<\/p>\n
Because the first five years of the Flood diaries encompassed the period of the Civil War. it is pertinent to ask what George Flood found to report as a contemporary account of that conflict and especially to inquire why he did not personally join the Union Army. Let me say at the start that his failure to become a Union soldier did not reflect upon his character at all. All his life George Flood was in frail health. Even in college. he suffered frequently from migraine headaches and had long bouts with high fever. He was always underweight and found hard physical labor extremely exhausting. But let us turn to the diary and see what he himself says about it all.<\/p>\n
The first reference to the great controversy that led to war is a diary entry of August 16. 1860. nine months before Fort Sumter. It says: “Have been to Augusta to hear Stephen Douglas speak. He defined Popular Sovereignty.” Douglas who had defeated Abraham Lincoln for senator from Illinois in 1858. was in the summer of 1860 stumping the country as a Democratic nominee for President. I say “a nominee”. because the Democratic party had been hopelessly split over the slavery issue. and against Lincoln. who had won the Republican nomination. they presented three candidates. each nominated by a different faction of the Democratic party. For several years Douglas had been trying to compromise the slavery issue by a plan he called Popular Sovereignty — that is. to allow the people of a territory, not yet accepted into statehood, to decide whether they would allow or keep out slaves. Lincoln strenuously opposed that policy, as he did every attempt to push slavery into the territories, although. until war finally came, he advocated no interference with slavery in the states where it had long existed. So what George Flood heard in Augusta that summer day in 1860 was a speech by the man who was Lincoln’s chief opponent for the presidency to be decided the following November.<\/p>\n
The Flood diary records the vote in Clinton on November 6. 1860. It was Douglas 155. lincoln 147. On the next day Flood wrote: “Lincoln election positive. Ringing bells here. and torchlight parade.”<\/p>\n
The next reference comes under date of January 23. 1861: “Southern news alarming. Four states have seceded.” Then on March 12 Flood wrote: “Forts Sumter and Pickens are to be evacuated is the report tonight. April 9 – Massachusetts troops attacked in Baltimore when getting out of the cars. April 13 – Great agitation in college about the war. April 17 – Bridges burned on the railroad leading to Baltimore. Have had no news today from Washington. April 19 – War excitement intense. Five regiments have gone from Massachusetts.”<\/p>\n
On April 21 Flood referred to Colby graduate Ben Butler: “Gen. Butler has telegraphed for the Boston artillery to come to Baltimore as quick as possible. April 23 – Intense excitement at the college. Sixteen students have enlisted. The faculty have omitted the rest of the term because of the excitement.”<\/p>\n
Then on April 24 Flood made the first mention of his own possible participation in the war: “Went home this afternoon to ask permission to enlist. April 25 – My parents were favorable to my enlisting. Brother Sumner wants to go very much, but Father will not consent. He needs Sumner on the farm. April 26 – Three from Clinton have enlisted. I have been loafing about town not doing anything. Union meeting this evening. April 27 – Mr. and Mrs. Noyes have returned from Boston. They encourage my going to war. April 28 – Father has now changed his mind. He strongly discourages my going to war. I think I shall try to get into military school. April 29 – Have been to Readfield to see Anson P. Morrill about an appointment to West Point. I have got a substitute for the company in which I intended to enlist. April 30 – The companies raised at the college and in Waterville were reviewed today. My chum Heseltine is captain of the first. William Heath is captain of the second.<\/p>\n
“May 2 – The ladies are fitting out the Waterville soldiers. Dr. Boutelle says I should not go to war, that my headaches and fevers will surely get worse under camp conditions. Mr. Noyes agrees and thinks I can do much good recruiting and otherwise serving the cause.”<\/p>\n
Early in June Flood went to Augusta to see the Third Maine in camp there. He wrote: “It was a splendid sight to see the encampment break up in the night and get off for the battle front by 5 a.m. The soldiers were in fine spirits.”<\/p>\n
By the middle of August Flood had become a regular recruiting officer, but before he could get actively at work he came down with one of his intermittent attacks of fever and Mrs. Noyes insisted that he stay in bed in her home rather than go to Clinton to drum up soldiers. The trouble developed into a septic throat, which Dr. Boutelle cauterized, but it took more than a week to reduce the fever: “Oct. 11 – Doctor says one of my lungs does not sound right and I must not teach this winter.” A week later, despite the father’s objections, Brother Sumner had enlisted and was joining a Fairfield company.<\/p>\n
All through 1862 George Flood went over the towns of Somerset and northern Kennebec, securing recruits for the army. When the New Year 1863 came in, he was still at it, and he found plenty of opportunity to record in the diary war news of historical importance: “Jan 2 – Pres. Lincoln has issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Jan. 7 – Great victories at Nashville and Vicksburg. Feb. 22 – Mr. Noyes has got a commission for my brother Sumner in a colored regiment. April 19 – Rumor that General Hooker has flanked the Rebels at Fredricksburg. June 3 – I have been given the job of enrolling the militia of Clinton to full strength for muster into the Union army. June 5 – Enrolling in east part of the town. The people are frightened but offer no resistence although they threaten some. June 10 – Enrolling today at Battle Ridge. Find the people a good deal frightened. June 15 – Finished enrolling and went to Augusta to see the provost marshall. I find that things go slow in any department of the government.”<\/p>\n
On June 20 Flood noted that the Rebels were moving in force on Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
On the last day of the month he wrote: “News from the Potomac army is variegated with good and bad. It looks as if a terrible battle is pending. July 3 – A severe battle is going on at a little place in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg. July 6 – News reached here that Gen. Meade has beaten the Rebel Lee with great slaughter and Lee has retreated with greatly disorganized forces to Virginia. July 8 – Vicksburg has surrendered.”(We may parenthetically note that the Vicksburg capture was the occasion that caused Lincoln to write the classic sentence “The Father of Waters now flows unvexed to the sea.”)<\/p>\n
By mid-summer the unpopular draft act had been put into force, and as recruiting officer George Flood had the unenviable job of rounding up the draftees: “July 15 – Received notices for drafted men from Provost Marshall. July 16 – Distributed notices to the draftees in Clinton. 49 in all. I found that seven are in college. one is already in the army, and five are too old, leaving 36 from which 21 must be taken at once.”<\/p>\n
Later in July Flood had part in the kind of sad duty that was coming more and more often to people in the Maine communities: “Came up on an extra train with the Masons to bury Charles Billings, who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.”<\/p>\n
Early in August Flood noted that the state draft board at Augusta had examined 719 men and had accepted 290. But of the accepted number more than a hundred did not go to war. The draft law permitted any man called to service to be released on payment of $300, on the theory that the money would buy a substitute. If a drafted man preferred, he could directly buy a substitute, and when that could be done for less than $300, the reluctant draftee saved a few cents.<\/p>\n
Every town in Maine had trouble raising its draft quotas. That led to lively rivalry over what was called the bounty system. How much would a town pay outright to a man who would serve as a substitute for a draftee who bought release for $300?<\/p>\n
Soon the price went far above the government’s permitted $300, and many a town went deep into debt to compete with other towns in bounties. There was a lot of jumping town lines. A man would accept $400 as a substitute in one town, only to be offered $500 in another town. Back he would pay the $400 and take the $500. On August 6 Flood wrote in the diary: “We had a town meeting to see what would be given the drafted men as bounty. Because the meeting could not agree on a price, it was stupidly decided to give nothing.”<\/p>\n
On Aug. 12 Flood went down to Waterville for the College Commencement. The speaker was the Maine hero, General 0.0. Howard. The August 24th diary entry said: “Went to Waterville to get things to send to Sumner in the army. Got him some cloth, a pair of shirts, and ordered a pair of boots made for him. Shall send all to Sumner at Fort Phillips near the mouth of the Mississippi.<\/p>\n
“Aug. 26 – I have agreed to help Thomas Holt get off from his draft in Sangerville. They have no business to draft him. He is a resident of Clinton.” The next day George Flood ended his service as a recruiting officer and was at once involved in the alleged defalcation of Edwin Noyes from the railroad — a story we told on this program a few weeks ago. But in the fall of 1863 George Flood was back in the recruiting service: “Nov. 30 – Have been to Augusta with Calvin Taylor, John Morrill and John Taylor, to get them examined for military service. Left them with the 29th Maine. Dec. 8 – Went to the Gore to see if Frank Rolf would enlist. Dec. 11 – Have been to Hunters Mills all day to get men to enlist. Did not have much success. The men hang off. Jan. 12 – Had a letter from G.P. Cochran stating that George Wilson, whom I carried to Augusta a few days ago, is a deserter and I could get $20 by coming down. Feb. 6 – There has been a call for 200,000 men, making 500,000 since October. Mr. Milliken has got Sumner a First Lt. Commission in the 21st Rgt. Feb. 24 – Went to Waterville with my recruits and got Dr. Boutelle to examine them. He passed them all. July 4 – Not much celebrating this year. We have all lost friends in the army. July 27 – Gen. Sherman has taken Atlanta. Aug. 13 – Admiral Farragut has captured Mobile. ”<\/p>\n
In October the bounty scandal hit Clinton. Flood wrote: “The quota of Clinton is full. J.W., first selectman, has been guilty of selling three boys enlisted for Clinton to other towns which paid him more bounty.”<\/p>\n
Then in the spring of 1865 George Flood’s diary showed that the end of the war was near: “March 29 – Grant and Sherman have taken 7,000 prisoners. April 3 – We received the glorious news that Richmond is occupied by the Union Army. Bells are ringing, cannon firing, rockets going off, and there is a regular gala day in Augusta. April 4 – Grant and Sheridan are in pursuit of Lee. April 5 – Pres. Lincoln is in Richmond.” Then at last on April 10 the diary contained these memorable words: “Lee has surrendered his army to Grant.” The terrible Civil War was over.<\/p>\n
Year: 1964<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #597, Broadcast on January 12, 1964<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42956,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}