2011 Spring 2 - Alexandria Historical Society

Editor Linda Greenberg
Spring #2 2011
“This Long Agony”
1
A Test of Civilian Loyalties in an Occupied City
by Diane Riker
By Thursday morning, 9 July 1863, the heavy rain
showers which had muddied the Potomac and veiled the
skies over Alexandria, Virginia, for much of the week had
cleared, the better to illuminate a poignant scene at the
Prince Street wharf. There, 120 Alexandrians, men,
women and children, waited to board a steamer, while
tearful relatives and friends looked on. The projected trip
was not of their choosing and they had had little time to
prepare. They were, according to the federal government, “disloyal persons” who had refused to sign an oath
of allegiance, and although they were only blocks from
their just vacated homes, already they presented the
familiar image of exhausted and dispirited refugees.
The best way to tell their story is to let their contemporaries, friend and foe, tell it.
In July 1863, Alexandria had been occupied by federal troops for more than two years. The 1860 U.S. Census
reported the city population at 12,652. According to the
Philadelphia Inquirer, by August of 1863 “Not one third
of the original inhabitants remain”2 and many of those
SCENE IS ALEXANDRIA, VA
OFFICER -- “Sissy, will you give me that flag.”
GIRL -- “Oh, no! “But I can tell you where you can get plenty.”
OFFICER -- “Where -- where?”
GIRL -- “Why at Bull Run!”
Young girls taunt a Union officer in a contemporary image of
insubordination in Alexandria.
who did chafed under the occupation with undisguised
disgust. A description of the prevailing animus was given
by a British newsman, Edward Dicey, who visited
Alexandria in the spring of 1862.
Confederates. However, as early as 1861, by which time
11 slave states had seceded, Union soldiers and their
sympathizers commonly referred to them as “secesh,”
short for “secessionist.” The word was used dismissively as a noun or adjective.
Another member of Dicey’s touring group, a celebrated novelist, noted the seething resentment in Alexandria
but considered it with greater empathy than the reporter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s article on his visit behind Union
lines was published in the July 1862 issue of the Atlantic
Closely connected as the little town is with
Washington, it was bitterly ‘secesh’; and the citizens of
Alexandria showed their dislike of the Federal army of
occupation by every means in their power. The women,
as may be supposed, displayed their animosity most
outspokenly. Unless they were foully belied, they used
to take pleasure in insulting the private soldiers with
epithets which will not bear repetition.3
“Rebels,” of course, was the usual term for the
1
Courthouse and captured Gen. Edwin Stoughton and 100
of his men. In June as Confederate troops were reported
closing in on Alexandria, Slough reacted by compiling a
list of citizens suspected of aiding the rebels. This time
he determined to rid the city of them, and sent their
names up the line to Army headquarters in the capital.
Monthly under the pseudonym “A Peaceable Man.”
I tried to imagine how very disagreeable the presence of a Southern army would be in a sober town of
Massachusetts; and the thought considerably lessened
my wonder at the cold and shy regards that are cast
upon our troops, the gloom, the sullen demeanor, the
declared or scarcely hidden sympathy with rebellion,
which are so frequent here.4
Headquar ters Depar tment of Washington,
Washington,
Washington, June 22, 1863 – 11.15
11.15 a.m.
The first move in the drama that was to unfold at the
Prince Street wharf was made by Brig. Gen. John Potts
Slough, the 34-year-old military governor of Alexandria
since August of the previous year. (His residence still
General SLOUGH, Military Governor of Alexandria:
Your suggestions with regard to the disposal of the
disloyal people of Alexandria have been forwarded to
the War Department, approved.
As soon as approved there, the orders will be issued.
The man Smith8should be retained, and sent south with
them.
By command of Major-General Heintzelman:
J. H. TAYLOR,
Chief of Staff, Assistant Adjutant-General.9
____________________
Maj. General Samuel P. Heintzelman, a native of
Pennsylvania and graduate of West Point, was in command of the defense of Washington. In November 1861
he had led the Union troops who sacked the church at
Pohick, where George Washington had worshiped, carting away or destroying its precious artifacts. But to put
in place Slough’s plan for the Alexandrians, he wanted
approval from the Secretary of War.
Brig. Gen. John P. Slough's hand grips his sword. Although
conventionally posed, the general, in fact, was not to be trifled
with. (Library of Congress)
stands at 209 South Saint Asaph Street, Alexandria,
although his office next door is gone. See page 7 for a
photo of his home.) He had arrived in the city, he said,
when “life and property were at the mercy of the maddened throng - a condition of things perhaps never in the
history of this country to be found in any other city.”5
His first step had been to restore order among his own
men by shutting down every establishment dispensing
liquor. Then, exasperated by the hostility of the native
population, Slough, a man of “imperious temper,”6
determined to bring stability to a city in rebellion.
Residents came to suspect that whenever Southern
troops or their partisans scored a success, the military
governor exacted local retribution.7 Arrests were made
and suspects sent across the Potomac to the Old Capitol
Prison in the District until they pledged an “Oath of
Allegiance” to the Federal Government or signed a
“parole of honor,” agreeing not to aid the Confederate
cause. The parole, as we shall see, did not buy one much
time or trust.
On 9 March 1863, Confederate Capt. John Singleton
Mosby had slipped through the Union lines at the Fairfax
War Depar tment, Adjutant General’s
General’s Office
Washington, D. C., June 27, 1863.
Maj. Gen. S. P. HEINTZELMAN,
Commanding Department of Washington:
Sir: referring to the communication of BrigadierGeneral Slough respecting the disposition of disloyal
residents of Alexandria, the Secretary of War directs
that you cause the persons named in the list presented
by Brigadier-General Slough (adding to this list any
others of the same character who may have been omitted) to be sent by boat to Old Point Comfort to be turned
over to Major-General Dix10 for delivery at City Point,
the individuals sent having the privilege of taking their
families with them, with a reasonable amount of baggage. In carrying out these instructions be pleased to
furnish General Dix with a list of the persons and their
families.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.11
2
General S. P. Heintzelman was photographed standing next to a porch post at the convalescent camp near Four Mile
Run. The people with the general wear the fashion of the day and, with them in mind, we can visualize the crowd on
the wharf at Prince Street. (Library of Congress)
families with them, together with a reasonable amount
of personal baggage, not exceeding 100 pounds,
including the trunk or package, to each grown person,
and the necessary wearing apparel of the children
accompanying them. They will not be allowed to take
any supplies, stores, or medicines, nor any letters, correspondence, or writings of any kind whatever.
All such persons to whom this notice is sent will
without further order deliver their baggage at the dock,
foot of Prince street, at 9 o’clock Monday morning, July
6, 1863, with a complete inventory of the same. All
such baggage will be examined, and if contraband articles are found, the entire baggage of the person
attempting to take such articles out will be confiscated,
and no goods will be allowed to pass unless so delivered, examined, inventoried, and approved. They will
also at or before that time send to this office a list of the
members of their families who are to accompany
them, with the full name and age of each person.
The parties, and the members of their families accompanying them,will report at the foot of Prince street, on
Tuesday morning, July 7, at 9 o’clock. No person will
be allowed to go on board excepting those so to be sent
South.
City Point, Virginia, at the confluence of the James
and Appomattox Rivers had become a supply depot for
the Union. It was just 20 miles from the southern capital
at Richmond, where the refugees could find other displaced Alexandrians.
Heintzelman then passed the order to Lieut. Col. Henry
Horatio Wells, Provost Marshal at Alexandria. Wells was
a member of the Michigan Infantry, who would later
serve as governor of Virginia under Reconstruction. In
addition to supervising the city’s military police and
courts, Wells and his staff had the weekly duty of issuing
passes to go in and out of the city, and every Monday
King Street outside his office was thronged with lines of
applicants.
Following is the notice Wells had delivered to the people on the disloyal list on Tuesday June 30 and
Wednesday, July 1:
Headquar ters Provost-Marshal-General
Provost-Marshal-General
Defenses South of the Potomac
Alexandria, Va.,
Va., June 29, 1863
In pursuance of an order of the War Department, you
are hereby notified to appear at this office forthwith and
make satisfactory proof of your loyalty to the
Government of the United States of America, and failing to make such proof within forty-eight hours after
receiving this notice you will be sent outside of our
lines. Persons so removed will be sent by boat to City
Point. Heads of families will be allowed to take their
By order.
H.H. WELLS
Lieut. Col. and Prov. Mar. Gen. Defenses South of Potomac
(Copy of the above served upon all disloyal persons in
Alexandria and vicinity.) 12
_________________________
3
Lieut. Col. Henry Horatio Wells (1823-1900), Provost Marshal
of Alexandria, later became famous for his command of the
troops who tracked John Wilkes Booth to a tobacco barn. Wells
was promoted to Brigadier General.
On 1 July, the Alexandria Gazette reported that the
“serving of notices upon citizens, under the recent order
for sending persons south, commenced yesterday, and
was continued today. A very large number were notified.”
Certainly, there was precedent for the expulsion of dissidents. On 4 January 1863, Maj.-Gen. Hurlburt, commanding the District of Tennessee, had ordered that for
every attempted sabotage of the railroads, he would send
South ten families known to be rebel sympathizers, starting with the wealthiest.13
An order for dealing with disloyal citizens in a civil
war was included in The Instructions for the Government
of the Armies of the United States in the Field, prepared
by Francis Lieber and authorized by President Lincoln on
24 April 1863: “…if he (the commander) deems it appropriate, or if his government demands of him that every
citizen shall by an oath of allegiance, or by some other
manifest act, declare his fidelity to the legitimate government, he may expel, transfer, imprison, or fine the revolted citizens who refuse to pledge themselves anew as cit-
izens obedient to the law and loyal to the government.”14
Although this writer was unable to find Slough’s original list with military papers held in our National
Archives, an early copy of the Alexandria roll, with the
subsequent actions of those named, is in the Prince Street
museum of the Mary Custis Lee, 17th Virginia Regiment
Chapter 7, United Daughters of the Confederacy. In all,
it lists 243 names of individuals and families.
Even as those notified sold or stored their possessions
with neighbors and hustled to cram the family clothing
into trunks, rumors of relief were spreading through
town. “The general impression…at the time of putting
the paper to press,” wrote the Gazette editor on the
evening of 3 July, “upon information said to have been
received from Washington, today, was, that the order had
been either revoked, suspended, or modified.”
Had Lincoln’s iron-willed Secretary of War Edwin M.
Stanton had second thoughts about the military’s strategy
in this case? It would seem so from the following communication, summoning the Provost Marshal to
Washington.
___________________
Washington, D.C., July 3, 1863,
Lieutenant-Colonel WELLS,
Provost-Marshal, Alexandria, Va.:
Please report yourself to this Department on
Monday at 11 a.m. with the list of disloyal persons proposed to be sent from Alexandria, suspending any
action on the matter until further orders.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.15
_________________________
_____________
By Thursday, that small glimmer of hope was extinguished. Following whatever the weekend and Wells
brought to his attention, Stanton evidently endorsed
Slough’s plan. Immediately after his meeting with the
The dock at Prince Street is in the center of this section of the “Bird’s Eye View of Alexandria” by Charles Magnus of
New York, printed in 1863, the year of the ordered exodus. The dock extended farther inland than any of its neighbors.
(Library of Virginia)
4
uncompromising Secessionist.
The office of the Provost Marshal, on the north side of King Street (later 525), housed police headquarters and the court. It was here that the exiled Alexandrians came on a morning of torrential
rain to learn their fate. (The sign on the flag pole advertised Dick Parker's Music Hall "open every
night," which would seem to date the photo before Gen. Slough's arrival.) (Matthew Brady photograph, National Archives)
Secretary, the Provost Marshal posted the following in
The Gazette.
Monday, July 6 The day
opens with a tremendous rain,
the rain having commenced
during the night. The papers of
today bring no additional news
from Meade and Lee’s armies,
but what they lose in news they
make up in braggadocia. This
being the time appointed for our
citizens who were ordered to go
south, to report with their
Baggage at the wharf, numbers
were there, although the rain
fell in torrents, and finding no
person to receive them, they
applied at the Provost’s office
where they were informed, that
the order is merely deferred
to the subsequent day. We are
told that this cruelty to our citizens was devised and set in
motion by the Union men of
Alexandria,16 aided by Gen.
Slough and his Provost
Marshal,
Lieut.
Col.
Wells….(Diary of Henry
Whittington)
On that Monday evening, Alexandria’s newspaper took
up the story. The editor was withholding one piece of
personal information, which he would soon reveal.
_______________________________
HEADQUARTERS PROV. MARSHAL GENERAL
DEFENCES SOUTH OF THE POTOMAC.
The past week has been one of painful excitement, in
this place, in consequence of the order for the deportation of persons to the South, as many of the citizens,
mostly old residents, including several ladies, had
received notices to that effect. It is said that several
hundred of these notices to individuals had been sent
out. And the suspense and anxiety were increased by
the contradictory rumors and reports that prevailed.
...The military authorities, it is said, will give further
notice of what has ultimately been determined upon.
Alexandria, July 6th 1863.
Those persons who by orders heretofore issued at
these headquarters are to be sent to City Point, will
deliver their baggage at the foot of Prince Street at 9
o’clock A. M., Wednesday, July 8th 1863, and will
send to this office before that time an inventory of their
personal baggage, as also a statement of the amount and
kind of money which they desire to take with them.
There will be no restrictions as to money except that it
must belong to the person taking the same, and not to be
transported for other persons, and no gold or silver will
be allowed to be taken. The parties leaving will report
on board at 9 o’clock, July 9, 1863.
H. H. WELLS,
LT. Col. and Provost Marshal General,
Defences South of the Potomac
P. S. – Since the above was in type an order has been
issued by the Provost Marshal, directing those persons
notified, that they will be sent to City Point, to deliver
their baggage at the Prince street dock on Wednesday
morning and themselves report on board the boat on
Thursday morning at 9 o’clock. Inventories of all
things taken are to be sent to the office of the Provost
Marshal previous to Thursday morning. No gold or silver will be allowed to be taken, but there is no restriction as to the amount of other descriptions of money.
(Alexandria Gazette 6 July, 1863)
_______________________
Although he was not personally involved, Alexandria
business clerk and occasional poet Henry Whittington
(ca. 1812-1884) was following the unfolding events in
his diary with mounting rage. Whittington was an
And then the incensed Whittington returned to his diary
with evident frustration.
5
The side-wheel steamboat Sylvan Shore, built in New York State in 1856, waited at the Prince Street wharf for its unhappy passengers. Until the war, it had been ferrying as many as 1000 commuters and shoppers daily on the Harlem and East Rivers
to and from lower Manhattan. (New York Times, 18 Dec. 1857 and Harry Johnson and Frederick S. Lightfoot, Maritime New York
in 19th Century Photographs. Toronto 1980)
The cloudy weather still continues, with light
showers occasionally falling, the northern papers still
are jubilant over the reported successes of Meade’s
Army over Lee, but these accounts so far distort the
truth, as to render them perfectly unreliable to intelligent & thinking men. The order banishing several hundred of our citizens from our midst, it now appears is to
be strictly enforced, and they are notified to be at the
wharf at 8 o’clock on Thursday morning, 9th inst., from
whence they will be transported to City Point. This
order we regard as one of the greatest acts of tyranny
ever perpetrated in our midst as numbers who are thus
to be exiled from their homes are among the most quiet
and amiable members of our community – some being
infirm, aged & crippled. Can it be possible that such
villainy shall be long unwhipped (?) of justice, or that a
just God can long tolerate the infamous acts of such a
people?
Time will show. (Diary of Henry
Whittington,Tuesday, 7 July 1863)
That evening, the Gazette reported that additional
notices had been sent to many of those named on the list
informing them that by taking an oath of allegiance “or
giving other satisfactory security” they could remain in
Alexandria. Not all had received this second notice, the
writer commented. (Alexandria Gazette 7 July, 1863)
There followed a torment of emotions and decisions.
Faced with the choice of losing their homes, possessions
and livelihood or capitulating, by Wednesday ninetyeight Alexandrians had taken the oath of allegiance and
fifty-nine had signed the “parole of honor.”17
On Wednesday the city endured another spate of showers and skies had not cleared by evening when
Whittington again took up his pen.
We have had one of the heaviest rains of the season
today and indications for more. According to Com.
Porter, adjutant to Secretary Wells, Vicksburg surrendered on the 4th of July but notwithstanding this high
authority we cannot believe it, as the
last accounts we had from this point
left the northern army further from
the scene of attack than formerly…We believe that this order exiling a portion of our citizens is to be
carried out, as their Baggage is now
being received on board the boat
which is to convey them to City
Point. (Diary of Henry Whittington 8
July 1863)
Union troops drilling in front of
Alexandria’s City Hall. Note the clock
tower referenced by Henry Whittington on
page 8. (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Oct. 5, 1861, p. 331.)
6
The home of military governor General J. P. Slough at 209 South St. Asaph Street, on the left, and the home of
Gazette editor Edgar Snowden, Jr., on the right, at 619 S. Lee Street. Both look today much as they did during the
Civil War. (Photographs by Robert Neubauer)
no less than return to those who have heretofore generously supported me in my labors, my heartful thanks
and assure them of my constant gratitude. My lot and
that of my father’s has been peculiarly hard. He had lost
since the commencement of the present troubles the
earnings of a life time, and I, all of my labor since manhood. In his future efforts to support himself and his
family, I cannot doubt, that, even under the most
adverse circumstances he will be sustained, by whose in
whose midst he was born and has lived – whilst I must
seek for my support among those with whom my lot
may be cast.
Edgar Snowden Jr. had succeeded his father as editor of
the Alexandria Gazette, established by his grandfather,
Samuel Snowden. The Snowdens had run afoul of the
government prior to 1863. When the newspaper (temporarily renamed “The Local News”) ran an editorial on
10 February 1862 calling the arrest of Rev. Kensey J.
Stewart of St. Paul’s Church for refusing to pray for
President Lincoln “outrageous,”18 their offices were set
on fire. The paper, in new quarters, did not resume publication for a year.
Also that February, Edgar Snowden Jr. had been one of
twenty-one members of the Volunteer Relief Association
arrested for “furnishing aid to the insurgents by contributions to support the families of those absent serving in the
rebel army.”19 The group was detained in the Military
Prison in Washington. They refused to swear an oath of
allegiance to the Federal Government but were released
in late March after signing a “written parole of honor.”
Their pardons would prove short-lived.
Now Edgar Snowden told his readers that he was
among those on the government’s list. The editor, his
wife and three children were preparing to leave the city.
EDGAR SNOWDEN, jr.
(The Alexandria Gazette, 8 July, 1863)
Even the printer’s type seemed to falter under the pressman’s hand:
The steamer Sylvan Shore is the boat designated to
convey to City Point the persons ordered to go South
from this place. She lies at the foot of Prince street. A
quantity of baggage was received on board to-day, and
receipted for. Several persons orignally (sic) notified to
leave have been since paroled. The number to go
tomorrow we cannt (sic) yet accurately ascertain.
(Alexandria Gazette, 8 July, 1863)
To the Subscribers to the Gazette:
In early July, the Union celebrated victories at
Vicksburg and Gettysburg and tensions eased in the port
city. Despite what some would later say, there is no indi-
Having been ordered, along with many other of my fellow citizens, by military authority to leave the place of
my nativity and my home, my connection with the
Gazette will be severed, temporarily at least. I can do
7
those who had been notified, was removed from the
boat and delivered to its owners, those who were prepared to leave returned to their homes, and the crowd
dispersed. Alexandria Gazette, 10 July 1863)
cation in the military correspondence that the whole
event was a stunt to intimidate the citizenry, with no
intention of its ever being carried out. But, for whatever
reason, the order to evacuate was abruptly rescinded.
_____________________________________
At Jones Point, a little group of excited children led by
a woman in her early twenties, had waited to wave
farewell to the steamer. The young woman was Isabel
Emerson who lived on upper Duke Street next to the
Union stockade built to protect the railroad. This is how
she described that day:
Alexandria, July 9, 1863
Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War:
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your telegraphic order countermanding former order
upon subject of sending disloyal persons from
Alexandria.
Respectfully,
An order has been issued for all Southern men to take
the oath of allegiance to the United States or they would
be sent by steamer outside the lines. Hurried preparations were made to get the old men who were left ready
for the journey. I took some little children with me, and
went down to Jones’ Point to see the boat go by. I met
several on the way, accompanied by their wives, looking sad at the thought of leaving their homes and families. We waited on the Point for hours but in vain, as
no boat passed. For some unaccountable reason, the
order had been rescinded.21
JNO. P. SLOUGH,
Brigadier-General20
__________________________
Henry Whittington described the disposition of the citizens at the Prince Street wharf. Whether he was, in fact,
an eyewitness is unknown. He appears to be the only one
reporting that the passengers had actually been taken on
board.
The weather is again fair and bids fair to be again
warm. This long agony in regard to sending the people
to the south is at length over, but not until many of our
citizens had had their hearts lacerated by the thoughts of
separation from all they hold most dear on earth, and the
manner in which their feelings were sported with, was
as cruel as the order banishing them from their homes.
It appears now that it was never intended to carry this
order into execution, but in order to make men take the
oath of allegiance, they provided a boat, ordered the
baggage of the nonconformists to be placed on board,
and even allowed them to embark ere they announced
that the boat would not proceed.
News from the battlefields was as troubling for the
Confederates as it was triumphant for the Union. And
one Confederate in particular was consumed by the memory of those dejected families and their helpless friends at
the Prince Street dock.
Friday July 10 the weather is warm though we cannot
And, on a rather evocative note, Whittington ended the
page:
Yesterday afternoon (8 July 1863), the weight
attached to the Town Clock, fell with a crushing effect
through several floors, but did no other damage. This is
the second time this has occurred in this year. (Diary of
Henry Whittington, 9 July 1863)
We know for certain that Snowden was there and the
following is his paper’s account of that dreaded morning.
Anne Frobel lived here, in the home her father built, during
the Civil War. Her father was the music teacher for Martha
Washington’s two children. (Mt. Vernon Library)
On yesterday morning ... a large crowd assembled
on Prince street to take leave of their friends and relatives, and there were many sad farewells, many scenes
which would have touched any heart. Suddenly, however, and in the midst of this, a rumor ran through the
crowd, that the order, by direction of the War
Department, had been revoked or withdrawn, and,
directly afterwards, the intelligence to that effect was
officially announced. – In a few minutes, the baggage of
call it unseasonable. Probably since Alexandria has
been settled, there never has been witnessed a scene
similar to the scene which occurred yesterday when the
citizens who had been notified to leave their homes or
take the oath of allegiance to the United States, as a
large number of those who had been ordered away were
men of families and a considerable portion of these had
not the means to carry their families with them, yet
8
sooner than take an oath to a government they despised
they resolved to accept banishment in preference, and
this heroism upon the part of such men should be sufficient to convince the Lincolnites of the utter folly of an
attempt to subjugate the south. The news from Lee’s
Army indicates another battle on the north side of the
Potomac or Lee shall leave that soil. (Diary of Henry
Whittington, 10 July 1863)
Wed. July 1… secesh are to leave on Monday. 1000
white and col’d men sent from Alex to Baltimore to
work. Fighting expected now.
July 2 Gen. Meade has beaten the rebs at Gettysburg.
Things look encouraging. Effort being made to Revoke
order for sending secesh off.
Wilbur left Alexandria for New York on Sat. 4 July
and, delayed by heavy fog off Sandy Hook, arrived at
Wall St. Tuesday morning 7 July.)
Two and one half miles southwest of City Hall, in what
must have seemed at the time open country, another
diarist, Anne S. Frobel, 47, lived with her younger sister
Elizabeth. The sisters, both unmarried, had inherited
Wilton Hall from their father and remained there
throughout the war. Their brothers, Bushrod Washington
and David, served in the Confederate Army. Although
very independent, the sisters welcomed the help of their
few neighbors and the few black servants -- they had
inherited 19 slaves -- who stayed with them. They made
some money by boarding Federal officers and their visitors, a necessity that was often distasteful to them. Anne
Frobel’s diary records the news.
Vicksburg has surrendered!
Sure, no mistake and here I am alone in N.Y!
She spent the next 12 days traveling and did not receive
news from Alexandria until Sunday, 19 July.
Read that order to send secesh from Alex was
countermanded. Too bad. (Diary of Julia Wilbur) 23
One of the more puzzling pieces in this whole episode
is the following letter. Is it dated incorrectly? Was the
Secretary seeking a final list of those who never took the
oath? Or was the government considering a second act
for the Prince Street drama?
The poor unfortunates went to work to dispose of
their effects as best they could, not being allowed to
take any thing with them. They packed and stowed
away in other people’s houses as much as they could,
many sold off every thing they could getting little or
nothing for it... an order came revoking the edict, they
are not to be sent at this time, but not by any means saying it was done away with altogether. And now, these
poor creatures, after having disposed of their goods and
chattels, with not a house, or home to lay their heads
into, are as badly off, or worse than if they had been sent
away. ” (Civil War Diary of Anne S. Frobel) 22
Alexandria, July 12, 1863.
Hon. E. M. Stanton,
Stanton, Secretar
Secretaryy of War:
War:
Sir: I have completed the list of disloyal persons to be
sent out of Alexandria, Va., and send this notification, as
ordered by you yesterday. (This order has not been
found)24
Respectfully,
H. H. WELLS,
Lieutenant-Colonel and
But from a Northern woman who had recently left the
city, the threatened exodus produced an entirely different
reaction. Julia Wilbur was a Quaker who had come to
Alexandria from the north to minister to the newly freed
blacks. She was appalled by their living conditions (her
6 June 1863 Diary entry noted that even the Union
General’s servant had come to her for clothes. “Worked
for Gen S. more than a mo. & comes here to beg
clothes!”) The following entries are excerpts from her
journal.
Provost-Marshal-General.25
Diane Riker is a writer/researcher for the
Alexandria Archaeology Museum and a
former member of the Alexandria
Archaeological Commission. Her other
articles for the Chronicle have explored
the city’s name, its early lighting and its
earliest surviving waterfront warehouse.
She is a member of the Friends of
Archaeology, the Alexandria Historical
Society and the Alexandria Association.
The writer and her husband, Robert J.
Riker, moved to this city seven years ago
and live within a few blocks of the foot of
Prince Street where this story takes place.
Sat. June 27 Never saw Duke St. so lively, hundreds of
men at work on stockades. Rebs said to be 7 mi. from
here.
June 29 Mon. Rebs are very near here…Gen. Slough
says rebels can’t come into this city…Lee is shelling
Harrisburg. Secesh to take oath or leave by next
Tuesday for Dixie…200 negroes taken by 2nd Cav. last
night 2 mi. from here, too bad. Hooker is surrounded by
Gen Meade.
9
Endnotes
1 Henry Whittington, Diary entry for 8 July 1863. Manuscript.
Alexandria Library local history/special collections.
2 Excerpt from the Philadelphia Inquirer in the Alexandria Gazette,
the Rebellion, Series 2, Vol. 2, pp. 277-278.
20 The War of the Rebellion. Series 2, vol. 6, p. 96.
21 Isabel Emerson did not publish her “Personal Memoirs of the
Civil War” until 1924, when they appeared in the Alexandria
Gazette almost daily from March 24 through April 7. By then she
was in her eighties, twice widowed, and her name was Isabel
Emerson Otis Price. Her memory of that 1863 day when the boat
with its cargo of “disloyals” never passed Jones Point was grouped
with her 1864 diary entries. This was not unusual when journals
were often written on unbound pages and whether it was Mrs. Price’s
10 August 1863.
3 Edward Dicey, Six Months in the Federal States. (London, 1863),
in T. Michael Miller, ed. Pen Portrait of Alexandria, Virginia, 17391900. Bowie Md.: Heritage Books, 1987, p. 219.
4 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “About War Matters. By a Peaceable
Man,” Atlantic Monthly, vol. 10, no. 57, July 1862, pp. 43-61.
5 William B. Hurd, Alexandria, Virginia 1861-65. (Fort Ward,
Alexandria, 1970), p. 26.
6 William F. Smith and T. Michael Miller. A Seaport Saga: Portrait
error or the publisher’s is not known.
22 Anne E. Frobel, The Civil War Diary of Anne S. Frobel of Wilton
Hill in Virginia. Mary H. and Dallas M. Lancaster, eds.
(Birmingham, 1986), pp. 203-204.
23 Julia Wilbur, Julia Wilbur Diaries 1844-1894, unpublished man-
of Old Alexandria, Virginia. (Virginia Beach, 2001), p. 89.
7 George G. Kundahl, Alexandria Goes to War: Beyond
Robert E. Lee. (Knoxville, 2004), p. 252.
8 In the absence of General Slough’s letter and list, which this writer
uscript. Alexandria Library local history/special collections,
Microfilm 00562.
24 From footnote provided in the following source.
was unable to find among the military records preserved in the
National Archives, it is impossible to know just who this Smith
might have been. There were two Smiths among those taking the
oath: Thomas Smith, occupation unknown, and W. Smith, a ship
master.
9 U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation
25 The War of the Rebellion, Series 2, vol. 6, p. 109.
of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. (70
vols.; Washington, D.C. 1880-1901), Series 1, vol. 27 (Part III), p.
260.
10 Gen. John Adams Dix commanded the New York Infantry,
Seventh Regiment.
11 The War of the Rebellion. Series 2, vol. 6, p.54.
12 Ibid. p. 60-61.
13 Frank Moore, ed., The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American
Events. (6 vols.; New York, 1863), vol 6, p. 31.
14 General Orders No. 100: The Lieber Code: Instructions for the
Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field. Section
X, Article 156. (New Haven, Yale Law School).
15 The War of the Rebellion, Series 2, vol. 6, p. 76.
16 Whittington had been keeping a sharp eye on his fellow residents
since the war’s beginning. “Some Loyal (!) citizens are showing
their sympathies for Lincoln and his acts, and a few who but a short
time ago publicly declared that their fate was with Virginia have so
modified their views as to be willing to accept an office, and to take
the obnoxious oath prepared by this infamously corrupt administration, and I record in this connection with great regret the name of
W.D.M…once esteemed by me as a gentleman above reproach.
R.B…, Son C.S.H…L. McK… T.F.C…, T.V…, & T.E…are freely
spoken of as being supporters of the tyrannic crew who now control
the old ship of State.” Whittington Diary, 30 May 1961.
17 List of persons ordered by Military Authority to leave Alexandria
for Richmond on the 9th of July 1863. Manuscript in the Museum of
the Mary Custis Lee, 17th Virginia Regiment Chapter 7, United
Daughters of the Confederacy, Alexandria.
18 The Local News, 10 February 1862, Alexandria, cited in James
Barber, Alexandria in the Civil War. (Lynchburg, 1988), p. 28.
19 Besides Snowden, those arrested on 26 February 1862 included
W. M. Brown, E. S. Hough, John W. Burke, John A. Field, Wesley
Avery, J.E. McGraw, W. H. Marbury, Stephen A. Green, W. H
McKnight, A. J. Fleming, Wm. Arthur Taylor, J. B. Dangerfield,
John L. Smith, W. Cogan, James A. English, Henry Peel, H. C. Field,
James Green, W. W. Harper, Hierome O. Claughton. The War of
10
The mission of the Alexandria Historical Society is to promote an active interest in American history and particularly in the history of Alexandria and Virginia. The society is organized exclusively for educational purposes.
For information about the society’s lectures and awards presentation and for past issues of
The Alexandria Chronicle please visit the society’s web site: www.alexandriahistorical.org.
The Chronicle is published through the support of the J. Patten Abshire Memorial Fund
Of ficers of the Society
(2011-2014)
President: Bill Dickinson
Vice President: Peggy Gross
Secretary: Ted Pulliam
Treasurer: Jackie Cohan
Board Members
Debbie Ackerman (2010-2013)
Lisa Adamo (2010-2013)
Amy Bertsch (2010-2013)
David Cavanaugh (2011-2014)
Audrey Davis (2011-2014)
Tal Day (2010-2013)
Linda Greenberg (2010-2013)
Adrienne T. Washington (2011-2014)
Karen Wilkins (2010-2012)
Immediate Past President Audrey Davis
Directors Emeritus Anne Paul
and Mary Ruth Coleman
PLUS
Alexandria Archaeological Commission
Representative Katy Cannady
The Alexandria Chronicle Editor Linda Greenberg
Website Statistics Lisa Adamo
Newsletter Amy Bertsch
HARC Representative Tal Day
11
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 and lasted four years. The war affected all states and particularly Virginia and Alexandria.
Alexandria was occupied by Northern troops from May 24, 1861 until April 9, 1865. In 1861 over half of the city’s citizens, siding with the
Southern cause, left. Those who remained in the city were ruled by a military governor and lived surrounded by Union soldiers. In this
issue of the Chronicle Diane Riker tells the story of a Union plan to deport Alexandrians who were considered “disloyal persons” in the summer of 1863.
Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman commanded the
Northern Department responsible for the defense of
Washington. (Library of Congress, Division of Prints and
Photographs)
Brigadier General John Potts Slough, the military
governor of Alexandria, lived at 209 So. St. Asaph
Street. Upon arriving he restored order by shutting
every establishment dispensing liquor. (Library of
Congress)