Delmarva Heritage Series, by Dr. William H. Wroten, Jr.
Freedom And Justice Defended
Salisbury Times - March 26, 1958
Except for the Baltimore Affair of 1861, Maryland from the beginning of
the Civil War until the Confederate invasion by Lee in September, 1862 was
undisturbed. Maryland had offered little resistance to the Federal power,
she had been treated somewhat as a conquered province. Her legislature and
municipal authorities of Baltimore had been more or less confined, and
their offices taken over by troops personnel. There was little necessity
for such proceedings; on the contrary, the "loyalty" of her
people had been praised in reports and in proclamation by the President,
and the protection of her Constitution promised as the reward of Maryland's
fidelity.
YET, IN THE face of all this the people of the Free State were
nonetheless subject to oppression and outrage. According to one of
Maryland's most famous historians, arrests were made, imprisonments
prolonged, right of trial denied, property confiscated and slaves carried
off. Freedom of speech and the press were restricted. Houses were invaded
and ransacked, private papers seized, and men and even women were seized
for imprisonment or exile. A minister of the Gospel was arrested and
imprisoned for refusing to allow a flag to be displayed from his church.
It was reported that even babies were arrested for wearing red ribbon,
which the "loyalists" regarded as a disloyal color. This
historian, writing in 1879, said "Nor can we enter into details of
the insults, wrongs and outrages that were daily and hourly committed upon
the people of this State, for the remembrance still rouses indignation too
hot for calmness of impartial history."
An incident, which occurred in Easton, serves to illustrate the
bitterness that prevailed at this time. An honored and venerable judge was
beaten and dragged bleeding from the bench for upholding the Constitution,
which he had sworn to maintain. This judge was Richard Bennett Carmichael
of the circuit comprising the counties of Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline,
and Talbot.
DURING THE campaigning for the fall elections of 1861, soldiers were
sent to this section of the Eastern Shore to intimidate the voters. In
Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties numerous arrests were made of persons
suspected of disloyalty or known to oppose the administration's
candidates; the clerk of the Queen Anne's County Court was arrested and
imprisoned.
When the fall term of court opened Judge Carmichael, in his charge to
the grand jury, referred to these arrests, reminding the people that every
arrest without warrant of law was a violence of American principles of
liberty. The grand jury brought in bills of presentment against the guilty
parties who had made the arrests, but before the guilty soldiers could be
brought before the court, camp had been broken and the troops transferred.
Similar arrests with similar results also occurred in Talbot County. In
Kent County, Judge Carmichael charged the grand jury that such acts were
unlawful and it was their duty to take cognizance of them. The grand jury
in this case, however, did not act.
LATER, ON MAY 25, 1862, James L. McPhail, provost marshal of Baltimore,
under orders from Major General Dix, commanding officer of Baltimore, went
to Easton to arrest Judge Carmichael and Isaac Powell, the prosecuting
attorney. McPhail left with a lieutenant colonel, a captain, and two
privates of the 2nd Delaware Regiment who had made the unlawful
arrests and had been summoned to appear before the court then in session.
However, upon reaching Easton, McPhail feared resistance and telegraphed
Gen. Dix for more soldiers. One hundred and twenty-five arrived on the
next day.
On Monday, May 28th, McPhail and a detail of soldiers
entered the courtroom where Judge Carmichael was trying a case. McPhail
informed the judge that he was under arrest, whereupon Judge Carmichael
demanded to know upon what authority such action was being taken: he was
told "the authority of the United States Government." At the
same moment one of the special officers detailed to serve under McPhail
mounted the platform, seized the judge by his beard, and shouted,
"Come out o' here'." In defense Judge Carmichael struck his
assailant, whereupon several of the soldiers fell upon the judge striking
him upon the head with the butts of their pistols, until he fell senseless
and bleeding to the floor. It was not until the jury and spectators had
been cleared from the court and the Prosecuting Attorney Powell and two
other citizens arrested that a doctor was permitted to attend to the judge's
wounds.
WITHOUT even allowing Judge Carmichael to change his bloody clothing
the party returned to Baltimore where the prisoner was confined for about
six weeks at Fort McHenry. Later he was transferred to Fort Lafayette in
New York harbor and finally to Fort Delaware. He was unconditionally
released on December 4, 1862 with no trial having been granted him nor any
notice taken of his repeated requests that the President or other
authorities make known the charge against him. As a result of the
confinement in damp quarters he was permanently lamed by rheumatism. Upon
his release, Judge Carmichael returned to his bench and while sitting in
Kent County for the Spring term of 1863, he renewed his previous charge to
the grand jury concerning the lawless acts of the military. The jury,
however, refused to take action and Judge Carmichael resigned and retired
to his farm.
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