Summary:
Union Adjutant Fitz-John Porter reads an address to the troops in Chambersburg in
June, 1861. By the order of General Robert Patterson, the address prepares the
troops for battle and reminds them of the reasons for which they are
fighting.
CHAMBERSBURG, PA.,
June 3, 1861.
To the United States Troops of this Department:
The restraint which has necessarily been imposed upon you, impatient to overcome those who have raised their parricidal hands against our country, is about to be removed. You will soon meet the insurgents.
You are not the aggressors. A turbulent faction, misled by ambitious rulers in a time of profound peace and national prosperity, have occupied your forts and turned the guns against you; have seized your arsenals and armories, and appropriated to themselves Government supplies; have arrested and held prisoners your companions marching to their homes under State pledge of security; have captured vessels and provisions voluntarily assured by State legislation from molestation, and now seek to perpetuate a reign of terror over loyal citizens.
They have invaded a loyal State and intrenched themselves within its boundaries in defiance of its constituted authorities.
You are going on American soil, to sustain the civil power, to relieve the oppressed, and to retake that which is unlawfully held.
You must bear in mind you are going for the good of the whole country, and that while it is your duty to punish sedition, you must protect the loyal, and, should occasion offer, at once suppress servile insurrection.
Success will crown your efforts; a grateful country and a happy people will reward you.
By order of Maj.-Gen. Patterson:
F. J. PORTER,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 2, Serial No. 2, Pages 661-662, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
