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[561]

Chapter 24: the called session of Congress.--foreign relations.--benevolent organizations.--the opposing armies.

  • Congress and its duties, 561.
  • -- organization of the House -- the President's Message, 562. -- reports of the Cabinet ministers, 564. -- importance of prompt action -- foreign Affairs, 565. -- erroneous opinions abroad -- instructions to ministers, 566. -- relations with great Britain, 567. -- the duty and interest of great Britain, 568. -- the Queen's proclamation of neutrality, 569. -- attitude of Continental sovereigns, 570. -- War measures in Congress -- opposers of the War measures, 571. -- loan bill passed -- expulsion of disloyal, members, 572. -- Peace propositions -- Crittenden's Joint resolution, 573. -- the Army and the people--“forward to Richmond!” 574. -- benevolent organizations, 575. -- noble work of a woman -- benevolent women in Philadelphia, 576. -- Philadelphia Refreshment saloons, 577. -- firemen's Ambulance system -- the Union Army near Washington City, 579. -- position of the Union forces, 581. -- position of the Confederate forces, 582. -- the Army of the Shenandoah, 583.


On Thursday, the 4th of July, 1861, which was the eighty-fourth anniversary of the Declaration of the Independence of the United States, the Thirty-seventh Congress assembled in the Capitol at Washington City, in extraordinary session, in compliance with the call of the President.
April 15, 1861.
No Congress since the First--by which the policy of the new government in its domestic and foreign relations had to be determined, the practical foundations of the Nation established, and the machinery of law put in motion — had been burdened with such momentous duties and such grave responsibilities as this. The delicate and difficult task of preserving, by the strong arm of absolute power, the life of the Nation, imperiled by internal foes, without usurping the constitutional prerogatives of the people, was imposed upon it. Its members were elected when the country seemed to be in a state of profound peace and great prosperity; they now came together, a few months later, to legislate, when the country was rent by violence and its industrial energies were paralyzed — when the fires of civil war were madly blazing over an area of more than three-quarters of a million of square miles of the Republic, and were, in a special manner, menacing the seat of government and the national archives with utter desolation. Large armies, destined for the overthrow of the Government, were within the sound of cannon of the Capital; and secret assassins, it is believed, intrusted with errands of deadliest mischief by conspirators, were prowling about the halls of Congress and the house of the Chief Magistrate. At such a time, the representatives of the people went up to the National Capital, charged with the duty of preserving the Republic from harm; and, as we shall observe, the great majority of them wisely, patriotically, and efficiently performed that duty.

In the Senate, twenty-three States, and in the House of Representatives, twenty-two States and one Territory were represented. There were forty senators and one hundred and fifty-four representatives present on the first day of the session. Ten States, in which the politicians had adopted ordinances of secession, were not represented.1 In both houses, there was a large majority of Unionists. [562]

The proceedings of the Senate, over which Hannibal Hamlin, the Vice-President of the United States, presided, were opened by prayer by the Rev. Byron Sunderland, D. D., and those of the House of Representatives by the Rev. T. H. Stockton, chaplain of the last House.2 This was the first session of this Congress, and the House of Representatives was organized by the election of Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, to be speaker or presiding officer.

On the second day of the session,

July 5, 1861.
President Lincoln sent into Congress, by the hands of his private secretary, J. G. Nicolay, a message, devoted almost exclusively to the consideration of the important subject which occasioned the assembling of that body in extraordinary session. He recited

Hannibal Hamlin.

the many and grave offenses of the conspirators, such as the seizure and appropriation of public property, the preparations for war, and the seeking of recognition by foreign powers, as an independent nation; and then he gave an outline history of events connected with Fort Sumter, already recorded in this volume. Speaking of the assault on that work, he said that it was in “no sense a matter of self-defense upon the part of the assailants,” 3 for they “knew that the garrison in the fort could by no possibility commit aggression upon them.” By the affair at Fort Sumter, he said, “the assailants of the Government began the conflict of arms, without a gun in sight or in expectancy to return their fire, save only the few in the fort, sent to that harbor years before for their own protection, and still ready to give that protection in whatever was lawful. In this act, discarding all else, they have forced upon the country the distinct issue, ‘immediate dissolution or blood.’ And this issue embraces more than these United States. It presents to the whole family of man the question, whether a constitutional republic or democracy — a government of the people by the same people — can or can not maintain its territorial integrity against its own domestic foes. It presents the question, whether discontented individuals, too few in number to control administration according to organic law, in any case, can always, upon the pretenses made in this case, or on any other pretenses, or arbitrarily, [563] without any pretense, break up their government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth. It forces us to ask, ‘ Is there in all republics this inherent and fatal weakness? Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?’ So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the war-power of the Government, and so to resist force employed for its destruction by force for its preservation.”

The President then reviewed the conduct of the Virginia conspirators and secessionists after the attack on Fort Sumter, and condemned the policy of “armed neutrality” proposed in some of the Border Slave-labor States, as a policy that recognized “no fidelity to the Constitution, no obligation to maintain the Union.” 4 He then noticed the call for troops to put down the insurrection, and the wonderful response; the action of the executive government in the matter of the writ of habeas corpus; the attitude of foreign nations toward the Government, and the necessity for vindicating its power; and then said, “It is now recommended, that you give the legal means for making this contest a short and decisive one; that you place at the control of the Government, for the work, at least four hundred thousand men and four hundred millions of dollars.5 . . . A right result, at this time, will be worth more to the world than ten times the men and ten times the money. The evidence reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the material for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the hand of legislation to give it legal sanction, and the hand of the Executive to give it practical shape and efficiency. In other words, the people will save their Government, if the Government itself will do its part only indifferently well.”

The President spoke of the methods used by the conspirators to stir up the people to revolt, already noticed,6 and then argued, at considerable length, against the existence of State Sovereignty and the right of a State to secede ;7 and he questioned whether, at that time, there was a majority of the legally qualified voters of any State, excepting South Carolina, who were in favor of disunion. “This is essentially a people's contest,” he said; and he was happy in the belief that the “plain people” comprehended it as such. He then noticed the remarkable fact, that while large numbers of the officers of the Army and Navy had proved themselves unfaithful, “not one common soldier or common sailor is known to have [564] deserted his flag. . . . This is the patriotic instinct of plain people. They understand, without an argument, that the destroying of the Government which was made by Washington means no good to them.”

The President concluded by assuring the people that it was with the deepest regret that he found himself compelled to employ the war-power in defense of the Government, and that the sole object of its exercise should be the maintenance of the National authority and the salvation of the life of the Republic. “And having so chosen our course, without guile and with pure motives,” he said to Congress, after expressing a hope that the views of that body were coincident with his own, “let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.”

The President's Message was accompanied by important reports from heads of Executive Departments. Mr. Cameron, the Secretary of War, recommended the enlistment of men for three years, with a bounty of one hundred dollars for the additional regiments of the regular Army; that appropriations be made for the construction, equipment, and current expenses of railways and telegraphs for the use of the Government; also, for the furnishing of a more liberal supply of approved arms for the militia of the several States and Territories, and other measures necessary in a state of war. He also recommended the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of War, and an increase of the clerical force of his department.

Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, whose management of the financial affairs of the country during a greater portion of the period of the war was considered eminently wise and efficient, asked for two hundred and forty millions of dollars for war purposes, and eighty millions of dollars to meet the ordinary demands for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1862. He proposed to raise the eighty millions, in addition to the sum of nearly sixty-six millions of dollars already appropriated, by levying increased duties on specified articles, and also by

Salmon P. Chase.

certain internal revenues, or by the direct taxation of real and personal property. To raise the amount asked for war purposes, he proposed a National loan of not less than one hundred millions of dollars, to be issued in the form of treasury notes, bearing an annual interest of seven and three-tenths per centum, or one cent a day on fifty dollars, in sums from fifty dollars to five thousand dollars. He proposed to issue bonds, or certificates of debt, in the event of the National loan proving to be insufficient, to the amount of not exceeding one hundred millions of dollars, to be made redeemable at the pleasure of the Government, after a period not exceeding thirty years, and bearing an interest not exceeding seven per cent. He further recommended, for the supply of the full amount, the issue of another class of treasury notes, not exceeding in the aggregate fifty millions of dollars (some of small denominations), bearing an interest of three and sixty-five one-hundredths [565] per cent., and exchangeable at the will of the holders for the treasury notes of the first-named issue.

The Secretary of the Navy, who had been compelled to employ extraordinary measures to meet the demands imposed by treason, asked Congress to sanction his acts, and recommended various measures for the increase of the efficiency of his department. He also recommended the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of the Navy; an increase of the clerical force of the department; and the appointment of commissioners to inquire into the expediency of iron-clad steamers or floating batteries.

With the President's Message and the reports of Cabinet ministers before it, Congress prepared to enter upon its solemn and important duties with industry and vigor, after disposing of several claims for seats in dispute in the House of Representatives. And in that chamber, one of the first acts was to provide for checking irrelevant discussion, by the adoption of a resolution that only bills relating to the military, naval, and financial affairs of the Government at that crisis should be considered, and that all other business should be referred to appropriate committees, to be acted upon at the next regular session.

It was very important that Congress should confine its efforts to the one great object of furnishing the Executive with ample powers for suppressing the rebellion speedily, for its magnitude and promises of success were so great and hopeful, that a recognition of the independence of the “Confederate States,” and armed interference in their favor by powerful foreign governments, seemed to be not only possible but probable. From the time when South Carolinians declared their State withdrawn from the Union,

December 20, 1860.
there had been observed in most of the European courts, and in the public journals in their interest, an unfriendliness of spirit toward the National Government, and a willingness to encourage its enemies in their revolutionary measures. At these courts, and at the ear of these journals, emissaries of the conspirators had already been engaged in magnifying the strength of the Slave-labor States; in promising great benefits to European friends and helpers; and in misrepresenting the character, temper, and resources of the National Government. And at the powerful French court, the source of much of the political opinion of the ruling classes of Continental Europe, Charles J. Faulkner, of Virginia, the American Minister Plenipotentiary, it was believed, was an efficient accomplice of the conspirators in the work of misrepresenting their Government, and maturing plans for securing the recognition of the independence of the “Seceded” States. This suspicion of Mr. Faulkner was unfounded in truth.

When, during the month of January, the politicians of several of the Slave-labor States declared those States separated from the Union, and, early in February, proceeded to form a League of so-called Seceded States, Europe was prepared to accept the hopeless dissolution of the Republic as a fact accomplished. This belief was strengthened by the dispatches of most of the foreign ministers at Washington to their respective governments, early in February, who announced the practical dissolution of the Union; and some affected to be amazed at the folly of Congress in legislating concerning the tariff and other National measures, when the Nation was hopelessly expiring! [566]

It is not to be wondered at that foreign governments and publicists should have made this grave mistake. They had been for a quarter of a century taught by a certain class of leading politicians, in all parts of the Union, that the States were sovereign, and formed only a league by compact, without having more than a few dissenting opinions from the expounders of the Constitution in Congress and out of it; and the practical conclusion was, what some of the conspirators boldly asserted, that secession was a “reserved right” of the States. When, therefore, the positive and irrevocable dissolution of the Union, by the secession of several States, was announced on the floor of Congress and in leading newspapers, by men of every portion of the Union, what other conclusion could ill-informed or misinformed foreigners arrive at than that the war was unrighteous, and that, instead of being waged by the National Government in vindication of its own rightful and supreme authority over all the States, and for the preservation of its integrity, it was a war of sections — a war of States against States? This fundamental error prevailed during the entire period of the war, and was for a long time a stumbling-block in the way of many earnest friends of our Government abroad.

So early as the close of February, Mr. Black, the Secretary of State under Mr. Buchanan,8 addressed

February 28, 1861.
a circular letter to the American ministers abroad, informing them of the state of public affairs at home, directing them to endeavor to counteract the efforts of the agents of the conspirators at foreign courts, and assuring them that the Government had not “relinquished its constitutional jurisdiction within the States” wherein rebellion existed, and did “not desire to do so.” This was followed, a few days afterward,
March 9.
by a circular letter from Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State under Mr. Lincoln, conjuring them to use all diligence to “prevent the designs of those who would invoke foreign intervention to embarrass and overthrow the Republic.” More than a month later, when Jefferson Davis had offered commissions for depredating on the commerce of the United States, and Mr. Lincoln had declared that such depredators should be treated as pirates,9 Mr. Seward addressed another circular to American ministers at the principal European courts, in which he reviewed recent measures tending to the abolition of the practice of privateering, and instructed the American minister at the British court to seek an early opportunity to propose to that government an agreement on the subject, on the basis of the declarations of the Congress at Paris, in 1856, with an additional agreement that should secure from seizure on the high seas, under all circumstances, private property not contraband of war. Charles Francis Adams, a son of John Quincy Adams, had just been appointed to fill the station of minister at the court of St. James,10 which had been held by his father and grandfather; and to him the proposed negotiation was intrusted. Mr. Adams had already been instructed11 concerning the manner in which he should oppose the efforts of the agents of the conspirators. [567] He was directed to acknowledge the appreciation of the American people and Government of the late expressions of good — will by the Queen and her ministers ;12 at the same time, he was warned not to “rely upon any mere sympathies or national kindness,” 13 but to stand up manfully as the representative of his whole country, and that as a powerful nation, asking no favors of others.14 The high position taken by Mr. Seward, in the name of his Government, in that able letter of instructions to Mr. Adams, was doubtless one of the most efficient causes, together with the friendly attitude assumed by Russia toward the United States, of the fortunate delay of Great Britain in the matter of recognizing the independence of the Confederates, until the strength and resources of the Republic were made so manifest that common prudence

Charles Francis Adams.

compelled all foreign powers unfriendly to that Republic to act with great circumspection.

But whilst it seemed inexpedient for the British crown to formally recognize the independence of the Confederates, the ministry, evidently sympathizing most thoroughly with the political objects of the conspirators, procured in their behalf the powerful assistance of a Proclamation of Neutrality by the Queen,

May 13, 1861.
by which a Confederate Government, as existing, was acknowledged, and belligerent rights were accorded to the insurgents.15 Already an understanding existed between the British Government and the French Emperor, that they were to act together in regard to American affairs. They had even gone so far as to [568] apprise other European governments of this understanding, with the expectation that they would concur with them, and follow their example, whatever it might be.16 Thus, at this early stage of our difficulties, these two professedly friendly powers had clandestinely entered into a combination for arraying all Europe on the side of the insurgents, and giving them moral, if not material aid, in their efforts to destroy our Republic.

This action of a professedly friendly power, from whom the American people felt that they had reason to expect the kindest consideration on all occasions, seemed almost inexplicable to them, for they had been taught by British statesmen, orators, and publicists, that Great Britain felt deeply the wrongs of Slavery, and could have no sympathy with men rebelling against a humane Government for the avowed purpose of perpetuating those wrongs. They were loth to believe that these professions of philanthropy were not sincere. They were unwilling to believe that the assertion of Montesquieu, made more than a hundred years before, that England, unlike all other countries, allowed commerce to regulate its politics,17 was still so true, that its government and people would be willing to sacrifice a great principle, and falsify the most solemn and abounding professions of Christian benevolence, for the sake of securing the advantages of free trade, so largely promised by the agents of the conspirators, as their most costly and coveted bribe ;18 and they were disposed to regard the famous epigram of the London [569] Punch as a good-natured slander, uttered for the sake of the wit.19 Only a few months before, the people of the Free-labor States, who were loyal to their Government, had shown the most cordial good — will toward the British Queen, in the almost affectionate attentions which they gave to her son, the Crown Prince of the realm, on the occasion of his visit to the United States, and thereby certified their friendship for the English people.20 Thinking of this, and of the. heritage of the two nations in common, of historic traditions, language, literature, and laws, and the intimate relations of their commerce, they were amazed at the unseemly haste displayed in the recognition of the insurgents as belligerents, for the Queen's Proclamation appeared before the representative of the assailed Republic, under the new Administration, had been formally received at Court. It was a proceeding so “precipitate and unprecedented,” as Mr. Adams afterward said,21 that it made a most unfavorable impression upon right-minded statesmen and philanthropic Christians everywhere.22

The Proclamation of the Queen was followed in the British Parliament, and in most of the newspapers in the interest of the government, and the ruling classes in Great Britain and her colonies, by the most dogmatic assertions that the Republic of the West was hopelessly crumbling into ruins, and was unworthy of respectful consideration. In addition to affected indifference to the fate of the Nation, British legislators, orators, publicists, and journalists were lavish of causeless abuse, not only of the Government, but of the people of the Free-labor States who were loyal to that Government. [570] That abuse was often expressed in phrases so unmanly and ungenerous, and even coarse and vulgar at times, that high-minded Englishmen blushed with shame. Only here and there throughout the kingdom, for a long time, was heard a voice of real sympathy for a great and enlightened nation struggling for existence, which had, in a measure, sprung from the loins, as it were, of the English people. Those few voices were pleasant to the ears of the earnest champions of the Republic and universal freedom, during the conflict; and the memory of the utterers will be ever cherished in the heart of hearts of a grateful and generous people, who can, with the magnanimity of true nobility, forgive the arrogant and the misinformed in other lands, who, failing to comprehend the dignity of the cause for which the loyal Americans were contending, treated them unkindly in the hour of their greatest distress. How powerfully the conspirators were aided by the British Government and British subjects, under the overshadowing wing of the Queen's Proclamation of Neutrality, and so prolonged the war at least two years, will be observed hereafter.

The French Emperor, to whose court William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, was sent, by the new Administration, to succeed Faulkner, of Virginia,23 was cautious and astute. While expressing the most friendly feelings, toward the Government and people of the United States, he followed the British Queen in according belligerent rights to the insurgents, by a decree issued on the 11th of June;

1861.
and, as we shall observe hereafter, he entered into political combinations and military enterprises, at about the same time, for the aggrandizement of his empire, and the propagation of imperialism on the

William L. Dayton.

American Continent, with the belief that the days of the Great Republic were numbered, and its democratic forces hopelessly paralyzed. The Queen of Spain also hastened to proclaim the neutrality of her government,

June 17, 1861.
and to combine with the French Emperor in replanting the seeds of monarchical institutions in the New World, now that the menacing Republic was expiring. The King of Portugal also recognized
July 29.
the insurgents as belligerents; but the enlightened Emperor of Russia, who was about to strike the shackles from almost forty millions of slaves in his own dominions,24 instructed his chief [571] minister to say to the imperial representative at Washington, “In every event, the American Nation may count upon the most cordial sympathy on the part of our august master during the important crisis which it is passing through at present.” 25 The Russian Emperor kept his word; and the powers of Western Europe, regarding him as a promised ally of the Republic, in case of need, behaved prudently.

Congress followed the President's suggestions with prompt action. On the first day of the session,

July 4, 1861.
Mr. Wilson, Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs of the Senate, gave notice that on the following day he should ask leave to introduce six bills, having for their object the suppression of the rebellion.26 These, and others originating in the Lower House, were soon brought to the consideration of Congress, and elicited much debate. It was manifest at the outset of the session, that there were a few among the Opposition, in Congress, whose sympathies were with the secessionists,

Henry Wilson.

and who were disposed to withhold from the Executive the means necessary for the preservation of the Republic. The leader of this faction in the Senate was the late Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, who, soon after the close of the session, entered the military service of the conspirators; and, in the House of Representatives, Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, was regarded as the ablest opponent of the war-measures.

When, on the 10th of July, a loan-bill, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, for the support of the Government and to prosecute the war, was before the House of Representatives, Vallandigham made an elaborate speech against the measure, and the entire policy of “coercion” --in other words, the vindication of the National authority by force of arms, if necessary. He charged the President with usurpation, in calling out and increasing the military and naval forces of the country, blockading ports, suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and other acts which the safety of the Government had required him to perform, and all these without the authority of Congress. He declared that the first projects for disunion were found in.New England, at the beginning of the century ;27 and that the civil war in which the country [572] was involved, had been brought about by the “violent and long-continued denunciations of Slavery and the Slave-holders, especially since 1835,” by the Abolitionists.28 He reviewed the conduct of the Republicans in the last Congress, as indicating the determination of the party to have war instead of peace; denounced the revenue law known as the Morrill Tariff, as injurious to the cotton-growers; charged the Administration with having adopted a war policy merely for party purposes; and declared that in the train of usurpations already enacted would follow a host of others, such as the denial of the right of petition, and the freedom of religion, whose holy temples had been already defiled, and “its white robes of a former innocency tram pled under the polluting hoofs of an ambitious and faithless or fanatical clergy.” 29 This was the first trumpet-blast, clear and distinct, for the marshaling of the hosts for battle of the great Peace Party, which soon became a power in the land, and played a most important part in the drama of the civil war, but touched no sympathizing chord in the hearts of the great body of the people.

The loan-bill was passed under the previous question, on the 10th;30 and on the following day an Army appropriation bill was acted upon, when Vallandigham moved to add a proviso, that “no part of the money hereby appropriated shall be employed in subjugating, or holding as a conquered province, any sovereign State, now, or lately, one of the United States; nor in abolishing or interfering with African Slavery in any of the States.” This proviso was rejected, and the bill, appropriating one hundred and sixty-one millions of dollars, was passed. Already a resolution had been adopted in the same House,

July 9, 1861.
that it was “no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States to capture and return fugitive slaves.” 31

The Senate took measures at an early day to purge itself of treasonable members. On the 10th,

July.
on motion of Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, it expelled ten Senators who were named,32 because of their being engaged “in a conspiracy for the destruction of the Union and the Government.” The resolution for expulsion received the required vote of two-thirds of the Senate (thirty-two against ten); and, on the 13th, [573] the places of Hunter and Mason were filled by John S. Carlile and Waitman T. Willey,33 who appeared with proper credentials. On the same day
July 13, 1861.
John B. Clark, of Missouri, was, on motion of F. P. Blair, expelled from the House of Representatives as a traitor.

When a bill providing for the calling out half a million of men for the war was under consideration, on the 13th,

July.
Vallandigham offered a proviso that the President, before he should have the right to summon any more troops to the field, should appoint seven commissioners, who should accompany the army in its marches, with authority to receive from Jefferson Davis proposals looking to an armistice, or obedience to the National Government. The proviso was rejected, and the bill was passed. Two days afterward,
July 15.
Benjamin Wood, of New York, proposed that Congress should take measures for the assembling of a convention of all the States, at Louisville, Kentucky, in September following, to devise measures for restoring peace to the country. It as tabled, and on the same day, Allen, of Ohio (opposition), moved that when “the States now in rebellion” should desist, it was the duty of the Government to suspend the further prosecution of the war; and that it was not the object of the war to interfere with Slavery. This was ruled out of order, when Vallandigham offered a long series of resolutions, in tenor like his speech on the 10th, condemning nearly every important act of the President, in resisting the conspirators, as unconstitutional. These were tabled, and a bill, introduced by Hickman, of Pennsylvania, for defining and punishing conspiracies against the United States, was passed, with only seven dissenting voices. On motion of McClernand, of Illinois (opposition), the House pledged itself
July 15.
to vote for any amount of money, and any number of men, which might be necessary for the speedy suppression of the rebellion. This was passed with only five dissenting voices.34

A spirited and able debate arose in the Senate, on the 18th,

July.
by an addition to the bill providing for the reorganization of the Army, offered by Powell, of Kentucky, which declared, that no part of the Army or Navy should be employed in “subjecting or holding as a conquered province any sovereign State now, or lately, one of the United States.” Sherman, of Ohio, offered as a substitute a clause, declaring that the purposes of the military establishment provided for in the Act were “to preserve the Union, to defend the property, and .to maintain the constitutional authority of the Government.” , This was adopted, with only four dissenting voices;35 when Breckinridge moved as an additional amendment the substance of Powell's proposition, and the words, “or to abolish Slavery therein” --that is, in any State “lately one of the United States.” This was rejected; and the bill, as it came from the Committee of the Whole, was adopted. On the following day the venerable John J. Crittenden, who was now a member of the House of Representatives, offered a joint resolution, “That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the Disunionists of the Southern States now in revolt against the constitutional [574] Government, and in arms around the Capital; that in this National emergency, Congress, banishing all feeling of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to its country; that this war is not waged, on our part, in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose. of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights, of the several States unimpaired; and as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease.”

This resolution, so consonant with the feelings of the great body of the loyal inhabitants of the Republic, was laid over until Monday, the 22d. During that interval, momentous events had occurred. The first great battle of the war had been fought, within thirty miles of the Capital, which is known in history as the battle of Bull's Run. Let us see how it was brought about.

When Congress met, at. the beginning of July, there were about three hundred thousand Union troops enrolled. About fifty thousand of these were in arms in the vicinity of the Potomac River, designed for the defense of the Capital, or an attack upon the Confederates at Manassas,36 as circumstance might require. The enthusiasm of the people was at fever-heat. In their patriotic zeal for the overthrow of the rebellion, they did not stop to consider the necessity for military discipline and thorough organization; and because the troops lingered along the line of the Potomac week after week, in seeming inactivity, they became impatient. There was a burning desire for the seizure and occupation of Richmond by the National forces before the so-called Confederate Government should be established there, on the 20th of July; and because the President and his Cabinet and the General-in-chief were still holding back the army when Congress met, they were censured without stint, and the loyalty of General Scott, who was born in Virginia, was actually questioned. In public speeches, in the newspapers, and everywhere among the people, there was a mad cry of Forward to Richmond! which finally impelled the General-in-chief to order the army to move in that direction.37

In the mean time the loyal people at home — men, women, and children — had been making earnest preparations for assisting the soldiers in the field, and alleviating their sufferings when in hospitals. The call for troops, on the 15th of April, electrified the women of the land; and individuals and small groups might be seen every day, in thousands and tens of thousands of house-holds — women and children — with busy fingers preparing lint and bandages for wounds, and hospital garments for the sick and maimed, and shelters for the heads and necks of the soldiers, when marching in the hot sun, known as havelocks.38 The movement was spontaneous and universal. The necessity [575] for some systematic plan for the collection and distribution of these products of busy fingers was immediately apparent; and at a meeting of fifty or sixty women, in the city of New York, on the 25th of April,

1861.
a Central Relief Association was suggested. A plan was formed, and the women of New York were addressed by a committee, and invited to assemble in council, at the Cooper Institute, on the morning of the 29th. The response sponse was ample. No such

The Havelook.

gathering of women had ever been seen in this country. David Dudley Field presided, and the object of the meeting was explained by H. W. Bellows, D. D., when the assemblage was addressed by Mr. Hamlin, Vice-President of the United States, and others. Then a benevolent organization was effected, under the title of The Women's Central Association for Relief, with the late venerable Dr. Valentine Mott as President, Dr. Bellows, Vice-President, G. F. Allen,. Secretary, and Howard Potter, Treasurer. Auxiliary associations of women were formed in all parts of the Free-labor States; and when wounds and sickness appealed for relief, a few weeks later, a general system for the purpose was so well organized that all demands were, at first, promptly met. It was soon discovered, however, that a more perfect system, to have an official connection with the Medical Department of the Government, and under the sanction of the War Department, was needed, and, after much effort, the United States Sanitary commission was organized, and entered upon its great and beneficent labors. A fuller history of the organization and labors of this Commission, and also of its kindred society, the sturdy offspring of the Young Men's Christian Association, called the United States Christian commission, will be found in another part of this work.

Before any of these propositions or efforts for giving aid to the sick and wounded were publicly made, a woman who for many years, Howard-like, had been laboring unceasingly for the poor, the unfortunate, and the afflicted, had obtained the sanction of the War Department for the organization of military hospitals, and the furnishing of nurses for them. That woman was Miss Dorothea L. Dix, whose name was familiar to the people throughout the land. She offered her services gratuitously to the Government, and they were accepted. So early as the 23d of April, or only eight days after the President called for troops to

Dorothea L. Dix.

put down the rebellion, the Secretary of War issued a proclamation, announcing the fact of such acceptance;39 and on the 1st of May, the Surgeon-General (R. C. Wood), “cheerfully and thankfully [576] recognizing the ability and energy of Miss D. L. Dix in her arrangements for the comfort and welfare of the sick soldiers in the present exigency,” requested all women who offered their services as nurses to report to her. Like an angel of mercy, this self-sacrificing woman labored day and night throughout the entire war for the relief of the suffering soldiers, without expecting or receiving any pecuniary reward. She went from battle-field to battle-field, when the carnage was-over; from camp to camp; and from hospital to hospital, superintending the operations of the nurses, and administering with her own hands physical comforts to the suffering, and soothing the troubled spirits of the invalid or dying soldier with a voice low, musical, and attractive, and always burdened with words of heart-felt sympathy and religious consolation. The amount of happiness that resulted from the services of this woman of delicate frame, which seemed to be incapable of enduring the physical labor required of it, can never be estimated. The true record is only in the great Book of Remembrance. Yet she was not the only sister of charity engaged in works of mercy. She had hundreds of devoted, earnest, self-sacrificing co-workers of the gentler sex all over the land, serving with equal zeal in the camps and hospitals of the National and Confederate armies; and no greater heroism was displayed by soldiers in the field than was exhibited by these American women everywhere.

Working in grand harmony with those more extended organizations for the relief of the soldiers, were houses of refreshment and temporary hospital accommodations furnished by the citizens of Philadelphia. ú That city lay in the channel of the great stream of volunteers from New England, New York, and New Jersey, that commenced flowing abundantly early in May.

1861.
These soldiers, crossing New Jersey, and the Delaware River at Camden, were landed at the foot of Washington Avenue, where, wearied and hungry, they often vainly sought for sufficient refreshments in the bakeries and groceries in the neighborhood before entering the cars for Washington City. One morning, the wife of a mechanic living near, commiserating the situation of some soldiers who had just arrived, went out with her coffee-pot and a cup, and distributed its contents among them. That generous hint was the germ of a wonderful system of relief for the passing soldiers, which was immediately developed in that city. Some benevolent women, living in the vicinity of this landing-place of the volunteers, imitated their patriotic sister, and a few of them formed themselves into a Committee40 for the regular distribution of coffee on the arrival of soldiers. Gentlemen in the neighborhood interested themselves in procuring other supplies, and for a few days these were dispensed under the shade of trees in front of the cooper-shop of William M. Cooper, on Otsego Street, [577] near Washington Avenue. Then this shop — generously offered for the purpose by Mr. Cooper--was used for refreshing the soldiers; and very soon whole regiments were fed there at tables supplied by the contributions of citizens of Philadelphia, and waited upon by the wives and daughters of those in the neighborhood. The first of the entire regiments so supplied was Colonel Blenker's (German Rifles), more than a thousand strong, who partook of a coffee breakfast there on the morning of the 27th of May.

The Cooper-shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and Hospital in 1864.

The cooper-shop was not spacious enough to accommodate the daily increasing number of soldiers, and another place of refreshments was opened on the corner of Washington Avenue and Swanson Street, in a building formerly used as a boat-house and riggers' loft. Two Volunteer Refreshment Saloon Committees were formed, and known respectively as the “Cooper-shop” and the “Union.” The former was organized on the 26th and the latter on the 27th of May.41 They worked in harmony and generous rivalry, [578] all through the period of the war, in doing good. Both saloons were enlarged as necessity required, and both had temporary hospitals attached to them. To the immortal honor of the citizens of Philadelphia it must be recorded, that they liberally supplied these saloons with ample materials to give a bountiful meal, during the four years of the war, to almost twelve hundred thousand Union soldiers. In the Union Volunteer Saloon, alone, seven hundred and fifty thousand soldiers were fed; forty thousand were accommodated with a night's lodging; fifteen thousand refugees and freedmen were cared for, and employment found for them; and, in the hospital attached, the wounds of almost twenty thousand soldiers were dressed. The women who devoted themselves to the service of preparing the meals, and waiting upon this vast host of the

The Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon in 1861.

defenders of the Union, deserve the choicest blessings their country can bestow. At all hours of the day and night, these self-sacrificing heroines, when a little signal-gun, employed for the purpose,42 announced the approach of a regiment or a company, would repair to the saloons, and, with the greatest cheerfulness, dispense the generous bounties of their fellow-citizens. These saloons, in which such an abounding work of love and patriotism had been displayed, were formally closed in August, 1865, when the sunlight of Peace was reilluminating the land, and the Flag of the Republic--

That floating piece of poetry,

as Dr. Francis Lieber so appropriately called it in his song, “Our country and flag,” was waving, unmolested, over every acre of its domain.

Philadelphia was also honored by another organization for the good of the volunteers, known as the Firemen's Ambulance System, which was wholly the work of the firemen of that city, who also contributed largely from their body to the ranks of the Union army. When sick and wounded [579] soldiers began to be brought in transports from camps and battle-fields to Philadelphia, to be placed in the admirable military hospitals that were established there, the Medical Department found it difficult to procure proper vehicles to convey them from the wharves to their destination. Delays and inconvenient conveyances caused much distress, which the sympathetic firemen attempted to remedy. An arrangement was made for the Chief of the Department to announce the arrival of a transport by a given signal, when the firemen would turn out with wagons, and repair to the landing-place. Finally, the Northern Liberties Engine Company had a splendid ambulance constructed. More than thirty other engine and hose companies followed its example, and the suffering soldiers were conveyed from ship to hospital with the greatest tenderness. These ambulances cost, in the aggregate, over thirty thousand dollars, all of which sum was contributed by the firemen.

Philadelphia firemen's Ambulance.

They also gave their personal services freely, unmindful of their private interests. The number of disabled soldiers who were conveyed in these ambulances, during the period of the war, was estimated at more than one hundred and twenty thousand. Without disparagement to other cities (for all did noble work), it may, with propriety, be said, that in labors of genuine benevolence and generous giving for the comfort of the soldiers of the great Union Army, the citizens of Philadelphia stand peerless.

While the people at home were working with unceasing diligence for the comfort of the soldiers, and were contributing the means for making the contest, as the President desired it to be, “short and decisive,” those soldiers were eager for action. A large portion of those near the Potomac had enlisted for only three months, and their terms would expire before the close of July. They were anxious to move against the insurgents at Manassas, and to win the victory which they felt certain of achieving. It was important that such movement should be made, for various reasons, before the regiments of early volunteers should be dissolved. These volunteers would be so disheartened by the inglorious and almost inactive campaign in which they had been engaged, that they would be tardy in volunteering for the war. Those who might fill their places would be almost wholly ignorant of discipline and the rudiments of the military art which the first had acquired; and in the confusion incident to the substitution of new recruits for the three-months' men, the well-organized and well-officered insurgents might, by a sudden and concentrated movement, overwhelm the Union forces, seize the Capital, and, with the prestige thus obtained, secure for the Confederacy the recognition of its independence by foreign governments. This real danger was before the mind of the people and their representatives, and intensified the cry of “Forward to Richmond!” while the earlier troops had yet some time to serve. That cry found a sympathetic response in the Army and in Congress; and at the middle of July, the General-in-chief gave orders for a forward movement upon the foe at Manassas. An earlier [580] day

July 8, 1861.
had been fixed upon for the beginning of the movement, but the new regiments came in so slowly that it was not deemed safe to break camp before the 15th.

Lieutenant-General Scott was too infirm to take command of the Army in the field. He was afflicted with dropsy and vertigo; and for four months he had not been able to mount a horse. He chose Brigadier-General Irvin McDowell for that responsible position. That officer was a native of Ohio; a graduate

1834.
of the Military Academy at West Point; an excellent soldier, who had seen service under General Wool, in Mexico, and was then in the prime of life. He had been appointed
May 27, 1861.
to the command of thy Department of Virginia, with his Headquarters at Arlington House, as we have observed;43 and for several weeks he had been actively engaged in the reception of materials for, and the organization of,

Irvin McDowell.

what was afterward known as the Army of the Potomac. This work was but imperfectly accomplished, when public opinion bore upon the authorities with such fearful pressure, that the Army, such as it was, was moved forward, with McDowell as its chief.44

The relative position of the forces now to be brought into contact, each [581] of which was divided, was as follows: The main body of the National army, under McDowell, about forty-five thousand in number, occupied a line, with the Potomac at its back, extending from Alexandria, nine miles below Washington City, almost to the Chain Bridge, about six miles above the Capital. The remainder, under General Patterson, about eighteen thousand strong, was at Martinsburg, beyond the Blue Ridge, also with the Potomac at its back, as we have observed.45 There were three important bridges spanning the Potomac in the vicinity of Washington City, which were well guarded. The Upper, or Chain Bridge, where the banks of the

Chain Bridge.46

river are high and precipitous, was beyond the Union lines at that time, on the Virginia side, but on the Maryland, or District side, it was well guarded by two batteries-one at the bridge, and the other on the high bank above it-and both thoroughly commanding it. In addition to these batteries, a heavy two-leaved gate was constructed at the center of the bridge, which was covered on the Virginia side with heavy iron plates, and was pierced for musketry. At Georgetown was the Aqueduct Bridge,47 which was well guarded by Fort Corcoran and block-houses on Arlington Hights, and a battery on Georgetown Hights, north of the city. At Washington City, at the junction of Maryland Avenue and Fourteenth Street, was the Long Bridge, a mile in length, whose Virginia end was commanded by three forts, named, respectively, Jackson, Runyon, and Albany. They were

Gate on Chain Bridge.

built chiefly of earth. Fort Jackson was close by the river, with heavy pickets and picket-gate crossing the railway which there passes over the Long Bridge, and connects Washington [582] City with Alexandria. Other fortifications, as we have observed, extended along the line of Arlington Hights, and guarded every approach to positions which commanded the National Capital and Georgetown.

The main Confederate army, under the command of Beauregard, supposed to have been a little less than McDowell's in number (forty-five thousand), was at and near Manassas Junction, then considered one of the strongest military positions for offense or defense between Washington

Remains of Fort Jackson, at the long Bridge.48

and Richmond. It is about half way between the eastern range of the Blue Ridge and the Potomac at Alexandria, and was connected by railway with Richmond and the fertile Shenandoah Valley, as we have observed. The main portion of the army was on an elevated plateau in the crotch formed by the Occoquan River and its main tributary, Bull's Run. The bed of each stream, canal-like, was cut through horizontal strata of red stone, making it difficult for an attacking army to approach the Confederate works.49 A succession of broken, wooded hills around the plateau, composed strong natural fortifications; and Beauregard's engineers had cast up formidable artificial ones there. Among these, the most noted was the Naval Battery, composed of the heaviest Dahlgren guns,

Marine Artillery-man at Manassas.

which the insurgents seized at the Gosport Navy Yard, and manned by seamen, commanded by officers of the National Navy who had abandoned their flag. [583] Beauregard's force was mostly composed of Virginians, South Carolinians, Alabamians, Mississippians, and Louisianians.

Another Confederate army, about as strong in numbers as Beauregard's actually was, was in the Shenandoah Valley, under General Johnston, his superior in rank, whose Headquarters were at Winchester, around which he had caused to be cast up heavy intrenchments, under the directions of Major W. H. C. Whiting, his Chief of Engineers. Johnston was charged with the duty, as we have observed, of checking the advance of Patterson, and preventing the junction of the troops under that officer with those under McClellan among the Alleghany ranges. Among the most active of his infantry force was a corps of Tennessee riflemen or “sharpshooters.” These had been raised in West Tennessee, where the people were mostly disloyal. They were among the earliest of the troops of that State who made their way into

Tennessee sharp-shooter.

Virginia, after the treaty was concluded for the annexation of that Commonwealth to the Confederacy,50 and the control of its military affairs was placed in the hands of Jefferson Davis. Tennessee and Kentucky were well represented in the Army of the Shenandoah.

Tail-piece — Hauling cannon.

1 These were Virginia (the eastern portion, controlled by the conspirators at Richmond), North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. Four Slave-labor States, namely, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, were represented. Tennessee had not then held its elections for members of Congress. When they were held, five weeks later, only three districts in East Tennessee chose representatives. One of these, Thomas A. A. Nelson, while on his way to Washington City, was arrested by the insurgents and taken to Richmond, where he secured his personal liberty by an open profession of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy of conspirators. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, appeared and took his seat in the Senate.

2 See page 65.

3 The excuse of the conspirators for their revolutionary act alluded to by the President, like all others, was only a pretext, and so transparent that no well-informed person was deceived by it. Such was, evidently, the Peace Convention (see page 235) at Washington, planned by the Virginia conspirators. Such, also, was the mission of Forsyth and Crawford (see page 800), who were sent by Jefferson Davis to Washington to say that they were “intrusted with power, in the spirit of humanity, the civilization of the age,” et coetera, to offer to the National Government the olive-branch of peace (see page 808), when it is known that while they were in the Capital, these “peace ambassadors” made large contracts with Northern manufacturers (to the shame of these contractors be it recorded!), for arms and ammunition, in preparation for war.

4 Although the President made no allusion to Slavery, as the inciting cause of the rebellion, he stated the significant fact, that “None of the States, commonly called Slave States, except Delaware, gave a regiment, through regular State organizations,” for the support of the Government. “A few regiments,” he said, “have been organized within some others of those States, by Individual enterprise, and received into the Government service.”

5 Four hundred thousand men constituted only about one-tenth of those of proper age for military service “within the regions where,” the President said, “apparently all are willing to engage;” and, he added, the sum of four hundred millions of dollars “is less than a twenty-third part of the money value owned by the men who seem ready to devote the whole.”

6 See page 40.

7 “The States have their status in the Union,” he said, “and they have no other legal status. If they break from this, they can only do so against law and by revolution. The Union, and not themselves separately, procured their independence and their liberty. By conquest or purchase, the Union gave each of them whatever of independence or liberty it has. The Union is older than any of the States, and, in fact, it created them as States. Originally, some dependent colonies made the Union, and, in turn, the Union threw off their old dependence for them, and made them States, such as they are. Not one of them ever bad a State Constitution independent of the Union. Of course, it is not forgotten that all the new States framed their constitutions before they entered the Union; nevertheless, dependent upon and preparatory to coming into the Union.”

8 See page 70.

9 See page 372.

10 Mr. Adams succeeded the late George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, as embassador at the British court. Mr. Dallas was a highly accomplished and patriotic gentleman, whose voice was heard, on his return home, in wholesome denunciations of the conspirators against the life of the Republic.

11 See Mr. Seward's Letter of Instructions to Mr. Adams, April 10, 1861.

12 Reference is here made to an expression in the Queen's speech from the throne on the 5th of February, 1861, in which she declared her “great concern” at the events then taking place in the United States, and a “heart-felt wish that the differences that then distracted the country might be susceptible of a satisfactory adjustment.” For these humane expressions, Mr. Toulmin Smith, the conductor of the Parliamentary Remembrancer (vol. IV., page 8), reproved his Sovereign. “These last loose words,” he said, “are characteristic of the very loose notions that are common in England on the subject of what used to be the United States of North America. It is, from the very nature of the facts, no other than impossible that the ‘differences’ can be ‘susceptible’ [whatever that means] of satisfactory adjustment.” He then went on to say: “Already the honor of the Northern States has been seriously imperiled; and it has been proclaimed that many of them are so given up to the worship of the ‘almighty dollar,’ that every great principle will be cheerfully sacrificed by them, if only the States of the South will be so good as to remain in the Union, which the Northern States take to be rather profitable, in a commercial sense, to themselves.” This reads strangely in the light of subsequent events.

13 “There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. 'Tis an illusion which experience must cure — which a just pride ought to discard.” --Washington's Farewell Address.

14 “ You will, in no case,” said Mr. Seward, “listen to any suggestions of compromise by this Government, under foreign auspices, with its discontented citizens. If, as the President does not at all apprehend, you shall unhappily find Her Majesty's Government tolerating the application of the so-called Seceding States, or wavering about it, you will not leave them to suppose for a moment that they can grant that application and remain the friends of the United States. You may even assure them promptly, in that case, that if they determine to recognize, they may at the same time prepare to enter into an alliance with the enemies of this Republic. You alone will represent your country at London, and you will represent the whole of it there. When you are asked to divide that duty with others, diplomatic relations between the Government of Great Britain and this Government will be suspended, and will remain so until it shall be seen which of the two is most strongly intrenched in the confidence of their respective nations and of mankind.”

15 A motion, with the view of recognizing the independence of the so-called “Confederate States,” was made in Parliament by Mr. Gregory, at the beginning of May, and, in reply to a question from him on the 6th of that month, Lord John Russell, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, gave the first authoritative statement of the position which the Government intended to take. “The Attorney and Solicitor-General and the Queen's Advocate and the Government,” he said, “have come to the opinion that the Southern Confederacy of America, according to those principles which seem to them to be just principles, must be treated as a belligerent.” Following the Queen's Proclamation, was a debate on the subject of blockades and privateering, in all of which the sovereignty of the States and the right of secession, according to the doctrines of the Calhoun school, were assumed, and it was fairly concluded that, the Confederates having formed a government, privateers commissioned by Davis could not be treated as pirates. But while belligerent rights were accorded to them, one of which was that of privateering, the British Government, by an order in council on the 1st of June, deprived the conspirators of the chief advantage to be derived from that pursuit, namely, the prohibition of the disposal of prizes in British ports. France took the same ground, and the rule was applied equally to the parties in conflict.

16 Letter of Secretary Seward to Minister Adams, May 21, 1861.

17 Speaking of the spirit of the English people with respect to commerce, Montesquieu said.:--“Supremely jealous with respect to trade, they bind themselves but little by treaties, and depend only on their own laws. Other nations have made the interests of commerce yield to those of politics;. the English, on the contrary,, have ever made their political interests give way to those of commerce.” --Spirit of the Laws, fifth English edition, II. 8.

18 The agents of the conspirators offered to the governments of Europe, as a bribe for recognition, free trade; and as the National Government had just imposed a heavy tariff on many foreign, products, that offer had great force. Their boastings and their sophisms so far blinded the foreign traders and statesmen, that they actually regarded the commerce with the Cotton-growing States as of more value to. them than that of all the rest of the Union. Even the usually well-informed London Economist, after stating that the “population of the seceding States is eight millions,” said, that England, in her consideration of the rebellion, must look upon that portion of the United States as “furnishing an ample market for her manufactured goods.” At that very time, the proof was abundant, that of the little more than nine millions of inhabitants in those States, nearly one-half of them did not consume British goods to the amount of half a million of dollars annually. These included the slaves and the poor and laboring white people, called by the Oligarchy “white trash.” These two classes, who were the most numerous in the population of the States alluded to, were chiefly clad throughout the year in coarse domestic goods, and did not in reality consume foreign goods, of any and all kinds, to the extent of twenty-five cents a head. Of the bulk of the white population in those States, two-thirds of them wore no foreign goods whatever. The Northern and Western States were the main consumers of British goods. The total white population of the “seceding” States at that time was only about five millions two. hundred and thirty-one thousand, and of the “non-seceding” States, twenty-two millions two hundred and forty-five thousand. When we consider that, during the ten years preceding the rebellion, the United States were the market for about one-fifth of the total exports of British goods to all foreign countries, and that the inhabitants of the Free-labor States, who were loyal to the Government, were the purchasers of the much greater portion of those goods, the madness and folly of the British statesmen, traders, and manufacturers, in espousing the cause of the few insurgents, for the sake of free commercial intercourse with them, at the risk of losing the custom of the great bulk of the Nation, are most amazing. For a full exposition, from official reports, of the commerce with Great Britain of the Free and Slave-labor States, and the comparative insignificance of the latter as a market for British goods, see a paper entitled, A Few Plain Words to England and her Manufacturers: by J. Smith Homans, editor of The Bankers' Magazine and Statistical Register, in which it appeared at the beginning of 1862.

19 The following is the epigram, entitled: Shop and Freedom:--

Though with the North we sympathize,
It must not be forgotten
That with the South we've stronger ties,
Which are composed of cotton,
Whereof our imports mount unto
A sum of many figures;
And where would be our calico,
Without the toil of niggers?
The South enslaves those fellow-men
Whom we love all so dearly;
The North keeps commerce bound again,
Which touches us more nearly.
Thus a divided duty we
Perceive in this hard matter--
Free trade, or sable brothers free?
Oh, will we choose the latter I

20 It has been asserted, and not denied, that the late Prince-Consort (Albert), who was the ever-trusted confidential adviser of the Queen, entertained feelings of the most cordial friendship toward the Government and people of the United States, and that such remained the sentiments of Her Majesty during the whole war. As parents, they could not forget the kindness bestowed upon their child; and it is believed that the Queen's influence was very powerful in restraining the eagerness of her ministers and the ruling classes of Great Britain to recognize the independence of the so-called “Confederate States.”

21 Mr. Adams to Earl Russell, the Foreign Secretary, May 20, 1865.

22 Two months before, the astute Count de Gasparin, observing the unfriendly tone of English leaders of opinion, and aware of the seductive character of the bribe of free trade in cotton, which the agents of the conspirators were offering, said :--“Let England beware! It were better for her to lose Malta, Corfu, and Gibraltar, than the glorious position which her struggle against Slavery and the Slave-trade has secured her in the esteem of nations. Even in our age of armed frigates and rifled cannon, the chief of all powers, thank God! is moral power. Wo to the nation that disregards it, and consents to immolate its principles to its interests! From the beginning of the present conflict, the enemies of England, and they are numerous, have predicted that the cause of cotton will weigh heavier in her scales than the cause of justice and liberty. They are preparing to judge her by her conduct in the American crisis. Once more, let her beware!” --The Uprising of a Great People,; Miss Booth's translation, page 250.

A year later, De Gasparin wrote, when considering the unprecedented precipitancy with which leading European powers recognized the insurgents as belligerents:--“Instead of asking on which side were justice and liberty, we have hastened to ask on which side were our interests; then, too, on which side were the best chances of success.” He said England had a legal right to be neutral, but had no moral right to withhold her sympathies with a nation struggling for its existence and universal justice against rebels intent on crime against humanity.--America before Europe: translated by Mary L. Booth.

23 In his instructions to Mr. Dayton (April 22, 1861), Mr. Seward took the same high ground as in those to Mr. Adams. “The President neither expects nor desires intervention, or even favor,” he said, “from the Government of France, or any other, in this emergency. Whatever else he may consent to do, he will never evoke nor even admit foreign interference or influence in this or any other controversy in which the Government of the United States may be engaged with any portion of the United States.” On the 4th of May, Mr. Seward instructed Mr. Dayton to say to M. Thouvenal, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, that “the thought of dissolution of this Union, peaceably or by force, has never entered into the mind of any candid statesman here, and it is high time that it be dismissed by statesmen in Europe.”

24 This was accomplished in the spring of 1863, when over sixteen millions of crown serfs and twenty-two millions belonging to private owners were emancipated by proclamation of the Emperor Alexander.

25 Letter of Prince Gortschakoff to Baron de Stoeckl, dated July 10, 1861.

26 These were, 1. To ratify and confirm certain acts of the President for the suppression of insurrection and rebellion. 2. To authorize the employment of volunteers to aid in enforcing the laws and protecting public property. 3. To increase the present military establishment of the United States. 4. Providing for the better ,organization of the military establishment. 5. To promote the efficiency of the Army. 6. For the organization of a volunteer militia fierce, to be called the National Guard of the United States.

27 The plainest facts in our history teach us that in Virginia, and not in New England, threats of disunion were first made, and made so earnestly, that they alarmed Washington and his compatriots. It was there offered by political doctors as the grand panacea for the evils endured by wounded State and family pride. See mote 1, page 17, and note 1, page 68.

28 See page 65, and note 2, page 65; also note 1, page 66.

29 Congressional Globe, July 10, 1861.

30 The vote was one hundred and fifty ayes and five noes. The latter were Burnett. of Kentucky; Norton and Reid, of Missouri; Vallandigham, of Ohio; and Benjamin Wood, of New York. The first three named joined the rebels soon after the close of the session. While Vallandigham, in the lower House, was abusing the President, and avowing his determination to thwart the Government in its attempts to put down rebellion, Senator Baker, of Oregon, was eloquently appealing to the other House to come up to the help of the Executive with the most generous aid. He declared his approval of every measure of the President in relation to the rebellion, and said:--“I propose to ratify whatever needs ratification. I propose to render my clear and distinct approval not only of the measure, but of the motive which prompted it. I propose to lend the whole power or the country — arms, men, and money — and place them in his hands, with authority almost unlimited, until the conclusion of this struggle. He has asked for four hundred millions of dollars. We propose to give him five hundred millions of dollars. He has asked for four hundred thousand men. We propose to give him half a million; and, for my part, if, as I do not apprehend, the emergency should be still greater, I will cheerfully add a cipher to either of these figures.” A hundred days later, the speaker gave his life to his country, at Ball's Bluff, on the Potomac.

31 This was proposed by Mr. Lovejoy, of Illinois, and was passed by a vote of ninety-two against fifty-five.

32 James M. Mason and Robert T. M. Hunter, of Virginia; Thomas L. Clingman and Thomas Bragg, of North Carolina; James Chesnut, Jr., of South Carolina; A. 0. P. Nicholson, of Tennessee; William K. Sebastian and Charles B. Mitchell, of Arkansas; and John Hemphill and Louis T. Wigfall, of Texas.

33 They had been appointed by the Legislature of reorganized Virginia. See page 491.

34 Burnett and Grider, of Kentucky; Norton and Reid, of Missouri; and Benjamin Wood, of New York.

35 Breckinridge and Powell, of Kentucky; and Johnson and Polk, of Missouri.

36 See page 479.

37 The New York Tribune, a daily paper of immense circulation throughout the Free-labor States, and of great influence, first raised this war-cry in its columns, on the 26th of June, and kept the paragraph in a conspicuous place among its editorials until the 3d of July. Its words were as follows:--

“the nation's War-cry.--Forward to Richmond! Forward to Richmond! The Rebel Congress must not be allowed to meet there on the 20th of July. By that date the place must be held by the National Army.”

38 The name of havelock was derived from Sir Henry Havelock, an eminent English commander in the East Indies during the rebellion of the Sepoys, in 1857, who caused his soldiers to be furnished with these protectors against the heat of the sun. They were made of white cotton cloth, and covered the military cap and the neck with a cape. Our soldiers soon discarded them, as being more uncomfortable, by the exclusion of air, than any rays of the sun to which they were exposed. They had been sent to the army by thousands.

39 The following is a copy of the proclamation or order:--“Be it known to all whom it may concern, that the free services of Miss D. L. Dix are accepted by the War Department, and that she will give, at all times, all necessary aid in organizing military hospitals for the care of all the sick or wounded soldiers, aiding the chief surgeons by supplying nurses, and substantial means for the comfort and relief of the suffering; also, that she is fully authorized to receive, control, and disburse special supplies bestowed by individuals or associations for the comfort of their friends or the citizen soldiers from all parts of the United States.” Dated April 23, 1861, and signed Simon Cameron, Secretary of War.

On the 4th of May, Miss Dix issued a circular letter to the large number of women who were offering their services as nurses, giving them information and directions, and then commenced her beneficent labors with great assiduity.

40 This Committee was composed of Mrs. William M. Cooper, Mrs. Grace Nickles, Mrs. Sarah Ewing, Mrs. Elizabeth Vansdale, Mrs. Catharine Vansdale, Mrs. Jane Coward, Mrs. Susan Turner, Mrs. Sarah Mellen, Mrs. Catharine Alexander, Mrs. Mary Plant, and Mrs. Captain Watson.

41 The following were the Officers and Managers of the two Associations, respectively:--

the Cooper-shop.--President, William M. Cooper; Vice-President, C. v. Fort; Recording Secretary, Wm. M. Maull; Corresponding Secretary, E. S. Hall; Treasurer, Adam M. Simpson; Storekeeper, Sam. W. Nickles; Hospital Committee, Philip Fitzpatrick, R. G. Simpson, L. W. Thornton; General Committee, Henry W. Pearce, Wm. H. Dennis, George M. Flick, R. H. Ransley, Captain R. J. Hoffner, H. H. Webb, Fitzpatrick Horety, Jacob Plant, Henry Dubosq, L. W. Thornton, R. G. Simpson, Wm, Sprole, J. Coward.

the Union.--Chairman, Arad Barrows; Recording Secretary, J. B. Wade; Treasurer, B. S. Brown; Steward, J. T; Williams; Physician, E. Ward; Corresponding Secretary, Robert R. Corson.

Committee of Gentlemen.--Arad Barrows, Bazilla S. Brown, Joseph B. Wade, Isaac B. Smith, Sr., Erasmus W. Cooper, Job T. Williams, John W. Hicks, George Flomerfelt, John Krider, Sr., Isaac B. Smith, Jr., Charles B. Grieves, James McGlathery, John B. Smith, Curtis Myers, Dr. Eliab Ward, Chris. Powell, Captain W. S. Mason, Charles S. Clampitt, Leopold M. J. Lemmens, D. L. Flanagan, Richard Sharp, Charles H. Kingston, Robert R. Corson, Samuel B. Fales, James Carroll, John T. Wilson.

Committee of Ladies.--Mrs. Mary Grover, Mrs. Hannah Smith, Mrs. Priscilla Grover, Miss Sarah Holland, Mrs. Margaret Boyer, Mrs. Eliza J. Smith, Mrs. Anna Elkinton, Mrs. Ellen B. Barrows, Mrs. Mary L. Field, Mrs. Ellen J. Lowry, Mrs. Martha V. R. Ward, Mrs. Eliza Plumer, Mrs. Emily Mason, Mrs. Mary Green, Miss Catharine Baily, Mrs. Eliza Helmbold, Miss Amanda Lee, Mrs. Elizabeth Horton, Mrs. Sarah Femington, Mrs. Kate B. Anderson, Miss Anna Grover, Miss Martha B. Krider, Miss Annie Field, Miss Mary Grover, Mrs. Mary E. Cassedy.

42 This little cannon, made of iron, has a notable history. It was cast at the Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was a part of the ordnance in the army of General Taylor on the Rio Grande, in 1846, where it was captured, placed on a Mexican privateer, and, while on duty in the Gulf of Mexico, was recaptured by a United States cruiser. It was finally lodged, for a while, in the Navy Yard at Philadelphia, and then put on board of the receiving-ship Union, which was scuttled by ice one night, and went to the bottom. It was afterward raised, and when the rebellion broke out, was sent down on service to Perryville, while the secessionists held Baltimore. Soon after its

Signal cannon.

return to Philadelphia, it was mounted on a clumsy carriage captured in the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, at vera Cruz, in 1847, and placed at the disposal of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Committee, as a signal-gun for the purpose mentioned in the text.

43 See page 485.

44 The people who were shouting “Forward to Richmond!” had no conception of the time and labor required to organize, equip, and provide for the feeding of an army sufficient for the emergency. When the war broke out, the preparations for it by the Government, as we have observed, were very meager. Every thing had to be provided — created, as it were — with inadequate means for doing the work. The armories and the armorers were few. The materials for making cannon and small-arms and munitions of war had to be collected. Agents had been sent to Europe to purchase arms for use until they could be manufactured at home. None of these had yet arrived; and the only ordnance that had crossed the ocean, for use by the National troops, was a battery of six Whitworth cannon, which were sent over and presented to the Government by loyal Americans residing in England. They were 12-pounders, and each bore the inscription:--“from loyal Americans in Europe to the United States Government, 1861.” The funds for their purchase were collected chiefly by R. G. Moulton, then residing in Manchester, England. The cost of the six guns, including the freight, was

Whitworth cannon.

twelve thousand dollars. They ,vere purchased of the Whitworth Ordnance Company of Manchester. They were each nine feet long, and were loaded at the breech; and the weight of each was eleven hundred pounds. The bore was three inches, and rifled, and the ball was a double cone of iron, nine inches long. The charge required to throw the ball five miles was two pounds and one-half of powder.

In addition to a lack of arms was a want of means for transportation. The men who fight must be fed; and it required seven hundred and fifty wagons, three thousand horses, and almost a thousand teamsters, to carry provisions, tents, intrenching tools, et coetera, for an army of fifty thousand men, such as was ordered to engage in the business of going forward to Richmond. These wagons had to be made, and the horses purchased, and the teamsters engaged, before that army could move efficiently, for it was going into an enemy's country. Only about ten weeks had been allowed for these preparations to be made, when “Forward to Richmond!” was the war-cry of the people.

45 See page 525.

46 this is from a sketch made at the close of April, 1865, from the Maryland or District of Columbia side of the river. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is seen in the foreground. The Potomac is here broken into rapids called the little Falls.

47 See page 481

48 this is from a sketch made by the author at the close of April, 1865, and shows the embankments of Fort Jackson on the right, and the remains of the pickets, with the railway, in the foreground. On the left is a public house of entertainment, and just beyond it is seen a portion of the long Bridge. The Capitol is seen in the distance.

49 The C. S. A. and the Battle of Bull Run: by Major J. G. Barnard.

50 See page 387.

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