Page "Thomas F. Bayard" Paragraph 4

As determined Peace Democrats, Thomas Bayard and his father were very much opposed to the Lincoln policy of coercion to prevent the secession of the Southern states, although they seemed equally in favor of remaining in the Union.

While many of their actions raised questions from their opponents about their loyalty towards the Union, no evidence of treason has ever been established.

Thomas Bayard was himself the First Lieutenant of a group known as the Delaware Guard, widely considered to be one of the military arms of pro-Southerners in Delaware.

When the Delaware Guard was finally disarmed, Bayard was arrested for resisting the seizure, but was later paroled.

However others may have felt, on January 2, 1861, Bayard is widely credited for convincing the Delaware General Assembly to drop, once and for all, any thought of secession.