 chapter 13 of a short life of Abraham Lincoln this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information order volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Allison Hester of Athens Georgia a short life of Abraham Lincoln by John G. Nicolay chapter 13 the secession movement South Carolina's secession Buchanan's neglect disloyal cabinet members Washington Central Cabal Anderson's transfer to Sumter star of the West Montgomery Rebellion Davis and Stevens cornerstone theory Lincoln inaugurated his inaugural address Lincoln's cabinet the question of Sumter Seward's memorandum Lincoln's answer bombardment of Sumter Anderson's capitulation it is not the province of these chapters to relate in detail the course of the secession movement in the cotton states in the interim which elapsed between the election and inauguration of President Lincoln still less can space be given to analyze and set forth the lamentable failure of President Buchanan to employ the executive authority and power of the government to prevent it or even hinder its development by any vigorous opposition or adequate protest the determination of South Carolina to secede was announced by the governor of that state a month before the presidential election and on the day before the election he sent the legislature of the state a revolutionary message to formally inaugurate it from that time forward the whole official machinery of the state not only led but forced the movement which culminated on December 20th in the ordinance of secession by the South Carolina Convention this official revolution in South Carolina was quickly imitated by similar official revolutions ending in secession ordinances in the state of Mississippi on January 9th 1861 Florida January 10th Alabama January 11th Georgia January 19th Louisiana January 26th and by a still bolder usurpation in Texas culminating on February 1st from the day of the presidential election all these proceedings were known probably more fully to President Buchanan than to the general public because many of the actors were his personal and party friends while almost at their very beginning he became aware that the three members of his cabinet were secretly or openly abetting and promoting them by their official influence and power instead of promptly dismissing these unfaithful servants he retained one of them a month and the others twice that period and permitted them so far to influence his official conduct that in his annual message to Congress he announced the fallacious and paradoxical doctrine that though a state had no right to secede the federal government had no right to coerce her to remain in the union nor could he justify his nonaction by the excuse that contumatious speeches and illegal resolves of parliamentary bodies might be tolerated under the American theory of free assemblage and free speech almost from the beginning of the secession movement it was accompanied from time to time by overt acts both of treason and war notably by the occupation and seizure by military order and force of the seceding states of 12 or 15 harbor forts one extensive Navy yard half a dozen arsenals three mints four important custom houses three revenue cutters and a variety of miscellaneous federal property for all of which insults to the flag and in fractions of the sovereignty of the United States President Buchanan could recommend no more efficacious remedy or redress than to ask the voters of the country to reverse their decision given at the presidential election and to appoint a day of fasting and prayer on which to implore the most high quote to remove from our hearts that false pride of opinion which would impel us to persevere and wrong for the sake of consistency end quote nor must mention be admitted of the astounding phenomenon that encouraged by president Buchanan's doctrine of non-coercion and purpose of non-action a central cabal of southern senators and representatives issued from washington on December 14th their public proclamation of the duty of secession their executive committee using one of the rooms of the capital building itself as the headquarters of the conspiracy and rebellion they were appointed to lead and direct during the month of December while the active treason of cotton state officials and the fatal neglect of the federal executive were in their most damaging and demoralizing stages an officer of the United States Army had the high courage and distinguished honor to give the ever growing revolution its first effective check major robert anderson though a kentuckian by birth and allied by marriage to a georgia family was late in November placed in command of the federal forts and charleston harbour and having repeatedly reported that his little garrison of sixty men was insufficient for the defense of fort moultrie and vainly asked for reinforcements which were not sent to him he suddenly and secretly on the night after christmas transferred his command from the insecure position of moultrie to the strong and unapproachable walls of Fort Sumter midway in the mouth of the charleston harbour where he could not be assailed by the raw charleston militia companies that had for weeks been threatening him with a storming assault in the stronghold surrounded on all sides by water he loyally held possession for the government and sovereignty of the United States the surprised and baffled rage of the South Carolina rebels created a crisis at washington that resulted in the expulsion of the president's treacherous counselors and the reconstruction of mr. Buchanan's cabinet to unity and loyalty the new cabinet though unable to obtain president Buchanan's consent to aggressive measures to reestablish the federal authority was nevertheless able to prevent further concessions to the insurrection and to affect a number of important defensive precautions among which was the already mentioned concentration of a small military force to protect the national capital meanwhile the governor of South Carolina had begun the erection of batteries to isolate and besiege fort sumter and the first of these on a sand spit of morris island commanding the main ship channel by a few shots turned back on january night the merchant steamer star of the west in which general scott had attempted to send a reinforcement of 200 recruits to major anderson battery building was continued with uninterrupted energy until a triangle of siege works was established on the projecting points of neighboring islands mounting a total of 30 guns and 17 mortars manned and supported by a volunteer force of from four to six thousand men military preparation though not on so extensive or definite a scale was also carried on in the other revolted states and while mr. Lincoln was making his memorable journey from springfield to washington telegrams were printed in the newspapers from day to day showing that their delegates had met at montgomery alabama formed a provisional congress and adopted a constitution and government under the title of the confederate states of america of which they elected jefferson davis of mississippi president and alexander h stevens of georgia vice president it needs to be constantly born in mind that the beginning of this vast movement was not a spontaneous revolution but a chronic conspiracy the secession of south carolina truly said one of the chief actors is not an event of a day it is not anything produced by mr. lincoln's election or by the non-execution of the fugitive slave law it is a matter which has been gathering head for 30 years the central motive and dominating object of the revolution was frankly avowed by vice president stevens in a speech he made at savannah a few weeks after his inauguration quote the prevailing ideas entertained by him jefferson and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution were that the enslavement of the african was in violation of the laws of nature that it was wrong in principle socially morally and politically our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea its foundations are laid its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition this our new government is the first in the history of the world based upon this great physical philosophical and moral truth and quote in the week which elapsed between mr. lincoln's arrival in washington in the day of inauguration he exchanged the customary visits of ceremony with president bucannon his cabinet the supreme court the two houses of congress and other dignitaries in his rooms at willard's hotel he also held consultations with leading republicans about the final composition of his cabinet and pressing questions of public policy careful preparations had been made for the inauguration and under the personal eye of general scott the military force in the city was ready instantly to suppress any attempt to disturb the peace or quiet of the day on march 4th the outgoing and incoming president's roadside by side in a carriage from the executive mansion to the capital and back escorted by an imposing military and civic procession and an immense throng of spectators heard the new executive read his inaugural address from the east portico of the capital he stated frankly that a disruption of the federal union was being formatively attempted and discussed dispassionately the theory and illegality of secession he held that the union was perpetual that resolves and ordinances of disunion are legally buoyed and announced that to the extent of his ability he would faithfully execute the laws of the union in all the states the power confided to him would be used to hold occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the government and to collect the duties and imposts but beyond what might be necessary for these objects there would be no invasion no using a force against or among the people anywhere where hostility to the united states in any interior locality should be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the federal offices there would be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among them for that object the males unless repelled would continue to be furnished in all parts of the union and this course would be followed until current events and experience should show a change to be necessary to the south he made an earnest plea against the folly of this union and in favor of maintaining peace and fraternal goodwill declaring that their property peace and personal security were in no danger from a republican administration quote one section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended he said while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended that is the only substantial dispute physically speaking we cannot separate we cannot remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them a husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of the other but the different parts of our country cannot do this they cannot but remain face to face an intercourse either amicable or hostile must continue between them is it possible then to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends suppose you go to war you cannot fight always and when after much loss on both sides and no gain on either you cease fighting the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you in your hands my dissatisfied fellow countrymen and not in mine is the momentous issue of civil war the government will not assail you you can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors i am loath to close we are not enemies but friends we must not be enemies though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection the mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone over this broad land will yet swell the chorus of the union when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature end quote but the peaceful policy here outlined was already more difficult to follow than mr. Lincoln was aware on the morning after inauguration the secretary of war brought to his notice freshly received letters from major anderson commanding fort sumpter and charleston harbour announcing that in the course of a few weeks the provisions of the garrison would be exhausted and therefore an evacuation or surrender would become necessary unless the fort were relieved by supplies or reinforcements and this information was accompanied by the written opinions of the officers that to relieve the fort would require a well-appointed army of 20 000 men the new president had appointed as his cabinet william h seward secretary of state salman p chase secretary of the treasury simon cameron secretary of war gideon wells secretary of the navy kaleb b smith secretary of the interior montgomery blair postmaster general and edward bates attorney general the president and his official advisors at once called into council the highest military and naval officers of the union to consider the new and pressing emergency revealed by the unexpected news from sumpter the professional experts were divided in opinion relief by a force of 20 000 men was clearly out of the question no such union army existed nor could one be created within the limit of time the officers of the navy thought that men and supplies might be thrown into the fort by swift going vessels while on the other hand the army officers believed that such an expedition would surely be destroyed by the formidable batteries which the insurgents had erected to close the harbor in view of all of the conditions lieutenant general scott general and chief of the army recommended the evacuation of the fort as a military necessity president lincoln thereupon asked the several members of his cabinet the written question assuming it to be possible to now provision fort sumter under all the circumstances is it wise to attempt it only two members replied in the affirmative while the other five argued against the attempt holding that the country would recognize that the evacuation of the fort was not an indication of policy but a necessity created by the neglect of the old administration under this advice the president withheld his decision until he could gather further information meanwhile three commissioners had arrived from the provisional government at montgomery alabama under the instructions to endeavor to negotiate a de facto and desjure recognition of the independence of the confederate states they were promptly informed by mr seward that he could not receive them that he did not see in the confederate states a rightful and accomplished revolution and an independent nation and that he was not at liberty to recognize the commissioners as diplomatic agents or to hold correspondence with them failing in this direct application they made further efforts through mr justice cambell of the supreme court as a friendly intermediary who came to seward in the guise of a loyal official though his correspondence with jefferson davis soon revealed a treasonable intent and replying to cambell's earnest entreaties that peace should be maintained seward informed him confidentially that the military status at charleston would not be changed without notice to the governor of south carolina on march 29th a cabinet meeting for the second time discussed the question of sumter four of the seven members now voted in favor of an attempt to supply the fort with provisions and the president signed a memorandum order to prepare certain ships for such an expedition under the command of captain g v fox so far mr lincoln's new duties as president of the united states had not in any wise put him at a disadvantage with his constitutional advisors upon the old question of slavery he was as well informed and had clearer convictions and purposes than either seward or chase and upon the newer question of secession and the immediate decision about fort sumter which had involved the members of his cabinet were like himself compelled to rely on the professional advice of experienced army and navy officers since these differed radically in their opinions the president's own powers of perception and logic were as capable of forming a correct decision as men who had been governors and senators he had reached at least a partial decision in the memorandum he gave fox to prepare ships for the sumter expedition it must therefore have been a great surprise to the president when on april first secretary of state seward handed him a memorandum setting forth a number of most extraordinary propositions for a full enumeration of the items the reader must carefully study the entire document which is printed below in a footnote but the principal points for which it had evidently been written and presented can be given in a few sentences a month has elapsed and the administration has neither a domestic nor a foreign policy the administration must at once adopt and carry out a novel radical and aggressive policy it must cease saying a word about slavery and raise a great outcry about union it must declare war against france and spain and combine and organize all the governments of north and south america in a crusade to enforce the munro doctrine this policy once adopted it must be the business of someone incessantly to pursue it it is not in my special province wrote mr seward but i neither seek to evade nor assume responsibility this phrase which is a key to the whole memorandum enables the reader easily to translate its meaning into something like the following after a month's trial you mr lincoln are a failure as president the country is in desperate straits and must use a desperate remedy that remedy is to submerge the south carolina insurrection in a continental war some new man must take the executive helm and will the undivided presidential authority i should have been nominated at chicago and elected november but am willing to take your place and perform your duties why william h seward who was fairly entitled to rank as a great statesman should have written this memorandum and presented it to mr lincoln has never been explained nor is it capable of explanation its suggestions were so visionary its reasoning so fallacious its assumptions so unwarranted its conclusions so malapropo that it falls below critical examination had mr lincoln been an envious or a resentful man he could not have wished for a better occasion to put a rival under his feet the president doubtless considered the incident one a phenomenal strangeness but it did not in the least disturb his unselfish judgment or mental equipoise there was in his answer no trace of excitement or passion he pointed out in a few sentences of simple quiet explanation that what the administration had done was exactly a foreign and domestic policy which the secretary of state himself had concurred in and helped to frame only that mr seward proposed to go further and give up sumter upon the central suggestion that someone mind must direct mr lincoln wrote with simple dignity quote if this must be done i must do it when a general line of policy is adopted i apprehend that there is no danger of its being changed without good reason or continuing to be a subject of unnecessary debate still upon points arising in its progress i wish and suppose i am entitled to have the advice of all the cabinet end quote mr lincoln's unselfish magnanimity is the central marvel of the whole affair his reply ended the argument mr seward doubtless saw it once how completely he had put himself in the president's power apparently neither of the men ever again alluded to the incident no other persons except mr seward's son and the president's private secretary ever saw the correspondence or knew of the occurrence the president put the papers away in an envelope and no word of the affair came to public until a quarter of a century later when the details were published in mr lincoln's biography in one mind at least there was no further doubt that the cabinet had a master for only some weeks later mr seward is known to have written quote there is but one vote in the cabinet and that is cast by the president end quote this mastery mr lincoln retained with a firm dignity throughout his administration when near the close of the war he sent mr seward to meet the rebel commissioners at the hampton roads conference he finished his short letter of instructions with the imperative sentence you will not assume to definitely consummate anything from this strange episode our narrative must return to the question of fort sumpter on april fourth official notice was sent to major anderson of the coming relief with the instruction to hold out to the eleventh or twelfth if possible but authorizing him to capitulate whatever it might become necessary to save himself and command two days later the president sent a special messenger with written notice to the governor of south carolina that an attempt would be made to supply fort sumpter with provisions only and that if such attempt were not resisted no further effort would be made to throw in men arms or ammunition without further notice or unless in case of an attack on the fort the building of batteries around fort sumpter had begun under the orders of governor pickens about the first of january and continued with industry and energy and about the first of march general bow regard an accomplished engineer officer was sent by the confederate government to take charge of and complete the works on april first he telegraphed to montgomery batteries ready to open wednesday or thursday what instructions at this point the confederate authorities at montgomery found themselves face to face with the fatal alternative either to begin war or to allow their rebellion to collapse their claim to independence was denied their commissioners were refused a hearing yet not an angry word provoking threat nor harmful acts had come from president lincoln he had promised them peace protection freedom from irritation had offered them the benefit of the males even now all he proposed to do was not to send guns or ammunition or men to sumpter but only bread and provisions to anderson and his soldiers his prudent policy placed them in the exact attitude described a month earlier in his inaugural they could have no conflict without being themselves the aggressors but the rebellion was organized by ambitious men with desperate intentions a member of the alabama legislature president at montgomery said to jefferson davis and three members of his cabinet gentlemen unless you sprinkle blood in the face of the people of alabama they will be back in the old union in less than 10 days and the sanguinary advice was adopted in answer to his question what instructions bow regard on april 10th was ordered to demand the evacuation of fort sumpter and in case of refusal to reduce it the demand was presented to anderson who replied that he would evacuate the fort by noon of april 15th unless assailed or unless he received supplies or controlling instructions from his government this answer being unsatisfactory to bow regard he sent anderson notice that he would open fire on sumpter at 4 20 on the morning of april 12th promptly at the hour indicated the bombardment was begun as has been related the rebel siege works were built on the points of the islands forming the harbor at distances varying from 1300 to 2500 yards and numbered 19 batteries with an armament of 47 guns supported by a land force of from four to six thousand volunteers the disproportion between means of attack and defense was enormous sumpter though we work 300 by 350 feet in size with well constructed walls and casmats of brick was in very meager preparation for such a conflict of its 48 available guns only 21 were in the casmats 27 being on the ramparts in barbeth the garrison consisted of nine commissioned officers 68 non-commissioned officers and privates eight musicians and 43 non-combatant workmen compelled by the besiegers to remain to hasten the consumption of provisions under the fire of the 17 mortars and the rebel batteries anderson could reply only with a vertical fire from the guns of small caliber in his casmats which was of no effect against the rebel bomb proofs of sand and roofs of sloping railroad iron but refraining from exposing his men to serve his barbat guns his garrison was also safe in its protecting casmats it happened therefore that although the attack was spirited and the defense resolute the combat went on for a day and a half without a single casualty it came to an end on the second day only when the cartridges of the garrison were exhausted and the red hot shot from the rebel batteries had set the buildings used as officers quarters on fire creating heat and smoke that rendered further defense impossible there was also the further discouragement that the expedition of relief which anderson had been instructed to look for on the 11th or 12th had failed to appear several unforeseen contingencies had prevented the assembling of the vessels at the appointed rendezvous outside charleston harbour though some of them reached it in time to hear the opening guns of the bombardment but as accident had deranged and thwarted the plan agreed upon they could do nothing except impatiently await the issue of the fight a little afternoon of April 13th when the flagstaff of the fort had been shot away and its guns remained silent an invitation to capitulate with the honors of war came from general Beauregard which anderson accepted and on the following day sunday april 14th he hauled down his flag with impressive ceremonies and leaving the fort with his faithful garrison proceeded in a steamer to new york end of chapter 13 chapter 14 of a short life of abraham lincoln this is a liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org this reading by allison hester of athens georgia a short life of abraham lincoln by john g nickley chapter 14 president's proclamation calling for 75 regiments responses of the governor's maryland and virginia the baltimore riot washington isolated lincoln takes the responsibility robert e lee arrival of the new york seventh suspension of habyus corpus the anapolis route butler in baltimore taney on the maryman case kentucky missouri lion captures camp jackson boonville skirmish the missouri convention gamble made governor the border states the bombardment of fort sumpter changed the political situation as if by magic there was no longer room for doubt hesitation concession or compromise without awaiting the arrival of the ships that were bringing provisions to anderson starving garrison the hostile charleston batteries had opened their fire on the fort by the formal order of the confederate government and peaceable succession was without provocation changed to active war the rebels gained possession of the charleston harbor but their mode of obtaining it awakened the patriotism of the american people to a stern determination that the insult to the national authority and flag should be redressed and the unrighteous experiment of a rival government founded on slavery as its cornerstone should never succeed under the conflict thus began the long tolerated barbarous institution itself was destined ignobley to perish on his journey from springfield to washington mr lincoln had said that devoted as he was to peace he might find it necessary quote to put the foot down firmly end quote that time had now come on the morning of april 15 1861 the leading newspapers of the country printed the president's proclamation reciting that whereas the laws of the united states were opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the states of south carolina georgia alabama florida mississippi louisiana and texas by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the militia of the several states of the union to the aggregate number of 75 000 was called forth to suppress said combinations and caused the laws to be duly executed the orders of the war department specified that the period of service under this call should be for three months and to further conform to the provisions of the act of 1795 under which the call was issued the president's proclamation also convened the congress in special session on the coming fourth of july public opinion in the free states which had been sadly demoralized by the long discussions over slavery and by the existence of four factions in the late presidential campaign was instantly crystallized and consolidated by the sumptuous bombardment and the president's proclamation into a sentiment of united support to the government for the suppression of rebellion the several free state governors sent loyal and enthusiastic responses to the call for militia and tendered double the numbers asked for the people of the slave states which had not yet joined the montgomery confederacy namely virginia, north carolina, tennessee, arkansas, missouri, kentucky, maryland, and delaware remained however more or less divided on the issue as it now presented itself the governors of the first six of these were already so much engaged in the secret intrigues of the secession movement that they sent the secretary of war, contumaceous and insulting replies and distinct refusals to the president's call for troops the governor of delaware answered that there was no organized militia in his state which he had legal authority to command but that the officers of organized volunteer regiments might at their own option offer their services to the united states while the governor of maryland in complying with the requisition stipulated that the regiments from his state should not be required to serve outside its limits except to defend the district of columbia a swift almost bewildering rush of events however quickly compelled most of them to take sides secession feeling was rampant in valtimore and when the first armed and equipped northern regiment the massachusetts sixth passed through that city on the morning of april 19th on its way to washington the last four of its companies were assailed by street mobs with missiles and firearms while marching from one depot to the other and in the running fight which ensued four of its soldiers were killed and about 30 wounded while the mob probably lost two or three times as many this tragedy instantly threw the whole city into a wild frenzy of insurrection that same afternoon an immense secession meeting in monument square listened to a torrent of treasonable protest and denunciation in which governor hicks himself was made momentarily to join the militia was called out preparations were made to arm the city and that night the railroad bridges were burned between valtimore and the pennsylvania line to prevent the further transit of union regiments the revolutionary purer spread to the country towns and for a whole week the union flag practically disappeared from mariland while these events were taking place to the north equally threatening incidents were occurring to the south of washington the state of virginia had been for many weeks balancing uneasily between loyalty and succession in the new revolutionary stress her weak remnant of conditional unionism gave way and on april 17 two days after the president's call her state convention secretly passed a secession ordinance while governor letcher ordered a military seizure of the united states navy yard at norfolk and the united states armory at harpers fairy under orders from washington both establishments were burned to prevent their falling into insurrectionary hands but the destruction in each case was only partial and much valuable war material thus passed to rebel uses all these hostile occurrences put the national capital in the greatest danger for three days it was entirely cut off from communication with the north by either telegraph or mail under the orders of general scott the city was hastily prepared for a possible siege the flower at the mills and other stores of provisions were taken possession of the capital and other public buildings were barricaded and detachments of troops stationed in them business was suspended by a common impulse streets were almost deserted except by squads of military patrol shutters of stores and even many residences remained unopened throughout the day the signs were none too reassuring in addition to the public rumors whispered about by serious faces on the streets general scott reported in writing to president lincoln on the evening of april 22nd of rumors the following are probable first that from 1500 to 2000 troops are at the white house four miles below mount vernan a narrow point in the potomac engaged in erecting a battery second that an equal force is collected or in progress of assemblage on the two sides of the river to attack fort washington and third that extra cars went up yesterday to bring down from harpers fairy about 2000 other troops to join in a general attack on this capital that is on many of its fronts at once i feel confident that with our present forces we can defend the capital the arsenal and all the executive buildings seven against 10 000 troops not better than our district volunteers throughout this crisis president lincoln not only maintained his composure but promptly assumed the high responsibilities the occasion demanded on sunday april 21st he summoned his cabinet to meet at the navy department and with their unanimous concurrence issued a number of emergency orders relating to the purchase of ships the transportation of troops and munitions of war the advance of two million dollars of money to a union safety committee in new york and other military and naval measures which were dispatched and duplicate by private messengers over unusual and circuitous routes in a message to congress in which he afterward explained these extraordinary transactions he said quote it became necessary for me to choose weather using only the existing means agencies and processes which congress had provided i should let the government fall at once into ruin or whether availing myself on the broader powers conferred by the constitution in cases of insurrection i would make an effort to save it with all its blessings for the present age and for posterity end quote unwelcome as was the thought of a possible capture of washington city president lincoln's mind was much more disturbed by many suspicious indications of disloyalty in public officials and especially in officers of the army and navy hundreds of clerks of southern berth employed in the various departments suddenly left their desks and went south the commandment of the washington navy yard and the quartermaster general of the army resigned their positions to take service under jefferson davis one morning the captain of a light battery on which general scott had placed special reliance for the defense of washington came to the president at the white house to a severate and protest his loyalty and fidelity in that same night secretly left his post and went to richmond to become a confederate officer the most prominent case however was that of colonel robert e lee the officer who captured john brown at harper's ferry and who afterward became the leader of the confederate armies as a lieutenant he had served on the staff of general scott in the war with mexico personally knowing his ability scott recommended him to lincoln as the most suitable officer to command the union army about to be assembled under the president's call for 75 regiments and this command was informally tendered him through a friend lee however declined the offer explaining that quote though opposed to secession and deprecating war i could take no part in an invasion of the southern states end quote he resigned his commission in a letter written on april 20th and without waiting for notice of its acceptance which alone could discharge him from his military obligation proceeded to richmond where he was formally and publicly invested with the command of the virginia military and naval forces on april 22nd while two days later the rebel vice president alexander h stevens and a committee of the richmond convention signed a formal military league making virginia an immediate member of the confederate states and placing her armies under the command of jefferson davis the sudden uprising in maryland and the insurrectionary activity in virginia had been largely stimulated by the dream of the leading conspirators that their new confederacy would combine all the slave states and that by the adhesion of both maryland and virginia they would fall air to a ready-made seat of government while the bombardment of sumter was in progress the rebel secretary of war announcing the news in a jubilant speech at montgomery in the presence of jefferson davis and his colleagues confidently predicted that the rebel flag would before the end of may quote float over the dome of the capital at washington end quote the disloyal demonstrations in maryland and virginia rendered such a hope so plausible that jefferson davis telegraphed to governor letcher at richmond that he was preparing to send him 13 regiments and added quote sustain baltimore if practicable we reinforce you end quote while senator mason hurry to that city personally to furnish advice and military assistance but the flattering expectation was not realized the requisite preparation and concert of action were both wanting the union troops from new york and new england pouring into philadelphia flanked the obstructions of the baltimore route by devising a new one by way of chesapeake bay and anapolis and the opportune arrival of the seventh regiment of new york and washington on april 25th rendered that city entirely safe against surprise or attack relieved the apprehension of officials and citizens and renewed its business and public activity the mob frenzy of baltimore and the maryland towns subsided almost as quickly as it had risen the union leaders and newspapers asserted themselves and soon demonstrated their superiority in numbers and activity serious embarrassment had been created by the timidity of governor hicks who while baltimore remained under mob terrorism officially protested against the landing of union troops at anapolis and still worse summoned the maryland legislature to meet on april 26th a step which he had there to force stubbornly refused to take this event had become doubly dangerous because a baltimore city election held during the same terror week had reinforced the legislature with 10 secession members creating a majority eager to pass a secession ordinance at the first opportunity the question of either arresting or dispersing the body by military force was one of the problems which the crisis forced upon president lincoln on full reflection he decided against either measure i think it would not be justifiable he wrote to general scott nor efficient for the desired object first they have a clearly legal right to assemble and we cannot know in advance that their action will not be lawful and peaceful and if we wait until they shall have acted their arrest or dispersion will not lessen the effect of their action secondly we cannot permanently prevent their action if we arrest them we cannot long hold them as prisoners and when liberated they will immediately reassemble and take their action and precisely the same if we simply disperse them they will immediately reassemble in some other place i therefore conclude that it is only left to the commanding general to watch and await their action which if it shall be to arm their people against the united states he is to adopt the most prompt and efficient means to counteract even if necessary to the bombardment of their cities and in the extremist necessity the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus end quote two days later the president formally authorized general scott to suspend the writ of habeas corpus along his military lines or in their vicinity if resistance should render it necessary arrivals of additional troops enabled the general to strengthen his military hold on anapolis and the railroads and on may 13th general bf butler with about 1 000 men moved into baltimore and established a fortified camp on federal hill the bulk of his force being the sixth massachusetts which had been mobbed in that city on april 19th already on the previous day the bridges and railroad had been repaired and the regular transit of troops through the city re-established under these changing conditions the secession majority of the mariland legislature did not venture on any official treason they sent a committee to interview the president vented their hostility in spiteful reports and remonstrances and prolonged their session by a recess nevertheless so inveterate was their disloyalty and plotting against the authority of the union that four months later it became necessary to place the leaders under arrest finally to head off their darling project of a mariland secession ordinance one additional incidence of this insurrectionary period remains to be noticed one john merriman claiming to be a confederate lieutenant was arrested in baltimore for enlisting men for the rebellion and chief justice taney of the united state supreme court the famous author of the dred scott decision issued a writ of habeas corpus to obtain his release from fort mckenry under the president's orders general cadwalleter of course declined to obey the writ upon this the chief justice ordered the general's arrest for contempt but the officer sent to serve the writ was refused entrance to the fort in turn the indignant chief justice taking counsel of his passion instead of his patriotism announced dogmatically that quote the president under the constitution and laws of the united states cannot suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus nor authorize any military officer to do so end quote in some weeks afterward filed a long written opinion in support of this dictum it is unnecessary here to quote the opinions of several imminent jurists who successfully refuted his labored argument nor to repeat the vigorous analysis with which in his special message to congress of july 4th president lincoln vindicated his own authority while these events were occurring in maryland and virginia the remaining slave states were gradually taking sides some four others against rebellion under radical and revolutionary leadership similar to that of the cotton states the governors and state officials of north carolina tennessee and arkansas placed their states in an attitude of insurrection and before the middle of may practically joined them to the confederate government by the formalities of military leagues and secession ordinances but in the border slave states that is those contiguous to the free states the eventual result was different in these those secession intrigue and sympathy were strong and though their governors and state officials favored the rebellion the underlying loyalty and unionism of the people thwarted their revolutionary schemes this happened even in the northwestern part of virginia itself the 48 counties of that state lying north of the eleganese and adjoining pennsylvania and ohio repudiated the action at richmond seceded from secession and established a loyal provisional state government president lincoln recognized them and sustained them with military aid and in due time they became organized and admitted to the union as the state of west virginia in delaware though some degree of secession feeling existed it was too insignificant to produce any noteworthy public demonstration in kentucky the political struggle was deep and prolonged the governor twice called the legislature together to initiate secession proceedings but that body refused compliance and warded off his scheme by voting to maintain the state neutrality next the governor sought to utilize the military organization known as the state guard to affect his object the union leaders offset this movement by enlisting several volunteer union regiments at the june election nine union congressmen were chosen and only one secessionist while in august a new legislature was elected with a three fourths union majority in each branch other secession intrigues proved equally abortive and when finally in september confederate armies invaded kentucky at three different points the kentucky legislature invited the union armies of the west into the state to expel them and voted to place 40 000 union volunteers at the service of president lincoln in missouri the struggle was more fierce but also more brief as far back as january the conspirators had perfected a scheme to obtain possession through the treachery of the officer in charge of the important jefferson barracks arsenal at st louis with its store of 60 000 stand of arms and a million and a half cartridges the project however failed rumors of the danger came to general scott who ordered thither a company of regulars under the command of captain nathaniel lyon an officer not only loyal by nature and habit but also imbued with strong anti-slavery convictions lyon found valuable support in the watchfulness of a union safety committee composed of leading st louis citizens who secretly organized a number of union regiments recruited largely from the heavy german population and from these sources lyon was enabled to make such a show of available military force as effectively to deter any mere popular uprising to seize the arsenal a state convention elected to pass a secession ordinance resulted unexpectedly to the conspirators in the return of a majority of union delegates who voted down the secession program and adjourned to the following december thereupon the secession governor ordered his state militia into temporary camps of instruction with the idea of taking missouri out of the union by a concerted military movement one of these encampments established at st louis and named camp jackson in honor of the governor furnished such unquestionable evidences of intended treason that captain lyon whom president lincoln had meanwhile authorized to enlist 10 000 union volunteers and if necessary to proclaim martial law made a sudden march upon camp jackson with his regulars and six of his newly enlisted regiments stationed his force and commanding physicians around the camp and demanded it surrender the demand was complied with after but slight hesitation and the captured militia regiments were on the following day disbanded under parole unfortunately as the prisoners were being marched away a secession mob insulted and attacked some of lyon's regiments and provoked a return fire in which about 20 persons mainly lookers on were killed or wounded and for a day or two the city was thrown into the panic and lawlessness of a reign of terror upon this the legislature in session at jefferson city the capital of the state with a three fourth secession majority rushed through the forms of legislation a military bill placing the military and financial resources of Missouri under the governor's control for a month longer various incidents delayed the culmination of the approaching struggle each side continuing its preparations and constantly accentuating the rising antagonism the crisis came when on june 11th governor jackson and captain lyon now made brigadier general by the president met in an interview at st louis in this interview the governor demanded that he be permitted to exercise sole military command to maintain the neutrality of Missouri while lyon insisted that the federal military authority must be left in unrestricted control it being impossible to reach any agreement governor jackson hurried back to his capital burning railroad bridges behind him as he went and on the following day june 12th issued his proclamation calling out 50 000 state militia and announcing the lincoln administration as quote an unconstitutional military despotism end quote lyon was also prepared for this contingency on the afternoon of june 13th he embarked with a regular battery and several battalions of his union volunteers on steamboats moved rapidly up the Missouri river to jefferson city drove the governor and the secession legislature into precipitate flight took possession of the capital and continuing his expedition scattered after a slight skirmish a small rebel military force which had hastily collected at boonville rapidly following these events the loyal members of the missouri state convention which had in february refused to pass a secession ordinance were called together and passed ordinances under which was constituted a loyal state government that maintained the local civil authority of the united states throughout the greater part of missouri during the whole of the civil war only temporarily interrupted by invasions of transient confederate armies from arkansas it will be seen from the foregoing outline that the original hope of the southern leaders to make the ohio river the northern boundary of their slave empire was not realized they indeed secured the adhesion of virginia north carolina tennessee and arkansas by which the territory of the confederate state's government was enlarged nearly one third and its population and resources nearly doubled but the northern tier of slave states mariland west virginia kentucky and missouri not only decidedly refused to join the rebellion but remained true to the union and this reduced the contest to a trial of military strength between 11 states with five million 115,790 whites and 3,508,131 slaves against 24 states with 21,611,422 whites and 342,212 slaves and at least a proportionate difference in all other resources of war at the very outset the conditions were prophetic of the result end of chapter 14 chapter 15 of a short life of abraham lincoln this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org this reading by allison hester of athens georgia a short life of abraham lincoln by john g nickley chapter 15 davis's proclamation for privateers lincoln's proclamation of blockade the call for three years volunteers southern military preparations rebel capital moved to richmond virginia north carolina tennessee and arkansas admitted to confederate states desertion of army and navy officers union troops fortify virginia short of the potomac concentration at harper's ferry concentration at fortress munro and kyro english neutrality seward's 21st of may dispatch lincoln's corrections preliminary skirmishes forward to richmond plan of mcdowell's campaign from the slower political developments in the border slave states we must return and follow up the primary hostilities of the rebellion the bombardment of sumpter president lincoln's call for troops the baltimore riot the burning of harper's ferry armory and norfolk navy yard and the interruption of railroad communication which for nearly a week isolated the capital and threatened it with siege and possible capture fully demonstrated the beginning of serious civil war jefferson davis's proclamation on april 17th of intention to issue letters mark was met two days later by president lincoln's counter proclamation instituting a blockade of the southern ports and declaring that privateers would be held amenable to the laws against piracy his first call for 75 000 three months militia was dictated as to numbers by the sudden emergency and as to form and term of service by the provisions of the act of 1795 it needed only a few days to show that this form of enlistment was both cumbersome and inadequate and the creation of a more powerful army was almost immediately begun on may 3rd a new proclamation was issued calling into service 42 000 34 three years volunteers 22 714 enlisted men to add 10 regiments to the regular army and 18 000 seamen for blockade service a total immediate increase of 82 748 swelling the entire military establishment to an army of 156 861 and a navy of 25 000 no express authority of law yet existed for these measures but president lincoln took the responsibility of ordering them trusting that congress would legalize his acts his confidence was entirely justified at the special session which met under his proclamation on the 4th of july these acts were declared valid and he was authorized moreover to raise an army of a million men and 250 million dollars in money to carry on the war and suppress the rebellion while other legislation conferred upon him supplementary authority to meet the emergency meanwhile the first effort of the governors of the loyal states was to furnish their quotas under the first call for militia this was easy enough as to men it required only a few days to fill the regiments and forward them to the state capitals and principal cities but to arm and equip them for the field on the spur of the moment was a difficult task which involved much confusion and delay even though existing armories and foundries pushed their work to the utmost and new ones were established under the militia call the governors appointed all the officers required by their respective quotas from company lieutenant to major general of division while under the new call for three years volunteers their authority was limited to the simple organization of regiments in the south war preparation also immediately became active all the indications are that up to their attack on Sumter the southern leaders hoped to affect separation through concession and compromise by the north that hope of course disappeared with south carolina's opening guns and the confederate government made what haste it could to meet the ordeal it dreaded even while it had provoked it the rebel congress was hastily called together and passed acts recognizing war and regulating privateering admitting virginia north carolina tennessee and arkansas to the confederate states authorizing a 50 million dollar loan practically confiscating debts due from southern to northern citizens and removing the seat of government from montgomery alabama to richmond virginia four different calls for southern volunteers had been made aggregating 82 000 men and jefferson davis's message now proposed to further organize and hold in readiness an army of 100 000 the work of erecting forts and batteries for defense was being rapidly pushed at all points on the atlantic coast on the potomac and on the mississippi and other western streams for the present the confederates were well supplied with canon and small arms from the captured navy yards at norfolk and pencecola and the six or eight arsenals located in the south the marshal spirit of their people was roused to the highest enthusiasm and there was no lack of volunteers to fill the companies and regiments which the confederate legislators authorized davis to accept either by regular calls on state executives in accordance with or singly in defiance of their central dogma of states rights as he might prefer the secession of the southern states not only strengthened the rebellion with the arms and supplies stored in the various military and navy depots within their limits and the fortifications erected for their defense what was of yet greater help to the revolt a considerable portion of the officers of the army and navy perhaps one third abandoned the allegiance which they had sworn to the united states and under the false doctrine of the state supremacy taught by southern leaders gave their professional skill and experience to the destruction of the government which had educated and honored them the defection of robert e lee was a conspicuous example and his loss to the union and service to the rebel army cannot easily be measured so also were the similar cases of adjutant general cooper and quartermaster general johnston in gratifying contrast stands the steadfast loyalty and devotion of lieutenant general winfield scott who though he was a virginian and loved his native state never wavered an instant in his allegiance to the flag he had heroically followed in the war of 1812 and triumphantly planted over the capital of Mexico in 1847 though unable to take the field he as general and chief directed the assembling and first movements of the union troops the largest part of the three months regiments were ordered to washington city as the most important position in a political and most exposed in a military point of view the great machine of war once started moved as it always does by its own inherent energy from arming to concentration from concentration to skirmish in battle it was not long before washington was a military camp gradually the hesitation to invade the sacred soil of the south faded out under the stern necessity to forestall an invasion of the equally sacred soil of the north and on may 24th the union regiments in washington crossed the potomac and placed themselves in a great semicircle of formidable earthworks 18 miles long on the virginia shore from chain bridge to hunting creek below alexandria meanwhile a secondary concentration of force developed itself at harpers fairy 49 miles northwest of washington when on april 20th a union detachment had burned and abandoned the armory at that point it was at once occupied by a handful of rebel militia and immediately thereafter jefferson davis had hurried his regiments thither to sustain or overall baltimore and when that prospect failed it became a rebel camp of instruction afterward as major general paterson collected his pennsylvania quota he turned it toward that point as a probable field of operations as a mere town harpers fairy was unimportant but lying on the potomac and being at the head of the great shinendoa valley down which not only a good turnpike but also an effective railroad ran southeastward to the very heart of the confederacy it was and remained through the entire war a strategical line of the first importance protected as the shinendoa valley was by the main chain of the eleganes on the west and the blue ridge on the east a part of the eastern quotas had also been hurried to fortress munroe virginia lying at the mouth of chesapeake bay which became and continued an important base for naval as well as military operations in the west even more important than st lewis was the little town of cairo lying at the extreme southern end of the state of illinois at the confluence of the ohio river with the mississippi commanding as it did thousands of miles of river navigation in three different directions and being also the southern most point of the earliest military frontier it had been the first care of general scott to occupy it and indeed it proved itself to be the military key of the whole mississippi valley it was not an easy thing promptly to develop a military policy for the suppression of the rebellion the so-called confederate states of america covered a military field having more than six times the area of great britain with a coastline of over 3500 miles and an interior frontier of over 7 000 miles much less was it possible promptly to plan and set on foot concise military campaigns to reduce the insurgent states to allegiance even the great military genius of general scott was unable to do more than suggest a vague outline for the work the problem was not only too vast but as yet too indefinite since the political future of west virginia kentucky and missouri still hung in more or less uncertainty the passive and negligent attitude which the bucanon administration had maintained toward the insurrection during the whole three months between the presidential election and mr lincoln's inauguration gave the rebellion an immense advantage in the courts in cabinets of europe until within three days of the end of bucanon's term not a word of protest or even explanation was sent to counteract the impression that disunion was likely to become permanent indeed the non-coercion doctrine of bucanon's message was in the eyes of european statesmen equivalent to an acknowledgement of such a result and the formation of the confederate government followed so quickly by the fall of fort sumter seemed to them a practical realization of their forecast the course of events appeared not merely to fulfill their expectations but also in the case of england and france gratified their eager hopes to england it promised cheap cotton and free trade with the south to france it appeared to open the way for colonial ambitions which napoleon the third so soon set on foot an imperial scale before charles frances adams whom president lincoln appointed as the new minister to england arrived in london and obtained an interview with lord john russell mr seward had already received several items of disagreeable news one was that prior to his arrival the queen's proclamation of neutrality had been published practically raising the confederate states to the rank of a belligerent power and before they had a single privateer afloat giving these an equality in british ports with united states ships of war another was that an understanding had been reached between england and france which would lead both governments to take the same course as to recognition whatever that course might be third that three diplomatic agents of the confederate states were in london whom the british minister had not yet seen but whom he had caused to be informed that he was not unwilling to see unofficially under the irritation produced by this hasty and equivocal action of the british government mr seward wrote a despatch to mr adams under date of may 21st which had it been sent in the form of the original draft would scarcely have failed to lead to war between the two nations while it justly set forth with emphasis and courage what the government of the united states would endure and what it would not endure from foreign powers during the southern insurrection its phraseology written in a heat of indignation was so blunt and exasperating as to imply intentional disrespect when mr seward read the document to president lincoln the latter at once perceived its objectionable tone and retained it for further reflection a second reading confirmed his first impression there upon taking his pen the frontier lawyer in a careful revision of the whole despatch so amended and changed the work of the trained and experienced statesman as entirely to eliminate its offensive crudeness and bring it within all the dignity and reserve of the most studied diplomatic courtesy if after mr seward's remarkable memorandum of april first the secretary of state had needed any further experience to convince him of the president's mastery and both administrative and diplomatic judgment this second incident afforded him the full evidence no previous president had ever had such a sudden increase of official work devolve upon him as president lincoln during the early months of his administration the radical change of parties through which he was elected not only literally filled the white house with applicants for office but practically compelled a wholesale substitution of new appointees for the old to represent the new thought and will of the nation the task of selecting these was greatly complicated by the sharp competition between the heterogeneous elements of which the republican party was composed this work was not half completed when the sumptuous bombardment initiated active rebellion and precipitated the new difficulty of sifting the loyal from the disloyal and the yet more pressing labor of scrutinizing the organization of the immense new volunteer army called into service by the proclamation of mate third mr lincoln used often to say at this period when besieged by claims to appointment that he felt like a man letting rooms at one end of his house while the other end was on fire in addition to this merely routine work was the much more delicate and serious duty of deciding the hundreds of novel questions affecting the constitutional principles and theories of administration the great departments of government especially those of war and navy could not immediately expedite either the supervision or clerical details of the sudden expansion in almost every case of resulting confusion and delay was brought by impatient governors and state officials to the president for complaint and correction volunteers were coming rapidly enough to the various rendezvous in the different states but where were the rations to feed them money to pay them tents to shelter them uniforms to clothe them rifles to arm them officers to drill and instruct them or transportation to carry them in this carnival of patriotism this hurly burly of organization the weaknesses as well as the virtues of human nature quickly developed themselves and there was manifest not only the inevitable friction of personal rivalry but also the disturbing and baneful effects of occasional falsehood and dishonesty which could not always be immediately traced to the responsible culprit it happened in many instances that there were alarming discrepancies between the full paper regiments and brigades reported as ready to start from the state capitals and the actual number of recruits that railroad trains brought to the washington camps and mr. Lincoln several times ironically compared the process to that of a man trying to shovel a bushel of fleas across a barn floor while the month of may insensibly slipped away amid these preparatory vexations camps of instruction rapidly grew to small armies at a few principal points even under such incidental delay and loss enduring june the confronting union and confederate forces began to produce the conflicts and casualties of earnest war as yet they were both few and unimportant the assassination of ellsworth when alexandria was occupied a slight calvary skirmish at fairfax courthouse the route of a confederate regimen at philippi west virginia the blundering leadership through which two union detachments fired upon each other in the dark at big bethle virginia the ambush of a union railroad train at vienna station and lion skirmish which scattered the first collection of rebels at boonville missouri comparatively speaking all these were trivial in numbers of dead and wounded the first few drops of blood before the heavy sanguinary showers the future was destined to bring but the effect upon the public was irritating and painful to a degree entirely out of proportion to their real extent and gravity the relative loss and gain in these affairs was not greatly unequal the victories of philippi and boonville easily offset the disasters of big bethle and vienna but the public mind was not yet schooled to patience and to the fluctuating chances of war the newspapers demanded prompt progress and ample victory as imperatively as they were want to demand party triumph in politics or achievement in commercial enterprise forward to richmond repeated the new york tribune day after day and many sheets of lesser note and influence echoed the cry there seemed indeed a certain reason for this clamor because the period of enlistment of the three months regiments was already two-thirds gone and they were not yet all armed and equipped for field service president lincoln was fully alive to the need of meeting this popular demand the special session of congress was soon to begin and to it the new administration must look not only to ratify what had been done but to authorize a large increase of the military force and heavy loans for coming expenses of the war on june 29th therefore he called his cabinet and principal military officers to a council of war at the executive mansion to discuss a more formidable campaign than had yet been planned general scott was opposed to such an undertaking at that time he preferred waiting until autumn meanwhile organizing and drilling a large army with which to move down the mississippi and end the war with a final battle at new orleans aside from the obvious military objections to this course such a procrastination and the present irritation of the public temper was not to be thought of and the old general gracefully waved his preference and contributed his best judgment to the perfecting of an immediate campaign into virginia the confederate forces in virginia had been gathered by the orders of general lee into a defensive position at the menacist junction where a railroad from richmond and another from harpers fairy come together here general bow regard who had organized and conducted the sumpter bombardment had command of a total of about 25 000 men which he was drilling the junction was fortified with some slight field works and 15 heavy guns supported by a garrison of 2000 while the main body was camped in a line of seven miles length behind bull run a winding sluggish stream flowing southeasterly toward the potomac the distance was about 32 miles southwest of washington another confederate force of about 10 000 under general j e johnston was collected at winchester and harpers fairy on the potomac to guard the entrance to the shenandoa valley and an understanding existed between johnston and bow regard that in case either were attacked the other would come to his aid by the quick railroad transportation between the two places the new union plan contemplated that brigadier general mcdowell should march from washington against menacist and bull run with a force sufficient to beat bow regard while general paterson who had concentrated the bulk of the pennsylvania regiments in the neighborhood of harpers fairy in numbers nearly or quite double that of his antagonist should move against johnston and either fight or hold him so that he could not come to the aid of bow regard at the council mcdowell emphasized the danger of such a junction but general scott assured him if johnston joins bow regard he shall have paterson on his heels with this understanding mcdowell's movement was ordered to begin on july 9th and of chapter 15 chapter 16 of a short life of abraham lincoln this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information order volunteer please visit libervox.org this reading by alison hester of athens georgia a short life of abraham lincoln by john g nicolay chapter 16 congress the president's message men and money voted the contraband denison appoints mcdowell rich mountain mcdowell bull run paterson's failure mcdowell at washington while these preparations for a virginia campaign were going on another campaign was also slowly shaping itself in western virginia but before either of them reached any decisive results the 37th congress chosen at the presidential election of 1860 met in special session on the fourth of july 1861 in pursuance of the president's proclamation of april 15 there being no members present in either branch from the seceded states the number in each house was reduced nearly one third a great change in party feeling was also manifest no more rampant succession speeches were to be heard of the rare instances of men who were yet to join the rebellion x vice president breckenridge was the most conspicuous example and their presence was offset by prominent southern unionists like andrew johnson of tennessee and john j crittenden of kentucky the heated antagonisms which had divided the previous congress into four clearly defined factions were so far restrained or obliterated by the events of the past four months as to leave but a feeble opposition to the republican majority now dominant in both branches which was itself rendered moderate and prudent by the new conditions the message of president lincoln was temperate in spirit but positive and strong in argument reciting the succession and rebellion of the confederate states and their unprovoked assault on fort sumpter he continued quote having said to them in the inaugural address you can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors he took pains not only to keep this declaration good but also to keep the case so free from the power of ingenious sophistry that the world should not be able to misunderstand it by the affair at fort sumpter with its surrounding circumstances that point was reached then and thereby the assailants of the government began the conflict of arms without a gun in sight or in expectancy to return their fire save only the few in the fort sent to that harbor years before for their own protection and still ready to give that protection and whatever was lawful this issue embraces more than the fate of these united states it presents to the whole family of man the question whether a constitutional republic or democracy a government of the people by the same people can or cannot maintain its territorial integrity against its own domestic foes with his singular felicity of statement he analyzed and refuted the sophism that succession was lawful and constitutional quote this sophism derives much perhaps the whole of its currency from the assumption that there is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy pertaining to a state to each state of our federal union our states have neither more nor less power than that reserved to them in the union by the constitution no one of them ever having been a state out of the union the states have their status in the union and they have no other legal status if they break from this they can only do so against law and by revolution the union and not themselves separately procured their independence and their liberty by conquest or purchase the union gave each of them whatever of independence or liberty it has the union is older than any of the states and in fact it created them as states originally some dependent colonies made the union and in turn the union threw off their old dependents for them and made them states such as they are not one of them ever had a state constitution independent of the union a noteworthy point in the message is president Lincoln's expression of his abiding confidence in the intelligence and virtue of the people of the united states it may be affirmed said he without extravagance that the free institutions we enjoy have developed the powers and improved the condition of our whole people beyond any example in the world of this we now have a striking and an impressive illustration so large an army as the government has now on foot was never before known without a soldier in it but who has taken his place there of his own free choice but more than this there are many single regiments whose members one and another possess full practical knowledge of all the arts sciences professions and whatever else whether useful or elegant is known in the world and there is scarcely one from which there could not be selected a president a cabinet a congress and perhaps a court abundantly competent to administer the government itself this is essentially a people's contest on the side of the union it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men to lift artificial weights from all shoulders to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance and the race of life i am most happy to believe that the plain people understand and appreciate this it is worthy of note that while in this the government's hour of trial large numbers of those in the army and navy who have been favored with the offices have resigned improved faults to the hand which had pampered them not one common soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his flag hearty applause greeted that portion of the message which asked for means to make the contest short and decisive and congress acted promptly by authorizing a loan of 250 million dollars and an army not to exceed one million men all of president lincoln's war measures for which no previous sanction of law existed were duly legalized additional direct income and tariff taxes were laid and the force bill of 1795 and various other laws relating to conspiracy piracy unlawful recruiting and kindred topics were amended or passed throughout the whole history of the south by no means the least of the evils entailed by the institution of slavery was the dread of slave insurrections which haunted every master's household and this vague terror was at once intensified by the outbreak of civil war it stands to the lasting credit of the negro race in the united states that the wrongs of their long bondage provoked them to no such crime and that the civil war appears not to have even suggested much less started any organization or attempt but the john brown raid had indicated some possibility of the kind and when the union troops began their movements generals butler in maryland and paterson in pennsylvania moving toward harpers fairy and mclellan in west virginia in order to reassure non-combatants severely issued orders that all attempts at slave insurrection should be suppressed it was a most pointed and significant warning to the leaders of the rebellion how much more vulnerable the peculiar institution was in war than in peace and that their ill considered scheme to protect and perpetuate slavery would prove the most potent engine for its destruction the first effect of opening hostilities was to give adventurous or discontented slaves the chance to escape into union camps where even against orders to the contrary they found practical means of protection or concealment for the sake of the help they could render as cooks servants or teamsters or for the information they could give or obtain or the invaluable service they could render as guides practically therefore at the very beginning the war created a bond of mutual sympathy based on mutual helpfulness between the southern negro and the union volunteer and as fast as the union troops advanced and secession masters fled more or less slaves found liberation and refuge in the union camps at some points indeed this tendency created an embarrassment to the union commanders a few days after general butler assumed command of the union troops at fortress Monroe the agent of a rebel master who had fled from the neighborhood came to demand under the provisions of the fugitive slave law three field hands alleged to be in butler's camp butler responded that as virginia claimed to be a foreign country the fugitive slave law was clearly inoperative unless the owner would come and take an oath of allegiance to the united states in connection with this incident the newspaper report stated that as the breastworks and batteries which had been so rapidly erected for confederate defense in every direction on the virginia peninsula were built by enforced negro labor under rigorous military impressment negroes were manifestly contraband of war under international law the dictum was so pertinent and the equity so plain that though it was not officially formulated by the general until two months later it sprang at once into popular acceptance and application and from that time forward the words slave and negro were everywhere within the union lines replaced by the familiar significant term contraband while butler's happy designation had a more convincing influence on public thought than a volume of discussion it did not immediately solve the whole question within a few days he reported that he had slave property to the value of sixty thousand dollars in his hands and by the end of july 900 contrabands men women and children of all ages what was their legal status and how should they be disposed of it was a naughty problem for upon its solution might depend the sensitive public opinion and balancing undecided loyalty and political action of the border slave states of maryland west virginia kentucky and missouri in solving the problem president lincoln kept in mind the philosophic maxim of one of his favorite stories that when the western methodists presiding elder writing about the circuit during the spring freshets was importuned by his young companion how they should ever be able to get across the swollen waters of the fox river which they were approaching the elder quieted him by saying he had made it the rule of his life never to cross fox river till he came to it the president did not immediately decide but left it to be treated as a question of camp and local police in the discretion of each commander under this theory later in the war some commanders excluded others admitted such fugitives to their camps and the curt formula of general orders we have nothing to do with slaves we are neither negro steelers nor negro catchers was easily construed by subordinate officers to justify the practice of either course for the president butler was instructed not to surrender such fugitives but to employ them in suitable labor and leave the question of their final disposition for future determination congress greatly advanced the problem soon after the battle of bull run by adopting an amendment which confiscated a rebel master's right to his slave when by his consent such slave was employed in service or labor hostile to the united states the debates exhibited but little spirit of partisanship even on this feature of the slavery question the border state members did not attack the justice of such a penalty they could only urge that it was unconstitutional and inexpedient on the general policy of war both houses with but few dissenting votes passed the resolution offered by mr crittenden which declared that the war was not waged for oppression or subjugation or to interfere with the rights for institution of states quote but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the constitution and to preserve the union with all the dignity equality and rights of the several states unimpaired end quote the special session adjourned on august six having in a single month completed and enacted a thorough and comprehensive system of war legislation the military events that were transpiring in the meanwhile doubtless had their effect in hastening the decision and shortening the labors of congress to command the 13 regiments of militia furnished by the state of Ohio governor denison had given a commission of major general to george b mclellan who had been educated at west point and served with distinction in the mexican war and who through unusual opportunities in travel and special duties in surveys and exploration had gained requirements and qualifications that appeared to fit him for a brilliant career being but 35 years old and having reached only the grade of captain he had resigned from the army and was at the moment serving as president of the Ohio and mississippi railroad general scott warmly welcomed his appointment to lead the Ohio contingent and so industriously facilitated his promotion that by the beginning of june mclellan's militia commission as a major general had been changed to a commission for the same grade in the regular army and he found himself assigned to the command of a military department extending from western virginia to missouri though this was a leap in military title rank and power which excels the inventions of romance it was necessitated by the sudden exigencies of army expansion over the vast territory bordering the insurrection and for a while seemed justified by the hopeful promise indicated in the young officers zeal and activity his instructions made it a part of his duty to encourage and support the unionists of western virginia in their political movement to divide the state and direct the union commonwealth out of that portion of it lying northwest of the eleganese general lee not fully informed of the adverse popular sentiment sent a few confederate regiments into that region to gather recruits and hold the important mountain passes mclellan in turn advanced a detachment eastward from wheeling to protect the baltimore and ohio railroad and at the beginning of june an expedition of two regiments led by colonel kelly made a spirited dash upon filipai where by a complete surprise he routed and scattered porterfield's recruiting detachment of one thousand confederates following up his initial success mclellan through additional forces across the ohio and about a month later had the good fortune on july 11th by a flank movement under roscrans to drive a regiment of the enemy out of strong entrenchments on rich mountain forced the surrender of the retreating garrison on the following day july 12th and to win a third success on the 13th over another flying detachment at carrex forward one of the crossings of the cheat river where the confederate general garnet was killed and a skirmish fire between sharpshooters these incidents happening on three successive days and in distance 40 miles apart made a handsome showing for the young department commander when gathered into the single short telegram in which he reported to washington that garnet was killed his force routed at least 200 of the enemy killed and seven guns and one thousand prisoners taken our success is complete and secession is killed in this country concluded the dispatch the result indeed largely overshadowed in importance the means which accomplished it the union loss was only 13 killed and 40 wounded in subsequent effect these two comparatively insignificant skirmishes permanently recovered the state of west virginia to the union the main credit was of course due to the steadfast loyalty of the people of that region this victory afforded welcome relief to the strained and impatient public opinion of the northern states and sharpened the eager expectation of the authorities at washington of similar results from the projected virginia campaign the organization and command of that column were entrusted to brigadier general mcdowell advanced to this grade from his previous rank of major he was 42 years old and accomplished west point graduate and had won distinction in the mexican war though since at that time he had been mainly engaged in staff duty on the morning of july 16th he began his advance from the fortifications of washington with a marching column of about 28 000 men and a total of 49 guns an additional division of about 6 000 being left behind to guard his communications owing to the rawness of his troops the first few days march was necessarily cautious and cumbersome the enemy under bow regard had collected about 23 000 men and 35 guns and was posted behind bull run a preliminary engagement occurred on thursday july 18th at blackburns ford on that stream which served to develop the enemy strong position but only delayed the advance until the whole of mcdowell's force reached centerville here mcdowell halted spent friday and saturday in reconnoitering and on sunday july 21st began the battle by a circuitous march across bull run and attacking the enemy's left flank it proved that the plan was correctly chosen but by a confusion in the march the attack intended for daybreak was delayed until nine o'clock nevertheless the first half of the battle during the forenoon was entirely successful the union lines steadily driving the enemy southward and enabling additional union brigades to join the attacking column by a direct march from centerville at noon however the attack came to a halt partly through the fatigue of the troops partly because the advancing line having swept the field for nearly a mile found itself in a valley from which further progress had to be made with all the advantage of the ground in favor of the enemy in the lull of the conflict which for a while ensued the confederate commander with little hope except to mitigate a defeat hurriedly concentrated his remaining artillery and supporting regiments into a semicircular line of defense at the top of the hill that the federals would be obliged to mount and kept them well concealed among the young pines at the edge of the timber with an open field in their front against the second position of the enemy comprising 12 regiments 22 guns and two companies of calvary mcdowell advanced in the afternoon with an attacking force of 14 regiments 24 guns and a single battalion of calvary but with all the advantages of position against him a fluctuating and intermittent attack resulted the nature of the ground rendered a combined advance impossible the union brigades were sent forward and repulsed by piecemeal a battery was lost by mistaking a confederate for a union regiment even now the victory seemed to vibrate when a new flank attacked by seven rebel regiments from an entirely unexpected direction suddenly impressed the union troops with the belief that johnston's army from harpers fairy had reached the battlefield and demoralized by this belief the union commands by a common impulse gave up the fight as lost and half marched half ran from the field before reaching centerville the retreat at one point degenerated into a downright panic among the army teamsters and a considerable crowd of miscellaneous camp followers and here a charge or two by the confederate calvary companies captured 13 union guns and quite a harvest of army wagons when the truth came to be known it was found that through the want of skill and courage on the part of general paterson in his operations at harpers fairy general johnston with his whole confederate army had been allowed to slip away and so far from coming suddenly into the battle of bull rung the bulk of them were already in bow regards camps on saturday and performed the heaviest part of the fighting in sunday's conflict the sudden cessation of the battle left the confederates in doubt whether their victory was final or only a prelude to a fresh union attack but as the union forces not only retreated from the field but also from centerville it took on in their eyes the proportions of a great triumph confirming their expectation of achieving ultimate independence and in fact giving them a standing in the eyes of foreign nations which they had hardly dared hope for so soon in numbers of killed and wounded the two armies suffered about equally and general johnston writes the confederate army was more disorganized by victory than that of the united states by defeat manassas was turned into a fortified camp but the rebel leaders felt themselves unable to make an aggressive movement during the whole of the following autumn and winter the shock of the defeat was deep and painful to the administration and the people of the north up to late sunday afternoon favorable reports had come to washington from the battlefield and everyone believed in an assured victory when a telegram came about five o'clock in the afternoon that the day was lost and mcdowell's army in full retreat through centerville general scott refused to credit the news so contradictory of everything which had been heard up to that hour but the intelligence was quickly confirmed the impulse of retreat once started mcdowell's effort to arrest it at centerville proved useless the regiments and brigades not completely disorganized made an unmolested and comparatively orderly march back to the fortifications of washington while on the following day a horde of stragglers found their way across the bridges of the potomac into the city president lincoln received the news quietly and without any visible sign of perturbation or excitement but he remained awake and in the executive office all of sunday night listening to the personal narratives of a number of congressmen and senators who had with undue curiosity followed the army and witnessed some of the sounds and sights of the battle by the dawn of monday morning the president had substantially made up his judgment of the battle and its probable results and the action dictated by the untoward event this was in brief that the militia regiments enlisted under the three months call should be mustered out as soon as practicable the organization of the new three years forces be pushed forward both east and west menaces and harpers fairy and the intermediate lines of communication be seized and held and a joint movement organized from sincennate on east tennessee and from cairo on memphis meanwhile general mclellan was ordered from west virginia to washington where he arrived on july 26th and assumed command of the division of the potomac comprising the troops in and around washington on both sides of the river he quickly cleared the city of stragglers and displayed a gratifying activity in beginning the organization of the army of the potomac from the new three years volunteers that were pouring into washington by every train he was received by the administration and the army with the warmest friendliness and confidence and for a while seemed to reciprocate those feelings with zeal and gratitude end of chapter 16