Redding
during the Civil War
"Your
eighteen Northern non-slave holding States nominate two of
the most fanatical of your sect as candidates for President
and Vice-President," U.S. Senator from Texas" and "fire-eating"
Southerner" Louis T. Wigfall thundered during a Senate debate.
"[A]nd now you tell us they shall be inaugurated. Previously
to the election and to the anticipated inauguration you organized
a Praetorian guard... [T]hat...its members do undergo military
drill; that it is a military organization, no man who has
looked upon them...and heard their regular military tramp,
does or can doubt."
Hardly
an official creation of the six-year old Republican Party,
hundreds of Wide-Awake Clubs sprang into being in 1860. Dressed
in capes and carrying lighted oil lamps mounted atop four-foot
poles (which could easily be converted to cudgels), the Wide-Awakes
marched in support of Lincoln and other Republican candidates,
monitored polling places on election day, and added zest,
excitement, and "among some non-Republicans" bitterness to
what was already a crucial, and harrowing political campaign.
Caption
written by Margaret Wagner, Publishing Office, Library of
Congress. Purchase
a copy of this certificate.
Civil
War Weapons and Collectables
Civil
War Re-enactment Clothing and Accessories
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