John G. Nicolay, The Outbreak of Rebellion

The officers charged with the removal hurried to Washington to obtain superior orders; but their absence and the necessary delay only rendered the situation worse. When they returned with a ship-of-war and a regiment, they found that, through a repetition of treasonable advice, the ships had been scuttled and were sinking. It was decided that neither rescue nor defence was now possible; and on the night of April 20th, the officers of the relieving expedition undertook to destroy the yard, property, and all the ships, except one, in a great conflagration, to prevent their falling into rebel hands — an attempt, however, which proved only partially successful. Whether or not the actual emergency justified this enormous sacrifice, will perhaps always remain an open question among military experts. It was as necessary for the Administration to confide to the officers this discretion, as similar discretion in any military enterprise. They seem to have acted in good faith and upon their best judgment, and their action was accepted, perhaps with regret, but with full acquittal of duty conscientiously discharged.

It may well be imagined that the authorities and inhabitants of the national capital watched the development of rebellion in the neighboring States of Virginia and Maryland with the keenest anxiety. Washington, in tradition, tone, and aspiration, was essentially a Southern city. Slavery existed and the local slave-trade flourished here; in latter times the maintenance of the institution in the District of Columbia formed a distinct plank in Democratic platforms. Southern arrogance and Southern ambition had long dominated official society. All the cant and all the sneers of the haut ton of the capital were vented against mercenary Yankeedom, and the rustic and provincial West, which had won the late presidential election. The confusion and controversy of faction exhibited during the winter session of Congress