On the Saturday before the crucial 1864 presidential contest between President Abraham Lincoln and his former US Army commander George B. McClellan, thousands of people gathered in Pittston, Pennsylvania to rally for the re-election of President Lincoln.
Lincoln ran on his policies of pursuing the destruction of the Southern rebellion, maintaining and expanding his policies toward the ending of slavery in the United States, and a vigorous policy of Reconstruction after the Civil War.
His opponent, McClellan, ran on a platform that sought immediate peace and negotiation with the Confederate states and a roll-back of emancipationist policies pursued by Lincoln.
The event in Pittston included marching bands, parades, and a cannon – it also included a massive brawl that included assaults and pistol-shots being exchanged. It demonstrated the raw emotion and feelings of anger that existed on the home front in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal fields during the Civil War.
From the Pittston Gazette:
The Mass Meeting on Saturday.
Saturday last, was a glorious day for Pittston,—in-as-much as the town, on that day, was a grand receptacle for Union men from all portions of the county. The magnitude of the affair was far greater than the most sanguine of our Union friends had anticipated.
Within the memory of the oldest inhabitants Pittston had never witnessed such a crowd.—Scranton alone sent a delegation of 572 with Burger’s celebrated Band. Providence sent a delegation of over one hundred with the Providence Brass Band; Wilkes-Barre and Plymouth also did well for us, for which we return the heartfelt thanks of all concerned in getting up the meeting.
The procession formed at the Rail Road Depot and marched down to the River Bridge, crossed to West Pittston and made a tour of the town. Every house where the Union colors were displayed, received tremendous cheers by the procession. The residence of Theodore Strong was beautifully decorated with the red, white and blue, and was the object of loud cheering by the entire procession.
The procession, so to speak, was ‘an army with Banners,’ and as it marched through Pittston sent up cheers enough and loud enough to frighten copperheads into their holes for the next four years. The town throughout the day was in a perfect jam, scarcely room could be found to stand up or sit down.
Professor Dunbar, of Washington city, spoke from the stand on the green, in the afternoon, and completely charmed his audience for an hour and a half, cold as the day was. His wit and sarcasm were irresistible and kept his hearers convulsed with laughter.
The cannon, for which we are indebted to the noble boys from Wilkes-Barre, thundered forth its music at short intervals during the speech.
In the evening the meeting was prolonged at Phoenix Hall, where speeches were made by Rev. Mr. Dennis, of Philadelphia; Prof. Dunbar, and F. B. Penniman, Esq., of Honesdale.
The effort made in the afternoon by some disorderly Irishmen to take possession of the cannon, was found to be more than they had contracted for, several having retreated from the charge with bruised heads.
Reports were soon in circulation that several had been killed, but so far as we can learn, no deaths have yet or are likely to occur from the collision in which pistols were repeatedly fired and stones and brick-bats made free use of by both the besiegers and the besieged.
We do not, of course, charge this assault upon our meeting to the Democratic party, but hold those responsible who made it. That they were pretty well punished was evident to all who witnessed the melee, and we trust it will teach the guilty ones to be more civil. Each party should be allowed to hold their meetings without interference and the man who gets a sore head by attempting to create a row in an opposition meeting gets just what he deserves.
But the row in regard to the cannon was too insignificant to mar the grand triumph of the day; on the contrary it served rather a good purpose in spicing it up. This meeting will long be remembered by the Union men of Luzerne as one of the most brilliant and successful of the campaign, which, from what we have already learned, has resulted in a most signal victory for the cause of the Union.
Thanksgiving day this fall will indeed be a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has once more raised his arm to defend the right and smite to the dust the vile treason which dared to rear its head and fling its poison into the hearts of the American people.—There is yet a God in Israel, and thanks be to God who giveth us the victory.
In the vote on November 8, 1864, the greater Pittston area voted for McClellan over Lincoln by 703 to 537. Luzerne County also went for McClellan. But the Keystone State as a whole went to President Lincoln – as did the nation.
Read more about the 1864 election and the Coal Region
A Pennsylvania Civil War soldier documents the 1864 election
An election night murder in Tremont, Pennsylvania | 1864
A torchlight parade for Abraham Lincoln in Lykens, Pennsylvania | 1864
Thanksgiving Day in Schuylkill County | 1864
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Great read. Apparently nothing has changed since 1864. I was shocked at Little Mac’s campaign platform. No wonder he was defeated.