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HISTORICAL SUMMARY.

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of Secessionists, encamped near St. Louis. The Winans steam gun captured near the Relay House, Maryland, on its way into Virginia.

May 11.-Government troops in St. Louis again

assailed in St. Louis. Four of the mob killed. Immense Union demonstration in San Francisco.

-Charleston harbor blockaded by the United States steam frigate Niagara.

May 13.-Federal Hill in Baltimore occupied by Brigadier-General Butler. It commands the entire city. This occupation finally opened the route to Washington for the passage of troops, stores, &c. -A Convention assembles at Wheeling, Virginia, composed of delegates from thirty-five counties, It repudiates the act of secession and proposes a division of the State on the line of the Blue Ridge

Mountains.

--Blockade of the Mississippi River established at Cairo. All mails stopped.

-The Queen of England issues a proclamation of neutrality. (See Appendix, Vol. II.)

May 14.-The Maryland Legislature adjourns, having taken little or no action on National affairs. -Governor Hicks, of Maryland, issues a call for the Maryland quota of troops for the United States service. Large seizures of arms in Baltimore by the United States troops. Ross Winans arrested and sent to Fort McHenry.

May 15.-Massachusetts Legislature offers to loan the Federal Government seven millions of dollars.

-The Wheeling (preliminary) Convention adjourns. The permanent "provisional" Convention is to assemble June 12th.

May 16.-Brigadier-Generals Butler and McClellan made Major-Generals. Harper's Ferry is fortified by the rebels, and bridges on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad are destroyed.

May 17.-All communication by letters, expresses or otherwise, with the South, prohibited.

-The Slave-trader yacht Wanderer (rebel) captured off Key West.

May 18.-Arkansas admitted to the Southern Confederacy.

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General seizure of telegraphic dispatches throughout the North, by the Government. "spots" a great many disunionists, and gives a clue to their designs.

May 21.-The North Carolina State Convention adopts an Ordinance of Secession. The Confederate Congress adjourns to July 20th, having passed all necessary acts to empower the Confederate Executive to prosecute the war. It also authorised the seat of Government to be transferred to Richmond. Among its acts was one providing for the issue of Treasury Notes, and one to compel the payment, into the Confederate treasury, of all debts due to Northern creditors by citizens or corporations in the Confederacy.

May 24.-The Federal army at daylight moves into Virginia, occupying Arlington Heights and

the line of the Potomac from Alexandria to George town. Colonel Ellsworth assassinated in an Alexandria hotel. The assassin bayonetted on the spot. Portion of a rebel cavalry company captured. This onward movement gives great satisfaction to the loyal States. It relieves the Capital from danger of a bombardment. Butler moves his troops out of the Fortress Monroe and occupies Virginia soil.

May 26.-Western Virginia, at a vote ordered for delegates to the Provisional - Government Convention, declares overwhelmingly for the Union.

May 27.-Major-General Butler, in commandat Fortress Monroe, receives over one hundred runaway negroes, and refuses to give them up to their rebel masters, declaring them to be" contraband of war." Department and approved by the President. His decision was sustained by the War

-Chief-Justice Taney, of the United States Supreme Court, issues a habeas corpus writ for the person of one John Merrymun, a Baltimore mob ringleader, confined by General Cadwalader, in Fort McHenry. The General refuses to comply with the writ, by denying the United States Marshal entrance to the Fort. This case afterwards became a precedent for other seizures of persons charged with treason, and greatly excited the class of citizens who believed in making the military subsidiary to the civil power. The seizures though arbitrary

were justified by the people.

-Mobile is blockaded by Federal vessels of war. May 28.-Savannah blockaded. Newport News, Virginia, occupied by Federal troops.

May 29.-Jefferson Davis reaches Richmond. He makes a violent harangue in response to the crowd. June 1st he addressed the people, characterizing Lincoln as " an ignorant usurper."

May 30.-N. P. Banks and John C. Fremont commissioned Major-Generals in the United States Army. -Grafton, Virginia, in possession of the Union troops, under Colonel Kelly.

Batte

May 31.-The gunboat Freeborn, Captain Ward, attacks the rebel batteries at Acquia Creek. ries silenced. Gallant dash of Lieutenant Tompkins with seventy-five mounted men into the enemy's lines at Fairfax Court House. Union loss one killed, one missing and four wounded. Rebel loss ten killed, a number wounded and five brought away prisoners. Captain Lyon commissioned BrigadierGeneral, and supercedes Harney in Missouri.

June 3.-Battle of Phillippi, Virginia. The Ohio and Indiana volunteers route the rebels and secure tents, stores, &c. Colonel Kelly, of the First Virginia, in command of the Federals, is seriously wounded. Rebel loss sixteen killed, ten prisoners. Federal loss two killed, seven wounded.

-Senator Douglas dies at Chicago.

--Border State Convention assembles at Frank fort, Kentucky. A very slender attendance.

-General Beauregard assumes command of the Confederate army: head-quarters at Manassas Junc tion, which is being rapidly fortified upon an ex the rebels. tensive scale. Centreville is also being fortified by

rebel batteries at Pig Point, Virginia, with little re June 6.-The gunboat Harriet Lane engages the

sult. Five of her crew wounded.

June 8.--The North Carolina Convention ratifies the Confederate Constitution.

--Major-General Patterson advances from Cham-ginia. Daniel Palsly elected Lieutenant-Governor. bersburg toward Harper's Ferry via Hagerstown. Both are strong Union men.

June 10.-Battle at Big Bethel, Virginia. The Federalists forced to retire before Magruder's strongly-intrenched position, after an obstinate but badly conducted attack. Union forces commanded by Brigadier-General Pierce, of Massachusetts. Union loss killed fourteen, wounded forty-nine, and five missing. Among the killed were the gallant Lieutenant Greble, of the United States regular artillery, and Major Theodore Winthrop, Aide-de-camp to Major-General Butler-a brilliant officer. Rebel loss: none killed, nine wounded. The Federals numbered (engaged) about four thousand rebels eleven hundred and sixty-five. -Major-General Banks assumes command of the Department of Annapolis.

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June 11. The rebels, six hundred strong, driven out of Romney, Virginia, by the Indiana Zouaves, under command of Colonel Lewis Wallace. Union loss none, Confederate loss two killed. Considerable plunder was secured, and the rebels given a great scare. It was a bold affair.

-The Wheeling Constitutional Convention assembles. Over forty counties are represented, most of them fully.

June 23.-Enormous destruction of property of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, at Martinsburg, Virginia, by the rebels. Forty-eight locomotives, shops, machinery, &c., broken up and fired.

June 24.-Governor Harris, of Tennessee, proclaims the State out of the Union, declaring the recent vote to have been: for secession, 104,019; against secession, 47,238. The Virginia vote on the question of secession is announced as: for secession, 128,884; against secession, 32,134. The election both in Tennessee and Virginia was a mere mockery, done under Confederate bayonets.

June 15.-The Iowa Legislature votes a war loan of $600,000.

June 26.-The Government instituted by the Wheeling Convention acknowledged by the President of the United States as the de facto Government of Virginia..

-Scout skirmish at Patterson's Creek, Virginia. Rebels routed. Rebel loss eight killed out of fortyone. Union loss one killed. The Union scouts numbered only thirteen, belonging to Colonel Wallace's Indiana Zouaves.

June 27.-Marshal Kane, of Baltimore, arrested by

June 13.-Day of fasting and prayer in the Con- order of Major-General Banks, and confined in Fort federate States.

June 14.-The rebels evacuate Harper's Ferry, having first destroyed by fire and powder all the public works at that place, including the fine railroad bridge over the Potomac and an immense quantity of locomotives, cars and railway property at Martinsburg. They also destroyed bridges at several points above and below the Ferry.

June 15.-General Lyon occupies Jefferson city, Missouri. The rebel force, under General Sterling Price, gathering at Boonville.

June 16.-Skirmish at Seneca Mills. Rebel loss three killed.

June 17.-The Wheeling Convention unanimously

votes the independence of Western Virginia, and resolves upon a separate State organization.

-Another mob attack in St. Louis on Government troops. Six of the rioters killed.

-The rebels at Vienna, Virginia, fire into a railroad train from a masked battery, killing eight Federal troops.

-Battle of Boonville, Missouri. General Lyon

McHenry, on a charge of treason. Colonel Kenly appointed Provost Marshal of the city. Intense excitement prevailing among the Secessionists.

-Engagement with the rebel batteries at Mathias Point, Virginia, by the gunboats Pawnee and Freeborn. Captain Ward, of the latter, is killed in an attempt to land, and eight seamen of the small boat wounded. Captain Ward was a gallant and efficient commander. Enemy's loss not known.

-A large Convention assembles at Knoxville, East Tennessee. It adopts a declaration protesting against the acts of usurpation by which the State was thrown into the arms of the Southern Confed

eracy; and assuming that the State was still in the

Union.

June 28. Skirmish at Falls Church, Virginia. One Unionist killed and two rebels. Skirmish at Shooters Hill, Virginia. One Unionist killed, two rebels killed and seven wounded.

June 29.-Grand council of war in Washington. July 1.-Arrest in Baltimore of four Police Commissioners, by order of Major-General Banks. Escape of the privateer Sumter from the Mississippi river. Engagement at Buckhannof, Virginia. The

routs the rebels under General Price and Governor Jackson. Large quantity of arms, horses, &c., cap-rebels routed. Rebel loss twenty-three killed and tured. Rebel loss fifteen killed, nineteen wounded. Union loss four killed, nine wounded.

wounded and two hundred prisoners. Skirmish at Farmington, Missouri. Rebel loss five killed and

June 18.-Skirmish at Edwards' Ferry. Union two prisoners. loss one killed. Rebel loss not known.

-Skirmish at Cola, Missouri. The Union Home Guards overcome with a loss of fifteen killed, forty wounded and taken prisoners. The rebels were in strong force. The Guards were only partially armed. June 19.-The Wheeling Convention reorganizes the Provisional State Government of Virginia. Capture of thirty-five rebels at Liberty, Missouri, by the Unionists. The rebels occupy Piedmont, Virginia. June 20.-Major-General McClellan assumes field command in Western Virginia. The Wheeling Convention elects Frank H. Pierpont Governor of Vir

July 2.-General Patterson's advance divisions cross (by wading) the Potomac at Williamsport. An engagement follows. The rebels under Jackson are routed and pursued for two miles. They left eight dead upon the field. Union loss three killed and fifteen wounded. This engagement is variously called the battle of Martinsburg, Hokes Run, and Haynesville.

-The new Virginia Legislature organized at Wheeling.

July 3.-A company of (ninety four) rebels captured at Neosho, Missouri.

DIVISION IV.

CHAPTER L

TO "COERCE" THE UNITED STATES.

TROOPS.

THE PRIVATEER

PROCLA

PROOFS OF THE DESIGN
DAVIS' CALL FOR MORE
MATION. LINCOLN'S COUNTER-PROCLAMATION OF BLOCKADE
WASHINGTON! VIRGINIA'S MOVEMENTS.
HIS "RECOGNITION" OF THE SOUTHERN
THE VIRGINIA ORDINANCE OF

AND PIRACY. ON то
LETCHER'S TREASON.

CONFEDERACY.

SECESSION.

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The Federal Govern

ment to be Coerced.

The Federal Government to be Coerced.

THE proclamation of Mr. | er offensive schemes were Lincoln was construed, in matured, there is good reathe Southern States, as a son to state, prior to the declaration of war. Prior to its appearance, bombardment of Fort Sumter. How steeped in how ever, the Confederate Government was hypocrisy, then, must have been the Southern making every effort to "prosecute a quick leaders who called heaven and earth to witness campaign." The hesitating Border States that they were guiltless of the great crime of could only be won by vigorous action; and, civil war! It was not an act of war to bomnow that the first assault had been made, it bard a United States fort, to persecute and was determined to force the United States outlaw its citizens, to scorn and contemn Government into a virtual, if not actual, re- the Federal Government; it was a Southcognition of the Southern Confederacy. That ern right to treat Uncle Sam as the Souththis "coercion" of the Union was determined erners saw fit; and any Federal act of upon before the call of the Federal Executive resentment, of defense, of protection, the imfor troops, is manifest in the declaration made pious scoundrels who proclaimed revolution by the Confederate Secretary of War, on the presumed to treat as the first step towards evening of Friday, April 12th. In answer to civil war! We cannot discover in the whole a serenade in honor of the bombardment of page of history a pusillanimity so great, a Sumter, the Secretary said, in substance, that sense of honor so perverted, an hypocrisy so the Confederate flag would wave over the contemptible. Unlike the open and fair rebel, dome of the Capitol at Washington by May who, defying the restraints of authority, ap1st-a sentiment which, the telegraph report pealed to arms to decide the issue, the Coninformed the public, was received with un- federate whined over the contest his crimes bounded enthusiasm. had provoked; and through all the bloody drama on which he raised the curtain, he did not fail to illustrate that most contemptible form of human nature typified in Aminadab Sleek.

The idea of granting letters of marque and reprisal, the act of confiscation and appropriation of debts due the North, the constructive treason in entertaining Union sentiments, the creation of a Southern navy and a fleet of privateers-these and many oth

Intimidation was a part of the scheme arranged, at an early moment, to compel the

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The Privateer Proclamation.

“Whereas, Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, has, by proclamation, announced the intention of invading this Confederacy with an armed force, for the purpose of capturing its fortresses, and thereby subverting its 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 to defend the rights and liberties of the people, by all the means which the laws of nations and the usages of civilized war. fare place at his disposal:

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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 resisting so wanton and wicked an aggression, to make application for commissions 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 a suitable description of the

character, tonnage, and force of the vessel, and the

name and place of residence of each owner concerned therein, and the intended number of the crew, and to sign said statement, and deliver the same to the Secretary of State, or to the Collector of any port of entry of these Confederate States, to be by him transmitted to the Secretary of State.

The Privateer Proo lamation.

"And I do further notify all applicants aforesaid, that before any commission or Letter of Marque is issued to any vessel, the owner or own. ers thereof, and the commander for the time being,

will be required to give bond to the Confederate States, with at least two responsible sureties, not interested in such vessel, in the 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 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 to them for the regulation of their conduct. That they shall satisfy all damages done contrary to the tenor thereof by such vessel during 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 discharging the duties incident thereto; and I do, moreover, solemnly 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 these now threatened in aggravated form by those whose enmity is more implacable because unprovoked, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, in maintaining the authority and efficacy of the laws, and in supporting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted for the common defense, and by which, under the blessings of Divine Providence, we may hope for a speedy, just, and honorable peace.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the Confederate States to be affixed, this seventeenth day of April, 1861. "By the President,

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(Signed)

JEFFERSON DAVIS. "R. TOOMBS, Secretary of State." This was expected by the enterprising spirits of the South. It was put forth to inflict injury of magnitude upon the high seas' commerce of the Northern States-conceiving their commerce to be their most vulnerable point. Leading journals in the South had often recurred to it as a certain step in event of hostilities. Although Southern men, from the time of John Randolph, had characterized the "Yankees" as a race of money-getters, and, in contrast, had exalted

DAVIS' PRIVATEER PROCLAMATION.

the patriotic, high-toned character of their own fellow-citizens, visions of suddenly though dishonorably acquired wealth dazzled the Southern sight, and did not fail to render a large class very hopeful and happy for the moment. It would offer matter for not very complimentary comment to quote the terms of the various notes of commendation bestowed by the secession press upon the Privateer Proclamation. The amendatory action of the Confederate Congress, which afterward affixed a price per capita on Union men, live and dead, taken on the high seas, will not enhance the good reputation of the men who promulgated the act, and the people who hoped to profit by it.

Lincoln's Counter Proclamation of Blockade and Piracy.

But, all this dream of wealth to be had for the mere "seizing," was cut short by the Proclamation of Blockade, is sued April 19th, by the President of the United States. It was a checkmate to King Stork, even before the board could be opened:

Whereas, an insurrection against the Government of the United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be efficiently executed therein, conformably to that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States: "And whereas, a combination of persons, 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:

Lincoln's Counter

Proclamation.

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ports within the States afore-
said, in pursuance of the laws
of the United States, and of the
laws of nations in such cases provided. For this pur-
pose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent
If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade,
entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid.*
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 indorse 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 conven-
ient 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 pretense, 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.

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By the President,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Sec. of State. "WASHINGTON, April 19th, 1861."

No time was lost in enforcing this important measure, though the paucity of vessels available for purposes of blockade, rendered it a work of many months to seal up the rebellious ports over the vast and intricate coast line, stretching from Hampton Roads to Brownsville.

On to Washington.

of this order of blockade, Prior to the publication Virginia had plunged into the vortex of the revolution and stood arrayed against the Union-thus directly menacing Washington. The Capital and "And whereas, an Executive Proclamation has Government archives were in imminent danbeen already issued, requiring the persons engaged ger of seizure. Ben McCullough flitted back in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, and forth between Richmond and Baltimore, calling out a militia force for the purpose of re-organizing his cut-throat brigade for the despressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine

thereon:

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perate service. It became whispered abroad that Maryland was to "co-operate," and thus the more effectually to isolate the District of Columbia. The plot only awaited the secession of Virginia for its development. That such a scheme existed has been denied by. some writers in the interest of secession; but numerous evidences attest the existence and the maturity of the conspiracy for occupying Washington, there to inaugurate the Montgomery Government, Departments and

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