Part 15 (1/2)

The fall of Suh the entire North such as is not witnessed , April 14th, it was known that tered On that day and onSundays the voices frole, the call to the defense of the flag Editors echoed the call Such newspapers as were suspected of secession tendencies were co For the tih Those ere decidedly in sympathy with the South remained quiet, and those ere of a doubtfulThe flag had been fired on That one fact unified the North

On that saed for a private intervieith President Lincoln For two hours these onists of many years, were in confidential conversation What passed between them no man knows, but the result of the conference was quickly las came out of the room as determined a ”war democrat” as could be found between the oceans He hira that he would sustain the President in defending the constitution

Lincoln had prepared his call for 75,000 volunteer troops Douglas thought the number should have been 200,000 So it should, and so doubtless it would, had it not been for certain iniquities of Buchanan's mal-ad Floyd had well-nigh stripped the northern arsenals Lincoln could not begin warlike preparations on any great scale because that was certain to precipitate the hich he so earnestly strove to avoid

Further, the 75,000 was about five times the nuh the nuular arlas's endorse the two documents were published in every daily paper north of Mason and Dixon's line

The call for volunteer soldiers was in the South greeted with a howl of derision They kne the arsenals had been stripped They had also for years been quietly buying up arms not only from the North, but also from various European nations They had forfor just this event, and now that it ca the first months of the war the administration could not wisely make public how very poorly the soldiers were are the defenders of the Union and cheer the enemy

This call for troops overnors of the northern states offered many times their quota The first in the field was Massachusetts This was due to the foresight of ex-Governor Banks He had for years kept the state ree of efficiency When rallied upon this he explained that it was to defend the country against a rebellion of the slaveholders which was sure to co of April 15th By ten o'clock the 6th Massachusetts began to rendezvous In less than thirty-six hours the regiton They were everywhere cheered with uests of the Astor House, whose patriotic proprietor would receive no co

The reception in Baltimore was of a very different sort Some ruffians of that city had planned to assassinate Lincoln in February, and now they in large nu to the defense of the national capital Here was the first bloodshed of the war The casualties were four killed and thirty-six wounded When the regiton City, the march fro soldiers followed the stretchers bearing the wounded The dead had been left behind

Governor Andrew's despatch to Mayor Brown,--”Send them home tenderly,”--elicited the sympathy of overnor of Maryland sent a deputation to Lincoln to ask that no h that city The President made no promise, but he said he was anxious to avoid all friction and he would do the best he could He added playfully that if he granted that, they would be back next day to ask that no troops be sent around Baltimore

That was exactly what occurred The co any troops to cross the state of Maryland Lincoln replied that, as they couldn't march around the state, nor tunnel under it, nor fly over it, he guessed they would have tothe troops should be brought to Annapolis and transported thence to Washi+ngton by water This was one of the overnreat claeance upon Baltimore for its crime, and a demand for sterner measures in future But the President was determined to show all the conciliation it was possible to show, both in this case and in a hundred others

These actions bore good fruit It secured to hiree that could not have been foreseen On the 22d of July, 1861, Mr Crittenden, of Kentucky, offered the following resolution:

”_Resolved by the House of Representatives of the United States_, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in arainst the Constitutional Government and in arency, congress, banishi+ng all feelings of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country;

”That this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or 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 that, as soon as these objects are accoht to cease”

This resolution was passed with only two dissenting votes Lincoln's patience, forbearance, conciliation had accomplished this marvel

Very early in the war the question of slavery confronted the generals

In the uration, Generals Butler and McClellan confronted the subject, and theirwith it were as widely different as well could be When Butler was in charge of Fortress Monroe three negroes fled to that place for refuge They said that Colonel Mallory had set the of truce was sent in froroes Butler replied: ”I shall retain the negroes as _contraband of war_ You were using them upon your batteries; it is ainst us” From that time the word _contraband_ was used in common speech to indicate an escaped slave

It was on the 26th day of the same month that McClellan issued to the slaveholders a proclamation in which are found these words: ”Not only e abstain from all interference with your slaves, but ill, on the contrary, with an iron hand crush any attempt at insurrection on their part” It is plain that McClellan's ”we” did not include his brother-general at Fortress Monroe Further comment on his attitude is reserved to a later chapter

The early victims of the war caused deep and profound sye The expectancy of a people not experienced in as at high tension, and these deaths, which would at any time have produced a profound impression, were emphatically impressive at that time

One of the very first , handso the firemen a company of Zouaves with their spectacular dress and drill

These Zouaves had been giving exhibition drills in many northern cities and aroused no little interest One result was the for Zouave drill became quite popular

In 1861 Ellsworth was efield When the President-elect journeyed to Washi+ngton Ellsworth, to whom Lincoln was deeply attached, made one of the party