Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 2016 "Or this whole affair is a failure": a special treasury agent's observations of the Port Royal Experiment, Port Royal, South Carolina, April to May, 1862 Michael Edward Scott Emett memett@email.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://mds.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Emett, Michael Edward Scott, ""Or this whole affair is a failure": a special treasury agent's observations of the Port Royal Experiment, Port Royal, South Carolina, April to May, 1862" (2016). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones.edu/etd/1028 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact zhangj@marshall.edu, beachgr@marshall.
“OR THIS WHOLE AFFAIR IS A FAILURE”: A SPECIAL TREASURY AGENT’S OBSERVATIONS OF THE PORT ROYAL EXPERIMENT, PORT ROYAL, SOUTH CAROLINA, APRIL TO MAY, 1862 A thesis submitted to The Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Michael Edward Scott Emett Approved by Dr. Michael Woods, Committee Chairperson Dr. Robert Deal Dr. Tyler Parry Marshall University July 2016 APPROVAL OF THESIS We, the faculty supervising the work of Michael Edward Scott Emett, affirm that the thesis, "Or This Whole ffiir Is A Failure": A Special Treasury Agent's Observations of the Port Royal Experiment, Port Royal, South Carolins, April to May, 1865, meets dre high academic standards for original scholarship and creative work established by the Masters of History Program and the College of Liberal Arts.
This work also conforms to the editorial standards of our discipline and the Graduate College of Marshall University. With our signatures, we approve the manuscrrpt for publication. m "(ffirrrisrory commit& @so* July, 8,2016 e/b{,1>4 Dr. Robert Deal, Deparfrrent of History Commi,ttee }vftflnbgr July 8,2016 7r4/ry Dr.
Tyler Pa{,Dryarfinent of African American Studies (California SUS Udvetsity, Fullerton) Committee Momber Jtrly 8,2016 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I must thank my father for his influence and passing down the gene that causes one to fall in love with all things history. His work as a teacher and preserver of history, his favorite hobby of reenacting, and quite simply being my buddy in crime as we travel around the United States visiting battlefields and homes have all molded me and guided me this path I have taken. Most significantly, had he not seen the value of these papers left in a dusty old trunk, this thesis would never have happened. Next, I want thank the patient faculty members of Marshall University’s History Department.
Coming into the department as a student of politics and as a Westerner, I was in need of a lot of help to be acclimated to the world of trained historians and humidity. Of the faculty, specific and profound thanks go to Dr. Michael Woods, my advisor. He has been most profound in guiding me with these unpublished papers of mine as to what kind of thesis can come from them, his patience as I emailed him repeatedly every day and early in the morning for help, and a listening ear ready as I vented in his office.
Without him, I may have ended my stint at Marshall prematurely. The last and best acknowledgments go to my small family. My wife Stacy halted her Masters work so I could fulfill mine. She was my sounding board and shoulder to cry on when at home.
She was a single mother while I was in class and at home hiding to get all my reading, research and writing down. She has been my cheerleader and my taskmaster for two years. She even gave up more time to work while being a mother so that we can have the funds to stay at Marshall. Without Stacy’s love and support, I would have been a starving, exhausted, and panic stricken man.
As for my kids, Michael and Abigail: Thank you! You two have been ever so patient and understanding as I was glued to the computer or a book and could not play with you as often as I wanted to. You were caring enough to give me hugs and kisses when I was flustered. Whenever I felt down and out, you two would iii come my way and make me happy and confident. I did all this for you two and you have been worth the sacrifices! Thank you Stacy, Michael, and Abigail for your love, smiles, and support as Daddy sought to fulfill a dream of his.
We did it! iv CONTENTS Abstract------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------viii Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Historiography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 Comparison: The Red River Campaign and George S. Denison--------------------12 Comparison: New Orleans----------------------------------------------------------------16 Comparison: The Davis Bend Experiment---------------------------------------------19 Organization of Thesis and Conclusion-------------------------------------------------23 Chapter 1------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25 The Battle of Port Royal Sound and the Origins of the Port Royal Experiment-----------25 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------25 The Battle of Port Royal Sound----------------------------------------------------------26 Forming an Experiment-------------------------------------------------------------------33 The Experiment Begins-------------------------------------------------------------------43 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------44 Chapter 2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------45 The Life of Special Treasury Agent James Severance Before He Arrived at the South Carolina Sea Islands-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------45 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------45 Biography of James Severance----------------------------------------------------------46 James Severance: Special Treasury Agent---------------------------------------------53 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------59 Chapter 3------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------61 April 1862--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------61 v Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------61 Severance’s First Days--------------------------------------------------------------------61 From Frustration to Resistance to Mutiny?--------------------------------------------67 Trying to Repair Broken Promises------------------------------------------------------75 New Sites, Cotton, and Defense---------------------------------------------------------78 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------81 Chapter 4------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------82 May 1862, Part One--------------------------------------------------------------------------------82 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------82 The Needs of the Experiment------------------------------------------------------------84 Enforcement of Cotton Production------------------------------------------------------86 Black Enlistment: The Early Days------------------------------------------------------92 Fear of Confederate Attack---------------------------------------------------------------95 Coming Changes for the Experiment---------------------------------------------------98 The Lost Hopes and Damnations Expressed by Special Treasury Agents-------103 More Trouble Brewing------------------------------------------------------------------109 Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------110 Chapter 5----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------112 May 1862, Part Two------------------------------------------------------------------------------112 Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------112 Origins of Hunter’s Enlistment---------------------------------------------------------113 Hunter’s Enlistment as recorded by Published Sources-----------------------------116 Hunter’s Enlistment as recorded by James Severance------------------------------123 vi Severance’s Wishes for the Experiment and its Fate--------------------------------129 The Coming of General Rufus Saxton and Hopes for his Arrival-----------------132 Severance Enters Superintendent Work-----------------------------------------------135 The Planter Affair------------------------------------------------------------------------138 The End of May--------------------------------------------------------------------------140 Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------143 Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------144 Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------144 The Experiment and Severance Fromm June 1862 to August 1865---------------145 Post-war Biography of James Severance----------------------------------------------159 Severance on the Experiment after the War------------------------------------------166 References---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------170 Appendix A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------175 vii ABSTRACT This thesis covers two critical months (April and May, 1862) during the Port Royal Experiment, which took place during the Civil War in the Sea Islands of South Carolina. This abolitionist- influenced experiment has been enriched by numerous primary sources from a range of people: military officials, General Superintendents of the Treasury, abolitionists and educators. However, this topic has been missing one important source: Special Treasury Agents.
These men implemented the orders of various groups involved with the Experiment. The unpublished papers of one such agent, James Severance, provides a new depth in Port Royal analysis. This firsthand account shows the results of conflicting orders among the ex-slaves and the Agents themselves, something not accounted for from previous historians. The Agents were exhausting and vilifying themselves by associating themselves to antebellum slave drivers, which led some to want to leave the Experiment.
At the same time the ex-slaves resisted efforts by these groups to plant cotton and wanted consistency as to whether they were free or not. They were told they were free, but were both told later they really were not free and treated poorly in a pseudo-slavery condition brought by the Union occupation of the Sea Islands. Tragically, they also reveal that the Experiment was on the road to what could be a violent pre-mature conclusion within a couple of months after it began if drastic changes did not take place and fast. Fortunately, the Experiment did not fail because changes as consolidating management.
Emphasis on cotton lessened, and the Emancipation Proclamation officially made the Sea Islands slaves freemen took place quickly. However, James Severance is the only primary source to reveal such a reality in the 1862. viii INTRODUCTION On April 12, 1862, Cleveland-born, Boston-raised, Special Treasury Agent James Severance sailed onboard the Oriental with other Agents and abolitionists from Boston and New York. They sailed towards their new home and workstation of Beaufort, South Carolina.
Located amongst the Sea Islands of the South Carolina Lowcountry just north of the Georgia border, these islands were occupied by a joint Federal Navy-Army force on November 7, 1861. On this April day, Severance found himself observing Charleston Harbor and wrote that, “the centre (sic) is occupied by the old Fort Sumter-just one year ago today was the attack on this fort and today the rebel rag can be seen with a glass, floating over it.” “Little did I think, a year ago, now to be off this very place, and who then thought the [Confederates] would now hold this position unmolested!”1 Sailing on, Severance arrived and landed in Beaufort on the 14th day of April, where he would participate in the abolition-driven, yet Treasury and War Department-run Port Royal Experiment. As he was assigned to work under both the Treasury and military, this man from an abolitionist family would record not just his work or his thoughts while assigned, but also of others during the Experiment which lasted from 1862 to1865. This Experiment started after the Union occupation of the Sea Islands that took from November 1861 to February 1862 to complete.
The Federal government was left with over 10,000 slaves and recently planted cotton to deal with. So, it sought a way to continue the planting of cotton and prepare these slaves for citizenship. What we know today about this Experiment was that it was imperfect, but the best effort given towards enfranchising, educating, and making wage laborers of ex-slaves. This would be applied to postwar Reconstruction when the Southern states, once defeated, would be transformed to function as the Northern States; 1 James S.
Severance Family Papers. Private Collection, Shepherd, MT. namely having enfranchised male voters, both black and white, the system of wage labor established, and free men making up the society for each state. The literature and research into the Experiment relied on the manuscripts of the educator-abolitionists, or “Gideonites” and the heads of the military and Treasury garrisoned in the Sea Islands.
What has been missing are the recordings of James Severance and other Special Treasury Agents who had to carry out the orders of the military and Treasury. These Agents also had the most direct contact, along with the Gideonites, with the black populace. Severance’s privately held and unpublished papers reveal a time, specifically during the months of April and May 1862, where the Experiment could have floundered and the hopes of both whites and blacks would be dashed. The Special Treasury Agents, via Severance’s words, reveal that they worried the Experiment would fail if the ex-slave population was not treated as the freedpeople they had been told they now were, if the government persisted in the cotton trade, and if the military did not change its recruiting tactics.
Severance anticipated that if these changes were not made, the local blacks would resist any effort made by the Union in Port Royal and never trust the Union officials again. Although historians argue these same conclusions, as will be seen below in more detail, they look at those published primary sources we do have from the top-down lens in terms of management. Meaning, most, it not all, of their primary sources come from those giving orders. In their studies we read from the words of Superintendents and Supervisors such as Edward Pierce and Edward Philbrick and of military leaders such as Major General David Hunter.