GENERAL BUTLER'S OCCUPATION OF ANNAPOLIS. The President's Answer. "I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will consider this practical 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 the 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.” All this was rendered unnecessary by the destruction of the bridges. Until they could be replaced and the tracks placed under guard, no troops could even pass around Baltimore, except by choosing other routes entirely—a choice General Butler was not slow to make. He left Philadelphia April 20th, for Annapolis, having determined to open that route to the Capital. He wrote to Governor Andrew: "I have detailed Captain Devereux and Captain Briggs, with their commands, supplied with one day's rations and twenty rounds of ammunition, to take possession of the ferry-boat at Havre de Grace, for the benefit of this expedition. This I have done with the concurrence of the present master of transportation of the road. The Eighth regiment will remain at quarters, that they may get a little solid rest, after their fatiguing march. I have sent to know if the Seventh regiment will go with me. I propose to march myself at the hour of seven o'clock in the morning, to take the regular eight and a quarter o'clock train to Havre de Grace. The citizens of Baltimore, at a large meeting this evening, denounced the passage of Northern troops. They have exacted a promise from the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, not to send troops over that road through Baltimore, so that any attempt to throw troops into Baltimore entails a march of forty miles, and an attack upon a city of two hundred thousand inhabitants, at the beginning of the march. The only way, therefore, of getting communication with Washington for troops from the North, is over the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, or marching from the West. Commodore Dupont, at the Navy-yard, has given me instructions of the fact in accordance with these general statements, upon which I rely. I have, therefore, thought I could rely upon these statements as to the time it will take to proceed in marching from Havre de Grace to Washington. My proposition is to join with Colonel Lefferts, of the Seventh regiment of | 97 and thus call the State to account for the death of Massachusetts men, my friends and neighbors. If Colonel Lefferts thinks it more in accordance with the tenor of his instructions to wait rather than go through Baltimore, I still propose to march with this regiment. I propose to occupy the town, and hold it open as a means of communication. I have then but to advance by a forced march of thirty miles to reach the Capital, in accordance with the orders I at first received, but which subsequent events, in my judgment, vary in their execution, believing from the telegraphs that there will be others in great numbers to aid me. Being accompanied by officers of more experience, who will be able to direct the affair, I think it will be accomplished. We have no light batteries; I have therefore telegraphed to Governor Andrew to have the Boston Light Artillery put on shipboard at once, tonight, to help me in marching on Washington. In pursuance of this plan, I have detailed Captains Devereux and Briggs with their commands, to hold the boat at Havre de Grace. "Eleven, A. M. Colonel Lefferts has refused to march with me. I go alone at three o'clock, P. M., to execute this imperfectly written plan. If I succeed, success will justify me. If I fail, purity of intention will excuse want of judgment, or rashness. "B. F. BUTLER.” General Butler's movement. This movement was a complete success. Butler threw forward, on Saturday, the 20th, the companies of Capt's Devereux and Briggs (of the Massachusetts Eighth) which proceeded to the ferry at Havre de Grace, and occupied the place without opposition. The remainder of the troops having been advanced during the day, at six P. M. the whole body embarked with General Butler upon the ferry-boat Maryland, directly for Annapolis, and arrived off the capital of Maryland at a late hour of the night, to anticipate the treasonable intentions of an organization in the vicinity, which had formed a plot to seize the United States frigate Constitution, "Old Ironsides," that lay moored off the Naval Academy wharf. Captain Devereux took possession of the old frigate, and had her towed out into the stream. The New York Seventh closely followed Butler's advance. It took the transport Boston, from Philadelphia, at three P. M. of SatNew York. I propose to take the fifteen hundred urday, and steamed to Annapolis, arriving off troops to Annapolis, arriving there to-morrow about that place Monday morning early, to find the four o'clock, and occupy the capital of Maryland, | Maryland hard aground. In this predicament Occupation of she lay all day-the troops | ready to place the engines. on board of her suffering in order, while a large body much for want of food and of track-layers and bridgewater. The Seventh landed and took pos- builders were eager for duty. Arrival of Troops in While the gen session of the Academy; their transport thentlemen of the Seventh were taking their ease in brought ashore the Eighth. It was the first occupation of the "sacred soil" by the "Northern invaders." comfortable quarters at the Naval Academy, the Massachusetts men were already on their slow march toward the Capital. Butler's indomitable energy found a full The Massachusetts regiment assumed the response in his equally indomitable and capa- duty of opening the route via Annapolis Juncble men. Engineers were wanted to run the tion tion to Washington. The New York ferry - boat down to Annapolis. Forthwith Seventh marched on to the Junction, and eighteen good engineers stepped from the there took cars for the Capital, which they ranks. Upon landing, the railway property reached at noon, Thursday, April 25th—the was seized, and men were wanted to repair first regiment to enter the city after the Masdamages to crippled locomotives and destroy-sachusetts sachusetts Sixth. With their arrival the ed tracks. Instantly a dozen machinists stood | Capital was deemed secure. CHAPTER III. DISLOYAL ATTITUDE OF THE BORDER STATES. North Carolina's IMPORTANT events followed rapidly upon the first signs of resistance to the revolution. The summons to arms of the loyal States hastened Virginia's secession, aud placed the other Slave States still adhering to the Union in an attitude of questionable loyalty. North Carolina's Governor answered the call as follows: RALEIGH, April 15th, 1861. "Honorable Simon Cameron, Secretary of War: "Your dispatch is received, and, if genuine, which its extraordinary character leads me to doubt, I have to say in reply, that I regard the levy of troops made by the Administration for the purpose of subjugating the States of the South, as in violation of the Constitution, and a usurpation of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina. I will reply more in detail when your call is received by mail. “JOHN W. ELLIS, Governor Ellis' ing treasonable and influm- Now, therefore, I, John W. Ellis, Governor of the State of North Carolina, for these extraordinary causes, do hereby issue this, my proclamation, noti This was soon succeeded by the follow-❘fying and requesting the Senators and Members of "Governor of North Carolina." DISLOYAL ATTITUDE OF THE BORDER STATES. the House of Commons of the General Assembly of North Carolina, to meet in special session at the Capitol, in the city of Raleigh, on Wednesday, the 1st day of May next. And I furthermore exhort all good citizens throughout the State, to be mindful that their first allegiance is due to the sovereignty which protects their homes and dearest interests, as their first service is due for the sacred defense of 99 |nounced by him, demonstrated that the alacrity of the North was not needless, if the country was to be spared the humiliation of witnessing its liberties in the keeping of the revolutionists. How the vista opened before such expressions as these! Every son of the South, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, should rally to the support of Marytheir hearths, and of the soil which holds the graves land. If Lincoln quits Washington as ignominiously of our glorious dead. "United action in defense of the sovereignty of North Carolina, and of the rights of the South, becomes now the duty of all." The whirlwind was sown. Repose, prosperity, political and social integrity, hopes of the future were cast to the air, and the storm soon held wild riot over all her borders. The United States forts at Wilmington and Beaufort were seized. The United States branch mint at Charlotteville was "appropriated" April 21st. The United States arsenal at Fayetteville was occupied” April 22d. As Mr. Alexander H. Stephens said, in his Richmond harangue, April | 22d: "North Carolina was out, and did not hardly know how she got out." At Wilmington he counted twenty-one Confederate flags. Of the attitude of the still unseceded States, the Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy thus discoursed: "The news from Tennessee is equally Mr. A. H. Stephens' cheering there the mountains are all on fire. Tennessee was no longer in the late Union. She was out by the resolutions of her popular assemblies in Memphis and other cities. Kentucky would soon be out, for her people were moving in the right direction. Missouriwho could doubt the stand she would take, when her Governor, in reply to Lincoln's insolent proclamation, had said: 'You shall have no troops for the furtherance of your illegal, unchristian, and diabolical schemes!' Missouri will soon add another star to the Southern galaxy. Where Maryland is you all know. The first Southern blood has been shed on her soil, and Virginia would never stand by and see her citizens shot down. The cause of Baltimore is the cause of the whole South." Declarations. The presence of this personage in Richmond, so soon after the Ordinance was passed, aud the programme of operations an as he entered it, God's Will will have been accomplished. Be prepared. Stand to your arms. Defend your wives and your firesides. Rather than be conquered let every second man rally to drive back the invader. The conflict may be terrible, but the victory will be ours. Virginians! you fight for the preservation of your sacred rights—to keep from desecration the tomb of Washington,* the graves of Madison, Jefferson, and all you hold most dear." Tennessee's Disloyalty. Tennessee sought, for a while, to preserve a neutrality," forbidding alike the Northern or Southern troops from a foothold upon her territory. Governor Harris, replying to the call of the War Department, said: "Tennessee will not furnish a single man for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessary, for the defense of our rights and those of our brethren." With such a declaration, Tennessee was out of the Union, so far as her Executive could pledge her. It only heralded the steps soon to be taken of a "treaty," by which the State was sold out to the Southern Confederacy-a sale that put to blush the off-hand gifts of kingdoms by Napoleon I. It was the disposal of a proprietary over which the party of the first part had not even the residuary rights of an agent. [See page 152.] Several of the leading men of the State issued an address to the people, dated April 18th, with the ostensible design of appeasing the growing excitement. dorsed the Governor's refusal to furnish troops at the call of the Federal Govern Address of John Bell and others. *This allusion to the tomb of Washington was singularly mal-upropos; since, under Virginia's niggardly indifference, the tomb and grounds of the Mount Vernon Estate became a national disgrace, from which they were only (then) recently rescued by the money which the Honorable Edward Everett had obtained, through extraordinary personal exertions, chiefly from the Northern people. Address of John Bell and others. ment, and characterized | with treason than an ordinance of Secession, the act of coercion as cal- because it defied the Government whose auculated to dissolve the dissolve the thority it confessed no State could constituUnion forever, and to dissolve it in blood- tionally abrogate. It also indicated the a sufficient excuse for the Governor's refu- course to be pursued in leaguing the State sal. It said: “We unqualifiedly disapprove to the fortunes of the Southern Confederacy. of secession, both as a constitutional right Signing his name to that "Address," John and a remedy for existing evils; we equally Bell descended from the high estate of the condemn the policy of the Administration in patriot to become the creature of conspirareference to the Seceded States," Hence tors. He sold his birthright of glory for a they urged the policy of neutrality : mess of pottage made at the cauldron of Macbeth's witches. Had he drawn his inspiration at the shrine of Andrew Jackson-had he possessed even a tithe of the moral courage of Andrew Johnson the Union would not have had to deplore his defection. Facilis descensus Averni! “The present duty of Tennessee is to maintain a | position of independence - taking sides with the Union and the peace of the country against all assailants, whether from the North or South. Her position should be to maintain the sanctity of her soil from the hostile tread of any party. Kentucky's "Neutral" Position. We do not pretend to foretell the future of Ten- Kentucky reeled under nessee, in connection with the other States, or in the excitement of the revoreference to the Federal Government. We do not lution. For a while her pretend to be able to tell the future purposes of the steady pilots were disconcerted at the apPresident and Cabinet in reference to the impend-proaching storm: and when her Governor so ing war. But should a purpose be developed by far forgot his allegiance as to answer the President's call, thus: the Government, of overrunning and subjugating our brethren of the Seceded States, we say unequivocally, that it will be the duty of the State to resist at all hazards, at any cost, and by arms, any such purpose or attempt. And to meet any and all emergencies, she ought to be fully armed, and we would respectfully call upon the authorities of the State to proceed at once to the accomplishment of this object. "Let Tennessee, then, prepare thoroughly and efficiently for coming events. In the mean time, let her, as speedily as she can, hold a Conference with her sister Slaveholding States yet in the Union, for the purpose of devising plans for the preservation of the peace of the land. Fellow-citizens of Tennessee, we entreat you to bring yourselves up to the magnitude of the crisis. Look in the face impending calamities. Civil war-what is it? The bloodiest and darkest pages of history answer this question. To avert this, who would not give his time, his talents, his untiring energy his all? There may be yet time to accomplish everything. Let us not despair. The Border Slave States may prevent this civil war; and why shall they not do it?" This was signed by John Bell, the Union candidate for the Presidency at the late election. Also by Bailie Peyton, Neil S. Brown, E. H. Ewing, R. J. Meigs, and others. "He that is not for me is against me," was illustrated in this call. It was more rank "FRANKFORT, April 16th, 1861. "Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War: "Your dispatch is received. In answer, I say emphatically that Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister South ern States. B. MAGOFFIN, Governor of Kentucky." there were few to protest against, or to ignore, the treasonable insult thrown in the face of the National Executive. A day or two, however, sufficed to show that the people were loyal at heart. A spontaneous demonstration, which took place at Louisville, on the evening of April 18th, sent a rift of light athwart the gathering darkness of her destiny. At that demonstration speeches were made by ex-Secretary James Guthrie, Hon. Archie Dixon, the venerable Judge Nicholas, Judge Bullock, and Hon. John Young Brown, of a thoroughly patriotic character, and resolutions were adopted assuring the country of Kentucky's loyalty. But, as if fearful of meeting the crisis at once, and of embodying in deeds the spirit of their speech, the resolutions gave utterance to the "neutrality” fallacy-proposed to place Kentucky on the defensive and offensive alike. A few weeks only were necessary to sweep away the mis MISSOURI'S POSITION. erable sophistry by which truly loyal men sought to deceive themselves; and when the invader came, in the person of one of her own sons, she assumed with alacrity her true position under the Stars and Stripes. The spirit of the dead Clay then inspired her councils, and carried her through the fiery ordeal as became the mother of noble sons. Missouri's Position. Governor Jackson of Missouri used quite as choice rhetoric as his limited education would permit, in his answer to the call for troops. He said to Mr. Cameron, replying to the requisition: "It is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with." The Governor soon issued a call for an extra session of the Legislature, to meet on the 2d of May, "for the purpose of enacting such laws and adopting such measures as may be necessary for the more perfect organization and equipment of the militia-to raise money, · 101 Missouri's Position. and devise such other means CHAPTER IV. CONSOLIDATION AND FRA STATE OF FEELING IN THE NORTH. DENT PIERCE, GENERAL CASS, EVERETT, AND OTHERS, то THE PEOPLE. THE COMMERCIAL COMMUNITY. ITS MAGNANIMOUS DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF THE UNION. THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (NEW YORK) RESOLUTIONS. THE CHURCHES OF THE NORTH. EXTRAORDINARY SPECTACLE OF FLAGS ON CHURCH SPIRES. ACTION OF VARIOUS THE WE must pause in this exciting narrative | Administration and friendly to the cause of to advert to the state of public feeling at the the South. The chapter will form one of the North, as indicated by the speeches of leading men, late opponents to the Administration; as expressed in the resolutions and proceedings of important corporate bodies and assemblages of the people; as betrayed in the action of leading churches, and as reflected by the press hitherto opposing the most remarkable records of all that momentous drama, demonstrating how wonderfully all adverse elements had assimilated at the call of the President. The chapter also will prove how truly the republican idea is a principle upon which to rely in emergencies thus giving to the friends of democratic in |