{"id":93988,"date":"2020-12-31T02:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T08:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/?p=93988"},"modified":"2020-12-15T11:34:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T17:34:02","slug":"general-john-ellis-wools-letter-to-a-friend-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/general-john-ellis-wools-letter-to-a-friend-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"General John Ellis Wool&#8217;s Letter to a Friend in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Troy, December 31, 1860.<\/p>\n<p>My dear Sir:\u2014<span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span>, after twenty-seven years\u2014<span class=\"person\">Mr. <span class=\"surname\">Rhett<\/span><\/span> says thirty years\u2014of constant and increasing efforts by her leaders to induce her to secede, has declared herself out of the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span>; and this, too, without the slightest wrong or injustice done her people on the part of the government of the <span class=\"place\">United States<\/span>. Although she may have seized the revenue cutter, raised her treasonable <span class=\"place\">Palmetto<\/span> flag over the United States Arsenal, the <span class=\"ref\">Custom-house<\/span>, Post-office, Castle Pinckney, and <span class=\"place\">Fort Moultrie<\/span>, she is not out of the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span>, nor beyond the pale of the <span class=\"place\">United States<\/span>. Before she can get out of their jurisdiction or control, a re-construction of the constitution must be had <i>or civil war ensue<\/i>. In the latter case it would require no prophet to foretell the result.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embeddedtext\">\n<p>It is reported that <span class=\"person\">Mr. <span class=\"surname\">Buchanan<\/span><\/span> has received informally the <span class=\"ref\">Commissioners<\/span> appointed by the rebels of <span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span> to negotiate for the public property in the harbor of <span class=\"place\">Charleston<\/span>, and for other purposes. It is also reported that the <span class=\"ref\">President<\/span> disapproved of the conduct of <span class=\"person\">Major <span class=\"surname\">Anderson<\/span><\/span>, who, being satisfied that he would not be able to defend <span class=\"place\">Fort Moultrie<\/span> with the few men under his command, wisely took possession of <span class=\"place\">Fort Sumter<\/span>, where he could protect himself and the country from the disgrace which might have occurred, if he had remained in <span class=\"place\">Fort Moultrie<\/span>. Being the commander in the harbor, he had the right to occupy <span class=\"place\">Fort Sumter<\/span>, an act which the safety of the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span> as well as his own honor demanded. It is likewise stated that apprehensions are entertained that <span class=\"person\">Major <span class=\"surname\">Anderson<\/span><\/span> will be required to abandon <span class=\"place\">Fort Sumter<\/span> and re-occupy <span class=\"place\">Fort Moultrie<\/span>. There can be no foundation for such apprehensions; for surely the <span class=\"ref\">President<\/span> would not surrender the citadel of the harbor of <span class=\"place\">Charleston<\/span> to rebels. <span class=\"place\">Fort Sumter<\/span> commands the entrance, and in a few hours could demolish <span class=\"place\">Fort Moultrie<\/span>. So long as the <span class=\"place\">United States<\/span> keeps possession of this fort, the independence of <span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span> will only be in name and not in fact. If, however, it should be surrendered to <span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span>, which I do not apprehend, <i>the smothered indignation of the free states would be roused beyond control<\/i>. It would not be in the power of any one to restrain it. <i>In twenty days two hundred thousand men would be in readiness to take vengeance on all who would betray the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span> into the hands of its enemies<\/i>. Be assured that I do not exaggerate the feelings of the people. They are already sufficiently excited at the attempt to dissolve the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span>, for no other reason than that they constitutionally exercised the most precious right conferred on them, of voting for the person whom they considered the most worthy and best qualified to fill the office of President. <span class=\"place\">Fort Sumter<\/span> therefore ought not, and I presume will not, be delivered over to <span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span>. I am not, however, pleading for the free States, for they are not in danger, but for the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span> and the preservation of the cotton States. Those who sow the wind may expect to reap the whirlwind. The leaders of <span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span> could not have noticed that we live in an age of progress, and that all Christendom is making rapid strides in the march of civilization and freedom. If they had, they would have discovered that the announcement of every victory obtained by the hero of the nineteenth century, <span class=\"person\"><span class=\"surname\">Garibaldi<\/span><\/span>, in favor of the oppressed of <span class=\"place\">Italy<\/span>, did not fail to electrify every American heart with joy and gladness. \u201cWhere liberty dwells there is my country,\u201d was the declaration of the illustrious <span class=\"ref\">Franklin<\/span>. This principle is too strongly implanted in the heart and mind of every man in the free States, to be surrendered because <span class=\"place\">South Carolina<\/span> desires it in order to extend the area of slavery. With a Christianized <span class=\"place\">Europe<\/span> and nearly all the civilized world opposed to slavery, are the <span class=\"ref\">Southern States<\/span> prepared to set aside the barriers which shield and protect their institutions under the United States government? Would the separation of the <span class=\"ref\">South<\/span> from the <span class=\"ref\">North<\/span>, give greater security to slavery than it has now under the <span class=\"ref\">Constitution<\/span> of the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span>? What security would they have for the return of runaway slaves? I apprehend none; whilst the number of runaways would be greatly augmented, and the difficulties of which slaveholders complain would be increased ten-fold. However much individuals might condemn slavery, the <span class=\"ref\">Free States<\/span> are prepared to sustain and defend it as guarantied by the <span class=\"ref\">Constitution<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, I would avoid the bloody and desolating example of the <span class=\"ref\">Mexican States<\/span>. I am now, and forever, in favor of the <span class=\"ref\">Union<\/span>, its preservation, and the rigid maintenance of the rights and interests of the States, individually as well as collectively.<\/p>\n<p>Yours, &amp;c.,<\/p>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"person\">John E. <span class=\"surname\">Wool<\/span><\/span>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Troy, December 31, 1860. My dear Sir:\u2014South Carolina, after twenty-seven years\u2014Mr. Rhett says thirty years\u2014of constant and increasing efforts by her leaders to induce her to secede, has declared herself out of the Union; and this, too, without the slightest wrong or injustice done her people on the part of the government of the United [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":93989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-93988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-rebellion-record-by-frank-moore"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/John-Ellis-Wool.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cw-chronicles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}