Henderson, John, fl. 1863
I write to you under circumstances, different from any, that I have been under
since I have been in
College. I have been engaged in a
"Rebellion", which has turned, out differently from, what I
anticipated. Two of our class were dismissed for devilling the
"Fresh;" whereupon the class (a majority) meets and sends in a
petition to the Faculty, requesting them to take the two young men back; the
Faculty took no notice of our petition and
we stopped
all duties. That evening five more of our number were summoned before the
Faculty and dismissed. Yesterday at half past three Oclock the rest of the
"Rebels" nine in number were summoned before the Faculty.
After some debate the Faculty came to the conclusion, "that if we did
not attend recitations in the morning (this morning) we might consider ourselves
dismissed. Last night the class had
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a meeting and
unanimously agreed, that, as they had pledged themselves to go off if those men
were sent off, it was their duty, regardless of
consequences, to leave the
Hill. During the night however some of the
members got scared and awoke all the others up before prayers to have another
meeting. At this meeting it was concluded, as we were pressed for time, it was
better to go in, which we did; but after breakfast having thought the matter
seriously over we came to the conclusion that we could not possibly remain in
college without violating our pledge. We therefore sent in a petition to the
Faculty worded as follows,
I then packed up my trunk thinking certainly, that I would leave
Chapel Hill
to-day at two Oclock forever — for the Faculty told us, if we left,
the dismissal would be final. Not long afterwards one of the Faculty, D
r
Hubbard
called on me and tried to persuade me, that a pledge given
under such circumstances was not binding but with little effect. He then
proposed to go and see Judge
Battle
and see what he thought of it.
Judge
thought it was not only not binding but, that if we carried it
out, it would be committing a moral crime. Under these circumstances the class
agreed to return to duty. Even now I dont feel right about it, I cant feel right
about it, until I consult you. I hope, therefore, you will let me come home
about the latter part of next week and converse with you on this subject.
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From want of space I have barely given you a
sinopsis. Somethings, I wish to speak to you about have been left out
altogether. I can testify, that Governor
Swain
acted towards
me with great kindness during the whole trial. He seems to take a great interest
in me, more so than I could have any reason to expect. I suppose you will
receive a letter from him in a few days, if you havent received one ere this.
What glorious news! another great victory on the plains of
Manassas, which rivals in magnitude and
consequences, the one fought there a little more than
a year ago. Would to
God,
we could capture
Washington City and "carry the war into the heart
of
Africa."
Dont judge the action, I took in regard to the rebellion, too harshly until you
see me face to face, as I can not possibly inform you in a letter of the
particulars. There is no doubt, the whole class acted wrong from the beginning,
and perhaps towards the last, but however that might be, it was a disagreeable
affair throughout.