Union Regiments by State

Oregon

Source: The Union Army, Vol. IV. Madison, Wisconsin: Federal Publishing Company, 1908.


Military Affairs in Oregon
1861-65

As soon as the question of jurisdiction at issue between the United States and Great Britain was settled, Congress in 1848 gave to Oregon a territorial form of government, and at the same time extended to her that provision of the ordinance of 1787 which prohibited slavery. In the vote on the adoption of the state constitution in 1857, it was agreed to leave to the choice of the people the question of the admission of negroes, free or enslaved, a special provision being made for certain sections to be inserted or rejected, according to the vote upon them. There was a majority of 3,980 in favor of the adoption of the constitution as a whole, but on the special sections dealing with the negro, there was a majority against slavery of 5,082, and against the admission of free negroes of 7,559, out of a total vote polled of about 10,400. The constitutional convention had ordered that, should the constitution be ratified, a general election should be held in June, 1858, for the election of the first general assembly and state and county officers. The assembly chosen was to assemble at Salem on the first Monday in July following, organize the state government, and elect two U. S. senators. At the election in 1858 there were three parties in the field, Oregon Democrats, national Democrats, and Republicans. From its organization the territory of Oregon had been strongly Democratic, and that party now secured its usual victory, electing John Whiteaker, first state governor, and L. F. Grover, representative in Congress. When the legislature met in July, it chose ex-Governor Joseph Lane and Delazon Smith U. S. senators. Governor Whiteaker was inaugurated July 8, 1858. The laws passed by the legislature were not to take effect until the state was finally admitted into the Union, which did not occur until February 14, 1859. Meantime, months of suspense over the probable action of Congress ensued. The contingency had been provided for by the election of a territorial legislature at the same time with the state legislature. The former body met in December 1858, and proceeded with the usual business, but when it adjourned January 22, 1859, it did not know whether its acts were invalid, or whether the state was still out of the Union. The Democratic majority in Congress had refused to admit Kansas with a population too small to entitle her to a representative in the lower house, unless she would consent to come in as a slave state, but it now proposed to admit Oregon, which had barely one-half of the required population of 93,000, under a constitution prohibiting slavery. (Oregon's population in 1860, according to the U. S. census, was only 52465, but the number of her people was greatly exaggerated by her agents in Washington.) The Republicans in Congress recognized the invidious distinction and cited not only her defective population, but also the clause in her constitution debarring free negroes from emigrating to Oregon. The Democrats favored the state's admission, as it would give the party two more senators and an additional representative. Naturally the Republicans were opposed to it for the same political reason.

Governor Whiteaker convened the legislature in special session May 16, 1859, and the organization of the state was completed. The terms of Representative Grover and Senator Smith had expired by limitation March 4, 1859, and hence their successors were to be chosen. At a special election held June 27 Lansing Stout, Democrat, was elected representative in Congress by a majority of only 16 votes over his Republican opponent, David Logan. The close vote was a great surprise to both parties and presaged the overthrow of the Democratic party, which had been so long dominant in the affairs of the territory, but now rent by internal dissensions. Its former idol, Joseph Lane, was accused of playing fast and loose with his constituents, as he was known to be a pronounced pro-slavery man and a strong southern sympathizer. Senator Smith had proved himself while in Washington not only an adherent of the discredited Lane, but had forfeited the respect of his party and earned for himself the sobriquet of "Delusion" Smith. The Democratic majority in the legislature in May, 1859, preferred to leave the seat vacant rather than return Smith to the senate. Despite the split in the ranks of the Democrats, that party again triumphed at the Congressional and state election held in June, 1860.. George K. Sheil was elected Congressman by a majority of 104 over Logan, who was again the candidate of the Republicans, while the Democratic majority in the legislature was larger than ever. The final split in the ranks of the Oregon Democracy took place on receipt of the news from the national conventions at Charleston, Baltimore and Washington. The nomination of Lane on the Breckenridge ticket by the extreme pro-slavery wing of the party, alienated that large element in the party which held the preservation of the Union to be paramount to the interests of any section. Lincoln and Hamlin stood an excellent chance to carry the country against Douglas, with the Breckenridge ticket in the field, and it was known that the South had threatened to withdraw from the Union in the event of Lincoln's election. The Douglas faction in Oregon held its own state convention. Its platform warmly eulogized the Union of the states and denounced secession in no unmeaning terms. There was little essential difference between the Douglas platform and that of the Republicans. When the new legislature assembled in September, 1860, a fusion of the Douglas Democrats and the Republicans had control on joint ballot, and were able to elect J. W. Nesmith, Independent, and E. D. Baker, Republican, U. S. senators, the former for the long and the latter for the short term. At the presidential election in November, 1860, Lincoln received a plurality of 270. The whole vote of the state stood as follows: Lincoln, 5,344; Douglas, 4,136; Breckenridge, 5,074; Bell and Everett, 197; total vote, 14,751. Sheil's election in the preceding June had been declared unauthorized, and a Congressman was again voted for at the time of the presidential election, A. J. Thayer defeating Shiel, who was again a candidate, though Congress ultimately gave Sheil the seat. Oregon cast its electoral vote for Lincoln, thus consummating the political revolution of 860. One of the prime causes of this revolution was the popular opposition to the scheme of a Pacific republic—independent, slaveholding and aristocratic in its proposed organization—known to be favored by Senator Lane and by the California senators, as well as by the southern states. While the scheme was regarded as visionary and unlikely to succeed, it was nevertheless feared that its advocates might provoke civil war in their midst. Senator Gwin of California was regarded as one of the prime movers in the scheme for an independent Pacific republic.

Though his pro-slavery leanings were well known, it came as something of a shock to the people of Oregon when it was learned that Lane had offered both his own services and those of his sons to fight the battles of secession. The overland telegraph to the Pacific was not in operation until October, 1861, and hence news of the stirring events which marked the beginning of the civil war was received by the pony express, from 10 to 20 days late. Oregon did not learn of the fall of Fort Sumter until April 30, 1861, when the thrilling intelligence that actual warfare had been begun aroused all the latent patriotism of the far-northwestern state, blotting out party lines as quickly as in New York. A considerable element of the population in the new state was from the South, and many of these people were in hearty accord with the movement for the dissolution of the Union. Generally speaking, political conditions in Oregon at the beginning of the war were not unlike those prevailing in the neighboring state of California. A few of the newspapers and some of the bolder spirits in the community, were outspoken in their expressions of disloyalty, but the great majority of the people were for the Union, with the result that the Union party remained dominant throughout the continuance of hostilities. Governor Whiteaker was out of sympathy with this large majority of the people and was asked to resign. When ex-Senator Lane reached home at the end of April, 1861, he was received with hatred and insult. So bitter was the sentiment against their former leader, the people even hung him in effigy at Dallas. In striking contrast with this attitude toward the discredited Lane was the universal expression of sorrow when the first messages brought across the continent by the overland telegraph in October told the news of Senator Baker's death at the battle of Ball's bluff. When the war began Baker raised a regiment in Pennsylvania and gave his life, a willing sacrifice on the altar of his country.

A few months before the war began, the military department of Oregon was merged in that of the Pacific, Brigadier-General E. V. Sumner commanding; Colonel George Wright, later in command of the whole department of the Pacific, was in immediate command in 1861 of the district embracing Oregon and Washington. The Indians of Oregon took advantage of the prevalence of war, as they did in the other western states and territories, to indulge in repeated acts of hostilities against the whites, particularly in the vast and little known eastern and southern parts of the state. During 1861 most of the regular troops stationed in Oregon and Washington were withdrawn to reinforce the Federal armies in the East, and there only remained in the district some 700 men and 19 commissioned officers. The sparse population of miners and stockmen settled in the above mentioned region suffered much at the hands of the Indians, as did the emigrant trains entering Oregon by the valley of the Snake river. No serious Indian outbreaks occurred in 1861, and as the Federal troops were withdrawn from the various posts in Oregon and Washington they were replaced by volunteer companies from California. On October 28, 1861, 350 volunteers arrived at Vancouver, and five more companies under command of Major Curtis came in the latter part of November. An attempt was made in the summer of 1861 to enlist a cavalry company through the state authorities, but the suspicion which prevailed concerning the loyalty of the governor and the enrolling officer, A. P. Dennison, hindered the undertaking and the enlisted men were disbanded. Under the various calls for troops during the war no quotas were assigned to Oregon, but a regiment of cavalry and one of infantry were raised within her borders and mustered into the U. S. service, the former for three years, and the latter for one and three years. The state is credited with a total of 1,810 men furnished during the war.

Authority to raise ten companies of cavalry for three years' service was given to Colonel Thomas R. Cornelius by the war department in November, 1861. The work of recruiting the regiment went rapidly forward and by the following May six companies were fully organized. The men enlisted with the hope of going east to participate in the more stirring scenes of the war, supposing that they were to form part of the 500,000 troops authorized by Congress. They were needed at home, however, where they performed hard service, but not of the kind they would have chosen.

During the year 1862 the Oregon immigration was very large, settling chiefly in the mining region east of the Snake river, and in the valleys of the Grande Ronde, Powder river, John Day and Walla Walla, and portions of the Oregon troops were employed in 1862, 1863 and 1864, in escorting these immigrant trains. Early in 1863 a call was made for six volunteer companies to complete the organization of the 1st cavalry. There was little enthusiasm, however, and recruits came in slowly, most of the disengaged men of the state who had not enlisted being at work in the mines. Only one company was raised during the summer and fear was expressed that a draft would be resorted to, as the government had sent Provost Marshal J. M. Keeler to make an enrollment of those subject to military duty. It can hardly be said that Oregon was doing her full duty at this time in raising troops for the U. S. service. She had only seven companies in the field, while California had nearly nine regiments, and her troops were stationed all the way from Puget Sound to Texas, some of them even in the Willamette valley. Troops were needed to protect the Oregon frontiers, to safeguard the immigration routes, and to punish the predatory Snakes. An excellent militia law had been enacted by the legislature in 1862, which placed several regiments at the disposal of the governor. By the terms of this law the governor, adjutant-general, and secretary of state were constituted a military board with authority to audit all reasonable expenses incurred by volunteer organizations in the service of the state. In 1863 the war department authorized the establishment of a post on the Boise river, and another at Fort Klamath, between the Klamath and Goose lakes, near the southern immigrant road, for the better protection of the main overland routes of travel. Considerable alarm was felt by the people of Oregon because the state was devoid of any coast defenses, and this alarm was accentuated by the action of the French government in Mexico. To remedy this state of affairs the Congress of 1861-2 appropriated $100,000 for defensive works to be constructed at the mouth of the Columbia, and by the summer of 1864 Fort Stevens, on the southern side of the entrance to the river, was practically completed. Strong earthworks were also erected on the north side of the river, afterward called Fort Canby, and both forts were garrisoned in the autumn of 1865.

In 1864, to encourage future enlistments, the legislature passed a liberal bounty act, which gave to every soldier enlisting for three years or during the war, $150 in addition to other bounties and pay already provided for, and at the same time a fund was provided for the purpose by levying a tax of one mill on the dollar upon all the taxable property of the state. Also, $100,000 were appropriated as a fund from which to pay $5 a month as additional compensation to volunteers already in the service. Thereupon Governor Gibbs issued a call for a regiment of infantry in addition to the companies then in the U. S. service, who were "to aid in the enforcement of the laws, suppress insurrection and invasion, and to chastise hostile Indians" in the military district of Oregon. The regiment was to be known as the 1st infantry Oregon volunteers, and the governor made an earnest appeal to county officers to avoid a draft by vigorously prosecuting the work of procuring enlistments. Extra inducements were offered by several of the counties to procure the required volunteers. Polk county raised $1,200 as extra bounty and was the first to complete her enlistment; Josephine county provided an additional $2,500, and Clackamas county offered similar inducements. Six of the companies were organized by the end of the year, three more during the first three months of 1865, and the tenth in June, 1865. The infantry regiment, together with the 1st cavalry (consolidated into a battalion of four companies composed of veterans and recruits in 1865), were employed during 1865-66 in numerous expeditions against Indians, in guarding the stage and immigrant routes, and in scouting and garrison duty. General McDowell, who succeeded General Wright in the command of the Department of the Pacific in 1864, made a requisition on Governor Gibbs for a second regiment of cavalry, to retain the designation of the 1st Oregon cavalry, but to be recruited up to the maximum of twelve companies. Governor Gibbs accordingly issued his proclamation reminding those liable to perform military duty of the bounties provided by the state and the general government, and that the latter would furnish horses to the new regiment, but the response was very inadequate, only the battalion of cavalry above mentioned (Cos. A, B, C and G being organized). In October, 1865, orders were received to muster out the volunteers, and by the middle of the following summer only Co. B, 1st cavalry, and Co. I, 1st infantry remained in the service, the former being mustered out in November, 1866, and the latter in July, 1867. The place of the volunteers was taken by numerous companies of regular troops, which continued to wage relentless warfare against the hostile Indians of Oregon for several years longer.

There were only two parties in the field during the state election of 1862, Union and Democrat. Addison C. Gibbs, the Union candidate for governor, received 7,039 votes, as against 3,450 for his Democratic opponent, John F. Miller, and the majority of all the principal Union candidates was in excess of 3,000. John R. McBride, Union, was elected to Congress by a majority of 3,177 over the Democratic candidate, A. E. Wait, who had resigned his place upon the bench to make the race. Governor Gibbs was inaugurated September 10, 1862, for a four years' term. The legislature chosen this year had a Union majority, and elected Benjamin F. Harding of Marion county to the U. S. senate by a majority of 9 over all others. This legislature gave evidence of its strong Union sentiments by the passage of an act compelling the acceptance of U. S. notes in payment of debts and taxes, and also made provision for the payment of Oregon's share of the direct tax levied by Congress in 1861. This amounted to over $35,000, which was equal to seven-eighths of the entire annual revenue of the state. The receipts of the state treasury for the two years ending September 8, 1862, where $91,788, and the expenses during the same period were $55,831. According to the message of Governor Whiteaker, the funds in the state treasury on September 7, 1862, amounted to only $40,314. As funds were needed to administer the state government, $10,000 of the direct tax levied by the United States were ordered to be paid at any time when called for, the remaining $25,000 any time after March 1, 1863, and the treasurer was to pay the whole amount appropriated in coin. With regard to the legal-tender question, which caused much disturbance to business in Oregon, as elsewhere on the Pacific coast, the matter was finally adjusted by the passage of a specific-contract law in Oregon in 1864, thereby following the example of California. By this law every possible impediment to the exclusive use of metallic currency, which did not contravene any law of Congress, was removed, and thereby satisfied the popular will which was strongly opposed to the introduction of paper money of fluctuating value.

Though Oregon only furnished a total of 1,810 volunteers to the Federal government during the Civil war, it should be borne in mind that the state was new, sparsely populated, and far removed from the actual scenes of hostilities. Her volunteers were not permitted to go East and participate in any of the great campaigns, but were employed at home in the arduous though somewhat inglorious service of curbing the disloyal element, chastising hostile Indians, and protecting emigrant routes. Her action in raising these troops, permitted the government to withdraw the force of regulars for service in the East, and the attitude of the state and its citizens was patriotic and loyal throughout the war.


RECORD OF OREGON REGIMENTS

First Cavalry.—Colonels, Thomas R. Cornelius, Reuben F. Maury; Lieut.-Colonels, Reuben F. Maury, Charles S. Drew; Majors, Charles S. Drew, J. S. Rinearson, Sewall Truax. This regiment, composed of seven companies, was recruited from the state at large, the first six companies being mustered into the U. S. service between November, 1861, and June, 1862, for three years. Co. G was mustered in August, 1863. As soon as the six companies were organized in 1862, they were ordered to Vancouver, where they were uniformed and armed with old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles, pistols and sabres and then proceeded to the Dalles. The regiment was employed until its final muster out in scouting expeditions, chastising hostile Indians, guarding emigrant trains and hunting down robber bands. The regiment served by detachments at various posts in Oregon and Washington, and its members were much disappointed because they were never ordered east. The men marched thousands of miles in all kinds of weather in pursuit of their wily foes, but it was not real warfare and there was small chance to gain renown. The personnel of the regiment was of a high order, its members being for the most part sons of well-to-do farmers, whose habits of temperance and morality gained them the name of the "puritan regiment." The number of desertions from this class during the term of three years was only 3. The remainder of the regiment was recruited from the floating population of the state and in this portion the desertions were more numerous. The regiment, or portions of it, took part in the following engagements: Harney Lake valley, Crooked river, John Day's river, south fork John Day's river, Malheur river, besides a large number of minor affairs, participated in by small detachments. The original members of the regiment (except veterans reenlisted) were mustered out as their terms of service expired, and the organization, composed of veterans and recruits, was consolidated into a battalion of four companies (A, B, C and G) July 18, 1865, and continued in service. It was mustered out by companies at different dates from May 26 to November 20, 1866.

First Infantry.—Colonel, George B. Curry; Lieut.-Colonels, George B. Curry, John M. Drake; Major, William V. Rinehart. This regiment, recruited from the state at large, was mustered into the U. S. service between November, 1864, and June, 1865, to serve for one and three years. Its field officers were all serving as captains in the 1st Oregon cavalry when promoted. It saw service against the Indians in Oregon and Idaho during 1865 and 1866, being employed during the former year in guarding the roads between the Dalles and Boise, Boise and Salt Lake, Owyhee and Chico, and Owyhee and Humboldt, California. In the fall of 1865 a portion of the command went into winter quarters at old Fort Hall, at the junction of the Salt Lake, Virginia City and Boise roads, the station being called Camp Lander. Another detachment made its winter quarters at Camp Reed, on the Salmon Falls creek, having only tents for shelter. In 1866, in the Harney Lake valley, Co. H, Captain Loren L. Williams, did some of the best fighting of the season, being compelled to march a long distance on foot, surrounded by Indians, both mounted and on foot. They succeeded in killing 15 of the Indians, and escaped with a loss of only 1 killed and 2 wounded. In October, 1866, orders were received to disband the Oregon volunteers, and the regiment was mustered out by companies at different dates from October 31, 1866, to July 19, 1867.