AUTHOR PROCEEDS TO MONTGOMERY, AND REPORTS TO THE NEW GOVERNMENT, AND IS
DISPATCHED NORTHWARD, ON A SPECIAL MISSION.
On the evening of the 16th of February, the day after I had resigned my
commission, I took a sorrowful leave of my family, and departed for
Montgomery, by the way of Fredericksburg and Richmond. Virginia and North
Carolina had not yet seceded, and anxious debates were going on, on the
all-absorbing question, in each town and village in these two States,
through which I passed. It was easy to see, that the great majority of the
people were with the extreme South, in this her hour of need, but there
were some time-servers and trimmers, who still talked of conciliation, and
of guarantees. They inquired eagerly after news from Washington, at all
the stations at which the train stopped, and seemed disappointed when they
found we had nothing more to tell them, than they had already learned
through the telegraph.
On the evening of the 18th, I entered the level tract of pine lands
between West Point, and Montgomery. The air had become soft, and balmy,
though I had left a region of frosts, and snow, only two days before. The
pine woods were on fire as we passed through them, the flames now and then
running up a lightwood tree, and throwing a weird and fitful glare upon
the passing train. The scene was peculiarly Southern, and reminded me that
I was drawing near my home, and my people, and I mechanically repeated to
myself the words of the poet:
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!"
And my heart, which up to that moment, had felt as though a heavy weight
were pressing upon it, began to give more vigorous beats, and send a more
inspiring current through my veins. Under this happy influence I sank, as
the night advanced, and the train thundered on, into the first sound sleep
which had visited my weary eyelids, since I had resigned my commission,
and read at the foot of the letter accepting my resignation, my name
inscribed as plain "Esq." This night-ride, through the burning pine woods
of Alabama, afterward stood as a great gulf in my memory, forming an
impassable barrier, as it were, between my past, and my future life. It
had cost me pain to cross the gulf, but once crossed, I never turned to
look back. When I washed and dressed for breakfast, in Montgomery, the
next morning, I had put off the old man, and put on the new. The labors,
and associations of a lifetime had been inscribed in a volume, which had
been closed, and a new book, whose pages were as yet all blank, had been
opened.
My first duty was to put myself in communication with Mr. Conrad, the
chairman of the Committee of Naval Affairs. Several naval officers had
preceded me to the seat of the new government, and others were arriving.
It was agreed that there should be a special meeting on the next day, in
joint session, of the two committees--on military and naval affairs.
The Confederate Congress was in session in the State Capitol, and about
noon, I repaired thither to witness the spectacle. They did me the honor
to admit me to the floor, and upon casting my eyes over the august
assembly, I recognized a number of familiar faces. General Howell Cobb of
Georgia was the President; Toombs, Crawford, and other distinguished men
were there from the same State. Curry, McRae, Robert H. Smith and other
able men were there from Alabama. In short the Congress was full of the
best talent of the South. It was by far the best Congress that ever
assembled under the new government. It was a convention as well as a
Congress, since it was charged with the establishment of a Provisional
Government. Every one realized the greatness of the crisis that was upon
us, and hence the very best men in the community had been selected to meet
the emergency. The harmony of the body was equal to its ability, for, in
the course of a few weeks, it had put the complicated machinery of a
government in motion, and was already taking active measures for defence,
in case the Federal power should decide upon making war upon us.
Mr. Davis, the Provisional President, had preceded me to the capital, only
a few days, and my next step was to call upon him. I had known him in the
city of Washington. He received me kindly, and almost the first question
which he asked me, was whether I had disembarrassed myself of my Federal
commission. I replied to him that I had done so, as a matter of course,
before leaving Washington, and that my allegiance henceforth belonged to
the new government, and to the Southern people. He seemed gratified at
this declaration, and entered into a free, and frank conversation with me,
on the subject of the want of preparation for defence, in which he found
our States, and the great labor that lay before us, to prepare for
emergencies. Congress, he said, has not yet had time to organize a navy,
but he designed to make immediate use of me, if I had no objection. I told
him that my services were at his command, in any capacity he thought fit
to employ them. He then explained to me his plan of sending me back to the
city of Washington, and thence into the Northern States, to gather
together, with as much haste as possible, such persons, and materials of
war as might be of most pressing necessity.
The persons alluded to, were to be mechanics skilled in the manufacture,
and use of ordnance, and rifle machinery, the preparation of fixed
ammunition, percussion caps, &c. So exclusively had the manufacture of all
these articles for the use of the United States, been confined to the
North, under "the best government the world ever saw," that we had not
even percussion caps enough to enable us to fight a battle, or the
machines with which to make them, although we had captured all the forts,
and arsenals within our limits, except Fort Sumter and Fort McRae. The
President was as calm and unmoved as I had ever seen him, and was living
in a very simple, and unpretending style at the Exchange Hotel. He had not
yet selected all his Cabinet; nor indeed had he so much as a private
secretary at his command, as the letter of instructions which he afterward
presented me, for my guidance, was written with his own hand. This letter
was very full, and precise, frequently descending into detail, and
manifesting an acquaintance with bureau duties, scarcely to have been
expected from one who had occupied his exalted positions.
On the next day, I attended the joint-session of the two committees above
named. These committees were composed, as was to have been expected, of
some of the best men of the Congress. Conrad, Crawford, Curry, and the
brilliant young Bartow of Georgia were present, among others whose names I
do not now recall. But few naval officers of any rank had as yet withdrawn
from the old service; Rousseau, Tattnall, Ingraham, and Randolph were all
the captains; and Farrand, Brent, Semmes, and Hartstone were all the
commanders. Of these there were present before the committees, besides
myself, Rousseau, Ingraham, and Randolph; Major Wm. H. Chase, late of the
engineers of the Federal Army, was also present. Randolph commanded the
Navy Yard at Pensacola, and Chase the military defences. We discussed the
military and naval resources of the country, and devised such means of
defence as were within our reach--which were not many--to enable us to
meet the most pressing exigences of our situation, and separated after a
session of several hours. I can do no more, of course, than briefly glance
at these things, as I am not writing, as before remarked, the history of
the war.
The next morning I called again on the President, received my
instructions, and departed Northward on the mission which had been
assigned me. I will be brief in the description of this mission also. I
stopped a day at Richmond, and examined the State Arsenal, in charge of
Capt. Dimmock, and the Tredegar Iron Works; having been especially
enjoined to report upon the present, and future capacity of these works
for the casting of cannon, shot, shells, &c. The establishment had already
turned its attention in this direction, and I was gratified to find that
it was capable of almost indefinite enlargement, and that it could be made
a most valuable auxiliary to us. The reader will see how confidently we
already reckoned upon the support of Virginia.
Reaching Washington again, I visited the Arsenal, and inspected such of
its machinery as I thought worth my notice, particularly an improved
percussion-cap machine which I found in operation. I also held conferences
with some mechanics, whom I desired to induce to go South. Whilst I was
in Washington Mr. Abraham Lincoln, the newly elected President of the
United States, arrived, for the purpose of being inaugurated. Being purely
a sectional President, and feeling probably that he had no just right to
rule over the South, he had come into the city by night, and in disguise,
afraid to trust himself among a people of whom he claimed to be Chief
Magistrate. Poor old General Winfield Scott was then verging toward
senility, and second childhood, and had contributed no little, perhaps, to
Mr. Lincoln's alarm. He had been gathering together troops for some days,
in the Federal capital, for the purpose of inaugurating, amid bayonets, a
President of the United States. It had been the boast of the American
people, heretofore, that their Presidents did not need guards, but trusted
wholly for their security, to the love, and confidence of their
constituents, but the reign of peace, and good will was at an end, and the
reign of the bayonet was to ensue. The rumbling of artillery through the
streets of Washington, and the ring of grounded arms on the pavements, had
sounded the death-knell of liberty in these States for generations. Swarms
of visitors from far and near, in the North and West, had flocked to
Washington, to see _their_ President inaugurated, and were proud of this
spectacle of arms; too stupid to see its fearful significance.
The auspicious day, the 4th of March, at length arrived, and whilst the
glorious pageant is being prepared; whilst the windows and the house-tops
along Pennsylvania Avenue are being thronged with a motley population of
men and women, come to see the show; whilst the President elect, in a
hollow square of bayonets, is marching toward the Capitol, the writer of
these pages, having again taken leave of his family, was hurrying away
from the desecration of a capital, which had been ceded by a too credulous
Maryland, and Virginia, and which had been laid out by Washington. As I
left the Baltimore depot, extra trains were still pouring their thousands
into the streets of Washington. I arrived in New York, the next day, and
during the next three weeks, visited the West Point Academy, whither I
went to see a son, who was a cadet at the Institution, and who afterward
became a major of light artillery, in the Confederate service; and made a
tour through the principal work-shops of New York, Connecticut, and
Massachusetts.
I found the people everywhere, not only willing, but anxious to contract
with me. I purchased large quantities of percussion caps in the city of
New York, and sent them by express without any disguise, to Montgomery. I
made contracts for batteries of light artillery, powder, and other
munitions, and succeeded in getting large quantities of the powder
shipped. It was agreed between the contractors and myself, that when I
should have occasion to use the telegraph, certain other words were to be
substituted, for those of military import, to avoid suspicion.
I made a contract, conditioned upon the approval of my Government, for the
removal to the Southern States, of a complete set of machinery for rifling
cannon, with the requisite skilled workmen to put it in operation. Some of
these men, who would thus have sold body, and soul to me, for a sufficient
consideration, occupied high social positions, and were men of wealth. I
dined with them, at their comfortable residences near their factories,
where the music of boring out cannon, accompanied the clatter of the
dishes, and the popping of champagne-corks; and I had more than one
business interview with gentlemen, who occupied the most costly suites of
apartments at the Astor House in New York City. Many of these gentlemen,
being unable to carry out their contracts with the Confederate States
because of the prompt breaking out of the war, afterward obtained
lucrative contracts from the Federal Government, and became, in
consequence, intensely _loyal_. It would be a _quasi_ breach of honor to
disclose their names, as they dealt with me, pretty much as conspirators
against their government are wont to deal with the enemies of their
government, secretly, and with an implied confidence that I would keep
their secret. It is accordingly safe.
In the mean time, the great revolution was progressing. Abraham Lincoln
had delivered his inaugural address, with triple rows of bayonets between
him, and the people to whom he was speaking, in which address he had
puzzled his hearers, and was no doubt puzzled himself, as to what he
really meant. He was like President Buchanan; now he saw it, and now he
didn't. He would not coerce the States, but he would hold on to the ceded
places within their limits, and collect the public revenue. Texas, and
Arkansas went out whilst I was in New York. The bulletin-boards at the
different newspaper offices were daily thronged by an unwashed multitude,
in search of some new excitement. The Northern public was evidently
puzzled. It had at first rather treated secession as a joke. They did not
think it possible that the Southern people could be in earnest, in
dissolving their connection with a people, so eminently proper as
themselves; but they now began to waver in this opinion. Still they
forbore any decided demonstration. Like sensible men they preferred
waiting until they could see how large a bull they were required to take
by the horns.
Toward the latter part of my stay in New York I received the following
letter from the Hon. Stephen R. Mallory, who had been appointed Secretary
of the Navy, which branch of the public service had been organized since I
had left Montgomery:
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA,
NAVY DEPT., MONTGOMERY, ALA., March 13, 1861.
COMMANDER RAPHAEL SEMMES.
SIR:--With the sanction of the President, I am constrained to impose
upon you duties connected with this Department, in addition to the
important trusts with which you are charged; but I do so, upon the
express understanding, that they are not to interfere with the
performance of your special duties. I have received reliable
information, that two, or more steamers, of a class desired for
immediate service, may be purchased at, or near New York; steamers of
speed, light draught, and strength sufficient for at least one heavy
gun. When I say to you, that they are designed to navigate the
waters, and enter the bays, and inlets of the coast, from Charleston
to the St. Mary's, and from Key West, to the Rio Grande, for coast
defence; that their speed should be sufficient to give them, at all
times, the ability to engage, or evade an engagement; and that eight
or ten-inch guns, with perhaps two thirty-twos, or if not, two of
smaller calibre should constitute their battery, your judgment will
need no further guide. Be pleased, should your other important
engagements permit, to make inquiries, in such manner as may not
excite special attention, and give me such details as to cost,
character, &c., as you may deem important.
Under these instructions I made diligent search in the waters of New York,
for such steamers as were wanted, but none could be found. The river, and
Long Island Sound boats were mere shells, entirely unfit for the purposes
of war, and it was difficult to find any of the sea-going steamers, which
combined the requisite lightness of draught, with the other qualities
desired.
March was now drawing to a close, the war-cloud was assuming darker, and
more portentous hues, and it soon became evident that my usefulness in the
North was about to end. Men were becoming more shy of making engagements
with me, and the Federal Government was becoming more watchful. The New
York, and Savannah steamers were still running, curiously enough carrying
the Federal flag at the peak, and the Confederate flag at the fore; and in
the last days of March, I embarked on board one of them, arriving in
Montgomery on the 4th of April, just eight days before fire was opened
upon Fort Sumter. During the short interval that elapsed between my
arrival, and my going afloat, I was put in charge of the Light-House
Bureau; the Confederate Congress having, upon my recommendation,
established a Bureau, with a single naval officer at its head, instead of
the complicated machinery of a Board, which existed in the old Government.
I had barely time to appoint the necessary clerks, and open a set of
books, before Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the tocsin of war was
sounded.