The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

Confederate States in 1861, Part 2: Louisiana through North Carolina

LOUISIANA is one of the Southern States of the United States, and is bounded on the west by Texas, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by the State of Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, and on the north by Mississippi and Arkansas. This State has no parallel on the face of the globe in the natural advantages which she enjoys for river trade with an interior, extending back directly north 2,000 miles to St. Anthony's Falls; northwestward, 8,000 miles to the very base of the Rocky Mountains; northeastward, through the entire extent of the Ohio valley, 2,500 miles, even into the State of New York; besides innumerable intermediate points in the great valleys of the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee, Cumberland, Red River, and a multitude of tributary streams, which pour the products of fourteen States into her lap; while many more await only the advance of population to add new treasures from tracts roamed by the savage and the buffalo.

The Governor is elected for four years. The Senate consists of 32 members, and the House of Representatives of 97 members, both elected by the people, the former for 4 years, and the latter for 2. The Legislature assembles on the 8d Monday in January. The Governor of the State is Thomas O. Moore, whose term of office expires in January, 1864. Louisiana, including all the territory west of the Mississippi, excepting Texas and New Mexico, and the territory west of the Rocky Mountains, was purchased by President Jefferson in 1803, for the sum of $11,250,000, besides the assumption on the part of the United States of some claims of her citizens against the Government of France.

The authorities of Louisiana were undoubtedly early enlisted in the plans for the secession of the Southern States from the Union, and ready to use all their efforts to secure success. In November, 1860, Governor Moore issued a proclamation for an extra session of the Legislature on the 10th of December. The reason requiring this session was thus stated:

Whereas the election of Abraham Lincoln to the office of President of the United States by a sectional and aggressive anti-slavery party, whose hostility to the people and the institutions of the South has been evinced by repeated and long-continued violations of constitutional obligations and fraternal amity, now consummated by this last insult and outrage perpetrated at and through the ballot-box, does, in my opinion, as well as that of a large number of citizens ot all parties and pursuits, furnish an occasion such as is contemplated by the Constitution; and whereas some of our sister States, aggrieved like ours, are preparing measures for their I'm tire security, and for the safety of their institutions and their people, and both patriotism and the necessity of self-preservation require us to deliberate upon our own course of action; now, therefore, I, Thomas O. Moore, Governor of the State of Louisiana, do hereby convene the Legislature of this State in extra session, and do appoint Monday, the 10th day of December next.

On the day appointed this body met at Baton Rouge, and caused to be prepared an act providing for a State Convention, to be held on the 23d of January, and for the election of delegates. On the next day the act was passed by the Senate and House. In the Senate it was eloquently opposed by Randall Hunt. In the House a strong effort was made to cause the question " Convention or no Convention" to bo submitted to a vote of the people. It, however, failed of success. At the same time a military act passed both houses, which appropriated $500,000 Page 428 for such purposes, and provided for the appointment of a military commission, the organization and arming of volunteer companies, and for the establishment of military depots. When the bill was on its passage, an amendment was offered which forbade the purchase of arms in the Northern States. This was lost. A bill was also introduced which provided for the confiscation of all goods arriving from the Northern States after the 1st of January, 1861, and ordering that the proceeds of any sales under such confiscation should be appropriated to the purchase of arms. It failed to pass the Legislature. On the 12th, Wirt Adams, commissioner from Mississippi, was introduced to the Legislature in joint session, and made an address, announcing the action of Mississippi, and asking the cooperation of Louisiana. The speech was eagerly listened to by a crowded audience. On the next day the Legislature adjourned to January 21st

Friends of secession became active in New Orleans, the great city of the State, as' soon as the movement commenced in South Carolina, and the sentiment had gathered so much volume that as early as December 21st a general demonstration of joy was made over the secession of that State. One hundred guns were fired, and the Pelican flag was unfurled. Speeches in favor of secession were made by distinguished citizens, and the Marseillaise hymn and polkas were the only airs played.

The movement had now commenced in earnest. The influence and efforts of New Orleans were expected to carry the rest of the State. Only four days later a mass meeting was held to ratify the nomination of the "Southern Rights" candidates, as they were called, for the Convention. It was the largest assemblage of all parties ever held in the city. Speeches were made by prominent citizens advocating immediate secession amid unbounded enthusiasm. The Southern Marseillaise was again sung as the banner of the State was raised, with reiterated and prolonged cheers for South Carolina and Louisiana. A citizen of eminence in the southern part of the State, writing upon the condition of affairs at this time, thus says:

"In our section the excitement is confined to the politicians, the people generally being borne along with the current, and feeling the natural disposition of sustaining their section. I think that ninety-nine out of every hundred of the people sincerely hope that some plan will yet be devised to heal up the dissensions, and to settle our difficulties to the satisfaction of both the North and South; and a combined effort will be made to bring about such a result, even after the States withdraw from the Union."

A State Convention was early called, and the vote in New Orleans for members was close enough to defeat a portion of the secession candidates. The city was entitled to twenty "representative delegates" and five "senatorial delegates." The "immediate secessionists" succeeded in electing all of the latter class and fifteen of the former, whilst the "cooperationists" obtained five of the "representative delegates." The majority of the secessionists for the senatorial delegates was about 350. The number of votes polled was little upwards of 8,000, being less than one-half the voters registered in the city.

Their success, however, was regarded as sufficient to be made the occasion of great rejoicing. This election took place on the 8th of January. On the next day three separate military organizations departed to take possession of Forts Jackson and St. Philip at the mouths of the Mississippi, and also the arsenal at Baton Rouge.

On the 13th the United States revenue cutter Lewis Cass was seized by a military company at Algiers, opposite New Orleans. The vessel was laid up and undergoing repairs. Her armament, consisting of one long 24-pounder and six 8-pounder carronades, with a large quantity of cannon-balls, powder, and other military stores, had been placed in the Belleville Iron Works, an extensive and unoccupied brick building.

About the same time the barracks below the city, which had been for several months occupied as a marine hospital, were taken possession of in the name of the State of Louisiana. They contained at the time 216 invalids and convalescent patients. The collector at New Orleans was required to remove the convalescents immediately, and the sick as soon as practicable. The reason assigned for this act by the State authorities was that they wanted the buildings for quarters for their own troops. (See Forts, &c.)

The Legislature of the State assembled at Baton Rouge on the 21st of January, and the Governor in his message represented the finances of the State to be in a flourishing condition, with a surplus in the Treasury.

On the 24th the State Convention met at the same place and organized. A committee of 15 was ordered to report an ordinance of secession. Over the capital waved a flag with 15 stars.

On the 26th the ordinance of secession was adopted by a vote of ayes 113, noes 17. The following is the ordinance:

An ordinance to dissolve the union letter the Stale of Louisiana and other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."

We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance passed by us in Convention on the 22d day of November, in the year 1811, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America, and the amendments of said Constitution, were adopted, and all laws and ordinances by which the State of Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union, be, and the same are hereby, repealed and abrogated; and that the union now subsisting between Louisiana and other States, under the name of the "United States of America," is hereby. dissolved.

We do further declare and ordain, that the State of Louisiana hereby resumes nil rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United Page 429 States of America; that her citizens are absolved from all allegiance to said Government; and that she is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which appertain to a free and independent State.

We do further declare and ordain, that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under any law of this State And not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed.

The undersigned hereby certified that the above ordinance is a true copy of the original ordinance adopted this day by the Convention of the State of Louisiana.

Given under my hand and the great seal of Louisiana, at Baton Rouge, this 26th day of the month of January, in the year of our Lord, 1861. [l. s.]

A. MOUTON,

President of the Convention.

Thomas Wheat, Secretary of the Convention.

The aspect of New Orleans at the time of the passage of this ordinance is thus reported:

"Every thing in this city appears to be in rapid progress towards a war establishment. Trade is at a stand still; the importation of merchandise has almost entirely ceased; the warehouses of the Federal Government are everywhere! literally glutted with bonded • goods; the banks are remorselessly curtailing their discounts; ordinary creditors are endeavoring by all means short of legal pressure to lessen the liabilities of their debtors; stores and manufactories, traders, and mechanics are diminishing their expenses by the discharge of hands, and, save the office-holders, an influential, wealthy, and important body, electorally considered, everybody looks dubious and bewildered, not knowing what to expect or what may happen. The proceedings at Baton Rouge will take no one by surprise. The Legislature is engaged in spending money profusely, and the Convention is engaged in laying down a broad foundation for the erection of a monstrous superstructure of debt."

In the Convention on the 31st, a resolution was offered to instruct the delegates to the Montgomery Convention, who had been previously appointed, to resist any attempt to reopen the African slave trade. This was laid on the table by a vote of 83 to 28. Mr. Walker, of New Orleans, then offered a resolution, declaring that the foregoing vote was not the sense of the Convention, but that it did not consider it to be proper to bind their delegates by instructions upon this or any other point. After an exciting debate the resolution was passed.

On the same day, the United States Mint and Custom House at New Orleans were quietly taken possession of by the State authorities, and the oath was subsequently administered to the officials under the ordinance. In the mint was $118,311, and in the sub-Treasury $483,984. A draft of the United States for $300,000 was presented soon after, which the sub-Treasurer refused to pay, saying that "the money in his custody was no longer the property of the United States, but of the Republic of Louisiana."

An ordinance was soon passed, however, authorizing the payment of all drafts drawn by disbursing officers in the regular course of disbursement out of funds standing to the credit of said officers respectively, provided the same did not exceed $306,592. Also all drafts of the United States drawn prior to the passage of the ordinance of secession, provided the same did not exceed $146,226. The sum of $31,164, standing to the credit of the Post office Department, was allowed to remain subject to its draft.

About this time a special agent, appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury at Washington, to secure the revenue cutters McClelland and Lewis Cass from seizure by the authorities of Louisiana, arrived at New Orleans. He found the captain of the McClelland after a long search, and delivered to him the following order:

New Orleans, January 29,1861.

Sir: You are hereby directed to get the United States revenue cutter McClelland, now lying here, under weigh immediately, and proceed with her to New York, where you will await the further instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury. For my authority to make this order, you are referred to the letter of the Secretary, dated the 19th inst., and handed you personally by me. Very respectfully,

WM. HEMPHILL JONES,

Special Agent.

To Captain J. G. Breshwood, commanding U. S. revenue cutter Robert McClelland.

To this letter, Captain Breshwood replied as follows: U. S. Revenue Cutter Robert McClelland,

New Orleans, January 29,1861.

Sir: Your letter, with one of the 19th of January from the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury, I have duly received, and in reply refuse to obey the order. I am. sir, your obedient servant,

JOHN G. BRESHWOOD,

Captain.

To Wh. Hemphill Jones, Esq., Special Agent. The special agent, W. H. Jones, then sent by telegraph a despatch to Secretary Dix, as follows: New Orleans, January 29,1S61. .Hon. J. A. Dix, Secretary of Treasury: Captain Breshwood has refused positively in writing, to obey any instructions of the Department. In this 1 am sure he is sustained by the Collector, and believe acts by his advice. What must I do

W. H. JONES,

Special Agent. To this despatch Secretary Dix immediately returned the following answer: Treasury Department, January 29, 1861. IP. Hemphill Jones, New Orleans:

Tell Lieutenant Caldwell to arrest Captain Breshwood, assume command of the cutter, and obey the order through you. If Captain Breshwood, after arrest, undertakes to interfere with the command of the cutter, tell Lieutenant Caldwell to consider him as a mutineer, and treat him accordingly. If any one attempts to haul down the American nag, shoot him on the spot.

JOHN A. DIX, Secretary of the Treasury.

This despatch from Secretary Dix was not received. It probably was withheld from the agent. His' further proceedings are thus stated in his report to the Secretary of the Treasury:

Believing that Captain Breshwood would not have Page 430 ventured upon this moat positive act of insubordination and disobedience of his own volition, I waited upon the Collector at the Custom-House, and had with him a full and free conversation upon the whole subject In the course of it, Mr. Hatch admitted to me that he had caused the cutter to be brought to the city of New Orleans by an order of his own, dated January 15th, so that she might be secured to the State of Louisiana, although at that time the State had not only not seceded, but the Convention bad not met, and in fact did not meet until eight days afterwards. This, I must confess, seemed to me a singular confession for one who at that very time had sworn to do his duty faithfully as an officer of the United States: and on intimating as much to Mr. Hatch, he excused himself on the ground that in these revolutions all other things must give way to the force of circumstances. Mr. Hatch likewise informed me that the officers of the cutter hod long since determined to abandon their allegiance to the United States, and cost their fortunes with the independent State of Louisiana.' In order to test the correctness of this statement, I addressed another communication to Captain Breshwood, of the following tenor:

New Orleans, January 29,1861.

Sir: By your note of this date I am informed that you refuse to obey the orders of the honorable Secretary of the Treasury. As, on accepting your commission, you took and subscribed an oath faithfully to discharge your duties to the Government, and as you well know, the law has placed the revenue cutters and their officers under the entire control of the Secretary of the Treasury, I request you to advise me whether you consider yourself at this time an officer in the service of the United States.

Very respectfully,

WM. HEMPHILL JONES, Special Agent.

To Captain Breshwood. To this letter I never received any reply. I then repaired again on board the cutter, and asked for the order of the Collector bringing her to New Orleans. The original was placed in my possession, of which the following is a copy. And here it may be proper to observe, that the order is written and signed by the Collector himself: Custom-House, New Orleans,  Collector's Office, January 15,1861.

Sir: You are hereby directed to proceed forthwith under sail to this city, and anchor the vessel under your command opposite the United States Marine Hospital, above Algiers. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

F. H. HATCH,

Collector.

To Capt. Breshwood.

In the latter part of January, the Collector at New Orleans, acting under instructions from the State authorities, refused to deliver foreign goods that had been imported by merchants in the cities of the Northern States or bordering on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, unless the duties were paid at New Orleans. Applications for instructions were made by the Collectors of these cities to the Treasury Department at Washington, and the answer was returned "that duties on imports collected by the State of Louisiana, at New Orleans, will not be recognized by the General Government."

On the 7th of February, an ordinance was passed by the Convention conferring the right of citizenship on all persons residing in the State of Louisiana at the date of the adoption of the secession ordinance.

Subsequently a State flag was adopted, consisting of a red ground, upon which appears a single star of pale yellow. The ground is crossed by bars of blue and white, making of the three colors fifteen stripes.

An ordinance was passed making it a penal offence for pilots at the Balize to bring over the bar any United States vessel of war. Another ordinance was adopted to accept the criminal code of the United States District Court.

In the House of Representatives of the Legislature, on the 15th of February, a joint resolution was introduced and referred, inviting the southern portion of Indiana and Illinois, which gave large majorities against Mr. Lincoln, to form a pro-slavery State and join the Southern Confederacy.

The speech of Mr. Lincoln, at Indianapolis, was regarded by the Legislature in session at Baton Rouge as foreshadowing coercion, and that war was inevitable. It was then declared that, "upon the first demonstration by him, the Provisional Government would send immediately a large army North. The South would never wait to be invaded."

An appropriation hill amounting to one million and a half passed the House on the 19th, and one hundred thousand dollars were asked to put the forts on the Mississippi in a complete state for defence. A regular force of three regiments was to be raised, which, with the volunteers, were supposed to be sufficient for any emergency.

At the same time, the bishop (Polk) of the Protestant Episcopal Church for the Diocese of Louisiana, issued a pastoral letter, arguing that secession likewise embraced that portion of the Church, which thereby separated from the Church in the Northern States. He thus expressed his views:

"Our separation from our brethren of 'The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States' has been effected, because we must follow our nationality. Not because there has been any difference of opinion as to Christian doctrine or catholic usage. Upon these points we are still one. "With us it is a separation, not a division—certainly not alienation. And there is no reason why, if we should find the union of our dioceses under our National Church impracticable, we should cease to feel for each other the respect and regard with which purity of manners, high principle, and a manly devotion to truth never fail to inspire generous minds. Our relations to each other hereafter will be the relations we both now hold to the men of our mother Church of England."

On the 4th of March the State Convention re-assembled at New Orleans. On the same day a resolution was passed, that the Convention will unite in a public reception of General Twiggs, and inviting him to a seat on the floor of the Convention. A resolution was also adopted instructing the Louisiana delegates in the Southern Congress not to cede any part of the public domain to the Confederation.

On the next day General Twiggs was enthusiastically Page 431 received. A salute was fired, and immense crowds gathered along the route of the procession. The military, the members of the State Convention, and others escorted him to his residence. In reply to an address of welcome, he said, "It was his hope that Providence would grant him sufficient strength to take part in the momentous struggle which threatened the country." While the procession was moving, a ludicrous mishap occurred. A file of the neatly-attired citizen soldiers was drawn up along the street in front of a building in course of construction, and close in their rear was a long mortar-bed, two feet deep, with that plastic composition ready for the workmen. The space between the files for the passage of the carriages being rather narrow, the officer ordered his men to take a step back. They did so, and about twenty feet of them instantaneously disappeared from sight backwards, the front file, in close order, preventing the rear rank from recovering themselves, when their heels stumbled against the mortar-bed. They were submerged, and every soldier had his uniform spoiled. They took cabs and disappeared.

By another ordinance, $536,000 were transferred to the Government of the Confederate States as the amount of bullion found and revenue from the customs seized by the State. At a later day, an ordinance to submit the Constitution of the Confederate States to a vote of the people for their acceptance or rejection, was defeated in the Convention by a vote of ayes 26, noes 74. The popular vote of the State for delegates to the Convention was not known until some time after the passage of the ordinance of secession. The names of the delegates who were elected only were sent to the Convention, without the popular vote of the different parishes. It was finally made public, however, as follows: For secession, 20,448; against secession, 17,296. At the Presidential election in November, 1860, the vote was as follows: Lincoln, ;Douglas, 7,625; Breckinridge, 22,681; Bell, 20,204.

 At the time when the vote was announced, the distinction between cooperation and secession had lost much of its force. It was, however, asserted in different parts of the State that there was a majority from two to three hundred on the popular vote for cooperation.

The right of secession was discussed at this time, and it was proposed to amend the ordinance ratifying the Constitution by adding thereto the following:

And it is hereby solemnly declared and ordained. That the true meaning and interpretation of this ordinance of ratification is, and shall be, construed as , follows:

Whereas a free State cannot be too jealous in guarding its fundamental rights; and whereas many citizens of Louisiana had grave doubts whether separate secession was a peaceable, constitutional remedy for their grievances in the late Union; and whereas those doubts arose from the silence upon that subject, both of the Constitution of the United States of America and of the act by which the State of Louisiana gave in her adhesion thereto; and whereas the Constitution of the Confederate States of America appears in this, as in most respects, to have been modelled after this Constitution of the United States: now, therefore, to prevent misunderstandings, and to secure harmony in future,

It is further ordained by the People of Louisiana, in Convention assembled, That, in adopting the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, the sovereign State of Louisiana does expressly reserve to herself the right peaceably to withdraw from the Union created by that Constitution, whenever, in the judgment of her citizens, her paramount interest may require it.

Mr. Marks, of Orleans, moved to lay the amendment on the table; and the yeas and nays having been called for, the motion was carried by yeas 92, nays 11. So the Convention refused to entertain the proposition.

The Permanent Constitution was., on the 21st of March, ratified in Convention by a vote of ayes 101, noes 71.

On the 26th, a resolution was introduced declaring in favor of entire free trade with the Western States, slave and free, by the Confederate States.

An ordinance was passed transferring the fortifications, arsenals, lighthouses, and revenue cutters of the State to the Confederate Government.

The ordinance on banking was passed, prohibiting the issue of notes of less than ten dollars, and this issue was not to exceed three-fourths of the capital paid in; the liabilities were to be represented by one-third specie and ninety days' paper. The State debt at this time was about $11,000,000, and the apparent surplus in the Treasury was $193,416.

The demand for troops made upon the State by the Confederate Government, was responded to with alacrity. The parishes poured into New Orleans large numbers of troops who wore sent forward to Pensacola. They also made liberal appropriations for their support. Tensas parish appropriated $16,000 for the use of the State, and paid $20 a month to each soldier, besides supporting his family during his absence. East Feliciana subscribed $50,000 for the same purpose, and at a large meeting passed a resolution that the Planters' parish in East Feliciana stand pledged to tender to Louisiana and the Government of the Confederate States, should it be needed, the whole of the annual proceeds of the crops, deducting only what may bo necessary for current expenses during the continuance of the present hostilities.

The state of affairs at New Orleans at this time is thus reported: "The war fever here is raging intensely, as it is also in all parts of the State, and in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and other cities and towns in the Confederate States. Indeed, so extensive are the preparations for the coming and inevitable conflict, that every tiling in the way of business is lost sight of, and thousands are arranging their personal effects in anticipation of the worst. In this city the ardor and enthusiasm have never been exceeded, and twenty-five thousand men Page 432 could be mustered into the Confederate army. Business here is well nigh suspended. There are few ships here, and these get high figures for freights, especially British bottoms, which have the preference."

On the 24th of April, Governor Moore issued an address calling for 3,000 additional troops. It was as follows:

To the People of Louisiana:

The Government at Washington, maddened by defeat and the successful maintenance by our patriotic people of their rights and liberties against its mercenaries in the harbor of Charleston, and the determination of the Southern people forever to sever themselves from the Northern Government, has now thrown off the mask, and sustained by the people of the non-slaveholding States, is actively engaged in levying war, by land and sea, to subvert your liberties, destroy your rights, and to shed your blood on your own soil. If you have the manhood to resist, rise, then, pride of Louisiana in your might, in defence of your dearest rights, and drive back this insolent barbaric force. Like your brave ancestry, resolve to conquer, or perish in the effort; and the nag of usurpation will never, never fly over Southern soil. Rally, then, to the proclamation which I now make on the requisition of the Confederate Government.

A number of parishes in the State appropriated ten thousand dollars each for the support of the volunteers, and pledged themselves to pay fifty thousand dollars a year, each, as long as the war should last.

This quota of 3,000 men, when made up, would raise the number to 6,000, which had then been sent forward. This last call was completed within thirty days.

By the 1st of June Louisiana had not less than sixteen thousand men under arms. Of those, seven thousand were on duty, as follows: Pensacola, 2,100; in Virginia, and on the way, 2,300; in Arkansas, 1,000; sea-coast and harbor defence, 1,700; marines, 250; total, 7,350. At Tangipaha, in camp, there were, in addition to the above, 4,000, and at New Orleans 5,000. At the ship yards at Algiers several vessels were put in condition for privateers, as the Star of the West, captured in a port of Texas; the McRae, once the Marquis de Havana; and the Sumter, once the Miramon, all of which were strong steamers. On the 10th of July the condition of affairs is thus described by a citizen and permanent resident of the State:

"What do we see? A treasury which a few months ago was full to repletion now collapsed, n great city comparatively defenceless, a people full of chivalrous feeling discouraged, an ardent and zealous local militia disappointed and disgusted; and, while all this is notoriously so, the imbecility which has produced it is perpetually taxing its ingenuity to devise some new expedients, finding fresh pretexts for rewarding hangers-on of disgraceful antecedents or useless appendages of the old militia system."

There are four routes by which New Orleans may be approached. The first is by the Mississippi River; the second is through lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain; another is up the Atchafalaya to Berwick Bay, and thence by bayous Torrel and Plaquemine to Iberville, one hundred miles above New Orleans; and the fourth by way of Grand Pass and Bayou Lafourche to Donaldsonville, eighty miles above the city.

The Mississippi River at the Belize divides into four branches, discharging themselves respectively through Pass a l'Outre, Northeast Pass, South Pass, and Southwest Pass. Above, where these four outlets begin, there are two forts, almost opposite to each other, named Jackson and St. Philip, which were well manned by a Confederate force, and mounted one hundred and seventy guns.

By the route through lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain, vessels drawing eleven feet can be brought to the Lake House, which is five miles from New Orleans. Troops landed there might be taken up the canal by water, or marched at ease in any numbers np the shell road, one of the finest in the country. On each side of it, and the canal, which runs parallel, the ground falls away into a swamp covered with a dense undergrowth, affording excellent covers for skirmishers. There are no fortifications of any kind on this road, except barricades. On this route a large trade is usually carried be-, tween New Orleans and Mobile. The length of the two lakes is one hundred and ten miles. At the entrance of Borgne, the more eastern of the two, are three islands, known as Cat, Ship, and Horse Islands. Upon the mainland opposite is Mississippi City.

The Atchafalaya route affords, at the barrel stakes, only twelve feet water, but above that any depth needed, for thirty or forty miles. Through it and the Plaquemine, vessels of that draught can pass to Iberville, thence into the Mississippi, at any time from the 1st of December to the 1st of June, when the river is full. Vessels of ten feet draught can go up the Bayou Lafourche during the same season of the year. The western extremity of Borgne extends within twelve miles of the city, and from thence troops and munitions of war could be transported, notwithstanding the swampy character of the country, for the greater part of the route.

During the summer, New Orleans became so embarrassed, as a municipal corporation, as to be regarded as bankrupt. This was ascribed to large expenditures to aid the military movements, although the real cause was undoubtedly the utter destruction of her credit and business, and the destitution to which a large portion of her citizens were exposed. All her foreign commerce was destroyed by the blockade.

In September, the banks of the city suspended specie payment, at the request of the Governor of the State, who issued a proclamation stating that the step was necessary to maintain the credit of the one hundred millions of treasury notes issued by the Confederate Government, in order to obtain the means with which to carry on the war. The banks were required to receive and pay out these notes at par.

Page 433

Under the confiscation act of the Confederate Congress all branches of northern firms doing business in the city were required to present a full balance sheet to the authorities. For instance, a co-partner of a northern commercial firm was required to close at once and adjust the balances. If there was any thing due to northern co-partners it was at once sequestrated. In October the Governor issued an order directing all military captains to drill their companies once during each day, and he authorized them to force the attendance of their men by placing all who refused to do duty upon the list of persons who were suspected of being unsound in their allegiance to the Confederacy.

The report of the markets for the 9th of November presented the following facts:

"The receipts of cotton since September 1 were 1,789 bales; stock on hand, 11,907 bales. Flour was selling at $11 25 to $12 25 per barrel; week's receipts 4,970 barrels. Corn had advanced to $1 25 per bushel for white; and red wheat $2 25 per bushel. Oats $1 25 per bushel. Western hay $50 per ton, and prairie grass $35 per ton. Mess pork was retailing at $45 per barrel; the stock in private hands was only 99 barrels, the rest of the stock (3,929 barrels) being held for Government stores. Hams were retailing at from 25 to 27 cents per pound, and lard 27 to 28 cents. There had been no receipts for a week of either pork, bacon, or lard. Western butter was quoted at 35 to 40 cents per pound. Kentucky bagging was selling at 24 cents per yard, and India at 24 cents. Gunny bags sold at 30 cents each. Whiskey $1 per gallon, and the week's receipts only amounted to 31 barrels. In regard to the article of coffee there was none in first hands, and the amount held by grocers was very small, the stock being almost exhausted. Sales of Liverpool salt brought the following rates: $10 to $10 50 per sack for coarse, and $11 to $11 50 for fine; packing salt has advanced from $5 50 to $6 per Dag of two bushels. Lard oil sold at $2 50 to $2 60 per gallon."

The Governor, in his Message to the Legislature in November, stated that the taxes for State purposes were payable on or before the 1st of December in each year. The amount paid in to the 15th of November was $614,816; the amount then unpaid and duo was $1,113,948. Only about one-third of the amount assessed had then been paid in. The amount of funds in the State Treasury on the same day was $383,622.

The appropriations for military purposes made by the last Legislature amounted to $960,000. Of this sum there had been expended $768,446. In addition $670,000 had been borrowed of the banks, of which there had been expended $646,761. The total expenditures for military purposes were $1,415,207. There were at the same time outstanding debts for the same objects amounting to $181,000. Total military expenses, $1,596,807.

This sum is charged to the Confederate States, and was at that time before the authorities at Richmond to be audited and paid. The amount, when allowed, would be an offset against the Confederate tax laid upon the State, and would help the State to settle with the Confederate authorities and assume the collection of the quota of Louisiana through her new officers, and at her own convenience. In making these expenditures, the Governor had obtained a loan of $670,000 from the Bank of New Orleans, of which his balance in hand was $106,101.

The debts to the banks for advances to the quartermasters and for estimated military expenditures, reached $950,000. There were the balance with the banks and the balance of unexpended appropriations, so that new appropriations were required for $653,944, and new means to the amount of $845,499. These are for military advances. The money in the Treasury belonging to the several branches of domestic administration was $383,622, of which sum only a trifle of $12,860 belonged to the general fund applicable to appropriations. Such was the aspect of the Treasury, and it was one evidently requiring the wisdom and sagacity of the Legislature to find means for sustaining the public credit. The willingness of the people to contribute unstintingly to the public wants was constrained only by the lack of ways in which to make their property and means serviceable to the cause in which they were embarked.

The measures recommended by the Governor were the following:

An extension by the Legislature of the time for the collection of taxes.

An act to make Confederate notes receivable for taxes.

Authorizing planters to issue " supply notes," or notes negotiable for the purchase of plantation supplies which should be a lien on crops.

The suspension by the Legislature of the duty imposed on the Attorney-General to institute proceedings for a forfeiture of the bank charters for suspension of specie payment, with provision to submit their action to a convention of the people, to be held after the conclusion of peace.

The issue of small notes by the banks, for the purpose of abating, the nuisance of illegal private circulations.

The question of a stay law had been much discussed, and the Governor advised the Legislature to proceed with extreme caution in relation to it. 'lie discouraged any interference with the regular course of probate and judiciary proceedings, and was disposed to approve generally of such legislation as should merely stay executions and secure the lien of. creditors on the property of debtors.

At this session of the Legislature an act was passed to suspend all judicial proceedings against persons in the military and naval service. Another to suspend forced sales, known Page 434 as a stay law, was also passed. Property, however, might be sold, when nine-tenths of its appraised value, according to the standard of valuation on the first of June, 1860, were offered.

The position of Louisiana at a distance from the Federal force, enabled her to devote all her military strength to the assistance of the Confederate Government. The number of her troops in service at the close of the year was eight regiments and two battalions in Virginia, three regiments in Kentucky, one in Missouri, and five more within the State. Besides these volunteers, fourteen companies of infantry had been mustered directly into the Confederate service. There were also thirteen companies at Camp Lewis near New Orleans, and it was estimated that 8,891 men had been raised in the State and mustered into the Confederate service directly by the War Department. The aggregate of soldiers furnished by Louisiana up to November was therefore 24,093 men, which was about half of the number of voters.

According to the report of Adjutant-General Grivot, there were, on the 20th of December, 28.577 troops from Louisiana in the Confederate service. The report of the organized militia of the State was incomplete, as many parishes had made no returns. In nine parishes there was a force of 5,898. The first division under Major-General Lewis was 80,499 strong; the regiment of Confederate Guards numbered 752 men, making a total military force reported as organized in the State, of 37,149. The grand total of Louisiana troops in and out of the State was 60,726.

The only hostile movements within the limits of the State in 1861 were made at the mouths of the Mississippi. On the 12th of October, near four o'clock in the morning, as the Federal steamship Richmond, under the command of John Pope, was lying at the Southwest Pass receiving coal from the schooner J. H. Toone, a floating ram, as it was called, was discovered close upon the ship.

By the time the alarm could be given, she had struck the ship abreast of the fore channels, tearing the schooner from her fasts, and forcing a hole through the ship's side. Passing aft, the ram endeavored to effect a breach in the stern, but failed. Three planks on the ship's side were stove in about two feet below the water line, making a hole about five inches in circumference. At the first alarm the crew promptly and coolly repaired to their quarters, and as the ram passed abreast of the ship the entire port battery was discharged at her, with what effect it was impossible to discover, owing to the darkness.

The sloops of war Preble and Vincennes, and the smaller steamer Water Witch, were lying at anchor a short distance below. A red light was shown from the Richmond as a signal of danger, and the vessels, having slipped their cables, were under way in a few minutes. Soon, three large fire rafts stretching across the river were seen rapidly approaching, while several large steamers and a bark-rigged propeller were astern of them. The squadron, however, moved down the river, and, under the advice of the pilot, an attempt was made to pass over the bar, but in the passage the Vincennes and Richmond grounded, while the Preble went clear. This occurred about eight o'clock in the morning, and fire was opened on both sides. The shot of the fleet fell short, while shells of the enemy burst around them, or went beyond them. About half-past nine o'clock the commander of the Richmond made a signal to the ships outside of the bar to get under way. This was mistaken by Captain Hardy of the Vincennes as a signal for him to abandon his ship. Accordingly, with his officers and crew he left her, after having lighted a slow match at the magazine. But as no explosion occurred for some time, he was ordered to return and attempt to get her off shore. At ten o'clock the enemy ceased firing. No one was killed or wounded on the Federal fleet. No damage was done to any vessel except to the Richmond. The schooner J. H. Toone was captured, having about fifteen tons of coal on board.

The ram, as it was called, was the hull of a steamer, iron-plated with railroad iron, and having a projection on her bow beneath the water line, sufficient to punch a hole in the hull of a wooden vessel when struck with force. It was under the command of Captain Hollins, formerly of the United States navy, the officer who was in command at the bombardment of Greytown, Nicaragua.

OPELOUSAS, the capital of St. Landry parish, or county, in Louisiana, is situated 50 miles in direct line west of Baton Rouge, and seven miles from the head of navigation on the Courtableau. It is the seat of Franklin College, and contained a court house and other public buildings. It was occupied by General Banks on the 20th of April, 1863.

MISSISSIPPI, one of the Southern States, is bounded north by Tennessee, east by Alabama, south by the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana, and west by the Pearl and Mississippi rivers, which separate it from Louisiana and Arkansas. Cotton is the great staple of the State. The population in I860 was 353,969 whites, 731 free colored, 436,696 slaves. Total 791,396. The ratio of increase during the previous ten years was 19-70 white, 21-40 free colored, and 40-93 slave. The Governor of the State is elected by the people once in two years. The Governor in 1861 was John J. Pettus. The Senate consists of thirty-two members, elected for four years, and the House of ninety-two members, elected for two years.

Page 473 It had been an object with the people of the State, since the commencement of the anti-slavery agitation, to attach the border States to the extreme South as strongly as possible; or, rather, to make it as much as possible their interest to resist abolition. For this purpose, as early as 1833, the Legislature endeavored to cut off the market of the border States for their slaves by prohibiting the introduction of them as merchandise, or for sale, within the limits of the State. They further designed by these prohibitions to prevent the condensation of slavery in the extreme South. Similar restrictions were recommended to the Legislature by Governor Pettus at the session in November, 1860. Judge Harris, of the Supreme Court of the State, in the case of William Mitchell vs. Nancy Wells, gives the following as one of the reasons for adopting those restrictions at an early day:

"It was feared that if these border States were permitted to sell us their slaves, and thus localize the institution, they too would unite in the wild fanaticism of the day, and render the institution of slavery, thus reduced to a few Southern States, an easy prey to its wicked spirit."

The recommendations of Governor Pettus, however, met with little favor. They were rejected by a unanimous vote of the Legislature.

A session of the Legislature was held at Jackson early in November, 1860, for the purpose of making the preliminary arrangements for a State Convention. It passed an act calling such Convention on the 7th of January, and fixed the 20th of December as the day upon which an election should be held for members. The measures were passed unanimously. The following resolutions were also adopted unanimously:

Resolved, That the Governor be requested to appoint as many Commissioners as in his judgment may be necessary to visit each of the slaveholding States, and designate the State or States to which each Commissioner shall be commissioned, whose duty it shall be to inform them that this Legislature has passed an act calling a Convention of the people of this State to consider the present threatening relations of the Northern and Southern sections of the Confederacy, aggravated by the recent election of a President upon principles of hostility to the States of the South, and to express the earnest hope of Mississippi that those States will cooperate with her in the adoption of efficient measures for their-common defence and safety.

Resolved, That, should any Southern State not have convened its Legislature, the Commissioner to such State shall appeal to the Governor thereof to call the Legislature together, in order that its cooperation be immediately secured.

One of the members, Mr. Lamar, advocated separate secession of the State, and recommended that the Senators and Representation yet in the Federal Congress from the Southern States should withdraw and form a Congress of a new republic, and appoint electors for President of a Southern Confederacy. The Legislature adjourned on the 30th of November, 1860.

The people of the State were divided on the question of secession. At Canton, on the 3d of December, I860, a meeting of citizens was held, at which the following resolutions were  adopted with much unanimity:

Resolved, That we, the people hero assembled, are opposed to the election to the State Convention of any man to represent Madison County, who will not pledge himself to oppose the secession of the State of Mississippi, unless such proposition shall first receive the direct sanction of the people at the ballot-box.

Resolved, That we have no word of advice to give to any Southern State, but if any such State should regard it as necessary to the safety of its people to withdraw from the Union, and any attempt should bo made by the General Government to coerce her back —that in such case it would, in the opinion of this meeting, be the duty, as doubtless it would be the pleasure, of all the Southern people to cooperate in sustaining the withdrawing State, until the North should do full justice, repeal its obnoxious State laws, and give undoubted guarantees that the slavery question shall be forever settled on principles consistent with the Constitution and the rights and safety of the South.

At the largest public meeting ever held in Adams County, two delegates were nominated to the State Convention, who were  opposed to separate State secession, and in favor of waiting for cooperation. At the same time a large meeting was held at Jackson which was addressed by some of the most distinguished men in the State. All the speakers were in favor of resistance, but of firm, decided, and temperate action. Some were in favor of staying in the Union if sufficient guarantees should be given for the protection of the rights of the South. A consultation and conference with the slaveholding States were desired. At Columbus a public meeting was also held, at which two of the resolutions unanimously adopted were as follows:

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that the State Convention about to assemble, ought to declare that Mississippi resumes the powers and functions delegated by her to the Federal Government, and absolves herself from every obligation thereto, to take effect on the 4th day of March, a. d. 1861, unless prior to that time the non-slaveholding States shall repeal all their odious, offensive, and unconstitutional legislation to defeat the rendition of fugitives from labor, restore the Federal Constitution to its original purity and design, and afford positive security for our domestic peace and property rights in the Union; provided that such a number of the slaveholding States shall cooperate with Mississippi as in the judgment of said Convention will justify her action.

Resolved, That the Legislature of this State be requested to procure in the mean time, as far as possible, the cooperation of the slaveholding States.

Arguments like the following were also urged with much eloquence: "There is no wrong if we are united that we cannot remedy under the Constitution, and no right that it cannot protect. Our safety, our existence, now depends upon the integrity of that instrument. The moment wo throw off the restraints of the Constitution, surrendering to the North our rights in the territories, our interests in the public domain—in our courts, our navy and our army, and our Federal Treasury—that moment we are doomed to destruction. Secession can afford no palliation for our wrongs; it can only precipitate Page 474 us into greater evils, as wo must forfeit all our rights under the Constitution when we leave the Union and give to our Northern foes all they need to render their aggressive policy more effective."

The election of members of the State Convention took place on the 20th of December. The number of members to be elected was ninety-nine. Of these more than one-third were cooperationists. This distinction into cooperationists and secessionists only referred to the manner of proceeding which the State should adopt. The latter advocated immediate and separate secession, the former preferred consultation and cooperation with the other slaveholding States. The ultimate object of each was the same, as expressed in the following language by one of the citizens: "These are household quarrels. As against Northern combination and aggression we are united. We are all for resistance. We differ as to the mode; but the fell spirit of abolitionism has no deadlier and we believe no more practical foes than the cooperationists of the South. We are willing to give the North a chance to say whether it will accept or reject the terms that a united South will agree upon. If accepted, well and good; if rejected, a united South can win all its rights in or out of the Union."

The State Convention organized on the 7th of January, and immediately appointed a committee to prepare and report an ordinance of secession with a view of establishing a new confederacy to be comprised of the seceded States.

The committee duly reported the following ordinance, and it was adopted on the 9th—ayes 84, noes, 15:

The people of Mississippi, in Convention assembled, do ordain and declare, und it is hereby ordered and declared, as follows, to wit:

Sec. 1. That all the laws and ordinances by which the said State of Mississippi became a member of the Federal Union of the United States of America be, and the same are hereby repealed, and that all obligations on the part of the said State, or the people thereof, be withdrawn, and that the said State does hereby resume all the rights, functions, and powers which by any of the said laws and ordinances were conveyed to the Government of the said United States, and is absolved from all the obligations, restraints, and duties incurred to the said Federal Union, and shall henceforth be a free, sovereign, and independent State.

Sec. 2. That so much of the first section of the seventh article of the Constitution of this State, as requires members of the Legislature and all officers, both legislative and judicial, to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States be, and the same is hereby abrogated and annulled.

Sec. 3. That all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or under any oct of Congress passed in pursuance thereof, or any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same effect as if the ordinance had not been passed.

Sec. 4. That the people of the State of Mississippi hereby consent to form a Federal Union with such of the States as have seceded or may secede from the Union of the United States of America, upon the basis of the present Constitution of the United States, except such parts thereof as embrace other portions than such seceding States.

Delegations from South Carolina and Alabama were invited to seats in the Convention, and were greeted with much applause. Efforts were made to postpone action, but these were voted down, and only fifteen voted nay on the final passage of the measure. The vote was subsequently made unanimous. The first aggressive movement was made by Governor Pettus on the 12th of January, when he ordered a piece of artillery to Vicksburg to hail and examine boats passing on the Mississippi. Movements were at the same time commenced to complete the organization of the military of the State. Judge Gholson, of the United States Court, resigned. South Carolina was recognized by the Convention as sovereign and independent ,and steps were taken to cut asunder every tie to the United States, excepting the postal arrangements. The subsequent movements were reported to the Legislature by the Governor in a Message on the 15th of January. He says:

"As soon as I was informed that the Governor of Louisiana had taken the arsenal at Baton Rouge, I sent Colonel C. G. Armstead with a letter to Governor Moore, requesting him to furnish Mississippi with ten thousand stand of arms on such terms as he might deem just. Colonel Armstead informs me that his Excellency has responded to my request by ordering eight thousand muskets, one thousand rifles, and six twenty-four pound guns, with carriages, and a considerable amount of ammunition, to be delivered to him, which will be shipped to Mississippi as soon as possible.

"I have drawn from the Treasury, on account of the appropriation, for the purchase of arms, ammunition, &c, $38,311 21. Contracts for a considerable amount of arms and munitions of war have been made, which have not ns yet been complied with, the arms not having been received or paid for. After paying all contracts now made or authorized to be made, there will be a considerable balance of the appropriation of $150,000 made at the last regular session of the Legislature.

"Patriotic citizens in various portions of the State have extended to me pecuniary aid in arming the State. Hon. A. G. Brown sent me a bill on New York for $500. Colonel Jeff. Davis and Hon. Jacob Thompson have guaranteed the payment, in May or June, of twenty-four thousand dollars for the purchase of arms.

"We have embarked upon a stormy sea, and much of the peril which attends our voyage is to be apprehended from the thoughtlessness and passions of her new crew. Law and order must prevail, or there is no safety for the ship."

In the Convention, a resolution was offered on the 9th of February condemning the re-formation of the Union, as follows:

Resolved, by the people of the State of Mississippi in Convention assembled, That the reconstruction of the Union of the United States of America is impracticable and unadvisable, and that hereafter Mississippi ought Page 475 to confederate only with States Laving similar domestic institutions to her own.

It was laid on the table by a vote of ayes 45, noes 20.

To prepare for any emergency, the Legislature, which had re-assembled to provide for the execution of the secession ordinance, levied an additional tax of fifty per cent, upon the amount of the then existing State tax, and also authorized the Governor to borrow two millions of dollars at ten per cent., payable in one, two, and three years, out of the State revenues.

At this time there existed much dissatisfaction among the wealthy and substantial citizens of the State. There was before them a prospect of heavy taxation, and of no benefits under the new order of affairs which they could not expect under the Union.

The State Convention, after an adjournment, now re-assembled on the 25th of March. On the same day the Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States was taken up and referred to a special committee. A resolution was also offered, as a test question, to instruct that committee to report an ordinance referring the Constitution directly to the people at the ballot-box for ratification or rejection. On the next day a motion to lay this resolution on the table was rejected by—ayes 37, noes 40. An ordinance was then offered, as a substitute, providing for the election of delegates by the people to ratify in Convention the Permanent Constitution; a motion to lay this substitute on the table was adopted—ayes 45, noes 30.

The committee then submitted an ordinance that the Constitution be ratified by the Convention.

Mr. Yerger submitted an ordinance which, after stating that any imperfections ought to be amended in the modo prescribed in the Constitution rather than bring the Confederacy into danger by delay, provided that the Convention adopts, assents to, and ratifies the Constitution, upon condition that the people of Mississippi reserve to themselves the right of peaceful secession, and that the Constitution shall not bo held to bind the people of the State until it and the ordinance be submitted to them for ratification or rejection.

Mr. Wood next submitted an ordinance to submit the Constitution to the people of the State for ratification or rejection.

Mr. Fontaine introduced a substitute to provide for the assembling of another convention to ratify the Constitution.

The debate on the ratification of the Constitution was very spirited and able on the part of the advocates of the power of the Convention to ratify, as well as of those who contended for the right of the people to pass judgment on the Constitution under winch they were to live. The vote on these various propositions was as follows:

Mr. Fontaine's ordinance, calling another convention to consider the Constitution, was rejected—yeas 28, nays 57.

Mr. Gholson offered a substitute for Mr. Wood's ordinance submitting the Constitution to a vote of the people; lost—yeas 32, nays 53.

Mr. Yerger's minority report, reserving to the State the right of secession, was lost; yeas 13, nays 68.

Mr. Rogers offered a substitute for the majority report, which was laid on the table; yeas 53, nays 28.

The majority of the committee had reported this ordinance:

Be it ordained by the people of Mississippi, in Convention assembled, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same, That the Constitution adopted by the Congress at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, for the Permanent Federal Government of the Confederate States of America be, and the same is hereby adopted and ratified by the State of Mississippi, acting in its sovereign and its independent character; and the State of Mississippi here by accedes to and becomes a member of the Confederacy provided for by said Constitution.

The vote on this ordinance was—ayes 78, noes 7. The largo minority of thirty-two voted persistently in favor of referring the Constitution to the people for ratification until it was evident that their policy could not prevail; and, with the exception of the seven members referred to above, they then voted with the majority to give to the action of the State, as it appears, all the moral influence of a united vote.

On the next day an ordinance was adopted so amending the State Constitution as to make it consistent with the connection between the State and the Confederacy.

A resolution was also adopted, transferring the marine hospital at Vicksburg to the Confederate States.

The chairman of the Committee on the Coat of Arms and Flag of the State, who had previously made a report on the subject, having stated that the seal had been the subject of much criticism, pro and con, suggested that the "eagle's nest and serpent" be omitted therefrom. An ordinance was adopted, changing the seal in accordance with this suggestion.

The Convention soon after adjourned sine die.

The entire State seemed to take up arms upon the call for troops by the Confederate Government. That ardent and fiery people entered into the first movements of the struggle against the North with their whole soul. Women, even, urged their husbands, sons, and brothers, to volunteer, and they were almost unanimous for resistance. As early as the 14th of May notice was given that a sufficient number of companies to fill any probable requisition for troops by the Government of the Confederate States on the State of Mississippi had been tendered, and no more companies would be received until a further call should be made. One requisition for five regiments was filled in six days.

On the 25th of Juno the Legislature assembled

Page 476 in extra session. The Governor, in his Message, congratulated the members that " the revolution inaugurated last fall had so far been prosperous and successful. The call to arms was responded to in a manner unknown to modern times. The call for means to support the volunteers was answered with such liberal devotion to the cause as to gratify the heart of the patriot" The object of the extra session he states in these words: "To enable a people thus willing and anxious to aid in the successful prosecution of this just and necessary war with the least injury to themselves, and to make some effort to prevent the ruinous sacrifice of the property, at forced sales, of those against whom constables and sheriffs now have executions in their hands, and of a much more numerous class against whom suits have been and will be instituted, I have again called you into extra session."

He suggested to them, as a means of retaliation on the Northern people, and, at the same time, of relieving the people of Mississippi from a part of the expenses imposed by the war, whether it would not be expedient and just to confiscate all the property of alien enemies within the limits of the State. In referring to the public arms and military stores, and the equipment of volunteers, he reported as follows: "About sixteen thousand stand of arms for infantry and cavalry have been brought to the State during my administration. This number has not, by thousands, supplied the demands of volunteers willing and anxious to receive them, and all the efforts heretofore made by the military board and myself have failed to procure a sufficient number; and to supply the deficiency we are now collecting the rifles and double-barrelled shot-guns throughout the State, to be used until better can bo procured. Ten companies of cavalry and ten of artillery have been organized, and will soon be armed and equipped, ready for the field."

He also recommended a tax of one-fourth of one per cent, on land and slaves, which would add $279,544 to the produce of the taxes. He suggested also a tax of three-tenths of one per cent, on all moneys " owned by any inhabitant of the State, or controlled by such inhabitant, loaned or employed in the purchase of notes, bills, stocks, or securities, for the payment of money without the limits of the State, or kept from use or circulation within the same, at any time during the year.

He also recommended that a law should be passed postponing for twelve months the sales of property under all judgments obtained in any court, and prohibiting the issuing of executions on all judgments which might be rendered, until the expiration of twelve months after the adjournment of the next regular session of the Legislature. Among the inducements to this measure he urged that the people, thus relieved from the necessity of keeping a large portion of their cotton crop, would be at liberty to loan it to the Government until the war closed.

He said that the State had made large advances to the Confederate Government. The quartermaster-general had been sent to Richmond with instructions to receive these advances and invest them in heavy winter supplies for the Mississippi troops in the field.

In regard to the defences of the Mississippi Sound, Governor Pettus reported that an agreement had been entered into with the Governors of Louisiana and Alabama by which they shared among them the expense of manning and arming small steamers for that service. There were also ordered to the coast a company of field-artillery and four companies of Mississippi Volunteers.

The Legislature, at this and a subsequent session, adopted measures to provide sufficient funds for all State purposes. An act was passed authorizing an advance of treasury notes, not to exceed the sum of $5,000,000, to the planters of the State upon the hypothecation of cotton valued at twenty-five dollars a bale. The Senate proposed to pledge the faith of the State for their redemption—a feature which was stricken out by amendments to the bill going to the Lower House. These notes were to be received in payment of all State taxes and dues, and it was contemplated to obtain the consent of Congress for the Confederate collector to take them in payment of the national war tax, which the State determined to assume.

Another act was passed, the object of which was to relieve the indigent families of volunteers, of levying thirty per cent, in addition to the regular tax, which was to be distributed to the various counties, in proportion to the number of soldiers furnished.

The Legislature, on the 19th Dec, passed a bill requiring the banks to receive the State Treasury notes in payment of debts, and that the notes of the banks shall be receivable for all public dues except the Confederate war tax.

At the annual election, Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior during the administration of President Buchanan, was chosen Governor of the State by a majority of about 1,400 over Governor Pettus.

Reuben Davis, Israel Welch, n. C. Chambers, O. R. Singleton, E. Barksdale, John J. McRae, and J. W. Clapp were chosen Representatives to the Confederate Congress at Richmond. Albert G. Brown and James Phelan, Senators.

The following plan was adopted to secure a sufficient number of volunteers under an act of the Legislature:

"After providing for a thorough organization into companies of all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and fifty years, it is made the duty of each company commander, immediately after the organization of his command, to prepare a number of tickets, equal to the number of his company, one-third of which shall be numbered 'one,' one-third numbered 'two,' and one-third numbered 1 three.' They are then to be placed in a box or hat, and be Page 477 drawn by the members of the company. Those drawing number 'one' shall constitute the first class, and shall be transferred into active service first, and the second class next, and the third next. Any person who furnishes a substitute must take the place of the substitute in the class from which he was taken. A like classification is to be made annually, and no man shall be required to serve in the regular service for more than twelve months."

The position of Mississippi in the southwestern part of the country protected her from any important hostile attack by the Federal troops. On the north were the States of Tennessee and Kentucky, and on the east Alabama, Georgia, &o. The State is accessible by water only at its southern point on the Gulf of Mexico. Here an attack was made, and the town of Biloxi captured on the 31st of December. This pleasant watering-place, visited by citizens of Mobile and New Orleans during the summer, is about ninety miles from the latter city. It is located on a part of the shore which projects into Biloxi Bay or Mississippi Sound. Its population is about 400, which is largely increased in the summer. In front of the town is a light-house, near which a sand-battery had been erected, which mounted two 6-pounders. The expedition consisted of the gunboats Water Witch, Lieut. A. K. Hughes, New London, Lieut. A. Reed, and the Lewis, Lieut. McKean Buchanan, with forty-five marines from the Niagara and Massachusetts, and two boats' crews from the Massachusetts, the whole under the command of Captain Melancthon Smith. The expedition got under way from Ship Island at 7 o'clock in the morning, and arriving before the place, the vessels came to anchor. Commander Smith landed with a few men without opposition, the authorities surrendered the town, the guns were taken on board one of the vessels, and the expedition returned on the same evening.

The number of troops furnished to the Confederate service, including those recruited, but not sent out of the State, was about twenty thousand men. A portion of them were classed among the flower of the Confederate army.

In foreign commerce nothing was done during the year. The internal trade of the State on the Mississippi with the Confederate States was without restraint, but reduced to the smallest extent in consequence of the stagnation elsewhere, and the excitement in military affaire.

The vote for President in 1860 was: Douglas 3,283, Breckinridge 40,797, Bell 25,040.

NORTH CAROLINA, one of the original thirteen States, is bounded north by Virginia, cast and southeast by the Atlantic, south by South Carolina and Georgia, and west by South Carolina and Tennessee. The population in 1860 was 631,489 whites, 30,097 free colored, and 331,081 slaves. Total 992,667. The Governor holds his office for two years. John W. Ellis, whose term of office ceased in January, 1863, died in 1861, and was succeeded by the Lieutenant-Governor Clark. The Senate is composed of fifty members, elected for two years, and the House of Commons, as it is called, of one hundred and twenty members, elected for two years. The vote at the presidential election in 1860 was as follows: Lincoln, Douglas 2,701, Breckinridge 48,539, Bell 44,990. The staple productions of the State are Indian corn, tobacco, and sweet potatoes. Lumber, pitch, tar, and turpentine, with some rice and cotton, are articles of export from the State.

The Legislature of the State being in session in December, 1860, previous to the meeting of the State Convention in South Carolina, a series of resolutions were offered proposing to appoint Commissioners to the South Carolina Convention for the purpose of urging that body to await a general consultation of the slaveholding States, and to provide also that the Commissioners should attend the Conventions in other States. They were made a special order, but did not pass. On the same day, in the House of Commons, the following resolution was adopted by a vote of 60 in favor, to 43 against it:

Be it resolved, That the following message be signed by the Speakers of both Houses of this Legislature, and sent by mail to the President of the South Carolina Convention:

Gentlemen of the South Carolina Convention: Will your State confer with our State, or all of the Southern States, or all of the States of the Union, in Convention or otherwise, in order that some honorable adjustment of the present difficulties between the States may be effected whereby a Constitutional Union may be preserved?

In Pasquotank County, in the northeastern part of the State, nearly half the population of which are slaves, the following resolution was adopted at a general meeting, about December 20, 1860:

Whereas some diversity of opinion exists in the State of North Carolina as to the policy to be pursued by the State in the present alarming crisis in our political affairs, therefore be it be

Resolved, By the people of Pasquotank County, in general meeting assembled, that no sufficient cause at present exists for a dissolution of the Union ; and that, while such is our opinion, we take this occasion to express our disapprobation of the precipitate course pursued by the people of South Carolina, and our determination to resist any encroachment upon our rights, in the Union, let it come from whatever quarter it may.

A strong Union sentiment was shown in the State during the session of the Legislature, but it was in favor of requiring additional guarantees. The public sentiment at this time, being the first of January, has been described in these words:

"The general feeling of North Carolina is conservative. She would respond to any fair proposition for an equitable adjustment of present national difficulties, but will insist on her rights at all hazards."

On the 8th of January Forts Caswell and Johnson were occupied by unauthorized persons, who presented themselves with some show of force and demanded their surrender. Governor Ellis ordered them to be immediately restored to the proper authority. In a letter to President Buchanan, on "the 12th of January, he thus describes his action:

Sir: Reliable information has reached this Department, that, on the 8th instant, Forts Johnson and Caswell were taken possession of by State troops and persons resident in that vicinity, in an irregular manner.

Upon receipt of this information, I immediately issued a military order requesting the forts to be restored to the authorities of the United States, which order will be executed this day.

My information satisfies mc that this popular outbreak was caused by a report, very generally credited, but which, for the sake of humanity, I hope is not true, that it was the purpose of the Administration to coerce the Southern States, and that troops were on their way to garrison the Southern ports and to begin the work of subjugation. This impression is not yet erased from the public mind, which is deeply agitated at the bare contemplation of so great an indignity and wrong; and I would most earnestly appeal to your Excellency to strengthen my hands in my efforts to preserve that public order here, by placing it in my power to give public assurance that no measures of force are contemplated towards us.

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Your Excellency will pardon me, therefore, for asking whether the United States forts will be garrisoned with United States troops during your Administration.

This question I ask in perfect respect, and with an earnest desire to prevent consequences which I know would be regretted by your Excellency as much as myself.

Should I receive assurance that no troops will be sent to this State prior to the 4th of March next, then all will be peace and quiet here, and the property of the United Suites will be fully protected as heretofore. If, however, I am unable to get such assurances, I will not undertake to answer for the consequences.

The forts in this State have long been unoccupied, and their being garrisoned at this time will unquestionably be looked upon as a hostile demonstration, and will in my opinion certainly be resisted.

To this communication the Secretary of War replied on the 15th, as follows:

Your letter of the 12th instant, addressed to the President of the United States, has by him been referred to this Department, and he instructs me to express his gratification at the promptitude with which you have ordered the expulsion of the lawless men who recently occupied Forts Johnson and Caswell. He regards this action on the part of your Excellency as in complete harmony with the honor and patriotic character of the people of North Carolina, whom you so worthily represent.

In reply to your inquiry, whether it is the purpose of the President to garrison the forts of North Carolina during his administration, I am directed to say that they, in common with the other forts, arsenals, and other property of the United States, are in charge of the President, and that if assailed, no matter from what quarter or under what pretext, it is his duty to protect them by all the means which the law has placed at his disposal. It is not his purpose to garrison the forts to which you refer at present, because he considers them entirely safe, as heretofore, under the shelter of that law-abiding sentiment for which the people of North Carolina have ever been distinguished. Should they, however, be attacked or menaced with danger of being seized or taken from the possession of the United States, he could not escape from his constitutional obligation to defend and preserve them. The very satisfactory and patriotic assurance given by your excellency justifies him, however, in entertaining the confident expectation that no such contingency will arise.

The bill for calling a State Convention was under debate a number of days; so, also, was the resolution proposing the appointment, on the part of North Carolina, of Commissioners to a Peace Conference at Washington, as proposed by Virginia. The Convention bill finally passed on the 24th of January.

Ultimately, the Legislature seconded the movement of Virginia, by appointing several eminent men, of both parties, to represent the State in the National Conference at Washington. Commissioners were also appointed to represent the State in the Southern meeting at Montgomery, Alabama, the avowed purpose of which was to establish a Provisional Government over a Southern Confederacy, but with instructions adopted by a vote of 6!) to 38 in the Commons, that they were "to act only as mediators to endeavor to bring about a reconciliation." This vote was hailed as an unmistakable sign that North Carolina was not prepared for disunion and a Southern Confederacy.

The Convention bill, as it finally passed the Legislature, provided for putting the question to the people at the time of electing delegates; Convention or no Convention.

It further provided that the election should be held on the 28th of January, and that ten days should be allowed the sheriffs to make their returns. If a majority of the people voted for the Convention, the Governor should issue his proclamation fixing the day for the meeting. If the Convention was called, its action should be submitted to the people for ratification or rejection. If a majority of the people voted against the Convention, the Governor should make known the fact by proclamation. The action of the Convention was required to be confined to Federal matters, and the members would be sworn to that effect.

A more guarded and restricted form could hardly have been adopted and permit any liberty of action to the Convention.

On the 4th of February a resolution was passed unanimously in the House, declaring that, in case reconciliation fails, North Carolina goes with the slave States. The military bill passed in the House, authorized the arming of ten thousand volunteers, and provided for the entire reorganization of the militia.

The election for members of the State Convention resulted in the choice of a considerable majority who were in favor of the Union, and opposed to secession. As expressed at the time, "They, as Unionists, would not submit to the administration of the Government on sectional principles, but they were anxious to preserve the Union on a constitutional basis, and to obtain such guarantees as would lead to a permanent reconstruction of it."

The official vote of the State on the question of Convention or no Convention, including the winch vote of Davie and Heywood counties, were reported, was: for Convention, 46,678; against a Convention, 47,323. Majority against a Convention, 651. The vote of the State was smaller by about twenty thousand than at the election in August previous.

Of the whole number of delegates, eighty-two were constitutional Union men and thirty-eight secessionists. The Union majority, therefore, was rather more than two to one.

After this election, the Governor determined not to call the Legislature of the State together in extra session unless something more urgent than was known should occur.

No events of unusual interest occurred until the attack upon Fort Sumter and the call by the President for troops. To the requisition ot the Secretary at War, the Governor immediately replied by telegraph as follows:

Raleigh, April 15, l861

Your despatch is received, and, if genuine—-which is extraordinary character leads me to doubt—' I have to say, in reply, that I regard the levy of troops made by the Administration, for the purpose of subjugating the States of the South, as in violation of the Constitution and a usurpation of power. I can be no P this wicked violation of the laws of the country to this war upon the liberties of a free people Page 539 you can get no troops from North Carolina. I will reply more in detail when your call is received by mail.

                          JOHN W. ELLIS,

                Governor of North Carolina.

Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War.

The county of Pasquotank, which passed such a strong Union resolution on the 20th of December, as above stated, now, on the 23d of April, assembled in mass meeting at the county town, and adopted the following:

Whereas war exists between the North and the South upon an issue involving the moral, social, and political existence of the South; and whereas it becomes all food citizens and loyal subjects of North Carolina to defend her honor, and preserve her independence; therefore,

Resolved, That we, the people of Pasquotank County, in general meeting assembled, disregarding party affiliations, ignoring the political lines which heretofore have divided us as a people, forgetting and forgiving the animosities which may have been engendered by former political contests, and laying them all a willing sacrifice upon the altar of our common mother, North Carolina, do this day solemnly form a political brotherhood, whose object shall be a united resistance to common wrongs—its bond of union, the honor of North Carolina.

The forts in the State which had been once seized on a popular outbreak and restored by the Governor, were once more seized, and at this time by his orders. Guns and ammunition were obtained in Charleston for use at Fort Macon and Fort Caswell. An extra session of the Legislature was immediately summoned to assemble on the 1st of May.

The proclamation of Governor Ellis convening that body was as follows:

Whereas by proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, followed by a requisition of Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, I am informed that the said Abraham Lincoln has made a call for seventy-five thousand men, to be employed for the invasion of the peaceful homes of the south, and the violent subversion of the liberties of a free people, constituting a large part of the whole population of the late United States, and whereas this high-handed act of tyrannical outrage is not only a violation of all constitutional law, utter disregard of every sentiment of humanity and Christian civilization, and conceived in a spirit of aggression unparalleled by any act of recorded history, but is a direct step towards the subjugation of the entire South, and the conversion of a free Republic inherited from our fathers, into a military despotism to bo established by worse than foreign enemies, on the ruins of the once glorious Constitution of equal rights;

Now, therefore, I, John W. Ellis, Governor of the State of North Carolina, for these extraordinary causes, do hereby issue this my proclamation, notifying and requesting the Senators and Members of the House of Commons of the General Assembly of North Carolina, to meet in special session at the capital in the city of Raleigh, ou Wednesday, the 1st day of May. And I furthermore exhort all good citizens throughout the State to be mindful that their first allegiance is due to the sovereignty which protects their homes and dearest interests, as their first service is due for the sacred defence of their hearths, and of the soil which holds the graves of our glorious dead. United action in defence of the sovereignty of North Carolina, and of the rights of the South, becomes now the duty of all.

Given under my hand and attested by the great seal of the State. Done at the city of Raleigh, the 17th day of April, A. D. 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of independence.

JOHN W. ELLIS.

 A call was also issued by the Governor, for the enrolment of thirty thousand men, to be held in readiness to march at a day's notice.

On the 1st of May the Legislature convened in special session. In his Message, the Governor recommended that, in view of the secession of North Carolina from the Northern Government, and her union with the. Confederate States, at as early a period as practicable, a Convention of the people be called with full and final powers. The powers of the Convention should be full because the sovereignty of the people must bo frequently resorted to during the war, and it therefore became necessary that it should be temporarily reposed in the Convention. The action of the Convention should be final, because of the importance of a speedy separation from the Northern Government, and the well-known fact that upon this point the people were as a unit.

He also recommended "the raising and organization of ten regiments, to serve during the war, and that appropriate bounties be offered to all persons thus enlisting."

The Governor farther said that the Northern Government was concentrating a large force in the District of Columbia, ostensibly to protect the seat of Government. But such a force cannot bo allowed to remain within the limits of Maryland and on the borders of Virginia without seriously endangering the liberties of the people of those States. If they be conquered and overrun. North Carolina would become the next prey for the invaders. Policy, then, as well as sympathy, and a feeling of brotherhood, engendered by a common interest, required them to exert their energies in the defence of Maryland and Virginia. Every battle fought there would be a battle in behalf of North Carolina. The Legislature met at 12 o'clock m., and at 1 p. m. both Houses had unanimously passed a bill calling an unrestricted Convention, whose action was to be final. The election of delegates took place on the 13th of May, and the Convention met on the 20th.

The Legislature unanimously repealed the section of the Revised Code, which required all officers in the State to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States before entering upon their duties. The act further provided that it should not be lawful to administer any such oath or affirmation to any officer, civil or military.

After a session of eleven days, the Legislature adjourned, to meet again on the 25th of June. Among other measures, it passed a stay law, to take effect immediately, and authorized the Governor to raise ten thousand men, to servo during the war, and also appropriated $5,000,000 for the use of the State, giving the Treasurer power to issue Treasury notes to the amount of $500,000, in bills ranging from five cents to two dollars, and with a conditional clause, authorizing the issue of a larger amount if necessary. An act was also passed which thus defined treason:

Page 540

Treason shall consist only in levying war against this State, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort; or in establishing, without the authority of the General Assembly, any government within its limits separate from the existing Government; or in holding or executing in such usurped government any office, or professing allegiance or fidelity thereto, or assisting the execution of the laws under color of authority from such usurped government; and such treason, if proved by the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or by confession in open Court, shall be punished with death.

The forces of the State, under orders of the Governor, seized the Federal forts on the coast, and took possession of the mint at Charlotte, and the arsenal at Fayetteville, gaining, by the seizure of the latter, 37,000 stand of arms, 3,000 kegs of powder, and an immense supply of shells and shot. Of course, these acts placed the State in the same category with the seceded States, and the ports of North Carolina were, therefore, included in the blockade ordered by the Government.

The State Convention assembled on the 20th of May, the eighty-sixth anniversary of the Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence.

On the 21st the ordinance of secession was passed by the State Convention, as follows:

We, the people of the State of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by the State of North Carolina, in the Convention of i760, whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated. We do further declare and ordain that the Union now subsisting between the State of North Carolina and the other States, under the title of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of North Carolina is in the full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.

Done at Raleigh, 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1861.

The following ordinance was also passed:

We, the people of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the State of North Carolina does hereby assent to and ratify the Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, adopted at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, On the 8th of February, 1861, by the Convention of Delegates from the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and that North Carolina will enter into the federal association of States upon the terms therein proposed, when admitted by the Congress or any competent authority of the Confederate States.

Done at Raleigh, 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1861.

Military preparations were immediately commenced, and as early as the 15th of June the State had raised a force of twenty thousand volunteers.

The following delegates to the Confederate Congress were elected by the Convention: For the State at large, W. W. Avery and George Davis; 1st district, W. N. H. Smith; 2d, Thomas Ruffin; 3d. T. D. McDowell; 4th, A. W. Venable; 5th, John M. Morehead; 6th, R. C. Puryear; 7th, Burton Craige; 8th, A. D. Davidson.

The flag agreed upon for the State was said to be handsome. The ground was a red field, with a single star in the centre. On the upper extreme was the inscription, "May 20, 1775," and at the lower, "May 20, 1861." There were two bars, one of blue and the other of white.

On the 15th of August the Legislature convened in extra session. The stay law of the previous session had been pronounced unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The Senators elected to the Confederate Congress were George Davis and Wm, T. Dortch. Mr. Davis was one of the delegates at large from the State to the Provisional Congress, having been chosen by the Convention. Mr. Dortch was one of the Commoners from the county of Wayne, and also Speaker of the Rouse of Commons of the State. Mr. Davis belonged to the Whig organization, and Mr. Dortch to the Democratic, in former years.

The sixth ballot in the House of Commons, on the 11th September, was as follows: Dortch 39; Bragg 15; Person 30; Outlaw 7; Avery 22; Davis 13; Clingman 26; Graham 3O; Scattering 11.

 After a session of forty days, the Legislature adjourned, sine die. A militia bill was passed, also an amended stay law, a revenue bill, and also bills for paying the soldiers of the State, providing means to carry on the war. An additional sum of one million in Treasury notes was authorized to be issued.

The Governor now set to work to place the means of coast defence in a satisfactory condition. At the same time troops were sent forward to the Confederate army as fast as they could be equipped. No notice was taken by the Secretary of War of the request for a few well drilled regiments for the coast defence, although the Governor offered fresh levies in their place. The State, like South Carolina and others, was expected to defend herself. The capture of the forts at Hatteras Inlet occasioned intense excitement, and although the work of the expedition extended no farther than to "take and hold " those positions, it revealed such a degree of weakness to resist any naval attack, that it awakened the first serious apprehensions among the people for the cause of the Confederacy.

A Union movement was set on foot soon after the capture of the forts at Hatteras Inlet, by a small number of persons in Hyde County. Although insignificant at first, it nevertheless awakened the apprehensions of the State authorities, which led to its speedy suppression. It was feared that more than half the counties of the State would become Union if the movement was suffered. This movement consisted in a meeting of some citizens of the county on the 12th of October, who passed a series of resolutions, and adopted a declaration of independence of the State Government. On the Page 541 18th of November a convention assembled, composed, as it was reported, of delegates and proxies representing forty-five counties of the State. It passed an ordinance declaring vacant all State offices, and appointed a Provisional Governor, &c.  An election for members of the Federal Congress was ordered by the Provisional Governor, but the person reported elected was not allowed to take his seat.

In September, when the scarcity of arms began to be known in the Confederate States, a large force was set at work at the armory in Fayetteville to alter the old flint lock guns to percussion. There were several thousand of these guns then remaining in the United States arsenal. When they could not be altered to advantage they were repaired and furnished with new flints, and found to make very serviceable guns. Hall's breech-loading rifles were also altered to carbines, making a good gun for cavalry service. Subsequently, two horizontal high-pressure steam engines were made at Richmond and sent to Fayetteville, when the manufacture of new arms was commenced under the charge of an officer named Burkart, once a master armorer in the United States service.

On the 1st of November the contributions of the State for war purposes had reached the sum of $2,044,522 96. The records of the passport office at Richmond showed at this time that in the contributions of clothing and money to her troops, the generosity of North Carolina had much exceeded that of wealthier and more populous States.

At this time the State had sent to the seat of war in Virginia, fully armed and equipped, 33,000 volunteer troops, infantry and riflemen, and a regiment of cavalry, numbering one thousand and ninety-four men. There were six thousand troops on the State coast, and camps of instruction established at Raleigh, Ridgeway, and Gareysburg, arid the number of volunteers still offering was so great that General Martin, commander-in-chief of the State forces, under orders of the Governor, issued a proclamation informing the people that no further troops were needed or could be received.

The Representatives from the States to the Confederate Congress were W. N. H. Smith, Robert Bridges, Owen B. Keenan, J. D. MacDowell, Thomas S. Ashe, Archibald Arrington, Robert McLean, William Lander, R. S. Gartner, A. S. Davidson.

The commerce of the State during the year was so restricted by the blockade as not to furnish an estimate of any importance. The fact most worthy of notice in the agricultural productions of the State, was a crop of tea, consisting of about ten bushels, raised by Shelly Spencer in Hyde County. It was well spoken of as a beverage.

Battles and Skirmishes in North Carolina in 1861. […]

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*The Federal gunboats fired upon the Confederate force on shore. Shots exchanged with Confederate steamer. Three vessels destroyed.


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.