A Sword for the Union
A Washington Territory lieutenant publicly accepts a ceremonial sword and pledges his loyalty to the Union cause.
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.
Fort Walla Walla, W. T., October 12, 1862. To Gov. Wm. Pickering, Hon. L. J. S. Turney, Hon. J. Cushman, Gen. W. W. W. Miller, Maj. Jas. Tilton, B. F. Kendall, Esq., Elwood Evans, Esq., Isaac Lightner, Esq., and others. Gentlemen: I have just received your letter of the 6th inst., accompanied by a fine regulation sword. Allow me, Gentlemen, to thank you for this beautiful present, and to assure you that I will be always ready to draw it in vindication of our glorious Union and the supremacy of the Constitution and Laws, and against all and every enemy, internal or external, at home or abroad. I accept this gift as a token of your personal friendship, and will endeavor to use it so as to preserve and perpetuate that relation. Hoping that our now unhappy country may ere long be restored to peace, and the old flag, the banner of freedom, civilization and progress, again float with every one of the thirty-four stars brightly glistening on our national firmament, and hoping a kind Providence may take you all into its holy keeping, I remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant and friend, William Kapus, 1st Lieut. 1st W. T. Infantry.
“I will be always ready to draw it in vindication of our glorious Union and the supremacy of the Constitution and Laws.”
This letter captures the intense partisan fervor in the Washington Territory during the Civil War. While physical swords were the ultimate symbol of duty in 1862, today’s civic discourse similarly grapples with the symbols of national identity and the political polarization that defined the frontier territories during the conflict.
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