PA Governor Andrew G. Curtin
History's Headlines: The Civil War comes to Schuylkill County
Frank Whelan (CWRT Board Member)
Jan 29, 2022
It was 1862 and Andrew G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania, was not having a good year. Still retaining at 45 his tousled hair, strong gazing eyes, clean-shaven good looks, and slightly cleft chin, he appeared the picture of health and determination. In truth, however, Curtin was frustrated. Trying to organize his state for the massive task of coordinating its contribution to the Union cause in this second year of the Civil War, he, like his friend President Abraham Lincoln, had decided that the only way to defeat the South and save the Union was with a total war. Even the replacement as Secretary of War of Curtin’s political rival Simon Cameron with Edwin M. Stanton had led to only a momentary respite. And now the new conscription law drafting young men into the army, designed to provide the armed force what it needed to accomplish the goal, was being undermined by the restive Irish population in his own state, primarily in the coal regions of Schuylkill County.
On October 23rd, hearing that the draft enumerators were being assaulted, Curtin quickly telegraphed Stanton from Harrisburg:
“Notwithstanding the usual exaggerations, I think the organization to resist the draft in Schuylkill, Luzerne, and Carbon Counties is very formidable. There are several thousands in arms, and the people who will not join have been driven from the county. They will not permit the drafted men who are willing, to leave, and yesterday forced them to get out of the (railroad) cars. I wish to crush the resistance so effectually that the like will not occur again. One thousand regulars would be efficient, and I suggest that one regiment be ordered from the army…Let me hear immediately.”
Stanton’s reply was swift but not what Curtin wanted to hear. Yes, he certainly had the right to use federal troops, but alas there were none to give him. General Wood in Baltimore had none to spare. Unsatisfied with this response Curtin, over the next several days, bombarded Washington with telegrams. When Curtin heard back from Stanton he promised troops, but they would not amount to 1,000. Some cavalry and an additional regiment with some combat experience would have to do. When General Wood came up from Baltimore to Harrisburg, he took some action by ordering some artillery with ammunition. Some volunteer regiment on the North Central Railroad, “would be subject to his call at any moment.”
Looking back on them today these events in the Pennsylvania coal regions seem a very small part of the Civil War. But they reflect the social and economic changes in the country that sometimes led to violent political debate and bloodshed. Historian Grace Palladino’s book on the anthracite coal regions from 1840 to 1868, called it another Civil War. The question of Irish immigration was at the heart of the…