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Keep the heart young
never mind a gray hair
Keep the heart young,
and you’ll never despair;

Hopefull and glad let the old frame decay
Who cares for the shell when the jewels away?
Keep the heart young with full trust in God’s might.
To anchor you safely, but follow the right;

Keep the heart young and be merry and gay,
Give care to the winds and be jolly alway.
Keep the heart young , and be tender and true;
As loving to others as they are to you;

Keep the heart young, and don’t fly in a rage
If anyone mentions your mellow old age,
Keep the heart young, and let old Time appear,
He’ll glide on so gently, you’ll scarce feel him near;

A friend—and no foe—bringing peace and delight;
But keep the heart young , and you’ll always be right.

Collection: The Civil War
Publication: Vincennes Gazette
Date: October 5, 1861
Title: Keep the Heart Young
Location: Vincennes, Indiana

In Irving’s “Life of Washington we find the following extract from one of his letters:

“We are either a united people under one head and for federal purposes, or we are thirteen independent sovereignties, eternally counteracting each other. If the former, whatever such a majority of the States as the Constitution points our, conceives to be for the benefit of the whole, should, in my humble opinion, be submitted to by the minority. I can foresee no greater evil than disunion than those unreasonable jealousies which are continually poisoning our minds and filling them with imaginary evils for the prevention of real ones.”

George Washington

In another letter to Jay he says: “We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that men will not adopt and carry into execution measures the best calculated for their own good without the intervention of coercive power.”

Again, in a letter to Col. Henry Lee, in Congress, he writes: “You talk, my good sir, of employing influence to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts. I know not where that influence is to be found, or if attainable, that it would be a proper remedy for the disorder. Influence is not government. Let us have a government by which our lives, liberties and properties will be secured, or let us know the worst at once. There is call for decision. Know precisely what the insurgents aim at. If they have real grievances, redress them if possible. If they have not, employ the force of the government against them at once. Let the reins of government then be braced and held with a steady hand and every violation of the Constitution be reprehended. If it be defective, let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon whilst in existence”

In a letter to General Knox, he writes:  ”I feel my dear General Knox, infinitely more than I can express to you for the disorders which have arisen in these States. Good God, who besides a tory, could have foreseen, or a Briton predicted them? I do assure you that even at this moment, when I reflect upon the present prospect of our affairs, it seems to me like a vision or a dream.”

From the New York Evening Post

Source: Vincennes Gazette 1861-07-20
Collection: Civil War: Part IV: A Midwestern Perspective
Title: Washington’s Views on Disunion and Rebellion

The month of April, 1865, will be one of the most marked in human history. Here is a summary of its great and thrilling events:

April 1 – Gen. Sheridan attacks and routs the rebel forces at Five Forks, Va., capturing three brigades.

April 2 – Assault along the whole line in front of Petersburg. Generals Wright, Parker and Ord break through the rebel lines, and a brilliant victory is achieved. Twelve thousand prisoners and fifty pieces of artillery are taken.

April 1865

April 2 – News received of the burning of the steamer General Lyon, between Wilmington and Fortress Monroe, March 31. Four or five hundred soldiers perished.

April 3 – The Union forces under General Weitzel occupy Richmond, which, with Petersburg was evacuated by the Rebel forces. Great rejoicing all through the loyal States on account of the fall of Richmond.

April 4 – Fire in Brooklyn, New York. Several firemen killed.

April 6 – General Sheridan attacks and routs the forces of General Lee and drives them across Sailor Creek.

April 9 – Surrender of General Lee and his whole army to General Grant.

April 10 – Extraordinary rejoicing throughout the loyal States on account of the surrender of Lee and the end of the rebellion.

April 12 – Mobile occupied by the Union forces.

April 12 – General Stoneman occupies Saulsbury, N. C., after a series of victories, he having advanced upon that State from the west. Vast amount of military property captured with the town.

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Poetry was commonly found in 19th Century newspapers and magazines.  This poem was on the front page of the Vincennes Gazette on April 25, 1863 during the height of the Civil War.

The Vincennes Gazette for the years of 1855 to 1869 is contained within the Accessible Archives Civil War Collection.  This and other newspapers are the core of the Midwestern Perspective collection.

The War Song of the 3rd Brigade

The War Song of the 3d Brigade

Gen. Johnson’s Division - By “Hoosier“

Come! rally boys, rally!
Ye gallant and brave!
Fling out the blest banner
Our fore-fathers gave!
With the lay of the loyal, the shout of the true,
Come! rally around our old Red, White and Blue!
Uphold it!
Protect it!
Where’re you may be!
Unfurl it!
Watch o’er it!
Bright gem of the free!

CHORUS:
Bright banner! dear banner!
Float over the land;
For thee and our Country
United we stand!

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I was searching the Archives for a good story about Saint Patrick’s day celebrations in the 19th century when I came across a military/political movement I had never heard of before today.  Do you know who the Fenians were? I do… now.

The The Vincennes Weekly Western Sun had this to say on March 16, 1866:

St. Patrick’s Day – Tomorrow, the 17th, is St. Patrick’s Day. This is the event of the big scare in Canada, when it is expected that the Fenians will walk the streets of its cities.

Fenians, get your rifles ready;
Let your aim be sure and steady;
If we would win, we must begin
To get our men and rifles ready.

The rifle’s ring will freedom bring;
Tyrants never yield to trifles;
So let us try, this Present spring,
The virtue of true Fenian rifles.

This made me very curious as to who the Fenians were and why Canada would be afraid of them walking the streets.

John O' Mahony

The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish republican organization founded in the United States in 1858 by John O’Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Members were commonly known as “Fenians“. O’Mahony, who was a Celtic scholar, named his organization after the Fianna, the legendary band of Irish warriors led by Fionn mac Cumhaill (sometimes called Finn McCool).

The Fenian Brotherhood made attempts to run arms and fighters to Ireland but after being intercepted by the British, the Fenians started looking to other British holdings that would be easier targets and the main place that seemed a likely target was Canada.

The day after the item above ran, there was this report:

The Vincennes Times: Canada and the Fenians

They have heard that some Fenians intend spending St. Patrick’s day (today) with some of their Canadian brothers. So they are preparing to welcome them with bloody hands to hospitable graves. Already, we are told, thirty thousand troops are armed and ready to march to interrupt the time honored festivities of the friends of the good and revered St. Patrick . Parliament is called to assemble immediately, the writ of habeas corpus will be suspended and martial law will be proclaimed, while already Government has taken possession of the telegraph lines. These acts when committed by our Government during the late rebellion were, in their view, terrible outrages, but now—oh well, they are so badly scared that we cannot expect them to think about consistency.

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