ACCOUNT
SUPPLIES SENT TO SAVANNAH:.,
WITH THE
Ifest Ji^jpl 0f <Sj&toar& dtoit in Jmewil fall;
THE LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF SAVANNAH
THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITIZENS, AND LETTER OF THE MAYOR OF SAVANNAH.
BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
BOSTON:
PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 1865.

ACCOUNT
SUPPLIES SENT TO SAVANNAH.
AT the call of the Mayor of Savannah, a public meeting was held in that city December 28th, 1864, which unanimously adopted the following preamble and resolutions:
Whereas, by the fortunes of war, and the surrender of the city by the civil authorities, Savannah passes once more under the authority of the United States; and whereas we believe that the interests of the city will be best subserved and promoted by a full and free expression of our views in relation to our present condition, we therefore, the people of Savannah, in full meeting assembled, do hereby Resolve, --
First, That we accept the position, and, in the language of the President of the United States, seek to have " peace by laying down our arms, and submitting to the national author ity under the Constitution;" "leaving all questions which remain, to be adjusted by the peaceful means of legislation, conference, and votes."
Second, That, laying aside all differences, and burying by gones in the grave of the past, we will use our best endeavors once more to bring back the prosperity and commerce we once enjoyed.
Third, That we do not put ourselves in the position of a conquered city, asking terms of a conqueror; but we claim
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the immunities and privileges contained in the Proclamation and Message of the President of the United States, and in all the legislation of Congress in reference to a people situated as we are; and while we owe, on our part, a strict obedience to the laws of the United States, we ask the protection over our persons, lives, and property recognized by those laws.
Fourth, That we respectfully request his Excellency the Governor to call a convention of the people of Georgia, by any constitutional means in his power, to give them an oppor tunity of voting upon the question, whether they wish the war between the two sections of the country to continue.
Fifth, That, Major-General Sherman having placed, as mili tary commander of this post, Brigadier-General Geary, \yho has, by his urbanity as a gentleman and his uniform kindness to our citizens, done all in his power to protect them and their property from insult and injury, it is the unanimous desire of all present, that he be allowed to remain in his present posi tion ; and that, for the reasons above stated, the thanks of the citizens are hereby tendered to him, and the officers under his command.
Sixth, That an official copy of these resolutions be sent to the President of the United States, the Governor of Georgia, General Sherman, and to each the Mayors of Augusta, Col umbus, Macon, and Atlanta, and to Brigadier-General Geary.
After the occupation of that city by the United States forces under General Sherman, the Mayor and Aldermen of Savannah appointed Colonel Julian Alien, who had offered his services gratuitously, to proceed to New York for the purpose of negotiating the exchange of rice for other provisions for the use of the suffering and destitute inhabitants of the city. General Sherman is sued an order to Albert G. Browne, Supervising Special
Agent of the Treasury Department, confirming this appointment, directing the Quartermaster to give him

transportation, and requesting the Collector of New York to grant clearance for provisions for the use of the people of Savannah, to the amount of fifty thousand dollars in value.
Colonel Alien, believing that the people of the North would rather give the required provisions, and not take the rice from the suffering people of Savannah, who needed it all, expressed these views to Mr. Browne, who concurred in the opinion. The people of Savan nah did not ask aid, and Colonel Alien disclaimed ask ing it for them. He simply made his statement of matters of which he had been an eye-witness. He arrived in Boston on Saturday, January 7th, 1865.
On Monday, January 9th, 1865, the citizens of Bos ton were invited, through the public papers, to meet in Faneuil Hall on that day at noon, to consider measures for the relief of the suffering people of Savannah. It was announced that His Honor, Mayor Lincoln, would preside; that Colonel Alien would make some interest ing statements ; and that the Hon. Edward Everett, and other gentlemen would address the meeting. The leading newspapers called the attention of their readers to the meeting, and expressed the opinion that there should be a full and enthusiastic gathering of the citi zens in aid of the object. At the appointed hour the body of the hall was filled with gentlemen, and many ladies occupied seats in the galleries.
The following officers were appointed:

President. His Honor MAYOR LINCOLN.

'Vice-Presidents.

JOSEPH WHITNEY. EDWARD S. TOBEY. JOHN Z. GOODKICH. JAMES L. LITTLE.
DWIGHT FOSTER.
HENRY I. BOWDITOH. EDWARD N. KIRK. EDWARD E. HALE. LORENZO SABINE. MARTIN BRIMMER. WILLIAM B. ROGERS. E. R. MUDGE. GEORGE C. RICHARDSON. AMOS A. LAWRENCE.JAMES SAVAGE. JOSIAH QUINCY. FRANCIS C. MANNING,

SAMUEL H. WALLEY. JAMES M. BEEBE. GEORGE W. MESSINGER. WILLIAM GRAY. CHARLES G. GREENE. JOSEPH S. ROPES. JOHN P. PUTNAM. OSBORN HOWES. WILLIAM CLAFLIN. WILLIAM T. GLIDDEN. S. R. SPAULDING. BENJAMIN E. BATES. ALPHEUS HARDY. WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Jun. NATHANIEL FRANCIS. C. ALLEN BHOWNE.
C. F. DUNBAR.

Secretaries.

M. DENMAN Ross.

HAMILTON A. HILL.

GEORGE W. SEARLE.

In Ms opening address, the Mayor said, " The doors of Faneuil Hall have not been opened in the last four years on a more auspicious occasion. The city of Bos-,, ton hails with joy the sentiments of loyalty and fealty to-the old flag, which Savannah, freed from her thral dom, is now permitted to utter; and as her Mayor presided over the formal announcement of her renewed devotion to the country, so I acknowledge that it is fit that one holding similar official relations to Boston should participate in the proceedings of this meeting."
Colonel Alien made a short address, giving full ex planation and evidence respecting the great suifering of

the citizens of Savannah; and speeches were made by James C. Converse, Joseph S. Fay, George C. Richard son, William Gray, Edward Everett, and William H. Gardiner.
The meeting adopted these resolutions, which the Mayor was requested to communicate to the Mayor of Savannah:
Resolved, That the citizens of Boston have heard with sin cere satisfaction of the course pursued by the authorities and people of Savannah, since the occupation of their city by the Federal forces under Major-General Sherman; and especially of their distinct and hearty recognition of the duties resting upon them, and of the immunities resulting to them as citizens of the United States, their country and ours.
Resolved, That we extend to the people of Savannah our congratulations on their deliverance from the irresponsible power of the Eebel Government, and on the re-establishment over them of lawful and constitutional supremacy.
Resolved, That we esteem it a privilege to extend assist ance to the suffering poor of Savannah, of whose destitution we are informed by the Mayor and Council of the city, and by the statements of Colonel Alien, made on this occasion.
Resolved, That we invite the people of Boston to furnish such contributions of money and provisions as the necessities of the case require, and that a Committee of thirty, of which the Mayor shall be chairman, be appointed by the presiding officer, to receive them, and to make distribution as they shall judge proper.
The Executive Committee, who were instructed to publish such permanent record of all matters connected with raising the fund as in their judgment might be deemed expedient and proper, cannot omit from this record the last appeal of Edward Everett in Faneuil

8

Hall, the appeal with, which he closed his public labors on earth; in itself one of the most touching which ever fell from human lips.
The Committee appointed under the fourth resolution met on the following day, January 10th, 1865, passed a vote that it was expedient to raise twenty-five thousand dollars for the object contemplated, and made the under signed an Executive Committee to purchase and forward supplies to Savannah, with full powers. Mr. William Perkins was chosen Treasurer.
It was announced at this meeting, that Messrs.f Glidden and Williams had offered to transport, free of cost, such contributions as should be ready for shipment on the 14th of January, by the steamer " Greyhound; " and several gentlemen, who were present, offered to advance ten thousand dollars, for an immediate purchase, to be forwarded by that vessel.
On January 13th, 1865, the Executive Committee reported in part, that on Wednesday, the llth instant, subscription papers were opened at the Mayors Office, at the Merchants Exchange, at the China Mutual In surance Office, and at the Boylston Insurance Office, and were sent to the several members of the General Committee; that the morning papers of Wednesday announced the subscriptions of several members of the Committee,

At their first meeting on Tuesday, amounting to ... $3,700.00

That the subscriptions on Wednesday were ..... 17,607.00

,,

,,

Thursday were ..... 8,529.00

,,

,,

,, Friday were ...... 3,955.50

Making a total of ....... .$33,791.50

The Committee also reported that several persons had offered to accompany and take charge of the shipments to Savannah, without compensation; and that they had committed the trust to Messrs. Harrison O. Briggs, Julian Alien, and William H. Baldwin.
Although the whole matter of purchasing and for warding the contributions was intrusted to them, with full powers, the Executive Committee preferred, in a subject so deeply interesting to a large number of con tributors, to present an early report of the progress then made, and to submit, for the several signatures of the members composing the General Committee, a letter to be sent to the Mayor of Savannah. This letter was signed by every member who acted upon the General Committee, and will be found with the papers accom panying this statement, in connection with our letter to General Sherman, and instructions to our agents.
The report of the Treasurer which, with the names of the contributors, will be found in this account, shows that the total amount subscribed in money was $34,495.07. In addition, several subscriptions were made of supplies; and the very liberal contribution of Messrs. Glidden and Williams, on behalf of themselves and other owners of the " Greyhound," was of the value of fifteen hundred dollars.
By the bills of lading, the supplies were to be delivered "to Harrison O. Briggs, Julian Alien, and W. H. Baldwin, the Boston Committee, or to assigns, freight for the said goods free, being contributions from the citizens of Boston to the citizens of Savannah, and shipped per order of the Executive Committee." As it was not convenient

10
for Colonel Alien to proceed to Savannah by the " Daniel Webster," from New York, Mr. Henry D. Hyde, a member of the General Committee, was appointed an additional agent to act in connection with those already named. As will be seen in the Treasurers report, the shipments were made by three vessels; the " Greyhound" from Boston, and the " Daniel Webster" and " HarvestMoon " from New York. The transportation from New York was at the expense of the Government of the United States, and was made necessary by the inability of the " Greyhound" to carry all the supplies. There maining funds will be applied in conformity with the views of the contributors.
Five hundred copies of the proceedings of the meet ing in Faneuil Hall, including the report of Mr. Everetts speech, were sent by the " Greyhound" for distribution among the people of Savannah.
The undersigned do not deem that the instructions given to them require the publication, in this account, of matters which have already been widely circulated; but they are unwilling to omit the Report made by the gen tlemen who took charge of the supplies to Savannah, who had free intercourse with all the people of the city, and who have taken great pains to acquit themselves, in a manner satisfactory to them and to us, of the im portant and delicate trust committed to them. Still less are we disposed to omit the proceedings of the public meeting in Savannah, on the 25th January, 1865, or the letter from Mayor Arnold to one of the Committee who had remained in Savannah, dated February 8th, 1865.
General Sherman stated in conversation, that he had

11
received frequent applications from the Interior of Georgia to furnish military protection for Union meet ings ; to which he replied that he would gladly do so, were his force large enough for the purpose ; but that it was of more importance for the Union men of the South as well as the North, that his whole army should be employed in breaking, up the military strength of the enemy.
The Mayor of Savannah proposed to circulate the pro ceedings of the meeting held in that city, with the letter from Boston, in the State of Georgia, with the aid of the cavalry of our army as opportunity offered; and we intend to send a large number of copies of this account to Savannah for the purpose.
The narrative of these events conveys a faint impres sion of the interest manifested in the few days occupied in the completion of the active labors of the Executive Committee. The subscription papers, to raise twentyfive thousand dollars, were placed before the community on Wednesday morning ; and, on Friday afternoon of the same week, we reported a subscription of nearly thirty-four thousand dollars. In the Merchants Ex change, kindly proffered to us by the proprietors, our table was constantly surrounded by unsolicited subscri bers ; and the absence of all vindictive feeling towards the South was particularly evinced by contributions from those who have lost some of their most priceless treas ures in the stern realities of the war.
Will the contributors for the relief of Savannah allow us, in closing our official relations to them, to express the deep satisfaction which we have enjoyed, in acting

12

as the instruments to receive and transmit their offering to the people of Savannah 1 The cordial and prompt answer given to the appeal made in Faneuil Hall will be remembered after we all shall have passed away ; and in producing that harmony of a re-united people, to which we confidently look forward, we place great reli ance upon the victories of a Christian spirit.

BOSTON, February 20th, 1865.

WILLIAM GRAY. E. R. MUDGE. JOHN A. BLANCHARD. NATHAN CROWEJLL. W. T. GLIDDEN. :

13
LETTERS.
Letter to General Sherman.
BOSTON, January 13th, 1865. Major-General W. T. SHEKMAN, Savannah, Ga.
DEAR SIR, As the Executive Committee of citizens of Boston, who have contributed supplies to be forwarded to Savannah for the relief of the sufferers in that city, we beg to introduce to your acquaintance, as our agents, Messrs. HARRISON 0. BRIGGS, JULIAN ALLEN, and WILLIAM H. BALD WIN, who have offered to take charge of their transmission and delivery.
We have given them a letter from the General Committee to the Mayor of Savannah, and our written instructions for their guidance. We enclose to you copies of these papers.
They will, of course, be in all respects subject to your direction, or, in your absence, to that of the General com manding in Savannah.
Permit us to assure you that we all feel a profound appre ciation of the great services to our country of yourself and your noble army.
We are very respectfully yours,
WILLIAM GRAY. E. E. MUDGE. JOHN A. BLANCHARD. NATHAN CROWELL. WM. T. GLIDDEN.

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Letter to the Mayor of Savannah.
BOSTON, January 13th, 1865.
To Hon. E. D. ARSOLD, Mayor of the City of Savannah, Ga.
SIR, You will receive from the officers of a meeting of the citizens of Boston, held in Faneuil Hall, on Monday the 9th instant, an attested copy of its proceedings.
The undersigned were appointed a Committee under the fourth resolution. It gives us great gratification to be the organ of communication between the people of Savannah and our own citizens. Sister cities on the Atlantic, long con nected by friendly offices and commercial ties, it gives.;:; us sincere pleasure to witness the re-opening of an intercourse which has been temporarily suspended, and which we believe will never again be closed.
But, far above and beyond the relations to which we have just referred, we should not be true to our own convictions, nor to the feelings which animate our citizens, were we to refrain from expressing a deeper cause of satisfaction, in receiving the resolutions passed at the public meeting held in Savannah, on the twenty-eighth day of December last. We regard them as the true exponent of the heart of the South ern people, and we cordially welcome their expression.
The history of former days is not forgotten. It has rather been deepened by the later trials of our nation. We remem ber the earlier kindness and liberality of the citizens of Savannah towards the people of Boston in the dark colonial days. We recall the meeting held there on the tenth day of August, 1774, when a committee was appointed " to receive subscriptions for the suffering poor of Boston : " as to which it is recorded, " There are large donations of rice for the suf ferers in Boston ; and, had we the means of sending it to them, with very little trouble much more would be collected and sent. Few have subscribed less than ten tierces of rice." The rice was sent to New York, sold there, and the proceeds, ,216. Os. 5c?., were remitted to the Boston Committee, and by them applied to the relief of the poor here.

15

We remember that Nathanael G-reene, the noble son of Rhode Island, sleeps in your beautiful cemetery. We recall the scene on the banks of the Savannah River, when " the military and municipality met the mournful procession at the landing in your city; the whole body of citizens joining with one accord in this last demonstration of respect to him, who, of all those who had distinguished themselves during the war of the Revolution, was, next to Washington, the one who held, at this moment, the highest place in public esteem."
The memory of past days of common danger and common suffering of an united people struggling to be free stands before us. The annals of the South and the North, engraven together upon the tablets of memory, still live ; and we believe that neither the South nor the North will permit them to die.
Our Executive Committee will give written instructions to those in immediate charge of the transmission and delivery to you of our offerings of peace and good-will; and we hope soon to hail the day when all the people of the United States will, in the language of the President, quoted in your resolu tions, find " peace by laying down their arms, and submitting to the national authority under the Constitution," "leaving all questions which remain, to be adjusted by the peaceful means of legislation, conference, and votes."

We are very respectfully yours,

F. W. LINCOLN, Jun., Mayor. ' JOSEPH H. CURTIS.

WILLIAM B. SPOONEB.

GEO. C. RICHARDSON.

WM. GRAY.

NATHAN CROWELL.

WILLIAM PERKINS.

ALBERT BOWKER.

M. D. Ross.

HENRY D. HYDE.

JOHN A. BLANCHARD.

j JOSEPH C. TYLER.

GEO. WM. BOND.

i E. S. TOBEY.

JOSEPH W. BALCH.

DAVID H. COOLIDGE.

FBEDK. NICKEHSON.

i E. R. MUDGE.

WM. T. GLIDDEN.

i ALPHEUS HAKDY.

FRANCIS BACON.

S. E. SPAULDING.

EBEN HOWES.

JOSEPH WHITNEY.

W. H. BALDWIN.

Jos. S. FAY.

JAMES C. CONVERSE.

HAMILTON A. HILL.

SAMUEL D. WARREN.

N. THAYEE.

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Letter of Instructions to Messrs. Briggs, Alien, and Baldwin.

BOSTON, January 13th, 1865.

To Messrs. HAREISOH 0. BRIGOS, JULIAN ALLEN, and WM. H. BALDWIN.

GENTLEMEN, You are appointed to take charge of the

supplies and provisions contributed by the citizens of Boston

for the relief of the people of Savannah. One of you will

sail in the steamer " Greyhound " from Boston, and another

in the steamer " Daniel Webster " from New York, on Satur

day next. In each vessel will be portions of the article,^ to

be forwarded.



On your arrival at Hilton Head, should these vessels pro

ceed no further, you will tranship the articles by such modes

of conveyance as may be within your reach, preferring

Government transportation, if it can be had.

When you reach Savannah, you will immediately report to

Major-General Sherman, or, in his absence, to the General

commanding in Savannah. You will deliver the letter to

General Sherman, which covers copies of these instructions,

and of the letter of the General Committee to the Mayor of

Savannah.

With the approval of General Sherman, or, in his absence, of the General commanding in Savannah, you will deliver the articles shipped, to the Mayor, to be disposed of for the bene fit of all the people of Savannah who may require aid.
You will advise us frequently, by every opportunity, of your proceedings; giving us full accounts of the execution of your trust, and the distribution made.
You have offered your services in this good work without compensation. On behalf of those whom we represent, we tender you their thanks. Whatever expenses are necessarily incurred in the re-shipment, if any, at Hilton Head, and de livery at Savannah, you may draw for upon us; notify ing us by mail of the draft, not exceeding two thousand dollars.

17
You go on a mission of peace and good-will to the suffer ing: we need not make any suggestions as to the mode in which such a mission should be discharged.
With our good wishes for a prosperous passage and a safe return,
We are truly your friends,
WM. GRAY. E. E. MUDGE. JOHN A. BLANCHARD. NATHAN CROWELL. WM. T. GLIDDEN.

18
EEPO ET
COMMITTEE SENT TO SAVANNAH.
To Messrs. WILLIAM GRAY, E. R. MUDGE, JOHN A. BLANCHARD, NATHAX O&OWELL, WILLIAM T. GLIDDEN, Executive Committee, cj-c.
THE Committee appointed by you to proceed to Savannah in charge of the supplies contributed by the citizens of Boston for the relief of the people of that city, having delivered the same in accordance with your instructions, beg leave to submit the following Report:
The value of the supplies placed in our hands at the time of our departure was about twenty-five thousand dollars, about thirteen of which were shipped on board the steamer " Greyhound," which sailed from Boston on Saturday, Jan uary 14th; and the balance, on the United-States transport " Daniel Webster," which sailed from New York on the Mon day following. Two members of the Committee took passage on the " Greyhound," and the other on the " Daniel Webster." It was hoped the voyage from Boston would not occupy more than four days, and that we should have the satisfaction of landing the cargo in Savannah, and relieving the wants of the people, without delay ; but, owing to a succession of accidents which have already been reported, the " Greyhound did not arrive until the 25th, and even then, owing to the movements of the army, and difficulty in obtaining assistance, we were not able to commence discharging the cargo until the 30th. The "Daniel Webster" experienced similar delays, and arrived on the same morning with the " Greyhound ; " but, being

19

needed for special service by the Government, the goods

were discharged immediately.

,

While the vessels were aground in the river, the Committee

proceeded to the city, and waited upon General Sherman.

He at once approved of the enterprise, and gave orders to

General Grrover, the Post Commander, to render us all needed

assistance; and we take pleasure in acknowledging the kind

ness with which he received the Committee, and the prompt

manner in which he acted by detailing one of his staff, Lieu

tenant Chariot, to co-operate with the municipal authorities

in the distribution of the stores. The address which you

requested us to present to the Mayor was then delivered,

and subsequently published in the papers of the city.

The steamer " Rebecca Clyde " with the New York contri

butions had arrived before us, although she did not leave

that city until the day after we sailed from Boston. Her small

size and light draft of water enabled her to pass directly up

the river, and the supplies on her were being discharged

when we arrived.

The contributions, on being landed, were immediately placed

in an adjoining store-house, and protected by a guard. From

the store-house they were removed to a store in the central

part of the city for distribution.

A meeting of the City Council was then called, and the

Committees from New York and Boston invited to confer

with them, for the purpose of organizing some plan of distri

bution, which should aiford to all, prompt and immediate

relief. The following method was then adopted:

A number of responsible gentlemen were appointed in each

ward, who go from house to house, and learn the wants of

each family. After satisfying themselves as to their actual

necessities, the head of the family is presented with a ticket

bearing the amount he is entitled to receive; this ticket is

presented at the store of delivery the next morning, and the

goods at once obtained. These tickets are renewed each

week, if the same want continues, with some change as to the

articles of food, so far as the variety sent will allow. Your

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Committee are satisfied that this is the most impartial system

that could have been adopted, and made many careful

inquiries as to whether it was being faithfully carried out,

and are satisfied that the authorities are making every effort

to supply all without distinction.

On Wednesday, the 25th, a public meeting was held in the

Exchange in response to a call made in pursuance of a resolu

tion of the City Council; an official copy of the proceedings

of which meeting is herewith presented.

Your Committee were not only gratified by the public

expressions of gratitude manifested on that occasion, but also

by the renewal of them at private interviews, and believe they

are sincere and heartfelt.

;

The attentions of the citizens were all we could desire or

expect under the circumstances, and their only regret was

that their condition prevented them from showing us more

hospitality. We desire in this connection to express our

thanks to Messrs. Bartels and Eiddle, proprietors of the

Pulaski House, for their attentions during our whole stay;

they declining to receive from us any remuneration.

We would here close our report, which we believe embraces

all that was required in your letter of instructions under

which we were to act.

Our duties were simple and plain; and we have endeavored

to discharge them so that the recipients of your bounty might

feel that you were actuated by no other motive than a desire

to relieve their sufferings, and that your gifts were the

expressions of Christian sympathy and good-will. Since, how

ever, we have returned, we find much interest manifested in

the general condition of affairs, and a desire to know, if possi

ble, the true state of union sentiment among the people of

Savannah.

We would therefore add, that, although not authorized by

you, or considering that it was in any manner connected with

our mission, we nevertheless employed all the leisure time,

during our stay in that city, in making careful investigations,

and gathering all reliable information upon this point.

21
We visited many of the prominent citizens at their homes, and held interviews with some who proclaimed themselves still bitterly opposed to the Federal Government, for the purpose of obtaining from them their opinion of the mani festations of loyalty which were being made, and learn, if possible, the true motives by which those were actuated whose allegiance to the Federal Government dated only from the time of General Shermans occupation of the city. By adopting this course, together with the opportunities which we had of attending some of the meetings of the leading citi zens, which from their nature were necessarily of a private character, and where their future plans and purposes were discussed, we feel that the conclusions which we have formed, whether correct or otherwise, may not be uninteresting. Therefore, from all information thus gathered, we feel justified in assuming that there have always been in Savannah a few really and thoroughly loyal Union men. They have not been allowed, it is true, to proclaim it at all times; but nevertheless they have remained firm, enduring threats, insults, and abuse : while some have only escaped violence on account of their age or established respectability. They have maintained their po sition, and their consistency is acknowledged even by their enemies. But the far larger class, which we think includes nearly all the male population of the city, are those who are convinced of the hopelessness of the rebel cause, who at last begin to realize the power and determination of the North; admitting fully that they are exhausted, while our strength and resources are comparatively unimpaired. They see that a continuation of the struggle must inevitably result in their complete disaster, if not in their final extermination; and consequently, with this conviction, they consider a further continuation of the conflict on their part but madness and folly, and the further effusion of blood criminal.
They therefore yield to the power of the Federal Govern ment, and proclaim themselves ready to renew their allegiance to it. The women, however, are still ardent advocates of the rebel cause: this may be easily explained from the fact, that

22
they are governed more by passion and impulse than men, and have not yet given the question a calm and sober consid eration. Many have lost husbands, sons, and brothers in the struggle, and are not yet willing to admit that all the sacrifices, hardships, and sufferings of the past four years, together with the blood which has been shed, shall all be in vain. As they are led to take a more reasonable view of their position, their opinions will doubtless change ; but at present they, together with the clergy, are, with few exceptions, on the side of the confederacy.
This, we submit, is the correct position of the masses of the citizens of the city, and the true state of Union sentiment among them. They have, we doubt not, been sincere inf their expressions; and have come back under the government of the United States, claiming the benefits of the Presidents Proclamation, and the protection and magnanimity of the administration.
As some paragraphs appeared in the public newspapers, shortly after our departure, to the effect that the condition of the people of Savannah had been exaggerated, thereby giving the impression that the contributions which had been bestowed were not required, we deem it proper to present a simple statement of the actual condition of the citizens, which, we trust, will satisfy the most sceptical, that not only was every pound of the supplies needed, but that, unless some measures are adopted whereby they can render to themselves assistance, they will, after these are exhausted, become either dependent on the general Government, or the further charities of the benevolent.
For some weeks prior to the capture of the city by General .Sherman, nearly every article of food had been consumed except the rice, which had been taken possession of by the confederate authorities, and was sold by them to all classes at a uniform price, the rebel currency being the medium of exchange. The Federal army had swept the country for miles around the city; and, when it occupied it, the inhabit ants were in a state of most extreme destitution.

23
The property of the citizens consisted of real estate, bank and railroad stocks, negroes, cotton, and rice. In one or all of the above investments did the wealth of these people con sist ; and from nothing else could they realize a dollar whereby to purchase the necessaries of life, aside from their own cur rency. The first order of General Sherman swept that from circulation, and made it penal to pass, under any circum stances. Their real estate was valueless: there were no purchasers; and, if there were, no satisfactory title could be given. The bank stock had long since exploded, and the banking-houses immediately occupied by military authorities. The railways have for the past four years been in the hands of the rebel Government; and those not destroyed by our forces are nearly worn out, and of but little value. The negroes were at once as free as themselves; and even their house-servants had nearly all deserted them.
The rice had long since passed out of their hands; and the only available property in their possession, and on which they could possibly realize a single dollar under any circumstances, was cotton. Thirty thousand bales of this were stored in the warehouses on the wharves, and about five thousand scattered throughout the private buildings and dwelling-houses of the city. This last amount was held principally by the poorer classes, who had secured a few bales each, with the idea that, as a last resort, they should have something by which they could realize enough to provide for their necessities, when all else should fail.
The few Union men who, from the commencement of the war, were convinced of the final result, had invested all their surplus funds, together with the proceeds of any other prop erty which they might be able to dispose of in it; considering it the only thing that would be of any ultimate value.
Others, as their confidence in the success of the Confeder acy became impaired, followed their example ; and the result is, that the amount stored in the warehouses was held by a large number of owners. General Sherman, however, con fiscated the entire stock in the whole city, including every

24
bale in every private house; and an agent was appointed whose special duty it is to ship it at once to New York.
It will therefore be seen that the most wealthy were at once left without a dollar of available property in their pos session ; and, as Mayor Arnold remarked in his public address, " all were reduced to one dead level of poverty." This was their condition when your Committee arrived with your con tributions, and the relief it afforded was in no respect too immediate or abundant; but, notwithstanding all the present hardships and sufferings of these people, we regret to believe that their future prospects are the cause of far greater anxiety and solicitude.
In addition to the destitution resulting from four :;years of non-intercourse with the outer world, and the ravages produced by a war which has swept off more than one-half the young men between the ages of sixteen and fifty, deso lating every household, comes now the sudden and complete overthrow of their institution of slavery, convulsing society to its very foundations; changing the relations which have existed in the community for nearly two centuries, in an hour; and placing two races, with all their prejudices and peculiarities, at once on the same common level of equality. Here they stand face to face, antagonistic, alike destitute, beginning life anew, jealous of each other, and uncertain of the future. Well may the contemplation of the prospect fill them, as it does, with consternation and dismay; and men who have passed the prime of manhood, as they look forward through the years which it must take to re-organize society, re-arrange labor upon a new basis, and bring back business into its legitimate channels, shrink back discouraged, despon dent, and disheartened.
We therefore beg leave, in closing, to call your especial attention to this aspect of their condition. We have now fully and fairly reached the question of the immediate and unconditional emancipation of four millions of bondmen. The march of General Sherman through the heart of the South, and his continued progress northward, settles the question,

25

even if there were no enactments of Congress to confirm it.

It is a responsibility which a large portion of the people of

the North have for the past twenty years invited, and have

felt themselves prepared to assume; but, we submit, it is one

which has never been equalled in magnitude in the history

of any nation, and will require all the sagacity, wisdom, and

philanthropy of every statesman, patriot, and Christian to

meet it.

What are to be the future relations of this people is the

grand question of this nation. If the freedman is to be pro

tected by the Government while the war continues, what

shall be his condition when the States return, and assume

control? If left to find his place by the necessity of capital

and labor, who can say that the necessity may not crush him ?

We agree with General Sherman, that at an early day he must

be provided with a home; but how to arrange and regulate

it is a problem not yet solved. General Saxton, on the Sea

Islands, is doing all in his power to benefit and elevate them;

while the Preedmens Aid Society are mainly directing their

efforts to the relief of their immediate necessities, and the

organization of an educational system among them.

But the great work of re-organizing labor, so that produc

tion may be encouraged, protection enjoyed, and withal the

race elevated, has hardly yet been touched; and believing it

can never be successfully carried out, except by the co-oper

ation of practical men, we have ventured to make these few

remarks.

HARRISON 0. BEIGGS.

HENEY D. HYDE.

BOSTON, February 15th, 1865.

WM. H. BALDWIN.

26
PROCEEDINGS
PUBLIC MEETING HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER.
SAVAHNAH, January 25th, 186S
IN response to a call made in pursuance to the following resolution of the City Council, viz., "Resolved, That His Honor, Mayor Arnold, be requested to convene a meeting of our citizens at the Exchange, at twelve oclock on the 25th instant, for the purpose of giving expression to their heartfelt thanks to the citizens of New York and Boston for the very large, valuable, and timely contributions of provi sions arid other necessaries of life which have been received and are now on their way to this city; and that His Honor the Mayor invite the several Committees from New York and Boston, including the owners and commander of the Bebecca Clyde, with Captain Veale of General Gearys staff and Lieutenant Chariot, U.S.A., all of whom have co-operated with us in the good work, to attend the meeting," a large> meeting of the citizens met this day at the Exchange.
On motion of Mr. H. Brigham, His Honor, Mayor Arnold, was called to the chair, and Mr. John Gammell was requested to act as Secretary.
The Mayor, on taking the chair, made the following re marks :
" FELLOW-CITIZENS : For the second time since the capture of our city, it has been my duty to summon you to meet together in public assembly.

27
" The occasion which brings you together to-day is one which will be ever remarkable even in the annals of the last few weeks, so pregnant as they have been with events which make epochs in history, and which almost condense a lifetime in a day.
"A brief review of the circumstances under which we were placed will be necessary for a clearer understanding of our present condition.
"The capture of Savannah, on the 21st of December, 1864, produced greater alterations in our condition than mere mili tary possession and military government. The Confederate currency, already inflated to an almost nominal value, was still the medium of exchange while Savannah was in the Confederacy: but, the moment the United States regained Savannah, Confederate money was literally not worth the paper on which it was printed; and all, all of us, individuals and the City Government, were reduced to a dead level of poverty. Cut off from all communication with the-external world, with no means to purchase provisions, and no provi sions to purchase, I did not exaggerate your condition in my opening remarks on the 28th of December.
" The want of fuel was supplied, as far as practicable, by the direction of the noble Gear}7 ; and I am happy to state, that, at the earliest practicable period, his successor, MajorGeneral Grover, will take measures to furnish wood to our inhabitants.
" The statements made at the meeting of the citizens, and the observations of eye-witnesses from the North, struck a sympathetic chord in the breasts of many generous citizens of New York and Boston; and, recollecting the time-honored adage, Bis dat qui cito dat (He gives doubly who gives quickly), in the shortest possible time and at the most in clement season of the year, behold the noble steamships wending their way southward, freighted with provisions, accompanied by the Committees, whose whole-souled philan thropy has been their only guide. These ships, this accepta ble freight, these philanthropic gentlemen of the Committees

28
of New York and Boston, are here; and it is to give you an opportunity of expressing your heartfelt gratitude that you have met together this day.
" I do not envy the man who is not willing to join heartily and sincerely in this-expression of feeling; but I do not be lieve there is any such within the sound of my voice.
" I hope that this day will prove that the citizens of Savan nah justly appreciate the generosity of New York and Boston, and that they will further show that they look upon the action as the olive branch of peace; and that they will meet it, on their part, by the fairest, frankest acceptance of it as such.
" Such, from, what I have seen, I believe to be the prevalent sentiment of our people.
" War stirs up the very foundations of society. We are now in the midst of jarring elements; but a ray of light is dawning. We may expect that it will lead to a more perfect day; and we must, in the mean time, endeavor to profit by the words of St. Paul, Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope."
He then introduced to the meeting the following gentle men : Messrs. Archibald Baxter, C. H. P. Babcock, Frank Lathrop, representatives of the city of New York; Messrs. H. 0. Briggs, W. H. Baldwin, H. D. Hyde, representatives of the city of Boston; Mr. L. E. Chittenden, one of the owners of the steamer " Rebecca Clyde;" Mr. John M. G-lidden1-, one of the owners of the steamer "Greyhound;" Captain Veale, U.S.A.; and Lieutenant Chariot, U.S.A., acting with the Relief Committee on part of the military authorities.
On motion, the Chair appointed the following Committee of thirteen gentlemen to report resolutions, viz.:
Wylly Woodbridge, N. B. Knapp, T. R. Mills, William Hunter, G-. W. Wylly, E. Padelford, A. Champion, A. A. Solo mons, John McMahon, Isaac Cohen, T. J. Walsh, John R. Wilder, H. A. Crane.
During the absence of the Committee, by invitation of the

29
Chairman, the meeting was eloquently and appropriately addressed by the following gentlemen; viz., Messrs. Baxter, Chittenden, Briggs, Baldwin, and Hyde, and Capt. Veale U.S.A.
The Committee having returned, reported, through their Chairman, Wylly Woodbridge, Esq., the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted :
" The spontaneous and unsolicited liberality and benevo lence of the citizens of New York and Boston, in raising contributions and purchasing and forwarding provisions for the use of the destitute of the city of Savannah, call for no ordinary expression on the part of its citizens.
" Deprived for years of all external trade, cut off from the commercial world by a rigid blockade, the resources of the town were gradually wasted away, until we had reached the point of almost positive starvation, when the occupation by the army of General Sherman took place.
" This transition state of society complicates our situation. The military power must obtain, so long as any portion of the Southern States maintain an armed resistance to the Union. Civil government cannot be established, nor the channels of ordinary intercourse be opened. While this lasts, the people are comparatively helpless.
" Such is the situation of Savannah; and such, in succes sion, will be the condition of the various portions of the country, as they again fall into possession of the National Government.
" The hand of sympathy and fellowship so generously ex tended to us by the citizens of New York and Boston affords the most gratifying evidence, that a large portion of our Northern fellow-citizens are desirous of re-establishing the amicable relations which formerly existed between the vari ous sections of our wide-spread Republic, and ought to carry conviction to every unprejudiced mind that there is but one course to pursue; and that is, to aim at a speedy termination of the unfortunate strife which has been devastating the

30
country for nearly four years. Having appealed to arms to decide the question, the weaker party, in such a contest, must abide the issue of events, and cannot dictate terms.
" But the proclamation of President Lincoln has pointed out the only way in which the United States, with their unex hausted and inexhaustible materials of war, will consent to peace; and one of the largest meetings ever held in this city, on the 28th of December, placed the people of Savannah in the category presented by the Chief Magistrate.
" The meeting called to-day to convey the thanks of our citizens to the generous donors of the provisions which are to be distributed gratuitously to the needy is the direct fruit of this action, dictated as it was by the reasonable hope of retrieving the mistakes of the past, and re-establishing, as far as possible, the prosperity which once blessed our land.
" Whatever may be the action of the United-States Govern ment in future, this meeting has to-day a duty to perform to the citizens of New York and Boston, in giving expression to the sentiment of the town in relation to the munificent bounty of which it is the grateful recipient.
" The city is in the same condition as it was when the meeting of 28th December was held. The great difficulty is in the fact, that the people are without remunerative industrial occupation, which the early opening of our port would speedily relieve. Let us hope that this may be remedied in reasonable time. Meanwhile the contributions of our generous donors are literally a Godsend; for, as the scanty resources of living which were in the city when captured have been gradually consumed, literal starvation stared us in the face. We are now relieved from any immediate fear of this calamity, and have at least respite until the present chaotic elements of our situation shall subside into order. Be it therefore
"Resolved, That the citizens of Savannah tender their heart felt gratitude to the Chamber of Commerce of New York, to the New-York Commercial Association of the Produce Ex change, and all the liberal citizens of the city of New York, who contributed means to purchase provisions, and also to

31
the New York and Washington Steamship company, which so generously placed the steamship Rebecca Clyde at the service of the Committee, for the transportation of the provi sion hither.
"Resolved, That the same acknowledgment is due to the citizens of Boston for their prompt and liberal action in rais ing contributions, and sending out provisions, for the relief of our citizens; and also to the owners of the steamship Greyhound for their generosity in furnishing transportation for the provisions; and that the place of their meeting in Faneuil Hall, the Cradle of American Liberty in the days of our common struggle for independence, was an appropriate one for the renewal of those ties which then bound Massa chusetts and Georgia in a common bond.
" The eloquent and touching letter of the Boston Relief Committee to an unfortunate people is treasured for the chil dren of many a family.
"Resolved, That these expressions are not alone an offering from those whose necessities may induce them to accept the bounty so liberally bestowed, but are the wide utterance of a grateful community.
"Resolved, That the thanks of the citizens of Savannah are eminently due, and are hereby gratefully returned, to Colonel Julian Alien of New York for his kindness in offering to advance the funds and to make purchases for the corporate authorities of the city of Savannah, until he could be re-imbursed by shipments of rice; and also for his philanthropic exertions in bringing to the notice of the citizens of New York and Boston the destitute condition of our people, of which he became personally cognizant while among us.
"Resolved, That our most cordial thanks are due, and are hereby returned, to Messrs. Archibald Baxter, H. P. Babcock, and Prank Lathrop, the Committee on the part of the NewYork contributors; and to Mr. L. E. Chittenden and the other owners of the Rebecca Clyde ; and to Messrs. H. 0. Briggs, W. H. Baldwin, and Henry D. Hyde, Committee on the part of the citizens of Boston, who, at this inclement season of the

32
year, have sacrificed the comforts of home, and braved the privations of a winter voyage, to fulfil their mission of mercy ; and also to Mr. Glidden, and the other owners of the steamer Greyhound, for her gratuitous use in conveying the pro visions.
"Resolved, That the citizens of Savannah heard with pro found regret of the death of the Hon. Edward Everett; his name and fame are the common pride of the country; but the city of Savannah will claim to hold in especial remembrance the fact, that the last public act of his life was in behalf of her suffering people, and under circumstances which evinced that the kindness of his heart was not even exceeded by the brilliancy of his intellect. They knew he was great: they feel he was good."
On motion of Mr. A. Wilbur, the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That special copies of the proceedings of this meeting be forwarded by His Honor the Mayor to the Presi dent of the United States, the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the city of New York, the President of the Produce Exchange of New York; to General W. T. Sherman; to Albert G. Browne, Esq., Treasury Agent; to Colonel Julian Alien of New York; to His Honor the Mayor of the city of Boston; and the President of the Board of Trade of Boston."
On motion, the meeting adjourned.
E. D. ARNOLD, Mayor of Savannah.
JNO. GAMMELL, Secretary.

33
LETTER OF MAYOR ARNOLD.
SAVANNAH, February 8th, 1865. To W. H. BALDWIN, Esq., one of the Boston Eelief Committee.
DEAR SIB, My meeting with you this morning was an unexpected pleasure, as I had believed that you had left the city some days since, a pleasure not arising alone from per sonal considerations, but also from the fact that your con tinued presence among us has enabled you to witness the effects of the generosity of your fellow-townsmen to our suffering people, and to judge for yourself of the mode of distribution which has been adopted by the corporate author ities, which, I wTas gratified to learn from you, met your approval.
The peculiar circumstances under which we are placed, rendered this duty somewhat difficult. As I have said in my addresses to our public meetings, one great difficulty is the want of remunerative industrial occupation for the classes accustomed to work; and, until the unhappy strife now carry ing on between North and South shall have terminated, and the channels of intercourse between town and country be again opened, and the mutual relations of supply and demand between them be re-established, this state of affairs must exist more or less.
The sudden dissolution of the relations of master and ser vant, which have hitherto regulated a large class of our labor, has produced, and will produce, effects not easily compre hended by those who are not on the spot to witness them.
In days gone by, Savannah proudly claimed the honor of being the pioneer of the great works of internal improve ment which rendered Georgia so prosperous ; and, in the ratio of her population, can challenge most cities to a com-

34

parison of the capital contributed for those purposes. But a sad change has occurred. Her bank capital has been swal lowed up in the vortex of Confederate currency; her imme diate railroads have been damaged to an extent which will require a large amount of labor and capital to repair; and the productive powers of the country at large are for the present, at least entirely prostrated.
Unless labor, the source of all well-being in this world, shall be re-organized in some practical form, a dreary future awaits the South. But it is the part of common sense to look evils sternly in the face, to acknowledge them when they exist, and to make every effort to remedy them.
The alternative is to succumb in hopeless despondency, an alternative which will not be accepted by any of our people. We have a trying period to pass through; but we will pass through it, though many faint by the way.
The course of events is often as impetuous and irresistible as the cataracts of Niagara; yet they find their way into a comparatively placid lake : so may the waters of our revolu
tion subside. The preamble and resolutions of the meeting of citizens of
Savannah, a copy of which I have the honor to subjoin, fully express the sentiments entertained in this city in relation to the generous and spontaneous action of your city. The pleasant intercourse with your associates, Messrs. Briggs and Hyde, and yourself, has, I hope, on your part, as it has on ours, bound more closely the ties which are destined here after to keep us joined together as fellow-citizens of a wide
spread Republic.-:

With great regard, I remain yours,

E. D. ARNOLD.

35
SPEECH OF EDWARD EVERETT.
MB. MAYOE, After the statements to which we have just listened from Colonel Alien, the eye-witness of the scenes he has described, I do not feel as if any thing I could say was wanting to induce the citizens of Boston to respond promptly to his appeal. The condition of Savannah certainly makes an imperative call upon our best feelings. It contains twenty thousand men, women, and children, suffering to a greater or less degree for clothing, fuel, and food. Their care-worn looks, their haggard faces, their emaciated frames, as described by Colonel Alien, bear witness that they have long been in this condition. General Sherman having escaped into the city, and General Hardee having escaped out of it, the authority of the United States has been restored in this principal seaport of Georgia, and cheerfully accepted, nay, joyously welcomed, by the main body of the inhabitants.
There can, I think, be no doubt of the last fact. At the great public meeting convened by the Mayor, a meeting of all classes of the citizens, held in the Masonic Hall, the lar gest in the city, after the address of the Mayor, which has been generally copied into our papers, the resolutions, which have also been extensively inserted in our journals, were passed by acclamation; the allusion to the flag of the United States and the home of the President being received with hearty cheers. Now this I consider one of the most remark able and encouraging events of the war. It proves what I have always asserted, because I have always known, that there was a wide-spread Union sentiment at the South. There is not one of the Southern States, with the possible exception of South Carolina, and I doubt even that, in which, if the question had been thrown to a popular vote, after a
5

36
full and free discussion, for a year and three-quarters, as was the case with the Constitution framed in 1787, the first blow of the Rebellion could have been struck. But, long before the outbreak, a system of political proscription and intimida tion, enforced when necessary by acts of violence, had estab lished a complete reign of terror; so that, when the time came, the masses were " precipitated" by a few ambitious and disappointed political and military leaders into the Rebellion. Gladly would they have thrown off the yoke; but the means that placed it have riveted it on their necks. All history teaches how small an organized military power suffices to hold an unarmed population in subjection. With all their able-bodied men, of whatever opinion, forced into the army, and the pains and penalties of treason visited upon every one who manifests in word or deed a wish for the restoration of the Union, it is not to be wondered at, that an open expression of that sentiment has not taken place. Considering the vicissitudes of war, and the possibility, as it may seem to them, that the confederate yoke may again be placed upon their city, though we well know that that event will take place when Savannah River runs up hill, I rather wonder that her citizens have ventured even now to take the step they have. It is evidently a fair expression of the sentiment of the city. The meeting was called by the Mayor, at the request of leading citizens ; none of General Shermans army, officers or men, were present; sentinels were placed at the door to keep the soldiers out, and none in fact wereadmitted. There have been other manifestations equally expressive of good-will between the people of Savannah and General Shermans army. The best understanding exists be tween the military and the local authorities ; private property is respected; the officers of the army are gladly received as private boarders in the houses of the citizens; and there is not probably in the United States, at this moment, a better governed and more quiet and orderly city than Savannah. These precious boons have been brought back to its citizens with the flag of the Union.

37
But something else must go with it. There is no store of food there. Their warehouses, their dwelling-houses, are empty of provisions and of the other necessaries of life; and there are twenty thousand men, women, and children, who, in the interval which must necessarily elapse before trade can return to its accustomed channels, must be clothed and warmed and fed. It is our duty, as I know it will be our pleasure, to do our part in this benevolent work. They of fer, it is true, to send the rice which General Sherman has given them, and sell it at the enhanced price which it bears in our market, in payment of the supplies in which they stand in sore need. But New York and Boston dont want their rice. Savannah wants our pork, beef, and flour ; and I say, in the name of Heaven, let us send it to them without money and without price. By-and-by we will trade with them as we did in the good times before the curse of Seces sion and Rebellion came upon the land. By-and-by we will take the rice and the cotton, and give them our food and our fabrics in return.
Now, sir, I had rather not be paid for the relief we send them. Our storehouses and granaries are full; our farmers never had a better year. Some branches of trade and manu factures are depressed, but others are more than usually active and profitable. The great West, big as she is, is hardly big enough to hold the wealth that is annually reaped from her fertile fields; and, as if the accustomed products of the soil were deemed insufficient by a bountiful Providence, the very clods of the earth throughout the Middle States " are pouring out rivers of oil," till King Petroleum bids fair to sway the markets of the world, as King Cotton did before his fibrous majesty was dethroned. In this state of things, sir, I dont want our great commercial cities, warm-hearted Boston and imperial New York, to go to chaffering with poor, war-stricken, starving Savannah for the food she needs for her famished citizens. No, sir: I should as soon have ex pected the fond father in the parable, that loveliest page in the sacred volume, to drive a bargain with his returning son

38
for a meals victuals out of the fatted calf. Let us offer it to them freely, not in the spirit of alms-giving, but as a pledge of fraternal feeling, and an earnest of our disposition to resume all the kind offices of fellow-citizenship with our returning brethren.
Do you say that they were lately our enemies? I am well convinced, that the majority, the great majority, were so but nominally. But what if they were our enemies? "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; " espe cially when he has laid down his arms, and submits to your power. And I hope we may never have to retaliate in any other way the cruelties of starvation practised upon our poor prisoners. Nothing so plainly shows the ruthless spirit of the leaders of the Eebellion, as the manner in which our prisoners of war have been treated at some of the depots. The accounts of these cruelties which have reached us have, of course, been contradicted ; but I know them to be true. I know it from some of the living victims of these cruelties. A young officer exchanged from Libby a person as well entitled to credit as any one, high or low in office, priest or layman, by whom his account has been or can be contradicted
assured me that the statements so frequently made of the cruel manner in which our prisoners were treated in that prison are unexaggerated. An officer recently escaped from. Columbia informed a friend of mine, who repeated it to me last Saturday, that the allowance even to officers was a very small quantity of uncooked cob meal daily, with a spoonful of sorghum sirup. The condition in which the returned prisoners came back to us their wasted frames, their sunken eyes, their nerveless limbs shows that it is the settled policy of the Eebel leaders to send them home broken down, body and mind, and unfit for service; in other words, to keep them out of the grave just long enough to be ex changed for a Eebel prisoner, who will return better fed and clothed than he was at home, hale and hearty, and ready to take the field. That such is the case with the Southern prisoners of war at our depots, I have had some opportunities

39
to know personally. The prisoners at Fort Warren are as well housed and fed, as far as substantials are concerned, as nine-tenths of the people of Massachusetts; that is, they have comfortable shelter, space for exercise, adequate clothing, and food, animal and vegetable, in abundance. I visited Camp Douglas, near Chicago, at a time when eight thousand confederate prisoners were confined there. They had twenty acres of ground for exercise and games in which they chose to indulge; they had comfortable barracks; I saw Western hams by the cart-load unloading into their store-rooms, and I passed through their quarters just at the dinner-hour. The tables certainly were not spread with damask table-cloths, nor set out with porcelain or cut glass; nor did I taste the food. But, judging from looks and smell, it was as wholesome and savory as I ever wish to see on my own table; and, in quantity and quality, it was equal to that of the Union regi ments that guarded the depot. A similar state of things, I was informed by an intimate friend of mine, an officer high in public service, exists at Johnsons Island, in Lake Erie. I have also heard from trustworthy sources similar accounts of the treatment of the prisoners at Fort Delaware.
Mr. Davis made it a complaint in one of his messages, that Southern prisoners were confined at a place so far north as Fort Johnson. He did not appear to remember, that Millen and Andersonville in summer might be as trying to a North ern constitution as Fort Johnson to a Southern constitution in winter; and it is a curious fact, officially ascertained, that the proportion of persons frozen to death is greater at the South than the North, in consequence of our more effectual precautions to resist the cold. I mention these facts, the rather now, that, as an offset to the cruelty practised on our prisoners at the South, an attempt is making to persuade the sympathizing classes in Europe, that Southern prisoners are made to suffer at the North.
Now, sir, I believe the best way in which we can retaliate upon the South for the cruel treatment of our prisoners is for us to continue to treat their prisoners with entire humanity

40
and all reasonable kindness; and not only so, but to seize every opportunity like the present to go beyond this. In deed, it is no more than our duty to treat the prisoner well. The law of nations requires it. The Government that refuses or neglects it does not deserve the name of aivilized. Even inability is no justification. If you are yourself so exhausted that you cannot supply your prisoner with a sufficient quan tity of wholesome food, you are bound, with or without ex change, to set him free. You have no more right to starve than to poison him. It will, however, be borne in mind, that while the hard fare of our prisoners is defended by the South ern leaders, on the ground that it is as good as that of their own soldiers, at the same time, they maintain that their "liarvests are abundant, and their armies well fed. There is no merit in treating a prisoner with common humanity: it is simply infamous and wicked to treat him otherwise. While we take no credit to ourselves that we do not starve our prisoners, let us show that we are glad of a chance to minis ter to the wants of our fellow-citizens of the South, when we are under no moral obligations to do so.
Under no moral obligations, did I say, sir ? I am not so sure of that. Forty years ago, we thought it our duty to relieve the starving Greeks. We sent ship-loads of pro visions to them in charge of a worthy citizen (Dr. Howe) to make the distribution ; and the memory of that kindly deed still dwells on the " Isles that crown the Egean deep." When the icy hand of famine smote the toiling millions of Ireland, in 1847, the cry of their distress reached this hall, and returned with a generous response. When the want of employment, caused by the cessation of the supply of cotton, deprived the operatives of Lancashire of their daily bread, our friends in New York sent the " George Griswold," laden with provisions, to their succor. The pirate Semmes showed what he was made of, by burning the vessel on her return voyage. Not a twelvemonth has elapsed since the heart of our community was stirred to its depths by the pathetic elo quence of Colonel Taylor, setting forth the distress of our

41
brethren in East Tennessee. The relief extended by you in all these cases was not a mere gush of sentimental benevolence: it was, as you so considered it, the performance of a Christian duty, an act of obedience to the great law of love, which, paramount to the Constitution and law of the land, lays its sacred obligation on every rational creature, and makes us all brethren, mutually dependent on each other, in the one great human family. And shall we shut out from this great family our brethren of Savannah, who, by the valor and con duct of our armies and the heroic skill of their noble leader, are again gathered, nothing loath, beneath the folds of the sacred flag? General Sherman, as kind as he is brave, who desires only to preserve by the gentle sway of gratitude and love what his unconquered sword has won, has himself said that " the timely relief of the suffering citizens of Savannah will be worth more to the Union cause than ten battles." For Heavens sake, my friends, let us hasten to win these bloodless victories, saddened by no parents bereavement, no widows tears. While we subdue the armies which a merci less conscription of old and young drives to the field, and maintain a cordon of iron and fire around the shores of per sistent Rebellion, from the moment a desire is manifested on the masses to acknowledge the authority of the Government, let us hasten to extend to them the right hand of Christian love, to supply their wants and to relieve their sufferings, and to mark their return to the Union by the return of a prosperity to which, by the selfish and cruel ambition of their leaders, they have so long been strangers.
I most cheerfully second the resolutions.

DONATIONS
RELIEF OF THE PEOPLE OF SAVANNAH.

William Gray ..... . $500.00 E. R. Mudge, Sawyer, & Co. , 500.00 Joseph S. Fay ..... . 500.00 Fisher & Co. ..... . 500.00 Blake Brothers & Co. . . , 500.00 Henry P. Sturgis . . . . 500.00 Nathaniel Thayer . . . . 500.00 James M. Beebe & Co. . . . 500.00 Naylor & Co. ..... , 500.00 J. Z. Goodrich .... . 500.00 Francis Skinner & Co. . . , 500.00 Boston Board of Brokers . 500.00 Faulkner, Kimball, & Co. . , 500.00 Jordan, Marsh, & Co. . . . 500.00

Miss Mary Anne Wales

, 300.00

J. C. Howe & Co. ... , 300.00

S. D. Warren ...... Samuel May ...... John A. Blanchard .... Friend ........ Joseph Whitney & Co. . . . lasigi, Goddard, & Co. . . . M. H. Simpson ..... George C. Richardson . , . Benjamin E. Bates .... William F. Weld & Co. . . William Perkins ..... Edward Cunningham . . .

250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00 250.00

George C. Shattuck .... Tudor Company ..... Howes & Crowell ....
Miss Pratt ....... J. Amory Lowell ..... James S. Amory .....
William H. Gardner . . . S. K. Spalding ..... G. F. Parkman .....

200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00

Gardner Brewer & Co. . . , C. W. Freeland, Beard, & Co. J. S. & E. Wright & Co. . . Amos A. Lawrence . . . . George W. Lyman . . . . William Amory . , . . . Charles Amory . . . . . Fearing, Thacher, & Co. . . Horatio Harris & Co. . . . James L. Little & Co. . . . Denny, Rice, & Co. . . . . E. S. Tobey ...... J. C. Burrage & Co. . . . . Foster & Taylor . . . . . Charles Hook Appleton . . C. F. Hovey & Co. . . . .
Dane, Dane, & Co. . . . .
Albert Bowker ..... Fisher & Chapin ..... George William Bond . . . Otis Daniell ...... Lemuel Crehore ..... Stoddard, Lovering, & Co. Spencer, Vila, & Co. ... Ichabod Goodwin, of Ports
mouth ....... May & Co. ....... Larkin, Stackpole, & Co. . . J. N. Fiske ....... H. O. Houghton & Co. . . . N. & B. Goddard ..... Edward E. Rice ..... Sprague, Soule, & Co. . . . Ezra Trull & Co. . . . . . P. C. Brooks ...... Caleb A. Curtis ..... J. Ellis ........
J. D. & M. Williams . . .

208.00 200.00 200.00 200 00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00
150.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00. 100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

43

Johnson & Thompson . . . Stephen Fairbanks . , . . Livermore, Morse, & Co. . .
William Bramhall .... Thatcher Magoun ....
Jacob Hittinger ..... R. H. Tucker of Wiscasset . Mrs. T. G. Gary ..... Bayley, Rollins, & Co. . . . William B. Spooner & Co. . . J. M. Jones & Co. .... Field, Converse, & Alien . Henry Daggett & Co. . . . Otis Norcross & Co. .... J. C. Converse & Co. . . . J. L. ......... F. Dane & Co. ...... E. F. Wood & Co. .... Alexander Strong & Co. . .
Addison Gage and Co. . . . E. Wakefield ......
J. Huntington Wolcott . . John Gardner ......
George H. Kuhn ..... H. P. Kidder ......
Bale, Brothers, and Co. . . P. W., Somerset Street . . . Tuttle, Gaffield, and Co. . . Francis Bacon ......
Curtis and Peabody ....
Homer and Sprague ....

100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
100,00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

M. D. Eoss ....... 100.00 Butler, Sise, and Co. . . . 100.00
100.00
Benjamin F. Burgess . . . 100.00 N. B. Gibbs ...... 100.00
100.00
Sewall, Day, and Co. . . . 100.00 Jos. B. Glover ...... 100.00
100.00
100.00 Banker and Carpenter . . . 100.00 E. C. Stanwood and Co. . . 100.00 James M. Barnard .... 100.00 Alpheus Hardy and Co. . . 100.00
100.00
Downer Kerosene Oil Co. . 100.00 William S. Bullard .... 100.00 P. Nickerson and Co. . . . 100.00
100.00
Fogg, Houghton, and Coolidge 100.00 S. H. Gookin ...... 100.00 Burr Brothers and Co. . . . 100.00 Way, Warren, and Co. . . . 100.00 J. Field ........ 100.00 Thomas E. Proctor .... 100.00
100.00
S. D. Crane and Co. ... 100.00 Nash, Spalding, and Co. . . 100.00
100.00
100.00 Thomas B. Wales and Co. . . 100.00
100.00
E. D. Peters and Co. ... 100.00 100.00
J. P. Melledge ...... 100.00 100.00
J. C. Tyler and Co. .... 100.00 Jos. Nickerson and Co. . . 100.00
100.00
E. H. Eldridge and Co. . . . 100.00 100.00
100.00
E. A. and W. Winchester . . 100.00 100.00
100.00
100.00

W. H. Hill ....... H. M. Clarke ...... Miss Louisa Shaw .... Rev. Theo. M. Barton . . . Charles K. Cobb .....
Wilkinson, Lamb, and Co.
Rich, Cowing, and Hatch ...

60.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 60.00 .50.00
50.00 50.00 60.00 50.00 50.00

44

George R. Minot ..... Friend ........
G. Morey ....... Charles Brewer and Co. . .
Chenery and Co. ..... G. Chase ....... A. D. Weld and Son . . . James T. Patten and Co. . . Newhall and Thaeher . . . Edward Wyman ..... Mrs. R. H. White .... F. C. Manning ..... William Read and Son . . . J. Pickering Putnam . . . Louis Osborn ...... Samuel I. Pollard .... J. P. Gardner ...... George W. Simmons and Co. . George Higginson .... I. F. Dobson ...... Charles Mifflin. .....
J. H. Beal ....... James Hunnewell . . . . Solomon Piper...... Charles W. Cartwright . . . Robert Codman ..... Charles J. Merrill .... D. M. Hodgdon and Co. . . John Simmons and Co. . . . Francis C. Lowell .... Mrs. E. Shimmin ..... Robert Hooper...... James Hayward ..... R. B. Forbes ...... A. A. Frazar ....... Alfred Winsor and Son . . . F. S. Merritt ...... J. Amory Davis ..... E. G. Alden and Co. ... J. D. Sturtevant ..... O. W. Holmes ..... B. R. Gilbert ...... Emmons, Danforth, & Scudder, Isaac Taylor ......
George B. Cary ..... A Friend .......
George M. Soule ..... Henry Callender ..... John A. Emmons .... Robert B. Scorer ..... Howe and French ....
William E. Baker .... Mrs. M. L. Putnam ....
Dr. James Jackson .... Elmer Townsend ..... Barnabas Davis .....
George W. Messenger . . . Seth Bemis ....... E. A. Boardman .....

50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00 50.00
50.00 50.00 50.00

A. H. Bowman .... W. H. Boynton and Co. Curtis and Co. .... Rev. N. L. Frothingham . Hartley Lord ..... George H. Gray .... Jones and Farley .... William H. Davis and Co. Kendrick and Co. . . Robert Waterston . . . Elisha T. Loring .... Edward W. Codman . . William Underwood and Co. Nathan Matthews . . Henry Bryant .....
Beza Lincoln . C. H. Appleton James Savage . J. Henry Sears
William H. Kinsman . . Bridge, Lord, and Co. . . William Minot .... O. H. Sampson .... H. Bird and Co. .... Samuel H. Walley . . . Friend ....... Sears and Co. ..... Littells Living Age . . . F. W. Lincoln, jun. . . . John P. Healy..... Henry A. Peirce .... George O. Sears .... Thomas Manning .... Robert Kershaw .... H. B. Pearson ..... C. Choate ...... John L. Gardner, jun. . George B. Rogers . . . C. W. Dabney, jun. . . . J. W. Balch ..... Henry Atkins ..... Flint and Hall. .... Eliphalet Jones .... Henry Edwards .... W. W. Greenough . . . Henry Gardner .... S. Q. Coehran ..... William Thomas .... Timothy T. Sawyer . . . Jacob A. Dresser .... Thomas O. Richardson . . William T. Eustis . . . D. R. Whitney .... Southard, Herbert, and Co. Waldo Flint ..... David Buck ..... William R. Jones ....

50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00
30.00
30.00
30.00
130.00
25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25,00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00

John Cummings, jun. . George Gardner . . .
George W. Wheelwright J. P. Bush ..... Ira Stratton .... J. Sinclair Miller . . . Cash ....... S. B. Stebbins and Co. . William Babson . . . Mrs. J. A. Peabody . . B. Williams .... S. H. Fessenden . . . A Friend ..... William Sprague . . . Otis Rich ..... T. J. Jones and Co. . . A Friend ..... Avon Place..... Salem ...... Samuel Weltch and Co. B. C. Clark .... D. H. Coolidge . . .
Miss Abby B. Francis of Cam bridge .......
J. Schumacher and Co. Miss A. B. P. Walley A. T. Lyman . . .
Nathaniel Gordon A Friend . . . , Cash . . . . C. Ellis .... J. L. Mills and Son , Dennison and Co. Davis and Crosby William C. Codman . Otis Munroe . . , H. W. Brooks . . . Cash ......
Charles Emery Henry Hutchinson

25.00 25.00
20.00 2000 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00 20.00
18.00
15.00 15.00 15.00
10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00

George W. Robinson . . . F. W. ........
W. A. H. ....... R. C. Winthrop ..... George D. Welles .... Mrs. Isaiah "D. Crowell . . . H. H. S. .......
W. A. Morse ......

10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00
10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00
10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00
10.00

5.00

Mrs. Ann B. Adams .... 6.00

5.00

J. Wingate Thornton . . . 5.00

S. G. Deblois ...... 5.00

W. H. C. ....... 5 00

5.00

H. B. H. ....... 5.00

E. S. M. ........ 5.00

Mrs 1M JMvcrs

5.00

Cash ......... 5.00

5.00

J. E. Farwell and Co. ... 2.50

A. W. H, ....... 2.00 J. A. Fowle ...... 2.00 J. P. Almy ....... 2.00

Three little boys of New Bed ford ........ 1.00
1.00 Cash ......... 1.00

Overpaid on Subscription . . 0.57

Total, 34,495.07

J. W. Green, 1 box codfish.
George F. Bartlett, New Bedford, 1 barrel flour.

SAVANNAH RELIEF FUND in Account with WILLIAM PER.KINS, Treasurer.

Cr.

1865. Jan. 23. To cash paid Messrs. Glidden & Williams . . Feb. 7.. To cash paid Messrs. Glidden & Williams . .

. 3823,000.00 . 7,888.47

For cost of the follo\ying goods shipped to Savannah, as follows, including cost of insurance :

Per Steamer GREYHOUND, from Boston,-- 39 Tierces of Sugar. 10 Half-chests of Tea. 50 Barrels of Pork. 30 Barrels of Smoked Shoulders. 15 Drums of Hake. 25 Barrels of No. 2 Mackerel. 10 Barrels of Herring.
200 Barrels of Flour. 100 Barrels of Potatoes. 25 Barrels of Ouions. 10 Barrels of Beans.
Per Steamer DANIEL WEBSTER, from New York, -- 330 Barrels of Corn Meal. 100 Barrels of Beef. 100 Barrels of Pork. 500 Barrels of Potatoes.
Per Harque HARVEST MOON, from New York, -- 170 Barrels of Corn Meal. 500 Barrels of Potatoes. 100 Barrels of Onions. 29 Tierces of Hams.

Feb. 13. 16.

To cash paid J. E. Farwclls bill of Printing .... To cash paid Henry D. Hyde an account of citizens
of Savannah, and expenses incurred in delivering supplies ................ To Balance .................

91.00 3,513.10

$3-1,495.07

1805. February. By amount of sundry contributions, as follows :
14 of 500 dollars each ........... $7,000.00 12 of 250 dollars each ........... 3,000.00 2 of 300 dollars each ........... 000.00 1 of 150 dollars ............. 150.00 25 of 200 dollars each ........... 5,000.00 125 of 100 dollars each ........... 12,500.00 SO of 50 dollars each ........... 4,300.00 40 of 25 dollars each ........... 1,000.00 4 of 30 dollars each ........... 120.00 20 of 20 dollars each ........... 400.00 lof 18 dollars ............. 18.00 3 of 15 dollars each ........... 45 00 29 of 10 dollars each ........... 290.00 12 of 5 dollars each ........... 60.00 1 of 2-J dollars (J. IS. Farwclls bill) .... 2.50 3 of 2 dollars each ........... 000 3 of 1 dollar each ........... 3.00 Overpaid by a Contributor ......... 0.57
5534,495.07
1865. Feb. 15. By Balance brought forward .......... 33,513.10
Errors Excepted. WILLIAM PEKKINS, Treasurer.
BOSTON, Feb. 15, 1805.

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