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It was now evident that the yard, with its immense stores of materials, could not be preserved. Not a moment was to be lost. On the 21st of April, at seven o'clock in the evening, the steamship Pawnee left Fortress Monroe with six thousand men on board to aid in the destruction of the yard and to bring off the loyal men. The steamer reached Gosport at nine o'clock. The crews of the Cumberland and the Pennsylvania received their deliverers with hearty applause. The Pawnee made fast to the dock, landed the troops, and seized all the gates of the yard that no foes could enter. All that could possibly be removed was placed on board the vessels to the extent of their capacity. Everything that could not be removed and that could prove valuable to the rebels was destroyed. Shot, shell, carbines, stands of arms, revolvers, were thrown overboard from the vessels that could not be towed over the obstructions. Nearly three thousand heavy guns, splendid Columbiads and Dahlgrens, were spiked.

At midnight, when the light of the moon had gone out, the barracks were set on fire, and the crackling flames, leaping from basement to roof, illumined the scene with a fearful glare. The trains were laid and the matches prepared to set on fire houses, shops, ships, everything that would burn. At four o'clock the torch was applied, and in less than half an hour the whole yard was enveloped in flames. Thus were the labors of half a century lost in an hour.

The traitors in Baltimore acted promptly with their friends in Virginia. They tore up the railroad through the streets, and resisted the passage of Northern troops through the city. As the troops from Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, were marching through Baltimore on their way to Washington, they were hideously beset by an armed mob bearing a secession flag. They were assailed from behind street corners, from doors, windows and housetops, by men armed with pistols, guns, stones, clubs, and all the implements of savage warfare. A Pennsylvania regiment was preparing to follow the Massachusetts troops in cars. They

were unarmed, and it was deemed imprudent to attempt to cross the city. The men were therefore returned to Philadelphia. The secessionists had thus effectually obstructed the passage of troops to the national capital over the only direct and expeditious route. For a time, troops were forwarded through Annapolis and up the Potomac river. Baltimore was for the time in the possession of the secessionists. It was determined, however, that the soldiers from the North should fight their way through every obstruction. As soon, therefore, as Washington was safe, United States volunteers were ordered to march by the direct route to their capital, through the streets of Baltimore, or over the grounds where the city once stood.

CHAPTER II.

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR IN PENNSYLVANIA.

The People of Pennsylvania respond to threats of Secession—Governor Curtin pledges the power of the State—The Legislature resolves to sustain the Union—The War excitement in the State—Mayor Henry's Address to the People—Pennsylvania Troops at Washington in advance of all others—Response of the People to the President's Call for Troops in April, 1861—Camp Curtin established at Harrisburg—Action of Public Men—Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War—Hon. Thaddeus Stevens advises an Army of a million of men—Governor Curtin convenes the Legislature—His Message—Recommends the organization of a Reserve Corps—Patriotism of the People—Soldiers' Aid SocietiesRefreshment Saloons—Gen. Patterson's Call for Twenty-five Regiments -Act authorizing the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps—George A. McCall appointed Major-General—Companies ordered into Camps of Instruction—Col. Mann at Easton—Captain McIntire at West Chester—Organization of First Regiment—Col. Roberts—John A. Wright, Chief of Ordnance, &c.—Organization of the Kane Rifle Regiment—Col. Biddle -Organization of the Fifth Regiment—Campaign of Biddle's Brigade to Western Virginia—Skirmishes at New Creek and Piedmont—Forced March to Ridgeville—Return of Brigade to Harrisburg.

In October, 1860, the people of Pennsylvania elected Andrew G. Curtin Governor of the Commonwealth, and in November declared, by a majority of sixty thousand votes, in favor of Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States. This was the reply of the people of this great state to the threats of the slaveholders, that if an antislavery candidate should be elected for President, the Southern States would secede from the Union and overthrow the Government. With three hundred miles of boundary lying along the borders of slave States, and open to immediate invasion, the people thus forcibly responded to the challenge of the conspirators.

In his inaugural address, delivered in Harrisburg, January 15, 1861, Governor Curtin pledged himself and the

whole power of the State to the support of the National Constitution. He said:

"No part of the people, no State nor combination of States, can voluntarily secede from the Union, nor absolve themselves from their obligations to it. To permit a State to withdraw at pleasure from the Union, without the consent of the rest, is to confess that our Government is a failure. Pennsylvania can never acquiesce in such a conspiracy, nor assent to a doctrine which involves the destruction of the Government. If the Government is to exist, all the requirements of the Constitution must be obeyed; and it must have power adequate to the enforcement of the supreme law of the land in every State. It is the first duty of the national authorities to stay the progress of anarchy and enforce the laws, and Pennsylvania, with a united people, will give them an honest, faithful and active support. The people mean to preserve the integrity of the National Union at every hazard."

"The Constitution which was originally framed to promote the welfare of the thirteen States and four millions of people, in less than three-quarters of a century has embraced thirty-three States and thirty millions of inhabitants. Our territory has been extended over new climates, including people with new interests and wants, and the Government has protected them all. It is all we desire or hope for, and all that our fellow-countrymen who complain, can reasonably demand."

The Legislature of Pennsylvania being in session on the 24th of January, 1861, adopted a preamble and resolutions which contained the following very explicit language:

"Whereas, A convention of delegates assembled in the city of Charleston, in the State of South Carolina, did on the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, adopt an ordinance, entitled "An ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact, entitled, 'The Constitution of the United

States of America,' whereby it is declared that the said union is dissolved.

"Resolved, That if the people of any State in this Union are not in the full enjoyment of all the benefits intended to be secured to them by the said Constitution; if their rights under it are disregarded, their tranquility disturbed, their prosperity retarded, or their liberties imperilled by the people of any other State, full and adequate redress can and ought to be provided for such grievances, through the action of Congress and other proper departments of the National Government.

"Resolved, That we adopt the sentiments and language of President Andrew Jackson, expressed in his message to Congress, on the sixteenth of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, 'that the right of a people of a single State to absolve themselves at will and without the consent of the other States, from their most solemn obligation, and hazard the liberties and happiness of millions composing this Union, cannot be acknowledged, and that such authority is utterly repugnant both to the principles upon which the General Government is constituted, and the objects which it was expressly formed to attain.'

"Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States of America contains all the powers necessary to the maintenance of its authority, and it is the solemn and most imperative duty of the Government to adopt and carry into effect whatever measures may be necessary to that end; and the faith and the power of Pennsylvania are hereby pledged to the support of such measures, in any manner and to any extent that may be required of her by the constituted authorities of the United States.

"Resolved, That all plots, conspiracies and warlike demonstrations against the United States, in any section of the country, are treasonable in character, and whatever power of the Government is necessary to their suppression, should be applied to that purpose without hesitation or delay."

The rapid progress and increasing strength of the

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