From the following brief article the reader can form some idea of the persecution to which Union men had to submit in the town of Fredericksburg as early as the 14th of February, 1861, the date of its publication:–
“Why is it that secessionists talk of compromise with derision? Why is it that they wish to precipitate Virginia out of the Union? Why is it that they call conservative or Union men ‘Submissionists,’ ‘Black Republicans,’ ‘Abolitionists,’ ‘ Traitors and enemies to the South,’ &c. &c.? Are secessionists more intellectual than Union men? In what have they displayed it? Are they more patriotic? What proofs have they given of the fact? Are they more brave? Why then did they vacate their seats in the Senate and Congress halls of the United States, thus virtually surrendering all their rights into the hands of their enemies? Why, in the hour of their country’s peril, did they retreat into the Gulf States, having as a safeguard the Atlantic Ocean on the one side, and the border States between them and danger on the other side? There is no submission in all this, is there? Very brave, is it? In what have Union men compromised their honor or dignity? It is not honorable, not dignified, for a man to stand his ground and fight for his rights on his own soil, and sacredly maintain the trust the people have confided in him! But it is very honorable, quite dignified, for a man to throw down his legal weapons of defence and run away, and belt on the sword, and swear if the enemy comes to him he’ll thrash him out! This is very brave, is it?
“What rights have secessionists to protect that Union men have not? Have Union men no civil, religious, and domestic rights to protect? We think it bad policy for secessionists who would break up the peace and harmony of the Government, and plunge the whole country into civil war, to be accusing their fellow-citizens, who are trying to pour oil upon the troubled waters and are making all possible efforts to bring about peace and harmony, of being ‘Submissionists,’ ‘Black Republicam,’ ‘Abolitionists,’ and ‘ Traitors’ and ‘Enemies to the South'”
“The Conspiracy Unveiled. The South Sacrificed; the Horrors of Secession.” Rev. James W. Hunnicutt (Editor of the Fredericksburg (Va.) Christian Banner); 1863, Philadelphia; J. B. Lippincott & Co.
“The Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable.”