538 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



Your Excellency will pardon me, therefore, for ask- 

 ing whether the United States forts will be garrisoned 

 with United States troops during your Administration. 



This question I ask in perfect respect, and with an 

 earnest desire to prevent consequences which I know 

 would be regretted by your Excellency as much as 

 myself. 



"Should I receive assurance that no troops will, be 

 sent to this State prior to the 4th of March next, then 

 all will be peace and quiet here, and the property of 

 the United States will be fully protected as heretofore. 

 If, however, I am unable to get such assurances, I will 

 not undertake to answer for the consequences. 



The forts in this State have long been unoccupied, 

 and their being garrisoned at this time will unquestion- 

 ably be looked upon as a hostile demonstration, and 

 will in my opinion certainly be resisted. 



To this communication the Secretary of "War 

 replied on the loth, as follows : 



Your letter of the 12th instant, addressed to the 

 President of the United States, has by him been re- 

 ferred to this Department, and he instructs me to 

 express his gratification at the promptitude with which 

 you have ordered the expulsion of the lawless men who 

 recently occupied Forts Johnson and Caswell. He 

 regards this action on the part of your Excellency as 

 in complete harmony with the honor and patriotic 

 character of the people of North Carolina, whom you 

 so worthily represent. 



In reply to your inquiry, whether it is the purpose 

 of the President to garrison the forts of North Carolina 

 during his administration, I am directed to say that 

 they, in common with the other forts, arsenals, and 

 other property of the United States, are in charge of 

 the President, and that if assailed, no matter from 

 what quarter or under what pretext, it is his duty to 

 protect them by all the means which the law has placed 

 at his disposal. It is not his purpose to garrison the 

 forts to which you refer at present, because he consid- 

 ers them entirely safe, as heretofore, under the shelter 

 of that law-abiding sentiment for which the people of 

 North Carolina have ever been distinguished. Should 

 they, however, be attacked or menaced with danger of 

 being seized or taken from the possession of the United 

 States, he could not escape from his constitutional 

 obligation to defend and preserve them. The very sat- 

 isfactory and patriotic assurance given by your Ex- 

 cellency justifies him, however, in entertaining the 

 confident expectation that no such contingency will 

 arise. 



The bill for calling a State Convention was 

 under debate a number of days ; so, also, "was 

 the resolution proposing the appointment, on 

 the part of North Carolina, of Commissioners 

 to a Peace Conference at Washington, as pro- 

 posed by Virginia. The Convention bill finally 

 passed on the 24th of January. 



Ultimately, the Legislature seconded the 

 movement of Virginia, by appointing several 

 eminent men, of both parties, to represent the 

 State in the National Conference at Washing- 

 ton. Commissioners were also appointed to 

 represent the State in the Southern meeting at 

 Montgomery, Alabama, the avowed purpose 

 of which was to establish a Provisional Gov- 

 ernment over a Southern Confederacy, but with 

 instructions adopted by a vote of 69 to 38 in 

 the Commons, that they were " to act only as 

 mediators to endeavor to bring about a recon- 

 ciliation." This vote was hailed as an unmis- 

 takable sign that North Carolina was not pre- 

 pared for disunion and a Southern Confeder- 

 acy. 



The Convention bill, as it finally passed the 



Legislature, provided for putting the question 

 to the people at the time of electing delegates ; 

 Convention or no Convention. 



It further provided that the election should 

 be held on the 28th of January, and that ten 

 days should be allowed the sheriffs to make 

 their returns. If a majority of the people voted 

 for the Convention, the Governor should issue 

 his proclamation fixing the day for the meet- 

 ing. If the Convention was called, its action 

 should be submitted to the people for ratifica- 

 tion or rejection. If a majority of the people 

 voted against the Convention, the Governor 

 should make known the fact by proclamation. 

 The action of the Convention was required to 

 be confined to Federal matters, and the mem- 

 bers would be sworn to that effect. 



A more guarded and restricted form could 

 hardly have been adopted and permit any liberty 

 of action to the Convention. 



On the 4th of February a resolution was 

 passed unanimously in the House, declaring 

 that, in case reconciliation fails, North Caro- 

 lina goes with the slave States. The military 

 bill passed in the House, authorized the arming 

 of ten thousand volunteers, and provided for 

 the entire reorganization of the militia. 



The election for members of the State Con- 

 vention resulted in the choice of a considerable 

 majority who were in favor of the Union, and 

 opposed to secession. As expressed at the time, 

 " They, as Unionists, would not submit to the 

 administration of the Government on sectional 

 principles, but they were anxious to preserve 

 the Union on a constitutional basis, and to ob- 

 tain such guarantees as would lead to a perma- 

 nent reconstruction of it." 



The official vote of the State on the question 

 of Convention or no Convention, including the 

 vote of Davie and Heywood counties, which 

 were reported, was : for Convention, 46,672 ; 

 against a Convention, 47,323. Majority against 

 a Convention, 651. The vote of the State was 

 smaller by about twenty thousand than at the 

 election in August previous. 



Of the whole number of delegates, eighty- 

 two were constitutional Union men and thir- 

 ty-eight secessionists. The Union majority, 

 therefore, was rather more than two to one. 



After this election, the Governor determined 

 not to call the Legislature of the State together 

 in extra session unless something more urgent 

 than was known should occur. 



No events of unusual interest occurred until 

 the attack upon Fort Sumter and the call by 

 the President for troops. To the requisition of 

 the Secretary at War, the Governor immedi- 

 ately replied by telegraph as follows : 



RALEIGH, April 15, 1861. 



Your despatch is received, and, if genuine which 

 its extraordinary character leads me to doubt I have 

 to say, in reply, that I regard the levy of troops made 

 by the Administration, for the purpose of subjugating 

 the States of the South, as in violation of the Constitu- 

 tion and a usurpation of power. I can be no party to 

 this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and 

 to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You 



