, and earnestly desired its restoration. 

 They had no antipathy to the institutions of the 

 Southern States, and were in a manner de- 

 void of every feeling of interest or anxiety on 

 the point concerning which those who elected 

 the Federal Administration and those who 

 plotted and organised the Confederate States 

 had tor years been at issue. War, with them, 

 as with Senator Douglas of Illinois, " was final, 

 inevitable dissolution." 



In Delaware, there were not only many citi- 

 zens opposed to the war, but there were a few 

 who heartily desired the success of the Confed- 

 erate States. The Secretary of War, in his 

 report, at the session of Congress which com- 

 menced in December, 1861, says : " At the date 

 of my last report in July, the States of Dela- 

 ware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, were 

 threatened with rebellion. In Delaware, the 

 good sense and patriotism of the people have 

 triumphed over the unholy schemes of traitors." 



On the 27th of June, a " peace " Convention 

 assembled at Dover, the capital of the State, 

 and was held in the open air. A large number 

 of persons nearly two thousand were pres- 

 ent. The first speaker began by observing that 

 eleven States had gone out of the Union, which 

 he deplored, but they were determined to go 

 out, and had gone, acting upon the glorious 

 principle, that all government derived its power 

 from the consent of the governed. ' They, 

 eight mHlions of freemen, had resented contin- 

 ued aggression and intermeddling, until the 

 election of a Republican placed the last feather 

 upon the back of the people, and they had 

 calmly, quietly, determinedly retired. In God's 

 name let them go unmolested. Would Dela- 

 ware give money or men to hold States as con- 

 quered provinces? or allow the seceded States 

 to be governed by free people, in whatever 

 manner they chose to be governed ? Could the 

 South be subjugated ? Never. All the wealth 

 of mines and kingdoms would not restore the 

 country to its unembarrassed condition. All ex- 

 penditures were needless, as there were not men 

 enough in the North to conquer a free people 

 fighting for their rights, even against any odds. 

 Who would not, therefore, favor peace now, if 

 ages would still produce the same results ? Let 

 the tax-payers of Delaware come forth for peace, 

 which would accomplish all that war could do." 



Of the resolutions adopted, the first repudi- 

 ated war in any case, and preferred a peace- 

 able recognition of the Confederate States to 

 the shedding of blood. The second stated that 

 the appellation "traitor." as applied to citizens 

 of Delaware, using the right of free speech, 

 could neither intimidate nor convince them. 

 17 



The other resolutions related to local affairs. 

 The effect of all these movements was not 

 only to call in question the uprightness of the 

 contest, but to withhold and embarrass, so far 

 as their small influence extended, the energy of 

 the Government. The popular favor, however, 

 was so strong in support of the Government, 

 and of a vigorous prosecution of the war, that, 

 in consequence of the indignation manifested 

 by the people, and the arrest by the Govern- 

 ment of persons of disloyal sentiments, all these 

 " peace " movements soon subsided. 



On the 25th of December, the Legislature of 

 the State assembled at Dover. The Governor, 

 in his Message to this body, said : u Our citi- 

 zens have acted in a manner highly creditable 

 to them, and well deserve the quiet they have 

 enjoyed. Those, if there be any, and doubt- 

 less there are some everywhere, whose sympa- 

 thies incline to the South, are quiescent, "laying 

 no impediments in the way of the Government, 

 nor affording its enemies any sort of aid. Some 

 of the innumerable rumors afloat throughout 

 the country may, perhaps, represent a different 

 state of things ; but were the test of truth prop- 

 erly applied to these reports, most of them 

 wonld be found wholly unreliable. 



Some movement was made at this session to 

 pass a bill, providing for the ultimate aboli- 

 tion of slavery within the State. The scheme 

 was based upon the payment by the United 

 States of a certain sum to establish a fund tow- 

 ards securing full and fair compensation to the 

 owners. It was not successful. 



DERBY, GEORGE H., was born in Norfolk 

 Connty, Massachusetts, and died in New York, 

 on the 15th of July, 1861, aged thirty-seven 

 years. He was descended from E. H. Derby, 

 of Salem, who fitted out many armed ships 

 during the war of the Revolution, and after- 

 wards became the pioneer in opening from 

 Salem the trade to India. China, and the Baltic. 



George H. Derby graduated at West Point 

 in the class of 1846, in which he attained a 

 prominent position. He was at once promoted 

 to the rank of Second Lieutenant in the ord- 

 nance, and for his excellence as a topographer, 

 was transferred in 1847 to the Corps of Topo- 

 graphical Engineers. 



Severely wounded in the battle of Cerro 

 Gordo, in 1847, he was brevetted to the post 

 of First Lieutenant " for his gallant and meri- 

 torious conduct " on this occasion. He subse-i 

 quently rose to the rank of Captain, and for 

 two years was employed by Government to 

 erect several lighthouses on the coast of Flor- 

 ida and Alabama. In the discharge of his duty, 

 he exposed himself to a sun-stroke, which affect- 

 ed his sight and resulted in a softening of the 

 brain, terminating his life in the prime of man- 

 hood. He was alike distinguished as an officer 

 and a writer. His Phcenixiania has circulated 

 from California to Maine, while his brilliant tal- 

 ents, genial humor, and sparkling wit endeared 

 him both to the army and a wide circle of ac- 

 quaintance. 



