THE Convention of VIRGINIA, whereof a great majority had been elected as Unionists, was, nevertheless, bullied, as we have seen, at the hight of the Southern frenzy which followed the reduction of Fort Sumter, into voting their State out of the Union. In order to achieve this end, it was found necessary to consent to a submission of the ordinance to a popular vote; and the 23d of May was appointed for the election. But, in utter mockery of this concession, the conspirators proceeded forthwith to act upon the assumption that the vote of the Convention was conclusive, and the State already definitively and absolutely out of the Union. Within twenty-four hours after the vote of the Convention to secede, and while that vote was still covered by an injunction of secrecy, they had set on foot expeditions for the capture of the Federal Arsenal, arms and munitions, at Harper's Ferry, as also for that of the Norfolk Navy Yard. So early as the night of the 16th, the channel of Elizabeth River, leading up from Hampton Roads to Norfolk, was partially obstructed in their interest by sinking two small vessels therein, with intent to preclude the passage, either way, of Federal ships of war. The number appears to have been increased during the following nights; while a

'April 17th, 1861. 1

That is to say: Capt. McCauley has never renounced the service, but still draws the pay of an officer of the U. S. Navy.

'The Report to the Senate of its Select Com

hastily collected military force, under Gen. Taliaferro-a Virginia brigadier who reached Norfolk from Richmond on the 18th-was reported to be preparing to seize the Navy Yard and Federal vessels during the night of Saturday, the 20th. The Southern officers of the Yard, having done the cause of the Union all the harm they could do under the mask of loyalty, resigned and disappeared in the course of that day. The Navy Yard was in charge of Capt. McCauley, a loyal' officer, but a good deal past the prime of life. A young Decatur or Paul Jones would have easily held it a week against all the Virginian Militia that could have been brought within range of its guns, and would never have dreamed of abandoning it while his cartridges held out. No man fit to command a sloop of war would have thought of skulking away from a possession so precious and important, until he had, at least, seen the whites of an enemy's eyes. For here were the powerful forty-gun steam frigate Merrimac, richly worth a million dollars even in time of peace, with the Cumberland, the Germantown, the Plymouth, the Raritan, the Columbia, and the Dolphin, beside the huge old three-decker Pennsylvania, the dismantled seventy-fours Delaware and Columbus, with nearly two thousand cannon, some thou

mittee, appointed to investigate this shameful transaction, made by Hon. John P. Hale, April 18th, 1862, says:

"According to the returns received at the Ordnance bureau of the Navy Department, it appears that there were seven hundred and

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Capt. McCauley, with all these formidable ships of war, cannon, and munitions, had several hundred good and true men under his command. He had received, some days before, express orders to send the Merrimac forthwith to Philadelphia, and had had her fitted out for the voyage, under the direction of Chief Engineer Isherwood, who was sent thither from Washington on purpose; .but, when she was reported all ready but her guns, he declined to order them on board-or, rather, gave the order, but very soon countermanded itexcusing his vacillation or perplexity by his dread of exasperating the Rebels, and referring to the reported obstructions sunk in the channel, which the Merrimac, properly handled, would have crushed like an eggshell, and thus passed over without a check to her progress. Finally, on the evening of the 20th, he gave orders to scuttle all the ships but the Cumberland, preparatory to flightas if this were not the very course to preserve them for the future use of the Rebels.

The steam frigate Pawnee, Capt. Hiram Paulding, left Washington on the evening of the 19th, and arrived, at 4 P. M. of the 20th, abreast of Fortress Monroe. Here she took on board Col. Wardrop's regiment of Massachusetts volunteers, 450 strong, raising her fighting force to some six hundred men. She now steamed cautiously and slowly up the river to the Navy Yard, which she reached soon after 8 o'clock. Capt. Paulding had instructions from the Secretary of the Navy, directing him to take command at Norfolk, on his arrival

should dictate; but, at all events, to save the public property from falling into the hands of traitors. He found the guns in the Navy Yard rendered useless by Capt. McCauley's orders, and nearly all the ships of war disabled-several of them already sinking. Among the scuttled was the Merrimac-alone worth all the rest-barely the Cumberland having been reserved to bear away the expectant fugitives. Still, Capt. Paulding might have held his position a week against all the traitors yet developed in Virginia; and that week would have brought at least 30,000 men to his aid. But, without awaiting the firing of a shot, or even the appearance of a foe, he proceeded at once to transfer, with the utmost haste, books, papers, money, and some other of the most portable portions of the public property, to the Pawnee and the Cumberland; not even saving the small arms, of which his Government stood in urgent need. The cannon he abandoned were (or had been) partially spiked; but so inefficiently, with nails, etc., that they were promptly and easily restored by the Rebels to a serviceable condition. The muskets, revolvers, etc., were broken, and, with great quantities of shot and shell, thrown into the water. Several hours were spent in this work-the marine barracks, in the center of the Yard, being set on fire, about midnight, to give light for its continuance.

Lieut. H. A. Wise' had accompanied Capt. Paulding from Washington, and was detailed by him, on or before their arrival, to board the Merrimac and bring her out, if possible; and he was accordingly on her

deck at the earliest moment. He found her partially filled with water, and rapidly filling-a block, which he threw from her lower deck into her hold, indicating by the splash that the water was already over her orlop deck. He returned immediately, and reported the fact to Capt. Paulding, who thereupon decided to desist from further attempts to save her, but to mutilate the guns in the Yard, fire the vessels, ship-houses, and other structures, and blow up the (stone) dry dock. Some of the old and relatively worthless guns were dismantled by knocking off their trunnions; but the new Dahlgren guns proved so tough that not one of them was or could thus be rendered useless. Capt. Paulding now recalled the order he had given Lieut. Wise to blow up the dry dock, and ordered trains to be laid instead, so that, at a signal, the ships might be fired. This was accordingly done; but the previous partial submersion of the ships, under Capt. McCauley's unaccountable order to scuttle them, of course prevented their destruction. Thus, when the Plymouth was reached in its turn by Lieut. Wise, she had sunk below her upper deck, so flooding the train that it could not be fired. Lieut. Wise, who narrowly escaped with a scorching from the inconceivably rapid combustion of the upper portion of the Merrimac, when he fired his train while on board of her, pulled down the channel in his small boat after the escaping vessels, and got on board the Pawnee below Craney Island, when seven or eight miles on her way. The Pawnee, towing the Cumberland, moved slowly down the river at 4 A. M. (high tide), brilliantly lighted on their course by

the remaining vessels and all the combustible property left behind. The Cumberland, drawing seventeen feet of water, grounded in passing one of the vessels sunk in the channel, but was got off, an hour or two afterward, uninjured. No molestation was of fered them by the Rebels, who, very naturally, thought themselves fortunate in so easily obtaining possession of what was left behind. Most of the vessels were destroyed; but the Merrimac, the best of them all, though badly burned above the water-line, was saved by the Rebels, and, in due time, metamorphosed into the ironclad Virginia, with which such memorable havoc was wrought in Hampton Roads. A crowd from Norfolk and Portsmouth burst into the Yard, so soon as our ships had fairly departed, and saved for the uses of treason whatever they could, including the dry dock, which had been mined, but not fired, and was readily filled with water. At 6 o'clock, a volunteer company had taken formal possession in the name of Virginia, and raised her flag over the ruins. By 7, the work of unspiking cannon had commenced; and, by 9, several guns had been planted along the dock, where they might serve in resisting the return of the Yankees under some more intrepid leader than he who had just slunk away. It was said that Gen. Taliaferro was drunk throughout the night, and was with difficulty aroused at 6 in the morning to hear that all was over. Two officers of the Pawnee, who were left to fire the Navy Yard, were cut off or bewildered by the rapid spread of the conflagration, and compelled to cross, by skiff, to Norfolk, where they were instantly taken prisoners. No lives were lost.

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ardly, disastrous performance that stains the annals of the American Navy.'

Many, perhaps most, of the Union delegates to the Virginia Convention left it directly after the passage of the Ordinance of Secession, feeling that they had no longer any business in such company. The residue proceeded, in utter contempt of their own vote directing the submission of the act to the people, to adopt and ratify the Confederate Constitution; and to enter into a convention with the Confederacy, through A. H. Stephens, whereby all the public property, naval stores, munitions of war, etc., acquired by their State at Norfolk and elsewhere, from the United

B It is impossible to interpret the course of many officers of the Army and Navy in this and similar emergencies, save on the presumption that they were in doubt as to whether they ought, as loyal men, to stand by the 'Black Republican' rulers who had just been invested with power at Washington or side with the militant champions of that Slave Power which had somehow become confounded, in their not very lucid or intelligent conceptions, with the Constitution and the Union. At all events, it is certain that their indecision or pusillanimity potently aided to crush out the Unionism of the South, and came very near wrecking the Union itself. Mr. Hale's Report, already cited, says:

"The aid which might have been derived from the workmen in the Yard, and other loyal citizens of Norfolk and Portsmouth, is, in some degree, a matter of conjecture, and it is not proposed to introduce it as an element in the decision of this question. During the closing days of the United States authority at Norfolk, the revolt had acquired such strength, momentum, and confidence, that perhaps no material assistance of this kind was to be depended upon. It is proper to remark, however, that there was abundant evidence before the Committee that at least a majority of the citizens of both Norfolk and Portsmouth were on the side of the Union, and would have been warmly and openly so had the Government shown a strong hand and a timely determination to defend itself. An election for mayor was held in Portsmouth a few days previous to the

federacy; and it was agreed that

"the whole military force and military operations, offensive and defensive, of said Commonwealth, in the impending conflict with the United States, shall be under the chief control and direction of the President of said Confederate States, upon the same principles, basis, and footing, as if said Commonwealth were now, and during the interval, a member of said Confederacy."

This agreement was approved and ratified by the Convention on the 25th; although, so early as April 20th, the movement of Confederate troops, from Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, to Richmond, had commenced. The treaty of offensive and defensive alliance negotiated by Vice-President Stephens did not, therefore, inaugurate that movement: it could but regulate and perhaps augment it.

surrender, at which the Union candidate was elected by an overwhelming majority. A voluntary military association, considerable in numbers and influence, was formed in Norfolk for the exclusive purpose of assisting in the defense of the Yard against the insurgents, proffered their services, and offered such tests of their fidelity as should have at once secured their acceptance by the authorities of the Yard. How suicidal a policy was pursued, all know and remember. The Government exhibited such utter feebleness and irresolution, and the enemy so much vigor and fierce purpose, unencumbered by scruples of any kind, that it is not strange that the friends of the Union, finding themselves unsupported by the Government they were anxious to serve and protect, should finally yield to the tempest of treason and passion surging around them, and find, in a compulsory submission and in silence, at least a refuge from the insults and outrages of a ferocious revolutionary mob. But, so irrepressible was the loyal feeling of many of the citizens of Norfolk, that, on the evening of the 20th of April, they greeted the arrival of the "Pawnee" at the dock with cheer on cheer, under the supposition that she had come to reenforce and hold the Yard, and bring them deliverance from the perils and dishonor of a war against that Union which they loved. That hope was cruelly disappointed by the hasty attempt to destroy the Yard; and the Government afforded the loyal men at Norfolk-as, indeed, everywhere else at that time--every possible reason for the conviction that the Rebellion was the winning side, and that devotion to the Government could end only in defeat, loss, and death."

April 24th.