Orleans County responded when ‘Call to Arms’ issued 162 years ago at start of Civil War
By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian
Illuminating Orleans, Vol. 3, No. 14
This unique document chronicles the local “Call to Arms” at the beginning of the Civil War.
ALBION – On April 23rd, 1861, at 10 a.m., “an immense gathering of citizens” responded to the impassioned entreaty of this broadside and met at the Court House in Albion.
The text reads:
“The Blood of your Brethren has been shed in the Streets of Baltimore! Peaceful troops, bearing a white flag, on a mission of Patriotism to defend your National Capital, to protect the Ark of the Covenant of your Liberties, have been assaulted by a Mob!
“They have nobly defended themselves, and give a glorious account of their work. But your friends, your Brothers, your gallant fellow-soldiers have been shot down! Their blood cries out of the ground for vengeance! Will you turn a deaf ear to that appealing note? Is there no courage, no manhood, no love of liberty in your breasts? “Is life so sweet or peace so dear as to be purchased at the price of Chains and Slavery.
“There is no longer a question of duty. What is home, what the peaceful pleasures of a stagnant life, what the ties of blood, or love, or friendship that will longer withhold you. To Arms! To Arms! To Arms!
“Come all Young Men who wish to enroll themselves in the service of their Country” – H.L. Achilles, O.F. Burns, H.J. Van Dusen, Committee Appointed April 18th
After years of mounting tension and fevered speculation, the spark that ignited the Civil War had been ignited on April 12, 1861, when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter.
On April 15, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling on the states for 75,000 militia to serve for ninety days.
On April 19, a mob of southern sympathizers in Baltimore opened fire on troops from the 6th Massachusetts. Four soldiers were killed and seventeen wounded. Twelve civilians were killed.
Orleans County quickly responded to these events. A committee was formed on April 18 to organize volunteers and a public meeting was quickly scheduled for April 23.
The poster captures the fervor and excitement of those early days. It called for vengeance, challenged masculinity, appealed to duty and patriotism. The lofty reference to the Ark of the Covenant assumed a religious righteousness for the cause.
The following is taken from the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Military Statistics of the State of New York, Albany: [The Bureau], (C. Wendell), 1866.:
“On receipt of the President’s proclamation, calling for 75,000 men, a meeting was called at the Court House, in Albion, for the evening of the 18th of April. The meeting was largely attended by citizens, irrespective of party. A committee was appointed to organize companies of volunteers, and steps were taken to call a county meeting at Albion, on the 23d of April.
On the 23d, an immense gathering of the citizens of the county assembled at the Court House Park. The meeting was addressed by several gentlemen, of all parties, and was unanimous and enthusiastic in its patriotic spirit. Resolutions were adopted to stand by the Government and the Union, at all hazards and at whatever cost of blood and treasure. More than $20,000 was subscribed to a fund for the aid of volunteers and their families, and committees were appointed to collect and distribute the subscriptions, and to aid in organizing companies of volunteers for the service of the United States.”
The men of Orleans County answered the “Call to Arms” 162 years ago on this date.
