Wide Awakes
Encyclopedia
The Wide Awakes was a paramilitary campaign organization affiliated with the Republican Party
during the United States presidential election of 1860
. Similar organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party
were called the "Douglas Invincibles", "Young Hickories" or "Earthquakes". Southern organizations were called the "Minute Men".
In the mid-1850s, an entirely separate group called the "Wide Awakes" existed in New York City. This was a political club loosely associated with the Know Nothing
movement.
on October 3, 1860, 10,000 Wide Awakes marched in a three-mile procession. The story of this rally occupied eight columns of the Chicago Tribune. In Indiana
, as one historian reports,
In 1860, the New York Herald estimated that there were over 400,000 drilled and uniformed Wide-awakes, nationwide.
Chapter Organization - Little is known about the national organization of the Wide Awakes, if indeed any formal governing body existed at all. The clubs seem to have been organized by city into local chapters. Surviving minutes of the Waupun, Wisconsin
Wide Awakes chapter restrict membership to males age 18 and older. The member had to "furnish himself with the style of uniform adopted by this Club." The chapter had a military-style officer system consisting of a Captain and 1st through 4th Lieutenants.
Whatever their names marching clubs of both parties often had bands and fancy uniforms. The social dimensions have been described:
Typical Wide Awakes chapters also adopted an unofficial mission statement. The following example comes from the Chicago
Chapter :
, near the modern village of Plainville
. This area, in far western Illinois
, was familiar to two of the Presidential candidates. Although the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln
, was known in the area, his Democratic opponent, Stephen Douglas, had practiced law nearby. In addition to local animosity, Adams County was close to the border with Missouri
, a slave state.
The rally was organized by the Republicans. When it was initially announced, there was an invitation to Democratic speakers. Although the invitation was later withdrawn, this fact was not widely disseminated, resulting in confusion as to whether this was to be a Republican rally, or a debate between Republican and Democratic supporters.
During the 1860 campaign, it was a common practice for settlements to raise poles, as much as 150 feet (50 meters) high. The political parties hung flags, and effigies
of the candidates they opposed, from the poles.
On the way to the rally, the Quincy
Wide Awakes passed through Payson
, the residents of which had erected a pole with an offensive effigy of Lincoln astride a rail. The Wide Awakes, however, carried a banner with an equally offensive depiction of a drunken Douglas falling over a pile of rails. An early confrontation was avoided, with the Wide Awakes proceeding to Stone's Creek.
The August 25, 1860, rally involved around 7000 participants. Democrats appeared, expecting to hear their candidates in a debate. They were instead treated to a podium of Republicans, whom they heckled. The Wide Awakes defended the speakers, and a general melee resulted, involving several hundred men.
After the rally, the Wide Awakes returned through Payson, where they found a hundred Democrats guarding their pole. Although Wide Awakes avoided confrontation, shots were fired at them while leaving town. The Wide Awakes' flag was pierced by shots, and several were reported to have been injured.
. Historians have found no evidence whatever of any such conspiracy, but they do report that in Texas, in 1860, a statewide hysteria over nonexistent slave revolts led to the lynching of 30-100 slaves and whites in the so-called Texas Troubles.
The Wide Awakes never marched anywhere in the South, in 1860, but they represented the South’s greatest fear, an oppressive force bent on marching down to their lands, liberating the slaves and pushing aside their way of life. Their outfits and equipment only further incited this fear with beliefs that “they parade at midnight, carry rails to break open our doors, torches to fire our dwellings, and beneath their long black capes the knife to cut our throats”. To the South, the Wide Awakes were only a taste of what was to come if Lincoln were to be elected. The North would not compromise, and would, if need be, force themselves upon the great South. “One –half million of men uniformed and drilled, and the purpose of their organization to sweep the country in which I live with fire and sword." This mindset was not appeased any by the wide acceptance of the Wide Awakes in the North. On October 25, 1858, Senator Seward of New York stated to an excited crowd, “a revolution has begun” and alluded to Wide Awakes as “forces with which to recover back again all the fields…and to confound and overthrow, by one decisive blow, the betrayers of the constitution and freedom forever.” To the South, the Wide Awakes and, thus the North, would only be content when the South was fully dominated.
The South recognized the need for their own Wide Awakes, and thus started a movement to create “a counteracting organization in the South”, dubbed the "Minute Men". The South viewed the Wide Awakes as the North’s private army, and thus they determined on creating their own. They would no longer entertain the “abhorrence of the rapine, murder, insurrection, pollution and incendiarism which have been plotted by the deluded and vicious of the North, against the chastity, law and prosperity of innocent and unoffending citizens of the South”. The Minute Men was the South’s unofficial army. Like that of the Wide Awakes, they were expected “to form an armed body of men…whose duty is to arm, equip and drill, and be ready for any emergency that may arise in the present perilous position of Southern States.” The fear of the Wide Awakes resulted in Minute Men companies forming all over the South. Like their enemy, they too held torch rallies and wore their own uniforms, complete with an official badge of “a blue rosette…to be worn upon the side of the hat.”
became involved in paramilitary operations at the outbreak of the Civil War. Aided by Francis Preston Blair, Jr.
and army Captain Nathaniel Lyon
, the St. Louis Wide Awakes smuggled armaments into the city and trained secretly in a warehouse. The purpose was to prepare them for defense of the federal St. Louis Arsenal
, which Confederate
supporters wanted to seize. Lyon employed his political connections through Blair to obtain an appointment as commanding officer over the arsenal and, having received his promotion, promptly moved the St. Louis Wide Awakes into the arsenal under cover of night.
Lyon's Wide Awakes, newly mustered into the Federal army, were used on May 10, 1861 to arrest a division of the Missouri State Militia near St. Louis in what would become known as the Camp Jackson Affair. As the captured militia men were marched toward the arsenal later that day a riot erupted in which scores of civilians were shot or killed. This event marked the effective beginning of Civil War violence in Missouri.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
during the United States presidential election of 1860
United States presidential election, 1860
The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
. Similar organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
were called the "Douglas Invincibles", "Young Hickories" or "Earthquakes". Southern organizations were called the "Minute Men".
In the mid-1850s, an entirely separate group called the "Wide Awakes" existed in New York City. This was a political club loosely associated with the Know Nothing
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
movement.
Overview
In 1856, across the North, the new Republican party organized young men's marching clubs called "Rocky Mountain Clubs", "Wide Awakes", "Freedom Clubs", and "Bear Clubs" The term "Wide Awakes" became popular in the 1860 campaign. In ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on October 3, 1860, 10,000 Wide Awakes marched in a three-mile procession. The story of this rally occupied eight columns of the Chicago Tribune. In Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, as one historian reports,
1860 was the most colorful in the memory of the HoosierHoosierHoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...
electorate. "Speeches, day and night, torch-light processions, and all kinds of noise and confusion are the go, with all parties," commented the "independent" Indianapolis Locomotive. Congressman Julian too was impressed by the "contrivance and spectacular display" which prevailed in the current canvass. Each party took unusual pains to mobilize its followers in disciplined political clubs, but the most remarkable of these were the Lincoln "Rail Maulers" and "Wide Awakes," whose organizations extended throughout the state. Clad in gaudy uniforms the members of these quasi-military bands participated in all Republican demonstrations. The "Wide Awakes" in particular were well drilled and served as political police in escorting party speakers and in preserving order at public meetings. Party emulation made every political rally the occasion for carefully arranged parades through banner-bedecked streets, torchlight processions, elaborate floats and transparencies, blaring bands, and fireworks.
In 1860, the New York Herald estimated that there were over 400,000 drilled and uniformed Wide-awakes, nationwide.
Rituals
Uniform and Tactics - The standard Wide Awake uniform consisted of a full robe or cape, a black glazed hat, and a torch six feet in length to which a large, flaming, pivoting whale-oil container was mounted. Its activities were conducted primarily in the evening and consisted of several night-time torch-lit marches through cities in the northeast and border states. The Wide Awakes adopted the image of a large eyeball as their standard banner.Chapter Organization - Little is known about the national organization of the Wide Awakes, if indeed any formal governing body existed at all. The clubs seem to have been organized by city into local chapters. Surviving minutes of the Waupun, Wisconsin
Waupun, Wisconsin
Waupun is a city in Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 10,718 at the 2000 census. In Fond du Lac County, there is also the Town of Waupun which abuts the city of Waupun....
Wide Awakes chapter restrict membership to males age 18 and older. The member had to "furnish himself with the style of uniform adopted by this Club." The chapter had a military-style officer system consisting of a Captain and 1st through 4th Lieutenants.
- The Captain shall have command of the Club at all times; in his absence the Lieutenants shall have command in the order of their rank. Every member of this club shall attend all the meetings whether regular or special; and when on duty or in attendance at the meetings, shall obey the officers in command, and shall at all times perform such duties as shall be required of him by the officers in command.
Whatever their names marching clubs of both parties often had bands and fancy uniforms. The social dimensions have been described:
The young men and boys who joined the Wide-Awakes, Invincibles, and other marching clubs were sold inexpensive uniforms and taught impressive march maneuvers. In Marion the Wide-Awake uniform consisted of an oil cloth cape and cap and a red sash, which along with a lamp or torch cost $1.33. Their “worm fence march” can be imagined, as can a nice connection to Lincoln as rail splitter—a connection that does remind us of the log-cabin and hard/ cider symbolism of earlier days [of 1840]. The more important connection to be made, however, is to the “militia fever” of the 1850s. Many Americans north and south delighted in military uniforms and titles, musters and parades, and the formal balls their companies sponsored during the winter social season. Their younger brothers no doubt delighted in aping them, so far as $1.33 would allow, while their parents were provided with a means by which youthful rowdyism was, for a time, channeled into a military form of discipline. The regular campaign clubs, meanwhile, were given a different attraction. One of the first items of business, once the club was organized, was to invite “the ladies” to meetings. Many members were single young men, and the campaign occurred during a relatively slow social season following the picnics, steamboat excursions, and other outings of the summer, and preceding the balls sponsored by militia companies, fire companies, and fraternal lodges during the winter. Campaign clubs helped to extend and connect the social seasons for single young men and women, and gave both an occasion for high-spirited travel. “Coming home there was fun,” wrote the Democratic editor of a DubuqueDubuque, IowaDubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
Republican club excursion to a rally in GalenaGalena, IllinoisGalena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...
. “There were frequent ‘three cheers for Miss Nancy Rogers.’ … Captain Pat Conger was the best looking man on the ground and we can only say that it is a pity he is not a Democrat.”
Typical Wide Awakes chapters also adopted an unofficial mission statement. The following example comes from the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Chapter :
-
- 1st. To act as a political police.
-
- 2nd. To do escort duty to all prominent Republican speakers who visit our place to address our citizens.
-
- 3rd. To attend all public meetings in a body and see that order is kept and that the speaker and meeting is not disturbed.
-
- 4th. To attend the polls and see that justice is done to every legal voter.
-
- 5th. To conduct themselves in such a manner as to induce all Republicans to join them.
-
- 6th. To be a body joined together in large numbers to work for the good of the Republican Ticket.
Stone's Prairie Riot
In August 1860 a political rally was scheduled to be held at Stone's Prairie in Adams County, IllinoisAdams County, Illinois
Adams County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 67,103, which is a decrease of 1.7% from 68,277 in 2000...
, near the modern village of Plainville
Plainville, Illinois
Plainville is a village in Adams County, Illinois, United States. The population was 248 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area....
. This area, in far western Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, was familiar to two of the Presidential candidates. Although the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, was known in the area, his Democratic opponent, Stephen Douglas, had practiced law nearby. In addition to local animosity, Adams County was close to the border with Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, a slave state.
The rally was organized by the Republicans. When it was initially announced, there was an invitation to Democratic speakers. Although the invitation was later withdrawn, this fact was not widely disseminated, resulting in confusion as to whether this was to be a Republican rally, or a debate between Republican and Democratic supporters.
During the 1860 campaign, it was a common practice for settlements to raise poles, as much as 150 feet (50 meters) high. The political parties hung flags, and effigies
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
of the candidates they opposed, from the poles.
On the way to the rally, the Quincy
Quincy, Illinois
Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a...
Wide Awakes passed through Payson
Payson, Illinois
Payson is a village in Adams County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,066 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, the residents of which had erected a pole with an offensive effigy of Lincoln astride a rail. The Wide Awakes, however, carried a banner with an equally offensive depiction of a drunken Douglas falling over a pile of rails. An early confrontation was avoided, with the Wide Awakes proceeding to Stone's Creek.
The August 25, 1860, rally involved around 7000 participants. Democrats appeared, expecting to hear their candidates in a debate. They were instead treated to a podium of Republicans, whom they heckled. The Wide Awakes defended the speakers, and a general melee resulted, involving several hundred men.
After the rally, the Wide Awakes returned through Payson, where they found a hundred Democrats guarding their pole. Although Wide Awakes avoided confrontation, shots were fired at them while leaving town. The Wide Awakes' flag was pierced by shots, and several were reported to have been injured.
Southern reaction
In 1860, Texas Senator Louis T. Wigfall alleged falsely that Wide Awakes were behind a wave of arson and vandalism in his home state of TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Historians have found no evidence whatever of any such conspiracy, but they do report that in Texas, in 1860, a statewide hysteria over nonexistent slave revolts led to the lynching of 30-100 slaves and whites in the so-called Texas Troubles.
The Wide Awakes never marched anywhere in the South, in 1860, but they represented the South’s greatest fear, an oppressive force bent on marching down to their lands, liberating the slaves and pushing aside their way of life. Their outfits and equipment only further incited this fear with beliefs that “they parade at midnight, carry rails to break open our doors, torches to fire our dwellings, and beneath their long black capes the knife to cut our throats”. To the South, the Wide Awakes were only a taste of what was to come if Lincoln were to be elected. The North would not compromise, and would, if need be, force themselves upon the great South. “One –half million of men uniformed and drilled, and the purpose of their organization to sweep the country in which I live with fire and sword." This mindset was not appeased any by the wide acceptance of the Wide Awakes in the North. On October 25, 1858, Senator Seward of New York stated to an excited crowd, “a revolution has begun” and alluded to Wide Awakes as “forces with which to recover back again all the fields…and to confound and overthrow, by one decisive blow, the betrayers of the constitution and freedom forever.” To the South, the Wide Awakes and, thus the North, would only be content when the South was fully dominated.
The South recognized the need for their own Wide Awakes, and thus started a movement to create “a counteracting organization in the South”, dubbed the "Minute Men". The South viewed the Wide Awakes as the North’s private army, and thus they determined on creating their own. They would no longer entertain the “abhorrence of the rapine, murder, insurrection, pollution and incendiarism which have been plotted by the deluded and vicious of the North, against the chastity, law and prosperity of innocent and unoffending citizens of the South”. The Minute Men was the South’s unofficial army. Like that of the Wide Awakes, they were expected “to form an armed body of men…whose duty is to arm, equip and drill, and be ready for any emergency that may arise in the present perilous position of Southern States.” The fear of the Wide Awakes resulted in Minute Men companies forming all over the South. Like their enemy, they too held torch rallies and wore their own uniforms, complete with an official badge of “a blue rosette…to be worn upon the side of the hat.”
Wartime activities
After Lincoln called out all the militia in April 1861, the Republican Wide Awakes, the Democratic "Douglas Invincibles", and other parade groups volunteered en masse for the Union army. In 1864, reports of political rallies note that "The Northwestern Wide Awakes, the Great Western Light Guard Band, and the 24th Illinois Infantry" were at a Chicago meeting. On November 5, the Chicago Union Campaign Committee (the name of Lincoln's party that year) declared,- "On Tuesday next the destiny of the American Republic is to be settled. We appeal to Union men. We appeal to merchants to close their stores, manufacturers to permit their clerks and laborers to go to the polls, the Board of Trade to close, the Union Leagues and Wide Awakes to come out. The rebellion must be put down."
Defense of St. Louis
In early 1861, the Wide Awakes chapter of St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
became involved in paramilitary operations at the outbreak of the Civil War. Aided by Francis Preston Blair, Jr.
Francis Preston Blair, Jr.
Francis Preston Blair, Jr. was an American politician and Union Army general during the American Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President in 1868.-Early life and career:Blair was born in...
and army Captain Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon
Nathaniel Lyon was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War and is noted for his actions in the state of Missouri at the beginning of the conflict....
, the St. Louis Wide Awakes smuggled armaments into the city and trained secretly in a warehouse. The purpose was to prepare them for defense of the federal St. Louis Arsenal
St. Louis Arsenal
The St. Louis Arsenal is a large complex of military weapons and ammunition storage buildings owned by the United States Army in St. Louis, Missouri. During the American Civil War, the St...
, which Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
supporters wanted to seize. Lyon employed his political connections through Blair to obtain an appointment as commanding officer over the arsenal and, having received his promotion, promptly moved the St. Louis Wide Awakes into the arsenal under cover of night.
Lyon's Wide Awakes, newly mustered into the Federal army, were used on May 10, 1861 to arrest a division of the Missouri State Militia near St. Louis in what would become known as the Camp Jackson Affair. As the captured militia men were marched toward the arsenal later that day a riot erupted in which scores of civilians were shot or killed. This event marked the effective beginning of Civil War violence in Missouri.
External links
- The Wide Awakes by Louis T. Wigfall, December 6, 1860 http://www.adena.com/adena/usa/cw/cw116.htm
- The Wide Awakes Lincoln/Net http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/gal/wideawak.html
- A Abraham Lincoln History Volume 2 John Hay and John Nicolay http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/11708/179.html
- Struggle for St. Louis by Anthony Mondachello http://historynet.com/acw/blstrugglestlouis/index.html
- Circular regarding uniform and the organization of the club Library of Congress
- The Wide Awake quick step. 1860 Library of Congress