150 Years Ago -- Jackson at Harper's Ferry

On Tuesday, April 30, 1861, Thomas Jackson arrived at Harper's Ferry to take command of the Virginia militia troops occupying the arsenal there.  He quickly got to work salvaging the arsenal's arms-making equipment left behind by the Federal troops who had recently evacuated.  (Harper's Ferry posts)

150 Years Ago -- April 29, 1861

On Monday, April 29, 1861, the Maryland House of Delegates voted against secession 53-13.  The state would remain in the Union for the foreseeable future. (Maryland posts)

Also on this date, in Montgomery, Alabama, Confederate President Jefferson Davis addressed the Confederate Congress.  He began by noting that all the Confederate states had ratified the provisional Constitution.  Davis gave a history lesson detailing the causes of secession, and a progress report on the steps that had been taken in establishing a government and providing for the military defense of Confederate territory.  This speech would become known as his "all we ask is to be let alone" speech.  (Full text)

150 Years Ago -- Lincoln Suspends Habeas Corpus

On Saturday, April 27, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln wrote to General Benjamin Butler, commanding the Federal troops at Annapolis, Maryland, authorizing him to suspend the writ of habeas corpus if "you find resistance which renders it necessary."

Military rule descended on Maryland.  Any display of affection toward the South was stamped out.  Newspapers were shut down, and hundred of suspected Southern sympathizers were arrested -- some with good reason, many on mere suspicion.  Butler would soon "invade" Baltimore and declare martial law there.

To the Commanding General of the Army of the United States

You are engaged in repressing an insurrection against the laws of the United States. If at any point on or in the vicinity of the military line, which is now (or which will be) used between the city of Philadelphia and the city of Washington, via Perryville, Annapolis City and Annapolis Junction, you find resistance which renders it necessary to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the public safety, you, personally or through the officer in command at the point where the resistance occurs, are authorized to suspend that writ.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

150 Years Ago -- Stonewall Jackson/Maryland

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Thomas Jackson, who everyone would soon be calling "Stonewall," was appointed colonel of the Virginia militia on April 26, 1861.

Jackson, a West Point graduate (17th in the class of '46) and Mexican War veteran, was a major in the Virginia militia and a VMI professor of artillery and natural philosophy when the war began.  Soon after Virginia seceded, he arrived in Richmond with his VMI cadets.  Governor John Letcher made him a colonel and sent him to his new post, commanding the state troops that had taken over Harper's Ferry.


Also on this date, in Maryland, the state legislature met in regular session -- normally, not a noteworthy event, but these were not normal times.  The state was still in an uproar over the Baltimore riot and State Senator Coleman Gellott was calling for a rump session in Baltimore.  To forestall this, Governor Thomas Hicks called the legislature into regular session on April 26.  Since Federal troops were occupying the capital, Annapolis, they were to meet in Frederick, in more pro-Union territory.

When the lawmakers convened, Hicks addressed them, advising that Maryland take a neutral position in the war.  After some debate, the state legislature agreed.  They would issue a proclamation stating that they lacked the authority to an ordinance of secession, then neglected to call for a state convention that could.  Maryland would not be leaving the Union.

Lincoln had to make sure of that.  With Washington lying between Virginia, which was essentially out of the Union, and Maryland, Lincoln had to have Maryland or the capital would be lost before the war had barely begun.  When he learned that Hicks was convening the legislature, Lincoln considered arresting the lawmakers to prevent the session, but finally decided that it "would not be justifiable, nor efficient for the desired object."  But Lincoln would do whatever it took to keep Maryland in the Union.

150 Years Ago -- Strange Times in Washington, Missouri and Tennessee

Thursday, April 25, 1861

Washington had been in a state of siege since the Baltimore riot on April 19.  Railroads and telegraph lines to the capital had been cut, isolating it from the rest of the nation.  No orders could get out; the only news that could get in was rumors -- mostly of an impending Rebel invasion.

The 6th Massachusetts Regiment had made it through the riot to Washington, but now the capital was cut off.  More troops were on the way, but there was no news of them.  Inspecting the troops that had been wounded in the riot, a despondent Lincoln told them, "I don't believe there is any North.  The 7th (New York) Regiment is a myth.  Rhode Island is not known in our geography any longer.  You are the only Northern realities."

The 8th Massachusetts Regiment, led by General Benjamin Butler, had followed closely on the hills of the 6th Massachusetts. Hearing of the disturbance in Baltimore, Butler had detrained his regiment, the 8th Massachusetts, at the head of Chesapeake Bay, commandeered a steamboat, and headed for Annapolis, Maryland.  After a short delay coming ashore, these troops were put to work reopening a route to Washington, repairing the railroad and the equipment.

The first troops sent forward were the 7th New York.  They entered Washington on April 25, followed closely by troops from Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  The route was open and Washington's siege was lifted.


Missouri would get out of hand very quickly.  The governor, Claiborne Jackson, was trying to take the state out of the Union.  In fact, he had worked out a plot with Jefferson Davis to capture the St. Louis Arsenal.  Davis was sending cannons.  Jackson would call the state militia into camp for drill and instruction.  They would camp near the arsenal and take the facility when the cannons arrived.

Frank Blair and Nathaniel Lyon were determined to keep the state in the Union.  Blair, the youngest son of the prominent Blair family, had begun forming his own militia, the Unionist Home Guard, composed mainly of German immigrants.  Lyon, the commander of the arsenal's garrison, was temporarily in command of the Department of the West.  General William Harney had been called away to Washington.  Lyon quickly began inducting Blair's Germans into the United States Army.

Blair and Lyon knew that Jackson was after the arsenal.  It was one of the most important military installations in the country -- a large complex dedicated to the manufacture and storage of arms and munitions.  They would soon take very proactive steps to keep it out of the hands of the Confederates.

Illinois Governor Richard Yates enters the story on this date.  He too was worried about the security of the arsenal.  Working with Blair and Lyon, he sent Illinois militia into Missouri.  On the night of April 25, they removed 20,000 muskets and 110,000 cartridges and transported them to the Springfield Armory.  Blair kept enough of the muskets to arm the Home Guard.


On February 9, voters in Tennessee had voted against holding a convention to consider secession.  Now, after Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops, the sentiment had changed.  Most of the Unionism in the state had simply evaporated.

Governor Isham Harris called the legislature into special session on this date.  He recommended that the legislators declare Tennessee independence and enter into an alliance with the Confederacy.  He also proposed that they pass "such legislation as will put the State upon war footing immediately."  The legislature went into secret session to consider Governor Harris's proposals.

150 Years Ago -- Lee Takes Command

On Tuesday, April 23, 1861, Robert E. Lee made with Virginia Governor John Letcher who offered him command of Virginia's state troops.  Lee accepted.

150 Years Ago -- Lincoln and Maryland

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On Monday, April 22, 1861, for the second day in a row, Lincoln met with Marylanders to discuss moving troops though the state.  This group was a little more unofficial than the first -- a group organized by the YMCA.  They urged the president to recognize the independence of the Southern states and to send no more troops through Baltimore.

Lincoln's response was forceful:

You, gentlemen, come here to me and ask for peace on any terms, and yet have no word of condemnation for those who are making war on us.  You express great horror of bloodshed, and yet would not lay a straw in the way of those who are organizing in Virginia and elsewhere to capture this city.

He summed up the situation:

I have no desire to invade the South, but I must have troops to defend this Capital.  Geographically it lies surrounded by the soil of Maryland; and mathematically the necessity exists that they should come over her territory.  Our men are not moles, and can't dig under the earth; they are not birds and can't fly through the air.  There is no way but to march across, and that they must do.

 Then ended with a threat:

Keep your rowdies in Baltimore, and there will be no bloodshed.  Go home and tell your people that if they will not attack us, we will not attack them, but if they do attack us, we will return it, and that severely.

At Annapolis, General Benjamin Butler was making the argument moot.  After negotiations with Maryland Governor Thomas Hicks, Butler had brought the 8th Massachusetts ashore.  As they were landing, another steamer arrived carrying the 7th New York.  Since Butler was the ranking officer present, he assumed command of everyone and quickly put them to work opening the railroad to Washington.  Butler was soon ordered to remain at Annapolis and keep the route open.  The 7th New York made its way to Washington, arriving there on April 25, ten days after Lincoln's call for troops.

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 -- Norfolk Abandoned

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On Saturday, April 20, 1861, the Gosport Shipyard at Norfolk, Virginia was abandoned by the Federals and seized by armed Virginians.  The name was changed to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1862; then, as now, it was the most important naval installation in the United States.

The shipyard had been fumbled away through bad timing.  The commander there, Commodore Charles McCauley, a 68-year-old veteran of the War of 1812, had succumbed to pressure and ordered the evacuation.  State troops under General William Taliaferro were menacing the base, putting up batteries for a bombardment.  In addition, several of McCauley's officers and men had resigned to go South.

The Federal sailors and marines began making preparations to leave by scuttling the warships at the yard on April 19.  As the ships sank to the bottom, a relief expedition led by the U.S.S. Pawnee arrived.  The officers conferred and finally decided the only thing to do was complete the destruction the following day.

On the evening of April 20, the Federals finished by burning the buildings and the upper works of some of the ships that were poking up out of the water.  A mine was set in the dry dock.  The Virginians moved in after the Federals moved out, and found, like Harper's Ferry the day before, that most of the machinery was still serviceable.  The mine had failed to explode, leaving the dry dock intact.

A big steam frigate, the Merrimack, was another major prize for the Southerners.  The ship had been at the yard for engine repairs.  As the nation had moved toward war and Virginia had moved toward secession, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles had sent the navy's chief engineer, Benjamin Isherwood, to make repairs and Commander James Alden to take command of the Merrimack and get her to Philadelphia.  McCauley, not wanting to antagonize the Virginians, had refused to let the ship leave.  Now, the Confederates could raise and reuse her.


Also, on this date, in Maryland, a steamer carrying the 8th Massachusetts Infantry arrived at Annapolis.  The troops, led by Massachusetts politician Benjamin Butler, a newly minted brigadier general, were bound for Washington, forty miles away.  Governor Thomas Hicks, surely thinking about the Baltimore riot the day before, urged Butler to keep his men on the boat.  Hicks wired Lincoln: "I have felt it to be my duty to advise the President of the United States to order elsewhere the troops now off Annapolis and also that no more may be sent through Maryland."  Hicks and Butler negotiated over the weekend, and Butler finally brought his men ashore on Monday, April 22.


Colonel Robert E. Lee sent his official letter of resignation to the War Department.

150 Years Ago -- the Baltimore Riot

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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.

Related articles

• Opinionator | Disunion: Baltimore's Unlikely Confederates (opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com)
• 150 Years Ago: An Assassination Plot (civilwarmeandering.blogspot.com)

150 Years Ago -- Lowe Goes Off Course

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In the early morning hours of April 19, 1861, Thaddeus Lowe began inflating one of his smaller balloons, the Enterprise.  Lowe's long-term goal was to make a trans-Atlantic flight.  He was gaining valuable ballooning experience by making much shorter inland flights.

Now, one week after the Civil War began at Fort Sumter, Lowe lifted off in Cincinnati at 4 a.m., headed for Washington.  Blown hundreds of miles off course, he landed in Unionville, South Carolina that same afternoon.  Tensions were high in the state at the moment, and the locals promptly arrested the man who came out of the sky as a Union spy while they checked out his story. 

He was soon released and allowed to return with his equipment to Cincinnati.  The mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, wrote him out a passport:

THIS IS TO CERTIFY, that Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, now accidentally in our midst, is a gentleman of integrity and high scientific attainments, and I bespeake for him the courtesies of all with whom he may come in contact, and trust that this letter, to which I have affixed the seal of the City of Columbia, S.C., will answer as a passport for him through the Confederate States of North America.
W. H. Boatright, Mayor

Back at home, Lowe put his dreams of trans-Atlantic flight on hold.  He would soon travel to Washington to demonstrate the balloon's military capabilities, and eventually establish a balloon corps in the United States Army.  The first successful trans-Atlantic flight by balloon would not be made until 1978.

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.

Related articles

• 150 Years Ago: A Proclamation of War (civilwarmeanderings.blogspot.com)

150 Years Ago: Virginia Secedes

On Wednesday, April 17, 1861, the Virginia state convention passed an ordinance of secession 88 to 55.  The ordinance would not be official until a majority of voters ratified it in a statewide referendum on May 23, but there was no chance this would not happen.  Virginia was, for all intents and purposes, out of the Union.

The loss of Virginia was a big blow to the Union as historian Bruce Catton explains, "Without Virginia the Southern Confederacy could not have hoped to win its war for independence; with Virginia the Confederacy's hopes were not half bad, and they would get even better when people realized that Virginia would come equipped with Robert E. Lee.  American history has known few events more momentous than the secession of Virginia, which turned what set out to be the simple suppression of a rebellion into a four-year cataclysm that shook America to the profoundest depths of its being."

Virginia state troops were already on the way to Harper's Ferry to seize the U.S. Arsenal there.

Also on this date, Confederate President Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation "inviting all those who may desire, by service in private armed vessels on the high seas, to aid this government in resisting so wanton and wicked an aggression, to make application for commissions or letters of marque and reprisal to be issued under the seal of these Confederate States."

This was either a noble calling combining patriotism and profit or piracy, depending on your point of view.  Later, the Union would charge the officers and crew of the Savannah with piracy, claiming that their Letter of Marque was invalid since the Confederacy was not a sovereign nation.  Davis threatened to hang a Union officer for each executed Confederate privateer.  Thereafter, the Union treated privateers honorably as prisoners of war.

At Galveston, Texas, the Star of the West, which had tried unsuccessfully in January to reinforce and resupply the garrison at Fort Sumter, was captured by Confederate troops.

150 Years Ago: Replies

On Tuesday, April 16, 1861, William Brownlow, the editor of the Knoxville Whig, came up with one of the more memorable quotes of the war, writing that he would "fight the Secessionist leaders till Hell froze over, and then fight them on the ice."

The replies to Lincoln's call for militia began coming in.  The news from Fort Sumter had triggered a wave of patriotism in the North.  The governors were quick to offer their support and soon had more recruits than they could use.

The border states were a different matter though.  Lincoln's call for troops was seen as "coercion" of their Southern brethren.  The governors replied negatively to Lincoln's call and began making plans to leave the Union themselves.

Virginia Governor John Letcher:

In reply to this communication, I have only to say that the militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object -- an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitution or the act of 1795 -- will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and having done so, we will meet it in a spirit as determined as the Administration has exhibited towards the South.

Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin:

I say, emphatically, Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern states.

North Carolina Governor John Ellis:

Your dispatch is received, and if genuine which its extraordinary character leads one to doubt, I have to say in reply, that I regard the levy of troops made by the Administration for the purposes of subjugating the States of the South, as in violation of the Constitution, and as a gross usurpation of power. I can be no part to this wicked violation of the laws of the Country and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina.

Tennessee Governor Isham Harris:

Tennessee will not furnish a single man for the purposes of coercion but 50,000 if necessary for the defence of our rights and those of our Southern brothers.

Arkansas Governor Henry Rector:

In answer to your requisition for troops from Arkansas to subjugate the Southern States, I have to say that none will be furnished. The demand is only adding insult to injury. The people of this commonwealth are freemen, not slaves, and will defend, to the last extremity, their honor, lives and property against Northern mendacity and usurpation.

Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson:

Your requisition, in my judgment, is illegal, unconstitutional, and revolutionary in its object, inhuman and diabolical, and cannot be complied with. Not one man will the State of Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade.

150 Years Ago: A Proclamation of War

On Monday, April 15, 1861, one day after he learned the news from Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation of war, calling for 75,000 militia and calling for a special session of Congress.  Until it convened on July 4, Lincoln would be calling all the shots.

April 15, 1861

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the Marshals by law,

Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details, for this object, will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured.

I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to re-possess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country.

And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this date.

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers, at 12 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July, next, then and there to consider and determine, such measures, as, in their wisdom, the public safety, and interest may seem to demand.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand, Eight hundred and Sixtyone, and of the Independence the United States the Eightyfifth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

The Northern state governors quickly confirmed their willingness to fill their quotas and soon had more applicants than they could use.  The border state governors of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri refused, most of them contemptuously.  A new round of secessions would begin.