APRIL 20th, INCREASING EXCITEMENT. -- APPROPRIATION OF $500,000
FOR DEFENSE OF THE CITY. -- CORRESPONDENCE WITH PRESIDENT AND
GOVERNOR. -- MEN ENROLLED. -- APPREHENDED ATTACK ON FORT McHENRY.
-- MARSHAL KANE. -- INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT, CABINET AND GENERAL
SCOTT. -- GENERAL BUTLER, WITH THE EIGHTH MASSACHUSETTS, PROCEEDS
TO ANNAPOLIS AND WASHINGTON. -- BALTIMORE IN A STATE OF ARMED
NEUTRALITY.
On Saturday morning, the 20th, the excitement and alarm had greatly
increased. Up to this time no answer had been received from
Washington. The silence became unbearable. Were more troops to be
forced through the city at any cost? If so, how were they to come, by
land or water? Were the guns of Fort McHenry to be turned upon the
inhabitants? Was Baltimore to be compelled at once to determine
whether she would side with the North or with the South? Or was she
temporarily to isolate herself and wait until the frenzy had in some
measure spent its force and reason had begun to resume its sway? In
any case it was plain that the authorities must have the power placed
in their hands of controlling any outbreak which might occur. This was
the general opinion. Union men and disunion men appeared on the
streets with arms in their hands. A time like that predicted in
Scripture seemed to have come, when he who had no sword would sell his
garment to buy one.
About ten A. M. the city council assembled and immediately
appropriated $500,000, to be expended under my direction as mayor,
for the purpose of putting the city in a complete state of defense
against any description of danger arising or which might arise out of
the present crisis. The banks of the city promptly held a meeting, and
a few hours afterward a committee appointed by them, consisting of
three bank presidents, Johns Hopkins, John Clark and Columbus
O'Donnell, all wealthy Union men, placed the whole sum in advance at
my disposal. Mr. Scharf, in his "History of Maryland," Volume 3, page
416, says, in a footnote, that this action of the city authorities was
endorsed by the editors of the _Sun_, _American_, _Exchange_, _German
Correspondent_, _Clipper_, _South_, etc. Other considerable sums were
contributed by individuals and firms without respect to party.
On the same morning I received a dispatch from Messrs. Bond, Dobbin
and Brune, the committee who had gone to Washington, which said: "We
have seen the President and General Scott. We have from the former a
letter to the mayor and Governor declaring that no troops shall be
brought to Baltimore, if, in a military point of view and without
interruption from opposition, they can be marched around Baltimore."
As the Governor had left Baltimore for Annapolis early in the morning,
I telegraphed him as follows:
"BALTIMORE, _April 20, 1861_.
"_To Governor Hicks._
"Letter from President and General Scott. No troops to pass
through Baltimore if as a military force they can march around. I
will answer that every effort will be made to prevent parties
leaving the city to molest them, but cannot guarantee against
acts of individuals not organized. Do you approve?
GEO. WM. BROWN."
This telegram was based on that from Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune.
The letter referred to had not been received when my telegram to
Governor Hicks was dispatched. I was mistaken in supposing that
General Scott had signed the letter as well as the President.
President Lincoln's letter was as follows:
"WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1861_.
"_Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown._
"_Gentlemen_:--Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune is
received. I tender you both my sincere thanks for your efforts to
keep the peace in the trying situation in which you are placed.
For the future troops _must_ be brought here, but I make no point
of bringing them _through_ Baltimore.
"Without any military knowledge myself, of course I must leave
details to General Scott. He hastily said this morning, in
presence of these gentlemen, 'March them _around_ Baltimore, and
not through it.'
"I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will
consider this practical and proper, and that you will not object
to it.
"By this, a collision of the people of Baltimore with the troops
will be avoided unless they go out of their way to seek it. I
hope you will exert your influence to prevent this.
"Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace consistently
with the maintenance of government.
"Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN."
Governor Hicks replied as follows to my telegram:
"ANNAPOLIS, _April 20, 1861_.
"_To the Mayor of Baltimore._
"Your dispatch received. I hoped they would send no more troops
through Maryland, but as we have no right to demand that, I am
glad no more are to be sent through Baltimore. I know you will do
all in your power to preserve the peace.
THOS. H. HICKS."
I then telegraphed to the President as follows:
"BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, _April 20, 1861_.
"_To President Lincoln._
"Every effort will be made to prevent parties leaving the city to
molest troops marching to Washington. Baltimore seeks only to
protect herself. Governor Hicks has gone to Annapolis, but I have
telegraphed to him.
"GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor of Baltimore_."
After the receipt of the dispatch from Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune,
another committee was sent to Washington, consisting of Messrs.
Anthony Kennedy, Senator of the United States, and J. Morrison Harris,
member of the House of Representatives, both Union men, who sent a
dispatch to me saying that they "had seen the President, Secretaries
of State, Treasury and War, and also General Scott. The result is the
transmission of orders that will stop the passage of troops through or
around the city."
Preparations for the defense of the city were nevertheless continued.
With this object I issued a notice in which I said: "All citizens
having arms suitable for the defense of the city, and which they are
willing to contribute for the purpose, are requested to deposit them
at the office of the marshal of police."
The board of police enrolled temporarily a considerable number of men
and placed them under the command of Colonel Isaac R. Trimble. He
informs me that the number amounted to more than fifteen thousand,
about three-fourths armed with muskets, shotguns and pistols.
This gentleman was afterward a Major-General in the Confederate Army,
where he distinguished himself. He lost a leg at Gettysburg.
By this means not only was the inadequate number of the police
supplemented, but many who would otherwise have been the disturbers of
the peace became its defenders. And, indeed, not a few of the men
enrolled, who thought and hoped that their enrollment meant war, were
disappointed to find that the prevention of war was the object of the
city authorities, and afterwards found their way into the Confederacy.
For some days it looked very much as if Baltimore had taken her stand
decisively with the South; at all events, the outward expressions of
Southern feeling were very emphatic, and the Union sentiment
temporarily disappeared.
Early on the morning of Saturday, the 20th, a large Confederate flag
floated from the headquarters of a States Rights club on Fayette
street near Calvert, and on the afternoon of the same day the Minute
Men, a Union club, whose headquarters were on Baltimore street, gave a
most significant indication of the strength of the wave of feeling
which swept over our people by hauling down the National colors and
running up in their stead the State flag of Maryland, amid the cheers
of the crowd.[12] Everywhere on the streets men and boys were wearing
badges which displayed miniature Confederate flags, and were cheering
the Southern cause. Military companies began to arrive from the
counties. On Saturday, first came a company of seventy men from
Frederick, under Captain Bradley T. Johnson, afterward General in the
Southern Army, and next two cavalry companies from Baltimore County,
and one from Anne Arundel County. These last, the Patapsco Dragoons,
some thirty men, a sturdy-looking body of yeomanry, rode straight to
the City Hall and drew up, expecting to be received with a speech of
welcome from the mayor. I made them a very brief address, and informed
them that dispatches received from Washington had postponed the
necessity for their services, whereupon they started homeward amid
cheers, their bugler striking up "Dixie," which was the first time I
heard that tune. A few days after, they came into Baltimore again. On
Sunday came in the Howard County Dragoons, and by steamboat that
morning two companies from Talbot County, and soon it was reported
that from Harford, Cecil, Carroll and Prince George's, companies were
on their way. All the city companies of uniformed militia were, of
course, under arms. Three batteries of light artillery were in the
streets, among them the light field-pieces belonging to the military
school at Catonsville, but these the reverend rector of the school, a
strong Union man, had thoughtfully spiked.
[Footnote 12: Baltimore _American_, April 22.]
The United States arsenal at Pikesville, at the time unoccupied, was
taken possession of by some Baltimore County troops.
From the local columns of the _American_ of the 22d, a paper which was
strongly on the Union side, I take the following paragraph:
"WAR SPIRIT ON SATURDAY.
"The war spirit raged throughout the city and among all classes during
Saturday with an ardor which seemed to gather fresh force each
hour.... All were united in a determination to resist at every hazard
the passage of troops through Baltimore.... Armed men were marching
through the streets, and the military were moving about in every
direction, and it is evident that Baltimore is to be the battlefield
of the Southern revolution."
And from the _American_ of Tuesday, 23d:
"At the works of the Messrs. Winans their entire force is engaged in
the making of pikes, and in casting balls of every description for
cannon, the steam gun,[13] rifles, muskets, etc., which they are
turning out very rapidly."
[Footnote 13: Winans's steam gun, a recently invented, and, it was
supposed, very formidable engine, was much talked about at this time.
It was not very long afterwards seized and confiscated by the military
authorities.]
And a very significant paragraph from the _Sun_ of the same day:
"Yesterday morning between 300 and 400 of our most respectable colored
residents made a tender of their services to the city authorities.
The mayor thanked them for their offer, and informed them that their
services will be called for if they can be made in any way available."
Officers from Maryland in the United States Army were sending in their
resignations. Colonel (afterward General) Huger, of South Carolina,
who had recently resigned, and was in Baltimore at the time, was made
Colonel of the Fifty-third Regiment, composed of the Independent Greys
and the six companies of the Maryland Guard.
On Monday morning, the 22d, I issued an order directing that all the
drinking-saloons should be closed that day, and the order was
enforced.
On Saturday, April 20th, Captain John C. Robinson, now Major-General,
then in command at Fort McHenry, which stands at the entrance of the
harbor, wrote to Colonel L. Thomas, Adjutant-General of the United
States Army, that he would probably be attacked that night, but he
believed he could hold the fort.
In the September number, for the year 1885, of _American History_
there is an article written by General Robinson, entitled "Baltimore
in 1861," in which he speaks of the apprehended attack on the fort,
and of the conduct of the Baltimore authorities.
He says that about nine o'clock on the evening of the 20th, Police
Commissioner Davis called at the fort, bringing a letter, dated eight
o'clock P. M. of the same evening, from Charles Howard, the president
of the board, which he quotes at length, and which states that, from
rumors that had reached the board, they were apprehensive that the
commander of the fort might be annoyed by lawless and disorderly
characters approaching the walls of the fort, and they proposed to
send a guard of perhaps two hundred men to station themselves on
Whetstone Point, of course beyond the outer limits of the fort, with
orders to arrest and hand over to the civil authorities any
evil-disposed and disorderly persons who might approach the fort. The
letter further stated that this duty would have been confided to the
police force, but their services were so imperatively required
elsewhere that it would be impossible to detail a sufficient number,
and this duty had therefore been entrusted to a detachment of the
regular organized militia of the State, then called out pursuant to
law, and actually in the service of the State. It was added that the
commanding officer of the detachment would be ordered to communicate
with Captain Robinson. The letter closed with repeating the assurance
verbally given to Captain Robinson in the morning that no disturbance
at or near the post should be made with the sanction of any of the
constituted authorities of the city of Baltimore; but, on the
contrary, all their powers should be exerted to prevent anything of
the kind by any parties. A postscript stated that there might perhaps
be a troop of volunteer cavalry with the detachment.
General Robinson continues:
"I did not question the good faith of Mr. Howard, but
Commissioner Davis verbally stated that they proposed to send the
Maryland Guards to help protect the fort. Having made the
acquaintance of some of the officers of that organization, and
heard them freely express their opinions, I declined the offered
support, and then the following conversation occurred:
"_Commandant._ I am aware, sir, that we are to be attacked
to-night. I received notice of it before sundown. If you will go
outside with me you will see we are prepared for it. You will
find the guns loaded, and men standing by them. As for the
Maryland Guards, they cannot come here. I am acquainted with some
of those gentlemen, and know what their sentiments are.
"_Commissioner Davis._ Why, Captain, we are anxious to avoid a
collision.
"_Commandant._ So am I, sir. If you wish to avoid a collision,
place your city military anywhere between the city and that
chapel on the road, but if they come this side of it, I shall
fire on them.
"_Commissioner Davis._ Would you fire into the city of Baltimore?
"_Commandant._ I should be sorry to do it, sir, but if it becomes
necessary in order to hold this fort, I shall not hesitate for
one moment.
"_Commissioner Davis_ (excitedly). I assure you, Captain
Robinson, if there is a woman or child killed in that city, there
will not be one of you left alive here, sir.
"_Commandant._ Very well, sir, I will take the chances. Now, I
assure you, Mr. Davis, if your Baltimore mob comes down here
to-night, you will not have another mob in Baltimore for ten
years to come, sir."
Mr. Davis is a well-known and respected citizen of Baltimore, who has
filled various important public offices with credit, and at present
holds a high position in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.
According to his recollection, the interview was more courteous and
less dramatic than would be supposed from the account given by General
Robinson. Mr. Davis says that the people of Baltimore were acquainted
with the defenseless condition of the fort, and that in the excited
state of the public mind this fact probably led to the apprehension
and consequent rumor that an attempt would be made to capture it. The
police authorities believed, and, as it turned out, correctly, that
the rumor was without foundation; yet, to avoid the danger of any
disturbance whatever, the precautions were taken which are described
in the letter of Mr. Howard, and Mr. Davis went in person to deliver
it to Captain Robinson.
His interview was not, however, confined to Captain Robinson, but
included also other officers of the fort, and Mr. Davis was hospitably
received. A conversation ensued in regard to the threatened attack,
and, with one exception, was conducted without asperity. A junior
officer threatened, in case of an attack, to direct the fire of a
cannon on the Washington Monument, which stands in the heart of the
city, and to this threat Mr. Davis replied with heat, "If you do
that, and if a woman or child is killed, there will be nothing left of
you but your brass buttons to tell who you were."
The commandant insisted that the military sent by the board should not
approach the fort nearer than the Roman Catholic chapel, a demand to
which Mr. Davis readily assented, as that situation commanded the only
approach from the city to the fort. In the midst of the conversation
the long roll was sounded, and the whole garrison rushed to arms. For
a long time, and until the alarm was over, Mr. Davis was left alone.
General Robinson was mistaken in his conjecture, "when it seemed to
him that for hours of the night mounted men from the country were
crossing the bridges of the Patapsco." There was but one bridge over
the Patapsco, known as the Long Bridge, from which any sound of
passing horsemen or vehicles of any description could possibly have
been heard at the fort. The sounds which did reach the fort from the
Long Bridge during the hours of the night were probably the market
wagons of Anne Arundel County passing to and from the city on their
usual errand, and the one or two companies from that county, which
came to Baltimore during the period of disturbance, no doubt rode in
over the Long Bridge by daylight.
General Robinson, after describing in his paper the riot of the 19th
of April and the unfortunate event of the killing of Mr. Davis, adds:
"It is impossible to describe the intense excitement that now
prevailed. Only those who saw and felt it can understand or conceive
any adequate idea of its extent"; and in this connection he mentions
the fact that Marshal Kane, chief of the police force, on the evening
of the 19th of April, telegraphed to Bradley T. Johnson, at
Frederick, as follows: "Streets red with Maryland blood; send
expresses over the mountains of Maryland and Virginia for the riflemen
to come without delay. Fresh hordes will be down on us to-morrow. We
will fight them and whip them, or die."
The sending of this dispatch was indeed a startling event, creating a
new complication and embarrassing in the highest degree to the city
authorities. The marshal of police, who had gallantly and successfully
protected the national troops on the 18th and 19th, was so carried
away by the frenzy of the hour that he had thus on his own
responsibility summoned volunteers from Virginia and Maryland to
contest the passage of national troops through the city. Different
views were taken by members of the board of police. It was considered,
on the one hand, that the services of Colonel Kane were, in that
crisis, indispensable, because no one could control as he could the
secession element of the city, which was then in the ascendant and
might get control of the city, and, on the other, that his usefulness
had ceased, because not only had the gravest offense been given to the
Union sentiment of the city by this dispatch, but the authorities in
Washington, while he was at the head of the police, could no longer
have any confidence in the police, or perhaps in the board itself. The
former consideration prevailed.
It is due to Marshal Kane to say that subsequently, and while he
remained in office, he performed his duty to the satisfaction of the
Board. Some years after the war was over he was elected sheriff, and
still later mayor of the city, and in both capacities he enjoyed the
respect and regard of the community.
It may with propriety be added that the conservative position and
action of the police board were so unsatisfactory to many of the more
heated Southern partisans, that a scheme was at one time seriously
entertained by them to suppress the board, and transfer the control of
the police force to other hands. Happily for all parties, better
counsels prevailed.
On Sunday, the 21st of April, with three prominent citizens of
Baltimore, I went to Washington, and we there had an interview with
the President and Cabinet and General Scott. This interview was of so
much importance, that a statement of what occurred was prepared on the
same day and was immediately published. It is here given at length:
BALTIMORE, _April 21_.
Mayor Brown received a dispatch from the President of the United
States at three o'clock A. M. (this morning), directed to himself
and Governor Hicks, requesting them to go to Washington by
special train, in order to consult with Mr. Lincoln for the
preservation of the peace of Maryland. The mayor replied that
Governor Hicks was not in the city, and inquired if he should go
alone. Receiving an answer by telegraph in the affirmative, his
Honor, accompanied by George W. Dobbin, John C. Brune and S. T.
Wallis, Esqs., whom he had summoned to attend him, proceeded at
once to the station. After a series of delays they were enabled
to procure a special train about half-past seven o'clock, in
which they arrived at Washington about ten.
They repaired at once to the President's house, where they were
admitted to an immediate interview, to which the Cabinet and
General Scott were summoned. A long conversation and discussion
ensued. The President, upon his part, recognized the good faith
of the city and State authorities, and insisted upon his own. He
admitted the excited state of feeling in Baltimore, and his
desire and duty to avoid the fatal consequences of a collision
with the people. He urged, on the other hand, the absolute,
irresistible necessity of having a transit through the State for
such troops as might be necessary for the protection of the
Federal capital. The protection of Washington, he asserted with
great earnestness, was the sole object of concentrating troops
there, and he protested that none of the troops brought through
Maryland were intended for any purposes hostile to the State, or
aggressive as against the Southern States. Being now unable to
bring them up the Potomac in security, the President must either
bring them through Maryland or abandon the capital.
He called on General Scott for his opinion, which the General
gave at length, to the effect that troops might be brought
through Maryland without going through Baltimore, by either
carrying them from Perryville to Annapolis, and thence by rail to
Washington, or by bringing them to the Relay House on the
Northern Central Railroad [about seven miles north of the city],
and marching them to the Relay House on the Washington Railroad
[about seven miles south-west of the city], and thence by rail to
the capital. If the people would permit them to go by either of
these routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing
through Baltimore would be avoided. If the people would not
permit them a transit thus remote from the city, they must select
their own best route, and, if need be, fight their own way
through Baltimore--a result which the General earnestly
deprecated.
The President expressed his hearty concurrence in the desire to
avoid a collision, and said that no more troops should be ordered
through Baltimore if they were permitted to go uninterrupted by
either of the other routes suggested. In this disposition the
Secretary of War expressed his participation.
Mayor Brown assured the President that the city authorities would
use all lawful means to prevent their citizens from leaving
Baltimore to attack the troops in passing at a distance; but he
urged, at the same time, the impossibility of their being able to
promise anything more than their best efforts in that direction.
The excitement was great, he told the President, the people of
all classes were fully aroused, and it was impossible for any one
to answer for the consequences of the presence of Northern troops
anywhere within our borders. He reminded the President also that
the jurisdiction of the city authorities was confined to their
own population, and that he could give no promises for the people
elsewhere, because he would be unable to keep them if given. The
President frankly acknowledged this difficulty, and said that the
Government would only ask the city authorities to use their best
efforts with respect to those under their jurisdiction.
The interview terminated with the distinct assurance on the part
of the President that no more troops would be sent through
Baltimore, unless obstructed in their transit in other
directions, and with the understanding that the city authorities
should do their best to restrain their own people.
The Mayor and his companions availed themselves of the
President's full discussion of the day to urge upon him
respectfully, but in the most earnest manner, a course of policy
which would give peace to the country, and especially the
withdrawal of all orders contemplating the passage of troops
through any part of Maryland.
On returning to the cars, and when just about to leave, about 2
P. M., the Mayor received a dispatch from Mr. Garrett (the
President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) announcing the
approach of troops to Cockeysville [about fourteen miles from
Baltimore on the Northern Central Railroad], and the excitement
consequent upon it in the city. Mr. Brown and his companions
returned at once to the President and asked an immediate
audience, which was promptly given. The Mayor exhibited Mr.
Garrett's dispatch, which gave the President great surprise. He
immediately summoned the Secretary of War and General Scott, who
soon appeared with other members of the Cabinet. The dispatch was
submitted. The President at once, in the most decided way, urged
the recall of the troops, saying he had no idea they would be
there. Lest there should be the slightest suspicion of bad faith
on his part in summoning the Mayor to Washington and allowing
troops to march on the city during his absence, he desired that
the troops should, if it were practicable, be sent back at once
to York or Harrisburg. General Scott adopted the President's
views warmly, and an order was accordingly prepared by the
Lieutenant-General to that effect, and forwarded by Major Belger,
of the Army, who also accompanied the Mayor to this city. The
troops at Cockeysville, the Mayor was assured, were not brought
there for transit through the city, but were intended to be
marched to the Relay House on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
They will proceed to Harrisburg, from there to Philadelphia, and
thence by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal or by Perryville, as
Major-General Patterson may direct.
This statement is made by the authority of the Mayor and Messrs.
George W. Dobbin, John C. Brune and S. T. Wallis, who accompanied
Mr. Brown, and who concurred with him in all particulars in the
course adopted by him in the two interviews with Mr. Lincoln.
GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor_.
This statement was written by Mr. Wallis, at the request of his
associates, on the train, and was given to the public immediately on
their return to the city.
In the course of the first conversation Mr. Simon Cameron called my
attention to the fact that an iron bridge on the Northern Central
Railway, which, he remarked, belonged to the city of Baltimore, had
been disabled by a skilled person so as to inflict little injury on
the bridge, and he desired to know by what authority this had been
done. Up to this time nothing had been said about the disabling of the
bridges. In reply I addressed myself to the President, and said, with
much earnestness, that the disabling of this bridge, and of the other
bridges, had been done by authority, as the reader has already been
told, and that it was a measure of protection on a sudden emergency,
designed to prevent bloodshed in the city of Baltimore, and not an act
of hostility towards the General Government; that the people of
Maryland had always been deeply attached to the Union, which had been
shown on all occasions, but that they, including the citizens of
Baltimore, regarded the proclamation calling for 75,000 troops as an
act of war on the South, and a violation of its constitutional rights,
and that it was not surprising that a high-spirited people, holding
such opinions, should resent the passage of Northern troops through
their city for such a purpose.
Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved, and, springing up from his chair,
walked backward and forward through the apartment. He said, with great
feeling, "Mr. Brown, I am not a learned man! I am not a learned man!"
that his proclamation had not been correctly understood; that he had
no intention of bringing on war, but that his purpose was to defend
the capital, which was in danger of being bombarded from the heights
across the Potomac.
I am giving here only a part of a frank and full conversation, in
which others present participated.
The telegram of Mr. Garrett to me referred to in the preceding
statement is in the following words: "Three thousand Northern troops
are reported to be at Cockeysville. Intense excitement prevails.
Churches have been dismissed and the people are arming in mass. To
prevent terrific bloodshed, the result of your interview and
arrangement is awaited."
To this the following reply to Mr. Garrett was made by me: "Your
telegram received on our return from an interview with the President,
Cabinet and General Scott. Be calm and do nothing until you hear from
me again. I return to see the President at once and will telegraph
again. Wallis, Brune and Dobbin are with me."
Accordingly, after the second interview, the following dispatch was
sent by me to Mr. Garrett: "We have again seen the President, General
Scott, Secretary of War and other members of the Cabinet, and the
troops are ordered to return forthwith to Harrisburg. A messenger goes
with us from General Scott. We return immediately."
Mr. Garrett's telegram was not exaggerated. It was a fearful day in
Baltimore. Women and children, and men, too, were wild with
excitement. A certainty of a fight in the streets if Northern troops
should enter was the pressing danger. Those who were arming in hot
haste to resist the passage of Northern troops little recked of the
fearful risk to which they were exposing themselves and all they held
dear. It was well for the city and State that the President had
decided as he did. When the President gave his deliberate decision
that the troops should pass around Baltimore and not through it,
General Scott, stern soldier as he sometimes was, said with emotion,
"Mr. President, I thank you for this, and God will bless you for it."
From the depth of our hearts my colleagues and myself thanked both the
General and the President.
The troops on the line of the Northern Central Railway--some 2400 men,
about half of them armed--did not receive their orders to return to
Pennsylvania until after several days. As they had expected to make
the journey to Washington by rail, they were naturally not well
equipped or supplied for camp life. I take the following from the
_Sun_ of April 23d: "By order of Marshal Kane, several wagon-loads of
bread and meat were sent to the camp of the Pennsylvania troops, it
being understood that a number were sick and suffering for proper food
and nourishment.... One of the Pennsylvanians died on Sunday and was
buried within the encampment. Two more died yesterday and a number of
others were on the sick list. The troops were deficient in food,
having nothing but crackers to feed upon."
The Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, under command of General Butler,
was the next which passed through Maryland. It reached Perryville, on
the Susquehanna, by rail on the 20th, and there embarked on the
steamboat _Maryland_, arriving at Annapolis early on the morning of
the 21st. Governor Hicks addressed the General a note advising that he
should not land his men, on account of the great excitement there, and
stated that he had telegraphed to that effect to the Secretary of War.
The Governor also wrote to the President, advising him to order
elsewhere the troops then off Annapolis, and to send no more through
Maryland, and added the surprising suggestion that Lord Lyons, the
British Minister, be requested to act as mediator between the
contending parties of the country.
The troops, however, were landed without opposition. The railway from
Annapolis leading to the Washington road had, in some places, been
torn up, but it was promptly repaired by the soldiers, and by the 25th
an unobstructed route was opened through Annapolis to Washington.
Horace Greeley, in his book called "The American Conflict," denounces
with characteristic vehemence and severity of language the proceedings
of the city authorities. He scouts "the demands" of the Mayor and his
associates, whom he designates as "Messrs. Brown & Co." He insists
that practically on the morning of the 20th of April Maryland was a
member of the Southern Confederacy, and that her Governor spoke and
acted the bidding of a cabal of the ablest and most envenomed
traitors.
It is true that the city then, and for days afterwards, was in an
anomalous condition, which may be best described as one of "armed
neutrality"; but it is not true that in any sense it was, on the 20th
of April, or at any other time, a member of the Southern Confederacy.
On the contrary, while many, especially among the young and reckless,
were doing their utmost to place it in that position, regardless of
consequences, and would, if they could, have forced the hands of the
city authorities, it was their conduct which prevented such a
catastrophe. Temporizing and delay were necessary. As soon as passions
had time to cool, a strong reaction set in and the people rapidly
divided into two parties--one on the side of the North, and the other
on the side of the South; but whatever might be their personal or
political sympathies, it was clear to all who had not lost their
reason that Maryland, which lay open from the North by both land and
sea, would be kept in the Union for the sake of the national capital,
even if it required the united power of the nation to accomplish the
object. The telegraph wires on the lines leading to the North had been
cut, and for some days the city was without regular telegraphic
connection. For a longer time the mails were interrupted and travel
was stopped. The buoys in the harbor were temporarily removed. The
business interests of the city of course suffered under these
interruptions, and would be paralyzed if such isolation were to
continue, and the merchants soon began to demand that the channels of
trade should be reopened to the north and east.
The immediate duty of the city authorities was to keep the peace and
protect the city, and, without going into details or discussing the
conduct of individuals, I shall leave others to speak of the manner in
which it was performed.
Colonel Scharf, in his "History of Maryland," Volume III, p. 415, sums
up the matter as follows: "In such a period of intense excitement,
many foolish and unnecessary acts were undoubtedly done by persons in
the employment of the city, as well as by private individuals, but it
is undoubtedly true that the Mayor and board of police commissioners
were inflexibly determined to resist all attempts to force the city
into secession or into acts of hostility to the Federal Government,
and that they successfully accomplished their purpose. If they had
been otherwise disposed, they could easily have effected their
object."