Preparations for defense.
The condition of
Baltimore on Saturday, the 20th of April, the day succeeding the riot, reminded the old inhabitants of similar incidents on the 11th and 12th of September, 1814, many of whom had witnessed those events.
The streets were thronged with armed men marching to and fro and with citizens wildly excited.
The town seemed to be a part of the
Confederacy.
A large Confederate flag floated from a building on Fayette street near
Calvert.
The Minute Men, a Union club, hauled down the
United States flag from their headquarters on Baltimore street and raised the flag of
Maryland amidst the cheers of a crowd which witnessed it. The Confederate flag was everywhere.
It seemed as if nearly every citizen wore a badge which displayed the
Confederate colors.
It was rumored that the Turner Rifles, a German company, had offered their services to the
President, and their armory on West Pratt street was looted.
There was a great rush for arms, and a number of muskets belonging to the
State were seized.
The works of the Messrs.
Winans were engaged in making pikes, in casting balls for muskets and cannon and the steam gun which
Mr. Winans had invented.
A ‘centrifugal steam gun’ invented by
Mr. Dickinson was purchased by the city to be used in the public defense.
A party of young men took
[
262]
some field pieces from a military school at
Catonsville and brought them to town, but the principal of the school, a clergyman and a strong Union man, had spiked them.
The militia were called out, and 15,000 citizens were enrolled and put under the command of
Colonel Isaac R. Trimble.
All day long companies of the
State militia were arriving from the counties.
The first to come was a company of riflemen from
Frederick, under command of
Captain Bradley T. Johnson.
Between 300 and 400 colored men offered their services to the
Mayor.
Early in the morning the City Council met in special session and appropriated $500,000, to be used under the direction of the
Mayor in putting the city in a state of defense.
The banks held a meeting, and a committee, consisting of
John Hopkins,
John Clark and
Columbus O'Donnell, all of them Union men, waited on the
Mayor and placed the whole sum in advance at his disposal.
Considerable money was contributed by individuals, both Southern and Union men, for the same purpose.
Later in the day a dispatch was received from the committee which had been sent to
Washington giving assurance that troops would be sent around and not through the city.
This dispatch gave much comfort; nevertheless the preparations for the defense of the city continued.
Another committee, consisting of
Senator Anthony Kennedy and
J. Morrison Harris, was sent to
Washington.
They telegraphed back that they had seen the
President, members of the
Cabinet and
General Scott, and that orders would be sent to stop the passage of men through the city.
Fort McHenry was at this time under command of
Captain John C. Robinson, of the United States army.
It was in a defenseless condition, and it was rumored that an attack would be made upon it by a mob on Saturday night. It was feared that if this was done the guns of the fort might be turned on the city, and naturally such an idea caused much disquiet.
Police
Commissioner John W. Davis visited the commandant and offered a guard of 200 men to be stationed on
Whetstone Point to arrest any disorderly persons who might approach.
Captain Robinson distrusted such a guard, and said they must not approach nearer the fort than the
Catholic chapel or he would fire on them.
Mr. Davis talked with most of the officers and all of them were cordial and courteous except a young subaltern, who threatened, in case of attack, to direct the fire of a cannon at
Washington's Monument.
To this threat
Mr. Davis replied: ‘If you do that, and if a woman or child is killed, there will be nothing left of you but your
[
263]
brass buttons to tell who you were.’
In point of fact no attack upon the fort had ever been meditated.
The climax in the excitement of this memorable period in the history of
Baltimore was reached on Sunday, April 21.
The town was like a powder magazine, and only needed a spark to produce an explosion.
The spark came in the form of news that more troops were approaching the city from the
North.
Judge Brown, in his book, says: ‘It was a fearful day in
Baltimore.
Women and children and men, too, were wild with excitement.
A certainty of a fight in the streets if Northern troops should enter was the pressing danger.’
People were gathering in the churches for the regular morning services.
Telegraph communications with the
North had been cut off, but a messenger arrived in the morning, saying that a Northern army had reached
Cockeysville.
At five minutes before eleven the bell of the town clock sounded the call to arms.
The congregations which had gathered in the churches were dismissed and a large part of the male population, including boys and old men, thronged to the headquarters.
The military proper were under the command of
Major-General George H. Steuart, and the ununiformed volunteers were under command of
Colonel I. R. Trimble.
It was a formidable force.
Full preparations were made for a conflict and ammunition for artillery and rifles was distributed.
In the afternoon a dispatch came from
Mayor Brown, at
Washington, saying that the
President would order the return of the troops to
Harrisburg.
The genuineness of this dispatch was doubted and no attention was paid to it.