368 



ILLINOIS. 



ed the sentiment of President Jackson, " The 

 Federal Union : it must be preserved ; " to 

 which sentiment, he trusted, the Legislature 

 would give emphatic expression at an early day. 



On the second of February the Seriate Com- 

 mittee on Federal Relations reported a series 

 of resolutions, requesting the Governor to ap- 

 point five commissioners to attend the Peace 

 Conference to be held at Washington on the 4th 

 of that month, declaring that this appointment 

 was not intended as an expression of opinion in 

 favor of any change in the Federal Constitution 

 as requisite to secure to the slaveholding States 

 adequate guarantees of their rights, nor as an 

 approval of the basis of settlement proposed by 

 Virginia, but simply as an expression of their 

 willingness to unite with that State in an ear- 

 nest effort to adjust the present unhappy con- 

 troversy in the spirit in which the Constitution 

 was formed. They further avowed their belief 

 that the appropriate and constitutional method 

 of considering and acting upon the grievances 

 complained of by the slaveholding States was 

 by the call of a convention for the amendment 

 of the Constitution as contemplated by the 5th 

 article of that instrument. The resolutions 

 passed by a vote of 13 to 10. 



On the requisition of the Secretary of War 

 for troops in April, the Governor issued a proc- 

 lamation calling for six thousand volunteers, 

 and in less than a day forty companies were 

 officially reported as r'eady and anxious for ser- 

 vice. Up to the 20th of April sixty-one com- 

 panies had been positively accepted, and eight 

 others conditionally, so that the complement 

 of Illinois was then exceeded. 



On the 12th of April (the day of the attack 

 on Fort Sumter) Governor Yates had issued the 

 following proclamation, convening the Legis- 

 lature in extra session on the 23d of that month : 



I, Richard Yates, Governor of the State of Illinois, 

 by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Consti- 

 tution, hereby convene the Legislature of said State, 

 and the members of the twenty-second session of the 

 General Assembly are hereby required to be and ap- 

 pear in their respective places at the Capitol, in the 

 city of Springfield, on Tuesday the 23d day of April, 

 A. D. 1801, for the purpose of enacting sucli laws and 

 adopting such measures as may be deemed necessary 

 upon the following subject, to wit : The more per- 

 fect organization and equipment of the militia of this 

 State, and placing the same on the best footing to 

 render efficient assistance to the General Government 

 in preserving the Union, enforcing the laws, and pro- 

 tecting the property and rights of the people ; also, the 

 raising such money and other means as may be re- 

 quired to cany out the foregoing object, and also to 

 provide for the expenses of such session. 



In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, 

 and have caused the great seal of the State to be here- 

 unto affixed at the city of Springfield, this 12th day of 

 April, 1861. RICHARD YATES. 



On the 25 th of April, Gov. Yates sent to the 

 Legislature a Message, in explanation of his 

 having taken military possession of Cairo and 

 garrisoned it with Federal troops. He said in 

 this Message : 



" The transfer of part of the volunteer forces 

 of the State to the city of Cairo was made in 



compliance with an order from the War Depart- 

 ment, directing a force to be stationed at Cairo. 

 Simultaneously with the receipt . of the or- 

 der, reliable information reached me of the 

 existence of a conspiracy of disaffected persons 

 in other States to seize upon Cairo and the 

 southern portion of the Illinois Central Rail- 

 road, and cut off communication with the inte- 

 rior of the State. It was my desire that the 

 honor of this service should have been given to 

 the patriotic citizens of the counties in the im- 

 mediate vicinity, but as these were not at that 

 time organized and armed for patriotic duty, 

 and the necessity for speedy action was impera- 

 tive, the requisition was filled from companies 

 previously tendered from other portions of the 

 State." 



At this extra* session, the amount appropri- 

 ated for war purposes was $3,500,000. Of this 

 sum $1,000,000 was to organize and equip ten 

 regiments called out by the State, $500,000 

 was appropriated to purchase arms for the 

 State, and to build a powder magazine, and 

 $2,000,000 for general purposes of State defence 

 and national aid. 



The entire militia of the State, consisting of 

 all the able-bodied men between the ages of 

 eighteen and forty-five years, were to be im- 

 mediately organized. A bill defining and pun- 

 ishing treason to the State was passed. The 

 telegraph was put under restraint, and meas- 

 ures taken to prevent its rendering aid to op- 

 ponents of the Government, and every thing 

 was done that was deemed necessary "to place 

 the State in a condition to suppress insurrec- 

 tion, repel invasion, and render prompt assist- 

 ance to the United States Government." 



The Governor was indefatigable in his efforts 

 to provide for the army which Illinois was 

 raising, to aid in the maintenance of the Federal 

 Government. On the 17th of August he issued 

 a proclamation to the people of Illinois, stating 

 that he had obtained permission from the Sec- 

 retary of. War to accept all companies that 

 offered themselves for the three years' service, 

 and announcing that all companies which 

 should report themselves fully organized with- 

 in twenty days from that date would be re- 

 ceived ; that orders for the transportation, sus- 

 tenance, and equipment of troops had already 

 been given, and that both equipments and arms 

 of the best quality would be furnished at the 

 earliest possible moment. The proclamation 

 was eloquent and replete with patriotic feeling, 

 and it awakened a hearty response in the 

 hearts of the people of the State. The compa- 

 nies reported much faster than they could be 

 armed and equipped, and on the 21st of No- 

 vember it was stated by authority that the 

 State had 53,000 troops in the field, or ready 

 for marching orders, of whom six regiments 

 and two independent squadrons were cavalry. 

 This was 8,600 more than her quota. The 

 number was subsequently largely increased, and 

 on the first of January, 1862, her force in ac- 

 tual service considerably exceeded 60,000. 



