Somewhere in the World

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Lovell, Massachusetts

March—August 1861

The secession of South Carolina from the Union was the first event in an ominous chain reaction. In swift order, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana seceded after New Year’s Day. Texas held out until February before declaring their independence from the Union. Much like the rest of the country, Lovell was in a state of shock and disbelief about what had happened. “What does it mean?” the women would each other when they met at the market, or gathered outside of church when the service was over. They were filled with fear for their husbands, sweethearts, and sons who seemed to be spoiling to join the fight, and anxiety over what this meant for their families. The men were more decisive. “We will be at war before the year’s end,” declared many a man attending the exchange or conducting business. Their bravado masked the fear that they felt as well when considering what might result from this catastrophic rift between states.

What will Virginia do? This was the thought foremost on Margaret’s mind. She had not been surprised at South Carolina’s departure from the Union; they had been fomenting war for months. Henry and Maxwell had spoken of little else while visiting over Christmas, and had shown an almost giddy glee at the thought of a Southern confederacy of states. The night of the announcement at the Thornton Christmas Ball, their predominant reaction had been one of righteous gladness. While others looked glum or uncertain, Henry and Maxwell had clasped each other’s hands in celebration. Later that night, while Mr. and Mrs. Hale had held hands before the fire in the parlor, and Aunt Shaw had sat with her vinaigrette beneath her nose, attended to by a sober Edith, the two brothers had expressed great satisfaction at the situation. “At last,” Maxwell had gloated, “we will be free from the oppression of the Northern states!”

Mr. Hale had gazed at his rash young guest in disbelief. “To do what?”

Maxwell had blinked. “Well, to set up our own republic, of course!”

To everyone’s astonishment, Mr. Hale had surged to his feet. “You young fool! There will be no separate republic! Don’t you understand that this means war—war between the Northern states and those who have seceded?” When Maxwell stared at him in blank amazement, Mr. Hale shook his head in sorrow and reached down to help his wife to her feet. Without speaking, they exited the room, leaving those behind to ponder what would face them in the months ahead.

As Mr. Hale predicted, when April arrived, the country was at war. Upon being sworn into office, Lincoln directed his inaugural speech to the South, striving to appeal to the better nature of Northerners and Southerners alike. He earnestly claimed, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies...The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Once in office, the newly elected president tried to limit the expansion of the Confederacy by reassuring the Border States and mid-south that slavery would be confined. His actions infuriated the Secessionist states, thwarting their vision of enlarging the Confederacy beyond the Deep South. After the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Lincoln called up the states’ militias to muster under his command and re-occupy U.S. forts. With President Lincoln's call for troops on April 15, war appeared inevitable. In rapid order, four more states seceded, including Virginia. Margaret despaired when she heard that her beloved state was leaving the Union it had fought so fiercely to create. What would Washington or Jefferson say? What would they do? Could anyone have prevented this sad situation?