Be careful what you write: Agonies of a double-talking Democrat

Herman H. Heath made a huge political U-turn after Ft. Sumter.  Like many others, he became a Republican.

But Heath, an Episcopalian, had a secret.  He might’ve forgotten the words of Jesus:  “Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light.”

Political beginnings

Heath started a Southern-rights newspaper in Washington, D.C., before coming to Dubuque.  He then befriended Iowa U.S. Senator George Wallace Jones.

Senator Jones led a Democratic political machine.  He helped Heath become Dubuque postmaster.

The Jones machine supported the spread of slavery into the Territories.  Most Iowa Democrats disagreed, and Jones lost his senate seat.  Heath lost his political patron and his postal job.

Heath contacts Jefferson Davis

After Abraham Lincoln was elected president, southern states began seceding.  Heath offered President Jefferson Davis his services in the Confederate military or government.  Davis never responded.

A passionate letter

Five days before Ft. Sumter, Heath wrote to a Confederate official:

“Although a Northern Man by birth, [I] have never been anything but Southern in my feelings …

Had I the means to support myself and wife for one year South, I would not remain out of the Southern Confederacy one day longer …

There are tens of thousands of loyal hearts at the North … they will never pull a trigger against the South …

Before I would march against my brothers of the South, I would suffer myself to be hanged on the first tree before the eyes of my own wife. “

A complete reversal

Five days later, the war began.  A month later, in May 1861, Heath enlisted in the 1st Iowa Cavalry and organized a company.  Senator Jones’s eldest son, Charles S.D. Jones, wrote his father:

“Your pusillanimous friend Heath has turned Black Republican and gone to the war as 1st Lieut. of Fitz Kenny Warren’s Iowa Cavalry … I loathe & detest and despise a man who has hitherto pretended to be a democrat …”

Herman H. Heath
Herman H. Heath

Meteoric rise

Lt. Heath became colonel and brevet general.  After the war, he became Secretary of New Mexico Territory.

The letter comes to light

In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Heath to be Marshal of New Mexico Territory.  The Senate released Heath’s pro—Confederate letter.  Admitting his Democratic past, Heath defended himself:

“The sin [of that letter] has certainly been wiped out by my blood, shed upon the field of battle, in the Union army, [and] the sacrifice of my only child, who was killed in the Union service, and an untarnished Republican record.”

The Senate rejected this explanation.  President Grant withdrew the nomination, and Heath faded from public life.

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Thanks for reading my blog!  Please leave any comments below.

David Connon

David Connon has spent nearly two decades researching dissenters in Iowa: Grinnell residents who helped on the Underground Railroad, and their polar opposites, Iowa Confederates. He shares some of these stories with audiences across the state through the Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau. He worked as an interpreter at Living History Farms for eleven seasons. Connon is a member of Sons of Union Veterans, an associate member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a member of the Des Moines Civil War Round Table. His articles have appeared in Iowa Heritage Illustrated, Iowa History Journal, Illinois Magazine, and local newspapers in both states.

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. I’m not sure what to think of him. He seems like a weak willed sort of person to change whichever way the wind blows but, many are like that and I am surprised he succeeded in any kind of leadership role.

    1. Hi, venvs70. Thanks for your comments! Heath is an interesting person, isn’t he?

    2. You just described the current pontiff and jet your surprised Heath made it as far as he did !

      1. Hi, Michael.
        Thanks for reading my blog! I must say that Pope Francis never crossed my mind (as I wrote this post). Heath’s behavior, on the other hand, gives me something to ponder.

  2. I agree with ‘venvs70 that he changes whichever way the wind blows. However, it is usually due to much deeper psychological reasons that produces this rather common ‘fight or flight’ instinct. It is unfortunate, therefore, that he went to such great extents in the letter to the Confederate official, since he did not sufficiently ‘hedge his bets’. Thanks to Dave Connon for an enlightening and engaging article!

    1. Hi, Kathy.
      Thanks for sharing your insights — and your kind words!

  3. Another interesting post, David. Heath’s switch from Democrat to Republican was not unique. Several prominent pre-war Democrats in Iowa became ardent Unionists and served in the U.S. Army. General Marcellus Crocker, a favorite of Grant, is an example. The highly emotional tone of Heath’s letter to Davis may provide a clue to Heath’s character. Because many Confederate documents were lost, I am amazed that the letter existed nearly a decade after it was penned. Did you find a chain-of-custody for the letter, David?

    1. Hi, Pat. Thanks for reading my blog! I agree that Heath was not alone in switching from Democrat to Republican. I didn’t find a chain-of-custody for Heath’s letter. Apparently, the letter was in the Confederate archives captured by Union troops after Lee surrendered. I located Heath’s letter on Fold3.com in the “Confederate Civilians” portion of records. I use Fold3.com because it has digital copies of documents at the National Archives. Specifically, I appreciate the Compiled Confederate Service Records for all soldiers. Your message reminds me that I think I obtained your old copy of The Life of Johnny Reb by Bell Irvin Wiley! Best wishes, Dave

  4. Another fascinating character. I am really enjoying the way your stories bring out the true complexity and humanity of your subject individuals.

    1. Hi, Dennis. Thanks for your kind and generous comments.

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