Washington Territory in the American Civil War

Last updated
Civil War era military outposts in the Pacific Northwest Pacific Northwest Military Outposts.jpg
Civil War era military outposts in the Pacific Northwest

The role of Washington Territory in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was the most remote from the main battlefields of the conflict. The territory raised a small number of volunteers for the Union Army, who did not fight against the Confederate States Army but instead maintained defensive positions against possible foreign naval or land attacks. Although the Indian Wars in Washington were recent, there were no Indian hostilities within the area of modern Washington, unlike the rest of the western states and territories, during the Civil War. At the start of the American Civil War, modern-day Washington was part of the Washington Territory. On March 3, 1863, the Idaho Territory was formed from that territory, consisting of the entirety of modern-day Idaho, Montana, and all but southwest Wyoming, leaving the modern-day Washington as Washington Territory.

Contents

Washington Territory before the Civil War

Washington Territory before the Civil War was the most remote place in the United States from the theater of conflict. Additionally, Washington Territory only had peace with the local Indians for three years when the Civil War began and the few settlers there were just recovering from the fear and economic strain those wars had caused them. Also, of great concern locally was the recent Pig War and continuing territorial dispute over San Juan Island that affected relations with Great Britain during the American Civil War. Politically the territory was also a stronghold for the pre-1948 Democratic Party, with many sympathetic to the Southern cause or at least tolerant of it. [1]

Washington Territory in the Civil War

Washington Territory Volunteer Infantry

With the regular U.S. Army troops recalled from the District of Oregon to fight the Civil War in the east, soldiers were still needed to man the forts and outposts in Washington Territory. The acting governor of the territory, Henry M. McGill, issued a proclamation on May 10, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, but it met with little reply. Not until October 12, was an effective step taken to raise volunteers in the territory when Colonel Thomas A. Scott, assistant secretary of war, wrote to Justus Steinberger, notifying him that he was authorized to organize a regiment of infantry, "in that territory, and the country adjacent thereto," and he was appointed colonel of said regiment. When Colonel Steinberger arrived on the coast, he came to Puget Sound in January 1862, and after he consulted with the legislature, and visited towns and settlements west of the mountains, he realized he could not hope to raise more than three companies, at most, in the territory.

Leaving R. V. Peabody to raise a company in the Sound country, and two other officers to raise two companies east of the mountains, Colonel Steinberger returned to San Francisco. There he opened a recruiting office on March 1, 1862, and two months later had secured four companies (A, B, C and D), and had two more started, soon to be at full strength. Early in May, with the four companies then completed and mustered, he left San Francisco for Fort Vancouver, soon followed by the two other companies from California. Later two more were raised in California, making eight in all from California, in the regiment which was not withstanding known as the 1st Washington Territory Infantry Regiment. In the end only two companies of the Regiment were raised in Washington Territory, and one of these (Company F) was recruited largely from residents of Oregon. Company K, which was mustered in at Fort Steilacoom was the only Company raised only from men from Washington Territory. [2] East of the Cascades troops could not be raised from the men involved in the frenzy of the Idaho gold rush then beginning.

The Volunteer soldiers who served in Washington did not fight against the Confederacy, but instead garrisoned the few posts in Washington that were not abandoned at the beginning of the war. They also protected communications routes between the western and eastern United States in Oregon and Idaho from the Indians and against the threat of foreign intervention on the Pacific coast by Britain and France that never materialized. Three companies in the newly formed Idaho Territory were engaged in an expedition to clear the area of the Snake Indians who threatened settlers to the territory in 1863 and 1864.

Washington Territorial Units in the Civil War

Threat of foreign invasion and privateers

To protect the northern approaches to the mouth of the Columbia River from possible attacks by Confederate commerce raider or the fleets of the British Empire or French Empire in 1862, a camp called Post at Cape Disappointment was established where fortifications were built and artillery emplaced to cover the river. It was first garrisoned by Company A, U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment and later by Company A, 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry. In 1863, a mate to Cape Disappointment, Fort at Point Adams, later Fort Stevens was established in Oregon on the south bank of the Columbia River. In 1864, Post at Cape Disappointment was renamed Fort Cape Disappointment. Despite the fears of the Union, these forts saw no action against any enemy in the Civil War.

Britain's proposal to seize the Washington Territory

On December 28, 1861, during the ongoing Trent Affair, Governor of the Colony of British Columbia James Douglas wrote to Secretary of State for the Colonies Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, arguing that Britain should seize the Washington Territory while the U.S. was preoccupied with the Civil War. He reasoned because there were little to no U.S. troops stationed in the region since most other units stationed there were off to war in the East, the territory's population was scattered, and there were a few U.S. naval ships in the area. He also said the Royal Navy and Marines were powerful and could easily do the job, ending with a statement that "with Puget Sound, and the line of the Columbia River in our hands, we should hold the only navigable outlets of the country—command its trade, and soon compel it to submit to Her Majesty’s Rule." [3] British officials instead chose to pass on his proposal so as not to risk war with the United States. [4]

Threat of privateers from Victoria, Vancouver Island

On March 15, 1863, a schooner, called J. M. Chapman, had been seized in the harbor of San Francisco, just as she was preparing to put to sea as a Confederate privateer. This seizure made Union men everywhere along the coast more alert for other attempts to get a vessel for the purpose. Among its papers was one letter disclosing plans for the capture of USS Shubrick but the scheme appeared to have been abandoned.

However early in 1863, Allen Francis, United States consul at Victoria, Vancouver Island, received information that led him to believe a plot was forming, to seize Shubrick, and convert her into a Confederate privateer. In the ensuing Shubrick Incident, Shubrick's Captain Pease and most of the crew, all suspected Southern sympathizers, were discharged by the Customs Collector for Puget Sound. This was accomplished on the next visit of Shubrick to Victoria, while the captain and a large part of the crew were on shore, Lieutenant Selden, second in command aboard Shubrick, threw off her mooring lines, and with only six men on board, he sailed away for Port Townsend. [5] [6]

On May 13, 1863, Consul Francis, writing about the Shubrick incident to Captain Hopkins of the United States Navy steamer USS Saginaw, said:

There is still in this city a rebel organization, [7] which has had several meetings within the last few weeks. They are awaiting, it seems from rumors, the receipt of letters of marque from the president of the so-called Confederate States. At this moment an English steamer, called the Fusi Yama, is expected in this port from England, and it is rumored that she is to be purchased for a privateer." [8]

USS Saginaw cruised the Puget Sound and Straits of San Juan de Fuca and found no privateer.

Consul Francis raised the alarm once again in October 1863, when the president of this same "Southern Association" had contacted Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin to obtain letters of marque for a ship yet to be obtained. When Francis discovered two British ships entering the port, one with a cargo of shot and shell and the other with iron construction, he feared they would be used by the Confederacy and alerted the Navy, which sent USS Narragansett to patrol the waters near Victoria. The "Southern Association" failed to carry out their intentions to outfit a privateer. [9]

Civil War Posts Washington Territory, (now Washington) (after March 3, 1863)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Disappointment State Park</span> State park in Washington state, US

Cape Disappointment State Park is a public recreation area on Cape Disappointment, located southwest of Ilwaco, Washington, on the bottom end of Long Beach Peninsula, the northern headlands where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The state park's 2,023 acres (819 ha) encompass a diverse landscape of old-growth forest, freshwater lakes, freshwater and saltwater marshes, and oceanside tidelands. Park sites include Fort Canby, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. Cape Disappointment is one of several state parks and sites in Washington and Oregon that are included in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California in the American Civil War</span>

California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New Mexico Territory against the Confederacy. The State of California did not send its units east, but many citizens traveled east and joined the Union Army there, some of whom became famous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Oregon Cavalry Regiment</span> Military unit

The First Regiment Oregon volunteer Cavalry was a volunteer regiment in United States service Union army that was formed in response to the American Civil War. With men recruited in Oregon and some recruited in surrounding states, the regiment primarily served to protect the state of Oregon and surrounding territories during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erasmus D. Keyes</span>

Erasmus Darwin Keyes was a businessman, banker, and military general, noted for leading the IV Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac during the first half of the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War</span> Major military operations in the American Civil War

The Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War consists of major military operations in the United States on the Pacific Ocean and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific that included the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, the territories of Washington, Utah, and later Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th California Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 4th California Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment recruited from northern California during the American Civil War. It was organized at Sacramento, Placerville, and Auburn in September and October 1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Territory in the American Civil War</span> Overview of the territory during the American Civil War

The Colorado Territory was formally created in 1861 shortly before the bombardment of Fort Sumter sparked the American Civil War. Although sentiments were somewhat divided in the early days of the war, Colorado was only marginally a pro-Union territory. Colorado was strategically important to both the Union and Confederacy because of the gold and silver mines there as both sides wanted to use the mineral wealth to help finance the war. The New Mexico Campaign was a military operation conducted by Confederate Brigadier General Henry Sibley to gain control of the Southwest, including the gold fields of Colorado, the mineral-rich territory of Nevada and the ports of California. The campaign was intended as a prelude to an invasion of the Colorado Territory and an attempt to cut the supply lines between California and the rest of the Union. However, the Confederates were defeated at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico and were forced to retreat back to Texas, effectively ending the New Mexico Campaign.

Galvanized Yankees was a term from the American Civil War denoting former Confederate prisoners of war who swore allegiance to the United States and joined the Union Army. Approximately 5,600 former Confederate soldiers enlisted in the United States Volunteers, organized into six regiments of infantry between January 1864 and November 1866. Of those, more than 250 had begun their service as Union soldiers, were captured in battle, then enlisted in prison to join a regiment of the Confederate States Army. They surrendered to Union forces in December 1864 and were held by the United States as deserters, but were saved from prosecution by being enlisted in the 5th and 6th U.S. Volunteers. An additional 800 former Confederates served in volunteer regiments raised by the states, forming ten companies. Four of those companies saw combat in the Western Theater against the Confederate Army, two served on the western frontier, and one became an independent company of U.S. Volunteers, serving in Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho Territory in the American Civil War</span>

The history of Idaho in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was far from the battlefields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montana Territory in the American Civil War</span> Civil War role of the future U.S. state of Montana

The area that eventually became the U.S. state of Montana played little direct role in the American Civil War. The closest the Confederate States Army ever came to the area was New Mexico and eastern Kansas, each over a thousand miles away. There was not even an organized territory using "Montana" until the Montana Territory was created on May 26, 1864, three years after the Battle of Fort Sumter. In 1861, the area was divided between the Dakota Territory and the Washington Territory, and in 1863, it was part of the Idaho Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Territory in the American Civil War</span>

The present-day state of Nebraska was still a territory of the United States during the American Civil War. It did not achieve statehood until March 1867, two years after the war ended. Nevertheless, the Nebraska Territory contributed significantly to the Union war effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Oregon Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 1st Oregon Infantry Regiment was an American Civil War era military regiment recruited in Oregon for the Union Army. The regiment was formed in November 1864. At full strength, it was composed of ten companies of foot soldiers. The regiment was used to guard trade routes and escorted immigrant wagon trains from Fort Boise to the Willamette Valley. Its troops were used to pursue and suppress Native American raiders in eastern Oregon and the Idaho Territory. Several detachments accompanied survey parties and built roads in central and southern Oregon. The regiment's last company was mustered out of service in July 1867.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Washington Territory Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 1st Regiment of Washington Territory Volunteer Infantry was a unit of infantry raised by the Washington Territory for service in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District of Oregon (military)</span>

The District of Oregon was a Union Army command department formed during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Lapwai</span> Historic fortification of the American Civil War in Idaho

Fort Lapwai (1862–1884), was a federal fort in present-day Lapwai in north central Idaho, United States. On the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Nez Perce County, it was originally called Camp Lapwai until 1863. East of Lewiston, it was located on the west bank of Lapwai Creek, three miles (5 km) above where it joins the Clearwater River at the state's first settlement, Lapwai Mission Station, built in 1836 by Henry Spalding. It is part of the multi-site Nez Perce National Historical Park. The word "Lapwai" means place of the butterflies, as the area had thousands in early summer in earlier years.

The Department of New Mexico was a department of the United States Army during the mid-19th century. It was created as the 9th Department, a geographical department, in 1848 following the successful conclusion of the Mexican–American War, and renamed Department of New Mexico in 1853. It had to contend with an invading Confederate force during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War from mid-1861 to early 1862, then with Apache tribes during the remainder of the conflict. It was merged into the Department of California after the end of the war as the District of New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th California Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Raised in the last year of the war, it spent its entire term of service serving in posts around San Francisco Bay, and on the Columbia River, attached to the Department of the Pacific, before mustering out in late 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justus Steinberger</span>

Justus Steinberger, was Colonel of the 1st Regiment Washington Territory Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Born in Pennsylvania, before the Civil War he was employed as agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Adams Express Company in Portland, Oregon. On October 12, 1861 he was appointed as colonel, with authority to raise a regiment in Washington Territory and California. From May 5, 1862 - July 7, 1862 he was the commander of the District of Oregon. After the war, he was given a commission as a major in the regular army in 1866, serving in the pay department. He was killed after being thrown from his horse at Helena, Montana in October 13, 1870, and was buried at Fort Shaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon in the American Civil War</span> Union state in the American Civil War

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Oregon raised the 1st Oregon Cavalry that was activated in 1862 and served until June 1865. During the Civil War, emigrants to the newfound gold fields in Idaho and Oregon continued to clash with the Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock tribes of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada until relations degenerated into the bloody 1864–1868 Snake War. The 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment was formed in 1864 and its last company was mustered out of service in July 1867. Both units were used to guard travel routes and Indian reservations, escort emigrant wagon trains, and protect settlers from Indian raiders. Several infantry detachments also accompanied survey parties and built roads in central and southern Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Colville</span>

Fort Colville was a U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located three miles (5 km) north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two years, and finally "Fort Colville". Brigadier General William S. Harney, commander of the Department of Oregon, opened up the district north of the Snake River to settlers in 1858 and ordered Brevet Major Pinkney Lugenbeel, 9th Infantry Regiment to establish a military post to restrain the Indians lately hostile to the U.S. Army's Northwest Division and to protect miners who flooded into the area after first reports of gold in the area appeared in Western Washington newspapers in July 1855.

References

  1. CLINTON A. SNOWDEN, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State, olume Four: THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY, NEW YORK, 1909.
  2. Clinton A. Snowden, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State, Volume Four: THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY, NEW YORK, 1909. pp 105-107
  3. Despatch to London: Douglas, Sir James to Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Fiennes, 28 December 1861
  4. James Robbins Jewell. "Thwarting Southern Schemes and British Bluster in the Pacific Northwest" (PDF). pp. 5–6.
  5. Robin W. Winks, The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States, McGill-Queen's Press, 1999, pp. 162-163.
  6. Clinton A. Snowden, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State, Volume Four, THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY, NEW YORK, 1909. Chapter LII. THE CIVIL WAR. pp. 111-112
  7. Consul Allen Francis was referring to The Southern Association, a group of Southerners, former gold miners from the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, that met in the Confederate Saloon in Victoria. Its president had contacted Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin to obtain letters of marque. Winks, The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States, p. 164
  8. Clinton A. Snowden, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State, Volume Four: THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY, NEW YORK, 1909. Note: (Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Series i, Vol. II, p. 260.), pp.111]
  9. Winks, The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States, p. 164
  10. Post at Cape Disappointment was at the north mouth of the Columbia River, Washington Territory, later renamed Fort Cape Disappointment 1864 and Fort Canby in 1875.

Further reading