The First McCoy Death

Union soldier Asa Harmon McCoy the brother of Randolph McCoy of Hatfield / McCoy fame was discharged from the army December 24^th 1864.

Asa Harmon McCoy was born in Pike County, Kentucky 1828.  He was the younger brother of Randolph McCoy.

McCoy enlisted in the Union Army under the name of Asa H McCay, and served in Company E of the 45^th Kentucky Infantry.  He suffered a broken leg while in service and was discharged from service on December 24^th 1864 with the rest of his company.  Soon after his return home he was confronted by members of the “Logan Wildcats” a Confederate Home Guard.  The “Wildcats” where Company D of the 36^th Virginia Infantry.  It is believed that Jim Vance an uncle of Anse Hatfield was among those who fired a warning shot at McCoy, and then tracked him to the cave on Blue Spring Creek, where he was hiding and on January 7^th 1865 and killed him.

A Well Built Tug

Rear Admiral Francis Gregory

The USS Buckthorne was purchased for the Union Navy December 22^nd 1863.

The USS Buckthorne was a wooden hulled screw steamer, outfitted with one mast, she was 87 feet long.  She was built in East Haddam, Connecticut, and was purchased for $26,500 from George W Jewett on December 22^nd 1863 by Union Rear Admiral Francis Gregory.  The Buckthorne was commissioned April 7^th 1864 at New York City under the command of Lieutenant W Godfrey.

The Buckthorne was well built and was placed in service as a tug.  She served as a part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and was present during the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5^th 1864.  She was used to carry dispatches and as a tender for the rest of the fleet.

When the war ended the Buckthorne was moved to the Pensacola Navy Yard.  She was sold for $3,000 on September 7^th 1869.

Harbor Defenses Or Indian Reservation

Union Camp Santa Catalina was proposed as an Indian reservation December 21^st 1863 on Santa Catalina Island, California.

On an isthmus located on west end of Santa Catalina Island, California, that a Union camp was located in 1863.  Camp Santa Catalina was proposed and built following an incident along the coast with the Confederate privateer CSS JM Chapman.  It was thought that it would be a good place for harbor defenses.

The garrison commander Union General George Wright was given the authority to have all persons on the island removed.  Wright proposed on December 21^st 1863 that the Camp be made into an Indian reservation, to hold the natives currently fighting against Union volunteers in northwest California.  Company C of the 4^th California Infantry was posted at the Camp January 1^st 1864 and served there until the end of the year, when all Union property was removed from the island.

Defeat And Destroy

The Second Battle of Saltville was fought December 20^th and 21^st 1864 near the town of Saltville, Virginia.

The Union tried once in October 1863 to destroy the saltworks at Saltville, Virginia, but was defeated.  In early December 1864, Union General George Stoneman brought together a force of about 1,400 men, including a brigade commanded by Brigadier General Alvan C Gillem to try again.

The Union force began its advance on Saltville with a Confederate defeat at Marion, Virginia on December 18^th 1864.  At Saltville Confederate Colonel Robert Preston had 500 men, with a brigade of cavalry commanded by General Basil W Duke on its way.

The Union troops attacked on December 20^th 1864, with two columns joining up.  There was some determined skirmishing before the Union troops overwhelmed the Confederate defenses.  Preston had to order his men to retreat.  Stoneman’s men entered the town the next day and accomplished the objective by destroying the saltworks.

The Last Veteran

Walter Washington Williams who claimed to be the last living Confederate veteran died December 19^th 1859.

Walter Washington Williams was born in Itawamba County, Mississippi, he said in 1842.

Williams claimed to have served in Confederate General John Bell Hood’s brigade, beginning in 1864 as a forgemaster.  Research into his military service has never been proven, nor even has his age been verified.

When the war ended Williams moved to Texas, where he settled on a farm in Eaton, Texas.

When the rest of the “last Claimants” had died, Williams became celebrated as the “last Confederate veteran”.  Williams died December 19^th 1859 in Houston, Texas at the home of his daughter.  The chairman of the Civil War Centennial; Ulysses S Grant III, said the Williams death was an occasion for national mourning, which United States President Dwight D Eisenhower had declared.  He is buried in the Mount Pleasant Church Cemetery in New Baden, Robertson, Texas.  His name is listed on the “Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy” monument at the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Battlefield, with the inscription, “Walter Washington Williams -- who was recognized by the government of the United States as the last surviving Confederate veteran died 1959 at the age of 117 years."

A Compromise

Senator John Crittenden

The Crittenden Compromise was proposed on December 18^th 1860 by Kentucky United States Senator John J Crittenden as a way to resolve the growing secession crisis.

The Crittenden Compromise was introduced to the United States Congress by Kentucky Senator John J Crittenden on December 18^th 1860.  It was supposed to address the grievances of the slave states and resolve the growing secession crisis.  The Compromise suggested six constitutional amendments and four Congressional resolutions.  It promised permanents of slavery in the slave states, and suggested extending the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, guaranteeing slavery south of the 36° 30′ parallel.

The Compromise was praised by the Southern member of the United States Senate, but was opposed by the Republicans.  The Compromise would be tabled by both Houses of Congress on December 31^st 1860.

The proposed Crittenden Compromise that would have affected the constitution read:

“Slavery would be prohibited in any territory of the United States "now held, or hereafter acquired," north of latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes line. In territories south of this line, slavery of the African race was "hereby recognized" and could not be interfered with by Congress. Furthermore, property in African slaves was to be "protected by all the departments of the territorial government during its continuance." States would be admitted to the Union from any territory with or without slavery as their constitutions provided.

Congress was forbidden to abolish slavery in places under its jurisdiction within a slave state such as a military post.

Congress could not abolish slavery in the District of Columbia so long as it existed in the adjoining states of Virginia and Maryland and without the consent of the District's inhabitants. Compensation would be given to owners who refused consent to abolition.

Congress could not prohibit or interfere with the interstate slave trade.

Congress would provide full compensation to owners of rescued fugitive slaves. Congress was empowered to sue the county in which obstruction to the fugitive slave laws took place to recover payment; the county, in turn, could sue "the wrong doers or rescuers" who prevented the return of the fugitive.

No future amendment of the Constitution could change these amendments or authorize or empower Congress to interfere with slavery within any slave state.

Congressional resolutions:

That fugitive slave laws were constitutional and should be faithfully observed and executed.

That all state laws which impeded the operation of fugitive slave laws, the so-called "Personal liberty laws," were unconstitutional and should be repealed.

That the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 should be amended (and rendered less objectionable to the North) by equalizing the fee schedule for returning or releasing alleged fugitives and limiting the powers of marshals to summon citizens to aid in their capture.

That laws for the suppression of the African slave trade should be effectively and thoroughly executed.

Voted Unanimously

The only South Carolina convention to vote unanimously for secession was held December 17^th 1860 at the First Baptist Church of Columbia, South Carolina.

The First Baptist Church of Columbia, South Carolina was organized in 1809, with a building on Sumter Street.  The current church was built in 1856 with funding from the former president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; James P Boyce.

In 1860, following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, the Church became the site of the first South Carolina state convention to discuss secession.  The meeting was called to order by chairman D F Jamison with delegates who had been selected a month early.  They left with a unanimous vote of 159 to 0 in favor of South Carolina seceding from the Union on December 17^th 1860.

The convention at the Church in Columbia lasted only one day do to an outbreak of smallpox.  The South Carolina Order of Secession wasn’t signed until delegates reconvened in Charleston, South Carolina on December 20^th 1860.