posed upon him the necessity of providing himself for their organization; and this has been done to some extent. But instructions have now been given to the agents of the Federal Government to proceed hereafter under your directions, and the company and field officers will be commissioned by you."

would permit her to be ignominiously oppressed and degraded. But I cannot, will not, believe that a majority of you are not true sons, who will not give your blood and your treasure for Virginia's defence. I have sent for your protection such troops as the emergency enabled me to collect, in charge of a competent commander. I have ordered a large force to go to your aid, but I rely with the utmost confidence upon your own strong arms to rescue your firesides and altars from the pollution of a reckless and ruthless enemy. The State is invaded at several points, but ample forces have been collected to defend her."

The proceedings in Northwestern Virginia were not allowed to pass without a Proclamation on the part of Governor Letcher addressed to the people of that region, appealing to them by various considerations of the vote in favor of secession, to which, as good citizens, they should submit, and to their pride to maintain their State against the attempts The war was in fact already comof the Government at Washington "to menced in Western Virginia. Simulcoerce our people to abject submission to taneously with the first advance of the their authority." With these persuasions United States troops across the Potomac were also insinuated an unmistakable on the formal ratification of the act hint of his military preparations for the of secession, Major-General George B. occupation of the region. "Virginia," McClellan, who had only a few days said he, “has asserted her independence. before been appointed to that high rank, She will maintain it at every hazard. and who was then in command of the She is sustained by the power of ten of Department of the Ohio, was ordered to her sister Southern States, ready and take charge of the military operations willing to uphold her cause. Can any west of the Alleghanies. As this is the true Virginian refuse to render assistance. first prominent appearance upon the Men of the Northwest, I appeal to you, stage of the war of this General, who by all the considerations which have was destined to play so conspicuous a drawn us together as one people hereto- part in the national drama, we may fore, to rally to the standard of the Old pause to notice his earlier history. He Dominion. By all the sacred ties of con- was born in Philadelphia at the close of sanguinity, by the intermixtures of the the year 1826, and was consequently blood of East and West, by common pa- now only in his thirty-fifth year, the ternity, by friendships hallowed by a youngest officer of his rank in the serthousand cherished recollections and me- vice. His father, an eminent surgeon, mories of the past, by the relics of the was noted for the boldness and success great men of other days, come to Vir- of his operations, and it was confidently ginia's banner, and drive the invader predicted that the son would carry a from your soil. There may be traitors similar energy into the field. He was in the midst of you, who, for selfish ends, educated at West Point and graduated have turned against their mother, and with honor in 1846, with the rank of

tion as a standard authority on the subjects of which it treats.

The army now presenting no active field of duty to the engineering ability of Captain McClellan, in 1857 he resigned his military rank to enter into the more profitable service of the great corporation the Illinois Central Railroad, of which he was created Vice President and Engineer. At the end of three years he left this position for the Presidency of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, being at the same time General Superintendent. He was still engaged in these occupations when the rebellion of the South turned the eyes of the authorities of the North upon him as one who could not be spared from the national service. He was appointed at once by the Governor of Ohio a Major-General of the Volunteer forces of that State, and had barely entered upon his new duties when he was recalled to the United States Army, his new commission as Major-General bearing date May 14, 1861. The military department of the Ohio to which he was assigned comprised all of the States of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio and that part of Virginia north of the Kanawha river and the Maryland line, with part of Pennsylvania.

Brevet Second Lieutenant of Engineers. In the Mexican war he was distinguished in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, of Molino del Rey, and for his services at the battle of Chapultepec was breveted to a captaincy, and assigned the command of a company of sappers and miners. When the army returned home we find him at West Point diligently employed in the study of military tactics, the results of which he embodied in a manual, which was adopted in the service. In the next few years he was engaged in the multifarious duties of engineering and military command, which give to the officers of the American service so large a practical experience. He superintended the construction of Fort Delaware, was with Major Marcy in the expedition for the exploration of the Red River, took part in the river and harbor survey in Texas, and in 1853, in coöperation with Governor Stevens, commanded the western division of the North Pacific Railroad route. In 1855, holding the rank of Captain in the First Regiment of Cavalry, he was selected by the War Department, one of the three commissioners who were sent to Europe to investigate the extended field of military operations and devices opened by the Crimean war. His coadjutors were Ma- His appearance on the field in Virjor Richard Delafield and Major A. Mor-ginia was heralded by a stirring procladecai of the Ordnance Department. The mation to the people of Western Virginia, commission was signed and the direc- dated at Cincinnati, May 26th. "Virgintions were drawn up by Jefferson Davis, ians," was its language, "the General at that time Secretary of War. Cap- Government has long enough endured tain McClellan presented to the Depart- the machinations of a few factious rebels ment the results of his observations abroad in your midst! Armed traitors have in in an elaborate quarto volume on the "Or- vain endeavored to deter you from exganization of European Armies and the pressing your loyalty at the polls. HavOperations of the War," which was ing failed in this infamous attempt to printed by order of Congress, and which deprive you of the exercise of your dearhas been accepted in a new popular edi- | est rights, they now seek to inaugurate a

are in your midst, I call upon you to fly to arms and support the General Government; sever the connection that binds you to traitors; proclaim to the world that the faith and loyalty so long boasted of by the Old Dominion are still pre

remain true to the Stars and Stripes."
In similar energetic phrase was his ad-
dress to the soldiers of the advancing

reign of terror, and thus force you to insurrection on their part. Now that we yield to their schemes and submit to the yoke of the traitorous conspiracy, dignified by the name of Southern Confederacy. They are destroying the property of citizens of your State, and ruining your magnificent railways. The General Government has heretofore carefully abstain-served in Western Virginia, and that you ed from sending troops across the Ohio, or even from posting them along its banks, although frequently urged by many of your prominent citizens to do so. It column:-"You are ordered to cross the determined to await the result of the State election, desirous that no one might be able to say that the slightest effort had been made from this side to influence the expression of your opinion, although the many agencies brought to bear upon you by the rebels were well known. You have now shown under the most adverse circumstances, that the great mass of the people of Western Virginia are true and loyal to the beneficent Government under which we and our fathers have lived so long. As soon as the result of the election was known, the traitors commenced their work of destruction. The General Government cannot close its cars to the demand you have made for assistance. I have ordered troops to cross the river. They come as your friends and brothers as enemies only to the armed rebels who are preying upon you. Your homes, your families and property are safe under our protection. All your rights shall be religiously protected. Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly: not only will we abstain from all interference, but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at

frontier and enter upon the soil of Virginia. Your mission is to restore peace and confidence, to protect the majesty of the law and to rescue our brethren from the grasp of armed traitors. You.are to act in concert with the Virginia troops and support their advance. I place under the safeguard of your honor the persons and property of the Virginians. I know that you will respect their feelings and all their rights. Preserve the strictest discipline-remember that each one of you holds in his keeping the honor of Ohio and the Union. If you are called upon to overcome armed opposition, I know that your courage is equal to the task, but remember that your only foes are the armed traitors and show mercy even to them when they are in your power, for many of them are misguided. When under your protection the loyal men of Western Virginia have been enabled to organize and arm, they can protect themselves, and you can then return to your homes with the proud satisfaction of having preserved a gallant people from destruction." The respect inculcated for "the peculiar institution" of the South is very noticeable in both these manifestoes. Nothing could be clearer or more explicit than the strong language which was employed. It might have satisfied the