CHAPTER XXXII.

Previous
George Washington Greene

LIFE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.—THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.—THE CENTENARY.

With the adoption of the new Constitution business returned to its natural channels. Party animosities lost somewhat of their bitterness as the various forms of industry revived, and old friends were again brought into daily communication under the healing influence of common interests and common pleasures. The story of these calm pursuits brings out in pleasant relief the every-day virtues of domestic life and the higher qualities of combination and invention, but it seldom addresses itself to the imagination, or excites and surprises by glowing appeals to the passions. The happiest periods of history are those which are the most barren of incident.

Meanwhile one of the great epochs of our history was at hand, and Rhode Island was again called upon to furnish the materials for battles which were to be fought at a distance from her own soil. The war of secession found her, like her sisters, unprepared for the great struggle in which humanity had so much at stake, and which soon made it manifest that industrious peace is the best of preparations for a war of principle. Within three days after President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for troops for the defence of Washington, a body of Rhode Islanders, well armed and equipped, was on its way thither. As the war continued she still met its increasing demands, till the sum-total of her contributions amounted to twenty-four thousand and forty-two, upon a population of one hundred and eighty-four thousand nine hundred and sixty-five. Of these, two hundred and fifty-five were killed; one thousand two hundred and sixty-three died of wounds or disease; one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded.

As some readers may wish for more detail, I give the following statement, for which I am indebted to the politeness of Adjutant-General Heber Le Favour:

“There went into the field from Rhode Island during the late rebellion, twenty-four thousand and forty-two men; of which the infantry numbered ten thousand three hundred and eighty-two; cavalry, four thousand three hundred and ninety-four; heavy artillery, five thousand six hundred and forty-four; light artillery, two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven; navy, six hundred and forty-five. This number is in excess of the actual number of persons furnished by the State, as many of them appear several times on the record under the head of promotions or re-enlistments after discharge from their three months, nine months, or three years terms of service.

Two hundred and fifty-five were killed, one thousand two hundred and sixty-five died of wounds or disease, and one thousand two hundred and forty-nine were wounded. There were eight regiments of infantry, of which three were for three months and two for nine months. There were three regiments of cavalry for three years, and one squadron for three months. There were three regiments of heavy artillery. There was one regiment of light artillery, composed of eight light batteries, and there were also two light batteries for three months service. One company of infantry was stationed at Portsmouth Grove as Hospital Guards.”

On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States of America ended the first century of their national existence; a century of marvellous experiences throughout the civilized world; of experiences in the science of government, which bear directly upon the moral development of man and experiences in the physical sciences which minister directly and indirectly both to his material wants and to the demands of his intellectual nature. Civilization had reached in those hundred years a height and a completeness which it had never reached before.

Proud of what they had done, confident of what they could do, they invited the other civilized nations, their elders by centuries, to bring the choicest productions of their art and industry and set them side by side with those of the young republic. In this comparison how well Rhode Island bore her part the following list will show: Rhode Island was conspicuous at the Exposition for the excellence of her products in the following departments:[A]

First—Machinery, including new inventions.

Second—Cotton fabrics, including sheeting and shirting, calico, fine muslins, jeans, drillings, etc.

Third—Woolen fabrics, broad cloths, cassimeres, shawls, worsteds, etc.

Fourth—Wood screws. (American Screw Co., Providence.)

Fifth—Fire-arms, rifles, carabines chiefly. The Peabody-Martini rifle furnished the Turkish government an arm of great excellence. (Providence Tool Co.)

Sixth—Fabrics of India rubber. (The Bristol Works.)

Seventh—Silver and plated ware. (Gorham’s.)

Eighth—Steam engines.

Ninth—Hair cloth. (Various companies in Pawtucket.)

Tenth—Files and mechanics’ tools.

Eleventh—Stoves and furnaces. (Chiefly the product of the Barstow Works.)

Twelfth—Chemical manufactures.

[A] For the above list I am indebted to my friend, Hon. J. R. Bartlett, to whom Rhode Island is indebted for the preservation and publication of her Colonial Records.

And here I stay my hand. I have spoken kindly of the State of my birth, but mindful of the historian’s first duty, I have striven in every thing to speak truthfully. It is an unvarnished tale, and yet there is a moral grandeur in it far beyond the grandeur of battle-fields and thrones. By deep and earnest convictions, by unwavering faith and unshaken resolution, Rhode Island has worked out for herself and for mankind one of the grandest problems of civilization.

It is the privilege of history that it teaches by examples. It is good for man that such men as Roger Williams and John Clark, should have lived. It is for the glory of Rhode Island that men like these, searching for a spot whereon they might build and live with unfettered consciences, should have chosen her for their dwelling place.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Clyx.com


Top of Page
Top of Page