Volume 14 , Issue 8

To the Young Men of East Tennessee (4 Dec. 1862)

We found this article in The Nashville Daily Union, dated Thursday, 4 December 1862 on the front page, that speaks "To the Young Men of East Tennessee" and their patriotic duty to join the Federal Union Army to fight in the Civil War. Was your ancestor one of these East Tennessee Young men?

Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 2, 1862 - "The reasons that prompt me to address you, will appear in the reading of this card. Our section of the State has assumed a position in the progress of the present civil war that makes it the pride and boast of true patriots everywhere; and especially do the loyal of our own native mountains feel proud that they were born and raised, and can of right, claim to be citizens of patriotic, Union-loving East Tennessee.

"The most momentous issue ever presented to the world, save one, is now before the American people! They are acting upon it in the course of this terrible civil struggle! Section is arrayed against section; in many instances households are divided! The nature of the stubble is such that no one can be indifferent. All have a preference. The choice made by the great body of the people of our part of the State was a wise one. They chose to adhere to the Government given them by the Divine guidance of their fathers. For their devotion to this Government, they have been forced to submit to wrongs and outrages, the extent of which may be imagined, but neither tongue, pen nor pencil can portray. Once they roamed as free as the God of Liberty created them! But now they are attempted to be made slaves by a military despotism, to a little circumscribed, joint-snake, cotton Confederacy, presided over by the evil genius of Jeff. Davis, the chief of modern thieves!

"The treatment our people have received at the hands of this counterfeit Government need not be dwelt upon. You have experienced something of its cruelties. The world knows its excessive wickedness, and thousands have treasured up its wrongs. Heaven has scarce reserved in store a shaft of punishment sufficient to avenge the wrongs inflicted upon our people. All this being fact, and not fancy, it is but just to suppose that, after this state of things shall have passed away, and the military power of the great Southern mob that now rules over our friends with bloody hands, shall be crushed and destroyed, as it certainly will, the people, with one accord, will hold us all responsible for the part we took in accomplishing this most desirable result, the consequence of which was their emancipation from the most infernal bondage ever known since civilization first dawned!

"It is our duty; it is the duty of every East Tennesseean, to contribute all his energies to the redemption of his home, and friends there. If he is a young man, able-bodied, he should not hesitate a moment, but join the army at once. Especially should he enter the service, when he has been driven from home by that infernal despotism that has usurped authority in the South!

"Young man: you who have fled through the defiles of the mountains, and stole your way over craggy bluffs, to avoid the hellish grasp of usurpers and tyrants, it is your duty to join the Federal army! If you would be respected hereafter, hasten to enroll (sic) your name, and buckle on the armor of the patriot soldier! What! A Refugee? Driven from home! Exiled! And not willing to help fight your way back? Think of it! And for your own and your country's sake, enter the army without further delay. If you are young, and able to stand the service, it is certainly your first duty, and future generations will tell you so! don't come into the Federal lines, and keep up an eternal cry about forward moves, unless you first take upon yourselves the duty and obligation of soldiers! There are a great number of young men, from different portions of the South, now in the Federal lines, idling away their time, meditating, I presume, when they will return home and boast how We crushed the rebellion!

"Now, gentle reader, I have not written a single word to offend any one, and God forbid that I should! I desire, after this war shall have ended, that every man who has remained loyal to the Union may receive the homage due a patriot, and particularly do I desire the loyal men of East Tennessee to be honored and respected. And young men who are driven from all that is dear to them in life, and fail to aid in rescuing that precious lost can only hope for the opprobrium of the upright and frowns of the thinking portion of their patriotic fellow citizens.

"I have assumed to address you, young men, upon this important subject, because I feel that I am on of yu! I belong to that class who have just entered upon the voyage of manhood, and it is my purpose to stimulate those who are to be my companions in life to such a course of at ion as will reflect hour upon themselves and posterity. Very Respectfully, Your True Friend, L. C. Houk, Co. 3d Reg't E. Tenn. Vols. USA"   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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