Mr. Seward refuses to meet the Rebel Commissioners--Lincoln’s
Forbearance--Fort Sumter--Call for 75,000 Troops--Troubles in
Maryland--Administrative Prudence--Judge Douglas--Increase of
the Army--Winthrop and Ellsworth--Bull Run--General M‘Clellan.
It was on the 12th of March, 1861, that the rebel or Confederate
States sent Commissioners to the United States to adjust matters in
reference to secession. Mr. Seward refused to receive them, on the
ground that they _had not withdrawn_ from the Union, and were unable to
do so unless it were by the authority of a National Convention acting
according to the Constitution of the United States. On the 9th of April
the Commissioners left, declaring in a letter that “they accepted the
gage of battle.” As yet there was no decided policy in the North, and
prominent Democrats like Douglas were not in favour of compelling the
seceding States to remain. Mr. Everett was preaching love, forgiveness,
and union, while the Confederate Government was seizing on “all the
arsenals, forts, custom-houses, post-offices, ships, ordnance, and
material of war belonging to the United States, within the seceding
States.” In fact, the South knew exactly what it meant to do, and was
doing it vigorously, while the North was entirely undecided. In the
spring of 1861, Congress had adjourned without making any preparation
for the tremendous and imminent crisis.
But the entire South had not as yet seceded. The Border States were not
in favour of war. In the words of Arnold, “to arouse sectional feeling
and prejudice, and secure co-operation and unanimity, it was deemed
necessary to precipitate measures and bring on a conflict of arms.” It
was generally felt that the first blood shed would bring all the Slave
States into union. The anti-war party was so powerful in the North,
that it now appears almost certain that, if President Lincoln had
proceeded at once to put down the rebellion with a strong hand, there
would have been a counter-rebellion in the North. For not doing this he
was bitterly blamed, but time has justified him. By his forbearance,
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were undoubtedly kept in the Federal
Union. His wisdom was also shown in two other respects, as soon as
it was possible to do so. There had existed for years in New York an
immense slave-trading business, headed by a Spaniard named Juarez.
Vessels were bought almost openly, and Government officials were bribed
to let these pirates loose. This infamous traffic was very soon brought
to an end, so far as the United States were concerned. Another task,
which was rapidly and well performed, was the “sifting out” of rebels,
or rebel sympathisers, from Government offices, where they abounded
and acted as spies. Even General Scott, an old man full of honour, who
was at the head of the army, though true to the Union, was Southern by
sympathy and opposed to coercion, and most of the officers of the army
were like him in this respect.
The refusal of Mr. Seward to treat with the rebel government was
promptly made the occasion for the act of violence which was to unite
the Confederacy. There was, near Charleston, South Carolina, a fort
called Sumter, held for the United States by Major Robert Anderson, a
brave and loyal man. On the 11th of April, 1861, he was summoned to
surrender the fort to the Confederate Government, which he refused to
do. As he was, however, without provisions, it was eventually agreed,
on the 12th April, that he should leave the fort by noon on the 15th.
But the rebels, in their impatience, could not wait, and they informed
him that, unless he surrendered within one hour, the fort would be
bombarded. This was done, and, after a bombardment of thirty-three
hours, bravely borne, the Major and his band of seventy men were
obliged to surrender.
It is true that this first firing on the American flag acted like
the tap of the drum, calling all the South to arms in a frenzy,
and sweeping away all the remnants of attachment to the old Union
lingering in it. The utmost hopes of the rebel leaders were for the
time fully realised. But the North was, to their amazement, not
paralysed or struck down, nor did the Democratic sympathisers with
the South arise and crush “Lincoln and his minions.” On the contrary,
the news of the fall of Sumter was “a live coal on the heart of the
American people;” and such a tempest of rage swept in a day over
millions, as had never before been witnessed in America. Those who
can recall the day on which the news of the insult to the flag was
received, and how it was received, have the memory of the greatest
conceivable outburst of patriotic passion. For a time, all party
feelings were forgotten; there was no more thought of forgiveness, or
suffering secession; the whole people rose up and cried out for war.
Hitherto, the press had railed at Lincoln for wanting a policy; and yet
if he had made one step towards suppressing the rebels, “a thousand
Northern newspapers would have pounced upon him as one provoking war.”
Now, however, his policy was formed, shaped, and made glowing hot by
one terrible blow. On April 15th, 1861, he issued a proclamation,
announcing that, as the laws of the United States were being opposed,
and the execution thereof obstructed in South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations
too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings, he, the President of the United States, called forth the
militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number
of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the
laws to be duly executed. In strong contrast to the threats of general
slaughter, and conflagration of Northern cities, so freely thrown out
by Jefferson Davis, President Lincoln declared that, while the duty
of these troops would be to repossess the forts and property taken
from the Union, “in every event the utmost care will be observed,
consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any
destruction of or interference with property, or any disturbance of
peaceful citizens, in any part of the country.” He also summoned an
extraordinary session of Congress to assemble on the 4th of July, 1861.
This proclamation awoke intense enthusiasm, “and from private persons,
as well as by the Legislature, men, arms, and money were offered
in unstinted profusion in support of the Government. Massachusetts
was first in the field; and on the first day after the issue of the
proclamation, the 6th Regiment started from Boston for the national
capital. Two more regiments departed within forty-eight hours. The 6th
Regiment, on its way to Washington, on the 19th April, was attacked
by a mob in Baltimore, carrying a secession flag, and several of its
members were killed.” This inflamed to a higher point the entire North;
and Governor Hicks, of Maryland, and Mayor Brown, of Baltimore, urged
it on President Lincoln that, “for prudential reasons,” no more troops
should be sent through Baltimore. This Governor Hicks had, during the
previous November, written a letter, in which he regretted that his
state could not supply the rebel states with arms more rapidly, and
expressed the hope that those who were to bear them would be “good men
to kill Lincoln and his men.” But by adroitly shifting to the wind, he
“became conspicuously loyal before spring, and lived to reap splendid
rewards and high honours under the auspices of the Federal Government,
as the most patriotic and devoted Union-man in Maryland.” Yet as
one renegade is said to be more zealous than ten Turks, it cannot
be denied that, after Governor Hicks became a Union-man, he worked
bravely, and his efficiency in preserving Maryland from seceding was
only inferior to that of the able Henry Winter Davis. This Governor
Hicks had suggested to President Lincoln that the controversy between
North and South might be referred to Lord Lyons, the British Minister,
for arbitration. To these requests the President replied, through Mr.
Seward, that as General Scott deemed it advisable, and as the chief
object in bringing troops was the defence of Washington, he made no
point of bringing them through Baltimore. But he concluded with these
words--
“The President cannot but remember that there has been a time
in the history of our country when a General of the American
Union, with forces destined for the defence of its capital, was
not unwelcome anywhere in the State of Maryland.
“If eighty years could have obliterated all the other noble
sentiments of that age in Maryland, the President would be
hopeful, nevertheless, that there is one that would for ever
remain there and everywhere. That sentiment is, that no
domestic contention whatever that may arise among the parties
of this republic ought in any case to be referred to any
foreign arbitrament, least of all to the arbitrament of a
European monarchy.”
It is certain that by this humane and wise policy, which many
attributed to cowardice, President Lincoln not only prevented much
bloodshed and devastation, but also preserved the State of Maryland.
In such a crisis harshly aggressive measures in Maryland would have
irritated millions on the border, and perhaps have promptly brought the
war further north. As it was, peace and order were soon restored in
Baltimore, when the regular use of the highway through that city was
resumed.
On the 19th April, 1861, the President issued another proclamation,
declaring the blockade of the ports of the seceding states. This was
virtually an answer to one from Jefferson Davis, offering letters of
marque to all persons who might desire to aid the rebel government, and
enrich themselves, by depredations upon the rich and extended commerce
of the United States. It may be remarked that the first official
words of Jefferson Davis were singularly ferocious, threatening fire,
brigandage, and piracy, disguised as privateering, in all their
terrors; while his last act as President was to run away, disguised as
an old woman, in his wife’s waterproof cloak, and carrying a bucket of
water--thus typifying in his own person the history of the rebellion
from its fierce beginning to its ignominious end.
It may be doubted if there was in those wild days in all North America
one man who to such wise forbearance added such firmness and moral
courage as President Lincoln manifested. By it he preserved Maryland,
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, and, if moderation could have
availed, he might have kept Virginia. Strange as it seems, while the
seceding states were threatening officially, and hastening to carry
out, all the outrages of war, the Legislature of Virginia resolved
that President Lincoln’s mild message announced a policy of tyranny
and “coercion;” and, in spite of the gentlest letter of explanation
ever written by any ruler who was not a coward, the state marched out
of the Union with drums beating and flags flying. “Thenceforth,” says
Holland, “Virginia went straight towards desolation. Its ‘sacred soil’
was from that hour devoted to trenches, fortifications, battle-fields,
military roads, camps, and graves.” She firmly believed that all the
fighting would be done on Northern soil; but in another year, over a
large part of her territory, which had been covered with fertile farms
and pleasant villages, there were roads five miles wide.
At this time, there occurred an interesting private incident in
Lincoln’s life. His old adversary, Judge Douglas, whom he warmly
respected as a brave adversary, had passed his life in pandering to
slavery, and, as regards the war, had been the political Mephistopheles
who had made all the mischief. But when Sumter was fired on, all that
was good and manly in his nature was aroused, and he gave all his
support to his old enemy. “During the brief remainder of his life, his
devotion to the cause of his country was unwearied. He was done with
his dreams of power,” but he could yet do good. He was of service in
inducing great numbers of Democrats, who still remained pro-slavery men
in principle, to fight for the Union.
Four years to an hour after the memorable reconciliation between Judge
Douglas and President Lincoln, the latter was killed by the rebel
Booth. “Both died,” says Holland, “with a common purpose--one in the
threatening morning of the rebellion, the other when its sun had just
set in blood; and both sleep in the dust of that magnificent state,
almost every rod of which, within a quarter of a century, had echoed
to their contending voices, as they expounded their principles to the
people.”
Judge Douglas had warned the President, in the hour of their
reconciliation, that, instead of calling on the country for 75,000
men, he should have asked for 200,000. “You do not know the dishonest
purposes of those men as I do,” he had impressively remarked. In a
few days, it was evident that the rebellion was assuming colossal
proportions, and therefore President Lincoln, on May 3rd, issued
another call for 42,000 three-year volunteers, and ordered the addition
of 22,114 officers and men to the regular army, and 18,000 seamen to
the navy. This demand was promptly responded to, for the draft had as
yet no terrors. On the 18th of April, a plot had been discovered by
which the secessionists in Washington, aided by Virginia, hoped to fire
the city, seize the President and Cabinet, and all the machinery of
government. By prompt action, this plan was crushed. A part of it was
to burn the railway bridges, and make the roads impassable, and this
was successfully executed. Yet, in the face of this audacious attack,
the Democratic press of the North and the rebel organs of the South
continued to storm at the President for irritating the secessionists,
declaring that “coercion” or resistance of the Federal Government to
single states was illegal. But at this time several events occurred
which caused great anger among loyal men: one was the loss of the great
national armoury at Harper’s Ferry, and also of Gosport Navy Yard,
with 2000 cannon and several large ships. Owing to treachery, this
navy yard, with about 10,000,000 dollars’ worth of property, was lost.
Another incident was the death of Colonel Ellsworth. This young man,
who had been a law student under Mr. Lincoln, was the introducer of the
Zouave drill. For many weeks, a rebel tavern-keeper in Alexandria, in
sight of Washington, had insulted the Government by keeping a secession
flag flying. On the 24th May, when General Mansfield advanced into
Virginia, Ellsworth was sent with 13,000 troops to Alexandria. Here his
first act was to pull down the rebel flag. On descending, Jackson shot
him dead, and was himself promptly shot by private Brownell. Two days
previous, the first considerable engagement of the war had occurred at
Big Bethel, and here Major Winthrop, a young Massachusetts gentleman of
great bravery and distinguished literary talent, was killed. The grief
which the deaths of these well-known young men excited was very great.
They were among the first victims, and their names remain to this day
fresh in the minds of all who were in the North during the war. The
funeral of Ellsworth took place from the White House, Mr. Lincoln--who
was affected with peculiar sorrow by his death--being chief mourner.
During this month the war was, to a degree, organised. As soon as
Washington was made safe, Fortress Monroe, the “water-gateway” of
Virginia, was reinforced. Cairo, Illinois, commanding the junction of
the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, was occupied, and Virginia and North
Carolina were efficiently blockaded. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
the District of Columbia, and a part of Virginia, were divided into
three military departments, and on the 10th May another was formed,
including the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, under charge
of General Geo. B. M‘Clellan. The object of this department was to
maintain a defensive line on the Ohio River from Wheeling to Cairo.
In the month of July, 1861, the rebels, commanded by General
Beauregard, threatened Washington, being placed along Bull Run Creek,
their right resting on Manassas, and their left, under General
Johnston, on Winchester. They numbered about 35,000. It was determined
to attack this force, and drive it from the vicinity of Washington.
Both sides intended this to be a great decisive battle, and it was
generally believed in the North that it would end the war. Government
had been supplied with men and money beyond its demands, and the
people, encouraged by Mr. Seward’s opinion that the war would last only
sixty days, were as impatient now to end the rebellion by force as they
had been previously to smother it by concessions. There were few who
predicted as Charles A. Dana did to the writer, on the day that war
was declared--that it would last “not less than three, nor more than
six or seven years.” On the 16th July, the Federal army, commanded by
General M’Dowell, marched forth, and the attack, which was at first
successful, was made on the 21st. But the reinforcements which Johnston
received saved him, and a sudden panic sprung up among the Federal
troops, which resulted in a headlong retreat, with 480 killed and 1000
wounded. The army was utterly beaten, and it was only the Confederates’
ignorance of the extent of their own success which saved Washington.
It was the darkest day ever witnessed in the North, when the telegraph
announced the shameful defeat of the great army of the Union. Everyone
had anticipated a brilliant victory; but yet the news discouraged no
one. The writer that day observed closely the behaviour of hundreds
of men as they came up to the bulletin-board of the New York _Times_,
and can testify that, after a blank look of grief and amazement, they
invariably spoke to this effect, “It’s bad luck, but we must try it
again.” The effect, in the words of Raymond, was to rouse still higher
the courage and determination of the people. In twenty-four hours, the
whole country was again fierce and fresh for war. Volunteers streamed
by thousands into the army, and efforts were promptly made to establish
Union forces at different places around the rebel coast. This was the
beginning of the famous Anaconda, whose folds never relaxed until
they strangled the rebellion. Between the 28th August and the 3rd of
December, Fort Hatteras, Port Royal in South Carolina, and Ship Island,
near New Orleans, were occupied. Preparations were made to seize on
New Orleans; and, by a series of masterly movements, West Virginia,
Kentucky, and Missouri, which had been in a painful state of conflict,
were secured to the Union. Virginia proper had seceded with a flourish
of States Rights. Her Western portion recognised the doctrine so far as
to claim its right to leave the mother-state and return to the Union.
This was not done without vigorous fighting by Generals Rosencranz and
Morris, to whom the credit of both organising and acting is principally
due, although General M‘Clellan, by a clever and Napoleonic despatch,
announcing victory, attracted to himself the chief glory. General
M‘Clellan had previously, in Kentucky, favoured the recognition of
that state as neutral territory, as the rebels wished him to do--an
attempt which Lincoln declared “would be disunion completed, if
once entertained.” On the 1st Nov., 1861, General Scott, who had
hitherto commanded the armies of the Union, asked for and obtained his
discharge, and was succeeded by General M‘Clellan. “If,” as Holland
remarks, “he had done but little before to merit this confidence, if
he did but little afterwards to justify it, he at least served at that
time to give faith to the people.” For three months he organised and
supervised his troops with the talent which was peculiar to him--that
of preparing great work for greater minds to finish. His photograph
was in every album, and on every side were heard predictions that he
would be the Napoleon, the Cæsar, the Autocrat of all the Americas.
The Western Continent would be, after all, the greatest country in the
world, and the greatest man in it was to be “Little Mac.” He was not
as yet known by his great botanical _nom de guerre_ of the Virginian
Creeper.