Snapshot of a divided family

Rev. William Salter
Rev. William Salter

Rev. William Salter walked in to the crude Federal field hospital near Marietta, Georgia in July 1864.  Talking with pain-wracked Union troops drained Salter of energy and sympathy.  He was surprised to meet Green Ballinger, a wounded Confederate from Iowa.

Salter was a former conductor on the Iowa Underground Railroad.  He generally opposed war, but he supported the Union.  He was in Marietta on a mission of mercy with the Christian Commission.

Twenty-four-year-old Green was seriously wounded in thigh and shoulder.  He told Pastor Salter of his home in Keokuk and his father’s home in nearby Sandusky.  Green said he had been opposed to “the Rebellion” (Salter’s words), but the “force of circumstance” led him into the Confederate army.

Green’s family had roots in Kentucky and a kinship network throughout the South.  His father, James F. Ballinger, had been a clerk of court and a slave-owner.  Because of his father’s two marriages, Green had older siblings and half-siblings.

Looking for economic opportunity, Green’s father moved his family to Keokuk in 1854.   So did Green’s brother-in-law, Samuel F. Miller, a doctor turned lawyer.  Keokuk’s economy boomed soon after they arrived.

National events foreshadow a family split

Samuel Freeman Miller
Samuel Freeman Miller

Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in March 1854.  Samuel F. Miller was a Whig (unlike his Democratic in-laws).  He predicted that slavery would split the national Whig and Democratic parties.  Miller wrote Green’s half-brother in Texas, William P. Ballinger, of “a real danger that you and I shall live in different nations.”

The Panic of 1857 hit Keokuk hard

Three years later, Keokuk began a slow decline in the financial Panic of 1857.  By summer 1860, the economy was in bad shape.  Samuel F. Miller (now a rising member of the Iowa Republican Party), Green’s father, and Green’s older brother struggled to stay afloat in Keokuk.  The family sent 20-year-old Green to Texas (where the economy was better) to visit relatives.  They expected him to return.

William Pitt Ballinger
William Pitt Ballinger

In late July 1860, Green visited his half-brother William P. Ballinger and brother-in-law Benjamin A. Botts, both of whom owned slaves.

After Lincoln’s election, Texas seceded, and South Carolinians fired upon Ft. Sumter.  Green was still in Texas.

A former Confederate assistant surgeon wrote, “Nearly every northern man was suspected of not being truly southern if he had not enlisted in some sort of military company.”

Terry’s Texas Rangers

Brother-in-law Botts helped form Terry’s Texas Rangers, and Green joined, too.  Half-brother William P. Ballinger became a Confederate sequestration receiver.

It’s not clear why Green enlisted.  The “force of circumstance” could have been his Texas relatives’ expectations, and/or his need for a job.  Perhaps Green also got caught up in the local enthusiasm for war.

Divided family

BallingerGreen divided family 2Green’s father in Keokuk remained loyal to the Union, and his older brother enlisted in the Union Army.  President Lincoln nominated Green’s brother-in-law, Samuel F. Miller, to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Green’s mother, on the other hand, felt she couldn’t support “war against her own children.”  She sympathized with the Confederacy.

In July 1864, Green was badly wounded in the Atlanta Campaign.  Rev. Salter told Green he would contact his father in Iowa.  Green died a month later.

When the war finally ended, Green’s father and other family members wrote letters to their Confederate relatives.  The letters expressed a “proscriptive vindictive Unionism.”  Then Green’s family had a small reunion.  Looking his relatives in the eye, Green’s father allowed that his kin could have served the C.S.A. out of “patriotism and devotion to principle.”

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John Moretta’s excellent book, William Pitt Ballinger:  Texas Lawyer, Southern Statesman, 1825-1888, was very helpful in writing this post.

Thanks for reading my blog!  Please let me know what you think about it.

This Post Has 20 Comments

  1. We may never know how many families were divided by their positions on the war or how permanent those divisions were. Good reading!

    1. I agree, Pat. Thanks for reading my blog!

  2. Excellent story thanks for sharing it with us…

    1. Hi, Will.
      Thanks for your kind comment. And thanks for reading my blog!

  3. War is such folly. As the song says, when will they (we) ever learn? It’s still way too easy to get “caught up in the local enthusiasm for war” and/or else submit willy-nilly to “force of circumstance.” I’ve been giving you the benefit of the doubt regarding your slogan “Not to defend, but to understand.” For my two cents, this is one of your best yet. Thanks, David.

    1. Hi, Iowa Peace Chief.
      Thanks for your thoughtful comments. It seems that young men, especially those who love adventure, find “the local enthusiasm for war” to be very powerful. Thanks for reading my blog!

  4. Neat story. Thanks for sharing that

  5. Informative and well written, David. Keep up the great research!

    1. Hi, Kathy.

      Thanks for the encouragement!

  6. “Force of circumstance” could well have been simply enlist or find yourself at the end of a rope. In cases like this, conscious decision making is hampered by one’s interest in staying alive, it isn’t always about “enthusiasm” for war. Playing martyr is not a common thing for the average person to whole heartily embrace, better to take your chances on the battlefield than to just end your life for principle at the end of rope or facing a firing squad.

    1. Hi, Steve.
      Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree that intimidation could cause a person to enlist. However, I haven’t found documentation showing that Texans threatened any men with death (or otherwise intimidated them) unless they enlisted. (I have seen one or two claims of intimidation, but the claims are fairly vague. Since I lack detailed information, I can’t adequately understand the nature of the threats. Likewise, without detailed information, I can’t substantiate or discredit the claims.) If you can point me to any pertinent documentation, I would appreciate it. Thanks for reading my blog!

      1. I have no specific cases, however, if the Home guard was as nasty in Texas as it was in “Cold Mountain”, it would not be a stretch to assume the worse of you were a Northerner stranded in the south. As for reading your blog posts, I find them interesting and well written, my question would be to you, why wouldn’t I read them? They are insightful and interesting!

        1. You made a good point. Thanks for your encouragement!

  7. This was truly engrossing stuff. I read it twice and shall re-read it a third time later. Thanks for your clear investigative work – and the chart, for those of us who thrive on tables and bullet-points! It made the unfortunate scenario come alive.

    1. Hi, Kathleen.
      Thank you! I’m glad that the chart was helpful.

  8. I always enjoy reading your ‘chapters’.

    Caroline

    1. Thank you, NBA2k16! Best wishes, David

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