California in the Civil War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
| History of California |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Among the states, remote California played the least role in the American Civil War. It provided few troops or supplies, but its gold shipments were quite helpful to stabilizing the Union economy. Republican supporters of Lincoln took control of the state in 1861, minimizing the influence of the large southern population. The great success was in obtaining a Pacific railroad land grant and authorization to build the Central Pacific as the western half of the transcontinental railroad. California was settled primarily by Midwestern and Southern farmers, miners and businessmen. The southerners tended to favor the Confederacy, the state did not have slavery, and they were generally powerless during the war itself. California was home for powerful capitalists who played a significant role in Californian politics through their control of mines, shipping, and finance, and the Republican party. Plans were underway to split the state north and south, but the national government would not approve, and the idea was dead by 1861 when a fervor of patriotism swept California after the attack on Fort Sumter.
California's involvement in the war included recruiting or funding a limited number of combat units, maintaining numerous fortifications, and sending east some of the war's most famous generals. It was also plagued by bandit gangs looking for gold shipments that some people have likened to guerrilla warfare skirmishes.
[edit] From Statehood to the Civil War
When California was admitted as a state in 1850, Californians had already decided it was to be a free state--the constitutional convention of 1849 unanimously abolished slavery. As a result, Southerners in Congress voted against admission in 1850 while Northerners pushed it through, pointing to its population of 93,000 and its vast wealth in gold. Northern California, which was dominated by mining, shipping, and commercial elites of San Francisco, favored becoming a state. However, some people in lightly populated, rural Southern California wanted territorial status, or at least separation from Northern California.
In 1860 California gave a small plurality of 734 votes 32% to Abraham Lincoln, whose 32% of the total vote was enough to win all its electoral votes; 68% voted for the other three candidates.
| 1860 Presidential Candidate | Party | Popular Vote | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln | Republican | 38,733 | 32.3 |
| Stephen A. Douglas | Northern Democrat | 37,999 | 31.7 |
| John C. Breckinridge | Southern Democrat | 33,969 | 28.3 |
| John Bell | Constitutional Union | 9,111 | 7.6 |
Confederate designs on Arizona Territory prompted fears that southern California might also try to join the Confederacy. This became impossible when pro-Union military units were formed. Several units of volunteers were sworn in under the supervision of public officials such as sheriffs and judges, most notably in Los Angeles and San Diego counties in the south, and Sonoma County in the north. Most famous among these were the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, which included more than a few Californios. These were pro-Union forces. A few pro-Confederates made it across the desert into the Confederate Territory of Arizona, including the California Greys and the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles—who disbanded when they reached their goal of the Arizona Territorial capital of Mesilla (now in New Mexico).
[edit] Outbreak of the Civil War
At the time of the war's outbreak, Federal troops were under the command of Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Albert Sidney Johnston, headquartered at the Department of the Pacific in Benicia. General Johnston strongly believed that the South represented the cause of freedom, and traditional American democracy of popular sovereignty. The majority of Southern sympathizers in the state made plans to secede with Oregon to form a "Pacific Republic." Their plans rested on the cooperation of General Johnston. Johnston understood this, and met with the men, but he declined. He said he had sworn an oath to defend the Union, and although he believed that Lincoln had violated and destroyed the Constitution holding the Union together, he would not go against his word. Thus the plans for California to secede from the United States never came to fruition. Johnston soon resigned his commission and joined the fight in the east as a general with the Confederacy. The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles escorted him across the desert, crossing the Colorado River on July 4, 1861. Like other units leaving California for the Confederacy, the volunteers joined up principally with Texas regiments. General Johnston was later killed at the Battle of Shiloh.
Thereafter, the first Republican governor of California was elected, Leland Stanford, a powerful capitalist from the Northeast, on September 4, 1861.
| 1861 Gubernatorial Candidate | Party | Popular Vote | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leland Stanford | Republican | 56,056 | 46.4 |
| John R. McConnell | Southern Democrat | 33,750 | 28.0 |
| John Conness | Northern Democrat | 30,944 | 25.6 |
Lincoln won the 1864 election with almost 59% in California.
| 1864 Presidential Candidate | Party | Popular Vote | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln | Republican | 62,053 | 58.6 |
| George B. McClellan | Northern Democrat | 43,837 | 41.4 |
Eighty-eight battles of various sizes were fought in California, many of them against outlaws trying to capture gold for their own benefit. (No captured gold was sent to the Confederacy.) Most of the fights were guerrilla battles, or in the terminology of the day, battles with "partisan rangers." Indeed, a few men left the guerrillas under the command of the ruthless school teacher, William Quantrill, in Missouri, and came to California to train supporters there. One partisan warrior, Dan Showalter, once robbed a stagecoach of all its gold, leaving a receipt behind with the driver to keep him out of trouble with his bosses. The westernmost attack related to the Civil War occurred just outside downtown San Jose. A bronze historical plaque marking the site identifies it as a battle with "outlaws," rather than a battle of the American Civil War.
[edit] Civil War Era forts
At this time, the U.S. had a number of military forts to defend against the Indian threat, and to solidify the U.S. claim to the state.
New forts were founded to protect ports, defend against the Indians, and to hold Confederate soldiers and sympathizers, such as the Drum Barracks, in San Pedro Bay [1] and at Two Harbors on Catalina Island.
The coastal fortifications of San Pedro, and the San Diego and San Francisco Bays were also important. San Pedro was protected by the Drum Barracks. In San Francisco, Fort Point was built at the edge of the Presidio, as well as Fort Baker on the Marin Headlands. The San Francisco Bay was also protected by the Navy at Mare Island, the Benicia Arsenal, Fort Mason with the posts at San Francisco's Point San Jose, and Fort McDowell on Angel Island.
Some forts were bereft of troops who were sent east to the war, such as Fort Tejon, which lies in the Tejon Pass, protecting San Joaquin Valley from the south and east. Fort Tejon is now the site of Civil War reenactments of battles of the east by descendants of the North and South.
There was Fort Miller in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in Fresno County; Los Angeles had Fort Moore; San Diego County had Camp Wright; and Camp Babbitt outside the town of Visalia, in Tulare County.
One Civil War-era fort, Post of Alcatraz Island or Fort Alcatraz, on a rocky island just inside the Golden Gate, later became an infamous Federal penitentiary, Alcatraz. Fort Humboldt, established to assist maintain peace between the Native Americans and new settlers was briefly commanded by Ulysses S. Grant prior to the war.
[edit] US military units in California during the Civil War
Due to its location, the state's local militia companies remained under state status because of the great number of Southern sympathizers, the Indian threat, and possible foreign attack. A number of state militias disbanded and went east. Therefore, the state dispensed with the usual military practice of mustering militia companies into regiments. Volunteers maintained military posts vacated by the regular army units that were ordered east. Several companies did offer their services and were accepted by the Union Army.
In 1862, five companies of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry (also known as The California 100 and the California Cavalry Battalion) were enrolled and mustered into service in California. They left San Francisco by sea for service on the east. The California Battalion consisted of Companies A, C, F, L, and M. They participated in 51 battles, campaigns, and skirmishes.
California U.S. Senator Edward D. Baker raised a regiment of men on the East Coast. These former Californians and others were generally known as the "California Regiment," but later designated the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry. Col. Roderick N. Matheson was the leader of the 32nd New York Infantry, also known as the 1st California Regiment.
In October 1861, Colonel Baker was authorized to increase his command to a brigade. The additional regiments were commanded by Colonels Joshua T. Owen, Dewitt Clinton Baxter, and Turner G. Morehead, all from Philadelphia, respectively designated the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th California Regiments. The 4th California Regiment, as planned, was composed of artillery and cavalry. These troops were soon detached. After Baker was killed in the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Pennsylvania claimed these four infantry regiments as a part of its quota, and they became known as the "Philadelphia Brigade" of Pennsylvania Volunteers. They were initially commanded by Brig. Gen. William W. Burns and first served in John Sedgwick's Division of the II Corps, Army of the Potomac. They had a distinguished service career, highlighted by their actions at the Battle of Antietam and their prominent position in the defense against Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.
The units recruited inside California included two full regiments and one battalion of cavalry, eight full regiments of infantry, and one battalion of infantry called mountaineers. The California Troops, known as the California Column, were under the command of General James H. Carleton and were composed of the 1st Regiment of Cavalry, 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry, and the 1st, 5th and 7th Infantry Regiments, which served in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
The 2nd Regiment of Cavalry and the 3rd Regiment of Infantry under P. Edward Connor kept the overland route to California open. The 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th Infantry Regiments and 1st Battalion of Mountaineers provided internal security in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington by preventing Indian attacks. The First Regiment, Washington Territory Infantry Volunteers, had eight companies that were recruited in California.
[edit] California Civil War regiments
- 2nd Regiment of Cavalry, Massachusetts Volunteers
- 32nd Regiment of New York Volunteers
- 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers
[edit] California volunteer regiments
- 1st Battalion of Mountaineers
- 1st Battalion of Native Cavalry
- 1st Regiment of Cavalry
- 1st Regiment of Infantry
- 2nd Regiment of Cavalry
- 2nd Regiment of Infantry
- 3rd Regiment of Infantry
- 4th Regiment of Infantry
- 5th Regiment of Infantry
- 6th Regiment of Infantry
- 7th Regiment of Infantry
- 8th Regiment of Infantry
[edit] California Civil War militia units
- Auburn Greys
- Coloma Greys
- Gibsonville Blues
- Los Angeles Mounted Rifles
- National Guard, Downieville
- Nevada Rifles
- Oroville Guard
- Petaluma Guard
- Plumas Rangers
- Sierra Greys
- Stockton Blues
[edit] Californians in the Civil War
- Edward Dickinson Baker
- Edward Fitzgerald Beale
- James Henry Carleton
- Patrick Edward Connor
- Antonio Maria de la Guerra
- John Charles Frémont
- Henry Wager Halleck
- Winfield Scott Hancock
- Joseph Hooker
- Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
- Roderick N. Matheson
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord
- William Starke Rosecrans
- William Tecumseh Sherman
- George Stoneman
- Joseph Rodman West
[edit] The Navy and the Civil War
[edit] References
- Fischer, LeRoy H. (Editor) (1977). The Western Territories in the Civil War. Sunflower University Press.
- Fischer, LeRoy H.(Editor) (1981). Civil War Battles in the West. Sunflower University Press.
- Hunt, Aurora (1951). Army of the Pacific. Arthur Clark Company.
- Hunt, Aurora (1958). Western Frontier Dragoon. Arthur Clark Company.
- Lash, Gary (2001). Duty Well Done: Edward D. Baker's California Regiment (71st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry). Butternut and Blue.
- McLean, James (2000). California Sabers. Indiana University Press.
- Orton, Brigadier General Richard H. (1890). The Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion. Adjutant-General of California.
- Strobridge, William F. (1994). Regulars in the Redwoods, The U.S. Army in Northern California, 1852-1861. Arthur Clark Company.
- Talbott, Laurence F. (1998). California in the War for Southern Independence. Hale & Co., Los Angeles, CA.
- (1865) Official Army Register of Volunteer Force of U.S. Army for Years 1861-1865. (8 parts). Part 7 - Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Kansas, Oregon, Nevada Listing of military units, with officers by rank or position; and individual deaths, promotions, transfers, desertions, missing personnel, discharges; battles; enlisted men who received medals of honor. Alphabetical index in back.. United States, War Department. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- (1978) Personal Name Index to the Records of California Men in the War of the rebellion, 1861 to 1867. Gale Research Co., Detroit, MI.
- "The J.P. Gillis Flag, or the 'Biderman' Flag of California" article from the August 27, 2002 issue of The Vidette, the newsletter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, California Division.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- California Military Museum
- Snakes in the Grass: Copperheads in Contra Costa?
- San Diego in the Civil War
- Copperheads, Secesh Men, and Confederate Guerillas
- San Francisco in the Civil War
[edit] Notes
- ↑ Johannsen, Robert W. . Lincoln, the South, and Slavery: The Political Dimension, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991).
- ↑ Popular vote in 1860
- ↑ California State Museum
- ↑ U.S. Genealogy Network
- ↑ Popular vote in 1864
[edit] Further reading
- Carson, James F. "California: Gold to Help Finance the War." Journal of the West 1975 14(1): 25-41. Issn: 0022-5169
- Chandler, Robert J. "California's 1863 Loyalty Oaths: Another Look." Arizona and the West 1979 21(3): 215-234. Issn: 0004-1408. Republicans and Free Soil (Douglas) Democrats formed a Unionist coalition in California in 1862 to counter the pro-Southern (Breckinridge) Democrats who defended state sovereignty and white supremacy and had controlled the state government for a decade. The next year the Unionists forced a loyalty oath statute through the legislature. It required all attorneys in the state's courts and plaintiffs in civil cases to support the government of the United States. For five years, this political weapon weakened the role of Breckinridge Democrats in state politics. They also tarnished the image of the Democratic Party in the state.
- Chandler, Robert J. "Fighting Words: Censoring Civil War Journalism in California." California Territorial Quarterly 2002 (51): 4-17. Issn: 1080-7594 Reports the Republican Party dominated the state government and used its power to censor or suppress newspapers favoring the Democratic or pro-South viewpoint. By the end of the war two-thirds of the Democratic papers were out of business due to government repression, canceled subscriptions, and lack of advertising.
- Colwell, Wayne. "The California Hundred." Pacific Historian 1969 13(3): 63-75. Issn: 0030-8676. Owing to political divisions at the time of the Civil War and to the limited transportation facilities for moving troops great distances, the Lincoln administration did not request California troops for Eastern battlefields but instead called for volunteers to replace regular troops stationed at western garrisons. Unhappy at being denied the opportunity for fame and glory, a group of San Francisco residents arranged with the governor of Massachusetts to raise a cavalry company of 100 men in California to be credited to the Massachusetts quota. Commanded by J. Sewell Reed, the Californians first took to the field near Yorktown, Virginia. From July 1863 to July 1864 the California Hundred engaged in numerous skirmishes with John S. Mosby's Confederate guerrillas. They also participated in battles in the Shenandoah Valley. of the original three officers and 101 enlisted men, 40 were present the day the company disbanded. About 12 had died, others were discharged because of sickness or wounds or were transferred to other units, and 10 deserted, a greater desertion rate than from any other Massachusetts regiment. Nevertheless, Mosby later declared that the Californians had been his most formidable opponents.
- Crandell, John. "Winfield Hancock and His Grievous Angels - Revisited" Southern California Quarterly (1997) 79(1): 1-28. Issn: 0038-3929. : Describes the actions of a number of people who left Los Angeles at the start of the Civil War to join the Union or Confederate armies. Winfield Scott Hancock fought for the North; Albert Sydney Johnston, Cameron Thom, Richard Garnett, and Lewis Armistead joined the Confederate Army. Hancock and Thom rose to political prominence after the war, the others were killed in battle.
- Edwards, G. Thomas. "Holding the Far West for the Union: the Army in 1861." Civil War History 1968 14(4): 307-324. Issn: 0009-8078; online in JSTOR. A review of military and political events in the Department of the Pacific (chiefly in California) from January through September 1861. General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-62), was in command in the early months. He ruled wisely and impartially, but was removed in late April because of his southern connections and rumors of disunionist plots. The principal mission of the new commander, General Edwin Vose Sumner (1797-1863), was to check the secessionist movement. Exploiting Unionist feelings, cowing the disunionists by a show of military power, yet carefully respecting the civil rights of all, Sumner successfully executed his assignment. The loyalty of the Far West was established without serious incident.
- Generous, Tom. "Over the River Jordan: California Volunteers in Utah During the Civil War." California History 1984 63(3): 200-211. Issn: 0162-2897. Describes the western campaigns of the California Volunteers under the command of Colonel Patrick Edward Connor during the Civil War. Although the Volunteers hoped to fight Confederates, their infantry regiment and five cavalry companies were assigned to patrol the overland mail route between St. Louis and Placerville. Connor hated Indians, and his forces were responsible for several Indian massacres, most notoriously at Bear River in January 1863. In their relations with the Mormons, Connor and his men had political rather than military confrontations, but tensions between the Volunteers and Brigham Young's people were almost constant. The nativism and prejudice of the Volunteers formed a bridge of hostility between the Know-Nothings of the 1840's and the imperialism and Jim Crow era of the 1890's.
- Gilbert, Benjamin F. "The Confederate Minority in California," California Historical Society Quarterly, (1941)
- Gilbert, Benjamin Franklin. "California and the Civil War." California Historical Society Quarterly 1961 40(4): 289-308. ISSN: 0008-1175. Annotated bibliography of works pertaining to the participation of Californians in the Civil War, 1860-65, under the headings: bibliography, loyalty, Confederate secret societies and sympathizers, civil liberties, political conditions, military operations, naval operations, Sanitary Commission, economic conditions, and archival and manuscript sources.
- Goldberg, Mitchell S. "Naval Operations of the United States Pacific Squadron in 1861." American Neptune 1973 33(1): 41-48, 49-51. Issn: 0003-0155. A review of eastern Pacific naval operations during the first year of the Civil War. Fleets and vessels stationed abroad were hurriedly called home to establish a blockade of the Confederacy, but not the eastern Pacific Fleet, which was needed for the sake of forestalling southern action along the poorly fortified west coast and for guarding the valuable shipments of gold bullion from California. Small, poorly equipped and maintained, the fleet did not fire its guns during 1861, but its very presence may have deterred hostile action
- Jaffee, Walter W. "Rebel Pirates and California Gold." Civil War Times Illustrated 1995 34(2): 48-50, 53-55. Issn: 0009-8094. Describes the 1862-63 efforts of Confederate sympathizers in San Francisco, led by Asbury Harpending, to steal federal gold shipments and recounts the subsequent capture of the Confederate pirates and their sentencing to Alcatraz.
- Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. (1991). The Civil War in the American West. Vintage Books,New York.
- Kibby, Leo P. "Some Aspects of California's Military Problems During the Civil War" Civil War History 1959 5(3): 251-262. Issn: 0009-8078 online at JSTOR. Examines the unique military problems of the State of California during the Civil War. Though the State was not assigned a quota, there were numerous volunteers for the Union cause. California soldiers did not participate in any of the major battles of the war, but were concerned with a variety of assignments, all in the West. These assignments included 1) guarding overland mail routes against Indian attacks; 2) suppressing minority elements which supported directly or indirectly the Confederate cause; 3) preventing Confederate forces from gaining a foothold in the western territories and in California, and 4) relieving Union regular troops stationed at western outposts so that they might be reassigned to active duty in the main theaters of the war.
- Langellier, John Phillip and Colwell, Wayne. "Cavaliers from California" Gateway Heritage 1984-1985 5(3): 16-21. Issn: 0198-9375. Few California recruits for Union armies served in separate California units during the Civil War. But one group, the "California 100," was permitted to retain its identity with the 2d Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry under its own commander, J. Sewell Reed. Four other companies of Californians later augmented the "California 100." These 500 cavalrymen provided horsemen's skills at a time when most Union Army recruits lacked such skills.
- Miller, Darlis A. The California Column in New Mexico. U. of New Mexico Pr., 1982. 318 pp. 2,350 men in the California Column marched east across Arizona in 1862 under the command of Colonel James H. Carleton to expel the Confederates from New Mexico. The Californians spent most of their time fighting hostile Indians and guarding the Southwest against a possible Confederate invasion.
- Monzingo, Robert. Thomas Starr King: Eminent Californian, Civil War Statesman, Unitarian Minister. Pacific Grove, Calif.: Boxwood, 1991. 251 pp. Thomas Starr King (1824-64) was a leader in the campaign to raise funds in California for the US Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. The Sanitary Commission was created to provide medical care for Northern wounded and to enforce hygiene practices in army camps. Reverend King, a Unitarian minister who came to California in 1860, strongly supported the Union in the Civil War and made the Sanitary Commission his personal cause, speaking in towns and mining camps throughout the state to raise money. California responded to King's humanitarian efforts by contributing more than one million of the four million dollars raised for the Sanitary Commission.
- Leonard Pitt and Ramon A. Gutierrez, Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890 (1999)
- Prezelski, Tom. "Lives of the Californio Lancers: the First Battalion of Native California Cavalry, 1863-1866" Journal of Arizona History (1999) 40(1): 29-52. Issn: 0021-9053. The First Battalion of Native California Cavalry was raised during the Civil War, modeled on romantic notions of Spanish vaquero lancers. Although the battalion did include some Californios from haciendas in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, it included diverse ethnic groups from northern California and was commanded by an Anglo. Before being sent to Fort Mason, Arizona, individual companies campaigned against Chimeheuvi, Hupe, and Wintun Indians. In Arizona, the battalion defended the border, confronted French imperial forces in northern Mexico, and protected the refugee Republican governor of Sonora. They tried to catch Cochise and other Mescaleros. The battalion mustered out at San Francisco's presidio in 1866.
- Rawls, J. and Bean, W. (1997). California: An Interpretive History. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. ISBN 0-07-052411-4.
- Rice, Richard B. et al, The Elusive Eden: A New History of California (1988)
- Robinson, John W. "A California Copperhead: Henry Hamilton and the Los Angeles Star." Arizona and the West 1981 23(3): 213-230. Issn: 0004-1408. Henry Hamilton (1826?-91) served as editor of the Los Angeles Star, 1856-68. An outspoken Confederate sympathizer and rabid slavery advocate, he used the Star as a platform to rally Southern Democrats and to violently denounce the Lincoln administration. He gloated over Confederate battlefield victories. He survived arrest and won election to the California legislature. Hamilton closely gauged the varying intensity of pro-Southern feeling in southern California during the Civil War.
- Shover, Michele. "John Bidwell: Civil War Politics, and the Indian Crisis of 1862." Dogtown Territorial Quarterly (2001) (46): 4-24, 34-37. Issn: 1080-7594. Examines the conflicts between supporters of the North and South in Butte County during the Civil War, centering on Chico pioneer John Bidwell and his political allies and enemies. Bidwell's memoirs and other recollections conflate two issues that inflamed residents of the region. One was the attack of Mill Creek Indians on settlers in 1862, prompting public debate and accusations that Bidwell, who employed Indians on his ranch, was hypocritical for supporting abolition. The other issue involved Union soldiers sent to Butte County and their intimidation of Southern sympathizers. Bidwell had been a Union Democrat but in 1864 switched to the Republican Party. Despite its isolation from Civil War battles, Butte settlers brought their homeland views to California, provoking hostile and at times violent actions against those who opposed them.
- Shutes, Milton H. Lincoln and California (1945)
- Stanley, Gerald. "Civil War Politics in California." Southern California Quarterly 1982 64(2): 115-132. Issn: 0038-3929. The state Republican Party changed its stance from opposition to abolition before the Civil War to endorsement of the Emancipation Proclamation and condemnation of slavery by the war's end. In 1860 little difference existed between Republicans and Democrats on race and slavery issues; Republicans argued that the central issue of the Civil War was to preserve the Union. Once the war began, however, Republicans found it politically expedient to justify emancipation as a military measure, and to condemn slavery on moral grounds and to insist that slavery must be ended to win the war. By 1864 Republicans and Democrats were sharply divided on the race issue. The Republican transformation thus mirrored Republican politics on the national scene.
- Stanley, Gerald. "Senator William Gwin: Moderate or Racist?" California Historical Quarterly 1971 50(3): 243-255. Issn: 0097-6059. Recent authors, revising earlier estimates of Gwin's political allegiances, have considered him a moderate in political and social issues surrounding slavery and the Civil War. Actually, Gwin was a political opportunist who brought his Mississippi sympathies with him to California. Gwin opposed the migration of free Negroes to California; his vote against a slavery provision for the 1849 State constitution was based less on principle than on political considerations. In the 1860 election, Gwin supported Breckinridge rather than Douglas, the regular Democratic candidate. His intrigues on behalf of the Confederacy and the institution of slavery during and after the Civil War belie the moderate image Gwin sought for himself in later life.
- Starr, Kevin H.; Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915 Oxford University Press, 1973
- Williams, David A. "California Democrats of 1860: Division, Disruption, Defeat." Southern California Quarterly 1973 55(3): 239-252. Issn: 0038-3929. Recounts California's participation in the 1860 Democratic National Convention. Heavily pro-slavery and anti-Stephen A. Douglas, California and Oregon supported the Southern states at the Charleston meeting. Although Douglas supporters were in the majority at the convention, they lacked the two-thirds vote necessary to put their candidate and platform across. On a number of key issues California voted on the side of the South, and after 57 ballots the deadlocked convention adjourned. When it met again in Baltimore 45 days later, California and the southern states walked out. The Baltimore convention went on to nominate Douglas, while California and the southern states nominated John C. Breckinridge at a rump convention in Richmond. In November California narrowly went for Lincoln and the Republicans.
- Wilson, John P. "From the Colorado to the Rio Grande: Across Arizona and New Mexico with the California Column." New Mexico Historical Review (2001) 76(3): 255-283. Issn: 0028-6206 Uses the letters of news correspondents to describe the activities of the California Column, which marched from California to New Mexico. Its goal was to block Confederates, who intended to capture New Mexico and California. In their letters to San Francisco newspapers, the correspondents provide more vivid accounts than might be found in official reports or diaries. They describe encounters with friendly Indians and skirmishes with hostile ones, the hardships of travel, the capture and escape of Union officers and men from the Confederates, poor food, and the retreat of the Confederates.
- Woolsey, Ronald C. "The Politics of a Lost Cause: 'Seceshers' and Democrats in Southern California During the Civil War." California History (1990-1991) 69(4): 372-383. Issn: 0162-2897. Describes the effect of the Civil War on Southern California Democrats. The war provoked sectional loyalties and a concern for wartime issues. Pro-Southern Democrats supported the Confederacy as was evidenced by voting patterns that rejected Republican candidates. Democratic newspaper editors editorialized against the Union or advocated peace as an alternative for the Union's war policy. By 1864, however, Democratic influence was on the decline as the Union won military victories and the state's Republicans captured statewide posts. California's wartime experience demonstrated the strong economic and political ties between state and Union that could not be broken by geographic distance or wartime loyalties.
- Woolsey, Ronald C. "Disunion or Dissent? A New Look at an Old Problem in Southern California Attitudes Toward the Civil War." Southern California Quarterly 1984 66(3): 185-205. ISSN: 0038-3929. Argues that Southern California's pro-South sympathies in the Civil War were due more to local political issues and regional problems than to a direct concern for such North-South issues as slavery and states' rights. Southern Californians objected to Lincoln administration policies that affected them financially, resented unfair taxation by the state legislature in which they were underrepresented, and experienced hardship because of disasters in the cattle industry. To them the Civil War was distant and expensive, and it thus provided a platform on which they could air their grievances.
