--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young, Seymour B. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 25 number: 4 published: 1922-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Seymour B. Young, "Lest We Forget—IV: The Incident of Mason and Slidell," *Improvement Era* 25, no. 4 (February 1922): 334–338.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2504unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2504unse start_page: 334 end_page: 338 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1922-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2504unse publication_year: 1922 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1922, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Lest We Forget—IV: The Incident of Mason and Slidell Lest We Forget By Dr. Seymour B. Young, of the First Council of Seventy IV. The Incident of Mason and Slidell "In the fall of 1861, the Confederate government of the Southern states appointed James M. Mason and John Slidell, to go as ambassadors from the Confederate States to Great Britain. These envoys escaped from Charles- ton Harbor and reached Havanna in safety and here they embarked upon the British mail steamer Trent, for Great Britain. "On the 8th of November, the Trent was overtaken by the U. S. frigate San Jacinto, commanded by Captain Wilkes of the United States Navy. The Trent was hailed and boarded, and the two ambassadors and their secretaries were seized and conveyed to the San Jacinto, carried to Boston and imprisoned. The people of the northern states loudly applauded the action of Captain "Wilkes, and the general government seemed disposed to defend the same, but this proved to be a serious offense to Great Britain, and threats of reprisal against the Union were made by the British govern- ment unless immediate reparation were made. President Lincoln saw at once that a mistake had been made and he instructed Secretary of State William H. Seward, to write and transmit a suitable apology, which was immediately done with an assurance that the two confederate ambassadors should be released, which action was taken at once, and the two am- bassadors with their secretaries placed on a British vessel, and sent on their way to Great Britain. "If this course of pacification had not been adopted by Lincoln, war with Great Britain would have been inevitable and, of course, this would have meant a very serious matter to the United State9 government, who were then facing the war against secession of the Southern States." — Encyclopedia Brit. This episode of Mason and Slidell caused President Lin- coln much anxiety, as regarding the course that Great Britain might pursue following the communications from Mason and Slidell, in asking for help from the British nation to establish the Southern confederacy; and President Lincoln, seeing the possibilities of a response from Great Britain in aiding the Southern confederacy, realized the necessity of keeping open communication across the continent from the eastern to the western seaboard, hence the call upon Utah and California, as- sisted by General Craig's division of the East, under Col. Col- lins, to furnish sufficient companies of cavalry to protect and maintain the overland mail and telegraph lines from Council Bluffs on the Missouri river, to San Francisco. Colonel Collins' command afforded ample protection from Council Bluffs to LEST WE FORGET 335 the North Platte, a distance of 500 miles. On the west division Captain Lot Smith's company of Utah volunteers were the first to respond to this call, and were in the service from the last of April, 1862, till the latter part of March, 1863. Their assignment of service was from the North Piatt, via Fort Bridger, to Salt Lake, six hundred miles in extent. In the latter part of August, 1862, General Conner, with his command of California volunteers, entered Salt Lake Val- ley and established Camp Douglas, near the mouth of Red Butte canyon, about three miles east of Salt Lake City. He came ostensibly for the purpose of adding his forces for the pro- tection of the mail and telegraph lines, but the records of that time show no protection was given to these lines of com- munication by the California volunteers. The latter part of the month of May saw the volunteers of Utah moving swiftly from point to point upon the mail and telegraph lines from the North Platte river and Independence Rock, extending their march along; the lines of travel, protecting not only the mail and tele- graph lines but the emigrants as well, who were journeying to Oregon and the mining regions of Idaho and Montana, giving ample protection to all; and so thoroughlv was the work done that in the month of June, 1862, Ben Halliday, the mail contractor, declared that he would rebuild his mail stations and replace his coaches, teams, drivers and station men, as soon as the Utah volunteers had established themselves along these lines of communication, and Mr. Halliday faithfully kept his promise and early in July the mail coaches were again running without interruption on the route, and the telegraph lines had also been re-established by the Utah volunteers and these lines of communication were never again interrupted or broken dur- ing all the four years of the Civil War. Lincoln, no doubt, foresaw the probability of Great Britain responding to the call of the Southern confederacy, made by Mason and Slidell, and this movement is proof that his fore- sight was timely. British subjects responded and sent out war vessels, the Alabama being the principal one, with other men of war to prey upon the United States shipping, thus en- deavoring to aid secession by crippling the United States.^ Hence, Lincoln determined to keep open communication overland, between the eastern and western seaboards, and in answer to his call the Utah volunteers, of 1862, and the Cal- ifornia volunteers of the same year, in connection with Col. Collins' command from the east, were mustered into the United States volunteer army and ordered out for this special service. The year of 1862 was an eventful one for the Union. The 336 IMPROVEMENT ERA war of the rebellion was on, and, although Utah was far from the scene of greatest activity Governor Brigham Young had already wired the following message to President Abraham Lincoln: "Utah is for the Union, and does not believe in secession." There was work to be done and defences to be made on the western plains to maintain the overland mail and telegraph lines, which had recently been established and were in operation from the Missouri river, in the region of Council Bluffs to San Francisco, California, and Lincoln fell it was imperative that these lines of communication be kept open, that the President might have all parts of the Union under his watch- ful eye. The Indians were already burning mail stations, de- stroying telegraph lines, killing mail carriers, ad seeking to destroy these very important lines from the east to the west. Recent Indian atrocities had occurred in the region of the North Platte river and Independence Rock. At this time Abraham Lincoln through Adjutant General Thomas, of the War Department, telegraphed Ex-Governor Brigham Young to muster in a company of cavalry for the service of the United States for the protection of the overland mail and telegraph lines noted above. Brigham Young immediately returned the following answer: "Great Salt Lake City, April 30, 1862. "Adjutant General Thomas, U. S. A. Washington, D. C. "Upon receipt of your telegram of April 27, I requested General Daniel H. Wells, of the Utah militia to proceed at once to raise a company of cavalry and equip and muster them into the service of the United States army for ninety days, as per your telegram. General Wells, forthwith issued the necessary orders and on the 29th day of April the commissioned of- ficers and non-commissioned officers and privates, including teamsters, were sworn in by Chief Justice John F. Kinney, and the company went into camp adjacent to the city the same day, "(Signed) Brigham Young." V. What Utah Stood for in the Civil War Our command consisted of two companies, A. and B., of 1st cavalry, Utah Militia, constituting a battalion of cavalry commanded by Major Lot Smith. Our commander enrolled as Captain Lot Smith with Joseph S. Rawlins as first lieutenant and John Quincy Knowlton as second lieutenant. The two companies included commissioned and non-commissioned of- ficers, privates and teamsters, these teamsters giving prompt and efficient aid in all the duties of the expedition. Non-com- missioned officers named as follows: Orderly, Sergeant Rich- ard A. Atwood; Quarter Master, James M. Barlow; Quarter Master Sergeant, Ami Jackman; Sergeants; S. H. W. Riter, John P. Wimmer, Howard O. Spencer, Moses Thurston, LEST WE FORGET 337 Corporals: Seymour B. Young, Newton Myrick, William A. Bringhurst, John Hoagland, Joseph H. Felt, John Neff, Andrew Bigler, Hyrum B. Clemmens; Horse Farriers: Ira N. Hinckley and John Helm; Sadler: Francis Piatt; Wagon Master: Solo- mon H. Hale; Buglers: Charles Evans and Josiah Eardley; with privates and teamsters added, making 112 men in the company. The famous Ben Halliday was the proprietor of the stage and U. S. mail line extending overland from St. Joseph, Mo., to San Francisco. These lines were paralleled by the Western Union Telegraph line, running side by side, and the two lines of communication, extending from between the two points above mentioned, were placed under the protection of Lot Smith's command of Utah volunteers. Colonel Collins' command con- sisted of volunteers from the east; and Colonel Patrick Edward Conner's command of California, volunteers, from the west. Mr. Halliday sent the following message to Governor Young: "Thanks for your prompt response to President Lin- coln's request to furnish Utah volunteers for the protection of the overland mail and telegraph lines." And he added, "just as soon as these Utah volunteers are located along the line, I will proceed to replace my coaches, horses, drivers, and rebuild and man the destroyed mail stations from the North Platte river and Independent Rock to Salt Lake City." The following telegram dated from South Platte, was sent to President Brigham Young, from Captain Lot Smith, on June 24, 1862. "Camp, Independence Rock. m "I had an interview with Brigadier General Craig, who has just ar- rived by stage at this point. He expressed himself much pleased with our promptness in responding to the call of the General Government, with the exertions we had made in overcoming speedily th« obstacles on the road to reach this point and spoke well of our people generally. He also stated that he had telegraphed President Lincoln to that effect and intended writing him at greater length hy mail, and I received later word that he had placed the whole of Nebraska territory under martial law He also remarked that the Utah cavalry were the most efficient troops he had in the service, and he proposed to recommend that our service be extended an additional 90 days. Respectfully, Lot Smith, Commander Ulah Volunteers. See Whitney's History of Utah. A subsequent communication from North Platte, dated June 27, ran as follows : "President Yowig: I have just received orders from General Craig, through Colonel Collins, to return with my command to Fort Bridger to assist in re-establishing the mail and telegraph lines and stations from Green river to that point. Lieutenant Rawlins and command arrived here 338 IMPROVEMENT ERA yesterday. Owing to neglect of mail carriers, Lieutenant Rawlins did not receive my orders until eight days after they were due, consequently there has been no detail left at Devil's Gate. Lieutenant Rawlins left the sta- tion in charge of Messrs. Marchant and Wheeler, traders, who formerly owned the station that was recently destroyed by the Indians. This place is subject to our orders at any time. "Col. Collins has shown himself a wise and efficient officer, lie is decidedly against the indiscriminate killing of Indians, and will not take any general measure against them, save on the defensive, until at least he is aware by whom the offenses have been commited; and even then, not resort to killing until he is satisfied that peaceful measures have failed. Col. Collins and his officers declared that we were the best suited for this service, both men and horses being used to mountain life and knowing well the habits of the Indians. "We have been assigned to Col. Collin's regiment, General Craig's division. "I am, yours respectfully, "Lot Smith." The following important dispatch from New York, was re- ceived : "September 28, 1862. "The news of Pope's reverses was the theme of universal comment in England and regarded as most disastrous for the north. The London Times argues that the Federal Government is brought to the verge of ruin, and to a time when it is no longer able to execute the functions of gov- ernment in Washington. The London Star considers the northern cause hopeless, because the emancipation of the slaves in the Southern States had not been proclaimed. The Herald thinks the North will do well to con- sider the expediency of making a compromise with the South.'* I copy again from O. F. Whitney's valuable History of Utah: "William H. Hooper, member of Congress, set out for Washington on the 25th of April, 1862, accompanied by Hon. Chauncey W. West and a mounted escort of cavalry under command of Colonel Robert T. Barton. Two days after Hooper and escort had left Salt Lake City, Ex-Governor Young received the following message from President Lincoln through Adjt. General Thomas: 'You are requested to muster into the service of the U. S. a company of Utah volunteer cavalry, to arm and equip them im- mediately and send them east for the protection of the mail and tele- graph lines extending from North Platte river below Independence Rock, on the old 'Mormon' pioneer trail to Fort Bridger.' Governor Young, three days after receiving this message, replied as follows : 'The officers and men have been sworn in and registered on their musterroll and are ready for marching orders.' "