Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1.

[424] moments upon which have hung the fate of empires. Happily, the men at Willard's at that time, to whom the startling message came, comprehended the magnitude of the danger and had nerve to meet it. They assembled in secret all the loyal guests in that house, and, forming them into committees, sent them to the other hotels to seek out guests there who were known to be true, and invite them to a meeting in a church on F Street, in the rear of Willard's,¹ that evening. A large number assembled at the appointed hour. They took a solemn oath of fidelity to the old flag, and signed a pledge to do every thing in their power in defense of the Capital, and to be ready for action at a moment's warning, when called by General Scott. Cassius M. Clay, the distinguished Kentuckian, was among them. He was appointed their leader, and thus was formed the notable Casius M. Clay Battalion, composed of some of the noblest and most distinguished men in the country, in honor, wealth, and social position. They chose efficient officers; and all that night they patroled the streets of the city to guard against incendiaries, and prevent the

Cassius M. Clay.

assembling of the secessionists. Another party, commanded by General Lane, of Kansas, went quietly to the “White House” --the Presidential mansion — to act as a body-guard to his Excellency. They made the great East Room, their quarters, where they remained until the danger was passed. The principal passages of the Treasury building were guarded by howitzers. The Pennsylvanians, as we have observed, occupied the Halls of Congress, in the Capitol; and General Scott took measures to make that building a well garrisoned citadel. Thither stores and munitions of war were carried, and in it howitzers were planted; and behind the massive walls of that magnificent structure, with a few hundred men as defenders, the President and his Cabinet and the archives of the nation would have been safe until the thousands of the men of the loyal North, then aroused and moving, could reach and rescue them.

Although the President and his Cabinet were not actually compelled to take refuge in the well-guarded Capitol, yet for several days after the affair in Baltimore, and the interruption of communication with the Free-labor States, they and the General-in-chief were virtually prisoners at the seat of Government. Soldiers from the Gulf States and others below the Roanoke, with those of Virginia, were pressing eagerly toward the Capital, while the Minute-men of Maryland and the secessionists of Washington were barely restrained from action by the Pennsylvanians and the Cassius M. Clay Battalion, until the speedy arrival of other troops from the North gave absolute present security to the Government.