previous next
[453] Confederacy.1 The vote by which this result was achieved stood 88 to 55--the majority greatly strengthened, doubtless, if not secured, by an act of the Confederate Congress forbidding the importation of slaves from States out of the Confederacy — an act which, so long as Virginia adhered to the Union, struck a staggering blow at the most important and productive branch of her industry. And, while the fact of her secession was still unproclaimed, her authorities at once set whatever military forces they could muster in motion to seize the Federal Navy Yard at Norfolk (Portsmouth) and the Arsenal at Harper's Ferry.

As the news of the attack on Sumter flashed over the country, an intense and universal excitement was aroused in the Free as well as the Slave States. Indignation was paramount in the former; exultation ruled throughout the latter.2 Many at the North obstinately refused to credit the tidings; and, when news of the surrender of the fort so speedily followed, the number of the incredulous was even increased. All doubt, however, was dispelled when the journals of Monday morning, April 15th, displayed conspicuously the following

Proclamation.

whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are, opposed. and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law: now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call 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.

The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.3 I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid, this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence, of our national Union, and the perpetuity of popular Government, and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event the


1 The New York Herald of April 13th had a Charleston dispatch of the 12th, which thus correctly expresses the Confederate idea:

The first shot [at Fort Sumter] from Stevens's battery was fired by the venerable Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia. That ball will do more for the cause of Secession in Virginia than volumes of stump speeches.

2 The New York Herald of the 14th had the following:

Richmond, Va., April 13, 1861.
There is great rejoicing here over the news from Charleston.

One hundred guns have been fired to celebrate the surrender of Fort Sumter.

Confederate flags are everywhere displayed; while music and illuminations are the order of the evening.

Gov. Letcher has just been serenaded. He made a non-committal speech.

The streets are crowded with people, and the utmost enthusiasm and excitement prevails.


3 The Circular from the War Department, which was sent to the Governors along with this Proclamation, explained that the call was for regiments of infantry or riflemen only — each regiment to be composed of 780 men — the apportionment of regiments to the several States called on being as follows:

Maine 1
New Hampshire 1
Vermont 1
Massachusetts 2
Rhode Island 1
Connecticut 1
New York 17
New Jersey 4
Pennsylvania 16
Delaware 1
Tennessee 2
Maryland 4
Virginia 3
North Carolina 2
Kentucky 4
Arkansas 1
Missouri 4
Ohio 13
Indiana 6
Illinois 6
Michigan 1
Iowa 1
Minnesota 1
Wisconsin 1

The 94 regiments thus called for would form a total of 73,391 men — the residue of the 75,000 being expected from the Federal District.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Sort places alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a place to search for it in this document.
Charleston (South Carolina, United States) (3)
United States (United States) (2)
Wisconsin (Wisconsin, United States) (1)
Vermont (Vermont, United States) (1)
Texas (Texas, United States) (1)
Tennessee (Tennessee, United States) (1)
Sumterville (South Carolina, United States) (1)
South Carolina (South Carolina, United States) (1)
Richmond (Virginia, United States) (1)
Rhode Island (Rhode Island, United States) (1)
Portsmouth, Va. (Virginia, United States) (1)
Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania, United States) (1)
Ohio (Ohio, United States) (1)
North Carolina (North Carolina, United States) (1)
Norfolk (Virginia, United States) (1)
New Jersey (New Jersey, United States) (1)
New Hampshire (New Hampshire, United States) (1)
Missouri (Missouri, United States) (1)
Mississippi (Mississippi, United States) (1)
Minnesota (Minnesota, United States) (1)
Michigan (Michigan, United States) (1)
Massachusetts (Massachusetts, United States) (1)
Maryland (Maryland, United States) (1)
Maine (Maine, United States) (1)
Louisiana (Louisiana, United States) (1)
Kentucky (Kentucky, United States) (1)
Iowa (Iowa, United States) (1)
Indiana (Indiana, United States) (1)
Illinois (Illinois, United States) (1)
Harper's Ferry (West Virginia, United States) (1)
Georgia (Georgia, United States) (1)
Florida (Florida, United States) (1)
Delaware (Delaware, United States) (1)
Connecticut (Connecticut, United States) (1)
Arkansas (Arkansas, United States) (1)
Alabama (Alabama, United States) (1)

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
Abraham Lincoln (1)
John Letcher (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
April 13th, 1861 AD (1)
April 15th (1)
April 13th (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: