At the Junction, where there was so little to | with over nine hundred men; and, after a eat, I determined to find something; accord- voyage of three days, without rest, without ingly I walked a mile to a little cottage, where food-except in small quantity and poor quality I found a negro and his wife supplying some-without good water, and with seven hundred other members of my regiment with bacon, and fifty men afflicted with the most distressmilk, hoecake, &c. I took my seat at the table ing sea-sickness-we arrived at Anuapolis on with the rest, and took a dirty plate, a quarter Wednesday, about noon. full of fragments, left by one who had just eaten from it. I asked the negro to clean it; he evidently not understanding the meaning of the word "clean," filled up the plate just as it was, and I, though not liking to eat what had been left by my predecessor, was too hungry to hesitate long about it. I am going this afternoon to get cleaned up, having brushed my hair but once and washed my face but three times, and not having had my boots off night or day, since I left New York last Sunday. "Here I partook of the first real food I had tasted, consisting of oysters and crackers. We stayed at Annapolis, getting what rest we could, (I did not get any, as I was sergeant of the guard, and had to march on the relief every hour all night,) until two o'clock Thursday morning, when we were ordered to march for Annapolis Junction, about thirty miles distant. We got off about 4, a. m., and marched for eight hours, when we halted for two hours and were served with rations, consisting of two hard crackers only. We started again about 2, P. M., and marched six hours more till about 8, P. M., when we again halted and partook of corned beef, very little of it, and that little very tough, and a liard cracker. "The entire march was made with our mus NAVY-YARD, Sunday, April 28—10 A. M. At half-past three o'clock yesterday after noon we were ordered to the Navy-Yard. It is considered here a post of honor, and it is said Gen. Scott sent us here because he consid-kets and heavily-laden knapsacks, through sand ered us a very hardy regiment. Our company is now quartered on a steamboat lying off the yard, till our barracks are cleaned and fixed; we shall probably get into them to-morrow. On all our march from Annapolis we saw only forty or fifty houses, and those most miserable. We met with one Secessionist, who we asked for a pail of water for the thirsting soldiers; he replied, "I won't give you any water, if I die for it." We saw no more of that kind; all others whom we saw on that route seemed to be very friendly, waved their handkerchiefs, and did what they could for us; they were all destitute of provisions, the Seventh Regiment having preceded us the day before. I have just received the most interesting intelligence we are to have roast beef for dinner. If my letter is perfectly wandering and disconnected, excuse it, as I am writing in a very inconvenient place, in the midst of such a noise that I can scarcely hear myself speak; small darkies crying out "Shine your boots for half a dime with the Union polish;" and soon others, "Here's the latest news from New York -New York Herald, twenty-five cents. six or eight inches deep, and the thermometer from 75 to 80. At this spot we had an alarm, and were drawn up in hollow square with muskets loaded; but the alarm proved false. We started again at 10, P. M., and arrived at the Junction at 3, A. M., of Friday, the 26th, having marched thirty miles in about twenty-four hours, our only food being three hard crackers and a piece of tough meat. Here we were stowed away like sardines in a miserable, rickety old wooden building, which had evidently here (and without any food, except one pig, been used as a bowling-alley. We remained which was bought by our company and roasted in the woods and distributed, as far as it would go, among the men) till about 7, P. M., when we got on board the cars for Washington. "After getting comfortably seated, and, as we thought, about to start, dispatches were received that five thousand Baltimoreans, with a corps of four hundred and fifty artillerymen, were on their way to attack us. 'Attention, battalion-disembark,' was the order given, and promptly obeyed by the regiment, which was drawn up in a line of battle in a field close But we are all well, notwithstanding our by, and we were ordered to sleep on our arms. sufferings, and we are sustained by the convic-We remained here about three hours, when we tion that we are actuated by the spirit of a pure and a holy patriotism, and that our course is approved by all the good on earth, and by our Father in Heaven. C. P. KIRKLAND, Jr. Extract of a letter from a sergeant in the "We arrived here yesterday, after a week of terrible labor and privation, but, I am happy to say, in the enjoyment of good health. Not a single case of sickness has yet come to my knowledge. We embarked on the R. R. Cuyler, again took the cars, (this alarm also having proved false,) and between two and three o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the 27th, we started for Washington, where we arrived at seven o'clock. We were marched to the City Hall, and took up our quarters in the large wooden building erected for the Inauguration ball last month. "Here we stayed till 3, P. M., when we marched to the Navy-Yard; we are quartered till tomorrow on a steamboat lying near; we then go into barracks in the Navy-Yard, and remain during our stay. Yesterday, in Washington, we had a bath and a good dinner of beefsteak and potatoes, which, after our sufferings from hunger, you will suppose was very acceptable. If I could have foreseen what I had to endure, I certainly should have made arrangements to be relieved at least from the want of food and from the knapsack. Keep up your spirits and have no apprehensions for us. We make our sacrifices cheerfully, as we know that our cause is the cause of our country, a holy cause; and that Providence smiles upon it." -N. Y. Commercial, and N. Y. Evening Post, May 3. Doc. 107.-THE WASHINGTON OATH. THE following is the oath which so many of the United States clerks refused to take at Washington-60 or 70 of the number resigning in consequence of the demand that it should be administered. Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, declined to administer the oath, upon the ground that an oath to support the Constitution of the United States was all-sufficient for a loyal citizen. Those, he said, who would not obey that would break any other. His purpose was much commended by another Cabinet officer-the Secretary of War, we believe-and prevented a large number of resignations. It was particularly obnoxious to certain Union men of Maryland and Virginia, who regarded it as a doubt of their fidelity. The oath reads thus: I, A. B., at the present time in the United States service as a Clerk, do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States against all enemies, whether domestic or foreign, and that I will bear true faith and loyalty to the same as established by the Constitution and laws; and further, that I do this with a full determination and pledge, without any mental reservation or evasion, to perform in good faith all the duties which may be legally required of me, so help me God. Sworn to and subscribed before me, this day of April, 1861. C. D., (J. P.) -N. Y. Express, May 1. structions as to the immediate or future wants of the army-are liable to waste their enthusiasm in disproportionate efforts, to overlook some claims and overdo others, while they give unnecessary trouble in official quarters, by the variety and irregularity of their proffers of help or their inquiries for guidance. As no existing organization has a right to claim precedence over any other, or could properly assuine to lead in this noble cause, where all desire to be first, it is proposed by the undersigned, members of the various circles now actively engaged in this work, that the women of New York should meet in the Cooper Institute, on Monday r.ext, at 11 o'clock, A. M., to confer together, and to appoint a General Committee, with power to organize the benevolent purposes of all into a common movement. To make the meeting practical and effective, it seems proper here to set forth briefly the objects that should be kept in view. The form which woman's benevolence has already taken, and is likely to take, in the present crisis, is, first, the contribution of labor, skill, and money in the preparation of lint, bandages, and other stores, in aid of the wants of the Medical Staff; second, the offer of personal service as nurses. In regard to the first, it is important to obtain and disseminate exact official information as to the nature and variety of the wants of the army; to give proper direction and proportion to the labor expended, so as to avoid superfluity in some things and deficiency in others; and to this end, to come to a careful and thorough understanding with the official head of the Medical Staff, through a Committee having this department in hand. To this Committee should be assigned the duty of conferring with other associations in other parts of the country, and, especially, through the press, to keep the women of the loyal States everywhere informed how their efforts may be most wisely and economically employed, and their contributions of all kinds most directly concentrated at New York, and put at the service of the Medical Staff. A central depot would, of course, be the first thing to be desired. In regard to the second form of benevolence -the offer of personal service as nurses-it is felt that the public mind needs much enlightenDoc. 108.-ADDRESS TO THE WOMEN OF ment, and the overflowing zeal and sympathy NEW YORK, APRIL 27, 1861. To the Women of New York, and especially to those already engaged in preparing against the time of Wounds and Sickness in the Army: THE importance of systematizing and concentrating the spontaneous and earnest efforts now making by the women of New York for the supply of extra medical aid to our army through its present campaign, must be obvious to all reflecting persons. Numerous societies, working without concert, organization, or head -without any direct understanding with the official authorities-without any positive in of the women of the nation a careful channel, not only to prevent waste of time and effort, but to save embarrassment to the official staff, and to secure real efficiency in the service. Should our unhappy war be continued, the army is certain to want the services of extra nurses, not merely on account of the casualties of the field, but of the camp diseases originating in the exposure of the soldiery to a strange climate and to unaccustomed hardships. The result of all the experience of the Crimean war has been to prove the total uselessness of any but picked and skilled women in this department of duty. The ardor and zeal of all other women should therefore be concentrated on finding, preparing, and sending bands of women, of suitable age, constitution, training, and temperament, to the army, at such points and at such times as they may be asked for by the Medical Staff. Mrs. G. L. Schuy- Mrs. R. Campbell, Miss Minturn, Mrs. Peter Cooper, Mrs. H. Webster, Mrs. S. J. Baker, Mrs. R. Gracie, sant, Mrs. Chas. Butler, Mrs. 8. B. Collins, Mrs. R. M. Blatch ford, Mrs. L. W. Prudg. ham, Mrs. H. J. Ray- Mrs. B. R. Win- Mrs. W. II. Lee, A central organization is wanted, therefore, to which all those desiring to go as nurses may be referred, where a Committee of Examiners, partly medical and partly otherwise, may at once decide upon the fitness of the candidate. Those accepted should then at once be put under competent instruction and discipline, (for which it is understood a thorough school will be opened at once by the Medical Faculty of the city,) and, as occasion offers, the best prepared, in successive order, be sent, under proper escort, to the scene of war, as they are Doo. 109.-MESSAGE wanted. It is felt that all who want to go, and are fitted to go, should have in their turn a fair chance to do so, and are not unlikely to be wanted, sooner or later. Of these many may be rich and many poor. Some may wish to go at their own charges, and others will require to be aided as to their expenses, and still others for the loss of their time. But the best nurses should be sent irrespective of these distinctions, as only the best are economical on any terms. Mrs. S. L. M. Bar vaine, Mrs. John Reid, Mrs. L. Baker, Mrs. L. M. Rutherford, Mrs. J. Auchin- Mrs. Charles King. close, low, -N. Y. Tribune, April 27th. OF GOVERNOR HICKS. BALTIMORE, April 27, 1861. GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:-The extraordinary condition of affairs in Maryland has induced me to exercise the constitutional prerogative vested in the Governor, to summon the Legislature in special session, in the hope that your wisdom may enable you to devise prompt and effective means to restore peace and safety to our State. I shall detail briefly the startling events which It will at once appear that, without a cen- have induced me to summon you together, and tral organization, with proper authority, there which have so suddenly placed us in the state can be no efficiency, system, or discipline in of anarchy, confusion, and danger, from which this important matter of nurses; and there can I sincerely trust you may be able to extricate be no organization, to which a cheerful sub-us. Believing it to be the design of the adminmission will be paid, except it originates in the common will, and becomes the genuine representative of all the women of New York, and of all the existing associations having this kind of aid in view. It is obvious that such an organization will require generous contributions, and that all the women of New York, and of the country, not otherwise lending aid, will have a direct opportunity of giving support to the object so near their hearts through the treasury of this common organization. istration to pass over our soil troops for the defence of the city of Washington, and fearing that the passage of such troops would excite our people and provoke a collision, I labored earnestly to induce the President to forego his purpose. I waited upon him in person, and urged the importance of my request. I subsequently communicated with him and his Cabinet by special dispatches, entreating an abandonment of his designs. To all my requests I could get but the reply that Washington was threatened with attack; that the Government had resolved to defend it; that there was no other way of obtaining troops than by passing them over the soil of Maryland, and that the military necessity of the case rendered it impossible for the Government to abandon its plans, much as it desired to avoid the dangers of a collision. My correspondence with the authorities at Washington is therewith submitted. The consequences are known to you. On Friday last a detachment of troops from Massachusetts reached Baltimore, and was attacked by an irresponsible mob, and several persons on both sides were killed. The Mayor and Police Board gave to the Massachusetts soldiers all the protection they could afford, acting with the utmost promptness and bravery. But they were powerless to restrain the mob. Being in Baltimore at the time, I cooperated with the Mayor to the fullest extent of my power in his efforts. The military of the city submitted. These events have satisfied me that the War Department has concluded to make Annapolis the point for landing troops, and has resolved to open and maintain communication between this place and Washington. In the brief time allowed, it is impossible for me to go more into detail. The documents accompanying this message places before you all the information possessed by me. I shall promptly communicate such other information as may reach me. Notwithstanding the fact that our most learned and intelligent citizens admit the right of the Government to transport its troops across our soil, it is evident that a portion of the people of Maryland are opposed to the exercise of that right. I have done all in my power to protect the citizens of Maryland, and to preserve peace within our borders. were ordered out to assist in the preservation | Washington, with a dispatch to the administraof the peace. The railroad companies were tion, advising that no more troops be sent requested by the Mayor and myself to transport through Maryland; that the troops at Annapno more troops to Baltimore city, and they olis be sent elsewhere, and urging that a truce promptly acceded to our request. Hearing of be offered with a view of a peaceful settlement the attack upon the soldiers, the War Depart- of existing difficulties by mediation. I sugment issued orders that no more troops would gested that Lord Lyons, the British Minister, pass through Baltimore city provided they be requested to act as mediator between the were allowed to pass outside its limits. Subse-contending parties. The result of the mission quently a detachment of troops were ascer-will be seen from the correspondence herewith tained to be encamped at or near Cockeysville, in Baltimore county. On being informed of this, the War Department ordered them back. Before leaving Baltimore, Colonel Huger, who was in command of the United States arsenal at Pikesville, informed me that he had resigned his commission. Being advised of the probability that the mob might attempt the destruction of this property, and thereby complicate our difficulties with the authorities at Washington, I ordered Colonel Petherbridge to proceed with sufficient force and occupy the premises in the name of the United States Government, of which proceeding I immediately notified the War Department. On Sunday morning last I discovered that a detachment of troops, under command of Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Butler, had reached Annapolis in a steamer, and had taken possession of the prac-Lawless occurrences will be repeated, I fear, tice-ship Constitution, which during that day unless prompt action be taken by you. It is my they succeeded in getting outside of the harbor duty to advise you of my own convictions of of Annapolis, where she now lies. After get- the proper course to be pursued by Maryland ting the ship off, the steamer laid outside the in the emergency which is upon us. It is of harbor, and was soon joined by another steamer no consequence now to discuss the causes which having on board the Seventh Regiment, from have induced our troubles. Let us look to our New York city. Brigadier-General Butler ad- distressing present and to our portentous future. dressed me, asking for permission to land his The fate of Maryland, and perhaps of her sisforces. It will be seen from the correspond- ter border slave States, will undoubtedly be ence herewith submitted, that I refused my seriously affected by the action of your honoraconsent. The Mayor of Annapolis also pro- ble body. Therefore should every good citizen tested. But both steamers soon afterward bend all his energies to the task before us, and landed and put off with the troops. Subse- therefore should the animosities and bickerings quently other large bodies of troops reached of the past be forgotten, and all strike hands in here in transports, and were landed. I was the bold cause of restoring peace to our State notified that the troops were to be marched to and to our country. I honestly and most earnWashington. They desired to go without ob-estly entertain the conviction that the only struction from our people, but they had orders to go to Washington, and were determined to obey those orders. In furtherance of their designs they took military possession of the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, in regard to which act I forwarded to Brigadier-General Butler the protest, and see the reply herewith submitted. On Wednesday morning the two detachments landed, and took up the line of march for Washington. The people of Annapolis, though greatly exasperated, acting under counsel of the most prudent citizens, refrained from molesting or obstructing the passage of the troops through the city. Seriously impressed with the condition of affairs, and anxious to avoid a repetition of events similar to those which had transpired in Baltimore, I deemed it my duty to make another appeal at Washington. Accordingly I sent a special messenger to safety of Maryland lies in preserving a neutral position between our brethren of the North and of the South. We have violated no right of either section. We have been loyal to the Union. The unhappy 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 conservative 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 Government until it shall commit outrages on us which would justify us in resisting OLINA AND VIRGINIA. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STAtes of its authority. As a consequence, I can give no | Doc. 110.-BLOCKADE OF NORTH CARother 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. It seems to me that, independently of all other considerations, our geographical position forces us to this, unless we are willing to see our State the theatre of a long and bloody civil war, and the consequent utter destruction of every material interest of our people, to say nothing of the blood of brave men and innocent women and children, which will cry out from our soil for vengeance upon us, if we fail to do all that in us lies to avert the impending calamity. our AMERICA. WHEREAS, for the reasons assigned in my proclamation of the 19th instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, was ordered to be established; and whereas, since that date public property of the United States has been seized, the collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly commissioned officers of the United States, while engaged in executing the orders of their su periors, have been arrested and held in custody as prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge of their official duties, without due legal process, by persons claiming to act under authority of the States of Virginia and North Carolina, an efficient blockade of the ports of these States will therefore also be established. 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 27th day By the President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Doc. 111.-SPEECH OF EDWARD EVER- The course I suggest has all the while been the sole groundwork of my policy; and but for the excitement prevailing among people during the past few days, I believe the object I have kept steadily in view during my administration would have been consummated. If it has failed, I have the full consciousness that, throughout the whole of my harassing and painful incumbency of the gubernatorial chair, I have labored honestly and faithfully for the peace, the safety, and the interests of Maryland, and of our common country. This consciousness has fully sustained me in all my troubles, and has enabled me to endure patiently all the cruel, unmerited, and heartless attacks that have been made upon my integrity. I have also comfort in the conviction that my policy has been sustained by a large majority of the people, and nothing that has transpired since the recent lamentable occurrence within FELLOW-CITIZENS AND FRIENDS: The great our State has shaken that conviction. A mo- assemblage that I see around me, the simple mentary frantic excitement took the place of but interesting ceremonial with which the flag reason and good judgment, and men for the of our country has been thrown to the breeze, time threw aside all prudent thoughts of the the strains of inspiring music, the sweet concert future in the burning desire to avenge what of these youthful voices, the solemn supplicathey considered wrongs. I submit my suggestion of the reverend clergyman which still fills tions to your wisdom, and I appeal to you not only as devoted citizens of Maryland, but as husbands and fathers, to allow that prudence and Christianlike temper, so honorable to all men, to guide your counsels; and I implore you not to be swayed by the passions which seem to be so fully aroused in our midst to do what the generations to come after us will ever deplore. In conclusion, gentlemen, I ask your indulgence, if I have omitted to present to you any other matter of interest in connection with the important subject which you are summoned to consider. The short time I have had in which to prepare this communication, and the turmoil and excitement around me, may have caused omissions; but, if so, they will be promptly supplied when indicated by you. T. HALLIDAY HICKS. our ears-all these proclaim the deep, patriotic sentiment, of which that flag is the symbol and expression. Nay, more, it speaks for itself. Its mute eloquence needs no aid from my lips to interpret its significance. Fidelity to the Union blazes from its stars; allegiance to the Government, beneath which we live, is wrapped within its folds. We set up this standard, my friends, not as a matter of idle display; but as an expressive indication that in the mighty struggle which has been forced upon us, we are of one heart and one mind, that the government of the country must be sustained. We are a law-abiding, quiet-loving community. Our time, our thoughts, our energies, are habitually devoted to the peaceful arts by which states grow and prosper; but upon an issue in which the life of the country is involved, we rally as one man to its |