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 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 DAVIS 
 
r 
 
 THE 
 
 WAR WITH THE SOL 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 THE LATE REBELLION 
 
 WITH 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LEADING STATESMEN 
 
 AND 
 
 DISTINGUISHED NAVAL AND MILITARY COMMANDERS, ETC. 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, M.D. 
 
 CONTINUED FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR 1864 TO THE END OF THE WAR 
 
 BY BENJAMIN G. SMITH, ESQ. 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 VIRTUE & YORSTON, PUBLISHERS, 12 DEY STREET. 
 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year Ofle Thoasand Eight Hundred and Sixty-two, 
 
 ET ROBERT TOMES, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN the first numbers of this work were issued, nothing appeared more 
 certain than that the civil war, the history of which it was intended faithfully to 
 record, would be of short duration, and that a single volume would be amply 
 sufficient to comprise all that a faithful detail of events would require. A few 
 of the more far-sighted persons in the community thought the contest might 
 last twelve or eighteen months, but none were bold enough to hazard the 
 conjecture that it would be prolonged through four eventful years. The dis- 
 tinguished Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, confidently promised the extinction 
 of the rebellion in sixty days. But as month after month and year after year 
 elapsed, and the scene of warlike operations extended over a constantly widening 
 area, with an ever-increasing earnestness in the two sections of the country 
 arrayed against each other, it became apparent that not one volume, nor even 
 two, would suffice for a complete history of the war. Happily, the end came 
 at last, and though not altogether unexpected by those who knew the actual 
 exhaustion of the South, with a suddenness almost as startling so accustomed 
 had the public mind become to a state of war as the first burst of hostilities 
 in the bombardment of Fort Sumter. When the "makers of history" ceased, 
 the writers of it began to see a termination of their labors, and only then 
 could the publishers set limits to the extent of the work. 
 
 It is hoped, now that the work is complete, the reading public will find 
 that the intention of making it a faithful and impartial history has been in a 
 great measure accomplished. That it is -not free from some of the defects in- 
 separable from all contemporary history is not claimed for it. Many years must 
 elapse, and perhaps all the participants in the great National struggle will have 
 passed from the scene before a perfect history of the great civil war will be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 given to the world, or before even the truth will be ascertained with regard to 
 many important facts, and the springs of action of many of the most distinguished 
 actors on either side. A perfect history was probably never written. The great- 
 est of English historians, Macaulay, said : "There are poems which we should be 
 inclined to designate as faultless, or as disfigured only by blemishes which pass 
 unnoticed in the general blaze of excellence. There are speeches, some speeches 
 of Demosthenes particularly, in which it would be impossible to alter a word 
 without altering it for the worse. But we are acquainted with no historjr which 
 approaches to our notion of what a history ought to be ; with no history which 
 does not widely depart, either on the right hand or on the left, from the exact 
 line." If this is true with regard to history in general, how great must be the 
 difficulty attendant on the task of eliminating the truth from documents and 
 reports, the authors of which, belonging to one or the other party, are almost 
 certain to be interested in concealing one set of facts and giving excessive prom- 
 inence to another ! It is believed, however, that this task, difficult as it was, has 
 been accomplished with a great degree of success, and that the impartiality 
 which should characterize the records of the historian has been in this work 
 freely exercised. 
 
 In conclusion, let the hope be expressed that, dreadful as was the fratricidal 
 contest, it will not be the task of posterity to record that it was without beneficial 
 results, but rather that as it was like a destructive tropical tempest in its approach 
 and during its continuance, the times which succeeded it resembled the calm 
 which settles upon the face of nature when the storm has passed, and that the 
 subsequent career of the Great Republic was one of uninterrupted prosperity 
 and peaceful progress. 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT Frontispiece. 
 
 FORT SUMTER Vignette Title. ' 
 
 PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. To FACE 1 2 
 
 PORTRAIT OF S. A. DOUGLAS 17 
 
 CHARLESTONS. C., AND ITS VICINITY " 59 
 
 PORTRAIT OF JEFFERSON DAVIS " 94 
 
 PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT BUCHANAN 120 
 
 PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM H. SEWARD 122 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GIDEON WELLES " 127 ** 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL BEAUREGARD. 143 ^ 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA PASSING THROUGH BALTIMORE 187 - 
 
 FORTRESS MONROE AND VICINITY. " 217 ** 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL LYON. " 3Q5 - 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., AND ITS VICINITY " 320 " 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL SANS'S " 344 X 
 
 RICHMOND, VA., AND ITS VICINITY. 333 S 
 
 STRUGGLE ON A BRIDGE DURING THE RETREAT FROM MANASSAS " 408 -" 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL FREMONT " 424 -* j 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL SIGEL 426- * 
 
 BATTLE AT WILSON'S CREEK, MO. DEATH OF GENERAL LYON. " 438 , 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE PRIVATEER PETREL BY THE ST. LAWRENCE : " 524.-*" 
 
 BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF- RES CUING THE BODY OF GENERAL BAKER " 582 .-^ 
 
 PORTRAITS OF ADMIRALS DUPONT, GOLDSBOROUGH, DAHLGREN, STRINGHAM, AND WINSLOW... " 599 ^ 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF PORT ROYAL, S. C " 605 
 
 MAP OF THE ATLANTIC COAST FROM VIRGINIA TO FLORIDA " 648 - 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GENERAL HALLECK. " 656 "* 
 
THE 
 
 WAR WITH THE SOUTH: 
 
 A HISTORY OF 
 
 THE GREAT AMERICAN REBELLION; 
 
 BEING A COMPLETE 
 
 NARRATIVE OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE WAR, 
 
 \vrnr 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LEADING STATESMEN, 
 NAVAL AND MILITARY COMMANDERS, ETC. 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, M.D., 
 AUTHOR OF "BATTLES OF AMERICA," ETC., ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY HIGHLY-FINISHED STEEL ENGRAVINGS OF BATTLE SCENES, FORTIFICA- 
 TIONS, MAPS, PORTRAITS, ETC., FROM DRAWINGS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK, 
 BY F. O. C. DARLEY, AND OTHER EMINENT AMERICAN ARTISTS. 
 
 ttEW YORK: 
 VIRTUE AND COMPANY, 
 
 26 JOHN STREET. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year One Thousand Eight Hundred .and Sixty-two, 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 
 
TO 
 
 -(general SKinfieto gtatt, 
 
 U. S. A., 
 THIS WORK 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY HIS OBEDIENT SERVANTS, 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE 
 
 GREAT AMERICAN REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 State Sovereignty : its Honest and Dishonest Advocates. Northern Conciliation. Southern Domination. Northern 
 Independence. Increased Power of the North. Alarm at the Encroachments of the South. The Kansas Struggle. 
 Organization of the Republican Party. Nomination of John C. Fremont for President. His Opinions on Slavery. 
 An exciting Political Contest. Election of Buchanan. Audacious Expressions of Opinion. Uneasiness of Southern 
 
 Partisans. Causes of their Anxiety. An early Secession Speech of Jefferson Davis. The Appeals of the Southern 
 
 Press. Perversion of the Principles of the Republican Party. Delusions of Commerce. Re-establi-hment of the 
 
 Slave Trade. Alliances with the "Cotton Kingdom. "Conspirators in high places. Illegal use of Public Moneys. 
 
 HI uses of Munitions of War, Navy, etc. Increased Strength of the Republican Party. South Carolina first to 
 
 move to ward Disunion. A Secession Resolution. A Secession Commissioner. An emphatic Speech from Brooks, of 
 South Carolina. Political Conventions. Division of the Democrats. Nominations for the Presidency. Chicago 
 Convention. Lincoln nominated for President. Motives of the South in the division of the Democratic Party. 
 A Secession Message from the Governor of South Carolina. Suggestions of Treason from a Virginian Governor. 
 Election of Lincoln as President. 
 
 MANY of the political leaders of the 
 extreme Southern States of the Ameri- 
 can Union had long since boldly as- 
 serted that each individual State pos- 
 essed a sovereignty paramount to that 
 of the united commonwealth of the Re- 
 public of the United States of America. 
 Some of these men, deluded by the 
 artful sophistries of the subtle Calhoun, 
 the apostle of the doctrine of " State 
 Rights," in avowing their political her- 
 esy, gave expression, it is believed, to 
 an honest conviction. Others, however, 
 influenced by personal interests, sought 
 only to gratify their ambition or to 
 soothe their disappointment by creating 
 
 a faction from which they hoped to ob- 
 tain favors they had failed in extorting 
 from the country. In the mean time 
 the people of the Southern States, with 
 the exception perhaps of those of South 
 Carolina, who had been misled by the 
 persuasive plausibilities of their favorite 
 Calhoun, continued to cherish a patri- 
 otic sentiment of attachment to the 
 Union. 
 
 While the partisan leaders of the 
 South were enabled, through the concil- 
 iatory concessions of Northern politi- 
 cians, to wield the political power of the 
 country to their own purposes of per- 
 sonal and sectional advantage, they 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 shrewdly disguised their selfish design 
 beneath a mark of traditional regard 
 for the Constitution of the United 
 States. When, however, the North 
 began to grow restless under its subser- 
 vience to Southern domination, and to 
 manifest a desire for emancipation, the 
 partisan leaders of the South became 
 anxious lest they should lose the polit- 
 ical mastery by which they had so long 
 governed a nation in the interests of 
 a faction. Alarmed by these evidences 
 of Northern independence, the Southern 
 leaders asserted their theory of State 
 sovereignty with increased audacity, and 
 threatened to evoke its exercise to the 
 destruction of the Union. They thus 
 hoped to frighten the Northern people, 
 who were known to be fondly devoted 
 to the united country, into renewed 
 submission to Southern control. 
 
 The North had, in the mean time, been 
 rapidly gaining in power through the 
 natural increase of population and an 
 immense European immigration. The 
 South had striven to balance this growing 
 ascendency by an increase of slave 
 States. By artful party combinations, 
 and skillful management of Northern 
 politicians, the partisan leaders of the 
 South for awhile succeeded in their 
 purpose. Texas was annexed at the 
 expense of a war with Mexico, and 
 established a slave State ; an intrigue, 
 though it proved abortive, was set on 
 foot to force Spain into the sale of 
 servile Cuba ; and finally the Missouri 
 Compromise act was abrogated, for the 
 purpose of admitting the Territories of 
 Nebraska and Kansas as slaveholding 
 
 States. The Northern people became 
 alarmed by these continued encroach- 
 ments of the South, and resolutely pre- 
 pared to check them. In spite of the 
 virtual abrogation of the Missouri Com- 
 promise act, by which the new Territory 
 was thrown open to slavery, Kansas, 
 through the efforts of the advocates of 
 free soil, was filled with Northern set- 
 tlers, and became by the votes of its in- 
 habitants a free State. This, however, 
 was not effected without a struggle. The 
 neighboring slave States had sent in 
 armed bands to resist the Northern 
 immigration, and a bloody strife en- 
 sued, which greatly stirred the antago- 
 nistic interests and sentiments of the 
 Northern and Southern States. 
 
 It was in the course of this bitter 
 contention that the Republican party 
 was formed, to resist the further exten- 
 sion of slavery. It soon gathered to its 
 standard such a force as to threaten a 
 successful opposition to the oldest and 
 most powerful political combinations. 
 
 Fully organized, the Republican party 
 met in convention at Philadel- 
 phia on the 17th of June, and 1856t 
 nominated John C. Fremont, the emi- 
 nent explorer, for President. Though 
 a native of South Carolina, he was 
 known to be strongly opposed to the 
 extension of slavery, and in favor of 
 free labor. He, however, objected to 
 any interference with the rights of the 
 Southern States secured to them by the 
 Constitution of the United States, as 
 tie thus declared in a letter addressed 
 to some leading members of the Repub- 
 lican party: "I heartily concur," he 
 
DISCONTENT OF SOUTHERN LEADERS. 
 
 wrote, " in all movements which have 
 for their object to repair the mischiefs 
 arising from the violation of good faith 
 in the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
 mise. I am opposed to slavery in the 
 abstract and upon principle, sustained 
 and made habitual by long-settled con- 
 victions. While I feel inflexible in the 
 belief that it ought not to be interfered 
 with where it exists under the shield of 
 State sovereignty, I am as inflexibly op- 
 posed to its extension on this continent 
 beyond its present limits." This is 
 probably not only a fair exposition of 
 his individual opinion, on the exciting 
 question of slavery, but of that of the 
 great mass of the Republican party. 
 
 The political contest for the Presi- 
 dency which ensued upon the nomina- 
 tion of Fremont was one of the most 
 stirring of our periodical excitements. 
 The result was the triumph of the can- 
 didate of the Democratic party, James 
 Buchanan, for whom the whole South, 
 with the exception of Maryland, whose 
 choice was for Fillrnore, had cast its 
 vote. Fremont, however, had received 
 the large suffrage of one hundred and 
 fourteen out of the whole electoral vote i 
 of three hundred and six. New York, 
 Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, and 
 the six New England States were array- 
 ed in favor of the Republican candidate. 
 By the election of their favorite, Mr. 
 Buchanan, the Southern leaders were 
 apparently soothed, and they settled into 
 a temporary political contentment. In 
 the course of the electoral contest, some 
 had audaciously declared that in case 
 of the election of the Republican 
 
 candidate, the slave States would ex- 
 ercise their self-asserted sovereignty, 
 and secede from the Union. This 
 threat, however, deemed but the angry 
 effusion of political contention, or a 
 mere electioneering ruse, was little 
 heeded. 
 
 Though exulting in the triumph of 
 the election of their favorite, Buchanan, 
 of whose sympathy with their political 
 views they did not seem to doubt, and by 
 whose elevation to power they had appa- 
 rently established the security of their 
 own, the political leaders of the South 
 soon began to show evident symptoms 
 of restless discontent. The already ac- 
 quired and growing strength of the Re- 
 publican party darkened their prospect 
 of continued domination ; the issue of 
 the Kansas struggle had resulted in the 
 defeat of their hope of securing another 
 slave State ; freer expositions* of the 
 evils of their cherished institution, and 
 the insurrectionary attempt at Harper's 
 Ferry, aroused their fears ; and the auda- 
 cious prophecies of Republican leaders, 
 who foretold an "irrepressible conflict," 
 threatened them with a resolute oppo- 
 sition. They now began to be hopeless 
 of future triumphs, and prepared, some 
 by open appeals to sectional prejudice, 
 and others by secret means, to dissolve 
 the Union. More than two years since, 
 Jefferson Davis, then a senator of 
 the United States, now the Pres- 
 ident of the self-styled Confederate 
 States, boldly avowed, in a speech at 
 Jackson, Mississippi, these insurrection- 
 
 For example, the publication of Helper's "Impend- 
 ing Crisis." 
 
 1858. 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ary sentiments, which prove that the 
 present rebellion, of which he is the mas- 
 ter spirit, had been with him for a long 
 time a "foregone conclusion." "If an 
 abolitionist," he said, " be chosen Pres- 
 ident of the United States, you will 
 have presented to you the question of 
 whether you will permit the Govern- 
 ment to pass into the hands of your 
 avowed and implacable enemies ? With- 
 out pausing for an answer, I will state 
 my own position to be that such a re- 
 sult would be a species of revolution by 
 which the purposes of the Government 
 would be destroyed and the observance 
 of its mere forms entitled to no respect. 
 In that event, in such a manner as 
 should be most expedient, I should 
 deem it your duty to provide for your 
 safety outside of the Union, with those 
 who have already shown the will, and 
 would have acquired the power, to de- 
 prive you of your birthright, and to 
 reduce you to worse than the colonial 
 dependence of your fathers." 
 
 The Southern press, too, began to urge 
 emphatically the right of secession, and 
 the advantage to the States of the 
 South of separation from the Union. 
 To 'gain the sympathy of the people, 
 who had yet a traditional reverence for 
 the Government founded by Washing- 
 ton and the patriots of the Revolution, 
 incessant appeals were made alternately 
 to their fears, their passions, and their 
 cupidity. The principles of the Repub- 
 lican party and its leaders were studi- 
 ously perverted. Their objects were 
 declared to be the abolition of slavery, 
 which they were determined to accom- 
 
 plish, at any hazard to the lives and 
 property of the Southern people. The 
 inhabitants of the sea-ports were de- 
 luded with the magnificent prospects of 
 a direct trade with Europe, by which 
 the dwindling cities of the South would 
 be swollen into the importance of Tyre 
 and Carthage, and enriched with the 
 wealth of the whole commercial world. 
 The cupidity, too, and pride of the 
 poorer population, the " mean whites, " 
 the Pariahs of the South, who, with- 
 out property and without enterprise to 
 acquire it, had nothing to fear from the 
 abolition of slavery, or to hope from the 
 promotion of commerce, were aroused 
 by the promise of the re-establishment 
 of the slave-trade, by which the Laz- 
 arus of the pine barren would be 
 enabled to count his negroes with the 
 Dives of the rice jungle. The hazards, 
 moreover, of casting off the protection 
 of the powerful Government of the 
 United States and incurring the interpo- 
 sition of its contemned authority were 
 conjured away by the confident assur- 
 ances that Great Britain and France 
 would eagerly embrace the cause and 
 seek the alliance of the " Cotton king- 
 dom," to which European trade would 
 be forced to do homage. 
 
 The people of the South were thus 
 artfully being seduced from their alle- 
 giance to the Union while their leaders 
 were conspiring to destroy it. The 
 President, Buchanan, bound in close ties 
 of political sympathy with the promi- 
 nent partisans of the Southern States, 
 had selected from among them the chief 
 members of his cabinet, to whose guid- 
 
SOUTH CAROLINA DESIRING TO SECEDE. 
 
 9 
 
 ance he yielded his feeble will, which 
 they seemed to lead unresistingly to 
 their own purposes. The treasury, the 
 army, the navy, and the state, either 
 under the control of Southern conspira- 
 tors directly, or indirectly through the 
 perhaps unconscious connivance of 
 Northern political allies, were adminis- 
 tered to the advantage of a rebellion 
 which had been long contemplated. 
 The public moneys were illegally appro- 
 priated for Southern purposes, the naval 
 ships were dispatched to remote parts of 
 the world, munitions of war were pro- 
 fusely distributed among the States of 
 the South, and the offices of the Gov- 
 ernment both at home and abroad were 
 filled by confederates of the conspirators 
 of the slave States. 
 
 In the mean time, the Republican 
 party, with increased strength, was pre- 
 paring to join in the struggle for polit- 
 ical ascendency with renewed hope. 
 Its undoubted power became so mani- 
 fest, that the more impatient of the 
 Southern leaders lost all hope of suc- 
 cessful opposition within the Union, and 
 began to prepare for open resistance. 
 
 South Carolina, with her loyalty to 
 the Union long since weakened by false 
 theories and seditious practices, was the 
 first to move toward secession. On the 
 30th of November a resolution 
 was offered in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives of South Carolina, that 
 " South Carolina is ready to enter, 
 together with other slaveholding States, 
 or such as desire prompt action, into the 
 formation of a Southern confederacy;" 
 and the governor was requested to for- 
 
 1860, 
 
 ward the resolution to the various 
 Southern States. To this succeeded 
 other action toward the same object. 
 
 In the following January, Mr. 
 Memminger, a prominent politi- 
 cian of the State, presented himself at 
 Richmond, as the commissioner of South 
 Carolina to Virginia, and delivered a 
 long speech, in the course of which he 
 argued that the guarantees of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States were 
 powerless to protect the South, and that 
 it must demand new guarantees if the 
 Union was to be preserved. 
 
 Some of the more impatient of the 
 politicians of South Carolina had antici- 
 pated by many years in their rhetorical 
 effusions, this grave action of their 
 State. In 1856, Preston Brooks, a mem- 
 ber of the United States Congress from 
 South Carolina, whose emphasis of action 
 was made manifest by his murderous 
 attack upon Senator Sumner, of Massa- 
 chusetts, delivered these characteristic 
 words to some of his fellow-citizens who 
 were honoring him with a public ban- 
 quet : 
 
 "I tell you, fellow-citizens, from the 
 bottom of my heart, that the only 
 mode which I think for meeting the 
 issue is just to tear the Constitution of 
 the United States, trample it under 
 foot, and form a Southern confederacy, 
 every State of which shall be a slave- 
 holding State. I believe it as I stand 
 in the face of my Maker I believe it 
 on my responsibility to you, as your 
 honored representative, that the only 
 hope of the South is in the South, and 
 that the only available means of making 
 
10 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 1860. 
 
 that hope effective is to cut asunder the 
 bonds that tie us together, and take our 
 separate position in the family of na- 
 tions." These sentiments found a ready 
 echo among the seditiously disposed 
 people of South Carolina. 
 
 The period for the electoral struggle 
 for the Presidency was approaching. 
 The conventions for the nomination of 
 candidates had met. The Democratic 
 National Convention assembled on the 
 25th of April, at Charleston, in 
 South Carolina. Caleb Gushing, 
 of Massachusetts, was elected president, 
 and a platform was adopted. This, 
 however, did not concede to the South 
 all it claimed as "necessary guarantees 
 for the preservation of the Union," and 
 the Southern delegates withdrawing, 
 organized a Southern convention. This 
 met on the 3d of May, but after many 
 ineffectual attempts, failing to agree 
 upon a candidate for the Presidency, 
 adjourned to meet at Richmond. The 
 Democratic National Convention had 
 also adjourned to meet at Baltimore, on 
 the 13th of June. On reassembling, a 
 large number of delegates again with- 
 drew, Those remaining nominated Ste*- 
 phen A. Douglas, of Illinois, for Presi- 
 dent, and Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Ala- 
 bama, for Yice-President. The seceders 
 met and nominated John C. Breckin- 
 ridge, of Kentucky, then Vice-President 
 of the United States, for President, and 
 for Yice-President, Joseph Lane, of Ore- 
 gon. These nominations were after- 
 ward confirmed by the convention at 
 Richmond. In the mean time a con- 
 vention, styling itself the " Constitu- 
 
 tional Union," met at Baltimore on the 
 9th of May, and nominated John Bell, 
 of Tennessee, for President, and Edward 
 Everett, of Massachusetts, for Yice- 
 President. 
 
 Again, at Chicago, on the 16th of May, 
 the convention of that now imposing 
 party, the National Republican, met in 
 convention and nominated Abraham 
 Lincoln, of Illinois, for President, and 
 Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, for Yice- 
 President. 
 
 The leaders of the South had evi- 
 dently determined to forego the advan- 
 tage of their usual political combina- 
 tions with their fellow-partisans of the 
 North, by whose aid they could alone 
 hope to secure their prescriptive impor- 
 tance in the Union. They were willing 
 thus to weaken by division those who 
 were still inclined to succor them in an 
 unavoidable struggle with a party whose 
 power if established they professed to 
 consider fatal to their rights. It would 
 seem that disunion with them was a 
 predetermined act, and that they wished 
 the success of the National Republicans, 
 whom they persisted in denouncing as 
 abolitionists, to justify their contemplated 
 Southern rebellion to the people of the 
 South, whose sensitive anxieties for the 
 security of their slave interests might 
 be readily excited to an angry resistance 
 to the constitutional authorities of the 
 United States. The division of the 
 Democratic party, from which certainly 
 the Southern leaders could have no 
 fears of an invasion of their constitu- 
 tional rights, threw the election into 
 the power of the Republicans, whom 
 
LINCOLN DENOUNCED IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 11 
 
 they professed to dread as the avowed 
 enemies of the institutions of the South. 
 The result, easily foreseen, soon occur- 
 red. As it became evident that Lincoln 
 would be elected, the conspirators of 
 the South, some of whom were in the 
 highest places of the States and of 
 the Union, began, through message, 
 speech, and the press, to denounce 
 the Republican candidate as an aboli- 
 tionist, whose purpose, at the head of a 
 powerful party, was to interfere with 
 Southern slavery, and by incendiary 
 appeals to excite the people to resist- 
 ance. In South Carolina, the conspira- 
 tors, confident of the sympathy of the 
 misguided people, did not hesitate to 
 declare their rebellious purposes. On 
 the day before the Presidential election, 
 the governor of South Carolina deliv- 
 ered a message to the Legislature, in 
 which he boldly avowed the principles 
 of secession, and recommended the ap- 
 pointment of delegates to a convention 
 
 to be assembled for the purpose of dis- 
 solving all connection with the United 
 States. 
 
 Even in Virginia, Governor Letcher, 
 at that early date, did not fear to sug- 
 gest treason, and declared in his message 
 to the Legislature : " It is useless to at- 
 tempt to conceal the fact, that in the 
 present temper of the Southern people, 
 it [alluding to the probable election of 
 Lincoln] can not and will not be sub- 
 mitted to. * * * The idea of permit- 
 ting such a man to have the control and 
 direction of the army and navy of the 
 United States, and the appointment of 
 high judicial and executive officers, post- 
 masters included, can not be entertained 
 by the South for a moment." On No- 
 vember the 6th the election took place, 
 and Abraham Lincoln, as was foreseen, 
 was elected President of the United 
 States. His principles and character 
 will be best illustrated by a cursory 
 history of his life and political career. 
 
12 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Birth of Lincoln. His Ancestry. Humble Parentage. Early Education. Small Accomplishments extensively Util- 
 ized. Handling of the Axe. Death of his Mother. Study of the Bible. Second Marriage of his Father. Young 
 Lincoln's earliest Literary Acquirements. Later pursuits of Learning. Bodily Development and Accomplish- 
 ments. First Trip on a Flat Boat. A Migration to Illinois. A feat of "Splitting Kails." A Hand on a Flat 
 Boat. Reward of Industry and Integrity. General Manager of a Shop and Mill. A Volunteer in the Black 
 Hawk War. A sudden and unexpected Promotion. Return to Civil Life. A Candidate for the Legislature. A 
 Partnership in a Shop. Failure. An extemporaneous Surveyor Elected Member of the Legislature. Good 
 opinion of his Constituents. Reading Law. Admission to the Bar. Professional Success. Prominent among the 
 Politicians. A Canvass of the State. Elected Whig Member of Congress. His Votes and Opinions on the Slave 
 Question. Return to practice as a Lawyer. Member of Whig National Convention. A Champion of the Repub- 
 lican Party. Nominated a United States Senator. Canvass of the State. Contest with Douglas. A Victory and a 
 Defeat. His candid Answers to Questions on Slavery. Nominated for the Presidency. Enthusiasm of his Party. 
 An exciting Canvass. Elected President. Sudden Elevation." Honest Abe." Character and Manners. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Hardin 
 County, Kentucky, on the 12th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1809. From the dark and con- 
 fused traditions of an humble ancestry, 
 a mole-eyed investigator has traced 
 back the lineage of our President to 
 some forefathers who emigrated from 
 England to America, and settled in 
 Berks County, Pennsylvania, where they 
 were engaged in the tranquil pursuit of 
 farming, and known as peaceful mem- 
 bers of the " Society of Friends." One 
 of them, however, the great-grandfather 
 of Abraham Lincoln, removed to Vir- 
 ginia, where his grandson, Thomas Lin- 
 coln, the father of the President, was 
 born. The family soon migrated to 
 Kentucky. Here Thomas, Abraham's 
 father, being left poor and uneducated, 
 led the life of an itinerant laborer, ready 
 to put his shoulder to any work that 
 promised a fair day's wages. He, how- 
 ever, on marrying Nancy Hanks, in 
 1806, became less movable, and fixed 
 himself a settler in Hardin County, 
 where our President was born. With- 
 
 out property and without education, 
 Thomas Lincoln found himself in the 
 unenviable position of one of those 
 "poor whites" who in a society based 
 on slavery are contemned alike by the 
 negro and his master. He therefore de- 
 termined to emigrate to a free State, 
 where personal labor was deemed no 
 humiliation and honest poverty no dis- 
 grace. He accordingly moved, in the 
 autumn of 1816, to Spencer County, 
 Indiana, when his son Abraham had 
 reached the age of eight years. The 
 youth had alread}^ while in Kentucky, 
 picked up some stray scraps of learning, 
 and could not only read and cipher, but 
 write. This rare accomplishment of the 
 juvenile scholar proved invaluable to 
 the Lincoln family and the illiterate 
 neighbors of their forest home in Indi- 
 ana. They had left relatives and friends 
 in Kentucky, and were naturally desir- 
 ous of keeping up a correspondence 
 with them. Young Abraham's Lin- 
 coln's services were accordingly put into 
 requisition as the secretary, not only of 
 

PURSUIT OF LITERATURE UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 13 
 
 his father, who could barely sign his 
 name, and of his mother, who, "though 
 a ready reader, had not been taught the 
 accomplishment of writing," but of 
 many of the other rude settlers of the 
 wilderness. He thus early acquired a 
 facility of expression which proved of 
 good service to him in after time, and 
 aided his future advancement in life. 
 
 This, however, was only the occupa- 
 tion of his rare intervals of leisure. He 
 more frequently handled the axe than 
 the pen. A log-house was to be built, 
 and his father's land to be cleared of its 
 forest growth of oaks and hickories. 
 Abraham was young, but well-grown, 
 and wondrously strong for his age, and 
 took to the rude labor with instinctive 
 readiness. " An axe was at once placed 
 in his hands, and from that time until 
 he attained his twenty-third year, when 
 not employed in labor on the farm, he 
 was almost constantly wielding that 
 most useful instrument."* 
 
 In 1818, young Lincoln lost his 
 mother, a pious woman of the Baptist 
 persuasion, who had taken care that no 
 Sunday should pass without having a 
 chapter of the Bible read either by her- 
 self or one of her children. Her son is 
 said thus to have acquired a familiarity 
 with the words and principles of the 
 Scriptures, which made an abiding im- 
 pression upon his memory and conduct. 
 His father, however, soon provided him- 
 self with another wife, by marrying a 
 Mrs. Sally Johnston, of Kentucky, who 
 proved a worthy substitute to her not- 
 
 "Life of Abraham Lincoln." Horace Greeley & Co., 
 New York. 
 
 able predecessor. Schooling was too 
 dear, and the necessity of hard work 
 too pressing, to allow of much devotion 
 to study, and Abraham was left chiefly 
 to his own unaided exertions for his 
 education. With barely a year's in- 
 struction in all, he succeeded, by dili- 
 gently reading the rare books that fell 
 in his way, in developing his naturally 
 vigorous understanding, and preparing 
 himself for the success which has mark- 
 ed his life. His earliest literary acqui- 
 sitions, after his spelling-book and the 
 Bible, were a stray copy of Esop's 
 Fables, which he .conned until he learned 
 it by heart ; the Pilgrim's Progress, 
 Franklin's Autobiography, Weems' pic- 
 turesque Life of Washington, and Riley's 
 wondrous narrative of travel. At the 
 age of fifteen he earned, by three days' 
 work, in reaping a distant neighbor's 
 corn, Ramsay's History of the Revolu- 
 tion, and soon after crowned his ardu- 
 ous pursuit of literature with the acqui- 
 sition of a copy of Plutarch's Lives. 
 "He studied English grammar after he 
 was twenty-three years of age ; at 
 twenty-five he mastered enough of 
 geometry, trigonometry, and mensura- 
 tion to enable him to take the field as a 
 surveyor ; and he studied the six books 
 of Euclid after he had served a term in 
 Congress, and when he was forty years 
 of age, amid the pressure of an exten- 
 sive legal practice, and of frequent de- 
 mands upon his time by the public."* 
 
 In the mean time, while young Lin- 
 coln was striving against every disad- 
 
 " Life of Abraham Lincoln." Horace Greeley & Co., 
 New York. 
 
14 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 vantage for mental progress, he was ad- 
 vancing rapidly in physical stature and 
 robustness. His rough backwoods life 
 was hardening his muscle and knitting his 
 stalwart frame, so that he soon became 
 not only foremost in felling a tree or 
 "splitting a rail," but the most noted 
 among his comrades in feats of wrestling, 
 leaping, and throwing the bar. His 
 spirit of independence and adventure 
 was displayed in a trip on a flat-boat to 
 New Orleans, which he made at the age 
 of nineteen, as one of the hands. 
 
 The fame of the prairie lands of 
 Illinois, with their seductive promise of 
 cheap lands and natural richness of soil, 
 had reached the Lincoln family, and 
 tempted them to seek its " fresh fields 
 and pastures new." Accordingly, in the 
 spring of 1830, Thomas Lincoln, with 
 his wife and children, abandoned his 
 home in Indiana and journeyed to the 
 new land of promise. Ox-carts loaded 
 with the women folk, the household 
 goods, the farming utensils, and provi- 
 sion of corn and bacon for the journey, 
 and driven by the patriarch and his son, 
 our present President, carried all the 
 hopes and fortunes of the Lincolns to 
 their new home. After a slow and long 
 journey through an unfrequented coun- 
 try, picturesque to the eye with its 
 diversified scenery, but trying to the 
 endurance of the traveler with its 
 mountain acclivities, its deep water- 
 courses, and perplexing forests, they 
 finally arrived in Illinois. Here the 
 Lincolns settled in Macon County, 
 where the strong arm and skilled labor 
 of Abraham, now one-and-twenty years 
 
 of age, were at once put to service. 
 The summer was mostly spent in build- 
 ing the log-house, as a protection against 
 the storms and frosts of the approaching 
 autumn and winter. The next step was 
 to prepare the bit of prairie which had 
 fallen to the lot of the Lincolns, for a 
 crop of Indian corn. It was now that 
 Abraham accomplished that memorable 
 feat of "splitting the rails" for the ten- 
 acre field, which has subsequently been 
 cultivated to such advantage by the 
 fertilizing rhetoric of political orators. 
 
 The winter compelling an intermission 
 of labor on the farm, and the severity 
 of the season restricting the means of 
 livelihood at home, young Lincoln was 
 induced to accept the offer of a neighbor 
 to assist in floating a flat-boat from 
 Beardstown, on the Illinois River, to New 
 Orleans. Having performed this service 
 greatly to the satisfaction of his em- 
 ployer, he was rewarded by him with 
 the appointment of general manager of 
 his shop and mill in New Salem. He 
 had been thus occupied for several 
 months, when, on the breaking out of 
 the Black Hawk war in 1832, he joined 
 a company of volunteers. Lincoln was 
 at once chosen the captain, an unex- 
 pected elevation, which he declared gave 
 him more pleasure than any subsequent 
 honor which has fallen to his lot. The 
 war being soon brought to a close, Lin- 
 coln returned to civil life, after the brief 
 military career of three months. 
 
 On reaching New Salem, he was in- 
 duced to offer himself as a " Whig" can- 
 didate for the Legislature, but was de- 
 feated by his Democratic opponent. He 
 
MEMBER OF CONGRESS. 
 
 15 
 
 now formed a partnership, and buying a 
 stock of goods on credit, opened a coun- 
 try store. He was also appointed post- 
 master at New Salem. The business, 
 however, not proving successful, nor the 
 office remunerative, he was soon in such 
 pecuniary straits as to be forced to close 
 his doors. His next effort for a liveli- 
 hood was as an extemporaneous assist- 
 ant surveyor, for which he readily pre- 
 pared himself by obtaining a field com- 
 pass, a chain, and a treatise on surveying. 
 
 In 1834, Lincoln was elected a mem- 
 ber of the Legislature of Illinois. Al- 
 though reticent of speech, he by the 
 faithful discharge of his duties, and his 
 personal and political rectitude of con- 
 duct, won so much of the good opinion 
 of his constituents that they re-elected 
 him for three successive terms. 
 
 Even while practicing as a surveyor, 
 Lincoln had been in the habit of read- 
 ing books on law. After entering the 
 Legislature, he began to study them 
 with increased attention, and in 1836 
 had made such progress that he was 
 admitted to the bar. In April of the 
 following year he became a partner of 
 a Mr. John F. Stuart, and removed to 
 Springfield, where he began the practice 
 of his profession. His success as a 
 lawyer was immediate, and he soon at- 
 tained to such eminence, that he ranked 
 among the chief legal practitioners of 
 the neighborhood. His forte was in the 
 management of jury cases. Though 
 laboriously occupied with his profession, 
 Lincoln took a prominent lead in poli- 
 tics. His sympathies were with the 
 Whigs, and having been chosen a candi- 
 
 date for Presidential elector in 1844, he 
 canvassed the whole State of Illinois 
 and a portion of Indiana in favor of 
 Henry Clay. In 1846 he was elected 
 by the Whigs a member of Congress, 
 and in December, 1847, took his seat in 
 the House of Representatives. Though 
 opposed to the annexation of Texas and 
 the w r ar with Mexico, which had been 
 then brought to a triumphant close by 
 the conquest of the Mexican capital, 
 Lincoln never failed to recognize the 
 good service of our soldiers, and to join 
 in all the congressional votes of ac- 
 knowledgment and reward. 
 
 At an early period Lincoln had mani- 
 fested those opinions on slavery which 
 secured for him the nomination of the 
 Republican party, and elevated him to 
 his present high position. In a protest, 
 which is recorded upon the journal of the 
 Illinois Legislature on the 3d of March, 
 1837, he united with a fellow-member 
 in saying that : " They believe that the 
 institution of slavery is founded on both 
 injustice and bad policy ; but that the 
 promulgation of abolition doctrines tends 
 rather to increase than abate its evils. 
 
 "They believe that the Congress of 
 the United States has no power, under 
 the Constitution, to interfere with the 
 institution of slavery in the different 
 States. 
 
 "They believe that the Congress of 
 the United States has the power under 
 the Constitution to abolish slavery in 
 the District of Columbia ; but that the 
 power ought not to be exercised unless 
 at the request of the people of said 
 District." 
 
16 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 His action while in Congress, as since 
 his election to the Presidency, has been 
 in strict accordance with the scrupulous 
 regard thus early expressed for all con- 
 stitutional obligations in respect to 
 Southern slavery, while he has never 
 failed to do his utmost to restrict within 
 its legal bounds an institution which he 
 does not favor. He showed his resolute 
 opposition to its extension by voting, 
 while in Congress, no less than forty- 
 two times for the Wilmot proviso. His 
 action on other questions was in har- 
 mony with his professed Whig principles, 
 and a protective tariff, river and harbor 
 improvements, and the sale of the pub- 
 lic lands at a low valuation, received his 
 support and vote. 
 
 Lincoln, having served in Congress 
 but a single term, returned to the prac- 
 tice of his profession in Springfield. In 
 1848, however, he was a member of the 
 Whig National Convention, and warmly 
 concurred in the nomination of General 
 Zachar}^ Taylor for the Presidency. In 
 1849 he was the Whig candidate for the 
 .United States Senate, but as the majority 
 of the Legislature of Illinois was Demo- 
 cratic, was beaten by his competitor, 
 General Shields. 
 
 The repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
 mise aroused Lincoln once more to 
 active political effort, and he came for- 
 ward as a champion of the new Repub- 
 lican party organized to resist the ex- 
 tension of slavery. In the canvass for 
 the choice of a senator in the place of 
 General Shields, he sustained Judge 
 Turnbull, and to his spirited efforts was 
 attributed the triumph of that Republi- 
 
 can candidate. So prominent had he 
 now become as a leader of the new 
 party, that in the Republican National 
 Convention of 1856, which nominated 
 John C. Fremont for President, Lincoln 
 was pressed by the delegates from the 
 State of Illinois as a nominee for the 
 Vice-Presidency. 
 
 Being nominated on the 2d of June, 
 1858, by the Republican party of his 
 State, candidate for the United States 
 Senate, in opposition to Douglas, Lin- 
 coln canvassed Illinois together with his 
 eminent competitor. Having already, in 
 the struggle between Turnbull and 
 Shields, tested his powers with the 
 " Little Giant," as the partisans of Doug- 
 las fondly termed him, in allusion to his 
 combined loftiness of intellect and 
 smallness of stature, Lincoln did not 
 hesitate to challenge his doughty antag- 
 onist to another encounter. The polit- 
 ical contest which ensued became mem- 
 orable, and Lincoln exhibited, as a free- 
 soil combatant, such pluck and bottom 
 that he was hailed by the Republicans 
 of Illinois as their favorite champion. 
 They claimed that he had victoriously 
 sustained their principles against the 
 stoutest leader of their antagonists. He, 
 however, with all his vigor of fight, did 
 not succeed in his immediate purpose 
 of gaining the prize of the senatorship. 
 The popular vote, it is true, proclaimed 
 him victor, but his competitor, Douglas, 
 received the suffrage of the State Sen- 
 ate in consequence of the unequal ap- 
 portionment law of Illinois, which gave 
 the Democrats an undue share of its 
 members. Lincoln, however, had se- 
 
\\ 
 
LINCOLN'S OPINIONS ON SLAVERY. 
 
 17 
 
 cured for himself, among the expanding 
 Republican party, an importance which 
 obtained for him the nomination for the 
 Presidency, and finally his elevation to 
 that high office. 
 
 How far his political views upon the 
 question of slavery are justifications of 
 a defiance of the authority of his gov- 
 ernment, as is pretended by those seek- 
 ing pretexts for rebellion, his own words 
 will prove. In the course of his polit- 
 ical contest for the senatorship, Douglas 
 proposed certain questions to him, which 
 are here given, with Lincoln's answers, 
 which present a candid exposition of 
 his opinions. 
 
 *' ' Question 1 . I desire to know whether 
 Lincoln to-day stands pledged, as he did 
 in 1854, in favor of the unconditional 
 repeal of the Fugitive Slave law ? 
 
 Answer. I do not now, nor ever did, 
 stand pledged in favor of the uncondi- 
 tional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law. 
 
 Q. 2. I desire him to answer whether 
 he stands pledged to-day, as he did 
 in 1854, against the admission of any 
 more slave States into the Union, even 
 if the people want them ?" 
 
 A. I do not now, nor ever did, stand 
 pledged against the admission of any 
 more slave States into the Union. 
 
 Q. 3. I want to know whether he 
 stands pledged against the admission of 
 a new State into the Union, with such a 
 constitution as the people of that State 
 may see fit to make ? 
 
 A. I do not stand pledged against the 
 admission of a new State into the Union, 
 with such a constitution as the people 
 of that State may see fit to make. 
 
 Q. 4. I want to know whether he 
 stands to-day pledged to the abolition 
 of slavery in the District of Columbia ? 
 
 A. I do not stand to-day pledged to 
 the abolition of slavery in the District 
 of Columbia. 
 
 Q. 5. I desire him to answer whether 
 he stands pledged to the prohibition 
 of the slave-trade between the different 
 States ? 
 
 A. I do not stand pledged to the 
 prohibition of the slave-trade between 
 the different States. 
 
 Q. 6. I desire to know whether he 
 stands pledged to prohibit slavery in all 
 the Territories of the United States, 
 north as well as south of the Missouri 
 Compromise line ? 
 
 A. I am impliedly, if not expressly, 
 pledged to a belief in the right and duty 
 of. Congress to prohibit slavery in all 
 the United States' Territories. 
 
 Q. 7. I desire him to answer whether 
 he is opposed to the acquisition of any 
 new territory, unless slavery is first pro- 
 hibited therein ? 
 
 A. I am not generally opposed to hon- 
 est acquisition of territory ; and, in any 
 given case, I would or would not oppose 
 such acquisition, according as I might 
 think such acquisition would or would 
 not aggravate the slavery question 
 among ourselves. 
 
 Now, my friends, it will be perceived, 
 upon an examination of these questions 
 and answers, that so far I have only 
 answered that I was not pledged to this, 
 that, or the other. The Judge has not 
 framed his interrogatories to ask me 
 anything more than this, and I have 
 
18 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 answered in strict accordance with the 
 interrogatories, and have answered truly 
 that I am not pledged at all upon any of 
 the points to which I have answered. 
 But I am not disposed to hang upon the 
 exact form of his interrogatory. I am 
 rather disposed to take up at least some 
 of these questions, and state what I 
 really think upon them. 
 
 As to the first one, in regard to the 
 Fugitive Slave law, I have never hesi- 
 
 O ' 
 
 tated to say, and I do not now hesitate 
 to say, that I think, under the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, the people 
 of the Southern States are entitled to a 
 Congressional Fugitive Slave law. Hav- 
 ing said that, I have had nothing to say 
 in regard to the existing Fugitive Slave 
 law, further than that I think it should 
 have been framed so as to be free from 
 some of the objections that pertain, to 
 it, without lessening its efficiency. And 
 inasmuch as we are not now in an 
 agitation in regard to an alteration or 
 modification of that law, I would not be 
 the man to introduce it as a new subject 
 of agitation upon the general question 
 of slavery. 
 
 In regard to the other question, of 
 whether I am pledged to the admission 
 of any more slave States into the Union, 
 I state to you very frankly, that I would 
 be exceedingly sorry ever to be put in 
 a position of having to pass upon that 
 question. I should be exceedingly glad 
 to know that there would never be 
 another slave State admitted into the 
 Union ; but I must add that, if slavery 
 shall be kept out of the Territories 
 during the territorial existence of any 
 
 one given Territory, and then the 
 people shall, having a fair chance and a 
 clear field, when they come to adopt the 
 Constitution, do such an extraordinary 
 thing as to adopt a slave constitution, 
 uninfluenced by the actual presence of 
 the institution among them, I see no 
 alternative, if we own the country, but 
 to admit them into the Union. 
 
 The third interrogatory is answered 
 by the answer to the second, it being, 
 as I conceive, the same as the second. 
 
 The fourth one is in regard to the 
 abolition of slavery in the District of 
 Columbia. In relation to that, I have 
 my mind very distinctly made up. I 
 should be exceedingly glad to see slavery 
 abolished in the District of Columbia. 
 I believe that Congress possesses the 
 constitutional power to abolish it. Yet, 
 as a member of Congress, I should not, 
 with my present views, be in favor of 
 endeavoring to abolish slavery in the 
 District of Columbia, unless it would be 
 upon these conditions : First, that the 
 abolition should be gradual. Second, 
 that it should be on a vote of the ma- 
 jority of qualified voters in the District ; 
 and third, that compensation should be 
 made to unwilling owners. With these 
 three conditions, I confess I would be 
 exceedingly glad to see Congress abolish 
 slavery in the District of Columbia, and, 
 in the language of Henry Clay, " sweep 
 from our capital that foul blot upon our 
 nation ." 
 
 In regard to the fifth interrogatory, 
 I must say here, that as to the question 
 of the abolition of the slave-trade be- 
 tween the different States, I can truly 
 
AN EXCITING ELECTION. 
 
 19 
 
 answer, as I have, that I am pledged to 
 nothing about it. It is a subject to 
 which I have not given that mature 
 consideration that would make me feel 
 authorized to state a position so as to 
 hold myself entirely bound by it. In 
 other words, that question has never 
 been prominently enough before me to 
 induce me to investigate whether we 
 really have the constitutional power to 
 do it. I could investigate it if I had 
 sufficient time to bring myself to a con- 
 clusion upon that subject ; but I have 
 not done so, and I say so frankly to you 
 here, and to Judge Douglas. I must 
 say, however, that if I should be of 
 opinion that Congress does possess the 
 constitutional power to abolish the 
 slave-trade among the different States, I 
 should still not be in favor of the exer- 
 cise of that power unless upon some 
 conservative principle, as I conceive it, 
 akin to what I have said in relation to 
 the abolition of slavery in the District 
 of Columbia. 
 
 My answer as to whether I desire that 
 slavery should be prohibited in all the 
 Territories of the United States, is full 
 and explicit within itself, and can not be 
 made clearer by any comments of mine. 
 So I suppose in regard to the question 
 whether I am opposed to the acquisition 
 of any more territory unless slavery is 
 first prohibited therein, my answer is 
 such that I could add nothing by way 
 of illustration, or making myself better 
 understood, than the answer which I 
 have placed in writing." 
 
 On the 16th of May, the Re- 
 
 ISfiO 
 
 1 publican National Convention met 
 
 at Chicago. After two ballots, which 
 resulted in no choice, Lincoln was chosen 
 on the third, receiving three hundred 
 and fifty-four of the whole four hun- 
 dred and sixty-five votes.* The elec- 
 tion was then made unanimous. The 
 party responded enthusiastically to the 
 choice, and began at once to stir the 
 country with an exciting canvass. The 
 "Wide Awakes," unarmed but uni- 
 formed armies of voters, were mustered 
 and led by bands of music, paraded 
 through the streets in marching order 
 by day, and in torchlight processions at 
 night. Illuminated banners, gigantic 
 flags, and posters made the names of 
 Lincoln and Hamlin familiar to every eye 
 and ear. Republican orators, of whom 
 Seward, himself the leading competitor 
 for the nomination of President with 
 Lincoln, was the chief, posted from 
 State to State, city to city, and through- 
 out the rural districts, gathering great 
 crowds and arousing them by their fervid 
 rhetoric to resist the encroachments of 
 slavery, and rally to the standard of the 
 party organized to oppose it. 
 
 The divided Democrats and the so- 
 called Unionists were not less demon- 
 strative with their flaunting and noisy 
 appeals through party emblems, pro- 
 cessions, "monster" meetings, and po- 
 litical speech. The country was never 
 so agitated and party spirit so enven- 
 omed. Mutterings, in the mean time, 
 
 The whole number of votes was 465, of which 253 
 were necessary to a choice. On the first ballot, Seward re- 
 ceived 173J, Lincoln 102, Cameron 50}, and Bates 48 ; the 
 rest were scattered. On the second ballot, Seward re- 
 ceived 184$, and Lincoln 181 ; on the third, Lincoln had 
 354, Seward 110 J, Dayton 1, and McLean a vote. 
 
20 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 1860. 
 
 of disaffection came from the South 
 anticipating defeat, but were either not 
 listened to, or scouted as the grumbling 
 of impotent discontent. The clamor of 
 party drowned all but its own voice. 
 
 In consequence of the dissensions and 
 divisions of the Democratic party, the 
 Republicans succeeded in electing their 
 candidate. Abraham Lincoln was elect- 
 ed President of the United States, 
 having received the electoral vote 
 of seventeen States California, Connec- 
 ticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, 
 Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, 
 New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Ore- 
 gon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Ver- 
 mont, and Wisconsin while the electoral 
 vote of eleven States was given to Breck- 
 iriridge, three for Bell, and two for 
 Douglas. The whole popular vote, how- 
 ever, was only 1,857,610 for the Repub- 
 lican candidate, while that for the other 
 three combined amounted to 2,804,560. 
 Lincoln, by his election, became at 
 once, from a comparatively obscure per- 
 son, whose name before his nomination 
 was hardly known beyond the limits of 
 the State of Illinois, the most prominent 
 man in the country. Though acknowl- 
 edged in his own State as an acute law- 
 yer and skillful politician, he had never 
 been recognized by the country at large 
 as a leading statesman. He had, how- 
 ever, acquired in Illinois such a repute 
 for political and personal integrity, that 
 the people of the North, of all parties, 
 disgusted with the corruption in high 
 
 places, readily accepted him as a chief 
 magistrate, upon whom they might rely 
 for a strict adherence to his constitu- 
 tional obligations. The "honest Abe 77 
 of his partisans would prove, it was be- 
 lieved, the worthy President of the great 
 Republic. 
 
 Personally, Lincoln, who in character 
 and manner has the unreserved and pop- 
 ular characteristics of the Western man, 
 has no pretensions to the stately dignity 
 we are apt to associate with the office of 
 President. Retaining the informal habits 
 of his early life, he is easily accessible, 
 and yields without reserve his ready so- 
 cial sympathy to the first comer. A tall, 
 gaunt man, with bending shoulders like 
 an overweighted Atlas, nearly six feet 
 and a half in height, and of great physical 
 vigor developed by the rude labor of his 
 earlier, and strengthened by the simple 
 habits of his later years, he looks the rep- 
 resentative of the sturdy democracy of the 
 country. With none of the pretentious 
 refinements of a fastidious culture, he 
 yet has a naturally vigorous understand- 
 ing, carefully improved by legal and po- 
 litical study. A certain logical acumen 
 seems the characteristic of his mind, and 
 tracing with untiring pertinacity the 
 windings of an argument, he is skilled 
 in distinguishing the plausible from the 
 true. His mental like his moral char- 
 acter seems to have a natural bias for 
 truth, and the nation, in these days of 
 political crime, confidently trusts in his 
 honesty. 
 
EFFECT OF LINCOLN'S ELECTION. 
 
 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Election of Lincoln a signal and pretext of Insurrection. The news hailed with joy in South Carolina,. Secession 
 Meetings. Sympathy of Slave States. Offer of Aid from Virginia. Secession Movement in New Orleans. A Call 
 for an Army in South Carolina. Resignation of the United States Senators from South Carolina. Tendency to 
 Rebellion in the other Slave States. Action of the Legislature of Georgia. Florida hails the "Gallant Palmetto 
 Flag." The Governor of Alabama advises to prepare for Secession. Conventions ordered. Increase of the Seces- 
 sion Mania in South Carolina. Flying of the Palmetto Flag, and excited enthusiasm of the People.- An infectious 
 example. Arming of Georgia. Commissioners from Mississippi. Mutual Counsel and Advice. Arming of the 
 Southern People. Purchases of Arms from the North.- Increased Barbarity at the South. Feeling at the North. 
 Trust in the sentiment of Union. Hope from Congress and the President. Disappointment. President Buchanan's 
 Message. 
 
 1860, 
 
 THE election of Lincoln was made the 
 signal in the South, as it was the 
 pretext, for the open defiance of 
 the authority of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. The intelligence of the fact was 
 received at Charleston, S. C., with un- 
 disguised joy, and the citizens gave vent 
 to their enthusiasm in "long-continued 
 cheering for a Southern confederacy." 
 Meetings were held, where local orators 
 delivered stirring speeches, in which 
 they declared that Southern independ- 
 ence could only be secured by the se- 
 cession of South Carolina, and were 
 rapturously applauded. The conspira- 
 tors of the different Southern States in- 
 terchanged expressions of sympathy and 
 offers of mutual service. From Vir- 
 ginia, even at that early period, came a 
 proffer to South Carolina of a volunteer 
 corps to aid her in her projected rebellion. 
 In New Orleans, placards were posted 
 on the walls of the city inviting the cit- 
 izens to military organization, and soon 
 " minute men" were mustered in every 
 cotton State. 
 
 On the 10th of November a bill was 
 introduced in the Legislature of South 
 
 Carolina for calling out and equipping 
 an army of ten thousand volunteers, and 
 on the same day was ordered an election 
 for delegates to a convention to take 
 action on the question of secession. 
 This was followed by the resignation by 
 the South Carolina senators of their 
 seats in the Senate of the United States, 
 which was accepted with enthusiasm. 
 Finally, on November 13th, the Legis- 
 lature adjourned sine die, when its pre- 
 paratory acts of secession were honored 
 by a torch-light procession in the cap- 
 ital of the State. 
 
 The other cotton States, though less 
 precipitate than South Carolina in legis- 
 lative action, gave early indications of 
 their tendency to insurrection. The 
 Legislature of Georgia refused to order 
 the election of a senator to fill a vacancy 
 in the United States Seriate. The Gov- 
 ernor of Florida sent a telegraphic greet- 
 ing to the Governor of South Carolina, 
 declaring that " Florida is with the gal- 
 lant Palmetto flag." The Governor of 
 Alabama advised his fellow-citizens to 
 prepare for secession, and gave notice 
 of his intention to order an election of 
 
22 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 delegates to a State convention. An 
 extra session of the Legislature of Vir- 
 ginia was called to "take into consid- 
 eration the condition of public affairs." 
 At the same time great meetings were 
 held at New Orleans, Augusta, Mont- 
 gomery, Vicksburg, and other Southern 
 cities, in favor of disunion. Each day 
 brought with it a fresh development of 
 the secession mania. The citizens of 
 Charleston gathered in crowds to "in- 
 augurate the revolution." The palmetto 
 flag, the symbol of the State, was hoisted 
 upon tall poles of pine erected for the 
 purpose, and flung out from every pub- 
 lic building, hotel, and private residence. 
 Men, women, and children flaunted se- 
 cession badges, and yielded unresistingly 
 to the common madness. 
 
 In the meanwhile the example of 
 South Carolina was infecting her neigh- 
 bors. The Legislature of Georgia voted 
 N OV , an appropriation of a million of 
 18 dollars " to arm and equip the 
 State," and ordered an election of del- 
 egates to a convention. The Legislature 
 ]\ ov , of North Carolina refused to elect 
 30 a United States Senator. The 
 Legislature of Mississippi authorized the 
 Nov. governor to appoint commissioners 
 29- to visit the slaveholding States, to 
 devise means in co-operation for "their 
 common defense and safety." The Leg- 
 Dec, islature of Florida unanimously 
 1* passed the bill calling for a con- 
 vention. The Legislature of Georgia 
 again, unable to check its impatience, 
 Dec, made a further advance toward re- 
 
 3| bellion by considering a resolution 
 to invite a conference of the Southern 
 
 States, for mutual counsel in regard to 
 the best means of resistance to the 
 North. 
 
 The people of the slave States were 
 daily arming themselves for an antici- 
 pated encounter with the Federal au- 
 thorities they were provoking. Im- 
 mense purchases of arms and ammunition 
 were made at New York, Boston, and 
 Hartford. The rage against the unsym- 
 pathetic citizens of the North, who by 
 an unhappy fate chanced to be exposed 
 to their insults and violence, was mani- 
 fested with increased barbarity. 
 
 The loyal citizens of the country, 
 though alarmed by these rebellious in- 
 dications of the slave States, yet trusted 
 to the sentiment of union to check, and 
 the power as well as the disposition of 
 the Federal Government to repress them. 
 Some looked to Congress, now in Dec, 
 session, for a ready compliance with 3, 
 measures of conciliation and compro- 
 mise, by which Southern discontent might 
 be soothed by Northern concession. Oth- 
 ers trusting in the power of Government, 
 hoped that the chief magistrate, now that 
 his weak will and vacillating purposes 
 could be steadied and directed by con- 
 gressional resolution, would bind with 
 the fetters of authority the rebellion be- 
 fore it should be aroused in its might. 
 
 The message of Buchanan, however, 
 soon dissipated these hopes. Instead of 
 a dignified vindication of authority, Dec, 
 it was an ill-concealed attempt at ^ 
 justification of its contemners, and an 
 open declaration of their impunity. This 
 remarkable document will be always 
 considered a not inefficient promoter of 
 
BUCHANAN'S MESSAGE. 
 
 23 
 
 rebellion, and is now recorded as an 
 important fact in its history. 
 
 PRESIDENT BUCHANAN'S MESSAGE. 
 
 "FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE 
 
 AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 
 
 " Throughout the year since our last 
 meeting, the country has been eminently 
 prosperous in all its material interests. 
 The general health has been excellent, 
 our harvests have been abundant, and 
 plenty smiles throughout the land. Our 
 commerce and manufactures have been 
 prosecuted with energy and industry, 
 and have yielded fair and ample re- 
 turns. In short, no nation in the tide 
 of time has ever presented a specta- 
 cle of greater material prosperity than 
 we have done until within a very recent 
 period. 
 
 11 Why is it, then, that discontent now 
 so extensively prevails, and the Union 
 of the States, which is the source of 
 all these blessings, is threatened with 
 destruction ? The long-continued and 
 intemperate interference of the Northern 
 people with the question of slavery in 
 the Southern States has at length pro- 
 duced its natural effects. The different 
 sections of the Union are now arrayed 
 against each other, and the time has ar- 
 rived, so much dreaded by the Father 
 of his Country, when hostile geograph- 
 ical parties have been formed. I have 
 long foreseen and often forewarned my 
 countrymen of the now impending dan- 
 ger. This does not proceed solely from 
 the claims on the part of Congress or the 
 Territorial Legislature to exclude slav- 
 ery from the Territories, nor from the 
 
 efforts of different States to defeat the 
 execution of the Fugitive Slave law. 
 
 ' ' All or any of these evils might have 
 been endured by the South without 
 danger to the Union (as others have 
 been), in the hope that time and re- 
 flection might apply the remedy. The 
 immediate peril arises not so much from 
 these causes, as from the fact that the 
 incessant and violent agitation of the 
 slavery question throughout the North 
 for the last quarter of a century, has at 
 Jength produced its malign influence on 
 the slaves, and inspired them with vague 
 notions of freedom. Hence a sense of 
 security no longer exists around the 
 family altar. This feeling of peace at 
 home has given place to apprehensions 
 of servile insurrection. Many a ma- 
 tron throughout the South retires at 
 night in dread of what may befall her- 
 self and her children before the morn- 
 ing. Should this apprehension of do- 
 mestic danger, whether real or imagin- 
 ary, extend and intensify itself until it 
 shall pervade the masses of the Southern 
 people, then disunion will become inev- 
 itable. Self-preservation is the first law 
 of nature, and has been implanted in the 
 heart of man by his Creator for the 
 wisest purpose ; and no political union, 
 however fraught with blessings and ben- 
 efits in all other respects, can long con- 
 tinue, if the necessary consequence be 
 to render the homes and the firesides of 
 nearly half the parties to it habitually 
 and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later 
 the bonds of such a union must be sev- 
 ered. It is my conviction that this fatal 
 period has not yet arrived ; and my 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 prayer to God is, that he would preserve 
 the Constitution and the Union through- 
 out all generations. 
 
 " But let us take warning in time, and 
 remove the cause of danger. It can not 
 be denied that for five-and-twenty years 
 the agitation at the North against slav- 
 ery in the South has been incessant. In 
 1835, pictorial handbills and inflamma- 
 tory appeals were circulated extensively 
 throughout the South, of a character to 
 excite the passions of the slaves ; and, 
 in the language of G-en. Jackson, ' to 
 stimulate them to insurrection, and pro- 
 duce all the horrors of a servile war.' 
 This agitation has ever since been con- 
 tinued by the public press, by the pro- 
 ceedings of State and county conven- 
 tions, and by abolition sermons .and 
 lectures. The time of Congress has 
 been occupied in violent speeches on 
 this never-ending subject, and appeals 
 in pamphlet and other forms, indorsed 
 by distinguished names, have been sent 
 forth from this central point, and spread 
 broadcast over the Union. 
 
 " How easy would it be for the Amer- 
 ican people to settle the slavery question 
 forever, and to restore peace and har- 
 mony to this distracted country ! 
 
 "They, and they alone, can do it. 
 All that is necessary to accomplish the 
 object, and all for which the slave States 
 have ever contended, is to be let alone 
 and permitted to manage their domestic 
 institutions in their own way. As sov- 
 ereign States, they, and they alone, are 
 responsible before God and the world 
 for the slavery existing among them. 
 For this, the people of the North are not 
 
 more responsible, and have no more 
 right to interfere, than with similar in- 
 stitutions in Russia or in Brazil. Upon 
 their good sense and patriotic forbear- 
 ance I confess I still greatly rely. With- 
 out their aid, it is beyond the power of 
 any President, no matter what may be 
 his own political proclivities, to restore 
 peace and harmony among the States. 
 Wisely limited and restrained as is his 
 power, under our Constitution and laws, 
 he alone can accomplish but little, for 
 good or for evil, on such a momentous 
 question. 
 
 " And this brings me to observe that 
 the election of any one of our fellow- 
 citizens to the office of President does 
 not of itself afford just cause for dis- 
 solving the Union. This is more espe- 
 cially true if his election has been 
 effected by a mere plurality, and not 
 a majority, of the people, and has re- 
 sulted from transient and temporary 
 causes, which may probably never again 
 occur. In order to justify a resort to 
 revolutionary resistance, the Federal 
 Government must be guilty of ' a delib- 
 erate, palpable, and dangerous exercise' 
 of powers not granted by the Constitu- 
 tion. The late Presidential election, 
 however, has been held in strict con- 
 formity with its express provisions. 
 How, then, can the result justify a rev- 
 olution to destroy this very Constitu- 
 tion ? Reason, justice, a regard for the 
 Constitution, all require that we shall 
 wait for some overt and dangerous act 
 on the part of the President-elect before 
 resorting to such a remedy. 
 
 "It is said, however, that the ante- 
 
THE SOUTH AND ITS RIGHTS. 
 
 25 
 
 cedents of the President-elect have been 
 sufficient to justify the fears of the South 
 that he will attempt to invade their con- 
 stitutional rights. But are such appre- 
 hensions of contingent danger in the 
 future sufficient to justify the immediate 
 destruction of the noblest system of 
 government ever devised by mortals ? 
 From the very nature of his office, and 
 its high responsibilities, he must neces- 
 sarily be conservative. The stern duty 
 of administering the vast and compli- 
 cated concerns of this Government af- 
 fords in itself a guarantee that he will 
 not attempt any violation of a clear 
 constitutional right. After all, he is no 
 more than the chief executive officer of 
 the Government. His province is not 
 to make, but to execute, the laws ; and 
 it is a remarkable fact in our history, 
 that, notwithstanding the repeated ef- 
 forts of the Anti-Slavery party, no single 
 act has ever passed Congress, unless we 
 may possibly except the Missouri Com- 
 promise, impairing in the slightest de- 
 gree the rights of the South to their 
 property in slaves. And it may also be 
 observed, judging from the present in- 
 dications, that no probability exists of 
 the passage of such an act, by a ma- 
 jority of both Houses, either in the 
 present or the next Congress. Surely, 
 under these circumstances, we ought to 
 be restrained from present action by the 
 precept of Him who spake as never man 
 spoke, that ' sufficient unto the day is 
 the evil thereof.' The day of evil may 
 never come, unless we shall rashly bring 
 it upon ourselves. 
 
 " It is alleged as one cause for imme- 
 
 4 
 
 diate secession, that the Southern States 
 are denied equal rights with the other 
 States in the common Territories. But 
 by what authority are these denied ? 
 Not by Congress, which has never passed, 
 and I believe never will pass, any act to 
 exclude slavery from these Territories ; 
 and certainly not by the Supreme Court, 
 which has solemnly decided that slaves 
 are property, and, like all other prop- 
 erty, their owners have a right to take 
 them into the common Territories, and 
 hold them there under the protection of 
 the Constitution. 
 
 "So far, then, as Congress is con- 
 cerned, the objection is not to anything 
 they have already done, but to what 
 they may do hereafter. It will surely 
 be admitted that this apprehension of 
 future danger is no good reason for an 
 immediate dissolution of the Union. It 
 is true that the Territorial Legislature 
 of Kansas, on the 23d of February, 1860, 
 passed in great haste an act, over the 
 veto of the governor, declaring that 
 slavery ' is, and shall be, forever pro- 
 hibited in this Territory.' Such an act, 
 however, plainly violating the rights of 
 property secured by the Constitution, 
 will surely be declared void by the ju- 
 diciary whenever it shall be presented in 
 a legal form. 
 
 " Only three days after my inaugurar 
 tion, the Supreme Court of the United 
 States solemnly adjudged that the power 
 did not exist in a Territorial Legislature. 
 Yet such has been the factious temper 
 of the times, that the correctness of this 
 decision has been extensively impugned 
 before the people, and the question has 
 
26 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 given rise to angry political conflicts 
 throughout the country. Those who 
 have appealed from this judgment of our 
 highest constitutional tribunal to pop- 
 ular assemblies would, if they could, in- 
 vest a Territorial Legislature with power 
 to annul the sacred rights of property. 
 This power Congress is expressly for- 
 bidden, by the Federal Constitution, to 
 exercise. Every State Legislature in 
 the Union is forbidden, by its own Con- 
 stitution, to exercise it. It can not be 
 exercised in any State except by the 
 people, in their highest sovereign capac- 
 ity, when framing or amending their 
 State Constitution. 
 
 ' ' In like manner it can only be exer- 
 cised by the people of a Territory rep- 
 resented in a convention of delegates, 
 for the purpose of framing a constitution, 
 preparatory to admission as a State into 
 the Union. Then, and not until then, 
 are they invested with power to decide 
 the question, whether slavery shall or 
 shall not exist within their limits. This 
 is an act of sovereign authority, and not 
 of subordinate territorial legislation. 
 Were it otherwise, then indeed would 
 the equality of the States in the Terri- 
 tories be destroyed, and the right of 
 property in slaves would depend, not 
 upon the guarantees of the Constitution, 
 but upon the shifting majorities of an 
 irresponsible Territorial Legislature. 
 Such a doctrine, from its intrinsic un- 
 soundness, can not long influence any 
 considerable portion of our people, 
 much less can it afford a good reason 
 for a dissolution of the Union. 
 
 ' The most palpable violations of con- 
 
 stiUitional duty which have yet been 
 committed, consist in the acts of differ- 
 ent State legislatures to defeat the ex- 
 ecution of the Fugitive Slave law. It 
 ought to be remembered, however, that 
 for these acts neither Congress nor any 
 President can justly be held responsible. 
 Having been passed in violation of the 
 Federal Constitution, they are, there- 
 fore, null and void. All the courts, 
 both State and national, before whom 
 the question has arisen, have from the 
 beginning declared the Fugitive Slave 
 law to be constitutional. The single 
 exception is that of a State court in 
 Wisconsin ; and this has not only been 
 reversed by the proper appellate tri- 
 bunal, but has met with such universal 
 reprobation that there can be no danger 
 from it as a precedent. The validity of 
 this law has been established over and 
 over again by the Supreme Court of 
 the United States with perfect unan- 
 imity. It is founded upon an express 
 provision of the Constitution, requiring 
 that fugitive slaves who escape from 
 service in one State to another shall be 
 ' delivered up' to their masters. With- 
 out this provision, it is a well-known 
 historical fact that the Constitution itself 
 could never have been adopted by the 
 Convention. 
 
 " In one form or other, under the 
 acts of 1793 and 1850, both being sub- 
 stantially the same, the Fugitive Slave 
 law has been the law of the land from 
 the days of Washington until the present 
 moment. Here, then, a clear case is 
 presented, in which it will be the duty 
 of the next President, as it has been my 
 
BUCHANAN ON SECESSION. 
 
 own, to act with vigor in executing this 
 supreme law against the conflicting en- 
 actments of State legislatures. Should 
 he fail in the performance of this high 
 duty, he will then have manifested a dis- 
 regard of the Constitution and laws, to 
 the great injury of the people of nearly 
 one half of the States of the Union. 
 But are we to presume in advance that 
 he will thus violate his duty ? This 
 would be at war with every principle of 
 justice and of Christian charity. Let 
 us wait for the overt act. The Fugitive 
 Slave law has been carried into execu- 
 tion in every contested case since the 
 commencement of the present adminis- 
 tration ; though often, it is to be re- 
 gretted, with great loss and inconveni- 
 ence to the master, and with consider- 
 able expense to the Government. Let 
 us trust that the State legislatures will 
 repeal their unconstitutional and obnox- 
 ious enactments. Unless this shall be 
 done without any necessary delay, it is 
 impossible for any human power to save 
 the Union. 
 
 "The Southern States, standing on 
 the basis of the Constitution, have a 
 right to demand this act of justice from 
 the States of the North. Should it be 
 refused, then the Constitution, to which 
 all the States are parties, will have been 
 willfully violated by one portion of them 
 in a provision essential to the domestic 
 security and happiness of the remain- 
 der. In that event, the injured States, 
 after having first used all peaceful and 
 constitutional means to obtain redress, 
 would be justified in revolutionary re- 
 sistance to the Government of the Union. 
 
 " I have purposely confined my re- 
 marks to revolutionary resistance, be- 
 cause it has been claimed within the last 
 few years that any State, whenever this 
 shall be its sovereign will and pleasure, 
 may secede from the Union, in accord- 
 ance with the Constitution, and without 
 any violation of the constitutional rights 
 of the other members of the confed- 
 eracy. That, as each became parties to 
 the Union by a vote of its own people 
 assembled in convention, so any one of 
 them may retire from the Union in a 
 similar manner by the vote of such a 
 convention. 
 
 " In order to justify secession as a 
 constitutional remedy, it must be on the 
 principle that the Federal Government 
 is a mere voluntary association of States, 
 to be dissolved at pleasure by any one 
 of the contracting parties. If this be 
 so, the confederacy is a rope of sand, to 
 be penetrated and dissolved by the first 
 adverse wave of public opinion in any 
 of the States. In this manner our 
 thirty-three States may resolve them- 
 selves into as many petty, jarring, and 
 hostiles republics, each one retiring from 
 the Union, without responsibility, when- 
 ! ever any sudden excitement might impel 
 them to such a course. By this process 
 a union might be entirely broken into 
 fragments in a few weeks, which cost 
 our forefathers many years of toil, pri- 
 vation, and blood to establish. 
 
 ' ' Such a principle is wholly incon- 
 sistent with the history as well as the 
 character of the Federal Constitution. 
 After it was framed, with the greatest 
 deliberation and care, it was submitted 
 
28 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 to conventions of the people of the 
 several States for ratification. Its pro- 
 visions were discussed at length in these 
 bodies, composed of the first men of the 
 country. Its opponents contended that 
 it conferred powers upon the Federal 
 Government dangerous to the rights of 
 the States, while its advocates main- 
 tained that under a fair construction of 
 the instrument there was no foundation 
 for such apprehensions. In that mighty 
 struggle between the first intellects of 
 this or any other country, it never oc- 
 curred to any individual, either among 
 its opponents or advocates, to assert, or 
 even to intimate, that their efforts were 
 all vain labor, because the moment any 
 State felt herself aggrieved she might 
 secede from the Union. What a crush- 
 ing argument would this have proved 
 against those who dreaded that the 
 rights of the States would be endangered 
 by the Constitution ! The truth is, that 
 it was not until many years after the 
 origin of the Federal Government that 
 such a proposition was first advanced. 
 
 ' ' It was then met and refuted by the 
 conclusive arguments of General Jack- 
 son, who, in his message of 16th Janu- 
 ary, 1833, transmitted the nullifying or- 
 dinance of South Carolina to Congress, 
 employs the following language : ' The 
 right of the people of a single State to 
 absolve themselves at will, and without 
 the consent of the other States, from 
 their most solemn obligations, and haz- 
 ard the liberty and happiness of the 
 millions composing this Union, can not 
 be acknowledged. Such authority is 
 believed to be utterly repugnant both to 
 
 the principles upon which the General 
 Government is constituted, and to the 
 objects which it was expressly formed 
 to attain. 7 
 
 " It is not pretended that any clause 
 in the Constitution gives countenance to 
 such a theory. It is altogether founded 
 upon inference, not from any language 
 contained in the instrument itself, but 
 from the sovereign character of the 
 several States by which it was ratified. 
 But is it beyond the power of a State, 
 like an individual, to yield a portion of 
 its sovereign rights to secure the re- 
 mainder ? In the language of Mr. Mad- 
 ison, who has been called the Father of 
 the Constitution : ' It was formed by 
 the States that is, by the people in 
 each of the States, acting in their high- 
 est sovereign capacity ; and formed con- 
 sequently by the same authority which 
 formed the State constitutions.' 
 
 " Nor is the Government of the United 
 States, created by the Constitution, less 
 a government in the strict sense of the 
 term, within the sphere of its powers, 
 than the governments created by the 
 constitutions of the States are, within 
 their several spheres. It is, like them, 
 organized into legislative, executive, and 
 judiciary departments. It operates, like 
 them, directly on persons and things ; 
 and, like them, it has at command a 
 physical force for executing the powers 
 committed to it. 
 
 " It was intended to be perpetual, and 
 not be annulled at the pleasure of any 
 one of the contracting parties. The old 
 articles of confederation were entitled 
 ' Articles of Confederation and Perpet- 
 
PERPETUITY OF THE UNION. 
 
 29 
 
 ual Union between the States ;' and by 
 the 13th article it is expressly declared 
 that ' the articles of this Confederation 
 shall be inviolably observed by every 
 State, and the Union shall be perpetual.' 
 The preamble to the Constitution of the 
 United States, having express reference 
 to the articles of Confederation, recites 
 that it was established ' in order to form 
 a more perfect union.' And yet it is 
 contended that this ' more perfect union' 
 does not include the essential attribute 
 of perpetuity. 
 
 " But that the Union was designed to 
 be perpetual, appears conclusively from 
 the nature and extent of the powers 
 conferred by the Constitution on the 
 Federal Government. These powers 
 embrace the very highest attributes of 
 national sovereignty. They place both 
 the sword and the purse under its con- 
 trol. Congress has power to make war, 
 and to make peace ; to raise and sup- 
 port armies and navies, and to conclude 
 treaties with foreign governments. It is 
 invested with the power to coin money, 
 and to regulate the value thereof, and to 
 regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
 and among the several States. It is not 
 necessary to enumerate the other high 
 powers which have been conferred upon 
 the Federal Government. In order to 
 carry the enumerated powers into effect, 
 Congress possesses the exclusive right to 
 lay and collect duties on imports, and in 
 common with the States to lay and col- 
 lect all other taxes. 
 
 "But the Constitution has not only 
 conferred these high powers upon Con- 
 gress, but it has adopted effectual means 
 
 to restrain the States from interfering 
 with their exercise. For that purpose 
 ! it has, in strong prohibitory language, 
 expressly declared that ' no State shall 
 enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 
 federation ; grant letters of marque and 
 reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of 
 credit ; make anything but gold and 
 silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
 pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
 law, or law impairing the obligation of 
 contracts.' Moreover, ' without the con- 
 sent of Congress, no State shall lay any 
 imposts or duties on any imports or ex- 
 ports, except what may be absolutely 
 necessary for executing its inspection 
 laws ;' and if they exceed this amount, 
 the excess shall belong to the United 
 States. 
 
 ' ' And ' no State shall, without the con- 
 sent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage ; 
 keep troops, or ships of war, in time of 
 peace ; enter into any agreement or 
 compact with another State, or with a 
 foreign power ; or engage in war, unless 
 actually invaded, or in such imminent 
 danger as will not admit of delay.' 
 
 " In order still further to secure the 
 uninterrupted exercise of these high 
 powers against State interposition, it is 
 provided ' that this Constitution, and 
 the laws of the United States which shall 
 be made in pursuance thereof, and all 
 treaties made, or which shall be made, 
 under the authority of the United 
 States, shall be the supreme law of the 
 land ; and the judges in every State 
 shall be bound thereby, anything in the 
 Constitution or laws of any State to the 
 contrary notwithstanding.' 
 
30 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " The solemn sanction of religion has 
 been superadded to the obligations of 
 official duty, and all Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives of the United States, all 
 members of State Legislature, and all 
 executive and judicial officers, ' both of 
 the United States and of the several 
 States, shall be bound by oath or affirm- 
 ation to support this Constitution.' 
 
 " In order to carry into effect these 
 powers, the Constitution has established 
 a perfect government in all its forms, 
 legislative, executive, and judicial ; and 
 this Government, to the extent of its 
 powers, acts directly upon the individual 
 citizen of every State, and executes its 
 own decrees by the agency of its own 
 officers. In this respect it differs en- 
 tirely from the Government under the 
 old confederation, which was confined 
 to making requisitions on the States in 
 their sovereign character. This left it 
 in the discretion of each whether to obey 
 or to refuse, and they often declined to 
 comply with such requisition. It thus 
 became necessary, for the purpose of re- 
 moving this barrier, and, * in order to 
 form a more perfect union,' to establish 
 a government which could act directly 
 upon the people, and execute its own 
 laws without the intermediate agency of 
 the States. This has been accomplished 
 by the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 " In short, the Government created by 
 the Constitution, and deriving its au- 
 thority from the sovereign people of 
 each of the several States, has precisely 
 the same right to exercise its power over 
 the people of all these States, in the 
 enumerated cases, that each one of 
 
 them possesses over subjects not del- 
 egated to the United States, but ' re- 
 served to the States respectively, or to 
 the people.' 
 
 "To the extent of the delegated pow- 
 ers, the Constitution of the United States 
 is as much a part of the Constitution of 
 each State, and is as binding upon its 
 people, as though it had been textually 
 inserted therein. 
 
 " This Government, therefore, is a 
 great and powerful government, in- 
 vested with all the attributes of sov- 
 ereignty over the special subjects to 
 which its authority extends. Its framers 
 never intended to implant in its bosom 
 the seeds of its own destruction, nor 
 were they, at its creation, guilty of the 
 absurdity of providing for its own disso- 
 lution. It was not intended by its 
 framers to be the baseless fabric of a 
 vision which, at the touch of the en- 
 chanter, would vanish into thin air, but 
 a substantial and mighty fabric, capable 
 of resisting the slow decay of time, and 
 of defying -the storms of ages. Indeed, 
 well may the jealous patriots of that day 
 have indulged fears that a government 
 of such high powers might violate the 
 reserved rights of the States, and wisely 
 did they adopt the rule of a strict con- 
 struction of these powers to prevent the 
 danger ! But they did not fear, nor had 
 they any reason to imagine, that the 
 Constitution would ever be so inter- 
 preted as to enable any State, by her 
 own act, and without the consent of her 
 sister States, to discharge her people 
 from all or any of their Federal obliga- 
 tions. 
 
THE DUTY OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 31 
 
 " It may be asked, then, are the peo- 
 ple of the States without redress against j 
 the tyranny and oppression of the Fed- 
 eral Government ? By no means. The 
 right of resistance on the part of the 
 governed against the oppression of their 
 governments can not be denied. It ex- 
 ists independently of all constitutions, 
 and has been exercised at all periods of 
 the world's history. Under it old gov- 
 ernments have been destroyed, and new 
 ones have taken their place. It is em- 
 bodied in strong and express language 
 in our own Declaration of Independence. 
 But the distinction must ever be ob- 
 served, that this is revolution against an 
 established government, and not a vol- 
 untary secession from it by virtue of an 
 inherent constitutional right. In short, 
 let us look the danger fairly in the face : 
 secession is neither more nor less than i 
 revolution. It may or it may not be a i 
 justifiable revolution, but still it is revo- 
 lution. 
 
 " What, in the mean time, is the re- 
 sponsibility and true position of the i 
 Executive ? He is bound by solemn j 
 oath before God and the country ' to 
 take care that the laws be faithfully ex- 
 ecuted,' and from this obligation he can 
 not be absolved by any human power. 
 But what if the performance of this 
 duty, in whole or in part, has been ren- 
 dered impracticable by events over which 
 he could have exercised no control ? 
 Such, at the present moment, is the case 
 throughout the State of South Carolina, 
 so far as the laws of the United States 
 to secure the administration of justice 
 by means of the Federal judiciary are 
 
 concerned. All the Federal officers 
 within its limits, through whose agency 
 alone these laws can be carried into ex- 
 ecution, have already resigned. "We no 
 longer have a district judge, a district 
 attorney, or a marshal, in South Caro- 
 lina. In fact, the whole machinery of 
 the Federal Government necessary for 
 the distribution of remedial justice among 
 the people has been demolished, and it 
 would be difficult, if not impossible, to 
 replace it. 
 
 " The only acts of Congress on the 
 statute-book, bearing upon this subject, 
 are those of the 28th February, 1795, 
 and 3d March, 1807. These authorize 
 the President, after he shall have ascer- 
 tained that the marshal, with his posse 
 comitatus, is unable to execute civil or 
 criminal process in any particular case, 
 to call forth the militia and employ the 
 army and navy to aid him in performing 
 this service, having first by proclama- 
 tion commanded the insurgents to dis- 
 perse and retire peaceably to their re- 
 spective abodes within a limited time. 7 
 This duty can not by possibility be per- 
 formed in a State where no judicial au- 
 thority exists to issue process, and where 
 there is no marshal to execute it, and 
 where, even if there were such an offi- 
 cer, the entire population would consti- 
 tute one solid combination to resist him. 
 
 " The bare enumeration of these pro- 
 visions proves how inadequate they are 
 without further legislation to overcome 
 a united opposition in a single State, not 
 to speak of other States who may place 
 themselves in a similar attitude. Con- 
 gress alone has power to decide whether 
 
32 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the present laws can or can not be 
 amended so as to carry out more effect- 
 ually the objects of the Constitution. 
 
 " The same insuperable obstacles do 
 not lie in the way of executing the laws 
 for the collection of the customs. The 
 revenue still continues to be collected, 
 as heretofore, at the custom-house in 
 Charleston ; and shetild the collector 
 unfortunately resign, a successor may 
 be appointed to perform this duty. 
 
 " Then in regard to the property of 
 the United States in South Carolina. 
 This has been purchased for a fair equiv- 
 alent, ' by the consent of the Legislature 
 of the State,' 'for the erection of forts, 
 magazines, arsenals,' etc., and over these 
 the authority ' to exercise exclusive leg- 
 islation' has been expressly granted by ; 
 the Constitution to Congress. It is not- 
 believed that any attempt will be made 
 to expel the United States from this 
 property by force ; but if in this I should 
 prove to be mistaken, the officer in com- 
 mand of the forts has received orders to 
 act strictly on the defensive. In such a 
 contingency the responsibility for conse- 
 quences would rightfully rest upon the 
 heads of the assailants. 
 
 "Apart from the execution of the 
 laws, so far as this may be practicable, 
 the Executive has no authority to de- 
 cide what shall be the relations between 
 the Federal Government and South Car- 
 olina. He has been invested with no 
 such discretion. He possesses no power 
 
 to change the relations heretofore exist- 
 
 . 
 
 ing between them, much less to ac- 
 knowledge the independence of that 
 State. This would be to invest a mere 
 
 executive officer with the power of rec- 
 ognizing the dissolution of the confed- 
 eracy among our thirty-three sovereign 
 States. It bears no resemblance to the 
 recognition of a foreign de facto govern- 
 ment, involving no such responsibility. 
 Any attempt to do this would, on his 
 part, be a naked act of usurpation. It 
 is, therefore, my duty to submit to Con- 
 gress the whole question in all its bear- 
 ings. The course of events is so rapidly 
 hastening forward, that the emergency 
 may soon arise, when you may be called 
 upon to decide the momentous question 
 whether you possess the power, by force 
 of arms, to compel a State to remain 
 in the Union. I should feel mvself 
 
 / 
 
 recreant to my duty were I not to 
 express an opinion on this important 
 subject. 
 
 " The question fairly stated is : Has 
 the Constitution delegated to Congress 
 the power to coerce a State into sub- 
 mission which is attempting to with- 
 draw, or has actually withdrawn, from 
 the confederacy? If answered in the 
 affirmative, it must be on the principle 
 that the power has been conferred upon 
 Congress to declare and to make war 
 against a State. After much serious re- 
 flection, I have arrived at the conclusion 
 that no such power has been delegated 
 to Congress, or to any other depart- 
 ment of the Federal Government, It is 
 manifest, upon an inspection of the Con- 
 stitution, that this is not among the spe- 
 cific and enumerated powers granted to 
 Congress ; and it is equally apparent 
 that its exercise is not ' necessary and 
 proper for carrying into execution' any 
 
EFFECT OF WAR ON THE UNION. 
 
 33 
 
 one of these powers. So far from this 
 po\ver having been delegated to Con- 
 gress, it was expressly refused by the 
 Convention which framed the Consti- 
 tution. 
 
 " It appears, from the proceedings of 
 that body, that on the 31st May, 1787, 
 the clause ' authorizing an exertion of the 
 force of the whole against a delinquent 
 State, 1 came up for consideration. Mr. 
 Madison opposed it in a brief but pow- 
 erful speech, from which I shall extract 
 but a single sentence. He observed : 
 ' The use of force against a State would 
 look more like a declaration of war than 
 an infliction of punishment, and would 
 probably be considered by the party at- 
 tacked as a dissolution of all previous 
 compacts by which it might be bound.' 
 Upon his motion, the clause was unani- 
 mously postponed, and was never, I be- 
 lieve, again presented. Soon afterward, 
 on the 8th June, 1787, when incident- 
 ally adverting to the subject, he said : 
 ' Any government for the United States, 
 formed on the supposed practicability 
 of using force against the unconstitu- 
 tional proceedings of the States, would 
 prove as visionary and fallacious as the 
 Government of Congress,' evidently 
 meaning the then existing Congress of 
 the old confederation. 
 
 "Without descending to particulars, 
 it may be safely asserted that the power 
 to make war against a State is at va- 
 riance with the whole spirit and intent 
 of the Constitution. Suppose such a 
 war should result in the conquest of a 
 State, how are we to govern it after- 
 ward ? ' Shall we hold it as a province, 
 
 5 
 
 and govern it by despotic power? In 
 the nature of things we could not, by 
 physical force, control the will of the 
 people, and compel them to elect Sen- 
 ators and Representatives to Congress, 
 and to perform all the other duties de- 
 pending upon their own volition, and 
 "required from the free citizens of a free 
 State, as a constituent member of the 
 confederacy. 
 
 ' ' But if we possessed this power, would 
 it be wise to exercise it under existing 
 circumstances ? The object would doubt- 
 less be to preserve the Union. War 
 would not only present the most effect- 
 ual means of destroying it, but would 
 banish all hope of its peaceable recon- 
 struction. Besides, in the fraternal con- 
 flict, a vast amount of blood and treasure 
 would be expended, rendering future 
 reconciliation between the States im- 
 possible. In the mean time, who can 
 foretell what would be the sufferings 
 and privations of the people during its 
 existence ? 
 
 " The fact is, that our Union rests 
 upon public opinion, and can never be 
 cemented by the blood of its citizens 
 shed in civil war. If it can not live in 
 the affections of the people, it must one 
 day perish. Congress possess many 
 means of preserving it by conciliation ; 
 but the sword was not placed in their 
 hand to preserve it by force. 
 
 " But may I be permitted solemnly 
 to invoke my countrymen to pause and 
 deliberate, before they determine to de- 
 stroy this, the grandest temple which 
 has ever been dedicated to human free- 
 dom since the world began ? It has 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 been consecrated by the blood of our 
 fathers, by the glories of the past, and 
 by the hopes of the future. The Union 
 has already made us the most pros- 
 perous and, ere long, will, if preserved, 
 render us the most powerful nation on 
 the face of the earth. In every foreign 
 region of the globe the title of American' 
 citizen is held in the highest respect, 
 and when pronounced in a foreign land 
 it causes the hearts of our countrymen 
 to swell with honest pride. Surely 
 when we reach the brink of the yawning 
 abyss, we shall recoil with horror from 
 the last fatal plunge. By such a dread 
 catastrophe the hopes of the friends of 
 freedom throughout the world would be 
 destroyed, and a long night of leaden 
 despotism would enshroud the nations. 
 Our example for more than eighty years 
 would not only be lost, but it would be 
 quoted as a conclusive proof that man 
 is unfit for self-government. 
 
 "It is not every wrong nay, not 
 every grievous wrong which can just- 
 ify a resort to such a fearful alternative. 
 This ought to be the last desperate 
 remedy of a despairing people, after 
 every other constitutional means of con- 
 ciliation had been exhausted. We should 
 reflect that under this free Government 
 there is an incessant ebb and flow in 
 public opinion. The slavery question, 
 like everything human, will have its 
 day. I firmly believe that it has al- 
 ready reached and passed its culmi- 
 nating point. But if, in the midst of 
 the existing excitement, the Union shall 
 perish, the evil may then become irrep- 
 arable. Congress can contribute much 
 
 to avert it by proposing and recom- 
 mending to the Legislatures of the sev- 
 eral States the remedy for existing 
 evils, which the Constitution has itself 
 provided for its own preservation. This 
 has been tried at different critical pe- 
 riods of our history, and always with 
 eminent success. It is to be found in 
 the 5th article providing for its own 
 amendment. Under this article, amend- 
 ments have been proposed by two thirds 
 of both Houses of Congress, and have 
 been ' ratified by the Legislatures of 
 three fourths of the several States,' and 
 have consequently become parts of the 
 Constitution. To this process the coun- 
 try is indebted for the clause prohib- 
 iting Congress from passing any law 
 respecting an establishment of religion, 
 or abridging the freedom of speech, or 
 of the press, or of the right of petition. 
 To this we are also indebted for the bill 
 of Rights, which secures the people 
 against any abuse of power by the Fed- 
 eral Government. Such were the ap- 
 prehensions justly entertained by the 
 friends of State Rights at that period as 
 to have rendered it extremely doubtful 
 whether the Constitution could have 
 long survived without these amend- 
 ments. 
 
 "Again : the Constitution was amend- 
 ed by the same process after the election 
 of President Jefferson by the House 
 of Representatives, in February, 1803. 
 This amendment was rendered neces- 
 sary to prevent a recurrence of the 
 dangers which had seriously threatened 
 the existence of the Government during 
 the pendency of that election. The art- 
 
THE SOUTH AND ITS RIGHTS. 
 
 35 
 
 icle for its own amendment was intended 
 to secure the amicable adjustment of 
 conflicting constitutional questions like 
 the present which might arise between 
 the governments of the States and that 
 of the United States. This appears 
 from cotemporaneous history. In this 
 connection, I shall merely call attention 
 to a few sentences in Mr. Madison's 
 justly celebrated report in 1799 to the 
 Legislature of Virginia. In this he ably 
 and conclusively defended the resolu- 
 tions of the preceding Legislature against 
 the strictures of several other State Leg- 
 islatures. These were mainly founded 
 upon the protest of the Virginia Legis- 
 lature against the ' Alien and Sedition 
 Acts,' as ' palpable and alarming infrac- 
 tions of the Constitution.' In pointing 
 out the peaceful and constitutional rem- 
 edies and he referred to none other 
 to which the States were authorized 
 to resort on such occasions, he con- 
 cludes by saying, ' that the Legislatures 
 of the States might have made a direct 
 representation to Congress with a view 
 to obtain a rescinding of the two offens- 
 ive acts, or they might have represented 
 to their respective senators in Congress 
 their wish that two thirds thereof would 
 propose an explanatory amendment to 
 the Constitution ; or two thirds of them- 
 selves, if such had been their option, 
 might, by an application to Congress, 
 have obtained a convention for the same 
 object.' 
 
 " This is the very course which I 
 earnestly recommend in order to obtain 
 an ' explanatory amendment' of the Con- 
 stitution on the subject of slavery. This 
 
 might originate with Congress or the 
 State Legislatures, as may be deemed 
 most advisable to attain the object. 
 
 ' ' The explanatory amendment might 
 be confined to the final settlement of the 
 true construction of the Constitution on 
 three special points : 
 
 "1. An express recognition of the 
 right of property in slaves in the States 
 where it now exists or may hereafter 
 exist. 
 
 "2. The duty of protecting this right 
 in all the common Territories through- 
 out their territorial existence, and until 
 they shall be admitted as States into the 
 Union, with or without slavery, as their 
 constitutions may prescribe. 
 
 "3. A like recognition of the right 
 of the master to have his slave, who has 
 escaped from one State to another, 
 restored and ' delivered up' to him, and 
 of the validity of the Fugitive Slave 
 law enacted for this purpose, together 
 with a declaration that all State laws 
 impairing or defeating this right are vio- 
 lations of the Constitution, and are con- 
 sequently null and void. 
 
 " It may be objected that this con- 
 struction of the Constitution has al- 
 ready been settled by the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, and what 
 more ought to be required ? The an- 
 swer is, that a very large proportion of 
 the people of the United States still 
 contest the correctness of this decision, 
 and never will cease from agitation and 
 admit its binding force until clearly 
 established by the people of the several 
 States in their sovereign character. 
 Such an explanatory amendment would, 
 
36 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 it is believed, forever terminate the 
 existing dissensions and restore peace 
 and harmony among the States. 
 
 " It ought not to be doubted that 
 such an appeal to the arbitrament es- 
 tablished by the Constitution itself would 
 be received with favor by all the States 
 of the confederacy. In any event it 
 ought to be tried in a spirit of concilia- 
 tion before any of these States shall sep- 
 arate themselves from the Union. 
 
 " When I entered upon the duties of 
 the Presidential office, the aspect neither 
 of our foreign nor domestic affairs was 
 at all satisfactory. We were involved 
 in dangerous complications with several 
 nations, and two of our Territories were 
 in a state of revolution against the Gov- 
 ernment. A restoration of the African 
 slave-trade had numerous and powerful 
 advocates. Unlawful military expedi- 
 
 tions were countenanced by many of our 
 citizens, and were suffered, in defiance 
 of the efforts of the Government, to es- 
 cape from our shores, for the purpose 
 of making war upon the unoffending 
 people of neighboring republics with 
 whom we were at peace. In addition 
 to these and other difficulties, we expe- 
 rienced a revulsion in monetary affairs, 
 soon after my advent to power, of un- 
 exampled severity and of ruinous con- 
 sequences to all the great interests of 
 the country. When we take a retro- 
 spect of what was then our condition, 
 and contrast this with its material pros- 
 perity at the time of the late Presi- 
 dential election, we have abundant 
 reason to return our grateful thanks 
 to that merciful Providence which has 
 never forsaken us as a nation in all our 
 past trials." 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 Meeting of Congress. Little Hope. Determination of the Disuuionists. Refusal to Vote. Reasons. Opposed to 
 Compromise. Bold Assertions of Southern Senators. A Programme of Rebellion. A Menace of Rebellion. An 
 Appeal for Union. Caucuses and Conferences. Failure. Increased Violence and Hostility. Bewilderment of the 
 Moderates. President Buchanan's indisposition to exercise Authority. His Message an Encouragement to Rebellion. 
 General Scott's Advice. Advice not Taken. Dissension in the Cabinet. Resignation of Cass. Continued but 
 ineffectual attempts of Congress. Firmness of the Republicans. Speech of Wade. Resolutions of Crittenden. 
 The state of Feeling in the Country. Depression of Trade and Commerce. Bankruptcy. Suspension of Specie 
 Payment. Emptiness of the National Treasury. Resignation of Cobb. Appointment of Dix. A continued belief 
 in the Cessation of Troubles. Speech of Seward. 
 
 FROM the very first day of the meet- 
 1860. ing of Congress it became evi- 
 Dec, 3 dent that the distracted country 
 had little to hope from its action. All 
 the members from South Carolina, and 
 most of those from Florida, Alabama, 
 Georgia, arid Mississippi, who still re- 
 
 tained their seats in the national legis- 
 lature with a formal affectation of alle- 
 giance to the Union, showed at once 
 their obstinate determination to dis- 
 solve it. They refused to vote on the 
 resolution, "that so much of the Presi- 
 dent's message as relates to the present 
 
AUDACITY IN CONGRESS. 
 
 37 
 
 perilous condition of the country be re- 
 ferred to a .special committee of one 
 from each State," audaciously declaring, 
 as a reason for their recreancy, that the 
 States to which they owed allegiance 
 had, in their "sovereign" capacity, or- 
 dered conventions to consider their rela- 
 tions with the Federal Union, and that 
 they looked to them for an authoritative 
 decision of the question. Some even 
 proclaimed that they were now, and had 
 ever been, opposed to all compromises. 
 The introduction of a resolution ex- 
 pressing fidelity to the Union, and pledg- 
 ing the House to maintain it, was fiercely 
 opposed by the disaffected Southern 
 members, and every indication was given 
 of a predetermined hostility to all 
 efforts at conciliation. Such were the 
 sentiments and action, not only of the 
 Southern members of the less restrained 
 House of Representatives, but of the 
 more composed Senate. Even a senator 
 from North Carolina, a State which was 
 believed to be loyal to the Union, did 
 not hesitate to propose a division of the 
 public property between the North and 
 South, while the senators of Mississippi, 
 Georgia, and Texas declared any attempt 
 on the part of the Federal authorities 
 to resist the progress of insurrection 
 would be opposed by force. The sena- 
 tor* from Georgia, after a bold avowal 
 of the projected rebellion, published by 
 anticipation its programme, and flaunted 
 it in the face of the Senate with the 
 declaration, that "before the 4th of 
 March before your President is inaugu- 
 rated there will be five States, if not 
 
 Mr. Iverson. 
 
 eight, that will be out of the Union, and 
 will have formed a constitution for a 
 frame of government." He declared 
 that the South wanted no concessions, 
 and would receive none. "You can 
 not," he added, " stop this revolution. 
 It is not the liberty laws, but the mob 
 law, which the South fears. They do 
 not dread these overt acts, for, without 
 the power of the Federal Government, 
 by force, under the Republican rule, 
 their institution would not last ten 
 years, and they know it. They intend 
 to go out of this Union. Before the 
 4th of March five States will have 
 declared their independence, and I am 
 satisfied that three other States will 
 follow as soon as the action of the 
 people can be had. Arkansas will call 
 her convention, and Louisiana will fol- 
 low. And though there is a clog in the 
 way in the lone star of Texas, in the 
 person of the governor, who will not 
 consent to call the Legislature, yet the 
 public sentiment is so strong, that even 
 her governor may be over-ridden ; and 
 if he will not yield to that public senti- 
 ment, some Texan Brutus may arise to 
 rid his country of this old, hoary-headed 
 traitor. There has been a good deal of 
 vaporing and threatening, but they came 
 from the last men who would carry out 
 their threats. Men talk about their 
 eighteen millions, but we hear a few 
 days afterward of these same men being 
 switched in the face, and they tremble 
 like a sheep-stealing dog. There will 
 be no war. The North, governed by 
 such far-seeing statesmen as the senator 
 from New York, will see the futility of 
 
38 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 this. In less than twelve months a 
 Southern confederacy will be formed, 
 and it will be the most successful gov- 
 ernment on earth. The Southern States, 
 thus banded together, will be able to 
 resist any force in the world. We do 
 not expect war, but we will be prepared 
 for it, and we are not a feeble race of 
 Mexicans either." 
 
 This menace of rebellion was received 
 with a cautious but defiant silence on 
 the part of most of the Republicans, 
 and timid expressions from the moderate 
 men of all parties of a hope of still 
 allaying the fierce temper of the South 
 by the persuasives of conciliation and 
 compromise. Crittenden, of Kentucky, 
 the Nestor of the Senate, appealed to 
 the sentiment of Union by an eloquent 
 exposition of its blessings, and the 
 dangers to the country of its dissolution. 
 " This Union was established/' he said, 
 "by great sacrifices, and it is worthy of 
 great sacrifices and great concessions for 
 its maintenance. I trust that there is 
 no senator but who is willing to yield 
 and conciliate, and to compromise, in 
 order to preserve the Union to the na- 
 tion and to the country. I look with 
 dismay, and something like despair, to 
 the condition of this country when the 
 Union is stricken down and we shall be 
 turned loose to speculate on the founda- 
 tions of a new government. I look at 
 it with fear and trembling, which pre- 
 dispose me to the most solemn consider- 
 ation that I am capable of feeling, and 
 to search out, if possible, some means 
 for the reconciliation, of the different 
 sections and members of this Union, 
 
 to see if we can not again restore that 
 harmony and fraternity that belong to 
 the Union which has given us so much 
 blessing and prosperity." 
 
 The Senate and House, with brief 
 intervals of adjournment, during which 
 vain attempts were made by caucuses 
 and conferences to appease contention, 
 continued their fruitless deliberations. 
 The representatives of the extreme 
 Southern States became daily more in- 
 veterate in their expressions of hostility 
 to the Federal Government, and more 
 outspoken in their expressions of dis- 
 loyalty. The more moderate men of the 
 South and those of the North seemed 
 bewildered and powerless to counsel or 
 to act. 
 
 President Buchanan, surrounded by 
 men whose ill-concealed treason was 
 soon to display itself in open rebellion, 
 showed no disposition to exercise his 
 power in protecting the authority of the 
 Federal Government already boldly de- 
 fied. His message, manipulated to their 
 purpose by the hands of traitors, had, 
 while it argued against, the right of 
 secession, put in a plea for its extenua- 
 tion on the score of provocation from 
 the North, and by confessing the impo- 
 tency of the Federal authority to en- 
 force obedience, encouraged the dis- 
 affected to rebel, with assurances of im- 
 punity. His conduct was in conformity 
 with the assertion in his message, that 
 coercion was unconstitutional, and he 
 studiously withheld every indication of 
 a manifestation of the exercise of ex- 
 ecutive authority to check the intent or 
 to repress the overt act of rebellion. 
 
ADVICE OF GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 39 
 
 The commander-iii-chief, Lieutenant- 
 General Scott, had already at an early 
 Of ti 29 P er id urged upon the President 
 I860, the necessity of prompt measures 
 to thwart the action of threatened se- 
 cession. " From a knowledge of our 
 Southern population,'' he wrote in a 
 letter to Mr. Buchanan, "it is my sol- 
 emn conviction that there is some danger 
 of an early act of rashness preliminary 
 to secession, viz., the seizure of some or 
 all of the following forts : Forts Jackson 
 and St. Philip, in the Mississippi, below 
 New Orleans, both without garrisons ; 
 Fort Morgan, below Mobile, without a 
 garrison ; forts Pickens and McRae, 
 Pensacola harbor, with an insufficient 
 garrison for one ; Fort Pulaski, below 
 Savannah, without a garrison ; forts 
 Moultrie and Sumter, Charleston har- 
 bor, the former with an insufficient gar- 
 rison, and the latter without any ; and 
 Fort Monroe, Hampton Roads, without 
 a sufficient garrison. In my opinion all 
 these works should be immediately so 
 garrisoned, as to make any attempt to 
 take any one of them by surprise or 
 coup de main ridiculous. 
 
 "With the army faithful to its alle- 
 giance, and the navy probably equally 
 so, and with a Federal Executive for the 
 next twelve months of firmness and mod- 
 eration, which the country has a right 
 to expect moderation being an element 
 of power not less than firmness there 
 is good reason to hope that the danger 
 of secession may be made to pass away 
 without one conflict of arms, one exe- 
 cution, or one arrest for treason." 
 
 This timely advice of the veteran 
 
 Scott, always vigilant to preserve the 
 Union, was unheeded by the President, 
 whose feeble will was guided by those 
 who were seeking to destroy it. His 
 traitorous associates in the Government 
 threatened to resign, in case he com- 
 plied with the suggestions of Scott, and 
 extorted from him the pledge not to 
 reinforce the forts. While thus pro- 
 moting their traitorous purposes with 
 the sanction and under the protection 
 of the Federal Executive, these plotters 
 of rebellion clung to the Government, 
 whose authority they were daily weak- 
 ening while they were strengthening 
 their own power of ill. 
 
 There had been, however, already 
 some dissension in the cabinet in regard 
 to the subject of reinforcing the South- 
 ern forts ; and when the expediency of 
 sending an additional force to Major 
 Anderson, in command of a feeble gar- 
 rison at Fort Moultrie, in Charleston 
 harbor, became manifest, two Northern 
 members, Cass and Toucey, earnestly 
 pleaded for it. They were, however, 
 overborne, and the President, hampered 
 by his pledges and controlled by his 
 Southern advisers, sent not a single 
 soldier to sustain the insulted and 
 threatened authority of the Govern-, 
 ment. Cass, with patriotic indig- |> eCt 
 nation at this remissness of duty, M 
 resigned his seat in the cabinet. 
 
 While the President was thus yield- 
 ing, unresistingly, to the promoters of 
 rebellion, Congress was continuing its 
 futile attempts to check it by resolu- 
 tions. The debates, however, became 
 only more angry and the discord more 
 
40 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 obvious. The secessionists increased in 
 violence and audacity, and the extreme 
 Republicans, provoked to more obsti- 
 nate resistance, renewed their declara- 
 tions of opposing all compromises. 
 Wade, the Republican senator for Ohio, 
 said, in a forcible speech : 
 
 " We beat you on the plainest and 
 most palpable issue ever presented to 
 the American people, and one which 
 every man understood ; and now, when 
 we come to the capital, we tell you that 
 our candidates must and shall be in- 
 augurated must and shall administer 
 this government precisely as the Con- 
 stitution prescribes. It would not only 
 be humiliating, but highly dishonorable 
 to us, if we listened to any compromise 
 by which we should lay aside the honest 
 verdict of the people. When it comes 
 to that, you have no government, but 
 anarchy intervenes, and civil war may 
 follow, and all the evils that human im- 
 agination can raise may be consequent 
 upon such a course as that. The Amer- 
 ican people would lose the sheet-anchor 
 of Liberty whenever it is denied on this 
 floor that a majority fairly given shall 
 rule. I know not what others may do, 
 but I tell you, that with that verdict of 
 the people in my pocket, and standing 
 on the platform on which these candi- 
 dates were elected, I would suffer any- 
 thing before I would compromise in any 
 way. I deem it no case where we have 
 a right to extend courtesy or generosity. 
 The absolute right, the most sacred that 
 a free people can bestow upon any man, 
 is their verdict that gives him a full title 
 to the office he holds. If we can not 
 
 stand there we can not stand anywhere, 
 and, my friends, any other verdict would 
 be as fatal to you as to us." 
 
 The moderate men of both the North 
 and the South with an amiable persist- 
 ency still persevered in their endeavors 
 to preserve the national peace by plans 
 of conciliation and compromise. These, 
 however, met with little encouragement 
 from the embittered partisans of ex- 
 treme opinions, and the hope of "saving 
 the Union" by mutual concessions daily 
 diminished. The resolutions of Mr. 
 Crittenden, of Kentucky, seemed from 
 the high character of the veteran states- 
 man who offered them, to make the 
 greatest impression upon public opinion. 
 These proposed to renew the Missouri 
 Compromise line prohibiting slavery 
 in the Territory north of 36 deg. 30 
 min., and protecting it south of that lat- 
 itude ; to admit new States with or with- 
 out slavery, as their constitutions shall 
 provide ; to prohibit the abolition of 
 slavery by Congress in the States ; to 
 prohibit its abolition in the District of 
 Columbia so long as it exists either in 
 Virginia or Maryland ; to permit the 
 transportation of slaves in any of the 
 States by land or water ; to provide for 
 the payment of fugitive slaves, when 
 rescued ; to repeal one obnoxious feat- 
 ure of the Fugitive Slave law the ine- 
 quality of the fee to the commissioner ; 
 to ask the repeal of all the Personal 
 Liberty bills in the Northern States, and 
 effectually to execute the laws for the 
 suppression of the African slave-trade. 
 These were to be submitted to the 
 people as amendments to the Constitu- 
 
 
BANKRUPTCY. 
 
 tion, and to be changed at no subse- 
 quent time. 
 
 While treason was being uttered in 
 Congress, plotted in the cabinet, and 
 encouraged to overt act in the slave 
 States, unchecked by the national au- 
 thority, which seemed indisposed, if not 
 incapable of vindicating its supremacy, 
 there was a general feeling of discour- 
 agement throughout the country. This 
 was increased by the universal depres- 
 sion in trade and commerce. The great 
 business of the Northern commercial 
 and manufacturing cities with the South 
 had been almost entirely arrested. The 
 Southern merchants made no new, and 
 failed to pay for their old, purchases. 
 The payment of the great debt of three 
 hundred millions of dollars due to the 
 North suddenly stopped, and fears were 
 already entertained that it would never 
 be resumed. The Southern banks hav- 
 ing suspended the payment of specie, 
 had so depreciated the value of their 
 currency, that exchange upon the North 
 rose to such a height as almost to pre- 
 clude remittances from the South when- 
 ever there were still found those" dis- 
 posed to make them. Northern mer- 
 chants, thus suddenly deprived of their 
 Southern resources, were forced into 
 bankruptcy. The banks necessarily sym- 
 pathized with the ruin of their custom- 
 ers, and although those of New York 
 and Boston were enabled, through the 
 abundance of their resources, to sustain 
 their credit and even to increase their 
 loans, the banks of Philadelphia, Balti- 
 more, Washington, and Richmond sus- 
 pended specie payment. 
 6 
 
 To add to this financial embarrass- 
 ment, the national treasury was threat- 
 ened with bankruptcy. So little faith 
 had the country in the government as 
 controlled by the Southern advisers of 
 the President, that the secretary of the 
 treasury, Howell Cobb, of Georgia, 
 could only obtain a loan at a discount 
 of 25 per cent, of the usual market rates 
 in periods of national prosperity. Cobb 
 was so perplexed by the financial em- 
 barrassments of his department, that, 
 under the pretence of a difference of 
 political views with the President, he re- 
 signed, and betook himself to the more 
 congenial work of disturbing the loyalty 
 of his native State. His successor, John 
 A. Dix, of New York, a Northern man, 
 was enabled, however, through the con- 
 fidence inspired by his integrity and 
 patriotism, to restore the public credit 
 and again fill the treasury. 
 
 With all these causes, however, tend- 
 ing to depress the public feeling, there 
 was still a strong belief among Northern 
 people, that the civil troubles would, 
 although none pretended to know how, 
 be soon settled. This seemed to be 
 based upon the supposed attachment to 
 the Union among the people even in 
 South Carolina. How far this belief in 
 the loyalty of the Southern slave States 
 prevailed is well illustrated by a speech 
 of Seward, then senator, now secretary 
 of state. He thus jauntily descanted on 
 the grave subject of Southern disaffec- 
 tion : 
 
 " Now, gentleman, my belief about all 
 this is, that whether it is Massachu- D CC| 
 setts or South Carolina, or whether 22t 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 it is New York or Florida, it would turn 
 out the same way in each case. There 
 is no such thing in the book, no such 
 thing in reason, no such thing in philos- 
 ophy, and no such thing in nature, as 
 any State existing on the continent of 
 North America outside of the United 
 States of America. I do not believe a 
 word of it ; and I do not believe it for 
 a good many reasons. Some I have 
 already hinted at ; and one is, because I 
 do not see any good reason given for it. 
 The best reason I see given for it is, that 
 the people of some of the Southern 
 States hate us of the free States very 
 badly, and they say that we hate them, 
 and that all love is lost between us. 
 Well, I do not believe a word of that. 
 On the other hand, I do know for my- 
 self and for you, that, bating some little 
 differences of opinion about advantages, 
 and about proscription, and about office, 
 and about freedom, and about slavery, 
 and all those which are family difficulties, 
 for which we do not take any outsiders in 
 any part of the world into our councils 
 on either side, there is not a state on the 
 earth, outside of the American Union, 
 which I like half so well as I do the 
 State of South Carolina [cheers] 
 neither England, nor Ireland, nor Scot- 
 land, nor France, nor Turkey ; although 
 from Turkey they sent me Arab horses, 
 and from South Carolina they send me 
 nothing but curses. Still, I like South 
 Carolina better than I like any of them ; 
 and I have the presumption and vanity 
 to believe that if there were nobody to 
 overhear the State of South Carolina 
 when she is talking, she would confess 
 
 that she liked us tolerably well. I am 
 very sure that if anybody were to make 
 a descent on New York to-morrow 
 whether Louis Napoleon, or the Prince 
 of Wales, or his mother [laughter], or 
 the Emperor of Russia, or the Emperor 
 of Austria, all the hills of South Carolina 
 would pour forth their population for 
 the rescue of New York. [Cries of 
 ' Good,' and applause.] God knows 
 how this may be. I do not pretend to 
 know, I only conjecture. But this I do 
 know, that if any of those powers were 
 to make a descent on South Carolina, 
 I know who would go to her rescue. 
 [A voice ' We'd all go.'] We would 
 all go everybody. ['That's so,' and 
 great applause.] Therefore they do not 
 humbug me with their secession, and I 
 do not think they will humbug you ; and 
 I do not believe that, if they do not 
 humbug you and me, they will much 
 longer succeed in humbugging them- 
 selves. [Laughter.] Now, fellow-citi- 
 zens, this is the ultimate result of all 
 this business. These States are always 
 to be together always shall. Talk of 
 striking down a star from that constella- 
 tion it is a thing which can not be 
 done. [Applause.] I do not see any 
 less stars to-day than I did a week ago, 
 and I expect to see more all the while. 
 [Laughter.] The question then is, 
 what in these times when people are 
 laboring under the delusion that they 
 are going out of the Union and going 
 to set up for themselves ought we to 
 do in order to hold them in ? I do not 
 know any better rule than the rule 
 which every good father of a family ob- 
 
 
SEWARD ON SECESSION. 
 
 serves. It is this. If a man wishes not 
 to keep his family together, it is the 
 easiest thing in the world to place them 
 apart. He will do so at once if he only 
 gets discontented with his son, quarrels 
 with him, complains of him, torments 
 him, threatens him, coerces him. This 
 is the way to get rid of the family, and 
 to get them all out of doors. On the 
 other hand, if you wish to keep them, 
 you have got only one way to do it. 
 That is, be patient, kind, paternal, for- 
 bearing, and wait until they come to 
 reflect for themselves. The South is to 
 us what the wife is to her husband. I 
 do not know any man in the world who 
 can not get rid of his wife if he tries. 
 * * * I do not know a man on earth 
 who even though his wife was as 
 troublesome as the wife of Socrates 
 cannot keep his wife if he wants to do 
 so ; all that he needs is, to keep his own 
 virtue and his own temper. [Applause.] 
 Now, in all this business I propose that 
 we shall keep our own virtue, which, in 
 politics, is loyalty, and our own temper, 
 which, in politics, consists in remember- 
 ing that men may differ, that brethren 
 may differ. If we keep entirely cool, 
 and entirely calm, and entirely kind, a 
 debate will ensue which will be kindly 
 in itself, and it will prove very soon 
 either that we are wrong and we shall 
 concede to our offended brethren or 
 else that we are right, and they will 
 acquiesce and come back into fraternal 
 relations with us. I do not wish to an- 
 ticipate any question. We have a great 
 many statesmen who demand at once 
 to know what the North proposes to do 
 
 what the Government proposes to do 
 whether we propose to coerce our 
 Southern brethren back into their allegi- 
 ance. They ask us, as of course they 
 may rightly ask, what will be the value 
 of fraternity which is compelled? All 
 I have to say on that subject is, that so 
 long ago as the time of Sir Thomas 
 More, he discovered, and set down the 
 discovery in his writings, that there were 
 a great many schoolmasters, and that 
 while there were a very few who knew 
 how to instruct children, there were a 
 great many who knew how to whip 
 them. [Laughter.] I propose to have 
 no question on that subject, but to hear 
 complaints, to redress them if they ought 
 to be redressed, and if we have the 
 power to redress them ; and I expect 
 them to be withdrawn if they are un- 
 reasonable, because I know that the 
 necessities which made this Union exist, 
 for these States, are stronger to-day 
 than they were when the Union was 
 made, and that those necessities are en- 
 during, while the passions of men are 
 short-lived and ephemeral. I believe 
 that secession was stronger on the night 
 of the 6th of November last, when a 
 President and Vice-President who were 
 unacceptable to the slave States were 
 elected, than it is now. That is now 
 some fifty days since, and I believe that 
 every . day's sun which set since that 
 time, has set on mollified passions and 
 prejudices, and that if you will only give 
 it time, sixty days' more suns will give 
 you a much brighter and more cheerful 
 atmosphere." [Loud and long con- 
 tinued applause.] 
 
44 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Inaction of Government. The Bewilderment of the North. Movement of the South. Precipitancy of South 
 Carolina. Election of Convention of South Carolina. Impatience of Action. Anticipatory Programme. Gov- 
 ernor Gist's last Message. Action of other Slave States. Alabama Declaration of Causes. Immediate Secession 
 views of the Governor of Florida. Immediate Secession views of the Governor of Georgia. Vigilance Committees. 
 Arming and Equipping. Conventions called. Meeting of South Carolina Convention. Adjournment to Charles- 
 ton. Ordinance of Secession. Manifestation of Popular Feeling in the South. Audacity of Southern Members of 
 
 Congress. Proceedings of South Carolina Convention. Proclamation of the Act of Secession of South Carolina. 
 
 Declaration of Causes. Withdrawal from Congress of the Members of South Carolina. Apparent attempts made to 
 check the precipitate action of South Carolina. Motives of such attempts. Opposition to Disunion from Maryland. 
 Union Sentiments in Virginia. Loyalty of Eastern and Western Virginia contrasted. Proposed Conferences. 
 
 Disposition of Tennessee. Firm stand for the Union of Johnson and Etheredge. Letter of Bell, of Tennessee. 
 
 Feeling in Kentucky. Governor Magoffin's Propositions. Manful resistance of Governor Houston, of Texas. 
 Silence of Arkansas. Irresolution of Georgia. Union eloquence of Alexander H. Stephens. Feeling in Alabama. 
 Mississippi. Louisiana. How the Propositions of the other Slave States were received by South Carolina. South 
 Carolina's Assurances. Force of Example. Anticipated Effect. Ordinance of Concurrence. 
 
 1860. 
 
 WHILE the President, meekly sub- 
 missive to the influence of his traitorous 
 advisers, was confessing and man- 
 ifesting impotency ; while the na- 
 tional councils, alternately frightened by 
 the defiance of audacious rebels and pro- 
 voked by their threats, were now striv- 
 ing to soothe them by plans of concilia- 
 tion and compromise, and again con- 
 tending with them in angry discussion ; 
 while the people of the North, bewil- 
 dered by the inaction of the Federal 
 authority, the perplexing deliberations 
 of Congress, and the frivolous conjec- 
 tures of their leaders, seemed doubtful 
 whether to hope or to fear, and willing 
 to yield their destiny to the uncertain- 
 ties of chance, the South was moving j 
 with unhesitating strides toward re- 
 bellion. 
 
 South Carolina, with characteristic 
 precipitancy, established her claim to 
 precedence in secession. The delegates 
 to the convention called by the act of 
 
 the Legislature were elected on the 5th 
 of December, to meet on the 17th. The 
 leaders of South Carolina, however, as 
 if impatient of all deliberation, did not 
 await its action. They summoned the 
 people in masses throughout the State, 
 and distinctly announced the programme 
 of rebellion. At a large meeting in 
 Charleston, Mr. Memminger, an ft OV , 
 able lawyer of that city, and a **0. 
 prominent politician, declared even be- 
 fore the election of the delegates that 
 the convention, within three days of its 
 assembling, would declare South Caro- 
 lina out of the Union ; that a commis- 
 sioner would be sent to the capital of 
 the United States to treat in regard to 
 the forts and other Federal property, 
 which would be formally demanded, and 
 if not given up, that the armed men of 
 South Carolina would take them. Pre- 
 suming upon the easy temper of Bu- 
 chanan, or the corrupt connivance of his 
 traitorous advisers, he did not hesitate 
 
IMMEDIATE SECESSION RECOMMENDED. 
 
 to declare that he had no fear of the 
 interference of the President, while he 
 complacently dwelt upon the powerless- 
 ness of his successor, who would be too 
 much embarrassed by the difficulty of 
 organizing his government and obtain- 
 ing the sanction of Congress, to apply 
 coercion to South Carolina, until* she 
 had been joined by the other cotton 
 States, when, thus strengthened, she 
 would be able to resist it. 
 
 The governor* of the State, in his 
 D ec , last message, urged the prospective 
 7 convention to immediate action. 
 
 "The delay," he said, "of the con- 
 vention for a single week to pass the 
 ordinance of secession, will have a blight- 
 ing and chilling influence upon the action 
 of the other Southern States. The op- 
 ponents of the movement everywhere 
 will be encouraged to make another 
 effort to rally their now disorganized 
 and scattered forces to defeat our action 
 and stay our onward march. Fabius 
 conquered by delay, and there are those 
 of his school, though with a more un- 
 worthy purpose, who, shrinking from 
 open and manly attack, use this veil to 
 hide their deformity, and from a masked 
 battery to discharge their missiles. But 
 I trust they will strike the armor of truth 
 and fall harmless at our feet, and that 
 by the 28th of December no flag but the 
 Palmetto will float over any part of South 
 Carolina." 
 
 Great encouragement had already 
 come from the leaders of the other cot- 
 ton States, who hoped, by the hasty 
 action of South Carolina, to precipitate 
 
 their fellow-citizens into a separation 
 from that Union for which there might 
 be still a traditional reverence. At an 
 early meeting at Mobile the secession 
 leaders of Alabama had issued a jv OVt 
 declaration of causes for separation 15* 
 which they emphatically urged. After 
 a long and bitter exposition of the 
 wrongs they had suffered from the 
 North, they declared : 
 
 "The time has come for us 'to put 
 our house in order,' and, if need be, to 
 stand by our arms. 
 
 " We will not give the enemy time to 
 collect his strength and wield the powers 
 of government against us, by waiting for 
 any further 'overt act.' Therefore, be it 
 
 " Resolved, 1. That the election of 
 Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency upon 
 the principles avowed by the Black Re- 
 publican party is, in our opinion, a vir- 
 tual overthrow of the Constitution and 
 of the equal right of the States. 
 
 "2. That the idea of submission by 
 the South to the rule of such a man and 
 such a party should be repudiated from 
 one end of her borders to the other. 
 
 "3. That in the language of the Con- 
 stitution of Alabama, under which she 
 was admitted into the Union, ' All po- 
 litical power is inherent in the people, 
 and all free governments are founded 
 on their authority, and intended for 
 their benefit ; and, therefore, they have 
 have at all times an inalienable and in- 
 defeasible right to alter, reform, or abol- 
 ish their form of government in such 
 manner as they may think expedient,' 
 
 " 4. That, in the present state of 
 things, it is the deliberate opinion of 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 this meeting, assembled without distinc- 
 tion of parties, that the State of Ala- 
 bama should withdraw from the Federal 
 Union without any further delay than 
 may be necessary to obtain in the speed- 
 iest manner a consultation with other 
 slaveholding States, in the hope of se- 
 curing their co-operation in a move- 
 ment which we deem essential to our 
 safety." 
 
 It is true that in this document a con- 
 sultation with other slaveholding States 
 was recommended, with the hope of se- 
 curing their co-operation, but at the 
 same time it advised immediate action. 
 A meeting was held in Louisiana, at 
 which a similar declaration was sug- 
 gested. 
 
 The Governor of Florida invoked the 
 N OV , Legislature to immediate secession. 
 26, For myself," he said, " in full view 
 of the responsibility of my position, I 
 most decidedly declare that, in my opin- 
 ion, the only hope the Southern States 
 have for domestic peace or safety, or for 
 future respectability and prosperity, is 
 dependent on their action now ; and that 
 the proper action is, secession from our 
 faithless, perjured confederates." Gov- 
 ernor Brown, too, of Georgia a State 
 thought to be extremely reluctant to 
 dissolve its connection with the Union 
 D ec , had written a letter in favor of early 
 9 secession. Mississippi had sent com- 
 missioners to all the slaveholding States 
 to confer with them on the means " for 
 their common defence and safety." Vig- 
 ilance committees had been formed in 
 the cotton States, money appropriated 
 for equipping and arming, and conven- 
 
 tions called, whose purpose was une- 
 quivocally the severance of their con- 
 nection with the Federal Union. 
 
 The Convention of South Carolina 
 assembled on the day appointed, but in 
 consequence of the prevalence of j) eCt 
 an epidemic of small-pox at the 17. 
 capital, adjourned from Columbia to 
 Charleston, where, by a unanimous vote 
 on the 20th of December, this, the first 
 formal act of secession, was passed : 
 
 "AN ORDINANCE TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BE- 
 TWEEN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND 
 OTHER STATES UNITED WITH HER UNDER THE 
 COMPACT ENTITLED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : 
 
 " We, the people of the State of South 
 Carolina, in convention assembled, do 
 declare and ordain, and it is hereby 
 declared and ordained, that the ordi- 
 nance adopted by us in convention, on 
 the 23d day of May, in the year of our 
 Lord 1788, whereby the Constitution of 
 the United States of America was rati- 
 fied, and also all acts and parts of acts 
 of the General Assembly of this State 
 ratifying the amendments of the said 
 Constitution, are hereby repealed, and 
 that the Union now subsisting between 
 South Carolina and other States under 
 the name of the United States of Amer- 
 ica is hereby dissolved." 
 
 That in Charleston and throughout 
 South Carolina the passage of this or- 
 dinance should be received with a mani- 
 festation of popular joy was expected ; 
 that in Mobile, and New Orleans, Mem- 
 phis, Macon, Norfolk, and even in Balti- 
 more, it should be welcomed by the firing 
 of guns, the cheers of the people, mill- 
 
AUDACITY OF TREASON. 
 
 tary parades, the singing of the Marseil- 
 laise, the decorating of busts of Calhoun 
 with secession cockades, the raising of the 
 Palmetto flag, the burning of bonfires, 
 and the illuminating of the streets, was, 
 if a discouraging, not a surprising, exhi- 
 bition on the part of an excited and de- 
 luded people ; that, however, a member 
 of the Federal Congress, in the very 
 capital of the Union, should venture to 
 applaud this attempt to dissolve it by 
 declaring that " one of the sovereign 
 States of this confederacy has, by the 
 glorious act of her people, withdrawn, in 
 vindication of her rights, from the 
 Union,' 7 * and that some of his fellows 
 should clap their hands in sympathetic 
 response, was an audacity of treason as 
 astounding as it was unexampled. 
 
 The Convention of South Carolina 
 proceeded rapidly in its work of disso- 
 D eC( lution. Commissioners were ap- 
 
 21 pointed to proceed to Washington, 
 and to treat for a peaceful settlement of 
 the relations between the United States 
 and the "sovereign" State of South 
 Carolina, and negotiate for the transfer 
 of forts and other public property. 
 
 The newly elected governor, Pickens, 
 Dec. proclaimed to the world, in accord- 
 
 22 ance with the act of secession, that 
 ' ' South Carolina is, and has a right to 
 be, a separate, sovereign, free, and in- 
 dependent State, and, as such, has a 
 right to levy war, conclude peace, ne- 
 gotiate treaties, leagues, or covenants, 
 and to do all acts whatever that right- 
 l) ec fully appertain to a free and inde- 
 
 24 pendent State." 
 
 Mr. Garnet, member of Congress for Virginia. 
 
 This was followed by the 
 
 " DECLARATION OF CAUSES WHICH INDUCED THE 
 
 SECESSION OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 "The people of the State of South 
 Carolina, in convention assembled, on 
 the 2d day of April, A.D. 1852, de- 
 clared that the frequent violations of the 
 Constitution of the United States by the 
 Federal Government, and its encroach- 
 ments upon the reserved rights of the 
 States, fully justified this State in their 
 withdrawal from the Federal Union ; 
 but in deference to the opinions and 
 wishes of the other slaveholding States, 
 she forbore at that time to exercise this 
 right. Since that time these encroach- 
 ments have continued to increase, and 
 further forbearance ceases to be a 
 virtue. 
 
 ' ' And now the State of South Carolina 
 having resumed her separate and equal 
 place among nations, deems it due to 
 herself, to the remaining United States 
 of America, and to the nations of the 
 world, that she should declare the im- 
 mediate causes which have led to this 
 act. 
 
 " In the year 1765, that portion of the 
 British empire embracing Great Britain 
 undertook to make laws for the govern- 
 ment of that portion composed of the 
 thirteen American Colonies. A struggle 
 for the right of self-government ensued, 
 which resulted, on the 4th of July, 1776, 
 in a declaration, by the Colonies, ' that 
 they are, and of right ought to be, FREE 
 AND INDEPENDENT STATES ; and that, as 
 free and independent states, they have 
 full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
 contract alliances, establish commerce, 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 and to do all other- acts and things which 
 independent states may of right do.' 
 
 " They further solemnly declared that 
 whenever any ' form of government be- 
 comes destructive of the ends for which 
 it was established, it is the right of the 
 people to alter or abolish it, and to in- 
 stitute a new government.' Deeming 
 the Government of Great Britain to 
 have become destructive of these ends, 
 they declare that the Colonies ' are ab- 
 solved from all allegiance to the British 
 Crown, and that all political connection 
 between them and the state of Great 
 Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis- 
 solved.' 
 
 "In pursuance of this Declaration of 
 Independence, each of the thirteen 
 States proceeded to exercise its separate 
 sovereignty ; adopted for itself a consti- 
 tution, and appointed officers for the ad- 
 ministration of government in all its 
 departments legislative, executive, and 
 judicial. For purposes of defence they 
 united their arms and their counsels ; 
 and in 1778 they entered into a league 
 known as the Articles of Confederation, 
 whereby they agreed to intrust the ad- 
 ministration of their external relations to 
 a common agent, known as the Congress 
 of the United States, expressly declar- 
 ing, in the first article, ' that each State 
 retains its sovereignty, freedom, and in- 
 dependence, and every power, jurisdic- 
 tion, and right which is not, by this con- 
 federation, expressly delegated to the 
 United States in Congress assembled.' 
 
 " Under this confederation the war of 
 the Revolution was carried on ; and on 
 the 3d of September, 1783, the contest 
 
 ended, and a definite treaty was signed 
 by Great Britain, in which she acknow- 
 ledged the independence of the Colonies 
 in the following terms : 
 
 "'ARTICLE 1. His Britannic Majesty 
 acknowledges the said United States, 
 viz. : New Hampshire, Massachusetts 
 Bay, Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations, Connecticut, New York, 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
 Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, and Georgia, to be FREE, 
 
 SOVEREIGN, AND INDEPENDENT STATES | 
 
 that he treats with them as such ; and, 
 for himself, his heirs, and successors, 
 relinquishes all claims to the govern- 
 ment, property, and territorial rights of 
 the same and every part thereof.' 
 
 " Thus were established the two great 
 principles asserted by the Colonies, 
 namely, the right of a state to govern 
 itself; and the right of a people to 
 abolish a government when it becomes 
 destructive of the ends for which it was 
 instituted. And concurrent with the 
 establishment of these principles was 
 the fact, that each Colony became, and 
 was recognized by the mother country, 
 
 as a FREE, SOVEREIGN, AND INDEPENDENT 
 STATE. 
 
 "In 1787, deputies were appointed 
 by the States to revise the articles of 
 confederation ; and on 17th September, 
 1787, these deputies recommended, for 
 the adoption of the States, the articles 
 of union known as the Constitution of 
 the United States. 
 
 "The parties to whom this constitu- 
 tion was submitted were the several 
 sovereign States ; they were to agree or 
 
DECLARATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 disagree, and when nine of them agreed, 
 the compact was to take effect among 
 those concurring ; and the General Gov- 
 ernment, as the common agent, was 
 then to be invested with their authority. 
 
 ' ' If only nine of the thirteen States 
 had concurred, the other four would have 
 remained as they then were separate 
 sovereign states, independent of any of 
 the provisions of the Constitution. In 
 fact, two of the States did not accede to 
 the Constitution until long after it had 
 gone into operation among the other 
 eleven ; and during that interval, they 
 each exercised the functions of an inde- 
 pendent nation. 
 
 " By this constitution, certain duties 
 were imposed upon the several States, 
 and the exercise of certain of their 
 powers was restrained, which necessarily 
 impelled their continued existence as 
 sovereign states. But, to remove all 
 doubt, an amendment was added, which 
 declared that the powers not delegated 
 to the United States by the Constitution, 
 nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
 reserved to the States respectively, or 
 to the people. On the 23d May, 1788, 
 South Carolina, by a convention of her 
 people, passed an ordinance assenting to 
 this Constitution, and afterwards altered 
 her own Constitution to conform herself 
 to the obligations she had undertaken. 
 
 "Thus was established, by compact 
 between the States, a government with 
 defined objects and powers, limited to 
 the 'express words of the grant. This 
 limitation left the whole remaining mass 
 of power subject to the clause reserving 
 it to the States or the people, and ren- 
 7 
 
 dered unnecessary any specification of 
 reserved rights. We hold that the 
 Government thus established is subject 
 to the two great principles asserted in 
 the Declaration of Independence ; and 
 we hold further, that the mode of its 
 formation subjects it to a third funda- 
 mental principle, namely, the law of 
 compact. We maintain that in every 
 compact between two or more parties, 
 the obligation is mutual ; that the failure 
 of one of the contracting parties to per- 
 form a material part of the agreement 
 entirely releases the obligation of the 
 other ; and that where no arbiter is pro- 
 vided, each party is remitted to his own 
 judgment to determine the fact of fail- 
 ure, with all its consequences. 
 
 "In the present case, that fact is 
 established with certainty. We assert 
 that fourteen of the States have deliber- 
 ately refused for years past to fulfil their 
 constitutional obligations, and we refer 
 to their own statutes for proof. 
 
 " The Constitution of the United 
 States, in its fourth article, provides as 
 follows : 
 
 " 'No person held to service or labor 
 in one State under the laws thereof, 
 escaping into another, shall, in conse- 
 quence of any law or regulation therein, 
 be discharged from such service or 
 labor, but shall be delivered up, on 
 claim of the party to whom such service 
 or labor may be due. 7 
 
 "This stipulation was so material to 
 the compact, that without it that compact 
 would not have been made. The greater 
 number of the contracting parties held 
 slaves, and they had previously evinced 
 
50 
 
 THE AVAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 their estimate of the value of such a 
 stipulation by making it a condition in 
 the ordinance for the government of the 
 territory ceded by Virginia, which ob- 
 ligations, and the laws of the General 
 Government, have ceased to effect the 
 objects of the Constitution. The States 
 of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Isl- 
 and, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, 
 Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa 
 have enacted laws which either nullify 
 the acts of Congress, or render useless 
 any attempt to execute them. In many 
 of these States the fugitive is discharged 
 from the service of labor claimed, and 
 in none of them has the State Govern- 
 ment complied with the stipulation made 
 in the Constitution. The State of New 
 Jersey, at an early day, passed a law in 
 conformity with her constitutional obli- 
 gation ; but the current of anti-slavery 
 feeling has led her more recently to 
 enact laws which render inoperative the 
 remedies provided by her own laws and 
 by the laws of Congress. In the State 
 of New York. even, the right of transit 
 for a slave has been denied by her tri- 
 bunals : and the States of Ohio and 
 Iowa have refused to surrender to 
 justice fugitives charged with murder, 
 and with inciting servile insurrection in 
 the State of Virginia. Thus the con- 
 stitutional compact has been deliberately 
 broken and disregarded by the non- 
 slaveholding States ; and the conse- 
 quence follows, that South Carolina is 
 released from her obligation. 
 
 " The ends for which this Constitution 
 was framed are declared by itself to be 
 
 ' to form a more perfect union, to estab- 
 lish justice, insure domestic tranquility, 
 provide for common defence, promote the 
 general welfare, and secure the blessings 
 of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.' 
 
 " These ends it endeavored to accom- 
 plish by a federal government, in which 
 each State was recognized as an equal, 
 and had separate control over its own 
 institutions. The right of property in 
 slaves was recognized by giving to free 
 persons distinct political rights ; by giv- 
 ing them the right to represent, and 
 burdening them with direct taxes for, 
 three-fifths of their slaves ; by authoriz- 
 ing the importation of slaves for twenty 
 years ; and by stipulating for the rendi- 
 tion of fugitives from labor. 
 
 " We affirm that these ends for which 
 this Government was instituted have 
 been defeated, and the Government 
 itself has been destructive of them by 
 the action of the non-slaveholding 
 States. Those States have assumed the 
 right of deciding upon the propriety of 
 our domestic institutions ; and have 
 denied the rights of property established 
 in fifteen of the States and recognized 
 by the Constitution ; they have de- 
 nounced as sinful the institution of 
 slavery ; they have permitted the open 
 establishment among them of societies, 
 whose avowed object is to disturb the 
 peace of and eloin the property of the 
 citizens of other States. They have 
 encouraged and assisted thousands of 
 our slaves to leave their homes ; and 
 those who remain have been incited by 
 emissaries, books, and pictures to ser- 
 vile insurrection. 
 
WITHDRAWAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA SENATORS. 
 
 51 
 
 " For twenty-five years this agitation 
 has been steadily increasing, until it has 
 now secured to its aid the power of the 
 common government. Observing the 
 forms of the Constitution, a sectional 
 party has found within that article es- 
 tablishing the Executive department, the 
 means of subverting the Constitution 
 itself. A geographical line has been 
 drawn across the Union, and all the 
 States north of that line have united in 
 the election of a man to the high office 
 of President of the United States whose 
 opinions and purposes are hostile to 
 slavery. He is to be intrusted with the 
 administration of the common govern- 
 ment, because he has declared that that 
 ' government can not endure permanently 
 half slave, half free,' and that the public 
 mind must rest in the belief that slavery 
 ivS in the course of ultimate extinction. 
 
 " This sectional combination for the 
 subversion of the Constitution has been 
 aided, in some of the States, by elevating 
 to citizenship persons who, by the su- 
 preme law of the land, are incapable of 
 becoming citizens ; and their votes have 
 been used to inaugurate a new policy 
 hostile to the South, and destructive of 
 its peace and safety. 
 
 ' ' On the 4th of March next this party 
 will take possession of the Government. 
 It has announced that the South shall 
 be excluded from the common territory, 
 that the judicial tribunal shall be made 
 sectional, and that a war must be waged 
 against slavery until it shall cease 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 " The guarantees of the Constitution 
 will then no longer exist ; the equal 
 
 rights of the States will be lost. The 
 slaveholding States will no longer have 
 the power of self-government or self- 
 protection, and the Federal Government 
 will have become their enemy. 
 
 " Sectional interest and animosity 
 will deepen the irritation, and all hopej 
 of remedy is rendered vain by the fact 
 that the public opinion at the North has 
 invested a great political error with the 
 sanctions of a more erroneous religious 
 belief. 
 
 " We, therefore, the people of South 
 Carolina, by our delegates in convention 
 assembled, appealing to the Supreme 
 
 Judge of the world for the rectitude of 
 
 fD 
 
 our intentions, have solemnly declared 
 that the Union heretofore existing be- 
 tween this State and the other States of 
 North America is dissolved, and that the 
 State of South Carolina has resumed her 
 position among the nations of the world 
 as a separate and independent state, 
 with full power to levy war, conclude 
 peace, contract alliances, establish com- 
 merce, and to do all other acts and 
 things which independent states may of 
 right do." 
 
 The South Carolina members, at 
 the same time that their State declared 
 its independence, formally withdrew 
 from Congress with a studious expres- 
 sion in their letter to the Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives of a desire to 
 do so with a feeling of " mutual regard 
 and respect for each other, and the 
 hope that in our future relations we 
 may better enjoy that peace and har- 
 mony essential to the happiness of a 
 free and enlightened people." 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Apparent attempts had been made by 
 some of the political leaders of the South 
 to arrest this precipitate action of South 
 Carolina. Some of these were undoubt- 
 edly prompted by a sincere attachment 
 to the Union and a desire to preserve it. 
 Some only affected the sentiment of pa- 
 triotism, while others, equally resolved 
 upon secession with the men of South 
 Carolina, were desirous of a concert of 
 action, in order to secure strength of 
 effort and certainty of effect by combi- 
 nation. The Governor of Maryland, 
 though beset by a strong secession sen- 
 timent in his State, resolutely opposed 
 any indication of opposition to the legit- 
 imate authority of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. In answer to a memorial of some 
 of the more influential inhabitants of 
 Maryland, urging him to convene the 
 Legislature, he declared : 
 
 " Identified as I am by birth and every 
 other tie with the South, a slaveholder, 
 Nov. and feeling as warmly for my native 
 27 State as- any man can do, I am yet 
 compelled by my sense of fair dealing, 
 and my respect for the Constitution of 
 our country, to declare that I see noth- 
 ing in the bare election of Mr. Lincoln 
 which would justify the South in taking 
 any steps tending toward a separation 
 of these States. Mr. Lincoln being 
 elected, I am willing to await further 
 results. If he will administer the gov- 
 ernment in a proper and patriotic man- 
 ner, we are all bound to submit to his 
 administration, much as we may have 
 opposed his election." 
 j) ec . At a later period, at a Demo- 
 * cratic convention held in the city 
 
 of Baltimore, the following resolution 
 was passed : 
 
 ' ' Resolved, That we deplore the action 
 taken by our sister State of South Caro- 
 lina, and earnestly protest against an 
 ordinance of secession on her part as 
 being unconstitutional, disorganizing, 
 and precipitate, and unfriendly, if not 
 arrogant, toward the counsels and situa- 
 tions of the other slaveholding States ; 
 and we believe that such act of secession 
 will weaken and must divide their ulti- 
 mate position ; and while we declare for 
 co-operation, we will firmly resist being 
 dragged into secession. Maryland will 
 not stand as a sentinel at the bidding of 
 South Carolina, and we remind her, by 
 the memories of the Revolution, that 
 such purpose can not be justified ; and, 
 in conclusion, in a fraternal spirit, we 
 entreat South Carolina to suspend all 
 further action until such measures of 
 peaceful adjustment have first been tried 
 and have failed." 
 
 Virginia, though many of her leaders, 
 deeply infected with the heresies of Cal- 
 houn, were known to regard secession 
 from the LTnited States as an act if not 
 immediately desirable, at any rate legal 
 and justifiable, seemed to stand firm for 
 the Union. Her political writers, in an 
 emphatic protest against the assumed 
 right of South Carolina to individual 
 action, thus rebuked her presumption : 
 
 " Throwing aside the question of con- 
 stitutional right to secede at all, there is 
 something due to comity, to neighbor- 
 hood associations, to propriety. No man 
 has a ' right, ' by setting fire to his own 
 house, to endanger the house of his 
 
DISPOSITION OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 53 
 
 neighbor. Virginia, in this Union, or 
 out of it as a sovereign, and as poten- 
 tial as South Carolina, has her own in- 
 terests to look after, her own rights to 
 be secured, her own feelings to be re- 
 spected and she will demand this from 
 South Carolina just as much as she 
 would from any other State in the pres- 
 ent United States. It would seem as if 
 in the course now pursued, fearing the 
 conservative action of Virginia, and not 
 desiring, in truth, ' a united South, 7 cer- 
 tain cotton States were for going off by 
 themselves, for the mere sake of ' form- 
 ing a cotton confederacy,' totally irre- 
 spective of other Southern States which 
 do not recognize cotton as their king, 
 and totally regardless of any interests or 
 any views but their own. It used to be 
 a ' united South !' It was formerly dis- 
 union and secession for aggression by 
 the General Government. It is now a 
 disunited South secession on account 
 of the untoward result of a Presidential 
 election ! This is not the way to uphold 
 the rights of the States and the rights 
 of the South. It is weakening our 
 own position, and destroying our own 
 strength." 
 
 The Virginian leaders, even the most 
 headstrong advocates of States' Rights, 
 seemed desirous of making an effort to 
 hold fast by the Union. At a polit- 
 D ec , ical banquet in Richmond, " The 
 5 Union," "Virginia in the Union," 
 and other patriotic toasts, were drunk 
 and responded to with enthusiasm. 
 While there might be doubt of the con- 
 tinued loyalty of Eastern, there was no 
 question of the persistency of that of 
 
 Western, Virginia, whose proximity to 
 the free States of Illinois and Ohio, and 
 identity of origin, habits, and interests, 
 made them as one people. The loyalty 
 of the East was conditional upon such 
 concessions to the slave power as the 
 most sanguine believers in compromise 
 could hardly anticipate. The loyalty 
 of the West, comparatively free of the 
 entanglement of slave interests, was sin- 
 cere and unconstrained. 
 
 Virginia strove to check the precip- 
 itancy of South Carolina by appointing 
 a commissioner to urge an arrest of 
 proceedings until there might be a con- 
 ference among the slave States. 
 
 Tennessee, though her governor was 
 suspected even at that early period of a 
 strong sympathy, if not active concur- 
 rence, with the leaders of the rebellion, 
 was apparently indisposed to secession. 
 Her United States senator, and formerly 
 governor, Andrew Johnson, and Emer- 
 son Etheredge, a member of the House 
 of Representatives, were among the first 
 to deny emphatically the assumed right 
 of secession, and to call it treason. They 
 both have continued as they began, the 
 firm assertors of the Federal authority 
 and the resolute opponents of its ene- 
 mies. Johnson, in the Senate of jj eCt 
 the United States, while even 19. 
 Northern men were doubting the right 
 of the Government to suppress a re- 
 bellion against its authority, thus em- 
 phatically argued not only for its ex- 
 istence, but for its exercise : 
 
 " Have we not the power to enforce 
 the laws in the State of South Carolina, 
 as well as in the State of Vermont or 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 any other State ? And notwithstanding 
 they may resolve and declare them- 
 selves absolved from all allegiance to 
 this Union, yet it does riot save them 
 from the compact. If South Carolina 
 drives out the Federal courts from the 
 State, then the Federal Government has 
 a right to re-establish the courts. If 
 she excludes the mails, the Federal Gov- 
 ernment has a right and the authority to 
 carry the mails. If she resists the collec- 
 tion of revenue in the port of Charleston, 
 or any other ports, then the Government 
 has a right to enter and enforce the law. 
 If she undertakes to take possession of 
 the property of the Government, the Gov- 
 ernment has a right to take all means to 
 retain that property. And if they make 
 any effort to dispossess the Government, 
 or to resist the execution of the judicial 
 system, then South Carolina puts her- 
 self in the wrong, and it is the duty of 
 the Government to see the judiciary 
 faithfully executed. Yes, sir, faithfully 
 executed. In December, 1805, South 
 Carolina made a deed of cession of the 
 land on which these forts stand a full 
 and free cession with certain condi- 
 tions, and has had possession of these 
 forts till this day. And now has South 
 Carolina any right to attempt to drive 
 the Government from that property ? 
 If she secedes, and makes any attempt 
 of this kind, does she not come within 
 the meaning of the Constitution, where 
 it speaks of levying war ? And in levy- 
 ing war, she does what the Constitution 
 declares to be treason. We may as well 
 talk of things as they are, for if anything 
 can be treason, within the scope of the 
 
 Constitution, is not levying war upon 
 the Government, treason ? Is not at- 
 tempting to take the property of the 
 Government and expel the Government 
 soldiers therefrom, treason ? Is not at- 
 tempting to resist the collection of the 
 revenue, attempting to exclude the mails, 
 and driving the Federal court from her 
 borders, treason ? What is it ? I ask, 
 in the name of the Constitution, what 
 is it ? It is treason, and nothing but 
 treason." 
 
 With a sympathy among many of the 
 political leaders of Tennessee with seces- 
 sion, and an undisguised effort to pro- 
 mote it, there yet seemed to exist among 
 the people throughout the State, but 
 especially in the eastern districts, a firm 
 attachment to the Union. A secession 
 meeting at Memphis was disturbed ^ OVt 
 by manifestations of opposition on 30. 
 the part of a large gathering of union- 
 ists. The Honorable John Bell, of Nash- 
 ville, who had been a candidate for the 
 Presidency, in a letter in answer to an 
 invitation to an assemblage of secession- 
 ists, declared that he was for the Union, 
 that he did not think that the election 
 of Lincoln was a just cause for its disso- 
 lution, and that the South, equally with 
 the North, was responsible for the angry 
 sectionalism of feeling which prevailed. 
 
 In Kentucky the Union sentiment 
 was, as it continues to be, predominant. 
 There was, however, great uneasiness 
 of feeling and a disposition on the part 
 of many of the political leaders of the 
 State to act concurrently with the cotton 
 States, or to demand excessive conces- 
 sions from the North as the condition of 
 
CONCILIATION FROM KENTUCKY. 
 
 55 
 
 loyalty. Governor Magoffin seemed by 
 
 D ec , this circular sent to the governors 
 
 9 of the various slave States, to have 
 
 made a sincere effort toward conciliation. 
 
 " COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, EXECUTIVE ) 
 DEPARTMENT, FRANKFORT, Dec. 9, 1860. f 
 
 " Entertaining the opinion that some 
 movement should be instituted at the 
 earliest possible moment to arrest the 
 progress of events which seem to be 
 rapidly hurrying the Government of the 
 Union to dismemberment, as an initia- 
 tory step I have, with great diffidence, 
 concluded to submit to the governors of 
 the slave States a series of propositions, 
 and to ask their counsel and co-operation 
 in bringing about a settlement upon 
 them as a basis. Should the proposi- 
 tions be approved, they can be sub- 
 mitted to the assembling legislatures 
 and conventions of the slave States, and 
 a convention of all of said States, or of 
 those only approving, be called to pass 
 upon them, and ask a general convention 
 of all the States of the Union that may 
 be disposed to meet us on this basis for 
 a full conference. The present good to 
 be accomplished would be to arrest the 
 secession movement until the question 
 as to whether the Union can be pre- 
 served upon fair and honorable terms 
 can be fully tested. If there be a basis 
 for the adjustment of our difficulties 
 within the Union, nothing should be left 
 undone in order to its development. 
 To this end, it seems to me there should 
 be a conference of the States in some 
 form, and it appears to me the form 
 above suggested would be most effect- 
 ive. I, therefore, as the governor of a 
 
 State having as deep a stake in the per- 
 petuity of the Union, and at the same 
 time as much solicitude for the mainte- 
 nance of the institution of slavery as any 
 other, would respectfully beg leave to 
 submit for your consideration the fol- 
 lowing outline of propositions : 
 
 "First. Repeal, by an amendment of 
 the Constitution of the United States, all 
 laws in the free States in any degree 
 nullifying or obstructing the execution 
 of the Fugitive Slave law. 
 
 "Second. Amendments to said law to 
 enforce its thorough execution in all the 
 free States, providing compensation to 
 the owner of the slave from the State 
 which fails to deliver him up under the 
 requirements of the law, or throws ob- 
 structions in the way of his recovery. 
 
 " Third. The passage of a law by 
 Congress compelling the governors of 
 free States to return fugitives from 
 justice, indicted by a grand jury in an- 
 other State for stealing or enticing away 
 a slave. 
 
 " Fourth. To amend the Constitution 
 so as to divide all the Territories be- 
 longing to the United States, or here- 
 after to be acquired, between the free arid 
 the slave States, say upon the line of the 
 37th degree of north latitude all north 
 of that line to come into the Union with 
 requisite population as free States, and 
 all south of the same to come in as slave 
 States. 
 
 "Fifth. To amend the Constitution 
 so as to guarantee forever to all the 
 States the free navigation of the Missis- 
 sippi River. 
 
 " Sixth. To alter the Constitution so 
 
56 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 as to give the South the power, say in 
 the United States Senate, to protect it- 
 self from unconstitutional and oppressive 
 legislation upon the subject of slavery. 
 " Respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 " B. MAGOFFIN." 
 
 Governor Houston, of Texas, man- 
 fully resisted the progress of the se- 
 cessionists of that State by refusing to 
 convene the Legislature, and strove to 
 check the precipitancy of South Caro- 
 lina by recommending a conference of 
 the slave States. The governor of Ar- 
 kansas uttered no expression of opinion 
 in this crisis, but it was hoped that his 
 silence was an indication that the people 
 were loyal to the Union. 
 
 Georgia was evidently still irresolute. 
 Alexander H. Stephens, one of her lead- 
 ing statesmen, now Vice-President of 
 the Southern Confederacy, spoke elo- 
 quently in behalf of the Union, and the 
 D ec , Legislature urged the other slave 
 15. States, in a circular addressed to 
 them, not to act separately and precip- 
 itately. 
 
 Even in Alabama, at a meeting held 
 N OV| in Baldwin County, a unanimous 
 24. resolution was passed against se- 
 cession ; in Mississippi a large gathering 
 Nov. f citizens in Vicksburg expressed 
 29. the belief by a resolution that there 
 were " yet remedies within the Union ;" 
 in Louisiana a leading journal declared 
 [to c , that there was a " disposition to 
 15. move with deliberation and to try 
 all remedies, until means of security and 
 equality in the Union are exhausted, 
 before the State considers the United 
 
 States as a foreign government and its 
 citizens as aliens." 
 
 South Carolina had, however, treated 
 with contempt this lingering loyalty, 
 and gave no heed to the suggestions of 
 the other slave States. The convention 
 refused to listen to the commissioners 
 of Kentucky and Virginia, and even laid 
 upon the table the proposition of the 
 Legislature of Georgia without read- 
 ing it. South Carolina was doubtless 
 strengthened in resolution by secret al- 
 liances and pledges of conformity on the 
 part of the political leaders in the other 
 slave States, and could estimate at its 
 just value a public affectation of loyalty 
 to the Union by men who had conspired 
 to destroy it. In South Carolina itself 
 the people had been long prepared for 
 secession, and required no persuasions 
 or threats to effect what they impa- 
 tiently desired. In the other " cotton" 
 States, however, partly from an attach- 
 ment to the Union and partly from a 
 reluctance to assume the responsibility of 
 dissolving it, there was a hesitating dis- 
 affection which could only be quickened 
 to rebellion by the force of example. 
 South Carolina, though professing her 
 willingness and boasting her ability to 
 stand alone, did not doubt that her lead 
 would be soon followed by her sister 
 States. 
 
 Confident in this belief, a committee of 
 the convention at Charleston introduced 
 the following ordinance, in which the 
 concurrence in secession of the Dec. 
 slaveholding States and their or- 25. 
 ganization into a separate government, 
 were already assumed by anticipation : 
 
FASTING AND PRAYER. 
 
 57 
 
 "First. That the conventions of the 
 seceding slaveholding States of the 
 United States unite with South Caro- 
 lina, and hold a convention at Mont- 
 gomery, Ala., for the purpose of forming 
 a Southern confederacy. 
 
 ' ' Second. That the said seceding States 
 appoint, by their respective conventions 
 or legislatures, as many delegates as 
 they have representatives in the present 
 Congress of the United States, to the 
 said convention to be held at Mont- 
 gomery, and that on the adoption of the 
 constitution of the Southern confederacy, 
 the vote shall be by States. 
 
 " Third. That whenever the terms of 
 the constitution shall be agreed upon by 
 the said convention, the same shall be 
 
 submitted at as early a day as practi- 
 cable to the convention and legislature 
 of each State respectively, so as to en- 
 able them to ratify or reject the said 
 constitution. 
 
 " Fourth. That in the opinion of South 
 Carolina, the Constitution of the United 
 States will form a suitable basis for the 
 confederacy of the Southern States with- 
 drawing. 
 
 "Fifth. That the South Carolina con- 
 vention appoint by ballot eight delegates 
 to represent South Carolina in the con- 
 vention for the formation of a Southern 
 confederacy. 
 
 "Lastly. That one commissioner in 
 each State be elected to call the atten^ 
 tion of the people to this ordinance." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Energetic Action of the Convention at Charleston. Proclamation for Fasting and Prayer by the President of the 
 United States. Compromise Committees : their ineffectiveness. The Senator of Georgia's opinion of them. 
 Despair of the Senator from Kentucky. Feeling at the North. Activity of South Carolina. Resolution of Inquiry 
 passed by the Charleston Convention hi regard to the Federal Forts. Intense interest of the Charleston people. 
 Description of the Forts. Anxiety of Major Anderson. Hopelessness of the Defence of Fort Moultrie. A Call of 
 Duty. A Resolution taken. Preparations to abandon Fort Moultrie. Ruse. Expedition at Night. In possession 
 of Fort Sumter. Excitement in Charleston. The abandoned Federal Forts taken possession of by the South Caro- 
 linians. The condition of Fort Moultrie described. Seizure of Public Property. Indignation against Major An-r 
 derson. Anderson assumes the Responsibility. Energetic Preparations at Charleston for War. Sympathy from the 
 Gulf States. Feeling at the North. The great Robbery of the Indian Trust Fund. The supposed Criminals. The 
 order for the removal of Arms from Pittsburg Excitement of the Citizens. Relief in a Mass Meeting. Fears 
 at the North. The deed of Anderson hailed with enthusiasm. Newspaper Rhetoric. The effect at Washington. 
 Resignation of Floyd. A strange Correspondence. Departure of the South Carolina Commissioners, from Wash- 
 ington, and Correspondence. 
 
 WHILE the convention at Charleston 
 was energetically pursuing its course of 
 independent government, the President 
 at Washington did nothing but be- 
 wail the misfortunes of the country 
 in a proclamation of a day to be set apart 
 
 8 
 
 1S60. 
 
 for humiliation, fasting, and prayer, and 
 Congress continued its futile attempts at 
 compromise. The committees of Thir-. 
 ty-three" and "Thirteen," appointed to 
 consider and report on the crisis of the 
 country, met, adjourned, and met again 
 
58 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 without any result but the increased 
 conviction that conciliation was imprac- 
 ticable. That there were some sincere 
 efforts made by the moderate men of the 
 South, with the desire of appeasing dis- 
 union, may be believed, but that the 
 representatives of the extreme opinions 
 of the cotton States had, if the wish for, 
 not the least expectation of, their success, 
 D ec , may be inferred from this telegram 
 23t dispatched to his constituents by 
 the United States senator from Georgia : 
 
 " I came here to secure your consti- 
 tutional rights, and to demonstrate to 
 you that you can get no guarantee for 
 those rights from your Northern con- 
 federates. 
 
 " The whole subject was referred to a 
 committee of thirteen in the Senate. I 
 was appointed on the committee, and 
 accepted the trust. I submitted propo- 
 sitions which, so far from receiving a 
 decided support from a single member 
 of the Republican party of the com- 
 mittee, were all treated with derision or 
 contempt. A vote was then taken in 
 the committee on amendments to the 
 Constitution, proposed by Hon. J. J. 
 Crittenden, and each and all of them 
 were voted against, unanimously, by 
 the Black Republican members of the 
 committee. 
 
 " In addition to these facts, a majority 
 of the Black Republican members of the 
 committee declared distinctly that they 
 had no guarantees to offer, which was 
 silently acquiesced in by the other mem- 
 bers. 
 
 ' The Black Republican members of 
 this committee are representative men 
 
 of the party and section, and, to the ex- 
 tent of my information, truly represent 
 them. 
 
 "The Committee of Thirty-Three on 
 Friday adjourned for a week, without 
 coming to any vote after solemnly pledg- 
 ing themselves to vote on all the propo- 
 sitions then before them that day. It is 
 controlled by the Black Republicans, 
 your enemies, who only seek to amuse 
 you with delusive hope until your elec- 
 tion, that you may defeat the friends of 
 secession. 
 
 " If you are deceived by them, it shall 
 not be my fault. I have put the test 
 fairly and frankly. It is decisive against 
 you now. I tell you, upon the faith of 
 a true man, that all further looking to 
 the North for security for your constitu- 
 tional rights in the Union ought to be 
 instantly abandoned. 
 
 "It is fraught with nothing but ruin 
 to yourselves and to your posterity. 
 Secession, by the 4th day of March 
 next, should be thundered from the 
 ballot-box by the unanimous voice of 
 Georgia on the 2d day of January next. 
 Such a voice will be your best guarantee 
 for liberty, tranquility, and glory. 
 
 "R. TOOMBS." 
 
 The venerable Crittenden, of Ken- 
 tucky, whose fidelity to the Union was 
 beyond perad venture, even despaired, 
 and seeing no prospect in congressional 
 action of an accommodation, exclaimed, 
 that it was the darkest day of his life 
 that he was overwhelmed with solicitude 
 for the country, and that nothing but the 
 affection of the people for the Union 
 could restore peace. In the mean 
 

 
 rn 3 ip to 
 
 d , 
 
 -i 
 
 H. ra 
 
 vf> CD !S <B 
 
THE CHARLESTON FORTS. 
 
 59 
 
 while, the people of the North remained 
 in a state between fear and hope. The 
 timid gave expression to their alarms in 
 "union meetings," and petitions coun- 
 selling concession ; while the hopeful de- 
 luded themselves with the supposed 
 strength of the loyal men in the South. 
 A few may have contemplated the pos- 
 sibility of war, but fondly believed that 
 the country would be spared its horrors. 
 
 South Carolina, however, though se- 
 cured for the present by the pledges of 
 President Buchanan and the corrupt 
 connivance of his cabinet, was yet dis- 
 trustful of the future, and began to pre- 
 pare for its possible dangers. A reso- 
 D CCt lution was offered in the conven- 
 26 tion at Charleston that the governor 
 be requested to communicate in secret 
 session any information he might pos- 
 sess in regard to the condition of forts 
 Moultrie and Sumter, and Castle Pinck- 
 ney, the number of guns in each, the 
 'number of workmen and kind of labor 
 employed, the number of soldiers in 
 each, and what additions, if any, had 
 been made since the 20th of December ; 
 also, whether any assurance had been 
 given that the iprts would not be rein- 
 forced, and if so, to what extent ; also, 
 what police or other regulations had 
 been made, if any, in reference to the 
 defences of the harbor of Charleston, the 
 coast, and the State. 
 
 At the same time the condition of these 
 forts and their capability of defence be- 
 came a subject of intense interest to the 
 people of South Carolina, who were evi- 
 dently determined upon possessing them- 
 selves of them. A minute survey of the 
 
 works was made and published, in which 
 the efforts in progress to improve their 
 strength were studiously detailed and 
 exaggerated, with the view of exciting 
 the impatient ardor of the South Caro- 
 linians to wrest them from the Federal 
 Government. 
 
 This account, as it conveys a tolerably 
 accurate idea of the forts in the harbor 
 of Charleston, is here given as published 
 in the Charleston Mercury : 
 
 " Fort Moultrie is an inclosed water 
 battery, having a front on the south, or 
 water side, of about 300 feet, and a 
 depth of about 240 feet. It is built 
 with salient and re-entering angles on 
 all sides, and is admirably adapted for 
 defence, either from the attack of a 
 storming party or by regular approaches. 
 
 " The outer and inner walls are of 
 brick, capped with stone, and filled in 
 with earth, making a solid wall 15 or 16 
 feet in thickness. The work now in 
 progress consists in cleaning the sand 
 from the walls of the fort ; ditching it 
 around the entire circumference, . and 
 erecting a glacis ; closing up the postern 
 gates in the east and west walls, and, 
 instead, cutting sally-ports which lead 
 into strong outworks on the southeast 
 and southwest angles, in which twelve- 
 pounder howitzer guns will be "placed, 
 enabling the garrison to sweep the ditch 
 on three sides with grape and canister. 
 The northwest angle of the fort has also 
 been strengthened by a bastionette to 
 sustain the weight of a heavy gun which 
 will command the main street of the 
 island. The main entrance has also 
 been better secured, and a trap-door, 
 
60 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 two feet square, cut in the door for in- 
 gress and egress. At this time, the 
 height of the wall from the bottom of 
 the ditch to the top of the parapet is 20 
 feet. The ditch is from 12 to 15 feet 
 wide at the base, and 15 feet deep. The 
 nature of the soil would not seem to 
 admit of this depth being increased, 
 quicksand having been reached in many 
 places. The work on the south side is 
 nearly finished. The counterscarp is 
 substantially built with plank, and 
 spread with turf. The glacis is also 
 finished. It is composed of sand, and 
 covered with layers of loam and turf, 
 all of which are kept firmly in place by 
 the addition of sections of plank nailed 
 to uprights sunk in the sand, and cross- 
 ing each other at right angles, making 
 squares of 10 feet each. The purpose 
 of the glacis, which is an inclined plane, 
 is to expose an attacking party to the 
 fire of the guns, which are so placed as 
 to sweep it from the crest of the coun- 
 terscarp to the edge of the beach. On 
 the north side all the wooden gun-cases 
 have been placed close together on the 
 ramparts, apparently for the purpose of 
 securing it against an escalade, but pos- 
 sibly as a screen for a battery of heavy 
 guns. A good many men are engaged 
 in clearing the ramparts of turf and 
 earth, for the purpose of putting down 
 a very ugly-looking arrangement, which 
 consists of strips of planks four inches 
 wide, one and a half inches thick, and 
 six or eight feet long, sharpened at the 
 point, and nailed down so as to project 
 about three feet horizontally from the 
 top of the walls. 
 
 "A noticeable fact in the bastionettes, 
 to which we have above alluded, is the 
 haste in which one of them has been built, 
 The one completed is formed of solid 
 masonry. In constructing the other, 
 however, a framework of plank has been 
 substituted. Against the inside of this 
 wooden outwork loose bricks have been 
 placed. Both bastionettes are armed 
 with a small carronade, and a howitzer 
 pointed laterally so as to command the 
 whole intervening moat by a cross-fire. 
 " In the hurried execution of these 
 extensive improvements, a large force- 
 about 170 men are constantly engaged. 
 Additions are daily made to this num- 
 ber, and the work of putting the post 
 in the best possible condition for de- 
 fence is carried on with almost incred- 
 ible vigor. 
 
 " A few days ago, Colonel Gardiner, 
 'who for years had held the command- 
 ant's position, and whose courtesy and 
 bearing had won the friendship of all 
 who knew him, was relieved in the 
 command by Major Robert Anderson, 
 of Kentucky. Major Anderson received 
 his first commission as brevet second lieu- 
 tenant second artillery, July 1st, 1825, 
 was acting inspector-general in the 
 Black Hawk war, and received the rank 
 of brevet captain, August, 1838, for his 
 successful conduct in the Florida war. 
 On September 8th, 1847, he was made 
 brevet-major for his gallant and merito- 
 rious conduct in the battle of Molino 
 del Rey. 
 
 " The other officers are : Captain Ab- 
 ner Doubleday, Captain T. Seymour, 
 Lieutenant T. Talbot, Lieutenant J. C. 
 
CONDITION OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 61 
 
 Davis, Lieutenant N. J. Hall all of the 
 first regiment artillery. 
 
 " Captain J. Gr. Foster and Lieuten- 
 ant Gr. W. Snyder, of the engineer corps. 
 
 " Assistant Surgeon S. W. Crawford, 
 of the medical staff. 
 
 ' ' The force under these gentlemen 
 consists of two companies of artillery. 
 The companies, however, are not full, 
 the two comprising, as we are informed, 
 only about seventy men, including the 
 band. A short time ago two additional 
 companies were expected, but they have 
 not come ; and it is now positively 
 stated that there will be, for the pres- 
 ent at least, no reinforcement of the 
 garrison. 
 
 " While the working-men are doing 
 wonders on the outside, the soldiers 
 within are by no means idle. Field- 
 pieces have been placed in position upon 
 the green within the fort, and none of 
 the expedients of military engineering 
 have been neglected to make the posi- 
 tion as strong as possible. It is said 
 that the greatest vigilance is observed 
 in every regulation at this time, and 
 that the guns are regularly shotted every 
 night. It is very certain that ingress is 
 no longer an easy matter for an out- 
 sider, and the visitor who hopes to get 
 in must make up his mind to approach 
 with all the caution, ceremony, and cir- 
 cumlocution with which the allies are ad- 
 vancing upon the capital of the Celestial 
 Empire. 
 
 " Fort Sumter, the largest of our fort- 
 resses, is a work of solid masonry, 
 octagonal in form, pierced on the north, 
 east, and west sides with a double row 
 
 of port-holes for the heaviest guns, and 
 on the south or land side, in addition to 
 openings for guns, loop-holes for mus- 
 ketry ; stands in the middle of the har- 
 bor, on the edge of the ship channel, 
 and is said to be bomb-proof. It is at 
 present- without any regular garrison. 
 There is a large force of workmen 
 some one hundred and fifty in all 
 busily employed in mounting the guns 
 and otherwise putting this great strat- 
 egic point in order. The armament 
 of Fort Sumter consists of 140 guns, 
 many of them being the formidable ten- 
 inch ' columbiads,' which throw either 
 shot or shell, and which have a fearful 
 range. Only a few of these are yet in 
 position, and the work of mounting 
 pieces of this calibre in the casemates 
 is necessarily a slow one. There is also 
 a large amount of artillery stores, con- 
 sisting of about 40,000 pounds of pow- 
 der, and a proportionate quantity of 
 shot and shell. The workmen engaged 
 here sleep in the fort every night, owing 
 to the want of any regular communica- 
 tion with the city. The wharf or land- 
 ing is on the south side, and is of course 
 exposed to a cross fire from all the open- 
 ings on that side. 
 
 " The fortress most closely command- 
 ing the city and its roadstead is Castle 
 Pinckney, which is located on the 
 southern extremity of a narrow slip of 
 marsh land, which extends in a north- 
 erly direction to Hog Island Channel. 
 To the harbor side the so-called castle 
 presents a circular front. It has never 
 been considered of much consequence 
 as a fortress, although its proximity to 
 
62 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the city would give it importance, if 
 properly armed and garrisoned. From 
 hasty observation, we find that there are 
 about fifteen guns mounted on the par- 
 apet ; the majority of them are eighteen 
 and twenty-four pounders. Some ' co- 
 lumbiads' are, however, within the walls. 
 There are also supplies of powder, shot, 
 and shell. At present there is no gar- 
 rison at the post ; the only residents are 
 one or two watchmen, who have charge 
 of the harbor light. Some thirty or 
 forty day laborers are employed repair- 
 ing the cisterns, and putting the place 
 generally in order." 
 
 Major Anderson, the Federal officer 
 in command, informed of the action of 
 the convention in regard to the forts, 
 witnessing the public excitement in 
 Charleston, conscious of the intense 
 desire of the people of South Carolina 
 to possess them, and believing that they 
 would not long hesitate to make the 
 attempt, became solicitous about their 
 safety. He had no hope of being able 
 to defend Fort Moultrie, whose feeble 
 and unprotected walls he held with a 
 meagre garrison of only sixty effective 
 men. He despaired of any aid from the 
 Federal Government, for he had been 
 told by the secretary of war, Floyd, 
 how, with a natural regard for the 
 safety of his fellow-conspirators, he had 
 "carefully abstained from increasing the 
 force at this point, or taking any meas- 
 ures which might add to the present ex- 
 cited state of the public mind, or which 
 would throw any doubt on the confi- 
 dence he feels that South Carolina will 
 not attempt by violence to obtain pos- 
 
 session of the public works, or interfere 
 with their occupancy."* 
 
 It was not, therefore, surprising that 
 Anderson should write thus despair- 
 ingly : 
 
 " When I inform you that my garri- 
 son consists of only sixty effective D eC( 
 men, and that we are in a very 24. 
 indifferent work, the walls of which are 
 only about fourteen feet high, and that 
 we have, within one hundred and sixty 
 yards of our walls, sand-hills which 
 command our work, and which afford 
 admirable sites for batteries and the 
 finest covers for sharp-shooters, and 
 that besides this there are numerous 
 houses, some of them within pistol-shot, 
 you will at once see that, if attacked in 
 force, headed by any one but a simple- 
 ton, there is scarce a possibility of our 
 being able to hold out long enough to 
 enable our friends to come to our succor. 
 
 " Trusting that God will not desert 
 us in our hour of trial, I am sincerely 
 yours. 
 
 "ROBERT ANDERSON, 
 
 " Major 1st Artillery, etc." 
 
 Anderson, however, was not the man 
 to yield to despair while the call of 
 duty invoked to effort. He accordingly 
 determined, that if Fort Moultrie could 
 not be defended, he would place his 
 meagre garrison in Fort Sumter, which 
 could. His preparations were made 
 with a prudent secrecy. In order to 
 deceive the inhabitants of Sullivan 
 Island, upon which the fort is situated, 
 it was studiously reported among them, 
 that in consequence of the probability 
 
 Verbal Instructions to Major Anderson, Dec. 11, I860. 
 
OCCUPATION OF FORT SUMTOR. 
 
 (53 
 
 of an attack by the people of Charles- 
 ton, the wives and children of the gar- 
 rison were about to be removed to a 
 safer place. Under the cover of this 
 pretext, three schooners were hired, 
 brought up to the wharf, and loaded 
 with what was supposed by the people 
 of the island merely ordinary baggage. 
 These vessels, however, contained not 
 only the women and children, but pro- 
 visions, munitions of war, and the per- 
 sonal effects of the officers and soldiers. 
 Thus laden, the three schooners put off, 
 and sailed, not to Fort Johnson, on 
 James Island, as had been carefully re- 
 ported, and for which they apparently 
 steered, but to Fort Sumter, where, 
 after a circuitous course, they finally 
 arrived in the evening and discharged 
 their important burthens. Anderson 
 waited for the darkness of the night 
 before embarking his men. At half- 
 Dec. P as ^ nme o'clock, row-boats having 
 26* been got ready, the whole force, 
 with the exception of Captain Foster 
 and eight men, left to dismantle and 
 spike the guns and burn their carriages, 
 pushed off'. Before daylight next morn- 
 ing Major Anderson was in full posses- 
 sion of Fort Sumter, with his little gar- 
 rison. The smoke from Fort Moultrie, 
 still rising at early dawn, was the first 
 to arouse the attention of the people 
 of Charleston. They gathered in ex- 
 cited crowds upon the wharfs and the 
 battery, and anxiously sought the cause. 
 Great alarm spread throughout the town, 
 and the troops were called to arms. 
 Various were the conjectures : some 
 thought that a fresh United States force 
 
 had arrived ; some supposed that Ander- 
 son had evacuated the harbor altogether, 
 after having destroyed the fort ; but 
 none seemed to suspect his masterly 
 movement. All doubt, however, was 
 soon removed by the arrival in the city 
 of some of the inhabitants of Sullivan's 
 Island. 
 
 When the fact became known, the ex- 
 citement increased. The convention met 
 immediately, and issued orders for the 
 occupation of the deserted Fort Moultrie 
 and the other defences of the harbor by 
 the State troops. The Federal arsenal 
 at Charleston, which had been so gen- 
 erously supplied by the treasonable fore- 
 cast of the secretary of war, yielded up 
 its stores of arms and ammunition to the 
 eager asserters of " State sovereignty." 
 Colonel Pettigrew, in obedience to the 
 command of the convention, took pos- 
 session, with two hundred men, of Castle 
 Pinckney, which was found without a 
 man to defend it, but with its entrances 
 barricaded, its guns spiked, its ammu- 
 nition gone, and its flagstaff prostrate. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel De Saussure, also 
 with two hundred men, proceeded to 
 take possession of the abandoned Fort 
 Moultrie. As he approached, Captain 
 Foster and his eight soldiers, who had 
 been left to destroy the guns arid keep 
 nominal possession, pushed off in a row- 
 boat for Fort Sumter. 
 
 As soon as the South Carolinians got 
 possession, they commenced to repair 
 the damage effected by Anderson, and 
 to add to the former efficiency and 
 strength of the fort. The condition in 
 which it was found after its abandon- 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 D ec . merit by the Federal force, is thus 
 27. minutely described by a writer in 
 the Charleston Courier: 
 
 "On the way across the harbor, the 
 hoisting of the American flag from the 
 staff of Fort Sumter, at precisely twelve 
 o'clock, gave certain indication that the 
 stronghold was occupied by the troops 
 of the United States. On a nearer ap- 
 proach the fortress was discovered to 
 be occupied, the guns appeared to be 
 mounted, and sentinels were discovered 
 on duty, and the place to give every 
 sign of occupancy and military dis- 
 cipline. The grim fortress frowned de- 
 fiance on every side ; the busy notes of 
 preparation resounded through its un- 
 forbidding recesses, and everything 
 seemed to indicate the utmost alacrity 
 in the work on hand. 
 
 "Turning toward Fort Moultrie, a 
 dense cloud of smoke was seen to pour 
 from the end facing the sea. The flag- 
 staff was down, and the whole place had 
 an air of desolation and abandonment 
 quite the reverse of its busy look one 
 week ago, when scores of laborers were 
 engaged in adding to its strength all the 
 works skill and experience could sug- 
 gest. 
 
 "In the immediate vicinity of the 
 rear or landside entrance, however, 
 greater activity was noticeable. At the 
 time of our visit, a large force of hands 
 had been summoned to deliver up their 
 implements for transportation to Fort 
 Sumter. Around on every side were 
 the evidences of labor in the fortifica- 
 tion of the work. In many places a 
 portion of the defences were strength- 
 
 ened by every appliance that art could 
 suggest or ingenuity devise ; while in 
 others, the uncompleted works gave 
 evidences of the utmost confusion. On 
 all hands the process of removing goods, 
 furniture, and munitions was yet going 
 on. The heavy guns upon the ramparts 
 of the fort were thrown down from their 
 carriages and spiked. Every ounce of 
 powder and every cartridge had been 
 removed from the magazines, and, in 
 fact, everything like small -arms, cloth- 
 ing, provisions, accoutrements, and other 
 munitions of war had been removed off 
 and deposited ; nothing but heavy balls 
 and useless cannon remained. 
 
 " The entire place was, to all appear- 
 ances, littered up with the odds, ends, 
 and fragments of war's desolation. Con- 
 fusion could not have been more com- 
 plete had the late occupants retired in 
 the face of a besieging foe. Fragments 
 of gun-carriages, etc., broken to pieces, 
 bestrewed the ramparts. Sand-bags and 
 barrels filled with earth crowned the 
 walls, and were firmly imbedded in their 
 bomb-proof surface as an additional safe- 
 guard ; and notwithstanding the hetero- 
 geneous scattering of materials and im- 
 plements, the walls of the fort evinced 
 a vague degree of energy in preparing 
 for an attack. A ditch some fifteen feet 
 wide and about the same in depth sur- 
 rounds the entire wall on three sides. 
 On the south side, or front, a glacis has 
 been commenced and prosecuted nearly 
 to completion, with a rampart of sand- 
 bags, barrels, etc. 
 
 " On one side of the fort a palisade 
 of palmetto logs is extended around the 
 
ANDERSON DENOUNCED. 
 
 65 
 
 ramparts as a complete defence against 
 an escalading party. New embrasures 
 have been cut in the walls so as to com- 
 mand the faces of the bastion and ditch. 
 These new defences are all incomplete, 
 and are evidence of the haste with which 
 they were erected. Considering the in- 
 ferior force, in point of numbers, under 
 his command, Major Anderson had paid 
 particular attention to strengthening 
 only a small part of the fort. 
 
 "A greater portion of the labor ex- 
 pended was spent upon the citadel, or 
 centre of the west point of the position. 
 This he had caused to be strengthened 
 in every way ; loop-holes were cut, and 
 everything was so arranged that in case 
 a well-concerted attack was made, he 
 would have retired from the outer bas- 
 tions to the citadel, and afterward blow 
 up the other portions of the fort. For 
 this purpose mines had already been 
 sprung, and trains had been laid ready 
 for the application of the match. The 
 barrack-rooms and every other part of 
 the fort that was indefensible would have 
 gone at a touch. 
 
 " On the ramparts of the fort fronting 
 Fort Sumter were nine eight-inch co- 
 lumbiads, mounted on wooden carriages. 
 As soon as the evacuation of the fort 
 was complete, the carriages of these 
 guns were fired, and at the time of vis- 
 iting the fort yesterday, were nearly 
 consumed, and the guns thereby dis- 
 mounted. These guns, as well as those 
 constituting the entire armament of the 
 fortress, were spiked before it was aban- 
 doned. This is the only damage done 
 the fortification, further than cutting 
 9 
 
 down the flagstaff, and the breaking up 
 of ammunition-wagons to form ramparts 
 on the walls of the fort." 
 
 The seizure of the Federal forts was 
 followed by that of the arsenal, the cus- 
 tom-house, and the post-office, upon each 
 of which was raised the Palmetto flag. 
 The South Carolinians were pleased to 
 consider the simple movement of a Fed- 
 eral officer from one Federal fort to an- 
 other an act of war. " Major Robert 
 Anderson, United States army," wrote a 
 journalist,* "has achieved the unen- 
 viable distinction of opening civil war 
 between American citizens by an act of 
 gross breach of faith. He has, under 
 counsels of a panic, deserted his post at 
 Fort Moultrie, and under false pretexts 
 has transferred his garrison and military 
 stores and supplies to Fort Sumter." 
 
 Another writerf declared : " It is due 
 to South Carolina and to good faith that 
 the act of this officer (Major Anderson) 
 should be repudiated by the Govern- 
 ment, and that the troops be removed 
 forthwith from Fort Sumter." 
 
 The governor of South Carolina de- 
 manded of Anderson by what authority 
 he had acted, and what was the object 
 of his movement. Anderson replied, 
 that it was merely a military measure 
 for the purpose only of defence, which 
 he had executed on his own responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 The convention, however, of South 
 Carolina made the act of Anderson the 
 pretext for the most energetic prepara- 
 tions for war. Assuming the whole con- 
 duct of government, it organized a mil- 
 
 Caurier. 
 
 f Mercury. 
 
66 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 itary force and a complete system of 
 coast defence. The buoys from the 
 channels were removed, the lights in 
 the light-houses extinguished, fortifica- 
 tions built, an army was enlisted, and a 
 most formidable show of defiance to the 
 Federal authorities exhibited every- 
 where throughout the State. Most of 
 the officers of the United States army 
 and navy who were natives of South 
 Carolina had, on the announcement of 
 its act of secession, resigned from the 
 Federal service and offered their alle- 
 giance to the seceded State. South Car- 
 olina was thus at once provided with 
 officers capable of organizing its military 
 force and directing the works necessary 
 for its defence. 
 
 Throughout the cotton States the 
 movement of Major Anderson was con- 
 sidered an aggressive act, and they 
 showed their disposition to make com- 
 mon cause with South Carolina by lib- 
 eral offerings of aid. Georgia, Alabama, 
 and even North Carolina, tendered the 
 services of troops. 
 
 At the North, public attention had 
 been diverted for a time from South 
 Carolina by exciting events occurring 
 nearer home, which, however, from their 
 supposed relation to the Southern move- 
 ment, served to increase the general in- 
 quietude, and prepare the public for 
 Dec. further developments of treason. 
 25. A great defalcation had been dis- 
 covered in the Indian trust fund, by 
 which the Government had been de- 
 frauded of eight hundred and thirty 
 thousand dollars. Thompson, the secre- 
 tary of the interior, who had been ab- 
 
 sent from his Federal post, striving as a, 
 secession commissioner from Mississippi 
 to stir up the people of North Carolina 
 to rebellion, was summoned to Wash- 
 ington. His disbursing clerk was ab- 
 sent, and the key of the safe missing. 
 The former was discovered, but the 
 latter was lost. The safe was broken 
 open ; no property, however, was found. 
 It was difficult to trace the degree of 
 criminality which belonged to those to 
 whom the trust had been confided. The 
 superiors asserted their innocence, and 
 to the inferior was imputed the crime ; 
 but public opinion did not hesitate to 
 charge the secretary of war, Floyd, and 
 the secretary of the interior, Thompson, 
 as accomplices in the fraud, which had 
 been committed, if not for personal ad- 
 vantage, at any rate for the advance- 
 ment of Southern interests. 
 
 Another event, no less exciting, oc- 
 curred at the same moment. An order 
 had been received from Washing- |) CCt 
 ton at Pittsburg to send imme- 25. 
 diately from the Alleghany arsenal there 
 *78 large cannon to Fort Newport, near 
 Galveston, and 48 to Ship Island, near 
 Biloxi, off the coast of Mississippi. 
 
 As the government of Buchanan was 
 still guided by those whose fidelity to 
 the Union was suspected, the purpose 
 of this order was naturally supposed to 
 further Southern secession. This aroused 
 the indignation of the citizens of Pitts- 
 burg, who expressed a determination not 
 to allow the arms to leave the arsenal. 
 Finally, the excitement of Pittsburg 
 found relief in a " mass meeting," at 
 which resolutions were adopted " de- 
 
FEELING AT THE NORTH. 
 
 67 
 
 claring loyalty to the Union, and ability 
 to defend themselves against all enemies 
 of the Union ; deprecating any inter- 
 ference with the shipment of arms under 
 government orders, however inoppor- 
 tune or impolitic the order might ap- 
 pear ; deploring the existing state of 
 things in connection with the adminis- 
 tration of important departments of the 
 public service so as to have shaken 
 confidence in the people of the free 
 States ; declaring that while Pennsyl- 
 vania is on guard at the Federal capital, 
 it is her special duty to look to the 
 fidelity of her sons, and in that view 
 call on the President, as a citizen of this 
 Commonwealth, to see that the public 
 receive no detriment at his hands, and 
 to purge his cabinet of every man known 
 to give aid and comfort to, or in any 
 way countenancing the revolt of, any 
 State against the authority of the Con- 
 stitution and the laws of the Union." 
 
 These events, the robbery of the public 
 treasury and arsenals, seemed to reveal 
 more clearly to the public mind of the 
 North the extent and danger of the South- 
 ern conspiracy. Alarm and distrust now 
 became more general, and the people 
 began to fear for the safety of that Union 
 which they had fondly believed to be 
 too greatly endeared to the universal 
 American heart to be in peril from any 
 sectional disaffection. While thus de- 
 pressed, the news came of the move- 
 ment of Major Anderson, and that sim- 
 ple act of military duty was hailed as a 
 deed of heroism, and its author as an 
 heroic defender of the Union. 
 
 The feeling of patriotic exultation 
 
 found vent through the press in a burst 
 of ardent rhetoric : 
 
 " We must own," exclaimed a writer 
 in the Boston Courier, "that the news 
 of the transaction in Charleston harbor 
 was learned by us yesterday with a 
 prouder beating of the heart. We could 
 not /but feel once more that we had a coun- 
 try a fact which had been to a certain 
 degree in suspense for some weeks past. 
 What is given up for the moment is of 
 no consequence, provided the one point 
 stands out clear, that the United States 
 means to maintain its position, where its 
 rights exist, and that its officers, ciml and 
 military, intend to discharge their duty. 
 The concentration of the disposable force 
 in Charleston harbor in a defensible post 
 is thus a bond of union. It is a decisive 
 act, calculated to rally the national heart. 
 * * We are not disposed to allow the 
 Union to be broken up for grievances 
 of South Carolina, which might be set- 
 tled within the Union ; and if there is 
 to be any fighting, we prefer it within, 
 rather than without. The abandonment 
 of Fort Moultrie was obviously a neces- 
 sary act, in order to carry into effect the 
 purpose contemplated with such an in- 
 ferior force as that under the command 
 of Major Anderson. 
 
 " If anybody ever doubted Major An- 
 derson's eminent military capacity, that 
 doubt must be dispelled by the news 
 that we publish in another column," 
 wrote the editor of the Boston Atlas. 
 " Of his own accord, without orders 
 from Washington, but acting on the dis- 
 cretion which an officer in an inde- 
 pendent command always possesses, 
 
68 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Major Anderson, commander of the de- 
 fences of Charleston harbor, transports 
 his troops to the key of his position, 
 Fort Sumter, against which no gun can 
 be laid which is not itself commanded 
 by a 10-inch columbiad in the embra- 
 sures of that octagon citadel. This 
 rapid, unexpected manoeuvre has dis- 
 concerted treason, and received the 
 highest military commendation in the 
 country. 
 
 " Brave major of artillery, true serv- 
 ant of your country, soldier of pene- 
 trating and far-seeing genius, when the 
 right is endangered by fraud or force, 
 at the proper time the needed man is 
 always provided. The spirit of the age 
 provides him, and he always regards 
 the emergency. WASHINGTON, GARI- 
 BALDI, ANDERSON." 
 
 Washington, in the mean time, had 
 been no less stirred by the great event. 
 Floyd, the secretary of war, who had 
 been so long pretending to serve two 
 masters, while he had given himself up 
 totally to the demon of rebellion, re- 
 signed, and was succeeded by Holt, of 
 Kentucky, a patriot of unquestioned 
 loyalty to the Union. The correspond- 
 ence between Floyd and the President 
 is a curious memorial of the times when 
 an obvious duty of government was 
 construed into a justifiable cause for disr 
 affection and hostile defiance, 
 
 ''WAR DEPARTMENT, Deo. 29, 1860. 
 
 " SIR : On the morning of the 27th 
 iust. I read the following paper to you 
 in the presence of the cabinet : 
 " COUNCIL CHAMBER, EXECUTIVE MANSION. 
 
 " SIR : It is evident now, from the 
 
 action of the commander of Fort Moul- 
 trie, that the solemn pledges of the Gov- 
 ernment have been violated by Major 
 Anderson. In my judgment, but one 
 remedy is now left- us by which to vindi- 
 cate our honor and prevent civil war. 
 It is in vain now to hope for confidence 
 on the part of the people of South Caro- 
 lina in any further pledges as to the 
 action of the military. One remedy is 
 left, and that is to withdraw the gar- 
 rison from- the harbor of Charleston. I 
 hope the President will allow me to 
 make that order at once. This order, 
 in my judgment, can alone prevent 
 bloodshed and civil war. 
 
 " JOHN B. FLOYD, 
 
 "Secretary of War. 
 " I then considered the honor of the 
 administration pledged to maintain the 
 troops in the position they occupied, for 
 such had been the assurances given to 
 the gentlemen of South Carolina who 
 had a right to speak for her. South 
 Carolina, on the other hand, gave recip- 
 rocal pledges that no force should be 
 brought by them against the troops or 
 against the property of the United States. 
 The sole object of both parties in these 
 reciprocal pledges was to prevent a col- 
 lision and the effusion of blood, in the 
 hope that some means might be found 
 for a peaceful accommodation of the ex- 
 isting troubles, the two Houses of Con- 
 gress having both raised committees 
 looking to that object. Thus affairs 
 stood until the action of Major Ander- 
 son, taken unfortunately while the com- 
 missioners were on their way to this 
 capital on a peaceful mission looking to 
 
DEMAND OF SOUTH CAROLINA COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 69 
 
 the avoidance of bloodshed, has compli- 
 cated matters in the existing manner. 
 Our refusal or even delay to place af- 
 fairs back as they stood under our agree- 
 ment invites a collision, and must in- 
 evitably inaugurate civil war. I cannot 
 consent to be the agent of such calam- 
 ity. I deeply regret that I feel myself 
 under the necessity of tendering to you 
 my resignation as secretary of war, be- 
 cause I can no longer hold it under my 
 convictions of patriotism, nor with hon- 
 or, subjected as I am to a violation of 
 solemn pledges and plighted faith. 
 "With the highest personal regard, 
 " I am most truly yours, 
 
 " JOHN B. FLOYD. 
 
 " To His Excellency the PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 1860. 
 "MY DEAE SIR : I have received and 
 accepted your resignation of the office 
 of secretary of war ; and not wishing to 
 impose upon you the task of perform- 
 ing its mere routine duties, which you 
 have so kindly offered to do, I have au- 
 thorized Postmaster-General Holt to ad- 
 minister the affairs of the department 
 until your successor shall be appointed. 
 "Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 "JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 "Hon. JOHN B. FLOYD." 
 The commissioners appointed by the 
 convention of South Carolina to treat 
 with the President in regard to the de- 
 livery of the forts and other Federal 
 property, made the event of Anderson's 
 performance of his duty the occasion 
 for their abrupt departure from Wash- 
 
 ington, after an insolent demand for 
 satisfaction from the Federal authority, 
 followed by an audacious defiance of its 
 power, and a threat of resistance. The 
 correspondence between the commis- 
 sioners of South Carolina and the Presi- 
 dent, is another strange memorial of 
 that period of humiliation for the Union 
 when its chief magistrate was called to 
 account in the capital of the United 
 States by confessed rebels, for not re- 
 pudiating a simple act of national de- 
 fence, performed by an officer in the 
 course of his military duties. 
 
 THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SOUTH 
 CAROLINA COMMISSIONERS AND THE PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 1860. 
 " SIR : We have the honor to transmit 
 to you a copy of the full powers from 
 the convention of the people of South 
 Carolina, under which we are ' authorized 
 and empowered to treat with the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States for the 
 delivery of the forts, magazines, light- 
 houses, and other real estate, with their 
 appurtenances, in the limits of South 
 Carolina ; and also for an apportionment 
 of the public debt, and for a division of 
 all other property held by the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, as agent of 
 the confederated States, of which South 
 Carolina was recently a member, and 
 generally to negotiate as to all other 
 measures and arrangements proper to 
 be made and adopted in the existing 
 relation of the parties, and for the con- 
 tinuance of peace and amity between 
 this Commonwealth and the Government 
 at Washington.' 
 
70 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " In the execution of this trust it is 
 our duty to furnish you, as we now do, 
 with an official copy of the Ordinance 
 of Secession, by which the State of 
 South Carolina has resumed the powers 
 she delegated to the Government of the 
 United States, and has declared her per- 
 fect sovereignty and independence. 
 
 "It would also have been our duty to 
 have informed you that we were ready 
 to negotiate with you upon all such 
 questions as are necessarily raised by 
 the adoption of this Ordinance, and that 
 we were prepared to enter upon this 
 negotiation with the earnest desire to 
 avoid all unnecessary and hostile colli- 
 sion, and so to inaugurate our new re- 
 lations as to secure mutual respect, gen- 
 eral advantage, and a future of good- 
 will and harmony, beneficial to all the 
 parties concerned. 
 
 " But the events of the last twenty-four 
 hours render such an assurance impossi- 
 ble. We came here the representatives 
 of an authority which could, at any time 
 within the past sixty days, have taken 
 possession of the forts in Charleston 
 harbor, but which, upon pledges given 
 in a manner that we cannot doubt, de- 
 termined to trust to your honor rather 
 than to its own power. Since our 
 arrival here, an officer of the United 
 States, acting, as we are assured, not 
 only without, but against, your orders, 
 has dismantled one fort and occupied 
 another thus altering to a most import- 
 ant extent the condition of affairs under 
 which we came. 
 
 " Until these circumstances are ex- 
 plained in a manner which relieves us 
 
 of all doubt as to the spirit in which 
 these negotiations shall be conducted, 
 we are forced to suspend all discussion 
 as to any arrangement by which our 
 mutual interests may be amicably ad- 
 justed. 
 
 " And, in conclusion, we would urge 
 upon you the immediate withdrawal of 
 the troops from the harbor of Charles- 
 ton. Under present circumstances, they 
 are a standing menace which renders 
 negotiation impossible, and, as our re- 
 cent experience shows, threatens speed- 
 ily to bring to a bloody issue questions 
 which ought to be settled with temper- 
 ance and judgment. We have the honor 
 to be, 
 
 " Very respectfully, 
 
 ' ' Your obedient servants, 
 
 "R. W. BARNWELL, j 
 
 " J. H. ADAMS, >- Commissioners. 
 
 " JAS. L. ORE, ) 
 
 " To the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES." 
 
 THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY, 
 " WASHINGTON CITY, Dec, 30, 1860. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN : I have had the honor 
 to receive your communication of 28th 
 inst., together with a copy of ' your full 
 powers from the convention of the 
 people of South Carolina,' authorizing 
 you to treat with the Government of 
 the United States on various important 
 subjects therein mentioned, and also a 
 copy of the Ordinance, bearing date on 
 the 20th inst., declaring that ' the 
 union now subsisting between South 
 Carolina and other States, under the 
 name of the United States of America, 
 is hereby dissolved.' 
 
 "In answer to this communication, I 
 
PRESIDENT'S REPLY. 
 
 71 
 
 have to say that my position as Presi- 
 dent of the United States was clearly 
 defined in the message to Congress on 
 the 3d inst. In that I stated that, 
 ' apart from the execution of the laws, 
 so far as this may be practicable, the 
 Executive has no authority to decide 
 what shall be the relations between the 
 Federal Government and South Carolina. 
 He has been invested with no such dis- 
 cretion. He possesses no power to 
 change the relations hitherto existing 
 between them, much less to acknow- 
 ledge the independence of that State. 
 This would be to invest a mere execu- 
 tive officer with the power of recogniz- 
 ing the dissolution of the confederacy 
 among our thirty-three sovereign States. 
 It bears no resemblance to the recogni- 
 tion of a foreign de facto government 
 involving no such responsibility. Any 
 attempt to do this would, on his part, 
 be a naked act of usurpation. It is 
 therefore my duty to submit to Con- 
 gress the whole question in all its bear- 
 ings. 
 
 "Such is my opinion still. I could, 
 therefore, meet you only as private 
 gentlemen of the highest character, and 
 was entirely willing to communicate to 
 Congress any proposition you might 
 have to make to that body upon the 
 subject. Of this you were well aware. 
 It was my earnest desire that such a 
 disposition might be made of the whole 
 subject by Congress, who alone possess 
 the power, as to prevent the inaugura- 
 tion of a civil war between the parties 
 in regard to the possession of the Fed- 
 eral forts in the harbor of Charleston ; 
 
 and I therefore deeply regret that, in 
 your -opinion, ' the events of the last 
 twenty-four hours render this impossi- 
 ble.' In conclusion, you urge upon me 
 ' the immediate withdrawal of the troops 
 from the harbor of Charleston,' stating 
 that ' under present circumstances they 
 are a standing menace, which renders 
 negotiation impossible, and, as our re- 
 cent experience shows, threatens speed- 
 ily to bring to a bloody issue questions 
 which ought to be settled with temper- 
 ance and judgment.' 
 
 "The reason for this change in your 
 position is, that since your arrival in 
 Washington, ' an officer of the United 
 States, acting, as we [you] are assured, 
 not only without, but against, your [my] 
 orders, has dismantled one fort and 
 occupied another thus altering to a 
 most important extent the condition of 
 affairs under which we [you] came.' 
 You also allege that you came here, ' the 
 representatives of an authority which 
 could, at any time within the past sixty 
 days, have taken possession of the forts 
 in Charleston harbor, but which, upon 
 pledges given in a manner that we [you] 
 cannot doubt, determined to trust to 
 your [my] honor rather than to its 
 power.' 
 
 " This brings me to a consideration of 
 the nature of those alleged pledges, and 
 in what manner they have been observed. 
 In my message of the 3d of December 
 last, I stated, in regard to the property 
 of the United States in South Carolina, 
 that it ' has been purchased for a fair 
 equivalent, by the consent of the Legis- 
 lature of the State, for the erection of 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 forts, magazines, arsenals, etc., and over 
 these the authority ' to exercise exclu- 
 tive legislation' has been expressly 
 granted by the Constitution to Congress. 
 It is not believed that any attempt will 
 be made to expel the United States from 
 this property by force ; but if in this I 
 should prove to be mistaken, the officer 
 in command of the forts has received 
 orders to act strictly on the defensive. 
 In such a contingency, the responsibility 
 for consequences would rightfully rest 
 upon the heads of the assailants.' This 
 being the condition of the parties, on 
 Saturday, 8th December, four of the 
 representatives from South Carolina 
 called upon me, and requested an inter- 
 view. We had an earnest conversation 
 on the subject of these forts, and the 
 best means of preventing a collision 
 between the parties, for the purpose of 
 sparing the effusion of blood. I sug- 
 gested, for prudential reasons, that it 
 would be best to put in writing what 
 they said to me verbally. They did so, 
 accordingly, and on Monday morning, 
 the 10th inst., three of them presented 
 to me a paper signed by all the repre- 
 sentatives from South Carolina, with a 
 single exception, of which the following 
 is a copy : 
 
 " To His EXCELLENCY JAMES BUCHANAN, PBES- 
 
 IDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 " In compliance with our statement to 
 you yesterday, we now express to you 
 our strong convictions, that neither the 
 constituted authorities, nor any body of 
 the people of the State of South Caro- 
 lina, will either attack or molest the 
 United States forts in the harbor of 
 
 Charleston previously to the act of the 
 convention, and we hope and believe 
 not until an offer has been made, through 
 an accredited representative, to nego- 
 tiate for an amicable arrangement of all 
 matters between the State and the Fed- 
 eral Government, provided that no re- 
 inforcements shall be sent into those 
 forts, and their relative military status 
 shall remain as at present. 
 
 ' ' JOHN MCQUEEN, 
 " M. L. BONHAM, 
 " W. W. BOYCE, 
 "LAWRENCE M. KEITT. 
 " WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 1 860. 
 
 " And here I must, in justice to my- 
 self, remark that at the time the paper 
 was presented to me, I objected to the 
 word 'provided,' as it might be con- 
 strued into an agreement on my part, 
 which I never would make. They said 
 that nothing was further from their in- 
 tention they did not so understand it, 
 and I should not so consider it. It is 
 evident they could enter into no recip- 
 rocal agreement with me on the subject. 
 They did not profess to have authority 
 to do this, and were acting in their in- 
 dividual character. I considered it as 
 nothing more, in effect, than the promise 
 of highly honorable gentlemen to exert 
 their influence for the purpose expressed. 
 The event has proven that they have 
 faithfully kept this promise, although I 
 have never since received a line from 
 any one of them, or from any member 
 of the convention on the subject. It is 
 well known that it was my determina- 
 tion and this I freely expressed not 
 to reinforce the forts in the harbor, and 
 
BUCHANAN AND SOUTHERN COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 thus produce a collision, until they had 
 been actually attacked, or until I had 
 certain evidence that they were about to 
 be attacked. This paper I received most 
 cordially, and considered it as a happy 
 omen that peace might be still pre- 
 served, and that time might be thus 
 given for reflection. This is the whole 
 foundation for the alleged pledge. 
 
 " But I acted in the same manner as 
 I would have done had I entered into a 
 positive and formal agreement with par- 
 ties capable of contracting, although such 
 an agreement would have been on my 
 part, from the nature of my official du- 
 ties, impossible. The world knows that 
 I have never sent any reinforcements to 
 the forts in Charleston harbor, and I 
 have certainly never authorized any 
 change to be made ' in their relative 
 military status.' Bearing upon this sub- 
 ject, I refer you to an order issued by 
 the secretary of war, on the llth inst. to 
 Major Anderson; but not brought to my 
 notice until the 21st inst. It is as follows : 
 
 " MEMORANDUM OF VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS TO 
 MAJOR ANDERSON, FIRST ARTILLERY, COM- 
 MANDING FORT MOTTLTRIE, S. C. 
 
 ' ' You are aware of the great anxiety 
 of the secretary of war that a collision 
 of the troops with the people of this 
 State shall be avoided, and of his studied 
 determination to pursue a course with 
 reference to the military force and forts 
 in this harbor, which shall guard against 
 such a collision. He has therefore care- 
 fully abstained from increasing the force 
 at this point, or taking any measures 
 which might add to the present excited 
 
 state of the public mind, or which would 
 10 
 
 throw any doubt on the confidence he 
 feels that South Carolina will not at- 
 tempt by violence to obtain possession 
 of the public works, or interfere with 
 their occupancy. 
 
 " But as the counsel and acts of rash 
 and impulsive persons may possibly dis- 
 appoint these expectations of the Gov- 
 ernment, he deems it proper that you 
 should be prepared with instructions to 
 meet so unhappy a contingency. He 
 has therefore directed me, verbally, to 
 give you such instructions. 
 
 " You are carefully to avoid every 
 act which would needlessly tend to pro- 
 voke aggression, and for that reason 
 you are not, without necessity, to take 
 up any position which could be con- 
 strued into the assumption of a hostile 
 attitude ; but you are to hold possession 
 of the forts in the harbor, and if attacked, 
 you are to defend yourself to the last ex- 
 tremity. The smallness of your force 
 will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy 
 more than one of the three forts, but an 
 attack on, or attempt to take possession 
 of, either of them, will be regarded as 
 an act of hostility, and you may then 
 put your command into either of them 
 which you may deem most proper to in- 
 crease its power of resistance. You are 
 also authorized to take similar steps when- 
 ever you have tangible evidence of a design 
 to proceed to a hostile act. 
 
 "V. P. BUTLER, 
 " Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 "FoRT MOULTRIE, S. C., Dec. 11, 1860." 
 
 " This is in conformity to my in- 
 structions to Major Buell. 
 
 "JOHN B. FLOYD, Secretary of War." 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " These were the last instructions 
 transmitted to Major Anderson before 
 his removal to Fort Sumter, with a 
 single exception in regard to a partic- 
 ular which does not in any degree affect 
 the present question. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, it is clear that Major An- 
 derson acted upon his own responsi- 
 bility, and without authority, unless, in- 
 deed, he had ' tangible evidence of a 
 design to proceed to a hostile act' on the 
 part of South Carolina, which has not 
 yet been alleged. Still, he is a brave 
 and honorable officer, and justice re- 
 quires that he should not be condemned 
 without a fair hearing. 
 
 " Be this as it may, when I learned 
 that Major Anderson had left Fort Moul- 
 trie and proceeded to Fort Sumter, my 
 first promptings were to command him 
 to return to his former position, and 
 there to await the contingencies pre- 
 sented in his instructions. This would 
 only have been done with any degree 
 of safety to the command by the con- 
 currence of the South Carolina author- 
 ities. But before any step could pos- 
 sibly have been taken in this direction, 
 we received information that the ' Pal- 
 metto flag floated out to the breeze at 
 Castle Pinckney, and a large military 
 force went over last night (the 27th) to 
 Fort Moultrie.' Thus the authorities of 
 South Carolina, without waiting or ask- 
 ing for any explanations, and doubtless 
 believing, as you have expressed it, that 
 the officer had acted not only without, 
 but against, my orders, on the very next 
 day after the night when the removal 
 was made, seized by a military force two 
 
 of the Federal forts in the harbor of 
 Charleston, and have covered them un- 
 der their own flag instead of that of the 
 United States. 
 
 " At this gloomy period of our his- 
 tory, startling events succeed each other 
 rapidly. On the very day, the 27th in- 
 stant, that possession of these two forts 
 was taken, the Palmetto flag was raised 
 over the Federal custom-house and post- 
 office in Charleston ; and on the same 
 day every officer of the customs col- 
 lector, naval officer, surveyor, and ap- 
 praiser resigned their offices. And this, 
 although it was well known from the 
 language of my message that, as an ex- 
 ecutive officer, I felt myself bound to col- 
 lect the revenue at the port of Charles- 
 ton under the existing laws. In the 
 harbor of Charleston we now find three 
 forts confronting each other, over all of 
 which the Federal flag floated only four 
 days ago ; but now, over two of them, 
 this flag has been supplanted, and the 
 Palmetto flag has been substituted in its 
 stead. It is under all these circum- 
 stances that I am urged immediately 
 to withdraw the troops from the harbor 
 of Charleston, and am informed that 
 without this, negotiation is impossible. 
 This I cannot do this I will not do. 
 Such an idea was never thought of by 
 me in any possible contingency. No 
 such allusion had been made in any 
 communication between myself and any 
 human being. But the inference is that 
 I am bound to withdraw the troops from 
 the only fort remaining in the possession 
 of the United States in the harbor of 
 Charleston^, because the officer there in 
 
A SECOND LETTER TO BUCHANAN. 
 
 75 
 
 command of all of the forts thought 
 proper, without instructions, to change 
 his position from one of them to an- 
 other. 
 
 " At this point of writing, I have re- 
 ceived information by telegraph from 
 Captain Humphreys, in command of the 
 arsenal at Charleston, that ' it has to- 
 day (Sunday, the 30th) been taken by 
 force of arms.' It is estimated that the 
 munitions of war belonging to this ar- 
 senal are worth half a million of dollars. 
 
 " Comment is needless. After this 
 information, I have only to add, that 
 while it is my duty to defend Fort 
 Sumter, as a portion of the public prop- 
 erty of the United States, against hos- 
 tile attacks, from whatever quarter they 
 may come, by such means as I possess 
 for this purpose, I do not perceive how 
 such a defence can be construed into a 
 menace against the city of Charleston. 
 With great personal regard, I remain 
 yours, very respectfully, 
 
 "JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 "To Hon. ROBERT W. BARNWELL, JAMES H. 
 ADAMS, JAMES L. ORB." 
 
 SECOND LETTER OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO THE 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 1, 1861. 
 
 ' ' Sm : We have the honor to acknowl- 
 edge the receipt of your letter of the 
 30th December, in reply to a note ad- 
 dressed by us to you, on the 28th of 
 the same month, as commissioners from 
 South Carolina. 
 
 " In reference to the declaration with 
 which your reply commences, that your 
 ' position as President of the United 
 States was already denned in the mes- 
 
 sage to Congress of the 3d instant,' that 
 you possess ' no power to change the 
 relations heretofore existing between 
 South Carolina and the United States,' 
 ' much less to acknowledge the inde- 
 pendence of that State,' and that conse- 
 quently you could meet us only as 
 private gentlemen of the highest char- 
 acter, with an entire willingness to com- 
 municate to Congress any proposition 
 we might have to make we deem it 
 only necessary to say that the State of 
 South Carolina having, in the exercise 
 of that great right of self-government 
 which underlies all our political organ- 
 izations, declared herself sovereign and 
 independent, we, as her representatives, 
 felt no special solicitude as to the char- 
 acter in which you might recognize us. 
 Satisfied that the State had simply ex- 
 ercised her unquestionable right, we 
 were prepared, in order to reach sub- 
 stantial good, to waive the formal con- 
 siderations which your constitutional 
 scruples might have prevented you from 
 extending. We came here, therefore, 
 expecting to be received as you did re- 
 ceive us, and perfectly content with that 
 entire willingness, of which you assured 
 us, to submit any proposition to Con- 
 gress which we might have to make 
 upon the subject of the independence of 
 the State. The willingness was ample 
 recognition of the condition of public af- 
 fairs which rendered our presence nec- 
 essary. In this position, however, it is 
 our. duty, both to the State which we 
 represent and to ourselves, to correct 
 several important misconceptions of our 
 letter into which you have fallen. 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 "You say : ' It was my earnest de- 
 sire that such a disposition might be 
 made of the whole subject by Congress, 
 who alone possess the power, to prevent 
 the inauguration of a civil war between 
 the parties in regard to the possession 
 of the Federal forts in the harbor of 
 Charleston ; and I therefore deeply re- 
 gret that in your opinion the events of 
 the last twenty-four hours render this 
 impossible.' We expressed no such opin- 
 ion, and the language which you quote 
 as ours, is altered in its sense by the 
 omission of a most important part of the 
 sentence. What we did say was, ' But 
 the events of the last twenty-four hours 
 render such an assurance impossible.' 
 Place that ' assurance 7 as contained in 
 our letter in the sentence, and we are 
 prepared to repeat it. 
 
 ' ' Again professing to quote our lan- 
 guage, you say : ' Thus the authorities 
 of South Carolina, without waiting or 
 asking for any explanation, and doubt- 
 less believing, as you have expressed it, 
 that the officer had acted not only with- 
 out, but against, my orders,' etc. We 
 expressed no such opinion in reference 
 to the belief of the people of South 
 Carolina. The language which you 
 have quoted was applied solely and 
 entirely to our assurances obtained here, 
 and based, as you well know, upon your 
 own declaration a declaration which, 
 at that time, it was impossible for the 
 authorities of South Carolina to have 
 known. But, without following this let- 
 ter into all its details, we propose only 
 to meet the chief points of the argu- 
 ment, 
 
 " Some weeks ago, the State of South 
 Carolina declared her intention, in the 
 existing condition of public affairs, to 
 secede from the United States. She 
 called a convention of her people to put 
 her declaration in force. The conven- 
 tion met and passed the ordinance of 
 secession. All this you anticipated, and 
 your course of action was thoroughly 
 considered in your annual message. 
 You declared you had no right, and 
 would not attempt, to coerce a seceding 
 State, but that you were bound by your 
 constitutional oath, and would defend 
 the property of the United States within 
 the borders of South Carolina if an 
 attempt was made to take it by force. 
 Seeing very early that this question of 
 property was a difficult and delicate one, 
 you manifested a desire to settle it with- 
 out collision. You did not reinforce the 
 garrison in the harbor of Charleston. 
 You removed a distinguished and vet- 
 eran officer from the command of Fort 
 Moultrie because he attempted to in- 
 crease his supply of ammunition. You 
 refused to send additional troops to the 
 same garrison when applied for by the 
 officer appointed to succeed him. You 
 accepted the resignation of the oldest 
 and most eminent member of your cab- 
 inet, rather than allow the garrison to 
 be strengthened. You compelled an 
 officer stationed at Fort Surnter to re- 
 turn immediately to the arsenal forty 
 muskets which he had taken to arm his 
 men. You expressed, not to one, but to 
 many, of the most distinguished of our 
 public characters, whose testimony will 
 be placed upon the record whenever it 
 
BUCHANAN CALLED TO ACCOUNT. 
 
 77 
 
 is necessary, your anxiety for a peaceful 
 termination of this controversy, and 
 your willingness not to disturb the mili- 
 tary status of the forts, if commission- 
 ers should be sent to the Government, 
 whose communications you promised to 
 submit to Congress. You received and 
 acted on assurances from the highest 
 official authorities of South Carolina, 
 that no attempt would* be made to dis- 
 turb your possession of the forts and 
 property of the United States, if you 
 would not disturb their existing condition 
 until the commissioners had been sent 
 and the attempt to negotiate had failed. 
 You took from the members of the 
 House of Representatives a written 
 memorandum that no such attempt 
 should be made, ' provided that no re- 
 inforcements should be sent into those 
 forts, and their relative military status 
 shall remain as at present.' And al- 
 though you attach no force to the accept- 
 ance of such a paper although you 
 ' considered it as nothing more in effect 
 than the promise of highly honorable 
 gentlemen' as an obligation on one side, 
 without corresponding obligation on the 
 other it must be remembered (if we 
 were rightly informed) that you were 
 pledged, if you ever did send reinforce- 
 ments, to return it to those from whom 
 you had received it, before you executed 
 your resolution. You sent orders to 
 your officers, commanding them strictly 
 to follow a line of conduct in conformity 
 with such an understanding. Besides 
 all this, you had received formal and 
 official notice from the Governor of 
 South Carolina that we had been ap- 
 
 pointed commissioners, and were on our 
 way to Washington. You knew the 
 implied condition under which we came ; 
 our arrival was notified to you, and an 
 hour appointed for an interview. We 
 arrived in Washington on Wednesday, 
 at three o'clock, and you appointed an 
 interview with us at one the next day. 
 Early on that day (Thursday) the news 
 was received here of the movement of 
 Major Anderson. That news was com- 
 municated to you immediately, and you 
 postponed our meeting until half-past 
 two o'clock on Friday, in order that you 
 might consult your cabinet. On Friday 
 we saw you, and we called upon you 
 then to redeem your pledge. You could 
 not deny it. With the facts we have 
 stated, and in the face of the crowning 
 and conclusive fact that your secretary 
 of war had resigned his seat in the 
 cabinet, upon the publicly avowed 
 ground that the action of Major Ander- 
 son had violated the pledged faith of the 
 Government, and that unless the pledge 
 was instantly redeemed, he was dis- 
 honored, denial was impossible ; you 
 did not deny it. You do not deny it 
 now, but you seek to escape from its 
 obligations on the grounds, first, that 
 we terminated all negotiation by de- 
 manding, as a preliminary, the with- 
 drawal of the United States troops from 
 the harbor of Charleston ; and, second, 
 that the authorities of South Carolina, 
 instead of asking explanation, and giv- 
 ing you the opportunity to vindicate 
 yourself, took possession of other prop- 
 erty of the United States. We will 
 examine both. 
 
78 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " In the first place, we deny positively 
 that we have ever in any way made any 
 such demand. Our letter is in your 
 possession ; it will stand by this on rec- 
 ord. In it we informed you of the 
 objects of our mission. We say that it 
 would have been our duty to have 
 assured you of our readiness to com- 
 mence negotiations, with the most earn- 
 est and anxious desire to settle all ques- 
 tions between us amicably and to our 
 mutual advantage, but that events had 
 rendered that assurance impossible. We 
 stated the events, and we said that until 
 some satisfactory explanation of these 
 events was given us, we could not pro- 
 ceed ; and then, having made this re- 
 quest for explanation, we added : ' And 
 in conclusion, we would urge upon you 
 the immediate withdrawal of the troops 
 from the harbor of Charleston. Under 
 present circumstances they are a stand- 
 ing menace, which renders negotiation 
 impossible, 7 etc. ' Under present cir- 
 cumstances !' What circumstances ? 
 Why, clearly the occupation of Fort 
 Sumter and the dismantling of Fort 
 Moultrie by Major Anderson, in the 
 face of your pledges, and without ex- 
 planation or practical disavowal. And 
 there is nothing in the letter which 
 would, or could, have prevented you 
 from declining to withdraw the troops, 
 and offering the restoration of the status 
 to which you were pledged, if such had 
 been you desire. It would have been 
 wiser and better, in our opinion, to have 
 withdrawn the troops ; and this opinion 
 we urged upon you ; but we demanded 
 nothing but such an explanation of the 
 
 events of the last twenty-four hours as 
 would restore our confidence in the 
 spirit with which the negotiations should 
 be conducted. In relation to this with- 
 drawal of the troops from the harbor, 
 we are compelled, however, to notice 
 one passage of your letter. Referring 
 to it, you say : ' This I cannot do. This 
 I will not do. Such an idea was never 
 thought of by me in any possible con- 
 tingency. No allusion to it had ever 
 been made in any communication be- 
 tween myself and any human being.' 
 
 "In -reply to this statement, we are 
 compelled to say, that your conversation 
 with us left upon our minds the distinct 
 impression, that you did seriously con- 
 template the withdrawal of the troops 
 from Charleston harbor. And in sup- 
 port of this impression we would add, 
 that we have - the positive assurance of 
 gentlemen of the highest possible public 
 reputation and the most unsullied integ- 
 rity - - men whose name and fame, 
 secured by long service and patriotic 
 achievements, place their testimony be- 
 yond cavil that such suggestions had 
 been made to and urged upon you by 
 them, and had formed the subject of 
 more than one earnest discussion with 
 you. And it was this knowledge that 
 induced us to urge upon you a policy, 
 which had to recommend it its own 
 wisdom and the might of such authority. 
 As to the second point, that the author- 
 ities of South Carolina, instead of ask- 
 ing explanations, and giving you the 
 opportunity to vindicate yourself, took 
 possession of other property of the 
 United States, we would observe : 1. 
 
FALSE TRUST. 
 
 That even if this were so, it does not 
 avail you for defence, for the oppor- 
 tunity for decision was afforded you be- 
 fore these facts occurred. We arrived 
 in Washington on Wednesday ; the news 
 from Major Anderson reached here early 
 on Thursday, and was immediately com- 
 municated to you. All that day men of 
 the highest consideration men who had 
 striven successfully to lift you to your 
 great office who had been your tried 
 and true friends through the troubles 
 of your administration, sought you and 
 entreated you to act to act at once. 
 They told you that every hour compli- 
 cated your position. They only asked 
 you to give the assurance that if the 
 facts were so that if the commander 
 had acted without and against your 
 orders, and in violation of your pledges 
 that you would restore the status you 
 had pledged your honor to maintain. 
 You refused to decide. Your secretary 
 at war, your immediate and proper ad- 
 viser in this whole matter, waited anx- 
 iously for your decision, until he felt that 
 delay was becoming dishonor. More 
 than twelve hours passed, and two cab- 
 inet meetings had adjourned, before 
 you knew what the authorities of South 
 Carolina had done ; and your prompt 
 decision at any moment of that time 
 would have avoided the subsequent 
 complications. But, if you had known 
 the acts of the authorities of South 
 Carolina, should that have prevented 
 your keeping your faith? What was 
 the condition of things ? For the last 
 sixty days you had in Charleston harbor 
 not force enough to hold the forts 
 
 against an equal enemy. Two of them 
 were empty one of those two the most 
 important in the harbor. It could have 
 been taken at any time. You ought to 
 know better than any man that it would 
 have been taken, but for the efforts of 
 those who put their trust in your honor. 
 Believing that they were threatened by 
 Fort Sumter especially, the people were 
 with difficulty restrained from securing, 
 without blood, the possession of this im- 
 portant fortress. After many and reiter- 
 ated assurances, given on your behalf, 
 which we can not believe unauthorized, 
 they determined to forbear, and in good 
 faith sent on their commissioners to nego- 
 
 O 
 
 tiate with you. They meant you no harm 
 wished you no ill. They thought of 
 you kindly, believed you true, and were 
 willing, as far as was consistent with 
 duty, to spare you unnecessary and 
 hostile collision. Scarcely had these 
 commissioners left than Major Andersou 
 waged war. No other words will de- 
 scribe his action. It was not a peaceful 
 change from one fort to another ; it was 
 a hostile act in the highest sense, and 
 only justified in the presence of a su- 
 perior enemy, and in imminent peril. 
 He abandoned his position, spiked his 
 guns, burned his gun-carriages, made 
 preparations for the destruction of his 
 post, and withdrew, under cover of the 
 night, to a safer position. This was 
 war. No man could have believed 
 (without your assurance) that any officer 
 could have taken such a step, ' not only 
 without orders, but against orders.' 
 What the State did was in simple self- 
 defence ; for this act, with all its attend- 
 
80 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ing circumstances, was as much war as 
 firing a volley; and war being thus 
 begun, until those commencing it ex- 
 plained their action and disavowed their 
 intention, there was no room for delay ; 
 and even at this moment while we are 
 writing, it is more than probable, from 
 the tenor of your letter, that reinforce- 
 ments are hurrying on to the conflict, 
 so that when the first gun shall be fired, 
 there will have been on your part one 
 continuous, consistent series of actions, 
 commencing in a demonstration essen- 
 tially warlike, supported by regular re- 
 inforcements, and terminating in defeat 
 or victory. And all this without the 
 slightest provocation ; for, among the 
 many things which you have said, there 
 is one thing you cannot say you have 
 waited anxiously for news from the seat 
 of war, in hopes that delay would 
 furnish some excuse for this precipita- 
 tion. But this ' tangible evidence of a 
 design to proceed to a hostile act, on 
 the part of the authorities of South 
 Carolina,' which is the only justification 
 of Major Anderson you are forced to 
 admit, ' has not yet been alleged. 7 But 
 you have decided, you have resolved to 
 hold, by force, what you have obtained 
 through our misplaced confidence ; and 
 by refusing to disavow the action of 
 Major Anderson, have converted his 
 violation of orders into a legitimate act 
 of your executive authority. Be the 
 issue what it may, of this we are as- 
 sured, that, if Fort Moultrie has been 
 recorded in history as a memorial of 
 
 Carolina gallantry, Fort Sumter will live 
 upon the succeeding page as an imper- 
 ishable testimony of Carolina faith. 
 
 " By your course, you have probably 
 rendered civil war inevitable. Be it so. 
 If you choose to force this issue upon 
 us, the State of South Carolina will ac- 
 cept it, and, relying upon Him who is 
 the God of Justice as well as the God 
 of Hosts, will endeavor to perform the 
 great duty which lies before her hope- 
 fully, bravely, and thoroughly. 
 
 " Our mission being one for negotia- 
 tion and peace, and your note leaving us 
 without hope of a withdrawal of the 
 troops from Fort Sumter, or of the res- 
 toration of the status quo existing at the 
 time of our arrival, and intimating, as 
 we think, your determination to rein- 
 force the garrison in the harbor of 
 Charleston, we respectfully inform you 
 that we purpose returning to Charleston 
 to-morrow afternoon. 
 
 " We have the honor to be, sir, very 
 respectfully, your obedient servants. 
 
 "R. W. BARNWELL, \ 
 
 " J. H. ADAMS, > Commissioners. 
 
 "JAMES L. ORE, ) 
 
 "To His Excellency the PRESIDENT OF THE 
 
 STATES." 
 
 The only reply by Mr. Buchanan to this 
 paper was these words endorsed upon it : 
 
 "EXECUTIVE MAKSIOX, 
 " Half-past three o'clock, Wednesday. 
 "This paper, just presented to the 
 President, is of such a character that he 
 declines to receive it." 
 
FORT SUMTER BESIEGED. 
 
 81 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Increased Belligerency of South Carolina. Progress of the Works in the Harbor of Charleston. Betrayal of a United 
 States Government Vessel. Fort Sumter Besieged. Stars and Stripes still Flying. Offensive Emblem of Union 
 to the Char lestonians. Plans for Degrading it. Example of South Carolina followed by other States. Seizure of 
 Federal Forts in Georgia and North Carolina. Indications of Hostility. A more Resolute Tone at Washington. 
 The Order for Removal of Cannoii from Pittsburg Revoked. A feeble attempt to Reinforce Fort Sumter. The 
 Sailing of the Star of the West. A cautious Offing. Arrival at Charleston. A vigilant Enemy. Fire Opened. 
 A critical Position. Return of the Star of the West. The Demonstration at Fort Sumter. Correspondence be- 
 tween Major Anderson and Governor Pickens. The improvement at Washington under the inspiration of a patriotic 
 Secretary of War. Correspondence of Holt with the Governor of North Carolina. The Cotton States not checked 
 by strong words. Secession of Mississippi. Secession of Florida and Alabama. Secession Enthusiasm in Mobile. 
 Seizure of Fort Barrancas and the Navy Yard at Pensacola. An insolent Telegram from Florida to Washington. 
 Secession of Georgia. Opposition of some leading Politicians. Popular Demonstrations. Secession of Louisiana. 
 Seizure of Federal Property. More cautious proceedings of Texas. Secession of Texas. Departure of the Sen- 
 ators of the Seceding States from Washington. Farewell Speech of Benjamin, of Louisiana. Farewell Speech of 
 Davis. Hand-shaking in the Senate. The slow Awakening of the North. Union Meetings. The Union Senti- 
 ment variously Manifested. Indignation against the Abolitionists. Alarm about the Safety of Washington. 
 Scott on Guard. Peace Convention. 
 
 1861. 
 
 IN South Carolina the people became 
 daily more belligerent in their attitude 
 
 toward the Federal Government. 
 
 The works which had been ordered 
 by the convention for the defence of the 
 harbor of Charleston were labored at with 
 great diligence, and soon the South Car- 
 olinians boasted that they were able to 
 resist any attempts to reinforce Major 
 Anderson, now in command of Fort 
 Sumter. Batteries of earthwork, pal- 
 metto logs, and sand were erected and 
 mounted with cannon on Sullivan's and 
 Morris islands, guarding the approach 
 to the harbor. The South Carolina 
 commander at Castle Pinckney issued 
 an order, forbidding all boats to ap- 
 proach the wharfs without permission, 
 under the severest penalties if disobeyed. 
 The river front of the city was care- 
 fully guarded, and mounted patrols pa- 
 raded the streets night and day. Ship- 
 11 
 
 masters were notified that all vessels 
 must enter and clear . at Charleston. 
 The United States revenue cutter the 
 William Aiken, betrayed by her captain 
 into the hands of the insurrectionists, 
 was received into the service of South 
 Carolina, and with her armament and 
 crew increased, was ready, under the 
 Palmetto flag, to turn her guns against 
 the government which her commander 
 had sworn to defend against all enemies. 
 So great was the ardor and diligence 
 of the South Carolinians, that they soon 
 had their works in such a state of pro- 
 gress that Fort Sumter was completely 
 besieged, and Major Anderson threat- 
 ened with an attack. The people looked 
 with excessive hostility at the flag of the 
 United States still floating in their har- 
 bor, and the prevailing desire was to re- 
 move, if possible, that emblem of the 
 Union, so lately the object of their 
 
82 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 pride, but which they now strove to 
 dishonor. This intense feeling of aver- 
 sion found expression in a universal cry 
 for the capture of Fort Sumter. Plans 
 of all kinds were devised to effect the 
 purpose. Some proposed to float down 
 rafts, loaded with burning tar-barrels, 
 and thus smoke out the United States 
 garrison ; some suggested bribing the 
 soldiers j some thought that a floating 
 battery might be built with breastworks 
 of cotton-bales, behind which sharp- 
 shooters could post themselves and pick 
 off each man in the fort ; some hit upon 
 the expedient of filling bomb-shells with 
 prussic acid to throw among the troops 
 and poison them, while others recom- 
 mended a more protracted, if not more 
 Christian method, of cutting off their 
 supplies and starving them to death.* 
 
 In the mean time, the example of 
 South Carolina in taking possession of 
 the Federal property, was being fol- 
 lowed by other States. Fort Pulaski 
 was seized by the troops of Georgia, by 
 order of the Governor, and even Gov- 
 ernor Ellis, of North Carolina, dispatched 
 the troops of the State to take possession 
 of Fort Macon, at Beaufort, the forts at 
 Wilmington, and the United States ar- 
 senal at Fayetteville. At Mobile, too, 
 Fort Morgan and the arsenal, containing 
 six stands of arms, 1,500 barrels of 
 powder, 300,000 rounds of musket car- 
 tridges, and other munitions of war, 
 were seized by the secessionists. These 
 acts of undisguised hostility, though they 
 preceded the meeting of the conventions 
 in those States, gave an indication that 
 
 9 South Carolinian, 
 
 could not be mistaken of a predeter- 
 mined purpose to defy and resist the 
 Federal authority. 
 
 A more resolute tone had, in the mean 
 while, been assumed by the President. 
 No longer exclusively under the control 
 of traitorous advisers, he ventured to 
 speak more authoritatively. The order 
 for the removal of the cannon from the 
 Alleghany arsenal to Southern forts, 
 which had so greatly stirred the indigna- 
 tion of the citizens of Pittsburg, was re- 
 voked, and a feeble attempt* made to 
 sustain Major Anderson and his little 
 garrison at Fort Sumter. 
 
 The steamship Star of the West a 
 merchant vessel chartered by the Gov- 
 ernment having taken on board two 
 hundred and fifty artillerists and ma- 
 rines, and a supply of stores and ammu- 
 nition, sailed at night for Charles- j an , 
 ton, though she cleared for New 5. 
 Orleans and Havana. She thus stole 
 away in the darkness and under false 
 pretences, with the hope that she might 
 reach her destination and effect her pur- 
 pose of reinforcing Major Anderson 
 without exciting the suspicion of his 
 besiegers. 
 
 After a prosperous passage, the steam- 
 er having previously extinguished all her 
 lights, lest she should be seen, arrived 
 at Charleston Bar at half-past one j an , 
 o'clock in the morning. Here it 9, 
 was necessary to check her speed and 
 grope her way cautiously, for there were 
 no lights in the light-houses to guide 
 her in her dangerous course. She con- 
 
 The secretary of the interior. Thompson, resigned in 
 consequence. 
 
THE STAR OF THE WEST. 
 
 83 
 
 tinued, however, to move on slowly, the 
 lead being thrown at every moment 
 until four o'clock, when a light was seen 
 through the haze of the early dawn. 
 This was supposed to be a signal from 
 Fort Sumter, and the ship having steered 
 in that direction, hove to, to wait for 
 daylight. 
 
 As the day broke, a Charleston steam- 
 er, the General Clinch, was discovered, 
 which, as soon as she caught sight of the 
 Star of the West, began to burn blue 
 and red lights, as signals to the batteries. 
 Those on guard at Morris Island were at 
 once on the alert and at their posts be- 
 fore the orders could be given them to 
 prepare for action. They expected at 
 every moment a volley from Fort Sum- 
 ter as they themselves got ready to fire 
 at the approaching steamer. The Star 
 of the West, too, was preparing for a 
 warm reception. The soldiers were 
 thrust below, and none allowed on deck 
 but the crew. She, however, proceeded 
 on her course, following in the wake of 
 the little Charleston steamer, which 
 steamed on, keeping about two miles 
 ahead, and perseveringly sending off 
 rockets and burning blue lights even 
 until after broad daylight. 
 
 When the Star of the West had reached 
 within two miles of Fort Moultrie, and 
 about the same distance of Fort Sumter, 
 the battery at Morris Island, from which 
 the Palmetto flag was flying, opened fire. 
 After the first shot the Star of the West 
 hoisted a large American ensign at the 
 fore, in addition to the American flag 
 flying from tto flagstaff. She, in spite 
 of the fire, continued her course for ten 
 
 minutes. In the mean time, the shots 
 from Morris Island came thick and fast. 
 Several passed clear over the steamer, 
 one between the smoke-stack and walk- 
 ing-beam of the engine, one within an 
 ace of the rudder, and another struck 
 the ship just abaft the fore-rigging and 
 stove in the planking. 
 
 " At the same time," says McGowan, 
 the captain, in his report, " there was a 
 movement of two steamers from near 
 Fort Moultrie, one of them towing a 
 schooner (I presume an armed schooner), 
 with the intention of cutting us off. Our 
 position now became rather critical, as 
 we had to approach Fort Moultrie within 
 three-quarters of a mile before we could 
 keep away for Fort Sumter. A steamer 
 approaching us, with an armed schooner 
 in tow, and the battery on the island 
 firing at us all the time, and having no 
 cannon to defend ourselves from the at- 
 tack of the vessels, we concluded that to 
 avoid certain capture or destruction we 
 would endeavor to get to sea. Conse- 
 quently we wore round and steered down 
 the channel, the battery firing upon us 
 until the shot fell short," 
 
 Fort Sumter, in the mean time, had 
 " made no demonstration, except at the 
 port-holes, where the guns were run out, 
 bearing on Morris Island." * Major An- 
 derson, however, at once dispatched a 
 letter to Governor Pickens, which, with 
 the answer and rejoinder, are here 
 given : 
 
 " To His EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR or 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 " SIR : Two of your batteries fired 
 
 Charleston Courier. 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 this morning on an unarmed vessel 
 bearing the flag of my Government. 
 As I have not been notified that war 
 has been declared by South Carolina 
 against the United States, I cannot but 
 think this a hostile act, committed with- 
 out your sanction or authority. Under 
 that hope, I refrain from opening a fire 
 on your batteries. I have the honor, 
 therefore, respectfully to ask whether 
 the above-mentioned act one which I 
 believe without parallel in the history 
 of our country or any other civilized 
 government was committed in obe- 
 dience to your instructions, and notify 
 you, if it is not disclaimed, that I regard 
 it as an act of war, and I shall not, after 
 reasonable time for the return of my 
 messenger, permit any vessel to pass 
 within the range of the guns of my fort. 
 In order to save, as far as it is in my 
 power, the shedding of blood, I beg you 
 will take due notification of my decision 
 for the good of all concerned. Hoping, 
 however, your answer may justify a 
 further continuance of forbearance on 
 my part, I remain, respectfully, 
 
 " ROBERT ANDERSON." 
 Gov. Pickens, in reply, after describing 
 the position of South Carolina toward 
 the States, said that any attempt to send 
 United States troops into Charleston 
 harbor, to reinforce the forts, would be 
 regarded as an act of hostility ; and in 
 conclusion, added, " that any attempt to 
 reinforce the troops at Fort Sumter, or 
 to retake and resume possession of the 
 forts within the waters of South Caro- 
 lina which Major Anderson abandoned, 
 after spiking the cannon and doing other 
 
 damage, cannot be regarded by the au- 
 thorities of the State as indicative of 
 any other purpose than the coercion of 
 the State by the armed force of the 
 Government ; special agents, therefore, 
 have been off the bar to warn approach- 
 ing vessels, armed and unarmed, having 
 troops to reinforce Fort Sumter aboard, 
 not to enter the harbor. Special orders 
 have been given the commanders at the 
 forts not to fire on such vessels until 
 a shot across their bows should warn 
 them of the prohibition of the State. 
 Under these circumstances the Star of 
 the "West, it is understood, this morning 
 attempted to enter the harbor with 
 troops, after having been notified she 
 could not enter, and consequently she 
 was fired into. This act is perfectly 
 justified by me. 
 
 " In regard to your threat about ves- 
 sels in the harbor, it is only necessary 
 for me to say, you must be the judge of 
 your responsibility. Your position in 
 the harbor has been tolerated by the 
 authorities of the State, and while the 
 act of which you complain is in perfect 
 consistency with the rights and duties 
 of the State, it is not perceived how far 
 the conduct you propose to adopt can 
 find a parallel in the history of any 
 country, or be reconciled with any other 
 purpose than that of your Government 
 imposing on the State the condition of a 
 conquered province. 
 
 "F. W. PICKENS." 
 " To His EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR PICKENS. 
 
 " SIR : I have the honor to acknowl- 
 edge the receipt of your communication, 
 and say, that under the circumstances I 
 
SECEDING STATES. 
 
 85 
 
 have deemed it proper to refer the whole 
 matter to my Government, and intend 
 deferring the course I indicated in my 
 note this morning until the arrival from 
 Washington of such instructions as I 
 may receive. 
 
 ' ' I have the honor also to express the 
 hope that no obstructions will be placed 
 in the way, and that you will do me the 
 favor of giving every facility for the de- 
 parture and return of the bearer, Lieu- 
 tenant T. Talbot, who is directed to 
 make the journey. 
 
 " ROBERT ANDERSON." 
 
 There were other evidences, besides 
 this well-intentioned, but humble and 
 fruitless attempt to reinforce Major 
 Anderson, of an increased indisposition 
 on the part of the Federal Govern- 
 ment to continue to yield unresistingly 
 to the demands and encroachments of 
 the secessionists. Under the patriotic 
 inspiration of the new secretary of war, 
 Holt, a more positive assertion of Fed- 
 eral authority was assumed. Dignified 
 words at least were spoken, if not effect- 
 ive measures taken, in vindication of the 
 Government. To the Governor of 
 North Carolina, who, after restoring the 
 forts of that State to the authorities of 
 the United States, had asked if " it was 
 the purpose of the administration to 
 coerce the Southern States?" the sec- 
 retary of war had responded somewhat 
 equivocally, but still in words more 
 authoritative than the Government of 
 Buchanan had yet ventured to utter. 
 
 " In reply to your inquiry," wrote the 
 secretary, "whether it is the purpose of 
 the President to garrison the forts of 
 
 North Carolina during his administration, 
 I am directed to say that they, in com- 
 mon with the other forts, arsenals, and 
 other property of the United States, 
 are in the charge of the President, and 
 that if assailed, no matter from what 
 quarter or under what pretext, it is his 
 duty to protect them by all the means 
 which the law has placed at his disposal. 
 It is not his purpose to garrison the 
 forts to which you refer at present, 
 because he considers them entirely safe, 
 as heretofore, under the shelter of that 
 law-abiding sentiment for which the 
 people of North Carolina have ever 
 been distinguished. Should they, how- 
 ever, be attacked or menaced with 
 danger of being seized or taken from 
 the possession of the United States, he 
 could not escape from his constitutional 
 obligation to defend and preserve them. 
 The very satisfactory and patriotic as- 
 surance given by your Excellency justi- 
 fies him, however, in entertaining the 
 confident expectation that no such con- 
 tingency will arise." 
 
 The cotton States, now, had got be- 
 yond the influence of words however 
 fitly spoken, and had been so long as- 
 sured of impunity, that they did not 
 hesitate in their career of insurrection. 
 Mississippi was the first to follow South 
 Carolina in seceding from the j an . 
 Union. The ordinance of seces- 9 
 sion was opposed only by fifteen mem- 
 bers of the convention, and they resisted 
 but a day, when they, too, signed with 
 the rest. Florida and Alabama j an , 
 immediately succeeded. In the U. 
 former State the ordinance secession 
 
86 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 was carried by a vote of sixty-two to 
 seven. In the latter, though there was 
 the reputable minority of thirty-nine 
 members of the convention to oppose 
 the prevailing number of sixty-one, 
 still the act of secession was hailed with 
 immense enthusiasm. Judge Jones, of 
 the United States District Court, an- 
 nounced with exulting emphasis, from 
 the windows of the court-room at 
 Mobile, that the United States Court for 
 the Southern District of Alabama was 
 "adjourned forever." A prodigal se- 
 cessionist of the same city gave one 
 hundred cords of wood for the use of 
 the secession garrison in occupation of 
 the Federal Fort Morgan, and proffered 
 twenty negro men to labor on the works 
 to defend the harbor against the United 
 States. 
 
 The day was declared to be "the 
 wildest day of 'excitement in the annals 
 of Mobile." On receiving the news of 
 the simultaneous secession of Florida an 
 immense crowd collected about the 
 " secession pole" to witness the raising 
 of the " Southern flag," which was 
 hoisted to the top amid the ' ' shouts of 
 the multitude and the thunders of can- 
 non." The "Mobile Cadets" paraded 
 the streets all day with the " splendid 
 flag, a most gorgeous banner," which 
 had been presented to them by " sympa- 
 thetic ladies." At night the houses 
 were illuminated so brilliantly, and tar- 
 barrels burnt so profusely, that "the 
 broad boulevard of Government Street 
 became an avenue of light." To crown 
 this exultant display of secession senti- 
 ment, the Federal custom-house was 
 
 lighted up by "patriotic candles," thus 
 affording ' ' a choice epicureanism of 
 triumph and rejoicing" to those excited 
 citizens as they "piled Ossas of insult 
 on Pelions of injury to Uncle Sam."* 
 
 On the passage of the secession ordi- 
 nance by Florida, her troops, joined by 
 those of Alabama, seized upon Fort 
 Barrancas and the navy-yard at j au , 
 Pensacola, and thus became pos- W. 
 sessed not only of important posts of 
 defence, but large supplies of ordnance, 
 ammunition, and stores. "Having no 
 means of resistance," said the United 
 States officer in command in his dispatch 
 to the Government, " I surrendered and 
 hauled down my flag." The secession- 
 ists of Florida, themselves, telegraphed 
 to their senators in Washington : ' ' This 
 move was in consequence of the Govern- 
 ment garrisoning Fort Pickens, which has 
 before remained unoccupied." "You 
 will propose to the administration," they 
 added, with insolent dictation, "to re- 
 sume the status quo ante bettum, and we 
 will immediately evacuate." 
 
 Georgia was the next to adopt in con- 
 vention the secession ordinance by j au , 
 a vote of two hundred and eight 19. 
 against eighty-nine. Some of the lead- 
 ing politicians of the State, as Alex- 
 ander H. Stephens and Herschel V. 
 Johnson, lately a candidate for Yice- 
 President of the United States, opposed 
 this hasty action, and emphatic manifest- 
 ations of dislike were exhibited by many 
 of the people at being thus hurried 
 out of the Union. The usual popular 
 demonstrations, however, followed the 
 
 Mobile Advertiser. 
 
FAREWELL OF JEFF. DAVIS. 
 
 87 
 
 passage of the ordinance ; sky-rockets 
 were let off, torches burned, and mass 
 meetings gathered and were stirred by 
 martial music and jubilant speech. 
 
 In a week after, Louisiana followed 
 Jan. Georgia, the convention having, by 
 26 a vote of one hundred and thirteen 
 to seventeen, declared her out of the 
 Union. The seizure of Federal prop- 
 Feb. er ty, forts, arsenals, and treasure 
 ! succeeded. Texas, checked by the 
 obstinate loyalty of Governor Houston, 
 was less precipitate, but finally passed, 
 in convention, an ordinance of secession. 
 This, however, was on the condition of 
 its approval by the people, to whose 
 suffrage it was to be submitted on the 
 23d of February, and, if sanctioned, to 
 take effect on the 3d of March. Texas 
 was thus far the only State which had 
 ventured to submit the question of se- 
 cession to popular vote. The State 
 finally yielded, and declared itself out of 
 the Union on the 4th of March. 
 
 The senators of these various seceding 
 States had lingered at Washington as 
 long as, under the pretence of a desire 
 for conciliation, they could, by intrig- 
 uing with their confederates at the cap- 
 ital, promote their plans, and by wheed- 
 ling a feeble Executive, embarrass the 
 action of government. 
 
 They now, however, threw off all dis- 
 guise, and in the Senate of the United 
 States openly confessed their designs 
 and defied all the efforts of the Federal 
 authority to counteract them. Senator 
 Benjamin, of Louisiana, publicly an- 
 nounced his intention of taking farewell 
 of the Senate in a parting "secession" 
 
 speech. A large crowd gathered to 
 hear him, and as he closed with the 
 declaration that the South could never 
 be subjugated, a shout of applause rose 
 from the galleries, packed with his sym- 
 pathizing friends. 
 
 Jefferson Davis, then United States 
 senator from Mississippi, now the Pres- 
 ident of the Confederate States, with an 
 unusual mastery of his impulsive rhet- 
 oric, thus with studied deliberation and 
 cool assurance confessed his seces- j an , 
 sion faith, and declared his readi- 21. 
 ness to fight for it : 
 
 " I rise for the purpose of announcing 
 to the Senate that I have satisfactory 
 evidence that the State of Mississippi, 
 by solemn ordinance in convention as- 
 sembled, has declared her separation 
 from the United States. Under these 
 circumstances, of course, my functions 
 terminate here. It has seemed to be 
 proper that I should appear in the Sen- 
 ate and announce that fact, and to say 
 something, though very little, upon it. 
 The occasion does not invite rne to go 
 into the argument, and my physical con- 
 dition will not permit it, yet something 
 would seem to be necessary on the part 
 of the State I here represent, on an oc- 
 casion like this. It is known to sen- 
 ators who have served here, that I have 
 for many years advocated, as an essen- 
 tial attribute of State sovereignty, the 
 right of a State to secede from the 
 Union. If, therefore, I had not believed 
 there was justifiable cause if I had 
 thought the State was acting without 
 sufficient provocation still, under my 
 theory of government, I should have 
 
88 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 felt bound by her action. I, however, 
 may say I think she had justifiable 
 cause, and I approve of her acts. I 
 conferred with the people before that 
 act was taken, and counselled them that 
 if they could not remain, that they 
 should take the act. I hope none will 
 confound this expression of opinion with 
 the advocacy of the right of a State to 
 remain in the Union, and disregard its 
 constitutional obligations by nullifica- 
 tion. Nullification and secession are in- 
 deed antagonistic principles. Nullifica- 
 tion is the remedy which is to be sought 
 and applied, within the Union, against 
 an agent of the United States, when the 
 agent has violated constitutional obli- 
 gations, and the State assumes for itself, 
 and appeals to other States to support 
 it. But when the States themselves, 
 and the people of the States, have so 
 acted as to convince us that they will 
 not regard our constitutional rights, 
 then, and then for the first time, arises 
 the question of secession in its practical 
 application. That great man who now 
 reposes with his fathers, who has been 
 so often arraigned for want of fealty to 
 the Union, advocated the doctrine of 
 nullification, because it preserved the 
 Union. It was because of his deep- 
 seated attachment to the Union that 
 Mr. Calhoun advocated the doctrine of 
 nullification, which he claimed would 
 give peace within the limits of the 
 Union, and not disturb it, and only be 
 the means of bringing the agent before 
 the proper tribunal of the States for 
 judgment. Secession belongs to a dif- 
 ferent class of rights, and is to be justi- 
 
 fied upon the basis that the States are 
 sovereign. The time has been, and I 
 hope the time will come again, when a 
 better appreciation of our Union will 
 prevent any one denying that each State 
 is a sovereign in its own right. There- 
 fore I say I concur in the act of my 
 State, and feel bound by it. It is by 
 this confounding of nullification and se- 
 cession that the name of another great 
 man has been invoked to justify the co- 
 ercion of a seceding State. The phrase 
 'to execute the law, 7 as used by Gen- 
 eral Jackson, was applied to a State 
 refusing to obey the laws and still re- 
 maining in the Union. I remember 
 well when Massachusetts was arraigned 
 before the Senate. The record of that 
 occasion will show that I said, if Massa- 
 chusetts, in pursuing the line of steps, 
 takes the last step which separates her 
 from the Union, the right is hers, and I 
 will neither vote one dollar nor one man 
 to coerce her, but I will say to her, 
 ' God speed !' ' Mr. Davis then pro- 
 ceeded to argue that the equality spoken 
 of in the Declaration of Independence 
 was the equality of a class in political 
 rights, referring to the charge against 
 George III. for inciting insurrection, 
 as proof that it had no reference to the 
 slaves. "But we have proclaimed our 
 independence. This is done with no 
 hostility or any desire to injure any sec- 
 tion of the country, nor even for our pe- 
 cuniary benefit, but from the high and 
 solid foundation of defending and pro- 
 tecting the rights we inherited, and 
 transmitting them unshorn to our pos- 
 terity. I know I feel no hostility to 
 
NORTHERN LOYALTY. 
 
 89 
 
 you senators here, and am sure there is 
 not one of you, whatever may have 
 been the sharp discussions between us, to 
 whom I cannot now say, in the presence 
 of my God, I wish you well. And such 
 is the feeling, I am sure, the people I 
 represent feel toward those whom you 
 represent. I, therefore, feel I but ex- 
 press their desire, when I say I hope 
 and they hope for those' peaceful rela- 
 tions with you, though we must part, 
 that may be mutually beneficial to us 
 in the future. There will be peace if 
 you so will it, and you may bring dis- 
 aster on every part of the country, if 
 you thus will have it. And if you will 
 have it thus, we will invoke the God of 
 our fathers, who delivered them from 
 the paw of the lion, to protect us from 
 the ravages of the bear ; and thus put- 
 ting our trust in God, and our own firm 
 hearts and strong arms, we will vindi- 
 cate and defend the rights we claim. 
 In the course of my long career I have 
 met with a great variety of men here, 
 and there have been points of collision 
 between us. Whatever of offence there 
 has been to me, I leave here. I carry no 
 hostile feelings away. Whatever of of- 
 fence I have given, which has not been 
 redressed, I am willing to say to sen- 
 ators, in this hour of parting, I offer you 
 my apology for anything I may have done 
 in the Senate ; and I go thus released 
 from obligation, remembering no injury 
 I have received, and having discharged 
 what I deem the duty of man, to offer 
 the only reparation at this hour for 
 every injury I have ever inflicted." 
 As the senators from Florida, Ala- 
 12 
 
 bama, and Mississippi all in open re- 
 bellion against the United States Gov- 
 ernment were about leaving the Sen- 
 ate chamber, most of their fellow-sen- 
 ators, even those of the North, shook 
 hands with them ! 
 
 The Northern people were slowly 
 awaking to the great dangers which be- 
 set the Union, and gradually rising to 
 the efforts necessary to protect it. Pros- 
 trated in sympathy with the long inert- 
 ness of the Government and its still lan- 
 guid action, they might have appeared 
 to a casual observer indifferent to the 
 great issue. There were, however, al- 
 ready indications of that loyalty to the 
 Union which has since manifested itself 
 in such a generous outpouring of men 
 and money. Large meetings were held 
 throughout the country to express de- 
 votion to its institutions and to offer 
 service in their defence. At a popular 
 gathering at Chicago, in Illinois, j an , 
 resolutions were adopted express- * 
 ing love for the Union ; declaring that 
 every attempt to rend it was the basest 
 treason and most insane folly ; that the 
 Constitution of the United States formed 
 a union between the people of the sev- 
 eral States, and was intended to be per- 
 petual ; that every attempt by a State 
 to secede or annul the laws of the United 
 States was not only a usurpation of the 
 powers of the General Government, but 
 an aggression upon the equal rights of 
 the other States ; that peaceable seces- 
 sion, if possible, must necessarily be a 
 matter of agreement between the States, 
 and until such an agreement be made, the 
 existing Government had no choice but 
 
90 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 to enforce the law and protect the prop- 
 erty of the nation ; that in view of what 
 was occurring in the Southern States, 
 of threats to prevent the inauguration 
 of a President constitutionally elected, 
 it was incumbent upon the loyal people 
 of the several States to be prepared to 
 render all their aid, military and other- 
 wise, to the enforcement of the Federal 
 laws, and that Major Anderson deserved 
 the thanks of the country for the course 
 pursued by him. 
 
 At Cincinnati, a large meeting of 
 workingmen was held, at which resolu- 
 Jan, tions were adopted declaring that 
 5 the Union must be preserved in its 
 integrity by the enforcement of the laws 
 in every part of the country, through 
 whatever means may be necessary. At 
 Portland, in Maine, also, the people 
 gathered in a " mass meeting," and 
 passed similar resolutions. 
 
 The legislatures of various Northern 
 States adopted resolutions in favor of 
 the Union, and offered aid to the Pres- 
 ident to sustain the Government. New 
 York tendered whatever "aid in men 
 or money might be required to enforce 
 the laws and uphold the authority of the 
 Federal Government." Massachusetts 
 did the same, and after declaring that 
 South Carolina had committed an act of 
 war, passed a bill authorizing the in- 
 crease of the volunteer military of the 
 State. 
 
 At the same time, it is true, that there 
 were meetings of Northern citizens, at 
 which there was a disposition to treat 
 the recreant States with more tender- 
 ness. These, however, indicated no less 
 
 the Union sentiment of the country, 
 though they favored more conciliatory 
 treatment. In New Jersey, resolutions 
 were reported deploring the state of 
 the country advising, as a means of 
 settling differences, the adoption by the 
 people of the Crittenden resolutions, or 
 some other pacific measures, with such 
 modifications as might be deemed expe- 
 dient ; recommending the Legislature of 
 New Jersey to pass a law to take a vote 
 of the people, yes or no, on these ; ap- 
 proving of the course of Virginia in ap- 
 pointing a commission to go to Wash- 
 ington, and counselling the Legislature 
 to do the same. 
 
 It was the Union sentiment, more- 
 over, however rudely expressed, which 
 prompted some of the citizens of Roch- 
 ester to break up an abolitionist meet- 
 ing with noisy shouts for General Scott 
 and Major Anderson, and others to re- 
 sist with violence the hanging across the 
 streets of a banner bearing the inscrip- 
 tion, "No compromise wi.th slavery." 
 It was the same feeling, doubtless, which 
 urged the crowd to overwhelm the dis- 
 union declarations of Wendell Phillips 
 at Boston with noisy demonstrations of 
 dissatisfaction, and hustle him in the 
 streets until he was forced to take ref- 
 uge with a squad of policemen. 
 
 In the mean time, some alarm was 
 excited in regard to the safety of Wash- 
 ington, which was known to be filled 
 with secessionists. It was rumored that 
 plots had been laid and military com- 
 panies organized in Maryland and Vir- 
 ginia, to seize the capital and prevent 
 the inauguration of Lincoln. This call 
 
GENERAL ALARM. 
 
 91 
 
 to arms of General Carrington is a mem- 
 orable illustration of the public fearful- 
 ness begotten by the general suspicion. 
 
 " To THE PUBLIC. 
 
 " Whereas the militia of the district 
 is not organized, and threats have been 
 made that the President-elect shall not 
 be inaugurated in Washington, and there 
 is reason, therefore, to apprehend that 
 on the 4th of March next our city may 
 be made the scene of riot, violence, and 
 bloodshed ; and whereas the under- 
 signed believes that the honor of the 
 nation and our city demands that the 
 President-elect shall be inaugurated in 
 the national metropolis, and that the 
 young men of Washington city are de- 
 termined not to desert their homes in 
 the hour of danger, but to maintain their 
 ground and defend their families and 
 friends, in the Union and on the side of 
 the Constitution and the laws, therefore 
 the undersigned earnestly invites all who 
 concur with him in opinion, and who are 
 not now connected with some military 
 company, to join with him in forming a 
 temporary military organization, with a 
 view of preserving peace and order in our 
 midst on the 4th of March next, or when- 
 ever the emergency requires it and for 
 that purpose to unite with the volunteer 
 companies of our city, which have, in a 
 spirit of gallantry and patriotism worthy 
 of our imitation, pledged themselves to 
 the cause of the Union, the Constitution, 
 and the laws. It is proper to state that 
 I take this step after consultation with 
 friends in whom I have the greatest con- 
 fidence. It is not my object to interfere 
 with my brother officers of the militia ; 
 
 the organization proposed is to be purely 
 volunteer, for the purpose above stated, 
 in which I am willing to serve in any 
 capacity. I make the proposition, not 
 as one of the generals of the militia, but 
 as a citizen of Washington, who is pre- 
 pared to defend his home and his honor 
 at the peril of his life. 
 
 " EDWARD C. CARRINGTON." 
 
 Lieut. General Scott, however, the 
 venerable custodian of the Union, was 
 on guard, and by his prompt military 
 measures of defence soon relieved the 
 inquietude at the capital. 
 
 Even in New York a suspicion of se- 
 cret plots arose, and excited public anx- 
 iety. The entire force at the Brooklyn 
 navy-yard was put under arms, the guns 
 of the frigate North Carolina shotted, 
 and the city militia mustered, in readi- 
 ness to resist the rumored attack of a 
 band of secession conspirators. 
 
 A measure of obvious duty, though 
 perhaps not of technical right, tardily 
 begun and but ineffectively carried out, 
 that of seizing, by the police of New 
 York, arms intended for the seceded 
 States, excited not unnaturally great in- 
 dignation at the South, and some less 
 expected disfavor even at the North. j ail , 
 The mayor of the city of New York 24, 
 eagerly disclaimed any responsibility for 
 the "outrage," and declared that if he 
 had the power, he " would summarily 
 punish the authors of this illegal and un- 
 justifiable seizure of private property." 
 The Governor of Georgia retaliated by 
 seizing some New York vessels in the har- 
 bor of Savannah, which were held until 
 the arms claimed by him were restored. 
 
92 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 While the feeling between the union- 
 ists and secessionists was thus becom- 
 ing daily more exasperated, and threat- 
 ening a collision of arms, a peace con- 
 
 vention, suggested by the State of Vir- 
 ginia, had assembled in Washington and 
 been organized, with ex-President Tyler 
 to preside over it. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Meeting of the General Congress of the Seceding States at Montgomery. Organization. Formation of Provisional 
 Government and Constitution. No Conciliation or Compromise. Nature of the New Constitution. Its Politic 
 Clauses. Election of President and Vice-President. Good Choice. Extremists and Moderates both suited. Life 
 of Jefferson Davis. His Birth. Parentage. Military Career. Resignation. Cotton Planting. Political Career. 
 A Volunteer Officer in the Mexican War. Turns the Tide of Battle at Buena Vista. Appointed Brigadier-General. 
 Scruples of a States Rights Man. Senator of the United States. Chairman of Committee on Military Affairs. 
 Unsuccessful Candidate for Governor. Electioneering for Pierce. Secretary of War, and services in that office. 
 Personal Character and Appearance. Elected President of the Confederate States. Inaugural Address. Biography 
 of Alexander H. Stephens. A poor Youth. Educated by Charity. Rapid eminence as a Lawyer. Leader of the 
 Whig Party in Congress. Retirement from Public Life. Disease. Stirred by the Secession Movement. Strong for 
 the Union. A sudden Conversion. An earnest Proselyte. Personal Appearance and Character. A remarkable 
 Speech. The Cabinet of President Davis. Robert Toombs : his Life and Character. Charles Gustavus Memminger : 
 his Life and Character. Le Roy Pope Walker : his Life and Character. Judah P. Benjamin : his Life and Char- 
 acter. Stephen M. Mallory : his Life and Character. John H. Reagan : his Life and Character. 
 
 1861, 
 
 IN accordance with a proposition of 
 Alabama, all the conventions of the se- 
 ceding States sent delegates to a 
 general congress, which met at 
 Montgomery on the 4th of February. 
 In a few days after its organization, the 
 Feb. form of a provisional government 
 8 and a constitution were unani- 
 mously agreed upon, to take effect im- 
 mediately. No suggestion was made 
 for the restoration of harmony with the 
 Union from which the States repre- 
 sented in the convention had separated. 
 The subjects of conciliation and corn- 
 promise were waived as totally obsolete. 
 To form an independent nation and 
 provide for its government and defence 
 was the sole object, apparently, of the 
 desire, as it was the motive of the action, 
 of the members of the convention. 
 
 The constitution adopted was based 
 on that of the United States, with mod- 
 ifications peculiar to the new govern- 
 ment. The preamble dwelt especially on 
 the separate sovereignty of the individ- 
 ual States of the new confederacy, and 
 thus strove to give legal sanction to that 
 heresy which had proved so fatal to the 
 harmony of the Union. It declared : 
 
 " We, the deputies of the sovereign 
 and independent States of South Caro- 
 lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis- 
 sippi, and Louisiana, invoking the favor 
 of Almighty God, do hereby, in behalf 
 of these States, ordain and establish this 
 constitution for the provisional govern- 
 ment of the same, to continue one year 
 from the inauguration of the President, 
 or until a permanent constitution or con- 
 federation between the said States shall 
 
CONSTITUTION OF SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 
 
 93 
 
 be put in operation, whichsoever shall 
 first occur." 
 
 To conciliate the governments of Eu- 
 rope, on whose interposition in behalf 
 of the new confederacy great calcula- 
 tions were made, but whose policy of 
 abolishing the slave-trade seemed fatal 
 to an alliance with any state which 
 might favor that cruel commerce, the 
 following article was adopted : 
 
 " The importation of African negroes 
 from any foreign country other than the 
 slaveholding States of the United States, 
 is hereby forbidden, and Congress is 
 required to pass such laws as shall 
 effectually prevent the same." 
 
 At the same time, to give full protec- 
 tion to the institution as it existed in the 
 slave States comprising the confederacy, 
 a stringent fugitive law set forth that : 
 
 ' ' A slave in one State escaping to 
 another shall be delivered up on the 
 claim of the party to whom said slave 
 may belong, by the executive authority 
 of the State in which such slave may 
 be found ; and in case of any abduction 
 or forcible rescue, full compensation, 
 including the value of the slave, and all 
 costs and expenses, shall be made to 
 the party by the State in which such 
 abduction or rescue shall take place." 
 
 The following clause was ingeniously 
 introduced as a forcible appeal to Vir- 
 ginia and other border States, still re- 
 luctant to leave the Union and try the 
 hazards of the new confederacy. 
 
 " Congress shall also have power to 
 prohibit the introduction of slaves from 
 any State not a member of this confed- 
 eracy." 
 
 In the clause relating to the tariff, 
 the favorite Southern doctrine of taxa- 
 tion for revenue, and not for protection, 
 was distinctly enunciated thus : 
 
 "The Congress shall have power to 
 lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, 
 and excises for revenue necessary to pay 
 the debts and carry on the government 
 of the confederacy, and all duties, im- 
 posts, and excises shall be uniform 
 throughout the confederacy." 
 
 To close up all accounts with the old 
 Union and start the new under the most 
 favorable auspices, an ostentatious pro- 
 fusion of fairness of dealing was made 
 in an article declaring that ' ' the gov- 
 ernment hereby instituted shall take 
 immediate steps for the settlement of 
 all matters between the States forming 
 it and their late confederates of the 
 United States, in relation to the public 
 property and public debt at the time of 
 their withdrawal from them, these States 
 hereby declaring it to be their wish and 
 earnest desire to adjust everything per- 
 taining to the common property, com- 
 mon liabilities, and common obligations 
 of that union upon principles of right, 
 justice, equity, and good faith." 
 
 After the adoption of the Constitution, 
 the Congress proceeded at once to the 
 election of a provisional President and 
 and Yice-President. Jefferson Davis, 
 of Mississippi, was chosen the former, 
 and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, 
 the latter. No better appointments 
 could have been made to further the 
 purposes of the new confederacy. Both 
 were experienced statesmen of prac- 
 tised executive talents. Davis, who had 
 
 J 
 
94 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 been long known as an advocate of 
 State Rights, served to give assurance 
 to the extremists of the South that their 
 special interests were safe in his keep- 
 ing, while Stephens, whose reluctant se- 
 cessionism had been equally conspicu- 
 ous, gave confidence to the moderate 
 men, and encouraged them to give in 
 their adherence to a government of 
 which he was a prominent executive 
 officer. 
 
 Jefferson Davis was born on the third 
 of June, 1808, in Christian, now Todd, 
 County, Kentucky. His father, who 
 was a planter and an officer in the army 
 of Revolutionary renown, removed to 
 Mississippi while his son was yet a child. 
 After a sound preliminary academical 
 discipline at school and college, young 
 Davis was admitted a cadet at West 
 Point in 1824. In 1828 he graduated, 
 and entered into active military service. 
 In the Black Hawk war he earned pro- 
 motion by his gallantry, and being raised 
 to a first lieutenantcy of dragoons, served 
 in that rank in various expeditions 
 against the Indian tribes of the West. 
 In 1835 he resigned his commission 
 and took to cotton planting in Missis- 
 sippi. He was, however, soon with- 
 drawn from his retirement by the polit- 
 ical interests of the country, and in 
 1844 was chosen a Presidential elector 
 of Mississippi, to vote for Polk and 
 Dallas, the candidates of the Democratic 
 party, for which Davis had early shown 
 his partiality. 
 
 In 1845, Davis was chosen a member 
 of Congress, and at once assumed a 
 prominent position, as a debater, on the 
 
 side of his political friends, the Demo- 
 crats. The Mexican war having in the 
 mean time broken out. and a Mississippi 
 regiment having elected him its colonel, 
 he left at once his seat in the House of 
 Representatives, and hastened to the 
 scene of hostilities. He was with Taylor 
 at the storming of Monterey, and at the 
 battle of Buena Vista came up, in the 
 nick of time, at the head of his Missis- 
 sippians, and turned the waving tide of 
 battle in favor of the American troops. 
 He was wounded while pertinaciously 
 resisting a superior force, but still re- 
 mained in the saddle until the end of the 
 battle. General Taylor complimented 
 him highly in his dispatch. On the ex- 
 piration of the term of service of his 
 regiment he returned home, but on his 
 way he was met with a commission of 
 brigadier-general of volunteers from 
 President Polk. This, however, with a 
 scrupulous regard for the " sovereign" 
 rights of his State, he refused to accept, 
 on the ground that the Federal author- 
 ity, in making such an appointment, 
 was interfering with the prerogative of 
 Mississippi 
 
 In 1847, Davis was appointed by the 
 Governor of Mississippi senator of the 
 United States, to fill a casual vacancy. 
 In the next year, however, he was 
 unanimously elected by the Legislature 
 to complete the term, and again in 
 1850 was a second time chosen. He 
 was appointed chairman of the com- 
 mittee on military affairs, and took a 
 prominent part in the debates on most 
 important questions, but especially on 
 those which bore upon the interests of 
 
.Entered, atmnfttttit *t/ art o 
 
 Virtu? ' **%& office jf 
 
 wforthe j 
 
JEFFERSON DAVIS PERSONALLY. 
 
 95 
 
 the slave States. He proved himself a 
 resolute defender of slavery, and be- 
 came remarkable for his advocacy of 
 State Rights as supremely sovereign to 
 those of the Union. In 1851 he was 
 nominated candidate for governor ex- 
 pressly as an exponent of these views, 
 but was defeated by the " Union" can- 
 didate, Henry S. Foote, who, however, 
 secured his election by the small ma- 
 jority only of nine hundred. 
 
 Having resigned his seat in the Sen- 
 ate, on accepting the nomination for 
 governor, he, after his defeat, remained 
 in retirement until the Presidential can- 
 vass of 1852, when he electioneered ac- 
 tively for Pierce, and was rewarded, on 
 his accession to the Presidency, by the 
 appointment of secretary of war. In 
 this office Davis proved himself an ex- 
 ecutive officer of great capacity and en- 
 ergy. He infused a new spirit into the 
 war department, and introduced various 
 effective reforms and improvements. 
 The adoption of the light infantry sys- 
 tem of tactics, the manufacture of rifled 
 muskets, pistols, and the Minnie ball, 
 and the increase of our coast defences 
 are among the changes he effected. 
 
 On the accession of Buchanan to the 
 Presidency, Davis, being deprived of his 
 secretaryship of war, was again elected 
 by the Legislature of Mississippi to the 
 Senate of the United States, and there 
 he remained until the secession of his 
 State, when he took his farewell in the 
 remarkable speech already recorded. 
 
 Though Davis is a man of meagre 
 frame and delicate organization, he is 
 possessed of great energy and powers of 
 
 endurance. His executive talents no 
 one can question, and being ready of 
 speech, some would claim for him the 
 gift of eloquence. His military educa- 
 tion and service, his experience as sec- 
 retary of the war department of the 
 United States, his familiarity with po- 
 litical intrigue, his dauntless spirit, and 
 his natural capacity are what make Jef- 
 ferson Davis so effective an ally and so 
 formidable a foe. 
 
 On the 18th of February, 1861, Davis 
 was inaugurated provisional President 
 of the " Confederate States of America," 
 when he delivered his inaugural. 
 
 INAUGURAL OP JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS OF THE CON- 
 FEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, FRIENDS AND 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS : 
 
 " Called to the difficult and respon- 
 sible station of Chief Executive of the 
 Provisional Government which you have 
 instituted, I approach the discharge of 
 .the duties assigned me with an humble 
 distrust of my abilities, "but with a sus- 
 taining confidence in the wisdom of 
 those who are to guide and aid me in 
 the administration of public affairs, and 
 an abiding faith in the virtue and pa- 
 triotism of the people. Looking forward 
 to the speedy establishment of a per- 
 manent government to take the place of 
 this, and which by its greater moral and 
 physical power will be better able to com- 
 bat with the many difficulties which arise 
 from the conflicting interests of separate 
 nations, I enter upon the duties of the 
 office to which I have been chosen with 
 the hope that the beginning of our ca- 
 reer as a confederacy may not be ob- 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 structed by hostile opposition to our 
 enjoyment of the separate existence and 
 independence which we have asserted, 
 and which, with the blessing of Provi- 
 dence, we intend to maintain. 
 
 " Our present condition, achieved in 
 a manner unprecedented in the history 
 of nations, illustrates the American idea 
 that governments rest upon the consent 
 of the governed, and that it is the right 
 of the people to alter and abolish gov- 
 ernments whenever they become de- 
 structive to the ends for which they 
 were established. The declared com- 
 pact of the Union from which we have 
 withdrawn was to establish justice, in- 
 sure domestic tranquility, provide for the 
 common defence, promote the general 
 welfare, and secure the blessings of lib- 
 erty to ourselves and our posterity ; and 
 when in the judgment of the sovereign 
 States now composing this confederacy, 
 it has been perverted from the purposes 
 for which it was ordained, and ceased to 
 answer the ends for which it was estab- 
 lished, a peaceful appeal to the ballot- 
 box declared that, so far as they were 
 concerned, the government created by 
 that compact should cease to exist. In 
 this they merely asserted the right which 
 the Declaration of Independence of 1776 
 defined to be inalienable. Of the time 
 and occasion of its exercise they as sov- 
 ereigns were the final judges, each for 
 itself. The impartial, enlightened verdict 
 of mankind will vindicate the rectitude 
 of our conduct, and He who knows the 
 hearts of men will judge of the sincerity 
 with which we labored to preserve the 
 government of our fathers in its spirit. 
 
 "The right solemnly proclaimed at 
 the birth of the States, and which has 
 been affirmed and reaffirmed in the bills 
 of rights of the States subsequently ad- 
 mitted into the Union of 1789, unde- 
 niably recognizes in the people the power 
 to resume the authority delegated for 
 the purposes of government. Thus the 
 sovereign States here represented pro- 
 ceeded to form this confederacy, and it 
 is by the abuse of language that their 
 act has been denominated revolution. 
 They formed a new alliance, but within 
 each State its government has remained. 
 The rights of person and property have 
 not been disturbed. The agent through 
 whom they communicated with foreign 
 nations is changed, but this does not 
 necessarily interrupt their international 
 relations. Sustained by the conscious- 
 ness that the transition from the former 
 Union to the present confederacy has 
 not proceeded from a disregard on our 
 part of our just obligations or any fail- 
 ure to perform every constitutional duty ; 
 moved by no interest or passion to in- 
 vade the rights of others ; anxious to 
 cultivate peace and commerce with all. 
 nations, if we may not hope to avoid 
 war, we may at least expect that pos- 
 terity will acquit us of having needlessly 
 engaged in it. Doubly justified by the 
 absence of wrong on our part, and by 
 wanton aggression on the part of others, 
 there can be no cause to doubt that the 
 courage and patriotism of the people of 
 the Confederate States will be found 
 equal to any measure of defence which 
 soon their security may require. 
 
 " An agricultural people, whose chief 
 
PRESIDENT DAVIS' INAUGURAL. 
 
 97 
 
 interest is the export of a commodity 
 required in every manufacturing coun- 
 try, our true policy is peace, and the 
 freest trade which our necessities will 
 permit. It is alike our interest and that 
 of all those to whom we would sell and 
 from whom we would buy, that there 
 should be the fewest practicable re- 
 strictions upon the interchange of com- 
 modities. There can be but little riv- 
 alry between ours and any manufactur- 
 ing or navigating community, such as 
 the northeastern States of the American 
 Union. It must follow, therefore, that 
 mutual interest would invite good-will 
 and kind offices. If, however, passion 
 or lust of dominion should cloud the 
 judgment or inflame the ambition of 
 those States, we must prepare to meet 
 the emergency and maintain by the final 
 arbitrament of the sword the position 
 which we have assumed among the na- 
 tions of the earth. 
 
 "We have entered upon a career of 
 independence, and it must be inflexibly 
 pursued through many years of contro- 
 versy with our late associates of the 
 Northern States. We have vainly en- 
 deavored to secure tranquility and ob- 
 tain respect for the rights to which we 
 were entitled. As a necessity, not a 
 choice, we have resorted to the remedy 
 of separation, and henceforth our ener- 
 gies must be directed to the conduct of 
 our own affairs and the perpetuity of 
 the confederacy which we have formed. 
 If a just perception of mutual interest 
 shall permit us peaceably to pursue our 
 separate political career, my most earn- 
 est desire will have been fulfilled. But 
 
 13 
 
 if this be denied us, and the integrity of 
 our territory and jurisdiction be assailed, 
 it will but remain it;r us with firm re- 
 solve to appeal to arms and invoke the 
 blessing of Providence on a just cause. 
 
 " As a consequence of our new condi- 
 tion, and with a view to meet antici- 
 pated wants, it will be necessary to 
 provide a speedy and efficient organiza- 
 tion of the branches of the Executive 
 department having special charge of for- 
 eign intercourse, finance, military affairs, 
 and postal service. For purposes of de- 
 fence the Confederate States may, un- 
 der ordinary circumstances, rely mainly 
 upon their militia ; but it is deemed ad- 
 visable, in the present condition of af- 
 fairs, that there should be a well in- 
 structed, disciplined army, more nu- 
 merous than would usually be required 
 on a peace establishment. I also sug- 
 gest that, for the protection of our har- 
 bors and commerce on the high seas, a 
 navy adapted to those objects will be 
 required. These necessities have, doubt- 
 less, engaged the attention of Congress. 
 
 " With a constitution differing only 
 from that of our fathers in so far as it is 
 explanatory of their well-known intent, 
 freed from sectional conflicts, which have 
 interfered with the pursuits of the gen- 
 eral welfare, it is not unreasonable to 
 expect that the States from which we 
 have recently parted may seek to unite 
 their fortunes to ours under the govern- 
 ment which we have instituted. For 
 this your constitution makes adequate 
 provision, but beyond this, if I mistake 
 not, the judgment and will of the people 
 are, that union with the States from 
 
98 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 which they have separated is neither 
 practicable nor desirable. To increase 
 the power, develop the resources, and 
 promote the happiness of the confed- 
 eracy, it is requisite there should be so 
 much homogeneity that the welfare of 
 every portion would be the aim of the 
 whole. Where this does not exist, an- 
 tagonisms are engendered which must 
 and should result in separation. 
 
 " Actuated solely by a desire to pre- 
 serve our own rights and to promote 
 our own welfare, the separation of the 
 Confederate States has been marked by 
 no aggression upon others, and followed 
 by no domestic convulsion. Our indus- 
 trial pursuits have received no check, 
 the cultivation of our fields progresses 
 as heretofore, and even should we be in- 
 volved in war, there would be no con- 
 siderable diminution. in the production 
 of the staples which have constituted our 
 exports, in which the commercial world 
 has an interest scarcely less than our 
 own. This common interest of pro- 
 ducer and consumer can only be inter- 
 cepted by an exterior force which should 
 obstruct its transmission to foreign mar- 
 kets, a course of conduct which would 
 be detrimental to manufacturing and 
 commercial interests abroad. 
 
 "Should reason guide the action of 
 the government from which we have 
 separated, a policy so detrimental to the 
 civilized world, the Northern States in- 
 cluded, could not be dictated by even 
 a stronger desire to inflict injury upon 
 us ; but if it be otherwise, a terrible re- 
 sponsibility will rest upon it, and the 
 suffering of millions will bear testimony 
 
 to the folly and wickedness of our ag- 
 gressors. In the mean time there will 
 remain to us, besides the ordinary rem- 
 edies before suggested, the well-known 
 resources for retaliation upon the com- 
 merce of an enemy. 
 
 " Experience in public stations of a 
 subordinate grade to this which your 
 kindness has conferred, has taught me 
 that care and toil and disappointments 
 are the price of official elevation. You 
 will see many errors to forgive, many 
 deficiencies to tolerate, but you shall not 
 find in me either want of zeal or fidelity 
 to the cause that is to me the highest in 
 hope and of most enduring affection. 
 Your generosity has bestowed upon me 
 an undeserved distinction, one which 
 I neither sought nor desired. Upon 
 the continuance of that sentiment, and 
 upon your wisdom and patriotism, I 
 rely to direct and support me in the 
 performance of the duties required at 
 my hands. 
 
 "We have changed the constituent 
 parts, but not the system of our gov- 
 ernment. The Constitution formed by 
 our fathers is that of these Confederate 
 States. In their exposition of it, and in 
 the judicial construction it has received, 
 we have a light which reveals its true 
 meaning. Thus instructed as to the 
 just interpretation of that instrument, 
 and ever remembering that all offices 
 are but trusts held for the people, and 
 that delegated powers are to be strictly 
 construed, I will hope by due diligence 
 in the performance of my duties, though 
 I may disappoint your expectation, yet 
 to retain, when retiring, something of 
 
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 
 
 99 
 
 the good will and confidence which will 
 welcome my entrance into office. 
 
 " It is joyous in the midst of perilous 
 times to look around upon a people 
 united in heart, when one purpose of 
 high resolve animates and actuates the 
 whole where the sacrifices to be made 
 are not weighed in the balance against 
 honor, right, liberty, and equality. Ob- 
 stacles may retard, but they cannot long 
 prevent, the progress of a movement 
 sanctioned by its justice and sustained 
 by a virtuous people. Reverently let 
 us invoke the God of our fathers to 
 guide and protect us in our efforts to 
 perpetuate the principles which by His 
 blessing they were able to vindicate, es- 
 tablish, and transmit to their posterity ; 
 and with a continuance of His favor ever 
 gratefully acknowledged, we may hope- 
 fully look forward to success, to peace, 
 to prosperity." 
 
 Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice- 
 President of the new Confederacy, was 
 born in Georgia on the llth of Feb- 
 ruary, 1812. His parents were too poor 
 to educate him, but the youth showing 
 an early quickness of parts, attracted the 
 attention of some neighbors, who chari- 
 tably sent him to school and college and 
 supported him until he was able to make 
 his own livelihood. Choosing the law 
 for his profession, he was admitted to 
 the bar in 1834, and rose rapidly to dis- 
 tinction. In 1843 he was elected by 
 the Whigs a member of Congress, but 
 on the dissolution of their party, he 
 joined the Democrats, and became one 
 of their most prominent leaders. In 
 1858 he refused to be any longer a can- 
 
 didate for Congress, and retired, ap- 
 parently forever, to private life. From 
 early youth he had suffered from illness, 
 and now, after the wearing effects of a 
 stirring political career, he seemed in- 
 capable of further activity of effort. 
 He was, however, roused by the seces- 
 sion movement in his State, and came 
 forward to resist it. He voted against 
 the secession ordinance passed by the 
 convention of Georgia, and sustained the 
 cause of the Union so manfully in a re- 
 markable speech, that he was hailed by 
 loyal men throughout the country as 
 their great Southern champion. It was 
 even rumored that President Lincoln 
 had offered him a seat in his proposed 
 cabinet. Stephens, however, did not 
 long resist the prevailing sentiment of 
 his State, but giving in his adherence to 
 the secessionists, exhibited the usual 
 zeal of sudden converts by surpassing 
 the veteran apostles of secession in his 
 defence of the doctrine. 
 
 Wasted to a shadow by a protracted 
 disease, the Vice-President of the Con- 
 federacy weighs but ninety-six pounds. 
 He yet seems, in spite of a feeble body, 
 capable of great mental effort. Though 
 his voice, in its shrill and piping tones, 
 gives manifestation of the physical weak- 
 ness of the invalid, he yet does not hes- 
 itate to exercise it in prolonged efforts 
 of oratory, which not seldom rise to the 
 power of true eloquence. 
 
 Eager, apparently, to vindicate him- 
 self from all suspicion of the sincerity of 
 his conversion, to which his late loyalty 
 to the Union may have exposed him, he 
 has manifested an ultraism of opinion in 
 
100 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 favor of slavery, its benefits and its 
 rights, which few even of his present 
 confederates have ventured to assert. 
 March He thus held forth to the applause 
 21* of his fellow-citizens of Savannah, 
 and to the horror of the Christian world, 
 in a speech exposing the objects of the 
 Southern rebellion : 
 
 "The new Constitution has put at rest 
 forever all the agitating questions re- 
 lating to our peculiar institutions Af- 
 rican slavery as it exists among us the 
 proper status of the negro in our form 
 of civilization. This was the immediate 
 cause of the late rupture and present 
 revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, 
 had anticipated this as the ' rock upon 
 which the old Union would split. 7 He 
 was right. What was conjecture with 
 him, is now a realized fact. But whether 
 he fully comprehended the great truth 
 upon which that rock stood and stands, 
 may be doubted. The prevailing ideas 
 entertained by him and most of the lead- 
 ing statesmen at the time of the forma- 
 tion of the old Constitution were, that 
 the enslavement of the African was in 
 violation of the laws of nature ; that it 
 was wrong in principle, socially, mor- 
 ally, and politically. It was an evil they 
 knew not well how to deal with, but the 
 general opinion of the men of that day 
 was, that somehow or other, in the or- 
 der of Providence, the institution would 
 be evanescent and pass -away. This 
 idea, though not incorporated in the 
 Constitution, was the prevailing idea at 
 the time. The Constitution, it is true, 
 secured every essential guarantee to the 
 institution while it should last, and hence 
 
 no argument can be justly used against 
 the constitutional guarantees thus se- 
 cured, because of the common sentiment 
 of the day. Those ideas, however, were 
 fundamentally wrong. They rested upon 
 the assumption of the equality of races. 
 This was an error. It was a sandy 
 foundation, and the idea of a govern- 
 ment built upon it ; when the ' storm 
 came and the wind blew, it fell.' 
 
 " Our new government is founded 
 upon exactly the opposite idea ; its 
 foundations are laid, its corner-stone 
 rests, upon the great truth that the 
 negro is not equal to the white man. 
 That slavery subordination to the supe- 
 rior race is his natural and moral con- 
 dition. This, our new government, is the 
 first, in the history of the world, -based 
 upon this great physical and moral truth. 
 This truth has been slow in the process 
 of its development, like all other truths 
 in the various departments of science. 
 It has been so even among us. Many 
 who hear me, perhaps, can recollect 
 well, that this truth was not generally 
 admitted, even within their day. The 
 errors of the past generation still clung 
 to many as late as twenty years ago. 
 Those at the North who still cling to 
 these errors, with a zeal above knowl- 
 edge, we justly denominate fanatics. 
 
 "In the conflict thus far, success has 
 been, on our side, complete throughout 
 the length and breadth of the Confed- 
 erate States. It is upon this, as I have 
 stated, our actual fabric is firmly plant- 
 ed, and I cannot permit myself to doubt 
 the ultimate success of a full recogni- 
 
SLAVERY A CORNER-STONE. 
 
 101 
 
 tion of this principle throughout the 
 civilized and enlightened world. 
 
 " As I have stated, the truth of this 
 principle may be slow in development, 
 as all truths are, and ever have been in 
 the various branches of science. It was 
 so with the principles announced by 
 Galileo ; it was so with Adam Smith 
 and his principles of political economy ; 
 it was so with Harvey and his theory of 
 the circulation of the blood. It is stated 
 that not a single one of the medical pro- 
 fession, living at the time of the an- 
 nouncement of the truths made by him, 
 admitted them. Now they are univer- 
 sally acknowledged. May we not, there- 
 fore, look with confidence to the ulti- 
 mate universal acknowledgment of the 
 truths upon which our system rests. It 
 is the first government ever instituted 
 upon principles of strict conformity to 
 nature, and the ordination of Provi- 
 dence, in furnishing the materials of 
 human society. Many governments 
 have been founded upon the principle 
 of certain classes, but the classes- thus 
 enslaved were of the same race, and in 
 violation of the laws of nature. Our 
 system commits no such violation of 
 nature's laws. The negro, by nature, 
 or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted 
 for that condition which he occupies in 
 our system. The architect, in the con- 
 struction of buildings, lays the founda- 
 tion with the proper materials, the 
 granite ; then comes the brick or the 
 marble. The substratum of our society 
 is made of the materials fitted by na- 
 ture for it, and by experience we know 
 that it is best, not only for the superior, 
 
 but for the inferior race, that it should 
 be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with 
 the ordinance of the Creator. It is not 
 for us to inquire into the wisdom of His 
 ordinances, or to question them. For 
 His own purposes he has made one 
 race to differ from another, as He has 
 made ' one star to differ from another 
 star in glory. 7 
 
 "The great objects of humanity are 
 best attained when conformed to His 
 laws and decrees, in the formation of 
 governments, as well as in all things 
 else. Our confederacy is founded upon 
 principles in strict conformity with these 
 laws. This stone which was rejected by 
 the first builders ' is become the chief 
 stone of the corner' in our new edifice. 
 
 ' ' The progress of disintegration in the 
 old Union may be expected to go on 
 with almost absolute certainty. We are 
 now the nucleus of a growing power, 
 which, if we are true to ourselves, our 
 destiny, and high mission, will become 
 the controlling power on this continent. 
 To what extent accessions will go on in 
 the process of time, or where it will end, 
 the future will determine." 
 
 With President Davis and Vice-Pres- 
 ident Stephens were associated in the 
 executive department of the confederacy 
 Robert Toombs, of Georgia, as secre- 
 tary of state ; C. S. Memminger, of 
 South Carolina, as secretary of the 
 treasury ; Leroy Pope Walker, of Ala- 
 bama, as secretary of war ; Judah P. 
 Benjamin, of Louisiana, as attorney- 
 general ; Stephen M. Mallory, of Flor- 
 ida, as secretary of the navy ; and John 
 H. Reagan as postmaster-general. 
 
102 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Toombs was born in Wilkes County, 
 Georgia, on the 2d of July, 1810. His 
 early education was received in his na- 
 tive State, but after a short collegiate 
 career at the University of Georgia, he 
 was transferred to Union College, at 
 Schenectady, in New York, where he 
 graduated. After studying for the bar, 
 his restless hankering for adventure in- 
 duced him to volunteer to serve in the 
 Creek war, and he was chosen captain. 
 On his return home he was elected 
 to the Legislature, and subsequently a 
 member of the United States House of 
 Representatives and of the United States 
 Senate. He was conspicuous always as 
 an intemperate advocate of slavery and 
 of the sovereign rights of the Southern 
 States. It was he who boasted that he 
 would call the roll of his slaves at the 
 base of the Bunker Hill Monument in 
 Boston. He was among the first to 
 move in behalf of secession, and while 
 still a senator of the United States, did 
 not cease to conspire and stir up his 
 fellow-citizens in rebellion against the 
 Union. Possessed of an impulsive tem- 
 per, and unscrupulous in the use of 
 means to gratify his passion, he is one 
 of the most audacious and active, if not 
 the most capable, of the confederate 
 leaders. 
 
 Charles Gustavus Memminger was 
 born in Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 
 7th of January, 1803. At the age of two 
 years he was brought to Charleston by 
 his mother, a poor widow, who soon 
 after died and left him destitute. 
 Found a vagrant child in the streets, 
 he was sent to the orphan asylum of 
 
 the city, where he remained until he 
 was nine years old. His lively parts 
 attracted the notice of Governor Thomas 
 Bennett, who received him into his fam- 
 ily and sent him to Columbia College, 
 the university of the State, where he 
 graduated in 1820. He now studied 
 law, and was admitted to practice in 
 1825. 
 
 His first political action was as an 
 opponent of South Carolina nullifica- 
 tion, which he resisted strenuously and 
 so conspicuously, that he was recognized 
 a leader of the Union party. He aided 
 the cause with pen as well as speech, 
 and not only wrote against nullification 
 in the political journals, but ridiculed it 
 in a work entitled, " The Book of Nulli- 
 fication," written in Scriptural style. 
 
 In 1836 he was first elected to the 
 Legislature, and continued to serve un- 
 remittingly until 1852. Being appointed 
 chairman of the committee on finance 
 a position he retained for many years 
 he made that subject an especial study. 
 He opposed the suspension of specie 
 payment by the banks of South Caro- 
 lina in 1839, and on the question com- 
 ing before the courts, was employed to 
 assist the attorney-general in the prose- 
 cution of a case. Though opposed by 
 the ablest counsel of the State, he gained 
 his cause, and the banks were declared 
 to have forfeited their charters. While in 
 the Legislature, he advocated the adop- 
 tion of the Sub-treasury scheme, and 
 abandoning his early opinions, sustained 
 the peculiar political views of Calhoun. 
 
 In 1852 he retired from public life, 
 but again in 1854 sought and obtained 
 
THE CONFEDERATE CABINET. 
 
 103 
 
 his election to the Legislature, with the 
 view of effecting a reform in the system 
 of public schools, in which he finally 
 succeeded, in spite of an obstinate op- 
 position. 
 
 In 1859 he was appointed a commis- 
 sioner of South Carolina to the State of 
 Virginia, to induce co-operation, on the 
 part of the slave States, in resistance to 
 the abolitionists of the North, a fear of 
 whom had been awakened by the insur- 
 rectionary attempt of John Brown at 
 Harper's Ferry. Memminger has always 
 borne the character of an upright man in 
 private life, though for a long time his po- 
 litical integrity was suspected by the con- 
 stant disunionists, as they recalled his 
 early efforts in favor of the Union and his 
 tardy conversion to the doctrine of State 
 Rights. His active interest in the Epis- 
 copal Church, to whose general conven- 
 tion he was frequently a delegate, and 
 his earnest efforts to advance the public 
 education and improve the charitable 
 institutions of his city and State, have 
 given him a character for piety and 
 benevolence which none are disposed to 
 question. His practised capacity as a 
 financier, and his general accomplish- 
 .ments, make him one of the most effi- 
 cient of President Davis' cabinet. 
 
 Leroy Pope Walker was born in Ala- 
 bama in the year 1816. His family is 
 one of note ; his father was a man of 
 wealth and some military distinction ; 
 one of his brothers was a member of 
 Congress, another a judge, and both are 
 prominent men in the new confederacy. 
 The present secretary of war was always 
 known as a Southern Democrat, espe- 
 
 cially devoted to the interests of the 
 slave States. He ranks high as a law- 
 yer, is a man of eloquence and capacity 
 in business, and was among the first and 
 most ardent to espouse the cause of se- 
 cession in his State. 
 
 The attorney-general, Judah P. Ben- 
 jamin, attained to great eminence as a 
 jurist and an advocate in Louisiana. 
 While a senator of the United States, he 
 was a professed Whig, but always a State 
 Rights' partisan. He is a brilliant rhet- 
 orician, a subtle lawyer, a man skilled 
 in political intrigue, and unscrupulous in 
 the use of means to effect the objects of 
 party or to reach the aim of his personal 
 ambition. 
 
 Stephen M. Mallory was for a long 
 period a United States senator from 
 Florida, and though unobtrusive, bore 
 the character of a useful member of the 
 upper house of Congress. He was al- 
 ways considered a conservative man in 
 his political views, and supposed to be 
 strongly attached to the Union. He is 
 thought to have linked his fortunes to 
 secession rather from the force of cir- 
 cumstances, than from any personal 
 predilections for the cause. He was 
 probably appointed secretary of the 
 navy of the Confederate States in con- 
 sequence of his presumed experience 
 obtained as chairman of the committee 
 of the United States Senate on naval 
 affairs. 
 
 John H. Reagan, the postmaster of 
 the Confederate States, was but little 
 known beyond the boundaries of his 
 own State, although he had served sev- 
 eral terms in the national Congress. 
 
104 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin declared duly elected President and Vice-President of the United States. 
 Opening of Electoral Votes. The reading of the Vote of South Carolina. Concentration of public attention upon 
 Lincoln. The Siege of Springfield. Throng of Visitors. Insatiable Curiosity. Lincoln Photographed. House 
 and Furniture minutely described. Habits and Personal Appearance of the new President taken off. Social Free- 
 dom and Political Reticence. A Newspaper Interpreter. Lincoln speaking for himself. A grave Farewell. Com- 
 mencement of a triumphal Journey. Speeches. Homely Oratory. A clever Illustration. A Night Suiprise. An 
 unexpected Visitor. Portentous Intelligence. A Tragic Plot. Who were the Conspirators ? The effect of the 
 intelligence upon Lincoln and his Friends. A sudden and mysterious Movement.- Lincoln safe in Washington. 
 Indignation at Baltimore. Exposition of the Plot, and how it was ferreted out. Congressional Debates. Critten- 
 den Compromise. Adjournment of Peace Conference. The Product. Hopefulness of the North. Speculations in 
 regard to Lincoln's Policy. The Inauguration. The Ceremonies. Novel Additions. Thirty-four young Ladies in 
 loving Union. A strong Military Force in Ambush. Reading of the Message. The Notables. The Crowd. The 
 Message of Lincoln. 
 
 ON the 14th of February, Abraham 
 Lincoln, of Illinois, and Hannibal Ham- 
 lin, of Maine, were declared "duly 
 
 |O/>| J 
 
 elected" President and Vice-Pres- 
 ident of the United States for the four 
 years commencing on the 4th of March, 
 1861. The senators and members of 
 Congress having been assembled in the 
 House of Representatives, and Vice- 
 President Breckinridge having taken his 
 seat at the right of the speaker, he, in 
 accordance with the Constitution, opened 
 the packages containing the electoral 
 votes of the several States, and the re- 
 sult was announced. The reading of 
 the vote of South Carolina was received 
 with an exhibition of good-humored hi- 
 larity. 
 
 Immediately after the election of Lin- 
 coln, and before it was constitutionally 
 announced, all the attention of the pub- 
 lic was concentrated upon the future 
 President. Eager office-seekers, news- 
 paper gossip-mongers, insatiate photog- 
 raphers, aspiring politicians, and civic 
 
 deputations thronged the little town of 
 Springfield, in Illinois, and beset Mr. 
 Lincoln in his humble home. With his 
 usual readiness of welcome, he had a 
 hand to shake with all comers, and none 
 went away without a good-natured word 
 and an impression of the unpretending 
 amiability and simple honesty of the new 
 President. His visitors, with a desire to 
 satisfy the insatiable curiosity of the 
 public, concentrated their powers of ob- 
 servation upon him, and took care to 
 describe with photographic minuteness 
 his every feature, word, movement, and 
 local surrounding. Through his wicket 
 gate, open to every comer, they walked, 
 unbidden, into his residence, noting each 
 clap-board of its shingly structure, and 
 reproduced in print and picture the 
 "good-sized house of wood, simply but 
 tastefully furnished, surrounded by trees 
 and flowers." Having a free run from 
 kitchen to garret, they strolled into the 
 library, cataloguing his law-books, and 
 inspecting his accounts, informed the 
 
LINCOLN PHOTOGRAPHED. 
 
 105 
 
 world that " he owes no man a dollar ;" 
 they lounged in the parlor and took an 
 inventory of Brussels carpet, sofa, pi- 
 ano, and of Mrs. Lincoln, in her newest 
 silk. They dogged Mr. Lincoln every- 
 where, from his breakfast, through the 
 town to his daily round of business, and 
 back again to his dining-table, duly re- 
 porting that " he loves a good dinner, 
 and eats with the appetite which goes 
 with a great brain, but his food is plain 
 and nutritious ; he never drinks intox- 
 icating liquors of any sort." 
 
 Meanwhile, they had fixed every line 
 and tint, every light and shadow, of the 
 man upon their memorandum-books and 
 photographic plates. Thus his fellow- 
 citizens throughout the country could 
 see at a glance that " his features, though 
 they are those of a man of mark, are not 
 such as belong to a handsome man ; that 
 his eyes are " dark grey, and fine when 
 lighted up ;" his hair black and, though 
 thin, wiry ; " his head sits well on his 
 shoulders, but beyond that, defies de- 
 scription ;" that his "head is unlike 
 either Webster or Clay's, but is very 
 large and phrenologically well propor- 
 tioned, betokening power in all its de- 
 velopments ;" that he has " a slightly 
 Roman nose, a wide-cut mouth, and a 
 dark complexion, with the appearance 
 of having been weather-beaten." 
 
 There was, however, notwithstanding 
 the free exposition of Mr. Lincoln to his 
 inquisitive visiters on most points, a res- 
 olute reticence in regard to his future 
 action toward the secession States of the 
 South. To the " hundreds of people" 
 who had flocked to Springfield and met 
 u 
 
 him at a public reception in the town- 
 hall, he frankly declared that the time 
 had not come for a definition of the 
 policy of his administration, and that 
 they must be satisfied for the present 
 with a hearty greeting, which he pro- 
 ceeded to give by "shaking hands with 
 most of the attendants."* 
 
 Public curiosity was aroused to the 
 highest pitch, and although Lincoln res- 
 olutely kept silence, some of the news- 
 papers, unable to resist the universal 
 eagerness for an oracular response, spoke 
 for him : "I will suffer," said his news- 
 paper interpreter in behalf of Lincoln, 
 " death before I will consent, or will ad- 
 vise my friends to consent, to any con- 
 cession or compromise which looks like 
 buying the privilege of taking possession 
 of this government, to which we have a 
 constitutional right, because whatever I 
 might think of the merit of the various 
 propositions before Congress, I should 
 regard any concession in the face of 
 menace the destruction of the Govern- 
 ment itself, and a consent on all hands 
 that our system shall be brought down 
 to a level with the existing disorgan- 
 ized state of affairs in Mexico. But this 
 thing will hereafter be as it is now, in 
 the hands of the people ; and if they 
 desire to call a convention to remove 
 any grievances complained of, or to 
 give new guarantees for the perma- 
 nence of vested rights, it is not mine to 
 oppose." 
 
 When his election was, however, duly 
 declared, Mr. Lincoln ventured to speak 
 for himself. On the llth of February 
 
 * New York Times, Feb. 4th, 1861. 
 
100 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 he bade farewell to his fellow-citizens at 
 Springfield in these grave words : 
 
 " MY FRIENDS : No one not in my po- 
 sition can appreciate the sadness I feel at 
 this parting. To this people I owe all 
 that I am. Here I have lived more 
 than a quarter of a century, here my 
 children were born, and here one of 
 them lies buried. I know not how soon 
 I shall see you again. A duty devolves 
 upon me which is, perhaps, greater than 
 that which has devolved upon any other 
 man since the days of Washington. He 
 never would have succeeded except for 
 the .aid of Divine Providence, upon 
 which he at all times relied. I feel that 
 I cannot succeed without the same Di- 
 vine aid which sustained him ; and in 
 the same Almighty Being I place my 
 reliance for support, and I hope you, 
 my friends, will all pray that I may re- 
 ceive that Divine assistance, without 
 which I cannot succeed, but with which 
 success is certain. Again I bid you all 
 an affectionate farewell." 
 
 This solemn leave-taking brought tears 
 into his eyes and those of his fellow-cit- 
 izens. He now commenced a triumphant 
 journey toward Washington. Crowds 
 of people, with civic deputations at their 
 head, met and welcomed him on his 
 passage through the large cities. His 
 speeches, which were frequent, showed 
 an amiable desire, though not always 
 gracefully expressed, to conciliate his 
 political opponents by yielding his par- 
 tisanship to the general interests of the 
 country, but evinced a resolute deter- 
 mination to uphold the Federal au- 
 thority against the attacks of its ene- 
 
 mies. His homely oratory was taken 
 generally in good part by those who 
 listened to it, and it occasionally, by an 
 apt illustration, struck a chord of pop- 
 ular sympathy. "In their [the seces- 
 sionists] view," he said happily at In- 
 dianapolis, " the Union, as a family 
 relation, would seem to be no regular 
 marriage, but rather a sort of free-love 
 arrangement, to be maintained on pas- 
 sional attraction." 
 
 After passing through Cincinnati, In- 
 dianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburg, Xew 
 York, and Trenton, he finally reached 
 Philadelphia. Here, to the usual pro- 
 gramme of military parade, public re- 
 ception, speech-making, and shaking of 
 hands, was added that of raising the 
 American flag upon Independence Hall, 
 the ancient seat of Congress, on Fri- 
 day, the 22d of February, the anniver- 
 sary of Washington's birthday. 
 
 On the night previous, Mr. Lincoln, 
 after having gone to bed in the hotel, 
 was aroused and informed that a visitor 
 desired to see him on " a matter of life 
 and death." He was refused admission, 
 unless he gave his name, which he did, 
 and as it was one that carried with it 
 an authority* that Mr. Lincoln was not 
 disposed to pass unheeded, he, while 
 " yet disrobed," received the visitor. 
 
 The object of this mysterious, noc- 
 turnal visit was to inform Mr. Lincoln 
 of the organization of a body of men 
 who had determined that he should not 
 be inaugurated President, and to effect 
 their purpose, were ready to capture 
 
 The visitor was, it is believed, the son of the present 
 secretary of state. 
 
LINCOLN SAFE IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 107 
 
 him or to take his life on his way to 
 Washington. Some influential persons 
 in the interests of the secessionists were 
 Fei), supposed to be implicated in the 
 23t plot. The morning's telegraph came 
 with this startling announcement : 
 
 "Statesmen laid the plan, bankers in- 
 dorsed it, and adventurers were to carry 
 it into effect. As they understood Mr. 
 Lincoln was to leave Harrisburg at nine 
 o'clock this morning by special train, 
 the idea was, if possible, to throw the 
 cars from the road at some point where 
 they would rush down a steep embank- 
 ment and destroy in a moment the lives 
 of all on board. In case of the failure 
 of this project, their plan was to sur- 
 round the carriage on the way from 
 depot to depot in Baltimore, and assas- 
 sinate him with dagger or pistol-shot." 
 
 Whatever may have been the exact 
 nature of the revelation, it was suffi- 
 ciently serious to induce his wife and 
 friends to persuade the reluctant Mr. 
 Lincoln to forego the continuance of his 
 triumphal progress of public reception, 
 flag-raising, speech-making, and hand- 
 shaking. 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln did not want to yield," 
 says the telegraph reporter, "and Col. 
 Sumner actually cried with indignation ; 
 but Mrs. Lincoln, seconded by Mr. Judd 
 F e b, and Mr. Lincoln's original inform- 
 23a ant, insisted upon it, and at nine 
 o'clock Mr. Lincoln left on a special train. 
 He wore a Scotch plaid cap and a very 
 long military cloak, so that he was en- 
 tirely unrecognizable. Accompanied by 
 Superintendent Lewis and one friend, 
 he started, while all the town, with the 
 
 exception of Mrs. Lincoln, Col. Sumner, 
 Mr. Judd, and two reporters, who were 
 sworn to secresy, supposed him to be 
 asleep. 
 
 " The telegraph wires were put be- 
 yond the reach of any one who might 
 desire to use them." 
 
 At the same moment that the world 
 was excited by this alarming intelli- 
 gence, its agitation was composed by 
 the welcome statement that Mr. Lin- 
 coln had arrived safe atWillard's Hotel, 
 in Washington, and on the same day, 
 " accompanied by Mr. Seward, had paid 
 his respects to President Buchanan" at 
 the White House. 
 
 The press and people of Baltimore 
 supposed to be friendly to secession ex- 
 pressed great disappointment and indig- 
 nation that Lincoln and his friends 
 should have manifested any distrust of 
 their hospitality. Those, however, who 
 were unquestionably loyal to the Union, 
 confessed to a riotious intent on the part 
 of some of the people of Baltimore, and 
 declared that Lincoln's proceeding was 
 "a simple and practical avoidance of 
 what might have been an occasion of 
 disorder and of mortification to all inter- 
 ested in the preservation of the good 
 name of the city."* 
 
 A detailed, and apparently authentic 
 exposition of the formation of the plot, 
 the agents employed, and the means 
 used to thwart it, appeared in one of the 
 Northern journals.f 
 
 " Some of Mr. Lincoln's friends having 
 heard that a conspiracy existed to as- 
 sassinate him on his way to Washington, 
 
 Baltimore American. 
 
 f Albany Evening Journal. 
 
108 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 set on foot an investigation of the 
 matter. For this purpose they em- 
 ployed a detective of great experience, 
 who was engaged at Baltimore in the 
 business some three weeks prior to 
 Mr. Lincoln's expected arrival there, 
 employing both men and women to 
 assist him. Shortly after his coming 
 to Baltimore, the detective discovered 
 a combination of men banded together 
 under a most solemn oath to assas- 
 sinate the President-elect. The leader 
 of the conspirators was an Italian refu- 
 gee, a barber, well-known in Balti- 
 more, who assumed the name of Orsini, 
 as indicative of the part he was to per- 
 form. The assistants employed by the 
 detective, who, like himself, were stran- 
 gers in Baltimore city, by assuming to 
 be secessionists from Louisiana and 
 other seceding States, gained the con- 
 fidence of some of the conspirators, and 
 were intrusted with their plans. It was 
 arranged in case Mr. Lincoln should 
 pass safely over the railroad to Balti- 
 more, that the conspirators should 
 mingle with the crowd which might sur- 
 round his carriage, and by pretending to 
 be his friends, be enabled to approach 
 his person, when, upon a signal from 
 their leader, some of them would shoot 
 at Mr. Lincoln with their pistols, and 
 others would throw into his carriage 
 hand-grenades filled with detonating 
 powder, similar to those used in the 
 attempted assassination of the Emperor 
 Louis Napoleon. It was intended that 
 in the confusion which should result 
 from this attack, the assailants should 
 escape to a vessel which was waiting in 
 
 the harbor to receive them, and be 
 carried to Mobile, in the seceding State 
 of Alabama. 
 
 " Upon Mr. Lincoln's arrival in Phila- 
 delphia upon Thursday, the 21st of 
 February, the detective visited Philadel- 
 phia, and submitted to certain friends of 
 the President-elect the information he 
 had collected as to the conspirators and 
 their plans. An interview was immedi- 
 ately arranged between Mr. Lincoln and 
 the detective. The interview took place 
 in Mr. Lincoln's room, in the Conti- 
 nental Hotel, where he was staying dur- 
 ing his visit in Philadelphia. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Lincoln, having heard the officer's 
 statement, informed him that he had 
 promised to raise the American flag on 
 Independence Hall on the next morning 
 the morning of the anniversary of 
 Washington's birthday and that he 
 had accepted the invitation of the 
 Pennsylvania Legislature to be publicly 
 received by that body in the afternoon 
 of the same day. ' Both of these en- 
 gagements,' said he, with emphasis, 'I 
 will keep if it costs me my life. If, 
 however, after I shall have concluded 
 these engagements, you can take me in 
 safety to Washington, I will place my- 
 self at your disposal, and authorize you 
 to make such arrangements as you may 
 deem proper for that purpose. 
 
 "On the next day, in the morning, 
 Mr. Lincoln performed the ceremony of 
 raising the American flag on Indepen- 
 dence Hall, in Philadelphia, according 
 to his promise, and arrived at Harrisburg 
 on the afternoon of the same day, where 
 he was formally welcomed by the Penn- 
 
THE ASSASSINS' PLOT. 
 
 109 
 
 sylvania Legislature. After the recep- 
 tion, he retired to his hotel, the Jones 
 House, and withdrew with a few con- 
 fidential friends to a private apartment. 
 Here he remained until nearly six o'clock 
 in the evening, when, in company with 
 Colonel Lamon, he quietly entered a 
 carriage without observation, and was 
 driven to the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
 where a special train for Philadelphia 
 was waiting for him. Simultaneously 
 with his departure from Harrisburg, the 
 telegraph wires were cut, so that his 
 departure, if it should become known, 
 might not be communicated at a dis- 
 tance. 
 
 "The special train arrived in Phila- 
 delphia at a quarter to eleven at night. 
 Here he was met by the detective, who 
 had a carriage in readiness into which 
 the party entered, and were driven to 
 the depot of the Philadelphia, Wil- 
 mington, and Baltimore Railroad. 
 
 ' ' They did not reach the depot until 
 a quarter past eleven ; but, fortunately 
 for them, the regular train, the hour of 
 which for starting was eleven, had been 
 delayed. The party then took berths 
 in the sleeping car, and without change 
 of cars passed directly through to 
 Washington, where they arrived at the 
 usual hour, half-past six o'clock, on the 
 morning of Saturday the 23d. Mr. 
 Lincoln wore no disguise whatever, but 
 journeyed in an ordinary traveling 
 dress. 
 
 " It is proper to state here that, prior 
 to Mr. Lincoln's arrival in Philadelphia, 
 General Scott and Senator Seward, in 
 Washington, had been apprised, from 
 
 independent sources, that imminent dan- 
 ger threatened Mr. Lincoln in case he 
 should publicly pass through Baltimore 
 and accordingly a special messenger, 
 Mr. Frederick W. Seward, a son of Sena- 
 tor Seward, was dispatched to Philadel- 
 phia, to urge Mr. Lincoln to come direct 
 to Washington, in a quiet manner. The 
 messenger arrived in Philadelphia late 
 on Thursday night, and had an interview 
 with the President-elect, immediately 
 subsequent to his interview with the 
 detective. He was informed that Mr. 
 Lincoln would arrive by the early train 
 on Saturday morning, and, in accord- 
 ance with this information, Mr. Wash- 
 burn, member of Congress from Illinois, 
 awaited the President-elect at the depot 
 in Washington, whence he was taken in 
 a carriage to Willard's Hotel, where 
 Senator Seward stood ready to receive 
 him. 
 
 "The detective traveled with Mr. Lin- 
 coln under the name of E. J. Allen, which 
 name was registered with the President- 
 elect's on the book at Willard's Hotel. 
 Being a well-known individual, he was 
 speedily recognized, and suspicion nat- 
 urally arose that he had been instru- 
 mental in exposing the plot which caused 
 Mr. Lincoln's hurried journey. It was 
 deemed prudent that he should leave 
 Washington two days after his arrival, 
 although he had intended to remain 
 and witness the ceremonies of inaugu- 
 ration. 
 
 "The friends of Mr. Lincoln do not 
 question the loyalty and hospitality of 
 the people of Maryland, but they were 
 aware that a few disaffected citizens 
 
110 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 who sympathized warmly with the se- 
 cessionists, were determined to frus- 
 trate, at all hazards, the inauguration 
 of the President-elect, even at the cost 
 of his life. 
 
 " The characters and pursuits of the 
 conspirators were various. Some of 
 them were impelled by a fanatical zeal 
 which they termed patriotism, and they 
 justified their acts by the example of 
 Brutus, in ridding his country of a ty- 
 rant. One of them was accustomed to 
 recite passages put into the mouth of 
 the character of Brutus, in Shakspeare's 
 play of "Julius Caesar." Others were 
 stimulated by the offer of pecuniary re- 
 ward. These, it was observed, staid 
 away from their usual places of work 
 for several weeks prior to the intended 
 assault. Although their circumstances 
 had previously rendered them depend- 
 ent on their daily labor for support, 
 they were during this time abundantly 
 supplied with money, which they squan- 
 dered in bar-rooms and disreputable 
 places. 
 
 " After the discovery of the plot, a 
 strict watch was kept by the agents of 
 detection over the movements of the 
 conspirators, and efficient measures were 
 adopted to guard against any attack 
 which they might meditate upon the 
 President-elect until he was installed in 
 office. 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln's family left Harrisburg 
 for Baltimore, on their way to Wash- 
 ington, in the special train intended for 
 him. And as, before starting, a mes- 
 sage announcing Mr. Lincoln's depart- 
 ure and arrival at Washington had been 
 
 telegraphed to Baltimore over the wires, 
 which had been repaired that morning, 
 the passage through Baltimore was safely 
 effected. 
 
 "The remark of Mr. Lincoln, during 
 the ceremony of raising the flag on In- 
 dependence Hall on Friday morning, 
 that he would assert his principles on 
 his inauguration, although he were to 
 be assassinated on the spot, had evident 
 reference to the communication made to 
 him by the detective on the night pre- 
 ceding. 
 
 " The names of the conspirators will 
 not at present be divulged ; but they 
 are in possession of responsible parties, 
 including the President. 
 
 "The number originally ascertained 
 to be banded together for the assassina- 
 tion of Mr. Lincoln was twenty ; but 
 the number of those who were fully ap- 
 prised of the details of the plot became 
 daily smaller as the time for executing 
 it drew near. 
 
 "Some of the women employed by 
 the detective went to serve as waiters, 
 seamstresses, etc., in the families of the 
 conspirators, and a record was regularly 
 kept of what was said and done to fur- 
 ther their enterprise. A record was 
 also kept by the detective of their de- 
 liberations in secret conclave, but, for 
 sufficient reasons, it is withheld for the 
 present from publication. The detec- 
 tive and his agents regularly contributed 
 money to pay the expenses of the con- 
 spiracy." 
 
 In the mean time, while the tri- 
 umphal progress of Mr. Lincoln was 
 brought to so inglorious a close by his 
 
THE PEACE CONFERENCE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 forced flight to the capital, and the 
 country was rejoicing at his escape from 
 his enemies, the Senate was busily at 
 work striving, by excited debate and 
 discordant motions, to compose the 
 country. The " Crittenden Comprom- 
 ise" continued to be the main subject 
 of discussion, which promised to be in- 
 definitely protracted by the perplexing 
 amendments of the secessionists on the 
 one hand, and the Republicans on the 
 other. The "Peace Conference," too, 
 Feb. was m constant session, and after a 
 27. long labor finally adjourned sine 
 die, after having brought forth a propo- 
 sition of compromise which was destined 
 to prove, like the rest, but an abortive 
 attempt to conciliate discordant factions. 
 The more important points of this plan 
 were embraced in these two sections of 
 the thirteenth article : 
 
 11 Sec. 1. In all the present territory 
 of the United States north of the par- 
 allel of 36 degrees 30 minutes of north 
 latitude, involuntary servitude, except 
 as punishment of crime, is prohibited. 
 In all the present territory south of that 
 line the status of persons held to service 
 or labor, as it now exists, shall not be 
 changed. Nor shall any law be passed 
 by Congress or the territorial legis- 
 lature to hinder or prevent the taking 
 of such persons from any of the States 
 of the Union to said territory, nor to 
 impair the rights arising from said rela- 
 tion. But the same shall be subject 
 to judicial cognizance in the Federal 
 courts, according to the course of the 
 common law. When any territory, 
 north or south of said line, with such 
 
 boundary as Congress may prescribe, 
 shall contain a pop Jation equal to that 
 required for a member of Congress, it 
 shall, if its form of government be re- 
 publican, be admitted into the Union 
 on an equal footing with the original 
 States, with or without involuntary serv- 
 itude, as the constitution of such State 
 may provide. 
 
 " Sec. 2. Territory shall not be ac- 
 quired by the United States, unless by 
 treaty ; nor, except for naval and com- 
 mercial stations and depots, unless such 
 treaty shall be ratified by four-fifths of 
 all the members of the Senate." 
 
 The other articles prohibited Con- 
 gress from abolishing slavery in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia without the consent 
 of Maryland and of the owners, and 
 without making due compensation ; from 
 abolishing slavery in the United States 
 dock-yards ; and from taxing slaves high- 
 er than land. One article prohibited the 
 slave-trade forever ; and another aimed 
 at a more thorough execution of the 
 Fugitive Slave law. 
 
 These propositions of the peace con- 
 ference seemed to meet with no more 
 favor than the other attempts to har- 
 monize the discordant opinions of the 
 Senate. The people of the North, how- 
 ever, were still hopeful, though they 
 despaired of the efficacy of congres- 
 sional action. It was to the future Pres- 
 ident that the universal attention was 
 directed. Various speculations were in- 
 dulged in, in regard to his policy ; but 
 while some believed that it would be 
 conciliatory or conservative, as they 
 termed it, and others, that it would 
 
112 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 be in strict conformity with his party 
 pledges and fatal t > all hopes of com- 
 promise, none doused that the power 
 of the Federal authority would be as- 
 serted by the new President with more 
 firmness than it had been by his prede- 
 cessor. 
 
 The day for the inauguration of the 
 new President came. The usual cere- 
 March monies were observed, with the 
 ** addition, however, of some de- 
 tails peculiar to the times. While " thir- 
 ty-four young ladies in white, seated in 
 a van, labeled Constitution," ostenta- 
 tiously represented the sisterly union of 
 the thirt}r-four States in the public pro- 
 cession, a considerable force of regulars 
 and militia had, by the cautious previ- 
 sion of the veteran commander-in-chief, 
 Lieutenant-General Scott, been secretly 
 disposed, so as to be in readiness to sup- 
 press any hostile attempt to disturb the 
 national programme. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln having reached, in corn- 
 pany with President Buchanan, the plat- 
 form on the portico of the Capitol, where 
 the judges of the Supreme Court, the 
 senators, and members of the House of 
 Representatives, the foreign ambassa- 
 dors, and other notable persons had as- 
 sembled, was formally introduced to the 
 twenty-five thousand people gathered 
 below, and in " a clear, strong voice" 
 proceeded to read his inaugural : 
 " FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 "In compliance with a custom as old 
 as the Government itself, I appear be- 
 fore you to address you briefly, and to 
 take, in your presence, the oath pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution of the United 
 
 States to be taken by the President be- 
 fore he enters on the execution of his 
 office. 
 
 " I do not consider it necessary, at 
 present, for me to discuss those matters 
 of administration about which there is 
 no special anxiety or excitement. Ap- 
 prehension seems to exist among the 
 people of the Southern States that, by 
 the accession of a Republican adminis- 
 tration, their property, and their peace, 
 and personal security are to be endan- 
 gered. There has never been any rea- 
 sonable cause for such apprehension. 
 Indeed, the most ample evidence to the 
 contrary has all the while existed and 
 been open to their inspection. It is 
 found in nearly all the published speeches 
 of him who now addresses you. I do 
 but quote from one of those speeches, 
 when I declare that ' I have no pur- 
 pose, directly or indirectly, to interfere 
 with the institution of slavery in the 
 States where it exists.' I believe I 
 have no lawful right to do so, and I 
 have no inclination to do so. Those 
 who nominated and elected me, did so 
 with the full knowledge that I had made 
 this, and made many similar declara- 
 tions, and had never recanted them. 
 And more than this, they placed in the 
 platform, for my acceptance, and as a 
 law to themselves and to me, the clear 
 and emphatic resolution which I now 
 read : 
 
 ' ' ' Resolved, That the maintenance in- 
 violate of the rights of the States, and 
 especially the right of each State to or- 
 der and control its own domestic insti- 
 tions according to its own judgment ex- 
 
LINCOLN ON FUGITIVE SLAVES. 
 
 113 
 
 clusively, is essential to that balance of 
 power on which the perfection and en- 
 durance of our political fabric depend ; 
 and we denounce the lawless invasion 
 by armed force of the soil of any State 
 or Territory, no matter under what pre- 
 text, as among the gravest of crimes.' 
 
 " I now reiterate these sentiments ; 
 and in doing so I only press upon the 
 public attention the most conclusive evi- 
 dence of which the case is susceptible, 
 that the property, peace, and security 
 of no section are to be in anywise en- 
 dangered by the now incoming admin- 
 istration. 
 
 "I add, too, that all the protection 
 which, consistently with the Constitu- 
 tion and the laws, can be given, will be 
 cheerfully given to all the States when 
 lawfully demanded, for whatever cause, 
 as cheerfully to one section as to an- 
 other. 
 
 ' ' There is much controversy about the 
 delivering up of fugitives from service 
 or labor. The clause I now read is as 
 plainly written in the Constitution as 
 any other of its provisions : 
 
 " ' No person held to service or labor 
 in one State under the laws thereof, 
 escaping into another, shall, in conse- 
 quence of any law or regulation therein, 
 be discharged from such service or 
 labor, but shall be delivered up on 
 claim of the party to whom such service 
 or labor may be due.' 
 
 "It is scarcely questioned that this 
 provision was intended by those who 
 made it for the reclaiming of what we 
 call fugitive slaves ; and the intention 
 of the lawgiver is the law. 
 
 15 
 
 "All members of Congress swear 
 their support to the whole Constitution 
 to this provision as well as any other. 
 To the proposition, then, that slaves 
 whose cases come within the terms of 
 this clause ' shall be delivered up,' their 
 oaths are unanimous. Now, if they 
 would make the effort in good temper, 
 could they not, with nearly equal unan- 
 imity, frame and pass a law by means 
 of which to keep good that unanimous 
 oath? 
 
 ' ' There is some difference of opinion 
 whether this clause should be enforced 
 by national or by state authority ; but 
 surely that difference is not a very 
 material one. If the slave is to be sur- 
 rendered, it can be of but little conse- 
 quence to him or to others by which 
 authority it is done ; and should any 
 one, in any case, be content that this 
 oath shall go unkept on a merely un- 
 substantial controversy as to how it shall 
 be kept? 
 
 " Again, in any law upon this subject, 
 ought not all the safeguards of liberty 
 known in the civilized and humane ju- 
 risprudence to be introduced, so that a 
 free man be not, in any case, surren- 
 dered as a slave ? And might it not be 
 well at the same time to provide by law 
 for the enforcement of that clause in the 
 Constitution which guaranties that ' the 
 citizens of each State shall be entitled 
 to all the privileges and immunities of 
 citizens in the several States ?' 
 
 " I take the official oath to-day with 
 no mental reservations, and with no 
 purpose to construe the Constitution or 
 laws by any hypercritical rules ; and 
 
114 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 while I do not choose now to specify 
 particular acts of Congress as proper to 
 be enforced, I do suggest that it will be 
 much safer for all, both in official and 
 private stations, to conform to and abide 
 by all those acts which stand unrepealed, 
 than to violate any of them, trusting to 
 find impunity in having them held to be 
 unconstitutional . 
 
 "It is seventy-two years since the 
 first inauguration of a President under 
 our national Constitution. During that 
 period fifteen different and very distin- 
 guished citizens have in succession ad- 
 ministered the executive branch of the 
 Government. They have conducted it 
 through many perils, and generally with 
 great success. Yet, with all this scope 
 for precedent, I now enter upon the 
 same task, for the brief constitutional 
 term of four years, under great and 
 peculiar difficulties. 
 
 "A disruption of the Federal Union, 
 heretofore only menaced, is now formi- 
 dably attempted. I hold that in the con- 
 templation of universal law and of the 
 Constitution, the union of these States 
 is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if 
 not expressed, in the fundamental law 
 of all national governments. It is safe 
 to assert that no government proper 
 ever had a provision in its organic law 
 for its own termination. Continue to 
 execute all the express provisions of our 
 national Constitution, and the Union 
 will endure forever, it being impossible 
 to destroy it except by some action not 
 provided for in the instrument itself. 
 
 1 ' Again : if the United States be not 
 a government proper, but an association 
 
 of States in the nature of a contract 
 merely, can it, as a contract, be peace- 
 ably unmade by less than all the parties 
 who made it ? One party to a contract 
 may violate it break it, so to speak ; 
 but does it not require all to lawfully 
 rescind it ? Descending from these gen- 
 eral principles, we find the proposition 
 that in legal contemplation the Union is 
 perpetual, confirmed by the history of 
 the Union itself. 
 
 " The Union is much older than the 
 Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by 
 the Articles of Association in 1774. It 
 was matured and continued in the Dec- 
 laration of Independence in 1776. It 
 was further matured, and the faith of 
 all the then thirteen States expressly 
 plighted and engaged that it should be 
 perpetual, by the Articles of Confedera- 
 tion, in 1778 ; and, finally, in 1787, one 
 of the declared objects for ordaining and 
 establishing the Constitution was to form 
 a more perfect Union. But if the de- 
 struction of the Union by one or by a 
 part only of the States be lawfully pos- 
 sible, the Union is less than before, the 
 Constitution having lost the vital ele- 
 ment of perpetuity. 
 
 "It follows from these views that no 
 State, upon its own mere motion, can 
 lawfully get out of the Union ; that re- 
 solves and ordinances to that effect are 
 legally void ; and that acts of violence 
 within any State or States against the 
 authority of the United States, are in- 
 surrectionary or revolutionary, accord- 
 ing to circumstances. 
 
 " I therefore consider that in view of 
 the Constitution and the laws, the Union 
 
WHAT LINCOLN WILL DO. 
 
 115 
 
 is unbroken, and, to the extent of my abil- 
 ity, I shall take care, as the Constitution 
 itself expressly enjoins upon me, that 
 the laws of the Union shall be faithfully 
 executed in all the States. Doing this, 
 which I deem to be only a simple duty 
 on my part, I shall perfectly perform 
 it, so far as is practicable, unless my 
 rightful masters, the American people, 
 shall withhold the requisition, or in 
 some authoritative manner direct the 
 contrary. 
 
 " I trust this will not be regarded as 
 a menace, but only as the declared pur- 
 pose of the Union that it will constitu- 
 tionally defend and maintain itself. 
 
 " In doing this there need be no 
 bloodshed nor violence, and there shall 
 be none, unless it is forced upon the na- 
 tional authority. 
 
 " The power confided to me will be 
 used to hold, occupy, and possess the prop- 
 erty and places belonging to the Govern- 
 ment, and collect the duties and im- 
 posts ; but beyond what may be neces- 
 sary for these objects, there will be no 
 invasion, no using of force against or 
 among the people anywhere. 
 
 " Where hostility to the United States 
 shall be so great and so universal as to 
 prevent competent resident citizens from 
 holding the Federal offices, there will be 
 no attempt to force obnoxious strangers 
 among the people that object. While 
 the strict legal right may exist of the 
 Government to enforce the exercise of 
 these offices, the attempt to do so would 
 be so irritating, and so nearly impracti- 
 cable withal, that I deem it better to fore- 
 go for the time the uses of such offices. 
 
 "The mails, unless repelled, will con- 
 tinue to be furnished in all parts of the 
 Union. 
 
 " So far as possible, the people every- 
 where shall have that sense of perfect 
 security which is most favorable to calm 
 thought and reflection. 
 
 "The course here indicated will be 
 followed, unless current events and ex- 
 perience shall show a modification or 
 change to be proper ; and in every case 
 and exigency my best discretion will be 
 exercised according to the circumstances 
 actually existing, and with a view and 
 hope of a peaceful solution of the na- 
 tional troubles, and the restoration of 
 fraternal sympathies and affections. 
 
 "That there are persons, in one sec- 
 tion or another, who seek to destroy the 
 Union at all events, and are glad of any 
 pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor 
 deny. But if there be such, I need ad- 
 dress no word to them. 
 
 "To those, however, who really love 
 the Union, may I not speak, before en- 
 tering upon so grave a matter as the 
 destruction of our national fabric, with 
 all its benefits, its memories, and its 
 hopes ? Would it not be well to ascer- 
 tain why we do it ? Will you hazard so 
 desperate a step while any portion of 
 the ills you fly from have no real exist- 
 ence ? Will you while the certain ills 
 you fly to are greater than all the real 
 ones you fly from will you risk the 
 commission of so fearful a mistake ? 
 All profess to be content in the Union 
 if all constitutional rights can be main- 
 tained. Is it true, then, that any right, 
 plainly written in the Constitution, has 
 
116 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 been denied ? I think not. Happily 
 the human mind is so constituted, that 
 no party can reach to the audacity of 
 doing this. 
 
 " Think, if you can, of a single in- 
 stance in which a plainly written pro- 
 vision of the Constitution has ever been 
 denied. If, by the mere force of num- 
 bers, a majority should deprive a mi- 
 nority of any clearly written constitu- 
 tional right, it might, in a moral point 
 of view, justify revolution ; it certainly 
 would if such right were a vital one. 
 But such is not our case. 
 
 ' ' All the vital rights of minorities and 
 of individuals are so plainly assured to 
 them by affirmations and negations, guar- 
 antees and prohibitions in the Constitu- 
 tion, that controversies never arise con- 
 cerning them. But no organic law can 
 ever be framed with a provision specif- 
 ically applicable to every question which 
 may occur in practical administration. 
 No foresight can anticipate, nor any doc- 
 ument of reasonable length contain, ex- 
 press provisions for all possible questions. 
 Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered 
 by national or by State authorities ? The 
 Constitution does not expressly say. 
 Must Congress protect slavery in the 
 Territories ? The Constitution does not 
 expressly say. From questions of this 
 class spring all our constitutional con- 
 troversies, and we divide upon them into 
 majorities and minorities. 
 
 "If the minority will not acquiesce, 
 the majority must, or the Government 
 must cease. There is no alternative for 
 continuing the Government but acqui- 
 escence on the one side or the other. 
 
 If a minority in such a case will secede 
 rather than acquiesce, they make a pre- 
 cedent which in turn will ruin and di- 
 vide them, for a minority of their own 
 will secede from them whenever a ma- 
 jority refuses to be controlled by such 
 a minority. For instance, why not any 
 portion of a new confederacy, a year or 
 two hence, arbitrarily secede again, pre- 
 cisely as portions of the present Union 
 now claim to secede from it ? All who 
 cherish disunion sentiments are now 
 being educated to the exact temper of 
 doing this. Is there such perfect iden- 
 tity of interests among the States to 
 compose a new Union as to produce 
 harmony only, and prevent renewed 
 secession ? Plainly the central idea of 
 secession is the essence of anarchy. 
 
 " A majority held in restraint by con- 
 stitutional check and limitation, and 
 always changing easily with deliberate 
 changes of popular opinions and senti- 
 ments, is the only true sovereign of a 
 free people. Whoever rejects it, does, 
 of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despot- 
 ism. Unanimity is impossible ; the rule 
 of a majority, as a permanent arrange- 
 ment, is wholly inadmissible. So that, 
 rejecting the majority principle, anarchy 
 or despotism in some form is all that is 
 left. 
 
 " I do not forget the position assumed 
 by some, that constitutional questions 
 are to be decided by the Supreme Court, 
 nor do I deny that such decisions must 
 be binding in any case upon the parties 
 to a suit as to the object of that suit, 
 while they are also entitled to very high 
 respect and consideration in all parallel 
 
B1POSSIBILITY OF SEPARATION. 
 
 117 
 
 cases by all other departments of the 
 Government ; and while it is obviously 
 possible that such decision may be erro- 
 neous in any given case, still the evil 
 effect following it, being limited to that 
 particular case, with the chance that it 
 may be overruled and never become a 
 precedent for other cases, can better be 
 borne than could the evils of a different 
 practice. 
 
 ' ' At the same time the candid citizen 
 must confess that if the policy of the 
 Government upon the vital questions 
 affecting the whole people is to be irre- 
 vocably fixed by the decisions of the 
 Supreme Court, the instant they are 
 made, as in ordinary litigation between 
 parties in personal actions, the people 
 will have ceased to be their own masters, 
 unless having to that extent practically 
 resigned their government into the 
 hands of that eminent tribunal. 
 
 " Nor is there in this view any assault 
 upon the court or the judges. It is a 
 duty from which they may not shrink, 
 to decide cases properly brought before 
 them ; and it is no fault of theirs if 
 others seek to turn their decisions to 
 political purposes. One section of our 
 country believes slavery is right and 
 ought to be extended, while the other 
 believes it is wrong and ought not to be 
 extended ; and this is the only substan- 
 tial dispute ; and the fugitive slave 
 clause of the Constitution, and the law 
 for the suppression of the foreign slave- 
 trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, 
 as any law can ever be in a community 
 where the moral sense of the people 
 imperfectly supports the law itself. The 
 
 great body of the people abide by the 
 dry legal obligation in both cases, and a 
 few break over in each. This, I think, 
 cannot be perfectly cured, and it would 
 be worse in both cases after the separa- 
 tion of the sections than before. The 
 foreign slave trade, now imperfectly 
 suppressed, would be ultimately revived, 
 without restriction, in one section ; 
 while fugitive slaves, now only partially 
 surrendered, would not be surrendered 
 at all by the other. 
 
 "Physically speaking, we cannot sepa- 
 rate we cannot remove our respective 
 sections from each other, nor build an 
 impassable wall between them. A hus- 
 band and wife may be divorced, and go 
 out of the presence and beyond the 
 reach of each other, but the different 
 parts of our country cannot do this. 
 They cannot but remain face to face ; 
 and intercourse, either amicable or 
 hostile, must continue between them. 
 Is it possible, then, to make that inter- 
 course more advantageous or more satis- 
 factory after separation than before ? 
 Can aliens make treaties easier than 
 friends can make laws ? Can treaties 
 be more faithfully enforced between 
 aliens than laws can among friends? 
 Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight 
 always ; and when, after much loss on 
 both sides and no gain on either, you 
 cease fighting, the identical questions as 
 to terms of intercourse are again upon 
 you. 
 
 "This country, with its institutions, 
 belongs to the people who inhabit it. 
 Whenever they shall grow weary of the 
 existing government, they can exercise 
 
118 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 their constitutional right of amending, 
 or their revolutionary right to dis- 
 member or overthrow it. I cannot be 
 ignorant of the fact that many worthy 
 and patriotic citizens are desirous 
 of having the national Constitution 
 amended. While I make no recom- 
 mendation of amendment, I fully recog- 
 nize the full authority of the people 
 over the whole -subject, to be exercised 
 in either of the modes prescribed in the 
 instrument itself, and I should, under 
 existing circumstances, favor, rather 
 than oppose, a fair opportunity being 
 afforded the people to act upon it. 
 
 "I will venture to add, that to me 
 the convention mode seems preferable, 
 in that it allows amendments to orig- 
 inate with the people themselves, in- 
 stead of only permitting them to take 
 or reject propositions originated by oth- 
 ers not especially chosen for the pur- 
 pose, and which might not be precisely 
 such as they would wish either to ac- 
 cept or refuse. I understand that a 
 proposed amendment to the Constitu- 
 tion (which amendment, however, I 
 have not seen) has passed Congress, to 
 the effect that the Federal Government 
 shall never interfere with the domestic 
 institutions of States, including that of 
 persons held to service. To avoid mis- 
 construction of what I have said, I de- 
 part from my purpose not to speak of 
 particular amendments, so far as to say 
 that, holding such a provision to now 
 be implied constitutional law, I have no 
 objection to its being made express and 
 irrevocable. 
 
 "The chief magistrate derives all his 
 
 authority from the people, and they 
 have conferred none upon him to fix 
 the terms for the separation of the 
 States. The people themselves, also, 
 can do this if they choose, but the Ex- 
 ecutive, as such, has nothing to do with 
 it. His duty is to administer the pres- 
 ent Government as it came to his hands, 
 and to transmit it unimpaired by him to 
 his successor. Why should there not be 
 a patient confidence in the ultimate jus- 
 tice of the people ? Is there any better 
 or equal hope in the world ? In our 
 present differences, is either party with- 
 out faith of being in the right ? If the 
 Almighty Ruler of nations, with his eter- 
 nal truth and justice, be on your side 
 of the North, or on yours of the South, 
 that truth and that justice will surely 
 prevail by the judgment of this great 
 tribunal, the American people. By the 
 frame of the Government under which 
 we live, this same people have wisely 
 given their public servants but little 
 power for mischief, and have with equal 
 wisdom provided for the return of that 
 little to their own hands at very short 
 intervals. While the people retain their 
 virtue and vigilance, no administration, 
 by any extreme wickedness or folly, can 
 very seriously injure the Government in 
 the short space of four years. 
 
 " My countrymen, one and all, think 
 calmly and well upon this whole sub- 
 ject. Nothing valuable can be lost by 
 taking time. 
 
 " If there be an object to hurry any 
 of you, in hot haste, to a step which you 
 would never take deliberately, that ob- 
 ject will be frustrated by taking time ; 
 
EFFECT OF LINCOLN'S MESSAGE. 
 
 119 
 
 but 110 good object can be frustrated 
 by it. 
 
 " Such of you as are now dissatisfied 
 still have the old Constitution unim- 
 paired, and on the sensitive point, the 
 laws of your own framing under it ; 
 while the new administration will have 
 no immediate power, if it would, to 
 change either. 
 
 "If it were admitted that you who 
 are dissatisfied hold the right side in the 
 dispute, there is still no single reason 
 for precipitate action. Intelligence, pa- 
 triotism, Christianity, and a firm reli- 
 ance on Him who has never yet forsaken 
 this favored land, are still competent to 
 adjust, in the best way, all our present 
 difficulties. 
 
 " In your hands, my dissatisfied fel- 
 low-countrymen, and not in mine, is the 
 
 momentous issue of civil war. The 
 Government will not assail you. 
 
 " You can have no conflict without 
 being yourselves the aggressors. You 
 have no oath registered in heaven to 
 destroy the Government, while I shall 
 have the most solemn one to "preserve, 
 protect, and defend" it. 
 
 " I am loth to close. We are not 
 enemies, but friends. We must not be 
 enemies. Though passion may have 
 strained, it must not break our bonds 
 of affection. 
 
 ' ' The mystic cords of memory, stretch- 
 ing from every battle-field and patriot 
 grave to every living heart and hearth- 
 stone all over this broad land, will yet 
 swell the chorus of the Union, when 
 again touched, as surely they will be, 
 by the better angels of our nature." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The opinion of the Secessionists on the Message. The opinion of the Unionists. Unanimous satisfaction at the exit 
 of Buchanan. The fate of Buchanan. A Nation's Reproach. Difficulty of forming a Judgment. What were the 
 Motives of his conduct. A fatal Administration. Life of Buchanan. Birth. Origin. Early Education. Political 
 Career. Member of the Legislature. Minister to Kussia. United States Senator. Adherent of General Jackson. 
 Opposed to Nullification. Political friend of Van Buren. Supporter of his Policy. Rallies to the support of Tyler. 
 In favor of the Recognition of Texas. An advocate of the War with Mexico. Secretary of State under Polk. 
 Retirement to Private Life. Opposed to the Wilmot Proviso. Advocates Compromises. Ambassador to Great 
 Britain. The famous Ostend Conference. Its Manifesto. Return to the United States. Candidate for President- 
 Elected President. Public Confidence. His conduct in regard to Kansas. Charged with Partisanship. Secession 
 of Six States from the Union. Historic importance of Buchanan. Could Buchanan have checked the Rebellion ? 
 Why he did not. Last act of his Administration. Opinion of Free Traders of his signing the Morrill Tariff. The 
 two Patriots in his Cabinet. Lincoln's Cabinet. Its party character. William H. Seward. His Life. Education. 
 Political Career. Character and Personal Appearance. Salmon Portland Chase. His Birth. Education. Pro- 
 fessional success. Opinions on Slavery. Political Career. Character. Simon Cameron. His Origin. Influence 
 in Pennsylvania. His Character. Gideon Welles : his Career and Character. Montgomery Blair : his Career and 
 Character. Edward Bates : his Career and Character. Caleb B. Smith : his Career and Character. 
 
 WHILE the secessionists pronounced 
 the message of President Lincoln war- 
 like, and affected great indignation, and 
 
 even in Baltimore some of the daily 
 journals declared it " sectional and mis- 
 chievous," the unionists accepted the 
 
120 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 document as firm, but conservative. 
 Those in North Carolina who were still 
 clear of the heresy of secession, wel- 
 comed it as a hopeful indication of the 
 peace policy of the administration ; and 
 while in Missouri the exponent "of one 
 party declared that it "met the highest 
 expectations of the country, both in point 
 of statesmanship and patriotism," that 
 of another expressed its disappointment 
 at not having " a more conservative and 
 conciliatory expression of sentiments." 
 
 Whatever may have been the differ- 
 ence of opinion in regard to Lincoln, 
 there was a unanimous feeling of satis- 
 faction, among all who continued loyal 
 to the Union, that Buchanan was no 
 longer President. 
 
 Whatever may be his hope of justifi- 
 cation by posterity, Buchanan must 
 resign himself for the present to the 
 reproach of an- afflicted people. With 
 his administration will always be asso- 
 ciated those complicated ills of factious 
 and corrupt government, vacillating and 
 contemned authority, to which are owing 
 the present civil strife and the arrested 
 progress of the country. It would be 
 difficult in the heat of war and under 
 the pressure of national suffering to as- 
 sume that equanimity of temper or reach 
 that elevated height necessary to a broad 
 and dispassionate judgment of the de- 
 gree of responsibility to be attached to 
 the head of an administration which has 
 proved so fatal to the country. 
 
 Whether his conduct is to be attrib- 
 uted to habitual partisanship, evil coun- 
 sel, corrupt motive, or senile weakness, 
 cannot be easily determined. To the 
 
 direful results of his administration, 
 however, President Buchanan can tri- 
 umphantly oppose a previous career of 
 prosperous statesmanship and a private 
 life of unquestioned purity. 
 
 James Buchanan, the fifteenth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, was born at 
 Stony Batter, in Franklin County, Penn- 
 sylvania, on the 22d of April, 1791. 
 His father was an Irishman who emi- 
 grated to America in 1783. His mother, 
 however, Elizabeth Spear, was the 
 daughter of a Pennsylvania farmer. In 
 spite of the poverty of his parents, their 
 son was sent to Dickinson College, where 
 he graduated with the honors of his 
 class. In 1812 he began to practice 
 law at Lancaster, and with such success, 
 that he retired, at the age of forty, with 
 a fair competence. At twenty-three 
 years of age he was" elected a member 
 of the Legislature. In 1820 he first 
 entered Congress, and continued to 
 serve until 1831, when he resigned, and 
 was appointed minister to Russia by 
 President Jackson, to whom he was a 
 faithful adherent. In 1833 he returned, 
 and was elected United States senator 
 from Pennsylvania, and continued a firm 
 supporter of Jackson's policy. He stood 
 firmly by the President in his successful 
 conflicts with the United States Bank 
 and the nullification of South Carolina. 
 During the agitation in 1835 of the 
 question of the abolition of slavery in 
 the District of Columbia, he advocated 
 the reception by Congress of petitions 
 in its favor, but strove to resist their 
 effect by the introduction of an act de- 
 claring that Congress had no power to 
 

LIFE OF BUCHANAN. 
 
 121 
 
 legislate upon the subject. Buchanan 
 gave to President Yan Buren the same 
 uncompromising political support that 
 he had given to his predecessor. 
 
 On the change of policy effected by 
 President Tyler, after the death of Har- 
 rison, Buchanan rallied to the support 
 of the administration ; he advocated the 
 recognition of the independence of Texas, 
 as he subsequently did its admission into 
 the Union and the consequent war with 
 Mexico. Under President Polk he be- 
 came secretary of state, and at the ex- 
 piration of the Presidential term retired 
 to private life. He, however, used his 
 great political influence in opposition to 
 the Wilmot proviso, and in favor of an 
 extension to the Pacific Ocean of the 
 Missouri Compromise line of latitude 
 36 degrees 30 minutes north. On the 
 accession of Pierce to the Presidency, 
 Buchanan was appointed ambassador to 
 Great Britain. It was while thus serv- 
 ing that he joined with the United States 
 minister to Paris, and Pierre Soule, the 
 minister to Madrid, in forming the no- 
 table Ostend Conference, the object of 
 which was to^ induce Spain to sell Cuba. 
 
 A memorandum of the proceedings 
 of the conference was published, and 
 has been dignified with the title of a 
 protocol. This set forth the import- 
 ance of Cuba, commercially and de- 
 fensively, to the United States ; the 
 advantage to Spain in consenting to 
 receive compensation for a possession 
 the prolonged tenure of which was so 
 uncertain, and the necessity in case the 
 island should fall under the control, like 
 St. Domingo, of its African population 
 
 16 
 
 of the interference of the United States 
 to secure the Southern slave States from 
 so dangerous a neighborhood of free 
 negroes. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan returned to the United 
 States in the spring of 1856, and in the 
 following June was unanimously nom- 
 inated, by the Democratic Convention 
 at Cincinnati, candidate for President. 
 In November he was elected by the 
 electoral vote of nineteen States. Upon 
 his accession to office there was a gen- 
 eral willingness to concede to him a dis- 
 position to repress sectional differences 
 and to administer the Government with 
 a national spirit. His administration, 
 however, served only to reinvigorate 
 factious dispute, and the Republican 
 party attacked him with great animosity 
 for his partisan efforts to secure the ad- 
 mission of Kansas as a slave State. 
 
 The most momentous event, however, 
 during Buchanan's administration, was 
 the secession of six States from the Union. 
 This will always give him an historic 
 importance, and serve to make his char- 
 acter and conduct subjects of the deep- 
 est interest to the investigator of the 
 causes of the civil war initiated during 
 his Presidency. 
 
 " That Buchanan could have checked 
 the fatal movement [the rebellion], no 
 one can affirm ; but that it was his duty 
 to make the effort, few will deny. That 
 he did not do so, is attributed by some 
 to corrupt connivance with the conspir- 
 ators who shared his counsels ; by some, 
 to the timidity of enfeebled age ; and by 
 others, to the conviction that neither 
 right nor expediency would justify an 
 
122 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 attempt to repress the rising rebellion. 
 His irreproachable personal character, 
 his previous career of reputable states- 
 manship, and his honored position as 
 President, forbid the imputation of trea- 
 sonable design or corrupt motive. It is 
 more reasonable to attribute his conduct 
 to the influence of unworthy but unsus- 
 pected counsellors acting upon an in- 
 firm judgment and unsteady moral 
 courage." * 
 
 The last act of President Buchanan's 
 administration was the signing of the 
 Morrill tariff. This sanction of high 
 protective custom dues was contrary to 
 his professed opinion that duties should 
 be levied only for revenue. The advo- 
 cates of free trade, both in the United 
 States and Europe, condemn this act as 
 one of the most unworthy of his admin- 
 istration, while the protectionists doubt- 
 less commend it as the best. 
 
 Within a few weeks of the close of his 
 term of office, Buchanan had called to 
 his aid in the cabinet two statesmen 
 whose energetic action, inspired by the 
 truest patriotism, had served to redeem, 
 to some degree, an administration which 
 had proved so fatal to the country. 
 These men were Joseph H. Holt, of 
 Kentucky, and John A. Dix, of New 
 York, the former the secretary of war, 
 and the latter secretary of the treasury. 
 It was hoped that Lincoln would have 
 waived so far his party predilections as 
 to have retained these statesmen, who 
 had won the confidence of the nation by 
 their loyal firmness in sustaining the 
 dignity and power of the Federal au- 
 
 o Manuscript work, by the author. 
 
 thority against the menace of disaffec- 
 tion and the attack of treason. 
 
 The new President, however, in ac- 
 cordance with traditional practice, chose 
 his cabinet from that party to which he 
 was indebted for his own elevation. Win. 
 H. Seward, of New York, was appointed 
 secretary of state ; Salmon P. Chase, of 
 Ohio, secretary of the treasury ; Simon 
 Cameron, of Pennsylvania, secretary of 
 war ; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, 
 secretary of the navy ; Montgomery 
 Blair, of Maryland, postmaster-general ; 
 Edward Bates, of Missouri, attorney- 
 general ; and Caleb B. Smith, of In- 
 diana, secretary of the interior. 
 
 Some of these were known to the 
 country as prominent statesmen ; others, 
 possessed only of local fame, were com- 
 paratively obscure, but all had been 
 active promoters of the " Republican" 
 cause. The most distinguished was the 
 secretary of state. 
 
 William H. Seward was born in the 
 village of Florida, Orange County, in 
 the State of New York, on the 1 6th day 
 of May, 1801. After a good elementary 
 schooling he was sent to Union College, 
 at Schenectady, where he received his 
 academic degree with the honors of his 
 class. In 1820 he became a student at 
 law in the office of John Anthon, Esq., 
 an eminent counsellor of the city of New 
 York, but completed his studies under 
 the guidance of Ogden Hoffman, then 
 district attorney. In 1822 he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar at Goshen, in Orange 
 County, but soon after removed to Au- 
 burn, where he formed a partnership 
 with Judge Miller, whose daughter he 
 
LIFE OF SEWARD. 
 
 123 
 
 subsequently married. His success as a 
 lawyer was rapid and well assured, and 
 he soon ranked among the most honored 
 members of the profession. 
 
 His first political step was as a warm 
 partisan of the anti-masonic cause, but 
 in 1823 he appeared as a youthful leader 
 in the canvass for the re-election of 
 John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. 
 Elected senator of his State in 1830, he 
 soon became prominent as an advocate 
 of measures of reform. 
 
 After four years' service in the Sen- 
 ate of New York, he' was nominated the 
 Whig candidate for 'Governor, but was 
 defeated by his veteran Democratic op- 
 ponent, William L. Marcy. Again a 
 candidate at the succeeding election, he 
 triumphed over his old competitor, and 
 was elected Governor by the large ma- 
 jority of ten thousand. In 1840 he 
 was a third time a candidate and once 
 more successful, being chosen as a rep- 
 resentative of the party which had tri- 
 umphantly carried the election of. Pres- 
 ident Harrison, of whom he had proved 
 himself in the canvass an energetic 
 supporter. In 1848 he advocated the 
 nomination of General Zachary Taylor, 
 and strove zealously in behalf of his 
 election. The successful Whig party of 
 the New York State Legislature soon 
 after elected Seward senator of the 
 United States. On the death of Taylor 
 and the accession of Fillmore, Seward 
 was suddenly deprived of that leader- 
 ship upon which he had not unnaturally 
 presumed. His supposed extreme opin- 
 ions on the subject of slavery were un- 
 doubtedly averse to his being accepted, 
 
 by Fillmore, as an exponent of the pol- 
 icy of his conciliatory administration. 
 Seward opposed emphatically the com- 
 promise measures of 1850. 
 
 "I feel assured," said he, in his speech 
 on the question, ' ' that slavery must give 
 way, and will give way to the salutary 
 instructions of economy and to the ripen- 
 ing influences of humanity ; that eman- 
 cipation is- inevitable and is near ; that 
 it may b'e hastened or hindered ; that 
 all measures which fortify slavery or 
 extend it tend to the consummation of 
 violence ; all that cherek its extension 
 and abate its strength tend to its peace- 
 ful extirpation. But I will adopt none 
 but lawful, constitutional, and peaceful 
 means to secure even that end ; and 
 none such can I or will I forego." 
 
 "In 1852, Seward was an advocate for 
 the election of General Scott as Pres- 
 ident, though he did not concur with 
 the concessions made to the slave in- 
 terests of the South in the manifesto of 
 his party. In the Senate he at the same 
 .time continued his persistent opposition 
 to the extension of slavery, and em- 
 phatically denounced the Kansas-Ne- 
 braska bill. 
 
 After the dissolution of the Whig 
 party, and the formation of the new 
 Republican combination, of which he 
 was one of the prominent founders and 
 leaders, he was a candidate for nomina- 
 tion as President. He, however, was 
 forced to yield to the superior "avail- 
 ability" of Colonel Fremont, for whose 
 election, notwithstanding, he canvassed 
 vigorously. 
 
 During the summer of 1859, Mr. Sew- 
 
124 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ard visited Europe, and extended his 
 tour to Syria and Egypt. His reception 
 was everywhere studiously courteous in 
 deference to his recognized position as 
 a distinguished and leading statesman in 
 his own country. 
 
 In 1860, Seward was forced again to 
 yield his presumed claims to a compara- 
 tively obscure man. At the Repub- 
 lican Convention which met at Chicago, 
 Seward was the leading candidate for 
 nomination as President, but after sev- 
 eral obstinate ballots gave way to Mr. 
 Lincoln, who was chosen, and whose 
 subsequent triumphant election to office 
 was greatly due to the zealous efforts 
 of his late rival. 
 
 Notwithstanding his previous persist- 
 ent resistance to the encroachments of, 
 and his apparent readiness for, the "ir- 
 repressible conflict" with slavery, Sew- 
 ard is supposed to be among the most 
 conciliatory of Lincoln's cabinet. Though 
 some may doubt whether he is possessed 
 of the moral grandeur capable of rising 
 to the greatness of the present occasion, 
 none will question the secretary's mental 
 capacity to master the ordinary tech- 
 nical difficulties of his office. A man of 
 refined culture and tact, his speeches 
 and writings possess a dignity of tone 
 and a completeness of literary finish 
 which are rarely to be discovered in the 
 effusions of our extemporized speakers 
 and writers. 
 
 Judging him from the rapid flashes 
 of speech, struck off in the course of a 
 heated political canvass, there are some, 
 especially in Europe, who affect to think 
 that Seward is more eager to captivate 
 
 the undiscerning many than to convince 
 the judicious few. 
 
 In appearance, Mr. Seward, with his 
 slight figure of medium size, his heavy 
 features, and his worn expression, is not 
 imposing. His eyes, however, brighten 
 with excitement, and his face not seldom 
 assumes an attractive vivacity. 
 
 The secretary of the treasury, Salmon 
 Portland Chase, was born at Cornish, 
 in New Hampshire, 011 the 13th of Jan- 
 uary, 1808. Two years after the death 
 of his father, and at the age of twelve, 
 he was placed under the charge of his 
 uncle, Bishop Chase, of Ohio, with whom 
 he removed from Worthington to Cin- 
 cinnati, and there entered the college of 
 which the bishop had been appointed 
 president. Here, however, he remained 
 but a year, when he returned to his 
 mother's home in Keene, New Hamp- 
 shire. In 1824 he was admitted a stu- 
 dent of Dartmouth College, where he 
 received his degree after two years' 
 study. After graduating, he opened a 
 school at Washington, and numbered 
 among his pupils the sons of Henry 
 Clay, William Wirt, and Samuel L. 
 Southard. In the mean time, he studied 
 law under the direction of Wirt, and in 
 1829, quitting his school, he- was ad- 
 mitted to the bar at Washington. 
 
 In 1830, Mr. Chase removed to Cin- 
 cinnati, where he strove to establish 
 himself as a lawyer. While waiting for 
 practice, he published an edition of the 
 Statutes of Ohio, with original notes, 
 and a prefatory sketch of the history 
 of the State. This work served to bring 
 him into notice, and add to his legal 
 
SALMON P. CHASE. 
 
 125 
 
 business. He now became a thriving 
 practitioner, and was appointed solicitor 
 of two of the banks. 
 
 Being employed in 1837 in behalf of 
 a negro woman who was claimed to be a 
 fugitive slave, Mr. Chase argued that 
 Congress had not the right to impose 
 upon State magistrates any duty or con- 
 fer any power in such cases. 
 
 Again, soon after, while defending 
 James E. Birny, who had been arrested 
 for harboring a negro slave, he held 
 that slavery is local, and dependent for 
 its legality upon State law, and that 
 therefore a slave who made his escape 
 into Ohio became free, and might be 
 harbored with impunity. 
 
 In 1846, Mr. Chase, together with 
 William H. Seward, was defendant's 
 counsel in the Van Zandt case, before 
 the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 In an elaborate argument, he contended 
 that, by the ordinance of 1787, no fu- 
 gitive from service could be reclaimed 
 from Ohio unless there had been an es- 
 cape from one of the original States ; 
 that it was the clear understanding of 
 the framers of the Constitution, and of 
 the people who adopted it, that slavery 
 was to be left exclusively to the dis- 
 posal of the several States, without 
 sanction or support from the National 
 Government ; and that the clause in the 
 Constitution relating to persons held to 
 service was one of compact, and con- 
 ferred no power of legislation on Con- 
 gress. 
 
 Other cases ensued in which Mr. 
 Chase defended the same positions, and 
 thus became identified with those who 
 
 resisted all national recognition of 
 slavery. 
 
 Devoted to his professional pursuits, 
 Mr. Chase avoided for a long time all 
 positive alliances with political parties, 
 but had voted sometimes with the Dem- 
 ocrats, and at other times and more fre- 
 quently with the Whigs In 1841, how- 
 ever, he became one of the originators 
 of the ' ' Liberty" party of Ohio, and was 
 the author of their address to the peo- 
 ple. In 1843 he was a member of the 
 convention of this party which met at 
 Buffalo. While one of a committee 
 nominated by said convention, he op- 
 posed the resolution, "to regard and 
 treat the third clause of the Constitu- 
 tion, whenever applied to the case of a 
 fugitive slave, as utterly null and void, 
 and consequently as forming no part of 
 the Constitution of the United States, 
 whenever we are called upon or sworn to 
 support it." This resolution was accord- 
 ingly rejected by the committee, and not 
 reported, although it was afterward re- 
 newed by its original mover, and adopted 
 by the convention. When twitted in 
 the United States Senate by Senator 
 Butler, of South Carolina, for the men- 
 tal reservation seemingly sanctioned by 
 this resolution, Chase responded : "I 
 have only to say, I never proposed the 
 resolution ; I never would propose or 
 vote for such a resolution. I hold no 
 doctrine of mental reservation. Every 
 man, in my judgment, should speak just 
 as he thinks, keeping nothing back, here 
 or elsewhere."* 
 
 The New American Cyclopedia. New York : D. 
 Appleton & Co. 
 
126 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 In 1845, a convention, at the sug- 
 gestion of Mr. Chase, met in Cincinnati, 
 of "all who, believing that whatever is 
 worth preserving in republicanism can 
 be maintained only by uncompromising 
 war against the usurpations of the slave 
 power, and are therefore resolved to use 
 all constitutional and honorable means 
 to effect the extinction of slavery within 
 their respective States, and its reduction 
 to its constitutional limits in the United 
 States." The gathering was large, con- 
 sisting of two thousand delegates and 
 four thousand interested visiters. The 
 address the main burden of which was 
 opposition to the extension of slavery 
 was written by Mr. Chase, and was 
 widely circulated. When the second 
 convention met, in 1847, Mr. Chase op- 
 posed the making of Federal nomina- 
 tions, believing that the general agita- 
 tion throughout the country in regard 
 to the Wilmot proviso would extend the 
 basis of the movement against slavery 
 extension, and afford a less restricted 
 foundation for a party. 
 
 In 1848, however, distrusting the 
 Whig and Democratic parties, Mr. 
 Chase again called a convention in fa- 
 vor of free territory. It was largely 
 attended, but it merged itself in the 
 National Convention, which met at Buf- 
 falo in August of the same year, and 
 nominated Martin Van Buren for Pres- 
 ident. The Democratic party of Ohio 
 having now adopted the free-soil views 
 of Mr. Chase, he accepted their nom- 
 ination for the United States Senate, 
 and in 1849 was elected. He continued 
 to act with the Democrats of his State 
 
 until 1852, when, upon the nomination 
 of Pierce, they accepted the platform 
 of the Baltimore Convention, approving 
 of the compromise acts of 1850, and 
 denouncing the further agitation of the 
 question of slavery extension. Having 
 abandoned his old allies, he gave in his 
 adherence to the Independent Demo- 
 cratic Convention, assembled at Pitts- 
 burg in 1852, which adopted a manifesto 
 mainly prepared by Mr. Chase. 
 
 When the Nebraska bill agitated the 
 country, and induced the formation of 
 the Republican party, Mr. Chase, find- 
 ing its principles in consonance with his 
 long established views, eagerly joined 
 it, and became one of its leaders. 
 
 In 1855, Mr. Chase was nominated as 
 Governor of Ohio, and being elected, 
 was inaugurated in January of the suc- 
 ceeding year. He gave proof, in his 
 new office, of a moderation and discre- 
 tion which many were disposed to ques- 
 tion, in consequence of his supposed 
 extreme opinions on slavery. At the 
 close of his first term he was disposed 
 to retire, but was so urgently pressed to 
 accept a re-nomination, that he was pre- 
 vailed upon and re-elected Governor. 
 
 After the expiration of his second 
 term he was again elected senator of 
 the United States, but resigned his seat 
 to accept his present position in the 
 cabinet of Mr. Lincoln, of which he is 
 considered not only one of the ablest, 
 but firmest members. 
 
 Simon Cameron, a man of humble 
 origin, successively a printer's appren- 
 tice, printer, journalist, a local politician, 
 a United States senator, and now the 
 
l-Voir. a Puotograpfc. ov Braav 
 
SIMON CAMERON. 
 
 127 
 
 secretary of war, was born in Penn- 
 sylvania. He has been for a long time 
 one of the most influential men in that 
 State, and the success of the Republican 
 party there was greatly indebted to his 
 efforts. Wielding a large capital act- 
 ively employed in railroads, mining 
 operations, and other active enterprises 
 in Pennsylvania, he was enabled to ex- 
 ercise a wide influence, which was owing 
 not less to his financial than to his 
 political ability. His executive talents, 
 thoroughly exercised by his extensive 
 business relations, are calculated to 
 make him an effective officer in the 
 busy department of which he is the 
 chief. 
 
 Gideon Welles was originally a prin- 
 ter, and subsequently editor of the 
 Hartford Times, in the skilful conduct 
 of which he has acquired all his political 
 fame. His reputation had, however, 
 hardly extended beyond the limits of 
 his native State of Connecticut, when 
 he was called, to a position in Lincoln's 
 cabinet, at the earnest solicitation, it is 
 believed, of his brother-in-law, Vice- 
 President Hamlin. As the editor of the 
 Hartford Times, he was considered one 
 of the most forcible exponents of the 
 Democratic policy. Warmly expressing 
 the doctrine of non-extension of slavery, 
 he soon identified himself with the Re- 
 publican party, of which he was an 
 ardent supporter. He has frequently 
 represented his State in its own Legisla- 
 ture and Senate, but never in the Fed- 
 eral councils. It may be doubted whe- 
 ther, with his reflective habits as a 
 political thinker and writer, and his 
 
 restricted experience of the business of 
 state, he has the scope of view and 
 energy of action necessary to the chief 
 of the naval department during a great 
 war. 
 
 Montgomery Blair, a son of the vig- 
 orous Democratic journalist, Francis 
 Preston Blair, the founder and editor of 
 the Washington Globe, was born in 
 Kentucky. Like his father, he is a 
 valiant defender of the Republican 
 cause, and is supposed to have been 
 one of the most emphatic of the cab- 
 inet to urge the full exercise of the 
 Federal authority in checking treason, 
 as he is among the most resolute in 
 favor of vigorously waging war against 
 rebellion. His energy of will and 
 sanguineness of temperament render 
 him a spirited coadjutor of the execu- 
 tive in the stir of conflict ; but in the 
 quiet of peace, his fitness for office, and 
 especially that practical one which he 
 holds, might be more questionable. 
 
 Edward Bates, the attorney-general, 
 was born in Groochland County, in 
 Virginia, in 1791. Having been care- 
 fully educated by a relative of high 
 culture, he emigrated with a brother to 
 Missouri, where he began to practice 
 law. He soon acquired eminence as a 
 jurist. Although he served in the 
 Legislature of Missouri, and represented 
 that State in Congress, his life has been 
 mostly devoted to the pursuits of his 
 profession. In 1847, however, he was 
 a member of the convention which met 
 at Chicago for the advancement of 
 internal improvements, where he com- 
 manded attention by a brilliant speech 
 
128 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 and his impressive character. Efforts 
 were made to induce him to give to the 
 State the benefit of his acknowledged 
 powers, but he refused office in Missouri 
 and resisted the offer of a place in the 
 cabinet of President Fillmore. His 
 early political bias was shown by his 
 support of Henry Clay and John Quincy 
 Adams, with whose views of public 
 policy he generally accorded. At a 
 later period he opposed the repeal of 
 the Missouri Compromise act, and the 
 admission of Kansas as a State under 
 
 the Lecompton Constitution, and other- 
 wise exhibited his sympathy with the 
 free-soil party. An accomplished jurist, 
 he worthily fills his office of attorney- 
 general, and a man of dignified personal 
 character, he gives increased weight to 
 the present cabinet. 
 
 Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, the 
 secretary of the interior, has brought 
 with him from his own State a high 
 reputation for ability and integrity, and 
 he is considered an effective member of 
 the present Government. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Action of the Confederate States. Organization of an Army. Its composition. Officers. Resignations in the United 
 States Army. Buchanan's sanction of Treason. A change of conduct under Secretary Holt. The Treason of 
 Twiggs. His Expulsion from the Army. His Surrender of Government Property to the Authorities of Texas. Its 
 Character and Value. Military Career of General Twiggs. His motives for Seceding. Treachery. Encouragement 
 of the Confederate States. Defiant Tone and Attitude. Commissioners to Washington. Their Letter to the Sec- 
 retary of State. A polite Rebuff. The Commissioners linger in Washington. Career of Independent Government 
 of the Confederate States. A new Flag. A Political Blunder. The influence of a bit of Bunting. The motive for 
 adopting a new Flag. The Confederate Flag described. Active preparation for War. General Beauregard sent to 
 Charleston. Call upon the Confederate States for Militia. Progress of the Works in the Harbor of Charleston. 
 Soldiers and Negroes. Floating Battery. Ardent Gentlemen as Privates. Statesmen in the Ranks. Rumored 
 Evacuation of Fort Sumter. - Courteous relations between Major Anderson and Citizens of Charleston. Messengers 
 from the Federal Government. Vigilance of the Batteries. An Eastern Schooner driven out of the Harbor. Per- 
 plexities of Lincoln and his Cabinet. A Decision at last. A Demonstration to be made in favor of Major Anderson. 
 Preparations. A Special Messenger sent to the Authorities of Charleston. The purport of his Message. The 
 effect upon the Southern Confederacy. Excitement at Charleston. Appeal to Arms. Departure of the Confederate 
 Commissioners from Washington. Their parting Defiance. Correspondence between Beauregard and the Secretary 
 of War of the Confederates. Correspondence between Beauregard and Anderson. 
 
 THE " Confederate States" having or- 
 ganized a government, proceeded 
 to prepare to sustain it by the 
 formation of a military establishment. 
 This was composed of one corps of 
 engineers, one corps of artillery, six 
 regiments of infantry, one regiment of 
 cavalry, and of a staff department, 
 making in all ten thousand seven hun- 
 
 dred and forty-five officers and men. 
 Those who had abandoned the United 
 States for the Confederate service gave 
 the new army a large supply of highly 
 educated and experienced officers. This 
 number was daily increasing. 
 
 The government of Buchanan had 
 at first sanctioned the disloyalty of many 
 of our officers by accepting their resig- 
 
TREASON OF TWIGGS. 
 
 129 
 
 nations, though their purpose in giving 
 up theip commissions could not be 
 doubted. Inspired, however, by the 
 patriotic counsels of his new secretary 
 of war, Holt, Buchanan had become 
 less considerate toward treason. When, 
 Pel,, therefore, General Twiggs, a vet- 
 18. eran officer of the army of the 
 United States, surrendered the posts 
 which he commanded to the commis- 
 sioners of Texas, the President, with 
 unusual impatience and severity, did 
 not wait for a resignation, but expelled 
 the disloyal officer from the army. 
 
 By this action of General Twiggs, the 
 State authorities of Texas, which was 
 on the eve of its -secession from the 
 United States, became possessed of an 
 immense supply of arms and military 
 stores of all kinds, to be added, as none 
 could doubt, to the resources of the 
 Confederate States. In San Antonio, 
 the arsenal contained forty-four cannon 
 and howitzers of different calibres, one 
 thousand nine hundred muskets, rifles, 
 and Sharp's carbines, four hundred 
 Colt's pistols, two magazines full of am- 
 munition, containing one million five 
 hundred thousand ball-cartridges, and 
 five thousand five hundred pounds of 
 powder. 
 
 At Forts Brown, Duncan, and Clark 
 there were large numbers of cannon 
 and magazines filled with ammunition. 
 At the varicrus posts there were sev- 
 eral thousand mules and horses, many 
 hundred waggons, abundant clothing 
 and stores, and a great variety of val- 
 uable implements. The whole of the 
 Federal property thus traitorously dis- 
 17 
 
 posed of amounted in value to nearly a 
 million and a half of dollars. 
 
 General Daniel E. Twiggs was one of 
 the oldest officers in the United States 
 army, which he had entered in 1812, at 
 the age of twenty-two years. He had 
 served under our flag with a fair reputa- 
 tion. He was a captain during the war 
 with Great Britain ; served as a ma- 
 jor under Generals Gaines and Jackson 
 in the Florida campaign ; took part in 
 the Black Hawk war ; was in command 
 of the arsenal at Augusta during the 
 nullification excitement, and in the Mex- 
 ican war received the rank of brevet 
 brigadier-general for his services at Palo 
 Alto and Resaca de la Palma ; com- 
 manded a division at Monterey, and 
 shared with General Scott in the tri- 
 umphs of our army from Vera Cruz to 
 the capital of Mexico. He was in com- 
 mand of the department of Texas, with 
 his headquarters at San Antonio, when 
 he brought to so dishonorable a close 
 his long career of reputable military 
 service. He ranked next to Lieutenant- 
 General Scott, and would have been en- 
 titled, if he had remained loyal to his 
 country, to have succeeded him in the 
 chief command of our army. A Geor- 
 gian by birth, and a large owner of land 
 and slaves, his adherence to his own 
 State was not unexpected, but few 
 thought that one of the most honored 
 officers of the Federal army would have 
 been guilty of adding treachery to 
 treason. 
 
 Encouraged by the addition of Texas 
 to the confederacy, and an unconcealed 
 sympathy on the part of some of the 
 
130 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 other slave States, which gave promise 
 of further acquisitions, the new govern- 
 ment at Montgomery, Alabama, assumed 
 a more independent tone and defiant at- 
 titude. Commissioners Messrs. John 
 Forsyth arid Martin J. Crawford were 
 appointed to negotiate with the United 
 States. On their arrival at Washington 
 they presented themselves as the rep- 
 resentatives of an independent power. 
 March " Seven States," they said, " of the 
 12 late Federal Union having, in the 
 exercise of the inherent right of every 
 free people to change or reform their po- 
 litical institutions, and through conven- 
 tions of their people, withdrawn from the 
 United States and reassumed the attri- 
 butes of sovereign power delegated to it, 
 have formed a government of their own. 
 The Confederate States constitute an in- 
 dependent nation de facto and de jure, 
 and possess a government perfect in all 
 its parts and endowed with all the means 
 of self-support." With this assumption 
 of independence, the commissioners pro- 
 ceeded to declare their purpose. ' ' With 
 a view to a speedy adjustment of all 
 questions growing out of this political 
 separation upon such terms of amity 
 and good-will as the respective in- 
 terests, geographical contiguity, and fu- 
 ture welfare of the two nations may 
 render necessary," they said that they 
 were instructed to " make to the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States overtures 
 for the opening of negotiations, assuring 
 the Government of the United States 
 that the President, Congress, and people 
 of the Confederate States earnestly 
 desire a peaceful solution of those great 
 
 questions ; that it is neither their inter- 
 est nor their wish to make any demand 
 which is not founded in strictest justice, 
 nor to do any act to injure their late 
 confederates." 
 
 The secretary of state, Mr. Seward, 
 had already declined the request of the 
 commissioners for an unofficial interview 
 with him, and now refused their demand 
 for an official presentation to the Presi- 
 dent. It is curious, however, at this 
 period, to note with what studied court- 
 esy a high state officer is constrained to 
 address, and with what diplomatic con- 
 sideration to argue the question of re- 
 bellion with its confessed representa- 
 tives. "The secretary of state," wrote 
 Mr. Seward, "frankly confesses that he 
 understands the events which have 
 recently occurred, and the condition of 
 political affairs which actually exists in 
 the part of the Union to which his at- 
 tention has thus been directed, very 
 differently from the aspect in which 
 they are presented by Messrs. Forsyth 
 and Crawford. He sees in them, not a 
 rightful and accomplished revolution and 
 an independent nation, with an estab- 
 lished government, but rather a perver- 
 I sion of a temporary and partisan ex- 
 citement to the inconsiderate purposes 
 of an unjustifiable and unconstitutional 
 aggression upon the rights and the 
 authority vested in the Federal Govern- 
 ment, and hitherto benignly exercised, 
 as from their very nature they always 
 so must be exercised, for the mainten- 
 ance of the Union, the preservation of 
 liberty, and the society, peace, welfare, 
 happiness, and aggrandizement of the 
 
THE FLAG OF THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 131 
 
 American people. The secretary of 
 state, therefore, avows to Messrs. For- 
 syth and Crawford that he looks pa- 
 tiently but confidently for the cure of 
 evils which have resulted from proceed- 
 ings so unnecessary, so unwise, so un- 
 usual, and so unnatural, not to irregular 
 negotiations, having in view new and 
 untried relations with agencies unknown 
 to and acting in derogation of the Con- 
 stitution and laws, but to regular and 
 considerate action of the people in 
 those States, in co-operation with their 
 brethren in the other States, through 
 the Congress of the United States, and 
 such extraordinary conventions, if there 
 shall be need thereof, as the Federal 
 Constitution contemplates and author- 
 izes to be assembled. 
 
 "It is, however, the purpose of the 
 secretary of state, on this occasion, not 
 to invite, or engage in, any discussion of 
 these subjects, but simply to set forth 
 his reasons for declining to comply with 
 the request of Messrs. Forsyth and 
 Crawford. 
 
 " On the 4th of March hist., the newly 
 elected President of the United States, 
 in view of all the facts bearing on the 
 present question, assumed the executive 
 administration of the Government, first 
 delivering, in accordance with an early, 
 honored custom, an inaugural address 
 to the people of the United States. 
 The secretary of state respectfully sub- 
 mits a copy of this address to Messrs. 
 Forsyth and Crawford. 
 
 ' ' A simple reference to it will be suffi- 
 cient to satisfy those gentlemen that the 
 secretary of state, guided by the princi- 
 
 ples therein announced, is prevented 
 altogether from admitting or assuming 
 that the States referred to by them 
 have, in law or in fact, withdrawn from 
 the Federal Union, or that they could 
 do so in the manner described by 
 Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, or in 
 any other manner than with the consent 
 and concert of the people of the United 
 States, to be given through a national 
 convention, to be assembled in conform- 
 ity with the provisions of the Consti- 
 tution of the United States. Of course 
 the secretary of state cannot act upon 
 the assumption, or in any way admit 
 that the so-called Confederate States 
 constitute a foreign power, with whom 
 diplomatic relations ought to be estab- 
 lished." 
 
 The commissioners, in spite of this re- 
 buff, or encouraged probably by the 
 courteous style in which it was con- 
 veyed, still lingered at the capital 
 awaiting the issue of events. 
 
 The Confederate States continued to 
 pursue with vigor their career of inde- 
 pendent government. Having set up a 
 constitution and an administration of 
 their own, they now adopted a flag. In 
 this respect they acted with less than 
 their usual discretion. Presuming, as 
 they still did undoubtedly, however 
 justly or unjustly, upon a strong sym- 
 pathy in the border and middle States 
 with their movement, it was not politic 
 to have disregarded the revered symbol 
 of the united glory of the country. 
 They thought, doubtless, that it was 
 merely a matter of a bit of bunting 
 with more or less colored stripes and 
 
132 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 stars, but they forgot how such trifles 
 are endeared to the heart of a nation 
 when they have once become associated 
 with its history. 
 
 The committee to whom was referred 
 the subject of the Confederate flag, 
 seemed not altogether unconscious of 
 the influence of the stars and stripes 
 upon the national sentiment, and in 
 their report thus ingeniously strove 
 to weaken it: "Whatever attachment 
 may be felt, from association, for the 
 ' stars and stripes' (an attachment 
 which, your committee may be per- 
 mitted to say, they do not all share), it 
 is manifest that in inaugurating a new 
 government, we cannot," said the com- 
 mittee, "retain the flag of the govern- 
 ment from which we have withdrawn, 
 with any propriety, or without encount- 
 ering very obvious practical difficulties. 
 There is no propriety in retaining the 
 ensign of a government which, in the 
 opinion of the States composing this 
 confederacy, had become so oppressive 
 and injurious to their interests as to re- 
 quire their separation from it. It is 
 idle to talk of ' keeping' the flag of the 
 United States when we have voluntarily 
 seceded from them. It is superfluous 
 to dwell upon the practical difficulties 
 which would flow from the fact of two^ 
 distinct and probably hostile govern- 
 ments, both employing the same or very 
 similar flags. It would be a political 
 and military solecism. It would pro- 
 duce endless confusion and mistakes. 
 It would lead to perpetual disputes. 
 As to ' the glories of the old flag, ' we 
 must bear in mind that the battles of 
 
 the Revolution, about which our fond- 
 est and proudest memories cluster, were 
 not fought beneath its folds ,- and 
 although in more recent times in the 
 war of 1812 and in the war with Mexico 
 the South did win her fair share of 
 glory, and shed her full measure of 
 blood under its guidance and in its 
 defence, we think the impartial page of 
 history will preserve and commemorate 
 the fact more imperishably than a mere 
 piece of striped bunting. When the 
 colonies achieved their independence of 
 the ' mother country' (which up to the 
 last they fondly called her), they did not 
 desire to retain the British flag or any- 
 thing at all similar to it. Yet under 
 that flag they had been planted, and 
 nurtured, and fostered. Under that 
 flag they had fought in their infancy for 
 their very existence against more than 
 one determined foe. Under it they had 
 repelled and driven back the relentless 
 savage, and carried it farther and farther 
 into the decreasing wilderness as the 
 standard of civilization and religion. 
 Under it the youthful Washington won 
 his spurs, in the memorable and un- 
 fortunate expedition of Braddock, and 
 Americans helped to plant it on the 
 Heights of Abraham, where the im- 
 mortal Wolfe fell, covered with glory, 
 in the arms of victory. But our fore- 
 fathers, when they separated themselves 
 from Great Britain a separation not 
 on account of their hatred of the En- 
 glish constitution or of English institu- 
 tions, but in consequence of the tyran- 
 nical and unconstitutional rule of Lord 
 North's administration, and because 
 
PREPARATIONS AT CHARLESTON. 
 
 133 
 
 their destiny beckoned them on to in- 
 dependent expansion and achievement 
 cast no lingering, regretful looks be- 
 hind. They were proud of their race 
 and lineage, proud of their heritage in 
 the glories, and genius, and language of 
 Old England, but they were influenced 
 by the spirit of the motto of the great 
 Hampden, ' Vestigia nulla restrorsum.' 
 They were determined to build up a 
 new power among the nations of the 
 .world. They therefore did not attempt 
 ' to keep the old flag.' We think it 
 good to imitate them in this compara- 
 tively little matter, as well as to emu- 
 late them in greater and more import- 
 ant ones." 
 
 The committee (of which it may not be 
 impertinent to say that a South Carolinian 
 was chairman, who, from the traditional 
 disloyalty of his native State, was 
 less likely to sympathize with the rev- 
 erence of the nation for the symbol of 
 its union) therefore recommended a new 
 flag for the Confederate States, which 
 was adopted. This consists of a red 
 field with a white space extending hori- 
 zontally through the centre and equal 
 in width to one third the width of the 
 flag, the red spaces above and below 
 being of the same width as the white ; 
 the union blue extends down through 
 the white space, but terminates at the 
 lower red one. In the blue are stars 
 corresponding in number to the States 
 of the confederacy. "The three col- 
 ors, red, white, and blue, are the true 
 republican colors. In heraldry they are 
 emblematic of the three great virtues, 
 of valor, purity, and truth," reported the 
 
 committee, while they added, "the col- 
 ors constrast admirably, and are lasting." 
 The Confederate Government began 
 to prepare actively for war. The gov- 
 ernors of the several States having been 
 ordered by President Davis, issued pro- 
 clamations, calling upon the militia to 
 muster. General Beauregard, formerly 
 a major in the United States engineer 
 corps, was dispatched to take March 
 command of the works and forces 5. 
 at Charleston. In the mean time the 
 South Carolinians had made great pro- 
 gress in strengthening and manning 
 their defences. The people of Charles- 
 ton were raging each day more furiously 
 as they contemplated the flag of the 
 Union persistingly raised in their har- 
 bor. ' ' The fate of the Southern Con- 
 federacy hangs," they said, "by the 
 ensign halliards of Fort Sumter." The 
 Governor of South Carolina made re- 
 peated calls for troops, until seven thou- 
 sand men had been gathered, and im- 
 mense gangs of negro slaves brought 
 from the plantations in the interior and 
 set to work upon the fortifications. 
 The floating batteries, which had been 
 in course of construction for months, 
 were now finished, mounted, manned, 
 and anchored in the harbor. Ardent 
 gentlemen of South Carolina volun- 
 teered as privates, among whom there 
 was a large number of the members of 
 the convention, which had lately ad- 
 journed. Senators and members of 
 Congress from Carolina and other se- 
 ceded States had offered their services, 
 and while some, like Senator Wigfall, of 
 Texas, received appointments on General 
 
134 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Beauregard's staff, others were con- 
 strained to take their places in the 
 ranks. 
 
 In the mean time, however, there 
 were still rumors that a conflict would 
 be avoided by the evacuation of Fort 
 Sumter by Major Anderson, with whom 
 there continued to be preserved a court- 
 eous relation by the citizens of Charles- 
 ton, who not unfrequently had him to 
 dinner, or supplied him with delicacies 
 from their tables and madeira from their 
 cellars. Messengers traveling by land 
 passed between the Federal Govern- 
 ment and the fort, with the concurrence 
 of the authorities of South Carolina. 
 The batteries in the harbor, however, 
 abated not a jot of their vigilance, and 
 were determined not to let a vessel 
 enter under the flag of the United 
 States. A trading schooner of Boston, 
 laden with ice, having drifted in a dense 
 fog over the Charleston bar, close to the 
 fort on Morris Island, was fired at. The 
 captain hoisted the stars and stripes, but 
 this only increased the intensity of the 
 attack ; and he was glad finally to make 
 his escape to sea, after having received 
 several thirty-two-pounder shots in his 
 rigging. 
 
 At Washington, the President and 
 cabinet were supposed to be a long 
 time perplexed how to act in regard to 
 Fort Sumter, but finally came to a de- 
 cision. It was determined to make a 
 demonstration at least of sustaining 
 Major Anderson. A fleet was hurriedly 
 fitted out for the purpose, and prepared 
 to sail, the destination of which it was 
 not doubted was Charleston, although 
 
 not publicly announced. At the same 
 time a special messenger was sent by 
 the United States Government to the 
 authorities at Charleston, bearing the 
 message that a peaceable effort would 
 be made to supply the garrison of Fort 
 Sumter with provisions, and that if this 
 were not permitted, force would be tried. 
 
 The Southern Confederacy accepted 
 this as a menace of hostility. The 
 people of Charleston were roused to a 
 high degree of excitement. "We have 
 patiently submitted," they said, " to the 
 insolent military domination of a hand- 
 ful of men in our bay for over three 
 months after the declaration of our in- 
 dependence of the United States. The 
 object of that self-humiliation has been 
 to avoid the effusion of blood while 
 such . preparation was making as to 
 render it causeless and useless. 
 
 " It seems we have been unable, by 
 discretion, forbearance, and preparation, 
 to effect the desired object, and that now 
 the issue of battle is to be forced upon 
 us. The gage is thrown down, and we 
 accept the challenge. We will meet the 
 invader, and the God of battles must 
 decide the issue between the hostile 
 hirelings of Abolition hate and Northern 
 tyranny, and the people of South Car- 
 olina defending their freedom and their 
 homes. We hope such a blow will be 
 struck in behalf of the South, that 
 Sumter and Charleston harbor will be 
 remembered at the North as long as 
 they exist as a people."* 
 
 The commissioners of the Con- April 
 federate States now left Washing- 9t 
 
 Charleston Mercury. 
 
SURRENDER OF FORT SUMTER DEMANDED. 
 
 135 
 
 ton, after sending a defiant missive to the 
 secretary of state : " It is proper, how- 
 ever, to advise you," they said in their 
 dispatch to Mr. Seward, " that it were 
 well to dismiss the hopes you seem to 
 entertain, that, by any of the modes 
 indicated, the people of the Confeder- 
 ate States will ever be brought to sub- 
 mit to the authority of the Government 
 of the United States. You are dealing 
 with delusions, too, when you seek to 
 separate our people from our Govern- 
 ment, and to characterize the deliberate, 
 sovereign act of the people as a ' per- 
 version of a temporary and partisan ex- 
 citement.' If you cherish these dreams, 
 you will be awakened from them, and 
 find them as unreal and unsubstantial 
 as others in which you have recently 
 indulged. The undersigned would omit 
 the performance of an obvious duty 
 were they to fail to make known to the 
 Government of the United States, that 
 the people of the Confederate States 
 have declared their independence with 
 a full knowledge of all the responsibil- 
 ties of that act, and with as firm a de- 
 termination to maintain it by all the 
 means with which nature has endowed 
 them, as that which sustained their 
 fathers when they threw off the author- 
 ity of the British crown." 
 
 As soon as it was suspected at 
 Charleston that there was an intention 
 on the part of the Federal authorities 
 to make an effort to sustain Major 
 Anderson and his garrison, all communi- 
 cation between the people and the fort 
 was at once stopped. Upon the arrival 
 of the Federal messenger, Beauregard 
 
 announced the fact by telegraph to the 
 secretary of war of the Confederate 
 States, Larry P. Walker. 
 
 " An authorized messenger from Pres- 
 ident Lincoln just informed Gover- April 
 nor Pickens and myself," wrote $ 
 Beauregard, " that provisions will be 
 sent to Fort Sumter peaceably, or other- 
 wise by force." 
 
 To this the secretary answered : 
 
 "If you have no doubt of the author- 
 ized character of the agent who April 
 communicated to you the intention !* 
 of the Washington Government, to sup- 
 ply Fort Sumter by force, you will at 
 once demand its evacuation, and if this 
 is refused, proceed in such a manner as 
 you may determine to reduce it. An- 
 swer." 
 
 Beauregard briefly responded : April 
 "The demand will be made at W 
 twelve o'clock." 
 
 The secretary, in his impatience, again 
 replied : ' ' Unless there are especial 
 reasons connected with your own con- 
 dition, it is considered proper that you 
 should make the demand at an early 
 hour." 
 
 "The reasons are special for twelve 
 o'clock," was the positive response April 
 of the General. W, 
 
 Accordingly Beauregard made his de- 
 mand on the llth of April, which led 
 to the following correspondence : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS, PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A. ) 
 CHARLESTON, S. C., April 11, 1861 2 P.M. ) 
 " SIR : The Government of the Con- 
 federate States has hitherto forborne 
 from any hostile demonstration against 
 Fort Sumter, in the hope that the Gov- 
 
136 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 eminent of the United States, with a 
 view to the amicable adjustment of all 
 questions between the two governments, 
 and to avert the calamities of war, 
 would voluntarily evacuate it. There 
 was reason at one time to believe 
 that such would be the course pursued 
 by the Government of the United 
 States ; and under that impression, my 
 Government has refrained from making 
 any demand for the surrender of the fort. 
 
 " But the Confederate States can no 
 longer delay assuming actual possession 
 of a fortification commanding the en- 
 trance of one of their harbors, and 
 necessary to its defence and security. 
 
 "I am ordered by the Government 
 of the Confederate States to demand 
 the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My 
 aids, Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee, 
 are authoized to make such demand of 
 you. All proper facilities will be af- 
 forded for the removal of yourself and 
 command, together with company arms 
 and property, and all private property, 
 to any post in the United States which 
 you may elect. The flag which you 
 have upheld so long and with so much 
 fortitude, under the most trying circum- 
 stances, may be saluted by you on taking 
 it down. 
 
 " Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee 
 will, for a reasonable time, await your 
 answer. 
 
 " I am, sir, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " G. T. BEAUREGARD, 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding. 
 
 "Major ROBERT ANDERSON, commanding at 
 Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S. C." 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, FORT SUMTER, S. C., } 
 April 11, 1861. \ 
 
 " GENERAL : I have the honor to ac- 
 knowledge the receipt of your communi- 
 cation demanding the evacuation of this 
 fort ; and to say in reply thereto, that 
 it is a demand with which I regret that 
 my sense of honor and of my obliga- 
 tions to my Government prevent my 
 compliance. 
 
 " Thanking you for the fair, manly, 
 and courteous terms proposed, and for 
 the high compliment paid me, 
 
 "I am, General, very respectfully, 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "ROBERT ANDERSON, 
 "Major U. S. Army, Commanding. 
 
 " To Brigadier-General G. T. BEAUREGARD, 
 commanding Provisional Army, C. S. A." 
 
 " MONTGOMERY, April 11. 
 " Gen. BEAUREGARD, Charleston : 
 
 " We do not desire needlessly to bom- 
 bard Fort Sumter, if Major Anderson 
 will state the time at which, as indicated 
 by him, he will evacuate, and agree that, 
 in the mean time, he will not use his 
 guns against us, unless ours should be 
 employed against Fort Sumter. You 
 are thus to avoid the effusion of blood. 
 If this or its equivalent be refused, re- 
 duce the fort as your judgment decides 
 to be most practicable. 
 
 "L. P. WALKER, Sec. of War." 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, PROVISIONAL ARMT, C. S. A. ) 
 
 CHARLESTON, April 11, 1861 11 P.M. f 
 
 "MAJOR : In consequence of the verbal 
 
 observations made by you to my aids, 
 
 Messrs. Chesnut and Lee, in relation to 
 
 the conditon of your supplies, and that 
 
 you would in a few days be starved out 
 
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN BEAUREGARD AND ANDERSON. 
 
 137 
 
 if our guns did not batter you to pieces 
 or words to that effect and desiring 
 no useless effusion of blood, I communi- 
 cated both the verbal observation and 
 your written answer to my communica- 
 tion to my Government. 
 
 " If you will state the time at which 
 you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and 
 agree that in the mean time you will 
 not use your guns against us, unless 
 ours shall be employed against Fort 
 Sumter, we will abstain from opening 
 fire upon you. Colonel Chesnut and 
 Captain Lee are authorized by me to 
 enter into such an agreement with you. 
 You are therefore requested to com- 
 municate to them an open answer. 
 " I remain, Major, very respectfully, 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 " G-. T. BEAUREGARD, 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding. 
 
 " Major ROBERT ANDERSON, commanding at 
 Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S. C." 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS, FORT SUMTER, S. C., } 
 2.30 A.M., April 12, 1861. ) 
 
 " GENERAL : I have the honor to ac- 
 knowledge the receipt of your second 
 communication of the llth inst., by 
 Colonel Chesnut, and to state, in reply, 
 that cordially uniting with you in the 
 desire to avoid the useless effusion of 
 blood, I will, if provided with the proper 
 and necessary means of transportation, 
 evacuate Fort Sumter by noon on the 
 15th instant, should I not receive, prior 
 to that time, controlling instructions 
 
 from my Government, or additional 
 supplies ; and that I will not, in the 
 mean time, open my fire upon your 
 forces, unless compelled to do so by 
 some hostile act against this fort or the 
 flag of my Government, by the forces 
 under your command, or by some por- 
 tion of them, or by the perpetration of 
 some act showing a hostile intention on 
 your part against this fort, or the flag it 
 bears. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, General, 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "ROBERT ANDERSON, 
 "Major U. S. A. Commanding. 
 
 " To Brigadier-General G. T. BEAUREGARD, 
 commanding Provisional Army, C. S. A." 
 
 " FORT SUMTER, S. C., 
 April 12, 1861, 3.20 A 
 
 '" \ 
 
 .M. \ 
 
 "SiR: By authority of Brigadier- 
 General Beauregard, commanding the 
 Provisional forces of the Confederate 
 States, we have the honor to notify you 
 that he will open the fire of his batteries 
 on Fort Sumter in one hour from this 
 time. 
 
 " We have the honor to be, very re- 
 spectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servants, 
 " JAMES CHESNUT, Jr., 
 
 " Aid-de-Camp. 
 " STEPHEN D. LEE, 
 " Captain S. C. Army and Aid-de-Camp. 
 
 " Major ROBERT ANDERSON, United States 
 Army, commanding Fort Sumter." 
 
 18 
 
138 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Excitement in the North in regard to Fort Sumtor. Precarious position of Major Anderson and his Garrison. Opinion 
 of General Scott. No effort to sustain Fort Sumter reported. Effect of the Intelligence. Government at last re- 
 solved to make an Attempt. Change of Feeling at the North. Preparations of the Federal Government. A Fleet 
 got Ready. Its Composition and Force. The proposed destination uncertain. Arrival at the Rendezvous at 
 Charleston. Non-arrival of the Tug -boats. Defeat of purpose. Schemes concocted. Failure. Fort Sumter. The 
 Artificial Island. Construction and Cost. The Fortress. Its Character. Strength and number of Guns. Its in- 
 completeness. Its Position and Distances. Its meagre Garrison. Activity of the Enemy. Skilful Engineering 
 of Beauregard. Description of Fort Moultrie. Its Strength and Armament. The Iron Battery at Point Cum. 
 mings. The Floating Battery. Its Construction and Efficiency. The Batteries at Fort Johnson. Their Strength 
 and Construction. The Force of the Enemy. Defences of Charleston. Skill of Beauregard. Life of Beauregard. 
 Birth. A Cadet at West Point. Curious change of Name. His Father. Ducal descent of his Mother. Graduation 
 of Beauregard. His Services in the War with Mexico. Differs in opinion with his superior. Beauregard' s Judg- 
 ment Triumphant. Rewards of Gallantry. Another illustration of superior Judgment and another Triumph. 
 Return to Louisiana. Honor to the young Hero. Government appointments. Personal appearance and character. 
 Becomes a Secessionist. Correspondence between Beauregard and Anderson. Opening of the Fire upon Fort 
 Sumter. Extent of Fire surprising. Tardy Response of Major Anderson. Division of his Garrison. Who fired 
 the first Gun? Enthusiasm of the Men. -Effect of the Fire. The Enemy's Vigor. The Parapet of Fort Sumter 
 dreadfully damaged. Danger to Life. Havoc among the Gruns en barbette. The effect of the Enemy's Rifled Can- 
 non.- On guard. " Shot or Shell." The laborers at the Guns. A Hit in the Centre. The Barracks on Fire. 
 Danger of the Magazine. Continued Conflagration. The descent of the Flag. Only a Salute. A genuine Shot. 
 The Flag still flying. " Knocked down temporarily." Cessation of the Fire of Fort Sumter during the Night. 
 The Enemy still firing. Attempt to rig new Halyards for the Flag. Expecting Aid or an Assault. Saturday Morn- 
 ing The Conflagration of the Barracks continuing. Its Effect. Terrific Scene. Danger of an Explosion. Powder 
 thrown overboard. Scarcity of Cartridges. An Explosion The Crash. Breaking of the Flagstaff. Flag nailed 
 to its Place. Arrival of a Stranger through an Embrasure. The agitated Wigfall. His purpose. Displays his 
 white Handkerchief. An uncomfortable Post. An Interview with the Major. "I am General Wigfall. " Depart- 
 ure of Wigfall. An unauthorized Messenger. Commissioners from Beauregard. Interview with Major Anderson. 
 Hoisting of the White Flag. Terms of Surrender agreed upon. Departure of Major Anderson and his Garrison. 
 Firing of Salute to the United States Flag. Accident. Major Anderson sails for New York. 
 
 THE public mind at the North had ; and naval force as the Government at 
 been greatly excited in regard to ! that time could not command, to rein- 
 ' Fort Sumter. The position of | force Fort Sumter. Anderson's mas- 
 Major Anderson with his meagre garri- ! terly movement, in quitting Fort Moul- 
 son was known to be very precarious, j trie, and his resolute and protracted 
 
 besieged as he was by .the powerful 
 works in Charleston harbor, with an in- 
 furiated mob of seven thousand men to 
 defend them, and cut off from all com- 
 munication by land or sea. The highest 
 military authority of the Union, Lieu- 
 tenant-General Scott, was reported to 
 have given it as his opinion that it was 
 impracticable, without such a military 
 
 support of the flag of the United States, 
 while surrounded by those who with 
 intense hostility were resolutely bent 
 upon dishonoring it, had won for him 
 the sympathy of the whole country. 
 When, therefore, it was authoritatively 
 declared again and again that no effort 
 could or would be made to sustain him, 
 an anguish of despair wrung every 
 
UNITED STATES EXPEDITION TO FORT SUMTER. 
 
 139 
 
 patriotic heart. A sudden change, how- 
 ever, came with the rumor that the 
 Government had at last determined at 
 all hazards to make the attempt, and 
 the desponding nation was once more 
 cheered with hope. 
 
 The Federal authorities were evi- 
 dently preparing for some momentous 
 movement. Orders had been issued to 
 have the vessels of war at the various 
 navy yards immediately detailed for 
 service. A number of large merchant 
 steamers and sailing vessels had been 
 chartered. The garrisons of the various 
 forts in the Northern harbors had been 
 got ready to embark. The recruiting 
 in the large cities for sailors and soldiers 
 had been stimulated to unusual exertion. 
 Finally, a fleet was got ready and sailed, 
 and although the Government strove to 
 keep its destination a secret, all sus- 
 pected, as they hoped, that it was 
 Charleston. The vessels sailed from the 
 various ports where they happened to 
 be, to meet at a certain rendezvous de- 
 termined upon. The steam sloop of 
 war Pawnee, Captain S. C. Rowan, of 
 ten guns, and with two hundred men, 
 sailed from Washington with sealed 
 orders on the morning of Saturday, 
 April April 6th. On the afternoon of 
 6th, the same day, the steam sloop of 
 war Powhatan, of eleven guns, and with 
 two hundred and seventy-five men, left 
 the Brooklyn navy yard. 
 
 On the following Monday, the revenue 
 
 April cutter Harriet Lane, after having 
 
 8 exchanged her revenue flag for that 
 
 of the United States, sailed from the 
 
 harbor of New York with an armament 
 
 of five guns and a crew of ninety-six 
 men. 
 
 Three of the largest and swiftest of 
 the merchant steamers hitherto engaged 
 in peaceful commerce had been char- 
 tered, and now laden with armed men 
 and munitions of war joined ' the ex- 
 pedition. The Atlantic, with three hun- 
 dred and fifty-eight troops, com- \^ r [\ 
 posed of Companies A and M of 7. 
 the Second Artillery, Companies C and H 
 of the Second Infantry, and Company A 
 of Sappers and Miners, from West Point, 
 steamed out of the harbor of New 
 York on the morning of Sunday, April 
 7th. Two days after, the Baltic fol- 
 lowed, with a hundred and sixty j^prii 
 troops, Companies C and D, which 9, 
 had been lately recruited and stationed 
 at Governor's Island, in New York bay. 
 On the same day the Illinois put to sea 
 with three hundred troops, made ^n\ 
 up of Companies B, E, F, G, and H, 9, 
 of a detachment of Company D, and 
 two companies of the Second Infantry 
 gathered from the recruits at Governor's 
 Island, Be dice's Island, and Fort Ham- 
 ilton. 
 
 Two steam- tugs the Yankee, which 
 sailed on Monday, the 8th of April, ^ r [\ 
 and the Uncle Ben, which followed 8 
 on the day after completed this hurried- 
 ly gathered but not unimposing naval 
 force. 
 
 Thirty launches were also distributed 
 among the larger steamers, to be used 
 for the purpose of landing the troops 
 through the surf under the cover of the 
 fire of the armed vessels, or, being pro- 
 tected with sand-bags, and armed with 
 
140 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 swivel guns and riflemen, to aid in the 
 attack of batteries.* 
 
 Of this force, though the whole was 
 supposed by the people to be destined 
 for Charleston, only the Powhatan, the 
 Pawnee, the Harriet Lane, the Baltic, 
 and the steam-tugs sailed for that port. 
 The rest took their course for the Gulf 
 of Mexico, to reinforce the garrisons of 
 the Federal forts on the coasts of Ala- 
 bama and Florida. 
 
 The Pawnee, the Harriet Lane, and 
 April the Baltic reached the rendezvous 
 12t off Charleston on the 12th of 
 April, but the Yankee and Uncle Ben 
 had failed to arrive, having been de- 
 tained by unfavorable weather. The 
 orders of the fleet were, that unarmed 
 boats should first be sent in with stores ; 
 but if they were fired upon, an effort 
 was to be made to relieve the fort by 
 force. Without the tug-boats, the pro- 
 posed object of the expedition could not 
 be effectually accomplished, as the only 
 unarmed steamer, the Baltic, was of too 
 great a draught of water to pass the 
 bar of Charleston, and the steam-tugs 
 were alone capable of approaching the 
 fort through the shallow water. The 
 naval commanders, however, after a 
 
 The whole force may be thus recapitulated : 
 
 Vesstb. puny. jjf en , 
 
 Sloop of war Pawnee 10 200 
 
 Sloop of war Powhatan 11 275 
 
 Cutter Harriet Lane 5 96 
 
 Steam transport Atlantic 353 
 
 Steam transport Baltic 160 
 
 Steam transport Illinois 300 
 
 Steam-tug Yankee Ordinary crew. 
 
 Steam-tug Uncle Ben Ordinary crew. 
 
 Total number of vessels 8 
 
 Total number of guns (for marine service) 26 
 
 Total number of men and troops 1,380 
 
 council, determined to make an effort 
 for the relief of Major Anderson who 
 was already under shot, for as soon as 
 the first rockets had been sent up to 
 signalize the concentration of the fleet, 
 the enemy had opened fire. The plan 
 agreed upon was to hoist out the small 
 boats and launches, load them with men 
 and stores, and to tow them as far as 
 possible, and then, while covering them 
 with the guns of the steamers, to send 
 them in alone. This, however, failed in 
 consequence of the Baltic having got 
 aground during the night, while prepa- 
 rations were being made to disembark 
 her stores and troops. Other schemes 
 were devised, but before they could be 
 put into execution, the time for action 
 had past. Fort Sumter had fallen. 
 
 Fort Sumter had been considered one 
 of the strongest works in the United 
 States. The island upon which it is 
 built was artificially constructed by 
 placing upon the original sand and mud 
 a large quantity of refuse granite, 
 brought from Northern quarries, and 
 pressing it deeply down until an un- 
 yielding foundation was laid. This 
 alone cost the labor of ten years and an 
 expense of five hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, to which another half million was 
 added before the completion of the 
 whole fort. The walls of the fortifica- 
 tion, composed of brick and compact 
 concrete, are sixty feet in height and 
 from eight to twelve feet in thickness. 
 The fort is pentagonal, and is pierced 
 for three tiers of guns, on all sides but 
 the southern, where are the sally-ports 
 and docks, which Iiad been left unpro- 
 
FORTS AT CHARLESTON. 
 
 tected, as it looks toward the land, and 
 the work had been mainly intended as a 
 defence against attack from the sea. 
 
 Although it was originally designed 
 to have armed the fort with one hun- 
 dred and forty cannon of various cali- 
 bres, there were but seventy-five in 
 position when the enemy opened fire. 
 Of these, eleven were Paixhans, and a 
 number, thirty-two pounders, four of 
 which were en barbette, and uncovered, 
 and being on pivots could be made to 
 take a wide range. Fort Moultrie was 
 within command of nine of the Paix- 
 hans, and the two others pointed toward 
 Castle Pinckney, too far distant, how- 
 ever, to be within range. Most of the 
 large columbiads in the fort were not 
 yet mounted. The magazines were well 
 supplied with ammunition, sufficient it 
 was thought for a year, and artificial 
 wells had been constructed capable of 
 holding a supply of water for the same 
 period. 
 
 The distance from Fort Sumter to 
 Charleston is three miles and three 
 eighths of a mile. Together with Fort 
 Moultrie, which had been abandoned by 
 Anderson, Sumter was surrounded by 
 Cumming's Point and Fort Johnson, 
 where strong works had been con- 
 structed and mounted, and a floating 
 battery. From Fort Moultrie, Fort 
 Sumter is distant one and one-eighth 
 of a mile ; from Cumming's Point three- 
 fourths of a mile ; from Fort Johnson 
 one and one fourth of a mile ; while the 
 floating battery had been anchored 
 about a half a mile on the weak side of 
 Sumter. The greatest range of the 
 
 guns of Fort Sumter was estimated at 
 three miles, which placed the city of 
 Charleston beyond reach of its fire. 
 
 Six hundred men would have been 
 required fully to garrison the fort and 
 work the guns ; but Major Anderson 
 could only muster one hundred and 
 nine,* of whom thirty were laborers, 
 and fifteen composed the band. 
 
 The enemy had diligently improved 
 every moment in strengthening the Fed- 
 eral forts they had taken possession of, 
 and in adding new works, under the 
 skilful direction of General Beauregard, 
 once esteemed as among the ablest offi- 
 cers of engineers in the United States 
 service. 
 
 Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, 
 had been repaired, its dismantled guns 
 unspiked and mounted again, and the 
 lateral spaces between the cannon pro- 
 tected by sand-bags, to secure them 
 against a flank fire. Though a weak 
 work, in comparison with Fort Sumter, 
 its walls, built of brick, capped with 
 stone and filled in with earth, presented 
 a solid enclosure of nearly sixteen feet 
 in thickness. Its original armament 
 
 The garrison was thus composed : 
 
 Officers. Bank. Kesiment or Cm-pi- 
 ll. Anderson ..Major 1st Artillery .. 
 
 S.W. Crawford. Ass't Surgeon.. Medical Staff . 
 
 A. Doubleday. .Captain 1 st Artillery . . 
 
 T. Seymour Captain . . 
 
 T. Talbot 1st Lieut. 
 
 Jeff. C. Davis . . 1st Lieut.. 
 J. N. Hall. ...2d Lieut . 
 
 J. G. Foster Captain . . 
 
 G. W. Snyder..lst Lieut.. 
 E. K. Meade.. .2d Lieut.. 
 
 Officers 
 
 Band 
 
 Artillerists 
 
 Laborers 
 
 . . . 1st Artillery . . 
 ...1st Artillery .. 
 ...1st Artillery . . 
 ...1st Artillery . . 
 ...Engineers 
 . . . Engineers 
 ...Engineers 
 
 Original Entr7 
 Into Scr-Tice. 
 
 July 1,1825... 
 .March 10,1851 
 .July 1,1842... 
 July 1, 1846. . . 
 .May 22, 1847.. 
 June IT, 1848. 
 .July 1,1849 .. 
 July 1, 1846 . . 
 July 1,1856... 
 Julyl, 1857... 
 
 Penn. 
 N. Y. 
 Vt. 
 B.C. 
 lud. 
 N. Y. 
 N. H. 
 N. Y 
 Va. 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 55 
 
 Total 109 
 
142 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 was composed of eleven guns of heavy 
 calibre and several powerful mortars. 
 
 On Cuimning's Point the enemy had 
 erected a battery made of thick logs of 
 yellow pine. This was covered with a 
 slanting roof of the same material which 
 had been rendered ball-proof by railroad 
 iron dovetailed and riveted together. 
 The port-holes were supplied with iron 
 shutters, which opened as the guns were 
 thrust out to fire, and fell as they re- 
 coiled after a shot, and thus shut in the 
 artillerists within an iron-bound and im- 
 penetrable cover. This novel battery 
 was mounted with three columbiads, 
 which bore directly on the southern and 
 weakest side of Fort Sumter. 
 
 The most curious, and not the least 
 effective, perhaps, of the enemy's works, 
 was the floating battery, which in the 
 course of its construction had given rise 
 to much speculation and not a little rid- 
 icule. This, too, was constructed of 
 heavy pine logs and faced with a double 
 layer of railroad iron. It was about a 
 hundred feet in length and twenty-five 
 in width. Its face presented an angle 
 horizontally disposed, formed by its re- 
 treating roof and the front wall inclining 
 backward as it descended to the water. 
 It was mounted with four guns of the 
 heaviest calibre, which were said to re- 
 quire sixty men to work them. A mag- 
 azine for ammunition was built in the 
 hold, below the water-line, and lined 
 with sand-bags, laid seven feet thick, not 
 only to protect it from shot, but to act 
 as ballast necessary to counterpoise the 
 heavy armament above. To the stern 
 of this strange structure was attached a 
 
 floating hospital, to provide for the or- 
 dinary emergencies of war. 
 
 At Fort Johnson so called from its 
 being the site of an old work no longer 
 existing on James' Island, two long 
 batteries were erected of sand, and 
 mounted with heavy cannon and mor- 
 tars. Other temporary structures were 
 raised, some of palmetto logs, and oth- 
 ers of earth and sand, on Morris and 
 Stono islands, HadriPs Point, and other 
 parts of the harbor, which bore on its 
 approaches, or upon Fort Sumter. 
 
 A large force, said to have amounted 
 to over seven thousand men, had been 
 mustered to the defence of Charleston. 
 Four thousand of these were manning 
 the works in the harbor, while the rest 
 were held in reserve on Sullivan and 
 Morris islands and in Charleston, to be 
 ready to repel any attack by land. 
 
 The city itself was immediately de- 
 fended by the fort at Castle Pinckney, 
 and cannon on the Battery in front of 
 Charleston. These, however, could only 
 be of service in case the above works 
 had failed to keep out any intruder. 
 Castle Pinckney is situated at the south- 
 ern extremity of Shute's Folly Island. 
 Its armament consists of some thirty- 
 two pounders, columbiads, and mortars, 
 amounting in all to about twenty-five 
 pieces. Its walls are six feet in thick- 
 ness, and are pierced for one row of 
 guns, while there is another en barbette. 
 The work is small, and of little import- 
 ance in an attack from the sea. All the 
 old defences had been greatly improved, 
 and new ones constructed, by the skilful 
 engineering of General Beauregard, the 
 
i\ 
 
LIFE OF BEAUREGARD. 
 
 143 
 
 officer who had been sent by the gov- 
 ernment of the Confederate States to 
 take command at Charleston. 
 
 Peter Gustavus Toutant Beauregard 
 had already, while in the service of the 
 United States, won a distinguished rep- 
 utation as an engineer. He was born 
 on his father's plantation, near New Or- 
 leans. The family name is said to be 
 Toutant, and that of the estate Beaure- 
 gard, which, by a curious accident, was 
 originally attached to the patronymic, 
 and assumed by the present bearer, in 
 this wise : The youth, when admitted a 
 cadet at West Point, was presented as 
 Toutant de Beauregard, signifying mere- 
 ly that he was a Toutant of the planta- 
 tion of Beauregard, and thus entered 
 upon the records of the institution. 
 This, however, was supposed to be his 
 surname, and he was so called. Not 
 averse, probably, to the dignified sound- 
 ing of the appellation, the youth did not 
 care to correct the error, and subse- 
 quently assumed the name of Beaure- 
 gard as his own. 
 
 His father was a wealthy Creole, with 
 extensive estates in Louisiana, and a 
 descendant of a reputable French fam- 
 ily. His mother's name was Reggio, 
 for whom has been claimed a descent 
 from the Italian ducal house of the Reg- 
 gios of Italy. In 1834, young Beaure- 
 gard entered the military academy at 
 West Point, where he graduated in 1838, 
 ranking the second of a class of forty- 
 five cadets. On his graduation, he re- 
 ceived the commission of a second lieu- 
 tenant in the First Regiment of Artillery, 
 but in a week after was transferred to 
 
 the Corps of Engineers. In June, 1839, 
 he was promoted a first lieutenant, and 
 was serving in this grade when the war 
 with Mexico broke out. He accompa- 
 nied the army to Vera Cruz, and con- 
 tinued with it during its career of con- 
 quest to the capital of Mexico. 
 
 At the very first moment he gave in- 
 dications of that surety of eye, precision 
 of foresight, and carefulness of judgment 
 which are his distinguishing qualities. 
 Before Vera Cruz, he was sent out at 
 the head of a party of sappers and 
 miners to dig and prepare a trench, in 
 accordance with the directions of his 
 ' colonel. Upon examining the ground, 
 | however, he appeared to find serious 
 obstacles to the proposed plan. To as- 
 sure himself, he climbed a tree, and 
 with the aid of his glass took a careful 
 survey, which resulted in confirming the 
 objections to his colonel's plan. He dis- 
 covered that the trench, if made as pro- 
 posed, would be enfiladed by the en- 
 emy's guns. It was a difficult position 
 for a young subaltern thus to find him- 
 self at variance with "the judgment of his 
 superior. He, however, did not hesi- 
 tate, but returned to his colonel without 
 having turned a sod. The officer, sur- 
 prised to see him so soon, asked if he 
 had done the work already. Beaure- 
 gard replied that he had not touched it, 
 and gave his reasons. The colonel was 
 still more startled by the presumption 
 of the youthful subaltern who had ven- 
 tured to dispute the judgment of his su- 
 perior, instead of submissively obeying 
 his orders. He accordingly, with the 
 characteristic presumptuousness of the 
 
144: 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 military commander, reminded him of 
 duties of obedience, and at the same 
 time impatiently declared that " the 
 ground had been thoroughly examined, 
 a perfect reconnoisance had been made, 
 and that a mistake was impossible." 
 Notwithstanding this, he was impressed 
 by the judgment of Beauregard, and 
 took another survey of the ground, 
 when he found reason to concur with 
 the view of his young lieutenant. 
 
 For his gallant conduct at Contreras 
 and Cherubusco, Beauregard was bre- 
 vetted captain, to date from 20th of 
 August, 1847, and again for his services 
 at Chapultepec, he was promoted to the 
 brevet rank of major, to date from the 
 13th of September of the same year. 
 
 At the assault of the Belen gate of the 
 city of Mexico, Beauregard was wounded, 
 and throughout the whole campaign he 
 was not only among the most brave, but 
 ranked among the ablest and most use- 
 ful of the officers. General Scott, in his 
 dispatch from the capital of Mexico, into 
 which he had just entered as conqueror, 
 spoke of Beauregard as one of " our dis- 
 tinguished engineers," by the aid of 
 whose efficient and daring reconnois- 
 ances, he was enabled to follow up the 
 victory of El Molino del Rey with the 
 triumphal capture of the city of Mexico. 
 Again, in his official report, Scott al- 
 luded to Beauregard as one of the five 
 lieutenants of engineers "who were the 
 admiration of all" during the storming 
 of the fortress of Chapultepec, the strug- 
 gle at the gates, and the entrance into 
 the capital. 
 
 Another illustration of the correct- 
 
 ness of his judgment is given in the 
 following incident, said to have occurred 
 before the city of Mexico : 
 
 A night or two before the attack, a 
 council of war was held. There were 
 assembled all the officers, from the Lieu- 
 tenant-General, including Major-General 
 Worth and others, down to Beauregard, 
 the youngest in the room. The council 
 sat many hours. All the officers, but 
 one, had spoken, and unanimously main- 
 tained a plan of operations at variance 
 with that of Scott. The officer who 
 had not tendered his opinion was Beau- 
 regard. At last General Pierce crossed 
 over and said : il You have not expressed 
 an opinion." "I have not been called on," 
 said Beauregard. Pierce, soon resum- 
 ing his seat, announced that Lieutenant 
 Beauregard had not given his views. 
 Being then called upon, he remarked, that 
 if the plan which had received the con- 
 sent of all but the commanding' general 
 was carried into effect, it would prove 
 disastrous. It would be another Cheru- 
 busco affair. He then detailed the ob- 
 jections to it at length ; and taking up 
 the other, urged the reasons in its favor 
 with equal earnestness. The council 
 reversed their decision. The city of 
 Mexico was entered according to the 
 plan urged by the young lieutenant, 
 and it would seem that his reasons in- 
 fluenced the decision. A few days after- 
 ward, General Scott, in the presence of 
 a number of general officers, alluded to 
 Lieutenant Beauregard's opinion at the 
 council, and the consequences which had 
 followed from it. 
 
 On his return to Louisiana, the young 
 
FIRE OPENED ON SUMTER. 
 
 145 
 
 liero was presented with a costly sword. 
 The Government of the United States 
 appointed him the chief engineer to su- 
 perintend the construction of the Mint 
 and Custom house at New Orleans, and 
 of the fortifications at the mouth of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Beauregard is now (1862) about forty- 
 three years of age, and with his healthful 
 manhood, his vigorous and concentrated 
 frame, his promptitude of movement 
 and power of endurance, has all the 
 bodily qualifications for a hardy cam- 
 paigner. His abilities and thorough cul- 
 ture as an engineer are unquestioned, and 
 his admirers claim for him great capacity 
 as a strategist and leader of armies. 
 
 Born in Louisiana, and bound to it 
 by the strong ties of family and prop- 
 erty, he has not unnaturally joined his 
 destiny to the fate of his native State. 
 He is, moreover, supposed to have been 
 early involved in the Southern conspir- 
 acy, through the influence of his brother- 
 in-law, John Slidell, the former senator 
 of the United States from Louisiana, and 
 one of the main instigators of the present 
 rebellion. 
 
 " By authority of Brigadier-General 
 Beauregard, commanding the provisional 
 April forces of the Confederate States, 
 12 we have the honor to notify you 
 that he will open the fire of his batteries 
 on Fort Sumter in one hour from this 
 time." This was the communication ad- 
 dressed by the aids-de-camp of Beaure- 
 gard to Major Anderson at twenty min- 
 utes past three o'clock on the morning 
 of Friday, the 12th of April. At twenty 
 minutes past four o'clock, accordingly, 
 
 19 
 
 the batteries surrounding Fort Sumter 
 opened fire. Major Anderson waited 
 until full daylight, as he did not care to 
 waste any of his ammunition before re- 
 plying. He, however, immediately or- 
 dered the sentinels away from the para- 
 pets, the posterns closed, the flag drawn 
 up, and forbid his men to leave the 
 bomb-proofs until summoned by the 
 drum. 
 
 The extent of the enemy's fire greatly 
 surprised the garrison, which, however, 
 was now explained by the revelation, for 
 the first time, of a battery of which there 
 had been hitherto no suspicion. This 
 was a battery on Sullivan's Island, 
 masked by a cover of brush-wood and 
 other materials. Skilfully constructed, 
 heavily mounted, and artfully protected, 
 its fire was very effective. It showed 
 seventeen mortars, throwing ten-inch 
 shells, and thirty-three heavy cannons, 
 most of which were columbiads. The 
 shots from these powerful guns struck 
 against the walls of Fort Sumter with a 
 "terrific crash," as the defenders de- 
 clared, and several of the shells burst 
 inside the fort. 
 
 Major Anderson, however, did not re- 
 spond, and as late as half-past six o'clock 
 had not fired a shot, the men at that 
 hour being at breakfast, which they ate 
 " leisurely and calmly." Immediately 
 after, however, everything was got ready 
 for work. The garrison was so few in 
 number and so worn out by the harass- 
 ing labors of a long siege, that it was 
 found necessary to husband its strength. 
 The whole was accordingly divided into 
 three reliefs or parties, which were to 
 
146 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 work the batteries in turns each during 
 four hours. 
 
 The first relief was under the com- 
 mand of Captain Doubleday, of the 
 Artillery, and Lieutenant Snyder, of the 
 Engineer Corps. Upon this party ac- 
 cordingly devolved the duty of opening 
 the fire, and at seven o'clock in the 
 morning the first gun was fired by 
 Doubleday. The fire was directed 
 against the batteries at Cumming's 
 Point, sixteen hundred yards distant ; the 
 iron floating battery, anchored about two 
 thousand yards away, and Fort Moultrie 
 and the additional batteries on Sullivan's 
 Island. The cannonade was kept up 
 with great spirit for four hours ; and such 
 was the enthusiasm of the garrison, that 
 it was impossible to prevent the reliefs 
 off duty from taking part in the work. 
 The fire told apparently with good effect 
 upon the walls of Fort Moultrie, the 
 embrasures of which were considerably 
 damaged. The battery on Cumming's 
 Point, however, seemed invulnerable, 
 shot and shell glancing harmlessly off 
 from its mail of iron. 
 
 The enemy's fire was constant arid 
 effective. Their shells burst in rapid 
 succession against all parts of the fort, 
 scattering the loosened brick and stone 
 in every direction, breaking the windows 
 and setting fire to whatever wood-work 
 they touched. The gorge in the rear of 
 the fort was already so pierced with 
 balls that it looked like a sieve. LV 
 
 The enemy poured their heaviest fire 
 on the parapet of the fort, and it became 
 impossible to go there without the cer- 
 tainty of death. Their shot, aimed prin- 
 
 cipally at the guns en barbette, soon made 
 great havoc among them, disabling one 
 ten-inch columbiad, one eight-inch co- 
 lumbiad, one forty-two pounder, and two 
 eight-inch howitzers. At the same time, 
 a large portion of the parapet, upon 
 which these guns were placed, was 
 carried away, and Major Anderson was 
 obliged to forbid his men to expose 
 themselves there any longer in manning 
 the barbette, or uncovered, cannons. The 
 garrison was thus limited to the use of 
 the two lower tiers of guns, which were 
 protected by casemates. 
 
 An English rifle cannon, which had 
 been presented to Charleston by an 
 enthusiastic friend of secession at Liver- 
 pool, was fired with great accuracy. Its 
 balls frequently entered the embrasures 
 of Fort Sumter, and on one occasion 
 slightly wounded four men. More mis- 
 chief would have been done, had not a 
 man been kept constantly on the look- 
 out to cry, whenever the enemy fired, 
 " shot" or " shell," as it happened to be, 
 so that our men could seek safety under 
 cover. Our soldiers never faltered at 
 their work, and even the laborers, though 
 at the beginning reluctant to handle the 
 guns, finally took hold and vied with the 
 others in the dangerous service. 
 
 " We had to abandon one gun," 
 wrote one of the officers, "on account 
 of the close fire made upon it. Hearing 
 the fire renewed, I went to the spot. I 
 there found a party of workmen engaged 
 in serving it. I saw one of them stoop- 
 ing over, with his hands on his knees, 
 convulsed with joy, while the tears 
 rolled down his powder-begrimed cheeks. 
 
FIRST DAY OF THE SIEGE. 
 
 147 
 
 ' What are you doing here with that 
 gun ?' I asked. ' Hit it right in the 
 centre,' was the reply ; the man meaning 
 that his shot had taken effect in the 
 centre of the floating battery.'' 
 
 The shot of the enemy was particu- 
 larly destructive to the barracks where 
 the officers had their quarters. Most 
 of the brick work was demolished, and 
 the interior, of wood, was in flames 
 several times. As the day advanced, 
 the fire was continued with more vigor 
 by the enemy than ever, while Major 
 Anderson soon found his ability to re- 
 spond greatly diminished. His car- 
 tridges became exhausted about noon, 
 and he was forced to set his men to 
 work in the magazine, making them of 
 blankets and shirts. 
 
 The frequent conflagration of the 
 officers' barracks was now a source of 
 increased annoyance and danger. Three 
 times they had caught, and three times 
 been put out. While extinguishing the j 
 flames, the men were obliged to go out ; 
 upon the parapet, where, though di- i 
 rectly exposed to the thickest of the 
 shower of balls, they could not resist the 
 temptation of discharging clandestinely 
 the cannon which had been loaded and 
 pointed on the day before, ready to fire. 
 
 The soldiers throughout exhibited 
 great daring. On Friday, when some 
 of our vessels outside having saluted the 
 fort, Major Anderson ordered his flag to 
 be lowered and raised in response, Ser- 
 geant Hart, catching a glance at it just 
 as it was descending, and thinking it had 
 been cut away by a shot, rushed out 
 into the open parade in the thickest of 
 
 the fire, in order to raise it. As it rose, 
 a ball really did come which divided the 
 halyards, but the rope caught by the 
 wind twisted around the staff and held 
 the flag in its place. 
 
 A veteran sergeant, of the name of 
 Kearnan, who had served in the Mex- 
 ican campaigns, was struck on the head 
 by a portion of masonry shivered by a 
 shot, and felled to the ground. On 
 rising, he was asked if he were badly 
 hurt. " No," said he, " I was only 
 knocked down temporarily." The men 
 were now obliged to keep so close to 
 their work, that their meals were served 
 to them while at their guns. The fire 
 of the enemy became more brisk and 
 accurate as the day was closing. Their 
 iron battery at Cumming's Point, with 
 its rifled cannon, was making great 
 havoc, striking the embrasures at every 
 shot. During Friday night some of our 
 men strove to climb the flagstaff and rig 
 new halyards in place of those which 
 had been cut away, but could not suc- 
 ceed. The flag, however, still was fly- 
 ing. At night, Major Anderson ordered 
 the port-holes to be closed, and ceased 
 active operations, but the enemy con- 
 tinued their fire, A shot or shell struck 
 against the walls, within which the little 
 garrison was cooped up, about every fif- 
 teen minutes during the whole night. 
 Major Anderson stationed until next 
 morning a non-commissioned officer and 
 four men at each salient embrasure, to 
 be in readiness for any boats that might 
 come, whether from friend or foe, as 
 relief from the fleet outside or an assault 
 from the enemy was not improbable. 
 
148 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 On Saturday morning the officers' 
 quarters again caught fire from the burst- 
 April m g f a ten-inch shell discharged 
 13. by the enemy. It was now found 
 impossible even to make the attempt to 
 put out the conflagration, as red-hot 
 shot were pouring constantly into the 
 fort, and from the general ruin the ex- 
 posure was so great. The main gates 
 were already destro}*ed, so that five hun- 
 dred men could have readily formed in 
 the gorge and marched in without oppo- 
 sition. The walls, too, were so weak- 
 ened, it was feared that each shot might 
 pierce or prostrate them. The fire of 
 the barracks spread rapidly, and was 
 soon sweeping up all the wood-work of 
 the fortress. 
 
 Great fears were now entertained for 
 the safety of the magazine. Every man 
 who could be spared was put to work 
 in removing the powder. Ninety-six 
 barrels were rolled out through the 
 flames, at the imminent hazard of life, 
 and most of them flung into the sea. 
 Two hundred were left behind, as it was 
 found impossible to make any further 
 effort, in consequence of the excessive 
 heat, to remove them. The doors of 
 the magazine were now closed and 
 locked, but there was a constant dread 
 of an explosion as the flames gathered 
 about the whole structure. 
 
 The direction of the wind was such 
 that it blew the smoke into the fort, and 
 so filled it that the men could no longer 
 see each other, and the air became so 
 hot and stifling that it was almost im- 
 possible to breathe. They were finally 
 forced to cover their faces with wet 
 
 cloths, and often thus to lie prostrate 
 on the ground. Some, however, man- 
 aged to grope their way to the cannon. 
 A gun was occasionally fired, to give the 
 fleet and the enemy notice that the gar- 
 rison still held out, but the cannoneers 
 could not see to aim, and the cartridges 
 had became so scarce that there was 
 hardly a cannon wad left. As the 
 sparks flew thick in every direction, it 
 was impossible to attempt to make fresh 
 cartridges. The men at the same time 
 had become prostrate, as much in con- 
 sequence of their constant working at 
 the guns as for want of proper food. 
 They had eaten their last biscuit thirty- 
 six hours previous. 
 
 In the mean time the enemy increased 
 their fire, which, added to the conflagra- 
 tion, the heat and the smoke, the crash 
 and the ruin, produced a scene of inde- 
 scribable awe and confusion. "The 
 crashing of the shot, the bursting of the 
 shells, the falling of walls, and the roar 
 of the flames made," reported an eye- 
 witness, "a pandemonium of the fort." 
 
 Now, to add to the horror of the 
 scene, the shells and ammunition in the 
 upper service-magazines exploded, scat- 
 tering the tower and upper portions of 
 the structure in every direction. "The 
 crash of the beams, the roar of the 
 flames, the rapid explosion of the shells, 
 and the shower of fragments of the fort, 
 with the blackness of the smoke, made 
 the scene," wrote one who was present. 
 11 indescribably terrific and grand." 
 
 The conflagration continued to spread, 
 and having reached the men's quarters, 
 soon enveloped them in flames. The 
 
ARRIVAL OF WIGFALL. 
 
 149 
 
 barrels of powder which had been taken 
 out of the magazine and retained for 
 use, were now in danger of explosion. 
 All but four were accordingly thrown 
 through the embrasures into the water, 
 and those which were left were wrapped 
 in many thicknesses of wetted woollen 
 blankets. The garrison was now re- 
 duced to its last three cartridges, and 
 those were already in the guns. 
 
 The flagstaff, which seemed to have 
 been the constant aim of the enemy, had 
 been struck already eight times, when it 
 received a ninth shot, which broke it at 
 about fifty feet from the truck and 
 brought down the flag. " The flag is 
 down it has been shot away !" was the 
 cry, when Lieutenant Hall rushed out 
 and brought it in safely. It was found 
 impossible, from the entanglement of 
 the halyards, to hoist it again, and it was 
 accordingly nailed to the broken staff 
 and planted upon the ramparts in the 
 midst of a shower of shot and shell from 
 the enemy's busy batteries. Soon after 
 the flag had fallen, and toward the close 
 of day, a man presented himself at one 
 of the embrasures of the fort in a boat, 
 with a white handkerchief tied to a 
 sword, asking to see Major Anderson. 
 In his impatience, however, to get under 
 cover, he climbed up, and was crawling 
 through the embrasure when he was 
 told that Major Anderson was at the 
 main gate. He, however, did not heed 
 what was said, but continued to make 
 his way into the fort, where, on landing, 
 he said, hurriedly : 
 
 " I wish to see Major Anderson ; I 
 am General Wigfall, and come from 
 
 General Beauregard :" while he added, 
 with great agitation, "let us stop this 
 firing. You are. on fire, and your flag is 
 down. Let us quit." 
 
 Lieutenant Davis replied : 
 
 " No, sir our flag is not down. Step 
 out here and you will see it waving over 
 the ramparts." 
 
 "Let us quit this," exclaimed the 
 agitated Wigfall. " Here's a white flag 
 [handing his handkerchief] will any- 
 body wave it out of the embrasure ?" 
 
 " That is for you to do, if you choose," 
 was the reply ; to which Wigfall re- 
 joined : 
 
 " If there's no one else to do it, I 
 will ;" and jumping into the embrasure 
 through which he had just crawled, he 
 waved his white handkerchief toward 
 Fort Moultrie. The tiring, however, of 
 the enemy still continued, to the evident 
 disappointment of Wigfall, who, after 
 repeated requests on his part, was re- 
 lieved from his hazardous position by a 
 corporal who took his place and waved 
 the flag. The enemy, however, still 
 gave it no heed, and the corporal, finding 
 the shot falling thick and fast about 
 him, leaped down from the embrasure, 
 exclaiming: "Damn it! they don't re- 
 spect this flag they are firing at it." 
 
 " They fired at me two or three times, 
 and I stood it," answered Wigfall, " and 
 I should think you might stand it once." 
 
 As he spoke, he turned toward the 
 officers and added : " If you will show 
 a white flag from your ramparts, they 
 will cease firing." Lieutenant Davis 
 replied: "If you request that a flag 
 shall be shown there while you hold a 
 
150 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 conference with Major Anderson, and 
 for that purpose alone, it may be done." 
 
 At this moment Major Anderson came 
 up, and Wigfall said to him : "I am 
 General Wigfall, and come from General 
 Beauregard, who wishes to stop this." 
 
 The Major, rising on his toes, and 
 coming down firmly on his heels, ex- 
 claimed, "Well, sir!" 
 
 "Major Anderson," resumed Wigfall, 
 ' ' you have defended your flag nobly, 
 sir. You have done all that is possible 
 for man to do, and General Beauregard 
 wishes to stop the fight. On what 
 terms, Major Anderson, will you evacu- 
 ate this fort ?" 
 
 " General Beauregard is already ac- 
 quainted with my only terms," replied 
 the Major. 
 
 "Do I understand that you will evac- 
 uate upon the terms proposed the other 
 day ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, and on those conditions 
 only." 
 
 "Then, sir," said Wigfall, "I under- 
 stand that the fort is to be ours ?" 
 
 " On those conditions only, I repeat," 
 firmly declared Anderson. 
 
 "Very well that's all I have to do. 
 You military men will arrange every- 
 thing else on your own terms," said the 
 modest Wigfall, and retired. 
 
 He now left in his boat, his white 
 handkerchief waving from the rampart 
 where it had been placed at his request, 
 but the United States flag nailed to the 
 broken staff was no longer standing. 
 
 Shortly after his departure, Major 
 Lee, the Honorable Porcher Miles, Sen- 
 ator Chesnut, and the Honorable Roger 
 
 A. Pryor, the staff of General Beaure- 
 gard, approached the fort with a white 
 flag, and said they came from General 
 Beauregard, who had observed that the 
 flag had been down and raised again a 
 few minutes afterward. The General 
 had sent over, desiring to know if he 
 could render any assistance, as he had 
 observed that the fort was on fire. Ma- 
 jor Anderson, in replying, requested 
 them to thank General Beauregard for 
 the offer, but it was too late, as he had 
 just agreed with General Beauregard 
 for an evacuation. The three, com- 
 prising the deputy, looked at each other 
 blankly, and asked with whom ? Major 
 Anderson, observing that there was 
 something wrong, remarked that Gen- 
 eral Wigfall, who had just left, had rep- 
 resented himself to be the Aid of General 
 Beauregard, and that he had come over 
 to make the proposition. 
 
 After some conversation among them- 
 selves, they said to Major Anderson that 
 Wigfall had not seen General Beauregard 
 for two days. Major Anderson replied 
 that General WigfalFs offer and its ac- 
 ceptance had placed him in a peculiar po- 
 sition, and ordered the United States flag 
 to be raised again. They then requested 
 him to place in writing what General 
 Wigfall had said to him, and they would 
 lay it before General Beauregard, and 
 at the same time urged him to leave the 
 flag down in the meanwhile, with which 
 request Anderson complied. 
 
 After the note reached General Beau- 
 regard, he sent his adjutant-general and 
 other members of his staff, including the 
 Honorable Roger A. Pryor and Gover- 
 
SURRENDER OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 151 
 
 nor Manning, proposing the same con- 
 ditions which Major Anderson had of- 
 fered to go out upon, with the exception 
 only of not saluting his flag. Major An- 
 derson said that he had already informed 
 General Beauregard that he was going 
 out. They asked him if he would not 
 accept of the terms without the salute. 
 Major Anderson told them, No ; but 
 that it should be an open point. 
 
 General Beauregard soon after sent 
 word that Major Anderson's terms had 
 been accepted, and that he would send 
 the Isabel, or any other vessel at his 
 command, to convey him and his men to 
 any port in the United States he should 
 choose. 
 
 The terms of evacuation were, that 
 the garrison should take all their indi- 
 vidual and company's property with 
 them ; that they should march out with 
 their side and other arms, with all the 
 honors in their own way and in their 
 own time, and that they should salute 
 their flag and bear it away with them. 
 It was late on Saturday night when the 
 terms demanded were finally agreed to 
 by General Beauregard. Next morn- 
 
 ing, on Sunday, the Isabel came April 
 down from Charleston and an- !* 
 chored near Fort Sumter, and the little 
 steamer Clinch lay alongside the wharf 
 to transport Major Anderson and his 
 men to the larger vessel. 
 
 When the baggage had been all put 
 on board the Clinch, -the soldiers being 
 inside of the fort under arms, a number 
 were detailed to salute the United States 
 flag. At the fiftieth gun, the flag was 
 lowered and the men set up a loud 
 cheer. In firing, however, this last 
 discharge, a premature explosion took 
 place which killed one man instantane- 
 ously, seriously wounded another, and 
 injured less seriously two other men. 
 These were the- only casualties of mo- 
 ment during the whole conflict. 
 
 The troops, now being formed, were 
 marched out, while the band played 
 "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail to the 
 Chief." Remaining on board the Isabel 
 during the night, in consequence of the 
 state of the tide, Major Anderson and his 
 command were transferred next morning 
 to the Baltic, and during the evening of 
 the day after sailed for New York. 
 
152 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Cannonade of Fort Sumter. Its severity. Damage to the Fortress. The "Impress of Ruin." The Interior of the 
 Fort. Its condition. The Parade. Dismantled Guns. Walls hanging in Fragments. The shattered Flagstaff. 
 The Parapet. Its damaged condition. The Guns. Confusion. The condition of the Guns. Dismantled. 
 Flung everywhere. Cracked. Broken. The effect of a Ninety-six Pounder. The risk to the Magazine. Gren- 
 ades, Balls, Shells, Rammers, charred Timber, etc., etc. The Exterior. Peppered Walls. Indentations of the 
 Balls. A threatened Breach. Outside the Fort. Effect of the Fire of Fort Sumter upon the Enemy's Works. 
 Fort Moultrie. Its damaged condition. Battered Archways. Splintered Rafters. Dropping Ceilings. Innumera- 
 ble Balls. Barracks and Officers' Quarters. The Confederate and Palmetto Flags. How many times struck. The 
 Exterior. No Hot Shot from Sumter. The Battery at Point Cummings uninjured. Indentations in its Iron Armor. 
 The interest of the People of Charleston at the approach of the Struggle. Alert with expectation. Firing of 
 Signal Guns. Alarm. The City of Charleston aroused. The Call to Arms. The mustering of the Soldiery. De- 
 serted Homes. The Guards trebled. The Flotilla of Guard Boats. A veteran Secessionist fires the First Gun. A 
 thronging Multitude spectators of the scene, Night and Day. The raising of the Confederate Flag upon Fort 
 Sumter. "A merry Peal." A People " wild with joy." General Beauregard's Order. Announcement of Victory. 
 Delight in the Seceded States. The effect of the news in Virginia. The news in the North. Conflicting Tele- 
 grams. Effect. Doubt and Fear. The Truth at last. Opinions of the conduct of Anderson. His Life. Birth. 
 Military Education. Early Services. Promotion. Gallantry in the Mexican War. His conduct at Fort Sumter. 
 Want of Concert with the United States Fleet explained. His report of the Fall of Fort Sumter. Complimentary 
 tribute from the Government. Anderson's Popularity. His Personal Appearance and Character. A pious Scene. 
 The United States Flag raised. Determination to Reinforce Fort Pickens. The Forts in Pensacola Harbor seized 
 by the Insurgents of Florida. General Bragg, of the Confederate Army. Better known as Captain Bragg, of the 
 United States Army. Description of Fort Pickens. Its Construction and Strength. Fort McRae. Description. 
 Its Construction and Strength. Fort Barrancas. Its description. Construction. Strength. Movement of Lieuten- 
 ant Slemmer. First successful attempt to Reinforce Fort Pickens. The second attempt. Arrival of the Atlantic. 
 Debarkation of Troops and Supplies. Arrival of the Powhatan. Arrival of the Illinois. Debarkation of Troops 
 and Supplies. Colonel Brown in command of Fort Pickens. Force and threatening position of the Enemy. 
 
 1861. 
 
 ALTHOUGH not a man had been killed 
 or seriously wounded on either* side by 
 a hostile gun during the bombard- 
 ment of Fort Sumter, the cannon- 
 ade was certainly very heavy and well 
 directed, as is proved by the condition 
 of the works after the engagement. 
 
 All parts of Fort Sumter, except the 
 outer walls and casemates, " bore the 
 impress of ruin," declared a Southern 
 writer. The interior structure was de- 
 scribed as roofless, bare, blackened, and 
 perforated by shot and shell, while the 
 
 Some have persistently declared that the Confed- 
 erates suffered a great loss, but concealed it. There seems 
 to be little doubt that not one of their men was killed. 
 
 walls hung in fragments, ready to totter 
 down. The parade was strewn with 
 fragments of shell and of the shattered 
 buildings. Four guns lay dismounted 
 on the ramparts, and every step was im- 
 peded by portions of the broken struc- 
 ture. The remnant of the shattered 
 flagstaff showed the marks of four balls. 
 The parapet was torn in many places, 
 and the guns were knocked in scat- 
 tered confusion everywhere. Some were 
 turned on their sides ; some were en- 
 tirely forced from their places, and 
 many were so bruised and cracked, as 
 to be no longer of use. The largest 
 gun had been dismounted by its own 
 
THE FORTS AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 153 
 
 recoil. In the magazine there was a 
 hole made by a red-hot shot which had 
 forced and bored its way half way 
 through the wall of brick. A ninety- 
 six pound shell, after shattering a gran- 
 ite block to pieces, had finally exploded 
 against the magazine and forced the iron 
 door from its place, thus exposing the 
 powder within to the next shot. Gren- 
 ades, balls, shells, rammers, charred 
 timber, and fragments of brick and ma- 
 sonry were mingled in confusion every- 
 where. 
 
 The exterior walls, though not mate- 
 rially injured, presented the aspect, as 
 described by a writer,* as if the strong- 
 hold had just recovered from an attack 
 of small-pox, so " pitted" was it with 
 the indentations of balls, which had torn 
 away, as they struck, the brick-work by 
 " bushels-full." There was, however, no 
 breach made in the external walls, though 
 at the southeast angle there was suffi- 
 cient damage done already as to threaten 
 it. Upon the rim of the island, at the 
 base of the fort, the stones were strewed 
 with scattered fragments of brick, con- 
 crete, shells, and ca.nnon-balls. 
 
 The cannonade of Fort Sumter had 
 been no less destructive to the works of 
 the enemy, particularly to Fort Moul- 
 trie. A writerf who visited it imme- 
 diately after the bombardment, wrote : 
 
 " The raking fire from Fort Sumter 
 against Fort Moultrie was terribly de- 
 structive, and when viewed in connec- 
 tion with the fact that no life was lost, 
 is the most extraordinary case ever re- 
 corded in history. As you enter, the 
 
 New York Herald. 
 
 f Charleston Courier. 
 
 eye falls upon the battered walls of the 
 archway, with openings in some places 
 large enough for windows. In other 
 places may be seen the hanging splinters 
 of the rafters, large pieces of ceiling 
 seemingly about to drop, while the holes 
 in the roof throw a clear light over the 
 scene of destruction, which renders it 
 painfully impressive. It would be an. 
 almost impossible task to count the 
 number of balls discharged at this de- 
 voted fortress. The walls of the offi- 
 cers' quarters were battered with eight 
 or ten balls, which had penetrated the 
 whole depth of the building The west- 
 ern wall on the upper balcony was en- 
 tirely shot away. The barracks were 
 almost entirely destroyed. The furnace 
 for heating hot shot was struck four 
 times, the flag of the Confederate States 
 received three shots, and the Palmetto 
 flag four a rather singular and pe- 
 culiar circumstance, when viewed in 
 connection with the seven Confederate 
 States. The merlons of sand-bags, etc., 
 remain unbroken. 
 
 " On the outside walls we counted 
 over one hundred shots. Laborers were 
 engaged in clearing away fallen bricks, 
 etc. It will be necessary to pull down 
 the old walls and rebuild them. Even 
 the beds and bedding in the officers' quar- 
 ters and the men's barracks were cut 
 and torn into splinters and shreds. Had 
 it not been for the bomb-proof shelter, 
 the loss of life would no doubt have 
 been appalling. One shell entered the 
 brick wall of Major Ripley's bedroom, 
 ran down the wall, and burst on the 
 bureau immediately over the head of the 
 
 20 
 
154 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 bed. Our limited time prevented us 
 from visiting the battery to the north 
 of Fort Moultrie. We learn, however, 
 that though many of the buildings 
 around it had been struck several times, 
 and fences, trees, etc., cut away, the 
 battery sustained no injury. Provi- 
 dentially, no hot shot was thrown from 
 Sumter probably from the fact that 
 the garrison had no fuel." 
 
 The battery on Cumming's Point had 
 escaped without damage, beyond six in- 
 dentations in its iron armor, showing 
 the accuracy of the firing of Fort Sum- 
 ter, as well as proving the invulnera- 
 bility of the novel structure. 
 
 The greatest interest had been nat- 
 urally displayed by the people of Charles- 
 ton at the approach of and during the 
 bombardment of Fort Sumter. The en- 
 thusiasm was described as V intense, and 
 the eagerness for the conflict, if it must 
 come, as unbounded." For days before 
 the attack, the citizens of Charleston 
 were alert with expectation. Thus, at 
 midnight, on one occasion, a discharge 
 of the signal guns of Citadel Square 
 being fired, the whole city was aroused. 
 Hundreds of men left their beds, hurry- 
 ing to and fro toward their respective 
 posts. In the absence of sufficient armo- 
 ries, the armed citizens gathered at the 
 corners of the streets, in the public 
 squares, and other convenient places, and 
 all night long the roll of the drum, the 
 steady tramp of the military, and the gal- 
 lop of the cavalry resounding through the 
 city betokened, apparently, the approach 
 of the long-expected hostilities. The 
 Home-Guard corps of old men, who from 
 
 their age were exempt from the ordinary 
 military duties, rode through the city, 
 arousing the soldiers to arms, and doing 
 other duty required by the emergency. 
 Numbers of citizens were up all night. 
 The Seventeenth Regiment, eight hun- 
 dred strong, mustered in an hour, and 
 left for the fortifications. The Rutledge 
 Mounted Riflemen, the Charleston Dra- 
 goons, the German Hussars, and Phenix 
 Sharpshooters, composed of the citizens 
 of Charleston, followed, and in a short 
 space several thousand homes were be- 
 reft for a time of all their male members 
 capable of bearing arms. 
 
 The guards of the city were trebled. 
 One hundred " beat men," armed with 
 muskets and revolvers, who, at the first 
 sound of the "bell of St. Michael's," 
 would be reinforced by eight hundred 
 more, patrolled the streets, in addition 
 to the usual horse and foot police. A 
 flotilla of small boats, with flaming 
 torches, guarded the bar every night. 
 A veteran Southern politician, well 
 known as a secession agitator through- 
 out the South, the Honorable Edmund 
 Ruffin, of Virginia, a man over sixty 
 years of age, shouldered his rifle and 
 marched to the works as a private ;* and 
 even boys, hardly in their teens, volun- 
 teered to serve in the ranks, and bore 
 part in the conflict. 
 
 From the firing of the first gun at 
 Fort Sumter until its surrender, the in- 
 tensity of interest continued unabated. 
 Day fl&^pight the streets were thronged 
 with people, " full of excitement and 
 enthusiasm." The housetops, the Bat- 
 
 He fired the first gun against Fort Sumter. 
 
SOUTHERN JOY ON THE FALL OF SUMTER. 
 
 155 
 
 tery, the wharves, the shipping, and 
 every place from which a view could be 
 had of the scene, were thronged by an 
 eager multitude. When at last, after 
 thirty-three hours of impatient watching 
 of the struggle, the Confederate flag 
 rose upon the ruined walls of Fort Sum- 
 ter, the bells of all the churches in the 
 city of Charleston rang out " a merry 
 peal, 7 ' and the citizens became " wild 
 with joy.' ; * 
 
 General Beauregard announced the 
 
 April f^l f Sumter in a general order, 
 
 M studiously flattering to his troops : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A., ) 
 CHARLESTON, S. C., April 14. f 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS, No. 20. 
 
 *' The Brigadier- General commanding 
 is happy to congratulate the troops 
 under his command on the brilliant 
 success which has crowned their gal- 
 lantry, privations, and hardships, by the 
 reduction of the stronghold in the har- 
 bor of Charleston. This feat of arms 
 has been accomplished alter a severe 
 cannonading of about thirty-three hours, 
 in which all the troops have indicated, 
 by their daring and bravery, that our 
 cause must and shall triumph. 
 
 "Fort Sumter, which surrendered yes- 
 terday about 1.45 P.M., will be evacu- 
 ated at 9 o'clock, A.M., to-day, and to 
 show our magnanimity to the gallant 
 defenders, who were only executing the 
 
 A newspaper correspondent wrote : 
 
 " The scene in the city, after the raising of the flag of 
 truce and the surrender, is indescribable ; the people were 
 perfectly wild. Men on horseback rode through the streets 
 proclaiming the news, amidst the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 " On the arrival of the officers from the fort they were 
 marched through the streets, followed by an immense 
 crowd, hurrahing, shouting, and yelling with excitement." 
 
 orders of their government, they will be 
 allowed to evacuate upon the same terms 
 which were offered to them before the 
 bombardment commenced. Our success 
 should not lull us into a false security, 
 but should encourage us in the neces- 
 sary preparations to meet a powerful 
 enemy, who may at any time attempt to 
 avenge this, their h'rst check in the 
 present contest. 
 
 " The commandants of batteries will 
 promptly send in their reports through 
 the proper channels, giving a journal of 
 the firing of their batteries against Fort 
 Sumter, and of the fire of Fort Sumter 
 against their batteries ; furnishing the 
 names of those who particularly distin- 
 guished themselves, and other incidents 
 relative thereto, in order that the Gen- 
 eral commanding may be able to make 
 known to the Confederate States Gov- 
 ernment, in a proper manner, their 
 bravery and gallantry. 
 
 " The General is highly gratified to 
 state that the troops, by their labor, 
 privations, and endurance at the batte- 
 ries, and at their posts, have exhibited 
 the highest characteristics of tried sol- 
 diers, and he takes the occasion to thank 
 all, his staff, the regulars, the volun- 
 teers, the militia, the naval forces, and 
 the numerous individuals who have con- 
 tributed to the surrender of Fort Sumter. 
 
 " By order of Brigadier-General Beau- 
 regard, 
 
 " D. R. JONES, Ass't. Adj. -General." 
 
 The authorities at Montgomery, the 
 seat of the Confederate Government, 
 were honored on the occasion by a 
 serenade, when the secretary of war, 
 
156 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Walker, after exulting in the success 
 at Charleston, prophesied " that the 
 flag which now flaunts the breeze here 
 [Montgomery] , would float over the dome 
 of the old Capitol before the first of 
 May." " Let them try," he added, 
 "Southern chivalry, and test the extent 
 of Southern resources, and it might float 
 eventually over Faneuil Hall itself." 
 
 Throughout all the States which had 
 already seceded, great delight was mani- 
 fested at the fall of Sumter. Even in 
 Virginia, which still affected to be loyal, 
 but whose convention was on the eve 
 of passing an ordinance of secession, a 
 "wild shout" of delight went up from 
 the crowds which had gathered -about 
 the newspaper offices, eager for the 
 news, when the telegram was an- 
 nounced : " Sumter is taken, and the 
 Confederate flag waves over it !" 
 
 At the North, the progress of the bom- 
 bardment, as it was briefly told in the 
 hourly telegrams, was watched with 
 painful anxiety. Many doubted, it is 
 true, the ability of Major Anderson to 
 hold out, although generally the hope 
 was entertained of a successful issue to 
 the attempt of the Government to rein- 
 force him. When, therefore, the daily 
 newspaper, so eagerly clutched and read, 
 gave out with spasmodic emphasis its 
 costive revelations, the public mind was 
 tortured with doubt and fear. First 
 came the brief announcement : " The 
 cannonading is going on fiercely from 
 all points." Then followed immediately 
 the ominous intelligence : " Fort Sumter 
 is on fire !" relieved, however, by the 
 cheering news: "The Federal flag still 
 
 waves." Again the telegram declared : 
 " Major Anderson is hemmed in by ruins 
 and fire. Every building in Fort Sum- 
 ter is burning." This alarming intelli- 
 gence was, however, mitigated by the 
 encouraging assurance, " This does not 
 in anywise diminish his strength." ' ' The 
 destruction of Fort Sumter is inevita- 
 ble," was the next disheartening word ; 
 but in a succeeding paragraph hope 
 smiled once more with the declaration, 
 that " Two ships are making in toward 
 Morris Island, with a view to land troops 
 and silence the batteries there." "The 
 flames have nearly subsided in Fort 
 Sumter," was again a hopeful gleam of 
 sunshine, blotted out, however, by the 
 dark line which closed the paragraph : 
 " but Major Anderson does not fire any 
 guns." Finally came the announcement 
 of the last scene of the exciting drama : 
 
 " CHARLESTON, via AUGUSTA, \ 
 
 April 13, 1861. 
 " FORT SUMTER HAS SURRENDERED ! 
 
 "The Confederate flag floats over its 
 walls ! 
 
 " None of the garrison or Confederate 
 troops are hurt. 
 
 " The bombarding has closed. 
 
 " Major Anderson has drawn down the 
 stripes and stars, and displays a white 
 flag, which has been answered from the 
 city, and a boat is on the way to Sumter.'' 
 
 The conduct of Major Anderson was 
 freely discussed ; but though there were 
 some to question his military capacity, 
 and even to doubt his loyalty, the coun- 
 try finally settled into the conviction 
 that he had acted bravely and pru- 
 dently, and resolutely persisted in claim- 
 
LIFE OF MAJOR ANDERSON. 
 
 157 
 
 ing him as one of its heroes who had 
 gallantly sustained the honor of the 
 United States flag. 
 
 Robert Anderson was born in Ken- 
 tucky. In 1821 he was admitted a cadet 
 at the military academy of West Point. 
 After completing the usual four years' 
 course of study, he graduated on the 
 1st of July, 1825, and entered the army 
 as second lieutenant of the Second, but 
 was soon after transferred to the Third, 
 Artillery. During the Black Hawk war, 
 in 1832, he served as acting inspector- 
 general of the Illinois volunteers, of 
 which Mr. Lincoln, now President, was 
 captain. 
 
 In June, 1833, Anderson was pro- 
 moted to a first lieutenantcy, and in 
 1835 he became assistant instructor of 
 artillery in the military academy at 
 West Point. After serving for three or 
 four months in the subordinate position, 
 he was appointed instructor-in-chiof of 
 this branch of study, and held the place 
 until 1837. In 1838, he was selected 
 by General Scott as one of his aids-de- 
 camp, and served in the campaign 
 against the Indians in Florida. He was 
 rewarded for his gallant conduct by pro- 
 motion, in 1838, to the brevet rank of 
 captain. In the same year he served as 
 adjutant-general, but resigned in 1841, 
 on being promoted to the captaincy of 
 his own regiment. 
 
 During the Mexican war, Captain 
 Anderson served under General Scott, 
 whom he accompanied in all his tri- 
 umphs, from the siege of Vera Cruz 
 to the capture of the Mexican capital. 
 He greatly distinguished himself at El 
 
 Molino del Hey, one of the hardest 
 fought battles of the whole campaign. 
 Here, while acting field officer, he was 
 severely wounded, but continued at the 
 head of his column, " regardless of pain 
 and self-preservation, and setting a hand- 
 some example" wrote Captain Blake 
 in his report " to his men of coolness, 
 energy, and courage." His services on 
 that day won for him his brevet as ma- 
 jor. His conduct of the battery he 
 commanded at Chapultepec elicited the 
 praise of Scott, who mentioned him in 
 his dispatches with an emphatic dec- 
 laration of his great services. 
 
 On the 18th of November, 1860, Ma- 
 jor Anderson was ordered to Fort Moul- 
 trie, in the harbor of Charleston, to re- 
 lieve Colonel Gardiner, sent to Texas. 
 His judicious movement in abandoning 
 this post, as well as his defence and final 
 surrender of Fort Sumter, have been al- 
 ready described. 
 
 The want of concert of action between 
 Major Anderson and the fleet has been 
 the source of perplexity. Some have 
 attributed it to the fact that the message 
 to him, conveying the intention of his 
 government, had been studiously with- 
 held by the authorities at Charleston. 
 Others, however, have surmised that it 
 was never seriously designed to expose 
 the armed vessels to the fire of the 
 Charleston forts, and that Major Ander- 
 son, made aware of this circumstance 
 through his private dispatches, had 
 acted accordingly. It has been also 
 suggested that the administration at 
 Washington had intended only to make 
 a demonstration of force, without con- 
 
158 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 templating the exercise of it, either for 
 the purpose of intimidating the people of 
 Charleston, or precipitating them, if war 
 was their purpose, into the first act of hos- 
 tility, while the Government was per- 
 forming an obvious act of duty in making 
 an attempt to supply a starving garrison 
 with provisions. Whatever may have 
 been the real or pretended object, the 
 first gun fired by the Charleston forts 
 was considered an act of war against 
 the Union, and rallied all its friends to 
 its defence. 
 
 Anderson's report of the surrender of 
 Fort Sumter was brief, and to the point : 
 
 " Having defended," he wrote to the 
 secretary of war, Cameron, " Fort Sum- 
 ter for thirty-four hours, until the quar- 
 ters were entirely burned, the main 
 gates destroyed by fire, the gorge wall 
 seriously injured, the magazine sur- 
 rounded b} 7 " flames, and its door closed 
 from the effects of the heat, four barrels 
 and three cartridges of powder only 
 being available, and no provisions but 
 pork remaining, I accepted terms of 
 evacuation offered by General Beaure- 
 gard, being the same offered by him on 
 the llth instant [April] , prior to the com- 
 mencement of hostilities, and marched 
 out of the fort Sunday afternoon, the 
 14th instant [April], with colors flying 
 and drums beating, bringing away com- 
 pany and private property, and saluting 
 my flag with fifty guns." 
 
 The secretary of war responded with 
 a complimentary tribute : 
 
 "I am directed," he wrote, "by the 
 President of the United States, to com- 
 municate to you, and through you to the 
 
 officers and men under your command 
 at forts Moultrie and Sumter, the ap- 
 probation of the Government of your 
 and their judicious and gallant conduct 
 there, and to tender to you and them 
 the thanks of the Government for the 
 same." 
 
 Major Anderson, as an adopted hero 
 of the country, became at once an object 
 of universal curiosity. His portrait was 
 displayed in every shop-window, and 
 his name was soon familiar to every 
 ear. Personally there is nothing very 
 impressive about the " hero of Fort 
 Sumter." A man of small stature and 
 shrunken frame, he would easily pass 
 unnoticed. The general expression of 
 his face is that of quiet amiability, yet 
 in the keenness of his concentrated eyes 
 and in the firm closure of his thin lips 
 there are signs of a resoluteness equal to 
 the severest trials of a soldier's pro- 
 fession. 
 
 There is a simple earnestness, to 
 which a certain puritanical fervor of 
 piety gives zest, that marks all his 
 words and writings, and commends him 
 to the sympathy of the unsophisticated 
 multitude. 
 
 His raising of the flag he had brought 
 with him from Fort Moultrie, as he 
 took possession of Fort Sumter, was 
 accompanied by a ceremony character- 
 istic of Major Anderson's devotional 
 tendencies. Having gathered all his 
 men about the staff, he himself took the 
 halyards in his hand, and kneeling 
 down, directed the chaplain to offer a 
 prayer. At its close, having fervently 
 uttered the " Amen," in which he was 
 
THE FORTS OF PENSACOLA. 
 
 159 
 
 joined by the rest, he slowly raised the 
 flag, as the band struck up " Hail, Co- 
 lumbia !" 
 
 When the United States Government 
 had resolved upon an attempt to send 
 provisions to Fort Sumter, it also deter- 
 mined to reinforce Fort Pickens, which 
 was the only one of the several public 
 works in the harbor of Pensacola which 
 remained in the possession of the Fed- 
 eral Government. The insurgents of 
 Florida had seized all the rest early in 
 January, and now held them with a 
 strong force under the command of 
 General Bragg, of the Confederate army, 
 more honorably known as Captain Bragg, 
 the commander of the battery which did 
 such good service in the battle of Buena 
 Vista, and to whom General Taylor ad- 
 dressed his famous command : "A little 
 more grape, Captain Bragg." 
 
 Pensacola being one of the largest 
 and safest harbors on the Southern 
 coast, had been chosen as the principal 
 naval station of the South. Here, ac- 
 cordingly, a large navy-yard and arsenal 
 had been established, and strong works 
 of defence constructed. The principal 
 of these was Fort Pickens, built upon 
 the island of Santa Rosa, a long stretch 
 of low land which intervenes between 
 the harbor and the sea. The fortress 
 rises upon the extreme western point 
 of the island, and commands both the 
 harbor and approaches. It is a bas- 
 tioned work of great strength and ex- 
 tent, requiring a garrison of one thou- 
 sand two hundred and sixty soldiers. 
 The walls are of granite forty-five 
 feet high and twelve feet thick, pierced 
 
 for three tiers of guns, two of which 
 are concreted, and the third en barbette. 
 Its whole armament, when complete, 
 consists of sixty-three forty-two pound- 
 ers, seventeen thirty-two pounders, forty- 
 nine twenty-four pounders, five eight- 
 eens, thirteen twelves, six brass field- 
 pieces, twenty-six brass flank howitzers, 
 thirteen heavy eight-inch howitzers, one 
 thirteen-inch mortar, four heavy ten- 
 inch mortars, four light eight-inch mor- 
 tars, four sixteen-inch stone mortars, 
 and five cohorns making in all two 
 hundred and ten guns. Fort Pickens 
 was begun in 1828, and completed in 
 1853, at a cost of one million of dollars. 
 
 Directly opposite, on the mainland, 
 stands Fort McRae, also a bastioned 
 work of considerable strength, with 
 walls of brick, twelve feet thick, and 
 mounting one hundred and fifty cannon, 
 in three tiers two under casemates, and 
 the third en barbette. When properly 
 garrisoned, it contains six hundred and 
 fifty men. The guns, like those of Fort 
 Pickens, have a wide range, and, to- 
 gether with the water-battery of eight 
 guns toward the south, Forts Pickens 
 and McRae defend the harbor of Pen- 
 sacola from every approach in the direc- 
 tion of the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 On the mainland, directly north of 
 Fort Pickens, is another strong bas- 
 tioned work, called Fort St. Carlos de 
 Barrancas, from the ancient Spanish for- 
 tress originally standing upon the same 
 site. It is mounted with forty-nine 
 guns, and requires a garrison of two 
 hundred and fifty men. A strong re- 
 doubt is built in its rear to give it ad- 
 
n 
 
 160 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ditional support. Forts McRae and 
 Barrancas, together with the navy-yard 
 and arsenal, having been seized by the 
 Confederates, there seemed imminent 
 danger of their getting possession also of 
 Fort Pickens, but they were thwarted 
 in then" design by Lieutenant Slemmer, 
 the United States commander. This 
 young officer being on the alert, no 
 sooner discovered their purpose, than 
 he concentrated his little garrison of 
 eighty men within the fort, and kept the 
 enemy at bay until the 12th of April, 
 when the first successful attempt was 
 made to reinforce him. This was ef- 
 fected by the United States man-of-war 
 Brooklyn, and is thus described by one* 
 who shared in the enterprise : 
 
 "On Friday, April 12th,' 7 says he, 
 "our captain received orders to pre- 
 pare for landing the troops (Company 
 A, First Artillery) which we brought 
 from Fort Monroe. After sunset, all 
 the boats were hoisted out and dropped 
 astern. Volunteers were called for to 
 man them, and every man in the ship 
 volunteered. After selecting the crews, 
 they were armed to the teeth for cover- 
 ing the landing of the troops. As the 
 enemy threatened to prevent the land- 
 ing, having stationed coast-guards along 
 shore for that purpose, it was necessary 
 to send a considerable force ; so the 
 Sabine and St. Louis' boats were sent to 
 assist our men. After the moon had 
 set, all deck lights were extinguished, to 
 prevent the enemy discovering our move- 
 ments. Strange to say, the light-house 
 on shore, whose powerful light would 
 
 Correspondent I 
 
 make the position of our ships visible, 
 was put out about the same time. Be- 
 tween ten and eleven o'clock the ship 
 got under way, creeping slowly toward 
 the shore and sounding all the way, an- 
 choring in seven fathoms of water, which 
 indicated close proximity to the shore. 
 The boats were then got alongside, and 
 the men disembarked. At this time the 
 ship's deck presented an interesting and 
 lively spectacle, though all was done 
 very quietly, reflecting great credit upon 
 the officers in command. After all was 
 ready, Lieutenant Albert N. Smith, who 
 had command of the boat expedition, 
 shoved off, and the other boats followed 
 in line. He intended landing on the 
 beach near the ship and marching to 
 the fort, a distance of about three miles ; 
 but finding the surf too heavy, he de- 
 termined to pull into the harbor and 
 land in front of Pickens. He was 
 successful ; the doors of the fort were 
 opened, and the troops entered. In the 
 mean while the Wyandotte carried all 
 the Sabine 's marines and put them on 
 the Brooklyn, which, together with the 
 Brooklyn's marines, were to go also. 
 The boats made a second trip, being 
 successful in getting the marines into 
 the fort ; but day broke before the boats 
 got out of the harbor, making the sleepy 
 sentinels on McRea and Barrancas rub 
 their eyes in astonishment, not daring 
 to molest the returning party." 
 
 This landing of marines was, however, 
 but a temporary provision. The regu- 
 lar reinforcements soon arrived and took 
 their place. The transport steamer At- 
 lantic was the first to arrive, with four 
 
 I 
 
REINFORCEMENT OF FORT PICKENS. 
 
 161 
 
 hundred and fifty men, sixty-nine horses, 
 and large supplies of food and muni- 
 April tions. She sailed from New York 
 16* on the 7th of April, and having 
 stopped on her way at Key West to 
 take on board additional men and sup- 
 plies, arrived on the evening of the 
 16th off the island of Santa Rosa, and 
 anchored four miles from the shore, 
 close to the frigate Sabine. The Sa- 
 bine, 50 guns, was the flag-ship under 
 Captain Adams, the commander of the 
 squadron, which was composed in ad- 
 dition of the steam-corvette Brooklyn, 
 14 guns, the corvette St. Louis, 22 
 guns, the Water-Witch, Crusader, the 
 Wyandotte and Mohawk, each 10 guns, 
 for some time stationed off Pensacola. 
 Immediately after the arrival of the 
 Atlantic, the operation of landing her 
 reinforcements began. Taking in tow 
 the small boats of the fleet, some twenty 
 in number, and the night having closed 
 in and all lights being put out, the 
 steamer stood in toward the shore and 
 anchored within a mile of Fort Pickens. 
 The guns of Fort McRae and of the 
 water batteries, in command of the 
 rebels, were in direct range, and signal 
 rockets were firing from Fort Pickens, 
 indicating the expectation of an attack. 
 The first boat from the Atlantic pushed 
 off at half-past nine o'clock, containing 
 Colonel Brown, the commander, who 
 was to supersede the intrepid subaltern, 
 Lieutenant Slemmer. The other boats 
 containing the troops soon followed, and 
 before midnight the most of the officers 
 and troops had reached the fort in 
 safety. On the next morning, at an 
 21 
 
 early hour, the rest of the men April 
 were landed, with the exception of 1? 
 the artillerists of Barry's Flying Artil- 
 lery. To land these with their horses, 
 the Atlantic weighed anchor and moved 
 to a point, three and a half miles 
 distant from Fort Pickens, but within 
 a half a mile of the beach of the island 
 of Santa Rosa. The troublesome work 
 of landing the horses did not com- 
 mence before noon, and continuing all 
 night, was not completed until next 
 morning. 
 
 The steamer Powhatan, Commander 
 David D. Porter, had in the mean April 
 time arrived, and in two days W 
 after was followed by the transport 
 steamer Illinois, which had been April 
 detained by the effects of the se- 19. 
 vere weather to which she had been ex- 
 posed. The Illinois brought three hun- 
 dred men, a number of horses, five hun- 
 dred muskets, and also a large quantity 
 of munitions of war and provisions. The 
 troops were landed in safety during the 
 next morning, but three days passed 
 before the horses, forage, the ordnance, 
 provisions, and general stores were con- 
 veyed to the shore. Four of the horses 
 on board the Illinois had perished during 
 the stormy -passage, one was drowned 
 alongside the ship, another had his neck 
 broken while landing through the surf, 
 and a third died from exhaustion. Dur- 
 ing the debarkation, the steamers Pow- 
 hatan and Brooklyn took such a posi- 
 tion that they could at the same time 
 shield the transports under the cover of 
 their guns, and prevent the enemy on 
 the mainland from attempting to invade 
 
162 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the island, and thus obstruct the land- 
 ing. 
 
 Colonel Brown now being the senior 
 officer, assumed the command of Fort 
 Pickens. He succeeded, with additional 
 men and defences, in keeping at bay 
 the large forces of the Confederates 
 
 gathered on the mainland opposite. 
 The rebel General Bragg was reported 
 to have had under his command, at 
 various times, no less than ten thousand 
 men, who were kept busily strengthening 
 the works in the harbor and entrenching 
 their camp. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Divided Opinion of the North in regard to the Political Causes of the Civil Quarrel. Uniformity of Sentiment in 
 regard to the Attack on Fort Sumter. The National Dignity insulted. Necessity of Striking in behalf of the 
 National Honor. The cry of the Masses. Their faith in the indissolubility of the Union. The Flag to be again 
 raised all over the United States. The Opinions of the Press. War pronounced to be inevitable. Change of Senti- 
 ment. Union Sentiment of a Journal once threatened by the Mob for its Sympathy with the South. The Tirades 
 of the Ultra-Kepublicans. An Ultra- Republican Paper on the Unity of Feeling. The Proclamation of President 
 Lincoln. Its effect at the North. Enthusiasm of the People. A sudden and universal blazing of the " Stars and 
 Stripes." Scarcity of Bunting. Patriotic Waistcoats and Boddices. Patriotic Neckerchiefs and Mantillas. Patri- 
 otic Shopkeepers and Patriotic Customers. Patriotic fervor of the Newspapers. Flowers of Rhetoric. A fervid 
 Leader. Exceptional cases of protest at the North against the President's Proclamation. Bold dissent in New En- 
 gland. An Appeal in behalf of the Secessionists from Maine. An Opposition to the War from Connecticut. A 
 vigorous word for the Union from Kentucky. Call for Militia. Circular of the Secretary of War. Quotas of Militia 
 of each State. The Patriotic Response from the North. The Refusal and bold Defiance of the Slave States. The 
 Answer of the Governor of Virginia. Answer of the Governor of Missouri. Answer of the Governor of North 
 Carolina. Answer of the Governor of Kentucky. Answer of the Governor of Tennessee. Poetical Response from 
 President Jefferson Davis. His Privateering Proclamation. His Call for Soldiers. The effect of his Proclamation 
 at the North. Opinion of Privateering, which is pronounced Piracy. President Lincoln's Proclamation. A 
 Blockade announced. Southern Privateers to be dealt with as Pirates. 
 
 ALTHOUGH opinion at the North, in re- 
 gard to the political causes of the 
 civil quarrel, was still widely di- 
 vided, there was hardly but one senti- 
 ment concerning the blow which had been 
 struck by the rebellious South at Fort 
 Sumter. It was almost universally felt 
 that the dignity of the nation had been 
 insulted in this violence to its flag, and 
 that it had become necessary, in order 
 to vindicate the national honor, as well 
 as to preserve the national existence, to 
 meet force with force. The few who 
 were less sanguine as to the issue even 
 
 acknowledged that an appeal to arms 
 was absolutely obligatory, were it only 
 to assert the idea of government, and 
 thus save the country from anarchy and 
 social disorder. The more hopeful, 
 however, who formed the great mass of 
 the people, were eager not only to 
 avenge the insulted flag, but to restore 
 it to its former proud position through- 
 out the wide domain of the United 
 States. With their traditional reverence 
 for the Union, and faith in its power, 
 they could not contemplate the possi- 
 bility of its disruption ; and doubting the 
 
PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION. 
 
 163 
 
 persistency of secession, and presuming 
 on its weakness, they fondly believed 
 that with a single effort of the Federal 
 might, rebellion could be suppressed, 
 and the flag raised once more over a 
 united land. 
 
 Though the expression of opinion by 
 the press was toned somewhat by its 
 various shades of partisanship, there 
 was hardly a journal which ventured to 
 dispute the necessity of war. They in- 
 dulged, it is true, in mutual recrimina- 
 tions, charging each other with having 
 caused an event which they all now ac- 
 knowledged to be inevitable. One jour- 
 nal, which hitherto had so warmly 
 espoused the cause of the secessionists of 
 the South as to expose it to the threats 
 of a Northern mob, now declared : "In 
 a conflict of this sort, there can be but 
 two parties a Northern and a Southern 
 party ; for all other parties will cease to 
 exist. The political principles, organ- 
 izations, and issues which have divided 
 our country and our people, in various 
 shapes and forms, since the treaty of 
 our independence with England, will all 
 be very soon overwhelmed in the sweep- 
 ing changes of a civil war. It would be 
 folly now to argue what might, could, 
 would, or should have been done by 
 Southern fire-eaters and Northern dis- 
 organizers in 1854, 1860, or by Mr. 
 Buchanan, or by Mr. Lincoln, or by .the 
 late session of Congress. Civil war is 
 upon us, and the questions which now 
 supersede all others are : What are the 
 consequences now before us? Where 
 is this war to end, and how, and when ? 
 What is our duty under this warlike 
 
 condition of things ? and what are the 
 movements and the conditions necessary 
 to change this state of war to a state of 
 peace ?" 
 
 An ultra Republican journal, after 
 giving vent to a tirade against " our 
 journals lately parading the pranks of 
 the secessionists with scarcely disguised 
 exultation," declares, " Democrat as 
 well as Republican, Conservative, and 
 Radical, instinctively feel that the guns 
 fired at Sumter were aimed at the heart 
 of the American Republic. Not even 
 in the lowest groggery of our city [New 
 York] would it be safe to propose cheers 
 for Beauregard and Governor Pickens. 
 The Tories of the Revolution were 
 relatively ten times as numerous here 
 as are the open sympathizers with the 
 Palmetto rebels. It is hard to lose 
 Surnter ; it is a consolation to know that 
 in losing it we have gained a united 
 people. Henceforth, the loyal States 
 are a unit in uncompromising hostility to 
 treason, wherever plotted, however just- 
 ified. Fort Sumter is temporarily lost, 
 but the country is saved. Live the Re- 
 public I" 
 
 The proclamation of the President, 
 giving an authoritative sanction to the 
 national sentiment, served still more to 
 arouse the spirit of union. 
 
 PROCLAMATION or THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 " Whereas the laws of the United 
 States have been for some time past, and 
 now are, opposed, and the execution 
 thereof obstructed in the States of South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, 
 Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by 
 combinations too powerful to be sup- 
 
164 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 pressed by the ordinary course of judi- 
 cial proceedings, or by the powers 
 vested in the marshals by law ; now, 
 therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- 
 dent of the United States, in virtue of 
 the power in me vested by the Constitu- 
 tion and the laws, have thought fit to 
 call forth, and hereby do call forth, the 
 militia of the several States of the 
 Union to the aggregate number of 
 75,000, in order to suppress said com- 
 binations, and to cause the laws to be 
 duly executed. 
 
 " The details for this object will be im- 
 mediately communicated to the State 
 authorities through the War Department. 
 I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, 
 facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain 
 the honor, the integrity, and existence 
 of our national Union, and the perpetu- 
 ity of popular government, and to re- 
 dress wrongs already long enough en- 
 dured. I deem it proper to say that the 
 first service assigned to the forces hereby 
 called forth will probably be to repossess 
 the forts, places, and property which 
 have been seized from the Union ; and 
 in every event the' utmost care will be 
 observed, consistently with the objects 
 aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any 
 destruction of or interference with pro- 
 perty, or any disturbance of peaceful 
 citizens in any part of the country ; and 
 I hereby command the persons compos- 
 ing the combinations aforesaid to dis- 
 perse, and retire peaceably to their re- 
 spective abodes within twenty days from 
 this date. 
 
 "Deeming that the present condition 
 of public affairs presents an extraordinary 
 
 occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the 
 power in me vested by the Constitution, 
 convene both Houses of Congress. The 
 senators and representatives are there- 
 fore summoned to assemble at their re- 
 spective chambers at twelve o'clock, 
 noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of 
 July next, then and there to consider 
 and determine such measures as, in their 
 wisdom, the public safety and interest 
 may seem to demand. 
 
 " In witness whereof, I have hereunto 
 set my hand, and caused the seal of the 
 United States to be affixed. 
 
 " Done at the city of Washington, this 
 fifteenth day of April, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and sixty-one, and of the independence 
 of the United States the eighty-fifth. 
 " ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 " By the President. 
 
 " WM. H. SEWAKD, Secretary of State." 
 
 Throughout the North the effect of 
 this proclamation was to excite the 
 people to an intense enthusiasm. The 
 population of the large cities became 
 suddenly so absorbed in the excitement 
 of the hour, that all the ordinary trans- 
 actions of business were suspended. 
 Flags floated from every public building, 
 church steeple, and private house. Such 
 was the demand for bunting, that the 
 ordinary supply was soon exhausted, 
 and the ardent gathered every chance- 
 colored rag or ribbon that fell in their 
 way, to fashion into the "stars and 
 stripes" of their patriotic desire. Union 
 devices and badges were sold at the 
 corners of every street, and flaunted upon 
 each patriotic waistcoat and boddice. 
 
A BURST OF PATRIOTISM. 
 
 165 
 
 Shop windows patriotically glowed with 
 the national colors, and a display of 
 female bonnets and mantillas, as well as 
 male neckerchiefs and shirt bosoms 
 profusely studded with stars and varie- 
 gated with red and white stripes, re- 
 vealed the enthusiasm of patriotic deal- 
 ers, and awakened the longing of patri- 
 otic wearers. 
 
 The newspapers forgot their factious 
 contentions and joined in a fervid ex- 
 pression of Union sentiments. Their 
 leading articles burst forth into unusual 
 flowers of patriotic rhetoric. 
 
 "The incidents of the last two days," 
 wrote one,* not among the most uncon- 
 trolled, " will live in history. Not for 
 fifty years has such a spectacle been 
 seen, as that glorious uprising of Ameri- 
 can loyalty which greeted the news that 
 open war had been commenced upon 
 the Constitution and Government of the 
 United States. The great heart of the 
 American people beat with one high 
 pulsation of courage, and of fervid love 
 and devotion to the great Republic. 
 Party dissensions were instantly hushed : 
 political differences disappeared, and 
 were as thoroughly forgotten as if they 
 had never existed ; party bonds flashed 
 into nothingness in the glowing flame of 
 patriotism. ; men ceased to think of 
 themselves or their parties, they thought 
 only of their country and of the dangers 
 which menace its existence. Nothing 
 for years has brought the hearts of all 
 the people so close together or so in- 
 spired them all with common hopes, and 
 common fears, and a common aim, as 
 
 New York Times, April 16th. 
 
 the bombardment and surrender of an 
 American fortress. 
 
 " We look upon this sublime outburst 
 of public sentiment as the most perfect 
 vindication of popular institutions the 
 most conclusive reply to the impugn ers 
 of American loyalty, the country has 
 ever seen. It has been quite common 
 to say that such a Republic as ours 
 could never be permanent, because it 
 lacked the conditions of a profound and 
 abiding loyalty. The Government could 
 never inspire a patriotic instinct, fervid 
 enough to melt the bonds of party, or 
 powerful enough to override the selfish- 
 ness which free institutions so rapidly 
 develop. The hearts of our own peo- 
 ple had begun to sink within them, at 
 the apparent insensibility of the public 
 to the dangers which menaced the 
 Government. The public mind seemed 
 to have been demoralized the public 
 heart seemed insensible to perils which 
 threatened utter extinction to our great 
 Republic. The secession movement, 
 infinitely the most formidable danger 
 which has ever menaced our Govern- 
 ment, was regarded with indifference and 
 treated as merely a novel form of our usual 
 political contentions. The best among 
 us began to despair of a country which 
 seemed incompetent to understand its 
 dangers, and indifferent to its own de- 
 struction. 
 
 " But all this is changed. The can- 
 non which bombarded Sumter awoke 
 strange echoes, and touched forgotten 
 chords in the American heart. Ameri- 
 can loyalty leaped into instant life, and 
 stood radiant and ready for the fierce 
 
166 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 encounter. From one end of the land 
 to the other in the crowded streets of 
 cities, and in the solitude of the country 
 wherever the splendor of the stars 
 and stripes, the glittering emblems of 
 our country's glory, meets the eye, come 
 forth shouts of devotion and pledges of 
 aid, which give sure guarantees for the 
 perpetuity of American freedom. War 
 can inflict no scars on such a people. It 
 can do them no damage which time can- 
 not repair. It cannot shake the solid 
 foundations of their material prosperity, 
 while it will strengthen the manly and 
 heroic virtues which defy its fierce and 
 frowning front." 
 
 Although the prevailing tone of the 
 North was one of enthusiasm in behalf 
 of waging war against those who had 
 insulted the flag of the Union, there 
 were still some of the Northern papers 
 which ventured to protest against the 
 President's proclamation. From New 
 England, by a strange contrast with its 
 general feeling, came some of the bold- 
 est dissent from the predominating sen- 
 timent of the nation. 
 
 " Democrats of Maine !" was the dar- 
 ing appeal of an audacious Northern 
 editor,* " the loyal sons of the South 
 have gathered around Charleston as 
 your fathers of old gathered about 
 Boston in defence of the same sacred 
 principles of liberty principles which 
 you have ever upheld and defended with 
 your vote, your voice, and your strong 
 right arm. Your sympathies are with 
 the defenders of the truth and the right. 
 Those who have inaugurated this unholy 
 
 Bangor (Me.) Union. 
 
 and unjustifiable war are no friends of 
 yours, no friends of Democratic liberty. 
 Will you aid them in their work of sub- 
 jugation and tyranny? 
 
 " When the Government at Washing- 
 ton calls for volunteers or recruits to 
 carry on the work of subjugation and 
 tyranny under the specious phrase of 
 ' enforcing the laws,' ' retaking and pro- 
 tecting the public property,' and ' col- 
 lecting the revenue,' let every Democrat 
 fold his arms and bid the minions of Tory 
 despotism do a Tory despot's work. Say 
 to them, fearlessly and boldly in the 
 language of England's great lord, the 
 Earl of Chatham, whose bold words in 
 behalf of the struggling Colonies of 
 America, in the dark hours of the Rev- 
 olution, have enshrined his name in the 
 heart of every friend of freedom and 
 immortalized his fame wherever the 
 name of liberty is known say in his 
 thrilling language : ' If I were a South- 
 erner, as I am a Northerner, while a 
 foreign troop was landed in my country, 
 I would never lay down my arms 
 never, never, never!" 
 
 Another,* more calmly, but not less 
 decidedly, opposed the war : 
 
 " The President has issued his proc- 
 lamation, calling Congress to meet on 
 the 4th of July. Also calling for 75,000 
 volunteers to aid in carrying on a con- 
 flict with the South. The news already 
 received from the border States indi- 
 cates that they will leave the Union, and 
 that the war will be between nineteen 
 free and fifteen slave States. 
 
 "Could this war policy possibly save 
 
 * Hartford (Ct.) Times. 
 
THE CALL FOR MILITIA. 
 
 167 
 
 the Union and promote the welfare of 
 the people, we could look upon it with 
 more complacency. But as it must in- 
 evitably more completely divide the 
 Union and injure the interests of the 
 whole country, we believe it to be an 
 unwise and unsafe policy. To march 
 soldiers into the Southern country to 
 contend with armies and yellow fever, 
 and to end in no good, but much evil, 
 does not seem to be a discreet or a 
 righteous policy. 
 
 " A bloody conflict may be continued 
 with the South for weeks, for months, 
 or for years. At its close a compromise 
 must be made no more favorable to the 
 North than was the Crittenden com- 
 promise. But the evils of the unneces- 
 sary strife will continue into the long 
 years of the future, and be felt by 
 millions. No good whatever can come 
 out of the shocking conflict. 
 
 "War has been commenced. Its or- 
 igin is the negro agitation. Let the 
 friends of the agitation point out the 
 spot where a slave has been benefitted, 
 if they can. Great evils have come. 
 Where are the benefits?" 
 
 As a set-off, however, to this expres- 
 sion of Southern opinion at the North, 
 there was a vigorous word uttered for 
 union in the slave State of Kentucky : 
 
 " The secession leaders," wrote the 
 editor of the Louisville Journal, " are 
 relying very largely upon the first shock 
 of battle for the promotion of a general 
 secession feeling in the Southern States. 
 They ought, however, to consider that 
 the sympathies of honest and sensible 
 men are not likely to go with the wrong- 
 
 doers. If the General Government com- 
 mit any wrong or outrage upon South 
 Carolina or Florida, it will be con- 
 demned ; but if a United States vessel 
 shall be fired into and her men slain for 
 a mere attempt to take food to the Gov- 
 ernment's troops in the Government's 
 own forts, and if war shall grow out of 
 the collision, no spirit of secession or re- 
 bellion will be created thereby this side 
 the cotton line. Such, at least, is our 
 opinion, founded upon our conviction 
 that the great mass of our fellow-citizens 
 are sensible, and patriotic, and just. 
 Who that loves his country would see it 
 humiliated and its honor trampled on ?" 
 
 With the proclamation by the Presi- 
 dent came the call upon the several 
 States for their quotas of militia to make 
 up the required number of troops to be 
 mustered for the suppression of the re- 
 bellion and the defence of the Union. 
 The following circular was addressed by 
 the secretary of war to the governors 
 not only of the free States, but of those 
 slave States whose loyalty might be sus- 
 pected, but which yet nominally contin- 
 ued to acknowledge the Federal au- 
 thority : 
 
 " SIR : Under the act of Congress for 
 calling out the militia to execute the 
 laws of the Union to suppress insurrec- 
 tion, to repel invasion, etc., approved 
 February 28, 1795, I have the honor to 
 request your Excellency to cause to be 
 immediately detailed from the militia 
 of your State the quota designated in 
 the table below, to serve as infantry or 
 riflemen for a period of three months, 
 unless sooner discharged. Your Excel- 
 
168 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 lency will please communicate to me 
 the time at about which your quota will 
 be expected at its rendezvous, as it will 
 be met as soon as practicable by an officer 
 or officers to muster it into the service 
 and pay of the United States. At the 
 same time the oath of fidelity to the 
 United States will be administered to 
 every officer and man. The mustering 
 officers will be instructed to receive no 
 man under the rank of commissioned 
 officer who is in years apparently over 
 forty-five or under eighteen, or who is 
 not in physical strength and vigor. The 
 quota for each State is as follows : 
 
 Maine 1 
 
 New Hampshire 1 
 
 Vermont 1 
 
 Massachusetts 2 
 
 Rhode Island 1 
 
 Connecticut 1 
 
 New York 17 
 
 New Jersey 4 
 
 Pennsylvania 16 
 
 Delaware 1 
 
 Tennessee 2 
 
 Maryland 4 
 
 Virginia 3 
 
 North Carolina 2 
 
 Kentucky 4 
 
 Arkansas 1 
 
 Missouri 4 
 
 Ohio 13 
 
 Indiana 6 
 
 Illinois 6 
 
 Michigan 1 
 
 Iowa 1 
 
 Minnesota 1 
 
 Wisconsin . 1 
 
 "It is ordered that each regiment 
 shall consist, on an aggregate of officers 
 and men, of 780. The total thus to be 
 called out is 73,391. The remainder, 
 to constitute the 75,000 men under the 
 President's proclamation, will be com- 
 posed of troops in the District of Co- 
 lumbia." 
 
 In response to this call, there came 
 from all the free States, without an ex- 
 ception, an ardent expression of patriotic 
 sympathy with the President's procla- 
 mation, and an immediate effort to meet 
 its requirements. Proclamations were 
 at once addressed by the governors to 
 the people of the several Northern 
 
 States, appealing to their loyalty, and 
 invoking them to manifest it by taking 
 up arms in defence of the Union. 
 
 The slave States, with the exception 
 of Maryland and Delaware, answered 
 with a resolute refusal, expressed in a 
 tone of bold defiance of the Federal au- 
 thority. The Governor of Virginia, John 
 Letcher, wrote : "I have only to say, 
 that the militia of Virginia will not be 
 furnished to the powers at Washington 
 for any such use or purpose as they have 
 in view. Your object is to subjugate 
 the Southern States, and a requisition 
 made upon me for such an object an 
 object, in my judgment, not within the 
 purview of the Constitution or the act 
 of 1795 will not be complied with. 
 You have chosen to inaugurate civil 
 war, and having done so, we will meet 
 it in a spirit as determined as the ad- 
 ministration has exhibited toward the 
 South," 
 
 C. F. Jackson, Governor of Missouri, 
 wrote : " Your requisition, in my judg- 
 ment, is illegal, unconstitutional, and 
 revolutionary in its objects, inhuman and 
 diabolical, and cannot be complied with. 
 Not one man will the State of Missouri 
 furnish to carry on such an unholy 
 crusade." 
 
 John W. Ellis, Governor of North 
 Carolina, wrote: "I have to say in 
 reply, that I regard the levy of troops 
 made by the administration for the pur- 
 pose of subjugating the States of the 
 South, as in violation of the Constitu- 
 tion, and a usurpation of power. I can 
 be no party to this wicked violation of 
 the laws of the country, and to this war 
 
SOUTHERN PRIVATEERING. 
 
 169 
 
 upon the liberties of a free people. 
 You can get no troops from North 
 Carolina." 
 
 Magoffin, the Governor of Kentucky, 
 wrote : "I say emphatically that Ken- 
 tucky will furnish no troops for the 
 wicked purpose of subduing her sister 
 Southern States. 7 ' 
 
 Governor Harris, of Tennessee, re- 
 plied : " Tennessee will not furnish a 
 single man for coercion, but fifty thou- 
 sand, if necessary, for the defence of 
 our rights, or those of our Southern 
 brethren." 
 
 Governor Reeder, of Arkansas, an- 
 swered with equal resoluteness of re- 
 fusal, but less courtesy : 
 
 ' ' In answer to your demand for troops 
 from Arkansas to subjugate the South- 
 ern States, I have to say that none will 
 be furnished. The demand is only add- 
 ing insult to injury. 
 
 "The people of this Commonwealth 
 are freemen, not slaves, and will defend 
 to the last extremity their honor, lives, 
 and property against Northern men- 
 dacity and usurpation." 
 
 President Davis, of the Confederate 
 States, after venting this exulting jeu 
 d'esprit, 
 
 "With mortar, Paixhan, and petard 
 We sent the foe our Beauregard, ' ' 
 
 met the proclamation of President Lin- 
 coln with this menacing document : 
 
 "Whereas Abraham Lincoln, Presi- 
 dent of the United States, has, by proc- 
 lamation, announced his intention of in- 
 vading the Confederacy with an armed 
 force, for the purpose of capturing its 
 fortresses, and thereby subverting its 
 
 22 
 
 independence and subjecting the free 
 people thereof to the dominion of a 
 foreign power ; and whereas it has thus 
 become the duty of this Government to 
 repel the threatened invasion, and de- 
 fend the rights and liberties of the 
 people by all the means which the laws 
 of nations and usages of civilized war- 
 fare place at its disposal ; 
 
 "Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, 
 President of the Confederate States of 
 America, do issue this, my proclamation, 
 inviting all those who may desire, by 
 service in private armed vessels on the 
 high seas, to aid this Government in re- 
 sisting so wanton and wicked an aggres- 
 sion, to make application for commis- 
 sions or letters of marque and reprisal, 
 to be issued under the seal of these 
 Confederate States ; and I do further 
 notify all persons applying for letters of 
 marque, to make a statement in writing, 
 giving the name and suitable description 
 of the character, tonnage, and force of 
 the vessel, name of the place of resi- 
 dence of each owner concerned therein, 
 and the intended number of crew, and 
 to sign each statement, and deliver the 
 same to the secretary of state or collector 
 of the port of entry of these Confederate 
 States, to be by him transmitted to the 
 secretary of state j and I do further 
 notify all applicants aforesaid, before 
 any commission or letter of marque is 
 issued to any vessel, or the owner or 
 the owners thereof, and the commander 
 for the time being, they will be required 
 to give bond to the Confederate States, 
 with, at least, two responsible sureties 
 not interested in such vessel, in the 
 
1TO 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 penal sum of five thousand dollars ; or 
 if such vessel be provided with more 
 than one hundred and fifty men, then 
 in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars, 
 with the condition that the owners, 
 officers, and crew who shall be employed 
 on board such commissioned vessel shall 
 observe the laws of these Confederate 
 States, and the instructions given them 
 for the regulation of their conduct, that 
 shall satisfy all damages done contrary 
 to the tenor thereof by such vessel dur- 
 ing her commission, and deliver up the 
 same when revoked by the President of 
 the Confederate States. 
 
 "And I do further specially enjoin 
 on all persons holding offices, civil and 
 military, under the authority of the 
 Confederate States, that they be vigilant 
 and zealous in the discharge of the 
 duties incident thereto ; and I do, more- 
 ever, exhort the good people of these 
 Confederate States, as they love their 
 country as they prize the blessings of 
 free government as they feel the 
 wrongs of the past, and those now 
 threatened in an aggravated form by 
 those whose enmity is more implacable, 
 because unprovoked to exert them- 
 selves in preserving order, in promoting 
 concord, in maintaining the authority 
 and efficacy of the laws, and in support- 
 ing and invigorating all the measures 
 which may be adopted for a common 
 defence, and by which, under the bless- 
 ings of Divine Providence, we may hope 
 for a speedy, just, and honorable peace. 
 
 "In witness whereof, I have set my 
 hand and have caused the seal of the 
 Confederate States of America to be 
 
 attached this seventeenth day of April, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 eight hundred and sixty-one. 
 
 " JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 " ROBERT TOOMBS, Secretary of State." 
 
 At the same time that President 
 Davis thus threatened Northern com- 
 merce with a fleet of privateers, he 
 called upon the Confederacy for a hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand men, in addition 
 to the thirty-two thousand already de- 
 manded. A loan of five millions of 
 dollars had been issued, and subscrip- 
 tions were reported to be rapidly coming 
 in under the stimulus of approaching 
 war. 
 
 Davis' invitation to applications for 
 letters of marque created great alarm, 
 and was received by the North with a 
 universal burst of indignation. Priva- 
 teering was pronounced an infamous 
 weapon of warfare. The destruction of 
 private property in the course of a con- 
 flict between two hostile parties was 
 declared to be a relic of barbarism. 
 Davis was reminded of the treaties of 
 the United States with certain European 
 powers, which prohibited citizens of 
 either nation from accepting letters 
 of marque from any authority hostile to 
 the agreeing parties. This, they de- 
 clared, would prevent his obtaining pri- 
 vateers from Europe, and destroy any 
 hope of toleration from them from that 
 quarter. It was declared that there was 
 not one foreign port where, if Davis' 
 privateers should venture to enter, they 
 would not be seized as pirates, and dealt 
 with accordingly. If any man, in this 
 country, or in any other, dared to ac- 
 
THE FRIGHT AT THE NORTH. 
 
 171 
 
 cept a letter of marque from the Con- 
 federacy and act upon it, he would, it 
 was threatened, be hung as a pirate. 
 The proclamation was, in a word, branded 
 as a formal sanction of piracy, and it 
 was met not only with the menace of 
 the yard-arm, but its author was re- 
 minded that the most terrific retaliation 
 awaited him if he should carry out his 
 purpose. "The first seizure of an 
 American vessel by one of his privateers 
 will let loose," said a journalist,* " upon 
 the South more John Browns than he 
 can hire pirates in a year." 
 
 The commercial cities of the North 
 were greatly fluttered by the prospect 
 of a swoop by the rebellious birds of 
 prey upon their fleets which were 
 winging their way over every sea and 
 ocean. The Chamber of Commerce of 
 New York met and resolved, "That 
 the proposition of Mr. Jefferson Davis 
 to issue letters of marque to whomsoever 
 may apply for them, emanating from no 
 recognized government, is not only 
 without the sanction of public law, but 
 piratical in its tendencies, and therefore 
 deserving the stern condemnation of the 
 civilized world." To this was added the 
 further resolution, that "it is the duty 
 of our Government to issue at once a 
 proclamation warning all persons that 
 privateering under the commissions pro- 
 posed will be dealt with as simple pi- 
 racy." 
 
 The President promptly responded 
 by establishing a blockade of the ports 
 of the seceding States, and did not 
 hesitate to warn all privateers sailing 
 
 o New York Times. 
 
 under the flag of the Confederates that 
 they would be treated as pirates : 
 
 " Whereas an insurrection against the 
 Government of the United States has 
 broken out in the States of South Caro- 
 lina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Missis- 
 sippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the 
 laws of the United States for the collec- 
 tion of the revenue can not be efficiently 
 executed therein conformably to that 
 provision of the Constitution which re- 
 quires duties to be uniform throughout 
 the United States ; 
 
 " And whereas a combination of per- 
 sons, engaged in such insurrection, have 
 threatened to grant pretended letters of 
 marque to authorize the bearers thereof 
 to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, 
 and property of good citizens of the 
 country lawfully engaged in commerce 
 on the high seas, and in waters of the 
 United States ; 
 
 "And whereas an Executive Procla- 
 mation has been already issued, requir- 
 ing the persons engaged in these dis- 
 orderly proceedings to desist therefrom, 
 calling out a militia force for the purpose 
 of repressing the same, and convening 
 Congress in extraordinary session to 
 deliberate and determine thereon ; 
 
 "Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, 
 President of the United States, with a 
 view to the same purposes before men- 
 tioned, and to the protection of the 
 public peace, and the lives and property 
 of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing 
 their lawful occupations, until Congress 
 shall have assembled and deliberated on 
 the said unlawful proceedings, or until 
 the same shall have ceased, have further 
 
172 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 deemed it advisable to set on foot a 
 blockade of the ports within the States 
 aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of 
 the United States and of the laws of 
 nations in such cases provided. For 
 this purpose a competent force will be 
 posted so as to prevent entrance and 
 exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. 
 If, therefore, with a view to violate such 
 blockade, a vessel shall approach, or 
 shall attempt to leave any of the said 
 ports, she will be duly warned by the 
 commander of one of the blockading 
 vessels, who will endorse on her register 
 the fact and date of such warning ; and 
 if the same vessel shall again attempt to 
 enter or leave the blockaded port, she 
 
 will be captured and sent to the nearest 
 convenient port, for such proceedings 
 against her and her cargo as prize as 
 may be deemed advisable. 
 
 " And I hereby proclaim and declare, 
 that if any person, under the pretended 
 authority of said States, or under any 
 other pretence, shall molest a vessel of 
 the United States, or the persons or 
 cargo on board of her, such person will 
 be held amenable to the laws of the 
 United States for the prevention and 
 punishment of piracy. 
 
 "ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 " By the President. 
 
 " WILLIAM H. SEWABD, Secretary of State. 
 
 " WASHINGTON, April 19, 1861." 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Inquietude about the Border States. The Convention of Virginia. Committee appointed to wait upon the President. 
 Its Message. President Lincoln's Answer. Its effect. Virginia Convention passes an Act of Secession. Im- 
 patience of the Secessionists. Proclamation of Governor Letcher. Recognition of the Southern Confederacy. 
 Preparations for War. The Harbor of Norfolk Obstructed. Attempt on Harper's Ferry. Description of the place. 
 Its picturesque beauty. Its Resources. Unhappy Associations. Virginia Troops Mustering for an Attack upon 
 Harper's Ferry. A Force Marches. Description of the March. The Federal Commander and his little Garrison. 
 Anticipated Attack. Preparations to thwart its object. Preparing for a Conflagration. Positive Information. 
 The Torch applied. Retreat of the Federal Commander and his Men. An excited Populace. Held at Bay. Con- 
 tinued Flight of the Federal Commander. Safe arrival in Pennsylvania. Rewards of Gallantry. Another De- 
 struction of Public Property. Hemming in of the Gosport Navy Yard. Exulting Dispatch. Description of the 
 Navy Yard. The Ships. Resolution of Commodore Macaulay. The Demand of the Insurgents. Arrival of the 
 Pawnee. Her Sail from Fortress Monroe to Norfolk. Boisterous Welcome. The Marines set to work. Socuring 
 the Papers. Destruction of Arms. The Firing of the Barracks. Laying of the Trains. Departure of the Pawnee. 
 A Signal. The Conflagration of Ships and Navy Yard. The Burning of the old Pennsylvania. The People of 
 Norfolk bursting through the Gates of the Navy Yard. The Havoc. Incomplete Destruction. Curious Reasons 
 for it. Details of the Property destroyed. The Feeling at the North. The Destruction pronounced unnecessary. 
 Quick work of the Insurgents. Flection of defiant Batteries. 
 
 THE greatest inquietude had long ex- 
 isted at the North in regard to the 
 action of the border States, and more 
 especially of Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 1861. 
 
 In the latter State a convention had 
 been for some time in secret session, and 
 the result was awaited with intense 
 anxiety. A committee, consisting of 
 
PRESIDENT'S ANSWER TO VIRGINIA. 
 
 173 
 
 Messrs. Preston, Stuart, and Randolph, 
 had been appointed to wait upon the 
 President at Washington, and to present 
 to him the following preamble and res- 
 olution passed by the Convention of 
 Virginia : 
 
 " Whereas, in the opinion of this Con- 
 vention, the uncertainty which prevails 
 in the public mind as to the policy which 
 the Federal Executive intends to pursue 
 toward the seceded States is extremely 
 injurious to the industrial and commer- 
 cial interests of the country, tends to 
 keep up an excitement which is unfavor- 
 able to the adjustment of the pending 
 difficulties, and threatens a disturbance 
 of the public peace, therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That a committee of three 
 delegates be appointed to wait on the 
 President of the United States, present 
 to him this preamble, and respectfully 
 ask him to communicate to this Conven- 
 tion the policy which the Federal Ex- 
 ecutive intends to pursue in regard to 
 the Confederate States." 
 
 The bearers of this demand, courteous 
 April in form but insolent in substance, 
 13. were duly presented at the White 
 House, and received from Mr. Lincoln 
 a response in which he characteristically 
 rather discussed the question amiably 
 with his interlocutors, than firmly as- 
 serted his Executive authority. 
 
 "In answer, I," said the President, 
 ' ' have to say that having, at the begin- 
 ing of my official term, expressed my 
 intended policy as plainly as I was able, 
 it is with deep regret and mortification 
 I now learn there is great and injurious 
 uncertainty in the public mind as to 
 
 what course I intend to pursue. Not 
 having as yet seen occasion to change, 
 it is now my purpose to pursue the 
 course marked out in the inaugural ad- 
 dress. I commend a careful considera- 
 tion of the whole document as the best 
 expression I can give to my purposes. 
 As I then and therein said, I now re- 
 peat : ' The power confided in me will 
 be used to hold, and possess property 
 and places belonging to the Government, 
 and to collect the duties and imports ; 
 but beyond what is necessary for these 
 objects there will be no invasion, no 
 using of force against and among the 
 people anywhere.' By the words ' prop- 
 erty and places belonging to the Gov- 
 ernment,' I chiefly allude to the military 
 posts and property which were in pos- 
 session of the Government when it came 
 into my hands. But if, as now appears 
 to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to 
 drive the United States authority from 
 these places, an unprovoked assault has 
 been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall 
 hold myself at liberty to repossess it, if 
 I can, and like places which had been 
 seized before the Government was de- 
 volved upon me ; and in any event I 
 shall, to the best of my ability, repel 
 force by force. In case it proves true 
 that Fort Sumter has been assaulted, as 
 is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the 
 United States mails to be withdrawn 
 from all the States which claim to have 
 seceded, believing that the commence- 
 ment of actual war against the Govern- 
 ment justifies and possibly demands it. 
 I scarcely need to say that I consider 
 the military posts and property situated 
 
174 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 within the States which claim to have 
 seceded, as yet belonging to the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, as much as 
 they did before the supposed secession. 
 Whatever else I may do for the purpose, 
 I shall not attempt to collect the duties 
 and imposts by any armed invasion of 
 any part of the country ; not meaning 
 by this, however, that I may not land a 
 force deemed necessary to relieve a fort 
 upon the border of the country. From 
 the fact that I have quoted a part of the 
 inaugural address, it must not be in- 
 ferred that I repudiate any other part, 
 the whole of which I reaffirm, except 
 so far as what I now say of the mails 
 may be regarded as a modification." 
 
 This answer, however, was sufficiently 
 firm to convince the Virginian commis- 
 sioners that the President had deter- 
 mined to exercise his proper authority 
 in the suppression of rebellion. Their 
 return to Richmond with this response 
 served to precipitate the action of the 
 Convention, and accordingly it passed, in 
 secret session, on the 17th of April, an 
 April ordinance of secession, conditional, 
 17. however, upon its ratification by a 
 majority of the votes of the people of 
 the State on the fourth Thursday in the 
 ensuing month of May. The secession 
 leaders of Virginia, however, in their 
 impatience to rebel, could not await the 
 deliberate course of law, and began at 
 once a series of hostile acts, soon to 
 result in open war against the Federal 
 authority. 
 
 Letcher, the Governor of Virginia, 
 
 April issued a proclamation in which he 
 
 17* recognized the independence of the 
 
 seceded States, declaring that they have. 
 " by authority of their people, solemnly 
 rescued the powers granted by them to 
 the United States, and have framed a 
 constitution and organized a government 
 for themselves, to which the people of 
 those States are yielding willing obedi- 
 ence, and have so notified the President 
 of the United States by all the formal- 
 ities incident to such action, and thereby 
 become to the United States a separate, 
 independent, and foreign power." At 
 the same time he thought proper "to 
 order all armed volunteer regiments or 
 companies within the State forthwith 
 to hold themselves in readiness for im- 
 mediate orders." 
 
 Before the people of the State, how- 
 ever, had an opportunity of expressing 
 their will as legally provided by the acts 
 of the Virginia Legislature and Conven- 
 tion, Governor Letcher commenced to 
 wage war against the United States. 
 He ordered the main entrance of the 
 harbor of Norfolk to be obstructed by 
 the sinking of small boats, to prevent 
 communication with the Federal navy- 
 yard at that port, which he had evi- 
 dently determined to seize on the first 
 occasion favorable to his purpose, as 
 will be developed in the course of this 
 narrative. 
 
 His first attempt, however, was to 
 capture the United States arsenal and 
 armory at Harper's Ferry. This town, 
 now so memorable, is in Jefferson Co., 
 Virginia. It is situated on the Potomac 
 River, just where the Shenandoah enters, 
 and the two streams united pass through 
 the Blue Ridge. The town originally 
 
A FORCE ftlARCHES. 
 
 175 
 
 clustered about the base of a hill, but is 
 gradually rising up its steep sides, and 
 some scattered hamlets and houses have 
 already reached the table-land on the 
 summit, nearly four hundred feet above 
 the water. The ridge on either side of 
 the gap through which the Potomac, 
 united with the Shenandoah, forces its 
 way, rises in steep and bare cliffs to an 
 elevation of twelve hundred feet or more, 
 the simple grandeur of which, contrast- 
 ing with the picturesque beauty of the 
 lesser and cultivated heights, gives to 
 the surrounding scenery of Harper's 
 Ferry the most impressive effect. 
 Thomas Jefferson said that it was " one 
 of the most stupendous scenes in nature, 
 and well worth a voyage across the 
 Atlantic to witness." 
 
 The town contains a population of 
 about ten thousand, and has become of 
 considerable trading importance as the 
 point of junction of the Baltimore and 
 Ohio and the Winchester and Potomac 
 railways. A bridge of nine hundred 
 feet in length connects it with the op- 
 posite shore of Maryland. The main 
 business of the place is manufacturing. 
 It has one of the largest mills in the 
 United States for grinding flour. Addi- 
 tional importance was given to the town 
 by the establishment there of the Fed- 
 eral arsenal and armory. Ninety thou- 
 sand stand of arms were ordinarily 
 stored in the depots, and the work-shops 
 were capable of producing twenty-five 
 thousand annually. 
 
 The place had already acquired an 
 unhappy association with our sectional 
 quarrels, by the invasion of John Brown, 
 
 who, at the head of twenty-two men, 
 had taken possession of the town and 
 strove to excite the negroes of Virginia 
 to insurrection. It has again repeatedly 
 become a scene of commotion and con- 
 flict during this civil war. 
 
 The Governor of Virginia was eager 
 to possess himself of the arsenal and 
 armory, and thus supply his secession 
 allies with the means of carrying on the 
 war against the United States, which he 
 contemplated. He accordingly sent \^ r [\ 
 secret orders to Charleston, the !$ 
 county seat of Jefferson, to muster a 
 force for the purpose of seizing the Fed- 
 eral property at Harper's Ferry. Some 
 three thousand men had been summoned, 
 but only two hundred and fifty, in con- 
 sequence of the suddenness of the call, 
 mustered at Halltown, the rendezvous 
 half way between the county town and 
 Harper's Ferry, and about four miles 
 from each place. Here they remained 
 until night, that they might have the 
 cover of darkness for their intended act 
 of violence against the laws of the United 
 States. 
 
 The force having been formed, con- 
 sisting of a small body of infantry, termed 
 the Jefferson Battalion, commanded April 
 by a Captain Allen, one piece of ar- 18t 
 tillery, and a squad of ' ' Fauquier" cav- 
 alry, under a Captain Ashby, marched, 
 at about eight o'clock in the night of the 
 very day on which the order had been 
 received from Richmond. 
 
 " The troops marched," says one who 
 was with them, "in silence, and about 
 a mile from the starting-point the col- 
 umn was challenged by sentries posted 
 
176 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 in the road. They halted, loaded with 
 ball-cartridge, and advanced with fixed 
 bayonets until they reached the brow 
 of the hill overlooking the town and at 
 the outskirts of the village of Bolivar. 
 Here the advance was again challenged, 
 and the column halted. As these sen- 
 tries were known to be employes of the 
 armories, and as it was thought prob- 
 able from the temper manifested during 
 the day that the whole body of work- 
 men had united with the Government 
 troops, thus giving them four hundred 
 effective men, with full preparation and 
 choice of position, it was thought proper 
 to send a flag into the town to ascertain 
 how matters stood. An influential gen- 
 tleman accompanying the troops, of- 
 fered his services to execute this deli- 
 cate duty, and to dissuade the citizens, 
 if possible, from taking part in the con- 
 test. From after-knowledge it was as- 
 certained that this precaution was un- 
 necessary, as the mass of the inhabitants 
 were loyal to the soil where they lived, 
 and such as might have entertained dif- 
 ferent sentiments were silenced by the 
 reports of the imposing force which was 
 supposed to be at hand. 
 
 " While the Virginia officers were in 
 consultation, there was seen in the di- 
 rection of the armory a flash, accompa- 
 nied by a report like the discharge of a 
 cannon, followed by a number of other 
 flashes in quick succession, and then the 
 sky and surrounding mountains were 
 lighted with the steady glare of ascend- 
 ing flames. Captain Ashby, with his 
 squad, immediately rode down into the 
 town, and in a short time returned with 
 
 the report that the troops had fired the 
 public buildings and retreated across 
 the Potomac bridge, taking the mount- 
 ain road toward Carlisle Barracks, in 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 " On our way down we met a long 
 line of men, women, and boys, carrying 
 loads of muskets, bayonets, and other 
 military equipments. The streets at the 
 confluence of the two rivers were brill- 
 iantly illuminated by the flames from 
 the old arsenal, which burned like a 
 furnace. The inclosure around these 
 buildings was covered with splintered 
 glass, which had been blown out by the 
 explosion of the powder-train. A few 
 arm-boxes, open and empty, lay near 
 the entrance ; but nearly all the mus- 
 kets in this building, fifteen thousand, as 
 stated, were destroyed. 
 
 " Of the armory buildings on Poto- 
 mac Street, one large work-shop was in 
 a light blaze, and two others on fire. 
 Alarmed by the first explosions, the 
 citizens hesitated to approach the work- 
 shops, and warned the Virginia troops 
 not to do so, supposing them to be 
 mined ; but presently becoming reas- 
 sured on that subject, they went to 
 work with the engines, extinguished 
 some of the fires, and prevented their 
 extension to the town and railroad 
 bridges." 
 
 The plans of the secessionists had 
 been anticipated and their designs 
 thwarted by the Federal commander 
 and his little force at Harper's Ferry. 
 The Federal garrison consisted of a 
 detachment of United States Rifles, 
 amounting to about forty in number, 
 
BURNING OF HARPER'S FERRY ARSENAL. 
 
 177 
 
 under the command of Lieutenant Roger 
 Jones. This officer had been notified 
 some days previously by the Govern- 
 ment at Washington of the danger which 
 April threatened his post. On the 17th 
 17 of April, before the march of the 
 Virginians, he learned from various 
 sources that the attack was to be made 
 on the succeeding day. The militia of 
 the town of Harper's Ferry, although 
 they professed loyalty, were either 
 alarmed at the rumors of an approach- 
 ing force, or unwilling to oppose it, and 
 consequently disbanded. The workmen 
 employed at the arsenal and armory 
 showed symptoms, if not of disaffection, 
 at least of great uneasiness. Every 
 hour brought with it fresh rumors, more 
 or less exaggerated, of the advancing 
 secessionists. The railroad was in their 
 power, and a special train, bearing 
 armed men, was known to be hurrying 
 forward. Troops, amounting to two 
 thousand in number, were reported to 
 have gathered from Winchester, Charles- 
 ton, and other neighboring points, and 
 to be marching to Harper's Ferry. 
 
 Lieutenant Jones, conscious of the 
 purpose of this movement, and unable, 
 with his meagre garrison of forty men 
 in a country believed to be hostile, to 
 defend his post, determined to destroy 
 the arsenal and armory, lest their im- 
 portant works and valuable supplies of 
 arms should fall into the possession of 
 those who were undoubtedly determined 
 to use them in waging war against the 
 Federal Government. 
 
 Early in the evening of the 17th of 
 April, accordingly, the Lieutenant set his 
 
 23 
 
 men to work in making prepara- April 
 tions for the destruction of the ^. 
 public property, should it prove neces- 
 sary. With swords the soldiers cut up 
 the planks and other timber to supply 
 wood for firing the buildings. The 
 mattresses were ripped up, their con- 
 tents emptied out, and then filled with 
 powder. This was all done inside of 
 the arsenals and armories, to conceal the 
 purpose from the people of the town, 
 whose loyalty was suspected, and who, 
 if they should discover it, might rise 
 and prevent it. The arms, some fifteen 
 thousand stand, were now collected and 
 piled together, and the chipped wood and 
 mattresses filled with powder were so 
 placed that the guns and the buildings 
 might all be destroyed together in one 
 common explosion and conflagration. 
 On the next night, having received k$ril 
 "positive and reliable information 18. 
 that twenty-five hundred or three thou- 
 sand State troops would reach Harper's 
 Ferry in two hours from Winchester^ 
 and that the troops from Halltown, in- 
 creased to three hundred, were advanc- 
 ing, and even at that time a few min- 
 utes after ten o'clock within twenty 
 minutes' march of the Ferry," Lieuten- 
 ant Jones gave the order to apply the 
 torch. The windows and doors of the 
 buildings had been opened so that the 
 flames could have free sway, and when 
 all was ready, the fires were started in 
 the carpenter's shop, and the trains lead- 
 ing to the powder ignited. This done, 
 the Lieutenant marched out his men and 
 began a rapid retreat. In three min- 
 utes after, the buildings of the arsenal 
 
ITS 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 and the carpenter's shop were in a "com- 
 plete blaze." 
 
 The fire alarmed the town, and its ex- 
 cited populace pursued Lieutenant Jones 
 and his men, coming upon them just as 
 they had reached the bridge, for the 
 purpose of escaping across. The crowd 
 pressed forward, crying vengeance upon 
 them for having set fire to the buildings. 
 Jones wheeled his men, and facing the 
 multitude declared, unless they dis- 
 persed, he would fire upon them. The 
 intimidated throng shrunk back, and 
 Jones took the occasion to continue his 
 retreat and take to the woods, followed, 
 however, by several shots, which fortu- 
 nately were without effect. He now 
 hurried northward, his way being lighted 
 up by the blazing buildings. The ex- 
 plosion took place almost as soon as he 
 got beyond the town, and he flattered 
 himself that the destruction of the ar- 
 senal and armory had been complete. 
 Hurriedly marching all night across 
 streams and bogs, he reached Hagers- 
 April town in safety on the next morn- 
 
 19* ing, at seven o'clock, and thence 
 pursued his way to Chambersburg, in 
 Pennsylvania, where, confident of being 
 among a loyal people, he could stop to 
 refresh his wayworn men, who had 
 marched all night and eaten nothing 
 since they left Harper's Ferry. Four 
 of his little garrison, however, were 
 missing, and it was feared that they had 
 been captured, or perhaps slain. 
 
 From Chambersburg Lieutenant Jones 
 proceeded with his men to Carlisle Bar- 
 April racks, a Federal post, whence he 
 
 20. dispatched a report of his pro- 
 
 ceedings to the United States Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 His conduct met with the approbation 
 of the President, who, in consideration 
 of " his skilful and gallant conduct at 
 Harper's Ferry," gave him the commis- 
 sion of assistant-quarter-master-general 
 with the rank of captain, and sent to him 
 through the secretary this flattering 
 tribute : 
 
 " WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, ) 
 April 22d, 1861. j 
 
 " LIEUTENANT ROGER JONES : 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : I am directed by 
 the President of the United States to 
 communicate to you, and through you 
 to the officers and men under your com- 
 mand at Harper's Ferry armory, the 
 approbation of the Government of your 
 and their judicious conduct there, and 
 to tender to you and them the thanks 
 of the Government for the same. 
 
 " I am, sir, very respectfully, 
 ' ' SIMON CAMERON, 
 
 "Secretary of War." 
 
 This was soon followed by another 
 more important, but less justifiable de- 
 struction of public property in Virginia. 
 It will be recollected that Governor 
 Letcher had already ordered the main 
 entrance of the harbor of Norfolk to be 
 obstructed by the sinking of small boats. 
 Seven vessels had been sunk at the 
 mouth of the Elizabeth River, the only 
 channel of communication between the 
 sea and the Gosport navy-yard. The 
 obvious object of this was to hem in 
 that important naval station, so that by 
 preventing the egress of the United 
 States vessels there, or the ingress of 
 
THE NORFOLK NAVY YARD. 
 
 1T9 
 
 any force that might be sent to their 
 aid, the navy -yard with its ships and its 
 stores should be at the mercy of the 
 State of Virginia. The dispatch which 
 announced the execution of the Gover- 
 nor's order exultingly declared : " Thus 
 have we secured for Virginia three of 
 the best ships of the navy," alluding to 
 the Cumberland, Merrimac, and Penn- 
 sylvania, then among the vessels in the 
 Gosport navy-yard at Norfolk. The 
 inhabitants had, moreover, shown their 
 hostile intentions by seizing the United 
 April States magazine, situated below the 
 *9* city, and containing four thousand 
 kegs of powder. 
 
 The navy-yard was in command of 
 Commodore Charles S. Macaulay, a vet- 
 eran naval officer. The establishment, 
 one of the largest in the United States, 
 contained not only stores of naval and 
 military munitions of war and ships, but 
 arsenals, foundries, workshops, and 
 docks a mass of public property which 
 had cost the United States over fifty 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 There were twelve vessels of war 
 stationed at the yard, with an aggregate 
 tonnage of about thirty-five thousand 
 tons, and an armament of six hundred 
 and fifty guns. These were the Penn- 
 sylvania, a sailing vessel, the largest line- 
 of-battle-ship ever built in the United 
 States. Her tonnage was three thou- 
 sand three hundred and forty-one tons, 
 and she was built to carry a hundred 
 and twenty guns, to work which and the 
 ship would have required a crew of a 
 thousand men. Built in 1837, at Phil- 
 adelphia, she remained there as the 
 
 wonder of all sight-seers, until she sailed 
 to Norfolk, many years after, where 
 she has remained a useless hulk, too 
 unwieldy and too expensive for service. 
 
 The Delaware, also a sailing line-of- 
 battle-ship, was of two thousand six hun- 
 dred and thirty-three tons, carrying an 
 armament of eighty-four guns, and a crew 
 of eight hundred men. She, however, 
 was rotten, and had been long condemned 
 as unfit for service. 
 
 The Columbus, a line-of-battle-ship^, 
 of two thousand four hundred and eighty 
 tons burthen, and rated for eighty guns 
 and eight hundred men, was also useless 
 as a sailing vessel, but was thought 
 capable of being converted into a 
 steamer. The Raritan, a frigate of one 
 thousand seven hundred and twenty-six 
 tons, and fifty guns, was another vessel 
 which had been condemned as unfit for 
 service. 
 
 The Plymouth, a first-class sloop-of- 
 war, of nine hundred and eighty-nine 
 tons, and twenty-two guns, was under- 
 going repairs, and was a vessel of little 
 value. 
 
 There was the New York, the keel of 
 which was laid forty-five years ago, 
 still on the stocks, and was hardly 
 thought to be available. To these 
 vessels of little value, may be added the 
 old United States, built in 1797. 
 
 There were, however, the four sailing 
 ships, the fine frigate Cumberland, the 
 Germantown, the Columbia, and the 
 brig Dolphin, which were for the most 
 part in good condition and capable of 
 the best service. In addition was the 
 first-class steam frigate the Merrimac, 
 
180 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 of three thousand two hundred tons, and 
 forty guns. Built at the Charlestown 
 navy-yard, near Boston, in 1855, she had 
 proved herself ever since to be one of 
 the most powerful and valuable steamers 
 in the United States navy. 
 
 Commodore Macaulay, supposed to be 
 acting with the concurrence of the 
 authorities at Washington, now deter- 
 mined to save what little he could of 
 this valuable Government property, and 
 destroy the remainder in order to pre- 
 vent its falling into the possession of the 
 April Virginians. The commander of 
 
 20. the insurgents at Norfolk, General 
 Taliafero, had already demanded the 
 surrender of the navy-yard, and after a 
 conference with the Commodore, at noon, 
 declared that he had his assurance that 
 " none of the vessels should be removed, 
 nor a shot fired, except in self-defence." 
 However this may be, the Commodore 
 doubtless was so persuaded of the hos- 
 tile intent of the threatening force in 
 Norfolk, as to believe that the most de- 
 cided measures had become necessary to 
 thwart it. 
 
 In the evening the United States 
 April steamer the Pawnee arrived from 
 
 20t Washington with two hundred 
 volunteers and a hundred marines, in 
 addition to her own crew, and after 
 stopping at Fortress Monroe and taking 
 on board a reinforcement of men, pro- 
 ceeded at once to co-operate with Com- 
 modore Macaulay, and aid him in what- 
 ever action he had determined upon. 
 
 It was about seven o'clock, on a clear 
 April moonlight night, that the Pawnee, 
 
 20* Captain Paulding, flying at her 
 
 peak the commodore's pennant, moved 
 from the dock of Fort Monroe cheered 
 by the shouts of the garrison gathered 
 on the parapet of the fortress, and 
 steamed off for Norfolk. Notwithstand- 
 ing the sunken vessels in the channel, 
 the steamer passed without difficulty up 
 Hampton Roads, past Norfolk, to Gos- 
 port navy-yard, where she arrived at 
 half-past eight o'clock. The people of 
 Norfolk and Portsmouth were greatly 
 disturbed by her approach, as they be- 
 lieved she had come to aid in bom- 
 barding their towns. Overcome with 
 fright, and unprepared for resistance, 
 they made no show of opposition, but 
 every inhabitant took care to keep at a 
 discreet distance. 
 
 Our people at the navy-yard, expect- 
 ing the coming of the Pawnee, were on 
 the alert, and as she came alongside the 
 dock, the sailors on board the Cumber- 
 land and Pennsylvania, crowding into 
 the shrouds and manning the yards, 
 heartily cheered her. Cut off as they 
 had been for so long a time from all 
 communication with the town, insulted 
 and threatened daily with attack by the 
 infuriated insurgents of Virginia, they 
 saw, in the arrival of the Pawnee, a 
 means of relief, if not an opportunity 
 of vindicating the national dignity, and 
 exulted greatly. 
 
 As soon as the steamer had made fast 
 to the dock, Colonel Wardrop, the mil- 
 itary commander, marched out his men 
 and stationed them at the gates of the 
 navy-yard, to prevent the entrance of 
 the insurgents, should they make the 
 attempt. The marines of the different 
 
DESTRUCTION OF NORFOLK NAVY YARD. 
 
 181 
 
 vessels were now mustered and set busily 
 to work. Some collected the records, 
 papers, and archives from the offices 
 and placed them on board the Pawnee, 
 and some gathered whatever was val- 
 uable, important, and easily transferable 
 from the various ships, and stored it in 
 the Cumberland. After thus having se- 
 cured what could be readily carried 
 away, the marines were ordered to be- 
 gin the work of destruction. Many 
 thousand stands of arms, and a large 
 quantity of pistols and revolvers, were 
 broken by severing the barrels from the 
 stocks, and thrown into the river. Thou- 
 sands of shot and shell followed, and 
 everything on the ships that might be 
 of service to the insurgents met with 
 the same fate. The cannon which were 
 still left un spiked were now spiked and 
 dismantled, and some fifteen hundred 
 cannon, of which several were Dahlgrens 
 and columbiads, were thus destroyed. 
 The men kept on at this work of de- 
 struction from nine o'clock until mid- 
 night, when the moon, sinking behind 
 the horizon, failed any longer to give 
 its light. The barracks, within the 
 yard, were now set on fire, in order 
 that the marines might see by the glare 
 to continue their labors, which they re- 
 newed with increased spirit, as if en- 
 livened by the crackling and blaze of 
 the conflagration. The day, however, 
 was approaching, and it was feared that 
 the insurgents, gathering in force, might 
 obstruct the escape of the Pawnee and 
 the Cumberland. G-unpowder trains 
 were now laid upon the decks of the 
 doomed ships and the ship-houses. The 
 
 crews of the various ships and all who 
 belonged to the navy-yard, with the ex- 
 ception of two left behind to fire the 
 trains, now hurried on board of the April 
 Pawnee and Cumberland. The for- 21. 
 mer left the dock on Sunday morning, 
 at four o'clock, on her return. As she 
 cast off her moorings she sent up a sig- 
 nal rocket, and as it burst, the torch 
 was applied, and in a moment the whole 
 yard seemed to be wrapped in a com- 
 mon flame. Ships and ship-houses 
 caught simultaneously, and the old New 
 York, the keel of which had been laid 
 forty-five years before, and was still on 
 the stocks, burned, with its huge wooden 
 cover, like tinder. The Pennsylvania, 
 the Merrimac, the G-ermantown, the 
 Plymouth, the Raritan, the Columbia, 
 and the brig Dolphin caught at the same 
 time, and were left in flames. Some 
 of the guns were loaded, though not 
 charged with shot, and when the fire 
 reached them they exploded and added 
 to the effect of this scene of destruction. 
 "The Pennsylvania burned like a vol- 
 cano for five hours and a half before her 
 mainmast fell. I stood watching," says 
 an eye-witness,* "the proud but per- 
 ishing old leviathan, as this sign of her 
 manhood was about to come down. At 
 precisely half-past nine o'clock by my 
 watch, the tall tree that stood in her 
 centre tottered and fell, and crushed 
 deep into her burning sides, while a 
 stream of sparks flooded the sky." 
 
 Two of the ships the Delaware and 
 Columbus had been already scuttled 
 and sunk on the day before the arrival 
 
 New York Times, April 26. 
 
182 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 of the Pawnee. The rest, with the ex- 
 ception of the old hulk, the United 
 States, left untouched, had been fired. 
 The only vessel thus which was saved 
 was the fine man-of-war Cumberland, 
 which, in tow of the Yankee tug-boat, 
 followed the Pawnee down the river. 
 
 No sooner had the Pawnee steamed 
 away, than the people of Norfolk and 
 Portsmouth broke through the gates 
 and filled the navy-yard. Soon after, a 
 military company raised the flag of Vir- 
 ginia and took formal possession of the 
 place in the name of that State. The 
 insurgents, though grieved at the loss 
 of the Cumberland, which they had 
 hoped to secure, were surprised that 
 the destruction, when once begun, had 
 not been more thorough. A hopeful 
 writer, whose sanguine speculations it 
 is curious now to read, gives, at the 
 time of the act, this reason for its in- 
 completeness. " Long before," he says, 
 " the workshops and armories, the foun- 
 dries, and ship- wood left unharmed, can 
 bring forth new weapons of offence, this 
 war will be ended. And may be, as of 
 yore, the stars and stripes will float over 
 Gosport navy-yard. All that is now 
 spared will then be so much gained!" 
 
 A Norfolk editor reported, after a cur- 
 sory visit, that " the property destroyed 
 embraced, besides the ship-houses and 
 contents, the range of buildings on the 
 north line of the yard (except the com- 
 modore's and commander's residences, 
 which are unhurt), the old marine bar- 
 racks and one or two work-shops, the 
 immense lifting shears, the ships Penn- 
 sylvania, Merrimac, Raritan, Columbus, 
 
 and brig Dolphin burned to the water's 
 edge ; the sloop Germantown, broken 
 and sunk ; the Plymouth, scuttled and 
 sunk even with her deck ; and a vast 
 amount of small arms, chronometers, and 
 valuable engines and machinery in the 
 ordnance and other shops, broken up 
 and rendered utterly useless." 
 
 The feeling at the North, on the de- 
 struction of this valuable public prop- 
 erty, was one of national humiliation, 
 not unmixed with anger at the Govern- 
 ment for not having avoided it by timely 
 precaution. Every one spoke of it as a 
 great loss and a national disgrace. By 
 proper foresight, steam-tugs could have 
 been provided, it was believed, to tow 
 every vessel away from the navy-yard 
 in safety. Even when by delay it had 
 become too late to make such means 
 available, it was thought that a more 
 resolute commander might have kept 
 the threatening insurgents at Norfolk at 
 bay. With a fleet of ships heavily 
 armed at his command, it was urged 
 that he might have turned his guns 
 upon the towns of Norfolk and Ports- 
 mouth, and have successfully repelled 
 every attack. 
 
 The insurgents, on the very day of 
 the departure of the Pawnee, had be- 
 gun to unspike the cannon and remove 
 them below Norfolk to mount the sand 
 batteries which they had raised in de- 
 fence of their harbor and in defiance of 
 the Federal authorities. 
 
 The Cumberland was towed from the 
 navy-yard by the steam-tug Yankee, 
 which followed in the wake of the Paw- 
 nee. The three vessels proceeded down 
 
GREAT MEETING AT NEW YORK. 
 
 183 
 
 the river until nine o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, when they came to anchor at the 
 point where the channel had been ob- 
 structed with sunken vessels. Boats 
 were sent out to sound, with the view 
 of discovering another passage. This, 
 however, proving without avail, the fleet 
 weighed anchor and forced its way di- 
 rectly through the obstructions. The 
 Cumberland got entangled with one of 
 
 the sunken vessels and carried it along 
 with her, and for a time there seemed 
 danger of her drifting on the shore, 
 where the enemy had their batteries. 
 Another steamer, the Keystone State, 
 however, arriving from Washington, 
 went to her aid, and, in conjunction 
 with the tug Yankee, succeeded in free- 
 ing her from the wreck and towing her 
 safely under the guns of Fort Monroe. 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 Increased War Spirit of the North. Unity of Sentiment. Great Meetings. Great Meeting at New York. The Patri- 
 otic Enthusiasm of the Citizens. The display of Union Colors and Symbols. The immense Gathering at Union 
 Square. A dozen "Monster Meetings." Officers and Orators. The supposed effect of the New York Demonstra- 
 tion upon the Southern Rebellion. No passing Effervescence of Popular Emotion. Generous Largesses of Men and 
 Money. Rapid Military Organization. March to the Capital. Dangers of Washington. Precautions for its 
 Safety. Disaffection of Maryland. An anxious Proclamation. The Agitation of Baltimore. Continued Anxiety 
 aboTit Washington. Rumored Approach of Jefferson Davis. The effect at the North. Military Aspect of the 
 Northern Cities. March of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment. Triumphal Ovations on its route. Arrival in Bal- 
 timore. Anxieties about its reception. The Mob of Baltimore. The Cars Attacked. Obstruction of the Track. 
 The March of the Massachusetts Men through the Streets of Baltimore. The Attack on them by the Mob. The 
 First Shot. The Soldiers return the Fire. A continued Struggle. The tragic Result. The Massachusetts Men 
 Fight their way and reach Washington. The Philadelphia Men turned back. The Killed and Wounded. Indig- 
 nation at the North. A pathetic Dispatch from the Governor of Massachusetts. An Official Statement. Deter- 
 mined Hostility of Maryland. The impotent Authorities of Maryland. Vague Response of the Mayor of Baltimore 
 
 _ to the Governor of Massachusetts. A decided Rejoinder. The Governor of Maryland perplexed. A Message to 
 the President. Commissioners sent. The President's Answer Continued Alarm of the Governor of Maryland. 
 A strange Proposition. A dignified Rebuke from the Secretary of State. 
 
 THE war spirit which had been aroused 
 at the North by the fall of Fort Surnter 
 
 continued to increase in intensity. 
 
 Immense meetings were held in 
 the free States, at which leading politi- 
 cians of all parties vied in their ex- 
 pressions of devotion to the Union, and 
 willingness to sustain it at all hazards 
 to life and property. Stirring resolu- 
 tions were passed and committees ap- 
 pointed to collect money and organize 
 
 troops for the defence of the Union and 
 vindication of an insulted government. 
 
 The most memorable of these great 
 gatherings was that which was called 
 by "leading citizens, without dis- April 
 tinction of party," and assembled 20. 
 around Union Square, New York. On 
 the day appointed, the business of the 
 city was by common consent arrested. 
 Commerce, trade, and wealth all de- 
 serted their usual resorts, and sought to 
 
184: 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 join in the demonstration of patriotism. 
 Immense numbers of people gathered 
 from all parts of the town and flowed in 
 continuous streams from early morning 
 until evening, through the main streets, 
 toward the square. The buildings every- 
 where were decorated with flags ; the 
 " stars and stripes' 7 floated from church 
 steeples, and canopied the thorough- 
 fares. The national colors bloomed 
 freshly upon patriotic coats and gowns, 
 and the whole population was alive with 
 the excitement of the occasion. 
 
 It was estimated that a hundred thou- 
 sand people or more were gathered 
 within and about Union Square. The 
 throng was so immense, that, expanding 
 beyond the limits of a single ' ' monster 
 meeting," it supplied material for a 
 score. Separate " stands" were raised, 
 and a dozen orators at the same mo- 
 ment found a crowd of earnest listeners 
 to their fervid and patriotic rhetoric. 
 Presided over by imposing dignitaries, 
 aided by a long list of notable citizens 
 as vice-presidents and secretaries, opened 
 with prayer by civic divines of popular 
 repute, and addressed by eloquent speak- 
 ers, these meetings were conducted with 
 unusual eclat. It was proclaimed in the 
 gigantic capitals of the next morning's 
 papers as "the greatest demonstration 
 the world ever saw." 
 
 It was sanguinely believed by many 
 that this emphatic expression of attach- 
 ment to the Union, and resolution to up- 
 hold it, would alone suppress the South- 
 ern rebellion, the leaders of which were 
 thought to have hitherto presumed upon 
 a supposed sympathy with their cause 
 
 of many people at the North. Nor was 
 this great demonstration a mere passing 
 effervescence of popular emotion. The 
 people throughout the North soon gave 
 a vigorous proof of the earnestness of 
 their devotion to the Union by their 
 generous largesses of men and money. 
 In two short weeks about forty millions 
 of dollars more than two millions of 
 which were given by the city of New 
 York were voluntarily contributed to- 
 ward suppressing the rebellion ; and those 
 who offered their services to take up arms 
 in behalf of the Union exceeded b}>- sev- 
 eral hundred thousand the whole num- 
 ber called for from both free and slave 
 States by the President in his procla- 
 mation. The legislatures of the States 
 passed war-bills, and voted large appro- 
 priations of mone} 7 . In Boston, the 
 banks agreed to lend ten per cent, of 
 their whole capital to the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts to aid in the defence of the 
 Government. In other Northern cities, 
 the municipal corporations voted large 
 sums, and capitalists vied with each 
 other in their generous offers of financial 
 service. 
 
 Many of the regularly organized mili- 
 tia corps were at once ready to take the 
 field, and march without delay to Wash- 
 ington, the capital, which was supposed 
 to be in danger from the insurgents of 
 Virginia and the disaffected of Mary- 
 land. The Virginians had already 
 erected batteries on the Potomac, mus- 
 tered large forces, and it was rumored 
 that Ben McCulloch, the noted Texan 
 ranger at their head, who had been 
 lately seen in Washington, was, in con- 
 
DISAFFECTION OF MARYLAND. 
 
 185 
 
 junction with confederates in that city 
 and Maryland, preparing to seize upon 
 the capital. The Federal Government 
 itself showed great anxiety about its 
 safety. Such of the militia of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia whose loyalty could be 
 trusted had been hurriedly mustered, 
 and, together with the small regular 
 force at that time in Washington, placed 
 on guard. Soldiers were stationed at 
 the Capitol and all the public buildings. 
 Batteries of guns were posted at the 
 " Long Bridge," which crosses the Poto- 
 mac, and connects the city of Washing- 
 ton with the opposite shore of Virginia. 
 All the avenues and railroads leading to 
 the capital were guarded by detach- 
 ments of the small force of militia and 
 regulars at command. 
 
 Maryland was known to be greatly 
 disaffected, although it had hitherto been 
 restrained from any violent exhibition 
 of its rebellious tendencies by the influ- 
 ence of its governor and a large num- 
 ber, like him, who were attached to the 
 Union. The proclamation of Governor 
 Hicks, after the fall of Sumter, and the 
 call by the President for the militia of 
 the various States, indicated the antag- 
 onism of opinion and the dangerous 
 April effervescence of feeling which ex- 
 * 8 isted in Maryland. He proclaimed : 
 "To THE PEOPLE or MARYLAND. 
 
 "The unfortunate state of affairs now 
 existing in the country has greatly ex- 
 cited the people of Maryland. 
 
 " In consequence of our peculiar po- 
 sition, it is not to be expected that the 
 people of the State can unanimously 
 agree upon the best mode of preserving 
 24 
 
 the honor and integrity of the State, and 
 of maintaining within her limits that 
 peace so earnestly desired by all good 
 citizens. 
 
 " The emergency is great. The con- 
 sequences of a rash step will be fearful. 
 It is the imperative duty of every true 
 son of Maryland to do all that can tend 
 to arrest the threatened evil. I there- 
 fore counsel the people, in all earnest- 
 ness, to withhold their hands from what- 
 ever may tend to precipitate us into the 
 gulf of discord and ruin gaping to re- 
 ceive us. 
 
 " I counsel the people to abstain from 
 all heated controversy upon the subject ; 
 to avoid all things that tend to crimina- 
 tion and recrimination, in order that the 
 origin of our evil day may be forgotten 
 now by every patriot, in the earnest de- 
 sire to avert from us its fruit. 
 
 "All powers vested in the Governor 
 of the State will be strenuously ex- 
 erted to preserve the peace and main- 
 tain inviolate the honor and integrity of 
 Maryland. 
 
 "I call upon the people to obey the 
 laws, and to aid the constituted author- 
 ities in their endeavors to preserve the 
 fair fame of our State untarnished. 
 
 " I assure the people that no troops 
 will be sent from Maryland, unless it 
 may be for the defence of the national 
 capital. 
 
 "It is my intention in the future, as 
 it has been my endeavor in the past, to 
 preserve the people of Maryland from 
 civil war ; and I invoke the assistance 
 of every true and loyal citizen to aid me 
 in this emergency. 
 
186 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " The people of this State will, in a 
 short time, have the opportunity af- 
 forded them, in a special election of 
 members of Congress of the United 
 States, to express their devotion to the 
 Union, or their desire to have it broken 
 up. T. H. HICKS. 
 
 "BALTIMORE, April 18, 1861." 
 
 Baltimore especially, never renowned 
 for its respect for public order, was 
 suspected of a disposition to combine 
 with the insurgents of Virginia, in a 
 violent disruption of the Union. 
 
 The Virginians openly in arms, were 
 thus threatening the capital of the 
 United States on one side ; the disaf- 
 fected of Maryland on the other, were 
 scarcely restrained from violence, while 
 secret conspirators, and a suspected pop- 
 ulation in Washington itself, aroused the 
 fears of the whole Northern people for 
 its safety and quickened them to effort 
 in its defence. An additional stimulus 
 came in the rumor that Jefferson Davis, 
 the President of the Confederate States, 
 was hurrying to the North, at the head 
 of a considerable force which was rap- 
 idly increasing on the way. The militia 
 from, the nearest points pushed forward 
 at once, and the volunteers of all the 
 Northern States organized with great 
 rapidity. The large cities assumed a 
 warlike air. Men in uniform filled the 
 streets ; the public parks were turned 
 into parade grounds ; public buildings 
 were appropriated and rude structures 
 of wood raised for barracks ; and troops 
 were constantly marching in and out on 
 their way to Washington. 
 
 The Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts 
 
 militia was the first to march, ancl 
 passed through a succession of 
 triumphal ovations from town to town, 
 greeted on their arrival with the cheers 
 of immense multitudes of enthusiastic 
 people, and urged forward on their 
 patriotic mission with inspiriting shouts 
 of encouragement. After having thus 
 triumphantly passed through New York 
 and Philadelphia, this noble regiment 
 arrived in Baltimore, where a different 
 reception awaited it. It was half- Ap r ji 
 past ten o'clock in the morning 19. 
 when the Massachusetts men reached 
 the city. Here horses were attached 
 to the cars to convey them from one 
 end to the other of the city to reach 
 the depot of the Baltimore and Wash- 
 ington Railroad. The regiment filled 
 eleven cars. Meeting with no opposition 
 on their arrival, or indication even of an 
 unfriendly spirit, the regiment started 
 in the most cheerful mood. Fears, it is 
 true, had been expressed by some anx- 
 ious inhabitants of the danger of an at- 
 tack, but these were now deemed only 
 the alarms of the timid. The cars, how- 
 ever, had only proceeded the length of 
 two blocks, or squares of houses, when 
 it became clear that the anxiety of the 
 Baltimoreans was not unfounded. A 
 great mass of excited people so ob- 
 structed the streets that the horses could 
 hardly push through it. This mob at 
 the same time began with hootings, 
 } r ells, and threatening cries, to try to 
 provoke the Massachusetts men. The 
 soldiers, however, neither showed them- 
 selves nor responded to the insults they 
 were receiving. Stones, brickbats, and 
 

 I 
 
BALTIMORE MOB. 
 
 1ST 
 
 bits of pavement torn from the side- 
 walks were now thrown by the infuria- 
 ted mob against the cars, smashing the 
 windows and bruising some of the 
 troops. In spite, however, of this at- 
 tack, nine of the cars moved steadily 
 on, and deposited their inmates in safety 
 at the depot. Two cars, with the rest 
 of the Massachusetts men, were yet be- 
 hind. 
 
 In the mean time, the Baltimore mob 
 had succeeded in obstructing the track 
 by means of large and heavy iron 
 anchors, lying near by, which they 
 dragged into the street and- placed 
 across the rails. The mob having ac- 
 complished this work, began to exult 
 with loud shouts for " the South," "Jef- 
 ferson Davis," "South Carolina," and 
 " secession," to give vent to their hatred 
 of the North by groans for "Lincoln" 
 and " Massachusetts," and to attack the 
 soldiers, from some of whom they suc- 
 ceeded in snatching the muskets. 
 
 It was now determined to abandon 
 the cars, and march through the streets 
 to the depot. The one hundred men, 
 accordingly, who were, all that were left 
 behind of the regiment, alighted, and 
 forming, prepared to push forward. 
 Just as they began to move they were 
 met by a large throng crowding down 
 the street, with a secession flag borne 
 at their head. As they approached they 
 saluted the little band of Massachusetts 
 men with a volley of stones, and cried out 
 to them that they could not proceed 
 through the city, and that if they . at- 
 tempted it, " not a white nigger of them 
 would be left alive." 
 
 Nothing daunted, the soldiers con- 
 tinued their march, when the missiles 
 from the mob began to fly thick and 
 fast. The crowd increased at every 
 step and became more violent each 
 moment, hurling paving stones and 
 brickbats at the soldiers continually. 
 Two of them had been struck and 
 knocked down by stones, when there 
 came a shot from either pistol or gun. 
 The captain in command of the Massa- 
 chusetts men now ordered them to 
 prime their guns, which had been hith- 
 erto loaded though not capped, and to 
 protect themselves. The soldiers ac- 
 cordingly fired into the people, who, 
 with renewed fury, returned the shot 
 by an increased volley of missiles and 
 the discharge of revolvers. The Mayor 
 of Baltimore at last came forward, and 
 occasionally putting himself at the head 
 of the troops, made a show of protec- 
 tion, which proved, however, of little 
 effect. The Massachusetts men were 
 forced to fight their way through the 
 streets to the depot, a mile distant. 
 The route was a continued scene of 
 struggle between the mob and the sol- 
 diers the one hurling missiles of all 
 kinds, and occasionally discharging re- 
 volvers and guns, and the other return- 
 ing the attack with a regular musket 
 fire from their ranks. Many, both sol- 
 diers and citizens, fell dead by the way- 
 side, some of whom were borne away 
 by their comrades, while others were 
 carried into the nearest apothecary 
 shops. Reaching the depot, the little 
 band of soldiers, who had thus cut their 
 way through the infuriated mob, once 
 
188 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 more joined their fellows who awaited 
 them, and the whole regiment prepared 
 to start for Washington. The mob, how- 
 ever, had followed, and still beset them. 
 
 "The scene while the troops were 
 changing cars," wrote an eye-witness, 
 " was indescribably fearful. Taunts, 
 clothed in the most fearful language, 
 were hurled at them by the panting 
 crowd, who, almost breathless with run- 
 ning, passed up to the car windows, pre- 
 senting knives and revolvers, and cursed 
 up into the faces of the soldiers. The 
 police were thrown in between the cars, 
 and forming a barrier, the troops 
 changed cars, many of them cocking 
 their muskets as they stepped on the 
 platform. 
 
 " After embarking, the assemblage ex- 
 pected to see the train move off, but its 
 departure was evidently delayed in the 
 vain hope that the crowd would dis- 
 perse ; but no, it swelled ; and the 
 troops expressed to the officers of the 
 road their determination to go at once, 
 or they would leave the cars and make 
 their way to Washington. 
 
 " While the delay was increasing the 
 excitement, a wild cry was raised on the 
 platform, and a dense crowd ran down 
 the platform, and out the railroad track 
 toward the Spring Gardens, until the 
 track for a mile was black with an ex- 
 cited, rushing mass. The crowd, as it 
 went, placed obstructions of every de- 
 scription on the track. Great logs and 
 telegraph poles, requiring a dozen or 
 more men to move them, were laid across 
 the rails, and stones rolled from the 
 embankment. 
 
 "A body of police followed after the 
 crowd, both in a full run, and removed 
 the obstructions as fast as they were 
 placed on the track. Various attempts 
 were made to tear up the track with 
 logs of wood and pieces of timber, and 
 there was a great outcry for pickaxes 
 and handspikes, but only one or two 
 could be found. The police interfered 
 on every occasion, but the crowd grow- 
 ing larger and more excited, would dash 
 off at a break-neck run for another 
 position farther on, until the county line 
 was reached. The police followed, run- 
 ning, until forced to stop from fatigue. 
 At this point many of the throng gave 
 it up from exhaustion ; but a crowd, 
 longer- winded, dashed on for. nearly a 
 mile farther, now and then pausing to 
 attempt to force the rails, or place some 
 obstruction upon them. They could be 
 distinctly seen for a mile along the track, 
 where it makes a bend at the Washington 
 road bridge. When the train went out, 
 the mass of people had almost returned 
 to the depot." 
 
 In the same railroad train by which 
 the Massachusetts regiment had come 
 from Philadelphia, there were some 
 Pennsylvania troops. These formed one 
 half of the Washington Brigade, and con- 
 sisted of six companies of the First Reg- 
 iment, under the command of Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Berry, and four companies 
 of the Second Regiment, under Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Schoenleber and Major 
 Gullman. Being, however, unarmed, 
 they did not venture an attempt to force 
 their way, and remained in the cars at 
 the depot where they had at first arrived. 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEAD. 
 
 189 
 
 They, too, were assailed by the insulting 
 cries of the mob, and some of them 
 were bruised severely by missiles hurled 
 against the cars, which broke the win- 
 dows and penetrated inside. After re- 
 maining for two hours thus exposed, 
 they were finally protected by the po- 
 lice of Baltimore, but were obliged to 
 
 i I 
 
 retrace their way back to the North. 
 
 The total number of killed and 
 wounded, in the street conflict between 
 the Massachusetts regiment and Balti- 
 more mob, amounted to twenty-two. 
 Of these, nine citizens and two soldiers 
 were killed, and three citizens and eight 
 soldiers wounded. This tragic event 
 excited great indignation throughout 
 the North, and especially in Massachu- 
 setts, where the victims of the Balti- 
 more riot were considered as martyrs 
 who had been sacrificed to a holy cause. 
 The Governor of the State expressed his 
 reverence for their memory in this pa- 
 triotic dispatch to the Mayor of Bal- 
 timore : 
 
 "I pray you cause the bodies of our 
 Massachusetts soldiers, dead in battle, 
 to be immediately laid out, preserved 
 in ice, and tenderly sent forward by ex- 
 press to me. All expenses will be paid 
 by this Commonwealth. 
 
 " JOHN A. ANDREW, 
 " Governor of Massachusetts." 
 
 The occurrence,* however, presented 
 
 c The following report by Captain Follambec, who com- 
 manded the Massachusetts men. who fought their way 
 through Baltimore, though not in every respect accurate, 
 is interesting : 
 
 " We arrived in Baltimore about ten o'clock A. M. The 
 cars are drawn through the city by horses. There were 
 about thirty cars in our train, there being, in addition to 
 Colonel Jones' command, 1,200 troops from Philadelphia, 
 
 a graver aspect than it showed merely 
 in its sentimental bearings. The corn- 
 without uniforms or arms, they intending to get them 
 here. After we arrived, the cars were taken, two at a 
 time, and drawn to the depot, at the lower part of the 
 city, a mob assaulting them all the way. The Lowell 
 Mechanic Phalanx car was the ninth, and we waited till 
 after the rest had left for our turn, till two men came to 
 me and informed me that I had better take my command 
 and march to the other depot, as the mob had taken up 
 the track to prevent the passage of the cars. I imme- 
 diately informed Captain Pickering, of the Lawrence Light 
 Infantry, and we filed out of the cars in regular order. 
 Captain Hart's company, of Lowell, and Captain Bilk's, of 
 Stoneham, did the same, and formed in a line on the side- 
 walk. The captains consulted together, and decided that 
 the command should devolve upon me. I immediately 
 took my position at the right, wheeled into column of 
 sections, and requested them to march in close order. 
 Before we had started, the mob was upon us, with a seces- 
 sion flag attached to a pole, and told us we never could 
 march through that city. They would kill every white 
 nigger of us before we could reach the other depot. I 
 paid no attention to them, but after I had wheeled the 
 battalion, gave the order to march. 
 
 " As soon as the order was given, the brickbats began to 
 fly into our ranks from the mob. I called a policeman, 
 and requested him to lead the way to the other depot. 
 He did so. After we had marched about a hundred yards, 
 we came to a bridge. The rebels had torn up most of the 
 planks. We had to play ' Scotch hop' to get over it. 
 As soon as we had crossed the bridge they commenced to 
 fire upon us from the streets and houses. We were loaded, 
 but not capped. I ordered the men to cap their rifles and 
 protect themselves, and then we returned their fire, and 
 laid a great many of them away. I saw four fall on the 
 sidewalk at one time. They followed us up, and we 
 fought our way to the other depot, about one mile. 
 They kept at us till the cars started. Quite a number of 
 the rascals were shot after we entered the cars. We went 
 very slowly, for we expected the rails were torn up along 
 the road. 
 
 " I do not know how much damage we did. Report 
 says about forty were killed, but I think that is exag- 
 gerated. Still, it may be so. There is any quantity of 
 them wounded. Quite a number of horses were killed. 
 The mayor of the city met us almost half way. He said 
 that there would be no more trouble, and that we could 
 get through, and kept with me for about a hundred 
 yards; but the stones and balls whistled too near his 
 head, and he left, took a gun from one of my company, 
 fired, and brought his man down. That was, the last I 
 saw of him. We fought our way to the cars, and joined 
 Colonel Jones and the seven companies that left us at the 
 other end of the city ; and now we are here, every man of 
 
190 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 mimication between the North and the 
 capital was threatened with being cut 
 off. The riot at Baltimore proved no 
 mere sudden effervescence of popular 
 fury, such as falls as rapidly as it arises, 
 but the expression of a determined hos- 
 tility on the part of a great portion of 
 Maryland to the Federal Government. 
 The authorities of the city of Baltimore, 
 as well as of the State, confessed their 
 powerlessness to control the people in 
 their manifestations of opposition to the 
 rightful authority of the Union, and by 
 the weakness of their protests almost 
 justified, if they did not sanction them. 
 The Mayor of Baltimore gave this vague 
 answer to the tender appeal of the Gov- 
 ernor of Massachusetts : 
 
 "BALTIMORE, April 20, 1861. 
 "THE HON. JOHN A. ANDREW, GOVERNOR OF 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS : 
 
 " SIR : No one deplores the sad events 
 of yesterday in this city more deeply 
 than myself, but they were inevitable. 
 Our people viewed the passage of armed 
 troops to another State through the 
 streets as an invasion of our soil, and 
 could not be restrained. The authori- 
 ties exerted themselves to the best of 
 their ability, but with only partial suc- 
 cess. Governor Hicks was present, and 
 concurs in all my views as to the pro- 
 ceedings now necessary for our pro- 
 tection. When are these scenes to 
 
 the old Phalanx, safe and sound, with the exception of a 
 few marks made by brickbats, and all we want now is a 
 chance to go to Baltimore and clean out all the roughs 
 there. If Colonel Jones would march his command there, 
 we would do it. There are five or six of the regiment 
 missing, and alt of the band. I am in hopes that most, if 
 not all of them, are alive." 
 
 cease ? Are we to have a war of sec- 
 tions ? God forbid. The bodies of the 
 Massachusetts soldiers could not be sent 
 out to Boston, as you requested, all 
 communication between this city and 
 Philadelphia by railroad, and with Bos- 
 ton \)y steamers, having ceased ; but 
 they have been placed in cemented cof- 
 fins, and will be placed with proper 
 funeral ceremonies in the mausoleum 
 of Greenmount Cemetery, where they 
 shall be retained until further directions 
 are received from you. The wounded 
 are tenderly cared for. I appreciate 
 your offer, but Baltimore will claim it 
 as her right to pay all expenses in- 
 curred. Very respectfully, your obe- 
 dient servant, GEO. W. BROWN, 
 
 "Mayor of Baltimore." 
 The Governor of Massachusetts re- 
 joined with a few words as direct in 
 their significant expression of national 
 duty as the Mayor of Baltimore's letter 
 was vague and undecided : 
 
 "To HIS HONOR GEO. W. BROWN, MAYOR OF 
 BALTIMORE : 
 
 " DEAR SIR : I appreciate your kind 
 attention to our wounded and our dead, 
 and trust that at the earliest moment 
 the remains of our fallen will return to 
 us. I am overwhelmed with surprise 
 that a peaceful march of American cit- 
 izens over the highway to the defence 
 of our common capital should be deemed 
 aggressive to Baltimoreans. Through 
 New York the march was triumphal. 
 
 " JOHN A. ANDREW, 
 " Governor of Massachusetts." 
 
 The Governor of the State, who was 
 believed to be firmly attached to the 
 
AGITATION IN MARYLAND. 
 
 191 
 
 Union, seemed so overwhelmed by the 
 responsibilities of his position, or so 
 awed by the manifestations of disaffec- 
 tion in his State, as to be incapable of 
 action. In conjunction with the Mayor 
 of Baltimore, he sent a telegraphic dis- 
 patch to the President of the United 
 States, which clearly revealed his agita- 
 ted condition : 
 
 "MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALTIMORE, ) 
 April 19, 1SG1. ) 
 
 "To His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
 UNITED STATES : 
 
 " SIR : A collision between the citizens 
 and the Northern troops has taken place 
 in Baltimore, and the excitement is 
 fearful. Send no more troops here. 
 We will endeavor to prevent all blood- 
 shed. 
 
 "A public meeting of citizens has 
 been called, and the troops of the State 
 and the city have been ordered out to 
 preserve the peace. They will be 
 enough. Respectfully, 
 
 " THOS. H. HICKS, Governor. 
 " GEO. WM. BROWN, Mayor." 
 
 This was immediately followed by the 
 sending of three commissioners to ex- 
 plain, personally, to the President of 
 the United States, the trepidation of the 
 authorities caused by the riot at Balti- 
 more, and the continued threats of the 
 disaffected. These gentlemen were pro- 
 vided with the following manifesto : 
 
 " MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALTIMORE, ) 
 April 19, 1861. j 
 
 "To His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES : 
 
 " SIR : This will be presented to you 
 by the Hon. H. Lenox Bond, Geo. W. 
 
 Dobbin, and John C. Brune, Esqrs., who 
 will proceed to Washington by an ex- 
 press train, at my request, in order to 
 explain fully the fearful condition of our 
 affairs in this city. The people are ex- 
 asperated to the highest degree by the 
 passage of troops, and the citizens are 
 universally decided in the opinion that 
 no more troops should be ordered to 
 come. 
 
 ' ' The authorities of the city did their 
 best to-day to protect both strangers 
 and citizens, and to prevent a collision, 
 but in vain ; and but for their great 
 efforts a fearful slaughter would have 
 occurred. 
 
 "Under these circumstances, it is my 
 solemn duty to inform you that it is not 
 possible for more soldiers to pass through 
 Baltimore, unless they fight their way 
 at every step. 
 
 ' ' I therefore hope and trust, and most 
 earnestly request, that no more troops 
 be permitted or ordered by the Govern- 
 ment to pass through the city. If they 
 should attempt it, the responsibility for 
 the bloodshed will not rest upon me. 
 
 "With great respect, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 " GEO. WM. BROWN, Mayor. 
 
 "I have been in Baltimore since 
 Tuesday evening, and co-operated with 
 Mayor Brown in his untiring efforts to 
 allay and prevent the excitement and 
 suppress the fearful outbreak as indicated 
 above, and I fully concur in all that is 
 said by him in the above communication. 
 
 " Very respectfully your obedient 
 servant, THOS. H. HICKS, 
 
 " Governor of Maryland." 
 
192 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 President Lincoln's answer was tend- 
 erly considerate of the nervous agitation 
 of the Maryland officials, and indicated 
 as well by its complacent concessions 
 how at that early period the Govern- 
 ment was embarrassed by the manoeuvres 
 of its enemies. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, April 20, 1861. 
 
 " GOVERNOR HlCKS AND MAYOR BBOWN : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN : Your letter, by Messrs. 
 Bond, Dobbin, and Brune, is received. 
 I tender you both my sincere thanks for 
 your efforts to keep the peace in the 
 trying situation in which you are placed. 
 For the future, troops must be brought 
 here, but I make no point of bringing 
 them, through Baltimore. 
 
 " Without any military knowledge 
 myself, of course I must leave details to 
 General Scott. He hastily said this 
 morning, in the presence of these gen- 
 tlemen, ' March them around Baltimore, 
 and not through it.' 
 
 " I sincerely hope the General, on 
 fuller reflection, will consider this prac- 
 tical and proper, and -that you will not 
 object to it. 
 
 " By this a collision of the people of 
 Baltimore with the troops will be 
 avoided, unless they go out of their 
 way to seek it. I hope you will exert 
 your influence to prevent this. 
 
 " Now and ever I shall do all in my 
 power for peace, consistently with the 
 maintenance of the Government. 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 " ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 The Governor's agitation was not 
 calmed, however, by the good-natured 
 sympathy of President Lincoln and his 
 
 readiness of concession. On the con- 
 trary, each day the disaffected people of 
 Maryland became more threatening and 
 their Governor more alarmed. He now 
 begged that no more troops should be 
 sent not only through Baltimore, but 
 through Maryland, while he proposed, 
 with a strange disregard of the dignity 
 of the Government to which he claimed 
 to be loyal, that the English ambassador 
 at Washington should be invited to 
 mediate between the United States and 
 its rebellious citizens ! 
 
 " EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, ANNAPOLIS, ) 
 April 22, 1861. J 
 
 " To His EXCELLENCY A. LINCOLN, PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 SIR : I feel it my duty, most respect- 
 fully, to advise you that no more troops 
 be ordered or allowed to pass through 
 Maryland, and that the troops now off 
 Annapolis be sent elsewhere, and I most 
 respectfully urge that a truce be offered 
 by you, so that the effusion of blood 
 may be prevented. I respectfully sug- 
 gest that Lord Lyons be requested to 
 act as mediator between the contending 
 parties of our country. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, very re- 
 spectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Tnos. H. HICKS." 
 
 The President, on receiving this re- 
 markable missive, no longer trusted to 
 his own amiable and informal mode of 
 dealing with his adversaries, but sub- 
 mitted the Governor's dispatch to the 
 secretary of state, to be dealt with ac- 
 cording to that distinguished statesman's 
 more official and dignified manner : 
 
A DIGNIFIED REBUKE FROM SECRETARY SEWARD. 
 
 193 
 
 "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
 April 22, 1861. 
 
 " His EXCELLENCY THOS. H. HICKS, GOVERNOR 
 OF MARYLAND : 
 
 " SIR : I have had the honor to re- 
 ceive your communication of this morn- 
 ing, in which you inform me that you 
 have felt it to be your duty to advise 
 the President of the United States to 
 order elsewhere the troops then off An- 
 napolis, and also that no more may be 
 sent through Maryland ; and that you 
 have further suggested that Lord Lyons 
 be requested to act as mediator between 
 the contending parties in our country, 
 to prevent the effusion of blood. 
 
 " The President directs me to ac- 
 knowledge the receipt of that communi- 
 cation, and to assure you that he has 
 weighed the counsels which it contains 
 with the respect which he habitually 
 cherishes for the Chief Magistrates of 
 the several States, and especially for 
 yourself. He regrets, as deeply as any 
 magistrate or citizen of the country can, 
 that demonstrations against the safety 
 of the United States, with very exten- 
 sive preparations for the effusion of 
 blood, have made it his dnty to call out 
 the force to which you allude. 
 
 " The force now sought to be brought 
 through Maryland is intended for noth- 
 ing but the defence of this capital. The 
 President has necessarily confided the 
 choice of the national highway, which 
 that force shall take in coming to this 
 city, to the Lieutenant-General com- 
 manding the army of the United States, 
 who, like his only predecessor, is not 
 less distinguished for his humanity than 
 
 25 
 
 for his loyalty, patriotism, and distin- 
 guished public service. 
 
 "The President instructs me to add, 
 that the national highway thus selected 
 by the Lieutenant-General has been 
 chosen by him, upon consultation with 
 prominent magistrates and citizens of 
 Maryland, as the one which, while a 
 route is absolutely necessary, is furthest 
 removed from the populous cities of the 
 State, and with the expectation that it 
 would, therefore, be the least objection- 
 able one. 
 
 " The President cannot but remember 
 that there has been a time in the his- 
 tory of our country when a General of 
 the American Union, with forces de- 
 signed for the defence of its capital, was 
 not unwelcome anywhere in the State 
 of Maryland, and certainly not at An- 
 napolis, then, as now, the capital of 
 that patriotic State, and then, also, one 
 of the capitals of the Union. 
 
 " If eighty years could have oblit- 
 erated all the other noble sentiments of 
 that age in Maryland, the President 
 would be hopeful, nevertheless, that 
 there is one that would forever remain 
 there and everywhere. That sentiment 
 is, that no domestic contention whatever 
 that may arise among the parties of this 
 Republic ought in any case to be re- 
 ferred to any foreign arbitrament, least 
 of all to the arbitrament of a European 
 monarchy. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, with distin- 
 guished consideration, your Excellency's 
 most obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM H. SEWARD." 
 
194 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 Indignation against Maryland in the North. To Washington through Baltimore. An energetic Citizen of New York 
 addresses the President. An Editorial Re-echo. Increased Martial Ardor. The Seventh Regiment. Its composi- 
 tion. Anticipatory Heroes. Their Departure from New York. Enthusiasm of the People. March of the Sev- 
 enth. Its Glorification. An Account by an Historiographer from the Ranks. The Eighth Massachusetts. 
 Obstructions to their March to the Capital. General Butler in command. His Promptitude and Energy. Seizure 
 of the Ferry-boat Maryland. Arrival at Annapolis. Rescue of "Old Ironsides." The difficulty of the Achieve- 
 ment. Honor to Butler. His Biography. Birth and Descent. Education. Professional Career. Prominence as 
 a Lawyer. His Legal Characteristics. First Appearance in Public Life. A Delegate to the Democratic Convention 
 at Charleston. A Breckenridge Elector. A Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. Suspiciously regarded. 
 A proof of Loyalty. Welcomed as a Defender of the Union. Appointed to Command by his Political Opponent. 
 His Energy and Success. National Gratitude. Personal Description and Character of Butler. His Coolness in 
 Danger illustrated. Other proofs hi the course of this History. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE attack of the mob of Baltimore 
 upon the Massachusetts troops, and the 
 apparent determination of the se- 
 cessionists of Maryland, by ob- 
 structing the railroads, tearing up the 
 tracks, and burning the bridges, to cut 
 off all communication through their 
 State between Washington and the 
 North, greatly angered the Northern 
 people. The universal cry was now, 
 " To Washington through Baltimore !" 
 and the determination was expressed 
 that the way must be cleared at all haz- 
 ards. An energetic citizen* of New 
 York addressed the President in an 
 emphatic letter, in which he said : "It 
 is demanded of Government that they 
 at once take measures to open and 
 establish those lines of communication, 
 and that they protect and preserve 
 them from any further interruption. 
 Unless this is done, the people will be 
 compelled to take it into their own 
 hands, let the consequences be what it 
 
 Mr. George Law. 
 
 may and let them fall where they will." 
 The press echoed these resolute senti- 
 ments of a private citizen with emphatic 
 sympathy, and declared : "If any man 
 of position as a military leader or as a 
 strong, resolute commander, would offer 
 to lead a force through Baltimore, with 
 or without orders, he could have fifty 
 thousand followers as soon as they could 
 rush to his standard." To this, an ed- 
 itor added, alluding to the energetic 
 private citizen already referred to, that 
 he " could raise in three days volunteers 
 enough to clear the track, even if it 
 should leave Baltimore an ash-heap." 
 The doom of that city was foreshadowed 
 as a second Sodom which must be de- 
 stroyed, "if it is necessary first to de- 
 stroy the Government at Washington 
 
 that now defends it." 
 
 . . 
 
 In the mean time, the martial ardor 
 of the country was daily intensifying. 
 I The choice military corps of the large 
 cities hurried forward to the endan- 
 gered capital. The Seventh Militia Reg- 
 
THE NEW YORK SEVENTH. 
 
 195 
 
 iment of the city was the first to move 
 of the large force rapidly mustering 
 everywhere in New York. This corps, 
 composed of young men belonging more 
 or less to the wealthier classes, and long 
 admired for the precision of their drill 
 and the elegance of their tenue, was the 
 pet regiment of the city. When, there- 
 fore, it was announced that these youth- 
 ful soldiers, who had been hitherto the 
 mere ornaments of a gala parade, had 
 determined to come forward to assume 
 the serious work of fighting for their 
 country, the population of the city ap- 
 plauded their spirited resolution, and, 
 confident of their good conduct, antici- 
 pated its rewards by bestowing upon 
 them the honors of an accomplished 
 April heroism. On the day of their de- 
 19 parture for Washington the city 
 was unusually excited. "Never be- 
 fore," said a daily paper, "were the 
 people moved to such a pitch of enthu- 
 siastic patriotism. There have been 
 gala days, and funeral pageants, and 
 military shows, and complimentary re- 
 ceptions, and triumphal processions that 
 filled the streets with crowds of curi- 
 ous, wondering, sympathetic people, but 
 never has there been developed such a 
 universal, heartfelt, deep-rooted, genu- 
 ine enthusiasm. The American colors 
 were prominent everywhere on house- 
 tops, on flagstaff's, on horses attached to 
 all kinds of vehicles, on ropes stretched 
 across the streets, on the masts of ship- 
 ping in the harbor, on breastpins, on the 
 lappets of coats, on the fronts of men's 
 hats ; on all sides the glorious old red, 
 white, and blue waved in the joyous 
 
 breeze and every eye was dazzled with 
 bright colors. The awful solemnity of 
 civil war came pressing home to our 
 people who had sons, and brothers, and 
 fathers just departing, perhaps never to 
 return. The news of the difficulties in 
 Baltimore, the struggle of the troops 
 with the rabble, the reported death of 
 many, the rumors of an attack on the 
 capital, the tearing up of railroad 
 tracks, and all the attendant horrors of 
 internecine warfare, struck terror into 
 many a stout heart, while the tears of 
 kind-hearted women flowed copiously as 
 a rain-storm." 
 
 " It was many Fourths- of- July rolled 
 into one," was the comprehensive cli- 
 max arrived at by a writer* who had in 
 vain attempted an adequate description 
 of the scene. 
 
 The story of the journey of the 
 Seventh to Philadelphia ; its prudent 
 dodging of the rioters at Baltimore, by 
 passing down the Delaware and up the 
 Chesapeake ; its arrival and encamp- 
 ment at Annapolis, and its famous march 
 to Washington were told again and again 
 in daily newspapers, in pictorial week- 
 lies, and in grave monthlies. 
 
 The regiment did not want for his- 
 toriographers, as in its gallant ranks 
 there were those who were not unknown 
 to fame for their skill in the literary 
 art. Onef who recorded the eventful 
 progress of the Seventh to Washington, 
 gave an animating account, from which 
 the following extracts are made : 
 
 " Swift through New Jersey. * * * 
 
 o New York Times, April 20. 
 
 f Captain Fitz- James O'Brien, in the New York Times. 
 
196 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 All along the track shouting crowds, 
 hoarse and valorous, sent to us, as we 
 passed, their hopes and wishes. When 
 we stopped at the different stations, 
 rough hands came in through the win- 
 dows, apparently unconnected with any 
 one in particular until you shook them, 
 and then the subtle magnetic thrill told 
 that there were bold hearts beating at 
 the end. This continued until night 
 closed, and, indeed, until after midnight. 
 
 " Within the cars the sight was 
 strange. A thousand young men, the 
 flower of the North, in whose welfare 
 a million of friends and relatives were 
 interested, were rushing along to con- 
 jectured hostilities with the same smil- 
 ing faces that they would wear going to 
 a ' German' party in Fifth Avenue. It 
 was more like a festivity than a march. 
 Those fine old songs, the chorusses of 
 which were familiar to all, were sung 
 with sweet voice. * * * 
 
 " Our arrival at Philadelphia took 
 place at four o'clock. We slept in the 
 cars, awaiting orders from our Colonel, 
 but, at daylight, hunger and it may be 
 thirst becoming imperious, we sallied 
 out and roamed about that cheerless 
 neighborhood that surrounds the depot. 
 * * * Finding that we were likely 
 to remain for some time in the city al- 
 though under the impression that we 
 were to go straight through to Balti- 
 more we wandered away from the 
 desert of the depot and descended on 
 civilized quarters. The superintendent 
 of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum was a 
 man for the emergency. He provided 
 a handsome breakfast for all such mem- 
 
 bers of the Seventh as chose to partake 
 of it, and we commanded beefsteak on 
 our fingers, and ordered tea by sign- 
 manual. Great numbers of our regi- 
 ment, being luxurious dogs, went down 
 to the Continental and Girard hotels, 
 where they campaigned on marble floors, 
 and bivouacked on velvet couches ; they 
 are such delicate fellows, the Seventh 
 Regiment ! * * 
 
 " We, of course, were entirely ig- 
 norant of our route, or how we were 
 going. The general feeling of the regi- 
 ment was in favor of pushing our way 
 coute qui coute straight through Balti- 
 more. Rumors came along that the 
 city was in arms. The Massachusetts 
 troops had to fight their way through, 
 killing eighteen, and losing two men. 
 This seemed only to stimulate our boys, 
 and the universal word was Baltimore ! 
 But, as it turned out afterward, we were 
 under a wise direction, and the policy 
 of our Colonel, to whom we perhaps are 
 altogether indebted for bringing us safe 
 here, was, I presume, to avoid all un- 
 necessary collision, and bring his regi- 
 ment intact into Washington. The rails 
 were reported to have been torn up for 
 forty miles about Baltimore, and as we 
 were summoned for the defence of the 
 capital, it follows, according to reason, 
 that if we could get there without loss 
 we would better fulfil our duty. As it 
 happened afterward, we had to run 
 through more peril than Baltimore could 
 have offered. 
 
 " There seemed but little enthusiasm 
 in Philadelphia. * * I understand 
 that the people were out in large num- 
 
DODGING BALTIMORE. 
 
 197 
 
 bers to see us enter, but our delay dis- 
 appointed them, and they went home. 
 > # ifl-Q came an d went without a re- 
 ception or demonstration. 
 
 " There was one peculiar difference 
 that I noticed existing between the 
 Massachusetts regiments that we met in 
 Philadelphia and our men. The Massa- 
 chusetts men to whom all honor be 
 given for the splendid manner in which 
 they afterward acted in a most trying 
 situation presented a singular moral 
 contrast to the members of the Seventh. 
 They were earnest, grim, determined. 
 Badly equipped, haggard, unshorn, they 
 yet had a manhood in their look that 
 hardships could not kill. They were 
 evidently thinking all the time of the 
 contest into which they were about to 
 enter. Their grey, eager eyes seemed 
 to be looking for the heights of Vir- 
 ginia. With us it was somewhat differ- 
 ent. Our men were gay and careless, 
 confident of being at any moment capa- 
 ble of performing, and more than per- 
 forming, their duty. They looked battle 
 in the face with a smile, and were ready 
 to hob-nob with an enemy and kill him 
 afterward. The one was courage in the 
 rough ; the other was courage bur- 
 nished. The steel was the same in 
 both, but the last was a little more pol- 
 ished. 
 
 " On April 20, at 4.20 P.M., we left 
 the Philadelphia dock, on board the 
 steamer Boston. The regiment was in 
 entire ignorance of its destination. Some 
 said we were going back to New York, 
 at which suggestion there was a howl 
 of indignation. Others presumed that 
 
 we were going to steam up the Poto- 
 mac a course which was not much ap- 
 proved of, inasmuch that we were cooped 
 up in a kind of river steamer that a shot 
 from the fort at Alexandria might sink 
 at any moment. * * * 
 
 " The first evening, April 20, on board 
 the Boston, passed delightfully. We 
 were all in first-rate spirits, and the 
 calm, sweet evenings that stole on us as 
 we approached the South, diffused a 
 soft and gentle influence over us. The 
 scene on board the ship was exceedingly 
 picturesque. Fellows fumbling in hav- 
 ersacks for rations, or extracting sand- 
 wiches from reluctant canteens ; guards 
 pacing up and down with drawn bay- 
 onets ; knapsacks piled in corners ; 
 bristling heaps of muskets, with sharp, 
 shining teeth, crowded into every avail- 
 able nook ; picturesque groups of men 
 lolling on deck, pipe or cigar in mouth, 
 indulged in the doke far niente, as if 
 they were on the blue shores of Capri 
 rather than on their way to battle ; un- 
 buttoned jackets, crossed legs, heads 
 leaning on knapsacks, blue uniforms 
 everywhere, with here and there a glint 
 of officers' red enlivening the foreground 
 all formed a scene that such painters 
 as the English Warren would have rev- 
 elled in. 
 
 " I regret to say that all was not rose- 
 colored. The steamer that the Colonel 
 chartered had to get ready at three or 
 four hours' notice, he having changed 
 his plans, in consequence of the tearing 
 up of the rails around Baltimore. The 
 result was that she was imperfectly pro- 
 visioned. As the appetites of the men 
 
198 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 began to develop, the resources of the 
 vessel began to appear. In the first 
 place, she was far too small to accom- 
 modate a thousand men, and we were 
 obliged to sleep in all sorts of impossible 
 attitudes. There is an ingenious device 
 known to carpenters as ' dove-tailing,' 
 and we were so thick that we had posi- 
 tively to dove-tail, only that there was 
 very little of the dove about it j for 
 when perambulating soldiers stepped on 
 the faces and stomachs of the sleepers, 
 as they lay on deck, the greeting that 
 they received had but little flavor of the 
 olive-branch. 
 
 " Notwithstanding that we found very 
 soon that the commissariat was in a bad 
 way, the men were as jolly as sandboys. 
 I never saw a more good-humored set 
 of men in my life. Fellows who would 
 at Delmonico's have sent back a turban 
 de volatile awe truffes because the truffles 
 were tough, here cheerfully took their 
 places in file between decks, tin plates 
 and tin cups in hand, in order to get an 
 insufficient piece of beef and a vision of 
 coffee. But it was all merrily done. 
 The scant fare was seasoned with hilar- 
 ity ; and here I say to those people in 
 New York who have sneered at the 
 Seventh Regiment as being dandies, and 
 guilty of the unpardonable crimes of 
 cleanliness and kid gloves, that they 
 would cease to scoff and remain to bless 
 had they beheld the square, honest, 
 genial way in which these military 
 Brummells roughed it. Farther on you 
 will see what they did in the way of 
 endurance and activity. 
 
 " April 21st was Sunday. A glorious, 
 
 cloudless day. We had steamed all 
 night, and about ten o'clock were in the 
 vicinity of Chesapeake Bay. At eleven 
 o'clock A. M. we had service read by our 
 chaplain, and at one p. M. we were seven 
 miles from the coast. The day was 
 calm and delicious. In spite of our 
 troubles with regard to food troubles, 
 be it understood, entirely unavoidable 
 we drank in with delight the serenity 
 of the scene. A hazy tent of blue hung 
 over our heads. On one side the dim 
 thread of shore hemmed in the sea. 
 Flights of loons and ducks skimmed 
 along the ocean, rising lazily, and spat- 
 tering the waves with their wings as 
 they flew against the wind, until they 
 rose into air, and, wheeling, swept into 
 calmer feeding grounds. Now and then 
 the calm of the hour was broken with 
 the heavy tramp of men and the me- 
 tallic voice of the corporal of the guard 
 relieving his comrades. At five o'clock 
 p. M. we passed a light-ship and hailed 
 her, our object being to discover whe- 
 ther any United States vessels were in 
 the neighborhood waiting to convoy us 
 up the Potomac River. We had heard 
 that the forts at Alexandria were ready 
 to open upon us if we attempted to pass 
 up, and our steamer was of such a build 
 that, had a shell or shot struck it, we 
 would have been burned or drowned. 
 It therefore behooved us to be cautious. 
 The answers we got from the light-ship 
 and other vessels that we hailed in this 
 spot were unsatisfactory, and although 
 the feelings of the men were unanimous 
 in wishing to force the Potomac, wiser 
 counsels, as it proved, were behind us, 
 
ARRIVAL AT ANNAPOLIS. 
 
 and we kept on. * * * All this 
 time we were entirely ignorant of where 
 we were going. The officers kept all 
 secret, and our conjectures drifted like a 
 drifting boat. On the morning of the 
 22d we were in sight of Annapolis, off 
 which the Constitution was lying, and 
 there found the Eighth Regiment of 
 Massachusetts volunteers, on board the 
 Marj-land. They were aground, owing, 
 it is supposed, to the treachery of the 
 captain, whom they put in irons, and 
 wanted to hang. I regret to say that 
 they did not do it. During the greater 
 portion of that forenoon we were oc- 
 cupied in trying to get the Maryland 
 off the sand-bar on which she was 
 grounded. From our decks we could 
 see the men in file trying to rock her, 
 so as to facilitate our tugging. These 
 men were without water and without 
 food, were well conducted and uncom- 
 plaining, and behaved, in all respects, 
 like heroes. They were under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Butler. * * * 
 
 "On the afternoon of the 22d we 
 landed at the Annapolis dock, after 
 having spent hours in trying to relieve 
 the Maryland. For the first time in his 
 life your correspondent was put to work 
 to roll flour barrels. He was intrusted 
 with the honorable and onerous duty of 
 transporting stores from the steamer to 
 the dock. Later still he descended to 
 the position of mess servant, when, in 
 company with gentlemen well-known in 
 Broadway for immaculate kids, he had 
 the honor of attending on his company 
 with buckets of cooked meat and crack- 
 ers, the only difference between him 
 
 and Co. and the ordinary waiter being, 
 that the former were civil. 
 
 "After this I had the pleasing duty 
 of performing three hours of guard duty 
 on the dock with a view to protect the 
 baggage and stores. It was monotonous 
 being my first guard but not un- 
 pleasant. The moon rose calm and 
 white. A long dock next to the one on 
 which I was stationed stretched away 
 into the bay, resting on its numerous 
 piles, until it looked in the clear moon- 
 light like a centipede. All was still and 
 calm, until at certain periods the guard 
 challenged persons attempting to pass. 
 There was a holy influence in the hour, 
 and somehow the hot fever of anxiety 
 that had been over us for days, seemed 
 to pass away under the touch of the 
 magnetic fingers of the night. 
 
 " We were quartered in the buildings 
 belonging to the Naval School at An- 
 napolis. I had a bunking-place in what 
 is there called a fort, which is a rickety 
 structure that a lucifer match would set 
 on fire, but furnished with imposing 
 guns. I suppose it was merely built to 
 practice the cadets, because as a defence 
 it is worthless. The same evening, boats 
 were sent off from the yard, and toward 
 nightfall the Massachusetts men landed, 
 fagged, hungry, thirsty, but indomitable. 
 At an early hour there was a universal 
 snore through the Naval School of An- 
 napolis. 
 
 "The two days that we remained at 
 Annapolis were welcome. We had been 
 without a fair night's sleep since we left 
 New York, and even the hard quarters 
 we had there were luxury compared to 
 
200 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the dirty decks of the Boston. Besides, 
 there were natural attractions. The 
 grounds are very prettily laid out, and 
 in the course of my experience I never 
 saw a handsomer or better bred set of 
 young men than the cadets ; and they 
 have proved loyal, only twenty having 
 left the school owing to political con- 
 viction. The remainder are sound 
 Union fellows, eager to prove their de- 
 votion to the flag. After spending a 
 delightful time in the Navy School, rest- 
 ing and amusing ourselves, our repose 
 was disturbed, at 9 P. M., April 23d, by 
 rockets being thrown up in the bay. 
 The men were scattered all over the 
 grounds j some in bed, others walking 
 or smoking, all more or less undressed. 
 The rockets being of a suspicious char- 
 acter, it was conjectured that a Southern 
 fleet was outside, and our drummer beat 
 the roll-call to arms. From the stroke 
 of the drum until the time that every 
 man, fully equipped and in fighting- 
 order, was in the ranks, was exactly, by 
 watch, seven minutes. It is needless to 
 say anything about such celerity it 
 speaks for itself. The alarm, however, 
 proved to be false, the vessels in the 
 offing proving to be laden with the 
 Seventy-first and other New York regi- 
 ments ; so that, after an unpremeditated 
 trial of our readiness for action, we 
 were permitted to retire to our virtuous 
 couches, which means, permit me to say, 
 a blanket on the floor, with a military 
 overcoat over you, and a nasal concert 
 all around you that, in noise and num- 
 ber, outvies Musard's celebrated concerts 
 monstres. 
 
 "On the morning of the 24th of 
 April we started on what afterward 
 proved to be one of the hardest marches 
 on record. The secessionists of Annap- 
 olis and the surrounding district had 
 threatened to cut us off in our march, 
 and even went so far as to say that they 
 would attack our quarters. This, of 
 course, was the drunken Southern 
 ebullition. A civilian told me that he 
 met in the streets of Annapolis two 
 cavalry soldiers who came to cut our 
 throats without delay, but as each brave 
 warrior was endeavoring to hold the 
 other up, my friend did not apprehend 
 much danger. 
 
 "A curious revulsion of feeling took 
 place at Annapolis, and indeed all 
 through Maryland, after our arrival. 
 
 " The admirable good conduct which 
 characterizes the regiment, the open 
 liberality which it displays in all pecuni- 
 ary transactions, and the courteous de-- 
 meanor which it exhibits to all classes, 
 took the narrow-minded population of 
 this excessively wretched town by sur- 
 prise. They were prepared for pillage. 
 They thought we were going to sack the 
 place. They found, instead, that we 
 were prepared and willing to pay liberal 
 prices for everything, and that even 
 patriotic presentations were steadily re- 
 fused. While we were in the Navy 
 School, of course all sorts of rumors as 
 to our operations were floating about. 
 It surprised me that no one suggested 
 that we were to go off in a balloon ; 
 however, all surmises were put to an 
 end by our receiving orders, the evening 
 of the 23d, to assemble in marching 
 
MARCH TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 201 
 
 order next morning. The dawn saw us 
 up. Knapsacks, with our blankets and 
 overcoats strapped on them, were piled 
 on the green. A brief and insufficient 
 breakfast was taken, our canteens filled 
 with vinegar and water, cartridges dis- 
 tributed to each man, and after muster- 
 ing and loading, we started on our first 
 march through a hostile country. 
 
 " General Scott has stated, as I have 
 been informed, that the march that we 
 performed from Annapolis to the Junc- 
 tion is one of the most remarkable on 
 record. I know that I felt it the most 
 fatiguing, and some of our officers have 
 told me that it was the most perilous. 
 We marched the first eight miles under 
 a burning sun, in heavy marching order, 
 in less than three hours ; and it is well- 
 known that, placing all elementary con- 
 siderations out of the way, marching on 
 a railroad track is the most harassing. 
 We started at about eight o'clock A. M., 
 and for the first time saw the town of 
 Annapolis, which, without any disre- 
 spect to that place, I may say, looked 
 very much as if some celestial school- 
 boy, with a box of toys under his arm, 
 had dropped a few houses and men as 
 he was going home from school, and that 
 the accidental settlement was called An- 
 napolis. Through the town we marched, 
 the people unsympathizing, but afraid. 
 They saw the Seventh for the first time, 
 and for the first time they realized the 
 men that they had threatened. 
 
 " The tracks had been torn up be- 
 tween Annapolis and the Junction, and 
 here it was that the wonderful qualities 
 of the Massachusetts Eighth Regiment 
 
 25 
 
 came out. The locomotives had been 
 taken to pieces by the inhabitants, in 
 order to prevent our travel. In steps a 
 Massachusetts volunteer, looks at the 
 piece-meal engine, takes up a flange, and 
 says coolly, ' I made this engine, and 1 
 can put it together again.' Engineers 
 were wanted when the engine was ready. 
 Nineteen stepped out of the ranks. The 
 rails were torn up. Practical railroad 
 makers out of the regiment laid them 
 again, and all this, mind you, without 
 care or food. These brave boys, I say, 
 were starving while they were doing 
 this good work. What their Colonel 
 was doing I can't say. As we marched 
 along the track that they had laid, they 
 greeted us with ranks of smiling but 
 hungry faces. One boy told me, with a 
 laugh on his young lips, that he had not 
 eaten anything for thirty hours. There 
 was not, thank God, a haversack in our 
 regiment that was not emptied into the 
 hands of these ill-treated heroes, nor a 
 flask that was not at their disposal. 
 
 "Our march lay through an arid, 
 sandy, tobacco-growing country. The 
 sun poured on our heads like hot lava. 
 The Sixth and Second companies were 
 sent on for skirmishing duty, under the 
 command of Captains Clarke and Nevers, 
 the latter commanding as senior officer. 
 A car, on which was placed a howitzer, 
 loaded with grape and canister, headed 
 the column, manned by the engineer and 
 artillery corps, commanded by Lieu- 
 tenant Bunting. This was the rallying 
 point of the skirmishing party, on which, 
 in case of difficulty, they could fall back. 
 In the centre of the column came the 
 
202 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 cars laden with medical stores, and bear- 
 ing our sick and wounded, while the 
 extreme rear was brought up with a 
 second howitzer, loaded also with grape 
 and canister. The engineer corps, of 
 course, had to do the forwarding work. 
 New York dandies, sir ! but they built 
 bridges, laid rails, and headed the regi- 
 ment through that terrible march. 
 After marching about eight miles, dur- 
 ing which time several men caved in 
 from exhaustion, and one young gentle- 
 man was sun-struck and sent back to 
 New York, we halted, and instantly, 
 with the divine instinct which character- 
 izes the hungry soldier, proceeded to 
 forage. The worst of it was, there was 
 no foraging to be done. The only house 
 within reach was inhabited by a lethargic 
 person, who, like most Southern men, 
 had no idea of gaining money by labor. 
 We offered him extravagant prices to 
 get us fresh water, and it was with the 
 utmost reluctance we could get him to 
 obtain us a few pailfuls. Over the 
 mantle-piece of his miserable shanty I 
 saw a curious coincidence the portrait 
 of Colonel Duryea, of our regiment. 
 
 ' ' After a brief rest of about an hour, 
 we again commenced our march ; a 
 march which lasted until the next morn- 
 ing a march than which, in history, 
 nothing but those marches in which de- 
 feated troops have fled from the enemy, 
 can equal. Our Colonel, it seems, de- 
 termined to march by railroad, in pref- 
 erence to the common road, inasmuch 
 as he had obtained such secret informa- 
 tion as led him to suppose that we were 
 waited for on the latter route. Events 
 
 justified his judgment. There were 
 cavalry troops posted in denies to cut 
 us off. They could not have done it, of 
 course, but they could have harassed us 
 severely. As we went along the rail- 
 road we threw out skirmishing parties 
 from the Second and Sixth companies, 
 to keep the road clear. I know not if I 
 can describe that night's march. I have 
 dim recollections of deep cuts through 
 which we passed, gloomy and treacher- 
 ous-looking, with the moon shining full 
 on our muskets, while the banks were 
 wrapped in shade, and each moment 
 expecting to see the flash and hear the 
 crack of the rifle of the Southern guer- 
 rilla. The tree frogs and lizards made 
 a mournful music as we passed. The 
 soil on which we traveled was soft and 
 heavy. The sleepers lying at intervals 
 across the track made the march terribly 
 fatiguing. On all sides dark, lonely 
 pine woods stretched away, and high 
 over the hooting of owls or the plain- 
 tive petition of the whip-poor-will rose 
 the bass commands of Halt ! Forward ! 
 March ! and when we came to any 
 ticklish spot, the word would run from 
 the head of the column along the line, 
 ' Holes,' ' Bridge, pass it along/ etc. 
 
 " As the night wore on, the monotony 
 of the march became oppressive. Owing 
 to our having to explore every inch of 
 the way, we did not make more than a 
 mile, or a mile and a half an hour. We 
 ran out of stimulants, and almost out of 
 water. Most of us had not slept for 
 four nights, and as the night advanced, 
 our march was almost a stagger. This 
 was not so much fatigue as want of ex- 
 
MARCH OF THE EIGHTH MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 203 
 
 citement. Our fellows were spoiling for 
 a fight, and when a dropping shot was 
 heard in the distance, it was wonderful 
 to see how the languid legs straightened 
 and the column braced itself for action. 
 If we had had even the smallest kind of 
 a skirmish, the men would have been 
 able to walk to Washington. As it was, 
 we went sleepily on. I myself fell 
 asleep walking in the ranks. Numbers, 
 I find, followed my example ; but never 
 before was there shown such indomitable 
 pluck and perseverance as the Seventh 
 showed in that march of twenty miles. 
 The country that we passed through 
 seemed to have been entirely deserted. 
 The inhabitants, who were going to kill 
 us when they thought we daren't come 
 through, now vamosed their respective 
 ranches, and we saw them not. Houses 
 were empty. The population retired 
 into the interior, burying their money 
 and carrying their families along with 
 them. They, it seems, were under the 
 impression that we came to ravage and 
 pillage, and they fled as the Gauls must 
 have fled when Attila and his Huns 
 came down on them from the North. 
 As we did at Annapolis, we did in 
 Maryland State. We left an impression 
 that can not be forgotten. Everything 
 was paid for. No discourtesy was of- 
 fered to any inhabitant, and the sobriety 
 of the regiment should be an example 
 to others. * * * 
 
 " The secret of this forced march, as 
 well as our unexpected descent on An- 
 napolis, was the result of Col. Lefferts' 
 judgment, which has since been sus- 
 tained by events. Finding that the line 
 
 along the Potomac was closed, and the 
 route to Washington by Baltimore 
 equally impracticable, he came to the 
 conclusion that Annapolis, commanding, 
 as it did, the route to the capital, must 
 of necessity be made the basis of mili- 
 tary operations. It. was important to 
 the Government to have a free channel 
 through which to transport troops, and 
 this post presented the readiest means. 
 The fact that since then all the Northern 
 troops have passed through the line that 
 we thus opened, is a sufficient comment 
 on the admirable judgment that decided 
 on -the movement. It secured the in- 
 tegrity of the regiment, and saved lives 
 the loss of which would have plunged 
 New York into mourning. Too much 
 importance can not be attached to this 
 strategy." 
 
 The Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, 
 which had passed through New York on 
 the day of the departure of the April 
 S-eventh Regiment, had, after reach- 19 
 ing Philadelphia, pushed forward by the 
 railway as far as the Susquehanna 
 River. Here it was found impossible to 
 continue the route through Maryland, in 
 consequence of the destruction of the 
 bridges by the secessionists. Brigadier- 
 General Butler, of Massachusetts, had 
 accompanied the Eighth on his way to 
 Washington to assume the general com- 
 mand of the militia force of his State, 
 sent to aid in the defence of the capital. 
 He accordingly assumed the command 
 and directed the movements of the 
 Massachusetts soldiers when thus ob- 
 structed on their march. It was by his 
 energy and promptitude of action that 
 
204 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 a way was finally cleared to the capital. 
 General Butler seized the steam ferry- 
 boat the Maryland, on the Susquehanna, 
 and embarking his troops sailed down 
 the river into Chesapeake Bay and 
 took possession of the city of Annapolis. 
 Here his first act was to save the ship 
 Constitution used by the cadets of the 
 Naval School as an exercise ship, and 
 familiarly known as " Old Ironsides," one 
 of the most revered of our national 
 relics from the clutch of some insur- 
 gents who were about pouncing upon 
 her. The General learning of the help- 
 less condition, from want of a crew, of the 
 old ship, mustered his men and de- 
 clared "if there are any men in the 
 ranks who understand how to manage a 
 ship, let them step forward." Fifty-three 
 presented themselves, and they were 
 immediately put on board. The Mary- 
 land then took her in tow, and she was 
 safely borne out of harm's way. The 
 General's announcement of the event 
 April m hi g order of the day was char- 
 22. acteristic : 
 
 " The purpose which could only be 
 hinted at in the orders of yesterday has 
 been accomplished. The frigate Con- 
 stitution has lain for a long time at this 
 port, substantially at the mercy of the 
 armed mob which sometimes paralyzes 
 the otherwise loyal State of Maryland. 
 Deeds of daring, successful contests, and 
 glorious victories had rendered Old 
 Ironsides so conspicuous in the naval 
 history of the country, that she was 
 fitly chosen as the school in which to 
 train the future officers of the navy to 
 like heroic acts. It was given to Massa- 
 
 chusetts and Essex counties first to man 
 her ; it was reserved to Massachusetts to 
 have the honor to retain her for the ser- 
 vice of the Union and the laws. This 
 is a sufficient triumph of right a suffi- 
 cient triumph for us. By this the blood 
 of our friends, shed by the Baltimore 
 mob, is so far avenged. The Eighth 
 Regiment may hereafter cheer lustily 
 upon all proper occasions, but never 
 without orders. The old Constitution, 
 by their efforts, aided untiringly by the 
 United States officers having her in 
 charge, is now ' possessed, occupied, and 
 enjoyed' by the Government of the 
 United States, and is safe from all her 
 enemies." 
 
 The revered Constitution had been 
 thus rescued with much difficulty from 
 imminent danger. For four days and 
 nights, previous to the arrival of Gen- 
 eral Butler, her crew had been at 
 quarters with the guns shotted. The 
 insurgents of Maryland were plotting 
 her destruction or capture. It may 
 easily be imagined that it was a work 
 of no little difficulty to move her, 
 threatened as she was by the people on 
 shore. She had four anchors and seven 
 chains out when the Maryland was 
 ordered by General Butler alongside. 
 One anchor alone was hove up, the rest 
 were slipped, and finally by lighting and 
 careening, and by dint of hard labor, 
 she was dragged over the bar. The 
 crew of the Maryland were only kept to 
 their work and duty by placing a guard 
 over them armed with revolvers. After 
 dragging her over the bar, the vessel 
 grounded on the Outer Spit. About ten 
 
RESCUE OF THE COXSTTTUTIOIV. 
 
 205 
 
 P.M., information having been brought 
 off that the channel outside the ship 
 would be obstructed, kedges were laid 
 out, and it was endeavored to warp the 
 ship over the Spit, part of the men 
 being at the guns. The Maryland hav- 
 ing been run aground by her officers 
 during the warping, a squall came up 
 and drove the ship ashore again. At 
 daylight a steam-tug from Havre de 
 Grace came in sight, and was taken to 
 tow the ship out. She was then taken 
 in tow by the R. R. Cuyler, and brought 
 to New York. Subsequently she was 
 sent to Newport, Rhode Island, whither 
 the Naval School formerly at Annapolis 
 was removed. 
 
 The General's next operation was to 
 re-establish the railroad between An- 
 napolis and Washington. His own ranks 
 supplied skilled mechanics to reconstruct 
 the broken engines, and the hardy men 
 of Massachusetts, aided by the tender 
 hands of the gentlemen of New York, 
 performed the rude labor of laying the 
 iron rails. 
 
 These timely services of General 
 Butler won for him the gratitude of the 
 whole Northern people who fondly 
 cherished his rising military repute, and 
 hailed him in advance as one of their 
 future heroes. 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler was born in Deer- 
 field, Rockingham County, New Hamp- 
 shire, in 1818. He claims relationship 
 with the Cilleys, a family of Revolution- 
 ary renown, from which sprang the 
 Honorable Jonathan Cilley, who was 
 killed in a duel with his associate in 
 Congress, Graves, of Kentucky. Young 
 
 Butler was educated at a Baptist college 
 in Waterville, Maine. He subsequently 
 studied law, and removing to Massachu- 
 setts commenced its practice at Lowell. 
 Here he soon acquired prominence as a 
 successful advocate in jury cases. He 
 was remarkable for his devotion to the 
 interests of his clients, and the oratori- 
 cal vehemence with which he defended 
 their cause. With an impulsive nature, 
 and great flexibility and readiness of 
 speech, restrained by no over-fastidious- 
 ness of rhetoric, his eloquence is distin- 
 guished rather by its force than its re- 
 finement. 
 
 Though long prominent as an active 
 politician of the Democratic party, his 
 first appearance in public life was in 
 1853, when he became a member of 
 the Legislature of Massachusetts. In 
 the same year he was elected to the Con- 
 stitutional Convention, and in 1859-60 
 was senator of the State. In May, 1860, 
 he was chosen a delegate to the Demo- 
 cratic Convention, which first met at 
 Charleston. In the rupture which 
 ensued in the party, he sided with the 
 Southern faction, and was a member of 
 the subsequent convention at Baltimore 
 which nominated Breckenridge for Presi- 
 dent. He was appointed one of the 
 Presidential electors for Massachusetts, 
 and headed the electoral list on the 
 Breckenridge ticket. He was also nom- 
 inated as the candidate for Governor 
 of Massachusetts, by that portion of the 
 Democratic party supposed to be favor- 
 able to the policy of the slave States. 
 
 Though suspiciously regarded in the 
 anti-slavery State of Massachusetts as a 
 
206 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 political ally of the "States Rights" 
 men of the South, he, on the first overt 
 act of Southern rebellion, proved his 
 loyalty to the Union by coming forward 
 among the earliest to offer his services 
 in its defence. Governor Andrew, of 
 Massachusetts, though always his politi- 
 cal opponent, was glad to welcome so 
 spirited and able a co-operator in the 
 common cause of national unity, and 
 appointed him commander of the Eighth 
 Massachusetts Regiment. Leading this 
 corps to the defence of the capital, he 
 found his progress suddenly obstructed ; 
 and an occasion offering for the exercise 
 of those energies which characterize him, 
 he exerted them with a spirit and a suc- 
 cess which won for him the gratitude of 
 the whole nation. 
 
 General Butler is a man in the prime 
 of life, being forty-three years of age. 
 Though somewhat unwieldy in appear- 
 ance, he is possessed of great physical 
 activity. His expression, disfigured by 
 a cast in his left eye, might be thought 
 severe and even sinister by the casual 
 observer, but by his friends he is es- 
 teemed as an amiable companion, and 
 by his subordinates readily obeyed as a 
 popular commander. 
 
 With his acknowledged energy in 
 action, fertility of resource, and cool- 
 ness in danger, there is reason to be- 
 lieve when his natural impulsiveness of 
 character has been duly tempered by 
 military experience, that he will become 
 one of the most efficient leaders in the 
 present war. 
 
 As proof of his coolness and intre- 
 pidity in danger s the following incident 
 
 is told. It occurred in Lowell, Massa- 
 chusetts, in 1856. 
 
 " It was during the Presidential con- 
 test, and Hon. Rufus Choate had been 
 invited to address the conservative citi- 
 zens. The largest hall of the city was 
 crowded to excess ; the audience was 
 wild with enthusiasm, as the brilliant 
 orator swayed them by his eloquence ; 
 but in the midst of the applause a jar 
 was felt, a crash was heard, and every 
 face save one turned pale as the cry 
 went forth, ' The floor is sinking !' The 
 man whose cheek knew no pallor was 
 General Butler. He sprang up and 
 calmed the fears of the multitude by 
 telling them that he did not apprehend 
 the least danger ; that the architect was 
 present ; but to allay any misgiving, he 
 would go with the architect and exam- 
 ine the building. An immediate in- 
 vestigation showed that the edifice was 
 in the greatest possible danger, and a 
 sudden movement, a rush on the part of 
 the assembly, would result in the slaugh- 
 ter of thousands. Forgetful of himself, 
 he bravely pushed through the dense 
 crowd. He did not shriek he showed 
 no marks of trepidation but with a 
 bland countenance whispered a few ap- 
 parently pleasant and assuring words to 
 Mr. Choate. Mr. Butler then turned to 
 the audience, and in a calm, clear voice 
 remarked : ' My friends, there is no 
 present danger ; but as the house is 
 overcrowded, it will be better to quietly 
 adjourn to the open air ; and I there- 
 fore invite you to the front of the Mer- 
 rimack House.' The whole thing was 
 accomplished in a few moments. It 
 
CHARACTER OF GENERAL BUTLER. 
 
 207 
 
 was only by Mr. Butler's self-passession 
 that the catastrophe was avoided. On 
 this occasion he showed more cool cour- 
 age than any battle will ever call into 
 requisition. In the life of Mr. Choate 
 we find what the words were that 
 blandly fell, sotto voce, from Mr. Butler, 
 
 viz., ' Mr. Choate, I must clear this 
 house, or we shall all be in h 11 in five 
 minutes!'"* Before the close of this 
 history, there will be many other more 
 memorable incidents to record, in which 
 Butler will have given proof of his 
 characteristic energy and courage. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Perplexities of President Lincoln and his Cabinet. Humiliating Expedients. The Gdvernor of Maryland and the 
 Mayor of Baltimore summoned to Washington. The Conference with the President. Opinion of General Scott. 
 The Federal Authority agrees not to bring Troops through Baltimore. End of the Conference. Another Inter- 
 view. Troops Recalled from Cockeysville. The continued Movement of Troops to Washington. The Route by 
 Annapolis kept open by General Butler. Opposition from Maryland. A Protest from the Governor. Response of 
 Butler. Another Letter from Butler. A pertinent Question as to the Loyalty of Maryland. A Rebuke to the 
 Governor. Another Protest from Governor Hicks. The Legislature of Maryland convened. A Home-thrust from 
 Butler. Fastidious regard for Maryland. Offer to suppress a Slave Insurrection. The offer declined. The Legis- 
 lature of Maryland meets at Frederick. The Message of the Governor. Amiable Rhetoric. Gentleness, Peace, 
 and Neutrality. The Secession tendencies of the Legislature. Hesitation. Union Meetings. A forcible Appeal 
 to Loyalty. Movement of Butler to the Relay House. Indirect Action of the Legislature. The " Board of Public 
 Safety." Its purpose. Defeated by the Conservatives. Animosity of the Legislature. Expression of Opinion in 
 regard to the Re-opening of Communications. A quasi Justification of the violence of the Maryland Rioters. 
 Guarantees demanded from the Federal Government. Commissioners sent to the President. Their Report. 
 Sympathy with Secession manifested. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE President and his cabinet, beset 
 by a rebellion the extent of which it was 
 impossible to measure, and unpre- 
 pared to meet it with the scattered 
 resources of a government they were so 
 suddenly called to administer, were nat- 
 urally perplexed. Surrounded with dan- 
 gers, the greater as they were unde- 
 fined, and prevented from the exercise 
 of powers which, however great, were 
 yet beyond their control, the Federal 
 authorities were obliged to resort to the 
 humiliating expedient of temporizing 
 with the insurgents of Maryland. The 
 President accordingly summoned the 
 Governor of Maryland and the Mayor 
 
 of Baltimore to Washington to \ 
 ' ' consult" with them for ' ' the pres- 21. 
 ervation of the peace of Maryland." 
 
 " Governor Hicks not being at hand, 
 Mayor Brown, with several notable cit- 
 izens, proceeded without him to the 
 capital in obedience to the summons of 
 the President. An audience was imme- 
 diately granted by President Lincoln, 
 accompanied by all the members of his 
 cabinet and Lieutenant-General Scott. 
 A long conversation and discussionf en- 
 
 Harper's Weekly. 
 
 f The occurrences at this interview are related as re- 
 ported in the "statement" of Mayor Brown, National In- 
 telligencer, April 22. 
 
 
208 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 sued. The President recognized the 
 good faith of the city and State author- 
 ities of Maryland, and insisted upon his 
 own. He admitted the excited state of 
 feeling in Baltimore, and his desire and 
 duty to avoid the fatal consequences of 
 a collision with the people. He urged, 
 on the other hand, the absolute, irre- 
 sistible necessity of having a transit 
 through the State for such troops as 
 might be necessary for the protection 
 of the Federal capital. The protection 
 of Washington, he asseverated with 
 great earnestness, was the sole object 
 of concentrating troops there, and he 
 protested that none of the troops brought 
 through Maryland were intended for any 
 purposes hostile to the State or aggres- 
 sive as against the Southern States. 
 Being now unable to bring them up the 
 Potomac in security, the Government 
 must either bring them through Mary- 
 land or abandon the capital. 
 
 " General Scott being called upon 
 for his opinion, said that troops might 
 be brought through Maryland, without 
 passing through Baltimore, by either 
 carrying them from Perryville to An- 
 napolis and thence by rail to Wash- 
 ington, or by bringing them to the Re- 
 lay House, on the Northern Central 
 Railroad, and marching them to the Re- 
 lay House, on the Washington Railroad, 
 and thence transporting them by rail to 
 the capital. If the people of Maryland 
 would permit the troops to go by either 
 of these routes uninterruptedly, the ne- 
 cessity of their passing through Balti- 
 more might be avoided. If, however, the 
 General declared, the people would not 
 
 allow them to take this circuitous route, 
 the soldiers would be obliged to select 
 their own best course, and, if need be, 
 fight their own way through Baltimore, 
 a result which he most earnestly depre- 
 cated. 
 
 "The President expressed his hearty 
 concurrence with the desire of the Gen- 
 eral to avoid a collision, and said that 
 no more troops should be ordered to 
 pass through Baltimore, if they were 
 permitted to go uninterruptedly by ei- 
 ther of the routes suggested by General 
 Scott. The secretary of war, Cameron, 
 gave his assent to the decision of Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " Mayor Brown assured the President 
 that the city authorities would use all 
 lawful means to prevent their citizens 
 from leaving Baltimore to attack the 
 troops in passing at a distance ; but he 
 urged at the same time the impossibility 
 of their being able to promise anything 
 more than their best efforts in that di- 
 rection. The excitement was great, he 
 told the President ; the people of all 
 classes were fully aroused, and it was 
 impossible for any one to answer for 
 the consequences of the presence of 
 Northern troops anywhere within the 
 borders of Maryland. He reminded the 
 President, also, that the jurisdiction of 
 the city authorities was confined to their 
 own population, and that he could give 
 no promises for the people elsewhere, 
 because he would be unable to keep 
 them if given. The President frankly 
 acknowledged this difficulty, and said 
 that the Government would only ask 
 the city authorities to use their best 
 
THROUGH MARYLAND. 
 
 209 
 
 efforts with respect to those under their 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 " The interview terminated with the 
 distinct assurance on the part of the 
 President, that no more troops would 
 be sent through Baltimore, unless ob- 
 structed in their transit in other di- 
 rections, and with the understanding 
 that the city authorities should do-their 
 best to restrain their own people. 
 
 " The Mayor and his companions, be- 
 fore departing, urged upon the Presi- 
 dent in the most earnest manner a 
 course of policy which would give peace 
 to the country, and especially the with- 
 drawal of all orders contemplating the 
 passage of troops through any part of 
 Maryland." 
 
 The Mayor had, however, just as he 
 was about leaving the capital, received 
 a dispatch informing him of the march 
 of Pennsylvania troops to Cockeysville, 
 in Maryland, only distant fifteen miles 
 from Baltimore. This appeared to him 
 as a threatening approach, and he hur- 
 ried with his dispatch to the President, 
 who expressed great surprise at its pur- 
 port, and immediately summoned Gen- 
 eral Scott and the secretary of war, who 
 at once appeared, in company with the 
 other members of the cabinet. The 
 dispatch containing intelligence of the 
 movement of the Pennsylvania troops 
 was now submitted to the whole con- 
 clave. Mr. Lincoln having declared that 
 he had no idea that a force was to 
 move on that day to Cockeysville, urged 
 emphatically the immediate recall of the 
 troops, to avoid the slightest suspicion 
 of bad faith on his part in summoning 
 27 
 
 the Mayor of Baltimore to Washington, 
 and allowing troops to advance toward 
 the city during his absence. The Pres- 
 ident then expressed his desire that the 
 troops might, if practicable, be sent back 
 at once to York or Harrisburg. 
 
 General Scott warmly concurred, and 
 immediately issued an order to that ef- 
 fect and delivered it to an aid-de-camp, 
 who departed on the instant. At the 
 same time assurances were given that 
 the troops at Cockeysville were not in- 
 tended to march through Baltimore, but 
 to the Relay House, on the Baltimore 
 and Ohio Railroad. 
 
 The military activity, however, of the 
 free States was quickly relieving the 
 Government from its position of per- 
 plexity and humiliation. The militia 
 regiments already organized, and the 
 volunteer corps forming with wonderful 
 rapidity, kept daily moving on toward 
 the capital. Some reached Annapolis 
 by the way of Philadelphia, while others 
 were transported directly thither from 
 Northern ports on steamers chartered 
 by the Government for the purpose. 
 The route from Annapolis to Washing- 
 ton, through a disaffected State, was 
 kept clear by the energetic action of 
 General Butler, who continued to hold 
 the chief command in that quarter. 
 
 This spirited officer met with great 
 opposition in Maryland from the au- 
 thorities of that State, either intimidated 
 by the rebellious, or disposed to sympa- 
 thize with their disloyalty. Governor 
 Hicks had repaired to Annapolis, the 
 capital of Maryland, and remonstrated 
 against Butler's landing of the troops : 
 
210 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 April "I would most earnestly advise," 
 20. he wrote, "that you do not land 
 your men at Annapolis. The excite- 
 ment here is very great, and I think 
 that you should take your men else- 
 where. I have telegraphed to the sec- 
 retary of war, advising against your 
 landing your men here." 
 
 To this communication Butler merely 
 answered, in the first place, that the ar- 
 rival of his command at Annapolis was 
 the result of circumstances beyond his 
 control, and that their landing was a 
 necessary part of the performance of his 
 duty to the Federal Government. Re- 
 ceiving no reply, he wrote another com- 
 munication to the Governor, demanding 
 a direct answer to a question very per- 
 April tinent to the loyalty of the State 
 22. of Maryland: "I desire of your 
 Excellency an immediate reply," wrote 
 Butler, "whether I have the permission 
 of the State authorities of Maryland to 
 land the men under my command, and 
 of passing quietly through the State on 
 my way to Washington, respecting pri- 
 vate property, and paying for what I 
 receive, and outraging the rights of 
 none a duty which I am bound to do 
 in obedience to the requisitions of the 
 United States." At the same time Gen- 
 eral Butler took occasion to object to 
 the sectional character the Governor 
 had attributed to the State troops, sum- 
 moned to the defence of the Union : "I 
 beg leave," he said, "to call your Ex- 
 cellency's attention to what I hope I 
 may be pardoned for deeming an ill-ad- 
 vised designation of the men under my 
 command. They are not Northern 
 
 troops ; they are a part of the whole 
 militia of the United States, obeying the 
 call of the President." 
 
 Governor Hicks withheld his consent 
 to the landing of the troops, but con- 
 tented himself with a protest against 
 the movement, declaring, that "in view 
 of the excited condition" of Maryland, 
 he considered it an " unwise step on the 
 part of the Government." 
 
 In the mean time, Governor Hicks, 
 though hitherto he had firmly refused, 
 summoned the Legislature to meet at 
 Annapolis. This was a timid con- April 
 cession to the secessionists, who 26. 
 were believed to control that body. 
 Butler having, in spite of protests and 
 threatened resistance, landed his troops, 
 had, in order to secure their transit, 
 taken possession of the Annapolis and 
 Elk Ridge Railroad. The Governor 
 protested against this seizure of the 
 railroad, declaring that its military pos- 
 session would prevent the members of 
 the Legislature from assembling at An- 
 napolis, the capital. He, however, thus 
 exposed his secession proclivities, if not 
 his complicity with the rebellious, which 
 he had vainly attempted to conceal, but 
 which had caused his ready compliance 
 with their demands. Butler, in his 
 answer to the Governor's protest, thrust 
 this charge of prevarication home to 
 him : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS, THIRD BRIGADE, II. S. MIL., ) 
 ANNAPOLIS, MD., April 23, 1861. ) 
 
 "To His EXCELLENCY THOS. H. HICKS, GOV- 
 ERNOR OF MARYLAND : 
 
 "You are credibly informed that I 
 have taken possession of the Annapolis 
 
BUTLER AT ANNAPOLIS. 
 
 211 
 
 and Elk Ridge Railroad. It might have 
 escaped your memory, but at the official 
 meeting between your Excellency and 
 the Mayor of Annapolis, and the au- 
 thorities of the Government and myself, 
 it was expressly stated as the reason 
 why I should not land, and that my 
 troops could not land, because the com- 
 pany had taken up the rails, and they 
 were private property. It is difficult to 
 see how it could be that if my troops 
 could not pass over the railroad one 
 way, the members of the Legislature 
 could pass the other way. I have taken 
 possession for the purpose of preventing 
 the carrying out of the threats of the 
 mob, as officially represented to me by 
 the master of transportation of this city, 
 ' that if my troops passed over the rail- 
 road, the railroad should be destroyed.' 
 
 " If the government of the State had 
 taken possession of the railroad in any 
 emergency, I should have long waited 
 before I entered upon it. But, as I had 
 the honor to inform your Excellency in 
 regard to insurrection against the laws 
 of Maryland, I am here armed to main- 
 tain those laws, if your Excellency de- 
 sires, and the peace of the United States, 
 against all disorderly persons whatever. 
 I am endeavoring to save, and not to 
 destroy, to obtain means of transporta- 
 tion, so I can vacate the capital prior to 
 the sitting of the Legislature, and not 
 be under the painful necessity of occu- 
 pying your beautiful city while the Leg- 
 islature is in session. I have the honor 
 to be your Excellency's obedient serv- 
 ant, Br.-Gen. B. F. BUTLER." 
 
 While thus resolute, however, in the 
 
 performance of his duty to the General 
 Government, Butler was not less solic- 
 itous to uphold the institutions and sup- 
 port the laws of Maryland. His fastid- 
 ious regard for the State was manifest 
 on the occasion of a threatened rising 
 of the negroes. Butler offered the aid 
 of his troops in suppressing the rumored 
 insurrection. 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS THIRD BRIG. MASS. V. MIL., ) 
 ANNAPOLIS, April 23, 1861. f 
 
 " To HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS H. HICKS, GOV- 
 ERNOR OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND : 
 
 ' ' I did myself the honor, in my com- 
 munication of yesterday, wherein I asked 
 permission to land the portion of the 
 militia of the United States under my 
 command, to state that they were armed 
 only against the disturbers of the peace 
 of the State of Maryland and of the 
 United States. 
 
 " I have understood within the last 
 hour that some apprehensions are en- 
 tertained of an insurrection of the negro 
 population of this neighborhood. I am 
 anxious to convince all classes of per- 
 sons that the forces under my command 
 are not here in any way to interfere 
 with or countenance any interference 
 with the laws of the State. I am there- 
 fore ready to co-operate with your Ex- 
 cellency in suppressing most promptly 
 and effectively any insurrection against 
 the laws of Maryland. 
 
 " I beg, therefore, that you announce 
 publicly that any portion of the forces 
 under my command is at your Excel- 
 lency's disposal, to act immediately for 
 the preservation and quietness of the 
 peace of this community. 
 
212 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 "And I have the honor to be your 
 Excellency's obedient servant, 
 
 "BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 
 " General of Third Brigade." 
 
 The Governor gratefully acknowl- 
 edged this tender of service, but, confi- 
 dent in the ability of the citizens them- 
 selves to suppress any insurrection of 
 the slave population of Maryland, de- 
 clined General Butler's conciliatory but 
 officious offer. 
 
 The Legislature of Maryland, under 
 the pretence that it was not safe to meet 
 in Annapolis, the capital, while in the 
 military possession of General Butler 
 with Northern troops, convened at Fred- 
 erick. The Governor, in his message, 
 April g ave a resume of his action, and 
 27 after bewailing the angry disposi- 
 tion of the State, strove, in a strain 
 of amiable rhetoric, to compose it by 
 counseling gentleness, peace, and neu- 
 trality. 
 
 " It is my duty," he said, " to advise 
 you of my own convictions of the proper 
 course to be pursued by Maryland in 
 the emergency which is upon us. It is 
 of no consequence now to discuss the 
 causes which have induced our troubles. 
 Let us look to our distressing present 
 and to our portentous future. The fate 
 of Maryland, and perhaps of her sister 
 border slave States, will undoubtedly 
 be seriously affected by the action of 
 your honorable body. Therefore should 
 every good citizen bend all his energies 
 to the task before us, and therefore 
 should the animosities and bickerings 
 of the past be forgotten, and all strike 
 hands in the bold cause of restoring 
 
 peace to our State and to our country. 
 I honestly and most earnestly entertain 
 the conviction, that the only safety of 
 Maryland lies in preserving a neutral 
 position between our brethren of the 
 North and of the South. We have vio- 
 lated no right of either section. We 
 have been loyal to the Union. The un- 
 happy contest between the two sections 
 has not been commenced or encouraged 
 by us, although we have suffered from 
 it in the past. The impending war has 
 not come by any act or any wish of ours. 
 We have done all we could to avert it. 
 We have hoped that Maryland and other 
 border slave States, by their conserva- 
 tive position and love for the Union, 
 might have acted as mediators between 
 the extremes of both sections, and thus 
 have prevented the terrible evils of a 
 prolonged civil war. Entertaining these 
 views, I cannot counsel Maryland to 
 take sides against the General Govern- 
 ment until it shall commit outrages on 
 us which would justify us in resisting 
 its authority. As a consequence, I can 
 give no other counsel than that we shall 
 array ourselves for union and peace, 
 and thus preserve our soil from being 
 polluted with the blood of brethren. 
 Thus, if war must be between the North 
 and South, we may force the contending 
 parties to transfer the field of battle from 
 our soil, so that our lives and property 
 may be secure." 
 
 There was a strong disposition on the 
 part of a majority of the Legislature of 
 Maryland to precipitate the State into 
 secession. Checked, however, by the 
 increased manifestation of loyalty to the 
 
DEFEAT OF SECESSION IN MARYLAND. 
 
 213 
 
 Union, on the part of some of their fel- 
 low-citizens, and awed by the rapid ac- 
 cumulation of United States troops in 
 Maryland and in Washington, they hes- 
 itated. Meetings had, in the mean time, 
 gathered in Baltimore and other parts 
 of the State, and passed resolutions of 
 loyalty to the Union. The United States 
 flag began to be unfurled, and secession 
 badges and colors to disappear. There 
 was, however, in the rapid mustering 
 of the Northern militia, a more forcible 
 appeal in behalf of the Union. The 
 concentration at Annapolis of a large 
 May force, and the movement of Gen- 
 5 eral Butler to the Relay House, at 
 the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 and Baltimore and Washington rail- 
 ways, only seven miles south of Balti- 
 more, and commanding its most import- 
 ant communications, caused even the 
 most headstrong of the Maryland Legis- 
 lature to pause before taking the dan- 
 gerous step of secession to which they 
 had been otherwise so inclined. Find- 
 ing the Federal Government prepared 
 to vindicate its authority, and fearful of 
 bringing upon their State its armed 
 vengeance, the secessionists gave up all 
 hope of the direct accomplishment of 
 their purpose,* but strove to secure its 
 fulfilment by indirect action. Not ven- 
 turing to pass an act of immediate se- 
 cession, they made an effort to bring 
 it about sooner or later through the es- 
 tablishment of a " Board of Public 
 Safety," to be officered and controlled 
 by their own friends. This board was 
 
 A vote, however, was taken, which resulted in fifty- 
 three against and thirteen for secession from the Union. 
 
 intended to assume the executive power 
 of the State in place of the regularly 
 constituted authorities, whose supposed 
 fidelity to the Union was an obstacle to 
 the designs of the secessionists. Thus 
 they hoped to accomplish indirectly their 
 fixed purpose of wresting Maryland from 
 the Union. Their intention, however, 
 being obvious, was at once opposed and 
 defeated by the timely interposition of 
 the conservatives of the State. At a con- 
 vention which met at Baltimore, the 3j a y 
 following resolutions were passed : & 
 
 " Resolved, That the Convention, in 
 the name of the order-loving people of 
 Baltimore, do solemnly protest against 
 the attempt now making in the Legis- 
 lature of Maryland to inaugurate a mil- 
 itary despotism, by the enactment of a 
 bill to create a Committee of Public 
 Safety, which, under a profession of 
 providing for the protection, safety, 
 peace, and defence of the State, would, 
 if enacted into a law, confer on an irre- 
 sponsible body powers which are uncon- 
 stitutional and tyrannical in principle, 
 and which, by withdrawing from the 
 citizen all guarantees now enjoyed for 
 his individual security, must endanger 
 the public peace ; and in the event of 
 the enactment of that bill, we shall es- 
 teem it our duty to avail ourselves of 
 all constitutional remedies for defeating 
 its execution and vindicating public 
 liberty. 
 
 "Resolved, secondly, That the mea- 
 sures enacted and enacting by the Leg- 
 islature are indicative of a purpose on 
 the part of the majority thereof, to pre- 
 cipitate Maryland into a struggle with the 
 
214 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 constitutional authorities of the Union, 
 and to effect, by indirect action, a re- 
 sult which they acknowledge they are 
 unable to accomplish by direct legisla- 
 tion on the subject, and that we depre- 
 cate any efforts to change the relations at 
 present existing between the Union and 
 this State, by any authority whatsoever." 
 The secessionists of the Legislature, 
 though thwarted in their plans of hos- 
 tility, did not conceal their animosity 
 to the Northern States and the Federal 
 Government. When called upon by the 
 Mayor of Baltimore for action in regard 
 to the restoration of the communications 
 between that city and other parts of the 
 country, which had been closed by the 
 destruction of railroad bridges, and the 
 hostile attitude of the people of Mary- 
 land, a committee was appointed to con- 
 sider the subject. In their report, while 
 they confessed that "the almost total 
 interruption of direct communication 
 between Baltimore and the North, by 
 destruction of bridges upon the North- 
 ern, Central, and Philadelphia railroads, 
 is an evil very aggravated in its charac- 
 ter, not only in itself but in its manifest 
 bearings upon the prosperity of the 
 State and its commercial metropolis," 
 they could not refrain from a quasi 
 justification of the violence which had 
 caused it. The committee declared that 
 "in the face of a danger which would 
 seem inevitable, if facilities for invasion 
 were offered to the fanatical and excited 
 multitudes of the Northern cities, where 
 animosity to Baltimore and Maryland is 
 measured by no standard, and who pub- 
 licly threaten our destruction, without 
 
 subordination even to the Federal au- 
 thority, it could hardly be consistent 
 with the commonest prudence to re- 
 open the avenues which would bring 
 them to our very doors." Adding, 
 "that the channels of intercourse with 
 the Northern States cannot be effectually 
 re-established without a guarantee from 
 some quarter of the safety and peace of 
 Maryland," the committee recommended 
 that this should be sought from the 
 Federal Government. 
 
 Three commissioners were accordingly 
 appointed to communicate with the 
 President of the United States " in re- 
 gard to the present and any proposed 
 military use or occupation of the soil 
 and property of the State by the Gen- 
 eral Government." Having proceeded 
 to the capital and communicated with 
 Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet, the commis- 
 sioners duly reported the result. The 
 report h a cautiously worded document, 
 but the sympathy of its authors with 
 secession is manifest, in spite of their 
 technical adherence to the legal obliga- 
 tions of loyalty. 
 
 "To THE HONORABLE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 
 
 MARYLAND : 
 
 " The undersigned commissioners have 
 the honor to report to the General ]fl a y 
 Assembly of Maryland that they * 
 waited in person on the President of the 
 United States on the 4th inst., and pre- 
 sented him with a copy of the joint res- 
 olutions adopted by your honorable body 
 on the 2d inst. They were received by 
 the President with respectful courtesy, 
 and made such representations as were 
 necessary to convey to him the sense of 
 
REPORT OF MARYLAND COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 215 
 
 the General Assembly of Maryland, in 
 relation to the occupation of the capital 
 of the State by Federal troops, and the 
 forcible seizure of property of the State, 
 and of private citizens on the Annapolis 
 Railroad, and on the Washington Branch 
 of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ; 
 and in this connection his attention was 
 called to the suspension of intercourse 
 between Baltimore and Washington, and 
 other parts of the State with Annapolis, 
 and the indignity put upon the State 
 while still in the Federal Union, by such 
 an interference with the private rights 
 of its citizens, and by such an occupation 
 of its soil and ways of communication 
 by the Federal Government. Full ex- 
 planations were exchanged between the 
 undersigned and the secretary of war 
 and secretary of state, who were present 
 and participated in the discussion, as to 
 the facts and circumstances rendered 
 necessary by the extraordinary incidents 
 accompanying the passage of the Fed- 
 eral troops through Maryland en route to 
 the city of Washington, and especially 
 in reference to those acts of the author- 
 ities of the city of Baltimore, which 
 arrested the progress of the troops by 
 the railroads leading from Pennsylvania 
 and Delaware into Maryland, and of the 
 opposition to the landing of the troops 
 subsequently at Annapolis by the Gov- 
 ernor of the State, and in conjunction 
 with the action of the authorities of the 
 State. The hostile feeling manifested 
 by the people to the passage of these 
 troops through Maryland was considered 
 and treated with entire frankness by the 
 undersigned, who, while acknowledging 
 
 all the legal obligations of the State to 
 the Federal Government, set forth fully 
 the strength of the sympathy felt by a 
 large portion of our people for our 
 Southern brethren in the present crisis. 
 Although many of the instances and 
 circumstances referred to were regarded 
 in different lights by the undersigned 
 and the Federal Government, even to 
 the extent of a difference of opinion as 
 to some of the facts involved, yet in re- 
 gard to the general principle at issue a 
 concurrence of opinion was reached. 
 The President concurred with the under- 
 signed in the opinion that so long as 
 Maryland has not taken, and was not 
 about taking, a hostile attitude to the 
 Federal Government, that the executive 
 military occupation of her ways of com- 
 munication, and the seizure of the prop- 
 erty of her citizens, would be without 
 justification ; and what has been referred 
 to in this connection, so far as it oc- 
 curred, was treated by the Government 
 as an act of necessity and self-preserva- 
 tion. The undersigned did not feel 
 themselves authorized to enter into any 
 engagement with the Federal Govern- 
 ment to induce it to change its relations 
 to the State of Maryland, considering 
 it proper under the circumstances to 
 leave the entire discretion and responsi- 
 bility of the existing state of things to 
 that Government, making such repre- 
 sentations as they deem proper to vindi- 
 cate the moral and legal aspects of the 
 question, and especially insisting on its 
 obligation to relieve the State promptly 
 from restraint and indignity, and to ab- 
 stain from all action in the transportation 
 
216 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 of troops that can be regarded as in- 
 tended for chastisement or prompted by 
 resentment. The undersigned are not 
 able to indicate to what extent or to 
 what degree the executive discretion 
 will be exercised in modifying the rela- 
 tions which now exist between the State 
 of Maryland and the Federal Govern- 
 ment, and in the particular matter of the 
 commercial communication between the 
 city of Baltimore and the other part of 
 the country, brought to the attention of 
 the General Assembly by the Mayor and 
 City Council of Baltimore ; but they 
 feel authorized to express the opinion 
 that some modification may be expected. 
 The undersigned feel painfully confident 
 
 that a war is to be waged to reduce all 
 the seceding States to allegiance to the 
 Federal Government, and that the whole 
 military power of the Federal Govern- 
 ment will be exerted to accomplish that 
 purpose ; and though the expression of 
 this opinion is not called for by the res- 
 olution of your honorable bodies, yet ? 
 having had the opportunity to ascertain 
 its entire accuracy, and because it will 
 explain much of the military prepara- 
 tions and movements of the troops 
 through the State of Maryland, it is 
 proper to bring it to your attention. 
 " OTHO SCOTT, 
 "ROBERT M. McLANE, 
 " WM. J. Ross." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The rapid Response to the President's Call for Troops. The Capital pronounced safe. Maryland Awed. Virginia kept 
 in check. Increased Resources of the Government. Reinforcement of Fortress Monroe. Description of Fortress 
 Monroe. The importance of its Position. Its Construction. Site. Communications with the Mainland. The 
 Outer Walls. The form of the Fort. The Armament. Late Additions. The Moat. The Water Battery. The 
 Gates. The Redoubt. How Commanded. Its Approaches. How Defended. The Defects of the Fort. The Ex- 
 terior. The Hygeia Hotel. Old Point Comfort. Importance of the Post. Danger of losing it. Anxiety of the 
 North. Reinforcements from Massachusetts. Increased Authority and Vigor of the Federal Government. New 
 Military Departments. Another Call from the President for Troops. His Proclamation. The swift Answer of the 
 North. Virginia and North Carolina included in the Blockade. Increase of the Fleet. Purchase of Merchant 
 Steamers. General Butler's Fortifications at the Relay House. Command of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 
 Reconstruction of Bridges and Opening of Communications. Fort McHenry Reinforced. Its effect upon Baltimore. 
 Description of the Fortress. The good conduct of its Commander. Position of the Fort. Reaction of Sentiment 
 in Maryland. Union Feeling claimed to be predominant. Union Meetings and Union Orators. Speech of Reverdy 
 Johnson. Presentation of Flag to the Home Guard of Frederick. Great Crowds of Unionists. Remarkable dis- 
 play of Union Emblems. Manly Rhetoric of Johnson. Sensible Advice to Marylanders. A fervid Appeal in 
 behalf of the United States Flag. The Secessionists awed to silence. Secret efforts to advance Secession. The 
 City of Baltimore tranquilized. Disbandment of the City Soldiery. Butler Marches into the City. His Reception. 
 Encampment on Federal Hill. Proclamation of Butler. Seizure of Arms. Arrest of prominent Citizens. Good 
 effects of Decision. The Governor of Maryland takes Courage. He responds to the President's Call for Troops. 
 A Proclamation Modified to suit Equivocal Loyalty. Comparative Propriety of the Legislature. A Spirit of Dis- 
 affection finds vent. The last Act of the Legislature. The Route through Baltimore opened. The first great 
 Victory for the Union. 
 
 1861, 
 
 SUCH had been the promptitude with 
 which the North had responded to 
 the proclamation, of the 15th of 
 
 April, of the President calling forth the 
 militia, that in less than ten days after, 
 more than twenty thousand troops had 
 
- 
 m 
 
 w 
 
 CO 
 
 . 
 
FORTRESS MONROE. 
 
 217 
 
 marched. The capital, which was sup- 
 posed to have been in imminent danger 
 from Virginia and Maryland, was now 
 pronounced safe. The insurgents of the 
 former State in arms against the Federal 
 Government, and who had mustered to 
 the number of several thousands, and en- 
 camped on the banks of the Potomac 
 opposite to Washington, were kept in 
 awe by the militia which had rapidly 
 accumulated at the capital. Maryland, 
 dominated by ' a considerable Federal 
 force in possession of the channels of 
 communication, also feared any longer to 
 make violent demonstration of its dis- 
 affection, and appeared suddenly to be 
 converted to loyalty. 
 
 The Federal Government strength- 
 ened thus by the military ardor and 
 promptitude of the loyal States, was 
 enabled not only to provide for the im- 
 mediate defence of the capital, and to 
 check the rebellious tendencies of Mary- 
 land, but to reinforce a post of the 
 greatest importance in the future con- 
 duct of the war. This was Fortress 
 Monroe, the most extensive work of 
 defence in the United States. Situated 
 at the mouth of the Chesapeake, it com- 
 mands the only approaches from, the sea 
 to Maryland and Virginia, and to the 
 various rivers, the Susquehannah, the 
 Potomac, Rappahannock, York, James, 
 and the numerous small streams and 
 creeks which empty into the bay, and 
 thus find their outlet to the Atlantic 
 Ocean. 
 
 Fortress Monroe was designed by the 
 celebrated ' French engineer General 
 Barnard, in 1819, then in the service of 
 
 28 
 
 the United States. Such has been the 
 magnitude of the work, that although 
 thus early begun, it is yet incomplete. 
 It is built upon a peninsula connected 
 with the mainland by a narrow strip of 
 sand beach, not more than forty rods in 
 width. In addition to this communica- 
 tion, there has been constructed a cause- 
 way with a bridge toward its end which 
 leads from the fort to the road on the 
 mainland which passes to Hampton. 
 This passage is so narrow and so com- 
 pletely commanded by some of the 
 heaviest guns of the fort, as to render 
 any approach in that direction almost 
 impracticable. The waters of the bay 
 which flow in between the peninsula 
 and the mainland, enclosed, as it were, 
 like a lake, between the natural neck of 
 sand and the artificial causeway, vary in 
 width from one to three miles. 
 
 The outer walls of Fortress Monroe 
 embrace an area of nearly sixty-five 
 acres, of which twenty-five regularly 
 laid out and shaded by a fine growth of 
 live oak form the parade ground. The 
 work is bastioned, and is of an irregular 
 heptagon form. The walls, constructed 
 of granite and embanked with thick 
 mounds of sand and clay, rise to a height 
 of thirty-five feet. On the ramparts 
 are mounted heavy guns, some of which 
 are forty-two pounders and others co- 
 lumbiads. These being en barbette are 
 uncovered. There are about seventy 
 large casemates, which are bomb and 
 shot proof. Some of these are appro- 
 priated for officers' quarters, and others 
 for guard-houses and general barracks. 
 The embrasures, though intended orig- 
 
218 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 inally for forty-two pounders, are suffi- 
 ciently large for columbiads of the great- 
 est size. 
 
 The armament of the fortress as orig- 
 inally recorded in the official statement 
 was composed of forty-two forty-two 
 pounders, a hundred and thirty-nine 
 thirty-two pounders, ten twenty-four 
 pounders, fourteen eighteen pounders, 
 twenty-five twelve pounders, twelve field 
 pieces, sixteen flank howitzers, twenty 
 heavy eight-inch howitzers, five light 
 eight-inch howitzers, three thirteen-inch 
 mortars, seven heavy ten-inch mortars, 
 three light ten-inch mortars, five light 
 eight-inch mortars, five sixteen-inch 
 stone mortars, and fifteen cohorns, mak- 
 ing in all three hundred and seventy-one 
 guns. 
 
 This armament, however, has been 
 much modified and considerably aug- 
 mented since. Columbiads of various 
 calibres have been liberally supplied, 
 and mortars of various construction and 
 other cannon added, so that the guns of 
 the fort at present are much more nu- 
 merous and effective. 
 
 A broad and deep moat surrounds 
 the whole work. This is faced with 
 dressed granite, and when flooded by 
 the opening of the gates, is supplied 
 with water, varying from eight to fifteen 
 feet in depth, and from seventy-five to a 
 hundred and fifty feet in breadth, present- 
 ing a formidable obstacle to be overcome 
 in an attempted assault. 
 
 As the fort was chiefly intended to 
 protect the approaches from sea, the 
 chief labor and expense were concen- 
 trated upon the work in that direction. 
 
 Here is what is termed the Water 
 Battery, which is constructed of stone, 
 of a thickness so great, and of a masonry 
 so solid, that it is supposed to be proof 
 against any weight of metal. It has 
 forty-two embrasures, originally mounted 
 with that number of forty-two pounders. 
 Presenting a formidable front to the sea, 
 this defence would seem impregnable to 
 a naval attack from without. The slope 
 of the battery is laid with green turf, 
 like the ramparts of the rest of the 
 fortress, and in times of peace was a 
 favorite promenade for the fashionable 
 frequenters of the peninsula seeking the 
 fresh breezes of the ocean.- 
 
 On the north side of the fort there is 
 a postern gate, which leads to a redoubt 
 or outerwork, built to protect the land 
 side, which, as the work was never in- 
 tended except as a protection against a 
 foreign enemy, was left, as in all our 
 coast defences, comparatively weak. 
 Since, however, the commencement of 
 this civil war, great efforts have been 
 made to give additional strength to this 
 portion of the works. Heavy guns and 
 mortars have been mounted to command 
 the artificial causeway and the strip of 
 beach which join the peninsula with the 
 mainland. The surface of the country 
 in the immediate neighborhood, more- 
 over, being generally level, there is 
 hardly a favorable point for commencing 
 the operations of a siege. The only 
 rising ground for many miles is a slight 
 elevation with trees on either side, at 
 the extremity of the neck of land. 
 This, however, is so commanded by the 
 guns of the fort as to be untenable. 
 
FORT MONROE SECURED. 
 
 219 
 
 On the beach outside of the walls 
 there is a fifteen-inch columbiad placed 
 there for practice, and for additional de- 
 fence against an attack from the sea. 
 It, however, also commands the neck of 
 land, and would seem to check the ap- 
 proach of the most ventursome in that 
 direction. The whole cost of the ex- 
 tensive works of Fortress Monroe has 
 been estimated at nearly three millions. 
 The greatest deficiency of the fort is the 
 precariousness of its supply of water. 
 An attempt was made some fifteen years 
 ago to bore an Artesian well, but the 
 effort was abandoned, and the only de- 
 pendence at present is upon large cis- 
 terns, which are supplied by the rains. 
 
 Outside of the fort are the numerous 
 foundries and work and machine shops, 
 where large quantities of munitions of 
 war can be rapidly fabricated. There 
 is a wharf on the southern side of the 
 peninsula, three hundred yards distant 
 from the fort, where vessels of the 
 greatest draft of water can lie. About 
 a quarter of a mile distant, and on the 
 western side of the walls, stands the 
 "Hygeia Hotel," a famous resort in past 
 summers for "the planters of the South 
 in search of the sea breeze at " Old 
 Point Comfort," as the peninsula is 
 called. Within the fort itself there is a 
 group of nearly fifty houses of brick and 
 wood, forming quite a village, and on 
 one side of the parade ground is a 
 seemly Episcopal chapel. 
 
 To secure this important post became 
 at once a matter of the greatest moment. 
 Placed as it was within the boundaries 
 of a State already in open rebellion, and 
 
 threatened by a force gathered appar- 
 ently for the purpose of attempting to 
 wrest it from the meagre garrison which 
 held it, there was great danger of its 
 loss. Massachusetts, however, which 
 had been foremost in pouring out her 
 resources of men and money in defence 
 of the Union, came to the rescue, and 
 promptly sent one of her regiments of 
 militia to aid in its defence. Embarking 
 on board of the steamer Maine, at 
 Boston, the Fourth Regiment of Massa- 
 chusetts militia sailed directly to the 
 Chesapeake, and landed in safety April 
 at Fortress Monroe on the 20th of 2 ^ 
 April. 
 
 The Government, encouraged by the 
 enthusiasm of loyalty of the people, and 
 fortified by their generosity of service, 
 began to assert with more confidence, 
 and to vindicate with more firmness, its 
 contemned authority. New military de- 
 partments were organized. The ^ril 
 District of Columbia, Fort Wash- 27. 
 ington and the adjacent country, and 
 the State of Maryland as far as Bladens- 
 burgh, were erected into the Department 
 of Washington, and placed under the 
 command of Colonel J. K. F. Mansfield, 
 inspector-general, with his headquarters 
 at the capital. That part of Maryland 
 including the country for twenty miles 
 on each side of the railroad from An- 
 napolis to the city of Washington, as far 
 as Bladensburgh, was formed into a new 
 military department, entitled the De- 
 partment of Annapolis, and Butler, with 
 the rank of brigadier-general of Massa- 
 chusetts volunteers, assigned to the 
 command, with his headquarters at An- 
 
220 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 napolis. To these was added a third, 
 the Department of Pennsylvania, includ- 
 ing that State, the State of Delaware, 
 and all of Maryland not within the 
 other departments, and the command 
 given to Major-General Patterson, with 
 his headquarters at Philadelphia, or any 
 other point which he might be tempo- 
 rarily occupying. 
 
 This was soon after followed by this 
 
 May proclamation of the President call- 
 
 3 ing for volunteers for three years, 
 
 and an increase of the regular army and 
 
 navy : 
 
 " Whereas existing exigencies demand 
 immediate and adequate measures for 
 the protection of the national Constitu- 
 tion and the preservation of the national 
 Union, by the suppression of the insur- 
 rectionary combinations now existing in 
 several States for opposing the laws of 
 the Union and obstructing the execution 
 thereof, to which end a military force in 
 addition to that called forth by my 
 proclamation of the fifteenth day of 
 April in the present year appears to be 
 indispensably necessary, now, therefore, 
 I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
 United States, and Commander-in-chief 
 of the Army and Navy thereof, and of 
 the militia of the several States, when 
 called into actual service, do hereby call 
 into the service of the United States 
 forty-two thousand and thirty-four vol- 
 unteers, to serve for a period of three 
 years, unless sooner discharged, and to 
 be mustered into service as infantry and 
 cavalry. The proportions of each arm 
 and the details of enrolment and organ- 
 ization will be made known through the 
 
 department of war ; and I also direct 
 that the regular army of the United 
 States be increased by the addition of 
 eight regiments of infantry, one regi- 
 ment of cavalry, and one regiment of 
 artillerjT", making altogether a maximum 
 aggregate increase of 22,714 officers and 
 enlisted men, the details of which in- 
 crease will also be made known through 
 the department of war ; and I further 
 direct the enlistment, for not less than 
 one nor more than three years, of 18,000 
 seamen, in addition to the present force, 
 for the naval service of the United 
 States. The details of the enlistment 
 and organization will be made known 
 through the department of the navy. 
 The call for volunteers, hereby made, 
 and the direction of the increase of the 
 regular army, and for the enlistment of 
 seamen hereby given, together with the 
 plan of organization adopted for the 
 volunteers and for the regular forces 
 hereby authorized, will be submitted to 
 Congress as soon as assembled. 
 
 " In the mean time I earnestly invoke 
 the co-operation of all good citizens in 
 the measures hereby adopted for the 
 effectual suppression of .unlawful vio- 
 lence, for the impartial enforcement of 
 constitutional laws, and for the speediest 
 possible restoration of peace and order, 
 and with those of happiness and pros- 
 perity throughout our country. 
 
 1 ' In testimony whereof, I have here- 
 unto set my hand, and caused the seal 
 of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 " Done at the city of Washington this 
 third day of May, in the year of our 
 Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 
BALTIMORE AWED. 
 
 sixty-one, and of the Independence of 
 the United States the eighty-fifth. 
 
 " ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 " By the President. 
 
 " WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State." 
 All the Northern States began to re- 
 spond rapidly to this call of the Presi- 
 dent for additional troops, and the Gov- 
 ernment was judiciously availing itself 
 of its increased naval and military re- 
 sources. Virginia and North Carolina 
 were included in the blockade already 
 April declared, of South Carolina, Geor- 
 27t gia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, 
 Mississippi, and Texas. Merchant steam- 
 ers were purchased or chartered to 
 strengthen the naval arm, quite inade- 
 quate to the duty of watching so exten- 
 sive a line of sea-coast. The various 
 ports on the Chesapeake and the Poto- 
 mac were especially guarded by the 
 Government cruisers, and the communi- 
 cations of Virginia with the sea thus 
 effectually cut off. 
 
 As before stated, General Butler, with 
 May a large force, took possession of the 
 5 Relay House, at the junction of 
 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, only 
 seven miles from Baltimore. Here he 
 planted eight howitzers on the viaduct 
 over the Patapsco River and threw up en- 
 trenchments. He thus could overawe the 
 rebellious tendencies of that disaffected 
 city, and, by commanding the Baltimore 
 and Ohio Railroad, prevent the sending 
 of supplies to the insurgents of Virginia 
 in force at Harper's Ferry, by their 
 sympathizers in Maryland. At the same 
 time the communications between Balti- 
 more and the North were being opened 
 
 by the reconstruction of the railroad 
 bridges, destroyed by the rioters of 
 Maryland, and troops from Pennsylvania 
 were preparing to advance. 
 
 Fort McHenry, too, which had been 
 fortunately preserved to the Govern- 
 ment by the resolute conduct of its Fed- 
 eral commander, Captain Robinson, was 
 reinforced, and, with its guns threaten- 
 ing the destruction of their city, kept 
 the people of Baltimore discreetly quiet. 
 When the Northern troops were at- 
 tacked on their passage through Balti- 
 more, Fort McHenry had been threat- 
 ened by the mob ; but Captain Robin- 
 son made it so manifest that he was de- 
 termined to defend his post to the last 
 extremity, that the most violently dis- 
 posed forbore to attack him. Fort 
 McHenry is an old-fashioned work, built 
 many years ago. Though never of 
 great strength, it succeeded during the 
 war of 1812 in resisting a bombardment 
 by the British fleet. Its guns are all 
 on the parapet, without any protection 
 from casemates, and its armament, prin- 
 cipally composed of forty-two pounders, 
 ten-inch mortars, and eight-inch how- 
 itzers, though originally deemed formi- 
 dable enough, would prove of little ef- 
 fect against the improved cannon of 
 more modern times. Situated, how- 
 ever, on a point of land between the 
 harbor of Baltimore and the Patapsco 
 River which empties into it, its posi- 
 tion is favorable for defending the ap- 
 proaches, while it commands at the 
 same time a portion of the city. Sev- 
 eral artillery companies were thrown in 
 to reinforce the garrison, and Major 
 
222 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Morris assumed the command, while 
 Robinson was transferred to other 
 service. 
 
 The union sentiment of Maryland was 
 now claimed to be predominant. Large 
 meetings were held and addressed in 
 strains of loyal rhetoric by leading poli- 
 ticians of Maryland, who, although their 
 fidelity to the Federal Government had 
 never been questioned, had hitherto 
 been prevented from openly manifesting 
 it. Reverdy Johnson, an eminent law- 
 yer and statesman of Maryland, took 
 the occasion of the presentation of a 
 United States flag by the ladies of Fred- 
 erick, to the Home Guard of that place, 
 to deliver a glowing eulogy upon the 
 Union. There was a large audience 
 gathered to listen to his ardent rhetoric. 
 The population of the city was swelled 
 by the influx of a large number of 
 friends of the Union, from the neigh- 
 boring towns and villages, some in 
 troops on horseback, some in long trains 
 of country vehicles of every kind, and 
 others in groups afoot. All came in 
 their holiday costume, and with bloom- 
 ing manifestations of their loyalty. 
 " Union cockades and badges were dis- 
 played in profusion upon the coats of 
 the jubilant Union men, numbers of 
 whom were decidedly ambitious in their 
 ideas of patriotic personal adornment, 
 wearing cockades as large as sunflow- 
 ers. The stars and stripes fluttered from 
 about forty different points, and alto- 
 gether," says an exultant newspaper re- 
 porter, " Frederick may be said to have 
 donned her holiday suit for the occa- 
 sion." 
 
 Reverdy Johnson's speech was a 
 manly defence of the Government, and 
 a sensible exposition of the advantages 
 of the Union to all the States, and espe- 
 cially to Maryland : 
 
 "I hope," he said, "you will con- 
 sider the occasion as justifying a few 
 thoughts as to the duty and interest of 
 our State in the present emergency. In 
 the original causes which have pro- 
 duced it, she, thank God, had no share. 
 Among the foremost and bravest in 
 winning our independence ; among the 
 truest and wisest in forming our Gov- 
 ernment, and among the first in adopt- 
 ing it, her sons have uniformly given it 
 a faithful and zealous support. No 
 treasonable thought, so far as we know, 
 ever entered the mind of one of them ; 
 certainly no threat of treason was ever 
 whispered by them. They ever felt the 
 immense advantage of the Union ; they 
 saw evidenced by everything around 
 them the blessings it conferred upon 
 Maryland and upon all ; prosperity un- 
 exampled, a national power increasing 
 every year with a rapidity and to a de- 
 gree never before witnessed in a na- 
 tion's history, and winning for us a name 
 challenging the respect and admiration 
 of the world. They saw in the extent 
 of the country, and the differences of 
 climate and habits, elements of strength 
 rather than of weakness, and appre- 
 hended therefore no parricidal efforts in 
 any quarter to destroy the Government. 
 If occasionally murmurs of dissatisfac- 
 tion were heard elsewhere, they were 
 attributed to the whining disposition of 
 some and the disappointed ambition of 
 
SPEECH OF REVERDY JOHNSON. 
 
 223 
 
 others. They were ridiculed, subjected 
 to no other punishment, but left to stand 
 as ' monuments of the safety with which 
 error of opinion may be tolerated where 
 reason is left free to combat it. 7 No 
 ' whisky insurrection' ever occurred 
 within our borders ; no ordinance of 
 nullification was ever threatened by us ; 
 and, if we continue true to patriotic duty, 
 no ordinance of secession, direct or indi- 
 rect, open or covert, will ever be adopt- 
 ed by those in authority, or, if madly 
 adopted, be tolerated by the people. 
 
 "To this steadfast attachment to the 
 Union we are not only bound by grati- 
 tude to the noble ancestry by whose 
 patriotic wisdom it was bequeathed to 
 us, and by the unappreciable blessings 
 the bequest has conferred upon us, but 
 by the assurance, which the most stolid 
 intellect can hardly fail to feel, that its 
 destruction would not only and at once 
 deprive us of all these, but precipitate 
 us into irreparable ruin. In this ruin 
 all would more or less participate, but 
 our geographical position would make 
 it to us immediate and total. A peace- 
 able disseverance the good and great 
 men who have heretofore guided our 
 public councils ever predicted to be im- 
 possible. The proclamations now trum- 
 peted through the land, the marshaling 
 of hosts by thousands and tens of thou- 
 sands, the whitening of our waters with 
 an immense naval marine, the blockade 
 of ports, the prostration of commerce, 
 the destruction of almost all civil em- 
 ployment, the heated tone of the public 
 press of all sections, belching forth the 
 most bitter enmity all, all testify to 
 
 the truth of the prediction. How this 
 is to result, Heaven alone knows. 
 
 " But to my mind one thing is cer- 
 tain : the Government by no single act 
 of its own has given cause for resist- 
 ance to its rightful authority. The pow- 
 ers which it was exercising at the mo- 
 ment when rebellion began to muster its 
 ' armies of pestilence,' were clearly con- 
 ferred upon it by the Constitution. And 
 if the Executive, then just legally cho- 
 sen, had meditated any illegal policy, 
 the friends of constitutional rights were 
 numerous enough in Congress, had they 
 remained at their posts, as they were 
 bound to do by their oaths and their 
 duty to the holy cause of constitutional 
 government, successfully and peacefully 
 to have thwarted it. 
 
 "The professed especial friends of 
 Southern rights, instead of this, rudely 
 shot from their spheres, and, under the 
 utterly ridiculous claim of constitutional 
 right, advised State secession. Mad- 
 men if not worse they desecrated, 
 too, in support of this dogma, the name 
 of Calhoun. He may have committed 
 political errors who has not ? His doc- 
 trine of nullification was certainly one, 
 in the judgment of all his great com- 
 peers, sanctioned by almost the entire 
 country, but he never maintained the 
 nonsensical heresy of rightful secession. 
 On the contrary, long after that of the 
 short-lived nullification, in February, 
 1844, writing to his 'political friends 
 and supporters' refusing to permit his 
 name to be presented before the then 
 approaching Baltimore Convention, he 
 said : 
 
224 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " ' That each State has the right to 
 act as it pleases in whatever relates to 
 itself exclusively, no one will deny j but 
 it is a perfectly novel doctrine that any 
 State has such a right when she comes to 
 act in concert with others in reference to 
 what concerns the whole. In such cases 
 it is the plainest dictate of common 
 sense, that whatever affects the whole 
 should be regulated by the 'mutual con- 
 sent of all, and not by the discretion of 
 each? 
 
 " That great philosophical statesman 
 understood, as in another letter of the 
 3d of July, 1843, he invites his coun- 
 trymen to understand, ' in all its great 
 and beautiful proportions, the noble po- 
 litical structure reared by the wisdom 
 and patriotism of our ancestors, and to 
 have the virtue and the sense to pre- 
 serve and protect it,' and declared it the 
 ' duty of the Federal Government, un- 
 der the guarantees of the Constitution, 
 promptly to suppress physical force as an 
 element of change, and to keep wide open 
 the door for the free and full action of 
 all the moral elements in its power.' 
 
 " The truth is and I regret sincerely 
 to believe it that fear of a violation of 
 Southern rights was with the prompters 
 of the rebellion but a pretence. 
 
 "What they have done and are still 
 doing at the sacrifice of the nation's wel- 
 fare, and of the welfare of their own sec- 
 tion, exerting every nerve to accomplish, 
 was and is but to retain official power, 
 which they fancied was passing from 
 them. Look at the usurped government 
 at Montgomery. The mention of names 
 is unnecessary ; they are destined to an 
 
 unhappy immortality. Those who plot- 
 ted the seizure of forts, arsenals, mints, 
 navy -yards, custom-houses, the admitted 
 property of the United States, seducing 
 soldiers and sailors from their sworn al- 
 legiance using the very Senate cham- 
 ber, dedicated and sacred to duty, as a 
 spot from which to issue their treach- 
 erous telegrams are there to be seen 
 all in power, actual or prospective. The 
 fact too clearly tells the revolting story. 
 Men long enjoying public honors, earn- 
 ing through many years of service a na- 
 tional fame owning their renown be- 
 cause of the world- wide fame of a glori- 
 ous government, are striving, day and 
 night, to reduce it to- dishonor and de- 
 struction. Thank God, our consolation 
 is that the effort, however pregnant with 
 the present calamity, will fall short of 
 its horrid aim. They may ' as well 
 strike at the heavens with their arms' 
 as lift them against the ' American 
 Union.' 
 
 "That the end must fail, who can 
 doubt ? The recent census furnishes 
 pregnant proof of this. It shows that 
 the free States have a population of 
 males, between eighteen and forty-five, 
 of 3,778,000, and all the slave States 
 only 1,655,000, and the seceding States, 
 excluding Virginia, but 531,000 ; and if 
 to this vast difference of men is added 
 that of wealth, inventive skill, habits of 
 industry, and the absence of any ele- 
 ment of domestic danger, the disparity 
 is infinitely greater. In a struggle be- 
 tween such hosts which may God in 
 his mercy avert who can fail to see 
 what must be the end ? 
 
HONOR TO THE FLAG. 
 
 225 
 
 " But to our State these facts teach a 
 lesson that all can understand. If mad 
 and wicked enough to attempt it, what 
 could we do to resist this immense 
 power on our borders ? Call on the 
 South ? Make our State the battle- 
 field ? How long could the entire 
 South, if flying to our succor, remain 
 with and aid us ? They might assist 
 in drenching our land with blood ; they 
 might witness with us the desolation 
 that in such a contest would be our 
 doom. They would be compelled to 
 retire within their own limits, and we 
 left alone in our calamity, to be rendered 
 the more acute when we awoke as we 
 should to the insanity and crime which 
 occasioned it. Looking, therefore, to 
 interest alone, adherence to the Gov- 
 ernment is our clear policy." 
 
 The orator closed with a fervid appeal 
 to the reverence of his listeners for the 
 national flag. 
 
 "Though not especially impulsive, I 
 cannot, 7 ' he said, "imagine how an 
 American eye can look upon that stand- 
 ard without emotion. The twenty stars 
 added to the first constellation tell its 
 proud history, its mighty influence, and 
 its unequalled career. Are these now 
 to be forgotten and lost ? Tell me not 
 that this is sentiment. Sentiment, to be 
 sure it is, but it is one that purifies, and 
 animates, and strengthens the national 
 heart. God may be worshipped (I 
 make the comparison with all proper 
 reverence) in the open field, in the stable 
 but is there no virtue in the cathedral ? 
 Does not the soul turn its thoughts 
 heavenwards the moment its sacred 
 
 29 
 
 threshold is crossed? This, too, is senti- 
 ment, but it is one that honors our 
 nature, and proves our loyalty to the 
 Almighty. 
 
 "So it is with our national emblem. 
 The man who is dead to its influence is 
 in mind a fool or in heart a traitor. It 
 is this emblem I am the honored organ 
 now to present to you. I need not 
 commend it to your constant, vigilant 
 care ; that, I am sure, it will ever be 
 your pride to give it. When, if ever 
 your hearts shah 1 despond when, if ever 
 you shall desire your patriotism to be 
 specially animated, throw it to the winds, 
 gaze on its beautiful folds, remember the 
 years and the fields over which, from '76 
 to the present time, it has been trium- 
 phantly borne ; remember how it has 
 consoled the dying and animated the 
 survivor ; remember that it served to 
 kindle even to a brighter flame the 
 patriotic ardor of Washington went 
 with him through all the struggles of 
 the Revolution, consoled him in defeat, 
 gave to victory an additional charm, and 
 that his dying moments were consoled 
 and cheered by the hope that it would 
 forever float over a perpetual union, and 
 you at once feel its almost holy influence 
 and swear to stand by and maintain it 
 till life itself shall be no more." 
 
 With this increased demonstration of 
 Federal power, and this bolder mani- 
 festation of loyalty on the part of the 
 unionists of Maryland, the secessionists 
 no longer ventured upon an open dis- 
 play of their sentiments. They, how- 
 ever, still continued secretly to aid the 
 insurgents of Virginia with supplies of 
 
226 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 men and means, and to promote their 
 cause by concealed efforts to involve 
 the State in the Southern insurrection. 
 
 The city of Baltimore had suddenly 
 become wondrously tranquilized, and 
 May submitted almost without a mur- 
 
 tf mur to the disbandment of its 
 citizen soldiery. A few days subse- 
 quently, General Butler, who marched 
 May into the city with a force of two 
 
 13. thousand men, of whom the Sixth 
 Regiment of Massachusetts, before so 
 cruelly treated, formed a part, was 
 welcomed with apparent enthusiasm. 
 "The streets were crowded with ap- 
 plauding people, Union flags flung to 
 the breeze, and in some instances the 
 private dwellings were illuminated."* 
 Butler immediately encamped upon 
 Federal Hill, an elevation commanding 
 the city, and proceeded at once, with 
 characteristic energy, to secure the mili- 
 tary occupation of Baltimore. On the 
 next day he issued this proclamation : 
 
 " DEPARTMENT OF ANNAPOLIS, FEDERAL HILL, ) 
 BALTIMORE, May 14, 1861. ) 
 
 "A detachment of the forces of the 
 Federal Government under my com- 
 mand have occupied the city of Balti- 
 more for the purpose, among other 
 things, of enforcing respect and obedi- 
 ence to the laws as well of the State, if 
 requested thereto by the civil authorities, 
 as of the United States, which are being 
 violated within its limits by some malig- 
 nant and traitorous men ; and in order 
 to testify the acceptance, by the Federal 
 Government, of the fact that the city 
 and all the well-intentioned portion of 
 
 New York Times, May 15. 
 
 its inhabitants are loyal to the Union 
 and the Constitution, and are to be so 
 regarded and treated by all. To the 
 end, therefore, that all misunderstanding 
 of the purposes of the Government may 
 be prevented, and to set at rest all un- 
 founded, false, and seditious rumors, to 
 relieve all apprehensions, if any are felt 
 by the well-disposed portion of the com- 
 munity, and to make it thoroughly 
 understood by all traitors, their aiders 
 or abettors, that their rebellious acts 
 must cease, I hereby, by the authority 
 vested in me, as commander of the de- 
 partment of Annapolis, of which the 
 city of Baltimore forms a part, do now 
 command and make known that no 
 loyal and well-disposed citizen will be 
 disturbed in his lawful occupation or 
 business, that private property will not 
 be interfered with by the men under my 
 command, or allowed to be interfered 
 with by others, except in so far as it 
 may be used to afford aid and comfort 
 to those in rebellion against the Govern- 
 ment, whether here or elsewhere, all of 
 which property, munitions of war, and 
 that fitted to aid and support the re- 
 bellion, will be seized and held subject 
 to confiscation ; and, therefore, all manu- 
 facturers of arms and munitions of war 
 are hereby requested to report to me 
 forthwith, so that the lawfulness of their 
 occupation may be known and under- 
 stood, and all misconstruction of their 
 doings be avoided. No transportation 
 from the city to the rebels of articles 
 fitted to aid and support troops in the 
 field will be permitted, and the fact of 
 such transportation after the publication 
 
BUTLER IN BALTIMORE. 
 
 227 
 
 of this proclamation will be taken and 
 received as proof of illegal intention on 
 the part of the consignees, and will ren- 
 der the goods liable to seizure and con- 
 fiscation. 
 
 "The Government being ready to re- 
 ceive all such stores and supplies, 
 arrangements will be made to contract 
 for them immediately ; and the owners 
 and manufacturers of such articles of 
 equipment, and clothing, and munitions 
 of war, and provisions are desired to 
 put themselves in communication with 
 the commanding General, in order that 
 their workshops may be employed for 
 loyal purposes, and the artisans of the 
 city resume and carry on their wonted 
 profitable occupations. 
 
 " The acting assistant-quarter-master 
 and commissary of subsistence of the 
 United States here stationed, has been 
 instructed to procure and furnish at fair 
 prices 40,000 rations for the use of the 
 army of the United States, and further 
 supplies will be drawn from the city to 
 the full extent of its capacity if the 
 patriotic and loyal men choose so to 
 furnish supplies. 
 
 " All assemblages, except the ordinary 
 police of armed bodies of men, other 
 than those regularly organized and com- 
 missioned by the State of Maryland and 
 acting under the orders of the Governor 
 thereof, for drill and other purposes, are 
 forbidden within the department. 
 
 " All officers of the militia of Mary- 
 land having command within the limits 
 of the department, are requested to re- 
 port through their officers forthwith to 
 the General in command, so that he may 
 
 be able to know and distinguish the 
 regularly commissioned and loyal troops 
 of Maryland from armed bodies who 
 may claim to be such. 
 
 " The ordinary operations of the cor- 
 porate government of the city of Balti- 
 more and of the civil authorities will 
 not be interfered with, but, on the con- 
 trary, will be aided by all the power at 
 the command of the General upon proper 
 call being made ; and all such authori- 
 ties are cordially invited to co-operate 
 with the General in command to carry 
 out the purposes set forth in the procla- 
 mation, so that the city of Baltimore 
 may be shown to the country to be, 
 what she is in fact, patriotic and loyal 
 to the Union, the Constitution, and the 
 laws. No flag, banner, ensign, or de- 
 vice of the so-called Confederate States, 
 or of any of them, will be permitted to 
 be raised or shown in this department, 
 and the exhibition of either of them by 
 evil-disposed persons will be deemed, 
 and taken to be, evidence of a design to 
 afford aid and comfort to the enemies 
 of the country. To make it the more 
 apparent that the Government of the 
 United States by far more relies upon 
 the loyalty, patriotism, and zeal of the 
 good citizens of Baltimore and vicinity 
 than upon any exhibition of force calcu- 
 lated to intimidate them into that obe- 
 dience to the laws which the Govern- 
 ment doubts not will be paid from in- 
 herent respect and love of order, the 
 commanding General has brought to the 
 city with him, of the many thousand 
 troops in the immediate neighborhood, 
 which might be at once concentrated 
 
228 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 here, scarcely more than an ordinary 
 guard, and, until it fails him, he will 
 continue to rely upon that loyalty and 
 patriotism of the citizens of Maryland 
 which have never yet been found want- 
 ing to the Government in time of need. 
 The General in command desires to greet 
 and treat in this part of his department all 
 the citizens thereof as friends and broth- 
 ers, having a common purpose, a common 
 loyalty, and a common country. Any 
 infractions of the laws by the troops un- 
 der his command, or any disorderly, un- 
 soldierlike conduct, or any interferences 
 with private property, he desires to have 
 immediately reported to him, and he 
 pledges himself that if any soldier so far 
 forgets himself as to break those laws 
 that he has sworn to defend and en- 
 force, he shall be most rigorously pun- 
 ished. 
 
 " The General believes that if the 
 suggestions and requests contained in 
 this proclamation are carried out by the 
 co-operation of all good and Union-lov- 
 ing citizens, and peace, and quiet, and 
 certainty of future peace and quiet are 
 thus restored, business will resume its 
 accustomed channels, trade take the 
 place of dulness and inactivity, efficient 
 labor displace idleness, and Baltimore 
 will be, in fact, what she is entitled to 
 be in the front rank of the commercial 
 cities of the nation. 
 
 " Given at Baltimore, the day and 
 year herein first above written. 
 " BENJ. F. BUTLER, 
 " B.-G. Com. Depart, of Annapolis." 
 
 This was soon followed by the seizure 
 of a large quantity of arms, amounting 
 
 to "fifteen dray-loads," which had been 
 secreted by the secessionists of Balti- 
 more, and the arrest of some leading 
 citizens suspected of conniving at the 
 overthrow of the Federal authority. 
 These decided measures produced an 
 immediate effect. The Governor of Ma- 
 ryland, who had been so intimidated by 
 the disaffected of his State that he had 
 not hitherto ventured to pay full alle- 
 giance to that government to which he 
 claimed to be loyal, now, after a jfl a y 
 delay of a month, responded favor- 14* 
 ably to the President's call for troops. 
 He yet, however, was constrained to deal 
 tenderly with the uncertain temper of 
 his fellow-citizens, and to qualify his 
 appeal to arms in defence of the Union, 
 by a condition to suit their equivocal 
 loyalty. 
 
 "Whereas the President of the United 
 States, by his proclamation of April 15, 
 1861, has called upon me, the Governor 
 of Maryland, for four regiments of in- 
 fantry or riflemen, to serve for a period 
 of three months, the said requisition 
 being made in the spirit and in pursu- 
 ance of the law ; and 
 
 "Whereas to the said requisition has 
 been added the written assurance of the 
 secretary of war, that said four regi- 
 ments shall be detailed to serve within 
 the limits of the State of Maryland, or 
 for the defence of the capital of the 
 United States, and not to serve beyond 
 the limits aforesaid ; 
 
 " Now, therefore, I, Thomas Holliday 
 Hicks, Governor of Maryland, do, by 
 this my proclamation, call upon loyal 
 citizens of Maryland to volunteer their 
 
THE FIRST VICTORY. 
 
 229 
 
 services to the extent of four regiments, 
 as aforesaid, to serve during a period of 
 three months within the limits of Mary- 
 land, or for the defence of the capital of 
 the United States, to be subject under 
 the conditions aforesaid, to the orders 
 of the Commander-in-chief of the army 
 of the United States. 
 
 " Given under my hand and the great 
 seal of the State of Maryland, at the city 
 of Frederick, this 14th day of May, 1861. 
 "Tnos. H. HICKS." 
 
 The Legislature, too, was frightened 
 into comparative propriety, and brought 
 jjf ay its refractory proceedings to a close 
 
 M by a sudden adjournment. The 
 spirit of disaffection, however, which 
 May prevailed, was made manifest by 
 
 W the adoption, a few days before, of 
 these resolutions : 
 
 " Whereas the war against the Con- 
 federate States is unconstitutional and 
 repugnant to civilization, and will re- 
 sult in a bloody and shameful overthrow 
 of our institutions ; and while recog- 
 nizing the obligations of Maryland to 
 the Union, we sympathize with the South 
 in the struggle for their rights for the 
 
 sake of humanity, we are for peace 
 and reconciliation, and solemnly protest 
 against this war, and will take no part 
 in it ; therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That Maryland implores 
 the President, in the name of God, to 
 cease this unholy war, at least until 
 Congress assembles ; that Maryland de- 
 sires and consents to the recognition of 
 the independence of the Confederate 
 States. The military occupation of Ma- 
 ryland is unconstitutional, and she pro- 
 tests against it, though the violent in- 
 terference with the transit of Federal 
 troops is discountenanced ; that the vin- 
 dication of her rights be left to time and 
 reason, and that a convention, under 
 existing circumstances, is inexpedient." 
 
 The last act of the Legislature of Ma- 
 ryland was to appoint two commission- 
 ers to visit President Jefferson Davis, 
 two to visit President Lincoln, two to 
 visit Richmond, and two to visit Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 The route through Baltimore to the 
 capital was now secured, and the Fed- 
 eral Government could claim its first 
 great victory in the struggle for the as- 
 sertion of its authority. 
 
230 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Increased Energy of the Government. Augmenting force of Secession. Progress of North Carolina to Secession. 
 Seizure of United States Mint and Arsenal. Action of the Governor. Convening of the Legislature. Denuncia- 
 tion of the President's Proclamation. Ordinance of Secession. Union with the Confederate States. Action of 
 Arkansas. Seizure of Federal Property. Act of Secession. Sanguine hopes entertained of Tennessee. Union 
 Sentiment in Tennessee. A Vote against a Convention. Disregarded by the Governor. Legislature Convened. 
 Military League with the Southern Confederacy. Ratification of League. Opposition in the Legislature. Question 
 submitted to the People.-*-Strange Contrast. Arbitrary Action. Pretended Submission to the Will of the People. 
 Apology of the Tennessee Legislature. The strong Union Sentiment in Eastern Tennessee. Description of East 
 Tennessee. Character of the Population. Opposition to the Action of the Legislature. A Convention called at 
 Knoxville. Its object. The unavailing resistance in East Tennessee. Ratification by the People of the State of 
 the Ordinance of Secession. Great Encouragement for the Union in Western Virginia. Description of Western 
 Virginia. Geographical and Social Characteristics. Whites and Blacks. Free Labor. Sympathy with the North. 
 Enterprise and Thrift. Immense Resources. Future Prospects. Disputes with Eastern Virginia. Difference of 
 Interests. Unequal Taxation. Opposition to Secession. Union Meetings. Convention in Western Virginia 
 "New Virginia." Action of the Convention. An ardent Appeal for the Union. Rallying to Arms. Union En- 
 thusiasm. Union Military Companies. Union Preachers. The first Encounter in Western Virginia. A bloodless 
 beginning of a Bloody War. 
 
 1861, 
 
 WHILE the Federal Government was 
 asserting its authority with in- 
 creased energy and power, and the 
 Union sentiment of the North was daily 
 strengthening, the Southern rebellion was 
 augmenting with even greater force and 
 rapidity. North Carolina was passing 
 through the various phases of defiance 
 and spoliation of the General Govern- 
 ment which had marked the career of 
 the other slave States in their progress 
 to secession. Her Governor had reso- 
 lutely and contemptuously refused the 
 call of the President for the State's quota 
 of troops for the defence of the Union. 
 April The United States Branch Mint 
 21* had been seized and held by a 
 military force under his command, and 
 April on the next day the Federal arsenal 
 22 at Fayetteville, filled with muni- 
 tions of war belonging to the United 
 
 States, was forced to surrender to the 
 State authorities. At the same time the 
 Governor of North Carolina called for 
 thirty thousand volunteers, in addition 
 to the regular militia, and ordered them 
 to be ready at a moment's notice. 
 
 These acts, the purport of which 
 was obvious, were followed by April 
 the Governor's proclamation con- 26t 
 vening the Legislature. In this docu- 
 ment he denounced President Lincoln's 
 proclamation and Secretary Cameron's 
 requisition for seventy-five thousand 
 troops, the " high-handed act of tyran- 
 nical outrage," the object of which was 
 "the violent subversion of the liberties 
 of a free people constituting a large 
 part of the whole population of the 
 United States ; it is not only," the Gov- 
 ernor added, "in violation of all con- 
 stitutional law, utter disregard of every 
 
SECESSION OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 231 
 
 sentiment of humanity and Christian 
 civilization, and conceived in a spirit of 
 aggression unparalleled by any act of 
 recorded history, but is a direct step 
 toward the subjugation of the whole 
 South, and the conversion of a free re- 
 public, inherited from our fathers, into a 
 military despotism, to be established by 
 worse than foreign enemies on the ruins 
 of our once glorious Constitution of 
 equal rights." He closed by an appeal 
 to the fidelity of the people of North 
 Carolina, to the "sovereign" authority 
 of their State. " I furthermore ex- 
 hort," he said, "all good citizens 
 throughout the State to be mindful that 
 their first allegiance is due to the sover- 
 eignty which protects their homes and 
 dearest interests, as their first service is 
 due for the sacred defence of their 
 hearths, and of the soil which holds the 
 graves of our glorious dead. United 
 action in defence of the sovereignty of 
 North Carolina, and of the rights of the 
 South, becomes now the duty of all." 
 May ^ n three weeks after, a convention 
 20. "declared and ordained that the 
 ordinance adopted by the State of North 
 Carolina, in the Convention of 1789, 
 whereby the Constitution of the United 
 States was ratified and adopted, and 
 also all acts and parts of acts of the 
 General Assembly ratifying and adopting 
 amendments to the said Constitution, 
 are hereby repealed, rescinded, and 
 abrogated." 
 
 It was then " declared and ordained" 
 that, the union with the United States 
 being dissolved, and North Carolina in 
 full possession of the "rights of sov- 
 
 ereignty, the State accepts the Constitu- 
 tion of the ' Confederate States of Amer- 
 ica,' and will enter into federal association 
 with them, when admitted in due form. 
 North Carolina thus gave in her adher- 
 ence to the new confederacy, and joined 
 in the armed combination to dissolve the 
 old Union. 
 
 Arkansas was the next to follow. She 
 began, too, with spoliation. At April 
 Napoleon, the Federal depot was 22. 
 seized by order of the Governor, and 
 military supplies belonging to the United 
 States, consisting of one hundred and 
 fifty thousand ball cartridges, a hundred 
 Maynard rifles, two hundred cavalry 
 saddles, and five hundred sabres, were 
 appropriated by the State. Fort Smith, 
 too, which had cost the Federal Gov- 
 ernment over three hundred thousand 
 dollars, was forced to surrender. The 
 State troops upon taking possession ^ T [\ 
 raised the Confederate flag amid 25, 
 the firing of cannon and the exulting 
 cheers of the people, who gave shouts 
 of applause for the citizen soldiery of 
 Arkansas, its Governor, and for Jeffer- 
 son Davis. 
 
 These usual preliminaries of disrup- 
 tion were soon followed by the jjj a y 
 act of secession from the Federal ? 
 Union, the adoption of the Constitution 
 of the Confederate States, and the ad- 
 mission of the State as another member 
 of the Southern Confederacy. 
 
 Tennessee, the last to attach her 
 fortunes to the chances of the new con- 
 federacy, it was fondly hoped by the 
 North would have clung to the old 
 Union. Though her Governor, who was 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 known to be in league with the Confed- 
 erates, had responded so defiantly to the 
 President's requisition for troops, there 
 was yet believed to be a loyalty to the 
 Federal Government so strong, particu- 
 larly in the eastern part of the State, 
 that it could counteract the machinations 
 of those political leaders of Tennessee 
 who were striving to wrest her from the 
 Union. This belief was encouraged by 
 the vote of the State on the question of 
 holding a convention for the considera- 
 tion of the policy of seceding. By a 
 large majority, the people of Tennessee 
 decided against the convention. The 
 Governor, though thus rebuked by this 
 expression of popular will, gave it no 
 heed, but persisted in his determination 
 to force the State out of the Union. 
 He accordingly convened the Legislature 
 the majority of which accorded with 
 him in sentiment for the purpose of 
 accomplishing indirectly what seemed 
 impracticable through the direct action 
 of the suffrage of the people. The 
 Legislature having met, both Houses 
 May passed at once, in secret session, 
 
 ! a joint resolution authorizing the 
 Governor to enter into a military league 
 with the Confederate States. Three 
 commissioners were accordingly ap- 
 pointed ; and having held a conference 
 with an agent of the new government, 
 jfay expressly delegated for the pur- 
 
 ? pose, the following was agreed to : 
 " The State of Tennessee, looking to 
 a speedy admission into the confederacy 
 established by the Confederate States of 
 America, in accordance with the Consti- 
 tution for the Provisional Government 
 
 of said States, enters into the following 
 temporary convention, agreement, and 
 military league with the Confederate 
 States, for the purpose of meeting 
 pressing exigencies affecting the com- 
 mon rights, interests, and safety of said 
 States and said Confederacy : 
 
 ' ' First. Until said State shall become 
 a member of said Confederacy, accord- 
 ing to the Constitutions of both powers, 
 the whole military force and military 
 operations, offensive and defensive, of 
 said State in the impending conflict with 
 the United States shall be under the 
 chief control and direction of the Presi- 
 dent of the Confederate States upon the 
 same basis, principles, and footing as if 
 said State were now and during the in- 
 terval a member of said Confederacy ; 
 said force, together with that of the 
 Confederate States, to be employed for 
 the common defence. 
 
 " Second. The State of Tennessee will, 
 upon becoming a member of said Con- 
 federacy, under the permanent Constitu- 
 tion of said Confederate States, if the 
 same shall occur, turn over to the said 
 Confederate States all the public prop- 
 erty, naval stores, and munitions of war 
 of which she may then be in possession, 
 acquired from the United States, on the 
 same terms and in the same manner as 
 the other States of said Confederacy 
 have done in like cases. 
 
 " Third. Whatever expenditure of 
 money, if any, the said State of Tennes- 
 see shall make before she becomes a 
 member of said Confederacy, shall be 
 met and provided for by the Confederate 
 States. 
 
TENNESSEE FORCED FROM THE UNION. 
 
 233 
 
 "This convention entered into and 
 agreed on, in the city of Nashville, 
 Tennessee, on the seventh day of May, 
 A.D. 1861, by Henry W. Hilliard, the 
 duly authorized commissioner to act in 
 the matter for the Confederate States, 
 and Gustavus A. Henry, Archibald 0. 
 W. Totten, and Washington Barrow, 
 commissioners, duly authorized to act in 
 like manner for the State of Tennessee. 
 The whole subject to the approval and 
 ratification of the proper authorities of 
 both governments, respectively. 
 
 "In testimony whereof, the parties 
 aforesaid have hereunto set their hands 
 and seals, the day and year aforesaid, 
 in duplicate originals. 
 
 "HENRY W. HILLIARD, 
 
 ' ' Commissioner for the Confederate 
 States of America. 
 
 " GUSTAVUS A. HENRY, 
 "A. 0. W. TOTTEN, 
 " WASHINGTON BARROW, 
 
 "Commissioners on the part of Ten- 
 nessee." 
 
 The Legislature hastened to ratify 
 this league, and thus secure the future 
 secession of the State, by an act which, 
 placing the military resources under 
 the control of the Confederate States, 
 would enable them to repress by coer- 
 cion any appearance of dissatisfaction 
 in Tennessee. There was, however, 
 a manifestation of opposition, even in 
 the Legislature, to this disregard of the 
 voice of the people. The resolution 
 ratifying the league was opposed in the 
 Senate by a vote of six to fourteen, four 
 not having voted at all ; and in the 
 
 30 
 
 House by a vote of fifteen to forty-two, 
 eighteen having withheld their votes. 
 
 After having thus deprived the people 
 of all independence of action, the Legis- 
 lature, with an affected regard for the 
 popular will, formally submitted to the 
 vote of the State a question which they 
 had already decided by an act of their 
 own, in defiance of the declared senti- 
 ment of a majority of their fellow-cit- 
 izens. The following is a curious con- 
 trast to the league already formed with 
 the Confederate States. The semblance 
 of deference to popular will and the 
 reality of arbitrary power, not seldom, 
 combined, was never more strikingly 
 manifest than in these two doc- jj a y 
 urnents emanating from the same 
 source : 
 
 "SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General 
 Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That 
 immediately after the passage of this 
 act, the Governor of this State shall, by 
 proclamation, direct the sheriffs of the 
 several counties in this State to open and 
 hold an election at the various voting pre- 
 cincts in their respective counties on the 
 8th day of June, 1861 ; that the said sher- 
 iffs, or, in the absence of the sheriffs, the 
 coroner of the county, shall immediately 
 advertise the election contemplated by 
 this act ; that said sheriffs appoint a 
 deputy to hold said election for each 
 voting precinct, and that said deputy 
 appoint three judges and two clerks for 
 each precinct ; and if no officer shall, 
 from any cause, attend any voting pre- 
 cinct to open and hold said election, 
 then any justice of the peace, or, in the 
 absence of a justice of the peace, any re- 
 
234 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 spectable freeholder may appoint an offi- 
 cer, judges, and clerks to open and hold 
 said election. Said officers, judges, and 
 clerks shall be sworn as now required 
 by law, and who, after being so sworn, 
 shall open and hold an election, open 
 and close at the time of day and in the 
 manner now required by law in elec- 
 tions for members to the General As- 
 sembly. 
 
 " SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That at 
 said election the following declaration 
 shall be submitted to a vote of the qual- 
 ified voters of the State of Tennessee, 
 for their ratification or rejection : 
 
 " DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND 
 ORDINANCE DISSOLVING THE FEDERAL RE- 
 LATION between the State of Tennessee 
 and the United States of America. 
 
 " First. We, the people of the State 
 of Tennessee, waiving an expression of 
 opinion as to the abstract doctrine of 
 secession, but asserting the right as a 
 free and independent people to alter, 
 reform, or abolish our form of govern- 
 ment in such manner as we think proper, 
 do ordain and declare that all the laws 
 and ordinances by which the State of 
 Tennessee became a member of the Fed- 
 eral Union of the United States of Amer- 
 ica are hereby abrogated and annulled, 
 and that all obligations on our part 
 be withdrawn therefrom ; and we do 
 hereby resume all the rights, functions, 
 and powers which by any of said laws 
 and ordinances were conveyed to the 
 Government of the United States, and 
 absolve ourselves from all the obliga- 
 tions, restraints, and duties incurred 
 thereto ; and do hereby henceforth be- 
 
 come a free, sovereign, and independent 
 State. 
 
 "Second. We furthermore declare and 
 ordain, that Article 10, Sections 1 and 2 
 of the Constitution of the State of Ten- 
 nessee, which requires members of the 
 General Assembly, and all officers, civil 
 and military, to take an oath to support 
 the Constitution of the United States, 
 be, and the same are hereby abrogated 
 and annulled ; and all parts of the Con- 
 stitution of the State of Tennessee mak- 
 ing citizenship of the United States a 
 qualification for office, and recognizing 
 the Constitution of the United States as 
 the supreme law of this State, are in 
 like manner abrogated and annulled. 
 
 " Third. We furthermore ordain and 
 declare, that all rights acquired and 
 vested under the Constitution of the 
 United States, or under any act of Con- 
 gress passed in pursuance thereof, or 
 under any laws of this State, and not 
 incompatible with this ordinance, shall 
 remain in force, and have the same 
 effect as if this' ordinance had not been 
 passed. 
 
 "SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That 
 said election shall be by ballot, that 
 those voting for the Declaration and Or- 
 dinance shall have written or printed 
 on their ballots ' Separation/ and those 
 voting against it shall have written or 
 printed on their ballots ' No Separa- 
 tion.' That the clerks holding said 
 election shall keep regular scrolls of the 
 voters, as now required by law in the 
 election of members to the General As- 
 sembly ; that the clerks and judges shall 
 certify the same, with the number of 
 
SECESSION OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 235 
 
 votes for 'Separation,' and the number 
 of votes for ' No Separation.' The offi- 
 cer holding the election shall return the 
 same to the sheriff of the county, at the 
 county seat, on the Monday next after 
 the election. The sheriff shall imme- 
 diately make out, certify, and send to 
 the Governor the number of votes polled, 
 and the number of votes for ' Separa- 
 tion,' and the number for 'No Separa- 
 tion,' and file one of the original scrolls 
 with the clerk of the county court ; that 
 upon comparing the vote by the Gov- 
 ernor in the office of the secretary of 
 state, which shall be at least by the 24th 
 day of June, 1861, and may be sooner 
 if the returns are all received by the 
 Governor, if a majority of the votes 
 polled shall be for ' Separation,' the 
 Governor shall, by his proclamation, 
 make it known, and declare all con- 
 nection by the State of Tennessee with 
 the Federal Union dissolved, and that 
 Tennessee is a free, independent gov- 
 ernment, free from all obligations to, or 
 connection with, the Federal Govern- 
 ment ; and that the Governor shall cause 
 ' the vote by counties' to be published, 
 the number for ' Separation,' and the 
 number for 'No Separation,' whether a 
 majority vote for ' Separation' or ' No 
 Separation.' 
 
 " SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That in 
 the election to be held under the pro- 
 visions of this act, upon the Declaration 
 submitted to the people, all volunteers 
 and other persons connected with the 
 service of this State, qualified to vote 
 for members of the Legislature in the 
 counties where they reside, shall be en- 
 
 titled to vote in any county in the State 
 where they may be in active service, or 
 under orders, or on parole, at the time 
 of said election ; and all other voters 
 shall vote in the county where they rer 
 side, as now required by law in voting 
 for members of the General Assembly. 
 
 " SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That at 
 the same time, and under the rules and 
 regulations prescribed for the election 
 hereinbefore ordered, the following or- 
 dinance shall be submitted to the popu- 
 lar vote. To wit : 
 
 " AN ORDINANCE for the adoption of 
 the Constitution of the Provisional Gov- 
 ernment of the Confederate States of 
 America. 
 
 "We, the people of Tennessee, sol- 
 emnly impressed by the perils that sur- 
 round us, do hereby adopt and ratify 
 the Constitution of the Provisional Gov- 
 ernment of the Confederate States of 
 America, ordained and established at 
 Montgomery, Alabama, on the 8th day 
 of February, 1861, to be in force during 
 the existence thereof, or until such time 
 as we may supersede it by the adoption 
 of a permanent constitution. 
 
 "SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That 
 those in favor of the adoption of said 
 Provisional Constitution, and thereby 
 securing to Tennessee equal representa- 
 tion in the deliberations and councils of 
 the Confederate States, shall have writ- 
 ten or printed on their ballots the word 
 ' Representation ;' opposed, the words 
 ' No Representation.' 
 
 " SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That in 
 the event the people shall adopt the 
 Constitution of the Provisional Govern- 
 
236 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ment of the Confederate States at the 
 election herein ordered, it shall be the 
 duty of the Governor forthwith to issue 
 writs of election for delegates to repre- 
 sent the State of Tennessee in the said 
 Provisional Government. That the State 
 shall be represented by as many dele- 
 gates as it was entitled to members of 
 Congress to the recent Congress of the 
 United States of America, who shall be 
 elected from the several congressional 
 districts as now established by law, in 
 the mode and manner now prescribed 
 for the election of members of Congress 
 of the United States. 
 
 " SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That 
 this act shall take effect from and after 
 its passage. W. C. WHITTHORNE, 
 
 ' Speaker of House of Rep. 
 
 "B. L. STOVALL, 
 " Speaker of the Senate." 
 
 The Tennessee Legislature, conscious 
 that their arbitrary action in this mat- 
 ter was inconsistent with their professed 
 deference to the popular will, issued a 
 labored apology of their conduct. In 
 regard to the secrecy of their session, 
 they confessed that it was the first time 
 in the history of the State that the 
 "rule" had been adopted, but justified 
 and strove to dignify it by some honored 
 historic parallels. The people of Ten- 
 nessee were reminded that the conven- 
 tion which framed the Declaration of 
 Independence of the United States, and 
 that which framed the Constitution of 
 the United States, held their sessions in 
 secret, and that the Senate of the United 
 States not infrequently sits with closed 
 doors. To those who had " taken occa- 
 
 sion to condemn" them, they answered 
 with the sneer that they ' ' may be purer 
 than those who framed the Declaration 
 of Independence, but we very much 
 doubt whether they will have greater 
 hold upon public confidence." 
 
 In justification of their course, they 
 declared that " the country was excited, 
 and the public demands imperious ;" 
 that they desired to legislate uninflu- 
 enced and unretarded by the crowds 
 that would have otherwise attended 
 their deliberations, and that the western 
 part of Tennessee was in an exposed 
 condition, with no military defence 
 whatever ; that the towns and counties 
 bordering on the Mississippi were liable 
 to be assailed by the armed forces col- 
 lected at Cairo, and they desired that no 
 act on their part should form the pre- 
 text for such an invasion, so long as it 
 could be avoided. " Our fellow- citizens 
 of West Tennessee and of Arkansas are 
 laboring night and day," they said, " to 
 erect batteries on the river to prevent 
 the descent of the enemy. A duty that 
 we owed to them and to the cause of 
 humanity demanded that we should not 
 make our action known till the latest 
 possible moment. If some desired light 
 while we were at work, we equally de- 
 sired to save the blood and property of 
 
 Tennesseeans." 
 
 This no doubt was a satisfactory ex- 
 cuse to the secessionists of Tennessee, 
 but hardly a sufficient motive in the 
 opinion of the loyal for depriving them 
 of their constitutional rights, to uphold 
 which that " enemy" so denounced by 
 the Legislature was in arms. 
 
UNIONISTS OF EAST TENNESSEE. 
 
 237 
 
 Throughout Tennessee there was un- 
 doubtedly a strong attachment to the 
 Union, but particularly in the eastern 
 part of the State, a region bordering on 
 the Alleghany range, where the people, 
 possessed of but few slaves, had few 
 interests in common with the lordly 
 planters of the rest of the State. In- 
 habiting a country the land of which 
 can only be cultivated profitably by the 
 personal labor of the proprietors, the 
 people of East Tennessee have learned 
 to depend upon their own resources. 
 They have thus become industrious and 
 self-reliant, and acquired a respect for 
 labor which, as it assimilates them to 
 the people of the North, tends to with- 
 draw their sympathies from the South- 
 ern slaveholders, who, with negroes to 
 do their work, exult in the aristocracy 
 of idleness. 
 
 The action of the Tennessee Legisla- 
 ture was particularly odious to the inde- 
 pendent yeomen of East Tennessee, and 
 they immediately called a convention to 
 be held in Knoxville, "disapproving," 
 as they declared, " of the hasty and in- 
 considerate action of our General As- 
 sembly, and sincerely desirous to do, in 
 the midst of the troubles which surround 
 us, what will be best for our country 
 and for all classes of our citizens." The 
 resistance, however, of this portion of 
 the State has not yet proved of much 
 avail to the cause of the Union, and did 
 not prevent the people of Tennessee, 
 under the terrorism, doubtless, of the mil- 
 itary power, from sanctioning, by a large 
 majority of votes, the arbitrary action 
 of the Legislature. 
 
 Though the Federal Government was 
 disappointed in its anticipations of sup- 
 port in Tennessee, it found great en- 
 couragement in Virginia, where the 
 people of the northwestern district, in 
 spite of the secession of the State, had 
 taken a bold stand for the Union. This 
 portion of Virginia, bounded on the 
 east by the Alleghany range of mount- 
 ains, on the north and west by the free 
 States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and 
 on the south by the Kanawha valley, 
 watered by the river of that name which 
 empties into the Ohio, has much of the 
 geographical and social characteristics 
 of the North. The negro element of 
 the population is comparatively small, 
 there being but fifteen thousand slaves 
 to three hundred and fifty-five thousand 
 four hundred and ninety-two whites ; 
 while in the middle district, between the 
 Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies, the 
 proportion of slaves is forty-eight thou- 
 sand and forty to two hundred and forty- 
 three thousand one hundred and fifty- 
 five whites ; and in Eastern Virginia, 
 lying between the Blue Ridge and the 
 Atlantic, the number of slaves reaches 
 the large proportion of four hundred 
 and thirty-eight thousand four hundred 
 and sixteen to four hundred and forty- 
 eight thousand nine hundred and thirty- 
 two whites. 
 
 The proportion of the negro to the 
 white population, moreover, has been 
 rapidly decreasing in Western Virginia. 
 The number of slaves, it is true, through- 
 out the whole State, has lessened during 
 the last ten years, but it is only in the 
 middle and western districts, and espe- 
 
238 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 cially in the latter, where the whites 
 have much augmented in number. Of 
 the whole increase of the white popula- 
 tion of the State, from 1850 to 1860, 
 estimated at one hundred and fifty-two 
 thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
 nine, no less than seventy-nine thousand 
 eight hundred and twelve more than 
 one-half of the total increase was in 
 Western Virginia. 
 
 This comparative freedom from slavery 
 has produced not only a social diversity, 
 but a difference of interest, which had 
 long tended greatly to weaken the alliance 
 of the western district with the rest of 
 the State. There are, besides, natural 
 influences which, at the same time, have 
 continued to strengthen the sympathy 
 of Western Virginia with the North. 
 The abundant resources of coal and iron 
 have attracted the enterprise of North- 
 ern capitalists and caused an immigration 
 of working-men to a country where the 
 slaves are so few as neither to degrade 
 nor to compete with free labor. The 
 close proximity, moreover, of the States 
 of Pennsylvania and Ohio, between 
 which Western Virginia is wedged, has 
 naturally brought it into such an intimate 
 social and trading relationship with them, 
 that it has become emulous of the spirit 
 of enterprise which, under the impulse 
 of freedom, animates its neighbors. Its 
 chief city, Wheeling, is already so alive 
 with the zealous activity of commerce 
 and manufactures, that it rivals in pros- 
 perity some of the most flourishing 
 communities of the North. The whole 
 region has immense resources for the 
 support of a large and thriving popula- 
 
 tion. With a wholesome climate, cooled 
 by the bracing atmosphere of the 
 mountains ; with a soil of valley and hill- 
 side enriched by the flow of numerous 
 rivers, and sources of wealth in its 
 forests, its water power, its minerals, its 
 navigable streams, and its railroad com- 
 munications, Western Virginia presents 
 a seductive invitation to enterprise and 
 a certain promise of liberal reward. 
 While the affinities of this district are 
 thus naturally with its energetic neigh- 
 bors of the free North / local political 
 differences, apart from an original an- 
 tagonism, have for a long time existed 
 to interrupt its relations with the pre- 
 dominant slave power of the State. 
 Presuming upon its political ascendency, 
 Eastern Virginia had executed vast pro- 
 jects of improvement, especially for its 
 own benefit, and imposed an unequal 
 weight of the prodigal expenditure in- 
 curred, upon the western district. A 
 tax was laid, but all slaves under twelve 
 years of age were exempted. As East- 
 ern Virginia was chiefly engaged in rais- 
 ing negroes for the Southwestern slave- 
 markets, this exemption of a large 
 portion of what was one of their most 
 valuable products, was considered an 
 unjust exception in favor of its own 
 interests. Western Virginia complained 
 grievously, and finally strove in conse- 
 quence to separate from the eastern part 
 of the State. Efforts to this effect had 
 been made, and seemed at one time to 
 have nearly succeeded. 
 
 An opposition to the action of the 
 political leaders of Eastern Virginia in 
 their movement toward wresting the 
 
ACTION OF WESTERN VIRGINIA. 
 
 239 
 
 State from the Union, naturally came 
 from the inhabitants of the west. At 
 the convention which met on the 17th 
 of April at Richmond, the delegates 
 from Western Virginia protested almost 
 unanimously against the act of secession 
 which was passed. Such was the pop- 
 ular indignation to which they exposed 
 themselves by their firm resistance to 
 the prevalent disunion sentiment of that 
 locality, that they barely escaped with 
 their lives from the excited mob of the 
 rebellious city. 
 
 Not satisfied with protests, Western 
 Virginia determined to resist by action 
 the violent disruption of its relations 
 with the Union. Large meetings were 
 held, and it was recommended at a 
 April gathering in Harrison County, 
 
 22. that the people of all the coun- 
 ties of Northwestern Virginia should 
 appoint delegates, not less than five 
 in number, of "their wisest, best, and 
 discreetest men," to meet in conven- 
 tion at Wheeling, on the 13th of May, 
 to " consult and determine upon such 
 action as the people of Northwestern 
 Virginia should take in the present 
 fearful emergency." 
 
 This recommendation met with gen- 
 eral approval, and accordingly delegates, 
 representing thirty of the fifty western 
 Ui a y counties, assembled at Wheeling. 
 
 1* The long-desired object of many 
 Western Virginians became the prom- 
 inent subject of discussion, on the propo- 
 sition of Mr. Carlile for the separation 
 of the western district of Virginia from 
 the rest, and its organization into a State 
 to |>e called " New Virginia." 
 
 This, however, was not adopted, on 
 the ground that it acknowledged the 
 principle of secession, and thus seemed 
 to justify the act of the secessionists of 
 Virginia, against whom and their doc- 
 trines the loyal men of the West had 
 arrayed themselves. Mr. Carlile 's res- 
 olution of separation being, however, 
 changed into one of inquiry as to its 
 policy, became more acceptable, and in 
 this form was adopted. 
 
 The convention, waiving for the pres- 
 ent the question of separation, contented 
 itself with passing resolutions denounc- 
 ing the action of the secessionists of the 
 State, expressing its own loyal attach- 
 ment to the Union, recommending the 
 citizens to vote against the act of seces- 
 sion to be submitted to their suffrage, 
 and in case it should be passed, to ap- 
 point delegates to a general convention 
 to meet for the purpose of devising such 
 measures and taking such action as the 
 welfare and safety of the people they 
 represent might demand. Closing with 
 this ardent appeal to the loyalty of the 
 people of Northwestern Virginia, the 
 convention adjourned : 
 
 "In obedience to the fourteenth* res- 
 olution of the convention which met in 
 this city on the 13th instant, we earn- 
 estly conjure you to enter actively and 
 immediately upon the great work of 
 preparing your neighbors and friends, 
 
 "Resolved, That each county represented in this con- 
 vention, and any others that may be disposed to co-ope- 
 rate with us, be requested to appoint a committee of five, 
 whose duty it shall be to see that all things that may be 
 necessary to be done be attended to, to carry out the ob- 
 jects of this convention, and to correspond with the cen- 
 tral committee." 
 
240 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 as well as yourselves, for the firm, stern, 
 and decided stand necessary to be taken 
 and adhered to at all hazards, and main- 
 tained at any and every cost, if we would 
 preserve to ourselves and transmit to 
 our posterity that unity of government 
 which constitutes us one people, which 
 we justly regard as the palladium of our 
 liberties and the main pillar in the edi- 
 fice of our independence. In this way, 
 and in this way alone, we can save our- 
 selves from the innumerable evils conse- 
 quent upon secession and all the horrors 
 of civil war. 
 
 " Why should the people of North- 
 western Virginia allow themselves to be 
 dragged into the rebellion inaugurated 
 by ambitious and heartless men, who 
 have banded themselves together to de- 
 stroy a government formed for you by 
 your patriot fathers, and which has se- 
 cured to you all the liberties consistent 
 with the nature of man, and has, for 
 near three-fourths of a century, shel- 
 tered you in sunshine and in storm, 
 n ade you the admiration of the civil- 
 ized world, and conferred upon you a 
 title more honored, respected, and re- 
 vered than that of king or potentate 
 the title of American citizen. Will you 
 passively surrender it and submit to 
 be used by the conspirators engaged 
 in this effort to enslave you, as their in- 
 struments by which your enslavement 
 is to be effected ? 
 
 " Freemen who would remain free 
 must prove themselves worthy to be 
 free, and must themselves first strike 
 the blow. 
 
 " What is secession ? A deed not to 
 
 be accomplished in the broad glare of a 
 noonday sun, but a deed of darkness, 
 which had to be performed in secret 
 conclave by the reckless spirits who ac- 
 complished it, in contempt of the people, 
 their masters under our form of govern- 
 ment, but whom the leaders in this 
 work of destruction have determined to 
 enslave. 
 
 " What is secession ? Bankruptcy, 
 ruin, civil war, ending in military des- 
 potism. Prior to the adoption of the 
 ordinance of secession in Virginia, and 
 to the passage by the Legislature of the 
 bill calling a convention, all was peace, 
 and the great business interests of our 
 State were uninterrupted. From the 
 hour that it was proclaimed the ordi- 
 nance of secession had been passed, 
 business of every description has been 
 paralyzed ; State, corporation, and indi- 
 vidual credit is prostrate, and bank- 
 ruptcy and ruin stare us in the face, and 
 war, civil war, with all its attendant 
 horrors, is upon us. Secession, all now 
 see, is war. It is preceded by war, ac- 
 companied and sustained by war, ush- 
 ered into being by war. 
 
 " Who are to stand the brunt of this 
 contest ? Will it be those who have 
 clamored loudest for secession, and who 
 have done the most to bring on the 
 present crisis ? These are the first to 
 flee from the very approach of danger. 
 They hurry, in every train and by every 
 coach, from the anticipated scenes of 
 disturbance. Will the disunion major- 
 ity of the Richmond Convention come 
 into the ranks and shoulder the musket 
 in the strife which they have inaugu- 
 
ADDRESS OF LOYAL VIRGINIANS. 
 
 241 
 
 rated ? They will keep at a respectful 
 distance from danger. They will fill 
 the lucrative offices and secure the rich 
 appointments which appertain to the 
 new order of things. They will luxuri- 
 ate on two or three or four hundred dol- 
 lars per month, with horses, and serv- 
 ants, and rations to match, while the 
 Union-loving people will be called upon, 
 for the honor of Virginia and two shil- 
 lings per day, to do the fighting and un- 
 dergo the hardships of war. ' We are 
 all Virginians,' say they ; ' the State 
 must be sustained, and, right or wrong, 
 we must all fight for Virginia,' etc. 
 
 ' ' What is it to fight for Virginia ? 
 What is it to sustain the State ? Is it to 
 urge her upon a course which leads to 
 visible and gaping destruction ? Is this 
 the way and the only way in which we 
 can testify our devotion to the common- 
 wealth ? If the feelings which actuated 
 our Revolutionary fathers be not all 
 dead in us, we shall exhibit our love for 
 Virginia by repudiating this tyrannical 
 rule which the Richmond Convention 
 has endeavored to impose, and not suffer 
 ourselves to be sold like sheep from the 
 shambles. The people yet hold their 
 destinies in their own hands ; it is for 
 them to accept or reject a tyranny 
 worse many times than that from which 
 the war of '76 delivered us not the 
 tyranny of one man, but of many. 
 
 "But, people of Northwestern Vir- 
 ginia, why should we thus permit our- 
 selves to be tyrannized over and made 
 slaves of by the haughty arrogance and 
 wicked machinations of would-be Eastern 
 despots ? Are we submissionists, craven 
 
 31 
 
 cowards, who will yield to daring ambi- 
 tion the rich legacy of freedom which we 
 have inherited from our fathers, or are 
 we men who know our rights, and know- 
 ing, dare maintain them ? If we are, 
 we will resist the usurpers, and drive 
 from our midst the rebellion sought to 
 be forced upon us. We will, in the 
 strength of our cause, resolutely and 
 determinedly stand by our rights and 
 our liberties, secured to us by the strug- 
 gles of our Revolutionary fathers and 
 the authors of the Constitution under 
 which we have grown and prospered 
 beyond all precedent in the world's 
 history ; we will maintain, protect, and 
 defend that Constitution and the Union 
 with all our strength and with all our 
 powers, ever remembering that ' Resist- 
 ance to tyrants is obedience to God.' 
 
 " We utterly repudiate the war sought 
 to be forced upon us without and against 
 the consent and earnest protestations 
 of the people who have not produced 
 it, but who have, we regret to say, thus 
 far offered no resistance, but have sub- 
 mitted to the filling up of armies and 
 the quartering of troops in their midst ; 
 taking for the purpose our young men 
 who had, in a time of profound peace, 
 and with no expectation of ever being 
 called upon to aid in a rebellion, attached 
 themselves to the volunteer corps of our 
 State. The people, stunned by the 
 magnitude of the crime, have for a time 
 offered no resistance ; but as returning 
 reason enables them to perceive dis- 
 tinctly the objects and purposes of the 
 vile perpetrators of this deed, their 
 hearts swell within them, and already 
 
242 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the cry has gone up from our mountains 
 and our valleys, 'Resistance to tyrants 
 is obedience to God.' 
 
 "Let us urge you, then, that our re- 
 sistance may be effectual, to act in the 
 spirit of the resolutions here appended, 
 adopted by the Convention whose com- 
 mittee we are. Let all our ends be di- 
 rected to the creation of an organized 
 resistance to the despotism of the tyrants 
 who have been in session in Richmond, 
 and who are about to reassemble, that 
 we may maintain our position in the 
 Union under the flag of our common 
 country, which has for so many years 
 waved gracefully and protectingly over 
 us, and which, when we behold upon its 
 ample folds the stripes and the stars of 
 freedom, causes our bosoms to glow with 
 patriotic heat, and our hearts to swell 
 with honest love of country. That this 
 flag, the symbol of our might, challenges 
 our admiration, and justly claims our 
 every effort against those who have 
 dared to desecrate and dishonor it, we 
 all admit. Let us, then, see that we 
 take the proper measures to make 
 effectual those efforts. 
 
 "This Convention to assemble on the 
 llth proximo is looked to to organize 
 our action. Its importance, its necessity 
 will at once strike your minds ; take 
 immediate steps, therefore, to secure for 
 your representatives in the Convention 
 your most determined, resolute, temper- 
 ate, and wisest men. We have already 
 detained you too long ; the time for 
 action, prompt, firm, and decided, has 
 come. In the hope that our action will 
 be that of a united people, we take 
 
 leave of you. confidently calculating 
 that you will give your body, soul, 
 strength, mind, and all the energies of 
 your nature to the work of saving your 
 country from becoming the theatre of a 
 bloody war, brought upon you without 
 your consent and against your will. 
 Let us show Mr. Ex-Secretary Cobb, 
 now President of the Montgomery Con- 
 gress, that we are not willing to recog- 
 nize the transfer of us made by the 
 Richmond Convention, nor do we intend 
 to allow our borders, as he says they 
 will be, to be made the theatre of this 
 war. 
 
 "Fellow-citizens, we ask you to read 
 and ponder well the passage from Mr. 
 Cobb's speech we recite : 
 
 " ' The people of the Gulf States need 
 have no apprehensions ; they might go 
 on with their planting and their other 
 business as usual ; the war would not 
 come to their section ; its theatre would 
 be along the borders of the Ohio River 
 and in Virginia.' 
 
 " The Convention between Virginia 
 and the Confederate States, by which 
 the control of all military operations is 
 placed in the hands of President Davis, 
 insures this result. 
 
 "Fellow-citizens, 'these are times 
 when we must not stop to count sacrifi- 
 ces and costs, where honor, and charac- 
 ter, and self-preservation are put in 
 issue.' The patriot and sage, Daniel 
 Webster, in a speech delivered at Wash- 
 ington in 1851, at the laying of the 
 corner-stone of the addition to the Cap- 
 itol, spoke as follows : 
 
 " 'Ye men of the Blue Ridge, many 
 
FIRST CONFLICT IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. 
 
 243 
 
 thousands of whom are nearer to this 
 capital than the seat of Government of 
 your own State, what do you think of 
 breaking up this great association into 
 fragments of States and of people ? I 
 know that some of you, and I believe 
 that you all would be almost as much 
 shocked at the announcement of such a 
 catastrophe, as if you were informed 
 that the Blue Ridge itself would soon 
 totter from its base ; and ye, men of 
 Western Virginia, who occupy the slope 
 from the Alleghanies to Ohio and Ken- 
 tucky, what benefit do you propose to 
 yourselves by disunion ? If you secede, 
 what do you " secede" from, and what do 
 you "secede" to? Do you look for the 
 current of the Ohio to change and to 
 bring you and your commerce to the 
 tide-waters of Eastern rivers? What 
 man in his senses can suppose that one 
 would remain part and parcel of Vir- 
 ginia in a month after Virginia had 
 ceased to be a part and parcel of the 
 United States ?' 
 
 " Fellow-citizens of Northwestern Vir- 
 ginia, the issue is with you. Your des- 
 tiny is in your own hands. If you are 
 worthy descendants of worthy sires, 
 you will rally to the defence of your 
 liberties, and the Constitution, which 
 has protected and blessed you, will still 
 extend over you its protecting aegis. If 
 you hesitate or falter, all is lost, and you 
 and your children to the latest posterity 
 are destined to perpetual slavery. 
 "JOHN S. CARLILE, JAS. S. WHEAT, A. 
 WILSON, C. D. HUBBARD, F. H. PIER- 
 POINT, S. H. WOODWARD, C. TARR, 
 G. R. LATHAM, JAMES W. PAXTON." 
 
 In sympathy with this spirited action 
 of their political leaders, the people of 
 Western Virginia showed a sentiment 
 of patriotism, and an alacrity not sur- 
 passed even at the North, to rally to 
 arms in defence of the Union. A gen- 
 eral fast was kept at Wheeling, and jj[ a y 
 the clergymen who preached on W. 
 the occasion vied with each other in fer- 
 vor of patriotic appeal. The churches 
 were decorated with the stars and stripes. 
 One loyal pulpit orator declared that he 
 would have no fellowship with traitors, 
 and if there was a secessionist in his 
 congregation, he wished him to leave. 
 Another prayed that the rebels "might 
 be subdued or wiped from the face of 
 the earth."* 
 
 "Union" military companies were 
 formed throughout the loyal district, 
 prepared to resist the advance of the 
 troops in arms to uphold the Southern 
 Confederacy, with which the Governor 
 of Virginia and his fellow-conspirators 
 had leagued the State. The first en- 
 counter took place at the town of jjf a y 
 Clarksburg, in Harrison County. 20, 
 Two companies of " Confederate mil- 
 itary" having marched into the place, 
 the court-house bell was rung, and im- 
 mediately forth came two other com- 
 panies of " Union military." The latter 
 immediately summoned the former to 
 surrender their arms, which after a brief 
 parley was complied with. This was the 
 bloodless beginning of that series of 
 tragic conflicts in which the struggle in 
 Western Virginia has abounded. 
 
 o New York Herald, May 10. 
 
244 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Missouri. Secession Governor and Political Leaders. The Loyalty of the State undoubted at the North. Majority of 
 Inhabitants opposed to Slavery. Proportion of Slaves to Free Population. Small number of Slave Owners. Free 
 
 Labor. The Foreign Population. Germans. Their Character and Enterprise. Their Sentiments on Slavery 
 
 The Action of the Secessionists. Insulting Answer of the Governor to the President's Requisition. Governor's 
 Message. Denunciation of the Federal Authority. Sympathy with the Confederate States. Secret Session of the 
 Legislature. The Governor's Call for Militia. Pretext and Purpose. Alertness of the Union Men of St. Louis. 
 Mustering of Union Volunteers. Rapid Response to the President's Requisition. Home Guards. Guarding the 
 Arsenal. Graphic Account of the Rescue of Arms. Captain Lyon. His Spirited Conduct. Mustering of his Forces. 
 March against the Governor's Secession Camp at Fort Jackson. The Camp surrounded. Disposition of Forces. 
 A Summons to Surrender. Surrender of the Secessionists. Dissatisfaction of the Secessionists. An Excited 
 Crowd. Attack upon the Troops. The Soldiers respond. Fatal Results. Official Justification. Great Agitation 
 in St. Louis. Attack of the City Mob upon the German Home Guard. Another Fatal Collision. Death of the 
 Innocent. Major-General Harney. His return to St. Louis. Biography of Harney. His Headstrong Character. 
 Difficulties at Vancouver. Recalled. Appointed to the Command of the Western Department. Visit to Washing- 
 ton. Capture on the way. Release. Return to St. Louis. A Declaration of Loyalty. Good Advice to Missouri. 
 Conciliatory Proclamation. The " Military Bill." Its Results. Second Proclamation of Harney. A Denuncia- 
 tion of the "Military Bill." Energetic Movements. Secessionists dispersed at Liberty. The affair at Potosi. A 
 Lady delivered of a Secession Flag. League of Harney with the Leader of Secession Troops. The first Effect. 
 Harney Cajoled. Impolitic Conduct. Withdrawal of Hamey. Appointment of Lyon to a Brigadier-Generalship. 
 Succeeds to the Command of Union Troops in Missouri. Energy. 
 
 MISSOURI, though its Governor and 
 many of its most influential polit- 
 ical leaders were known to be in 
 league with the conspirators of the 
 South, contained so great a majority of 
 inhabitants who, in interests and senti- 
 ment, were opposed to slavery, that 
 none at the North doubted, whatever 
 might be the attempts on its loyalty, 
 of its adherence to the Union. Of its 
 whole population of about one million 
 three hundred thousand, the slaves con- 
 stitute not more than a tenth part. Of 
 the whites, there are nearly one hun- 
 dred thousand of foreign birth. The 
 slaveholders amount to little more than 
 twenty thousand, and of these there are 
 hardly a score who possess more than 
 fifty negroes, while the larger propor- 
 
 tion can number but one, two, or three 
 on their slave-rolls. 
 
 With this small proportion of slaves 
 and slave- owners, and large number of 
 inhabitants dependent alone upon free 
 labor, the prevailing political sentiment 
 of the State has been in sympathy with 
 that of the North. The larger propor- 
 tion of the white population of foreign 
 birth are Germans, who, with their 
 patient industry and rigid economy, 
 have become among the most thriving 
 portion of the people. Good agricul- 
 turists, and ambitious of becoming 
 landed proprietors, many have settled 
 upon the fertile prairie districts of the 
 State, and with the aversion to the aid 
 of slave labor natural to those long 
 accustomed to honest toil, cultivate 
 
SECESSIONISM IN MISSOURI. 
 
 245 
 
 their farms themselves. Among them, 
 too, are large numbers of plodding 
 tradesmen, skilled artificers, and miners, 
 who having availed themselves of the 
 great natural resources of the State are 
 among the most energetic and prosperous 
 of those engaged in commerce, mining, 
 and manufactures. This large and in- 
 fluential German population is, almost 
 without an exception, opposed to slavery, 
 and devotedly attached to that Union 
 under whose liberal sway they have had 
 free scope for the exercise of their in- 
 dustry, and hitherto secured the enjoy- 
 ment of its fruits. 
 
 Notwithstanding the predominating 
 sentiment of loyalty, the political lead- 
 ers of Missouri were determined to 
 make an effort to wrest the State from 
 the Union, or to create by internal dis- 
 order a division in favor of the seced- 
 ers, by which they hoped to embarrass 
 the Federal authority in its efforts to 
 suppress the Southern rebellion. The 
 Governor, C. F. Jackson, had sent an 
 insulting refusal to the demand of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln for troops : " Your requisi- 
 tion," he said, "in my judgment, is 
 illegal, unconstitutional, and revolution- 
 ary in its objects inhuman and diaboli- 
 cal, and cannot be complied with, Not 
 one man will the State of Missouri 
 furnish to carry on such an unholy 
 crusade." 
 
 Again, in his message to the Legisla- 
 May ture of Missouri convened to con- 
 3 sider the policy of the State in 
 relation to the civil quarrel, the Gover- 
 nor denounced the conduct of the Fed- 
 eral Government as unconstitutional, 
 
 and tending toward "consolidated des- 
 potism," while in these words he mani- 
 fested his own sympathy with the 
 rebellious States, and indicated his dis- 
 position to commit Missouri to their 
 destiny : 
 
 " Our interests and sympathies are 
 identified with those of the slaveholding 
 States, and necessarily unite our desti- 
 nies with theirs. The similarity of our 
 social and political institutions, our 
 industrial interests, our sympathies, 
 habits, and tastes, our common origin, 
 territorial contiguity, all concur in point- 
 ing out our duty in regard to the sep- 
 aration now taking place between the 
 States of the old Federal Union. Mis- 
 souri has at this time no war to prosecute. 
 It is not her policy to make an aggres- 
 sion, but in the present state of the 
 country she would be faithless to her 
 honor, recreant to her duty, were she 
 to hesitate a moment in making the 
 most ample preparation for the protec- 
 tion of her people against the aggres- 
 sions of all assailants. I therefore rec- 
 ommend an appropriation of a sufficient 
 sum of money to place the State at the 
 earliest practicable moment in a com- 
 plete state of defence." 
 
 The Legislature, the majority of which 
 was ready to act in compliance with the 
 seditious inclinations of the Governor, 
 held its session in secret. Sustained by 
 its acts, the Governor's next step was to 
 call out the militia of the State and or- 
 der them to be encamped, under the 
 pretext to perfect their organization and 
 drill, but in reality, as it was believed, 
 to have an armed force under his con- 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 trol ready to further the objects of seces- 
 sion, by keeping in awe the loyal cit- 
 izens of Missouri, and seizing the Fed- 
 eral property. The arsenal at St. Louis, 
 with its abundant supplies of arms be- 
 longing to the United States, was only 
 saved from the grasp of the disloyal 
 Governor and his mob of secession fol- 
 lowers by the prompt action of the 
 Governor of the neighboring State of 
 Illinois. The successful exploit by which 
 this valuable property was secured, is 
 well told in the following narrative : 
 
 " Captain James H. Stokes, of Chi- 
 cago, late of the regular army, volun- 
 teered to undertake the perilous mission, 
 and Governor Yates placed in his hands 
 the requisition of the secretary of war for 
 10, 000 muskets. Captain Stokes went to 
 St. Louis, and made his way as rapidly as 
 possible to the arsenal. He found it sur- 
 rounded by an immense mob, and the 
 postern gates all closed. His utmost ef- 
 forts to penetrate the crowd were for a 
 long time unavailing. The requisition 
 was shown. Captain L}^on doubted the 
 possibility of executing it. He said the 
 arsenal was surrounded by a thousand 
 spies, and every movement was watched 
 and reported to the headquarters of the 
 secessionists, who could throw an over- 
 powering force upon them at any mo- 
 ment. Captain Stokes represented that 
 every hour's delay was rendering the cap- 
 ture of the arsenal more certain, and the 
 arms must be moved to Illinois now or 
 never. Major Callender agreed with 
 him, and told him to take them at his 
 own time and in his own way. This 
 was Wednesday night, 24th April. 
 
 " Captain Stokes had a spy in the 
 camp, whom he met at intervals in a 
 certain place in the city. On Thursday 
 he received information that Governor 
 Jackson had ordered two thousand 
 armed men down from Jefferson City, 
 whose movements could only contem- 
 plate a seizure of the arsenal, by occu- 
 pying the heights around it, and plant- 
 ing batteries thereon. The job would 
 have been an easy one. They had al- 
 ready planted one battery on the St. 
 Louis levee, and another at Powder 
 Point, a short distance below the ar- 
 senal. Captain Stokes immediately tel- 
 egraphed to Alton to have the steamer 
 City of Alton drop down to the arsenal, 
 landing about midnight. He then re- 
 turned to the arsenal and commenced 
 moving the boxes of guns, weighing some 
 three hundred pounds each, down to the 
 lower floor. 
 
 " About seven hundred men were em- 
 ployed in the work. He then took five 
 hundred Kentucky flint-lock muskets, 
 which had been sent there to be altered, 
 and sent them to be placed on a steamer 
 as a blind to cover his real movements. 
 The secessionists nabbed them at once, 
 and raised a perfect bedlam over the 
 capture. A large portion of the outside 
 crowd left the arsenal when this move- 
 ment was executed, and Captain Lyon 
 took the remainder, who were lying 
 around as spies, and locked them up in 
 the guard-house. About eleven o'clock 
 the steamer City of Alton came along- 
 side, planks were shoved out from the 
 windows to the main deck, and the 
 boxes slid down. When the 10,000 
 
LOYALTY IN ST. LOUIS. 
 
 247 
 
 were safely on board, Captain Stokes 
 went to Captain Lyon and Major Cal- 
 lender and urged them, by the most 
 pressing appeals, to let him empty the 
 arsenal. They told him to go ahead 
 and take whatever he wanted. Accord- 
 ingly, he took 10,000 more muskets, 
 500 new rifle carbines, 500 revolvers, 
 110,000 musket cartridges, to say noth- 
 ing of the cannon and a large quantity 
 of miscellaneous accoutrements, leaving 
 only 7,000 muskets in the arsenal to arm 
 the St. Louis volunteers. 
 
 " When the whole were on board, 
 about two o'clock on Friday morning 
 the order was given by the captain of 
 the steamer to cast off. Judge of the 
 consternation of all hands when it was 
 found that she would not move. The 
 arms had been piled in great quantities 
 around the engines to protect them 
 against the battery on the levee, and 
 the great weight had fastened the bows 
 of the boat firmly on a rock, which was 
 tearing a hole through the bottom at 
 every turn of the wheels. A man of 
 less nerve than Captain Stokes would 
 have gone crazy on the spot. He called 
 the arsenal men on board, and com- 
 menced moving the boxes to the stern. 
 
 "Fortunately, when about two hun- 
 dred boxes had been shifted, the boat 
 fell away from the shore, and floated in 
 deep water. ' Which way ?' said Cap- 
 tain Mitchell, of the steamer. ' Straight 
 to Alton, in the regular channel.' replied 
 Captain Stokes. ' What if we are at- 
 tacked ?' said Captain Mitchell. ' Then 
 we will fight,' said Captain Stokes. 
 'What if we are overpowered?' said 
 
 Captain Mitchell. ' Run her to the 
 deepest part of the river, and sink her/' 
 replied Captain Stokes. ' I'll do it,' was 
 the heroic answer of Captain Mitchell ; 
 and away they went past the secession 
 battery, past the entire St. Louis levee, 
 and on to Alton, in the regular channel, 
 where they arrived at five o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 " When the boat touched the landing, 
 Captain Stokes, fearing pursuit by some 
 two or three of the secession military 
 companies by which the city of St. Louis 
 is disgraced, ran to the market-house 
 and rang the fire-bell. The citizens 
 came flocking pell-mell to the river in 
 all sorts of habiliments. Captain Stokes 
 informed them of the situation of things, 
 and pointed out the freight-cars. In- 
 stantly men, women, and children 
 boarded the steamer, seized the freight, 
 and clambered up the levees to the 
 cars. Rich and poor tugged together 
 with might and main for two hours, 
 when the cargo was all deposited in the 
 cars, and the train moved off, amid their 
 enthusiastic cheers, for Springfield." 
 
 The loyal men of St. Louis, the ma- 
 jority of whose citizens were of unques- 
 tioned fidelity to the Union, were also 
 on the alert. Four regiments of volun- 
 teers were immediately mustered, ready 
 to do service for the United States, so 
 that the energetic Colonel Frank P. 
 Blair, to whose efforts this success was 
 greatly due, had the satisfaction of writ- 
 ing to Washington that Missouri, in 
 spite of the Governor's insulting re- 
 fusal, had responded faithfully, within a 
 week, to the President's call for troops. 
 
248 
 
 TPIE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 At the same time, several thousands of 
 the citizens of St. Louis had enrolled 
 themselves as a home guard, and were 
 stationed at the arsenal to guard its im- 
 portant stores, and be in readiness for 
 other loyal service. The Government 
 at Washington had, with more than usual 
 foresight and promptitude, sent orders 
 to Captain Lyon, in command of the 
 small Federal force of regulars at St. 
 Louis, to enrol, if necessary, ten thou- 
 sand men for the maintenance of the 
 authority of the United States Govern- 
 ment. This spirited young officer at 
 once zealously applied himself to the 
 work, and immediately, with the aid of 
 Blair's regiments, was able to muster a 
 force of nearly six thousand. 
 
 Lyon's first movement was to check 
 the military operations of the Governor, 
 who had encamped some eight hundred 
 militia at Camp Jackson,* on the out- 
 skirts of the city of St. Louis. Lyon 
 jji a y accordingly marched with his whole 
 W force through the streets of the city, 
 which was greatly agitated by the then 
 unusual event, to the undulating coun- 
 try beyond. On reaching the camp, 
 he drew up the First and Third regi- 
 ments, under the respective commands 
 
 " The main avenue of Camp Jackson, recently under 
 command of General Frost, had the name of Davis, and a 
 principal street of the same camp that of Beauregard ; and 
 a body of men had also been received into that camp by 
 its commander which had been notoriously organized in 
 the interests of the secessionists, the men openly wearing 
 the dress and badge distinguishing the army of the so- 
 called Southern Confederacy. It is also a notorious fact 
 that a quantity of arms had been received into the camp 
 which were unlawfully taken from the United States ar- 
 senal at Baton Rouge, and surreptitiously passed up the 
 river in boxes marked ' marble. ' ' ' General Barney's Procla- 
 mation, May 14th. 
 
 of Colonel Siegel and Colonel F. P. 
 Blair, and his small detachment of 
 United States regulars, on the northern 
 side, where he also posted four pieces 
 of artillery. The Second Regiment, un- 
 der Colonel Borenstein, was so placed 
 as to command the western, and Colonel 
 Shuttner, with his force of volunteers, 
 took position on the south. Guards 
 were posted at the entrance to the 
 camp to prevent any one either going 
 out or in, and several pieces of flying 
 artillery were placed upon the sur- 
 rounding heights commanding the en- 
 campment. Having thus effectually sur- 
 rounded in less than a half hour the 
 Governor's force, which had no alterna- 
 tive but submission, Lyon summoned 
 the general in command to surrender. 
 
 " HEADQTJABTEKS U. S. TROOPS, ) 
 ST. Louis, May 10. f 
 
 " To GENERAL D. M. FROST : 
 
 " Sm : Your command is regarded as 
 evidently hostile toward the Govern- 
 ment of the United States. It is, for 
 the most part, made up of those seces- 
 sionists who have openly avowed their 
 hostility to the General Government, 
 and have been plotting for the seizure 
 of its property and the overthrow of its 
 authority. You are openly in communi- 
 cation with the so-called Southern Con- 
 federacy, which is now at war with the 
 United States ; and you are receiving 
 at your camp, from the said Confeder- 
 acy, under its flag, large supplies of 
 material of war, most of which is known 
 to be the property of the United States. 
 These extraordinar}* preparations plainly 
 indicate none other than the well-known 
 
SURRENDER OF CAMP JACKSON. 
 
 purpose of the Governor of this State, 
 under whose orders you are acting, and 
 whose purpose, recently communicated 
 to the Legislature, has just been respond- 
 ed to by that body in the most unpar- 
 alleled legislation, having in direct view 
 hostilities toward the General Govern- 
 ment, and co-operation with its enemies. 
 " In view of these considerations, and 
 your failure to disperse in obedience to 
 the proclamation of the President, and 
 of the eminent necessity of State policy 
 and welfare, and obligations imposed 
 upon me by instructions from Washing- 
 ton, it is my duty to demand, and I do 
 hereby demand of you, an immediate 
 surrender of your command, with no 
 other conditions than that all persons 
 surrendering under this demand shall 
 be humanely and kindly treated. Be- 
 lieving myself prepared to enforce this 
 demand, one half hour's time before 
 doing so will be allowed for your com- 
 pliance therewith. 
 
 "N. LYON, 
 11 Captain Second Infantry." 
 
 The general in command of the so- 
 called State troops, believed, however, 
 to be in arms to sustain the cause of 
 secession, finding that resistance would 
 be of no avail, promptly surrendered 
 himself and his whole force, while em- 
 phatically declaring that his men had 
 been enrolled under the authority of 
 the State with no hostile object. 
 
 The troops, when they discovered 
 that they had been so unceremoniously 
 disposed of, gave vent to their dissatis- 
 faction, as they were marched out and 
 placed under guard, in the "wildest 
 
 32 
 
 yells, curses, and groans," in which they 
 were joined by a portion of the large 
 mob which had in the mean time gath- 
 ered and followed the troops from the 
 city. When Captain Lyon proceeded 
 to take possession of the surrendered 
 camp, the crowd became still more 
 excited, and beginning with casting in- 
 sults and imprecations upon the United 
 States soldiers, finally threw at them 
 stones and any other missile at hand. 
 The troops, however, did not lose their 
 self-control, and went calmly on. Fi- 
 nally, one of the mob fired a revolver 
 and shot a soldier dead. As he fell, his 
 comrades turned round and presented 
 their muskets, when some of the crowd 
 again fired. On the second discharge, 
 one of the captains ordered his company 
 to fire, which dispersed the throng, kill- 
 ing a large number, of whom several 
 were women and children drawn to the 
 spot by a fatal curiosity. 
 
 The following statement, given on the 
 authority of Captain Lyon, explicitly 
 justifies the conduct of the United States 
 soldiers : 
 
 ' ' The first firing was some half dozen 
 shots near the head of the column, com- 
 posed of the First Regiment, which was 
 guarding the prisoners. It occurred in 
 this wise : The artillery were stationed 
 on the bluff northeast of Camp Jackson, 
 with their pieces bearing on the camp. 
 The men of this command were most 
 insultingly treated by the mob ; with 
 the foulest epithets, were pushed, struck, 
 and pelted with stones and dirt. All 
 this was patiently borne, until one of 
 the mob discharged a revolver at the 
 
250 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 men. At this they fired, but not more 
 than six shots, which were sufficient to 
 disperse that portion of the mob. How 
 many were killed by this fire is not 
 known. None of the First Regiment 
 (Colonel Blair's) fired, although continu- 
 ally and shamefully abused both by the 
 prisoners and the mob. 
 
 " The second and most destructive 
 firing was from the rear of the column 
 guarding the prisoners. The mob at the 
 point intervening between Camp Jack- 
 son and the rear of the column, and, in 
 fact, on all sides, were very abusive, and 
 one of them, on being expostulated 
 with, became very belligerent, drew his 
 revolver, and fired at Lieutenant Saxton, 
 of the regular army, three times, during 
 which a crowd around him cheered him 
 on, many of them drawing their revol- 
 vers and firing on the United States 
 troops. The man who commenced the 
 firing, preparatory to a fourth shot, laid 
 his pistol across his arm, and was taking 
 deliberate aim at Lieutenant Saxton, 
 when he was thrust through with a 
 bayonet, and fired upon at the same 
 time, being killed instantly. Here the 
 column of troops having received the 
 order to march, Lieutenant Saxton's 
 command passed on, and a company in 
 the rear became the objects of a furious 
 attack, when, several of their number 
 having been shot, the company came to 
 a halt, and fired with fatal effect. The 
 mob, in retreating from both sides of the 
 line, returned the fire, and the troops 
 replied again. The command was then 
 given by Captain Lyon to cease firing, 
 and the order was promptly obeyed, as 
 
 rapidly as it could be passed along the 
 line. 
 
 "The sad results are much to be 
 lamented. The killing of innocent men, 
 women, and children is deplorable. 
 There was no intention to fire upon 
 peaceable citizens. The regular troops 
 were over in the camp, beyond the mob, 
 and in range of the firing. The troops 
 manifested every forbearance, and at 
 last discharged their guns, simply obey- 
 ing the impulse, natural to us all, of 
 self-defence. If innocent men, women, 
 and children, whose curiosity placed 
 them in a dangerous position, suffered 
 with the guilty, it is no fault of the 
 troops." 
 
 The fatal collision of the mob of St. 
 Louis with the United States volunteers 
 was the cause of great excitement, and 
 increased the exasperation, of that por- 
 tion of the populace favorable to the 
 secessionists, against the Federal troops 
 and officers. The Germans, prominent 
 in the ranks of loyalty, were more espe- 
 cially the objects of the indignation of the 
 infuriated disunionists, who sought the 
 earliest opportunity of venting their rage 
 and revenging upon them the fall of their 
 confederates. On the very next jjj a y 
 day after the capture of Fort Jack- W 
 son, an occasion occurred which resulted 
 in another tragedy. A. body of Ger- 
 man Home Guards having been enrolled 
 at the arsenal and supplied with arms, 
 proceeded to march through the city. 
 Great crowds had collected, which re- 
 ceived the troops with hootings and 
 hisses, and a man out of the throng 
 fired a revolver, shooting dead one of 
 
GENERAL HARNEY. 
 
 251 
 
 the soldiers. This discharge being im- 
 mediately followed by two others from 
 the neighboring houses, the troops sud- 
 denly turned round, presented their 
 muskets, and fired a volley down the 
 street. A promiscuous slaughter fol- 
 lowed, in which innocent women and 
 children again suftered the fate of the 
 guilty. These two fatal collisions had 
 resulted in the death and wounding of 
 some fifty in all, and served to embitter 
 still more the unhappy feeling already 
 existing among the inhabitants of the 
 same city. 
 
 The return, however, of Major-Gen- 
 eral Harney, the commander of the de- 
 partment of the West, to St. Louis, 
 where he had established his headquar- 
 ters, served for a time to compose the 
 angry dissensions in Missouri, and to 
 give hopes of saving that State from the 
 evils of a civil conflict. 
 
 William Selby Harney was born in 
 Tennessee in the year 1800, and entered 
 the army as a second lieutenant of the 
 First Infantry at the age of eighteen. 
 He had acquired, during his long service, 
 the reputation of an energetic, though 
 arbitrary officer. His characteristic im- 
 pulsiveness and headstrong disregard of 
 consequences led him to assume pos- 
 session of the island of San Juan, in 
 Vancouver's Bay, during the dispute 
 with Great Britain in regard to the 
 boundary line between the northwestern 
 possessions of that power and Oregon. 
 This unauthorized act excited greatly 
 the anger of England, which was only 
 appeased by the recall of Harney and 
 the conciliatory action of the veteran 
 
 Scott, who was sent to supersede him 
 in command. 
 
 At the beginning of the present civil 
 war, Harney was the Commander-in- 
 chief of the Western Department, but 
 was temporarily absent from St. Louis 
 during the disturbances in that city, 
 having been summoned to Washington. 
 On his way he was taken prisoner by 
 the Confederates at Harper's Ferry, but 
 being soon released, he hastened, after a 
 brief visit to the capital, to resume his 
 duties in the West. Though the ties of 
 birth and property attached him strongly 
 to the slave States, he promptly declared 
 his firm loyalty to the Union : 
 
 " The Government, whose honors 
 have been bestowed upon me, I shall 
 serve," he wrote, in a published letter, 
 " for the remainder of my days. The 
 flag whose glories I have witnessed shall 
 never be forsaken by me while I can 
 strike a blow for its defense. While I 
 have breath I shall be ready to serve 
 the Government of the United States, 
 and be its faithful, loyal soldier." 
 
 To these expressions of loyalty the 
 General added some pertinent advice to 
 Missouri : 
 
 " Secession would, in my opinion," he 
 emphatically declared, " be her ruin. 
 The only special interest of Missouri, in 
 common with the Confederate States, is 
 slavery. Her interest in that institu- 
 tion is now protected by the Federal 
 Constitution. But if Missouri secedes, 
 that protection is gone. Surrounded on 
 three sides by free States, which might 
 soon become hostile, it would not be 
 Ions: until a slave could not be found 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 within her borders. What interest could 
 Missouri, then, have with the cotton 
 States, or a confederacy founded on 
 slavery and its extension ? The pro- 
 tection of her slave property, if nothing- 
 else, admonishes her to never give up 
 the Union. Other interests of vast mag- 
 nitude can only be preserved by a stead- 
 fast adherence and support of the United 
 States Government. All hope of a Pa- 
 cific Railroad, so deeply interesting to 
 St. Louis and the whole State, must 
 vanish with the Federal Government. 
 Great manufacturing and commercial 
 interests with which the cotton States 
 can have no sympathy, must perish in 
 case of secession, and from her present 
 proud condition of a powerful, thriving 
 State, rapidly developing every ele- 
 ment of wealth and social prosperity, 
 Missouri would dwindle to a mere ap- 
 pendage and convenience for the mili- 
 tary aristocracy established in the cot- 
 ton States." 
 
 Immediately on his return to his post 
 at St. Louis, General Harney strove 
 with unquestioned sincerity, but uncer- 
 May tain vigor, to allay the civil strife 
 12* in Missouri. In his first proclama- 
 tion he assumed a highly conciliatory 
 tone : 
 
 " I most anxiously desire," he pro- 
 claimed, "to discharge the delicate and 
 onerous duties devolved upon me so as 
 to preserve the public peace. I shall 
 carefully abstain from the exercise of 
 any unnecessary powers, and from all 
 interference with the proper functions 
 of the public officers of the State and 
 city. I therefore call upon the public 
 
 authorities and the people to aid me in 
 preserving the public peace. 
 
 "The military force stationed in this 
 department by the authority of the 
 Government, and now under my com- 
 mand, will only be used in the last re- 
 sort to preserve peace. I trust I may 
 be spared the necessity of resorting to 
 martial law, but the public peace must 
 be preserved, and the lives and property 
 of the people protected. Upon a care- 
 ful review of my instructions, I find I 
 have no authority to change the loca- 
 tion of the Home Guards. 
 
 " To avoid all cases ot irritation and 
 excitement, if called upon to aid the 
 local authorities in preserving the public 
 peace, I shall, in preference, make use 
 of the regular army." 
 
 In the mean time, the Legislature, 
 still in session at Jefferson City, passed a 
 "military bill," the object of which was 
 apparently to resist the Federal author- 
 ity. The Governor was authorized to 
 call out the militia, and a large sum 
 was appropriated to arm and equip 
 them. At the same time extraordinary 
 powers were given to the Governor, by 
 which he might control the State troops 
 to his own purposes, which no one could 
 doubt were in accordance with the in- 
 terests of secession. No sooner had the 
 "military bill" passed, than the Gover- 
 nor began to avail himself of the priv- 
 ileges it conferred, by mustering a mil- 
 itary force, and ordering the telegraph 
 and railroad bridges which communi- 
 cated with St. Louis to be destroyed, in 
 order to prevent the loyal troops of that 
 city from marching to the rescue of the 
 
HARNEY ATTEMPTS CONCILIATION. 
 
 253 
 
 State from the grasp of its secession 
 conspirators. 
 
 General Harney now issued a second 
 May proclamation, to the gentle plead- 
 17* ings of which in behalf of loyalty 
 he added a not very undecided declara- 
 tion of the rebellious character of the 
 "military bill." 
 
 "It is with regret," he said, "that I 
 feel it my duty to call your attention to 
 the recent act of the General Assembly 
 of Missouri, known as the ' military bill, 7 
 which is the result, no doubt, of the 
 temporary excitement that now pervades 
 the public mind. This bill cannot be 
 regarded in any other light than an in- 
 direct secession ordinance, ignoring even 
 the forms resorted to by other States. 
 Manifestly its most material provisions 
 are in conflict with the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States. To this ex- 
 tent it is a nullity, and cannot and ought 
 not to be upheld or regarded by the 
 good citizens of Missouri. There are 
 obligations and duties resting upon the 
 people of Missouri under the Constitu- 
 tion and laws of the United States which 
 are paramount, and which I trust you 
 will carefully consider and weigh well 
 before you will allow yourselves to be 
 carried out of the Union, under the 
 form of yielding obedience to this ' mili- 
 tary bill,' which is clearly in violation of 
 your duties as citizens of the United 
 States." 
 
 To this proclamation succeeded an 
 energetic movement toward repressing 
 the secession demonstrations in various 
 parts of the State of Missouri. Two 
 hundred armed secessionists were dis- 
 
 persed from the arsenal at Liberty, and 
 soon after the Federal arms met with 
 other success. Some Union men having 
 been driven from Potosi, in Washington 
 County, Captain Lyon sent a small 
 force, consisting of a hundred and fifty 
 volunteers under the command of jn ay 
 Captain Coles, to their relief. Ar- !* 
 riving at Potosi before daylight, Cap- 
 tain Coles posted a chain of sentinels 
 around the town, and stationed guards 
 at the houses of the prominent seces- 
 sionists. As the day broke, some hun- 
 dred and fifty men found themselves 
 thus imprisoned without hope of escape. 
 Most of them were released on giving 
 their parole and taking the oath not to 
 take up arms against the United States, 
 while the prominent leaders were held 
 captive. Various munitions of war and 
 other supplies intended for the secession- 
 ists were at the same time seized. On 
 their way back from Potosi, the Union 
 troops put to flight at De Soto a com- 
 pany of secession cavalry, captured a 
 score or more of their horses, and their 
 flag, secreted within the hoops of a lady 
 of the place. The service of the surgeon 
 of the United States volunteers was very 
 appropriately put into requisition on 
 the occasion. On entering, " the doctor 
 thought he observed the lady of the 
 house sitting in rather an uneasy posi- 
 tion, and he very politely asked her to 
 rise. At first the lady hesitated, but 
 finding the doctor's persuasive suavity 
 more than she could withstand, she slow- 
 ly rose, when the bright folds of the rebel 
 ensign appeared around the lady's feet. 
 The doctor, bowing a graceful ' beg par- 
 
251 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 don, madam,' stooped, and quietly catch- 
 ing hold of the gaudy color, found in his 
 possession a secession flag thirty* feet 
 long and nine feet wide." 
 
 Having apparently checked the rising 
 spirit of rebellion by judicious military 
 movements, General Harney sought, by 
 a quasi league with the leader of the 
 so-called State troops, to establish a per- 
 manent truce with the seditiously dis- 
 posed citizens of Missouri. He accord- 
 ingly held a personal interview with 
 Sterling Price, appointed by the Gov- 
 ernor a major-general of the Missouri 
 militia, and who, like him, was doubtless 
 in league with the Southern leaders of 
 rebellion. General Harney, persuaded 
 by the artful plausibilities of the shrewd 
 May Pri ce > was cajoled into an agree- 
 21 ment, by which he pledged the 
 Federal authority to withhold its power, 
 and to leave the seditious Governor and 
 his confederates to pursue their own 
 designs, under the pretext of preserv- 
 ing order in the State. In a joint decla- 
 ration, signed by General Harney and 
 the major-general of the so-styled State 
 Guard, it was announced that " General 
 Price, having by commission full author- 
 ity over the militia of the State of 
 Missouri, undertakes, with the sanction 
 of the Governor of the State already 
 
 St. Louis Democrat, May 17. 
 
 declared, to direct the whole power of 
 the State officers to maintain order within 
 the State among the people thereof ; and 
 General Harney publicly declares that 
 this object being thus assured, he can 
 have no occasion, as he has no wish, to 
 make military movements which might 
 otherwise create excitements and jeal- 
 ousies which he most earnestly desires 
 to avoid/' 
 
 Although the immediate effect of this 
 compact was to tranquilize the public 
 sentiment of Missouri, it soon became 
 evident that the Governor and his con- 
 federates had been using General Harney 
 to further their own seditious purposes. 
 They continued to muster their military 
 forces, and were evidently bent upon 
 hostility to the Union men of the State. 
 The Government at Washington becom- 
 ing conscious of the impolitic action of 
 General Harney, withdrew him from the 
 Western Department. Lyon, who May 
 had been lately promoted to the !? 
 rank of brigadier-general of volunteers, 
 succeeded to the command of the Fed- 
 eral forces in Missouri. This energetic 
 officer at once proceeded to assert the 
 authority of the Union by the most 
 decisive action. We shall soon have 
 occasion to say more of him and his 
 spirited achievements. 
 
LOYALTY OF THE WEST. 
 
 255 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Spirit of Loyalty of the Free States of the "West. Attachment to the Union. Interests in the Struggle. The danger of 
 being cut off from the Mississippi. The Position of Illinois. Her interest in the preservation of Communication. 
 Spirited Action. Military Possession of Cairo. Situation of Cairo. The Key to the Northwest. The motive for 
 founding the City. Marshy Site. Artificial Dykes. Great Size and enormous Expense. Illinois Central Railroad. 
 Population of Cairo. Its Docks. A Reservoir of Water. Artificial Remedies. Future Prospects. Neighbor- 
 hood of Cairo described. Cairo as a Military Post. Bird's Point. Its Position. Description of the place. Its 
 Importance. Danger of its Seizure. Secured to the United States by General Lyon. Communications with Cairo. 
 Columbus. Paducah. Military Possession of Cairo a blow to the Enemy. Their Opinion. Increased Military 
 Energy of the United States. Move across the Potomac. The vote on Secession in Virginia. Scruples of Govern- 
 ment. The crossing of the Potomac. Arlington Heights occupied. Entrenchments. Opposition anticipated at 
 Alexandria. The animosity of the City. Secession Flags. Expedition against Alexandria. The plan. Move- 
 ment of the Michigan Regiment. Embarkation of the New York Fire Zouaves. The Steamer Pawnee. Indiscreet 
 haste of the Zouaves. Landing at Alexandria. Death of Colonel Ellsworth. The Michigan Regiment disap- 
 pointed. Escape of Virginia Troops. Capture of thirty seven Horsemen. Occupation of Alexandria. Sacrifice 
 of a promising life. Biography of Ellsworth. Early Career. Military Tastes. His Company of Chicago Zouaves. 
 How shown and admired. Application for a clerkship in the War Department. Disappointment. Made a Lieu- 
 tenant in the Army. Resignation. Recruits the Fire Zouaves at New York, and becomes their Colonel. Grief at 
 his death. A touching Letter. 
 
 1861, 
 
 THE free States of the West, actuated 
 by a sentiment of loyalty which inspir- 
 ited them to vindicate the honor 
 and preserve the integrity of a 
 Union to which they were fondly at- 
 tached, exhibited the greatest alertness 
 in coming to the rescue of the Federal 
 Government. Finding, moreover, their 
 interests deeply involved in a struggle, 
 which, with the secession of Louisiana, 
 Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and 
 the unsettled condition of Missouri and 
 Kentucky, threatened, by obstructing 
 the navigation of the Mississippi River, 
 to cut off that great channel of com- 
 munication between the Northern lakes 
 and the Gulf of Mexico, they felt, with 
 all the impressiveness of a motive of self- 
 preservation, the necessity of resisting 
 the rebellion. 
 
 Illinois, from her geographical posi- 
 tion, had been the chief State to profit 
 from that bountiful provision of nature 
 which united Lake Michigan and the 
 Gulf of Mexico, and brought the north- 
 ern city of Chicago into close relation- 
 ship with tropical New Orleans. This 
 State, accordingly, alive to the import- 
 ance of securing a communication which 
 had proved so great a source of inspira- 
 tion to her enterprise and of the wealth 
 that had crowned its efforts, eagerly 
 strove to further the endeavors of the 
 Federal Government to prevent the dis- 
 ruption of the Union. Her troops re- 
 sponded readily to the call of the Gov- 
 ernor, and were soon enabled to hold 
 in force the most important strategic 
 point of the West. This was the city 
 of Cairo, within her own borders. 
 
256 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Cairo is situated at the extreme south 
 of Illinois, in Alexandria County, on 
 the delta at the confluence of the Ohio 
 with the Mississippi. On the east the 
 former separates it from Kentucky, and 
 on the west the latter separates it from 
 Missouri. Cairo thus, by its position, 
 commands the navigation of both rivers 
 and the shores of the two neighboring 
 States at this point. It is, as it were, the 
 key to that extensive and important ter- 
 ritory familiarly known as the Great 
 Northwest, watered by the upper Mis- 
 sissippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, and 
 their tributary streams. The city was 
 founded with the expectation, from the 
 natural advantages of geographical po- 
 sition, of its becoming a great trading 
 emporium. Immense sums were ex- 
 pended in rendering it habitable. Nat- 
 urally a swamp, the land was covered 
 with water for the greater part of the 
 year. Large dykes or levees were raised 
 for two miles and a half along the bor- 
 ders of the Mississippi and Ohio, and 
 joined by a transverse embankment, 
 so as to close in the site and shut 
 out the constant overflow of those 
 rivers. Several attempts had been 
 made in vain to protect the town from 
 inundation, until finally the present 
 works were constructed at an enormous 
 expense. These now consist of vast 
 dykes, from ten to thirty feet in height, 
 with a breadth, at the top, from twenty 
 to fifty feet, and at the bottom, from 
 eighty to a hundred feet. Much of the 
 structure was built at the expense of 
 the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 
 to which a great portion of the land 
 
 belonged, and here its extreme southern 
 depot and works have been established. 
 The inhabitants, amounting to about 
 four thousand, have settled chiefly in the 
 quarter bordered by the Ohio, where 
 they have filled in the marshy site of 
 the town almost to the height of the 
 embankment, which protects it from the 
 tide-waters of the river. The loading 
 and unloading of freight is performed by 
 means of large floating docks or wharf- 
 boats, so contrived and moored that 
 they can be adapted to the rise and fall 
 of the tide, and thus always present an 
 even communication with the embanked 
 shore. 
 
 After a heavy fall of rain, the en- 
 closure within the levees or dykes, which 
 forms a large artificial basin, collects the 
 water. This, however, has been par- 
 tially remedied by digging a deep canal 
 through the centre of the town to re- 
 ceive the rain-fall. With this are con- 
 nected drains which open through the 
 dykes into the rivers. When their wa- 
 ters, however, are high, the heavy rains 
 cannot be thus disposed of, and recourse 
 is had to a steam-pump. The only 
 effectual mode which has as yet been 
 proposed of rendering this admirably 
 situated city entirely free from the dan- 
 ger of inundation, is to fill up the whole 
 basin with earth brought from the hills 
 in the interior. This will undoubtedly 
 be accomplished in the course of a brief 
 time, whenever enterprise shall resume 
 its peaceful progress. 
 
 The neighborhood of Cairo is thus de- 
 scribed by a local observer : 
 
 " The nearest high land in any di- 
 
DESCRIPTION OF CAIRO. 
 
 257 
 
 rection from Cairo is about nine miles 
 distant, on the Central Railway, and all 
 between are cypress swamps, with here 
 and there a marshy opening, called a 
 farm, and covered with a mass of heavy 
 timber, vines and creepers, through 
 which the sun cannot penetrate. The 
 high land, commencing at the edge of 
 this swamp, rises several hundred feet, 
 often presenting mountainous aspects ; 
 the timber is maple, beech, hickory, and 
 oak. Springs are frequent, and where 
 farms are opened they well reward the 
 laborer ; but more than three-fourths 
 of all this high land is an unbroken 
 wilderness. 
 
 "On the Illinois side of the Ohio, 
 above Mound City (six miles from Cairo), 
 the shore is high and free from inunda- 
 tion, while on tbe Kentucky side the 
 land is low and swampy, the distance to 
 the hills being from six to twelve miles. 
 The Illinois bank of the Mississippi is 
 low, yet occasionally there are hills, as 
 at Thebes, but above this point it is 
 subject to overflow for 150 miles. The 
 Mississippi shore of Missouri is swampy 
 in every direction, and the nearest high 
 land is as much as fifty miles distant, 
 near Cape Girardeau, which is the only 
 place where southern Missouri can reach 
 the river with teams. From Cape Gi- 
 rardeau to the Gulf of Mexico extends 
 a succession of cypress swamps, cane- 
 brakes, and bayous the scene of deso- 
 lation being varied only at long intervals 
 by farms, always protected by a levee. 
 On the east side of the river there are 
 occasionally high lands and bluffs, on 
 which the towns are situated. Opposite 
 
 33 
 
 Cairo, in Missouri, is the little village of 
 Bird's Point, from which a railroad ex- 
 tends twenty or thirty miles toward 
 Little Rock, in Arkansas. In such a 
 wilderness of swamps and waters, Cairo 
 is really a place of refuge and a harbor 
 of safety." 
 
 The importance of Cairo as a basis of 
 military operations was recognized early 
 in the struggle, and in the course of the 
 month of May a force of over six thou- 
 sand Illinois volunteers encamped there 
 under the command of Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Prentiss. They immediately com- 
 menced the construction of four en- 
 trenched camps, and mounted heavy 
 guns upon the dykes. 
 
 The site of Cairo is commanded only 
 in one direction. This is from the Mis- 
 souri side of the Mississippi River, at 
 Bird's Point, where the land rises two 
 or three feet above the top of the Cairo 
 dykes. 
 
 "Bird's Point consists of scarcely 
 half a dozen unpretending houses and a 
 wharf-boat, which is the principal feature 
 of the town, inasmuch as it supports on 
 its floating bottom the chief store, 
 grocery, and commission-house of the 
 town. * * * Standing upon even 
 as low a situation as the deck of the 
 wharf-boat, the housetops and spires 
 within the Cairo levee are plainly visible, 
 and within easy range of a battery at 
 Bird's Point ; and although the latter 
 place is situated on low bottom land and 
 subject to frequent overflows, yet the 
 still lower situation of Cairo is so pal- 
 pable, that, to a spectator at Bird's 
 Point, it seems as if the great rivers 
 
258 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 which here mix their waters had been 
 displaced from their beds to make room 
 for the houses which are hugged within 
 the huge embraces of the levee. The 
 river here is very wide, and but for the 
 murky turbulence of its water, and the 
 steady onward motion of the current, 
 would give one an idea of an arm of 
 the sea." 
 
 There was great danger lest the seces- 
 sionists of Missouri and Tennessee should 
 seize this important position. Brigadier- 
 General Lyon, however, was on the 
 alert, and anticipated the movements of 
 the enemy by promptly dispatching a 
 regiment of Missouri volunteers, under 
 Colonel Shuttner, to Bird's Point. Here 
 they immediately fortified a camp, and 
 thus bid defiance to attack. 
 
 The communications of Cairo through 
 the Illinois Central Railroad with the 
 North, give it every advantage of rapid 
 reinforcement. In twenty-four hours 
 troops can reach the place not only from 
 Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky, but 
 from Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 
 
 About a score of miles below Cairo, 
 on the Kentucky bank of the Missis- 
 sippi River, is situated the town of Co- 
 lumbus, the Northern terminus of vari- 
 ous Southern railways. This place has 
 become of great interest, in connection 
 with the present war, as an important 
 strategic post, having been seized and 
 held by the enemy. Paducah, again, 
 forty miles to the east of Cairo, on the 
 Kentucky side of the Ohio, at its con- 
 fluence with the Tennessee, is another 
 point of great importance, commanding 
 as it does the mouth of the latter river, 
 
 and connected as it is with the Southern 
 series of railways. This important place 
 fortunately remains in the possession 
 of the United States troops. 
 
 The prompt military occupation of 
 Cairo, and the preparations made for its 
 defence, were heavy blows to the seces- 
 sionists. They strove, however, to find 
 consolation in the presumption that 
 " this audacious movement has had good 
 effect in developing the purpose of our 
 enemies to prosecute the war in earnest, 
 and in its inspiring influence upon the 
 Tennessee and Kentucky mind. It con- 
 veys a threat which the people of those 
 States will join their brethren of the 
 Confederate States in resenting with 
 promptitude. 7 ' 
 
 They, nevertheless, were forced to 
 acknowledge the importance of the pos- 
 session of Cairo to the Federal troops. 
 
 "Geography," they admitted, "has 
 made Cairo a strategical position of 
 the utmost consequence. It is the key 
 to the upper, as New Orleans and the 
 Lake and the Balize are the key to the 
 lower Mississippi. It can blockade St. 
 Louis on the one hand, and Louisville on 
 the other ; while, if in possession of a 
 considerable force, possessing heavy 
 ordnance, and commanding the railroad 
 leading south of that point, it would 
 menace the city of Memphis, and open 
 the way for an invading army to make 
 that an advanced post of occupation. It 
 is not pleasant to contemplate such a pos- 
 sibility. But it is good policy to face it 
 fairly, if we would defeat it effectually." 
 
 The United States Government, with 
 its rapidly accumulating forces, was 
 
FIRST MOVEMENT INTO VIRGINIA. 
 
 259 
 
 beginning to present in every direction 
 a more vigorous opposition to the 
 enemy. Washington being considered 
 temporarily out of danger, and the dis- 
 affected of Maryland no longer feared, 
 General Scott ventured to make a move 
 across the Potomac. Virginia, though 
 previously in arms and leagued with the 
 Confederate States in open resistance to 
 the Federal authorities, had yet, with an 
 affected regard for law, submitted the 
 ordinance of secession to the vote of her 
 May people. In the middle and east- 
 2S * ern districts of the State the vote 
 was almost unanimous in favor of seces- 
 sion, while in the western it was nearly 
 unanimous in opposition. The United 
 States Government is supposed to have 
 thus far withheld the assertion by arms 
 of its authorit} 7 in Virginia, that the 
 people might enjoy in freedom the ex- 
 ercise of their suffrage. It was accord- 
 May ingty n t until the day after the 
 2^ vote on secession had been taken 
 that Scott threw across the Potomac, 
 into the insurgent State, a portion of the 
 troops encamped in and about the cap- 
 ital, which constituted already, such had 
 been the military promptitude of the 
 North, a force of nearly fifty thousand 
 militia and volunteers. 
 
 The number of men detached for 
 this purpose was nearly thirteen thou- 
 sand, formed into two columns, one of 
 which was sent to occupy Arlington 
 Heights and the rest of the Virginia 
 shore opposite to Washington, and the 
 other Alexandria, on the Potomac River, 
 about six miles south of the capital. 
 The former, being the larger portion of 
 
 the troops, crossed by the Long bridge 
 at Washington and the iron bridge at 
 Georgetown, and took possession of the 
 high banks of the Virginia side of the 
 river. Driving the scattered outpost 
 guards of the enemy before them, they 
 were permitted to occupy the ground 
 with little opposition, and at once began 
 to throw up fortifications. 
 
 At Alexandria, which had just voted 
 almost unanimously for secession, and 
 where an intense feeling of animosity to 
 the Federal troops was known to pre- 
 vail, greater opposition was anticipated. 
 The town had been long flaunting its 
 secession flags in the sight of the capital, 
 the troops of the enemy were parading 
 its streets, and its citizens were in arms 
 apparently prepared for resistance. It 
 was accordingly determined to surround 
 the place, not only to secure its posses- 
 sion, but the capture of the armed force 
 within. For this purpose the Third 
 Regiment of Michigan militia, in com- 
 mand of Colonel Wilcox, accompanied 
 by a detachment of United States cav- 
 alry, and supported by two pieces of 
 Sherman's flying artillery, crossed the 
 Long bridge into Virginia, with the view 
 of marching to Alexandria by land and 
 advancing upon the city in the rear. The 
 Fire Zouave Regiment of New York, 
 commanded by Colonel Ellsworth, was 
 dispatched by water to take Alexandria 
 in front. The steamer Pawnee had been 
 previously moored in the Potomac off 
 the town, so as to command it with her 
 guns. 
 
 The Zouaves, however, reached their 
 destination in advance of the Michigan 
 
260 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 troops, and impelled by an imprudent 
 impetuosity hastened to land. The town 
 was at once alarmed, and the enemy's 
 troops succeeded in effecting their escape 
 before the Michigan regiment, coming 
 up in the rear, could cut them off. The 
 landing of the Zouaves, and the subse- 
 quent tragedy in which their young 
 Colonel lost his life, have been thus mi- 
 nutely detailed by one* who was at his 
 death : 
 
 "It was not until our boats were 
 about to draw up to the wharf," he says, 
 "that our approach was noticed in any 
 way ; but at the latest minute a few 
 sentinels, whom we had long before dis- 
 cerned, fired their muskets in the air as 
 a warning, and, running rapidly into the 
 town, disappeared. Two or three of the 
 Zouaves, fancying that the shots were 
 directed toward them (which they cer- 
 tainly were not), discharged their rifles 
 after the retreating forms, but no injury 
 to anybody followed. The town was 
 thus put on its guard, but yet so early 
 was the hour, and so apparently un- 
 locked for our arrival, that when we 
 landed, about half-past five o'clock A. M., 
 the streets were as deserted as if it had 
 been midnight. 
 
 "Before our troops disembarked, a 
 boat, filled with armed marines, and 
 carrying a flag of truce, put off from 
 the Pawnee, and landed ahead of us. 
 From the officer in charge we learned 
 that the Pawnee had already proposed 
 terms of submission to the town, and 
 that the rebels had consented to vacate 
 within a specified time. This seemed 
 
 New York Tribune, May 26. 
 
 to settle the question of a contest in the 
 negative ; but in the confusion of mus- 
 tering and forming the men, the intelli- 
 gence was not well understood, and re- 
 ceived but little attention. Indeed, I 
 am quite sure that the Pawnee's officer 
 did not seek Colonel Ellsworth, to com- 
 municate with him, and that the Colonel 
 only obtained a meagre share of infor- 
 mation by seeking it directly from the 
 bearer of the flag of truce himself. No 
 doubt this omission arose from the con- 
 fused condition in which affairs then 
 stood. But it would have caused no 
 difference in the Colonel's military plans. 
 No attack was meditated, except in case 
 of a forcible resistance to his progress. 
 On the other hand, the idea of the place 
 being under a truce seemed to banish 
 every suspicion of a resistance either 
 from multitudes or individuals. It was 
 just possibly this consideration that led 
 Colonel Ellsworth to forego the requisite 
 personal precautions, which, if taken, 
 would have prevented his unhappy 
 death. But I am sure none of us at 
 that time estimated the probability of 
 the danger which afterward menaced us. 
 Perhaps the thought of actual bloodshed 
 and death in war was too foreign to our 
 experiences to be rightly weighed. But 
 it certainly did not enter our minds then, 
 as poor Ellsworth's fate has since taught 
 us it should have done, that a town half 
 waked, half terrified, and under truce, 
 could harbor any peril for us. So the 
 Colonel gave some rapid directions for 
 the interruption of the railway course, 
 by displacing a few rails near the depot, 
 and then turned toward the centre of 
 
DEATH OF ELLSWORTH. 
 
 261 
 
 the town, to destroy the means of com- 
 munication southward by the telegraph 5 
 a measure which he appeared to regard 
 as very seriously important. He was 
 accompanied by Mr. H. J. Winser, mil- 
 itary secretary to the regiment, the 
 chaplain, the Rev. E. W. Dodge, and 
 myself. At first he summoned no guard 
 to follow him, but he afterward turned 
 and called forward a single squad, with 
 a sergeant from the first company. We 
 passed quickly through the streets, 
 meeting a few bewildered travellers 
 issuing from the principal hotel, which 
 seemed to be slowly coming to its daily 
 senses, and were about to turn toward 
 the telegraph office, when the Colonel, 
 first of all, caught sight of the secession 
 flag, which has so long swung insolently 
 in full view of the President's House. 
 He immediately sent back the sergeant, 
 with an order for the advance of the 
 entire first company, and, leaving the 
 matter of the telegraph office for a while, 
 pushed on to the hotel, which proved to 
 be the Marshall House, a second-class 
 inn. On entering the open door the 
 Colonel met a man in his shirt and 
 trowsers, of whom he demanded what 
 sort of flag it was that hung above the 
 roof. The stranger, who seemed greatly 
 alarmed, declared he knew nothing of it, 
 and that he was only a boarder there. 
 Without questioning him further the 
 Colonel sprang up stairs, and we all 
 followed to the topmost story, whence, 
 by means of a ladder, he clambered to 
 the roof, cut down the flag with Winser's 
 knife, and brought it from its staff. 
 There were two men in bed in the garret 
 
 whom we had not observed at all when 
 we entered, their position being some- 
 what concealed, but who now rose in 
 great apparent amazement, although I 
 observed that they were more than half 
 dressed. We at once turned to descend, 
 private Brownell leading the way, and 
 Colonel Ellsworth immediately following 
 him with the flag. As Brownell reached 
 the first landing-place, or entry, after a 
 descent of some dozen steps, a man 
 jumped from a dark passage, and hardly 
 noticing the private, levelled a double- 
 barrelled gun square at the Colonel's 
 breast. Brownell made a quick pass to 
 turn the weapon aside, but the fellow's 
 hand was firm, and he discharged one 
 barrel straight to its aim, the slugs or 
 buckshot with which it was loaded en- 
 tering the Colonel's heart, and killing 
 him at the instant. I think my arm was 
 resting on poor Ellsworth's shoulder at 
 the moment. At any rate, he seemed 
 to fall almost from my own grasp. He 
 was on the second or third step from the 
 landing, and he dropped forward with 
 that heavy, horrible, headlong weight 
 which always comes of sudden death 
 inflicted in this manner. His assailant 
 had turned like a flash to give the con- 
 tents of the other barrel to Brownell, 
 but either he could not command his aim, 
 or the Zouave was too quick with him, 
 for the slugs went over his head, and 
 passed through the panels and wainscot 
 of a door which sheltered some sleeping 
 lodgers. Simultaneously with this sec- 
 ond shot, and sounding like the echo of 
 the first, Brownell's rifle was heard, and 
 the assassin staggered backward. He 
 
262 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 was hit exactly in the middle of the 
 face, and the wound, as I afterward saw 
 it, was the most frightful I ever wit- 
 nessed. Of course Brownell did not 
 know how fatal his shot had been, and 
 so before the man dropped, he thrust 
 his sabre bayonet through and through 
 the body, the force of the blow sending 
 the dead man violently down the upper 
 section of the second flight of stairs, at 
 the foot of which he lay with his face to 
 the floor. Winser ran from above cry- 
 ing, ' Who is hit ?' but as he glanced 
 downward by our feet, he needed no 
 answer. 
 
 "Bewildered for an instant by the 
 suddenness of this attack, and not 
 knowing what more might be in store, 
 we forbore to proceed, and gathered 
 together defensively. There were but 
 seven of us altogether, and one was 
 without a weapon of any kind. Brow- 
 nell instantly reloaded, and while doing 
 so perceived the door through which the 
 assailant's shot had passed, beginning 
 to open. He brought his rifle to the 
 shoulder, and menaced the occupants, 
 two travellers, with immediate death if 
 they stirred. The three other privates 
 guarded the passages, of which there 
 were quite a number converging to the 
 point where we stood, while the chaplain 
 and Winser looked to the staircase by 
 which we had descended, and the adjoin- 
 ing chambers. I ran down stairs to see 
 if anything was threatened from the 
 story below, but it soon appeared there 
 was no danger from that quarter. How- 
 ever, we were not at all disposed to 
 move from our position. From the 
 
 opening doors, and through the pas- 
 sages, we discerned a sufficient number 
 of forms to assure us that we were 
 dreadfully in the minority. I think now 
 that there was no danger, and that the 
 single assailant acted without concert 
 with anybody ; but it is impossible to 
 know accurately, and it was certainly a 
 doubtful question then. The first thing 
 to be done was to look to our dead friend 
 and leader. He had fallen on his face, 
 and the streams of blood that flowed 
 from his wound had literally flooded the 
 way. The chaplain turned him gently 
 over, and I stooped and called his name 
 aloud, at which I thought then he mur- 
 mured inarticulately. I presume I was 
 mistaken, and I am not sure that he 
 spoke a word after being struck, although 
 in my dispatch I repeated a single ex- 
 clamation which I had believed he ut- 
 tered. It might have been Brownell, or 
 the chaplain, who was close behind me. 
 Winser and I lifted the body with all 
 the care we could apply, and laid it upon 
 a bed in a room near by. The rebel 
 flag, stained with his blood, and purified 
 by this contact from the baseness of its 
 former meaning, we laid about his feet. 
 It was at first difficult to discover the 
 precise locality of his wound, for all 
 parts of his coat were equally saturated 
 with blood. By cautiously loosening his 
 belt and unbuttoning his coat we found 
 where the shot had penetrated. None 
 of us had any medical knowledge, but 
 we saw that all hope must be resigned. 
 Nevertheless, it seemed proper to sum- 
 mon the surgeon as speedily as possible. 
 This could not easily be done ; for, 
 
DEATH OF ELLSWORTH AVENGED. 
 
 263 
 
 secluded as we were in that part of the 
 town, and uncertain whether an ambush 
 might not be awaiting us also, no man 
 could volunteer to venture forth alone ; 
 and to go together, and leave the Col- 
 onel's body behind, was out of the 
 question. We wondered at the long 
 delay of the first company, for the ad- 
 vance of which the Colonel had sent 
 back before approaching the hotel ; but 
 we subsequently learned that they had 
 mistaken a street, and gone a little out 
 of their way. Before they arrived we 
 had removed some of the unsightly 
 stains from the Colonel's features, and 
 composed his limbs. His expression in 
 death was beautifully natural. The 
 Colonel was a singularly handsome man, 
 and, excepting the pallor, there was 
 nothing different in his countenance now 
 from what all his friends had so lately 
 been accustomed to gladly recognize. 
 The detachment was heard approaching 
 at last, a reinforcement was easily called 
 up, and the surgeon was sent for. His 
 arrival, not long after, of course sealed 
 our own unhappy belief. A sufficient 
 guard was presently distributed over the 
 house, but meanwhile I had remembered 
 the Colonel's earnestness about the tele- 
 graph seizure, and obtained permission 
 to guide a squad of Zouaves to the 
 office, which was found to be entirely 
 open, with all the doors ajar yet appar- 
 ently deserted. It looked like another 
 chance of a surprise. The men re- 
 mained in charge. I presume it was 
 not wholly in order for me, a civilian, 
 to start upon this mission, but I was the 
 only person who knew the whereabouts 
 
 of the office, and the Colonel had been 
 very positive about the matter. When 
 I returned to the hotel, there was a 
 terrible scene enacting. A woman had 
 run from a lower room to the stairway 
 where the body of the defender of the 
 secession flag lay, and recognizing it, 
 cried aloud with an agony so heart-rend- 
 ing that no person could witness it with- 
 out emotion. She flung her arms in the 
 air, struck her brow madly, and seemed 
 in every way utterly abandoned to des- 
 olation and frenzy. She offered no re- 
 proaches appeared, indeed, almost re- 
 gardless of our presence, and yielded 
 only to her own frantic despair. It was 
 her husband that had been shot. He 
 was the proprietor of the hotel. His 
 name was James T. Jackson. Winser 
 was confident it was the same man who 
 met us at the door when we entered, 
 and told us he was a boarder. His wife, 
 as I said, was wild almost to insanity. 
 Yet she listened when spoken to, and 
 although no consolation could be offered 
 her by us for what she had lost, she 
 seemed sensible to the assurance that the 
 safety of her children, for whom she 
 expressed fears, could not possibly be 
 endangered. 
 
 "It is not from any wish to fasten 
 obloquy upon the slayer of Colonel Ells- 
 worth, but simply because it struck me 
 as a frightful fact, that I say the face of 
 the dead man wore the most revolting 
 expression of rage and hatred that I 
 ever saw. Perhaps the nature of his 
 wound added to this effect, and the 
 wound was something so appalling that 
 I shall not attempt to describe it as it 
 
264 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 impressed me. It is probable that such 
 a result from a bullet wound could not 
 ensue once in a thousand times. Either 
 of Brownell's onslaughts would have 
 been instantaneously fatal. The sabre 
 wound was not less effective than that 
 of the ball. The gun which Jackson 
 had fired lay beneath him, clasped in his 
 arms, and as we did not at first all know 
 that both barrels had been discharged, 
 it was thought necessary to remove it, 
 lest it should be suddenly seized and 
 made use of from below. In doing this, 
 his countenance was revealed. 
 
 " As the morning advanced, the towns- 
 people began to gather in the vicinity, 
 and a guard was fixed, preventing in- 
 gress and egress. This was done to keep 
 all parties from knowing what had oc- 
 curred, for the Zouaves were so devoted 
 to their Colonel that it was feared if 
 they all were made acquainted with the 
 real fact, they would sack the house. 
 On the other hand, it was not thought 
 wise to let the Alexandrians know thus 
 early the fate of their townsman. The 
 Zouaves were the only regiment that had 
 arrived, and their head and soul was 
 gone. Besides, the duties which the 
 Colonel had hurriedly assigned before 
 leaving them had scattered some com- 
 panies in various quarters of the town. 
 Several persons sought admission to the 
 Marshall House, among them a sister of 
 the dead man, who had heard the rumor, 
 but who was not allowed to know the 
 true state of the case. It was painful 
 to hear her remark, as she went away, 
 that ' of course they wouldn't shoot a 
 man dead in his own house about a bit 
 
 of old bunting.' Many of the lodgers 
 were anxious to go forth, but they were 
 detained until after I had left. All sorts 
 of arguments and persuasions were em- 
 ployed, but the Zouave guards were in- 
 exorable." 
 
 The Michigan regiment, though pre- 
 vented by the impetuous movement of 
 the Zouaves from fully effecting its 
 object, succeeded, however, in capturing 
 some thirty-seven of the enemy's cavalry. 
 The rest had made off by the railroad 
 extending into the interior of Yirginia. 
 The occupation of Alexandria was in- 
 deed secured, but at the sacrifice of a life 
 suddenly arrested in its youthful promise 
 of patriotic service. The friends of the 
 Union mourned the fate of young Ells- 
 worth, and honored his memory as that 
 of a hero. 
 
 Elmer E. Ellsworth was born at 
 Malta, Saratoga County, in the State of 
 New York, on the 23d of April, 1837. 
 His parents not being rich were unable 
 to give him more than the advantages 
 of an ordinary common school educa- 
 tion. He, however, seemed to have 
 some early inclinations for a military 
 career, and an effort was made to obtain 
 for him an admission into the academy 
 at West Point. Not succeeding in this 
 purpose, the lad was placed as a clerk in 
 a trading establishment at Troy, and 
 thence removed to the city of New 
 York, where he remained engaged in 
 similar occupations for several years. 
 He subsequently emigrated to the West, 
 and .obtained the position of a clerk with 
 an attorney in Chicago. He now com- 
 menced the study of the law, but devoted 
 
LIFE OF ELLSWORTH. 
 
 265 
 
 his leisure time to the study of military 
 science. 
 
 About this time he was chosen cap- 
 tain of a volunteer company, whom he 
 induced to adopt the uniform and drill 
 of the French Zouaves, whose efficiency 
 had been recently displayed in the Cri- 
 mea. His soldiers soon became the pride 
 of Chicago and the wonder of other cities, 
 where, during a round of visits, they ex- 
 hibited their striking costume and pecu- 
 liar manners. On his return to the West 
 he was chosen quartermaster of the north- 
 ern division of Illinois, and paymaster- 
 general of the State militia. He, how- 
 ever, still persevered in his legal studies, 
 and was soon after admitted to the bar. 
 On the election of his friend, Mr. Lin- 
 coln, to the Presidency, Ellsworth made 
 application for the chief clerkship in the 
 war department, but the secretary of 
 war was prevented from bestowing it 
 upon him in consequence of his pledge 
 to a previous applicant. He, however, 
 received, through the influence of the 
 President, the commission of second 
 lieutenant in the army. In the mean 
 time, war with the South becoming im- 
 minent, young Ellsworth resigned his 
 lieutenancy, and, offering his services to 
 recruit a regiment, repaired at once to 
 New York for the purpose. 
 
 The proverbial courage and energy of 
 the city firemen led him to seek among 
 them for the men suitable for the forma- 
 tion of a corps of Zouaves, of whom 
 dash, daring, and activity are expected. 
 He soon succeeded in enrolling a thou- 
 sand firemen, and sailed, with the ap- 
 plause and good wishes of all New 
 
 34 
 
 York, for Washington, at the head of 
 his regiment, on the 29th of April. His 
 tragic death has been already recorded. 
 There was an element of tender affec- 
 tion in the character of the youthful 
 hero which endeared him to his family 
 and friends, and served to increase the 
 public regard for his memory. On the 
 night previous to his departure on the 
 fatal expedition to Alexandria, he wrote 
 to his betrothed, and this reverential 
 and pathetic letter to his parents, of 
 whom he was the only surviving child : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS 1 ST ZOUAVES, CAMP LINCOLN, ) 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 23, 1861. J 
 
 " MY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER : The 
 regiment is ordered to move across the 
 river to-night. We have no means of 
 knowing what reception we are to meet 
 with. I am inclined to the opinion that 
 our entrance to the city of Alexandria 
 will be hotly contested, as I am just in- 
 formed a large force has arrived there 
 to-day. Should this happen, my dear 
 parents, it may be my lot to be injured 
 in some manner. Whatever may hap- 
 pen, cherish the consolation that I was 
 engaged in the performance of a sacred 
 duty ; and to-night, thinking over the 
 probabilities of to-morrow, and the oc- 
 currences of the past, I am perfectly 
 content to accept whatever my fortune 
 may be, confident that He who noteth 
 even the fall of a sparrow, will have 
 some purpose even in the fate of one 
 like me. 
 
 " My darling and ever-loved parents, 
 good-bye. God bless, protect, and care 
 for you. ELMER." 
 
266 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 How the Virginians failed to take Fortress Monroe. Efforts to counteract its Loss. The importance of Fortress 
 Monroe to the Union. The danger to Norfolk. Fortification of Virginia Rivers and Coasts. Abundant Cannon 
 from the Navy Yard. Se wall's Point. Its Position. Raising of Fortifications by the Secessionists. Attempt to 
 prevent the Work by the Federal Cruisers. Attack of the Star on Sewall's Point. Official Report of Captain Eagle. 
 A lively Account by the Enemy. Effect of the Attack. The Reinforcement of Fortress Monroe. Number of 
 Troops. Major-General Butler ordered to the Command of the Department of Virginia. Arrival at Fortress Mon- 
 roe. His enthusiastic Reception. Immediate Action. A Foothold upon the Land of Virginia secured. Increased 
 Reinforcements at Fortress Monroe. Expedition to Newport News. Situation of the place. No resistance. Mili- 
 tary possession. Intrenchments. Continued labor of the Enemy in fortifying their Coast. The Works at Acquia 
 Creek. Position of Acquia Creek and its strategic importance. Nature of the Batteries. Attack by Captain 
 Ward. Silencing Batteries. Hauling off the Freeborn. Renewal of Attack. Official Statement. Unsuccessful 
 attempt of the Harriet Lane upon an Enemy's Battery. Spectators at Fortress Monroe. Butler eager for Action. 
 The Expedition against Little and Big Bethel planned. The Federal Troops. Number and Commanders. 
 Brigadier-General Pierce. Previous Military Experience. The details of the plan of the Expedition. A confused 
 Statement explained. The Reserves. How they were to Co-operate. Big Bethel. Its Position. Ignorance of 
 Federal Officers. March of Colonel Duryea. Delays in Progress. A Fire in the Rear. A Countermarch. No 
 Enemy. A fatal Blunder. Return of Vermonters and Massachusetts Men. The Blunder explained. Who was 
 to blame ? The General's self-justification. Defence of Colonel Bendix. 
 
 THE Virginians having failed, through 
 the rare and happy accident of its 
 being held by a loyal officer at the 
 time of their insurrection, in obtaining 
 possession of Fortress Monroe, made 
 great efforts to counteract the loss of so 
 important a defence. This strong work, 
 which held as it were in its grip the neck 
 of Chesapeake Bay, and throttled Vir- 
 ginia by commanding its channels of 
 communication with the sea, was also, as 
 a basis of offensive operations, the most 
 important possession retained by the 
 Federal Government. The people of 
 Norfolk especially felt themselves en- 
 dangered by the proximity of the great 
 fortress, where the Union could mus- 
 ter within its impregnable walls and 
 under its commanding guns, armies and 
 fleets ready to be directed at any mo- 
 
 ment upon the neighboring shores, and 
 thus threaten the safety of their city. 
 
 The Virginians accordingly made haste 
 to fortify that part of their coast more 
 immediately exposed to an attack from 
 Fortress Monroe. With the cannon left 
 at the Norfolk navy-yard, after the 
 blundering attempt at its destruction by 
 the Federal officer in command, they 
 were abundantly supplied with means 
 of arming their defences. They accord- 
 ingly raised fortifications on every point 
 of land, and at every river's mouth 
 where there seemed danger of an attack. 
 Among these is Sewall's Point, at the 
 confluence of the Elizabeth and James 
 rivers, directly opposite to Fortress 
 Monroe, and about four miles distant. 
 This low spit of land not only com- 
 mands the mouths of these two rivers, 
 
ATTACK ON SEW ALL'S POINT. 
 
 267 
 
 but presents a favorable place for 
 the landing of troops to operate in 
 the rear of Norfolk. The Virginians 
 accordingly sent down gangs of negroes, 
 and some soldiers, to raise batteries of 
 sand, and to mount them with cannon. 
 While thus occupied, commander Harry 
 Ulay Eagle, of the United States steamer 
 18 Star, who was on the watch, dis- 
 covered the work in progress. "Sev- 
 eral noises were heard during the night, 
 but not distinct enough for me," reported 
 Captain Eagle officially, "to trace them. 
 At half-past five P.M. I heard distinct 
 blows, as if from an axe securing tim- 
 ber platforms for gun-carriages inside 
 of the embrasures, and immediately I 
 ordered a shot to be fired over them. 
 The rebels immediately hoisted a white 
 flag with some design on it, and fired a 
 shot that cut the fore spencer guys near 
 the gaff. I immediately beat to quar- 
 ters and returned their fire, which was 
 continued by them. I expended fifteen 
 round of grape, twelve ten-inch shot, 
 thirty-two ten-inch shell, ten shell for 
 thirty-two pounders, and forty-five thir- 
 ty-two-pound shot, making a total of 
 one hundred and fourteen shots, which," 
 adds the captain, "I think did some 
 execution among the rebels. I only de- 
 sisted for want of ammunition, having 
 only five eight-pound charges remaining 
 for the pivot gun." 
 
 The action continued for an hour and 
 a quarter, and although the official state- 
 ment makes no allusion to the fact, it 
 would seem that another Federal vessel 
 bore a not ineffective part in the en- 
 gagement. Captain Ward came up op- 
 
 portunely with the steamer Freeborn, 
 and taking a position within five hun- 
 dred yards of the shore, opened with 
 thirty- two-pound round shot. "He 
 soon drove the party out of the work, 
 and was not long in hammering two or 
 three of the embrasures into one. The 
 defenders, with a mounted officer at their 
 head, took refuge in a clump of trees 
 near by, into which Captain Ward 
 presently threw a shot, which had the 
 effect of routing the party." 
 
 One of the enemy gave the following 
 account of the affair, from which it 
 would seem there was less " execution 
 among the rebels" than Captain Eagle 
 had expected. 
 
 " The enemy had three eight-inch co- 
 lumbiads, from which they kept up an 
 incessant and rapid firing. Their guns 
 were aimed with remarkable precision. 
 Any one of their shots would have 
 struck a boat of the size of theirs ; but, 
 thank God, not one did its diabolical 
 work among us. Almost half their 
 shot struck our battery, and* several 
 shells exploded on top of it. One tre- 
 mendous bomb hit the muzzle of the 
 cannon at which Lieutenant MofFet and 
 myself were working, and exploded in 
 the embrasure, not three feet from us, 
 covering us with the turf and splinters 
 of the battery, and so tearing up the 
 embrasure as to make it large enough 
 for three guns. Another shell passed 
 within a foot of Robert Lockhart, as he 
 ran out to plant the flag a little farther to 
 the left than where it had been waving. 
 He did not have time to get behind the 
 battery after the cry of ' look out 7 was 
 
268 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 given and before the ball came. He fell 
 flat on the ground, and that saved him. 
 Privates Mayo and Porter had one ball 
 pass between their legs while they were 
 shoveling away sand from in front of 
 their gun. 
 
 "The trees near the fort were com- 
 pletely peeled and trimmed by the grape 
 and shell. A chain came whizzing just 
 a foot above the battery, struck a tree 
 about ten feet off, and cut it in two as 
 smoothly as you could cut a sprig of 
 asparagus. The shell, and grape, and 
 thirty-two-pounders rained down among 
 us all the time as thickly as hail, and all 
 of us are the possessors of some of these 
 trophies, gathered on the ground of our 
 first successful battle-field." 
 
 The attack, however, upon Sewall's 
 Point had the effect of putting the Vir- 
 ginians on the alert, to increase the 
 strength of that place. They immedi- 
 ately concentrated two thousand troops 
 there, and added "four of the heaviest 
 guns" to the battery, which they have 
 hitherto continued to hold in defiance 
 of Fortress Monroe and the Federal 
 cruisers. 
 
 The United States Government, alive 
 to the importance of Fortress Monroe, 
 not only as a defensive work, but as a 
 basis of operations, had hastened to 
 strengthen its garrison and to place 
 there a large body of troops. Before 
 the close of May there were over five 
 thousand men collected within its walls. 
 To Butler, created a major-general, 
 who had proved so energetic an officer 
 at Annapolis and Baltimore, being suc- 
 ceeded at Baltimore by General Cad- 
 
 wallader was given the command of 
 the new military department of Virginia, 
 embracing the eastern district to the 
 summit of the Blue Ridge, and also j>j a y 
 the States of North and South Car- I8t 
 olina. 
 
 Fortress Monroe was included within 
 Butler's command, and thither he jjj a y 
 repaired and established his head- 22t 
 quarters. His arrival was welcomed 
 with enthusiasm, and honored by the 
 usual military ceremonies. Salutes were 
 fired, and there was a grand review, on 
 the parade ground, of the troops, amount- 
 ing to over four thousand men, who re- 
 ceived their new chief with loud hurrahs. 
 The General's first movement was to 
 take possession of Hampton, separated 
 from Fort Monroe, or rather the penin- 
 sula of Old Point Comfort, upon which 
 the fortress stands, only by an artificial 
 causeway and a narrow neck of land. 
 A regiment of volunteers was detailed 
 for the purpose of resisting any possible 
 opposition, and they marched across the 
 causeway. The Virginians, as soon as 
 they observed the approach of the Fed- 
 eral troops, hurried to set fire to the 
 bridge, where they had accumulated 
 combustibles for the purpose. The ad- 
 vance guard, however, of the volunteers 
 pushed on rapidly, and before the fire 
 had done much damage, extinguished it 
 and put the enemy to flight, with the loss 
 of one field-piece. This was seized and 
 thrown into the bay, and General Butler 
 continuing his progress, and making his 
 reconnoissance, selected the site for a 
 permanent encampment upon the farm 
 of a Mr. Segar, a unionist. Next day 
 
CAPTURE OF NEWPORT NEWS. 
 
 269 
 
 two regiments were here encamped, and 
 a foothold secured upon the mainland 
 of Virginia. 
 
 Reinforcements continuing to pour 
 into Fortress Monroe, General Butler 
 was enabled again to make a successful 
 advance into the territory of the enemy. 
 May Embarking twenty-five hundred 
 27 men in transports at the wharf of 
 the fort, consisting principally of Ver- 
 mont and Massachusetts regiments, he 
 dispatched them to take possession of 
 Newport News. This place is situated 
 on the left bank of the James River, 
 on the same peninsula formed between 
 that stream and the York River, to 
 which Fortress Monroe itself is joined 
 by a causeway and narrow neck of land. 
 The expedition met with no resistance, 
 and no attempt at it, beyond several in- 
 effectual shots from the enemy's batteries 
 on the opposite side of James River. 
 Intrenchments were immediately begun 
 after the landing of the troops, and 
 Newport News, a post which commands 
 the peninsula on which it is situated, 
 and a small island in the stream which 
 it was feared might be fortified by the 
 Confederates, was thus secured. 
 
 The enemy were vigorously providing 
 for the defence of the Virginia coast, 
 thus threatened by the increased force 
 at Fortress Monroe, and by the accumu- 
 lation, under the cover of its guns, of 
 armed United States vessels in the 
 Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 
 The Confederates had not only erected 
 batteries upon the Elizabeth, James, 
 York, Rappahannock, and Potomac 
 rivers, but upon the smaller streams 
 
 which empty into them. One of the 
 most formidable of these works had 
 been constructed at the mouth of the 
 Acquia Creek. This place had been 
 judiciously chosen by the enemy as a 
 point of the utmost importance in the 
 defence of Virginia. Here is situated 
 the eastern terminus of the Fredericks- 
 burgh and Potomac Railway, which, ex- 
 tending from the river to Fredericks- 
 burgh, continues from that city to 
 Richmond, the capital of Virginia. The 
 mouth of the Acquia, where it empties 
 into the Potomac on the Virginia side 
 of the river, is about fifty miles from 
 Washington, and seventy-five from Rich- 
 mond. The current of travel from the 
 North to the South, after passing down 
 the Potomac from Washington, usually 
 took this direction, by rail, to the capital 
 of Virginia and more Southern destina- 
 tions. 
 
 Strong batteries had been raised on 
 the shore and on high and commanding 
 ground behind. These, Captain Ward, 
 of the United States steamer Freeborn, 
 determined to make an effort to reduce. 
 He, accordingly, supported by the two 
 steamers, Anaeosta and Resolute, ]jf a y 
 opened fire. After an incessant *1. 
 discharge, kept up for two hours, the 
 three lower batteries at the railroad 
 terminus were silenced. His ammuni- 
 tion, however, having been expended, 
 and the enemy continuing to fire with 
 great effect from their guns on the 
 heights, Captain Ward was obliged to 
 haul off the Freeborn. The other two 
 small steamers, being unprovided with 
 rifled guns, were unable to fire at a 
 
270 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 sufficiently long range to be of much 
 aid, and they were accordingly pre- 
 vented from taking any very effective 
 share in the engagement. 
 
 On the next day the steamers Pawnee 
 and Yankee joined Ward's flotilla, and 
 the action was renewed. Captain Ward, 
 in his report to the secretary of the 
 navy, thus details the events of the can- 
 nonade : 
 
 "I have the honor," he wrote, "to 
 report a renewal of the bombardment 
 at Acquia Creek, commencing at eleven 
 o'clock and thirty minutes in the fore- 
 noon this day, and terminating, from 
 fatigue of the men (the day being very 
 warm, and the firing on our side inces- 
 sant), at 4.30 in the afternoon, being a 
 duration of five hours. The firing on 
 shore was scarcely as spirited at any 
 time as yesterday. The heights were 
 abandoned, the guns apparently having 
 been transferred to the earth-works at 
 the railway terminus, in replacement of 
 the batteries there silenced by ours yes- 
 terday. During the last hour of the en- 
 gagement only two or three shots were 
 thrown from the shore, by a few individ- 
 uals seen stealthily now and then to 
 emerge from, concealment, and who 
 hastily loaded and fired a single gun. 
 The bulk of the party had left half an 
 hour before, and squads were observed 
 from time to time taking to their heels 
 along the beach, with a speed and 
 bottom truly commendable for its pru- 
 dence^ and highly amusing to the sea- 
 men. I did not deem it advisable to 
 permit so feeble a fire to wear out my 
 men. Therefore, I discontinued the 
 
 engagement. Several shots came on 
 board of us, causing the vessel to leak 
 badly, and, besides other injuries, clip- 
 ping the port-wheel, the wrought-iron 
 shaft being gouged by a shot which 
 would have shattered it if of cast iron. 
 Fortunately I have again neither killed 
 nor wounded to report, though the shot 
 at times fell thick about us, testing the 
 gallantry and steadiness of my men, 
 which I consider of standard proof for 
 any emergency. I proceed to Washing- 
 ton to repair damages and refill my ex- 
 hausted magazine. The Pawnee re- 
 mains, meantime, below, to supply my 
 place in the blockade. Captain Rowan, 
 of that ship, joined me last night, re- 
 plenishing my exhausted stores, and 
 most gallantly opened the fire this 
 morning, having followed my lead in 
 shore toward the batteries. His ship 
 received numerous wounds, both below 
 and aloft, inflicted by the enemy's shot. 
 On account of her size, she being more 
 easily hit, she appeared to be their 
 favorite mark, and was herself often a 
 sheet of flame, owing to the great rapid- 
 ity of her discharges. The enemy set 
 fire to the large passenger and freight 
 depot on the end of the long pier, as we 
 were approaching, probably to remove 
 it as an obstruction to their aim, but 
 were not permitted to extinguish the 
 flames during the whole five hours' can- 
 nonade. Consequently nearly the whole 
 pier is destroyed, leaving only the 
 charred piles remaining above the water 
 to mark its former position. 
 
 * *** ** ** ** * * ! 
 
 "More than one hundred shots have 
 
ATTACK ON ACQUIA CREEK. 
 
 271 
 
 fallen aboard and around us, any one of 
 which would have struck a frigate. We 
 had more than a thousand shots dis- 
 charged at us within range, and have 
 ourselves fired upward of three hundred 
 shots and shells, with seventeen hun- 
 dred pounds of powder. What damage 
 we have inflicted remains to be seen. 
 That we have received none not easily 
 repaired, is truly remarkable. The 
 Anacosta and Reliance were not per- 
 mitted to come under damaging fire, 
 their support having been necessary to 
 embolden those engaged, by giving them 
 confidence that if disabled in the ma- 
 chinery, assistance was at hand to drag 
 them out." 
 
 The enemy, however, notwithstanding 
 this spirited attack, persisted in holding 
 their position, and by increased fortifica- 
 tions rendered the batteries of Acquia 
 Creek among the most formidable of 
 their defensive works. 
 
 The naval force, under Commodore 
 Stringham, which had now gathered in 
 Hampton Roads, and was blockading 
 the Chesapeake, continued to be active, 
 but, however spiritedly managed, seemed 
 to effect but little in its attempts upon 
 the enemy's batteries. The Harriet 
 Lane, commanded by Captain Faunce, 
 June started out on a cruise up the 
 5t James River, to look out for bat- 
 teries. Having discovered one at the 
 mouth of the Nansemond, which joins 
 the James at Hampton Roads, the Har- 
 riet Lane opened fire. Being within 
 sight of Fortress Monroe, the soldiers 
 thronged the ramparts to watch the 
 scene. The cannonade of the steamer 
 
 was briskly responded to by the enemy, 
 who, with their guns of longer range and 
 heavier metal, succeeded in effecting 
 greater damage than they received. 
 The Harriet Lane, after continuing the 
 action for half an hour, in the course of 
 which she was struck by several shot 
 from a thirty-four-pound rifled cannon, 
 hauled off and returned to her anchor- 
 age under the guns of the fort. 
 
 Reinforcements still continuing to 
 pour into Fortress Monroe, the active 
 Butler became eager for action. The 
 outposts at Newport News and Hamp- 
 ton having been annoyed by a body 
 of the enemy posted at Little Bethel, 
 about eight miles distant from both 
 encampments, General Butler resolved 
 upon an attempt to surprise and cap- 
 ture it. He accordingly sent out an 
 expedition for the purpose. This j une 
 was composed of two divisions 9, 
 the one made up of the New York regi- 
 ment of Zouaves, commanded by Col- 
 onel Duryea, and the Albany (N. Y.) 
 regiment under Colonel Townsend, sup- 
 ported by a detachment of United States 
 artillery, with three cannon, led by 
 Lieutenant Greble. The other division 
 was composed of the New York Steuben 
 Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ben- 
 dix, and detachments of the First Ver- 
 mont and Third Massachusetts, under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn. The 
 whole expedition was placed under the 
 command of General Pierce, a mili- 
 tia brigadier-general of Massachusetts, 
 whose military service had hitherto been 
 restricted to the holiday parades of Bos- 
 ton Common or the village green. The 
 
272 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 plan of the enterprise is thus set forth 
 by General Butler himself: 
 
 " I ordered," he wrote, in his official 
 report, " General Pierce, who is in com- 
 mand of Camp Hamilton, at Hampton, 
 to send Duryea's regiment of Zouaves 
 June to be ferried over Hampton Creek 
 W at one o'clock this morning, and to 
 march by the road up to Newmarket 
 Bridge, then crossing the bridge, to go 
 by a by-road, and thus put the regiment 
 in the rear of the enemy and between 
 Big Bethel and Little Bethel, in part for 
 the purpose of cutting him off, and then 
 to make an attack upon Little Bethel. 
 I directed General Pierce to support 
 him (Colonel Duryea) from Hampton 
 with Colonel Townsend's regiment, with 
 two mounted howitzers, and to march 
 about an hour later. At the same time 
 I directed Colonel Phelps, commanding 
 at Newport News, to send out a bat- 
 talion, composed of such companies of 
 the regiments under his command as he 
 thought best, under command of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Washburn, in time to 
 make a demonstration upon Little Bethel 
 in front, and to have him supported by 
 Colonel Bendix's regiment, with two 
 field-pieces." 
 
 From this not very perspicuous state- 
 ment of General Butler, it may be in- 
 ferred that Colonel Duryea's regiment 
 from Hampton, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Washburn's force from Newport News, 
 were to move in advance, the former 
 to the rear and the latter to the front 
 of Little Bethel, while Colonel Town- 
 send's regiment from Hampton, and 
 Colonel Bendix's regiment from New- 
 
 port News, were to move later and act 
 as a reserve. 
 
 The two latter were to form a junc- 
 tion at a fork of the road leading from 
 Hampton to Newport News, the two 
 points from which they were separately 
 to march, about a mile and a half from 
 Little Bethel. "I directed," continues 
 Butler, in his official report, " the march 
 to be so timed that the attack should be 
 made just at daybreak, and that after 
 the attack was made upon Little Bethel, 
 Duryea's regiment and a regiment from 
 Newport News should follow imme- 
 diately upon the heels of the fugitives, 
 if they were enabled to cut them off, 
 and attack the battery on the road to 
 Big Bethel, while covered by the fugi- 
 tives ; or if it was thought expedient by 
 General Pierce, failing to surprise the 
 camp at Little Bethel, they should at- 
 tempt to take the work near Big 
 Bethel." 
 
 This Big Bethel is some four miles 
 farther from Fortress Monroe than 
 Little Bethel, on the road from the 
 town of Hampton to Yorktowri, of revo- 
 lutionary renown. Its exact locality, 
 the character of the surrounding coun- 
 try, the force of the enemy, the strength 
 of their fortifications, or even the fact 
 of their existence, was a mystery prob- 
 ably not only to the General-in-chief, 
 but to all his subordinate officers. It 
 was, however, soon to be solved with a 
 fatal result. 
 
 Colonel Duryea having formed his 
 regiment of Zouaves, seven hundred and 
 forty strong, and sent skirmishers for- 
 ward in advance, began his march from 
 
MARCH TO LITTLE BETHEL. 
 
 273 
 
 Hampton at half-past eleven o'clock at 
 night, toward Little Bethel. His men 
 moved spiritedly forward, cheered with 
 the prospect of a successful issue to 
 their enterprise. The march for two 
 miles was slow, in consequence of the 
 tardy arrival of the howitzer which was 
 to be placed at the head of the advanc- 
 ing column. There was again a delay 
 at Hampton Creek, for want of surf- 
 boats, to convey the troops across. These, 
 however, finally arrived, and the troops 
 being transported to the other side, re- 
 sumed their march, and soon came up 
 with the two companies sent forward as 
 skirmishers an hour and a half in ad- 
 vance of the main body. The whole 
 force now pushed on with quickened 
 step, without pausing a moment for rest, 
 and at four o'clock in the morning fell 
 in with the picket guard of the enemy 
 at Little Bethel. This, consisting of 
 four soldiers and an officer in command, 
 being captured, the regiment began to 
 move forward on the road toward Big 
 Bethel. At this moment a heavy fire 
 of musketry and cannon was heard in 
 the rear. Believing it to be an attempt 
 by the enemy to cut off his reserve, 
 Colonel Duryea immediately gave the 
 order to countermarch his men, and they 
 at once proceeded in double quick time 
 in direction of the cannonade. After 
 having thus rapidly retraced their march 
 for five miles, they discovered that there 
 was no enemy in their rear, but that 
 the firing had come from their friends 
 brought into collision by a fatal blunder. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn, with 
 his detachment of Massachusetts men 
 
 35 
 
 and Vermonters, had also, in accordance 
 with the plan of the expedition, moved 
 on. Setting out from Newport News, 
 he had marched within reach of the front 
 of Little Bethel, when the cannonade 
 heard in his rear startled him too, and in- 
 duced him to march back again to meet 
 an enemy, but only to discover that he 
 and Colonel Duryea had been deceived 
 by the same fatal blunder of our troops. 
 This was soon explained. Colonel 
 Bendix having with his German regi- 
 ment set out in due time from Newport 
 News, reached the cross roads, and 
 halted, to await the coming up of, and to 
 form a junction with, the Albany regi- 
 ment under Colonel Townsend, on their 
 route from Hampton. " Up to this 
 point the plan," says Butler, in his offi- 
 cial report, ' ' had been vigorously, ac- 
 curately, and successfully carried out ; 
 but here, by some strange fatuity and 
 yet unexplained blunder, without any 
 word of notice, while Colonel Townsend 
 was in column en route, and when the 
 head of the column was within one hun- 
 dred yards, Colonel Bendix's regiment 
 opened fire, with both artillery and mus- 
 ketry, upon Colonel Townsend's column, 
 which, in the hurry and confusion, was 
 irregularly returned by some of Colonel 
 Townsend's men, who feared they had 
 fallen into an ambuscade. Colonel 
 Townsend's column immediately re- 
 treated to the eminence near by, and 
 were not pursued by Colonel Bendix's 
 men. By this almost criminal blunder, 
 two men of Colonel Townsend's regi- 
 ment were killed and eight, more or 
 less, wounded." 
 
274 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Every one was naturally anxious to 
 free himself from the blame of what the 
 General has termed an " almost criminal 
 blunder." He in his own justification 
 declared, that "to prevent the possibil- 
 ity of mistake in the darkness, I directed 
 that no attack should be made until the 
 watchword Boston should be shouted 
 by the attacking regiment, and, in case 
 that by any mistake in the march the 
 regiments that were to make the junc- 
 tion should unexpectedly meet and be 
 unknown to each other, also directed that 
 the members of Colonel Townsend's reg- 
 iment should be known, if in daylight, 
 by something white worn on their arm." 
 
 The General seemed to impute the 
 fault to Colonel Bendix's Germans, who, 
 he declared, were the first to open fire. 
 They, however, strenuously defended 
 themselves, asserting that the mistake 
 was mutual, and the attack on both 
 sides simultaneous. The adjutant of 
 the German regiment came to the res- 
 cue of its fame with the following dec- 
 laration : 
 
 "Colonel Bendix had not received 
 any order or intimation that our troops 
 
 should wear white badges around the 
 arm for the purpose of mutual recogni- 
 tion, and if he had, he would not have 
 been able to distinguish such badge at 
 the distance and in the dusk of the 
 morning. Colonel Bendix's command 
 did not wear such badges. The uniform 
 of the Albany regiment was very sim- 
 ilar to the uniform of the secession 
 troops. It is doubtful which side opened 
 fire. Many of the Albany boys admit 
 that they fired first, mistaking the Steu- 
 ben regiment for enemies, probably for 
 the reason that the latter wore no white 
 badges. 
 
 " When Colonel Townsend's troops 
 approached the junction over a slight 
 ridge, they appeared to be a troop of 
 cavalry, because General Pierce and 
 staff, and Colonel Townsend and staff, 
 in a body, rode in advance of their 
 troops, and without any advance guard 
 thrown out, as customary, to reconnoi- 
 tre and protect the head of the column. 
 If the latter precaution had been taken, 
 the unfortunate mistake would not have 
 happened. It was known that our side 
 had no cavalry." 
 
INEXPERIENCED LEADER. 
 
 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Sejious Effects of the Blunder at Little Bethel. Inexperienced Leader. Unwise Counsellors. Second Advance of 
 General Pierce. Reinforcements. Arrival of the Advance at Little Bethel. A deserted Camp. March to Big 
 Bethel. The Enemy reported in Force. Battle given. Spirit of the Men. Plan of Battle. Colonel Duryea's 
 Zouaves. The Struggle. Retreat. The Skirmishers. Their Retreat. Death of Greble. Withdrawal of the Artil- 
 lery. Action of the New York Troops. Relative Number of Troops Engaged. Losses. Enemy's Account of the 
 Affair of Big Bethel. Attempts at Justification by the Federal Officers. Consoling Reflection of General Butler. 
 Censure of General Pierce. Promises to Justify Himself. Patriotism. Gallant Behavior of the Soldiers. 
 Proofs. Rescue of Guns. Rescue of Body of Lieutenant Greble. The Last to Retreat. Death of Major Win- 
 throp. His Bravery. His Last Moments. Admiration of the Enemy. Life of Winthrop. Adventurous Career. 
 Restlessness. His Military Career. Author of the Plan of Battle at Big Bethel. Literary Tastes. Success of 
 his Posthumous Works. 
 
 1861. 
 
 GRIEVOUS as had been the blunder at 
 Little Bethel, and fatal as it was to our 
 own men destroyed by their com- 
 rades, it was still more serious in 
 its effects upon the subsequent fate 
 of the expedition. The inexperienced 
 leader, counselled by those who were no 
 more skilled in the art of war than him- 
 self, and piqued into an indiscreet ac- 
 tivity by disappointment, determined to 
 make an effort to redeem the unsuccess- 
 ful beginning of the enterprise. He 
 accordingly ordered his troops again to 
 the advance. The enemy, in the mean 
 time, were on the alert, and had fallen 
 back from Little to Big Bethel, where 
 the main body was posted under the 
 cover of a strong battery of several 
 heavy guns. General Pierce, without 
 having made any reconnoissance, and en- 
 tirely ignorant of the force of his antag- 
 onists or the nature of their position or 
 defences, did not hesitate to push on his 
 troops, against this concealed and un- 
 numbered foe, at Great Bethel. He, 
 
 however, had the prudence, as he ad- 
 vanced, to send back to General Butler 
 for reinforcements, who sent forward 
 Colonel Allen, with his New York city 
 regiment, and Colonel Carr, with that 
 of Troy (N. Y.) 
 
 Colonel Duryea, with his Zouaves, 
 again assumed the advance, supported 
 by Colonel Bendix and his Germans, 
 and Colonel Townsend, with the Albany 
 regiment. On reaching Little Bethel, 
 from which a stray shot was fired by a 
 retreating troop of cavalry, the camp 
 was found deserted, and this being de- 
 stroyed, our troops pushed on toward 
 Big Bethel. Here the main body ar- 
 Jime rived at about ten o'clock in the 
 10* morning, and halted in consequence 
 of the intelligence brought back by those 
 who had been sent forward to skirmish 
 in advance. Captain Kilpatrick, who 
 commanded these skirmishers, had evi- 
 dently not underrated the strength of 
 the enemy, for he reported that he had 
 found them " with about from three 
 
276 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 thousand to five thousand men, posted 
 in a strong position on the opposite 
 side of the bridge three earth-works 
 and a masked battery on the right and 
 left ; in advance of the stream, thirty 
 pieces of artillery and a large force of 
 cavalry." 
 
 In face of this portentous report of 
 the numbers and strength of position of 
 the enemy, the troops were drawn up 
 in line of battle, and prepared to give 
 fight. The soldiers, though previously 
 fatigued by their long and rapid march, 
 and dispirited by the fatal mistake of 
 the previous night, were at once reani- 
 mated by the prospect of a struggle. 
 "It put a new spirit into the men, as 
 the word passed down the line. They 
 were no longer tired and sleepy. Each 
 freshened up to his place- in the ranks 
 and closed up in column." 
 
 The skirmishers, now led by Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Warren, were again thrown 
 forward on the right and left, supported 
 by the advance guard of Duryea's Zou- 
 aves and three pieces of United States 
 artillery, under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant Greble. The enemy at once 
 opened fire from their batteries directly 
 facing the road, but our men answered 
 with a shout, and continued to press 
 forward. 
 
 The enemy's fire was so heavy that it 
 was found useless to attempt to meet it 
 directly by discharges of musketry, and 
 accordingly the Federal forces were de- 
 ployed. Lieutenant Greble, with his 
 three howitzers, being posted in the 
 road toward the front, was left alone to 
 face the batteries, while the rest as- 
 
 sumed positions toward the enemy's 
 right and left, with the view of flanking. 
 
 Colonel Duryea's Zouaves and Colonel 
 Townsend's Albany regiment crossed 
 from the road on the left through some 
 cultivated farm-ground and orchards, to 
 an open field on the enemy's right, with 
 their skirmishers in advance, and tKe 
 Germans, the Massachusetts men, and 
 Vermonters passed into a forest on the 
 right of the road, and toward the left of 
 the enemy. 
 
 As the Zouaves advanced, the enemy 
 opened their batteries upon them. Col- 
 onel Duryea, however, urged them for- 
 ward at the double-quick step, until, 
 finding the fire very "destructive," he 
 thought it prudent to seek refuge in a 
 neighboring wood, where he halted to 
 rest his men, and to complete his prep- 
 arations for charging the batteries in 
 flank. After remaining two hours and 
 a half in this imperfect cover, where they 
 were still within range of the enemy's 
 guns,- the Zouaves returned to the open 
 field and spiritedly advanced toward the 
 rebel batteries, with the intention of 
 making an attempt to carry them by 
 storm. They had not proceeded far, how- 
 ever, before they discovered lying across 
 their path an almost impassable swamp, 
 with a small stream running through it. 
 These proved to be insurmountable ob- 
 stacles. They persevered, however, with 
 great spirit till the order came from 
 General Pierce to retreat. Colonel 
 Duryea, now collecting such of his killed 
 and wounded as he could find, withdrew 
 his men and took to the road in the rear. 
 
 The Germans, at the same time, were 
 
ORDER TO RETREAT. 
 
 2T7 
 
 acting on the right in conjunction with 
 the Zouaves on the left, and, like them, 
 had made several spirited attempts at 
 charging the batteries, but foiled by the 
 same obstacles of morass and creek and 
 heavy fire, were also forced to withdraw. 
 
 Lieutenant Greble, with his three 
 pieces of artillery, had, in the mean 
 time, been returning the fire of the en- 
 emy with considerable effect, and had 
 steadily advanced until he reached within 
 two hundred yards of the Confederate 
 works. 
 
 The skirmishers, headed by Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Warren, had made good 
 progress. "We continued to advance," 
 reported Captain Kilpatrick, in com- 
 mand, "clearing all before us, till we 
 reached a point just on the edge of the 
 woods where the fire was so hot and 
 heavy that we were compelled to halt, 
 and there we remained as directed by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Warren, till that gal- 
 lant officer had made dispositions to turn 
 their flanks. The enemy's fire at this 
 time began to tell upon us with great 
 effect. My men were falling one after 
 another, as was the case of the rest of 
 the command. 
 
 " Our abject being now accomplished, 
 to remain longer in this exposed posi- 
 tion was useless ; numbers of our men 
 being killed and wounded, having re- 
 ceived a grape-shot through my thigh, 
 which tore off a portion of the rectangle 
 on Colonel Duryea's left shoulder, passed 
 through my leg. and killed a soldier in 
 the rear, I withdrew my men to the 
 skirts of the wood. We managed to 
 reach Lieutenant Greble's battery and 
 
 bring to his aid several of my men. 
 The charge was then sounded, and Lieu- 
 tenant Greble opened fire with grape 
 and canister within two hundred yards 
 of the enemy's lines. Captains Win- 
 slow, Bartlett, and myself charged with 
 our commands in front ; Captain Denike 
 and Lieutenant Duryea (son of Colonel 
 Duryea), and about two hundred of the 
 Troy Rifles, upon the right ; Colonel 
 Townsend, with his men, to the left. 
 The enemy were forced out of the first 
 battery, all the forces were rapidly ad- 
 vancing, and everything promised a 
 speedy victory, when we were ordered 
 to fall back. Where this order came 
 from, I do not know. We maintained 
 our position till Colonel Townsend be- 
 gan to retire with his whole command. 
 Being left thus alone, and no prospects 
 of receiving aid, we ordered the men to 
 fall back, which they did, and in good 
 order, forming their line of battle about 
 one hundred and fifty yards in the rear. 
 A few minutes afterward, orders came 
 from General Pierce to cease firing and 
 retire." 
 
 Greble, after two hours of spirited 
 work with his artillery, was struck by a 
 cannon-ball in the head and killed in- 
 stantly. With his death, the fall of the 
 larger number of the artillerists, and the 
 exhaustion of ammunition, it was found 
 necessary to withdraw the guns, which 
 was done by the Massachusetts men and 
 Yermonters, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Washburne. The body of the young 
 lieutenant was borne off, lying upon one 
 of those cannon which he had so gal- 
 lantly served. 
 
278 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 The New York regiment sent to rein- 
 force the Federal troops, reached the 
 battle-field in time to share in the en- 
 gagement. The commander, Colonel 
 Allen, in his official report, says : 
 " Upon reporting to General Pierce, he 
 directed me to proceed to the front and 
 deploy my regiment in front of the bat- 
 tery, which I did, and so remained for 
 one hour and forty minutes under a 
 heavy fire of at least twenty guns, some 
 of them rifled, and about four shell 
 guns the enemy deploying in my front 
 with about 1,200 men and two guns, 
 but made no advance. They, however, 
 threw out two heavy flanking parties on 
 my right and left, the former with two 
 guns, and completely outflanked the en- 
 tire brigade, at which time General 
 Pierce deemed it proper to retire." 
 
 The number of Federal troops on the 
 field of battle, including the reinforce- 
 ments, amounted to about four thou- 
 sand. Of these, sixteen were killed, 
 thirty-four wounded, and five missing, 
 making a total of fifty-three. The Fed- 
 eral loss, moreover, was increased by 
 the fatal blunder, which resulted in kill- 
 ing two and wounding nineteen. 
 
 The enemy reported that their whole 
 force engaged did not exceed eleven hun- 
 dred men, under the command of Gen- 
 eral Magruder, and one killed and two 
 wounded, as the total of their loss. 
 One who served with them gave this 
 account of the affair : 
 
 " On Monday morning, six hundred 
 infantry and two guns, under General 
 Magruder, left the camp and proceeded 
 toward Hampton, but after advancing a 
 
 mile or two, received information that 
 the Yankees were coming in large force. 
 We then retired, and after reaching 
 camp the guns were placed in battery 
 and the infantry took their places be- 
 hind their breast- work. Everybody was 
 cool, and all were anxious to give the 
 invaders a good reception. About nine 
 o'clock the glittering bayonets of the 
 enemy appeared on the hill opposite, 
 and above them waved the star-span- 
 gled banner. The moment the head of 
 the columa advanced far enough to show 
 one or two companies, the Parrott gun 
 of the howitzer battery opened on them, 
 throwing a shell right into their midst. 
 Their ranks broke in confusion, and the 
 column, or as much of it as we could see, 
 retreated behind two small farm-houses. 
 From their position a fire was opened 
 on us, which was replied to by our bat- 
 tery, which commanded the route of 
 their approach. Our firing was excel- 
 lent, and the shells scattered in all di- 
 rections, when they burst. They could 
 hardly approach the guns which they 
 were firing, for the shells which came 
 from our battery. Within our encamp- 
 ment fell a perfect hail-storm of canis- 
 ter shot, bullets, and balls. Remarkable 
 to say, not one of our men was killed 
 inside of our encampment. Several 
 horses were slain by the shells and 
 bullets. Finding that bombardment 
 would not answer, the enemy, about 
 eleven o'clock, tried to carry the posi- 
 tion by assault, but met a terrible re- 
 pulse at the hands of the infantry as he 
 tried to scale the breast-works. The 
 men disregarded sometimes the defences 
 
THE DEFEAT AT BIG BETHEL JUSTIFIED. 
 
 279 
 
 erected for them, and, leaping on the 
 embankment, stood and fired at the 
 Yankees, cutting them down as they 
 came up. One company of the New 
 York Seventh Regiment, under Captain 
 Winthrop, attempted to take the re- 
 doubt on the left. The marsh they 
 crossed was strewn with their bodies. 
 Their captain, a fine-looking man, 
 reached the fence, and, leaping on a 
 log, waved his sword, crying, ' Come on, 
 boys! one charge, and the day is ours !' 
 The words were his last, for a Carolina 
 rifle ended his life the next moment, 
 and his men fled in terror back. At 
 the redoubt on the right, a company of 
 about three hundred New York Zou- 
 aves charged one of our guns, but could 
 not stand the fire of the infantry, and 
 retreated precipitately. During these 
 charges the main body of the enemy on 
 the hill were attempting to concentrate 
 for a general assault, but the shells from 
 the howitzer battery prevented them. 
 As one regiment would give up the 
 effort, another would be marched to the 
 position, but with no better success, for 
 a shell would scatter them like chaff. 
 The men did not seem able to stand fire 
 at all. About one o'clock their guns 
 were silenced, and a few moments after, 
 their infantry retreated precipitately 
 down the road to Hampton. Our cav- 
 alry, numbering three companies, went 
 in pursuit, and harassed them down to 
 the edge of Hampton. As they re- 
 treated, many of the wounded fell 
 along the road and died, and the whole 
 road to Hampton was strewn with hav- 
 ersacks, overcoats, canteens, muskets, 
 
 etc., which the men had thrown off in 
 their retreat." 
 
 The Federal officers engaged in the 
 unfortunate affairs of Little and Big 
 Bethel strove to justify their conduct 
 of the expedition, or to shift upon one 
 another the responsibility of its failure. 
 The commander-in-chief, General But- 
 ler, consoled himself with the thought, 
 "in the unfortunate combination of cir- 
 cumstances, and the result which we 
 have experienced, we have gained more 
 than we have lost. Our troops have 
 learned to have confidence in themselves 
 under fire, the enemy have shown that 
 they wih 1 not meet us in the open field, 
 and our officers have learned wherein 
 their organization and drill are defi- 
 cient." 
 
 The militia Brigadier-General Pierce, 
 who commanded the expedition, was so 
 overwhelmed with censure, that he was 
 forced to seek refuge within the col- 
 umns of the newspaper, and persisting 
 in the assertion of the excellence of 
 his military conduct, promised a future 
 justification of his skill as a com- 
 mander : * 
 
 " CAMP HAMILTON, June 12, 1861. 
 " To THE EDITORS OF THE BOSTON JOURNAL : 
 
 " Please correct the erroneous reports 
 set afloat by my enemies. There were 
 but seven killed of the forces that went 
 from this camp, in the expedition to 
 Little and Big Bethel, on the 10th of 
 this month, and Colonel Townsend, of 
 the Third Regiment New York Volun- 
 teers, who was formerly adjutant-gen- 
 
 6 His justification was subsequently published. It cast 
 the blame upon his superior in command. 
 
280 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 eral of the State of New York, offers to 
 certify that I gave my orders properly, 
 and that, under the circumstances, the 
 battle could not have been managed 
 better. 
 
 "This I write that the public may not 
 judge me before I have time to be heard. 
 
 "Captain Haggerty and Major Win- 
 throp, of General Butler's staff, were 
 with me, and advising me to do as I did. 
 General Butler has not intimated to me, 
 as yet, that he blames me at all. In 
 haste, yours, E. W. PIERCE." 
 
 He subsequently confessed his incom- 
 petency as an officer by modestly re- 
 tiring from the brigadier-generalship, 
 and proved his patriotism by serving as 
 a private in the ranks. 
 
 The soldiers unquestionably behaved 
 with even more gallantry and firmness 
 than might have been expected from 
 raw troops, indiscreetly exposed to the 
 batteries of a concealed and numerous 
 enemy, and unskilfully managed by in- 
 competent leaders. There were many 
 instances of individual courage, which 
 proved the spirit of the men and their 
 capability, under proper command, of 
 effectively serving the cause which they 
 had so eagerly adopted. 
 
 During the retreat, Captain Wilson, 
 of Colonel Carr's regiment of Troy 
 (N. Y.), finding that a six-pounder had 
 been left on the field, about fifty rods 
 from the battery, shouted to his men : 
 " Boys ! there's a cannon ; we must not 
 leave it behind ; we must take it with 
 us." The whole company to a man 
 cried out, "We'll take it;" and they 
 were immediately marched back to ob- 
 
 tain the piece. They had hardly reached 
 it, when the enemy opened fire upon 
 them, killing one of the brave fellows 
 and wounding two others. The drag- 
 ropes were detached, but the men tied 
 them to the gun, in the midst of a 
 shower of shot, and with a cheer ran 
 it into the woods bordering the road. 
 Captain Wilson, then, followed by five 
 men, returned once more to the ex- 
 posed spot to which the enemy's fire 
 was hotly aimed, and securing the cais- 
 son, and also the body of poor Greble, 
 who had fallen dead at his post, re- 
 tired again to the cover of the woods, 
 whence he retreated in safety with his 
 hard-earned trophies. A score of men 
 only, under the command of Lieuten- 
 ant White, after firing their last charges 
 from their howitzer, were left far in the 
 rear, and being the last to leave the 
 field, kept at bay a squadron of the 
 enemy's cavalry and some infantry dur- 
 ing their retreat to the main body. 
 
 The young Major Winthrop fell while 
 gallantly urging on the troops, by his 
 example and stirring words, to the at- 
 tack. A fellow-officer who was with him 
 during the engagement has testified to 
 his spirit. " I made a reconnoissance," 
 he said, "with Major Winthrop about 
 twelve o'clock in the day, and can testify 
 to his bravery and daring. He was very 
 much exhausted, having wanted for 
 sleep, food, and water, and the day had 
 turned out very hot. We stuck our 
 heads out of some underbrush, and in- 
 stantly there was a perfect shower of 
 balls rained upon us, which compelled 
 us to withdraw a few paces. Major 
 
DEATH OF MAJOR WINTHROP. 
 
 281 
 
 Winthrop laid himself behind a tree, 
 saying if he could only sleep for five 
 minutes he would be all right. He re- 
 marked as he did this, that he was going 
 to see the inside of that intrenchment 
 before he went back to the fortress his 
 manner being that of cool, ordinary con- 
 versation. He continued self-possessed 
 and cool throughout the whole engage- 
 ment, up to the time when he received 
 his death- wound, which happened by the 
 side of Lieutenant Herringen, Company 
 E, who remained with him and cared for 
 him until life had fled. He was shot in 
 the side." 
 
 The enemy found him to be the most 
 conspicuous aim for their fatal shots. 
 Their riflemen from their covers in the 
 pits before the batteries had several 
 times deliberately fired at him, as they 
 declared he was constantly " conspicu- 
 ous at the head of the advancing Federal 
 troops, loudly cheering them on to the 
 assault." 
 
 Theodore Winthrop was born in New 
 Haven, Connecticut, in 1834, and was a 
 descendant of the famous colonial gov- 
 ernor of his name. He was possessed 
 of a warm temperament, which gave the 
 impulse to effort, but at the same time 
 of a vagrant fancy, which hindered con- 
 centration and led to uncertainty of pur- 
 pose. Educated at Yale College, and 
 endowed with a natural taste for litera- 
 ture, he at one time aspired to be an 
 author. Again his impulsive character, 
 untutored by the discipline of routine, 
 sought vent for its irregular forces in 
 the adventure of exploration and travel. 
 
 He crossed the Rocky Mountains to 
 36 
 
 California, and again on his return he 
 started with Lieutenant Strain on his 
 bold expedition across the mountains, 
 the jungles, and unnavigable rivers of 
 the Isthmus of Darien. His physical 
 strength, however, proved unequal to 
 the trials of that adventurous explora- 
 tion, and he returned to New York, his 
 nominal home, to venture upon a new 
 field of labor. He studied and began 
 the practice of law. His errant fancies, 
 however, were not favorable to the 
 steady pursuit of the law, and he met 
 with but little success. One of the 
 fondest of his friends who knew him 
 well, has said that ' ' partly from ill- 
 health, partly from temperament, a 
 dreary sadness overhung his life and 
 dispirited his efforts. Glad of his 
 friends' success, and conscious of the 
 kindred impulse, he still wistfully de- 
 layed. Of great industry and restless 
 endeavor, he saw success slide by, and 
 seemed to be waiting in melancholy 
 patience the rising of a happier star. 
 It has risen at last, and shines upon his 
 grave." 
 
 On the fall of Sumter, he saw in the 
 war which must ensue a new scope for 
 his adventurous spirit and unemployed 
 energies. 
 
 " On the Sunday afternoon after the 
 fall of Sumter he was walking with a 
 friend in the woods upon Staten Island, 
 near his home. No man could have a 
 clearer conception of the significance of 
 that event. An American in the no- 
 blest sense, he felt that the time had 
 come in which our liberties could be 
 maintained only in the same way that 
 
282 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 they were won. ' To-morrow,' said his 
 friend, 'we shall have a proclamation 
 from the President.' ' Then to-mor- 
 row,' he answered, ' I shall enlist.' He 
 did so. If he had hesitated before, 
 there could be no hesitation now. 
 Mother, sisters, brother, farewell! It 
 is God who calls in the voice of my 
 
 i ? 9& 
 
 country. * 
 
 He joined, together with his brother, 
 the Seventh Regiment, which was the 
 first to leave New York to go to the 
 defence of the capital. After his regi- 
 ment was mustered out of the Federal 
 service, young Winthrop was appointed 
 aid-de-camp and military secretary to 
 General Butler, whom he accompanied 
 to Fortress Monroe. He was no.w fairly 
 embarked for the war. With his natu- 
 ral hopefulness of temper, he was ex- 
 ceedingly sanguine of the success of the 
 Federal arms. 
 
 "A few burned villages, a dozen 
 guerrillas hung, one scouring skirmish 
 or battle will pacify," he wrote, "a 
 whole State. Under the discipline and 
 esprit du corps of a regiment or an army 
 the South may fight ; but they will not 
 have moral conviction enough to risk 
 
 Harper's Weekly. 
 
 their separate lives except in assassina- 
 tions, and those a few sharp examples 
 will terminate. We heard their threats 
 at Annapolis. We heard also the pitiful 
 plaints of the timid who believed the 
 threats. No ; if we are patient and well 
 led, we shall do our work without much 
 massacre." 
 
 The equivocal honor of the plan of 
 the expedition to Little Bethel has been 
 claimed for him, and a memorandum 
 with its main details was found among 
 .his papers after his death, and published. 
 The fact that to so inexperienced a 
 soldier recourse was had for the plan of 
 the expedition, is a confession of incom- 
 petency on the part of his elders and 
 superiors which betokened ill for its 
 success. 
 
 Young Winthrop during his campaign 
 wrote frequently for a Boston magazine, 
 and his spirited account of the march 
 of the Seventh Regiment, and its first 
 experiences in actual warfare, was re- 
 ceived with great popular favor. Since 
 his death, several of his stories and two 
 novels written by him have been pub- 
 lished, awakening an interest naturally 
 heightened by the heroic death of their 
 patriotic author. 
 
GENERAL McCLELLAX. 
 
 283 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Call of the Country for the services of its Citizens. The Sword laid aside for the pursuits of Peace. States com- 
 peting for a military leader. George B. McClellan. Present position. Hopes for the future. A Bonaparte or a 
 Washington? Life of George B. McClellan. Inheritance of paternal qualities. Family Descent. Military Edu- 
 cation. At West Point. First of his class. Enters the Army. Organizes the Sappers and Miners. His success. 
 Services and rewards in the Mexican Campaign. Laborious work at Vera Cruz. A dangerous Reconnoissance 
 at Contreras. In the fight. Services at Churubusco. Well-earned praise. Brevetted Captain. At Molino del Rey. 
 At Chapultepec. One of the "five Lieutenants of Engineers who won the admiration of all." In the same 
 list with Beauregard. McClellan accepts the command of the Sappers and Miners. Two years at West Point. 
 Scientific Pursuits and Writings. Superintendent of construction of Fort Delaware. Married. Chief Engineer in 
 Texas. Surveyor of North Pacific Railroad. Services acknowledged by Jefferson Davis. Secret Service in the 
 West Indies. Sent to the Crimea. Report on European Armies. The character of the work. Description of the 
 Storming of the Malakoff. Practical views in regard to Coast Defences. McClellan resigns his Army command. 
 Vice -President and Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad. President and General Superintendent 
 of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. Summoned by the country to resume his Sword. Services competed for by 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio. Accepts a Major-Generalship from Ohio. Commissioned by the United States a Major- 
 General. Command of the Department of Ohio. Personal appearance and character of McClellan. Campaign in 
 Western Virginia. Movements of the Enemy. Movements of General Patterson from Pennsylvania and McClellan 
 from Ohio. Proclamation of McClellan. Crossing the Ohio into Western Virginia. 
 
 1861, 
 
 WHEN our domestic quarrel had be- 
 come so exasperated that civil war 
 was inevitable, and the country 
 called for the services of all who were 
 able to take up arms in its defence, 
 there was one who, though he had laid 
 aside the sword for the pursuits of peace, 
 had given such proofs of military ca- 
 pacity, that States competed for him as 
 the leader of their armies. This was 
 Greorge B. McClellan, the present com- 
 mander-in-chief of the United States 
 forces, who at this moment holds the 
 proudest position in the country, and is 
 destined perhaps, should the capricious 
 fortunes of war favor him, to acquire a 
 military fame rivaling that of a Caesar or 
 a Bonaparte, while it is to be accom- 
 panied, it may be hoped, with a moder- 
 ation of power and a disinterestedness 
 
 of patriotism which shall elevate Mc- 
 Clellan far beyond the imperial grand- 
 eur of the Roman and French emperors, 
 and advance him in moral greatness as 
 the saviour of the republic next to 
 Washington its revered founder. 
 
 George B. McClellan was born in 
 Philadelphia, on the third of January, 
 eighteen hundred and twenty-six. His 
 father was a surgeon of that city, famous 
 in his profession for skill, intrepidity, 
 promptitude, and dexterity qualities 
 which his son is believed to have in- 
 herited, though exercised in a different 
 sphere of duty. The family, as its name 
 indicates, was of Scotch origin, and orig- 
 inally settled in New England, where 
 some of its members still live. 
 
 In 1842, young McClellan, at the age 
 of sixteen, entered the Military Acad- 
 
284 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 emy of West Point. After the usual 
 course of four years of study he grad- 
 uated in 1846, being twenty years old, 
 at the head of his class. He entered 
 the army as brevet second lieutenant of 
 engineers, an honored, corps into which 
 the most distinguished students of West 
 Point are only admitted. On the dec- 
 laration of war against Mexico, Congress 
 passed an act establishing _a company of 
 sappers, miners, and pontoon construc- 
 tors to be added to the corps of engi- 
 neers, and young McClellan was ap- 
 pointed its second lieutenant. Upon 
 him and two other officers devolved the 
 duty of organizing and drilling this new 
 branch of service. The recruits were 
 accordingly mustered at West Point, 
 where they were practised in sapping, 
 mining, constructing bridges, and pre- 
 paring the materials for sieges. At 
 the same time they were thoroughly 
 drilled and disciplined as infantry sol- 
 diers. Colonel Totten, the chief of 
 this department, declared in his report, 
 that when this new company, composed 
 of seventy-one men, left West Point for 
 the war, they were in ' ' admirable 
 discipline," and warmly applauded the 
 skill and energy displayed by McClel- 
 lan and his associates in their work of 
 organization and drill. Proceeding first 
 to Camargo, in Mexico, and reporting 
 for duty to General Taylor, the com- 
 pany was ordered to return to Mata- 
 moras, and act with the column about 
 marching under the command of General 
 Patterson. 
 
 At Matamoras the captain and nine- 
 teen men of the corps were invalided 
 
 and left in the hospital. Lieutenant 
 McClellan and his comrade, Lieutenant 
 Grustavus W. Smith now a major-gen- 
 eral in the Confederate army proceeded 
 in command of the remainder of the 
 company to Yera Cruz. "During the 
 march from Matamoras to Yittoria," 
 reported Colonel Totten, " the company, 
 then reduced to forty-five effectives, ex- 
 ecuted a great amount of work on the 
 roads, fords, etc., as it did in proceeding 
 thence to Tampico, where it formed, 
 with one company of the Third and one 
 of the Seventh Infantry, a pioneer party, 
 under Captain Henry of the Third Infan- 
 try. The detailed reports of these labors 
 exhibit the greatest efficiency and excel- 
 lent discipline under severe and trying 
 circumstances, Lieutenant Smith having 
 then but one officer, Lieutenant McClel- 
 lan, under his command." 
 
 On arriving at Yera Cruz, the captain, 
 invalided at Matamoras, resumed the 
 command of the company, to which was 
 attached also another subordinate officer. 
 To the conduct of the sappers and min- 
 ers at the siege of Yera Cruz, Colonel 
 Totten paid this tribute : "During the 
 siege of Yera Cruz," he said, " I was 
 witness to the great exertions and ser- 
 vices of this company, animated by and 
 emulating the zeal and devotion of its 
 excellent officers, Lieutenants Smith, 
 McClellan, and Foster." During the 
 whole work of the siege, the labors of 
 the company were incessant. " The 
 total of the company was so small," said 
 Totten, "and demands for its aid so inces- 
 sant, that every man may be said to have 
 been constantly on duty, with scarcely a 
 
MEXICO. 
 
 285 
 
 moment for rest and refreshment." The 
 captain was unable, from continued ill- 
 ness, to take any very effective part in 
 the onerous duties of the command, and 
 soon after died, leaving the weight of 
 labor and responsibility to rest upon his 
 youthful subordinates, who proved them- 
 selves equal to the task, and earned 
 another tribute from their superior, Col- 
 onel Totten, who declared that they 
 " directed the operations with unsur- 
 passed intelligence and zeal." 
 
 The same officer, in his reports of the 
 services of the company, whether on the 
 march, in the field, or in the trenches, 
 had occasion but to repeat his praises 
 both of men and officers. He said : 
 
 " Severe labors followed the surrender 
 of Yera Cruz and its castle, and accom- 
 panied the march to the battle of Cerro 
 Gordo, in which the company displayed, 
 in various parts of the field, its gallantry 
 and efficiency. It entered the city of 
 Jalapa with the advance of Twiggs' 
 division, and Puebla with the advance 
 of Worth's. During the pause at the 
 latter place, the instruction of the com- 
 pany in its appropriate studies and ex- 
 ercises was resumed by its persevering 
 and zealous officers, and assistance was 
 given by all in the repairs of the de- 
 fences. Marching from Puebla with 
 General Twiggs' division, the company 
 was joined to General Worth at Chalon, 
 and arrived in front of San Antonio on 
 the 18th of August, having greatly 
 assisted in clearing the road of obstruc- 
 tions placed by the enemy." 
 
 On the next day, the 19th of August, 
 the company was placed at the head of 
 
 the column commanded by General 
 Pillow. Before the battle at Contreras 
 opened, Lieutenant McClellan was or- 
 dered, together with another officer of 
 engineers, to reconnoitre the position of 
 the enemy. They, however, fell in with 
 the advance guards of the Mexicans, and 
 being fired upon, and losing their horses, 
 which were killed, barely escaped in 
 safety back to the lines. During the 
 engagement which ensued, Lieutenant 
 McClellan joined Magruder's battery. 
 General Twiggs bore testimony to his 
 good service on that day : 
 
 " Lieutenant George B. McClellan, 
 after Lieutenant Calender was wounded, 
 took charge of and managed the how- 
 itzer battery (Lieutenant Reno being 
 detached with the rockets) with judg- 
 ment and success, until it became so dis- 
 abled as to require shelter. For Lieu- 
 tenant McClellan's efficiency and gallan- 
 try in this affair, I present his name for 
 the favorable consideration of the Gen- 
 eral in-chief." 
 
 On the next day, when the battle of 
 Churubusco was fought and the victory 
 won, McClellan again obtained the "hon- 
 orable mention" of his commander, and a, 
 brevet rank. General Persifer F. Smith, 
 with whose division the young Lieuten- 
 ant served, declared in his report : 
 
 "Lieutenant G. W. Smith, in com- 
 mand of the engineer company, and 
 Lieutenant McClellan, his subaltern, dis- 
 tinguished themselves throughout the 
 whole of the three actions. Nothing 
 seemed to them too bold to be under- 
 taken, or too difficult to be executed, 
 and their services as engineers were as 
 
286 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 valuable as those they rendered in battle 
 at the head of their gallant men." 
 
 In the battle of Molino del Rey, too, 
 which succeeded, McClellan was again 
 conspicuous among the most active and 
 brave. He was brevetted captain in 
 acknowledgment of his services. He, 
 however, declined the promotion, and 
 was still only a lieutenant during the 
 attack on Chapultepec. His seryices on 
 this occasion, in erecting batteries before 
 the engagement, and his gallantry in 
 fighting during the battle, brought him 
 once more within the notice of his supe- 
 riors. General Scott named him in his 
 dispatch as one of "those five lieuten- 
 ants of engineers" who "won the ad- 
 miration of all." The name of his 
 famous competitor, Beauregard, was on 
 the same honored list. 
 
 McClellan was thus with the army of 
 General Scott during the whole of its 
 victorious progress from Yera Cruz to 
 the capital, and at every step the young 
 Lieutenant won an increase of honor for 
 his good conduct. He was brevetted 
 captain for his service in Mexico, and 
 returned in 1848 to West Point with 
 his company of sappers and miners, of 
 which he soon after became com- 
 mander. 
 
 Here McClellan remained for more 
 than two years, in comparative inac- 
 tivity, but improved the time by study 
 and devotion to the welfare of the 
 service. He translated from the French, 
 with which he is said to be thoroughly 
 acquainted, a military work, which has 
 been adopted as a text-book, and modi- 
 fying in accordance with the latest sys- 
 
 tem of tactics, the bayonet exercise, 
 introduced it into the army. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of 
 1851, McClellan was charged with the 
 superintendence of the construction of 
 Fort Delaware, and in the spring of the 
 same year was ordered to duty in the 
 exploration of the Red River, under 
 Major R. B. Marcy, whose daughter he 
 married. While engaged in this work he 
 was ordered to Texas, as chief engineer, 
 under the command of General Persifer 
 Smith of that department, and had been 
 occupied for several months in surveying 
 the rivers and harbors of the State, 
 when he was transferred to the Pacific 
 coast, to command the western division 
 of the survey of the route for the North 
 Pacific Railroad, to pass from the Mis- 
 sissippi to the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Jefferson Davis, the present President 
 of the Southern Confederacy, then 
 secretary of war of the United States, 
 in his report to Congress thus acknowl- 
 edged the services of McClellan as an 
 explorer : 
 
 " The examination of the approaches 
 and passes of the Cascade Mountains, 
 made by Captain McClellan, of the corps 
 of engineers, presents a reconnoissance 
 of great value, and, though performed 
 under adverse circumstances, exhibits 
 all the information necessary to deter- 
 mine the practicability of this portion 
 of the route, and reflects the highest 
 credit on the capacity and resources of 
 that officer." 
 
 Again he added : " Captain McClel- 
 lan, of the corps of engineers, after 
 the completion of his field operations, 
 
AT THE CRIMEA. 
 
 287 
 
 was directed to visit various railroads, 
 and to collect information and facts 
 established in the construction and work- 
 ing of existing roads, to serve as data 
 in determining the practicability of con- 
 structing and working roads over the 
 several routes explored. The results of 
 his inquiries will be found in a very 
 valuable memoir herewith submitted." 
 
 This public duty was followed by the 
 performance of some secret service for 
 the Government in the West Indies. 
 
 In 1855, McClellan received a com- 
 mission of captain in the United States 
 cavalry, and was appointed by the Gov- 
 ernment, together with Colonel Richard 
 Delafield and Major Alfred Mordecai, to 
 proceed to the Crimea and report upon 
 the war then waging between Russia 
 and the allied powers of France and 
 England. The result of his observations 
 was embodied in a work entitled, "Re- 
 port on the Organization of European 
 Armies and the Operations of the War. 77 
 It is acknowledged to be a production 
 showing a thorough mastery of the mil- 
 itary art. Its demonstrations evince an 
 exact knowledge of science and a broad 
 view in the application of its principles. 
 The author, in the freedom of his criti- 
 cism, does not hesitate to disregard the 
 pretensions of rank and authority, and 
 submit the strategy and tactics of the 
 most distinguished European officers to 
 the test of his own judgment. This self- 
 reliance, though it might be thought by 
 some presumptuous in so young a man, 
 comes from a consciousness of power, 
 derived not only from original genius but 
 careful culture, which gives promise that 
 
 McClellan will be the great leader the 
 country requires. 
 
 Of the clear and precise style of 
 McClellan as a writer, the following de- 
 scription of the storming of the Mala- 
 koff presents a good illustration : 
 
 ' ' In their admirable arrangements for 
 the attack of the Malakoff, the French 
 counted on two things for success : first, 
 they had ascertained that the Russians 
 were in the habit of relieving the guard 
 of the Malakoff at noon, and that a 
 great part of the old guard marched out 
 before the new one arrived, in order to 
 avoid the loss which would arise from 
 crowding the work with men ; in the 
 second place, it was determined to keep 
 up a most violent vertical fire until the 
 very moment of the assault, thus driving 
 the Russians into the bomb-proofs, and 
 enabling the storming party to enter the 
 work with but little opposition. 
 
 "The hour of noon was therefore 
 selected for the assault, and the strong 
 columns intended for the work were at 
 an early hour assembled in the advanced 
 trenches, all in admirable order, and 
 furnished with precise instructions. 
 
 "The mortars maintained an unre- 
 mitting fire until the moment appointed. 
 The very instant the last volley was dis- 
 charged, the storming party of Zouaves 
 rushed over the thirty paces before them, 
 and were in the work before the aston- 
 ished Russians knew what had happened. 
 It was stated that this party lost- but 
 eleven in entering the work. Other 
 troops advanced rapidly to support the 
 storming party, a bridge was formed by 
 rolling up five ladders with planks 
 
288 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 lashed to them, a communication was at 
 once commenced between the advanced 
 trench and the bridge, brigade after 
 brigade passed over, the redoubt was at 
 once occupied by the storming party, 
 and thus the Malakoff, and with it Se- 
 bastopol, was won. The few Russians 
 remaining in the work made a desperate 
 resistance. Many gallant attempts were 
 made by Russian columns to ascend the 
 steep slope in rear and regain the lost 
 work ; but as the road was narrow, 
 difficult, and obstructed, the position 
 strong, and the French in force, all their 
 furious efforts were in vain, and the 
 Malakoff remained in possession of those 
 who had so gallantly and skilfully won 
 it. With regard to the final retreat to 
 the north side, it can only be said that 
 a personal examination of the locality 
 merely confirms its necessity, and the 
 impression so generally entertained that 
 it was the finest operation of the war ; 
 so admirably was it carried out that not 
 a straggler remained behind ; a few men, 
 so severely wounded as to be unfit for 
 rough and hurried transportation, were 
 the only ghastly human trophies that 
 remained to the allies. The retreat, 
 being a more difficult operation than the 
 assault, is worthy of more admiration, 
 but the Russian retreat to the north 
 side, and the French assault upon the 
 Malakoff must each be regarded as a 
 masterpiece of its kind, deserving the 
 closest study. It is difficult to imagine 
 what point in either can be criticised, 
 for both evinced consummate skill, dis- 
 cipline, coolness, and courage." 
 
 The practical tendency of his mind 
 
 and the character of his studies may be 
 seen in the conclusions with which he 
 has closed his report. From them can 
 be inferred the probable direction of his 
 present efforts toward securing the safety 
 of the country. 
 
 " It is believed that a calm considera- 
 tion of the events so hastily and imper- 
 fectly narrated in the preceding pages 
 must lead all unprejudiced persons 
 among our countrymen to a firm con- 
 viction on two vital points : 
 
 " 1st. That our system of perma.nent 
 coast defences is a wise and proper one, 
 which ought to be completed and armed 
 with the least possible delay. 
 
 " 2d. That mere individual courage 
 
 C3 
 
 cannot suffice to overcome the forces 
 that would be brought against us were 
 we involved in a European war, but 
 that it must be rendered manage- 
 able by discipline, and directed by that 
 consummate and mechanical military 
 skill which can only be acquired by a 
 course of education instituted for that 
 special purpose, and by long habit. 
 
 " In the day of sailing vessels the 
 successful siege of Sebastopol would 
 have been impossible. It is evident 
 that the Russians did not appreciate the 
 advantages afforded by steamers, and 
 were unprepared to sustain a siege. 
 
 "This same power of steam would 
 enable European nations to disembark 
 even a larger force than that which 
 finally encamped around Sebastopol. 
 To resist such an attack, should it ever 
 be made, our cities and harbors must be 
 fortified, and these fortifications must be 
 provided with guns, ammunition, and 
 
ON THE RAILROAD. 
 
 289 
 
 instructed artillerists. To repel the ad- 
 vance of such an army into the interior, 
 it is not enough to trust to the number 
 of brave but undisciplined men that we 
 can bring to bear against it. 
 
 " An invading army of fifteen thou- 
 sand or twenty thousand men could 
 easily be crushed by the unremitting 
 attacks of superior numbers ; but when 
 it comes to the case of more than one 
 hundred thousand disciplined veterans, 
 the very multitude brought to bear 
 against them works its own destruction ; 
 because, if without discipline and in- 
 struction, they cannot be handled, and 
 are in their own way. We cannot afford 
 a Moscow campaign. 
 
 " Our regular army never can be, and 
 perhaps never ought to be, large enough 
 to provide for all the contingencies that 
 may arise ; but it should be as large as 
 its ordinary avocations in the defence of 
 the frontier will justify ; the number of 
 officers and non-commissioned officers 
 should be unusually large, to provide for 
 a sudden increase ; and the greatest 
 possible care should be bestowed upon 
 the instruction of the special arms of 
 the artillery and engineer troops. 
 
 " The militia and volunteer system 
 should be placed upon some tangible 
 and effective basis, instructions furnished 
 them from the regular army, and all 
 possible means taken to spread sound 
 military information among them. 
 
 " In the vicinity of our sea-coast for- 
 tifications it would be well to provide a 
 sufficient number of volunteer com- 
 panies, with the means of instruction in 
 heavy artillery, detailing officers of the 
 37 
 
 regular artillery as instructors, who 
 should, at the same time, be in charge 
 of, and responsible for, the guns and 
 material. 
 
 " In time of war, or when war is im- 
 minent, local companies of regular artil- 
 lery might easily be enlisted for short 
 terms of service, or for the war, in the 
 sea-coast towns. The same thing might 
 advantageously be carried into effect on 
 a small scale in times of peace." 
 
 After returning from Europe, McClel- 
 lan, finding that the army, in those 
 piping times of peace, did not offer a 
 sufficient scope for his activity, resigned 
 his commission and accepted the ap- 
 pointment of vice-president and chief 
 engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad. 
 After serving three years in this office, 
 he accepted that of president and gen- 
 eral superintendent of the Ohio and 
 Mississippi Railroad. He was actively 
 engaged in the performance of the civil 
 duties pertaining to this position when, 
 war becoming imminent, he was sum- 
 moned to resume his sword. Governor 
 Curtin, of Pennsylvania, strove to secure 
 his services in organizing the militia of 
 that State. The Governor of Ohio, how- 
 ever, was beforehand, and had already 
 offered to him the command of the Ohio 
 troops with the rank of major-general, 
 which McClellan unhesitatingly accepted. 
 A few weeks subsequently he was ]jj a y 
 commissioned by the United States W. 
 Government a major-general in the 
 regular army and given the command of 
 the department of Ohio, embracing the 
 States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and 
 that part of Virginia lying north of the 
 
290 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Great Kanawha River and west of the 
 Green Brier River and the Maryland 
 line, with so much of Pennsylvania as 
 lies west of a line drawn from the Mary- 
 land line to the north-east corner of 
 McKean County. We shall soon follow 
 the energetic leader, in his campaign in 
 Western Virginia, from the triumphs of 
 which he was called to his present high 
 position. 
 
 McClellan, now thirty-five years old, 
 is in the prime of life. A man of short 
 stature and broad frame, with a tend- 
 ency to corpulency, though of compact 
 structure, he is possessed of great phys- 
 ical activity and powers of endurance. 
 Not prone to loquacity, he is reticent of 
 his own counsel, and when he speaks 
 expresses himself in few words, and 
 with the decisive tone which character- 
 izes the energetic man of action, rather 
 than the speculative discourser. His 
 temperament is that of the prevailing 
 Anglo-American type, a combination of 
 the sanguine and nervous. He has the 
 thoughtful forecast of the one and the 
 rapid movement of the other. This 
 commingling of the two temperaments 
 is shown in the dark though not black 
 hair, in the light-colored but piercing 
 eyes, in the full but concentrated frame, 
 in the small hands and feet, and in the 
 rounded but well-knit limbs. 
 
 His combined military knowledge and 
 civil experience fit him eminently for 
 the command of a mixed force of vol- 
 unteers "and regulars, enabling him to 
 harmonize their discordant elements. 
 He can appreciate fully the value of the 
 disciplined soldier, and yet is not un- 
 
 conscious that important aid may be 
 rendered by the citizen when aroused to 
 take up arms in defence of his country. 
 He has discovered, from actual contact, 
 the character of his countrymen, and 
 knows how gradually to subject their 
 impatience of control to the stern re- 
 quirements of militaiy law. 
 
 The secessionists of Eastern Virginia, 
 emboldened by the advance of the 
 troops of the Confederate States, soon 
 strove to overawe or subject the Union 
 men of the Western District. Having 
 accumulated a considerable force at 
 Harper's Ferry, they moved towards 
 Grafton and other points west of the 
 Alleghanies. It became, therefore, a 
 matter of moment with the Federal 
 Government, in order to sustain its loyal 
 supporters in Virginia, to counteract this 
 movement of the secessionists. The 
 neighboring States of Pennsylvania and 
 Ohio, between which that part of the 
 western district of Virginia most de- 
 voted to the Union is enclosed, naturally 
 presented the proper basis for opera- 
 tions in that quarter. Accordingly, 
 General Patterson, at the head of the 
 Pennsylvania troops, was ordered to 
 march upon Harper's Ferry, while Gen- 
 eral McClellan, in command of his Ohio 
 force, was directed to cross the Ohio 
 River and co-operate with him. Pre- 
 vious to doing this, however, it was 
 necessary to give a check to the seces- 
 sion force advancing through Western 
 Virginia. McClellan accordingly pre- 
 pared to co-operate with the loyal West- 
 ern Virginians, led by Colonel jj a y 
 Kelley, who were to march to meet 27. 
 
McCLELLAN'S PROCLAMATION. 
 
 291 
 
 the enemy at Grafton. Previous to 
 moving his force across the Ohio, Mc- 
 Clellan issued this proclamation : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS, DEPT. OF THE OHIO, ) 
 CINCINNATI, May 26, 1861. j 
 
 "To THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN VIRGINIA: 
 
 ' ' VIRGINIANS : The General Govern- 
 ment has long enough endured the 
 machinations of a few factious rebels in 
 your midst! Armed traitors have in 
 vain endeavored to deter you from ex- 
 pressing your loyalty at the polls. Hav- 
 ing failed in this infamous attempt to 
 deprive you of the exercise of your 
 dearest rights, they now seek to inaugu- 
 rate a reign of terror, and thus force 
 you to yield to their schemes, and sub- 
 mit to the yoke of the traitorous con- 
 spiracy dignified by the name of the 
 Southern Confederacy. 
 
 '.' They are destroying the property of 
 citizens of your State, and ruining your 
 magnificent railways. The General 
 Government has heretofore carefully ab- 
 stained from sending troops across the 
 Ohio, or even from posting them along 
 its banks, although frequently urged by 
 many of your prominent citizens to do 
 so. It determined to await the result 
 of the State election, desirous that no 
 one might be able to say that the slight- 
 est effort had been made from this side 
 to influence the expression of your 
 opinion, although the many agencies 
 brought to bear upon you by the rebels 
 were well known. You have now shown, 
 under the most adverse circumstances, 
 that the great mass of the people of 
 Western Virginia are true and loyal to 
 the beneficent Government under which 
 
 we and our fathers have lived so long. 
 As soon as the result of the election 
 was known, the traitors commenced 
 their work of destruction. 
 
 ' ' The General Government cannot close 
 its ears to the demand you have made 
 for assistance. I have ordered troops to 
 cross the river. They come as your 
 friends and brothers as enemies only 
 to the armed rebels who are preying 
 upon you. Your homes, your families, 
 and your property are safe under our 
 protection. All your rights shall be re- 
 ligiously protected. 
 
 "Notwithstanding all that has been 
 said by the traitors to induce you to 
 believe that our advent among you will 
 be signalized by interference with your 
 slaves, understand one thing clearly : not 
 only will we abstain from all interference, 
 but we will, on the contrary, with an 
 iron hand, crush any attempt at insur- 
 rection on their part. 
 
 " Now that we are in your midst, I 
 call upon you to fly to arms, and support 
 the General Government ; sever the 
 connection that binds you to traitors ; 
 proclaim to the world that the faith and 
 loyalty so long boasted of by the Old 
 Dominion are still preserved in Western 
 Virginia, and that you remain true to 
 the stars and stripes. 
 
 "G. B. McCLELLAN, 
 
 11 Major- General Commanding." 
 
 This was followed by a proclamation 
 to the army. 
 
 "CINCINNATI, May 26, 1861. 
 " To THE SOLDIERS OF THE ADVANCING COLUMN : 
 
 "You are ordered to cross the 
 frontier and enter upon the soil of Vir- 
 
292 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ginia. Your mission is to restore peace 
 and confidence, to protect the majesty 
 of the law and to rescue our brethren 
 from the grasp of armed traitors. You 
 are to act in concert with the Virginia 
 troops and to support their advance. 
 
 " I place under the safeguard of your 
 honor the persons and property of the 
 Virginians. I know that you will re- 
 spect their feelings, and all their rights. 
 Preserve the strictest discipline re- 
 member that each one of you holds in 
 his keeping the honor of Ohio and the 
 Union. 
 
 " If you are called upon to overcome 
 armed opposition, I know that your 
 courage is equal to the task, but re- 
 member that your only foes are the 
 armed traitors, and show mercy even to 
 them when they are in your power, for 
 many of them are misguided. When 
 under your protection the loyal men of 
 Western Virginia have been enabled to 
 
 organize and arm, they can protect 
 themselves, and you can then return to 
 your homes with the proud satisfaction 
 of having preserved a gallant people 
 from destruction. 
 
 " GEO. B. McCLELLAN, 
 
 " Major-General Commanding." 
 The 16th Ohio Regiment, commanded 
 by Colonel Irvine, and the 14th, jfl a y 
 under Colonel Lander, a noted 27. 
 frontiersman, were on the next day after 
 these proclamations thrown across the 
 Ohio into Western Virginia. The for- 
 mer crossing the Ohio to Wheeling, and 
 the latter at Marietta to Parkersburg, 
 continued their progress through West- 
 ern Virginia by the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Railroad. Their advance was hailed by 
 the people with great enthusiasm 'and 
 demonstrations of loyalty, and many 
 volunteers joined their standard. The 
 campaign in Western Virginia had now 
 fairly opened. 
 
AT PHILIPPI. 
 
 293 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Junction of the Ohio Troops with the Western Virginians. Colonel Kelley takes possession of Grafton. March to 
 Philippi. A severe march. Delay. Colonel Lander in advance. Colonel Kelley mistakes the route. -The Enemy 
 on the alert. The Attack. Retreat of the Enemy. Pursuit. Arrival of Kelley, who joins in the pursuit. Kelley 
 wounded. Prospects of death. Biography of Kelley. Tributes of admiration. Recovery of Kelley. Comparative 
 losses at Philippi. Trophies. Movement of General Patterson. Attack on Romney. March of Colonel Wallace. 
 A long and hard March. Flight of the Enemy. Good moral effect of the advance of the Federal Forces. 
 Spirited Skirmish of Corporal Hayes and his thirteen men. Tribute from General Patterson. The political action 
 of the Union men of Western Virginia. Convention at Wheeling. Declaration of Grievances and Ordinance of 
 Reorganization passed. The motion to form a new State defeated. New State Officers appointed. Proclamation 
 of Governor Pir.rpont. Call upon the President for aid to put down the Insurrection in Virginia. Answer of the 
 Secretary of War. Counter-manifesto of Governor Letcher. Appeal of the Secessionist Governor to Western 
 Virginia. Effects of proclamations and counter-proclamations. Increased civil rage in Virginia. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE Ohio troops despatched by Gen- 
 eral McClellan, though delayed on 
 "the railway in consequence of the 
 derangement of the tracks and the de- 
 struction of the bridges by the enemy, 
 finally succeeded in forming a junction 
 with the Western Virginians. Colonel 
 Kelley, who commanded the latter, 
 had with great promptitude marched 
 May u P n Grafton. Upon reaching this 
 29. place, the enemy, about fifteen 
 hundred strong, retired, and the West- 
 ern Virginians took possession of it, 
 without striking a blow. Being now 
 reinforced, not only by the Ohio troops, 
 but by the Seventh and Ninth regi- 
 ments of Indiana, Kelley determined to 
 dislodge the enemy at Philippi, on the 
 Monongahela River, twenty miles south 
 of Grrafton, where they were encamped 
 with a force of two thousand men. 
 
 The Union force at Grafton set out at 
 
 June ten o'clock, in two divisions, one 
 
 2 composed of the First Virginia 
 
 Regiment, part of the Ohio Sixteenth 
 and the Indiana Seventh, under the 
 command of Colonel Kelley ; the other, 
 of the Indiana Regiment and the Ohio 
 Fourteenth, which joined at Webster on 
 the route, commanded by Colonel Lan- 
 der. The former division proceeded by 
 railroad as far as a small way station, 
 five miles only from Grafton, and 
 marched the rest of the distance, twenty- 
 two miles, to Philippi. The latter was 
 conveyed by railroad as far as Webster, 
 and marched the remaining twelve miles 
 to Philippi. 
 
 The march was performed during the 
 night, with the view of coming upon the 
 enemy before the break of day, and 
 taking them by surprise. A severe 
 storm was raging, and the night was so 
 dark that it was exceedingly difficult to 
 form the troops the violence of the 
 wind was such, that the word of com- 
 mand could hardly be passed from front 
 to rear. Order was, however, finally 
 
294 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 established, and the troops began their 
 march. All night they toiled on through 
 the darkness and storm, the soft earth 
 yielding beneath their feet at every 
 step. Thus impeded, the whole force 
 was prevented from arriving at the time 
 proposed. 
 
 The division under Colonel Lander, 
 having the shortest distance to march, 
 was the first to reach its destination, 
 Juiie but did not arrive until five o'clock 
 in the morning, instead of four, 
 the hour when the joint attack was to 
 have taken place, in accordance with 
 the plan. It had been intended that 
 Colonel Lander's march upon the enemy 
 in front should have been simultaneous 
 with a movement in their rear by Col- 
 onel Kelley, with a view to completely 
 surround Philippi and close in upon 
 the enemy. But Colonel Kelley, with 
 his long march of twenty- two miles, im- 
 peded by the darkness and the storm, 
 was greatly delayed, and, moreover, 
 mistook the road, coming in below in- 
 stead of above the town, where it was 
 intended he should have cut off the re- 
 treat of the enemy. 
 
 Colonel Lander's force, as it ap- 
 proached Philippi in front, was discov- 
 ered by a woman, who, after firing two 
 discharges from a gun, sent her son 
 across the hills to apprise the enemy of 
 their danger. 
 
 Lander continued to push on, but 
 when he reached a point commanding 
 the town, and began to dispose his 
 artillery and troops in order to be ready, 
 when Kelley should arrive, to make the 
 simultaneous attack proposed, he found 
 
 the enemy on the alert. Their advance 
 guards, posted on the neighboring heights 
 and among the woods and brushwood 
 on both sides of the road, opened a 
 brisk fire. Lander hurriedly ordered 
 his guns to be moved into position, and 
 responded with a volley, while, at the 
 same time, the infantry prepared to ad- 
 vance into the town. 
 
 "A moment's delay to the infantry," 
 says their commander, Dermot, in his re- 
 port, " was occasioned by want of know- 
 ledge on my part as to which of the two 
 roads led to the bridge leading into the 
 town across the river. At the forks of 
 the road I halted my command, and, 
 riding rapidly to the guns, got the de- 
 sired information from Colonel Lander. 
 So informed, I proceeded on the double- 
 quick down the declivity of the hill, and 
 here had a full view of the enemy, and 
 I must confess that I never saw a flight 
 determined on with greater promptness 
 or executed with more despatch. The 
 enemy was under the command of Col. 
 G. A. Porterfield. What his strength 
 was, is variously estimated. On my own 
 judgment I would say from one thousand 
 five hundred to two thousand, of which I 
 should think five hundred were cavalry. 
 
 ' ' They had no artillery but a swivel. 
 I have conversed with many of the 
 citizens of the town as to the strength 
 of Colonel Porterfield's command. Some 
 say the Colonel himself professed to 
 have two thousand five hundred troops. 
 It is my opinion that he had but magni- 
 fied his own strength, with a view to in- 
 timidate the people and crush out the 
 Union sentiment. 
 
FLIGHT OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 295 
 
 " When I first saw the enemy, it 
 seemed to me he was pushing for the 
 bridge, which I was rapidly approach- 
 ing ; but it turned out that it was neces- 
 sary to converge towards the bridge to 
 gain the street leading out of the town 
 on the opposite side from that entered 
 by my command. The bridge is a nar- 
 row structure, some three or four hun- 
 dred feet in length, spanning the Valley 
 River, a branch of the Monongahela. 
 A small body of determined troops 
 could have impeded our progress and 
 crippled us at the bridge, and I appre- 
 hended resistance at this point. 
 
 " Toward it my men poured down the 
 hill, in good order, and with an energy 
 and determination that assured me in 
 advance that victory was certain. In a 
 moment I was at the mouth of the 
 bridge ; one of the passages was barri- 
 caded, the other clear ; through it (Com- 
 pany B, commanded by Captain Morgan, 
 in advance) my men pushed ; the 
 Seventh Indiana first, then Colonel 
 Steedman's command, not including the 
 artillery, then Colonel Crittenden's, and 
 opened upon the enemy, then retreating 
 in wild disorder. Both parties being 
 upon the full run, and the distance be- 
 tween them being quite considerable, 
 but little execution could be done. I 
 pursued the enemy from the bridge 
 through the town and for several miles 
 beyond. At one time 1 thought I should 
 be able to capture his entire baggage 
 train ; but the horses, to prevent this, 
 were cut from many of the wagons and 
 mounted, and the wagons and contents 
 left as our booty. The wagons were 
 
 filled with munitions of war, blankets, 
 knapsacks, clothing, baggage of officers 
 and men, and with a considerable amount 
 of flour and forage." 
 
 It was not until Colonel Lander's di- 
 vision had thus begun the attack, that 
 Colonel Kelley arrived with his force, 
 and then, in consequence of having 
 mistaken the road, at a point where, 
 instead of cutting off the retreat of the 
 enemy, he could only join in the pur- 
 suit. 
 
 This, however, he did with great 
 spirit, though with less effect than if he 
 had arrived but a moment sooner. 
 With a " friendly cheer," Kelley 's troops 
 made their presence known to their 
 comrades, and descending the declivity 
 of the heights upon which they had first 
 appeared, they were soon in quick pur- 
 suit of the enemy. Some followed and 
 cut down those who had taken refuge 
 among the wooded hills, and others gave 
 chase to the fugitives upon the road, 
 whom they pursued for several miles, 
 "overtaking, killing, and wounding a 
 number." Col. Kelley himself, "with 
 a bravery amounting to rashness," was 
 among the foremost of his men in the 
 pursuit. He had thus reached the 
 upper part of the town, when one of the 
 enemy, concealed behind a fence, turned 
 upon him and shot him in the breast. 
 The wound was severe, and was thought 
 to have been mortal. He himself de- 
 spaired of recovery, and said to a friend 
 at his side : "I expect I shall have to 
 die ; I would be glad to live if it might 
 be that I might do something for my 
 country ; but if it cannot be, I shall 
 
296 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 have at least the consolation of knowing 
 that I fell in a just cause.'' 
 
 . When it was supposed that Kelley 
 would not survive his wound, great 
 regret was felt at the prospective loss 
 to the service of so devoted a Union- 
 ist and spirited soldier. Although an 
 Eastern man, having been born in Deer- 
 field, New Hampshire, he had taken 
 up his residence in Wheeling, and was 
 among the first to sustain the cause of 
 the Federal Government in Western 
 Virginia. Educated at West Point, 
 though latterly engaged in civil occu- 
 pations, he continued to cherish his 
 military tastes, and had served as the 
 colonel of a city regiment in Wheeling. 
 At the commencement of the war, he 
 was urged to resume his position and 
 lead his former comrades to battle for 
 the Union. He did not hesitate a mo- 
 ment, but accepting the command on 
 one day, he was on the next en route for 
 the scene of war. 
 
 General McClellan, and Morris, the 
 brigadier-general of the United States 
 volunteers of Virginia, as soon as they 
 heard that Kelley was wounded, hast- 
 ened to make known to him their admi- 
 ration of his gallantry and worth. 
 
 " Say to Colonel Kelley, 7 ' wrote Mc- 
 Clellan to Morris, "that I cannot yet 
 believe it possible that one who has 
 opened his career so brilliantly can be 
 mortally wounded. In the name of the 
 country I thank him for his conduct, 
 which has been the most brilliant episode 
 of the war thus far. If it can cheer him 
 in his last moments, tell him I cannot re- 
 pair his loss, and that I only regret that 
 
 I cannot be by his side to thank him in 
 person. God bless him !" 
 
 To this hearty testimonial of affec- 
 tionate admiration, General Morris 
 added his emphatic approbation of 
 Kelley's conduct : 
 
 " I am extremely pleased and greatly 
 gratified with your gallant and soldierly 
 conduct in the expedition, which owes 
 its success to your skill and bravery. I 
 feel that your country owes you a deep 
 debt of gratitude for your services on 
 the occasion ; and a grateful people can- 
 not but render to you that honor you so 
 richly deserve." 
 
 These despatches were borne by 
 Morris' aide-de-camp to the litter of the 
 prostrate officer, and as he was supposed 
 to be dying, they did not hesitate to 
 read them to him. His eyes filled with 
 tears as he listened, but he was too weak 
 to speak a word. The despatches were, 
 after being read, put into his hands, and 
 he held them with a fond grasp until he 
 was removed from the litter to the bed 
 in the next room, prepared for his com- 
 fort. Kelley finally recovered, and was 
 made a brigadier-general for his ser- 
 vices. 
 
 In this rout of the secessionists at 
 Philippi, no one but Kelley, of our 
 forces, was wounded, but it was sup- 
 posed that the enemy had met with 
 some loss of life. Their commander, 
 Colonel Willy, was taken prisoner, and 
 their camp was captured, with the seces- 
 sion flag, seven hundred and eighty 
 stand of arms, a number of horses, and 
 a quantity of blankets and provisions. 
 Though, as a military operation, the 
 
 
 
CAPTURE OF ROMNEY. 
 
 297 
 
 rout of the enemy at Philippi was 
 comparatively a failure, the moral effect 
 proved so great in Western Virginia 
 that that loyal district was temporarily 
 relieved of all fears of the domination 
 of the secessionists. 
 
 Major-General Patterson was, in the 
 mean time, advancing through Pennsyl- 
 vania from the north towards Maryland 
 and Virginia, with the view of co-oper- 
 ating with General McClellan, about to 
 approach from the west, in 'a combined 
 effort against the secession troops gath- 
 ered in force at Harper's Ferry. While 
 Patterson was at Chambersburg, an 
 attack was made upon Romney, in Vir- 
 ginia, by a portion of his advance troops 
 stationed at Cumberland, in Maryland. 
 
 This was planned by Colonel Wallace, 
 of the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers, 
 who, having learned that several hun- 
 dred troops were quartered at Romney, 
 drilling, imprisoning Union men, and 
 otherwise annoying loyal citizens, de- 
 termined to rout them out. The Col- 
 June onel, accordingly, started at ten 
 !? o'clock in the morning from Cum- 
 berland with eight hundred men, and 
 proceeded by railway twenty-one miles 
 to Xew Creek station. Arriving in the 
 afternoon, he began his march at four 
 o'clock, with the hope of reaching Rom- 
 ney at an early hour next day. The 
 road, however, leading across the 
 mountains, through narrow passes and 
 along high bluffs, proved difficult, so 
 that after a long and fatiguing march 
 of twenty-three miles, Colonel Wallace 
 did not arrive before the town until 
 past eight o'clock in the morning. 
 
 38 
 
 The enemy were on the alert, and on 
 the approach of their assailants their 
 mounted picket guards fired and gal- 
 loped into the town to arouse their com- 
 rades. 
 
 11 In approaching the place, it was 
 necessary," wrote Colonel Wallace, in 
 his animated report of the affair, "for 
 me to cross a bridge over the South 
 Branch of the Potomac. A reconnois- 
 sance satisfied me that the passage of 
 the bridge would be the chief obstacle 
 in my way, although I could distinctly 
 see the enemy drawn ur on the bluff 
 which is the town site, supporting a 
 battery of two guns, pianted so as to 
 sweep the road completely. 
 
 " I directed my advance guard to cross 
 the bridge on a run, leap down the em- 
 bankment at the farther entrance, and 
 observe the windows of a large brick 
 house not farther off than seventy-five 
 yards. Their appearance was the signal 
 for an assault. A warm fire opened from 
 the house, which the guard returned, 
 with no other loss than the wounding of 
 a sergeant. The firing continued several 
 minutes. I led a second company across 
 the bridge, and by following up a ravine 
 got them into a position that soon drove 
 the enemy from the house to a mountain 
 in its rear. 
 
 " My attention was then turned to the 
 battery on the hill. Instead of follow- 
 ing the road, as the rebels expected, I 
 pushed five companies in skirmishing 
 order and at double-quick time, up a hill 
 to the right, intending to get around the 
 left flank of the enemy, arid cut off their 
 retreat. Hardly had my companies de- 
 
298 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ployed and started forward, and got 
 within rifle range, before the rebels 
 limbered up and got off' over the bluff 
 in the hottest haste. Between their 
 position and that of my men was a deep, 
 precipitous gorge, the crossing of which 
 occupied about ten minutes. When the 
 opposite ridge was gained, we discovered 
 the rebels, indiscriminately blent with a 
 mass of women and children, flying as 
 for life from the town. Having no horse, 
 pursuit of the cannoniers was out of the 
 question, as they went off under whip 
 and spur. After that I quietly marched 
 into the place, and took possession of 
 the empty houses and a legion of 
 negroes, who alone seemed unscared at 
 our presence. After searching the town 
 for arms, camp equipage, etc., I returned 
 to Cumberland, by the same road, reach- 
 ing camp at eleven o'clock at night. My 
 return was forced, owing to the fact that 
 there was not a mile on the road that 
 did not offer half a dozen positions for 
 the ruin or rout of my regiment by a 
 much smaller force." 
 
 The Colonel was proud of the achieve- 
 ment of his men, and took occasion to 
 direct the notice of General Patterson 
 to the wonders they had accomplished. 
 " I beg," he said, " to call your attention 
 to the length of our march, eighty-seven 
 miles in all, forty-six of which were on 
 foot, over a continuous succession of 
 mountains, made in twenty-four hours, 
 without rest, and varied by a brisk en- 
 gagement, without leaving a man be- 
 hind ; and what is more, my men are 
 ready to repeat it to-morrow." 
 
 The loss of the enemy could not be 
 
 ascertained with precision ; two of them, 
 however, were undoubtedly killed, and 
 one wounded. A number of tents and 
 a quantity of stores were captured, and 
 some guns destroyed. 
 
 The Colonel, moreover, congratulated 
 himself upon the impressive moral effect 
 of his spirited demonstration. 
 
 "One good result," he said, ''has 
 come of it. The loyal men in that 
 region have taken heart. Yery shortly, 
 I think, you will hear of another Union 
 company from that district. Moreover, 
 it has brought home to the insolent 
 ' chivalry' a wholesome respect for 
 Northern prowess." 
 
 The Indiana Volunteers, or Zouaves, 
 as they termed themselves, soon had an 
 opportunity of again displaying their 
 spirit. A scouting party, consist- j uue 
 ing of thirteen mounted men, led 26 
 by Corporal Hayes, a ranger of re- 
 nown during the Mexican war, crossed 
 from Maryland and proceeded on a re- 
 connoitering expedition into Virginia. 
 They proceeded within a quarter of a 
 mile of Frankfort, half way between 
 Cumberland, whence they had set out, 
 and Ronmey, the scene of the former 
 exploit of the Indiana men. Finding 
 the place full of the enemy's cavalry, 
 they turned back, and meeting forty-one 
 mounted secessionists, charged full upon 
 them, driving them back more than a 
 mile, capturing seventeen of the horses 
 and killing eight of their riders. In the 
 collision, Corporal Hayes, the leader of 
 the Indiana men, was wounded with 
 sabre cuts and bullets. A man of great 
 daring and strength, he had already 
 
CONVENTION AT WHEELING. 
 
 299 
 
 killed two men with his own hand, when 
 he himself was wounded, but he had 
 still strength enough to wield his sabre 
 with such effect, that he brought a third 
 dead to the ground. 
 
 His comrades, however, were now 
 forced to bear back their exhausted lead- 
 er and halt. They had thus remained 
 about an honr, when the fugitives of the 
 enemy returned with a reinforcement of 
 seventy-five men. Coming suddenly up, 
 they forced the Indiana men to abandon 
 their horses and seek safety by crossing 
 Paterson Creek and landing upon a 
 small island at its mouth. Here they 
 were being closed in by the larger num- 
 
 o */ o 
 
 bers of the enemy, and again compelled 
 to fly, but not until they had fired upon 
 their assailants with such effect, that 
 twenty-three of them were made to bite 
 the dust. The Zouaves finally reached 
 their camp with the loss of only one 
 man, who had been left behind wound- 
 ed, and whom the enemy despatched, 
 after his capture, with their bayonets. 
 Major- General Patterson honored the 
 spirited exploit of the Indiana men with 
 a special mention in the orders of the 
 day. 
 
 For a proper appreciation of the 
 military events in Western Virginia, it 
 is necessary to resume the history of the 
 political action of the Union men of that 
 loyal district. The Convention which 
 had adjourned to meet at Wheeling 
 now reassembled. At the opening of 
 June the session a discussion arose as to 
 U the policy to be pursued by West- 
 ern Virginia. Some favored a separa- 
 tion and the formation of a new com- 
 
 monwealth, while others, who finally 
 carried the day, advocated the reorgan- 
 ization of the existing State. Accord- 
 ingly a Declaration of Grievances and 
 an ordinance of reorganization having 
 been reported by Mr. Carlile, the chair- 
 man of the " Committee on Business," 
 they were submitted to the approval of 
 the Convention. These were adopted 
 by a vote of seventy in favor and three 
 against, not, however, until the opinion 
 of the members was tested on the ques- 
 tion of forming a new State. A mem- 
 ber offered the resolution, "that one of 
 the leading objects of the Convention, 
 after establishing a provisional govern- 
 ment, is the separation of Western from 
 Eastern Virginia." This, however, on 
 a motion to lay it on the table, which 
 was carried by a vote of fifty- seven to 
 seventeen, was temporarily defeated. 
 
 The Declaration of Grievances, and 
 the ordinance for the Reorganization of 
 the State Government, having thus been 
 carried by a large majority, was formally 
 signed by all the members present. j une 
 On the same day, the Convention, in 20. 
 conformity with this act, proceeded to 
 the election of provisional State officers. 
 Frank H. Pierpont, of Marion County, 
 was unanimously chosen Governor, 
 Daniel Paisly, of Marion County, Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, and Messieurs Lamb, 
 Paxhon, Van Winkle, Harrison, and 
 Lazar members of the council. 
 
 These gentlemen, immediately upon 
 being elected, were sworn into office, 
 each taking this newly prescribed form 
 of oath : 
 
 " I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
 
300 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 will support the Constitution of the United 
 States and the laws made in pursuance 
 thereof, as the supreme law of the land, 
 anything in the Constitution and laws 
 of the State of Virginia, or in the or- 
 dinances of the Convention which as- 
 sembled in Richmond on the 13th day 
 of February last, to the contrary not- 
 withstanding, and that I will uphold and 
 defend the Government of Virginia as 
 vindicated and restored by the Conven- 
 tion which assembled in Wheeling on 
 the llth day of June, 1861." 
 
 The Convention, after this momentous 
 action, closed their session with passing 
 ordinances adopting the former military 
 laws of Virginia and recognizing the 
 duty of the State to respond to the re- 
 quisition of the President of the United 
 States for militia and volunteers. 
 
 The new Governor soon after issued 
 June a proclamation causing the General 
 22. Assembly to be composed of dele- 
 gates to be elected as provided by the 
 Convention of June llth in its ordi- 
 nance for the State Government. These 
 delegates were accordingly chosen, and 
 j u ly assembled at Wheeling, when Gov- 
 ! ernor Pierpont delivered his first 
 message.* 
 
 "To THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF DELEGATES OF THE COM- 
 MONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA Gentlemen : You have been con- 
 vened in extraordinary session in midsummer, when, under 
 other circumstances, yoii should be at home attending to 
 pursuits incident to this season of the year. The exigen- 
 cies with which we find ourselves surrounded demand 
 your counsels. 
 
 " I regret that I cannot congratulate you on the peace 
 and prosperity of the country, in the manner which has 
 been customary with Executives, both State and Federal. 
 For the present, those happy days which, as a nation, we 
 have so long enjoyed, and that prosperity which has 
 Bmiled upon us, as upon no other nation, are departed. 
 
 Following this independent action of 
 Western Virginia, the new Governor 
 became anxious about the safety of the 
 commonwealth from " the banding to- 
 gether of large numbers of evil-minded 
 persons, aided by men of like mind from 
 other States, whose purpose was to in- 
 vade the State," and confessing his want 
 of a sufficient military force, to over- 
 come them, earnestly called upon the 
 President of the United States for as- 
 sistance. 
 
 The secretary of war responded in 
 behalf of the Federal chief magistrate, 
 that a large additional force would be 
 soon sent to the relief of the new Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, and at the same time 
 took occasion to apologize for the appar- 
 ent remissness hitherto of the Federal 
 authority: "The full extent," wrote 
 Secretary Cameron, "of the conspiracy 
 against popular rights, which has cul- 
 minated in the atrocities to which you 
 refer, was not known when its outbreak 
 took place at Charleston. It now ap- 
 pears that it was matured for many 
 years by secret organizations throughout 
 the country, especially in the slave 
 States. By this means, when the Presi- 
 dent called upon Virginia, in April, for 
 
 "It is my painful duty to announce that the late Ex- 
 ecutive of the State, with a large part of the State officers, 
 civil and military, under him, are at war with the loyal 
 people of Virginia and the Constitutional Government of 
 the United States. They have leagued themselves with 
 persons from other States to tear down the benign Govern- 
 ments, State and Federal, erected by the wisdom and 
 patriotism of our fathers, and under which our liberties 
 have so long been protected and our prosperity secured. 
 They have institute:! civil war in our midst, and created a 
 system of terror around us to intimidate our people. 
 
 " But while we are passing through this period of gloom 
 and darkness in our country's history, we must not de- 
 
GOVERNOR PIERPONT'S MESSAGE. 
 
 301 
 
 its quota of troops, then deemed necessary 
 to put it down in the States in which it 
 
 spair, or fold our hands until the chains of despotism shall 
 he fastened upon us by those conspiring against our 
 liberties. As freemen, who know their rights and dare de- 
 fend them, our spirits must rise above the intimidation 
 and violence employed against us ; and we must meet and 
 conquer every obstacle these men are attempting to inter- 
 pose between us and our liberties. If we manfully exert 
 ourselves we shall succeed. There is a just God who 
 " rides upon the whirlwind and directs the storrn." Let 
 us look to him with abiding confidence. 
 
 " The fact is no longer disguised, that there has been in 
 the South, for many years, a secret organization, laboring 
 with steady perseverance to overturn the Federal Govern- 
 ment, and destroy constitutional liberty in this country. 
 The various conventions held in that portion of the coun- 
 try, for some years past, ostensibly for other objects, have 
 only been the means of feeling the public pulse to ascer- 
 tain if there was sufficient disease in the body politic for 
 dissolution. The cry of danger to the institution of 
 slavery has been a mere pretext to arouse and excite the 
 people. In abandoning the Constitution of the Union, 
 the leaders of the movement must have known that they 
 were greatly weakening the safeguards and protection 
 which were necessary to the existence of that institution. 
 
 ' ' It has been urged that secession was necessary to pro- 
 tect the slave interest of the South. As a usual thing, 
 those who are interested in a species of property, are the 
 best informed in regard to their own rights, and the most 
 tenacious in maintaining them. Secession has not origin- 
 ated among the large slaveholders of the South, nor has 
 it found among that class its busiest and most ardent ad- 
 vocates. The sections of the country in which the largest 
 slave interests have existed in this State, have heretofore 
 been the most decided in support of the Union. The 
 votes given at the last November and February elections 
 in Eastern and Western Virginia, will show that the slave- 
 holders themselves considered the safety of their property 
 as dependent upon the maintenance of the Union. An- 
 other pertinent fact may be mentioned in this connection. 
 It is, that in sections where slaves are numerous, it is 
 always much easier to introduce a mob-law and intimida- 
 tion to control the votes of the people. The constant ap- 
 prehension of servile insurrection makes the matter an 
 easy subject of control in a crisis like the present. East- 
 ern and Western Virginia are illustrations of the truth of 
 thi* statement. 
 
 " What affiliations this great conspiracy has had in the 
 Northern States, remains yet unknown. The spirit which has 
 been roused throughout the North has carried all opposition 
 before it. But the extent of the treasonable plot has not 
 been fully developed. Before the designs of the conspira- 
 tors were made manifest, thousands of good men sympa- 
 thized with the effort, as they regarded it, of the South to 
 maintain their constitutional rights ; but these have all 
 
 had shown itself in arms, the call was 
 responded to by an order from the chief 
 
 abandoned them when the true purpose was ascertained. 
 If there are any in the North, or in the border States, who 
 still adhere to the conspiracy, they will attempt to aid its 
 object by indirect means ; by opposing and caviling at the 
 efforts to which the Government, in a struggle for exist- 
 ence, may use in its own defence, and by attempting to 
 raise a popular outcry against coercion, and advocating a 
 peaceable separation. A bold stand for Recession would 
 scarcely be attempted ; but those who sympathize with 
 the leaders of rebellion will seek by covert and indirect 
 means to aid the object of the conspirators. 
 
 ' ' There is only one question now for each American 
 citizen to decide in this controversy : Do you desire to 
 stand by and live under the Constitution which has con- 
 tributed so long and so greatly to the happiness and pros- 
 perity of the people, and to transmit its blessings to our 
 posterity ? Or, do you desire the Union broken up, and 
 an oligarchy or military despotism established in its 
 stead ? The leaders of the South are striving for the 
 latter. The Government of the United States is exerting 
 its whole force to maintain the integrity of the former. 
 There can be no neutral ground. The secession leaders 
 have declared that they desire no compromise, except the 
 unconditional surrender to them of the objects they have 
 been aiming to accomplish, and the consent of the Gov- 
 ernment to its own destruction. The very proposition of 
 compromise places a false issue before the country. It 
 implies that the Federal Government has committed some 
 great wrong which ought to be remedied before peace can 
 be restored ; when in fact the leaders in the South have 
 controlled the legislation of the country for years, and the 
 laws now in existence were made or suggested by them- 
 selves when in power. 
 
 ' ' The position of this State is a peculiar one at this mo- 
 ment. Last November, at the Presidential election, it 
 gave upward of sixteen thousand majority for Bell and 
 Douglas, both Union candidates for the Presidency. Their 
 principal competitor was loudly proclaimed as also true to 
 the Union ; and throughout the canvass any imputation 
 of favoring disunion was indignantly denied by the advo- 
 cates of all the candidates. At the election for members 
 of the Convention in February last, there was a majority 
 of over sixty thousand votes given to the Union candi- 
 dates ; and the people by an equal majority determined 
 that no act of that Convention should change the relations 
 of the State to the Federal Government, unless ratified by 
 the popular vote. Yet the delegates to that Convention 
 passed the ordinance of secession, and attached the State 
 to the Southern league, called the Confederate States ; and 
 to render the step irretrievable, and defeat the whole ob- 
 ject of requiring a ratification of the people to render such 
 acts valid, they put them into effect immediately ; and 
 before the vote could be taken on the question of ratifica- 
 tion, transferred the whole military force of our State to 
 
302 
 
 THE WAR WITH TPIE SOUTH. 
 
 confederate in Virginia to his armed 
 followers, to seize the navy-yard at 
 Gosport ; and the authorities of the 
 
 the President of the Confederacy, and surrendered to him 
 military possession of our territory. 
 
 ' ' When the chains had been thus fastened upon us, we 
 were called to vote upon the ordinance of secession. The 
 same reign of terror which compelled Union men to vote 
 as they did in the Convention, was brought to bear on the 
 people themselves. Vast numbers were obliged, by in- 
 timidation and fear of threatened violence, to vote for 
 secession. Many did not vote at all. Many, no doubt, 
 were influenced by the consideration, that the measures 
 already adopted had placed the Commonwealth helplessly 
 within the grasp of the President of the Southern Con- 
 federacy, and that she could not escape from his power by 
 the rejection of the ordinance. 
 
 "It is claimed that the ordinance of secession has been 
 ratified by a majority of ninety-four thousand votes. Had 
 the people of Virginia, then, so greatly changed ? The 
 best evidence that they had not is found in the fact that, 
 wherever the vote was fully free, there was a much larger 
 majority against secession than was given at the election 
 in February to the Union candidates for the Convention. 
 The means of intimidation and violence, which were re- 
 sorted to over a large portion of the State, to compel an 
 appearance of unanimity in favor of secession, show that 
 the leaders of this movement felt that the hearts of the 
 people were not with them. 
 
 " The proclamation of the President, calling for seventy- 
 live thousand volunteer troops, is commonly relied upon 
 to justify the ordinance of secession. That proclamation 
 was issued on the 15th of April, 1861. It must not, how- 
 ever, be overlooked, that on the 6th of March, 1861, the 
 pretended Congress at Montgomery provided by law for 
 calling into the field a force of one hundred thousand 
 volunteers ; and that on the 12th of April the Secretary 
 of War of the Confederate States publicly announced that 
 war was commenced, and that the Capitol at Washington 
 would be captured before the first of May. The intention 
 to capture the capital of the Union was repeatedly pro- 
 claimed in influential papers at Richmond and other 
 Southern cities before the 15th of April. It was, in fact, 
 long a cherished object of the leaders in this great con- 
 spiracy. Did they expect the President of the nation to 
 yield the Capitol, and retire in disgrace, without adopting 
 any measures of defence? Yet Virginia, we are told, 
 seceded because the President, under such circumstances, 
 called volunteers to the defence of the country. 
 
 " I need not remark to you, gentlemen, how fatal the 
 attempted disseverance of the Union must prove to all our 
 material interests. Secession, and annexation to the 
 South, would cut off every outlet for our productions. 
 We cannot get them to the Confederate States across the 
 Alleghanies. The Ohio River and the country beyond it 
 
 State, who had till then shown repug- 
 nance to the plot, found themselves 
 stripped of all actual power, and after- 
 
 would be closed to our trade. With Maryland in the 
 Union, our outlet to the East would be interrupted ; while 
 we could not carry our products across the Pennsylvania 
 line, by the Monongahela or other route. In time of war 
 we would encounter a hostile force, and in time of peace 
 a custom-house at every turn. 
 
 " The interests of the people of Virginia were entrusted 
 to the Richmond Convention. How have they fulfilled 
 that trust ? Why, if war was to come, was our land made 
 the battle-field ? Why was this Commonwealth interposed 
 as a barrier to protect the States of the South, who under- 
 took to overthrow the Union in utter disregard to our re- 
 monstrances ? In the position in which the Richmond 
 Convention have placed us, our homes are exposed to all 
 the horrors of civil war, while the President of the Mont- 
 gomery Congress can announce to the people of the Gulf 
 States that ' they need now have no apprehension ; they 
 might go on with their planting and business as usual ; 
 the war would not come to their section ; its theatre 
 would be along the borders of the Ohio River, and in 
 Virginia.' 
 
 " Have we done wrong in rejecting the authority of the 
 men who have thus betrayed the interests confided to 
 their charge ? 
 
 ' ' Under these circumstances the people of the State who 
 desired to preserve a Virginia in the Union, by their dele- 
 gates appointed at primary meetings, assembled at Wheel- 
 ing on the 13th of May last, to consider the measures nec- 
 essary to protect their constitutional rights and liberties, 
 their lives and their property. Before- a frank comparison 
 could be had, differences of opinion were to be expected, 
 and such differences accordingly then existed. That Con- 
 vention, however, after three days' mature consideration, 
 determined to call upon the loyal people of the State, 
 after the vote was taken on the Secession ordinance, to 
 elect delegates to a Convention to be held on the llth day 
 of June, 1861. All who witnessed the assembling of the 
 last Convention, will bear witness to the solemnity of the 
 occasion. Its action was attended with singular unanim- 
 ity, and has resulted in the reorganization of the State 
 government, as a member of the Union. 
 
 ' ' Their journal and ordinances will be submitted to you. 
 Plain principles vindicate their acts. The Constitution of 
 the United States was adopted by the people of the United 
 States ; and the powers thus derived could be resumed 
 only by the consent of the people who conferred them. 
 That Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The 
 Constitution of the State recognizes it as such, and all the 
 laws of the State virtually recognize the same principle. 
 The Governor, the Legislature, and all State officers, civil 
 and military, when they entered upon the discharge of 
 their duties, took an oath to support the Constitution of 
 
GOVERNOR PIERPONT'S MESSAGE. 
 
 303 
 
 wards were manifestly permitted to re- 
 tain the empty forms of office only be- 
 cause they consented to use them at the 
 bidding of the invaders. 
 
 " The President, however, never sup- 
 posed that a brave and free people, 
 though surprised and unarmed, could 
 long be subjugated by a class of politi- 
 cal adventurers always adverse to them : 
 and the fact that they have already 
 rallied, reorganized their government, 
 
 the United States. When the Convention assembled at 
 Wheeling on the llth of June, they found the late Gov- 
 ernor, and many of the other officers of the State, engaged 
 in an attempt to overthrow the Constitution they had 
 sworn to support. Whatever they might actually effect, 
 with the aid of their confederates, by unlawful intimida- 
 tion and violence, they could not lawfully deprive the 
 good people of this Commonwealth of the protection 
 afforded by the Constitution and laws of the Union, and 
 of the rights to which they are entitled under the same. 
 The Convention attempted no change of the fundamental 
 law of the State for light and transient causes. The alter- 
 ations adopted were such only as were imperatively re- 
 quired by the necessity of the case ; to give vitality and 
 force to the Constitution of the State, and enable it to 
 operate in the circumstances under which we are placed. 
 They attempted no revolution. Whatever others may 
 have done, we remain as we were, citizens of Virginia, 
 citizens of the United States, recognizing and obeying the 
 Constitutions and laws of both. 
 
 "I trust, gentlemen, you will excuse me for dwelling 
 so long upon these important topics. 
 
 ' ' Immediately on entering upon the duties of my office, 
 I addressed an official communication to the President of 
 the United States, stating briefly the circumstances in 
 which we were placed, and demanding protection against 
 invasion and domestic violence to which our people were 
 subjected, and I am happy to inform you that the President, 
 through the Secretary of War, promptly gave me very 
 satisfactory assurances that the guarantee embodied in the 
 Constitution of the United States would be efficiently com- 
 plied with, by affording to our people a full protection. I 
 transmit herewith copies of these communications. 
 
 " I also send you herewith a copy of a communication 
 received from the Secretary of the Interior at Washington, 
 certifying officially the apportionment of representatives 
 in the XXXVIIIth Congress under the census of 18GO. 
 Virginia has thirteen representatives. Under the new ap- 
 portionment she will have eleven only. Before the term 
 of the XXXVIIIth Congress commences, it will be nec- 
 essary, therefore, to redistrict the State, in conformity 
 
 and checked the march of these invad- 
 ers, demonstrates how justly he appre- 
 ciated them. 
 
 "The failure, hitherto, of the State 
 authorities, in consequence of the cir- 
 cumstances to which I have adverted, 
 to organize its quota of troops called for 
 by the President, imposed upon him the 
 necessity of providing himself for their 
 organization, and this has been done to 
 some extent. But instructions have now 
 
 with the principles established in the 13th and 14th sec- 
 tions of the 4th Article of the Constitution. 
 
 ' ' The President of the United States has issued his proc- 
 lamation convening an extra session of Congress, to meet 
 at the National Capitol on the 4th of this month. The 
 two senators from this State have vacated their offices. It 
 is known to me that they are engaged in the conspiracy to 
 overturn the Government of the United States, and in re- 
 bellion to its lawful authority. They have renounced the 
 title of citizens of the United States, claiming to be 
 citizens of a foreign and hostile State. They have aban- 
 doned the posts assigned to them by the State of Virginia 
 in the Senate of the United States, to take office under the 
 rebellious Government of the Confederate States. I rec- 
 ommend, therefore, the election of senators to fill the 
 vacancies which have thus occurred. <* <* 
 
 " The subject of the revenue will demand your atten- 
 tion. A recklessness has characterized the Legislature of 
 the State for the last ten years, that has involved us in a 
 most onerous debt. For many yeai's past the western part 
 of the State has been contributing in an unequal, an un- 
 just proportion to the revenue, which has been largely 
 expended on internal improvements, for the benefit of our 
 eastern brethren, from which the west has received no ad- 
 vantage in any form. The proceeds of the heavy debt 
 contracted on State account have also been applied to 
 eastern railroads and improvements from which the west 
 derives no benefit. The leaders of secession in the Gulf 
 States have adroitly involved Virginia in an immense ex- 
 penditure in support of their treasonable schemes ; and to 
 save their own people and property, have managed to 
 transfer the theatre of war to our territory. Before they 
 are driven out, the whole of the material interests of the 
 State east of the Blue Ridge will probably be destroyed, 
 including the internal improvements, upon which such 
 lavish expenditure has been made. - o 
 
 "You have met, gentlemen, in the midst of civil war, 
 but I trust you may yet be assembled under happier 
 auspices, when the strife shall be over, and peace and 
 prosperity be restored to this once happy country. All 
 which is respectfully submitted. F. H. PIEIIPONT." 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 been given to the agents of the Federal 
 Government to proceed hereafter under 
 your direction, and the company and field 
 officers will be commissioned by }^ou. 7 ' 
 
 The secessionist Governor, John Letch- 
 er, met these declarations of independ- 
 ence, and the efforts to defend it, on the 
 part of the new Governor, with a coun- 
 ter manifesto, asserting that Virginia 
 had seceded by a vote of the majority of 
 her people, and appealing to the West- 
 ern Virginians "to yield to the will of 
 the State." 
 
 "Men of the North-west," he said, 
 "I appeal to you, by all the considera- 
 tions which have drawn us together as 
 one people heretofore, to rally to the 
 standard of the Old Dominion. By all 
 the sacred ties of consanguinity, by the 
 intermixtures of the blood of East and 
 West, by common paternity, by friend- 
 ships hallowed by a thousand cherished 
 recollections and memories of the past, 
 by the relics of the great men of other 
 days, come to Virginia's banner, and 
 drive the invaders from your soil. 
 There may be traitors in the midst of 
 you, who, for selfish ends, have turned 
 against their mother, and would permit 
 
 her to be ignominiously oppressed and 
 degraded. But I cannot, will not be- 
 lieve that a majority of you are not true 
 sons, who will not give your blood and 
 your treasure for Virginia's defence." 
 
 The Governor, at the same time, re- 
 minded the people of Western Virginia 
 of the " magnanimity" of the Eastern 
 districts, in consenting at last to an 
 equalization of taxation, by which the 
 cause of complaint of the former against 
 the latter had been removed. "Let one 
 heart," exclaimed the Governor, " one 
 mind, one energy, one power nerve 
 every patriot to arms in a common 
 cause. The heart that will not beat in 
 unison with Virginia is now a traitor's 
 heart, the arm that will not strike home 
 in her cause now, is palsied by coward 
 fear. 
 
 " The troops are posted at Huttons- 
 ville. Come with your own good weap- 
 ons and meet them as brothers !" 
 
 Such proclamations and counter-proc- 
 lamations and appeals to diverse loyal- 
 ties only served to quicken the rage of 
 fellow-citizen arrayed against fellow-cit- 
 izen, and more deeply to involve them 
 in the perplexing horrors of civil war. 
 
' ) ' KGi 
 
 // >/'. A./1/./ /J -A /> si X! /J /-' ' 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL LYON. 
 
 305 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Failure in Missouri of General Harney's League. Barney's Successor of ' ' sterner stuff. ' ' Life of General Lyon. Birth 
 and early Life. Parentage. His rustic home. Early fondness for Mathematics. A cadet at West Point. Grad- 
 uation. Service in the Army. Mexican Campaign. Good deeds and just recompenses. Service in California. 
 Indian Warfare. In Kansas. Sympathies with the Free-soilers. Takes up the pen in their defence. His writings 
 and opinions. Captain Lyon in command of the Arsenal at St. Louis. His prompt action at the beginning of the 
 Civil War. Capture of Fort Jackson. Seizure of the J. C. Swan. Capture of lead at Ironton. Lyon succeeds 
 Hamey. Unsuccessful attempt of the secessionist Price to wheedle him. Lyon refuses to be governed by the 
 Harney League. Alarm of the Secessionists. The muster of the Secessionists in Jefferson City. Personal inter- 
 view of Governor Jackson with General Lyon. Firmness of Lyon. The Secessionists giving up all hope of pro- 
 moting their cause by diplomacy. Making a stand at Jefferson City. Destruction of Telegraph and Railway 
 bridges. Proclamation of Governor Jackson. Counter-proclamation of General Lyon. General Lyon determines 
 to rout out the disunion plotters from Jefferson City. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE league which General Harney 
 had, with a too yielding confidence 
 in their professions of peace, made 
 with the secession leaders of Missouri, 
 failed, as has been recorded, to check 
 rebellion in that State. After his re- 
 call, and the succession to the command 
 of General Lyon, a man of sterner 
 stuff, Missouri promised to vindicate 
 more decidedly its loyalty to the Union. 
 
 Nathaniel Lyon was born in Ashford, 
 Wyndham County, Connecticut. His 
 father was Amasa Lyon, a hard-working 
 and thriving farmer of the place, where 
 his intelligence and integrity won the 
 appreciation of its inhabitants, who 
 elected him a justice of the peace. His 
 wife, whose family name was Kezia, was 
 a descendant of the Knowltons, one of 
 whom, Colonel Thomas Knowlton, had 
 served in the French colonial war, and 
 in the Revolutionary struggle, having 
 commanded a Connecticut company at 
 Bunker's Hill, and fallen on the plains 
 of Harlem. Washington honored his 
 
 39 
 
 memory with the tribute : ' ' He would 
 have been an honor to any country." 
 
 There is little record left of the boy- 
 hood, of General Lyon. It was passed 
 among the simple associations of his 
 rustic home. In the winter he was sent 
 to the village school, and in seed-time 
 and harvest he aided his father or his 
 neighbors in farm-work. An aged fel- 
 low-townsman in recalling, at the grave 
 of the heroic soldier, his recollections of 
 the country boy, said : ' ' Nathaniel 
 worked for me on my farm when he was 
 a boy. He was smart, daring, and res- 
 olute, and wonderfully attached to his 
 mother." 
 
 General Lyon, on the night before his 
 last battle, while lying with a fellow- 
 officer between two steep rocks, where 
 the space was so narrow that there was 
 hardly room to move, made light of the 
 inconvenience, and playfully remarked, 
 with a fond allusion to his home, that 
 he was " born between two rocks." He 
 referred to the position of the house 
 
306 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 where he was born, and the homestead 
 of his family, which ' ' stands about four 
 miles from Eastford (Ashford was divided 
 in 1847, and the name of the northern 
 portion of the township changed to 
 Eastford), on the road to Hampton. 
 Leaving the little hamlet of Phcenix- 
 ville," says his biographer,* "we climb 
 a long hill, thence over a rough road to 
 a valley, nestled in which, between two 
 steep and rocky hills, about twenty rods 
 from the highway, is the house a small, 
 old building, somewhat out of repair, 
 with rusty clapboards, which were once 
 painted red." 
 
 Though he found in the village school 
 little opportunity for the development 
 of his talent, he is reported to have 
 shown a natural aptitude and fondness 
 for the study of mathematics. This 
 early taste probably induced his parents 
 to obtain for him an appointment to a 
 cadetship in West Point, where he en- 
 tered at the age of eighteen. He grad- 
 uated in 1841, ranking the eleventh of 
 his class, a position which proved a fair 
 degree of successful study. He com- 
 menced his military service, on leaving 
 the academy, as a second lieutenant of 
 infantry, and first entered upon active 
 duty in Florida, during the campaign 
 against the Seminole Indians. He was 
 subsequently stationed at various points 
 on our Western frontier, and on the 
 breaking out of the war with Mexico, 
 accompanied the army of Scott as first 
 lieutenant. He took part in the siege 
 
 The Last Political Writings of General Nathaniel Lyon, 
 United States Army, with a Sketch of his Life and Military 
 Services. New York, Kudd & Carleton, 1861. 
 
 of Vera Cruz, and at the battle of Cerro 
 G-ordo, where his good service was ac- 
 knowledged by the commander of his 
 regiment. " No sooner," said he, "had 
 the height become ours, than the enemy 
 appeared in large force on the Jalapa 
 road, and we were ordered to that 
 point. Captain Canby, with a small de- 
 tachment, accompanied by Lieutenant 
 Lyon, pressed hotly in their rear, and 
 were soon in possession of a battery of 
 three pieces which had been firing upon 
 us in reverse." 
 
 At Contreras, too, he bore a gallant 
 part, and in the pursuit aided in cap- 
 turing several pieces of artillery, which 
 were turned upon the fugitives. For 
 his good conduct and spirit at Churu- 
 busco, he was recommended by his 
 superior to "the special notice of the 
 colonel commanding the brigade/'' and 
 was rewarded for his services with the 
 rank of brevet captain. At the capture 
 of the Mexican capital, he was with the 
 advance, and while fighting spiritedly at 
 the Belen gate, was wounded with a 
 musket-ball. 
 
 On the declaration of peace with 
 Mexico, Lyon, now captain, was ordered 
 to Jefferson barracks, in Missouri, pre- 
 liminary to a proposed march across the 
 Rocky Mountains to California. He 
 was, however, finally despatched by sea 
 around Cape Horn, and reached Cali- 
 fornia soon after its acquisition by the 
 United States. Here he was chiefly oc- 
 cupied with frontier duty, and proved 
 his activity and his capability as a skir- 
 mishing officer in Indian warfare. 
 
 Subsequently ordered to the territo- 
 
LYON A FREE-SOILER. 
 
 SOT 
 
 ries of Kansas and Nebraska, he found 
 himself in the midst of the violent agi- 
 tation to which that part of the country 
 had become exposed. His sympathies 
 were at once aroused in favor of the 
 principles of the free-soilers, and with 
 such fervor, that he was induced to take 
 up the pen, though more used to the 
 sword, in their defence. While station- 
 ed at Camp Riley, in Kansas, in the 
 summer and autumn of 1860, he wrote 
 a series of anonymous articles for the 
 Manhattan depress, a weekly journal 
 published at one of the neighboring 
 settlements. 
 
 His private as well as his published 
 writings show him to have been an 
 earnest advocate of the Republican 
 cause. Of the rebellious designs of the 
 cotton States he seemed to have been 
 fully conscious, and at the same time 
 persuaded that they could be thwarted 
 by a prompt exercise of executive au- 
 thority. "There seems to be," he 
 wrote, "little doubt that several of the 
 Southern States will precipitate them- 
 selves into disaster and disgrace, if al- 
 lowed to do so ; but this can be pre- 
 vented by the President, if he chooses 
 to exercise his authority as becomes the 
 chief magistrate of our great and power- 
 ful country. But unfortunately, Mr. 
 Buchanan seems to regard himself as 
 elected to submit tremblingly to any and 
 every demand of the South, and I fear 
 he can never rouse himself to take such 
 action as our emergencies now require, 
 as due to the country from him. Time 
 must show : the only thing safe to pre- 
 dict is, that the conduct of the South 
 
 must involve her people in suffering and 
 shame." 
 
 Again he wrote, " Our cause is to 
 honor labor and elevate the laborer ; our 
 candidate, Abe Lincoln." In the follow- 
 ing exposition of the degradation of 
 labor by slavery, he shows a thoughtful 
 consideration of the subject. 
 
 "In countries," he wrote, "where 
 slavery exists, labor devolves for the 
 most part upon the slaves, and is there- 
 fore identified with slavery ; and the 
 white free laborer being valued by slave- 
 owners, who control public opinion, only 
 as so much physical organism (bone, 
 muscle, etc.) for producing means, is 
 degraded to the level of the slave, so 
 far as his influence and moral status go, 
 and is even lower in physical comforts, 
 for the want of the intelligent care the 
 slave-owner bestows upon the slave, and 
 of which he, the free laborer, has be- 
 come incompetent by a mental depravity 
 corresponding to his moral degradation. 
 This is a truth of philosophy and polit- 
 ical economy, that man rises to a posi- 
 tion corresponding to the rights and 
 responsibilities devolved upon him ; and 
 therefore the only true way to make a 
 man is to invest him with the rights, 
 duties, and responsibilities of a man, 
 and he generally rises in intellectual 
 and moral greatness to a position cor- 
 responding to these circumstances ; and 
 it is the very want of them that makes 
 the free non-slaveholding persons of the 
 slave States so degraded and imbecile, 
 that the slaves themselves feel a con- 
 scious superiority, in which they are 
 encouraged by their owners, to the ex- 
 
308 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 tent of thinking it better to be a nigger 
 than a poor white man ; and this is done 
 to pacify the slave and thus secure this 
 artificial system of securing the products 
 of labor to the non-laboring classes, and 
 also, by degrading white laborers, pre- 
 vent their industry from competing with 
 slave labor, to reduce thereby the value 
 of slaves." 
 
 From Kansas, Captain Lyon was 
 transferred to the command of the ar- 
 senal at St. Louis, where he was when 
 the present civil war broke out. His 
 prompt action in surrounding and cap- 
 turing Camp Jackson, and his active 
 measures toward checking the secession 
 movement at Liberty and Potosi, have 
 been already recorded. His subsequent 
 action while commanding the Federal 
 forces in Missouri, as a brigadier-general, 
 was characterized by a spirit and 
 promptitude which gave promise of 
 security to the State and a certainty of 
 renown to himself, which have won for 
 him the gratitude of the country, and 
 fixed him forever in its annals as among 
 the bravest and most devoted of its 
 heroes and patriots. 
 
 General Lyon, even while General 
 May Harney was in command, seeing 
 22. how that officer had been deceived 
 by the secession leaders, who, while 
 pretending peace, were preparing for 
 war, did not intermit his vigilance for a 
 moment. He seized, on the very next 
 day after the signing of the Harney 
 league, the steamer J. C. Swan, at 
 a point thirty miles below St. Louis, 
 and caused her to be brought up and 
 secured at the arsenal in the city. 
 
 This was the vessel which had been 
 employed by the secessionists to con- 
 vey the arms from Baton Rouge, which 
 Lyon had seized after capturing Camp 
 Jackson. He also succeeded, in spite 
 of considerable resistance, in seizing 
 five thousand pounds of lead at Iron- 
 ton, on the Iron Mountain Railroad, 
 while in transit to the Confederates in 
 the South. 
 
 Price, the military leader of the 
 secessionists, was evidently disturbed 
 by the recall of his unsuspecting ally, 
 and the transfer of power to the hands 
 of the less confiding and more decid- 
 ed Lyon. Price, however, strove to 
 wheedle him as he had done his prede- 
 cessor, by fair words. In a proclamation 
 issued to the brigadier-generals com- 
 manding the various military districts 
 of Missouri, he expressed the desire 
 that the State, in accordance with the 
 Harney league, should exercise the right 
 of determining its position in the con- 
 test, without the aid of any military 
 force on either side. At the same time, 
 alluding to the change in the command 
 of the Federal forces, he said, with 
 evident anxiety, though affected confi- 
 dence, " The Government has thought 
 proper to remove General Harney from 
 the command of the Department of the 
 West ; but as the successor of General 
 Harney will certainly consider himself 
 and his Government in honor bound to 
 carry out this agreement in good faith, 
 I feel assured that his removal should 
 give no cause of uneasiness to our citi- 
 zens for the security of their liberties 
 and property. I intend on my part to 
 
FIRMNESS OF LYON. 
 
 309 
 
 adhere both in its spirit and to the 
 letter. The rumor in circulation, that 
 it is the intention of the officers now in 
 command of this Department to disarm 
 those of our citizens who do not agree 
 in opinion with the administration at 
 Washington, and put arms in the hands 
 of those who, in some localities of this 
 State, are supposed to sympathize with 
 the views of the Federal Government, 
 are, I trust, unfounded. The purpose 
 of such a movement could not be mis- 
 understood, and it would not only be a 
 violation of the agreement referred to, 
 and an equally plain violation of our 
 constitutional right, but a gross indignity 
 to the citizens of the State, which would 
 be resisted to the last extremity." 
 
 Notwithstanding this affected confi- 
 dence, that General Lyon would thus 
 carry out a league so dangerous to the 
 loyalty of the State, and for the form- 
 ing of which General Harney had been 
 recalled, the secessionists became alarmed 
 for their safety. Hurrying from the 
 faithful St. Louis, they gathered together 
 in Jefferson City, the capital of the State, 
 where, under the sanction of the dis- 
 loyal Governor, they were pursuing 
 their machinations for wresting Missouri 
 from the Union. Governor Jackson 
 himself now strove, by a personal inter- 
 view with General Lyon, to make with 
 him an agreement such as had paralyzed 
 the Federal authority under Harney's 
 league. He proposed to disband the 
 militia, or State guard as it was termed, 
 provided Lyon would consent to disarm 
 the Union volunteers. This the latter 
 resolutely refused, insisting that the 
 
 Federal Government should enjoy the 
 unrestricted right to move and station 
 its troops throughout the State when- 
 ever and wherever, in the opinion of 
 its officers, it might be necessary, either 
 for the protection of loyal subjects of 
 the Federal Government or for repelling 
 invasion. 
 
 General Lyon in this memorandum 
 specified in detail his answer to j une 
 the Governor's wily proposition. W 
 " General Lyon," he wrote, " sets forth 
 as his conviction that if the Government 
 withdrew its forces entirely, secret and 
 subtle measures would be resorted to to 
 provide arms and effect organizations 
 which, upon any pretext, could put forth 
 a formidable opposition to the General 
 Government, and, even without arming, 
 combinations would doubtless form in 
 certain localities to oppress and drive 
 out loyal citizens, to whom the Govern- 
 ment is bound to give protection, but 
 which it would be helpless to do, as also 
 to repress such combinations, if its 
 forces could not be sent into the State. 
 A large aggressive force might be 
 formed and advanced from the exterior 
 into the State, to assist it in carrying 
 out the secession programme, and the 
 Government could not, under the limit- 
 ation proposed, take posts on these 
 borders to meet and repel such force. 
 The Government could not shrink from 
 its duties nor abdicate its corresponding 
 rights ; and, in addition to the above, 
 it is the duty of its civil officers to ex- 
 ecute civil process, and in case of re- 
 sistance to receive the support of mili- 
 tary force. ' The proposition of the Gov- 
 
310 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ernor would at once overturn the Gov- 
 ernment privileges and prerogatives, 
 which he (General Lyon) has neither the 
 wish nor authority to do. In his opin- 
 ion, if the Governor and the State au- 
 thorities would earnestly set about to 
 maintain the peace of the State, and de- 
 clare their purposes to resist outrages 
 upon loyal citizens of the Government, 
 and repress insurrections against it, and, 
 in case of violent combinations needing 
 co-operation of the United States troops, 
 they should call upon or accept such 
 assistance, and in case of threatened in- 
 vasion the Government troops took 
 suitable posts to meet it, the purposes 
 of the Government would be subserved, 
 and no infringement of the State's 
 rights or dignity committed. He would 
 take good care, in such faithful co-oper- 
 ation of the State authorities to this 
 end, that no individual should be injured 
 in person or property, and that the ut- 
 most delicacy should be observed toward 
 all peaceable persons concerned in these 
 relations. Upon this basis, in General 
 Lyon's opinion, could the rights of both 
 the General and State governments be 
 secured and peace maintained." 
 
 The Governor finding that the reso- 
 lute Lyon was not to be shaken from his 
 firm determination to uphold the Fed- 
 eral authority and sustain the loyal citi- 
 zens of Missouri, lost all further hope 
 of promoting secession by diplomacy, 
 and appealed to arms. He hurried 
 with his confederates to Jefferson City, 
 the capital, destroying on the route the 
 telegraph wires and railroad bridges, 
 with the evident purpose of commencing 
 
 war and resisting the Federal authority. 
 At the same time the Governor issued 
 an insurrectionary proclamation.* 
 
 " To TIIE PEOPLE OF MISSOURI : A series of unprovoked 
 and unparalleled outrages have been inflicted upon the 
 peace and dignity of this Commonwealth, and upon the 
 rights and liberties of its people, by wicked and unprin- 
 cipled men, professing to act under the authority of the 
 United States Government; the solemn enactments of 
 your Legislature have been nullified ; your volunteer 
 soldiers have been taken prisoners ; your commerce with 
 your sister States has been suspended ; your trade with 
 your own fellow-citizens has been and is subjected to the 
 harassing control of an armed soldiery ; peaceful citizens 
 have been imprisoned without warrant of law ; unoffend- 
 ing and defenceless men, women, and children have been 
 ruthlessly shot down and murdered ; and other unbear- 
 able indignities have been heaped upon your State and 
 yourselves. 
 
 " To all these outrages and indignities you have submit- 
 ted with a patriotic forbearance which has only encouraged 
 the perpetrators of these grievous wrongs to attempt still 
 bolder and more daring usurpations. 
 
 " It has been my earnest endeavor, under all these em- 
 barrassing circumstances, to maintain the peace of the 
 State, and to avert, if possible, from our borders, the deso- 
 lating effects of a civil war. With that object in view, I 
 authorized Major-General Price, several weeks ago, to 
 arrange with General Harney, commanding the Federal 
 forces in this State, the terms of an agreement by which 
 the peace of the State might be preserved. They came, 
 on the 21st of May, to an understanding, which was made 
 public. The State authorities have faithfully labored to 
 carry out the terms of that agreement. 
 
 " The Federal Government, on the other hand, not only 
 manifested its strong disapprobation of it, by the instant 
 dismissal of the distinguished officer who, on his part, en- 
 tered into it, but it at once began, and has unintermit- 
 tingly earned out a system of hostile operations, in utter 
 contempt of that agreement, and the reckless disregard of 
 its own plighted faith. These acts have latterly por- 
 tended revolution and civil war so unmistakably, that I 
 resolved to make one further effort to avert these dangers 
 from you. I therefore solicited an interview with Briga- 
 dier-General Lyon, commanding the Federal army in 
 Missouri. It was granted, and, on the 10th instant, waiv- 
 ing all questions of personal and official dignity, I went 
 to St. Louis, accompanied by Major-General Price. 
 
 "We had an interview on the llth instant with Gen- 
 eral Lyon and Colonel F. P. Blair, Jr., at which I submit- 
 ted to them this proposition : That I would disband the 
 State Guard and break up its organization ; that I would 
 disarm all the companies which had been armed by the 
 State ; that I would pledge myself not to attempt to or- 
 ganize the militia under the military bill ; that no arms 
 
PROCLAMATION OF LYOK 
 
 311 
 
 General Lyon responded to this mani- 
 festo of hostility of the Governor of 
 
 or munitions of war should be brought into the State ; 
 that I would protect all citizens equally in all their rights, 
 regardless of their political opinions ; that I would repress 
 all insurrectionary movements within the State ; that I 
 would repel all attempts to invade it, from whatever quar- 
 ter and by whomsoever made ; and that I would thus 
 maintain a strict neutrality in the present unhappy con- 
 test, and preserve the peace of the State. And I further 
 proposed that 1 would, if necessary, invoke the assistance 
 of the United States troops to carry out these pledges. 
 All this I proposed to do upon condition that the Federal 
 Government would undertake to disarm the Home Guards, 
 which it has illegally organized and armed throughout 
 the State, and pledge itself not to occupy with its troops 
 any localities in the State not occupied by them at this 
 time. 
 
 " Nothing but the most earnest desire to avert the hor- 
 rors of civil war from our beloved State could have 
 tempted me to propose these humiliating terms. They 
 were rejected by the Federal officers. 
 
 " They demanded not only the disorganization and dis- 
 arming of the State militia, and the nullification of the 
 military bill, but they refused to disarm their own Home 
 Guards, and insisted that the Federal Government should 
 enjoy an unrestricted right to move and station its troops 
 throughout the State whenever and wherever it might, 
 in the opinion of its officers, be necessary, either for the 
 protection of the "loyal subjects" of the Federal Govern- 
 ment or for the repelling of invasion, and they plainly an- 
 nounced that it was the intention of the Administration 
 to take military occupation, under these pretexts, of the 
 whole State, and to reduce it, as avowed by General Lyon 
 himself, to the 'exact condition of Maryland.' The ac- 
 ceptance by me of these degrading terms would not only 
 have sullied the honor of Missouri, but would have aroused 
 the indignation of every brave citizen, and precipitated 
 the very conflict which it has been my aim to prevent. 
 We refused to accede to them, and the conference was 
 broken up. 
 
 " Fellow-citizens, all our efforts toward conciliation have 
 failed. We can hope nothing from the justice or modera- 
 tion of the agents of the Federal Government in this 
 State. They are energetically hastening the execution of 
 their bloody and revolutionary schemes for the inaugura- 
 tion of civil war in your midst ; for the military occupa- 
 tion of your State by armed bands of lawless invaders for 
 the overthrow of your State government ; and for the sub- 
 version of those liberties which that government has 
 always sought to protect ; and they intend to exert their 
 whole power to subjugate you, if possible, to the military 
 despotism which has usurped the powers of the Federal 
 Government. 
 
 ' ' Now, therefore, I, C. F. Jackson, Governor of the 
 
 Missouri, by issuing a counter-procla- 
 mation.* 
 
 State of Missouri, do, in view of the foregoing facts, and 
 by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution 
 and laws of this Commonwealth, issue this my proclama- 
 tion, calling the militia of the State, to the number of 
 fifty thousand, into the active service of the State, for the 
 purpose of repelling said invasion, and for the protection 
 of the lives, liberty, and property of the citizens of this 
 State. And I earnestly exhort all good citizens of Missouri 
 to rally under the flag of their State for the protection of 
 their endangered homes and firesides, and for the defence 
 of their most sacred rights and dearest liberties. 
 
 ' ' In issuing this proclamation, I hold it to be my solemn 
 duty to remind you that Missouri is still one*of the United 
 States ; that the Executive department of the State Gov- 
 ernment does not arrogate to itself the power to disturb 
 that relation ; that that power has been wisely vested in 
 a convention, which will, at the proper time, express your 
 sovereign will ; and that, meanwhile, it is your duty to 
 obey all the constitutional requirements of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. But it is equally my duty to advise you that 
 your first allegiance is due to your own State, and that 
 you are under no obligation whatever to obey the uncon- 
 stitutional edicts of the military despotism which has en- 
 throned itself at Washington, nor to submit to the in- 
 famous and degrading sway of its wicked minions in this 
 State. No brave and true-hearted Missourian will obey 
 the one or submit to the other. Rise, then, and drive out 
 ignominiously the invaders who have dared to desecrate 
 the soil which your labors have made fruitful, and which 
 is consecrated by your homes. 
 
 " Given under my hand, as Governor, and under the 
 great seal of the State of Missouri, at Jefferson City, this 
 12th day of June, 1861. 
 
 " By the Governor. CLAIBOB.NE F. JACKSON. 
 
 "B. F. MASSEY, Secretary of State." 
 
 " To TIIE CITIZENS OF MISSOURI : Prior to the procla- 
 mation issued by Governor Jackson, of date of June 12, 
 it is well known to you that the Governor and Legislature 
 sympathized with the rebellion movements now in pro- 
 gress in the country, and had adopted every means in 
 their power to effect a separation of this State from the 
 General Government. For this purpose, parties of avowed 
 secessionists have been organized into military companies 
 throughout the State, with the full knowledge and ap- 
 proval of the Governor. The establishment of encamp- 
 ments in the State at an unusual period of the year, and 
 authorized for an indefinite period, could have had no 
 other object than the concentration of a large military 
 force, to be subjected to the provisions of the military law 
 then in contemplation, and subsequently passed a bill so 
 offensive to all peaceable inhabitants, and so palpably un- 
 constitutional, that it could be accepted by those only who 
 were to conform to its extraordinary provisions for the 
 
312 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 He at the same time marshalled 
 his forces at St. Louis, and hurried to 
 
 purpose of effecting their cherished object the disruption 
 of the Federal Government. That bill provides for an 
 obligation to the State on the part of all persons enrolled 
 under its provisions irrespective of any obligation to the 
 United States, when the Constitution requires all State 
 officers to take an oath of allegiance to the United 
 States. This of itself is a repudiation of all author- 
 ity of the Federal Government, whose Constitution is 
 the supreme law, on the part of the State Government, 
 its officers, and such citizens as might choose to adopt the 
 provisions of the bill, and, coupled as it was, on the part 
 of the Legislature and the Governor, with declarations 
 hostile to its authority and in sympathy with those who 
 were arrayed in a condition of actual hostility against it, 
 could leave no doubt of its object to carry out the pro- 
 visions of this extraordinary bill, having in direct view 
 hostilities to the Federal Government. It was so de- 
 nounced by General Harney, who characterized it as a 
 secession ordinance in his proclamation of 14th May last. 
 That proclamation, doubtless, gave rise to an interview 
 between General Harney and General Price, that resulted 
 in an agreement which it was hoped would lead to a res- 
 toration of tranquillity and good order in your State. That 
 a repudiation of the military bill, and all efforts of the 
 militia of the State under its provisions was the basis of 
 the agreement, was shown as well by this proclamation of 
 General Harney immediately preceding it, as by a paper 
 submitted to General Price, containing the preliminary 
 conditions to an interview with him. 
 
 ' ' This agreement failed to define specifically the terms 
 of the peace, or how far a suspension of the provisions of 
 the military bill should form a part of it, though from the 
 express declaration of General Harney at the time of the 
 conference, as well as from the foregoing paper, a suspen- 
 sion of any action under the bill until there could be a 
 judicial termination of its character by some competent 
 tribunal, must in good faith be regarded as a fundamental 
 basis of the negotiation. 
 
 " Nevertheless, immediately after this arrangement, and 
 up to the time of Governor Jackson's proclamation, in- 
 augurating complaints of attempts to execute the provi- 
 sions of this bill, by which most exasperating hardships 
 have been imposed upon peaceful loyal citizens, coupled 
 with persecutions and proscriptions of those opposed to its 
 provisions, have been made to me as commander of the 
 United States forces here, and have been carried to the 
 authorities at Washington, with appeals for relief, from 
 the Union men of all parties of the State who have been 
 abused, insulted, and, in some instances, driven from their 
 homes. 
 
 " That relief I conceive it to be the duty of a just gov- 
 ernment to use every exertion in its power to give. Upon 
 this point the policy of the Government is set forth in the 
 
 rout out the Governor and his secession 
 bands from Jefferson City, the capital 
 
 following communication from the Department at Wash- 
 ington : 
 
 " ' ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) 
 WASHINGTON, May 27, 1861. f 
 
 " ' BRIGADIER-GENERAL W. S. HARNEY, COMMANDING DE- 
 PARTMENT WEST ST. Louis Sir : The President observes 
 with concern that, notwithstanding the pledge of the 
 State authorities to co-operate in preserving the peace of 
 Missouri, loyal citizens in great numbers continue to be 
 driven from their homes. It is immaterial whether these 
 outrages continue from inactivity or indisposition on the 
 part of the State authorities to prevent them. It is 
 enough that they continue, and it will devolve on yon 
 the duty of putting a stop to them summarily by the force 
 under your command, to be aided by such troops as you 
 may require from Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois. The pro- 
 fessions of loyalty to the Union by the State authorities 
 of Missouri are not to be relied upon. They have already 
 falsified their professions too often, and are too far com- 
 mitted to secession to be admitted to your confidence, and 
 you can only be sure of their desisting from their wicked 
 purposes when it is not in their power to prosecute them. 
 You will, therefore, be unceasingly watchful of their 
 movements, and not permit the clamors of their partisans 
 and the opponents of the wise measures already taken to 
 prevent you from checking every movement against the 
 Government, however disguised, under the pretended 
 State authority. The authority of the United States is 
 paramount, and whenever it is apparent that a movement 
 whether by order of State authorities or not is hostile, 
 you will not hesitate to put it down. 
 
 " 'L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General.' 
 
 "It is my design to carry out these instructions in their 
 letter and spirit. Their justness and propriety will be ap- 
 preciated by whoever takes an enlightened view of the 
 relations of the citizens of Missouri to the General Gov- 
 ernment, nor can such policy be construed as at all dis- 
 paraging to the rights or dignity of the State of Missouri, 
 or as infringing in any sense upon the individual liberty 
 of its citizens. The recent proclamation of Governor 
 Jackson, by which he has set at defiance the authorities of 
 the United States, and urged you to make war upon them, 
 is but a consummation of his treasonable purposes, long 
 indicated by his acts and expressed opinions, and now 
 made manifest. If, hi suppressing these treasonable pro- 
 jects, carrying out the policy of the Government, and 
 maintaining its dignity as above indicated, hostilities 
 should unfortunately occur, and unhappy consequences 
 should follow, I would hope that all aggravation of those 
 events may be avoided, and that they may be diverted 
 from the innocent, and may fall only on the heads of 
 those by whom they have been provoked. 
 
 " In the discharge of these plain but onerous duties, I 
 
FIRST MOVEMENT OF LYON. 
 
 313 
 
 of Missouri, where they were plotting 
 against and making ready to attack the 
 
 Union troops and overthrow the Fed- 
 eral authority. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 General Lyon's movement from St. Louis. Occupation of the Railroad. Force under Lyon. Embarkation of Troops. 
 Arrival at Jefferson City. Flight of the Enemy. Their destructive proceedings. General Lyon in pursuit. 
 Boernstein at the capital. Route of General Lyon. Reception by the way. Rochefort. First indication of the 
 Enemy. Dispersion of Scouts. Disembarkation of General Lyon. March of the Federal Troops. Coming up 
 with the Enemy. Position of the Antagonist. Opening Fire. Battle of Booneville. Flight of the Enemy. 
 Courage and coolness of General Lyon. Pursuit of the Enemy. Another Stand and another Rout. A deserted 
 Camp. A half-cooked Breakfast. The Federal Boats doing good service. Capture of a Battery. The stand at 
 the Fair Grounds. A third Rout. The scattering of the Enemy. The Killed and Wounded. The Prisoners. 
 A warlike Parson. Successful Appeal to an " old Rebel." Comparative strength of Forces. Approach to Boone- 
 ville. A civic and military Delegation. Welcome to the Town. Union Enthusiasm. The Secessionists' Demand. 
 Danger to the Unionists. The "Greatest Crime," etc. General Lyon's Proclamation. Forgiveness of Rebels. 
 Mildness and Severity. Proclamation of Boernstein at Jefferson City. The Missouri Convention taking Cour- 
 age. Convoked to reassemble. The Congratulations of the Unionists. Another Riot in St. Louis. Attack upon 
 the Federal Soldiers. Tragic Results. The Verdict of a St. Louis Jury. General Lyon inspirited. A bold move 
 to the Southwest. Sterling Price and Ben McCulloch. Departure of Lyon. An Augmenting Force. 
 
 1861. 
 
 GENERAL LYON'S first movement was 
 to send the Second Regiment of 
 Missouri Volunteers, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Siegel, by land, along 
 June the Pacific Railroad, to occupy the 
 12 line, and thus prevent any further 
 destruction, by the secessionists, of the 
 bridges. This detachment proceeded, 
 without any show of opposition, as far 
 as the Gasconade River, where the 
 enemy had destroyed the bridge. On 
 June the next day, Lyon embarked his 
 13 troops in two divisions ; one con- 
 sisting of the Second Battalion of the 
 First Regiment of Missouri Volunteers, 
 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel An- 
 drews, one section of Tofcten's light ar- 
 
 shall look for the countenance and active co-operation of 
 all good citizens, and I shall expect them to discounte- 
 nance all illegal combinations or organizations, and sup- 
 port and uphold, by every lawful means, the Federal Gov- 
 40 
 
 tillery, and two companies of regulars 
 under Captain Lathrop ; and the other 
 of the First Battalion of the First Regi- 
 ment of Missouri Volunteers under 
 Colonel Blair, another section of Tot- 
 ten's artillery, and a detachment of 
 pioneers, numbering in all about two 
 thousand men. Each division was em- 
 barked on board of a river steamer at 
 the wharves of St. Louis, and together 
 with the men a large supply of horses, 
 baggage wagons, camp equipage, am- 
 munition, and provisions was put on 
 board, evidently with the view of a long 
 march. General Lyon and his staff em- 
 barked with the second division, and the 
 two steamers proceeded up the Missouri 
 
 eminent, upon the maintenance of which depend their 
 liberties and the perfect enjoyment of all their rights. 
 
 " N. LYON, 
 "Brigadier-General U. S. Volunteers Commanding." 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 to Jefferson City, the capital, situated 
 on that river, near the centre of the 
 State. 
 
 On the second day after embarking, 
 June General Lyon reached Jefferson 
 
 15. City, but on marching into the 
 place found that Governor Jackson, 
 General Sterling Price, and their seces- 
 sion confederates and bands, had re- 
 treated the day before to Booneville, 
 some forty miles farther up the Missouri, 
 within the interior of the State. They 
 had striven to conceal their destination, 
 but the people of Jefferson City had no 
 doubt of the direction of their flight, 
 and being loyally disposed, freely gave 
 all the information they possessed to 
 the Federal officers. In their retreat 
 the secessionists had sought to hinder 
 pursuit, by seizing the cars and loco- 
 motives, which they carried along with 
 them, and by destroying the bridges 
 and telegraphs, as they hurriedly pushed 
 forward. 
 
 Lyon promptly hurried on in pur- 
 June su it- Embarking again in the 
 
 M> steamers, to which was added a 
 third, he moved with his troops up the 
 Missouri, having left three companies 
 of Boernstein's regiment under the 
 command of the Colonel himself, at 
 Jefferson City, to protect the capital. 
 On passing the little town of Marion, 
 on the Missouri River, the inhabitants 
 manifested their loyalty by heartily 
 cheering the expedition. Having reach- 
 ed Providence during the night, the 
 steamers hauled up until daybreak, 
 when they continued their course. At 
 Rochefort the sullenness of some of the 
 
 people indicated that the Federal forces 
 had arrived in a part of the State where 
 they were less welcome. Though the 
 citizens were little disposed to be com- 
 municative, the information was obtained 
 from them that the enemy were in con- 
 siderable force some miles below Boone- 
 ville. 
 
 The expedition, after pressing into 
 the service a steam ferry-boat at Roche- 
 fort, continued its course up the river, 
 until it reached a point within eight 
 miles of Booneville. Here was seen the 
 first indication of the enemy in a battery 
 on the bluff or high embankment of 
 the river, and some scouts appeared, 
 who hastened, on seeing the steamers, 
 to convey information of their approach 
 to the main body of the secessionists. 
 The boats now moved at once to the 
 shore, where there was a stretch of al- 
 luvial land or "bottom" a mile and a 
 half in width between the water and the 
 bluff, on the south side of the river, and 
 making fast, the troops disembarked 
 without opposition. 
 
 Scouts were now sent in advance, and 
 the main body followed them, marching 
 along the river road. The troops had 
 thus proceeded about a mile and a half 
 to the point where the road ascends the 
 bluffs, when a firing was heard, indicat- 
 ing that our scouts were engaged with 
 the picket guards of the enemy, whom 
 they succeeded in driving back. The 
 Federal troops continued to push on, 
 marching up the gentle slope of the as- 
 cent for nearly half a mile, when their 
 advanced guard came galloping back 
 with the information that the enemy 
 
BATTLE OF BOONEVILLE. 
 
 315 
 
 were in full force, posted advantageously 
 upon the summit of the rising ground, 
 about three hundred yards in front. 
 
 Their position was on the crest of 
 the hill along which the road ascends. 
 Colonel Marmaduke, in command, held 
 the road itself with a troop of horsemen 
 and a battalion of infantry. On his left 
 was a brick house occupied by a portion 
 of his force, and to the rear, in a lane 
 leading to the river, was formed the 
 main body of his left wing. Behind 
 this again stretched a wheat-field, in 
 which had gathered small bodies of 
 men apparently without form or order. 
 The enemy's right wing was posted be- 
 hind a "worm" fence, which divided 
 the wheat-field where the men were 
 formed from a neighboring field of 
 Indian corn. 
 
 The Federal troops, as soon as they 
 discovered the position of the enemy, 
 formed on the ridge of rising ground 
 facing them and separated only by a 
 shallow valley with a scattered growth 
 of oak. On our right there were also 
 some trees, while on the left there was a 
 field of Indian corn. The regular troops 
 were posted, with Colonel Blair's regi- 
 ment of Missouri Volunteers, on the 
 left, and the Germans, also volunteers, 
 under Lieutenant-Colonel Shaeffer, on 
 the right. 
 
 Captain Totten, of the light artillery, 
 opened the engagement by firing a shell 
 from a twelve-pounder, among the 
 enemy's force in the road. This was 
 immediately followed by another well- 
 aimed shell, which fell among the 
 throngs in the wheat-field, and forced 
 
 them to a hasty retreat. The battle 
 thus begun, our men on the right and 
 left advanced in good order and soon 
 opened with a volley of musketry, 
 which was spiritedly returned by the 
 enemy. The regulars on our right 
 marched boldly along the field of In- 
 dian corn, until they reached the ascent 
 which led to the crest upon which the 
 enemy were posted. They now began 
 to move more cautiously, creeping along 
 and firing when a good opportunity for a 
 shot presented. The volunteers sent to 
 support them gallantly followed the ex- 
 ample of the regulars and spiritedly 
 joined in the attack. The Germans on 
 the right were advancing no less firm- 
 ly and persistently and engaging the 
 enemy's left. The secessionists were 
 forced back by the steady advance of 
 our men, and the effective firing of 
 Totten's artillery. They, however, as 
 they retired, still made a show of re- 
 sistance. 
 
 Two bombshells, sent by Totten 
 against the brick house, within which 
 the enemy had sought cover, penetrated 
 the wall and effectually routed them 
 out. After this the secessionists gave 
 way more rapidly before the steady ad- 
 vance of our troops, and were soon 
 forced to abandon their position, which 
 the Federalists occupied in twenty min- 
 utes after the first shot fired by Totten, 
 which opened the engagement. 
 
 " The commander, General Lyon," 
 says an eye-witness of the battle, " ex- 
 hibited the most remarkable coolness, 
 and preserved throughout that undis- 
 turbed presence of mind shown by him 
 
316 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 alike in the camp, in private life, and on 
 the field of battle. ' Forward, on the 
 extreme right ;' ' give them another 
 shot, Captain Totten,' echoed above the 
 roar of musketry, clear and distinct, 
 from the lips of the general who led the 
 advancing column." 
 
 The enemy continued to retreat and 
 the Federalists to pursue without further 
 collision, until the latter had advanced 
 about a mile and a half, when the for- 
 mer made a stand in some woods near 
 their encampment. Two shells, how- 
 ever, and a volley of musketry soon put 
 them again to the rout, and they fled in 
 confusion towards Booneville. Their 
 deserted camp, which our men now oc- 
 cupied, was found to contain a consider- 
 able quantity of provisions, arms, and 
 ammunition. The evident haste with 
 which, after the landing of the Federal- 
 ists, they had advanced to meet them, 
 proved how unexpected had been their 
 arrival. The breakfasts of the men 
 were found in the course of preparation 
 in the camp ; the half-baked bread, the 
 partially fried pork, the ham with the 
 knife sticking in the meat, and the pots 
 of coffee still on the fire, showed how 
 sudden had been their movement. Our 
 troops gave them no opportunity of re- 
 suming the cooking of their morning's 
 meal, or of breaking their long morning's 
 fast. A company being left. to guard the 
 camp, General Lyon led the rest of his 
 force on to Booneville. 
 
 In the mean time, while the main body 
 of the Federalists had been acquitting 
 themselves so satisfactorily on land, the 
 artillerists under Captain Yoorhies, and 
 
 the company of infantry in command of 
 Captain Richardson, who had been re- 
 luctantly left behind to take charge of 
 the boats, contrived also to do some 
 effectual service. After the troops be- 
 gan their march, Richardson went 
 ashore with his men, and captured a 
 battery of two iron six-pounders, posted 
 on the river about five miles below 
 Booneville. He then moved on with 
 one of the boats, the McDowell, towards 
 the town, with the view of co-operating 
 with the land force. 
 
 This he was able to effect, when Lyon 
 had marched within a mile of Booneville, 
 where the secessionists, again at the 
 fair grounds, seemed disposed to make 
 a stand. Captain Richardson being from 
 his position on the river in their rear, 
 first discovered their intention, and was 
 enabled to fire upon them with great 
 effect. A shot from his howitzer, fol- 
 lowed by a fire from Totten's artillery, 
 and a volley of musketry from Lyon's 
 main body, which had in the mean time 
 become aware of the enemy's purpose, 
 soon scattered them for a third time. 
 The secessionists now continued their 
 flight, dispersing in various directions. 
 Some crossed the river, some went 
 south, but the chief portion, after hav- 
 ing passed through the town, escaped up 
 the Missouri in boats to the west. 
 
 In the course of the attack and pur- 
 i. suit by the Federal forces, there were 
 but three of them killed, ten wounded, 
 and one missing. It was difficult to es- 
 timate the loss of the secessionists, but 
 it is supposed to have been large. 
 Eighty were taken prisoners, of whom 
 
SUDDEN CONVERSION TO LOYALTY. 
 
 317 
 
 twenty-six were captured by the chap- 
 lain of the First Regiment. " He had 
 charge," says the authority before 
 quoted, "of a party of four men, two 
 mounted and two on foot, with which to 
 take charge of the wounded. Ascend- 
 ing the brow of a hill, he suddenly came 
 upon a company of twenty-four rebels, 
 armed with revolvers, and fully bent 
 upon securing a place of safety for their 
 carcasses. Their intentions, however, 
 were considerably modified, when the 
 parson ordered them to halt, which they 
 did, surrendering their arms. Surround- 
 ed by the squad of five men, they were 
 then marched on board the Louisiana, 
 prisoners of war. The parson also 
 captured two other secessionists during 
 the day, and at one time, needing a 
 wagon and horses for the wounded, and 
 finding friendly suggestions wasted on a 
 stubborn old rebel, placed a revolver at 
 his head, and the desired articles were 
 forthcoming. In time of peace the 
 preacher had prepared for war." 
 
 The enemy were reported to have 
 been four thousand strong, and the 
 Federalists only two thousand, of whom 
 less than half were actively engaged. 
 Governor Jackson is supposed to have 
 discreetly kept at a distance from the 
 battle, and to have been among the first 
 to seek safety in flight while General 
 Sterling Price was prevented by an in- 
 opportune attack of illness from taking 
 command of the secession forces. 
 
 As General Lyon was approaching 
 the town of Booneville, he was met by 
 some of the officials and leading citizens 
 bearing a flag of truce. They were 
 
 anxious to impress upon the victors, 
 that the greater proportion of their 
 fellow-citizens were favorable to the 
 Federal cause. General Lyon received 
 them in a conciliatory spirit, and as- 
 sured them that, if no resistance should 
 be offered to the entrance of his 
 troops, no harm need be feared. Soon 
 after Major O'Brien, a military officer 
 of Booneville, presented himself, and 
 the town was formally surrendered. The 
 Federal troops now advanced, headed by 
 General Lyon and the civic and military 
 representatives of the place. On pass- 
 ing through the principal street, they 
 were met by a party of citizens waving 
 the United States flag and cheering 
 lustily for the Union, to which the Fed- 
 eral troops gave a hearty response. 
 The " stars and stripes" now suddenly 
 fluttered out from house window and 
 church steeple, and Booneville pro- 
 claimed itself once more a loyal town. 
 
 " One can hardly imagine," declares a 
 writer who was present on the occasion, 
 " the joy expressed and felt by the loyal 
 citizens when the Federal troops entered 
 the city. Stores which had been closed 
 all day, began to open, the national flag 
 was quickly run up on a secession pole, 
 cheers for the Union, Lyon, Blair, and 
 Lincoln were frequently heard, and 
 everything betokened the restoration of 
 peace, law, and order. ' True men' are 
 reported to have said, ' that had the 
 troops delayed ten days longer, it would 
 have been impossible for them to have 
 remained in safety. Irresponsible vaga- 
 bonds had been taking guns wherever 
 they could find them, and notifying the 
 
318 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 most substantial and prosperous citizens 
 to leave.' One worthy citizen, the pro- 
 prietor of the City Hotel, was said to 
 have denounced ' the whole secession 
 movement as the greatest crime com- 
 mitted since the crucifixion of our 
 Saviour.' ' 
 
 On the next day after entering Boone- 
 Jiine ville, General Lyon released his 
 18 prisoners, most of whom were 
 youths and had been misled, as he be- 
 lieved, by the artful devices of older 
 conspirators. 
 
 In the mean time Colonel Boernstein, 
 who had been left with a battalion of the 
 Second Regiment of Missouri Volun- 
 teers, in command of Jefferson City, 
 the capital, was effectually keeping in 
 check the secessionists, and striving to 
 soothe the disaffected with proclaiming 
 summary punishment for treason and 
 security for property. "Your personal 
 safety, "he said, "will be protected, and 
 your property respected. Slave prop- 
 erty will not be interfered with by any 
 part of my command, nor will slaves be 
 allowed to enter my lines without 
 written authority from their masters ; 
 and, notwithstanding we are in times of 
 war, I shall endeavor to execute my in- 
 structions with moderation and forbear- 
 ance, and at the same time shall not 
 suffer the least attempt to destroy the 
 Union and its Government, by the per- 
 formance of any unlawful act." 
 
 Under the protection of the military 
 rule of Boernstein, at the capital, and in- 
 spirited by the success of the Federal 
 troops under Lyon, the members of the 
 Convention of the State of Missouri took 
 
 courage. Having already, as early as 
 February, refused by a large majority to 
 consider the question of secession, they 
 now prepared to execute the will of 
 the people whom they represented, in 
 thwarting the action of the secessionist 
 Governor and his confederates of the 
 Legislature. The Convention was ac- 
 cordingly called to reassemble in Jeffer- 
 son City, on the twenty-second day of 
 July. 
 
 Lyon having by his prompt movement 
 swept the eastern part of Missouri, from 
 St. Louis to Booneville, clear of the 
 secession leaders and their bands, the 
 unionists began to congratulate them- 
 selves that the State was now secure in 
 the enjoyment of a loyal tranquillity. 
 There was, however, even in St. Louis, 
 some unwillingness to submit quietly to 
 the Federal power. The military au- 
 thorities having considered it prudent to 
 station guards on the various railways 
 leading from the city, had detailed a 
 regiment commanded by Colonel Kail- 
 man for that duty. After detailing the 
 necessary number of men, the rest of 
 the regiment returned, passing through 
 St. Louis, when a collision took j une 
 place with the citizens. !? 
 
 The event was thus related by one of 
 the journals* of that city. 
 
 " Forming at the depot in good order, 
 they marched quietly down Broadway 
 and Seventh Street without interruption 
 or disturbance of any kind, so far as 
 is known, till Company B reached St. 
 Charles Street. At that point a half- 
 drunken or crazed individual insulted 
 
 St. Louis Democrat. 
 
RIOT IN ST. LOUIS. 
 
 319 
 
 the troops with language so abusive and 
 threatening, that several of them took 
 him into custody. The captain came 
 up, inquiring into the circumstances of 
 the case, and, on the prisoner's protest- 
 ing that he meant no harm, ordered his 
 release. This took place in Olive Street. 
 In a moment afterward a pistol was 
 fired from a second-story window on the 
 east side of the street, just south of 
 Olive, a second almost simultaneously 
 from near the pavement, and instantly 
 a third from the window above. 
 
 " Some of the troops noticed that an 
 attack was in contemplation, and began 
 arranging caps on their muskets, a 
 movement perceived by spectators, who 
 were as yet unaware of the cause. 
 During this quick movement one of the 
 muskets accidentally exploded, and this 
 occurred near the time of the first firing 
 of the pistol as described. 
 
 "Colonel Kallman gave the order to 
 halt, pistol shots still firing from the 
 windows. The order was promptly 
 obeyed, and the troops, till then march- 
 ing four abreast, wheeled westward and 
 formed into double file, fronting east. 
 No order to fire was given. Captain 
 Risech, of Company I, inarching in the 
 rear, was shot so as to be disabled from 
 command, and a soldier at the same 
 time fell senseless in the ranks. The 
 troops began firing briskly up to the 
 windows of the Missouri engine-house 
 and Recorder's court-room, and the 
 second story of the building adjoining 
 on the north. The fire of the pistols 
 was returned, but soon ceased, the 
 
 officers below passing along the ranks 
 and ordering the troops to stop firing. 
 The terrible scene, which lasted scarcely 
 a minute and a half or two minutes at 
 the furthest, was thus terminated." 
 
 There were no less than six victims 
 of this tragic occurrence, all of whom 
 were private citizens, while the soldiers 
 escaped with but some slight ^ ounds. 
 The coroner's jury, after a long investi- 
 gation of ten days, rendered a verdict 
 which, while it exonerated citizens and 
 the military officers, imputed the blame 
 to the soldiers. They declared that the 
 "wounds were inflicted without any 
 provocation or discharge of firearms 
 from the citizens then present, and also 
 without any order to fire having been 
 given by the officers of the said com- 
 panies." 
 
 General Lyon, inspirited by his success 
 in the north and east, and trusting to 
 the loyalty which his triumphs had en- 
 couraged to manifest itself, now boldly 
 determined to push on to the south- 
 west, where Sterling Price and Ben 
 McCulloch, the Texan ranger, had form- 
 ed a junction and mustered a strong 
 force. Lyon accordingly, with his char- 
 acteristic self-reliance, left Boone- j u iy 
 ville, with only two thousand men. ** 
 This meagre band, however, rapidly in- 
 creased on the march by the accessions 
 of the loyal men of the country, who 
 welcomed and offered their services 
 readily to the victorious leader of the 
 Federal troops. The events of this 
 campaign and its fatal results will be re- 
 lated in the due course of this narrative. 
 
320 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Unabated spirit of the North. Large mustering of Troops. The Force at Washington. The Potomac Line. Com- 
 manders. Force at Fortress Monroe. Force in the neighborhood of Harper's Ferry. Force in Western Virginia. 
 Force at Cairo. Force in Missouri. Force in Maryland. The Line on the Potomac. Topography of the Country. 
 The dangers of the ground. Fortifications. Arlington Heights. Alexandria. The ghost of a city. Deserted 
 Streets. Abandoned Houses. Closed Warehouses and Shops. Military Occupation. Present Inhabitants. 
 Soldiers and Negroes. Description of Vienna. Description of Fairfax Court House. The Position of the Enemy 
 in Virginia. Manassas Junction. Position and Fortifications. Distances and Communications. Exploit of Lieut. 
 Tompkins at Fairfax Court House. A spirited Charge. The result. The affair at Vienna. A clear field reported. 
 Orders to General Schenck. Departure of Schenck. His Force. How it was disposed of. A sudden stoppage. 
 A Masked Battery. A Conflict. Killed and Wounded. Conduct of the Engineer. Criticism upon the manage- 
 ment of the Expedition. The Enterprise denounced. The sacrifice. Gallantry of Federal Troops. An account 
 of the Enemy. Tribute to a "Few." The Enemy's Potteries on the Potomac. Captain Ward's Reconnoissance 
 of Matthias Point. An Attack planned. Landing of Men. Federal Batteries raised on the Virginia Shore. A 
 sudden surprise from the Enemy. Death of Captain Ward. An official criticism on the expedition. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THERE was no abatement of the mili- 
 tary spirit of the loyal North. 
 With each development of secession 
 there was an increased vigor shown on 
 the part of the defenders of the Union. 
 In two or three months after the fall of 
 Fort Sumter it was estimated that two 
 hundred arid twenty-five thousand men, 
 militia and volunteers, had already mus- 
 tered into the service of the United 
 States. Of these there were some sixty 
 thousand who had marched to the pro- 
 tection of the capital, one half of whom 
 were stationed in and about the city of 
 Washington, under the command of 
 Brigadier-General J. K. T. Mansfield, 
 and the other half on the opposite 
 and south side of the Potomac, under 
 the command of Brigadier-General T. 
 McDowell. 
 
 Twelve thousand men were at Fortress 
 Monroe and its environs, in command of 
 Major-General B. F. Butler. Twenty 
 
 thousand had marched from Pennsyl- 
 vania under Majors-General Robert Pat- 
 terson and W. H. Kein to the neighbor- 
 hood of Harper's Ferry, to which point 
 Major-General George Cadwallader with 
 six thousand was also proceeding. This 
 combined force was intended to co-oper- 
 ate with Major-General George B. Mc- 
 Clellan, who, crossing the Ohio from the 
 west, was in Western Virginia at the 
 head of twenty-five thousand men. 
 Seven thousand had gathered at Cairo, 
 under the command of Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral B. M. Prentiss ; and Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Lyon was supposed to be able to 
 muster throughout the State of Missouri 
 a force of nearly thirteen thousand. 
 Major-General N. P. Banks, who had suc- 
 ceeded Cadwallader, was keeping Balti- 
 more and Maryland in check with over 
 ten thousand. The rest of this large 
 army was still in camp in the various 
 Northern and Western States, ready to 
 
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 5 > S > I 
 
 ri 'I I ti i 
 
THE GHOST OF A CITY. 
 
 321 
 
 march to any point to which it might be 
 directed. 
 
 The line of the Federal forces on the 
 south side of the Potomac opposite to 
 AVushington extended from Alexandria 
 on the east in the direction of Vienna 
 on the west, a distance of about sixteen 
 miles, and again to the north toward 
 Fairfax Court House, over twelve miles 
 from the capital. The whole country is 
 rolling, composed of hills and shallow 
 valleys, and intersected with numerous 
 small streams. The ground is very 
 favorable for defence. Its approaches, 
 winding in narrow roads or lanes about 
 the hills, are readily commanded by 
 fortifications, while a march through it 
 would be greatly exposed to surprises 
 from ambuscades and concealed batter- 
 ies. There is hardly a spot which a com- 
 manding officer would select for the 
 manoeuvering of a large force in regular 
 battle. 
 
 The most commanding heights had 
 been seized by the Federal forces, upon 
 which they had raised entrenchments 
 and redoubts. Among these was Arling- 
 ton Heights, directly opposite and com- 
 manding the capital, formerly the prop- 
 erty of George Washington Custis, the 
 descendant of Washington's wife, and 
 now belonging to Mrs. Lee, whose hus- 
 band is a general in the service of the 
 Confederate States. Here General Mc- 
 Dowell had his headquarters. 
 
 Alexandria, on the Potomac, about 
 seven miles from Washington, was also 
 held in force by the Federal troops, and 
 its approaches commanded by the con- 
 struction of an earthen redoubt. This 
 
 41 
 
 city ordinarily contained about ten thou- 
 sand inhabitants, mostly engaged in com- 
 merce. Grain, flour, and tobacco were 
 its principal exports, and its domestic 
 trade was in negroes, for the sale of 
 whom there were two thriving slave-pens. 
 On the possession of Alexandria by our 
 troops, the greater portion of the lead- 
 ing people, who were devoted to the 
 cause of secession, abandoned the place 
 and allowed it to become little more than 
 barracks for soldiers or a refuge for the 
 negroes whom their masters could not 
 compel to fly with them. Its communi- 
 cations with the interior, by means of 
 canals and railways, and with other ports 
 by the Potomac, were cut off by the war, 
 and the city now presents but a ghost 
 of its former self. The great ware- 
 houses and mills on the wharves are 
 closed, save perhaps here and there 
 one which has been opened as a guard- 
 house for soldiers or a receptacle for 
 munitions of war. The little river steam- 
 boats still ply between Washington and 
 the town, but convey only armed sol- 
 diers, or a few privileged visitors, who 
 can neither embark nor disembark with- 
 out submitting their " passes" to a vig- 
 ilant sentinel. The main street, still 
 bearing in its name, " King," a reverential 
 reminiscence of colonial loyalty, is silent 
 except to the rumbling of heavy bag- 
 gage wagons or the clatter of the 
 mounted dragoon. Most of the shops 
 are closed and their shutters heavily 
 barred with iron. The few which re- 
 main open, show the timid anxiety of 
 their occupants, by the darkened win- 
 dows and half-opened doors. The villas 
 
322 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 in the suburbs are deserted, with the 
 vines hanging from the verandahs in 
 tangled neglect, and the gardens over- 
 grown with weeds. The public halls 
 and hotels are turned into barracks, and 
 private mansions and school-houses into 
 military hospitals ; churches and church- 
 yards are locked and abandoned by 
 priest and sexton. Soldiers are on guard 
 at the corner of every street. But few 
 of the ordinary inhabitants of the town 
 are to be seen, except some "poor 
 whites," who may be still slinking out of 
 hovels or into the groggeries, and the 
 negroes, who are idly chatting as they 
 lie in groups upon the door-steps, or 
 striving to support their sudden inde- 
 pendence by selling fruits and pastry and 
 other delicacies to lounging soldiers. 
 
 Vienna, towards which the other ex- 
 tremity of the Federal line of occupation 
 extended on the south side of the 
 Potomac, is a small village on the London 
 and Hampshire Railroad, about fifteen 
 miles from Alexandria and nearly twelve 
 from Washington. It was near this 
 point that the Federal troops were im- 
 prudently exposed to an attack from the 
 enemy, which will soon be narrated. 
 
 Fairfax Court House, though of in- 
 considerable size, is a place of more 
 importance than Vienna. It is situated 
 on the turnpike road leading from Alex- 
 andria to Centreville, and is about fifteen 
 miles both from Washington and Alex- 
 andria. This was also the scene of an 
 early skirmish, between a troop of Fed- 
 eral cavalry and the enemy, in which 
 our soldiers were enabled by the gal- 
 lantry of their leader to acquit them- 
 
 selves with more credit than in the 
 blundering expedition to Vienna. 
 
 The enemy had, in the mean time, 
 while the Federal forces had been cross- 
 ing the Potomac and occupying the 
 country bordering on that river, been 
 mustering a large number of troops in 
 Virginia. 
 
 Their main force was posted at ' ' Ma- 
 nassas Junction," a railway station where 
 the Manassas Gap Railroad joins that 
 between Orange and Alexandria. The 
 place derives all its importance from its 
 strategic position, as it commands the 
 land communications from the north 
 with Richmond. Here Beauregard was 
 in command, and exercising all his skill 
 as an engineer in fortifying the post. 
 The distance of Manassas Junction, to the 
 south-west, from Alexandria is about 
 twenty-seven miles ; from Washington, 
 south, thirty-two ; and from Richmond 
 a hundred and thirty-five miles north. 
 
 From Manassas Junction the enemy's 
 line extended toward Acquia Creek on 
 their right ; in the direction of Harper's 
 Ferry on their left, whence a consider- 
 able body was manoeuvering with the 
 view of subjecting Western Virginia, 
 and in front to Fairfax Court House. 
 
 It was at this last place that Lieu- 
 tenant Tompkins performed his spirited 
 xploit. Being ordered on a scout- jj a y 
 ing expedition, he set out from the ** 
 camp on the Potomac, at half-past ten 
 o'clock at night, with a company of 
 United States cavalry numbering seven- 
 y-five men. He reached Fairfax Court 
 Souse next morning before daylight, at 
 three o'clock. Having surprised and 
 
DISASTER AT VIENNA. 
 
 323 
 
 captured the enemy's picket guard, the 
 Lieutenant boldly pushed into the town. 
 As he entered, he was met by a fire from 
 the windows of the houses. He then 
 charged on the troops he found there, 
 and drove them from the town. They, 
 however, being reinforced by several 
 companies, were encouraged to return, 
 when Tompkins, finding himself greatly 
 outnumbered, retreated in good order, 
 bringing with him as trophies five prison- 
 ers fully armed and equipped and two 
 horses. 
 
 " My loss," the Lieutenant officially 
 reported, "is three men missing, three 
 slightly wounded, and twelve horses lost. 
 The loss of the rebels is from twenty to 
 twenty-five in killed and wounded. 
 From observations I should judge that 
 the rebels at that point numbered fully 
 one thousand five hundred men." The 
 Lieutenant himself was reported to have 
 lost two horses killed under him, but to 
 have escaped with but a slight wound 
 from the fall of one of them. 
 
 The affair which occurred at Vienna 
 was less successful. A detachment of 
 Connecticut troops having been sent out 
 to reconnoitre, reported, although one 
 of the men had been wounded by a 
 concealed shot, that the railroad from 
 the Federal lines to two miles beyond 
 Vienna was clear of the enemy. On the 
 same night, however, General McDowell 
 learned that the secessionists were about 
 to obstruct the road, by destroying the 
 bridges and tearing up the rails. He 
 accordingly ordered Brigadier-General 
 Schenck, of the Ohio Volunteers, for- 
 merly member of Congress, to recon- 
 
 noitre the ground and station guards at 
 the various exposed points of the road. 
 Schenck accordingly mustered six hun- 
 dred and sixty- eight rank and file, with 
 twenty-nine field and company officers 
 of the First Ohio Volunteers, and started 
 on the expedition from his camp three 
 miles beyond Alexandria. Placing his 
 men in the railroad cars he proceeded 
 on his route along the Loudon and 
 Hampshire Railroad, upon which the 
 village of Vienna is situated, at a dis- 
 tance of about fifteen miles from the 
 city of Alexandria. 
 
 In accordance with his orders, Schenck 
 stationed one hundred and thirty men 
 at the crossing of the road, and sent 
 one hundred and seventeen men to 
 Falls Church to reconnoitre in that di- 
 rection. He then went on, leaving one 
 hundred and thirty men to guard the 
 railroad and the bridge between the 
 crossing and Vienna. He had now only 
 four companies left, consisting of two 
 hundred and seventy-five men. With 
 this remnant of his force he proceeded 
 toward Vienna." 
 
 " On turning the curve slowly, within 
 one quarter of a mile of Vienna," said 
 the Brigadier in his official report, "we 
 were fired upon by raking masked batteries 
 of, I think, three guns, with shells, 
 round shot, and grape, killing and wound- 
 ing the men on the platform and in the 
 cars before the train could be stopped. 
 When the train stopped, the engine 
 could not, on account of damage to 
 some part of the running machinery, 
 draw the train out of the fire. The 
 engine being in the rear, we left the 
 
324 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 cars, and retired to the right and left of 
 the train through the woods. 
 
 "Finding that the enemy's batteries 
 were sustained by what appeared about 
 a regiment of infantry, and by cavalry, 
 which force we have since understood to 
 have been some fifteen hundred South 
 Carolinians, we fell back along the rail- 
 road, throwing out skirmishers on both 
 flanks ; and this was about seven p. M. 
 Thus we retired slowly, bearing off our 
 wounded five miles to this point, which 
 we reached at ten o'clock." 
 
 The loss reported was five killed, six 
 wounded, and ten missing. The Gen- 
 eral had good ground of complaint 
 against the engineer, who, he says, 
 11 when the men left the cars, instead of 
 retiring slowly, as I ordered, detached 
 his engine with one passenger car from 
 the rest of the disabled train and aban- 
 doned us, running to Alexandria, and 
 we have heard nothing from him since. 
 Thus we were deprived of a rallying- 
 point, and of all means of conveying 
 the wounded, who had to be carried on 
 litters and in blankets." 
 
 The conduct of the expedition was se- 
 verely censured. A writer* who accom- 
 panied it, and wrote a graphic descrip- 
 tion of it, while he did not withhold his 
 admiration of the courage of the Ohio 
 troops and their leaders, did not hesitate 
 to rebuke the imprudent management 
 of the enterprise. He wrote : " However 
 wise or necessary this plan of dropping 
 squads behind might be in an ordinary 
 advance, it certainly was of doubtful ex- 
 pediency in this case. There were no 
 
 Correspondent of the New York Tribune. 
 
 villages or groups of houses along the 
 route, among which the enemy's men 
 could have established themselves in 
 force, and the only point from which an 
 attack could be seriously apprehended 
 was Vienna itself. Had the entire regi- 
 ment and a larger body would have 
 been better been pushed rapidly down 
 to Vienna, we should have been more 
 fully prepared to encounter and act 
 against an ambush ; and, had all proved 
 quiet, nothing would have been lost, since 
 we had the advantage of railroad speed, 
 by stationing the guards on the return, 
 instead of the advance. It is true that 
 the entire course of the road is through 
 a valley, and that the hills on either side, 
 and the heavy thickets which screen 
 them, appear to offer excellent situations 
 for ambuscade ; but the roads in the 
 neighborhood are few, and those which 
 exist are quite impracticable for the 
 ready transportation of troops, not to 
 speak of artillery. Decidedly the sus- 
 picious spot was Vienna and its vicinity. 
 A certain disposition to tardy caution 
 was frustrated by the carelessness of the 
 engine-driver. He had been directed to 
 stop at the distance of a mile from the 
 town, whence skirmishers were to be 
 thrown out, and proper reconnoissances 
 to be made. Instead of doing so, he 
 shot ahead until within half a mile or 
 less, so that this single chance of avert- 
 ing the impending danger was wasted. 
 The train was rounding a gentle curve, 
 and the men were laughing, quite un- 
 conscious of peril, when the first round 
 of shot fell among them, tearing five 
 of them to pieces, and wounding many 
 
THE AMBUSH AT VIENNA. 
 
 325 
 
 others. The rebels' guns had been care- 
 fully planted in the curve, and were 
 hidden until the worst part of their 
 work was accomplished. The first dis- 
 charge was the most fatal. The four 
 companies were disposed upon open 
 platform cars, and were first of all ex- 
 posed to the enemy's fire. The engine 
 was at the rear of the train. It was 
 fortunate that most of the men were 
 sitting, for the shot flew high, and only 
 those who stood erect were struck. 
 Major Hughey was among the foremost, 
 but was unharmed. General Schenck 
 and Colonel McCook were in a covered 
 car behind the troops. The Colonel 
 instantly sprang out, and gathered the 
 best part of his men together. The 
 enemy's field-pieces had been stationed 
 to command the line of the railroad and 
 nothing else. They were at the termin- 
 ation of the curve, to the left of the 
 track, and elevated a few feet above the 
 grade. With the exception of that 
 company which was the most exposed, 
 and which suffered the most, the men 
 promptly assembled near Colonel Mc- 
 Cook, who proceeded to form them in 
 line of battle, and to lead them into the 
 protection of a little wood, or thicket, 
 at the right of the track, apart from the 
 range of the battery. Meanwhile shot 
 and shell continued to assail the train, 
 and those who lingered near it. The 
 engine-driver, in a panic, detached his 
 locomotive and a single car, and dashed 
 off at full speed. The rebel artillerists 
 then directed their range, so as to 
 menace Colonel McCook 's three com- 
 panies, upon which the Colonel quietly 
 
 marched them over to the left of the 
 track, into another clump of trees, 
 where he collected all his little force, 
 and arrayed them boldly in line. The 
 shot from the rebels now flew very 
 wild, cutting the trees overhead and 
 around, and, in their hurry, they made 
 the frequent blunder of discharging their 
 shell without opening the fuse. But, 
 notwithstanding this, Colonel McCook's 
 position was far from comfortable. He 
 saw that he was prodigiously outnum- 
 bered, and that if the enemy could only 
 keep their wits for a few minutes, he 
 must inevitably be captured, or ven- 
 ture a struggle at fearful odds. He had 
 only about one hundred and eighty men, 
 while the rebel force exceeded two 
 thousand. Their field-pieces alone, de- 
 cently managed, would have destroyed 
 the little Ohio band in a twinkling. But 
 the Ohio men never flinched, and this 
 was the reward of their bravery : the 
 rebels observing such a mere handful 
 beari ig themselves undaunted before 
 their superior host, were at first amazed, 
 and tLen startled into the conviction that 
 powerful reinforcements must be close 
 at hand. How else, it seemed to them, 
 could this sprinkling of troops hold their 
 ground. It could be nothing but the 
 confidence of overwhelming strength 
 that sustained them. And this is not 
 conjecture. The information since re- 
 ceived from Vienna proves it to have 
 been their real belief. Disheartened by 
 this belief, they became irresolute, their 
 fire slackened, they wavered, and, in a 
 few minutes, broke up their lines and 
 slowly retired. At the same time 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Colonel McCook, having secured his 
 wounded, also withdrew, his two thou- 
 sand assailants making no attempt or 
 motion to oppose his retreat." 
 
 The enemy, too, gave their version of 
 the affair at Vienna, claiming a victory, 
 which they said they had won with a 
 force of six hundred Carolinians, a com- 
 pany of artillery, and two companies 
 of cavalry. They, moreover, insisted 
 that the attack was an extemporaneous 
 one, and that they "had scarcely time 
 to place two cannon in position" when 
 the Federal troops first showed them- 
 selves. One " well-directed shot," which 
 raked the railroad cars, was sufficient, 
 they asserted, to cause consternation and 
 dismay, and force the Federalists to fly 
 to the woods. "A few of the party," 
 however, they confessed, " exhibited 
 some bravery, and endeavored, by 
 shouts, to rally their flying comrades, 
 but it was impossible." 
 
 The enemy had possession, on their 
 right, to the south of Alexandria, of 
 the Virginian bank of the river Po- 
 tomac, and here they had been zeal- 
 ously at work, protecting themselves 
 with batteries. Captain Ward, of the 
 steamer Freeborn, and in command of 
 the flotilla of the Potomac, was on the 
 alert, and was eager to prevent the 
 completion of these batteries. Ac- 
 cordingly, having discovered that the 
 enemy were about to erect works at 
 Matthias Point, a commanding position 
 fifty miles below Washington, where 
 the river narrows and makes an abrupt 
 turn, first to the north and then to the 
 south, Captain Ward determined to try 
 
 to dislodge them. His plan was, to 
 effect a landing upon the point under 
 cover of the guns of his steamer, and 
 after driving away the enemy, to de- 
 stroy the works in progress and cut 
 down the trees which concealed them 
 from the river. He accordingly obtained 
 from Captain Rowan, in command j une 
 of the Pawnee, stationed above on 27, 
 the Potomac, off the mouth of Acquia 
 Creek, two boats' crews, and these, to- 
 gether with some of his own men, num- 
 bering in all about forty, armed and 
 equipped with axes and building ma- 
 terials, he sent ashore at Matthias Point, 
 while he closed in with his own steamer 
 to cover their landing. 
 
 The men succeeded in reaching the 
 land without resistance, and selecting 
 a position began at once to construct 
 sand-bag breastworks. Under cover 
 of the guns of the Freeborn they re- 
 mained at work unmolested for four 
 hours and a half. At five o'clock in the 
 afternoon, however, when returning to 
 their boats, with the view of going on 
 board the steamer to obtain cannon to 
 mount upon the work, a large number 
 of the enemy suddenly made their ap- 
 pearance, and fired upon them a volley 
 of musketry. 
 
 The men hurried in confusion to their 
 boats, and as they pushed off, left some 
 of their comrades behind. The Free- 
 born, in the mean time, brought her 
 guns to bear upon the enemy, who 
 were, however, greatly protected by 
 the brushwood, behind which they had 
 sought cover, and whence they kept up 
 a direct fire upon the steamer. The gun- 
 
DEATH OF CAPTAIN WARD. 
 
 327 
 
 ner at the bow guns being wounded, 
 Captain "Ward took his place himself, 
 and was sighting the piece, when a 
 Minie ball struck him in the abdomen 
 and killed him almost on the instant. 
 
 That the enterprise of Captain Ward, 
 however gallantly conducted, was an 
 imprudent one, seemed to be the opinion 
 of some of his fellow-officers. Captain 
 Rowan, of the Pawnee, says " the Res- 
 olute returned, with a request from 
 Captain Ward that I should send her 
 back, if I had no more important service 
 for her. I immediately despatched the 
 
 Reliance to Captain Ward, knowing the 
 danger to which our people would be 
 exposed if he contemplated a landing at 
 Matthias Point, as I feared was his in- 
 tention, judging from the nature of the 
 order he gave me, to furnish him with 
 such equipments as were necessary to 
 cut down trees on the Point and burn 
 them ;" and Captain Rowan continues 
 with the declaration, that " Lieutenant 
 Chaplin and his command" (whom he sent 
 to the aid of Ward, and complimented 
 for their gallantry) " escaped utter de- 
 struction by a miracle." 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Occupation of Harper's Ferry by the Enemy. Their Force. General Johnston. His Life and Character. The advant- 
 ages of position at Harper's Ferry. The defences of the place. The movement of the Federal Forces upon Har- 
 per's Ferry. Combination of Federal Generals. Alarm of General Johnston. Evacuation of Harper's Ferry. 
 Destructiveness. A lively description by a Secessionist. A conflagration. A picture. Route of Johnston. Ad- 
 vance of the Federalists. Movement of General Patterson. Crossing the Potomac. Coming up with the Enemy. 
 Battle of Falling Waters. A droll description. The Secessionists routed. Flight to Bunker Hill. Pursuit by 
 General Patterson. Arrival at Martinsburgh. Losses at Falling Waters. Harper's Ferry unoccupied. Return to 
 Harper's Ferry of a detachment of the Enemy. Their proceedings on the occasion. Terror and destruction. Com- 
 bined movement of the Secessionists. Subjection of Western Virginia intended. The Secession force under Gen- 
 eral Garnett. The encampment at Laurel Hill. Distribution of Troops. March of General Wise. Position of 
 Johnston. Advance of General McClellan. Proclamations. Disposition of his forces. Skilful strategy. General 
 Rosencranz sent against the enemy. Battle of Rich Mountain. Flight of the Enemy. Losses. A rich Capture. 
 Advance of McClellan to Beverly. Sudden disappearance of the Enemy. McClellan in possession of Beverly. 
 The retreat of the Enemy. Possession of their camp. McClellan's movement to cut them off. Importance of 
 Beverly. The enemy's works. Inner and outer works. Rifle Pits. Abattis. Redoubts. McClellan's reports. 
 Surrender of Pegram and his force. Correspondence on the occasion. Coming up with Garnett. Battle of Carrick's 
 Ford. Death of Garnett. Account of the Battle. Reports of McClellan. A glowing tribute to his Soldiers. 
 Failure of a well-laid plan. Escape of the Fugitives. An enemy's account of the Battle of Rich Mountain. 
 
 1861, 
 
 EVER since the abandonment and un- 
 fortunately incomplete destruction 
 of the public works at Harper's 
 Ferry by Lieutenant Jones, already 
 described in an earlier part of this nar- 
 rative, the enemy had occupied the 
 
 place. A large force, amounting to 
 nearly twenty thousand men, was here 
 mustered under one of their ablest 
 officers, General Johnston. 
 
 Joseph Eccleston Johnston was born 
 in Virginia, in 1804, and at an early 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 age entered the military academy of 
 West Point. After a career of success- 
 ful study in this institution, he received 
 the commission of second lieutenant of 
 artillery. In 1836, he became first 
 lieutenant, and was appointed to the 
 lucrative position of assistant commis- 
 sary of subsistence. In 1838, such was 
 his high professional repute, he was 
 promoted to a first lieutenancy in that 
 corps d'elitethQ Topographical Engineers, 
 in which rank he served during the 
 Indian war in Florida, and was brevetted 
 captain in reward for his services. In 
 1846, he was promoted captain in full, 
 and during the Mexican war served 
 with distinction, first in the engineer 
 corps, and subsequently with the volti- 
 geurs. He was brevetted twice for good 
 service and gallant conduct. At the 
 end of the war he resumed his position 
 as an officer of engineers, and after a 
 long service in the bureau of that de- 
 partment, was appointed, by General 
 Scott, in June, 1860, quartermaster-gen- 
 eral. Notwithstanding this late ap- 
 pointment to so important a post, which 
 would seem to have been a proof of 
 great reliance placed in his fidelity by 
 the commander-in-chief of the United 
 States, Johnston was among the earliest 
 of the Federal officers of Southern 
 origin to abandon the Union and give 
 in his adherence to secession. He is, 
 though fifty-seven years of age, a man 
 of great energy, and is esteemed as one 
 of the ablest officers in the service of 
 the Southern Confederacy. With great 
 ability as a strategist and a man of in- 
 flexible spirit, he is believed to be as a 
 
 leader and conspirator a most persistent 
 and formidable antagonist. A square 
 and compact head, a firm compression 
 of the upper lip and a certain fulness 
 of animal development about the lower 
 lip, chin, and neck, are the external in- 
 dications of those qualities of calcula- 
 tion, firmness, and brute courage which 
 are known to characterize him. 
 
 Johnston seemed determined to hold 
 Harper's Ferry as a basis of operations. 
 Commanding the Ohio and Baltimore 
 Railroad, the great avenue of communi- 
 cation between the valley of the Ohio 
 and the sea, through Chesapeake Bay, 
 and being separated from Maryland only 
 by the river, and from Pennsylvania by 
 a narrow stretch of the former State, 
 Harper's Ferry was favorably placed 
 for operating in Western Virginia, Mary- 
 land, or even in Pennsylvania. The 
 enemy seemed determined to hold the 
 position, and raised works of defence 
 commanding the various approaches not 
 only on the Virginia but the Maryland 
 side of the river, where they occupied 
 the high banks in force. 
 
 The Federal forces now moved from 
 three different points with the view of 
 driving the secessionists from Harper's 
 Ferry. General McClellan was advanc- 
 ing from the Ohio through Western 
 Virginia ; General Stone, detached from 
 the army before Washington, was mov- 
 ing up the Potomac ; and General Pat- 
 terson marching with his column from 
 Pennsylvania in the north, with the 
 view of closing in upon the enemy's 
 position at Harper's Ferry. 
 
 General Johnston becoming alarmed, 
 
EVACUATION OF HARPER'S FERRY. 
 
 329 
 
 determined to evacuate the place. Be- 
 fore leaving, however, he strove to ren- 
 der it untenable by and useless to his 
 antagonists. All the machinery of the 
 public works left, after the incomplete de- 
 struction by Lieutenant Jones, had been 
 already removed to Richmond and there 
 utilized, greatly to the advantage of the 
 enemy. Johnston, however, destroyed 
 all the remnant of the arsenals and work- 
 shops, the great railway bridge over the 
 Potomac, and a portion of the railroad 
 itself. A secessionist officer has given a 
 lively description of the evacuation. 
 June " O 11 Thursday, just as the troops 
 13. were in a fair way for the enjoy- 
 ment of the holiday from military duty, 
 consequent upon the fast-day, an order 
 was circulated among the different regi- 
 ments for immediate preparations for 
 march. This was the first intimation 
 we had of General Johnston's purpose 
 to evacuate Harper's Ferry. Instantly 
 the whole place was in a stir. Hundreds 
 of baggage-wagons were laden, burly, 
 big-bellied broad treads, and stuffed with 
 provision stores, while ammunition was 
 carefully deposited in safe trains, and 
 from every side arose the swelling strains 
 of music as the troops took up the line 
 of march. 
 
 " The necessity of this step was ren- 
 dered the more apparent by the fact 
 that intelligence had been received of 
 the rapid approach of General McClel- 
 lan's division of the Federal army 
 toward Winchester. Thus we were to 
 be intercepted, and our small force com- 
 pletely hemmed in by the constantly 
 augmenting numbers of the Northerners, 
 
 42 
 
 and either cut to pieces or compelled to 
 surrender. Our commander very pru- 
 dently chose to take neither horn of the 
 dilemma, but resolved to desert Harper's 
 Ferry and boldly strike into the valley 
 of Virginia, where he could attack the 
 enemy. We are thus to be made the 
 offensive party, and shall certainly, in 
 good time, make a proper report of our 
 interview with the blustering Hoosiers 
 and Buckeyes. 
 
 "The companies of Captains Desha 
 and Pope were quickly under arms, and 
 moved to the armory yard, where, hav- 
 ing stacked their rifles, they awaited 
 orders. The Kentuckians, under Col- 
 onel Duncan, reported themselves at the 
 same place, and were subsequently re- 
 moved to Camp Hill, overlooking the 
 battery. A large number of men left 
 by railway for Winchester, and others, 
 for lack of transportation, marched afoot. 
 During the day there was an indescrib- 
 able scene of excitement. Broadway, in 
 its palmiest day, never witnessed such a 
 jam as this little town. The business 
 houses were closed, families were at- 
 tempting to move their effects, and 
 every street and avenue was crowded 
 with loaded wagons. Officers were 
 dashing hither and thither, and soldiers 
 were on the qui vive for movement. 
 Loads of provisions, that it was found 
 impossible to transport, were dumped in 
 the river. There was a general rush by 
 the boys for sugar and bread. It was, 
 indeed, in more senses than one, a fast 
 day. In the first place, we had no regu- 
 lar meal, and every movement was made 
 at the most accelerated rate of speed. 
 
330 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ''During the afternoon, the pickets 
 of the enemy were distinctly observable 
 on the Maryland Heights, and Captain 
 Desha and Lieutenant Rogers took 
 crack at them with their rifles, which 
 caused the tories to disappear rather 
 suddenly. 
 
 " Just after dark, Captain Desha's 
 company was ordered to accompany 
 Major Whiting, the chief engineer, across 
 the Potomac, and make preparations for 
 blowing up the bridge. This was an 
 undertaking of no inconsiderable hazard. 
 The enemy was known to be in the im- 
 mediate vicinity, and it was thought not 
 unlikely that they might attempt to 
 force a passage of the bridge. I have 
 slept in many places and under many 
 disadvantages, but never before above a 
 foaming, turbulent river, and just above 
 a terrible mine that in an instant could 
 flash the structure into a myriad of frag- 
 ments. The night, however, passed 
 quietly, and in the early grey of the 
 morning we were visited by Major 
 Whiting. The immense bridge, over 
 three quarters of a mile in length, was 
 thoroughly saturated, the torch lit, and 
 just as we reached the Virginia shore 
 the magnificent structure was hurried 
 into mid air, falling a shapeless mass of 
 ruins into the rapid stream. The burn- 
 ing debris, with the clouds of lurid flame, 
 presented a picture worthy an artist's 
 study. In an hour or two the massive 
 and extensive armory buildings were 
 ignited, arid the conflagration that en- 
 sued was of the most terrific and im- 
 pressive character. In order to prevent 
 the flames extending to private property, 
 
 the troops were detailed to act as fire- 
 men, under Captain Fauntleroy, of the 
 Confederate navy, and right manfully 
 did they discharge their arduous duty. 
 Not a penny's worth of that which did 
 not belong to the Government was de- 
 stroyed." 
 
 After evacuating Harper's Ferry, Gen- 
 eral Johnston retreated along the valley 
 of the Shenandoah to Winchester, in 
 order to secure his communications with 
 the main body of the secessionists at 
 Manassas Junction and the city of Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 It is here necessary to recur to the 
 progress of the Federal forces, which 
 had caused this sudden and important 
 movement of the enemy from Harper's 
 Ferry. 
 
 General Patterson left Chambersburg, 
 in Pennsylvania, on June 8th, with 
 nearly twenty thousand men, on his 
 march southward through Maryland. 
 From Cumberland and Hagerstown, in 
 the latter State, he marched to Williams- 
 port, on the Potomac, about twenty- j,, nc 
 five miles northwest of Harper's !$ 
 Ferry. Here he crossed the river into 
 Virginia, a movement effected with- jujy 
 out opposition or difficulty. The 2 
 enemy, however, although they made no 
 show of resistance to the passage of the 
 troops over the Potomac, were in consid- 
 erable force at a short distance from the 
 ford by which the Federal army was 
 passing. 
 
 This was the enemy's rear guard, con- 
 sisting of three or four thousand men, 
 with cavalry and artillery under the 
 command of General Jackson, encamped 
 
AFFAIR AT FALLING WATERS. 
 
 331 
 
 at a, place called Falling Waters, near 
 Hainesville. 
 
 The advance of the Federal army, 
 consisting of the Wisconsin First and 
 the Pennsylvania Eleventh and Twelfth 
 Regiments, with artillery and cavalry, 
 was immediately thrown forward by 
 Patterson, while his main body was still 
 crossing the river to attack the enemy. 
 at Falling Waters. The commencement 
 of the engagement is thus drolly de- 
 scribed by a participator : 
 
 "The battle commenced about nine 
 o'clock, as no other battle probably ever 
 commenced in the history of war. 
 Colonel Perkins' battery was in advance, 
 and the Colonel himself a quarter of a 
 mile in the lead of his men, when, upon 
 making a turn in the road, he came 
 suddenly upon two mounted officers. 
 Military salutes were passed, hands 
 were shaken all round, and the strangers 
 asked Colonel Perkins what company he 
 belonged to, and when he had got in. 
 The Colonel replied that he belonged to 
 Company C, and had just arrived. One 
 of the strangers observed, reflectively, 
 ' Company C ! Company C !' and just 
 then the first piece of the battery showed 
 itself around the turn, when he ex- 
 claimed, 'Artillery, by God!' and fled 
 for his life with his companion. Colonel 
 Perkins immediately shouted to his 
 men, ' Now, boys, come on, we've got 
 'em.' In less than a minute the battery 
 was in operation, and blazing away right 
 and left, while the rebels could be seen 
 in all directions, trying to form their 
 men." 
 
 The infantry in support of the battery 
 
 came promptly into line after the first 
 shot, and poured such rapid volleys of 
 musketry upon the enemy that they 
 did not find time to form. They ac- 
 cordingly retired in confusion, turning 
 and shooting irregularly as they went. 
 However, on reaching a farm belonging 
 to a person of the name of Porterfield, 
 they succeeded in forming, and made a 
 brief stand. Although covered by the 
 house and barn, behind and within which 
 they sought refuge, they were soon 
 again forced to fly, being shelled out by 
 the artillery. They were pursued be- 
 yond Hainesville, when our wearied 
 men awaited the coming up of their 
 comrades, and the secessionists continued 
 their retreat to Martinsburgh. Joined 
 by the secession troops in occupation of 
 that place, they again fell back until 
 they reached the main body under Gen- 
 eral Johnston, encamped at Bunker Hill. 
 
 General Patterson followed closely 
 with his whole force, and took possession 
 of Martinsburgh without resistance, on 
 the day after it had been abandoned by 
 the enemy. The loss of the Federal 
 troops engaged in the affair at Falling 
 Waters, was three killed and ten 
 wounded ; that of the enemy was esti- 
 mated to amount to nearly thirty killed 
 and fifty wounded. Their force in the 
 battle was said to have numbered five 
 thousand men, while the unionists were 
 less than three thousand. 
 
 Harper's Ferry, for some good strat- 
 egic reason, doubtless, was not occupied 
 by the Federal troops, and General 
 Johnston, emboldened by the fact, sent 
 back a detachment to the place, which 
 
332 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 destroyed the fine bridge over the Sheii- 
 andoah, the railroad bridge, and many 
 of the public buildings and private 
 dwellings. 
 
 Co-operating with the army under 
 General Johnston, whose retreat from 
 Harper's Ferry and subsequent ma- 
 noeuvres until he reached Winchester 
 have been already alluded to, were two 
 other columns of Confederate troops, 
 thrown into Western Virginia with the 
 object of subjecting that loyal district. 
 One of these columns/estimated to num- 
 ber about ten thousand men, under the 
 command of General R. S. Garnett, a 
 Virginian, and formerly an officer of 
 repute in the Federal service, had 
 marched into the valley of Cheat River, 
 the principal and eastern branch of the 
 fork of the Monongahela. Garnett had 
 his headquarters at Beverly, on the 
 eastern side of the ridge called Laurel 
 Hill, which lies parallel to the Alleghany 
 range of mountains. Detachments of 
 his command were distributed in various 
 parts of Western Virginia, at Bealington, 
 Buckhannon, Romney, and at points ap- 
 proaching Philippi and Grafton, which 
 had been seized by the unionists under 
 General Kelley. 
 
 The third column of secession troops, 
 under the command of Wise, the former 
 Governor of Virginia, had advanced 
 from the extreme southwest of the State 
 beyond the Greenbrier Mountains, into 
 the valley of the Kanawha. 
 
 Johnston was thus to the east of the 
 Alleghanies, between that range and the 
 Blue Ridge, and so placed that he might 
 co-operate either with the Confederate 
 
 line extending from Manassas to the 
 Potomac, or give aid to Garnett, who was 
 not far from him, though on the other 
 side of the mountains, while W T ise was 
 to act in co-operation with the whole to 
 the extreme west beyond the Allegha- 
 nies. 
 
 General McClellaii* having now, in 
 
 General McClellan, on entering Virginia, issued these 
 proclamations : 
 
 ' ' HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO, ) 
 GRAFTON (VA ), June 23, 1861. 
 
 "To THE INHABITANTS OF WESTERN VIRGINIA : The army 
 of this department, headed by Virginia troops r is rapidly 
 occupying all Western Virginia. This is done in co- 
 operation with and in support of such civil authorities of 
 the State as are faithful to the Constitution and laws of 
 the United States. The proclamation issued by me under 
 date of May 26, 1861, will be strictly maintained. Your 
 houses, families, property, and all your rights will be 
 religiously respected. ( We are enemies to none but armed 
 rebels, and those voluntarily giving them aid. All officers 
 of this army will be held responsible for the most prompt 
 and vigorous action in repressing disorder and punishing 
 aggression by those under their command. 
 
 " To my great regret I find that the enemies of the 
 United States continue to carry on a system of hostilities 
 prohibited by the laws of war among belligerent nations, 
 and of course far more wicked and intolerable when di- 
 rected against loyal citizens engaged in the defence of the 
 common Government of ail. Individuals and marauding 
 parties are pursuing a guerrilla warfare, firing upon sen- 
 tinels and pickets, burning bridges, insulting, and even 
 killing citizens because of their Union sentiments, and 
 committing many kindred acts. 
 
 " I do now, therefore, make proclamation and warn all 
 persons that individuals or parties engaged in this species 
 of warfare, irregular in every view which can be taken of 
 it, thus attacking sentries, pickets, or other soldiers, de- 
 stroying public or private property, or committing injuries 
 against any of the inhabitants because of Union senti- 
 ments or conduct, will be dealt with in their persons and 
 property according to the severest rules of military law. 
 
 ' ' All persons giving information or aid to the public 
 enemies will be arrested and kept in close custody ; and 
 all persons bearing arms, unless of known loyalty, will be 
 arrested and held for examination. 
 
 " GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, Major-General U. S. A., 
 " Commanding Department." 
 
 "To THE SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE WEST: You 
 are here to support the Government of your country, and 
 protect the lives and liberties of your brethren, threatened 
 
 
DISPOSITION OF McCLELLAN'S FORCES. 
 
 333 
 
 person, entered Western Virginia, from 
 Ohio, disposed his force so as to counter- 
 act this combination of the Confederates 
 for the subjection of the loyal valley of 
 the Kanawha. He first sent a detach- 
 ment, under the command of General 
 Cox, up the Kanawha River to meet 
 Wise advancing in that direction, and 
 keep him in check, while he himself, 
 with his main body, having reached 
 Clarksburgh, on the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Railroad, marched directly from that 
 place against the enemy under G-arnett, 
 encamped at Laurel Hill, near Beverly. 
 At the same time a detachment was sent 
 to Philippi to act with the Western Vir- 
 ginians there under Kelley, and move to 
 Bealington in order to prevent the re- 
 treat of the enemy by the Cheat valley ; 
 another body of troops was despatched 
 to West Union, in case they should strive 
 to escape by that way over the Alle- 
 ghanies and form a junction with John- 
 ston at Winchester. 
 
 The only other means of retreat was 
 
 by a rebellious and traitorous foe. No higher or nobler 
 duty could devolve on you, and I expect you to bring to 
 its performance the highest and noblest qualities of 
 soldiers discipline, courage, and mercy. 
 
 "I call upon the officers of every grade to enforce the 
 highest discipline, and I know thali those of all grades, 
 privates and officers, will display in battle cool, heroic 
 courage, and will know how to show mercy to a disarmed 
 enemy. Bear in mind that you are in the country of 
 friends, not of enemies that you are here to protect, not 
 to destroy. Take nothing, destroy nothing unless you are 
 ordered to do so by your general officers. Remember that 
 I have pledged my word to the people of Western Vir- 
 ginia, that their rights in person and property shall be re- 
 spected. I ask every one of you to make good this 
 promise in its broadest sense. 
 
 ' We have come here to save, not to upturn. I do not 
 appeal to the fear of punishment, but to your appreciation 
 of the sacredness of the cause in which we are engaged. 
 Carry into battle the conviction that you are right and 
 that God is on our side. Your enemies have violated every 
 
 through the Cheat Mountain Gap, above 
 Beverly, which the self-reliant McClellan 
 determined himself to close, by a victory 
 which he confidently calculated upon. 
 
 Having reached Buckhannon on his 
 march, and after some spirited j u jy 
 skirmishes with the enemy's ad- ? 
 vance in that neighborhood, McClellan's 
 scouts discovered a large body of the 
 enemy, under Colonel Pegram, in an en- 
 trenched camp in Rich Mountain Gap 
 of the Laurel Hill range. This position, 
 twenty-six miles east from Buckhannon 
 and four from Beverly, commanded the 
 road to Staunton, a town situated to the 
 west of the Alleghanies. 
 
 After a thorough reconnoissance, Mc- 
 Clellan sent a detachment under Colonel, 
 now General, Rosencranz, to make a 
 circuit through the woods and attack 
 the position at Rich Mountain, while he 
 himself led his main body against Gar- 
 nett's principal camp at Laurel Hill. 
 
 After a long and rapid march, eight 
 miles of which were through a dense 
 
 moral law ; neither God nor man can sustain them. They 
 have without cause rebelled against a mild and paternal 
 Government ; they have seized upon public and private 
 property ; they have outraged the persons of Northern 
 men merely because they came from the North, and of 
 Southern Union men merely because they loved the 
 Union ; they have placed themselves beneath contempt, 
 unless they can retrieve some honor on the field of 
 battle. 
 
 " You will pursue a different course ; you will be honest, 
 brave, and merciful ; you will respect the right of private 
 opinion ; you will punish no man for opinion's sake. 
 Show to the world that you differ from our enemies in 
 these points of honor, honesty, and respect for private 
 opinion, and that we inaugurate no reign of terror where- 
 ever we go. 
 
 " Soldiers, I have heard that there was danger here. I 
 have come to place myself at your head, and share it with 
 you. I fear now but one thing, that you will not find 
 foemen worthy of your steel. 1 know that I can rely upon 
 you. GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, Maj.-Gen. Com'g." 
 
334: 
 
 THE WAU WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 mountain forest and in a dark night 
 with a severe storm of rain, Rosen- 
 cranz halted his troops next morning in 
 j u jy view of the enemy's pickets. The 
 '* Federal force numbered sixteen 
 hundred men-; that of the secessionists, 
 estimated at two thousand, was strongly 
 entrenched on the west side of the mount- 
 ain, at its foot. They had felled and 
 " rolled whole trees from the mountain 
 side and lapped them together, filling in 
 with stones and earth from a trench 
 outside," testifies General Rosencranz's 
 guide, who thus gives an artless and 
 interesting account of his personal ex- 
 perience in the battle. 
 
 "We started," he says, "about day- 
 light, having first taken something to 
 eat (but got nothing more until six 
 o'clock next night, when some of them 
 got a little beef), and turned into the 
 woods on our right. I led, accompanied 
 by Colonel Landor, through a pathless 
 route in the woods, by which I had 
 made my escape about four weeks before. 
 We pushed along through the bushes, 
 laurels, and rocks, followed by the whole 
 division in perfect silence. The bushes 
 wetted us thoroughly, and it was very 
 cold. Our circuit was about five miles. 
 About noon we reached the top of the 
 mountain, near my father's farm. It 
 was not intended that the enemy should 
 know of our movements ; but a dragoon 
 with despatches from General McClellan, 
 who was sent after us. fell into the 
 hands of the enemy, and they thus 
 found out our movements. They im- 
 mediately despatched two thousand five 
 hundred men to the top of the mountain 
 
 with three cannon. They entrenched 
 themselves with earth-works on my 
 father's farm, just where we were to 
 come into the road. We did not know 
 they were there until we came on their 
 pickets, and their cannon opened fire 
 upon us. We were then about a quarter 
 of a mile from the house, and skirmish- 
 ing began. I left the advance and went 
 into the main body of the army. I had 
 no arms of any kind. The rain began 
 pouring down in torrents, while the 
 enemy fired his cannon, cutting off the 
 tree-tops over our heads quite lively. 
 They fired rapidly. I thought, from the 
 firing, they had twenty-five or thirty 
 pieces. We had no cannon with us. Our 
 boys stood still in the rain about half an 
 hour. The Eighth and Tenth then led 
 off, bearing to. the left of our position. 
 The bushes were so thick we could not 
 see out, nor could the enemy see us. 
 The enemy's musket balls could not 
 reach us. Our boys, keeping up a fire, 
 got down within sight and then pre- 
 tended to run, but they only fell down 
 in the bushes and behind rocks. This 
 drew the enemy from their entrench- 
 ments, when our boys let into them 
 with their Enfield and Minie rifles, and 
 I never heard such screaming in my 
 life. The Nineteenth, in the mean time, 
 advanced to a fence in a line with the 
 breastworks, and fired one round. The 
 whole earth seemed to shake. They 
 then gave the Indiana boys a tremen- 
 dous cheer, and the enemy broke from 
 their entrenchments in every way they 
 could. The Indiana boys had previously 
 been ordered to fix bayonets. We could 
 
BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN. 
 
 335 
 
 hear the rattle of the iron very plainly 
 as the order was obeyed. Charge 
 bayonets was then ordered, and away 
 went our boys after the enemy. One 
 man alone stood his ground, and fired a 
 cannon, until shot by a revolver. A 
 general race for about three hundred 
 yards followed through the bush, when 
 our men were recalled and reformed in 
 line of battle, to receive the enemy from 
 the entrenchments at the foot of the 
 mountains, as we supposed they would 
 certainly attack us from that point ; but 
 it seemed that as soon as they no longer 
 heard the firing of the cannon they gave 
 up all for lost. They then deserted their 
 works and took off whatever way they 
 could. A reinforcement, which was also 
 coming from Beverly to the aid of the 
 two thousand five hundred, retreated 
 for the same reason. We took all their 
 wagons, tents, provisions, stores, and 
 cannon, many guns which they left, 
 many horses, mules, etc. In short, we 
 got everything they had, as they took 
 nothing but such horses as they were on. 
 We found several of these in the woods. 
 One hundred and thirty-five of the 
 enemy were buried before I left. They 
 were for the most part shot in the head, 
 and hard to be recognized. Some six 
 hundred, who had managed to get down 
 to the river at Caplinger's, finding no 
 chance of escape, sent in a flag of truce, 
 and on Saturday morning they were 
 escorted into Beverly by the Chicago 
 cavalry, which had been sent after them, 
 Gen. McClellan having in the mean time 
 gone on there with his main column." 
 The enemy lost a hundred and fifty 
 
 killed and about three hundred wound- 
 ed and captured. The Federal loss was 
 reported to have been but eighteen 
 killed and some thirty-five wounded. 
 The struggle lasted only forty minutes, 
 when the enemy lied precipitately, aban- 
 doning everything, camp and camp equi- 
 page, provisions, artillery, and ammuni- 
 tion, to our victorious troops. 
 
 In the mean time, while Rosencranz 
 was routing the enemy at Rich Mountain, 
 General McClellan was advancing toward 
 Beverly. He arrived at night before 
 the enemy's fortified position at Laurel 
 Hill, and waited but for the break of 
 morning to plant his cannon on a com- 
 manding position and begin his attack. 
 The morning came, and it was dis- jj,jy 
 covered that the enemy had fled, 12, 
 abandoning their strong position, which 
 was occupied by a detachment of troops 
 under General Morris, while McClellan 
 himself delayed not a moment in push- 
 ing forward to Beverly to prevent their 
 retreat in that direction. 
 
 The enemy thus headed off by the 
 prompt movement of McClellan, were 
 forced to countermarch and seek another 
 outlet of escape. They now fled down 
 the valley toward St. George. McClellan 
 at once despatched Captain Benharn, 
 with a detachment from his own force, 
 to join General Morris and the troops 
 left in occupation of the enemy's aban- 
 doned camp, and followed the fugitives 
 in rapid pursuit. 
 
 General McClellan, in his report of the 
 action under Rosencranz, gave a j u |y 
 characteristically terse yet compre- 12. 
 hensive account of the victory : 
 
336 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DEFT. OF OHIO, ) 
 RICH MOUNTAIN, VA., July 12, 9 A. M. [ 
 
 " COLONEL E. D. TOWNSEND : 
 
 "We are in possession of all the 
 enemy's works up to a point in sight of 
 Beverly. We have taken all his guns, 
 a very large amount of wagons, tents, 
 etc. everything that he had. A large 
 number of prisoners were also taken, 
 many of whom are wounded, and sev- 
 eral of whom are officers. The enemy 
 lost many killed. We have lost, in all, 
 perhaps twenty killed and forty wounded, 
 of whom all but two or three belong to 
 the column under General Rosencranz, 
 which turned the position of the enemy. 
 The mass of the rebels escaped through 
 the woods, entirely disorganized. 
 
 " Among the prisoners is Dr. Taylor, 
 formerly of the army. Colonel Pegram 
 was in command of the enemy's forces. 
 
 " General Rosencranz's column left 
 camp yesterday morning, and marched 
 eight miles through the mountains, reach- 
 ing the turnpike two or three miles in the 
 rear of the enemy, and defeated an ad- 
 vance force and captured a couple of 
 guns. I had a position ready for twelve 
 guns near the main camp, and as the 
 guns were moving up, it was ascertained 
 that the enemy had retreated. 
 
 "I am now pushing on to Beverly. 
 A part of General Rosencranz's troops 
 are now within three miles of it. Our 
 success is complete, and almost blood- 
 less. The behavior of our troops in 
 action and toward the prisoners is ad- 
 mirable. 
 "G. B. McCLELLAN, Maj.-Gen. Com." 
 
 McClellan's own movement on Beverly, 
 
 though effected without a struggle with 
 the enemy, was still more important 
 than that of Rosencranz. The position 
 which they had abandoned at Beverly, 
 on the approach of the Federal troops, 
 was considered of great importance 
 naturally, arid had been strengthened by 
 elaborate works. These consisted of a 
 line of entrenchments nearly a mile in 
 extent, stretching on both sides of the 
 main road which runs from Philippi to 
 Beverly. Divided by this road they ex- 
 tended up the slopes of the hills on 
 either side, and commanded one of the 
 most important mountain passes. Rifle 
 pits were dug to the depth of three feet, 
 while the earth was thrown up so as to 
 form breastworks to each, which were 
 further protected by large bushes. Trees 
 had been cut down and their trunks and 
 branches so prepared and disposed as to 
 form an abattis, which extended for 
 several hundred yards in front of the 
 approaches. On the summits of two 
 commanding elevations of ground were 
 built redoubts of logs and earth, with 
 embrasures for six cannon and loop- 
 holes for musketry. Within the outer 
 works were others, consisting of en- 
 trenchments with two salients for cannon. 
 This was intended as a cover under 
 which the enemy, in case he had been 
 driven from his exterior fortifications, 
 might make a stand. The work seemed 
 so formidable, and the natural position 
 of Beverly so strong, that if the seces- 
 sionists had been disposed to hold their 
 ground, it would probably have cost a 
 severe struggle and great loss of life to 
 have driven them from it. 
 
SURRENDER OF PEGRAM. 
 
 33T 
 
 General McClellan summed up the 
 result with his usual conciseness : 
 
 " BEVERLY, July 13, 1861. 
 " COL. E. D. TOWXSEND, WASHINGTON, D. C. : 
 
 " The success of the day is all that I 
 could desire. We captured six brass 
 cannon, of which one is rifled, and all 
 the enemy's camp equipage and trans- 
 portation, even to his cups. The num- 
 ber of tents will probably reach two 
 hundred, and more than sixty wagons. 
 Their killed and wounded will amount 
 to fully one hundred and fifty, with at 
 least one hundred* prisoners, and more 
 coming in constantly. I know already 
 often officers killed and prisoners. Their 
 retreat was complete. I occupied Bev- 
 erly by a rapid march. Garnett aban- 
 doned his camp early this morning, 
 leaving much of his equipage. He came 
 within a few miles of Beverly, but our 
 rapid march turned him back in great 
 confusion, and he is now retreating on 
 the road to St. George. General Morris 
 is to follow him up closely. I have tel- 
 egraphed for the two Pennsylvania reg- 
 iments at Cumberland to join General 
 Hill at Rowlesburg. The General is 
 concentrating all his troops at Rowles- 
 burg, and will cut off Garnett's retreat 
 near West Union, or, if possible, at St. 
 George. I may say that we have driven 
 out some ten thousand troops, strongly 
 intrenched, with the loss of eleven killed 
 and thirty-five wounded. Provision re- 
 turns found here show Garnett's force 
 to have been ten thousand men. They 
 were Eastern Yirginians, Georgians, 
 Tennesseeans, and, I think, Carolinians. 
 1 trust that General Cox has by this 
 
 43 
 
 time driven Wise out of the Kanawha 
 Valley. In that case I shall have ac- 
 complished the object of liberating 
 Western Virginia. I hope the General- 
 in-Chief will approve of my operations. 
 
 " G. B. McCLELLAN, 
 
 " Major-General Department of Ohio." 
 The good result of McClellan's prompt 
 movement and possession of Beverly 
 following the success of Rosencranz was 
 soon manifest in the surrender of Gen. 
 Pegram, who had been routed at Rich 
 Mountain. This was thus announced 
 by McClellan in his despatch to W'ash- 
 ington : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, BEVERLY, VA., July 13, 1861. 
 " COL. E. D. TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON, D. C. : 
 
 " I have received from Colonel Pe- 
 gram propositions for the surrender, 
 with his officers and remnant of his 
 command say six hundred men. They 
 are said to be extremely penitent, and 
 determined never again to take up arms 
 against the General Government. I 
 shall have near nine hundred or one 
 thousand prisoners to take care of when 
 Colonel Pegram comes in. The latest 
 accounts make the loss of the rebels in 
 killed some one hundred and fifty. 
 
 "G. B. McCLELLAN, 
 
 " Major-General Department of Ohio." 
 
 The correspondence which passed be- 
 tween the Confederate general and 
 McClellan was as follows : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS AT MR. KETTLE'S HOUSE, 
 
 " Near Tygarfs Valley River, \ 
 Six miles from Beverly, July 12, 1861. j 
 " To ' COMMANDING OFFICER' OF NORTHERN 
 FORCES, BEVERLY, VIRGINIA : 
 
 11 SIR : I write to state to you that I 
 
338 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 have, in consequence of the retreat of 
 General Garnett, and the jaded and re- 
 duced condition of my command, most 
 of them having been without food for 
 two days, concluded, with the concur- 
 rence of a majority of my captains and 
 field-officers, to surrender my command 
 to you to-morrow as prisoners of war. 
 I ha,ve only to add, I trust they will re- 
 ceive at your hands such treatment as 
 has been invariably shown to the North- 
 ern prisoners by the South. 
 
 ' ' I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 "JOHN PEGRAM, 
 " Lieut.-Col. P. A. C. S. commanding." 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT or OHIO, ) 
 BEVERLY, VA., July 13, 1861. ) 
 
 " JOHX PEGRAM, ESQ., STYLING HIMSELF LIEU- 
 TENANT-COLONEL P. A. C. S. : 
 
 " SIR : Your communication, dated 
 yesterday, proposing to surrender as pris- 
 oners of war the force assembled un- 
 der your command, has been delivered 
 to me. As commander of this depart- 
 ment, I will receive you and them with 
 the kindness due to prisoners of war ; 
 but it is not in my power to relieve you 
 or them from any liabilities incurred by 
 taking arms against the United States. 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, 
 
 " Major-General U. S. A., Com. Dept." 
 General Garnett having fled from 
 Beverly, and been turned by McClellan 
 and Rosencranz, was forced to seek 
 safety in the direction of St. George. 
 General Morris, however, and Captain 
 Benham followed close after him, and 
 succeeding in coming up with him at 
 Carrack's Ford, forced him to a fight, 
 
 in which the Confederate commander 
 lost his life, and his troops were once 
 more dispersed. One who served under 
 General Morris has given this account of 
 the engagement : 
 
 11 We entered the camp at Laurel Hill 
 at ten A.M. on Friday, the 12th, and at 
 eleven o'clock the Fourteenth Ohio and 
 Seventh and Ninth Indiana regiments 
 started in pursuit. The command push- 
 ed on about two miles south of Leeds- 
 ville that night, and halted to rest from 
 eleven P.M. till two A.M. At that early 
 hour on Saturday morning, the force 
 pushed forward in a pitiless rain-storm, 
 guided by the baggage, tents, trunks, 
 blankets, haversacks, knapsacks, and 
 even clothing of the flying enemy. It 
 was found by our advanced guard that 
 the enemy, in striking off on the ' Lead- 
 ing Creek' road, had felled trees across 
 it as they fled, to retard the movement 
 of our artillery. Fortunately a guide 
 directed our men into a cross road, 
 which, though extremely rough, led 
 again into the route of the enemy at 
 some distance from the Beverly road, 
 and this road for that distance was un- 
 obstructed. Reaching the enemy's track 
 again, it was found necessary to keep 
 relays of axe-men at work in advance 
 to clear the road, and yet, in the face 
 of the terrible storm, our gallant men 
 literally cut their way through, handling 
 their axes like heroes, and gaining on 
 the enemy sensibly every hour. 
 
 " The road was a terribly rough one, 
 and was rendered extremely muddy by 
 the rain, and the passage of several 
 thousand troops in front had not im- 
 
BATTLE OF CARRACK'S FORD. 
 
 339 
 
 proved its condition ; but when it was 
 found that the enemy had left the turn- 
 pike and struck off to the right over 
 a lucre wood-path, up and down the 
 roughest hills, over rocks, and through 
 a dense forest, hoping to discourage 
 pursuit, there was still no flinching. 
 The boys had no time to eat or rest, 
 and thought nothing of such things 
 they were after the enemy, and with this 
 incentive, and the prospect of a fight 
 ahead, they performed one of the most 
 severe marches of the war with an eager 
 alacrity exhilarating to behold. This 
 route led across the branches of the 
 Cheat River several times, the men 
 plunging through the streams with a 
 dash, and hurrying forward with re- 
 newed zeal as the articles thrown away 
 along the road began to indicate that 
 the foe was so hard pushed that he must 
 soon endeavor to make a stand. 
 
 " At the fourth ford, known as Car- 
 rack's Ford, we caught sight of the en- 
 emy. Some thirty or forty wagons were 
 discovered in the river and at the banks 
 of the ford, apparently stuck fast. As 
 our column pushed rapidly forward 
 across a level space, the Fourteenth Reg- 
 iment, Colonel Stedman, in front, the 
 teamsters called out that they would sur- 
 render. The position, however, looked 
 so suspicious that the men were disposed 
 in proper order, and skirmishers were 
 thrown out toward the ford, the line 
 moving down in fine order. Just as our 
 advance was near the stream, and only 
 about two hundred yards from a steep 
 bluff rising on the other side, an officer 
 was seen to rise from the bushes and 
 
 give an order to fire, and immediately a 
 volley, coming from the brow of the 
 hill, followed by a very rapidly delivered 
 fire from their artillery, announced the 
 fact that the enemy had taken a stand 
 on his own ground. The Fourteenth 
 and Seventh Indiana formed under the 
 fire, and with the utmost rapidity began 
 to return it, our sharpshooters picking 
 off numbers of the enemy, whose fire 
 went almost entirely over the heads of 
 our men, the shot from three rifled guns 
 cutting off the trees from two to four 
 feet over the heads of the troops in 
 position. The Fourteenth Ohio, being 
 nearest the ford, were almost exclusively 
 aimed at, and for a while the iron hail 
 above them was terrible, the roar of the 
 guns across the river, the crashing of 
 trees, shells bursting, and volley upon 
 volley of musketry, making ' war's fell 
 music' for at least twenty minutes. Yet 
 the men stood like stones, and returned 
 the fire with the greatest rapidity and 
 the best of order. Not a man flinched. 
 Meantime, Burnett's artillery came up 
 and opened, and, under cover of their 
 well-directed fire, the Seventh Indiana 
 was directed to cross the river and climb 
 the steep, almost perpendicular, face of 
 the bluff, on the enemy's right. The 
 order was in process of execution, and 
 two companies had nearly scaled the 
 cliff, when they were ordered to return, 
 and Captain Benham directed them to 
 move down the bed of the stream, under 
 the bluff, and between, but below, the 
 fire of both armies, and turn the enemy's 
 right flank. No sooner said than it was 
 undertaken. Colonel Dumont led his 
 
340 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 men down the stream so rapidly, that 
 the enemy were unable to bring their 
 guns to bear upon them until they were 
 concealed by the smoke and out of 
 reach of the depression of the guns on 
 the bluff. Meantime, the Fourteenth 
 Ohio and the Ninth Indiana, with the 
 artillery, kept up a brisk fire in front, 
 until, with a cheer, Colonel Dumont's 
 men scaled the lower bank on the 
 enemy's right and poured in a volley. 
 No sooner were our boys seen coming 
 over the brink of the river bank, than 
 the entire force of the enemy, variously 
 estimated at from three thousand to 
 four thousand, fled in the wildest con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " On came the regiments and artillery 
 from beyond the river, and our whole 
 force joined in a hot pursuit. After 
 leading along about a quarter of a mile, 
 the road again crosses the stream, and 
 at this point General Garnett endeavored 
 vainly to stop his routed troops and 
 rally them around him. Major Gordon, 
 of the Seventh Indiana, leading the ad- 
 vance, reached the bank in pursuit 
 among the first, and discovering a point 
 from which fire could be effectively de- 
 livered, called up Captain Ferry's com- 
 pany of his regiment, and ordered them 
 to fire. Garnett stood near the river 
 bank, and fell, shot through the heart. 
 A Georgia boy was the only one who 
 fell near him. The panic-stricken forces 
 of the enemy abandoned the dead body 
 of the General, and fled up the hill in 
 utter rout. They were pursued about 
 two miles, when our exhausted men 
 were recalled. 
 
 " General Garnett's body was brought 
 to this place to-day, and properly cared 
 for, and word has been sent to his friends 
 that it is at their disposal." 
 
 McClellan, who is always reticent of 
 speech, again pithily summed up the 
 results of his campaign in these few 
 words : 
 
 " HUTTONSVILLE VA., July 14, 1861. 
 
 " COLONEL E. D. TOWNSEND, ASSISTANT- ADJU- 
 TANT-GENERAL : 
 
 ' ' General Garnett and his forces have 
 been routed and his baggage and one 
 gun taken. His army is completely de- 
 moralized. General Garnet was killed 
 while attempting to rally his forces at 
 Carrack's Ford, near St. George. We 
 have completely annihilated the enemy 
 in Western Virginia. Our loss is but 
 thirteen killed and not more than forty 
 wounded, while the enemy's loss is not 
 far from two hundred killed, and the 
 number of prisoners we have taken will 
 amount to at least one thousand. We 
 have captured seven of the enemy's 
 guns in all. A portion of Garnett's 
 forces retreated, but I look for their 
 capture by General Hill, who is in hot 
 pursuit. The troops that Garnett had 
 under his command are said to be the 
 crack regiments of Eastern Virginia, 
 aided by Georgians, Tennesseeans, and 
 Carolinians. Our success is complete, 
 and I firmly believe that secession is 
 killed in this section of the country. 
 " G. B. MCCLELLAN, Maj.-Gen. U. S. A." 
 
 McClellan at the same time proved 
 himself not incapable of a warm sym- 
 pathy with the soldier, and of a fervid 
 expression of it, by this glowing tribute 
 
RESULT IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. 
 
 341 
 
 to the courage and good conduct of his 
 troops : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF OCCUPATION, j 
 WESTERX YIRGIXIA, BEVERLY, VA., July 19. ) 
 " SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE WEST : 
 
 " I am more than satisfied with you. 
 You have annihilated two armies, com- 
 manded by educated and experienced 
 soldiers, intrenched in mountain fast- 
 nesses, and fortified at their leisure. 
 You have taken five guns, twelve colors, 
 fifteen hundred stand of arms, one 
 thousand prisoners, including more than 
 forty officers. One of the two com- 
 manders of the rebels is a prisoner, the 
 oilier lost his life on the field of battle. 
 You have killed more than two hundred 
 and fifty of the enemy, who has lost all 
 his baggage and camp equipage. All 
 this has been accomplished with the loss 
 of twenty brave men killed and sixty 
 wounded on your part. You have 
 proved that Union men, fighting for the 
 preservation of our Government, are 
 more than a match for our misguided 
 and erring brothers. More than this, 
 you have shown mercy to the vanquished. 
 You have made long and arduous march- 
 es, with insufficient food, frequently ex- 
 posed to the inclemency of the weather. 
 I have not hesitated to demand this of 
 you, feeling that I could rely on your 
 endurance, patriotism, and courage. In 
 the future I may have still greater de- 
 mands to make upon you still greater 
 sacrifices for you to offer. It shall be 
 my care to provide for you to the ex- 
 tent of my ability ; but I know now 
 that by your valor and endurance you 
 will accomplish all that is asked. 
 
 Soldiers, I have confidence in you, and 
 I trust you have learned to confide in 
 me. Remember that discipline and 
 subordination are qualities of equal 
 value with courage. I am proud to say 
 that you have gained the highest reward 
 that American troops can receive the 
 thanks of Congress and the applause of 
 your fellow-citizens. 
 "GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Maj.-Gen." 
 
 McClellan was, however, disappointed, 
 notwithstanding his well-laid plan, in 
 his expectation of cutting off completely 
 the escape of the Confederate forces. 
 General Hill had failed to intercept the 
 fugitives at West Union and thus pre- 
 vent their crossing the mountains. If 
 McClellan's skilful strategy had not 
 thus been thwarted by the incompetency 
 or indifference of his subordinate, the 
 result in Western Virginia might have 
 justified his boast, that " secession was 
 killed in that section of the country." 
 This campaign, however, had been more 
 brilliant and successful than that of 
 any Federal general since the beginning 
 of the war. He was soon called to a 
 wider field, destined to be the scene of 
 still greater deeds, it was hoped, as it 
 was of graver duties and weightier re- 
 sponsibilities. 
 
 The enemy strove to console them- 
 selves for their defeat in Western Vir- 
 ginia by an attempt to diminish its 
 gravity, and to exaggerate the strength 
 of the Federal forces. A writer in one 
 of their journals* gave this account of 
 the battle of Rich Mountain : 
 
 " It is a sad pleasure to communicate 
 
 * The Richmond Whig. 
 
34:2 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 to you a state of affairs in Northwestern 
 Virginia that at first sight may appear 
 disastrous, but which, upon closer ex- 
 amination, sheds many a ray of satisfac- 
 tion and encouragement to our future 
 career satisfaction that our late ill suc- 
 cess has lost to our State that portion 
 which should never have been defended, 
 and encouragement from the fact that 
 our gallant boys fight with so much suc- 
 cess against a thousand odds. 
 
 " Camp Garnett is situated in a gorge 
 just beyond the pass that runs between 
 Rich and another mountain. The low 
 slope of this latter mountain retreats 
 from the camp, and consequently does 
 not command it ; but the more perpen- 
 dicular slope of Rich Mountain is adja- 
 cent to the position, and upon it there 
 is an eminence that is considered the 
 very key to Camp Garnett. On Tuesday 
 last, Colonel Pegram, knowing the im- 
 portance of this point, detached three 
 companies (Buckingham Lee Guard, 
 Rockbridge Guard, and Pryor Rifles) 
 and one gun from the Lynchburgh 
 Artillery, to secure the position at all 
 hazards. They gained the height, and 
 about ten o'clock had built a breastwork 
 to the height of two logs ; meanwhile the 
 enemy, headed by the Union Mountain- 
 eers, had, by squads and companies, 
 reached a point beyond the breastworks 
 and a little more elevated. Immediately 
 they commenced an attack upon our 
 unfinished breastwork from the distance 
 of fifteen hundred yards. They ad- 
 vanced, and fired with Minie rifles in- 
 cessantly. No execution, however, was 
 done with these arms. Our loss was at 
 
 shorter distances from the deadly fire of 
 our brother Virginians. Approaching 
 within five hundred yards, they began 
 to feel the fatal shots from our boys. 
 At this and shorter distances they were 
 mowed down like wheat before the blade. 
 At every volley from us they fell back 
 in confusion, but their overwhelming 
 numbers pressed forward until they dis- 
 charged their pieces in our very faces ; 
 then we thought retreat better than a 
 foolhardy death, and each one sought 
 safety in flight down the other side of 
 the mountain. 
 
 " The whole force of the enemy was 
 said to have been eight thousand. Three 
 thousand advanced to the attack, while 
 the rest were held in reserve. Part of 
 the reserve occupied Rich Mountain, 
 while part descended that mountain, 
 crossed the pass, and occupied the side 
 of the other mountain, not far from the 
 road thus being on both sides of the 
 road, in order, I suppose, to cut off 
 Colonel Pegram, if he should attempt 
 to retreat to Beverly. Our whole force 
 in the engagement was two hundred and 
 fifty. We held the enemy in check with 
 this little handful for an hour and a 
 half. Leonidas, with his three hundred 
 Spartans, could have done no more. 
 Our loss was, considering all the circum- 
 stances, comparatively small sixty will 
 cover the whole. The Buckingham Lee 
 Guard suffered most severely, having 
 thirty men, together with Captain Irving 
 and Lieutenant Boyd, killed. Captain 
 Curry, of the Rockbridge Guard, and 
 Captain Anderson, of the Lynchburgh 
 Artillery, were also among the killed. 
 
THE ENEMY'S ACCOUNT. 
 
 343 
 
 Four hundred of the enemy found a 
 merited doom in death. 
 
 " The battle began at half-past one, 
 and ended at three. At sunset, report 
 says that Colonel Pegram led six com- 
 panies out from his camp up Rich 
 Mountain to retake his position, but 
 mistaking his way he missed his mark, 
 and told his men to save themselves as 
 best they could he would return and 
 bring out the regiment. In this latter 
 attempt he was taken prisoner. Many 
 of his men cut through the enemy, and 
 came up with our regiment on its re- 
 treat. This is the last we know of the 
 affair. 
 
 "Now for the movements of our (the 
 Forty- fourth) regiment. That morning 
 (the llth) we resumed our march at 
 Beverly from Staunton to Laurel Hill, 
 and had advanced five miles, when 
 Colonel Scott received a despatch from 
 Colonel Pegram, urgently begging for 
 assistance. Colonel Scott faced about, 
 marched back to Beverly, and took a 
 
 road almost at right angles for Rich 
 Mountain. Within three miles of Rich 
 Mountain he heard the firing, and ad- 
 vanced at quick time to the scene of 
 action. Arriving there at three o'clock, 
 when the firing had almost ceased, he 
 halted in the mountain path. And upon 
 his six hundred unconscious men the 
 reserve of the enemy were looking down 
 from each mountain. They must have 
 mistaken us for friends, or our destruc- 
 tion would have been certain. Colonel 
 Scott was not aware of the proximity 
 of the enemy until he sent forward a 
 scout (Lipford, of Fluvanna) to recon- 
 noitre. This scout being shot, he im- 
 mediately ordered a retreat. Sending 
 on the baggage train, he returned to 
 Beverly. Here he halted an hour, and 
 resumed his march toward the Cheat 
 Mountains. After two nights' and a day's 
 march we reached Greenbrier River, at 
 which place (Saturday morning) I left 
 the camp, on special detail, for Rich- 
 mond." 
 
344 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Maryland still a source of inquietude. Successor to General Butler. Failure of Cadwalader. Major-General Banks. 
 Birth. Early Education. At work in a Factory. Ambitious Youth. Apprentice to a Machinist. Dramatic 
 Tastes. Amateur Theatricals A public Lecturer. Editor of a Paper. Politician. Member of the Legislature. 
 Shifting of his Profession. A Machinist turned Lawyer. Speaker of Massachusetts House of Eepresentatives. 
 A Democrat. Member of Congress Abandonment of Party. A Reviser of the Constitution. A Republican. 
 Speaker of Congress. Governor of Massachusetts. Retirement from Public Life. Manager. Director of Illi- 
 nois Central Railroad. Removal to Chicago. Martial qualities. Appointed Major-General. In command of the 
 Department of Annapolis. Personal Appearance and Character. Energy in Maryland. Arrest of Kane Kane's 
 Conduct. Action of Police. Justification of the Arrest of Kane. Protest of Police Commissioners. Rejoinder 
 of Banks. Suspicion of the Loyalty of Police Commissioners. Discovery of Concealed Arms. Arrest of Police 
 Commissioners Good effect upon the Unionists. Pro vest -Marshal. Martial Law. Relief of Baltimore. A new 
 Police Marshal. The Federal Troops withdrawn from the City. Stringent orders. Maryland and Baltimore 
 secured to Federal Authority. 
 
 1861. 
 
 MARYLAND continued to be a source 
 of great inquietude to the Federal 
 Government. General Butler had 
 apparently succeeded, when in command 
 of that department, by his prompt 
 energy, in keeping the restless seces- 
 sionists in awe, and the less active 
 unionists in courage. On his removal, 
 however, to Fortress Monroe, his suc- 
 cessor, Cadwalader, either by a too great 
 disposition to conciliate, or with too 
 little force to subject, allowed a freer 
 scope to the seditious, and gave a pro- 
 portionate check to the loyal. 
 
 The Federal authority, however, was 
 June now represented by a man who had 
 W the capacity as well as the resolu- 
 tion to make it respected. This was 
 Major-General Banks, who had been ap- 
 pointed to the command of the depart- 
 ment of Annapolis, with his headquarters 
 in Fort McHenry, at Baltimore. 
 
 Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was bom in 
 Waltham, Massachusetts, on the 30th 
 
 of January, 1816. In common with 
 most New England youths of whatever 
 origin, he was sent to the public school 
 of the State, where he made fair pro- 
 gress in the elements of a good English 
 education. As his father, however, who 
 was the overseer of a cotton factory, was 
 forced to be frugal, and to economize 
 both time and money, he withdrew his 
 son at an early period from school and 
 set him to work under his own eye. 
 Anxious to be something more than a 
 mere operative, tied down to the un- 
 varying routine of the day's labor, the 
 lad sought, by apprenticing himself to a 
 machinist, a wider scope for the exercise 
 of his faculties. 
 
 Having a taste for dramatic entertain- 
 ments, he got up, by the aid of his com- 
 rades, for the amusement of his leisure 
 hours, theatrical representations, in which 
 he assumed the leading parts, and with 
 such success, that some of his friends 
 would have persuaded him to become 
 
v J Rogers 
 
 art of ' ' 
 
LIFE OF BANKS. 
 
 345 
 
 an actor by profession. He, however, 
 resisted their inducements and his own 
 natural inclinations, and confined his 
 public performances to the stage of the 
 lecture-room. He became quite noted 
 in the neighborhood as a holder forth 
 at lyceums, temperance societies, and 
 political meetings. With the literary 
 culture thus acquired in the course of 
 his career as a lecturer, he was embold- 
 ened to assume the editorship of the 
 newspaper of his native village. His 
 new functions necessarily involved an 
 interest in politics, and becoming a po- 
 litical advocate he was rewarded by his 
 Democratic allies with an appointment 
 in the custom-house at Boston, under 
 the administration of President Polk. 
 He, at the same time, continued his ad- 
 vocacy of the Democratic cause by 
 occasional speeches at political meetings, 
 where he was always a prominent and 
 favorite speaker. 
 
 In 1849, Banks was elected a repre- 
 sentative of his native district to the 
 Legislature of Massachusetts, and was 
 entered on the roll of members as a 
 " machinist." He, however, soon, with 
 characteristic American versatility, shift- 
 ed from trade to a profession, for in the 
 very next year he was recorded as a 
 "lawyer." 
 
 In 1851, he was elected speaker of the 
 House of Representatives of Massachu- 
 setts, by the coalition, of Democrats and 
 Free-soilers, of which he had become 
 one of the ablest and most prominent 
 advocates. In the succeeding year he 
 was again chosen speaker by the same 
 combination, and afterward elected a 
 
 44 
 
 member of the United States Congress. 
 During the very first session of congres- 
 sional service, Banks abandoned his 
 Democratic allies, by voting against the 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill, and thus became 
 more exclusively a free-soiler. 
 
 During the summer of 1853 he pre- 
 sided over the convention summoned to 
 revise the constitution of the State of 
 Massachusetts ; in the next year he was 
 again elected to Congress, though at this 
 time by a coalition between the American 
 (Know Nothing) and Republican parties, 
 his old allies the Democrats having for- 
 saken him as he had them. He was 
 now adopted by the Republicans as their 
 candidate for speaker of the House of 
 Representatives of the United States 
 Congress. A contest ensued, which 
 lasted for two months, at the close of 
 which Banks was finally chosen by a 
 plurality of votes. Notwithstanding the 
 vigorous opposition to his election, his 
 conduct in this trying position was such 
 as to secure, at the close of the session, 
 an emphatic vote of thanks for the ac- 
 ceptable manner with which he had per- 
 formed his duties. 
 
 He was again elected a member of the 
 succeeding Congress, and in 1857, having 
 been nominated both by the " Ameri- 
 cans" and ' ' Republicans, " was chosen Go- 
 vernor of Massachusetts. So thoroughly 
 had he won the good opinion of his 
 fellow-citizens, that he was elected to the 
 same high office for three successive 
 years. His political friends were again 
 preparing to secure for him the govern- 
 orship, when they were surprised and 
 disappointed by the announcement of 
 
34:6 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 his intention to retire forever from po- 
 litical life. 
 
 His abilities as an administrative 
 officer were so remarkable, that the 
 Illinois Central Railroad Company de- 
 termined to secure them, and appointed 
 him their manager-director. On receiv- 
 ing this lucrative appointment he re- 
 moved to Chicago, and had entered upon 
 the performance of his new duties when 
 the present civil war broke out. 
 
 While the chief executive officer of 
 Massachusetts, and ex qfficio commander 
 of the State forces, he had exhibited 
 great interest in military matters, and 
 much aptitude in their conduct. Com- 
 mended thus by his martial tastes 
 and reputed military acquirements, and 
 favored by the party in power, of which 
 May he was a resolute ally, he was ap- 
 30. pointed major-general, and received 
 the command of the department of An- 
 June napolis, where his energetic pro- 
 10* ceedings, in checking secession in 
 Maryland, will now be related. 
 
 General Banks, though possessed of 
 little military experience, has qualities 
 which naturally fit him to command 
 an army of volunteers. He has a happy 
 faculty of organization and remarkable 
 administrative skill. He can readily 
 shift from one sphere of duty to another, 
 however diverse, while with great power 
 of concentration he seems so to devote 
 himself to each fresh vocation as thor- 
 oughly to master it. In the full vigor 
 of a manly prime, with a physical struc- 
 ture capable of much endurance, great 
 activity of body and mind, a quick per- 
 ception and tenacious industry, much 
 
 knowledge of men and experience as a 
 political leader, General Banks seemed 
 likely to become a hardy campaigner, a 
 prompt tactician, a persistent antagonist, 
 and a commander who, honored and 
 obeyed by his soldiers, would lead them 
 to victory. 
 
 General Banks, on assuming command 
 in Maryland, at once proceeded to take 
 measures for the effectual suppression 
 of the secession movement, which, dur- 
 ing the mild administration of General 
 Cadwalader, had again made much pro- 
 gress in the State, and especially in the 
 city of Baltimore. 
 
 His first step was to arrest* George 
 P. Kane, marshal of the police of Balti- 
 more. It seems strange that this official, 
 whose complicity with the secessionists 
 could not be doubted, should have been 
 so long allowed to exercise his functions, 
 which he was evidently directing to the 
 advantage of the enemies of the Federal 
 
 In this and other cases of arrest, now become frequent, 
 of treasonable and suspected persons, the privilege of the 
 habeas corpus was denied, the writ having been suspended 
 by President Lincoln. This unusual exercise of authority 
 gave rise to much discussion. Some contended that the 
 President had exceeded his constitutional powers, while 
 others claimed that he had kept within the limits of his 
 legal prerogative. Among the former was the chief- 
 justice of the United States, Taney, who had granted a 
 writ of habeas carpus to John Merryman. a notable citizen 
 of Baltimore, who had been arrested on suspicion of polit- 
 ical offence. General Cadwalader, however, had refused 
 obedience on the ground that he had been authorized by 
 President Lincoln to suspend the writ of habeas carpus. 
 Chief-Justice Taney rejoined with an order of attachment 
 for contempt of court against the General, who, however, 
 refused admittance to the marshal attempting to serve it. 
 Thereupon Jxidge Taney made an elaborate and learned 
 statement to the court, in which he argued that the Presi- 
 dent had transcended his authority in suspending the writ 
 of habeas corpus, and that Congress alone possessed that 
 power. There were, however, other able jurists who fully 
 justified the President's action. 
 
ARREST OF KANE. 
 
 347 
 
 Government. As early as the attack by 
 the Baltimore mob on the Massachusetts 
 April soldiers, he had telegraphed to 
 
 19* Bradley T. Johnson, holding a com- 
 mand in the Confederate army, declar- 
 ing that the streets of the city were 
 "red with blood," and emphatically 
 urging him to come with his men to 
 meet the Northern troops who were 
 expected, while he boastingly said, " We 
 will fight them, and whip them, or die." 
 Kane, it could not be questioned, was 
 keeping up a constant correspondence 
 with the secession leaders, and was pre- 
 paring to organize in Baltimore a move- 
 ment to oppose the Federal authorities 
 and co-operate with the enemy. The 
 police force under his control was so 
 modified by changes among the men, or 
 by influences brought to bear upon them, 
 that they were ready to do the bidding 
 of the marshal and carry out his insur- 
 rectionary plans. Arms had been ob- 
 tained by Kane and secreted at the head- 
 quarters and the stations of the police, 
 and it seemed that he was only awaiting 
 a favorable opportunity to rise with his 
 whole force and begin an insurrection, 
 which it was hoped might wrest Balti- 
 more from the Federal authority. 
 
 Banks accordingly determined to ar- 
 j llue rest the marshal. Eighteen hun- 
 
 27. dred men marched from Fort Mc- 
 Henry into Baltimore with loaded mus- 
 kets and fixed bayonets, just before 
 daybreak. " The men," wrote a lively 
 correspondent,* "wore their cartridge 
 boxes, in which were a few rounds, 
 but no knapsacks. They knew, there- 
 
 New York Herald. 
 
 fore, that serious work was expected, and 
 that they had not far to go to find it. 
 They had marched a square, when a 
 policeman, in his cool summer uniform, 
 and swinging his long baton, was ob- 
 served crossing the street ahead. In- 
 stantly the head of the column opened, 
 the body swept on, and the policeman, 
 riveted to the ground in astonishment at 
 this manoeuvre, unknown to the tactics 
 of either Matsell or Vidocq, found him- 
 self swallowed up and borne along in 
 the resistless advance. Two squares 
 ahead another policeman was discovered. 
 Again the column opened and another 
 was engulfed. By the time the column 
 reached the residence of the marshal, 
 not less than fifty seven of the vigilant 
 guardians of the night had been thus 
 swallowed up ; but when they found 
 that their captors had halted at the door 
 of the marshal's house, they began to 
 smell a rat of the largest possible dimen- 
 sions. An officer now rang the bell. 
 After some delay a night-capped head 
 popped out of the window, and the 
 well-known voice of Marshal Kane in- 
 quired, in a rather gruff tone, what was 
 wanted. The officer blandly replied 
 that he himself was the article just then 
 in demand. ' Hum, hum,' said the mar- 
 shal, never at a loss for a joke, ' I'll 
 supply that demand.' 
 
 "Did the vision of escape cross the 
 marshal's mind ? Possibly. It is certain 
 that he skipped with agility to a back 
 window, raised the curtain and looked 
 out. Alas ! the moonbeams played upon 
 five hundred glittering bayonets in the 
 yard below. The game was up, and the 
 
348 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 marshal knew he must submit to his in- 
 evitable fate. He descended the stairs 
 and opened the front door. ' Good 
 God !' he exclaimed to the officer in 
 command, ' why did you not bring five 
 or six more regiments and some artil- 
 lery ? If you had sent me a note and a 
 carriage, I would have come without all 
 this fuss.' 
 
 "It was daybreak then, and the 
 column moved briskly forward, and the 
 marshal enjoyed the rare sight of sunrise 
 from the ramparts of Fort McHenry. 
 The policemen were released as soon as 
 the gate of the fortress was closed upon 
 the marshal, and, returning to the city, 
 soon spread the tidings like wildfire 
 throughout the town. It is said that 
 General Banks was convinced that the 
 rebels in the city would rise in a few 
 days unless this step was taken." 
 
 General Banks justified this arrest in 
 a proclamation.* 
 
 " HEADQUARTEBS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANNAPOLIS, 
 June 27, 1861. 
 
 ' ' By virtue of the authority vested in me, and in obedience 
 of orders as Commanding General of the Military Depart- 
 ment at Annapolis, I have arrested, and do now detain in 
 custody, Mr. George P. Kane, chief of police of the city 
 of Baltimore. I deem it proper, at this the moment of ar- 
 rest, to make a formal and public declaration of the motive 
 by which I have been governed in this proceeding. It is 
 not my purpose, neither is it in consonance with my in- 
 structions, to interfere in any manner whatever with the 
 legitimate government of the people of Baltimore or 
 Maryland. I desire to support the public authorities in all 
 appropriate duties in preserving the peace, protecting the 
 property, in obeying and enforcing every municipal regu- 
 lation and public statute consistent with the Constitution 
 and laws of the United States and Maryland. But unlaw- 
 ful combinations of men organized for resistance to such 
 laws, to provide hidden deposits of arms and ammunition, 
 to encourage contraband traffic with men at war with the 
 Government, and who, while enjoying its protection and 
 privileges, stealthily wait an opportunity to combine their 
 means and forces with those in rebellion against its author- 
 ity, are not among the recognized or legal rights of any 
 
 The commissioners, forming a board 
 of reputable citizens of Baltimore, upon 
 whom the control of the police devolved 
 by law, protested emphatically against 
 this action of General Banks as illegal.* 
 
 class of men, arid cannot be permitted under any form of 
 government. Such combinations are well known to exist 
 in this Department, and the mass of the citizens of Balti- 
 more and of Maryland loyal to the Constitution and the 
 Union are neither parties to nor responsible for them. 
 But the chief of police is not only cognizant of these facts, 
 but in contravention of his duty and in violation of law, 
 he is, by direction or indirection, both witness and pro- 
 tector to the transactions and parties engaged therein. 
 Under such circumstances the Government cannot regard 
 him otherwise than as the head of an armed force hostile 
 to its authority, and acting in concert with its avowed 
 enemies ; for this reason, superseding his official authority, 
 as well as of the commissioners of police, I have arrested, 
 and do now detain him in custody of the United States ; 
 and, in further pursuance of my instructions, I have ap- 
 pointed for the time being, Colonel Kenly, of the First 
 Maryland Regiment of Volunteers, provost marshal in and 
 for the city of Baltimore, to superintend and cause to be 
 executed the police laws provided by the Legislature of 
 Maryland, with the aid and assistance of the subordinate 
 officers of the police department, and he will be respected 
 accordingly. 
 
 ' ' Whenever a loyal citizen shall be otherwise named 
 for the performance of his duty, who will execute the laws 
 impartially and in good faith to the Government of the 
 United States, the military of this Department will render 
 to him that instant and willing obedience which is due 
 from every good citizen to the Government. 
 " NATH. P. BANKS, Major-General Commanding Dept." 
 The following was the protest of the commissioners : 
 " Whereas, The laws of the State of Maryland give the 
 whole and exclusive control of the police force of the city 
 to the Board of Police organized and appointed by the 
 General Assembly ; and not only are the said Board June 
 bound to exercise the powers vested in and discharge 27. 
 the duties imposed upon them, but all other persons are 
 positively prohibited, under heavy penalties, from inter- 
 fering with them in so doing ; and whereas, there is no 
 power given to the Board to transfer the control over any 
 portion of the public force to any person or persons 
 whomsoever, other than the officers of police appointed 
 by them, in pursuance of the express provisions of the 
 law, and acting under their orders ; and whereas, by the 
 orders of Major-General Banks, an officer of the United 
 States Army commanding in this city, the marshal of 
 police has been arrested, the Board of Police superseded, 
 and an officer of the army has been appointed provost 
 marshal, and directed to assume the command and control 
 of the police force of the city ; therefore be it 
 
ARREST OF COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 349 
 
 The assertion in their protest, that the 
 active operation of the police law was 
 suspended by the arrest of its chief 
 executive officer and his acolytes, was 
 met by a counter-declaration* of G-en- 
 
 " Resolved, That this Board do solemnly protest against 
 the order and proceedings above referred to, of Major- 
 General Banks, as an arbitrary exercise of military power, 
 not warranted by any provision of the Constitution or Laws 
 of the United States, or of the State of Maryland, but in 
 derogation of all of them. 
 
 " Resolved, That while the Board, yielding to the force 
 of circumstances, will do nothing to increase the present 
 excitement, or obstruct the execution of such measures as 
 Major-General Banks may deem proper to take on his own 
 responsibility for the preservation of the peace of the city 
 and of public order, they cannot, consistently with their 
 views of official duty, and of the obligations of their oaths 
 of office, recognize the right of any of the officers or men 
 of the police force, as such, to receive orders or directions 
 from any other authority than from this Board. 
 
 " Resolved, That in the opinion of the Board, the forcible 
 suspension of their functions suspends at the same time 
 the active operation of the police law, and puts the officers 
 and men oif duty for the present, leaving them subject, 
 however, to the rules and regulations of the service as to 
 their personal conduct and deportment, and to the orders 
 which this Board may see fit hereafter to issue, when the 
 present illegal suspension of their functions shall be re- 
 moved. 
 
 "CHARLES HOWARD, President, WILLIAM H. GATCHELL, 
 
 CHARLES D. HINKS, JOHN W. DAVIS, GEORGE W. BROWN, 
 
 Mayor, and ex offitio member of the Board. ' ' 
 
 "My attention," wrote the General to his provost 
 
 marshal, "has been called to a resolution purporting to 
 
 have been this day (June 27 ) passed by the late board of 
 
 police commissioners, expressing the opinion that ' the 
 
 suspension of their functions suspended at the same time 
 
 the operations of the police law, and puts the officers and 
 
 men oif duty for the present.' 
 
 ' ' You will take special notice, sir, that by my procla- 
 mation of this day neither the law nor the officers ap- 
 pointed to execute the laws are affected in any manner 
 whatever, except as it operates upon the members of the 
 board of commissioners and the chief of police, whose 
 functions were and are suspended. Every part of the 
 police law is to be enforced by you, except that which re- 
 fers to the authority of the commissioners and chief of 
 police ; and every officer aud man, with the exception of 
 those persons above named, will be continued in service 
 by you, in the positions they now occupy, and with the 
 advantages they now receive, unless one or more shall re- 
 fuse to discharge their duties. 
 
 ' ' If any police officer declines to perform his duty, in 
 
 eral Banks in his instructions to the pro- 
 vost marshal, Kenly, whom he had ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 It now was suspected that the board 
 of commissioners of police, who had 
 protested so earnestly against the arrest 
 of Kane and the deposition of the police, 
 were implicated in the conspiracy of the 
 marshal and his men, to overthrow the 
 Federal authority. This suspicion was 
 confirmed by the discovery of a large 
 quantity of arms and munitions of war 
 concealed at the headquarters of police, 
 under the control of the commissioners 
 themselves. 
 
 In addition to what was found secreted 
 at the various public stations, there was 
 discovered at the headquarters the fol- 
 lowing formidable collection of imple- 
 ments and munitions of war : Two six- 
 pound iron guns ; two four-pound iron 
 guns ; half ton assorted shot ; half keg 
 shot for steam gun one hundred and 
 twenty flint muskets ; two Hall's car- 
 bines ; forty-six rifles ; three double-bar- 
 
 order to avoid the anarchy which it was the purpose of 
 the commissioners to bring upon the city, by incorrectly 
 stating that it had been by my act deprived of its police 
 protection, you will select, in conference with such of the 
 public authorities as will aid you, good men and true to 
 fill their places and discharge their duties. 
 
 "You will also take especial notice that no opinion, 
 resolution, or other act of the late board of commissioners 
 can operate to limit the effective force of the police law, 
 or to discharge any officer engaged in its execution. If 
 any provision of the law fails to be executed, it will be 
 from the choice of the city ; and if any officer, except 
 such as are herein named, leaves the service, it will be 
 upon his own decision. 
 
 : ' You will cause these views to be made known as the 
 rule of your conduct. 
 
 ;| I repeat my declaration and my purpose no interven- 
 tion with the laws or government of the city whatever is 
 intended, except to prevent secret, violent, and treason- 
 able combinations of disloyal men against the Government 
 of the United States." 
 
350 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 relied shot guns ; eight single-barrelled 
 shot guns ; nine horse pistols ; sixty-five 
 small pistols ; one hundred and thirty- 
 two bullet moulds ; four cwt. balls ; 
 eight dirk knives ; five swords ; eight 
 kettle drums ; one lot of screw drivers j 
 one box musket cartridges ; thirty-three 
 gun coats ; forty-four copper flasks ; 
 eighteen muskets ; one hundred and 
 seventeen canisters ; one lot flannel 
 bags ; twelve old muskets ; twenty-five 
 Minie muskets ; forty-six Hall's car- 
 bines ; one lot of slow matches ; forty- 
 eight thousand percussion caps ; two 
 kegs ball cartridges ; one hundred rifle 
 ball cartridges ; seven hundred and 
 thirty-five Hall's rifle cartridges ; three 
 thousand one hundred and sixty-two 
 round ball cartridges ; six thousand five 
 hundred and twenty long ball Minie 
 cartridges ; seven canister shot ; twenty 
 small flasks ; one ball, twelve -pounder, 
 labelled ' ' from Fort Sumter to Colonel 
 Kane." 
 
 General Banks accordingly did not 
 hesitate to arrest the police commission- 
 ers themselves.* 
 
 These decided measures of General 
 
 On making the arrest General Banks issued this procla- 
 mation : 
 
 " The headquarters under the charge of the Board, 
 July when abandoned by the officers, resembled in some 
 ! respects a concealed arsenal. After public recognition 
 and protest against the suspension of their functions, they 
 continued their sessions daily. Upon a forced and un- 
 warrantable construction of my proclamation of the 28th 
 ultimo, they declared that police law was suspended, and 
 the police officers and men put off duty for the present, 
 intending to leave the city without any police protection 
 whatever. 
 
 ' ' They refused to recognize the officers and men neces- 
 sarily selected by the provost marshal for its protection, 
 and hold, subject to their orders now and hereafter, the 
 old police force, a large body of armed men, for sonic 
 
 Banks seemed to have an inspiriting 
 effect upon the Union men of Baltimore 
 who rallied around him. At their su-- 
 
 o 
 
 gestion he relieved the city from the 
 control of martial law, and substituted 
 a citizen of Baltimore, George R. Dodge, 
 Esquire, as marshal, in place of Colonel 
 John P. Kenly, one of the officers of 
 the Federal army, who, as provost mar- 
 shal, had joined to his military duties 
 the civic functions of chief of police. 
 
 General Banks gave proof of his dis- 
 position to recognize the right of self- 
 government by this new appointment, 
 which he had made, as he stated, " at the 
 suggestion and upon the advice of very 
 many influential and honorable citizens 
 of Baltimore, representing its different 
 sections, parties, and interests. And in 
 order that public opinion shall have 
 proper influence, and the civil authority 
 due weight in all municipal affairs, it is 
 my desire," he added, " and expectation, 
 that the marshal shall receive suggestion, 
 advice, and direction from them and 
 other loyal citizens, as from all the de- 
 partments of the government of the 
 city, and in all respects to administer 
 
 purpose not known to the government, and inconsistent 
 with its peace or security. 
 
 " To anticipate any intentions or orders on their part, 
 I have placed temporarily a portion of the force under my 
 command within the city. 
 
 " I disclaim, on the part of the Government I represent, 
 all desire, intention, and purpose to interfere in any man- 
 ner whatever with the ordinary municipal affairs of the 
 city of Baltimore. Whenever a loyal citizen can be named 
 who will execute its police laws with impartiality, and in 
 good faith to the United States, the military force will be 
 withdrawn from the central parts of the municipality at 
 once. No soldiers will be permitted in the city except 
 under regulations satisfactorily to the marshal ; and if any 
 so admitted violate the municipal law, they shall be pun- 
 ished by the civil law, by the civil tribunals. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF CONGRESS. 
 
 351 
 
 every department of the police law in 
 full freedom, for the peace and prosperity 
 of the city, and the honor and perpetuity 
 of the United States." 
 
 General Banks, at the same time, 
 withdrew the Federal troops from the 
 Custom House, Post Office, City Hall, 
 and other public buildings and squares 
 where they had been posted, while he 
 was executing these decided measures 
 for the suppression of the supposed in- 
 surrectionary movement. 
 
 The soldiers accordingly broke up 
 their camps within the city and resumed 
 their former position in the suburbs. 
 The officers, moreover, were ordered 
 
 not to allow a man to visit Baltimore 
 unless with good cause and without 
 arms, while the soldiers were counselled 
 to good conduct and reminded that who- 
 ever violated " the ordinances established 
 for the government of the city, will be 
 punished by the civil tribunals according 
 to the laws of the State." 
 
 The prompt and energetic action of 
 General Banks seemed effectually to 
 have checked every attempt at insurrec- 
 tion, and so to have secured the city of 
 Baltimore and the State of Maryland to 
 the Federal power, that the Union senti- 
 ment, wherever it might exist, had free 
 scope for development and expression. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Meeting of Congress in Extraordinary Session. Importance. Peculiar character. Message of President Lincoln. 
 Tts style. Its purport. Justification of his conduct. Action in regard to Fort Sumter explained. His sugges- 
 tions and demands. Regret at being forced into the War. Report of Secretary of War. His suggestions. Report 
 of Secretary of Treasury His Financial Schemes. Report of Secretary of Navy. His statements of the Naval 
 Force and suggestions for additional strength. The unity of Congress. Irrelevant Discussion effectually checked. 
 General war spirit. Few exceptions. Union of all parties. Extremists. Breckenridge in opposition. Others 
 like him. Eccentricity of Abolitionists. Mr. Lovejoy's motion tabled. The President's action sanctioned. 
 Superfluous Legislation. Division of responsibility. Heroic remedies. The Military Acts. Great Vote of Men 
 and Money. The President's demands exceeded. The President apologizes for the largeness of his demands. 
 The Act of Confiscation. Reluctance of Lincoln to sign. Unanimity of Congress. The small Majority of Op- 
 ponents. Protest against the Treason Bill. The Integrity of the Union declared to be the object of the War. 
 Expulsion of Southern Members of Congress. Adjournment of Congress. 
 
 1861. 
 
 ON the Fourth of July, Congress as- 
 sembled in extraordinary session in 
 accordance with the proclamation of 
 the President. This Congress, apart from 
 its important action, will be always 
 memorable as the first would that it 
 were the last ! in which the United 
 States was not represented in its unity. 
 
 With the exception of Kentucky, Ten- 
 nessee, Missouri, and Maryland, whose 
 allegiance, though divided, still clung to 
 the sovereignty of the Union, all the 
 slave States contumaciously withheld 
 their representatives from the national 
 Legislature, and gave their fealty to a 
 government arbitrarily created by them- 
 
352 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 selves, denied by the United States, and 
 unrecognized f by the world. 
 
 On the day after the assembling of 
 July Congress, President Lincoln sent 
 5 in his message to the two Houses. 
 This document was characteristic of its 
 author, being forcible in argument though 
 somewhat inelegant in expression, and 
 exhibited such a strong sense of con- 
 stitutional obligations, that it was re- 
 ceived as a welcome indication of his 
 honesty of purpose. 
 
 The President began by alluding to the 
 condition of the country at the time of 
 his inauguration, and declared that his 
 policy " looked to the exhaustion of all 
 peaceful measures before a resort to 
 stronger ones. It sought only to hold 
 the public places and property not 
 already wrested from the Government, 
 and to collect the revenue ; relying for 
 the rest on time, discussion, and the 
 ballot box." 
 
 Concerning his action in regard to 
 Fort Sumter, he said that he had deter- 
 mined at first, after consulting with his 
 cabinet and the commander-in-chief, to 
 abandon all intention of making an effort 
 to hold it. Failing, however, in an at- 
 tempt to reinforce Fort Pickens, in con- 
 sequence of delay in the arrival of orders, 
 by which it was intended to manifest 
 the " policy" of the Government, he was 
 driven to the necessity of appearing to 
 relieve Fort Sumter. ' ' It was believed, " 
 said the President, ' ' that to abandon 
 that position under the circumstances, 
 would be utterly ruinous ; that the 
 necessity under which it was to be done 
 would not be understood j that by many 
 
 it would be construed as a part of a 
 voluntary policy ; that at home it would 
 discourage the friends of the Union, 
 embolden its adversaries, and go far to 
 insure to the latter a recognition abroad ; 
 that, in fact, it would be our national de- 
 struction consummated." 
 
 The President thus resolved upon pro- 
 visioning the garrison at Fort Sumter, 
 which was threatened with starvation. 
 While proceeding to execute this pur- 
 pose, South Carolina inaugurated the 
 civil war by bombarding the fort and 
 forcing Major Anderson to surrender. 
 
 The President being thus driven to 
 evoke the full war power of the Govern- 
 ment, made a demand upon the country 
 for troops. The call was only obeyed 
 by the free States and Delaware. Vir- 
 ginia passed an ordinance of secession, 
 but even before its passage seized the 
 arsenal at Harper's Ferry and the navy- 
 yard at Gosport. Referring to the atti- 
 tude of neutrality which Kentucky pro- 
 posed to maintain, the President called 
 it " disunion completed." He admitted 
 that in calling for troops, and suspending 
 the habeas corpus act, he had exceeded 
 his constitutional powers, and looked to 
 Congress for indemnity. He was forced 
 to choose between breaking one law, or 
 seeing all the others violated with im- 
 punity, and chose the former as the least 
 evil. His demands from Congress were 
 summed up as follows : 
 
 "It is now recommended that you 
 give the legal means for making this 
 contest a short and decisive one ; that 
 you place at the control of the Govern- 
 ment for the work at least four hun- 
 
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. 
 
 353 
 
 dred thousand men and $400,000,000. 
 That number of men is about one tenth 
 of those of proper ages, within the 
 regions where, apparently, all are will- 
 ing to engage ; and the sum is less than 
 a twenty-third part of the money-value 
 owned by the men who seem ready to 
 devote the whole. A debt of $600,000,- 
 000 now is a less sum per head than 
 was the debt of our Revolution when 
 we came out of that struggle, and the 
 money-value in the country bears even 
 a greater proportion to what it was then 
 than does the population. Surely each 
 man has as strong a motive now to pre- 
 serve our liberties as each had then to 
 establish them. A right result at this 
 time will be worth more to the world 
 than ten times the men and ten times 
 the money." 
 
 The President then proceeded to show 
 that there is not, and never was, any 
 such thing as State sovereignty touched 
 upon the cases of Florida and Texas, and 
 denied the principle of secession, which 
 he called one of perpetual disintegration. 
 He affirmed that the people in many of 
 the seceded States were still in favor of 
 the Union, and charged the seceding 
 politicians with keeping out of view the 
 rights of the people. Alluding to the 
 resignations of officers of the navy and, 
 army, he said that not one private 
 soldier or sailor had resigned. 
 
 " Our popular Government," he con- 
 tinued, "has often been called an ex- 
 periment. Two points in it our people 
 have settled the successful establishing 
 and the successful administrating of it. 
 One still remains. Its successful main- 
 
 45 
 
 tenance against a formidable internal 
 attempt to overthrow it. It is now for 
 them to demonstrate to the world that 
 those who can fairly carry an election 
 can also suppress a rebellion ; that bal- 
 lots are the rightful and peaceful suc- 
 cessors of bullets, and that when ballots 
 have fairly and constitutionally decided, 
 there can be no successful appeal back 
 to bullets ; that there can be no success- 
 ful appeal except to ballots themselves 
 at succeeding elections. Such will be a 
 great lesson of peace, teaching men that 
 what they cannot take by an election, 
 neither can they take it by a war ; 
 teaching all the folly of being the be- 
 ginners of a war.' ; 
 
 Finally, the President regretted that 
 he had been forced into this war, and 
 emphatically declared that he would not 
 betray the vast and sacred trust confided 
 to him by a free people. 
 
 Accompanying the President's mes- 
 sage were the reports of the several ex- 
 ecutive officers of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, 
 recommended that, in the enlistment of 
 men to fill the additional regiments of 
 the regular army, the term should be 
 made for three years, and that a bounty 
 of one hundred dollars be given to all 
 who should receive an honorable dis- 
 charge at the close of their service ; that 
 an appropriation be made for the re- 
 construction and equipment of railroads, 
 the expense of maintaining and operat- 
 ing them, and also for the construction 
 of additional telegraph lines and their 
 appurtenances that a special appropri- 
 
354 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ation be made for the reconstruction of 
 the Long Bridge across the Potomac ; 
 that Congress consider the subject of 
 a properly organized military tribunal, 
 empowered to take cognizance of crim- 
 inal offences, and to punish the guilty ; 
 also, the enlargement of the powers of 
 the commissariat, and the better equip- 
 ment of the army ; that our troops should 
 be supplied in part from private domestic 
 factories, instead of from abroad. The 
 Secretary further recommended a more 
 liberal supply of improved arms to the 
 militia of the States and Territories, and 
 called attention to the system of disci- 
 pline pursued at West Point. He con- 
 cluded with a recommendation, that 
 Congress should authorize the appoint- 
 ment of an Assistant Secretary of War, 
 and the requisite appropriation for an 
 extra force of clerks. 
 
 The report of Mr. Chase and the finan- 
 cial scheme it developed were considered 
 very able. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury asked 
 for $320,000,000. He believed that 
 $80,000,000 should be sought by taxa- 
 tion, to meet the ordinary demands for 
 1862, for which actual appropriations 
 had been made amounting to $65,887,- 
 849 34, while interest, estimated at 
 $9,000,000 and $5,000,000, toward the 
 reduction and final extinguishment of 
 the public debt, would complete the 
 amount. He proposed to meet this de- 
 mand by a duty of 2| cents per pound 
 laid on brown sugar, 3 cents per pound 
 on clayed sugar, 4 cents per pound on 
 loaf and other refined sugars, 21 cents 
 per pound on the syrup of sugar-cane, 
 
 6 cents per pound on candy, 6 cents per 
 gallon on molasses, and 4 cents per gallon 
 on sour molasses ; and suggested also 
 that a duty of 5 cents per pound be im- 
 posed on coffee, 15 cents per pound on 
 black tea, and 20 cents per pound on 
 green tea. The collection of internal 
 duties on stills and distilled liquors, ale 
 and beer, tobacco, bank-notes, spring- 
 carriages, silver-ware and jewelry, and 
 on legacies was recommended, although 
 it was suggested that, if preferred by 
 Congress, the plan of taxation of real and 
 personal property would achieve the same 
 result. The use of the confiscated prop- 
 erty of the rebels, together with a reduc- 
 tion, for a time at least, of 10 per cent, 
 upon salaries and wages paid by the Fed- 
 eral Government, was also recommended. 
 To raise the $240,000,000 needed for 
 the thorough prosecution of the war, 
 the Secretary proposed a national loan 
 of not less than $100,000,000, to be 
 issued in the form of Treasury notes, 
 bearing a yearly interest of 7 3-10 per 
 centum (an interest equal to one cent a 
 day on $50, and therefore very easy of 
 calculation), and in sums of $50, $100, 
 $500, $1,000, and $5,000 ; books to be 
 opened at the Treasury Office in Wash- 
 ington, and at various other offices 
 throughout the States, and sums sub- 
 scribed to be paid in cash. In case the 
 national loan should prove insufficient, 
 it was proposed that bonds, or certificates 
 of debt, be issued to lenders in the 
 ountry, or in any foreign country, not 
 exceeding in the aggregate $100, 000, 000, 
 to be made redeemable at the pleasure 
 of the Government after a period not 
 
REPORTS OF DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 355 
 
 exceeding 30 years, and bearing an in- 
 terest not exceeding 7 per cent. To 
 supply the full amount required for the 
 service of the fiscal year, it was recom- 
 mended that provision be made for the 
 issue of Treasury notes for $10 or $20 
 each, payable one year from date, to an 
 amount not exceeding $50,000,000 
 these notes bearing interest at the rate 
 of 3 05-100 per cent., and exchangeable 
 at the will of the holder for Treasury 
 notes with 7 3-10 per cent, interest, or 
 exchequer bills. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy asked 
 Congress to sanction the extraordinary 
 measures which were necessarily taken 
 to meet the difficulties treachery had 
 thrown in the way of the Department. 
 Purchases and contracts had been made, 
 the authority for which was found in the 
 exigencies of the times. The naval 
 force in commission was stated to have 
 been augmented to 82 vessels, carrying 
 upward of 1,100 guns, and a comple- 
 ment of about 13,000 men, exclusive of 
 officers and marines. The Naval Acad- 
 emy, formerly at Annapolis, temporarily 
 removed to Newport, Rhode Island, was 
 reported to be without its authorized 
 number of pupils, one third of the dis- 
 tricts having neglected or refused to be 
 represented, and there being no legal way 
 of supplying this deficiency from other 
 districts. It was suggested that Con- 
 gress should provide for the deficit, and 
 that for a period, at least, the numbers 
 in the school should riot be increased 
 until there was a full complement of 
 officers. The Secretary recommended 
 that an officer should be appointed, to be 
 
 known as the director of ordnance, who 
 should, under the Department, have the 
 immediate supervision of the manufac- 
 ture, description, and supply of ordnance 
 for the navy, in all its details. A change 
 or modification of the law regulating the 
 navy ration was advised, by which the 
 vessels stationed along the coast might be 
 regularly supplied with nourishing food. 
 An increase of the number of surgeons 
 and assistant surgeons was recommend- 
 ed ; also an increase of the marine corps, 
 with, perhaps, an entire reorganization 
 of the corps ; also, the appointment of 
 a proper and competent board to inquire 
 into the expediency of iron-clad steamers 
 or floating batteries ; also, an increase 
 of the clerical force of the Department, 
 together with the appointment of an 
 Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 The Congress now in session applied 
 itself with directness and unity of pur- 
 pose to the momentous interests of the 
 country, unexampled in its previous 
 history. One of the very first acts of 
 the House of Representatives was to 
 check all irrelevant discussion by adopt- 
 ing a resolution " only to consider bills 
 and resolutions concerning military and 
 naval appropriations for the Government 
 and financial affairs connected therewith, 
 and that all bills of a private character, 
 and all other bills and resolutions not 
 directly connected with the raising of 
 revenue and military and naval affairs 
 shall be referred without debate to the 
 appropriate committees, to be considered 
 at the next regular session of Congress." 
 To this resolution, however, was added 
 an amendment to admit the considera- 
 
356 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 tion of questions of a judicial character. 
 Both senators and representatives, with 
 but few exceptions, responding to the 
 universal war spirit of the country, 
 waived all partisan objects and animos- 
 ities, and with great unanimity intrusted 
 the Government with the power and 
 means of maintaining its authority. 
 Democrats and Republicans were thus 
 found in friendly union. Those who had 
 so long been arrayed against each other 
 in political camps were now mustered 
 under the same banner. A few there 
 were who, from incompatibility and 
 other causes, resisted all fusion with this 
 general political combination ; others, 
 though disposed to union from similarity 
 of principle, were yet too impetuously 
 in advance to be always within the com- 
 mon control. 
 
 Breckenridge, the senator from Ken- 
 tucky, and former Vice-President, hardly 
 making an effort to conceal that sym- 
 pathy with the seceding States which 
 his subsequent conduct has more clearly 
 manifested, opposed every measure of 
 the Government. Other senators and 
 representatives from border States of 
 divided allegiance were alike bold in 
 their expression of opposition. Some 
 even from the Northern States, either 
 from a perverse partisanship or a weak 
 loyalty, did not hesitate to resist the 
 general patriotic action of their fellow- 
 legislators. 
 
 An early indication was made of the 
 eccentric tendencies of the extreme ab- 
 olitionists. Mr. Lovejoy, of Illinois, in- 
 troduced a resolution declaring that it is 
 no part of the duty of the army to 
 
 capture and return fugitive slaves ; also 
 directing inquiry as to the expediency 
 of repealing the fugitive slave law. 
 This was promptly tabled by a vote of 
 eighty-seven to sixty-two. The perti- 
 nacious member for Illinois, on a subse- 
 quent day, renewed his resolution, which 
 he, however, modified by dropping the 
 recommendation in regard to the fugitive 
 slave law. His perseverance was re- 
 warded by the passage of his resolution 
 by a vote of ninety- two to fifty-five. 
 
 True to their pledge to confine them- 
 selves strictly to the business of the 
 occasion, both houses of Congress pro- 
 ceeded directly and rapidly to pass vari- 
 ous acts of immediate moment. The 
 action of the President in his efforts to 
 check the insurrection was duly con- 
 firmed and ratified, and his scruples 
 and those of the country, in regard to 
 measures confessedly unconstitutional, 
 but universally acknowledged to be 
 necessary, removed. Some publicists 
 contended, it is true, that no such justi- 
 fication for the conduct of Mr. Lincoln 
 was required, and that the action of 
 Congress was supererogatory, as it could 
 not make that legal which was in itself 
 illegal. The first law of nations, as of 
 individuals, that of self-preservation, and 
 the plea of necessity, were sufficient to 
 authorize or extenuate the President's 
 action. Congress, however, was credited 
 with the generous motive of desiring to 
 share in the responsibility, whatever it 
 might be, of the chief magistrate of the 
 Union, who had applied an heroic rem- 
 edy to save the state while apparently 
 in extremis. 
 
ACT OF CONFISCATION. 
 
 357 
 
 The most important proceeding, how- 
 ever, of Congress, about the relevancy 
 and purport of which there could be no 
 question, was the passage of an act 
 authorizing the President to call into 
 the field an army of five hundred thou- 
 sand volunteers, to serve for three years, 
 or during the war. At the same time 
 1 | .an increase of the regular army was 
 voted, and various acts were passed with 
 the view of improving the condition 
 and efficiency of the soldiers. Their 
 pay, which before had been eleven dol- 
 lars a month, was increased to thirteen. 
 
 The navy was no less amply provided 
 for. The President was authorized to 
 buy or charter as many merchant vessels 
 as might be necessary to complete the 
 blockade or check privateering. Twenty- 
 three gun-boats, and twelve side-wheel 
 steamers of light draught, and four first- 
 class sloops of war were voted as addi- 
 tions to the navy, and bills passed to 
 secure the proper number of sailors and 
 marines for the manning of this expan- 
 sive naval force. 
 
 The appropriations of money were 
 equally liberal, amounting in all to the 
 immense sum of five hundred millions, 
 thus exceeding by a hundred millions 
 the demand of President Lincoln, who, 
 in his message, had asked for four hun- 
 dred millions of money and four hun- 
 dred thousand men, while he excused 
 the apparent exorbitancy of his demand 
 by a proof of its reasonableness. " That 
 number of men," he said, " is about 
 one-tenth of those of proper ages within 
 the regions where apparently all are 
 willing to engage ; and the sum is less 
 
 than a twenty-third part of the money- 
 value owned by the men who seem 
 ready to devote the whole. A debt of 
 six hundred millions of dollars now, is 
 a less sum per head than was the debt 
 of our Revolution when we came out 
 of that struggle ; and the money-value 
 in the country now bears even a greater 
 proportion to what it was then than does 
 the population. Surely each man has as 
 strong a motive now to preserve our lib- 
 erties as each had then to establish them'." 
 
 The act, however, which will probably 
 bear the most important part in the 
 final issue of the war, was that entitled 
 " An act to confiscate property used for 
 insurrectionary purposes." This was 
 proposed by Senator Trumbull, of Illi- 
 nois, and adopted by a vote of thirty-three 
 to six. The act is here given at length : 
 
 ' ' Be it enacted by the Senate and House 
 of Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled, That if, 
 during the present or any future insur- 
 rection against the Government of the 
 United States, after the President of the 
 United States shall have declared, by 
 proclamation, that the laws of the 
 United States are opposed, and the ex- 
 ecution thereof obstructed, by combina- 
 tions too powerful to be suppressed by 
 the ordinary course of judicial proceed- 
 ings, or by the power vested in the 
 marshals by law, any person or persons, 
 his heir, or their agent, attorney or em- 
 ployee, shall purchase or acquire, sell or 
 give, any property of whatsoever kind 
 or description, with intent to use or em- 
 ploy the same, or suffer the same to be 
 used or employed, in aiding, abetting, 
 
358 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 or promoting such insurrection or resist- 
 ance to the laws, or any person or per- 
 sons engaged therein ; or if any person 
 or persons being the owner or owners 
 of any such property, shall knowingly 
 use or employ, or consent to the use or 
 employment of the same as aforesaid, 
 all such property is hereby declared to 
 be lawful subject of prize and capture 
 wherever found, and it shall be the duty 
 of the President of the United States to 
 ca"use the same to be seized, confiscated, 
 and condemned. 
 
 "SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, 
 That such prizes and capture shall be 
 condemned in the district or circuit 
 court of the United States having juris- 
 diction of the amount, or in admiralty 
 in any district in which the same may 
 be seized, or into which they may be 
 taken and proceedings instituted. 
 
 " SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, 
 That the attorney-general, or any dis- 
 trict attorney of the United States in 
 which said property may at the time 
 be, may institute the proceedings of con- 
 demnation, and in such case they shall 
 be wholly for the benefit of the United 
 States ; or any person may file an in- 
 formation with such attorney, in which 
 case the proceedings shall be for the use 
 of such informer and the United States 
 in equal parts. 
 
 "SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, 
 That whenever any person claiming to 
 be entitled to the service or labor of any 
 other person, under the laws of any 
 State, shall employ such person in aiding 
 or promoting any insurrection, or in re- 
 sisting the laws of the United States, or 
 
 shall permit him to be so employed, he 
 shall forfeit all right to such service or 
 labor, and the person whose labor or 
 service is thus claimed shall be thence- 
 forth discharged therefrom, any law to 
 the contrary notwithstanding." 
 
 The President is reported to have 
 signed this act of confiscation with great 
 reluctance. It had, however, been passed 
 by the Senate with wonderful unanimity, 
 there being only a minority of six who 
 voted against it. These were Breck- 
 enridge and Powell of Kentucky, John- 
 son of Missouri, Kennedy and Pearce of 
 Maryland, and Polk of Missouri, men 
 who either openly sympathized with the 
 secessionists, or were little disposed to 
 resist them. 
 
 The bill entitled "An act to define and 
 punish certain conspiracies" also met 
 with opposition from the same source. 
 Not content with resisting it by their 
 votes, nine senators, who composed the 
 minority, entered their formal protest* 
 against its passage. 
 
 " PROTEST. The undersigned members of the Senate 
 dissent from the passage of the bill on the following 
 grounds : 
 
 ' ' The Government of the United States is a Government 
 of specially delegated powers, and though treason is one 
 of the highest crimes known to the law, it is a political 
 offence. 
 
 " To guard against the abuses which, in times of high 
 excitement had, in the history of England, previous to the 
 revolution of 1688, too often sacrificed able, virtuous, and 
 innocent men on the charge of treason and kindred oifences, 
 unaccompanied by acts, the Constitution of the United 
 States expressly defines the crime of treason in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 '"Art. 3, Sec. 3. Treason against the United States 
 shall consist only in levying war against them, or in 
 adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. ' 
 
 ' ' It further provides that ' no person shall be convicted 
 of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the 
 same overt act, or on confession in open court. ' 
 
ADJOURNMENT OF CONGRESS. 
 
 359 
 
 While Congress proved its warlike 
 spirit by rejecting without debate every 
 conciliatory proposition for securing 
 peace, it unanimously passed a resolu- 
 tion, declaring that the only object of 
 the Government in prosecuting the war 
 was to maintain the integrity and the 
 
 " The intent to restrict Congress in the creation of crimes 
 of the nature created by this bill seems obvious, for in 
 treason all are principals, and in any conspiracy of the kind 
 stated in the bill, an overt act in pursuance of it, proved by 
 two witnesses, would be treason against the United States. 
 
 "Thus the creation of an offence resting in intention 
 alone, without overt act, would render nugatory the pro- 
 visions last quoted, and the door would be open for those 
 similar oppressions and cruelties which, under the excite- 
 ment of political struggles, have so often disgraced the 
 past history of the world. 
 
 " The undersigned can conceive no possible object in de- 
 fining the crime of treason by our ancestors, and requiring 
 proof by two witnesses to the same overt act, to justify the 
 conviction of the accused, unless it be to restrict the 
 power of Congress in the creation of a political crime kin- 
 dred to treason, and charged as resting an intent, which 
 would, if accompanied by an overt act, be treason. 
 
 unity of the entire country, and when 
 these were secured, it should terminate. 
 The senators and members of the House 
 belonging to the Confederate States hav- 
 ing been stigmatized by being expelled 
 from Congress, both Houses finally ad- 
 journed on the 6th of August. 
 
 " It matters not that the punishment prescribed in the 
 law is not death but imprisonment, for the passage of the 
 bill, though it might not affect the life of an innocent 
 man, would give, from the uncertainty of the offence 
 charged, and the proof requisite to sustain it, the utmost 
 latitude to prosecutions founded on personal emnity a.nd 
 political animosity, and the suspicions as to the intention 
 which they inevitably engender. 
 
 ' J. A. BAYARD, Delaware. 
 
 ' JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE, Kentucky. 
 
 ' L. W. POWELL, Kentucky. 
 
 ' WALDO P. JOHNSON, Missouri. 
 
 ' J. D. BRIGHT, Indiana. 
 
 'W. SAULSBURY, Delaware. 
 
 ' TRUSTEN POLK, Missouri. 
 
 ' J. A. PEARCE, Maryland. 
 
 'A. KENNEDY, Maryland." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 The magnitude of the present struggle. Relative strength of the two antagonists. Population of the United States. 
 Population of Northern States. Population of Southern States. Number of Slaves. Population of Seceded 
 States. Number of Slaves. Proportion liable to Military Duty in the United States. Proportion at the North. At 
 the South. The Slaves an element of strength. Slave Labor compared with Free. Nature of Southern Resources. 
 The advantages of Agriculture in times of War.-^The Southern Force in the field. Is it exaggerated ? Propor- 
 tion of Soldiers to Population in the states of Europe. The Armies of North and South compared numerically. 
 The Sentiment of North and South What the South is fighting for. Slavery endangered. Slavery, how re- 
 garded by the South. Union an Abstraction. Slavery a Reality. How the Southerner and Northerner fight. 
 Material Resources of North and South compared. Munitions of War at the South. Superiority of the North. 
 Southern and Northern Marine. Navies. Edible products of North and South compared. Live-stock, Grain, 
 etc. The Wealth of the South. Cotton and Negroes. Their Value computed. The Geographical Difficulties of 
 the War. Area of the Southern States. A Gigantic War. Hope in the Future. 
 
 To form a judgment of the magni- 
 tude of the present struggle, its 
 probable duration, and its final 
 issue, it will be necessary to measure the 
 
 relative strength of the contending par- 
 ties. The whole population of the 
 United States, according to the census 
 of the year 1860, was thirty-one million 
 
360 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 four hundred and forty thousand five 
 hundred and ninety-seven (31,440,597) 
 souls. Of these, eighteen million nine 
 hundred and five thousand and eighty- 
 two (18,905,082) inhabited the Northern 
 States, and twelve million two hundred 
 and forty thousand two hundred and 
 ninety-six (12, 240,296), the Southern or 
 slave States. Of the aggregate North- 
 ern population, two hundred and twenty- 
 one thousand seven hundred and thirty- 
 eight (221,738) were negroes, who of 
 course are free, leaving a population of 
 whites amounting to eighteen million six 
 hundred and eighty-three thousand three 
 hundred and forty-four (18,683,344). 
 
 Of the population of the Southern 
 States, eight million forty-one thousand 
 nine hundred and eighty-two were 
 whites (8,041,982), two hundred and 
 forty-seven thousand nine hundred and 
 seventy-one (247,971) free blacks, and 
 three million nine hundred and fifty 
 thousand three hundred and forty-three 
 (3,950,343) were slaves. 
 
 Of the slave States, eleven only have 
 seceded Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, 
 Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, 
 Texas, and Virginia, whose white popu- 
 lation amounts to five million four hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand seven hundred 
 and eleven (5,450,711), and negro pop- 
 ulation to three million six hundred and 
 fifty-two thousand three hundred and 
 three (3,652,303). Portions of Western 
 Virginia and Eastern Tennessee being 
 still loyal to the Federal Government, in 
 estimating the strength of the enemy, 
 it would be necessary perhaps to deduct 
 
 nearly a million persons, were they not 
 more than counterbalanced by the fight- 
 ing force supplied to the South by the 
 still loyal States of Missouri, Kentucky, 
 and Maryland. 
 
 The proportion of white males through- 
 out the United States between eighteen 
 and forty-five years of age, being the 
 period when men are supposed to be 
 serviceable for military duty, is estimated 
 at five million four hundred and eighty- 
 four thousand (5,484,000). Of these, 
 three million seven hundred and sev- 
 enty-eight thousand (3,778,000) are pos- 
 sessed by the Northern States ; one mil- 
 lion one hundred and eighty-six thou- 
 sand (1,186,000) by the seceded States ; 
 five hundred and thirty-nine thousand 
 (539,000) by the border slave States, 
 and fifty-one thousand (51,000) by the 
 Territories. These latter belonging to 
 the border States and Territories, which 
 are divided in sentiment may be ap- 
 portioned equally between the two bel- 
 ligerents. 
 
 The number of fighting men at the 
 service of the Federal Government 
 would thus seem greatly to surpass the 
 available force of the Southern Con- 
 federacy. But it must be borne in 
 mind, that an estimate based on age 
 alone is not entirely reliable. It would 
 not be practicable for the North, even 
 under the most urgent demands for men, 
 to bring into the field all of those who 
 are within the age of military service. 
 A large number of such are necessarily 
 so occupied by labor, indispensable to 
 the trade, manufactures, and commerce 
 of the country, that their services could 
 
ADVANTAGE OF SLAVERY. 
 
 361 
 
 not be withdrawn from civil life without 
 ruin to those resources of the nation 
 upon which its power as a belligerent 
 depends. There are, moreover, from the 
 complicated nature of the relations of 
 society and business which prevail in a 
 highly civilized community like that of 
 the North, obligations, ties, habits, and 
 affections which men are either unable 
 or unwilling to rend. They thus become 
 reluctant, however patriotically disposed, 
 to leave their homes to carry on war 
 against a distant people. 
 
 In the seceded States, the laboring 
 population is composed of slaves, who 
 amount in round numbers to four mil- 
 lions. These, provided they remain 
 faithful to their masters, form an element 
 of greater strength than the same num- 
 ber of white laborers at the North. As 
 the negro children and women are forced 
 to work as well as the men, it is neces- 
 sary, in forming a comparative estimate 
 of the laboring power of the North and 
 South, to give due weight to this fact. 
 It probably gives an additional force 
 which may be numerically estimated as 
 one -third of the whole. The four mil- 
 lions of Southern slaves may thus be 
 considered as equalling six millions of 
 Northern white laborers in productive 
 power. It must be also recollected that 
 slave labor may be kept up to a maxi- 
 mum of work upon a minimum of sup- 
 port. Labor that is free not only exer- 
 cises its will in regard to the extent and 
 character of its work, but its caprices 
 and tastes in the use of the results. 
 
 Agriculture, moreover, being the chief 
 productive industry of the slave States, 
 
 46 
 
 admits, by its simple operations, of com- 
 paratively rude labor, while but little 
 supervision of a superior intelligence is 
 required. There is no occasion accord- 
 ingly for the employment at the South 
 of that large class of intelligent masters 
 and workmen, who, engaged in the more 
 complicated vocations of commerce, 
 trade, and manufactures requiring prac- 
 tised skill, can not arrest their functions 
 without diminishing, if not ruining, the 
 main sources of Northern wealth. The 
 Southerner can leave his cotton, rice, 
 and tobacco fields to be tilled by his 
 gangs of negro slaves, while their dis- 
 ciplined obedience may be rendered 
 subservient to his wealth in his absence. 
 Thus in the slave States large numbers 
 of whites are free to go to the war, 
 while the same class in the North are 
 kept at home. 
 
 The agricultural pursuits of the South 
 have, moreover, the advantage of being 
 easily adapted to the immediate neces- 
 sities of the war. A tobacco or cotton 
 plantation can be changed in the course 
 of a single season into fields of corn, to 
 which the patient slave may transfer his 
 unthinking labor with undiminished 
 effect, though his dulled brain has hardly 
 awakened to the consciousness of the 
 change. The complicated occupations 
 of the North do not admit of these 
 rapid changes. It would be hardly prac- 
 ticable to turn a Broadway drygoods 
 store into a corn mill, and its shopmen 
 into millers, or a New England pin fac- 
 tory, with its complicated machinery, 
 into an armory, and its workmen into 
 makers of improved rifles. 
 
362 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 That the Congress of the Southern 
 Confederacy should have authorized the 
 President to call out four hundred thou- 
 sand men, was considered a vaunting 
 affectation of power which it did not 
 possess. It seems probable, however, 
 that the seceded States had already over 
 three hundred thousand soldiers in the 
 field. On October 1st, 1861, the follow- 
 ing estimate was made by a New York 
 journal :* 
 
 THE FORCK8 BEFORE WASHINGTON. 
 
 Gen. Beauregard's column 70,000 
 
 Gen. Johnston's column between Chain Bridge 
 
 and Leesburgh 43,000 
 
 Gen. Magruder's reinforcement, intended to cross 
 
 the Potomac at Aquia Creek 25,000 
 
 Total 138,000 
 
 At the various batteries on the Potomac, York, 
 James, Rappahannock rivers 
 
 At Yorktown, Norfolk, and Portsmouth 
 
 Reserves at Fredericksburgh 5,000 
 
 Petersburgh 3,000 
 
 Brentsville 1,000 
 
 Culpepper 3,000 
 
 Gordonsville 3,000 
 
 Staunton 3,000 
 
 Covington 2,000 
 
 Charlottesville 5,000 
 
 Lynchville 5,000 
 
 Burkesville and other places . . . 3,270 
 Other places 5,000 
 
 15,000 
 20,000 
 
 In Western Virginia, under Generals Lee, Wise, 
 
 and Floyd 
 
 Near Winchester and Strasburg 
 
 In Kentucky, Missouri, and the West 
 
 In coast fortifications 
 
 38,270 
 
 25,000 
 10,000 
 41,000 
 10,000 
 
 Total in the field 297,270 
 
 This is certainly a large number of 
 soldiers in proportion to the population. 
 With the four millions of slaves added 
 to the five millions of whites, the aggre- 
 gate number of the inhabitants of the 
 Confederacy amounts to only nine mil- 
 lions, and three hundred thousand sol- 
 diers would be very nearly in the pro- 
 portion of one soldier to every thirty 
 inhabitants. In Prussia, which supplies 
 the largest army relative to its popula- 
 
 New York Herald. 
 
 tion, there is but one soldier to every 
 forty-eight inhabitants, in Austria one to 
 fifty-five, in Holland one to fifty-eight, 
 in Spain one to sixty-one, in France one 
 to seventy, and in Russia one to ninety. 
 The following is the estimate of the 
 force taking one to fifty as the ratio 
 which the North and South can rela- 
 tively sustain. Delaware, Maryland, 
 and Missouri are, however, classed with 
 the Northern States, although they have 
 undoubtedly supplied a large contingent 
 to the Southern Confederacy. 
 
 States. Population. Troops. 
 
 Virginia 1,596.000 31,920 
 
 North Carolina 992,000 19,8-10 
 
 Georgia 1,057,000 21 .140 
 
 Florida 140,000 2,800 
 
 Alabama 964.000 19,280 
 
 Mississippi 791,000 15,820 
 
 Louisiana 709,000 14.180 
 
 Arkansas 435.000 8.700 
 
 Texas 902,000 12,040 
 
 Tennessee 1,109.000 22.180 
 
 Kentucky 1,155,000 23,100 
 
 South Carolina 703,000 14,060 
 
 Total 10,253,000 205,060 
 
 gtates. Population. Soldiers. 
 
 Maine 62*,000 12.560 
 
 New Hampshire .: 326,000 6,520 
 
 Vermont 315,000 6,300 
 
 Massachusetts 1,231,000 24,620 
 
 Rhode Island 174,000 3,480 
 
 Connecticut 460,000 9.200 
 
 New York 3,880,000 77,600 
 
 Pennsylvania 2,906,000 58,120 
 
 New Jersey 672,000 13,440 
 
 Ohio 2,339,000 46,780 
 
 Indiana! .'.' 1,350,000 27,000 
 
 Illinois 1,711,000 34,220 
 
 Michigan 749,000 14,980 
 
 Wisconsin 775,000 15,500 
 
 l owa 675.000 13,500 
 
 Minnesota 172,000 3.440 
 
 Kansas 107,000 2,140 
 
 Oregon 52,000 1.040 
 
 California 380,000 7,600 
 
 Delaware 112,000 2,240 
 
 Maryland 687,000 13,740 
 
 Missouri 1,182,('00 23640 
 
 Territories 220,000 4,400 
 
 Total 21,103,000 422,060 
 
 The North has greatly exceeded this 
 estimate, as may be seen by the follow- 
 ing statement in Secretary Cameron's 
 Report of July 2d, 1861. 
 
SOUTHERN SENTIMENT. 
 
 363 
 
 The following presents the entire es- 
 timated strength of the army, both vol- 
 unteers and regulars : 
 
 , Volunteers. , 
 
 States. Three Months. For the War. Aggregate. 
 
 California - 4,688 4,688 
 
 Connecticut 2,236 12,400 14,636 
 
 Delaware 775 2,000 2,775 
 
 Illinois 4,941 .... 80,000 .... 84,941 
 
 Indiana 4,686 .... 57,332 .... 62,018 
 
 Iowa 968 ... 19,800 .... 20,768 
 
 Kentucky - .... 15,000 .... 15,000 
 
 Maine 768 .... 14,239 .... 15.007 
 
 Maryland .... 7,000.... 7,000 
 
 Massachusetts 3,435 26,760 30,195 
 
 Michigan 781 .... 28,550 .... 29,331 
 
 Minnesota 4,160 4,160 
 
 Missouri 9,356 22,130 31,486 
 
 New Hampshire 779 .... 9,600 .... 10,379 
 
 New Jersey 3,068 .... 9,342 .... 12,410 
 
 New York 10,188 . . . 100,200 . . . 110,388 
 
 Ohio 10,236 .... 81,205 .... 91,441 
 
 Pennsylvania 19, 199 94,760 . . 1 13,959 
 
 Rhode Island 1,285 .... 5,898 .... 7,183 
 
 Vermont 780 8,000 8,780 
 
 Virginia 779 .... 12,000 .... 12,779 
 
 Wisconsin 792 .... 14,153 .... 14,945 
 
 Kansas 5,000 5,000 
 
 Colorado .... 1,000.... 1,000 
 
 Nebraska .... 2,500.... 2,500 
 
 Nevada 1,000 1,000 
 
 New Mexico .... 1,000.... 1,000 
 
 District of Columbia 2,823 1,000 3,823 
 
 Total 77,875 . . . 640,637 . . . 718,512 
 
 Estimated strength of the 
 regular army, including 
 the new enlistments un- 
 der the act of Congress 
 of July 29, 1861 .... 20,334 .... 
 
 Total ... 660,971 .... 
 
 The several arms of the service are 
 estimated as follows : 
 
 Volunteers. Regulars. Aggregate. 
 
 Infantry 557,208 .... 11,175 .... 568,383 
 
 Cavalry 54,654 .... 4,744 .... 59,398 
 
 Artillery 20,380 .... 4,308 .... 24,688 
 
 Rifles and Sharpshooters. 8,395 8,395 
 
 Engineers 107 107 
 
 Total 640,637 .... 20,334 .... 660,971 
 
 The force of the Southern Confeder- 
 acy, there is also reason to believe, 
 transcends the estimate in this chapter. 
 
 It is stated on good authority that on 
 December 1, 18G1, the enemy had 
 360,000 men in the field. [These esti- 
 mates have been all exceeded since, as 
 will be seen in the course of this nar- 
 rative.] 
 
 Some in making such an estimate 
 might be disposed to deduct the slaves 
 from the population of the Southern 
 States. It has, however, been already 
 shown that the negro element more 
 than supplies the same numerical quan- 
 tity of labor at the North, and thus 
 should be considered as setting free a 
 proportionate number of inhabitants for 
 military service. 
 
 In calculating the probable ratio of 
 soldiers to the population in the South- 
 ern Confederac}^, the sentiment of the 
 people must also be taken into account. 
 However unreasonable or criminal we 
 at the North may consider the motive 
 which has induced those in the South to 
 rise in arms against the Federal author- 
 ity, it can not be now questioned that 
 the general opinion of the latter is that 
 the war they are waging, is one in de- 
 fence of their country and its institu- 
 tions. Apart from the political heresy 
 of " State Rights," which widely prevails 
 among the Southern people, freeing them, 
 as they erroneously believe, from all fealty 
 to the sovereignty of the Union, they are 
 firmly persuaded that the existence of 
 slavery is endangered by Northern ag- 
 gression. It is needless here to strive to 
 prove the groundlessness of this belief, 
 or to trace it to its probably real source, 
 the plausible arguments and corrupt 
 designs of ambitious political leaders. 
 
364 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Of the existence of such a belief, what- 
 ever may have been its cause, there can 
 be little doubt. 
 
 The Southern people imagine they 
 are fighting for their dearest interests, 
 believing, also, that slavery, which is 
 interwoven with all that attaches them 
 to their country, is in danger. This 
 institution is the foundation of their 
 property, the principle of their social 
 organization, and an element of their 
 domestic life. Not only is it clung to 
 as their wealth, their main social tie, 
 and chief source of domestic enjoyment, 
 but it is commended to them by the 
 traditions of their forefathers, who es- 
 tablished and bequeathed it ; by the 
 sophistries of their leaders, who claim 
 it to be the corner-stone of political 
 freedom and happiness ; and by the 
 teachings of their religious guides, who 
 sanction it on the revered authority of 
 the revelation of God. 
 
 Contending thus, as they believe, for 
 property, society, home, political excel- 
 lence, history, and even religion, it is 
 not surprising that the Southern Con- 
 federacy should engage in the struggle 
 with all the earnestness and energy that 
 have ever characterized a spirited people 
 rising in defence of interests dearer to 
 them than life itself. 
 
 In calculating, therefore, the power of 
 resistance of our antagonists, it is neces- 
 sary to give full weight to the sentiments 
 which actuate them. The ordinary es- 
 timates of statisticians would fall far 
 short of the might of a people stimu- 
 lated by the intensity of a dominating 
 passion, which unquestionably has been 
 
 aroused in the South by the supposed 
 danger to slavery. 
 
 When in South Carolina an aged man 
 of three-score and ten, the grey-haired 
 politician Ruffin, joins the ranks and is 
 the first to open fire upon the Federal 
 flag at Sumter ; when a patriarch of the 
 Church, Bishop Polk, of Louisiana, lays 
 aside the crosier, the emblem of the 
 gentle shepherd meekly leading his flock 
 to the Lord's pasturage, and grasping 
 the sword fiercely marshals soldiers to 
 battle ; when boys just in their teens 
 leave the playground and its mimic con- 
 tests, and, encouraged by a mother's 
 smile, shoulder the musket and go with 
 tragic earnestness to the battle-field, to 
 return perhaps in death to that mother's 
 embrace, through whose tears even then 
 shine a glow of exultation in the sacri- 
 fice of her child to his country ; when a 
 people thus are willing to give up so 
 much that is dear to a cause which they 
 believe dearer still, what becomes of 
 the calculations of the unfeeling statis- 
 tician ? 
 
 That the Confederate States thus have 
 been enabled to call into the field a 
 larger proportion of their population 
 than is usually estimated as the quota 
 of soldiers in the same number of inhab- 
 itants, will be readily conceded. The 
 ordinary limit for military service be- 
 tween eighteen and forty-five has un- 
 doubtedly been practically if not for- 
 mally extended. Old men of three- 
 score, as well as boys hardly in their 
 teens, are to be seen more frequently in 
 the ranks of the enemy than in our own 
 or in any other army. 
 
COMPARATIVE RESOURCES. 
 
 365 
 
 There is also undoubtedly a strong 
 patriotic sentiment at the North, which 
 has already shown itself in the rapid 
 enrolment of an immense force, now 
 estimated at 600,000 men. This is in- 
 spired by an enthusiastic attachment to 
 the Union, and a deep indignation against 
 those who have attempted to destroy it. 
 The Northern sentiment, unlike that of 
 the South, comes from no fear of danger 
 to any immediate personal interests. 
 Our people feel secure in their own 
 States, of retaining all their social insti- 
 tutions. The advantages of the Union, 
 though firmly believed in and spiritedly 
 contended for, are not felt to be direct 
 and personal. They accept as a truth, 
 that the preservation of the Government 
 in its unity is essential to the glory of 
 their country. Practically experiencing 
 all the immediate benefits of good gov- 
 ernment, security to property, to life, and 
 to the pursuit of happiness, they can not 
 personally appreciate the danger to their 
 interests that would arise from dismem- 
 berment of the nation. To them, there- 
 fore, the assertion, by arms, of the Fed- 
 eral authority which to the thoughtful 
 statesman is absolutely necessary for the 
 preservation of national existence is 
 merely a struggle for an idea. The 
 common soldier, at the North, so far as 
 he is prompted by any motive beyond 
 the simple duty of serving his country, 
 is fighting for an abstraction, while the 
 Southerner has taken up arms for a 
 reality. This of course is to be under- 
 stood rather as a difference in sentiment 
 than in nature ; for the preservation 
 of the Union is believed to be, by the 
 
 thoughtful, a much more genuine inter- 
 est than the conservation of slavery, 
 even if it were endangered. 
 
 The sentimental influence, however, 
 prevailing to a much greater extent at 
 the South than at the North, has pro- 
 duced in the former a more intense de- 
 gree of earnestness. It is seen not only 
 in the wonderful force and obstinacy with 
 which the Confederates have hitherto 
 resisted the superior numbers and re- 
 sources of the Federal Government, but 
 in the spirit with which the Southern 
 soldier enters battle. He rushes to the 
 fight with a wild shout, and seems in- 
 spired with an insatiable desire of venge- 
 ance. The Northern soldier, on the 
 contrary, is observed to be silent, and 
 though not less brave, is certainly less 
 fierce. 
 
 In regard to material resources, those 
 of the North undoubtedly greatly pre- 
 ponderate. The South, however, is prob- 
 ably provided with means which will 
 prove to a people, animated as they are 
 by an intense spirit of fanaticism, amply 
 sufficient for carrying on a long defen- 
 sive war. 
 
 Of munitions of war, the Southern 
 Confederacy is reported to have a large 
 supply. A Southern journal,* whose 
 account, however, must be taken with 
 reserve, asserted that the following arms 
 had been seized since the beginning of 
 the secession movement : 
 
 Baton Kouge 70,000 
 
 Alabama Arsenal. . . . 20,000 
 
 Elizabeth, N. C 30,000 
 
 Fayetteville, N. C. . . 35,000 
 Charleston 23,000 
 
 Harper's Ferry 5,000 
 
 Norfolk 7,000 
 
 Other places 100,000 
 
 Total 290,000 
 
 The following are reported to have 
 
 The Memphis Appeal, 
 
366 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 been previously purchased by the sev- 
 eral seceding States. 
 
 Alabama 80,000 Mississippi 50,000 
 
 Virginia 73.000 Florida 17,000 
 
 Louisiana 30,000 
 
 Georgia 120,000 
 
 South Carolina 47,000 Total 417,000 
 
 This makes a grand total of 707,000 
 stand of arms, to which the same author- 
 ity adds 200,000 revolvers. 
 
 Another Southern newspaper* makes 
 the following statement : 
 
 " The facts we are about to state are 
 official and indisputable. Under a single 
 order of the late Secretary of War, the 
 Hon. Mr. Floyd, made during last year, 
 there were 115,000 improved muskets 
 and rifles transferred from the Spring- 
 field Armory and Watervliet Arsenal to 
 different arsenals at the South. The 
 precise destination that was reached by 
 all these arms, we have official authority 
 for stating to have been as follows : 
 
 Percussion Altered Percus. 
 Muskets. Muskets. Rifles. 
 
 Charleston (S. C.) Arsenal. . 9,280 6,720 2,000 
 
 North Carolina Arsenal 15,408 9,520 2,000 
 
 Augusta (Ga.) Arsenal 12,380 7,620 2,000 
 
 Mount Vernon (Ala.) 9,280 5,720 2,000 
 
 Baton Rouge, La 18,520 11,420 2,000 
 
 " The total number of improved arms 
 thus supplied to five depositories in the 
 South, by a single order of the late 
 Secretary of War, was 114,868. What 
 numbers were supplied by other and 
 minor orders, and what numbers of im- 
 proved arms had, before the great order, 
 been deposited in the South, can not 
 now be ascertained." 
 
 The Southern Confederates, moreover, 
 were well supplied, by the capture of the 
 Federal forts, foundries, and navy-yards, 
 with a large quantity of ordnance of vari- 
 
 The Richmond (Va.) Inquirer. 
 
 ous kinds. At the same time, having suc- 
 ceeded in securing machinery abandoned 
 or incompletely destroyed by the United 
 States garrisons, they have been enabled 
 to manufacture arms and cannon, while 
 they have continued, in spite of the 
 blockade, to add constantly to their store 
 from Europe. It is supposed, therefore, 
 though they may have some difficulty in 
 readily supplying themselves with pow- 
 der, that the enemy have generally a 
 good stock of the best munitions of war. 
 
 Their resources in this respect, though 
 more abundant, perhaps, at the begin- 
 ning of the war than those of the North, 
 will diminish in comparison, if hostilities 
 should be long protracted. The North- 
 ern States, apart from their free com- 
 merce with Europe, have, with their 
 more skilled artisanship, greater sup- 
 plies of coal and iron, and facilities of 
 machinery, advantages with which the 
 slave States can not possibly compete. 
 
 It is in the marine, however, that 
 the inferiority of the Southern Confed- 
 eracy is most manifest. Notwithstand- 
 ing the extended sea-coast of the slave 
 States, and the fact that their chief pro- 
 ductions are raised for export, their 
 commerce has been almost entirely 
 carried on by Northern vessels. Their 
 own commercial marine was confined to 
 a few small coasters, an occasional trader 
 to foreign countries, and to river steam- 
 ers. The new government has therefore 
 but little material from which to form a 
 navy. The Federal vessels which the 
 secessionists have seized, added to those 
 they already possessed, have been armed, 
 and constitute a naval force which is 
 
THE NAVIES. 
 
 367 
 
 estimated at twenty-six steamers and 
 propellers, mounted with a total of fifty 
 guns, and five sailing vessels, originally 
 United States revenue cutters, carrying 
 in all ten guns. It is true that, by the 
 abandonment by United States officers of 
 the Norfolk navy-yard and the incom- 
 plete destruction of the vessels, several 
 men-of-war, more or less available for ser- 
 vice, fell into their possession. These, 
 however, have been hitherto blockaded 
 in James River by the Federal Fortress 
 Monroe and our cruisers. 
 
 The privateers fitted out may amount 
 perhaps to about a score, carrying prob- 
 ably four guns each. The whole naval 
 force of the Southern Confederacy can 
 hardly be more than half a hundred 
 vessels, with a total of 150 guns. 
 
 The Federal navy, though at the 
 beginning of the conflict in a condition 
 very unfavorable for service, was even 
 then immeasurably superior to the 
 strongest force that the enemy could float. 
 Those United States vessels which were 
 fit for use had been sent mostly on for- 
 eign service, through, it was suspected, 
 the machinations of Southern conspira- 
 tors. With these, the whole available 
 July force amounted, according to the 
 3t report of the Secretary of the Navy, 
 to: 
 
 Guns. 
 
 1 ship-of-the-line 84 
 
 8 frigates 400 
 
 20 sloops 406 
 
 3 brigs 16 
 
 3 storeships 7 
 
 6 steam frigates 212 
 
 5 first-class steam sloops 90 
 
 4 first-class side- wheel steamers 46 
 
 8 second-class steam sloops 45 
 
 5 third-class screw steamers 28 
 
 4 second-class side-wheel steamers 8 
 
 2 steam tenders 4 
 
 69 
 
 1,346 
 
 Of this force the following were in 
 commission, the remainder being in or- 
 dinary, dismantled, etc. : 
 
 Guns. 
 
 2 frigates 100 
 
 11 sloops 232 
 
 3 storeships 7 
 
 1 screw frigate 12 
 
 5 first-class steam sloops 90 
 
 3 side-wheel steamers 35 
 
 8 second-class steam sloops 45 
 
 5 third-class screw steamers 28 
 
 3 side-wheel steamers 6 
 
 1 steam tender 1 
 
 42 555 
 
 These vessels had a complement, ex- 
 clusive of officers and marines, of about 
 7,600 men, and nearly all of them were 
 on foreign stations. The home squadron 
 consisted of 12 vessels, carrying 187 
 guns and about 2,000 men. Of this 
 squadron only 4 small vessels, carrying 
 25 guns and about 280 men, were in 
 Northern ports. 
 
 With the immense commercial marine, 
 however, of the North, the Federal 
 Government can augment its naval force 
 almost indefinitely. Already, at j u jy 
 the beginning of July, it had ! 
 thirty-seven regular men-of-war, and 
 thirty-nine steam gun-boats engaged in 
 blockading the Southern coast, with an 
 aggregate of 59,229 tons, 720 guns, and 
 10,113 men. In addition, the Govern- 
 ment had either bought or chartered 
 some thirty-nine merchant steamers, and 
 has been since constantly augmenting 
 this force, besides building fleets of gun- 
 boats and other craft. Mr. Welles, the 
 Secretary of the Navy, in his report 
 (December 2d) makes the following com- 
 putation : 
 
 "When the vessels now building and 
 purchased, of every class, are armed, 
 
368 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 equipped, and ready for service, the 
 condition of the navy will be as follows : 
 
 OLD NAVY. 
 
 Class. No. Tonnage. 
 
 Ships-of-line 6 16,094 . 
 
 Frigates 7 .... 12,104 . 
 
 Sloops 17 .... 16,031 . 
 
 Brigs 2 .... 539 . 
 
 Store-ships 3 342 . 
 
 Receiving ships, etc 6 .... 6,340 . 
 
 Screw frigates 6 .... 21,460 . 
 
 First-class screw sloops. 6 .... 11,953 . 
 
 First-class side- wheel steam sloops 4 .... 8,003 . 
 
 Second-class screw sloops 8 .... 7,593 . 
 
 Third-class screw sloops 5 .... 2,405 . 
 
 Third-class side-wheel steamers. . . 4 .... 1,808 . 
 Steam tenders . . . 2 . . 599 . 
 
 Guns. 
 ... 504 
 . . . 350 
 ... 342 
 ... 12 
 ... 7 
 . . . 100 
 . . . 222 
 . . . 109 
 . .. 46 
 . .. 45 
 . .. 28 
 . .. 28 
 4 
 
 Total ........................ 76 
 
 105,271 ...1,803 
 
 PURCHASED VESSELS. 
 
 Side-wheel steamers 36 26,680 
 
 Screw steamers 43 20,403 
 
 Ships 13 .... 9,998 
 
 Schooners 24 5,324 
 
 Barks 18.... 8,432 
 
 Brigs 2 460 
 
 . 166 
 . 175 
 . 52 
 . 49 
 . 78 
 4 
 
 Total.. ..136 
 
 71,297 .... 524 
 
 VESSSELS CONSTRUCTED. 
 
 Screw sloops 14 .... 16,787 
 
 Gun-boats 23 .... 11,661 
 
 Side-wheel steamers 12 .... 8,400 
 
 Iron-clad steamers 3 .... 4,600 
 
 Total.. ..52 
 
 41,448 
 
 98 
 92 
 
 48 
 18 
 
 256 
 
 making a total of 264 vessels, 2,583 
 guns, and 218,016 tons. The aggregate 
 number of seamen in the service on the 
 th of March last was 7,600. The number 
 now is not less than 22,000." 
 
 It was supposed by the unionists, at 
 the commencement of the conflict, that 
 the secessionists would soon fail in their 
 resistance from want of food. However 
 inferior the seceded States may be to 
 the loyal States in the supply of edible 
 products, the quantity produced by the 
 former is not so much less as has been 
 supposed, and is amply sufficient to sus- 
 tain their population. 
 
 The value of the live-stock in all the 
 slave States amounts to $240,000,000, 
 while that of the free States is esti- 
 mated at $300,000,000. If we deduct 
 from the former the value of the live- 
 stock of the States of Delaware, Mary- 
 land, Kentucky, and Missouri, the large 
 amount of $180,000,000 is left as the 
 product of the seceded States alone. 
 The quantity of cereals, wheat, rye, In- 
 dian corn, and oats annually produced 
 by all the slave States is computed at 
 400,000,000 bushels, while that of the 
 free States amounts to 350,000,000 only. 
 If, again, we deduct from the former the 
 production of the four slave States still 
 loyal, the result leaves for the seceded 
 States 333,628,204 bushels. In addition 
 to this large supply of edible products, 
 there must be added rice, of which 
 250,000,000 bushels are produced in the 
 slave States, and none in the free. If 
 we again deduct the small amount of 
 6,400 bushels produced in Kentucky and 
 Missouri, there is left the large number 
 of 214,993,600 bushels of rice as the 
 product of the seceded States. 
 
 Of cane-sugar 247,294 pounds, and 
 of molasses 12,108,305 gallons, are pro- 
 duced in the seceded States, a trifling 
 quantity of both in the other slave 
 States, and only a few gallons of the 
 latter and none of the former in the 
 free. 
 
 In the annual production of barley 
 and buckwheat, however, the free States 
 greatly surpass the slave, that of the 
 former being 13,750,000 bushels, and 
 that of the latter only 560,200, of which 
 310,000 bushels are produced by the se- 
 
CAN THE ENEMY BE STARVED OUT? 
 
 369 
 
 ceded States. Of butter, the free States 
 produce also the large quantity of 246,- 
 000,000 Ibs., while the seceded States 
 produce only 44,770,000 Ibs., and the 
 other slave States Delaware, 1,058,- 
 308 Ibs. ; Maryland, 3,806,161 Ibs. ; 
 Kentucky, 9,847,523 Ibs. ; and Missouri, 
 7,834,359 Ibs. Of cheese, the product 
 of the free States amounts to 104,000,- 
 000 Ibs., that of the seceded States 963,- 
 000 Ibs. only, and of the other slave 
 States 424,488 Ibs. Of potatoes, the 
 product in the free States gives the an- 
 nual amount of 54, 000, 000 bushels ; that 
 of the four slave States, Delaware, Mary- 
 land, Kentucky, and Missouri, gives 
 3,393,974, and that of the other slave 
 States 40,500,000. It must be under- 
 stood that the potatoes of the Northern 
 States are mostly those known as the 
 Irish, and those of the slave States the 
 sweet. Thus it will be seen that there 
 is little probability of the insurrection- 
 ists being starved out.* 
 
 We give here some other valuable statistics which 
 will assist in forming a comparative estimate of the re- 
 sources of the two belligerents. 
 
 TOBACCO. 
 States. Pounds. 
 
 Delaware None. 
 
 Maryland 21,407,497 
 
 Kentucky 55,501,196 
 
 Missouri 17,113,784 
 
 In the other slave States 86,000,000 
 
 In all the free States 20,000,000 
 
 COTTON. 
 States. Bales. 
 
 Delaware None. 
 
 Maryland None. 
 
 Missouri None. 
 
 Kentucky 758 
 
 In all the slave States 2,500,000 
 
 400 Ibs. in each bale. 
 
 In all the free States None. 
 
 47 
 
 In estimating the resources of the 
 Southern Confederacy, it must be borne 
 in mind that it has hitherto reaped some 
 benefit, though partial, directly from its 
 communications with Maryland, Missouri 
 and Kentucky, and indirectly through 
 those States from the abounding North. 
 The larger portion of the wealth, how- 
 ever, of the slave States is dependent 
 upon their cotton, estimated at an an- 
 nual value of $200,000,000, and their 
 slaves, computed to be worth from 
 $700,000,000 to $1,000,000,000. The 
 
 VALUE OF HOME-MADE MANUFACTURES. 
 
 States. Dollars. 
 
 Delaware 38,121 
 
 Maryland 1 11 ,828 
 
 Kentucky 2,459,128 
 
 Missouri 1,674,706 
 
 In the other slave States 14,349,347 
 
 In all the free States 9,260,000 
 
 WOOL. 
 
 States. Pounds. 
 
 Delaware 58,000 
 
 Maryland 477,000 
 
 Kentucky 2,300,000 
 
 Missouri 1,627,000 
 
 In the other slave States 9,000,000 
 
 In all the free States 40,000,000 
 
 HAT. 
 
 States. Tons. 
 
 Delaware 30,159 
 
 Maryland 157,956 
 
 Kentucky 113,747 
 
 Missouri 116,925 
 
 In the other slave States 721,676 
 
 In all the free States 12,700,000 
 
 FLAX. 
 
 States. Pounds. 
 
 Delaware 11,174 
 
 Maryland 35,686 
 
 Kentucky 2,100,116 
 
 Missouri 557,160 
 
 In the other slave States 2,000,000 
 
 In all the free States 3,000,000 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 INCREASE IN THE PAST TEN YEARS. In Delaware, Mary- 
 land, Kentucky, Missouri 34 per cent. In the other slave 
 States 25 per cent. 
 
370 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 cotton, as long as the present blockade 
 exists, and is respected by foreign pow- 
 ers, is nearly valueless, for with but few 
 unimportant uses for it at home, it is 
 raised almost entirely for foreign export. 
 As for the slaves, if they remain faith- 
 ful, their labor can be transferred, though 
 with a loss of profit, to the production 
 of what is needed during the war, or 
 even to operations essential to it. 
 
 To form an idea of the magnitude of 
 the work which the North has before it, 
 it is necessary to consider the geograph- 
 ical difficulties to be overcome. With 
 the greatly superior resources of our 
 Government, the war will probably be 
 for the most part an offensive one, in the 
 sense that it will be carried on in the 
 enemy's territory. The extent of that 
 territory, therefore, becomes a question 
 of the utmost importance in estimating 
 the probable magnitude of our opera- 
 
 tions. The total area of the slave 
 States, exclusive of Delaware, is no less 
 than 886,199 square miles. To this im- 
 mense territory there is a coast line of 
 3,523 miles, a shore line of 25,414, and 
 an interior boundary line of 7,031 miles 
 in length. Maryland, Missouri, and 
 Kentucky, although loyal, are included 
 in this estimate, for they form a part of 
 the present field of military operations. 
 The free State of Kansas, embracing 
 125,283 square miles, and the Western 
 Territories with an aggregate area of 
 1,163,066 square miles, might be added 
 perhaps, as they have already become, 
 to some extent, and will continue to be, 
 scenes of conflict. 
 
 There is no record in history of so 
 gigantic a war, and never have lived a 
 people with such resources to carry it 
 on. May the end be as beneficent as 
 the means are profuse ! 
 
KING COTTON. 
 
 3T1 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The Effect of Cotton upon Secession. Southern opinion. King Cotton and his Foreign Subjects. The influence of 
 Cotton in England and France. The force of necessity operating in two ways. Will the hopes of the South be 
 disappointed? New sources of a Cotton Supply. Southern Agents in Europe. Foreign Ministers appointed by the 
 Federal Government. Their Character. Adams. Dayton. Instructions of Mr. Seward, Secretary of State. 
 Intelligence from England anxiously awaited. Lord John Russell's Speech in Parliament. The Southern Confed- 
 eracy acknowledged a Belligerent. Speech of Lord Palmerston. Effect in the United States. England denounced. 
 Cotton in the Ears. Ungenerous expression of the British Press. Order of the British Government in regard to 
 Armed Vessels and Privateers of the Belligerents. Declaration of the Emperor of France. Other Powers of Europe. 
 Queen Victoria's Proclamation. Debate in the House of Lords. Lord Ellenborough's Speech. Blockade Denned. 
 Contraband of War. Speech of Earl Granville. His Definition of Blockade and Contraband. Speech of the Earl 
 of Derby. Declares Privateering not Piracy. British Subjects must be Protected. Speech of Lord Brougham. De- 
 clares Privateering not Piracy. Warning to British Subjects. Speech of the Lord Chancellor. The Interests of Eng- 
 land. How affected by the War. English soreness. How viewed by North and South. Difficulties. Correspond- 
 ence between Lord Lyons and Seward. Seizure of Slidcll and Mason. Feeling toward the United States in France. 
 Courtesy and Disinterestedness of French Writers. Visit of Prince Napoleon. The Comte de Paris and the Due 
 de Chartres. The Letter of the Emperor of Russia. Se ward's Circular on Sea and Lake Fortifications. Its effect. 
 Its true purport. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE presumption that their chief pro- 
 duct was of vital importance to 
 Europe, and especially to Great 
 Britain and France, had undoubtedly 
 a great influence in encouraging the 
 cotton-producing States to take the bold 
 step of seceding from the Union. Firmly 
 persuaded that the millions of operatives 
 of the British and French manufacturing 
 towns were bound in compulsory subjec- 
 tion to cotton, which the Southern plant- 
 ers, in boastful pride of its power, had 
 crowned " king, 7 ' they believed that all 
 national obligations must necessarily 
 yield to the peremptory allegiance de- 
 manded by their proclaimed monarch. 
 Without cotton, they supposed that the 
 looms of Manchester and Mulhause would 
 be stopped, their operatives deprived of 
 work and necessarily of bread, and that 
 the cry of the famished millions of 
 
 England and France would so ring in 
 imperial and queenly ears, that the voice 
 of international justice and law could 
 not be heard. They contended that self- 
 preservation, the first law of nations as 
 of individuals, would force the govern- 
 ments of England and France to break 
 through all restrictions of convention 
 and right, to obtain what was supposed 
 to be necessary to their vitality. It 
 may be supererogatory now, while the 
 march of events is so rapidly crushing 
 out the most elaborate preconceived 
 theories, to remind the sanguine calcula- 
 tors of the South that the very necessity 
 upon which they presumed, has a modi- 
 fying power. Suddenly deprived of a 
 product necessary to the support, if 
 not to the existence, of a large portion 
 of their people, the governments of 
 Europe invoked new sources of produc- 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 tion, and India, Africa, South America, 
 and the West Indies at once responded 
 with a generous promise of a cotton sup- 
 ply. That great suffering among Euro- 
 pean operatives was a consequence of the 
 sudden arrest of the commercial rela- 
 tions of Great Britain and France with 
 the Southern States of America, cannot 
 be denied, but that it will act as a stim- 
 ulus to the production of cotton else- 
 where, will hardly be doubted. 
 
 The Southern Confederacy, confidently 
 calculating upon its controlling influence 
 upon the policy of Europe, arising from 
 its monopoly of the cotton supply, sent, 
 at an early period, three commissioners, 
 Messrs. Yancey and Mann to Great 
 Britain, and Host to France, with the 
 view of pressing, and giving a timely 
 direction to, the interposition of these 
 governments in the present struggle. 
 
 The Federal Government, under the 
 administration of its Republican chief, 
 Mr. Lincoln, hastened to counteract the 
 influence of the agents of the Confed- 
 eracy, by sending to the various courts 
 of Europe ambassadors of unquestioned 
 loyalty, to take the place of those who 
 had been appointed by Mr. Buchanan 
 while under the guidance of his Southern 
 advisers. While the patriotism of some 
 of these was unquestioned, the dis- 
 loyalty of others was either suspect or 
 manifest. 
 
 To the court of St. James was sent 
 Mr. Adams, of Massachusetts, the son 
 of John Quincy Adams and the grand- 
 son of John Adams, a man who with 
 large and refined culture, much social 
 importance from wealth and family, and 
 
 considerable political experience, is an 
 able and dignified representative of the 
 country, capable not only faithfully 
 to guard its interests, but honorably to 
 uphold its character. Mr. Dayton, of 
 New Jersey, was sent to the court of the 
 Tuileries, and though he wants the qual- 
 ification of speaking the French lan- 
 guage seldom possessed by our repre- 
 sentatives sent to France is admitted 
 to be a judicious statesman. A senator 
 of the United States, and the candidate 
 for Yice-President with Fremont for 
 President, he had been elevated to such 
 high political position at home, that it 
 was reasonable to hope he would prove 
 an able and dignified representative of 
 the country abroad. The spirit of the 
 instructions given to these ministers may 
 be learned from the somewhat defiant 
 message to the French secretary of state 
 from Secretary Seward through Mr. 
 Dayton: "Tell Mr. .Thouvenel, then, 
 with the highest consideration and good 
 feeling, that the thought of a dissolution 
 of this Union, peaceably or by force, 
 has never entered into the mind of any 
 candid statesman here, and it is high 
 time that it be dismissed by statesmen 
 of Europe." 
 
 While at the South the secessionists 
 were confidently anticipating sympathy 
 and an alliance in Europe, the North was 
 not without anxiety lest they might be 
 conceded. The intelligence from Eng- 
 land especially was anxiously awaited. 
 The first authoritative assertion of m a y 
 the position of the English Govern- 6t 
 ment came from Lord John Russell, the 
 foreign secretary, in the British Parlia- 
 
THE SOUTH ACKNOWLEDGED A BELLIGERENT. 
 
 373 
 
 ment, in answer to a question from Mr. 
 Gregory, who had already exhibited his 
 sympathy with the seceded States, by 
 giving notice of a motion to recognize 
 them. 
 
 In the House of Commons Mr. Greg- 
 ory said : 
 
 "Mr. Lincoln had proclaimed a blockade of the ports 
 of the seven Confederate States, and, therefore, it was 
 necessary to ask a question with regard to two other States 
 which were in an attitude of hostility to the United States, 
 although they did not belong to the South. He had to 
 ask the noble lord, the Foreign Secretary 1st. Whether 
 any attempt of the Government of the United States to 
 levy Federal dues off foreign vessels outside the ports of 
 North Carolina and Virginia, before such vessels break bulk, 
 would not be an infringement of international law, and, 
 if so, whether our Minister at Washington had received 
 instr ictions to that effect? 2d. Whether the Government 
 of the United States had been informed that a blockade of 
 any port of the Southern confederated States, unless effec- 
 tive, will not be recognized ? 3d. The Government of the 
 United States having refused to relinquish the belligerent 
 right of issuing letters-of-marque, the seven Southern con- 
 federated and sovereign States having become to the 
 United States a separate and independent foreign power, 
 whether Her Majesty's Government recognizes the right of 
 the President of the Southern Confederacy to issue letters- 
 of-marque, and, if so, whether our Minister at Washing- 
 ton had been notified to that effect ?" (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Lord J. Russell said : 
 
 "In regard to the honorable gentleman's first ques- 
 tion, I have to say that, having consulted the Queen's 
 Advocate with respect to Federal dues to be levied out- 
 side the ports of North Carolina and Virginia, he stated 
 to me that the answer to such a question must depend 
 entirely upon the circumstances of the case, and that it 
 could not at all be declared beforehand whether such an 
 attempt to levy dues would be according or contrary to 
 international law. Of course, no instructions on that sub- 
 ject have been sent to Her Majesty's Minister at Wash- 
 ington ; but Lord Lyons is of opinion that such an in- 
 tention would be found impracticable, and would not be 
 likely to be effective. [Hear, hear.] With respect to the 
 honorable gentlemen's second question, whether the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States have been informed that a 
 blockade of any port of the Southern Confederacy, unless 
 it were effective, would not be recognized, I certainly have 
 not frit it necessary to give any instructions to our Minister 
 on that subject. It is well known to Lord Lyons, and it 
 certainly has been declared law by the United States, that 
 no blockade could be recognized or deemed valid unless it 
 were an effective blockade [hear, hear] , and I have no doubt 
 
 that there would be no difference between Her Majesty's 
 Government and the Government of the United States on 
 that point. With regard to the honorable member's next 
 question, as to the belligerent right of issuing letters-of- 
 marque, I must, in the first place, wait for more explana- 
 tion, and, in the second place, reserve part of the answer 
 which I have to give. With respect to belligerent rights 
 in the case of certain portions of a state being in insurrec- 
 tion, there was a precedent which seems applicable to this 
 purpose in the year 1825. The British Government at that 
 time allowed the belligerent rights of the Provisional 
 Government of Greece, and in consequence of that allow- 
 ance, the Turkish Government made a remonstrance. I 
 may state the nature of that remonstrance, and the reply 
 of Mr. Canning. ' The Turkish Government complained 
 that the British Government allowed to the Greek a bel- 
 ligerent character, and observed that it appeared to forget 
 that to subjects in rebellion no national character could 
 properly belong.' But the British Government informed 
 Mr. Stratford Canning, that ' the character of belligerency 
 was not so much a principle as a fact ; that a certain degree 
 of force and consistency, acquired by any mass of popula- 
 tion engaged in war, entitled that population to be treated 
 as a belligerent, and, even if their title were questionable, 
 rendered it the interest well understood of all civilized 
 nations so to treat them ; for what was the alternative ? 
 A power or a community (call it which you will) which 
 was at war with another, and which covered the sea with 
 its cruisers, must either be acknowledged as a belligerent 
 or dealt with as a pirate ;' which latter character, as ap- 
 plied to the Greeks, was loudly disclaimed. In a separate 
 dispatch of the same date (12th of October, 1825), Mr. S. 
 Canning was reminded that when the British Government 
 acknowledged the right of either belligerent to visit and 
 detain British merchant vessels having enemy's property 
 on board, and to confiscate such property, it was necessarily 
 implied as a condition of such acknowledgment that the 
 detention was for the purpose of bringing the vessels de- 
 tained before an established court of prize, and that con- 
 fiscation did not take place until after condemnation by 
 such competent tribunal. The question has been under 
 the consideration of the Government. They have con- 
 sulted the law officers of the Crown. The Attorney and 
 Solicitor-General, and the Queen's Advocate, and the Gov- 
 ernment have come to the opinion thai the Southern Confederacy 
 of America, according to those principles which seem to them to be 
 just principles, must be treated as a belligerent. [Hear, hear.] 
 But further questions arise out of that question, with re- 
 spect to which we are still in doubt as what are the altera- 
 tions which are to be made in the law of nations in consequence of 
 the declaration of Paris ; and those questions being of a difficult 
 and intricate nature, have not yet been determined upon. They are 
 still under the consideration of the Government, and will 
 be still further considered, before any declaration is made 
 to other powers." (Hear, hear.) 
 
 At a later hour the same evening, Mr. Bentinck asked 
 Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister, whether, after the 
 
374 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 news recently received from America, he still adhered to 
 the financial policy of Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 Lord Palmerston said : 
 
 "_No one can regret more than I do the intelligence 
 which has been received within the last few days from 
 America ; but, at the same time, any one must have been 
 short-sighted and little capable of anticipating the prob- 
 able course of human events who had not for a long time 
 foreseen events of a similar character to those which we 
 now deplore. [Hear, hear.] From the commencement 
 of this unfortunate quarrel between the two sections of 
 the United States, it was evident that the causes of disunion 
 were too deeply seated to make it possible that separation would 
 not take place, and it was also obvious that passions were 
 so roused on both sides as to make it highly improbable 
 that such separation could take place without a contest. 
 In answer to the question of the honorable member, I 
 would say that, however much I regret the intelligence 
 which we have received within the last few days, yet that in- 
 telligence ought not, in my opinion, to make any difference in the 
 arrangements which, after the fullest consideration, we considered 
 were calculated to meet all the requirements of the public service 
 during the present year." (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The declaration in behalf of the 
 British Government by Lord John Rus- 
 sell in his speech, that " the Southern 
 Confederacy of America, according to 
 those principles which seem to them to 
 be just principles, must be treated as a 
 belligerent," momentarily aroused great 
 indignation at the North. England was 
 charged with being recusant to her pro- 
 fessed love of liberty and respect for 
 law, in thus sanctioning the insurrection 
 of a people who had exhibited a disre- 
 gard for both, by proclaiming rebellion 
 and slavery just and proper. Her states- 
 men were denounced as being influenced 
 merely by commercial interests, as if 
 their ears were so stuffed with cotton 
 that they could not listen to the voices 
 of justice and humanity. 
 
 If it had not been, however, for the 
 ungenerous expression of opinion of the 
 public press of Great Britain, to which, 
 however, there were some honorable 
 
 exceptions, there would probably have 
 been less disposition in the United States 
 to except to the action of the British 
 Government. Many of the English 
 journals, by precipitately predicting the 
 dismemberment of the country as the 
 result of the civil contest, and studiously 
 perverting the motive of the struggle, 
 greatly offended Northern sentiment. 
 While they brought in strong relief the 
 resolution of the Federal Government, 
 in accordance with constitutional obliga- 
 tions, not to interfere with slavery, they 
 at the same time studiously covered the 
 desire of the seceded States to extend 
 and perpetuate it, with the pretext that 
 they were fighting for commercial liberty. 
 
 The original declaration of the British 
 Government was modified by a subse- 
 quent order in council, by which the 
 belligerent character conceded to the 
 Southern Confederacy was deprived of 
 its chief advantage, that of the power of 
 disposing in English ports of prizes cap- 
 tured at sea. It is true that this was 
 to be applied equally to both parties. 
 It was, however, a curtailment of bellig- 
 erent rights more injurious to the South- 
 ern Confederacy than to the United 
 States, as the latter, alone possessed of 
 a commercial marine, was liable to suffer 
 from captures. 
 
 The order of the British Government 
 was conveyed in the following letter : 
 
 "FOREIGN OFFICE, June 1, 1861. 
 
 To THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY My 
 Lords : Her Majesty's Government, as you are aware, de- 
 sirous of observing the strictest neutrality in the contest 
 which appears to be imminent between the United States 
 and the so-styled Confederate States of North America ; 
 and with the view more effectually to carry out this prin- 
 ciple, they propose to interdict the armed vessels, and also 
 
ENGLISH DECLARATION OF NEUTRALITY. 
 
 375 
 
 the privateers of both parties, from carrying prizes made 
 by them into ports, harbors, roadsteads, or waters of the 
 United Kingdom, or any of Her Majesty's colonies or pos- 
 sessions abroad. 
 
 " I have accordingly to acquaint your lordships that the 
 Queen has been pleased to direct that orders, in conform- 
 ity with the principles above stated, should forthwith be 
 addressed to all proper authorities in the United King- 
 dom, and to Her Majesty's naval and other authorities in 
 all quarters beyond the United Kingdom, for their guid- 
 ance in the circumstances. I have, etc. J. RUSSELL." 
 
 A decree of the Emperor of France, 
 
 June coinciding in principle with the 
 
 H* action of the British Government, 
 
 soon followed. It was thus officially 
 
 pronounced : 
 
 "His Majesty the Emperor of the French, taking into 
 consideration the state of peace which now exists between 
 France and the United States of America, has resolved to 
 maintain a strict neutrality in the struggle between the 
 Government of the Union and the States which propose to 
 form a separate confederation. In consequence, His 
 Majesty, considering article 14 of the naval law of August, 
 1861, the third article of the law of the 10th of April, 
 1825, articles 84 and 85 of the Penal Code, 65 and follow- 
 ing of the decree of the 24th of March, 1852, 313 and 
 following of the Code Penal Maritime, and article 21 of the 
 Code Napoleon, declares 
 
 "1. No vessel of war or privateer of either of the bel- 
 ligerent parties will be allowed to enter or stay with prizes 
 in our ports or roadsteads longer than twenty-four hours, 
 excepting in case of compulsory delay (relacheforcee). 
 
 "2. No sale of goods belonging to prizes is allowed in 
 our ports and roadsteads. 
 
 " 3. Every Frenchman is prohibited from taking a com- 
 mission under either of the two parties to arm vessels of 
 war, or to accept letters-of-marque for privateering pur- 
 poses, or to assist in any manner whatsoever the equipment 
 or armament of a vessel of war or privateering of either 
 party. 
 
 "4. Every Frenchman, whether residing in France or 
 abroad, is likewise prohibited from enlisting or taking ser- 
 vice either in the land army or on board vessels of war or 
 privateers of either of the two belligerent parties. 
 
 "5. Frenchmen residing in France or abroad must like- 
 wise abstain from any act which, committed in violation 
 of the laws of the empire or of international law, might 
 be considered as an act hostile to one of the two parties 
 and contrary to the neutrality which we have resolved to 
 observe. All persons acting contrary to the prohibitions 
 and recommendations contained in the present declaration 
 will be prosecuted, if required, conformably to the enact- 
 ments of the law of the 10th of April, 1825, and of articles 
 84 and 85 of the Penal Code, without prejudice to the ap- 
 plication that might be made against such offenders of the 
 
 enactments of the 21st article of the Code Napoleon, and 
 of articles 65 and following of the decree of the 24th of 
 March, 1852, on the merchant service, 313 and following 
 of the Penal Code for the navy. 
 
 " His Majesty declares, moreover, that every Frenchman 
 contra vening the present enactments will have no claim to 
 any protection from his government against any acts or 
 measures, whatever they may be, which the belligerents 
 might exercise or decree. NAPOLEON. 
 
 "THOUVENEL, Minister of Foreign Affairs." 
 
 Most of the other powers of Europe 
 issued similar decrees, recognizing the 
 Southern Confederacy as a belligerent, 
 but placing the same restrictions upon 
 its armed cruisers, as well as those of 
 the United States, as had been done by 
 Great Britain and France. 
 
 The Queen of England, moreover, 
 issued a proclamation, in which the 
 "royal determination to maintain a 
 strict and impartial neutrality," was re- 
 iterated, offences against such neutrality 
 specified, and their penalties awarded.* 
 
 BT THE QUEEN A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 "VICTORIA R. 
 
 ' ' Whereas, We are happily at peace with all sovereigns, 
 powers, and states ; 
 
 "And whereas hostilities have unhappily commenced 
 between the Government of the United States of America 
 and certain States styling themselves ' the Confederate 
 States of America ;' 
 
 " And whereas we, being at peace with the Government 
 of the United States, have declared our Royal determina- 
 tion to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality in the 
 contest between the said contending parties ; 
 
 " We, therefore, have thought fit, by and with the ad- 
 vice of our Privy Council, to issue this our Royal Procla- 
 mation : 
 
 "And we do hereby strictly charge and command all 
 our loving subjects to observe a strict neutrality in and 
 during the aforesaid hostilities, and to abstain from violat- 
 ing or contravening either the laws and statutes of the 
 realm in this behalf, or the law of nations in relation 
 thereto, as they will answer to the contrary at their 
 peril. 
 
 "And whereas, in and by a certain statute made and 
 passed in the fifty-ninth year of His Majesty King George 
 III., entitled 'an act to prevent the enlisting or engage- 
 ment of His Majesty's subjects to serve in a foreign service, 
 and the fitting out or equipping, in His Majesty's domin- 
 
376 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 The proclamation of the Queen was 
 followed by a discussion in the House 
 
 ions, vessels for warlike purposes, without His Majesty's 
 license,' it is, among other things, declared and enacted 
 as follows : 
 
 " 'That if any natural born subject of His Majesty, his 
 heirs and successors, without the leave or license of His 
 Majesty, his heirs or successors, for that purpose first had 
 and obtained, under the sign manual of His Majesty, his 
 heirs or successors, or signified by order in council, or by 
 proclamation of His Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall 
 take or accept, or shall agree to take or accept, any mili- 
 tary commission, or shall otherwise enter into the military 
 service as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer, or 
 shall enlist or enter himself to enlist, or shall agree to en- 
 list or to enter himself to serve as a soldier, or to be em- 
 ployed, or shall serve in any warlike or military operation 
 in the service of, or for, or under, or in aid of any foreign 
 prince, state, potentate, colony, province, or part of any 
 province or people, or of any person or persons, exercising 
 or assuming to exercise the powers of government in or 
 over any foreign country, colony, province, or part of any 
 province or people, either as an officer or a soldier, or in 
 any other military capacity ; or if any natural born sub- 
 ject of His Majesty shall, without such leave or license as 
 aforesaid, accept, or agree to take or accept, any commis- 
 sion, warrant, or appointment, as an officer, or shall enlist 
 or enter himself, or shall agree to enlist or enter himself, 
 to serve as a sailor or marine, or to be employed or en- 
 gaged, or shall serve in and on board any ship or vessel of 
 war, or in and on board any ship or vessel used or fitted 
 out, or equipped, or intended to be used for any warlike 
 purpose, in the service of, or for, or under, or in aid of any 
 foreign power, prince, state, potentate, colony, province, 
 or part of any province or people, or of any person or 
 persons exercising or assuming to exercise the powers of 
 government in or over any foreign country, colony, prov- 
 ince, or part of any province or people ; or, if any natural 
 born subject of His Majesty shall, without such leave and 
 license as aforesaid, engage, contract, or agree to go, or 
 shall go, to any foreign state, country, colony, province, 
 or part of any province, or to any place beyond the seas, 
 with an intent or in order to enlist or enter himself to 
 serve, or with intent to serve, in any warlike or military 
 operation whatever, whether by land or by sea, in the 
 service of, or for, or under, or in aid of any foreign prince, 
 state, potentate, colony, province, or part of any province 
 or people, or in the service of, or for, or under, or in aid 
 of any person or persons exercising or assuming to exercise 
 the powers of government in or over any foreign country, 
 colony, province, or part of any province, or people, 
 either as an officer or a soldier, or in any other military 
 capacity, or an officer or sailor, or marine in any such ship 
 or vessel as aforesaid, although no enlisting money, or pay, 
 or reward shall have been or shall be in any or either of 
 the cases aforesaid actually paid to or received by him, or 
 
 of Lords, in the course of which the 
 questions of what constitutes a blockade 
 
 by any person to or for his use or benefit ; or if any person 
 whatever, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, or any part of His Majesty's dominions else- 
 where, or in any country, colony, settlement, island, or 
 place belonging to or subject to His Majesty, shall hire, 
 retain, engage, or procure, or shall attempt or endeavor 
 to hire, retain, engage, or procure any person or persons 
 whatever to enlist, or enter, or engage to enlist, or to 
 serve or to be employed in any such service or employment 
 as aforesaid, as an officer, soldier, Bailor, or marine, either 
 in land or sea service, for, or under, or in aid of any foreign 
 prince, state, potentate, colony, province, or part of any 
 province or people, or for, or under, or in aid of any per- 
 son or persons exercising or assuming to exercise any 
 powers of government as aforesaid, or to go or to agree 
 to go or embark from any part of His Majesty's dominions, 
 for the purpose or with intent to be enlisted, entered, en- 
 gaged, or employed as aforesaid, whether any enlisting 
 money, pay, or reward shall have been or shall be actually 
 given or received, or not ; in any or either of such cases 
 every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
 demeanor, and upon being convicted thereof, upon any 
 information or indictment, shall be punishable by fine and 
 imprisonment, or either of them, at the discretion of the 
 Court before which such offender shall be convicted.' 
 "And it is in and by the said act further enacted : 
 " 'That if any person, within any part of the United 
 Kingdom or in any part of His Majesty's dominions be- 
 yond the seas, shall without the leave and license of His 
 Majesty, for that purpose first had and obtained as afore- 
 said, equip, furnish, fit out, or arm, or attempt or endeavor 
 to equip, furnish, fit out, or arm, or procure to be equipped, 
 furnished, fitted out, or armed, or shall knowingly aid, 
 assist, or be concerned in the equipping, furnishing, fitting 
 out, or arming of any ship or vessel, with intent or in 
 order that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the 
 service of any foreign prince, state, or potentate, or of any 
 foreign colony, province, or part of any province or people, 
 or of any person or persons, exercising or assuming to ex- 
 ercise any powers of government in or over any foreign 
 state, colony, province, or part of any province or people, 
 as a transport or store ship, or with intent to cruise or 
 commit hostilities against any prince, state, or potentate, 
 or against the subjects or citizens of any prince, state, or 
 potentate, or against the persons exercising or assuming 
 to exercise the powers of government in any colony, prov- 
 ince, or part of any province or country, or against the 
 inhabitants of any foreign colony, province, or part of any 
 province or country, with whom His Majesty shall not 
 then be at war ; or shall, within the United Kingdom, or 
 any of His Majesty's dominions, or in any settlement, 
 colony, territory, island, or place belonging or subject to 
 His Majesty, issue or deliver any commission for any ship 
 or vessel to the intent that such ship or vessel shall be 
 
BLOCKADE AND CONTRABAND DEFINED. 
 
 377 
 
 and how contraband of war should be 
 defined, were solved variously by the 
 
 employed as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall 
 be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall upon con- 
 viction thereof, upon any information or indictment, be 
 punished by fine and imprisonment, or either of them, at 
 the discretion of the Court in which such offender shall 
 be convicted ; and every such ship or vessel, with the 
 tackle, apparel, and furniture, together with all the mate- 
 rials, arms, ammunition, and stores which may belong to 
 or be on board of any such ship or vessel, shall be for- 
 feited ; and it shall be lawful for any officer of His Maj- 
 esty's customs or excise, or any officer of His Majesty's 
 navy, who is by law empowered to make seizures, for any 
 forfeiture incurred under any of the laws of customs or 
 excise, or the laws of trade and navigation, to seize such 
 ships and vessels aforesaid, and in such places and in such 
 manner in which the officers of His Majesty's customs or 
 excise and the officers of His Majesty's navy are empowered 
 respectively to make seizures under the laws of customs 
 and excise, or under the laws of trade and navigation ; 
 and that every ship and vessel, with the tackle, apparel, 
 and furniture, together with all the materials, arms, am- 
 munition, and stores which may belong to or be on board 
 of such ship or vessel, may be prosecuted and condemned 
 in the like manner, and in such courts as ships or vessels 
 may be prosecuted and condemned for any breach of the 
 laws made for the protection of the revenues of customs 
 and excise, or of the laws of trade and navigation. ' 
 ' ' And it is in and by the said act further enacted : 
 " ' That if any person in any part of the United King- 
 dom of Great Britain and Ireland, or in any part of His 
 Majesty's dominions beyond the seas, without leave and 
 license of His Majesty, for that purpose first had and ob- 
 tained as aforesaid, shall, by adding to the number of the 
 guns of such- vessel, or by changing those on board for 
 other guns, or by the addition of any equipment for war, 
 increase or augment, or procure to be increased or aug- 
 mented, or shall be knowingly concerned in increasing or 
 augmenting the warlike force of any ship or vessel of war 
 or cruiser, or other armed vessel, which at the time of her 
 arrival in any part of the United Kingdom, or any of His 
 Majesty's dominions, was a ship of war, cruiser, or armed 
 vessel in the service of any foreign prince, state, or poten- 
 tate, or of any person or persons exercising or assuming to 
 exercise any powers of government in or over any colony, 
 province, or part of any province or people belonging to 
 the subjects of any such prince, state, or potentate, or to 
 the inhabitants of any colony, province, or part of any 
 province or country under the control of any person or 
 persons so exercising or assuming to exercise the powers 
 of government, eveiy such person so offending shall be 
 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon being 
 convicted thereof, upon any information or indictment, be 
 punished by fine and imprisonment, or either of them, at 
 48 
 
 different speakers. Lord Ellenborough, 
 opposed to the present Government, de- 
 
 the discretion of the Court before which such offender 
 shall be convicted.' 
 
 " Now, in order that none of our subjects may unwarily 
 render themselves liable to the penalties imposed by the 
 said statute, we do hereby strictly command, that no person 
 or persons whatsoever do commit any act, matter, or thing 
 whatsoever, contrary to the provisions of the said statute, 
 upon pain of the several penalties by the said statute im- 
 posed, and of our high displeasure. 
 
 " And we do hereby further warn all our loving sub- 
 jects, and all persons whatsoever entitled to our protec- 
 tion, that if any of them shall presume, in contempt of 
 this Royal Proclamation, and of our high displeasure, to 
 do any acts in derogation of their duty as subjects of a 
 neutral sovereign, in the said contest, or in violation or 
 contravention of the law of nations in that behalf as, for 
 example and more especially, by entering into the military 
 service of either of the said contending parties as commis- 
 sioned or non-commissioned officers or soldiers ; or by 
 serving as officers, sailors, or marines on board any ship or 
 vessel of war or transport of or in the service of either of 
 the said contending parties; or by serving as officers, 
 sailors, or marines on board any privateer bearing letters- 
 of -marque of or from either of the said contending parties ; 
 or by engaging to go or going to any place beyond the 
 seas with intent to enlist or engage in any such service, or 
 by procuring or attempting to procure within Her Majesty's 
 dominions, at home or abroad, others to do so ; or by fit- 
 ting out, arming, or equipping any ship or vessel to be em- 
 ployed as a ship-of-war, or privateer, or transport, by 
 either of the said contending parties ; or by breaking, or 
 endeavoring to break, any blockade lawfully and actually 
 established by or on behalf of either of the said contending 
 parties ; or by carrying officers, soldiers, despatches, arms, 
 military stores, or materials, or any article or articles con- 
 sidered and deemed to be contraband of war according to 
 the law of modern usage of nations, for the use or service 
 of either of the said contending parties, all persons so 
 offending will incur and be liable to the several penalties 
 and penal consequences by the said statute, or by the law 
 of nations, in that behalf imposed or denounced. 
 
 ' ' And we do hereby declare that all our subjects and per- 
 sons entitled to our protection who may misconduct them- 
 selves in the premises will do so at their peril and of their 
 own wrong, and that they will in nowise obtain any pro- 
 tection from us against any liability or penal consequences, 
 but will, on the contrary, incur our high displeasure by 
 such misconduct. 
 
 " Given at our Court at the White Lodge, Richmond Park, 
 this 13th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1861, 
 and In the 24th year of our reign. 
 
 " GOD save the QUEEN." 
 
 London Gazette, May 14. 
 
378 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 clared if they adhered to the maritime 
 law agreed to by the Plenipotentiaries 
 of Paris, which declared that, "in order 
 to be binding, a blockade must be an 
 effectual blockade" that was to say, 
 that it should be maintained by a force 
 sufficient to prevent access to the ene- 
 my's coasts, and these words were to be 
 literally understood that "a blockade 
 was a thing almost physically impossible, 
 because no nation in the world possessed 
 a fleet large enough for this purpose." 
 His lordship, moreover, expressed his 
 regret that the Queen, in her proclama- 
 tion, had not clearly asserted the well- 
 recognized principle, that "contraband 
 of war was that which, in possession of 
 an enemy, would enable him better to 
 carry on the war." 
 
 Earl Granville, as Lord President, 
 spoke authoritatively for the Govern- 
 ment, and declared, "There was no 
 doubt that blockade was lawfully and 
 actually established, if maintained in a 
 proper form and manner, and by such a 
 force as to make it, not impossible, but 
 difficult for vessels to enter or come out." 
 In regard to contraband of war, his 
 lordship said : ' ' Certain articles were 
 clearly contraband of war, and the 
 character of others could only be deter- 
 mined by the decision of the prize 
 courts. Her Majesty's Government, 
 therefore, had pursued a wise course, in 
 his opinion, in not specifying what was 
 contraband of war." 
 
 The Earl of Derby, though the leader 
 of the opposition, was not disposed, he 
 said, "to complain of the terms of the 
 proclamation as being vague and un- 
 
 certain." He, however, insisted that 
 Her Majesty's Government should make 
 it clearly understood that "a mere 
 paper blockade, alleged to extend 
 over a wide extent of coast which 
 it was impossible to blockade, would 
 not be recognized as valid by the Brit- 
 ish Government." In regard to the 
 declaration of the United States, that 
 the privateers of the States in rebellion 
 are pirates, his lordship said : "He ap- 
 prehended that if anything was clearer 
 than another, it was that privateering 
 was not piracy, and that no law could 
 make that piracy, as regarded the sub- 
 jects of one nation, which was not 
 piracy by the law of nations. Conse- 
 quently the United States must not be 
 allowed to entertain this doctrine, and 
 to call upon Her Majesty's Government 
 not to interfere. They must not strain 
 the law so as to visit with penalty of 
 death, as for piracy, persons entitled to 
 Her Majesty's protection. That was a 
 question which could not be viewed 
 with indifference, but must be seriously 
 considered by the Government." 
 
 Lord Brougham said : "It was clear 
 that privateering was not piracy, by the 
 law of nations, however much it might 
 be lamented that it was not so. But if 
 any person or subject of this country 
 (Great Britain) entered into an expedi- 
 tion against another country, with which 
 we (Great Britain) were at peace, that 
 was of itself a piratical act, and they 
 had themselves to blame who, after full 
 warning, chose to take that course, 
 and could not expect their govern- 
 ment to interpose to save them from 
 
A PRIVATEER NOT A PIRATE. 
 
 379 
 
 the extreme penalties attached to that 
 course." 
 
 The Lord Chancellor declared, "There 
 was no doubt that if an Englishman en- 
 gaged in the service of the Southern 
 States, he violated the laws of the coun- 
 try and rendered himself liable to pun- 
 ishment, and that he had no right to 
 trust to the protection of his native 
 country to shield him from the conse- 
 quences of his act. But though that 
 individual would be guilty of a breach of 
 the law of his own country, he could not 
 be treated as a pirate, and those who 
 treated him as a pirate would be guilty of 
 murder" 
 
 Lord Kingsdown said : " As to the state 
 of the law, there could be no doubt a pri- 
 vateer acting under a government was not 
 a pirate. No doubt the United States 
 did not put the extravagant proclama- 
 tion they had issued upon the ground 
 that privateers were pirates, because 
 they themselves insisted upon the right 
 of privateering. But they put it upon 
 this ground, that they were dealing with 
 rebels, and that they would hang them, 
 not, properly speaking, as pirates, but 
 as persons who were guilty of high 
 treason against the State to which they 
 were subject. Of course it was a matter 
 for their own consideration what was to 
 be the operation of that proclamation. 
 He believed that the enforcement of that 
 doctrine would be an act of barbarity 
 which would produce an outcry through- 
 out the civilized world, but he hoped that 
 it was a mere brutum fulmen, and not in- 
 tended to be carried out. But that being 
 the case with regard to their own coun- 
 
 try, the case with regard to England was 
 quite different. We had recognized the 
 Southern Confederacy, not as an inde- 
 pendent State, but as a belligerent 
 Power ; and therefore, if the Federal 
 Government should act upon the principle 
 they had laid down as against British 
 subjects, he apprehended that this Govern- 
 ment might with perfect justice interfere, 
 and under some circumstances they might, 
 by the influence of public opinion, be com- 
 pelled to interfere. Yet, at the same 
 time, the offender could not as a right, 
 having acted in violation of the feeling 
 of his own country, and therefore of his 
 own government, call upon his govern- 
 ment to interfere." 
 
 Lord Brougham, at the close of the 
 debate, made a pertinent allusion to the 
 case of Ambrister and Arbuthnot, exe- 
 cuted by General Jackson, to remind 
 British subjects of the risk they run in 
 serving on either side : "A case had 
 occurred," his lordship said, "about 
 thirty years ago, where two British 
 subjects were tried and hanged for 
 piratical interference on land, and no 
 step was taken to save their lives or 
 avenge their death." 
 
 Such are the intimate and extensive 
 commercial relations between Great 
 Britain and the United States, that any 
 war waged by the one must necessarily 
 affect the interests of the other. The 
 present struggle has inflicted an enor- 
 mous injury upon the manufacturing 
 and commercial resources of England, 
 and produced a corresponding degree 
 of national soreness, which is watched 
 with equal interest by both belligerents 
 
380 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 in this country, though with different 
 feelings. The United States looks on 
 with defiant vigilance, while the South- 
 ern Confederacy, in the hope of an 
 English alliance, industriously strives to 
 inflame British irritability to active hos- 
 tility. 
 
 Difficulties soon arose in regard to the 
 seizure of British vessels and the im- 
 prisonment of British subjects, followed 
 by a disputatious correspondence be- 
 tween the British ambassador at Wash- 
 ington, Lord Lyons, and William H. 
 Seward, the secretary of state of the 
 United States ; but nothing occurred 
 beyond the power of diplomacy to solve 
 till the seizure of Messrs. Slidell and 
 Mason, the ambassadors of the Southern 
 Confederacy, under the British flag, and 
 in transitu between neutral ports the 
 history of which belongs to a more ad- 
 vanced part of this narrative an event 
 which threatened for a short time to 
 bring about an open rupture. 
 
 France, though its emperor was repu- 
 ted to be disposed to interfere in our civil 
 quarrel, by a recognition of the South- 
 ern Confederacy, excited less inquietude 
 in the United States than Great Britain. 
 
 Under the French imperial dynasty, 
 with its restrictions upon the press and 
 legislature, there is necessarily less free- 
 dom of expression of opinion than in 
 the constitutional monarchy of England, 
 where all are free to write and speak 
 what they think. There was accord- 
 ingly in the former a more decorous re- 
 serve in regard to the merits of the 
 question at issue, and consequently 
 France, by apparently preserving a more 
 
 dignified neutrality, did less than Great 
 Britain to arouse unkindly feeling in 
 the United States. French writers, as 
 their country's material interests were 
 not so much endangered, were able to 
 discuss the question according to the 
 abstract principles of liberty and right, 
 while the English, less disinterested, 
 treated it in reference to its practical 
 bearings upon a suffering trade and 
 commerce. 
 
 The visit of the cousin of the Em- 
 peror of France, Prince Jerome Napo- 
 leon, and his advocacy of the Northern 
 cause, served to beget a friendly feeling 
 at the North towards France, which was 
 strengthened by the accession of the two 
 young French princes to the ranks of 
 our army the Comte de Paris and the 
 Due de Chartres who, though of the 
 Orleans dynasty, and exiles, were yet 
 welcomed in America as countrymen of 
 the gallant Lafayette. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia manifested 
 his regard for the United States by 
 counselling reconciliation. His prime 
 minister expressed the opinion of his 
 imperial master in a letter* addressed 
 to M. Ed. de Stoeckl, Russian minister 
 at Washington, with instructions to read 
 it to the President. 
 
 c "Sx. PETERSBURGH, July 10. 
 
 "M. DE STOECKL, ETC., ETC. Sir: From the beginning 
 of the conflict which divides the United States of Amer- 
 ica, you have been desired to make known to the Federal 
 Government the deep interest with which our august mas- 
 ter was observing the development of a crisis which puts 
 in question the prosperity and even the existence of tho 
 Union. The Emperor profoundly regrets to see thai the 
 hope of a peaceful solution is not realized, and that Amei- 
 ican citizens already in arms are ready to let loose upon 
 the country the most formidable of the scourges of polit- 
 
SEWARD'S CIRCULAR. 
 
 381 
 
 A circular by the Secretary of State, 
 Mr. Seward, requesting the Governors 
 of the several States to draw the atten- 
 tion of the legislative authorities to the 
 necessity of providing sea and lake coast 
 fortifications, created some inquietude, 
 
 ical society a civil war. For the more than eighty years 
 that it has existed, the American Union owes its inde- 
 pendence, its towering rise, and its progress to the concord 
 of its members, consecrated, under the auspices of its 
 illustrious founder, by institutions which have been able 
 to reconcile the Union with liberty. This Union has been 
 faithful. It has exhibited to the world the spectacle of a 
 prosperity without example in the annals of history. It 
 would be deplorable that, after so conclusive an experi- 
 ence, the United States should be hurried into a breach 
 of the solemn compact which, up to this time, has made 
 their power. In spite of the diversity of their constitu- 
 tions and of their interests, and perhaps even because of 
 this diversity. Providence seems to urge them to draw 
 closer the traditional cord which is the basis of the very 
 condition of their political existence. In any event, the 
 sacrifices which they might impose upon themselves to 
 maintain it are beyond comparison with those which dis- 
 solution would bring after it. United they perfect them- 
 selves, isolated they are paralyzed. 
 
 "The struggle which unhappily has just arisen can 
 neither be indefinitely prolonged, nor lead to the total 
 destruction of one of the parties. Sooner or later it will 
 be necessary to come to some settlement, whatsoever it 
 may be, which may cause the divergent interests now 
 actually in conflict to co-exist. The American nation 
 would then give a proof of high political wisdom in seek- 
 ing in common such a settlement before a useless effusion 
 of blood, a barren squandering of strength and public 
 riches, and acts of violence and reciprocal reprisals shall 
 have come to deepen an abyss between the two parties of 
 the confederation, to end, definitely, in their mutual ex- 
 haustion, and in the ruin, perhaps irreparable, of their 
 commercial and political power. Our august master can 
 not resign himself to admit such deplorable anticipations. 
 
 " His Imperial Majesty still places his confidence in that 
 practical good sense of the citizens of the Union who ap- 
 preciate so judiciously their true interests. His Majesty 
 is happy to believe that the members of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment and the influential men of the two parties will 
 
 as if indicating the danger of Europe in- 
 terfering in behalf of the seceded States. 
 This circular, however, having been care- 
 fully bruited abroad, was believed to be 
 intended rather as a warning to foreign 
 nations than as advice for ourselves. 
 
 seize all occasions, and will unite all their efforts to calm 
 the effervescence of the passions. There are no interests 
 so divergent that it may not be possible to reconcile them 
 by laboring to that end with zeal and perseverance, in a 
 spirit of justice and moderation. 
 
 "If, within the limits of your friendly relations, your 
 language and your counsels may contribute to this result, 
 you will respond, sir, to the intentions of His Majesty, 
 the Emperor, in devoting to this the personal influence 
 which you may have been able to acquire during your 
 long residence at Washington, and the consideration 
 which belongs to your character as the representative of 
 a sovereign animated by the most friendly sentiments 
 towards the American Union. This Union is not simply, 
 in our eyes, an element essential to the universal political 
 equilibrium ; it constitutes besides a nation to which our 
 august master and all Russia have pledged the most 
 friendly interest ; for the two countries, placed at the 
 extremities of the two worlds, both in the ascending pe- 
 riod of their development, appear called to a natural 
 community of interests and of sympathies, of which they 
 have already given mutual proofs to each other. I do 
 not wish here to approach any of the questions which 
 divide the United States. We are not called upon to 
 express ourselves in this contest. The preceding consid- 
 erations have no other object than to attest the lively 
 solicitude of the Emperor in the presence of the dangers 
 which menace the American Union, and the sincere wishes 
 which His Majesty entertains for the maintenance of that 
 great work, so laboriously raised, and which appeared so 
 rich in its future. 
 
 "It is in this sense, sir, that I desire you to express 
 yourself, as well to the members of the general Govern- 
 ment as to the influential persons whom you may meet, 
 giving them the assurance that in every event the Ameri- 
 can nation may count upon our most cordial sympathy on 
 the part of our august master during the important crisis 
 which it is passing through at present. 
 
 "Receive, sir, the expression of my very deep consid- 
 eration. GORTSCH AKOFF. ' ' 
 
382 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The marshaling of the Forces on the Potomac Strength of the Federal Army. Uncertain Estimates. Neglect of 
 Officers. Embarrassment of Officials. The Secretary of War left to conjecture. The Commander-in-Chief unac- 
 quainted with his Army An undisciplined mass. Impatience of the Nation. " On to Richmond." Origin of the 
 cr y. Contempt of the Enemy. Effect of the "On to Richmond" cry upon the Cabinet and Commander-in-Chief. 
 The Advance against the Enemy determined upon. General Irvine McDowell. His Life and Character. The 
 Federal Army. How distributed. The Strength of the Enemy. Contradictory Computations. The position of 
 Manassas described. A Eulogy of Beauregard. Remarkable Reticence. A truculent Proclamation of Bcauregard. 
 "Beauty and Booty." A reckless Movement. Advantages of the Enemy. Reluctance of Scott and McDowell. 
 Who led the Federal Troops to Bull Run ? Press, Politicians, and Cabinet. 
 
 1861, 
 
 SUCH was the patriotic alacrity with 
 which the North had already, in 
 the months of May and June, re- 
 sponded to the call of the President, 
 that over 200,000 militia and volunteers 
 had been enrolled, and many of them 
 engaged in active service. The enemy 
 had been no less energetic, with the ad- 
 vantage of earlier preparation. By the 
 middle of July, Washington was pro- 
 nounced safe, the Virginian shore of the 
 Potomac occupied, Maryland tranquil- 
 lized, and the communications through 
 it with the loyal States restored ; a con- 
 siderable force was marching to Harper's 
 Ferry to operate in the valley of the 
 Shenandoah, and McClellan had com- 
 pleted his triumphant campaign in West- 
 ern Virginia. 
 
 The force in and about Washington 
 was variously conjectured to amount to 
 from 40,000 to 60,000 men, but it was 
 difficult to form a precise estimate. So 
 precipitately had the troops, inspirited 
 by the eager patriotism of the country, 
 poured in, and so hastily had they been 
 enrolled, that many of the inexperienced 
 
 officers, perplexed by duties of which 
 they were ignorant, had either not as- 
 certained or failed to make returns of 
 the number of their men. The Secretary 
 of War, in common with other officials, 
 overwhelmed by the suddenly increased 
 magnitude of his labors, was inca- 
 pable for the moment of evolving order 
 out of the general confusion. He was 
 therefore left to conjecture, in regard 
 to the armed multitude which had 
 rushed to the rescue of the endangered 
 government. The Commander-in-chief, 
 it is believed, was unable, at that time, 
 to compute with any degree of accuracy 
 even the numerical force under his com- 
 mand, and with much less certainty its 
 efficacy as a military power. While 
 none could witness without patriotic 
 pride the spirit and the excellence of 
 material of the immense throng of citi- 
 zens mustered to defend with their lives 
 the national existence, no careful observ- 
 er could behold the undisciplined mass 
 without anxious inquietude. 
 
 The country, however, indignant at 
 those who, after having destroyed the 
 
p 
 
 g 
 o 
 | 
 w 
 
 u 
 
 " 
 
"OX TO RICHMOND." 
 
 383 
 
 unity of the nation, now threatened to 
 attack the Government in the very seat 
 of its capital, was impatient to avenge 
 both the injury and insult. Not com- 
 prehending the necessity of military or- 
 ganization and discipline, or too impul- 
 sive to await their slow operation, and 
 at the same time proud of and confident 
 in their citizen soldiers, the people of 
 the North became impatient of inaction. 
 This feeling found expression in the 
 public press, oftener a servile flatterer 
 than an independent guide of popular 
 opinion. Most of the Northern news- 
 papers were filled with systematic at- 
 tacks upon the administration at Wash- 
 ington and the Commander-in-chief for 
 their inertness, and with vehement ap- 
 peals to action. Thus was raised the 
 cry of " On to Richmond." The enemy, 
 it was declared, were a mere handful of 
 bravadoes, who were presuming upon the 
 cowardice of the North, which they had 
 always proclaimed and the inactivity of 
 the Federal forces seemed to confirm. 
 With one swoop of the "grand army' 7 
 of the North, it was again and again 
 declared the Southern braggarts would 
 be swept away, not only from Washing- 
 ton, which they impudently confronted, 
 but from their own capital, which they 
 had audaciously established at Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 The newspaper cry of " On to Rich- 
 mond," re-echoed by the people and by 
 their representatives at Washington in 
 Congress assembled, was taken up even, 
 it is said, by the President and the Cab- 
 inet, and borne with official emphasis to 
 the ears of the veteran Commander-in- 
 
 chief. General Scott is believed long to 
 have turned a deaf ear to the suggestion, 
 however loud and peremptory, with 
 which, with his military experience, he 
 considered it dangerous, if not fatal, to 
 comply. He, however, finally yielded, 
 and it was determined to move from the 
 line of the Potomac against the enemy. 
 
 It was resolved by the Commander-in- 
 chief, General Scott, to advance with an 
 army variously estimated at from 30,000 
 to 45,000 men, to be placed under the 
 immediate command of General Mc- 
 Dowell, than whom there was not at 
 that time an officer in the United States 
 of higher consideration. 
 
 Irvine McDowell was born in Ohio, 
 and having received the appointment to 
 a cadetship, entered West Point in 1834. 
 After the usual course of study, of four 
 years, he graduated, and in 1838 was 
 promoted to the rank of brevet second 
 lieutenant. For a short time, until 
 November, 1841, he was instructor of 
 tactics at the academy of West Point, 
 and subsequently appointed adjutant, 
 which office he held until October, 1845. 
 In the mean time he had been pro- 
 moted to a first lieutenancy, his rank 
 taking date from October, 1842. From 
 October, 1845, to May, 1847, he was aide- 
 de-camp to General Wool, and served 
 in that capacity during the Mexican 
 war. For his gallant conduct at the 
 battle of Buena Vista, he was honored 
 with the brevet rank of captain. On the 
 23d of February, 1847, he was again 
 promoted to the post of assistant adju- 
 tant-general, with the rank of captain 
 in May, 1847. In February, 1851, he 
 
384 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 relinquished rank in the line. On March 
 31st, 1856, he was still adjutant-general, 
 with promotion, however, to the rank of 
 major. In May, 1861, he was elevated 
 to the high rank of brigadier-general, 
 and appointed to the command of the 
 Federal line on the Potomac. 
 
 All who are brought in contact with 
 General McDowell are greatly impressed 
 with his soldierly bearing, his frank and 
 courteous manners, and his apparent 
 force of character, though softened in ex- 
 pression by his gentle and modest mien. 
 "He is a man," said the London Times 
 correspondent, " in the prime of life, 
 some forty and odd years of age, very 
 powerfully built, with a kindly, honest, 
 soldierly expression in face and man- 
 
 ners. 
 
 A French writer in the Opinion Na- 
 tionale, of Paris, reported to be no less a 
 personage than Prince Napoleon himself, 
 though probably one of his suite, who 
 accompanied him on his visit to the 
 United States, says : 
 
 " General McDowell commands all the 
 troops on the right bank of the Potomac. 
 He is a man of forty-two years, tall and 
 large. His face is not particularly fine, 
 but it is remarkably open and sympa- 
 thetic, through its air of frankness and 
 kindness. 
 
 " If McClellan resembles one of our 
 engineer officers, McDowell resembles 
 one of our infantry officers. Did I not 
 dread reducing to puerile shades the 
 search for resemblances and assimila- 
 tions, I should say that McDowell has 
 the type of a chief of battalion of foot 
 chasseurs. His conversation, his char- 
 
 acter, and his principles are still superior 
 to his appearance, favorable as that is. 
 He is one of the honestest, truest, sim- 
 plest men that you can meet. He sus- 
 tained a terrible check at Bull Run, and 
 he speaks of it without bitterness, with- 
 out recrimination, with an accent of sin- 
 cerity and an elevation of sentiment that 
 do him the greatest honor. Deprived 
 of the supreme command in consequence 
 of that reverse, he has seen McClellan, 
 his fellow-student at West Point, young- 
 er than himself by several years, inherit 
 his honors, his position, and his growing 
 popularity. He has taken, without 
 complaint and without murmur, an in- 
 ferior place under him whose mission it 
 is to repair the misfortune attached to 
 his name. Well, no one doubts that 
 McDowell will be the most submissive, 
 most devoted of McClellan's lieutenants. 
 McDowell has, besides, a reputation in 
 the army of being a sort of stoic philos- 
 opher, a reputation sought after and 
 more or less deserved by a certain num- 
 ber of West Point pupils. He drinks 
 neither wine, tea, nor coffee, does not 
 smoke, and has habits of sobriety and 
 self-denial quite in keeping with his 
 Puritan principles." 
 
 In addition to the army under the im- 
 mediate command of General McDowell, 
 soon to advance against the enemy in 
 Virginia, there was a considerable force 
 under General Patterson, who, as has 
 already been seen, was in pursuit of 
 the enemy under General Johnston, 
 in the northeastern part of Virginia, 
 near Winchester. General Scott relied 
 upon Patterson to beat, or so keep 
 
STRENGTH OF MANASSAS. 
 
 385 
 
 Johnston in check as to prevent his 
 forming a junction with Beauregard, 
 the Confederate commander, against 
 whom McDowell's attack was to be 
 directed. 
 
 Manassas Junction was the main posi- 
 tion and headquarters of Beauregard. 
 Here and in its environs he held an 
 army which was variously estimated at 
 from 50,000 to 75,000, although he him- 
 self has declared that at that time his 
 whole effective force amounted to only 
 17,000 men. 
 
 "The position of Manassas," accord- 
 ing to a Louisianian, writing from its 
 encampments, "is by nature one of the 
 strongest that could be found in the 
 whole State. About half way between 
 the eastern spur of the Blue Ridge and 
 the Potomac, below Alexandria, it com- 
 mands the whole country between, so 
 perfectly that there is scarce a possibil- 
 ity of its being turned. The right wing 
 stretches off towards the head waters 
 of the Occoquan, through a wooded 
 country, which is easily made impassable 
 by the felling of trees. The left is a 
 rolling table-land, easily commanded 
 from the successive elevations, till you 
 reach a country so rough and so rugged 
 that it is a defence to itself. The key 
 to the whole position, in fact, is pre- 
 cisely that point which General Beaure- 
 gard chose for his centre, and which he 
 has fortified so strongly that, in the 
 opinion of military men, 5,000 men 
 could there hold 20,000 at bay. 
 
 "The position, in fact, is fortified in 
 part by nature herself. It is a succes- 
 sion of hills, nearly equidistant from 
 49 
 
 each other, in front of which is a ravine, 
 so deep and so thickly wooded that it is 
 passable only at two points, and those 
 through gorges which fifty men can de- 
 fend against a whole army." The same 
 authority bears personal witness to the 
 strength of this position in the declara- 
 tion, " that it was at one of these points 
 that the Washington Artillery were at 
 first encamped, and though only half the 
 battalion was then there, and we had 
 only one company of infantry to sup- 
 port us, we slept as soundly under the 
 protection of our guns as if we had 
 been in a fort of the amplest dimen- 
 sions. 
 
 " Of the fortifications superadded here 
 by General Beauregard to those of na- 
 ture, it is of course," says the cautious 
 enemy, "not proper for me to speak." 
 He, however, tells the general reader 
 that "he will have a sufficiently pre- 
 cise idea of them by conceiving a line 
 of forts some two miles in extent, zig- 
 zag in form, with angles, salients, bas- 
 tions, casemates, and everything that 
 properly belongs to works of this kind. 
 The strength and advantages of this 
 position at Manassas are very much in- 
 creased by the fact, that fourteen miles 
 farther on is a position of similar forma- 
 tion, while the country between is ad- 
 mirably adapted to the subsistence and 
 entrenchment of troops, in numbers as 
 large as they can easily be manoeuvred 
 on the real battle-field. Water is good 
 and abundant ; forage, such as is every- 
 where found in the rich farming districts 
 of Virginia, and the communication 
 with all parts of the country easy. 
 
386 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ' ' Here, overlooking an extensive plain, 
 watered by mountain streams, which 
 ultimately find their way to the Poto- 
 mac, and divided into verdant fields of 
 wheat and oats and corn, pasture and 
 meadow, are the headquarters of the 
 advanced forces of the army of the 
 Potomac. They are South Carolinians, 
 Louisianians, Alabamians, Mississippi- 
 ans, and Virginians for the most part ; 
 the first two, singularly enough, being in 
 front and they will keep it, their friends 
 at home may rest assured. Never," 
 exclaims the partial chronicler, "have 
 I seen a finer body of men men who 
 were more obedient to discipline, or who 
 breathed a more self-sacrificing patriot- 
 
 ism. 
 
 The same enthusiastic eulogist of all 
 that pertains to the cause of his fellow- 
 secessionists, pays this tribute to Gen- 
 eral Beauregard : "As might be ex- 
 pected from the skill with which he has 
 chosen his position, and the system with 
 which he encamps and moves his men, 
 General Beauregard is very popular here. 
 I doubt if Napoleon himself had more 
 the undivided confidence of his army. 
 By nature, as also from a wise policy, 
 he is very reticent. Not an individual 
 here knows his plans or a single move 
 of a regiment before it is made, and 
 then only the colonel and his men know 
 where it goes to. There is not a man 
 here who can give anything like a satis- 
 factory answer how many men he has 
 or where his exact lines are. For the 
 distance of fourteen miles around, you 
 see tents everywhere, and from them you 
 can make a rough estimate of his men ; 
 
 but how many more are encamped on 
 the by-roads and in the forests none can 
 tell. The new-comer, from what he sees 
 at first glance, puts down the number at 
 about 30,000 men ; those who have been 
 here longest, estimate his force at 45,000, 
 50,000, and some even at 60,000 strong. 
 And there is the same discrepancy as to 
 the quantity of .his artillery. So close 
 does the General keep his affairs to him- 
 self, that his left hand hardly knows what 
 his right hand doeth, and so jealous is he 
 of this prerogative of a commanding offi- 
 cer, that I verily believe if he suspected 
 his coat of any acquaintance with the 
 plans revolving within him, he would 
 cast it from him."* 
 
 * Of the truculent spirit which animated this distin- 
 guished leader, there is evidence in this proclamation : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS, DEFT. OF ALEXANDRIA, | 
 CAMP PICKENS, June 5, 1861. \ 
 
 " To THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTIES OF LOUDON, FAIRFAX, 
 AND PRINCE WILLIAM A reckless and unprincipled tyrant 
 has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless of all 
 moral, legal, and constitutional restraints, has thrown his 
 Abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and im- 
 prisoning your citizens, confiscating and destroying your 
 property, and committing other acts of violence and out- 
 rage too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enu- 
 merated. 
 
 "All rules of civilized warfare are abandoned, and they 
 proclaim by their acts, if not on their banners, that their 
 war-cry is ' BEAUTY AND BOOTY.' All that is dear to man 
 your honor and that of your wives and daughters your 
 fortunes and your lives, are involved in this momentous 
 contest. 
 
 ' ' In the name, therefore, of the constituted authorities 
 of the Confederate States in the sacred cause of constitu- 
 tional liberty and self-government, for which we are con- 
 tending in behalf of civilization itself, I, Gr. T. Beaure- 
 gard, Brigadier-General of the Confederate States, com- 
 manding at Camp Pickens, Manassas Junction, do make 
 this my proclamation, and invite and enjoin you by every 
 consideration dear to the hearts of freemen and patriots. 
 by the name and memory of your Revolutionary fathers, 
 and by the purity and sanctity of your domestic firesides, 
 to rally to the standard of your State and country, and 
 by every means in your power compatible with honorable 
 
WHO LED THE ARMY. 
 
 387 
 
 It was against a force that none of the 
 Federal officers could compute with ac- 
 curacy, entrenched in a position strong 
 by nature and fortified by art, ai d com- 
 manded by the ablest of the Confederate 
 commanders, that General Scott, yield- 
 ing to the passionate impulse of popular 
 feeling, reluctantly determined to throw 
 his undisciplined masses. It is true it 
 was reasonable to suppose that the force 
 of the enemy was no more disciplined 
 than our own, but it could not fail to be 
 
 warfare, to drive back and expel the invaders from your 
 land. 
 
 " I conjure you to be true and loyal to your countr and 
 her legal and constitutional authorities, and especially to 
 be vigilant of the movements and acts of the enemy, so 
 as to enable you to give the earliest authentic information 
 at these headquarters, or to the officers under my com- 
 mand. 
 
 " I desire to assure you that the utmost protection in my 
 power will be given to you all. 
 
 " G. T. BEAUEEGARD, 
 "Brigadier-General Commanding. 
 " Official THOMAS JORDAN, 
 " Acting Assistant Adjutant-General." 
 
 recognized by every one of military ex- 
 perience, as an unquestionable fact, that 
 raw troops always act at a disadvantage 
 as assailants, and with most effect when 
 on the defensive and under the cover of 
 fortifications or breastworks. In the 
 offensive movement, therefore, of the 
 Federal troops against the Confederate 
 army, entrenched at Manassas, the ad- 
 vantage was clearly on the side of the 
 enemy. Conscious of this, the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, Scott, reluctantly gave 
 his orders to advance, and his experi- 
 enced general, McDowell, reluctantly 
 obeyed him. The leadership, however, 
 of the army had been practically as- 
 sumed by an excited people, an obse- 
 quious press, the artful politicians, and 
 an inexperienced cabinet, and with the 
 cry of " On to Richmond," they led a 
 brave but undisciplined force to the 
 defeat at Bull Run. 
 
388 
 
 THE WAK WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 March of Federal Troops from Washington. The Guard of the Fortifications. The Guard of the Capital. General 
 Mansfield. His Military Career and Character. Premature old age. No power of organization. Advance of the 
 " Grand Army." The Four Divisions. Roads and Direction of March. Burnside's Brigade. Advance of Hunter's 
 Division. Tyler's Division. Miles' Division. Encampment. Advance of the 17th of July. A Ruse of the Enemy 
 mistaken. Beauregard's Statement. Spirited Advance on Fairfax Court House. Retirement of the Enemy. A 
 graphic account of the Federal Success. The raising of the " Star Spangled Banner. "Appearance of Fairfax 
 Court House. Behavior of the Federal Troops. A stringent Proclamation of McDowell. Encampment at Fairfax 
 Court House and Neighborhood The Advance of Tyler's Division to Centreville. Retirement of the Enemy. 
 Their object. Description of Bull Run. Topography of the Country. A Reconnoissance. Colonel Richardson's 
 Advance. The Enemy in Force at Blackburn's Ford. Movement of the Enemy. Retreat or Advance? Major 
 Barnard's Opinion. Fire opened. Tyler's persistency. A serious Engagement. Reinforcements. An unequal 
 Struggle. Retirement of the Federal Forces. Beauregard's Report of the Battle of the 18th of July. 
 
 1861, 
 
 ON the 15th of July, the Federal 
 forces, consisting of fifty-five regi- 
 ments, but numbering in all, in 
 consequence of the numerical incom- 
 pleteness of most of them, but 45,000 
 men, and accompanied by six batteries 
 of artillery, began their march toward 
 Manassas from their various encamp- 
 ments on the west side of the Potomac 
 and in the neighborhood of Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 Some 16,000 thousand men remained 
 on the left bank of the Potomac as a 
 reserve to watch the capital, and a 
 strong guard on the right to hold the 
 forts and intrenchments on that side, to 
 guard the bridges and crossings of the 
 river, and to cover the roads to Alex- 
 andria, Fairfax, and Falls Church. Gen- 
 eral Mansfield was in command at Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 J. K. Mansfield was born in Connec- 
 ticut, and entered West Point Academy 
 in 1817. In July, 1822, he graduated, 
 and was at once promoted to the rank 
 
 of brevet second lieutenant in the corps 
 of Engineers. In March, 1832, he be- 
 came a first lieutenant ; in July, 1838, 
 a captain, and in 1846-7 served as 
 chief engineer of the army under Gen- 
 eral Taylor throughout his Mexican 
 campaign. He was honored with the 
 rank of brevet major for his gallant con- 
 duct in the defence of Fort Brown, on 
 the Rio Grande, on May 9th, 1846, and 
 was severely wounded at the battle of 
 Monterey. He was promoted to the rank 
 of brevet lieutenant-colonel, in Septem- 
 ber, 1846, and subsequently to that of 
 brevet colonel, for his spirit and good 
 service at the battle of Buena Vista. 
 On the 28th of May, 1853, he was ap- 
 pointed inspector-general of the army, 
 with the rank of colonel, when he re- 
 linquished his position in the corps of 
 Engineers. On the accession of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, Mansfield was made a 
 brigadier-general, and placed in com- 
 mand of the forces at Washington. 
 He is but fifty-five years of age, but 
 
ADVANCE OF THE "GRAND ARMY." 
 
 389 
 
 with his long white beard and hair, his 
 subdued bearing, his amiable manners, 
 his fondness for social talk, and his 
 yielding disposition, would seem to have 
 the characteristics, if not the infirmities, 
 of a much older man. With too much 
 forbearance toward individual assump- 
 tion, and too little assertion of his own 
 dignity, General Mansfield has the qual- 
 ities rather of the good-natured patriarch 
 of a rustic community than of the rigid 
 military commander. Much of the ir- 
 regularity of the troops under his com- 
 mand may be attributed to his want of 
 firmness. Of unquestioned skill in his 
 profession, and of distinguished bravery 
 in the field, he is yet deficient in those 
 stern qualities of the commander requisite 
 in the organization of a volunteer force. 
 
 General McDowell having left his rear 
 thus guarded, began his march. His 
 " grand army," as it was exultingly 
 termed, moved in four divisions, each 
 numbering nearly 12,000 men. Three 
 different roads were taken, and the 
 whole force directed toward the line 
 formed by portions of the Manassas Gap 
 and Orange and Alexandria railroads. 
 The divergence of the different lines of 
 march was thus arranged, that if circum- 
 stances admitted, a flank movement might 
 be made on the enemy's intrenched 
 position. At the same time a wider ex- 
 tent of country could thus be swept, 
 while there would be less chance of the 
 various columns clogging each other's 
 movement. 
 
 The brigade under the command of 
 Colonel Burnside, consisting of the First 
 and Second Rhode Island regiments, 
 
 the New York Seventy-first, and the 
 Second New Hampshire Volunteers, to- 
 gether with two batteries, broke up its 
 encampment near Washington and cross- 
 ed over the long bridge into Virginia 
 on the afternoon of the 15th of July. 
 Joining the central column on the left 
 bank of the Potomac, under the com- 
 mand of Acting Major-General Hunter, 
 this combined force on the next day 
 (the 16th) took the direct turnpike road 
 to Fairfax Court House. 
 
 The division forming the extreme 
 right, under the command of General 
 Tyler, and composed of his brigade of 
 Connecticut regiments, the New York 
 Sixty-ninth and Seventy-ninth and oth- 
 ers, at the same time took the Leesburg 
 road, passing through Vienna. The 
 division under the command of Acting 
 Major-General Miles marched by the 
 old Braddock road to the extreme left, 
 south of the turnpike taken by Hunter's 
 division. 
 
 On the first day the several divisions, 
 having proceeded by these different 
 routes, had marched about eight or nine 
 miles, when the whole army encamped. 
 Early next morning a general advance 
 was ordered. The whole force con- j u i y 
 sequently resumed its march. The '? 
 enemy apparently strove, by felling trees 
 across the roads and by sending out 
 their skirmishers, to embarrass the ad- 
 vance of our troops. It was supposed 
 by the Federal commanders, that their 
 opponents having been taken by surprise, 
 were thus making a serious effort at 
 resistance. 
 
 General Beauregard, however, in his 
 
390 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 report, declared, that being ' ' oppor- 
 tunely informed of the determination of 
 the enemy to advance on Manassas," his 
 advanced brigades on the night of the 
 16th of July were made aware of the 
 impending movement, and in exact ac- 
 cordance with his instructions ' ' their 
 withdrawal within the lines of Bull Run 
 was effected with complete success dur- 
 ing the day and night of the 17th of 
 July." 
 
 Accordingly the felled trees across the 
 roads, the incomplete batteries, the oc- 
 casional encampments, and the skirmish- 
 ing fire our troops met on their advance 
 and swept before them, were probably 
 only so many feints of resistance, while 
 the enemy were falling back to their 
 strong positions at Bull Run and Ma- 
 nassas, whither they were desirous of 
 enticing the Federal army. 
 
 Our men expecting resistance at Fair- 
 fax Court House, advanced against the 
 place with great spirit. "The whole 
 division," says one who was with Hunt- 
 er's column, "with a growing eagerness 
 for battle, kept insensibly accelerating 
 its pace, till of its own accord it almost 
 reached a ' double quick.' They were 
 the first, of course, to reach the Court 
 House, and the first consequently to be 
 seen by the Confederates, who, surprised* 
 at finding the enemy crossing along the 
 turnpike road, when they expected him 
 only by the Braddock road, seized hold 
 of their cannon in that quarter and ran 
 with them to the centre. At the same time 
 
 Mr. George Wilkes, from whose graphic account this 
 extract is made, wrote on the common presumption of the 
 Federalists, that the enemy were taken by surprise. 
 
 reports were brought that the Federal 
 troops were approaching on the right 
 and appearing also in strong force in the 
 direction of the left. They did not wait, 
 therefore, to hear the shouts of the 
 Rhode Islanders and the Seventy-first 
 as they prepared to charge, but dropping 
 whatever they were about, incontinently 
 fled with wild huzzas ; the Burnside 
 brigade in a few minutes afterward tore 
 their way into the village, looking ea- 
 gerly to the right and left for foes, and 
 in their disappointment penetrating often 
 the abandoned dwellings, in the hopes 
 of finding some secreted squads of the 
 Confederates there. But though entirely 
 gone they had barely escaped ; and had 
 the fifth division been a little farther 
 forward, they must have been intercepted 
 and cut off'. As it was, they left their 
 tents, camp equipage, forage, a quantity 
 of arms and flour, and, in some instances, 
 their uniforms and swords. * * * 
 So precipitate was their flight, that the 
 camp kettles were seething with their 
 intended meals, and it was necessary 
 that a corporal of the Rhode Islanders 
 should take down their rebel flag from 
 the Court House, and put the star-span- 
 gled banner in its place. * * * 
 
 "The village presented an extraordi- 
 nary spectacle on the afternoon of the 
 capture. The soldiers, unrestrained by 
 duty, entered every dwelling that had 
 been abandoned, and taking its desertion 
 as a confession of judgment on the 
 part of its proprietor, sacked it as mer- 
 cilessly as if it had been condemned to 
 plunder by a lawful process. 
 
 " In some instances they set houses 
 
FEDERAL TROOPS AT FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE. 
 
 391 
 
 on fire, in some insulted women, and 
 terror took possession of the town. 
 Toward the close of the day, when the 
 rage of acquisition had subsided, the 
 place wore the softened aspect of a car- 
 nival ; and soldiers, apparelled in crino- 
 line and female sheen, walked with their 
 bearded gallants up and down, replying 
 with affected gab to the rather racy 
 compliments tendered them from every 
 side. This, to the superficial looker-on, 
 gave the scene a merry show ; but I 
 noticed that the shuddering inhabitants 
 regarded it with fear and undisguised ab- 
 horrence. One female, hearing me con- 
 demn the conduct of the soldiers, as a 
 fellow passed by with a pair of ladies' 
 ruflled drawers hauled up over his pan- 
 taloons, said she ' thought it was really 
 too bad that the clothes of Mr. Smith's 
 poor dead mother, which had been 
 packed away for several years untouched, 
 should be desecrated in that coarse, 
 vulgar way.' I myself half shuddered 
 as she made this remark on the fellow's 
 conduct, and I made up my mind thence- 
 forth to contribute my share of effort to 
 put a check upon such shocking license. 
 I have been desirous all along to conceal 
 whatever was discreditable to our sol- 
 diers ; but I now perceive that this is 
 the worst way to treat the evil. Public 
 condemnation must be turned upon their 
 outrages in its fullest tide, and if that 
 ceases to nerve the officers sufficiently to 
 enable them to make the men behave, 
 we had better give up this war." To 
 this humane reflection, which honors the 
 writer, may be added, in confirmation 
 of his statement of the conduct of our 
 
 undisciplined troops, the order of Gen- 
 eral McDowell, in which he illustrates 
 not only his characteristic goodness of 
 heart, but his firmness of rule as a com- 
 mander. 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT or VA. 
 
 FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE, July 18. 
 "It is with deepest mortification that 
 the General commanding finds it neces- 
 sary to reiterate his orders for the pres- 
 ervation of the property of the inhabit- 
 ants of the district occupied by the troops 
 under his command. Hardly had we 
 arrived at this place when, to the horror 
 of every right-minded person, several 
 houses were broken open, and others 
 were in flames, by the act of some of 
 those who, it has been the boast of the 
 loyal, came here to protect the oppressed 
 and free the country from the domination 
 of a hated party. The property of this 
 people is at the mercy of troops who, we 
 rightly say, are the most intelligent, best 
 educated, and most law-abiding of any 
 that were ever under arms. But do not, 
 therefore, the acts of yesterday cast the 
 deepest stain upon them ? It was claim- 
 ed by some that their particular corps 
 were not engaged in these acts. This is of 
 but little moment : since the individuals 
 are not found out, we are all alike dis- 
 graced. Commanders of regiments will 
 select a commissioned officer as a provost 
 marshal, and ten men as a police force 
 under him, whose special and sole duty 
 it shall be to preserve the property from 
 depredations, and to arrest all wrong- 
 doers of whatever regiment or corps 
 they may be. Any one found commit- 
 ting the slightest depredation, killing 
 
392 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 pigs or poultry, or trespassing on the 
 property of the inhabitants, will be re- 
 ported to headquarters, and the least 
 that will be done to them will be to send 
 them to Alexandria jail. It is again 
 ordered that no one shall arrest or at- 
 tempt to arrest any citizen not in arms at 
 the time, or search or attempt to search 
 any house, or even to enter the same with- 
 out permission. The troops must be- 
 have themselves with as much forbear- 
 ance and propriety as if they were at 
 their own homes. They are here to 
 fight the enemies of the country, not to 
 judge and punish the unarmed and de- 
 fenceless, however guilty they may be. 
 When necessary, that will be done by the 
 proper person. By command of 
 
 " GENERAL MCDOWELL. 
 " JAMES B. FRY, 
 "Assistant Adjutant- General." 
 Most of the army had encamped for 
 the night at Fairfax Court House, and in 
 its neighborhood beyond. The more 
 advanced troops, composing the first 
 division, commanded by General Tyler, 
 had pushed on to Centreville, whence the 
 enemy had retired, with the view, as 
 it appears by Beauregard's report, of 
 drawing on our army. " This move- 
 ment," says that General, "had the in- 
 tended effect of deceiving the enemy as 
 to my ulterior purposes, and led him to 
 anticipate an unresisted passage of Bull 
 Run." 
 
 Bull Run is a small stream running 
 nearly from west to east to its junction 
 with the Occoquan River, which emp- 
 ties into the Potomac. Nearly midwa}' 
 between Centreville and Manassas, its 
 
 distance from both is about three miles. 
 From Washington it is twenty-nine miles 
 distant. The stream being ordinarily 
 shallow and sluggish, is easily fordable, 
 but it is occasionally swollen suddenly by 
 the summer rains so as to become impass- 
 able. The banks for the most part are 
 rocky and steep, but there are passage- 
 ways over them leading to and from the 
 numerous fords. The country immedi- 
 ately bordering Bull Run is broken and 
 thickly wooded, but as it leaves the 
 stream it becomes rolling and open. 
 The northern bank is higher, and com- 
 mands the other and lower side. 
 
 General T}der's division having ad- 
 vanced to Centreville, it was determined 
 to make a reconnoissance in the neigh- 
 borhood of Bull Run. Colonel Richard- 
 son, accordingly, was directed to j u iy 
 push forward with his brigade, con- 18, 
 sisting of the First Massachusetts Regi- 
 ment, the Second Michigan, and the 
 Twelfth New York, accompanied by a 
 portion of Sherman's battery, under the 
 command of Captain Ayres. 
 
 On proceeding along the road that 
 leads to that part of Bull Run which is 
 crossed by what is termed Blackburn 
 Ford, it became evident from occasional 
 glimpses that the enemy were there in 
 force, although, owing to the thickness 
 of the wood on the banks of the stream, 
 no distinct view could be obtained. *' I 
 represented to General Tyler," says 
 Major Barnard, of the Engineers, "that 
 his point was the enemy's strong posi- 
 ion on the direct road to Manassas 
 Junction ; that it was no part of the 
 )lan to assail it. I did not, however, 
 
RETREAT OF GENERAL TYLER. 
 
 393 
 
 object to a 'demonstration, 7 believing 
 that it. would favor what I supposed still 
 to be the commanding general's plan of 
 campaign.' 7 In the mean time, from a 
 neighboring height the enemy could be 
 seen moving his troops on the road lead- 
 ing from Manassas to Blackburn's Ford. 
 To most of the Federal officers it ap- 
 peared that this was a movement of re- 
 treat. " I was perfectly sure," declares 
 Major Barnard, " that they were columns 
 moving up to meet us from Manassas." 
 
 It was determined, however, in spite 
 of the Major's opinion, that an attack 
 upon the enemy should be risked. ' ' Two 
 twenty-pounder Parrott guns were ac- 
 cordingly ordered up, and fire opened 
 in various directions, without," says Bar- 
 nard, " our being able to perceive the 
 degree of effect they produced. 7 ' A 
 dozen rounds had been thus fired, when 
 the enemy responded by a rapid dis- 
 charge from a battery apparently close 
 to the stream and near the ford. Our 
 twenty-pounders were now aimed di- 
 rectly at this point, and another battery, 
 that of Ayres, was brought up and sta- 
 tioned on our left to strengthen the fire. 
 The enemy's guns soon after ceased to 
 respond. Ours, however, continued 
 playing for about half an hour, when 
 Major Barnard thinking it a useless ex- 
 penditure of ammunition, said so to the 
 Assistant Adjutant-General at his side. 
 General Tyler seemed to be of the same 
 opinion, for he soon ceased his fire alto- 
 gether. 
 
 But General Tyler was not disposed 
 thus to give up the fight, and having 
 ordered his troops to advance, renewed 
 
 50 
 
 the unequal struggle with his conceal- 
 ed foe, notwithstanding Major Barnard 
 strove to impress upon him that " it was 
 no part of the commanding generaFs 
 plan to bring on a serious engagement." 
 
 Reinforcements were now brought 
 up, and the demonstration became a 
 battle, which, after lasting for three 
 hours and a half, resulted in the retire- 
 ment, by the order of General McDowell, 
 of our brave men, who so long had en- 
 dured an unequal struggle with a con- 
 cealed and powerful foe. The loss of 
 the Federalists was about sixty killed, 
 and the effect was dispiriting upon our 
 troops, as they had been forced to re- 
 tire from a contest with an enemy whose 
 strength they had so undervalued as to 
 suppose he would yield almost at the first 
 blow. 
 
 The enemy were much elated at their 
 success, which they not unnaturally ex- 
 aggerated into an important victory. 
 Their commander, General Beauregard, 
 made the engagement the subject of a 
 most elaborate report, which, though 
 unquestionably partial, is of such interest 
 as to justify the following extracts. 
 
 " On the morning of the 18th, finding 
 that the enemy was assuming a threaten- 
 ing attitude, in addition to the regiments 
 whose positions have been already 
 stated, I ordered up from Camp Pickens, 
 as a reserve, in rear of Bonharn's brig- 
 ade, the effective men of six companies of 
 Kelly's Eighth Regiment Louisiana Vol- 
 unteers and Kirkland's Eleventh Regi- 
 ment North Carolina Volunteers, which, 
 having arrived the night before en route 
 for Winchester, I had halted, in view of 
 
394 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the existing necessities of the service. 
 Subsequently the latter was placed in 
 position on the left of Bonham's brigade. 
 
 "Appearing in heavy force in front 
 of Bonham's position, the enemy about 
 meridian opened fire with several twenty- 
 pounder rifled guns, from a hill over one 
 and a half miles from Bull Run. At 
 the same time Kemper, supported by 
 two companies of light infantry, occupied 
 a ridge on the left of the Centre ville road, 
 about 600 yards in advance of the ford, 
 with two six-pounder (smooth) guns. At 
 first the firing of the enemy was at ran- 
 dom ; but by half-past twelve P.M. he had 
 obtained the range of our position, and 
 poured into the brigade a shower of 
 shot, but without injury to us in men, 
 horses, or guns. From the distance, 
 however, our guns could not reply with 
 effect, and we did not attempt it, pa- 
 tiently awaiting a more opportune mo- 
 ment. 
 
 " Meanwhile a light battery was push- 
 ed forward by the enemy, whereupon 
 Kemper threw only six solid shot, with 
 the effect of driving back both the bat- 
 tery and its supporting force. This is 
 understood to have been Ayres' battery, 
 and the damage must have been consid- 
 erable to have obliged such a retrograde 
 movement on the part of that officer. 
 
 " The purposes of Kemper's position 
 having now been fully served, his pieces 
 and support were withdrawn across 
 Mitchell's Ford to a point previously 
 designated, and which commanded the 
 direct approaches to the ford. 
 
 " About half-past eleven A.M. the 
 enemy was also discovered by the pickets 
 
 of Longstreet's brigade advancing in 
 strong columns of infantry with artillery 
 and cavalry on Blackburn's Ford. 
 
 " At meridian the pickets fell back 
 silently before the advancing foe across 
 the ford, which, as well as the entire 
 southern bank of the stream for the 
 whole front of Longstreet's brigade, was 
 covered at the water's edge by an ex- 
 tended line of skirmishers, while two 
 six-pounders of Walton's battery, under 
 Lieutenant Garnett, were advantageously 
 placed to command the direct approach 
 to the ford, but with orders to retire to 
 the rear as soon as commanded by the 
 enemy. 
 
 " The northern bank of the stream, in 
 front of Longstreet's position, rises with 
 a steep slope at least fifty feet above the 
 level of the water, leaving a narrow 
 berme in front of the ford of some 
 twenty yards. This ridge formed for 
 them an admirable natural parapet, be- 
 hind which they could, and did, approach 
 under shelter, in heavy force, within less 
 than one hundred yards of our skirmish- 
 ers. The southern shore was almost a 
 plain, raised but a few feet above the 
 water for several hundred yards, then 
 rising with a very gradual, gentle slope, 
 and undulating back to Manassas. On 
 the immediate bank there was a fringe 
 of trees, but with little, if any, under- 
 growth or shelter, while on the other 
 shore there were timber and much thick 
 brush and covering. The ground in rear 
 of our skirmishers, and occupied by our 
 artillery, was an old field extending 
 along the stream about one mile, and 
 immediately back for about half a mile, 
 
BEAITREGARD'S REPORT. 
 
 395 
 
 to a border or skirting of dense second 
 growth pines. The whole of this ground 
 was commanded at all points by the 
 ridge occupied by the enemy's musketry, 
 as was also the country to the rear for a 
 distance much beyond the range of 
 twenty-pounder rifled guns, by the range 
 of hills on which their batteries were 
 planted, and which, it may be further 
 noted, commanded also all our ap- 
 proaches from this direction to the three 
 threatened fords. 
 
 " Before advancing his infantry, the 
 enemy maintained a fire of rifled artil- 
 lery from the batteries just mentioned 
 for half an hour, then he pushed for- 
 ward a column of over three thousand 
 infantry to the assault, with such a 
 weight of numbers as to be repelled 
 with difficulty by the comparatively 
 small force of not more than 1,200 
 bayonets, with which Brigadier-General 
 Longstreet met him with characteristic 
 vigor and intrepidity. Our troops en- 
 gaged at this time were the First and 
 Seventeenth, and four companies of the 
 Eleventh Regiment Virginia Volunteers. 
 Their resistance was resolute and main- 
 tained with a steadiness worthy of all 
 praise. It was successful, and the en- 
 emy was repulsed. In a short time, 
 however, he returned to the contest 
 with increased force and determination, 
 but was again foiled and driven back by 
 our skirmishers and Longstreet's reserve 
 companies, which were brought up and 
 employed at the most vigorously assailed 
 points at the critical moment. 
 
 "It was now that Brigadier-General 
 Longstreet sent for reinforcements from 
 
 Early's brigade, which I had anticipated 
 by directing the advance of General 
 Early, with two regiments of infantry 
 and two pieces of artillery. As these 
 came upon the field, the enemy had 
 advanced a third time, with heavy num- 
 bers, to force Longstreet's position. 
 Hays' regiment, Seventh Louisiana Vol- 
 unteers, which was in advance, was 
 placed on the bank of the stream, un- 
 der some cover, to the immediate right 
 and left of the ford, relieving Corse's 
 regiment, Seventeenth Virginia Volun- 
 teers. This was done under a heavy 
 fire of musketry, with promising steadi- 
 ness. .The Seventh Virginia, under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, was then 
 formed to the right, also under heavy 
 fire, and pushed forward to the stream, 
 relieving the First Regiment Virginia 
 Volunteers. At the same time two 
 rifled guns, brought up with Early's 
 brigade, were moved down in the field 
 to the right of the road, so as to be 
 concealed from the enemy's artillery by 
 the girth of timber on the immediate 
 bank of the stream, and there opened 
 fire, directed only by the sound of the 
 enemy's musketry. Unable to effect a 
 passage, the enemy kept up a scattering 
 fire for some time. Some of our troops 
 had pushed across the stream, and sev- 
 eral small parties of Corse's regiment, 
 under command of Captain Mayre, met 
 and drove the enemy with the bayonet ; 
 but as the roadway from the ford was 
 too narrow for a combined movement in 
 force, General Longstreet recalled them 
 to the south bank. Meanwhile the re- 
 mainder of Early's infantry and artillery 
 
396 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 had been called up that is, six compa- 
 nies of the Twenty-fourth Regiment 
 Virginia Volunteers, under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Hairston, and five pieces of 
 artillery, one rifled gun, and four six- 
 pounder brass guns, including two six- 
 pounder guns under Lieutenant Garnett, 
 which had been previously sent to the 
 rear by General Longstreet. This in- 
 fantry was at once placed in position to 
 the left of the ford, in a space unoccu- 
 pied by Hays, and the artillery was 
 unlimbered in battery to the right of 
 the road, in a line with the two guns 
 already in action. A scattering fire of 
 musketry was still kept up by the ene- 
 my for a short time, but that was soon 
 silenced. 
 
 " It was at this stage of the affair 
 that a remarkable artillery duel was 
 commenced and maintained on our side 
 with a long trained professional oppo- 
 nent, superior in the character as well 
 as the number of his weapons, provided 
 with improved munitions -and every ar- 
 tillery appliance, and at the same time 
 occupying the commanding position. 
 The results were marvellous and fitting 
 precursors to the artillery achievements 
 of the 21st of July. In the outset our 
 fire was directed against the enemy's 
 infantry, whose bayonets, gleaming 
 above the tree-tops, alone indicated 
 their presence and force. This drew 
 the attention of a battery placed on a 
 high commanding ridge, and the duel 
 began in earnest. For a time the aim 
 of the adversary was inaccurate, but 
 this was quickly corrected, and shot fell 
 and shell burst thick and fast in the 
 
 very midst of our battery, wounding, in 
 the course of the combat, Captain Es- 
 chelinan, five privates, and the horse 
 of Lieutenant Richardson. From the 
 position of our pieces and the nature of 
 the ground, their aim could only be di- 
 rected at the smoke of the enemy's 
 artillery. How skilfully and with what 
 execution this was done can only be 
 realized by an eye-witness. For a few 
 moments their guns were silenced, but 
 were soon reopened. By direction of 
 General Longstreet, his battery was 
 then advanced by hand out of the ranges 
 now ascertained by the enemy, and a 
 shower of spherical-case, shell, and 
 round shot flew over the heads of our 
 gunners ; but one of our pieces had be- 
 come hors du combat from an enlarged 
 vent. From the new position our guns 
 fired as before, with no other aim 
 than the smoke and flash of their adver- 
 saries' pieces renewed and urged the 
 conflict with such signal vigor and effect 
 that gradually the fire of the enemy slack- 
 ened, the intervals between their dis- 
 charges grew longer, and finally ceased, 
 and we fired a last gun at a baffled, 
 flying foe, whose heavy masses in the 
 distance were plainly seen to break and 
 scatter in wild confusion and utter rout, 
 strewing the ground with cast-away 
 guns, hats, blankets, and knapsacks, as 
 our parting shell was thrown amongst 
 them. In their retreat one of their 
 pieces was abandoned, but from the 
 nature of the ground it was not sent 
 for that night, and, under cover of dark- 
 ness, the enemy recovered it. 
 
 "The guns engaged in this singular 
 
BEAUREGARD'S REPORT. 
 
 397 
 
 conflict, on our side, were three six- 
 pounder rifled pieces and four ordinary 
 six-pouriders, all of Walton's battery, 
 the Washington Artillery, of New Or- 
 leans. The officers immediately attach- 
 ed were Captain Eschelman, lieutenants 
 C. W. Squires, Richardson, Garnett, and 
 Whittington. At the same time our 
 infantry held the bank of the stream in 
 advance of our guns, and the missiles 
 of the combatants flew to and fro above 
 them, as, cool and veteran-like, for more 
 than an hour they steadily awaited the 
 moment and signal for the advance. 
 
 " While the conflict was at its height, 
 before Blackburn's Ford, about four p. M., 
 the enemy again displayed himself in 
 force before Bonham's position. At 
 this Colonel Kershaw, with four com- 
 panies of his regiment, Second South 
 Carolina, and one piece of Kemper's 
 artillery, were thrown across Mitchell's 
 Ford to the ridge which Kemper had 
 occupied that morning. Two solid shot 
 and three spherical case, thrown among 
 
 them with a precision inaugurated by 
 that artillerist at Vienna, effected their 
 discomfiture and disappearance, and our 
 troops in that quarter were again drawn 
 within our lines, having discharged the 
 duty assigned. 
 
 " At the close of the engagement be- 
 fore Blackburn's Ford, I directed Gen- 
 eral Longstreet to withdraw the First 
 and Seventeenth regiments, which had 
 borne the brunt of the action, to a po- 
 sition in reserve, leaving Colonel Early 
 to occupy the field with his brigade and 
 Garland's regiment. 
 
 " As a part of the history of this en- 
 gagement, I desire to place on record, 
 that on the 18th of July not one yard 
 of intrenchments nor one rifle-pit shel- 
 tered the men at Blackburn's Ford, who, 
 officers and men, with rare exceptions, 
 were on that day for the first time under 
 fire, and who, taking and maintaining 
 every position ordered, can not be too 
 much commended for their soldierly 
 behavior." . * * * 
 
398 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 The Repulse at Blackburn's Ford. How it happened. A Demonstration turned into a Battle Defeat inevitable. 
 Fortunate interposition of McDowell. Plan of Battle changed The original plan. Why it was altered. The new 
 plan. The Lines at Centre ville. Arrivals from Washington. Spectators of the expected Battle. Throngs of Civil- 
 ians, Officials, Newspaper Reporters, Members of Congress, etc. The delay at Centreville. Order of Battle. Order 
 in regard to Provisions. Uncertainty of Supplies. Want of Organization and System. The Day chosen for the 
 Advance. Frank admission of McDowell. Original intention of McDowell. Not carried out, unfortunately. 
 Evil effect upon the Troops A cause of the Panic at Bull Run. A hurried March. The effects of " Double Quick." 
 
 Description of Centreville. Roads to and from. Disposition of the Fed.iral Army. The various Divisions. 
 
 Where posted. McDowell's account of his plan. Delay in starting. Advance of Tyler's Division. Before the 
 Enemy. Position of Tyler's Troops. Biding their time. Advance of Hunter's Division. Circuitous Route. 
 Arrival at Sudley's Springs. Burnside's Brigade. Delay at the Stream. Confronting the Enemy. The Attack 
 begins. The Second Rhode Islanders hard pressed. The First Rhode Islanders to the Rescue. Death of Colonel 
 Slocum. The New Yorkers advance. The Regulars follow. Colonel Porter's Brigade. Its advance. In the Bat- 
 tle. Hunter wounded. Porter in command of the Division. Advance of Heintzelman's Division. No Road. 
 McDowell on the Right. His account of the progress of the Battle. The Rout. The Panic. Efforts of McDowell. 
 Partial success. The Reserve brought up. Blenker's Brigade. Its conduct. The Demonstration at Blackburn's 
 Ford . Success . Panic. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE repulse of our troops at Black- 
 burn's Ford was evidently in con- 
 sequence of what was intended 
 merely as a demonstration, having been, 
 by a false judgment of General Tyler, 
 turned into a serious struggle. A com- 
 paratively small force of Federal troops 
 had thus been suddenly confronted with 
 the main body of the enemy, posted at 
 the strongest part of their line of defence. 
 Defeat was inevitable, when a mere rec- 
 onnoitering force was brought into col- 
 lision with the might of a whole army. 
 General McDowell fortunately rode up 
 in time to arrest the useless sacrifice, and 
 was so persuaded of the strength of that 
 part of the enemy's position against 
 which our small advanced force had 
 been, with fatal recklessness, vainly 
 striving, that he determined to change 
 his whole plan of battle. His original 
 
 determination had been to turn the po- 
 sition of Manassas by his left, in the 
 direction in which Tyler's unfortunate 
 " demonstration" had been made. This 
 plan, if it had been carried out, would 
 have brought our force, by a flank move- 
 ment, probably as far to the west as the 
 little stream of Wolf Run, which empties 
 into the Occoquan River still nearer to 
 the Potomac than Bull Run, and of 
 course further to our left and the ene- 
 my's right than even Blackburn's Ford. 
 McDowell, however, having ascertained 
 that the nature of the country to the 
 left or southward of Manassas was unfit 
 for the operations of a large army, and 
 that the enemy were best prepared to 
 defend themselves in that direction, as 
 was evident from the result of the " de- 
 monstration" at Blackburn's Ford, sud- 
 denly changed his original plan. He 
 
McDOWELL'S ORDER OF BATTLE. 
 
 399 
 
 now determined to move by the right, 
 turning the enemy's left. 
 
 In the mean time, McDowell drew 
 back his whole army within the line of 
 Centreville, about three miles in front 
 of Bull Run and twenty-six in advance 
 of Washington. Great preparations 
 were now made for an advance. Rein- 
 forcements of artillery, trains after trains 
 of wagons loaded with stores for a long 
 march, ambulances supplied with all the 
 requirements for the sick and the 
 wounded, and vehicles of every kind 
 were coming in hourly from Washing- 
 ton. Great crowds of visitors, the Secre- 
 tary of War and other officials, members 
 of Congress, newspaper reporters, foreign 
 travellers, and curious citizens, some in 
 carriages crowded with jovial compan- 
 ions and heaped up with hampers of 
 eatables and wine, some on horseback, 
 and many even on foot, thronged forward 
 from the capital to the scene of the ex- 
 pected battle. 
 
 For two days and nights the army had 
 remained at Centreville in excited ex- 
 pectation, when, finally on the third, 
 
 July 
 
 General McDowell issued his order 
 
 20, of battle. 
 
 * 
 
 " HEADQUABTERS DEPT. AKMY EASTERN ) 
 VA., CENTREVILLE, July 20, 1861. f 
 " The enemy has planted a battery on 
 the Warrenton turnpike to defend the 
 passage of Bull Run ; has seized the 
 stone bridge, and made a heavy abattis 
 on the right bank, to oppose our advance 
 in that direction. The ford above the 
 bridge is also guarded, whether with 
 artillery or not is not positively known, 
 but every indication favors the belief 
 
 that he purposes to defend the passage 
 of the stream. 
 
 "It is intended to turn the position, 
 force the enemy from the road that it 
 may be reopened, and, if possible, de- 
 stroy the railroad leading from Manassas 
 to the valley of Virginia, where the 
 enemy has a large force. As this may 
 be resisted by all the force of the enemy, 
 the troops will be disposed of as follows : 
 
 "The first division, General Tyler's, 
 with the exception of Richardson's brig- 
 ade, will, at half-past two o'clock in the 
 morning precisely, be on the Warrenton 
 turnpike to threaten the passage of the 
 bridge, but will not open fire until full 
 daybreak. 
 
 "The second division (Hunter's) will 
 move from its camp at two o'clock in the 
 morning, precisely, and led by Captain 
 Woodbury, of the Engineers, will, after 
 passing Cub Run, turn to the right and 
 pass the Bull Run stream above the 
 ford at Sudley's Spring, and then turn- 
 ing down to the left, descend the stream 
 and clear away the enemy who may be 
 guarding the lower ford and bridge. 
 It will then bear off to the right, and 
 make room for the succeeding division. 
 
 "The third division (Heintzelman's) 
 will march at half-past two o'clock in the 
 morning, and follow the road taken by 
 the second division, but will cross at the 
 lower ford after it has been turned as 
 above, and then, going to the left, take 
 place between the stream and the second 
 division. 
 
 "The fifth division (Miles') will take 
 position on the Centreville Heights 
 (Richardson's brigade will, for the time, 
 
400 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 form part of the fifth division, and will 
 continue in its present position). One 
 brigade will be in the village, and one 
 near the present station of Richardson's 
 brigade. This division will threaten the 
 Blackburn Ford, and remain in reserve 
 at Centreville. The commander will 
 open fire with artillery only, and will 
 bear in mind that it is a demonstration 
 only he is to make. He will cause such 
 defensive works, abattis, earth-works, 
 etc., to be thrown up as will strengthen 
 his position. Lieutenant Prime, of the 
 Engineers, will be charged with this 
 duty. 
 
 "These movements may lead to the 
 gravest results, and commanders of divi- 
 sions and brigades should bear in mind 
 the immense consequences involved. 
 There must be no failure, and every 
 effort must be made to prevent strag- 
 gling. 
 
 " JSTo one must be allowed to leave the 
 ranks without special authority. After 
 completing the movements ordered, the 
 troops must be held in order of battle, 
 as they may be attacked at any moment. 
 
 ' ' By order of 
 
 " BRIGADIER-GENERAL McDoWELL. 
 
 "JAMES B. FRY, Adjutant-General." 
 To this was added an order for each 
 man to be supplied with provisions to 
 the extent of the ability of the subsist- 
 ence department. The fact that in this 
 document there is an apparent uncer- 
 tainty in regard to that ability, while 
 the necessity of the soldiers' having 
 three days' rations is declared, is an in- 
 dication of the want of organization and 
 system with which it is suspected this 
 
 important military enterprise was under- 
 taken. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS DEPT. NORTHEASTERN 
 VA., CENTREVILLE, July 20, 1861 
 
 iRN ) 
 
 " To THE COMMANDERS OF DIVISIONS AND BRIG- 
 ADES : 
 
 "The commanders of the divisions 
 will give the necessary orders that an 
 equal distribution of the subsistence 
 stores on hand may be made immedi- 
 ately to the different companies in their 
 respective commands, so that they shall 
 be provided for the same number of 
 days, and that the same may be cooked 
 and put into the haversacks of the men. 
 The subsistence stores now in the pos- 
 session of each division, with the fresh 
 beef that can be drawn from the chief 
 commissary, must last to include the 
 23d inst. By command of 
 
 "BRIGADIER-GrENERAL McDoWELL. 
 
 "JAMES B. FRY, Adjutant-General." 
 General McDowell had chosen the 
 next day, Sunday, the 21st of July, for 
 his advance to attack the enemy in their 
 position at Bull Run. He had been thus 
 delayed by "the inability of the subor- 
 dinate commanders to get earlier a true 
 account of the state of their commands." 
 Such is the frank admission that the 
 commanding general makes of the loose 
 hold he possessed of his " grand army." 
 There could be no more striking proof 
 of the incomplete organization of the 
 armed mass with which he was about to 
 take the risks of battle. 
 
 It was originally the intention of 
 General McDowell to move the several 
 columns out on the road a few miles 
 in advance of Centreville during the 
 
THE MARCH TO BULL RUN. 
 
 401 
 
 evening of the 20th of July, so that 
 they might have a shorter march in the 
 morning when the attack was to be 
 made. He, however, unfortunately " de- 
 ferred to those who had the greatest 
 distance to go, and who preferred start- 
 ing early in the morning and making 
 but one move." We say unfortunately, 
 believing that the undisciplined ardor 
 with which the men, under their incom- 
 petent regimental commanders, pushed 
 forward on the next day, was an influ- 
 ential cause of the panic at Bull Run. 
 With a hurried march, mostly at "double 
 quick," the raw soldiers became exhaust- 
 ed, and thus prostrated by fatigue were 
 less proof against depressing emotions. 
 If a part of the march had been per- 
 formed, as was prudently intended by 
 McDowell, on the night before, there 
 would have been less distance to accom- 
 plish on the day of the attack, and con- 
 sequently less fatigue of our men, urged 
 forward by their own intemperate ardor 
 and the unskilled leadership of their in- 
 experienced officers. 
 
 Centreville, which had been selected 
 as General McDowell's headquarters, 
 and in which and its neighborhood his 
 army was encamped, is a village of small 
 houses built upon the western acclivity 
 of a ridge running nearly north and 
 south. It is about twenty-six miles 
 from Washington and twenty from Alex- 
 andria. Through it passes the War- 
 renton turnpike. This road takes a 
 westerly direction from Alexandria, on 
 the Potomac ; at the east traverses Fair- 
 fax Court House and Centreville, and 
 crossing Bull Run about four miles from 
 
 51 
 
 the latter village, proceeds to Warrenton 
 beyond. The road from Centreville to 
 Manassas Junction starts from the former 
 place at a right angle with the Warren- 
 ton turnpike, and passing in a southerly 
 direction crosses Bull Run at Blackburn's 
 Ford. There is another road, known as 
 the " old Braddock road," which enters 
 Centreville from a southeasterly direc- 
 tion. The various divisions of the army, 
 previous to the advance on Bull Run, 
 were stationed on and near these roads, 
 ready to take up their march and assume 
 their positions in the contemplated 
 battle. 
 
 The first division, that of General 
 Tyler, was on the Warrenton turnpike 
 about a mile and a half in advance of 
 Centreville, with the exception of that 
 brigade commanded by Richardson which 
 had opened the attack on the 18th. 
 Having fallen back after that unsuccess- 
 ful attempt, Richardson still occupied 
 the road, the Centreville and Manassas, 
 which led to Blackburn's Ford. The 
 second division, that of General Hun- 
 ter, was also on the Warrenton turn- 
 pike, though two or three miles to the 
 rear of Tyler's division, and to the east 
 of Centreville, while the latter was in 
 advance to the west. The third division, 
 commanded by General Heintzelman, 
 was on the old Braddock road, about a 
 mile and a half in the rear of Centre- 
 ville ; and the fifth division, commanded 
 by General Miles, was on the same road, 
 but nearer to the village. The fourth 
 division, commanded by General Runyon, 
 had been left seven miles in the rear of 
 Centreville, to guard the communications 
 
402 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 by the way of Vienna and the Orange 
 and Alexandria Railroad, with the en- 
 trenchments on the Potomac and the 
 base of operations at Washington. 
 
 His force thus skilfully disposed, Gen- 
 eral McDowell proceeded to execute his 
 plan of battle, which is best described 
 in his own words : 
 
 "My personal reconnoissance," he 
 says, "of the roads to the south had 
 shown that it was not practicable to 
 carry out the original plan of turning 
 the enemy's position on their right. The 
 affair of the 18th, at Blackburn's Ford, 
 showed that he was too strong at that 
 point for us to force a passage there 
 without great loss ; and if we did, that 
 it would bring us in front of his strong 
 position at Manassas, which was not de- 
 sired. Our information was that the 
 stone bridge, over which the Warrenton 
 road crossed Bull Run, to the west of 
 Centreville, was defended by a battery 
 in position, and the road on his side of 
 the stream impeded by a heavy abattis. 
 The alternative was, therefore, to turn 
 the extreme left of his position. Reli- 
 able information was obtained of an un- 
 defended ford about three miles above 
 the bridge, there being another ford 
 between it and the bridge, which was 
 defended. It was therefore determined 
 to take the road to the upper ford, and 
 after crossing, to get behind the forces 
 guarding the lower ford and the bridge, 
 and after occupying the Warrenton road 
 east of the bridge, to send out a force 
 to destroy the railroad at or near Gaines- 
 ville, and thus break up the communi- 
 cation between the enemy's forces at 
 
 Manassas and those in the valley of 
 Virginia, before Winchester, which had 
 been held in check by Major-General 
 Patterson. 
 
 " Brigadier-General Tyler was direct- 
 ed to move with three of his brigades 
 on the Warrenton road, and commence 
 cannonading the enemy's batteries, while 
 Hunter's division, moving after him, 
 should, after passing a little stream called 
 Cub Run, turn to the right and north 
 and move around to the upper ford, and 
 there turn south and get behind the 
 enemy ; Colonel Heintzelman's division 
 was to follow Hunter's as far as the turn- 
 ing-off place to the lower ford, where 
 he was to cross after the enemy should 
 have been driven out by Hunter's divi- 
 sion ; the fifth division (Miles') to be in 
 reserve on the Centreville ridge. 
 
 "I had felt anxious about the road 
 from Manassas, by Blackburn's Ford, to 
 Centreville, along this ridge, fearing that 
 while we should be in force to the front, 
 and endeavoring to turn the enemy's 
 position, we ourselves should be turned 
 by him by this road ; for if he should 
 once obtain possession of this ridge, 
 which overlooks all the country to the 
 west to the foot of the spurs of the Blue 
 Ridge, we should have been irretrievably 
 cut off and destroyed. I had, therefore, 
 directed this point to be held in force, 
 and sent an engineer to extemporize 
 some field-works to strengthen the posi- 
 tion." 
 
 The divisions were ordered to march 
 at two o'clock in the morning, that they 
 might avoid the sweltering heat of a 
 July sun. There was, however, con- 
 
THE MARCH TO BULL RUN. 
 
 403 
 
 siderable delay in breaking up the en- 
 j n ly campments and getting into march- 
 21 ing order. The movement at last 
 began. 
 
 The division of Tyler in advance on 
 the Warrenton turnpike was the first to 
 move. This was composed only of 
 Sherman's, Schenck's, and Keyes' brig- 
 ades ; the fourth, that of Richardson, 
 being posted on the road leading to 
 Blackburn's Ford, in order to act in con- 
 junction with Miles' division, held in re- 
 serve in case the enemy should attempt 
 to make a flank movement from this di- 
 rection. 
 
 General Tyler did not succeed in get- 
 ting his troops to move until half-past 
 two o'clock, half an hour after the time 
 ordered. Schenck's and Sherman's brig- 
 ades, with Ayres' and Carlisle's batteries, 
 were pushed on in advance, and arrived 
 in front of the bridge where the War- 
 renton turnpike crosses Bull Run, at 
 half-past six in the morning. Keyes' 
 brigade had been halted within two 
 miles of the stream, in order to watch 
 the cross road which communicates at 
 that point with the Warrenton turnpike. 
 Tyler, having been ordered to threaten 
 the bridge, posted his troops accord- 
 ingly. Schenck's brigade was formed 
 into line, with its left resting in the 
 direction of the bridge and the battery 
 which the enemy had established to de- 
 fend it, with the view of threatening 
 both. Sherman's brigade was posted 
 to the right of the turnpike, so as to be 
 ready to sustain Schenck or to cross the 
 stream of Bull Run when the progress 
 of Hunter's division should justify the 
 
 movement. The thirty-pounder gun 
 attached to Carlisle's battery was posted 
 in advance on the road, and Ayres' bat- 
 tery also, but at a considerable distance 
 in the rear. Carlisle's battery was 
 placed on the left of Sherman's brigade. 
 Having thus disposed his force and fired 
 his signal-gun, Tyler awaited the move- 
 ment of the main body on his right and 
 the enemy's left, which we now proceed 
 to trace. 
 
 Colonel Hunter's division, the second, 
 had followed the march of Tyler along 
 the Warrenton turnpike until it crossed 
 the streamlet termed Cub Run, when it 
 turned to the right and took the by- 
 road through the woods, which, by a cir- 
 cuitous course, led to an upper ford of 
 Bull Run, called Sudley's Spring, where 
 the enemy's left was posted. This move- 
 ment was in accordance with McDowell's 
 plan of flanking Beauregard in that di- 
 rection and getting in his rear, with the 
 view of seizing and cutting off his com- 
 munication by means of the Manassas 
 Gap Railroad with Winchester, where 
 Johnston was known to be with a consid- 
 erable rebel force. 
 
 The circuitous road through the wood 
 was found to be longer and more diffi- 
 cult to march than was anticipated, and 
 accordingly Hunter's division did not 
 reach the ford of Bull Run at Sudley's 
 Spring until half- past nine o'clock in the 
 morning. General Burnside's brigade 
 was foremost, fhe men being greatly 
 prostrated by the heat of the day, now 
 considerably advanced, and their intem- 
 perate ardor in marching, could not be 
 prevented from breaking from the ranks 
 
THE AVAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 to fill their canteens and slake their 
 thirst in the stream. This caused much 
 delay in re-forming and crossing the ford. 
 Finally, however, order was restored, 
 and the brigade crossed Bull Run and 
 advanced, Colonel Slocum, of the Second 
 Rhode Island Regiment, having thrown 
 out skirmishers on either flank and in 
 front. 
 
 The enemy now showed themselves, 
 and soon the head of Burnside's brigade 
 was confronting them. The Second 
 Regiment of Rhode Islanders was im- 
 mediately pushed forward with its bat- 
 tery of artillery, and the rest of the brig- 
 ade was formed in a field to the right 
 of the road. The enemy had already 
 begun their fire, and General Hunter, 
 who commanded the division, had been 
 wounded and obliged to retire from the 
 field. 
 
 The Second Rhode Islanders being 
 closely pressed, Burnside ordered up to 
 their support the Seventy-first New York 
 Militia and the Second New Hampshire 
 Volunteers. As, however, they were 
 slow in forming, the First Rhode Island- 
 ers were brought up. Their commander, 
 Major Balch, led them gallantly to the 
 field of action, where they "performed 
 most effective service" in assisting their 
 " comrades to repel the attack of the 
 enemy's forces. The Second Rhode 
 Island Regiment of Volunteers," con- 
 tinues General Burnside in his official 
 report from which we quote, "had 
 steadily borne the enemy's attack, and 
 had bravely stood its ground, even com- 
 pelling him to give way. At this time 
 Colonel Slocum (of the Second Rhode 
 
 Island) fell, mortally wounded, and soon 
 after Major Ballou was very severely 
 injured by a cannon-ball that killed his 
 horse and crushed one of his legs. The 
 regiment, under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Wheaton, continued gal- 
 lantly to hold its position. Soon after, 
 Colonel Martin, of the Seventy-first Reg- 
 iment New York State Militia, led his 
 regiment into action, and planting the 
 two howitzers belonging to the regiment 
 upon the right of his line, worked them 
 most effectively. The battery of the 
 Second Rhode Island Regiment, on the 
 knoll upon the extreme right, was 
 used in silencing the heavy masked 
 battery in front, occasionally throwing 
 in shot and shell upon the enemy's 
 infantry, six regiments of which were 
 attempting to force our position. Cap- 
 tain Reynolds, who was in command of 
 this battery, served it with great coolness, 
 precision, and skill. The Second Regi- 
 ment of New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 under Colonel Marston, was now brought 
 into the field, and rendered great service 
 in defending the position. Colonel 
 Marston was wounded early in the action, 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Fiske ably di- 
 rected the advance of the regiment. 
 Thus rny whole brigade," declares Burn- 
 side with just exultation, "was brought 
 into the engagement at the earliest pos- 
 sible moment, and succeeded in com- 
 pelling the enemy to retire. We were 
 wholly without support, bearing the 
 brunt of the contest until relieved by 
 Major Sykes, of the Third Infantry, 
 United States Army, who formed his 
 battalion most admirably in front of the 
 
BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 405 
 
 enemy, and pouring in a destructive fire 
 upon his lines assisted in staggering 
 him." 
 
 Colonel Andrew Porter, commanding 
 a brigade in the same division, that of 
 Hunter (the second), followed closely 
 upon the advance of Burnside. Porter's 
 brigade was composed of Griffin's battery, 
 with a detachment of marines to support 
 it, of the Twenty-seventh New York 
 Volunteer Regiment, Colonel Slocum ; 
 of the Fourteenth New York State Mi- 
 litia, Colonel Wood ; of the Eighth New 
 York State Militia, Colonel Lyons ; of a 
 battalion of regulars, Major Sykes ; of 
 the first company of Second Dragoons 
 and four companies of cavalry, Major 
 Palmer with a total strength of 3,700 
 men. 
 
 Porter following closely upon the ad- 
 vance of Burnside 's brigade, as soon as 
 he reached the scene of action turned 
 the head of his brigade slightly to the 
 right, in order to gain time and room 
 for deployment in that direction. Grif- 
 fin's battery pushed through the woods 
 to the fields beyond, followed promptly 
 by the supporting corps of marines and 
 the Fourteenth New York State Militia, 
 at considerable distance behind, while 
 the Twenty-seventh advanced at the 
 same time, but more to the left. All 
 went spiritedly forward and at a " double 
 quick." 
 
 " The enemy," says Porter in his 
 report, " appeared drawn up in a long 
 line, extending along the Warrenton 
 turnpike, from a house and haystack 
 upon our extreme right to a house 
 beyond the left of the division. Behind 
 
 that house there was a heavy masked 
 battery, which, with three others along 
 his line on the heights beyond, covered 
 the ground upon which we were ad- 
 vancing with all sorts of projectiles. A 
 grove in front of his right wing afforded 
 it shelter and protection, while the shrub- 
 bery along the road in the fences screened 
 somewhat his left wing. 
 
 " Griffin advanced to within one thou- 
 sand yards, and opened a deadly and 
 unerring fire upon his batteries, which 
 were soon silenced or driven away. 
 
 " Our right was rapidly developed 
 by the marines, Twenty-seventh, Four- 
 teenth, and Eighth, with the cavalry in 
 rear of the right ; the enemy retreating 
 in more precipitation than order as our 
 line advanced. The second brigade 
 (Burnside's) was at this time attacking 
 the enemy's right with perhaps too hasty 
 vigor. 
 
 " The enemy clung to the protecting 
 wood with great tenacity, and the Rhode 
 Island battery became so much endan- 
 gered as to impel the commander of the 
 second brigade to call for the assistance 
 of the battalion of regulars." 
 
 At this moment Colonel Porter learned 
 that Hunter had been wounded, and 
 that the command of the division de- 
 volved upon him. He therefore de- 
 tached at once the battalion of regulars 
 to the support of the hard-pressed brig- 
 ade of Burnside in advance. 
 
 In the mean time, the third division, 
 under Heintzelman, had followed the 
 road taken by the second (Hunter's), 
 with the view, however, of stopping at 
 an intermediate ford before reaching 
 
406 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 that of Sudley's Spring, covered by the 
 latter. " Between two and three miles 
 beyond Centreville," reports General 
 Heintzelman, "we left the Warrenton 
 turnpike, turning into a country road 
 on the right. Captain Wright accom- 
 panied the head of Colonel Hunter's 
 column, with directions to stop at a 
 road which turned in to the left to a 
 ford across Bull Run, about half way 
 between the point where we turned off 
 from the turnpike and Sudley's Spring, 
 at which latter point Colonel Hunter's 
 division was to cross. No such road* 
 was found to exist, and about eleven 
 o'clock we found ourselves at Sudley's 
 Spring, about ten miles from Centre- 
 ville, with one brigade of Colonel Hun- 
 ter's division still on our side of the 
 Run. Before reaching this point the 
 battle had commenced." 
 
 General McDowell himself had hast- 
 ened to his right to direct the move- 
 ment in person at that point where the 
 main battle was, in accordance with his 
 plan, being fought. His own statement 
 of the progress of the action, therefore, 
 based upon his personal experience, is 
 the most interesting, while its frankness 
 and modesty guarantee its truthfulness : 
 
 " On reaching the ford at Sudley's 
 Spring," reports the General, "I found 
 part of the leading brigade of Hunter's 
 division (Burnside's) had crossed, but 
 the men were slow in getting over, stop- 
 ping to drink. As at this time the 
 clouds of dust from the direction of 
 
 Another striking proof of the recklessness with which 
 our army was being led to battle against a concealed foe 
 in an unknown country. 
 
 Manassas indicated the immediate ap- 
 proach of a large force, and fearing it 
 might come down on the head of the 
 column before the division could all get 
 over and sustain it, orders were sent 
 back to the heads of regiments to break 
 from the column and come forward sep- 
 arately as fast as possible. Orders were 
 sent by an officer to the reserve brigade 
 of Heintzelman's division to come by a 
 nearer road across the fields, and an 
 aide-de-camp was sent to Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral Tyler to direct him to press for- 
 ward his attack, as large bodies of the 
 enemy were passing in front of him to 
 attack the division which had crossed 
 over. The ground between the stream 
 and the road leading from Sudley's 
 Spring south, and over which Burnside's 
 brigade marched, was for about a mile 
 from the ford thickly wooded, while on 
 the right of the road for about the same 
 distance, the country was divided be- 
 tween fields and woods. About a mile 
 from the road the country on both sides 
 of the road is open, and for nearly a 
 mile farther large rolling fields extend 
 down to the Warrenton turnpike, which 
 crosses what became the field of battle 
 through the valley of a small water- 
 course, a tributary of Bull Run. 
 
 " Shortly after the leading regiment 
 of the first brigade reached this open 
 space, and while others and the second 
 brigade were crossing to the front and 
 right, the enemy opened his fire, begin- 
 ning with artillery, and followed it up 
 with infantry. The leading brigade 
 (Burnside's) had to sustain this shock 
 for a short time without support, and 
 
BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 407 
 
 did it well. The battalion of regular 
 infantry was sent to sustain it, and 
 shortly afterward the other corps of 
 Porter's brigade a regiment detached 
 from Heintzelman's division to the left 
 forced the enemy back far enough to 
 allow Sherman's and Keyes' brigades of 
 Tyler's division to cross from their po- 
 sition to the Warrenton road. These 
 drove the right of the enemy under- 
 stood to have been commanded by Beau- 
 regard from the front of the field, and 
 out of the detached woods, and down to 
 the road, and across it up the slopes on 
 the other .side. While this was going 
 on, Heintzelman's division was moving 
 down the field to the stream and up the 
 road beyond. Beyond the Warrenton 
 road, and to the left of the road down 
 which our troops had marched from 
 Sudley's Spring, is a hill with a farm- 
 house on it. Behind this hill the enemy 
 had, early in the day, some of his most 
 annoying batteries planted. Across the 
 road from this hill was another hill, 
 or, rather, elevated ridge, or table-land. 
 The hottest part of the contest was for 
 the possession of the hill with a house 
 on it. The force engaged here was 
 Heintzelman's division, Wilcox's and 
 Howard's brigades on the right, sup- 
 ported by part of Porter's brigade and 
 the cavalry under Palmer, and Frank- 
 lin's brigade of Heintzelman's division, 
 Sherman's brigade of Tyler's division in 
 the centre and up the road, while Keyes' 
 brigade of Tyler's division was on the 
 left, attacking the batteries near the 
 stone bridge. The Rhode Island bat- 
 tery of Burnside's brigade also partici- 
 
 pated in this attack by its fire from the 
 north of the turnpike. The enemy was 
 understood to have been commanded by 
 J. E. Johnston. Ricketts' battery, which 
 did such effective service, and played so 
 brilliant a part in the contest, was, to- 
 gether with Griffin's battery, on the side 
 of the hill, and became the object of the 
 special attention of the enemy, who suc- 
 ceeded our officers mistaking one of 
 his regiments for one of our own, and 
 allowing it to approach without firing 
 upon it in disabling the battery, and 
 then attempted to take it. Three times 
 was he repulsed by different corps in 
 succession and driven back, and the 
 guns taken by hand, the horses being 
 killed and pulled away. The third time 
 it was supposed by us all that the re- 
 pulse was final, for he was driven en- 
 tirely from the hill, and so far beyond it 
 as not to be in sight, and all were cer- 
 tain the day was ours. He had before 
 this been driven nearly a mile and a 
 half, and was beyond the Warrenton 
 road, which was entirely in our pos- 
 session from the stone bridge westward, 
 and our engineers were just completing 
 the removal of the abattis across the road, 
 to allow our reinforcement (Schenck's 
 brigade and Ayres' battery) to join us. 
 
 ' ' The enemy was evidently disheart- 
 ened and broken. But we had been 
 fighting since half-past ten o'clock in 
 the morning, and it was after three 
 o'clock in the afternoon. The men had 
 been up since two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, and had made what, to those un- 
 used to such things, seemed a long 
 march before coming into action, though 
 
408 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the longest distance gone over was not 
 more than nine and a half miles ; and 
 though they had three days 7 provisions 
 served out to them the day before, 
 many no doubt did not eat them, or 
 threw them away on the march or 
 during the battle, and were therefore 
 without food. They had done much 
 severe fighting ; some of the regiments 
 which had been driven from the hill in 
 the first two attempts of the enemy to 
 keep possession of it had become shaken, 
 were unsteady, and had many men out 
 of the ranks. 
 
 " It was at this time that the enemy's 
 reinforcements came to his aid from the 
 railway train, understood to have just 
 arrived from the valley with the residue 
 of Johnston's army. They threw them- 
 selves into the woods on our right, and 
 opened a fire of musketry on our men, 
 which caused them to break and retire 
 down the hillside. This soon degen- 
 erated into disorder, for which there 
 was no remedy. Every effort was made 
 to rally them, even beyond the reach of 
 the enemy's fire, but in vain. The bat- 
 talion of regular infantry alone moved 
 up the hill opposite to the one with the 
 house upon it, and there maintained it- 
 self until our men could get down to 
 and across the Warrenton turnpike, on 
 the way back to the position we occu- 
 pied in the morning. The plain was 
 covered with retreating troops, and they 
 seemed to infect those with whom they 
 came in contact. The retreat soon be- 
 came a rout, and this soon degenerated 
 still further into a panic." 
 
 McDowell, now seeing that all was lost, 
 
 did his utmost to save his panic-stricken 
 army from the consequences of a dis- 
 orderly retreat. He gave the necessary 
 orders to restrain and cover the flight of 
 his defeated troops. He begged the 
 men to form in line and offer the appear- 
 ance at least of organization. He so far 
 succeeded for the moment as to cover 
 their retreat with a force of regulars, 
 until they had recrossed Bull Run. On 
 reaching the road, however, by the vari- 
 ous fords, in detached parties, often with- 
 out their officers, or with such as were 
 as incapable of self-command as the men, 
 and, therefore, unfit to govern others, 
 the panic increased by mutual infection. 
 " They became intermingled," says Gen- 
 eral McDowell, "and all organization 
 was lost." 
 
 Orders were sent to Miles' division 
 for a force to move forward and pro- 
 tect the retreat of the main body. 
 Blenker's brigade was accordingly dis- 
 patched for this purpose, and how it 
 acted, and what it effected may be 
 learned from this report of the com- 
 mander. " It was about four o'clock, 
 P.M.," says Colonel Blenker, "when I 
 received orders to advance upon the 
 road from Centreville to Warrenton. 
 This order was executed with great 
 difficulty, as the road was nearly choked 
 up by retreating baggage wagons of 
 several divisions, and by the vast num- 
 ber of flying soldiers belonging to vari- 
 ous regiments. Nevertheless, owing to 
 the coolness of the commanding officers 
 and the good discipline of the men, the 
 passage through the village was success- 
 fully executed, and the further advance 
 

 
 
 
 
 
THE RETREAT FROM BULL RUN. 
 
 409 
 
 made with the utmost precision ; and I 
 was thus enabled to take a position which 
 would prevent the advance of the enemy 
 and protect the retreat of the army. 
 The Eighth Regiment took position a 
 mile and a half south of Centreville, on 
 both sides of the road leading to Bull 
 Run. The Twenty-ninth Regiment stood 
 half a mile behind the Eighth, enchiquier 
 by companies. The Garibaldi Guard 
 stood in reserve in line behind the 
 Twenty-ninth Regiment. The retreat 
 of great numbers of flying soldiers con- 
 tinued until nine o'clock in the evening, 
 the great majority in wild confusion, and 
 but few in collected bodies. Soon after- 
 ward, several squadrons of the enemy's 
 cavalry advanced along the road, and 
 appeared before the outposts. They 
 were challenged, 'Who comes here?' 
 and, remaining without any answer, I, 
 being just present at the outpost, called 
 'Union forever!' whereupon the officer 
 of the enemy's cavalry commanded, ' En 
 avant! en avantf knock him down!' 
 Now the skirmishers fired, when the 
 enemy turned around, leaving several 
 killed and wounded on the spot. About 
 nine prisoners who were already in their 
 hands were liberated by this action. 
 Afterward, we were several times mo- 
 lested from various sides by the enemy's 
 
 52 
 
 cavalry. At about midnight the com- 
 mand to leave the position and march to 
 Washington was given by General Mc- 
 Dowell. The brigade retired in perfect 
 order, and ready to repel any attack on 
 the road from Centreville to Fairfax 
 Court House, Annandale, to Washing- 
 ton. Besides the six guns which were 
 mounted by our men and thereby pre- 
 served to our army, the Eighth Regi- 
 ment brought in in safety two Umion 
 colors left behind by soldiers on the 
 field of battle. The -officers and men 
 did their duty admirably, and the 
 undersigned commander deems it his 
 duty to express herewith officially his 
 entire satisfaction with the conduct of 
 his brigade." 
 
 To complete the account of the action 
 at Bull Rim, it is only necessary to note 
 that the demonstration in front of the 
 enemy at Blackburn's Ford was effect- 
 ively carried out by the brigades of 
 Colonels Richardson and Davies, aided 
 by the well-served field battery of Major 
 Hunter and other artillery, consisting of 
 rifled ten and twenty pounders. In the 
 course of the morning the enemy in this 
 direction were driven back several times 
 and kept in effectual check, until the 
 panic occurred on our right, and the 
 general rout began. 
 
410 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Senseless Panic of the Federal Troops at Bull Run. The shock to the Enemy. An incomplete Pursuit. Confusion in 
 the Federal Ranks. Havoc. Loss of Artillery. A graphic description. General McDowell's efforts to Rally. 
 Covering the Retreat. The Federal Force at Centreville. Falling back. Reasons for it. Increased disorder. The 
 flight to Washington. Intense selfishness. Scattered Troops. Desertions. Demoralization. Non-pursuit by the 
 Enemy a tribute to the spirit of the Federal Troops. The force of the two Antagonists at Bull Run. Losses. 
 Contradictory reports. Synopsis of Beauregard's report. Discussion therefrom. An apt illustration from Plutarch. 
 A letter from Beauregard. The causes of the defeat at Bull Run. Failure of Patterson. His own justification. 
 Superseded in command. Delay in the advance of the Federal Army. McDowell's explanations of the delay. 
 Why the advance was not postponed. The penalty of ill-success. McDowell superseded by General McClellan. 
 A gracious concession. A patriotic sacrifice. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE senseless panic which seized our 
 army after it had driven the enemy 
 from the ground held by their left, 
 and at a moment when a Federal victory 
 seemed assured, became entirely uncon- 
 trollable. The secessionists had been, 
 however, so paralyzed by the spirited 
 onset of our troops, that they were un- 
 able to take full advantage of the rout 
 and confusion which ensued. They fol- 
 lowed in the first instance only the re- 
 treating columns of our right across the 
 ford and along the Warrenton turnpike 
 to Cub Run, about a mile and a half 
 from Bull Run and half way to Centre- 
 ville. Here the fugitives were arrested 
 by the thronging baggage wagons, artil- 
 lery, ambulances, carriages, and horses 
 which blocked up the road, and the 
 confusion became greater and the panic 
 more intense. A disorderly mass of 
 soldiers, horsemen, and pedestrians ob- 
 structing each other, and maddc^d by 
 the difficulty of escape, was thus ut the 
 mercy of their pursuers, whose artillery 
 did more havoc at this moment than 
 
 during the whole engagement on the 
 battle-field. Such was the disorder, that 
 our troops could not be again formed, 
 but giving themselves up to their fears, 
 sought safety only in flight. The horses 
 were cut from gun-carriages and caissons, 
 and cannon which had been gallantly 
 served and spiritedly saved from the 
 grasp of the enemy on the battle-field, 
 were now left ingloriojusly upon the road 
 to fall into their hands without an effort 
 to defend them. 
 
 An eye-witness* describes the scene 
 with much graphic power. "I got my 
 horse," he says, " up into the field out of 
 the road, and went on rapidly toward the 
 front. Soon I met soldiers, who were 
 coming through the corn, mostly without 
 arms ; and presently I saw firelocks, 
 cooking-tins, knapsacks, and great-coats 
 on the ground, and observed that the 
 confusion and speed of the baggage carts 
 became greater, and that many of them 
 were crowded with men, or were fol- 
 lowed by others who clung to them. 
 
 Mr. Russell, of the London Times. 
 
FLIGHT OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS. 
 
 411 
 
 The ambulances were crowded with sol- 
 diers, but it did not look as if there were 
 many wounded. Negro servants on led 
 horses dashed frantically past ; men in 
 uniform, whom it were a disgrace to the 
 profession of arms to call ' soldiers,' 
 swarmed by on mules, chargers, and 
 even draught horses, which had been cut 
 out of carts or wagons, and went on 
 with harness clinging to their heels, as 
 frightened as their riders. Men literally 
 screamed with rage and fright when 
 their way was blocked up. On I rode, 
 asking all, ' What is all this about ?' and 
 now and then, but rarely, receiving the 
 answer, ' We're whipped ;' or, ' We're 
 repulsed.' Faces black and dusty, 
 tongues out in the heat, eyes staring- 
 it was a most wonderful sight. On they 
 came, like him, 
 
 ' Who; having once turned round, goes on, 
 
 And turns no more his head, 
 For he knoweth that a fearful fiend 
 Doth close behind him tread.' 
 
 But where was the fiend ? I looked in 
 vain. There was, indeed, some cannon- 
 ading in front of me and in their rear, 
 but still the firing was comparatively 
 distant, and the runaways were far out 
 of range. As I advanced, the number 
 of carts diminished, but the mounted 
 men increased, and the column of fugi- 
 tives became denser. A few buggies 
 and light wagons filled with men, whose 
 faces would have made up ' a great 
 Leporello' in the ghost scene, tried to 
 pierce the rear of the mass of carts, 
 which were now solidified and moving 
 on like a glacier. I crossed a small 
 ditch by the roadside, got out on the 
 road to escape some snake fences, and, 
 
 looking before me, saw there was still a 
 crowd of men in uniforms coming along. 
 The road was strewn with articles of 
 clothing firelocks, waist-belts, cartouch- 
 boxes, caps, great-coats, mess-tins, musi- 
 cal instruments, cartridges, bayonets and 
 sheaths, swords and pistols even bis- 
 cuits, water-bottles, and pieces of meat." 
 
 General McDowell still continued his 
 efforts to check this reckless and danger- 
 ous flight. After directing Porter and 
 Blenker with their brigades to cover the 
 retreat of his right and the main body, 
 he rode toward Blackburn's Ford, where 
 Colonel Richardson had been posted. 
 He found this officer already retreating, 
 in accordance with the orders of the 
 commander of his division. He imme- 
 diately ordered him to halt his brigade 
 and take up the most practicable line 
 of defence ; and ordering up the First 
 and Second JSTew Jersey regiments, and 
 the De Kalb, belonging to Runyon's 
 division, placed a reserve behind Cen- 
 treville to sustain him, and took the com- 
 mand himself. Having made the best 
 disposition of this force to check the 
 enemy, McDowell succeeded in calming 
 somewhat the panic of the fugitives, and 
 "the retreating current passed slowly 
 through Centreville to the rear." 
 
 The enemy in the mean time had, on 
 the retirement of Colonel Richardson's 
 brigade, taken possession of Blackburn's 
 Ford, and threatened to turn the right 
 of our army as it fell back. About sun- 
 down the whole of McDowell's force was 
 within Centreville. It now became a 
 question whether an effort should be 
 made to hold this place. The General's 
 
412 
 
 THE AVAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 filial decision and the reasons for it are 
 best given in his own words : 
 
 "The condition of our artillery and 
 its ammunition, and the want of food 
 for the men, who had generally aban- 
 doned or thrown away all that had been 
 issued the day before, and the utter dis- 
 organization and consequent demoraliza- 
 tion of the mass of the army, seemed to 
 all who were near enough to be con- 
 sulted division and brigade, command- 
 ers and staff to admit of no alternative 
 but to fall back ; the more so as the 
 position at Blackburn's Ford was then 
 in the possession of the enemy, and he 
 was already turning our left. On send- 
 ing the officers of the staff to the differ- 
 ent camps, they found, as they reported 
 to me, that our decision had been antici- 
 pated by the troops, most of those who 
 had come in from the front being already 
 on the road to the rear, the panic with 
 which they came in still continuing and 
 hurrying them along." 
 
 Indeed, however desirable it might 
 have been to hold Centreville, the total 
 demoralization of the Federal troops 
 rendered it impracticable. Carried away 
 by an irrational panic that affected our 
 raw recruits like an attack of insanity, 
 they hurried impetuously toward Wash- 
 ington. Officers and men losing all self- 
 control and self-respect, and alike reck- 
 less of the duties of command and obe- 
 dience, abandoned themselves to the 
 mere desire of personal safety. There 
 was no longer any pretence on the part 
 of most of the soldiers and many of the 
 commanders to the least regard for mili- 
 tary discipline. Some seized the ambu- 
 
 lances, and heedless of comrades left 
 wounded or dying on the field, rejoiced 
 in their own effective means of escape. 
 Others cut away the artillery horses, and 
 rode hastily away, without a thought of 
 the prize so ingloriously abandoned to 
 the enemy. Some despoiled the stables 
 of the country people, whose houses they 
 had failed to protect, and rode off in 
 boastful triumph : or even stole the 
 horses from which their riders had just 
 dismounted to relieve a wounded or con- 
 sole a dying comrade. Surgeons, while 
 lingering on the battle-field in the per- 
 formance of their holy duties to which 
 but few of them, to their eternal honor, 
 were recreant were thus deprived of 
 the means of escape by men who, reck- 
 less of all obligations, cared only for 
 their own safety. 
 
 The panic-stricken army continued its 
 flight all the afternoon and night of 
 Sunday and the following day. Even 
 after the reserve under Blenker reached 
 the capital on Monday afternoon, j H jy 
 stragglers continued to come in. 22. 
 Many of the fugitives, not well assured 
 of safety even there, or disinclined to 
 further military service, did not stOD 
 in Washington, but hurried to their dis- 
 tant homes in New York, Pennsylvania, 
 and New England. So complete and 
 long-continued was the demoralization 
 of the "grand army" of the Potomac, 
 that it was said, and apparently not with 
 much exaggeration, that a squadron of 
 the enemy's cavalry might have captured 
 the capital on the day after the battle of 
 Bull Run. For weeks afterward there 
 was a constant and not unfounded fear, 
 
LOSSES AT BULL RUN. 
 
 413 
 
 that if Beauregard should advance, 
 Washington would be at his mercy. 
 
 That the enemy did not pursue was a 
 tribute to the spirit of our troops, and 
 a proof of the victory they might have 
 gained had they shown as much persist- 
 ency in the continuance of the struggle 
 as they had gallantry in the opening. 
 
 The whole number of the Federal 
 force which crossed Bull Run and en- 
 gaged in the battle was 18,000 men. 
 The strength of the enemy was variously 
 computed at from 50,000 to 100,000 men. 
 Beauregard himself declared, that on 
 the 21st of August, the day of the bat- 
 tle, he had but 27,800 effective men, in- 
 cluding the 6,200 brought by General 
 Johnston during the struggle from Win- 
 chester, and 1,700 by General Holmes 
 from Fredericksburg. 
 
 Our loss was estimated at 481 killed, 
 1,011 wounded, and 1,216 missing, 
 making a total of 2,708. The loss in 
 artillery and equipments is officially 
 stated as follows : 
 
 In Artillery Company D, Second Ar- 
 tillery, Captain Arnold, six rifled pieces. 
 Company I, First Artillery, Captain 
 Ricketts, six rifled Parrott ten-pounders. 
 Company E, Second Artillery, Captain 
 Carlisle, two rifled pieces and two how- 
 itzers. This company had six pieces in 
 the action. Company , Fifth Artil- 
 lery, Captain Griffin, one rifled piece, 
 four smooth bored six pieces in the 
 action. Company G, First Artillery, 
 one thirty-pounder Parrott gun one 
 thirty-pounder and two twenty-pounder 
 Parrott guns in action. Rhode Island 
 battery, five rifled pieces six in action. 
 
 Total, seventeen rifled and eight smooth- 
 bore guns. 
 
 In Small- Arms etc. One hundred and 
 fifty boxes small-arm cartridges. Eighty- 
 seven boxes rifled cannon ammunition. 
 Thirty boxes of old firearms. Thirteen 
 wagons loaded with provisions, and three 
 thousand bushels of oats. It is estima- 
 ted, in addition, that 2,500 muskets and 
 8,000 knapsacks and blankets were lost. 
 
 The enemy estimated our loss at the 
 apparently exaggerated number of 4,500 
 exclusive of the missing, and their own 
 at the proportionately diminished amount 
 of 393 killed and 1,200 wounded.* 
 
 c GENERAL J. E. JOHNSTON'S REPORT OF THE BATTLE OF BULL 
 RUN. "I assumed command at Harper's Ferry on the 
 23d of May. The force at that point then consisted of nine 
 regiments and two battalions of infantry, four companies 
 of artillery with sixteen pieces without caissons, harness, 
 or horses, and about 300 cavalry. They were of course 
 undisciplined, several regiments without accoutrements, 
 and with an entirely inadequate supply of ammunition. 
 
 " I lost no time in making a complete reconnoissance of 
 the place and its environs, in which the chief engineer, 
 Major (now Brigadier-General) Whiting, ably assisted. 
 The results confirmed my preconceived ideas. 
 
 "The position is untenable by any force not strong 
 enough to take the field against an invading army, and to 
 hold both sides of the Potomac. It is a triangle, two sides 
 being formed by the Potomac and the Shenandoah, and 
 the third by Furnace Ridge. The plateau thus inclosed, 
 and the end of Furnace Ridge itself, the only defensible posi- 
 tion, which, however, required for its adequate occupation 
 double our numbers, was exposed to enfilade and reverse 
 fires of artillery from heights on the Maryland side of the 
 river. Within that line the ground was more favorable to 
 an attacking than to a defending force. The Potomac can 
 be easily crossed at many points above and below, so that 
 it is easily turned. It is twenty miles from the great route 
 into the valley of Virginia from Pennsylvania and Mary- 
 land, by which General Patterson's approach was expected. 
 Its garrison was thus out of position to defend that valley, 
 or to prevent General McClellan's junction with General 
 Patterson. These were the obvious and important objects 
 to be kept in view. Besides being in position for them, it 
 was necessary to be able, on emergency, to join General 
 Beauregard. 
 
 "The occupation of Harper's Ferry by our army per- 
 fectly suited the enemy's views. We were bound to a 
 
414 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 The chief cause of the defeat of the 
 Federal troops at Bull Run was the 
 junction of General Johnston's force 
 
 fixed point. His movements were unrestricted. These 
 views were submitted to the military authorities. The 
 continued occupation of the place was, however, deemed 
 by them indispensable. I determined to hold it until the 
 great objects of the government required its abandonment. 
 
 "The practicable roads from the west and northwest, as 
 well as from Manassas, meet the route from Pennsylvania 
 and Maryland at Winchester. That point was, therefore, 
 in my opinion, our best position. 
 
 " The distinguished commander of the army of the 
 Potomac was convinced, like myself, of our dependence 
 upon each other, and promised to co-operate with me in 
 case of need. To guard against surprise, and to Impose 
 upon the enemy, Major Whiting was directed to mount a 
 few heavy guns upon Furnace Ridge, and otherwise 
 strengthen the position. 
 
 " I was employed, until the 13th of June, in continuing 
 what had been begun by my predecessor, Colonel (now 
 Major-General) Jackson, the organization, instruction, and 
 equipment of the troops, and providing means of trans- 
 portation and artillery horses. The river was observed 
 from the Point of Bocks to the western part of the county 
 of Berkeley the most distant portions by the indefatigable 
 Stuart with his cavalry. General Patterson's troops were 
 within a few hours of Williainsport, and General McClel- 
 lan's in Western Virginia, were supposed to be approach- 
 ing to effect a junction with Patterson, whose force was 
 reported, by well-informed persons, to be 18,000 men. 
 
 " On the morning of the 13th of June, information was 
 received from Winchester that Romney was occupied by 
 2,000 Federal troops, supposed to be the vanguard of the 
 army. 
 
 " Colonel A. P. Hill, with his own (Thirteenth) and 
 Colonel Gibbon's (Tenth) Virginia regiments were dis- 
 patched by railway to Winchester. He was directed to 
 move thence toward Romney to take the best position and 
 best measures to check the advance of the enemy. He 
 was to add to his command the Third Tennessee Regiment, 
 which had just arrived at Winchester. 
 
 " During that day and the next the heavy baggage and 
 remaining public property were sent to Winchester by the 
 railway, and the bridges on the Potomac destroyed. On 
 the morning of the 15th, the army left Harper's Ferry for 
 Winchester (the force had been increased by these regi- 
 ments since the 1st of June) and bivouacked four miles 
 beyond Charlestown. On the morning of the 16th, intelli- 
 gence was received that General Patterson's army had 
 crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, also that the United 
 States force at Romney had fallen back. A courier from 
 Richmond brought a dispatch authorizing me to evacuate 
 Harper's Feny at my discretion. 
 
 "The army was ordered to gain the Martinsburg turn- 
 
 with that of Beauregard. General Mc- 
 Dowell said in his report : 
 
 " It is known that in estimating the 
 
 pike by a flank movement to Bunker's Hill in order to 
 place itself between Winchester and the expected advance 
 of Patterson. On hearing of this, the enemy re-crossed 
 the river precipitately. Resuming my first direction and 
 plan, I proceeded to Winchester. There the army was in 
 position to oppose either McClellan from the went, or 
 Patterson from the northeast, and to form a junction with 
 General Beauregard when necessary. 
 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel George Stewart, with his Maryland 
 battalion, was sent to Harper's Ferry to bring off some 
 public property said to have been left. As McClellan was 
 moving southeastward from Grafton, Colonel Hill's com- 
 mand was withdrawn from Romney. The defence of that 
 region of the country was intrusted to Colonel McDonald's 
 regiment of cavalry. Intelligence from Maryland indica- 
 ting another movement by Patterson, Colonel Jackson, 
 with his brigade, was sent to the neighborhood of Martins- 
 burg to support Colonel Stuart. The latter officer had been 
 placed in observation on the line of the Potomac with his 
 cavalry. His increasing vigilance and activity were relied 
 on to repress small incursions of the enemy, to give intel- 
 ligence of invasion by them, and to watch, harass, and 
 circumscribe their every movement. Colonel Jackson was 
 instructed to destroy such of the rolling stock of the Balti- 
 more and Ohio Railroad as could not be brought off, and 
 to have so much of it as could be made available to our 
 service, brought to Winchester. 
 
 " Major Whiting was ordered to plan defensive works, 
 and to have some heavy guns on navy carriages mounted. 
 About 2,500 militia, under Brigadier-General Carson, were 
 called out from Frederick and the neighboring counties 
 toman them. 
 
 " On the 2d of July, General Patterson again crossed the 
 Potomac. Colonel Jackson, pursuant to instructions, fell 
 back before him. In retiring, he gave him a severe lesson 
 in the affair at Falling Waters. With a battalion of the 
 Fifth Virginia Regiment (Harper's) and Pendleton's battery 
 of field artillery, he engaged the enemy's advance. 
 Skilfully taking a position where the smallness of his 
 force was concealed, he engaged them for a considerable 
 time, inflicted a heavy loss, and retired when about to be 
 outflanfced, scarcely losing a man, but bringing off forty- 
 five prisoners. 
 
 "Upon this intelligence, the army, strengthened by the 
 arrival of General Bee and Colonel Elzey, and the Ninth 
 Georgia Regiment, was ordered forward to the support of 
 Jackson. It met him at Darksville, six miles from Mar- 
 tinsburg, where it took up a position for action, as Gen- 
 eral Patterson, it was supposed, was closely following 
 Colonel Jackson. We waited for him in this position four 
 days, hoping to be attacked by an adversary at least double 
 our number, but unwilling to attack him in a town so de- 
 
JOHNSTON'S REPORT. 
 
 415 
 
 force to go against Manassas, I engaged 
 not to have to do with the enemy's 
 forces under Johnston, then kept in 
 
 feasible as Martinsburg, with its solid buildings and in- 
 closures of masonry. Convinced at length that he would 
 not approach us, I returned to Winchester, much to the 
 disappointment of our troops, who were eager for battle 
 with the invaders. Colonel Stuart, with his cavalry, as 
 usual, remained near the enemy. 
 
 "Before the 15th of July, the enemy's force, according 
 to the best intelligence to be obtained, amounted to about 
 32,000. Ours had been increased by eight Southern regi- 
 ments. On the 15th of July, Colonel Stuart reported the 
 advance of General Patterson from Martinsburg. He 
 halted, however, at Bunker's Hill, nine miles from Win- 
 chester, where he remained on the 16th. On the 17th he 
 moved to his left to Smithfield. This created the impres- 
 sion that he intended to attack us on the south, or was 
 merely holding us in check, while General Beauregard 
 should be attacked at Manassas by General Scott. 
 
 " About one o'clock on the morning of July 18th, I re- 
 ceived from the government a telegraph dispatch, inform- 
 ing me that the Northern army was advancing upon Ma- 
 nassas, then held by General Beauregard, and directing 
 me, if practicable, to go to that officer's assistance, send- 
 ing my sick to Culpepper Court House. 
 
 " In the exercise of the discretion conferred by the terms 
 of the order, I at once determined to march to join Gen- 
 eral Beauregard. The best service which the army of the 
 Shenandoah could render was to prevent the defeat of that 
 of the Potomac. To be able to do this, it was necessary, 
 in the first instance, to defeat General Patterson or to elude 
 him. The latter course was the most speedy and certain, 
 and was therefore adopted. Our sick, nearly 1,700 in 
 number, were provided for in Winchester. For the de- 
 fence of that place the militia of Generals Carson and 
 Meem seemed ample ; for I thought it certain that Gen- 
 eral Patterson would follow my movement as soon as he 
 discerned it. Evading him by the disposition made of the 
 advance guard under Colonel Stuart, the army moved 
 through Ashby's Gap to Piedmont, a station of the Ma 1 
 nassas Gap Railroad. Hence the infantry were to be trans- 
 ported by the railway, while the cavalry and artillery were 
 ordered to continue their march. I reached Manassas 
 about noon on the 20th, preceded by the Seventh and 
 Eighth Georgia regiments, and by Jackson's brigade, con- 
 sisting of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh, and 
 Thirty-third Virginia regiments. I was accompanied by 
 General Bee, with the Fourth Alabama, the Second and 
 two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi. The president 
 of the railroad company had assured me that the remain- 
 ing troops should arrive during the day. 
 
 "I found General Beauregard's position too extensive, 
 and the ground too densely wooded and intricate to be 
 learned in the brief time at my disposal, and therefore 
 
 check in the valley by Major-General 
 Patterson, or those kept engaged by 
 Major-General Butler, and I know 
 
 determined to rely on his knowledge of it and of the ene- 
 my's positions. This I did readily, from full confidence in 
 his capacity 
 
 " His troops were divided into eight brigades, occupying 
 the defensive line of Bull Run. Brigadier-General Swell's 
 was posted at the Union Mills Ford ; Brigadier-General 
 D. R. Jones' at McLean's ford ; Brigadier-General Long- 
 street' sat Blackburn's Ford ; Brigadier-General Bonham's 
 at Mitchell's Ford; Colonel Cocke's at Ball's Ford, some 
 three miles above, and Colonel Evans, with a regiment 
 and a battalion, formed the extreme left at the stone 
 bridge. The brigades of Brigadier-General Holmes and 
 Colonel Early were in reserve, in rear of the right. I 
 regarded the arrival of the remainder of the army of the 
 Shenandoah, during the night, as certain, and Patterson's 
 with the grand army, on the 22d, as probable. During 
 the evening it was determined, instead of remaining in 
 the defensive positions then occupied, to assume the 
 offensive, and attack the enemy before such a junction. 
 
 "General Beauregard proposed a plan of battle, which 
 I approved without hesitation. He drew up the necessary 
 order during the night, which was approved formally by 
 me at half-past four o'clock on the morning of the 21st. 
 The early movements of the enemy on that morning, and 
 the non-arrival of the expected troops, prevented its ex- 
 ecution. General Beauregard afterward proposed a modi- 
 fication of the abandoned plan to attack with our right, 
 while th left stood on the defensive. This, too, became 
 impracticable, and a battle ensued, different in place and 
 circumstance from any previous plan on our side. 
 
 ' Soon after sunrise, on the morning of the 21st, a light 
 cannonade was opened on Colonel Evans' position ; a 
 similar demonstration was made against the centre soon 
 after, and strong forces were observed in front of it and 
 of the right. About eight o'clock General Beauregard 
 and I placed ourselves on a commanding hill in the rear 
 of General Bonham's left ; near nine o'clock the signal 
 officer, Captain Alexander, reported that a large body of 
 troops was crossing the valley of Bull Run, some two 
 miles above the bridge General Bee, who had been 
 placed near Colonel Cocke's position, Colonel Hampton, 
 with his legion, and Colonel Jackson, from a point near 
 Bonham's left, were ordered to hasten to the left flank. 
 
 " The signal officer soon called our attention to a heavy 
 cloud of dust to the northwest, and about ten miles off, 
 such as the march of an army would raise, This excited 
 apprehensions of General Patterson's approach. 
 
 " The enemy, under cover of a strong demonstration on 
 our right, made a long detour through the woods on his 
 right, crossed Bull Run two miles above our left, and threw 
 himself upon the flank and rear of our position. This 
 movement was fortunately discovered in time for us to 
 
416 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 every effort was made by the General- 
 in-chief that this should be done, and 
 that even if Johnston joined Beauregard 
 
 check its progress, and ultimately to form a new line of 
 battle nearly at right angles with the defensive line of Bull 
 Run. 
 
 " On discovering that the enemy had crossed the stream 
 above him, Colonel Evans moved to his left with eleven 
 companies and two field-pieces, to oppose his advance, and 
 disposed his little force under cover of the woods near the 
 intersection of the Warrenton turnpike and the Sudley 
 road. Here he was attacked by the enemy in immensely 
 superior numbers, against which he maintained himself 
 with skill and unshrinking courage. General Bee, moving 
 toward the enemy, guided by the firing, had, with a 
 Kold'er's eye, selected the position near the Henry House, 
 and formed his troops upon it. They were the Seventh 
 and Eighth Georgia, Fourth Alabama, Second Mississippi, 
 and two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, 
 with Imboden's battery. Being compelled, however, to 
 sustain Colonel Evans, he crossed the valley and formed 
 on the right and somewhat in advance of his position. 
 Here the joint force, little exceeding five regiments, with 
 six field-pieces, held the ground against about 15,000 
 United States troops for an hour, until, finding themselves 
 outflanked by the continually arriving troops of the 
 enemy, they fell back to General Bee's first position, upon 
 the line of which Jackson, just arriving, formed his brig- 
 ade arid Standard's battery. Colonel Hampton, who had 
 by this time advanced with his legion as far as the turn- 
 pike, rendered efficient service in maintaining the orderly 
 character of the retreat from that point, and here fell the 
 gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, his second in com- 
 mand. 
 
 " In the mean time, I awaited, with General Beaure- 
 gard, near the centre, the full development of the enemy's 
 designs. About eleven o'clock the violence of the firing 
 on the left indicated a battle, and the march of a large 
 body from the enemy's centre toward the conflict was 
 shown by clouds of dust. I was thus convinced that his 
 great effort was to be made with his right. I stated that 
 conviction to General Beauregard, and the absolute neces- 
 sity of immediately strengthening our left as much as 
 possible. Orders were accordingly at once sent to General 
 Holmes and Colonel Early to move with all speed to the 
 sound of the firing, and to General Bonham to send up 
 two of his regiments and a battery. General Beauregard 
 and I then hurried at a rapid gallop to the scene of action, 
 about four miles off. On the way I directed my chief of 
 artillery, Colonel Pendleton, to follow with his own and 
 Alburtis' batteries. We came not a moment too soon. 
 The long contest against five-fold odds and heavy losses, 
 especially of field officers, had greatly discouraged the 
 troops of General Bee and Colonel Evans. Our presence 
 with them under fire, and some example, had the happiest 
 
 it would not be because he could be fol- 
 lowed by General Patterson, but from 
 causes not necessary for me to refer 
 
 effect on the spirit of the troops. Order was soon restored 
 and the battle re-established, to which the firmness of 
 Jackson's brigade greatly contributed. Then, in a brief 
 and rapid conference, General Beauregard was assigned to 
 the command of the left, which, as the younger officer, he 
 claimed, while I returned to that of the whole field. The 
 aspect of affairs was critical ; but I had full confidence in 
 the skill and indomitable courage of General Beauregard, 
 the high soldierly qualities of Generals Bee and Jackson 
 and Colonel Evans, and the devoted patriotism of their 
 troops. Orders were first dispatched to hasten the march 
 of General Holmes', Colonel Early's, and General Bon- 
 ham's regiments. General Ewell was also directed to fol- 
 low with all speed. Many of the broken troops, frag- 
 ments of companies, and individual stragglers were re- 
 formed and brought into action, with the aid of my staff 
 and a portion of General Beauregard's. 
 
 "Colonel (Governor) Smith, with his battalion, and 
 Colonel Hampton, with his regiment, were ordered up to 
 reinforce the right. I have since learned that General 
 Beauregard had previously ordered them into the battle. 
 They belonged to his corps. Colonel Smith's cheerful 
 courage had a fine influence, not only on the spirit of his 
 own men, but upon the stragglers from the troops engaged. 
 The largest body of these, equal to about four companies, 
 having no competent field-officer, I placed them under 
 command of one of my staff, Colonel F. J. Thomas, who 
 fell while gallantly leading it against the enemy. These 
 reinforcements were all sent to the right to re-establish 
 more perfectly that part of our line. Having attended to 
 these pressing duties at the immediate scene of conflict, 
 my eye was next directed to Colonel Cocke's brigade, the 
 nearest at hand. Hastening to his position, I desired him 
 to lead his troops into action. He informed me, however, 
 that a large body of the enemy's troops, beyond the stream 
 and below the bridge, threatened us from that quarter. 
 He was, therefore, left in his position. 
 . "My headquarters were now established near tho Lewis 
 house. From this commanding elevation my view em- 
 braced the position of the enemy beyond the stream and 
 the approaches to the stone bridge, a point of especial 
 importance. I could also see the advances of our troops 
 far down the valley, in the direction of Manassas, and 
 observe the progress of the action and the manoeuvres of 
 the enemy. 
 
 ' ' We had now sixteen guns and two hundred and sixty 
 cavalry, and a little above nine regiments of the army of 
 ;he Shenandoah, and six guns and less than the strength 
 of three regiments of that of the Potomac, engaged with 
 about 35,000 United States troops, among whom were full 
 3,000 men of the old regular army. Yet this admirable 
 artillery and brave infantry and cavalry lost no foot of 
 
JOHNSTON'S REPORT. 
 
 417 
 
 to you knew them all. This was not 
 done, and the enemy was free to assem- 
 ble from every direction in numbers 
 
 ground. For nearly three hours they maintained their 
 position, repelling five successive assaults by the heavy 
 masses of the enemy, whose numbers enabled him con- 
 tinually to bring up fresh troops as their preceding col- 
 umns were driven back. 
 
 " Colonel Stuart contributed to one of these repulses by 
 a well-timed and vigorous charge on the enemy's right 
 flank with two companies of his cavalry. The efficiency 
 of our infantry and cavalry might have been expected 
 from a patriotic people, accustomed, like ours, to the 
 management of arms and horses, but that of the artillery 
 was little less than wonderful. They were opposed to 
 batteries far superior in the number, range, and equipment 
 of their guns, with educated officers and thoroughly in- 
 structed soldiers. We had but one educated artillerist 
 (Colonel Pendleton), that model of a Christian soldier, yet 
 they exhibited as much superiority to the enemy in skill 
 as in courage. Their fire was superior both in rapidity 
 and precision. 
 
 " About two o'clock, an officer of General Beauregard's 
 adjutant-general's office galloped from Manassas to report 
 to me that a United States army had reached the line of 
 Manassas Gap Railroad, was marching toward us, and 
 then but three or four miles from our left flank." 
 
 [This ' ' army" turned out to be a part of General John- 
 ston's own army of "the Shenancloah," the opportune 
 arrival of which decided the day against us ] 
 
 "The expected reinforcements appeared soon after. 
 Colonel Cocke was then desired to lead his brigade into 
 action to support the right of the troops engaged, which 
 he did with alacrity and effect. Within a half hour the 
 two regiments of General Bonham's brigade (Cash's and 
 Kershaw's) came up, and were directed against the enemy's 
 right, which he seemed to be strengthening. Fisher's 
 North Carolina Regiment was soon after sent in the same 
 direction. About three o'clock, while the enemy seemed 
 to be striving to outflank and drive back our left, and thus 
 separate us from Manassas, General E. K. Smith arrived 
 with three regiments of Elzey's brigade. He was in- 
 structed to attack the right flank of the enemy now ex- 
 posed to us. Before the movement was completed he fell 
 severely wounded. Colonel Elzey, at once taking com- 
 mand, executed it with great promptitude and vigor. 
 General Beauregard rapidly seized the opportunity thus 
 afforded him, and threw forward his whole line. The 
 enemy was driven back from the long-contested hill, and 
 victory was no longer doubtful. He made yet another at- 
 tempt to retrieve the day. He again extended his right 
 with a still wider sweep to turn our left. Just as he re- 
 formed to renew the battle, Colonel Early's three regi- 
 ments came upon the field. The enemy's new formation 
 exposed his right flank more even than the previous one. 
 53 
 
 only limited by the amount of his rail- 
 road rolling-stock and his supply of pro- 
 visions. To the forces, therefore, we 
 
 Colonel Early was, therefore, ordered to throw himself 
 directly upon it ; supported by Colonel Stuart's cavalry 
 and Beckham's battery, he executed this attack bravely 
 and well, while a simultaneous charge was made by Gen- 
 eral Beauregard in front. 
 
 " The enemy was broken by this combined attack. He 
 lost all the artillery which he bad advanced to the scene 
 of the conflict. He had no more fresh troops to rally on, 
 and a general rout ensued. 
 
 " Instructions were instantly sent to General Bonham 
 to march by the quickest route to the turnpike, to inter- 
 cept the fugitives ; and to General Longstreet to follow as 
 closely as possible upon the right. Their progress was 
 checked by the enemy's reserve, and by night, at Centre- 
 ville. 
 
 ' ' Schenck's brigade made a slight demonstration toward 
 Lewis's Ford, which was quickly checked by Holmes's 
 brigade, which had just arrived from the right. His artil- 
 lery, under Captain Walker, was used with great skill. 
 
 "Colonel Stuart pressed the pursuit of the enemy's 
 principal line of retreat, the Sudley Road. Four com- 
 panies of cavalry, under Colonel Bradford and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Munford, which I had held in reserve, were ordered 
 to cross the stream at Ball's Ford, to reach the turnpike, 
 the line of retreat of the enemy's left. Our cavalry found 
 the roads encumbered with dead and wounded (many of 
 whom seemed to have been thrown from wagons), arms, 
 accoutrements, and clothing. 
 
 " A report came tome from the right that a strong body 
 of United States troops was advancing upon Manassas. 
 General Holmes, who had just reached the field, and Gen- 
 eral Ewcll on his way to it, were ordered to meet the ex- 
 pected attack. They found no foe, however. 
 
 " Our victory was as complete as one gained by infantry 
 and artillery can be. An adequate force of cavalry would 
 have made it decisive. 
 
 " It is due, under Almighty God, to the skill and reso- 
 lution of General Beauregard, the admirable conduct of 
 Generals Bee, E. K. Smith, and Jackson, and of Colonels 
 (commanding brigades) Evans, Cocke, Early, and Elzey, and 
 the unyielding firmness of our patriotic volunteers. The 
 admirable character of our troops is incontestably proved 
 by the result of this battle ; especially when it is remem- 
 bered that little more than 6,000 men of the army of the 
 Shenandoah, with sixteen guns, and less than 2,000 of that 
 of the Potomac, with six guns, for full five hours success- 
 fully resisted 35,000 United States troops, with a powerful 
 artillery and a superior force of regular cavalry. Our 
 forces engaged, gradually increasing during the contest, 
 
 amounted to but men at the close of the battle. 
 
 The brunt of this hard-fought engagement fell upon the 
 troops who held their ground so long with such heroic res- 
 
418 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 drove in from Fairfax Court House, 
 Fairfax Station, Germantown, and Cen- 
 treville, and those under Beauregard at 
 Manassas, must be added those under 
 Johnston from Winchester, and those 
 brought up by Davis from Richmond, 
 and other places at the South, to which 
 is to be added the levy en masse or- 
 
 olution. The unfading honor which they won was dearly 
 bought with the blood of our best and bravest. Their 
 loss was far heavier, in proportion, than those coming 
 later into action. 
 
 "Every regiment and battery engaged performed its 
 part well. The commanders of brigades have been already 
 mentioned. I refer you to General Beauregard's report for 
 the names of the officers of the army of the Potomac who 
 distinguished themselves most. I cannot enumerate all 
 of the army of the Shenandoah who deserve distinction, 
 and will confine myself to those of high rank. Colonels 
 Bartow and Fisher (killed), Jones (mortally wounded), 
 Harper, J. F. Preston, Cummings, Faulkner, Gartrell, and 
 Vaughan ; J. E. B. Stuart, of the cavalry, and Pendleton, 
 of the artillery, Lieutenant-Colonels Echols, Lightfoot, 
 Lackland, G. H. Stewart, and Gardner. The last-named 
 gallant officer was severely wounded. 
 
 " The loss of the army of the Potomac was 108 killed, 
 510 wounded, 12 missing. That of the army of the 
 Shenandoah was 270 killed, 979 wounded, 18 missing. 
 
 Total killed 378 
 
 Total wounded 1,489 
 
 Total missing 30 
 
 " That of the enemy could not be ascertained. It must 
 have been between 4,000 and 5,000. Twenty-eight pieces 
 of artillery, about 5,000 muskets, and nearly 500,000 
 cartridges, a garrison flag, and ten colors were captured on 
 the field or in the pursuit. Besides these, we captured 
 sixty-four artillery horses, with their harness, twenty-six 
 wagons, and much camp equipage, clothing, and other 
 property abandoned in their flight. 
 
 "The officers of my staff deserve high commendation 
 for their efficient and gallant services during the day and 
 the campaign, and I beg leave to call the attention of the 
 government to their merits. Major W. H. C. Whiting, 
 Chief Engineer, was invaluable to me for his signal ability 
 in his profession, and for his indefatigable activity before 
 and in the battle. Major McClean, Chief Quartermaster, 
 and Major Kearsley, Chief Commissary, conducted their 
 respective departments with skill and energy. Major 
 Khett, A. A. General, who joined me only the day before, 
 was of great service. I left him at Manassas, and to his 
 experience and energy I intrusted the care of ordering my 
 troops to the field of battle as they should arrive, and for- 
 warding ammunition for the artillery during the action. 
 
 dered by the Richmond authorities, 
 which was ordered to assemble at Ma- 
 nassas. What all this amounted to, I 
 cannot say certainly much more than 
 we attacked them with." 
 
 Why General Patterson failed to 
 check Johnston at Winchester, either 
 by an attack or the semblance of one, 
 
 Captains C. M. Fauntleroy, C. S. Navy, T. L. Preston, A. 
 A. A. General, and Lieutenant J. B. Washington, A. D. C., 
 conveyed my orders bravely and well on their first field, 
 as did several gallant gentlemen who volunteered their 
 services Colonel Cole, of Florida ; Major Deas, of Ala- 
 bama ; Colonel Duncan, of Kentucky ; Lieutenant Beverly 
 Randolph, C. S. Navy, aided Colonel F. J. Thomas in the 
 command of the body of troops he led into action, and 
 fought with gallantry. With these was my gallant friend, 
 Captain Barlow Mason, who was mortally wounded. I 
 have already mentioned the brave death of ordnance 
 officer Colonel F. J. Thomas. I was much indebted, also, 
 to Colonels J. J. Preston, Manning, Miles, and Chisholm, 
 and Captain Stevens, of the engineers corps, members of 
 General Beauregard's staff, who kindly proffered their 
 services, and rendered efficient and valuable aid at differ- 
 ent times during the day. Colonel G. W. Lay, of General 
 Bonham's staff, delivered my instructions to the troops 
 sent in pursuit and to intercept the enemy, with much in- 
 telligence and courage. 
 
 " It will be remarked that the three brigadier-generals 
 of the army of the Shenandoah were all wounded. I have 
 already mentioned the wound of General Smith. General 
 Jackson though painfully wounded early in the day, com- 
 manded his brigade to the close of the action. General 
 Bee, after great exposure at the commencement of the 
 engagement, was mortally wounded just as our reinforce- 
 ments were coming up. 
 
 "The apparent firmness of the United States troops at 
 Centreville, who had not been engaged, which checked our 
 pursuit, the strong forces occupying the works near 
 Georgetown, Arlington, and Alexandria, the certainty, too, 
 that General Patterson, if needed, would reach Washing- 
 ton with his army of 30,000 men sooner than we could, 
 and the condition and inadequate means of the army in 
 ammunition, provisions, and transportation, prevented 
 any serious thoughts of advancing against the capital. It 
 is certain that the fresh troops within the works were, in 
 number, quite sufficient for their defence ; if not, General 
 Patterson's army would certainly reinforce them soon 
 enough. 
 
 "This report will be presented to you by my aide-de- 
 camp, Lieutenant J. B. Washington, by whom, and by 
 General Beauregard's aid, Lieutenant Ferguson, the cap- 
 tured colors are transmitted to the War Department." 
 
DEFENCE OF PATTERSON. 
 
 419 
 
 is a question which can only be justly 
 answered in the future, when time shall 
 have allayed mutual suspicion and 
 sobered the general judgment. Public 
 opinion emphatically censured General 
 Patterson, and the Federal Government 
 superseded him in his command, for 
 having failed in his duty. He requested 
 a court of inquiry, but this was not con- 
 ceded ; the General, however, at a pub- 
 lic dinner in Philadelphia, sought the 
 opportunity of justifying his conduct, 
 in a speech of which the following is the 
 newspaper report : 
 
 "I would here," said General Patter- 
 son, "state a few facts. On the 3d of 
 June I took command at Chambersburg. 
 On the 4th I was informed by the 
 General-in-chief that he considered the 
 addition to his force of a battery of ar- 
 tillery and some regular infantry indis- 
 pensable. On the 8th of June a letter 
 of instructions was sent me, in which 
 I was told that there must be no re- 
 verse ; a check or a drawn battle would 
 be a victory to the enemy, filling his 
 heart with joy, his ranks with men, and 
 his magazines with voluntary contribu- 
 tions, and, therefore, to take my mea- 
 sures circumspectly, and attempt nothing 
 without a clear prospect of success. 
 This was good instruction and most sen- 
 sible advice. Good or bad, I was to 
 obey ; and I did. 
 
 " On Friday, the 13th, I was in- 
 formed that, on the supposition that I 
 would cross the river on the next Mon- 
 day or Tuesday, General McDowell 
 would be instructed to make a demon- 
 stration on Manassas Junction. I was 
 
 surprised at the order, but promptly 
 obeyed. On the 15th I reached Ha- 
 gerstown, and on the 16th two-thirds 
 of my forces had crossed the Potomac. 
 The promised demonstration by General 
 McDowell, in the direction of Manassas 
 Junction, was not made, and on the 
 16th, just three days after I had been 
 told I was expected to cross, I was 
 telegraphed by the General-in-chief to 
 send him ' at once all the regular 
 troops, horse and foot, and the Rhode 
 Island regiment and battery,' and told 
 that I was strong enough without the 
 regulars, and to keep within limits until 
 I could satisfy myself that I ought to 
 go beyond them. On the 17th I was 
 again telegraphed : ' We are pressed 
 here. Send the troops I have twice 
 called for without delay.' This was 
 imperative, and the troops were sent, 
 leaving me without a single piece of 
 artillery, and, for the time, a single 
 troop of cavalry. It was a gloomy 
 night, but they were all brought over 
 the river again without loss. 
 
 " On the 20th of June I was asked 
 by the General-in-chief to propose, 
 without delay, a plan of operations. 
 On the 21st I submitted to the General- 
 in-chief my plan, which was to abandon 
 the present line of operations, move all 
 supplies to Frederick, occupy Maryland 
 Heights with Major Dojubleday's heavy 
 guns, and a brigade of infantry to sup- 
 port them, and with everything else 
 horse, foot, and artillery to cross the 
 Potomac at Point of Rocks, and unite 
 with Colonel Stone's force at Leesburg, 
 from which point I could operate as 
 
420 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 circumstances should demand and the 
 General's orders should require. No 
 reply was received ; but on the 27th 
 the General telegraphed me that he 
 supposed I was that day crossing the 
 river in pursuit of the enemy. 
 
 " On that day the enemy was in 
 condition to cross the river to pursue 
 me. He had over 15,000 men and from 
 twenty to twenty-four guns, while I had 
 but about 10,000 men and six guns 
 the latter immovable for want of har- 
 ness. On the 28th I informed the Gen- 
 eral of the strength of the enemy and 
 of my own force ; that I would not, on 
 my own responsibility, attack without 
 artillery, but would do so cheerfully and 
 promptly if he would give me an explicit 
 order to that effect. No order was given. 
 On the 24th I received the harness for 
 my single battery of six smooth-bore 
 guns, and on the 30th gave the order to 
 cross. On the 2d of July I crossed, 
 met the enemy, and whipped them. 
 
 " On the 9th of July a council was 
 held, at which all the commanders of 
 divisions and brigades and chiefs of staff 
 were present. Colonel Stone, the junior 
 line officer, spoke twice and decid- 
 edly against an advance, advocating a 
 direct movement to Shephardstown and 
 Charlestown. All who spoke opposed 
 an advance, and all voted against one. On 
 the same day L informed the General- 
 in-chief of the condition of affairs in the 
 valley, and proposed that I should go to 
 Charlestown and occupy Harper's Ferry, 
 and asked to be informed when he would 
 attack Manassas. On the 12th I was 
 directed to go where I had proposed, 
 
 and informed that Manassas would be 
 attacked on Tuesday, the 16th. On the 
 13th I was telegraphed : ' If not strong 
 enough to beat the enemy early next 
 week, make demonstrations so as to 
 detain him in the valley of Winchester. 7 
 I made the demonstrations, and on 
 the 16th, the day General Scott said he 
 would attack Manassas, I drove the 
 enemy's pickets into his intrenchments 
 at Winchester, and on the 17th marched 
 to Charlestown. 
 
 "On the 13th I telegraphed the 
 General-in-chief that Johnston was in a 
 position to have his strength doubled 
 just as I could reach him, and that I 
 would rather lose the chance of accom- 
 plishing something brilliant than by 
 hazarding my column destroy the fruits 
 of the campaign by defeat, closing 
 my dispatch thus : ' If wrong, let me 
 be instructed.' But no instructions 
 came. This was eight days before the 
 battle of Manassas. On the 17th General 
 Scott telegraphed : ' McDowell's first 
 day's work has driven the enemy be- 
 yond Fairfax Court House. To-morrow, 
 probably, the Junction will be carried.' 
 With this information I was happy. 
 Johnston had been detained the ap- 
 pointed time, and the work of my col- 
 umn had been done. 
 
 " On the 18th, at half-past one in the 
 morning, I telegraphed General Scott 
 the condition of the enemy's force and 
 of my own, referring to my letter of the 
 16th for full information, and closed the 
 dispatch by asking. ' Shall I attack ?' 
 This was plain English and could not be 
 misunderstood, but I received no reply. 
 
CAUSE OF DEFEAT. 
 
 1 expected to be attacked where I 
 was. and if Manassas was not to be 
 attacked on that day, as stated in 
 General Scott's dispatch of the day pre- 
 vious, I ought to have been ordered 
 down forthwith to join in the battle, 
 and the attack delayed until I came. 
 I could have been there on the day that 
 the battle was fought, and my assistance 
 might have produced a different result. 
 
 " On the 20th I heard that Johnston 
 had marched, with 35,000 Confederate 
 troops and a large artillery force, in a 
 southeasterly direction. I immediately 
 telegraphed the information to General 
 Scott, and know that he received it the 
 same day. 
 
 " In accordance with instructions I 
 came to Harper's Ferry on the 21st, 
 which place I held until relieved." 
 
 The delay which ensued in the advance 
 of our army against the enemy was an- 
 other cause of the defeat at Bull Run. 
 If the attack had been made at an earlier 
 day, Beauregard would have been caught 
 at a time when the aid of Johnston must 
 have failed him. The causes which com- 
 pelled McDowell's delay are best stated 
 in his own words. He says : 
 
 ' ' When I submitted to the General- 
 in-chief, in compliance with his verbal 
 instructions, the plan of operations and 
 estimate of force required, the time I 
 was to proceed to carry it into effect was 
 fixed for the 8th of July, Monday. 
 Every facility possible was given me by 
 the General-in-chief and the heads of 
 the administrative departments in mak- 
 ing the necessary preparations. But the 
 regiments, owing, I was told, to a want 
 
 of transportation, came over slowly. 
 Many of them did not come across till 
 eight or nine days after the time fixed 
 upon, and went forward without my 
 even seeing them, and without having 
 been together before in a brigade. The 
 sending reinforcements to General Pat- 
 terson, by drawing off the wagons, was 
 a further and unavoidable cause of delay. 
 Notwithstanding the Herculean efforts 
 of the Quartermaster-General, and his 
 favoring me in every way, the wagons 
 for ammunition, subsistence, etc., and the 
 horses for the trains and the artillery, 
 did not arrive for more than a week 
 after the time appointed to move. I 
 was not even prepared as late as the 
 15th ultimo, and the desire I should 
 move became great, and it was wished 
 I should not, if possible, delay longer 
 than Tuesday, the 16th ultimo. When 
 I did set out, on the 16th, I was still 
 deficient in wagons for subsistence. But 
 I went forward, trusting to their being 
 procured in time to follow me. The 
 trains thus hurriedly gathered together, 
 with horses, wagons, drivers, and wagon 
 managers, all new and unused to each 
 other, moved with difficulty and disor- 
 der, and was the cause of a day's delay 
 in getting the provisions forward, mak- 
 ing it necessary to make on Sunday the 
 attack we should have made on Satur- 
 day. I could not, with every exertion, 
 get forward with the troops earlier than 
 we did. I wished to go to Centre ville 
 the second day, which would have taken 
 us there on the 17th, and enabled us, so 
 far as they were concerned, to go into 
 action on the 19th, instead of the 21st ; 
 
422 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 but when I went forward from Fairfax 
 Court House, beyond Grermantown, to 
 urge them forward, I was told it was 
 impossible for the men to march farther. 
 They had only come from Vienna, about 
 six miles, and it was not more than six 
 and a half miles farther to Centre ville 
 in all a march of twelve and a half 
 miles ; but the men were foot weary ; 
 not so much, I was told, by the distance 
 marched, as by the time they had been 
 on foot, caused by the obstructions in 
 the road, and the slow pace we had to 
 move to avoid ambuscades. The men 
 were, moreover, unaccustomed to march- 
 ing, their bodies not in condition for 
 that kind of work, and not used to 
 carrying even the load of light marching 
 order." 
 
 Why, on the other hand, having been 
 compelled to delay so long, it was im- 
 practicable to secure safety by a longer 
 arrest of movement, is a question for 
 the answer to which it is best again to 
 refer to the frank statement of McDowell, 
 who says : 
 
 "I could not, as I have said, more 
 early push on faster, nor could I delay. 
 A large and the best part of my forces 
 were three months volunteers, whose 
 term of service was about to expire, but 
 who were sent forward as having long 
 enough to serve for the purpose of the 
 expedition. On the eve of the battle 
 the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment of 
 Volunteers, and the battery of volunteer 
 
 artillery of the New York Eighth Militia, 
 whose term of service expired, insisted 
 on their discharge. I wrote to the regi- 
 ment, expressing a request for them to 
 remain a short time, and the Hon. Sec- 
 retary of War, who was at the time on 
 the ground, tried to induce the battery 
 to remain at least five days. But in 
 vain. They insisted on their discharge 
 that night. It was granted, and the 
 next morning, when the army moved 
 forward into battle, these troops moved 
 to the rear to the sound of the enemy's 
 cannon. 
 
 "In the next few days, day by day, 
 I should have lost 10,000 of the best 
 armed, drilled, officered, and disciplined 
 troops in the army. In other words, 
 every day which added to the strength 
 of the enemy made us weaker." 
 
 McDowell, thus unfavored by fortune, 
 lost the battle of Bull Run, and paid 
 the penalty of his ill-success by being 
 compelled to yield the chief command 
 to a younger, and, as yet, more fortunate 
 officer. General McClellan superseded 
 him as the commander of the forces on 
 the Potomac. McDowell, with the mod- 
 esty of true worth, graciously yielded 
 his place, and, without a word of com- 
 plaint, assumed a subordinate position 
 under the younger superior, with whom 
 he acted in perfect accord, ready to serve 
 his country and make every personal 
 sacrifice consistent with the preservation 
 of personal honor. 
 
APPOINTMENT OF FREMONT. 
 
 423 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The popular call for Fremont. His popularity explained. The favorite of the Republican Party. Appointed a Major- 
 General. Return of Fremont from France. Command in the West. His popularity there. Life of Fremont. 
 His Parentage. Marriage of his Father. Youth. Collegiate Education. Dismissal from College. An early love 
 passage. Teacher of Mathematics. A Cruise at Sea. Professor of Mathematics in the Navy. A Civil Engineer. 
 Explorer. A Lieutenant in the Army. In love with Jessie Benton. A Runaway Match. Explorations. Con- 
 quest of California. Dismissed from the Army. A Pardon refused. Fresh Explorations. A Landowner. Visit 
 to Europe. Fremont's return to the United States. His Command in the Army. Lingering on his way to St. 
 Louis. Important events in Missouri. Lyon's Exploits. Colonel Sigel. His Life and Career. His Command 
 in Missouri. His Advance to the Southwest. His Force. Moves against the Enemy. The Battle of Carthage. 
 Position of the Enemy. A graphic account of the Engagement by an eye-witness. The Enemy's account. 
 General Lyon's Advance. His Force. How diminished. The reported strength of the Enemy. The Rendezvous. 
 Crane Creek. A severe March in pursuit of the Enemy. Dug Springs. A brilliant Skirmish. Return to Spring- 
 field. An urgent demand for Reinforcements. No Answer. A Mission. A bootless Errand. The great Explorer 
 on his Dignity. A repulsed Official. Lyon's Resolve. Apologies for Fremont. Partial Judgments. Difficulty 
 of Decision. 
 
 FROM the commencement of the civil 
 struggle there was a popular call, 
 
 OO 
 
 especially among the " Republi- 
 cans," for the services of Fremont. It 
 was not only his pre-eminence in the 
 Republican party, of which he had been 
 a candidate for President, but the spirit 
 and capacity which he had exhibited in 
 his adventurous explorations through 
 the pathless regions of the West and in 
 the conquest of California, which marked 
 him out, in popular estimation, as a 
 proper leader in the war. The Presi- 
 dent of the United States, Mr. Lincoln, 
 with a ready response to the universal 
 acclamation of his party, and in graceful 
 concession to the claims of one who had 
 July been its chosen chief, at once ap- 
 9* pointed Fremont a major-general, 
 and gave him the command of the West- 
 ern Department. At the time of his 
 
 appointment Fremont was in France, 
 whence^ after exercising his character- 
 istic energy in supplying the immediate 
 needs of the Federal Government with 
 arms, he hastened back to the United 
 States. After lingering awhile in Wash- 
 ington, in consultation with the Presi- 
 dent and cabinet upon the plans of the 
 campaign, he proceeded to St. Louis, 
 where he was to establish his head- 
 quarters. There was a general concur- 
 rence in the fitness of his appointment 
 and great expectations of his success. 
 In the West, with which his career as an 
 explorer had identified him, and where 
 his adventurous character was in sym- 
 pathy with the pioneer life of the people, 
 he was especially popular. Though 
 military formalists may have doubted 
 the policy of appointing a man with so 
 little skill and experience in the art of 
 
424 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 war to lead a great army, most believed 
 that one vvho had proved himself, in 
 danger and difficulty, so capable of con- 
 trolling his fellows, would be equal to all 
 the trials of his new position. 
 
 John Charles Fremont was born in 
 Savannah, Georgia, on the 21st of Jan- 
 uary, 1813. His father, a Frenchman 
 by birth, had emigrated to Norfolk, Va., 
 where he taught his native language. 
 Here he fell in love with a Mrs. Pryor, 
 the divorced wife of Major Pryor, 
 forty-five years her senior, and whom, 
 through the influence of her friends, she 
 had been persuaded to marry while a 
 girl of seventeen. The marriage was 
 naturally an unhappy one, and recourse 
 was had, by the consent of both parties, 
 to a bill of divorce. The Major subse- 
 quently married his housekeeper, and 
 Mrs. Pryor became the wife of F^mont's 
 father. Her maiden name was Anne 
 Beverly Whiting, and she claimed to be 
 connected by mariiage with the family 
 of Washington. 
 
 Fremont's father having died in 1818, 
 his widow removed to Charleston with 
 her three children. John Charles, her 
 son, was sent, at the age of fifteen, to 
 Charleston College, where he entered 
 the Junior class. He was making good 
 progress in his studies, when he was 
 suddenly distracted from his academic 
 duties by a youthful love passage. This 
 led to irregularities and inattention, 
 which caused his expulsion from col- 
 lege. He now sought and obtained 
 employment as a private teacher of his 
 favorite pursuit, the mathematics. In 
 1833 he was appointed schoolmaster on 
 
 board of the United States sloop-of-war 
 Natchez, and sailed on a cruise to the 
 coast of South America. 
 
 On his return to Charleston, after an 
 absence of two years, he was honored 
 by the college from which he had been 
 expelled, with the degrees of bachelor 
 and master of arts. Soon after, having 
 passed a rigorous examination, he was 
 appointed professor of mathematics in 
 the navy, and ordered to the frigate 
 Independence. He, however, now de- 
 termined to give up the sea, and betak- 
 ing himself to civil engineering on land, 
 was employed for awhile on the railroads 
 of South Carolina and Tennessee. In 
 1837 he was, with Captain Williams, en- 
 gaged in a military reconnoissance of 
 the mountainous regions of Georgia, 
 North Carolina, and Tennessee, made in 
 anticipation of a campaign against the 
 Cherokee Indians. In 18389 he ac- 
 companied M. Nicollet, appointed by 
 the Government to explore the country 
 between the Missouri and the British 
 line. While thus engaged, he received, 
 from President Van Buren, the com- 
 mission of second lieutenant in the 
 corps of Topographical Engineers. In 
 1840, while occupied at the capital in 
 preparing the reports of his expedition, 
 he fell in love with Miss Jessie Benton, 
 the daughter of Colonel Thomas H. 
 Benton, a United States senator from 
 Missouri. His suit was accepted by the 
 maid, but refused by her parents on the 
 score of her extreme youth, she being 
 only fifteen years of age. Fremont soon 
 after received, at the instigation prob- 
 ably of Colonel Benton, a peremptory 
 
FREMONT IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 425 
 
 order from the War Department to pro- 
 ceed on a survey to the river Desmoines. 
 This mission was rapidly accomplished 
 by the impatient suitor, who, soon after 
 his return, on the 19th of October, 1841, 
 secretly married Miss Benton. 
 
 On May 2, 1842, Fremont set out from 
 Washington on an exploration of the 
 Rocky Mountains, and particularly the 
 South Pass, which had been suggested 
 to the Government by himself. The re- 
 port of his first expedition, which was 
 concluded in October, 1842, attracted 
 great attention. In May, 1843, Lieu- 
 tenant Fremont started on a second ex- 
 pedition, much more comprehensive in 
 its design than the first, extending 
 through the valleys of the Columbia 
 River. While on this expedition he 
 crossed the mountains on the Pacific 
 coast, reaching Sutter's Fort, on the Sac- 
 ramento, early in March, 1844, after 
 forty days of great trial and suffering. 
 The preparation of the report of this 
 expedition occupied the remainder of 
 that year, and in the spring of 1845, 
 having been brevetted captain, he started 
 on a third expedition, to explore the 
 great basin and maritime region of 
 Oregon and California. This expedition 
 was full of stirring incident. The Mexi- 
 can war having, in the mean time, broken 
 out, Fremont was diverted from the 
 scientific object of his exploration by a 
 call to arms. He defended himself 
 bravely and skilfully against the Mexi- 
 can General Castro, who threatened to 
 attack him with an overwhelming force. 
 Subsequently, under Fremont's leader- 
 ship, the Californians succeeded in ex- 
 
 54 
 
 pelling Castro from the northern part of 
 the territory, and on July 4 the Ameri- 
 can settlers elected Fremont governor. 
 About this time he was promoted to a 
 lieutenant-colonelcy, and on January 13, 
 1847. he concluded with the Mexicans 
 articles of capitulation which terminated 
 the war in California, and left that coun- 
 try in possession of the United States. 
 
 Having quarrelled with General Kear- 
 ney, his superior in command, Fremont 
 was refused permission to join the army 
 in Mexico, and ultimately was court- 
 martialed and sentenced to be dismissed 
 from the service. President Polk re- 
 mitted the penalty, but Fremont refused 
 to avail himself of the favor, declaring 
 that he was not conscious of having done 
 anything to merit the finding of the 
 court. In October, 1848, he started on 
 a fourth exploring expedition, along the 
 waters of the Upper Rio Grande and 
 through the country of the Apaches, 
 Camanches, etc., hoping to find a prac- 
 ticable route to California. This expe- 
 dition also proved one of great trial and 
 suffering. Having purchased a vast 
 tract of land in California, known as the 
 Mariposa estate, Fremont has the pros- 
 pect of great wealth, though for the 
 present embarrassed by lawsuits and 
 heavy mortgages. In 1849 he was 
 elected one of the United States senators 
 from California, drawing the short term 
 and serving but three weeks. In 1852 
 he visited Europe, where he was received 
 with every mark of respect by eminent 
 men of letters and of science. In 1853 
 he made a fifth and highly successful 
 exploring expedition, between the Mis- 
 
426 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 sissippi Valley and the Pacific, and in 
 1856 was nominated by the Republicans 
 as their candidate for the Presidency. 
 He received 114 electoral votes, and 
 was defeated by Mr. Buchanan, who 
 had 174. Returning to California in 
 1858, he devoted himself to the care of 
 his vast estates until February, 1861, 
 when he departed for Europe, whence he 
 was summoned, as we have seen, to bear 
 an important part in the present war. 
 
 While Fremont was still lingering on 
 his route to St. Louis, important events 
 were occurring in Missouri. The ener- 
 getic movements of G-eneral Lyon, his 
 expedition up the Missouri River, his 
 seizure of Jefferson City, the capital, his 
 expulsion of the secession bands at 
 Booneville, his possession of that town, 
 and his march to the southwestern part 
 of the State, where the enemy were 
 mustering in force, have been already 
 recorded. General Lyon was spiritedly 
 seconded in his efforts to establish the 
 Federal authority by his subaltern, Col- 
 onel Sigel. 
 
 Franz Sigel was born in the Duchy 
 of Baden, in Germany. During the 
 revolution of 1848 he sided with the 
 liberals, and under the provisional gov- 
 ernment was appointed to command the 
 republican forces of the Grand Duchy 
 of Baden. He proved himself a skilful 
 general ; but when the revolutionary 
 government was overturned, and its army 
 obliged to yield to the reactionary move- 
 ment in Germany aided by the armed 
 force of Prussia, Sigel, like Hecker and 
 other German patriots, made his escape 
 to the United States. Making St. Louis 
 
 his home, he raised in that city, on the 
 commencement of the civil war, a regi- 
 ment of Germans, who appointed him 
 their colonel. So great was the trust of 
 his fellow-countryman, Hecker, in his 
 skill as a military leader, that he left his 
 home in Illinois, to which he had retired, 
 and entered the ranks of SigeFs regiment 
 as a private, together with his son, whom 
 he had brought with him. Soon after 
 Hecker was summoned back to Illinois 
 to assume the command of a regiment 
 of Germans formed in that State. He 
 at first refused, declaring that he had no 
 higher ambition than to serve as a pri- 
 vate under his old friend Sigel, but 
 finally yielded to the persevering de- 
 mands of his fellow-citizens in Illinois, 
 and returned there to take command of 
 a regiment of Jagers. Sigel was urged 
 by the Germans of New York to become 
 the general of a brigade, but refused, 
 declaring that Missouri presented a 
 wider field of usefulness, and that he 
 did not care to desert the loyal Germans 
 of his own adopted State. Though still 
 a young man, Sigel's foreign experience 
 as a military leader has made him one 
 of the most accomplished officers, and 
 he has given proof on various occasions 
 during the fierce conflict in Missouri, 
 that he not only is versed in the military 
 art, but possesses that rare aptitude for 
 command, which comes only from nature. 
 Sigel had pushed on in advance of 
 Lyon, and had penetrated, after various 
 encounters with the secession bands 
 of Missouri, to the extreme southwest 
 of the State. While encamped at Neo- 
 sho, on the river of that name, in the 
 
aecenlOig 4 jet er Confrtn SI lit? ly Vtrtvf t C" aOle flats efTta of ** Jislrui aurt of the rTlu&l Stoke ftrt/ir sivdttr 
 
BATTLE OF CARTHAGE. 
 
 427 
 
 southwestern corner of Missouri, near 
 the frontier of what is called the Indian 
 territory, he discovered that the enemy 
 were in considerable force some miles 
 north of Carthage, on the borders of 
 Kansas. 
 
 Colonel Sigel determined to advance 
 and give them battle. He accordingly 
 marched with a force consisting of eight 
 companies of his own regiment (the 
 Third), under Lieutenant-Colonel Has- 
 endenbel ; seven companies of the Fifth 
 Regiment, Colonel Solomon ; and two 
 batteries of artillery with four field-pieces, 
 each commanded by Major Backhoff. 
 His total strength in men was about 
 1,800. That of the enemy was com- 
 puted to be 5,500 in all, of whom 3,000 
 were mounted ; their artillery consisted 
 of a battery of four six-pounders and one 
 twelve-pounder. Generals Price and 
 Rains commanded this force in person. 
 
 Sigel found the enemy advantageously 
 posted on the prairie about ten miles 
 north of Carthage. He, however, did 
 not hesitate even with his inferior force 
 to give them immediate battle. He 
 July opened fire at ten o'clock in the 
 5 morning from his artillery, aimed 
 at the enemy's centre. 
 
 " The aim was so effective," says an 
 eye-witness, " that in less than one hour 
 the enemy's twelve-pounder was dis- 
 mounted, and by noon the whole battery 
 of the State troops was silenced. Re- 
 peatedly the columns of the enemy gave 
 way under the heavy fire, but rallied 
 again, until our infantry, which had 
 heretofore remained in security behind 
 the batteries, were ordered to advance, 
 
 when the centre of the enemy at once 
 was broken. To remedy this disaster, 
 about 1,700 of the enemy's cavalry were 
 ordered to fall back, and by a side move- 
 ment try to get possession of Colonel 
 Sigel's baggage train, which had been 
 left some three miles behind on the road, 
 and thus encircle and cut him off from 
 retreat. But this manoeuvre did not 
 succeed. The moment that Colonel Sigel 
 saw what was intended, he ordered his 
 men to retreat, which was done in the 
 greatest order, at the same time giving 
 word to the baggage train to advance. 
 Before the enemy's designs could be 
 carried out, Colonel Sigel had his bag- 
 gage train in safety. The wagons were 
 placed in the centre of his column, pro- 
 tected in the front by Major Backhoff's 
 artillery and Colonel Solomon's battalion, 
 and in the rear by Colonel Sigel's eight 
 companies. 
 
 " By this time it was four o'clock P.M. 
 Our troops had suffered a loss of only 
 about twenty killed and forty wounded, 
 while the enemy's loss was stated, by 
 some of their officers who had been 
 taken prisoners, to amount at least to 
 two or three hundred. The difference 
 in the list of killed is mainly due to the 
 efficient use of our artillery, which 
 mowed down the enemy, while our 
 troops were scarcely hurt by the fire 
 from the miserable battery on the other 
 side. 
 
 " Having thus placed his baggage train 
 in a secure position, Colonel Sigel follow- 
 ed the enemy, who had now taken posi- 
 tion on the south side of a creek, cutting 
 through the only road leading to Car- 
 
428 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 thage. Here General Price thought his 
 State troops could cut off all further ad- 
 vance of Colonel Sigel's forces, and at 
 the first show of a retreat fall in their 
 rear and cut them to pieces. To Colonel 
 Sigel it was absolutely necessary to pass 
 the creek and clear the road to Carthage, 
 as he could not run the risk of being 
 surrounded by an army of such nu- 
 merical superiority by remaining where 
 he was or by retreating. To dupe the 
 enemy, he ordered his artillery to ob- 
 lique, two pieces to the right and two to 
 the left, following the movement with 
 part of his force. 
 
 "The enemy supposing it to be Sigel's 
 intention to escape them by cutting a 
 road at their extreme sides, immediately 
 left the road leading over the bluffs, 
 south of the creek, to Carthage, and 
 advanced to the right and left, to pre- 
 vent Sigel's force from crossing their 
 line. But scarcely had they advanced 
 within 400 yards of our troops, when 
 our artillery suddenly wheeled around 
 and poured a most terrific volley of 
 canister on the rebel cavalry from both 
 sides. Simultaneously our infantry was 
 ordered to advance at double-quick step 
 across the bridge, and in a few moments 
 the whole body of State troops was 
 flying in all directions. Not a show of 
 resistance was made. Eighty-one horses, 
 sixty-five double shot-guns, and some 
 revolvers fell into the hands of our troops. 
 Some fifty prisoners were taken, and 
 from them the number of killed and 
 wounded was ascertained to amount to 
 nearly 300. Yery few on our side were 
 lost. 
 
 "After this splendid achievement Col- 
 onel Sigel proceeded to move toward 
 Carthage, the road to which place was 
 now open. But all along the road, 
 squads of the State troops kept at the 
 side of our forces, though not daring to 
 attack, and occasionally saluted by a 
 discharge from the rifles of our infantry. 
 Arriving at Carthage, Colonel Sigel 
 found it in possession of the enemy ; a 
 secession flag waving from the top of 
 the court-house was quickly shot down 
 by our troops. 
 
 ' ' Colonel Sigel now found it neces- 
 sary to retire to Sarcoxie, eight miles 
 southwest of Carthage, as his ammuni- 
 tion was beginning to give out, and it 
 was necessary to connect again with the 
 balance of our Southwestern army, con- 
 centrated at Mount Yernon and Spring- 
 field. The road to Sarcoxie passes 
 around Carthage, and is covered with 
 heavy woods, which it was Colonel 
 Sigel's object to gain, since the State 
 troops at Carthage, almost altogether 
 cavalry, could not follow him there. 
 
 " Fully aware of this, the enemy had 
 taken his position on the road leading 
 into the woods, prepared to dispute 
 Colonel Sigel's advance to the last. The 
 most desperate conflict now commenced ; 
 the infantry on both sides engaging for 
 the first time. Our troops fought splen- 
 didly, and for the first time the rebel 
 troops screwed up some courage. But 
 their arms were very inefficient, and 
 their cavalry could be of little use. 
 The battle raged for over two hours, 
 from a quarter past six to half-past eight 
 o'clock, and was altogether the most 
 
ENEMY'S ACCOUNT. 
 
 429 
 
 hotly contested encounter of the day. 
 Over two hundred rebels bit the dust ; 
 our loss was eight killed and about 
 twenty wounded. One officer, Captain 
 Strodmann, was wounded. Our cannon 
 fired ninety-five rounds. When the 
 enemy retreated to Carthage, about a 
 mile from the place of engagement, Col- 
 onel Sigel had got his troops into the 
 wood, where they were secure from any 
 further attack." 
 
 Although exhausted by ten hours' 
 severe fighting in the heat, and suffer- 
 ing intensely from thirst, Colonel Sigel 
 ordered his forces to press on toward 
 Sarcoxie. Thence the retreat was con- 
 tinued to Mount Yernon, Lawrence 
 County, and finally a junction was 
 formed with General Lyon at Spring- 
 field, whose movements will be soon re- 
 lated. 
 
 The following is the enemy's account 
 of the affair at Carthage, as given by 
 one of their officers, Colonel Hughes, in 
 a letter to the editor of the Liberty (Mo.) 
 Tribune : 
 
 " CAMP NEAR CARTHAGE, <w THE SPRING ) 
 RIVER, Saturday, July 6, 1861. f 
 " On the 4th of July our army effect- 
 ed a junction with Jackson's and Gen- 
 eral Parsons' division at Rupe's Creek, 
 which had fallen back from Booneville. 
 Our forces being thus augmented, we 
 took up the line of march southward on 
 the morning of the 5th. The day was 
 bright the march was upon a high 
 prairie plain. We met the enemy at 
 eleven o'clock A.M., advancing upon us. 
 We immediately drew up our lines of 
 battle. The cannonading commenced 
 
 vigorously on both sides at the same 
 time, at a distance of 300 yards or more. 
 The enemy were 2,500 strong. We had 
 in action perhaps about the same num- 
 ber. We were poorly armed compared 
 to the National troops. 
 
 " After one hour of severe cannonad- 
 ing, the enemy fell back about one mile 
 to a better position across a branch of 
 the Spring River. Here the action was 
 renewed, and a brisk fight ensued, in 
 which the small-arms took part. The 
 National troops were also dislodged from 
 this position, after a severe conflict. 
 The enemy then fell back in good order 
 to another position on the next creek, 
 two miles distant. Here another sharp 
 conflict ensued, in which there was loss 
 on both sides, the National troops re- 
 treating all the while, and the infantry 
 on our part vigorously pursuing them in 
 front, and the cavalry endeavoring to 
 flank and annoy them in the rear. I 
 cannot now give the particulars of these 
 several engagements. The loss on both 
 sides was considerable. 
 
 " The National troops now retreated 
 and crossed the Spring River (the hand- 
 somest stream I ever beheld) and took 
 position at Carthage. Here they made 
 the strongest stand. We surrounded 
 the town with our infantry, the cavalry 
 still flanking to the right and left. After 
 an obstinate resistance the enemy were 
 dislodged and driven out of town, and 
 took his last position on a hill south of the 
 town one mile. Here the cannonading 
 was spiritedly renewed on both sides. 
 About sundown he was forced from his 
 last stronghold and pursued in the di- 
 
430 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 rection of Sarcoxie. The chase on our 
 part and the retreat on the part of the 
 enemy became general, and a running 
 fire for several miles was vigorously 
 kept up, in which the National troops 
 suffered severely. 
 
 " Our infantry did most of the fight- 
 ing, and the cavalry was raw and rather 
 poorly equipped. At dark the chase was 
 abandoned, and we returned to Carthage, 
 and encamped. It is just to observe 
 that at this point of time the cavalry 
 had effected their passage through the 
 heavy timber skirting the Spring River, 
 and advanced to the attack ; and after 
 the infantry had ceased firing, and the 
 men drawn off from exhaustion, the cav- 
 alry annoyed the enemy for an hour, by 
 galling them in the rear and flanks, kill- 
 ing several and capturing a portion of 
 their trains. 
 
 " In all this running fight, of six or 
 seven hours, our infantry advanced 
 steadily upon the enemy, and stood the 
 fire like veterans. The artillery under 
 Colonel Weightman, and the infantry in 
 general, stood the brunt of the battle, 
 and bore themselves gallantly. My own 
 regiment, 800 strong, had the post of 
 danger all the day. Our loss was more 
 severe than that of any other part of the 
 army. We had the front position in 
 every attack made. We have lost some 
 of our best men. In the several actions 
 had in the ' running battle of Carthage,' 
 we had fifteen killed and some forty 
 wounded and these our very best and 
 most gallant men. Some seven or eight 
 of the wounded must die. 
 
 " We have lost some two or three 
 
 captains killed, and my sergeant-major, 
 Hyde, I fear is mortally wounded. He 
 was one of the bravest and best officers 
 in the army. He is at Carthage, in 
 charge of the physicians. Captain Stone, 
 of Utica, and Captain McKenzie, were 
 both killed, gallantly fighting at the 
 head of their companies. The loss of 
 the enemy was 130 killed and some 300 
 wounded, and some 20 prisoners, and 
 one piece of cannon, and several baggage- 
 wagons, and a lot of horses. A vigor- 
 ous concerted effort of the infantry and 
 cavalry would have captured the entire 
 army. They retreated to Springfield. 
 My own regiment suffered more than 
 any other in the engagement, and were 
 among the last to quit the pursuit. 
 
 ' ' The extra battalion from Clay, and 
 Pratte, Major C. C. Thornton, Captains 
 McCarty, Thompson, and Stewart, ren- 
 dered me effectual and valuable service, 
 and fought gallantly. Many others de- 
 serve special mention, and will no doubt 
 receive merited applause in General 
 Slack's official report to the General-in- 
 chief. 
 
 " On yesterday we were reinforced by 
 General Sterling Price, and General 
 Benjamin McCullough, and General 
 Pierce, of Texas and Arkansas. They 
 brought 5,000 troops, and 4,000 more 
 in the rear. The State Government of 
 Missouri must be re-established and the 
 liberties of the people restored. When 
 we return, this is our motto : ' We come 
 to deliver you.' " 
 
 General Lyon started upon his cam- 
 paign to the southwest of Missouri j u jy 
 with only 2,000 men. His force, 3t 
 
LYON SEEKS THE ENEMY. 
 
 431 
 
 however, increased on the march by the 
 junction of various detachments, so that 
 j u ]y on reaching Springfield it counted 
 20, about 10,000; but many of his 
 troops being volunteers for three months, 
 and their time having expired, Lyon's 
 army was reduced by the 1st of August 
 to 6,000. 
 
 The enemy were reported by the 
 Federal scouts to be 30,000 strong, who 
 were about marching to meet General 
 Lyon, in two columns from Cassville and 
 Sarcoxie, under the command of Gen. 
 McCulloch, the noted Texan ranger. 
 
 Lyon determined to advance and en- 
 counter the enemy in spite of their re- 
 Aii" 1 , puted strength. Leaving a small 
 ' guard at Springfield, he ordered 
 the various detachments of the rest of 
 his little army to rendezvous at Crane 
 Creek, ten miles south of that place. 
 Early next morning (the 2d of August) 
 the combined force began its march from 
 Crane Creek. The route was along the 
 ridge which divides the waters which 
 fall into the Missouri and White rivers. 
 The midsummer day was excessively hot, 
 and as the men marched under a glaring 
 sun, amid clouds of dust raised by the 
 moving column, they were fevered with 
 heat and thirst, for which there was 
 but little relief in a country parched at 
 that season to extreme dryness. Of the 
 usual streams there were no traces but 
 in their dry beds of rock. The few 
 wells and springs were either dried up 
 by the drought of the summer, or ex- 
 hausted by those thirsty soldiers who 
 happened to be the first to reach them. 
 Upon the ridges and sides of the lime- 
 
 stone hills, over which the road lay, 
 there were trees, but these were only 
 stunted oak saplings, which afforded but 
 little shade for man or beast. 
 
 The troops, though greatly fatigued, 
 kept up a manful spirit, which was en- 
 couraged by the prospect of soon meet- 
 ing the enemy, whom the loyal country- 
 men on the road reported to be but a 
 few miles distant. 
 
 At about eleven o'clock in the morn- 
 ing the skirmishers discovered several 
 mounted men of the enemy. A six- 
 pounder being brought to the front and 
 a shell fired, they immediately dispersed. 
 The march was now continued with 
 greater caution, and the woods and 
 thickets on either side of the road care- 
 fully beaten to provide against the 
 chances of surprise and ambuscades. 
 
 On reaching Dug Springs, about 
 nineteen miles south of Springfield, great 
 clouds of dust were seen rising along the 
 base and sides of the hills which bor- 
 dered the valley in the distance. As 
 our troops advanced, large bodies of men, 
 both mounted and on foot, could be dis- 
 tinctly discerned, and soon were heard 
 the sharp reports of the rifle, showing 
 that the Federal advanced guard had 
 already arrived within shot of the 
 enemy. 
 
 A spirited fire was begun by our skir- 
 mishers, when the enemy strove to cut 
 them off. Captain Stanley, however, 
 with his company of cavalry, made a 
 dashing charge and drove them back. 
 As the enemy strove to regain their lost 
 ground, Captain Totten dispersed them 
 with a fire of shells from guns he had 
 
432 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 planted on a commanding hill. In this 
 preliminary skirmish the Federals had 4 
 killed and 5 wounded, but the enemy's 
 loss was supposed to be much greater. 
 
 It was thought that this would have 
 led to a general engagement, but the 
 enemy retired, and Lyon followed in 
 pursuit. He thus proceeded day after 
 day, having an occasional skirmish with 
 detached rebel troops, and pursuing a 
 difficult march, which was testing the 
 strength and perseverance of his men to 
 the utmost, until finding that the enemy 
 were in overpowering numbers, and 
 threatening to cut off his communica- 
 tions, he determined to return toward 
 Springfield. 
 
 On reaching this place, General Lyon 
 telegraphed to General Fremont at 
 Washington, urgently asking for rein- 
 forcements. Receiving no answer, and 
 Fremont having in the mean time arrived 
 at St. Louis, he sent three or four special 
 messengers to him there, to state his 
 needs and urgently solicit the required 
 aid. Lyon not only wanted more men, 
 but supplies for those he had, who had 
 been for some time on half rations of 
 bread. His messengers were commend- 
 ed by the impressive sanction of high 
 position, one being a former Secretary 
 of State and the other a member of Con- 
 gress, and by thorough acquaintance 
 with the perilous position of the South- 
 west, of which both were residents. 
 They failed, however, to obtain a hearing 
 after having forced their way through 
 the imposing throng of guards and fav- 
 
 ored suitors who hedged in the great ex- 
 plorer, like the parasites and Janizaries 
 of some Eastern monarch. The chief 
 officer of the State, Governor Gamble, 
 presuming upon his official dignity, 
 strove to make an impression upon the 
 exclusive Fremont. He, too, though 
 
 o 
 
 urgently appealing to the Commander- 
 in-chief to send aid to General Lyon, 
 met with no favorable response. 
 
 The spirited Lyon, notwithstanding, 
 was resolutely determined to meet the 
 enemy. His daring spirit and devoted 
 patriotism, or an excessive confidence in 
 his superior which led him to hope 
 that the succor he demanded would still 
 be conceded may have carried him 
 beyond the bounds of prudence. It 
 must not be forgotten, in fairness to 
 General Fremont, that he himself was 
 surrounded with difficulty. Embarrassed 
 with the overwhelming labors of organiz- 
 ing and equipping an army, and dis- 
 tracted by the diversified claims upon a 
 military leadership, for the duties of 
 which he was ill -prepared by previous 
 study and experience, it was not surpris- 
 ing that Fremont should have erred, if 
 error there was, in not responding to 
 the urgent demand of Lyon. Time only 
 will enable us to form a dispassionate 
 judgment of the conduct of Fremont. 
 A multitude of friends, even before the 
 verdict is pronounced, have anticipated 
 his innocence by shouts of applause, 
 and those who reserve their judgment 
 hope for an acquittal which shall free a 
 popular favorite from public suspicion. 
 
BEN McCULLOCH. 
 
 433 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 The Enemy in pursuit of Lyon. Ben McCulloch in command of the Secessionists. Life and Career of McCulloch. 
 Birth. Parentage. A young Huntsman. Success with the Bears. A Trapper of the West. In Texas. At the 
 Battle of San Jacinto. Commands the Rangers in the Mexican War Good services of McCulloch. Marshal in 
 Texas. The Texan Ranger a Peace Commissioner. His Qualifications. In Washington. A Plot to seize the 
 Capital. Sent to the West. His Character. Raises a Regiment. Sterling Price, his Life, Career, and Character. 
 Services in Mexico. His capacity. Movement of the Secessionists. Determined to strike. Anticipated by Lyon. 
 Plans of Lyon Divisions of his Force. The Battle of Wilson's Creek Official Report of Major Sturgis. Offi- 
 cial Report of Colonel Sigel- The comparative strength of the two Antagonists Contradictory Reports Embar- 
 rassment of the Historian. The Death of Lyon. His Characteristics. His devotion to his Country. The great- 
 ness of his Loss Something more than a Man of Art. A presentiment of Evil. His sadness. Ominous Talk. 
 Exposure to Danger. "I am satisfied." Wounds. Disregard of Lyon. The Day lost. A last and fatal Charge. 
 Lyon in the van. A fatal shot. A 1 all. Last Words. Death. A Memorial of disinterested Patriotism. 
 
 1S61, 
 
 ON the return of General Lyon to 
 Springfield, the enemy turned back 
 and followed in pursuit of him. 
 The secessionists concentrated their 
 forces at Crane Creek, where General 
 jl u <r, Price yielded the command of the 
 army to the noted Ben McCulloch. 
 
 This famous partisan chief was born 
 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, in 
 the year 1814. His father had ac- 
 quired considerable military fame in 
 border warfare, having served as aide- 
 de-camp to General Coffee, and under 
 General Jackson in the Indian cam- 
 paigns of the West, and at the battle of 
 New Orleans. His son Ben, while yet 
 a youth, showed great fondness for 
 adventure, and at the age of four- 
 teen was foremost among a band of 
 juvenile bear-hunters. Such was his 
 success in this career, that he was 
 known to have killed eighty bears in a 
 single season. 
 
 At the age of twenty-one, young 
 
 55 
 
 McCulloch set out for St. Louis, to join 
 a company of trappers in an expedition 
 to the Rocky Mountains. Arriving too 
 late, he offered his services to a party of 
 Santa Fe traders, but for some reason or 
 other was again disappointed. He now 
 sought in the wilds of Texas, then be- 
 longing to Mexico, and inhabited only by 
 adventurers, Indians, and half-breeds 
 among whom he made his home scope 
 for the free exercise of his untamed spirit 
 of adventure. When General Houston 
 rallied about him the settlers from the 
 United States and struck a blow for the 
 independence of Texas, McCulloch was 
 among the first to offer his services. At 
 the battle of San Jacinto he commanded 
 a gun, and gallantly bore his part in 
 winning that decisive victory, which 
 wrested Texas from Mexican rule. On 
 the breaking out of the Mexican war, in 
 consequence of the recognition and an- 
 nexation of Texas by the United States, 
 McCulloch raised a band of mounted 
 
434 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Texans, called Rangers, and was chosen 
 their chief. Practiced in guerrilla war- 
 fare against the Mexicans and Indians, 
 whom he had often met in border 
 forays, he was peculiarly fit for the ser- 
 vice of scouring the country, of which 
 he knew every mile, and following the 
 traces of an artful enemy. His band 
 was accordingly employed by General 
 Taylor, at the commencement of the 
 campaign against Mexico, as scouts, and 
 did effective service. After serving with 
 General Taylor at Resaca de la Palma, 
 Palo Alto, and Buena Vista, McCulloch 
 joined General Scott's army, and en- 
 tered with it the capital of Mexico. 
 After peace was declared he returned to 
 Texas, where he was appointed by 
 President Pierce to the lucrative office 
 of United States marshal. When Presi- 
 dent Buchanan put forth his authority 
 to suppress the rebellion in Utah, he 
 selected, with his characteristic sense of 
 official fitness, Ben McCulloch, the wild 
 bear-hunter and dashing Texan ranger, 
 as one of the peace commissioners ! 
 " A jpost," says a contemporary writer, 
 "he was about as well qualified to fill 
 as Mr. Elihu Burritt, the learned black- 
 smith, would be to command an army." 
 At the beginning of our civil troubles 
 McCulloch made his appearance in Vir- 
 ginia, and even ventured to show himself 
 in Washington, where he was suspected 
 to be laying a plan for taking, in con- 
 junction with his fellow-conspirators, the 
 capital by a coup de main. The Con- 
 federate Government, however, distrust- 
 ing his discretion, sent him to Mis- 
 souri, where his peculiar and irregular 
 
 mode of warfare could be practiced to 
 greater advantage. His fame for bold- 
 ness of spirit, fertility of expedient, and 
 indifference to the formality of law 
 attracted to his standard all the daring 
 and unscrupulous adventurers of the 
 West, and he was enabled to raise a 
 large and effective force of men. His 
 regiment, which he termed the Texan 
 Rangers, was soon swollen to an army. 
 On forming a junction with the secession 
 forces of Missouri, the general command 
 was, for the moment, as has been already 
 stated, transferred to the Texan chief, 
 by General Price, who now claims notice. 
 Sterling Price was born in Virginia, 
 but emigrated to Missouri, where he 
 became a leading man. He was a rep- 
 resentative in Congress from 1845 to 
 1847. When war was declared against 
 Mexico, he raised a regiment of Missouri 
 volunteers, and was chosen their colonel. 
 He did gallant service in the campaign, 
 and was rewarded by promotion to the 
 rank of brigadier-general. In the battle 
 of Canada, New Mexico, where he was 
 the chief in command, he was wounded. 
 At the battle of Santa Cruz de Resales 
 he also commanded, and proved himself 
 a gallant leader. At the close of the war 
 he resigned his commission and retired 
 to private life in Missouri. His birth as 
 a Virginian naturally associated him with 
 the advocates of slavery, and on the 
 commencement of the civil troubles he 
 openly declared for secession. A close 
 friend of Governor Jackson, he joined 
 him in every movement to wrest the 
 State of Missouri from its loyalty to the 
 Union. Energetic, politic, and devoted 
 
BATTLE OF SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 435 
 
 to the interests of slave-owners, lie is 
 one of the shrewdest, most active, and 
 determined of the adherents to the South- 
 ern cause. He has, moreover, shown, 
 notwithstanding his want of a military 
 education, that he is not unskilled in 
 the conduct of a war like that in Mis- 
 souri, where the formalities of art are 
 often compelled to yield to the force of 
 circumstances. 
 
 The combined army of the secession- 
 ists started from Crane Creek in eager 
 pursuit of General Lyon, whom they ex- 
 pected to overtake before he should 
 reach Springfield ; but after a forced 
 march of seventeen miles, the men were 
 so prostrated by the heat and dust that 
 they were obliged to encamp at Moody's 
 Spring. Early next morning the enemy 
 4,,o- resumed their march and moved to 
 
 j1U n t 
 
 5 Wilson's Creek, ten miles south- 
 west of Springfield. Here they posted 
 themselves and awaited an attack from 
 General Lyon. After a delay of several 
 days, McCulloch determined again to 
 advance, and his men were kept under 
 arms all night, ready to march at break 
 Aur, of day. In the mean time, it was 
 
 W discovered that General Lyon him- 
 self was approaching, to give battle. 
 The enemy made rapid preparations to 
 meet the attack. 
 
 Lyon having determined not to await 
 the coming of the secessionists, who he 
 did not doubt could with their large num- 
 bers readily surround him at Springfield, 
 boldly decided to strike a blow against 
 them in their own camp. He made his 
 plans accordingly, and marched with his 
 whole force at the break of day. His 
 
 army moved in two columns, the \ u <, t 
 first under his own immediate com- W 
 mand, and the second under Colonel 
 Sigel. General Lyon's plan was to at- 
 tack simultaneously the two extremities 
 of the camp of the enemy, which ex- 
 tended for three miles along Wilson's 
 Creek. Against one end he was to lead 
 the division commanded by himself; 
 against the other, Sigel was directed to 
 advance with his force. This separated 
 the lines of march. 
 
 Major Sturgis, upon whom devolved 
 the duty of making the report of Lyon's 
 movement, thus describes the march and 
 the subsequent engagement of the first 
 column. 
 
 "General Lyon," he says, "marched 
 from Springfield at five o'clock P.M., on 
 the 9th, making a detour to the right 
 at one o'clock in the morning arriving in 
 view of the enemy's guard-fires. Here 
 the column halted, and lay on their arms 
 until the dawn of day, when it again 
 moved forward. Captain Gilbert's com- 
 pany, which had formed the advance 
 during the night, still remained in ad- 
 vance, and the column moved in the same 
 order in which it had halted. 
 
 "A south-easterly direction was now 
 taken, with a view to strike the extreme 
 northern point of the enemy's camp. 
 At daylight a line of battle was formed, 
 closely followed by Totten's battery, 
 supported by a strong reserve. In this 
 order we advanced, with skirmishers in 
 front, until the first out-post of the 
 rebels was encountered and driven in, 
 when the column was halted, and the 
 following dispositions made, viz., Captain 
 
436 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Plummer's battalion, with the Home 
 Guard on his left, were to cross Wilson's 
 Creek and move toward the front, keep- 
 ing pace with the advance on the left 
 opposite bank, for the purpose of pro- 
 tecting our left flank against any attempt 
 of the enemy to turn it. After crossing 
 a ravine and ascending a high ridge, we 
 came in full view of a considerable force 
 of the enemy's skirmishers. Major 
 Ostcrhaus' battalion was at once de- 
 ployed to the right, and two companies 
 of the First Missouri Volunteers, under 
 Captains Yates and Cavender, were de- 
 ployed to the left, all as skirmishers. 
 The firing now became very severe, and 
 it was evident we were approaching the 
 enemy's stronghold, where they intended 
 giving battle. A few shells from Tot- 
 ten's battery assisted our skirmishers in 
 clearing the ground in front. 
 
 ' ' The First Missouri and First Kansas 
 moved to the front, supported by Tot- 
 ten's battery, and the First Iowa Regi- 
 ment, Dubois' battery, Steele's battalion, 
 and the Second Kansas were held in re- 
 serve. The First Missouri now took its 
 position in the front, upon the crest of 
 a small elevated plateau. The First 
 Kansas was posted on the left of the 
 First Missouri, and separated from it 
 some sixty yards on account of a ravine. 
 The First Iowa took its position on the 
 left of the First Kansas, while Totten's 
 battery was placed opposite the interval 
 between the First Kansas and First 
 Missouri. Major Osterhaus' battalion 
 occupied the extreme right, with his 
 right resting on a ravine which turned 
 abruptly to our right and rear. Dubois' 
 
 battery, supported by Steele's battalion, 
 was placed some eighty yards to the left 
 and rear of Totten's guns, so as to bear 
 upon a powerful battery of the enemy, 
 posted to our left and front, on the op- 
 posite side of Wilson's Creek, to sweep 
 the entire plateau upon which our troops 
 were formed. 
 
 "The enemy now rallied in large 
 force near the foot of the slope, and 
 under considerable cover, opposite our 
 left wing, and along the slope in front 
 and on our right toward the crest of the 
 main ridge running parallel to the creek. 
 During this time, Captain Plummer, 
 with his four companies of infantry, had 
 moved down a ridge about 500 yards 
 to our left, and separated from us by a 
 deep ravine, and reached its abrupt 
 terminus, where he found its further 
 progress arrested by a large force of in- 
 fantry occupying a cornfield in the val- 
 ley in his front. At this moment an 
 artillery fire was opened from a high 
 point about two miles distant, and nearly 
 in our front, from which Colonel Sigel 
 was to have commenced his attack. 
 This fire was answered from the oppo- 
 site side of the valley, and at a little 
 greater distance from us, the line of 
 fire of the two batteries being nearly 
 perpendicular to our own. After about 
 ten or twelve shots on either side, the 
 firing ceased, and we neither heard nor 
 saw anything more of General Sigel's 
 brigade until about half-past eight 
 o'clock, when a brisk cannonading was 
 heard for a few minutes, about a mile 
 to the right of that heard before, and 
 from two to three miles distant. 
 
BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK. 
 
 437 
 
 " Our whole line now advanced with 
 much energy upon the enemy's position, 
 the firing, which had been spirited for 
 the last half hour, now increasing to a 
 continuous roar. During this time Cap- 
 tain Totten's battery came into action 
 by section and by piece, as the nature 
 of the ground would permit (it being 
 wooded, with much undergrowth), and 
 played upon the enemy's lines with 
 great effect. After a fierce engagement, 
 lasting perhaps half an hour, and in 
 which our troops retired two or three 
 times in more or less disorder, but never 
 more than a few yards, again to rally 
 and press forward with increased vigor, 
 the enemy at length gave way in the 
 utmost confusion, and left us in posses- 
 sion of the position. 
 
 ''Meanwhile, Captain Plummer was 
 ordered to move forward on our left, but 
 meeting with overpowering resistance 
 from the large mass of infantry in the 
 cornfield in his front, and in the woods 
 beyond, was compelled to fall back ; but 
 at this moment Lieutenant Dubois' bat- 
 tery, which had taken position on our 
 left flank, supported by Captain Steele's 
 battalion, opened upon the enemy in 
 the cornfield a fire of shells, with such 
 marked effect as to drive him with great 
 slaughter from the field. 
 
 " There was now a momentary cessa- 
 tion of fire along nearly the whole line, 
 except the extreme right, where the 
 First Missouri was still engaged with a 
 superior force of the enemy, attempting 
 to turn our right. The General having 
 been informed of this movement, sent 
 the Second Kansas to the support of the 
 
 First Missouri. It came up in time to 
 prevent the Missourians from being de- 
 stroyed by the overwhelming force 
 against which they were unflinchingly 
 holding their position. 
 
 ' ' The battalion of regular infantry 
 under Captain Steele, which had been 
 detailed to the support of Lieutenant 
 Dubois' battery, was during this time 
 brought forward to the support of Cap- 
 tain Totten's battery. Scarcely had 
 these dispositions been made, when the 
 enemy again appeared in very large 
 force along our entire front, and moving 
 toward each flank. The engagement at 
 once became general, and almost incon- 
 ceivably fierce, along the entire line, the 
 enemy appearing in front often in three 
 or four ranks, lying down, kneeling and 
 standing, the lines often approaching to 
 within thirty or forty yards of each 
 other, as the enemy would charge upon 
 Captain Totten's battery and be driven 
 back. 
 
 "Early in the engagement, the First 
 Iowa came to the support of the First 
 Kansas and First Missouri, both of which 
 had stood like veteran troops, exposed 
 to a galling fire of the enemy. 
 
 " Every available battalion was now 
 brought into action, and the battle raged 
 with unabated fury for more than an 
 hour ; the scales seeming all the time 
 nearly equally balanced, our troops 
 sometimes gaining a little ground, and 
 then giving way a few yards to rally 
 again. Early in this engagement, while 
 General Lyon was leading his horse 
 along the line on the left of Captain 
 Totten's battery, and endeavoring to 
 
438 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 rally our troops, which were at this time 
 in considerable disorder, his horse was 
 killed, and he received a wound in the 
 leg and one in the head. He walked 
 slowly a few paces to the rear and said, 
 1 1 fear the day is lost.' I then dis- 
 mounted one of my orderlies and ten- 
 dered the horse to the General, who at 
 first declined, saying it was not neces- 
 sary. The horse, however, was left with 
 him, and I moved off to rally a portion of 
 the Iowa Regiment, which was begin- 
 ning to break in considerable numbers. 
 
 "In the mean time the General 
 mounted, and swinging his hat in the 
 air, called to the troops nearest him to 
 follow. The Second Kansas gallantly 
 rallied around him, headed by the brave 
 Colonel Mitchell. In a few moments 
 the Colonel fell severely wounded ; 
 about the same time a fatal ball was 
 lodged in the General's breast, and he 
 was carried from the field a corpse. 
 Thus gloriously fell as brave a soldier as 
 ever drew a sword a man whose hon- 
 esty of purpose was proverbial a noble 
 patriot, and one who held his life as 
 nothing when his country demanded it 
 of him. 
 
 ' ' Of this dire calamity I was not in- 
 formed until perhaps half an hour after 
 its occurrence. In the mean time our 
 disordered line on the left was again 
 rallied, and pressed the enemy with 
 great vigor and coolness, particularly 
 the First Iowa Regiment, which fought 
 like veterans. This hot encounter lasted 
 perhaps half an hour. 
 
 "After the death of General Lyon, 
 when the enemy fled and left the field 
 
 clear, so far as we could see, an almost 
 total silence reigned for a space of twenty 
 minutes. Major Schofield now informed 
 me of the death of General Lyon, and 
 reported for orders. The responsibility 
 which now rested upon me was duly felt 
 and appreciated. Our brave little army 
 was scattered and broken ; over 20,000 
 men were still in our front, and our men 
 had had no water since five o'clock the 
 evening before, and could hope for none 
 short of Springfield, twelve miles distant, 
 if we should go forward. Our own suc- 
 cess would prove our certain defeat in 
 the end ; if we retreated, disaster stared 
 us in the face ; our ammunition was well 
 nigh exhausted, and should the enemy 
 make this discovery through a slacken- 
 ing of our fire, total annihilation was all 
 we could expect. The great question 
 in my mind was, ' Where is Sigel? 7 If 
 I could still hope for a vigorous attack 
 by him on the enemy's right flank or 
 rear, then we could go forward with 
 some hope of success. If he had re- 
 treated, there was nothing left for us 
 also. In this perplexing condition of 
 affairs I summoned the principal officers 
 for consultation. The great question 
 with most of them was, ' Is retreat pos- 
 sible ?' The consultation was brought 
 to a close by the advance of a heavy 
 column of infantry from the hill where 
 Sigel's guns had been heard before. 
 Thinking they were Sigel's men, a line 
 was formed for an advance, with the 
 hope of forming a junction with him. 
 These troops wore a dress much resem- 
 bling that of Sigel's brigade, and carried 
 the American flag. They were there- 
 
3 | 
 
 f, 
 
 
THE ENEMY FLY. 
 
 439 
 
 fore permitted to move down the hill 
 within easy range of Dubois' battery, 
 until they had reached the covered posi- 
 tion at the foot of the ridge on which 
 we were posted, and from which we had 
 been fiercely assailed before, when sud- 
 denly a battery was planted on the hill 
 in our front, and began to pour upon us 
 shrapnel and cannister a species of 
 shot not before fired by the enemy. At 
 this moment the enemy showed his true 
 colors, and at once commenced along 
 our entire lines the fiercest and most 
 bloody engagement of the day. Lieu- 
 tenant Dubois' battery on our left, gal- 
 lantly supported by Major Osterhaus' 
 battalion and the rallied fragments of 
 the Missouri First, soon silenced the 
 enemy's battery on the hill and repulsed 
 the right wing of his infantry. Captain 
 Totten's battery in the centre, supported 
 by the lowas and regulars, was the 
 main point of attack. The enemy could 
 frequently be seen within twenty feet 
 of Totten's guns, and the smoke of the 
 opposing lines was often so confounded 
 as to seem but one. Now, for the first 
 time during the day, our entire line 
 maintained its position with perfect firm- 
 ness. Not the slightest disposition to 
 give way was manifested at any point, 
 and while Captain Steele's battalion, 
 which was some yards in front of the 
 line, together with the troops on the 
 right and left, were in imminent danger 
 of being overwhelmed by superior num- 
 bers, the contending lines being almost 
 muzzle to muzzle, Captain Granger 
 rushed to the rear and brought up the 
 supports of Dubois' battery, consisting 
 
 of two or three companies of the First 
 Missouri, three companies of the First 
 Kansas, and two companies of the First 
 Iowa, in quick time, and fell upon the 
 enemy's right flank, and poured into it a 
 murderous volley, killing or wounding 
 nearly every man within sixty or seventy 
 yards. From this moment a perfect 
 rout took place throughout the rebel 
 front, while ours on the right flank con- 
 tinued to pour a galling fire into their 
 disorganized masses. 
 
 "It was then evident that Totten's 
 battery and Steele's little battalion were 
 safe. Among the officers conspicuous 
 in leading this assault were Adjutant 
 Hezcock, Captains Burke, Miller, Maun- 
 ter, Maurice, and Richardson, and Lieu- 
 tenant Howard, all of the First Missouri. 
 There were others of the First Kansas 
 and First Iowa who participated, and 
 whose names I do not remember. The 
 enemy then fled from the field. A few 
 moments before the close of the en- 
 gagement, the Second Kansas, which 
 had firmly maintained its position, on 
 the extreme right, from the time it was 
 first sent there, found its ammunition 
 exhausted, and I directed it to withdraw 
 slowly and in good order from the field, 
 which it did, bringing off its wounded, 
 which left our right flank exposed, and 
 the enemy renewed the attack at that 
 point, after it had ceased along the 
 whole line ; but it was gallantly met by 
 Captain Steele's battalion of regulars, 
 which had just driven the enemy from 
 the right of the centre, and, after a sharp 
 engagement, drove him precipitately 
 from the field. Thus closed at about 
 
440 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 half-past eleven o'clock an almost un- 
 interrupted conflict of six hours. The 
 order to retreat was given soon after the 
 enemy gave way from our front and 
 centre, Lieutenant Dubois' battery hav- 
 ing been previously sent to occupy, with 
 its supports, the hill in our rear. Cap- 
 tain Totten's battery, as soon as his dis- 
 abled horses could be replaced, retired 
 slowly with the main body of the infan- 
 try, while Captain Steele was meeting 
 the demonstrations upon our right flank. 
 This having been repulsed, and no 
 enemy being in sight, the whole column 
 moved slowly to the high open prairie, 
 about two miles from the battle-ground ; 
 meanwhile our ambulances passed to and 
 fro, carrying off our wounded. After 
 making a short halt on the prairie, we 
 continued our march to Springfield. 
 
 " It should be here remembered that, 
 just after the order to retire was given, 
 and while it was undecided whether the 
 retreat should be continued, or whether 
 we should occupy the more favorable 
 position of our rear, and await tidings 
 of Colonel Sigel, one of his non-com- 
 missioned officers arrived, and reported 
 that the Colonel's brigade had been 
 totally routed, and all his artillery cap- 
 tured, Colonel Sigel himself having been 
 either killed or made prisoner. Most 
 of our men had fired away all their am- 
 munition, and all that could be obtained 
 from the boxes of the killed and wounded. 
 Nothing, therefore, was left to do but to 
 return to Springfield, where 250 Home 
 Guards, with two pieces of artillery, 
 had been left to take care of the train. 
 On reaching the Little York road, we 
 
 met Lieutenant Ferrand, with his com- 
 pany of dragoons, and a considerable 
 portion of Colonel Sigel's command, 
 with one piece of artillery. At five 
 o'clock P. M. we reached Springfield." 
 
 General Sigel thus reports the events 
 of the march and engagement of his own 
 division, the second column. 
 
 " I left," he says, " Camp Fremont, on 
 the south side of Springfield, at half- 
 past six o'clock on the evening of the 
 9th, and arrived at daybreak within a 
 mile of the enemy's camp. I advanced 
 slowly toward the camp, and after tak- 
 ing forward the two cavalry companies 
 from the right and left, I cut off about 
 forty men of the enemy's troops, who 
 were coming from the camp in little 
 squads to get water and provisions. 
 This was done in such a manner that no 
 news of our advance could be brought 
 into the camp. 
 
 " In sight of the enemy's tents, which 
 spread out on our front and right, I 
 planted four pieces of artillery on a little 
 hill, while the infantry advanced toward 
 the point where the Fayetteville road 
 crosses Wilson's Creek, and the two 
 cavalry companies extended to the right 
 and left to guard our flanks. It was 
 half-past five o'clock, when some musket 
 firing was heard from the northwest. I 
 therefore ordered the artillery to begin 
 their fire against the camp of the enemy 
 (Missourians), which was so destructive 
 that the enemy were seen leaving their 
 tents and retiring in haste toward the 
 northeast of the valley. Meanwhile, 
 the Third and Fifth had quickly ad- 
 vanced, passed the creek, and traversing 
 
SIGEL'S MOVEMENT. 
 
 441 
 
 the camp, formed almost in the centre 
 of it. As the enemy made his rally in 
 large numbers before us, about 3,000 
 strong, consisting of infantry and cav- 
 alry, I ordered the artillery to be brought 
 forward from the hill and formed there 
 in battery across the valley, with the 
 Third and Fifth to the left and the cav- 
 alry to the right. After an effectual fire 
 of half an hour, the enemy retired in 
 some confusion into the woods and up 
 the adjoining hills. The firing toward 
 the northwest was now more distinct, 
 and increased, until it was evident that 
 the main corps of General Lyon had 
 engaged the enemy along the whole line. 
 To give the greatest possible assistance 
 to him, I left position in the camp and ad- 
 vanced toward the northwest, to attack 
 the enemy's line of battle in the rear. 
 
 "Marching forward, we struck the 
 Fayetteville road, making our way 
 through a large number of cattle and 
 horses, until we arrived at an eminence 
 used as a slaughtering place, and known 
 as Sharp's farm. On our route we had 
 taken about 100 prisoners, who were 
 scattered over the camp. At Sharp's 
 place we met numbers of the enemy's 
 soldiers, who were evidently retiring in 
 this direction ; and as I suspected that 
 the enemy, on his retreat, would follow 
 in the same direction, I formed the 
 troops across the road by planting the 
 artillery on the plateau, and two infan- 
 try regiments on the- right and left, 
 across the road, while the cavalry com- 
 panies extended on our flanks. At this 
 time, and after some skirmishing in 
 front of our line, the firing in the direc- 
 
 56 
 
 tion of the northwest, which was during 
 an hour's time roaring in succession, had 
 almost entirely ceased. I thereupon 
 presumed that the attack of General 
 Lyon had been successful, arid that his 
 troops Were in pursuit of the enemy, 
 who moved in large numbers toward 
 the south, along the ridge of a hill, 
 about 700 yards opposite our right. 
 
 " This was the state of affairs at half- 
 past eight o'clock in the morning, when it 
 avas reported to me by Dr. Melchior and 
 some of our skirmishers, that ' Lyon's 
 men were coming up the road.' Lieu- 
 tenant Albert, of the Third, and Colonel 
 Salamon, of the Fifth, notified their 
 regiments not to fire on troops coming 
 in this direction, while I cautioned the 
 artillery in the same manner. Our 
 troops in this moment expected with 
 anxiety the approach of our friends, 
 and were waving the flag, raised as a 
 signal to their comrades, when at once 
 two batteries opened their fire against 
 us one in front, placed on the Fayette- 
 ville road, and the other upon the hill 
 upon which we had supposed Lyon's 
 forces were in pursuit of the enemy, 
 while a strong column of infantry, sup- 
 posed to be the ' Iowa Regiment,' ad- 
 vanced from the Fayetteville road and 
 attacked our right. 
 
 "It is impossible for me to describe 
 the consternation and frightful confusion 
 which was occasioned by this important 
 event. The cry, ' They [Lyon's troops] 
 are firing against us,' spread like wild- 
 fire through our ranks. The artillery- 
 men, ordered to fire, and directed by 
 myself, could hardly be brought forward 
 
442 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 to serve their pieces ; the infantry would 
 not level their arms until it was too late. 
 The enemy arrived within ten paces of 
 the muzzles of our cannon, killed the 
 horses, turned the flanks of the infantry, 
 and forced them to fly. The troops 
 were throwing themselves into the bushes 
 and by-roads, retreating as well as they 
 could, followed and attacked incessantly 
 by large bodies of Arkansas and Texas 
 cavalry." 
 
 The force of the Federalists in this* 
 unequal struggle at Wilson's Creek 
 amounted only to 3,700 men, and that 
 of the enemy to the overwhelming 
 number of 23,000. This, however, is 
 the computation of the Federalists them- 
 selves. The secessionists, on the other 
 hand, declared that their army numbered 
 nearly 10,000 men, and that that of the 
 Unionists was of the same strength. 
 The total loss in killed, wounded, and 
 missing on their side was estimated by 
 the Federalists at 1,285, and on that of 
 the enemy at 3,000. The secessionists 
 themselves confess to have had 265 killed, 
 800 wounded, and 30 missing, while they 
 asserted that our loss was 800 killed, 
 1,000 wounded, and 300 taken prisoners. 
 It is impossible to reconcile such dis- 
 cordant statements, and the reader must 
 be content to remain, like the historian, 
 embarrassed by the conflicting testimony 
 of partial witnesses, until truth, no 
 longer, as now, crushed by interested 
 falsehood, shall rise once more and as- 
 sert its independence. 
 
 Forced to retire from the field, the 
 Federalists left behind them six pieces 
 of artillery and several hundred stand 
 
 of arms, which were captured by the 
 enemy. The great loss was the death 
 of General Lyon, who was mourned by 
 the whole nation. There may be men of 
 greater military skill, but none more 
 devoted to the cause of the Union, He 
 possessed, what seems wanting in many 
 of our leaders, an intense sympathy with 
 the motive of the contest. A thought- 
 ful observer of the encroachments of 
 the pro-slavery politicians, he had long 
 watched their progress with anxious 
 solicitude, and had uttered his protests, 
 as a writer, against their fatal theories 
 before he had drawn his sword, as a 
 soldier, to strike them down in the 
 commission of their disloyal acts. Pro- 
 foundly convinced, from study and reflec- 
 tion, of the evil designs of the advocates 
 of the extension of slavery, he believed 
 no sacrifice too great in thwarting their 
 purposes. When, therefore, they boldly 
 defied the authority of the Government, 
 and sought to settle the question between 
 it and themselves by the arbitrament of 
 the sword, Lyon obeyed the summons 
 to arms with the enthusiasm of a cru- 
 sader about to fight for a sacred cause. 
 Naturally impulsive, he may not have 
 always acted with the discretion of the 
 judicious officer ; but an ardent defender 
 of the cause of his country, he never 
 sacrificed its interests to the fastidious- 
 ness of the military formalist. If the 
 leaders of our armies had more of the 
 sentiment of Lyon, the country might 
 dispense with much of their elaborate 
 military acquirement. It must not be 
 inferred, however, that he was deficient 
 in the art he professed, for he had, in 
 
DEATH OF LYON. 
 
 443 
 
 common with the most accomplished of 
 our generals, a thorough military educa- 
 tion, but he possessed what so many of 
 them seem to want, a heart to feel, as 
 well as a head to understand. He did 
 not believe that the contest was to be 
 settled by the conventional rules of 
 Vauban and Jomini, but by the eternal 
 principles of justice and liberty. 
 
 Lyon seemed to be so saddened by 
 the position in which he had been left 
 by the neglect to send him reinforce- 
 ments, that his melancholy took the 
 form of a presentiment of the evil which 
 awaited him. " For two or three days 
 before the battle," says one* who was 
 often at his side, " General Lyon changed 
 much in appearance. Since it became 
 apparent to him that he must abandon 
 the Southwest, or have his army cut to 
 pieces, he had lost much of his former 
 energy and decision. To one of his 
 staff he remarked, the evening before 
 the battle, ' I am a man believing in 
 presentiments, and ever since this night 
 surprise was planned, I have had a feel- 
 ing I cannot get rid of, that it would re- 
 sult disastrously. Through the refusal 
 of Government properly to reinforce 
 me, I am obliged to abandon the coun- 
 try. If I leave it without engaging the 
 enemy, the public will call me a coward. 
 If I engage him, I may be defeated and 
 my command cut to pieces. I am too 
 weak to hold Springfield, and yet the 
 people will demand that I bring about 
 a battle with the very enemy I cannot 
 keep a town against. How can this re- 
 sult otherwise than against us?' 
 
 Correspondent of the New York Herald. 
 
 " On the way to the field I frequently 
 rode near him. He seemed like one 
 bewildered, and often when addressed 
 failed to give any recognition, and 
 seemed totally unaware that he was 
 spoken to. On the battle-field he gave 
 his orders promptly, and seemed solicit- 
 ous for the welfare of his men, but 
 utterly regardless of his own safety. 
 While he was standing where bullets 
 flew thickest, just after his favorite horse 
 was shot from under him, some of his 
 officers interposed and begged that he 
 would retire from the spot and seek one 
 less exposed. Scarcely raising his eyes 
 from the enemy, he said : 
 
 " ' It is well enough that I stand here. 
 I am satisfied.' ' 
 
 Lyon had been wounded in the early 
 part of the engagement. He had been 
 struck by three shots : one in the heel, 
 a second in the fleshy part of his thigh, 
 and a third in the back of his head, 
 which had cut it open to the skull. His 
 surgeon begged him to retire to the rear 
 and have his wounds dressed. " No 
 these are nothing," was the General's 
 reply, and thus wounded and streaming 
 with blood, he led the Kansas and Iowa 
 regiments to the fatal charge, saying, as 
 he mounted his horse, " I fear that the 
 day is lost ; if Colonel Sigel had been 
 successful, he would have joined us be- 
 fore this. I think I will lead this 
 charge. He then cried : " Forward, 
 men ! I will lead you !" 
 
 His horse had hardly sprung forward, 
 when a Minie ball struck Lyon in the 
 breast, and passing out at the back 
 severed in its course the aorta, the prin- 
 
444 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 cipal blood-vessel of the heart. He fell 
 into the arms of his body-servant, say- 
 ing, " Lehman, I am killed ; take care 
 of my body," and instantly expired. 
 General Lyon left behind him an im- 
 
 pressive memorial of his ardent and 
 disinterested patriotism in a legacy by 
 will of his whole property, amounting to 
 $30,000, to the United States Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Return of Federal Troops to Springfield. General Sigel in command. Arrival of Federal Force at Holla. General 
 Fremont at St. Louis. Flocking to his Standard. Unfavorable rumors. The Military capacity of Fremont ques- 
 tioned. Justification by his Friends. His reason for not reinforcing Lyon. A failure. Another Military Fault. 
 Description of Lexington. Garrison at Lexington. Reinforcement. Colonel Mulligan's March. His arrival 
 at Lexington. Fortifies the place. Description of Fortifications. The Siege and its results. Importance of Lex- 
 ington. Causes of its Fall. Comparative strength of the Antagonists. Losses. Regrets. Release of Mulligan. 
 Hailed as a Hero. His account of the fall of Lexington. General Price's report of the capture of Lexington. 
 
 1861. 
 
 AFTER the defeat at Wilson's Creek, 
 the Federal troops returned to 
 Springfield. General Sigel having 
 temporarily succeeded to the command, 
 made immediate preparations for falling 
 still farther back, before the superior 
 numbers of the enemy, who were push- 
 ing forward with the purpose of cutting 
 off his retreat. On the next morning 
 after the battle, the Federal army had 
 commenced its movement to the east. 
 By a judicious turn in the march, General 
 Sigel succeeded in eluding the manoeu- 
 vres of Price and McCulloch, and reach- 
 ing Holla in safety, where the Federal 
 forces now encamped, with 'their com- 
 munications with St. Louis secured be- 
 yond peradventure. 
 
 General Fremont having, in the mean 
 
 j u ly time, assumed command in Missouri, 
 
 25. was at St. Louis, where his popular- 
 
 ity attracted to his standard the spirited 
 volunteers of the West in large numbers. 
 While organizing and equipping an 
 army, and preparing for an expedition 
 down the Mississippi, rumors began to 
 circulate unfavorable to his conduct. 
 His disregard of the call of Lyon for 
 reinforcements, and the consequent de- 
 feat and fall of that gallant officer at 
 Wilson's Creek, was imputed to Fre- 
 mont as a fault, and gave rise to sus- 
 picions of his military incapacity. His 
 friends were ready to justify him, on 
 the score of the embarrassments in 
 which the Federal authorities had in- 
 volved him, by their inordinate demands 
 for troops to proceed elsewhere by 
 which his force at St. Louis had been 
 weakened and their remissness in sup- 
 plying him with adequate means for 
 equipping and transporting those he 
 
MARCH TO LEXINGTON. 
 
 445 
 
 had. In answer to this it was urged, 
 that he was able, within one week after his 
 arrival in St. Louis, to march with 5,000 
 men to Bird's Point, on the Mississippi, 
 and send a reinforcement to Pilot Knob. 
 This force, it was contended, should have 
 been sent to Springfield. Fremont, how- 
 ever, declared that as General Pillow, 
 at New Madrid, and General Hardee, at 
 Greenfield, were threatening these points, 
 it was there where aid was most wanted. 
 It was suggested to him that the threat- 
 ened movements against Pilot Knob and 
 Bird's Point were mere feints to dis- 
 tract his attention from the more seri- 
 ous manoeuvres of Price and McCulloch 
 in the southwest, which was the natural 
 route for Governor Jackson to return 
 to the "State and try to recover the cap- 
 ital ; and that if the rebels could force 
 Lyon to retreat on St. Louis, they might 
 expect large reinforcements to meet 
 them on the Osage, and thus insure the 
 re-establishment of the rebel govern- 
 ment at Jefferson City. 
 
 Fremont was not convinced, and Lyon 
 was left to struggle against an over- 
 whelming force, with the fatal result 
 just narrated, while his commanding 
 general grandly marched out, and 
 marched back again after an absence 
 only of three days, giving, by the failure 
 of his expedition, a striking condemna- 
 tion of his own judgment, and a tri- 
 umphant vindication of the opinions of 
 his opponents. 
 
 The suspicion of Fremont's military 
 incapacity was further strengthened by 
 another defeat in Missouri, which is at- 
 tributed to his neglect to reinforce a 
 
 small garrison beleaguered by a nu- 
 merous enemy at Lexington, the fall of 
 which will now be recorded. 
 
 Lexington, in Lafayette County, Mis- 
 souri, is situated on the southern bank 
 of the river Missouri, in the northwest- 
 ern part of the State. There are two 
 settlements, called Old and New Lexing- 
 ton. The former is lower down and 
 farther from the river, and separated 
 from the latter by a hill, although be- 
 tween, along the river bank or bluff, 
 there are some scattered houses. 
 
 A small force, consisting of several 
 hundred Home Guards, a few Kansas 
 troops, a portion of the Missouri Eighth 
 Regiment, and 700 of the First Regi- 
 ment Illinois cavalry, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Peabody, had occupied 
 Lexington for about a week, when Col- 
 onel Mulligan with his Irish brigade e p, 
 was ordered from Jefferson City to ! 
 reinforce the place. 
 
 On reaching Lexington, Colonel Mul- 
 ligan, as senior officer, assumed chief f p t 
 command of the whole force, which 9. 
 with the accession of his brigade amount- 
 ed to about 2,500 men. General Price 
 at the moment was rapidly approaching 
 with his secession army, which was 
 augmenting daily on the march. Gen- 
 erals Lane and Montgomery, of Kansas, 
 had striven ineffectually to check his 
 progress, and had been compelled to re- 
 tire from the State. Mulligan found 
 that there was no time to lose, and be- 
 gan industriously to prepare for the 
 coming of the enemy. He set his men 
 to work at once in raising intrench- 
 ments to defend the position he had 
 
446 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 selected, about midway between Old and 
 New Lexington, which are nearly a 
 mile apart. 
 
 ''Midway," says a writer in the Chi- 
 cago Tribune, whose account is here quo- 
 ted, " stands a solid brick edifice, built for 
 a college, and about this a small breast- 
 work had already been begun. 
 
 " By Colonel Mulligan's orders this 
 was extended, and the troops set about 
 the construction of an earth-work, ten 
 feet in height, with a ditch eight feet in 
 width, inclosing an area capable of con- 
 taining a force of 10,000 men. The 
 army train, consisting of numerous 
 mule teams, six mules to a team, was 
 brought within this. The supply of 
 intrenching tools being inadequate, a 
 thorough search was made through both 
 towns, arid every description of suitable 
 or available implements appropriated. 
 The work was pushed with great vigor 
 the heavy muscle of the brigade tell- 
 ing well as the brave fellows toiled in 
 the trenches. This went on for three 
 days, or until Thursday, the 12th, at 
 which time the portion assigned to the 
 Irish brigade was well advanced, that 
 of the Home Guard being still weak on 
 the west, or New Lexington side. 
 
 " Of Lexington it should be said in 
 advance, that it has been considered a 
 most important point by the Confederate 
 forces, and their preparations for its 
 capture and occupancy abundantly de- 
 clare this. Among other proofs that it 
 was a coveted prize, was the fact that 
 Claiborne Jackson and his legislature 
 had been in session there as late as only 
 the week previous to the arrival of Col- 
 
 onel Mulligan, holding their session in 
 the court-house, whence Claiborne ful- 
 minated a proclamation counter to that 
 of General Fremont. When this worthy 
 body prudently retired before the Federal 
 troops, they did so in such haste that 
 $800,000 in gold coin, and the State seals 
 left in the vault of the bank, fell into the 
 hands of Colonel Peabody. 
 
 " The college building within the forti- 
 fication became Colonel Mulligan's head- 
 quarters. The magazine and treasure 
 were stored in the cellar and suitably 
 protected. The hospital of our troops 
 was located just outside the intrench- 
 ments, in a northwesterly direction. 
 The river at that point is about half a 
 mile wide, and about half a mile distant 
 from the fortifications. The bluff there 
 is high and abrupt, the steamboat land- 
 ing being at New Lexington. 
 
 "After three several days of anxious 
 watching and unremitting toil by the lit- 
 tle force, on the afternoon of Thursday, 
 the 12th instant, scouts and advanced 
 pickets driven in reported the near ap- 
 proach of the rebels. At this time Col- 
 onel Mulligan had a portion of his small 
 artillery in readiness. He had only six 
 brass pieces and two howitzers, but hav- 
 ing no shell, the latter were useless. 
 Two pieces belonged to the Kansas 
 City Company, and were worked by 
 them splendidly. The cavalry company 
 had only their side-arms and pistols, and 
 having no carbines or rifles, could do 
 nothing at long range. 
 
 " Several mines were laid in front of 
 the intrenchments by our men. The at- 
 tack on Thursday, the 12th, was led by 
 
SIEGE OF LEXINGTON. 
 
 447 
 
 General Rains in person, with a battery 
 of nine pieces of artillery on the angle 
 least prepared to resist assault. The 
 enemy were repulsed with heavy loss. 
 In the fight, Companies I, Captain Fitz- 
 gerald, K, Captain John Quirk, and G, 
 Captain Phillips, did gallant service. 
 
 "As stated, the hospital had been lo- 
 cated on the bank below the new town, 
 and contained about twenty-four pa- 
 tients. The attacking party did not 
 spare or respect this building. They 
 were met by the Montgomery Guards, 
 Captain Gleason, who made a brave 
 resistance, but were driven back with 
 the loss of twenty-five of their men kill- 
 ed and wounded. Captain Gleason was 
 shot through the jaw and badly wounded. 
 The gallant Montgomery made many of 
 the Texans bite the dust. The fight 
 was very fierce. Some of the sick were 
 actually bayoneted or sabred in their 
 cots. Rev. Father Butler, an esteemed 
 Catholic clergyman of this city, and the 
 chaplain of the Irish Brigade, was wound- 
 ed in the forehead by a ball which passed 
 across it, laying open the skin. He was 
 taken prisoner, as also was Dr. Winer, 
 surgeon of the brigade, thus depriving 
 the regiment of the valuable services of 
 both during the dark and trying days 
 that followed, preceding the surrender. 
 
 "The issue of the 12th warned the 
 enemy that they had a task before them 
 which was no easy one, and they com- 
 menced on Friday morning a new sys- 
 tem of approaches. They scoured the 
 entire region for its staple, hemp in bales. 
 These were thoroughly wetted as a safe- 
 guard against red-hot shot, and then were 
 
 skilfully used to mask the batteries of 
 the rebels, and rolled forward as they 
 made their advance. 
 
 " The fight went on thus for several 
 days, the enemy bringing more of their 
 artillery into action. Following the 
 skirmish of the 19th, Mulligan ordered 
 a portion of the old town on the east to 
 be burned, to prevent the rebels from 
 gaining therefrom the advantage of 
 shelter. Meanwhile, the little garrison, 
 already worn by labor on the intrench- 
 ments, began to look eagerly for the 
 coming of reinforcements. 
 
 " On the 10th, Colonel Mulligan had 
 sent Lieutenant Rains, of Company K 
 of the brigade, with a squad of twelve 
 men, on the steamer Sunshine, to Jeffer- 
 son City, 160 miles distant, pressing the 
 necessity for reinforcements. Forty 
 miles below, the Sunshine was captured, 
 and Rains and his men brought back 
 to New Lexington and lodged as pris- 
 oners in the old Fair Ground. Other 
 messengers were sent off to guard 
 against the failure of any one. 
 
 "The enemy were in sufficient force 
 to throw out parties to intercept the 
 Federal troops en route for the relief of 
 Colonel Mulligan. Thus, a detachment 
 of 5,000 strong met and turned back 
 1,500 Iowa troops from Richmond, six- 
 teen miles from the river, they retreat- 
 ing, it is said, to St. Joseph. 
 
 "The situation of the Federal troops 
 grew more desperate as day after day 
 passed. Within their lines were pick- 
 eted about the wagons and trains a large 
 number of horses and mules, nearly 
 3,000 in all, now a serious cause of care 
 
448 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 and anxiety, for as shot and shell 
 plunged among them, many of the 
 animals were killed and wounded, and 
 from the struggle of these latter the 
 danger of a general stampede was im- 
 minent. The havoc in the centre of the 
 intrenchments was immense. Wagons 
 were knocked to pieces, stores scattered 
 and destroyed, and the ground strewn 
 with dead horses and mules. 
 
 " On Wednesday, the 17th, an evil, 
 from the first apprehended, fell upon 
 Colonel Mulligan's command. They 
 were cut off from the river, and their 
 water gave out. Fortunately a heavy 
 rain, at intervals, came greatly to their 
 relief. But to show how severe were 
 the straits of the men, the fact may be 
 stated of instances occurring wher sol- 
 diers held their blankets spread out 
 until thoroughly wet, and then wrung 
 them into their camp dishes, carefully 
 saving the priceless fluid thus obtained. 
 Rations, also, began to grow short. The 
 fighting at this time, from the 16th to 
 the 21st, knew little cessation. The 
 nights were brilliant moonlight, and all 
 night long the roar of the guns con- 
 tinued, with an occasional sharp sortie 
 and skirmish without the works. 
 
 "From the first but one spirit per- 
 vaded our troops, and that was no 
 thought or word of surrender, except 
 among some of the Home Guards, who 
 had done the least share of the work 
 and the fighting. The cavalry behaved 
 nobly, and could the full details be writ- 
 ten up, some of their sharp, brave 
 charges on the enemy's guns would 
 shine with any battle-exploits on record. , 
 
 " General Price sent Colonel Mulligan 
 a summons to surrender, to which the 
 gallant commander sent a refusal saying, 
 ' If you want us, you must take us.' 
 But the defection and disheartenment 
 of the Home Guards intensified daily, 
 and on Friday the 21st, while Colonel 
 Mulligan was giving his attention to 
 some matters in another portion of the 
 camp, the white flag was raised, at his 
 own instance, by Major Becker of the 
 Home Guards, from the portion of the 
 intrenchment assigned to him. 
 
 " Captain Simpson, of the Earl Rifles, 
 called Colonel Mulligan's attention to 
 Major Becker's action instantly, and the 
 Jackson Guard, Captain McDermott, of 
 Detroit, were sent to take down that 
 flag, which was done. The heaviest 
 part of the fight of the day followed in 
 a charge upon the nearest battery of the 
 enemy, the Illinois cavalry suffering 
 severely. 
 
 "The Home Guards then left the 
 outer work and retreated within the line 
 of the inner intrenchments, about the 
 college building, refusing to fight longer, 
 and here again raised the white flag, this 
 time from the centre of the fortifications, 
 when the fire of the enemy slackened 
 and ceased. Under this state of affairs, 
 Colonel Mulligan, calling his officers 
 into council, decided to capitulate, and 
 Captain McDermott went out to the 
 enemy's lines with a handkerchief tied 
 to a ramrod, and a parley took place. 
 Major Moore, of the brigade, was sent 
 to General Price's headquarters at New 
 Lexington to know the terms of capitu- 
 lation. These were made unconditional, 
 
SURRENDER OF LEXINGTON. 
 
 the officers to be retained as prisoners 
 of war, the men to be allowed to depart 
 with their personal property, surrender- 
 ing their arms and accoutrements." 
 
 In this severe siege of Lexington, the 
 small Federal force held out with great 
 spirit, and an endurance in conformity 
 with the importance of the post and the 
 order which had been given to hold it 
 at any price. The position was of the 
 utmost consequence, as it controlled the 
 chief route of communication by the 
 river Missouri, between St. Louis and 
 Kansas. Colonel Mulligan, however, 
 with his meagre garrison and incomplete 
 intrenchments only adequate for a tem- 
 porary resistance until reinforcements 
 should be sent to his aid was so com- 
 pletely surrounded by the enemy, that 
 it would have been impossible, disap- 
 pointed as he was of the expected succor, 
 to make a successful resistance. Such, 
 however, was the persistency of the gal- 
 lant Colonel and his devoted Irish brig- 
 ade, that it would seem both were pre- 
 pared to give up their lives rather than 
 surrender. The Missouri Home Guards 
 were of a less resolute spirit, and to 
 their want of endurance has been attri- 
 buted the concession that was finally 
 made. 
 
 The force of the Federalists was esti- 
 mated by themselves a,t only 2,500, and 
 that of the secessionists at 28,000, with 
 1 3 pieces of artillery. The enemy claimed 
 that by the capture of Lexington they 
 had made 3,500 prisoners, and obtained 
 over 3,000 stand of infantry arms, five 
 pieces of artillery and two mortars, a 
 large number of sabres, about 750 
 57 
 
 horses, many sets of cavalry equipments, 
 wagons, teams, ammunition, and stores 
 amounting in value to $100,000. In 
 addition, they became possessed of 
 $900,000 in money, of the great seal of 
 the State, and of the public records. 
 Their whole loss as given by themselves 
 amounted only to twenty-five killed and 
 seventy-two wounded, while it was 
 computed by the Federalists to have 
 been several thousand. The latter es- 
 timated their own loss at 500 killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 At the capitulation, Colonel Mulligan 
 and many of his men are said to have 
 shed tears of regret that they had not 
 secured the victory their heroism would 
 seem to have deserved. Most of the 
 prisoners were soon after released on 
 giving their parole, and the gallant Mul- 
 ligan was exchanged. On his release he 
 was hailed by popular acclamation one 
 of the heroes of the war. In the large 
 cities, crowds thronged about him and 
 listened with eager interest to the story 
 of the siege of Lexington, as told by its 
 gallant defender. It is here given in 
 his own words. 
 
 " Just as we were turning in," says 
 the Colonel taking his point of depart- 
 ure from Jefferson City, the capital "an 
 order came for us to report ourselves 
 to our superior officer, which was ac- 
 cordingly done, and we were ordered 
 to go to Lexington the next morning, 
 and hold it at any price, which order 
 we endeavored to carry out to the 
 death. We had before us a march 
 of a hundred and fifty miles, but met 
 with no obstructions. Immediately after 
 
450 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 arriving at Lexington we camped. 
 Colonel Marshall, who was then in com- 
 mand, had taken $800,000 from the 
 bank of Lexington for safe keeping. 
 He then received an order to advance, 
 but sent a reply that we had but 2,700 
 men and a limited quantity of ammuni- 
 tion, but that we would hold out to the 
 last. The next night 10,000 men were 
 brought against us, but found us so 
 well prepared that the enemy fell back. 
 * * * rpj ie next ^ av ky daybreak the 
 
 earth-works were completed, and we 
 soon heard that the enemy were cross- 
 ing the bridge. The Missouri troops 
 were sent out against them, and com- 
 pletely routed them, destroying the 
 bridge. A large body of Missourians 
 met the foe in the grave-yard and forced 
 them to retire. The enemy then fired 
 into them from a battery of six guns, 
 and the result was a scene of the great- 
 est confusion. At length every gun, 
 both cannon and musketry, was ordered 
 to cease firing until the cannoniers of the 
 enemy were picked off. Considerable 
 damage was done the enemy ; one of 
 their cannon was dismounted and an am- 
 munition wagon b]own up. That night 
 the 10,000 retreated before our 2,700. 
 The next day the enemy sent a request 
 to bury the dead, their commander stat- 
 ing that when General Lyon had fallen, 
 they had allowed the Union party to 
 take possession of his body without in- 
 terruption. The Irish brigade then col- 
 lected all the provisions they could, and 
 planted their pieces of artillery so as to 
 command the city. Being short of shot, 
 they moulded several in an adjacent 
 
 foundry. Thus some days passed, the 
 pickets nearly overlapping each other ; 
 the Irish brigade waiting patiently till 
 the 10,000 of the enemy should again 
 make their appearance. Some part of 
 Sunday they were singing and praying, 
 and then engaged themselves in casting 
 shot and stealing provisions. The Union 
 men had their spies out, and from infor- 
 mation received it became apparent that 
 on the 17th the death struggle was to 
 take place in the morning. The pro- 
 gramme of the enemy was to encircle 
 us. On the 18th we, at an early 
 hour, heard their drums and saw ad- 
 vancing one immense black mass of men, 
 28,000 strong, with thirteen pieces of 
 artillery. Their own officers said there 
 were 31,000. The marching column of 
 that force was fifteen miles long. The 
 Rev. Mr. Butler then went around 
 among the men and gave them his bless- 
 ing, after which they cocked their mus- 
 kets. The conflict then commenced and 
 raged till noon. For three days and 
 three nights the fight continued. Tom, 
 one of the gunners, stood by his piece 
 nearly all the time, and whenever he 
 discharged the cannon he invariably 
 broke the dense masses of the enemy. 
 At noon news came that the hospital 
 had been taken. We never dreamed 
 that it was necessary to guard a sick 
 man's house ; but the enemy actually 
 charged and took it, with one hundred 
 and twenty dead and wounded lying in 
 it. The brigade found it would never 
 do to allow the enemy to keep the hos- 
 pital, and the Missouri regiments (Thir- 
 teenth and Fourteenth) were ordered to 
 
MULLIGAN'S REPORT. 
 
 451 
 
 dislodge the enemy, but only proceeded 
 as far as the sallyport. The Irish 
 brigade was then ordered to attack ; 
 charged it at a double-quick, poured 
 one volley into the enemy, passed the 
 embrasure on on they went with the 
 cold steel, and better than that, the iron 
 will, till they met the enemy, grappled 
 then foot to foot and teeth to teeth, till 
 they drove them from the building. They 
 drove them from room to room, and their 
 bayonets were dripping with blood. Un- 
 fortunately they were unable to remove 
 the sick and dying. Toward night the 
 battle was reopened and kept up till the 
 sun went down. At nine o'clock, the 
 brigade again attacked the enemy sur- 
 prising some of Colonel Harris' men at 
 supper, and captured their colors. On 
 the 19th, we found that our water was 
 exhausted, and we suffered the most 
 excruciating agony from thirst. One 
 man. at the risk of his life, left the camp 
 for some water, and returned with a can- 
 teen full. The surgeons had been taken 
 prisoners, and the wounded could not 
 be attended to, and were obliged to lie 
 in agony on the field as they were. Cap- 
 tain Moriarty, of Company F, who was 
 by profession a surgeon, was ordered to 
 the hospital, and for forty hours was en- 
 gaged in amputating limbs, with nothing 
 but a razor. The morning of the 20th 
 broke, and the battle was resumed, the 
 Irish brigade being still without pro- 
 visions and water. They dug pits, and 
 constructed a circle of mines for the bene- 
 fit of the enemy, when they should at- 
 tack them, which, when they did, caused 
 great loss to them. The enemy tried to 
 
 counteract this by rolling hemp bales in 
 their direction, constantly advancing and 
 firing all the time. The foe advanced 
 to about 170 feet with two field-pieces, 
 and we fought desperately with our two 
 six-pounders against them for three 
 hours. Ultimately the enemy cleared 
 the intrenchments, and then a desperate 
 hand-to-hand fight ensued. They cap- 
 tured our guns and earth-works, but sev- 
 eral companies being ordered up, the 
 enemy were repulsed. The brigade 
 was nearly out of ammunition, and but 
 two guns out of the five could be used, 
 and orders were given to fire as slowly 
 and effectively as possible. Both sides 
 then ceased firing, and I received a note 
 from General Price asking me what the 
 matter was, to which I replied in writing, 
 ' General, upon my honor I don't know, 
 unless you have surrendered.' Infor- 
 mation then ran through the lines that 
 no more cartridges were to be had, and 
 great consternation followed. On this 
 the men were ordered to go back to their 
 trenches without a single charge in their 
 boxes, and without complaint or mur- 
 mur they gallantly did so. We sent 
 this intelligence to General Price, and 
 the place was delivered up. Then the 
 foe galloped in upon us with four six- 
 pounders, the commander exclaiming, 
 ' Load them up with grape !' They then 
 shouted, ' Down with your flags ;' but 
 not a man stirred. The green flag of 
 Ireland, which floated on the earthworks, 
 five feet broad and eight feet long, was 
 pulled down by the enemy, but in an in- 
 stant it was replanted in the sand by the 
 men. They then marched us off, and 
 
452 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 some in authority said, ' Colonel, you 
 must give us your word you won't run 
 away ;' and I replied, ' We have not 
 done that for a good while.' They de- 
 sired us to take the oath that we would 
 not fight against the Confederate States 
 in future, which we declined to do." 
 
 The enemy had naturally in their com- 
 mander a more partial historian of their 
 deeds, and, as may be expected, the fol- 
 lowing report by General Price, of the 
 siege of Lexington, will be found, if less 
 true, as flattering to his own men as 
 Colonel Mulligan's record is to ours. 
 Price, after describing the first skirmish 
 with the Federalists, says, " This threat- 
 ened to become general. Being unwill- 
 ing, however, to risk a doubtful engage- 
 ment, when a short delay would make 
 success certain, I fell back two or three 
 miles and awaited the arrival of my in- 
 fantry and artillery. These having come 
 up, we advanced upon the town, driving 
 in the enemy's pickets until we came 
 within a short distance of the city itself. 
 Here the enemy attempted to make a 
 stand, but they were speedily driven 
 from every position and forced to take 
 shelter within their intrenchments. We 
 then took our position within easy range 
 of the college, which building they had 
 strongly fortified, and opened upon them 
 a brisk fire from Bledsoe's battery (which, 
 in the absence of Captain Bledsoe. who 
 had been wounded at Big Dry- Wood, 
 was gallantly commanded by Captain 
 Emmett McDonald), and by Parson's 
 battery, under the skilful command of 
 Captain Guibor. 
 
 "Finding after sunset that our am- 
 
 munition, the most of which had been 
 left behind on the march from Spring- 
 field, was nearly exhausted, and that my 
 men, thousands of whom had not eaten 
 a particle in thirty-six hours, required 
 rest and food, I withdrew to the Fair 
 Ground and encamped there. My am- 
 munition wagons having been at last 
 brought up, and large reinforcements 
 having been received, I again moved 
 into the town on Wednesday, the 18th 
 instant, and began the final attack on 
 the enemy's works. 
 
 "Brigadier-General Rains' division oc- 
 cupied a strong position on the east and 
 north-east of the fortifications, from 
 which an effective cannonading was kept 
 up on the enemy by Bledsoe's battery, 
 under command, except on the last day, 
 of Captain Emmett McDonald, and an- 
 other battery commanded by Captain 
 Churchill Clark, of St. Louis. * * * 
 
 " General Parsons took a position 
 south-west of the works, whence his bat- 
 tery, under command of Captain Guibor. 
 poured a steady fire into the enemy. 
 Skirmishers and sharpshooters were also 
 sent forth from both of these divisions 
 to harass and fatigue the enemy, and to 
 cut them off from the water on the north, 
 east, and south of the college, and did 
 inestimable service in the accomplish- 
 ment of these purposes. 
 
 " Colonel Congreve Jackson's division 
 and a part of General Steen's were post- 
 ed near General Rains and General Par- 
 sons as a reserve, but no occasion occur- 
 red to call them into action. They were, 
 however, at all times vigilant, and ready 
 to rush upon the enemy. 
 

 
 
 PRICE'S 
 
 REPORT. 453 
 
 
 "Shortly after entering the city on 
 
 would have been honorable to them had 
 
 
 the 18th, Colonel Rives, who command- 
 
 it not been accompanied by an act of 
 
 
 ed the Fourth Division in the absence 
 
 savage barbarity the cold-blooded and 
 
 
 of General Slack, led his regiment and 
 
 cowardly murder of three defenceless 
 
 
 Colonel Hughes' along the river bank, 
 
 men who had laid down their arms and 
 
 
 to a point immediately beneath and west 
 
 surrendered themselves as prisoners. 
 
 
 of the fortifications, General McBride's 
 
 The position thus retaken by the enemy 
 
 
 command and a portion of General Har- 
 
 was soon regained by the brave men who 
 
 
 ris' having been ordered to reinforce 
 
 had been driven from it, and was thence- 
 
 
 him. Colonel Rives, in order to cut off 
 
 forward held by them to the very end 
 
 
 the enemy's means of escape, proceeded 
 
 of the contest. 
 
 
 down the bank of the river to capture 
 
 " The heights to the left of Anderson's 
 
 
 a steamboat which was lying just under 
 
 house, which had been taken, as before 
 
 
 their guns. Just at this moment a heavy 
 
 stated, by Generals McBride and Harris, 
 
 
 fire was opened upon him from Colonel 
 
 and by part of General Steen's command, 
 
 
 Anderson's large dwelling-house, on the 
 
 under Colonel Boyd and Major Winston, 
 
 
 summit of the bluffs, which the enemy 
 
 were rudely fortified by our soldiers, 
 
 
 were occupying as a hospital, and upon 
 
 who threw up breast-works as well as 
 
 
 which a white flag was flying. Several 
 
 they could with their slender means. On 
 
 
 companies of General Harris' command 
 
 the morning of the 20th instant, I caused 
 
 
 and the gallant soldiers of the Fourth 
 
 a number of hemp bales to be transport- 
 
 
 Division, who have won upon so many 
 
 ed to the river heights, where movable 
 
 
 battle-fields the proud distinction of al- 
 
 breast-works were speedily constructed 
 
 
 ways being among the bravest of the 
 
 out of them by Generals Harris and 
 
 
 brave, immediately rushed upon and 
 
 McBride, Colonel Rives and Major 
 
 
 took the place. 
 
 Winston, and their respective commands. 
 
 
 " The important position thus secured 
 
 Captain Kelly's battery (attached to 
 
 
 was within 125 yards of the enemy's in- 
 
 General Steen's division) was ordered 
 
 
 trenchments. A company from Colonel 
 
 at the same time to the position occu- 
 
 
 Hughes' regiment then took possession 
 
 pied by General Harris' force, and 
 
 
 of the boats, one of which was richly 
 
 quickly opened a very effective fire, 
 
 
 freighted with valuable stores. General 
 
 under the direction of its gallant cap- 
 
 
 McBride's and General Harris' divisions 
 
 tain, upon the enemy. These demon- 
 
 
 meanwhile gallantly stormed and occu- 
 
 strations, and particularly the continued 
 
 
 pied the bluffs immediately north of 
 
 advance of the hempen breast-works, 
 
 
 Anderson's house. The possession of 
 
 which were as efficient as the cotton 
 
 
 these heights enabled our men to har- 
 
 bales at New Orleans, quickly attracted 
 
 
 ass the enemy so greatly that, resolv- 
 
 the attention and excited the alarm of 
 
 
 ing to regain them, they made upon the 
 
 the enemy, who made many daring at- 
 
 
 house a successful assault, and one which 
 
 tempts to drive us back. They were, 
 
 
 
 
 
454 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 however, repulsed in every instance by 
 the unflinching courage and fixed deter- 
 mination of our men. 
 
 ' ' In these desperate encounters, the 
 veterans of McBride's and Slack's divi- 
 sions fully sustained their proud reputa- 
 tion, while Colonel Martin Green and 
 his command, and Colonel Boyd and 
 Major Winston and their commands, 
 proved themselves worthy to fight by 
 the side of the men who had by their 
 courage and valor won imperishable 
 honor in the bloody battle of Spring- 
 field. 
 
 "About two o'clock in the afternoon 
 of the 20th [Sept.], and after fifty-two 
 hours of continuous firing, a white flag 
 was displayed by the enemy on that 
 
 part of their works nearest to Colonel 
 Green's position, and shortly afterward 
 another was displayed opposite to Col- 
 onel Rives. I immediately ordered a 
 cessation of all firing on our part, and 
 sent forward one of my staff' officers to 
 ascertain the object of the flag, and to 
 open negotiations with the enemy, if 
 such should be their desire. It was 
 finally, after some delay, agreed by Col- 
 onel Marshall and the officers associated 
 with him for that purpose by Colonel 
 Mulligan, that the United States forces 
 should lay down their arms and sur- 
 render themselves as prisoners of war 
 to this army. These terms having been 
 made known to, were ratified by, me and 
 immediately carried into effect." 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Effect of the Fall of Lexington, in Missouri. Increased Censure of Fremont. Fremont conscious of the Misfortunes of 
 his Campaign. Eesolution to redeem himself. Dispatch to the United States Government. Sensibility of Fremont. 
 Increased Denunciations by his Opponents. Exaggerations. The Apology of Fremont's Friends. Impossibility of 
 forming a just judgment of Fremont. The famous Proclamation of Fremont. How received. Letter of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln. Effect in Kentucky. Holt's Letter. President's Response. Admiration of Fremont at the North. 
 Charges against Fremont. Maladministration. Personal Improprieties. Profuse Expenditure of Public Money. 
 Contracts. Surrounded by Californians. Their character. Personal state and bearing. A Western Satrap. 
 Grand Retinue. March of Fremont. Arrival at Warsaw. Bridge building. Crossing the Osage. Movement of 
 the Enemy. Plan of Fremont's Campaign. Grand Project. Fremont's Army. Disposition of the Forces. Bril- 
 liant actions of the Advance. Major White's Expedition. Re-capture of Lexington. Retreat from Lexington. 
 March of White. Major Clark Wright's Expedition. Fight at Lebanon. An artless Report. Capture of Linn 
 Creek. A native account. Expedition of Fremont's Body-guard. Capture of Springfield by Major Zagonyi. 
 Elation of Fremont. An exulting Report. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE fall of Lexington was a heavy 
 blow, and for a time caused great 
 discouragement to the Unionists of 
 Missouri, and loyal men throughout the 
 United States. Its effect in regard to 
 General Fremont was to add to the 
 
 suspicion of his military incapacity ex- 
 cited by his failure to rescue the spirited 
 Lyon, sacrificed by the sad disaster 
 at Springfield. Fremont himself now 
 seemed conscious that he was arraigned 
 before the whole country as the cause of 
 
DISPATCH TO THE TJ. S. GOVERNMENT. 
 
 455 
 
 these misfortunes, and was stimulated to 
 unusual effort to redeem his good name, 
 which, if not lost by his own conduct, had 
 been singularly imperilled by ill fortune. 
 The losses of Springfield and Lexing- 
 ton were disasters of such magnitude, 
 and had succeeded so rapidly after the 
 appointment of Fremont, that he be- 
 came conscious that however he might 
 hope in the future to exonerate himself, 
 by arguments submitted to the reason 
 of the country, his only hope of securing 
 public favor for the present was by 
 triumphant action. His position, he 
 knew, depended upon immediate success, 
 and this he now made a desperate effort 
 to accomplish. He no sooner heard of 
 the disaster at Lexington than he de- 
 termined to march out against the 
 enemy. This was his brief notification 
 to the Government of his resolution : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPT., ) 
 ST. Louis, Sept. 23, 1861. \ 
 
 " COL. E. D. TOWNSEND, ADJUTANT-GENERAL : 
 
 ' ' I have a telegram from Brookfield 
 that Lexington has fallen into Price's 
 hands, he having cut off Mulligan's sup- 
 ply of water. Reinforcements 4,000 
 strong, under Sturgis, by the capture of 
 the ferry-boats, had no means of crossing 
 the river in time. Lane's forces from 
 the southwest, and Davis' from the 
 southeast, upward of 11,000 in all, 
 could also not get there in time. I am 
 taking the field myself, and hope to 
 destroy the enemy either before or after 
 the junction of the forces under McCul- 
 loch. Please notify the President im- 
 mediately. " J. C. FREMONT, 
 
 " Major-General Commanding." 
 
 The attempt in this rapid dispatch to 
 excuse the disaster of Lexington, and 
 the emphatic expression of his resolu- 
 tion to take the field in person, prove 
 the sensibility of Fremont to the peril 
 which threatened his fair fame, and his 
 firm resolve to do his utmost to save it. 
 
 This second misfortune at Lexington 
 gave additional force to the denuncia- 
 tions of his opponents. It is impossible 
 at this period to decide the questions 
 which have arisen between those who 
 oppose and those who favor Fremont. 
 The censure of the former and the ap- 
 plause of the latter have been both car- 
 ried beyond the limits of impartiality, 
 and envy and malignity may have on the 
 one side perverted truth, as friendship 
 and flattery have undoubtedly on the 
 other. Fremont's action in regard to 
 the fatal question of slavery, it is con- 
 tended by his friends, has been the 
 cause of the readiness with which he 
 has been condemned for military in- 
 capacity. His enemies, it is declared, 
 had gladly seized upon the opportunity 
 of the disasters of his administration as 
 a general, and turned it against his 
 policy as a statesman. In a contem- 
 porary history, like the present, it would 
 not be desirable, even if it were practi- 
 cable, so to investigate the acts and 
 motives of living men as to pronounce 
 decidedly upon their conduct. This 
 must be left to future historians. The 
 duty of the present annalist is merely 
 to record facts. 
 
 One of the earliest acts of General 
 Fremont, on his arrival at St. Louis, was 
 to issue this, his famous proclamation : 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS OF THE WESTERN DEPT., ) 
 ST. Louis, August 31, 1861. j 
 
 " Circumstances, in my judgment of 
 sufficient urgency, render it necessary 
 that the Commanding General of this 
 Department should assume the adminis- 
 trative powers of the State. Its dis- 
 organized condition, the helplessness of 
 the civil authority, the total insecurity 
 of life, and the devastation of property 
 by bands of murderers and marauders, 
 who infest nearly every county in the 
 State, and avail themselves of the public 
 misfortunes and the vicinity of a hos- 
 tile force to gratify private and neigh- 
 borhood vengeance, and who find an 
 enemy wherever they find plunder, finally 
 demand the severest measures to repress 
 the daily increasing crimes and outrages 
 .which are driving off the inhabitants 
 and ruining the State. In this condition 
 the public safety and the success of our 
 arms require unity of purpose, without 
 let or hindrance, to the prompt adminis- 
 tration of affairs. 
 
 "In order, therefore, to suppress dis- 
 orders, to maintain as far as now prac- 
 ticable the public peace, and to give se- 
 curity and protection to the persons and 
 property of loyal citizens, I do hereby 
 extend, and declare established, martial 
 law throughout the State of Missouri. 
 The lines of the army of occupation in 
 this State are for the present declared 
 to extend from Leavenworth by way of 
 the posts of Jefferson City, Holla, and 
 Ironton, to Cape Girardeau, on the Mis- 
 sissippi River. 
 
 " All persons who shall be taken with 
 arms in their hands within these lines 
 
 shall be tried by court-martial, and, if 
 found guilty, will be shot. The prop- 
 erty, real and personal, of all persons in 
 the State of Missouri who shall take up 
 arms against the United States, and 
 who shall be directly proven to have 
 taken active part with their enemies in 
 the field, is declared to be confiscated to 
 the public use ; and their slaves, if any 
 they have, are hereby declared free. 
 
 " All persons who shall be proven to 
 have destroyed, after the publication of 
 this order, railroad tracks, bridges, or 
 telegraphs, shall suffer the extreme pen- 
 alty of the law. 
 
 " All persons engaged in treasonable 
 correspondence, in giving or procuring 
 aid to the enemies of the United States, 
 in disturbing the public tranquillity by 
 creating and circulating false reports or 
 incendiary documents, are in their own 
 interest warned that they are exposing 
 themselves. 
 
 " All persons who have been led away 
 from their allegiance are required to re- 
 turn to their homes forthwith ; any such 
 absence without sufficient cause will be 
 held to be presumptive evidence against 
 them. 
 
 "The object of this declaration is to 
 place in the hands of the military au- 
 thorities the power to give instantaneous 
 effect to existing laws, and to supply 
 such deficiencies as the conditions of war 
 demand. But it is not intended to sus- 
 pend the ordinary tribunals of the coun- 
 try, where the law will be administered 
 by the civil officers in the usual manner 
 and with their customary authority, while 
 the same can be peaceably exercised. 
 
FREMONT'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 457 
 
 ' ' The Commanding General will labor 
 vigilantly for the public welfare, and in 
 his efforts for their safety, hopes to ob- 
 tain not only the acquiescence, but the 
 active support of the people of the 
 country. J. C. FREMONT, 
 
 "Major-General Commanding." 
 
 This proclamation was welcomed with 
 enthusiasm, not only by those who had 
 been always abolitionists, but by many 
 who had become so only since the war, 
 and now believed that the most effectual 
 means of conquering the enemy was 
 by emancipating their slaves. At the 
 same time, however, Fremont's mani- 
 festo caused great inquietude to the 
 Union men of the border slave States, 
 and all others who were striving to con- 
 ciliate them. President Lincoln, scru- 
 pulous in the exercise of his constitu- 
 tional power, was known to be doubtful 
 of the right, even in war, of interfering 
 with the slaves. He was, moreover, 
 especially anxious to confirm the loyalty 
 of Kentucky, which seemed to be waver- 
 ing, in consequence of the doubts of its 
 citizens in regard to the action of the 
 Federal Government on the subject. 
 
 President Lincoln accordingly took 
 exception to Fremont's proclamation, 
 which led to a correspondence, the pur- 
 port and result of which are shown by 
 this letter. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 11, 1861. 
 " MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT : 
 
 " SIR : Yours of the 8th, in answer 
 to mine of the 2d instant, is just re- 
 ceived. Assured that you, upon the 
 ground, could judge better of the neces- 
 sities of your position than I could at 
 
 58 
 
 this distance, on seeing your proclama- 
 tion of August 30th, I perceived no gen- 
 eral objection to it ; the particular clause, 
 however, in relation to the confiscation 
 of property and the liberation of slaves 
 appeared to me to be objectionable in 
 its non-conformity to the act of Congress 
 passed the 6th of August upon the same 
 subjects, and hence I wrote you express- 
 ing my wish that that clause should be 
 modified accordingly. Your answer 
 just received expresses the preference 
 on your part that I should make an 
 open order for the modification, which I 
 very cheerfully do. It is therefore or- 
 dered that the said clause of said proc- 
 lamation be so modified, held, and con- 
 strued as to conform with and not to 
 transcend the provisions on the same 
 subject contained in the act of Congress 
 entitled ' An act to confiscate property 
 used for insurrectionary purposes,' ap- 
 proved August 6, 1861, and that said 
 act be published at length with this 
 order. Your obedient servant, 
 
 " A. LINCOLN." 
 
 The effect upon Kentucky may be in- 
 ferred from the letter addressed by the 
 patriotic Holt to the President, who, it 
 will be seen by his answer, had already 
 anticipated the sensitiveness of the bor- 
 der slave States, and had guarded 
 against wounding it, by his directions to 
 Fremont. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 1861. 
 "His EXCELLENCY, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESI- 
 DENT OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 " DEAR SIR : The late act of Congress 
 providing for the confiscation of the 
 estates of persons in open rebellion 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 against the Government, was as a neces- 
 sary war measure accepted and finally 
 approved by the loyal men of the coun- 
 try. It limited the penalty of confisca- 
 tion to property actually employed in 
 the service of the rebellion with the 
 knowledge and consent of its owners, 
 and instead of emancipating slaves thus 
 employed, left their status to be deter- 
 mined by the courts of the United 
 States or by subsequent legislation. 
 The proclamation, however, of General 
 Fremont, under date of 30th of August, 
 transcends, and of course violates, the 
 law in both these particulars, and de- 
 clares that the property of rebels, 
 whether used in support of the rebellion 
 or not, shall be confiscated, and if con- 
 sisting in slaves, that they shall be at 
 once manumitted. The act of Congress 
 referred to was believed to embody the 
 conservative policy of your administra- 
 tion upon this delicate and perplexing 
 question, and hence the loyal men of the 
 border slave States have felt relieved of 
 all fears of any attempt on the part of 
 the Government of the United States to 
 liberate suddenly in their midst a popu- 
 lation unprepared for freedom, and 
 whose presence could not fail to prove a 
 painful apprehension, if not a terror, to 
 the homes and families of all. You 
 may therefore well judge of the alarm 
 and condemnation with which the Union- 
 loving citizens of Kentucky the State 
 with whose popular sentiment I am best 
 acquainted have read this proclama- 
 tion. 
 
 " The hope is earnestly indulged in 
 by them, as it is by myself, that this 
 
 paper was issued under the pressure of 
 a military necessity which General Fre- 
 mont believed justified the step, but 
 that in the particulars specified it has 
 not your approbation and will not be 
 enforced in derogation of law. The 
 magnitude of the interest at stake, and 
 my extreme desire that by no misappre- 
 hension of your sentiments or purposes 
 shall the power and fervor of the loyalty 
 of Kentucky be at this moment abated 
 or chilled, must be my apology for the 
 frankness with which I have addressed 
 you, and for the request I venture to 
 make of an expression of your views 
 upon the points of General Fremont's 
 proclamation, on which I have com- 
 mented. 
 
 " 1 have the honor to be, very re- 
 spectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. HOLT." 
 
 "EXECUTIVE MANSION, Sept. 12, 1861. 
 " THE Hox. JOSEPH HOLT : 
 
 " DEAR SIR : Yours of this day, in re- 
 lation to the late proclamation of Gen- 
 eral Fremont, is received. Yesterday I 
 addressed a letter to him by mail on the 
 same subject, and which is to be made 
 public when he receives it. I herewith 
 send you a copy of that letter, which, 
 perhaps, shows my position as distinctly 
 as any new one I could write. I will 
 thank you not to make it public until 
 General Fremont shall have had time to 
 receive the original. 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 " A. LINCOLN." 
 
 Fremont's action in regard to slavery 
 had thus placed him in antagonism to 
 the policy which ruled at Washington. 
 
FREMONT IN STATE. 
 
 459 
 
 There was, however, among his numer- 
 ous partisans, so strong an approval of 
 his conduct, that his political enemies 
 would have hardly ventured to press 
 his removal on the score of the procla- 
 mation. But they found other charges 
 by which a plausible case could be made 
 out against him. In addition to the 
 disasters attributed to his want of gen- 
 eralship, and his anti-slavery proclama- 
 tion denounced as unconstitutional and 
 impolitic, there were various evidences 
 of maladministration and personal im- 
 proprieties which offered ready points 
 of attack to those who sought them. 
 Fremont, with a naturally generous 
 nature, had evidently spent the public 
 money with too profuse a hand. 
 Contracts had been indiscreetly made, 
 and enormous sums paid for army sup- 
 plies. Fortifications of questionable 
 utility had been erected about the city 
 of St. Louis at the cost of millions. 
 The contracts for these works and others 
 had been given to personal friends, it 
 was asserted, who were making rapid 
 fortunes at the expense of the Govern- 
 ment. None ventured to suspect Fre- 
 mont himself of any complicity for his 
 own pecuniary advantage in these trans- 
 actions, but he was naturally held re- 
 sponsible for those who benefited by 
 them. He had unfortunately surround- 
 ed himself by a throng of people from 
 California, who had acquired in that 
 golden State habits of expenditure little 
 favorable to public economy. 
 
 To these faults of administration 
 were added weaknesses of a personal 
 character, which were elaborately de- 
 
 tailed and magnified to Fremont's dis- 
 advantage. He was charged with affect- 
 ing a state hardly reconcilable with 
 notions of republican equality. Grandly 
 installed in one of the finest houses of 
 St. Louis, for which, as the public was 
 carefully reminded by his opponents, 
 he paid an exorbitant rent to a mem- 
 ber of his own family, he assumed the 
 air of a monarch. His portals were 
 jealously watched, and all but the fa- 
 vorites of the great man carefully ex- 
 cluded. 
 
 "I have known," says one witness, 
 "colonels of regiments spend three, 
 four, and five days in St. Louis, seeking 
 an interview with the General, to tender 
 regiments for the public service. Some 
 of them gave up the case as hopeless, 
 and went home ' without the sight.' 
 When perseverance was crowned with 
 success and regiments were accepted, 
 I have known them wait for necessary 
 orders two or three days. This last de- 
 lay may have been the fault of his staff, 
 but if so, the General should provide 
 against such delays in his own office. 
 Among the colonels referred to as offer- 
 ing troops, but delayed, I will name 
 Colonel Turner, Colonel Tindell, Colonel 
 Glover, Colonel Foster, Colonel Hays, 
 and Colonel John S. Phelps. 
 
 "Governors, Congressmen, and lead- 
 ing men of the West have failed to ob- 
 tain interviews with the General when 
 calling on business of importance to the 
 public service. If this statement is 
 doubted by your readers, let them in- 
 quire of Governor Gamble, Governor 
 Yates, Ex-Governor Wood, Senator 
 
460 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Browning, and others who have tried the 
 experiment." 
 
 Fremont was described as having as- 
 sumed all the airs and importance of a 
 vulgar satrap, shut up when at home 
 with his favorites, and when abroad rid- 
 ing in a carriage with four horses, fol- 
 lowed by his foreign guards and piped 
 to by his bands of music. Such were 
 the charges elaborately gathered and 
 loudly pronounced against the once 
 popular favorite. Fremont now hoped 
 to redeem his character, thus rudely 
 assailed, by a brilliant effort at arms. 
 He accordingly set out on an expedition 
 against the enemy, in the interior of 
 Missouri. 
 
 On the 27th of September, Fremont 
 began his march from St. Louis, arrived 
 at Jefferson City on the next day, and 
 on the 17th of October, after a tedious 
 march, delayed by the ill condition of the 
 roads and his deficient means of trans- 
 port, reached Warsaw, on the river 
 Osage. Four days the troops were 
 at work building a bridge. There 
 was no saw-mill or lumber, and it 
 was necessary to cut down the trees of 
 the forest and fashion them into a bridge 
 with such rude tools and skill as the 
 army could supply. A firm passage 
 was finally secured, and Fremont crossed 
 the Osage on the 22d of October. As he 
 thus was pressing forward, the enemy 
 retired, and although at times threaten- 
 ing to give him battle, it soon became 
 apparent that they wished to avoid 
 an engagement. Fremont moved on 
 deliberately over the rolling fields of 
 Missouri, here encamping by a stream 
 
 of water, and there on the borders of 
 the occasional forests which divide the 
 expanse of prairie land. The plan of 
 his campaign was finally determined 
 by the movements of his enemy, 
 and is thus set forth by one* who was 
 on his staff. " Our campaign," he says, 
 "has been in some measure decided by 
 the movements of the rebels. The sud- 
 den appearance of Price in the West, 
 gathering to his standard many thousands 
 of the disaffected, has made it necessary 
 for the General to check his bold and 
 successful progress. Carthage, Wilson's 
 Creek, and Lexington have given to 
 Price a prestige which it is essential to 
 destroy. The gun-boats can not be 
 finished for two months or more, and 
 we cannot go down the Mississippi until 
 the flotilla is ready ; and from the char- 
 acter of the country upon each side of 
 the river, it will be difficult to operate 
 there with a large body of men. In 
 southwestern Missouri we are sure of 
 fine weather till the last of November ; 
 the prairies are high and dry, and there 
 are no natural obstacles except such as 
 it will excite the enthusiasm of the 
 troops to overcome. Therefore the 
 General has determined to pursue Price 
 until he catches him. He can march 
 faster than we can now, but we shall 
 soon be able to move faster than it is 
 possible for him to do. The rebels 
 have no base of operations from which 
 to draw supplies ; they depend entirely 
 upon foraging ; and for this reason Price 
 has to make long halts wherever he 
 finds mills and grind the flour. He is 
 
 Atlantic Magazine. 
 
FREMONT'S MISSOURI CAMPAIGN. 
 
 461 
 
 so deficient in equipage, also, that it 
 will be impossible for him to carry his 
 troops over great distances. But we 
 can safely calculate that Price and Rains 
 will not leave the State ; their followers 
 are enlisted for six months, and are al- 
 ready becoming discontented at their 
 continued retreat, and will not go with 
 them beyond the borders. This is the 
 uniform testimony of deserters and 
 scouts. Price disposed of, either by a 
 defeat or by the dispersal of his army, 
 we are to proceed to Bird's Point, or 
 into Arkansas, according to circum- 
 stances. A blow at Little Rock seems 
 now the wisest, as it is the boldest plan. 
 We can reach that place by the middle 
 of November, and if we obtain posses- 
 sion of it, the position of the enemy 
 upon the Mississippi will be completely 
 turned. The communications of Pillow, 
 Hardee, and Thompson, who draw their 
 supplies through Arkansas, will be cut 
 off, they will be compelled to retreat, 
 and our flotilla and the reinforcements 
 can descend the river to assist in the 
 operations against Memphis and the 
 attack upon New Orleans." 
 
 Fremont's army was composed of five 
 divisions, under the several commands 
 of Generals Hunter, Pope, Sigel, Mc- 
 Kinstry, and Asboth, and numbered 
 about 30,000 men. of whom 5,000 were 
 cavalry. Eighty-six pieces of artillery, 
 many of which were rifled, were the 
 effective force in cannon. Most of the 
 infantry soldiers were supplied with good 
 arms, but there was a greatwant of sabres 
 for the cavalry, many of whom were 
 armed only with revolvers and pikes. 
 
 Lane and iSturgis were ordered to 
 form a junction with Fremont on the 
 Osage, and the force at Rolla was ex- 
 pected to meet him at the south of that 
 river. The commanders at Paducah, 
 Cairo, Bird's Point, Cape Girardeau, 
 and Ironton were directed to engage the 
 enemy from these points as soon as 
 Fremont should have either beaten 
 Price or dispersed his force. By this 
 combined plan, Fremont hoped to drive 
 the enemy from Missouri and the banks 
 of the Mississippi, until the route should 
 be clear for a triumphant advance upon 
 New Orleans. The feasibility of this 
 grand design, it will be seen, was never 
 destined to be put to the proof. 
 
 While Fremont was thus moving 
 forward with his main body, hoping to 
 accomplish great things in the future, 
 some of his advance were already antici- 
 pating the brilliant prospect by a fore- 
 taste of the expected glory. 
 
 In the course of the march, General 
 Fremont sent out a cavalry squadron, 
 consisting of about 120 men, under the 
 command of Major Frank J. White, to 
 scout. The force left Jefferson City, 
 the capital of Missouri, on the 5th of 
 October, and after a severe tramp 
 reached Georgetown on the afternoon 
 of the 8th. The horses in the mean 
 time had lost their shoes, and were 
 unfit for further travel. The energetic 
 commander of the squadron, however, 
 was prepared for every emergency. He 
 accordingly ordered all the old horse- 
 shoes and iron that could be found to be 
 collected, summoned from his ranks any 
 that happened to be blacksmiths, or 
 
462 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 could with American readiness turn 
 their hands to the work, and took pos- 
 session of two deserted blacksmith shops 
 in the village. Thus, in the course of 
 five days, all the horses and mules, 
 numbering together 232, were duly 
 shod. The ammunition, too, which the 
 men carried, had been destroyed by the 
 pelting rains on the march, and it be- 
 came necessary to obtain a fresh supply. 
 Fortunately lead and powder were found 
 in the place, and an old carpenter's shop 
 being extemporized into an arsenal, 
 3,000 cartridges were manufactured for 
 the revolvers carried by the cavalry 
 troop. 
 
 On the 15th of October the Federal 
 commander at Georgetown received a 
 dispatch from Lexington, stating that a 
 valuable baggage train had left that 
 neighborhood for the army of the enemy. 
 To this was added the ominous intelli- 
 gence, that the Federal prisoners left at 
 Lexington by Price, on his retreat to 
 the southwest with his army, would be 
 assassinated bv the "rebel marauders 
 
 / 
 
 infesting that place," if they were not 
 relieved in twenty-four hours. Major 
 Frank White and his command at once 
 volunteered to go to the rescue of their 
 comrades at Lexington. Colonel Har- 
 vey, then at Georgetown, was under 
 marching orders, and not being able to 
 perform the required service, did not 
 hesitate to accept the offer of Major 
 White. This gallant officer accordingly 
 set out with his squadron of cavalry, 
 strengthened by seventy men of the 
 regiment of Colonel Eads, who accom- 
 panied the expedition. 
 
 It was late at night when the expedi- 
 tion set out, and it arrived at Lex- c j t 
 ington early the next morning, 6 
 having made a forced march of sixty 
 miles in eight or nine hours. The 
 enemy's picket guards were driven in 
 at once, and Major White pushed for- 
 ward into the town and took possession 
 without resistance from the " rebels, who 
 fled in every direction." Sixty or 
 seventy were taken prisoners, and sixty 
 stand of arms, twenty-five horses, two 
 ferry-boats, a quantity of flour and pro- 
 visions, a large rebel flag, the private 
 ambulance of General Price, Colonel 
 Mulligan's saddle, and other articles 
 were captured. The steamer Sioux, 
 also, arriving the next day at Lexington, 
 was seized. 
 
 The first care of Major White was to 
 rescue his fellow-soldiers who had been 
 captured at Lexington, and were in 
 daily fear of massacre. These consisted 
 of Colonels White and Grover, and 
 some dozen others. The prisoners taken 
 from the enemy were released after 
 taking the oath of allegiance to the 
 Federal Government. 
 
 After Major White had held Lexing- 
 ton thirty-six hours, he found that the 
 enemy were recovering from their alarm 
 and beginning to surround his little 
 force in great numbers. He accordingly 
 evacuated the place, leaving a deserted 
 camp to the enemy, which they " at- 
 tacked with great energy." White 
 then proceeded to Warrenburg, making 
 a few captures by the way. At this 
 place there was a slight resistance, 
 which, however, soon ceased, and the 
 
MAJOR WEIGHT AT LEBANON. 
 
 463 
 
 inhabitants were kept in discreet awe by 
 a threat to burn the town if they per- 
 sisted in acts of hostility. Major White 
 thence moved on to Warsaw to form a 
 junction with the main body under Fre- 
 mont. In the whole course of this 
 spirited and successful raid, the Feder- 
 alists did not lose a man. Their gallant 
 commander declared, " I have no casual- 
 ties to report, and my men are all in 
 good health and anxious for further 
 service." 
 
 Other small cavalry forces detached 
 from the main body of Fremont's army 
 had been equally successful. Major 
 Clark Wright had fallen in with the 
 enemy near Lebanon, and after a spirited 
 attack put them completely to the rout. 
 The artless account of the affair by the 
 Major is so graphic, that it needs no 
 rhetorical varnish. 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS, CAMP , Oct. 13, 1861. 
 
 "GENERAL: At seven o'clock A.M., 
 morning 13th, my command struck tents 
 at Camp Conant, on Tavern Creek, 
 and formed into column in rear of the 
 train. I immediately passed along the 
 line, and requested the officers to keep 
 the men well closed up, and allow none 
 to leave their places, but to keep every- 
 thing ready for service at a moment's 
 notice. The reports from the scouts 
 during the night induced me to believe 
 that the enemy might attack us during 
 the day. I also went forward and sug- 
 gested to the quartermaster of the 13th 
 that the train be well closed up and 
 kept so ; after which nothing of import- 
 ance occurred until I arrived at Justice 
 Bennington's, where I learned that 
 
 Second Lieutenant Laughlin, of rebel 
 Johnston's command, had come in home, 
 and lived one mile north of said Ben- 
 nington's, and had a lot of McClurg's 
 goods in his house. I at once detached 
 Captain Crockett and his company to 
 bring in the Lieutenant and search his 
 place. The Captain had not been gone 
 more than five minutes before I saw a 
 courier coming from the front. I at 
 once called Captain Crockett back. The 
 courier arrived from Major Bowen, 
 stating that he had been attacked and 
 needed assistance. I at once ordered 
 Captains Montgomery and Switzler for- 
 ward at full speed to the relief of Major 
 Bowen. I ordered the train corralled, 
 and Captain Crockett to remain with his 
 company and guard it until relieved by 
 the infantry. I then dispatched a courier 
 to you for men to guard the train and 
 support your cavalry, after which I went 
 forward to the scene of action. I found 
 Major Bowen some two miles forward 
 and one half mile south of Mr. Lewis', 
 on the Lebanon road. I immediately 
 had a conference with Major Bowen, 
 and we mutually agreed to the disposi- 
 tion of our forces and plan of attack. 
 The rebels, at that time, occupied a high 
 ridge immediately in our front one half 
 mile south of us. The presumption was 
 that we would have no immediate relief 
 from the infantry in time to secure the 
 rebels, and an immediate attack was re- 
 solved on. The disposition was as fol- 
 lows : Captain Montgomery's company 
 were already on the right, and I ordered 
 Captain Switzler to join him, flank the 
 enemy, and engage them at any hazard. 
 
464 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 "Major Bowen, with two companies 
 of his command, went to the left. I 
 took charge of one company of Major 
 Bo wen's cavalry (at his request), and 
 took position in the centre, as you found 
 us on arrival. I observed at that time 
 that the enemy was moving to the right. 
 I ordered Captain Crockett forward to 
 support them, knowing that they out- 
 numbered us. I then went to the right 
 myself, found that Captains Switzler and 
 Montgomery had formed a junction, and 
 succeeded in flanking the enemy, and 
 held them at bay. The enemy was 
 commanded by Captains Lorrels, Wright, 
 Thurman, Bell, Fain, and Hawthorn, 
 and were drawn up in line of battle. 
 My two companies threw themselves 
 into line, and were ordered to receive 
 their fire, return it steadily, and then 
 charge with their sabres, and never 
 allow the enemy time to reload their 
 pieces, all of which order was carried 
 out to the letter, with a coolness and 
 determination that evinced true bravery 
 in both officers and men, and struck 
 terror along the whole line. They could 
 not stand such a charge, so prompt, so 
 uniform, and so determined, that the re- 
 sult was a general rout ; and in a short 
 time a running fight commenced, which 
 extended one mile and a half, with the 
 following result as near as we could as- 
 certain, without occupying too much 
 time to hunt through the bush : of the 
 rebels there were twenty-seven* killed, 
 four mortally wounded, five severely 
 wounded, three slightly wounded, and 
 
 The Major afterward reported that sixty-two, and not 
 twenty-seven, was the number of the enemy killed. 
 
 thirty-six prisoners. We also got two 
 horses, eighty-one guns, most of which, 
 however, were broken around trees on 
 the field they were mostly old rifles 
 and double-barrelled shot-guns. Officers 
 and men all agree that there were many 
 more killed and wounded, but we did 
 not hunt them up. Our loss was one man 
 killed and two horses slightly wounded. 
 
 ' ' I cannot call your special attention 
 to every one of the officers or men in 
 those two brave companies. They are 
 each one of them as true as steel, and 
 in this charge, with six to one against 
 them, they exhibited a coolness and de- 
 termination that those of more experi- 
 ence might proudly imitate. Yet I feel 
 that I would do injustice not to speak 
 of the tenacity with which Captain 
 Switzler adhered to the order of 
 'charge,' and the promptness and the 
 energy of Captain Montgomery in carry- 
 ing it out. 
 
 1 ' I cannot omit naming Lieutenants 
 Montgomery, Paynter, and Stocksdale. 
 Not a nerve quivered in those brave 
 men ; nothing left undone that coolness 
 and energy could do in carrying out 
 orders, encouraging the men, and dealing 
 death-blows to rebels. One incident I 
 must be permitted to mention. Lieu- 
 tenant Montgomery, after exhausting 
 his revolver and doubling up his sabre, 
 in a hand-to-hand fight, so that it was 
 rendered useless, not satisfied with the 
 half dozen he had already dispatched, 
 charged on yet another, and with 
 one blow of his fist made him bite the 
 dust. All of which is respectfully sub- 
 mitted. 
 
CAPTURE OF LINN CREEK. 
 
 465 
 
 "I have the honor to be, very re- 
 spectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " CLARK WRIGHT, 
 "Maj. Command'g Fremont Battalion.' 7 
 
 Major Clark "Wright's next success 
 was in capturing Linn Creek. After 
 surrounding the town, he demanded a 
 surrender, but the secessionists without 
 responding strove to escape. The re- 
 sult is best told in the words of the Fed- 
 eral commander, who relates the inci- 
 dents with the graphic power of a cam- 
 paigner whose spirit had been thoroughly 
 tempered to the savage work. 
 
 " We arrived," he says, " at one o'clock 
 C t t P.M., and at once surrounded the 
 W. whole place and demanded an un- 
 conditional surrender. The notorious 
 captain, and a few of his followers, as 
 well as his wife, broke from some of the 
 buildings, fired on our troops, and at- 
 tempted to escape. I promptly ordered 
 them fired on, which was as promptly 
 executed. Some fifty random shots 
 were fired, but owing to the fences, 
 buildings, and other means of obstruc- 
 tion, none were killed, but one slightly 
 wounded on the rebel side none hurt 
 on our side. The scene was a wild one 
 the activity of our cavalry in guard- 
 ing the avenues of the place, arresting 
 the rebels in running to and fro, the 
 screams of the secesh wives, daughters, 
 and children, the firing from both sides 
 echoing from the bluffs on either side, 
 made the whole thing look frantic. 
 However, at the end of thirty minutes, 
 the town was restored to its usual quiet, 
 and secesh under guard." 
 
 The fourth brilliant dash of cavalry, 
 
 59 
 
 during Fremont's campaign, was ex- 
 ecuted by his own body-guard under 
 the command of Major Zagonyi, who 
 thus relates the affair in his official re- 
 port : 
 
 " COLONEL J. H. EATON, ASSISTANT ADJUTANT- 
 GENERAL : 
 
 " SIR : According to the order of 
 Major-General Fremont, I left the camp 
 south of the Pomme de Terre River on 
 Thursday, the 24th instant, at half-past 
 eight o'clock P.M., and proceeded toward 
 Springfield. About eight miles from 
 that place I captured five men belong- 
 ing to picket guard and foraging parties. 
 A sixth escaped, and gave the alarm to 
 the rebels. I reached Springfield, a dis- 
 tance of fifty-one miles, at three P.M., on 
 the 25th. .Knowing that the enemy was 
 apprised of our coming, I made a detour 
 of five miles to attack from another 
 side ; but instead of finding the enemy 
 in their own camp, I came suddenly 
 upon them, drawn up in line of battle, 
 as I emerged from a wood near the 
 Mount Vernon road. The place was 
 too confined for me to form my men. 
 I had to pass 250 yards down a lane, 
 and take down a rail fence at the end 
 of it, form in their camp, and make 
 the first charge. My men, belonging to 
 the body-guard, amounted to 150, and 
 were exposed from the moment we en- 
 tered the lane to a murderous cross-fire. 
 Our first charge was completely success- 
 ful. Half of my command charged upon 
 the infantry, and the remainder upon 
 the cavalry, breaking their line at every 
 point. The infantry retired to a thick 
 wood, where it was impossible to follow 
 
466 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 them. The cavalry fled in all directions 
 through the town. I rallied and charged 
 through the streets in all directions 
 about twenty times, clearing the town 
 and neighborhood, returning at last to 
 the court-house, where I raised the flag 
 of one of my companions, liberated the 
 prisoners, and united my men, which 
 now amounted to seventy, the rest being 
 scattered or lost. As it was nearly dark, 
 I retired, in order not to run the risk 
 of sacrificing the rest of my men, who 
 were exhausted with the labors of the 
 march and the battle. Twenty men, 
 with a corporal, who were without horses, 
 took possession of the town, collected 
 the wounded and placed them in the 
 hospital, picked up the dead, ordered 
 out the Home Gruard, and, preserved 
 order throughout the next day. 
 
 " On the 27th, at five o'clock A.M., I 
 arrived again in the city, and from the 
 statement of citizens, scouts, and pris- 
 oners (the latter being Union soldiers, 
 placed in front of the enemy's ranks to 
 be shot at), I ascertained that the rebel 
 strength arrayed to receive our first 
 charge, was 2,190 men. They had con- 
 centrated all the forces in the city to 
 receive us. 
 
 " From the beginning to the end the 
 body-guard behaved with the utmost 
 bravery and coolness. I have seen 
 battles and cavalry charges before, but 
 I never imagined that a body of men 
 could endure and accomplish so much 
 in the face of such fearful disadvantages. 
 At the war-cry of ' Fremont and Union !' 
 which was raised at every charge, they 
 dashed forward repeatedly in perfect 
 
 order and with resistless energy. Many 
 of my officers, non-commissioned officers, 
 and privates had three, or even four 
 horses killed under them, capturing new 
 ones from the enemy. I cannot mention 
 any names without doing great injustice 
 to my command. Many performed- acts 
 of heroism ; not one but did his whole 
 duty. Our loss is as follows : 
 
 "Killed: Corporals, six; privates, 
 nine ; total, fifteen. Wounded : Officers, 
 four ; non-commissioned officers, seven ; 
 privates, sixteen ; total, twenty-seven. 
 Missing : Sergeant, 1 ; corporal, 1 ; pri- 
 vates, eight ; total, ten. Total loss, fifty- 
 two. 
 
 "The loss of the enemy in killed 
 alone, from the statements of citizens, 
 scouts, and prisoners, was at least 106 ; 
 how many wounded have since died I 
 have no means of knowing, as they re- 
 moved them in the night with wagons. 
 Twenty-three of these dead were buried 
 by the body-guard. We took twenty- 
 seven prisoners, $4,040 in gold, and 
 about sixty stand of arms. Major 
 White's command left me at the begin- 
 ning of the action, and before my first 
 charge, and I saw no more of them 
 until the next day at ten o'clock. Cap- 
 tain Naughton and Lieutenant Connelly, 
 who followed part way down the lane, 
 were both wounded (the latter mortally), 
 whereupon this company turned and 
 followed the others, too, in spite of the 
 efforts of the sergeant. Major White 
 himself was made a prisoner before the 
 battle, and placed, with others, in the 
 enemy's front rank, but escaped unin- 
 jured. 
 
ZAGONYI'S CHARGE AT SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 467 
 
 "In conclusion, I beg to urge the 
 necessity of new clothing and arms for 
 my command. Forty-five horses are 
 killed or unfitted for use. Uniforms, 
 haversacks, and extra clothes carried in 
 the haversacks, are so riddled with bul- 
 lets as to be useless. Revolvers are 
 also seriously damaged by the enemy's 
 bullets, Very respectfully, 
 
 " CHAS. ZAGONYI, 
 " Commanding Body-guard. 
 " SPRINGFIELD, Monday, October 28, 1861." 
 
 The gallant Zagonyi thus announced 
 the success of the guard to their Com- 
 mander-in-chief : 
 
 " FIVE MILES OUT OF BOLIVAE, ) 
 October 25 10 A.M. \ 
 
 " GENERAL : I report respectfully that 
 yesterday, at four P.M., I met in Spring- 
 field about 2,000 rebels formed in line 
 of battle. They gave a very warm re- 
 ception, but your guard, with one feel- 
 ing, made a charge, and in less than 
 three minutes the enemy was completely 
 routed by 150 men. We cleared the 
 city of every rebel, and retired, it being 
 near night, and not feeling able to keep 
 the place with so small a force. Major 
 White's command did not participate in 
 the charge. I have seen charges, but 
 
 such brilliant bravery I have never seen 
 and did not expect. Their war-cry 
 Fremont and the Union broke out like 
 thunder. CHARLES ZAGONYI, 
 
 " Major Commanding Body-guard." 
 Fremont, equally elated, thus exult- 
 ingly wrote to the chief military author- 
 ity at Washington : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, IN THE FIELD, ) 
 NEAR HOMANSVILLE, Mo., Oct. 26, 1861. f 
 
 "CAPTAIN MCKEEVEB, ASSISTANT ADJUTANT- 
 GENERAL : 
 
 " Yesterday afternoon Major Zagonyi, 
 at the head of my guard, made a most 
 brilliant charge upon a body of the 
 enemy, drawn up in line of battle, and 
 their camp, at Springfield, 2,000 or 
 2,200 strong. He completely routed 
 them, cleared them from the town, 
 hoisted the national flag on the court- 
 house, and retired upon a reinforce- 
 ment, which he had already joined. 
 Our loss is not great. 
 
 "This successful charge against such 
 very large odds is a noble example to 
 the army. Our advance will occupy 
 Springfield to-night. 
 
 " J. C. FREMONT, 
 " Major- General Commanding." 
 
468 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Movement of the Enemy in Missouri. Advance of General Lane, of Kansas. Detachment under Colonel Mont- 
 gomery. Arrival at Papinsville. Escape of the Enemy. Advance of Montgomery. Advance upon Osceola. A 
 Mistaken Guide. A Surprise. Gallant Defence of the Federalists. Enemy Retreat. Escape of Enemy. Marching 
 into Osceola. A Secession Flag. Firing of Osceola. Reasons for burning a town. Good Effect of the Federal Ad- 
 vance. Suffering in Missouri. Movements in the Southeast of Missouri. Success at Fredericktown. Account 
 of the Engagement. Losses. "Justice to the Rebels." Condition of the Enemy. A brave Gunner. Move- 
 ments in the Northeast of Missouri. Expedition against the Secessionists. Movement of Colonel Scott. 
 Action with the Enemy. Repulse of the Federalists at Blue Mills. Reinforcements of the Federalists. An 
 Expected Battle. Disappointment. Retreat of the Enemy. Escape across the River. Arrival of Fremont at 
 Springfield. Welcome. Demonstrative Loyalty. Reports of the Enemy. Their computed Strength. Ardor of 
 Fremont. Enthusiasm of the Men. Concentration of Forces. Great Preparations and Expectations. An Order 
 from Washington. A sudden check to Enthusiasm. Fremont superseded in Command. Eifect on the Army. 
 Great Dissatisfaction. Fremont allays Disaffection. A graceful Farewell. A Delay. Departure of Fremont. 
 Opponents of Fremont. Colonel Blair. His Opposition. Arrest. Scruples of President Lincoln. How Received. 
 Government Detectives. Adjutant-General Thomas' Diary. Effect upon the Public. Its Purpose. 
 
 1861. 
 
 WHILE Fremont was preparing to push 
 forward, apparently with all pos- 
 sible speed, the enemy, under Gen- 
 erals Price and McCulloch, were retiring 
 with even greater dispatch, and it was 
 supposed that, fearful of trying their 
 strength with the Federalists, they were 
 making for the Arkansas frontier. In 
 the mean time, General Lane, of Kansas, 
 had advanced into Missouri from that 
 State, and was striving either to cut off 
 or embarrass Price's retreat. Rumors 
 having reached General Lane that the 
 enemy were in force at Papinsville, and 
 at other points west of the Osage River 
 and near the Kansas border, he advanced 
 a body of infantry, cavalry and artillery, 
 under the command of Colonel Mont- 
 gomery, in the hope of taking them 
 by surprise. On reaching Papinsville, 
 Colonel Montgomery found that the 
 enemy had evacuated the place, and he 
 
 accordingly continued to advance. Ar- 
 rived at Sac River, a force of secession- 
 ists, under Quartermaster Harris, strove 
 to prevent Montgomery from crossing 
 the ford, which he had been compelled 
 to take, as the bridge had been burned 
 by the rebel leader, General Rains. 
 The effort of Harris, however, was 
 thwarted by his capture, and the Feder- 
 alists fording the river marched on 
 toward Osceola. It being night, and 
 the guide having mistaken the route, 
 the advance of the Federalists, under 
 Colonel Weir, found itself unexpectedly 
 in the suburbs of the town. It was 
 thus taken by surprise and fired upon 
 from the cover of the bushes bordering 
 the road. The Colonel immediately 
 halted his men, and they returned the 
 fire with a volley of musketry. The 
 enemy rejoined, but were soon forced 
 to fly, leaving a dozen or more dead 
 
BURNING OF OSCEOLA. 
 
 469 
 
 among the bushes. Another discharge, 
 however, came from a neighboring log- 
 house, when the Federalists turned a 
 howitzer upon the building, which set 
 fire to it and routed out its occupants. 
 Two men only of Weir's force suffered, 
 who were slightly wounded. The ad- 
 vance now waited for the morning before 
 entering Osceola. The troops having 
 slept upon their arms, rose at break of 
 day to resume their march, when they 
 observed the secession flag floating de- 
 fiantly from the court-house of the town. 
 A howitzer was at once turned upon it, 
 and in a moment it became a heap of 
 ruins. The Federalists marched slowly 
 and carefully into the town ; but the 
 enemy had fled, and no resistance was 
 offered. Upon making search, a large 
 quantity of lead, some powder, army 
 clothing, and provisions were found. 
 Having loaded to their utmost capacity 
 the army wagons with these spoils, Col- 
 onel Weir ordered his men back to their 
 camp. 
 
 In the mean time, Colonel Montgom- 
 ery, seconded by Richie, though op- 
 posed by Weir, advised the destruction 
 of the town. It was accordingly re- 
 Septt solved to burn the business portion 
 20- of Osceola, a resolution which was 
 immediately executed. The reasons for 
 this act of severity are thus summed up 
 by a witness of the scene. " 1. It was 
 traitorous to the core but one loyalist 
 could be found in it. 2. It was a place 
 of general rendezvous Tor the enemy. 
 3. He intended to make of it a military 
 post during the winter. 4. It was nat- 
 urally a strong position, and could easily 
 
 be fortified 5. If left standing, the 
 enemy would return as soon as our army 
 left. 6. The Government could not af- 
 ford to make such expeditions every few 
 weeks. 7. We hope to draw the enemy 
 back from the Missouri River upon us, 
 and give the rebels generally the benefits 
 of the terrors of our arms." 
 
 The authority who thus justifies the 
 burning of Osceola by the Federal troops, 
 gives a glowing account of the good 
 effect of their advance, while he depicts 
 in sombre colors the tragic results of the 
 invasion of the enemy. " Loyal citizens 
 along the route," he says, "rejoiced at 
 the approach of our army. Many of 
 them, for the first time during the last 
 few months, breathed freely. The rebel 
 army and its marauding bands have been 
 a scourge to all that section of Missouri. 
 The people have been bled and plunder- 
 ed till they have but little left. Moth- 
 ers have seen the clothing stripped from 
 their children before their eyes. Quite 
 a number of families improved the op- 
 portunity our army afforded to leave the 
 State. Western Missouri has but few 
 inhabitants left, and thousands of acres 
 of corn will be left in the field ungath- 
 ered. Not a field of fall-sown wheat 
 did I notice in our long march. It seems 
 that the rebellion has brought an ac- 
 cumulation of all the curses upon the 
 great State of Missouri. And the end 
 is not yet. We have probably seen but 
 the beginning of sorrows. If the au- 
 thors of this rebellion could endure but 
 a tithe of the sufferings they have 
 brought upon the people, they would 
 cry out in the language of another 
 
4-TO 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 "The pains of hell have got hold of 
 us!" 
 
 While Generals Lane and Fremont 
 were thus apparently in the course of 
 effecting a clean sweep of the rebels from 
 the west and southwest of Missouri, 
 there was also an encouraging success 
 for the Federal arms in the southeastern 
 portion of the State. A junction having 
 been formed between the command 
 of Colonel Carlin consisting of parts 
 of the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, and 
 Thirty-eighth Illinois regiments, Eighth 
 Wisconsin, Colonel Baker's Indiana cav- 
 alry and Major Scofield's battery and a 
 body of troops led by Colonel Plummer 
 consisting of the Eleventh, Seventeenth, 
 and Twentieth Illinois, and 400 cavalry 
 the combined force, having rendezvoused 
 at Fredericktown, set out in pursuit 
 of the enemy, who, it was supposed, 
 were retreating southward. As they 
 had left Fredericktown twenty-four 
 hours before the arrival of the Federal 
 troops, a lengthened pursuit was an- 
 ticipated. They were, however, found 
 only a mile beyond the city, prepared 
 to accept battle. The enemy were 
 5,000 strong, under the command of 
 General Jefferson Thompson and Col- 
 onel Lowe, and were well posted, partly 
 in the open field and partly in the ad- 
 jacent woods, with four iron eighteen- 
 pounders planted in their front. 
 
 The Federalists began the engage- 
 ment by opening a fire from Scofield's 
 battery, and at the fourth round one of 
 the enemy's guns was silenced. The 
 engagement now became general, and 
 lasted about three hours, although after 
 
 the first half hour the secessionists 
 showed evidence of wavering and con- 
 fusion, and took to the cover of the 
 woods. After thus retreating from the 
 open field they were pursued until put 
 completely to rout by the Federal cav- 
 alry, and great havoc ensued. x"The 
 bravery and activity," testifies one who 
 was present, ' ' of the Indiana cavalry at 
 Fredericktown have never been sur- 
 passed. Nine tenths of the rebels who 
 fell in their charge were killed by sabre 
 cuts." 
 
 The loss of the Federalists was com- 
 puted at the trifling amount of ten 
 killed and twenty slightly wounded, 
 while that of the enemy in killed and 
 wounded was estimated as high as from 
 two to five hundred. The secessionists 
 lost one of their leaders, Colonel Lowe, 
 who fell killed by a cannon-ball at the 
 beginning of the battle. The strength 
 of the Federal force was but 4,000 all 
 told, while that of the enemy is sup- 
 posed to have been somewhat over 
 5,000. 
 
 " Let us do justice to the rebels. 
 They fought," says one who had tested 
 their powers, and is entitled to speak 
 authoritatively, " well and bravely, when 
 all the circumstances are considered. 
 No doubt they expected a victory, else 
 Thompson would have retreated when 
 he found he had missed Plummer, in- 
 stead of coming back to his position. 
 He knew our forces, and believed he 
 could successfully resist them. He is 
 by this time a wiser, if not a better 
 man. 
 
 " But who could reasonably expect 
 
POPE IN MISSOURI. 
 
 471 
 
 victory with such an army and such 
 implements of warfare ? One- third of 
 the dead and wounded were boys from 
 fifteen to eighteen years old mere 
 striplings, with the down on their faces, 
 who could not have been disciplined, 
 and who could have had no adequate 
 idea of military duty or the horrors of 
 a battle. One of these, who had been 
 shot through the thigh, and was suf- 
 fering intensely, cried like a child, as 
 he was, and most piteously bewailed 
 his unfortunate condition. Then their 
 guns. They no doubt had some good 
 muskets, but of the forty or fifty pieces 
 that had been picked up on the battle- 
 field, not a single one could be called 
 respectable. More than half of them 
 were old flint-lock squirrel guns, that 
 were next to useless in battle. Two 
 brothers lay behind a fence ; one of 
 them was shot dead, and the other, a 
 mere boy, concluding discretion was 
 the better part of valor, played dead, 
 and allowed himself to be taken pris- 
 oner. 
 
 " Of the dead, not a single one that 
 I saw was dressed in any kind of uniform, 
 the cloth being generally home-made and 
 butter-nut colored. Old, torn, fragment- 
 ary hats were lying in every direction, 
 with here and there a nut-brown thread- 
 bare coat. I confess that, in looking 
 over the field and reflecting on the condi- 
 tion of these people, I felt for them the 
 deepest pity and commiseration. Even 
 Colonel Lowe himself had but a sash to 
 distinguish him from a civilian, which, 
 together with his sword and pistols, was 
 taken possession of by some of the boys 
 
 before the body was removed from 
 where it fell. 
 
 " Some of the enemy performed 
 deeds of heroism worthy of a better 
 cause. One of their cannon was placed 
 in the woods near the mouth of the 
 lane, and was vigorously worked. As 
 our forces advanced, they picked one 
 after another of the gunners off, till at 
 last but a single one was left. He 
 continued his work of loading and aim- 
 ing as fast as he could, nothing daunted. 
 He seemed utterly oblivious to every- 
 thing but the work before him, and 
 made no motion toward retreat. At 
 last he fell at his post, bravely and 
 heroically." 
 
 Again, in the northwestern part of 
 Missouri, the Federalists were active, 
 but though they forced the enemy to 
 retire, did not find an occasion for any 
 very brilliant feat of arms. As the se- 
 cessionist bands had been plundering St. 
 Joseph's and the neighboring country, 
 General Pope resolved to rout them out, 
 and sent three detachments in pursuit 
 one from St. Joseph's under Colonel 
 Smith, another from Cameron under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, and a third 
 from Mexico. Smith and Scott started 
 at the same time, and it was intended 
 that they should meet at Liberty, where, 
 having combined their forces, they were 
 to march toward Blue Mills Landing, at 
 which point the enemy expected to cross 
 the river. 
 
 Colonel Scott, while on the march 
 with a part of the Iowa Third, and of 
 a German artillery company from St. 
 Louis, with a single six-pounder, learn- 
 
472 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ing that the enemy under Boyd, Patton, 
 Sept. an d others, with a force estimated 
 21 at 4,500 men, were strongly posted 
 near Blue Mills Landing, dispatched a 
 messenger to Colonel Smith who had 
 been detained by the rains and bad 
 roads, and was yet distant ten miles 
 from Liberty to hasten his advance. 
 Scott, however, did not await his com- 
 ing up, but boldly pushed forward with 
 his meagre force and met the enemy 
 near Blue Mills Landing. The seces- 
 sionists drove back Scott's skirmishers 
 with a severe volley, but his main body 
 held their ground, and the action soon 
 became 'general. The six-pounder, the 
 only piece of artillery the Federalists 
 had, was brought to bear, and fired twice ; 
 but was responded to with such effect 
 that one gunner was killed' and two 
 others were wounded. The rest who 
 were serving the cannon fled, carrying 
 with them the primer and matches, and 
 rendering the gun useless. 
 
 The action, however, was gallantly 
 continued by the Federalists for an hour 
 longer, until finding it useless to perse- 
 vere against such a host, they finally re- 
 tired to some open ground near by, but 
 succeeded in bringing away all their 
 wounded and securing their six-pounder, 
 which they dragged off by hand, as the 
 horses had been all killed or badly 
 wounded. 
 
 Colonel Smith having in the mean 
 time received Scott's message, hurried 
 forward with all his mounted men and 
 artillery to his succor. This much 
 needed reinforcement, however, did not 
 arrive where the battle had been fought 
 
 until dark. It was now determined 
 to postpone a renewal of the attack 
 upon the enemy until the next day. At 
 an early hour in the morning, the 
 Federal scouts came in with the intelli- 
 gence that the enemy had escaped, 
 having crossed the river during the 
 night, a movement which they Teadily 
 accomplished, being supplied with three 
 large flat-boats and a steamer for trans- 
 portation. 
 
 In the mean time General Fremont 
 was continuing his advance against the 
 enemy in the southwest of Missouri. 
 He finally arrived at Springfield, which 
 had just before been the scene of Q C j t 
 the brilliant exploit of his body- 27. 
 guard under Zagonyi. Fremont and 
 his troops were received with great de- 
 monstrations of welcome. There were 
 " no professed rebels" in the place. The 
 "stars and stripes" floated freely from 
 the houses, and men, women, and chil- 
 dren waved handkerchiefs and flags from 
 every window and doorway. 
 
 Of the enemy, little reliable infor- 
 mation could be obtained, but various 
 rumors were in circulation. Now, it 
 was reported that General Price was at 
 Carthage and in full retreat, and now, 
 that he was at Cassville with a large 
 force, about to form a junction with Mc- 
 Culloch in advance, and march to meet 
 Fremont. The enemy's strength was 
 variously computed at from twenty-five 
 to sixty thousand men. Great activity 
 reigned in the Federal camp preparatory 
 to an expected battle, which each man 
 seemed to be eager to fight under the 
 inspiring leadership of his popular gen- 
 
FREMONT SUPERSEDED. 
 
 4T3 
 
 eral. Fremont himself was full of ardor 
 for the contest, upon the result of which 
 his personal destiny was believed to de- 
 pend. For five nights he hardly slept, 
 such were his vigilance and activity in 
 making ready for the momentous strug- 
 gle. He was rapidly concentrating his 
 whole force for one great effort. Gen- 
 erals Lane and Sturgis had arrived with 
 their columns, and Pope and McKinstry 
 were hourly expected. The enemy 
 were supposed to be about to march 
 upon Springfield, and offer battle at 
 Wilson's Creek, the field so fatal to the 
 gallant Lyon, whose death every Federal 
 soldier burned to avenge, and for whose 
 sacrifice the Federal leader was resolved 
 to atone. 
 
 While Fremont and his men were 
 thus ready to strike, as* they believed, 
 a decided blow for the Federal cause in 
 Missouri, there came an order from the 
 President which suddenly checked the 
 rising ardor and paralyzed the effort of 
 every soldier. Fremont had been re- 
 IVovt moved from the command and 
 2* superseded by his subordinate, 
 General Hunter. The intelligence, as 
 it spread throughout the camp, excited 
 the greatest indignation, which threat- 
 ened to result in mutiny. Several 
 regiments threw down their arms and 
 declared that they would serve under 
 no other commander than General Fre- 
 mont. Deputation after deputation of 
 field and line officers hurried to head- 
 quarters and earnestly protested against 
 the change in the command. Such was 
 the demoralization among the troops 
 which ensued, that it was believed that 
 
 60 
 
 if the enemy had, in the mean time, 
 attacked them, they would have been 
 utterly routed. General Fremont, how- 
 ever, repressed the disorder and rising 
 mutiny by expostulating with the of- 
 ficers and men, and urging them by 
 their love for their country and himself 
 not to forsake their duty. He at the 
 same time issued the following order, 
 in which he took a graceful farewell of 
 his troops, and decorously reminded 
 them of the claims of his successor to 
 their obedience : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, } 
 SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Nov. 2, 1861. ) 
 " SOLDIERS or THE MISSISSIPPI ARMY : 
 
 "Agreeably to orders received this 
 day I take leave of you. Although our 
 army has been of sudden growth, we 
 have grown up together, and I have be- 
 come familiar with the brave and gener- 
 ous spirits which you bring to the de- 
 fence of your country, and which makes 
 me anticipate for you a brilliant career. 
 Continue as you have begun, and give 
 to my successor the same cordial and 
 enthusiastic support with which you 
 have encouraged me. Emulate the 
 splendid example which you have al- 
 ready before you, and let me remain as 
 I am, proud of the noble army which I 
 have thus far labored to bring together. 
 ' ' Soldiers, I regret to leave you. Most 
 sincerely I thank you for the regard and 
 confidence you have invariably shown 
 me. I deeply regret that I shall not 
 have the honor to lead you to the 
 victory which you are just about to 
 win ; but I shall claim the right to share 
 with you in the joy of every triumph, 
 
4:74 
 
 THE WAR AVITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 and trust always to be personally re- 
 membered by my companions in arms. 
 
 " JOHN C. FREMONT, Major-General." 
 
 As the order from Washington by 
 which Fremont had been superseded 
 seemed peremptory, he had determined 
 upon leaving Springfield at break of 
 day, on the next morning. General 
 Hunter, who was to succeed him, being 
 away, Fremont would have made over 
 his command to General Pope, Hunter's 
 next in rank. 
 
 On the reception of this informa- 
 tion, all the commanders of divisions 
 and brigades united in a remonstrance 
 against General Fremont's relinquishing 
 the command until General Hunter came 
 up. Answer was returned that their 
 request should be complied with, and 
 the command not be given up to any 
 one save the proper officer. In the 
 afternoon of the 31st November, Gen- 
 eral Hunter not having arrived, and no 
 intelligence being received from him, 
 another request was made that the army 
 should be led to battle on the following 
 morning, as it was stated that the enemy 
 were in force in the old battle-ground, 
 on Wilson's Creek. After duly consid- 
 ering the request, General Fremont re- 
 plied that he would accede to it in case 
 Gen. Hunter should not be heard from, 
 and at once issued an order to all the 
 commanders of divisions and brigades 
 for a full and exact statement of the 
 size and condition of their respective 
 force, and on the reception of that in- 
 formation proceeded to perfect his plan 
 of battle. 
 
 " The intelligence of this determina- 
 
 tion of the commanding General was." 
 wrote a campaigner, " at once communi- 
 cated from camp to camp, and the great- 
 est enthusiasm prevailed. Every live 
 minutes during the succeeding two and 
 a half hours, the wildest cheering could 
 be heard from some portion of the army 
 as the information was conveyed, to the 
 various regiments. A dozen bands at 
 once proceeded to the headquarters and 
 serenaded the General. Crowds of offi- 
 cers gathered in front of his quarters 
 and greeted him by loud and prolonged 
 cheering, and had the battle occurred 
 according to arrangements, the troops 
 would have fought in the most deter- 
 mined manner ; but the arrival of Gen- 
 eral Hunter, about ten o'clock in the 
 evening, made a complete change in the 
 matter, and the battle was delayed. 
 
 " Generals Fremont and Hunter had 
 an interview of two hours, in which the 
 former stated his entire plan of battle, 
 and turned over to the latter all the 
 official documents pertaining to the 
 headquarters of this department. The 
 interview was entirely official in its 
 character, and at its close the Generals 
 retired to their headquarters for the 
 night. 
 
 " General Fremont and staff, with the 
 exception of Colonels Lovejoy, Hudson, 
 and Schenck, took their departure next 
 day. The camps were not generally 
 made aware of the departure, as it was 
 not deemed prudent for the soldiers to 
 receive the information until the Gen- 
 eral should be some distance on the way. 
 
 "The faces of all who were around 
 the headquarters at the time of the de- 
 
ARREST OF COLONEL BLAIR. 
 
 475 
 
 parture wore an expression of sadness, 
 and evinced that a sore blow had been 
 struck at the enthusiasm of the Western 
 army. Only the immediate presence of 
 the enemy, and the prospect of battle 
 in a few days, kept our camp in order 
 and the army from demoralization. 
 
 " Whatever may have been the in- 
 formation that furnished grounds for the 
 removal of our commanding General, it 
 is certain that the administration is in 
 error in taking him away on the eve of 
 a great and decisive battle with the 
 rebels of the Southwest. The soldiers 
 of this command had implicit faith in 
 General Fremont, and would have fol- 
 lowed him to victory over a foe of treble 
 their number. At present they are 
 much dispirited, and though they would 
 doubtless behave well and gallantly in 
 action, their great enthusiasm while 
 serving under Fremont is lost. Many 
 of the regiments were raised with the 
 special view of being placed in the 
 command of the man for whom such a 
 feeling of admiration has been raised 
 throughout the West, and these in par- 
 ticular regret his loss." 
 
 Until General Fremont shall have the 
 opportunity of a hearing, it will be im- 
 possible to render a just judgment in 
 his case ; he must stand arraigned be- 
 fore the country for military incapacity, 
 and maladministration as an executive 
 officer. Charges of corruption have 
 been made against his subordinates, for 
 whom he is held responsible, but his 
 own direct connivance, though insinu- 
 ated, is by no means proved. Fremont's 
 conduct in Missouri had aroused the 
 
 opposition of some of the leading men 
 of the State, among whom Colonel 
 Frank P. Blair was especially prominent. 
 The intense antagonism of this gentle- 
 man had excited the indignation of 
 Fremont, who had caused him to be 
 arrested on a charge of using disre- 
 spectful language toward his superior. 
 Without imputing any but patriotic 
 motives to Colonel Blair, it cannot be 
 denied that his personal influence with 
 the cabinet at Washington, of which his 
 brother was an influential member, serv- 
 ed greatly to induce the President to 
 remove Fremont from his command. 
 
 President Lincoln did not assume the 
 responsibility of such an act as the re- 
 moval of the popular General of the West 
 without some scrutiny of his conduct. 
 The secretary of war, Mr. Cameron, 
 accompanied by the adjutant-general, 
 Thomas, was dispatched to make a per- 
 sonal investigation of the charges against 
 Fremont, which had been so pertinaci- 
 ously presented to the notice of the ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 These gentlemen having visited St. 
 Louis, and followed Fremont on his 
 march, the result of their inquiries was 
 published to the world in that remark- 
 able document termed the journal of 
 Adjutant-General Thomas. There can 
 be little doubt that this paper was a 
 frank exposition of all that was heard 
 by the Secretary and his fidus Achates 
 during this tour of governmental detec- 
 tiveism. With much that it contained 
 of grave and responsible accusation, there 
 was mingled a great deal of unquestion- 
 able gossip and scandalous libel, which 
 
470 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOCTIF. 
 
 have been subsequently exposed as un- 
 worthy of the least credit. 
 
 The publication of Adjutant-General 
 Thomas' diary, charged as it was with 
 the personalities of the gossip of infor- 
 mal talk with querulous subalterns and 
 disappointed contract-seekers, told se- 
 verely against Fremont, and prepared 
 
 the public for the fall, of n popular idol. 
 Thus the purpose of the Government 
 was gained, and Fremont deposed from 
 his majestic elevation without exciting 
 that resistance from his partisans which 
 had been apprehended from their admi- 
 ration of his character.* 
 
 CHAPTER XLIY. 
 
 Attitude of Kentucky. Presumption of the Secessionists. Its Grounds. Hopes of the Unionists. Foundation of 
 their Hopes. Discouraging Response from the Governor of Kentucky to the President's Call to Arms. Encour- 
 agement of the Secessionists. Confederate Secretary of War's Letter to Governor Magoffin. Proclamation of 
 Magoffin. Its Word and Spirit. Special Session of Kentucky Legislature. Message of the Governor. Its Scope 
 and Purpose. Action of the Legislature. The Loyalty of the Legislature. Magoffin proclaims Neutrality. Con- 
 vention of the Border Slave States Its despair. Proceedings. Address. The delusion of Neutrality Practical 
 ahuse of Neutrality. Division of Sentiment. Father against Son. Son against Father. Horrors of Civil War. 
 Old Men pleading the cause of the Union. Proclamation of Magoffin forbidding either belligerent to occupy the 
 State with troops The Convention at Frankfort in favor of Neutrality. Conference of General Buckner with 
 General McClellan. Questioned veracity. The Confederate Troops enter Kentucky. McClellan's Protest. Union 
 reaction in Kentucky. Elections decidedly for the Union The Federal Government asserting its authority in 
 Kentucky. General Andrew appointed to command in Kentucky. Governor Magoffin sends Commissioners to the 
 President demanding the removal of United States Troops. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE attitude of the great State of 
 Kentucky, in relation to the civil 
 conflict, was watched with solicitude 
 throughout the country, both at the 
 North and at the South. The secession- 
 ists, presuming upon the sympathy which 
 binds together the States where slavery 
 is a recognized social institution, were 
 hopeful of gaining Kentucky to their 
 cause. Their hope was strengthened by 
 the known aversion of most of the 
 political leaders of the State to the rule 
 of the Republican party, the avowed op- 
 position of many to the suppression of 
 the rebellion by force of arms, and the 
 
 secret connivance of others, as was sus- 
 pected, with the conspiracy against the 
 Federal authority. The Unionists, on 
 the other hand calculating upon the 
 
 Since these pages were written, General Fremont has 
 published a justification, in which he meets the main 
 charges against him his expensive fortifications of St. 
 Louis, and his neglect to reinforce Lyon at Springfield and 
 Colonel Mulligan at Lexington. In regard to the first, he 
 declares that the fortifications were at the time necessary, 
 and the cost not exorbitant. As for the second, he pleads 
 that the more urgent necessity of protecting Cairo de- 
 prived him of the means of sending troops to the aid of 
 Lyon ; and lastly, he insists that he did his best for Colonel 
 Mulligan consistently with the meagre and ill-equipped 
 force left him, after complying with the peremptory demand 
 of the Government at Washington for 5,000 of his best 
 men. 
 
ATTITl'DK OF KENTrCKV. 
 
 47' 
 
 close commercial and agricultural rela- 
 tions of Kentucky, as a border State, 
 with the North, the comparatively small 
 influence of the slave interest, the large 
 proportion of non-slaveholders, the fre- 
 quent efforts in past times for emanci- 
 pation, and the traditional Union senti- 
 ment of the people believed that by a 
 conciliatory policy the loyalty of Ken- 
 tucky might be secured. Some of her 
 senators and representatives in Congress 
 had, although protesting against the prin- 
 ciples of the ruling party, shown their 
 devotion to the Union by constant efforts 
 to preserve it by every possible plan of 
 compromise. Having failed in their ami- 
 able attempts, they still declared them- 
 selves loyal to the Federal Government, 
 and have mostly proved by their acts the 
 sincerity of their professions. 
 
 The first direct appeal to the loyalty 
 of Kentucky, however, met with a re- 
 ception as disheartening to the Federal- 
 ists as it was encouraging to the seces- 
 sionists. We refer to the response of 
 Governor Magoffin to the demand of 
 President Lincoln for military aid from 
 Kentucky in suppressing the insurrec- 
 tion. 
 
 " Your dispatch is received. In an- 
 swer," wrote the Governor, " I say em- 
 phatically, that Kentucky will furnish no 
 troops for the wicked purpose of subdu- 
 ing her sister Southern States." 
 
 This official rebuff to the President 
 of the United States seemed to augur 
 ill for the loyalty of Kentucky to the 
 Union, and was hailed by the seces- 
 sionists as an auspicious omen of a 
 further accession to their cause. The 
 
 Confederate Government eagerly caught 
 at this apparent manifestation of sym- 
 pathy from the Governor of Kentucky, 
 and presuming upon it, solicited, through 
 their secretary of war, Mr. E. P. 
 Walker, his active co-operation against 
 the Federal authorities. 
 
 This Confederate official immedi- April 
 ately addressed the following letter 22. 
 to Governor Magoffin : 
 
 " MONTGOMERY, April 22. 
 " HON. B. MAGOFFIN : 
 
 " SIR : Your patriotic response to the 
 President of the United States for troops 
 to coerce the Confederate States, justi- 
 fies the belief that your people are 
 prepared to unite with us in repelling 
 the common enemy of the South. 
 Virginia needs our aid. I therefore re- 
 quest you to furnish one regiment of 
 infantry without delay, to rendezvous at 
 Harper's Ferry, Virginia. It must con- 
 sist of ten companies, of not less than 
 sixty-four men each. The regiment will 
 be entitled to one colonel, one lieuten- 
 ant-colonel, one major, one adjutant 
 from the line of lieutenants, one ser- 
 geant-major from the enlisted men . Each 
 company is entitled to one captain, one 
 first lieutenant, two second lieutenants, 
 four sergeants, four corporals, and two 
 musicians ; the officers, except staff offi- 
 cers, to be appointed in the manner 
 prescribed by the law of your State. 
 Staff officers are appointed by the Presi- 
 dent. Term of service not less than 
 twelve months, unless sooner discharg- 
 ed. They will be mustered into the ser- 
 vice of the Confederate States at Har- 
 per's Ferry, but transportation and sub- 
 
178 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 sistence will be provided from the point 
 of departure. They will furnish their 
 own uniforms. By communicating with 
 me, arms and ammunition will be sent 
 to Harper's Ferry, or to such points 
 as you may designate. Answer, and 
 say whether you will comply with this 
 request, and if so, when. 
 
 L. P. WALKER, 
 Secretary of War of Confederate States. 7 ' 
 
 Magoffin in zealous haste responded 
 to this appeal by a proclamation con- 
 vening the Legislature of Kentucky. 
 Although he studiously avoided commit- 
 ting himself by word, he manifested a 
 disposition, if not to promote the cause 
 of secession, at least to resist any armed 
 effort to check it. This was his procla- 
 mation : 
 
 " Recent events are of so startling a 
 character as to render it imperatively 
 necessary that the Legislature of 
 Kentucky be again convened in extra- 
 ordinary session. It is now apparent 
 that the most energetic measures are 
 being resorted to by the Government at 
 Washington to prosecute a war upon an 
 extended scale with the seceded States. 
 Already large sums of money and 
 supplies of men are being raised in the 
 Northern States for that purpose. The 
 tread of armies is the response which is 
 being made to the measures of pacifica- 
 tion which are being discussed before 
 the people, while up to this moment we 
 are comparatively in a defenceless 
 attitude. 
 
 " Whatever else should be done, it is, 
 in my judgment, the duty of Kentucky, 
 without delay, to place herself in a com- 
 
 plete position for defence. The causes 
 for apprehension are now certainly grave 
 enough to impel every Kentuckian to 
 demand that this be done, and to re- 
 quire of the Legislature of the State 
 such additional action as may be neces- 
 sary for the general welfare^ To this 
 end I now call upon the members of 
 General Assembly to convene at the 
 Capitol, in Frankfort, on the 6th day of 
 May, 1861. 
 
 "Done at the city of Frankfort, the 
 24th day of April, 1861, and in the 
 sixty-ninth year of the Commonwealth. 
 
 "B. MAGOFFIN." 
 
 On the meeting of the Legislature of 
 Kentucky in special session, the jn a y 
 Governor addressed it in a message * 
 in which his spirit of opposition to the 
 Federal Government was even more 
 manifest than in his proclamation. " It 
 is idle," he said, " longer to refuse to 
 recognize the fact that the late Ameri- 
 can Union is dissolved." And after 
 imputing the blame of the war to the 
 President, he asked, in the language of 
 unsettled loyalty, ' ' what Kentucky should 
 do in this deplorable conflict ? Shall she 
 continue her alliance with the Northern 
 States, adhere to the United States 
 Government, and assume her portion of 
 the war debt being incurred ? Shall 
 she declare her own independence, and 
 prepare single-handed to maintain it ? 
 Shall she ally herself with the remaining 
 slave States, and make common cause 
 with them ?" 
 
 The members of the Legislature, how- 
 ever, were indisposed to be made a party 
 to the suspected designs of the Governor 
 
KENTUCKY NEUTRALITY. 
 
 479 
 
 to wrest the State of Kentucky from its 
 allegiance to the Union. It is true they 
 authorized the organization of the State 
 militia, as had been advised by the Gov- 
 ernor, but at the same time affixed a con- 
 dition of enrolment which it was sus- 
 pected was by no means in accordance 
 with his desire. They loyally made it the 
 duty of every one who took up arms to 
 swear fealty not only to Kentucky, but 
 to the United States. In the mean time, 
 the State itself had clearly revealed its 
 attachment to the Union by electing a 
 large majority of Unionists to represent 
 it in the " convention of the border 
 slave States," first proposed by Virginia. 
 Finding that both the Legislature and 
 the people were indisposed to leave the 
 Union, the Governor strove to paralyze 
 the Federal power in Kentucky by the 
 artifice of establishing the State in a 
 neutral and independent position. He 
 accordingly issued a proclamation,* in 
 
 "Whereas numerous applications have been made to 
 me from many good citizens of this commonwealth, pray- 
 ing me to issue a proclamation forbidding the march of 
 any forces, of this or any other State or States, over our soil 
 to make an apprehended attack upon the Federal forces 
 at Cairo, in Illinois, or disturb any otherwise the peaceful 
 attitude of Kentucky with reference to the deplorable war 
 now waging between the United States and the Confederate 
 States ; and whereas numerous applications from the 
 good citizens of this commonwealth have also been made 
 to me, praying me to issue a proclamation forbidding the 
 occupation of any post or place, or the march over our 
 sacred soil by any force of the United States for any 
 purpose ; and whereas it is made fully evident, by every 
 indication of public sentiment, that it is the determined 
 purpose of the good people of Kentucky to maintain, with 
 courageous firmness, the fixed position of self-defence, pro- 
 posing or intending no invasion or aggression toward any 
 other State or States, forbidding the quartering of troops 
 upon her soil by either of the hostile sections, but simply 
 standing aloof from an unnatural, horrid, and lamentable 
 strife, for the existence of which Kentucky, neither by 
 thought, word, nor act, is in anywise responsible ; and 
 
 which he advocated the notable expe- 
 dient of neutrality, which, if conceded, 
 
 whereas the policy thus recommended by so many of my 
 fellow-citizens of all political leanings is, in my judgment, 
 wise, peaceful, safe, and honorable, and the most likely to 
 preserve peace and amity between the neighboring border- 
 ing States on both shores of the Ohio Pdver, and protect 
 Kentucky, generally, from the ravages of a deplorable 
 war ; and whereas the arms distributed to the ' State 
 Guard,' composed as it is of gentlemen equally consci- 
 entious and honest, who entertain the opinions of both 
 parties, are not to be iised against the Federal Government 
 nor the Confederate States, but to resist and prevent encroach- 
 ments upon her soil, her rights, her honor, and her 
 sovereignty by either of the belligerent parties, and to 
 preserve the peace, safety, prosperity, and happiness and 
 strict neutrality of her people, in the hope that she may 
 soon have an opportunity to become a successful mediator 
 between them ; and in order to remove the unfounded 
 distrust and suspicions of purposes to force Kentucky out 
 of the Union at the point of the bayonet, which may have 
 been strongly and wickedly engendered in the public 
 mind in regard to my own position and that of the 
 'State Guard' 
 
 " Now, therefore, I, Beriah Magoffin, governor of the 
 commonwealth of Kentucky, and commander-in-chief of 
 all her military forces on land or water, have issued this 
 my proclamation, hereby notifying and warning all other 
 States, whether separate or united, and especially the 
 ' United States' and the ' Confederate States,' that I 
 solemnly forbid any movement upon the soil of Kentucky, 
 or the occupation of any port, post, or place whatever 
 within the lawful boundary or jurisdiction of this State by 
 any of the forces under the orders of the States aforesaid, 
 for any purpose whatever, until authorized by invitation 
 or permission of the legislative and executive authorities 
 of this State previously granted I also hereby especially 
 and solemnly forbid all good citizens of this comm on wealth , 
 whether incorporated in the ' State Guard' or otherwise, 
 making any warlike or hostile demonstrations whatever 
 against any of the authorities aforesaid, earnestly request- 
 ing all citizens, civic and military, to be obedient hereto ; 
 to be obedient to the law and lawful orders of both the 
 civil and military authorities ; to remain, when off military 
 duty, quietly and peaceably at their homes, pursuing 
 their wonted lawful avocations ; to refrain from all words 
 and acts likely to engender hot blood and provoke colli- 
 sion ; to pursue such a line of wise conduct as will promote 
 peace and tranquillity, and a sense of safety and security, 
 and thus keep far away from our beloved land and the 
 people the deplorable calamities of invasion ; but at the 
 same time earnestly counselling my fellow-citizens of 
 Kentucky to make prompt and efficient preparations to 
 assume the armor and attitude prescribed by the para- 
 mount and supreme law of self-defence and strictly of self- 
 
480 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 would imply the right of independent 
 State sovereignty, and be as emphatic a 
 defiance of the Federal authority as an 
 act of secession itself. 
 
 The " convention of the border slave 
 States" met at Frankfort, but Virginia, 
 'which had proposed it, and Delaware 
 and Maryland, failed to send representa- 
 tives. Delegates only appeared from 
 Kentucky and Missouri, to whom was 
 added a single member from Tennessee, 
 who offered himself as a volunteer. The 
 convention, however, was organized with 
 the Honorable John J. Crittenden, of 
 Kentucky, as president. An address was 
 issued, in which there was a cry for 
 " peace, peace," yet no practicable sug- 
 gestion by which peace could be secured. 
 The spirit of the document was evidently 
 in favor of the Union. 
 
 In regard to the seceded States, its 
 authors said : " Our present purpose 
 does not require us to discuss the pro- 
 priety of the acts of these States, yet it 
 may be proper for us to say, that they 
 find no warrant in any known principle 
 of our Government, and no justification 
 in the fact existing when they seceded." 
 
 Throughout the paper there was ev- 
 ident a feeling of despair of reconcil- 
 iation, although a recurrence to the old 
 remedies of a national convention, con- 
 stitutional alterations, and compromises 
 was proposed. But there was evidently 
 
 defence alone ; praying Almighty God to have us evermore 
 in his holy keeping, and to preserve us in peace, prosper- 
 ity, and security forever. 
 
 " In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name, 
 and caused the seal of the commonwealth to be affixed. 
 Done at Frankfort, this the 30th of May, A D. 1861, and 
 the sixty-ninth year of the commonwealth. 
 
 " B. MAGOFFIN." 
 
 little hope of the success of such means, 
 and the delegates of Kentucky and Mis- 
 souri, the only States represented in the 
 convention, sought refuge in neutrality 
 from the horrors of civil war. 
 
 "Our States desire," they declared, 
 "and have indicated a purpose to take 
 no part in this war, and we believe that 
 in this course we shall ultimately best 
 serve the interest of our common coun- 
 try. It is impossible that we should be 
 indifferent spectators ; we consider that 
 our interests would be irretrievably 
 ruined by taking part in the conflict on 
 the side where the strongest sympathies 
 of our people are, and that our sense 
 of honor and of duty requires that we 
 should not allow ourselves to be drawn 
 or driven into a war in which other 
 States, without consulting us, have de- 
 liberately chosen to involve themselves. 
 Our safety and our dignity as among 
 the most powerful of the slave States 
 demand of us that we take this position." 
 
 Notwithstanding this theoretical neu- 
 trality, in the delusion of which the 
 political leaders of Kentucky were in- 
 dulging, it soon became evident that the 
 people of the State could not be withheld 
 from practically co-operating, as their 
 sentiments or interests guided them, ei- 
 ther with the Federalists or secessionists. 
 A large number of Kentuckians enrolled 
 themselves in the army of the Confeder- 
 acy, as did many in that of the United 
 States, and thus Kentuckian was waging 
 actual war with Kentuckian, while their 
 State was proposing the impracticable 
 theory of neutrality. 
 
 Most of the young men of the State, 
 
HORRORS OF WAR. 
 
 481 
 
 with the indiscreet ardor of youth, had 
 adopted the cause of secession, while the 
 older, with a prudent regard to the risks 
 and dangers of a revolution, had as gen- 
 erally adhered to that of the Union. 
 Thus while fathers were counselling fidel- 
 ity to the Federal authority as the only 
 hope of safety for the State, their sons 
 were in open rebellion against it. 
 
 The aged leaders of Kentucky, among 
 whom were men who had long since 
 given proof of devotion to their country 
 as the wisest of its counsellors and the 
 bravest of its soldiers, now showed a 
 loyalty to the Union not to be shaken 
 by a convulsion which had shattered 
 their fortunes, rudely severed the dear- 
 est ties of affection, and extinguished 
 their political hopes. At a great meet- 
 ing held at Louisville, the Honorable 
 James Guthrie, formerly Secretary of 
 the Treasury of the United States, and 
 Dixon, once Governor of Kentucky, elo- 
 quently pleaded the cause of the Union, 
 and urged with success the adoption of 
 these resolutions : 
 
 "1. That as the Confederate States 
 have, by overt acts, commenced war 
 against the United States, without con- 
 sultation with Kentucky and their sister 
 Southern States, Kentucky reserves to 
 herself the right to choose her own 
 position, and that while her natural 
 sympathies are with those who have a 
 common interest in the protection of 
 slavery, she still acknowledges her 
 loyalty and fealty to the Government of 
 the United States, which she will cheer- 
 fully render until that Government be- 
 comes aggressive, tyrannical, and re- 
 el 
 
 gardless of our rights in slaveholding 
 property. 
 
 " 4. That secession is a remedy for no 
 evils, real or imaginary, but an aggrava- 
 tion and complication of existing diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 "5. That the memories of the past, the 
 interests of the present, and the solemn 
 convictions of future duty and usefulness 
 in the hope of mediation, prevent Ken- 
 tucky from taking part with the seceding 
 States against the General Government.''' 
 
 Crittenden, the United States senator 
 from Kentucky, who had persisted so 
 devotedly in his well-meant effort to 
 avert civil war by conciliation and com- 
 promise, now that he despaired of peace, 
 did not hesitate to take a firm stand for 
 the Union. By this action his house was 
 divided. One of his sons had taken up 
 arms in behalf of the Southern Confeder- 
 acy, a cause which his father proclaimed 
 to be unholy, and its promoters deserv- 
 ing of the severest punishment. Pren- 
 tiss, too, the veteran editor of the Louis- 
 ville Journal, while manfully serving his 
 country with all the power of his vigor- 
 ous pen, was forced into a conflict with 
 his own child, who fought in the ranks of 
 the rebels. These are -but two illustra- 
 tions of the effects of the unhappy civil 
 struggle in Kentucky, where it has not 
 only destroyed political harmony, but 
 domestic concord. Thousands of other 
 examples might be readily gathered in 
 the border States. Those at the extreme 
 North and South, though they may be 
 suffering from the ordinary evils of war, 
 have no conception of its horrors as 
 waged in Kentucky and Missouri. 
 
482 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Governor Magoffin, resolutely bent 
 upon maintaining the neutrality of Ken- 
 May tucky, issued a proclamation after 
 6 the adjournment of the Legislature, 
 in which, declaring the State to be neu- 
 tral, he forbade both the Federal and x the 
 Confederate governments to occupy any 
 portion of Kentucky with their troops. 
 A convention, which met at Frankfort 
 Juue previous to its adjournment, though 
 3* professing attachment to the Union, 
 gave in their adhesion to the Governor's 
 doctrine of neutrality. They declared, in 
 their address to the people, that "Ken- 
 tucky was right in this position [of neu- 
 trality], because from the commencement 
 of this deplorable controversy her voice 
 was for reconciliation, compromise, and 
 peace. * * * * All she asks is 
 permission to keep out of this unnatural 
 strife. When called to take part in it, 
 she believes there is more honor in the 
 breach than in the observance of any 
 supposed duty to perform it. Feeling 
 that she is clearly right in this, and hav- 
 ing announced her intention to refrain 
 from aggression upon others, she must 
 protest against her soil being made the 
 theatre of military operations by any bel- 
 ligerent. The war must not be trans- 
 ferred by the warring sections from their 
 own to her borders. Such unfriendly ac- 
 tion cannot be viewed with indifference 
 by Kentucky." 
 
 In order to accomplish his pet scheme 
 of neutrality, the Governor of Kentucky 
 dispatched General Buckner, the in- 
 spector-general of the State, to confer 
 with General McClellan, then at Cincin- 
 nati, in command of the United States 
 
 troops in the States north of the Ohio 
 River. Buckner reported, on his return, 
 that he had entered into the following 
 agreement with McClellan : 
 
 " The authorities of the State of Ken- 
 tucky are to protect the United j llue 
 States property within the limits of W* 
 the State, to enforce the laws of the 
 United States in accordance with the in- 
 terpretation of the United States courts, 
 as far as these laws may be applicable 
 to Kentucky, and to enforce with all the 
 powers of the State our obligations of 
 neutrality as against the Southern States, 
 as long as the position we have assumed 
 shall be respected by the United States. 
 General McClellan stipulates that the 
 territory of Kentucky shall be respected 
 on the part of the United States, even 
 though the Southern States should oc- 
 cupy it ; but in the latter case he will 
 call upon the authorities of Kentucky to 
 remove the Southern forces from our 
 territory. 
 
 " Should Kentucky fail to accomplish 
 this object in a reasonable time, Gene- 
 ral McClellan claims the same right of 
 occupancy given to the Southern forces. 
 I have stipulated in that case to advise 
 him of the inability of Kentuck} T to 
 comply with her obligations, and invite 
 him to dislodge the Southern forces. 
 He stipulates that if he is successful in 
 doing so, he will withdraw his forces 
 from the territory of the State as soon 
 as the Southern forces shall have been 
 removed. This, he assures me, is the 
 policy which he will adopt toward Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 " Should the Administration here- 
 
ABl'SE OF KENTUCKY NEUTRALITY. 
 
 483 
 
 after adopt a different policy, he is to 
 give me timely notice of the fact. Should 
 the State of Kentucky hereafter assume 
 a different attitude, he is in like manner 
 to be advised of the fact. The well- 
 known character of General McClellan is 
 a sufficient guaranty for the fulfilment 
 of every stipulation on his part." 
 
 McClellan promptly disavowed Buck- 
 ner's positive assertions in regard to his 
 being a party to this agreement. In a 
 letter to Captain Wilson, of the United 
 June States navy, dated Grafton, Mc- 
 26 * Clellan wrote : 
 
 " My interview with General Buckner 
 was personal, not official. It was so- 
 licited by him more than once. I made 
 no stipulation on the part of the Gene- 
 ral Government, and regarded his volun- 
 tary promise to drive out the Confederate 
 troops as the only result of the interview. 
 His letter gives his own views, not mine." 
 
 In the mean time the secessionists of 
 Kentucky were mustering rapidly, and 
 taking up arms under the flag of the 
 Confederacy. The Confederate troops, 
 moreover, had taken possession of two 
 islands in the Mississippi, below Colum- 
 bus, evidently with the view of occupy- 
 ing that important strategic position. As 
 this recruiting for the Confederate service 
 within the limits of the State, and this 
 armed occupation of its territory, were 
 apparently unopposed by the civil au- 
 thorities of Kentucky, their professed 
 neutrality seemed only an encourage- 
 ment to the secessionists, and a corre- 
 sponding disfavor to the Federal author- 
 ity. 
 
 General McClellan accordingly sum- 
 
 moned the Governor of Kentucky to in- 
 terpose his authority and check this breach 
 of neutrality. He wrote to Magoffin : 
 
 " I have received information that Ten- 
 nessee troops are under orders to oc- j ulie 
 cupy Island No. 1, six miles below H 
 Cairo. In accordance with my under- 
 standing with General Buckner, I call 
 upon you to prevent this step. Do you 
 regard the islands on the Mississippi 
 River above the Tennessee line within 
 your jurisdiction, and if so, what ones ?" 
 
 The people of Kentucky now began to 
 be alarmed lest their attempted neutral- 
 ity scheme should prove a delusion and 
 involve them in war with the United 
 States. They accordingly took care to 
 express their aversion to hostility with 
 the Federal Government, by a large 
 vote, at their congressional and legisla- 
 tive elections, in favor of the Union. 
 Every member of Congress elected, with 
 the exception of Mr. Burnet, from the 
 western district of the State, was devo- 
 tedly loyal. Of those chosen members of 
 the State Legislature, twenty-eight ^ U(r , 
 Unionists and ten secessionists were *$ 
 returned to the Senate ; seventy-five 
 Unionists and twenty-five secessionists 
 were elected members of the House. 
 
 Encouraged as it was by this striking 
 demonstration of loyalty on the part of 
 the people of Kentucky, the Federal 
 Government did not now hesitate to as- 
 sert its authority. A force was organ- 
 ized under the command of General An- 
 derson, of Fort Sumter fame, and other 
 military means used, to protect loyal cit- 
 izens and secure the State against in- 
 vasion. 
 
48J: 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Governor Magoffin, still affecting to 
 consider Kentucky as neutral, sent two 
 commissioners to the President of the 
 
 United States to demand the removal 
 of the Federal troops from the bound- 
 aries of the State. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Instructions of the Commissioners from Kentucky. Answer of President Lincoln. Letter of the Governor of Kentucky 
 to Jefferson Davis. A friendly Response from Davis. The Governor's Letter to Tennessee. Rejoinder of the Gov- 
 ernor of Tennessee. Meeting of the Loyal Legislature of Kentucky. Message of the Governor. Partial Indigna- 
 tion. Persistent advocacy of Neutrality. Opposition to the action of the Federal Government. Loyal action of 
 the Legislature. Hoisting the Union Flag at Frankfort. Reading of a Secession Address opposed. Occupation of 
 Columbus by General Polk. Description of Columbus. Folk's Justification. General Grant occupies Paducah. 
 Paducah described. Anger of the Legislature at the movement of Polk. Expulsion of the Invaders resolved on. 
 The United States Troops excepted by a large majority. Magoffin 's Proclamation summoning the Tennessee Troops 
 to withdraw. A mild Expostulation Continued Loyal action of the Legislature. Adoption of Congressional Tax 
 Law by a large majority. Occupation of Cumberland Gap by Zollicoffer. His Justification. The Legislature returns 
 to the charge against the Invaders. Strong Resolutions. Vetoed by the Governor. Passed by the House. Ken- 
 tucky for the Union. Once more the " Dark and Bloody Ground." The civil strife begun. Meeting of Antago- 
 nists. General Buckner in command of the Secessionists. His Proclamation. Affected regard for Neutrality. 
 Proclamation of General Anderson. Great Preparations. Resignation of Anderson. Appointment of Sherman. 
 Unfitness. Extraordinary statement. Buell appointed to command in Kentucky. Secession of Vice-President 
 Breckenridge. His Life and Character. His Political and Military Career. His action in Congress since the break- 
 ing out of the Civil War. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE commissioners, Messrs. Dudley 
 and Hunt, appointed by Governor 
 Magoffin, to demand of President 
 Lincoln the removal of the Federal troops 
 from Kentucky, were provided with a 
 communication in which the object of 
 their mission was duly set forth. 
 
 " From the commencement of the 
 ^ u <r, unhappy hostilities now pending in 
 19. this country, " said Magoffin, ad- 
 dressing the President, "the people of 
 Kentucky have indicated an earnest 
 desire and purpose, as far as lay in their 
 power, while maintaining their original 
 political status, to do nothing by which 
 to involve themselves in the war ; up to 
 this time they have succeeded in secur- 
 ing to themselves and to the State peace 
 
 and' tranquillity, as the fruits of the 
 policy they adopted. My single object 
 now is to promote the continuance of 
 these blessings to the people of this 
 State. 
 
 " Until within a brief period the peo- 
 ple of Kentucky were quiet and tranquil, 
 free from domestic strife, and undisturb- 
 ed by internal commotion. They have 
 resisted no law, rebelled against no au- 
 thority, engaged in no revolution, but 
 constantly proclaimed their firm determi- 
 nation to pursue their peaceful avoca- 
 tions, earnestly hoping that their own 
 soil would be spared the presence of 
 armed troops, and that the scene of con- 
 flict would be kept removed beyond the 
 border of their State. By thus avoiding 
 
MAGOFFIN TO THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 485 
 
 all occasions for the introduction of 
 bodies of armed soldiers, and offering no 
 provocation for the presence of a mili- 
 tary force, the people of Kentucky have 
 sincerely striven to preserve in their 
 State domestic peace, and avert the ca- 
 lamities of sanguinary engagement. 
 
 "Recently a large body of soldiers 
 have been enlisted in the United States 
 army and collected in military camps in 
 the central portion of Kentucky. This 
 movement was preceded by the active 
 organization of companies, regiments, 
 etc., consisting of men sworn into the 
 United States service, underofficers hold- 
 ing commissions from yourself. Ord- 
 nance, arms, munitions and supplies of 
 war are being transported into the State, 
 and placed in large quantities in these 
 camps. In a word, an army is now being 
 organized and quartered within the 
 State, supplied with all the appliances 
 of war, without the consent or advice 
 of the authorities of the State, and with- 
 out consultation with those most promi- 
 nently known and recognized as loyal 
 citizens. This movement now imperils 
 that peace and tranquillity which, from 
 the beginning of our pending difficulties, 
 have been the paramount desire of this 
 people, and which, up to this time, they 
 have so secured to this State. 
 
 " With Kentucky there has been, and 
 is likely to be, no occasion for the 
 presence of a military force. The people 
 are quiet and tranquil, feeling no appre- 
 hension of any occasion arising to invoke 
 protection from the Federal arm. They 
 have asked that their territory be left 
 free from military occupation, and the 
 
 present tranquillity of their communica- 
 tion left uninvaded by soldiers. They do 
 not desire that Kentucky shall be re- 
 quired to supply the battle-field for the 
 contending armies, or become the theatre 
 of war. 
 
 " Now, therefore, as Governor of the 
 State of Kentucky, and in the name of 
 the people I have the honor to represent, 
 and with the single and earnest desire to 
 avert from their peaceful homes the hor- 
 rors of war, I urge the removal from the 
 limits of Kentucky of the military forces 
 now organized and in camp within the 
 State. If such action as is hereby urged 
 be promptly taken, I firmly believe the 
 peace of the people of Kentucky will be 
 preserved, and the horrors of a bloody 
 war will be averted from a people now 
 peaceful and tranquil." 
 
 To this communication the President, 
 evidently with an anxious desire to con- 
 ciliate the good-will of the people of 
 Kentucky, returned this calmly and ami- 
 ably expressed letter, with, however, a 
 rebuke of the Governor at the end of it, 
 like a sting in the tail of a gliding 
 serpent : 
 
 " WASHINGTON, D. C., ) 
 Saturday, August 24, 1861. ) 
 " To HIS EXCELLENCY B. MAGOFFIN, GOVERNOR 
 OF THE STATE ov KENTUCKY : 
 
 " SIR : Your letter of the 19th instant, 
 in which you ' urge the removal from 
 the limits of Kentucky of the military 
 forces now organized and in camp within 
 that State/ is received. I may not pos- 
 sess full and precisely accurate knowl- 
 edge upon this subject, but I believe it is 
 true that there is a military force in camp 
 
486 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 within Kentucky, acting by authority of 
 the United States, which force is not 
 very large, and is not now being aug- 
 mented. I also believe that some arms 
 have been furnished to this force by the 
 United States. I also believe this force 
 consists exclusively of Kentuckians, hav- 
 ing their camp in the immediate vicinity 
 of their own homes, and not assailing or 
 menacing any of the good people of Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 "In all I have done in the premises, I 
 have acted upon the urgent solicitation of 
 many Kentuckians, and in accordance 
 with what I believed, and still believe, 
 to be the wish of a majority of all the 
 Union-loving p e ople of Kentucky. While 
 I have conversed on this subject with 
 many eminent men of Kentucky, includ- 
 ing a large majority of her members of 
 Congress, I do not remember that any 
 one of them, or any other person, except 
 your Excellency and the bearers of your 
 Excellency's letter, has urged me to re- 
 move the military force from Kentucky, 
 or to disband it. One other very worthy 
 citizen of Kentucky did solicit me to 
 have the augmenting of the force sus- 
 pended for a time. 
 
 " Taking all the means within my 
 reach to form a judgment, I do not believe 
 it is the popular wish of Kentucky that 
 this force shall be removed beyond her 
 limits ; and with this impression I must 
 respectfully decline so to remove it. I 
 most cordially sympathize with your 
 Excellency in the wish to preserve the 
 peace of my own native State, Kentucky ; 
 but it is with regret I search and cannot 
 find, in your not very short letter, any 
 
 declaration or intimation that you enter- 
 tain any desire for the preservation of 
 the Federal Union. 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN." 
 
 At the same time Governor Magoffin, 
 to give plausibility to his "neutrality" 
 scheme, addressed a letter to the " Hon. 
 Jefferson Davis." In this communica- 
 tion he informed the President of the 
 Southern Confederacy that he had made 
 a demand upon the President of the 
 United States for the removal of the 
 Federal troops from Kentucky, and re- 
 iterated the desire of the State to 
 maintain a neutral position. To secure 
 this, the Governor called upon Jefferson 
 Davis to respect the assumed neutrality 
 of the State. The Governor's summons 
 was thus gently conveyed and softened 
 by a compliment little merited, as the 
 Confederate troops had been recruiting in 
 Kentucky, and were already in possession 
 of a portion of its domain. "Although 
 I have no reason to presume," wrote 
 Magoffin, "that the Government of the 
 Confederate States contemplate or have 
 ever proposed any invasion of the neutral 
 attitude thus assumed by Kentucky, 
 there seems to be some uneasiness felt 
 by the people of some portion of the 
 State, occasioned by the collection of 
 bodies of troops along their southern 
 frontier. In order to quiet this appre- 
 hension, and to secure to the people their 
 cherished object of peace, this communi- 
 cation is to represent these facts, and 
 elicit an authoritative assurance that the 
 Government of the Confederate States 
 will continue to respect and observe the 
 
MAGOFFIN CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 487 
 
 position indicated as assumed by Ken- 
 tuck}-." 
 
 To this kindly summons Jefferson Da- 
 vis responded with sympathetic friendli- 
 ness : "I lose no time in assuring you 
 that the Government of the Confederate 
 States of America neither intends nor 
 desires t^ disturb the neutrality of Ken- 
 tucky. The assemblage of troops in 
 Tennessee to which you refer, had no 
 other object than to repel the lawless in- 
 vasion of that State by the forces of the 
 United States, should their Government 
 attempt to approach it through Ken- 
 tucky, without respect for its position of 
 neutrality. That such apprehensions were 
 not groundless has been proved by the 
 course of that Government in Maryland 
 and Missouri, and more recently in Ken- 
 tucky itself, in which, as you inform me, 
 ' a military force has been enlisted and 
 quartered by the United States author- 
 ities.' 
 
 " The Government of the Confederate 
 States has not only respected most scru- 
 pulously the neutrality of Kentucky, but 
 has continued to maintain the friendly 
 relations of trade and intercourse which 
 it has suspended with the people of the 
 United States generally. In view of the 
 history of the past, it can scarcely be 
 necessary to assure your Excellency that 
 the Government of the Confederate 
 States will continue to respect the neu- 
 trality of Kentucky as long as her people 
 will maintain it themselves. But neu- 
 trality, to be entitled to respect, must be 
 strictly maintained between both parties ; 
 or if the door be opened on the other 
 side for the aggressions of one of the 
 
 belligerent parties upon the other, it 
 ought not to be shut to the assailed when 
 they seek to enter it for the purpose of 
 self-defence. 
 
 " I do not, however, believe that your 
 gallant State will suffer its soil to be 
 used for the purpose of giving an ad- 
 vantage to those who violate its neutral- 
 ity and disregard its rights, over those 
 who respect them both." 
 
 Magoffin had already said, in reply to 
 the Governor of the Confederate \ n % t 
 State of Tennessee : 12> 
 
 " In a few days I hope to be able to 
 inform your Excellency of the disbanding 
 of the organizations to which you have 
 been pleased to call my attention. I am 
 satisfied a large majority even of the 
 Union men in Kentucky are opposed to 
 any such organization here by the Fed- 
 eral Government, or the transportation 
 of arms, men, or munitions over our soil 
 to the State of Tennessee." 
 
 Whereupon the Governor of Tennes- 
 see rejoined: "We cannot believe that 
 Kentucky will, at the instigation of either 
 of the belligerents, abandon the position 
 of neutrality so lately and solemnly as- 
 sumed, or permit it to be so used as to 
 render a hollow peace more harassing 
 and dangerous than open war." 
 
 In the mean time the Legislature as- 
 sembled, in the election of which the 
 loyalty of the people of Kentucky had 
 so signally manifested itself, by return- 
 ing a large majority of Unionists. The 
 Governor in his message acknowledged 
 the interference with his cherished pro- 
 ject of neutrality, by the action of both 
 belligerents, but dwelt with especial in- 
 
488 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 dignation upon the conduct of the Federal 
 Government. He at the same time still 
 held to the neutral policy, declaring that 
 " In regard to our national difficulties, 
 my action, from first to last, has been 
 dictated by an earnest wish to preserve 
 the neutrality and peace of Kentucky. 
 I am not conscious of any lack of vigi- 
 lance or effort on my part in maintaining 
 the peaceful attitude of neutrality which 
 the people of the State have determined 
 to occupy. The very corner-stone of 
 the theory of the States Rights party, to 
 which I have always adhered, is the right 
 of the people of a State, by a lawful ex- 
 pression of a majority thereof, to deter- 
 mine the policy and the relations of the 
 commonwealth. My functions are purely 
 executive, and I am bound by my oath 
 of office to carry out the lawful will of 
 the people, whether the policy they pre- 
 fer accords with my own views or not. 
 The Constitution is the only barrier be- 
 tween the people and the Executive which 
 I recognize. I was elected governor by 
 a majority of the people, who well knew 
 my political sentiments. Since my elec- 
 tion great questions have arisen, which, 
 if contemplated in the canvass, it was 
 hoped would be settled by adjustment 
 in the councils of the Federal Govern- 
 ment ; and these questions unhappily in- 
 volve the external relations, the peace 
 and prosperity of Kentucky. I deprecate 
 the introduction of these questions, and 
 did all I could to avert the issues. No 
 man lives, or ever did live, who more 
 honestly and earnestly desires to uphold 
 and perpetuate the Union by a faithful 
 execution of the Federal Constitution." 
 
 While thus professing fidelity to the 
 Union, the Governor took occasion to set 
 forth at length his reasons for opposing 
 the action of the Federal authority. 
 
 The Legislature showed itself more 
 loyal. The House of Representatives, 
 by the large vote of seventy-six to 
 twenty, ordered the United States flag to 
 be hoisted over the Capitol at Frankfort, 
 and the Senate refused, by a vote of 
 twenty-four to twelve, to listen to the 
 reading of an address by some supposed 
 secessionists. When the loyalty of Ken- 
 tucky was thus clearly manifested, Gen- 
 eral, the ci-devant Bishop, Polk, com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Confederate forces 
 in southern Missouri and in Memphis, at 
 once took possession of Columbus, in 
 Kentucky. This place, situated on the 
 Mississippi about twenty-two miles below 
 Cairo, is one of the most important stra- 
 tegic points in the West. General Polk 
 justified this invasion of Kentucky and 
 disregard of its neutrality on the score of 
 a " mihtary necessity." Jefferson Davis, 
 the President of the Confederate States, 
 moreover, sanctioned the act on the same 
 ground.* Polk, in this letter to Governor 
 Magoffin, entered into a more detailed 
 exposition of the motives of his conduct : 
 " COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, September 9. 
 
 " GOVERNOR B. MAGOFFIN, FRANKFORT, 
 KENTUCKY : I should have dispatched 
 you, immediately the troops under my 
 command took possession of this posi- 
 tion, the very few words I addressed to 
 the people here ; but my duties since that 
 time have so pressed me, that I have but 
 
 This was denied, however, by certain delegates from 
 Tennessee to the Confederate Government. 
 
FOLK'S OCCUPATION OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 489 
 
 now the first leisure time to communicate 
 with you. It will be sufficient for me to 
 inform you, which my short address here 
 will do, that I had information on which 
 I could rely, that the Federal forces in- 
 tended and were preparing to seize Co- 
 lumbus. I need not describe the danger 
 resulting to west Tennessee from such 
 seizure. * * * In evidence of the in- 
 formation possessed, I will state, as the 
 Confederate forces occupied this place, 
 the Federal troops were formed on the 
 opposite bank in formidable numbers, 
 with their cannon turned upon Columbus. 
 The citizens of the town had fled with 
 terror, and not a word of assurance of 
 safety or protection had been addressed 
 to them. Since I have taken possession 
 of this place, I have been informed by 
 highly responsible citizens of your State, 
 that certain representatives of the Fed- 
 eral Government are setting up com- 
 plaint of my act of occupying it, and are 
 making it a pretence for seizing other 
 positions. Upon this course of proceed- 
 ing I have no comment to make, but I 
 am prepared to say, that I will agree to 
 withdraw the Confederate troops from 
 Kentucky, provided she will agree that 
 the troops of the Federal Government 
 be withdrawn simultaneously, with a 
 guaranty which I will give reciprocally 
 for the Confederate Government, that the 
 Federal troops shall not be allowed to 
 enter or occupy any point in Kentucky 
 in the future. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, your obedi- 
 ent servant, LEONIDAS POLK, 
 
 " Major-General Commanding." 
 
 As soon as General Grant, in command 
 
 62 
 
 of the Federal troops at Cairo, in Illi- 
 nois, situated at the junction of the Ohio 
 and Mississippi, discovered this move- 
 ment of General Polk to Columbus, he did 
 not hesitate to disregard the delusive 
 neutrality of Kentucky, but took posses- 
 sion of Paducah. This town is placed 
 at the junction of the Ohio and Tennes- 
 see rivers, forty-seven miles east of Cairo. 
 Its position had become of the utmost 
 importance, now that Kentucky was des- 
 tined to be a scene of conflict. The 
 enemy, by the possession of Columbus, 
 and Hickman, on the Mississippi, and by 
 the advance of troops from Tennessee 
 into other parts of Kentucky, threatened 
 to flank Cairo, and the movement of 
 General Grant became necessary for the 
 protection of that important Federal post. 
 
 The Legislature of Kentucky received 
 the announcement of the invasion of the 
 State by General Polk with the greatest 
 anger, and denouncing it in these resolu- 
 tions, showed their determination to ex- 
 pel the invaders : 
 
 "Resolved, That Kentucky's peace and 
 neutrality have been wantonly viola- $$n\ t 
 ted, her soil has been invaded, and 12. 
 the rights of her citizens have been gross,- 
 ly infringed by the so-called Southern 
 Confederate forces. This has been done 
 without cause, therefore, 
 
 "Be it resolved by the General As- 
 sembly of the commonwealth of Ken- 
 tucky, that the Governor be requested to 
 call out the military force of the State to 
 expel and drive out the invaders. 
 
 " Resolved, That the United States be 
 invoked to give that aid and assistance, 
 that protection against invasion, which is 
 
490 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 granted to each one of the States by the 
 fourth section of the fourth article of the 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 "Resolved, That General Robert An- 
 derson be, and he is hereby requested, 
 to enter immediately upon the discharge 
 of his duties in this military district. 
 
 "Resolved, That we appeal to the 
 people of Kentucky, by the ties of patri- 
 otism and honor, by the ties of common 
 interest and common defence, by the re- 
 membrances of the past and by the hopes 
 of the future national existence, to assist 
 in repelling and driving out the wanton 
 violators of our peace and neutrality, 
 the lawless invaders of our soil." 
 
 The loyalty of the Legislature of Ken- 
 tucky was emphatically expressed by the 
 vote on these resolutions, which were 
 passed in the House by the majority of 
 seventy-one to twenty-six, and in the Sen- 
 ate of twenty-six to eight. This loyalty 
 was still further manifested by the action 
 of the Legislature, which rejected an at- 
 tempt to include the Federal troops at 
 Paducah in the same category with the 
 Confederate force, and passed the orig- 
 inal resolutions in spite of a veto of the 
 Governor. Magoffin was now reluctantly 
 compelled to issue a proclamation thus 
 mildly drawn : 
 
 "In obedience to the subjoined resolu- 
 tion, adopted by the General Assembly of 
 the commonwealth of Kentucky, the Gov- 
 ernment of the Confederate States, the 
 State of Tennessee, and all others concern- 
 ed, are hereby informed that ' Kentucky 
 expects the Confederate or Tennessee 
 troops to be withdrawn from her soil un- 
 conditionally.' 
 
 "In testimony whereof, I have here- 
 unto set my name, and caused the seal 
 of the commonwealth to be affixed. 
 Done at Frankfort this the 13th day of 
 September, A. D. 1861, and in the seven- 
 tieth year of the commonwealth. 
 
 " B. MAGOFFIN." 
 
 " Resolved by the General Assembly of 
 the commonwealth of Kentucky, That his 
 Excellency Governor Magoffin be, and he 
 is hereby instructed, to inform those con- 
 cerned, that Kentucky expects the Con- 
 federate or Tennessee troops to be with- 
 drawn from her soil unconditionally." 
 
 The Legislature of Kentucky contin- 
 ued to give proof of its devotion to the 
 cause of the Union. The chairman of the 
 committee on foreign relations, in his re- 
 port, declared that the tax law passed 
 by Congress was within its constitutional 
 powers, and should be obeyed by Ken- 
 tucky. His report, which was adopted in 
 the House by the majority of seventy-two 
 to thirty, concluded with this emphatic 
 expression of aversion to the insurgents 
 and loyalty to the United States : 
 
 "The effort now being made to over- 
 throw the Government is unspeakably 
 wicked. Kentucky abhors that effort. 
 She will not weigh money in the scales 
 against a government which has been her 
 boast and her pride, and which she re- 
 gards as the very palladium of the liber- 
 ties of the people." 
 
 A further defiance of the authority of 
 Kentucky and of the Union sentiment of 
 its people came from General Zollicoffer, 
 the Confederate general commanding in 
 Tennessee. He occupied the mountain 
 passes at Cumberland, known as the 
 
LOYALTY OF THE KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE. 
 
 491 
 
 I 
 
 " Gap," and the three long mountains in 
 Kentucky, justifying himself thus in a 
 letter to Governor Magoffin : 
 
 " For weeks I have known, 7 ' he wrote, 
 " that the Federal commander at Hoskins' 
 Cross Roads was threatening the invasion 
 of East Tennessee, and ruthlessly urging 
 our own people to destroy their own road 
 bridge. I postponed this precautionary 
 measure until the despotic Government 
 at Washington, refusing to recognize the 
 neutrality of Kentucky, has established 
 formidable camps in the centre and other 
 parts of the State, with the view, first to 
 subjugate our gallant sister, then our- 
 selves. Tennessee feels, and has ever 
 felt, toward Kentucky as a twin sister ; 
 their people are as one people, in kin- 
 dred, sympathy, valor, and patriotism ; 
 we have felt, and still feel, a religious re- 
 spect for Kentucky's neutrality ; we will 
 spect it as long as our safety will permit. 
 If the Federal forces will now withdraw 
 from their menacing position, the forces 
 under my command shall be immediately 
 withdrawn." 
 
 The loyal Legislature of Kentucky re- 
 turned to the charge against its invaders 
 with these stringent resolutions : 
 
 " Whereas Kentucky has been invaded 
 by the so-called Confederate States, and 
 their commanders so invading the State 
 have insolently prescribed the conditions 
 upon which they will withdraw, thus 
 insulting the dignity of the State by de- 
 manding terms to which Kentucky can- 
 not listen without dishonor ; therefore 
 
 " Be it resolved, That the invaders must 
 be expelled, inasmuch as there are Fed- 
 eral troops assembled in Kentucky, for 
 
 the purpose of preserving the tranquillity 
 of the State and defending the people of 
 Kentucky in the peaceful enjoyment of 
 their lives and property ; it is further 
 
 "Resolved, That General Robert An- 
 derson, a native of Kentucky, who has 
 been appointed to the command of the 
 department of Cumberland, be requested 
 to take instant command, with authority 
 and power from the commonwealth to 
 call out a volunteer force in Kentucky 
 for the purpose of repelling the invaders 
 from our soil. 
 
 " Resolved, That in using the means 
 which duty and honor require shall be 
 used to expel the invader from the soil 
 of Kentucky, no citizen shall be molested 
 on account of his political opinions ; that 
 no citizen's property shall be taken or 
 confiscated because of such opinions, nor 
 shall any slave be set free by any military 
 commander ; and that all peaceable citi- 
 zens and their families are entitled to and 
 shall receive the fullest protection of the 
 Government in the enjoyment of their 
 lives, their liberties, and their property. 
 
 "Resolved, That his Excellency the 
 Governor of the commonwealth of Ken- 
 tucky be requested to give all the aid in 
 his power to accomplish the end of these 
 resolutions, and that he call out so much 
 of the military force of the State under 
 his command as may be necessary there- 
 for, and that he place the same under 
 the command of General Thomas L. 
 Crittenden. 
 
 ' ' Resolved, That the patriotism of every 
 Kentuckian is invoked, and is confidently 
 relied upon, to give active aid in the de- 
 fence of the commonwealth." 
 
492 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 These patriotic resolutions, though 
 passed in the Senate by the significant 
 majority of twenty-five to nine, were ve- 
 toed by the Governor. The House, how- 
 ever, in spite of the veto, took them up 
 and triumphantly passed them by a ma- 
 jority of sixty-eight to twenty-two. 
 
 Kentucky had thus deliberately as a 
 Sept. State taken its stand for the Union. 
 20. Its people, however, were greatly 
 divided in sentiment, and it soon became 
 evident that by a horrid fratricidal war 
 their State was destined to illustrate once 
 more the tragic meaning of its Indian 
 name, the "Dark and Bloody Ground." 
 
 Those Kentuckians opposed to the ac- 
 tion of the Legislature at once mustered 
 in arms to resist it and make common 
 cause with the Confederate States. 
 Buckner, the former inspector-general, 
 and a native of Kentucky, commissioned. 
 a brigadier-general of the Confederate 
 army, took possession of Bowling Green 
 and openly defied the constituted author- 
 Sept, ities of his State. Issuing a procla- 
 18t mation to his fellow- citizens, he 
 denounced the Legislature as ' ' faithless 
 to the will of the people." " They have 
 endeavored," he declared, " to make 
 your gallant State a fortress in which, 
 under the guise of neutrality, the armed 
 forces of the United States might se- 
 cretly prepare to subjugate alike the 
 people of Kentucky and the Southern 
 States. 
 
 ' ' It was not until after months of 
 covert and open violation of your neu- 
 trality, with large encampments of Fede- 
 ral troops on your territory, and a recent 
 official declaration of the President of 
 
 the United States not to regard your 
 neutral position, coupled with a well-pre- 
 pared scheme to seize an additional point 
 in your territory, which was of vital im- 
 portance to the safety and defence of 
 Tennessee, that the troops of the South- 
 ern Confederacy, on the invitation of the 
 people of Kentucky, occupied a defensive 
 position in your State. In doing so, the 
 commander announced his purpose to 
 evacuate your territory simultaneously 
 with a similar movement on the part of 
 the Federal forces, whenever the Legis- 
 lature of Kentucky shall undertake to 
 enforce against the belligerents the strict 
 neutrality which they have so often de- 
 clared. I return among you, citizens of 
 Kentucky, at the head of a force the 
 advance of which is composed entirely 
 of Kentuckians. We do not come to 
 molest any citizen, whatever may be his 
 political opinions. Unlike the agents 
 of the Northern despotism, who seek to 
 reduce us to the condition of dependent 
 vassals, we believe that the recognition 
 of the civil rights of citizens is the foun- 
 dation of constitutional liberty, and that 
 the claim of the President of the United 
 States to declare martial law, to suspend 
 the privilege of the writ of habeas cor- 
 pus, and to convert every barrack and 
 prison in the land into a bastile, is noth- 
 ing but the claim which other tyrants 
 have assumed to subjugate a free peo- 
 ple. The Confederate States occupy 
 Bowling Green as a defensive position." 
 After this severe tirade against the 
 United States, to which Kentucky had 
 solemnly renewed its pledge of fidelity 
 and zealous defence of the illegal inva- 
 
ANDERSON IN KENTUCKY. 
 
 493 
 
 sion of the State by the Confederates, 
 this insurrectionary general, while bear- 
 ing the commission of the enemy, still 
 affected a regard for the neutrality of 
 Kentucky. "I renew," he said, "the 
 pledges of commanders of other columns 
 of Confederate troops to retire from the 
 territory of Kentucky, on the same con- 
 ditions which will govern their move- 
 ments. I further give you," he added, 
 "my own assurance, that the force 
 under my command will be used as an 
 aid to the Government of Kentucky in 
 carrying out the strict neutrality de- 
 sired by its people, whenever they un- 
 dertake to enforce it against the two 
 belligerents alike." 
 
 The Federal commander in Kentucky, 
 General Anderson, of Sumter fame, met 
 this plausible manifesto of the disloyal 
 Buckner with a counter-proclamation. 
 " Called," he declared, " by the Legisla- 
 ture of this, my native State, I hereby 
 assume command of this department. I 
 come to enforce, not to make laws, and, 
 God willing, to protect your property and 
 lives. The enemies of the country have 
 dared to invade our soil. Kentucky 
 is in danger. She has vainly striven to 
 keep peace with her neighbors. Our 
 State is now invaded by those who pto- 
 fessed to be her friends, but who now seek 
 to conquer her. No true son of Kentucky 
 can longer hesitate as to his duty to his 
 State and country. The invaders must, 
 and, God willing, will be expelled. The 
 leader of the hostile forces who now ap- 
 proaches is, I regret to say, a Kentuck- 
 ian, making war on Kentucky and Ken- 
 tuckians. Let all past differences of 
 
 opinion be overlooked. Every one who 
 now rallies to the support of our Union 
 and our State is a friend. Rally, then, 
 my countrymen, around the flag our 
 fathers loved, and which has shielded us 
 so long. I call you to arms for self-de- 
 fence and for the protection of all that is 
 dear to freemen. Let us trust in God, 
 and do our duty as did our fathers." 
 
 Great preparations were now made 
 for the coming conflict, which it was evi- 
 dent was about to assume in Kentucky, 
 from its position as a border State, and 
 the divided sentiment of its people, the 
 character of a severe and protracted civil 
 struggle. Troops poured in from the 
 Northern free States of Illinois, Indiana, 
 and Ohio, and combining with the loyal 
 men of Kentucky, soon formed a for- 
 midable Federal force prepared to sus- 
 tain the cause of the Union. Their gene- 
 ral, Anderson, being a Kentuckian by 
 birth, having proved his fidelity to the 
 Union in his gallant defence of Fort 
 Sumter, and expressed his patriotism so 
 emphatically in his spirited proclamation, 
 was thought to be especially the man for 
 the occasion. Great hopes were enter- 
 tained of his successful leadership, when 
 they were suddenly extinguished by his 
 resignation on the score of ill health. 
 General Sherman was appointed to suc- 
 ceed him, but he, also, depressed by dis- 
 ease or overwhelmed by the responsi- 
 bilities of his position, was found to be 
 wanting. This was revealed by that 
 notable detective visit of the Secretary 
 of War to the West, and on the publica- 
 tion of that remarkable diary of Adju- 
 tant-General Thomas, in which General 
 
494 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Sherman is reputed to' have confidentially 
 declared that all the young men of Ken- 
 tucky were secessionists, that the old 
 ones who were loyal were indisposed to 
 take up arms against them, and that it 
 would require two hundred thousand 
 men from the other States to keep Ken- 
 tucky within the Union. After such a 
 confession of impotency General Sher- 
 man was removed, and General Buell ap- 
 pointed his successor in the command 
 of the department of Kentucky. It is 
 hoped that now the great State of Ken- 
 tucky, however beset by the machina- 
 tions and assaults of the enemy, may 
 finally be saved to the Union. That this 
 will be the result, every zealous patriot 
 hopes, though no judicious observer can 
 fail to see that it will not be without a 
 struggle. 
 
 In the mean time, the men loyal to the 
 Union and the partisans of the Confed- 
 erate States were daily manifesting more 
 openly their mutual hostility. Some of 
 the more notable men of the State did 
 not hesitate to array themselves on the 
 side of the enemy. Ex-Governor More- 
 head was arrested in Louisville, charged 
 with treason, and Senator Breckenridge, 
 formerly the Vice-President of the United 
 Sept. States, fled from Frankfort to avoid 
 21 the same fate, and joined the Con- 
 federate army. 
 
 John C. Breckenridge was born near 
 Lexington, Kentucky, on the 21st of 
 January, 1832. He is the grandson of 
 John Breckenridge, who was attorney- 
 general under Jefferson, and a United 
 States senator from Kentucky in 1801. 
 His uncle is the famous Presbyterian di- 
 
 vine, John Breckenridge, D.D., a man 
 remarkable for his controversial skill, 
 and who, although a strenuous opponent 
 of the abolition propagandists, has, dur- 
 ing the present civil conflict, manfully 
 sustained the cause of the Union. His 
 nephew, after a collegiate and legal edu- 
 cation, removed to Iowa to practice law ; 
 but soon returned to his native State, 
 where, after marrying a Miss Birch, of 
 Georgetown, he established himself as a 
 lawyer in Lexington, and acquired an em- 
 inent position in his profession. 
 
 On the breaking out of the war with 
 Mexico, Breckenridge was chosen a ma- 
 jor of Kentucky volunteers, but had lit- 
 tle opportunity of seeing active service, 
 though his legal .ability was called into 
 requisition as a defender of General Pil- 
 low in the course of the numerous court- 
 martials to which that litigious officer 
 became a party, in consequence of dis- 
 putes with his superiors and subordin- 
 ates. After the war, Mr. Breckenridge 
 was elected a member of Congress from 
 Kentucky, and displayed remarkable 
 aptitude as a debater. In 1851 he was 
 again elected, after a severe electioneer- 
 ing contest with General Leslie Coombs. 
 At the next election, his perseverance 
 and tact as a candidate for popular suf- 
 frage were still more tried, but with the 
 same success, resulting in a triumph over 
 his competitor, Governor Robert Letcher, 
 after a violent struggle. 
 
 On the accession of President Pierce, 
 Mr. Breckenridge was offered the ap- 
 pointment of minister to Spain, which he 
 declined, and Mr. Pierre Soule, of Louis- 
 iana, was chosen. In 1856 he was elect- 
 
LIFE OF ROSECRANS. 
 
 495 
 
 ed Yice-President of the United States, 
 the youngest man who had ever been 
 chosen, and entered upon his office on the 
 4th of March, 1857. As president of 
 the Senate he gave general satisfaction 
 by the impartiality and dignity with 
 which he ruled over that august body. 
 During the last year of his Vice-Presi- 
 dency he was nominated, by the South- 
 ern faction of the Democratic party, a 
 candidate for the Presidency. On the 
 inauguration of Lincoln, Breckenridge 
 returned to Kentucky and was elected 
 senator of the United States. After serv- 
 ing during the extra session of Congress, 
 called by President Lincoln, when he evi- 
 dently strove, by factious opposition, to 
 embarrass the Federal Government in the 
 
 conduct of the war, he, while still a sen- 
 ator, openly defied the national author- 
 ity by joining the ranks of its enemies. 
 Breckenridge is an active and shrewd 
 politician, a vigorous and plausible de- 
 bater, and a showy rhetorician. His 
 eulogy on Henry Clay, to whom he was 
 politically opposed, was much admired 
 for its brilliancy of expression and im- 
 partiality of spirit. Mr. Breckenridge, 
 though he has had no great opportunity 
 as yet of exhibiting his daring on the 
 battle-field, showed himself ready to meet 
 an opponent in deadly encounter, by 
 challenging a fellow-member of Congress 
 to the duello. The fight did not take 
 place, owing to the discretion of his 
 antagonist. 
 
 CHAPTER XLYI. 
 
 Western Virginia. General Eosecrans successor to General McClellan. Life and Character of Rosecrans. Military 
 Career. Service at West Point. Resigns and turns Manufacturer. Offers his services for the War. Accepted and 
 appointed to a Command. At Carnifex Ferry. The Enemy on the Gauley River. General Floyd. His Life and 
 Character. His official career. Abuse of trust. General calamity. Advance of the Unionists. Strength of their 
 Force. The March. Its difficulties and trials. A terra incognita. Scaling the mountains. Muddlety Bottoms. 
 Sight of the Enemy. Close at their heels. A deserted Camp. Cautious Advance. Scattering of the Enemy's 
 Skirmishers. Exact intelligence at last. The Battle of Carnifex Ferry. A long struggle. Rosecrans' official 
 Report. Comparative Strength and Losses on both sides. Retreat of the Enemy across the river. Enemy's account. 
 Strength of the Position abandoned by the Enemy. Description of their Intrenchments on the Gauley River. 
 Cheat Mountain Pass. Its strength. Description of the Federal Position there. General Lee determines to try an 
 Assault. Repulsed by General Reynolds. Reynolds' official Report. 
 
 1861. 
 
 ON the appointment of General Mc- 
 Clellan to the command of the Fed- 
 eral forces on the Potomac, Gene- 
 ral Rosecrans became his successor in 
 July Western Virginia. William S. Rose- 
 22. crans, if not born, spent his child- 
 hood and youth in the State of Ohio. He 
 
 entered the military academy at West 
 Point in 1838, and after the usual four 
 years' study, graduated with distinction 
 in July, 1842. In accordance with his 
 merit, he was admitted at once to the 
 rank of second lieutenant of that corps 
 d'etite, the Engineers. He was soon 
 
496 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 after appointed one of the teachers in 
 the academy at West Point, where he 
 had passed so creditable a career as a 
 student. For four years he continued 
 in this position, having been successive- 
 ly Assistant Professor of Engineering 
 from September, 1843, to August, 1844 ; 
 Assistant Professor of Natural and Ex- 
 perimental Philosophy from August, 
 1844, to August, 1845, and again of Engi- 
 neering for the two years from the latter 
 date to August, 1847. In March, 1853, 
 he received the commission of first lieu- 
 tenant, but averse to the comparative in- 
 activity to which a soldier's life was doom- 
 ed in those piping times of peace, he 
 sought in civil occupation a more stirring 
 sphere for his active energies. He be- 
 came a manufacturer of oil in the West, 
 and was thus engaged when the civil war 
 broke out. He now offered his services to 
 the Government, which gladly accepted 
 them, and appointed him to an important 
 command under General McClellan, in 
 Western Yirginia. His good and effective 
 conduct as a subordinate has been al- 
 ready recorded. His services as a com- 
 manding general in that department, 
 where the Federal arms hitherto have 
 been illustrated by the wisest manage- 
 ment and greatest success, now claim 
 notice. 
 
 The enemy, supposed to be five or six 
 thousand strong, were intrenched at 
 Carnifex Ferry, on the right bank of 
 the Gauley River, a tributary stream of 
 the Great Kanawha, situated in Western 
 Virginia about seven or eight miles south 
 of Summer ville. The commander-in- 
 chief of the secession force was General 
 
 Floyd, lately secretary of war of the 
 United States under Buchanan. 
 
 John Buchanan Floyd was born in 
 Montgomery, Pulaski County, Virginia, 
 in 1805. Educated at the University of 
 South Carolina in Columbia, subsequent- 
 ly studying law, and admitted to the bar 
 in 1828, he removed in 1836 to Arkan- 
 sas, where he practiced his profession for 
 several years. He afterwards returned 
 to Virginia, and lived in Washington 
 County of that State. In 1847 he was 
 elected a member of the lower house of 
 the Virginia Legislature, and was re- 
 chosen in 1849. In December of that 
 year he was elected, by the General As- 
 sembly, Governor of Virginia. After the 
 expiration of his term of office in Janu- 
 ary, 1853, he remained for a time in pri- 
 vate life, but was again elected to the 
 Legislature in 1855. In 1856, having 
 been chosen a Presidential elector, he 
 cast his vote for Buchanan, for whose 
 nomination he had been a strenuous ad- 
 vocate in the Democratic convention at 
 
 
 
 Cincinnati, and whose election he fur- 
 thered by every possible effort. Buchan- 
 an, on his accession to the Presidency, 
 rewarded his faithful adherent by ap- 
 pointing Floyd secretary of war. His 
 administration of this office was directed, 
 as is now evident, to the single purpose 
 of weakening the Federal Government 
 and strengthening its enemies. His con- 
 trol of the war department gave him 
 the opportunity, of which he freely 
 availed himself, of preparing the seces- 
 sionists, by an artful distribution in their 
 favor of the munitions of war, for the 
 armed assault upon the Union, which he, 
 
LIFE OF FLOYD. 
 
 497 
 
 doubtless, as one of the main conspira- 
 tors against the Government, had long 
 contemplated. Toward the close of Bu- 
 chanan's administration, when the seces- 
 sion plot was fully ripe for execution, 
 Floyd resigned the secretaryship of war, 
 and openly joining the insurgents was 
 appointed by them one of their brigadier- 
 generals. No public official in the Unit- 
 ed States ever incurred greater contume- 
 ly for abuse of trust. His name is never 
 uttered without a prefix to it, branding 
 him as the vilest criminal, and charges 
 are made not only imputing to him ad- 
 ministrative perversion in the interests 
 of secession, but private peculation for 
 personal advantage. Such is the history 
 of the General Floyd in command of the 
 Confederate troops at Carnifex Ferry, 
 whom General Rosecrans had resolved 
 upon advancing to meet and drive from 
 their stronghold in Western Virginia. 
 
 The Federal force numbered only 
 4,500 men, but though thus inferior in 
 strength to the enemy, who, moreover, 
 had the advantage of a strongly intrench- 
 ed position, the resolute Rosecrans de- 
 termined to advance against them. A 
 long march over a wild and mountainous 
 country, of which little was known or 
 could be learned, lay before him. He, 
 however, led his column steadily on day 
 and night, crossing mountains and wad- 
 ing through the same tortuous streams 
 again and again. After passing over 
 Kreitz's Mountain, a spur of the Alle- 
 .ghany range, the weary soldiers sought 
 a camping place at the base, but such 
 were the inclination and irregularity of 
 the ground, that there was not a spot 
 
 63 
 
 where man or beast could find rest or 
 safety in sleep. On pushing into the 
 valley, the main body was at last enabled 
 to bivouac, while the scouts were scour- 
 ing the neighboring mountains and gorges 
 for the enemy, whose mounted skirmish- 
 ers began now to show themselves. 
 
 The country, as the column advanced, 
 became more and more difficult and dan- 
 gerous to penetrate. It was "seamed 
 with by-roads, blind paths, and mountain 
 passes. It was also infested with bush- 
 wackers, and, in order, "says a campaign- 
 er, ' ' to stop up all avenues by which it 
 could be possible for the enemy to strike 
 our lines in the rear or centre, the Gene- 
 ral and his engineering corps found it 
 necessary to make minute reconnois- 
 sances." 
 
 Finally, Powell Mountain, the loftiest 
 summit in Western Virginia, was scaled, 
 and traces of the enemy became more 
 distinct. Upon the highest ridge the 
 remains of a deserted camp were discov- 
 ered, showing that a considerable body 
 of men bad been there, and the informa- 
 tion was extorted from some women, at 
 a house on the roadside, that the enemy 
 in large force were intrenched on the 
 Gauley River. Persons occasionally met 
 were generally either indisposed to give 
 information or too ignorant to convey it 
 intelligibly, and the General and his offi- 
 cers were greatly perplexed in the wild 
 country. 
 
 The advance guard, however, moved 
 cautiously forward into " Muddlety Bot- 
 toms," scattering before them several 
 hundred of the enemy, who disappeared 
 as they caught sight of our troops. The 
 
 ! i 
 
498 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 main body followed the advance, and en- 
 camping for the night in the meadows, 
 in the expectation of an early march to 
 battle on the morrow, slept upon their 
 arms. 
 
 The advance guard was again in mo- 
 Sept, tion at four o'clock next morning, 
 16 and was soon followed by the whole 
 column. On approaching Summerville, 
 after a march of eight miles, a troop of 
 the enemy's cavalry was seen scamper- 
 ing out of the village, and it was learned 
 that a Virginia regiment had retreated 
 to the camp at Gauley River, only six 
 hours before. The march was now con- 
 tinued with the greatest caution, as our 
 troops were nearing the enemy's posi- 
 tion, and there was danger of masked 
 batteries and ambuscades. Skirmishers 
 were pushed forward on either flank of 
 the column, and scouts were sent for- 
 ward to scour the woods and thickets. 
 After passing some six miles beyond 
 Summerville, a small force of dragoons 
 and infantry was dispatched through the 
 woods to the bank. of the Gauley River, 
 in order to destroy a ferry-boat. As 
 they approached, however, they were 
 met by a fire from the opposite side of 
 the river. A small detachment was sent 
 to the succor of our men, which succeed- 
 ed in scattering the enemy's skirmishers, 
 who had hid themselves among the 
 rocks. 
 
 " From thence," says the campaigner* 
 already quoted, ' ' not a bridle-path, ra- 
 vine, nor neighboring cliff was passed 
 without a thorough examination in ad- 
 vance. At about one o'clock the column 
 
 New York Daily Times. 
 
 halted at the forks of the road, one branch 
 leading to Cross Lanes and Gauley Bridge, 
 the other to Lewisburgh, via Carnifex 
 Ferry. An hour before halting here, 
 the Commander-in-chief had no know- 
 ledge of the geographical position of 
 Floyd, but an intelligent mountaineer 
 lad, who had been in the rebel camp, 
 opportunely made his appearance to en- 
 lighten him. Most of us had labored 
 under an erroneous supposition that the 
 enemy was fortified below Cross Lanes, 
 and it was confirmed by ignorant or 
 treacherous inhabitants, but the lad re- 
 lieved us from our anxious embarrass- 
 ment. From him we learned that Floyd 
 was on the cliffs overlooking Carnifex 
 Ferry, and that a mile farther up the 
 road approaching him there was another 
 fork leading among the hills to Cross 
 Lanes. He innocently suggested its im- 
 portance in a military point of view, and 
 it was deemed important to make a thor- 
 ough reconnoissance of the premises. 
 Heavy columns were immediately de- 
 ployed in line of battle on the rear, and 
 strong columns of skirmishers enveloped 
 the ridges in front, when General Ben- 
 ham was ordered to move on down the 
 road. Nearly two hours were thus oc- 
 cupied, when Benham sent back word 
 that the reconnoissance was effected to 
 the point desired, and the track was clear. 
 General Rosecrans immediately went to 
 the front to make inquiries as to sharp 
 firing heard in the direction of the ferry. 
 It turned out that our skirmishers had 
 driven in the rebel pickets, and in the 
 chase had disturbed a considerable body 
 of the enemy under Colonel Reynolds, 
 
MARCH TO THE GAULEY RIVER. 
 
 499 
 
 who were encamped on the hill, not a 
 mile and a half from the forks of the 
 road where we had been halting so long. 
 The news was communicated to the troops, 
 who received it with inspiriting shouts. 
 It was now perfectly obvious to all that 
 we were about to engage the enemy. 
 The men braced themselves manfully for 
 it, and displayed splendid spirit. The 
 Irish regiment, under Colonel Lytle, who 
 have the right of the column, having al- 
 ready snuffed the enemy, pressed on with 
 fiery zeal, with the gallant Smith and 
 his Thirteenth Ohio on their heels. The 
 remainder of Benham's brigade, the 
 Twelfth Ohio, under Colonel Lowe, was 
 halted at the foot of the hill to guard the 
 cross road, while McCook and Scammon 
 were moving their columns toward the 
 front by another route over the ridges. 
 
 ' ' General Benham now asked permis- 
 sion to press upon the enemy with his 
 brigade, and General Rosecrans gave his 
 consent to a demonstration for reconnois- 
 sance. * * * Intense excitement pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 " It was precisely 3.45 o'clock in the 
 afternoon when the Commander-in-chief 
 rode to the top of an adjacent hill to 
 make an observation. His staff were 
 clustered about him waiting orders, and 
 our artillery was laboring up the hill, 
 when our attention was attracted by 
 quick, sharp firing in the forests, just 
 ahead of us. Almost simultaneously, 
 and before we could interchange re- 
 marks, our very souls were thrilled by 
 a terrific and prolonged roar of musk- 
 etry. Suspicion flashed through our 
 minds that the gallant 1st brigade had 
 
 fallen into an ambuscade or masked bat- 
 tery. 
 
 " * * We were all in an agony of 
 suspense. But scarce an instant elapsed 
 when, with a long sigh of grateful relief, 
 we heard the swift volleys of our own 
 gallant lads. * * * We could see 
 nothing of the battle, not even smoke, 
 but we knew by the infernal din that 
 our battalions were swarming about the 
 enemy. Only the 10th and 8th com- 
 panies of the Thirteenth Regiment had 
 yet gone forward. Lowe's Twelfth Ohio 
 had been ordered up by General Rose- 
 crans, and it now came charging up the 
 road at double quick, its brave colonel 
 at the head ; and as the lads raised the 
 crest of the hill they saluted the Gen- 
 eral, who was waiting to direct their 
 commander, with a splendid volley of 
 cheers. The Twelfth plunged into the 
 jungle on the left, Adjutant-General 
 Hartsuff leading Lowe toward his posi- 
 tion. As the bold fellows rushed into 
 the woods, they flung knapsacks and 
 blankets desperately into the field, and 
 pitched forward to regain their places. 
 Hartsuff now came back, and by order 
 of the General, sent forward McMul- 
 len's howitzers and Snyder's two field- 
 pieces. 
 
 11 No tidings came up from the field. 
 General Rosecrans, having made all nec- 
 essary disposition to protect his rear, 
 advanced to the front. Pushing down 
 the ferry road, which was densely shaded 
 by masses of undergrowth and heavy 
 forests, we still saw no battle ; but the 
 terrific uproar, which seemed almost 
 within the cast of a pebble, and the 
 
500 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 hurtling bullets cutting the twigs over- 
 head, were proof that the enemy was 
 close at hand. Directly a gleam of light 
 from a clearing in front, with a long 
 stream of fire blazing along the works 
 of the enemy, showed where they were. 
 The General took position near the bat- 
 tery, but from that time until the last 
 column groped out of the woods in 
 thick darkness, he was in the midst of 
 the combat, directing the general move- 
 ments of the division. Benham was 
 also in the front of battle, watching his 
 brigade with reckless exposure of his 
 person, encouraging and emboldening 
 the men by his fearlessness. 
 
 " Meantime McCook's brigade of Ger- 
 mans had formed in line of battle on the 
 crest of Rebel Hill, and Scammou's little 
 brigade was marching in to form behind 
 him to protect our left. I had returned 
 from the front with an order to Scain- 
 mon to send a detachment to try the 
 enemy's right, and Major R. B. Hayes, 
 of the Twenty-third Ohio, dashed off 
 through the forest with four companies. 
 
 " The wounded were now being rap- 
 idly brought in. It was, perhaps, six 
 o'clock when Colonel Lowe was an- 
 nounced among the killed. The firing 
 continued with intensified violence on 
 our side, but it appeared to slacken on 
 the part of the enemy. But the din 
 was still terrific, showing that the rebels 
 intended to make us pay for victory. 
 The sun was rapidly sinking when orders 
 arrived to forward the Dutch brigade. 
 It was my grand satisfaction to be pres- 
 ent and witness the magnificent recep- 
 tion of the order. Colonel R. L. Mc- 
 
 Cook, acting brigadier, in his citizen's 
 dress, stood in his stirrups, and snatch- 
 ing his slouched hat from his head, 
 roared out ' Forward, my bully Dutch! 
 
 We'll go over their d d intrench- 
 
 ments if every man dies on the other 
 side.' The usually phlegmatic Teutons, 
 inflamed with passionate excitement, 
 exploded with terrific cheers. * * 
 
 " As the column deployed into the 
 road, Captain Hartsuff volunteered to 
 lead the column into position, when three 
 thousand Dutchmen again yelled them- 
 selves hoarse, and McCook spurred on- 
 ward to the front to reconnoitre his post. 
 The brigade was not permitted to storm, 
 but the Ninth Ohio, McCook's own regi- 
 ment, and Colonel Moore's Twenty- 
 eighth, had opportunity to show their 
 steadiness under a galling fire. The 
 Third German Regiment was detained 
 in the rear, and did not get into action 
 at all, but its colonel, Porschner, went 
 into the storm of bullets to see how the 
 battle raged. 
 
 "As darkness approached, the fire 
 slackened. The rebels seemed to be 
 getting weary, or out of ammunition, 
 and our officers were endeavoring to 
 get their men into a position for a gen- 
 eral assault. But profound darkness 
 set in before arrangements were com- 
 pleted, and it became absolutely neces- 
 sary to withdraw our troops. It was 
 nine o'clock at night, however, before 
 we retired to bivouac, under the very 
 batteries of the rebels, intending to carry 
 them by storm before sunrise next morn- 
 ing. But the enemy did not wait for us, 
 and our triumph was only half a victory. 
 
BATTLE OF CARNIFEX FERRY. 
 
 501 
 
 " We will now return to detail the en- 
 gagement more minutely. When Gen- 
 eral Benham went to the front, an armed 
 reconnoissance of the rebel position, not 
 a general action, was intended. We 
 knew nothing of the position not even 
 where it was located, nor anything of the 
 topographical features of the massively 
 broken mountains about it. Besides, 
 the men had marched seventeen miles 
 and a half, and many of them were har- 
 assed and wearied with scouting and 
 skirmishing all day over the hills. The 
 whole column, in fact, had been astir 
 since three o'clock in the morning, and 
 were obviously unfit for battle. Captain 
 Hartsuff strenuously objected to a gen- 
 eral engagement, and earnestly recom- 
 mended that the army should go into 
 camp and refresh themselves with food 
 and sleep with the understanding that 
 an immediate reconnoissance was imper- 
 atively necessary. 
 
 " General Benham pushed onward 
 with this understanding, when the en- 
 emy's inside pickets were driven in by 
 the Irish skirmishers. A few moments 
 afterward the rebels, hearing his men in 
 the ravine under their guns, let drive at 
 them their first infernal volley along 
 their whole line on the right. It is be- 
 lieved the rebels did not see our men at 
 all, but fired at a venture into the jungle, 
 at a range at which they had manifestly 
 practiced. But not a man of ours was 
 hurt, and Floyd's precipitation had ex- 
 posed his lines. General Benham, Colo- 
 nel Lytle, and Colonel Smith, however, 
 were keeping a sharp look-out for sur- 
 prises, the old General saying he would 
 
 never be caught by a masked battery. 
 The way was now described by rebel 
 bullets, and the Tenth was deployed up 
 the hill to the right, and the Thirteenth 
 down the hill into the ravine to the left 
 Lytle and Smith each at the head of 
 their regiments. Our batteries were 
 still behind, and Lowe's Twelfth Ohio 
 was some distance in the rear coming 
 up slowly, so that the Tenth and Thir- 
 teenth had to support the enemy's fire 
 a long time without assistance. But 
 they did it gallantly, and continued to 
 advance until they got to the edge of 
 the abattis in front of the enemy, where 
 they stood near the verge of the forest. 
 In consequence of the rugged and im- 
 practicable nature of the ground, the 
 line of the Tenth was broken, and the 
 right wing was separated from the 
 centre. Colonel Lytle could not see 
 this on account of the jungle, and Gene- 
 ral Benham was directing a movement 
 on the extreme left, when Lytle ordered 
 the colors forward, and shouting, ' Fol- 
 low, Tenth !' he made a dash up the 
 road, intended to charge the battery, 
 and succeeded in getting within little 
 more than a hundred yards of the rebel 
 parapets before he was discovered. A 
 terrific fire opened upon him, and his 
 four gallant companies, who followed 
 him with frantic cheers, suffered severely. 
 A ball went through his left leg and 
 wounded his horse, which became un- 
 manageable and threw him. The horse 
 dashed over the rebel intrenchments and 
 was killed, and the gallant Lytle him- 
 self was assisted into a house not a hund- 
 red feet off, and heard the crash of can- 
 
502 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 non-balls through it and over it until 
 the battle ended. Color-sergeant Fitz- 
 gibbons, who was behind the Colonel 
 when he fell, had his right hand shat- 
 tered, but, gathering the Stars and 
 Stripes in his left, he waved them again 
 enthusiastically, and was torn to pieces 
 by a round shot. Sergeant O'Connor 
 snatched the falling colors and again 
 held them aloft, when he was also struck 
 by a ball in his left hand ; but he 
 dropped behind a log and kept the colors 
 flying until exhaustion compelled him to 
 drop them. His captain, Stephen Mc- 
 Groarty, as gallant a fellow as ever wore 
 sword, snatched them up again, and 
 while rolling them up, ordered his men 
 to retire to cover, and in bringing up the 
 rear a ball struck him in the right breast, 
 and went through him without disabling 
 him, until after he got out of the field 
 with his flag. Every man of his com- 
 pany stuck to him with unswerving 
 fidelity. * * * * 
 
 "The Twelfth Ohio had found their 
 route impracticable, and their brave 
 colonel carried them over a rugged 
 route squarely into the front of the 
 battle, and gave them an opportunity to 
 do their share of duty. Colonel Lowe 
 was encouraging and directing them in 
 front, when he was struck by a shot 
 fairly in the centre of his forehead, and 
 he fell without a groan. A moment 
 afterward a charge of grape mangled 
 both his legs. * * * * 
 
 " Snyder's two rifled six-pounders 
 and McMullen's batteries were planted 
 in the road about two hundred yards in 
 front of the rebel mam battery, and were 
 
 served rapidly and with considerable 
 effect. Subsequently, part of each was 
 removed to the right. 
 
 " At dusk, McCook's brigade was or- 
 dered into position. The Ninth was 
 carried around to the left of the rebel 
 battery by Captain Hartsuff, to make a 
 rush upon it under a flanking battery, 
 which had been discovered in the woods, 
 on their extreme left, but which had 
 not been served during the engagement. 
 The bold fellows, under their colonel, 
 pushed forward under a galling storm of 
 musketry, and were about to dash head- 
 long at the enemy under cover of dark- 
 ness, when they were ordered back, after 
 suffering a loss of one killed and ten 
 wounded. The four companies under 
 Major Hayes, after infinite difficulty scal- 
 ing precipices and forcing their way 
 through dense thickets of laurel and 
 blackberry bushes, had been halted in 
 a ravine in front of the centre of the 
 rebels' right wing, and they were after- 
 ward supported by the Twenty-eighth, 
 under Colonel Moor. The former met 
 with no casualties, though under fire. 
 The latter pushed across the ravine, and 
 extended the line up a precipitous hill, 
 until the whole of the main front of the 
 enemy was enveloped by our lines. He 
 lost two killed and thirty-one wounded. 
 
 " It was now pitchy dark. It was im- 
 possible to distinguish an object a yard 
 from your eyes, and it was so obviously 
 unwise to storm the works in such dense 
 obscurity, that the General was com- 
 pelled to withdraw the troops. They 
 retired slowly and mad at their disap- 
 pointment, and bivouacked wearied and 
 
ROSECRANS' REPORT. 
 
 503 
 
 supperless within musket range of the 
 rebel front. It was nine o'clock at night 
 when they got out of the forest where 
 they had labored and fought unflinch- 
 ingly for five hours." 
 
 General Rosecrans thus briefly de- 
 scribes, in his official report, the severe 
 and long engagement at Carnifex Ferry : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF VIRGINIA, ) 
 CAMP SCOTT, Sept. 11, P. M. ) 
 
 To COLONEL E. D. TOWNSEND : 
 
 " We yesterday marched seventeen 
 and a half miles, reached the enemy's 
 intrenched position in front of Carnifex 
 Ferry, driving his advanced outposts 
 and pickets before us. We found him 
 occupying a strongly intrenched position, 
 covered by a forest too dense to admit 
 of its being seen at a distance of three 
 hundred yards. His force was five regi- 
 ments, besides the one driven in. He 
 had probably sixteen pieces of artillery. 
 At three o'clock we began a strong re- 
 connoissance, which proceeded to such a 
 length that we were about to assault the 
 position on the flank and front, when 
 night coming on and our troops being 
 completely exhausted, I drew them out 
 of the woods and posted them in the 
 order of battle behind ridges immedi- 
 ately in front of the enemy's position, 
 where they rested on their arms till 
 morning. 
 
 " Shortly after daylight a runaway con- 
 traband came in and reported that the 
 enemy had crossed the Grauley during 
 the night by means of the ferry, and a 
 bridge which they had completed. Colo- 
 nel Ewing was ordered to take posses- 
 sion of the camp, which he did at about 
 
 seven o'clock, capturing a few prisoners, 
 two stand of qolors, a considerable quan- 
 tity of arms, with quartermaster's stores, 
 messing and camp equipage. 
 
 ' ' The enemy have destroyed the bridge 
 across the Gauley, which there rushes 
 through a deep gorge, and our troops 
 being still much fatigued, and having no 
 material for immediately replacing the 
 bridge, it was thought prudent to en- 
 camp the troops and occupy the ferry 
 and captured camp, sending a few rifle 
 cannon shots at the enemy to produce a 
 moral effect. Our loss will probably 
 amount to twenty killed and one hun- 
 dred wounded. The enemy's loss had 
 not been ascertained, but from report it 
 must have been considerable. 
 
 " H. S. ROSECRANS." 
 
 The enemy reported themselves only 
 1,700 strong, and boasted of having re- 
 pelled their assailants several times, who, 
 however, they confessed, fought with 
 " terrible fury." Our force, according to 
 their account, consisted of nine regiments 
 with six pieces of artillery. In conse- 
 quence of those superior numbers, as they 
 declared, and the prospect of reinforce- 
 ment of the Federal force, it was deter- 
 mined by General Floyd to retreat and not 
 hazard another battle. He consequently 
 crossed the river Gauley and fell back 
 about fifteen miles from Gauley Bridge, 
 on the main Charleston road, within a 
 short distance of the encampment of 
 General Wise at Dogwood and Hawk's 
 Nest. The enemy made a great boast 
 of their successful retreat. " I think," 
 says one of their officers, "that the 
 public and all military men will agree 
 
504 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 that both our fight and our fall back to 
 the side of the river are among the most 
 remarkable incidents in the history of 
 war. Seventeen hundred men, with six 
 inferior pieces of artillery, fought back 
 four times their number, with much 
 superior artillery, for more than four 
 long hours, repulsed them three times, 
 and remained masters of the ground. 
 They then retired with their baggage, 
 stores, and more than two hundred sick 
 and wounded, across the river, from ten 
 P.M. to four A.M., along one of the 
 steepest and worst single-track roads 
 that ever horse's hoof trod or man ever 
 saw. At four o'clock they were three 
 miles from the enemy, with their newly 
 constructed bridge destroyed and their 
 boats sunk behind them. I think these 
 facts show a generalship seldom exhib- 
 ited anywhere." 
 
 The enemy, however, were forced 
 from a position which they believed 
 they could sustain " even against such 
 terrific odds" as in their imaginations 
 they credited the Federal general with 
 possessing. Their camp on the Gauley 
 River, which they were compelled to 
 abandon, was very favorably situated 
 for defence, and had been elaborately 
 strengthened by artificial works, which 
 embraced almost a square mile of ground. 
 There was a large battery flanked by 
 breast-works of logs, which extended to 
 the. cliffs which rose above the river 
 some three hundred and fifty feet high. 
 The intrenched camp of the enemy was 
 within a basin of the mountain, protected 
 from all missiles but shells. The river 
 
 Lynchburg (Va.) Republican. 
 
 flowed deep in the rear, where it was 
 crossed by the ferry, but above and be- 
 low there were dangerous rapids. In 
 front of the camp was a ravine, thickly 
 grown with forest wood and thicket, 
 which so concealed the position that it 
 could hardly be seen from without until 
 it was reached. On the right were strong 
 works which stretched over the rocks 
 to the very edge of their precipices. 
 The left was the only portion of the 
 works tolerably accessible. That the 
 enemy, therefore, should have retired 
 from such a position was in itself a 
 tribute to the gallantry of their assail- 
 ants, and a victorious result of which 
 General Rosecrans could justly boast. 
 
 While the Federalists under Rose- 
 crans were thus successful in assailing 
 the enemy's intrenchments on the Gauley 
 River, another portion of our army, in 
 Western Virginia, was proving itself 
 equally capable of acting on the defensive. 
 After General McClellan had driven the 
 enemy out of the Cheat River Valley, 
 he took possession of the Cheat Mount- 
 ain Pass, which leads from Central into 
 Western Virginia, over the main chain 
 of the Alleghanies. Here fortifications 
 had been erected to add to the great 
 natural strength of the position, which 
 one* of the enemy had testified to be 
 " a defence almost impregnable. Some 
 of our men," he wrote, " Colonel Rust 
 himself among them, have approached 
 it so nearly as to look over into it and 
 see all that was going on in it, and also 
 the exact nature of the fortification. It 
 is built on the summit of Cheat Mount- 
 
 A writer in the Kichmond Dispatch. 
 
THE CHEAT MOUNTAIN FASTNESS. 
 
 505 
 
 ain, in Randolph County, just where 
 the road crosses upon a hill which has 
 no level land upon its top, but suddenly 
 descends on both sides. The forest 
 along the road at this point, as for 
 many miles of the adjacent country, 
 consists of white pines, which are tall 
 and stand close together, while the un- 
 dergrowth is almost wholly mountain 
 laurel, so dense and interlocked as to be 
 almost impenetrable. Here the enemy 
 cleared several acres on each side of the 
 road. On the outer boundary they 
 placed the tall pines they had cut down, 
 partially trimmed and skinned, with 
 their tops outward, presenting to any 
 one approaching a mass of sharp points, 
 raised to a considerable height, and 
 strongly interlocked. Inside of this they 
 built a wall of logs and cut a deep ditch. 
 In the road they built up, in line with 
 the fortification, breast-works of great 
 strength, and mounted them with pivot 
 guns, while in the centre they erected 
 a block-house, pierced and armed also 
 with cannon. On the east side from the 
 fort to the Cheat River, one mile and 
 a quarter distant, they cleared the road 
 for some distance on both sides, and this 
 can be all the way swept by the cannon. 
 The same is the case on the road west- 
 wardly for some distance. 
 
 ' ' Recurring to the remarkable fort on 
 Cheat Mountain, while it is creditable to 
 the ingenuity of the enemy, it induces a 
 very earnest regret that we ourselves 
 had not held that position when we had 
 it. But if it cannot be taken, of course 
 it can and will be turned. General Lee 
 has, indeed, already turned it, but he 
 
 64 
 
 had still some hope of taking it, which, 
 we suppose, this expedition will induce 
 him to abandon. It is defended by 
 1,200 men, who are good, with their 
 protection, against probably as many 
 thousand. But if our forces march on 
 beyond it, the position is useless to the 
 enemy, and will have to be abandoned." 
 Lee, of*Arlingtou House, Va. the de- 
 scendant of Major Lee, of Revolu- e pt t 
 tionary fame, and the husband of 12. 
 a descendant of Mrs. Washington once 
 an esteemed officer of the United States, 
 now a Confederate general, with a large 
 force, computed to amount to eight or 
 nine thousand men, determined, not- 
 withstanding the formidable strength of 
 this position at Cheat Mountain Pass, to 
 assail it. His rash attempt, however, 
 was signally defeated by General Rey- 
 nolds, the Federal officer in command, 
 who gave this official report of the re- 
 sult : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, FIRST BRIGADE I. Y. M., ) 
 
 ELK WATER, September 17, 1861. ) 
 " To GEO. L. HARTSUFF, ASSISTANT ADJUTANT- 
 GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF OHIO : 
 
 " SIR : The operations of this brigade 
 for the past few days may be summed 
 up as follows : On the 12th instant, the 
 enemy, 9,000 strong, with eight to 
 twelve pieces of artillery, under com- 
 mand of General R. E. Lee, advanced 
 on this position by the Huntersville 
 pike. Our advanced pickets portions 
 of the Fifteenth Indiana and Sixth Ohio 
 gradually fell back to our main picket 
 station, two companies of the Seven- 
 teenth Indiana, under Colonel Hascall, 
 checking the enemy's advance at the 
 
506 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Point Mountain turnpike, and then fall- 
 ing back on the regiment, which occu- 
 pied a very advanced position on our 
 right front, and which was now ordered 
 in. The enemy threw into the woods 
 on our left front three regiments, who 
 made their way to the right and rear 
 of Cheat Mountain, took a position on 
 the road leading to Huttonsville, broke 
 the telegraph wire and cut off our com- 
 munication with Colonel Kimball's Four- 
 teenth Indiana cavalry on Cheat Summit. 
 Simultaneously another force of the en- 
 emy, of about equal strength, advanced 
 by the Stanton pike on the front of 
 Cheat Mountain and threw two regi- 
 ments to the right and rear of Cheat 
 Mountain, which united with the three 
 regiments from the other column of the 
 enemy. The two posts, Cheat Summit 
 and Elk Water, are seven miles apart 
 by a bridle path, over the mountains, 
 and eighteen by the wagon road via 
 Huttonville, Cheat Mountain Pass, the 
 former headquarters of the brigade be- 
 ing at the foot of the mountain, ten 
 miles from the summit. The enemy, 
 advancing toward the pass, by which 
 he might possibly have obtained the 
 rear or left of Elk Water, was met 
 there by three companies of the Thir- 
 teenth Indiana, ordered up for that 
 purpose, and by one company of the 
 Fourteenth Indiana, from the summit. 
 These four companies engaged and gal- 
 lantly held in check greatly superior 
 numbers of the enemy, foiled him in his 
 attempt to obtain the rear or left of Elk 
 Water, and threw him into the rear and 
 right of Cheat Mountain the compa- 
 
 nies retiring to the pass at the foot of 
 the mountain. 
 
 "The enemy, about 5,000 strong, 
 were closed in on Cheat Summit, and 
 became engaged with detachments of 
 the Fourteenth Indiana and Twenty- 
 fourth and Twenty-fifth Ohio, from the 
 summit, in all about three hundred, 
 who, deployed in the wood, held in 
 check and killed many of the enemy, 
 who did not at any time succeed in 
 getting sufficiently near the field re- 
 doubt to give Dunn's battery an oppor- 
 tunity of firing into him. So matters 
 rested at dark on the 12th, with heavy 
 forces in front and in plain sight of both 
 posts, communication cut off, and the 
 supply train for the mountain, loaded 
 with provisions which were needed, 
 waiting for an opportunity to pass up 
 the hill. 
 
 " Determined to force a communica- 
 tion with Cheat, I ordered the Thir- 
 teenth Indiana, under Colonel Sullivan, 
 to cut their way, if necessary, by the 
 mail road, and the greater part of the 
 Third Ohio and Second Virginia, under 
 Colonels Morrow and Moss respectively, 
 to do the same by the path, the two 
 commands starting at three o'clock A. M. 
 on the 13th, the former from Cheat 
 Mountain Pass and the latter from Elk 
 Water, so as to fall upon the enemy, if 
 possible, simultaneously. Early on the 
 13th the small force of about three 
 hundred from the summit engaged the 
 enemy, and with such effect that, not- 
 withstanding his greatly superior num- 
 bers, he retired in great haste and dis- 
 order, leaving large quantities of cloth- 
 
REPULSE AT CHEAT MOUNTAIN. 
 
 507 
 
 ing and equipments on the ground ; and 
 our relieving forces failing to catch the 
 enemy, marched to the summit, secur- 
 ing the provision train and reopening 
 our communication. While this was 
 taking place on the mountain, and as 
 yet unknown to us, the enemy, under 
 Lee, advanced on Elk Water, apparently 
 for a general attack. One rifled ten- 
 pounder Parrott gun, from Loomis' bat- 
 tery, was run to the front three-fourths 
 of a mile, and delivered a few shots at 
 the enemy, doing fine execution, caus- 
 ing him to withdraw out of convenient 
 range. Our relative positions remained 
 unchanged until near dark, when we 
 learned the result of the movement on 
 the mountain, as above stated, and the 
 enemy retired somewhat for the night. 
 
 "On the 14th, early, the enemy was 
 again in position in front of Elk Water, 
 and a few rounds, supported by a com- 
 pany of the Fifteenth Indiana, were 
 again administered, which caused him 
 
 o 
 
 to withdraw as before. The forces that 
 had been repulsed from Cheat returned, 
 and were again driven back by a com- 
 paratively small force from the mount- 
 ain. The Seventeenth Indiana was 
 ordered up the path to open commu- 
 nication and make way for another 
 supply train, but, as before, found the 
 little band from the summit had already 
 
 done the work. During the afternoon 
 of the 14th the enemy withdrew from 
 before Elk Water, and is now princi- 
 pally concentrated some ten miles from 
 this post, at or near his main camp. 
 On the 15th he appeared in stronger 
 force than at any previous time in front 
 of Cheat, and attempted a flank move- 
 ment by the left, but was driven back 
 by the ever vigilant and gallant garrison 
 of the field redoubt on the summit. To- 
 day the enemy has also retired from the 
 front of Cheat, but to what precise posi- 
 tion I am not yet informed. The re- 
 sults of these affairs are, that we have 
 killed near one hundred of the enemy, 
 including Colonel John A. Washington, 
 aid-de-camp to General Lee, and have 
 taken about twenty prisoners. We have 
 lost nine killed, including Lieutenant 
 Junod, Fourteenth Indiana, two miss- 
 ing, and about sixty prisoners, including 
 Captain James Bense and Lieutenants 
 Gilman and Shaffer of the Sixth Ohio, 
 and Lieutenant Merrill of the Engineers. 
 I append the reports of Colonel Kimball, 
 Fourteenth Indiana, Captain Higgins, 
 Twenty-fourth Ohio, and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Owen and Colonel Wagner of 
 the Fifteenth Indiana. 
 
 " J. J. REYNOLDS, 
 " Brig.-Gen. Com'g First Brigade. 
 " GEO. S. Ross, Assistant Adjutant-General." 
 
508 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 General Reynolds' Reconnoissance in Western Virginia. The Enemy on Greenbrier River. An Engagement. Rey- 
 nolds' Official Account of the affair. A forced March and a heavy Fire. A successful Enterprise. The Enemy's 
 account. Contradictory statements. The Enemy boast a victory. Rout and Confusion. Comparative Losses. 
 Kelley a Brigadier-General. Recovered from his wound. Again active. March to Romney. Capture of Romney. 
 A brief Official Report. Exaggeration of the Enemy. Palliation of Defeat. An Apologist. Surprise of Guy- 
 andotte. Treachery and Barbarity. Suddenness of Attack. Carelessness of the Unionists. Fury of the Seces- 
 sionists. Flight of the Secessionists. Arrival of a Federal Force from Ohio. The criminal Connivance of the In- 
 habitants of Guyandotte. Excitement and Exasperation of the Federal Troops. Burning of ' Guyandotte. 
 Terrible Retribution. No Pity. General Rosecrans on the Gauley River. Floyd and his Force. Batteries of the 
 Enemy. Fire across the river. Rosecrans' plan for a Surprise. March of the several Divisions of the Federal 
 Forces. Failure of the Enterprise. Escape of Floyd. His retreat. Benham held responsible. Arrest. Court- 
 martial postponed. The end of the Campaign in Western Virginia. How the Federal Troops were distributed. 
 The new State of Kanawha established. 
 
 1861. 
 
 GENERAL REYNOLDS, who had so suc- 
 cessfully resisted, with his meagre 
 force in his stronghold at Cheat 
 Mountain Pass, the large numbers with 
 which the Confederate general, Lee, had 
 assailed him, now ventured to assume 
 the offensive against the enemy. Rey- 
 nolds started out with a detachment of 
 Oct. 5,000 men on what he was pleased 
 2 to term merely a reconnoissance of 
 the enemy's intrenched position on the 
 Greenbrier River, twelve miles from his 
 own encampment. His official report 
 is the best account of the affair, which 
 became quite a serious engagement. 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, ARMY \ 
 OF OCCUPATION, WESTERN VIRGINIA, v 
 ELKWATER, Oct. 4, 1861. ) 
 
 " GEORGE S. HARTSUFF, ASSISTANT ADJUTANT- 
 GENERAL : 
 
 " SIR : On the night of the 2d of Oc- 
 tober, at twelve o'clock, I started from 
 the summit of Cheat Mountain to make 
 an armed reconuoissance of the enemv's 
 
 position on the Greenbrier River, twelve 
 miles in advance. Our force consisted 
 of Howe's battery, Fourth Regular Ar- 
 tillery, Loomis' battery, Michigan Vol- 
 unteer Artillery, part of Damn's battery, 
 Virginia Volunteer Artillery, Twenty- 
 fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Thirty-second 
 Ohio regiments, Seventh, Ninth, Thir- 
 teenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sev- 
 enteenth Indiana regiments (the last 
 four being reduced by continuous hard 
 service and sickness to about half regi- 
 ments), parts of Robinson's company of 
 Ohio, Greenfield's reserve, and Brack- 
 en's Indiana cavalry in all about 5,000. 
 Milroy's Ninth Indiana Regiment drove 
 in the enemy's advanced pickets, and 
 deployed to our right, driving the enemy 
 on that flank into his intrenchments. 
 Kimball's Fourteenth Indiana was ad- 
 vanced directly to the enemy's front and 
 right, to drive his advanced regiments 
 from a position suitable for our artillery : 
 this was soon done in gallant style, and 
 
REYNOLDS' RECOtftfOISSANCE. 
 
 509 
 
 our batteries took their position within 
 about 700 yards of the intrenchments 
 and opened fire. Some of the enemy's 
 guns were visible, and others concealed. 
 We disabled three of his guns, made a 
 thorough reconnoissance, and after hav- 
 ing fully and successfully accomplished 
 the object of the expedition, retired 
 leisurely and in good order to Cheat 
 Mountain, arriving at sundown, having 
 marched twenty-four miles, and been 
 under the enemy's fire four hours. The 
 enemy's force was about 9,000, and we 
 distinctly saw heavy reinforcements of 
 infantry and artillery arrive while we 
 were in front of the works. 
 
 "We took thirteen prisoners. The 
 number of killed and wounded could 
 not be accurately ascertained, but from 
 those actually counted in the field, and 
 estimated in the trenches which could 
 be seen from the heights, it is believed 
 the number reached at least 300. Our 
 loss was surprisingly small 8 killed and 
 32 wounded, most of them slightly the 
 proximity of our batteries to the in- 
 trenchments causing many shots to pass 
 over us. Very respectfully, etc. 
 " J. J. REYNOLDS, 
 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding. 
 "GEN. S. ROSE, Adjutant-General." 
 
 The enemy's account materially dif- 
 fered from that of General Reynolds. 
 The Confederate general in his report 
 boastingly declared that our troops were 
 driven back in such disorder that their 
 officers failed, " with words of mingled 
 command, remonstrance, and entreaty," 
 to rally them again to the charge. 
 " Rapidly and in disorder they retired," 
 
 continues the Confederate general in his 
 official report, " into the turnpike, and 
 soon thereafter the entire force of the 
 enemy artillery, infantry, and cavalry 
 retreated in confusion along the road 
 and adjacent fields, leaving behind them, 
 at different points, numbers of their 
 killed, guns, knapsacks, canteens, etc. 
 Among other trophies taken were a 
 stand of United States colors, which are 
 held subject to the order of the com- 
 manding general. This engagement 
 lasted from seven in the morning to 
 half-past two in the afternoon, at which 
 time the enemy who had come with 
 artillery to bombard and demoralize us, 
 with infantry to storm our camp, with 
 cavalry to rout and destroy us, and with 
 four days' rations cooked in his haver- 
 sack to prosecute a rapid march either 
 toward Stanton or toward Huntersville 
 was in precipitate retreat back to his 
 Cheat Mountain fastness. His loss in 
 killed and wounded is estimated at from 
 250 to 300 ; among them an officer of 
 superior rank. Our own, I am happy 
 to say, was very inconsiderable, not ex- 
 ceeding fifty in all." 
 
 Kelley, who had distinguished himself 
 at the commencement of the campaign 
 in Western Virginia, and been rewarded 
 for his gallantry with promotion to a 
 brigadier-generalship, having now re- 
 covered from his wound received at the 
 battle of Philippi, was again doing good 
 service for the Federal cause. Starting 
 from his camp at New Creek, o c t, 
 Hampshire County, with an Ohio 25. 
 regiment, six companies of the Seventh, 
 and one company of the Third Virginia 
 
510 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 regiments, and three pieces of artillery, 
 he pushed on toward Romney with the 
 view of driving out the enemy, who oc- 
 cupied that place. Within about six 
 miles his advance met the enemy's picket 
 guards and drove them back upon the 
 town. Kelley now followed with his 
 whole force, and after a two hours' en- 
 gagement completely routed the enemy 
 and took possession of Romney. He 
 thus briefly reported his success : 
 
 " ROMNEY, VA., Saturday, Oct. 26, P. M. 
 
 " In obedience to your orders, I moved 
 on this place at twelve o'clock last night, 
 attacked the enemy at three o'clock this 
 afternoon, and drove in their outposts, 
 and after a brilliant action of two hours 
 completely routed them, taking all their 
 cannon and much of their camp equi- 
 page, and many prisoners. Our loss is 
 but trifling, but cannot say to what ex- 
 tent, 
 
 "BRIG.-GEN. B. F. KELLEY, Com'g." 
 
 The enemy could not conceal their 
 mortification at the loss of Romney, but 
 strove to palliate it by exaggerating the 
 strength of the Federal force and the 
 weakness of their own.* 
 
 Kichmond Enquirer. This was one of their accounts 
 of the affair : 
 
 " An engagement took place yesterday (October 25), be- 
 tween Colonel Angus McDonald's cavalry, 200 in number, 
 and about 200 militia under Colonel Munroe, and a body 
 of Yankee troops, variously estimated at from 3,000 to 
 5,000. Our little force was obliged to retreat before 
 superior numbers. The fight commenced three or four 
 miles from Romney, whither our troops had gone to meet 
 the enemy. After fighting some time, it was found that 
 they could not keep back the Hessians, and a retreat to- 
 ward Romney followed, the enemy pursuing. Our army 
 wagons blocked up the road, and the artillery could not 
 pass, and it was consequently captured, with wagons, 
 tents, baggage, etc. ; and we regret to add that Colonel 
 McDonald, it is believed, fell into the hands of the pur- 
 
 The surprise, by the secessionists of 
 Guyandotte a town situated at the ^ ov , 
 confluence of the Guyandotte and 10 
 Ohio rivers, at the extreme west of 
 Virginia near its Kentucky and Ohio 
 frontiers accompanied, as it was reput- 
 ed to be, with treachery and barbarity, 
 greatly excited the indignation of the 
 Unionists, who took dreadful revenge by 
 burning the town to ashes.* 
 
 sners. When last seen he was on horseback, with the 
 enemy but a short distance in the rear. Some of his 
 friends fear that he has been killed, as the Hessians, it 
 has been stated, exhibited no disposition to take prisoners, 
 but rode up to teamsters and killed them with their 
 sabres. Major 0. R. Funster escaped. He was thrown 
 from a horse, but was carried off in a carriage, and has 
 reached this place in a bruised condition. Some twenty 
 or thirty of the cavalry have reached Winchester, from 
 whom we obtain these particulars. 
 
 " Although directly from the scene of the engagement, 
 they bring reports containing discrepancies as to details. 
 I aim to give what I believe to be the most reliable. It 
 is believed we had about twenty killed, and a number 
 wounded. A large number of the enemy were killed, the 
 artillery making roads through them. 
 
 "The enemy are, no doubt, once more in Romney, 
 and some of our citizens fear they may extend their visit 
 to Winchester forty-two miles being the distance but I 
 have no such fears, 
 
 " A militia force left here this morning in the direction 
 of Romney, to check them if they should have the 
 temerity to advance in this direction. The cars have 
 gone to Charlestown to bring some troops from that place, 
 to go also toward Romney. Of course our people regret 
 that the enemy have, for once, ' stolen a march on our 
 men,' and given the invaders some cause to ' crow.' " 
 
 The following, from the Iron ton Register (Ohio), in 
 the absence of any official account, is the most authentic 
 record of these transactions at present attainable : 
 
 "Colonel R. V. Whaley, of Wayne County, Va., was 
 forming the Ninth Virginia Regiment with his camp at 
 Guyandotte. He had altogether about 150 men, but 
 many were absent on furlough last Sunday. On Saturday, 
 November 9th, thirty -five men of the cavalry of Colonel 
 Zeigler's Fifth Virginia, under Lieutenants Feazzel and 
 Shanley, joined him ; and probably Colonel Whaley had 
 on Sunday night, when attacked, not to exceed 135 or 140 
 men under his command, in Guyandotte. Eighteen were 
 in the hospital, mostly with the measles. The attack was 
 sudden and entirely unexpected, and his men were, some 
 at thurch, some sauntering about town, some asleep in 
 
GUYANDOTTE BURNT TO ASHES. 
 
 511 
 
 Both parties seem to have displayed 
 in this affair an unusual degree of feroc- 
 ity. One of the Federal fugitives hav- 
 ing surrendered to the secessionists and 
 begged his life, received for answer : " We 
 
 their quarters, and only a ' camp guard,' but no ' pickets' 
 out. In short, they were in a criminally careless condi- 
 tion. About eight o'clock in the evening the rebel 
 guerrilla cavalry of Colonel Jenkins, in force estimated 
 from 400 to 800 very good authority puts it at 800, but 
 probably 400 is nearer the actual number suddenly fell 
 upon Colonel Whaley, from different directions. ' Rally !' 
 was instantly the word in Whaley 's camp ; the men 
 gathered in squads, sheltering themselves behind build- 
 ings, embankments, and from the darkness of their vari- 
 ous places of making stands, made a gallant resistance of 
 over an hour, pouring a dreadful fire upon their assailants 
 in the streets. From their scattered condition at the out- 
 set, probably not many over one hundred Union men got 
 to their guns Enfield rifles but those that did, fought 
 desperately against four to one, and they only gave up 
 the fight at last when overwhelmed by superior numbers. 
 
 ' ' There was a sanguinary struggle at the bridge over 
 the Guyandotte River, and those who have since visited 
 the bridge report it covered with blood, as in a slaughter- 
 house. Some of the Federal troops were killed here, and 
 their bodies are said to have been thrown off the bridge 
 into the river by their rebel antagonists. A reliable 
 man, who was in the fight, tells us that one wounded 
 man begged not to be thrown over, but he says ' I heard 
 a splash !' Three of our men attempted to swim the Guy- 
 andotte River, two of them are reported shot ; one did 
 swim the river, but he received a bullet in the leg. One 
 man was pulled out from under a house. Another, con- 
 cealed near, says : ' I heard an officer yell, "Here, shoot 
 this d d Yankee !" ' William Wilson, of Marion, in this 
 county, is said to have been thrown from the bridge. He 
 swam out, concealed himself, and after daylight the next 
 morning, he, with another man, having passed up the 
 bank of the Ohio, was shot from the house of Robert 
 Stewart, a notorious rebel, just above Guyandotte, and 
 wounded severely in the thigh. Wilson was lying at 
 Fuller's in Quaker Bottom, Monday night. Yells of the 
 infuriated rebels were often heard, such as : ' Don' t let a 
 man escape !' ' Give 'em hell !' ' Take no prisoners !' 
 and language not best to repeat. There are reports of fir- 
 ing on our men from the windows in town so men in 
 the fight say. 
 
 "The rebels pursued the squads, charging upon them 
 around the corners, running down individuals, killing 
 some, wounding others, taking others prisoners, and after 
 the fight was over they hauled many from places where 
 they bad attempted to conceal themselves. The rebel 
 
 do not take prisoners," and had his throat 
 immediately cut from ear to ear. 
 
 To complete the history of the cam- 
 paign in Western Virginia, it is ne- 
 cessary to recur to the operations of 
 
 troops held possession of the town until about eight 
 o'clock Monday morning, when they left just as the 
 steamer Boston, with a portion of the Fifth Virginia, 
 under command of Colonel Zeigler, was about arriving, 
 and other Union soldiers were gathering in from the 
 country for thirty miles above and thirty below. 
 
 " The rebels captured about two hundred Eniield rifles, 
 thirty-eight cavalry horses, and all the saddles and horse 
 equipments which had not been received, and were new ; 
 also they took some commissary stores. When they first 
 made the attack, a strong party went directly to the stables 
 where our men had their horses, in the manner showing 
 that they had been fully ' posted.' Several of their 
 horses were killed. 
 
 ' ' There is no doubt that the rebels in town had accu- 
 rately informed the rebel troops of the condition of all 
 things there, and that the rebel people of that place were 
 expecting the attack at the very time it was made, and 
 had governed themselves accordingly. One of our con- 
 cealed men, who escaped, heard the rapturous congratu- 
 lations between Colonel Jenkins and John W. Hite, a 
 notorious secession citizen, on Monday morning. A rebel 
 family, under whose house one of our escaped men was 
 hidden, heard them over his head, getting an ' early 
 breakfast' for a squad of the victors, and heard the women 
 of the house laugh and carry on in great glee about the 
 whipped Yankees. 
 
 " About nine o'clock Monday morning, Colonel Zeigler, 
 of the Fifth Virginia Regiment, arrived at Guyandotte 
 from Ceredo, with a force of Union troops the last of the 
 rebel troops leaving as he arrived. Stories of the night 
 before were heard ; the general rebel conduct of Guyan- 
 dotte through the nine months past was recollected ; 
 Guyandotte as the headquarters of rebel spies, and as a 
 nest of traitors, called by many ' vipers and rattlesnakes,' 
 was thought of ; there was much excitement and exas- 
 peration, and soon the town was in flames ! The compact 
 part of the town all the business portion was committed 
 to the 'devouring element.' The flouring-mill at the 
 upper part of the town was also burnt. Robert Stewart's 
 fine residence, above town, from which Wilson was shot 
 in the morning, also his stables, went the same way. As 
 near as we can judge, from one-half to two-thirds of the 
 houses in town were burnt, probably, safe to say, over one 
 hundred houses. 
 
 " This tragic narrative closes with the severe sentence, 
 ' No pity is due the rebels there the men, and some of 
 the women for their hard fate.' " 
 
512 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 General Rosecrans. It will be recol- 
 lected that this energetic commander, 
 after forcing General Floyd to cross the 
 Gauley River, took possession of the en- 
 emy's deserted camp on the banks of 
 that stream. 
 
 Floyd having thrown his force over 
 to the west side of New River which 
 by confluence with the Gauley forms 
 the Great Kanawha had erected three 
 batteries of two guns each, one oppo- 
 site General Rosecrans' headquarters at 
 Tompkins' farm, five miles above the 
 town of Gauley, another opposite the 
 Kanawha Falls, a mile and a half below 
 the town, and a third opposite the mouth 
 of the Gauley, where the town itself is 
 situated. By these batteries the enemy 
 were enabled so to command the road 
 over which Rosecrans' supply trains from 
 the Falls to his headquarters were oblig- 
 ed to pass a distance of six miles 
 that the wagons could only proceed in 
 the night- time. During the day, Floyd 
 kept up a fire of shells across the river 
 upon the Federal encampments, but did 
 little damage, wounding only two men 
 and killing a few horses. Rosecrans had 
 in the mean time got some cannon in 
 position, by which he succeeded in silenc- 
 ing the enemy's most telling battery, op- 
 posite the mouth of the Gauley River. 
 A battery of ten Parrott guns had also 
 been received by Rosecrans. which he 
 was posting with the view of responding 
 effectually to that battery of the enemy 
 which bore upon the Kanawha Falls. 
 
 While thus meeting Floyd in front, 
 Rosecrans was planning to take him on 
 the flank and in the rear, with the hope 
 
 of surrounding his whole force and com- 
 pelling it to surrender. One who was 
 following our army has thus reported 
 the result : * 
 
 "It was extremely desirable," says 
 he, "to turn Floyd's position and get 
 into his rear if possible, and for this 
 purpose Major Crawford, of the United 
 States Army, a member of General 
 Rosecrans' staff, was directed to make 
 an examination of the slope of the moun- 
 tain toward a deserted ferry, known as 
 Townsend's Ferry, and from which, after 
 crossing the river and ascending the op- 
 posite mountain, a road led directly to 
 the town of Fayette, in the rear of 
 Floyd's position. After incredible labor 
 a road was made down the mountain the 
 distance of one mile, and over rocks and 
 down ravines Major Crawford, with his 
 force of pioneers, passed several boats 
 and two large floats capable of contain- 
 ing ninety or one hundred me*n. The 
 enemy were not watching the ferry on 
 the opposite side, and by Monday night 
 all was ready. Schenck's brigade was 
 to have crossed at this ferry. The 
 boats were in the river, and the move- 
 ment about to be made, when the 
 river suddenly rose, and in a short time 
 became a dashing torrent. To attempt 
 to cross would have hazarded the lives 
 of the men. But one thing was to be 
 done as we could not strike them in 
 the rear, we could reach their flank, and 
 the order was given to the brigade to 
 cross below the entrance of New River 
 into the Kanawha. 
 
 "Meantime the first Kentucky regi- 
 ment had been ordered across, under 
 
FLIGHT AND ESCAPE OF FLOYD. 
 
 513 
 
 Major Leeper, to attack them on the 
 hill [Cotton Hill] opposite Gauley. 
 This was done, and the hill taken, 
 with a loss of four men killed, five 
 wounded, and six missing.. Twenty of 
 the enemy were killed and wounded. 
 Five miles down the river General 
 Benham had crossed with his entire 
 brigade, and was coming up rapidly. 
 The enemy fell back toward a line of 
 intrenchments they had constructed at 
 Dickerson's farm, on the road from 
 Gauley to Fayette. Fearing that they 
 would retreat, General Rosecrans sent 
 orders to General Benham to push for- 
 ward at once a large force to Cassiday's 
 mill, the key-point of the position. A 
 road led from this mill directly to the 
 road running from Fayette to Raleigh, 
 over which the enemy must pass should 
 he determine to retire. It was the in- 
 tention of General Rosecrans that this 
 force should have been thrown upon the 
 flank of the retreating army, while 
 Schenck's and Benham's brigades push- 
 ed them in the rear. By some strange 
 mismanagement upon the part of Gen- 
 eral Benham, the force at the mill was 
 ordered by him to rejoin his command 
 by another road. The enemy, knowing 
 that we would outflank him by the very 
 road from Cassiday's mill, made no 
 stand at his intrenchments, and hastily 
 retreated. The road was strewn with 
 tents, tent poles, cooking utensils, and 
 ammunition, as he lightened his wagons 
 in his flight. Benham now pressed his 
 rear through Fayette and along the 
 Raleigh road, and came up with his rear 
 guard about two miles from the town. 
 
 65 
 
 He attacked this force, consisting of four 
 hundred cavalry and several regiments 
 of infantry, killing Colonel Croghan, who 
 commanded the cavalry, and several 
 others. He brought up his artillery and 
 opened fire upon them with effect. 
 Again they retreated, closely pursued 
 until nightfall, when, from the exhaus- 
 tion of our men, who were without food 
 or blankets, a halt was ordered, and 
 shortly afterwards an order from the 
 commanding general arrived directing a 
 return of our forces." 
 
 Floyd was reported to have had a 
 force of 5,000 men and a train of 300 
 wagons. His escape was a great dis- 
 appointment to General Rosecrans, who, 
 holding General Benham responsible for 
 having failed to cut off the retreat, or- 
 dered his arrest. The commander-in- 
 chief, General McClellan, however, re- 
 leased Benham, and postponed the court- 
 martial. 
 
 The flight of Floyd put an end to 
 the campaign in Western Virginia. The 
 Confederate commander, Lee, had al- 
 ready been withdrawn to command in 
 South Carolina and superintend the de- 
 fences of the Southern coast, threatened 
 by the naval expeditions. Floyd re- 
 turned a disappointed man after his in- 
 glorious campaign in Western Virginia, 
 and was subsequently sent to Ken- 
 tucky. General Wise was still more 
 dispirited, and was believed to have 
 sought for a time in obscure retirement 
 a refuge from the scorn excited by his 
 unskilful generalship. 
 
 Our troops were variously distributed. 
 General Reynolds continued to hold, 
 
514 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 with a small force, the important pass 
 of Cheat Mountain, the greater portion 
 of his Western regiments having been 
 sent to Kentucky or to join General 
 Kelley, at Romney, with the view of 
 being ready to co-operate in probable 
 movements on the Potomac. General 
 Rosecrans established his winter-quar- 
 ters at Wheeling. Thus ended the cam- 
 paign in Western Virginia, which though 
 not illustrated by any very brilliant feat 
 
 of arms, except at the commencement, 
 proved to be the most successful since 
 the civil war began. 
 
 In the mean time, the inhabitants of 
 Western Virginia had adopted, by an 
 immense majority, the ordinance for 
 dividing the old commonwealth of Vir- 
 ginia and establishing a new State, call- 
 ed Kanawha, to be composed of the 
 counties west of the Alleghany Mount- 
 ains. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 Alarm at the North about Southern Privateers. Action of European Powers on the subject. Its effect upon Southern 
 Privateering. Effect of the Blockade. Mitigation of feeling at the North. Inquietude of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. Proposition of the Secretary of State to the European Powers. The Congress of Paris. Its Articles. Why 
 not agreed to by the United States Eagerness of Secretary Se ward. Imprudent Concessions. A Fortunate Dis- 
 appointment. Europe un wiling to apply the principles of the Congress of Paris to the Southern Confederacy. 
 Reasons. Jeff. Davis' Government acknowledged a Belligerent. Seward withdraws his Proposition. The Com- 
 merce of the Slave States. Commercial Marine. War Vessels and Privateers. Bold adventurers. The first Priva- 
 teer. The Savannah. Description. Her fate. Trial of her officers and crew at New York. Disagreement of the 
 jury. Excitement at the South. Threatened Retaliation. Victims selected. The fatal Lot. Prisoners sent to 
 Charleston. Treated as criminals. Change of sentiment at the North. Necessity of treating the Southern Con- 
 federacy as a Belligerent. Rebels on sea like Rebels on land. The number of Prizes captured by the Enemy. 
 Cruise of the Jeff. Davis. Description of the Vessel. Her Prizes. Recapture of one of her Prizes. A tragic Deed. 
 _ The Negro hero Tillman Public curiosity. History and Description of Tillman. Wreck of the Jeff. Davis. 
 Re-capture of the Cuba. The story simply told. The young Prize-master. His account of the affair. 
 
 THE alarm produced at the North, by 
 the issue of letters of marque on the 
 part of the Southern Confederacy, 
 was much greater than has been hitherto 
 justified by the result. The action of the 
 great powers of Europe, restricting the 
 privileges of armed vessels of the ' ' bellig- 
 erents" to the delay of twenty-four hours 
 in their various ports, refusing them the 
 opportunity of selling prizes, adding to 
 their armaments and stores, or of refitting, 
 
 except in cases of absolute necessity, 
 pressed with especial weight upon South- 
 ern privateering, and greatly diminished 
 its power for evil ; while the Federal 
 blockade of Southern ports, becoming 
 daily more stringent, has rendered the 
 enterprise of sailing under letters of 
 marque extremely hazardous. 
 
 Though privateering was denounced 
 by President Lincoln in his proclamation 
 as piracy, and those taken in the act 
 
SEWARD'S PROPOSITION ON PRIVATEERING. 
 
 515 
 
 threatened with the retribution due to 
 that crime, there has been a growing 
 tendency at the North, on the score of 
 policy, to mitigate the severe punish- 
 ment which the privateers of the South- 
 ern Confederacy were formerly declared 
 to have merited. The early inquietude 
 of the Federal Government is clearly 
 revealed in the hasty, and perhaps ill- 
 advised, proposition of the Secretary of 
 State to the powers of Europe who 
 were parties to the agreement at the 
 Congress of Paris, in 1856, to concur 
 with them in the abolition of privateering. 
 The assent .of our Government, it will 
 be recollected, was refused to the action 
 of the Congress of Paris, because to its 
 articles of agreement abolishing priva- 
 teering, granting enemy's goods, with the 
 exception of contraband of war, immu- 
 nity from seizure under a neutral flag, 
 giving neutrals' goods, with the same ex- 
 ception, protection under the enemy's 
 flag, and declaring that blockades to be 
 valid must be effective there was not 
 added the exemption from seizure of pri- 
 vate property on the sea, under all cir- 
 cumstances, as on land. The Secretary 
 of State, in his eagerness to prevent the 
 evil of Southern privateering, which, at 
 the time, appeared so formidable, hur- 
 ried to give in his adhesion to the propo- 
 sitions of the Congress of Paris, without 
 insisting, like the astute Marcy, on the ex- 
 emption of private property from seizure 
 on the sea. He thus waived a privilege 
 of immense importance, without asking 
 for that compensation which alone could 
 repay the United States with a large 
 commercial marine and comparatively 
 
 small naval power for the loss of its pe- 
 culiarly effective arm of offence, the pri- 
 vateer. 
 
 Fortunately, perhaps, for the United 
 States, the proposition of Secretary Sew- 
 ard was met by England and France 
 with the condition, that the principles 
 laid down by the Congress of Paris 
 should not be applicable to the Southern 
 Confederacy. These European powers 
 had already committed themselves to 
 the recognition of the Confederacy as a 
 belligerent, and therefore were bound in 
 honor to concede to it the privileges be- 
 longing to that character. The Govern- 
 ment of Jefferson Davis was held by 
 France and England as possessed of all 
 the ordinary international rights of a 
 war power, and of course entitled to 
 issue letters of marque, until by its own 
 free will it had given up the privilege. 
 With this condition attached to the ac- 
 ceptance of his proposition to make the 
 United States a party to the agreement 
 of the Congress of Paris abolishing pri- 
 vateering, Seward found himself frus- 
 trated in his object of weakening the 
 Southern Confederacy, and withdrew his 
 offer of concurrence. 
 
 The slave States having, in comparison 
 with the free, an insignificant commercial 
 marine, had, although possessed of an 
 extensive sea-coast, but a small number 
 of vessels armed or manned by their 
 own people. Their commerce was chiefly 
 carried on in Northern bottoms and by 
 Northern sailors. On the breaking out 
 of the civil war, however, they seized, 
 without scruple, those vessels belonging 
 to the Government and private persons 
 
516 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 which happened to be lying in their har- 
 bors. They were thus enabled to obtain 
 a considerable fleet of sailing vessels and 
 steamers, though mostly of small tonnage, 
 with the exception of those which fell 
 into their hands on the abandonment of 
 the Norfolk Navy Yard. Of these latter 
 they made effective use, having restored 
 some of them, among which was the 
 Merrimac, that became such a formidable 
 machine of destruction.* 
 
 Many of the vessels thus surrepti- 
 tiously obtained were converted into pri- 
 vateers, and have met with various fates, 
 which it is now proposed to record. 
 
 * The following list of vessels in the service of the Con- 
 federates is obtained from the New York Herald of No- 
 vember 19, 1861, and is probably as nearly accurate as is 
 now possible : 
 
 LIST OF PRIVATEERS. 
 
 Name. Class. 
 
 Alice Schooner. 
 
 Antonio Schooner. 
 
 Beauregard 
 
 Bonita Brig 
 
 Bradford Steamer . 
 
 Cotton Plant Steamer . 
 
 Coffee Steamer . 
 
 Calhoun Steamer . 
 
 Curtis Peck Steamer . 
 
 Curlew Steamer . 
 
 Dixie Schooner . 
 
 Dodge Schooner . 
 
 Everglade Steamer . 
 
 Gordon Steamer . 
 
 Geo. Page Steamer . 
 
 Geo. B. Baker Schooner. 
 
 Huntress Steamer . 
 
 Ivy Steamer . 
 
 James Grey Propeller . 
 
 Jackson Steamer . 
 
 Jeff. Davis Brig 
 
 Judith Schooner . 
 
 John A. Moore. . . . Steamer . 
 
 Lady Davis Steamer . 
 
 Lewis Cass Schooner . 
 
 McRae Steamer . 
 
 McClellan Schooner . 
 
 Merrimac Steamer . 
 
 Commander. 
 
 Guns. Tons. 
 
 . A. 0. Murphy .... 
 
 Capt. Libby ...... 
 
 276 
 
 Capt. Lynch ...... 
 
 2 
 
 Geo. N. Hollins. . . 3 1,058 
 
 Capt. Hunter ..... 1 
 
 T. J. Moore ....... 1 150 
 
 1 100' 
 
 J. Mclntosh Kell. . 
 
 Capt. Lockwood... 2 500 
 
 1 
 
 2 200 
 
 _ 1 _ 
 
 Capt. Gwaltemey. . 2 200 
 
 Capt. Coxetter. ... 5 
 
 5 250 
 
 T. B. Hager ...... 2 
 
 2 100 
 
 6 600 
 J. G. Breshwood . . 6 145 
 
 6 
 
 Among those persons engaged in the coast- 
 ing trade, of whom not a few were North- 
 ern men, and the large number of naval 
 officers who had deserted the United 
 States flag and adopted that of the Con- 
 federacy, it was not difficult to find bold 
 adventurers and competent officers to 
 command these vessels, many of which 
 have been handled with rare skill and 
 daring. While some have fallen an 
 easy prey, others have eluded the vigi- 
 lance of our blockading fleets and es- 
 caped from the pursuit of our swiftest 
 cruisers. 
 
 The first privateer commissioned by 
 
 Name. Class. 
 
 Manassas Steamer . 
 
 Masanon Steamer . 
 
 Marion Steamer . 
 
 Mystic Steamer . 
 
 Music Steamer . 
 
 Northampton Steamer . 
 
 Nina Steamer . 
 
 Nashville Steamer . , 
 
 Nelins Steamer . 
 
 Neva Schooner. 
 
 Pickens Schooner . 
 
 Petrel Schooner . 
 
 Patrick Henry Steamer . 
 
 Richmond Steamer . 
 
 Sumter Steamer . 
 
 Sallie Schooner . 
 
 Savannah Schooner . 
 
 Screamer Steamer . 
 
 Sallust Schooner . 
 
 South Carolina. .. .Steamer . 
 
 St. Nicholas Steamer . 
 
 Tuscarora. Steamer . 
 
 Vixen Steamer . 
 
 Washington Schooner . 
 
 Wm. H. Webb Steamer . 
 
 York Schooner . 
 
 Yorktown . . . . Steamer . , 
 
 Commander. Guns. Tons. 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 Capt. Hicks 
 
 1 
 1,220 
 
 Wm. Perry 
 
 Capt. Kennedy 
 
 ,R. Semmes 
 
 Capt. Libby 1 140 
 
 T. H. Baker . . .1 54 
 
 Capt. Coxetter. . . . 
 
 Capt. Parrish 8 1,400 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Steamers 36 Uncertain 1 
 
 Schooners 16 
 
 Brigs 2 Total 55 
 
 In addition to the above list, the Southerners have at 
 their disposal some very large steamers, that could upon 
 
SOUTHERN PRIVATEERS. 
 
 517 
 
 the President of the Confederate States 
 was captured. This was the Savannah, 
 
 emergency be converted into vessels of war. 
 are the following : 
 Name. Tons. 
 
 Atlantic 623 
 
 America 372 
 
 General Miramon .... 296 
 
 Galveston 945 
 
 Mexico 1,059 
 
 Magnolia 843 
 
 Among them 
 
 Name Tons. 
 
 Suwanee 494 
 
 Star of the West 1,172 
 
 Tennessee 1,179 
 
 Texas 1,125 
 
 W. G. Hewes 1,100 
 
 Matagorda 425 
 
 And the following vessels are at present in use by the 
 rebels, as transports : 
 
 Prince of Wales. Cheeney. Louisville. 
 
 Kentucky. Tucker. Sovereign. 
 
 Victoria. Little Rock. Admiral. 
 
 John Walsh. Chester Ashley. Nebraska. 
 
 Ingomar. Belfast. F. Nortrebe. 
 
 John Simmons. Alonzo Childs. Arkansas. 
 
 General Pike. E. H. Mears. Equality. 
 
 Mary Patterson. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Privateers 55 
 
 Steamers under the rebel control, not in use 12 
 
 Transports 22 
 
 Total 89 
 
 OFFICERS IN THE REBEL SERVICE. 
 
 CAPTAINS. 
 
 Lawrence Rousseau, of Louisiana. 
 Josiah Tattnall, of Georgia. 
 Victor M. Randolph, of Alabama. 
 
 D. N. Ingraham, of South Carolina. 
 French Forrest, of Virginia. 
 George N. Hollins, of Maryland. 
 Samuel Barron, of Virginia. 
 William F. Lynch, of Virginia. 
 Isaac F. Sterett, of Maryland. 
 
 COMMANDERS. 
 
 E. Favana, of Florida. 
 Thomas W. Brent, of Florida. 
 Raphael Semmes, of Alabama. 
 Henry J. Hartstene, of South Carolina. 
 Sidney Smith Lee, of Virginia. 
 William G. Whittle, of Virginia. 
 Robert D. Thornton, of Virginia. 
 Robert J. Robb, of Virginia. 
 Murray Mason, of Virginia. 
 William W. Hunter, of Virginia. 
 Archibald B. Fairfax, of Virginia. 
 William McBlair, of Maryland. 
 Richard L. Page, of Virginia. 
 Frederick Chatard, of Maryland. 
 
 made memorable by the trial of her cap- 
 tain and crew for piracy. She was a small 
 
 Arthur Sinclair, of Virginia. 
 Charles A. Kennedy, of North Carolina. 
 Matthew F. Maury, of Tennessee. 
 John R. Tucker, of Virginia. 
 Robert F. Pinckney, of Maryland. 
 Thomas R. Rootes, of Georgia. 
 James L. Henderson, of Virginia. 
 William S. Muir, of North Carolina. 
 Thomas F. Hunter, of Virginia. 
 Charles F. Mclntosh, of Virginia. 
 William S. Muse, of North Carolina. 
 
 LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 F. B. Renshaw, of Pennsylvania. 
 James H. North, of South Carolina. 
 Thomas B. Huger, of South Carolina. 
 John Rutledge, of South Carolina. 
 C. M. Morris, of South Carolina. 
 A. F. Warley, of South Carolina. 
 John Kell, of Georgia. 
 Joseph Fry, of Georgia. 
 J. R. Hamilton, of South Carolina. 
 J. R. Eggleston, of Mississippi. 
 R. S. Chapman, of Alabama. 
 Thomas P. Pelot, of South Carolina. 
 William G. Doxier, of South Carolina. 
 Maurice Simons, of South Carolina. 
 C. L. Sayre, of Alabama. 
 J. M. Stribling, of South Carolina. 
 Philip Porcher, of South Carolina. 
 P. U. Murphy, of North Carolina. 
 W. N. E. Boudinot, of North Carolina. 
 Thomas M. Crosson, of North Carolina. 
 William W. Roberts, of North Carolina. 
 David Coleman, of North Carolina. 
 R. C. Duval, of North Carolina. 
 Crosson, of North Carolina. 
 
 MIDSHIPMEN. 
 
 W. T. Moore, of North Carolina. 
 
 John Grimball, of . 
 
 Henry H. Tyson, of Maryland. 
 Leroy H. Washington, of Georgia. 
 W. B. Hart, of Georgia. 
 Barron Carter, of Georgia. 
 
 W. A. W. Spotswood, of Virginia. 
 Edward Wonders, of North Carolina. 
 William F. Carrington, of Virginia. 
 Wyatt M. Brown, of North Carolina. 
 Arthur M. Lynch, of South Carolina. 
 D. B. Phillips, of . 
 Charles E. Lining, of South Carolina. 
 
518 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 schooner of only fifty tons measurement, 
 and. was originally used as a pilot-boat 
 in the harbor of Charleston, but, having 
 been condemned as unserviceable, had 
 been laid up. Though old, she was a fast 
 sailer. Having been refitted, armed with 
 an eighteen-pounder which was mounted 
 on a swivel midships, well supplied with 
 ammunition, stores, and water for a 
 long voyage, and manned with a crew 
 June f twenty men, the Savannah set 
 2 sail from Charleston. 
 Her cruise and subsequent fate were 
 
 PAYMASTERS. 
 
 W. W. J. Bell, of Florida. 
 Henry Meyers, of Georgia. 
 John Johnston, of North Carolina. 
 
 CHIEF ENGINEER. 
 
 Samuel Archibald, of Maryland. 
 J. "W. Parks, of North Carolina. 
 
 FIRST ASSISTANT ENGINEER. 
 
 John H. Loper. 
 
 NAVAL AGENTS. 
 
 Oliver S Dewey, of North Carolina. 
 Marshall P. Farks, of Virginia. 
 MARINES. 
 
 COLONEL. 
 
 Lloyd J. Bell, of Maryland. 
 
 LIEUTENANT COLONEL. 
 
 Henry B. Tyler, of Virginia. 
 
 MAJOR. 
 George H. Terry, of Virginia. 
 
 CAPTAINS. 
 
 Israel Green, of Virginia. 
 George Holmes, of Florida. 
 
 SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 James R. Y. Fenack, of Georgia. 
 Wilber F. Johnson, of Georgia. 
 Edmund J. Lloyd, of Virginia. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Captains 9 
 
 Commanders 25 
 
 Lieutenants 24 
 
 Midshipmen 6 
 
 Surgeons 7 
 
 Paymasters 3 
 
 Chief Engineer 1 
 
 First Assistant Engineer. 1 
 
 Navy Agents 2 
 
 Colonel of Marines 1 
 
 Lieut. -Col. of Marines . . 1 
 
 Major of Marines 1 
 
 Captains of Marines .... 2 
 Second Lieuts. of Marines 3 
 
 Total.. ..87 
 
 thus told in one of the daily newspa- 
 pers :* 
 
 " The Savannah went to sea on Sun- 
 day, 2d of June, and the next day fell 
 in with the brig Joseph, of Rockland, 
 Maine, from Cardenas, Cuba, with a 
 cargo of sugar consigned to Welch & Co., 
 Philadelphia. The pirate set her colors 
 so as to deceive the Joseph, and the 
 latter hove to and her captain went 
 aboard the piratical craft, under the im- 
 pression that she was in distress. No 
 sooner had he done so than the captain 
 of the privateer said, ' Your vessel is 
 taken as a prize under the authority 
 of the Confederate States. 7 Eight men 
 were put aboard the Joseph, and they 
 were directed to take her and the crew 
 to the nearest port, which was that of 
 Georgetown, S. C. This occurred about 
 the middle of the afternoon. Soon after 
 the Savannah and Joseph parted com- 
 pany, the brig Perry, a man-of-war, hove 
 in sight, a little north of the Hole in the 
 Wall ; but as her guns were run back, 
 her port-holes closed, and the vessel 
 otherwise purposely disguised, she was 
 mistaken for a merchantman, and the 
 pirates, flushed with their recent success, 
 and with so inviting a prospect of plunder 
 before them, full of great expectations, 
 made all sail for the supposed prize. 
 They had got within a mile of the brig 
 before they discovered their blunder, 
 when they put about, more anxious to 
 escape than they had been before to 
 make the seizure. The Perry at once 
 gave chase, and fired several shots, four 
 of which were returned by the eighteen- 
 
 * New York Tribune. 
 
CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS. 
 
 519 
 
 pounder of the Savannah. Two of the 
 shots from the Perry went through the 
 foresail of the pilot-boat ; the shots of 
 the Savannah did not take effect. The 
 next occurrence was the surrender of the 
 pirates, who were taken on board the 
 Perry, and were subsequently trans- 
 ferred to the Minnesota, lying off Charles- 
 ton, where they were put in irons." 
 
 The officers and crew of the Savannah 
 were subsequently sent to New York, 
 where they were placed in the custody 
 of the United States marshal and con- 
 fined in the City Prison, to take their trial 
 for piracy. They were accordingly duly 
 arraigned and tried for this crime, but 
 the jury having failed to agree, the 
 private ersmen were re-committed to 
 prison to await future action. About the 
 same time a trial of some men similarly 
 charged took place in Philadelphia, which 
 resulted in their conviction of piracy. 
 Meanwhile the Southern Confederacy 
 was greatly excited on the score of these 
 trials, and the threatened punishment of 
 the captured privateersmen as pirates. 
 Jefferson Davis officially declared that, 
 in case of their execution, he would re- 
 taliate upon the Federal prisoners who 
 had fallen into his hands ; and to prove 
 the fixedness of his resolve he immedi- 
 ately gave orders for the selection by lot 
 among the principal captives then at 
 Richmond, of those who were to answer 
 with their lives for the privateersmen 
 who should be executed by the United 
 States Government. The enemy, prin- 
 cipally by their successes at Bull Run, 
 had become possessed of a large number 
 of prisoners, many of whom were officers 
 
 of high rank, and the fatal chance fell to 
 some of the principal of them, of whom 
 Colonel Corcoran, the commander of 
 the Sixty-ninth Irish Regiment, of New 
 York, who had acquitted himself with 
 rare gallantry before Manassas, is the 
 best known. He and the other victims 
 of the fatal lot were transferred from 
 Richmond to Charleston, where they 
 were closely imprisoned and treated with 
 the harshness used only toward criminals ; 
 and where they long remained, with their 
 lives in suspense, awaiting the action of 
 the Federal Government in regard to the 
 ca.ptured privateersmen. 
 
 In the progress, however, of the civil 
 war, there has been a manifest change 
 of sentiment in the North. As the 
 strength of the Southern insurgents has 
 become more apparent, there has been 
 an increasing willingness to consider them 
 as belligerents, and to award them all the 
 privileges which belong to that charac- 
 ter. Though at the commencement of 
 the conflict the Federal Government res- 
 olutely refused to treat with the enemy 
 in regard to it, the exchange of prison- 
 ers is now effected with the formalities 
 usual between belligerents in regular 
 war. With this concession, the natural 
 result of the severity and prolongation 
 of the struggle, the conviction has been 
 growing, that policy requires that pris- 
 oners taken on sea must be treated in 
 every respect like those captured on the 
 land. It is therefore probable that Con- 
 federate privateersmen are in no more 
 danger of the yard-arm than prisoners 
 of war are of the gallows. 
 
 It is impossible to give the exact 
 
520 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 number of prizes taken by the privateers 
 Jau, f the enemy, but, to this date, the 
 16 whole would hardly amount to half 
 a hundred. The recapture of several of 
 the prizes by their original crews has 
 supplied some of the most startling and 
 tragic incidents of the war. The "Jeff. 
 Davis " had proved herself one of the 
 most audacious of the Southern priva- 
 teers, and the most successful in her ad- 
 venturous enterprise. She was formerly 
 known as the slaver Echo, and having 
 been captured while engaged in that 
 cruel traffic on the coast of Africa, was 
 taken into the harbor of Charleston and 
 condemned. She was rigged as a brig, 
 and not having the "low, black" look 
 of the traditional corsair, but the rusty 
 and substantial appearance of the ordin- 
 ary merchantman, was especially calcu- 
 lated to deceive the unwary. Having 
 been mounted with a thirty- two-pounder, 
 placed on a pivot amidships, and on each 
 side with a thirty-two-pounder, and a 
 twelve-pounder, she sailed out of Savan- 
 nah on a cruise. Her commander was 
 Captain Coxetter, said to be of Dutch 
 origin ; her first lieutenant was one Por- 
 chal, formerly a midshipman in the United 
 States navy ; and her crew consisted of 
 about sixty men, of all nations. Her 
 cruise, boldly pushed even to Nantucket 
 Shoals, was very successful, and alarm- 
 ing to the commerce of New England. 
 Among her prizes was the schooner S. 
 J. Waring, recaptured by her negro 
 cook, William Tillman.* 
 
 The following is the narrative of a passenger : 
 "The privateer," he says, after describing the capture 
 of the Waring by the Jeff. Davis, " took some of our 
 
 The Jeff. Davis, after her adven- ^u w , 
 turous cruise, was wrecked on the !? 
 
 charts, coasting books, a sextant, some plates, coffee cups, 
 a lot of table cloths, a quantity of flour, several oil-cans, 
 a tub of butter, some cases of preserved lobster, and other 
 articles, together with all the fire-arms which they could 
 find, except a single-barrelled pistol belonging to myself, 
 and another owned by William Stedding, one of our crew. 
 
 " Having sent their boat load of stuff off, they returned 
 with a prize crew, consisting of a prize master, mate, and 
 second mate, and two men, taking in exchange for them 
 Captain Smith, of Brooklyn ; T. J. Smith, first mate, of 
 New York ; T. Davidson, second mate, and two seamen. 
 The prize crew consisted of Montague Amiel, a Charleston 
 pilot, prize-master ; Stephens, mate, an Irishman, who 
 had been in this country about ten years ago, but had been 
 at sea until nine months since, when he returned, and 
 three sailors, one of whom acted as second mate and slept 
 in the cabin ; the other two were hands, whose names are 
 James Milnor, of South Carolina, and James Dorsey, of 
 Pt. Pleasant, N. J. There were, therefore, on the schooner 
 the prize crew of five ; William Tillman, the colored stew- 
 ard ; William Stedding and Daniel McLeod, seamen, and 
 myself ; of the original party four nine persons in all. 
 
 " The schooner was headed for Charleston, or some inlet 
 on the coast near that port. We were not put in irons, 
 but were treated with as much kindness as we could ex- 
 pect. The steward continued to cook and provide for us, 
 and our men worked the vessel. I became quite intimate 
 with the officers, am 1 expected soon to be a prisoner of war 
 in Charleston, though we had hoped that we might fall in 
 with a United States vessel, and be rescued from our cap- 
 tors. Thus we got along quietly on our way southward, 
 till Tuesday, the 10th inst. , when we were fifty miles south 
 and one hundred miles east of that port, and thought we 
 might get in the next day. 
 
 "What followed, I did not anticipate. It is true that, 
 now, when I look back, I remember that Amiel had con- 
 gratulated himself upon a valuable prize that he had 
 found in the steward, whom he vowed was worth a cool 
 thousand on Meeting Street, Charleston. And I further 
 remember that on several occasions Tillman, the steward, 
 shook his head and muttered, ' Dem fo'ks nebber git to 
 Charls'n ;' but I supposed then that he was expecting, like 
 the rest of us, to meet with a friend in one of Uncle Sam's 
 cruisers. 
 
 " It was a bright moonlight night, that of Tuesday, so 
 pleasant that I i-emained on deck till eleven P.M. , later than 
 I usually did. The steward had turned in at eight, as was 
 his habit. Our trunk cabin projected about three feet 
 above the main deck, and was entered by a companion-way 
 in the middle of the forward end. When I went down, 
 the mate was nodding on the cabin roof, just in front of 
 the wheel, in a half recumbent position. Behind him 
 stood William Stedding, one of our old crew, at the wheel. 
 
WRECK OF THE JEFF. DAVIS. 
 
 521 
 
 bar outside of St. Augustine, in Florida, 
 while attempting to make a harbor. 
 
 Milnor, the South Carolinian, lay asleep on a pile of sails 
 at the foot of the foremast. McLeod, another of our men, 
 with Dorsey, the Jerseynian, were asleep in the forecastle. 
 The cabin lamp was burning on the table when I went be- 
 low, and Captain Amiel lay snoring in his berth, sound 
 asleep in his state-room. In the state-room on the other 
 side of the cabin slept the steward and second mate, the 
 fonder on top, the latter in the second berth, the third and 
 lowest sleeping-place being unoccupied. 
 
 " The weather being sultry, the doors of the state-rooms 
 had been taken off, so that not only were the rooms open 
 from the cabin, but iny room, in the rear of the captain's, 
 opened into his, the door between being also down. I 
 took my coat and vest off very leisurely, and swallowed a 
 draught of cherry brandy before getting into bed, so that 
 I should think it was eleven when I retired. It could not 
 have been more than ten minutes later when I was awak- 
 ened from a light sleep by a peculiar sound in the captain's 
 room, which I knew instinctively could only have been 
 produced by an axe cleaving Amiel's skull. No sooner 
 did the ' thush' strike upon my ear than I leaped out of 
 bed, and leaning against the door-casing in the partition, 
 saw the steward dart through the twilight for he had 
 extinguished the light, noiseless as a cat across the cabin, 
 toward the second mate's room. I also saw, at the same 
 glance, Captain Amiel rise from his berth and attempt 
 to follow him ; but the blood blinded him, and he fell to 
 the floor with a horrid gurgling sound in his throat. All 
 this was the work of a second. The cleaving of the skull, 
 like the flash from a gun preceding the report, was fol- 
 lowed by a weak, faint cry, like that of a sick child, and 
 the gurgling in the throat. I knew then that his wound 
 was mortal. Stooping sideways, the steward entered the 
 second mate's cabin, and once more swung his axe, but 
 not so effectively. 
 
 "The mate started up with a 'Q d d n you, don't 
 strike me again,' and clutched at the steward's breast ; 
 but eluding the wounded man, he ran on deck to where 
 the man was lying near the wheel-house, and keeping his 
 axe behind him, demanded ' what all this noise was about ?' 
 The mate, who had been aroused by the outcries of the 
 captain and second mate, had raised himself up on his 
 elbow and stared at the steward in a half stupid, half 
 fascinated way, not seeing the pistol which Stedding, the 
 man at the helm, had pointed at him for use in case of 
 necessity. As he turned his face toward the steward, the 
 latter drove his weapon home into the base of his skull. 
 Stedding and the steward then tumbled him overboard. 
 He rose on the wave with a hoarse cry, when about two 
 lengths astern, the water having raised him ; but he must 
 have soon gone down to his long account. 
 
 "Then the steward came down to the cabin, where I 
 still was, while Stedding stood, pistol in hand, guarding 
 the deck. The captain cried faintly twice to me by name, 
 66 
 
 She proved, notwithstanding every at- 
 tempt to save her, a total loss. 
 
 ' Help me help me ;' but he was past help. Another 
 swishing blow of the axe, and he did not repeat the cry. 
 Then the steward returned to the second mate's cabin, 
 where, seated on a pile of starch boxes, his legs drawn up 
 and his head between his knees, was the half-stupefied 
 man. Again and again the axe fell, and again and again 
 the cry, ' Don't do that,' fell on my ear, each time fainter 
 than the last. Stedding now came down, and the steward 
 and he took the corpse of the captain by the feet, and 
 dragging it up the companion-way, tossed it overboard. 
 Meantime I had got some irons out, hoping to intercede to 
 save bloodshed. Stedding and the steward once more 
 came down, and each taking the second mate by the 
 shoulder, led him out from the place where he had 
 crouched on the starch boxes. He seemed to walk with 
 their assistance, as they went up the companion-way, but 
 his head lay a pulpy mass upon his shoulder, and a mo- 
 ment after a splash alongside told the fato of another of 
 the privateers . 
 
 " There were three persons on board who knew nothing 
 of all this the two privateer sailors, and Donald McLeod, 
 one of our sailors, whom I subsequently learned would 
 not join the steward and Stedding in the attempt to re- 
 capture the vessel. Handing me hispistol, Stedding went 
 forward and roused Milnor, the South Carolinian, a young 
 man of two or three-and-twenty. from his sleep at the foot 
 of the mainmast, and called him aft. Not seeing his 
 comrades when he came into the cabin, he was much 
 frightened and begged for life. The steward told him he 
 would not kill him but iron him, and his fate must depend 
 upon his good behavior ; he wanted to spill as little blood 
 as possible. He willingly held out his wrists for the irons. 
 They then went forward to the forecastle and called the 
 other privateer, Dorsey. Upon learning the condition of 
 affairs he begged for his life, which they promised to spare 
 if he would assist in working the ship and be true and 
 faithful ; to all of which he agreed. 
 
 ' ' The steward now took command, and the schooner 
 headed for the north, with a fair wind. None of us knew 
 anything of navigation, but we trusted to good fortune 
 and the land to enable us to make out our course. The 
 South Carolinian was released from irons the next morning, 
 and proved a very useful and willing fellow in working the 
 ship. On Friday the 19th, at eight o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, we made the land, which became quite distinct by 
 noon, and we kept on our way with good weather, sound- 
 ing our way as we went. Of course, we had to be vigilant. 
 * < ' Two of our hands might turn upon us at any mo- 
 ment, and McLeod was not faithful ; for three days before 
 we got in, therefore, the steward went forward and slept 
 with them in the forecastle. Stedding, Tillman, and I 
 managed it so that two of us were on deck all the while, 
 and always aft of the other three. The two men on watch 
 carried the two pistols, and the one that slept always kept 
 
522 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 With the S. J. Waring, there came on 
 the same day into the harbor of New 
 York the brig Cuba, which had been 
 
 one eye open, lest we might be attacked. On Sunday 
 morning, July 21st, at nine o'clock, we got a pilot off Sandy 
 Hook, and soon after hired a tug for $60 to tow us up to 
 New York, where we arrived about four P.M., truly thank- 
 ful for our great deliverance." 
 
 Tillman, the negro steward, became the hero of the day, 
 and his history, personal appearance, and character were 
 minutely investigated. He was described as " of medium 
 height, rather strongly built, crisp hair, of nearly unmixed 
 negro blood, and bearing in his countenance an expression 
 of honesty and strong common sense, with some touches 
 of humor . ' ' His age was given as ' ' twenty -seven 
 last birthday," and his early history thus detailed : "He 
 was born of free colored parents in Milford, Delaware. 
 His parents moved to Providence, Rhode Island, when he 
 was fourteen years old, and he has since called that place 
 his home. He has followed the sea for years, and has 
 been in the employ of Jonas Smith & Co., No. 227 Front 
 Street (New York), by whom the Waring was owned, for 
 the last three years." 
 
 The following account is derived from the log of Cap- 
 tain Strout : 
 
 "Sailed from Trinidad de Cuba for London on July 2, 
 with a cargo of sugar and molasses. On the morning of 
 July 4, in latitude 21 10', longitude 73 15', on the south 
 side of Cuba, was brought to by a shot from the privateer 
 steamer Sumter, formerly the Marquis de la Habana, and 
 on heaving to was boarded by a boat from her, and or- 
 dered to come on board the steamer and bring my ship's 
 papers. The steamer at the time had the Stars and Stripes 
 flying from, her peak, which were afterward taken down 
 and the secession flag hoisted. On arriving on board I 
 was ordered below in the cabin, and delivered my papers 
 to the captain, who, after examining them, destroyed 
 them, saying that I was a prisoner, and that the brig 
 should be taken into port and sold. At this time Captain 
 Shoppy, of the brig Machias, of Machias, came on board, 
 and after presenting his ship's papers, which were destroyed, 
 we were told to go on board our vessels, and that they 
 would be towed to some port in Cuba. 
 
 "Hawsers were then got out, and the two brigs were 
 taken in tow ; this was about twelve o'clock, 4th July, and 
 the brigs continued in tow until four A.M., July 5th, when 
 the hawser of the Machias parted ; the Cuba was towed 
 some ten miles farther, when she was let off and search 
 
 re-captured by her original captain and 
 crew under similar circumstances.* 
 
 made for the Machias. On coming up again, they could 
 not get near enough to our brig to get the hawser, on ac- 
 count of the heavy sea, when she proceeded on with the 
 Machias. All sail was then made for Cuba, and she was 
 headed in for land, having received a prize crew of five 
 men, consisting of one midshipman, two sailors, and two 
 marines, who threatened, ' in case Captain Strout and his 
 men refused to work the vessel, they would shoot them.' 
 Continued working the vessel in toward the eastward until 
 the 7th, when the officer concluded to keep her off for some 
 Southern port, where he could run her in or on shore." 
 
 On the night of the 8th Captain Strout succeeded, after 
 a desperate resistance on the part of the sailors and ma- 
 rines in regaining possession of his vessel. 
 
 On the 14th of July the midshipman managed to get 
 possession of a pistol, by breaking open a chest while all 
 hands were engaged in working the ship, and with it went 
 up to the maintop. Captain Strout coming on deck, and 
 seeing the pistol in his hand, turned to go below for arms, 
 when the midshipman threatened to shoot him if he did. 
 The captain, however, went below, procured a revolver, 
 and ordered him down on the deck. On his refusal two 
 shots were fired at him, one of which taking effect in his 
 shoulder, he came down. 
 
 The young prize officer had been a United States mid- 
 shipman, and was a graduate of the Naval School at An- 
 napolis. He gave the following account of his capture : 
 
 "I tried to work the ship with Captain Strout' s crew, 
 and had given positive orders to the men to keep their 
 arms on, and help to work, whether seamen or not, where- 
 ever it was possible. The men neglected it ; and I, for the 
 first time in four days and nights had left mine off. they 
 being in the bunk below at the time of Captain Strout's 
 movement. I had laid myself down on deck and gone 
 asleep. When I awoke I found all the men aft, without 
 arms, and six men, Captain Strout, his mate, and five men, 
 ranged opposite and around me, with arms in their hands. 
 I immediately went below, having been permitted to pass 
 them, with the intention of getting my arms, but I found 
 them gone ; and when I returned on deck I met the cap- 
 tain and his mate facing me, with my pistols The cap- 
 tain demanded my surrender, and said he had my arms. 
 
 " As soon as I got up to lam he ordered me forward, and 
 said everything should be done fairly with us, etc. He 
 put us in irons, but not having sufficient he 'tied several 
 of the men with ropes. He took my irons off an hour 
 after ; but I was watched, and afterward locked up." 
 
THE SUMTER. 
 
 523 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 The Privateer Sumter. Her History and Construction. Armament and Officers. Her escape from New Orleans. 
 An eventful Cruise. Arrival at Gibraltar. The Privateer Petrel. Her Destruction by the St. Lawrence. The 
 Dixie and her triumphs. The mystery of Privateering. The seizure of the St. Nicholas. An "Artful Dodger." 
 
 His capture at last. Cutting out of Schooner Judah. A formidable attempt of New Orleans. The Enemy's 
 
 Flotilla. A Steam Ram. Its Construction. Commodore Hollins. The United States Fleet. Hollins' Attack. 
 
 A Jubilant Bulletin. The other side. The Breaking of the Blockade. Voyage of the Bermuda. Arrival of the 
 Nashville in England. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE most adventurous of the Con- 
 federate privateers, and the most 
 successful, as she so long eluded the 
 constant pursuit of the Federal cruisers, 
 was the Sumter. She was first called 
 the Colon, and subsequently the Marquis 
 de la Habana. She was an iron screw- 
 steamer, built at Montreal, and was for 
 a time engaged in the packet service be- 
 tween New Orleans and Havana. Hav- 
 ing made the passage between these two 
 ports in less time than any other, she 
 had the reputation of being a remark- 
 ably fast sailer. Originally owned by 
 Spanish Americans, she was chartered 
 by the faction of Miramon, claiming the 
 Government of Mexico, and being cap- 
 tured by a United States squadron off 
 Vera Cruz, was sent to New Orleans for 
 adjudication. After being subjected to 
 a trial for piracy, the vessel was returned 
 to her original owners. 
 
 She was now purchased by some citi- 
 zens of New Orleans, and thoroughly 
 overhauled. Her old engines and boilers 
 were taken out and new ones put in be- 
 low the water-line. Her upper works, 
 with her cabins for passengers, were re- 
 
 moved, and a clear deck, fore and aft,' thus 
 secured. She was pierced for four guns 
 on each side. She was armed with a 
 rifled, eighty-two pounder, mounted on 
 a swivel amidship, and eight thirty-two 
 pounders. The bulwarks were so ar- 
 ranged, that this extensive armament 
 might be concealed from passing vessels. 
 The large swivel gun was hidden from 
 view by means of a wooden structure 
 which had the appearance of a perma- 
 nent galley, but which could be taken to 
 pieces in a few minutes. The vessel was 
 thoroughly braced and strengthened in 
 every part, and well-manned and equip- 
 ped. Her crew, consisting of sixty-five 
 sailors and twenty-five marines, were 
 picked men, and her captain and officers 
 remarkable for their skill and enterprise. 
 The look of the Sumter would seem to 
 have been by no means attractive. She 
 is described as an "awkwardly rigged 
 bark, having the appearance of being half 
 merchantman, half man-of-war. Her 
 masts appear strongly set, and her sails 
 are much too small for a vessel of her 
 build. She carries three trysails, all 
 of them being much larger than those 
 
524 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 usually carried by a sailing vessel (we 
 say sailing vessel, because it is a trick 
 of the captain to take down the smoke- 
 stack and pass himself as a sailing ves- 
 sel, a ruse that has been successful). 
 She has a fore staysail and jib. She has 
 two large quarter boats, and one hang- 
 ing at the stern. She also carries top- 
 gallant sails. Her courses are deep, 
 particularly the mainsail, and her top- 
 sails bear the appearance of having a 
 reef in them. A vessel of good sailing 
 qualities can find no difficulty in run- 
 ning away from her, provided such a 
 course is deemed advisable. The range 
 of her largest gun is 2,000 yards, at 
 high elevation ; but the execution is 
 small at a greater distance than 1,500 
 yards. Her other guns have been sup- 
 plied from the Norfolk Navy Yard."* 
 
 Closely watched by the sloop-of-war 
 Brooklyn, blockading the mouths of the 
 Mississippi, the Sumter made several 
 ineffectual attempts to elude her vigi- 
 j u iy lance, but finally succeeded in mak- 
 ? ing her escape after being chased 
 four hours. " With three cheers for the 
 
 * Captain and officers of the privateer Sumter : 
 
 COMMANDER. Eaphael Semmes. 
 
 LIEUTENANTS. John M. Kells, K. F. Chapman, W. E. 
 Evans, J. M. Stribling. 
 
 PAYMASTER. Henry Myers. 
 
 PASSED ASSISTANT SURGEON. Francis I. Golt. 
 
 LIEUTENANT OF MARINES. Beckett K. Howell. 
 
 MIDSHIPMEN. R. F. Armstrong, Wm. A. Hicks, A. G. 
 Hudgins, J. D. Wilson. 
 
 GUNNER. Thomas C. Cuddy. 
 
 SAILMAKER. M. P. Beaufort. 
 
 FIRST ASSISTANT ENGINEER, ACTING AS CHIEF. M. J. 
 Freeman. 
 
 SECOND ASSISTANT. W. P. Brooks. 
 
 THIRD ASSISTANTS. Matthew O'Brien, S. W. Cummings. 
 
 The Sumter is 1,137 tons register, 184 feet long, 30 feet 
 beam, and 13 feet depth of hold. 
 
 Southern Confederacy," the Sumter sail- 
 ed upon her adventurous cruise, and im- 
 mediately began a series of ravages upon 
 Northern commerce, which every effort 
 failed to check. Making a course for 
 the West Indies, she captured eight 
 American vessels on the south side of 
 Cuba, and burned one ship, the Golden 
 
 Rocket, near the Isle of Pines. She af- 
 
 * 
 
 terward cruised for a time on the South 
 American coast, in the neighborhood of 
 Guiana and Brazil, but having extended 
 her voyages as far as the coast of Spain, 
 burning and capturing many vessels, 
 finally put into Gibraltar, where being 
 blockaded by the United States gunboat 
 Tuscarora, she was sold. 
 
 The little Petrel, formerly the revenue 
 cutter Aiken, was disposed to be no less 
 adventurous, but proved less successful 
 than the Sumter. On the very first day 
 after leaving the harbor of Charles- ^ t 
 ton, she, with blind recklessness, * 
 threw herself into the fatal embrace of a 
 powerful Federal man-of-war the Uni- 
 ted States frigate St. Lawrence having 
 mistaken her for a merchantman.* 
 
 * The story is well told in this account of her destruction : 
 ' ' The St. Lawrence had been cruising for a month 
 along the Atlantic coast, between Cape Henry and 
 Savannah, and on the morning of the 1st of August, 
 while just outside the harbor of Charleston, espied a long, 
 rakish schooner, filled with men and mounting three or 
 four guns, sailing rapidly down upon her. The port- 
 holes were still shut, but the flag was at the peak, and 
 the St. Lawrence looked not unlike a great lubberly 
 merchantman becalmed in a strange latitude, and too 
 unwieldy for any purposes save the holding of a big cargo 
 for the avarice of an enemy to court and a daring priva- 
 teer to secure. 
 
 " As the stranger came down, the St. Lciwrence hoisted 
 all sail and affected to be anxious to get out to sea. In 
 reality, however, she was edging closer in to shore, and 
 making arrangements below to receive the reckless visit- 
 

 

MYSTERY OF PRIVATEERING. 
 
 525 
 
 From, the very nature of these priva- 
 teering enterprises which to be success- 
 ors with appropriate largess. Directly a shot came skip- 
 ping over the water, falling into the sea a few rods ahead 
 of the frigate, and a number followed it in quick succes- 
 sion, but nearly all cither striking beyond or passing over. 
 The final discharge consisted of grape juicl canister, which 
 made some little dalliance with the frigate's rigging, and 
 admonished the commander that the play was growing 
 serious. 
 
 " At this time the vessels were within speaking distance, 
 and a man in uniform was seen mounted upon the pirate's 
 deck, who shouted to the St. Lawrence to lay to and send 
 over a boat. The crew were distinctly seen flourishing 
 their cutlasses, and the gunners ramming and pointing 
 their guns. She carried three guns, supposed to be rifled 
 cannon. Then the St. Lawrence threw up her ports, and 
 disclosed a whole broadside of cannon, with the gunners 
 behind the guns holding lighted fuses, and directly the 
 broad decks were rilled with seamen in blue jackets, armed 
 with muskets, who sprang into the shrouds and ran out 
 on the yards, laying prone in the maintop, on the bow- 
 sprit, and at every point where aim could be taken with 
 advantage. In a word, the ugly merchant was meta- 
 morphosed into a bristling war-ship, with a man at every 
 point, and a broadside of cannon looking into the eyes 
 of the pirates. The latter, taken aback, recoiled a 
 moment, but before they had time for action, even for 
 thought, the guns belched forth their iron messengers, 
 splintering the masts, cutting the rigging and the sails 
 as with knives, breaking the spars and the booms, and 
 literally carving the schooner into pieces, and opening 
 gulfs into which the water rushed as through sluices, fill- 
 ing the hold, and admonishing the rebels that their sole 
 hopes of life lay in the ship's boat, or in wrestling with 
 the sea. 
 
 "The fire still continued, and the water was full of 
 driftwood. Many of the men leaped overboard, and the 
 rest, launching the life-boat, jumped in and held up a 
 white handkerchief as a sign of surrender. But one man 
 had an opportunity to go down into the cabin for his 
 property, and he was the lieutenant, named Harvey, 
 formerly a midshipman in the United States service, 
 under command of Captain Sartori. Harvey recovered 
 his trunk. 
 
 "The St. Lawrence still continued the fire with small 
 arms, but directing their aim at the hulk, and not at the 
 small boat, the crew, excepting four men, were not in- 
 jured. In ten minutes from the time of the discharge 
 of her first gun, the Petrel swayed heavily and went 
 under, carrying down four men of her crew. The officers 
 of the St. Lawrence now discovered the life-boat and the 
 flag of humiliation. They dropped a boat and made out 
 the rebels, and finally passed them on board ship, where 
 they were ironed as fast as received, and securely con- 
 
 ful must be conducted with the utmost 
 secrecy they are involved in a mystery 
 
 fined below. In the engagement, the St. Lawrence re- 
 ceived two shots, one in the foresail, the other in the 
 quarter-deck. She transferred her prisoners to the 
 steamer Flag on Sunday morning, and they were at once 
 brought to Philadelphia." Philadelphia Press, 
 
 The people of Charleston, however, consoled themselves 
 for the loss of the Petrel, with the triumphs of the 
 Dixie, whose successes were thus described in the Charles- 
 ton Mercury : 
 
 ' ' The thunders of a Confederate salute in our harbor 
 yesterday morning set all the town agog with curi- A u? . 
 osity. A general rush to the wharves resulted in the 28. 
 ascertainment of the fact, that the gay little privateer Dixie, 
 safe from the perils of fire and water and Yankee cruisers 
 was again under the guns of Castle Pinckney. We are in- 
 debted to the courtesy of Captain Moore, the gallant and 
 enterprising captain, for an interesting account of the ad- 
 ventures of the cruise. 
 
 " The Dixie weighed anchor in Charleston harbor July 
 18. On the following day, aided by a stiff breeze, she suc- 
 ceeded in getting out safely to sea. By what channel her 
 exit was accomplished, we leave to the serene contempla- 
 tion of the 'cute blockaders, who permitted the saucy little 
 craft to slip through their fingers. The privateer pursued 
 a southeasterly course, without any incident of special 
 moment, until Tuesday, the 23d ult. At an early hour 
 on that day Captain Moore made a sail upon the lee quar- 
 ter, and tacking ship, soon overhauled her. A gun fired 
 across the bow of the stranger speedily brought her to. 
 The captain was ordered to come on board the Dixie, and 
 his papers showed his vessel to be the bark Glen, of Port- 
 land, Maine, bound to Fort" Jefferson, Tortugas, with a 
 cargo of coal. Without further ceremony the Yankee 
 skipper was informed of the business of his captors, and 
 made prisoner. A prize crew was put aboard the Glen, 
 who did not take her to Fort Jefferson, aud the Dixie 
 went on her way rejoicing. On Thursday the 25th, 
 the schooner Mary Alice, of New York, from the West 
 Indies, with a cargo of sugar, bound for New York, hove 
 insight. A messenger from "long Tom" explained the 
 meaning of the Stars and Bars, and the Mary Alice was 
 soon a prize. [As our readers know, she was afterward re- 
 captured by the blockaders.] OQ the 27th, two sails were 
 for a short time in sight, but a heavy squall came up, ac- 
 companied by a waterspout, which passed close ahead of 
 the privateer, and when this subsided, the vessels had dis- 
 appeared. On Monday, the 29th, two sails were again de- 
 scried, but the Dixie was unable to come up with them. 
 On the 30th the hermaphrodite brig Robert R. Kirkland, 
 of Baltimore, loaded with salt, consigned to a firm in that 
 city, was spoken. She was, of course, permitted to pass. 
 The captain of the brig, however, was induced to take on 
 board the cook of the Glen, the prisoners on board the 
 
526 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 which it is presumptuous on the part of the 
 chronicler to attempt to penetrate. This 
 imperfect record, therefore, is presented 
 merely as an illustration of the general 
 character of Southern privateering, and 
 not as a precise narrative of the details 
 of its conduct. It would be impossible 
 to describe with minuteness the cruises 
 of the various vessels which have sailed 
 under letters of marque to prey upon 
 Northern commerce. Many successful as 
 well as unsuccessful attempts have been 
 made to elude the vigilance of the Federal 
 blockade ; numerous prizes have been 
 captured and re-captured ; some depreda- 
 
 Dixie having become more numerous than was desirable. 
 On the evening of the 31st, no less than nine sails were 
 visible. About sundown the Dixie gave chase to one of 
 these vessels, which, from information obtained from one 
 of the prisoners, was believed to be the bark Albertina, 
 armed with two rifled cannon. Two of the guns of the 
 privateer were loaded with grape and canister, and when 
 the stranger was sufficiently near, a shot was fired across 
 her bow, which had the desired effect of bringing her to. 
 She proved to be the bark Rowena, of Philadelphia, from 
 Laguayra, with coffee, for Philadelphia. The Eowena, as 
 well as her coffee, was, of course, duly ' bagged.' But in- 
 asmuch as her crew numbered thirteen, besides four pas- 
 sengers, Captain Moore deemed it prudent to go aboard of 
 her himself as prize-master, taking with him several of 
 the prisoners, and leaving on board the Dixie a crew of 
 four men, under command of Lieutenant L. D. Benton, 
 with the remainder of the prisoners. The privateer being 
 now in latitude 30 38', longitude 76 25', and with the 
 bark Rowena in her wake, was headed west. On the 2d 
 of August she made a strange steamer, but managed to 
 elude her. On Sunday the 4th of August, before daylight, 
 a vessel's light was discovered to the eastward, but the 
 Dixie kept shy of her. Shortly after daybreak, a steamer 
 was plainly seen in the same direction. For a while she 
 gave chase to the Dixie, but Lieutenant Benton finding 
 himself off a well-known and convenient harbor of our 
 coast, now a port of entry, decided to run in without de- 
 lay. The steamer, finding her chase ineffectual, hauled 
 off to the southward. 
 
 "The subsequent adventures," concludes the writer, 
 ' ' of the gallant little craft are not of a nature to interest 
 our readers. Suffice it to say that she did not again ven- 
 ture far out from shore, but passed through the ' efficient' 
 blockade, and with guns booming and colors flying, yester- 
 
 tions have been committed with impunity, 
 while others have been signally avenged ; 
 not a few vessels have been robbed, burn- 
 ed, or sunk by the enemy's cruisers, 
 which in other instances have been ar- 
 rested in their destructive career by the 
 activity of our cruisers. In these enter- 
 prises great daring, skill, and ingenuity 
 have been displayed on both sides. The 
 seizure of the steamer St. Nicholas, j line 
 in Chesapeake Bay, was a success- 28. 
 ful exploit on the part of the enemy, ac- 
 complished by means of a clever ruse 
 which was applaudingly narrated by a 
 sympathizing writer* of Baltimore. It 
 
 day forenoon startled from their gravity the quiet people 
 of this 'nest of rebellion.' " 
 
 He thus records the " brilliant exploit :" 
 
 "The St. Nicholas, Captain Jacob Kirwan, left this city 
 on Friday morning last, having on board about forty-five 
 passengers. Among thos who went aboard the boat pre- 
 vious to her departure from this city was a very respectable 
 'French lady,' who was heavily veiled, and pleading in- 
 disposition, she was immediately shown to her state-room. 
 There were also a party of about twenty-five men dressed 
 in the garb of mechanics, carrying with them carpenters', 
 tinners' , blacksmiths' , and other tools. 
 
 "The boat left at the usual hour for Point Lookout, and 
 other points on the Potomac River, and everything passed 
 off as usual until the boat arrived at Point Lookout oil 
 Saturday morning last. 
 
 " When near Point Lookout, the ' French lady' appeared 
 on deck, not in crinoline, but hi the person of a stalwart 
 man, who was immediately surrounded by the party of 
 mechanics above alluded to. Captain Kirwan demanded 
 an explanation, when the ' lady-man' coolly informed him 
 that he designed confiscating the steamer and going on a 
 privateering expedition. Finding himself overpowered, 
 Captain Kirwan was compelled to submit quietly, and the 
 boat was formally handed over to the man and his crew, 
 who took possession, and proceeded to run the steamer to 
 a point known as ' The Cone,' on the Virginia shore. 
 
 "Upon landing at the 'The Cone,' the steamer was 
 boarded by a body of about 1,000 Virginia troops, when 
 the passengers were all landed and allowed to go on their 
 way unmolested. About 150 of the troops were then 
 placed on board the steamer, Captain Kirwan and fourteen 
 of the crew being retained as prisoners. 
 
 ' ' Leaving the shore, the steamer was run down as far as 
 the mouth of the Rappahannock River, where the ' new 
 
THE "ARTFUL DODGER" CAUGHT. 
 
 527 
 
 is satisfactory to record that this "artful 
 dodger," variously known as Col. Rich- 
 ard Thomas, Zouave, and the "French 
 lady," was caught in a second attempt. 
 Having returned to Maryland he took 
 passage on board the steamer May Wash- 
 ington, bound to Baltimore, but was de- 
 tected before he was able to carry out 
 his purpose of capturing her. He strove 
 to outface his captors by a protest against 
 the invasion of his rights as a passenger. 
 This failing, he escaped from those who 
 had seized him, and tried to hide himself 
 from further pursuit by taking to a chest 
 of drawers. He was, however, dragged 
 out, and securely held until the arrival 
 of the vessel at Baltimore, when he was 
 thrust into Fort McHenry, and retained 
 as a prisoner.* 
 
 captain' hailed three large brigs, which were lying off a 
 few miles from Fredericksburgh. The vessels were im- 
 mediately boarded by the privateer, and not having a 
 sufficient force on board to offer any resistance, they were 
 all then quietly delivered over to the party as prizes. The 
 prizes, one of which was laden with coffee, a second with 
 ice, and the third with coal, were run into Fredericks- 
 burgh, Virginia, and delivered into the possession of the 
 Virginians, the steamer being kept at that port, together 
 with her captain and crew. 
 
 ' ' Captain Norris, the clerk of the St. Nicholas, together 
 with five of the stewards, came passengers on board the 
 Express, having been released at the ' The Cone,' who give 
 the above particulars. ' ' 
 
 This official report of the cutting out of the schooner 
 Judah, while lying off the Pensacola Navy Yard, records 
 Aug. a " brilliant exploit" of another character, executed 
 13. by the Federal officers and sailors of our navy. Its 
 dash and success, showing the greatest gallantry and skill 
 on the part of our brave seamen in their true character, 
 are more than a set-off to the impudent ingenuity of the 
 artful captain of the enemy in disguise of the " French 
 lady." 
 
 " OFF FORT PICKEXS, Sept. 15, 1861. 
 
 " SIR," wrote Captain Mervine to the Secretary of the 
 Navy, " I have the honor to inform you that a boat ex- 
 pedition was fitted out from this ship on the night of the 
 13th instant, consisting of the first launch, and first, 
 second, and third cutters, under the commands of Lieu- 
 tenants Rubsell, Sproston, Blake, and Midshipman Steece, 
 
 One of the most formidable efforts of 
 the enemy on the water, however, o f/ t. 
 was made against the Federal block- Ut 
 ading fleet off New Orleans. This en- 
 
 respectively assisted by Captain Reynolds of the marines, 
 Assistant-Surgeon Kennedy, Assistant-Engineer White, 
 Gunner Horton, and Midshipmen Forrest and Higginson. 
 The whole force detailed consisted of about 100 men, 
 officers, sailors, and marines. The object of the expedk 
 tion was the destruction of a schooner which lay off the 
 Pensacola Navy Yard, supposed to be fitting out as a pri- 
 vateer, and the spiking of a gun, in battery, at the south- 
 east end of the yard. 
 
 " The movements of the schooner had been assiduously 
 watched for several days and nights, and I deemed it so 
 morally certain that she was intended for a privateer, 
 that I determine/! the attempt should be made to destroy 
 her, even in face of the fearful odds which would have to 
 be encountered. Lieutenant Russell had charge of the ex- 
 pedition, and, with Lieutenant Blake, was to attack the 
 vessel, while Lieutenant Sproston and Midshipman Steece 
 spiked the guns. 
 
 4 ' The attack was made on the morning of the 14th 
 instant at half-past three o'clock. The schooner, named 
 the Judah, was found moored to the wharf, under the 
 protection of a battery and field piece, and to be armed 
 with a pivot and four broadside guns. Her crew were on 
 her, and prepared to receive our forces, pouring in a 
 volley of musketry as the boat neared the vessel. A des- 
 perate resistance was made from the decks of the schooner, 
 but her men were driven off on to the wharf by our 
 boarders, where they rallied and were joined by the guard, 
 and kept up a continued fire upon our men. 
 
 " In the mean time the vessel was set on fire in several 
 places. That which -finally consumed her was lighted in 
 the cabin by Assistant-Engineer White and a coal-heaver, 
 Patrick Driscoll, who went as a volunteer. She burned to 
 the water's edge, and has since, while burning, been set 
 free from her moorings, and has drifted down opposite 
 Fort Barrancas, where she sunk. 
 
 " Of the party assigned to the spiking of the gun, only 
 Lieutenant Sproston and Gunner Boreton were able, after 
 considerable search, to find it, the party becoming sepa- 
 rated in the darkness. No opposition was made to their 
 landing. Midshipman Steece, with his command, had 
 gone to the aid of those on the schooner, where he per- 
 formed valuable service. Very fortunately only one man 
 was foimd in charge of the gun, and he immediately 
 levelled his piece at Lieutenant Sproston, but was shot 
 down by Gunner Horton before he could obtain certain 
 aim. Both pieces exploded simultaneously. The gun, 
 which was found to be a 10-inch columbiad, was immedi- 
 ately spiked, and, bringing off its tompion, these two 
 officers returned to their boat. 
 
 14 The work proposed having thus been well and thor- 
 
 
528 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 terprise, although undertaken by what 
 was properly termed by the Confede- 
 rates a portion of their regular navy, 
 under the command of one of their com- 
 
 oughly done in the short space of fifteen minutes, and the 
 whole force of the enemy in the yard reported hy de- 
 serters as over 1,000 strong being aroused, our boats 
 pulled away, and rallying at a short distance from the 
 shore, fired six charges of canister from their howitzers 
 into the yard, with what result it is impossible to say. 
 Three of the enemy are known to have been killed, and 
 our officers are confident the number is much larger. 
 The boats then returned to the ship, arriving there about 
 daylight. 
 
 "But, sir, I am grieved to report that this brilliant 
 affair was not unattended by loss on our side. I have to 
 report as killed by shots from the cross-trees of the 
 schooner, while the boats were approaching, boatswain's 
 mate Charles H. Lamphere, and John R. Herring, seaman 
 and captain of the howitzer, two of the best men in our 
 ship, and marine John Smith the first 'man to board the 
 schooner, and who behaved most gallantly who was, 
 by a sad mistake, having lost his distinguishing mark, 
 killed by one of our own men. We have wounded, 
 probably mortally, seamen R. Clark and E. K. Osborn ; 
 severely, nine other seamen. Captain Reynolds received 
 a severe contusion on his shoulder, and Midshipman Hig- 
 ginson had the end of his thumb shot off. Lieutenants 
 Russell and Blake had narrow escapes, the flesh of each 
 being grazed by one or more musket-balls. 
 
 "It is not an easy task to select individual instances 
 of daring or bravery where all behaved so gallantly. The 
 officers unite in giving great credit to the coolness and 
 bravery with which they were supported by the men, and 
 the latter have learned to look with new pride and confi- 
 dence on the former. The marines, especially, seem to 
 have sustained the reputation borne by their branch of 
 the service, as they receive encomiums from all sides. 
 Assistant-Surgeon Kennedy rendered valuable assistance 
 in the care of the wounded. Assistant-Engineer White 
 brought down from the cross-trees of the schooner a man 
 who had been seen to fire upon the boats, killing him 
 instantly. I inclose, herewith, a complete list of all en- 
 gaged in the affair, with the names of the killed and 
 wounded in each boat. I have the honor to be, very re- 
 spectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " WILLIAM MERVINE, 
 
 " Flag Officer Commanding Gulf Blockade Squadron. 
 
 " P. S. By a strange inadvertency, my mind being so 
 much engrossed with the expedition itself, I omitted to 
 give credit to Captain Bailey, of this ship, for maturing 
 the plan and taking charge of fitting out the expedition to 
 the minutest detail. It is to his though tfulness that a 
 great portion of its success must be ascribed. W. M." 
 
 modores, was conducted with all the 
 mystery and artifice of the more irreg- 
 ular of their nautical proceedings. 
 
 The enemy had extemporized a flo- 
 tilla consisting of a steam-tug or " ram," 
 the Manassas, mounted with one sixty- 
 four pounder Dahlgren ; the steamer 
 Calhoun, with one twenty-four pounder 
 Dahlgren ; the steamer Ivy, with an eight- 
 inch thirty-two pounder, rifled ; the 
 steamer Jackson, with two eight-inch 
 columbiads ; the steamer McRea, with a 
 sixty-four pounder on a pivot, four eight- 
 inch columbiads, and a twenty-four 
 pounder, rifled ; and the cutter Pickens, 
 with an eight-inch columbiad and four 
 twenty- four-pound carronades. The Ma- 
 nassas had been convertedfrom the steam- 
 tug Enoch Train into a " ram/' of peculiar 
 construction. She was double planked 
 all over with wood of six feet in thick- 
 ness. Her bow extended to a length of 
 nine feet, made of the thickest and 
 strongest oak timber. This, together 
 with the whole surface of the vessel, was 
 covered with iron plates, two inches 
 thick. Her hull rose only two feet and 
 a quarter above the water, and her deck 
 was covered in with a slanting roof of 
 heavy wood covered with iron plates. 
 From her bow, below the water-mark, 
 projected an iron borer, as thick as a 
 man's arm, intended to pierce and sink 
 any vessel she might oppose. Her low- 
 ness in the water rendered her but little 
 exposed to shot, while her iron-mail was 
 said to be impenetrable to the heaviest 
 cannon-ball. 
 
 Captain Hollins, whose fame had hith- 
 erto rested upon his exploit at San Juan, 
 
EXPLOIT OF HOLLINS. 
 
 529 
 
 where he had burnt to ashes an unre- 
 sisting town, was the commodore of this 
 flotilla. 
 
 The United States fleet, which he now 
 sailed out to attack, was composed of 
 the Richmond, 14 guns, the Vincennes, 
 21 guns, the Preble, 16 guns, and the 
 small steamers Water Witch and Night- 
 ingale, of one gun each. 
 
 Choosing a dark night, Captain Hollins 
 sailed from Fort Jackson with his for- 
 midable steam ram, his flotilla, and a 
 number of fire-rafts. The enemy gave 
 this account of the expedition : 
 
 ' ' On Friday night last our fleet started 
 from Fort Jackson, the Manassas leading 
 the way. The night was intensely dark, 
 and the Manassas ran into a vessel, strik- 
 ing her near the bow and cutting into 
 her upward of twenty feet. Appalling 
 shrieks were heard aboard the doomed 
 ship ; signal rockets were fired ; the 
 enemy beat to quarters, and a perfect 
 iron hail fell upon and around the Ma- 
 nassas, during which her machinery be- 
 came deranged. The Tuscarora and the 
 Watson came up with five barges which 
 had been cut loose and set adrift on the 
 stream. 
 
 " When the morning came, our fleet 
 commenced to pursue the retreating 
 enemy, and a heavy cannonading began, 
 which lasted till eight o'clock. Several 
 shots struck the Richmond. The shots 
 from the Yankees were badly aimed, as 
 they did not touch one of our vessels. 
 When the firing ended, the fleet returned 
 to the city, with the prize schooner 
 Joseph H. Toone, loaded with coal, and 
 which had been deserted during the 
 67 
 
 night. A large quantity of lumber, 
 which had been intended for the con- 
 struction of a fortification at the head of 
 the Passes, was burned. The prizes cap- 
 tured were the Joseph H. Toone, and a 
 launch belonging to the Federal steamer 
 Richmond, which latter was laden with 
 cutlasses. The vessel sunk was not the 
 Preble, but the Yincennes. Three ves- 
 sels of our expedition arrived on Satur- 
 day night." 
 
 Commodore Hollins exulted over his 
 pretended victory in this dispatch : 
 
 "FORT JACKSON, October 12, 1861. 
 " Last night I attacked the blockaders 
 with my little fleet. I succeeded, after 
 a very short struggle, in driving them 
 all aground on the Southwest Pass bar, 
 except the Preble, which I sunk. I 
 captured a prize from them, and after 
 they were fast in the sand I peppered 
 them well. There were no casualties on 
 our side. It was a complete success. 
 
 " HOLLINS."* 
 
 Hollins' statements, however, are positively contra- 
 dicted in this official report of Captain Pope to the flag 
 officer of the United States fleet : 
 
 " UNITED STATES STEAMER RICHMOND, SOUTHWEST PASS ) 
 OF MISSISSPPI RIVER, Oct. 13, 1861. f 
 
 " SIR : I have the honor to make the following report : 
 At 3.45A.M., October 12, 1861, while the watch on deck 
 were employed in taking coal on board from the schooner 
 Joseph H. Toone, a ram was discovered in close proximity 
 to this ship. By the time the alarm could be given, she 
 had struck the ship abreast of the port fore channels, tear- 
 ing the schooner from her fastenings and forcing a hole 
 through the ship's side. Passing aft, the ram endeavored 
 to effect a breach in the stern, but failed. Three planks in 
 the ship's side were stove in about two feet below the 
 water-line, making a hole about five inches in circumfer- 
 ence. At the first alarm, the crew promptly and coolly 
 repaired to their quarters, and as the ram passed abreast of 
 the ship, the entire port battery was discharged at her, with 
 what effect it is impossible to discover, owing to the dark- 
 ness. A red light was shown as a signal of danger, and 
 the squadron was under way in a very few minutes, having 
 
530 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 The insurgents have dwelt with great 
 complacency upon the success with which 
 various vessels have eluded the Federal 
 blockade. They boast of the voyage of 
 the steamer Bermuda, which sailed from 
 Europe to Charleston with army supplies 
 
 slipped their cables. I ordered the Prehle and Vincennes 
 to proceed down the Southwest Pass, while I covered their 
 retreat, which they did at about 4.50 A.M. At this time, 
 three large fire-rafts, stretching across the river, were rap- 
 idly nearing us, while several larger steamers and a bark- 
 rigged propeller were seen astern of them. 
 
 " The squadron proceeded down the river in the follow- 
 ing order : 1st, the Preble ; 2d, the Vincennes ; 3d, the 
 Richmond ; 4th, the Water Witch with the prize schooner 
 Frolic in tow. When abreast of the pilot settlement, the 
 pilot informed me that he did not consider it safe to ven- 
 ture to turn this ship in the river, but that he believed he 
 could pass over the bar. I accordingly attempted to pass 
 over the bar with the squadron, but in the passage the 
 Vincennes and Richmond grounded, while the Preble went 
 over clear. This occurred about eight o'clock, and the 
 enemy, who were now down the river with the fire steam- 
 ers, commenced firing at us, while we returned the fire 
 from our port battery and rifled gun on the poop, our shot, 
 however, falling short of the enemy, while their shell 
 burst on all sides of us, and several passed directly over 
 the ship. 
 
 " At 9.30, Commander Handy, of the Vincennes, mistak- 
 ing my signal to the ships outside the bar, to get under 
 way, for a signal for him to abandon his ship, came on 
 board the Richmond with all his officers and a large num- 
 ber of his crew, the remainder having gone on board the 
 Water Witch. Captain Handy, before leaving his ship, 
 had placed a lighted slow-match at the magazine. Having 
 waited a reasonable time for an explosion, I directed Com- 
 mander Handy to return to his ship, with his crew, to start 
 his water, and, if necessary, at his own request, to throw 
 overboard his small guns, for the purpose of lightening 
 his ship, and to carry out his kedge with a cable to heave 
 
 and returned with a cargo of cotton ; of 
 the escape of the Nashville and her arrival 
 in England, after having burnt the Harvey 
 Birch in the English Channel, and of the 
 hitherto fortunate ventures of the Fingal, 
 Isabel, Theodora, and others. 
 
 off by. At ten A.M. the enemy ceased firing, and with- 
 drew up the river. During the engagement a shell entered 
 our quarter port, and one of the boats was stove by another 
 shell. 
 
 " I have this morning succeeded in getting this ship over 
 the bar. The McClellan and South Carolina are using all 
 exertions to get the Vincennes off. The Nightingale is 
 hard and fast ashore to the end of the bar. I have suc- 
 ceeded in reducing the leak of this ship so that our small 
 engines keep the ship free. This is only temporary, and 
 the ship will have to go to some place and have three 
 planks put in. I have received rifle guns and placed the 
 thirty-two-pounder on the forecastle, and the twelve- 
 pounder on the poop. Could I have possibly managed this 
 ship in any other way than keeping her head up and down 
 the river, I would have stopped at' Pilot Town to give 
 battle, but this was found too hazardous, owing to her ex- 
 treme length. The attempt was made, but a broadside 
 could not be brought to bear without running the ship 
 ashore. I then concluded, as advised, to start for the bar, 
 and trust to finding water enough to cross. 
 
 " In narrating the affair of the river, I omitted to state 
 that the ram sunk one of our large cutters, and a shot 
 from the enemy stove the gig. I am pleased to say that 
 the Vincennes is afloat, and at anchor outside on my star- 
 board quarter. Assistant-Surgeon Robinson, from the Vin- 
 cennes, is ordered to temporary duty on board this ship. 
 Assistant- Surgeon Howell, condemned by survey, will re- 
 turn in the McClellan. The master of the Nightingale 
 will deliver fifty tons of coal to the McClellan. This, 
 together with what I will take out, will, I trust, lighten 
 her so that we can haul her off. 
 
 " Very respectfully, JOHN POPE, Captain. 
 
 "To Flag Officer WM. A. McKEAN." 
 
EXPEDITION TO HATTERAS. 
 
 531 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 Naval Resources of the United States. Navy and Commercial Marine. Tardy action of Government. Action at last. 
 Naval Expeditions. Blockade. Expedition to Hatteras. Rendezvous at Fortress Monroe. The Fleet. How 
 composed. The Troops. How composed. The Commanders. in-chief. Life and Naval Career of Commodore 
 Stringham. Secrecy of the Object of the Expedition. How disclosed. The Object explained. The Coast of North 
 Carolina described. Inlets and Sounds. Hatteras Inlet. Enemy's Fortifications. Forts Hatteras and Clark. Ar- 
 rival of the Fleet off Hatteras. Place for disembarkation selected. The Landing of Troops. Difficulties and Dis- 
 asters. The Troops Landed. Their embarrassment. Position of the war vessels. The Monticello aground. Fire 
 
 from the Enemy. Response from the Monticello. Fort Clark abandoned by the Enemy. Movement of the Troops 
 on land. Sufferings. Renewed action of the war vessels. Great effect of Bombardment. A successful shot. 
 The day settled. The White Flag raised. Negotiations for surrender. Disagreement. Terms agreed to. Sur- 
 render of the Enemy. General Butler's Official Dispatch. Official Reports of the Enemy. Commodore Barren's 
 account of the fight, and his surrender. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE Federal Government, with a well- 
 organized navy at its command and 
 the enormous commercial marine of 
 the North at its service, possessed a 
 powerful means of carrying on the war, 
 which the insurgent slave States, with 
 their meagre naval resources, had great 
 reason to dread ; but, with its ships of 
 war designedly scattered, as it was ' sus- 
 pected, over the seas of the world, by an 
 administration under the control of men 
 conspiring to dissolve the Union, and 
 suddenly confronted with an enemy 
 whose hostility and power our statesmen 
 persistently continued to underrate, was 
 slow in deriving advantage from, its su- 
 periority on the sea. Aroused at last to 
 the necessity of exercising its full power 
 in a war the formidable character of 
 which could no longer be concealed, the 
 Government brought to bear the power- 
 ful means of offence offered by its navy 
 and the commercial marine. The men- 
 of-war were recalled from remote foreign 
 
 stations and employed in the blockade 
 of the extensive coast of the insurgent 
 slave States ; merchant craft, sailing 
 vessels, and steamers of all kinds were 
 chartered and purchased, and fleets of 
 gun-boats rapidly constructed. 
 
 It was thus that the Federal Govern- 
 ment was enabled, in addition to giving 
 efficiency to the blockade, to commence 
 a series of expeditions to the Southern 
 coast. The first was that to Hatteras, 
 off North Carolina, which will now be 
 described. 
 
 Fortress Monroe having been made 
 the rendezvous for the various ves- \ U g t 
 sels, the expedition sailed thence 26. 
 on the 26th of August. It was com- 
 posed of two steam frigates, the Min- 
 nesota, Captain G. A. Van Brunt the 
 flag-ship of Commodore Stringham, who 
 was the naval chief in command 
 and the Wabash, Captain Mercer ; three 
 gun-boats, the Pawnee, Captain Rowan, 
 the Monticello, Commander Gillis, and 
 
532 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the Harriet Lane, Captain Faunce ; and 
 two transports, the Adelaide and the 
 George Peabody. To these were added 
 several old hulks, to be filled with stones 
 and sunk in the channels, and a number 
 of surf and flat boats for landing the 
 troops. The steam frigate Susquehannah 
 subsequently joined the fleet. The 
 troops, which for the most part embarked 
 on the transports, were composed of 500 
 men of the Twentieth Regiment of New 
 York Volunteers. Colonel Max Weber ; 
 220 of the Ninth Regiment of New York 
 Volunteers, Colonel Hawkins ; 100 of the 
 Union Coast Guard, Captain Nixon, and 
 one company of the United States Artil- 
 lery, Lieutenant Lamed, making in all 
 about 900 soldiers. To General Butler 
 had been intrusted the military and to 
 Commodore Stringham the naval com- 
 mand of the expedition. Of the former, 
 the readers of this history have been duly 
 informed ; of the latter, a veteran naval 
 commander, there is an honorable rec- 
 ord of service which it is proper now 
 to exhibit. 
 
 Silas H. Stringham was born at New- 
 burg, in the State of New York, in the 
 year 1796. His first naval service was 
 as a midshipman on board the frigate 
 President, Commodore Rodgers, in 1809. 
 In 1830 he commanded the Falmouth, 
 on the West Indian station. From 1835 
 to 1837 he held a command in the 
 Mediterranean ; at its close he was or- 
 dered to the Porpoise and sent in search 
 of a pirate then cruising on our coast. 
 In 1842 he commanded the Independ- 
 ence, attached to the home squadron, 
 and in 1847 he took command of the 
 
 Ohio, dispatched on special service to 
 Brazil. He was subsequently placed in 
 command at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 
 where he remained until the Mexican 
 war, when he again took charge of the 
 Ohio, and led the squadron in the suc- 
 cessful bombardment of Vera Cruz and 
 the capture of the Castle San Juan 
 d'Ulloa. In 1852 he sailed in command 
 of the Mediterranean squadron, and on 
 his return in 1855 was appointed com- 
 mandant of the navy yard at Charles- 
 town, in Massachusetts. At the com- 
 mencement of the war he was ordered 
 to the chief command of the naval force 
 blockading the coast of the hostile States. 
 It was while on this service that he was 
 called to conduct the first naval expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 Though studious efforts had been made 
 to conceal the place of attack, the public 
 at the North, and more especially the 
 enemy at the South, had discovered it. 
 The object of the expedition was to take 
 possession of Hatteras and the other 
 inlets on the coast of North Carolina, 
 which the enemy had defended by vari- 
 ous fortifications. These inlets are pas- 
 sages from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
 sounds or lagoons shut in from the sea 
 by those long stretches of sand beaches 
 peculiar to the coast of North Carolina. 
 The command of these sounds, of which 
 the principal are Pamlico and Albe- 
 marle, was of eminent advantage to the 
 enemy, as they afforded not only means 
 of ready exit and entrance through the 
 inlets to privateers and vessels desirous 
 of eluding the Federal cruisers, 'but an 
 interior communication by the Dismal 
 
LANDING AT HATTERAS. 
 
 533 
 
 Swamp Canal with the Chesapeake. To 
 secure the possession of these inlets, the 
 principal ones had be^n protected by 
 fortifications. Old Topsail Inlet, leading 
 to Beaufort (N. C.), was defended by a 
 granite fort, strongly built and mounted 
 with forty guns. This was originally 
 constructed at the expense of the Federal 
 Government, but was seized by the in- 
 surgents of Carolina. Ocracoke Inlet, 
 farther north, was also defended by a 
 work built by the United States, termed 
 Fort Morgan. Hatteras Inlet, some forty 
 miles still farther north, near the cape 
 whence it derives its name, had been 
 but recently formed by the action of the 
 sea on these ever-shifting sand beaches. 
 This new channel, connecting the ocean 
 with Pamlico Sound, and allowing the 
 passage of vessels drawing fifteen feet 
 of water, was much used by the enemy 
 in their restricted commerce, and they 
 had made great efforts to secure it. 
 They had here constructed two forts, 
 called Hatteras and Clark. The chief 
 object of the naval expedition was to de- 
 stroy or gain possession of them, and 
 thus wrest the command of Hatteras In- 
 let from the enemy. ' 
 
 On the evening of the 27th of August, 
 the fleet, with the exception of the Sus- 
 quehannah, arrived off Hatteras, and the 
 object of the expedition was officially an- 
 nounced to those engaged in it. Con- 
 tinuing to close in with the land, on the 
 next morning all the vessels, with the ex- 
 ception of the Susquehannah, which did 
 not arrive until later in the day. were 
 in position to prepare for landing the 
 troops. The place selected for the dis- 
 
 embarkation was about three miles from 
 Hatteras Inlet. The two hulks which had 
 been towed from Fortress Monroe for 
 the purpose, were now filled with troops, 
 and the iron surf-boats and others began 
 to convey them to the shore. In the 
 mean time, the guns of the men-of-war 
 were so directed as to cover their land- 
 ing. The breakers were high and beat- 
 ing powerfully, so that the iron boats 
 conveying the first two companies of 
 soldiers were nearly capsized and thrown 
 violently upon the beach, with the surf 
 pouring in torrents ever their sterns. 
 The men were forced to leap out of the 
 boats and wade breast-deep to the land. 
 A boat from the Pawnee had been more 
 successful and had succeeded on her first 
 trip in landing her load of men high 
 and dry, but on the second she cap- 
 sized, turning every man into the water, 
 but no one, fortunately, was drowned. 
 The iron surf-boats it was found im- 
 practicable further to use, and every 
 other boat which attempted to land was 
 either upset or crushed by the breakers 
 upon the shore. After, therefore, land- 
 ing about 300 men, no other attempt 
 was made on the first day to disembark 
 the troops. Those landed consisted of 
 two companies of the Twentieth New 
 York Regiment, with Colonel Weber 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Harris ; a com- 
 pany of the Ninth New York, Captain 
 Jardine ; a company of regular artillery, 
 Captain Larned ; a detachment of ma- 
 rines from the men-of-war, commanded 
 by Majors Doughty and Shuttle worth, 
 some sailors from the Pawnee, under 
 Lieutenants Crosby and Blue, and two 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 surgeons, Drs. King and Jones. This 
 small force was provided with only two 
 rifled howitzers, one of which had been 
 disabled by the loss of a wheel in the 
 course of the difficult landing. Much 
 of the ammunition, moreover, had been 
 damaged by the water, and no supply of 
 provisions had been yet brought off 
 from the ships. The troops were, how- 
 ever, formed into line, and organized as 
 well as circumstances would allow, but, 
 owing to their isolation, their small num- 
 bers, and their pitiable condition from 
 the drenching in sea water to which they 
 had been exposed, and their want of 
 necessaries, were greatly embarrassed 
 how to act. 
 
 In the mean time, the war vessels had 
 taken up their position in front of the 
 forts, and the Wabash, taking the lead, 
 had opened fire upon Fort Clark. The 
 naval cannonade was very heavy, and 
 though the enemy's batteries responded 
 at first with great spirit, they gradually 
 relaxed their fire, and finally ceased 
 altogether at about two o'clock in the 
 afternoon. At this time, the Monticello, 
 having a comparatively small draft of 
 water, closed in with the shore and 
 moved toward the entrance to the inlet, 
 within fire of the other work of the 
 enemy, Fort Hatteras. While in this 
 position she got aground, and the Con- 
 federates opened a heavy fire upon her. 
 The Monticello, however, responded with 
 great spirit, and after firing fifty-five 
 shells in fifty minutes, nearly silenced the 
 fort. At the close, she fortunately suc- 
 ceeded in floating again, and moved out 
 of range, but not until she had received 
 
 seven eight-inch shot in her hull, though 
 without serious damage to the ship or 
 the loss of a single man. 
 
 In the mean time, the troops on shore 
 having discovered, by means of their 
 scouts, that Fort Clark had been aban- 
 doned, proceeded to take possession of it 
 and hoist upon the ramparts the United 
 States flag ; but the ships of war not 
 recognizing their own standard, again 
 directed a heavy fire upon the fort, so 
 that our men were obliged to evacuate 
 it. 
 
 "In mistake," says a suffering cam- 
 paigner, ' ' the fire was thus kept up on 
 our forces until they were compelled to 
 retreat and leave there the stores, in the 
 quartermaster's department, which they 
 had found, and which they now so much 
 needed, for they had become exhausted 
 in their exertions to land the forces, and 
 had then marched to the fort in wet 
 clothes and without anything to eat since 
 five A.M., and it was now about five P.M., 
 and it became necessary to fall back to 
 the landing. In doing so they captured 
 some negroes who had been acting as 
 cooks for the forces there, and other 
 prisoners in arms. From these it was 
 found that their forces were greater than 
 ours, and that they were expecting re- 
 inforcements. No alternative was. left 
 but to be resigned to whatever fate was 
 in store, and all tried to be as cheerful 
 as possible. Some sheep and geese were 
 found and ' acquired' (to use a secession 
 phrase) by our troops,, and dispatched 
 very unceremoniously. Camp fires were 
 then built, and our prey was roasted (or 
 rather burned) on the bayonets and cut- 
 
BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 535 
 
 lasses, and on this the troops made their 
 supper and breakfast. The manner in 
 which it was served did not make it 
 particularly inviting, but yet it was evi- 
 dently very much relished in the ab- 
 sence of everything else. Night was now 
 upon us, and bade fair to be stormy. 
 Every now and again a little rain would 
 fall and dampen our clothes, which had 
 not become dry from the experience of 
 the morning. Our pickets were posted 
 around in different positions to prevent 
 a surprise, and we bivouacked on the 
 beach. It was an anxious night to all. 
 While we were lying on the beach, dis- 
 coursing the comfort that it would afford 
 us to be taken prisoners and marched to 
 Richmond, they were getting reinforce- 
 ments into Fort Hatteras and were ar- 
 ranging to attack us, which would have 
 resulted in our capture, for they out- 
 numbered us, and they were on their 
 own ground, and better organized than 
 we were. Fortunately their pickets re- 
 ported that we were moving forward in 
 large numbers to attack them, and they 
 waited until morning for our approach. 
 We, however, were quite willing to re- 
 main in safety where we were, and when 
 morning dawned we saw the vessels 
 coming in again from sea, whither the 
 high winds compelled them to retreat for 
 the night, and we took up our march for 
 Fort Clark, and at the same time the 
 vessels advanced and opened such a hail- 
 storm of shells as caused us to halt out- 
 side of Fort Clark, as it was necessary 
 for our vessels to fire over that fort to 
 reach Fort Hatteras. During the firing 
 the troops took a position about half a 
 
 mile from Fort Clark, and planted the 
 rifled howitzer so as to command some 
 steamers which were lying off Fort Hat- 
 teras, in the bay, either to land more 
 troops or remove those in the fort, if 
 they could no longer hold it. Happily 
 for us they were'within the range of our 
 gun, and we compelled them to retire 
 beyond their position and remain there, 
 and thus we prevented any communica- 
 tion with the fort except by signals. 
 While holding that position, the Pawnee 
 by accident opened fire, and her shells 
 fell so near the troops as to compel them 
 to retire from their position and remain 
 between the two fires until the white flag 
 was hoisted on Fort Hatteras, when the 
 troops advanced toward the fort and all 
 firing ceased." 
 
 The men-of-war had, in the early 
 morning, begun the bombardment, \ U g t 
 whose effective service was relieving 29, 
 the suffering campaigners on shore from 
 their anxiety. The Susquehannah had 
 opened the fire with an eleven-inch shell, 
 which was immediately followed by de- 
 structive broadsides from the Minnesota 
 and the Wabash, almost every shell fall- 
 ing and bursting within the work. About 
 two hours subsequently the Harriet Lane 
 and the Cumberland joined in, and 
 greatly added to the severity of the fire. 
 The enemy continued to resist pertina- 
 ciously until an eleven-inch shell, having 
 made its way through a ventilator, ex- 
 ploded within the bomb-proof, in the 
 middle of the battery, where the garrison 
 had sought refuge from the shower of shot 
 which our ships continued to pour upon 
 them. This last shot settled the day, for 
 
536 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 it struck within their only cover and 
 burst near the magazine. The enemy 
 now gave up all hope and raised upon 
 the ramparts the white flag of truce. 
 
 The fleet now ceased to fire, and 
 General Butler, landing at the fort, 
 demanded an unconditional surrender. 
 To this Commodore Barron, who had 
 commanded in the forts, objected, and 
 proposed that the officers be allowed to 
 march out with their side-arms, and that 
 the men be permitted, after laying down 
 their arms, to return to their homes. 
 Butler, refusing these demands, insisted 
 upon a surrender to which he was will- 
 ing to grant only one condition, that 
 the officers and men should be treated 
 as prisoners of war. Barron no longer 
 hesitated to comply, and articles of ca- 
 pitulation were drawn up on board the 
 Minnesota, and signed by Commodore 
 Stringham and General Butler on the 
 part of the United States, and on that 
 of the Confederates by Commodore 
 Barron, Colonel Martin, and Major 
 Andrews. 
 
 The official reports contain the most 
 authentic and detailed narrative of the 
 affair. Here is that of General Butler : 
 
 " UNITED STATES FLAG-SHIP MINNESOTA, \ 
 August 30, 1861. j 
 
 " MAJOK-GENEKAL J. E. WOOL, COMMANDING 
 DEPARTMENT OF VIEGINIA : 
 
 " GENERAL: Agreeably to your orders, 
 1 embarked on the transport steamers 
 Adelaide and George Peabody 500 of 
 the Twelfth Regiment New York Vol- 
 unteers, Colonel Weber commanding ; 
 220 of the Ninth Regiment New York 
 Volunteers, Colonel Hawkins command- 
 
 ing; 100 of the Union Coast Guard, 
 Captain Nixon commanding ; 60 of the 
 Second United States Artillery, Lieu- 
 tenant Larned commanding, as a force to 
 operate in conjunction with the fleet, 
 under command of Flag Officer String- 
 ham, against the rebel forts at Hatteras 
 Inlet. 
 
 "We left Fortress Monroe on Monday, 
 at one o'clock p. M. The last ship of our 
 fleet arrived off Hatteras Inlet about 
 four o'clock Tuesday afternoon. Such 
 preparations as were possible for the 
 landing were made in the evening, and at 
 daylight next morning dispositions were 
 made for an attack upon the forts by the 
 fleet and for the landing of the troops. 
 Owing to the previous prevalence of 
 southwest gales, a heavy surf was break- 
 ing on the beach. Every effort was 
 made to land the troops, and after about 
 315 were landed, including 55 marines 
 from the fleet and the regulars, both the 
 iron boats upon which we depended 
 were swamped in the surf, and both flat 
 boats stove, and a brave attempt made 
 by Lieutenant Crosby, of the United 
 States Army (serving with the army as 
 port captain at Fortress Monroe), who 
 had volunteered to come down with the 
 steam-tug Fanny, belonging to the army, 
 to land in a boat from the war-steamer 
 Pawnee, resulted ^in the beaching of the 
 boat, so that she could not be got off. 
 It was impracticable to land more troops 
 because of the rising wind and sea. 
 Fortunately, a twelve-pound rifled boat 
 gun, loaned us by the flag-ship, and a 
 twelve-pound howitzer were landed, the 
 last slightly damaged. Our landing was 
 
BUTLER'S REPORT. 
 
 537 
 
 completely covered by the shells of the 
 Monticello and the Harriet Lane. I was 
 on board the Harriet Lane, directing the 
 disembarkation of the troops, by means 
 of signals, and was about landing with 
 them at the time the boats were stove. 
 We were induced to desist from further 
 attempts at landing troops by the rising 
 of the wind, and because, in the mean 
 time, the fleet had opened fire upon the 
 nearest fort, which was finally silenced, 
 and its flag struck. No firing had 
 opened upon our troops from the other 
 fort, and its flag was also struck. Sup- 
 posing this to be a signal of surrender, 
 Colonel Weber advanced his troops, al- 
 ready landed, upon the beach. The 
 Harriet Lane, Captain Faunce, by my 
 direction, tried to cross the bar to get in 
 the smooth water of the inlet, when fire 
 was opened upon the Monticello (which 
 had proceeded in advance of us) from 
 the other fort. Several shots struck her, 
 but without causing any casualties, as I 
 am informed. So well convinced were the 
 officers of both navy and army that the 
 forts had surrendered at this time, that 
 the Susquehannah had towed the frigate 
 Cumberland to an offing. The fire was 
 then reopened as there was no signal 
 from either upon both forts. In the 
 mean time, a few men from the Coast 
 Guard had advanced up the beach, with 
 Mr. Wiegel (who was acting as volunteer 
 aid, and whose gallantry and services I 
 wish to commend), and took possession 
 of the smaller fort, which was found to 
 have been abandoned by the enemy, and 
 raised the American flag thereon. It 
 had become necessary, owing to the 
 
 68 
 
 threatening appearance of the weather, 
 that all the ships should make an offing, 
 which was done with reluctance, from 
 necessity, thus leaving the troops upon 
 shore a part in possession of the small 
 fort (about seven hundred yards from 
 the larger one), and the rest bivouacked 
 upon the beach, near the place of land- 
 ing, about two miles north of the forts. 
 Early the next morning the Harriet Lane 
 ran in shore for the purpose of covering 
 any attack upon the troops. At the 
 same time a large steamer- was observed 
 coming down the Sound, inside the land, 
 with reinforcements for the enemy, but 
 she was prevented from landing by 
 Captain Johnson, of the Coast Guard, 
 who had placed the two guns from the 
 ship and a six-pounder captured from 
 the enemy in a small sand battery, and 
 opened fire upon the rebel steamer. 
 
 "At eight o'clock the fleet opened fire 
 again, the flag-ship being anchored as 
 near as the water allowed, and the other 
 ships coming gallantly into action. It 
 was evident, after a few experiments, 
 that our shots fell short. An increased 
 length of fuse was telegraphed, and 
 firing commenced with shells of fifteen 
 seconds fuse. I had sent Mr. Fiske, 
 acting aide-de-camp, on shore, for the 
 purpose of gaining intelligence of the 
 movements of the troops and of the 
 enemy. I then went with the Fanny, 
 for the purpose of effecting a landing of 
 the remainder of the troops, when a 
 white flag was run up from the fort. I 
 then went with the Fanny over the bar 
 into the inlet. At the same time the 
 troops, under Colonel Weber, marched 
 
538 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 up the beach, and signal was made from 
 the flag-ship to cease firing. As the 
 Fanny rounded in over the bar, the 
 rebel steamer Winslow went up the 
 channel, having a large number of seces- 
 sion troops on board, which she had 
 not landed. We threw a shot at her 
 from the Fanny, but she proved to be 
 out of range. I then sent Lieutenant 
 - Crosby on shore to demand the meaning 
 of the white flag. The boat soon re- 
 turned, bringing Mr. Wiegel, with the 
 following written communication from 
 Samuel Barron, late captain in the 
 United States Navy : 
 
 " MEMORANDUM. 
 
 " FOET HATTEKAS, August 29, 1861. 
 
 " Flag Officer Samuel Barron, Confed- 
 erate States Navy, offers to surrender 
 Fort Hatteras, with all the arms and 
 munitions of war. The officers allowed 
 to go out with side-arms, and the men 
 without arms to retire. 
 
 " S. BARRON, 
 
 " Commanding Naval Defence, Virginia 
 and North Carolina." 
 
 " And also a verbal communication 
 stating that he had in the fort 615 men, 
 and 1,000 more within an hour's call, 
 but that he was anxious to spare the 
 effusion of blood. To both the written 
 and verbal communications I made the 
 reply which follows, and sent it by Lieu- 
 tenant Crosby : 
 
 " MEMORANDUM. 
 
 "Benjamin F. Butler, Major-General 
 United States Army, commanding, in re- 
 ply to the communication of Samuel 
 Barron, commanding forces at Fort Hat- 
 teras, cannot admit the terms proposed. 
 
 The terms proposed are these : full ca- 
 pitulation, the officers and men to be 
 treated as prisoners of war. No other 
 terms admissible. 
 
 "Commanding officers to meet on 
 board flag-ship Minnesota to arrange 
 details. 
 
 "August 29, 1861." 
 
 " After waiting three quarters of an 
 hour Lieutenant Crosby returned, bring- 
 ing with him Captain Barron, Major 
 Andrews, and Colonel Martin, of the 
 rebel forces, who, on being received 
 aboard the tug Fanny, informed me that 
 they had accepted the terms proposed in 
 my memorandum, and had come to sur- 
 render themselves and their command as 
 prisoners of war. I informed them that, 
 as the expedition was a combined one 
 from the army and navy, the surrender 
 must be made on board the flag-ship to 
 Flag Officer Stringham, as well as to 
 myself. We went on board the Minne- 
 sota for that purpose. On arriving there 
 the following articles of capitulation 
 were signed, which I hope will meet 
 your approval : 
 
 " OFF HATTERAS INLET, UNITED STATES \ 
 FLAG-SHIP MINNESOTA, Aug. 29, A.D. 1861. f 
 
 "Articles of capitulation between 
 Flag Officer Stringham, commanding the 
 Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and Ben- 
 jamin F. Butler, United States Army, 
 commanding on behalf of the Govern- 
 ment, and Samuel Barron, commanding 
 the naval forces for the defence of North 
 Carolina and Virginia, and Colonel Mar- 
 tin, commanding the forces, and Major 
 Andrews, commanding the same forces 
 at Fort Hatteras. 
 
CAPITULATION OF FORT HATTERAS. 
 
 589 
 
 " It is stipulated and agreed between 
 the contracting parties, that the forces 
 under command of the said Barron, Mar- 
 tin, and Andrews, and all munitions of 
 war, arms, men, and property, under the 
 command of said Barron, Martin, and 
 Andrews, be unconditionally surrender- 
 ed to the Government of the United 
 States in terms of full capitulation. 
 
 " And it is stipulated and agreed by 
 the contracting parties on the part of 
 the United States Government, that the 
 officers and men shall receive the treat- 
 ment due to prisoners of war. 
 
 " In witness whereof, we, the said 
 Stringham and Butler, on behalf of the 
 United States, and the said Barron, Mar- 
 tin, and Andrews, representing the forces 
 at Hatteras Inlet, hereunto interchange- 
 ably set our hands, this 29th day of Au- 
 gust, A.D. 1861, and of the Independence 
 of the United States the eighty-fifth year. 
 " S. H. STRINGHAM, Flag Officer Atlantic 
 
 Blockading Squadron. 
 " BENJ. F. BUTLER, Major- General United 
 
 States 'Army Commanding. 
 " S. BARRON, Flag Officer, Confederate 
 
 States Navy, Commanding naval forces 
 
 Virginia and North Carolina. 
 " WM. F. MARTIN, Colonel Seventh Light 
 
 Infantry, North Carolina Volunteers. 
 " W. L. G. ANDREWS, Major Command- 
 ing Forts Hatteras and Clark. 
 
 "I then landed, and took a formal 
 surrender of the forts, with all the men 
 and munitions of war, inspected the 
 troops, to see that the arms, had been 
 properly surrendered, marched them out, 
 and embarked them on board the Ade- 
 laide, and marched my troops into the 
 
 fort, and raised our flag upon it, amid 
 the cheers of our men and a salute of 
 thirteen guns, which had been shotted by 
 the enemy. The embarkation of the 
 wounded, which was conducted with 
 great care and tenderness from a tempo- 
 rary wharf erected for the purpose, took 
 so long that night came on, and so dark 
 that it was impossible for the pilots to 
 take the Adelaide over the bar, thereby 
 causing delay. I may mention in this 
 connection that the Adelaide, in carrying 
 in the troops, at the moment that my 
 terms of capitulation were under consid- 
 eration by the enemy, had grounded 
 upon the bar, but by the active and 
 judicious exertions of Commander Stell- 
 wagen, after some delay was got off. At 
 the same time, the Harriet Lane, in at- 
 tempting to enter the bar, had grounded, 
 and remained fast ; both were under the 
 guns of the fort. This, to me, was a 
 moment of the greatest anxiety. By 
 these accidents, a valuable ship of war 
 and a transport steamer, with a large 
 portion of my troops, were within the 
 power of the enemy. I had demanded 
 the strongest terms, which he was con- 
 sidering. He might refuse, and, seeing 
 our disadvantage, renew the action. But 
 I determined to abate not a tittle of what 
 I believed to be due to the dignity of the 
 Government ; not even to give an official 
 title to the officer in command of the 
 rebels. Besides, my tug was in the inlet, 
 and at least I could carry on the engage- 
 ment with two rifled six-pounders well 
 supplied with Sawyer's shells. 
 
 " Upon taking possession of Fort Hat- 
 teras I found that it had mounted ten 
 
540 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 guns, with four yet unmounted and one 
 large ten-inch columbiad, all ready for 
 mounting. I append the official muster 
 roll of Colonel Martin, furnished by him, 
 of the officers and men captured by 
 
 us. 
 
 " The position of the fort is an exceed- 
 ingly strong one, nearly surrounded on 
 all sides by water, and only to be ap- 
 proached by a march of 500 yards cir- 
 cuitously over a long neck of sand, within 
 half-musket range, and over a causeway 
 a few feet only in width, and which was 
 commanded by two thirty-two pound 
 guns, loaded with grape and canister, 
 which were expended in our salute. It 
 had a well-protected magazine and bomb- 
 proof, capable of sheltering some 300 or 
 400 men. The parapet was nearly of 
 octagon form, inclosing about two-thirds 
 of an acre of ground, well covered, with 
 sufficient traverses, and ramparts, and 
 parapets, upon which our shells had 
 made but little impression. 
 
 "The larger work, nearest this inlet, 
 was known as Fort Hatteras. Fort Clark, 
 which was about 700 yards northerly, is 
 a square redoubt, mounting five guns and 
 two six-pounders. The enemy had spiked 
 these guns, but in a very inefficient man- 
 ner, upon abandoning the fort the day 
 before. I had all the troops on shore at 
 the time of the surrender of the forts, 
 but re-embarked the regulars and the 
 marines. Finding it impossible, without 
 a delay of the fleet which could not be 
 justified under the state of facts at Fort- 
 ress Monroe, and owing to the threaten- 
 ing appearance of the weather, I disem- 
 barked the provisions, making, with the 
 
 provisions captured, about five days' ra- 
 tions for the use of the troops. 
 
 "On consultation with Flag Officer 
 Stringham and Commander Stellwagen, 
 I determined to leave the troops and 
 hold the fort, because of the strength of 
 
 
 
 the fortifications and its importance, and 
 because, if again in the possession of the 
 enemy, with a sufficient armament, the 
 very great difficulty of its capture, until 
 I could get some further instructions 
 from the Government. Commodore 
 Stringham directed the steamers Mon- 
 ticello and Pawnee to remain- inside, and 
 these with the men in the forts are suf- 
 ficient to hold the position against any 
 force which is likely, or indeed possible, 
 to be sent against it. The importance 
 of the point cannot be overrated. When 
 the channel is buoyed out, any vessel 
 may carry fifteen feet water over it 
 with ease. Once inside, there is a safe 
 harbor and anchorage in all weathers. 
 From there the whole coast of Virginia 
 and North Carolina, from Norfolk to 
 Cape Lookout, is within our reach, by 
 light draft vessels, which cannot possibly 
 live at sea during the winter months. 
 From it offensive operations may be 
 made upon the whole coast of North 
 Carolina to Bogue Inlet, extending many 
 miles inland to Washington, Newbern, 
 and Beaufort. In the language of the 
 chief engineer of the rebels, Colonel 
 Thompson, in an official report, ' It is 
 the key to the Albemarle.' In my 
 judgment, it is a station second in im- 
 portance only to Fortress Monroe on 
 this coast. As a depot for coaling and 
 supplies for the blockading squadron, it 
 
UNIVERSAL GOOD CONDUCT. 
 
 541 
 
 is invaluable. As a harbor for our coast- 
 ing trade, or inlet from the winter storm, 
 or from pirates, it is of the first import- 
 ance. By holding it, Hatteras light may 
 again send forth its cheering ray to the 
 storm-beaten mariner, of which the worse 
 than vandalism of the rebels deprives 
 him. . It has but one drawback a want 
 of good water but a condenser, like the 
 one now in operation at Fortress Monroe, 
 at a cost of a few hundred dollars, will 
 obviate that difficulty. * * * 
 
 " While all have done well, I desire to 
 speak in terms of especial commenda- 
 tion, in addition to those before men- 
 tioned, of the steadiness and cool courage 
 of Colonel Max Weber, whom we were 
 obliged to leave in command of a de- 
 tachment of 300 men on a strange coast, 
 without camp equipage or possibility of 
 aid, in the face of an enemy 600 strong, 
 on a dark and stormy night; of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Weiss, who conducted a 
 reconnoissance of 20 men; of the dar- 
 ing and prompt efficiency of Captain 
 Nixon, of the Coast Guards, who, with 
 his men, occupied Fort Clark during the 
 first night, although dismantled, in the 
 face of an enemy of unknown numbers. 
 I desire to commend to your attention 
 Captain Jardine, of the New York Ninth, 
 who was left in command of the de- 
 tachment of his regiment when the un- 
 fortunate casualty to the Harriet Lane 
 prevented Colonel Hawkins from land- 
 ing. Permit me to speak of the effi- 
 ciency of the regulars under Lieutenant 
 Larned, who worked zealously in aiding 
 to land their comrades of the volunteers, 
 overwhelmed with the rolling surf. I 
 
 desire especially to make acknowledg- 
 ments to Messrs. Wiegel and Durivage, 
 volunteer aids, who planted the American 
 flag upon Fort Clark, on the second 
 morning, to indicate to the fleet its sur- 
 render, and to prevent the further wast- 
 ing of shells upon it a service of great 
 danger from the fire of their own friends. 
 I make honorable mention of young 
 Fiske, who risked his life among the 
 breakers, being thrown on shore, to 
 carry my orders to the troops landed, 
 and to apprise them of the movements 
 and intentions of the fleet ; also, my 
 thanks for the valuable aid of Captain 
 Haggerty, who was employed in visiting 
 the prizes in the harbor while we were 
 agreeing upon the terms of capitulation. 
 Of the service to the country of the gen- 
 tlemen of the navy proper, I may not 
 speak, for one ought not to praise when 
 he has no right to censure, and they will 
 be appropriately mentioned, I doubt not, 
 by the commander, who is capable of 
 appreciating their good conduct. But I 
 am emboldened to ask permission, if the 
 Department shall determine to occupy 
 the point as a permanent post, that its 
 name be changed, by general order, 
 from Fort Hatteras to Fort Stringham. 
 But of those gentlemen who served 
 under my immediate command, I may 
 make honorable mention, as I have be- 
 fore done, of the zealous, intrepid, and 
 untiring action of Lieutenant Crosby, 
 who took an armed canal-boat (the 
 steam-tug Fanny, from Fortress Monroe) 
 to Hatteras Inlet, in order that the ex- 
 pedition might have the aid of a steamer 
 of the lightest draft. Captain Shuttle- 
 
54:2 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 worth, of the marine corps, deserves 
 well for his loyalty and efficiency in his 
 active detachment of marines. Much 
 of the success of the expedition is due 
 to the preparation of the transport ser- 
 vice by Commander Stellwagen, and the 
 prompt presence of mind with which he 
 took the troops from their peril, when 
 the Adelaide touched on the bar, is a 
 rare quality in an officer in danger. 
 
 "Although Captain Faunce, of the 
 Pawnee service, now in command of the 
 Harriet Lane, was unfortunate enough 
 to get his vessel on one of the numerous 
 sand bars about the inlet, it happened, 
 I believe, in consequence of a determi- 
 nation, creditable in him, to aid me by 
 being near to cover the troops in land- 
 ing. Captain Lowry, who had the 
 George Peabody in charge, brought in 
 his vessel with safety, with the troops, 
 who were pleased with his care and con- 
 duct. He still remains at the inlet. 
 
 "In fine, General, I may congratulate 
 you and the country upon a glorious 
 victory in your department, in which we 
 captured more than 700 men, 25 pieces 
 of artillery, 1,000 stand of arms, a large 
 quantity of ordnance stores, provisions, 
 3 valuable prizes, 2 light boats, and 4 
 stand of colors, one of which had been 
 presented within a week by the ladies 
 of Newbern, North Carolina, to the 
 ' North Carolina Defenders.' 
 
 "By the goodness of that Providence 
 which watches over our nation, no one 
 of the fleet or army was in the least 
 degree injured. The enemy's loss was 
 not officially reported to us, but was as- 
 certained to be 12 or 15 killed and 35 
 
 wounded. * I have the honor 
 
 to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 
 
 "Major-General United States Army 
 Commanding Volunteers."* 
 
 Extracts from the official reports of the enemy will com- 
 plete the history of the capture of Hatteras. 
 
 "ON BOARD UNITED STATES SHIP MINNESOTA, Sept. 1, 1861. 
 "To THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA : 
 
 c- o o coo 
 
 ' ' I arrived at Fort Hatteras on the evening of the 28th 
 August, in company with Commodore Barren, flag officer 
 Confederate States Navy, in charge of the defences of 
 Virginia and North Carolina, and found that during the 
 day the enemy had attacked the forces under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Wm. F. Martin, as well as Forts Clark 
 and Hatteras, under my command, and after a day of most 
 severe and unceasing fighting, the Colonel had succeeded 
 in concentrating all the forces within the walls of Fort 
 Hatteras. Colonel Martin himself was utterly prostrated 
 by the duties of the day, and after consultation with him, 
 I proposed that we invite Commodore 5 Barren, an officer 
 of great experience, to take the general command and 
 direct the succeeding operations. Commodore Barron 
 consented, and assumed the command. I then proceeded 
 to examine our guns and munitions, and prepare the fort 
 for the action of the coming morning. 
 
 ' ' There were but two guns mounted on the side next to 
 Fort Clark, both thirty-two pounders, and one gun on the 
 corner next the bar, an eight-inch shell gun. During tho 
 night I tore away a traverse on the back face of the work, 
 and brought another gun to bear in the same direction. 
 The companies of my command, under Captains Cobden, 
 Lamb, and Sutton, having been in action all the previous 
 day, displaying great courage and devotion, being per- 
 fectly exhausted, I placed the batteries in charge of fresh 
 troops, as follows : Nos. 2 and 3 of the channel battery 
 under the command of Captain Thomas Sparrow, assisted 
 by Lieutenants Shaw and Thomas ; Nos. 4 and 5 of the 
 same battery were under command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 George W. Johnston, assisted by First Lieutenant Mose 
 and Second Lieutenant George W. Daniel ; No. 6, facing 
 the bar, and No. 7, facing Fort Clark, were placed in 
 charge of Major Henry A- Gillion, assisted by Lieutenants 
 Johnston and Grimes ; No. 8, a gun mounted on a naval 
 carriage, was commanded by Lieutenant Murdaugh, of the 
 Confederate States Navy, assisted by Lieutenant Sharp 
 and Midshipman Stafford. 
 
 "Captain Thomas H. Sharp had command of No. 1, but 
 owing to the wrenches not fitting the eccentric axles, was 
 unable to bring it into action. He staid by his gun during 
 most of the engagement, but could not fire. Thus we 
 had but three guns we could bring to bear (if the enemy 
 
CAPTIVES. 
 
 543 
 
 The enemy's officers and men captured 
 at Fort Hatteras were conveyed to the 
 
 took up his position of the previous day), viz., Nos. 6, 7, 
 and 8. 
 
 . " At 7.40 o'clock A. M. of the 20th, the enemy opened fire 
 on us from the steam frigate Minnesota (43 guns), Wabash' 
 (43 guns), Susquehanna (15 guns), frigate Cumberland 
 (24 guns), steamer Pawnee (10 guns), and Harriet Lane 
 (5 guns), and a rifled battery of three guns erected in the 
 sand hills three miles east of Fort Clark. Thus you will 
 see they brought 73 guns of the most approved kind and 
 heaviest metal to bear upon us the shells thrown being 
 9-inch, 10-inch and 11-inch Dahlgren, Paixhan, and Co- 
 lumbiad ; while from the position taken we were unable 
 to reach them with the greatest elevation. The men of 
 the channel battery were ordered to leave their guns and 
 protect themselves as well as possible, the council of the 
 commanding officers having decided that it was to be an 
 action of endurance until our reinforcements came up. 
 After a few shots had been fired, and it was ascertained 
 that we could not reach them, our guns ceased fire, and 
 only answered the fire of the enemy occasionally, to show 
 that we had not surrendered. The shower of shell in half 
 an hour became literally tremendous, as we had falling 
 into and immediately around the works not less, on an 
 average, than ten each minute, and, the sea being smooth, 
 the firing was remarkably accurate. One officer counted 
 twenty-eight shells as falling so as to damage us, in one 
 minute, and several others counted twenty in a minute. 
 At a quarter to eleven o'clock a council of the officers was 
 held, and it was determined to surrender. A white flag 
 was raised, and the firing ceased at eleven o'clock. Thus, 
 for three hours and twenty minutes Fort Hatteras resisted 
 a storm of shells perhaps more terrible than ever fell upon 
 any other works. At the time the council determined to 
 surrender, two of our guns were dismounted, 4 men were 
 reported killed, and between twenty-five and thirty badly 
 wounded. One shell had fallen into the room adjoining 
 the magazine, and the magazine was reported on fire. It 
 is useless to attempt a further description. The men gene- 
 rally behaved well. Nearly every commissioned officer, 
 from the Commodore down, was more or less wounded, 
 and fifty or sixty of the non-commissioned officers and 
 men, who would not report to the surgeon. 
 
 o 35 c- c- c- 
 
 " W. S. G. ANDREWS, Major, etc." 
 Commodore Barren, after repeating what has been al- 
 ready recorded in the previous report, thus concludes his 
 official account : 
 
 " I was requested," says Commodore Barren, "by Col- 
 onel Martin and Major Andrews, commanding the post, to 
 assume command of the fort, to which I assented, Colonel 
 
 North, and after being held for some time 
 as prisoners of war, were exchanged. 
 
 Bradford volunteering to assist me in the duties of defence. 
 In assuming this grave responsibility I was not unaware 
 that we could be shelled out of the fort ; but expecting 
 the arrival from Newbern of a regiment of North Carolina 
 volunteers at or before midnight (the fleet having put to 
 sea, and appearances indicating bad weather), we designed 
 an assault on Fort Clark, three quarters of a mile distant 
 from Fort Hatteras, which had been taken possession of 
 by a party landed from the shipping ; but, unfortunately, 
 the regiment did not arrive until the following day, after 
 the bombardment had commenced, and when the time 
 came that I deemed evacuation or surrender unavoidable, 
 the means of escape were not at my command. On the 
 next day, at 7.40 A.M. , the fleet, consisting of the Minnesota, 
 Wabash, Susquehanna, Cumberland, Pawnee, and Harriet 
 Lane (other steamers being in company), took their posi- 
 tions and opened fire. In addition to the batteries of the 
 ships, the enemy had during the night erected a battery 
 of rifled field guns near to Fort Clark, which also opened 
 upon us. 
 
 " During the first hour the shells of the ships fell short, 
 we only firing occasionally to ascertain whether our shot 
 would reach them, and wishing to reserve our very limited 
 supply of ammunition till the vessels might find it neces- 
 sary to come nearer in, but they, after some practice, got 
 the exact range of their nine, ten, and eleven inch guns, and 
 did not find it necessary to alter their positions, while not 
 a shot from our battery reached them with the greatest 
 elevation we could get. This state of things shells burst- 
 ing over and in the fort every few seconds having con- 
 tinued for about three hours, the men were directed to 
 take shelter under the parapet and traverses, and I called 
 a council of officers, at which it was unanimously agreed 
 that holding out longer could only result in a greater loss 
 of life, without the ability to damage our adversaries, and, 
 just at this time, the magazine being reported on fire, a 
 shell having fallen through the ventilator of the ' bomb- 
 proof,' into the room adjoining the principal magazine, I 
 ordered a white flag to be shown, when the firing ceased, 
 and the surrender was made upon the conditions of the 
 accompanying ' articles of capitulation. ' 
 
 "The personnel of this command are now ' prisoners of 
 war' on board this ship (the Minnesota), where everything 
 is done to make them as comfortable as possible under the 
 circumstances, Flag Officer Stringham, Captain Van Brunt, 
 and Commander Case extending to us characteristic court- 
 esy and kindness. We are to be landed at Fort Hamilton, 
 New York harbor. ~ So far as ascertained, there 
 were this day two killed, twenty-five or thirty wounded, 
 and many others slightly wounded." 
 
544 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 Effect of the Surrender of Hatteras upon the Enemy. Fort Morgan, at Ocracoke Inlet, abandoned without a blow. 
 Reaction of sentiment of the Inhabitants of Hatteras. Emphatic expression of Loyalty. Convention of the In- 
 habitants of Hyde County. Affirmation of Fidelity to the Union. Convention at Hatteras. A sweeping Ordi- 
 nance. Character of the Inhabitants of Hatteras. Election for United States Congress. Choice of Mr. Foster. His 
 claim to a seat not acknowledged. Great hopes defeated. Expedition to Chicamacomico. Description of Chica- 
 macomico. Objects of the Expedition. Roanoke Island. Its relative position to contiguous Land and to the 
 Sounds. The advantage of the Position. The Expedition. How composed. Its Start. Trouble in Disembarka- 
 tion. The Loss of the Fanny. Success of the Enemy and their encouragement. Expedition of the Enemy. 
 Landing of the Enemy upon Hatteras. The Retreat of the Federalists. Their Trials. Rescue.. The Fleet. Flight 
 of the Enemy. Naval Official Report. -Version of the Enemy. Contradictory Accounts. Comparative Losses. 
 The Enemy forced to Retreat. Still in possession of Roanoke Island. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE successful expedition to Hatte- 
 ras seemed momentarily to have 
 wrought a very depressing effect 
 upon the enemy. After the capture of 
 Forts Clark and Hatteras, they almost 
 despaired of holding those great barriers 
 of sand, upon which North Carolina was 
 dependent not only for the protection 
 of its coast but for the liberty of its com- 
 merce. Soon after the Federal victory 
 at Hatteras Inlet, the frigate Savannah 
 sailed to Ocracoke Inlet to the south, 
 and finding Fort Morgan abandoned, 
 took possession of that strong work, 
 without meeting with the least resist- 
 ance. 
 
 The natives of that district of North 
 Carolina suddenly evinced a strong feel- 
 ing of loyalty, and emphatically ex- 
 pressed it by a course of political ac- 
 tion as friendly to the United States as 
 it was hostile to the Southern Confed- 
 Q C t. eracy. A convention of the citizens 
 12 of Hyde County was held and res- 
 olutions framed in which the members 
 
 affirmed "voluntarily and deliberately" 
 their loyalty to the Government of the 
 United States, and expressed their "un- 
 alterable attachment to that qonstitu- 
 tion which is the basis of the Union and 
 founded by their fathers." A committee 
 was then formed to draw up a statement 
 of grievances of the loyal inhabitants of 
 North Carolina. A ' ' declaration of in- 
 dependence" was the result. This docu- 
 ment, modelled on the original Declara- 
 tion of Independence, affected all the 
 pomp of that stately document. 
 
 Subsequently a convention was held 
 at Hatteras, with a professed rep- ]v ov . 
 resentation of forty-five counties of 18. 
 North Carolina. This imposing body 
 unhesitatingly assumed the prerogative 
 of the whole power of the State, and 
 overthrowing its constituted authorities 
 as being in league with the Southern 
 Confederacy, provided for its govern- 
 ment in allegiance to the United States 
 by a sweeping "ordinance." 
 
 This movement, in connection with the 
 
LOYAL HATTERAS. 
 
 545 
 
 triumph of the Federal arms at Hatteras, 
 seemed an augury of returning loyalty 
 in North Carolina ; but to those who knew 
 the shiftless character of the inhabitants 
 of the sand beaches of Hatteras many 
 of whom were known to be careless fish- 
 ermen or unscrupulous wreckers it was 
 evident that the influence of their action 
 would be small and their fidelity doubtful. 
 
 The convention assembled at Hatteras 
 adjourned, subject to be convened by the 
 President of the United States, and Mr. 
 Lincoln was induced to issue a procla- 
 mation ordering an election to be held 
 for the Second Congressional District, 
 on Wednesday, 27th of November. The 
 election accordingly took place, and a 
 Mr. Foster was chosen a member of the 
 House of the Representatives of the 
 United States. This body, however, re- 
 fused to admit his claims to a seat. 
 
 Brilliant as had been the first success 
 of the expedition to Hatteras, the results 
 proved less satisfactory than might have 
 been anticipated. A series of attempts 
 to improve the advantage of holding 
 this important position proved abortive, 
 in consequence of imprudence or ill-for- 
 tune. The expedition to Chicamacom- 
 ico was the first of these small and un- 
 profitable enterprises. This point is at 
 the northernmost extremity of the great 
 stretch of sand beach called Hatteras 
 Island, upon the southwestern end of 
 which are situated the two forts, Clark 
 and Hatteras, which had been wrested 
 from the enemy. Chicamacomico is 
 about forty miles from these works, and 
 Colonel Hawkins, in command of the 
 Federal troops at the forts, determined 
 
 69 
 
 to send a force in that direction, in order 
 to watch the enemy, who had taken pos- 
 session of Roanoke Island with 3,000 
 men, and to prevent their landing on 
 Hatteras.* Roanoke Island is an im- 
 portant position, commanding the en- 
 trance from the sea through Oregon Inlet 
 to Albemarle Sound, and the commu- 
 nication of the latter with Pamlico 
 Sound. Between Roanoke Island and 
 the northern end of Hatteras, where 
 Chicamacomico is situated, there inter- 
 venes only a stretch of sand beach, about 
 fifteen miles in length, insulated by 
 two inlets from the sea Loggerhead 
 Inlet, which divides it on the south from 
 
 * The following description of Hatteras Island is taken 
 from "Leslie's Pictorial History of the War :" 
 
 "A few words as to the character of Hatteras Island 
 are necessary to an understanding of the operations of 
 which it has heen the theatre. Its length from Hatteras 
 Inlet, where Forts Hatteras and Clark are situated, to 
 Hatteras light-house is about thirteen miles ; it then takes 
 a northern direction, and extends to Loggerhead Inlet, a 
 distance of twenty-seven miles, making the total length 
 of the island about forty miles. Its width averages 
 about one mile, although there are some parts which are 
 above two miles wide, while at several points it is only 
 about one-third of a mile. In a word, it is little more 
 than a series of sand heaps, interspersed with clumps of 
 dwarfed live oaks, with now and then a marsh filled with 
 marsh grass. Other than these there is no green thing 
 to be seen. The population may be as great as 500 souls, 
 though no one appears to have any very distinct idea of 
 the exact number. They live by fishing, oystering, pilot- 
 ing, and wrecking ; or, as they innocently call it, ' plun- 
 dering.' They are very ignorant, simple-minded, and in 
 every respect as provincial as any class of human beings 
 can well be. They live in rude houses, many of them 
 mere huts, on the peaks of which at the present time, 
 something designed to be a white flag, floats. Most of 
 the inhabitants were born on the island, and many have 
 never been away from it. Formerly there were no schools 
 or churches ; now there are schools, and a place of wor- 
 ship. There is a kind of spicy plant or shrub growing on 
 the island called yopon, the leaves and sprigs of which the 
 inhabitants gather and use in the place of tea and coffee. 
 A bushel of the leaves they exchange for a bushel of corn, 
 by which means they obtain their chief supply." 
 
546 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Hatteras, and Oregon Inlet, which sepa- 
 rates it on the north from the beach 
 which flanks Roanoke Island on the sea- 
 side. By the possession of Roanoke 
 Island, the enemy could command not 
 only these inlets to the sea, of which 
 they might avail themselves for the 
 passage of their privateers and trading 
 vessels, and protect the approach to 
 Carolina and Virginia by Albemarle 
 Sound, but threaten even to wrest Hat- 
 teras Island from the Federal forces. 
 
 Colonel Hawkins, conscious of the im- 
 portance of Roanoke Island, was anx- 
 ious to thwart the purposes of the 
 enemy, in seizing it. He accordingly 
 sent the Twentieth Indiana Regiment 
 diminished in strength by three com- 
 panies, which had been left at Fortress 
 Monroe to occupy Chicamacornico and 
 throw up intrenchments, with the view 
 of preventing a landing from the enemy 
 at Roanoke Island, which is only fifteen 
 miles distant. 
 
 The Indiana Regiment, under the com- 
 Sep t, mand of Colonel Brown, embarked 
 29. on board the gun-boats Putnam and 
 Ceres, and sailing on the morning of 
 September 29th, arrived on the same 
 evening off Chicamacomico. In conse- 
 quence, however, of the shallowness of 
 the water, the vessels were obliged to 
 anchor at a distance of three miles from 
 land. The soldiers were not able to dis- 
 embark until next morning, when being 
 transferred to small boats they were 
 safely landed. The regiment was des- 
 titute of everything except a small quan- 
 tity of provisions, as all the supplies, 
 camp equipage, intrenching implements, 
 
 food and ammunition were to be sent 
 next day by the steam-tug Fanny. 
 
 This vessel, however, with its import- 
 ant freight, had been detained at the 
 forts a day beyond the appointed time, 
 and did not sail until the 1st of Octo- 
 ber. In the evening of that day she 
 made her appearance off the point, but 
 while preparing to land her stores, three 
 gun-boats hove in sight, and before their 
 character could be ascertained, opened 
 fire upon her. Ten persons, who had the 
 good luck to be in the only boat which 
 had put off for the land, escaped ; all the 
 rest, thirty-one soldiers and sailors, were 
 captured, together with the tug-boat and 
 its valuable freight. Property to the 
 value of over $150,000 thus fell into 
 the hands of the enemy. The loss, more- 
 over, of the camp equipage, intrenching 
 tools, and provisions of the Indiana Reg- 
 iment, totally defeated the object of 
 their enterprise. 
 
 The enemy, encouraged by their suc- 
 cess in the capture of the Fanny, now 
 ventured upon a more extensive enter- 
 prise. Organizing an expedition, con- 
 sisting of six small steamers, a number 
 of transports, cotton and flat boats, and 
 some 2,000 or 3,000 men, they appeared 
 off Chicamacomico, with the view of 
 surprising and capturing the Indiana oct, 
 Regiment now encamped at that * 
 point. The armed vessels of the enemy 
 began the attack by throwing shells 
 into the Federal camp, and at the same 
 time, under the cover of this fire, landed 
 two bodies of men, one above and one 
 below the encampment of the Indiana 
 men, with the purpose of surrounding 
 
DISASTER AT CHICAMACOMICO. 
 
 547 
 
 them and cutting oft' their retreat. Col- 
 onel Brown, seeing that he could not de- 
 fend himself against such odds, withdrew 
 his men, and luckily succeeded during 
 the night in eluding the vigilance of the 
 detachment in his rear. Meanwhile, Col- 
 onel Hawkins had become aware of the 
 imminent danger of his comrades, and 
 had marched to their rescue with 500 
 men, supported by the frigate Susque- 
 hannah and the gun-boat Monticello. 
 
 The retreating troops were in the mean 
 time exposed to trials which tested to the 
 utmost their fortitude and powers of en- 
 durance.* While Colonel Hawkins had 
 
 The retreat is thus described by one of the sufferers : 
 "Sorrowfully," says he, "we turned our backs on our 
 camp and prepared for the long march to Hatteras light- 
 house, where we expected reinforcement from Colonel 
 Hawkins. 
 
 "This was about nine o'clock. The sun was shining 
 on the white sand of the beach, heating the air as if it 
 were a furnace. The men had neither provisions nor 
 water. The haste in which they had rushed to repel the 
 enemy had prevented this, and it was too late to go back 
 to camp. Company F, Lieutenant Logan, was thrown 
 forward in the advance, and Company K, Captain Reid, 
 was detailed as a rear guard ; and well he performed his 
 duty, picking up the stragglers and keeping the enemy in 
 check. Several times the enemy advanced in force, and 
 he halted to give them battle, but they declined. 
 
 " It was a march I shall never forget. The first ten 
 miles was terrible. No water, the men unused to long 
 marches, the sand heavy, and the feet of the men sinking 
 into it at every step, and a point below to be gained in 
 order to join Company F, to prevent their being cut off. 
 As the regiment pushed along, man after man would 
 stagger from the ranks, and fall upon the hot sand, and, 
 looking back, I saw our colonel trudging along with his 
 men, having given up his horse to a sick soldier. 
 
 "But the most sorrowful sight of all was the islanders 
 leaving their homes from fear of the enemy. They could 
 be seen in groups, sometimes with a little cart carrying 
 their provisions, but mostly with nothing, fleeing for dear 
 life. Mothers carrying their babes, fathers leading along 
 the boys, grandfathers and grandmothers straggling along 
 from homes they had left behind. Relying on our pro- 
 tection they had been our friends, but in an evil hour we 
 had been compelled to leave them. When will we learn 
 that guns and men are necessary to enforce the laws? 
 
 encouraged the retreating Indiana men 
 with assurances that they would be rein- 
 forced by land, the naval force* secured 
 
 When shall we learn that our protection cannot be given, 
 unless by gun-boats and batteries ? 
 
 "We still toiled on, the heat most intense, and no 
 water. Hunger was nothing in comparison with thirst. 
 It was maddening. The sea rolling at our feet and noth- 
 ing to drink. I started to take a scout to watch the 
 movements of the enemy's vessels. I skirted the sound, 
 for some ten miles. In every clump of bushes I would 
 find men utterly exhausted. The enemy's vessels were 
 now nearly opposite," steaming down the sound to cut off 
 our retreat. I would tell them this, but they would say, 
 'They did not care, they would die there,' so utterly 
 hopeless did they seem. 
 
 "Near sunset I caught sight of the army drawn up in 
 line of battle on the beach about a mile distant. Soon 
 joining them I found that the enemy were reported in 
 force in front. After some delay the army marched by 
 the right flank, skirmishers ahead, until we reached the 
 narrow inlet about five miles above Hatteras light-house, 
 and here our great danger was at once seen. The fleet of 
 the enemy had drawn up in line, so as to sweep the beach 
 and render a passage impossible, but had neglected to 
 land their men. It was now near twilight. The clouds 
 in the west reflected the bright tints of the sun, and 
 showed us the enemy in the foreground. In the east 
 heavy gray clouds lowered, and our uniforms correspond- 
 ing, hid us from their view, as we silently stole along, 
 the roar of the surf drowning the footsteps of the men and 
 the commands of the officers, yet every little while we 
 would watch, expecting to see the flash of the enemy's 
 cannon, or hear the report of the bursting shell in our 
 little band. It was a narrow escape, and a providential 
 one, and our colonel was affected to tears at the danger we 
 had passed. 
 
 " At midnight we reached Hatteras light-house, having 
 made a march of twenty-eight miles. Here we found 
 water, and using the light-house as a fort, we encamped 
 for the night, and woke up next morning feeling like 
 sand-crabs, and ready, like them, to go into our holes, 
 could we find them." 
 
 The following official reports of the naval com- 
 manders are the simplest and probably most truthful 
 records of their good services : 
 
 ' ' UNITED STATES STEAM FRIGATE SUSQUEHANNAH, 
 
 OFF HATTEKAS INLET, Oct. 6, 1861. 
 " CAPTAIN LARDNER TO COMMANDER GOLDSBOROUGH : 
 
 ' ' SIR : Late in the afternoon of the 4th instant I re- 
 ceived information that the enemy had landed in large 
 force at Chicamacomico and Keneekut, and the Indiana 
 Regiment posted there was in full retreat before them. 
 Also, that our three tugs in the inlet were aground or 
 disabled. The Fanny had been captured the day before. 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 their safety by driving off the swarming 
 assailants. 
 
 The account given by the enemy of 
 this affair was of course as flattering to 
 themselves as it was denunciatory of our 
 troops. As in this work it is designed 
 not only to record the events of the war, 
 
 I at once got under way with this ship and the Monticello, 
 and anchored for the night close to the shore in Hatteras 
 Cove. At daylight I found our troops in arid about this 
 light-house, and in distress for want of provisions, which 
 they had been without for twenty-four hours. I supplied 
 them with food, and at the request of the commanding 
 officer, remained for their protection during the day. 
 Learning that the enemy was in large force at Keneekut, 
 I sent the Monticello to drive them off, which important 
 service was performed by Lieutenant-Commanding Braine 
 with great effect and good conduct. His report is inclosed. 
 " I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " J. L. LARDNER, Captain. 
 "To Flag Officer L. M. GOLDSBOROUGH, etc., etc." 
 
 " UNITED STATES SHIP MONTICELLO, OFF CAPE HATTERAS, 
 
 Oct.. 5, 1861. 
 " LIEUTENANT BRAINE TO CAPTAIN LARDNER : 
 
 "SIR: I have the honor to inform you, that, in obe- 
 dience to your order of this morning, I stood through the 
 inner channel of Hatteras Shoals, at half-past twelve 
 p. M., and stood close along shore to the northward, keep- 
 ing a bright look-out from aloft. At half-past one p. M. 
 we discovered several vessels over the woodland Kenee- 
 kut, and at the same time a regiment marching to the 
 northward, carrying a rebel flag in their midst, with many 
 stragglers in their rear ; also two tugs inside flying the 
 same flag. As they came out of the woods of Keneekut, 
 we ran close in shore, and opened a deliberate fire upon 
 them at a distance of three-quarters of a mile. At our 
 first shell, which fell apparently in tbeir midst, they 
 rolled up their flag and scattered, moving rapidly up the 
 beach to the northward. We followed them, firing rapid- 
 ly from three guns, driving them up to a clump of woods, 
 in which they took refuge, and abreast of which their 
 steamers lay. We now shelled the woods, and could see 
 them embarking in small boats after their vessels, evidently 
 in great confusion, and suffering greatly from our fire. 
 
 "Their steamers now opened fire upon us, firing, how- 
 ever, but three shots, which fell short. Two boats filled 
 with men were struck by our shells and destroyed. Three 
 more steamers came down the sound and took position 
 opposite the woods. We were shelling also two sloops. 
 We continued firing deliberately from half-past one P. M. 
 until half- past three p. M. , when two men were discovered 
 on the sea-beach making signals to us. Supposing them 
 
 but to illustrate the spirit of those en- 
 gaged in it, the subjoined account* of 
 
 to be two of the Indiana Kegiment, we sent an armed boat 
 and crew to bring them off, covering them at the same 
 time with our fire. Upon the boat nearing the beach 
 they took to the water. One of them was successful in 
 reaching the boat private Warren 0. Haver, Company 
 H, 20th Regiment of Indiana troops. The other man 
 private Charles White, Company H, 20th Regiment In- 
 diana troops was unfortunately drowned in the surf. 
 
 " Private Haver informs me that he was taken prisoner 
 on the morning of the 4th ; that he witnessed one shot 
 which was very destructive. He states that two of our 
 shells fell into two sloops loaded with men, blowing the 
 vessels to pieces and sinking them. Also that several 
 officers were killed, and their horses seen running about 
 the track. He had just escaped from his captors, after 
 shooting the captain of one of the rebel companies. He 
 states that the enemy were in the greatest confusion, 
 rushing wildly into the water, striving to get off to their 
 vessels. Private Haver now directed me to the point 
 where the rebels were congregated, waiting an oppor- 
 tunity to get off. I opened fire again with success, 
 scattering them. We were now very close, in three 
 fathoms water, and the fire of the second shell told with 
 effect. Six steamers were now off the point, one of which 
 I recognized as the Fanny. At twenty-five minutes past 
 five we ceased firing, leaving the enemy scattered along 
 the beach for upward of four miles. I fired repeatedly at 
 the enemy's steamers with our rifled cannon, a Parrot 
 thirty-pounder, and struck the Fanny, I think, once ; I 
 found the range of this piece much short of what I had 
 anticipated, many of the shot turning end over end, and 
 not exceeding much the range of the smooth-bore thirty- 
 two-pounder. 
 
 "I inclose herewith the memorandum of the amount 
 of ammunition expended to-day. I am, respectfully, you 1 - 
 obedient servant, Lieutenant D. L. BRAINE, 
 
 ' ' Commanding United States steamer Monticello. 
 "To Captain J. L. LARDNER, Commanding United States 
 
 steamer Susquehannah, off Cape Hatteras." 
 
 "Colonel Wright left Camp Georgia, Roanoke Island, 
 on Thursday, midnight, and arrived at Chicamacomico 
 on Friday. Colonel Wright made the attack on the Fed- 
 erals at nine o'clock in the morning, by firing shell from 
 two ten-pound howitzers from on board the transport 
 Cotton Plant, when about one mile from the shore. As 
 soon as the Colonel opened fire they began to retreat. 
 The howitzers were commanded by Lieutenant J. R. 
 Sturgis, with forty men. When the Colonel saw they 
 were about to retreat, he embarked the guns of his three 
 companies on board of a flat-boat, for the purpose of 
 effecting a landing and putting chase after them. Com- 
 pany H, commanded by Captain Nesbit; Company E, 
 commanded by Captain Griffin, and Company N, com- 
 
EXAGGERATIONS OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 549 
 
 the attack on Chicamacomico, with its 
 minuteness of detail and spitefulness of 
 commentary, will serve both objects. 
 
 manded by Captain Jones, were landed immediately, 
 leaving the remaining portion of the Third Georgia Regi- 
 ment and the North Carolina Regiment some four or five 
 miles in the rear, on board the other vessels of the fleet. 
 The three companies that landed consisted of 210 men, 
 while the enemy, from their muster rolls, were about 1,200. 
 
 "When the Colonel landed, he had signaled the re- 
 maining portion of the Georgia Third to advance, and, 
 when near shore, they commenced embarking in their flat- 
 boats. Colonel Wright took but one of his howitzers 
 with him, leaving the other on board the Cotton Plant, 
 under command of Captain Carrsville, to cover his landing. 
 
 "After the three companies had effected a safe landing, 
 the other howitzer was then brought on shore, and they 
 then commenced the pursuit of the flying Yankees, and 
 were joined by each company of the remaining portion of 
 the Georgia Regiment as fast as they effected a landing. 
 The two howitzers and ammunition were drawn through 
 the deep sand by the men during the entire pursuit of 
 twenty-five miles, having in the mean time encamped on 
 Friday night at Keneekut, a distance of eighteen miles 
 from the starting-point. 
 
 ' ' The pursuit was continued early next morning, to 
 within one mile of the Hatteras light-house. When 
 about six miles from the starting-place, Colonel Wright, 
 being on horseback, and considerably in advance of his 
 command, overtook a party of thirteen Yankees, together 
 with their adjutant. He made a gallant charge on them, 
 when the adjutant shot his horse and commenced loading 
 again, when the Colonel grabbed up a small Yankee, and 
 presented him as a breast-work to ward oif the adju- 
 tant's fire. With this he advanced on the adjutant with 
 his repeater, and captured four, including the adjutant. 
 
 " As our forces continued to advance, they commenced 
 taking prisoners - in all about forty and killed seven or 
 eight of the flying Hessians 
 
 "One of the North Carolina companies landed at the 
 same time as the Georgians, and joined in the pursuit with 
 great bravery, while the other portion of the North Caro- 
 lina Regiment were ordered to hasten to the light-house, 
 just below Keneekut, to intercept the retreat of the Fed- 
 eralists. Keneekut is eight miles above the light-house, 
 toward Chicamacomico. They were unable to land, owing 
 to the shoal water, though they did everything they could 
 to accomplish that object. They got their guns on board 
 the flat and shoved off, but got aground, and even waded 
 in till they found themselves again getting into deep water. 
 They sent a small boat to take the soundings, and found 
 it impossible to land, owing to the formation of the flats. 
 
 "Colonel Wright continued in pursuit till he found the 
 North Carolina regiments, under Colonel Shaw, unable to 
 land, and ascertaining that the Yankees had been rein- 
 
 Notwithstanding the exaggerated es- 
 timate by the enemy of their spirit, and 
 of the want of it on the part of their an- 
 
 forced by 900 men from Hatteras, he withdrew his forces 
 to the position he had occupied the night before. After 
 getting back to this position, the Federal steamer Monti- 
 cello took up position about half a mile from shore, and 
 opened fire on them by broadsiders, with eleven-inch shell, 
 and continued to shell them for five hours, without injury 
 to any one except a slight bruise on one man's leg, who 
 fell down in endeavoring to dodge a ball which rolled over 
 his leg, and a slight scratch on another's face from the ex- 
 plosion of a shell. 
 
 "The Cotton Plant, under orders from Commander 
 Lynch, now ran up the Chicamacomico, and took on board 
 the entire forces which had got back to that point, to- 
 gether with the enemy's entire camp equipage, consisting 
 of 300 tents, cartridge boxes, haversacks, canteens, cook- 
 ing utensils, provisions, etc., together with their private 
 wardrobe, which they were in too great haste to take with 
 them. The entire expedition then returned to Roanoke 
 Island, arriving on Sunday night at twelve o'clock. 
 
 ' ' The Twentieth Indiana Regiment was drawn up on 
 shore preparatory to giving our forces battle, probably to 
 frighten them off, but seeing the determined action of our 
 forces toward landing, the cowardly whelps took to their 
 heels down toward Hatteras, leaving everything, even 
 their private wardrobes, papers, etc. This example of 
 gallantry was set them by their colonel, who put spurs to 
 his horse, and was the swiftest of the whole pack. 
 
 "Our entire fleet, except the Cotton Plant, then moved 
 their position to Hatteras light-house, in order to inter- 
 cept the retreat of the Yankees, but it coming on dark 
 before they could commence landing, and the want of 
 sufficient boats to make an expeditious landing, the Yan- 
 kees made their escape to the fort at Hatteras. 
 
 "The Georgia troops, from the Cotton Plant, having 
 effected a landing, put out down the beach in pursuit of 
 the flying Yankees, but they being entirely too fleet of 
 foot for them, escaped to Hatteras light-house. 
 
 " At the time of the retreat of the Yankees, had it been 
 high tide, they would not have escaped, as the sand was 
 of such a nature as to utterly preclude the possibility of 
 running, save below the high-water mark. Our men had 
 to drag their field howitzers through this sand twelve miles 
 that is from Chicamacomico to Hatteras Light; and 
 during the chase, one member of the Georgia Regiment 
 died from exhaustion in pursuing the Yankees. His re- 
 mains were brought to this city by the Junaluska. 
 
 "A sergeant-major of the Indiana Regiment shot the 
 horse of Colonel Wright, of the Georgia Regiment, from 
 under him, which appeared to be the only evidence of 
 bravery evinced by the whole party. Colonel Wright cap- 
 tured this man, and for his bravery treated him very 
 courteously.'' Norfolk Day-Book. 
 
550 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 tagonists, they were forced, under the 
 heavy bombardment of the Monticello 
 and Susquehannah, to take to their boats 
 and fly for their lives, from the island of 
 Hatteras, which has since remained in 
 the undisputed possession of the United 
 
 States. The Confederates, however, on 
 returning to Roanoke Island, continued 
 to hold that important position for some 
 time, and did not finally yield it up until 
 after a severe struggle. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 The Difficulties of the Chronicler from the vastness of the field of War. Necessity of frequent change of View. A 
 Napoleon wanted to conduct the War. A Tacitus required to write its History. To attempt to write the History now, 
 presumptuous. The Purpose of the Present Chronicler. The Enemy's Position at Columbus, iu Kentucky. The 
 Strength of Position and Fortifications. Description of Belmont. Encampment of the Enemy there. Expedition 
 from Cairo. Objects. Composition of the Expedition. The Troops. Gun-boats. Landing of the Troops. 
 Operation of the Gun-boats. Movements of the Troops. Plan of attack upon Belmont. Collision with the Enemy. 
 Retreat and Confusion of the Enemy. Recklessness of the Federalists. The Enemy Reinforced from Columbus. 
 The Fire from the Forts. General Grant forcing his way to his Boats. Fierce Struggle. Action of the Gun-boats. 
 Successful Retreat of the Federalists. Their losses. The losses of the Enemy. General Grant's Official Report. 
 Report of General McClernand. The Enemy claim a victory at Belmont. General Polk's Report. President Jeff. 
 Davis' Letter. Exultation at the Result. 
 
 1861. 
 
 IN the present gigantic conflict, ex- 
 tending over a territory of many 
 thousands of miles, the chronicler is 
 not only forced largely to expand his 
 view, but frequently to shift it to remote 
 points. He passes rapidly across a vast 
 continent ; he is at one moment on the 
 sands of the Atlantic Ocean, and at an- 
 other on the bluffs of the Mississippi 
 River ; he is now on the Chesapeake, in 
 the East, and now on the prairies of the 
 West ; he has hardly reached the rocky 
 passes of the Alleghanies before he is 
 summoned to appear in the rice-fields of 
 Carolina, the everglades of Florida, or 
 the bayous of Louisiana. It is not 
 merely the events of a single war which 
 he is called upon to chronicle, but, as it 
 were, a number of wars carried on sim- 
 
 ultaneously in various States, each of 
 which has the territorial magnitude of a 
 great nation. Though the conflict has 
 but one motive, and it may be attempted 
 to conduct it in accordance with a single 
 plan, the scenes of the various struggles 
 are so remote from each other, and their 
 character so diversified by local circum- 
 stances, that to give unity to the action 
 and history of the war would require 
 the genius of a Napoleon for the one, and 
 the genius of a Tacitus for the other. 
 While resting in the hope that the former 
 has been or will soon be found, to secure 
 to our country the military triumphs es- 
 sential to its future prosperity, it may 
 be left to posterity to find the latter to 
 record them. The attempt now to write 
 the history of the present war as it 
 
BATTLE OF BELMONT. 
 
 551 
 
 should be and as it doubtless will be 
 written in the future would only result 
 in disappointment to the reader, and in 
 an exhibition of impotent presumption 
 on the part of the historian. Our aim is 
 the humbler one, that of merely chron- 
 icling events as they occur, with the wish 
 of gratifying the hurried reader of the 
 present, though not without the hope of 
 supplying a useful record for the deliber- 
 ate historian of the future. 
 
 This narrative must now be suddenly 
 shifted from the Atlantic to the Missis- 
 sippi, in order to record the events of an- 
 other expedition. In this, although the 
 navy bore a useful part, the more essen- 
 tial service was performed by the army. 
 
 At Columbus, in Kentucky, the Con- 
 federate General Polk had established 
 his headquarters, where he had concen- 
 trated a large force composed of from 
 20,000 to 30,000, constructed an en- 
 trenched camp, erected strong works on 
 the high bluffs on the river Mississippi, 
 and mounted them with over 100 guns. 
 Opposite to this strong position, on the 
 Missouri, back of the river, lies the small 
 village of Belmont. This place was also 
 occupied by several Confederate regi- 
 ments, forming a portion of the army 
 under the command of Polk. General 
 Grant, who commanded the Federal force 
 at Cairo, determined to make an attempt 
 to surprise and capture them. The en- 
 terprise seemed the more easy of accom- 
 plishment, from the position of the ene- 
 my's encampment at Belmont, where the 
 banks of the Mississippi, being low and 
 covered with trees, appeared to favor an 
 unseen approach. 
 
 On the evening of November the 
 sixth, the Seventh Iowa Regiment, N OF , 
 Colonel Lanman, the Twenty-sev- 6. 
 enth Regiment, Colonel Buford, the 
 Twenty-ninth, Colonel Fouke, the Thir- 
 tieth, Colonel Logan, and the Twenty- 
 second, Colonel Dougherty, all of Illi- 
 nois, with two companies of cavalry and 
 Taylor's battery of six guns, making in 
 all a force of 2,850 men, having em- 
 barked at Cairo on board the steamers 
 Memphis, Aleck Scott, Chancellor Mont- 
 gomery and Keystone, dropped down 
 the Mississippi, escorted by the gun- 
 boats Tyler and Lexington. After reach- 
 ing a point about eight miles below 
 Cairo, the fleet came to anchor and re- 
 mained until nearly daylight next morn- 
 ing. They now continued their way 
 down the river until within four miles 
 of Belmont, when they made for the 
 shore, and the troops landing took up 
 their march for the enemy's encampment. 
 The two-gunboats in the mean time 
 steamed on in the direction of Colum- 
 bus with the view of engaging the bat- 
 teries there, and thus diverting the at- 
 tention of the enemy from the move- 
 ment against Belmont. 
 
 The Federal troops on landing divided, 
 and took different lines of march, in 
 order to come upon the enemy from 
 all sides, and surround them. Colonel 
 Buford led his regiment, the Twenty- 
 seventh Illinois, along a circuitous route, 
 to the rear and from the south. Colonel 
 Lanman, with the Seventh Iowa, and 
 Colonel Fouke, with the Twenty-ninth 
 Illinois, marched in the same direction 
 and advanced from the west ; while Col- 
 
552 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 oriel Dougherty, with the Twenty-second 
 Illinois, and Colonel Logan, with the 
 Thirtieth Illinois, approached from the 
 north. Colonels Lanman and Dough- 
 erty, with their regiments, being in ad- 
 vance, came upon the enemy first, but 
 found them on the alert, drawn up in 
 line of battle in their camp and a corn- 
 field which extended in the rear. Lan- 
 man and Dougherty commenced the at- 
 tack, and drove their antagonists from 
 the camp and the field back into the 
 woods, where they were met by the 
 divisions approaching in that direction. 
 Being hotly received, the enemy were 
 compelled to retrace their steps and fall 
 back into their old position. Here they 
 were again met by Lanman and Dough- 
 erty, but struggled spiritedly for two 
 hours, when they were repulsed, and fled 
 in confusion to the banks of the river. 
 
 The Federal troops exulting in their 
 success, yielded recklessly to the excite- 
 ment of victory. They scattered care- 
 lessly over the field, beyond the call and 
 regardless of the command of their offi- 
 cers ; some were busy examining the 
 tents ; some rifling the baggage, some 
 supplying themselves with the arms which 
 the fugitives had thrown down in their 
 panic, and all were unmindful of the 
 possibility of being caught while thus in 
 disorder. In the mean time, General 
 Pillow had crossed over from the Ken- 
 tucky side with a large and fresh force, 
 which he had thrown between the scat- 
 tered Federalists and the boats, in order 
 to cut off their retreat. At the same 
 moment the guns of Columbus, opposite, 
 began to pour in among them a shower 
 
 of bomb-shells. General Grant finding 
 his scattered troops thus hemmed in, 
 called together and formed them as best 
 he could, and made a desperate effort to 
 reach the boats. He finally succeeded, 
 but only after a terrible struggle with the 
 enemy, through whose lines his men had 
 to cut their way. The gun-boats in the 
 mean time had come to the rescue, and 
 by their fire kept the enemy at bay and 
 covered the embarkation of our troops, 
 which was finally effected, though a se- 
 vere loss was sustained in the bloody 
 struggle with Pillow's force.* 
 
 The following is the official account of General Grant, 
 the commander-in-chief at Cairo : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, / 
 CAIRO, Nov. 10, 1861. \ 
 
 "S. WILLIAMS, ASSISTANT- ADJUTANT-GENERAL, WASHING- 
 TON, D. C. : 
 
 " SIR : On the evening of the 6th instant I left this place 
 with 2,850 men, all armed, to make a reconnoissance to- 
 ward Columbus. The object of the expedition was to 
 prevent the enemy from sending out reinforcements to 
 Price's army in Missouri, and also from cutting off two 
 small columns that I had been directed to send out 
 from this place and Cape Girardeau in pursuit of Jeff. 
 Thompson. 
 
 ' ' Knowing that Columbus was strongly garrisoned, I 
 asked General Smith, commanding at Paducah, Ky., to 
 make demonstrations in thelsarne directions. He did so 
 by ordering a small force to Mayfield, and another in the 
 direction of Columbus, not to approach nearer, however, 
 than twelve or fifteen miles. I also sent a small force on 
 the Kentucky side with orders not to approach nearer 
 than Elliot's Mills, some twelve miles from Columbus. 
 
 "The expedition under my immediate command was 
 stopped about nine miles below here, on the Kentucky 
 shore, and remained until morning. All this served to 
 distract the enemy, and lead him to think he was to be 
 attacked in his strongly fortified position. At daylight 
 we proceeded down the river to a point just out of range 
 of the rebel guns, and debarked on the Missouri shore. 
 From here the troops were marched by a flank for about 
 one mile toward Belmont, and then drawn up in line, 
 one battalion having been left as a reserve near the trans- 
 ports. Two companies from each regiment, five skele 
 tons in number, were thrown out as skirmishers to ascer- 
 tain the position of the enemy. 
 
 " It was but a few moments before they met him, and 
 
LOSSES AT BELMONT. 
 
 553 
 
 The loss of the national forces in this 
 desperate engagement amounted to the 
 
 a general engagement ensued. The balance of my force, 
 with the exception of the reserve, was then thrown for- 
 ward, all as skirmishers, and the enemy driven, foot by 
 foot, and from tree to tree, back to their encampment on 
 the river's bank, a distance of over two miles. Here they 
 had strengthened their position by felling the timber for 
 several hundred yards around their camp, and making a 
 sort of abatis. 
 
 "Our men charged through this, driving the enemy 
 over the river banks and into their transports in quick 
 time, leaving us in possession of everything not exceed- 
 ingly portable. 
 
 " Belmont is on low ground, and every foot of it com- 
 manded by the guns on the opposite shore, and. of course, 
 could not be held for a single hour after the enemy be- 
 came aware of the withdrawal of their troops. Having no 
 wagons with me I could not move any of the captured 
 property, consequently gave orders for its destruction. 
 Their tents, blankets, etc., were set on fire, and we re- 
 tired, taking their artillery with us. Two pieces being 
 drawn by hand, and one by an efficient team, were spiked 
 and left in the woods, bringing two to this place. 
 
 ' ' Before we got fairly under way, the enemy made his 
 appearance again and attempted to surround us. Our 
 troops were not in the least discoxiraged, but charged the 
 enemy, and again defeated him . 
 
 " Our loss was about 85 killed, 150 wounded many of 
 them but slightly and about an equal number missing. 
 Nearly all the missing were from the Seventh Iowa Regi- 
 ment, who behaved with great gallantry, and suffered 
 more severely than any other troops. 
 
 "All the troops behaved with great gallantry, much 
 of which is to be attributed to the coolness and presence 
 of mind of the officers, particiilarly the colonels. General 
 McClernand was in the midst of danger throughout the 
 engagement, and displayed both coolness and judgment. 
 His horse was three times shot. My horse was also shot. 
 under me. 
 
 " To my staff Captains Eawins, Lagone, and Hillyer, 
 and volunteer aids, Captains Hatch and Graham I ain 
 much indebted for the assistance they gave. Colonel 
 Wester, acting chief engineer, also accompanied me, and 
 displayed highly soldier-like qxialities. Colonel Dough- 
 erty, Twenty-second Illinois Volunteers, was three times 
 wounded and taken prisoner. 
 
 "The Seventh Iowa Eegiment lost their lieutenant- 
 colonel (killed), colonel and major severely wounded. 
 * * * Surgeon Brinton was on the field during the 
 entire engagement, and displayed great ability and effi- 
 ciency in providing for the wounded and organizing the 
 medical corps. 
 
 "The gun -boats Tyler and Lexington, Captains Walke 
 and Stembell, United States Navy, commanding, con- 
 
 70 
 
 large number of 607 men, of whom 84 
 were killed, 288 wounded, and 235 miss- 
 
 voyed the expedition, and rendered most efficient service. 
 Immediately upon our landing they engaged the enemy's 
 batteries, and protected our transports throughout. * * * 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " U. S. GRANT, Brigadier- General Commanding." 
 
 The report of General McClernand, serving under Gen- 
 eral Grant, is here given with all its explicltness of detail, 
 as the most authentic narrative of the battle of Belmont. 
 "GENEBAL McCLEKNAND'S EEPOET. 
 
 " BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, CAMP CAIRO, Nw. 12, 1861. 
 " BRIGADIER GENERAL U. S. GRANT, COMMANDING DISTRICT 
 
 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI : 
 
 " SIR : I have the honor to report the part taken by the 
 forces under my command in the action before Columbus, 
 Kentucky, on the 7th instant. 
 
 " These forces consisted of a portion of my own brigade, 
 viz. : The Twenty-seventh Regiment, Colonel N. B. Buford ; 
 the Thirteenth Regiment, Colonel Philip B. Fouke ; the 
 Thirty- first Regiment, Colonel John A. Logan, including 
 one company of cavalry under Captain J. J. Dollins. The 
 strength of the Twenty-seventh Regiment was 720, rank 
 and tile ; that of the Thirteenth, 500 ; that of the Thirty- 
 first, 610 exclusive of 70 mounted men ; being in all 
 1,900 men, rank and file. To this force you added, by 
 your order of the 6th instant, Captain Delano's company 
 of Adams County cavalry, 72 men, under Lieutenant J. R. 
 Catlin, and Captain Ezra Taylor's battery of Chicago Light 
 Artillery of six pieces and 114 men. The total disposable 
 force under my command was 2,086, rank and file all 
 Hlinois volunteers. 
 
 ' ' Having embarked on the steamer Scott, with the 
 Thirteenth and Thirty-first regiments, on the evening of 
 the 6th instant, I left Cairo at five o'clock, and proceeded 
 down the Mississippi to the foot of Island No. 1, and lay 
 to for the night on the Kentucky shore, eleven miles above 
 Columbus, as previously instructed by you. Posting a 
 strong guard for the protection of the boat, and those that 
 followed to the same point, I remained until seven o'clock 
 on the following morning. At that hour, preceded by 
 the gun-boats Tyler and Lexington, and followed by the 
 remainder of the transports, I proceeded down the river to 
 the designated landing on the Missouri shore, about two 
 and a half miles in a direct line from Columbus and Bel- 
 mont. By half-past eight o'clock the rest of the trans- 
 ports had arrived and the whole force was disembarked, 
 and, marching beyond a collection of cornfields in front of 
 the landing, was formed for an advance movement, and 
 awaited your order. Ordering Dollins' and Delano's cav- 
 alry to scour the woods along the road to Belmont and 
 report to me from time to time, the remainder of my com- 
 mand followed theTwenty.seventh in front, the Thirtieth 
 next, supported by a section of Taylor's battery, succeeded 
 

 
 
 554: THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 
 ing. The enemy's loss was computed as 
 
 and taken prisoners. Their camp, more- 
 
 
 
 high as 1,000 in all, killed, wounded, 
 
 over, was burned, and two pieces of 
 
 
 
 by the Thirty-first and the remainder of Taylor's battery, 
 
 the Twenty-ninth Illinois Kegiment, who had, upon my 
 
 
 
 the Seventh Iowa, Colonel Lanman, and the Twenty- 
 
 invitation, kindly joined my staff. Our men pressed vig- 
 
 
 
 second Illinois, Colonel Dougherty, who had been assigned 
 
 orously upon the enemy and drove them back, their cav- 
 
 
 
 by you to that portion of the command. 
 
 alry leaving that part of the field and not appearing again 
 
 
 
 " When the rear of the column had reached a road in- 
 
 until attacked by Captain Dollins, on the river bank below 
 
 
 
 tersecting our line of march, about a mile and a half from 
 
 their encampment, and chased out of sight, near the close 
 
 
 
 the abatis surrounding the enemy's camp, the line of battle 
 
 of the contest. 
 
 
 
 was formed on ground which I had previously selected. 
 
 " Advancing about a quarter of a mile farther, this force 
 
 
 
 The Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth having formed too far 
 
 again came up with the enemy, who by this time had been 
 
 
 
 in advance, were recalled to the position first assigned them 
 
 reinforced upon this part of the field, as I since learn, by 
 
 
 
 the Twenty-seventh on the right and the Thirtieth on 
 
 three regiments and a company of cavalry. Thus strength- 
 
 
 
 the left. A section of Taylor's battery was disposed on 
 
 ened, he attempted to turn our left flank, but ordering 
 
 
 
 the left of the Thirtieth, and 200 feet in the rear of the 
 
 Colonel Logan to extend the line of battle by a flank 
 
 
 
 line, the Thirty-first in the centre, and the Seventh Iowa 
 
 movement, and bringing up a section of Taylor's battery, 
 
 
 
 and Twenty-second Illinois forming the left wing, masking 
 
 commanded by First Lieutenant B. A. White, under the 
 
 
 
 two sections of artillery. 
 
 direction of Captain Schwartz, to cover the space thus 
 
 
 
 " By this time Dollins' cavalry were skirmishing sharply 
 
 made between the Thirtieth and Thirty-first, the attempt 
 
 
 
 with the enemy's pickets to the right and in advance of 
 
 was frustrated. Having completed that disposition, we 
 
 
 
 our line, and the enemy had shifted the heavy fire of their 
 
 again opened a deadly fire from both infantry and artillery, 
 
 
 
 batteries at Columbus from our gun-boats to our advancing 
 
 and after a desperate resistance drove the enemy back the 
 
 
 
 line, but without effect. With your permission I now 
 
 third time, forcing them to seek cover among thick woods 
 
 
 
 ordered two companies from each regiment of my com- 
 
 and brush, protected by the heavy guns at Columbus. 
 
 
 
 mand to advance, instructing them to seek out and develop 
 
 " In this struggle, while leading the charge, I received 
 
 
 
 the position of the enemy, the Twenty-second Illinois and 
 
 a ball in one of my holsters, which failed of harm by strik- 
 
 
 
 Seventh Iowa pushing forward similar parties at the same 
 
 ing a pistol. Here Colonels Fouke and Logan urged on 
 
 
 
 time. 
 
 their men by the most energetic appeals ; here Captain 
 
 
 
 ' ' A sharp firing having immediately commenced between 
 
 Dresser's horse was shot under him, while Capt. Schwartz's 
 
 
 
 the skirmishing parties of the Thirtieth and Thirty-first 
 
 horse was twice wounded ; here the projectiles from the 
 
 
 
 and the enemy, I ordered forward another party to their 
 
 enemy's heavy guns at Columbus, and their artillery at 
 
 
 
 support, rode forward, selected a new position, and ordered 
 
 Belmont, crashed through the woods over and among us ; 
 
 
 
 up the balance of my command the Twenty-seventh to 
 
 here again, all my staff who were with me displayed the 
 
 
 
 pass around the head of a pond, the Thirtieth and Thirty- 
 
 greatest intrepidity and activity ; and here, too, many of 
 
 
 
 first, with the artillery, crossing the dry bed of the same 
 
 our officers were killed or wounded ; nor should I omit to 
 
 
 
 slough in their front. On their arrival I re-formed the line 
 
 add that this gallant conduct was stimulated by your 
 
 
 
 of battle in the same order as before. It was my expecta- 
 
 presence and inspired by your example. Here your horse 
 
 
 
 tion that the Twenty-second Illinois and the Seventh Iowa 
 
 was killed under you. 
 
 
 
 would resume their former positions on the left wing, 
 
 " While this struggle was going on, a tremendous fire 
 
 
 
 which would have perfected a line sufficient to inclose the 
 
 from the Twenty-seventh, which had approached the abatis 
 
 
 
 enemy's camp, on all sides accessible to us, thus enabling 
 
 on the right and rear of the tents, was heard. About the 
 
 
 
 us to command the river above and below them, and pre- 
 
 same time the Seventh and Twenty-second, which had 
 
 
 
 vent the crossing of reinforcements from Columbus, insur- 
 
 passed the rear of the Thirtieth and Thirty-first, hastened 
 
 
 
 ing his capture as well as defeat. 
 
 up, and, closing the space between them and the Twenty- 
 
 
 
 The Thirtieth and Thirty-first, and the artillery, moving 
 
 seventh, poured a deadly fire upon the enemy. 
 
 
 
 forward, promptly relieved the skirmishing parties, and 
 
 ' ' A combined movement was now made upon three sides 
 
 
 
 soon became engaged with a heavy body of the enemy's 
 
 of the enemy's works, and driving him across the abatis, 
 
 
 
 infantry and cavalry. The struggle, which was continued 
 
 we followed close upon his heels into the clear space around 
 
 
 
 for half an hour with great severity, threw our ranks into 
 
 his camp. The Twenty-seventh was the first seen by me 
 
 
 
 temporary disorder ; but the men promptly rallied under 
 
 entering upon this ground. I called the attention of the 
 
 
 
 the gallant example of Colonels Fouke and Logan, assisted 
 
 other regiments to their approach, and the whole line was 
 
 
 
 by Major Berryman, acting assistant adjutant-general of 
 
 quickened by eager and impatient emulation. In a few 
 
 
 
 my brigade ; also by Captain Schwartz, acting chief of 
 
 minutes our entire force was within the inclosure. 
 
 
 
 artillery ; Captain Dresser, of the artillery ; Lieutenant 
 
 ' ' Under the skilful direction of Captain Schwartz, Cap- 
 
 
 
 Babcock, of the Second Cavalry ; and Lieutenant Eddy, of 
 
 tain Taylor now brought up his battery within 300 yards 
 
 
 1 
 
ENEMY ABANDON BELMONT. 
 
 555 
 
 artillery, a considerable number of En- 
 field rifles, and several hundred horses 
 
 of the enemy's tents, and opened fire upon them. He fled 
 with precipitation from the tents, and took shelter behind 
 some buildings near the river, and into the woods above 
 the camp, under cover of his batteries at Columbus. 
 
 "Near this battery I met Colonel Dougherty, who was 
 leading the Seventh and Twenty-second through the open 
 space toward the tents. 
 
 "At the same time our lines upon the right and left 
 were pressing up the line of fire from our battery, which 
 now ceased firing, and our men rushed forward among the 
 tents and toward some buildings near the river. Passing 
 over to the right of the camp I met with Colonel Buford, 
 for the first time since his detour around the pond, and 
 congratulated him upon the ardor of his men to be the 
 first to pass the enemy's works. 
 
 " During the execution of this movement, Captain 
 Alexander Bielaski, one of my aides-de-camp, who had ac- 
 companied Col. Buford during the march of the Twenty- 
 seventh, separate from the main command, having dis- 
 mounted from his horse, which had been several times 
 wounded, was shot down while advancing with the flag of 
 his adopted country in his hand, and calling on the men 
 in his rear to follow him. 
 
 " Near him, and a few minutes afterward, Colonel Lan- 
 man fell, severely wounded in the thigh, while leading 
 his men in a desperate charge. 
 
 " Galloping my horse down to the river, I found Cap- 
 tain Bozart, of Company K, Twenty- seventh Regiment, 
 supported by squads of men who had joined him, sharply 
 engaged with a detachment of the enemy, whom he drove 
 into the woods above the camp. Here the firing was 
 very hot. My own head was grazed by a ball ; my horse 
 was wounded in the shoulders, and his caparison torn in 
 several places. Here, too, one of the enemy's caissons fell 
 into my hands, and a capture of artillery was made by 
 Captain Schwartz, a portion of the Seventh gallantly as- 
 sisting in achieving this result. 
 
 "Having complete possession of the enemy's camp, in 
 full view of his formidable batteries at Columbus, I gave 
 the word for three cheers for the Union, to which the brave 
 men around me responded with the most enthusiastic ap- 
 plause. 
 
 " Several of the enemy's steamers being within range 
 above arid below, I ordered a section of Taylor's battery, 
 under direction of Captain Schwartz, down near the river, 
 and opened a fire upon them and upon Columbus itself, 
 with what effect I could not learn. The enemy's tents 
 were set on fire, destroying his camp equipage, about 4,000 
 blankets, and his means of transportation. Such horses 
 and other property as could be removed were seized, and 
 four pieces of artillery brought to the rear. 
 
 ' ' The enemy at Columbus, seeing us in possession of 
 his camp, directed upon us the fire of his heavy guns, but, 
 
 captured. On the day after the battle 
 the enemy abandoned Belmont as un- 
 
 ranging too high, inflicted no injury. Information came 
 at the same time of the crossing of heavy bodies of troops 
 above us, amounting, as I since learn, to five regiments, 
 which, joining those which had fled in that direction, 
 formed rapidly in our rear with the design of cutting off 
 our communication with our transports. To prevent this, 
 and having fully accomplished the object of the expedi- 
 tion, I ordered Captain Taylor to reverse his guns and 
 open fire upon the enemy in his new position, which was 
 done with great spirit and effect, breaking his line and 
 opening our way by the main road. Promptly responding 
 to an order to that effect, Colonel Logan ordered his flag 
 in front of his regiment, prepared to force his way in the 
 same direction if necessary. Moving on he was followed 
 by the whole force, except the Twenty-seventh and 
 the cavalry companies of Captains Dollins and Delano. 
 Determined to preserve my command unbroken, and to 
 defeat the evident design of the enemy to divide it, I 
 twice rode back across the field to bring up the Twenty- 
 seventh and Dollins' cavalry, and also dispatched Major 
 Brayman for the same purpose, but without accomplishing 
 the object, they having sought in returning the same 
 route by which they advanced in the morning. 
 
 ' ' On passing into the woods, the Thirtieth, the Seventh, 
 and Twenty-second encountered a heavy fire on their 
 right and left successively, which was returned with such 
 vigor and effect as to drive back the superior force of the 
 enemy and silence his firing, but not until the Seventh 
 and Twenty-second had been thrown into temporary dis- 
 order. Here Lieutenant-Colonel Wentz, of the Seventh, 
 and Captain Markley, of the Thirtieth, with several 
 privates, were killed, and Colonel Dougherty of the 
 Twenty-second, and Major McClurken, of the Thirtieth, 
 who was near me, were severely wounded. Here my body 
 servant killed one of the enemy by a pistol shot. 
 
 1 ' Driving the enemy back on either side, we moved on, 
 occasionally exchanging shots with straggling parties, in 
 the course of which my horse received another ball, being 
 one of two fired at me from the corner of a field. Captain 
 Schwartz was at my right when these shots were fired. 
 
 "At this stage of the contest, according to the admis- 
 sion of rebel officers, the enemy's forces had swelled, by 
 frequent reinforcements from the other side of the river, 
 to cover thirteen regiments of infantry, and something 
 less than two squadrons of cavalry, excluding his artillery, 
 four pieces of which were in our possession, and two of 
 which, after being spiked, together with part of one of 
 our own caissons, were left on the way for want of animals 
 to bring them off. The other two, with their horses and 
 harness, were brought off. 
 
 "On reaching the landing and not finding the detach- 
 ments of the Seventh and Twenty-second, which you had 
 left behind in the morning to guard the boats, I ordered 
 
556 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 tenable. The enemy claimed to have 
 gained a triumphant victory at Belmont, 
 
 Delano's cavalry, which was embarking, to the rear of the 
 fields to watch the enemy. Within an hour all our forces 
 which had arrived were embarked, Captain Schwartz, 
 Captain Hatch, assistant-quartermaster, and myself be- 
 ing the last to get on board. Suddenly the enemy, in 
 strong force (whose approach had been discovered by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel John H. White, of the Thirty-first, 
 who was conspicuous through the day for his dauntless 
 courage and conduct), came within range of our musketry, 
 when a terrible fire was opened upon him by the gun- 
 boats, as well as by Taylor's battery and the infantry. 
 
 The engagement thus renewed was kept up with great 
 spirit, and with deadly effect upon the enemy, until the 
 transports had passed beyond his reach. Exposed to the 
 terrible fire of the gun-boats and Taylor's battery, a great 
 mimber of the enemy were killed and wounded in this, 
 the closing scene of a battle of six hours' duration. 
 
 ' ' The Twenty-seventh and Dollins' cavalry being yet 
 behind, I ordered my transports to continue in the rear of 
 the fleet, excepting the gun-boats ; and after proceeding a 
 short distance, landed and directed the gun-boats to return 
 and await their appearance. 
 
 "At this moment Lieutenant H. A. Rust, adjutant of 
 the Twenty-seventh, hastened up and announced the ap- 
 proach of the Twenty-seventh and Dollins' cavalry. Ac- 
 companied by Captain Schwartz and Captain Hatch, I rode 
 down the river bank, and met Colonel Buford with a part 
 of his command. Inferring that my transport was wait- 
 ing to receive him, I went farther down the river and 
 met Captain Dollins, whom I instructed to embark, and 
 still farther met the remainder of the Twenty-seventh, 
 which had halted on the bank where the gun-boat Tyler 
 was lying to, the Lexington lying still farther down. The 
 rest of the boats having gone forward, Captain Walker, 
 of the Tyler, at my request, promptly took the remainder 
 of the Twenty-seventh on board, Captain Stambell, of the 
 Lexington, covering the embarkation. 
 
 ' ' Having thus embarked all my command, I returned 
 with Captains Schwartz and Hatch to my transports and 
 re-embarked, reaching Cairo about midnight, after a day 
 of almost unceasing marching and conflict. 
 
 ' ' I cannot bestow too high commendation upon all 
 whom I had the honor to command on that day. Sup- 
 plied with inferior and defective arms, many of which 
 could not be discharged, and others bursting in use, they 
 fought an enemy in woods with which he was familiar, 
 behind defensive works which he had been preparing for 
 months, in the face of a battery at Belmont, and under 
 his heavy guns at Columbus, and although numbering 
 three or four to our one, beat him, captured several 
 stands of his colors, destroying his camp and carrying off 
 a large amount of his property, already mentioned. From 
 his own semi-official account his loss was 600 killed, 
 
 and exulted accordingly. "Accept for 
 yourself," wrote Jefferson Davis to Gen- 
 wounded, and missing, including among the killed and 
 wounded a number of officers, and probably among the 
 missing 155 prisoners, who were brought to this post. 
 
 " To mention all who did well would include every man 
 in my command who came under my personal notice. 
 Both officers and privates did their whole duty, nobly 
 sustaining the enviable character of Americans and Illi- 
 noisans. They shed new lustre upon the venerated flag 
 of their country by upholding it in triumph amid the 
 shock of battle and the din of arms. The blood they so 
 freely poured out proved their devotion to their country, 
 and serves to hallow a just cause with glorious recollec- 
 tions. The success was that of citizen soldiers. 
 
 " Major Brayman, Captains Schwartz and Dresser, and 
 Lieutenants Eddy and Babcock, all members of my staff, 
 are entitled to my gratitude for the zeal and alacrity with 
 which they bore my orders in the face of danger, and dis- 
 charged all their duties in the field. Colonels Buford, 
 Fouke, and Logan repeatedly led their regiments to the 
 charge, and as often drove the enemy back in confusion, 
 thus inspiring their men with kindred ardor, and largely 
 contributing to the success of our arms. Colonel Logan's 
 admirable tactics not only foiled the frequent attempts of 
 the enemy to flank him, but secured a steady advance to- 
 ward the enemy's camp. Colonel Fouke and his com- 
 mand, exposed throughout to a galling fire from the 
 enemy, never ceased to press forward. His march was 
 marked by the killed and wounded of the foe, mingled 
 with many of his own men. 
 
 ' ' Accomplishing a difficult circuit, Colonel Buford, ac- 
 tive, eager, and emulous, was the first to throw his men 
 within the enemy's defences. Captain Taylor and Lieu- 
 tenant White managed the battery attached to my com- 
 mand with admirable skill and most successful effect. 
 Captain J. J. Dollins, with his company of cavalry, dis- 
 played unsurpassed activity and daring. Having been 
 early in the day detached from his regiment (the Thirty- 
 first), he found his way in company of the Twenty- 
 seventh to the enemy's camp on the lower side, charging 
 his line with an impetuosity characteristic of himself and 
 his brave followers. 
 
 " Our victory, though signal and extraordinary, cost 
 many valuable lives. Of the Twenty-seventh eleven 
 were killed, forty-two wounded, and twenty-eight are miss- 
 ing. Among the wounded was Lieutenant William Ship- 
 ley, of Company A, a gallant and promising young officer, 
 who has since died. Of the Thirtieth nine were killed, 
 twenty-seven wounded, and eight are missing. Among 
 the killed is Captain Thomas G. Markley, of Company D, 
 a brave and valuable officer, who died true to his trust. 
 
 "Major Thomas McClerken, an accomplished and effi- 
 cient officer, whose services were conspicuous on the field, 
 was severely, and, I fear, mortally wounded. Of the 
 
LOSSES AT BELMONT. 
 
 557 
 
 eral Polk, "and the officers and men 
 under your command, my sincere thanks 
 
 Thirty-first ten were killed, sixty-one wounded, and 
 eighteen are missing ; Captain John W. Rigby, of Com- 
 pany E a veteran and faithful officer being among the 
 wounded ; also Captain Wm. A. L*oney, of Company C, 
 who was severely injured while leading his company into 
 a desperate encounter with a detachment of the enemy. 
 Of Dollins' cavalry one was killed and two wounded. Of 
 Taylor's company of light artillery five were wounded, 
 among whom was First Lieutenant Charles W. Everett. 
 
 " In closing this report, unavoidably somewhat imper- 
 fect, I cannot forbear bearing my testimony to the gal- 
 lantry and good conduct of every arm of your whole force. 
 Each did well, and I share in the just pride which their 
 valor has inspired in you as their successful commander. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 
 
 " JOHN A. McCLERNAND, 
 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding." 
 
 General Polk, in his official report, thus simply re- 
 corded the event : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS FIBST DIVISION WESTERN DEPARTMENT, 
 
 COLUMBUS, KY., Nov. 7, 1861. 
 "To GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, THROUGH GENERAL A. S. 
 
 JOHNSTON : 
 
 ' ' The enemy came down on the opposite side of the 
 river, Belmont, to-day, about 7,500 strong, landed under 
 cover of gun-boats, attacked Colonel Tappan's camp. I 
 sent over three regiments under General Pillow to his 
 relief, then at intervals three others, then General 
 Cheatham. 
 
 for the glorious contribution you have 
 just made to our common cause."* 
 
 ' ' I then took over two others in person, to support a 
 flank movement which I had directed. It was a hard- 
 fought battle, lasting from 10.30 A.M. to 5 P.M. They 
 took Beltzhoover' s battery, four pieces of which we recap- 
 tured. The enemy were thoroughly routed. We pursued 
 them to their boats seven miles, then drove their boats 
 before us. The road was strewn with their dead and 
 wounded, guns, ammunition, and equipments. Our loss 
 considerable ; theirs heavy. L. POLK, 
 
 " Major-General Commanding." 
 
 OFFICIAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LOSSES. 
 
 Killed. Wounded. Missing. 
 
 Seventh Iowa Regiment 26 75 ] 19 
 
 Twenty-second Illinois Regiment . . 26 70 25 
 
 Twenty-seventh Illinois Regiment .10 42 29 
 
 Thirtieth Illinois Regiment 9 28 42 
 
 Thirty-first Illinois Regiment 10 62 10 
 
 Taylor's Chicago Battery 3 
 
 Dollins' Illinois Cavalry 1 4 
 
 Delano's Illinois Cavalry 1 2 
 
 On Gun-boat Tyler 1 2 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Killed 84 
 
 Wounded 288 
 
 Missing 235 
 
 Total casualties 607 
 
558 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 The Enemy emulating the United States Expeditions. The Fire Zouaves under "Billy Wilson" at Santa Rosa. 
 Bitter Hostility against them. Preparations of the Enemy. Landing of General Anderson at Deer Point. Attack 
 upon the Encampment of the Zouaves. The Zouaves surprised and forced to retreat. The Enemy rifle and fire the 
 Encampment. The Zouaves, reinforced from Fort Pickens, return to the charge. The Enemy forced to retreat, and 
 suffer greatly in making for their boats. Comparative Losses. Enemy's account of the affair. Colonel Brown's 
 Report. A characteristic Report from "Billy Wilson." Personal Trophies. Wilson reported killed. Exhibition 
 of his Head and Hair in Pensacola. The Ladies of Secessia wearing bits of Wilson's Flag. Long inactivity on 
 both sides. Bombardment of the Enemy's works near Pensacola. Purpose of the attack. The Federal vessels 
 preparing. Getting into position. Great enthusiasm. Fire opened. Engagement with Fort McRae. Difficulties 
 from shallowness of the water. The Richmond obliged to retire. The Niagara continues the fight. The Enemy's 
 Flag down and up again. Guns of Fort McRae silenced. End of first day. The results summed up. Bombard- 
 ment renewed. The men-of-war not in action. Warrington set on fire. A steamer disabled. The second day's 
 work summed up. Damage to Fort Pickens. Close of the action. A second Bombardment. The result. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE enemy, apparently desirous of 
 emulating the imposing naval ex- 
 peditions of the Federalists, ven- 
 tured in their turn to make an assault 
 upon Santa Rosa Island, opposite to Pen- 
 sacola. Here the Fire Zouaves, recruited 
 in the city of New York, and commanded 
 by that civic notability, Colonel "Billy 
 Wilson," had lately arrived and encamp- 
 ed about a mile from the Federal Fort 
 Pickens. The object of the enemy was 
 to surprise and capture those robust 
 fellows, against whom a bitter hostility 
 had been engendered at the South by 
 their supposed unscrupulous designs. 
 The secessionist leader, General Ander- 
 son, had mustered some fifteen hundred 
 men, who volunteered their services from 
 the various camps in the neighborhood 
 of Pensacola. Embarking his force at 
 Oct. night upon several steamers, laun- 
 9 ches, and small boats, he landed 
 about two o'clock in the morning at Deer 
 Point Santa Rosa Island, four miles 
 
 above the encampment of the Wilson 
 Zouaves. Anderson immediately advan- 
 ced, dividing his troops into three col- 
 umns, each taking a different direction. 
 Meeting first with the picket guards and 
 driving them back, they soon came upon 
 the encampment itself, which the several 
 divisions of the enemy surrounded and 
 began to attack. The Zouaves were 
 taken by surprise, and although they 
 fought well, were forced to fall back and 
 seek the cover of the two batteries, Lin- 
 coln and Totten, situated on either side 
 of the island, about 400 yards from Fort 
 Pickens. The enemy having soon rifled 
 the encampment, set fire to the tents and 
 barracks. In the mean tune, the Zou- 
 aves, as they were retreating, were met 
 by a reinforcement of regulars sent out 
 from Fort Pickens, and the combined 
 force returned to the charge. The enemy, 
 as soon as they discovered their danger, 
 made for the boats with great speed and 
 in much confusion. Followed closely, 
 
ATTACK ON SANTA ROSA. 
 
 559 
 
 and fired upon by a succession of volleys 
 as they were embarking and making sail, 
 they suffered greatly. One of their laun- 
 ches loaded with men being completely 
 riddled by bullets, sunk, and it was esti- 
 mated that they lost 150 men in all. 
 Twenty-two were killed, five wounded, 
 thirty-three were left on the island, and 
 others were drowned or carried away j:o 
 the mainland. The Federal loss in all, 
 although the enemy claimed to have killed 
 a hundred men, was computed to amount 
 to thirteen killed, thirty wounded, and 
 nineteen taken prisoners. 
 
 The enemy seemed little satisfied with 
 the result, and recorded it with less than 
 their usual exultation : , 
 
 " Our men," wrote one of their chron- 
 iclers,* " retired in great confusion, and 
 the line was a confused mass, moving 
 without orders, and almost without ob- 
 ject. We expected every moment to be 
 shelled by Pickens and the fleet, which 
 could have swept the island and not left 
 a man. Fortunately for us they had sent 
 out several companies to intercept our 
 boats and cut off our retreat. These lay 
 behind the sand hills and embankment, 
 and fired upon our disorganized masses. 
 Several attempts were made to rally into 
 line, but without effect. The island is 
 alternate marshes, ravines, and hills, with 
 occasional long sandy plains. Whenever 
 we met these squads we had to carry the 
 place by storm, yet their advantage was 
 too manifest. 
 
 ' ' They could hide behind sand hills, 
 completely protecting themselves from 
 our bullets, and fire into our disorganized 
 
 Atlanta Intelligencer. 
 
 body for several minutes before we could 
 come upon them. Several times we met 
 these hostile squads and mistook them 
 for friends, occasioning us heavy loss. 
 One time, I remember in particular, we 
 were assailed by a body of Zouaves who 
 stood in a swamp ; as they commenced 
 firing we gave the watchword, and were 
 answered 'friends.' I thought perhaps 
 they had forgotten the reply, yet they 
 continued to shoot down the men around 
 me at a fearful rate. I noticed them 
 more closely, and could perceive the pe- 
 culiarity of their dress, and could tell by 
 the whiz of their bullets that they were 
 armed with rifles that were not like 
 ours. 
 
 ' ' We then turned upon them and soon 
 cleaned out the company. This was the 
 severest tug of all, and we suffered se- 
 verely before we discovered their com- 
 plexions. In the spot I fought from I 
 saw some seven or eight of our men fall 
 within five feet of me, while several 
 others fell around. This was about the 
 last skirmish we had, yet straggling bodies 
 fired for miles, doing but little damage. 
 Scattered as we were for such a distance, 
 and exhausted as were our men, they 
 could have completely cut us off with 
 cavalry or flying artillery had they had 
 either. It took a long time for us to re- 
 embark. As we were huddled together 
 in open scows, they fired upon us after we 
 were out of reach, and shot several of 
 our men. Their large Enfield rifles carry 
 a ball a great distance, and elevate my 
 musket as I would, the bullet fell short 
 of the beach, while their balls fell among 
 us or passed just over our heads. Here 
 
560 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Brigadier- General Anderson was wound- 
 
 o 
 
 ed very severely, though he had passed 
 all danger on the island, and that, too, 
 far in the rear of the enemy. 
 
 "It was wonderful that our soldiers 
 should have fallen into such disorder and 
 been so given up to excitement. Our 
 men were as brave and daring as it was 
 possible for soldiers to be, and in the 
 presence of the enemy acted with as 
 much gallantry as the occasion warranted. 
 One cause of the confusion of ranks was 
 the strange land we had to climb over, 
 and the deep bogs we had to wade. I 
 should rather attempt to scale the rug- 
 gedest peak of the Rocky Mountains than 
 to make a forced march on Santa Rosa 
 Island. It is impossible for the best 
 drilled troops in the world to keep in line 
 in such a place. Another thing that pre- 
 vented, was that the advanced bodies 
 were less tired than the rear, and march- 
 ed too fast. Again, one section just in 
 front of us had their captain killed and 
 a lieutenant wounded, and came crowd- 
 ing back into our ranks. 
 
 " I scarcely know whether we achieved 
 a victory or suffered a defeat. We did 
 the duty which we went to perform, and 
 did it well ; yet we shot down our own 
 friends in numbers. Indeed, I think as 
 many of our own men were shot by 
 friends as by foes. Night skirmishing is 
 a dangerous business, especially in an 
 unknown country, as was the island of 
 Santa Rosa." 
 
 Colonel Brown, the commander of Fort 
 Pickens, in his official report, which fol- 
 lows, gives a clear and authentic state- 
 ment of the whole affair : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, ) 
 FORT PICKENS, Friday, Oct. 11, 1861. ) 
 
 " COLONEL : I briefly reported to you 
 on the 9th instant, that the rebels had 
 landed on this island, partially destroyed 
 the camp of the Sixth Regiment New 
 York Volunteers, and had been driven 
 off by our troops. 
 
 ' I now report in detail the results of 
 the attack. For the better understand- 
 ing of the several movements, it may be 
 well to state that the enemy landed about 
 four miles from this port. The place 
 may be recognized on the map by three 
 ponds and a mound ; that the island there 
 is about three-fourths of a mile wide ; 
 that a short distance below it narrows to 
 some two hundred yards, then widens 
 again, and at camp the distance across is 
 about five-eighths of a mile ; that a suc- 
 cession of three or four sand ridges run 
 on the sea parallel with the coast along 
 the island, and low swampy ground inter- 
 spersed with sand hillocks ; some bushes 
 and a few trees extend along the harbor 
 side, both shores being a sandy beach. 
 
 " Wilson's camp is near the sea-coast, 
 and a short mile from the fort. The two 
 batteries spoken of in his report, and to 
 which he retreated batteries Lincoln 
 and Totten are, the first on the harbor, 
 and the other on the Gulf side, about 
 400 yards from Fort Pickens. 
 
 "About two o'clock on the morning 
 of the 9th instant I was awakened by 
 the officer of the day, who reported that 
 a picket driven in had reported the land- 
 ing of sixty men on the point. Having 
 little confidence in the correctness of this 
 report, I directed that no alarm should 
 
OFFICIAL REPORT. 
 
 561 
 
 be made, and shortly after he reported 
 that the alarm was false. About half- 
 past three o'clock he again reported that 
 volleys of musketry were heard at the 
 camp of the Sixth Regiment New York 
 Volunteers. I immediately ordered the 
 roll to be beaten, Major Yodges to take 
 two companies and proceed to the spot, 
 and Major Arnold to man the guns on 
 the ramparts on the space. 
 
 ' ' About half an hour after this time 
 the firing was heavy, and the light of the 
 burning camp seen. I sent a staff officer 
 to communicate with Major Vodges, who 
 returned very soon and said he had fallen 
 in with a large body of the enemy on 
 the inside shore, and could not find the 
 Major. I immediately ordered Major Ar- 
 nold to proceed to support Major Yodges, 
 with two companies, and at the same 
 time sent an order to Colonel Wilson to 
 advance and attack the enemy. I also 
 dispatched a staff officer on board the 
 steamer McClellan, with orders for him 
 to take position opposite the landing- 
 place, and open on the enemy ; unfortu- 
 nately at the same time directing him to 
 go to the Potomac, lying near, and ask 
 for some men to assist him in case land- 
 ing was necessary. Captain Powell di- 
 rected him to tow his ship to the scene 
 of action, which so delayed him that he 
 did not arrive until after the enemy had 
 vacated. Captain Powell acted from the 
 best of motives, and, under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, from correct principles, but 
 the result was unfortunate, as the McClel- 
 lan could have driven the rebel steamers 
 away, and we must have made prisoners 
 of most of the invaders. 
 71 
 
 " At the request of Major Arnold, late 
 in the morning I sent forward a light 
 field gun, which, however, did not reach 
 until the affair was over. 
 
 "As I propose only briefly to allude 
 to the volunteers, I respectfully refer you 
 to the official report of the colonel of the 
 regiment. The picket of this regiment, 
 and the guards, sustained its principal, if 
 not entire loss, and behaved well. Cap- 
 tain Daly's company, on duty with the 
 regulars, did good service, and the cap- 
 tain is spoken of by Major Arnold in 
 terms of high approbation. He had two 
 men killed. Captain Bailey's company 
 was at a battery, and was not called out ; 
 he was performing his appropriate duty 
 during the fight. Major Yodges, with 
 Companies A, First Artillery, and E, 
 Third Infantry, proceeded behind the 
 Spanish fort, about a mile from this fort, 
 when, from the obscurity of the night, 
 he found himself and command com- 
 pletely intermingled with the enemy. 
 He was immediately recognized and 
 made prisoner, the command devolving 
 on Captain Hildt, of the Third Infantry, 
 who disengaged his command from their 
 perilous position and opened a heavy 
 fire on the enemy, and finally, with great 
 gallantry, forced them to retreat he 
 being ably supported by Lieut. Zeeley, 
 my assistant adjutant-general, who vol- 
 unteered for the occasion with a loss of 
 ten killed. 
 
 "Major Arnold at this moment came 
 up, and, the enemy retreating, followed 
 on. During this time, Major Power and 
 Lieutenant Jackson, whom I had suc- 
 cessively sent on to push forward the 
 
56.2 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Zouaves, succeeded in getting some col- 
 lected, and Colonel Wilson also advanced, 
 the enemy precipitately retreating. 
 
 "Major Arnold, Captain Robertson, 
 and Lieut. Shipley's companies promptly 
 followed and attacked, and as they were 
 embarking, the other companies arriving 
 upon the ground successively, Captain 
 Robertson opened a heavy fire at short 
 musket range on the crowded masses, 
 and Lieutenant Shipley, some fifteen 
 minutes later, joined him, and their fire 
 must have been very effective. This was 
 continued so long as they were within 
 range. When they got beyond it, the 
 Major ordered the men to cease firing, 
 and to give them three cheers, to which 
 there was no response. During the time 
 of this occurrence, Major Power came up 
 with two small companies of Zouaves, 
 and subsequently Colonel Wilson, with a 
 portion of his regiment. 
 
 " When it is considered that less than 
 200 regulars with some 50 volunteers 
 pursued five times their number four 
 miles and expelled them, under a heavy 
 fire, from the island they had desecrated, 
 it will, I trust, be considered an evidence 
 of their having gallantly performed their 
 duty. The plan of attack of the enemy 
 was judicious, and, if executed with or- 
 dinary ability, might have been attended 
 with serious loss ; but he failed in all save 
 the burning of one half of the tents of 
 the Sixth Regiment, which, being covered 
 with bushes, were very combustible, and 
 in rifling the trunks of the officers. He 
 did not reach within 500 yards of the 
 batteries, the guns of which he was to 
 spike, nor within a mile of the fort he 
 
 was to enter pell-mell, the fugitives re- 
 treating before his victorious arms. I 
 have now in my possession nine spikes 
 taken from the bodies of the dead, de- 
 signed for our guns. 
 
 " Our loss is, of regulars, four killed, 
 twenty-six wounded most very slightly, 
 and eight missing, among whom is Major 
 Yodges ; of the Sixth Regiment New 
 York Volunteers, ten killed, six wounded, 
 and sixteen missing. 
 
 " The enemy's loss, as known to us, is 
 fourteen killed, including one captain, 
 seven wounded, including one lieutenant 
 two have since died and five officers 
 and twenty-two enlisted men, prisoners ; 
 and, as he was known to have carried 
 off some of his dead, and probably most 
 of his wounded, those in our hands being 
 severely so, and unable to be removed, 
 and as the heaviest loss is supposed to 
 have been in the boats at the re-embark- 
 ation, it was probably three times as great 
 in killed and wounded as I have named. 
 
 "I close, with the agreeable duty of 
 naming to you the officers engaged, who 
 so faithfully performed their duty. I 
 ! mention Major Vodges first who unfor- 
 tunately was taken prisoner before a gun 
 on our part was fired to say that, as 
 second in command, and my executive 
 officer, he has efficiently and industriously 
 performed his duty during the whole 
 time of my command, and his services 
 have been very valuable. Major Arnold, 
 who succeeded to the command after the 
 capture of his superior, conducted the 
 affair with great gallantry, prudence, and 
 ability ; he speaks in the highest terms 
 of Captains Robertson and Heildt, and 
 
REPORT OF "BILLY WILSON." 
 
 563 
 
 Lieutenants Shipley and Seeley, and, in- 
 deed, of all the others whose names I 
 give : Major Power and Lieutenant Reese, 
 of the Engineers ; Lieutenants Duryea, 
 Langdon, Jackson, and Taylor, of the 
 United States Army, and Captain Dole, 
 of the New York Volunteers ; and it 
 gives me great pleasure to append the 
 names of non-commissioned officers and 
 privates named by their company com- 
 manders for distinguished good conduct, 
 and to recommend them to the favorable 
 notice of the Government. The following 
 are the companies of Majors Yodges and 
 Arnold who participated in the battle, 
 and (with a very few exceptions of indi- 
 viduals) to whom the greatest praise is 
 due : Company A, First Artillery, Com- 
 pany H, Second Artillery, and Companies 
 C and E, Third Infantry. 
 
 1 ' I estimated the force of the enemy 
 at 1,200 or 1,500, having closely observed 
 them through a fine telescope as they re- 
 treated. The two steamers, and a large 
 barge of equal size, and five or six laun- 
 ches, were all crowded with troops, and 
 the almost unanimous estimate of the 
 officers is 1,600, from personal observa- 
 tion. I am, Colonel, very respectfully, 
 3 r ours, HARVEY BROWN, 
 
 ' ' Colonel Commanding. 
 " COLOKEL E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adju- 
 tant-General, Washington, D. C." 
 
 The official report of " Billy Wilson" 
 is too characteristic to be omitted. He 
 thus wrote to General Arthur, of the 
 State of New York : 
 
 " SIR : We have had our first fight. 
 It was a terrible one for the enemy. We 
 lost nine men ; wounded, seven ; missing, 
 
 ten out of what force I had with me. 
 You must know my companies are scat- 
 tered about. I have with me five com- 
 panies, numbering 360, of which 50 were 
 sick, 47 detailed on service at the fort, 
 and about TO on guard that night. We 
 have to watch a mile of the beach and 
 three-fourths of a mile in front of our 
 encampment. The island is three-fourths 
 of a mile wide at this point. We had 
 133 men to turn out. 
 
 "On the morning of the 9th instant 
 (October), at half-past three o'clock, the 
 enemy attacked us in three columns, 
 commencing by attacking with small 
 parties of twenty or thirty men every 
 sentinel. Two companies charged the 
 picket tent, the three bodies numbering 
 in all 2,000 men, simultaneously firing 
 volleys of musketry into the hospital and 
 guard-house. We were out and formed 
 in quick time. The sentinels, the guard, 
 and officers came running in. They had 
 fought retreating, until overpowered, 
 killing quite a number of them. Several 
 of our pickets were killed and wounded. 
 Private W. Scott deliberately waited 
 until one column was within ten feet of 
 him, and then shot the commanding offi- 
 cer, Captain Bradford. In an instant 
 after we were formed, fronting, as I sup- 
 posed, the enemy. It was so dark that 
 I could not discover a man ten feet off. 
 We were fired into from three sides. I 
 had just sent out Captain Harelton with 
 his company to the front as skirmishers, 
 and Captain Duffy with twenty men to 
 the left flank, to endeavor to find out the 
 whereabouts of the enemy and draw 
 their fire, when, bang ! we got it from all 
 
564 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 sides. By companies and file I wheeled 
 my men into line and returned the fire. 
 At this moment a blaze arose the tents 
 were all on fire ; the quartermaster's and 
 commission store or building was also on 
 fire, all at one time. The distance from 
 the camp to the commission building is 
 an eighth of a mile. We could then see 
 our enemy for the first time, in dense 
 masses in the centre of our camp, and 
 extended along the ridge. Companies 
 were seen moving across the ridges en- 
 deavoring to surround us. A large body 
 of men were also drawn up fronting the 
 camp, firing into our camp, and setting 
 fire to everything. We retired behind 
 the first ridge toward the sea, halted, and 
 faced the enemy. I had but sixty men 
 with me ; I sent out for the rest of my 
 men and officers, but could not find them. 
 Stragglers came in and reported that 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Creighton, Captains 
 Harelton, Huherer, Hotrel, and Lieuten- 
 ant Silloway had retired toward the fort. 
 On hearing this, I said to my few men, 
 ' We will be cut off ; they are trying to 
 surround us ; we are too few to fight so 
 many ;' and they gradually, being in 
 good order, moved toward the beach on 
 the first battery, where we rested a few 
 moments. We then, as daylight ap- 
 peared, marched in chase of the enemy. 
 Until this time I had heard no news of 
 my men, nor of the regulars. I then 
 learned from Major Towen that several 
 companies were in chase of the enemy. 
 We hurried up, some seven miles, and 
 arrived a few moments too late at the 
 place where the enemy were getting 
 slaughtered by our men, while they were 
 
 endeavoring to embark. There were 
 three steamboats and three barges. The 
 enemy lost in killed and wounded about 
 500 men. General Anderson led them 
 on. Their war-cry was, ' Death to Wil- 
 son ! No quarter to Wilson's Zouaves !' 
 Five thousand dollars was the reward for 
 him, dead or alive. All our loss is about 
 20 killed, 15 wounded, and 20 prisoners. 
 
 " Our new clothes are all destroyed. 
 I have lost everything I had ; my men 
 also. They burned us out completely. 
 Our papers and books are burned. My 
 commission is safe. I sent to the post- 
 office the day before the fight. My men 
 did well. They have smelt gunpowder 
 now they are all right. We com- 
 mence the fight to-morrow. They have 
 12,000 men. They are exhibiting my 
 head and hair in Pensacola. The re- 
 ward is already claimed ; also an old 
 flag, which I nailed to a flag-staff on the 
 Fourth of July, which has been hanging 
 there ever since ; nothing left, however, 
 but the stars. The ladies have cut it up 
 in pieces and have it pinned on their 
 bosoms as a trophy. Every one in Pen- 
 sacola has my sword and uniform. I 
 must have had a large quantity of hair, 
 plenty of swords and uniforms. They 
 say if I was to be taken alive, I was to 
 be put in a cage and exhibited. 
 
 " Yesterday five Americans and two 
 ladies escaped from Pensacola and gave 
 us all the news of how they describe the 
 terrible victory. We lay upon our arms 
 every night. I have slept but little this 
 week. I don't feel well. We will want 
 800 uniforms. Your obedient servant, 
 "WILLIAM WILSON, Col. Com'g." 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF PENSACOLA. 
 
 565 
 
 After this daring but unsuccessful at- 
 tempt of the enemy at Pensacola, the an- 
 tagonists, though confronting each other 
 so closely, remained quiet in mutual de- 
 fiance for a long time. 
 
 On the 22d of November, however, 
 fl OVi the silence was broken by a com- 
 22. bined bombardment, from the Fed- 
 eral vessels of war and Fort Pickens, of 
 the enemy's works on the mainland sur- 
 rounding the harbor of Pensacola. The 
 object of the attack was generally to do 
 as much damage as possible to the 
 enemy, but especially to draw their fire, 
 in order to test the range of their 
 guns, as an attempt was to be made to 
 destroy the navy yard at Pensacola and 
 its fortress. The United States steamer 
 Niagara, the Richmond, and the Mont- 
 gomery, under the general command of 
 Flag- Officer McKean, were the- three 
 national vessels, then off' Fort Pickens, 
 which took part in the engagement. 
 On the day before, every preparation 
 was made for action. To protect the 
 machinery of the steamers, bags of 
 coal were placed around such portions 
 of it as might be exposed to shot, and 
 all the usual preliminaries arranged. 
 Orders were issued to the vessels to 
 move at daylight next morning and take 
 such a position as to be able to engage 
 Fort McRae and the water and sand bat- 
 teries in front of it. It was agreed be- 
 tween Captain McKean and Colonel 
 Brown, that the latter should begin the 
 attack by opening fire on the enemy's little 
 steamers, as they passed on their usual 
 daily route from the city of Pensacola 
 to the navy yard, and endeavor to sink 
 
 them, so as to prevent the transporta- 
 tion of reinforcements. 
 
 At sunrise the men-of-war were all 
 ready. The boats had been hoisted out 
 and moored alongside, the shot and shell 
 brought up from below, and " steam got 
 up," ready for a move. The chaplain 
 offered up the usual morning prayer 
 and implored the blessing of God upon 
 the enterprise. The flag-officer address- 
 ed a few direct words to his officers and 
 men, urging upon them "strict obedi- 
 ence to all orders, coolness, judgment, 
 and precision in firing." The crew re- 
 sponded with three hearty cheers, and 
 impatiently awaited the order for weigh- 
 ing anchor and moving to take part in 
 the action. 
 
 At about half-past nine o'clock the 
 enemy's little steamers were seen com- 
 ing down from Pensacola, and were 
 anxiously watched until they made fast 
 to the dock at the navy yard. At 
 this moment, just twelve minutes to 
 ten o'clock, Fort Pickens opened^fire. 
 The crews of the men-of-war greeted 
 the sound of the cannon with a loud 
 hurrah, and the order being given to 
 weigh anchor, the work was done with 
 a " will." As it was necessary, in order 
 to bring the guns of the Niagara within 
 range, to run into water so shoal, that 
 even in a smooth sea there would be 
 only twenty inches under the keel, great 
 caution had to be used in working her 
 in. She was forced to seek a position in 
 which she would be able, in case of a 
 blow, to move at once into deeper water. 
 
 The Richmond, in the mean time, came 
 under the stern of the Niagara, and was 
 
566 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ordered by the commodore on board of 
 the latter, his flag-ship to move in until 
 within range of the forts and open fire. 
 This she did immediately, and was at 
 once hotly engaged. The Niagara con- 
 tinued cautiously to steam on until she 
 also came within range, as was supposed, 
 when she dropped her anchor. The 
 enemy's guns at Fort McRae and the 
 water battery were in the mean time 
 firing, but their shots fell short of the 
 Niagara. This steamer being moored, 
 fired her first shot from an eighty-four- 
 pound rifled gun, which appeared to tell. 
 On discharging an eleven-inch cannon, 
 its shot was seen to fall short. Several 
 subsequent attempts proving equally in- 
 effectual, a boat was sent out to sound, 
 and it being found that the steamer could 
 move still closer in, the anchor was hove, 
 and the Niagara brought a fourth of a 
 mile nearer to the forts. 
 
 "We now again," wrote one of the 
 officers of the Niagara, " opened fire from 
 our ^broadside guns, and this time to 
 some purpose. Almost every shot told, 
 and there must have been a fearful scat- 
 tering of pieces, as our shell exploded 
 over their heads. I do not think there 
 was ever any target practice in the navy 
 that can show such a record of effective 
 shots. The rebels were constantly throw- 
 ing shot at us, and seemed to be either 
 increasing the charge of powder or else 
 getting more elevation, for their shots 
 gradually came nearer, though it was not 
 until late in the afternoon that we were 
 struck. By twelve o'clock both the Rich- 
 mond and Niagara, together with the 
 guns bearing from Fort Pickens and bat- 
 
 tery Scott, were playing into Fort McRae 
 and its surrounding batteries. We aver- 
 aged one shell every three minutes, and 
 as the Richmond had more guns, though 
 smaller, and more than our number of 
 guns were being served from Santa Rosa, 
 there were about two shells each minute 
 being fired at this point. 
 
 ' ' About one o'clock a firing commenced 
 from a masked battery which disclosed 
 itself in the woods along the shore, and 
 about a mile south of McRae. They 
 seemed to have a particular spite against 
 us by the pertinacity with which they 
 fired at us ; but finding that they could 
 not reach us, they turned their attention 
 to the Richmond, which was nearer in 
 shore. Many of their shot came very 
 close to the latter, and had they been 
 well directed would have done a great 
 deal of damage. Only one took effect, 
 however, and I regret to record that this 
 killed one man and wounded seven. 
 The man killed was captain of the gun, 
 and was in the act of taking aim when 
 struck. The wounded were but slightly 
 hurt. The battery of the Richmond 
 was now brought to bear upon the hidden 
 rebels, but I do not think it did much 
 execution, as most of her shot were seen 
 to fall short. About five o'clock she 
 hauled out." 
 
 The Niagara continued the engage- 
 ment, and her fire seemed to have great 
 effect. A wooden barrack in the rear of 
 Fort McRae was set on fire, and the flag- 
 staff of the fort shot away, bringing 
 down the enemy's flag, which, however, 
 was soon raised again. The firing con- 
 tinued on both sides until six o'clock, 
 
BURNING OF WARRINGTON. 
 
 567 
 
 when the guns of Fort McRae no longer 
 responded. The Niagara continued to 
 pour shot and shell into the silenced 
 batteries, when it becoming too dark to 
 fire with any certainty of aim, she hauled 
 off and anchored out of range. She 
 had suffered little during the engage- 
 ment, having received but two shots in 
 her sides, one of which passed through 
 the lieutenants' room, scattering every- 
 thing within. The Niagara had fired the 
 large number of 180 shells, some of which 
 were filled with sand for the purpose of 
 rendering them more effective in breach- 
 ing the walls. The effect of this heavy 
 bombardment was supposed to have been 
 the dismounting of the heaviest gun of 
 Fort McRae, and silencing the rest. 
 
 Thus closed the first day, during which 
 Fort Pickens had been as active with its 
 guns as the men-of-war. "My fire," 
 says Colonel Brown, ' ' was incessant, 
 from the time of opening until it was too 
 dark to see, at the rate of a shot for 
 each gun every fifteen or twenty minutes, 
 the fire of the enemy being somewhat 
 slower. By noon the guns of Fort Mc- 
 Rae were all silenced but one. * * 
 We reduced very perceptibly the fire of 
 Barrancas, entirely silenced that in the 
 navy yard and in one or two other bat- 
 teries, the efficiency of our fire at the 
 close of the day not being the least im- 
 paired." 
 
 Early on the next morning the bom- 
 fl ov . bardment was renewed from Fort 
 2B. Pickens. The steamers not being 
 able to get within range, owing to the 
 shallowness of the water, were prevented 
 from taking any effective part in the en- 
 
 gagement. " My fire this day," wrote 
 Colonel Brown, "was less rapid, and I 
 think more efficient, than that of yester- 
 day. Fort McRae, so effectually silenced 
 yesterday, did not fire again to-day. 
 We silenced entirely one or two guns, 
 and had one of ours disabled by a shot 
 coming through the embrasure. 
 
 "About three o'clock, fire was com- 
 municated to one of the houses in War- 
 rington, and shortly afterwards to the 
 church steeple, the church and the whole 
 village being immediately in rear of the 
 rebel batteries, they apparently having 
 placed them purposely directly in front 
 of the largest and most valuable build- 
 ings. The fire rapidly communicated to 
 other buildings along the street, until 
 probably two-thirds of it was consumed ; 
 and about the same time fire was dis- 
 covered issuing from the back part of 
 the navy yard, probably in Wolcott, a 
 village to the north, immediately adjoin- 
 ing the yard as Warrington does on the 
 west. Finally, it penetrated to the yard, 
 and as it continued to burn brightly all 
 night, I concluded that either in it or in 
 Wolcott many buildings were destroyed. 
 Yery heavy damage was also done to 
 the buildings of the yard by the ava- 
 lanche of shot, shell, and splinters show- 
 ered unceasingly on them for two days, 
 but as they were nearly fire-proof, being 
 built of brick and covered with slate, I 
 could not succeed in firing them, my hot 
 shot and shells not having any power of 
 igniting them. 
 
 "The steamer Time, which was then 
 lying at the wharf, was abandoned on 
 the first day and exposed to our fire, 
 
568 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 which probably entirely disabled her. 
 The fire was again continued till dark, 
 and with mortars, occasionally, until two 
 o'clock the next morning, when the 
 combat ceased." 
 
 Colonel Brown thus briefly sums up 
 the damage sustained by Fort Pickens : 
 ' ' The fort, though it has received a great 
 many shot and shell, is, in every respect, 
 save the disabling of one gun-carriage 
 and the loss of service of six men, as 
 efficient as it was at the commencement 
 of the combat." 
 
 The most serious damage done by the 
 enemy was suffered by the Richmond 
 on the first day of the engagement. A 
 shot struck her on the water-line, and 
 penetrating the side, dropped in the pur- 
 ser's room, and, in spite of her steam 
 pumps, she made water so fast that it 
 was found necessary to send her to Key 
 West for repairs. An accident occur- 
 red in Fort Pickens which was more 
 fatal than any of the direct blows of the 
 
 enemy. One of the men was trying to 
 empty a shell which had fallen in the 
 fort, by knocking it against another. 
 An explosion followed, which discharged 
 another shell, and resulted in instantly 
 killing five soldiers and wounding seven 
 more. 
 
 After this heavy bombardment 
 which, notwithstanding it lasted two 
 days, did little damage to either side 
 the old state of quiet ensued between the 
 enemy about Pensacola and our forces 
 on Santa Rosa Island, but was again dis- 
 turbed at the opening of the new year 
 (January 1, 1862) by a fire from Fort 
 Pickens upon one of the enemy's steam- 
 ers. The Confederate commander, Gen- 
 eral Bragg, responded from his batteries, 
 and the bombardment was continued on 
 both sides for a whole day. Next morn- 
 ing the enemy renewed his fire, but it 
 not being responded to, no further en- 
 gagement took place. Little damage 
 was done to either antagonist. 
 
THE PUBLIC ON BULL RUN. 
 
 569 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 The effect of the Defeat at Bull Run upon Public Opinion at the North. Popular Indignation. Indiscriminate cen- 
 sure. The Innocent confounded with the Guilty. Frank confession of the Commander-in-Chief. Injustice to 
 General McDowell. Vicarious suffering. Who were to blame ? Graceful resignation of a victim of popular 
 Prejudice. A new Candidate for Public Fame. General McClellan appointed to the chief command on the Poto- 
 mac. His journey to Washington. Modesty. The single speech. Arrival at the Capital. Immediate attention 
 
 to Business. Improved Police and better Discipline. Checks to secession in Washington. Regulation of the Press 
 
 The Department of McClellan denned. Organization. Fortifications on the Potomac. Their extent and strength. 
 Safety of Washington secured. Maryland Tranquillized. General Dix at Baltimore. General Banks on the 
 Potomac. " All is quiet on the Potomac." Skirmishes. The affair at Bolivar. Success of the Unionists. Sup- 
 posed change in the position of the Enemy Position of Banks' Division. Strengthening of the Enemy's right, 
 
 and supposed drawing in of their left. The cause of the attack at Ball's Bluff. Prudence of McClellan. Recon- 
 
 noissanceof Drainesville. Leesburg. Reported evacuation of the two places. Instructions of McClellan. Stone's 
 
 notification of his movement across the Potomac, and the disaster at Ball's Bluff. 
 
 1861. 
 
 AFTER the reckless attack and conse- 
 quent defeat of the Federal forces 
 at Bull Run, the country was sud- 
 denly awakened from the delusion in 
 which it had indulged as to the all-con- 
 quering might of its own undisciplined 
 troops and the inferiority of those of 
 the Confederates. The people naturally 
 turned against those who had designedly 
 or ignorantly excited their hopes. The 
 "On to Richmond" cry was drowned 
 in a flood of popular indignation. Public 
 opinion is seldom discriminating, and 
 often not only confounds the innocent 
 with the guilty, but visits the sins of 
 the latter upon the former. This was 
 emphatically the case in the popular ver- 
 dict in regard to the battle at Bull Run. 
 The penitent whimperings of the instiga- 
 tors of that movement were readily list- 
 ened to and their sins forgiven, while the 
 innocent actors in it were forced to submit 
 to the rigors of an unsparing penance. 
 72 
 
 The veteran Commander-in-chief fore- 
 stalled popular censure by his frank con- 
 fession, that he had been the greatest 
 coward of all, in having yielded, in op- 
 position to his own judgment, to the im- 
 pulse of public sentiment. General Mc- 
 Dowell, who had led the army to that 
 fatal battle-field merely in obedience to 
 a military superior, suffered most in rep- 
 utation. The public censure was chiefly 
 directed against him, and there still lin- 
 gers a prejudice against McDowell, which, 
 by consigning him to a subordinate posi- 
 tion, has deprived the country of the 
 services of one of its ablest and most pa- 
 triotic leaders. 
 
 To appease the popular anger at the 
 defeat at Bull Run, the sacrifice of a 
 victim became necessary, and the unfor- 
 tunate general was made to atone vica- 
 riously for the ignorant excitement of 
 the multitude, the artful provocations 
 of an unscrupulous press, the partisan 
 
570 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 schemes of designing politicians, the fac- 
 ile concurrence of a dependent adminis- 
 tration, and the confessed weakness of 
 the commander-in-chief. For all these 
 combined were the causes of the fatal 
 movement, and upon their authors the 
 popular indignation should have been 
 heaped, and not upon the head of the 
 brave and skilful McDowell. 
 
 Fortunately for the country, there 
 were those who, in their devotion to its 
 interests, were willing to come to its 
 rescue, though at the risk of sacrificing 
 reputation more dear to a soldier than 
 his life. A successor was found to the 
 sacrificed McDowell, who yielded with 
 graceful resignation to his substitute, and 
 with patriotic submissiveness became his 
 subordinate. The successful campaign 
 of General McClellan in Western Vir- 
 ginia had won for him great renown, and 
 July when the Government selected him 
 22. to command our army on the Poto- 
 mac, the people welcomed the choice 
 with acclamation. 
 
 The young General hurried rapidly to 
 his post of duty, and, modestly disclaim- 
 ing those expressions of applause which 
 the American people so bountifully be- 
 stow even in advance, kept aloof from the 
 crowd eager to exalt and idolize him. 
 In his native Philadelphia, however, he 
 could not escape the importunate mul- 
 titude, but even while yielding so far as 
 to address them, the brevity of his 
 speech, and its deprecation of unearned 
 favor, proved his distaste for indiscrim- 
 inate applause. 
 
 " My friends and old townsmen," he 
 said, " I thank you for your reception, 
 
 and might reply, if this were not a time 
 for action, and not for speech. Your 
 applause, as I take it, is intended for my 
 brave soldiers in Western Virginia. I 
 am going to fulfil new duties, and I 
 trust that your kindness will give me 
 courage and strength. Good-bye." 
 
 As soon as General McClellan reached 
 Washington, he immediately as- juiy 
 sumed command on the Potomac, 26. 
 and began a rigorous course of or- 
 ganization and discipline, by which, it 
 was hoped, the unformed mass of raw 
 recruits might be converted into a power- 
 ful army of orderly soldiers. His first 
 act was to enforce a rigid system of 
 military police. The indulgent Mans- 
 field having been transferred to a com- 
 mand at Fortress Monroe, General Porter 
 was appointed provost marshal, and the 
 capital soon ceased to be scandalized by 
 the debauchery of idle officers filling the 
 hotels, and vagrant soldiers roaming the 
 streets. 
 
 General McClellan thus indicated in 
 an " order" his determination to re- j u [y 
 form the prevailing abuse : 30. 
 
 "The General commanding the divi- 
 sion has with much regret observed that 
 large numbers of officers and men sta- 
 tioned in the vicinity of Washington, 
 are in the habit of frequenting the streets 
 and hotels of the city. This practice is 
 eminently prejudicial to good order and 
 military discipline, and must at once be 
 discontinued. 
 
 " The time and services of all persons 
 connected with this division should be 
 devoted to their appropriate duties with 
 their respective commands. It is there- 
 
McCLELLAN ON THE POTOMAC. 
 
 571 
 
 fore directed that hereafter no officer or 
 soldier be allowed to absent himself from 
 his camp and visit Washington, except 
 for the performance of some public duty, 
 or the transaction of important private 
 business, for which purposes written 
 permits will be given by the command- 
 ers of brigades. The permit will state 
 the object of the visit. Brigade com- 
 manders will be held responsible for the 
 strict execution of this order." 
 
 The severe scrutiny which ensued as 
 to the loyalty of many employed in the 
 public offices, and of the citizens, male 
 and female, of Washington, in which city 
 it was suspected there was much active 
 sympathy with the enemy, was supposed 
 to have been suggested by the newly-ap- 
 pointed General. The representatives, 
 in the capital, of the newspaper press 
 throughout the North, were especially 
 invited by General McClellan to " con- 
 sult" with him, and the result of the 
 conference was the unanimous decision, 
 that the following "suggestions" be trans- 
 mitted to the editors of all the newspa- 
 pers in all the loyal States and in the 
 District of Columbia : 
 
 " 1st. That all such editors be required 
 to refrain from publishing, either as ed- 
 itorial or correspondence, any descrip- 
 tion, from any point of view, of any 
 matter that might furnish aid and com- 
 fort to the enemy. 
 
 " 2d. That they be also requested and 
 earnestly solicited to signify to their 
 correspondents here and elsewhere their 
 approval of the foregoing suggestion, and 
 to comply with it in spirit and letter." 
 
 It was, moreover, resolved that the 
 
 Government be respectfully requested 
 to afford the representatives of the press 
 facilities for obtaining and immediately 
 transmitting all information suitable for 
 publication, particularly touching en- 
 gagements with the enemy. 
 
 By a general order, the extent of Gen- 
 eral McClellan's command was denned. 
 His military control was greatly enlarged 
 beyond that of any serving under the 
 veteran Scott, still the commander-in- 
 chief. 
 
 "There will be added," are the terms 
 of the order, "to the Department of the 
 Shenandoah the counties of Washington, 
 Alleghany, in Maryland, and such other 
 parts of Virginia as may be covered by 
 the army in its operations. And there 
 will be added to the Department of Wash- 
 ington the counties of Prince George, 
 Montgomery, and Frederick. The re- 
 mainder of Maryland, and all of Penn- 
 sylvania and Delaware, will constitute 
 the Department of Pennsylvania, head- 
 quarters Baltimore. The Department 
 of Washington and the Department of 
 Northeastern Virginia will constitute a 
 geographical division under Major-Gen- 
 eral McClellan, United States Army, 
 headquarters Washington." 
 
 The organization of the large army on 
 the Potomac which had rapidly increas- 
 ed after the battle of Bull Run, under the 
 inspiring influence of the new and trust- 
 ed leader now absorbed the interest of 
 General McClellan. He devoted him- 
 self with ceaseless activity to the work. 
 His staff was appointed, and new appoint- 
 ments and promotions to generalships 
 and other ranks rapidly made. The 
 
572 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 whole army was divided into brigades 
 and divisions, and chiefs selected to com- 
 mand them. An attempt was made to 
 secure efficiency of officers, by establish- 
 ing commissions to examine into their 
 military knowledge. A large number 
 of resignations followed, some of which 
 were voluntary, from self-confessed, and 
 many compulsory in consequence of 
 proved, incompetence. 
 
 The fortifications on the Potomac, under 
 the eye and direction of McClellan, were 
 j> ec , so rapidly extended and perfected, 
 
 ? that the chief engineer, Brigadier- 
 General Barnard, was enabled to state 
 in his report that the defences of 
 Washington "consisted of about forty- 
 eight works, mounting over 300 guns, 
 some of which are of very large size," 
 and, to add, "that the actual defensive 
 perimeter occupied is about thirty-five 
 miles, exceeding the length of the 
 famous, and hitherto the most extensive 
 fortified by extemporized field-works 
 
 lines of Torres Vedras by several 
 miles." 
 
 With the great increase of the national 
 forces and the extension and comple- 
 tion of the defensive works on the Po- 
 tomac, there was no longer any fear for 
 the safety of Washington. Maryland, 
 too, remained tranquil and loyal. Gen- 
 eral Dix had succeeded General Banks 
 in the command of this department, and 
 was pursuing, with the same good effect, 
 his predecessor's policy of awing the 
 secessionists and encouraging the friends 
 of the Union. General Banks, super- 
 seding General Patterson, had been trans- 
 ferred to the upper Potomac, whither we 
 
 shall follow him, to record the only 
 military movements which for many 
 months called for a variation in the oft- 
 repeated dispatch, "All is quiet to-day 
 on the Potomac." 
 
 Occasional skirmishes occurred along 
 the whole line of the Potomac. Of these 
 the most important occurred at Bolivar 
 Heights, in the neighborhood of Harper's 
 Ferry. The enemy held this posi- o c j, 
 tion with a force estimated at 3,000 H. 
 men, under the command of Colonel 
 Ashby. The Federal troops, consisting 
 of portions of the Twenty-eighth Penn- 
 sylvania, the Thirteenth Massachusetts, 
 and the Third Wisconsin Regiments, 
 numbered a little more than 1,000 
 men. The enemy attacked the three 
 companies belonging to the Massachu- 
 setts Regiment commanded by Major 
 J. P. Gould which were garrisoning 
 Harper's Ferry ; these having been re- 
 inforced, drove back the secessionists, 
 but in turn were forced to retire. Col- 
 onel Geary now hastened, from his post 
 at Point of Rocks, on the opposite side 
 of the river, with more troops and some 
 artillery, and succeeded in forcing the 
 [ enemy from their position on the com- 
 manding Heights of Bolivar with great 
 loss. Their leader, Ashby, was killed, 
 and some hundred or more of their men 
 either lost their lives or were severely 
 wounded. A thirty-two pound colum- 
 biad was taken from them with other 
 trophies. The Unionists were reported 
 to have lost only thirteen men in the 
 engagement. 
 
 The enemy, in shifting the position of 
 their forces, having strengthened their 
 
DRAINESVILLE OCCUPIED. 
 
 573 
 
 centre at Manassas and extended their 
 right toward the creeks and rivers 
 below Alexandria, were supposed to 
 have drawn back their left, which had 
 been resting on Drainesville and Lees- 
 burgh above Washington. It was from 
 these points or their neighborhood that 
 Maryland had been for a long time 
 threatened, and it had evidently been 
 the intention of the enemy to cross the 
 Potomac somewhere in this direction 
 and approach the capital by a flank 
 movement. To provide against such a 
 movement, a large force had been concen- 
 trated on the Maryland side of the river. 
 This was the division under the com- 
 mand of Major-General Banks, stationed 
 on a line extending from Great Falls to 
 Harper's Ferry. Banks commanded in 
 person from Great Falls to Edward's 
 Ferry, with his headquarters near 
 Darnestown, twenty-tv o miles above 
 Washington. General Stone held with 
 his brigade the position between Ed- 
 ward's and Conrad's ferries, and Colonels 
 Lander and Geary and others with their 
 regiments completed the line from the 
 latter point to Harper's Ferry. 
 
 When the enemy began to change 
 their position on the Potomac a move- 
 ment which had become manifest from 
 their retiring from Munson's Hill and 
 the immediate neighborhood of Alexan- 
 dria, and from the strengthening of their 
 right on Acquia Creek and the other 
 streams toward the mouth of the Poto- 
 mac, where they had laboriously con- 
 structed a series of powerful batteries 
 it was supposed that they had entirely 
 changed their plans. "It appeared evi- 
 
 dent that they had given up all hope of 
 crossing the upper Potomac, and it was 
 concluded that they had withdrawn the 
 main force which they had so long re- 
 tained in that direction. This presump- 
 tion led to the fatal encounter at Ball's 
 Bluff. 
 
 General McClellan, although he un- 
 doubtedly was of the opinion that the 
 force on the enemy's left had been 
 greatly diminished in the course of the 
 change in their line of operations, seemed 
 to have acted with a prudence that it 
 would have been well if some -of his 
 subordinates had emulated. 
 
 Drainesville, lower down and on the 
 same side of the Potomac, had been, like 
 Leesburgh, a point of concentration for 
 the forces of the enemy's left. The 
 troops at both places were supposed to 
 have been greatly diminished. In order 
 to ascertain the fact in regard to Draines- 
 ville, General McClellan ordered General 
 McCall to make a reconnoissance in force 
 in that direction. McCall succeeded 
 in reaching Drainesville without any o c t, 
 show of resistance, and moreover W 
 learned that Leesburgh had been also 
 evacuated. At the same time, General 
 McClellan, anxious to ascertain more 
 accurately the state of things at Lees- 
 burgh, ordered General Stone to be on 
 the watch in that direction. His in- 
 structions were conveyed in this dis- 
 patch : 
 
 " General McClellan desires me to in- 
 form you that General McCall occu- Oct. 
 pied Drainesville yesterday, and is 20t 
 still there. Will send out heavy recon- 
 noissances to-day in all directions from 
 
574: 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 that point. The General desires that 
 you keep a good look-out upon Lees- 
 burgh, to see if this movement has the 
 effect to drive them away. Perhaps a 
 slight demonstration on your part would 
 have the effect to move them. 
 
 "A. Y. COLBURN, 
 "Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 "Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, 
 October 20, 1861." 
 
 Geneial McClellan, probably not ex- 
 pecting that the enemy would be found 
 in any considerable force, or if they 
 were, not intending to give them battle, 
 had recalled General McCall, who, after 
 C t, completing the object of his recon- 
 21* noitring expedition, returned to his 
 former camp at Longley, nearer the 
 centre of the Federal line on the Vir- 
 ginian side of the Potomac. In the 
 
 mean time General Stone having received 
 the dispatch of General McClellan, dated 
 the 20th of October, answered it from 
 Poolsville on the same day, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Made a feint of crossing at this place, 
 this afternoon, and at the same time 
 started a reconnoitring party toward 
 Leesburgh from Harrison's Island. The 
 enemy's pickets retired to intrench- 
 ments. Report of reconnoitring party 
 not yet received. I have means of 
 crossing 125 men once in ten minutes at 
 each of two points. River falling slowly. 
 " C. P. STONE, Brigadier-General.''' 
 
 This dispatch conveyed the first infor- 
 mation to headquarters of that move- 
 ment across the Potomac which re- 
 sulted in the fatal disaster of Ball's 
 Bluff. 
 
 CHAPTER LY. 
 
 General Stone's movements across the Potomac. Edward's Ferry. Harrison's Island. The Reconnoissance toward 
 Leesburgh. Conclusions of General Stone. His determination. A Demonstration made. Troops thrown across 
 the Potomac. A gallant Reconnoissance. Movements of Colonel Devens. Report of no Enemy to be seen. Orders 
 of Stone. Disobedience of them. General Baker arrives at the Headquarters of Stone. His orders. Colonel 
 Devens attacked by the Enemy at Ball's Bluff. Baker to the Rescue. Crossing of the Potomac. The Difficulties 
 for want of proper means. Criminal Neglect. The fatal consequences. The struggle at Ball's Bluff. Defeat. 
 Fatal disaster. General Stone's movements on the Left. General McClellan's orders in the emergency. Fresh 
 Troops ordered across the Potomac. Banks ordered to advance. McClellan at Edward's Ferry. A bridge for cross- 
 ing the Potomac secured. Troops withdrawn from the Virginia shore. The losses at Ball's Bluff'. The causes of 
 the disaster. Who was to blame. What General Stone says for himself. Exultation of the Enemy. Death of 
 Baker. His Life and Character. The causes of his popularity. His obscure origin. His early destitution. Hig 
 spirited efforts for support. His aspirations. An emigrant to the West. A lawyer. A member of Congress. 
 Colonel in the War with Mexico On the Isthmus of Panama. In California. Oregon. Colonel of California 
 Regiment. Promotion offered, but refused. Eloquence. 
 
 GENERAL STONE, in accordance with the 
 instructions he had received from 
 General McClellan, and as he stated 
 to him in his dispatch, made a feint of 
 
 1861. 
 
 crossing the Potomac at Edward's Ferry, 
 and sent a reconnoitring party, consist- 
 ing of four companies of the Fifteenth 
 Massachusetts Regiment, then stationed 
 
RECONNOISSANCE OF DEVENS. 
 
 575 
 
 at Harrison's Island, situated between 
 Edward's and Conrad's ferry, and lying 
 about midway of the two banks of the 
 river Potomac. This reconnoitring party 
 crossed from the island to the Virginian 
 shore, and after penetrating the country 
 to within a mile of Leesburgh, returned 
 without having met even a picket guard, 
 although they reported they had dis- 
 covered an encampment of thirty tents, 
 in a wood near the town. Presuming 
 upon the reports thus brought back, 
 General Stone seems to have concluded 
 that the enemy was no longer in force 
 at Leesburgh, and doubtless believed 
 that there was now an opportunity, if 
 any troops were left in that place, to 
 carry out the suggestion of McClellan thus 
 given to him : " Perhaps a slight demon- 
 stration on your part would have the 
 effect to. move them." He determined to 
 cross the river for that purpose. Accord- 
 ingly, having proceeded in person to Ed- 
 ward's Ferry, he prepared to throw across 
 at that point a considerable force to make 
 the main attack upon the enemy, while 
 at Conrad's Ferry above, he ordered a 
 feint to be made, and from Harrison's 
 Island, between the two places, the small 
 force there was directed to cross into 
 Yirginia and destroy the encampment 
 reported to have been seen near Lees- 
 burgh. Colonel Devens, in command of 
 C t, the Massachusetts men, accordingly 
 21* crossed from the island and pro- 
 ceeded to carry out this purpose. At 
 the same time, to distract the attention 
 of the enemy from this movement from 
 Harrison's Island, and in order to recon- 
 noitre in the direction of Leesburgh from 
 
 Edward's Ferry, General Stone sent from 
 this point across the river two companies 
 of the First Minnesota Regiment, and a 
 company of thirty-one of the Van Alen 
 cavalry, under the command of Major 
 Mix, accompanied by several staff offi- 
 cers. They were ordered to advance 
 along the road to Leesburgh until they 
 arrived in the vicinity of a battery known 
 to be hidden there. " This reconnois- 
 sance was most gallantly conducted, and 
 the party proceeded along the Leesburgh 
 road, nearly two miles from the ferry, 
 and when near the position of the hid- 
 den battery came suddenly upon a Mis- 
 sissippi Regiment, about thirty- five yards 
 distant, received its fire, and returned 
 it with their pistols. The fire of the 
 enemy killed one horse, but Lieutenant 
 Gouraud seized the dismounted man, 
 and drawing him on his horse behind 
 him, carried him unhurt from the field. 
 One private of the Fourth Virginia cav- 
 alry was brought off by the party a 
 prisoner, and being well mounted and 
 armed, his mount replaced the one lost 
 by the fire of the enemy."* 
 
 Colonel Devens, in the meantime, had 
 got his four companies of Massachusetts 
 men across the stream from Harrison's 
 Island, and had reached the position of 
 the reported camp near Leesburgh. He 
 sent back word that no such camp could 
 be found, and that the scouts of the pre- 
 vious day who had reported its existence 
 had been deceived by the uncertain 
 light, and had mistaken the open spaces 
 between the trees for tents. Devens hav- 
 ing at the same time discovered a place 
 
 General Stone's official report. 
 
576 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 of supposed security in a wood for his 
 small force, proceeded to make an exam- 
 ination of the country between his posi- 
 tion and Leesburgh, with the result, as 
 he reported, that " thus far he could find 
 no enemy."* 
 
 " Immediately on the receipt of this 
 intelligence, brought me by Lieutenant 
 Howe, who accompanied both parties 
 (of the 20th and 21st), I ordered," says 
 General Stone, "a non-commissioned 
 officer and ten cavalry to join Colonel 
 Devens for the purpose of scouring the 
 country near him while engaged in his 
 reconnoissance, and giving due notice of 
 the approach of any force, and that 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, with his bat- 
 talion of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, 
 should move on to Stuart's Mills, half a 
 mile to the right of the landing-place of 
 Colonel Devens, and see where, in a 
 strong position, he could watch and pro- 
 tect the flank of Colonel Devens on his 
 return, and secure a second crossing 
 more favorable than the first, and con- 
 nected by a good road with Leesburgh. 
 Captain Candy, assistant adjutant-gen- 
 eral, and General Lander accompanied 
 the cavalry to serve with it. 
 
 ' ' For some reason never explained to 
 me," adds General Stone, "neither of 
 these orders was carried out." 
 
 General Baker now presented him- 
 self at headquarters, stating that his 
 California Regiment was at Conrad's 
 Ferry, and that the rest of his brigade 
 was ready to march. General Stone at 
 once directed him to Harrison's Island, 
 and to assume the command there. The 
 
 * General Stone's official report. 
 
 written orders Baker received were as 
 follows : 
 
 "EDWARD'S FERKT, October 21, 1861. 
 " COLONEL E. D. BAKER, COMMANDER OP BRI- 
 GADE : 
 
 " COLONEL : In case of heavy firing in 
 front of Harrison's Island, you will ad- 
 vance the California Regiment of your 
 brigade, or retire the regiments under 
 Colonels Lee and Devens, now on the 
 Virginia side of the river, at your discre- 
 tion, assuming command on arrival. 
 "Very respectfully, Colonel, 
 "Your most obedient servant, 
 
 "CHARLES P. STONE, 
 " Brigadier- General Commanding." 
 This, the next dispatch from head- 
 quarters, came on the same day : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS CORPS OF OBSERVATION, ) 
 EDWARD'S FERRY, Oct. 21, 11.50. f 
 
 " E. D. BAKER, COMMANDING BRIGADE : 
 
 "COLONEL: I am informed that the 
 force of the enemy is about 4,000 all 
 told. If you can push them, you may 
 do so, as far as to have a strong position 
 near Leesburgh, if you can keep them 
 before you, avoiding their batteries. If 
 they pass Leesburgh and take the Green 
 Spring Road, you will not follow far, 
 but seize the first good position to cover 
 that road. Their design is to draw us 
 on, if they are obliged to retreat, as far 
 as Goose Creek, where they can be re- 
 inforced from Manassas and have a 
 strong position. 
 
 " Report frequently, so that, when they 
 are pushed, Grover can come up on their 
 flank. Yours, respectfully and truly, 
 
 "CHARLES P. STONE, 
 " Brigadier- General Commanding." 
 
BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 577 
 
 Before General Baker, in obedience to 
 his first order, could throw any of his 
 force across the river to the Virginia 
 bank, Colonel Devens, who had formed 
 his four companies in line on Ball's 
 Bluff, in a cornfield surrounded by a 
 dense wood, had been already assailed. 
 An irregular skirmishing fire was the 
 only result until the arrival of more 
 troops, which the enemy were evidently 
 awaiting that they might reap a bloodier 
 harvest. At about noon three companies 
 of the Massachusetts Regiment had 
 crossed, followed by 600 of the California 
 Brigade, two companies of the Tammany 
 Regiment, accompanied by howitzers and 
 one rifled cannon under the direction of 
 Lieutenant Bramhall, of the Ninth New 
 York. 
 
 The crossing of the two branches of 
 the river, formed by Harrison's Island, 
 and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 
 which runs along the Maryland shore, 
 though easily made with proper means 
 of transport, was exceedingly slow, in 
 consequence of the small number of boats 
 and their bad condition, and caused the 
 defeat of the whole enterprise. The en- 
 tire means of transportation, even at Ed- 
 ward's Ferry, where General Stone com- 
 manded in person and proposed to throw 
 across the river his main force, consisted 
 only of " two shaky scows, and one ship's 
 yawl into which fifteen persons might 
 perhaps be crowded. The consequence 
 was, that General Stone was only able to 
 throw a very small portion of his force 
 into Virginia, when there was a pressing 
 need for all. 
 
 The means of transport from the 
 73 
 
 Maryland shore to Harrison's Island and 
 thence to the Virginia shore were equally 
 deficient. To cross the canal, recourse 
 was had to the expedient of placing 
 a canal boat lengthwise between the 
 banks. The only provision for crossing 
 thence to Harrison's Island, over a swift 
 channel two hundred yards in width, 
 were two scows or flat-bottomed boats, 
 holding thirty persons each. It was 
 found impossible to transport by this in- 
 adequate means more than a hundred 
 and twenty soldiers an hour. From 
 Harrison's Island again to the Virginia 
 shore, the only means of transportation 
 consisted of a scow and a yawl or life- 
 boat. The stream on this side is narrow, 
 being only a hundred yards wide, but its 
 current is rapid, and the Virginian bank 
 is ten feet high, clayey and slippery, 
 while it is backed by the wooded bluff 
 known as Ball's Bluff, from eighty to a 
 hundred and fifty feet in height. 
 
 General Baker having been ordered 
 with his brigade to reinforce the remain- 
 ing Massachusetts men, reached the river 
 bank as the latter were crossing. "The 
 reinforcements from the Massachusetts 
 regiments were using the boats to cross, 
 and the rate at which troops went over 
 was painfully slow," says a careful 
 chronicler.* " By and by a scow capable 
 of holding forty persons was discovered 
 in the canal, and with infinite pains 
 dumped over into the river. Late in 
 the morning Wistar's [lieutenant-colonel 
 of California First Regiment] battalion 
 began to cross in this, and, finally, getting 
 the other boats, had all landed on Harri- 
 
 * New York World. 
 
578 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 son's Island in the early afternoon. The 
 transit of the Virginia channel was still 
 slower. Here there were only the scow 
 and life-boat. The current was very 
 swift, and, as on the Maryland side, 
 each boat had to be pushed up stream a 
 dozen rods with setting-poles in order 
 to hit the landing on the opposite side. 
 The men worked heroically, but the last 
 of the California battalion did not reach 
 the Virginia heights until four o'clock p. M. 
 At that time a smart conflict had been 
 continuing for two hours, while skir- 
 mishing shots had been exchanged since 
 breakfast. Large numbers of our killed 
 or wounded on the heights were brought 
 down the bluff and passed over to the 
 island in the returning boats. There was 
 a farm-house on the island, directly in 
 the line of our transit, round which the 
 troops made a detour in crossing. Long 
 before Wistar's battalion had all passed to 
 the Virginia side, this house was turned 
 into a hospital, every room being occu- 
 pied by our sufferers." 
 
 " Meanwhile Baker had accompanied 
 the first half of Wistar's command to the 
 opposite shore, had visited the battle- 
 field, conferred with Devens and Lee, 
 seen at a glance the prospects of the 
 day, and come down again to the bank 
 of the river. The Virginia channel 
 was so narrow that commands could be 
 shouted from the island to the shore. 
 Rittman, the senior captain of Wistar's 
 battalion, was in command on the island, 
 superintending the transit on the Vir- 
 ginia side. 
 
 "Baker shouted to Rittman to send 
 word to General Stone that the enemy 
 
 were pressing him in force ; that he was 
 in need of instant assistance, but would 
 endeavor to hold his ground till Gorman 
 could effect a junction. Rittman dis- 
 patched an orderly to headquarters with 
 this statement. General Stone says that 
 it failed to reach him. If it had, it 
 would in any event have reached him 
 too late. 
 
 "We may now leave the island, the 
 twin river branches, and ascend the 
 slippery banks and the precipitous wood- 
 ed bluff, by a winding blood-stained 
 path, to the fire and carnage of the 
 deathful opening above. By some ap- 
 propriate chance the enemy did not 
 make his concerted onset, his final and 
 fatal charges, until the greater portion 
 of our reinforcements had reached the 
 field, and Baker, taking command, and 
 knowing that no further help could 
 reach him, was disposing his little col- 
 umn in brave battle order. Brave, but 
 less strategic, since he retained the 
 position which he found Devens, Lee, 
 and Coggswell had chosen before him 
 (that, perhaps, into which Devens, re- 
 turning, had been forced), he refused 
 to imitate the Indian warfare of the tree- 
 sheltered and skulking foe. The field 
 was a parallelogram, seventy-five yards 
 wide by two hundred in length. At the 
 distant front, and down the right and 
 left, a thick, dark forest skirted its sides. 
 Behind, the bluff fell steeply off to the 
 river. About a hundred feet from the 
 edge occurred the only interruption to 
 the dead level of this arena, a gentle roll 
 stretching in front of our lines, certainly 
 not more than a yard in height, yet 
 
BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 579 
 
 affording some little cover for both 
 artillery and infantry. A spur of the 
 field, shaped like a cow's horn, extended 
 a dozen rods into the woods on the left, 
 half way between the enemy's front and 
 our own. Directly on the left, and near 
 where the winding path led our forces 
 to the fight, a ravine fell slightly off, its 
 opposite bank ascending to the thicket 
 of woods which thus totally surrounded 
 the field. 
 
 "At near four o'clock, then, Baker 
 took the action in hand, looking around 
 him to note the position of affairs. No 
 enemy was anywhere visible in rank, 
 but from the woods in the extreme front 
 a galling irregular fire poured out upon 
 our men. The latter were ranged in no 
 very exact order from right to left, the 
 wings partially covered by the thicket ; 
 portions of the centre lying close to the 
 edge of the hill, while others boldly 
 stepped forward, delivered their fire at 
 the woods, returned to load, and advance 
 again and again. It was not certain 
 that we were doing much execution, but 
 not a moment passed unmarked by the 
 fall of some of our gallant boys. Baker 
 told Devens and Lee to keep their 
 Massachusetts men on the right and 
 stretched along the centre ; placed Wis- 
 tar and the Californians in charge of the 
 left, and gave the artillery in charge 
 of Colonel Coggswell, whose Tammany 
 companies were also located in the 
 centre. 
 
 "Here also was placed the one piece 
 which alone proved of the slightest use 
 to us in the battle. A James' rifled 
 cannon, throwing a thirteen-pound shell, 
 
 passed over to the Virginia shore in the 
 afternoon, manned by nine or ten of the 
 Rhode Island marines, to whose battery 
 (B) it belonged. As there was no com- 
 missioned officer of the company present, 
 the brave Lieutenant Bramhall, of the 
 battery attached to the New York Ninth 
 Regiment, volunteered to act as captain 
 of the gun. Arriving on the Virginia 
 shore, his men dismounted the gun, took 
 the carriage to pieces, and with ropes 
 dragged gun, wheels, and ammunition 
 up the precipice, getting in position on 
 the field at a quarter past four. The 
 other guns carried over were two little 
 mountain howitzers, belonging to Rick- 
 etts' (regular battery), one placed on 
 each flank of our line, and apparently 
 entirely neglected throughout the battle. 
 
 / <-J o 
 
 "Some disposition having thus been 
 made of our forces (which, as I shall 
 hereafter show, at no one time mustered 
 over 1,300 men), the more serious busi- 
 ness commenced ; not, however, till 
 General Baker had received another 
 message from General Stone, stating 
 that 4,000 rebels had marched against 
 the former from Leesburgh at two and a 
 quarter p. M. This he showed to Wistar, 
 who said that if they moved so long 
 ago, the distance being only two miles, 
 they must now be close at hand. Baker 
 said: 'It's an ugly business.' A quick 
 consultation was held. Evidently no 
 retreat could be effected in safety. The 
 fire was growing hot in front. A retro- 
 grade movement would undoubtedly call 
 forth a rush in force from the woods, 
 and at the river bank there were only 
 two boats, carrying sixty persons, to 
 
580 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 take a column of thirteen hundred men 
 over a swift channel one hundred yards 
 in width. Oh, yes ; retreat was impos- 
 sible ! All that could be done all that 
 our noble officers, with their leader, 
 could or dared think of was the chance 
 of maintaining their ground until Gor- 
 man could force his way to their aid 
 from Edward's Ferry on the left, with 
 the alternative, in probable default of 
 his success, of sacrificing their commands 
 at as great loss to the enemy as their 
 desperate courage could inflict. 
 
 "The real battle commenced on the 
 left. Baker threw the whole responsi- 
 bility of that wing upon Wistar. The 
 latter did not like the appearance of the 
 adjacent wood region, and threw for- 
 ward companies A and D of his battalion 
 to 'feel 7 them. Captains Markoe and 
 Wade, the former well ahead, accord- 
 ingly advanced on their hazardous duty ; 
 passed through the forest to the cow's- 
 horn projection of the field, crossed it, 
 and had arrived within ten paces of the 
 farther thicket, when a murderous fire 
 blazed out upon them. The poor fel- 
 lows gallantly sprang through it upon 
 their assailants, and were in a moment 
 fighting in the woods. Not half of them 
 ever came back. But the rebels, taking 
 this as a signal for the commencement 
 of the action, now bestirred themselves 
 in force, and, with hideous yells, fired a 
 terrific volley along their whole front. 
 Only the sheeted flash showed itself from 
 those fronting forests ; the foe still clung 
 to cover ; but the infernal hail of bullets 
 rattled against our whole line, and many 
 brave souls were loosed by that first 
 
 fiery revelation of the enemy's strength. 
 Our reply was instant and extended. 
 In a second both ends of the field were 
 clouded with smoke, the day's skirmish- 
 ing was over, and the contest that was 
 to rage so hotly for an hour had fiercely 
 commenced. 
 
 "We are all tired of accounts of the 
 petty conflicts which have marked this 
 war, in which forces have engaged 
 at long distances, and the so-called 
 ' murderous' fire and ' desperate attacks' 
 have resulted in three or four chance 
 losses and the success of no one in par- 
 ticular. But I say that this contest, on 
 the Northern side, was most heroically 
 fought, and in a true sacrificial spirit. 
 There is nothing like it in our history. 
 See what was crowded into that terrible 
 hour ! Our little band was pent up in a 
 narrow and defenceless slaughter pen. 
 The enemy was in force in front ; he 
 began to creep down the treacherous 
 sides of the inclosure ; his sharpshooters 
 climbed the trees everywhere, picking 
 out the stateliest and gallantest forms 
 for the death they so unerringty dealt 
 us. Our lines thus received a scathing 
 fire from the front, from above, and a 
 cross-fire at angles right and left. All 
 they could do in reply was to aim 
 steadily and swiftly at the places whence 
 the loudest yells and deadliest volleys 
 proceeded. But they dropped every- 
 where, and were borne by dozens to the 
 gory skiffs below. On the right the 
 Massachusetts men were more than 
 decimated by the regular, unavoidable 
 shower of bullets. But against our left, 
 where Wistar commanded, the rebels, 
 
 i 
 
BRAMHALL'S CANNON. 
 
 581 
 
 confident of their force and the effect of 
 their deadly fire in front, began to make 
 venturesome charges, each one repelled 
 by the gallant fire of the Californians, 
 but each one getting nearer our lines 
 than the last. On the fourth charge they 
 actually flanked our left and sprang forth, 
 savage and eager, irom the thicket be- 
 yond the ravine. Down this they were 
 about to plunge, showing a bravery not 
 part of their usual tactics, and our fel- 
 lows lifted their muskets for a volley. 
 'Hold! 7 cried Wistar to his men; 'not 
 a man of you must fire ;' and he dashed 
 at the piece of one ; ' wait till they reach 
 the bottom of the ravine ; then we'll 
 have them.' So they charged down the 
 hill, only to meet the most effective vol- 
 ley fired on our side during the day. 
 When the smoke rose, their front ranks 
 lay fallen in the hollow of the valley of 
 death ; the rear had broken and fled in 
 disorder through the forest. The fifth 
 charge but this brings me to the main 
 feature of the field, a splendid central 
 picture, which will furnish a theme for 
 American poets and painters long after 
 the feebler tints and groupings of this 
 tumult shall have faded out. 
 
 '' Lieutenant Bramhall had posted his 
 gun near the centre of our line, and 
 opened fire to the best advantage possi- 
 ble. When he mounted the piece he 
 had with him eight artillerists, three 
 riders, a corporal and sergeant. In ten 
 minutes five of these were shot down ; 
 in the end all but two were killed, 
 wounded, or missing. Lieutenant Bram- 
 hall himself was severely wounded, but 
 stood by his gun. Colonel Coggswell 
 
 saw the necessity of the case, informed 
 Colonels Wistar and Lee, Adjutant 
 Harvey (of Baker's brigade), and Cap- 
 tain Stewart (of General Stone's staff, 
 present on the field), and those five dis- 
 tinguished officers and determined men 
 manned the piece themselves. Coggs- 
 well and Harvey, understanding the 
 business, would load while Lee and 
 Wistar were giving orders to their com- 
 mands and spurring them into the fight ; 
 then Wistar and Stewart would wheel 
 the gun forward to position ; Coggswell 
 would take aim and give the word to 
 Harvey, who held the percussion lanyard. 
 In this way and by these men a dozen 
 of the twenty rounds used were fired, 
 doing more effect than all our mus- 
 ketry volleys. When the enemy was 
 making his fifth charge on the left, the 
 cannon had just been loaded and was 
 pointed at the woods in front. Captain 
 Beiral, of the Californians, who was with 
 his company supporting the piece, ex- 
 claimed to Coggswell, ' Look to the left ! 
 look to the left !' Coggswell saw the 
 dark column of the rebels sweeping 
 across the spur of the field, wheeled the 
 terrible gun around, and discharged it 
 square at their centre. The shell opened 
 a lane through the charging force, a 
 score of traitors falling to fight no more, 
 and the column shut itself up on the 
 main body behind. 
 
 " But the end was fast approaching. 
 Our thinning forces were assailed by four 
 times their number. From every side 
 death stormed upon their unsheltered 
 bodies. Half their line officers were 
 wounded or killed. The undaunted lead- 
 
582 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ers were also falling. Ward, lieutenant- 
 colonel of the Fifteenth, had received a 
 frightful wound ; Coggswell was shot 
 through the wrist ; Lee, Devens, Har- 
 vey, and Stewart were still fighting 
 sadly and in vain ; a ball shattered Wis- 
 tar's sword-arm he dropped the weap- 
 on, picked it up with his left hand, and 
 General Baker himself restored it to the 
 scabbard. Alas, that the chivalric lead- 
 er should never again do such kindly 
 service for a brother-in-arms ! The yell- 
 ing enemy began to break from the 
 wood and through the smoke upon our 
 confused lines. The crisis had come. 
 There was some hand-to-hand fighting ; 
 a few of the grey-coats got entangled 
 with our own forces ; we took a prison- 
 er and passed him to the rear ; they took 
 a dozen, and made charge after charge. 
 Just then a body of men appeared, 
 pressing down from the left. The Gen- 
 eral ordered the troops around him to 
 stand firm, and cried, ' Who are those 
 men ?' ' Confederate troops, you d d 
 Yankees !' was the reply ; and they rush- 
 ed almost within bayonet distance. One 
 huge red-haired ruffian drew a revolver, 
 came close to Baker, and fired four balls 
 at the General's head, every one of which 
 took effect, and a glorious soul fled 
 through their ghastly openings. Cap- 
 tain Beiral seized the slayer by the 
 throat and blew out his brains the hero 
 and the traitor falling within the same 
 minute, and face to face. In a second 
 the enemy swarmed over the spot. ' For 
 God's sake, boys!' cried Adjutant Har- 
 vey, in his hot English way, ' are you 
 going to let them have the General's 
 
 body ?' An angry howl was the answer, 
 and a dozen of our fellows charged, with 
 set teeth and bayonets fixed, upon the 
 rebels, who recoiled from the shock and 
 surrendered their priceless trophy. This 
 was passed down the bluff and safely 
 conveyed to the island. But now our 
 lines were hopelessly disordered. The 
 rebels came through both field and 
 woods in final force. Coggswell saw 
 that the day was lost, and that the des- 
 perate, impossible retreat had come. So 
 he ordered our men to retire for em- 
 barkation, and the field was yielded to 
 the foe. 
 
 ' ' Large numbers of the Northern troops 
 had anticipated his order ; for an hour 
 the shore had been lined with stragglers 
 and wearied men. Still, the reinforcing 
 business had not ceased from the island, 
 and during the fiercest of the action the 
 two boats, which were bringing away 
 the dead and wounded, returned from 
 each trip laden with the residue of the 
 Tammany and Massachusetts regiments. 
 A distressing event occurred which I 
 have not seen elsewhere recorded. The 
 life-boat proved a death-boat soonest of 
 the two, swamping, from some cause, 
 while conveying to the battle-field the last 
 twenty members of the Tammany com- 
 panies. Nearly all the occupants were 
 drowned, and only one boat remained 
 for the use of our overpowered and re- 
 treating forces. 
 
 "Down the hill they came, in every 
 direction and without order, hotly fol- 
 lowed by the rebels to the very edge of 
 the descent. Then the pursuers paused, 
 too cautious to meet the chance of vol- 
 

 : 
 
RETREAT FROM BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 583 
 
 leys from Harrison's Island, but throw- 
 ing a plunging fire upon the retiring 
 loyalists, and aiming -ruthlessly at the 
 hundreds trying to swim the rapid river 
 channel. Why should I describe that 
 final scene ? the tumult and agony of 
 that headlong descent, the clamor and 
 crowd along the shore, the rush into one 
 wretched skiff, already over-laden with 
 wounded men, which forced it beneath 
 the surface and brought the horror of 
 death by water upon men who had 
 already so fairly faced the battle-field. 
 I recoil from thinking of those who, 
 struck down by the fire from above, 
 slipped in their own blood upon the 
 clayey river bank ; of those who wasted 
 too feeble strength in swimming half 
 way across the cruel stream ; of the 
 shouts for help where no help came. 
 But I record with satisfaction the de- 
 termination of Beiral and his few asso- 
 cates, who dragged their cannon to the 
 edge of the hill, rolling it over and be- 
 yond the enemy's reach. And what 
 more gallant than the stubborn refusal 
 of the beleaguered colonels to surrender 
 while the rebels were decimating their 
 commands from the bluff above ? Led 
 by Coggswell and Lee, several organized 
 companies charged up at their torment- 
 ors, once and again returning dangerous 
 volleys from our side. At all events, 
 they kept the enemy at bay till long after 
 nightfall closed upon the scene. All 
 who could escape to the island had es- 
 caped, and midnight was close at hand 
 before the two colonels and the other 
 field officers still on the shore saw that 
 their duty was accomplished, and sur- 
 
 rendered themselves and the remnant of 
 their commands to the enemy." 
 
 General Stone, in the mean time, re- 
 mained at Edward's Ferry, unaware of 
 the disastrous issue of the conflict of 
 General Baker with the enemy at Ball's 
 Bluff. ' While these scenes were being 
 enacted on the right," says General 
 Stone in his official report, ' ' I was pre- 
 paring on the left for a rapid push for- 
 ward to the road by which the enemy 
 would retreat, if driven, and entirely un- 
 suspicious of the perilous condition of 
 our troops. The additional artillery had 
 already been sent, and when the messen- 
 ger, who did not leave the field until 
 after three o'clock, was questioned as to 
 Colonel Baker's position, he informed me 
 that the Colonel, when he left, seemed 
 to feel perfectly secure, and could doubt- 
 less hold his position in case he should 
 not advance. The same statement was 
 made by another messenger half an hour 
 later, and I watched anxiously for a sign 
 of advance on the right, in order to push 
 forward General Gorman. It 'was, as had 
 been explained to Colonel Baker, imprac- 
 ticable to throw General Gorman's brig- 
 ade directly to the right by reason of the 
 battery in the woods, between which we 
 had never been able to reconnoitre. 
 
 "At four P.M., or thereabouts, I tele- 
 graphed to General Banks for a brigade 
 of his. division, intending it to occupy the 
 ground on this side of the river .-near 
 Harrison's Island, which would be aban- 
 doned in case of a rapid advance, and 
 shortly after, as the fire slackened, a 
 messenger was waited for on whose tid- 
 ings should be given orders either for the 
 
584 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 advance of General Gorman to cut off 
 the retreat of the enemy, or for the dis- 
 position for the night in the position then 
 held. 
 
 "At five P.M. Captain Candy arrived 
 from the field and announced the melan- 
 choly tidings of Colonel Baker's death, 
 but with no intelligence of any further 
 disaster. I immediately apprised Gen- 
 eral Banks of Colonel Baker's death, and 
 I rode quickly to the right to assume 
 command. Before arriving opposite the 
 island, men who had crossed the river 
 plainly gave evidence of the disaster, and 
 on reaching the same I was satisfied of 
 it by the conduct of the men then land- 
 ing in boats. 
 
 "The reports made to me were that 
 the enemy's force was 1 0,000 men. This 
 I considered, as it proved to be, an ex- 
 aggeration. Orders were then given to 
 hold the island and establish a patrol on 
 the tow-path from opposite the island to 
 the line of pickets near the Monocacy, 
 and I returned to the left to secure the 
 troops there from disaster and make 
 preparations for moving them as rapidly 
 as possible." 
 
 General McClellan had now heard of 
 the disaster, and telegraphed from head- 
 quarters the order to hold Harrison's 
 Island and the Virginia shore opposite to 
 Edward's Ferry at all hazards. Troops 
 were accordingly ordered again to cross 
 the river at the latter point, though with- 
 out any more adequate means of trans- 
 Oct, portation being provided. By next 
 22. morning some 4,400 infantry had 
 reached the opposite shore, together with 
 a section of Bickeits' battery and a de- 
 
 tachment of Van Alen's cavalry. Harri- 
 son's Island had been entirely evacuated 
 before daybreak, a flag of truce having 
 in the mean time gone to the enemy on 
 Ball's Bluff and come back with boat-loads 
 of the dead and wounded, gathered from 
 that fatal field. 
 
 McClellan having previously ordered 
 Gen. Banks to advance, now rode himself 
 to Edward's Ferry. His first operation 
 was to construct a bridge of boats across 
 the river, and he was about throwing to 
 the opposite side large reinforcements, 
 when he discovered that the enemy were 
 being rapidly strengthened by great num- 
 bers of men from Manassas, and on the 
 following day he ordered all the troops to 
 be withdrawn from the Virginia shore. 
 
 In this disaster the Federal loss in 
 wounded, drowned, killed, and taken 
 captive amounted to about -a thousand 
 out of the nineteen hundred men en- 
 gaged. The enemy's loss was estimated 
 at less than four hundred, and their whole 
 force engaged at nearly four thousand 
 strong. 
 
 As the disaster at Ball's Bluff was 
 unquestionably due to a reckless disre- 
 gard of ordinary prudence, the command- 
 ing general has been naturally anxious 
 to be acquitted of the blame. It is 
 therefore with a desire to allow General 
 Stone a fair hearing, that the following 
 account in the official report of his in- 
 terview with General Baker and his in- 
 structions is given at length. 
 
 ' ' General Baker having arrived at 
 Conrad's Ferry with the First California 
 Regiment, at an early hour proceeded 
 (Monday, 21st October) to Edward's 
 
EXULTATION OP THE ENEMY. 
 
 585 
 
 Ferry and reported to me in person, stat- 
 ing that his regiment was at the former 
 place and the three other regiments of 
 his brigade ready to march. I directed 
 him to Harrison's Island to assume the 
 command, and in a full conversation ex- 
 plained to him the position as it then 
 stood. I told him that General McCall 
 had advanced his troops to Drainesville, 
 and that I was extremely desirous of as- 
 certaining the exact position and force of 
 the enemy in our front, and of explor- 
 ing as far as it was safe on the right 
 toward Leesburgh and on the left toward 
 the Leesburgh and Gum Spring road. I 
 also informed Colonel Baker that Gen- 
 eral Gorman, opposite Edward's Ferry, 
 should be reinforced, and that I would 
 make every effort to push Gorman's 
 troops carefully forward to discover the 
 best line from that ferry to the Leesburgh 
 and Gum Spring road, already mentioned ; 
 and the position of the breast-works and 
 hidden battery, which prevented the 
 movement of troops directly from left to 
 right, was also pointed out to him. The 
 means of transportation across, of the 
 sufficiency of which he (Baker) was to 
 be judge, was detailed, and authority 
 given him to make use of the guns of a 
 section each of Vaughan's and Bunting's 
 batteries, together with French's mount- 
 ain howitzers, all the troops of his brig- 
 ade and the Tammany Regiment, besides 
 the Nineteenth and part of the Twentieth 
 regiments of Massachusetts Volunteers, 
 and I left it to his discretion, after view- 
 ing the ground, to retire from the Virginia 
 shore under the cover of his guns and 
 the fire of the large infantry force, or to 
 74 
 
 pass over the reinforcements in case he 
 found it practicable, and the position on 
 the other side favorable. I stated that I 
 wished no advance made unless the en- 
 emy were of inferior force, and under no 
 circumstance to pass beyond Leesburgh 
 or a strong position between it and Goose 
 Creek, on the Gum Spring i. e., the 
 Manassas road. Colonel Baker was cau- 
 tioned in reference to passing artillery 
 across the river, and I begged if he did 
 do so, to see it well supported by good 
 infantry. The General pointed out to him 
 the position of some bluffs on this side 
 of the river, from which artillery could 
 act with effect on the other, and, leaving 
 the matter of crossing more troops or 
 retiring what were already over to his 
 discretion, gave him entire control of op- 
 erations on the right. This gallant and 
 energetic officer left me about nine A.M., 
 or half-past nine, and galloped off quickly 
 to his command." 
 
 The enemy were very exultant on the 
 occasion of this success. Colonel Evans, 
 their commander, was made a general, 
 and his victory magnified by exaggerated 
 reports. His force engaged was said to 
 be only 2,500 infantry against an enemy 
 of "10,000 men with five batteries of 
 artillery." "One man to four, with a 
 strong artillery force helping the four !" 
 "History," said they, " shows few feats of 
 arms so splendid ! Henceforth the name 
 of General Evans will take its place on 
 the roll of heroes, and his unconquerable 
 troops have achieved a deed that will 
 make their memories glorious for genera- 
 tions to come." 
 
 By the death of General Baker the 
 
586 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 country lost one of its most popular favor- 
 ites. The events of his life and the qual- 
 ities of his character were such as to com- 
 mend him especially to popular regard. 
 His humble origin his successful struggle 
 with the trials of poverty his elevation 
 to a distinguished position by the force 
 of his own talents in spite of every social 
 and educational disadvantage his eager 
 enterprise and self-reliance, which led 
 him to seek with the pioneers of the 
 West the freer scope of a new country 
 unrestrained by the formalities and un- 
 restricted by the prejudices of a long- 
 established society his knowledge of the 
 sentiments and habits of the laborious 
 classes his fervid rhetoric his readiness 
 to take up arms for the defence of his 
 adopted country and finally the gallant 
 sacrifice of his life in its behalf, combined 
 to endear the memory of Baker to the 
 heart of the American people. 
 
 Edward D. Baker was born in Eng- 
 land, but came with his parents, who 
 were Quakers, to this country when an 
 infant. They chose Philadelphia for 
 their home, but surviving their arrival 
 but a short time, their son was left an 
 orphan. Destitute of friends and for- 
 tune, he was at an early age left to his 
 own unaided efforts for a support. He 
 learned the trade of a weaver, and sup- 
 ported a younger brother and himself 
 until he was twenty years of age. Not 
 satisfied, however, with this humble con- 
 dition, he determined to try his fortune 
 in the far West. He accordingly started 
 on foot, taking his brother with him, in 
 search of the promised land. They 
 walked across the Alleghany Mountains 
 
 and traversed the States of Ohio and 
 Indiana, then partially a wilderness, until 
 they finally reached the Wabash. De- 
 scending this river in a canoe, they landed 
 in an uncleared region of Illinois. With 
 the rapid influx of immigrants, the place 
 they had chosen for their new home soon 
 became a prosperous settlement, and the 
 elder Baker, the subject of this biogra- 
 phy, conscious of his talents, sought a 
 wider scope for them in the study of the 
 law. On being admitted to the bar, he 
 acquired eminence as a lawyer, and with 
 increasing aspirations for distinction, be- 
 came a politician. In 1845 he was 
 elected, by the Whigs of Illinois, one of 
 the representatives of the State to the 
 Federal Congress, where his singular 
 readiness as a speaker and aptitude for 
 business made him conspicuous. On the 
 declaration of war with Mexico he re- 
 turned to Illinois, and raising a volunteer 
 regiment, of which he became the col- 
 onel, he at once led it to the Rio Grande. 
 During a temporary cessation of active 
 hostility Baker returned to Washington, 
 where he had an opportunity of express- 
 ing his opinion on the policy of the war 
 and giving his vote. This accomplished, 
 he returned to his command, and accom- 
 panied the army of Scott on its triumph- 
 ant march from Vera Cruz to the capital 
 of Mexico, showing himself a valiant 
 officer in the various conflicts in which 
 he shared. At the battle of Cerro Gordo, 
 when General Shields was disabled by a 
 shot, Baker succeeded to the temporary 
 command of the brigade of New York 
 regiments, which he skilfully led, to the 
 end of that fierce conflict. 
 
GENERAL BAKER. 
 
 587 
 
 After the war, Baker was again elected 
 to Congress, and served until the com- 
 pletion of his term in 1850. Seeking a 
 fresh field of enterprise, he followed the 
 rush of emigration to the gold fields of 
 California, but was induced to remain at 
 Panama, where he formed a contract with 
 the Panama Railroad Company, to pre- 
 pare the Isthmus for the contemplated 
 railway. He accordingly assembled four 
 hundred laborers, and having equipped 
 them, set to work. After having survey- 
 ed and cleared a considerable portion of 
 the track, he was taken ill with the Pan- 
 ama fever, and was obliged to forfeit his 
 contract and return home. 
 
 In 1852, Baker went with his family 
 to California, in the hope of retrieving 
 his health and fortune, both greatly im- 
 paired by his enterprise on the fatal 
 Isthmus of Panama. He established 
 himself in San Francisco, and soon 
 secured a high position as a lawyer. 
 His fame as an orator continued to in- 
 crease with every occasion for the dis- 
 play of his eloquence. On the death of 
 Broderick, the United States senator 
 from California, who had fallen in a 
 duel, Baker delivered the funeral eulogy. 
 Those who heard it were greatly im- 
 pressed with its rhetorical power, which 
 is said to have wrought such an effect 
 upon his immense audience, that each lis- 
 tener broke forth in sobs and cries. 
 
 Baker was again, by his restless spirit 
 of adventure, stirred to another change. 
 He removed to Oregon, where his fame 
 had preceded him, and being at once 
 accepted as worthy of the highest honors 
 of the State, he was chosen, in 1860, 
 
 United States senator for six years. 
 In the Senate, as in the lower house, he 
 was acknowledged as a leader, and in 
 the conflict with the disunionists of the 
 South was one of the most eloquent 
 defenders of the Union. When war be- 
 came unavoidable, he raised a regiment 
 of Californians and led them to the 
 anticipated field of battle on the Poto- 
 mac. He was soon after placed in com- 
 mand of a brigade as acting briga- 
 dier-general, and would have enjoyed 
 that rank, and the still higher one of 
 major-general, had he not, with re- 
 markable devotion to the State of 
 Oregon, refused the proffered honors. 
 These he could not have accepted with- 
 out resigning his senatorship, which he 
 preferred to hold and thus continue in 
 the service of Oregon. 
 
 This extract from his last speech in the 
 Senate, in answer to Senator Breckin- 
 ridge's ill-concealed attempts to thwart 
 the action of the Federal Government and 
 further the interest of the Southern Con- 
 federacy, of which he subsequently be- 
 came an open adherent, will illustrate the 
 style of General Baker's rhetoric : 
 
 ' ' I tell the senator that his predic- 
 tions, sometimes for the South, some- 
 times for the Middle States, sometimes 
 for the North-east, and then wandering 
 away in airy visions out to the far Pacific, 
 about the dread of our people, as for loss 
 of blood and treasure, provoking them 
 to disloyalty, are false in sentiment, false 
 in fact, and false in loyalty. The senator 
 from Kentucky is mistaken in them all. 
 Five hundred million dollars ! What 
 then ? Great Britain gave more than two 
 
588 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 thousand millions in the great battle for 
 constitutional liberty, which she led at 
 one time almost single-handed against 
 the world. Five hundred thousand men*! 
 What then ? We have them ; they are 
 ours ; they are the children of the coun- 
 try. They belong to the whole country ; 
 they are our sons, our kinsmen ; and 
 there are many of us who will give them 
 all up before we will abate one word of 
 our just demand, or retreat one inch 
 from the line which divides right from 
 wrong. 
 
 " Sir, it is not a question of men or 
 money in that sense. All the money, 
 all the men, are, in our judgment, well 
 bestowed in such a cause. When we 
 give them, we know their value. Know- 
 ing their value well, we give them with 
 the more pride and the more joy. Sir, 
 how can we retreat ? Sir, how can we 
 make peace ? Who shall treat ? What 
 commissioners ? Who would go ? Upon 
 what terms ? Where is to be your 
 boundary line ? Where the end of the 
 principles we shall have to give up ? 
 What will become of constitutional gov- 
 ernment ? What will become of public 
 liberty ? What of past glories ? What 
 of future hopes ? Shall we sink into the 
 insignificance of the grave a degraded, 
 defeated, emasculated people, frightened 
 by the results of one battle, and scared 
 at the visions raised by the imagination 
 of the senator from Kentucky upon this 
 floor ? No, sir ; a thousand times, no, 
 
 sir ! We will rally, if, indeed, our 
 swords be necessary we will rally the 
 people, the loyal people of the whole 
 country. They will pour forth their 
 treasure, their money, their men, with- 
 out stint, without measure. The most 
 peaceable man in this body may stamp 
 his foot upon this senate chamber floor, 
 as of old a warrior and a senator did, 
 and from that single tramp there will 
 spring forth armed legions. Shall one 
 battle determine the fate of an empire* 
 or a dozen ? The loss of one thousand 
 men or twenty thousand men, one hun- 
 dred million dollars or five hundred mil- 
 lion dollars ? In a year's peace, or ten 
 years at most of peaceful progress, we 
 can restore them all. There will be 
 some graves reeking with blood, watered 
 by the tears of affection. There will be 
 some privation : there will be some loss 
 of luxury? There will be somewhat 
 more need for labor to procure the 
 necessaries of life. When that is said, 
 all is said. If we have the country, the 
 whole country, the Union, the Constitu- 
 tion, free government with these there 
 will return all the blessings of well- 
 ordered civilization ; the path of the 
 country will be a career of greatness and 
 of glory such as, in the olden time, our 
 fathers saw in the dim visions of years 
 yet to come, and such as would have 
 been ours now, to-day, if it had not 
 been for the treason for which the 
 senator too often seeks to apologize." 
 
BATTLE OF DRAINESVILLE. 
 
 589 
 
 CHAPTER LYI. 
 
 Drainesville. Description of the place. Position of General McCall's Division. Its relations to the rest of the Army 
 of the Potomac. Change of the Enemy's Line. Repeated Collisions. Audacity of the Confederates. Attack on 
 Unionists. McCall resolved to Punish. Orders to General Ord. Movements of his Brigade. Movement of Gen- 
 eral Reynolds. Engagement of General Ord with the Enemy. A Union Victory. A successful Forage. Strength 
 of the Enemy. Exaggerations. Comparative Losses. Retirement of Union troops. The Enemy confess their 
 Disasters. A resolute Secessionist in the agonies of death. The Enemy more cautious. General Jackson at Win- 
 chester. Lander at Romney. The Enemy strengthen and extend their Fortifications on the Potomac. The River 
 Communication with Washington Blockaded. General Magruder active at Yorktown. Hampton Burned. The 
 Movements of the Union troops in preparation for an Attack. A Cruel Work thoroughly done. Magruder retires 
 to the security of his Intrenchments. Progress of Loyalty in Maryland. Judicious Military Administration of 
 General Dix. -Union Success iu the Maryland Elections. A valuable Accession to the Union. Accomack and North- 
 ampton restored to the Federal Authority. General Dix's Operations. Resignation of General Scott. Proceed- 
 ings on the occasion. 
 
 1861, 
 
 OUR army on the Potomac had soon 
 an opportunity of redeeming the 
 fatal blunder at Ball's Bluff, by a 
 successful engagement with the enemy 
 at Drainesville. This place is situated 
 in Fairfax County, Virginia, opposite to 
 Coon's Ferry and Great Falls on the 
 Maryland bank of the Potomac, about 
 seventeen miles distant from Washington, 
 in a north-westerly direction. General 
 McCall held the command of the division 
 in this quarter, with his main encamp- 
 ments at Langley's and Prospect Hill, a 
 few miles to the north of the chain bridge, 
 on the Virginia side of the Potomac, and 
 near the Leesburgh road, running not 
 far from the river. McCall's division 
 thus formed the extreme right of the 
 line under the immediate command of 
 McClellan, and was, as it were, the point 
 of junction between the main body of 
 our army opposite Washington and the 
 forces under Banks on the upper Potomac. 
 
 The lines of the enemy having closed 
 in the form of a semicircle around Mc- 
 Clellan's position in Virginia, were thus 
 brought very near to his right and his 
 left. This was especially the case in re- 
 gard to the former, where General Mc- 
 Call was in command, whose troops were 
 thus frequently brought into collision 
 with parties of the enemy during their 
 respective foraging expeditions. 
 
 The Confederates having become very 
 bold in their movements, General Mc- 
 Call determined to punish them. The 
 immediate provocation was the advance 
 of their picket guards to within four or 
 five miles of the national line, the seizure 
 of two "good Union men," and the 
 plunder and threatening of others. Mc- 
 Call having discovered that the enemy 
 held a reserve force near Drainesville, 
 whenever they were making these pro- 
 voking incursions, gave orders to Brig- 
 adier-General Ord to move with his 
 
590 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 brigade "to surround and capture their 
 party, and at the same time to collect a 
 supply of forage from the farms of some 
 of the rank secessionists in that vicinity." 
 At the same time Brigadier- General S. 
 J. Reynolds with the First Brigade was 
 directed to move on to Difficult Creek, 
 in the direction of Leesburgh, in order 
 to support General Ord, in case the en- 
 emy should come from the latter place, 
 where they were in force, to the rescue 
 of Drainesville. 
 
 General Ord, in accordance with his 
 j) ec , orders, moved with his force con- 
 20. sisting of the Sixth, Ninth, and 
 Twelfth Pennsylvania regiments, the 
 Bucktail Rifles, five companies of the 
 First Pennsylvania cavalry, and Captain 
 Easton's battery of four guns. The en- 
 gagement which ensued is thus succinctly 
 described by General McCall : 
 
 " At half-past ten o'clock A.M., on the 
 20th, I received a dispatch from General 
 Ord, written on the march, informing me 
 that the guide had learned on the way 
 that there was a full brigade, but with- 
 out artillery, at Hendon's Station, 500 
 infantry and cavalry at Hunter's Mills, 
 and 200 infantry between Drainesville 
 and the Potomac. I immediately mounted 
 my horse, and with my staff and an es- 
 cort of cavalry moved rapidly forward 
 to overtake, if possible, General Ord's 
 brigade. I stopped a few moments with 
 Brigadier-General Reynolds at Difficult 
 Creek, and having directed him to be in 
 readiness to move forward rapidly in 
 case he should be required to support 
 General Ord, I rode on. When within 
 about two miles of Drainesville, I heard 
 
 the first gun fired by the enemy. It was 
 soon answered by Easton's battery, which 
 imparted to me the fact that the enemy 
 had artillery with them. A rapid ride 
 soon brought me to the field, where 
 General Ord was hotly engaged. I found 
 Easton's battery judiciously placed, and 
 in full blast upon the enemy's battery 
 about 500 yards in front, on the Centre- 
 ville road. Here I stopped to observe 
 the practice of our battery, while one of 
 my staff rode off to ascertain where Gen- 
 eral Ord was. 
 
 "While here, admiring the accuracy 
 of the shot and shell thrown by this bat- 
 tery upon the battery of the enemy, a 
 force of infantry and cavalry made their 
 appearance from cover on the enemy's 
 right, moving in a direction to turn our 
 left. Colonel McCalmont, whose regi- 
 ment was on the left, was notified of this 
 movement ; but a few shell from our bat- 
 tery, skillfully thrown into their midst, 
 checked their advance, and drove them 
 back ingloriously to cover. 
 
 "Not hearing anything of General 
 Ord, I set out in search of him on our 
 right, where brisk firing was at the time 
 going on. Here was the Ninth Infantry. 
 Colonel Jackson, who had gallantly met 
 the enemy at close quarters, and nobly 
 sustained the credit of his State. 
 
 " By this time Captain Sheets, of my 
 staff, reported that he found General 
 Ord near the centre of the front. Pro- 
 ceeding there, I found the Rifles and a 
 party of the Sixth Infantry Pennsylvania 
 Reserve, engaged under a brisk fire with 
 the enemy. Having met General Ord, 
 we moved forward, and the position 
 
"GLORIOUS SUCCESS." 
 
 591 
 
 where the enemy's battery had been 
 placed was soon gained, and here we 
 had evidence of the fine artillery practice 
 of Easton's battery. The road was 
 strewed with men and horses, two cais- 
 sons one of them blown up a limber, 
 a gun-carriage wheel, and a quantity of 
 artillery ammunition, small-arms, and 
 an immense quantity of heavy clothing, 
 blankets, etc. 
 
 "The battle was now over, and the 
 victory won. With my consent, Gen- 
 eral Ord made an advance of about half 
 a mile, but nothing further was to be 
 seen, as the enemy, in full flight, had 
 pressed beyond our reach." 
 
 The total loss of the Nationals was 
 but seven killed, sixty-one wounded 
 including a lieutenant- colonel and four 
 captains and three missing. The forag- 
 ing object of the expedition was no less 
 triumphantly achieved. Sixteen wagon- 
 loads of "excellent" hay and twenty-two 
 of corn were secured. 
 
 The enemy's force consisted, as re- 
 ported by General McCall, of the First 
 Kentucky Regiment, about eight hun- 
 dred strong, the Tenth Alabama, nine 
 hundred strong, a South Carolina regi- 
 ment, a Virginia regiment, and prob- 
 ably several others. The commander- 
 in-chief of the enemy, General J. E. B. 
 Stuart, in his report to General Beaure- 
 gard, gives the following as the compo- 
 sition of his force : 
 
 "Eleventh Virginia Volunteers, Col. 
 S. Garland, Jr. ; Sixth South Carolina 
 Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Secrest ; 
 Tenth Alabama Volunteers, Colonel J. 
 H Harvey ; First Kentucky Volunteers, 
 
 Colonel Thomas H. Taylor making an 
 aggregate force of 1,600 infantry ; Sum- 
 ter Flying Artillery, four pieces, Captain 
 A. S. Cutts ; 1,000 North Carolina Cav- 
 alry, Major Gordon." 
 
 While Stuart thus apparently dimin- 
 ished his own force, he seemed desirous 
 of exaggerating that of McCalPs, by 
 giving currency to the rumor that " he 
 had fifteen regiments of infantry, several 
 batteries, and seven companies of cav- 
 alry." In his report, General Stuart 
 confessed to a loss of forty-three killed, 
 a hundred and forty-three wounded, and 
 eight missing, and consoled himself for 
 his defeat by calling it " a glorious suc- 
 cess." 
 
 It is true General McCall did not think 
 it prudent to hold the ground he had 
 won, but drew back his troops to their 
 old encampment ; but the enemy, not- 
 withstanding their boasting report, were 
 fain, at last, to acknowledge that the 
 "heavy skirmish" at Drainesville had 
 "resulted disastrously."* One brave 
 fellow, even in the agonies of death, ac- 
 knowledged the defeat, while he consoled 
 himself with exulting over a previous suc- 
 cess. " We whipped you at Manassas," 
 he cried out to our victorious soldiers, 
 " but you have.the best of us to-day." 
 
 The enemy, although they had so long 
 threatened the seizure of Washington 
 and the invasion of Maryland, were evi- 
 dently not much disposed to venture be- 
 yond their intrenched lines on the south 
 of the Potomac. A defiant demonstra- 
 tion, however, was made on their ex- 
 treme left by General Jackson, with ten 
 
 Richmond Dispatch. 
 
592 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 thousand men, in the course of which he 
 damaged the Chesapeake and Ohio Ca- 
 nal, compelled the evacuation of Han- 
 cock, and seemed to threaten an advance 
 into Maryland. Subsequently, he with- 
 drew to Winchester, and General Lander, 
 who had been watching his movements, 
 took possession of Romney. 
 
 The enemy laboriously extended their 
 works of defence, and added to their 
 strength. The result was shown by the 
 fortifications they erected on the right 
 bank of the lower Potomac a series 
 of formidable batteries, which extended 
 from Accomack Creek, near Mount Ver- 
 non, to the Chesapeake Bay. These 
 were connected with the enemy's centre 
 at Manassas by the forts on the Occoquan 
 River, and stretched from headland to 
 headland, at the mouths of the numer- 
 ous streams, which, after seaming the 
 Virginia shore, pass into the Potomac. 
 They thus were enabled, as it were, to 
 blockade the river communication with 
 Washington ; but the navigation, though 
 it was greatly impeded by the heavy guns 
 of the enemy, was by no means entirely 
 checked, and the national vessels con- 
 tinued to pass and repass, and with but 
 little damage. 
 
 Beyond a frequent but generally in- 
 effective fire from these numerous bat- 
 teries on the lower Potomac, the enemy 
 in that quarter generally showed great 
 reserve in commencing offensive opera- 
 tions. General Magruder, however, who 
 commanded a force of the enemy at 
 Yorktown, would occasionally exhibit an 
 activity which kept the national troops at 
 Fortress Monroe and in the neighboring 
 
 encampments on the alert. Hampton, in 
 consequence, which had been early seized 
 by General Butler, was abandoned as of 
 no immediate strategic importance, and 
 because it exposed an occupying force to 
 danger without a compensating benefit. 
 
 Magruder, informed that it was the 
 intention of General Butler again to oc- 
 cupy Hampton, with the view of making 
 it the winter quarters of his troops, deter- 
 mined upon thwarting that purpose, by 
 the cruel expedient of burning the town. 
 He, at the same time, hoped to take the 
 Federalists at a disadvantage, and accord- 
 ingly advanced with a large force, esti- 
 mated at seven thousand infantry, with 
 the addition of two hundred cavalry and 
 eight pieces of artillery, and made a de- 
 monstration in the neighborhood of the 
 Federal encampment at Newport News. 
 Information of this movement was at 
 once dispatched to General Phelps, in 
 command at this latter place, and thence 
 conveyed to Fortress Monroe. Measures 
 were now taken to prepare for the enemy 
 in case they should venture upon an 
 offensive movement. The garrison at 
 Fortress Monroe and the fleet were got 
 ready for action, and the troops from the 
 various encampments at Newport News 
 and elsewhere mustered for defence. 
 
 The enemy, in the mean time, having 
 set out late in the day, had occupied ^ U g, 
 Hampton with an advanced guard ? 
 in the afternoon. Thence they marched 
 forward to the bridge leading out of 
 the town toward Newport News. The 
 Federalists had made ready to receive 
 them. 
 
 "At ten o'clock P.M.," wrote a chron- 
 
HAMPTON BURNED. 
 
 593 
 
 icier* then at Fortress Monroe, "Gen- 
 eral Butler, after visiting Camp Hamilton, 
 went to Hampton Bridge and instructed 
 the force posted there to hold the position, 
 and resist any attempt either to destroy 
 or pass the bridge. About twenty-five 
 feet of the planks had been taken up, 
 and the timbers cut away on the Hamp- 
 ton side. At that point our force, con- 
 sisting of a detachment of Max Weber's 
 riflemen, erected a barricade. When 
 General Butler left, everything was 
 quiet in the village, and there was no 
 appearance of anything unusual. Shortly 
 after a rebel force came to the bridge, 
 and commenced a vigorous attack on our 
 force there. A sharp contest ensued, 
 which resulted in loss to the enemy and 
 their retreat. The rebels then com- 
 menced to fire the town. Fire was first 
 set to the buildings nearest to the bridge. 
 Those who committed this act of van- 
 dalism were, to a considerable extent, 
 former leading citizens of Hampton and 
 owners of property, and consequently 
 among the greatest sufferers. They dis- 
 tributed themselves through the village, 
 went to the residences of the few re- 
 maining white inhabitants, and warned 
 them to prepare for the event that was 
 at hand. No other reason was given 
 than that they had orders to burn the 
 village, and that it would be done. No 
 time was given to remove furniture or 
 other effects, and scarcely enough to al- 
 low the terrified people to dress and es- 
 cape to the street." 
 
 The reports of the enemy testified to 
 the thoroughness of the cruel work. 
 
 New York Tribune. 
 75 
 
 " The town," says one, " was burned 
 to the ground on Wednesday night (Au- 
 gust 7), by the order of General Magru- 
 der. . The expedition for its destruction 
 was composed of the Mecklenburg Cav- 
 alry, Captain Goode ; Old Dominion 
 Dragoons, Captain Phillips ; York Rang- 
 ers, Captain Sinclair ; Warwick Beaure- 
 gards, Captain Custis ; and six companies 
 of the Fourteenth Virginia Regiment ; 
 the whole force being under the command 
 of Colonel James J. Hodges, of the Four- 
 teenth. The town was most effectually 
 fired. But a single house was left stand- 
 ing. The village church was intended 
 to be spared, but caught fire accidentally, 
 and was consumed to the ground. Many 
 of the members of the companies were 
 citizens of Hampton, and set fire to their 
 own houses." 
 
 General Magruder, finding that any 
 further advance had been checked by the 
 alertness of General Butler, retired after 
 the destruction of Hampton to his in- 
 trenched position at Great Bethel, which 
 he subsequently abandoned, and kept 
 within the more secure limits of York- 
 town. 
 
 Maryland, in the mean time, under the 
 judicious military administration of Gen- 
 eral Dix, who had succeeded General 
 Banks in that department, was daily re- 
 vealing its latent loyalty, or becoming 
 more discreet in its manifestations of dis- 
 affection. The elections throughout the 
 State had resulted in large majorities in 
 favor of the " Union" candidates. In the 
 choice of Governor, Bradford the loyal 
 competitor received 39,731 votes, while 
 his antagonist, Howard, the candidate of 
 
594: 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the " Peace Party," as the disaffected of 
 Maryland now termed themselves, ob- 
 tained only 8,987. The congressional 
 and legislative elections were equally tri- 
 umphant for the Unionists, who, encour- 
 aged by the formidable display of Fed- 
 eral might, no longer hesitated openly to 
 profess sentiments of loyalty. 
 
 General Dix was enabled, also, by a 
 mere demonstration of the great force 
 at his command, to secure a valuable ac- 
 cession to the Federal authority. This 
 consisted of Accomack and Northampton, 
 the two counties of Virginia which con- 
 stitute the lower end of the peninsula, 
 formed by the Chesapeake Bay on the 
 west and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. 
 Though geographically continuous with 
 the State of Delaware, and entirely sev- 
 ered by the whole breadth of the Chesa- 
 peake Bay from Virginia, the counties of 
 Accomack and Northampton belong to 
 the domain of the latter State. Their 
 inhabitants, moreover, if not sympathiz- 
 ing with the secession of the parent State, 
 had submitted to the authority of the 
 Southern Confederacy. A Confederate 
 force held Drummondtown, the county 
 seat of Accomack. Intrenchments had 
 been raised, the roads obstructed by fallen 
 trees, the light-houses on the coasts ex- 
 tinguished, and a general defiance offered 
 to the authority of the United States. 
 As the counties of Accomack and North- 
 ampton, from their territorial position, 
 had been included within the Department 
 of Baltimore, commanded by General 
 Dix, it devolved upon him to make the 
 effort to restore them to the Federal ju- 
 risdiction. 
 
 General Dix accordingly mustered a 
 force of 5,000 troops, composed of the 
 Second Delaware, the Seventeenth Mas- 
 sachusetts, the Fifth New York, Twenty- 
 first Indiana, Tenth Wisconsin, and Sixth 
 Michigan regiments, and giving the com- 
 mand to General Lockwood, of Dela- 
 ware, ordered them to advance through 
 that State into the two Virginia counties. 
 
 General Dix anticipated their march, 
 by the issue of a conciliatory proclama- 
 tion, which was distributed among the 
 inhabitants of Accomack and Northamp- 
 ton.* 
 
 " PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF ACCOMACK AND NORTH- 
 AMPTON COUNTIES, VA. The military forces of the United 
 States are about to enter your counties as a part of the 
 Union. They will go among you as friends, and with the 
 earnest hope that they may not, by your own acts, be 
 forced to become your enemies. They will invade no 
 rights of person or property. On the contrary, your 
 laws, your institutions, your usages will be scrupulously 
 respected. There need be no fear that the quietude of 
 any fireside will be disturbed, unless the disturbance is 
 caused by yourselves. 
 
 Special directions have been given not to interfere with 
 the condition of any persons held to domestic service ; 
 and, in order that there may be no ground for mistake or 
 pretext for misrepresentation, commanders of regiments 
 and corps have been instructed not to permit any such 
 persons to come within their lines. The command of the 
 expedition is intrusted to Brigadier-General Henry H. 
 Lockwood, of Delaware, a State identical, in some of the 
 distinctive features of its social organization, with your 
 own. Portions of his force come from counties in Mary- 
 land bordering on one of yours. From him, and from 
 them, you may be assured of the sympathy of near neigh- 
 bors, as well as friends, if you do not repel it by hostile 
 resistance or attack. Their mission is to assert the author- 
 ity of the United States; to reopen your intercourse with 
 the loyal States, and especially with Maryland, which has 
 just proclaimed her devotion to the Union by the most 
 triumphant vote in her political annals ; to restore to 
 commerce its accustomed guides, by re-establishing the 
 lights on your coast ; to afford you a free export for the 
 products of your labor, and a free ingress for the neces- 
 saries and comforts of life, which you require in exchange ; 
 and, in a word, to put an end to the embarrassments and 
 restrictions brought upon you by a causeless and unjusti- 
 fiable rebellion. 
 
 If the calamities of intestine war, which are desolating 
 
ACCOMACK AND NORTHAMPTON. 
 
 595 
 
 This politic proclamation had been 
 ( sent to the people of Accomack and 
 16t Northampton the day before the 
 arrival of General Lockwood, who landed 
 in the former county on the 17th of No- 
 vember. His reception was by no means 
 unfriendly, and he marched to Drum- 
 mondtown without opposition, the en- 
 emy, numbering about 3,000 men, who 
 held that place, having abandoned their 
 works of defence and disbanded on his 
 approach. Having effected what was 
 necessary to re-establish the Federal au- 
 thority, and left a force to secure it, Gen- 
 eral Lockwood returned in a few weeks 
 with the rest of his troops. 
 
 To preserve the continuity of this nar- 
 rative of the military operations of the 
 army of the Potomac, the record of an 
 event of profound interest to the coun- 
 try, though in time it preceded much 
 already related, has been postponed until 
 now. We refer to the resignation of 
 
 other districts of Virginia, and have already crimsoned 
 her fields with fraternal blood, fall also upon you, it will 
 not be the fault of the Government. It asks only that its 
 authority may be recognized. It sends among you a force 
 too strong to be successfully opposed a force which can 
 not be resisted in any other spirit than that of wanton- 
 ness and malignity. If there are any among you, who, 
 rejecting all overtures of friendship, thus provoke retali- 
 ation, and draw down upon themselves consequences 
 which the Government is most anxious to avert, to their 
 account must be laid the blood which may be shed, and 
 the desolation which may be brought upon peaceful homes. 
 On all who are thus reckless of the obligations of human- 
 ity and duty, and on all who are found in arms, the severest 
 punishment warranted by the laws of war will be visited. 
 
 To those who remain in the quiet pursuit of their do- 
 mestic occupations, the public authorities assure all they 
 can give peace, freedom from annoyance, protection from 
 foreign and internal enemies, a guarantee of all constitu- 
 tional and legal rights, and the blessings of a just and 
 parental Government. JOHN A. Dix, 
 
 Major-General Commanding. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS, BALTIMORE, Nov. 13, 1861. 
 
 General Winfield Scott, the veteran com- 
 mander-in-chief. On the 31st of oct, 
 October the secretary of war, Mr. &! 
 Cameron, received this letter from Gen- 
 eral Scott : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASH- 
 
 INGTOST, October 31, 1861. 
 " THE HON. S. CAMERON, SECRETARY OF WAR : 
 "SiR: For more than three years I 
 have been unable, from a hurt, to mount 
 a horse or to walk more than three paces 
 at a time, and that with much pain. 
 Other and new infirmities, dropsy and 
 vertigo, admonish me that repose of mind 
 and body, with the appliances of surgery 
 and medicine, are necessary to add a little 
 more to a life already protracted much 
 beyond the usual span of man. It is 
 under such circumstances, made doubly 
 painful by the unnatural and unjust re- 
 bellion now raging in the Southern States 
 of our so lately prosperous and happy 
 Union, that I am compelled to request 
 that my name shall be placed on the list 
 of army officers retired from active ser- 
 vice. As this request is founded on an 
 absolute right, granted by a recent act 
 of Congress, I am entirely at liberty to 
 say it is with deep regret that I withdraw 
 myself in these momentous times from 
 the orders of a President who has treated 
 me with much distinguished kindness and 
 courtesy ; whom I know, upon much 
 personal intercourse, to be patriotic 
 without sectional partialities or preju- 
 dices ; to be highly conscientious in the 
 performance of every duty, and of un- 
 rivaled activity and perseverance ; and 
 to you, Mr. Secretary, whom I now offi- 
 cially address for the last time, I beg to 
 
596 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 acknowledge my many obligations for 
 the uniform high consideration I have 
 received at your hands, and have the 
 honor to remain, sir, with high respect, 
 your obedient servant, 
 
 " WINFIELD SCOTT." 
 
 This communication was transmitted 
 to the President, and by him laid before 
 a cabinet council convened for the pur- 
 pose of considering it. The request of 
 the veteran General was, of course, com- 
 plied with, as the motive which impelled 
 it, that of age and infirmity, could not 
 be courteously resisted. 
 
 This resignation having thus been ac- 
 cepted, General McClellan was at once 
 notified that he had been selected as the 
 successor of the late Commander-in- 
 chief. The President, accompanied by 
 every member of the cabinet, now vis- 
 ited General Scott at his own residence, 
 and read to him the following order : 
 
 " On the 1st day of November, A.D. 
 1861, upon his own application to the 
 President of the United States, Brevet 
 Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott is or- 
 dered to be placed, and hereby is placed, 
 upon the list of retired officers of the 
 army of the United States, without re- 
 duction in his current pay, subsistence, 
 or allowances. 
 
 " The American people will hear with 
 sadness and deep emotion that General 
 Scott has withdrawn from the active con- 
 trol of the army, while the President 
 and unanimous cabinet express their own 
 and the nation's sympathy in his personal 
 affliction, and their profound sense of the 
 important public services rendered by 
 him to his country during his long and 
 
 brilliant career, among which will ever 
 be gratefully distinguished his faithful 
 devotion to the Constitution, the Union, 
 and the flag, when assailed by parricidal 
 rebellion. ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 The aged General stood up, and with 
 him rose the President and the members 
 of the cabinet. Deeply affected by the 
 occasion, Scott feelingly said : 
 
 " President, this hour overwhelms me. 
 It overpays all services I have attempted 
 to render to my country. If I had any 
 claims before, they are all obliterated by 
 this expression of approval by the Presi- 
 dent, with the remaining support of his 
 cabinet. I know the President and his 
 cabinet well. I know that the country 
 has placed its interests in this trying crisis 
 in safe keeping. Their counsels are wise ; 
 their labors are as untiring as they are 
 loyal, and their course is the right one." 
 
 After these few words, overcome by 
 emotion and tottering from the effects of 
 a wound received in battle, and from 
 the infirmities that accompany age, the 
 veteran General sank to his seat, saying : 
 " President, you must excuse me. I am 
 unable to stand longer to give utterance 
 to the feelings of gratitude which oppress 
 me. In my retirement, I shall offer up 
 my prayers to God for this Administra- 
 tion, and for my country. I shall pray 
 for it with confidence in its success over 
 all enemies, and that speedily." 
 
 The President and each member of 
 his cabinet now bade farewell to the 
 General, after an assurance from Mr. 
 Lincoln that provision would be made 
 for the members of his staff. On jf ov , 
 the next day, the Secretary of War ! 
 
RESIGNATION OF GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 597 
 
 thus officially answered General Scott's 
 letter of resignation : 
 
 " WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, ) 
 Nov. 1, 1861. j 
 
 ' ' GENERAL : It was my duty to lay 
 before the President your letter of yes- 
 terday, asking to be relieved, under the 
 recent act of Congress. In separating 
 from you I can not refrain from express- 
 ing my deep regret that your health, 
 shattered by long service and repeated 
 wounds received in your country's de- 
 fence, should render it necessary for you 
 to retire from your high position at this 
 momentous period of our history. Al- 
 though you are not to remain in active 
 service, I yet hope that while I continue 
 in charge of the department over which 
 I now preside, I shall at times be per- 
 mitted to avail myself of the benefits of 
 your wise counsels and sage experience. 
 It has been my good fortune to enjoy a 
 personal acquaintance with you for over 
 thirty years, and the pleasant relations 
 of that long time have been greatly 
 strengthened by your cordial and entire 
 co-operation in all the great questions 
 which have occupied the department 
 and convulsed the country for the last 
 six months. In parting from you, I can 
 
 fl 
 
 only express the hope that a merciful 
 Providence, that has protected you amid 
 so many trials, will improve your health 
 and continue your life long after the peo- 
 ple of the country shall have been restored 
 to their former happiness and prosperity. 
 "I am, General, very sincerely, your 
 friend and servant, 
 
 " SIMON CAMERON, Sec. of War. 
 " LIEUT.-GEN. WrNTiELD SCOTT, Present." 
 
 General McClellan, in his order assum- 
 ing the command of the armies of the 
 United States, paid a graceful tribute to 
 his veteran predecessor : 
 
 " In the midst of the difficulties which 
 encompass and divide the nation, hesi- 
 tation and self-distrust may well ac- 
 company the assumption of so vast a 
 responsibility, but confiding as I do, in 
 the loyalty, discipline, and courage of 
 our troops, and believing as I do, that 
 Providence will favor ours as the just 
 cause, I can not doubt that success will 
 crown our efforts and sacrifices. The 
 army will unite with me in the feeling 
 of regret that the weight of many years, 
 and the effect of increasing infirmities, 
 contracted and intensified in his coun- 
 try's service, should just now remove 
 from our head the great soldier of our 
 nation, the hero who, in his youth, raised 
 high the reputation of his country in the 
 fields of Canada, which he sanctified with 
 his blood ; who in more mature years 
 proved to the world that American skill 
 and valor could repeat, if not eclipse, the 
 exploits of Cortez in the land of the 
 Montezumas ; whose whole life has been 
 devoted to the service of his country ; 
 whose whole efforts have been directed 
 to uphold our honor at the smallest sac- 
 rifice of life ; a warrior who scorned the 
 selfish glories of the battle-field when 
 his great qualities as a statesman could 
 be employed more profitably for his 
 country ; a citizen who in his declining 
 years has given to the world the most 
 shining instance of loyalty in disregard- 
 ing all ties of birth and clinging still to 
 the cause of truth and honor. Such has 
 
598 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 been the career and character of Win- 
 field Scott, whom it has long been the 
 delight of the nation to honor, both as 
 a man and a soldier. While we regret 
 his loss, there is one thing we can not 
 regret the bright example he has left 
 for our emulation. Let us all hope and 
 pray that his declining years may be 
 passed in peace and happiness, and that 
 they may be cheered by the success of 
 
 the country and the cause he has fought 
 for and loved so well. Beyond all that, 
 let us do nothing that can cause him to 
 blush for us ; let no defeat of the army 
 he has so long commanded embitter his 
 last years, but let our victories illumin- 
 ate the close of a life so grand. 
 
 " GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, 
 
 " Major-General Commanding U. S. A." 
 
 CHAPTER LYII. 
 
 The development of the Naval Resources of the United States. Great Naval Expeditions. The first Naval Expedi- 
 tion. Rendezvous in Hampton Roads. Life of Commodore Dupont. The composition of the Naval and Military 
 portions of the Expedition. Life of General Sherman. Sailing of the Expedition. Favorable auspices, Eagerness 
 of the Public Interest. Destination and object of the Expedition. A great storm. Its effects. Port Royal. De- 
 scription of Port Royal and neighboring coasts. Preparations of the Enemy for defence. The Forts described. The 
 
 victory of Dupont. Official Reports. 
 
 THE great naval resources of the 
 Northern States were being rapidly 
 applied to the use of the war power 
 of the Government. Though its organ- 
 ized navy had been always small in pro- 
 portion to the commercial importance of 
 the nation, and though it had been tem- 
 porarily rendered almost powerless by 
 the traitorous action of men who had 
 been intrusted with its control, there ex- 
 isted in the trading marine of the North- 
 ern people a resource of naval might 
 which was destined to exert a most im- 
 portant influence in the great conflict 
 with the South. 
 
 The magnitude of this resource be- 
 came manifest in the large naval ex- 
 peditions which were sent to the coasts 
 
 of the enemy. One of the most exten- 
 sive and important of these, after Q C ^ 
 several months of laborious prep- 29t 
 aration, sailed from Hampton Roads on 
 the 29th of October. The number of 
 vessels amounted to seventy-seven, of 
 which sixteen were armed naval vessels, 
 twenty-three steam transports, twenty- 
 six sailing vessels, and twelve steam- 
 boats, such as steam-tugs, ferry-boats, 
 and other small craft.* 
 
 WAR VESSELS. 1. Steam frigate Wabash, flag-ship, 
 3,200 tons, 40 guns, carrying Flag Officer Commodore 
 Samuel F. Dupont ; Captain Charles H. Davis. GUN-BOATS. 
 2. Augusta, Captain E. G. Parrot ; 3. Curlew, Captain 
 Geo. H. Cooper ; 4. Florida, Captain J. R. Goldsborough ; 
 5. Georgia, Captain ; 6. Isaac Smith, Captain J. 
 W. A. Nicholson ; 7. Mohican, Captain S. W. Gordon ; 8. 
 Ottawa, Captain Thomas H. Stevens ; 9. Pawnee, Captain 
 R. H. Wyman ; 10. Pembina, Captain P. Crosby ; 11. Pen.- 
 

EXPEDITION TO PORT ROYAL. 
 
 599 
 
 Commodore Samuel F. Dupont, the 
 naval commander-in-chief of this for- 
 midable expedition, was born at Bergen 
 Point, in New Jersey, in 1803. His 
 origin, as the name indicates, is French, 
 his father having emigrated from France 
 to the United States in 1799. An uncle 
 established the mills near Wilmington, 
 Delaware, where the famous "Dupont 
 powder" is fabricated, and the works are 
 
 guin, Captain T. A. Budd ; 12. Pocahontas, Captain P. 
 Drayton ; 13. R. B. Forbes, Captain H. S. Newcomb ; U. 
 Seminole, Captain ,1. P. Gillies ; 15. Seneca, Captain Dan- 
 iel Anmien ; 16. Unadilla, Captain N. Collins. 
 
 STEAM TRANSPORTS. 1. Ariel, Captain Terry ; 2. Atlan- 
 tic, Captain ; 3. Baltic, Captain Comstock ; 4. Ben. 
 
 Deford, Captain ; 5. Cahawba, Captain Baker ; 6. 
 
 Coatzacoalcos, Captain Bocock ; 7. Daniel Webster, Cap- 
 tain Johnson ; 8. Empire City, Captain Baxter ; 9. Erics- 
 son, Captain Cowles ; 10. Locust Point, Captain French; 
 11. Marion, Captain Philips; 12. Matanzas, Captain Lees- 
 burg ; 13. Ocean Queen. Captain Seabury ; 14. Oriental, 
 
 Captain Tuzo ; 15. Parkersburg, Captain ; 16. 
 
 Philadelphia, Captain Barton ; 17. Potomac, Captain Hil- 
 liard ; 18. Roanoke, Captain Couch ; 19. Star of the South, 
 
 Captain Kearnley; 20. Union, Captain ; 21. Van- 
 
 derbilt, Captain Lefevre ; 22. Winfield Scott, Captain 
 Litchfield ; 23. Osceola, Captain Morrill. 
 
 STEAM-TUGS. 1. 0. M. Petit; 2. Mercury. 
 
 FERRY-BOATS. 1. Commodore Perry; 2. Ethan Allen; 
 3. Stepping Stone. 
 
 STEAMBOATS. 1. May Flower ; 2. Belvidere; 3. Gov- 
 ernor ; 4. Baltimore ; 5. Philadelphia ; 6. Peerless ; 7. 
 Pilot Boy. 
 
 SAILING VESSELS. 1. Ship Great Republic ; 2. Ship Ocean 
 Express ; 3. Ship Golden Eagle ; 4. Ship Zenas Coffin ; 5. 
 Bark J. A. Bishop ; 6. Brig Belle of the Bay ; 7. Brig. 
 Ellen P. Stewart ; 8. Schooner S. F. Abbott ; 9. Schooner 
 E. D. Allen; 10. Schooner Aid; 11. Schooner J. M 
 Vance ; 12. Schooner M. E. Clark ; 13. Schooner D. Jones ; 
 14. Schooner E. English ; 15. Schooner J. Frambes ; 16. 
 Schooner G. Barthol; 17. Schooner Western Star; 18. 
 Schooner Saratoga ; 19. Schooner S. J. Bright ; 20. 
 Schooner G. M. Neil ; 21. Schooner David Faust ; 22. 
 Schooner R. S. Misler ; 23. Schooner G. Chester ; 24. 
 Schooner J. Satterthwaite ; 25. Schooner Snowflake ; 26. 
 Schooner Arden Reid. 
 
 RECAPITULATION OF VESSELS. Naval vessels, 16 ; Steam- 
 tugs, 2 ; Ferry-boats, 3 ; Steam transports, 23 ; Sailing 
 vessels, 26 ; Steamboats, 7 ; Total, 77. 
 
 The Vandalia, from the blockading squadron off Sa- 
 vannah, joined at Port Royal. 
 
 still carried on by members of the Du- 
 pont family. The subject of this sketch 
 received from President Madison his 
 warrant as a midshipman in the United 
 States navy, December 19th, 1815. His 
 first cruise was in the Franklin, a seventy- 
 four-gun ship, in the year 1817. After 
 various and almost constant active ser- 
 vice, in 1845 he commanded the frigate 
 Congress, on a cruise in the Pacific. 
 Being in the bay of San Francisco, in 
 Upper California, at the moment when 
 the war with Mexico began, Captain 
 Dupont was transferred to the command 
 of the Cyane. His first duty was to 
 transport Colonel Fremont and his ad- 
 venturous band of trappers and Indians 
 to San Diego, the little harbor of which 
 Dupont was thus the first to enter with 
 a United States man-of-war. He con- 
 tinued during the conflict with Mexico 
 to cruise on the California coast, and his 
 good services in aiding the military op- 
 erations on land, gained him a high trib- 
 ute of praise. 
 
 After Captain Dupont's return from 
 the Pacific in October, 1848, he remain- 
 ed on land in various employments at 
 several of our naval dep6ts until 1857, 
 when he sailed to China in command of 
 the Minnesota. Having again returned 
 to the United States, he was, in 1860, 
 placed at the head of the navy yard in 
 Philadelphia. His latest and crowning 
 command was that of the great aaval 
 expedition, the operations of which are 
 about to be related. 
 
 Commodore Dupont has the repute 
 of being one of the most able and en- 
 ergetic, as well as faithful, of our naval 
 
600 
 
 TIIE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 officers. In all the higher departments 
 of his profession his conscientious prin- 
 ciple, ability of organization, and scien- 
 tific skill have been fully tested, and 
 proved to be equal to every trial. His 
 services in the Ordnance Department ; 
 his counsels in the organization of the 
 Naval School at Annapolis ; his co-oper- 
 ation in the establishment of the light- 
 house system ; his aid in revising the 
 navy regulations ; his conscientious dis- 
 charge of the delicate duty, as a member 
 of the Naval Retiring Board, of remov- 
 ing inefficient officers ; his endeavors to 
 substitute for flogging some less degrad- 
 ing punishment ; and his continued zeal 
 for the elevation of the character both 
 of the sailors and their officers, have 
 shown Dupont to be a man who can rise 
 beyond the mere technical routine of his 
 profession, and reach the nobler sphere of 
 social and patriotic duty. His able con- 
 duct of the great naval expedition has 
 confirmed the estimate of his character 
 held by his most partial admirers. 
 
 The military portion of the great ex- 
 pedition was hardly less imposing than 
 that of the naval. Fifteen thousand 
 troops* embarked on board the trans- 
 
 LAND FORCES. 
 
 The division of the army accompanying the expedition 
 tinder command of Brigadier-General T. W. Sherman, con- 
 sisted of three brigades and several unattached regiments, 
 as follows : 
 
 FIRST BRIGADE. Geneml Egbert L. Viele. New Hamp- 
 shire Third, Colonel*rE. W. Fellows ; Maine Eighth, 
 
 ColonA Lee Strickland ; New York Forty-sixth, Colonel 
 
 
 
 Rudolph Rosa ; New York Forty-seventh, Colonel Henry 
 Moore ; New York Forty-eighth, Colonel James H. Perry. 
 SECOND BRIGADE. General Isaac Ingalls Stevens. Penn- 
 sylvania Fiftieth, Colonel Benjamin C. Christ ; Pennsyl- 
 vania Roundhead Volunteers, Colonel David Leasure ; 
 Michigan Eighth, Colonel William M. Fenton ; New York 
 Seventy-ninth, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Nobles. 
 
 ports, carrying with them immense 
 supplies of provisions, munitions of 
 war, horses, and engineering imple- 
 ments. The chief command of this force 
 was given to Brigadier-General T. W. 
 Sherman, whose previous career is thus 
 briefly sketched : 
 
 Thomas W. Sherman was born in 
 Rhode Island, graduated at the West 
 Point Military Academy in 1836, stand- 
 ing number eighteen in a class of forty- 
 six cadets, and was appointed second 
 lieutenant in the Third United States 
 Artillery in July, 1836. In March, 1837, 
 he became assistant commissary of sub- 
 sistence, and in the same month of the 
 following year was promoted to a first 
 lieutenancy. Just at the breaking out 
 of the troubles with Mexico he was pro- 
 moted to a captaincy, his commission 
 bearing date May 28, 1846. He served 
 with distinction previously in the Florida 
 wars, and accompanied General Taylor 
 to Mexico, rendering himself conspicu- 
 ous for the zeal and efficiency with which 
 he performed his duty. He was brevet- 
 ted major for his gallant and meritorious 
 conduct at the battle of Buena Yista, 
 February 23, 1847. Since the close of 
 the Mexican war he has been on duty in 
 various parts of the country, always 
 rendering efficient service. In August, 
 1857, while on duty at the Minnesota 
 Agency, in the Indian country, he was 
 
 THIRD BRIGADE. General Horatio Gates Wright. New 
 Hampshire Fourth, Colonel Thomas J Whipple; Connec- 
 ticut Sixth, Colonel James L. Chatfield ; Connecticut 
 Seventh, Colonel A. A. Terry ; Maine Ninth, Colonel 
 Richworth Rich. 
 
 UNCLASSIFIED REGIMENTS. Third Rhode Island, Colonel 
 Brown ; Massachusetts Twenty-first, Colonel Morse ; New 
 York Engineer Volunteer battalion, Colonel W. Serrill. 
 
HOPES AXD FEARS. 
 
 601 
 
 distinguished for the prudence and firm- 
 ness with which he acted in averting a 
 war with the Mississippi tribes of the 
 Sioux. On the formation of the Fifth 
 Artillery he was appointed lieutenant- 
 colonel of the regiment, a portion of 
 which was engaged in the Bull Run fight, 
 under the name of Sherman's, and sub- 
 sequently Ayres' battery. He was made 
 a brigadier-general May 17, 1861. 
 
 The expedition sailed under the most 
 c t, favorable auspices. The frigate Wa- 
 29 bash, having on board Commodore 
 Dupont and General Sherman and his 
 staff', led the van and steamed for Hamp- 
 ton Roads at the break of a day upon 
 which the sun shone with autumnal 
 clearness. The ramparts of Fortress 
 Monroe, at the early hour of five o'clock 
 in the morning, were crowded with 
 soldiers, watching the movement of the 
 flag-ship as she led off, followed by the 
 fleet of gun-boats and transports. Hearty 
 hurrahs greeted each vessel as it assum- 
 ed its appropriate position. The mili- 
 tary bands on the transports struck up a 
 succession of tunes, and the departure 
 was animated with the cheerful excite- 
 ment of the moment and the hopeful ex- 
 pectation of the future. 
 
 The course of the great expedition, 
 with its numerous men-of-war, trans- 
 ports, and other vessels, and large force 
 of troops, was watched with eager in- 
 terest throughout the country. The ob- 
 ject of the enterprise excited the impa- 
 tient curiosity of all, and gave rise to 
 various speculations. Though a studious 
 secrecy was affected by those controlling 
 the movements of the expedition, it soon 
 76 
 
 became obvious that its aim had been 
 disclosed, not only to the indiscreet news- 
 mongers of the North, but to the vigilant 
 enemy of the South. 
 
 Great results from this expedition were 
 anticipated by the Unionists, while pro- 
 portionate fears were entertained by the 
 friends of the South. After it had sail- 
 ed, a great storm arose, not unusual at 
 the season, which, sweeping along the 
 Atlantic coast, awakened the anxiety of 
 the North in regard to the "Great Ar- 
 mada," as it was ominously termed. The 
 first intelligence, coming from the enemy, 
 seemed to confirm the anticipations of 
 disaster. The fleet was reported to have 
 been scattered by the storm, and many 
 of the vessels lost at sea or driven upon 
 a hostile shore. The subsequent news, 
 still from the same source, was hardly 
 more encouraging. The remnant of the 
 expedition, it was stated by the Southern 
 papers, had reached its destination, and 
 had been unsuccessful in its attempt at 
 invasion. It was now disclosed that 
 the expedition was intended to operate 
 against Port Royal, where the well-in- 
 formed enemy had made formidable pre- 
 parations for defence. 
 
 Port Royal is an inlet which opens 
 into the Atlantic in latitude 32 8' north, 
 distant fifty miles in a southeast direc- 
 tion from the harbor of Charleston, and 
 fifteen miles northeast from the entrance 
 through Tybee Inlet to the port of Sa- 
 vannah, in Georgia. The coast of the 
 Carolinas and Georgia has a peculiar 
 conformation, the original deposit of 
 sand by the sea being divided into nu- 
 merous islands by inlets from the ocean, 
 
602 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 and bodies of water, termed, according to 
 their extent, sounds, swamps, or creeks, 
 through which the inland rivers find their 
 way to the Atlantic. The numerous isl- 
 ands into which the coast is thus broken 
 up, differ in fertility, according to their 
 position. Those directly bordering the 
 ocean are mere sandbanks, hardly above 
 the level of the sea, and are barely capa- 
 ble of cultivation ; but serve as natural 
 defences to the inner islands, which they 
 protect from the full influence of the At- 
 lantic tides. The peculiar richness of 
 soil of these inner islands, where is grown 
 the best of rice and the famous Sea Island 
 cotton, is thus accounted for : 
 
 " Along the coast of South Carolina, 
 as in North Carolina and Georgia, stretch- 
 es a low, narrow sand-bar a kind of de- 
 fensive outwork of the land, seldom 
 inhabited except by lost Indians and 
 runaway negroes, who subsist by hunting 
 and fishing. At distant intervals there 
 are shallow branches through which the 
 quiet tide steals in twice a day, swelling 
 the natural lagoons and damming the 
 outlet of the fresh-water stream till the 
 current is destroyed and turned back, 
 and their flood dispersed far and wide 
 over the debatable land of the Cypress 
 Swamp. Then, when the heavy rains 
 in the interior have swollen the rivers, 
 their eddying currents deposit all along 
 the edges of the sandy islands and capes 
 the rich freight they have brought from 
 the calcareous or granitic mountains in 
 which they rise, with the organic waste 
 of the great forests through which they 
 flow. This is the soil of the rice and 
 cotton plantations, which are always 
 
 found in such parts of the tidal swamps 
 adjoining the mainland, or the sandy isl- 
 ands, as are left nearly dry at the ebb of 
 the water."* 
 
 Port Royal entrance is bounded on 
 the right, on going in, by Edding's Island, 
 and on the left by Hilton Head Island. 
 Here the Broad River, after being joined 
 by Beaufort River, empties. These bod- 
 ies of water, though fed by inland streams, 
 are greatly enlarged by influx from the 
 ocean through the various inlets dividing 
 the outer bars of sand. The whole re- 
 gion about Beaufort, bounded by the At- 
 lantic, the Broad River, the Coosaw 
 River, and St. Helena Sound, has an area 
 of about twenty-five miles by fifteen, 
 composed of over a dozen islands, sepa- 
 rated from each other by rivers or creeks, 
 as they are called. 
 
 The enemy having timely information 
 of the object and approach of the great 
 expedition, had made formidable prepa- 
 rations to defend the entrance of Port 
 Royal.f They had constructed on either 
 
 o New York World. 
 
 | The following account of Port Royal, of Beaufort, 
 and the neighboring country is from the New York World: 
 
 "The entrance to Port Royal is the best channel for 
 ships through the bars in the whole range of ports below 
 Norfolk. Within the roads, even over the bar, there are 
 three and a half fathoms water, or twenty-one feet, and 
 probably twenty-seven feet at high tide. The command 
 of waters, too, which the possession of Port Royal en- 
 trance gives, is immense. Ships which draw fourteen or 
 fifteen feet water may go in at Tybee and proceed through 
 land to Beaufort, in Port Royal Islands ; and from Beau- 
 fort, vessels of eight or nine feet water may go through 
 land to Charleston. From Charleston, vessels drawing 
 seven or eight feet water may go through land to the river 
 Medway, in Georgia, which lies thirty miles south of Sa- 
 vannah. 
 
 " Port Royal Island, the chief of the group above men- 
 tioned, is surrounded by the Broad, Port Royal, Coosaw, 
 and Beaufort rivers, and is about twelve miles long and 
 
THE FORTS AT PORT ROYAL. 
 
 603 
 
 side strong fortifications. At Bay Point, 
 on St. Philip's Island, on the right of 
 
 six wide. On the east side of the island, and about mid- 
 way, stands the town of Beaufort, on Beaufort River, the 
 approach of which does not admit vessels of over eleven 
 feet draft. Beaufort is about ten mites from the sea, and 
 sixteen miles from the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, 
 and this important line is itself directly approachable by 
 water through Broad River and St. Helena Sound and 
 Combahee River. A force moving up the river from Beau- 
 fort, via Beaufort and Coosaw and Port Royal rivers, 
 would strike the Charleston and Savannah Railroad at 
 about midway between Charleston and Savannah, and 
 about fifty miles from either city a fact which renders 
 obvious the immense strategic importance of that line. 
 Beaufort District has an area of 1,540 square miles. The 
 surface is low and level, and the soil sandy and alluvial, 
 producing cotton, rice, etc., in great abundance. The an- 
 nual yield of the district is about 50,000,000 pounds of 
 rice, and 13,000 bales of Sea Island cotton, annually, al- 
 together valued at upward of $5,000,000. It is one of 
 the most densely populated portions of South Carolina. 
 Its inhabitants, according to the census of 1860, num- 
 bered 40,014, divided as follows : 
 
 Whites 6,714 
 
 Free colored 800 
 
 Slaves 32,500 
 
 Total colored 33,300 
 
 " The region around Port Royal entrance and island 
 has a strange and romantic history. It was, in fact, the 
 first settled spot on the coast of North America. How 
 interesting, in view of our expedition, to read the history 
 of another expedition to the same locality, just three hun- 
 dred years ago. The first colony was sent out by Admiral 
 Coligni, a zealous Protestant, and then one of the Minis- 
 ters of the Crown, who, at the time of the war between 
 the French Protestants and Catholics, obtained permission 
 of Charles IX. to plant a colony of Protestants in Florida 
 a name then applied also to a great part of the Southern 
 coast. Command of two vessels was accordingly given to 
 Jean Ribault, a ' man expert in sea cruises, ' and in the 
 spring of 1562 he landed on the Florida coast. Sailing 
 northward, he discovered several rivers, one of which, 
 from ' the fairness and largeness of its harbor,' he called 
 the Port Royal River. 
 
 "The old chronicler, Landonniere, who accompanied 
 the expedition, describes the scene in glowing colors. 
 Splendid forests, shores festooned with rich grape clusters, 
 birds of brilliant plumage, stags and deer in the luxuriant 
 savannas. As the commander cast his eye across the 
 waters of the beautiful river before him, says Landonniere, 
 and measured the breadth of its mouth and the depth of 
 its sounding, he persuaded himself that ' all the argosies 
 of Venice could ride upon its bosom.' Accordingly, upon 
 the island a few miles up Port Royal River, he erected, it 
 
 the entrance, was Fort Beauregarcl. 
 This work, constructed of sand and pal- 
 is said, on the very spot where the town of Beaufort now 
 stands, a pillar, with the arms of France, and a few days 
 after built a fort, which, in honor of his king, Charles 
 IX., he called 'Charles' Fort' Arc Carolina from which 
 circumstance the country took the name of Carolina. 
 Thus it was that on that very spot that, for the first time, 
 three hundred years ago, on the North American coast, 
 the flag of a civilized colony might be seen by the ap- 
 proaching mariner. But this first French colony did not 
 flourish, and after sending out another to the same locality, 
 the French, in 1567, gave up all idea of making settle- 
 ments. 
 
 o o o Early in the seventeenth century Lord 
 Cardross led a colony from Scotland, and settled in Port 
 Royal ; but this place, claiming, from an agreement with 
 the Lords Proprietaries, co-ordinate authority with the Gov- 
 ernor and Grand Council of Charleston, it was compelled, 
 with circumstances of outrage, to acknowledge submission. 
 Settlement, however, does not seem to have progressed 
 very rapidly, for in a tract, entitled, 'A New Description, of 
 that Fertile and Pleasant Province of Carolina, by John Archdale, 
 Governor of the same, 1767,' the following passage occurs : 
 ' The principal place is Port Royal please God it may be 
 sealed with English and Scots in a considerable body, 
 because it is a bold port, and also a frontier upon the 
 Spaniard at Augustine. The Scots did, about twenty 
 years since, begin a settlement with about ten families, 
 but were distressed by the Spaniards. Oh ! how might 
 the Scots, that go now as Switzers to serve foreign nations, 
 how might they, I say, strengthen our American colonies, 
 and increase the trade of Great Britain, and enrich them- 
 selves at home and abroad !' In 1670, William Sayle was 
 sent out as governor, and in his letter of instructions he 
 was told to ' cause all the people of Port Royal to swear 
 allegiance to our sovereign lord the King, and subscribe 
 fidelity to the proprietors and the form of government 
 established by them.' 
 
 ' ' The town of Beaufort was founded about 1 700. It 
 was called Beauford, in honor of Prince Henry, Duke of 
 Beauford, Lord Palatine. It is thus described just a cen- 
 tury ago : ' Beaufort is the next most considerable place, 
 though a small town, pleasantly situated on the south side 
 of a sea island, named Port Royal, from its harbor, which 
 is capacious and safe, and into which ships of a large size 
 may sail.' 
 
 " Sir Charles Ly ell, in his ' Travels in the United States,' 
 says : 
 
 " 'Beaufort, a picturesque town composed of an assem- 
 blage of villas, the summer residences of numerous plant- 
 ers, who retire here during the hot season, when the 
 interior of South Carolina is unhealthy for the whites. 
 Each villa is shaded by a verandah, surrounded by live 
 oaks and orange trees. ' ' ' 
 
604 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 metto logs, stood upon a sand- spit jut- 
 ting out from the island. On the front, 
 toward the sea, was a lunette, mounting 
 twelve guns, to the right of which was a 
 small salient with three, and to the left 
 a small redan with two guns. A wide 
 swamp gave a natural defence to the 
 rear, and an artificial ditch, with a stock- 
 ade, protected the front. The armament 
 of the fort was sixteen guns in all, con- 
 sisting of eight thirty-two pounders en 
 barbette, one ten-inch columbiad for shell, 
 one eleven-inch columbiad, two twenty- 
 four pounders with smooth bores, one 
 twenty-four pounder rifled, and three 
 forty-two pounder guns in casemates. 
 A large magazine for ammunition was 
 constructed within the works, and an ex- 
 tensive wooden barrack outside, in the 
 rear. The garrison was computed to 
 amount to about five hundred men. 
 
 On the left of the entrance of Port 
 Royal, on going in, there was Fort 
 Walker. This was built upon a bluff 
 eight feet high, on the island of Hilton 
 Head. It was a regular work, with 
 bastions and curtains, and required 
 three months of negro labor to con- 
 struct. Its position commanded the Port 
 Royal entrance and the approach to the 
 town of Beaufort by the Beaufort River. 
 The enemy had mounted it with twenty- 
 three guns, of excellent workmanship 
 and great range. There were two ten- 
 inch shell guns, one thirty-two pounder 
 rifle cannon,* ten eight-inch columbiads, 
 and three twenty-four pounders. On 
 
 On this there was found the inscription, "Presented 
 to Brigadier-General Beauregard, by his friends in England, 
 in haste." 
 
 the land side, there was a redan crossing 
 the entrance to the fort upon which the 
 three twenty-four pounders were mount- 
 ed ; the rest of the cannon were all en 
 barbette, arranged on carriages of the 
 most approved construction. A ditch, 
 fifteen feet wide and ten deep, protected 
 with stockades, surrounded the work. 
 Traverses and covered ways had been 
 added to secure the garrison from ex- 
 posure, and a shelter provided as a cover 
 for sharpshooters. Three magazines had 
 been built and filled with ammunition, 
 several wells dug, containing a good sup- 
 ply of water, and every possible pro- 
 vision for the large garrison, said to 
 number no less than thirteen hundred 
 men. 
 
 When the first intelligence was re- 
 ceived at the North, through the enemy's 
 reports, of the disastrous effects of the 
 storm upon the " Great Armada," and 
 its subsequent attack in a crippled con- 
 dition upon the formidable defences at 
 Port Royal, there was great anxiety as 
 to the result. A suspense for several 
 days ensued, during which rumors still 
 came from the enemy of disaster to the 
 expedition. A dispatch-boat finally ar- 
 rived with authentic statements, which 
 disclosed the joyful intelligence of the 
 success of the great enterprise. The 
 fleet had, indeed, been exposed to a se- 
 vere storm on the third day after sailing, 
 off the coast of Hatteras. The vessels 
 had been scattered ; some had been 
 forced to return to Fortress Monroe ; 
 some had been driven ashore, and all 
 had been battered and much delayed by 
 the gale. A victory, however, had, in 
 
REPORT OF DUPONT. 
 
 605 
 
 spite of these disasters, crowned the per- 
 severance and skill of the resolute naval 
 chief, Commodore Dupont, to whose 
 spirit, unappalled by misfortune, the 
 glorious success of the enterprise was 
 mainly due. His direct and modest 
 official report contains the best account 
 of his plan of operations and its success- 
 ful accomplishment : 
 
 " From the reconnoissance of the 5th 
 November we were led," says Dupont, 
 " to believe that the forts on Bay Point 
 and Hilton Head were armed with more 
 than twenty guns each, of the heaviest 
 calibre and longest range, and were well 
 constructed and well manned ; but that 
 the one on Hilton Head was the strongest. 
 The distance between them is two and 
 two-tenths nautical miles too great to 
 admit of their being advantageously en- 
 gaged at the same time, except at long 
 shot. I resolved, therefore, to under- 
 take the reduction of Hilton Head or, 
 as I shall hereafter call it, Fort Walker 
 first, i\nd afterward to turn my atten- 
 tion to Fort Beauregard, the fort on Bay 
 Point. 
 
 " The greater part of the guns of Fort 
 Walker were presented upon two water 
 fronts, and the flanks were but slightly 
 guarded, especially on the north, on 
 which side the approach of an enemy 
 had not been looked for. 
 
 "A fleet of the enemy, consisting of 
 seven steamers, armed, but to what ex- 
 tent I was not informed further than that 
 they carried rifled guns, occupied the 
 northern portion of the harbor, and 
 stretched along from the mouth of Beau- 
 fort River to Skull Creek. It was high 
 
 water on the 7th inst. at 11.35 A.M. by 
 the tables of the Coast Survey. 
 
 " These circumstances, the superiority 
 of Fort Walker and its weakness on the 
 northern flank, the presence of the rebel 
 fleet, and the flood-tide of the morning, 
 decided the plan of attack and the order 
 of battle. 
 
 " The order of bat% comprised a main 
 squadron, ranged in a line ahead, and a 
 flanking squadron, which was to be 
 thrown off on the northern section of 
 the harbor to engage the enemy's flotilla, 
 and prevent them raking the rear ships 
 of the main line, when it turned to the 
 southward, or cutting off a disabled 
 vessel. 
 
 " The main squadron consisted of the 
 frigate Wabash, Commander C. K. P. 
 Rogers, the leading ship ; the frigate 
 Susquehannah, Captain J. S. Lardner ; 
 the sloop Mohican, Commander S. W. 
 Gordon ; the sloop Seminole, Command- 
 er J. P. Gillis ; the sloop Pawnee, Lieu- 
 tenant-Commanding R. L. C. Wyrnan ; 
 the gun-boat Unadilla, Lieutenant-Com- 
 manding J. H. Stevens ; the gun-boat 
 Pembina, Lieutenant-Commanding J. P. 
 Bankhead ; and the sailing sloop Yan- 
 dalia, Commander F. S. Haggerty, towed 
 by the Isaac Smith, Lieutenant-Com- 
 manding W. A. Nicholson. 
 
 ' ' The flanking squadron consisted of 
 the gun-boat Bienville, Commander 
 Charles Stedman, the leading ship ; the 
 gun-boat Seneca, Lieutenant-Command- 
 ing Daniel Ammen ; the gun-boat Curlew, 
 Lieutenant-Commanding P. G. Wat- 
 mough ; the gun-boat Penguin, Lieu- 
 tenant-Commanding P. A. Budd ; and 
 
606 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the gun-boat Augusta, Commander E. 
 Gr. Parrott, the closing ship of that line. 
 
 "The plan of attack was to pass up 
 midway between Forts Walker and 
 Beauregard, receiving and returning the 
 fire of both to a certain distance, about 
 two and half miles north of the latter. 
 At that point the line was to turn to the 
 south round by tbe west, and close in 
 with Fort Walker, encountering it on its 
 weakest flank, and at the same time en- 
 filading in nearly a direct line its two 
 water faces. While standing to the 
 southward the vessels of the line were 
 to tide, which kept them under com- 
 mand, while tho rate of going was**di- 
 minished. 
 
 "When abreast of the fort the engine 
 was to be slowed and the movement re- 
 duced to only as much as would be just 
 sufficient to overcome the tide, to pre- 
 serve the order of battle by passing the 
 batteries in slow succession, and to avoid 
 becoming a fixed mark for the enemy's 
 fire. On reaching the extremity of Hil- 
 ton Head, and the shoal ground making 
 off from it, the line was to turn to the 
 north by the east, and, passing to the 
 northward, to engage Fort Walker with 
 the port battery, nearer than when first 
 on the same course. These evolutions 
 were to be repeated. * * * 
 
 " The captains of the ships had been 
 called on board and instructed as to the 
 general formation of the lines and their 
 own respective places. 
 
 " At 8 o'clock the signal was made to 
 
 Nov. g e t under way. At 8.10 the ship, 
 
 ? riding to the flood, tripped her 
 
 anchor, and at 8.30 the ship turned and 
 
 was headed in for the forts. At 9 o'clock 
 the signal was made for 'close order. 7 
 At 9.26 the action commenced by a gun 
 from Fort Walker, immediately followed 
 by another from Fort Beauregard. This 
 was answered at once from this ship and 
 immediately after from the Susquehan- 
 nah. At 10 o'clock the leading ship of 
 the line turned to the southward and 
 made signal to the Yandalia, which ship, 
 in tow of the Isaac Smith, was dropping 
 astern, and was exposed, without sup- 
 port, to the fire of Fort Beauregard, to 
 join company. At 10.15 the signal was 
 made for closer action, the Wabash slowly 
 passed Fort Walker at distance, when 
 abreast of 800 yards. At 11 o'clock 
 the signal was made to get into the 
 preserve stations, and at 11.15 to fol- 
 low the motions of the Commander-in- 
 chief. 
 
 " Standing to the northward, * * * 
 the ship's head was again turned to the 
 southward, and she passed the guns of 
 Fort Walker at a distance less than 600 
 yards. (The sights were adjusted to 
 550 yards.) At 11.30 the enemy's flag 
 was shot away. 
 
 "The second fire with the starboard 
 guns of the Wabash and of Captain 
 Lardner in the Susquehannah, my second 
 in command, who always kept so near as 
 to give me the entire support of his 
 formidable battery, seems, at this short 
 distance, to have discomfited the enemy. 
 Its effect was increased by the shells 
 thrown from the smaller vessels at the 
 enfilading point. It was evident that 
 the enemy's fire was becoming much less 
 frequent, and finally it was kept up at 
 
CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL. 
 
 607 
 
 such long intervals and with so few guns 
 as to be of little consequence. 
 
 "After the Wabash and Susquehan- 
 nah had passed to the northward, and 
 given the fort the fire of their port bat- 
 tery the third time, the enemy had en- 
 tirely ceased to reply and the battle was 
 ended. 
 
 " At 1.15 the Ottawa signalled that the 
 works at Hilton Head were abandoned. 
 This information was, a few minutes later, 
 repeated by the Pembina. As soon as 
 the starboard guns of this ship and the 
 Susquehannah had been brought to bear 
 a third time upon Fort Walker, I sent 
 Commander John Rodgers on shore with 
 a flag of truce. The hasty flight of the 
 enemy was visible, and was reported 
 from the tops. At 2.20 Captain Rodgers 
 hoisted the flag of the Union over the 
 deserted post. At 2.45 I anchored, and 
 sent Commander C. R. P. Rodgers on 
 shore with the marines and a party of 
 seamen to take possession, and prevent, 
 if necessary, the destruction of public 
 property. 
 
 " The transports now got under way, 
 and came up rapidly, and by nightfall 
 Brigadier-General Wright's brigade had 
 landed and entered upon the occupation 
 of the ground. 
 
 ' ' I have said in the beginning of this 
 report that the plan of attack designed 
 making the reduction of Fort Walker the 
 business of the day. In passing to the 
 northward, however, we had improved 
 every opportunity of firing at long range 
 upon Fort Beauregard. As soon as the 
 fate of Fort Walker was decided, I dis- 
 patched a small squadron to Fort Beau- 
 
 regard to reconnoitre and ascertain its 
 condition, and to prevent the rebel 
 steamers returning to carry away either 
 persons or property. 
 
 " Near sunset it was discovered that 
 the flag upon this fort was hauled down, 
 and that the fort was apparently aban- 
 doned. 
 
 " At sunrise the next day the Ameri- 
 can ensign was hoisted on the flagstaff 
 of Fort Beauregard by Lieutenant-Com- 
 manding Ammen. 
 
 "The Pocahontas, Commander Perci- 
 val Drayton, had suffered from the gale 
 of Friday night so badly as not to be 
 able to enter Port Royal until the morn- 
 ing of the 7th. He reached the scene 
 of action about 12 o'clock, and rendered 
 gallant service by engaging the batteries 
 on both sides in succession." 
 
 The whole loss of the Unionists was 
 eight killed and twenty-three wounded. 
 
 The enemy sought to console them- 
 selves under defeat by undervaluing the 
 importance of their loss, and over-esti- 
 mating the spirit of their resistance.* 
 
 il The battle of Port Royal will be remembered," says a 
 writer in the Charleston Courier, " as one of the best fought 
 and best conducted battles which have signalized the war 
 in which we are engaged. If General Ripley had been ap- 
 pointed a general in command two months sooner, every- 
 thing would have been in a better state of preparation 
 But these two previous months were wasted in doing 
 nothing for our defence. Within the time left for him, 
 General Ripley did all that untiring energy and skill could 
 accomplish, to put our coast in a state of preparation. 
 The two islands of Hilton Head and Bay Point, with their 
 extreme limits, constitute the two points which guard the 
 entrance to Port Royal Sound, about three miles in width. 
 On these two points forts were erected Fort Walker on 
 Hilton Head, and Fort Beauregard on Bay Point The 
 time we possessed enabled us to make them only earth- 
 works, without any protection from shells or bombs. 
 
 ' ' The island of Hilton Head was commanded by Gen- 
 eral Drayton. The officers immediately superintending the 
 
608 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 " Our troops," said a writer in the 
 Charleston Courier, " did their duty faith- 
 fully and bravely, and fought until to 
 
 artillery and conducting the fire of Fort Walker were 
 Colonel Wagener, Major Arthur Huger, and Captain Yates, 
 of the regular service, especially detailed by General Kip- 
 ley to aid in directing the artillery. Colonel Dunovant 
 commanded at Fort Beauregard, hut he generally allowed 
 Captain Elliott, of the Beaufort artillery, to direct and con- 
 duct the batteries of the fort. The day was beautiful 
 calm and clear, with scarcely a cloud in the heavens just 
 such a day as our invaders would have ordained, if they 
 could, to carry on their operations. In such a sketch of 
 the battle as, amid the excitement and the thousands of 
 baseless rumors, we are enabled to present to our readers, 
 a brief review of the earlier events of the memorable day 
 will not be uninteresting. 
 
 " The great fleet of the enemy passed our bar on Sunday, 
 the 3d inst., and on the following day was anchored off 
 Port Royal entrance. About five o'clock on Monday after- 
 noon, Commodore Tatnall, with his ' mosquito fleet,' ran 
 out from the harbor, and made the first hostile demonstra- 
 tion. The immense armada of the invaders, numbering 
 at that time thirty- six vessels, was drawn up in line of 
 battle, and as our little flotilla steamed up to within a mile 
 of them and opened its fire, the scene was an inspiring one, 
 but almost ludicrous in the disparity of the opposing fleet. 
 The enemy replied to our fire almost immediately. After 
 an exchange of some twenty shots Commodore Tatnall re- 
 tired, and was not pursued. 
 
 "About seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, several of 
 the largest Yankee war steamers having come within range, 
 the batteries of Forts Walker and Beauregard were opened, 
 and the steamers threw a number of shells in over our 
 works, inflicting no damage on Fort Walker, and but 
 slightly wounding two of the garrison of Fort Beauregard. 
 This engagement lasted, with short intervals, for nearly 
 two hours, when the enemy drew off. The steamers made 
 a similar but shorter reconnoissance on Wednesday even- 
 ing, but without any important results. On the next day 
 the weather was rough, and the fleet lay at anchor five or 
 six miles from shore. During the day several straggling 
 transports came up, swelling the number of vessels to 
 forty-one. All Tuesday night, and all day Wednesday and 
 Wednesday night, our men stood at their guns, moment- 
 arily expecting an attack, and receiving only such scanty 
 rest and refreshment as chance afforded. 
 
 ' ' Thursday dawned gloriously upon our wearied but un- 
 daunted gunners, and all felt that the day of trial had at 
 last arrived. Scarcely had breakfast been dispatched, 
 when the hostile fleet was observed in commotion. The 
 great war steamers formed rapidly in single file, and with- 
 in supporting distance of each other, the frigate Wabash, 
 the flag-ship of Commodore Dupont, in the van. As the 
 long line of formidable-looking vessels, thirteen in num- 
 
 fight longer would have been sheer folly. 
 Though encountering immense odds, no 
 signs of cowardice marked their conduct. 
 
 ber, most of them powerful propellers, with a few sailing 
 men-of-war in tow, swept rapidly and majestically in, with 
 ports open, and bristling with guns of the heaviest calibre, 
 the sight was grand and imposing. This was at half-past 
 eight o'clock. Until the Wabash came within the range 
 of and directly opposite our batteries on Hilton Head, all 
 was still. Suddenly the fifteen heavy guns of Fort Walker, 
 which had been aimed directly at the huge frigate, belched 
 forth their simultaneous fire, and the action was begun. 
 
 " Almost immediately afterward, the batteries of Fort 
 Beauregard, on the other side of the entrance, also opened 
 their fire. The enemy at first did not reply ; but as the 
 second steamer came opposite to Fort Walker, the hulls 
 of the first three were suddenly wrapped in smoke, and 
 the shot and shell of three tremendous broadsides, making 
 in all seventy-five guns, came crashing against our works. 
 
 "From this moment the bombardment was incessant 
 and terrific ; one by one the propellers bore down upon 
 our forts, delivered their fire as they passed, until nine 
 had gained the interior of the harbor, beyond the range 
 of our guns. The Minnesota, still followed by the others, 
 then turned round and steamed slowly out, giving a broad- 
 side to Fort Beauregard as she repassed. Then the battle 
 was continued, the enemy's vessels sailing in an elliptical 
 course, pouring one broadside into Bay Point, and then 
 sweeping around to deliver the other against Hilton Head. 
 This furious fire from 400 guns, many of them the eleven- 
 inch Dahlgren pattern, and some even thirteen-inch bore 
 (for a sabot of that diameter was found in Fort Beaure- 
 gard), was maintained incessantly, and the roar of the 
 cannonade seemed continuous. 
 
 " Meanwhile our garrisons were making a gallant de- 
 fence. They kept up a vigorous and well-directed fire 
 against their assailants, and, notwithstanding that their 
 best gun was dismounted at the beginning of the action, 
 they succeeded in setting fire to several of the ships. 
 Whenever this happened, however, the enemy would haul 
 off and soon extinguish the flames. The effect of our 
 guns was in many instances plainly visible from the forts. 
 Although the sides of the Wabash are of massive strength, 
 several of her ports were knocked into one. Nor was she 
 the only vessel upon which this evidence of the power of 
 our fire could be seen. Many of the other steamers were 
 likewise badly hulled. 
 
 " After some time spent in sailing round and delivering 
 their broadsides in rotation, in the manner we have de- 
 scribed, the enemy's steamers adopted another and more 
 successful plan of attack. One of them took a position 
 inside the harbor, so as to enfilade the batteries of Fort 
 Walker, while several opened a simultaneous enfilading 
 fire from the outside. Besides this terrific cross-fire, two 
 of the largest steamers maintained the fire in front of the 
 
CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL. 
 
 609 
 
 Officers and soldiers exemplified the an- 
 cient character of the State, and deserve 
 
 fort. Thus three various converging streams of shot and 
 shell were rained amongst the brave little garrison for 
 hours. The vessels came up within a half mile of the 
 shore, but nearly all our guns had by this time become 
 dismounted, and were no longer able to reply with serious 
 effect. 
 
 "Soon after eleven o'clock, the batteries of Bay Point 
 were silenced. The fire of Fort Walker, as far as the guns 
 that remained were concerned, was not a whit slackened 
 until one o'clock. By that time the dreadful condition of 
 the fort became too apparent to be disregarded longer. 
 The guns lay in every direction, dismantled and useless ; 
 the defences were terribly shattered, the-dead and dying 
 were to be seen on every side, and still the iron balls 
 poured pitilessly in. 
 
 " In this strait it was determined to abandon the fort. 
 A long waste, about a mile in extent, and commanded by 
 the enemy's guns, intervened between the garrison and 
 the woods. Across this they were ordered to run for their 
 lives, each man for himself, the object being to scatter 
 them as much as possible, so as not to afford a target for 
 the rifled guns of the fleet. 
 
 ''The preparations for running this terrible gauntlet 
 were soon made. Knapsacks were abandoned, but the 
 men retained their muskets. Each of the wounded was 
 placed in a blanket, and carried off by four men. The 
 safety of the living precluded the idea of removing the 
 dead. And thus the gallant little band quitted the scene 
 of their glory and scampered off, each one as best he could, 
 toward the woods. The retreat was covered by a small 
 detachment, who remained in the fort for an hour after 
 their comrades had left. Among those who remained 
 were Captain Harmes, with six men ; Lieutenant Milchers, 
 with four men ; and Lieutenant Bischoff, with four men. 
 These worked three guns until about two o'clock, when 
 they also quitted the post. 
 
 ' ' The abandonment of Fort Beauregard was equally a 
 necessity. The garrison were exhausted, and in momen- 
 tary danger of being cut off. When Colonel Dunovant 
 ordered a retreat, tears of mortification and indignation 
 filled the eyes of Captain Elliott at the sad necessity. The 
 retreat was admirably conducted, and rendered entirely 
 successful by the prudent energy of Captain Hancket, one 
 of General Ripley's aids, who had gotten together some 
 twelve flats at Station Creek, by which the troops passed 
 safely over to St. Helena Island. From there they passed 
 to Beaufort Island, and reached the train at Pocotaligo 
 without the loss or injury of a man. In this fort none 
 were killed, and but five were wounded ; and two of these 
 were wounded by negligence in loading a cannon, by which 
 hot shot was driven on the powder without the wet wad 
 preceding it. 
 
 ' ' The rest of the story is briefly told. Late Thursday 
 
 77 
 
 our profound gratitude and admira- 
 tion." 
 
 night the garrison of Fort Walker had collected at the 
 landing, in the hope of being able to reach Bluffton by 
 water. Luckily several Confederate steamers were within 
 hail. But here a ludicrous mistake occurred. The re- 
 treating troops imagined the little steamers to be Yankee 
 gun-boats, while the crews of the steamers were convinced 
 that the troops were a body of disembarked Yankees. 
 Acting upon this double delusion, a deal of mutual re- 
 connoitering was made, and it was only after a vast variety 
 of strategic approaches that they reached the conclusion 
 that it was 'all right.' A quick trip to Bluffton followed. 
 Thence the troops marched to Hardeeville, seventeen 
 miles distant. The road along which they dragged their 
 exhausted frames was filled with a heterogeneous throng 
 of fugitives of all conditions, carriages, carts, and convey- 
 ances, of every description, that could, by any possibility, 
 be pressed into service. The spectacle was a sad one. 
 
 "Thus ended the defence of Port Royal. The mortifi- 
 cation of the disaster is lessened by the consciousness that 
 our troops deserved success. 
 
 " What injury we did the enemy we do not know. Our 
 firing was, of course, less efficient than theirs. Our troops 
 were volunteers theirs were picked artillerists ; yet it is 
 very remarkable how very few were killed or wounded 
 amongst our troops. 
 
 The following memoranda found in the forts are interest- 
 ing, as developments of the spirit of our Southern enemy : 
 
 "November 5. Private Murdock, B. V. A., concussion 
 of the brain, slight. 
 
 "November 7. Private Crews, W. S. G., fore-arm and 
 arm torn off by hot shot accidentally. 
 
 "Amputation of the arm just below the anatomical 
 neck. 
 
 " Private Crews, W. S. G., fore-arm torn badly ; ampu- 
 tation. 
 
 ' ' The above are the wounded left behind in charge of 
 the enemy, and as they were not magnanimous enough to 
 spare these poor fellows from the wounds necessitating the, 
 above operations. I hope they will not prove themselves 
 doubly Goths and Vandals by neglecting them. 
 
 "E. B. TTJRNFOLD, Surgeon of Port," 
 
 "BAY POINT, Nov. 7, 1861. 
 
 "Five o'clock P.M. 12th Regiment S. C. V., November 
 7, 1861. 
 
 "I am compelled to leave some poor fellows who can 
 not be removed. Treat them kindly ; let your motto be, 
 
 ' ' After the other fort had fallen we preferred leaving 
 our untenable position to assist in establishing the South- 
 ern Confederacy to better purposes than we can in Fort 
 Lafayette. STEPHEN ELLIOTT, 
 
 "Colonel Com'g S. C. V., Fort Beauregard." 
 
610 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 The Expectations from the Expedition to Port Royal not realized. The Enemy prepared. The Troops unable to move 
 with advantage. Conciliatory Proclamation of General Sherman. Its reception by the people of South Carolina. 
 Welcome from the Negroes. Interviews with them. Various reports of the conduct of the Slaves. Plundering 
 and destruction by the Negroes. Devastation of Beaufort. Picturesqueness of the city. Tropical beauty. Aris- 
 tocratic luxury. Military order established in Beaufort. Negroes indisposed to labor. Cotton. How much 
 obtained. Activity of Commodore Dupont. Expedition to the Bay of St. Helena and Warsaw Sound. The 
 advantageous results. Occupation of Tybee Island. A circuitous route to Savannah. An unsuccessful attempt to 
 secure it. A combined movement of the Naval and Military Forces -at Port Royal. Its success. 
 
 1861. 
 
 SUCCESSFULLY as the great expedition 
 to Port Royal had been conducted, 
 it was not followed immediately by 
 the strategic consequences and moral 
 effects expected from it. South Caro- 
 lina and Georgia had been early pre- 
 pared for an invasion of their coasts, 
 and by an excessive strain upon their 
 resources had provided for their own 
 defence, without calling for such aid from 
 the Confederacy as to weaken, as was 
 fondly hoped, its military force on the 
 Potomac. Though the well-constructed 
 works at Port Royal had fallen before the 
 skilful attack of the naval portion of the 
 great expedition, the troops which had 
 been landed there were neither in num- 
 bers nor efficiency sufficiently strong to 
 venture immediately upon a march into 
 the interior, where the enemy had suc- 
 ceeded in mustering a formidable force 
 to oppose them. Although the Con- 
 federacy had left the States of Georgia 
 and Carolina to trust mainly to their own 
 efforts for protection, it had sent to them 
 one of its ablest officers, General Lee, 
 
 of Virginia, to direct the operations for 
 defence. He, accordingly, holding the 
 chief command, so placed his troops as 
 to secure the railroad communication 
 between Savannah and Charleston, and 
 constructed such hasty fortifications as 
 he hoped might check the progress of 
 the Federal gun-boats through the nu- 
 merous channels which led from the sea 
 into the interior. In spite of these 
 preparations, the formidable gun-boats, 
 as will be recorded, did succeed in ad- 
 vancing as far as the depth of those 
 shallow waters would allow, and swept 
 away all obstructions to their approach ; 
 but the Federal troops were forced to 
 remain for a long time encamped at the 
 island of Hilton Head, upon which they 
 had landed, and in occupation of the 
 forts they had taken, now respectively 
 called by the names of Welles and Sew- 
 ard, in honor of the secretaries of state 
 and the navy. 
 
 General Sherman sought by a concili- 
 atory appeal to the inhabitants to revive 
 their loyalty. In his " proclamation to 
 
HONEYED WORDS. 
 
 611 
 
 the people of South Carolina," he strove 
 with gentle words to bring them back to 
 the fold of the Union.* 
 
 "In obedience to the orders of the President of these 
 United States of America, I have landed on your shores, 
 with a small force of national troops. 
 
 " The dictates of a duty which, under the Constitution, 
 I owe to a great, sovereign State, and to a proud and hos- 
 pitable people, among whom I have passed some of the 
 pleasantest days of my life, prompt me to proclaim that 
 we have come amongst you with no feelings of personal 
 animosity, no design to harm your citizens, destroy your 
 property, or interfere with any of your lawful rights, or 
 your social and local institutions, beyond what the causes 
 herein briefly alluded to may render unavoidable. 
 
 " Citizens of South Carolina ! The civilized world stands 
 appalled at the course you are pursuing ; appalled at the 
 crime you are committing against your own mother the 
 best, the most enlightened, and heretofore the most pros- 
 perous of nations. You are in a state of active rebellion 
 against the laws of your country. You have lawlessly 
 seized upon the forts, arsenals, and other property belong- 
 ing to our common country, and within your own borders 
 with this property you are in arms and waging a ruthless 
 war against your constitutional government, and thus 
 threatening the existence of a government which you are 
 bound by the terms of the solemn compact to live under 
 and faithfully support. 
 
 " In doing this you are not only undermining and pre- 
 paring the way for totally ignoring your own political and 
 social existence, but you are threatening the civilized 
 world with the odious sentiment, that self-government is 
 impossible with civilized man. 
 
 "Fellow-citizens. I implore you to pause and reflect 
 upon the tenor and consequences of your acts. If the 
 awful sacrifices made by the destruction of your property, 
 the shedding of fraternal blood in battle, the mourning 
 and wailing of widows and orphans throughout our land 
 are insufficient to deter you from further pursuing this un- 
 holy war, then ponder, I beseech you, upon the ultimate, 
 but yet not less certain result which its further progress 
 must necessarily and naturally entail upon your once 
 happy and prosperous State. Indeed, can you pursue this 
 fratricidal war, and continue to imbrue your hands in the 
 loyal blood of your countrymen, your friends, your kins- 
 men, for no other object than to unlawfully disrupt the 
 confederacy of a great people a confederacy established 
 by your own hands in order to set up, were it possible, 
 an independent government, under which you can never 
 live in peace, prosperity, or quietness ? 
 
 " Carolinians, we have come among you as loyal men, 
 fully impressed with our constitutional obligations to the 
 citizens of your State. Those obligations shall be per- 
 formed as far as in our power. But be not deceived ; the 
 obligations of suppressing armed combinations against the 
 
 The reception of this document, as de- 
 scribed by an eye-witness, will illustrate 
 the spirit of the people to whom it was 
 addressed : 
 
 " Lieutenant Magner, of General Sher- 
 man's staff, accompanied by Dr. Bacon, 
 of the Seventh Connecticut, was detailed 
 by General Sherman this morning (No- 
 vember 13) to convey to the rebels, un- 
 der a flag of truce, his proclamation, 
 which was addressed to the loyal citizens 
 of South Carolina, inviting them to re- 
 turn to their homes and promising them 
 protection. The bearers of the flag were 
 sent to Beaufort in the gun-boat Seneca, 
 Captain Ammen, accompanied by the 
 Pernbina, Captain Bankhead, and the 
 Isaac Smith, Captain Nicholson. The 
 men were sent to quarters while going, 
 as an attack was looked for at any mo- 
 ment ; but the flotilla reached Beaufort 
 without any hostile demonstration being 
 made against it. The bearers of dis- 
 patches were placed ashore in the cutter 
 under a flag of truce, accompanied by a 
 negro, who was picked up while ascend- 
 ing the river, who, being acquainted with 
 the country, was to act as guide. Mules 
 were found, and, led by the negro, they 
 proceeded into the country, and after 
 penetrating about ten miles they were 
 met by a Rev. Mr. Walker, a Baptist 
 clergyman, formerly of Beaufort. To 
 their inquiries whether there were any 
 
 constitutional authorities is paramount to all others. If 
 in the performance of this duty other minor but important 
 obligations should be neglected, it must be attributed to 
 the necessities of the case; because rights dependent on 
 the laws of the State must be necessarily subordinate to 
 military exigences, created by insurrection and rebellion. 
 
 "T. W. SHERMAN, Brig.-Gen. Com'g. 
 " HEADQUARTERS, E. C., PORT ROYAL, S. C., Nov. 8, 1861." 
 
612 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 rebel camps in the vicinity, he informed 
 them that the camps they were looking 
 after were a number of miles off, and 
 advised them not to proceed farther, as 
 he did not deem it prudent or safe. They 
 were not quite satisfied with the inform- 
 ation he gave, as his conduct was some- 
 what suspicious, and they inquired of 
 the negro guide as to the distance. He 
 informed them that it was about half a 
 mile farther on. They concluded to pro- 
 ceed. They had gone about half a mile 
 when they were met by two rebel offi- 
 cers, one of whom bore a white hand- 
 kerchief upon an oar, which they had 
 brought from a small boat in a creek 
 close by, in which they had evidently 
 come. They proved to be a first lieu- 
 tenant and a second lieutenant from a 
 Charleston company. 
 
 "The object of the mission was ex^ 
 plained by the bearers of the flag, and 
 they were politely informed that there 
 were no loyal citizens in South Carolina, 
 and that their mission was fruitless." 
 
 There was another class of inhabit- 
 ants, however, the negro slaves, who 
 were more ready to welcome the repre- 
 sentatives of a powerful government, 
 which they, in their innocent ignorance 
 of constitutional obligations and political 
 expedients, seemed to believe had thus 
 presented itself, in its might and benef- 
 icence, to set them free. When they 
 observed the landing of the troops, they 
 flocked along the banks in great num- 
 bers, some bringing parcels and bundles, 
 as if expecting the soldiers to take them 
 at once to a home of freedom. " Every 
 variety of negro and slave was repre- 
 
 sented," wrote a correspondent to a jour- 
 nal* whose sympathy, it is needless to 
 say, is rather with the slave than his 
 master. "I say negro and slave, for it 
 is a melancholy fact that some slaves are 
 apparently as white as their masters, and 
 as intelligent. Darkies of genuine Congo 
 physiques and darkies of the genuine 
 Uncle Tom pattern darkies young and 
 jubilant darkies middle-aged and eager 
 and gray-haired, solemn-looking fel- 
 lows some appeared mystified, and 
 some intelligent the quadroon and the 
 octoroon, possessing an undistinguish- 
 able tint of negro blood, mingled one 
 drop with seven of Southern nativity 
 and ancient family, formed, to speak 
 mildly, an interesting scene. 
 
 " As fast as the contraband article came 
 within reach, it was placed in the guard- 
 house, an old frame building behind Fort 
 Walker. Here quite a collection was 
 made. They were huddling together, 
 half in fear and half in hope, when a 
 naval officer of the Bienville looked in 
 upon them asking, ' Well, well, what are 
 you all about ?' 
 
 " ' Dat's just what we'd like to find 
 out, mas'r,' was the response. 
 
 " The officer assured them that they 
 would be kindly taken care of, and, per- 
 haps found something to do, and need 
 not be alarmed. 
 
 " 'Tank God for dat, mas'r,' was the 
 reply. 
 
 " On drawing them into conversation, 
 they said that they caught a great deal 
 of fish in Port Royal harbor, fishing at 
 night, after the plantation work was 
 
 New York Tribune. 
 
THE NEGROES AT PORT ROYAL. 
 
 613 
 
 over. Two slaves were found recon- 
 noitring about on their own account, 
 and on being brought into camp, ex- 
 plained that they belonged to Mrs. Pinck- 
 ney, of Charleston, and came down to 
 ' see what de white people were all about.' 
 They said that the white people all ran 
 away when the ships came up, crying, 
 'Great God! Great God! Great God! 
 the Yankees are coming ; fire the boats.' 
 Other slaves reported that ' when the 
 white folks see the little boats coming 
 up, dey laffed at dem, but when dey see 
 de big checker-sided vessels comin', dey 
 laffed on de oder side der moufs.' ' 
 
 The correspondent of another news- 
 paper, equally uniform in its advocacy 
 of the rights of freedom, wrote : 
 
 " Early in the morning after the vic- 
 tory, the plantation negroes began to 
 come into camp, and with the genuine 
 African instinct for trade, each had pro- 
 vided himself with a turkey, a shoulder 
 of bacon, or two shoulders and a brace 
 of hams in the shape of a struggling 
 porker, which he bore kicking and squeal- 
 ing under his arm. It was amusing to 
 see the pertinacity with which the fellows 
 would cling to their prize, even while 
 waiting to be questioned under guard of 
 a file of soldiers. The instant one was 
 spoken to, the bit of a wide-awake, or 
 the rimless crown of straw which did 
 duty as a hat, would be jerked off with 
 characteristic obsequiousness, the negro 
 stand scraping and bowing, answering 
 meanwhile his catechism as well as he 
 could with the noisy and struggling beast 
 distracting his attention. 
 
 " Several who came in brought wagons 
 
 loaded with knapsacks and other accou- 
 trements, which they had picked up on 
 the way. All seemed ready to work, 
 and those who were so fortunate as to 
 have possessed themselves of some stray 
 horse or a pair of plantation mules, found 
 abundant occupation. 
 
 '* Our troops were accompanied in 
 their first reconnoissance into the island 
 by Dr. J. J. Craven, of the third brigade, 
 who reports the negroes on the planta- 
 tions farther inland as almost wild with 
 delight at the advent of our troops and 
 the hasty flight of their masters, which 
 they described with the utmost gusto. 
 
 " ' Lord ! massa,' said one, ' we're 
 so glad to see you. We'se prayed and 
 prayed the good Lord that he would send 
 yer Yankees, and we knowed you'se was 
 coming.' 
 
 " ' How could you know that ?' asked 
 Dr. Craven. ' You can't read the paper ; 
 how did you get the news ?' 
 
 "'No, massa, we'se can't read, but 
 we'se can listen. Massa and missus used 
 to read, and sometimes they'se would 
 read loud, and then we would listen so' 
 making an expressive gesture indica- 
 tive of close attention at a key-hole. 
 ' When I'se get a chance I'se would list'n, 
 and Jim him would list'n, and we put 
 the bits together, and we knowed the 
 Yankees were coming. Bless the Lord, 
 massa." 
 
 "Another stout fellow asserted that 
 the good Lord had appeared to him in 
 the shape of a ' Yankee,' who assured 
 him that his hour of deliverance was at 
 hand. The poor, trusting creatures never 
 seemed to question that a war which 
 
614 
 
 THE WAR \VITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 they had heard was all about them must 
 mean their deliverance from a bondage 
 with which they do not seern to have 
 been sufficiently in love to follow the for- 
 tunes of their fleeing masters. A driver's 
 whip which was picked up, and which 
 the correspondent of the Evening Post 
 now has in his possession, was shown 
 one of them, and he was asked if he 
 knew what it was. 
 
 " ' Golly, massa !' said the negro, with 
 a suspicious, sidelong look at the familiar 
 whip he saw raised aloft, ' Guess dis nig- 
 ger knows what dat dere is,' and he pro- 
 ceeded to explain the use to which it was 
 applied. 
 
 ' ' When some doubt was expressed as 
 to the negro statements in regard to 
 number, one of them answered : 
 
 " ' We can't read, but we can count.' 
 " 'How did you learn to count?' 
 '"Picking cotton, massa. We'se all 
 got to count when we pick cotton, mas- 
 sa.' " 
 
 The negroes whom their masters had 
 left behind in their hasty .retreat from 
 their plantations and homes, were for the 
 most part disposed to consider the inva- 
 sion as the opportunity for license, and 
 seemed to have no idea of orderly free- 
 dom. The beautiful town of Beaufort,* 
 
 A newspaper correspondent gives the following ac- 
 count of Beaufort and the ravages committed by the 
 negroes : 
 
 "Beaufort is a beautiful little village of 2,000 inhabit- 
 ants, laid out with some regularity, with broad streets, fine- 
 ly shaded by trees of patriarchal growth, whose branches 
 frequently interlace above, forming a shady bower, and 
 protecting from the almost tropical sun pleasant walks 
 and avenues. The houses are mostly of two stories, with 
 a wide verandah in front, well shaded, and surrounded by 
 gardens filled with rare flowers and plants, which exhale 
 most delightful odors. Here we found in November roses 
 
 a chosen resort of the wealthy possess- 
 ors of the rich plantations of rice and 
 Sea Island cotton, became a scene of de- 
 vastation. Its broad avenues, border- 
 ed by trees of ancient growth, whose 
 branches interlaced and formed a shade 
 impenetrable by the rays of an almost 
 tropical sun ; its luxurious houses, shut 
 out from light and curiosity by vine- 
 covered verandahs and groves of orange 
 and lemon, and surrounded by gardens 
 of tropical plants and fruits which, in 
 a region where roses blossom in Novem- 
 ber, grow luxuriantly in the open air 
 made Beaufort a place of great attrac- 
 tion. To these external beauties was 
 added that interior charm of social re- 
 in full bloom, and golden oranges and lemons gleaming 
 among the green leaves. Indeed, nearly all the fruits of 
 the tropics can be grown in the open air in this lovely cli- 
 mate. But in spite of all the beauties of nature, the pro- 
 fusion of fruits, the wealth of flowers, and the elegant 
 residences of cultivated people, there was something in- 
 expressibly melancholy about the village. On every hand 
 we saw signs of the hasty flight of the inhabitants, and 
 much more plain were the indications of the wanton de- 
 struction and ruthless plundering of houses by the slaves. 
 It was too evident that their barbarous instincts had, for 
 the time being, full sway. The village had felt their 
 savage hands close at its very throat. With none to hin- 
 der or stop them, they held a perfect saturnalia for a day, 
 and made the quiet streets of the village ring with their 
 savage cries and wild orgies. The two remaining whites, 
 trembling for their lives, kept close within their houses, 
 and escaped being victims of the negroes' revenge. Five 
 or six negroes had been shot by the whites because they 
 refused to seek the woods with them. This maddened 
 and infuriated the negroes to a pitch of frenzy that made 
 them greedy for any act of retaliation, and murder would 
 have been committed by them had not the whites kept 
 out of the way. Captain Bankhead, of the Pembina, and 
 the commander of the Unadilla, checked in a measure their 
 excesses. But the work had been nearly completed before 
 their arrival. While we passed through the streets we 
 saw groups of slaves men, women, and children some 
 from a distance, who had been engaged in plunder, as 
 many of them had the plunder with them. They were 
 ordered to disgorge, and obliged to place it where they 
 stole it from." 
 
THE HAVOC AT BEAUFORT. 
 
 615 
 
 fmement which a long-established society 
 of persons of wealth and culture alone 
 can give to their homes. Such was the 
 place which, abandoned by its white in- 
 habitants, had fallen into the hands of 
 the negroes, whose barbarous instincts, 
 no longer restrained, converted the 
 abodes of refined tranquillity and lux- 
 ury into scenes of brutal revelry and 
 reckless waste. 
 
 Beaufort, however, was soon wrested 
 from the negroes by the Federal troops, 
 and military order substituted for bar- 
 barous license. Though a rude soldiery 
 may not be ordinarily desirable as occu- 
 pants of a well-ordered home, the lordly 
 inhabitants of Beaufort have reason to 
 congratulate themselves that their abodes 
 are no longer in the keeping of their own 
 servants, of whose fidelity they were 
 wont to boast. 
 
 Though the negroes flocked about the 
 camps to the number of some four or 
 five thousand, and seemed in the best 
 humor possible with the new-comers, 
 they showed but little disposition to 
 work for them. It was difficult to pre- 
 vail upon them to gather the cotton 
 which w T hitened the fertile plantations 
 of Beaufort ; they preferred, now that 
 they were no longer in dread of the 
 overseer's lash, to luxuriate in the spoils 
 of their absent masters' dwellings, or to 
 carry on a small and not laborious huck- 
 stering trade with the camps, where they 
 were fond of lingering within sound of 
 the drum and within sight of the mili- 
 tary trappings which charmed their bar- 
 barous tastes. A few hundred bales of 
 cotton were gathered, shipped and sold 
 
 in New York for the benefit of the Gov- 
 ernment. The planters themselves, how- 
 ever, at every advance of the Federal 
 force from the sea, as they abandoned 
 their plantations, burned their rich har- 
 vests, and thus diminished the expected 
 trophies of cotton. 
 
 Though the troops made little prog- 
 ress, the fleet, under the energetic com- 
 mand of Commodore Dupont, was act- 
 ive. Expeditions were sent to secure 
 possession of the Bay of St. Helena, to 
 the north of Port Royal, and of War- 
 saw Island, near the entrance from the 
 sea to Savannah.* 
 
 The result of these expeditions is stated in the official 
 reports of their respective commanders addressed to Com- 
 modore Dupont Commander Rodgers, who commanded 
 the expedition to Warsaw Island, reported as follows : 
 
 " UNITED STATES FLAG-SHIP WABASH, i 
 " POKT ROYAL HARBOR, S. C., Dec. 6, 1861. j 
 
 ' ' SIR : On yesterday morning I left Tybee Roads before 
 daylight with the steamers Ottawa, Seneca, and Pembina, 
 and crossed the bar of Warsaw Sound at half- tide, not hav- 
 ing less than eighteen feet of water upon it. 
 
 " We approached the fort on Warsaw Island within a 
 mile, and seeing neither guns nor men, we did not fire, 
 but I sent Lieutenant Barnes to it with a white flag. He 
 found it an inclosed octagonal work, with platforms for 
 eight guns on the water faces. The land forces were pro- 
 tected by abatis. The work was well intrenched. The 
 guns had been removed, the platforms cut, and the mag- 
 azine blown up. From the freshness of the foot-prints 
 and other signs, it appeared to have been abandoned very 
 recently. Adjoining the fort are huts or sheds for a large 
 garrison. Some lumber and bricks remain ; everything 
 else had been carried away. 
 
 "We immediately pushed on to Cabbage Island, where 
 we had been led to look for another battery, but there 
 was nothing of the kind there. We went to the mouth 
 of the creek, through the Romilly Marsh, and to the 
 mouth of Wilmington River. 
 
 " From the mouth of Wilmington River we observed a 
 battery, bearing from us about north-west by west half 
 west, and distant about three miles. It is on the river, 
 and just above a house with a red cupola, which is one of 
 the Coast Survey points of triangulation, and is about ten 
 miles from Savannah. Between the house and the fort 
 was a large encampment, but we could not count the 
 tents. We counted five guns, apparently of large calibre 
 
616 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 The results of these expeditions would 
 be, it was supposed, of great advantage 
 
 on the face of the battery toward us. We < could only see 
 one gun upon the other face, but there may have been 
 more. We were near enough to see the men on the ram- 
 parts and the glittering of their bayonets. We saw sev- 
 eral small vessels ; some of them in Romilly Marsh were 
 in tow of a small steam-tug, but they were all beyond our 
 reach. 
 
 " Upon Little Tybee Island we could see no earth-works, 
 but could not get nearer to it than two miles because of 
 the shoals. In coming out of Warsaw Sound at high tide 
 we had not less than 21 feet of water on the bar. 
 
 "Returning to Tybee Roads at one o'clock, I landed 
 and made a reconnoissance on foot with the marines of the 
 Savannah and detachments of small-arm men from that 
 ship and the Ottawa. Upon reaching the mouth of the Laz- 
 areth Creek, having no boats in which to cross, our progress 
 was stopped. We waited until low tide, but the creek was 
 unfordable. I was able, however, with the assistance of 
 Lieutenant Luce, to obtain from the top of a tree the po- 
 sition in which a battery has been supposed to exist, and 
 am satisfied that there is no battery there. The spar 
 which was mistaken for a derrick is simply a place of look- 
 out, and there was no appearance of any earth-work or po- 
 sition for guns. A battery at such a place would be of no 
 use whatever. There may. however, have been a signal 
 gun placed there, as the point upon which the spar is 
 raised upon the south-eastern part of Little Tybee Island, 
 and is a commanding point of observation. 
 
 ' ' I have to thank Lieutenant-Commanding Stevens for 
 the most earnest, cordial, and efficient co-operation ; and 
 also Lieutenants 'Commanding Ammen and Bankhead, 
 whose vessels were always in the right place, and always 
 well handled. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 your obedient servant, C. R. P. RODGEES, Com'd." 
 
 Commander Drayton an active officer in the Federal 
 service and a brother of the commander-in-chief of the 
 South Carolina troops, to whom by the fatal chances of 
 this unnatural strife he was now directly opposed in mor- 
 tal conflict commanded the expedition to the Bay of St. 
 Helena. This is Commander Drayton's report : 
 
 " UNITED STATES STEAMEE PAWNEE, i 
 " POET ROYAL HAEBOE, Nov. 25, 1861. ) 
 
 " SIE : In obedience to instructions contained in your 
 letter of the 24th instant I left this harbor at three o'clock 
 A.M of the 24th inst. in company with the Unadilla, Lieu- 
 tenant-Commanding Collins, and the Pembina, Lieuten- 
 ant-Commanding Bankhead, piloted by the Vixen, Captain 
 Boutelle. We crossed this bar at half -past four o'clock, 
 and that of St. Helena at half past nine o'clock a 
 steamer supposed to be the General Clinch being then off 
 the Edisto River, which position she shortly left, and 
 steamed up the river. 
 
 ' ' I soon afterward came in sight of a fort on the point 
 
 in the contemplated attempts upon the 
 cities of Charleston and Savannah. -The 
 
 of Otter Island, into which, at the distance of a mile, I 
 threw a few shells, as did the gun-boats, to discover if it 
 were occupied. There being no answer, I sent a boat on 
 shore to take possession, and found it to be a regular tri- 
 angular work, with two faces toward the water, of 250 
 feet each, with bastions and a curtain on the land side 
 the whole surrounded by a ditch. The magazine had 
 been blown up and everything carried away or destroyed, 
 the only thing left being the fragments of an eighty-pound 
 rifled gun, which had been burst. There was also on the 
 outside a large quantity of timber and palmetto logs, 
 which I left undisturbed, there being little or no proba- 
 bility of any one coming to remove it, and considering 
 that, should we occupy the place, it would be required to 
 finish the work. 
 
 " Having made the above examination, I continued up 
 the Coosaw River with the gun-boats, piloted by Captain 
 Boutelle. When just passing Morgan River, two miles 
 from Otter Island, I came in sight of a fort directly ahead, 
 and at the junction of Barnwell Creek with the Coosaw. 
 When within a mile we threw a few shells into it, and 
 there being no signs of occupation, and the negroes show- 
 ing themselves in the neighborhood, I sent a boat on 
 shore to take possession, and found it to be a redoubt, 
 with a ditch on three faces, and a steep slope toward the 
 water, above which the parapet was elevated thirty feet, 
 its name being (as we found by papers picked up) Fort Hay- 
 ward. The armament had consisted of only three guns 
 one rifle, which had been removed and two eighteen 
 pounders, which being of a very antiquated make, and 
 spiked, I destroyed by breaking the trunions off. 
 
 ' ' The next morning early I returned and removed to 
 this vessel a quantity of intrenching tools which I found 
 near the fort, together with a large sling cart and two 
 siege carriages, which had not been much injured by the 
 fire which had consumed sufficiently to render useless the 
 other one and all the timbers. This being completed, I 
 returned to Otter Creek Island, and found there the 
 Vixen, which had preceded us for the purpose of bringing 
 off an engineer, Lieutenant O'Rourke, who had been sent 
 by General Sherman to join us at Coffin's Landing. He 
 desired to make a drawing of the fort, and, as it was late, 
 I anchored for the night, leaving again on the morning 
 of the 27th with the gun-boats and Vixen (there not being 
 water for the Pawnee) to ascend the Ashepoo River, as I 
 understood that there was a military station a short dis- 
 tance up. After running a few miles I discovered a re- 
 doubt, and having, as before, satisfied myself that it was 
 not occupied, I landed and found that, like the others, it 
 was very carefully and scientifically built, with a deep ditch 
 around it. Everything had been destroyed and carried 
 away except a rifled twenty-four pounder and an old En- 
 glish eighteen pounder, both of which had been burst, and 
 
CAPTURE OF TYBEE ISLAND. 
 
 617 
 
 possession of the Bay of St. Helena se- 
 cured the command of large rivers com- 
 
 another eighteen pounder, which I destroyed. Having 
 performed this duty, I continued up the river, thinking that 
 I might find fortifications at Mosquito Creek, which offers 
 the only inland channel of communiciition with Charleston. 
 None had, however, been erected there, and I continued 
 up the river to the plantation on Hutchinson Island, about 
 twelve miles above Otter Island, which was as far as the 
 vessels could go. Here were a large number of negroes, 
 "but no white men, although they told me there was a 
 picket of soldiers about three miles beyond. At this time 
 I heard heavy firing, and, as we all supposed it proceeded 
 from the Pawnee, I hurried every one on board and re- 
 turned down the river as quickly as possible, but on reach- 
 ing that vessel was told that the sounds came from the 
 direction of Beaufort. 
 
 " Then, with the Pawnee, got under weigh, and, accom- 
 panied by the other vessels, ran across the bay to Hunting 
 Island River, where I landed and looked for the fortifica- 
 tions on the point of Hunting Island, but could not find 
 the least appearance of there ever having been any there. 
 The light-house had been recently blown up, and all the 
 public property carried away. I had now examined all 
 the points mentioned in your letter except Coffin's Land- 
 ing, which had been visited by Lieutenant O'Rourke, on 
 his way across, and he reporting that no works had been 
 erected there, I did not think it worth the delay that 
 would have been occasioned there. I left Hunting Island 
 Harbor at seven o'clock this morning, and reached my an- 
 chorage here at meridian. 
 
 ' ' With regard to the other inquiries that I was or- 
 dered to make, I would beg leave to say, that whenever 
 practicable, the slaves have been removed, as on the 
 northern side of the Ashepoo, where there is no communi- 
 cation with the Edisto. At all the plantations south of 
 that a great many still remain at Hutchinson Island not 
 less, I think, than 120. Not a white man seems to be left 
 anywhere outside the line of military occupation, which 
 was higher than I was able to go with the vessels. 
 
 "The slaves are doing nothing, are very friendly, and 
 assisted us voluntarily wherever we wanted their aid, and 
 sometimes, as at Fort Hayward, worked very hard. I 
 overheard one of them say that it was but fair they should 
 do so for us, as we were working for them . The more in- 
 telligent among them told me that there was no packed 
 cotton this year, and that not much more than half the 
 cotton and scarcely any of the provision crop had been 
 gathered. c- o o o 
 
 " I forgot to mention that, as far as we could make out, 
 on our return down the river (the Ashepoo), they appeared 
 to be burning houses in the dii'ection of the South Edisto 
 Kiver, or on those plantations which must have still been 
 in the possession of the whites, and the same thing 
 seemed to be continued during the night. 
 78 
 
 municating with the interior of South 
 Carolina, and an excellent harbor near 
 Charleston itself. The possession of 
 Warsaw Inlet and Sound was no less 
 important, as it gave the command of 
 an entrance to the Savannah River, with 
 a passage little inferior to that of Ty- 
 bee. Tybee Island was subsequently 
 seized and held by the Federal troops, 
 without an attempt at resistance by the 
 enemy beyond an occasional unavailing 
 shot from Fort Pulaski.* This powerful 
 
 " I can not finish without mentioning the obligations 
 I am under to Captain Boutelle, for the skill and untiring 
 energy he displayed in piloting us through those inland 
 waters ; and I think the people must have been a little 
 surprised at seeing vessels of war passing at full speed up 
 narrow and not over deep rivers, such as the Coosaw and 
 Ashepoo. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 " DRATTON, Commanding Pawnee." 
 
 c The following descriptions of Port Pulaski and Fort 
 Jackson are from the New York Herald : 
 
 " Fort Pulaski guards the city on its sea approaches. It 
 is built on Cockspur Island, fourteen miles from Savannah, 
 at the mouth of the Savannah River. The site of the 
 fortification was selected by Major Babcock, of the United 
 States Engineer Corps, about twenty-six years ago, but 
 it was not till 1831 that the work of erecting the present 
 massive masonry fortification was commenced in earnest. 
 In that year Captain (now Quartermaster-General) Mans- 
 field took charge of its construction. The fort was fin- 
 ished a few years ago, at a cost of $963,000. The fort is 
 of pentagonal form, covering several acres. Its walls are 
 forty feet high, and present two falls on the sea approach, 
 with ranges of fire radiating at opposite angles. The fort 
 is embrasured on the front and channel side for one row 
 of guns, under bomb-proof casemates, with an additional 
 tier of guns open, or en barbette. The salient points and 
 flanking approaches on the rear of the work have no em- 
 brasures for heavy cannon, but are thoroughly covered by 
 enfilading musketry loopholes, which renders a landing or 
 escalading extremely hazardous to an enemy. The full 
 armament of the fort will consist, on the lower tier, of 
 sixty-five thirty-two pounders (iron pieces), and the upper 
 tier of fifty-three twenty-four pounders, four eighteen- 
 pounder flanking howitzers, one thirteen-inch mortar, 
 twelve eight-inch columbiads, and seven ten-inch mortars 
 in all 1 50 guns. The columbiads are heavy and very 
 destructive weapons of long range, and adapted to use 
 spherical shot or shell. They are capable of an elevation 
 of 180 degrees, and a vertical fire of five degrees, depressed 
 
618 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 work, which at the commencement of 
 the civil troubles had been appropriated 
 by the secessionists of Georgia, gave them 
 the command of the main entrance to 
 Savannah through the mouth of the Sa- 
 vannah River. By Warsaw Sound, how- 
 ever, which Commodore Dupont had 
 succeeded in securing, there is another 
 means of reaching the Savannah River, 
 and thence the city of Savannah itself. 
 A stream termed St. Augustine Creek, 
 which flows from the Savannah River, 
 and widening into what is called the 
 Wilmington River, empties into Warsaw 
 Sound, and thus offers a circuitous route 
 from the sea by which the city of Sa- 
 vannah can be reached without passing 
 through the main entrance commanded 
 by the formidable guns of Fort Pulaski. 
 Commodore Dupont, availing himself of 
 
 to thirty-six degrees elevation. The interior of the fort 
 is well supplied with massive furnaces for heating shot, 
 officers' quarters, soldiers' barracks, and an immense sup- 
 ply of shot, powder, and muskets. A wide ditch sur- 
 rounds the work, which, when dry, can be used by sharp- 
 shooters, or could, if necessary, at the approach of an 
 enemy, be easily flooded. Beyond the ditch is a glacis, or 
 inclined bank, which is enfiladed by the guns from the 
 lower or casemate row of the fortification. The full war 
 garrison of the fort is 800 men, but one-half that number 
 could hold it successfully against a very large force Ves- 
 sels of any considerable size in beating up the channel to 
 Savannah are obliged to approach within seventy yards 
 of the fort, and at this point many guns of large calibre 
 can be made to concentrate their fire. The fortification is 
 pronounced by expert army engineers one of the strongest 
 and most perfect of its kind on this continent. It covers 
 a larger area than Fort Sumter, but has one tier of guns less. 
 "FORT JACKSON. This is a small work, built on a low 
 marsh, four miles from Savannah, on a site near the bend 
 of the river, and commands important points on the chan- 
 nel, on the interior line of fortifications. It is built of 
 heavy brick masonry. Its armament consists of ten twenty- 
 four pounders (iron guns), three field pieces, five eight-inch 
 howitzers, one ten-inch mortar, and one eight-inch mortar. 
 It cost the government $80,000. There is also an exterior 
 line of fortification erected to protect the mouth of the 
 Savannah on its sea approach at Tybee Island." 
 
 his gun-boats of light draft, had succeed- 
 ed in approaching the Savannah j an , 
 River by the passage through St. 27. 
 Augustine Creek, in the rear of Fort 
 Pulaski. His plan, however, of reach- 
 ing the city itself, and cutting off' the 
 communication between it and Fort Pu- 
 laski, has been thus far thwarted by 
 the operations of the secessionists, who, 
 through the incontinence of the North- 
 ern press, having timely information of 
 their danger, were enabled to provide 
 against it. 
 
 A combined operation of the naval 
 and military forces from Port Royal met 
 with more immediate success. The en- 
 emy had been endeavoring to shut up the 
 Federal forces within Port Royal Island, 
 where they had first landed and were 
 encamped. For this purpose the South 
 Carolinians had placed obstructions in 
 Coosaw River and the other streams and 
 creeks which separate the island from 
 the mainland, had constructed batteries, 
 the principal of which were at Seabr.ook, 
 Boyd's Creek, and at Port Royal Ferry, 
 and had so posted their troops as to con- 
 centrate a force of 2,500 or 3,000 men 
 at either of these points. To thwart the 
 designs of the enemy, Commodore Du- 
 pont and General Sherman agreed upon 
 a combined expedition. 
 
 Commander C. R. P. Rodgers was ap- 
 pointed to the command of the na- j an , ] 
 val forces, consisting of the gun- 1862. 
 boats Ottawa, Lieutenant-Commanding 
 Stevens ; Pembina, Lieutenant-Com- 
 manding Bankhead ; four armed boats 
 carrying howitzers, under the charge of 
 Lieutenants Upshur, Luce, and Irwin, 
 
ATTACK ON COOSAW. 
 
 619 
 
 and Acting-Master Kempff, all of which 
 were to enter the Coosaw by Beaufort 
 River ; the gun-boat Seneca, Lieuten- 
 ant-Commanding Ammen, and the tug- 
 boat Ellen, Acting-Master-Commanding 
 Budd. The last two were to move up 
 Beaufort River and approach the batter- 
 ies at Seabrook and Port Royal Ferry 
 by Whale Branch. The armed tug E. 
 B. Hale, Acting-Master Foster, under 
 the command of Lieutenant Barnes, was 
 afterward dispatched to Commander 
 Rodgers. 
 
 A land force of about 6,000 men 
 the Roundhead Regiment, Colonel Lea- 
 sure ; Eighth Michigan, Colonel Fenton ; 
 Fiftieth Pennsylvania, Colonel Christ ; 
 and the Seventy-ninth New York, Major 
 Morrison ; together with the Forty-sev- 
 enth New York, Colonel Frazier ; and 
 the Forty-eighth New York, Colonel 
 Perry accompanied the expedition, all 
 forming a brigade under the command 
 of Brigadier-General Isaac J. Stevens. 
 The result of the expedition is fully de- 
 tailed in this report of the naval com- 
 mander, submitted to Commodore Du- 
 pont : 
 
 " UNITED STATES FLAG-SHIP WABASH, [ 
 "PoBT ROYAL HARBOR, S. C., Jan. 3, 1862. ) 
 " SIR : I reached Beaufort at noon on 
 the 31st of December, with the gun- 
 boats Ottawa, Lieutenant- Commanding 
 Stevens ; and Pembina, Lieutenant-Com- 
 manding Baiikhead ; and the four large 
 boats of this ship, each carrying a twelve- 
 pound howitzer, under Lieutenants Up- 
 shur, Luce, and Irwin, and Acting-Master 
 Kempff. At sunset Lieutenant Barnes, 
 of this ship, joined me with the armed 
 
 steamer E. B. Hale, Acting-Master-Com- 
 manding Foster. In order that no inti- 
 mation might be given to the enemy of 
 our approach, these vessels remained at 
 Beaufort until after dark, when they 
 ascended the river to a point about two 
 miles from the Coosaw, where we an- 
 chored to await daylight. At four the 
 next morning I moved on with the 
 launches, and at daylight joined General 
 Stevens, at the head of his column, and 
 at the appointed place of rendezvous. 
 
 " The troops having all embarked, we 
 crossed the Coosaw, and at eight A.M. 
 the first detachment of volunteers landed, 
 under cover of our boat guns, at Hay- 
 wood's plantation, and with them went 
 the two light howitzers of the Wabash, 
 to serve as a section of light artillery, 
 under Lieutenant Irwin, of this ship. 
 At sunrise Lieutenant- Commanding Ste- 
 vens succeeded in getting the Ottawa 
 through the difficult passage of the Brick- 
 yard, and in joining me in front of the 
 column, the Pembina and E. B. Hale ar- 
 riving shortly afterward. We proceeded 
 to the next landing, at Adams' planta- 
 tion, where the remaining troops were 
 ordered to disembark. On our way up 
 we threw a few shells into what seemed 
 an outpost of the enemy, near a long 
 embankment. 
 
 " Anchoring the gun-boat at ten o'clock 
 so as to cover the route of the advancing 
 column and the second point of debark- 
 ation, where also our launches were sta- 
 tioned, I went up in the Hale to within 
 range of the battery at Port Royal Ferry, 
 at which Lieutenant Barnes threw a few 
 shot and shell, dislodging a body of troops 
 
620 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 stationed in the adjoining field, but eli- 
 citing no response from the battery. 
 
 " At half past one P.M., General Ste- 
 vens being ready to move, the gun-boats 
 shelled the woods in front of his skir- 
 mishers, and then advancing we threw a 
 rapid fire into the fort at Port Royal 
 Ferry, and anchored in front of it at 
 two forty P.M., the Ottawa passing be- 
 tween the heads of the two causeways. 
 The enemy had succeeded in taking off 
 all their guns save one, but I could not 
 learn whether airy except field pieces 
 had been removed on the day of attack. 
 We found a quantity of eight-inch shells 
 and thirty- pounder rifled shells in the 
 magazines. 
 
 "At half-past two the Seneca, Lieu- 
 tenant-Commanding Ammen, and the 
 Ellen, Master-Commanding Budd, the 
 other vessels which you had placed under 
 my orders, having passed from Broad 
 River through Whale Branch, came with- 
 in signal distance, and their commanders 
 came on board the Ottawa, having as- 
 sisted in the destruction of the works at 
 Seabrook ; but their vessels were pre- 
 vented by the lowness of the tide from 
 joining me. The Ellen came up at eight 
 o'clock, and the Seneca the next morn- 
 ing. 
 
 "Immediately after the Ottawa had 
 anchored, the ferry was reopened, and 
 the Pennsylvania Roundheads passed 
 over and occupied the fort, where they 
 were joined, about four o'clock, by Gen- 
 eral Stevens' advance guard. The enemy 
 appearing in force and in line of battle 
 upon the right of our troops, at fifteen 
 minutes past four o'clock the Ottawa 
 
 moved down the river a short distance 
 with the Pembina and opened fire with 
 eleven-inch and Parrott guns, their shells 
 falling among the enemy's troops with 
 great effect, driving them into the woods 
 and clearing the flank of our column, 
 where the skirmishers had been engaged 
 and the enemy had opened fire from a 
 field battery of several pieces. Soon 
 after sunset we ceased firing for a while, 
 and the enemy sent a flag of truce to one 
 of our advanced posts, to ask permission 
 to carry off their killed and wounded. 
 Just then the gun-boats reopened, and 
 before General Stevens' messenger could 
 convey his reply, that the firing should 
 cease for an hour, to enable the enemy 
 to carry off their wounded, the officer 
 who had brought the flag had galloped 
 off. At sunset I landed our heavy how- 
 itzer, directing Lieutenant Upshur to 
 place it in battery with the guns already 
 on shore under Lieutenant Irwin, there 
 being no artillery with the brigade but 
 that of the Wabash. At the same time 
 Lieutenant Luce, with the second launch 
 and its rifled gun, and Lieutenant Barnes, 
 with the Hale, were sent to the lower 
 landing to protect the boats and steamer 
 in which our troops had crossed, and su- 
 perintend their removal to the ferry, 
 which was accomplished about midnight. 
 " At sunrise we re-embarked our boat 
 guns. At thirty minutes past nine o'clock 
 on the morning of the 2d, the enemy 
 again appearing in the wood, we opened 
 a hot fire of shot and shells from the 
 Ottawa, Seneca, Pembina, Ellen, and 
 Hale, and after firing briskly for a time 
 slackened the fire so as to drop a shot or 
 
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE. 
 
 621 
 
 shell into the woods about once a minute. 
 At forty minutes past nine o'clock our 
 troops began to recross the ferry, and 
 were all over by noon, our field guns 
 having been landed, at the request of 
 General Stevens, to cover the rear of 
 the returning column. The enemy made 
 no further demonstration. The scows 
 which had been used in crossing were 
 taken to our vessels, to be towed to 
 Beaufort, and at two P.M. we got under 
 way and moved down the Coosaw to a 
 point near the Beaufort River, where we 
 
 were compelled to wait for the morning's 
 tide to pass through the Brickyard Chan- 
 nel. * * * * 
 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " C. R. P. RODGERS, Commander. 
 "To Flag-Officer S. F. DUPONT, Commanding 
 
 South Atlantic Blockading Squadron." 
 
 Lieutenant-Commanding Ammen, with 
 the gun-boats Seneca and Ellen, meeting 
 with but little resistance, thoroughly ac- 
 complished his work at Seabrook, driving 
 the enemy from that quarter and de- 
 stroying the fortifications. 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 Inquietude about European Interference. Want of Cotton. Impatience of England and France. Aversion of the 
 United States to Interference. Neutrality of Europe. Official expressions of opinion. Officiousness of M. Fould. 
 Offensive declaratio'i of Lord John Russell. Opinion of Mr. Gladstone. The War denounced by the Foreign 
 Press as Unjust and Ineffectual. Separation of the States held in Europe to be final. Basis of this opinion. 
 Influence of the Southern agents in Europe. Irritation in the United States in consequence. Exultation at the 
 Capture of Slidell and Mason. Life of Slidell. Political career and character. -Life of Mason. Career and 
 character. Mission of Slidell and Mason. Their escape from Charleston. Reception in Havana. On board the 
 Trent. The San Jacinto. Her cruise. After the Trent. The Trent overhauled and brought to. Capture of 
 Slidell and Mason. Arrival of the San Jacinto in the United States. Mason and Slidell in Fort Warren. 
 
 1861. 
 
 A NATURAL inquietude was felt from 
 the very commencement of the civil 
 war, lest the great powers of Europe 
 might, when they found their commercial 
 interests, which were so closely inter- 
 woven with those of the United States, 
 disturbed by the conflict, seek an occasion 
 for interference. The want of cotton to 
 supply the great manufacturers of Europe 
 with material for continued production 
 of their fabrics, and consequently neces- 
 sary means for the subsistence of their 
 millions of workmen, would, none could 
 
 deny, be felt more intensely, especially 
 by France and England, with each day's 
 duration of the war, and render them 
 impatient to bring it to a close. 
 
 The United States, confident of its pow- 
 er soon to restore its authority throughout 
 its whole domain, and with the natural 
 self-respect of a great nation, was exceed- 
 ingly averse to any interposition of for- 
 eign powers in its domestic quarrel. All 
 suggestions of friendly mediation were 
 proudly disdained, and all movements 
 which bore the semblance of interfer- 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ence were anxiously watched. Though 
 the governments of France and England, 
 directing their action in accordance with 
 a discreet regard for the international 
 rights of the United States, preserved a 
 strict neutrality, there were many leaders 
 of opinion in both countries who did not 
 hesitate to express views of the civil 
 quarrel exceedingly distasteful to the 
 public sentiment of the North. Nor 
 were these merely the speculations of 
 publicists, whose liberty of opinion, when 
 restrained by the ordinary proprieties of 
 discussion, no American freeman would 
 dispute, but were the enunciations of 
 ministers of those very governments 
 which professed a resolute adherence to 
 the strictest neutrality. 
 
 The present minister of finance of 
 France, Monsieur Fould, had expressed, 
 not officially, but officiously to use a dis- 
 tinction borrowed from the French his 
 fear that the union was forever dissolved. 
 Earl Russell, too, the foreign minister 
 of England, had ventured, though not 
 indeed in his official capacity, to indulge 
 in the offensive epigrammatic declaration, 
 that the North was fighting for dominion 
 and the South for independence. The 
 cautious and insinuating Mr. Gladstone, 
 moreover, even while professing a tender 
 regard for the Government of the United 
 States, could not refrain from expressing 
 the opinion that in its attempt to subdue 
 its rebellious citizens, it had undertaken 
 what was impracticable. 
 
 These authoritative if not official judg- 
 ments were naturally unwelcome to a 
 people who showed by their generous 
 devotion to their cause their faith in its 
 
 justice and confidence in its triumph. 
 This perversion, as it was deemed, of the 
 motives and premature conclusion as to 
 the results of the war, found an exagger- 
 ated echo in portions of the foreign press, 
 which, while disclaiming any feeling of 
 sympathy with the slavery of the South, 
 virtually advocated its cause by denounc- 
 ing the North as waging an unjust and 
 ineffectual war. 
 
 Public opinion in Europe, based chiefly 
 upon the assumption that the separation 
 of the seceding States was an ultimate 
 rupture, beyond the possibility of recon- 
 struction, was thus unfavorable to a war 
 for the Union. The disfavor with which 
 the action of the Federal Government 
 was viewed by the European powers was 
 attributed principally to a desire to check 
 the progress of a great nation, which they 
 feared was destined to attain a prepon- 
 derating influence in the world, and to 
 the injury they sustained by the inter- 
 ruption of those commercial relations 
 which are essential not only to the sus- 
 tenance, but to the political obedience of 
 European operatives. Another cause 
 perhaps the most irritating to the North- 
 ern people of the unfriendly feeling in 
 Europe could be traced to the influ- 
 ence of the agents of the Southern Con- 
 federacy, who had been busily intrigu- 
 ing, since the commencement of the 
 civil troubles, with the leaders of opin- 
 ion in London and Paris. They had suc- 
 ceeded, by their artful expositions of 
 the commercial advantage to Europe of 
 direct and free trade with the South, in 
 arousing the cupidity of the manufac- 
 turers of Manchester and Lyons, and 
 
CAPTURE OF SLIDELL AND MASON. 
 
 623 
 
 had thus created a strong interest in 
 their favor. At the same time they had 
 so exaggerated the resources of the Con- 
 federacy and the unity of sentiment of 
 those in subjection to it. and proportion- 
 ately so underestimated the power and 
 loyalty of the North, as to create a belief 
 that the suppression of the rebellion was 
 not practicable, nor even desirable. The 
 mischief produced by those intriguing 
 agents of the Southern Confederacy will 
 account for the satisfaction with which 
 the people of the North received the in- 
 telligence of the capture of Slidell and 
 Mason, the commissioners sent by Jeffer- 
 son Davis to London and Paris. 
 
 John Slidell, though one of the most 
 devoted adherents of the Southern slav- 
 ery faction, and among the chief insti- 
 gators of secession, is a native of the 
 North. He was born in the city of New 
 York in the year 1793. His father was 
 a thriving tradesman, who, after accu- 
 mulating a fortune as a taUow-chandler, 
 became president of a bank. No man 
 was more highly esteemed by his fellow- 
 townsmen than he who was always spoken 
 of as "honest old John Slidell." His 
 son John having, at the age of one-and- 
 twenty, been engaged in a duel, which 
 ill accorded with the orderly associations 
 of a staid tradesman's family, was forced 
 to seek in the license of New Orleans 
 society a more congenial sphere. He 
 accordingly emigrated to that city, and, 
 possessed of a good education and much 
 cleverness, was, after perfecting himself 
 in the study of the law, admitted to the 
 bar. He met with rapid success, and 
 was appointed by President Jackson the 
 
 United States district attorney at New 
 Orleans. He was repeatedly elected a 
 member of the State Legislature, and 
 finally a representative to the United 
 States Congress, where, by his political 
 tact and his skill in debate, he early ac- 
 quired a commanding position. 
 
 When war with Mexico seemed immi- 
 nent, Slidell was sent by President Polk 
 as a special envoy to the Mexican govern- 
 ment with the professed purpose of mak- 
 ing an effort to prevent hostilities. His 
 mission, however, proved of no avail, as, 
 after a long discussion, he was refused an 
 official acknowledgment. 
 
 A devoted adherent to the slavery in- 
 terest of the South, and an earnest ad- 
 vocate for extending its domination by 
 the acquisition of new territory, he was 
 appointed by President Pierce United 
 States minister to Central America, in 
 the hope that by his characteristic skil- 
 fulness of intrigue he might further the 
 Southern policy of the administration in 
 that quarter. 
 
 On the appointment of Soule as min- 
 ister to Madrid, Slidell was chosen by 
 the Legislature of Louisiana to succeed 
 him in the U. S. Senate, to which he 
 was subsequently re-elected for the term 
 of six years. He was thus a senator 
 during the administration of Buchanan, 
 and was the master spirit of the con- 
 spiracy then formed for the dissolution 
 of the Union. He had been offered by 
 Buchanan the appointment of minister 
 plenipotentiary to Paris, but declined it, 
 as he preferred remaining at Washing- 
 ton, where his presence was necessary 
 to the development of the plot against 
 
624 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the Federal authority. Possessed of 
 great wealth, and surrounding himself 
 in his luxurious home with every social 
 attraction, he exercised great influence 
 upon the facile society of the capital. He 
 thus contrived to mould the public sen- 
 timent of Washington to his purposes 
 socially, while politically he was pro- 
 moting his designs, through his influence 
 over Buchanan, who yielded his feeble 
 will to his control without resistance. 
 Lingering in Washington as long as he 
 could intrigue with impunity, he did not 
 leave the capital until the secession of 
 Louisiana was beyond peradventure, 
 w r hen he took leave of the U. S. Senate 
 in a defiant challenge to the sovereignty 
 of the Union. He was soon after elected 
 a member from Louisiana of the Congress 
 of the Confederate States. 
 
 In personal appearance Slidell with 
 his portly person, defiant air, and intel- 
 lectual head is impressive ; and he is 
 universally recognized as a man of capac- 
 ity. A master of political tact and in- 
 trigue, he is not over-scrupulous in the 
 choice of means to attain the objects of 
 his restless ambition. He is the brother 
 of the clever author, the late Lieutenant 
 Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, who is 
 thought by many to have tarnished an 
 otherwise spotless reputation by the ex- 
 ecution of young Spencer, the son of the 
 secretary of state, John C. Spencer, on 
 the charge of being an instigator of a 
 mutinous plot on board the brig Somers. 
 
 Trusting to his political shrewdness, so- 
 cial tact, and familiarity with the French 
 language, Jefferson Davis appointed John 
 Slidell to intrigue for the recognition of 
 
 the Southern Confederacy, and otherwise 
 promote its interests in Paris. With him 
 was sent James Murray Mason, to per- 
 form the same part in London. 
 
 James Murray Mason was born in 
 1797, on Analostan Island, Fairfax Coun- 
 ty, in Virginia. His descent has been 
 traced to George Mason, an English Cav- 
 alier who fought on the royal side dur- 
 ing the civil war, and after the defeat of 
 the king's troops at Worcester fled to 
 America. Landing at Norfolk, he be- 
 came a Virginia planter, and was the 
 progenitor of the distinguished family of 
 Masons, of whom James Murray Mason 
 is one of the most notable descendants. 
 
 Mason, after a preliminary schooling 
 at his Virginian home, and in George- 
 town, in the District of Columbia, was 
 sent to the University of Pennsylvania, 
 where he graduated in 1818. He sub- 
 sequently attended lectures on law at 
 the College of William and Mary, in 
 Williamsburgh, Virginia, and completed 
 his studies under the direction of Ben- 
 jamin Watkins Leigh, an eminent law- 
 yer of Richmond. 
 
 In 1820 he was licensed to practice, 
 and after several years' successful pur- 
 suit of his profession began his political 
 career as a member of the House of 
 Delegates of Virginia, to which he was 
 first elected in 1826, and subsequently 
 re-elected twice. In 1829 he was a dele- 
 gate to the convention convoked for the 
 revision of the State constitution. In 
 1837 he was chosen a member of the 
 House of Representatives of the United 
 States Congress, but served only a single 
 term. In 1847 he was elected by the 
 
LIFE OF MASON. 
 
 625 
 
 Legislature of Virginia to the United 
 States Senate. For fourteen years he 
 had been a senator, when, on the seces- 
 sion of his State, he abandoned the na- 
 tional service. For a long time he was 
 an acknowledged leader in the Senate, 
 and for many years was chairman of the 
 committee on foreign affairs. 
 
 Mason was always among the most 
 prominent defenders of slavery in the 
 Senate. He was the chief author of the 
 Fugitive Slave Bill, and on the Kansas- 
 Nebraska, and all other questions involv- 
 ing slavery, he tenaciously defended the 
 special claims of that institution. He 
 was no less an advocate of the "State 
 Rights" doctrine of Calhoun, and always 
 insisted upon the right of secession. In 
 September, 1855, he wrote : " But one 
 course remains for the South imme- 
 diate, absolute, and eternal separation. 
 Better, far better, to stand toward the 
 Northern States as we stand to the rest 
 of the world enemies in war. in peace 
 friends than to remain halting under a 
 common government, enemies in the 
 guise of peace, or friends at war." Yet, 
 soothed by the conciliatory attentions 
 of New England, he could not refrain 
 from complimenting an audience at Bun- 
 ker Hill with this tribute to their patri- 
 otism : "I shall tell," he said, "in old 
 Virginia, when I return to her hal- 
 lowed land, that I found the spirit of 
 Massachusetts as buoyant, as patriotic, 
 as completely filled with the emotions 
 that should govern patriotism, when I 
 visited Bunker Hill, as it was when that 
 battle was fought." 
 
 As early as in the spring of 1860, 
 79 
 
 Mason, with a prescience of his future 
 disloyalty, ventured to declare in the 
 Senate, that "he recognized no allegiance 
 to this Government ; he recognized and 
 acknowledged no allegiance to this Gov- 
 ernment none whatever." He remain- 
 ed, however, in the Senate until his na- 
 tive State allied herself to the enemies 
 of the United States. He then took a 
 defiant farewell, and after serving a while 
 as a member of the Confederate Con- 
 gress at Richmond, accepted the appoint- 
 ment of Commissioner to London. 
 
 The first information which reached 
 the North of the mission of Slidell and 
 Mason was through vague allusions in 
 the Southern papers. Subsequently, 
 however, there came, through the same 
 source, a direct statement of their ap- 
 pointment, and an exulting account of 
 their departure, in spite of the vigilance 
 of the Federal cruisers. 
 
 The Mercury, of Charleston, whence 
 the Commissioners sailed, gave this full 
 revelation of their escape : 
 
 " For some time past the papers of the 
 interior have been indulging in sly Oct. 
 hints as to the whereabouts of H 
 Messrs. Mason and Slidell. We have 
 hitherto not made any allusion to their 
 movements ; but the causes which in- 
 duced our reticence being removed, we 
 may now, without indiscretion, narrate 
 the facts of their embarkation. The 
 Commissioners having resolved to make 
 the venture of running the blockade of 
 Charleston, after mature deliberation se- 
 lected for the experiment the staunch 
 and swift little steamer Theodora, which 
 was, therefore, got ready for sea with all 
 
626 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 dispatch. The preparations having been 
 completed, they embarked a little before 
 midnight on Friday, October llth. The 
 party of passengers who were starting 
 on this very unusual and somewhat haz- 
 ardous trip consisted of the following 
 persons : 
 
 "Hon. J. M. Mason, of Virginia ; Mr. 
 McFaiiand, secretary to Mr. Mason ; 
 Hon. John Slidell, of Louisiana ; Mrs. 
 Slidell ; Miss Mathilde Slidell ; Miss Ro- 
 sine Slidell ; Mr. Eustis, secretary to Mr. 
 Slidell ; Mrs. Eustis, who is a daughter 
 of Mr. Corcoran, the Washington banker ; 
 Colonel Le Mat, of Louisiana, the in- 
 ventor of the grape-shot revolver, and 
 two or three other gentlemen whom it 
 will be best for the present not to name. 
 
 " The night was pitch dark, and about 
 midnight a light rain commenced falling, 
 which rendered the chances of being de- 
 tected by the blockaders exceedingly 
 slim. At one o'clock on Saturday morn- 
 ing, the hasty ' good-byes,' and ' God- 
 speed-yous' having been said, the cables 
 of the Theodora were loosened, and she 
 glided down the harbor on her important 
 mission. As the steamer passed Fort 
 Sumter, every light on board was extin- 
 guished, and away she went, right through 
 the fingers of the blockaders, far out at 
 sea. On the evening of the llth she 
 reached Nassau in safety, where, had the 
 opportunity been a favorable one, the 
 Commissioners would have disembarked ; 
 but, on inquiring, they ascertained that 
 the English steamer connecting with that 
 point touched at New York. However 
 gratifying a sight of New York might 
 have been under other circumstances, 
 
 the Commissioners determined in this 
 instance to forego the pleasure. So the 
 Theodora left Nassau and steamed away 
 toward Cuba. On the 16th instant she 
 arrived at Cardenas, where the Commis- 
 sioners landed. The news that a South- 
 ern steamer had arrived, with Messrs. 
 Mason and Slidell on board, which was 
 telegraphed from Cardenas to Havana, 
 was scarcely credited at the latter place. 
 But when, on the 17th instant, the The- 
 odora came up the harbor of Havana, 
 displaying the Confederate flag, the quays 
 were immediately thronged with thou- 
 sands of wondering spectators, and a 
 most cordial and enthusiastic reception 
 was given to the adventurous little craft." 
 
 The two Commissioners and their at- 
 taches remained in Havana, where they 
 were received with a partial welcome, and 
 were even entertained by the British con- 
 sul, though, it is said, not officially and 
 presented by him to the Captain-General 
 of Cuba until the 7th of November, 
 when they embarked on board the British 
 mail steamer Trent, for St. Thomas, jfov. 
 whence they expected to be trans- ? 
 ferred to another British mail steamer 
 for Southampton, in England. 
 
 In the mean time, while the Commis- 
 sioners were pursuing their voyage, the 
 United States steamer San Jacinto, a first- 
 class screw steam sloop, mounting fifteen 
 guns, had arrived in the West Indies from 
 the African coast, where she had been 
 one of the vessels of the usual squadron 
 on that station. Captain Charles Wilkes 
 had assumed command of the San Ja- 
 cinto at Fernando Po, where he had been 
 awaiting her arrival. In the course of 
 
AFTER THE TRENT. 
 
 627 
 
 his cruise in the West Indies, where 
 he was on the look-out for privateers, 
 he learned at Cieni'uegos, from the news- 
 papers, that the Theodora had run the 
 blockade at Charleston and arrived at 
 Havana, after landing the Confederate 
 Commissioners, with their families and 
 secretaries, at Cardenas. Captain Wilkes 
 determined at once to intercept the The- 
 odora on her return to Charleston, and 
 accordingly, having taken on board hur- 
 riedly a sufficient quantity of coal for a 
 short cruise, left Cienfuegos on the 26th 
 of October, and arrived at Havana on 
 the 28th. Here he found that he was 
 too late for the Theodora, as she had al- 
 ready returned to Charleston. The Com- 
 missioners, however, were still in Havana, 
 and having heard of their intention to 
 take passage in the British mail packet 
 Trent for St. Thomas, en route for Eng- 
 land, Capt. Wilkes " conceived the bold 
 plan of intercepting the English steam- 
 er, and in the event of these persons 
 being on board, to make them prisoners." 
 The San Jacinto was accordingly filled 
 up with coal " in great haste," and pro- 
 visioned, and took her departure from 
 jg ov , Havana on the 2d of November. 
 2 After proceeding to Key West in 
 search of the Powhatan, to aid him in 
 his object, but failing to find her, Captain 
 Wilkes, "nothing daunted, fully resolved 
 to undertake the boldy conceived enter- 
 prise alone." On the morning of the 
 5th of November the San Jacinto left 
 Key West, and running to the north side 
 of the island of Cuba, touched at Sagua 
 La Grande, where Captain Wilkes tele- 
 graphed to the American consul-general, 
 
 Mr. Schufeldt. at Havana, for information 
 as to the day of sailing of the Trent, but 
 received no response. The San Jacinto 
 now steamed for the Old Bahama Chan- 
 nel, situated about twenty miles east of 
 the north side of Cuba, two hundred and 
 forty miles from Havana, and nearly ten 
 from the light-house of Paradon La 
 Grande. As the channel contracts there 
 to the width of fifteen miles, and was 
 directly in the course of the Trent, there 
 was not much probability of missing 
 her. During the night of the 7th of 
 November, having reached this channel, 
 the San Jacinto laid off and on, with all 
 her batteries loaded, and the bulwarks 
 around the pivot gun on the forecastle 
 removed. At the same time Captain 
 Wilkes issued an order to Lieutenant D. 
 M. Fairfax, the executive officer of the 
 ship, to have two boats ready manned 
 and armed to board the English packet 
 as soon as she should be hove to under 
 the guns of the San Jacinto. The Lieu- 
 tenant was, moreover, ordered, in case, 
 on boarding the Trent, he found Messrs. 
 Slidell, Mason, Eustis, and McFarland 
 among the passengers, to make them 
 prisoners and send them immediately on 
 board the San Jacinto, while to their 
 families he was instructed by the Captain 
 to offer, in his name, his cabin, in case 
 they should resolve upon going to the 
 United States. Captain Wilkes closed 
 his order with the remark : " I trust that 
 all those under your command, in exe- 
 cuting this important and delicate duty, 
 will conduct themselves with all the deli- 
 cacy and kindness which become our 
 naval service." 
 
628 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 The second and third cutters of the 
 ship were accordingly manned, armed, 
 and kept in readiness for the service con- 
 N OV| templated, of which Lieut. Fairfax 
 8 was to have the conduct. Thus pre- 
 pared, the coming of the Trent was anx- 
 iously watched. She finally made her 
 appearance at about noon on the 8th of 
 November. Everything was made ready ; 
 the men were beat to quarters, and as 
 soon as the British steamer was within 
 reach, every gun on the starboard of the 
 San Jacinto was trained upon her. A 
 shot from the pivot gun was now dis- 
 charged across her bow. The Trent 
 hoisted English colors, but " showed no 
 disposition to slacken her speed or 
 heave to." The San Jacinto responded 
 by unfurling the United States flag, 
 arid waiting until the Trent was close 
 upon her, fired a shell across her bow, 
 which brought her to. Captain Wilkes 
 now hailed her, and saying he would 
 send a boat, ordered Lieutenant Fair- 
 fax to board her. The Lieutenant ac- 
 cordingly went in the second cutter, while 
 the third cutter remained alongside of 
 the San Jacinto in readiness to follow in 
 case it were wanted. The proceedings 
 of Lieutenant Fairfax are best detailed 
 in his own report to Captain Wilkes, of 
 the strict truthfulness of which his hon- 
 orable character is the surest proof. 
 
 " U. S. STEAMER SAN JACINTO, | 
 At Sea, Nov. 12. ) 
 
 " At 1.20 P.M. on the 8th inst., I re- 
 paired," wrote Lieut. Fairfax, "along- 
 side of the British mail packet in an 
 armed cutter, accompanied by Mr. Hous- 
 ton, second assistant engineer, and Mr. 
 
 Grace, the boatswain. I went on board 
 the Trent alone, leaving the two officers 
 in the boat, with orders to wait until it 
 became necessary to show some force. 
 I was shown up by the first officer to the 
 quarter-deck, where I met the captain 
 and informed him who I was, asking to 
 see his passenger list. He declined let- 
 ting me see it. I then told him that I 
 had information of Mr. Mason, Mr. Sli- 
 dell, Mr. Eustis, and Mr. McFarland hav- 
 ing taken their passage at Havana in the 
 packet to St. Thomas, and would satisfy 
 myself whether they were on board be- 
 fore allowing his steamer to proceed. 
 Mr. Slidell, evidently hearing his name 
 mentioned, came up to me and asked if 
 I wanted to see him. Mr. Mason soon 
 joined us, and then Mr. Eustis and Mr. 
 McFarland, when I made known the 
 object of my visit. The captain of the 
 Trent opposed anything like a search of 
 his vessel, nor would he consent to show 
 his papers or passenger list. The four 
 gentlemen above mentioned protested 
 also against my arresting and sending 
 them to the United States steamer near 
 by. There was considerable noise among 
 the passengers just about that time, and 
 that led Mr. Houston and Mr. Grace to 
 repair on board with some six or eight 
 men, all armed. After several unsuc- 
 cessful efforts to persuade Mr. Mason and 
 Mr. Slidell to go with me peaceably, I 
 called to Mr. Houston and ordered him 
 to return to the ship with the informa- 
 tion that the four gentlemen named in 
 your order of the 8th inst. were on board, 
 and force must be applied to take them 
 'out of the packet. 
 
SEIZURE OF SLIDELL AND MASON. 
 
 629 
 
 " About three minutes after, there was 
 still greater excitement on the quarter- 
 deck, which brought Mr. Grace with his 
 armed party. I, however, deemed the 
 presence of any armed men unnecessary, 
 and only calculated to alarm the ladies 
 present, and directed Mr. Grace to re- 
 turn to the lower deck, where he had 
 been since coming on board. It must 
 have been less than half an hour after I 
 boarded the Trent when the second 
 armed cutter, under Lieutenant Greer, 
 came alongside (only two armed boats 
 being used). He brought in the third 
 cutter eight marines and four machinists, 
 in addition to a crew of some twelve 
 When the marines and some 
 
 men. 
 
 armed men had been formed just out- 
 side of the main-deck cabin, where these 
 four gentlemen had gone to pack up 
 their baggage. I renewed my efforts to 
 
 OO O ' / 
 
 induce them to accompany me on board. 
 Still refusing to accompany me unless 
 force was applied, I called in to my as- 
 sistance four or five officers, and first 
 taking hold of Mr. Mason's shoulder, 
 with another officer on the opposite side, 
 I went as far as the gangway of the 
 steamer and delivered him over to Lieu- 
 tenant Greer, to be placed in the boat. 
 I then returned for Mr. Slidell, who in- 
 sisted that I must apply considerable 
 force to get him to go with me ; calling in 
 at least three officers, he also was taken 
 in charge and handed over to Mr. Greer. 
 " Mr. McFarland and Mr. Eustis, after 
 
 protesting, went quietly into the boat. 
 They had been permitted to collect their 
 baggage, but were sent in advance of it 
 under charge of Lieutenant Greer. I 
 gave my personal attention to the lug- 
 gage, saw it put in a boat, and sent in 
 charge of an officer to the San Jacinto. 
 
 'When Mr. Slidell was taken pris- 
 oner, a great deal of noise was made by 
 some of the passengers, which caused 
 Lieutenant Greer to send the marines 
 into the cabin. They were immediately 
 ordered to return to their former posi- 
 tion outside. I carried out my purpose 
 without using any force beyond what ap- 
 pears in this report. 
 
 " The mail agent, who is a retired 
 commander in the British navy, seemed 
 to have a great deal to say as to the 
 propriety of my course ; but I purposely 
 avoided all official intercourse with him. 
 When I was finally leaving the steamer 
 he made some apology for his rude con- 
 duct, and expressed, personally, his ap- 
 proval of the manner in which I carried 
 out my orders. We parted company 
 with the Trent at 3.20 P.M." 
 
 The San Jacinto now returned with 
 its prisoners to the United States, ar- 
 riving at Sandy Hook on the 18th of 
 November. Dispatches from the Secre- 
 tary of the Navy met Captain Wilkes 
 there, and in accordance with their in- 
 structions he immediately sailed for Bos- 
 ton, where the prisoners were placed in 
 Fort Warren. 
 
630 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Joy on the Capture of Slidell and Mason. Immoderate excitement. Captain Wilkes in Boston. A hero. Banquet 
 in Boston. Immoderate praise of Wilkes. His modest explanation of his conduct. Universal applause of Wilkes' 
 act. Subsequent reflection. Probable effect in Great Britain. Public anxiety. Congress and the Secretary of the 
 Navy approve of the conduct of Wilkes. Caution and Foresight of Mr. Seward. Dispatch to Mr. Adams. Great 
 indignation in England on the arrival of the Trent. Immediate preparations for war. The Law Officers consulted. 
 Lord John Russell demands the surrender of Slidell and Mason. Continued and increased excitement in Eng- 
 land. Increased anxiety in the United States. Divided opinion. Government resolves to give up Slidell and 
 Mason. The general relief. Mr. Seward's dispatch. Ingenious argument. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE capture of Slidell and Mason was 
 a source of universal satisfaction to 
 the people of the North. Known, 
 as they were, to be the chief among the 
 instigators of secession, and the ablest 
 and most unscrupulous of its political 
 managers, it was not unnaturally con- 
 sidered, by those who loved the Union, 
 a triumph to have arrested two of its 
 archest enemies in their career of mis- 
 chief. Exulting in a capture which was 
 supposed to be important to its cause, 
 the North allowed its sense of satisfaction 
 to reveal itself in immoderate joy, with- 
 out a due regard to the possible effect 
 upon the relations with Great Britain 
 of an event involving some of the grand 
 questions of international law. 
 
 It was thus that the citizens of Boston, 
 in the fervor of their delight, welcomed 
 Captain Wilkes with his prisoners as if 
 he had been a hero returning with the 
 trophies of a great victory. The civic 
 authorities of Boston received him pub- 
 licly, and the mayor, in set phrase, told 
 him, "We honor you as an eminent 
 scientific navigator and explorer, as a 
 
 gallant and meritorious officer of our 
 navy, and for the sagacity, judgment, 
 decision, and firmness which character- 
 ized your recent brilliant achievement, 
 the effect of which upon the present re- 
 bellion may prove not less important 
 than the glorious naval victories on the 
 Southern coast." A banquet was sub- 
 sequently given in Boston to the Captain 
 and his first lieutenant, Fairfax, at which 
 a judicial dignitary presided and civic 
 magistrates assisted. Eulogistic speeches 
 were uttered, in which the act of Captain 
 Wilkes was immoderately praised as a 
 deed of heroism, and its legality and 
 policy inconsiderately assumed as un- 
 questionable. The hero of the occasion 
 modestly waived the personal praises as 
 unmerited, and took the opportunity of 
 explaining the motives of his conduct, 
 which he seemed to think required justi- 
 fication. 
 
 "Before deciding on the course I adopt- 
 ed,' 7 he said, " I examined the authorities 
 Kent, Wheaton, and the rest and 
 satisfied myself that these ' Commission- 
 ers,' or ' Ministers,' as they styled them- 
 
POPULAR EXULTATION. 
 
 631 
 
 selves, had no rights which attach to 
 such functionaries when properly ap- 
 pointed ; and finding that I had a right 
 to take written dispatches, I took it 
 for granted that I had a right to take 
 these 'Commissioners,' as the embodi- 
 ments of dispatches. I therefore took 
 it upon myself to say to those gen- 
 tlemen that they must produce their 
 passports from the General Govern- 
 ment, and as they could not do that, I 
 arrested them." 
 
 In the rest of the country the feeling 
 was in accord with that which had been 
 exhibited so demonstratively in the city 
 of Boston. A common sentiment of de- 
 light was expressed at the capture of 
 Slidell and Mason, and universal applause 
 bestowed upon their captor. 
 
 To this first effervescence of feeling 
 there ensued a calmer state of the pub- 
 lic mind, which led to a reflection on the 
 probable solution in Great Britain of 
 a question to which that irritable gov- 
 ernment had been made a party, by the 
 fact of the seizure of the Confederate 
 Commissioners while under the cover of 
 the British flag. It was, however, so 
 easy to discover, in the arbitrary career 
 of that domineering power, so many pre- 
 cedents of naval outrage, that public 
 opinion at the North was persuaded 
 without difficulty that England could not 
 so repudiate her own conduct as to com- 
 plain of an act supposed to be in har- 
 mony with it. 
 
 The intelligence of the effect in Great 
 Britain of the seizure of the Confeder- 
 ate Commissioners was, notwithstanding, 
 awaited with considerable anxiety, not 
 
 so much from any disquietude about the 
 legality of the act, as from the fear lest 
 the British Government, suspected of an 
 unfriendly disposition, might make it a 
 pretext for interfering with a conflict 
 which it was known to be anxious to 
 bring to a close. 
 
 Though the popular exultation at the 
 capture of Slidell and Mason, and ap- 
 plause of their captor, were officially 
 re-echoed by Congress and the Secretary 
 of the Navy, the more cautious Secretary 
 of State seemed from the earliest moment 
 to have been aware of the gravity of the 
 international question involved in 
 the act, and in a dispatch* to the 
 
 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, ) 
 Nov. 30, 1861. i 
 
 CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, ESQ., etc. : 
 
 SIR : Your confidential note of the 15th of November, 
 not marked as a dispatch, has been submitted to the 
 President, and I hasten to reply to it in time for the Wed- 
 nesday's mail. 
 
 We are impressed very favorably by Lord Palmerston's 
 conversation with you. You spoke the simple fact when 
 you told him that the life of this insurrection is sustained 
 by its hopes of recognition in Great Britain and France. 
 It would perish in ninety days if those hopes should cease. 
 I have never for a moment believed that such a recogni- 
 tion could take place without producing immediately a 
 war between the United States and all the recognizing 
 Powers. I have not supposed it possible that the British 
 Government could fail to see this, and, at the same time, 
 1 have sincerely believed the British Government must, in 
 its inmost heart, be as averse from such a war as I know 
 this Government is. 
 
 I am sure that this Government has carefully avoided 
 giving any cause of offence or irritation to Great Britain. 
 But it seems to me that the British Government has been 
 inattentive to the currents that seem to be bringing the 
 two countries into collision. c 
 
 I infer from Lord Palmerston's remark, that the British 
 Government is now awake to the importance of averting 
 possible conflict, and disposed to confer and act with earn- 
 estness to that end. If so, we are disposed to meet them 
 in the same spirit, as a nation chiefly of British lineage, 
 sentiments, and sympathies a civilized and humane na- 
 tion, a Christian people. 
 
 Since that conversation was held, Captain Wilkes, in 
 
632 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 American Minister at London prepared 
 the way for its amicable solution. 
 
 On the arrival of the Trent in Eng- 
 land, and the publication of the highly 
 colored statements of its officers, the 
 seizure of Slidell and Mason was de- 
 nounced as an outrage, and the popular 
 indignation greatly excited. The British 
 Government, moreover, assuming that 
 it had been wantonly insulted by the 
 United States, made rapid and formida- 
 ble preparations for war. The ques- 
 tion of the seizure of the Confederate 
 Commissioners having been formally 
 submitted to the law officers of the 
 Crown, who had pronounced it contrary 
 to international law, Earl Russell, the 
 secretary of foreign affairs, at once sent 
 through the British minister, Lord Lyons, 
 
 the steamer Sail Jacinto, lias boarded a British colonial 
 steamer, and taken from her deck the two insurgents, who 
 were proceeding to Europe on an errand of treason against 
 their own country. This is a new incident unknown to 
 and unforeseen, at least in its circumstances, by Lord 
 Palmerston. It is to be met and disposed of by the two 
 Governments, if possible, in the spirit to which I have 
 adverted. Lord Lyons has prudently refrained from open- 
 ing the subject to me, as I presume waiting instructions 
 from home. We adhere to that course now, because we 
 think it more prudent that the ground taken by the Brit- 
 ish Government should be first made known to us here, 
 and that the discussion, if there be one, shall be had here. 
 It is proper, however, that you should know one fact in 
 the case, without indicating that we attach importance to 
 it namely, that in the capture of Messrs. Mason and 
 Slidell on board a British vessel, Captain Wilkes having 
 acted without any instruction from the Government, the 
 subject is therefore free from the embarrassment which 
 might have resulted if the act had been specially directed 
 by us. 
 
 I trust that the British Government will consider the 
 subject in a friendly temper, and it may expect the best 
 disposition on the part of this Government. 
 
 Although this is a confidential note, I shall not object 
 to you reading it to Earl Russell and Lord Palmerston, if 
 you deem it expedient. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 
 at Washington, a formal demand* for 
 the surrender of Slidell and Mason. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE, Nov. 30, 1802. 
 THE LORD LYONS, K.C.B., etc. : 
 
 MY LORD Intelligence of a very grave nature has 
 reached her Majesty's Government. 
 
 This intelligence was conveyed officially to the know- 
 ledge of the Admiralty by Commander Williams, agent 
 for mails on board the contract steamer Trent. 
 
 It appears from the letter of Commander Williams, 
 dated " Royal Mail Contract Packet Trent, at Sea, Novem- 
 ber 9," that the Trent left Havana on the 7th inst., with 
 her Majesty's mail for England, having on board numer- 
 ous passengers. Commander Williams states that shortly 
 after noon on the 8th, a steamer having the appearance 
 of a man-of-war, but not showing colors, was observed 
 ahead. On nearing her, at fifteen minutes past one P.M., 
 she fired a round shot from her pivot gun across the bows 
 of the Trent, and showed American colors. While the 
 Trent was approaching her slowly, the American vessel 
 discharged a shell across the bows of the Trent, exploding 
 half a cable's length ahead of her. The Trent then 
 stopped, and an officer with a large armed guard of 
 marines boarded her ; the officer demanded a list of the 
 passengers ; but compliance with this demand being re- 
 fused, the officer said he had orders to arrest Messrs. 
 Mason, Slidell, McFarland, and Eustis, and that he had 
 sure information of their being passengers of the Trent. 
 While some parley was going on upon the matter, Mr. 
 Slidell stepped forward and told the American officer that 
 the four persons he had named were standing before him. 
 The commander of the Trent and Commander Williams 
 protested against the act of taking by force, out of the Trent 
 these four passengers, then under the protection of the 
 British flag. But the Sau Jacinto was at that time only 
 two hundred yards from the Trent, her ship's company at 
 quarters, her ports open and tompions out. Resistance 
 was therefore out of the question, and the four gentlemen 
 before named were forcibly taken out of the ship. A 
 further demand was made that the commander of the 
 Trent should proceed on board the San Jacinto ; but he 
 said he would not go unless compelled forcibly likewise, 
 and this demand was not insisted upon. 
 
 It thus appears that certain individuals have been forci- 
 bly taken from on board a British vessel, the ship of a 
 neutral Power, while such vessel was pursuing a lawful 
 and innocent voyage an act of violence which was an 
 affront to the British flag and a violation of international 
 law. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government, bearing in mind the 
 friendly relations which have long subsisted between 
 Great Britain and the United States, are willing to believe 
 that the United States naval officer who committed the 
 aggression was not acting in compliance with any 
 authority from his government, or that, if he conceived 
 himself to be so authorized, he greatly misunderstood the 
 
EXCITEMENT IN ENGLAND. 
 
 633 
 
 In the mean while, before this grave 
 dispatch could reach its destination and 
 an answer be returned, the popular ex- 
 citement in England continued to inten- 
 sify. The British Government at the 
 same time was sanctioning the public 
 agitation by its increased activity in 
 warlike preparation, which it did not 
 lessen even after being assured by the 
 dispatch of Mr. Seward,* that the seizure 
 of Slidell and Mason had not been au- 
 thorized by the American Government, 
 and of its conciliatory disposition. 
 
 This apparent exhibition of hostile 
 feeling on the part of the British Gov- 
 ernment and people was received in the 
 United States partly with anxiety lest 
 a foreign war should complicate our 
 domestic troubles, and partly with a 
 defiant resolution to maintain the posi- 
 tion assumed by force of arms. Opinion 
 
 instructions which he had received. For the Govern- 
 ment of the United States must be fully aware that the 
 British Government could not allow such an affront to 
 the national honor to pass without full reparation, and 
 her Majesty's Government are unwilling to believe that it 
 could be the deliberate intention of the Government of 
 the United States unnecessarily to force into discussion 
 between the two Governments a question of so grave a 
 character, and with regard to which the whole British 
 nation would be sure to entertain such unanimity of feel- 
 ing. Her Majesty's Government, therefore, trust that 
 when this matter shall have been brought under the con- 
 sideration of the Government of the United States, it will, 
 of its own accord, offer to the British Government such 
 redress as alone could satisfy the British nation, namely : 
 
 The liberation of the four gentlemen and their de- 
 livery to your lordship, in order that they may again be 
 placed under British protection, and a suitable apology for 
 the aggression which has been committed. 
 
 Should these terms not be offered by Mr. Seward, you 
 will propose them to him. 
 
 You are at liberty to read this dispatch to the Secre- 
 tary of State, and if he shall desire it, you will give him a 
 copy of it. lam, etc., RUSSELL. 
 
 See dispatch of Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams, of Nov. 1, 
 before quoted. 
 
 80 
 
 was thus divided while the demand of 
 Great Britain was under consideration 
 by our Government. When, finally, 
 the resolution was taken to give up 
 Slidell and Mason, and the announce- 
 ment made to the public by the publi- 
 cation of the correspondence between 
 the two Governments, there was a 
 general feeling of relief. This may be 
 accounted for partly by the discreet 
 courtesy of Earl Russell's dispatch, 
 partly by the ingenious answer of Mr. 
 Seward, who had contrived to show 
 that the demand of England was only in 
 accordance with American views of in- 
 ternational law, but chiefly by the satis- 
 faction of evading the complication of a 
 foreign war which might have prevented 
 the success of the great cause of restor- 
 ing the Union to which the national 
 heart was so intensely devoted.* 
 
 This is the memorable dispatch of Mr. Seward ad- 
 dressed to Lord Lyons, the British minister, in answer to 
 the demand of the English Government : 
 
 " DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ) 
 
 " WASHINGTON, December 2Qth, 1861. f 
 
 "Mr LORD: Earl Russell's dispatch of November the 
 30th, a copy of which you have left with me at my re- 
 quest, is of the following effect, namely, that a letter of 
 Commander Williams, dated royal mail contract boat 
 Trent, at sea, November 9th, states that that vessel left 
 Havana on the 7th of November with her Majesty's mails 
 for England, having on board numerous passengers, 
 
 " Shortly after noon, on the 8th of November, the 
 United States war steamer San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, 
 not showing colors, was observed ahead. That steamer, 
 on being neared by the Trent, at one o'clock fifteen min- 
 utes in the afternoon, fired a round shot from a pivot gun 
 across her bows and showed American colors. While the 
 Trent was approaching slowly toward the San Jacinto she 
 discharged a shell across the Trent's bows, which ex- 
 ploded at half a cable's length before her. The Trent 
 then stopped, and an officer with a large anned guard of 
 marines boarded her. 
 
 " The officer said he had orders to arrest Messrs. Mason, 
 Slidell, McFarland, and Eustis, and had sure information 
 that they were passengers in the Trent. While some par- 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Although there were points in the 
 reply of Mr. Seward to which the British 
 
 ley was going on upon this matter, Mr. Slidell stepped 
 forward and said to the American officer that the four per- 
 sons he had named were standing before him. The com- 
 mander of the Trent and Commander Williams protested 
 against the act of taking these four passengers out of the 
 Trent, they then being under the protection of the British 
 flag. But the San Jacinto was at this time only two 
 hundred yards distant, her ship's company at quarters, 
 her ports open and tompions out, and so resistance was 
 out of the question. 
 
 " The four persons before named were then forcibly 
 taken out of the ship. A further demand was made that 
 the commander of the Trent should proceed on board the 
 San Jaciuto, but he said he would not go unless forcibly 
 compelled likewise, and this demand was not insisted 
 upon. Upon this statement Earl Kussell remarks that it 
 thus appears that certain individuals have been forcibly 
 taken from on board a British vessel, the ship of a neutral 
 power, while that vessel was pursuing a lawful and inno- 
 cent voyage ; an act of violence which was an affront to 
 the British flag, and a violation of international law. 
 
 " Earl Eussell next says that her Majesty's Government, 
 bearing in mind the friendly relations which have long 
 subsisted between Great Britain and the United States, 
 are willing to believe that the naval officer who commit- 
 ted this aggression was not acting in compliance with any 
 authority from his government, or that if he conceived 
 himself to be so authorized, he greatly misunderstood the 
 instructions which he received, 
 
 "Earl Russell argues that the United States must be 
 fully aware that the British Government could not allow 
 such an affront on the national honor to pass without full 
 reparation, and they are willing to believe that it could 
 not be the deliberate intention of the Government of the 
 United States unnecessarily to force into discussion be- 
 tween the two Governments a question of so grave a char- 
 acter, and with regard to which the whole British nation 
 would be sure to entertain such unanimity of feeling. 
 
 " Earl Russell, resting upon the statement and the ar- 
 gument which I have thus recited, closes with saying that 
 her Majesty's Government trust that when this matter 
 shall have been brought under the consideration of the 
 Government of the United States, it will, of its own ac- 
 cord, offer to the British Government such redress as alone 
 could satisfy the British nation, namely, the liberation of 
 the four prisoners taken from the Trent, and their deliv- 
 ery to your lordship, in order that they may again be 
 placed under British protection, and a suitable apology 
 for the aggression which has been committed. Earl Rus- 
 sell finally instructs you to propose these terms to me if I 
 should not first offer them on the part of this Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " This dispatch has been submitted to the President. 
 
 Government might, if not pacifically dis- 
 posed, take exception, there was little 
 
 " The British Government has rightly conjectured, 
 what it is my duty to state, that Captain Wilkes, in conceiv- 
 ing and executing the proceeding in question, acted upon his own 
 suggestions of duty, without any direction, or instruction, or even 
 foreknowledge of it, on the part of this Government. .A r o directions 
 hud been given to him, or any oilier naval officer, to arrest the four 
 persons named, or any of them on the Trent, or on any other Brit- 
 ish vessel, at the place where it occurred or elsewhere. 
 
 "The British Government will justly infer from these 
 facts that the United States not only have had no purpose, 
 but even no thought of forcing into discussion the ques- 
 tion which has arisen, or any other which could affect in 
 any way the sensibilities of the British nation. 
 
 " It is true that a round shot was fired by the San Ja- 
 cinto from her pivot gun when the Trent was approach- 
 ing ; but as the facts have been reported to this Govern- 
 ment, the shot was, nevertheless, intentionally fired in a 
 direction so obviously divergent from the course of the 
 Trent as to be quite as harmless as a blank shot, while it 
 should be regarded as a signal. So, also, we learn that 
 the Trent was not approaching the San Jaciuto slowly 
 when the shell was fired across her bows, but, on the con- 
 trary, the Trent was, or seemed to be, moving under a 
 full head of steam, as if with a purpose to pass the San 
 Jacinto. 
 
 " We are informed, also, that the boarding officer (Lieu- 
 tenant Fairfax) did not board the Trent with a large 
 armed guard, but he left his marines in his boat when he 
 entered the Trent. He stated his instructions from Cap- 
 tain Wilkes to search for the four persons named, in a re- 
 spectful and courteous though decided manner, and he 
 asked the captain of the Trent to show his passenger list, 
 which was refused. The Lieutenant, as we are informed, 
 did not employ absolute force in transferring the passen- 
 gers, but he used just so much as was necessary to satisfy 
 the parties concerned that refusal or resistance would be 
 unavailing. 
 
 " So, also, we are informed that the captain of the 
 Trent was not at any time, or in any way, required to go 
 on board the San Jacinto. 
 
 " These modifications of the case, as presented by Com- 
 mander Williams, are based upon our official reports. 
 
 "I have now to remind your lordship of some facts 
 which doubtlessly were omitted by Earl Russell with the 
 very proper and becoming motive of allowing them to be 
 brought into the case on the part of the United States in 
 the way most satisfactory to this Government. 
 
 "These facts are that, at the time the transaction oc- 
 curred, an insurrection was existing in the United States, 
 which this Government was engaged in suppressing by the 
 employment of land and naval forces ; that, in regard to 
 this domestic strife, the United States considered Great 
 Britain as a friendly power, while she has assumed for her- 
 
SEWARD'S DISPATCH. 
 
 635 
 
 doubt, as the Secretary had complied 
 with the demand for the surrender of the 
 
 self the attitude of a neutral ; and that Spain was consid- 
 ered in the same light, and had assumed the same attitude 
 as Great Britain. 
 
 ' It had been settled by correspondence that the United 
 States and Great Britain mutually recognized as applica- 
 ble to this local strife these two articles of the declaration 
 made by the Congress of Paris in 1856, namely, That the 
 neutral or friendly flag should cover enemy's goods not 
 contraband of war, and that neutral goods, not contra- 
 band of war, are not liable to capture under an enemy's 
 flag. 
 
 ' ' These exceptions of contraband from favor were a 
 negative acceptance by the parties of the rule hitherto 
 everywhere recognized as a part of the law of nations, 
 that whatever is contraband is liable to capture and con- 
 fiscation in all cases. 
 
 " James M. Mason, and McFarland are citizens 
 
 of the United States, and residents of Virginia. 
 
 ' ' John Slidell, and George Eustis are citizens of the 
 United States, and residents of Louisiana. 
 
 " It was well known at Havana, when these parties em- 
 barked on the Trent, that James M. Mason was proceeding 
 to England in the affected character of a Minister Pleni- 
 potentiary to the Court of St. James, under a pretended 
 commission from Jefferson Davis, who had assumed to be 
 President of the insurrectionary party in the United States, 
 and McFarland was going with him in a like unreal char- 
 acter of Secretary of Legation to the pretended mission. 
 
 "John Slidell, in similar circumstances, was going to 
 Paris as a pretended Minister to the Emperor of the 
 French, and George Eustis was the chosen Secretary of 
 Legation for that simulated mission. 
 
 " The fact that these persons had assumed such charac- 
 ters has been since avowed by the same Jefferson Davis in 
 a pretended message to an unlawful and insurrectionary 
 Congress. It was, as we think, rightly presumed that 
 these ministers bore pretended credentials and instructions, 
 and such papers are, in the law, known as dispatches. 
 We are informed by our consul at Paris that these dis- 
 patches, having escaped the search of the Trent, were 
 actually conveyed and delivered to emissaries of the in- 
 surrection in England. 
 
 " Although it is not essential, yet it is pioper to state, 
 as I do also upon information and belief, that the owner 
 and agent, and all the officers of the Trent, including the 
 commander, Williams, had knowledge of the assumed 
 characters and purposes of the persons before named when 
 they embarked on that vessel. 
 
 "Your lordship will now perceive that the case before 
 us, instead of presenting a merely flagrant act of violence 
 on the part of Captain Wilkes, as might well be inferred 
 from the incomplete statement of it that went up to the 
 British Government, was undertaken as a simple, legal, 
 
 captured persons, that his action would 
 be accepted as satisfactory. As soon. 
 
 customary, and belligerent proceeding by Captain Wilkes 
 to arrest and capture a neutral vessel engaged in carrying 
 contraband of war for the use and benefit of the insur- 
 gents. 
 
 "The question before us is, whether this proceeding 
 was authorized by, and conducted according to, the law 
 of nations. 
 
 ' ' It involves the following inquiries : 
 
 " 1st. Were the persons named, and their supposed dis- 
 patches, contraband of war ? 
 
 "2d. Might Captain Wilkes lawfully stop and search 
 the Trent for these contraband persons and dispatches ? 
 
 " 3d. Did he exercise that right in a lawful and proper 
 manner ? 
 
 "4th. Having found the contraband persons on board, 
 and in presumed possession of the contraband dispatches, 
 had he a right to capture the persons ? 
 
 " 5th. Did he exercise that right of capture in the man- 
 ner allowed and recognized by the law of nations ? 
 
 "If all these inquiries shall be resolved in the affirma- 
 tive, the British Government will have no claim for 
 reparation. 
 
 " I address myself to the first inquiry, namely : 
 
 ' ' Were the four persons mentioned, and their supposed 
 dispatches, contraband ? 
 
 " Maritime law so generally deals, as its professors say, 
 m rem. , that is, with property, and so seldom with persons, 
 that it seems a straining of the term contraband to apply 
 it to them. But persons as well as property may become 
 contraband, since the word means, broadly, ' contrary to 
 proclamation, prohibited, illegal, unlawful.' All writers 
 and judges pronounce naval or military persons in the 
 service of the enemy contraband. 
 
 ' ' Vattel says : ' War allows us to cut off from an enemy 
 all his resources, and to hinder him from sending ministers 
 to solicit assistance.' And Sir William Scott says : ' You 
 may stop the embassador of your enemy on his passage. 
 Dispatches are not less clearly contraband, and the bear- 
 ers or couriers who undertake to carry them, fall under 
 the same condemnation.' 
 
 "A subtlety might be raised whether pretended minis- 
 ters of a usurping power, not recognized as legal by 
 either the belligerent or the neutral, could be held to be 
 contraband. But it would disappear on being subjected 
 to what is the true test on all cases, namely : the spirit of 
 the law. Sir William Scott, speaking of civil magistrates 
 who were arrested and detained as contraband, says : 
 
 " 'It appears to me on principle to be but reasonable 
 that, when it is of sufficient importance to the enemy that 
 such persons should be sent out on the public service, at 
 the public expense, it should afford equal ground of for- 
 feiture against the vessel that may be let out for a purpose 
 so intimately connected with the hostile operation.' 
 
636 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 therefore, as it was known that Mason 
 and Slidell were to be surrendered, all 
 
 "I trust that I have shown that the four persons who 
 were taken from the Trent by Captain Wilkes, and their 
 dispatches, were contraband of war. 
 
 " The second inquiry is, whether Captain Wilkes had a 
 right by the law of nations to detain and search the 
 Trent? 
 
 ' ' The Trent, though she carried mails, was a contract 
 or merchant vessel, a common carrier, for here maritime 
 law knows only three classes of vessels vessels of war, 
 revenue vessels, and merchant vessels The Trent falls 
 within the latter class. Whatever disputes have existed 
 concerning a right of visitation or search in time of peace, 
 none, it is supposed, has existed in modern times about 
 the rights of a belligerent in time of war to capture con- 
 traband in neutral and even friendly merchant vessels, 
 and of the right of visitation and search, in order to de- 
 termine whether they are neutral, and are documented as 
 such according to the law of nations. 
 
 "I assume in the present case, what, as I read in the 
 British authorities, is regarded by Great Britain herself as 
 true maritime law, that the circumstance that the Trent 
 was proceeding from a neutral port to another neutral 
 port does not modify the rights of the belligerent power. 
 
 " The third question is, whether Captain Wilkes exer- 
 cised the right of search in a lawful and proper manner. 
 If any doubt hung over this point, as the case was pre- 
 sented in the statement of it adopted by the British Gov- 
 ernment, I think it must have already passed away before 
 the modifications of that statement which I have already 
 submitted. 
 
 "I proceed to the fourth inquiry, namely: Having 
 found the suspected contraband of war on board the Trent, 
 had Captain Wilkes a right to capture the same ? Such a 
 capture is the chief, if not the only recognized object of 
 the permitted visitation and search. The principle of the 
 law is, that the belligerent exposed to danger may prevent 
 the contraband persons or things from applying them- 
 selves, or being applied to the hostile uses or purposes 
 designed. The law is so very liberal in this respect, that 
 when contraband is found on board a neutral vessel, not 
 only is the contraband forfeited, but the vessel, which is 
 the vehicle of its passage or transportation, being tainted, 
 also becomes contraband, and is subjected to capture and 
 confiscation. 
 
 "Only the fifth question remains, namely : Did Captain 
 Wilkes exercise the right of capturing the contraband in 
 conformity with the law of nations ? It is just here that 
 the difficulties of the case begin. What is the manner 
 which the law of nations prescribes for disposing of the 
 contraband when you have found and seized it on board 
 of the neutral vessel ? 
 
 ' ' The answer would be easily found if the question 
 were What shall you do with the contraband vessel? 
 
 fear of further quarrel with Great Britain 
 on that score was allayed. Few cared 
 
 You must take or send her into a convenient port and 
 subject her to a judicial prosecution there in admiralty, 
 which will try and decide the questions of belligerency, 
 neutrality, contraband, and capture. So, again, you will 
 promptly find the same answer if the question were 
 What is the manner of proceeding prescribed by the law 
 of nations in regard to the contraband, if it be property 
 or things of material or pecuniary value ? 
 
 " But the question here concerns the mode of procedure 
 in regard, not to the vessel that was carrying the contra- 
 band, nor yet to the contraband things which worked the 
 forfeiture of the vessel, but to contraband persons. 
 
 ' ' The books of law are dumb. Yet the question is as 
 important as it is difficult. First, the belligerent captor 
 has a right to prevent the contraband officer, soldier, 
 sailor, minister, messenger, or carrier from proceeding on 
 his unlawful voyage, and reaching the destined scene of 
 his injurious service. But, on the other hand, the person 
 captured may be innocent, that is, he may not be contra- 
 band. 
 
 ' ' He therefore has a right to a fair trial of the accusa- 
 tion against him. The neutral state that has taken him 
 under its flag is bound to protect him if he is not contra- 
 band, and is therefore entitled to be satisfied upon that 
 important question. The faith of that state is pledged to 
 his safety, if innocent, as its justice is pledged to his sur- 
 render, if he is really contraband. 
 
 " Here are conflicting claims involving personal liberty, 
 life, honor, and duty. Here are conflicting national 
 claims, involving welfare, safety, honor, and empire. 
 They require a tribunal and a trial. The captors and the 
 captured are equals ; the neutral and the belligerent state 
 are equals. 
 
 " While the liw authorities were found silent, it was 
 suggested at an early day by this Government that you 
 should take the captured persons into a convenient port 
 and institute judicial proceedings there to try the contro- 
 I versy. But only courts of admiralty have jurisdiction in 
 maritime cases, and these courts have formulas to try only 
 claims to contraband chattels, but none to try claims con- 
 cerning contraband persons. The courts can entertain no 
 proceedings and render no judgment in favor or against 
 the alleged contraband men. 
 
 "It was replied, all this is true; but you can reach in 
 these courts a decision which will have the moral weight 
 of a judicial one, by a circuitous proceeding. Convey the 
 suspected men, together with the suspected vessel, into 
 port, and try there the question whether the vessel is 
 contraband. You can prove it to be so by proving tho 
 suspected men to be contraband, and the court must then 
 determine the vessel to be contraband. 
 
 " If the men are not contraband, the vessel will escape 
 condemnation. Still, there is no judgment for or against 
 
SEWARD'S DISPATCH. 
 
 637 
 
 to test the logic of Mr. Seward's argu- 
 ments, or to discuss the proprieties of 
 
 the captured persons. But it was assumed that there 
 would result from the determination of the court con- 
 cerning the vessel a legal certainty concerning the charac- 
 ter of the men. This course of proceeding seemed open 
 to many objections. It elevates the incidental inferior 
 private interest into the proper place of the main para- 
 mount public one, and possibly it may make the fortunes, 
 the safety, or the existence of a nation depend on the 
 accident of a merely personal and pecuniary litigation. 
 
 " Moreover, when the judgment of the prize court upon 
 the lawfulness of the capture of the vessels is rendered, 
 it really concludes nothing, and binds neither the belliger- 
 ent state nor the neutral upon the great question of the 
 disposition to be made of the captured contraband persons. 
 That question is still to be really determined, if at all, by 
 diplomatic arrangement or by war. 
 
 " One may well express his surprise, when told that the 
 law of nations has furnished no more reasonable, practi- 
 cal, and perfect mode than this of determining questions 
 of such grave import between sovereign powers. The 
 regret we may feel on the occasion is nevertheless modi- 
 fied by the reflection that the difficulty is not altogether 
 anomalous. 
 
 "Similar and equal deficiencies are found in every sys- 
 tem of municipal law, especially in the system which 
 exists in the greater portions of Great Britain and the 
 United States. The title to personal property can hardly 
 ever be resolved by a court without resorting to the fiction 
 that the claimant has lost, and the possessor has found it ; 
 and the title of real estate is disputed by real litigants 
 under the names of imaginary persons. 
 
 "It must be confessed, however, that while all aggrieved 
 nations demand, and all impartial ones concede, the need 
 of some form of judicial process in determining the char- 
 acters of contraband persons, no form than the illogical 
 and circuitous one thus described exists, nor has any other 
 yet been suggested. Practically, therefore, the choice is 
 between that judicial remedy, or no judicial remedy what- 
 ever. 
 
 " If there be no judicial remedy, the result is that the 
 question must be determined by the captor himself on the 
 deck of the prize vessel. Very grave objections are against 
 such a course. The captor is armed, the neutral is un- 
 armed. The captor is interested, prejudiced, and perhaps 
 violent ; the neutral, if truly neutral, is disinterested, 
 subdued, and helpless. 
 
 "The tribunal is irresponsible while its judgment is 
 carried into instant execution. The captured party is 
 compelled to submit, though bound by no legal, moral, or 
 treaty obligation to acquiesce. Reparation is distant and 
 problematical, and depends at last on the justice, magnan- 
 imity, or weakness of the state in whose behalf and by 
 whose authority the capture was made. 
 
 his language. To a discriminating judg- 
 ment, however, Mr. Seward seemed to 
 
 "Out of these disputes, reprisals and wars necessarily 
 arise, and these are so frequent and destructive that it 
 may well be doubted whether this form of remedy is not 
 a greater social evil than all that could follow if the bel- 
 ligerent right of search were universally renounced and 
 abolished forever. But carry the case one step farther. 
 
 "What if the state that has made the capture unrea- 
 sonably refuses to hear the complaint of the neutral, or 
 to redress it ! In that case the very act of capture would 
 be an act of war, of war begun without notice, and pos- 
 sibly entirely without provocation. 
 
 "I think all unprejudiced minds will agree that, im- 
 perfect as the existing judicial remedy may be supposed to 
 be, it would be, as a general practice, better to follow it 
 than to adopt the summary one of leaving the decision 
 with the captor, and relying upon diplomatic debates to 
 review his decision. Practically it is a question of choice 
 between law, with its imperfections and delays, and war, 
 with its evils and desolations. 
 
 " Nor is it ever to be forgotten that neutrality, honestly 
 and justly preserved, is always the harbinger of peace, and 
 is therefore the common interest of nations, which is only 
 saying that it is the interest of humanity itself. 
 
 ' ' At the same time it is not to be denied that it may 
 sometimes happen that the judicial remedy will become 
 impossible as by the shipwreck of the prize vessel, or 
 other circumstances, which excuse the captor from sending 
 or taking her into port for confiscation. In such a case 
 the right of the captor to the custody of the captured per- 
 sons, and to dispose of them, if they are really contra- 
 band, so as to defeat their unlawful purposes, can not rea- 
 sonably be denied. 
 
 "What rule shall be applied in such a case? Clearly 
 the captor ought to be required to show that the failure 
 of the judicial remedy results from circumstances beyond 
 his control, and without his fault. Otherwise he would 
 be allowed to derive advantage from a wrongful act of his 
 own. 
 
 "In the present case, Captain Wilkes, after capturing 
 the contraband persons and making prize of the Trent in 
 what seems to us a perfectly lawful manner, instead of 
 sending her into port, released her from the capture, and 
 permitted her to proceed with her whole cargo upon her 
 voyage. 
 
 "He thus effectually prevented the judicial examination 
 which might otherwise have occurred. If now the cap- 
 ture of the contraband persons and the capture of the 
 contraband vessel are to be regarded, not as two separable 
 or distinct transactions under the law of nations, but as 
 one transaction, one capture only, then it follows that the 
 capture in this case was left unfinished or was abandoned. 
 
 ' ' Whether the United States have a right to retain the 
 chief public benefits of it, namely, the custody of the 
 
638 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 have detracted somewhat from the dig- 
 nity of the position he had assumed, 
 
 captured persons, on proving them to be contraband, "will 
 depend upon the preliminary question whether the leaving 
 of the transaction unfinished was necessary, or whether it 
 was unnecessary, and, therefore, voluntary. If it was 
 necessary, Great Britain, as we suppose, must, of course, 
 waive the defect, and the consequent failure of the ju- 
 dicial remedy. 
 
 "On the other hand, it is not seen how the United 
 States can insist upon her waiver of that judicial remedy, 
 if the defect of the capture resulted from an act of Cap- 
 tain Wilkes, which would be a fault on their own side. 
 
 ' Captain Wilkes has presented to this Government his 
 reasons for releasing the Trent. 
 
 " 'I forbore to seize her,' he says, 'in consequence of 
 my being so reduced in officers and crew, and the derange- 
 ment it would cause innocent persons, there being a large 
 number of passengers who would have been put to great 
 loss and inconvenience, as well as disappointment, from 
 the interruption it would have caused them, in not being 
 able to join the steamer from St. Thomas to Europe. 
 
 " ' I therefore concluded to sacrifice the interests of my 
 officers and crew in the prize, and suffered her to proceed, 
 after the detention necessary to effect the transfer of those 
 Commissioners, considering I had obtained the important 
 end I had in view, and which affected the interests of our 
 country, and interrupted the action of that of the Con- 
 federates.' 
 
 ' ' I shall consider first how these reasons ought to affect 
 the action of this Government, and, secondly, how they 
 ought to be expected to affect the action of Great Britain. 
 The reasons are satisfactory to this Government, so far as 
 Captain Wilkes is concerned. It could not desire that the 
 San Jacinto, her officers and crew, should be exposed to 
 danger and loss by weakening their number to detach a 
 prize crew to go on board the Trent. Still less could it 
 disavow the humane motive of preventing inconve- 
 niences, losses, and perhaps disasters to the several hun- 
 dred innocent passengers found on board the prize vessel. 
 
 " Nor could this Government perceive any ground for 
 questioning the fact that these reasons, though apparently 
 incongruous, did operate in the mind of Captain Wilkes, 
 and determined him to release the Trent. Human ac- 
 tions generally proceed upon mingled and sometimes con- 
 flicting motives. He measured the sacrifices which this 
 decision would cost. It manifestly, however, did not 
 occur to him that beyond the sacrifice of the private in- 
 terests (as he calls them) of his officers and crew, there 
 might also possibly be a sacrifice even of the chief and 
 public object of his capture, namely, the right of his Gov- 
 ernment to the custody and disposition of the captured 
 persons. 
 
 ' ' This Government cannot censure him for this oversight. 
 It confesses that the whole subject came unforeseen upon 
 
 which was that of a statesman whose 
 conduct was prompted by justice and 
 
 the Government, as doubtless it did upon him. Its present 
 convictions on the point in question are the results of 
 deliberate examination and deductions now made, and 
 not of any impressions previously formed. 
 
 "Nevertheless, the question now is, not whether Captain 
 Wilkes is justified in what he did, but what is the present 
 view of the Government as to the effect of what he has 
 done. Assuming now, for argument's sake only, that the 
 release of the Trent, if voluntary, involved a waiver of 
 the claim of the Government to hold the captured persons, 
 the United States could, in that case, have no hesitation 
 in saying that the act which has thus already been ap- 
 proved by the Government, must be allowed to draw its 
 legal consequences after it. 
 
 " It is of the very nature of a gift or a charity that the 
 giver cannot after the exercise of his benevolence is past, 
 recall or modify its benefits. 
 
 " We are thus brought directly to the question, whether 
 we are entitled to regard the release of the Trent as in- 
 voluntary, or whether we are obliged to consider that it 
 was voluntary. Clearly, the release would have been in- 
 voluntary had it been made solely upon the first ground 
 assigned for it by Captain Wilkes, namely, a want of a 
 sufficient force to send the prize vessel into port for adju- 
 dication. 
 
 " It is not the duty of a captor to hazard his own vessel 
 in order to secure a judicial examination to the captured 
 party. No large prize crew, however, is legally necessary, 
 for it is the duty of the captured party to acquiesce and 
 go willingly before the tribunal to whose jurisdiction it 
 appeals. 
 
 ' ' If the captured party indicated proposes to employ 
 means of resistance which the captor cannot, with proba- 
 ble safety to himself overcome, he may properly leave the 
 vessel to go forward, and neither she nor the state she 
 represents can ever afterwards justly object that the 
 captor deprived her of the judicial remedy to which she 
 was entitled. 
 
 " But the second reason assigned by Captain Wilkes for 
 releasing the Trent differs from the first. At best, there- 
 fore, it must be held that Captain Wilkes, as he explains 
 himself, acted from combined sentiments of prudence and 
 generosity, and so that the release of the prize vessel was 
 not strictly necessary or involuntary. 
 
 ' ' Secondly. How ought we to expect these explanations 
 by Captain Wilkes of his own reasons for leaving the cap- 
 ture incomplete to affect the action of the British Govern- 
 ment. The observation upon this point which first 
 occurs is, that Captain Wilkes' explanations were not 
 made to the authorities of the captured vessel. 
 
 "If made known to them, they might have approved 
 and taken the release, upon the condition of waiving a 
 judicial investigation of the whole transaction, or they 
 
SEWARD'S DISPATCH. 
 
 639 
 
 moral .principle, when he confessed 
 thai, under different circumstances, he 
 
 might have refused to accept the release upon that condi- 
 tion. 
 
 " But the case is one not with them but with the British 
 Government. If we claim that Great Britain ought not 
 to insist that a judicial trial has been lost because we 
 voluntarily released the offending vessel out of consider- 
 ation for her innocent passengers, I do not see how she 
 is to be bound to acquiesce in the decision which was thus 
 made by us without necessity on our part and without 
 knowledge of conditions or consent on her own. 
 
 ' ' The question between Great Britain and ourselves, 
 thus stated, would be a question, not of right and of law, 
 but of favor to be conceded by her to us in return for 
 favors shown by us to her, of the value of which favors 
 on both sides we ourselves shall be the judge. 
 
 " Of course the United States could have no thought 
 of raising such a question in any case. 
 
 " I trust I have shown, to the satisfaction of the British 
 Government, by a very simple and natural statement of 
 the facts and analysis of the law applicable to them, that 
 this Government has neither meditated nor practised nor 
 approved any deliberate wrong ha the transaction to 
 which they have called its attention ; and, on the con- 
 trary, that what has happened has been simply an inad- 
 vertency, consisting in a departure by the naval officer, 
 free from any wrongful motive, from a rule uncertainly 
 established, and probably by the several parties concerned 
 either imperfectly understood or entirely unknown. 
 
 " For this error the British Government has a right to 
 expect the same reparation that we, as an independent 
 state, should expect from Great Britain, or from any 
 other friendly nation, in a similar case. 
 
 "I have not been unaware that, in examining this 
 question, I have fallen into an argument for what seems 
 to be the British side of it against my own country. But 
 I am relieved from all embarrassment on that subject. 
 
 " I had hardly fallen into that line of argument, when I 
 discovered that I was really defending and maintaining, 
 not an exclusive British interest, but an old, honored, 
 and cherished American cause, not upon British authori- 
 ties, but upon principles that constitute a large portion 
 of the distinctive policy by which the United States have 
 developed the resources of a continent, and thus, becom- 
 ing a considerable maritime power, have won the respect 
 and confidence of many nations. 
 
 " These principles were laid down for us in 1804 by 
 James Madison, when secretary of state in the adminis- 
 tration of Thomas Jefferson, in instructions given to James 
 Monroe, our minister to England. 
 
 " Although the case before him concerned a descrip- 
 tion of persons different from those who are incidentally 
 the subjects of the present discussion, the ground he as- 
 sumed then was the same I now occupy, and the argu- 
 
 would have been actuated by the less 
 honorable motives of policy and ex- 
 
 ments by which he sustained himself upon it have been an 
 inspiration to me in preparing this reply. 
 
 ' ' Whenever,' he says, ' property found in a neutral is 
 supposed to be liable, on any ground, to capture and con- 
 demnation, the rule in all cases is that the question shall 
 not be decided by the captor, but be carried before a legal 
 tribunal, where a regular trial may be had, and where 
 the captor himself is liable to damages for an abuse of his 
 power.' 
 
 " Can it be reasonable, then, or just, that a belligerent 
 commander who is thus restricted and thus responsible in 
 a case of mere property, of trivial amount, should be per- 
 mitted, without recurring to any tribunal whatever, to 
 examine the crew of a neutral vessel, to decide the im- 
 portant question of their respective allegiances and to 
 carry that decision into execution by forcing every indi- 
 vidual he may choose into a service abhorrent to his feel- 
 ings, cutting him off from his most tender connections, 
 exposing his mind and his person to the most humil- 
 iating discipline, and his life itself to the greatest dan- 
 ger ? Reason, justice, and humanity unite in protesting 
 against so extravagant a proceeding. 
 
 " If I decide this case in favor of my own Government, 
 I must disallow its most cherished principles, and reverse 
 and forever abandon its essential policy. The country can 
 not afford the sacrifice. 
 
 " If I maintain those principles and adhere to that pol- 
 icy, I must surrender the case itself. 
 
 " It will be seen, therefore, that this Government could 
 not deny the justice of the claim presented to us in this 
 respect upon its merits. 
 
 " We are asked to do to the British nation just what we 
 have always insisted all nations ought to do to us. 
 
 " The claim of the British Government is not made in 
 a discourteous manner. This Government, since its first 
 organization, has never used more guarded language in a 
 similar case. 
 
 ' ' In coming to my conclusion, I have not forgotten 
 that if the safety of this Union required the detention of 
 the captured persons, it would be the right and duty of 
 this Government to detain them. But the effectual check 
 and waning proportions of the existing insurrection, as 
 well as the comparative unimportance of the captured per- 
 sons themselves, when dispassionately weighed, happily 
 forbid me from resorting to that defence. 
 
 " Nor am I unaware that American citizens are not in 
 any case to be unnecessarily surrendered for any purpose 
 into the keeping of a foreign state. Only the captured 
 persons, however, or others who are interested in them, 
 could justly raise a question on that ground. 
 
 " Nor have I been tempted at all by suggestions that 
 cases might be found in history where Great Britain re- 
 fused to yield to other nations, and even to ourselves, 
 
640 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 pediency. " In coming to my conclu- 
 sion, I have not forgotten," said the 
 Secretary, "that if the safety of this 
 Union required the detention of the 
 captured persons, it would be the right 
 and duty of this Government to detain 
 them. But the effectual check and wan- 
 ing proportions of the existing insur- 
 rection, as well as the comparative 
 unimportance of the captured persons 
 themselves, when dispassionately weigh- 
 
 claims like that which is now before us. Those cases oc- 
 curred when Great Britain, as well as the United States, 
 was the home of generations which, with all their peculiar 
 interests and passions, have passed away. She could in 
 no other way so effectually disavow any such inquiries, 
 as we think she does now, by assuming as her own the 
 grounds upon which we stood. 
 
 " It would tell little for our claims to the character of a 
 just and magnanimous people if we should so far consent 
 to be guided by the law of retaliation as to lift up buried 
 injuries from their graves to oppose against what national 
 consistency and the national conscience compel us to re- 
 gard as a claim intrinsically right 
 
 ' ' Putting behind me all suggestions of this kind, I pre- 
 fer_to express my satisfaction that by the adjustment of 
 
 ed, happily forbid me from resorting to 
 that defence." There was no necessity 
 for thus prejudging a case which, as 
 Mr. Seward himself acknowledged, had 
 not arisen. 
 
 If conscience permitted, policy forbade 
 the declaration that justice would only 
 be done when interest did not oppose. 
 In statesmanship a blunder has been said 
 to be worse than a crime : this seemed 
 like both. 
 
 the present case upon principles confessed to be American, 
 and yet, as I trust, mutually satisfactory to both of the 
 nations concerned, a question is finally and rightly settled 
 between them which heretofore exhausting not only all 
 forms of peaceful discussion, but also the arbitrament of 
 war itself, for more than half a century alienated the two 
 countries from each other, and perplexed with fears and 
 apprehensions all other nations. 
 
 ' ' The four prisoners in question are now held in mil- 
 itary custody at Fort Warren, in the State of Massachu- 
 setts. They will be cheerfully liberated. Tour lordship 
 will please indicate a time and place for receiving them. 
 
 " I avail myself of this occasion to offer to your lordship 
 a renewed assurance of my very high consideration. 
 
 "WILLIAM H. SEWARD." 
 
SEWARD'S ARGUMENT. 
 
 641 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Seward's view of Wilkes' error. Excessive courtesy of Wilkes. Ungrateful return of Great Britain. Seward's argu- 
 ment based upon newspaper opinion Dispatch of M. Thouvenel. Fair statement of International Law. Its 
 influence upon the United States Government. The effect in England of the surrender of Slidell and Mason. 
 Comments and Dispatch of Mr. Seward. Response of Lord John Russell. Cost to Great Britain. Loss to both 
 countries. Seward should have anticipated the demand of Great Britain. Departure of Slidell and Mason. Pas- 
 sage on the Rinaldo. Arrival in St. Thomas. Arrival in England. Their reception. In Paris and London. 
 
 1861, 
 
 MR. SEWARD, having assumed that 
 the ground upon which Great Brit- 
 ain based its demand for the return 
 of the Commissioners to the protection 
 of its flag was the irregularity of remov- 
 ing their persons from the Trent, instead 
 of seizing the vessel herself and carrying 
 her into an American port for adjudica- 
 tion by the admiralty courts, had plaus- 
 ibly argued that Captain Wilkes had 
 erred from excessive courtesy. This of- 
 ficer had thus, according to Mr. Seward, 
 by voluntarily omitting a formality which 
 nothing but necessity could fully justify, 
 destroyed the claims of the United States 
 Government to hold the captured per- 
 sons. The generosity of Captain Wilkes 
 in forbearing to seize the steamer, how- 
 ever commendable its motive, which was 
 stated by himself to be " the derange- 
 ment it would cause innocent persons, 
 there being a large number of passen- 
 gers who would have been put to a great 
 loss and inconvenience," had thus caused 
 him to commit an irregularity which pre- 
 vented his Government from refusing the 
 demand of Great Britain. This inge- 
 nious argument, while it awarded the 
 right by law to the British Government, 
 
 81 
 
 imputed to it an ungrateful return for 
 an intended benefit. 
 
 Mr. Seward, however, had assumed 
 as the basis of the English demand what 
 had been the unauthorized specula- 
 tion of the English press, and not the 
 official statement of the English Gov- 
 ernment. Lord John Russell had, in 
 his first dispatch demanding the restora- 
 tion of Slidell and Mason, forborne to 
 argue the question, and only declared 
 their seizure to be "an act of violence 
 which was an affront to the British flag 
 and a violation of international law." 
 
 The dispatch* of Monsieur Thouvenel, 
 
 Monsieur Thouvenel' s dispatch to the French minis- 
 ter at Washington is a model of terse diplomatic ex- 
 pression, and a forcible exposition of the modern European 
 doctrine of the rights of neutrals. It is here given in 
 
 full: 
 
 ' ' ADMINISTRATION OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ) 
 
 "POLITICAL DEPARTMENT, PARIS, Dec. 3. 1861. \ 
 " SIR : The arrest of Messieurs Mason and Slidell, on 
 board the English packet Trent, by the American cruiser, 
 has produced in France, if not the same emotion as in 
 England, at least extreme astonishment and sensation. 
 Public sentiment was at once engrossed with the lawful- 
 ness and the consequence of such an act, and the im- 
 pression which has resulted from this has not been for an 
 instant doubtful. The fact has appeared so much out of 
 accordance with the ordinary rules of international law 
 that it has chosen to throw the responsibility for it exclu- 
 sively on the commander of the San Jacinto. It is not 
 given to us to know whether this supposition is well 
 
THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 the minister of foreign affairs of France, 
 sent by the order of the French Em- 
 founded, and the Government of the Emperor has there- 
 fore also had to examine the question raised by the taking 
 away of the two passengers from the Trent. The desire 
 to contribute to prevent a conflict, perhaps imminent, be- 
 tween two powers for which it is animated by sentiments 
 equally friendly, and the duty to uphold, for the purpose 
 of placing the rights of its own flag under shelter from any 
 attack, certain principles essential to the security of neu- 
 trals, have, after mature reflection, convinced it that it 
 could not, under the circumstances, remain entirely silent, 
 
 " If, to our deep regret, the cabinet of Washington 
 were disposed to approve the conduct of the commander 
 of the San Jacinto, it would be either by considering 
 Messrs. Mason and Slidell as enemies or as seeing in them 
 nothing but rebels. In the one, as in the other case, there 
 would be a forgetfulness extremely annoying of principles 
 upon which we have always found the United States in 
 agreement with us. By what title, in effect, would the 
 American cruiser, in the first case, have arrested Messrs. 
 Masjn and Slidell ? The United States have admitted, 
 with us, in the treaties concluded between the two coun- 
 tries, that the freedom of the flag extends itself over the 
 persons found on board should they be enemies of one 
 of the two parties, unless the question is of military people 
 actually in the service of the enemy. Messrs. Mason and 
 Slidell were, therefore, by virtue of this principle, which 
 we have never found any difficulty in causing to be in- 
 serted in our treaties of friendship and commerce, per- 
 fectly at liberty under the neutral flag of England. Doubt- 
 less it will not be pretended that they could be considered 
 as contraband of war. That which constitutes contraband 
 of war is not yet, it is true, exactly settled ; the limita- 
 tions are not absolutely the same for all the powers ; but 
 in what relates to persons, the special stipulations which 
 are found in the treaties concerning military people define 
 plainly the character of those who only can be seized upon 
 by belligerents ; but there is no need to demonstrate that 
 Messrs. Mason and Slidell could not be assimilated to per- 
 sons in that category. 
 
 ' ' There remains, therefore, to invoke, in explanation 
 of their capture, only the pretext that they were the bear- 
 ers of official dispatches from the enemy. But this is the 
 moment to recall a circumstance which governs all this 
 affair, and which renders the conduct of the American 
 cruiser unjustifiable. The Trent was not destined to a 
 point belonging to one of the belligerents ; she was carry- 
 ing to a neutral country her cargo and her passengers ; 
 and, moreover, it was in a neutral port that they were 
 taken. If it were admissible that, under such conditions, 
 the neutral flag does not completely cover the persons and 
 merchandise it carries, its immunity would be nothing 
 more than an idle word. At any moment the commerce 
 and the navigation of the third powers would have to suf- 
 
 peror with the beneficent intention of 
 arresting war, contained an exposition 
 
 fer from their innocent and even their indirect relations 
 with the one or the other of the belligerents. These last 
 would no longer find themselves as having only the right 
 to exact from the neutral entire impartiality, and to in- 
 terdict all intermeddling on his part in acts of hospitality ; 
 they would impose on his freedom of commerce and navi- 
 gation restrictions which modern international law has re- 
 fused to admit as legitimate, and we should, in a word, 
 fall back upon vexatious practices, against which, in other 
 epochs, no power has more earnestly protested than the 
 United States. 
 
 " If the cabinet of Washington would only look on the 
 two persons arrested as rebels, whom it is always lawful 
 to seize, the question, to place it on other ground, could 
 not be solved, however, in a sense in favor of the com- 
 mander of the San Jacinto. There would be, in such case, 
 misapprehension of the principle which makes a vessel a 
 portion of the territory of the nation whose flag it bears, 
 and violation of that immunity which prohibits a foreign 
 sovereign, by consequence, from the exercise of his juris- 
 diction. It certainly is not necessary to recall to mind 
 with what energy, under every circumstance, the Govern- 
 ment of the United States has maintained this immunity, 
 and the right of asylum which is the consequence of it. 
 Not wishing to enter upon a more deep discussion of the 
 question raised by the capture of Messrs. Mason ami Sli- 
 dell, I have said enough, I think, to settle the point that 
 the cabinet at Washington could not, without striking a 
 blow at the principles which all neutral nations are alike 
 interested in holding in respect, nor without taking the 
 attitude of contradiction of its own course up to this time, 
 give its approbation to the proceedings of the commander 
 of the San Jacinto. In this state of things it evidently 
 should not, according to our views, hesitate about the de- 
 termination to be taken. 
 
 "Lord Lyons is already instructed to present the de- 
 mand for satisfaction which the English cabinet is under 
 the necessity of reducing to form, and which consists in 
 the immediate release of the persons taken from on board 
 the Trent, and in sending explanations which may take 
 from this act its offensive character toward the British 
 flag. The Federal Government will be inspired by a just 
 and exalted feeling in deferring to these requests. One 
 would search in vain to what end, for what interest it 
 would hazard to provoke by a different attitude a rupture 
 with Great Britain. For ourselves we should see in that 
 fact a deplorable complication, in every respect, of the 
 difficulties with which the cabinet at Washington has al- 
 ready to struggle, and a precedent of a nature seriously to 
 disquiet all the powers which continue outside of the ex- 
 isting contest. We believe that we give evidence of loyal 
 friendship for the cabinet of Washington by not permit- 
 ting it to remain in ignorance, in this condition of things, 
 
THOUVENEL OX SLIDELL AND MASON. 
 
 643 
 
 of the question which probably was a 
 fair statement of the principles of the 
 international law of modern Europe. 
 This came with better grace from France 
 always liberal in its views of neutral 
 rights than from England, whose prin- 
 ciples and conduct relative to neutrality 
 had been so selfish and arbitrary. 
 
 Mr. Seward, though, as he declared, 
 the President had decided upon the dis- 
 position to be made of the subject before 
 he had received this paper of Monsieur 
 Thouvenel, must have been confirmed in 
 the policy, if not the justice, of acceding 
 to the British demand, by this authori- 
 tative exposition of the French* view of 
 the question. 
 
 The arrival in England of intelli- 
 gence of a favorable solution to the 
 question of giving up the Southern 
 Commissioners, which had so agitated 
 the nation, caused there a very general 
 feeling of relief. It was evidently not 
 the desire of the British people to 
 wage war with the United States, and 
 the Government, now that the danger 
 of a conflict had passed, seemed dis- 
 posed to avoid all further chances of 
 dispute. 
 
 The dispatch, however, of Mr. Seward 
 was commented upon with considerable 
 severity by the press, and its doctrines 
 officially denied acceptance by Earl Rus- 
 sell in a response addressed to Lord 
 
 of our manner of regarding it. I request you, therefore, 
 sir, to seize the first occasion of opening yourself frankly 
 to Mr. Seward, und, if he asks it, send him a copy of this 
 dispatch. Receive, sir, the assurance of my high consid- 
 eration. TliODVENEL." 
 
 The Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and other Govern- 
 ments sent dispatches of similar import. 
 
 Lyons and submitted to the Secretary 
 of State. * 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE, Jan. 23, 18G2. 
 
 MY LORD : I mentioned in my dispatch of the 10th 
 instant, that her Majesty's Government differed from 
 Mr. Seward in some of the conclusions at which he had 
 arrived, and that I should state to you on a future occa- 
 sion wherein these differences consisted. I now proceed 
 to do so. 
 
 It is necessary to observe that I propose to discuss the 
 questions involved in this correspondence solely on the 
 principles of international law. Mr. Seward himself, 
 speaking of the capture of the four gentlemen taken from 
 on board the Trent, says : " The question before us is 
 whether this proceeding was authorized by and conducted 
 according to the law of nations." This is, in fact, the na,- 
 ture of the question which has been, but happily is no 
 longer, at issue. It concerned the respective rights of 
 belligerents and of neutrals. We must therefore discard 
 entirely from our minds the allegations that the captured 
 persons were rebels, and we must consider them only as 
 enemies of the United States at war with its Government, 
 for that is the ground on which Mr. Seward ultimately 
 places the discussion It is the only ground upon which 
 foreign Governments can treat it. 
 
 The first inquiry that arises, therefore, is as Mr. Seward 
 states it, "Were the persons named, and their supposed 
 dispatches, contraband of war?" 
 
 Upon this question her Majesty's Government differs en- 
 tirely from Mr. Seward. 
 
 The general right and duty of a neutral power to main- 
 tain its own communications and friendly relations with 
 both belligerents can not be disputed. "A neutral na- 
 tion," says Vattel (Vattel, book iii., chap. 7, sec. 118), 
 ' ' continues, with the two parties at war, in the several 
 relations nature has placed between nations. It is ready 
 to perform toward both of them all the duties of human- 
 ity, reciprocally due from nation to nation." In the per- 
 formance of these duties, on both sides, the neutral nation 
 has itself a most direct and material interest, especially 
 when it has numerous citizens resident in the territories 
 of both belligerents ; and when its citizens, resident both 
 there and at home, have property of great value in the 
 territories of the belligerents, which may be exposed to 
 danger from acts of confiscation and violence if the pro- 
 tection of their own Government should be withheld. 
 This is the case with respect to British subjects during the 
 present civil war in North America. 
 
 Acting upon these principles, Sir William Scott, in the 
 case of the Caroline [The Caroline (Chr. Rob., 461 ), cited 
 and approved by Wheaton ("Elements," part iv., chap. 
 3, sec. 22)] during the war between Great Britain and 
 France, decided that the carrying of dispatches from the 
 French ambassador, resident in the United States, to the 
 Government of France by a United States merchant ship 
 
644 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 Little remains to complete the nar- 
 rative of this remarkable event, which 
 
 was no violation of the neutrality of the United States in 
 the war between Great Britain and France, and that such 
 dispatches could not be treated as contraband of war : 
 
 " The neutral country," he said, " has a right to pre- 
 serve its relations with the enemy, and you are not at 
 liberty to conclude that any communication between them 
 can partake, in any degree, of the nature of hostility 
 against you. The enemy may have its hostile projects to 
 be attempted with the neutral state, but your reliance is 
 on the integrity of that neutral state, that it will not 
 favor nor participate in such designs, but, as far as its own 
 counsels and actions are concerned, will oppose them. 
 And if there should be private reasons to suppose that 
 this confidence in the good faith of the neutral state has 
 a doubtful foundation, that is matter for the caution of 
 the Government, to be counteracted by just measures of 
 preventive policy ; but it is no ground on which this 
 court can pronounce that the neutral carrier has violated 
 his duty by bearing dispatches, which, as far as he can 
 know, may be presumed to be of an innocent nature, and 
 in the maintenance of a pacific connection." And he con- 
 tinues, shortly afterward, "It is to be considered also, 
 with regard to this question, what may be due to the con- 
 venience of the neutral state ; for its interest may require 
 that the intercourse of correspondence with the enemy's 
 country should not be altogether interdicted. It might 
 be thought to amount almost to a declnration, that an 
 ambassador from the enemy shall not reside in the 
 neutral state if he is declared to be debarred from the 
 only means of communicating with his own. For to what 
 useful purpose can he reside there without the opportuni- 
 ties of such a communication ? It is too much to say that 
 all the business of the two states shall be transacted by 
 the minister of the neutral state resident in the enemy's 
 country. The practice of nations has allowed to neutral 
 states the privilege of receiving ministers from the bel- 
 ligerent states, and the use and convenience of an imme- 
 diate negotiation with them." 
 
 That these principles must necessarily extend to every 
 kind of diplomatic communication between government 
 and government, whether by sending or receiving ambas- 
 sadors or commissioners personally, or by sending or re- 
 ceiving dispatches from or to such ambassadors or com- 
 missioners, or from or to the respective governments, is 
 too plain to need argument ; and it seems no less clear 
 that such communication must be as legitimate and inno- 
 cent in their first commencement as afterward, and that 
 the rule can not be restricted to the case in which diplo- 
 matic relations are already formally established by the 
 residence of an accredited minister of the belligerent 
 power in the neutral country. It is the neutrality of the 
 one party to the communication, and not either the mode 
 of the communication or the time when it first takes 
 
 had cost Great Britain an expenditure 
 of ten millions of dollars, for prepura- 
 
 place, which furnishes the test of the true application of 
 the principle. The only distinction arising out of the pe- 
 culiar circumstances of a civil war and of the non-recog- 
 nition of the independence of the de facto government of 
 one of the belligerents, either by the other belligerents or 
 by the neutral power, is this that "for the purpose of 
 avoiding the difficulties which might arise from a formal 
 and positive solution of these questions diplomatic agents 
 are frequently substituted, who are clothed with the 
 powers and enjoy the immunities of ministers, though 
 they are not invested with the representative character, 
 nor entitled to diplomatic honors." (Wheaton, "Ele- 
 ments," part iii., chap. 1, sec. 5.) Upon this footing 
 Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who are expressly stated by 
 Mr. Seward to have been sent as pretended Ministers Pleni- 
 potentiary from the Southern States to the Courts of St. 
 James and of Paris, must have been sent, and would 
 have been, if at all, received, and the reception of these 
 gentlemen upon this footing could not have been justly 
 regarded, according to the law of nations, as a hostile or 
 unfriendly act toward the United States. Nor indeed is it 
 clear that these gentlemen would have been clothed with 
 any powers, or have enjoyed any immunities, beyond those 
 accorded to diplomatic agents not officially recognized. 
 
 It appears to her Majesty's Government to be a neces- 
 sary and certain deduction from these principles, that the 
 conveyance of public agents of this character from Havana 
 to St. Thomas on their way to Great Britain and France, 
 and of their credentials or dispatches (if any) on board 
 the Trent, was not and could not be a violation of the 
 duties of neutrality on the part of that vessel, and, both 
 for that reason and also because the destination of these 
 persons and of their dispatches was bonafide neutral, it is 
 in the judgment of her Majesty's Government clear and 
 certain they were not contraband. 
 
 The doctrine of contraband has its whole foundation 
 and origin in the principle which is nowhere more accu- 
 rately explained than in the following passage of Bynker- 
 shoek. After stating in general terms the duty of impartial 
 neutrality, he adds : 
 
 " Et sane id, quod modo dicebam, non tan turn ratio 
 docet, sed et uses, inter omnes fere gentes receptus. 
 Quamvis enim libera sint cum amicorum nostrorum hosti- 
 bus commercia, usu tamen placuit, ne alterutrum his rebus 
 juvemus, quibus bellum contra amicos nostros instruatur 
 et foveatur. Non licet igitur alterutri advehere ea, quibus 
 in bello gerendo opus habet ; ut sunt tormenta arma, et 
 quorum prascipuus in bello usus, ruilites. 
 Optimo jure interdictum est, ne quid eorum hostibus sub- 
 ministremus ; quia his rebus nos ipsi quodammodo vide- 
 remur amicis nostris bellum facere." (Bynkershoek, 
 "Quaest. Jur. Publ.," lib. i., cap. 9.) 
 
 The principle of contraband of war is here clearly ex. 
 
\VAII AVOIDED. 
 
 tions of war, and inflicted upon her peo- 
 ple as well as upon those of the United 
 
 plained, and it is impossible that mon, or dispatches, 
 which do not come within that principle, can in this sense 
 be contraband The penalty of knowingly carrying con- 
 traband of war is, as Mr. Seward states, nothing less than 
 the confiscation of the ship ; but it is impossible that this 
 penalty can be incurred when the neutral has done no 
 more than employ means usual among nations for main- 
 taining his own proper relations with one of the belliger- 
 ents. It is of the very essence of the definition of contra- 
 band that the articles should have a hostile, and not a 
 neutral destination. " Goods," says Lord Stowell (the 
 linina,' 3 Chr. Rob., 167), "going to a neutral port can- 
 not come under the description of contraband, all goods 
 going there being equally lawful. The rule respecting 
 contraband," he adds, " as I have always understood it, 
 is that articles must be taken in delicto, in the natural 
 prosecution of the voyage to an enemy's port." On what 
 just principle can it be contended that a hostile destina- 
 tion is less necessary, or a neutral destination more ob- 
 noxious, for constituting a contraband character in the 
 case of public agents or dispatches than in the case of 
 arms and ammunition ? 
 
 Mr. Seward seeks to support his conclusion on this 
 point by a reference to the well-known dictum of Sir 
 William Scott in the case of the Caroline, that " you may 
 stop the ambassador of your enemy on his passage" 
 (The Caroline, 6 Chr. Rob., 468) ; and to another dictum 
 of the same judge, in the case of the Orozembo, that civil 
 functionaries, " if sent for a purpose intimately connected 
 with the hostile operations [The Orozembo, 6 Chr. Rob., 
 434, may fall under the same rule with persons whose 
 employment is directly military.]" 
 
 These quotations are, as it seems to her Majesty's 
 Government, irrelevant. The words of Sir W. Scott are 
 in both cases applied by Mr. Seward in a sense different 
 from that in which they were used. Sir William Scott 
 does not say that an ambassador, sent from a belligerent 
 to a neutral state, may be stopped as contraband while on 
 Ms passage on board a neutral vessel belonging to that or 
 any other neutral state ; nor that, if he be not contra- 
 band, the other belligerent would have any right to stop 
 him on such a voyage. The sole object which Sir William 
 Scott had in view was to explain the extent and limits of 
 the doctrine of the inviolability of ambassadors, in virtue 
 of that character, for he says : 
 
 ' ' The limits that are assigned to the operations of war 
 against them, by Vattel and other writers on these sub- 
 jects, are, that you may exercise your right of war against 
 them wherever the character of hostility exists. You 
 may stop the ambassador of your enemy on his passage ; 
 but when lie has arrived, and has taken upon him the 
 functions of his office, and has been admitted in his 
 representative character, he becomes a sort of middle 
 
 States incalculable damage, from its fa- 
 tal influence upon their commercial and 
 
 man, entitled to peculiar privileges, as set apart for the 
 protection of the relations of amity and peace, in main- 
 taining which all nations are in some degree interested." 
 
 There is certainly nothing in this passage from which 
 an inference can be drawn so totally opposed to the gene- 
 ral tenor of the whole judgment as that an ambassador, 
 proceeding to the country to which he is sent, and on 
 board a neutral vessel belonging to that country, can be 
 stopped on the ground that the conveyance of such an 
 ambassador is a breach of neutrality, which it must be if 
 he be contraband of war. Sir William Scott is here ex- 
 pressing not his own opinion merely, but the doctrine 
 which he considers to have been laid down by writers of 
 authority upon the subject. No writer of authority has 
 ever suggested that an ambassador proceeding to a neutral 
 state on board one of its merchant ships is contraband of 
 war. The only writer named by Sir William Scott is 
 Vattel (Vattel. lib. iv., cap. 7, sec. 85), whose words are 
 these : 
 
 ' ' On peut encore attaquer et arreter ses gens (i. e. , gens 
 de 1'ennemi) partout ou on a la liberte d'exercer des actes 
 d'hostilite. Non seulement done on peut justement re- 
 fuser le passage aux Ministres qu'un ennemi envoye Jk 
 d'autres Souverains ; on les arrete meme, s'ils entrepren- 
 ment de passer secretement et sans permission dans les 
 lieux dont on est maitre." 
 
 And he adds as an example the seizure of a French 
 ambassador when passing through the dominions of 
 Hanover, during war between England and France, by 
 the King of England, who was also sovereign of Hanover. 
 
 The rule, therefore, to be collected from these authori- 
 ties is, that you may stop an enemy's ambassador in any 
 place of which you are yourself the master, or in any 
 other place where you have a right to exercise acts of 
 hostility. Your own territory, or ships of your own 
 country, are places of which you are yourself the master. 
 The enemy's territory, or the enemy's ships, are places in 
 which you have a right to exercise acts of hostility. 
 Neutral vessels, guilty of no violation of the laws of 
 neutrality, are places where you have no right to exercise 
 acts of hostility. 
 
 It would be an inversion of the doctrine that ambassa- 
 dors have peculiar privileges to argue that they are less 
 protected than other men. The right conclusion is, that an 
 ambassador sent to a neutral power is inviolable on the high seas 
 as well as in neutral waters, while under the protection of the neu- 
 tral flag. 
 
 The other dictum of Sir William Scott, in the case of 
 the Orozembo, is even less pertinent to the present ques- 
 tion. That related to the case of a neutral ship which, 
 upon the effect of the evidence given on the trial, was 
 held by the court to have been engaged as an enemy's 
 transport to convey the enemy's military officers, and 
 
646 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 financial relations, greatly stirred their 
 national prejudices, and nearly involved 
 
 some of his civil officers whose duties were intinvitcly 
 connected with military operations, from the enemy's 
 country to one of the enemy's colonies, which was about 
 to be the theatre of those operations, the whole being 
 done under color of a simulated neutral destination. But 
 as long as a neutral government, within whose territories 
 no military operations are carried on, adheres to its pro- 
 fession of neutrality, the duties of civil officers on a mis- 
 sion to that government and within its territory cannot 
 possibly be " connected with" any "military operations" 
 in the sense in which these words were used by Sir William 
 Scott, as, indeed, is rendered quite clear by the passages 
 already cited from his own judgment in the case of the 
 Caroline. 
 
 In connection with this part of the subject, it is neces- 
 sary to notice a remarkable passage in Mr. Seward's note, 
 in which he says, " I assume, in the present case, what, 
 as I read British authorities, is regarded by Great Britain 
 herself as true maritime law, that the circumstance that 
 the Trent was proceeding from a neutral port to another 
 neutral port does not modify the right of the belligerent 
 capture." If, indeed, the immediate and ostensible 
 voyage of the Trent had been to a neutral port, but her 
 ultimate and real destination to some port of the enemy, 
 her Majesty's Government might have been better able to 
 understand the reference to British authorities contained 
 in this passage. It is undoubtedly the law, as laid down 
 by British authorities, that if the real destination of the 
 vessel be hostile (that is, to the enemy or the enemy's 
 country), it cannot be covered and rendered innocent by a 
 fictitious destination to a neutral port. But if the real 
 terminus of the voyage be bona fide in a neutral territory, 
 no English, nor, indeed, as her Majesty's Government be- 
 lieve, any American authority can be found which has 
 ever given countenance to the doctrine that either men or 
 dispatches can be subject, during such a voyage and on 
 board such a neutral vessel, to belligerent capture as con- 
 traband of war. Her Majesty's Government regard such a doc- 
 trine as wholly irreconcilable with the true principles of maritime 
 law, and certainly icith those principles as they have been under- 
 stood in the courts of this countrt/. 
 
 It is to be further observed that packets engaged in the 
 postal service, and keeping Tip the regular and periodical 
 communications between the different countries of Europe 
 and America and other parts of the world, though in the 
 absence of treaty stipulations they may not be exempted 
 from visit and search in time of war, nor from the penalties 
 of any violation of neutrality, if proved to have been 
 knowingly committed, are still, when sailing in the ordi- 
 nary and innocent course of their legitimate employment, 
 which consists in the conveyance of mails and passengers, 
 entitled to peculiar favor and protection from all govern- 
 ments in whose service they are engaged. To detain, 
 
 them in a conflict which would have 
 wasted their mutual resources, and might 
 
 disturb, or interfere with them, without the very gravest 
 cause, would be an act of a most noxious and injurious 
 character, not only to a vast number and variety of indi- 
 vidual and private interests, but to the public interests of 
 neutral and friendly governments. 
 
 It has been necessary to dwell upon these points in some 
 detail, because they involve principles of the highest im- 
 portance, and because, if Mr. Seward's argument were 
 acted upon as sound, the most injurious consequences 
 might follow. 
 
 For instance, in the present war, according to Mr. Sew- 
 ard's doctrine, any packet ship carrying a Confederate agent 
 from Dover to Calais, or from Calais to Dover, might be 
 captured and carried to New York. In case of war between 
 Austria and Italy, the conveyance of an Italian minister 
 or agent might cause the capture of a neutral packet ply- 
 ing between Malta and Marseilles, or between Malta and 
 Gibraltar, the condemnation of the ship at Trieste, and 
 the confinement of the minister or agent in an Austrian 
 prison. So in the late war between Great Britain and 
 France, on the one hand, and Russia on the other, a Kus- 
 sian minister going from Hamburg to Washington, in an 
 American ship, might have been brought to Portsmouth, 
 the ship might have been condemned, and the minister 
 sent to the Tower of London. So also a Confederate ves- 
 sel of war might capture a Cunard steamer on its way 
 from Halifax to Liverpool, on the ground of its carrying 
 dispatches from Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. 
 
 In view, therefore, of the erroneous principles asserted 
 by Mr. Seward, and the consequences they involve, her 
 Majesty's Government think it necessary to declare that 
 they would not acqtiiesce in the capture of any British 
 merchant ship in circumstances similar to those of the 
 Trent, and that the fact of its being brought before a 
 prize court, though it would alter the character, would 
 not diminish the gravity of the offence against the law of 
 nations which would thereby be committed. 
 
 Having disposed of the question, whether the persons 
 named and their supposed dispatches were contraband of 
 war, I am relieved from the necessity of discussing the 
 other questions raised by Mr. Seward namely, whether 
 Captain Wilkes had lawfully a right to stop and search 
 the Trent for these persons and their supposed dispatches ; 
 whether that right, assuming that he possessed it, was ex- 
 ercised by him in a lawful and proper manner ; and whether 
 he had a right to capture the persons found on board. 
 
 The fifth question put by Mr. Seward namely, whether 
 Captain Wilkes exercised the alleged right of capture in 
 the manner allowed and recognized by the law of nations, 
 is resolved by Mr. Seward himself in the negative. 
 
 I cannot conclude, however, without noticing one very 
 singular passage in Mr. Seward's dispatch. 
 
 Mr. Seward asserts that ' ' if the safety of this Union re- 
 
DEPARTURE OF SLIDELL AND MASON". 
 
 647 
 
 have blasted forever the hopes of re-es- 
 tablishing that union upon which the 
 North relies for its future national great- 
 ness. As we believe that the position 
 of Slidell and Mason, whether in prison 
 at Fort Warren or in the saloons of Paris 
 and London, is of little import to the in- 
 terests of the present struggle, we do not 
 hesitate in avowing the opinion, that Mr. 
 Reward would have better preserved the 
 dignity of the nation by anticipating the 
 demand of Great Britain and sending 
 back the captives immediately on their 
 arrival in the United States. 
 
 To give completeness to this narrative, 
 it is necessary to relate the movements 
 
 quired the detention of the captured persons, it would be 
 the duty of this Government to detain them." He pro- 
 ceeds to say that the waning proportions of the insurrec- 
 tion, and the comparative unimportance of the captured 
 persons themselves, forbid him from resorting to that 
 defence. Mr. Seward does not here assert any right 
 founded on international law, however inconvenient or 
 irritating to neutral nations. He entirely loses sight of 
 the vast difference which exists between the exercise of 
 an extreme right and the commission of an unquestion- 
 able wrong. His frankness compels me to be equally open, 
 and to inform him that Great Britain could not have sub- 
 mitted to the perpetration of that wrong, however nourish- 
 ing might have been the insurrection in the South, and how- 
 ever important the persons captured might have been. 
 
 Happily, all danger of hostile collision on this subject 
 has been avoided. It is the earnest hope of her Majesty's 
 Government that similar dangers, if they should arise, 
 may be averted by peaceful negotiations conducted in the 
 spirit which befits the organs of two great nations. 
 
 I request you to read this dispatch to Mr. Seward, and 
 give him a copy of it. I am, etc., RUSSELL. 
 
 of the Commissioners on their release. 
 It is to be hoped this will be the last oc- 
 casion for the annalist to record the pro- 
 ceedings of those personages, whose ab- 
 sence from the country will doubtless 
 prove a less source of inquietude than 
 was their presence. 
 
 The British gun-boat Rinaldo being 
 ordered by Lord Lyons to proceed j an , j^ 
 to Provincetown, Mass., awaited W$Z 
 there the transfer of Messrs. Slidell and 
 Mason from Fort Warren to the protec- 
 tion of the British flag, which was effect- 
 ed on the first day of January. The tug- 
 boat Starlight received them at the fort 
 and conveyed them to the British vessel, 
 which sailed immediately for Halifax. 
 A severe storm blew the Rinaldo off the 
 coast of America, and she was obliged to 
 change her course for Bermuda. Thence 
 the Commissioners were taken to St. 
 Thomas, where they embarked on board 
 the English steamer La Plata, and arriv- 
 ed at Southampton, in England, on the 
 29th of January. A large crowd of the 
 curious gathered on the dock to catch a 
 glimpse of these troublesome personages, 
 but " no demonstration was made on 
 their landing." Mr. Slidell, having joined 
 his family, proceeded to Paris, and Mr. 
 Mason to London, their respective fields 
 of future intrigue. 
 
648 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 Extent and conformation of the Southern coast. A plan for the obstruction of Harbors. Stone Fleet. Sailing of 
 Stone Fleet. Composition. Plan of operation. Charleston Harbor obstructed. Intentions in regard to Savannah. 
 Forestalled by the Enemy. Effect in Europe. The Stone Fleet pronounced barbarous. The English Press. 
 Protest of Lord John Russell. His Dispatch. The Monileur on the Stone Fleet. The false views of the American 
 Press. Explanation of Secretary Seward. Stone Fleets justified by example of Great Britain. Cases cited. 
 Alexandria and Boulogne. Extraordinary Dispatch of Loi'd Herbert. Ingenuity and disingenuousness of the Brit- 
 ish Press. A distinction without a difference. Two Naval Expeditions. Expedition to Ship Island. Arrival of 
 General Phelps.- Description of Ship Island. Phelps' first enterprise. An impolitic Proclamation. Movements 
 to Biloxi. Reinforcements. Departure of General Butler. Capture of Cedar Keys. A great gain by a small Ex- 
 pedition. Future designs. 
 
 1861. 
 
 THE immense extent and peculiar 
 conformation of the Southern coast 
 of the United States induced the 
 Government, in order to render the block- 
 ade more effective, to close some of the 
 numerous channels through bayous, 
 creeks, and small streams by which the 
 enemy's and foreign vessels were enabled 
 to elude the vigilance of the Federal 
 cruisers. After the capture of Forts 
 Hatteras and Clark, by the combined 
 naval and military expedition under 
 Commodore Stringham and General 
 Butler, several old vessels, filled with 
 stone, which had been towed there for 
 the purpose, were sunk in Ocracoke 
 Inlet, to interrupt the passage through 
 that channel to and from Pamlico Sound. 
 
 This was the beginning of a more 
 systematic and extensive plan, which 
 reached its full development in the 
 " stone fleet," a part of which, con- 
 sisting of twenty-five vessels, sailed 
 ft ov , from New Bedford on the 20th of 
 20. November. These were mostly old 
 
 "whalers," no longer serviceable, and 
 which having been purchased at prices 
 varying from, five hundred to five thou- 
 sand dollars, were loaded with stone and 
 dispatched to Port Royal. A number 
 of other vessels of similar character were 
 also bought, to be used for a like pur- 
 pose. The whole number purchased by 
 the Government was about sixty, at an 
 aggregate expense of a hundred and 
 sixty thousand dollars. Sixteen of the 
 fleet which reached Port Royal were 
 dispatched to the north and sunk in the 
 main channel leading to Charleston Har- 
 bor. Through the bottom of each of 
 these vessels had been passed a pipe, 
 which was temporarily plugged. On 
 reaching its destination, the plug was 
 removed, and the water rushing in sunk 
 the stone-laden hulks.* 
 
 The operation in the channel leading to Charleston 
 Harbor is thus described by one who was present : 
 
 " In the course of the afternoon all the whalers arrived 
 and were towed up toward the bar in a convenient Dee 
 position to be taken over. About five o'clock the *' 
 
 * Correspondent of the N. Y. Tribvme, 
 
\NT1C COAI 
 
 CX' : 
 
STONE FLEET. 
 
 649 
 
 It was intended to have disposed of 
 the rest of the stone fleet at Port Royal, 
 
 Ottawa came out, and towed iirst theTenedos and then the 
 Leonidas to their positions on the extreme right and left 
 of the line. In a few minutes after anchoring, the crew 
 of the Tenedos left her side in two boats, and we knew the 
 ship was sinking. The process was much slower than had 
 been expected. When the plug was removed, the water 
 rushed in a stream from one side of the vessel to the other, 
 but there was only a single hole, and when that was 
 reached inside, it entered from the outside with greatly 
 diminished force. 
 
 "The sinking of the fleet was intrusted to Capt. Charles 
 H. Davis, formerly, from 1842 to 1849, chief of a hydro- 
 graphic party on the Coast Survey, and ever since more or 
 less intimately connected with it. It is remarkable that 
 vrhen, in 1851, an appropriation was made by the Federal 
 Government for the improvement of Charleston Harbor, 
 and, at the request of South Carolina, a commission of 
 navy and army officers was appointed to superintend the 
 work, Captain Davis was one of the commission, and for 
 three or four years was engaged in these operations. The 
 present attempt was of somewhat different character. The 
 plan adopted by him may be easily understood by reference 
 to a chart of the harbor, or by the following description : 
 The entrance by the main ship channel runs from the bar 
 to Fort Sumter, six miles, nearly south and north. The 
 city is three miles beyond, bearing about N. W. The other 
 channels are Sanford's, Swash, the North, and Maffit's, or 
 Sullivan's Island, which need not be particularly described. 
 Only the latter is practicable for vessels of any draught, 
 but all serve more or less to empty the waters discharged 
 by the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Over the bar, at the 
 entrance of the main ship channel, is a narrow passage, 
 through which vessels may carry eleven feet at low 
 water ; about seventeen at high water. The plan of 
 Captain Davis for closing the harbor proceeded on the 
 following principles : 
 
 " 1st. The obstructions are to be placed on both sides 
 of the crest of the bar, so that the same forces which have 
 created the bar may be relied on to keep them in their 
 places. 
 
 ~2(] The bar is not to be obstructed entirely; for 
 natural forces would soon open a new passage, since the 
 rivers must discharge themselves by some outlet ; but to 
 be only partially obstructed, so that, while this channel is 
 ruined, no old one, like Swash or Sanford, shall be im- 
 proved, or a new one formed. 
 
 " 3d. The vessels are to be so placed that on the chan- 
 nel course it shall be difficult to draw a line through any 
 part of it that will not be intercepted by one of them. A 
 ship, therefore, endeavoring to make her way out or in, 
 cannot do it by taking the bearing of any point of depart- 
 ure, as she cannot sail on any straight line. 
 
 " 4th. The vessels are to be placed checkerwise, and at 
 82 
 
 by sinking them in the mouth of the 
 Savannah River, but as the enemy, fear- 
 some distance from each other, so as to create an artificial 
 unevenness of the bottom, remotely resembling Hell Gate 
 and Holmes' Hole, which unevenness will rise to eddies, 
 counter currents and whirlpools, adding so seriously to 
 the difficulties of navigation that it can only be practicable 
 by steamers or with a very commanding breeze. 
 
 ' With reference to the second, it may be added that 
 no other channel now existing will be closed, at least for 
 the present ; for if such a plan were carried too far, the 
 formation of a new channel would be inevitable. More- 
 over, for the purposes of the blockade, the obstruction of 
 the main channel is entirely sufficient. 
 
 "The execution of the foregoing plan was begun by 
 buoying out the channel and circumscribing within four 
 points the space where the vessels were all to be sunk. 
 
 "The distance between the points from S.W. to N.E. 
 is about an eighth of a mile ; the breadth perhaps half as 
 much. It will be understood that it was no part of the 
 plan to build a wall of ships across, but to drop them at a 
 little distance from each other, on the principles above 
 stated, closing the channel to navigation, but leaving it 
 open to the water. 
 
 " Work was resumed on Friday morning, the 20th, the 
 Ottawa and Pocahontas bringing the ships to their stations. 
 The placing them was an operation of considerable nicety, 
 especially as some of the vessels were so deep as to be 
 with difficulty dragged on the bar, except at high water. 
 A graver hindrance to their exact location was found in 
 the imperfection of the arrangement for sinking, several 
 of the ships remaining afloat so long after the plug was 
 knocked out that they swung out of position. They were, 
 nevertheless, finally placed very nearly according to the 
 plan. By half-past ten the last plug was drawn, and 
 every ship of the sixteen was either sunk or sinking. Our 
 expectations have been to some extent disappointed in the 
 character of the expedition while it was in progress. 
 None of the vessels wholly disappeared from sight, and 
 those which, heeled over farthest and were most under 
 water, had subsided in a very deliberate manner. An im- 
 passable line of wrecks was drawn for an eighth of a mile 
 between the points above indicated. All but two or three 
 were careened. Some were on their beam ends, some 
 down by the head, others by the stern, and masts, spars, 
 and rigging of the thickly crowded ships were mingled 
 and tangled in the greatest confusion. They did not long 
 remain so. The boats which had been swarming about 
 the wrecks, picking up stores, sails, and whatever was to 
 be got, returning heavily laden, were ordered back to 
 cut down the masts. As they fell the sound of heavy 
 cannon echoed down the bay, and for the next two hours 
 the crash of falling masts was accompanied by the same 
 salute. The guns of Sumter were the requiem of the 
 fleet. Some staunch old ships died very hard, settling 
 
650 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 ing an attack, had already obstructed 
 this entrance from the sea, the operation 
 became unnecessary. 
 
 In Europe, these measures were de- 
 nounced as a barbarous mode of warfare, 
 and a sin against nature. The English 
 press was especially virulent in its cen- 
 sure, and characterized the obstruction 
 of Charleston Harbor, by the sinking of 
 the "stone fleet," as an atrocious bar- 
 barity, almost unparalleled in the history 
 of the world. The British Government, 
 even, was induced to protest, through its 
 representative at Washington, against 
 the act. Earl Russell, in his dispatch, 
 had declared that " such a cruel plan 
 would seem to imply despair of the 
 restoration of the Union, the professed 
 object of the war ; for it could never be 
 the .wish of the United States Govern- 
 ment to destroy cities from which their 
 own country was to derive a portion of 
 its riches and prosperity. Such a plan 
 could only be adopted as a measure of re- 
 venge and of irremediable injury against 
 an enemy." His lordship moreover de- 
 clared that " even as a scheme of em- 
 bittered and sanguinary war, such a 
 measure would not be justifiable. It 
 would be a plot against the commerce 
 of all maritime nations, and against the 
 free intercourse of the Southern States 
 of America with the civilized world." 
 
 The official organ of the French Gov- 
 
 very slowly, and still upright when they had felt the 
 bottom. One ship out of the sixteen, the Robin Hood, 
 with upright masts, stood solitary sentinel over the 
 wrecks. As evening came on she was set on fire, and 
 gave us as the crown of our novel experiment, the rare 
 sight of a ship on fire at sea. The light-house on Morris 
 Island was blown up by the rebels on the night of Decem- 
 ber 19, while the fleet was lying off the harbor." 
 
 ernment, the Moniteur, though generally 
 so reticent, did not hesitate to character- 
 ize the " stone fleet" as a vindictive 
 prosecution of the war, and a provoca- 
 tion to the indignation of the world. 
 
 European opinion on the subject, how- 
 ever, had been formed on the state- 
 ments of the American press, which 
 had misrepresented the purpose of the 
 Federal Government, declaring, with 
 unreflecting exultation, that the stone 
 fleet was intended to destroy for- 
 ever the harbors in which it was to be 
 sunk. 
 
 An authoritative correction of the 
 misapprehension of the objects and 
 effects of the plan of obstruction was 
 made by Mr. Seward directly to Lord 
 Lyons, who thus stated it in the report 
 of his conversation on the subject with 
 the Secretary of State : 
 
 " Mr. Seward observed that it was 
 altogether a mistake to suppose that 
 this plan had been devised with a view 
 to injure the harbors permanent^. It 
 was, he said, simply a temporary mili- 
 tary measure adopted to aid the block- 
 ade. The Government of the United 
 States had last spring, with a navy very 
 little prepared for so extensive an ope- 
 ration, undertaken to blockade upward 
 of three thousand miles of coast. The 
 Secretary of the Navy had reported that 
 he could stop up the ' large holes' by 
 means of his ships, but that he could 
 not stop up the ' small ones.' It had 
 been found necessary, therefore, to close 
 some of the numerous small inlets by 
 sinking vessels in the channels. It would 
 be the duty of the Government of the 
 
ENGLAND ON STONE FLEETS. 
 
 651 
 
 United States to remove all these ob- 
 structions as soon as the Union was 
 restored. It was well understood that 
 this was an obligation incumbent on the 
 Federal Government. At the end of the 
 war with Great Britain, that Government 
 had been called upon to remove a vessel 
 which had been sunk in the harbor of 
 Savannah, and had recognized the obli- 
 gation and removed the vessel according- 
 ly. Moreover, the United States were 
 now engaged in a civil war with the 
 South. He was not prepared to say 
 that, as an operation in war, it was un- 
 justifiable to destroy permanently the 
 harbors of the enemy ; but nothing of 
 the kind had been done on the present 
 occasion. Vessels had been sunk by the 
 rebels to prevent the access to their 
 ports of the cruisers of the United 
 States. The same measure had been 
 adopted by the United States in order 
 to make the blockade complete. When 
 the war was ended, the removal of all 
 these obstructions would be a mere mat- 
 ter of expense ; there would be no great 
 difficulty in removing them effectually. 
 Besides, as had already been done in 
 the case of Port Royal, the United 
 States would open better harbors than 
 those which they closed. 
 
 " I asked Mr. Seward whether the 
 principal entrance to Charleston Harbor 
 had not been recently closed altogether 
 by vessels sunk by order of this Govern- 
 ment ; and I observed to him that the 
 opening of a new port thirty or forty 
 miles off, would hardly console the 
 people of the large town of Charleston 
 for the destruction of their own harbor. 
 
 " Mr. Seward said that the best proof 
 he could give me that the harbor of 
 Charleston had not been rendered inac- 
 cessible was, that in spite of the sunken 
 vessels and of the blockading squadron, 
 a British steamer, laden with contra- 
 band of war, had just succeeded in get- 
 ting in." 
 
 There were those who were prepared 
 to justify the design, even if it were in- 
 tended perpetually to block up the har- 
 bors of the Southern coast, by the naval 
 career of Great Britain, so abound- 
 ing in precedents of unscrupulous war- 
 fare. An English writer* reminded his 
 indignant countrymen that, " on the 
 evacuation of the city and port of Alex- 
 andria and embarkation of the troops, 
 in 1807, five vessels, laden with stone, 
 were sunk in the narrow passage by 
 which our (British) squadron, under the 
 command of Admiral Lewis, had entered 
 and then sailed ; concluding that it would 
 be the last exit of any vessel from the 
 port erroneously, however, as it has 
 subsequently appeared." 
 
 To this remarkable precedent was ad- 
 ded another, f which received the formal 
 sanction of the British King and Gov- 
 ernment. It was given in this dispatch, 
 marked "most secret," addressed by 
 Lord Hobart to Sir N. S. Hammond, 
 controller of the navy : 
 
 * Galignani's Messenger, Jan. 17. 
 
 f Sir Walter Scott, in his " Life of Napoleon," thus al- 
 ludes to the Boulogne affair : 
 
 "England . . unable to get opportunities of assailing 
 French vessels, was induced to have recourse to strange 
 and, as it proved, ineffectual means of carrying on hostil- 
 ities. Such was the attempt at destroying the harbor of 
 Boulogne, by sinking in the roads ships loaded with 
 stones. ' ' 
 
652 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 STREET, Feb. 9, 1 804. 
 " It being thought advisable, under 
 the present circumstances of the war, 
 that an attempt should be made for 
 carrying into execution the project sug- 
 gested in the inclosed paper for choking 
 up the entrance into the harbor of Bou- 
 logne ; and the success of such an enter- 
 prise depending in a great measure upon 
 the secrecy and dispatch with which the 
 preparations may be made, I have the 
 King's command to signify to you that 
 you take these preparations under your 
 immediate control, and that you com- 
 municate confidentially with Mr. - , 
 supplying him with such funds and giving 
 him such orders for the purchase of vessels, 
 and providing the materials which you 
 may judge necessary for accomplishing 
 the object in view. As soon as the 
 vessels shall be sufficiently laden, you 
 will give instructions that they should 
 proceed with all possible expedition to 
 the Downs, where further orders will 
 proceed from Lord Keith. HOBART." 
 
 To these precedents might be added 
 others, some of which occurred upon 
 the very coast against the obstructions 
 on which England is now, with a not 
 unnatural regard for its own interests in 
 an illegal trade, so intensely indignant. 
 The English writers who had denounced 
 the stone fleet as indicating principles of 
 barbarity worthy only of East India pi- 
 rates, strove to parry those thrusts which 
 brought home to themselves similar acts. 
 Their ingenuity of fence is manifest in 
 such verbal tours de maitre as the follow- 
 
 ing : 
 
 "We confess we are infinitely aston- 
 
 ished," said the London Morning Post* 
 " to find a contemporary journal indi- 
 rectly palliating the destruction of the 
 port of Charleston by the precedent of 
 our having proposed to sink ships, in 
 1804, in front of the harbor of Boulogne. 
 Can it be necessary to draw out in words 
 the obvious distinction between military 
 and commercial ports between a harbor 
 widened and defended for the express 
 purpose of the conquest and subjugation 
 of England, and a harbor valuable to its 
 own country merely in fostering the com- 
 merce of all the maritime nations of 
 Europe ? To block up permanently the 
 mouth of the Garonne, and to destroy 
 thereby the port of Bordeaux, would have 
 been the corresponding barbarity, though 
 it is one which no European Government 
 ever imagined. But for England to have 
 destroyed the port of Boulogne in 1804, 
 even if she had done so, would have been 
 simply equivalent to the blowing up of 
 Sebastopol by Turkey and her allies in 
 1856." 
 
 This distinction between military and 
 commercial does not now, if ever it did, 
 apply to the port of Boulogne, to Alex- 
 andria, in Egypt, or to those harbors of 
 which Savannah, it is believed, was one 
 that the English attempted to "choke 
 up" during their war with America. 
 
 The control of the Federal Govern- 
 ment over the coasts of the enemy was 
 still further extended by the success of 
 two minor naval expeditions. A \ ov , 
 force of nineteen hundred men, con- 26, 
 sisting of the Massachusetts Twenty-sixth 
 
 * Supposed to be a semi-official organ of Lord Palmers- 
 ton. 
 
OCCUPATION OF SHIP ISLAND. 
 
 653 
 
 and the Connecticut Ninth Regiment, 
 with Captain Manning's battery of ar- 
 tillery, rendezvoused at Fortress Mon- 
 roe, and thence sailed in the steam- 
 transport Constitution to Ship Island. 
 This expedition was under the tempo- 
 rary command of Brigadier-General W. 
 Phelps, during the absence of General 
 Butler, who remained at the North to 
 further the ultimate purposes of the en- 
 terprise. General Phelps arrived at Ship 
 D ec , Island on the evening of the 3d 
 3 of December. It had been in the 
 occupation of the Federal Government 
 since September, when the enemy had 
 abandoned it to a small naval force, 
 which took possession of the island and 
 a half-finished fort upon it. On his ar- 
 rival, General Phelps accordingly found 
 the United States vessels of war, the 
 Massachusetts and R. L. Cuyler, in the 
 harbor with several prizes, and a hun- 
 dred and seventy sailors under a naval 
 lieutenant, garrisoning the incomplete 
 fortification at the west end of the 
 island. Phelps landed his force, not- 
 withstanding the marshy ground was 
 little favorable for occupation. " The 
 land," said the General in his report, 
 " is in no respect suitable for a camp, 
 especially in view of such instructions as 
 one of the regiments present particularly 
 needs. Should the stay here be of long 
 continuance, huts with floors will be ne- 
 cessary." 
 
 Ship Island is situated in longitude 
 89, a little north of latitude 30, with- 
 in the domain of the State of Missis- 
 sippi. It is about sixty miles from New 
 Orleans, nearly the same distance from 
 
 the North-East Pass, at the mouth of the 
 Mississippi River, forty miles from Mo- 
 bile, and ninety from Fort Pickens. It 
 lies between Horn Island, on the east, 
 and Cat Island, on the west, and is dis- 
 tant about five miles from each. Some 
 ten or twelve miles to the north, on the 
 mainland of Mississippi, are the towns 
 of Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Mississippi 
 City. These towns are favorite summer 
 resorts for the wealthy planters and mer- 
 chants of the Gulf States, and not being 
 easily approached in consequence of a 
 bar off their shores, were places of refuge 
 for the enemy's small vessels. 
 
 Ship Island is somewhat undulating, 
 and extends in a slight curve about sev- 
 en miles east-north-east and west-south- 
 west. At West Point (the western end), 
 where the fort is placed, the island is 
 little more than an eighth of a mile wide, 
 and is a mere sand spit, utterly barren 
 of grass or foliage of any kind. The 
 eastern end, or East Point, is about 
 three-quarters of a mile in width, and is 
 well wooded with pine, cedar, and live 
 oak. 
 
 The whole island contains somewhat 
 less than two square miles of territory. 
 Excellent water can be obtained in un- 
 limited supply by sinking a barrel any- 
 where in the saturated soil. 
 
 There is a natural pasturage upon 
 which a few cattle can thrive tolerably, 
 but most of the island is left free to the 
 alligators and such reptiles as abound in 
 the swamps and lagoons of that region. 
 
 A brick building, a few scattered huts, 
 and a stone light-house are the only 
 evidences of a civilized occupation. 
 
G54: 
 
 THE WAR WITH TPIE SOUTH. 
 
 The island possesses a very superior 
 harbor, into which vessels drawing nine- 
 teen feet can be carried at low water. It 
 is situated north of the west end of the 
 island. The anchorage ground, with a 
 depth of water equal to that on the bar, 
 is five miles long, and averages three and 
 a quarter miles in width. The harbor is 
 safe from the most dangerous storms in 
 the Gulf those from the eastward and 
 southward and might be easily entered 
 during these storms without a pilot, if 
 good light-houses were placed in proper 
 positions. The rise and fall of the tide 
 is- only from twelve to fourteen inches. 
 
 General Phelps 7 first step, after land- 
 ing his force, was to issue a proclama- 
 tion, which was singularly ill-adapted 
 to the presumed purpose of conciliating 
 the insurgents of Mississippi and Louis- 
 iana. His next was to proceed to Biloxi, 
 D CC , on the mainland, where he landed 
 M a considerable force and took pos- 
 session of a small fort abandoned by the 
 enemy on his approach. Biloxi, how- 
 ever, was not at that time permanently 
 held by the Federal troops. 
 
 Large reinforcements were subse- 
 quently sent to Ship Island, and finally 
 
 , 20, 
 
 General Butler himself departed 
 to assume the command there. 
 
 The expedition to the coast of Florida, 
 though less imposing, was more fruitful 
 of immediate advantage. This was ac- 
 complished by a single vessel : the United 
 States steamer Hatteras, Commander 
 George F. Emmons. This active officer 
 succeeded in destroying a number of 
 the enemy's small vessels, seizing a fort, 
 and obtaining possession of Ce- j an , 5 ? 
 dar Keys, without meeting with 1862. 
 the least resistance. This is the name 
 given to a group of islands situated on 
 the west coast of Florida, within the 
 Gulf of Mexico. By the occupation of 
 Cedar Keys, the western terminus of 
 the Florida Railroad, which crosses the 
 State from the Gulf of Mexico to the 
 Atlantic Ocean, the enemy were forced 
 to make the long circuit of the whole 
 peninsula to keep up their communica- 
 tions between the opposite coasts. The 
 forts having been dismantled, one or two 
 active cruisers were thought sufficient to 
 retain the command of this important 
 point until, in the course of future opera- 
 tions, it might be utilized for a greater 
 enterprise. 
 
HUNTER SUCCEEDS FREMONT. 
 
 655 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 Successor of General Fremont in Missouri. General Hunter. His opinions of Fremont. New masters, new laws. A 
 Veteran. Reluctant obedience. Change of plans. Life of Hunter. Military experience. Attached to Lincoln. 
 Misfortunes of a Presidential Tour. Rewards for personal service The Army in Missouri ordered to retreat. 
 
 Direction of the Retreat. Return of the Enemy under Price and McCulloch. Checked by the Unionists. 
 
 Lexington and Springfield re-occupied by the Enemy. General Hunter makes way for a Successor. Major-General 
 Halleck succeeds Hunter. Hunter sent to Kansas. Life of Halleck. Military education. A Lieutenant of En- 
 gineers. Scientific studies. A writer and lecturer. Promotion. Secretary of State of California. Member of 
 
 the Convention. Assists in drafting the Constitution. Resignation in the Army. Settles in California. A Lawyer 
 
 in San Francisco. Made a Major-General. Appointed to the command of the West. Character. Great Expecta- 
 tions. Halleck' s first occupation. Thwarting the machinations of the Rebellious. Organizing and Disciplining. 
 Halleck's famous order, excluding Fugitive Slaves from the Camps. Denounced by the Anti-Slavery Party. The 
 
 order explained by Halleck. Stringent measures at St. Louis. Expedition of General Pope. Pope's success. 
 
 Its wondrous effects. Halleck on bridge-burning. Guerrilla warfare in Missouri. A grand eifort to clear Mis- 
 souri of the Enemy. Movements against Price. Skirmishing before Springfield. A Battle expected. Disappoint- 
 ment. Price retreats from Springfield. Pursuit of Price. The Enemy followed into Arkansas. Hoisting the Amer- 
 ican Flag on the soil of Arkansas. The Enemy make a stand at Sugar Creek. Enemy defeated. 
 
 1861, 
 
 WHEN Fremont was suddenly arrested 
 in his hopeful career of conquest 
 in Missouri, General Hunter, as the 
 next in rank, succeeded to the chief com- 
 N OT| mand. The old proverb, "New mas- 
 ters, new laws," found another illus- 
 tration in the complete change, by Gen- 
 eral Hunter, of the plan of campaign. 
 The new leader had not concealed, even 
 while serving under Fremont, his disa- 
 greement with his superior, whom he did 
 not hesitate to denounce as incapable. 
 
 Hunter, a man of three-score years of 
 age, a veteran officer and a rigid stickler 
 for the formalities of the military art, 
 forced to yield a reluctant obedience to a 
 comparatively young and inexperienced 
 chief, had been not unnaturally disposed 
 to question the irregular vigor of the 
 impulsive Fremont, while under his com- 
 mand. That the veteran Hunter, now 
 being free to act on his own responsibil- 
 
 ity, should at once revise the plans of 
 Fremont, was consistent with his want 
 of reverence for a commander in whose 
 reputed genius he could find no compen- 
 sation for his comparative youth and ig- 
 norance of the military art. 
 
 Hunter himself had been schooled in 
 the rigid discipline of the regular officer. 
 Educated at West Point, he graduated in 
 1822, the twenty-fifth in a class of forty. 
 He was immediately commissioned a 
 second lieutenant of infantry, and rose 
 to the rank of first lieutenant and cap- 
 tain of cavalry, when he resigned. In 
 1842 he re-entered the army as a pay- 
 master, and was in this position with the 
 rank of major when the present civil war 
 began. Attaching himself to Mr. Lin- 
 coln, he accompanied him on his way to 
 Washington, but having met with an 
 accident at Buffalo, where he was so 
 hustled by the crowd that his collar-bone 
 
656 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 became dislocated, he was unable to com- 
 plete that eventful journey. On the ac- 
 cession of President Lincoln, Hunter was 
 rewarded with a colonelcy of cavalry, 
 and subsequently with a brigadier-gen- 
 eralship, in which rank he commanded a 
 division of the advance at Bull Run, 
 where he was wounded at the beginning 
 of the battle. 
 
 As soon as Hunter assumed the com- 
 mand of the army in Missouri, he ordered 
 it to fall back from the advanced position 
 to which it had been led by the hopeful 
 Fremont. Hunter's own division and 
 the divisions of Generals Pope and Stur- 
 gis, retired by the way of Warsaw, while 
 those of Generals Sigel and Asboth, 
 in advance, after moving a short distance 
 to the south, for the purpose of covering 
 the retirement of the main body from 
 Springfield, returned to that place and 
 thence fell back to Holla. 
 
 The enemy, under Price and McCul- 
 loch, who had discreetly fled before 
 Fremont toward the borders of Arkan- 
 sas, now emboldened by the retreat 
 of General Hunter, retraced their steps, 
 and again occupying Lexington and 
 Springfield, penetrated into the centre 
 of Missouri and resumed their ravages 
 in that afflicted State. They were, 
 however, checked by occasional spirited 
 attacks of the Federal forces. Colonel 
 Greensle drove the enemy out of Hinton, 
 Texas County, and planted the national 
 flag on the court-house. A detachment 
 of a hundred and ten of the First Kan- 
 sas cavalry, under Colonel Anthony, 
 , charged an encampment at Little 
 Blue, in Western Missouri, and dis- 
 
 persed it. A party of the enemy, under 
 Colofiel Gordon, attacked the train ^ OVt 
 on the Platte County Railroad, 30. 
 when an escort of Missouri cavalry, 
 under Major Hugh, came to the rescue. 
 The enemy were routed, leaving behind 
 them seventeen killed and wounded and 
 five prisoners. Five only of the Unionists 
 were slightly wounded. The Federal 
 troops, under Colonel Bowman, again put 
 the enemy to flight at Salem. Fifteen 
 were killed and wounded on our side, but 
 the enemy lost thirty-nine in all. Other 
 spirited skirmishes occurred, which ren- 
 dered the enemy more cautious in their 
 advance. No effectual attempt, however, 
 was immediately made to prevent them 
 resuming their former positions in the 
 south-western part of the State. 
 
 General Hunter, after holding the 
 chief command but a few days, was 
 obliged to make way for a successor. 
 This was Major-Geiieral Halleck, who 
 had been appointed by the Presi- J\ T OV , 
 dent to the command of the Western ^ 
 Department, while to his predecessor, 
 Hunter, was given the command of Kan- 
 sas. General Halleck reached St. Louis 
 on the 18th of November, and at ^ ov , 
 once began with great energy to 18i 
 organize the army, and rigorously to 
 prosecute the military administration of 
 his department. 
 
 Henry Wager Halleck was born in the 
 State of New York in the year 1818. 
 He entered the Military Academy at 
 West Point in the year 1835, and grad- 
 uated in 1839, ranking the second of 
 his class. Brigadier- General Stevens, 
 of Oregon, was the competitor who 
 

LIFE OF IIALLECK. 
 
 657 
 
 won the first place. In accordance 
 with his high position at the academy, 
 young Halleck was brevetted a second 
 lieutenant of the corps d'dlite of engi- 
 neers, and retained at West Point as an 
 assistant professor of engineering for a 
 year. In 1841 he gave to the world the 
 result of his scientific studies in a work 
 on " Bitumen its Uses." In January, 
 1845, he was promoted to a first lieu- 
 tenantcy ; and in the same year, such 
 was his repute as an accomplished stu- 
 dent of his art, that he was selected by 
 the committee of the Lowell Institute, 
 at Boston, as one of its annual lecturers. 
 The subject of his course was " military 
 science and art. 7 ' These lectures were 
 subsequently published, with the addi- 
 tion of a long essay on the " Justifia- 
 bleness of War." This work is consid- 
 ered a creditable proof of his knowledge 
 and research. It contains much useful 
 information on the military art, and is 
 replete with historical illustrations. 
 
 During the Mexican war, Halleck was 
 rewarded for his services with the brevet 
 rank of captain. From 1847 to the close 
 of 1849 he was secretary of state of the 
 newly conquered territory of California, 
 while under military administration. He 
 also served as chief of the staff of Com- 
 modore Shubrick during his operations 
 on the Pacific coast in 1847 and 1848. 
 In 1849 he was elected a member of the 
 convention which met at Monterey to 
 form a constitution" for the proposed 
 State of California, and was appointed 
 one of the committee to draft that paper. 
 In July, 1853, he was promoted to the 
 full rank of captain of engineers, but 
 
 83 
 
 resigned in August of the succeeding 
 year. 
 
 He now determined to settle perma- 
 nently in California, where he established 
 himself as a lawyer, and became partner 
 in the well-known legal firm of Halleck, 
 Billings & Co., of San Francisco. He 
 was engaged in the successful prosecu- 
 tion of his new profession when he re- 
 ceived the appointment to a major-gen- 
 eralship in the army. His commission 
 dates from August 1, 1854, though Con- 
 gress did not bestow it upon him until 
 November, 1860, when he was selected 
 to take the chief command of the De- 
 partment of the West. 
 
 General Halleck is in the vigor of life, 
 being forty-three years of age. With 
 his military knowledge and practical ac- 
 quaintance with public as well as private 
 business, he was singularly well adapted 
 to the command of a department which 
 required the skill of a strategist com- 
 bined with the ability of a statesman. 
 He possesses great energy of body and 
 mind with remarkable promptitude in 
 action and perseverance of effort. From 
 a leader possessed of such qualities, the 
 country naturally expects much, and it 
 has an assurance in the good service 
 General Halleck has already rendered, 
 that its expectations will not be disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 The chief occupation of Halleck, when 
 he first assumed the command in Mis- 
 souri, was to thwart the machinations of 
 the rebellious, by some of whom he was 
 surrounded in St. Louis, to discipline 
 the troops under his command, enforce 
 a stricter police within the camps, and 
 
658 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 organize those combined naval and mili- 
 tary expeditions at St. Louis and Cairo,* 
 on the Mississippi, and Paducah on the 
 Ohio, which have since, by their brilliant 
 results, exercised so great an influence 
 on the fate of the war. 
 
 General Halleck's order to exclude 
 fugitive slaves from the Federal camps 
 seemed to exhibit such a tenderness for 
 the peculiar institution of the South, and 
 such an indifference to the sympathy of 
 some of . the Northern people with its 
 victims, that it was emphatically de- 
 nounced by the enthusiastic advocates 
 of liberty as a concession to slavery. 
 The General, however, justified his or- 
 der on the ground that the free com- 
 munication of the slaves with the camps 
 was inconsistent with good order and the 
 safety of the army, and these negroes 
 were suspected of carrying military in- 
 formation to the enemy. 
 
 Determined to check the active sym- 
 pathy of the wealthy secessionists of 
 St. Louis with the enemy, General Hal- 
 leek ordered an assessment upon all 
 such for the benefit of the Union 
 refugees who had flocked into the city, 
 on the retirement of the Federal army 
 from the interior of the State. This 
 having been resisted by a Mr. Engel, of 
 St. Louis, a thriving merchant, who ap- 
 pealed to the civil courts, General Hal- 
 leek ordered him to leave the Depart- 
 ment of Missouri. He, at the same time, 
 declared officially, that any attempt to 
 interfere with the execution of an order 
 
 Cairo and Paducah, though the former is in Illinois 
 and the letter in Kentucky, were included in the depart- 
 ment under the command of Halleck. 
 
 from headquarters would be regarded 
 and punished as a military offence. By 
 these rigid measures, all expressions and 
 acts of disloyally within the immediate 
 control of the Federal arms were effec- 
 tually suppressed. 
 
 Though General Halleck was awaiting 
 the full organization of his army before 
 attempting to make a clean sweep of the 
 enemy from the State of Missouri, he 
 was detefmined to keep the marauding 
 bands of secessionists in check. He 
 accordingly dispatched General Pope 
 from Sedalia, with a considerable force, 
 to disperse the enemy's encampments in 
 Western Missouri. The result is told in 
 this official report of General Pope : 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT CEXTRAL Mis- } 
 SOURI, OTTER VILLE, Dec. 23, 1861. f 
 
 " CAPTAIN : I have the honor to state 
 that, having replaced by troops from D CC( 
 Lamine the garrison of Sedalia, I ^* 
 marched frtfm that place on Sunday, the 
 15th instant, with a column of infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery, numbering about 
 4,000 men. The first brigade was com- 
 manded by Colonel J. C. Davis, Indiana 
 Volunteers ; the second by Colonel F. 
 Steele, Eighth Iowa Regiment. The 
 object of the movement was to interpose 
 between Price's army on the Osage and 
 the recruits, escort, and supplies on their 
 way south from the Mississippi River. 
 This body of the enemy was represented 
 to be between four and six thousand 
 strong, with a large train of supplies. 
 
 " I encamped on the 15th eleven miles 
 southwest of Sedalia. That the enemy 
 might be thoroughly misled as to the 
 destination of the expedition, it was 
 
POPE IX WESTERN MISSOURI. 
 
 given out that the movement was upon 
 Warsaw, and the troops pursued the 
 road to that place several miles beyond 
 Sedalia. I threw forward on Clinton 
 four companies of the First Missouri 
 cavalry, under Major Hubbard, with 
 orders to watch any movement from 
 Osceola, to prevent any reconnoissance 
 of our main column, and to intercept 
 any messengers to the enemy at Osceola. 
 On the 1 6th I pushed forward by forced 
 march twenty -seven miles, and with my 
 whole force occupied, at sunset, a posi- 
 tion between the direct road from War- 
 rensburg to Clinton, and the road by 
 Chilhowee, which latter is the road here- 
 tofore pursued by returning soldiers and 
 by recruits. Shortly after sunset, the 
 advance, consisting of four companies of 
 Iowa cavalry, under Major Torrence. 
 captured the enemy's pickets at Chilho- 
 wee, and learned that he was encamped 
 in force (about 2,200) six miles north 
 of that town. 
 
 ' ' After resting the horses and men for 
 a couple of hours, I threw forward ten 
 companies of cavalry and a section of ar- 
 tillery, under Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, 
 Seventh Missouri Regiment, in pursuit, 
 and followed with my whole force, post- 
 ing the main body between Warrensburg 
 and Rose Hill, to support the pursuing 
 column. I, at the same time, reinforced 
 Major Hubbard with two companies of 
 Merrill's horse, and directed him, in or- 
 der to secure our flank in the pursuit, to 
 push forward as far as possible toward 
 Osceola. This officer executed his duty 
 with distinguished ability and vigor, 
 driving back and capturing the pickets 
 
 and one entire company of the enemy's 
 cavalry, with tents/baggage, arid wagons. 
 One of the pickets and two wagons were 
 captured within the lines of Rains' divi- 
 sion, encamped north of the Osage River. 
 
 ' ' The column under Lieutenant- Colonel 
 Brown continued the pursuit vigorously 
 all night of the 16th, all day of the 17th, 
 and part of the night of the same day, 
 his advance guard consisting of Foster's 
 company of Ohio cavalry and a detach- 
 ment of thirty men of the Fourth regular 
 cavalry, occupying Johnstown in the 
 course of the night. The enemy began 
 to scatter as soon as the pursuit grew 
 close, disappearing in every direction in 
 the bushes and by every bye-path, driv- 
 ing their wagons into farm-yards remote 
 from the road, and throwing out their 
 loads. As these wagons were all two- 
 horse wagons of the country, and had 
 been, in fact, taken by force from the 
 farm-houses, it was impossible to identify 
 them. When our pursuit reached Johns- 
 town, about midnight on the 17th, the 
 enemy, reduced to about 500, scattered 
 completely, one portion fleeing precipi- 
 tately toward Butler, and the other 
 toward Papinsville. 
 
 " The main body of my command 
 moved slowly toward Warrensburg, 
 awaiting the return of the force under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, which pro- 
 ceeded from Johnstown to scour the 
 country south of Grand River to the 
 neighborhood of Clinton. In these ope- 
 rations, sixteen wagons, loaded with 
 tents and supplies, and one hundred and 
 fifty prisoners were captured. The 
 enemy's force was thoroughly dispersed. 
 
6fiO 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 i 
 
 " On the morning of the 18th, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Brown's forces rejoined 
 the command. Knowing that there must 
 still be a large force of the enemy north 
 of us, I moved forward slowly, on the 
 18th, toward Warrensburg. and, when 
 near that town, the spies and scouts I 
 had sent out before marching from Seda- 
 lia, in the direction of Lexington, Waver- 
 ly, and Arrow Rock, reported to me that 
 a large force was moving from the two 
 latter places and would encamp that night 
 at the mouth of Clear Creek, just south 
 of Milford. 
 
 " I posted the main body of my com- 
 mand between Warreusburg and Knob 
 Noster, to close all outlet to the south 
 between those two points, and dispatched 
 seven companies of cavalry (five of the 
 the Ohio First and two of the Fourth 
 regular cavalry), afterward reinforced 
 by another company of regular cavalry 
 and a section of artillery, all under com- 
 mand of Colonel J. C. Davis, Indiana 
 Volunteers, to march on the town of 
 Milford, so as to turn the enemy's left 
 and rear and intercept his retreat to the 
 northeast, at the same time directing 
 Major Marshall, with Merrill's regiment 
 of horse, to march from Warrensburg on 
 the same point, turning the enemy's 
 right and rear, and forming junction 
 with Colonel Davis. 
 
 " The main body of my command 
 occupied a -point four miles south, and 
 ready to advance at a moment's notice, 
 or to intercept the enemy's retreat south. 
 Colonel Davis inarched promptly and 
 vigorously with the forces under his 
 command, and at a late hour in the 
 
 afternoon came upon the enemy en- 
 camped in the wooded bottom land on 
 the west side of Blackwater, opposite 
 the mouth of Clear Creek. His pickets 
 were immediately driven in across the 
 stream, which was deep, miry, and im- 
 passable, except by a long, narrow 
 bridge, which the enemy occupied in 
 force, as is believed, under Colonel 
 Ma,goffin. 
 
 "Colonel Davis brought forward his 
 force, and directed that the bridge be 
 carried by assault. The two companies 
 of the Fourth regular cavalry being in 
 advance, under the command respective- 
 ly of Lieutenant Gordon and Lieutenant 
 Amory, were designated for that service, 
 and were supported by the five com- 
 panies of the First Iowa Cavalry. Lieu- 
 tenant Gordon, of the Fourth Cavalry, 
 led the charge in person, with the utmost 
 gallantry and vigor, carried the bridge 
 in fine style, and immediately formed 
 his company on the opposite side. He 
 was promptly followed by the other 
 companies. The force of the enemy 
 posted at the bridge retreated precipi- 
 tately over a narrow open space into the 
 woods, where his whole force was posted. 
 The two companies of the Fourth Cav- 
 alry formed in line at once, advanced 
 upon the enemy, and were received with 
 a volley of small-arms, muskets, rifles, 
 and shot guns. One man was killed and 
 eight w r ounded by this discharge. With 
 one exception, all belonged to Company 
 D, Fourth Cavalry, Lieutenant Gordon. 
 
 " Lieutenant Gordon himself received 
 several balls through the cap. Our forces 
 still continuing to press forward, and the 
 
GALLANTRY OF POPE'S TROOPS. 
 
 6fil 
 
 
 enemy finding his retreat south and west 
 cut off, and that he was in presence of a 
 large force, and at best could only pro- 
 long the contest a short time, surrendered 
 at discretion. His force, reported by 
 colonel commanding, consisted of parts 
 of two regiments of infantry and three 
 companies of cavalry, numbering in all 
 1,300 men, among whom there were 
 three colonels (Robinson. Alexander, and 
 Magoffin), one lieutenant-colonel (Rob- 
 inson), one major (Harris), and fifty-one 
 commissioned company officers. About 
 five hundred horses and mules, seventy- 
 three wagons heavily loaded with pow- 
 der, lead, tents, subsistence stores and 
 supplies of various kinds, fell into our 
 hands, as also a thousand stand of 
 arms. 
 
 " The whole force captured, with their 
 train, were marched into the camp of 
 the main body, reaching there about 
 midnight. Many arms were thrown 
 away by the enemy, in the bushes and 
 creek, when he surrendered, and have 
 not yet been found. 
 
 ' ' It was impossible to furnish any ac- 
 curate account of the number of prison- 
 ers, arms, or horses when I telegraphed, 
 as they surrendered just at dark, and 
 were brought into camp at a late hour 
 of the night. The weather was bitterly 
 cold, and the troops marched as early as 
 possible the next morning for Sedalia 
 and Otterville. As the prisoners and 
 arms were at once sent down to St. Louis, 
 I have not yet had the opportunity of 
 making an accurate count of them. The 
 numbers, as stated, were reported to me 
 by Colonel Robinson, their commander, 
 
 by Colonel J. C. Davis, and by Major 
 Torrence, Iowa Cavalry. 
 
 "The forces under Colonel Davis be- 
 haved with great gallantry, and the con- 
 duct of Colonel Davis himself was dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 "I desire to present to your special 
 notice Colonel J. C. Davis, Indiana Vol- 
 unteers ; Major Hubbard, First Missouri 
 Cavalry, and Lieutenant Gordon, Fourth 
 regular cavalry. Both officers and men 
 behaved well throughout. 
 
 " Within five days, the infantry com- 
 posing this expedition have marched one 
 hundred miles, the cavalry more than 
 double that distance have swept the 
 whole country of the enemy west of Se- 
 dalia as far as Rose Hill, to a line within 
 fifteen miles of the Osage have captured 
 nearly fifteen hundred (1,500) prisoners, 
 twelve hundred (1,200) stand of arms, 
 nearly one hundred (100) wagons, and 
 a large quantity of supplies. 
 
 ' ' The march alone would do credit to 
 old soldiers, as it gives me pleasure to 
 state that it has been performed with 
 cheerfulness and alacrity. The troops 
 re-occupied their camps at Sedalia and 
 Otterville just one week after they 
 marched out of them. 
 " I am, Captain, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " JOHN POPE, 
 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding. 
 " To Captain J. C. KELTON, A. A. G., Depart- 
 ment of Missouri." 
 
 The effect upon the enemy of the suc- 
 cess of General Pope's expedition was 
 momentarily very great. General Price's 
 camp at Springfield was seized with a 
 
662 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 sudden panic, and a large portion of his 
 disorganized army fled in dismay, de- 
 stroying the bridges behind them. This 
 destruction of bridges by the disorderly 
 bands of secessionists throughout the 
 State was promptly met by a determina- 
 tion, on the part of General Halleck, to 
 execute all those caught and found guilty 
 of the barbarous act. Some of the per- 
 petrators having been seized, General 
 Halleck resolved upon their execution. 
 This led to a protest on the part of 
 General Price, who claimed for them the 
 rights of military prisoners. General 
 Halleck, however, answered firmly with 
 the declaration, that bridge-burners, 
 while not acting immediately under a 
 duly organized military command, in the 
 course of regular warfare, were not en- 
 titled to be treated as soldiers, and that 
 they would be held as criminals. 
 
 General Pope's successful expedition 
 was soon followed by other spirited at- 
 tacks upon the enemy. Colonel Birge, 
 Dec. with a battalion of sharp-shooters 
 28 and two hundred cavalry under Col. 
 Glover, attacked the enemy encamped 
 near Mount Zion Church, Broome Coun- 
 ty, and completely routed them. 
 
 " The rebels lost in killed, wounded, 
 and missing not less than one hundred 
 and fifty. Ninety horses were taken, 
 and a load of arms, saddles, and all their 
 camp equipage. Our loss, eight or nine 
 killed and about twenty-five wounded."* 
 
 Again, two hundred of the First Iowa 
 Cavalry, a hundred and fifty of the 
 First Wisconsin Cavalry, under Ma- 
 jor Hubbard, and some Ohio Cavalry, 
 
 St. Louis Demxrat. 
 
 1862. 
 
 numbering in all four hundred and j an , 
 fifty troopers, attacked the enemy's $ 
 camp of a thousand men, posted on Sil- 
 ver Creek/ After a struggle of an hour 
 the enemy fled, leaving seven dead on 
 the field, forty prisoners, and all their 
 camp equipage and stores. The whole 
 Federal loss amounted only to four killed 
 and three wounded.* 
 
 General Halleck, having finally suc- 
 ceeded in establishing order in a depart- 
 ment which he had found in a state of 
 confusion from the loose administration 
 of his predecessor, in checking manifes- 
 tations of disloyalty within the scope of 
 his military rule, and in organizing and 
 disciplining his army, was prepared to 
 make a grand effort to clear Missouri of 
 the enemy, and to restore the State to 
 the Federal authority. 
 
 General Price, presuming on the long 
 delayed advance of the Union troops, 
 had concentrated at Springfield a force 
 estimated at 12,000 men, and pushed his 
 picket guards fifteen miles beyond to the 
 north and east. He was, moreover, in 
 expectation, as it was rumored, of being 
 strengthened by large reinforcements un- 
 der General Mclntosh, from Arkansas. 
 
 There was a combined movement of 
 the Federal troops with the view of con- 
 centrating at Lebanon. The divisions of 
 Colonel Asboth and General Sigel moved 
 at the beginning of February from Holla, 
 in that direction. Generals Davis, Cur- 
 tis, and Prentiss had, with their respect- 
 ive forces, marched for the same point. 
 
 c The guerrilla character which the war in Missouri as- 
 sumed at this time, makes it impracticable to trace all its 
 operations in detail. 
 
PRICE'S RETREAT. 
 
 663 
 
 General Price, in command of the 
 enemy at Springfield, seemed greatly 
 alarmed at this combined movement, 
 and is said to have harangued his troops, 
 declaring that they were surrounded, and 
 must decide either to surrender or fight. 
 They resolved to fight. 
 
 The weather was exceedingly unfavor- 
 able for a rapid march, but the various 
 divisions of the Federal army, though 
 delayed by the swollen streams and the 
 miry roads, continued steadily to advance, 
 and reaching Lebanon formed together 
 and prepared to move forward to Spring- 
 field. 
 
 General Curtis, who commanded in 
 chief, formed his army in three divisions, 
 placing the right under Colonel Jeffer- 
 son C. Davis, the centre under General 
 Sigel, and the left under General Carr. 
 Feb. Thus formed, the army marched 
 
 11 forward toward Springfield. On 
 the day after setting out, the advance 
 guard came into collision with the 
 enemy. During the first skirmish, nine 
 of the secessionists were killed, while the 
 Unionists had but one man slightly 
 Feb. wounded. The second affair, which 
 
 12. occurred in the evening, was some- 
 what more severe : 300 of the enemy 
 attacked the Federal picket guards, but 
 were driven back with a loss of thirty. 
 This was supposed to be an offer of battle, 
 and accordingly General Curtis advanced 
 a force of cavalry and infantry, with a 
 battery which was mounted upon a hill, 
 to command the road by which it was 
 supposed the enemy were about to ad- 
 vance from Springfield. The guns hav- 
 ing opened fire, and no response being 
 
 made, the troops which had been thrown 
 forward were withdrawn, leaving, how- 
 ever, a strong guard. During the night 
 nothing occurred while the Federal army 
 was resting on its arms, expectant of an 
 attack, but a skirmishing fire between 
 the pickets. At three o'clock in the 
 morning the Unionists moved for- p e fo. 
 ward in line of battle, and at the IS. 
 break of day the third division with the 
 Fourth Iowa Regiment in advance, en- 
 tered Springfield and took possession of 
 the town without resistance. General 
 Price had retreated with his army but a 
 few hours before, leaving only his sick, 
 some six hundred or more, behind/" 
 
 The appearance of their quarters, which the enemy 
 had evidently hoped to occupy for the winter, is thus de- 
 scribed by a correspondent of the New York Herald: 
 
 "The winter quarters erected in Springfield by Price's 
 army, and which they abandoned in complete order, will 
 accommodate 10,000 men without being over-crowded. 
 They consist of log and board structures, the former well 
 chinked with mud and clay, and the latter built generally 
 tight and comfortable. Most of them have a flooring of 
 boards, and are all furnished with substantial brick fire- 
 places and chimneys, some of the largest buildings having 
 two or three. Berths are arranged in tiers, like those ou 
 steamboats and sleeping cars, and every portion of space 
 is carefully economized. Some of these habitations are 
 roofed with raw hides, and there are numerous chairs 
 seated with the same material. In some of the camps 
 these buildings are promiscuously dropped down, while in 
 others they are arranged in streets and lanes, according to 
 the highest style of urban regularity. The appearance of 
 the cantonment attests the haste of departure. There are 
 cooking utensils containing the remains of the last meal, 
 porkers lying dead on the ground with the fatal gash in 
 their throats and the knife lying beside them, sheep 
 partially flayed and disembowelled, dough mixed in the 
 pans or poured on the ground, with the " ripple marks" 
 still freshly distinct, and whisky bottles whence the last 
 drink has been drained, but in which the scent of the 
 Bourbon is lingering still. The people of Springfield and 
 the rebel sick left behind say that they were deficient in 
 tents, blankets, and clothing, and that they will suffer 
 sadly from thus being driven from their comfortable 
 quarters to bivouac in the open air. They fully expected 
 to remain here the entire winter." 
 
664 
 
 THE AVAR WITH THE SOUTH. 
 
 General Curtis, without delay, fol- 
 lowed in pursuit of the retreating enemy 
 and sent out at the same time scouting 
 parties of cavalry to capture any bands 
 of the secessionists that might be strag- 
 gling from their main body. It was thus 
 that Brigadier-General Price, the son of 
 General Sterling Price, was captured at 
 Warsaw, together with several other 
 officers belonging to the staff of the 
 rebel chief, and 500 recruits under their 
 charge. 
 
 General Curtis moved on with great 
 speed toward the Arkansas border, 
 whither the enemy were hastening. 
 Coming up with the rear guard of Price, 
 several skirmishes ensued, in the course 
 of which a few on both sides were killed 
 and a large number of the enemy's strag- 
 glers taken prisoners. Curtis continued 
 his pursuit, following the enemy into 
 
 Arkansas. Here, however, General 
 Price, having been reinforced by 18 
 General Ben McCulloch, made a stand 
 at Sugar Creek, and " was defeated," 
 said General Halleck, in his brief tele- 
 graphic dispatch, after a short en- f e fo, 
 gagement, and again fled. Many 20, 
 rebel prisoners were taken, and the 
 arms which Price's men threw away in 
 their flight ; but the enemy claimed to 
 have won the advantage, stating that 
 their loss was but 100, while that of the 
 Union army was treble the number. 
 
 Thus Missouri was effectually cleared 
 of the main force of the enemy, and 
 apparently forever secured to the Union, 
 while to the success of the Federal 
 arms in that State was added the tri- 
 umph of having once more hoisted the 
 United States flag upon the soil of Ar- 
 kansas. 
 
PART 1 
 
 THE WAR FOR THE UNION!! 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. O. C. BARLEY. 
 
 PRICE, 25C. 
 
 
 COPYRIGHT WORK. SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
Now in course of Pullication, in Parts, 2 5 cents each, 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH: 
 
 AN ILLUSTRATED 
 
 of % (limit American |UkIIi0it 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, M.D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF " BATTLES OF AMERICA," " THE AMERICANS IN JAPAN," JOINT EDITOR OF " UNITED STATES 
 
 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN," ETC., ETC. 
 
 Tins will be a complete history of the present war. All the engagements, both naval and 
 military, will be described with the utmost fullness of detail and accuracy of observation. 
 To secure these essential requisites to a faithful history, the Author has visited the fields of 
 the principal battles already fought, and the chief scenes of our present military operations 
 where the most important future events of the great struggle will probably occur. This ad- 
 vantage of personal observation will be continued throughout the course of the publication, 
 v so that it may never be without the freshness of originality or the soundness of truth. 
 
 The work will contain not only descriptions of the battles, but present a continuous narrative 
 of the history of the war, and a record of the political transactions relating to it, with biogra- 
 phies of the statesmen and military and naval officers who shall bear a conspicuous part in 
 its conduct. It will be uniform with, and a natural sequel to, "TiiE BATTLES OP AMERICA," 
 and it will thus complete the naval and military history of the country to the present time. 
 
 To render such a History more interesting as well as attractive, the Publishers have engaged 
 the services of that eminent American artist F. 0. C. DARLEY to furnish original designs for the 
 work. Other Eminent Artists will contribute important illustrations, including Birds-eye 
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 of the most prominent characters will also be given the whole being engraved on steel in 
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 lowed to give credit or receive payment hi advance. [ Publishers will endeavor not to exceed that number. 
 
 VIRTUE AND COMPANY, 26 JOHN STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
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PART i 
 
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 ILLUSTRATIONS 15 Y F. (). (\ DARLKY. 
 
 PRICE, 25c. 
 
 COPYRIGHT WORK. SOLD ONLY TO SU 15SCKI HKHS. 
 
Now in course of Publication, in Parts, 25 cents each, 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH: 
 
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 listo 0f tin dirat American Etbdliflii. 
 
 ' "-o vj/ ^_> 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, M. D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF " BATTLES OF AMERICA," " THE AMERICANS IN JAPAN," JOINT EDITOR OF " UNITED STATES 
 
 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN," ETC., ETC. 
 
 Tins will be a complete history of the present war. All the engagements, both naval and 
 military, will be described with the utmost fullness of detail and accuracy of observation. 
 To secure these essential requisites to a faithful history, the Author has visited the fields of 
 the principal battles already fought, and the chief scenes of our present military operations 
 where the most important future events of the great struggle will probably occur. This ad- 
 vantage of personal observation will be continued throughout the course of the publication, 
 so that it may never be without the freshness of originality or the soundness of truth. 
 
 The work will contain not only descriptions of the battles, but present a continuous narrative 
 of the history of the war, and a record of the political transactions relating to it, with biogra- 
 phies of the statesmen and military and naval officers who shall bear a conspicuous part in 
 its conduct. It will be uniform with, and a natural sequel to, "THE BATTLES OF AMERICA," 
 and it will thus complete the naval and military history of the country to the present time. 
 
 To render such a History more interesting as well as attractive, the Publishers have engaged 
 the services of that eminent American artist F. 0. C. DARLEY to furnish original designs for the 
 work. Other Eminent Artists will contribute important illustrations, including Birds-eye 
 View r s of our principal defenses and Maps of the surrounding country. Authentic Portraits 
 of the most prominent characters will also be given the whole being engraved on steel in 
 
 the tirst style of art. 
 
 
 
 CONDITIONS OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 The work will be printed in a clear, bold type, on superfine, 
 calendered paper, and will be issued in Parts, at Twenty-five Cents 
 each. 
 
 Each part will be payable on delivery, the carrier not being al- 
 
 In case of subscribers moving, 'or not being regularly supplied, a 
 note addressed to the Publishers, by mail, will receive immediate 
 attention. 
 
 It is intended to complete the work in about thirty I'arts; and the 
 
 lowed to give credit or receive payment in advance. j Publishers will endeavor not to exceed that number. 
 
 VIRTUE AND COMPANY, 26 JOHN STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 BOSTON . . 13 TREMONT Row. 
 
 ALBANY 21 Douw's BUILDINGS. 
 
 BALTIMORE 24 SECOND STREET. 
 
 CHICAGO 1 17 S. CLARKE STREET. 
 
 CINCINNATI 2* SHOBT'S BUILDINGS. 
 
 DETROIT . . Cor. WOODWARD and JEFFERSON Av's. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 222 WALNUT STREET. 
 
 PITTSBURG 164 THIRD STREET. 
 
 PORTLAND '. 161 MIDDLE STREET. 
 
 PROVIDENCE 26 EXCHANGE PLACE. 
 
 WASHINGTON 488 SEVENTH STREET 
 
 And Sold by their Agents in all the I-riucipal Cities throughout the United States and Cauadus. 
 
PART 3 
 
 THE WAR FOR THE UNION!! 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. O. C. BARLEY. 
 
 PRICE, 25C. 
 
 COPYRIGHT WORK. SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
NEW NATIONAL WORK ON THE PRESENT WAR. 
 
 Now in course of Publication, in Parts, 2 5 cents each, 
 
 THE WAR WITH THE SOUTH: 
 
 AN ILLUSTRATED 
 
 fistaw of tk ^reat Sbmcsn IldjeUimt. 
 "<> ^~^ ( -- ^ 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, M.D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF " BATTLES OF AMERICA," " THE AMERICANS IN JAPAN," JOINT EDITOR OF " UNITED STATES 
 
 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN," ETC., ETC. 
 
 THIS will be a complete history of the present war. All the engagements, both naval and 
 military, will be described with the utmost fullness of detail and accuracy of observation. 
 To secure these essential requisites to a faithful history, the Author has visited the fields of 
 the principal battles already fought, and the chief scenes of our present military operations 
 where the most important future events of the great struggle will probably occur. This ad- 
 vantage of personal observation will be continued throughout the course of the publication, 
 so that it may never be without the freshness of originality or the soundness of truth. 
 
 The work will contain not only descriptions of the battles, but present a continuous narrative 
 of the history of the war, and a record of the political transactions relating to it, with biogra- 
 phies of the statesmen and military and naval officers who shall bear a conspicuous part in 
 its conduct. It will be uniform with, and a natural sequel to, "THE BATTLES OF AMERICA," 
 and it will thus complete the naval and military history of the country to the present time. 
 
 To render such a History more interesting as well as attractive, the Publishers have engaged 
 the services of that eminent American artist F. 0. C. DARLEY to furnish original designs for the 
 work. Other Eminent Artists will contribute important illustrations, including Birds-eye 
 Views of our principal defenses and Maps of the surrounding country. Authentic Portraits 
 of the most prominent characters will also be given the whole being engraved on steel in 
 the first style of art. 
 
 CONDITIONS OP PUBLICATION. 
 
 The work will be printed in a clear, bold type, on superfine, 
 calendered paper, and will be issued in Parts, at Twenty-five Cents 
 each. 
 
 Each part will be payable on delivery, the carrier not being al- 
 lowed to give credit or receive payment in advance. 
 
 In case of subscribers moving, or not being regularly supplied, a 
 note addressed to the Publishers, by mail, will receive immediate 
 attention. 
 
 It is intended to complete the work in about thirty Parts ; and the 
 Publishers will endeavor not to exceed that number. 
 
 VIRTUE AND COMPANY, 26 JOHN STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 BOSTON . . 13 TREMONT Row. 
 
 ALBANY 21 Douw's BUILDINGS. 
 
 BALTIMORE 24 SECOND STREET. 
 
 CHICAGO 117 S. CLARKE STREET. 
 
 CINCINNATI 2S SHORT'S BUILDINGS. 
 
 DETROIT . . Cor. WOODWARD and JEFTEBSOX Av's. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 222 WALNUT STREET 
 
 PITTSBURG 164 THIRD STREET. 
 
 PORTLAND 161 MIDDLE STREET. 
 
 PROVIDENCE 26 EXCHANGE PLACE. 
 
 WASHINGTON 488i SEVENTH STREET 
 
 And Sold by their Agents in all the Principal Cities throughout the United States and Canadas. 
 
PART 4 
 
 THE WAR FOR THE UNION!! 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. O. C. BARLEY. 
 
 PRICE, 25c. 
 
 
 
 COPYRIGHT WORK. SOLD ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
PREMIUM PLATE!! 
 
 THE Publishers will give with this edition of the " BATTLES .or AMERICA," as a Premium, the splendidly engraved 
 Portrait Of Lieut, -General WIKFIELD SCOTT. Size, 19 by 24 inches. The likeness, taken from a fine photograph, is 
 pronounced by the press and other competent authorities, to be THE BEST YET PUBLISHED. 
 
 BATTLES OP AMERICA 
 
 BY 
 
 SEA AND LAND: 
 
 A COMPLETE NAVAL AND MILITARY HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY, 
 
 giogtapljical Sluices uf 6mt totoil HU& Iftilttarg C0mmanhrs t an& Illustrative guurirotcs. 
 
 BY ROBERT TOMES, M.D., 
 
 Author of u The Americans in Japan" joint editor of U. S. Government Expedition to Japan, etc., etc. 
 
 THE national character of the " BATTLES OF AMERICA," as a record of the many triumphs 
 of our countrymen on land and sea, commends it to every patriotic heart. The most 
 elaborate research has been diligently exercised to give historical fullness and accuracy to 
 the work, while the natural desire of readers to be entertained as well as instructed has 
 been duly considered. It will not be found a mere dull record of dates and events, but a 
 history as history should always be of the life of the times. The skeleton annals of 
 public occurrences have been rilled in and vitalized with biographical accounts, sketches 
 r.f manners and character, descriptions of scenery, and well-authenticated illustrative 
 anecdotes. 
 
 Of the various books on American History, the work now issued is believed to be the 
 first and only complete and comprehensive one on the subject of which it treats, inasmuch 
 as it commences with the Colonial War with France, and includes the Revolutionary 
 Struggle, the War of 1812, and the Mexican Campaigns. In its pages the reader will 
 find a full account of all the glorious achievements of our soldiers and sailors deeds of 
 which every American is so justly proud. 
 
 No book could be more appropriately brought under public notice at the present time 
 than the " BATTLES OF AMERICA BY SEA AND LAND ;" and, confident in the faithfulness and 
 ability displayed in its execution, the Publishers unhesitatingly present it to the American 
 public as a truly patriotic and NATIONAL WORK. 
 
 The illustrations, chiefly from original drawings by those eminent American artists, 
 F. 0. C. Darley, Alonzo Chappell, J. R. Chapin, and others, consisting of battle scenes by 
 sea and land and other important incidents, as well as portraits of naval and military 
 commanders, are all engraved on steel, in the first style of art. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 The work will be printed in a clear, bold type, on superfine 
 calendered paper, and will be issued in parts, at Twenty-five Cents 
 each. 
 
 No order received for less than the entire work. 
 
 In cases of subscribers removing, or not being regularly supplied, 
 a note addressed to the Publishers, by mail, will receive immediate 
 attention. 
 
 The work will be completed in about Fifty Parts. 
 
 VIRTUE & CO., 26 JOHN STREET, NEW YORK, 
 
 And sold by their Af/ents throughout the United States and Canada. 
 

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