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IN

HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE

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History Is past Politics and Politics present History. Freeman

EXTRA VOLUME
III

BALTIMOKE

AND

THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL, 1861

A Study of the War

BY GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN

Chief Judge of (to Supreme. Bench of Baltimore and Mayor tftMCtiyin mi

BALTI1TOBE
N. MUEEAY, PUBLICATION AGEffT, JOHKS HOPKINS UNITOESITY

1887

COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY N, MUBBAY,

ISAAC FBIEDENWALD, PEINTEK,
BALTIMORE.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE.

1. INTRODUCTION, 9

2. THE FIRST BLOOD SHED IN THE WAR, 10

3. THE SUPPOSED PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE INCOMING PRESIDENT, . 11

4. THE MIDNIGHT BIDE TO WASHINGTON, ...... 17

CHAPTER II.

1. THE COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION IN REGARD TO SLAVERY, . 20

2. A DIVIDED HOUSE, 23

3. THE BROKEN COMPACT, 25

4. THE RIGHT OP REVOLUTION, 27

CHAPTER III.

1. MARYLAND'S DESIRE FOR PEACE, 30

2. EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, f 31

3. His PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR TROOPJS, 32

4. THE CITY AUTHORITIES AND POLICE OF BALTIMORE, ... 34

5. INCREASING EXCITEMENT IN BALTIMORE, 39

CHAPTER IV.

1. THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT IN BALTIMORE, ... 42

2. THE FIGHT 47

3. THE DEPARTURE FOR WASHINGTON, 52

4. CORRESPONDENCE IN REGARD TO THE KILLED AND WOUNDED, . 54

5. PUBLIC MEETING, 56

0. TELEGRAM TO THE PRESIDENT, j 57

7. No REPLY, 58

8. BURNING* OF BRIDGES, 59

6 Contents,

CHAPTER V.

1. APRIL 20TH INCREASING EXCITEMENT, 60

3. APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 FOR DEFENSE OF THE CITY, . . 60

3. CORRESPONDENCE WITH PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR, ... 61

4. MEN ENROLLED, 63

5. APPREHENDED ATTACK ON FORT MCHENRY, .... 66

6. MARSHAL KANE 69

7. INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT, CABINET, AND GENERAL SCOTT, . 71

8. GENERAL BUTLER, WITH THE EIGHTH MASSACHUSETTS, PROCEEDS

TO ANNAPOLIS AND WASHINGTON, 76

9. BALTIMORE IN A STATE OF ARMED NEUTRALITY, .... 77

CHAPTER VI.

1. SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 79

2. REPORT OF THE BOARD OF POLICE, 80

8. SUPPRESSION OF THE FLAGS 82

4. ON THE STH OF MAY GENERAL BUTLER TAKES POSITION Six MILES

FROM BALTIMORE, 83

5* ON THE 13TH OF MAY HE ENTERS BALTIMORE AND FORTIFIES FED- 84

KRAL HILL 85

6. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY WILL TAKE NO STEPS TOWARD SECESSION, 85

7, MANY YOUNG MEN JOIN THE ARMY OF THE CONFEDERACY, . . 85

CHAPTER VII.

1. CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY AND THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, , . 87

2. A UNION CONVENTION, 92

3. CONSEQUENCE OF THE SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT, .... 93

4. INCIDENTS OF THE WAR, 95

5. THE WOMEN IN THE WAR, 95

CHAPTER VIII.

1. GENERAL BANKS IN COMMAND, 97

2. MARSHAL KANE ARRESTED, 97

3. POLIOK COMMISSIONERS SUPERSEDED, 97

4. RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ... 98

5. POLICE COMMISSIONERS ARRESTED, ,*..., 98

Cofdents. 7

6. RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, . . . 100

7. GENERAL Drs IN COMMAND, 100

8. ARREST OP THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE MAYOR,

AND OTHERS, . 102

9. RELEASE OF PRISONERS, 108

10. COLONEL DIMICK, Ill

CHAPTER IX A PERSONAL CHAPTER. . . 113

APPENDIX I.

ACCOUNT OF THE ALLEGED CONSPIRACY TO ASSASSINATE ABRAHAM LIN-
COLN ON His JOURNEY TO BALTIMORE, FROM THE " LIFE OF ABRA-
HAM LINCOLN," BY WARD H. LAMON, PP. 511-526, . . .120

APPENDIX II.

EXTRACT FROM THE OPINION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED
STATES, DELIVERED BY CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY, IN THE CASE OF
DRED SCOTT vs. SANFORD (19 How. 407), 138

APPENDIX III,

THE HABEAS CORPUS CASE. OPINION OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE

UNITED STATES (Ex Parte JOHN MERRYMAN), .... 139

APPENDIX IV.

MESSAGE OF THE 12TH OF JULY, 1861, TO THE FIRST AND SECOND
BRANCHES OF THE CITY COUNCIL, REFERRING TO THE EVENTS OF
THE 19TH OF APRIL AND THOSE WHICH FOLLOWED. THE FlRST
PARAGRAPH AND THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS OF THIS DOCUMENT, 157

APPENDIX V.

As A PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE TIMES, REPRODUCTION FROM THE
BALTIMORE " AMERICAN " OF DECEMBER 5, 1860, OF THE RECEP-
TION OF THE PUTNAM PHALANX, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, IN
THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, 160

8 Contents.

APPENDIX VI.

VISIT OF A PORTION OP THE MEMBERS OP THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS
REGIMENT TO BALTIMORE ON THE 19ra OF APRIL, 1880, AND AN
ACCOUNT OF ITS RECEPTION, FROM THE BALTIMORE "Sim" AND
THE BALTIMORE "AMERICAN," 167

INDEX, 171

BALTIMORE AND THE

OF APRIL, 1861,

A STUDY OF THE WAR,
CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION. THE FIRST BX.OOD SHED IN THE WAR. THE

SUPPOSED PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE INCOMING PRESI-
DENT. THE MIDNIGHT RIDE TO WASHINGTON.

I have offcen been solicited by persons of widely opposite
political opinions to write an account of the events which
occurred in Baltimore on the 19th of April, 1861, about
which much that is exaggerated and sensational has been
circulated; but, for different reasons, I have delayed com-
plying with the request until this time.

These events were not isolated facts, but were the natural
result of causes which had roots deep in the past, and they
were followed by serious and important consequences. The
narrative, to be complete, must give some account of both
cause and consequence, and to do this briefly and with a
proper regard to historical proportion is no easy task.

Moreover, it is not pleasant to disturb the ashes of a great
conflagration, which, although they have grown cold on the
surface, cover embers still capable of emitting both smoke
and heat ; and especially is it not pleasant when the disturber

10 Baltimore and the IWi of April, 1861.

of the ashes was himself an actor in the scenes which he is
asked to describe.

But more than twenty-five years have passed, and with
them have passed away most of the generation then living ;
and, as one of the rapidly diminishing survivors, I am admon-
ished by the lengthening shadows that anything I may have
to say should be said speedily. The nation has learned many
lessons of wisdom fi'om its civil war, and not the least
among them is that every truthful contribution to its annals
or to its teachings is not without some value.

I have accordingly undertaken the task, but not without
reluctance, because it necessarily revives recollections of
the most trying and painful experiences of my life experi-
ences which for a long time I have not unwillingly permitted
to fade in the dim distance.

There was another 19th of April that of Lexington in
1775 which has become memorable in history for a battle
between the Minute Men of Massachusetts and a column of
British troops, in which the first blood was shed in the war
of the Revolution. It was the heroic beginning of that
contest.

The fight which occurred in the streets of Baltimore on the
19th of April, 1861, between the 6th Regiment of Massa-
chusetts Volunteers*and a mob of citizens, was also memo-
rable, because then was shed the first blood in a conflict
between the North and the South; then a step was taken
which made compromise or retreat almost impossible; then
passions on both sides were aroused which could not be con-
trolled. 1 In each case the outbreak was an explosion of

3 At Fort Sumter, it is true, one week earlier, the first collision of arms
had taken place ; but strangely, that bombardment was unattended with
loss of life. And it did not necessarily mean 'war between North and

The Supposed Plot. 11

conflicting forces long suppressed, but certain, sooner or later,
to occur. Here the coincidence ends. The Minute Men of
Massachusetts were so called because they were prepared to
rise on a minute's notice. They had anticipated and had
prepared for the strife. The attack by the mob in Baltimore
was a sudden uprising of popular fury. The events themselves
were magnified as the tidings flashed over the whole country,
and the consequences were immediate. The North became
wild with astonishment and rage, and the S'outh rose to fever-
heat from the conviction that Maryland was about to fall into
line as the advance guard of the Southern Confederacy.

In February, 1861, when Mr. Lincoln was on his way to
Washington to prepare for his inauguration as President of
the United States, an unfortunate incident occurred which had
a sinister influence on the State of Maryland, and especially
on the city of Baltimore. Some superserviceable persons,
carried away, honestly no doubt, by their own frightened
imaginations, and perhaps in part stimulated by the tempta-
tion of. getting up a sensation of the first class, succeeded in
persuading Mr. Lincoln that a formidable conspiracy existed
to assassinate him on his way through Maryland.

It was announced publicly that he was to come from Phila-
delphia, not by the usual route through Wilmington, but by
a circuitous journey through Harrisburg, and thence by the
Northern Central Railroad to Baltimore. Misled by this
statement, I, as Mayor of the city, accompanied by the JPolice
Commissioners and supported by a strong force of police, was
at the Calvert-street station on Saturday morning, February
23d, at half-past eleven o'clock, the appointed time of arrival,
ready to receive with due respect the incoming President. An

12 Baltimore and the 19ft of April, 1861.

open carriage was in "waiting, in which I was to have the honor
of escorting Mr. Lincoln through the city to the Washington
station, and of sharing in any danger which he might
encounter. It is hardly necessary to say that I apprehended
none. "When the train came it appeared, to my great aston-
ishment, that Mrs. Lincoln and her three sons had arrived
safely and without hindrance or molestation of any kind, but
that Mr. Lincoln could not be found. It was then announced
that he had passed through the city incognito in the night
train by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail-
road, and had reached Washington in safety at the usual
hour in the morning. For this signal deliverance from an
imaginary peril, those who devised the ingenious plan of
escape were of course devoutly thankful, and they accordingly
took to themselves no little amount of credit for its success.
If Mr. Lincoln had arrived in Baltimore at the time
expected, and had spoken a few words to the people who had
gathered to hear him, expressing the kind feelings which
were in his heart with the simple eloquence of which he was
so great a master, he could not have failed to make a very
different impression from that which was produced not only^
by the want of confidence and respect manifested towards the^
city of Baltimore by the plan pursued, but still more by the
mmner iii which it was carried out. On such an occasion
as this <even trifles are of importance, and this incident was
not a trifle. The emotional part of human nature is its
strongest side and soonest leads to action. It was so with the
people of Baltimore. Fearful accounts of the conspiracy
flew all <yvser the country, creating a hostile feeling against
the city, from which it soon afterwards suffered. A single
specimen of the news thus spread will suffice. A dispatch

to the New York Tm& 9

The Supposed Plot 13

dated February 23d, 8 A. M., says : "Abraham Lincoln, the
President-elect of the United States, is safe in the capital of
the nation." Then, after describing the dreadful nature of
the conspiracy, it adds : " The list of the names of the con-
spirators presented a most astonishing array of persons high
in Southern confidence, and some whose fame is not confined
to this country alone."

Of course, the list of names was never furnished, and all
the men in buckram vanished in air. This is all the notice
which this matter would require except for the extraordinary
narrative contributed by Mr. Samuel M. Felton, at that time
President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad Company, to the volume entitled "A History of
Massachusetts in the Civil War," published in 1868.

Early in 1861, Mr. Felton had made, as he supposed, a
remarkable discovery of " a deep-laid conspiracy to capture
"Washington and break up the Government."

Soon afterwards Miss Dix, the philanthropist, opportunely
came to his office on a Saturday afternoon, stating that she
had an important communication to make to him personally,
and then, with closed doors and for more than an hour, she
poured into his ears a thrilling tale, to which he attentively
listened. " The sum of all was (I quote the language of Mr.
Felton) that there was then an extensive and organized
conspiracy throughout the South to seize upon Washington,
with its archives and records, and then declare the Southern
conspirators de facto the Government of the United States.
The whole was to be a cowp d'&at. At the same time they
were to cut off all modes of communication between Wash-
ington and the North, East or West, and thus prevent the
transportation of troops to wrest the capital from the hands
of the insurgents* Mr. Lincoln's inauguration was thus to

14 Baltimore and the 19ft of April, 1861.

be prevented, or his life was to fall a sacrifice to the attempt
at inauguration. In fact, troops were then drilling on the
line of our own road, and the "Washington and Annapolis
line and other lines."

It was clear that the knowledge of a treasonable conspiracy
of such vast proportions, which had already begun its opera-
tions, ought not to be confined solely to the keeping of Mr,
Felton and Miss Dix. Mr. N". P. Trist, an officer of the
road, was accordingly admitted into the secret, and was
dispatched in haste to Washington, to lay all the facts before
General Scott, the Commander-in-Chief. The General, how-
ever, would give no assurances except that he would do all
he could to bring sufficient troops to Washington to make it
secure. Matters stood in this unsatisfactory condition fox*
some time, until a new rumor reached the ears of Mr. Felton.

A gentleman from Baltimore, he says, came out to Back
River Bridge, about five miles east of the city, and told the
bridgekeeper that he had information which had come to his
knowledge, of vital importance to the road, which he wished
communicated to Mr. Felton. The nature of this communi-
cation was that a party was then organized in Baltimore to
burn the bridges in case Mr. Lincoln came over the road, or
iu case an attempt was made to carry troops for the defense
of Washington. The party at tibat time had combustible
materials prepared to pour over the bridges, and were to dis-
guise themselves as negroes and be at the bridge just before
the train in which Mr. Lincoln travelled had arrived. The
bridge was then to be burned, the train attacked, and Mr.
Lincoln to be put out of the way. The man appeared several
times, always, it seems, to the bridgekeeper, and he always
communicated new information about the conspirators, but
he would never give his name nor place of abode, and both

The Supposed Plot. 15

still remain a mystery. Mr. Felton himself then went to
Washington, where he succeeded in obtaining from a promi-
nent gentleman from Baltimore whom he there saw, the judi*
cious advice to apply to Marshal Kane, the Chief of Police in
Baltimore, with the assurance that he was a perfectly reliable
person. Marshal Kane was accordingly seen, but he scouted
the idea that there was any such thing on foot as a conspiracy
to burn the bridges and cut off Washington, and said he
had thoroughly investigated the whole matter, and there was
not the slightest foundation for such rumors. Mr. Felton
was not satisfied, but he would have nothing more to do with
Marshal Kane. He next sent for a celebrated detective in
the West, whose name is not given, and through this chief
and his subordinates every nook and corner of the road and
its vicinity was explored. They reported that they had
joined the societies of the conspirators in Baltimore and got
into their secrets, and that the secret working of secession
and treason was laid bare, with all its midnight plottings and
daily consultations. The conspiracy being thus proved to
Mr. Felton's satisfaction, he at once organized and armed a
force of two hundred men and scattered them along the line
of the railroad between the Susquehanna and Baltimore, prin-
cipally at the bridges. But, strange to say, all that was
accomplished by this formidable body was an enormous job
of whitewashing.

The narrative proceeds : " These men were drilled' secretly
and regularly by drill-masters, and were apparently employed
in whitewashing the bridges, putting on some six or seven
coats of whitewash saturated with salt and alum, to make the
outside of the bridges as nearly fireproof as possible. This
whitewashing, so extensive in its application, became (con-
tinues Mr. Felton) the nine days' wonder of the neighbor-

16 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

hood." And well it might. After the lapse of twenty-five
years the wonder over this feat of strategy can hardly yet
have ceased in that rural and peaceful neighborhood. But,
unfortunately for Mr. Felton ? s peace of mind, the programme
of Mr. Lincoln's journey was suddenly changed. He had
selected a different route. He had decided to go to Harris-
burg from Philadelphia, and thence by day to Baltimore,
over another and a rival road, known as the Northern Cen-
tral. Then the chief detective discovered that the attention
of the conspirators was suddenly turned to the Northern
Central road. The mysterious unknown gentleman from Bal-
timore appeared again on the scene and confirmed this state-
ment. He gave warning that Mr. Lincoln was to be way-
laid and his life sacrificed on that road, on which no white-
wash had been used, and where there were no armed men to
protect him.

Mr. Felton hurried to Philadelphia, and there, in a hotel,
joined his chief detective, who was registered under a feigned
name. Mr, Lincoln, cheered by a dense crowd, was, at that
moment, passing through the streets of Philadelphia, A
sub-detective was Sent to brinjj Mr. Judd, Mr. Lincoln's
intimate friend, to the hotel to hold a consultation. Mr,
Judd was in the procession with Mr. Lincoln, but the emer-
gency admitted no delay. The eagerness of the sub-detective
was so great that he was three times arrested and carried out
of the crowd by the police before he could reach Mr. Judd,
The fourth attempt succeeded, and Mr. Judd was at last
brought to the hotel, where he met .both Mr. Felton and the
chief detective. The narrative then proceeds in the words of
Mr. Felton : " We lost no time in making known to him
(Mr. Judd) all the facts which had come to our knowledge
in reference to the conspiracy, and I most earnestly advised

The Midnight Ride to Washington. 17

sleeping-car. Mr. Judd fully entered into the plan, and said
he would urge Mr. Lincoln to adopt it. On his communi-
cating with Mr. Lincoln, after the services of the evening
were over, he answered that he had engaged to go to Harris-
burg and speak the next day, and that he would not break
his engagement, even in the face of such peril, but that after
he had fulfilled his engagement he would follow such advice
as we might give him in reference to his journey to "Washing-
ton." Mr. Lincoln accordingly went to Harrisburg the next
day and made an address. After that the arrangements for
the journey were shrouded in the profoundest mystery. It
was given out that he was to go to Governor Curtin's house
for the night, but he was, instead, conducted to a point about
two miles out of Harrisburg, where an extra car and enginfe
waited to take him to Philadelphia. The telegraph lines east,
west, north and south from Harrisburg were cut, so that no
message as to his movements could be sent off in any direc-
tion. But all this caused a detention, and the night train
from Philadelphia to Baltimore had to be held back until the
arrival of Mr. Lincoln at the former place. If, however, the
delay proved to be considerable, when Mr. Lincoln reached
Baltimore the connecting train to Washington might leave
without him. But Mr. Felton was equal to the occasion.
He devised a plan which was communicated to only three or
four on the road. A messenger was sent to Baltimore by an
earlier train to say to the officials of the Washington road
that a very important package must be delivered in "Washing-
ton early in the morning, and to request them to wait for the
night train from Philadelphia. To give color to this state-
ment, a package of old railroad reports, done tip with great
care, and with a large seal attached, marked by Mr. Felton's
own hand, " Very Important," was sent in the train which

18 Baltimore and the l$th of April, 1861.

delphia through Maryland and Baltimore to the city of Wash-
ington. The only remarkable incident of the journey was the
mysterious behavior of the few officials who were entrusted
with the portentous secret.

I do not know how others may be affected by this narra-
tive, but I confess even now to a feeling of indignation that
Mr. Lincoln, who was no coward, but proved himself on
many an occasion to be a brave man, was thus prevented
from carrying out his original intention of journeying to
Baltimore in the light of day, in company with his wife and
children, relying as he always did on the honor and manhood
of the American people. It is true we have, to our sorrow,
learned by the manner of hie death, as well as by the fate of
still another President, that no one occupying so high* a place
can be absolutely safe, even in this country, from the danger
of assassination, but it is still true that as a rule the best
way to meet such danger is boldly to defy it.

Mr. C. C. Felton, son of Mr. Samuel M. Felton, in an
article entitled " The Baltimore Plot," published in Decem-
ber, 1885, in the Harvard Monthly, has attempted to revive
this absurd story. He repeats the account of whitewashing
the bridges, and of the astonishment created among the good
people of the neighborhood. He has faith in " the unknown
Baltimorean " who visited the bridgekeeper, but would
never give his name, and in the spies employed, who, he tells
us, were "the well-known detective Pinker ton and eight
assistants," and he leaves his readers to infer that Mr.
Lincoln's life was saved by the extraordinary vigilance
which had been exercised and the ingenious plan which had
been devised by his worthy father, but alas!

" The earth fcafch bubbles as the water has,"
and this was of them.

The Midnight Ride to Washington. 19

Colonel Lamon, a close friend of President Lincoln, and the
only person who accompanied him on his night ride to Wash-
ington, has written his biography, a very careful and con-
scientious work, which unfortunately was left unfinished, and
he of course had the strongest reasons for carefully exam-
ining the subject. After a full examination of all the docu-
ments, Colonel Lamon pronounces the conspiracy to be a mere
fiction, and adds in confirmation the mature opinion of Mr.
Lincoln himself.

Colonel Lamon says : l " Mr. Lincoln soon learned to
regret the midnight ride. His friends reproached him, his
enemies taunted him. He was convinced that he had com-
mitted a grave mistake in yielding to the solicitations of a
professional spy and of friends too easily alarmed. He saw
that he had fled from a danger purely imaginary, and felt the
shame and mortification natural to a brave man under such
circumstances. But he was not disposed to take all the
responsibility to himself, and frequently upbraided the
writer for having aided and assisted him to demean himself
at the very moment in all his life when his behavior should
have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure."

As Colonel Lamon's biography, a work of absorbing
interest, is now out of print, and as his account of the ride
and of the results of the investigation of the conspiracy is too
long to be inserted here, it is added in an Appendix.

The account above given has its appropriateness here, for
the midnight ride through Baltimore, and the charge that its
citizens were plotting the President's assassination, helped to
feed the flame of excitement which, in the stirring events of
that time, was already burning too high all over the land,
and especially iji a border city with divided sympathies.

1 The Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 526 ; and see Appendix L

CHAPTER II.

THE COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION IN REGARD TO
SLAVERY. A DIVIDED HOUSE. THE BROKEN COMPACT.
THE RIGHT OF REVOLUTION.

For a period the broad provisions of the Constitution of the
United States, as expounded by the wise and broad decisions
of the Supreme Court, had proved to be equal to every emer-
gency. The thirteeii feeble colonies had grown to be a great
Bepublic, and no external obstacle threatened its majestic
progress ; foreign wars had been waged and vast territories
had been annexed, but every strain on the Constitution only
served to make it stronger. Yet there was a canker in a vital
part which nothing could heal, which from day to day became
more malignant, ajid which those who looked beneath the sur-
face could perceive was surely leading, and at no distant day,
to dissolution or war, or perhaps to both. The canker was
the existence of negro slavery.

In colonial days, kings, lords spiritual and temporal, and
commons, all united in favoring the slave trade. In Massa-
chusetts the Puritan minister might be seen on the Sabbath
going to meeting in family procession, with his negro slave
bringing up the rear. Boston was largely engaged in build-
ing ships and manufacturing rum, and a portion of the ships
and much of the rum were sent to Africa, the rum to buy
slaves, and the ships to bring them to a market in America.
Newport was more largely, and until a more recent time,
engaged in the same traffic.

In Maryland, even the Friends were sometimes owners of

Compromises of the Constitution. 21

slaves ; and it is charged, and apparently with reason, that
"Wenlock Christison, the Quaker preacher, after being driven
from Massachusetts by persecution and coming to Maryland
by way of Barbadoes, sent or brought in with him a number
of slaves, who cultivated his plantation until his death. In
Georgia, the Calvinist Whitefield blessed God for his negro
plantation, which was generously given to him to establish
his " Bethesda " as a refuge for orphan children.

In the Dred Scott case, Chief Justice Taney truly described
the opinion, which he deplored, prevailing at the time of the
adoption of the Constitution, as being that the colored man
had no rights which the white man was bound to respect. 1

The Constitution had endeavored to settle the question of
slavery by a compromise. As the difficulty in regard to it
arose far more from political than moral grounds, so in the
settlement the former were almost exclusively considered. It
was, however, the best that could be made at that time. It is
certain that without such a compromise the Constitution would
not have been adopted. The existence of slavery in a State
was left in the discretion of the State itself. If a slave escaped
to another State, he was to be returned to his master. Laws
were passed by Congress to carry out this provision, and the
Supreme Court decided that they were constitutional.

For a long time the best people at the North stood firmly
by the compromise. It was a national compact, and must be
respected. But ideas, and especially moral ideas, cannot be
forever fettered by a compact, no matter how solemn may be
its sanctions. The change of opinion at the North was
first slow, then rapid, and then so powerful as to overwhelm
all opposition. John Brown, who was executed for raising a

1 Judge Taney J s utterance on this subject has been frequently and grossly
misrepresented. In Appendix II. will be found what he really did say.

22 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

negro insurrection in Virginia, in which men were wounded
and killed, was reverenced by many at the North as a hero, a
martyr and a saint. It had long been a fixed fact that no
fugitive slave could by process of law be returned from the
North into slavery. With the advent to power of the Repub-
lican party & party based on opposition to slavery another
breach in the outworks of the Constitution, as interpreted by
the Supreme Court, had been made. Sooner or later the
same hands would capture the citadel. Sooner or later it
was plain that slavery was doomed.

In the memorable Senatorial campaign in Illinois between
Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, the latter, in his
speech before the Republican State Convention at Springfield,
June 17, 1858, struck the keynote of his party by the bold
declaration on the subject of slavery which he then made and
never recalled.

This utterance was the more remarkable because on the
previous day the convention had passed unanimously a res-
olution declaring that Mr. Lincoln was their first and only
choice for United States Senator, to fill the vacancy about to
be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglas's term of office,
but the convention had done nothing which called for the
advanced ground on which Mr. Lincoln planted himself in
that speech. It was carefully prepared.

The narrative of Colonel Lamon in his biography of
Lincoln is intensely -interesting and dramatic. 1

About a dozen gentlemen, he says, were called to meet in
the library of the State House. After seating them at the
round table, Mr. Lincoln read his entire speech, dwelling
slowly on that part which speaks of a divided house, so that
every man fully understood it. * After he had finished, he

1 Lamon 's Life of Lincoln, p. 808,

A Divided House, 23

asked for the opinion of his friends. All but "William H.
Herndon, the law partner of Mr. Lincoln, declared that the
whole speech was too far in advance of the times ; and they
especially condemned that part which referred to a divided
house. Mr. Hcrndon sat still while they were giving their
respective opinions ; then he sprang to his feet and said :
" Lincoln, deliver it just as it reads. If it is in advance of
the times, let us you and I, if no one else lift the people
to the level of this speech now, higher hereafter. The speech
is true, wise and politic, and will succeed now, or in the
future. Nay, it will aid you, if it will not make you Presi-
dent of the United States." ....

" Mr. Lincoln sat still a short moment, rose from his chair,
walked backward arid forward in the hall, stopped and said :
( Friends, I have thought about this matter a great deal,
have weighed the question well from all corners, and am
thoroughly convinced the time has come when it should be
uttered ; and if it must be that I must go down because of
this speech, then let me go down linked to truth die in the
advocacy of what is right and just. This nation cannot live
on injustice. A house divided against itself cannot stand, I
say again and again.' "

The opening paragraph of the speech is as follows : " If
we could first know where we are and whither we are tend-
ing, we could then better jxidge what to do and how to do it.
We are now far on into the fifth year since a policy was
initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of
putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of
that policy that agitation has not only not ceased, but is con-
stantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a
crisis shall have been reached and passed. A house divided
against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government can-

24 Baltimore and the l$th of April, 1861.

not endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not
expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house
to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will
become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents
of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it
where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the
course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it
forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old
as well as new, North as well as South."

The blast of the trumpet gave no uncertain sound. The
far-seeing suggestion of Mr. Herndon came true to the letter.
I believe this speech made Abraham Lincoln President of the
United States.,

But the fpunders of the Constitution of the United States
had built a house which was divided against itself from the
beginning. They had framed a union of States which was
part free and part slave, and that union was intended to last
forever. Here was an irreconcilable conflict between the
Constitution and the future President of the United States.

When the Republican Convention assembled at Chicago in
May, 1860, in the heat of the contest, which soon became
narrowed down to a choice between Mr. Seward and Mr.
Lincoln, the latter dispatched a friend to Chicago with a
message in writing, which was handed either to Judge Davis
or Judge Logan, both members of the convention, which runs
as follows : " Lincoln agrees with Seward in his irrepressible-
conflict idea, and in negro equality; but he is opposed to
Seward's higher law." But there was no substantial dif-
ference between the position of the two : Lincoln's " divided
house" and Seward's u higher law " placed them really in the
same attitude.

The seventh resolution in the Chicago platform condemned

The Broken Compact. 25

what it described as the " new dogma that the Constitution,
of its own force, carries slavery into any or all of the Terri-
tories of the United States." This resolution was a direct
repudiation by a National Convention of the decision of the
Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case.

On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was
elected President of the United States. Of the actual votes
cast there was a majority against him of 930,170. Next
came Mr. Douglas, who lost the support of the Southern
Democrats by his advocacy of the doctrine of " squatter
sovereignty," as it was called, which was in effect, although
not in form, as hostile to the decision of the Supreme Court
in the Dred Scott case as the seventh resolution of the
Chicago Convention itself. Mr. Breckinridge, of Kentucky,
the candidate of the Southern Democracy, fell very far, and
Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, the candidate of the Union party, as
it was called, a short-lived successor of the old "Whig party,
fell still farther in the rear of the two Northern candidates.

The great crisis had come at last. The Abolition party
had become a portion of the victorious Republican party.
The South, politically, was overwhelmed. Separated now
from its only ally, the Northern Democracy, it stood at last
alone.

It matters not that Mr. Lincoln, after his election, in sin-
cerity of heart held out the olive branch to the nation, and
that during his term of office the South, so far as his influ-
ence could avail, would have been comparatively safe fiom
direct aggressions. Mr. Lincoln was not known then as
he is known now, and, moreover, his term of office would be
but four years.

"What course, then, was left to the South if it was determined
to maintain its rights under the Constitution? What but the
right of self-defense?

26 Baltimore and the I3th of April, 1861.

The house of every man is his castle, and he may defend it
to the death against all aggressors. When a hostile hand is
raised to strike a blow, he who is assaulted need not wait
until the blow falls, but on the instant may protect himself
as best he can. These are the rights of self-defense known,
approved and acted on by all freemen. And where constitu-
tional rights of a people are in jeopardy, a kindred right of
self-defense belongs to them. Although revolutionary in its
character, it is not the less a right.

Wendell Phillips, abolitionist as he was, in a speech made
at New Bedford on the 9th of April, 1861, three days before
the bombardment of Fort Sumter, fully recognized this
right. He said : " Here are a series of States girding the
Gulf, who think that their peculiar institutions require that
they should have a separate government. They have a right
to decide that question without appealing to you or me. A
large body of the people, sufficient to make a nation, have
come to the conclusion that they will have a government of
a certain form. Who denies them the right ? Standing with
the principles of '76 behind us, who can deny them the
right ? What is a matter of a few millions of dollars or a
few forts ? It is a mere drop in the bucket of the great
national question. fc It is theirs just as much as ours. I
maintain, on the principles of ; 76, that Abraham Lincoln has
no right to a soldier in Fort Sumter."

And such was the honest belief of the people who united
in establishing the Southern Confederacy.

Wendell Phillips was not wrong in declaring the princi-
ples of '76 to be kindred to those of J 61. The men of ; 76
did not fight to get rid of the petty tax of three pence a pound
on tea, which was the only tax left to quarrel about. They
were determined to pay no taxes, large or small, then or

The Right of Revolution. 27

thereafter. Whether the tax was lawful or not was a
doubtful question, about which there was a wide difference
of opinion, but they did not care for that. Nothing would
satisfy them but the relinquishment of any claim of right to
tax the colonies, and this they could not obtain. They main-
tained that their rights were violated. They were, moreover,
embittered by a long series of disputes with the mother
country, and they wanted to be independent and to have a
country of their own. They thought they were strong
enough to maintain that position.

Neither were the Southern men of ? 61 fighting for money.
And they too were deeply embittered, not against a mother
country, but against a brother country. The Northern
people had published invectives of the most exasperating
character broadcast against the South in their speeches,
sermons, newspapers and books. The abolitionists had pro-
ceeded from words to deeds and were unwearied in tampering
with the slaves and carrying them off. The Southern people,
on their part, were not less violent in denunciation of the
North. The slavery question had divided the political
parties throughout the nation, and on this question the
South was practically a nnit. They could get no security
that the provisions of the Constitution would be kept either
in letter or in spirit, and this they demanded as their right.

The Southern men thought that they also were strong
enough to wage successfully a defensive war. Like the men
of '76, they in great part were of British stock ; they lived in
a thinly settled country, led simple lives, were accustomed to
the use of arms, and knew how to protect themselves. Such
men make good soldiers, and when their armies were enrolled
the ranks Tp ere filled with men of all classes, the rich as well
as the poor, the educated as well as the ignorant;

28 Baltimore and the l$th of April, 1861,

It is a mistake to suppose that they were inveigled into
secession by ambitious leaders. On the contrary, it is prob-
able that they were not as much under the influence of leaders
as the men of ; 76, and that there were fewer disaffected
among them. At times the scales trembled in the balance.
There are always mistakes in war. It is an easy and un-
grateful task to point them out afterward. We can now
see that grave errors, both financial and military, were
made, and that opportunities were thrown away. How far
these went to settle the contest, we can never certainly know,
but it does not need great boldness to assert that the belief
which the Southern people entertained that they were strong
enough to defend themselves, was not unreasonable.

The determination of the South to maintain slavery was
undoubtedly the main cause of secession, but another deep
and underlying cause was the firm belief of the Southern
.people in the doctrine of States 3 rights, and their jealousy of
any attack upon those rights. Devotion to their State first
of all, a conviction that paramount obligation in case of
any conflict of allegiance was due not to the Union but to
the State, had been part of the political creed of very many
in the South ever since the adoption of the Constitution, An
ignoble love of slavery was not the general and impelling
motive. The slaveholders, who were largely in the minority,
acted as a privileged class always does act. They were de-
termined to maintain their privileges at all hazards. But
they, as well as the great mass of the people who had no
personal interest in slavery, fought the battles of the war
with the passionate earnestness of men who believed with an
undoubting conviction. that they were the defenders not onjy
of home rule and of their firesides, but also of their consti-
tutional rights.

The Eight of Revolution. 29

And behind the money question, the constitutional
question and the moral question, there was still another of
the gravest import. "Was it possible for two races nearly
equal in number, but widely different in character and civil-
ization, to live together in a republic in peace and equality
of rights without mingling in blood? The answer of the
Southern man was, " It is not possible."

CHAPTER III.

DESIRE FOB PEACE. EVENTS WHICH FOL-
LOWED THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. HIS

PROCLAMATION CALLING- FOR TROOPS. THE CITY
AUTHORITIES AND POLICE OF BALTIMORE. INCREASING
EXCITEMENT IN BALTIMORE.

I now come to consider the condition of affairs in Mary-
land. As yet the Republican party had obtained a very slight
foothold. Only 2,294 votes had in the whole State been cast
for Mr. Lincoln. Her sympathies were divided between the
North and the South, with a decided preponderance on the
Southern side. For many years her conscience had been
neither dead nor asleep on the subject of slavery. Families
had impoverished themselves to free their slaves. In 1860
there were 83,942 free colored people in Maryland and 87,189
slaves, the white population being 515,918. Thus there
were nearly as many free as slaves of the colored race.
Emancipation, in spite of harsh laws passed to discounte-
nance it, had rapidly gone on. In the northern part of the
State and in the city of Baltimore there were but few slave-
holders, and the slavery was hardly more than nominal. The
patriarchal institution, as it has been derisively called, had a
real existence in many a household. Not a few excellent
people have I known and respected who were born and bred
in slavery and had been freed by their masters. In 1831 the
State incorporated the Maryland Colonization Society, which
founded on the west coast of Africa a successful republican
colony of colored people, now known as the State of Maryland

Maryland's Desire for Peace. 31

in Liberia, and for twenty-six years, and until the war broke
out, the State contributed $10,000 a year to its support. This
amount was increased by the contributions of individuals.
The board, of which Mr. John H. B. Latrobe was for many
years president, was composed of our best citizens. A code
of laws for the government of the colony was prepared by the
excellent and learned lawyer, Hugh Davey Evans.

"While there was on the part of a large portion of the
people a deep-rooted and growing dislike to slavery, agitation
on the subject had not commenced. ,It was in fact sup-
pressed by reason of the violence of Northern abolitionists
with whom the friends of emancipation were not able to unite.

It is not surprising that Maryland was in no mood for
war, but that her voice was for compromise and peace com-
promise and peace at any price consistent with honor.

The period immediately following the election of Mr. Lin-
coln in November, 1860, was throughout the country one of
intense agitation and of important events. A large party t at
the North preferred compromise to war, even at the cost of
dissolution of the Union. If dissolution began, no one could
tell where it would stop. South Carolina seceded on the
17th of December, 1860. Georgia and the five Gulf States
soon followed. On the 6th of January, 1861, Fernando
"Wood, mayor of the city of New York, sent a message to
the common council advising that New York should secede
and become a free city. 1

1 John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore, the well-known anthor, who had been
member of Congress and Secretary of the Navy, published early in 1861 a
pamphlet entitled "The Border States, Their Power and Duty in the
Present Disordered Condition of the Country. ' ' His idea was that if concert
of action could be had between the Border States and concurring States of
the South which had not seceded, stipulations might be obtained from the
Free States, with the aid of Congress, and, if necessary, an amendment of

32 Baltimore <wd the 19th of April, 1861.

On February the 9th, Jefferson Davis was elected Presi-
dent of the Southern Confederacy, a Confederacy to which
other States would perhaps soon be added. But the Border
States were as yet debatable ground; they might be retained
by conciliation and compromise or alienated by hostile
measures, whether directed against them or against the
seceded States. In Virginia a convention had been called to
consider the momentous question of union or secession, and
an overwhelming majority of the delegates chosen were in
favor of remaining in the Union. Other States were watching
Virginia's course, in order to decide whether to stay in the
Union or go*out of it with her.

On the 12th and IStih of April occurred the memorable
bombardment and surrender of Fort Suniter. On the 15th
of April, President Lincoln issued his celebrated proclama-
tion calling out seventy-five thousand militia, and appealing
" to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort
to maintain the honor, the integrity and existence of our
National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government,
and to redress wrongs already long enough endured." What

the Constitution, which would protect the rights of the South ; but if this
failed, that the Border States and their allies of the South would then be
forced to consider the Union impracticable and to organize a separate
confederacy of the Border States, with the association of such of the
Southern and Free States as might be willing to accede to the proposed
conditions. He hoped that the Union would thus be " reconstructed by
the healthy action of the Border States." The necessary result, however,
would have been that in the meantime three confederacies would have
been in existence. And yet Mr. Kennedy had always been a Union man* \
and when the war broke out was its consistent advocate.

These proposals, from such different sources as Fernando Wood and
John P. Kennedy, tend to show the uncertainty and bewilderment which
had taken possession of the minds of men, and in which few did not share
to a- greater or less degree.

Proclamation for Troops. 33

these wrongs were is not stated. " The first service assigned
^50 the forces hereby called forth," said the proclamation,
"will probably be to re-possess the forts, places and property
which have been seized from the Union." On the same day
there was issued from the War Department a request ad-
dressed to the Governors of the different States, announcing
what the quota of each State would be, and that the troops
were to serve for three months unless sooner discharged.
Maryland's quota was four regiments.

The proclamation was received with exultation at the
North many dissentient voices being silenced in the general
acclaim with defiance at the South, and in Maryland with
mingled feelings in which astonishment, dismay and dis-
approbation were predominant. On all sides it was agreed
that the result must be war, or a dissolution of the Union,
and I may safely say that a large majority of our people then
preferred the latter.

An immediate effect of the proclamation was to intensify
the feeling of hostility in the wavering States, and to drive
four of them into secession. Virginia acted promptly. On
April 17th her convention passed an ordinance of secession
subject to ratification by a vote of the people and Virginia
became the head and front of the Confederacy. .North Caro-
lina, Tennessee and Arkansas soon followed her lead. Mean-
while, and before the formal acts of secession, the Governors
of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee sent prompt and
defiant answers to the requisition, emphatically refusing to
furnish troops, as did also the Governors of Kentucky and
Missouri.

The position of Maryland was most critical. This State
was especially important, because the capital of the natioa
lay within her borders, and all the roads from the North

34 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

leading to it passed through her territory. After the Presi-
dent's proclamation was issued, no doubt a large majority of
her people sympathized with the South; but even had that
sentiment been far more preponderating, there was an under-
lying feeling that by a sort of geographical necessity her lot
was cast with the North, that the larger and stronger half of
the nation would not allow its capital to be quietly disin-
tegrated away by her secession. Delaware and Maryland
were the only Border States which did not attempt to secede.
Kentucky at first took the impossible stand of an armed
neutrality. When this failed, a portion of her people passed
an ordinance of secession, and a portion of the people of Mis-
souri passed a similar ordinance.

It is now proper to give some explanation of the condition
of affairs in Baltimore, at that time a city of 215,000 inhab-
itants.

Thomas Holliday Hicks, who had been elected by the
American, or Know-Nothing party, three years before, was
the Governor of the State. The city authorities, consisting
of the mayor and city council, had been elected in October,
1860, a few weeks before the Presidential election, not as rep-
resentatives of any of the national parties, but as the candi-
dates of an independent reform party, and in opposition to the
Know-Nothing party. This party, which then received its
quietus, had been in power for some years, and had maintained
itself by methods which made its rule little better than a
reign of terror. 1 No one acquainted with the history of that

1 The culmination of this period of misrule was at the election in Novem-
ber, 1859, when the fraud and violence were so flagrant that the Legislature
of the State unseated the whole Baltimore delegation -ten members. The
city being thus without representation, it became necessary, when a special
session of the Legislature was called in April, 1861, that a new delegation

City Authorities of Baltimore. 35

period can doubt that the reform was greatly needed. A large
number of the best men of the American party united in the
movement, and with their aid it became triumphantly suc-
cessful, carrying every ward in the city. The city council was
composed of men of unusually high character. " Taken as a
whole" (Scharf s "History of Maryland," Vol. III., p. 284),
* a better ticket has seldom, if ever, been brought out. In
the selection of candidates all party tests were discarded, and
all thought of rewarding partisan services repudiated/' Four
police commissioners, appointed by the Legislature Charles
Howard, William H. Gatchell, Charles D. Hinks and John
W. Davis men of marked ability and worth, had, with the
mayor, who was esc offido a member of the board, the appoint-
ment and control of the police force. Mr. S. Teackle Wallis
\fras the legal adviser of the board. The entire police force
consisted of 398 men, and had been raised to a high degree of
discipline and efficiency under the command of Marshal
Kane. They were armed with revolvers.

Immediately after the call of the President for troops,
including four regiments from Maryland, a marked division
among the people manifested itself. Two large and excited
crowds, eager for news, and nearly touching each other, stood
from morning until late at night before two newspaper offices
on Baltimore street which advocated contrary views and opin-
ions. Strife was in the air. It was difficult for the police to
keep the peace. Business was almost suspended. Was there
indeed to be war between the sections, or could it yet, by some

from Baltimore should be chosen. It was this same Legislature (elected in
1859), which took away from the mayor of the city the control of its police,
and entrusted tha^; force to a board of police commissioners. This change,
a most fortunate one for the city at that crisis, resulted in the immediate
establishment of good order, and made possible the reform movement of the
next autumn.

36 Baltimore and the IQth of April, 1861.

unlooked-for interposition, be averted ? Would the Border
States interfere and demand peace ? There was a deep and
pervading impression of impending evil. And now an imme-
diate fear was as to the effect on the citizens of the passage of
Northern troops through the city. Should they be permitted
to cross the soil of Maryland, to make war on sister States of
the South, allied to her by so many ties of affection, as well
as of kindred institutions ? On the other hand, when the
capital of the nation was in danger, should not the kindest
greeting and welcome be extended to those who were first to
come to the rescue ? Widely different were the answers given
to these questions. The Palmetto flag had several times been
raised by some audacious hands in street and harbor, but it
was soon torn down. The National flag and the flag of the
State, with its black and orange, the colors of Lord Baltimore^
waved unmolested, but not side by side, for they had become
symbols of different ideas, although the difference was, as yet,
not clearly defined.

On the 17th of April, the state of aflairs became so serious
that I, as mayor, issued a proclamation earnestly invoking all
good citizens to refrain from every act which could lead to
outbreak or violence of any kind; to refrain from harshness
of speech, and to render in all cases prompt and efficient aid>
as by law they were required to do, to the public authorities,
whose constant efforts would be exerted to maintain unbroken
the peace and order of the city, and to administer the laws
with fidelity and impartiality. I cannot flatter myself that
this appeal produced much effect. The excitement was too
great for any words to allay it.

On the 18th of April, notice was received from Haxrisburg
that two companies of Uiaited States artillery, commanded by
Major Pemberton, and also four companies of militify would

C% Authorities of Baltimore. 37

arrive by the Northern Central Kailroad at Bolton Station,
in the northern part of the city, at two o'clock in the after-
noon. The militia had neither arms nor uniforms.

Before the troops arrived at the station, where I was waiting
to receive them, I was suddenly called away by a message
from Governor Hicks stating that he desired to see me on
business of urgent importance, and this prevented my having
personal knowledge of what immediately afterward occurred.
The facts, however, axe that a large crowd assembled at the
station and followed the soldiers in their march to the Wash-
ington station with abuse and threats. The regulars were
not molested, but the wrath of the mob was directed against
the militia, and an attack would certainly have been made
but for the vigilance and determination of the police, under
the command of Marshal Kane.

" These proceedings/' says Mr. Scharf, in the third volume
of his "History of Maryland," page 401, "were an earnest of
what might be expected on the arrival of other troops, the
excitement growing in intensity with every hour. Numerous
outbreaks occurred in the neighborhood of the newspaper
offices during the day, and in the evening a meeting of the
States Eights Convention was held in Taylor's building, on
Fayette street near Calvert, where, it is alleged, very strong
ground was taken against the passage of any more troops
through Baltimore, and armed resistance to it threatened.
On motion of Mr. Ross "Winans, the following resolutions
were unanimously adopted :

" Rteolved, That in the opinion of this convention the prosecution of the
design announced by the President in his late proclamation, of recapturing
the forts in the seceded States, will inevitably lead to a sanguinary war,
the dissolution of the Union, and the irreconcilable estrangement of the
people of the South from the people of the North.

" Resolved, That we protest in the name of the people of Maryland

38 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

against the garrisoning of Southern forts by militia drawn from the free
States ; or the quartering of militia from the free States in any of the towns
or places of the slaveholding States.

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention the massing of large
hodies of militia, exclusively from the free States, in the "District of
Columbia, is uncalled for by any public danger or exigency, is a standing
menace to the State of Maryland, and an insult to her loyalty and good
faith, and will, if persisted in, alienate her people from a government
which thus attempts to overawe them by the presence of armed men and
treats them with contempt and distrust.

" Resolved, That the time has arrived when it becomes all good citizens
to unite in a common effort to obliterate all party lines which have hereto-
fore unhappily divided us, and to present an unbroken front in the preser-
vation and defense of our interests, our homes and our firesides, to avert
the horrors of civil war, and to repel, if need be, any invader who may
come to establish a military despotism over us.

"A. C. ROBINSON, Chairman."
" Gk HABLAN WILLIAMS,
" ALBERT RITCHIE,

"Secretaries."

The names of the members who composed this convention
are not given, but the mover of the resolutions and the officers
of the meeting were men well known and respected in this
community.

The bold and threatening character of the resolutions did
not tend to calm the public mind. They did not, however,
advocate an attack on the troops.

In Putnam's "Record of the Rebellion," Volume I, page
29, the following statement is made of a meeting which was
held on the morning of the 18th of April: "An excited
secession meeting was held at Baltimore, Maryland. T.
Parkin Scott occupied the chair, and speeches denunciatory
of the Administration and the North were made by Wilson C.
N. Carr, William Byrne [improperly spelled Burns], Pres-
ident of the National Volunteer Association, and others."

Increasing Excitement. 39

An account of the meeting is before me, written by Mr.
Carr, lately deceased, a gentleman entirely trustworthy. He
did not know, he says, of the existence of such an association,
but on his way down town having seen the notice of a town
meeting to be held at Taylor's Hall, to take into considera-
tion the state of affairs, he went to the meeting. Mr. Scott
was in the chair and was speaking. He was not making an
excited speech, but, on the contrary, was urging the audience
to do nothing rashly, but to be moderate and not to interfere
with any troops that might attempt to pass through the city.
As soon as he had finished, Mr. Carr was urged to go up to
the platform and reply to Mr. Scott. I now give Mr. Carr's
words. " I went up," he says, " but had no intention of say-
ing anything in opposition to what Mr. Scott had advised
the people to do. I was not there as an advocate of secession,
but was anxious to see some way opened for reconciliation
between the North and South. I did not make an excited
speech nor did I denounce the Administration. I saw that I
was disappointing - the crowd. Some expressed their dis-
approbation pretty plainly and I cut my speech short. As
soon as I finished speaking the meeting adjourned."

After the war was over, Mr. Scott was elected Chief Judge
of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City. He was a strong
sympathizer with the South, and had the courage of his con-
victions, but he had been also an opponent of slavery, and I
have it from his own lips -that years before the war, on a
Fourth of July, he had persuaded his mother to liberate all
her slaves, although she depended largely on their services
for her support. And yet ne lived and died a poor man.
, On the 16th of April, Marshal Kane addressed a letter to
William Crawford, the Baltimore agent of the Philadelphia,
"Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, in the follow-
ing terms :

40 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

"Dear JSir : Is it true as stated that' an attempt will be made to pass
the volunteers from New York intended to war upon the South over your
road to-day? It is important that we have explicit understanding on the
subject. Your friend, GEORGE P. KANE."

This letter was not submitted to me, nor to the board of
police. If it had been, it would have been couched in very
different language. Mr. Crawford forwarded it to the Presi-
dent of the road, who, on the same day, sent it to Simon
Cameron, the Secretary of War.

Mr. Cameron, on April 18th, wrote to Governor Hicks,
giving him notice that there were unlawful combinations of
citizens of Maryland to impede the transit of United States
troops across Maryland on their way to the defense of the
capital, and that the President thought it his duty to make
it known to the Governor; so that all loyal and patriotic
citizens might be warned in time, and that he might be pre-
pared to take immediate and effective measures against it.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Governor Hicks arrived in
town. He had prepared a proclamation as Governor of
the State, and wished me to issue another as mayor of the
city, which I agreed to do. In it he said, among other things,
that the unfortunate state of affairs now existing in the country
had greatly excited the people of Maryland; that the
emergency was great, and that the consequences of a rash
step would be fearful. He therefore counselled the people in
all earnestness to withhold their hands from whatever might
tend to precipitate us into the gulf of discord and ruin gap-
ing to receive us. All powers vested in the Governor of the
State would be strenuously exerted to preserve peace and
maintain inviolate the honor and integrity of Maryland-
He assured the people that no troops would be eent from
Maryland, unless it might be for the defense of the national

Increasing Excitement. 41

capital. He concluded by saying that the people of this
State would in a short time have the opportunity afforded
them, in a special election for members of Congress, to express
their devotion to the Union, or their desire to see it broken up.

This proclamation is of importance in several respects.
It shows the great excitement of the people and the imminent
danger of domestic strife. It shows, moreover, that even the
Governor of the State had then little idea of the course which
he himself was soon about to pursue. If this was the case
with the Governor, it could not have been different with
thousands of the people. Very soon he became a thorough
and uncompromising upholder of the war.

In my proclamation I concurred with the Governor in his
determination to preserve the peace and maintain inviolate-
the honor and integrity of Maryland, and added that I could
not withhold my expression of satisfaction at his resolution*
that no troops should be sent from Maryland to the soil of
any other State.

Simultaneously with the passage of the first Northern,
regiments on their way to Washington, came the news that
Virginia had seceded. Two days were crowded with stirring
news a proclamation from the President of the Southern,
Confederacy offering to issue commissions or letters of marque
to privateers, President Lincoln's proclamation declaring a
blockade of Southern ports, the Norfolk Navy Yard aban-
doned, Harper's Ferry evacuated and the arsenal in the hands-
of Virginia troops. These events, so exciting in themselves^
and coming together with the passage of the first troops*,
greatly increased ttie danger of an explosion.

CHAPTER TV.

THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS KEGIMENT IN BALTIMORE. THE

FIGHT. THE DEPARTURE FOR WASHINGTON. CORRES-
PONDENCE IN REGARD TO THE KILLED AND WOUNDED.

PUBLIC MEETING. TELEGRAM TO THE PRESIDENT. NO

REPLY. BURNING OF BRIDGES.

The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment had the honor of being
the first to march in obedience to the call of the President,
completely equipped and organized. It had a full band and
regimental staff. Mustered at Lowell on the morning of the
16th, the day after the proclamation was issued, four companies
from Lowell presented themselves, and to these were added
two from Lawrence, one from Groton, one from Acton, and
one from Worcester ; and when the regiment reached Boston,
at one o'clock, an additional company was added from that
city and another from Stoneham, making eleven in all about
seven hundred men. 1 It was addressed by the Governor of
the State in front of the State House. In the city and along
the line of the railroad, on the 17th, everywhere, ovations
attended them. In the march down Broadway, in New York,
<on the 18th, the wildest enthusiasm inspired all classes.
Similar scenes occurred in the progress through New Jersey
and through the city of Philadelphia. At midnight on the
ilSth, reports reached Philadelphia that the passage of the
regiment through Baltimore would be disputed.

An unarmed and un-uniformed Pennsylvania regiment,
under Colonel Small, was added to the train, either in Phila-

1 Hanson's Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, p. 14.

The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, 43

delphia or when the train reached the Susquehanna it has
been stated both ways, and I am not sure which account is
correct and the two regiments made the force about seven-
teen hundred men.

The proper course for the Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore Railroad Company was to have given immediate
notice to the mayor or board of police of the number of the
troops, and the time when they were expected to arrive in
the city, so that preparation might have been made to receive
them, but no such notice was given. On the contrary, it was
purposely withheld, and no information could be obtained
from the office of the company, although the marshal of police
repeatedly telegraphed to Philadelphia to learn when the
troops were to be expected. No news was received until
from a half hour to an hour of the time at which they were
to arrive. "Whatever was the reason that no notice of the
approach of the troops was given, it was not because they
had no apprehensions of trouble. Mr. Felton, the president
of the railroad company, says that before the troops left Phila-
delphia he called the colonel and principal officers into his
office, and told them of the dangers they would probably
encounter, and advised that each soldier should load his
musket before leaving and be ready for any emergency.
Colonel Jones's official report, which is dated, "Capitol,
Washington, April 22, 1861," says, "After leaving Phila-
delphia, I received intimation that the passage through the
city of Baltimore would be resisted. I caused ammunition
to be distributed and arms loaded, and went personally
through the cars, and issued the following order viz. :

" ' The regiment will march through Baltimore in columns
of sections, arms at will. You will undoubtedly be in-
sulted, abused, and perhaps assaulted, to which you must

44 Baltimore and ike 19th of April, 1861.

pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces square
to the front, and pay no attention to the mob, even if they
throw stones, bricks, or other missiles ; but if you are fired
upon, and any of you are hit, your officers will order you to
fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select
any man whom you may see aiming at you, and be sure you
drop him.' "

If due notice had been given, and if this order had been
carried out, the danger of a serious disturbance would have
been greatly diminished. The plainest dictates of prudence
required the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania regiments to
march through the city in a body. The Massachusetts regi-
ment was armed with muskets, and could have defended
itself, and would also have had aid from the police; and
although the Pennsylvania troops were unarmed, they would
have been protected by the police just as troops from the
same State had been protected on the day before. The mayor
and police commissioners would have been present, adding
the sanction and authority of their official positions. But
the plan adopted laid the troops open to be attacked in detail
when they were least able to defend themselves and were out
of the reach of assistance from the police. This plan was
that when the train reached the President-street or Phila-
delphia station, in the southeastern part of Baltimore, each
car should, according to custom, be detached from the engine
and be drawn through the city by four horses for the distance
of more than a mile to the Camden-street or Washington
station, in the southwestern part of the city. Some one had
blundered.

The train of thirty-five cars arrived at President-street
Station at about eleven o'clock. . The course which the troops
had to take was first northerly on President street, four
fn Pratt, strfifit. a crowded thoroufirh&re leading along

The Sixth Massachusetts in Baltimore. 45

the heads of the docks, then along Pratt street west for nearly
a mile to Howard street, and then south, on Howard street,
one square to the Camden-street station.

Drawn by horses across the city at a rapid pace, about
nine 1 cars, containing seven companies of the Massachusetts
Sixth, reached the Camden-street station, the first carloads
being assailed only with jeers and hisses; but the last car,
containing Company " K " and Major Watson, was delayed on
its passage according to one account was thrown off the track
by obstructions, and had to be replaced with the help of a
passing team ; paving-stones and other missiles were thrown,
the windows were broken, and some of the soldiers were
struck. Colonel Jones was in one of the cars which passed
through. Near Gray street, it happened that a number of
laborers were at work repaving Pratt street, and had taken
up the cobble-stones for the purpose of relaying them. As
the troops kept passing, the crowd of bystanders grew larger,
the excitement and among many the feeling of indignation
grew more intense; each new aggressive act was the signal
and example for further aggression. A. cart coming by with
a load of sand, the track was blocked by dumping the cart-
load upon it I have been told that this was the act of some
merchants and clerks of the neighborhood and then, as a
more effectual means of obstruction, some anchors lying near
the head of the Gray-street dock were dragged up to and
placed across the track. 2

According to some of the published accounts seven cars got through,
which would have been one to each coinpan7, but I believe that the num-
ber of the cars and of the companies did not correspond. Probably the
larger companies were divided.

- For participation in placing this obstruction, a wealthy merchant of
long experience, usually a very peaceful man, was afterward indicted for
treason by the Grand Jury of the Circuit Court of the United States in
Baltimore, "but his trial was not pressed.

46 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

The next car being stopped by these obstructions, the
driver attached the horses to the rear end of the car and drove
it back, with the soldiers, to the President-street station, the
rest of the cars also, of course, having to turn back, or if
any of them had not yet started to remain where they were
at the depot. In the cars thus stopped and turned back there
were four companies, " 0," " D," " I " and L," under Captains
Follansbee, Hart, Pickering and Dike; also the band, which,
I believe, did not leave the depot, and which remained there
with the unarmed Pennsylvania regiment. These four com-
panies, in all about 220 men, formed on President street, in
the midst of a dense and angry crowd, which threatened and
pressed upon the troops, uttering cheers for Jefferson Davis
and the Southern Confederacy, and groans for Lincoln and
the North, with much abusive language. As the soldiers
advanced along President street, the commotion increased;
one of the band of rioters appeared bearing a Confederate
flag, and it was carried a considei^able distance before it was
torn from its staff by citizens. Stones were thrown in great
numbers, and at the corner of Fawn street two of the soldiers
were knocked down by stones and seriously injured. In
crossing Pratt-street bridge, the troops had to pick their way
over joists and scantling, which by this time had been placed
on the bridge to obstruct their passage.

Colonel Jones's official report, from which I have already
quoted, thus describes what happened after the four com-
panies left the cars. As Colonel Jones was not present during
the march, but obtained the particulars from others, it is not
surprising that his account contains errors. These will be
pointed out and corrected later :

" They proceeded to march in accordance with orders, and
had proceeded but a short distance before they were furiously

The Fight. 47

attacked by a shower of missiles, which came faster as they
advanced. They increased their step to double-quick, which
seemed to infuriate the mob, as it evidently impressed the
mob with the idea that the soldiers dared not fire or had no
am munition, and pistol-shots were numerously fired into the
ranks, and one soldier fell dead. The order "Fire!" was
given, and it was executed ; in consequence several of the
mob fell, and the soldiers again advanced hastily. The
mayor of Baltimore placed himself at the head of the column
beside Captain Follansbee, and proceeded with them a short
distance, assuring him that he would protect them, and
begging him not to let the men fire. But the mayor's
patience was soon exhausted, and he seized a musket from
the hands of one of the men, and killed a man therewith ;
and a policeman, who was in advance of the column, also
shot a man with a revolver. They at last reached the cars,
and they started immediately for "Washington. On going
through the train I found there were about one hundred and
thirty missing, including the band and field music. Our
baggage was seized, and we have not as yet been able to
recover any of it. I have found it very difficult to get
reliable information in regard to the killed and wounded, but
believe there were only three killed.

" As the men went into the cars " [meaning the men who
had marched through the city to Camden Station], "I caused
the blinds to the cars to be closed, and took every precaution
to prevent any shadow of offense to the people of Baltimore,
but still the stones flew thick and fast into the train, and it
was with the utmost difficulty that I could prevent the
troops from leaving the cars and revenging the death of
their comrades. After a volley of stones, some one of the
soldiers fired and killed a Mr, Davis, who, I ascertained by

48 Baltimore and the IQth of April, 1861.

reliable witnesses, threw a stone into the car." This is incor-
rectly stated, as will hereafter appear.

It is proper that I should now go back and take up the
narration from my own point of view.

On the morning of the 19th of April I was at my law office
in Saint Paul street after ten o'clock, when three members of
tlje city council came to me with a message from Marshal
Kane, informing me that he had just received intelligence
that troops were about to arrive I did not learn how many
and that he apprehended a disturbance, and requesting me
to go to the Camden-street station. I immediately hastened
to the office of the board of police, and found that they had
received a similar notice. The Counsellor* of the City, Mr.
George M. Gill, and myself then drove rapidly in a carriage
to the Camden-street station. The police commissioners fol-
lowed, and, on reaching the station, we found Marshal Kane
on the ground and the police coming in in squads. A large
and angry crowd had assembled, but were restrained by the
police from committing any serious breach of the peace.

After considerable delay seven of the eleven companies of
the Massachusetts regiment arrived at the station, as already
mentioned, and I saw that the windows of the last car were
badly broken. If o one to whom I applied could inform me
whether more troops were expected or not. At this time an
alarm was given that the mob was about to tear up the rails
in advance of the train on the Washington road, and Marshal
Kane ordered some of his men to go out the road as far as
necessary to protect the track. Soon afterward, and when I
was about to leave the Camden-street station, supposing all
danger to be over, news was brought to Police Commissioner
Davis and myself, who were standing together, that some
troops had been left behind, and that the/ mob was tearing

The Fight 49

up the track on Pratt street, so as to obstruct the progress of
the cars, which were coming to the Camden-street station.
Mr. Davis immediately ran to summon the marshal, who was
at the station with a body of police, to be sent to the point of
danger, while I hastened alone in the same direction. On
arriving at about Smith's Wharf, foot of Gay street, I found
that anchors had been placed on the track, and that Sergeant
McComas and four policemen who were with him were not
allowed by a group of rioters to remove the obstruction. I
at once ordered the anchors to be removed, and my authority
was not resisted. I hurried on, and, approaching Pratt-
street bridge, I saw a battalion, which proved to be four
companies of the Massachusetts regiment which had crossed
the bridge, coming towards me in double-quick time.

They were firing wildly, sometimes backward, over their
shoulders. So rapid was the march that they could not stop
to take aim. The mob, which was not very large, as it seemed
to me, was pursuing with shouts and stones, and, I think, an
occasional pistol-shot. The uproar was furious. I ran at
once to the head of the column, some persons in the crowd
shouting, " Here comes the mayor." I shook hands with the
officer in command, Captain Follansbee, saying as I did so,
" I am the mayor of Baltimore." The captain greeted me
cordially. I at once objected to the double-quick, which was
immediately stopped. I placed myself by his side, and
marched with him. He said, "We have been attacked with-
out provocation," or words to that effect. I replied, " You
must defend yourselves." I expected that he would face his
men to the rear, and, after giving warning, would fire if
necessary. But I said no more, for I immediately felt that,
as mayor of the city, it was not my province to volunteer
such advice. Once before in my life I had taken part in

50 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

opposing a formidable riot, and had learned by experience
that the safest and most humane manner of quelling a mob
is to meet it at the beginning with armed resistance.

The column continued its march. There was neither con-
cert of action nor organization among the rioters. They were
armed only with such stones or missiles as they could pick
up, and a few pistols. My presence for a short time had
some effect, but very soon the attack was renewed with
greater violence. The mob grew bolder. Stones flew thick
and fast. Eioters rushed at the soldiers and attempted
to snatch their muskets, and at least on two occasions suc-
ceeded. With one of these muskets a soldier was killed.
Men fell on both sides. A young lawyer, then and now known
as a quiet citizen, seized a flag of one of the companies and
nearly tore it from its staff. He was shot through the thigh,
and was carried home apparently a dying man, but he sur-
vived to enter the army of the Confederacy, where he rose to
the rank of captain, and he afterward returned to Baltimore,
where he still lives. The soldiers fired at will. There was
no firing by platoons, and I heard no order given to fire, I
remember that at the corner of South street several citizens
standing in a group fell, either killed or wounded. It was
impossible for the troops to discriminate between the rioters
and the by-standers, but the latter seemed to suffer most,
because, as the main attack was from the mob pursuing the
soldiers from the rear, they, in their march, could not easily
face backward to fire, but could shoot at those whom they passed
on the street. Near the corner of Light street a soldier was
severely wounded, who afterward died, and a boy on a vessel
lying in the dock was killed, and about the same place three
soldiers at the head of the column leveled their muskets and
fired into a group standing on the sidewalk, who, as far as I

The Fight. 51

could see, were taking no active part. The shots took effect,
bnt I cannot say how many fell. I cried out, waving my
umbrella to emphasize my words, " For God's sake don't
shoot I" but it was too late. The statement that I begged
Captain Follansbee not to let the men fire is incorrect,
although on this occasion I did say, " Don't shoot/' It then
seemed to me that I was in the wrong place, for my presence
did not avail to protect either the soldiers or the citizens, and
I stepped out from the column. Just at this moment a boy
ran forward and handed to me a discharged musket which
had fallen from one of the soldiers. I took it from him and
hastened into the nearest shop, asking the person in charge to
keep it safely, and returned immediately to the street. This
boy was far from being alone in his sympathy for the troops,
but their friends were powerless, except to care for the wounded
and remove the dead. The statement in Colonel Jones's
report that I seized a musket and killed one of the rioters is
entirely incorrect. The smoking musket seen in my hands
was no doubt the foundation for it. There is no foundation
for the other statement that one of the police shot a man with
a revolver. At the moment when I returned to the street,
Marshal Kane, with about fifty policemen (as I then supposed,
but I have since ascertained that in fact there were not so
many), came at a run from the direction of the Camden-street
station, and throwing themselves in the rear of the troops,
they formed a line in front of the mob, and with drawn
revolvers kept it back. This was between Light and Charles
streets. Marshal Kane's voice shouted, "Keep back, men,
or I shoot 1" This movement, which I saw myself, was gal-
lantly executed, and was perfectly successful. The mob
recoiled like water from a rock. One of the leading rioters,
then a young man, now a peaceful merchant, tried, as he has

52 Baltimore and the \th of April, 1861,

himself told me, to pass the line, but the marshal seized him
and vowed he would shoot if the attempt was made. This
nearly ended the fight, and the column passed on under the
protection of the police, without serious molestation, to Cam-
den Station. 1 I had accompanied the troops for more than
a third of a mile, and regarded the danger as now over. At
Camden-street Station there was rioting and confusion. Com-
missioner Davis assisted in placing the soldiers in the cars
for Washington. Some muskets were pointed out of the
windows by the soldiers. To this he earnestly objected, as
likely to bring on a renewal of the fight, and he advised the
blinds to be closed. The muskets were then withdrawn and
the blinds closed, by military order, as stated by Colonel
Jones.

At last, about a quarter before one o'clock, the train, con-
sisting of thirteen cars filled with troops, moved out of
Camden Station amid the hisses and groans of the multitude,
and passed safely on to Washington. At the outskirts of
the city, half a mile or more beyond the station, occurred the
unfortunate incident of the killing of Robert W. Davis.
This gentleman, a well-known dry-goods merchant, was
standing on a vacant lot near the track with two friends, and
as the train went by they raised a cheer for Jefferson Davis
and the South, when he was immediately shot dead by one of
the soldiers from a car-window, several firing at once.
There were no rioters near them, and they did not know that
the troops had been attacked on their march through the city.
There was no " volley of stones" thrown just before Mr.
Da, vis was killed, nor did he or his friends throw any. 2 This

1 The accounts in some of our newspapers describe serious fighting at a
point beyond this, but I ana satisfied they are incorrect

2 Testimony of witnesses at the coroner's inquest.

Departure for Washington. 53

was the last of the casualties of the day, and was by far the
most serious and unfortunate in its consequences, for it was
not unnaturally made the most of to inflame the minds of the
people against the Northern troops. Had it not been for this
incident, there would perhaps have been among many of our
people a keener sense of blame attaching to themselves as the
aggressors. Four of the Massachusetts regiment were killed
and thirty-six wounded. Twelve citizens were killed, includ-
ing Mr. Davis. The number of wounded among the latter
has never been ascertained. As the fighting was at close
quarters, the small number of casualties shows that it was
not so severe as has generally been supposed.

But peace even for the day had not come. The unarmed
Pennsylvanians and the band of the Massachusetts regiment
were still at the President-street station, where a mob had
assembled, and the police at that point were not sufficient to
protect them. Stones were thrown, and some few of the
Pennsylvania troops were hurt, not seriously, I believe. A
good many of them were, not unnaturally, seized with a
panic, and scattered through the city in different directions.
Marshal Kane again appeared on the scene with an adequate
force, and an arrangement was made with the railroad com-
pany by which the troops were sent back in the direction of
Philadelphia. Daring the afternoon and night a number of
stragglers sought the aid of the police and were cared for at
one of the station-houses.

The following card of Captain Dike, who commanded
Company " C " of .the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, ap-
peared in the Boston Courier :

"BALTIMORE, April 25, 1861.

'* It is but an act of justice that induces me to say to my friends who
may feel any interest, and to the community generally, that in the affair

54 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

which occurred in this city on Friday, the 19th instant, the mayor and
city authorities should be exonerated from blame or censure, as they did
all in their power, as far as my knowledge extends, to quell tho riot, and
Mayor Brown attested the sincerity of his desire to preserve the peace, and
pass our regiment safely through the city, by marching at the head of its
column, and remaining there at the risk of his life. Candor could not
permit me to say less, and a desire to place the conduct of the authorities
here on the occasion in a right position, as well as to allay feelings, urges
me to this sheer act of justice. JOHN H. DIKE,

" Captain Company ' C,' Seventh Regiment,

attached to Sixth Regiment Massachusetts V. M"

In a letter to Marshal Kane, Colonel Jones wrote as
follows :

" HEADQUARTERS SIXTH KECHMENT M. V. M.

" WASHINGTON, D. 0., April 28, 1861.
" Marshal Kane, Baltimore, Maryland.

" Please deliver the bodies of the deceased soldiers belonging to my
regiment to Murrill S. Wright, Esq., who is authorized to receive them,
and take charge of them through to Boston, and thereby add one more to
the many favors for which, in connection with this matter, I am, with
my command, much indebted to you. Many, many thanks for the Chris-
tian conduct of the authorities of Baltimore in this truly unfortunate
affair,
"lam, with much respect, your obedient servant,

"EDWARD F. JONES,
" Colonel Sixth Regiment M. V. M"

The following correspondence with the Governor of Massa-
chusetts seems to be entitled to a place in this paper. Gov.
Andrew's first telegram cannot be found. The second, which
was sent by me in reply, is as follows :

" BALTIMORE, April 20, 1861.
" To the Honorable John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts.

" JSir : No one deplores the sad events of yesterday in this city more
deeply than myself, but they were inevitable. Our people viewed the
passage of armed troops to another State through the streets as an invasion

Correspondence with Governor Andrew. 55

of our soil, and could not be restrained. The authorities exerted them-
selves to the best of their ability, but with only partial success. Governor
Hicks was present, and concurs in all my views as to the proceedings now
necessary for our protection. When are these scenes to cease ? Are we
to have a war of sections? God forbid ! The bodies of the Massachu-
setts soldiers could not be sent out to Boston, as you requested, all com-
munication between this city and Philadelphia by railroad and with Boston
by steamer having ceased, but they have been placed in cemented coffins,
and will be placed with proper funeral ceremonies in the mausoleum of
Greenmount Cemetery, where they shall be retained until further direc-
tions are received from you. The wounded are tenderly cared for. I
appreciate your offer, but Baltimore will claim it as her right to pay all
expenses incurred."

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" GEO. WM. BROWN,

"Mayor of Baltimore."

To this the following reply was returned by the Governor :

" To His Honor George W. Brown, Mayor of Baltimore.

" Dear Sir : I appreciate your kind attention to our wounded and our
dead, and trust that at the earliest moment the remains of our fallen will
return to us. I am overwhelmed with surprise that a peaceful march of
American citizens over the highway to the defense of our common capital
should be deemed aggressive to Baltimoreans. Through New York the
march was triumphal. JOHN A. ANDREW,

'* Governor of MassacTwsetfa."

This correspondence carries the narrative beyond the
nineteenth of April, and I now return to the remaining
events of that day.

After the news spread through the city of the fight in the
streets, and especially of the killing of Mr. Davis, the excite-
ment became intense. It was manifest that no more troops,
while the excitement lasted, could pass through without a
bloody conflict. All citizens, no matter what were their
political opinions, appeared to agree in this the strongest

56 Baltimore cmd the 19th of April, 1861.

friends of the Union as well as its foes. However such a
conflict might terminate, the result would be disastrous. In
each case it might bring down the vengeance of the North
upon the cit) r . If the mob succeeded, it would probably
precipitate the city, and perhaps the State, into a temporary
secession. Such an event all who had not lost their reason
deprecated. The immediate and pressing necessity was that
no more troops should arrive.

Governor Hicks called out the military for the preserva-
tion of the .peace and the protection of the city.

An immense public meeting assembled in Monument
Square. Governor Hicks, the mayor, Mr. S. Teackle Wallis,
and others, addressed it.

In my speech I insisted on the maintenance of peace and
order in the city. I denied that the right of a State to
secede from the Union was granted by the Constitution.
This was received with groans and shouts of disapproval by
a part of the crowd, but I maintained my ground. I depre-
cated war on the- seceding States, and strongly expressed the
opinion that the South could not be conquered. I approved
of Governor Hicks's determination to send no troops from
Maryland to invade the South. I further endeavored to
calm the people by informing them of the efforts made by
Governor Hicks and myself to prevent the passage of more
troops through the city.

Governor Hicks said : " I coincide in the sentiment of
your worthy mayor. After three conferences we have agreed,
and I bow in submission to the people. I am a Mary-
lander ; I love my State and I love the Union, but I will
suffer my right arm to be torn from my body before I will
raise it to strike a sister State."

A dispatch had previously been sent by Governor Hicks

Teleffram to the President. 57

and myself to the President of the United States as follows :
" A collision between the citizens and the Northern troops
has taken place in Baltimore, and the excitement is fearful.
Send no troops here. We will endeavor to prevent all
bloodshed. A public meeting of citizens has been called,
and the troops of. the State have been called out to preserve
the peace. They will be enough. "

Immediately afterward, Messrs, H. Lennox Bond, a
Republican, then Judge of the Criminal Court of Baltimore,
and now Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States ;
George W. Dobbin, an eminent lawyer, and John C. Brune,
President of the Board of Trade, went to Washington at my
request, bearing the following letter to the President :

'* MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALTIMORE, April 19, 1861.

" Sir : This will be presented to you by the Hon. H. Lennox Bond, and
George W. Dobbin, and John C. Brune, Esqs., who will proceed to Wash-
ington by an express train at my request, in order to explain fully the
fearful condition of affairs in this city. The people are exasperated to the
highest degree by the passage of troops, and the citizens are universally
decided in the opinion that no more should be ordered to come. The
authorities of the city did their best to-day to protect both strangers and
citizens and to prevent a collision, but in vain, and, but for their great
efforts, a fearful slaughter would have occurred. Under these circum-
stances it is my solemn duty to inform you that it is not possible for more
soldiers to pass through Baltimore unless they fight their way at every
step. I therefore hope and trust and most earnestly request that no more
troops be permitted or ordered by the Government to pass through the
city. If they should attempt it, the responsibility for the blood shed will
not rest upon me.

" With great respect, your obedient servant,

" GEO. WM. BBOWW, Mayor.
" To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President United States."

To this Governor Hicks added : " I have been in Baltimore
City since Tuesday evening last, and cooperated with Mayor

58 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

G. "W. Brown in his untiring efforts to allay and prevent the
excitement and suppress the fearful outbreak as indicated
above ; and I fully concur in all that is said by him in the
above communication."

No reply came from Washington. The city authorities
were left to act on their own responsibility. Late at night
reports came of troops being on their way both from Harris-
burg and Philadelphia. It was impossible that they could
pass through the city without fighting and bloodshed. In this
emergency, the board of police, including the mayor, im-
mediately assembled for consultation, and came to the con-
clusion that it was necessary to burn or disable the bridges
on both railroads so far as was required to prevent the in-
gress of troops. This was accordingly done at once, some of
the police and a detachment of the Maryland Guard being
sent out to do the work. Governor Hicks was first consulted
and urged to give his consent, for we desired that he should
share with us the responsibility of taking this grave step.
This consent he distinctly gave in my presence and in the
presence of several others, and although there was an attempt
afterward to deny the fact that he so consented, there can be
no doubt whatever about the matter. He was in my house
at the time, where, on my invitation, he had taken refuge,
thinking that he was in some personal danger at the hotel
where he was staying. Early the next morning the Governor
returned to Annapolis, and after this the city authorities had
to bear alone the responsibilities which the anomalous state
of things in Baltimore had brought upon them.

On the Philadelphia Eailroad the detachment sent out by
special train for the purpose of burning the bridges went as
far as the Bush Biver, and the long bridge there, and the
still longer one over the wide estuary of the Gunpowder, a

Burning of the Bridges. 59

few miles nearer Baltimore, were partially burned. It is an
interesting fact that just as this party arrived at the Bush
Kiver bridge, a volunteer party of five gentlemen from Balti-
more reached the same place on the same errand. They had
ridden on horseback by night to the river, and had then
gone by boat to the bridge for the purpose of burning it, and
in fact they stayed at the bridge and continued the work of
burning until the afternoon.

CHAPTER V.

APRIL 20TH, INCREASING EXCITEMENT. APPROPRIATION OF

$500,000 FOR DEFENSE OF THE CITY. CORRESPONDENCE

WITH PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR. MEN ENROLLED.

APPREHENDED ATTACK ON FORT McHENRY. MARSHAL

KANE. INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT, CABINET AND

GENERAL SCOTT. GENERAL BUTLER, WITH THE EIGHTH

MASSACHUSETTS, PROCEEDS TO ANNAPOLIS AND WASHING-
TON. BALTIMORE IN A STATE OF ARMED NEUTRALITY.

On Saturday morning, the 20th, the excitement and alarm
had greatly increased. Up to this time no answer had been
received from Washington. The silence became unbearable.
Were more troops to be forced through the city at any cost ?
If so, how were they to come, by land or water? Were the
guns of Fort McHenry to be turned upon the inhabitants ?
Was Baltimore to be compelled at once to determine whether
she would side with the North or with the South? Or was
she temporarily to isolate herself and wait until the frenzy
had in some measure spent its force and reason had begun to
resume its sway? In any case it was plain that the author-
ities must have the power placed in their hands of controlling
any outbreak which might occur. This was the general
opinion. Union men and disunion men appeared on the
streets with arms in their hands. A time like that predicted
in Scripture seemed to have come, when he who had no sword
would sell his garment to buy one.

About ten A. M. the city council assembled and immedi-
ately appropriated $500,000, to be expended under my direction

Correspondence with Governor and President. 61

as mayor, for the purpose of putting the city in a complete state
of defense against any description of danger arising or which
might arise out of the present crisis. The banks of the city
promptly held a meeting, and a few hours afterward a com-
mittee appointed by them, consisting of three bank presi-
dents, Johns Hopkins, John Clark and Columbus O'Donnell,
all wealthy Union men, placed the whole sum in advance at
my disposal. Mr. Scharf, in his "History of Maryland/'
Volume 3, page 416, says, in a footnote, that this action of
the city authorities was endorsed by the editors of the Sun,
American, Exchange, German Correspondent, Clipper, South,
etc. Other considerable sums were contributed by indi-
viduals and firms without respect to party.

On the same morning I received a dispatch from Messrs.
Bond, Dobbin and Brune, the committee who had gone to
Washington, which said: "We have seen the President and
General Scott. We have from the former a letter to the
mayor and Governor declaring that no troops shall be
brought to Baltimore, if, in a military point of view and
without interruption from opposition, they can be marched
around Baltimore."

As the Governor had left Baltimore for Annapolis early
in the morning, I telegraphed him as follows :

" BALTIMOBE, April 20, 1861.
" To Governor Jfficfo.

" Letter from President and General Scott. No troops to pass through
Baltimore it as a military force they can march around. I will answer
that every effort will be made to prevent parties leaving the city to molest
them, but cannot guarantee against acts of individuals not organized.
Do you approve ? GKO. WM. BBOWK."

This telegram was based on that from Messrs. Bond,
Dobbin and Brune. The letter referred to had not been

62 Baltimore and the 19ft of April, 1861.

received wlien my telegram to Governor Hicks was dis-
patched. I was mistaken in supposing that General Scott
had signed the letter as well as the President.
President Lincoln's letter was as follows :

" WASHINGTON, April 20, 1861.
" Governor Sides and Mayor Brown.

" Gentlemen : Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune is
received. I tender you both my sincere thanks for your efforts to keep
the peace in the trying situation in which you are placed. For the future
troops must be brought here, but I make no point of bringing them
through Baltimore.

" Without any military knowledge myself, of course I must leave details
to General Scott. He hastily said this morning, in presence of these
gentlemen, ' March them around Baltimore, and not through it.'

"I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will consider this
practical and proper, and that you will not object to it.

" By this, a collision of the people of Baltimore with the troops will be
avoided unless they go out of their way to seek it. I hope you will exert
your influence to prevent this.

" Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace consistently with
the maintenance of government.

' * Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. ' '

Governor Hicks replied as follows to my telegram :

"ANNAPOLIS, April 20, 1861.
" To the Mayor of Baltimore.

"Your dispatch received. I hoped they would send no more troops
through Maryland, but as we have no right to demand that, I am glad
no more are to be sent through Baltimore. I know you will do all in your
power to preserve the peace. THOS. H. HICKS."

I tihen telegraphed to the President as follows :

"BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, April 20, 1861.
' ' To President lAncoln.

" Every effort will be made to prevent parties leaving the city to molest
troops marching to Washington. Baltimore seeks only to protect herself.
Governor Hicks has gone to Annapolis, but I have telegraphed to him.
" GEO. WM. BROWN, Mayor of Baltimore. > '

Defense of the City. 63

After the receipt of the dispatch from Messrs, Bond, Dob-
bin and Brune, another committee was sent to Washington,
consisting of Messrs. Anthony Kennedy, Senator of the
United States, and J. Morrison Harris, member of the House
of Representatives, both Union men, who sent a dispatch to
me saying that they " had seen the President, Secretaries of
State, Treasury and War, and also General Scott. The result
is the transmission of orders that will stop the passage of
troops through or around the city."

Preparations for the defense of the city were nevertheless
continued. With this object I issued a notice in which I said :
"All citizens having arms suitable for the defense of the city,
and which they are willing to contribute for the purpose, are
requested to deposit them at the office of the marshal of
police."

The board of police enrolled temporarily a considerable
number of men and placed them under the command of
Colonel Isaac B. Trimble. He informs me that the number
amounted to more than fifteen thousand, about three-fourths
armed with muskets, shotguns and pistols.

This gentleman was afterward a Major-General in the Con-
federate Ajmy, where he distinguished himself. He lost a
leg at Gettysburg.

By this means not only was the inadequate number of tfie
police supplemented, but many who would otherwise have
been the disturbers of the peace became its defenders. And,
indeed, not a few of the men enrolled, who thought and hoped
that their enrollment meant wax, were disappointed to find
that the prevention of war was the object of the city author-
ities, and afterwards found their way into the Confederacy,

For some days it looked very much as if Baltimore had
taken her stand decisively with the South ; at all events, the

64 Baltimore and tJie 19ft of April, 1861.

outward expressions of Southern feeling were very emphatic,
and the Union sentiment temporarily disappeared.

Early on the morning of Saturday, the 20th, a large Con-
federate flag floated from the headquarters of a States Eights
club on Fayette street near Calvert, and on the afternoon of
the same day the Minute Men, a Union club, whose head-
quarters were on Baltimore street, gave a most significant
indication of the strength of the wave of feeling which swept
over our people by hauling down the National colors and
running up in their stead the State flag of Maryland, amid
the cheers of the crowd. 1 Everywhere on the streets men
and boys were wearing badges which displayed miniature
Confederate flags, and were cheering the Southern cause.
Military companies began to arrive from the (bounties. On
Saturday, first came a company of seventy men from Fred-
erick, under Captain Bradley T. Johnson, afterward General
in the Southern Army, and next two cavalry companies
from Baltimore County, and one from Anne Arundel County.
These last, the Patapsco Dragoons, some thirty men, a sturdy-
looking body of yeomanry, rode straight to the City Hall
and drew up, expecting to be received with a speech of wel-
come from the mayor. I made them a very brief address,
and informed them that dispatches received from Washington
had postponed the necessity for their services, whereupon they
started homeward amid cheers, their bugler striking up
" Dixie/' which was the first time I heard that tune. A few
days after, they came into Baltimore again. On Sunday came
in the Howard Couniy Dragoons, and by steamboat that
morning two companies from Talbot County, and soon it was
reported that from Harford, Cecil, Carroll and Prince George's,
companies were on their way. All the city companies of

1 Baltimore American, April 28.

Defense of the City. 65

uniformed militia were, of course, under arms. Three bat-
teries of light artillery were in the streets, among them the
light field-pieces belonging to the military school at Catons-
ville, but these the reverend rector of the school, a strong
Union man, had thoughtfully spiked.

The United States arsenal at Pikesville, at the time unoc-
cupied, was taken possession of by some Baltimore County
troops.

From the local columns of the American of the 22d, a
paper which was strongly on the Union side, I take the follow-
ing paragraph :

"WAR SPIRIT OK SATURDAY.

" The war spirit raged throughout the city and among all
classes during Saturday with an ardor which seemed to gather
fresh force each hour. . . All were united in a determina-
tion to resist at every hazard the passage of troops through Bal-
timore. . . Armed men were marching through the streets,
and the military were moving about in every direction, and
it is evident that Baltimore is to be the battlefield of the
Southern revolution."

And from the American of Tuesday, 23d :

"At the works of the Messrs. "Winans their entire force is
engaged in the making of pikes, and in casting balls of every
description for cannon, the steam gun, 1 rifles, muskets, etc.,
which they are turning out very rapidly."

And a very significant paragraph from the Sun of iihe same
day :

" Yesterday morning between 300 and 400 of our most
respectable colored residents made a tender of their services

1 Winans's steam gun, a recently invented, and, it was supposed, very
formidable engine, was much talked about at this time. It was not very
long afterwards seized and confiscated by the military authorities.

66 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

*
to the city authorities. The mayor thanked them for their

offer, and informed them that their services will be called for
if they can be made in any way available."

Officers from Maryland in the United States Army were
sending in their resignations. Colonel (afterward General)
Huger, of South Carolina, who had recently resigned, and
was in Baltimore at the time, was made Colonel of the
Fifty-third Eegiment, composed of the Independent Greys
and the six companies of the Maryland Guard.

On Monday morning, the 22d, I issued an order directing
that all the drinking-saloons should be closed that day, and
the order was enforced.

On Saturday, April 20th, Captain John C. Robinson, now
Major-General, then in command at Fort McHenry, which
stands at the entrance of the harbor, wrote to Colonel L.
Thomas, Adjutant-General of the United States Army, that
he would probably be attacked that night, but he believed he
could hold the fort.

In the September number, for the year 1885, of AmeriGan
History there is an article written by General Robinson,
entitled "Baltimore in 1861," in which he speaks of the
apprehended attack on the fort, and of the conduct of the
Baltimore authorities.

He says that about nine o'clock on the evening of the 20th,
Police Commissioner Davis called at the fort, bringing a let-
ter, .dated eight o'clock P. M. of the same evening, from
Charles Howard, the president of the board, which he quotes
at length, and which states that, from rumors that had reached
the board, they were apprehensive that the commander of the
fort might be annoyed by lawless and disorderly characters
approaching the walls of the fort, and they proposed to send
a guard of perhaps two hundred men to station themselves

Fort McHenry. 67

on Whetstone Point, of course beyond the outer limits of
the fort, with orders to arrest and hand over to the civil
authorities any evil-disposed and disorderly persons who
might approach the fort. The letter further stated that this
duty would have been confided to the police force, but their
services were so imperatively required elsewhere that it would
be impossible to detail a sufficient number, and this duty had
therefore been entrusted to a detachment of the regular organ-
ized militia of the State, then called out pursuant to law, and
actually in the service of the State. It was added that the com-
manding officer of the detachment would be ordered to commu-
nicate with Captain Kobinson. The letter closed with repeating
the assurance verbally given to Captain Eobinson in the
morning that no disturbance at or near the post should be
made with the sanction of any of the constituted authorities
of the city of Baltimore ; but, on the contrary, all their
powers should be exerted to prevent anything of the kind by
any parties. A postscript stated that there might perhaps be
a troop of volunteer cavalry with the detachment.
General Robinson continues :

" I did not question the good faith, of Mr. Howard, but Commissioner
Davis verbally stated that they proposed to send the Maryland Guards to
help protect the fort. Having made the acquaintance of some of the offi-
cers of that organization, and heard them freely express their opinions, I
declined the offered support, and then the following conversation occurred :

" Commandant. I am aware, sir, that we are to be attacked to-night.
I received notice of it before sundown. If you will go outside with me
you will see we are prepared for it. You will find the guns loaded, and
men standing by them. As for the Maryland Guards, they cannot come
here. I am acquainted with some of those gentlemen, and know what
their sentiments are.

" Commissioner. Dams. Why, Captain, we are anxious to avoid a col-
lision.

" Commandant. So am I, sir. If you wish to avoid a collision, place

68 Baltimore and the l$th of April, 1861.

your city military anywhere between the city and that chapel on the road,
but if they come this side of it, I shall fire on them.

" Commissioner Davis. Would you fire into the city of Baltimore ?

" Commandant. I should be sorry to do it, sir, but if it becomes neces-
sary in order to hold this fort, I shall not hesitate for one moment.

" Commissioner Davis (excitedly). I assure yon, Captain Robinson, if
there is a woman or child killed in that city, there will not be one of you
left alive here, sir,

" Commandant. Very well, sir, I will take the chances. Now, I assure
you, Mr. Davis, if your Baltimore mob comes down here to-night, you will
not have another mob in Baltimore for ten years to come, sir."

Mr. Davis is a well-known and respected citizen of Balti-
more, who has filled various important public offices with
credit, and at present holds a high position in the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company. According to his recollection,
the interview was more courteous and less dramatic than would
be supposed from the account given by General Robinson.
Mr. Davis says that the people of Baltimore were acquainted
with the defenseless condition of the fort, and that in the
excited state of the public mind this fact probably led to the
apprehension and consequent rumor that an attempt would
be made to capture it. The police authorities believed, and,
as it turned out, correctly, that the rumor was without founda-
tion ; yet, to avoid the danger of any disturbance whatever,
the precautions were taken which are described in the letter
of Mr. Howard, and Mr. Davis went in person to deliver it
to Captain Robinson.

His interview was not, however, confined to Captain Robin-
son, but included also other officers of the fort, and Mr.
Davis was hospitably received. A conversation ensued in
regard to the threatened attack, and, with one exception, was
conducted without asperity. A junior officer threatened, in case
of an attack, to direct the fire of a cannon on the Washing-
ton Monument, which stands in the heart of the city, and to

Fort MoHenry. 69

this threat Mr. Davis replied with heat, " If you do that,
and if a woman or child is killed, there will be nothing left
of you but your brass buttons to tell who you were."

The commandant insisted that the military sent by the
board should not approach the fort nearer than the Roman
Catholic chapel, a demand to which Mr. Davis readily
assented, as that situation commanded the only approach
from the city to the fort. In the midst of the conversation
the long roll was sounded, arid the whole garrison rushed to
arms. For a long time, and until the alarm was over, Mr.
Davis was left alone.

General Robinson was mistaken in his conjecture, "when
it seemed to him that for hours of the night mounted men
from the country were crossing the bridges of the Patapsco."
There was but one bridge over the Patapsco, known as the
Long Bridge, from which any sound of passing horsemen or
vehicles of any description could possibly have been heard at
the fort. The sounds which did reach the fort from the Long
Bridge during the hours of the night were probably the
market wagons of Anne Arundel County passing to and
from the city on their usual errand, and the one or two com-
panies from that county, which came to Baltimore during the
period of disturbance, no doubt rode in over the Long
Bridge by daylight.

General Robinson, after describing in his paper the riot of
the 19th of April and the unfortunate event of the killing of
Mr. Davis, adds: "It is impossible to describe the intense
excitement that now prevailed. Only those who saw and
felt it can understand or conceive any adequate idea of its
extent"; and in this connection he mentions the fact that
Marshal Kane, chief of the police force, on the evening of
the 19th of April, telegraphed to Bradley T. Johnson, at

70 Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861.

Frederick, as follows : " Streets red with Maryland blood ;
send expresses over the mountains of Maryland and Virginia
for the riflemen to come without delay. Fresh hordes will be
down on us to-morrow. We will fight them and whip them,
or die."

The sending of this dispatch was indeed a startling event,
creating a new complication and embarrassing in the highest
degree to the city authorities. The marshal of police, who
had gallantly and successfully protected the national troops
on the 18th and 19th, was so carried away by the frenzy of
the hour that he had thus on his own responsibility sum-
moned volunteers from Virginia and Maryland to contest the
passage of national troops through the city. Different views
were taken by members of the board of police. It was con-
sidered, on the one hand, that the services of Colonel Kane were,
in that crisis, indispensable, because no one could control as he
could the secession element of the city, which was then in the
ascendant and might get control of the city, and, on the other,
that his usefulness had ceased, because not only had the gravest
offense been given to the Union sentiment of the city by
this dispatch, but the authorities in "Washington, while he was
at the head of the police, could no longer have any confidence
in the police, or perhaps in the board itself. The former
consideration prevailed.

It is due to Marshal Kane to say that subsequently, and
while he remained in office, he performed his duty to the
satisfaction of the Board. Some years after the war was over
he was elected sheriff, and still later mayor of the city, and in
both capacities he enjoyed the respect and regard of the
community.

It may with propriety be added that the conservative position
and action of the police board were so unsatisfectory to many

Interview with the President. 71

of the more heated Southern partisans, that a scheme was
at one time seriously entertained by them to suppress the
board, and transfer the control of the police force to other
hands. Happily for all parties, better counsels prevailed.

On Sunday, the 21st of April, with three prominent citizens
of Baltimore, I went to Washington, and we there had an
interview with the President and Cabinet and General Scott.
This interview was of so much importance, that a statement
of what occurred was prepared on the same day and was
immediately published. It is here given at length :

BALTIMOBE, April 21.

Mayor Brown received a dispatch, from the President of the United
States at three o'clock A. M. (this morning), directed to himself and Gov-
ernor Hicks, requesting them to go to Washington by special train, in
order to consult with Mr. Lincoln for the preservation of the peace of
Maryland. The mayor replied that Governor Hicks was not in the city, and
inquired if he should go alone. Receiving an answer by telegraph in the
affirmative, his Honor, accompanied by George W. Bobbin, John 0. Brune
andS. T. Wailis, Esqs., whom he had summoned to attend him, proceeded
at once to the station. After a series of delays they were enabled to procure
a special train about half -past seven o'clock, in which they arrived at
Washington about ten.

They repaired at once to the President's house, where they were admitted
to an immediate interview, to which the Cabinet and General Scott were
summoned. A long conversation and discussion ensued. The President,
upon his part, recognized the good faith of the city and State authorities,
and insisted upon his own. He admitted the excited state of feeling in
Baltimore, and his desire and duty to avoid the fatal consequences of a
collision with the people. He urged, on the other hand, the absolute,
irresistible necessity of having a transit through the State for such troops
as might be necessary for the protection of the Federal capital. The pro-
tection of Washington, he asserted with great earnestness, was the sole
object of concentrating troops there, and he protested that none of the
troops brought through Maryland were intended for any purposes hostile to
the State, or aggressive as against the Southern States. Being now unable
to bring them up the Potomac in security, the President must either bring
them through Maryland or abandon the capital.

72 Baltimore and the IQth of April, 1861.

He called on General Scott for his opinion, which the General gave at
length, to the effect that troops might be brought through Maryland with-
out going through Baltimore, by either carrying them from Perryville to
Annapolis, and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them to
the Relay House on the Northern Central Railroad [about seven miles
north of the city], and marching them to the Relay House on the Wash-
ington Railroad [about seven miles south-west of the city], and thence by
rail to the capital. If the people would permit them to go by either of
these routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Balti-
more would be avoided. If the people would not permit them a transit
thus remote from the city, they must select their own best route, and, if
need be, fight their own way through Baltimore a result which the
General earnestly deprecated.

The President expressed his hearty concurrence in the desire to avoid a
collision, and said that no more troops should be ordered through Balti-
more if they were permitted to go uninterrupted by either of the other
routes suggested. In this disposition the Secretary of War expressed his
participation.

Mayor Brown assured the President that the city authorities would use
all lawful means to prevent their citizens from leaving Baltimore to attack
the troops in passing at a distance ; but he urged, at the same time, the
impossibility of their being able to promise anything more than their best
efforts in that direction. The excitement was great, he told the President,
the people of all classes were fully aroused, and it was impossible for any one
to answer for the consequences of the presence of Northern troops any where
within our borders. He reminded the President also that the jurisdiction of
the city authorities was confined to their own population, and that he could
give no promises for the people elsewhere, because he would be unable to keep
them if given. The President frankly acknowledged this difficulty, and
said that the Government would only ask the city authorities to use their
best efforts with respect to those under their jurisdiction.

The interview terminated with, the distinct assurance on the part of the
President that no more troops would be sent through Baltimore, unless
obstructed in their transit in other directions, and with the understanding
that the city authorities should do their best to restrain their own people.

The Mayor and his companions availed themselves of the President's
full discussion of the day to urge upon him respectfully, but in the most
earnest manner, a course of policy which would give peace to the country,
and especially the withdrawal of all orders contemplating the passage of
troops through any part of Maryland.

Interview with the President. 73

On returning to the cars, and when just about to leave, about 2 P. M.,
the Mayor received a dispatch from Mr. Garrett (the President of the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad) announcing the approach of troops to Cockeys-
ville [about fourteen miles from Baltimore on the Northern Central Bail-
road], and the excitement consequent upon it in the city. Mr. Brown and
his companions returned at once to the President and asked an immediate
audience, which was promptly given. The Mayor exhibited Mr. Garrett '3
dispatch, which gave the President great surprise. He immediately sum-
moned the Secretary of War and General Scott, who soon appeared with
other members of the Cabinet. The dispatch was submitted. The Presi-
dent at once, in the most decided way, urged the recall of the troops, saying
he had no idea they would be there. Lest there should be the slightest sus-
picion of bad faith on his part in summoning the Mayor to Washington;
and allowing troops to march on the city during his absence, he desired
that the troops should, if it were practicable, be sent back at once to York
or Harrisburg. General Scott adopted the President's views warmly, and
an order was accordingly prepared by the Lieutenant-General to that
effect, and forwarded by Major Belger, of the Army, who also accompanied
the Mayor to this city. The troops at Cockeysville, the Mayor was
assured, were not brought there for transit through the city, but were
intended to be marched to the Relay House on the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad. They will proceed to Harrisburg, from there to Philadelphia,
and thence by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal or by Perryville, as
Major-General Patterson may direct.

This statement is made by the authority of the Mayor and Messrs. George
W. Dobbin, John C. Brune and S. T. Wallis, who accompanied Mr.
Brown, and who concurred with him in all particulars in the course adopted
by him in the two interviews with Mr. Lincoln.

GEO. WM. BROWN, Mayor,.

This statement was written by Mj^jpFallis, at the request
of his associates, on the train, and w v given to the public
immediately on their return to the city.

In the course of the first conversation MX. Simon Cameron
called my attention to the fact that an iron bridge on the
Northern Central Railway, which, he remarked, belonged to
the city of Baltimore, had been disabled by a skilled person
so as to inflict little injury on the bridge, and he desired to

74 Baltimore amd the l$th of April, 1861.

know by what authority this had been done. Up to this time
nothing had been said about the disabling of the bridges. In
reply I addressed myself to the President, and said, with
much earnestness, that the disabling of this bridge, and of the
other bridges, had been done by authority, as the reader has
already been told, and that it was a measure of protection on
a sudden emergency, designed to prevent bloodshed in the
city of Baltimore, and not an act of hostility towards the
General Government; that the people of Maryland had
always been deeply attached to the Union, which had been
shown on all occasions, but that they, including the citizens
of Baltimore, regarded the proclamation calling for 75,000
troops as an act of war on the South, and a violation of its
constitutional rights, and that it was not surprising that a
high-spirited people, holding such opinions, should resent
the passage of Northern troops through their city for such a
purpose.

Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved, and, springing up from
his chair, walked backward and forward through the apart-
ment. He said, with great feeling, " Mr. Brown, I am not
a learned man! I am not a learned man!" that his pro-
clamation had not been correctly understood ; that he had no
intention of bringing on war, but that his purpose was to
defend the capital, which was in danger of being bombarded
from the heights across the Potomac.

I am giving here w|y a part of a frank and full conversa-
tion, in which others present participated.

The telegram of Mr. Garrett to me referred to in the pre-
ceding statement is in the following words : " Three thousand
Northern troops are reported to be at Cockeysville. Intense
excitement prevails. Churches have been dismissed and the
people are arming in mass. To prevent terrific bloodshed,
tiae result of your interview and arrangement is awaited."

Interview with the President. 75

To this the following reply to Mr. Garrett was made by me :
"Your telegram received on our return from an interview
with the President, Cabinet and General Scott. Be calm and
do nothing until you hear from me again. I return to see
the President at once and will telegraph again. Wallis,
Brune and Dobbin are with me."

Accordingly, after the second interview, the following dis-
patch was sent by me to Mr. Garrett : "We have again seen
the President, General Scott, Secretary of "War and other
members of the Cabinet, and the troops are ordered to return
forthwith to Harrisburg. A messenger goes with us from
General Scott. We return immediately."

Mr. Garrett's telegram was not exaggerated. It was a
fearful day in Baltimore. Women and children, and men,
too, were wild with excitement. A certainty of a fight in
the streets if Northern troops should enter was the pressing
danger. Those who were arming in hot haste to resist the
passage of Northern troops little recked of the fearful risk to
which they were exposing themselves and all they held dear.
It was well for the city and State that the President had
decided as he did. When the President gave his deliberate
decision that the troops should pass around Baltimore and
not through it, General Scott, stern soldier as he sometimes
was, said with emotion, " Mr. President, I thank you for
this, and God will bless you for it."

From the depth of our hearts my colleagues and myself
t