(Fort Smith: Cradle of The First Southern Free State - continued)
|
three cheers times three.
Then the rest of the dispatches were read and
another nine cheers erupted. Colonel Harrison
collected $677.70 for the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington. Other speakers closed the glad-news
time. A special edition of The New Era was
published for the occasion. The feelings in Fort Smith of gladness for the victories of the United States were not shared by all of the state. The ruling class in south Arkansas was extremely bitter against Union men and the National government, and all manner of treasonous propaganda about the Union was spread by people who had been in authority. The emancipation of the slaves was a bitter pill to swallow and in many instances treatment was very cruel if there were not Federal troops there to defend them and judge between white and blacks. Generally, citizens in the southern part of Arkansas did not know the real state of affairs in the nation as news was almost non- existent by telegraph or newspaper. SOLDIERS RETURNING HOME Union prisoners of war were making their way into the fort in May, 1865, from the Tyler, Texas Confederate camp. Many were of the 2nd and 6th Kansas Cavalry They had been at that camp since the disastrous south Arkansas battle a year before, under very trying circumstances. The returning prisoners reported that Confederate guards were allowing prisoners to escape, squads at a time, believing that if there were no more prisoners they could also go home. There were almost two thousand prisoners still at the prison camp. As several of these Union prisoners were making their way to Fort Smith, they were stopped south of the county by a partisan band who declared they were going to shoot them. A Crawford County man among the Rebels, William Graham, said he wouldn't let this happen and escorted the Union soldiers to within twenty miles of Fort Smith. Graham then gave the Union soldiers his horse and told them to see that his wife in Van Buren got it. After resting in Fort Smith, the Union soldiers took the horse to Graham's wife and she immediately got back on the horse, rode to her husband, and brought him to Fort Smith. General Bussey allowed the Graham's to come through the picket lines and said he hoped more maids and matrons went after their men so that families might be together again . In the later part of May, mustering out of soldiers of the Arkansas Regiments began. Soldiers of the 1st Arkansas Infantry were in high glee because they were told they could keep their arms. A short while later this was rescinded, but in mid-July orders came from General Butler, that Home Colonies or Militia organized by the Governor of Arkansas could keep their arms.Chaplain Francis Springer was working diligently to put together money for the war orphans of Arkansas. In May he had forty-one orphans in a home at the corner of Mulberry and Lafayette Streets and there were many more orphans in private homes. Money came in from the various regiments for the orphans when soldiers heard of the great need. The Chaplain made trips to Chicago trying to obtain money from different northern organizations for the orphans. Many of the children were eventually sent to Illinois to orphan's homes and private homes. The one-cent sales tax that was being collected for the Provost Marshal's Office, proved to be a good investment. Streets were repaired, sewers built, and sanitary conditions in general improved and $1,700.00 remained on hand for other projects. |
THE NATIONS BIRTHDAY - JULY 4, 1865 July 4, 1865, was celebrated with booming cannons, parades and speeches, all of which began at 8;30 A.M., after the firing of the guns of the 18th Iowa Infantry. The main oration was given by General Cyrus Bussey. The celebration lasted all day, and many took part in the activities.Mail service continued to be very poor in the Fort Smith area. The letters that did arrive were many times worse for the wear, having been wet, crushed, crumpled, twisted, and torn. The 1st Arkansas Cavalry had been carrying the mail but these troops were being mustered out and it was not known who would continue the service. In mid-July, an important case was before the Circuit Court of Sebastian County. In 1862, a lady in town sold property and received Confederate money. By July of 1865, this Confederate money was worthless. She wanted the sale of her property sold three years previously, voided. The New Era stated that not one single Union person had sold their property for Rebel money to their knowledge. The case was finally settled as General Bussey had originally ruled. The Court said a sale was a sale. A group of merchants met at Mr. Hayman's Store on the 14th of July to discuss legality of the state's levying a 1j per centum tax on all goods brought from other states. The final decision was to pay the tax and pass it on to the consumer. Troops that had called Fort Smith home for a time were mustering out early in August. Many soldiers from different states under the command of the Army of the Frontier went back home, turned around and came back to Fort Smith to settle down and become good citizens of the community. Troops mustering out were 18th Iowa, 2nd Kansas Battery, 40th Iowa and 22nd Ohio Veteran Infantry which was made up of men from Iowa and Missouri. The troops of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry had to wait around for several weeks for their paymaster to come up from Little Rock. Soldiers taking the departing troops' places were: 57th U. S. Colored Infantry, 9th Iowa Cavalry with Brevet Brigadier General Trunbell, making Ft. Smith his headquarters, 54th Illinois Infantry, Brigade of 15th Army Corps and 3rd Iowa Battery. Judge Caldwell of the United States District Court arrived in Fort smith August 24. There were drumbeats among the citizenry to have a United States District Court established in Fort Smith. Fort Washita which was located one hundred sixty miles west of Fort Smith, and had for more than thirty years been an important military post among the Indians was burned in mid-August by Rebel Indians. A week later Fort Arbuckle, two hundred miles west was burned by Rebel Indians also. The Indians were trying to make sure no Negro regiments were stationed in Indian Territory. The Indians had been told the United States was going to use their lands to colonize Negroes. Many of the Indians were wealthy slave owners and as President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was not thought to cover the Indian Territory there was some real conflict with the Indians obeying the Constitution of the United States. Business was picking up around town. The Union boys had been paid. They were leaving for their homes but they were buying presents before they left. The Provost Marshal's office had a force of laborers out repairing streets and the steamboat landing. Many former Fort Smithians who had chosen to join their futures with the Confederacy had been returning since June. The New Era editor reported he did not feel vindictive, but he said |