Class A._4LZ^ BookliiCD^L Gwiight N? COBattailT DEPOSiT, / J> V '=' ^/^ -J I /^ / s-/^^ ^ OOiG O ^-^. W^f I isr c I D E isr T s ANECDOTES OF THE WAR: WITH NAKRATIVES OP GREAT BATTLES, GREAT MARCHES, GREAT EVENTS, iND A RECORD OP Heroic Deeds and Daring Personal AcMevements, ■PTHIOn CHARACTERIZED THE GREAT CONFLICT FOR THE UNION. EDITED BT ORVILLE J. YICTOR, AUTHOR OP " HISTORY — CIVIL, POLITICAL AND MILITARY — OF THE S0UTHEK3 REBELLION," " HISTORY OP AMERICAN CONSPIRACIES," "LIFE OF ABRAHAM ^ LINCOLN," "life of GARIBALDI," ETC., ETC. JAMES D. TORREY, PUBLISHER, 13 SPRUCE STREET. I IV INTRODUCTION. regiments, officers and men from that State. Only this elaborate treasure gath- ering will suffice to preserve the five hundred thousand memories which should not he suffered to pass away from want of permanent record. While it shall be our pleasure to gather such incidents and anecdotes as have been put afloat on the great sea of journalism, we have aimed to produce a volume of permanent interest and value by presenting picturesque narratives of the most memorable conflicts on land and water, which now stand out on the page of history like landmarks to indicate the progress of Noi'thern arras. These battle pictures are faithfully rendered, yet they read more like the stories of a, romancer than the record of the annalist. The world never witnessed a war so full of illustrious deeds, of patriotic ardor, of self-sacrifice, of devotion to duty and principle ; and this volume, it is safe to say, will contain more of what is truly noble in manhood than could be gleaned from the twenty years of Napo- leon's struggle against combined Europe. Taken as a whole the volume forms a graphic running hutorij of the War for the Union. By reference to the Contents it will be perceived how nearly the entire ground of the four years' struggle is covered — prefaced, as each battle narrative is, by a sketch of events which culminated in the conflict described at length. As such a history it is offered to those disinclined to consider the more weighty and comprehensive work ^'hich it has been a four years of labor to prepare. 0. J. V. CONTENTS. CHAPTEK. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. xvm. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. Introdtjctiok . . . . The Awakening The New Nation .... Th-e Mustering ... The Poets Early Incidents .... The Humors of the Hour The Spirit of the South The First and Second Tragedy The First Capture of the Flag . A Northern Breeze from tlie South McClellan's First Campaigu The First Disaster .... The Second Disaster . Incidents of the Battle of Bull Euu The Third Disaster Incidents of Ball's Bluff Disaster . The Spirit of Violence in the South Persecution of Unionists in Tennessee — Parson Brownlow's Story The Campaign in Missouri. The. First Disaster The Second Disaster in Missouri. The Siege and Fall of Lexington The Charge of the Three Hundred . Bombardment of the Port Royal Forts . Incidents of the Capture of the Port Royal Forts The Fall of Forts Ilcnry and Donelson . The Battle of Pittsburg Landing Incidents of the Battle of Pittsburg Landing Bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and Fall of New Orleans . . . . PAGE. 3 9 35 41 51 65 76 83 89 100 IOC 113 125 133 143 151 163 169 184 200 215 233 233 237 243 251 260 273 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER. XXVIII. Incidents of the Capture of Forts Jackson and St Philip, and Fall of New Orleans XXIX. Battle of Pea Ridge and Incidents . XXX. The Battle of the Iron Clads XXXI. The Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Contest XXXII. Pope's Campaign to Cover Washington . XXXIII. The Story of the Jessie Scouts XXXIV. Something for the Uninitiated . XXXV. The First Rebel Invasion .... XXXVI. The New Dispensation .... XXXVII. The Second Rebel Invasion .... XXXVIII. The Fall of Vicksburg .... XXXIX. Sherman's Marcli Through Georgia XL. Incidents and Anecdotes of the Grand Crusade, XLI. The Horrors of Southern Prisons . XLII. Sherman's Grand March Through the Carolinas XLIII. The Closing Scene ...... XLIV. Kebelliou's Greatest Crime . . 280 288 297 305 323 333 345 349 370 374 387 419 435 443 450 462 478 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF THE WAR. I. THE AWAKENING. April 19tli, 1775, the blood of the Men of Massaclinsettg, tlie first martyrs in the cause of American Independence, was shed at Lexington. April 19th, 1861, the blood of the Men of Massachusetts, the first martyrs in the cause of the American Union, was shed at Baltimore. How the news flew over the land to arouse the already awakening vengeance of the Men of 1775 ! The blood of Lexington had not become diy ere the beacon-fires of alarm gleamed from the hills. While the young men flew to arms, the old men leaped into the saddle, to herald the tragedy and call the country to its defense. The message flew from lip to lip, from hill-top to hill-top, "until village repeated it to vil- lage ; the sea to the backwoods ; the plains to the highland? , and it was never sufiered to droop till it had been borne North and South, and East and West throughout the land. It spread over the bays that receive the Saco and the Penobscot. Its loud reveille broke the rest of the trappers of New Hampshire, and ringing like bugle-notes from peak to peak, overleapt the Green Mountains, swept onward to Montreal, and descended the ocean river, till the responses were echoed from the cliif at Quebec. The hills along the Hudson told to one another the tale." The summons hurried to the South. In one day it was at New York ; in one more at Philadelphia ; then it flew to 10 INCIDENTS AXD ANECDOTES tlie Soiitli, to tlie West — was borne along tlie sea-coast to awaken tlie answering sliout from bays, and sonncls, and har- bors — was hurried over tlie Alicghanies to awaken the note of response in the solemn wilds of the pathless West. How sublimely did the men of that time resjDond to the call I The ferries ovei' the Merrimac swarmed with the men of New Ilampshire. Three days after that cry '■'■to arms P^ John Stark was on the Boston hills with his invincible bat- talion. From Connecticut came Putnam, the man of iron, rid- ing his horse one hundred miles in eighteen hours, and gather- ing as he ran a troop of followers, each armed with a rifle as true in its aim as the heart of its owner was loyal to Freedom. Little E.liode Island had a thousand of her resolute and hardy sons before Boston ere the oppressor had retreated from his sacrifice at Concord, and Nathaniel Greene was Ehode Island's leader. Thirty thousand patriots in a few days hemmed in the city of Boston, where the British had taken up their defiant stand ; and the tragedy of Bunker's Ilill was soon enacted before her gates. How all this sounds like the rush to arms in 1861 ! Sounds like it because the cause was the same — the defense of Consti- tutional Liberty and Inalienable Eights ; because the loyal men of '61 were w^orthy sons of the sires of '75 ; while the enemy of '61 were the degenerate sons of their sires, bent upon the destruction of those institutions which the heart of Liberty and the hand of Freedom had built. It was a cause worthy of the devotion lavished upon it ; and history will never tire of re- cording the generous deeds of those who answered the call for men to " suppress treasonable combinations and to cause the laws to be duly enforced." The Diary of Events, from the fall of Sumter to May 1st, deserves to be preserved in every man's memorj^ The events were so extraordinary in themselves, the spirit in which the people acted was so astonishingly alive with devotion to the country and the sustenance of its laws, that another generation will study the story vatli amazement. As preliminary to our work, we may offer tlic record of that remarkable Awakening. OF THE WAR. H April 13tb, 1861. The attack upon Fort Sumter, and its surrender, instead of depressing, fires and animates all patriotic hearts. One deep, strong, overpowering sentiment now sweeps over the whole community — a sentiment of determined, de- voted, active loyalty. The day for the toleration of treason — treason to the Constitution ! defiance to the laws that we have made ! — has gone by. The people have discovered that what thoy deemed almost impossible, has actually come to pass, and that the rebels are determined to break up this Government, if they can do it. With all such purposes they are determined to make an end as speedily as may be. ] — The Pennsylvania Legislature passed the war bill, last evening, without amendment. Previous to its passage the news of the bombardment of Fort Sumter was announced, and produced a profound sensation. The bill appropriates five hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of arming and equip- ping the militia ; airthorizes a temporary loan ; provides for the appointment of an Adjutant-General, Commissary-General, and Quartermaster-General, who, with the Governor, are to have power to carry the act into effect. April 15th. The President of the United States called by .proclamation for'75,000 volunteers to suppress insurrectionary combinations ; and commanded " the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days." In the same proclama- tion, an extra session of both Houses of Congress was called for the 4th of July. — Large Union meetings were held at Detroit, Mich., West- chester and Pittsburgh, Pa., Lawrence, Mass., and Dover, N. H. At Pittsburgh the meeting was opened by the Mayor, who in- troduced the venerable William Wilkinson. Mr. Wilkinson was made President of the meeting. About twenty -five Vice- Presidents were also appointed. Kesolutions were adopted, declaring undj-ing fealty to the Union, approving the course of the Legislative and Executive branches of the State Govern- ment in responding to the call of the President, disregarding all partisan feeling, and pledging their lives, fortunes, and 12 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES sacred lionor in tlie defense of the Union, and appointing a Committee of Public Safety. — Governor Yates, of Illinois, issued a proclamation to convene tlie Legislature at Springfield, on tlie 23d of April, for the pur- pose of enacting such laws and adopting such measures as may be deemed necessary upon the following subject, to wit : The more perfect organization and equipment of the militia of the State, and placing the same upon the best footing, to render efficient assistance to the General Government in preserving the Union, enforcing the laws, protecting the property and rights of the people, and also the raising of such money, and other means, as may be required to carry out the foregoing objects. — At Philadelphia the Union pledge is receiving the signature of all classes of citizens. It responds to the President's pro- clamation, and declares an unalterable determination to sustain the Government, thi'owing aside all differences of political opinion. — An excited crowd assembled this morning before the print- ing office on the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets, where the Palmetto Flag, a small advertising sheet, is published, and threatened to demolish it. The proprietor displayed the American flag, and threw the objectionable papers from the windows — also, the Stais and Stripes, another paper printed at the same office, restoring the crowd to good-humor. The crowd moved down to the Argus office in Third street, oppo- site Dock street, ordering that the flag should be displayed. — j\.iiex visiting the newspaper offices and Government pro- perty, they marched in a body up Market street, bearing a flag. At all points on the route, well-known Union men were obliged to make all haste to borrow, beg, or steal something red, white, and blue, to protect their property with. Searches were made for the publication rooms of the Southern Monitor ; but as that paper had suspended, the mob were unable to carry out their intention of destroying the forms. They satisfied themselves with breaking the signs to pieces. The ring-leaders were fur- Viished with ropes, with which to hang the editor if caught OF THE WAR. 13 Daring the afternoon, General Patterson's mansion, comer of Thirteenth and Locust streets, was mobbed and threatened with destruction. A servant answered their call, and unfor- tunatclj'' slammed the door in their faces. The crowd became uproarious and violent, and made an attempt to force opeu the door. General Patterson linally appeared at the window, bear- ing the colors of the regiment. The crowd then moved away. It is understood that General Patterson, who is charged with. secessionism, intends throwing up his commission. They then visited General Cadwallader, who made a Union speech and threw out a flag. Several prominent Southerners, with secession proclivities, including Robert Tyler, have received warnings from a so-called Vigilance Committee. The following is the speech that was made by Mayor Henry to the excited mob wliich threatened the Palmetto Flag building : " Fellow Citizens : By the gi'ace of Almighty God, treason shall never rear its head or have a foothold in Philadelphia* [Immense cheering.] I call upon you as American citizens to stand by your flag and protect it at all hazards — at the point of the bayonet, if necessary ; but, in doing so, remember the rights due your fellow-citizens and their private property. [Immense cheering.] That flag is an emblem of the Govern- ment, and I call upon all good citizens who love their country and its flag, to testify their loj^alty by going to their respective places of abode, leaving to the constituted authorities of the city the task of protecting the peace, and preventing every act which could be construed into treason to their countiy." The Mayor then hoisted the Stars and Stripes. — Seventeen-vessels were seized in the port of New York from ports in southern States, their clearances being improper, and not signed by United States officers. They were fined $100. each, and some were held subject to forfeiture. — Albany, New York, has presented an unwonted appearance all day to-day. The Capitol has been thronged with citizens who have apparently left their business to gather at head-quar- ters, and watch eagerly the progress of events. The spirit of 14 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES the masses is decidedly aroused, and, from present indications, Albany will be behind no city in the State or Union in evinc- ing her patriotism and her determination, as the crisis has come, to stand firmly by the Government of the country, with- out pausing to charge upon any the responsibility of the pre- sent teiTible events. — TheDu'ectors ofthe Bank of Commerce, of Providence, R L, advanced a loan of $30,000 to the State, for aiding in the outfit of troops. Large offers from private citizens have also been made to Governor Sprague for a similar purpose. The Globe Bank tendered to the State a loan of $50,000. — An enthusiastic Union meeting was held at Cleveland, Ohio. Speeches were made by Senator Wade, and other pro- minent gentlemen. Kesolutions were adopted to sustain the Government, approving of the President's call for voliinteci-s, recommending the Legislature to make appropriations of men and money, and appointing a committee to ascertain the ef- ficiency of the Cleveland militia, — Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York, issued a proclama- tion, calling upon the people of the city lo avoid turbulence and excitempnt, and to rally to the restoration of the Constitu- tion and Union. — An immense Union meeting held in Tro}^, Xew York, ad- journed in a body to the vicinity of General Wool's residence. Li response to the patriotic address of the chau-man, General Wool rejoiced at the glorious demonstration. Never before had he been filled with such a measure of joy. He had fought under the old flag, but had only done his duty. His appeal in behalf of his country's honor was very touching. " Will you," he said, " permit the Stars and Stripes to be dese- crated and trampled in the diist by traitors now ? Will you permit our noble Government to be destroyed by rebels, in order that they may advance their schemes of political am- bition and extend the area of slavery ? It cannot be done ! The spirit of the age forbids. Humanity and manhood forbid it The sentiment of the civilized world forbids it. That flao: XDMst be lifted fi-om the dust and saved from sacrilefre at tho OFTHEWAR. ^ 15 hands of apostates to truth, liberty, and honor. I pledge you my heart, my hand, my energies to the cause. The Union shall be maintained. I am prepared to devote my life to the work, and to lead you in the struggle." ' — The Governor of Kentucky, in reply to Secretary Came- ron's call for troops from that State, says : " Your dispatch is received. In answer, I say emphatically, Kentucky will fur- nish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States. B. Magoffin." — General visitation, by the populace, to newspaper offices in New York and several other cities. Newspapers regarded as of doubtful loyalty are compelled to run out the Stars and Stripes. April 16th. A great Union meeting was held to-day at Ty- rone, Pa. Ex-U. S. Senator Bigler expressed unequivocal sen- timents of loyalty, and called upon the people to sustain the Government in the exercise of its energies to suppress rebellion. — The Einggold Flying Artillery, of Eeading, Pa., Captain James McKnight, 180 men, with four ii eld-pieces, received a requisition from the Governor this morning to set out this evening, at six o'clock, for Harrisburg, the place of rendezvous for the flrst Pennsylvanians in the field. Two military com- panies from Tyrone, two from Altoona, and two from Holli- daysburg, will leave to-morrow for Harrisburg. — Four regiments, ordered to report for service in Boston, Mass., commenced arriving there before nine A. M. this morning, the companies first arriving not having received their orders until last night. Already about thirty companies have arrived, numbering over 1,700 men in uniform, and with these are several hundi*ed who are importunate to be allowed to join the ranks. — The City Government of Lawrence, Mass., appropriated $5,000 for the benefit of the families of those who have volun- teered to defend the country's flag. — Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, issued a proclama- tion calling for volunteers, to rendezvous at Hartford. — The Mechanics', Elm City, Fairfield County, Thames, and 16 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES otlier banks of Connecticut, voted large sums of money to assist in equipping the troops, and the support of their families. — New Hampshire responds to the President's proclamation, and will furnish the troops required. The Concord Union Bank tendered a loan of $20,000 to the Governor, and all the Directors, with the Cashier, agree to contribute $100 each to the support of such families of the volunteers of Concord, as may flill in defending the flag of the countr}^ — The session of the New York East Methodist Conference was opened by the following prayer : " Grant, O God, that all the efforts now being made to overthrow rebellion in our dis- tracted country-, may be met with every success. Let the forces that have risen against our Government, and Thy law, be scattered to the winds, and may no enemies be allowed to prevail against us. Grant, God, that those who have aimed at the very heart of the republic may be overthrown. We ask Thee to bring these men to destruction, and wipe them from the face of the country !" — Governor Letcher, of Virginia, responds to the demand for troops : " I have only to say that tlie militia of Virginia will not hefurnisiied to the jpowers at Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in vieiu. Your object is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object — an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitution or the Act of 1795 — will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil luar, and, liaving done so, loe luill meet it in a sjnrit as determined as the Administration has exhibited towards the South.''^ — The Governor of North Carolina refused to comply with the call, expressing his doubts as to the President's authority to make the call. He, at the same date, made quick prepara- tions to seize all Government property in the State, and to place the State on a footing of military efficiency. — A large meeting of German workmen held in Newark, New Jersey. The Germans everywhere in the North evince a spirit of great devotion to the cause of the Union. — General Cass, late Secretary of State, in a speech at De- OF THE "WAR. 17 troit, took tlie strongest ground for tlie Union. Every citizen, lie declared, should stand by tlie Government — Great meetings are held to-day throughout the chief towns in the Western States. The people are represented as " all on fii-e^'' — all parties " fusing" on the common gi-ound of devotion to the Union. Intense enthusiasm prevails. A volunteer roll opened at Michigan City, Indiana, was first signed by a minis- ter of the Gospel. The first company of Indiana Volunteers left Lafayette, to-day, for the rendezvous at Indianapolis. Over two hundred companies are represented as nearly formed in the State, ready for regimental organization. Illinois is not behind. Ohio has moved with alacrity. Captain McClellan will be made Major-General, to command the Ohio Volunteers. — Virginia " seceded" to-da}^, and her Governor issued a proclamation acknowledging the Independence of the Southern Confederacy. — Washington City is regarded as in great danger of seizure by the Secessionists of Virginia, aided by a mob of cut-throats from Baltimore. Colonel Ben McCullough is known to be chief of the organization for the seizure of the Capital The Southern papers generally regard the seizure as certain, and it is proclaimed that the Davis Government vdll occupy the Capi- tal Great precautions are being taken by General Scott to guard the place. The city is under arms. Volunteer compa- nies, comprising Members of Congress and Government em- ployees, are organized, armed and on duty. The District militia is enrolled and in service, under command of Adjutant- General McDowell. Large numbers of Northern men, singly and in squads, are hurrying to the Capital to enlist in its de- fense. One entire battalion of Philadelphia troops reach the city — the first volunteers in the field. — ^Jefferson Davis to-day issued his proclamation, initiating the privateer system. April 18. Governor Harris, of Tennessee, replies to Presi- dent Lincoln's call for two regiments of troops, by saying that " Tennessee will not furnish a single man for coercion, but fifty S 18 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES tliousand, if necessary, for the defense of our rights, or those of our Southern In'others." — Governor Jackson, of Missouri, answers Secretary Came- ron by telling him that his " requisition is illegal, unconsti- tutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with." — The Common Council of Boston appropriated $100,000 to provide for soldiers enlisting from Boston. The Lowell city government appropriated $8,000 for soldiers' families. — The banks in Trenton, K. J., Chicago, III, Portland, Me., subscribed in support of the Federal Government. A meeting of the officers, representing all the Boston (Mass.) banks, was held this morning, when resolutions were adopted to loan the State of Massachusetts 10 per cent, on their entire capital for the defense of the Government. The capital of the Boston banks amounts to $38,800,000. — ^At Pittsburg, Pa., an intense war feeling prevails. Busi- ness is almost suspended. Immense crowds throng all the prominent streets, flags are floating everywhere, and the volun- teer companies are all filled and departing eastward. Liberal subscriptions are being made for the comfort of volunteers and the support of their families. Eecruiting is still going on, al- though there are more than enough for the requirements of the State to fill the Federal requisition. A Committee of Public Safety held a meeting to-day, and organized. A large quantity of powder which had been sent down the river, was intercepted at Steubenville, it being feared it would fall into the hands of the Secessionists. Eopes were suspended to lamp-posts last night, by unknown persons, labelled " Death to traitors." Some assaults have been made on persons who have expressed sym- pathy with the Secessionists. • — Lieutenant R Jones, of the United States army, in com- mand at Harper's Ferry with forty-three men, destroyed the arsenal at that place and retreated. He was advised that a force of 2,500 men had been ordered to take his post, by Governor Letcher ; and he put piles of powder in straw in all OF TUE WAR. 19 the buildings, and quietly awaited the approach of the enemy. When his picket-guard gave the alarm that 600 Virginians were approaching by the Winchester road, the men were run out of the arsenal and the combustibles fifed. The peoplo fired upon the soldiers, killing two, and rushed into the ar- senal. All the works, munitions of war, and 15,000 stand of arms were destroyed. — An intimation is given tliat the U. S. volunteers will be assailed, if any attempt is made to pass to "Washington through Baltimore. The Baltimore canaille is being excited to a mob spirit by secession emissaries. — The Sixth Massachusetts regiment pass through New York en route for Washington, via Baltimore. • — The Mayor of Baltimore and the Governor of Maryland unite in a proclamation, urging the people to preserve the peace. The Governor stated that no Marjdand troops should be placed at the General Government s disposal, except for the defense of the Capital. — An immense mass Union meeting was hekl in Louisville, this evenino". O — Governor Morgan, of New York, issued his Proclamation for volunteers. — Major Anderson and his command arrive in New York on the transport Baltic. They have an enthusiastic reception. April 19. The Presidc-.it of the United States issues his Proclamation of Blockade of the ports in the rebellious States. ■ — A most important session of the New York Chamber of Commerce is held to-day. Perfect harmony prevailed. The Government was sustained, and a Committee of the leading capitalists appointed to insure the taking of nine millions^ of the Treasury loan yet on the market. The resolutions adopted fairly rung with decision and patriotism. As the Chamber represented over two hundred millions of dollars in actual re- serve, the proceedings were regarded as of the highest im])ort- ance. From that moment the men of wealth of the metropolis were almost unanimously committed to the policy of an over* 20 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES •whelming demonstration of the Government's power against its enemies. — An American flag, forty by twenty feet, was inin ont on Trinity Church spire, New Yorlc. The church bells chimed national airs in honor of the occasion. — An attack is made, by the Baltimore ruffians, on the Mas- sachusetts Sixth and the Pennsylvania Seventh regiments, which were passing through the city e?i route for Washington. The Massachusetts men occupied eleven cars. Nine cars suc- ceeded in reaching the Washington depot: the other two were cut off by the mob, when their troops alighted, formed a solid square, and, preceded by the Mayor and police, marched up Pratt street for the depot. Brickbats, stones, and pieces of iron were hurled at the troops, but, obeying orders, they withheld any demonstration against their assailants, notwithstanding several of the men were seriously injured. This leniency only served to inflame the mob to further violence. Attempts were made to seize the muskets of the men, and a pistol-shot from a window killed one of the soldiers. The ruffian who committed the deed was immediately shot by one of the soldiers. An immediate passage of shots followed — the solid square, with fixed bayonets, led by the Mayor, still pressing on to the de- pot, bearing their wounded and dead in then- centre. The de- pot was at length reached, when it was found that two of the Massachusetts men were killed and eight wounded — one mor- tally. Eleven of the mob were ' killed and thirteen wounded. This affair so fearfully excited the people of Baltimore that, for several days, the mob virtually reigned uncontrolled, overaw- ing the ^layor and Governor, and finding coadjutors in the Chief of Police and the Police Board. The Chief of Police sped a dispatch and sent runners over the country to huny forward the secession emissaries to " drive back the Northern invaders." His dispatch, soon brought to light, proved the fellow to be one of the secret agents of the traitors. — The Pennsylvania troops arrived in Baltimore a few minutes after the Massachusetts men, and remained at tho OF THE WAR. 21 Pliiladelpliia depot to await tlie issue of tlie attempt to pass. The mob fell back, after the tragedy in Pratt street, upon the Pennsjlvanians, who were entirely unarmed. They gathered in the depot, and soon orders came from the city authorities and the Governor for the railway company to return the troops to the State line — an order soon obeyed. — In view of the state of feeling at Baltimore, the Mayor and Governor united in a commission to the President to re- present that no more troops could pass through their city un- less they fought their way. The President decided to spare the effusion of blood by ordering the regiments to march around the city. The route by way of Perryville and Annap- olis was soon opened by General Butler, with the Massachu- setts Eighth, assisted by the New York Seventh, — The entire North was fearfully excited by the news of the attack on the Massachusetts men. It only served to intensify the antagonisms existing. It was so potent in exciting the public that every recruiting rendezvous in the North was literally overrun with applicants for positions in the ranks. It is estimated that more men offered in Pennsylvania than would fill the entire requisition of AjDril 15th. — Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, sent the following dispatch to Mayor Brown : "I pray you, cause the bodies of our Massachusetts soldiers, dead in battle, to be immediately laid out, preserved in ice, and tenderly sent forward by ex- press to me. All expenses will be paid by this Common- wealth." This was complied with, and the Mayor wrote apologetically for that sad occurrence. — The City Council of Philadelph'a, at a special meeting, appropriated $1,000,000 to equip the volunteers and support their families dming their absence from home. Fourteen thousand dollars were subscribed for the same purpose at Norwich, Conn. —The Seventh regiment, N, Y. S. M., left for Washington at noon, amid the wildest enthusiasm. An innumerable throng cheered them on their way. News of the assault in Baltimore was received before they left, when forty-eight rounds of ball- cartridge were served oat. 22 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES — The Rhode IsLincl Marine artillcrj followed the Serenth. This superb battery reflected great credit on the State and its Governor. It was composed of 130 men, 110 horses, eight splendid field-pieces and all requisite accessories. The com- mander. Colonel Tomkins, was eager to open the route through Baltimore. — The Massachusetts Eighth followed the Rhode Islanders. It was accompanied bj Brigadier-General B. F. Butler, in general command of the Massachusetts forces. — Anticipating the descent of the forces now gathered at Philadelphia, the Baltimore mob proceeded to Canton station, on the Philadelphia railway, and, stopping the evening train, compelled the passengers all to leave it. The engineer was then made to run the mob up to the Gunpowder bridge — a fine structure over Gunpowder Creek. The draw and shore sections of the bridge were burned. The train then returned to Bush River bridge, which was also burned. Then the Can- ton bridge was flred and consumed. After the work of de- struction the mob returned to Baltimore, on the train, and were received with acclamations. — Stupendous mass meeting of the people of New York City, called by citizens of all parties and religious denomina- tions, to express sympathy with the Government. The entire demonstration was harmonious and satisfactory, and resulted in great good to the common cause. It is estimated that one hundred thousand people, directly or indirectly, participated in the proceedings. The " Union Defense Committee" — composed of twenty-six of the most v.'calthy and prominent men of the city [the number afterwards was increased to thirty -two,] grew out of the great gathering. Its business was to collect and disburse funds for arming, equipping, and placing in the field the New York City regiments — to care for the families of the Volunteers — to co-operate with Government in whatever would tend to strengthen the National cause. It was one of the most beneficent and effective organizations of the war. Besides the large private subscriptions placed at its disposal, the City Gov- ernment voted one million of dollars, to be expended under the Committee's direction. OF THE "WAR. 23 — Tlic Gosport (Norfolk) Navy-yard destroyed during the night of April 19-20. Government property to tlie amount of over eleven millions of dollars was committed to the flames and the water, "to keep it," as the officer in charge, Commander McAuley said, " from falling into the hands of the revolu- tionists" — then in considerable force at Norfolk, under com- mand of General Taliaferro. Commodore Paulding sailed in, on the Paivnee, at eight P. M., (Apiil 19th,) to find the Merrimac steam frigate disabled, the Germantown^ Raritan^ Pennsijlvania^ Plymouth^ and other vessels either scuttled or given up to the flames. The Cumherland frigate alone, of all that fine fleet, was saved by the accidental presence of the YanJcee, steam-tug, owned by William B. Astor, of New York, and sent out by him " to be of some service to Government somewhere." The buildings, timber, two thousand pieces of ordnance (of all sizes, fi'om the heavy Columbiad and Dahlgren to the boat howitzer,) small-arms, stocks, shears, machinery — all were offered up, a holocaust to rebellion and James Buchanan's want of foresight and courage. Neither is the administration of Mr. Lincoln blameless, for it should have taken all the movable property away, under the guns of the very frigates which were commit- ted to the flames and waves. Viewed in every aspect, it was a most wretched affair. — At a second great Union meeting in Chicago, during the proceedings, at the suggestion of Judge Manni-ere, the entire audience raised their right hands and took the oath of alle- giance to the United States Government — repeating the oath after the Judge. — Orders were issued by the officers of the Western Union, and the New York, Albany and Buffalo Telegraphic Compa- nies, that no messages be received ordering arms or munitions of war, unless for the use of the Genei-al Government. April 20 th. Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, convenes the Legislature of his State for the 80th of April, " to take into consideration and to adopt such measures as the present emer- gencies may demand." — A. letter was received at Philadelphia from Governor 24 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Letcher, of Virginia, offering $30,000 to the patentee of the bullet-mould. The reply was, " No money can purchase it against the country." — The Council of Wilmington, Del., appropriated $8,000 to defend the citj^, and passed resolutions approving of the President's proclamation. Also, asking the Governor to issue a proclamation for the same purpose. The Brandywine bridges and all on the road between Susquehanna and Philadelphia are guarded, and workmen have been sent to repair the bridges destroyed on the Northern Central road. — The Missourians seized the United States arsenal, at Liberty, Mo., and garrisoned it with 100 men. In the arsenal were 1,300 stand of arms, ten or twelve pieces of cannon, and quite an amount of powder. — Two thousand stand of arms were furnished the citizens of Leavenworth, from the arsenal at Fort Leavenworth, and the commander ot that post accepted the services of 300 volun- teers, to guard the arsenal, pending the ari'ival of trooj^s fi'om Fort Kearney. — The Federal Government takes possession of the railway between Philadelphia and Baltimore. — General Scott telegraphed to John J. Crittenden, of Ken- tucky, who had questioned him by telegraph as to the truth of the report that he had resolved to desert the Federal cause : " I have not changed ; have no thought of change ; always a Union man." April 21st. The Mayor of Baltimore had an interview with the President, to try and persuade him not to order any more troops through Maryland. — Arrival in New York of the Third battalion of Massachu- setts rifles, Major Devens commanding. ■ — An immense mass meeting in Boston (it being Sunday) was held preparatory to raising a choice regiment for Fletcher Webster (son of Daniel Webster). It became a popular ova- tion befoi-e its close. A large number of the leading citizens addressed the crowd throughout the da}^ — ^Tbe First Ehode Island regiment passed through New OF THE WAR. 25 York, en. route for Wnsliington, by way of Annapolis. It sailed from New York this (Sunday) evening, in company with the New York Sixth, Twelfth, and Seventy- first regiments of militia. The crowd was dense in the sti'eets, during the entire daj^, to witness the embarkation of the regiments on the transports. The incidents of this day in New York wc advert to in a suc- ceeding chapter. — Tlie North Carolinians seized the United. States Branch Mint, at Charlotte, in that State. — Great gatherings in all the churches throughout the North, to hear " Sermons on the Crisis." Some most remarkable de- monstrations v^^ere witnessed. In Ilenry Ward Beecher's church, at Brooklyn, a communication was read from the Thir- teenth regiment of New York militia, asking for help in uni- forming and equipping them for service. Over $1,100 were forthwith contributed. In the city of New York patriotism y was the theme of discourse. In the Broadway Tabernacle, the pastor, Rev. J. P. Thompson, D. D., preached a sermon in the evening on " God's Tim.e of Threshing." The choir performed " The Marseillaise" to a hymn composed for the occasion by the pastor. A collection was taken for the Volunteers' Home Fund, amounting to $450 — to which a member of the congre- gation afterwards added $100. Dr. Bethune's sermon was from the text : " In the name of our God we will set up our banners." In Dr. Bellows' church, the choir sang " The Star Spangled Banner," which Vv^as vigorously applavided by the whole house. At Grace Church, (Episcopal,) Dr. Taylor l^egaii by saying, " The Star Spangled Banner has been insulted." The gallant Major Anderson and his wife attended service at Trinitj''. At Dr. McLane's Presbyterian Church, Williams- burg, " The Star Spangled Banner" was sung. Dr. T. D. Wells (Old School Presbyterian) preached from the words : " He that liath no sword, let him buy one." Dr? Osgood's text was : " Lift up a standard to the people." The religious world certainly- never before witnessed such an invasion of the pul- pit Great numbers of churches were organizing companies, 4 26 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES and one pnsto]-, Rev. Dr. Pcrrj, of Brooklyn, assumed com* mand of a regiment. — Tlie American flag was publicly buried at ^Memphis, Tenn., on this day, amid a great concouTsc of citizens. The funeral rites were read, and a volley fn-ed over the grave. A^ml 22d. Great pressure brought to bear on the President to procu]*e some countermand of the order for troops to march to Washington. One delegation of thirty, from five " Young Men's Christian Associations" of Baltimore, liad a prolonged interview, but made no impression upon him. Governor Hicks approached him with a communication, again urging the withdrawal of troops from Maryland, a cessation- of hostil- ities, and a reference of the National dispute to the arbitrament of Lord Lyons. To this the Secretary of State replied, that the troops were only called out to suppress insurrection, and must come through Baltimore, as that was the route chosen for them by tfte Commander-in-Chief, and that our troubles could not be "referred to aaiy foreign arbitrament." — Colonel Robert E. Lee, late of the U. S. Army, is named by the Governor of Virginia Commander-in-Chief of the forces of that State. — The U. S. arsenal at Fayetteville, N. C, is seized by the orders of Governor Ellis. The Governor, at the same date, called out 80,000 troops, in addition to the organized militia, to be in readiness at a moment's notice. — The N. Y. city Common Council appropriated one million of dollare for equipping and caring for the comfort of vol- unteers. — The N. Y. Twenty-fifth militia regiment an-ived in the city from Albany, en route for Wasliington. — The N. Y. Seventh and Massachusetts Eighth regiments arrive, by transports from Philadelphia, at Annapolis, where they land and seize the railway to "Washington. The troops of the Eighth seized the frigate Constitution — " Old L'onsides," which was in danger of capture by the Secessionists. General Butler, ia his order congratulating the men on the safety of OF THE WAR. 27 the old frigate, said : " The fr'gaie Constitution has lain for a long time at tliis port substantially at the mercy of the amied mob wliicli sometimes paral^^zcs the otherwise loyal State of Marj^land. Deeds of daring, successful contests, and glorious victories, had rendered Old Ironsides so conspicuous in the na^•al histoiy of the country, that she was fitly chosen as the school in Avhich to train the future officers of the navy to like heroic acts. It was given to Massachusetts and Essex county first to man her ; it was reserved to Massachusetts to have the lionoi" to rctaiirher for the service of the Union and the laws." — The Secretary of War conveys to Major Anderson the ap- proval of tlie Executive of his conduct in the defense of Fort Sumter, viz. : " War Departiment, Washington, ) April 23d, 1861. [ ^^ Major Robert Anderson, late Commandinrj OJJicer at Fort Sumter : " My Dear Sir : I am directed by the President of the United States, to communicate to a'ou, and through you to the officers and men under your command at Forts Moultrie and Sumter, the approbation of the Government of your and their judicious and gallant conduct there ; and to tender to you and them the thanks of the Government for the same. " I am, veiy respectfully, "SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War." — Father Rafina, priest of the IMontrose Avenue Catholic Church, Williamsburg, N. Y., with his own hands raised the American flag upon the top of his church. The ceremony was witnessed by at least two thousand people, who greeted the glorious emblem with cheer after cheer, as it waved majestic- ally over the sacred edifice. The reverend father addressed the assemblage in a few appropriate remarks, which were re- ceived with marked enthusiasm. — The Charleston Mercunj (lings defiance at the North — call- ing Lincoln a usurper, and saying: "he will deplore the 'higher-law' depravity which lias governed his counsels. Seek- ing the sword, in spite of all moral or constitutional restraints 28 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES and obligations, lie may perisli by tlie sword. lie sleeps al- ready with soldiers at liis gate, and the grand reception-room of the White House is converted into quarters for troops from Kansas — border ruffians of Abolitionism." • — A fine Union meeting was held in Lexington, Kentucky. The Stars and Stripes were raised ; the people generally ex- pressed their determination to adhere to them to the last Speeches were made by Messrs. Field, Crittenden, Codey, and others. The most unbounded enthusiasm prevailed, and the speakers were greeted with great applause. April 23d. The feeling in the South at this date may be inferred from the call of the Governor of Louisiana for troops. He said: "The Government at Washington, maddened by defeat and the successful maintenance by our patriotic people of their rights and liberties against its mercenaries m tlie har- bor of Charleston, and the determination of the Southern people forever to sever themselves from the Northern Govern- ment, has now thrown off the mask, and, sustained by the people of the non-slaveholding States, is actively engaged in levying war, by land and sea, to subvert your liberties, destroy your rights, and to shed your blood on your own soil. If you have the manhood to resist, rise, then, pride of Louisiana, in- your might, in defense of your dearest rights, and drive back this insolent, barbaric force. Like 3-our brave ancestrj', resolve to conquer or perish in the effort ; and the flag of usurpation will never fly over Southern soil. lially, then, to the proclama- tion which I now make on the requisition of the Confederate Government." The enthusiasm in the South was represented as equal to that prevailing in the North. The contest was re- garded as a war of sections, and the South seemed to entertain no other idea but that of the complete defeat of the North. The idea generally prevailed that a Southern soldier was equal to five Northern " hirelings." The terms used to characterize the Northern soldiers were very offensive, and the idea seemed to prevail that the army of Federal volunteers was comiDosed of the very lowest scum of society. As Northern papers could OF THE WAE. , 29 not circulate hi the South, tlie people really never knew Letter, until they learned at the bayonet's point. — The Western Pennsylvania regiments pass through Phila- delphia, en route for Washington, by way of Annapolis, — The Eighth, Sixtj^-ninth, and Thirteenth regiments of New York militia start for Washington. — Sherman's celebrated battery, consisting of ninety men and eight howitzers, passed through Philadelphia, Pa., on the route to Washington. The train containing the troops stopped in Market street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth, Imme- diately the ladies of Benton street rushed out, and vied with ^each other in their attention to the weary soldiers. Bread, meat, pies, and cakes, were brought forward in goodly supplies, hundreds of girls running with hot dinners just from the ranges ; bakers with baskets of bread and cakes ; fruiterers with baskets of apples, oranges, etc., were quickly upon the ground. The men said that they were thirsty, and in a trice there were a dozen pretty girls handing up cups of water. After the battery had been thu^ refreshed, a collection was taken up, and the soldiers were supplied with enough cigars and tobacco to last for some days. The military cheered con- tinually for the ladies of Philadelphia, and, as the train moved off, they gave nine hearty cheers for Philadelphia, the Union, the Constitution, and the success of the Federal arms in the South. April 24th, The New York Tw'enty-fifth regiment of militia sailed for Washino-ton. — An immense Union meeting was held in Detroit, over which General Cass presided. His speech was brief, but strongly loyal. He called upon all citizens to stand by the Administration. — The Faculty and students of the Brown High School, at Newbury port, Mass., raised the American flag near their school building, in presence of a large concourse of citizens. Patriotic speeches were made by Caleb Cushing, and othei's. April 25th. General Harney, on his way to Washington, was arrested by the Virginia authorities, at Harper's Ferrv- He b -80 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES left Wheeling, Virginia, for tlic purpose of reporting liimself at liead-quarters at Washington. Before tlie train reached Har- per's Ferry it was stopped, and a number of troops mounted the platforms; while tlic train was moving slowly on, the troops passed through the cars, and the General being pointed out, he was immediately taken into custody. — A deputation of twenty Indians, headed b}'- White Cloud, in belialf of the Sioux and Chippewas, arrived in New York They tender to the United States, in belialf of themselves and three hundred other Avarriors, their services against rebellion. Havin^" heard that the Cherokees had sided with the rebels, they could not remain neutral, and, with a promptness worthy of imitation in high quarters, have come to offer their services in defense of the Government. They ask to be armed and led. — A second detachment of Rhode Islanders arrived in New York, bound for Washington. The New York Herald said : "As a proof of the patriotic spirit which animates the citi- zens of Ithode Island, it may be mentioned that a man named William Dean, who lost one arm in the Mexican Avar, is now a volunteer in this corps, being willing to lose another limb in defense of the honor of his country. The noble fellow carries liis musket slung behind his back, but it is said when the hour comes for bloodier action he can use it with as good effect and expertness as if in possession of his natural appendages. The regiment also carries a flag which was borne through all the terrors of the Revolution. The uniform of the regiment is light and comfortable ; it consists of a blue flannel blouse, gray pants, and the army regulation hat. The volunteers bring along with them two very prepossessing young women, named Martha Francis and Katcy Brownell, both of Providence, who propose to act as ' daughters of the regiment,' after the French plan." — The N. Y. Seventh arrived at Washington to-da}^, and were welcomed with great demonstrations of joy. They were the first regiment to reach the Capital after the Massachusetts Six th. The Massachusetts Eigh th almost immediately followed the Seventh into the city. With these troops Washington OF THE WAR. 81 was pronounced safe. From this date troops constantly poured into the capiial, by the Annapolis route. The route by Baltimore and the Northern Central railroad was not opened until May loth. • — Virginia transferred to the Southern Confederacy, by treaty between the State Convention and Mr. Stephens, Vice- President of the Confederate States. By this transaction the people were literall}^ "sold out of liouse and home." April 26th. A correspondent of a Boston journal, writing from the West, over which he was travelling, said of the feel- ing prevailing in that section : " The enthusiasm of the people at the West, in rallying for the defense of the Union, far ex- ceeds the expectations of the most sanguine. Throughout the entire North-west tlicre is a perfect unanimity of sentiment. Ten days ago, men who now cry, down with the rebels, were apologizing for the South — -justifying its action, and wishing it success. Every town in Illinois is mustering soldiei's, and many of the towns of five or six thousand inhabitants, have two and three companies ready for action. Companies are also formed for drill, so that, in case of need, they will be pre- pared to march at any moment. Money is poured out freely as water, and ladies unite in making shirts, blankets, and even coats and pants for the soldiers. Arrangements ha\e been made to take care of the families of the soldiers during their absence. All say, none shall fight the battles of their country at their own expense." — The bridges over Gunpowder River, on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Eailroad, were burned by the rebels of Baltimore. The bridge over Bush Eiver, on the same route, had been destroyed the evening previous. The mob still reigned in Baltimore, although the loyal press of the city represented that the " conservative" sentiment was growing. — The Seventh regiment of New York took the oath to sup port the Constitution of the United States, at the War Depart- ment, in Washington, to-day. Not a man hesitated The scene was most impressive. 82 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES — Many Soutlicrn men, still in tlie emplo}'- of tlie Depart- ments, at Washington, refused to take the oath of allegiance. Thej all " resigned" and took their way South to give their services to the Slave States. April 27th. Great numbers of Virginians whose loyalty to the Constitution forbade them to sustain the high-handed tyranny of the State Convention, are passing North to escape persecution. The outrages perpetrated on the Unionists of that State are daily becoming more atrocious. The State is in possession of the Confederate forces, and the Secession cut- throats have it all their own way. The mob everywhere ap- propriate to their own use whatever they may fancy ; farmers are stopped on the road, their horses taken from them under the plea that they are for the defense of the South ; granaries are searched, and everything convertible for food for either man or beast, carried off. This has been practiced to such an extent that, along the northern border of Virginia, a reaction is taking place, and instructions are being sent from Western Maryland, to the Delegates at Annapolis, that if they vote for secession the people will hang them on their return home. The news of the unanimous sentiment of the North, the prompt and decisive action on the part of the State Governments in enlisting men, has strengthened the Union men of Western Maiyland and the border counties of Virginia. — The " New York Ladies' Relief Union" — one of the or- ganizations devised for centralizing the efforts of women in be- half of the Union cause — issue, to-day, their circular, setting forth the " importance of systematizing the earnest efforts now making by the women of New York for the supply of extra medical aid to the Federal army, through the present cam- paign." — Mr. Lincoln issues his supplementary proclamation, includ- ing the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina in the order of blockade, April 28th. The Dayh'jJit, the first steamer direct from New York, via Potomac, reached Washington at ten A. M. Many lights were out on the Virginia coast, and many buoys had OF THE WAR. 83 been destroyed by the rebels. The Daylight came AA'ithout convoy. She liad no guns, except one howitzer, which Cap- tain Vicle obtained from the Pocahontas, at the mouth of the Potomac. Captain Viele and the one hundred and seventy- two recruits for the New York Seventh regiment, have the honor of the first passage up the Potomac. — The New York Fifth regiment of mihtia leaves to-day for Annapohs, in the British steam transport Kedar. This regi- ment, commanded by Colonel Schwartzwaelder, is composed almost entirely of Germans. April 29th. B. R Ilallett, of Boston, a leading man in the opposition party of Massachusetts, comes out strongly for the war, at a meeting of the Suffolk bar. — Great excitement in Tennessee, consequent on the seizure (April 26th) at Cairo, by the Federal forces, of the steamer Ifilbvan, laden with munitions of war. Governor Harris or- ders $75,000 in Tennessee bonds, and $5,000 in coin — all in possession of the United States Collector at Nashville, to be seized as a reprisal. — Grand military review in New Orleans, of troops prepared to march North. Thirty thousand people turnect out to wit- ness the pageant — Ellsworth's Fire Zouaves left New York for Annapolis. A grand demonstration was made by the New York city fire department in honor of their departure. One hundred thou- sand people were gathered in the route of their march to wit- ness the proceedings. April oOth. Persons from the South, residing in "Washing- ton, are warned to leave that city before its destruction by the Southern army. — The School-teachers of the Boston, Mass., schools, relin- quished a large portion of their salaries, to be applied, during the war, to patriotic purposes. — The New York Yacht Club offer the Government the use of all their craft for any service for which they may be fitted. — Governor Dennison, of Ohio, reports that, up to this date, 71,000 volunteers had offered to meet the President's 5 84 INCIDENTS A X 1) A N E C D T E S requisition for thirteen rcgiineiits. All regiments furnished hy the State, are picked men. Tlie same may be said of the offers made in other States. It is now kno\Yn that an anny of three hundred tliousand men eould be made up of volunteers from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio alone. Every church and public building in New York, Phila- delphia and Boston, is surmounted by the American flag. Public buildings generally throughout the North arc thus decorated. The demand for bunting is so great, that the sup- ply is exhausted, and flags are being made out of all kinds of materials of the proper color. — The Twenty-eighth regiment of New Yor]c militia leaves Brooklyn for the seat of war. It is composed of the best class of German citizens — man}'- men of wealth being in the ranks. It is commanded by Colonel Burnett. The streets were thronged to witness its departure. — The Tlai-vard University Medical School adopt a resolu- tion, viz. : " That we, the members of the Harvard Medical School, do here and now resol\-e ourselves into a volunteer medical corps, and as such do hereby tender our services to the Governor of this Commonwealth, to act in behalf of this State or countrj^, in whatever capacity we may be ngcdcd. — The contributions of cities, individuals. Legislatures, banks, etc., up to this date, to the patriotic fund, are estimated to ex- ceed twentj-'cight millions of dollar.?. Government finds its soldiers literally made to order — taking the field armed and equipped, through the patronage and care of the localities from "which the companies and regiments came. This will end our Diary of Events, occurring in the brief space of fifteen days. What a record ! The world never read its like. It will be read b}- our descendants with astonishment. Let us preserve the memory of these days to ins])ire our ardor, to strengthen our faith, to deepen our love for the Union, tho Constitution and the Laws ! II. THE NEW NATION. Men awakened on tlie morning of April 14tli to enter upon the New Era of the Republic. The hour of trial had come. The people of the North were to say if the Union should sur- vive or perish — if the " Great Democratic Experiment" should ignominiously fail, or should assert its true nobility by show- ing a consolidated front to revolution and disorganization. The guns which ojjened upon Sumter were aimed at the Na- tional heart, which the fortress typified in its silent grandeur as it lay away off in the waters, not to be awakened until as- sailed. Would the Nation protect its heart ? It needed only such an assault to Send the blood bounding through every loyal bosom ; and the cry " TO ARMS !" which flew over the land, answered for the people. Rent into factions, divided in sentiment, antagonistic in personal interests, absorbed in schemes of gain, they had seemingly lived at open varianca As " Republicans," " Democrats," " Unionists," " Conserva- tives," "Abolitionists," "Pro-Slavery" and "Anti -Slavery" Extensionists, they had harbored bitter differences ; but, these all melted away in that night when Major Anderson slept in his battered fortress, defeated in the defense of his assailed flag ; and the people awoke on the morning of Sumter's evac- uation to a new life — the New Nation was born. All partisan differences, all local antipathies, all personal dislikes, were buried, and over their gi-ave arose the resurrected patriotism which had too long slumbered. Sumter lost but Freedom won when the madmen put the Union on its trial. We cannot better convey an idea of the astonishing change 36 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES that came over tlie people tlian to recur to the utterances of the press chronicling the events of those hours, so potent with great results to the country. The New York Herald, up to the hour of Sumter's bom- bardment, was inimical to the Administration, and strongly in favor of concessions to the South. After that event, its right hand of fellowship was withdrawn, and, with the common sen- timent of the North, it declared for a vigorous policy against the revolutionists, saying : " Whatever opinions may have prevailed, and whatever views of expediency may have been advocated, hitherto, there is clearly no other course for Gov- ernment to pursue now, than to ' retake the places and prop- erties' that have been seized and occupied, in the Southern States. Upon this point, the people of the Northern and Western States will be nearly a unit. As a consequence, past organizations and platforms are virtually swept away, and none of the issues remain of present importance which recently agitated the public mind. * * The time for undue excite- ment has passed. The passing events of each hour are so so- lemn, that every pulse should beat equably, and every aspi- ration be for a speedy restoration of the Republic to peace, and its pristine unity and greatness. The utmost unanimity of feeling should prevail in sustaining the only policy which is any longer practicable ; and every nerve should be strained to aid the Government in rendering its measures as efficient as possible." The Boston Post, the organ of the Breckenridge Democracy, sent forth this clarion call : " The uprising is tremendous ; and well would it be for each good citizen. South and North, to feel this invasion of the public order at Fort Sumtor as his own personal concern. In reality it is so. There is left no choice but between a support of the Government and anarchy I The rising shows that this is the feeling. The Proclamation calls for seventy-five thousand men ; and from one State filone, Pennsylvania, a hundred thousand are at the President'? com- mand at forty-eight hours' notice ! Nor is this all. Capital- ists stand ready to tender millions upon millions of monej to OF THE WAR. 37 sustain the grand Government of the Fathers. Thus the civ- ilized world will see the mighty energy of a free people, sup- plying in full measure the sinews of war, men and money, out of loyalty to the supremacy of law. Patriotic citizen ! choose you which you will serve, the world's best hope, our noble Republican Government, or that bottomless pit, social anarchy. Adjourn other issues until this self-preserving issue is settled." The Philadelphia Inqidrer (Opposition) spoke as well. It said : " ' Take your places in line.' The American flag trails in the dust There is from this hour no longer any middle or neutral ground to occupy. All party lines cease. Demo- crats, Whigs, Americans, Kepublicans and Union men, all merge into one or two parties — patriots or traitors. For our- selves, we are not prepared for either or any form of govern- ment which the imagination might suggest as possible or probable to follow in the wake of a republic. We are for the Government as handed down to us by our fathers. It was consecrated in blood, and given to us as a sacred legacy. It is ours to live by, and, by the blessing of God, it shall be ours to die by. We will have it and none other. We have no political feuds or animosities to avenge ; we know no cause save to wipe an insult from our flag, and to defend and main- tain an assailed Government and a violated Constitution. We care not who is President, or what political party is in power ; so long as they support the honor and the flag of our country, we are with them ; those who are not, are against us — against our flag — and against our Government ' Take your places in line !' " The New York Times correctly stated the facts and hopes of the hour in its issue of April 16th. It said : " The inci- dents of the last two days will live in historj'-. Not for fifty years has such a spectacle been seen, as that glorious uprising of American loyalty which greeted the news that open war had been commenced upon the Constitution and Government of the United States. The great heart of the American peo- ple beat with one high pulsation of courage, and of fervid love and devotion to the great Eepublic. Party dissensions were S8 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES instantly Imsliecl ; political differences disappeared, and were as tlioronghly forgotten as if they had never existed ; party bonds flashed into nothingness in the glowing flame of patriot- ism ; men ceased to think of themselves or their parties — they thoiiglit only of their country and of the dangers which men- aced its existence. Nothing for years has brought the hearts of all the people so close together, or so insjjired them all with common hopes, and common fears, and a common aim, as the bombardment and surrender of an American fortress. " We look upon this sublime outburst of public sentiment as the most perfect vindication of popular institutions — the most conclusive reply to the impugners of American loyalty, the country has ever seen. It has been quite common to say that such a Republic as ours could never be permanent, be- cause it lacked the conditions of a profound and abiding loy- alty. The Government could never inspire a patriotic instinct, fervid enough to melt the bonds of party,, or powerful enougb to override the selfishness which free institutions so rapidly develop. The hearts of our own people had begun to sink within them, at the apparent insensibility of the public, to the dangers which menaced the Government. The public mind seemed to have been demoralized — the public heart seemed insensible to perils which threatened utter extinction to our great Eepublic. The secession movement, infinitely the most formidable danger which has ever menaced our Government, •was regarded with indifference, and treated as merely a novel form of our usual political contentions. The best among us began to despair of a country which seemed incompetent to understand its dangers, and indifferent to its own destruction. "But all this is changed. The cannon which bombarded Sumter awoke strange echoes, and touched forgotten chords in the American heart. American Loyalty leaped into instant life, and stood radiant and ready for the fierce encounter. From one end of the land to the other — in the crowded streets of cities, and in the solitude of the country — wherever the splendor of the Stars and Stripes, the glittering emblems of our country's glory, meets the eye, come forth, shouts of devo- OF THE WAR. 39 tion and pledges of aid, wliicli give sure guarantees for the perpetuity of American Freedom. War can inflict no scars on such a people. It can do them no damage which time cannot repair. It cannot shake the solid foundations of their material prosperity — while it will strengthen the manly and heroic vir- tues, which defy its fierce and frowning front " It is a mistake to suppose that war — even Civil "War — is the greatest evil that can afflict a nation. The proudest and noblest nations on the earth have the oftenest felt its fury, and have risen the stronger, because the braver, from its over- whelming wrath, * AVar is a far less evil than degradation — than the national and social jDaralysis which can neither feel a wound nor redress a wrong. When War becomes the only means of sustaining a nation's honor, and of vindicating its just and rightfid supremacy, it ceases to be an evil, and be- comes the. source of actual and positive good. If we are doomed to assert the rightful supremacy of our Constitution by force of arms, against those who would overthrow and de- stroy it, we shall grow the stronger and the nobler by the veiy contest we are compelled to wage. " We have reason to exult in the noble demonstration of American loyalty, which the events of the last few days have called forth from every quarter of the country. Millions of freemen rally with exulting hearts, around our country's stand- ard. The gTcat body of our people have but one heart and one purpose in this great crisis of our history. Whatever may be the character of the contest, we have no fears or misgivings as to the final issue." Particularly referring to the unanimity of the political lead- ers in support of the Administration, the New York Courier and Inquirer of May 2d, said : " Yv^e have all witnessed the sudden transformation of the scene-painter's art — a whistle, a creak of a wheel, and in place of a cottage, a palace ! — a sigh- ing maiden is followed by an exultant conqueror ; and seeing these delusions of the canvas, we have accustomed ourselves to look upon it as a trick of the drama, and never in oui* ex- perience to be paralleled by the actual We are to see all 40 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Strange things in tlie nineteenth century, and of the very strangest is the sudden change of a Northern people from a race of quiet, patient, much-enduring, calm, ' consistent mem- bers of the Peace Society,' willing to compromise to the last possible interpolation of the Constitution, to a gathering of armed men, backing up courage by cash, and coming together with a union of the purse and the sword, which is to be one of the most remarkable chapters that history ever wrote. " The Macaulay of American annals will record that in one brief, earnest, intense ten of days, the chain of party melted ; the organization of party shivered ; the leaders of opposing opinions were as brethren ; — Seward, Douglas, Dix, even Caleb Cushing, wrote a full acquittance of past political strife, and declared that the life of their political doctrine was the preser- vation of the country's honor. Who shall ever despair of a nation after this ? If from our quarrels, our pale copipromises, our bondage to the exchange and to the warehouse, from all the indolence of prosperity, such a transformation to the camp of a brave and united soldiery, a close and compact counsel — the purse inverted over the soldier's needs — the struggle who shall quickest forget his party watch-word, and learn that of the line of battle — if this new life has thus sprung, the philos- opher of history must learn of us new ideas of the power of a free people. " The Ke volution of 1776 witnessed no such union. More families left New York and her sister colonies, because they would not show steel to King George, (and that when New York had population only of thousands where it now has hun- dreds of thousands,) than have now suggested doubts of our right from all the vast numbers of the Northern States. "We cannot even jet realize the change these ten days have wrought. We are like those who bring all their valuables to the lire of the furnace, and recast the compound. That pro- cess is now in our midst. Does any man suppose we are to be fused in just such party shape again? Differ we shall — but the gold has been tried, and the great fact established, that those dwelling in the Northern States have that devotion to OF THE WAIL. 41 the coimtiy at wliose call the mother gives her son to the battle, the capitalist his treasure to the cause, and men blend as a Nation. Were we ever a Nation "before ? " All lineages — the Mayflower man iS in the front rank only to be met in line by those who look back to Delft Haven. I have found the warmest thought and act in those who but a month since were doubtful of the patriotism of those of us who could not see the merit of 'compromise,' The voice of Ed- ward Everett rings out its call to arms — the men who have risked to offend the North by their ultra Southern views, have thrown all aside as the call for Union for the country's honor reached tliem." Thus it was that the New Nation spi^ang into existence, to redeem the 23ast and plant anew the tree of Liberty and Union, which the conspirators had so nearly torn up and shattered. III. THE M USTERINd. "Who shall tell the story of the gathering of those who flew to arms at the call ?' Every company of those first forward has its chapter of incidents lionorable to its patriotic devotion and creditable to its intelligence. Every regiment lias its re- cord of patriotism and self-sacrifice, for in its ranks stood those whom no mercenary motive had impelled to arms. Doctors, lawyers, merchants, students, mechanics, were there — all -de- serting business and home to encounter the toils, privations, sufferings, and dangers of military service. The Massachusetts, New Yorlc, and Rhode Island militia regiments which were iirst ready, and, in a few days, were on the way to Washington, were Though Cotton be of Kingly stock, Yet royal heads may reach the block, The Puritan taught it once in pain, His sous shall teach it once again; Northmen, come out ! Northmen, come out! Forth into battle with storm and shout! He who lives with victory 's blest, He Avho dies gains peaceful rest. Living or dying, let us be Still vowed to God and Liberty ! Northmen, come out ! Oliver Wendell Uolmes, after the burial of the Massachu- setts dead, killed by the mob at Baltimore, penned this adju- ration for the hour : Weavb no more silks, ye Lyons looms, To deck our girls for gay delights] The crimson flower of battle blooms, And solemn marches fill the nights. Weave but t)ae flag whose bars to-day Drooped heavy o'er our early dead, And homely garments, coarse and gray, For orphans that must earn their bread ! . Keep back your tunes, ye viols sweet, That pour delight from other lands ! Rouse there the dancer's restless feet— The trumpet leads our warrior bauds. 56 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES And ye that wage the war of words With mystic fame and subtile powei', Go, chatter to tlie idle birds, Or teacli tljc lesson of the hour ! Ye Sibyl Arts, in one stern knot Be all your offices combined ! Stand close, while Cournge draws the lot, The destiny of humankind ! And if that destiny could fail. The sun should darken in the sky, The eternal bloom of Nature pale. And God, and Truth, and Freedom die ! There is in this fine poem an undertone of pathos, which makes it very touching in its sorro^Y : I I know the sun shines, and the lilacs are blowing, I And Summer sends kisses by beautiful May — Oh ! to see all the treasures the Spring is bestowing, And think — my boy Willie enlisted to-day ! It Eeetos but a day since at twiliglit, low humming, • I rocked him to sleep with his cheek upon mine. While Robby, the four-year old, watched for the coming > Of father, adowu the street's indistinct line. It is many a year since my Harry departed. To come back no more in the twiliglit or dawn ; And Robbj^ grew weary of w.atching, and started Alone, on the journey his father had gone. It is many a year — and, this afternoon, sitting At Robby's old window, I heard the band play, And suddenly ceased dreaming over my knitting, To recollect Willie is twenty to-day : And that, standing beside him this soft Jlay- day morning, The sun making gold of his Avrcr.thod cigar-smoke, I saw in his sweet eyes and lips a faint warning, And choaked down the tears when he eagerly spoke. OFTHEWAR. 67 ** Dear mother, you know liow those traitors are crowing, They trample the folds of our flag in the dust ; The boys are all fire ; and they wish I were going — " He stopped, but his eyes said, " Oh say if I must I" I smiled on the boy, though my heart it seemed breaking: My eyes tilled with tears, so I turned them away, And answered him, " Willie, 'tis well you are waking — Go, act as your father would bid you to-day 1" I sit in the window and see the flags flying, And dreamily list to the roll of the drum, And smother the pain in my heart that is lying, And bid all the fears in my bosom be dumb. I shall sit in the window when Summer is lying Out over the fields, and the honey-bees hum Lulls the rose at the porch from her tremulous sighing, And watch for the face of my darling to come. And if he should fell .... his jouug life he has given For Freedom's sweet sake .... and for me, I will pray Once more with my Hai'ry and Robby in heaven To meet the dear boy tiiat enlisted to-day. Tlie spirit of scorn at treason and liigli resolve to strike and spare not, rings out in these stirring stanzas, by Franklin Lusliington. It has in it the clang of the old Eoman's steeL No more words ; Try it with your swords ! Try it with the arms of your bravest and your best I You are proud of your manhood, now put it to the test : Not another word ; Try it by the sword 1 No more notes : Try it by the throats Of the cannon that will roar till the earth and air be shaken ; For tlicy sjieak what they mean, and they can not be mistaken ; No more doubt ; Come — fight it out. 58 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES No child's play 1 Waste not a day ; Serve out the deadliest weapon you know ; Let them pitilessly hail in the faces of the foe ; No blind strife ; "Waste not one life. You that in the front Bear the battle's brunt — When the sun gleams at dawn on the bayonets abreast, Remember 'tis for Government and Country you contest ; For love of all you guard, Stand ftnd strike hard. You at home that stay, Prom danger far away, Leave not a jot to chance, while you rest in quiet ease; Quick ! forge the bolts of death ; quick! ship them o'er the seaS| If war's feet are lame, Yours will be the blame. You, my lads, abroad, " Steady I" be your word : You, at home, be the anchor of your soldiers young and brave • Spare not cost, none is lost, that may strengthen or may save ; Sloth were sin and shame ; Now play out the game. Bayard Taylor tlivis cliarmingly worded the incident which it commemorates, of the old soldier of 1812 pleading with General Scott for a place in the ranks : An old and crippled veteran to tlie War Department came. He sought the Chief who led him, on many a field of fame — The Chief wlio shouted " Forward !" wliere'er his banner rose, And bore his stars in triumph behind the flying foes. " Have you forgotten. General," the battered soldier cried, " The days of eighteen hundred twelve, when I was at your side f Have you forgotten Johnson, that fought at Lundy's Lane ? 'Tis true I'm old, and pensioned, but I want to fight again," ** Have I forgotten ?" said the Chief: " my brave old soldier. No ! And here's the hand I gave you then, and let it tell you so ; But you have done your share, my friend ; you're crippled, old, and grej, And we have need of younger arms and fresher blood to-day." OFTHEWAR. 59 " But, General !" cried tlie veteran, a flush u^Don his brow ; " The very men who fought with us, tliey say, are traitors now ; They've torn tlie flag of Lundy's Lane, our old red, white, and blue, And while a droj) of blood is left, I'll show that drop is true. " I'm not so weak but I can strike, and I've a good old gun To get the range of traitors' hearts, and j^ick them, one by one. Your Minie rifles and such arms it ain't worth while to try : I couldn't get the hang o' them, but I'll kecjD my powder dry I" " God bless you, comrade 1" said the Chief — " God bless your loyal heart 1 But younger men are in the field, and claim to have their part. They'll plant our sacred banner in each rebellious town, And Avoe, henceforth to any hand, that dares to pull it down I" " But, General!" — still persisting, the weeping veteran cried; " I'm young enough- to follow, so long as you're my guide : And some, you know, must bite the dust, and that, at least, can I j So, give the young ones place to fight, but me a place to die I " If they should fire on Pickens, let the Colonel in command Put me upon the rampart, with the flag-stafl:" in my hand ; No odds how hot the cannon-smoke, or how the shells may fly, I'll hold the Stars and Stripes aloft, and hold them till I die I " I'm ready. General, so you let a post to me be given, Where Washington can see me, as he looks from highest Heaven, And say to Putnam at his side, or, niay be. General Wayne ; ' There stands old Billy Johnson, that fought at Lundy's Lane I* " And when the fight is hottest, before the traitors fly ; When shell and ball arc screeching, and bursting in the sky, If any shot should hit mo, and lay me on my face. My soul would go to Washington's, and not to Arnold's place I'* It was chronicled among the incidents illustrative of the spirit which prevailed at the South, tliat " a company of Con- , federate Horse Guards, at Memphis, lately took a United States flag and buried it in a grave in the earth, with appro- priate funeral ceremonies." Some poet adverted to the act in this poem, which strongly reminds the reader of Mrs. Brown* ing's numbers : 60 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES So you've buried llic flag at Mempliis ? How many fathoius deep ? What seal did you set on the Stars and Stripes f And who that grave shall keep ? Alas for tlie dead at IMemphis 1 Mere dust to dnst you bear ; No vision of Life all glorified, Of Love grown heavenly fair — No radiant dream, with a Christly sign, Of the Victor's living palm ; Of the odorous golden joy that dares Join Scrai^Iis in their psalm ! You never read, in a rich man's cave The Life of the world lay, slain ! And the mourning women went to w^atch, But found — where he had lain. Come, guess — who roU'd from his cave the rock I Who broke great Pilate's seal ? " While the soldiers slecj), and the women weep, Base luinds the Body stcaV Vain guess for knowledge ! Children dear, Not Death lay in that cave, But Living Love ! "While the world above Went wailing— "i>ieeZ to saveP'' Well — judge if Freedom's sacred sign Can molder under ground. With the march of a million men o'erhead, Their banners eagle-crowned ? From Plymouth Rock to the Golden Gate A shout goes right and left; The aliens' dreamful watch is done — The sepulchcr is cleft. Weak hands ! Heap clay on the Stars of God 1 They never shone before ! They rend the shroud, and they pierce the cloud, All hail, then, Thirty-Four ! OFTHEWAR. 61 Nor should we omit tlie humor and satire wliicb. also flowed from tlie pens of those who scorned the traitors' and plun- derera' part. Punch came forward, from over the sea, with this terribly bitter — but who shall say inappropriate? — " National Hymn of the Confederate States" : When first tlic South, to fnry i^mnccl, Arose and l^roke the Union's chain, This was the Charter, tlie Charter of the land, And Mr, Davis sang the strain : Rule Slaveownia, Slavcownia rules, ;ind raves — *' Christians ever, ever, ever have had slaves." The Northerns, not so blest as thee, At Aby Lincoln's foot may fall. While thou shalt flourish, shalt flourish fierce and free The vi'hip, that makes the Nigger bawl. Rule Slaveownia, Slaveownia rules, and raves — " Christians ever, ever, ever should have slaves." Thou, dully savage, shalt despise Each freeman's argument, or joke ; Each law that Congress, that Congress thought so wise, Serves but to light thy pipes for smoke. Rule Slaveownia, Slavcownia rules, and raves — " Christians ever, ever, ever must have slaves." And Trade, that knows no God but gold, Shall to thy pirate ports repair ; Blest land, where flesh — where human flesh is sold. And manly arms may flog that air. Rule Slavcownia, Slaveownia I'ules, and raves — " Christians ever, ever, ever should have slaves." Jefferson Davis, in his Message at the opening of the extra session of the Confederate Congress, 1861, said among other remarkable things, that all the South wished was to he let alone. Some appreciative person, through the Hartford (Conn.) Gow rant, embodied the Secessionist's wishes in this effusion : 62 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES As A'once I Talked liy a dismal swamp, There sot an Old Cove in the dark and damp, And at everybody that passed that road A stick or a stone this Old Cove throwed. And vcnever he flung his stick or his stone, He'd set ui? a song of " Let me alone." " Let me alone, for I loves to shy These bits of things at the passers by — Let me alone, for I've got your tin And lots of other traps snugly in — Let me alone, I'm riggin' a boat To grab votever you've got afloat — In a veek or so I expect to come And turn you out of your 'ousc and 'ome — I'm a quiet Old Cove, says he, with a groan : All I axes is — Let mc alone." Just then came along, on the self same way Another Old Cove, and l)egan for to say — " Let you alone I That 's comin' it strong ! — You've been let alone — a darned sight too long— Of all the sarce that ever I heerd ! Put down that stick ! (You may well look skcercd I) Let go that stone ! If you once show fight, I'll knock you higher than any kite. You must have a lesson to stop your tricks, And cure you of shying them stones and sticks, And I'll have my hardware back, and my cash, And knock your scow into tarnal smasii. And if ever I catches you 'round my ranch, I'll string you up to the nearest branch. The best you can do is to go to bed, And keep a decent tongue in your head ; For I reckon before you and I are done, You'll wish you had let honest folks alone." The Old Cove stopped, and the t'other Old CovQ, He sot quite still in his cypress grove, And he looked at his stick, revolvin' slow, Vether 'twere safe to shy it or no — And he grumbled on, in an injured tone, "All that I axed vos, let me alonej'' OFTHEWAR. 63 To tlie ever-living Yankee Doodle tlie ■world owes mucli of its best humor. Southern dislilcc of *' the Yankees" did not s.erve to render the term any the less popular among the loy- alists. Hence we find a large number of songs to the good old " tune" which were re-echoed among the hills of much of the "sacred soil" by the Northern troops — so little respect had they for the prejudices of their enemies ! Early in the cam- paign against rebellion, the following '' Suggestions" were made by G. W. Westbrook : " ' ' Taukee Doodle's come again Among tlie sons of Gotliam — Not to see the gods and shows, But to sec the facts, and quote 'em. He heard of South Carolina's boast That Jonathan -vvas craven — That Cotton was the king of earth, And nothing else could save 'cm. But, Yankee Doodle says : " Dear sirs. You know not what's the matter — You see through glasses darkly smoked With error and tobackcrl " Your darkies plough, and hoc, and digj To raise your rice and cotton, And sugar, too, and cornstalks big, And many things forgotten. " You orter know that Yankees make Your cotton into muslin, And thread, and tape, and hosiery, And ladies' wear quite puzzlin', •' Besides, they make the canvas sheets That forms the wings of commerce, To take your schooners and your fleeta To every harbor on earth. • "They also make the canvas bags, And send them to the prairies Of Indhma, Illinois, , As the soil and climate varies. 64 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES ** To hold potatoes, corn, and oats, And wheat, and 170, and barley, And sometimes coal, and ice in boats, And coverings for the darkey. " They also take your rice in ships Built by the Yankee nation — From Charleston's docks and New York slips All over the creation. " Your sugar, too, the Yankees take- - Although they tap the maple, That produces matter saccharine, And forms a Yankee staple. "Tobacker, too, the Yankees chew. And smoke and snufi"in plenty — The ladies, too, if you only knew, Send to you by the twenty "For early fruits and early flowers, Before the North can raise 'em, To decorate their lovely bowers. Their sweethearts to amaze 'em. " Then why this strife ? like man and wife In a domestic quarrel — That after all must end with life. With no unfading laurel ? "Jonathan's advice, therefore, Is, peacefully be living, And kind and true to eveiy one, Forbearing and forgiving. " If you refuse to take this hint Intended for your favor. We'll show you how the cap and flint Will cause you much more labor." This icay suffice for cxiir lialflion-r wi-tk the Poets. The contributions of Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Whitman, Rose Terry, Miss Procto,-, Oliver Wendell Holmes, R. H. Stoddard, George U. Bolver, T. B. Read, Lowell, A. J. H. Duganne, Alice Gary, Bayard Taylor, Whittier, John Neal, Park Benjamin, were very noticeable for their spirit and strength. V. EAKLY INCIDENTS. "When one of the New York city regiments was mfircliing to tlie steamer, a young man, who had risen from a sick bed to go with his company, fainted in the street. A sturdy fellow ste2:)ped from the .crowd on the sidewalk, saying, " Give me his musket and cartridge-box." Tliey were given to him, and without another word he marched on in the place of the sick man. In one of the Massachusetts regiments was a young citizen of Maine. He had come from that State to ^lassachusetts to visit his mother, whom he had not seen for five years, and had been with her only an hour, when he was asked if he did not wish to volunteer. He said his grandfather went to Bunker Hill on short notice, and he would go now ; so he bade his mother good by, and was gone. One of the captains of the Massachusetts Sixth regiment stated that four hundred were refused admittance to the ranks. " It went agin me," said he, " to leave one fellow behind When we told him he could not go — ' I've walked fourteen miles,' exclaimed he, ' and given up a situation of a dollar and a quarter a day just to go, and I think you might take me.' When I had to refuse," said the Captain, " he sat down and cried." A Southern merchant wrote to a large firm in New York, requesting a list of the names of those who supported and sympathized with the "movement against the South." The New Yorker replied by sending through Adams & Co.'s Ex- press, a copy of the " City Du'ectory ! ' 66 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES A wealthy Quaker merchant in New York, had in his cm- ploy a stout, liealthy, able-bodied young man, without family. He thought the fellow could serve his country to advantage, and he accordingly addi-essed him thus : " William, if it is thy desire to become a soldier, thou art at liberty to do so, and thy salary shall be continued during thy absence as if thou wert here ; but if thou dost not desire to become a soldier and serve thy country, I no longer require thy services here." The young man enlisted. " My son," said a solid merchant to his heir and namesake, " I would rather give $1,000 than have you go to Washington soldiering." " Father," was the kindly but decided response, "if you could make it $100,000 it would be of no use; for wliere the Seventh regiment goes, I go." Before the sailing of the Columbia, transport from New York, a demand was made in the name of the regiment that the emblematic Palmetto trees on the bow, paddle-boxes, and stern, should be }>ainted black. The ceremony of obliteration was performed amid the most unbounded applause of the regiment, and the citizens on the wharf The Ilarmony Society, of Beaver County, Pa., deposited five thousand dollars in the bank at New Brighton, to the order of Daniel Agnew, Chairman of the Committee of Safety, for such general purposes as the war movements might require. This society consists of men of advanced age and peaceful pursuits, too old for active defense; but they were patriotic, and deter- mined to do all that loyal citizens could do for the Government A lad}"" of known patiiotism who had done good service in sewing and contributing for the volunteers, visited her country place in Byberry, near Philadelphia, when the farmer, in honor of her arrival, run up a flag upon the barn. Said flag had been made some years ago for the children, and, to economise material and stitches, contained but three stripes and a short dozen of stars. Some of the neighboi-s beheld the tri-striped OF THE WAR. G7 colors and at once gave tlic alarm. In a sliort time an excited crowd from all^tlie country around approached tlic j^lacc, bran- dishing weapons of every description, tln-eatening to burn down the buildings. They took the strange flag to mean secession. It was prom})tly removed, and the crowd invited to an ca:le7n' pore collation. Among other incidents worthy of mention is that of Rode- rick W. Cameron, a worthy Scotchman, one of the leading citizens of New York, who was offered a place on the staff of the brigade in which the Seventy-nintli (Scotch) regiment was to serve. In answer to the offer he said : "My Dear Colonel : I am rejoiced to see the prompt ac« tion of the gallant Seventy-ninth. *' Scotchmen are invariaky true to their allegiance. Although as a subject of Great Britain, I could not accept the flattering offer tendered to me by ^^oui- good self, of a staff appointment ; still, there is no reason why a good subject of Great Britain should not be an acceptable volunteer to defend the laws and the flag of this great country. I therefore heartily tender my- self to serve in the ranks of the Seventy-ninth Highlandei-s, and share the dangers of those who wear the tartan of my clan. I cannot })romise to be constantly with the regiment, but if danger threatens, I will endeavor to be present at the moment when the first shot is fired. " All loyal Britons must feci as I do, that it is for the honor and safety of Great Britain to support their cousins of the United States, and to maintain the Stars and Stripes as an em- blem of true freedom on this continent." It was this gallant Seventy-ninth which Colonel Cameron (a brother of the then Secretary of War) led to battle, (Bull Run,) and, in leading them, perished. The Cincinnati Times related a good story of an old fifer employed at the Military Institute near Frankfort, Kentucky. The old fellow had served in the North-west in the second war with Great Britain, and took part in the battle of the Thames 68 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES and otlier fights. During the late Secession tornado over Kentucky, the cadets, affected with the fever, talked pretty severely against those devoted to the Stars and Stripes. The old veteran listened, but said nothing. One evening he went into the room of our informant, and seemed to be in some- tliing of a passioii He paced backward and forward, saying nothing, and refusing to answer all questions. At last he pulled out his fife, and, sitting down, sent forth "Yankee Doodle" with its shrillest strains. Then he plaj'-ed " Hail Columbia," and then " The Star-Spangled Banner," while the tears rolled down his aged and weather-beaten cheeks. Con- cluding that, he jumped to his feet, and exclaimed : ^^Now, d — n 'e?n, I guess they knoiv wliich side Fm on P^ Five sons of one mother volunteered at the first call for troops. The mother was absent from home at the time, and was informed by letter of the step taken by her sons. -Her reply deserves to be embalmed in the casket of the Eoman mother's jewels. It read : " My Dear Husband : Your letter came to hand last even- ing. I must confess I was startled by the news referring to our boys, and for the moment I felt as though a ball had pierced my own heart. For the first time I was obliged to -look things full in the face. But although I have always loved my children with a love that none but a mother can know, yet, when I look at the state of my country, I cannot withhold them ; and in the name of their God, and their mo- ther's God, and their country's God, I bid them go. If I had ten sons, instead of five, I would give them all sooner than have our country rent in fragments. The Constitution must be sustained at any cost. We have a part to act and a duty to perform, and may God, our father, strengthen us, and nerve us to the task, and enable us to say. Whatever Thou requirest that will I cheerfully give and do. May He bless and protect our dear children, and bring them home to us in safety. I hope you will provide them each with a Bible, and give them their mother's love and blessing, and tell them our prayers ? ^ i! OFTHEWAR. 69 will accompany tliem, and ascend on tlieir behalf niglit and day." Colonel Hazard, the great powder manufacturer, wrote to CoJonel Colt as follows : " I am informed that the regiment you are so generously and patriotically arming and fitting out is nearly full. May I be permitted, through jou, and in behalf of my company, to furnish them with powder sufficient for fifty thousand cart- ridges, or as much as you may require for target practice, which they and you will please accept from your friend." Colonel Colt fitted out and fully armed with his choicest ■weapons a complete regiment. As early as January, 1861, it is said, the Colonel gave orders that no arms should be sold to the South. It has been stated that arms were supplied to all orders up to the breaking out of hostilities, though it is cer- tain that Colonel Colt was thoroughly loyal. A letter from Philadelphia, dated April 21st, gave this pic- ture of affairs in that city : " Pennsylvania has for once eclips- ed New York ! In this contest for the prize of self-sacrificing patriotism which now prevails among the States, you can gen- erously afford to listen and iicknowledge the fact PennsyJ- vania passed the first thoroughgoing war bill, authorizing the Governor to call out any number of men, and giving $500,000. New York followed with $3,000,000 and thirty thousand men. This was worthy of the great heart of New York. It electri- fied and staggered us — we were fairly outdone. But when Sumter was assailed we recovered our equilibrium, and our Legislature, by unanimous vote — the whole Democracy fusing with us — ^pledged the State of Pennsylvania ' to any amount, and to every extent,' to sustain the Grovernment and put down treason. There it stands upon the record, wholly unsurpassed, overtopping even glorious New York. Do what others may, can any devotion to the Union exceed this ? Now this is not bravado. Oar whole population is ablaze with eagerness to see it realized. Our city banks immediately offered all the 70 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES money Pennsylvania might want. Private citizens tendered money in amounts never before offered, and I do believe that if Government were to Offer ^100,000,000 of Treasury notes in Penns)dvania, small enough for general circulation, they would be absorbed in less than thirty dnjs. Our confidence in the Government is firmer than it ever was, and every new devel- opment of its vigorous policy serves to strengthen it. Two such communities as New York and Pennsylvania moving shoulder to shoulder, seeking to outdo each other in the race of devotion to a common countrj'-, present a spectacle at which the world may not only v/onder, but exult, and before which treason will, ere yet, call upon the mountains to cover it. " On Friday last it was discovered that ten thousand uni- forais for our volunteers must be supplied by the State, and orders were at once issued for making them. The empty Gi- rard Ilouse was rented, an army of cutters employed, cloth furnished by merchants at mere nominal prices, and our wo- men, taking fire at the call, came by thousands to offer their help to make up. No such sight was ever seen. The large buikling is now filled with ladies, wives of our best citizens, with their daughters, working all day on coats and blankets, aided by an army of sewing-machines. At least three tliou- sand persons, mostly ladies, are now at work, aided by one hundred cutters. Ladies come from all parts, town and coun- try, volunteering to take Iiome work, and Chesnut street ia fairly blocked up with these patriotic women seeking to do something for the cause. The work thus goes bravely on. Another incident of the times is the organization of a body of some three hundred women as nurses, experienced hands, who intend going with the troops to take care of the sick and wounded. Most of these are young women in robust health This same anxiety to aid the cause appears in all the neigh- boring towns. In short, the spectacle of a people so united has probably never been seen." The same letter added these incidents of the hour : " The general enthusiasm breaks forth in a multitude of novel shapes. Boys are peddling Union flags mounted on sticks in all our OFTnEWAR. 71 tlioronglifares, and from their hands they find their -way into all the neighboring towns, where they hang from window and doorpost. Men walk our streets under umbrellas made of material printed with the Stars and Stripes. The first who showed himself under such a banner was greeted with cheers as he moved along. Union parasols of printed silks are com- ing out for the ladies. Four hundred girls in one of our pub lie schools have each contributed stitches in a huge flag, and faised it on the school-house amid tremendous cheering. The women are working laboriously for the volunteers and their families, whom they leave behind them. One lady has smug- gled herself in as a volunteer alongside her husband, dressed in a suit of his clothes, and jDassing as his brother. Others, upmarried, have offered themselves as vivandiers, to accom- pany the troops. The owners of many small houses occupied by departing volunteers have notified them that they shall charge no rent while they are absent at the wars, and others are imitating the example thus set. A vast array of names — some forty thousand — has been signed to the pledge of faith- fulness to the Government, drawn up and headed by Horace Binney. Captain Archambault, an old officer under Napoleon, has called out the French citizens to swell the ranks of the Garde Lafayette under his command, and they respond heart- ily. The utmost rivalry prevails among the companies now forming as to which shall be fii'st filled. Drilling goes on nightly in at least fifty places. I saw some six hundred vol- unteers marching in one body behind the recruiting oificer, . through as drenching a rain as ever fell. The Stock Brokers, as a body, have unanimously pledged themselves to sustain the Government. The Drug Exchange people have done tlie same thing. Factory hands are every where giving combined expression to similar sentiments. Men over sixty years old are presenting themselves as volunteers, and insisting on being accepted. Merchants and business men, exempt by age from military duty, have organized a home guard of ten thousand for city defense. Arms are in great demand, and our manu- factures are as busy as bees. There is a complete cessation 10 72 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES of shipments of all kinds of merchandise to tlie rebel States, money in hand not tempting our citizens to either feeding or clothing them. I hear a rumor of a force of five thousand blacks being oi"ganized. They offer to raise that number of . men provided a jDlcdge is given tliem that they will be march.- ed directly down among the rebels. Such a body could be raised here, and in this neighborhood." It may be said, in reference to this last sentence regarding the blacks, that great numbers of those residing in the North- ern States — large numbers of whom were well-to-do people — were anxious to serve their country ; but, in no instance dur- ing the war were they called into field service. Numbers of " contrabands" were employed in camp, hospital and laborer service ; but, throughout all the war the loyal blacks were not permitted to take up arms. The reason, doubtless, was, that a great hue and cry would have been raised by the enemi(;s of this Government, here and in Europe, that the negroes were being let loose to " commit atrocities" upon the South. As if negroes could rival in atrocity the savages who made drinking cups of the skvills of the " Fire Zouaves," and who brutally scourged, starved, robbed and hung the defenseless Ujiionists of Tennessee ! When Parson Brownlow, at an early day of the rebellion, said : " If it shall so happen, in the progress of affairs, that the authorities of the land shall give us our choice, and submit the same to us as an ultimatum^ either to go to h — or take refuge in the Southern Confedej-acy, we will claim a week to consider of the matter, and to make up our mind, as between the two evils" — he simply showed that he appreciated the spirit of malice and evil upon which the whole movement was founded. The following is a specimen of the neics dealt out to the Southern people. It is from a New Orleaixs journal : " All the Massachusetts troops now in Washington are ne- gi'oes, with the exception of two or three drummer-boys. General Butler, in command, is a native of Liberia.' Our readei-s may recollect old Ben, the barber, who kept a shop in OFTHEWAR. 73 Poydras street, and emigrated to Liberia with a small compe- tence. General Butler is his son." As General Butler and some Massacluisetts troops had the pleasure of taking posses- sion of New Orleans, the people of that city had an oppor- tunity of testing his " quality," When General Butler, in command of the Massachusetts regiments, landed at Annapolis, Md., some of the authorities protested against the passage of Massachusetts troops over Maryland soil ; to whicli he replied : " Sir, we came here not as citizens of Massachusetts, but as citizens of and soldiers of the United States, with no intention to invade any State, but to protect the Capital of our common country from invasion. We shall give no cause of offense; but there must be no fugitive shots or stray bricks on the way." Butler's troops soon became noted for their general efficiency. Probably no regiment was called to the field, embodying more ingenious men than the Massachusetts Eighth. When sailors were wanted, to take th-o Conslitulion ("Old Ironsides") out of danger in Annapolis harbor, fifty-four men stepped fi'om the ranks. When the railway to the Aimapolis junction with the Washington railway was seized for the transport service of the Government, the only engine was found crippled and useless. Butler's call for machinists was answered by eight excellent workmen — one of whom had helped to construct that identical engine. The macliine was in running order in two hours' time. The railway track had been torn up, culverts destroyed, bridges burned : the men v/ere there to place all in order. The Sixth Massachusetts regiment — the regiment as^tiiled by the mob in Baltimore — was chiefly drawn from the county of Middlesex, which embj'accs the battle-fields of Bunker's Hill, Concord and Lexington, and many of the men were line- al descendants of those who fought on those fields. In the Filth Massachusetts was the Concord company, four 7-^ INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES members of wliicli were named Buttrick, sons of one in;m, a direct descendant from tlic Colonel Buttrick wlio gave the command at Concord bridge: " I'irc, fellow soldiers ! for God's sake, fire ! " How it sounded, to Nortliern ears at least, to lienrits volun teers characterised as the lowest scnm of society. 'I'lie Kaleigb Banner said, in urging the attack on Washington City : " The army of the South will be composed of the best material that ever jet made up an army; whilst that of Lincoln will be gathered from the sewers of tlie cities — the dcgrailcd, beastly offscourings of all quarters of the world, who will scr\e for pay, and run away as soon as they can when danger threatens them." The Charleston i/erci«-^ characterised our troops as "invading swine." And so of almost innumerable ])apers. The opinion was so sedulously disseminated that tlic Northern volunteers were a beggarly set of cowards, (see ])age 40,) that 'the only wonder is, Southern "gentlemen" could consent to take the field against them. The Mobile A(herti>>vr enlight- ened us in this fashion : " Our volunteer soldiery is not the soldiery of necessity — men worth their hundreds of thousands caiTy the musket in the ranks. Plenty reigns in our dwellings, and is gladly abandoned for the privations of the camp. Such is the materiel with which we meet a mercenary pauper sol- diery. Who would doubt the issue when it is man to man? The creatures of one side, sordid and indifferent, fight for so much per diem as the alteniative of starvation. I'lie men on the other side fight for rights and liberties, filled with ardor by the noblest impulses. Let these foes meet in j)itcl»cd battle, and the sons of the South will triumph, were the enemy five to one." Alas! how their dream dissolved in mist — how their tune dianged before a twelvemonth ! Let us append, as a comment on the above, the following pleasing incident from the New York Sun : — "A tall, splendid- looking man, dressed in the uniform of the Allen Greys, Ver- mont, stood conversing with a friend on Broadway, llo was [OFTHEWAR. 75 entirely unconscious that liis superior bcigTit was attracting universal attention, until a splendid barouche drove up to tlie sidewalk, and a young man sprang from it and grasped Lis hand, sajdiig, ' You are the most splendid specimen of hu- manity I ever saw. I am a Southerner, but my heart is with the Union; if it w^ere not, such noble-looking fellows as your- self would enlist me in the cause.' The subject of the remark, although surprised, was perfectly self-possessed, and answered the cordial greeting of the young Southerner with warm enthu- siasm. He was several inches above six feet, and his noble, open countenance, beamed with the ancient patriotism of the Green Mountain Boys, of which he was so line a specimen. He had walked fifteen miles from the village of Chittenden to enlist, and was the only representative of that village ; but he was a host in himself Long may he live to honor our Stars and Stripes," In the same company of one of the Ohio regiments, were sixteen brothers by the name of Finch, all from Dayton, in that State, though born in Germany. This remarkable circum- stance — sixteen members of one family in one military com- pany — has not its parallel, we believe, in the annals of war. The Newport Artillery (company F of the First Rhode Is- land regiment) has a most notable history, which was thus -narrated by a good authority : " It is one of the oldest military- organizations in the country. It is an independent company, and was chartered by the British Crown in 1741. With but three exceptions since that time (during the Revolutionary war, when Newport was in possession of English and Hessian troops) the company has held annual meetings under the charter and elected officers, who consist of a Colonel and others connected with a regiment. The names of Generals Greene iind Vaughan, of Revolutionary fame. Commodore Pci-r}-, and other distinguished personages, are among the enrolled mem- bers of tlie company, which number between two and three thousand since its organization. In their armory, at Newport, thej' have an autograph letter from General George Washing- 76 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES ton, written in 1792, thanking tliem for an invitation to be witli them at their annual celebration on the 22d of February of that year, which is handsomely framed. Of the fifty-two active members, forty-seven volunteered their services for the defense of the National Capital, when Governor Sprague tele- gi'aphed to inquire the number of men they could furnish, and in a few hours the number was increased to one hundred and thii'ty-five by recruits. VI. THE HUMOR OF THE HOUR. One of the Ohio regiments chose for its chaplain Rev. Gran- ville Moody, a well-known Methodist minister. lie refused to serve except the regiment properly equipped him witli a full jigliting costume, "for," said he, "in our persuasion we do not believe in faith without works." A good thing is alsQ told of another " member of the cloth," in Ohio — Rev. Mr. Beattie, of Cleveland. Presenting a revolver to a member of the Seventh (Ohio) regiment, lie said : " If you get in a tight spot, and have to use it, ask God's blessing if you have time, but be sure and not let your enemy get the start of yoiL You can say ' Amen F after you shoot P Corporal Tyler, of the Massachusetts Sixth regiment, when describing his experience in Baltimore, says he saw a man with three stones under his arm and one in his hand, pelting av.'^aj at the troops, when he fired at him, and — to use ^\\: Tylers own language — " Tlie man clwijped (lie hrichs^ and laid down^ Southern Illinois was named " Egypt," because of the mul- titude of Southern men who had brought, as residents, igno« OF THE -WAR. 77 ranee, and its concomitant, insolence, along witli tlicm. Dunng the excitement following npon the President's call for troops, the Southern spirit manifested itself pretty plainly in the lower section of the Prairie State. The occupation of Cairo by the Federal forces effectually "squelched" this secession spirit. An old farmer one day said to the Chicago Light Artillery, whose guns made Cairo a terror to Secessionists along the two rivers : "I tell you what it is, bo^'^s, them brass missionaries lias con- verted a heap of folks hereabouts that was on the anxious seat, and scared some others right into Icingdom come /" A deputation of sixteen Virginians and eight Marylandera visited the President on the 21st of April, and demanded a cessation of hostilities until after the session of Congress ! Mr. Lincoln, of course, declined the proposition. One of the depu- tation said, that 75,000 Marylanders would contest the passage of troops over her soil ; to which the President replied, that he presumed there was room enough on her soil to bury 75,000 men. This is grim humor, but a fine instance of dignified retaliation to threat. The Charleston Mercury relagated its readers witli these talcs of the Fire Zouaves — a regiment which struck more real terror, to the Southern heart than any other brought into the service during the entire war. "The first inquiry made by the Fire Zouaves on landing at Washington, was, with grave-faced earnestness, " Can you tell us where Jefierson Davis is? we're lookin' for him." "Yes," said another, " we're bound to hang his scalp in the White House before we go back." Another one, whose massive un- derjaw and breadth of neck indicated him ' some in a plug muss,' remarked, that they had expected to have arrived by way of Baltimore. " We would have come through Baltimore like a dose of salts," he added, watli an air of disappointment One of them beckoned a citizen, confidentially, to his side, and inquired, " Is there any secession flags about here ?" lie was assured that secession bunting was an article that did not pre- vail there. lie nodded, and added, " I only wanted to know." 78 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES "Oil coming down the Avenue, the Franldin Fire Company reel passed them at a sliarp run, on its way to a fire ; and tlie familiar apparatus was saluted with such a yell of recognition along the entire line, as must have fairly astonished the staid old reel. " Somebody remarked to one of the b'hoj^s, that his hair was cut rcnjUicr short. " Oh, yes," was the reply, " wc all had our heads filed before we left New York," They all look like fighting boys; but one company seems to have a special pres- tige that way. " If there's any mischief done, lay it onto Company Q^^'^ seemed to be a pet phrase amongst the b"hoys, " Some of the Zouaves, in emerging from their quartei's (Co- lumbian Market building) this morning, disdaining the tedious, common-place mode of exit by the stairway, let themselves down to the street from the third story by a rope, like so many monkeys." " One blank cartridge, hereafter, Captain, will be sufficient ; that being given, you can fire with ball ; ammunition is just now I'ather expensive," said General Lyon to one of his cap- tains, after four blank shots had been fired to bring about a steamboat that was passing the arsenal at St Louis, without answering the summons of the river guard. This, from " Secessia," will bear repeating. The New Or- leans authorities seized a ship called American Union. The telegraph operators were somewhat confounded when the cap- tain (Lincoln) called on them to send a dispatch of this nature: " W. v. O. Moses, Bath — American Union in the hands of the enemy. (Signed) "A LINCOLN, Master." The Crescent says the operator would not let it go. " Why not ?" says the red-haired captain. Operator replies, "The Governor must countersign it." The captain inquires, " Where is the Governor?" " On Canal street, at his office," replies the operator. Off goes the captain to Governor Moore, pre- sents the dispatch, who was taken aU aback, and so much OF THE "WAR. 79 amiisecl, tliat the American Union, Captain Lincoln, "was in tlie hands of the enemy,"' that he permitted the disj)atcli to go, saying, with a smile, to the Captain, that it luould he so by- and-by. Nobody persecuted tlie South more than George D. Prentice, editor of the Louisville (Kentucky) Journal. Ilis words of satire, daggers of derision, lightnings of lampoon, and wither- ing storms of wit, did more outrage upon the feelings of the rebels than a dozen battles lost to them. In the earlier stnges of rebellion, his paper fairly scintillated with the flashes of its keen-cutting , though invisible, weapons. We here quote a few paragraphs by way of illustration : It will be a hard fight, and perhaps about an even one be- tween the United States and the Confederate States. The former has twice as many men and five times as much money as the latter, but the latter has Colonel Blanton Duncan. The thing is about even, we gTiess. The Mobile Rerjister recommends the Secessionists to sell their watches. They might as well — have been behind the time, for a long while, by several centuries. If they wait a little, however, the United States will furnish them with " regulators." Some people kick a little at the Morrill tariff. This is small business, just now, when the rebels and tlieir abettors are kicking over the moral tariff, in the face of all Christendom. Something the enemy will not be likely to do — Go Scott- free. A Northern editor calls Yirginia " the seat of war and the seat of honor." He is making a butt of her. A man upwards of fifty years of age has sent us a commu- nication, insisting upon Kentucky's plunging into tlic war. We can understand why these old codgers are so anxious for hostilities. They know that their age would protect them from service, whilst we young fellows would have to do all the fighting. The North Carolina Sentinel says that a military company, 11 • 80 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES jast organized in its town, has "elected Mr. Wing, Captain, and Mr. Head, First Lieutenant." That company is like a sleeping hen — it has its Head under its Wing. The prevalence of patriotism at the North, in its entire ig- noring of partizanship and politics, suggests the coining of a new word for its proper expression, viz. : — XJnionimity. Who wants a better "National Him" than General Scott? University of Virginia, May 17th, 1861. Prentice — Stop my paper. I can't afford to read abbolition journals these times — the atmosphere of old Virginia will not admit of such a filthy sheet as yours has grown to be. Yours, etc., GEOEGE LAKE. To Editors of Louisville Journal. Lake ! — I think it a great pity that a young man should go to a University to graduate a traitor and a blackguard — and so ignorant as to spell abolition with two " b's." G. D. P. The Charleston Mercury calls the Yankee troops, now threat- ening the South, " tin peddlers." It is true that the Yankees have, generally, in their visits South, peddled tin, but we guess they mean to peddle lead this time. The man who, to make a show of chivalry, would wantonly provoke a war, the horrors of which must fall npon his wife and children, is unworthy to have wife and children. If any man scratched a name from our noble ticket on Sat- urday, we hope that his wife (if any woman has the hard luck to be his wife) scratched his face when he went to tea. Some fellows are getting to call every man who is for the Union, an Abolitionist. We have only to say that any man "who applies that term to us is a base liar. We mean this for any " chivalrous" son of the South who wishes to make his words good. Mr. Yancey has not been publicly received by the British Ministry, yet he seems to have succeeded in getting its private- ear — {privateer.) Humphreys county, Tennessee, is a fighting district A Nashville paper would have us believe that seven hundred recruits came from it to join the Secession army, and when the OP THE WAR. 81 last company left, iliey had io tie the old men to heep them from going ; and that the women in that county, even, arc ready now to vohmteer in the service of the Confederate States. 1'his is the first time we ever heard of a Tennessee woman offering to serve in a bad cause. Some wretch proposes, as a great peace measure, that all the lawyers in the country go off to the war. Why is the Union like a crab-apple ? Because to be worth anything, it must be preserved. A Norfolk paper says : " While the ladies of this city were recently gathered in cutting out drawers for the soldiers, it ap- peared that after their labor was concluded, cloth was left for just one leg of the same. The question being raised as to what should be done with this, one of the number promptly responded, ' Oh, that will do for use, after they get back.' " All very good — as far as it goes. But as the Yankees don't mean to leave any legs on the Southern soldiers who get in their way, the ladies of Norfolk will have to keep that one leg of a drawer to remind them of what was. It will be their only leg-i-see. The Confederates propose to remove their capital to Eich- moncl. As this consists of stocks, bonds and treasury notes, the Montgomery people will be a little poorer and the Rich- mond people little the richer by this removal of the deposits. The only letters the Secessionists will have after the 81st instant, are their letters of marque — which are likely to prove dead letters to those who take them out. It is said that the gambling saloons in Washington are lan- guishing for want of business. The patriotic excitement in the city has been the ruin of faro, and " the board of green cloth" has adjourned sine DIE. All it has to do is to go after its friends and emigi'ate to — Richmond ! The following rather remarkable story will do to go with that mentioned above, of sixteen brothers enlisting in one company. Though sounding somewhat fabidous, wx are as- sured of its truth. The New York Evening Post rekted: "Before the departure of the Fourteenth New York regiment, 62 IXCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES a man -u-lio carried on a blacksmitli sliop in connection with two of his sons, went to tlie li cad-quarters and concluded to enlist. lie said that he could leave the blacksmith nnsiuesa in the hands of tlie boj's — ' he couldn't stand it any longer, and go he must.' He was enlisted. • "Next day down comes the oldest of the boys. The black- smith's business ' wasn't very drivin', and he guessed John could take care of it,' 'Well,' said the old man, ' Go it.' And the oldest son went it. But the following day John made his appearance. He felt lonesome, and had shut up the shop. The father remonstrated, but the boy would enlist, and enlist he did. Now the old gentleman had two more sons who 'worked the fiirm' near Flushing, Loiig Island. The military fever seems to have run in the family, for no sooner liad the father and two elder brothers enlisted, than the younger sons came in for a like purpose. 1^\\q ixiter-familias was a man of few words, but he snid that he 'wouldn't stand this anyhow.' The blacksmith business might go to — some other place, but the farm must be looked after. So the boys were sent home. Presently one of them reappeared. They had concluded that one could manage the farm, and had tossed up who should go with the Fourteenth, and he had won the chance. " This arrangement was finally agreed to. But on the day of departure the last boy of the family was on hand to join and on foot for marching. Tlie old man was somewhat puz- zled to know what arrangement could have been made which would ahow all of the family to go, but the explanation of the boy solved the difficulty: ' Father,' said he, with a confideiv tial chuckle in the old man's ear : ' J've let tlie farm on shares P The whole family — father and four sons — :went with the regi- ment." At Bangor, Me., a young man offered himself as a recruit at one of the offices in that city, who, evidently being a minor, was asked if he had his father's permission to volunteer. lie replied that he had no father; but admitted tliat his mother was not willing. " Then you must get your mother's consent," OF THE WAR. 83 said tlie ofTicer. The young man retired, and returned with the following brief but noble letter : — "i2e is my all, but I free' hj rjLce him to viy country T An Indiana man, with hair whitened by age, applied for admission to the ranks. He was rejected, ow^ing to his ev ident age. Repairing to a barber's he had his hair and beard color- ed black, and again applied. The metamorphosis was so complete that he "passed." AYhcn asked his age he replied: " rising of thirty-live." VII. THE SPIRIT OF TKE SOUTH. A BRIEF section will not be uninteresting which will show to the reader the spirit moving the Southern heart in the con- flict with the North. It is by knowing the hidden springs of a man's actions that we are best able to judge him : so of a state, or a country : — by knowing the animus of its people we are all the better prepared to consider the justice or injustice of its cause. The rebellion sprung from a spirit of dishonor. It originated in no "wrongs" committed by the North; the North, as the dominant section, had rather sacrificed its own feelings and self-respect to assist the South to place and prosperity. From the date of the first purchases of territory to add to the area of Slavery and its political power, the South had experienced only a constant succession of benefits from the General Gov- ernment. The gi'eat, oft repeated complaints of the non-en- forcement of the Fugitive Slave law, was shown, over and over n 84 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES again, to be most trifling.* The election of a "sectional" Pre- side lit was entirely and solely owing to the fact that the Southern malcontents ran Breckenridge against Douglas. The united vote for these two Democrats would have defeated Mr. Lincoln by over tliree Imndred and fifty thousand votes ! And, all they (the Democrats) had to do to elect their man, was to run but one candidate at the next election. Besides this, thej first set the example of electing a purely " sectional" ticket — Jackson and Calhoun as President and Vice President on the ticket of 1831, being both Southern men. The asseveration of the existence of an inimical feeling at the North against the South, was shown to be unfounded in fact ; the combined Democratic and Bell-Everett tickets polled within one. hundred thousand as many votes, in the Free States alone, as were given (m the same States) to the Lincoln ticket What, then, was the cause of the secession rebellion ? It originated in what the Western men call a spirit of "pure cussedness" — in the ambition of a few daring, resolute men to found a new government, in which they should be the master spirits — to engraft the idea of property in man upon the or- ganic law of such Govcrnmentf and thus nationalize Slavery. If other causes existed they were such as only would serve to strengthen the judgment of mankind, that it w^as one of the most wicked attempts against a good government that the world ever saw. The spirit fostered by the conspirators was one of Evil. Their game depended for its success upon the comj)lete aliena- tion of the South from the North, and, in the place of respect, to plant the seeds of dislike. The press — that great engine for evil or for good — in the Cotton States was suborned, bul- lied, bought or cajoled into a support of the schemes for a new confederacy ; and, once on the side of the conspiracy, it lent * See the si^eeches of Mr. Douglas and of George E. Pugh, Uiiitecl States Senator from Ohio, (a Breckenridge Democrat,) in the U. S. Sou ate, Dec. 11, '60. t See the Exposition of the Southern Constitution made by the Vice- President of the Confederate States at Savannah, March 23d, 1801. OFTHEWAR. 85 its energies to a dissemination of tlic most slioeking falseliooda "wliic-li human depravity could conceive. By these falsehoods the masses of the South were led astray, and kept ignorant of the most vital facts. They were excited into a violent hate of everything appertaining to the North ; and, when the hour came for the shock of battle, the leaders found themselves at the head of a people swayed by passions whose malignancy were only excelled by their baseness. Does this seem a strong statement of the case? Alas! that the page of history is darkened by a record which proves all we have asserted and more than we care to assert. [A leading journalist — a Democrat — who had candor enough to express his sentiments on the relatic«is so long existing be- tween his party and the aristocrats of the South, wrote (May 15th) : " Southern people misunderstand us, and in fact de- spise us, in so vital a jiarticular that we are not fit to live to- gether until both are forced to mutual respect. They actually look upon us, in regard to courage, r* little better than so many Chinamen or Sepoys, and the secret of this whole rebellion is, not any new endangerment of Slavery, but the revolt of a set of barons, who for thirty years have encouraged themselves to believe they are of a superior race, and fancied they had hit upon a proper period to withdraw and prove it. Though es- sentially aristocratical in all their sentiments and institutions, they had maintained an alliance with the Democratic party, because they had certain commercial principles in common, but they promptly sacrificed that party as soon as their mista- ken pride had culminated, and left it captive in the hands of the Eepublicans. It was some time before the Democracy could understand the philosophy of this action by its aristo- cratic ally ; but the depth of the desertion broke upon it in the acknowledgments of such men as Yancey, Keitt and Rhett, while the recently-developed predictions of statesmen like Calhoun, enabled it to realize the uses to which it had been put. The result is that the indignant Democratic party now stands foremost in this war, and seeks a fresh ascendancy by new devotion to the nation. It will not be hasty to form new 86 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES alliances witli a party which acknowledges that all its tenden- cies are avistocratical, and whose main maxim, as uttered by one of its leading statesmen, is, that 'all labor is dangerous.' " This statement of the case is so eminently just that wc are impelled to give it place. The first essay of the leaders was to rob and steal from the Government all that it was possible to appropriate. In Mr. Buchanan's cabinet one of the conspirators was placed at the head of the Treasury Depai-tment. He took the keys to find a treasury so over full as to render it burdensome ; he left it utterly depleted and the country's credit almost ruined " on change." His part of the enterprise appears to have been so far to bankrupt the Government finances as to render the in- coming Administration powerless to punish treason or to stay the revolution. Another conspirator was Secretary of "War. His office in the entei*prise was to fill all the arsenals in the South with arms and munitions, to stock all the forts with ordnance and supplies, and to send away all their garrisons and guards. How well lie performed his part is apparent in the sobriquet by which he is now known — " Floyd, the Prince of thieves." When the moment came to " spring the trap," these wor- thies withdrew from their dishonored places to receive the acclaims of their fellow-conspirators. A general " seizure" followed of everything which a confiding Government had permitted to remain in the reloellious sections — arms, muni- tions, money, military property, buildings, &c. These " seiz- ures" honorable men termed thefts or highway robberies : the Secessionists called them " captures" or. " appropriations." The moral turpitude of the acts only indicated the baseness of " the cause," and the baseness of the cause only reflected the degeneracy of the people who approved of the secession revolution. A general repudiation of debts due to Northern creditors followed. The North, with astonishing liberality, had trusted the South for goods, for machinery, for provisions — had built Southern railways and canals — had stocked their marts with OF THE WAR. 87 capital ready for any want of tlie planter or real estate opera- tor. As a consequence the South became an enormous debtor — owing over sixty millions of dollars to New York city alone, which came due in the year 1861. To repudiate was an easy way, with dishonorable men, to discharge an honorable obli- gation ; and that Legislatures forbade the collection of debts due to the North through the State Courts, was only another crime to add to tlie category of sins which are now scheduled under the name of secession. It was so natural to abuse those whom they had injured, that we are not surprised to find the Cotton States, in 1861, fairly sli|)pery with falsehood and misrepresentation. With a few honorable exceptions — exceptions which stand like green spots out of that Dismal Swamp of demoralization — the press adopted a system of paragraphing, whose first and last prin- ciple was to misinform their readers — to overrate their own importance and sti'cngth and to underrate that of " their ene- my" — to deceive and betra}^ A first imj^ulse of men base enough to act the part performed by the Secessionists would be to contemn, and affect to despise, those whose favors they had fattened upon. Such paragraphs as that quoted on page 40 followed fast in the van of events, as if to pilot the South in the way it should not go. A few more extracts will suffice to convince the most incredulous, of the base part played by the press in exciting the baser passions of Southern human nature. A gentleman of Ricliniond, Va., was in New York. The scenes which he witnessed in tlic streets reminded liim of the descriptions of tho Reign of Terror in Paris. Nothing was wanting but tlie bloody guillo- tine to make the two jiictures identical. The violent and diabolical temper everywhere conspicuous, showing but too clearly whither all things are tending in the commercial metropolis. A spirit is evoked which can only be laid in blood. The desperadoes of that great city arc now in the ascendant. — Richmond Whir). The tremendous outburst of ferocity that avc witness in the Northern States, is simply the repetition of one of the most common traits of their national character. It is the fashion of the day, the humbug of the hour, and it will cease as suddenly as it has commenced. Liko straw ou fire, the periodical sensations of the North make a great flame, 12 88 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES but to sink to tlie ashes and the dust of indifFercuce as swiftly as they sprang. — Ilichmond Examiner. When the Commonwealth of Rome was subverted, the people were compelled to Avoi-ship the image of the despots whom the brute force of the mercenary soldiery had elevated to brief authority. So it seems the Black Repuijlican molis of the Northern cities compel the people to worship strij^ed rags as evidence of their obeisance to the Abolition despots who now desecrate the seats of power in the Federal city.^ Charleston News. The Richmond Wliig says that the last reliable intelligence represents that Old A])c had been beastly intoxicated for the previous thirty-six consecutive hours, and that eighty Border Ruffians, from Kansas, under the command of Lane, occupied the East Room to guard His IVIajesty's slumbers. It is broadly hinted in a Washington paper, that his guai'd exerts a despotic control over the Presidential inmate — that all his de- crees are of its inspiration. The paper (77ie States and Union) i\\Qjx proceeds to shed a becoming quantity of tears over this " sad subject for contemplation." — N. 0. Sunday Delta. General Scott, it seems, has taken position again.st his native State. It is a sight to see the drivelling old fop, with his skinny hands and bony fingers, undo, at one dash, the labors of a long and active life. With the red-hot pencil of infamy, he has written upon his wrinkled brow the tenible, damning word, "Traitor." — Abingdon {Va.) Democrat. It was, no doubt, the profound policy of Lincoln and his faction to throw the operatives of the North out of employ, to secure the recruits for tlie army of coercion. Starvation produces a certain sort of valor, and a hungry belly may stimulate patriotism to a kind of courage which, on a good feed, will risk the encounter with a bullet. It appears that the Lincoln recruits from I\Iassacluisetts, at Baltimore, were in largo proportion cobblers. The revolution seems to have affected their craft more than any other, according to some of the accounts; their vocation gave them admiraijle facilities in the fight, especially in running; they used their footing expeditiously, and took a free flight with their soles (souls)— not one of thenx ai)parently being anxious, under the fire of Baltimore brickbats, to sec liis last. — Charleston Mercury. Massachusetts, the telegraph so reports, is all alive with the war spirit. Those who know these Puritan fanatics will never believe that they intend to take the field against Southern men. They may muster into service to garrison j^osts comparatively free from attack, and when they can be sheltered within impregnable walls, but the hereafter will Lave little to tell of their deeds in the tented field, or the "imminent deadly breach." — New Orleans Bulletin. VIIT. THE FIRST AND THE SECOND TRAGEDY. The movement forward, early in tlie morning of May 24:tli, 1861, of the Union army, was the first definite step toward meeting tlie enemy. General Scott's plans were only known to the President and Cabinet, whose confidence he had, in an eminent degree. A journal well versed in matters, said, (May ■15th): "General Scott is about to remodel the United States army upon the French system, so as to give it more cfiiciency and perfection. The old hero works with astonishing zeal, and his mind operates as actively as many a man at fifty-five. It is undoubted that he contemplates a long campaign, that Washington is to be the ba.se of operations, that a large force will be kept permanently stationed here, and that all demon- strations in sui)port of the loyal men in the South, and in furtherance of the determination to retalce stolen property, will move fi'om this point. Some complaints are made bccan.se an expedition has not already been .sent into Virginia, for the purpo.se of capturing llichmond; but I am disposed to i-epose my trust entirely upon the experience and patriotism of General Scott lie is heartily sustained by the President and Messrs. Chase, Cameron, Seward, and the rest of the Cabinet, although it is not doubted that Postmaster-General Judge Blair favors a more extreme and aggressive policy." The gathci'ing of troops at the Capital argued something more than its defense. With approaches all open and com- manding positions unoccupied by Fedei-al forces, the mere re-' tention of the city would have been to insure its destruction 90 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES for the enemy's artillery on Arlington Heights would linve Inld the Capital itself in ruins. The safety of the city clejieutlecl on an advance. But, more than the protective policy it was evident was required. The fact became daily clearer that, if the Union was sustained it must be done vi ct arm is ; if rebel- lion would be crushed and treason punished, it would be done only by a campaign in the heart of the rebellious region ; if the Southern madmen wei-e stayed in their designs, it Avould be necessary to meet them, on land and sea, with the fullest terrors of the outraged Government. No one comprehended this more fully than the Pi-esident and the venerable General- in-Chief; and we find their plans well developed, by May 20th, for an active prosecution of the war. It became evident at Washington, on the 231 of May, that Bomc important movement was contemplated — that, in flict, Vij'ginia was to be "invaded." The note of prepamtion was sounded throughout the camps on the afternoon of that day, though the officers were ignorant of the extent of the service to be performed. At midnight, the District Militia, six. com- panies, moved forward as scouts and pickets, over the Long Bridge. They were first on the " sacred soil." The New York Seventh was detailed as the reserve, and, forming line near the bridge, saw the whole forces, under General Mansfield, pass over, before it brought up the rear. The New York Twelfth and Twenty-fifth, the First Michigan, and the Fii-st, Second, Third and Fourth New Jersey, passed over Loi^g Bridge be- tween two and four o'clock A. ^i. — the Seventh ci'ossing at day- break. Above, at the Chain Bridge, McDowell's forces passed over, at the same time, comprised of the New York Sixty- ninth and Twenty-eighth, with Drummond's cavalry and a battery. This detachment took possession of Arlington Heights, and immediately commenced the work of constructing defences. The New York Fire Zouaves (Colonel Ellsworth) moved down by transjx)rts to Alexandria, landing, at ?iYQ o'clock, under the guns of the Pawnee. The Fii-st Michigan, (Colonel AVilcox) moved down from the Long Bridge to co« operate with the Zouaves in the occupancy of Alexandria. OF THE "WAR. 91 The New York Twclftli took position about lialf-way between the two points. The Twcnty-fiftli advanced toward Falls Cliurch. The Seventli held Long Bridge. Tlic morning of the 24tli found Virginia in possession of the "hireling mob," wlio had thus made their first step toward the work of "coercion." No enemy opposed the invasion — contrary to all expecta- tion. General Scott, in person, was at the bridge to be pre- pared for any emergency which might arise, but was not called to the field. Generals Mansfield and McDowell only found pickets far in advance of their lines in the morning. This step excited the country greatl 3^, for the moment. The Confederates fairly shrieked in their imprecations ; and their vows of a summary revenge were neither few nor made in the most civilized spirit of modern warfare. We quote from the 'Jiinquirer of Eichmond, as a specimen of the rhetoric excited by the Federal act : " We congratulate the people of Virginia that the last flimsy pretext of the Rump Government at Washington, of regard for constitutional laws, has been thrown aside. The sovereign State of Virginia has been invaded by the Federal hirelings, without authority of Congress, which alone has the war- making power. Heretofore, the pretense that it was the duty of the Federal Government to repossess itself of the forts and arsenals in the Seceded States, has been put forward to justify the ag- gressive movements of Federal troops. But in the present case tliere is no such pretense ; no forts, or arsenals, or other Federal property have been seized at Alexandria. The 'bloody and brutal' jDurposes of the Abolitionists, to subju- gate and exterminate the Soutliern people, stands confessed by this flagrant outrao'e upon Vira'inia soil. " Virginians, arise in your strength and welcome the invader with ' bloody hands to hospitable graves.' The sacred soil of Virginia, in which repose the ashes of so many of tlie illus- trious patriots who gave independence to their country, has been deseci'ated by the hostile tread of an ai-med enemy, who proclaims his malignant hatred of Virginia because she will 92 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES not bow lier proud neck to tlie liiimiliating yoke of Yankee rule. Meet the invader at the threshokl. Welcome him with bayonet and bullet. Swear eternal hatred of a treacherous foe, whose only hope of safety is in your defeat and subjection." But the occupation was not bloodless. Our country lost one of its most promising oflicers. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, of the New York Fire Zouaves, fell by the hand of an assassin while in the performance of his duty at Alexandria. Colonel Ellsworth was, in many respects, a remarkable per- son. Ilis regiment of Zouaves were remarkable men. Both officers and men had been counted upon for extraordinary ser- vice from the known ability of the commander and the known courage and endurance of the entire regiment. A New York city journal said of him : "It is about a month since a young man of soldierly bear- ing, of an unusually fine ph3^sique, of frank and attractive manners, and of great intelligence, called on us on tlic day of his arrival from Washington, to state his wishes and purposes, in relation to raising a regiment among the New York firemen. A fortnight later we saw him on his way to embark for Wash- ington at the head of his men, and escorted by the most im- posing procession this city has ever witnessed. This man was Colonel Ellsworth of the Firemen Zouaves. 'I want,' he said, 'the New York firemen, for there are no more effective men in the country, and none with whom I can do so mu(.l-i. Tiiey are sleeping on a volcano at Washington,' he added, ' and I want men who can go into a fight noio.^ The impression he made upon us was that of a fearless, gallant and energetic man, one of those possessed of the qualities that distinguish those who have them as soldiers, and of powers that especially fit them to be leaders among men. In him we think the country has lost a very valuable life." The Zouaves gathered at liis call with alacrity ; tvro ]'egi- ments could have been made up immediately from the firemen of New York city, had they been wanted. A short time suf- ficed to place the commander at tbe head of his men. In twenli/ days from the date of his first appearance in New York OF THE "WAR. 93 he was in WasLington (May 2cl) with one thousand of as bravo and reclvless men as ever walked the field. They only i-equired to be ruled with a firm hand and led by a fearless lieart to perform great service. In Ellsworth they at once had a leader whom they idolized and a ruler whom they obc3'ed with alac- rity, for out of their wild natures he j^romised to coin heroes whom the country would love to honor. The regiment was chosen for the first forward movement in expectation of hard work. Theirs were spirits too eager for action, too accustomed to excitement, to bear the dead life of a camp. " Onward to Richmond !" became their cry. The troops broke up camp at two o'clock A. M., and passed down to Alexandria by transports. So utterly unexpected liad the movements been conducted, that the Virginia people were completely taken by surpi'ise, and no opposition was offered at any point. Ilad the design of General Scott been betrayed, it is probable the rebels would have stubbornly opposed the descent and occupation. Tlie Zouaves landed at Alexandria unopposed. The tragedy of Ellsworth's death soon followed. One who was present and witnessed the assassination, thus detailed its circumstances : " The Colonel gave some rapid directions for the interrup- tion of the railway coarse, by displacing a few rails near the depot, and then turned toward the centre of the town, to de- stroy the means of communication southward by the telegraph ; a measure which he appeared to regard as ver)^ seriously im- portant. He Avas accompanied by Mi-. 11. J. Winser, ]\'Iilitary Secretary to the regiment ; the Chaplain, tlie Kev. E, AV. Dodge ; and myself At first he summoned no guard to fol- low him, but afterwards turned and called forward a single squad, with a sergeant from the first company. We passed quickly through the streets, meeting a fev/ bewildered travel- lers issuing from the principal hotel, which seemed to be slow- ly coming to its daily senses, and were about to turn towaixl the telegraph ofiicc, ulicn the Colonel, first of all, caught sight of the secession flag, which has so long swung insolently in full view of the President's Uouse. lie immediately sent 9-i INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES back tlic sergeant, with an ordei- for tlic advance of tlic (Mitire first company, and, leaving the matter of tlie telegraph office for a while, pushed on to the hotel, which proved to be the 'Marshall House,' a second-class inn. On entering the open door the Colonel met a man in his shirt and trowsers, of whom he demanded what sort of flag it was that hung above the roof, Tlie stranger, who seemed greatly alarmed, declared he knew nothing of it, that he was only a boarder there. With- out questioning him further the Colonel sprang up stairs, and we all followed to the topmost stor^-, whence, by means of a ladder, he clambered to the roof, cut down the flag with Win- ser's knife, and brought it from its staff. We at once turned to descend, private Brownell leading the way, and Colonel Ellsworth immediately following him with the flag. As Brow- nell I'eachcd the first landing-place, or entr_y, after a descent of a dozen steps, a man jumped from a dark passage, and hardly noticing the private, levelled a double-barrelled gun square at the Colonel's breast. Bi'ownell made a quick pass to turn the weapon aside, but the fellow's hand was firm, and he discharg- ed one barrel straight to its aim, the slugs or buckshot Avith wdiich it was loaded entering the Colonel's heart, and killing him at the instant, lie was on the second or third step from the landing, and dropped forwaixl with that heavy, horrible, , headlong weight wliich alwa3's comes of sudden death inflicted in this manner. His assailant turned like a flash to give the contents of the other barrel to Brownell, but either he could not command his aim or the Zouave was too quick with him, for the slugs went over his head, and passed through the pan- els and wainscot of a door. Simultaneously with this second shot, ajul sounding like the echo of the firet, Brownell's rifle was heard and the assassin staggered backward. He was hit exactly in the middle of the face, and the wound, as I after- ward saw it, was the most frightful I ever witnessed, Brow- nell did not know how fatal his shot had been, and so before the man dropped, he thrust his sabre baA'onet through and through the bod}^, the force of the blow sending the dead man violently down the upper section of the second flight of staira, OFTHEWAR. 95 at tlic fool, of wliicli he lay with his face to the floor. Winser rau from above crying, ' Wlio is hit ?' but as he glanced down- ward by our feet, he needed no answer. "Bewildered for an instant by The suddenness of this attack, and not knowing what more might be in store, we forbore to proceed, and gathered together defensively. There were but seven of us altogcthei", and one was without a weapon of any kind. Brownell instantly reloaded, and while doing so per- ceived the door through which the assailant's shot had passed, beginning to open. He brought his rifle to the shoulder, and menaced the occupants, two travellers, with immediate death, if they stirred. The three other privates guarded the passa- ges, of which there were quite a number converging to the point where we stood, while the Chaplain and Winser looked to the staircase by which we had descended, and the adjoining chambers. I ran down stairs to see if any thing was threaten- ed from the story below, but it soon appeared there was no danger from that quarter. The first thing to be done was to look to our dead friend and leader. He had fallen on his face, and the streams of blood that flowed from his wound had lite- rally flooded the ^va3^ The Chaplain turned him gently over, and I stooped and called his name aloud, at which I thought then he murmured inarticulately. I prcsimic I was mistaken, and I am not sure that he spoke a word after being struck. Winser and I lifted the body with all care and laid it upon a bed in a room near by. The rebel flag, stained with his blood, we laid about his feet. Before the first company, or- dered up by the Colonel, as before stated, arrived, we had re- moved some of the unsightly stains from the Colonel's features, and composed his limbs. His expression in death was beau- tifully natural. The Colonel was a singularly handsome man, and, excepting the pallor, there was nothing different in his countenance now from what all his friends had so lately been accustomed to gladly recognize. The detachment was heard approaching at last, a reenforcement was easily called up, and the surgeon was sent for. His arrival, not long after, of course sealed our ov^rn unhappy belief. A terrible scene was enacting 13 96 INCIDEXTS AND ANECDOTES on tlie floor below. A woman had ran from a lower room to the stairway Avhere the body of the defender of the secession flag lay, and recognizing it, cried aloud with an agony so lieart-rcnding that no j^erson could witness it without emotion. She flung her arms in the air, struck her brow madly, and seemed in every way utterly abandoned to desolation and ivenzj. She offered no reproaches — appeared indeed almost regardless of our presence, and yielded only to her own frantic despair. It was her husband that had been shot. He was the proprietor of the hotel. His name was James T. Jackson. Winser was confident it was the same man who met us at the door when we entered, and told us he was a boarder. His ■wife, as I said, was wild almost to insanity. Yet she listened when spoken to, although no consolation could be offered her. " It is not from any wish to fasten obloquy upon the slayer of Colonel Ellsworth, but simply because it struck me as a frightful fact, that I say the face of the dead man wore the most revolting expression of rage and hatred that I ever saw. Perhaps the nature of his wound added to this effect, and the wound was something so appalling that I shall not attempt to describe it, as it impressed me. It is probable that such a result from a bullet-wound could not ensue once in a thousand times. Either of Brownell's onslaughts would have been in- stantaneously fatal. The saber- wound was not less effective than that of the ball. The gun which Jackson had fired lay beneath him, clasped in his arms, and as we did not at first all know that both barrels had been discharged, it was thought necessary to remove it, lest it should be suddenly seized and made use of from below. In doing this, his countenance was revealed. "As the morning advanced, the townspeople began to gather in the vicinity, and a guard was fixed, preventing ingress and egress. This was done to keep all parties from knowing what had occurred, for the Zouaves were so devoted to their Colonel that it was feared if they all were made acquainted with the real fact, they would sack the house. On the other hand, it was not thought wise to let the Alexandrians know thus early P T II E W A R . 97 the flitc of their townsman. The Zouaves v.'crc t]ie only regi- ment that liad arrived, and their head and soul was g-one. Be- sides, th.e duties which tlie Colonel had hurriedly assigPied be- fore leaving them had scattered some companies in various quarters of the town. Several persons sought admisbion to the Marshall House, among them a sister of tlie dead man, who had heard the rumor, but who was not allowed to know the true state of the case. It was painful to hear lier remark, as she went away, that ' of course they wouldn't shoot a man dead in his own house about a bit of old bunting.' Many of the lodgers were anxious to go fortli, but they were detained until after I had left. All sorts of arguments and persuasions were employed, but the Zouave guards were inexorable. " At about seven o'clock, a mounted officer rode up, and in- formed us that the Michigan First had arrived, and had cap- tured a troop of rebels, who had at first demanded time for re- flection, but who afterward concluded to yield at discretion. Not long after this, the surgeon made arrangements for the conveyance of Colonel Ellsworth's body to Washington. It was properly veiled from sight, and, with great tenderness, taken by a detachment of the Zouaves and the Seventy-first New York regiment (a small number of whom, I neglected to state, embarked in the morning at the Navy-3'ard, and came down with us) to the steamboat, by which it was brought to the Navy-yard and given over to the tender care of Captain Dahlgren." The excitement which followed this assassination was gi'cat. The Secessionists of course gloated over it. The press of the South was jubilant, and the ruffian who did the act was placed in their Pantheon of heroes. The press of the North mourned the death of one so chivalrous, so young, so early lost to his conntry. The President was shocked at the calamity, for his personal attachment to Ellsworth was sincere. A gentleman who happened to call at the White House to see the President, on the morning of the sad day, thus narrated the incident : " I called at the White House with Senator Wilson of Mas- sachusetts, to see the President on a pressing matter of business, 93 INCIDENTS AXD A N E C D T E S nncl as \vc entered wc remarked the President standing before a window, looking out aci'oss tlic Potomac. lie did not movo till we approaclied very elosel}', when lie turned round abrupt- ly and advanced towards us, extending Lis liand. 'Excuse me,' he said, 'but I cannot talk.' The President burst into tears, and concealed his face in his handkerchief. He walked up and down the room for some moments, and we stepped aside in silence, not a little moved at such an unusual spec- tacle, in such a man, in such a jilace. After composing him- self some vv hat, the President took his seat and desired us to approach. ' I will make no apology, gentlemen,' said the Presi- dent, ' for ni}- weakness ; but I knew poor Ellswortli well, and held him in great regard. Just as you entered the room. Cap- tain Fox left me, after giving me the painful details of Ells- worth's unibrtunate death. The event was so unexpected, and the recital so touching, that it quite unmanned me.' "The Pi'esidcnt here made a violent effort to restrain his emotions, and after a pause he proceeded, with a tremulous voice, to give us the incidents of the tragedy that had occurred. 'Poor fellow,' repeated the President, as he closed his relation, 'it was undoubtedly an act of rashness, but it only .shoM's the heroic si)ii-it that animates our soldiers, from high to low, iu this righteous cause of ours. Yet who can restrain their grief to see them fdl in such a way as this, not by the fortunes of "war, but by the hand of an assassin?' Towards the close of his remarks, he added: 'There is one flict which has reached me, which is a great consolation to my heart, and quite a relief after this melanchol\- af.iiir. I learn from several persons, that when the Stars and Stripes were raised again in Alexajidria, many of the peojile of tlie town actually we])t for joy, and manifested the liveliest gratification at seeing this familiar and loved emblem once more floating above them. This is another proof that all the South is not Secessionist; and it is my ear- nest hope that as we advance we shall find as many friends as foes.'" The remains were removed to the White House on the morning of the 25th, under escort of the New York Seventy- OF THE WAR. 99 first, as a guard of honor, accompanied by a detacliment of Zouaves, including Brownell, the slayer of tlie assassin. From the "White House, where it lay in state, until three o'clock, P. M., the body was taken to the house of his parents, at Mechanics- ville, New York, for burial. Vast and imposing demonstra- tions were made over the remains in New York and Albany; and at Mechanicsville he was buried amid the tears of a large concourse of people and in the presence of the local military and the guard of honor. This act of assassination was in perfect keeping with the spirit of Secession. A community where the use of pistol and knife were almost every day occurrences — where all indignities were wij^ed out in blood, was not likely to foster a feeling of loyalty to a Government, where just men aimed to suppress all violations of the peace. Jackson was a violent Secessionist He flouted his odious flag from his house as expressive of de- fiance ; and, though Southern gentlemen did not make him their equal as an associate, they did not disdain to applaud his act and to accord him the place of a martyr in the cause of the South. Various public bodies, including State Legislatures of the South, passed resolutions approving the assassination. Pol- lard, the Southern Historian of the War, speaking of the want of spirit shown by the New Orleans people in permit- ting the Federal flag to be erected over their city, referred to Jackson as the embodiment of the true Southern spirit We shall take him at his word, and regard the coarse, brutal, drunken wretch as a true type of an uncompromising Seces- sionist One good fruit of the war was, that it left few such creatures ungathered by the sickle. Death, who did not have their eyes opened to see their own baseness and impotence in a war with the spirit of Humanity and Liberty. IX. THE FIRST CAPTURE OF THE FLAG. The tragedy of EUswortli gave a sad^ interest to tlie flag wliicli had floated from the roof of the " Marshall House," in Alexandria. That flag had floated there in defiance, in full view of the Capital, and its insolent proprietor had sworn it never should come down as long as he was alive. Before the occupation of the place, on the morning of the 24th of May, by the Federal forces, an attempt to seize and bear away the detested emblem of rebellion and defiance had been made by the daring of a single man. The incident so hap- pily illustrates the nerve of the true "Yankee," and is, withal, BO full of exciting interest, that we give the story at length. Two brothers were seen in Alexandria on the evening of Tuesday, May 21st. They entered their names on the " Mar- Bhall House" register, as Charles E. Fuller, of Boston, and W. J. A. Fuller, of New York. Of course both became " spotted" characters from that moment. They extended their observa- tions to all parts of the place, where sentinels did not bar the way. After a thorough exploration of the city, they dined at the hotel, with about fifty ofi&cers of the Secession army, and the elder brother took the last stage for "Washington, which he reached that night without any striking adventure. The younger brother, Charles, had tarried, to accomplish his pur- pose of seizing the flag which covered the house, and which Jackson, its proprietor, insolently told Mr. Fuller, * no d — d Yanhee ever would see come down I" As Mr. Fuller hailed from Boston, the taunt had made him resolved that a Yankee wou"'.d not only see it down, but that he himself would be the OF THE WAR. 101 very person to take it down. So it was aiTanged by the brothers that Charles should stay at the hotel all night, while W. J. went to Washington, and then pulled down the river to the sloop of war, Pawnee^ which lay off Alexandria, with guna shotted and men ready for any emergency. With the officers of the Pawnee he concerted to answer his brother's signals, and to offer his aid when lie should plunge into the river, after seizing the flag. The hotel, a large four-story building, was filled with Seces- sion officers and men. Mr. Fuller had a room assigned him in the main building, from the roof of which the flag-staff ran up through an open scuttle. After tea he groped his way toward the roof, and found the upper doors locked. He then climbed the.nearest window, eight or ten feet above the stairway, and found it nailed down. He bought a hammer at a hardware store, went back, and drew the nails. Being a perfect gym- nast, and active as a cat, he expected to climb to the roof by the spout, but this proved rotten as paper, and compelled him to abandon the attempt He next searched about the city and found a locksmith, whom he told that he wanted a bunch of keys to open a closet. The man offered to go with him and fit the lock, but Mr. Fuller " did not see it" in that light He said he would not trouble him to go, but would take a bunch of keys, and leave five dollars deposit for their return. Armed with ten keys, he returned to the hotel, watched like a cat for his opportunity, and, when the coast was clear, ascended to the upper story, and tried his keys. Six of them were tried unsuccessfully, and the seventh had turned the lock, when he was nearly surprised by a party of soldiers who came up the stairs. He rushed into a sort of dark closet adjoining, secreted himself imder a mattress, and waited with breathless anxiety until they passed iuto the next room, where they soon became absorbed in a lively game of " poker," at five cents " ante ;" he then went back, unlocked the door, felt his way in the dark to the flag-staff, tried the signal halyards, found that everything worked beautifully, and that he was sure, at least, of hauling down the flag. He mounted to the roof, and took 102 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES a general survey of tlie premises. This was about eiglit o'clock in the evening ; the streets were full of citizens and troopers, and the full moon shone bright as day. He was again alarmed by a party of soldiers mounting the stairs, and feared that the slight lowering and raising of the flag, made when he was trying the halyards, had been observed from the streets. lie stood be- hind the door, determined to jump by the first comers, and over the heads of those coming after, and make a iiin for the dock, some four or five blocks off, jumj) in and swim to the Pawnee. Happily the troops went into another room. He then went toward the river to alter the moorings of a small vessel, so that her change of position might signify to his brother, that a boat could approach within hail ; but was turned back by sen- tinels at every street approaching the river ; the whole shore was guarded. He then determined to go back to the hotel, haul down the flag, and trust to the chapter of accidents. After a careful reconnoissance, at about ten o'clock, when everybody's attention was engaged by the passing of three cavalry com- panies, he hauled down the flag, cut the halyards and made them fast to the elect, that they might not be observed swing- ing loosely. To his horror he discovered that he had caught an "elephant." The flag was over thirty feet long, and about fifteen feet wide. He took off his coat, vest, and pants, and commenced winding the flag about his body. To use his own expression, he thought he never should get it all coiled away. He succeeded, however, by making a sort of Daniel Lambert of himself. Tying around him his pants and coat with a cord, he effectually hid the piratical emblem. Marching boldly down stairs, he got out of the house without exciting suspicion, and started on his travels. Critical as was his position, with the river bank lined with sentries, and the picket guards ex- tended to Long Bridge, where he knew the draw was raised, it soon became perilous ■ in the extreme, by a general alarm, which was given in consequence of the flag having been mis- sed. Patrolmen rushed in every direction to " cut off retreat" from the house, yet the fleet-footed Yankee only laughed at their pains, for he was safely beyond the square. An old shed OF THE WAR. 103 offered a retreat from the excited street. Into it lie crept, pro- posing to lie concealed until the moon should be obscured by passing clouds, when- he determined to push for the back country, make a circuit above the town, and swim across to Ellsworth's Zouave camp, whose fires he could plainly see. He saw his brother's boat (with a detachment of twelve men from the Massachusetts Fifth) lying off in the middle of the river, but dared not hail her, for fear of causing his certain arrest. He managed to push from picket to picket, by wary advances, at one time lying flat on his back for half-an-hour, while the guard was smoking within a few feet of him, until he broke cover in the open country, beyond the suburbs, when the moon shown out brightly, and he found himself suddenly confronted by two sentries. He made a rush to pass them, when both of them seized him. He grasped one by the breast and threw him to the ground with such violence that he wrenched off one of the Virginian army buttons, which he afterwai'd wore on his,watcli-guard as a trophy. The other sentry dropped his gun and fled ; but a third soldier, a power- ful man, clinched him from behind, and, after a brief but fierce struggle, he was hopelessly a prisoner. He retained his pres- ence of mind, and by ready wit and fertility of invention saved himself from personal violence. His captor proved to be Jackson, who, at first indignant at the theft, was so pleased with the nonchalance of the Yankee as to be disarmed of his anger ; and he marched the prisoner back to the hotel in perfect good humor. Fuller was permited to retire to his room on his parole not to escape. Jackson re- marked that he was " too smart and decent for a miserable Yankee." Fuller tried the power of money, but the rank rebel replied that " it could not be bought for $10,000" — that " old Lincoln had threatened to take it down, and he wanted to see him do it." After a night of anxious unrest, Mr. Fuller came down to breakfast, and found that everybody was observing him and pointing him out as the " d — d Yankee" who had hauled down the flag. He sauntered through the city, made small par- 14 104 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES chases of tobacco, &c., in the deserted stores, and went to a secession meeting at night. One of the speakers alluded very feelingly to the imperishable glory which covered the Stai'3 and Stripes, and related with thrilling pathos how his father, a veteran of eighty years, still clung to them. At this point Fuller's patriotic feeling overcame his prudence ; he clapped his hands loudly in applause, when the whole meeting, electrified by the speaker, applauded to the echo. But the excitability of " the Yankee" caused the crowd to glower at him so fero- ciously that he concluded " to beat a retreat rather than be borne down in front or outflanked." The detention of Charles caused gi'cat apprehensions for his safety. Arranging with the officers of the Pawnee for the co- operation of its guns and marines in event of his (W. J.'s) de- tention, he pushed down to Alexandria from the Long Bridge, "Wednesday morning. After much negotiation, and the mena- cing position assumed by the sloop-of-war, Charles was released on Thursday and given over to Commander Rowan, of the Pawnee. Arrangements had been thoroughly made to assault and burn the city, had the Fullers been detained. Several companies of the Massachusetts Fifth took a solemn vow that they would take the city, " orders or no orders," and Ells- worth's " boys" were " in the ring." But the orders would have been given. On the night of Thursday, Mr. Fuller, sure of co- operation by water, again tried to take the flag ; but it was guarded by two soldiers, sleeping in the attic, and watched in- cessantly by sentinels outside. So he contented himself with taking the flag which hung up in the hall. This he wound round his person, and succeeded in bringing away with him. The elder brother had arranged a " seizure" of his own — • thus to anticipate Charles and snatch the trophy from him, or at least to insure its certain capture as well as the capture of A lexandria itself ! The story runs : W. J. Fuller, in com- mand of a detachment of twelve sailors from Captain Ward- well's company, under Lieutenants Stoddard and Williams, determined to go round the Pawnee, and then pull straight to shore, answering any hail with — "boat from the Pawnee." OP THE WAR. 105 He knew tlie fears of the city, troops and all, that her guns could level the place in thirty minutes. He intended to take half his men, seize the sentries, march openly to the hotel, de- mand the flag, his brother, and the unconditional surrender of the troops and the city. But this pretty scheme was vetoed b}'' the Commander. It was, of course, not in the Commander- in-Chief's programme of operations ; but was, nevertheless, a characteristic Yankee invention. In conceiving this assault, Mr. Fuller was but embodying the ideas which he enunciated at the great demonstration in New York city. May 20th — on which occasion he was one of the chosen speakers. He said, among other stirring things : " Let the Government forever discard its ' do little and drift along' policy, and give the people action, action — prompt, vig- orous, energetic, crushing, bloody and decisive. Let it quit searching musty law tomes for precedents. Make precedents. The idea of the Government being harnessed down by the iron bands of formula and delay when dealing with, revolutionists, traitors and rebels, is criminal and absurd. Inter anna leges silent. When General Jackson threatened to hang Calhoun, he was told by his Attorney-General that there was no law for it His reply was, ' If you can't find law for me, I will appoint an Attorney-General who can.' If the Government will adopt a vigorous policy, the law for everything it does will be found in the hearts of the people. The eyes of the people are upon the Government. They cannot wait its tardy action. They will reward energy, and will hold it to a strict accountability for imbecility." X A NOETHEEN BREEZE FEOM THE SOUTH. The Great Eebellion called fortli many splendid efforts of oratory. It is probable that no people on the face of the globe are more constantly associated with the sublime elements of country, which are supposed to iiifluence the minds of men to sublime expression, than Americans ; yet, it has frequently been remarked by ourselves, as well as by forcignei-s, that no country produces so few truly eloquent orators. The experience of the past few months proves that the talent for eloquent expression is wide-spread, and that only the occasion is wanting to call it forth. The Congress of 1860-61 gave birth to many supurb declamations : — indeed, the entire session was one succession of speeches and argumentative efforts, which alone, would immortalize . the occasion. We may point to them, in confidence, as a living evidence of the extraordinary mental resources of the American people, as the war which followed was an evidence of their tremendous physical resources. Our volume of "Incidents and Anecdotes" scarcely permits the reproduction of these oratorical efforts ; yet, some of them were made under such peculiar circumstances as to become incidents of the struggle. Such were the impassioned speeches made in the Virginia Convention and General Assembly by the Union men ; in Tennessee, by the fearless men of the hills ; in Kentucky, by the worthy sons of " Old Kentuck" sires. Few of these, however, were reported, much to the loss of our patriotic literature ; only sketches were placed on record, to outline what was, at the moment, a splendid creation. OF THE WAK. 107 One made by Mr. Rossean — afterwards a brilliant General in the Union army — in tlie Kentncky Senate, May 21st, 1861, was reported. It came at a critical moment in the destiny of his State, when she hunsi: in the meshes of the miserable "neutralit}'," which was nothing more nor less than an attitnde of defiance of the General Government, by refusing to honor its call for troops, and arming the State to resist any occupa- tion of its soil by Federal troops, prosecuting the war for the Union. Against this attitude the Senator protested, and finally came out, with his splendid declamation, against the revolu- tion and in behalf of a hearty support of the General Govern- ment in its contest with treason. Our yonng men will find in the Kentuckian's words and thoughts incentives to patriotism and honor, and to them we sincerely commend the extracts which we may feel at liberty to give : " Mr. Speaker: Permit me to tell you, sir, what I think of this whole atrocious scheme of Secession. I spealc for myself onl}^, and am alone responsible for what I say ; and I thank God that I may still speak what I think on Kentucky soiL Yes, sir, good, brave old Kentucky, my mother, *my own native land,' is stilLfree. There is no reign of terror here. "We still have free speech, a free press, and, as yet, we are free menu Kentucky is true and loyal to the Government. She still rests her head in peace and security upon the fond breast of her mother — the Union ; and there may she rest forever! She has called upon her gallant sons to rally around her, and beat off the Vandals who would tear her away from her earliest and holiest associations, and bear her to certain destruction. " Kentucky is in a false position. I felt it from the first. Yet, she having assumed a neutral attitude, I felt it to be my duty to stand by her, and I have faithfully done so. I am willing still to stand by the position of Kentucky, if we can do BO in peace and security. But the position is an awkward one, and may be more awkward yet before our difficulties are ended. The Union is threatened ; the Government is threat- ened by those who have not one well-grounded complaint to make against it — by those wl lo have controlled its destinies for 108 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES years. I denounce the effort, and those who make it. I say it is wrong — infamous ! and, if successful, it must entail ruia upon us and ours. We see the work of mischief going on, and quietly sit by with folded arms while it is done. " Kentucky has as much interest in the Union as any other State. She loves it as devotedly, and shares its benefits and blessings in common with her sister States. She owes it her allegiance, and her aid. Her people work for the Union ; they talk for it; they pray for its preservation; yet they stand idly by, and let others, who have no more interest in it than them- selves, defend it, and save it if they can. It is in a death struggle for existence, yet we have not a hand to raise in its defence. You say that it is the best Government that ever existed on earth — it has ever protected and never oppressed you. But we are told that this is a fratricidal war — a wicked war ! "Well, who began it ? Who caused it ? Who attempted to break up the Government ? Who set the will of the people at defiance, and overturn the " best Government on earth ? " Let recently passed events, and those which are daily being enacted, answer. * * ^ " The truth is, our duty at first was to stand by I our Government, and protect and defend it. If fit to live under, it was entitled to our respect and confidence and alle- giance. If unfit, it should have been abandoned at once, and another formed more perfect. But while we owe our alle- giance to it, let us acknowledge it like true men, and not turn our backs vipon its greatest peril. We should not do this if we desire its preservation. We should stand by it like men, or pull it down at once. But we should not stand by and see others pull it down over our heads against our will to the destruction of our liberties, and say : " ' We oppose you. We love the Govcrnincnt. It is the Government of our fathers ; bought with their blood, and bequeathed to us. It is the best Government on earth, and in its destruction we see ruin to us and ours ; but as you and we live in Shivc States, go on and do as yoa please. Wc will not resist you. Kuin us if you will.' "And so never lift a hand to save us and our children tho OF THE TVAB. 109 blessings of liberty. In my heart I do not approve of tliis course, and wliat I do not approve, no power on earth shall make me say, I am for the old Constitution of Washington and his compeers. For the old flag, the Stars and Stripes. God bless them ; and I am against all factions that would take them from me. It matters not who they are or whence they come. Whether they come from England, France, Massa- chusetts or South Carolina. If they would destroy the Gov- ernment of our fathers, I am against them. No matter what may be the pretext. No, sir, I am for the Union, and I am willing to defend it by any and all proper means. " Our Government is the best in the world. It has answered well all the ends for which governments are :;iade. We all know this. It has oppressed no man, nor has it burdened U3 a feather s weight. It has brought us nothing but blessings. Under it we have been happy, prosperous and free. What more can we ask ? All that Government can do, our Govern- ment has done for us. We have been free, as no nation was ever free before ; we have prospered as no nation ever jorospered before, and we have rested in peace and security. Yet all this would not do. Mr. Lincoln was elected, and corrupt poli- ticians lost their places. They had controlled the Government in their own way for years. When they lost their power, they declared that the Government was con-upt and ojopressivc, and that they would destroy it. They robbed it of its arms and munitions of war, sending them South ; they involved the Government in a debt of nearly a hundred millions of dollars ; robbed the treasury ; and thus leaving the Government im- poverished and distracted, they commenced the atrocious busi- ness of secession. They had lost the offices, and they thought it necessary to create new ones for the benefit of the defunct politicians, and they did it. This is the grand secret of the whole affair. Had they retained their grip upon the offices, you had never heard of secession. All our losses, all our troubles and suffering, are the legitimate results of secession. We must bear all, we must submit to all this in silence, that those disappointed politicians may be presidents, ministers, 110 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES and high ofBciuls. Their day was ended by the election of Lincohi. They knew this, and seceded — made new offices and filled them ! " Behold the results of secession ! Distress and ruin stare men in the face. Strong men, honest and industrious men, cannot get bread for their wives and children. The widow and the orphan, helpless and destitute, are starving. In all the large cities the suffering is intense ; work is not to be obtained ; and those who live by their labor get no money. Property of every description has depreciated until it is almost worthless. In the Seceded States, Union men are driven penniless from their homes, or hanged ; and all this, that * peaceable secession' may go on, and that politicians may fill offices ! And, after you gentlemen bring all these calamities npon us, you flilsely say that ' Lincoln did it,' and that we Union men arc Abolitionists, and aid him ! I tell you that Lincoln has not done it. lie was elected President by Tjour help. You ran a candidate for the Presidency, that the Demo- cratic party might be divided, and Lincoln elected. That was your purpose^ and you accomplished it ; and now you have elected Lincoln thus, you must break up the Govern- ment because he is elected ! This is your programme — deny it who can ! *' South Carolina was irritated at the presence of Major Anderson and fifty-five men at Fort Sumter ; so irritated that she could not bear it. She tried to starve hira to death ; she tried to knock his head off, and burn him up ; she bombarded the people's fort; shot into the flag of our v^iv., r-nmcnt, and drove our soldiers from the place. It was not Mr. Lincoln's fort ; not his flag, nor his soldiers, but ours. Yet after all these outrages and atrocities, South Carolina comes with embraces for us, saying : ' Well, we tried ; we intended to kill that brother Kentuckian of yours ; tried to storm him, knock his brains out, and burn him up. Don't you love us for it ? Won't you fight with ns, and for ns, and help us overthrow your Government ?' Was ever a request so outrageously unnatural ; so degi*ading to our patriotism ? And yet, Mr. OF THE WAR. HI Speaker, there were those among us who rejoiced of the result, and termed the assault upon their own fort and the captui-e of their own flag and their own soldiers, a heroic victory ! " Mr. Speaker, I am sick and tired of all this gabble about irritation over the exercise by others of their undoubted right ; and I say once for all to you secession gentlemen, that we Union men know our rights ; intend to maintain them. If you get irritated about it, why — get irritated ! Snuff and snort yourselves into a rage ; go into spasms if you will ; die if you want to, and can't stand it — who cares ? What right have you to get irritated because we claim equal rights and equality with you ? We are for peace ; we desire no war, and deprecate collision. All we ask is peace. We don't intend you an}^ harm. Wc don't want to hurt you, and don't intend you shall injure us if we can help it. We beg of you to let us live in peace under the good old Government of our fathers. We only ask that. Why keep us ever on the alert watching you, to prevent you from enslaving us by a destruction of that Government ? * * * " Kentucky is an armed neutral, it is said. I submit, with others, to that position. I hope that circum- stances may not drive us from it. I hope that our secession friends will be, in fact, neutral. If we remain so, it is said we shall have peace. I hope so ; but the neutrality that fights all on one side I do not understand. Troops leave Kentucky in broad daylight, and our Governor sees them going to fight against our own Government, yet nothing is said or done to prevent them. Is this to be our neutrality ? If it is, I am utterly opposed to it. If we assume a neutral position, let us be neutral in fact. It is as little as we can do. " Our Government, constitutionally administered, is entitled to our support, no matter who administers it. If we will not support it, and yet enjoy its blessings, in Heaven's name let us not war against it, nor allow our people to do so. Let us be true to our position, whatever it may be. We are nuUifjn'ng at any rate. Our Government has not objected to it. But who can look an honest man in the face, while professing 15 112 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES neutrality, refusing to help liis Government to preserve ita existence, 3'et secretly and traitorously warring against it? For one, sir, I'll none of it. Away with it. Let us be men — honest men, or pretend to be nothing but vagabonds. " I hear it said that Kentucky will go out of the Union ; that if she goes anywhere, she will go South, &c., &;c. Mr. Speaker, let me tell 3'ou, sir, Kentucky will not ' go out' She will not stampede. That has been tried. Secessionists must invent something new in the way of secession appliances before they can either frighten or ' drag' Kentucky out of the Union. I tell you sensation gentlemen that your exciting events have ceased to effect us. Try something else. Get up a fight at Cairo, that you may get us to side with you. That is your game, and }^u will play it whenever you think you can succeed at it. You tried to scare us, but you failed in your purpose. And if you illegally and against right assault Cairo, I hope every man of you will get his head knocked or be taken prisoner, and that the Cairo folks will never permit you to come to Kentucky again. That's what I wish, and what I believe would happen in such an event. " But we won't ' go out' — have not the least notion of it in the world. You must take us out according to law and right, or take us dead. Believe this, and act accordingly. It would be better for all of us. We shall be but too happy to keep peace, but we cannot leave the Union of our fathers. " When Kentucky goes down, it will be in blood. Let that be understood. She wdll not go as other States have gone. Let the responsibility rest on you, where it belongs. It is all your work, and whatever happens will be your work. We have more right to defend our Government than you have to overturn it. Many of us are sworn to support it. Let our good Union brethren of the South stand their ground. I know that many patriotic hearts in the Seceded States still beat warmly for the old Union — the old flag. The time will come when we shall all be together again. The politicians are having their day. The people will yet have theirs. I have an abiding confidence in the right^ and I know that this secession OF THE WAP.. ■ 113 movement is all wrong. There is, in fact, not a single substan- tial reason for it. If there is, I should be glad to hear it ; our Government has never oppressed us with a feather's weight. The direst oppression alone could justify what has brought all our i^resent suffering upon us. May God, in his mercy, save our glorious Republic !" There is in this noble address the impassioned eloquence of the patriot and the incorruptible citizen. In reading it the vision of Patrick Henry rises up before us as he appeared to the Virginia House of Delegates when he uttered his ever- memorable anathema against King George. It was such declarations as those which fell from Rosseau's lips — as those which fell from the pen of the incorruptible Joseph Holt — as those which the sage and patriot John J. Crittenden event- ually avowed — that saved Kentucky to the Union and pre- served her hills and vallfes from becoming the battle fields of the horrid struggle to achieve the independence of a Slave Dominion. XI. 'McCLELLANS FIRST CAMPAIGlSr. The appointment of Captain McClellan to the responsible position of Major-General of the Volunteers of the State of Ohio (April 24th, 1861), was soon followed by the General Government's creation of the "Department of the "West," over which he was placed in superior command. It comprised the States of. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, "Western Pennsylvania, and Western Virginia. The proposed assemblage (June 14th) of the Wheeling Con- vention, for re-organizing the State of Virginia as a State of the Union, rendered it necessary to arrange a campaign in Western Virginia, both to expel the rebel armies from that section, and to give stability to the new State Government 114 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES The ]>romu]gation by McClellan (May 2Gtli) of the following proclaniation announced the movements on foot ; " IIead-quaiiteks, Depaktment of Ohio, ) CiNCiiNNATi, May 2Gth, 18G1. J " To Hie Union Men of Western Virgbii/i : " ViKGiNiANS : — The General Government has long enough endured the machinations ofa few factions rebels in your midst. Armed traitors have in vain endeavored to deter you from expressing your loyalty at the polls. Having failed in this infamous attempt to deprive you of tho exercise of your dearest rights, they now seek to inaugurate a reign of terror, and thus force you to yield to their schemes, and submit to the yoke of the traitorous conspiracy, dignified by the name of the Southern Confederacy. They arc destroying the property of citizens of your State, and ruining your magnificent railways. The General Government haa heretofore carefully aljstained from sending troops across the Ohio, or even from porting them along its banks, although frequently urged by many of your prominent citizens to do so. " It 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 infiuence the free expression of your opinions, although the many agencies brought to bear upon you by the rebels v,-ere 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 that beneficent Government under which we and our fathers have lived so long. As soon as the result of tho election was known, the traitoi-s commenced their work of destruction. The General Govern- ment can not 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 armed rebels who are preying upon you. Your homes, your families, and your property are safe under our protection. All your rights shall be religiously respected. " Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe our advent among you will be signalized by an interfcr- enoe with your slaves, understand one thing clearly : Not only will wo abstain from all such interference, but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at insurrection on their j^art. " Now that we are in your midst, I call upon you to fly to arms and support the General Government ; sever the connection that binds you to ti'aitors ; proclaim to the world that the faith and loyalty so long boasted by the Old Dominion arc still 2)rcserved in Western Virginia, and that you remain true to the Stars and Stripes. " G. B. McCLELLAN, Major-General Commandiug." OF THE WAR. 115 Tins document gave tlie proper reasons for the contemplated movement To Lis troops, then cantoned in Eastern Ohio, he addressed a stirring address, well calculated to win the confi- dence of the people among whom thej were to move. It read : " Soldiers : — You are ordered to cross tlie frontier, and to enter on the soil of Virginia. Your mission is to restore peace and confidence ; to protect the majesty of tlic law, and to secure our brethren from the grasp of armed traitors. I place under the safeguard of j'our honor the persons and property of the Virginians. I know you will respect their feelings, and all their rights, and will preserve the strictest discipline. " Remember, that each one of you holds in his keeping the honor of Ohio and the Union. If you arc called to overcome armed 02)position, I know your courage is equal to the task. Remember that your only foes are armed traitors. Show mercy even to them, when 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 form until they can protect them- selves, you can return to your hoihes, with the proud satisfaction of having preserved a gallant j^eople from destruction." Prior to the issue of these documents, everything had been arranged for the advance. Colonel Kelly, in command at Cam.p Carlisle, in Ohio, opposite Wheeling, gave the word of command for the onward movement, Sunday evening, (May 26th), by reading the Proclamation and Address. The announcement was received with wild huzzas by the troops, the First Virginia Yolunteers. Monday morning they poured over into Virginia eleven hundred strong, and, at seven o'clock, were en route for Grafton, a place of some strategic importance, lying at the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio and the Northwestern Virginia railways. The First Virginia was followed immediately by the Sixteenth Ohio Volunteers, Colonel Irvine. The Fourteenth Ohio, Colonel Steadman, crossed the river at Marietta, and occupied Parkersburg, the western terminus of the Northwestern railroad. Tlie rebels, then in possession of Grafton, designed a descent on Wheeling ; but, hastily evacuated on the night of Mon« day, having previously destroyed railway bridges at various 116 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES points to tlie west of Grafton. The Federal forces did not fully occupy the place until Thursday morning, when the two regi- ments, with all their baggage and trains, took possession. The rebels withdrew to Phillippi, where they resolved to make a stand. The Federal advance was soon joined by the Fifteenth Ohio, and the Sixth Indiana, Colonel Crittenden, regiments, the Seventh Indiana, Colonel Dumont, while the forces landed at Parkersburg had pushed up the railroad to a conjunction. The attack on Phillippi was not delayed — McClellan having "ordered the enemy to be surprised by a forced march. On the night of June 2d, the Federal forces (four regiments) started for the point of attack by two routes — one division by way of Webster, under command of Colonel Dumont, con- sisted of eight comprinies of the Seventh Indiana; four com- panies of the Fourth Ohio, Colonel Steadman, with his artillery, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Sturgis, assisted and directed by Colonel Lander ; four companies of the Sixth Indiana, Colonel Crittenden. The other division consisted of the First Virginia, and companies from the Sixteenth Ohio and Seventh Indiana regiments, under command of Colonel Kelly, which moved east, by way of Thornton, thence south to Phil- lippi (twenty-two miles) by a forced march. The darkness was intense, the mud deep, and the storm of wind and rain unceas- ing. The division of Kelly did not reach the enemy's position at four o'clock — the time indicated for the conjunction and combined attack — owing to the dreadful fatigues of the, march. His forces were to strike the enemy's rear, and while Colonels Dumont and Lander pressed the front, to cut off the retreat, and thus " bag" the entii-e rebel force. Dumont arrived at the appointed time, and- disposed his forces for battle. It soon became evident that the rebels had discovered the movements of their foe, and were preparing to run. Lander not deeming it prudent longer to await Colonel Kelly's appearance, ordered the artillery to open. The Associate Press account of the fight read : Simultaneously with the roar of the first gun, Colonel Kelly, at the head of his command, came in sight across the river OF THE WAR. 117 below tlie camp, and, comprehending tlie position of affairs, lie rushed forward in the direction of the camp. Meanwhile the battery, having got accurate range, played upon the camp with marked effect, tearing through the tents and houses at a fearful rate. This the chivalry could not stand, and they scattered like rats from a burning barn, after firing at random a volley which did no damage. Colonel Kelly's command was close after them, and, at the same time, Colonel Lander's force came rushing down the hill -yelling like Indians. After chasing them a few miles, the already exhausted men returned to the evacuated camp, to learn the painful fact that their victory, though complete, was dearly bought!^ Colonel Kelly, who, with bravery amounting to rashness, was foremost from first to la:;t, was rallying his men in the upper part of the town, the enemy having all apparently fled, when he fell by a shot from a concealed foe. The assassin was an Assistant- Quartermaster in the Confederate force, named Sims. He was immediately seized. A coiTespondent who was present thus referred to Colonel Lander's ride down the hill on which the artillery was posted, and his subsequent achievement : " The hill on which the artillery was planted is both high and steep, and it would be dangerous for an inexperienced rider to walk a horse down the slope toward the pike. Seeing Dumont's right rushing for the bridge, closely followed by the Ohio Fourteenth, (Colonel Steadman,) and supposing the pas- sage of the bridge would be disputed, he grasped a revolver in each hand, plunged spurs into the flanks of his horse, and dashed. down the hill, over fences, and stumps, and stones, and dead timber, through a wheat field, to the pike, and swept past the column like the wind, looking (as one who saw him says) more like a demon than a man. Colonel Steadman, in the excitement of the moment, had advanced some three hun- dred yards ahead of his command as Lander passed. * Go back. Colonel Steadman — go back to your column,' said he, * or you will be cut off !' forgetting that he was exposed to the same danger. 118 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES « " Bj tliis time Colonel Kelly had arrived and attacked tlie rear of the rebels. Colonel Lander now rode alone across the town to join Kelly, but just after he had passed Kelly, a rebel brought Kelly down by a shot through the lungs. Lander at once charged among the enemy and chased the rebel into an angle of a fence, where he guarded him until the infantry came up. An unsuccessful charge was made by a few of the rebels to rescue the prisoner. On Kelly's men arriving they were determined to bayonet the prisoner, but were prevented by Colonel Lander, against their urgent remon- strances. The Quartermaster of the Virginia regiment took charge of him, becoming responsible for his safety. Colonel Lander maintained that the man had thrown down his arms and yielded himself to him as a prisoner of war ; that if he had killed Kelly he would have done it in actual fight, and after our troops had commenced the engagement, and that he should protect him with his life." The enemy retreated, with a loss of all his baggage, tents, &c., to Beverly, finally taking up position on Laurel Hill, which he proceeded to fortify. The campaign which followed was thus chronicled by one who participated in it : " The rebel forces, after the battle of Philippi, lay at Laurel Hill, near Beverly, in a strong position, which commanded our road to the southern portion of the State, and in which they had fortified themselves with great labor and care. From this point they had repeatedly threatened us with attack, and our officers felt very eager to repeat the action by which the campaign had been so successfully opened at Philippi. A plan was formed, therefore, to move down from our head- quarters at Grafton and capture or destroy the enemy. The fortifications at Laurel Hill had, however, gi-eatly strengthened a position of the most advantageous kind, and the attack was not to be lightly undertaken. " On the side of the Laurel Mountain lies a fine, broad and cleared plateau, which afforded ample room for an encamp- ment and a parade-ground in the rear. The slopes in front down to the valley were fortified with a more extended system ' OF THE WAR. 119 of intrencliments, wliicli our men are now engaged in destroy- ing, and which were so complete as almost to defy a direct attack by any force at our command. It was resolved, there- fore, to combine with the direct assault a movement in the enemy's rear, for which the shape of the country afforded pecu- liar facilities. Stretching away, north-east and south-west, lay the western range of the Alleghanies, impassable without great difficulty for an army, and even then passable only at certain points. At the foot of the mountain was the main road, which gives access to Southern Virginia on this western slope of the range. By this route alone could the enemy receive reen- forcements or supplies, and this fact determined the scheme of operations. To occupy his attention by a direct attack in front, white another body of our forces should go around into his rear,- and cut off communication with his base, would place him at our mercy, and enable us to assail him in his intrench- ments with an overpowering force, and in both directions at once, or else to starve him out, should it be deemed best not to conclude the affair by a direct engagement. " The plan thus formed was executed by the two divisions of General McClellan's army. The main body of ten thou- sand, led by himself, went round by Clarksburg and Buck- hannon, on the west of the enemy ; while the other and smaller division of four thousand, under General Morris, made the direct attack, which was to hold the rebels in check on the north, and occupy them while the former force should be get- ting into their rear. *' General McClellan, after a sharp skirmish at Buckhannon, approached the rear of the enemy, which, however, he found strongly fortified at Rich Mountain, and defended by a force of some two or thfee thousand under Colonel Pegram. Send- ing General Rosecrans with a force of some three thousand to assail them in the rear, while he was himself to attack them in front, he hoped to capture the enemy entirely ; but' some want of co-operation took place, which interfered with the complete- ness of the result General Rosecrans reached the rear of tho mountains, which was held by some three himdred rebels, 16 120 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES but did not succeed in communicating to General McClellan the information that he was ready to attack, and the command of McClellan lay inactive for many hours, waiting for thia intelligence. Hence, though the attack of Rosecrans waa entirely successful upon the small force before him, Colonel Pegram took the alarm, and silqntly moved off' with his main body to join Garnett at Laurel Hill. He found it impossible, however, to do so, and after lying in the woods for two days, utterly destitute of provisions, was obliged to surrender with all those of his troops who had not succeeded in getting away. This successful move captured or killed about one thousand or perhaps twelve hundred rebels. " Meanwhile, the division of General Morris was cautiously making its way down upon the enemy from Grafton and Phi- lippi. The command of the advance brigade was given by General Morris to his chief engineer officer, Cajjtain Benham, of the United States Topographical Engineers, an officer of great experience and skill, whose judgment had before been tested by the conduct of several difficult operations. Captain Benham had thoroughly explored and mapped the country, and his accurate delineations of the topography had given essential aid in the planning of the expedition. When General McClellan's order was received to march upon Laurel Hill, Cajptain Benham arranged the plan of the march, and started at two A. M. on the 7tli of July. By skillfully availing him- self of the peculiarities of the country, he avoided the neces- sity of thrice fording a stream, as had been supposed necessary by the commanding General, in order to avoid defiles where effective resistance might be offered ; and thus brought the army to its designated position some two Hours earlier than would have been possible otherwise, to the complete surprise of the enemy. Here a position was chosen at Beelington, on the opposite side of the valley from Laurel Hill, and within rifle-shot of the enemy's intrenchments ; and, notwithstanding repeated attacks and skirmishes with the enemy, it was success- fully fortified and held till the approach of the other column. " Upon the overthrow of Colonel Pegram at Rich Moun- OF THE WAR. 121 tain, General Garnett, tlie rebel commander, began to under- stand the extent of his danger, and made haste to extricate himself from a position in which he could no longer fight with advantage, nor even retreat v/ith success. He left his intrench- ments, and moved at once south toward Beverly, hoping, bj great expedition, to reach that place l^fore General McClellaa should arrive. But by the time he had got within a few miles of it the fugitives from Pegram's corps informed him that the effort was hopeless, Beverly was occiipied in force by the Union troops. His only remaining resource was to turn upon his steps, and retrace his path to Leedsville, where another turnpike road branched off to the north-east, on the other side of Laurel Mountain. Pursuing this route with all speed, he passed Leedsville the same afternoon, and pressed on along the base of the mountains down the Cheat River, hoping to find some practicable path across the mountains into the valley of Virginia. Throwing away, therefore, all superfluous baggage, he fled rapidly, and soon turned off from the main road into a narrow path along the mountains, in which pui'suit might be more easily obstructed. Here he closed the narrow path after him, and filled every defile through which he passed^ by fell- ing the largest trees into and across it. " His fligiit, however, which took place on Thursday even- ing, was ascertained on Friday morning by some of our men at Laurel Hill ; and, on word being sent to General Morris, he gave immediate orders for pursuit, though his force was greatly inferior to that of the enemy. Following with the somewhat larger portion himself, he sent Captain Benham forward with the advance division, giving him orders to press forward after the rebels as far as Leedsville, secure the ford at that place, and await his arrival. Captain Benham set out instantly, at first with caution, for it migiit be only a feint to draw us on into an attack ; but, on reaching the intrenchments, they were found entirely deserted, and the Captain had the pleasure to be the first officer within the abandoned works. The com- mand pressed on to Leedsville and there halted, according to orders. This order to halt was unfortunate; had Captain 122 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Benliam been authorized to advance further, a more effectual pursuit might have been made ; but, held back bj positive directions, he was compelled to wait — his men under arms and ready to resume the pursuit — till General Morris arrived at ten P. M. It was then too late to move till morning ; the men must have some rest ; and they were allowed a brief slumber of three hours, from eleven in the evening till two A. M., when the pursuit was eagerly resumed. " The pursuit was a memorable one. Captain Benham led, with one thousand eight hundred men, composed of Ohio and Indiana troops. General Morris followed with the rear. Up and down the mountains, through defiles, and over rugged ridges, everywhere impeded by the obstructions thrown in the way by the flying enemy — the pursuit was pressed with an ardor which was not to be repressed. Many men fell behind, exhausted with hunger and exertion. " At length, after crossing one of the branches of Cheat Biver, we saw before us the provision-train of the rebels at rest ; but a foolish boy firing his musket set it in motion again in full rctreat, and brought out two heavy regiments to protect it, before our first regiment could reach the ford. This caused a further pursuit of three or four miles, when the train was again overtaken half across the stream ; and here General Garnett made a vigorous stand for its defense. " The Icxiality afforded a fine position to repel our assault. Cheat River, in one of its numerous bends, winds here round a bluff of fifty or sixty feet high, the lower portion of which is covered with a dense growth of laurel, through which it is almost impossible to penetrate. On the top of this bluff he placed his cannon, which swept our approach to the ford ; while his troops were drawn up in line — some two thousand in number — on either side of their guns, in a line some four hundred feet in length, with the remainder of his force within a mile. They were well protected from our fire by a fence, which showed only their heads above it, and by numerous trees which afforded them covei'. " On coming up, Colonel Dumont's men, the Seventh Indi- OF THE WAR. 123 ana regiment, pressed into the stream, crossed it, and attempted to scale tlie bluff in front, in face of the enemy's fi: e of mus- ketry and artillery, but the steepness of the ascent rendered it impossible. When Captain Benham came- up he found the men climbing the steep ascent almost on their faces ; and, see- ing the difficulty of success, he ordered them down again into the stream. On our right was a depression in the bluff, just where a ravine came down to the river, and he directed them to try the ascent there. They did so, but found the way so steep, and so obstructed by the dense cedar roots, that they soon found this, too, impossible. Captain Benham tlien ordered the regiment to cross the stream, and, keeping in its bed, immediately under the bluff, to pass down it to our left, where they could gain the road. This happy manoeuvre was imme- diately executed. The men passed down the whole front of the eneni}^, protected so effectually by. the steepness of the bank from his fire, that they emerged on the right of the rebels without losing a man ; and, as the head of the column showed itself on their Hank, the rebels fled, leaving one of their guns, and a number of killed, wounded, and prisoners in our hands. " About a quarter of a mile in advance, the river makes another turn, and here the enemy a^ain attempted a stand. General Garnett himself bravely stood, and tried to gather his men around him, but in vain. He then begged for thirty skirmishers to go back with him and pick off our officers — as we were informed by our prisoners subsequently. A few did return with him to the bank of the stream ; but, as we came up, they fired a volley and again fled, and left him with only a single companion. Our men ran forward to the bank of the stream, where a group of three cedars gave them a slight cover, and fired upon the fugitives. General Garnett wasstandmg with his back to us, trying in vain to rally his men, when he received a Minie ball just on the left of the spine. It made a teiTible wound, piercing the heart and coming out at the right nipple, and the poor General threw up his arms, and with his single companion fell dead. Our men passed over, and find- ing by the straps on his shoulder that he was an officer of rank, 124 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES sent word back immediately to the commanding officer. Cap* tain Benliam was still at the bluff, caring for the wounded and directing the removal of the cannon, but, on receiving tho news, he at once rode forward to the spot, and himself first identified the body as that of General Garnett, late Majoi Garnett, U. S. A. " The body, which had remained undisturbed, was carried, by Captain Benham's order, into a small log-house, where the General's money was taken from his pockets and counted, and, with his watch and sword, preserved for his family ; his field- telescope, an elegant opera-glass, ajarge map of Virginia, and some small sketches of our own positions near Grafton, becama the legitimate trophies of the conqueror." The enem}^ was utterly broken — hopelessly defeated. Not more than two thousand of the five thousand with which Gar- nett had commenced his flight, escaped; and these were in such a disorganized condition as to be unavailable. Parties of them kept coming in to the Union camps for several days. They were well received and humanely cared for — hungiy and almost naked, as they were in most instances. After recruiting them, the lenient policy was adopted of administering the oath of allegiance, or of a release on parole. Of course, men base enough to take up arms against their country scorned oaths and paroles ; and those scoundrels, almost without exception, were soon in the ranks of the Confederates. The Union Gen- erals were long in discovering that tlie best way to serve a rebel was to place him where his honor or oath were not to be called into requisition. This infamous disregard of oaths and honor was happily illustrated in the sarcasm of a Captain in one of the Ohio regi- ments. A rattlesnake was caught alive on the mountains and brought into camp. After tiring of its presence, its captor asked the Captain what he should do with the reptile. " Oh, swear him and let him go !" was the curt reply. With the destruction of Garnett's army Western Virginia was left to pursue its course of reorganization. The Wliccling Convention labored zealously and patriotically, heartily en* OF THE WAR. 125 dorsed in their efforts by the vast majority of people in the thirty counties west of the Bhie Eidge Mountains. The new State soon came up like a Phoenix, and with Governor Pierre- pont at its head, became the recognized State of Yirginia. Sv ch were the fruits of McClellaii's first campaign. XII. THE FIRST DISASTER. The first real disaster which fell upon the Union arms oc- curred at Big Bethel, on York Peninsula, on Monday, June 10th. Batler, in his report, stated the reasons for the advance ordered, as follows : " Having learned that the enemy had established an ontpost of some strength at a place called Little Bethel, a small church, about eight miles from Newport News, and the same distance from Hamilton, from whence they were accustomed nightly to advance both on Newport News and the picket guards of Hampton to annoy them, and also from whence they had come down in small squads of cavalry and taken a number of Union men, some of whom had the safeguard and protection of the troo25s of the United States, and forced them into the rebel ranks, and that they were also gathering up the slaves of citizens who had moved away and loft their farms in charge of their negroes, carrying them to work in intrcnchments at Williamsburg and Yorktown, I had determined to send up a force to drive them back and destroy their camp, the head-quarters of which was this small church. I had also learned that at a short distance further on, on the road to Yorktown, was an outwork of the rebels, on the Hampton side of a place called Big Bethel, a large church, near the head of the north branch of Back River, and that here was a very considerable rendezvous, with works of more or less strength in process of erection, and from this point the whole country was laid under contribution." 126 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES He accordingly ordered Brigadier-General Pierce " to send Daryea's regiment of Zouaves to be ferried over Hampton creek at one o'clock on the morning of the 10th, and to march by the road up to Newmarket bridge, then crossing the bridge, to go by a by-road, and thus put tlie regiment in the rear of the encni}^, and between Big Bethel and Little Bethel, in part for the purpose of cutting him olf, and then to make an attack upon Little Bethel." This regiment was to be supported by Colonel Townsend's regiment (Third New York volunteers) at Hampton, which was to take up its line of march at two o'clock. Colonel Phelps, at Newport News, was ordered to send forward " such companies of the regiments under his command as he thought best, under command 6f Lieutenant- Colonel Washburne, in time to make a demonstration upon Lit- tle Bethel in front, and to have him ^npported by Colonel Bendix's regiment, with two field pieces." Bendix and Town- send were to form a junction at the forks of the roads leading from Hampton and Newport News, about a mile and a half from Little Bethel. These movements were so arranged that the attack upon Little Bethel was to be made at daybreak ; when, the enemy being repulsed, Duryea's Zouaves and one of the Newport News regiments were to " follow upon the heels of the flying rebels and attack the battery on the road to Big Bethel, while cover- ed by the fugitives, or, if it was thought expedient by Gen- eral Pierce, failing to surprise the camp at Little Bethel, they should attempt to take the work at Big Bethel. To prevent the possibility of mistake in the darkness, Butler directed that no attack should be made until the watchword was shouted by the attacking regiment ; and, in case that, by any mistake in the march, the regiments to make the junction should unex- pectedly meet and be unknown to each other, it was directed that the members of Colonel Townsend's regiment should be known, if in daylight, by something white worn on the arm." These orders were explicit, it will be seen, and exonerate Butler from blame for the disaster which attended the expe* OF THE WAR. 127 dition, sinco, bad tliej been carried out, tlae objects of the ex- pediticai would have been accomplisbed. The troops were all put in motion as ordered. The beau- tiful night, clear with the light of stars, rendered every move- ment easy. The regiments had passed to their several desig- nated positions — Duryea's in the advance and Lieutenant- Colonel Washburne with the Newport News troops close at hand. Townsend's regiment was coming up, and when within a few yards of the rendezvous, suddenly a furious fn-e was poured in upon his ranks, of small arms and cannon. This fire was supposed to proceed from an ambuscade of the enemy, and was returned, while the assailed regiment left the road and took the cover of a ridge in the rear. Not until several rounds had been discharged and two of Townsend's men kill- ed and eight wounded did the assailants (who proved to be a portion of Colonel Bendix's regiment of German riflemen, together with a few companies of Massachusetts and Vermont men) discover their grievous mistake. In the meanwhile, Colonel Duryea and Lieutenant- Colonel Washburne, hearing the firing, supposed the attack to proceed from the enemy, and, fearing that their communications might be cut off, fell back. The enemy's pickets had been reached by Duryea, and five of them were captured ; but, the alarm being given, and the advance retarded, the rebels had ample time to evacuate their position at Little Bethel, and to make good their retreat to Big Bethel, where they had, as it after- wards appeared, excellent defensive works, held by a North Carolina regiment, and strong batteries manned by Magruder's own choice men. A conference was held by the several officers in command, when it was determined to push forward and assail Big Bethel — Duryea still on the advance. A messenger was dispatched to Butler giving an account of affairs, and suggesting that a regi- ment be sent forward as a reserve. Colonel Allen was, there- upon, thrown forward upon Hampton. No opposition was offered, save from one house, from which a shot was fired, wounding one man. The house was in flames in a few 17 128 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES noments. The vicinity of Big Betliel was reacLed by half- past nine A. M. The position was thus described : " On the right of the road as the troops advanced was a wood ; in the centre Lay the road, and, on their left, a largo open field. The enemy's batteries were placed so as not only to command the field, which was directly in front of thom,^but also the road and the centre woods on its left. A private house and some outbuildings stood in the plain, so that the Secessionists were placed on a hill, backed and concealed by woods ; in their entire front a stream, on the further side of that stream a large plain, with no shelter but that of one or two insignificant houses, and to the right, but commanded by their guns, a wood, through which ran the road." The enemy 'opened his cannonade at the first appearance of the Federal troops. Duryea, covered by two howitzers and a brass six-pounder, took the centre ; Townsend the left, near the plain, with two guns; Bendix the right, in the woods, with Lieutenant Greble serving his single piece of artillery, in front, openly. The fight was, from the first, extremely un- equal. The enemy, lurking behind intrenchments, and with guns commanding the entire approach, was also further guarded by a narrow, but deep stream, passing along their entire front, and covering their flank from approach. Thus secure, tho contest was alarmingly unequal. Pierce, seeing how unex- pectedly warm was to be his reception, dispatched a second messenger to Butler for reenforcements, when Colonel Carr's regiment, then advanced as far as Newmarket bridge, moved to the scene of conflict — only reaching it, however, to partici- pate in the retreat. The fortunes of the day only needed a master-hand to direct them, to have turned in favor of the Union troops. General Pierce refrained from much command — each regiment seeming to act entirely on its own responsibility. Several most gallant advances were made by the Zouaves, up to the enemy's very face, to pick off the men lurking behind their guns. Colonel Bendix prepared for a final assault, but foimd no orders given for a support. Townsend's men behaved with great gallantry, OF THE WAR. 129 and were only bi'ouglit away from the murderous fire of tlie artillery by the personal leadership of the Colonel, Avho, on his horse, rode between the flres, and compelled his troops to retire. Lieutenant-Colonel Washburne had, also, arranged for a flank movement which, with a combined attack from the front, must have ended the struggle ; but the order for retreat was given before the movement could be executed. One who was present as an observer, wrote : " The raw troops, recruits not yet two months enlisted, and many of them not having received two weeks drill, stood fire welL They were almost utterly unable to defend themselves, from the nature of things, but never flinched. Some were less disciplined than others, and their efforts less available, but no lack of the most difficiilt sort of courage, that which consists in enduring without the excitement of performing, was mani- fested. ' The cannonading of the enemy was incessant Shrap- nell, canister, and rifled balls came at the rate of-three a miniite ; the only intervals being those necessary to allow their guns to cool. Our own guns, although of comparatively little use, were not idle, imtil the artillery ammunition was entirely ex- hausted. Almost all of the cartridge rounds of the Zouaves were also fired. " At about one o'clock. Colonel Allen's regiment, the First New York, came up as a reenforcement, and, at about the same time. Colonel Carr s, of the Troy Yolunteers ; these also received several discharges of artillery; but did not move upon the open field, with the exception of two hundred of the Troy Eifles. Their approach, however, seemed to the com- manding General to give no hope that he would be able, with- out more artillery, to take or silence the batteries, and, at about twenty minutes past one, he gave the order to withdraw." The Federal loss was fourteen killed, forty-nine wounded, and five missing. Among the killed were two of the most gallant and noble men in the service — Major Theodore Winthrop, Secretary and Aid to General Butler, and First-Lieutenant John T. Greble, of the United States regular Artillery, Second regiment. The enemy pronounced his loss to have been but one killed and 130 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES four wounded. The retreat was accomplislied in good order — - the enemy not pursuing. A troop of cavahy sallied over the bridge, and fell upon the wagons collecting the wounded — disregarding the flag of truce borne by the Chaplain in com- mand, but no attack was made on the lines. Colonel Phelps had dispatched two hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Hawkins, to the scene of combat; but these troops only met the retreat This contest excited the public mind greatly. Upon General Pierce the censure of defeat fell, with merciless severit}^ He was charged with, inefficiencj'', ignorance of field manoeuvres, want of pluck, etc., etc. It is questionable if the charges were wholly true. The first error was in dispatching so large a force without equivalent artillery. Had there been a dozen good field pieces, the enemy would have been driven from his position in half-an-hour. As it was, Greble's single gun did memorable service, and, had Bendix and Duryea been allowed to charge, as they wished, at a moment wdien it was evident that Greble and the sharpshooters had silenced over half of the enemy's guns, it is more than probable that the day would have been won. General Pierce lacked confidence in himself It was his first experience on the battle field ; he seemed con- fused by its responsibilities. Conceded to be a brave officer and a. good disciplinarian, he still lacked the experiences of a general field command. Had he wisely conferred that com- mand upon Daryea, .or, indeed, upon any one of his Colonels, that army never would have retreated, especiallj' after the arrival of Colonel Carr's fine troops, with their two effective pieces of artillery. In the enemy's account of the fight, as given b}'' the Eich- mond Dispatch^ the fact was m.ade known that IVfagruder com- manded in person. The infantry present consisted of the First North Carolina regiment, Colonel HilL Their guns consisted of a superb howitzer batter}'- (seven guns), embracing one fine Parrot field-piece. The battery was worked by one hundred chosen men, under Major Eandolph. The account stated, among other things : OF THE WAR. 131 " About nine o'clock, tlic gTittei'ing bcayoncts of tlic enemy appcai'cd on the liill opposite, nnd above tlieni waved the Star Spangled Banner. The moment the head of the column ad- vance'.l far enougli to sliow one or two companies, the Parrot gun of the howitzer battery opened on them, throwing a shell right into their midst Tlieir ranks broke in confusion, and tlie column, or as mucli of it as we could see, retreated bekind two small farm-houses. • From their position a fire was opened on us, which was replied to by our battery, which commanded * the route of their approach. Our firing was excellent, and the shells scattered in all directions when they burst. They could hardly approach the guns which they were firing for the shells which came from our batterj^ Within our encampment fell a perfect hailstorm of canister-shot, bullets, and balls, llcmark- able to say, not one of our men was killed, inside of our en- campment. Several horses were slain by the shells and bullets. " Finding that bombardment would not answer, the enemy, about eleven o'clock, tried to carry the position by assault, but met a terrible repulse at the hands of the infantry, as he tried to scale the breastworks, The men disregarded sometimes the defenses erected for them, and, lea})ing on the embankment, stood and fired at the Yankees, cutting them down as they came up. One (company of the New York "Seventh i-cgiment, under Captain AVinthrop, attempted to take the redoubt on the left. The marsh they crossed was strewn with their bodies. Their Captain, a fine-looking man, reached the fence, and, lean- ing on a log, waved his sword, crying, ' Come on, boys, one charge, and the day is ours.' The words were his last, for a Carolina rille ended his life the next moment, and his men fled in terror back. At the redoubt on tie right, a company of . abou.t three hundred New York Zoua^ es charged one of our guns, but could not stand the fire of the infantry, and retreated precipitately. " During these charges, the main body of the enemy on the hill were attempting to concentrate for a general assault, but the shells from the howitzer battery prevented them. As one 132 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES regiment would give up the effort, another would be inarched to the position, but with no better success, for a shell would scatter them like chaff. The men did not seem able to stand fire at all. "About one o'clock their guns were silenced, and a few moments after, their infantry retreated precipitately down the road to Hampton." » '<0<4 ^ XIII. THE SECOND DISASTER. The defeat of the Federal army of invasion at Bull Eun Sunday, July 21st, 1861, was one of the most remarkable and mysterious affairs recorded in the annals of modern warfare. A magnificent army, having fought, against great odds, a bat- tle of an unusually sanguinary nature, at a moment when vic- tory was about to rest upon its standard, broke up in a panic, retreated in disorder to their fartherest defenses, abandoned vast stores, artillery and equippage, forsook positions which a few brave men could have held securely, and collected in camp a disorganized and dispirited mass — all from no perceptible good reason and without being able to fasten the first faidt upon any particular corps or regiment. That the battle was virtually won by ihe Federal forces the rebel leaders themselves confess.. Beauregard, at a dinner given him in Eichmond, stated, with minuteness, the circum- stances of his peril and his defeat — that he had just given the order to his aid for the grand retreat to Manassas, but retained the aid to await the solution of a single movement : a banner OP THE WAR. 133 was seen in tLe distance, to the west, advancing at the head of a division — if that of the Federals all was lost--if that of one of his own divisions it would steady the movements about to be ordered, or possibly turn the tide of defeat. He depict- ed the intensity of his emotions at that moment, and how his heart leaped for joy upon distinguishing, with his glass, that the "Hag was that of the Confederacy. The order for retreat was not issued, and soon the General-in-Chief learned that the long looked-for reenforcements from Johnson's army had ar- rived. This timely arrival of fourteen thousand comparatively fresh men saved Beauregard's overwhelming defeat and gave him the vantage ground. The Union troops, however, fought the v;ay on — were pushing the enemy slowly but surely back- ward when, without just cause, a stampede commenced, which no power of ofiicers, or of eminent civilians present, could pre- vent. The regiments of most undoubted bravei'y, those whose ranks were deplorably thinned by service fled in dismay be- fore an imaginary pursuit. Artillery of the most costly and efficient character was abandoned — the gunners taking to the horses for escape. Wagons loaded with immense quantities of stores were abandoned, while the teamsters or the flying infantry seized the horses and mules to hasten in advance of the disordered mass. Ofiicers came on without commands, wild with frenzy at the course of their troops, but perfectly powerless to stay the disgraceful scamper. A few regiments moved on in comparatively good order, but their course was *Washington-ward, and no efforts to stand were made. Blenk- er's fine division — held as a reserve at Centerville, covered the rout in good order, but did no service as no enemy pursued. It was a causeless, senseless, disgraceful panic — one which ever will stand as one of the inexplicable phenomena of the modern battle-field. No battle ever was fought where so many and such various opinions were expressed by those present. Many newspapers were represented by able and vigilant correspondents ; num- bers of Congressmen were there ; eminent civilians came out to view the conflict, which was heralded by the skirmishing 134 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES of three previous daj^s ; — most all of -whom published state- ments and naiTatives of the disaster, many of which disagreed in important, specific and general particulars. The statements of officers only added to the confusion, while official reports failed to throw any light upon the actual cause or the extent of the disaster. A letter from an officer of the regular service present at the battle, gave the following general narrative of the events of the day : "The march froni our bivouac, near Ccntrcvillc, was taken uj) at 2^- a.m. on Sunday, Among officers and men the impi-ession prevailed that the action -would occur at Bull's Run, the scene of General Tyler's repulso a day or two previously. In this they were disappointed. Tyler's brigade posted themselves at the bridge over Bull's Run, where they were ordered to feign an attack as soon as General Hunter's division were knoAvn to be in position. This order was partially obeyed. Hun- ter's division, composed of Burnside's brigade and Porter's brigade, after pi-oceeding a mile beyond Centreville, made a detour to the right, and proceeded over a Avood road, M-eli covered fi-om oljservation, to the left flank of the enemy at Manassas, a distance of aljout eight miles. At six o'clock tiring was heard on the heights at Bull's Run, from a battery in Tyler's brigade, which was promptly answered by the enemy's batteries. Their position thus revealed, the advance division (Hunter's) ascended a hill at double quick, and almost immediately the Rhode Island battery and Griffin's West Point Ijattery were in brisk action. The former Avas supported by the First regiment Rhode Island volun- teers, who maintained their ground nobly for a half hour. At this mo- ment Porter's brigade, composed of the Fourteenth, Seventh andTwen- ty-seventli New York, with a battalion of United States marines, under Major Reynolds, and a battalion of United States Third, Second and Eighth infantry, under Major Sykcs, took their position in line of battle upon a hill, within range of the enemy's lire. Burnside's battery being BOJ'cly i)ressed, the enemy having charged closely upon it, the gallant Colonel galloped to Major Sykes and implored him to come to his as- sistance. Major Sykes brought up his men at a run, and, with a deaf- ening shout, they charged upon the enemy's skirmishers, who fled before them several hundred yards. Forming in column of divisions, Sykes' battalion advanced a considerable distance, until they drew upon them- Belves an intensely hot fire of musketry and artillery. Tiiis was a trying moment. The volunteers cxi)ected mucli of the regulars, and gazed upon them as they stood in unbroken line, receiving the fire, and return* OF THE WAR. 135 ing 'it ■\vitli fatal iirccision. Imjjressions ancl rcsolutious are formed on the battle-field 4n an instant. The impression at this moment was a happy one, and Hcintzel man's brigade coming up into line, our forces steadily advanced upen the retreating rebels. The batteries, which had been meanwhile recruited with men and horses, renewed their fire with increased effect, and our supremacy upon the field was ajjpareut. The enemy's fire was now terrific. Shell, round-shot and grape trom their batteries covered the field with clouds of dust, and many a gallant fel- low fell in that brief time. At this juncture the volunteers, who hither- to had behaved nobly, seeing their ranks thinned out, many losing their field and company otHcers, lost confidence, and in a i)anic fell back. Three fresh regiments coming on the field at this time, would have formed a nucleus upon which a general rally could have been efiected, but while the enemy had reenforcements pouring in upon them momen- tarily, our entire force Avas in the field and badly cut up. Thus was our action maintained for hours. The panic was momentarily increas- ing. Regiments were observed to march up in good order, discharge one volley, and then fall back in confusion. But there was no lack of gallantry, generally sj)eaking, and not a great manj"^ manifestations of cowardice. Our artillery, which made sad havoc upon the rebels, had spent their ammunition or been otherwise disabled by this lime, and in the absence of reenforcements, a retreat was inevitable. The time for the last attack had now come. Nearly all of the rebel batteries were in place, though silent. There was a calm — an indescribable calm. Every man on the field felt it. I doubt if any one could describe it. General McDowell was near the front of our lines, mounted on his gray charger. And here let me say, emphatically, that, Avhatever may be the criticisms ui^on his conduct by the military or the abominable stay-at-home news- l)ai)er scril)blcrs and politicians, no braver man trod that turf at Manas- sas than General McDowell. Major Sykes' battalion of eight companies, five of Third infantry, two of the Second, and one of the Eightli, were marched several hundred yards to the right, and formed the right flank of the line. Several volunteer regiments, were deployed as skirmishers on the centre and left. Thus they advanced to the crest of the hill. The enemy met them with batteries and musketry in front, and two bat- teries and a thousand cavalry on the right. The fire was terrific. We maintained our position for a half hour. Then it was discovered that the rebel cavalry were attempting to outflank our right. We had no force to resist them, and the bugle of the regulars sounded the march in retreat. This, so far as we were concerned, was conducted in good order. On Major Sykes was imposed the res2)onsible duty of covering the retreat of the army. In this he was assisted on part of the route by the United States cavali y, under Major Palmer, The enemy followed 18 136 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES U3 with tlieir artillery and cavalry, shelling us constantly, until we reached Ceutrcvillc. Here we bivouacked for an hour, and then again took up the line of march." This speaks for the regulars, but does meager justice to those many gallant regiments that bore the brunt of the light ; while it omits the most material incidents of the retreat. Blenker's troops (four regiments from Mills' division) covei-ed the retreat — being specially detailed as the reserve and to hold the hei^^hts of Centreville. From another more detailed account we glean such items aa will, taken in connection with the above, give a consistent idea of tlie character of the contest. " On a line, right and left with Fairfax, the entire column halted and bivouacked during the niglit of Wednesday the 17th. Beyond a false alarm caused by the discharge of a sen- tinel's musket, which aroused the entire camp, and placed the division under arms, nothing of any account occurred. Eleven rebel soldiers belonging to the Sixth Alabama regiment, and two citizens, were captured by the Fire Zouaves and brought to Colonel Blenker, who commanded them to the lock-up un- der a strong guard. At eight o'clock A. j\r., on the 18tb, we broke camp and proceeded to Centreville, where the Fifth division arrived in advance of all others. Our march to this spot was difficult and dangerous. The pioneers worked like beavers ; the roads were barricaded to such an extent, that we had to cut our way inch by inch. The road being straight through heavy pine woods, we were compelled to throw out skirmishers on our right and left, to guard against a surprise attack. " At Centreville, we remained from Thursday morning until Sunday the 21st, the day of the memorable battle of Bull's Run. While the Fifth division was encamped in the valley, about halfa-milc from Centreville, the riglit flank of the grand column arrived, and a portion of it, in command of General Tyler, was sent in advance towards Bull's Run Creek, to recon- noitre the enemy's position and detect his batteries. "On Friday morning the Secretary of War, accompanied by OF T-HE WAR. 137 Colonel Scott and Mr. Moore, liis private secretary, arrived at the encampments, to note the position and condition of the troops. It was soon rumored that General Scott was at Centre- ville, and great enthusiasm was manifested by the soldiers when tliey were told that the veteran Commander-in-Chief was among them. The statement, however, was false, for the hero of a hundred battles was not thei-e iiro. personce. In tlie even- ing, the commanding olliccrs were invited to a council of war at the quartei-s of General McDowell. "The orders of General Tyler, it is understood, were specifio not to give the enemy battle ; but the skirmishers of the Twelfth New York volunteers were scarcely one mile and a half from Centreville, before a masked battery opened upon them, killing and wounding a number of the men. The First Massachusetts, Second Wisconsin, and First Minnesota regi- ments suffered badly. The Twelfth regiment retreated in. disorder. The Sixty- ninth. Colonel Corcoran, and the Seventy- nhith, Colonel Cameron, both New York State militia, came up to reenforce our troops, but arrived too late to render any effectual service. In fact they did not even have an opportu- nity to participate in this fight, all the troops having been ordered back to C_entreville first. The Twelfth New York volunteers and the First Massachusetts volunteers suffered most; their loss in killed, wounded, and missing could not have been less than from one hundred to one hundred and fifty. In the evening, however, those regiments, besides the Connecticut volunteers, were moved forward, and camped upon the late battle-field, the enemy having retreated from their position. With the exception of driving in Our pickets, the capture of a rebel named Wingfield, by Captain Forstner, , of the Eighth regiment New York volunteers, and the sur- render of an orderly sergeant, named Leadbeater, of the Virginia Ninth, our camps remained quiet until Sunday morning. " Early Sunday morning the divisions began to move. The Warrington road was taken b}^ tlie centre column ; and Genei-al McDov/eil directed Colonel Ileintzelman to march v/ith his 1S8 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES division in that direction, Sherman's battery, lii en tenant Hajnes' thirty-pound rifled siege gun, Parrott's patent, and Carhsle's battery accompanied tliis division. Further to tho right, was Colonel Hunters, Franklin s, Keyes' and Porter's divisions. Each of them were supported by artilleiy. At six o'clock, Lieutenant Haynes opened the ball by sending a shot from his battery, which he ]-epeated alternately for upwards of an hour, without receiving any reply from the enemy. Finally, the rebels responded with some grape and canister, which was duly appreciated and returned with interest. The rebels seemingly had the proper range of their guns. " The firing then became general, and the enemy slov/ly retreated, followed closely by our troops. An assault was contemplated; and the Sixtj^ -ninth, Seventy-ninth, and Fire Zouaves were ordered to storm the battery. These valiant 'soldiers steadily advanced under a galling fire, and VF'cre almost in possession of the guns, when a tremendous volley raked their front, and they were compelled to fall back. Tlie reason of the repulse was obvious. The field oflicers made a great mistake in attempting to carry a battery from the front, and neglected to deploy on the flanks. From this instant the fight became more general. The entire column on the right now pressed forward, and the Fire Zouaves, the Sixty-ninth, and Seventy-ninth regiments had actually captured three masked batteries, when an immense troop of cavalry advanced, and commenced cutting the gallant men to pieces. The Zouaves lay flat on their faces to load, and their fire was so steady and accurate, that whoever was hit by them was seen to bite the dust " Colonel Cameron, of the Highlanders, gallantl)' led on his men to the charge. The brave Scotchmen were so eager for the fight, that some of them actually stripped oft' their shoes and coats and rushed upon the enemy. The colonel of this fine regiment did no*:, live long enough to see the valiant deeds of those whom he commanded, for, after discharging his revolver twice, and while in the act of shooting the third time, a ball from a musket penetrated his left breast, and he fell OF THE WAR. " 139 from liis liorse upon tlic field. Instead of "becoming dislieart- ened bj tliis event, the gallant Highlanders pushed on, encou- raged bj the brave Major McClelland (Lieutenant-Colonel Elliqtt not being on the ground) in their charge on the enemy. The Sixty-ninth regiment, Colonel Corcoran, also evinced the most unflinching courage, and the only charge that in any way approaches that of the rebel cavalry, was the famous charge at Balaklava ; and it has yet to be proved whether it was so gal- lantly resisted as the charge was by these three New York regiments. The Khode Island, Maine, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and the rest of the New York regiments all fought furiously, regardless of danger. The New York Seventy -first and Eighth regiments also signalized themselves, and clearly demonstrated that their military training was not altogether confined to parading on Broadway in full dress uniform. These men, althougli their term of service was about to expi]-e, did not flinch a hair from the duty they owed to their country, and sprang forward to the charge, although their ranks were thinned. " The Rhode Island battery did good service, the enemy at one time took the guns, but the gallant boys recaptured them with considei'able slaughter. Thus the fight raged for nine consecutive hours without interruption. When our troops in the first place came upon the battle-field, on double-quick time, they were exhausted to such an extent on reaching the ground, that their tongues actually hung out of their mouths. The poor soldiers suffered terribly for the want of drinking water, and whenever a rill or a moist place was discovered, the lialf-flimished men threw themselves upon the ground, licking the moisture. According to instructions. General Pat-~ terson was to have come to the reenforcement of our division, and was expected at Centreville at twelve o'clock noon. Had he arrived, our weary troops would have been relieved and given time to rest, while the attack would have been followed up. Everything went on gloriously until about three o'clock in the afternoon, and altliough a goodly number of our men were killed, still the spirit of those remaining was unbrokeUj 140 * INCII^ENTS AND ANECDOTES but pliysicallj they were unable to maintaiu tlieii- position mucli longer. " Captain Ayres' battery and a portion of Eickett's battery fell into the hands of the enem}'-, but were retaken after an immense sacrifice of life. A regiment of Black cavalry made a circuitous dash at our right and left flanks, which was ob- served by the Zouaves. They immediately fell to the ground, and each marked his man. Some picked off two and three, and in less than half an hour from their first appearance the black cavalry horses were seen dashing back riderless. Only a few of this troop returned, out of about eight hundred men. "About half-j)ast four o'clock in the afternoon a terrible dash of cavalry and a fierce charge of artillery was made at our exhausted troops. This charge did the most devastating damage, mowing down everything in its furious career. The agonized shrieks of the wounded, tlie terrible roar of artillerj^, snorting of frightened animals, tended to strike terror into the hearts of the soldiers. In this charge, Griffin's, Ricket's and the Ehode Island batteries were taken. Those in citizen's dress became alarmed and took to their heels, taking wllat- ever conveyance they could lay their hands upon. From them the teamsters, some five hundred, who had driven their wao-- ons further in advance than was any necessity for, took fright The road being very narrow, in fact a gorge, the ponderous vehicles could not be turned, and in many cases the cowardly di'ivers cut the tiTices, mounted their steeds and rode off, leav- ing the valuables which were entrusted to their care by the Government to take care of itself Tims thousands of dollars worth of provisions were left behind. The army wagc.ns dash- ing down the road, spread the panic among the citizens, who made all possible haste to leave so hot a neighborhood. " Colonel Miles in the meantime had received instructions to move his reserve forward, and the German brigade, under Colonel BIcnkcr, Ibllowing Green's, Hunt's and Tidbalhs bat- teries, started on a double-quick-to the scene of battle. The brigade, however, had scarcely advanced three miles fi-om Cen- ti'cville before the entire army came along, every man looking OF THE WAR. 141 out for himself! Tlirougli the firmness of Colonel Blenher, a short stand-was made at Centreville, and the flying troops somewhat reassured. All the threats, promises and denunci- ations were of no avail, and the only course to be pursued was to cover the retreat as much as possible in case of a jjursuit. The troops reached Fairfax in safety, and those regiments that were sent into Virginia on Sunday were ordei-ed back, and joined the column of the retreating forces. Between' Washington and i\lexandria all travelling communication was cut off by the Government, so as not to allow the panic- stricken soldiers to push into the Capital." As might be expected, the most intense feeling pervaded all classes. The defeat, at the very moment of victory, was mortifying, but the rout and demoralization was mortifying in the extreme. The public in its eager desire to find some palliation for the disaster, sought victims' for its blame ; and the Secretary of War— the " On to Eichmond !" press — the Congressmen who had goaded General Scott by their displays of temper at his deliberate way of pressing the campaign — all suffered at the hands of the indignant people. But, as the excitement of the moment cleared away, and matters came to be understood, attention was directed to the reenforcements received by Beauregard — Johnson's entire army from Win- chester : why were they allowed to escape Patterson's heavy columns sent specifically to engage the rebel, at eyevy hazard, and thus to keep him away from Manassas? That failure to engage resulted, as Scott foreknew it must, in ovei-powering McDowell's thirty-two thousand men. Had Patterson detain- ed Johnson, as ordered, all would have been well, and " On to Eichmond !" would have been, in all probabilitj^, a fulfilled command. How inscrutable are the ways of Providence ! Had the rebels been defeated at Bull Eun and forced fi'om Manassas, a» armistice might have followed — doubtless would have fol- lowed ; Avhen a " settlement" would have replaced the rebels in power as in the past, to domineer over, to browbeat and in- sult, to cast a stigma upon, the North and its Free State senti- 142 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES ment, and liave only postponed the day of final decision of tlio great principles of Government involved. That defeat called forth the }-et but half-aroused sentiment of the North, con- vincing the people of the true nature of the struggle, and com- manding those mightj'- resources which alone were ca])able of finally crushing out the rebellion to the last degree, leaving the great principle of the supremacy of the Central Govern- ment no longer questioned, and the right of the majority to rule a fixed fact XIV. INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN A VOLUME would scarcely suffice to contain all the stories related of haps and mishaps, personal achievements and adven- tures, incidents and anecdotes of the field of Bull liun. We- can devote but a section to them, showing such as seem to illustrate, in an indirect way, the fortunes and circumstances of the struggle. The battle consisted of a succession of fires from masked batteries, which opened in cvevy direction, (when one was silenced, its place was supplied by two,) and in the daring charges of our infantry in unmasking them. The Second Ohio and Second New York militia were marched by flank through the woods by a new-made road, within a mile of the main road, when they came on a battery of eight guns, with four regiments flanked in the rear. Our men were immediately ordered to lie down on either side of the road, in order to allow two pieces of artillery to pass through and attack the work, when tliis battery opened upon us, and killed, on the third round, Lieutenant Dempsey, of company G, New York Second, OF THE WAR. 143 and "William Maxwell, a drummer, and scrionslj Avoiinding several othei'S. Our troops were kept for fifteen or tM'enty minutes under ii galling fire, they not being able to exchange shots with the enemy, although within a stone's throw of their batteries. They succeeded in retiring in regular order, and with their battery. The most gallant charge of the day was made by the 'New York Sixt3'-nintli, Seventy-ninth, and Thirteenth, who rushed up npon one of the batteries, firing as they proceeded, with perfect cdat, and attacking it with the bayonet's point. The yell of triumph seemed to carry all before it. They found that the rebels had abandoned the battery, and only taken one gun, but tins success was acquired only after a severe loss of life, iu which the Sixty-ninth most severely suifei'cd. The Zouaves also distinguished themselves by their spirited assaults on the batteries, at the point of the bayonet. Colonel Cameron seemed to have a presentiment of his death. In a conversation with him at his tent, on the evening prior to the battle, he said that he had accepted the command of the gallant Highlanders because he admired them, and inas- much as he had only a short time to live, he might as well devote it to his country. He asked a correspondent whether he was going to the battle-field. Eeceiving an affirmative answer, he said : " Good b^'e, God bless you. We may meet again, but I am afraid not in this world." Som.e sixteen hours afterwards the gallant Colonel was shot from his horse and killed. A member of the Sixty -ninth thus wrote of the services of that splendid regiment (composed wholly of Irish, drawn from the City of New York, and commanded by Colonel Corcoran) : " About ten o'clock we discovered two batteries, and drove the enemy out. The Sixty-ninth advanced. We went off at a run, but could not overtake the enemy, as they scattered in every direction through the woods. We kept np the run, turned to the right, waded through streams, climbed steep hills, left our battery behind us, and out-flanked the enemy, and came on them when we were not expected. The Louisiana 19 14-1 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Zoiiavcs were doing big damage wlien we came on tliem. "Wo gave a yell tliat could be heard far above the roar of the can- non. AVe fired into them, and charged them with the bayonet. They were panic-striken and fled. Wc covered tlie field with their dead. Haggarty rushed forward to take a prisoner, and lost his hfe. Tlie man turned and shot him through the heart. We drove the enemy before us for some distance, then got into line and had them surrounded. General McDowell came np just then, took off His hat, and said, ' You have gained the victory.' Our next fly was at a South Carolina regiment. We killed about three hundred of them. After fighting hard for some time, we cleared the field of all the enemy. The enemy again rallying, the real fight then commenced. We were drawn up in line, and saw the other regiments trying to take the masked batteries. They were cut to pieces and scattered. We were then ordered forward to attack the batteries. We fought desperately, but we were cut down. We lost our flag, but took it back again with the assistance of a few of the Firemen Zouaves, who fought like devils. We charged a second time, but were mowed down by the grape and rifle of the enemy. We came together again, to make another charge, but we could not s;et toe;cther over two hundred men. We formed into a hollow square, when we saw the enemy turn out their cavalry, about a mile in length, afid the hills all about covered Avith them, trying to surround us. All the regiments on our side were scattered and in disorder, except what were left of the Sixty-ninth. The Fire Zouaves had to retreat, leaving a num- ber of wounded on the field. What we could gather together of our reefiment marched back to Fort Corcoran during the night." Governor Sprague, of Ehode Island, had two horses killed tinder him during the action. After the first one waskilled, by his head being shot away by a cannon-ball, his men came around him and insisted upon his going to the rear. This he positively refused to do, and continued throughout the engage- ment at the head of his brigade, gallantly leading them on and encouraging theii efforts. OF Tir K WAR.' 145 Colonel Cowdin, of the First Massacliusetts regiment, was leaning his back against a tree in a very exposed position, when a friend expostulated with liim for his recklessness. The Colonel said the bullet was not moulded that would shoot him that day. In a few seconds after, another ])ersonal friend came up, and putting out his hand to the Colonci, the latter stooped a little to grasp it, when a conical cannon-ljall struck on the spot where an instant befoi'c was the head of Colonel* Cowdin, shattering the tree into splinters. The Colonel turned about calmly and remarh'ed, " that he was certain that the ball that would kill him was not yet cast ;" and proceeded to issue his commands. The brave conduct of Colonel Hunter, commanding tlie Second division, deserves special notice. He was shot in the throat, while directing in person the Second Ehode Island regiment, in its gallant assault upon a battery. Just before being wounded, he had given an order to one of his aids for a distant regiment. ^The aid was about galloping off, when he saw the Colonel frdl from his horse. He immediately came to his assistance, but the Colonel motioned him off, telling him " deliver your order, and never mind me — I will take care of myself" Lieutenant-Colonel Boone, of Mississippi, one of the few prisoners taken by our troops, states that had the Union troops held tJieir ground on the other side of Bull Eun for half-an- liour longer, the entire rebel army would have given way. A Mississippi soldier was taken prisoner by Hasbrouck, of the Wiscolisin Second regiment. He turned out to be Briga- dier-Quartermaster Pryor. He was captured, with his horse, as he by accident rode into our lines. He discovered himself by remarking to Hasbrouck, " We are getting badly cut to pieces." " What regiment do you belong to ?" asked Has- brouck " The Nineteenth Mississippi," was the answer. " Then,- you are my prisoner," said Hasbrouck. The Fire Zouaves received the special attention of the " Black Horse Cavalry" — the pride of the Southern army, who had 14G INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES sworn to ivipe out tlie " red devils" from New York. Tlio story ol" tlicir assault was tlius told : " They came upon the Zouave regiment at a gallop, and were received by the brave firemen upon tlieir poised bayo- nets, followed instantly by a volley, from wliicli tlicy broke and fled, though several of the Zouaves wei'e cut down in the assault They quickly returned, with their forces doubled — • ■. perhaps six or seven hundred — and again they dashed with fearful yells upon the excited Zouaves. This time they bore an American flag, and a part of the Zouaves sujiposcd for an instant that they were friends, whom they had originally mis- taken. Tift flag was quickly thrown down, however, the' horses dashed upon the regiment, the ruse was discovered, and tlie slaughter commenced. No quarter, no halting, no flinching now, marked the rapid and death-dealing blows of our men, as they closed in upon the foe, in their madness and desperation. Our brave fellows fell, the ranks filled up, the sabers, bowie-knives and ba_yonets glistened in the sunlight, hcfi'sc after horse went down, platoon after platoon disappeared — the rattle of musketry, the screams of the rebels, the shout of ' Eemember Ellsworth !' from the lungs of the Zouaves, and the yells of the wounded and crushed belligerents filled the air, and a terrible carnage succeeded. The gallant Zouaves fought to the death, and were sadly cut up ; but of those \ hundreds of Black Horse Guards, not many left that bloody recounter !" When the Fire Zouaves stormed the masked battery at Bui Eun, and were forced to fall back by the grapeshot and cay airy charge, one of them was stunned by a blow from a sa^cf, and fell almost under one of the enemy's guns. Tlie '-.-•'.Pt- sionists swarmed around him like bees, but feigning dc<'l,h, m the excitement he was unnoticed, and when a sally vjj vnade, managed to crawl back into the thicket inside thoO'.r federate lines. Here he waited some time for an oppoifj-ii'.r ro escape, but finding none, concluded he would mako the. hose of a bad bargain, and if he was lost, vrauld have a I'VJic revenge before- OP THE WAR. 147 hand. Hastily stripping tlie body of a Confederate near by, lie donned his uniform, and seizing a rifle, made his way to the intrenchments, where he joined the Secessionists, and, watching his opportunities, succeeded in picking off several of their most prominent officers whenever they advanced out upon the troops. Here he remained some time, until, think- ing it best to leave before his disguise should be discovered, he joined a party who were about to charge upon our forces, and was, to his gratification, again captured, but this time by his own men. A remarkable incident was related of a private of the New York Twenty-eighth regiment of volunteers : He had been wounded in the groin, and was hobbling off the field, when he was pursued and overtaken b}^ three rebels. As the foremost one cafTie wp he laid his hand heavily upon his shoulder. The soldier stumbled forward, and as he fell he drew his bayonet the only weapon he had — from its scabbard, with which ho run the rebel through the body, and, at the same time, seized upon his c£fptor's revolver, drew it from the belt, and shot the other two. He then made good his escape, and arrived safely at Washington. An Ohio paper correspondent adverted to the services of some of the regiments from that State in glowing strains. He said : " The Ohio regiments were in the thickest of the fight, but fortunately lost but few men. The First regiment, under Colonel McCook, has covered itself with glory. They were detailed at an early hour in the day to hunt up batteries, and they seemed to understand that work to perfection. The Grays were sent out as skirmishers early in the morning, and drove in the pickets of the rebels, and commenced the fight These two Ohio regiments have been trained by Colonel McCook, and were frequently brought right into the very range and front of the enemy's most terrible and formidable guns ; but no sooner would they see the flash than every man was prostrate upon his face, and the balls and grape would 148 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES pass harmlessly over them ; then thej would up and at them with a vengeance in double-quick time." Colonel McCook's younger brother — but seventeen years old — ^was a member of the Second Ohio regiment, and was left as a guard to the hospital. One of the enemy's cavalry dash-, ed upon him and ordered him to surrender ; the brave youth, with fixed bayonet, steady nerve, and cool bearing, replied, " I never surrender !" The father, Judge McCook, who had all the day been arduously engaged in assisting and taking care of the wounded, bringing them in from the field, and that, too, at the imminent peril of his own life, was in the hos- pital tent and heard the order to his son, and saw others of the enemy's cavalry near by, and rushed out, and speaking in a loud tone, " Charley, surrender, for God's sake, or you are lost." Charley turned to his father, and with all the ^lion in his countenance, replied, " Father, I will never surrender to a rebel." In a moment a ball pierced his spine, but he in- stantly discharged his musket at the rebel horseman, and laid him low in death, and 'then fell himself. The rebels then un- dertook to drag him off, but his father rushed in and released him, and he died Monday morning. His body was brought away by his father, and was sent to Ohio for burial. The Colonel McCook above alluded to was afterwards the well known General McCook in Halleck's army. . Colonel W. E. Montgomerj^, for thirty years an efficient ofEi- cer of the United States Army, who had seen service where- ever during that time it was to be seen, was in command of the First New Jersey regiment. In the midst of the torrent of the retreat, he stemmed its tide, forced his regiment in good order through its surge of men and horses and wagons, which carried back with them his associate regiment, the Second New Jersey, Colonel McLean, but had no effect on him. "With exhortations, remonstrances and bayonets, he checked, but could not stop the disastrous flight. Abandoned by Colo- nel McLean and the Second, he pressed on alone, and alone his regiment reached the field, and took the post which his OF THE WAR. 149 orders indicated, formed in square to receive the enemy's cav* airy, and staid five hours on tlie battle-field ivaiting for ord&'s. Witli regard to this flight, much was, at the time, written as to the bad effects of the civilians present. It was stated and believed that their scampering away from danger first alarmed the teamsters, and thus produced the panic. It would appear that a few men here and ti^ere in citizens' dress, could have very little to do in creating a panic, even if they did run. But testimony is abundant that these non-professional sol- diers really acted a noble part — that they, in reality, gi'eatly aided in restraining the headlong flight of brave regiments from the battle-field. An eye-witness wrote to the National Intelligencer : " Whatever credit there was in stopping that rout, is due wholly to Senators Wade and Chandler ; Repre- sentatives Blake, Eiddle and Morris ; Mr. Brown, Sergeant-at- Arms of the Senate ; Mr. Eaton of Detroit, and Thomas Brown of Cleveland. These gentlemen, armed with Maynard rifles and navy revolvers, sprang suddenly from their carriages some three miles this side of Centrcville, and, presenting their wea- pons, in loud voices commanded the fugitives -to halt and turn back. Their bold and determined manner brought most at that point to a stand-still. Many on horseback attempted to dash by them, and had their horses seized by the bits. Some of the fugitives were armed, and menaced these gentlemen ; and one, a powerful man, supposed to be a teamster, shot Mr. Eaton through the wrist, as he held his horse by the bridle-rein. None, however, were permitted to pass, except an army cou- rier, who exhibited his dispatches. Mr. Wade and his party held the crowd until the arrival of the First New Jersey regi- ment, then on its way toward the battle-ground, the Colonel of which turned back the flying soldiers and teamsters. Two or three ofiicers were stopped and turned back." We are glad to record this, to so well-known men, simple justice. Congress- man Ely, of New York, was taken prisoner in liis efforts to keep the men up to the assault. General McDowell was so overcome by fatigue, that while writing a short dispatch in the telegraph of&ce, at Fairfax, ho 150 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES fell asleep three times. He had been busy all the night pre^ ceding in making preliminary arrangements, and had been in the saddle from two o'clock in the morning until ten at night. At nine and a half o'clock his dispatch was received at Wash- ington, announcing his retreat, and his purpose to make a stand at Centreville. At one and a half A. M. it was an- nounced that he would fall back to Fairfax. It was left to his own judgment whether to retire to the Potomac Hne or not. Eegarding the barbarity of the rebels, the stories told almost defied belief. The New York Herald correspondent wrote : " The barbarity practiced by the rebels towards wounded men in this encounter, throws to the winds the boasted chivalry of the South, and their assumption of Samaritan tendernesa They trampled the wounded and dying victims of their pow- der and lead to the ground — fired upon nm*ses engaged in car- rying away the mortally wounded — threw hot shot into build- ings used as hospitals, setting fire to them. The rebels engaged with our forces at Bull's Eun committed all those diabolical deeds, which have, as yet, only been equalled by the East India Sepoys and the Tartars of old. They commenced these acts on Thursday, this side of Bull's Run, on the wound- ed of the First Massachusetts and Twelfth New York volun- teer regiments, and continued it on Sunday." Such were the atrocities committed that a committee of investigatien was appointed by the Federal Congress to in- quire into and report concerning the matter. This was done, and the rejDort presented showed such a state of barbarism to have prevailed on the field, after the battle was over, too ehocking for belief. But the evidence is complete, and the insurgents must forever remain under the infamy of the dark record. Like the succeeding massacre of black soldiers at Fort Pillow — like the prearranged starvation of Federal prisoners in the prison pens of Andersonville and Saulsbury, and the Libby Prison, it proves that the spirit of treason was the spirit of the deviL __ XV. THE THIRD DISASTER. The Ball Bluff defeat, October 21st, 1861, was a melan- clioly affair resulting not only in disaster to our arms but in great loss of life, owing to a deficiency of transportation. Men were pressed by superior numbers back upon the river, (the Potomac,) there to find no adequate provision made for their safe passage over. Many were, therefore, hilled in making a last desperate stand at the river's bank, many plunged into the river only to be swept down by the current, many were taken prisoners — disasters which came after the battle was closed by defeat. The ranks of the regiments came forth from the conflict literally riddled, and their gallant leader. Colonel Baker, was among the slain. It was not a Bull's Eun stam- pede ; but a fearful sacrifice of men whose devotion and cour- age rendered their loss all the more keenly deplored. For several days prior to the 21st, the brigades on the right bank of the Potomac, above the Chain Bridge and the Falls of the Potomac, had been pushed up in the direction of Lees- burg. These brigades, however, commanded by General McCall, did not advance further than Drainesville, twelve miles south-east of Leesburg, although their scouts were push- ed forward to Goose Creek, four miles from that place. On Saturday and Sunday General McCall made two reconnois- Bances towards Leesburg, and could find no trace of the enemy. The country people declared that the rebels had abandoned that place some days before. 20 152 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES It was believed at "Wasliington that Leesburg had been evacuated by the rebels, that they had retired from that place to Aldie, ten miles south-west, where they were fortifying. Aldie is a stronger position than Leesburg, for there the rebels could place Goose Creek between themselves and the ad- vancing Union troops. Goose Creek is about the size of Bull's Eun, but has high and steep banks, and cannot be crossed by artillery, except by bridges. On the right bank of the creek are some high hills admirably calculated for defense, and these, it was understood, the rebels were fortifying. These facts, or rather, these reports, were current in the army and in Washington, General Stone, upon his own responsibility, it would appear, determined upon a demonstration toward Leesburg, looking to its occupation. McCall's movement upon Draincsville had excited the atten- tion of the enemy, it appeared ; for a regiment soon appeared near Edwards' Ferry, evidently to watch the movements of Stone. This regiment took position on a hill about one mile and a half from the ferry. It afterwards j^roved that the regi- ment was only " a blind" — that General Evans' forces, five thousand strong, had not evacuated Leesburg, but had feinted the evacuation to draw on the Federal forces. Stone having completed his arrangements, October 20th, proceeded, at one P. M., to Edwards' Ferry, from Poolsville, with Gorman's brigade, the Seventh Michigan volunteers, two troops of the Van Alen cavalry, and the Putnam Eangers, sending at the same time to Harrison's Island and vicinity four companies of the Fifteenth Massachusetts volunteers, under Colonel Devens, (who had already one company on the island,) and Colonel Lee with a battalion of the Twentieth Massachu- setts. And to Conrad's Ferry, a section of Vaughn's Ehode Island battery and the Tammany regiment, under Colonel Cogswell. A section of Bunting's New York State militia battery, under Lieutenant Bramhall, was at the time on duty at Conrad's Ferry, and Eickett's battery, already posted at Edwards' Feriy, under Colonel Woodruff, Orders were also OF THE WAR. 153 sent to Colonel Devens, at Harrison's Island, some four miles up the river, to detach Captain Philbrick and twenty men to cross from the island and explore by a path through woods little used, in the direction of Leesburg, to see if he could find anything concerning the enemy's position in that direction ; but to retire and report on discovering any of the enem}^ General Gorman was ordered to deploy his forces in view of the enemy, and in so doing, no movement of the enemy was excited. Three flat-boats were ordered, and at the same time shell and spherical case shot was thrown into the place of the enemy's concealment. This was done to produce an impres- sion that a crossing was to be made. The shelling of Edwards' Ferry, and launching of the boats, induced the quick retire- ment of the enemy's force seen there, and three Hoat-loads, of thirty-five men each, from the First Minnesota, under cover of the shelling,, crossed and recrossed the river, the boats con- suming in crossing from three to seven minutes. The spirit displayed by officers and men at the thought of crossing the river was cheering, and satisfied the General that they could be depended on for gallant service. As darkness came on, General Stone ordered Gorman's bri- gade and the Seventh Michigan to fall back to their respect- ive camps, but retained the Tammany regiment, the compa- nies of the Fifteenth Massachusetts a-nd artillery near Conrad's Ferry, in their position, waiting the result of Captain Phil- brick's scout, he (Stone) remaining with his Staff at Edwards' Ferry. About four P. M., Lieutenant Howe, Quartermaster of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, reported to General Stone that Captain Philbrick had returned to the island after pro- ceeding, unmolested, to within a mile and a half of Lees- burg, and that he had there discovered, in the edge of a wood, an encamxpment of about thirty tents, which he ap- proached to within twenty-five rods without being challenged, the camp having no pickets out any distance in the directiou of the river. General Stone at once sent orders to Colonel Devens to cross four companies of his regiment to the Virginia shore, and 154 INCIDEKTS AND ANECDOTES march silently, vmder tlie cover of night, to the position of the camp referred to, to attack and destroy it at daybreak, pursue the enemy lodged there as far as would be prudent with the small force, and return rapidly to the island ; his return to be covered by the Massachusetts Twentieth, which was directed to be posted on a bluff' directly over the landing place. Colonel Devens was ordered to use this opportunity to observe the approaches to Leesburgh, and the position and force of the enemy in the vicinity, and in case he found no enemy, or found him only weak and in a position where he could observe well and be secure until his party could be strengthened suihciently to make a valuable reconnoissance, which should safely ascer- tain the position and force of the enemy, to hold on and report Orders were dispatched to Colonel Baker, to send the First California regiment to Conrad's Ferry, to arrive there at sun- rise, and to have the remainder of his brigade in a state of readiness to move after an early breakfast. Also to Lieutenant- Colonel Ward, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, to move with a battalion of a regiment to the river bank opposite Ilai-rison's Island, to arrive there by daybreak. Two mounted howitzers, from Eickett's battery, were detailed to the tow-path opposite Harrison's Island. In order to distract attention from Colonel Devens' move- ment, and at the same time to effect reconnoissance in the direction of Leesburgh from Edwards' Ferry, General Stone ordered General Gorman to throw across the river at that point, two companies of Fii-st Minnesota, under cover of fire from Rickett's battery, and sent a party of thirty-one Van Alen cavalry, under command of Major Mix, accompanied by Cap- tain Charles Stewart, Assistant Adjutant- General ; Captain Murphy, Lieutenants Pierce and Gouraud, with ordei-s to advance along Leesburgh road until they should come to the vicinity of the battery, which, was known to be on that road, and then turn to the ]eft, and examine the heights between that and Goose Creek ; see if any of the enemy were posted in that vicinity, ascertain as near as possible their number and disposition, examine the country with reference to the passage OF THE WAR. 155 of troops to the Leesburgli and Georgetown turnpike, and return rapidly to cover beliind tlie skirmishers of tlie First Minnesota. This reconnoissance was most galhantly made by all in the party, which proceeded along the Leesburgli -road nearly three miles from the ferry, and when near the position of a hidden battery, came suddenly on a Mississippi regiment about thirty- five yards distant, received its fire and returned it with their pistols. The fire of the enemy killed one horse, but Lieutenant Gouraad, the gallant Adjutant of the cavalry battalion, seized the dismounted man, and drawing him on his horse behind him carried him safely from the field. One private of the Fourth Virginia cavalry was brought off by the party, and as he was well mounted and armed, his mount replaced the one lost by the fire of the enemy. Meantime Colonel Devens on the right, having in pursuance of his orders arrived at the position indicated by tlie scouts as the site of the enemy's camp, found that they had been deceived by the uncertain light, and had mistaken the open- ings in the trees for a row of tents. He found however, wood, in which he concealed his force from view, and proceeded to examine the space between that and Leesburgli, sending back word to General Stone, that thus far he could see no enemy. Immediately on receipt of this intelligence, which was carried by Lieutenant Howe, Quartermaster of the Fifteenth Massa- chusett, General Stone ordered a non-commissioned officer and ten cavalry to join Colonel Devens, for the purpose of scouring the country near him, while he continued his reconnoissance, and to give him due notice of the approach of any enemy, and that Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, with his battalion of the Fif- teenth Massachusetts, should move on to Smart's Mill, lialf-a- mile to the right of the crossing-place of Colonels Devens and Lee, where, in strong position, he could watch and protect the flank of Colonel Devens on his return, and secure a second crossing-place more favorable than the first, and connected by a good road with Leesburgh. 156 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Captain Candy, Assistant Adjutant-General, and General Lander, accompanied the cavalry, to serve witli it. The battalion under Colonel Ward was detained on tlie bluff in the rear of Colonel Deven, instead of being directed to the right. Stone said in his official report : " For some reason never explained to me, neither of these orders were carried out. The cavalry vf ere transferred to the Virginia shore, but were sent back without having left the shore to go inland, and thus Colonel Devens was deprived of the means of obtai aiug warn- ing of any approach of the enemy." The report then went on to state the orders given to Colonel Baker, under which he acted, viz. : " Colonel Baker having arrived at Conrad's Ferry, with the First California regiment at an early hour, proceeded to Edwards' Ferry, and reported to me in person, stating that his regiment was at the former place, and the three other regiments -of his brigade ready to march. I directed him to Harrison's Island to assume command, and in a fuU conversation explained lo him the position as it then stood. I told him that General McCall had advanced his troops to Drainsville, and that I was extremely desirous of ascertaining the exact position and force of the enemy in our front, and exploring, as far as it was safe, on the right towards Leesburgh, and on the left towards the Lcesburgh and Gum Spring road. I also informed Colonel Baker that General Gorman, oppo- site Edwards' Ferry, should be reenforceil, and that I would make every effort to push Gorman's troops carefully forward, to discover the best line from that Ferry to the Leesburgh and Gum Spring road, already mentioned, and the position of the breastworks and hidden batteries, which prevented the movement of troops directly from left to right, were also pointed out to him. " The means of transportation across, of the sufficiency of which ho (Baker) was to be the judge, was detailed, and authority given him to make use of the guns of a section each of Vaughan's and Bunting's bat- teries, together with French's mountain howitzers (of Rickett' battery), all the troops of his brigade and the Tammany regiment, beside tho Nineteenth and part of the Twentieth regiments of Massachusetts volun- teers. I left it to his discretion, after viewing the ground, to retire from the Virginia shore under the cover of his guns and the lire of the large infantry force, or to pass our rccuforcements in case he found it v^ OP THE WAR. 15T practicable, and the position on the other side fixvorable. I stated that 1 wished no advance made unless the enemy were of inferior force, and under no circumstance to pass beyond Leesburgh, or a strong position between it and Goose Creek, on the Gum Spring, i. e., the Manasses road. Colonel Baker was cautioned in reference to passing artillery across the rivei', and I begged, if he did so, to see it well supported by good infantry. The General pointed out to him the position of some bluflfs on this side of the river, from which artillery could act with effect on the other, and, leaving the matter of crossing more troops or retiring what were already over, to his discretion, gave him entire control of operations on the right. This gallant and energetic officer left me about nine A. M. or half-past nine, and galloped of quickly to his command." This statement is precise, and if Colonel Baker was caught without transports for a retreat, was surprised hy an over- whelming force which cut ofl' his retreat, in part, it was not General Stone's fault, if the orders explicitly detailed above were given and were understood. Baker's friends as explicitly state that he undertook the enterprize, conscious that he should be overwhelmed, and that he so expressed himself to General Stone, urging the practical inipossibility, with the transports at his disposal, of throwing over the river the force which he deemed safe — but was ordered forward. From an examination of all the evidence produced, we credit the General's state- ment, and feel that the censures heaped upon him were really unmerited. Eeenforeements were rapidly thrown to the Vii'ginia side by General Gorman, at Edwards' Ferry, and his slcirmisliers and cavalry scouts advanced cautiously and steadily to the front and right, while the infantry lines were formed in such posi- tion as to act rapidly and in concert, in case of an advance of the enemy, and shells were thrown by Lieutenant Woodruff's Parrott guns, especial care being taken to annoy the enemy by the battery on the right. Messengers from Harrison's Island informed General Stone, soon after the arrival of Colonel Baker opposite the island, that he was crossing his whole force as rapidly as possible, and that he had caused an additional flat-boat to be lifted from the canal into the river, and had provided a line, by which to cross the boats more rapidly. 158 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES During the morning a sharp skirmisli took place, between two of the advance companies of the Fifteenth Massachusetta and a body of about one hundred strong of Mississippi rifle- men, during which a body of the enemy's cavalry appeared, causing Colonel Deveus to fall back in good order on Colonel Lee's position, after which he again advanced, his officers and men behaving admirably, fighting, retiring, and advancing in perfect order, and exhibiting every proof of high courage and good discipline. Had he, at this time, had the cavalry scout- ing party which was sent him in the morning, but which, most unfortunately, had been turned back without his knowledge, he could, doubtless, have had timely warning of the approach of the superior force, which afterwards oveovhelmed his regi- ment and their brave commander and comrades. To that surprise was owing the disaster. General Stone, evidently thinking that Colonel Baker might be able to use more artillery, dispatched to him two additional pieces of Vaughan's battery, supported by two companies of infantry, with directions to its officer to come into position below the place of crossing, and report to Colonel Baker. Later in the day, and but a short time prior to the arrival of the guns. Colonel Baker suggested the same movement to General Stone, thus justifying the General's opinion. A correspondent of the New York Times said, in reference to the transports and their apparent want of capacity : " After Colonel Devens' second advance, Colonel Baker seems to have gone to the field in person, but he has left no record of what officers and men he charged with the care of the boats, and insuring the regular passage of the troops. If any one was charged with this duty, it was not performed, for it appears that the reenforcements, as they arrived, found no system enforced, and the boats were delayed most unneces- sarily in transporting back, a few at a time, the wounded that happened to arrive with attendants. Had an efficient officer been in charge at each landing, with one company guarding the boats, their full capacity would have been made service- able, and sufficient men would have passed on to secure the OF THE WAR. . 159 success of his operation. The forwarding of artillery (neces- sarily a slow process) before its supporting force of infantry, also impeded the rapid assembling of an imposing force on the Virginia shore. The infantry which was waiting with impa- tience should have been first transported, and this alone would have made a difference in the infantry line at the time of attack of at least one thousand men — enough to have turned the scale in our favor." It was about one o'clock P. M., when the enemy appeared in force, in front of Colonel Devens. A sharp skirmish then, ensued, which was maintained for some time by the IVTassa- chusetts Fifteenth. Unsupported, and finding himself about to be outflanked, Colonel Devens retired a short distance in good order, and took up a position in the edge of the wood, about half-a-mile in front of Colonel Lee's position, where he remained until two P. M., when he again retired with the approach of Colonel Baker, and took his place in line with those portions of the Twentieth Massachusetts and First Cali- fornia regiments which had arrived. Colonel Baker at once formed his line, awaiting the attack of the enemy, which came upon him with great vigor about three p. m., and was met with admirable spirit by our troops, who, though evidently struggling against largely superior numbers, nearly if not quite three to one, maintained their ground and a most destructive fire upon the enemy. Colonel Cogswell, with a small portion of his regiment, suc- ceeded in reaching the field in the midst of the heaviest fire, and they Nvent gallantly into action with a yell, which wavered the enemy's line. Lieutenant Bramhall, of Bunting's battery, had succeeded, after exertions of labor, in bringing up a piece of the Ehodo Island battery, and Lieutenant French, First artillery, his two mountain howitzers ; but while for a short time these main- tained a well-directed fire, both ofiicers and nearly all the men were soon borne away wounded, and the pieces were handed to the rear to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. 21 160 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES At nboiit four o'clock P. M., Colonel Baker, pierced by a number of balls, fell at tlie bead of bis command, wbile cheer- ing on his men, and by bis own example maintaining the ob- stinate resistance tbey were making. In full uniform, -witb a " re2;ulation" bat and feather, and mounted on bis horse, be was a conspicuous mark for the bloodthirsty traitors. He was one of the finest appearing men in full uniform and mounted that I have seen in the service. Entirely regardless of per- sonal safety, he led and cheered on his men. He remarked to those around him, "A rascal up in that tree has fired at me five or six times ;" and the rascal in the tree was speedily brought down by a well-directed ball. Shortly after this Colonel Baker was surrounded by a body of rebel cavalry and taken prisoner ; but the right wing of the battalion charged with the bayonet, routed the cavalry, killed numbers of thenij and recaptured their Colonel. But a few minutes had elapsed, however, before a tall, fero- cious Virginian, with red hair and whiskers^ came rushing from behind a tree, with a huge revolver in his .hand, and, placing the weapon almost against the Colonel's head, inflicted a mortal wound. Not satisfied with his deadly work, he fired the second ball, while simultaneously the body was pierced with four bullets from the tops of trees, and the brave Colonel fell lifeless from his horse. Captain Louis Berial, of New York city, commanding Com- pany G., California regiment, seeing the assassination of Colo- nel Baker, rushed upon the ruffian, seized him by the throat, and shot him dead on the spot with his revolver. Colonel Lee then took command, and prepared to commence throwing our forces to the rear, but Colonel Cogswell, of the Tammany regiment, beimg found to be senior in rank, assumed command, and ordered dispositions to be made immediately for marching to the left, and cutting a way through to Edwards' Ferry. Unfortunately, just as the first dispositions were being made, an officer of the enemy rode rapidly in front of the Tammany regiment and beckoned them towards the enemy. OF THE WAR. 161 Whether the Tammany understood this as an order from one of our officers, or an invitation to close work, is not known ; but the men responded to the gesture with a yell, and charged forward, carrying with them in their advance the rest of the line, which soon received a murderous fire from the enemy at close distance. Our officers rapidly recalled the men, but in the position they had now placed themselves, it was imprac- ticable to make the movement designed, and Colonel Cogswell reluctantl}^ gave the order to retire. The enemy pursued our troops to the edge of the blufi:' over the landing-place, and thence poured in a heavy fire on the men who were endeavor- ing to cross to the island. Rapid as the retreat necessarily was, there was no neglect of orders. The men formed near the river, deploying as skir- mishers, and maintained for twenty minutes or more the une- qual and hopeless contest rather than surrender. The smaller boats had disappeared, no one knew whither. The largest boat, rapidly and too heavily laden, swamped some fifteen feet from the shore, and nothing was left to the gallant soldiers but to swim, surrender«)r die. With a devotion worthy of the cause they are serving, offi- cers and men, while quarter was being offered to such as would lay down their arms, stripped themselves of their swords and muskets and hurled them out into the river to prevent their falling into the hands of the foe, and saved themselves as they could by swimming, floating on logs, and concealing them- selves in bushes and forests to make their way up and down the river, back to a place of crossing. The Times correspondent, already quoted from, and who appears to have been in the confidence of General Stone, said : " "Wliile these scenes were being enacted on the right, Geneual Stone was preparing for a rapid push forward to the road by which the enemy would retreat if driven, and entirely unsuspicious of the perilous condi- tion of the troojis on the right. The additional artillery had already been sent in anticipation, and General Stone was told by a messenger from Baker's position, that the Colonel could, without doubt, hold his own iu case he did not advance. Half an hour later — say at half-past 162 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES three r. m. — a similar statomcnt was made by another messenger from Colonel Baker, and it was the expectation of General Stone th<'.t an ad< vance on the right would be made, so that he could push forward Gen- eral Gorman. It was, as had been explained to Colonel Baker, imprac- ticable to throw Gorman's brigade directly to the right, by reason of the battery in the wood, between which we had never been able to reconnoitre." Presuming that all was progressing favorably, Stone tele- graphed to General Banks requesting Lim to send a brigade of Ins division, intending it to occupy the ground on the Mary- land side of the river, near to Harrison's Island, Avliicli could be abandoned in case of a rapid advance. Captain Candy arrived at liead-quarters from tlie field of Colonel Baker about five r. M., and announced to General Stone tb3 news of Colonel Baker's death, but giving no new3 of further disaster, though he stated that reenforcements were slow. General Stone telegraphed this fact to General Banks, and the fact of Colonel Baker's death, and instantlj^ rode to the right to assume command. Before he reached the point opposite the island, evidences of disaster began to be met, in men who had crossed the river by swimming, and on reach- ing the landing the fact was asserted in a manner leaving no possible doubt. It was reported to General Stone that4,he enemy's force was ten thousand — an evident exaggeration- He gave orders to hold the island for the removal of the wounded, and established a patrol on the tow-path- from oppo- site the island to the line of pickets near Monocacy, and then returned to the left, to secure the troops there from disaster, preparing means of removing them as rapidly as possible. Orders arrived from head-quarters of the army of the Poto- mac to hold the island and Virginia shore at Edwards' Ferry at all hazards, and promising reenforcements, and General Stone forwarded additional intrenching tools to General Gor- man, with instructions lo intrench and hold oat against any force that might appear. That evening General Stone learned by telegraph that General Banks was on the way to reenforce him, and st about three A, M., he arrived and assumed command. XVI. INCIDENTS OF THE BALL S BLUFF DISASTER. The instances of personal gallantry of tlie highest order were so many, that it would be unjust now to detail particular cases. Officers displayed for their men, and men for their officers, that beautiful devotion which is only to be found among true soldiers. Eegiment after regiment of fresh rebel troops, came rushing upon them down the hill, yelHng like fiends, and pouring in deadly volleys, while the trees still swarmed with riflemen, who made the air black with bullets aimed at our devoted little band. At times the contending parties were within four or live feet of each other ; still our men stood steadily, returning their, fire, or plunging at them with the bayonet So near were they at one time tliat our men actually caught a lieutenant, by seizing him as he stood in the enemy's ranks. He was taken over the river safely by hi3 captors. During the fiercest portion of the struggle, an officer, mounted on a fine horse, rushed forward from the woods, ex- claiming to the Federal forc« behind him : " Rally on me, boys !" Knowing that other Union regiments were to cross another ferry, some of our men were deceived and followed the horseman ; but they were led as sheep to the slaughter, for they had proceeded but a few rods when a deadly volley was poured into them, killing many and hastily dispersing the rest. In a few minutes the same man appeared again, to try the same game. Colonel Baker chanced to see him and exclaimed, 164 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES " Good heaven ! there is Johnson, what is he doing there ?' It was not the rebel General, however, but some other, equally bold and unscrupulous. The apparent desertion of Leesburg was only a ruse on the part of the enemy, who had drawn their forces out of the town, and were posted in strength in such positions between Leesburg and the river, that they could enfilade our advancing columns, and attack them not only in front and in the flanks, but in the rear also. Skirmishers were thrown out as the column advanced, but no signs of an enemy were seen, until the brigade had advanced fully half-way to their destination. The first intimation of the presence of the enemy was the simultaneous discharge of about a hundred rifles, from a thicket on the top of an eminence. The fire was received by the right wing of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, who were in the advance. A lieutenant and six or eight men were killed, and eighteen severely wounded. Three companies, however, immediately dashed up the slope, in the direction of the fire, and, on reach- ing the spot, found themselves confronted with a regiment of Mississippi riflemen, who, reserving their fire till our brave fellows were within thirty yards, poured into them another volley. A captain, a lieutenant, and twelve or thirteen men were killed by this discharge. Our men, however, nothing daunted, delivered their fire with good eifect, and then charged with the bayonet. The enemy did not wait for the latter, but cut and ran towards Leesburg in disorder. Colonel Devens then pushed on, but soon found that even that apparent flight was a ruse to draw him on. He was soon so surrounded as to have but little hope of the escape of a single person in his ranks. It is stated that the conduct of Colonel Baker, in his effort to rescue the Massachusetts and other men, under fire, was heroic beyond description. ' Just prior to the fall of Colonel Baker, the enemy made a flank movement to turn the latter's line. Colonel Baker, per- ceiving this, immediately wrote an order to be conveyed to the Tammany companies, which had just arrived, and while the right w;as facing his command, to meet the flank move- OF THE WAR. 165 ment, and when about giving orders to charge, lie was killed, falling ten feet in advance of his column. One of the bravest of the brave was Lieutenant Bramhall, of the New York Ninth. He was in command of two pieces of artillery, one of which was left on the island when the ad- vance was made. During the fight he was wounded by a spent ball in his back, and had two other bullets pass through him, through his side. He was carried to the island. When the rout took place, he asked Rev. Mr. Scanlan what he should do with his battery, where he should place it to cover the retreat Then, as the thought flashed into his mind, said, " I "will place it to cover Conrad's Ferry." And though thus wounded, he called two soldiers to his aid, who carried him in their arms round the island, and sustained him while he placed his battery in position ! He was about 23 years of age. Be- sides these wounds, he had six bullets pass through his clothes and hat. One struck the scabbard of his sword. It was only till he had got every thing right about his guns that he would allow himself to be brought from the island. A German sergeant, on seeing his captain fall, toward tho close of the fight, collected four or five files of his company, about a dozen men altogether, and crying, " Boys, we can only die once ; we'll avenge the captain's death." led them fighting into the very heart of the enemy's position. He immediately disappeared, and nothing was afterward seen of him or any of his band. The officers and men behaved with the most extraordinary courage. They were pressed by an overpowering force, but stood firm until their whole supply of ammunition was exhausted, and then retreated to the river, and threw their guns and swords into it to prevent the enemy getting posses- sion of them. Colonel Raymond Lee and staff were furnished with a skiff to make their escape. The Colonel gallantly refused, and gave orders to use it for conveying the wounded across the river. It was filled with wounded, who reached the Maryland shore in safety, and the humane and gallant ofiicer was taken prisoner. 16(1 INCIDENTS. AND ANECDOTES Many of tlie survivors of tlie fight escaped by s"wimming. Captain Crowninsheld, long known in Harvard as the stroke- oar of the boat club, swam to Harrison's Island, without clothing, and saving nothing but his watch, which he carried in his mouth. Being greatly fatigued, he turned in beneath the most convenient hay-rick, and slept till morning, when, in the hurry of departure, and the especial anxiety of procuring clothes, he departed without giving a thought to the watch which he had taken such pains to keep possession of the night before, and which he had tucked away beside him before going to sleep. A story was related of an Irishman in company D, of the Massachusetts Fifteenth, which is very funny. When the retreat was ordered, he threw off his coat and pants and plunged into the icy current of the Potomac. He swam boldly across the river, and had just gained the Maryland shore, when he remembered that he had left $13 25 in the pocket of his coat. " Be jabers, Bill}^," said he, " thim thirteen dollars is in me coat, and the bloody ribels will git 'em, and besides, I can't consint to part with the amount, so I'll jist go for them," and in he plunged again. lie got safely over, found his coat, secured his money, and recrossed the river. I saw him in camp this afternoon, and congratulated him on his pluck, endur- ance and success, to which he replied, " Oh, yis sir, 'twas all I'd saved from my three months' sarvice^ and I'm very fond of me pipe." A most exciting scene transpired at the sinking of the launch, in which were some sixty wounded men. and twenty or thirty members of the California First. The launch had been safely taken halfway across the river, when, to their utter consternation, it was discovered that it was leaking, and the water gradually, but surely, gaining upon them. The wounded were lying on the bottom of the launch — some shot in the head, others mangled by the tramp of cavalry, and others suffering intolerably from their various dislocations, wounds and injuries, and all soaking in water, which, at the very start, was fully four inches deep. As the water grew OF THE WAR. 167 deeper and rose above the prostrate forms of the wouniled, their comrades lifted them into sitting postures, that they might not be strangled by the fast-rising stream. Despite all that could be done, the f\ite of the launch, and all that were in , with the exception of a few expert swimmers, was sealed ; suddenly, and like a flash of lightning, the rotten craft sank, carrying with it at least fifty dying, mangled, groaning suffer- ers, and some twenty or thirty others, who had trusted their lives to its treacherous hold. After all was finished, and the fragments of the regiments were brought together at the water's edge, it was determined to push upward along the shore, with the uncertain hope of finding some means of recrossing to the Maryland side. In the event of meeting the enemy, however, it was determined to surrender at once, since any contest under the circum- stances would be a useless sacrifice of life. After progressing a mile or so, the ofiicers (Captains Bartlett and Tremlett, and Lieutenants Whittier and Abbott) discovered a mill, sur- rounded by cottages, about which numbers of persons were seen moving. Here it seemed that they must yield. The officers ordered a halt, and directed the men to cast all their Jti'ms into the river, so that the enemy should gain as little as possible by the surrender. Lieutenant Whittier walked on in advance with a white handkerchief tied on his sword, to be used when occasion shoald demand. The first person met was an. old negro, who, though greatly terrified, contrived to reveal that an old boat was stored near the mill, which might be bailed out and used to convey the fugitives across the river. A gift of five dollars insured his services, and the boat was in due time launched and ready for use. It was small, and only a few could pass at each trip. Until dawn it passed back and forth, until all were transferred in safety. One offi- cer went over in the third boat, to keep the men well together on the Maryland side ; the others waited till the last. For that service the old negro was afterwards dreadfully whipped, and onl}^ escaped more tortures by " passing over Jordan" — crossing the Potomac and making his way to Pennsylvania. 22 168 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Before starling upon the expedition on Monday morning, the men had left their knapsacks and blankets upon Harrison's Island. In the retreat it was impossible for more than a few to gather them up again. A Lieutenant volunteered on Wed- nesday, after the island had been visited by the rebel scouts, to go over with five and collect what remained. He did so, and returned with more than a hundred knapsacks and blan- kets, to the great comfort of many of the men who had suf- fered from the icy weather. While there, the men scoured nearly Hhe whole island, but could not be persuaded to enter the building which had been used as a hospital, in which so many corpses of their former comrades lay. The loss of the Federals in this affair never was accurately stated. About seventy were killed ; as many were drowned and shot in the water ; over one hundred and fifty were wounded; and about four hundred were taken jjrisoners. The rebel General in command, Evans, in his report of the affair, stated his forces to have been twenty-five hundred, and his loss to have been three hundred killed and wounded. The Federal force, all told, was seventeen hundred and fifty. Note. — As to the responsibility-of the movement made, and of the surprise, the following orders will afford due light ; they were: found in the Colonel's hat, underneath the lining. Both were deeply stain- ed with Colonel Baker's blood, and one of the bullets, which went through his head, carried away a corner of the first : Edwakds" Fekry, October 21st, 18G1. Colonel E. D. Baker, Commaiidcr of Brigade: Colonel: In case of lieavy firing in front of Harrison's Island, you will ad- vance the California regiment of your brigade, or retire the regiments under Colonels Lee and Devens, now on the [almost rendered illegible by blood] Vir- ginia side of the river, at your discretion — assuming command on arrival. Very respectfully, Colonel, your most obedient servant, CHARLES P. STONE, Brigadier-General Commanding. The second order, which follows, Avas delivered on the battle-field by Colonel Cogswell, who said to Colonel Baker, in reply to a ques- tion what it meant, " All right, go ahead." Thereupon, Colonel Ba- ker put it in his hat without reading. An hour afterward he fell. Edwards' Fekry, October 22d — 11:50. E. D. Bakbs, CoMiiANDiNa BiuQADE — CoLONEL : I am iuformed that the forca OF THE WAR.'^ 169 \- of the enemy is about four thousand, all told. If you can push them, you may do so as far as to have a strong position nearlLeesburg, if you can keep them befere you, avoiding their batteries. If they pass Leesburg and take the Gum Springs road, you will not follow far, but seize the first good position to cover that road. Tlieir desire is to draw us on, if they are obliged to retreat as far as Goose creek, where they can be re-enforced from Manassas, and have a strong position. Report frequently, so that, when they are pushed, Gorman can come up on their flank. Yours, respectfully and truly, CHARLES P. STONE, Brigadier-General Commanding. This little error of the Colonel — in not reading the last dispatch — was the cause of the surprise. Colonel Cogswell's remark — "All right, go ahead! " doubtless served to ans-wer, in Baker's mind, for the con- tents of the envelop, and therefore it was not broken open. It serves at least to relieve General Stone from the inattention and ignorance of the enemy's force which wei'e freely charged ujjon him at one time. The movement over the river was Stone's conception, and that re- mains open for stricture. XVIL THE SPIRIT OF VIOLENCE IN THE SOUTH. \ The Soiitliern States, from the first stages of their rebellion against the Federal Government, put forward as a justification, the oppressions of that central power, and cited the Declaration of Independence as their defence. This assumption was indig- nantly denied by Northern men ; in Congress and out of it an overwhelming sentiment pronounced the rebellion "causeless, wicked, and unnatural," with " no justification in the law of the country, nor in the higher law of self-protection." From this dis- cordance sprung the passions and impulses necessary to feed the fires of discord ; and watchful " guardians of Southern inter* 170 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES ests," were not slow to fan the flames to a point of lawlessness neaessaiy to "precipitate" States into the vortex of insurrec- tion. Success in the secession movement depended solely on the ability of the leaders to fire the popular passions to the point of hate of the North, and defiance of its association. "Without a complete success in that direction, the revolution would become nerveless from inanition. A thousand devices were conceived to accomplish the desired end ; and the secret history of the insurrection, if it ever shall be divulged, will be found rich in intrigue, profuse in duplicity, mighty in false- hood — all directed to the one purpose of " firing the Southern heart." The repudiation of debts due to Northern merchants and manufacturers, became one of the earliest and most exciting facts of the Southern movement It argued a demoralized sentiment of probity, which equally alarmed and angered the Northern people. The Southern merchants had, in exception to all commercial usage, obtained credits to an extraordinary amount, upon extraordinary time. A customer had but to sa}^, " I am from the Cotton States," in order to obtain almost any credit desired. That secret and powerful inquisition, the " Commercial Agency," was scarcely consulted as to the Southerner's personal standing and commercial res]X)nsibility — so eager was the deluded merchant to secure a '" Southern trade." The wretched list of failures in the winter and spring of 18G1 ever will remain as a monument of Northern commer- cial temerity in the matter of Southern credits. The spirit which found an excuse for allowing paper to go to protest, and followed the protest with a note cxi)ressing satisfliction at the refusal to pay, soon betrayed itself in a passage of " stay" laws, in the Seceded States, and in the visi- tations of violence upon all agents of Northern business firms who sought out the recreant debtor in hopes of obtaining some satisfaction for the overdue claim. Lawyers banded together not to receive Northern claims for collection, while the people banded together to drive away any unlucky wight who pro- posed to do what the lawyei*s refused — to collect his owa OP THE "WAR. 171 accounts. The agents, however, soon " made themselves scarce," as the vulgar, but significant, announcements in the papers recorded. Tar and feathers, and an escort of a " com- mittee of citizens" to the nearest railway station, were such inevitable results as served to rid an " indignant community" of all " Northern vagabonds" early in the year (1860.) These occasional persecutions of collectors and agents seemed to engender an appetite for the excitement ; and it became a very honorable calling for committees to spy out every man of Northern birth — to seek to inculpate him in some way, in order to allow of the usual warning " to leave." As early as February (1861) these inquisitions became so frequent, that large numbers of persons — chiefly Northern-born mechanics and tradesmen, who had found employ and a busi- ness in the South — fled for their lives, leaving behind all their possessions. To meet these refngees in Northern cities became of such frequent occurrence, in February and March, that the public almost tired of their uniform stories of injuries received and sufferings endured. The spirit of anger was fast culminating, not in a national, or even sectional resentment, but in a species of inhuman personal malice, which served to ally that revolution to the Sepoy drama. Lawlessness towards Government soon begat lawlessness towards society — the dragon's teeth grew with fearful fecundity. The demoralization betrayed itself even in the changed tone of the secession portion of the Southern press. As an evidence, we may quote one of a great many similar notices made of General Scott — even by professedly respectable journals like the Kichmond Inquirer. The Montgomery (Alabama) Mail (February 6th) contained this paragrpph : " We observe tliat the students of Franklin College, Georgia, burned General Scott in efRgy a few days ago, ' as a traitor to the South.' This is well. If any man living deserves such infamy, it is the Lieutenaut- General of the (Yankee) United States. And we have a proposition to make, thereanent, to all the young men of the South, wherever scat- tered, at school or college ; and that is, that they burn this man in effigy all through the South, on the evening of the 4tU of March next. The 172 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Btudents of the South are an imijortant class of our rising geuerfttion. Let them make an epoch in tlie history of our sunny land, to which legend, and tale, and song, shall point in after j^ears. General Scott deserves this grand infamy. He is a traitor to the soil of his birth ; false to all the princii)les of the Commonwealth which nurtured him ,• the tool, willing, pliant, and bloody, of our oppressors ; and it is meet that his name should descend to our posterity as a word of execration I What say the students ?" Some notices of the war-worn veteran — wlio had added more glory to the American name than any man since the " Father of his Country" — were so violent and vulgar as to forbid their repetition here, even though they might reflect, with stinging severity, upon a state of society which could be pleased with such impotent malice. To show the nature of the persecutions inflicted on those " suspected," in the revolutionary States, we shall cite a few from the numerous well-authenticated instances, that they may stand before a Christian world, as an evidence of the civiliza- tion which springs from a state of society like that which con- trols the Southern States of America. An advertisement appeared in a New York daily, February 18th, (1861) as follows : " Farming Managek. — An Englishman by birth, having had very extensive experience in breeding, raising, buying and selling of all kinds of cattle and sheep in his own country, and who has been engaged North in agriculture for three years, and South for two, is on his way to New York, having been expelled, and his property confiscated, on sus- picion of being opposed to Slavery. He would like to engage with any gentleman having room lo grow grain and I'oots, and to farm on a modern, enlightened system, not looking to corn alone. He is forty, and has a small family. Address ." This case was that of a person named Gardiner. He had taken a farm " on shares," near Wilmington, North Carolina. In August, September, and October, he labored assiduously and successful!}'', and got a good start. In the Fall he obtained about sixty dollars worth of seeds from New York, ready for his Spring planting. He was astounded, one day in February, to be arrested and thrown into prison, upon representation of the fellow whose /arm he occupied, that he (Gardiner) w&d a OP THE WAR. 173 " dangerous" man. Gardiner procured bail from some of liia countrymen, but these men were compelled to withdraw their bond, under threats of a similar course towards themselves for being " dangerous" citizens. The matter was " compromised, out of consideration for his (Gardiner's) wife and children," by having his household goods hastily thrust on a little schooner • — on which Gardiner and his family, perfectly penniless, were sent to New York. All his property and improvements passed into the hands of the good Southern Eights man who had instigated the mob, and compelled the authorities to the deed of violence. Two Jersey men were hung in the vicinity of Charleston, early in February, for " suspicion of tampering with slaves." An English captain was served with a coat of tar and feathers in Savannah, in January, for having allowed a stevedore (black) to sit down with him at the dinner-table. Another Englishman, belonging in Canada, sailed on a vessel trading along coast At Savannah, the vessel was visited by a negro having fruit to sell. On leaving, the black man asked for a newspaper, and one was given him which happened to contain one of Henry Ward Beecher's sermons. The black was caught by his master reading the " incendiary" document Refusing to tell how he obtained it, he was ordered to the whipping- post, aiid flogged until he "confessed." The vessel was boarded by the authorities, and a demand made for the astonished Canadian. The captain, however, stood before him as a British subject ; and, by agreeing to ship the cidj)rit North, by the next day's steamer, succeeded in saving him from the mob that stood ready on the shore to lynch him. Ho was placed on the steamer, on the morrow, when two " officials" came forward with a writ, which they agreed not to serve if the poor fellow would pay them fifty dollars. This he gladly- paid, and was suffered to depart, " out of consideration for his being a British subject" Had he been a Yankee, he would have been hung. The following item appeared in the Eufaula (Ala.) Express^ (February 6th :) • 174 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES " A Susrrcious Individual. — The wortliy caj^tain of ihc Home Guards arrested a man on last Tuesday, upon complaint madf; by one or two of our citizens. The charge was the use of improper l-<.nguage in regard to the acts and position of the Soutliern people a1 this time. Some of the expressions used by this traveling Yankee wero, that Bob Toombs is a traitor, and tliat the Secessionists are thieves a)'>d robbers, and that he fully endorsed everything contained in the Knox ville Whig, in regard to coercion, etc. After the examination, which b<'ought out the foregoing facts, the committee of five members of the Home Guards, appointed to investigate the matter, announced as their decision that as the individual under arrest was only guilty of using improi}er language, they would set him at liberty, with a request to settle his business and leave as soou as ijossible. An application of tar and feathers wouldn't be at all amiss in such cases. The man's name is M. A. Smith. lie is traveling agent for Scovil & Mead, of New Orleans, druggists. He will bear watching. Pass liim around." Mr. Sinitli proceeded on his way. At Abbeville, (Ala.,) lie was again "apprehended." The Vigilance Committee relieved him of his horse and buggy, $356 in money, and all his papers. Then, taking him to a grove one-half mile from town, he was huncf. No legal proceedings were had in his case — no evidence existed as to his asserted " crime," except the news- paper's statement. He was dealt with according to the law of the super-judicial Vigilance Committee. It has been denied that Southern men ever permitted tl;ie roasting alive of slaves, guilty of the high crime of murder of masters, or of the more heinous and diabolical namele,'=;s crime against females. Proof to the contrary, however, not only is not wanting, but is quite abundant, which goes to show that that horrible and barbarous mode of execution has bc^n re- sorted to for lesser crimes than those indicated — even upon suspicion. A case in point was freely narrated by' the Harris County (Geo.) Enterprise^ in February. On the 14th of that month a lady named Middlebrook, being alone in her house, was alarmed, eai-ly in the morning, by the entrance of some person. " She hailed the intruder," the paper stated, who, to silence her cries, took her from her bed, and, carrying her across the yard, " threw her over tlie fence." This was all No violence upon her person, no maiming — only "the fiend" OF THE WAR. 175 abused her in a " most sliamoful manner." lie was alarmed hj two negro women, and fled. The neigliborliood was aroused. The laclj stated that she believed the perpetrator of the outrage to have been a negro man, named George. The newspaper account then states : " Dogs having been procured, the track was iDursued to a neighboring house, where the boy George had a wife, and thence to the residence of Mr. John Middlebrook. Under these circumstances, it was thought ad- visable to arrest the negro, whicli was done, and after an investigation before a justice of the peace, he was duly committed, and placed in the jail in this place, as wc thought, to await his trial at the April term of our Superior Court. " On M(niday morning last a crowd of men from the country assembled in our village, and made known their intention to forcibly take the negro George from the jail, and execute him in defiance of law or oppo- sition. Our efficient sheriff. Major Hargett, together with most of our citizens, remonstrated, persuaded, begged, and entreated them to desist, and reflect for a moment upon the consequences which might follow such a course, but without avail. Major Hargett promised to guarantee the safe-keeiiing of the prisoner by confining him in any manner they might suggest, and our citizens proposed to guard the jail night and day, but all to no purpose. There was no apjjeasing them. They rushed to the jail, and, despite of all remonstrances, with axe, liammcr, and crow-bar, violently broke through the doors, and took the prisoner out, carrying him about two miles from town, where they chained him to a tree, and burned him to death. " Wc understand that the negro protested his innocence with his last breath, though repeatedly urged to confess." This horrible record could be written of no civilized country on the globe save of the Southern States of America. How that last paragraph rings out its silent imprecation upon a state of societ}'- which would allow such a deed to be commit- ted on its soil! These murderers were "citizens," and, of course, never were even questioned as to their crime ; it was only a sus^xcled negro whom they burned. This deed was committed about fifty miles above Eufaula. Atlanta (Geo.) boasted of as violent a people as Eufaula or Abbeville. The same spirit which roasted a suspected negro would have hung a white man who might have been guilty of offence to the sensitive people. The Intelligencer^ of Atlanta, 23 176 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES in February, thus paragraphed the public sentiment of that locahty, in regard to the editor of the Nashville (Tenn.) Demo- crat, who had pronounced Jefferson Davis a great humbug : '* If Mr. Hurley will come to Atlanta, we take the responsibility of saying that his tavern bill or his burial expenses shall not cost him any- thing. The only thing which strikes our astonishment is, that the people of Nashville would tolerate such a paper as the Democrat in their midst. General Jackson, whose bones reijosc witliin twelve miles of the City of Nashville, doubtless turned in the grave when such abom- inable doctrines were permitted to go forth from a Nashville jjaper." These " abominable doctrines" were, loving the Union more than the newly-hatched Southern Confederacy — that was all. How many men were hung for the same crime in that delec- table neighborhood, the Vigilance Committee only knew. The statement of Mary Crawford, made public in the winter of 1861, detailed, with painfnl minuteness, the sad story of her' husband's awful murder in Tarrant County, Texas, July 17th, 1860. The man was talcen on suspicion of being an Abolitionist, and, after being shot, was hung. The wretched wife, informed by her two little boys (who had been with their father out to haul wood, when Crawford was seized) of their fears, had started out to learn something of her husband's fate. She had proceeded but a short distance when a party of men informed her, with indifference, that her husband was hung. The narrative read : " They took me back to the place we had been living in. My grief, my indignation, my misery, I have no words, no desire to describe. The body was not brought to me until night, and only then by the direction of Captain Dagget, a son-in-law and partner of Turner (for whom Craw- ford had done much work,) who had been a friend to ray husband, and was the only man of any influence who dared to befriend me. He had been away from home, and did not return until after the murder had been done. He denounced the act, and said they killed an innocent man." The local newspaper — the Fort Worth Chief — thus chronicled the tragedy : " Man Hung. — On the 17tli instant, was found the body of a man by the name of William H. Crawford, suspended to a pecan-tree, about tliree-quarters of a mile from town. A large number of persons visited OF THE WAR. 177 tlic body during the day. At a meeting of the citizens the same even- ing, strong evidence ^vas adduced proving him to have been an Abo- litionist. The meeting endorsed the action of the party -vvho hung him. Below we give the verdict of the jury of inquest : " ' We, the jury, find that William H. Crawford, the deceased, came to his death by being hung with a grass rope tied around his neck, and suspended from a pecan limb, by some person or persons to the jurors unknown. That he was hung on the 17th day of July, 1860, between the hours of 9 o'clock a.m. and 1 o'clock p. M. We could see no other marks of violence on the person of the deceased.' " This man Turner — a lawyer, and an owner of forty slaves — • was one of those persons who arraigned Crawford in the pre- sence of his little boys, and had borne him away from their sight to hang him. The jury took no steps, of cottrse, to learn anything in regard to the murderers. Indeed, the act was not only justified, but, out of it, grew an organization which suc- ceeded in whipping, banishing, and hanging over two hundred persons — three Methodist ministers included — in the course of the succeeding three months, under plea of their being "Abo- lition emissaries," who had instigated the burning of property, and incited negroes to run away. The report of that meeting deserves repetition, in illustration of the manner in which the slave districts care for their morals and their safety : " At a large and respectable meeting of the citizens of Tarrant County, convened at the Town Hall, at Fort Worth, on the 18th day of July, 1860, pursuant to previous notice, for the purpose of devising means for defending the lives and j^roperty of citizens of the county against the machinations of Abolition incendiaries, J. P. Alford was called to the chair, and J. C. Terrell was apiDointed Secretary. After the object of the meeting was explained by Colonel C. A. Harper, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : " ' Whereas, The recent attempts made to destroy several neighboring towns by fire, the nearly total destruction of one of them, coupled with the conversation and acts of one W. H. Crawford, who was hung in this county on the 17th instant, prove conclusively to us the necessity of an organized effort to ferret out and punish Abolition incendiaries, some of whom are believed to be in our county. Therefore, to discover and punish said Abolitionists, and to secure the lives and property of our citizens, be it " ' Resolved, That we endorse the action of those who hung W. H. Crawford in this county on the 17th instant, convinced as we are, from the evidence upon which he was hung, that he richly deserved his fate. "'Resolved, That a Central County Committee be appointed by the President, consisting of seven citizens, whose duty it shall be to appoiat such Committees ia 173 INCIDENTS AND ANECD0TK3 every precinct in the coanty, wliicli sub-Committees sliall confer with and report to the Central Committee the names of all suspected persons in their precincta, which persons shall be dealt with according to the pleasure of the Central Committee. " 'Resolved, That the members of this meeting hereby pledge themselves to sup- port said Central Committee ia the discharge of their duty in dealing with Aboli- tionists and incendiaries. " ' JAMES P. ALFORD, Chairman. " ' J. C. TERRELL, Secretary.' " Tlic Central Committee hereby notify all persons connected with or holding Abolition sentiments to leave tire coimty forthwith, or they may possibly have cause to regret remaining." It is jDrobable tliat every one of the men persecuted were as innocent .of offense as Crawford. " Abolition emissaries" were not necessary to instruct negroes how to fire houses. The "AboHtionists" were, without exception, men having a calhng, and pursuing it peaceably; but, being Northerners, and living without holding slaves, were proofs conclusive of their danger- our character to the "highly respectable citizens" of Texas.* The case of Mrs. Catharine Bottsford, as published at length in the New York Tribime of March 22d, afforded the age with an evidence that even in the civilized city of Charleston, South Carolina, an intelligent, honorable, and unprotected lady could be thrown into prison and be made to suffer indignities be- cause some person had said she had " tampered with slaves." Arthur Eobinson, of New Orleans, publisher of the True Witness, a religious paper of the Old School Presbyterian de- nomination, was arrested, and thi'own into prison without the usual forms of law. After laying there some time, he was taken into the criminal court for trial. The indictment, how- ever, was so ignorantly drawn that he was set at liberty pend- ing a second arrest. His friends managed to effect his escape up the river. He lost everything. His "crime" was, not in saying or publishing anything offensive, but a " committee" * When Wigfall stated, on the floor of the United States Senate, that men Averc hanging from trees in Texas for opinion's sake, he was known to tell the truth, then, for a certainty. Lovcjoy,of Illinois, la vain tried to get the case of the Methodist ministers, (one of whom waa hung and others whipped,) before Congress. OF THE WAR. 179 having searclied his premises, found "seditious" literature in his possession, and for that he was made to suffer. He would have been consigned to the State's Prison for having the Bos- ton Liberator on his exchange list, had it not been for the flaw in his first indictment, and his escape from another arrest. John Watt, a citizen of. Michigan, was working near Victs- burg, Mississippi, in January. While under the inflaence of liquor a "committee" extracted from him " dangerous senti- ments," and he was taken over the river into Louisiana and hung, and his bodj left hanging to the tree. The first officer of the bark Indian Queen made a statement in the New York journals, March 16th, to the effect that the vessel put into St. Marks, Florida, in January — hiinself and his second officer both being ill of the Chagres fever. Both were sent ashore to the United States Marine Hospital at that place, for proper care, while the vessel anchored in the harbor below, to await then- recovery. As soon as Florida seceded, (January 11th,) the Hospital was seized and the invalids turn- ed out The vessel lay at anchor about ten miles below tho town. She had, as part of her crew, seven colored seamen — • all able and trusty fellows. A plot was hatched to seize all these men and sell them into slavery — a judge of the Supreme (State) Court being one of the conspirators. The plot was re- vealed to the captain at two o'clock in the morning. He arose hired a steamer, ran down to his vessel, and had her towed out to sea, beyond the jurisdiction of Florida. The discomfited citizens swore dreadfully over their disappointment. The same officer stated that, a few days after the Ordinance of Secession was ]3assed, a resident of St. Marks remarked that the South was wrong and the North right in ''he controversy. Whereupon, he was seized, stripped, whipped, and started "out of the country." " Mr. H. Turner, a New Hampshire man, had for several years, spent the winter on the plantation of Woodworth & Son near Charleston, South Carolina. Before the Presidential elec- tion, in reply to the question of a fellow- workman, he had stated that, if he held the casting vote, it should be given for 180 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES Lincoln, Two weeks after the election he was visited by two members of a " Vigilance Committee," who asked if what had been reported was true. He answered that he had made that single remark to a fellow- workman, but to no other person. A warrant for his arrest, as an incendiary and Abolitionist, was prodiited, and he was taken to Charleston to jail. Around the jail a mob of " citizens" gathered, demanding that the jailor should give up the prisoner to them. It was only dispersed by the horse patrol. He was allowed neither food nor water. On the afternoon of the day succeeding his arrest, he was taken before the " Vigilance Association Tribunal," for examination. Confessing, again, that he had said to the workman what was reported, he was remanded back to jail, to be passed over to the Criminal Court. The "Judge" of the Tribunal treated the prisoner with a choice lecture, chiefly composed of oaths and imprecations. He was placed in a bare cell, where the night was spent ; and only on the morning of the second day's con- finement was he allowed food, consisting* of a sm.all piece of black bread and a pint of bad water. Yov fourteen weeks this man lay in that wretched dungeon. At the end of that time the son of his employer came to the jail, and stated that his wJiges, $248, still due, should be paid him, and his release procured, if he v/Guld leave at once. This promise was gladly given. He wao taken to the steamer amid the hootings and bowlings of a mob, which made threats of lynching. On the Avay to the steamer, he called -upon a watchmaker for a fine watch he had left for repairs before his arrest. The watchmaker bade him, with an oath, to leave his premises. Once on the steam- er, he expected his wages, as- promised ; but he received no- thing, and was permitted to work his passage to New York, where he arrived in a perfectly destitute condition. Captain E. W. Eider, of the bark Jidia E. Aery^ and his son James B. Ryder, as mate, were landing a cargo at Encero Mills, Camden County, Georgia, in November, 1860, when a negro came aboard the vessel with oars to selL None being wanted, he was sent away. lie paid a second visit, and some clothes were intrusted to him to wash, upon his telling that he OPTHEWAR 181 belonged to a Dr. Nichols, living near. . That afternoon five men came to the vessel, and demanded the right to search for the negro. Tlie captain gave permission for the search, freely, but stated that the fellow had gone ashore, taking with him some clothes to wash. The five men completed the search which, it became evident to the captain, was but a cover for the " citizens" to examine his cargo, his means of resistance, &c., as well as to discover, if possible, some "Abolition lite- rature" by which to seize the entire crew and vessel as " dan- gerous to the peace of the community." The " Committee" returned on the following day, late in the evening. It had grown to fifteen in number, who proceeded to thoroughly ran- sack the vessel's hold. Every chest and bunker were over- hauled. Nothing " dangerous" being found, the " Committee" passed on shore where, summoning the negroes who had been engaged in unloading the vessel, they examined them as to the conversations on the vessel. Six of them were finally most unmercifully whipped, to make them " confess." What they confessed, was not known to the captain ; but, as they prob- ably stated anything required, the mob, it soon became evi-' dent, was ready for proceedings. The captain and his son went before the " Committee" and stated that, not only had no conversation been had, but that they had positively forbid- den any unnecessary communication between his men and the negToes — that one or the other of the officers always was pre- sent, to see that orders were obeyed. This did not satisfy the " Committee," and the two were taken to the jail at Jefferson, fifteen miles away. There they were again arraigned before another " Vigilance Association," and charged with being Abolitionists — a charge which both men denied as unfounded in proof No proof being produced, they were allowed to spend that night at a hotel. A cook (black) from another vessel was produced on the succeeding morning, who stated that he had heard both white men say they were Eepublicans, and would have voted for Mr. Lincoln if an opportunity had offered. The black fellow who had taken the clothes to wash, was then brought forward, and he corroborated the statement 182' IN-CIDENTS AND ANECDOTES of the otlier black man. This was deemed evidence conclu- sive to the " Committee," and the sentence of a public flogging was immediatelj decreed against both father and son. This was deemed a lenient punishment — hanging was the usual mode of treating " such scoundrels." The inhuman wretches took their prisoners to the front of the court-house, where, both being stripped to the waist and tied to a tree, thej were whip- ped — twenty-five blows with heavy leather thongs being administered to each. The elder Ryder, being an old man, was a terrible sufferer under the horrible infliction. After "punishment" both were thrust into cells in the jail. The large crowd which witnessed the whipping enjoyed it, appa- rently with a real zest, as it jeered and laughed vociferously during the brutal punishment. The two men lay fourteen days in that jail, suffering exquisite tortures from their wounds. At the end of that time five men came, took them out, carried them to their vessel, and remained until the craft stood out to sea. This instance of atrocious wrong w\is simply one of several similar cases inflicted in the same neighborhood. The civil- ised world may be excused for doubting evidence so inhuman ; but, there is no room for disbelief when an old man's scarred back is exhibited to the pitying eye. We may close this revolting record with the following state ment made by the Cincinnati Gazette, of May 18th, 1861 : " Nearly every day some fresh arrivals of refugees from the violcuce aixi ferocity of the New Dahomey bring to this city fresh and corroborative proofs of the condition of aft'airs in the rebel States. Many of these have come thence at the peril of their lives, and to avoid threatened death,have taken a hurried journey surrounded by thick dangers from the madmen who now fill the South with deeds of violence and bloodshed. "The people in that section seem to have been given up to a madness that is without parallel in the history of civilization — we had almost •written barbarism. They are cut off from the news of the North, pur- posely blinded by their leaders as to the movements and real power of the Government, and in their local presses receive and swallow the most out- rageous falsehoods and misstatements. " Yesterday, one William Silliman, a person of intslligence and reli- ability, reached this city, returning from a year's residence in Southern OF THE WAR. 183 Mississippi. He was one of a pnrty wlio, in 1860 went from this city and engaged in the construction of tlie Mobile and Ohio Railroad. " Mr. Silliman, for several months past, has lived in Tupelo Itawamba County, one of the upper tier of counties, two hundred miles from Ne\7 Orleans, and one hundied and sixty miles from Mobile. He says a more blood-thirsty community it would be difficult to conceive. Perfect terror- ism prevails, and the wildest outrages are enacted openly by the rebels, who visit with violence all suspected of loyalty, or withholding full ad- herence to the kingdom of Jeiferson Davis. Could the full history of theso outrages be written, and that truthfully, many and most of its features would be deemed incredible and monstrous, belonging to another age, and certainly to another country than our own. " The party who is suspected of hostility, or even light sympathy, with the rebellion, is at once seized. He is fortunate if he is allowed to leave in a given time, without flogging. Ho is still fortunate if only a 'flog- ging is added to the order to depart. Many have been hung or shot on the spot. Mr. Silliman details five instances of the latter as having oc- curred among the amiable people of Itawamba County, within the past ten Aveeks, of several of which he was the eye-witness, a mob wrcakino their vcngcnce upon their victims under the approval of local authorities. These five men were Northerners, at differtnt times assailed by the rebels. Three of them were strangers to all al^out them. "On Saturday of last week a man was hung at Guntown, who refused to join the rebel army, and also refused to leave. He was taken to a tree in the outskirts of the village, and left hanging to a limb. He had a family in the place. Guntown is ten miles from Tupelo. The same day, at Saltillo, a man was hung under similar circumstances, and still anoth- er at Verona, where a traveller was seized in passing through the place. All these towns are within twenty miles circuit of Tupelo, where Mr. Silli- man resided. He says that he can recall twelve instances of killino- whipping, and other outrages thus visited upon the victims of the rebels in that vicinity, within the past two months. Many have been waiting in the hope that the storm would ' blow over,' Init have, one after the other, been foiced to submit or seek safety in flight/' The instances herein given are such as seemed to us to "bo BO verified as to admit of no doubt as to tlieir entire truthful- ness. Many others made public, and som^e of a most outra- geous character, which have been repeated to us by refugees in person, we have refrained from referring to, since a sus- picious public might question the authenticity of their unsup- ported statements. 24. XVIII. PERSECUTION OF UNIONISTS IN TENNESSEE. PAllSON 4 BROWNLOW'S STORY. The story of suffering in Tennessee forms one of tlie most painful, as it is one of the most revolting features of the rebel- lion. We can realize how men of one section united by no ties of relationship nor of social sympathy should fall out, and become rank enemies, but not how the people of a neighbor- liood could so far ignore old friendships, old associations, har- monious sympathies on social and moral questions, as to pro- ceed to bitter extremities of violence with their neighbors who differed with them on the question of secession. That they did resort to such extremities the stories of hundreds of per- secuted, exiled and ruined Unionists testify ; and the fact illustrates, in a vivid light, the hateful nature of the secession sentiment. We have already devoted a chapter to the " Spirit of Vio- lence" in the Southern States, giving such instances of that spirit as will aflbrd the reader much •' food for thought." But, all therein stated is nothing as compared to the sufi'erings, the "wi'ongs, the wretchedness, inflicted upon the men and women of Tennessee. It is a particularly unpleasant task to repeat the story of these outrages because it is so humiliating to our boasted American civilization ; but, it should be repeated, over and over again, to teach American youths the inestimablft value of law and order, and the repulsive nature of all revo- lutionary assaults lipon the constituted authority. Tliere is, too, a propriety in the recollection of those sufferings for opia- OF THE WAE. 185 ion's sake, because tliej illustrate that trait of a truly noble human nature — power to resist wrong even unto death. The devotion of the few brave men who courted dungeons, confis- cation of property, the lash and the gallows for tbeir fliith ia the Union, ever will stand as examples w^orthy of the emula- tion and admiration of every lover of their country. Parson Browulow, after the election, (June 8th, 1861,) be- came the recipient of indignities from the Secessionists. His house, up to midsummer of that year, floated the American flag, though many an attempt was made to drag it down. Early in June a Louisiana regiment, en route for Virginia, tar- ried at Knoxville, awaiting transportation over the railway, then crowded beyond its capacity. Of this and other regi- ments which laid over at the same place, the Parson said : *' During May and June a stream of whisky-drinking, seces- sion fire, hot as hell, commenced to pour through Knpxville, in the direction of Manassas. These mean scoundrels visited the houses of Union men, shouted at them, groaned and hiss- ed. My humble dwelling had the honor to be thus greeted oftener than any other five houses in Knoxville. The South- ern papers said they were the flower of their youth. I said to my wife, if this is the fiov>'-er, God save us from the rabble." Upon one of these occasions nine members of the Louisiana regiment determined to see the flag humbled. Two men were chosen as a committee to proceed to the Parson's house to order the Union ensign down. Mrs. More (the Parson's daugh- ter) answered the summons. In answer to her inquiry as to what wag' their errand, one sa-id, rudely : " We have come to take down that d — d rag you flaunt from your roof— the Stripes and Stars." Mrs. More stepped back a pace or two within the door, drew a revolver from her dress pocket, and leveling it, answered : *' Come on, sirs, and take it down !" The chivalrous Confederates were startled. " Yes, come on !" she said, as she advanced toward them. They cleared the piazza, and stood at bay on the walk. 186 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES - " We'll go and get more men, and then d — d if it don't come down !" " Yes, go and get more men — you are not men !" said the heroic woman, contemptuously, as the two backed from the place and disappeared. / Speaking of those days in June and July, the Parson said •: " Theu it was that, wanting in transportation, wanting in rolling stock, wanting in locomotives, tliey had to lie over by regiments in our town, and then they commenced to ride Union men upon rails. I have seen that done in the streets, and have seen them break into the stores and empty their contents; and coming before my own house with ro^Des iu their hands, they would groan out, 'Let us give old Brownlow a turn, the d d old scoundrel ; come out, and we ^vill hang you to the first limb.' These threats toward me were repeated every