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On to Washington.

Congress a coup-de-maitre | time to try the difference between 'Scott's tactics' and the Shanghae drill for quick movements.

which certainly would have given the Southern movement an alarming temporary ascendency. The cry at the South was—“On to Washington !" At once to illustrate the fact here stated, and to show the spirit in which the revolutionists saw proper to approach the subject, we may reproduce one of the almost numberless newspaper paragraphs designed to inflame the passions of their people. The Richmond Examiner, edited by John M. Daniels—Mr. Buchanan's charge to Turin-in its issue of April 23d, contained this article:

"THE CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON.

"The capture of Washington City is perfectly within the power of Virginia and Maryland, if Virginia will only make the effort by her constituted authorities; nor is there a single moment to lose. The entire population pant for the onset; there never was half the unanimity among the people before, nor a tithe of the zeal, upon any subject, that is now manifested to take Washington, and drive from it every Black Republican who is a dweller there.

From the mountain tops and valleys to the shores of the sea, there is one wild shout of fierce resolve to capture Washington City, at all and every

human hazard. The filthy cage of unclean birds must and will assuredly be purified by fire. The people are determined upon it, and are clamorous for a leader to conduct them to the onslaught. That leader will assuredly arise, aye, and that right speedily.

"It is not to be endured that this flight of Abolition harpies shall come down from the black North for their roosts in the heart of the South, to defile and brutalize the land. They come as our enemies -they act as our most deadly foes-they promise us bloodshed and fire, and this is the only promise they have ever redeemed. The fanatical yell for the immediate subjugation of the whole South, is going up hourly from the united voices of all the North; and for the purpose of making their work sure, they have determined to hold Washington City as the point from whence to carry on their brutal warfare.

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Great cleansing and purification are needed and will be given to that festering sink of iniquity, that wallow of Lincoln and Scott-the desecrated City

of Washington; and many indeed will be the carcasses of dogs and caitiffs that will blacken the air upon the gallows, before the great work is accom.

plished. So let it be."

Virginia demanding
Explanations.

The country was prepared for the reply which Gover. nor Letcher, of Virginia, returned to the President's call for troops.

ume.

The Virginia Convention, still in session, had accomplished nothing definite since the proceedings recorded in Chapter IV of this volThe dispatch of supplies to Sumter much strengthened the Secessionists in the Convention, and the President was forthwith called upon for explanations, by a resolution adopted April 8th, appointing Wm. Ballard Preston, Alexander H. H. Stuart, and George W. Randolph "Commissioners" to wait upon Mr. Lincoln. The Unionists and some of the Conservatives of the Convention, opposed the resolution, as designed to precipitate secession, but they failed of a majority. The “Commissioners" called upon Mr. Lincoln, April

13th, presenting their resolution — which, with the President's patriotic reply, we here place on record :

To Hon. Messrs. PRESTON,

STUART, and RANDOLPH: Mr. Lincoln's Answer "GENTLEMEN: As a commit

tee of the Virginia Convention, now in session, you present me a preamble and resolution in these words:

"Whereas, in the opinion of this Convention, the uncertainty which prevails in the public mind as to the policy which the Federal Executive intends to pursue towards the Seceded States, is extremely injurious to the industrial and commercial interests of the country, tends to keep up an excitement which is unfavorable to the adjustment of the pend ing 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 respect fully ask him to communicate to this Convention the policy which the Federal Executive intends to pur sue in regard to the Confederate States.'

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Mr. Lincoln's Answer.

VIRGINIA'S ORDINANCE OF SECESSION.

gret and mortification I now learn there is great and injurious uncertainty in the public mind as to what that policy is, and 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 address. I commend a

careful consideration of the whole document, as the best expression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now repeat, The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, 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 or among the people anywhere. By the words 'property and places belonging to the Government,' I chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in possession 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 author

ity from these places, an unprovoked assault has

been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself at
liberty to repossess it, if I can, 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 Government justi-
fies and possibly demands it. I scarcely need to
say that I consider the military posts and property
situated within the States which claim to have se-
ceded, as yet belonging to the Government of the
United States as much as they did before the sup-
posed 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 inferred 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."

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Governor Letcher's

Disloyalty.

Governor Letcher replied to the call for troops: "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 Administration has exhibited towards the South." This piece of treason and threat only anticipated the Secessionists in their now hurried action. It assumed an open antagonism to the Federal authorities-thus, at one sweep of the pen, virtually placing the State out of the Union, whether the people willed it or not. The following proclamation succeeded the answer to the Secretary of War:

66

Letcher's Proclama

tion.

Whereas, seven of the States formerly composing a part of the United States have, by authority of their people, solemnly resumed the powers granted by them to the United States, and have fram. ed a Constitution and organized a Government for themselves, to which the people of those States are yielding willing obedience, and have so notified the President of the United States by all the formalities incident to such action, and thereby become to the United States a separate, independent and foreign power; and whereas, the Constitution of the United States has invested Congress with the sole power 'to declare war,' and until such declaration is made, the President has no authority to call for an extraordinary force to wage offensive war against any foreign Power; and whereas, on the 15th instant, the President of the United States, in plain violation of the Constitution, issued a proclamation calling for a force of seventy-five thousand men, to cause the laws of the United States to be duly executed over a people who are no longer a part of the Union, and in said proclamation threatens to exert this unusual

This answer left no doubt as to the Presi- force to compel obedience to his mandates; and dent's mode of treatment of the Southern erup-jority approaching to entire unanimity, declared at its whereas, the General Assembly of Virginia, by a mation, and the Commissioners returned home to report that " Virginia's honor and interest alike demanded immediate secession, and a unity with the Confederate States in a common cause."

last session, that the State of Virginia would consider such an exertion of force as a virtual declaration of war, to be resisted by all the power at the command of Virginia; and subsequently the Convention now in session, representing the sovereignty of this State,

has reaffirmed in substance the same policy, with almost equal unanimity; and whereas, the State of Virginia deeply sympathizes with the Southern States in the wrongs they have suffered and in the position they have assumed, and having made earnest efforts peaceably to compose the differences which have severed the Union, and having failed in that attempt, through this unwarranted act on the part of the President; and it is believed that the influences which operate to produce this Proclamation against the Seceded States will be brought to bear upon this Commonwealth, if she should exercise her undoubted right to resume the powers granted by her people, and it is due to the honor of Virginia that an improper exercise of force against her people should be repelled; therefore, I, John Letcher, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, have thought proper to order all armed volunteer regiments or companies within the State forthwith to hold themselves in readiness for immediate orders, and upon the reception of this Proclamation to report to the Adjutant General of the State their organization and numbers, and prepare themselves for efficient service. Such companies. as are not armed and equipped will report that fact, that they may be properly supplied.

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Commonwealth to be affixed, this 17th day of April, 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of the Commonwealth.

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"The people of Virginia, in the ratification of

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"Now, therefore, we, the people of Virginia, do declare and ordain, that the ordinance adopted by the people of this State in Convention on the twentyfifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and all acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying or adopting amendments to said Constitution, are hereby repealed and abrogated; that the union between the State of Virginia and the other States under the Constitution aforesaid, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Virginia is in the full possession and exercise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State. And they do further de

clare that said Constitution of the United States of America is no longer binding on any of the citizens of this State.

66

This ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this day, when ratified by a majority of the votes of the people of this State, cast at a poll to be taken thereon, on the fourth Thursday in May next, in pursuance of a schedule hereafter to be enacted.

"Done in Convention in the city of Richmond, on the seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the eighty-fifth year of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"A true copy,

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JNO. L. EUBANK, Secretary of Convention." Thus was consummated the long-laboredfor withdrawal of the "Old Dominion" from the Union wherein it had for years shone as the first star, but in which it was rapidly paling, owing to the ascendancy of the more vigorous and equitably governed Free States. To say the act was an usurpation and an outrage upon the people is to repeat what a land-owners sooner or later asseverated large majority of the resident population and what the action of the people of Western

the Constitution of the United States of America, Virginia in forming a new Government proclaimed; but, it was a step which would have been taken two months previously, had it not been for the unflinching front presented by the Unionists, [see page 245, Vol. I,] who were, at the last hour, only overridden by a system of terrorism, which forever must stain Virginia "chivalry" with the stigma of dishonor.

adopted by them in Convention, on the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers granted under the said Constitution were derived from the people of the United States, and might be resumed whensoever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppression, and the Federal Government having perverted said powers,

CHAPTER II

OF

WASHINGTON IN DANGER. STATES' PATRIOTISM.
MASSACHUSETTS. MARCH OF HER TROOPS.
BALTIMORE. STATE OF PUBLIC FEELING.
ENCE WITH THE PRESIDENT. OCCUPATION OF

IN

THE RECORD

THE ASSAULT

CORRESPOND

ANNAPOLIS.

The "First in the
Field."

Massachusetts' Re

cord.

To place on record the story of the gathering in Massachusetts, will illustrate the spirit which animated her sons in embarking in the Union's defense; while the orders issued for the service, by the State Executive, show to mankind what energy and unflinching Will control that section of the Union, which it pleased certain Southern orators and writers to characterize as the abode of "mudsills" and "tinkers." We

Let us here refer to a special case. The leading organ of Southern Views and Pro-Slavery Polity was De Bow's Review. Its course, for the six years preceding 1860, was one of studied defamation of the North and its people. It prevaricated facts, falsified figures, misstated local and national issues, traduced character and motives, and, in short, devoted all the resources of a malignant mind, to develop the idea of Southern independ

"ON to Washington!" | shop and the plough, their nets and barges, soon became the rallying homes and kindred, inspired by the love of cry throughout the North. country, and the rights of mankind.” The mere intimation of the programme for seizing the Capital, filled all minds with a lively apprehension of the danger at hand, and hastened the movements of the military authorities of the several States. To Pennsylvania belongs the honor of having placed the first troops in Washington-six hundred reaching the Capital on the fourth day after the President's call. Massachusetts may, however, claim the credit for being "first in the field" with her regiments, as she was the first to suffer in the Union's cause. The readiness of the "Old Bay State" to meet the crisis is characteristic of the spirit of her people, and of the intelligence of her rulers. Foreseeing the coming conflict, a General Order was issued as early as January 16th (1861), for placing the militia on a footing for service. April 1st the Legislature passed an act appropriating twenty-five thousand dollars for equipments and cartridges for two thousand troops. Over three thousand new Springfield (rifle) muskets were distributed. When the hour came it found Massachusetts prepared. "Forewarned, forearmed!" 79 John street, New York; was there boxed se apparently was her motto. Adjutant-Gene-cretly and sent away to come back to subscribers ral Schouler, in his Report for 1861, says: "For three months previous to the attack on Sumter our volunteer militia, in anticipation of some great traitorous movement in the South, had been drilling almost nightly in their several armories, so that when the summons came from the President, the 'fiery cross' was sent over the Commonwealth, and, in obedience to the call, men came forth as in the brave days of old, leaving the work

ence.

How will the reader be astonished to learn that the Review was printed by Northern presses, and supported almost wholly by Northern patrons! It was ostensibly published in Washington and New Orleans; but was composed, printed and bound at

from the South. Its circulation scarcely ever exceeded thirty-five hundred copies; yet, by representations of its "enormous Southern patronage," it was enabled to obtain a heavy advertising list. From this source the politic De Bow pocketed from ten to fifteen hundred dollars monthly-all contributed by that Northern capital and energy which his

Review only lived to defame. The moral turpitude and baseness of the Secession spirit had an active,

living embodiment in the moral turpitude and baseness of De Bow's Review.

Massachusetts' Record.

will, therefore, quote from the Adjutant-General's report:

"The first call for troops was by a telegram from Senator Wilson, dated at Washington, April 15th, requesting twenty companies to be sent immediately to Washington, and there mustered into service. In the course of the day were received formal requisitions by telegraph from the Secretary of War and Adjutant-General of the United States, for two full regiments of the Massachusetts militia. In compliance therewith, Special Order No. 14 was issued on the same day, directing Colonel Jones, of the Sixth regiment, Colonel Packard, of the Fourth, Colonel Wardrop, of the Third, and Colonel Munroe, of the Eighth, to muster their respective commands on the Boston Common forthwith, in compliance with a requisition made by the President of the United States.' This order was sent by mail and by special messengers to the Colonels, who severally resided at Lowell, Quincy, New Bedford, and Lynn. The companies were scattered through

the cities and towns of Plymouth Bristol, Norfolk, Essex, and Middlesex counties.

“In obedience to orders, nearly every company in the above regiments arrived in Boston the next day. The first were three infantry companies from Marblehead, under Captains Martin, Phillips, and Boardman. They arrived at the Eastern depot at nine o'clock, A. M., and were welcomed by a large multitude of people, who cheered the gallant and devoted men as they marched to their quarters at Faneuil Hall, through rain and sleet, to the music of Yankee Doodle.' During the entire day the troops arrived at Boston by the different railroad trains.

"A dispatch from Senator Wilson on this day (April 16th,) stated that Massachusetts was to furnish immediately four regiments, making one brigade, with one Brigadier-General. Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Butler, Third Brigade, Second Division, M. V. M., was ordered on the 17th to take command of the troops."

The orders detailed the Fourth and Third regiments to proceed to Fortress Monroethe Sixth and Eighth to Washington direct, the two latter under general command of General Butler. These incidents are added:

Captain Pratt, in command of the Worcester company, received his order to join the Sixth regiment late in the afternoon of the 16th, and he was in Boston with his full command early on the morn ing of the 17th. It was nine o'clock in the evening of the 16th before your Excellency decided to attach the commands of Captains Sampson and Dike to the Sixth regiment. A messenger was dispatch

Massachusetts' Record.

|ed to Stoneham, with orders for Captain Dike. He reported to me at eight o'clock the next morning, that he found Captain Dike at his house in Stoneham, at two o'clock in the morning, and placed your Excellency's orders in his hands; that he read them, and said: Tell the Adjutant-General that I shall be at the State House with my full company by eleven o'clock to-day.' True to his word, he reported at the time, and that afternoon, attached to the Sixth, the company left for Washington. Two days afterward, on the 19th of April, during that gallant march through Baltimore, which is now a matter of history, Captain Dike was shot down while leading his company through the mob. Sev eral of his command were killed and wounded, and he received a wound in the leg, which will render him a cripple for life."

The two regiments for Fortress Monroe departed by steamers on the evening of April 17th. The Sixth regiment left for Washington the same evening by railway, via New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. General Butler, with the Eighth, followed on the The Sixth cut its way succeeding day. through Baltimore; the Eighth opened the route to the Capital through Annapolis, in company with the New York Seventh, (National Guards.) The Third and Fourth reached Fortress Monroe April 20th--thus securing that stronghold from the conspirator's grasp. The Third embarked the same day on the Pawnee, for Norfolk, where it assisted in destroying the immense property of that valuable Depot and Navy-yardall of which was offered up on the shrine of revolution,- an offering which the country will be slow to believe was justified or proper.

The passage South of the Massachusetts men created the most intense enthusiasm

along the route. It was a march between walls of human beings, waving kerchiefs and banners over them, and speeding them on their way with blessings. Baltimore was reached at noon on the 19th. The Sixth was closely followed by the Pennsylvania Seventh an unarmed regiment. Colonel Jones, of the Massachusetts Sixth, in his report of April 22d-after the arrival at Washington-thus recounted the incidents of the attack on his men, in the streets of Balti more:

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