The Political Price of Loyalty in 1861
A fiery exchange between the Territorial Surveyor General and the local press highlights the intense suspicion of secessionist sympathizers in Washington Territory.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
We copy from the San Francisco Bulletin of Sept. 19th, 1861, the following card from late Surveyor General Tilton: 'Office Surveyor General for Washington Territory, Olympia, Sept. 8, 1861. Editor S. F. Bulletin: I have had my attention called to a letter dated Olympia, W. T., August 17th, purporting to give the current news of the Territory, signed 'Dymas,' and published in your issue of the 21st Aug. I find myself referred to in this letter as 'Secessionist and Traitor.' These are terms in no degree applicable to me. It is perhaps proper for me to state to those of my friends outside of Washington Territory that, although no supporter of Mr. Lincoln's Administration, but a Democrat, now and ever, I am neither of a seceded State, nor do I cease to deplore the wrecked Union. On this anniversary of the bloodiest battle of the valley of Mexico—Molino del Rey—where I fought under the flag of the Union, I feel most indignant and outraged that an anonymous writer should dare brand as traitor one who has long and honorably served the Republic.' The Standard replies: 'We would be pleased to believe that Mr. Tilton had been unjustly charged with secession sympathies, but he will not deny that he had in his employ those who had openly acknowledged themselves secessionists... We must be excused from recognizing Mr. Tilton as a reliable Union man until he explains this palpable contradiction.'
“We must be excused from recognizing Mr. Tilton as a reliable Union man until he explains this palpable contradiction.”
The demand for 'unconditional' loyalty during the Civil War creates an eerie parallel to modern political polarization, where neutrality is often viewed as a betrayal. In 1861, just as today, the definition of civic duty was being renegotiated in the face of national fracture.
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