150 Years Ago -- Butler Takes Baltimore

Image of Baltimore from Federal Hill via Wikipedia

On Monday, May 13, 1861, General Benjamin Butler occupied Baltimore, stamping out secessionist activity there and securing it for the Union for the duration of the war.

Butler had occupied Relay, Maryland, just south of Baltimore, on May 5.  From there, he had reported back to the War Department, tales of military stores and gunpowder being sent to the Rebels.  He received some vague verbal orders; he was expected to make a few arrests and seize the military supplies.  He used those orders to occupy Baltimore and institute martial law there.

Butler marched his men into Baltimore on May 13, placing artillery on Federal Hill, commanding the business district and the harbor.  Butler then issued a proclamation, declaring the military in charge.  Any display of Southern sympathy was quickly squelched and dozens of arrests were made.  Suspected pro-Southerners were imprisoned at Fort McHenry with no charges filed.

General-in-chief Winfield Scott was livid that Butler had exceeded his orders.  He was especially concerned that Butler might have touched off another riot in the city.  Scott would remove Butler from command, but Lincoln would promote him to major general and send him to Fort Monroe, a quieter post where he wouldn't cause so much trouble.

But although Butler was gone, martial law would remain.  The arrests would continue, and Baltimore would be secured, opening the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to Washington again.

150 Years Ago -- North Carolina and Tennessee

On Wednesday, May 1, 1861, the four soldiers of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment killed in the Baltimore riot were buried with full military honors in Boston.

Also on this date, North Carolina began the process of leaving the Union.  The governor, John Ellis, called for a special session of the legislature soon after Fort Sumter.  They convened on this date and set an election for May 13 for a convention that was to convene on May 20 to consider a secession ordinance.

Tennessee was also taking steps to leave the Union.  On this date, the General Assembly authorized Governor Isham Harris to appoint commissioners to conclude a military league with the Confederacy.  The commissioners were quickly appointed and just as quickly drew up an agreement with Henry Hilliard, Jefferson Davis's envoy to Nashville.  The agreement was submitted to the legislature for approval on May 7.

150 Years Ago -- Lincoln and the Marylanders

On Sunday, April 21, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln met with Maryland Governor Thomas Hicks and Baltimore Mayor George Brown.  Hicks and Brown had been summoned to Washington to discuss "preserving the peace in Maryland."

Washington was cut off from the rest of the country.  Surrounded by Virginia and Maryland, the former was gone from the Union and the latter was still in an uproar over the Baltimore riot two days earlier.  The railroad bridges through Maryland to Washington had been burned; the telegraph lines were cut.  While the two politicians protested about the dead civilians in Baltimore, Lincoln argued that Washington must have troops.  He promised to keep them out of Baltimore as much as possible.

150 Years Ago -- the Baltimore Riot

Image via Wikipedia

On Friday, April 19, 1861, the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, the first fully equipped, organized unit to respond to Lincoln's call for troops, arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, en route to Washington.  Their presence in the city would touch off a bloody riot.

As I've mentioned before -- when talking about the pre-inauguration attempt on Lincoln's life -- there was no railroad line through Baltimore.  Passengers headed for Washington would arrive at the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad station on President Street, then had to travel cross-town to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station on Camden Street.  The cars were usually pulled the ten blocks through the city with horses.

On this day, the cross-town route was lined with an angry pro-Southern crowd, but nine cars made the trip without serious incident.  Stones were thrown, and the route was blocked, leaving just over 200 men of the 6th Massachusetts and some unorganized soldiers from Pennsylvania stranded at the President Street station.

The four companies of the 6th Massachusetts left the Pennsylvanians behind and set out on foot.  They soon found themselves surrounded by the same hostile crowd.  The crowd threw stones, cheered for Jefferson Davis, and denounced Yankees.  Mayor George Brown tried to appeal to them to keep the peace, but was mostly ignored.

An officer shouted an order to double-quick.  That just exacerbated the situation -- the chicken Yankees were running from a fight.  Soon, the march turned into a full-scale melee with shots fired.  A detachment of police finally arrived and restored enough order for the troops to reach the B&O station.  Four soldiers and twelve Baltimore citizens were dead.

Back at the President Street station, the Pennsylvanians were attacked by the mob, but the police quickly intervened.  The police would send the men back to Pennsylvania.

After attacking the soldiers, the mob set its sights on the offices of the Baltimore Wecker, a German-language newspaper.   They wrecked the offices and threatened the lives of the publisher, William Schnauffer, and the editor, Wilhelm Rapp.  The two left town, but Schnauffer later returned and resumed publication of the paper.

The 6th Massachusetts reached Washington that evening.

The Baltimore Police Board met that evening and agreed that no more troops should pass through the city.  Arrangements were made to burn the railroad bridges that connected Baltimore with the East.  Maryland Governor Thomas Hicks agreed and sent a committee to Washington to inform Lincoln.

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150 Years Ago -- A Busy Day

Just one week past the shelling of Fort Sumter, Thursday, April 18, 1861, was a busy day featuring several noteworthy events.

In Virginia, state militia was amassing near Harper's Ferry.  Henry Wise, until recently the governor of Virginia, recognized the importance of the Federal arsenal there and acted quickly to capture it.  Without bothering to consult the current governor, John Letcher, Wise had met with state militia officers, who quickly mobilized their men.

The Federal troops at the arsenal, 42 men led by Lieutenant Roger Jones, set fire to the buildings and fled toward Pennsylvania.

The Virginia troops moved in early the next morning, April 19, to find that most of the rifle-making machinery was still serviceable.  It was shipped south to Richmond, where it was used throughout the war to make arms for the Confederacy.


In Washington, Colonel Robert E. Lee met with Francis Blair.  Blair, acting with the full authority of the president, offered Lee command of the United States Army.  Lee declined, saying that he must consult with General-in-chief Winfield Scott.  He went straight to Scott's office and informed him that he would be resigning his commission


In New York, Major Robert Anderson and his garrison from Fort Sumter arrived to a heroes' welcome.


And a bit of foreshadowing:  The first troops to answer the president's call for war were approaching Washington, but first they had to pass through Baltimore.  Their passage stirred up the city's pro-Southern population and stirred up rumors of violence.  Secretary of War Simon Cameron warned Maryland Governor Thomas Hicks to keep the peace, but failed to inform him of when the next troops would be passing through.

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February 21, 1861: An Assassination Plot

Passage through Baltimore

President-elect Abraham Lincoln had left his hometown of Springfield, Illinois, on February 11, 1861, but was still on a roundabout journey to Washington for his inauguration.  On February 21, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, just before an appearance at Independence Hall, Lincoln was warned that he would be murdered if he traveled through Baltimore on February 23 as scheduled.

While working for S. M. Felton, president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railway, to investigate rumors that secessionists were planning to break railroad connections to Washington, private detective Allen Pinkerton had uncovered the plot.

In Baltimore, a train car from the North traveling to Washington would have to switch from Felton's Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railway to the Baltimore & Ohio line.  The cars would usually be hauled down a city street with horses.  According to Pinkerton, Lincoln would be mobbed and killed during the transfer from one station to the other.  Lincoln was urged to cancel his last remaining appearances and travel to Washington that night.  Lincoln refused.

The following day, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Lincoln received another warning, this time from Frederick Seward.  He brought a message from his father William and General Winfield Scott, who had also learned of the murder plot.

Lincoln, his close friend Ward Lamon, and Pinkerton slipped out of Harrisburg that night and boarded a train back to Philadelphia.  There they boarded a Washington sleeper and got through Baltimore in the middle of the night without incident.  They arrived in Washington at 6 a.m. on February 23.

Lincoln's critics ridiculed him for trading his honor for his safety.  On the trip, he wore a soft felt hat instead of his usual top hat and the press somehow turned that into a story that he had come to Washington in a disguise, in a plaid Scotch cap and cloak.  Adalbert Volck, a Baltimore dentist, etched Passage through Baltimore, ridiculing Lincoln for his cowardice.

In just a few weeks, on April 19, 1861, the 6th Massachusetts Militia Regiment would be attacked while making the same rail transfer in Baltimore, resulting in a riot that left four soldiers and twelve civilians dead.

June 18, 1860: The Democratic Convention, Take Two

Stephen Douglas

On Monday, June 18, 1860, the Democratic Party reconvened in Baltimore, Maryland.  The first convention, at Charleston, South Carolina, in April, had broken up over the ideology of front-runner Stephen A. Douglas, with many delegates walking out.  Pro-Douglas supporters went to work in several Southern states, getting the state conventions to name new delegations -- friendlier to Douglas -- to replace the ones that had walked out.  Everyone was present now in Baltimore, but which delegates were entitled to seats?

The problem was passed to the credentials committee.  From Bruce Catton's The Coming Fury...

It would take the credentials committee three days to wrestle with this problem, and until the wrestling ended, the convention could do nothing but wait, its collective temperature rising hour by hour. Douglas men paraded the streets with brass bands, pausing when the spirit moved them to listen to stump speeches; Southern die-hards, in turn, had a way of gathering in front of the Gilmore House, where (William) Yancey was staying, for stump speeches of their own; and nothing that was said or done at any of these meetings served to promote harmony. At the Douglas meetings, held often enough on the steps of the home of the eminent Reverdy Johnson, former Senator, former Attorney General, and a leader of the "moderates" on the slavery question, orators shouted that devotion to Douglas was the only true test of Democratic fidelity. At the Gilmore House, in turn, the Douglas men were denounced as abolitionists in disguise, and Yancey cried that these Doulas leaders were selfish men who, ostrich-like, "buried their heads in the sands of squatter soveriegnty" and thereby exposed their anti-slavery posteriors. On the fringes of these meetings there were often a number of fist fights.

John Breckinridge

On June 21, the credentials committee emerged with two reports.  The pro-Douglas majority report held that the new delegations from Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas should be seated.  The Georgia delegation would be equally divided between old and new delegates.  The minority report demanded seating the original Charleston delegations.  The convention would vote to decide the matter.  Choosing the majority report would mean that Douglas would almost certainly gain the nomination.

The New York delegation, which had been thought to be solidly for Douglas, shocked his supporters by asking for more time to make up its mind.  That put the showdown off until the following evening.  The convention chose the pro-Douglas majority report and the exodus of Southern delegates quickly followed.

On the following day, June 23, the remaining delegates got down to the business of picking a nominee.  On the first ballot, Douglas got 173 of 190 1/2 votes cast.  On the second ballot, he received 181 1/2 out of 194 1/2.  A motion was quickly adopted declaring Douglas the nominee.  Later that evening, Senator Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama was chosen as the nominee for vice-president.

Like Charleston in April, Baltimore had two conventions on this final day.  The defectors worked quickly, putting together a platform that asserted the pro-slavery positions they had fought for at Charleston, commended a projected acquisition of Cuba, and endorsed a plan for a railroad from some point on the Mississippi to some point on the Pacific Coast.  John C. Breckinridge, the current vice president, was placed in nomination.  He won a two-thirds majority on the first ballot, and was given the nomination unanimously.  Joseph Lane of Oregon was named for the vice-presidency.  The country now had two Democratic parties and two Democratic candidates.

May 9, 1860: The Constitutional Union Convention

On Wednesday, May 9, 1860, a ragtag group -- remnants of the old Whig Party and a few Know-Nothings -- met in Baltimore.  They called themselves the United States Constitutional Union Convention, and nominated John Bell of Tennessee as their candidate for president.  The distinguished orator Edward Everett of Massachusetts was named their vice-presidential candidate.

There was no way Bell could be elected.  He and the party stood for moderation at a time when the nation was quickly dividing into extremes.  The hope was that he would win enough votes to prevent anyone else from winning, throwing the election to the House of Representatives, where cooler heads might come to a reasonable compromise.

The convention denounced political party platforms as frauds, then adopted a simple one of their own which pledged to uphold the Constitution, the Union and the Enforcement of the Laws.  The convention adjourned without a single mention of slavery in the territories or the fugitive slave laws, but John Brown was mentioned a couple of times in passing.

Bell, a wealthy slaveowner, was 64 years old.  He had spent much of his life in politics, beginning as a Democrat before a falling out with Andrew Jackson in the fight over the Bank of the United States.  He served in the House of Representatives from 1827 to 1841, and served as Speaker of the House from 1834 to 1835.  Bell did a brief stint as Secretary of War in 1841 under Presidents Harrison and Tyler, then served two terms as a senator from 1847 to 1859.

Bell was very popular in the border states, and his candidacy had an impact the following week in Chicago at the Republican Convention.  William Seward, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, was weakest in the states where Bell was strongest, and the Republicans, who needed almost a clean sweep of the Northern states, finally chose Abraham Lincoln as their nominee, deciding that he was the more electable candidate.