own.

sued. The President recognized the good faith of the city and State authorities of Maryland, and insisted upon his He admitted the excited state of feeling in Baltimore, and his desire and duty to avoid the fatal consequences of a collision with the people. He urged, on the other hand, the absolute, irresistible necessity of having a transit through the State for such troops as might be necessary for the protection of the Federal capital. The protection of Washington, he asseverated with great earnestness, was the sole object of concentrating troops there, and he protested that none of the troops brought through Maryland were intended for any purposes hostile to the State or aggressive as against the Southern States. Being now unable to bring them up the Potomac in security, the Government must either bring them through Maryland or abandon the capital.

"General Scott being called upon for his opinion, said that troops might be brought through Maryland, without passing through Baltimore, by either carrying them from Perryville to Annapolis and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them to the Relay House, on the Northern Central Railroad, and marching them to the Relay House, on the Washington Railroad, and thence transporting them by rail to the capital. If the people of Maryland would permit the troops to go by either of these routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Baltimore might be avoided. If, however, the General declared, the people would not

allow them to take this circuitous route, the soldiers would be obliged to select their own best course, and, if need be, fight their own way through Baltimore, a result which he most earnestly deprecated.

The President expressed his hearty concurrence with the desire of the General to avoid a collision, and said that no more troops should be ordered to pass through Baltimore, if they were permitted to go uninterruptedly by either of the routes suggested by General Scott. The secretary of war, Cameron, gave his assent to the decision of Mr. Lincoln.

"Mayor Brown assured the President that the city authorities would use all lawful means to prevent their citizens from leaving Baltimore to attack the troops in passing at a distance; but he urged at the same time the impossibility of their being able to promise anything more than their best efforts in that direction. The excitement was great, he told the President; the people of all classes were fully aroused, and it was impossible for any one to answer for the consequences of the presence of Northern troops anywhere within the borders of Maryland. He reminded the President, also, that the jurisdiction of the city authorities was confined to their own population, and that he could give no promises for the people elsewhere, because he would be unable to keep them if given. The President frankly acknowledged this difficulty, and said that the Government would only ask the city authorities to use their best

"The interview terminated with the distinct assurance on the part of the President, that no more troops would be sent through Baltimore, unless obstructed in their transit in other directions, and with the understanding that the city authorities should do their best to restrain their own people.

"The Mayor and his companions, before departing, urged upon the President in the most earnest manner a course of policy which would give peace to the country, and especially the withdrawal of all orders contemplating the passage of troops through any part of Maryland."

The Mayor had, however, just as he was about leaving the capital, received a dispatch informing him of the march of Pennsylvania troops to Cockeysville, in Maryland, only distant fifteen miles from Baltimore. This appeared to him as a threatening approach, and he hurried with his dispatch to the President, who expressed great surprise at its purport, and immediately summoned General Scott and the secretary of war, who at once appeared, in company with the other members of the cabinet. The dispatch containing intelligence of the movement of the Pennsylvania troops was now submitted to the whole conclave. Mr. Lincoln having declared that he had no idea that a force was to move on that day to Cockeysville, urged emphatically the immediate recall of the troops, to avoid the slightest suspicion of bad faith on his part in summoning

and allowing troops to advance toward the city during his absence. The President then expressed his desire that the troops might, if practicable, be sent back at once to York or Harrisburg.

General Scott warmly concurred, and immediately issued an order to that effect and delivered it to an aid-de-camp, who departed on the instant. At the same time assurances were given that the troops at Cockeysville were not intended to march through Baltimore, but to the Relay House, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

The military activity, however, of the free States was quickly relieving the Government from its position of perplexity and humiliation. The militia regiments already organized, and the volunteer corps forming with wonderful rapidity, kept daily moving on toward the capital. Some reached Annapolis by the way of Philadelphia, while others were transported directly thither from Northern ports on steamers chartered by the Government for the purpose. The route from Annapolis to Washington, through a disaffected State, was kept clear by the energetic action of General Butler, who continued to hold the chief command in that quarter.

This spirited officer met with great opposition in Maryland from the authorities of that State, either intimidated by the rebellious, or disposed to sympathize with their disloyalty. Governor Hicks had repaired to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, and remonstrated against Butler's landing of the troops:

April "I would most earnestly advise," 20. he wrote, "that you do not land your men at Annapolis. The excitement here is very great, and I think that you should take your men elsewhere. I have telegraphed to the secretary of war, advising against your landing your men here."

To this communication Butler merely answered, in the first place, that the arrival of his command at Annapolis was the result of circumstances beyond his control, and that their landing was a necessary part of the performance of his duty to the Federal Government. Receiving no reply, he wrote another communication to the Governor, demanding a direct answer to a question very perApril tinent to the loyalty of the State 22. of Maryland: "I desire of your Excellency an immediate reply," wrote Butler, "whether I have the permission of the State authorities of Maryland to land the men under my command, and of passing quietly through the State on my way to Washington, respecting private property, and paying for what I receive, and outraging the rights of none- -a duty which I am bound to do in obedience to the requisitions of the United States." At the same time General Butler took occasion to object to the sectional character the Governor had attributed to the State troops, summoned to the defence of the Union: "I beg leave," he said, "to call your Excellency's attention to what I hope I may be pardoned for deeming an ill-advised designation of the men under my command. They are not Northern

troops; they are a part of the whole militia of the United States, obeying the call of the President."

Governor Hicks withheld his consent to the landing of the troops, but contented himself with a protest against the movement, declaring, that "in view of the excited condition" of Maryland, he considered it an "unwise step on the part of the Government."

In the mean time, Governor Hicks, though hitherto he had firmly refused, summoned the Legislature to meet at Annapolis. This was a timid con- April cession to the secessionists, who 26. were believed to control that body. Butler having, in spite of protests and threatened resistance, landed his troops, had, in order to secure their transit, taken possession of the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad. The Governor protested against this seizure of the railroad, declaring that its military possession would prevent the members of the Legislature from assembling at Annapolis, the capital. He, however, thus exposed his secession proclivities, if not his complicity with the rebellious, which he had vainly attempted to conceal, but which had caused his ready compliance with their demands. Butler, in his answer to the Governor's protest, thrust this charge of prevarication home to him:

and Elk Ridge Railroad. It might have escaped your memory, but at the official meeting between your Excellency and the Mayor of Annapolis, and the authorities of the Government and myself, it was expressly stated as the reason why I should not land, and that my troops could not land, because the company had taken up the rails, and they

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performance of his duty to the General Government, Butler was not less solicitous to uphold the institutions and support the laws of Maryland. His fastidious regard for the State was manifest on the occasion of a threatened rising of the negroes. Butler offered the aid of his troops in suppressing the rumored insurrection.

see how it could be that if my troops could not pass over the railroad one way, the members of the Legislature could pass the other way. I have taken possession for the purpose of preventing the carrying out of the threats of the mob, as officially represented to me by the master of transportation of this city, 'that if my troops passed over the railroad, the railroad should be destroyed.'

"If the government of the State had taken possession of the railroad in any emergency, I should have long waited before I entered upon it. But, as I had the honor to inform your Excellency in regard to insurrection against the laws of Maryland, I am here armed to maintain those laws, if your Excellency desires, and the peace of the United States, against all disorderly persons whatever. I am endeavoring to save, and not to destroy, to obtain means of transportation, so I can vacate the capital prior to the sitting of the Legislature, and not be under the painful necessity of occupying your beautiful city while the Legislature is in session. I have the honor to be your Excellency's obedient servant, Br.-Gen. B. F. BUTLER." While thus resolute, however, in the

ANNAPOLIS, April 23, 1861.

"To HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS H. HICKS, GovERNOR OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND:

"I did myself the honor, in my communication of yesterday, wherein I asked permission to land the portion of the militia of the United States under my command, to state that they were armed only against the disturbers of the peace of the State of Maryland and of the United States.

"I have understood within the last hour that some apprehensions are entertained of an insurrection of the negro population of this neighborhood. I am anxious to convince all classes of persons that the forces under my command are not here in any way to interfere with or countenance any interference with the laws of the State. I am therefore ready to co-operate with your Excellency in suppressing most promptly and effectively any insurrection against the laws of Maryland.

"I beg, therefore, that you announce publicly that any portion of the forces under my command is at your Excellency's disposal, to act immediately for the preservation and quietness of the peace of this community.