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

United States Government, Part 2

On the 4th of March, at noon, President Lincoln delivered his Inaugural Address, (see PUBLIC DOCUMENTS,) took the oath of his office, and commenced the discharge of its duties. What was the posture of affairs at this time, especially as compared with their state on the day of election in November. Seven Southern States had retired from the Union, the officers of the Federal Government had resigned, and there were no persons to represent its powers or execute its duties within their limits, excepting in the Post-Office Department. Within these States, also, all the forts, arsenals, dockyards, custom-houses, revenue cutters, &c, embracing all the movable and stationary articles connected therewith, had been taken possession of by the authority of these States individually, and were held by persons and officers denying any allegiance to the Federal Government, and avowing it to be due by them only to a Government created by the united action of these seven States. Only Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, near the Florida coast, and Sumter, in Charleston harbor, continued under the flag of the Union.

The other forts thus seized were put in an improved condition, new ones built, and armed forces had been organized, and were organizing, avowedly to protect this property from recapture, and to capture those not yet seized. Around Fort Sumter batteries had been erected, with guns equal or heavier in calibre than hers, and in far greater number. Officers of the army and navy of the Union from these States, had chiefly resigned, and had been reappointed in the service of the latter. A complete Page 710 Goverment for a nation was in operation in these States, and the property thus seized was held, as the new Government avowed, to be accounted for in a peaceful settlement with the Federal Union, or to be used for the defence of those States, if assaulted by the same Union. They asked for peace, and to be "let alone," but were determined to hazard a war sooner than return to their former allegiance.

Among the other States, Kentucky made an application to Congress to call a National Convention to amend the Constitution of the United States, and requested the Legislatures of all the other States to make similar applications, and appointed commissioners to a conference of the Border States to consider and, if practicable, agree upon some suitable adjustment of the present unhappy controversies. Some of the States of the North appointed commissioners to this conference, which agreed upon terms for an adjustment, but no State action followed. Not a single slaveholding State complied with the request of Kentucky to apply to Congress to call a National Convention, whilst three non-slave-holding States so complied, and several others prepared to follow.

A Peace Conference was called by Virginia, in which twenty States were represented. Such measures would have been recommended as were desired by the seceding States if they had been present by their votes to secure their adoption. Three territorial bills were passed by Congress, in no one of which was inserted the prohibition of slavery as insisted upon hitherto by the Republicans. The North condemned the personal liberty bills of the States, declared in favor of a faithful execution of the fugitive slave law, and concurred in proposing, by the requisite constitutional majority, an amendment of the Constitution guaranteeing positively and forever the exemption of slavery in the States from the interference of Congress. This was one of the guarantees embraced in the scheme of Mr. Crittenden and also in the scheme of the Peace Conference.

Rhode Island repealed its personal liberty law outright, whilst Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had under consideration the repeal or essential modification of their respective laws of this description. Not less than a quarter of a million of the people of the North, besides societies and representative bodies without number, petitioned Congress for the adoption of any adjustment satisfactory to States of the Southern Border.

After such a manifestation of public sentiment, there was nothing to justify the President in declaring that he should adopt a policy of coercion towards the seceding States. In his inaugural, he expressed himself in favor of a National Convention, and announced his policy. "Whether it intended peace or war, was greatly discussed, at the time; public sentiment, however, generally believed it was to be peaceful. But on this point he is himself the most satisfactory exponent. In his Message, at the extra session in July, he says: "Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if possible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the Federal Union, a choice of means to that end became indispensable. This choice was made, and was declared in the inaugural address. The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful measures, before a resort to any stronger ones. It Bought only to hold the public places and property not already wrested from the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a continuance of the mails, at Government expense, to the very people who were resisting the Government; and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbance to any of the people or any of their rights. Of all that which a President might constitutionally and justifiably do in such a case, every thing was forborne, without which it was believed possible to keep the Government on foot."

Such was the degree of excitement in the country that the declarations of the inaugural respecting the policy of the Government, which might in ordinary times have been considered quite explicit, were now looked upon as very unsatisfactory. Even the intimate friends of the Administration were unable to say whether peace or war was before the country. A feeling of solicitude pervaded all classes, which became deeper and stronger under the continued uncertainty.

Meantime, commissioners from the Confederate States, Messrs. John Forsyth and Martin J. Crawford at first, who were joined afterwards by A. B. Roman, arrived at Washington. On the 12th, Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford addressed the Secretary of State, stating their character as commissioners, and the object of their mission:

SIR: The undersigned have been duly accredited by the Government of the Confederate States of America as Commissioners to the Government of the United States, and in pursuance of their instructions have now the honor to acquaint you with that fact, and to make known, through you, to the President of the United States, the objects of their presence in this capital.

Seven States of the late Federal Union having, in the exercise of the inherent right of every free people to change or reform their political institutions, and through conventions of their people, withdrawn from the United States and reassumed the attributes of sovereign power delegated to it, have formed a government of their own. The Confederate States constitute an independent nation, de facto and de jure, and possess a government perfect in all its parts, and endowed with all the means of self-support.

With a view to a speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of this political separation, upon such terms of amity and good will as the respective interests, geographical contiguity, and future welfare of the two nations may render necessary, the undersigned are instructed to make to the Government of the United States overtures for the opening of negotiations, assuring the Government of the United States Page 711 that the President, Congress, and people of the Confederate States earnestly desire a peaceful solution of these great questions; that it is neither their interest nor their wish to make any demand which is not founded in strictest justice, nor do any act to injure their late confederates.

The undersigned have now the honor, in obedience to the instructions of their Government, to request you to appoint as early a day as possible, in order that they may present to the President of the United States the credentials which they bear, and the objects of the mission with which they are charged. Three days afterwards, the Secretary prepared a reply, which was entitled a "Memorandum," and was as follows:

                                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

                                      WASHINGTON, March 15,1861

Mr. John Forsyth, of the State of Alabama, and Mr. Martin J. Crawford, of the State of Georgia, on the 11th inst., through the kind offices of a distinguished Senator, submitted to the Secretary of State their desire for an unofficial interview. This request was, on the 12th inst., upon exclusively public consideration, respectfully declined.

On the 13th inst., while the Secretary was preoccupied, Mr. A. D. Banks, of Virginia, called at this Department, and was received by the Assistant Secretary, to whom he delivered a sealed communication, which he had been charged by Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford to present the Secretary in person.

In that communication, Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford inform the Secretary of State that they have been duly accredited by the Government of the Confederate States of America as Commissioners to the Government of the United States, and they set forth the objects of their attendance at Washington. They observe that seven States of the American Union, in the exercise of a right inherent in every free people, have withdrawn, through conventions of their people, from the United States, reassumed the attributes of sovereign power, and formed a government of their own, and that those Confederate States now constitute an independent nation de facto and de jure and possess a government perfect in all its parts, and fully endowed with all the means of self-support.

Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, in their aforesaid communication, thereupon proceeded to inform the Secretary that, with a view to a speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of the political separation thus assumed, upon such terms of amity and good will as the respective interests, geographical contiguity, and the future welfare of the supposed two nations might render necessary, they are instructed to make to the Government of the United States, overtures for the opening of negotiations, assuring this Government that the President, Congress, and people of the Confederate States earnestly desire a peaceful solution of these great questions, and that it is neither their interest nor their wish to make any demand which is not founded in strictest justice, nor do any act to injure their late confederates.

After making these statements, Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford close their communication, as they say, in obedience to the instructions of their Government, by requesting the Secretary of State to appoint as early a day as possible, in order that they may present to the President of the United States the credentials which they bear, and the objects of the mission with which they are charged.

The Secretary of State frankly confesses that he understands the events which have recently occurred, and the condition of political affairs which actually exists in the part of the Union, to which his attention has thus been directed, very differently from the aspect in which they are presented by Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. He sees in them, not a rightful and accomplished revolution and an independent nation, with an established government, but rather a perversion of a temporary and partisan excitement to the inconsiderate purposes of an unjustifiable and unconstitutional aggression upon the rights and the authority vested in the Federal Government, and hitherto benignly exercised, as from their very nature they always must so be exercised, for the maintenance of the Union, the preservation of liberty, and the security, peace, welfare, happiness, and aggrandizement of the American people.

The Secretary of State, therefore, avows to Messrs. Forsyth and "Crawford that he looks patiently but confidently for the cure of evils which have resulted from proceedings so unnecessary, so unwise, so unusual, and so unnatural, not to irregular negotiations, having in view new and untried relations with agencies unknown to and acting in derogation of the Constitution and laws, but to regular and considerate action of the people of those States, in cooperation with their brethren in the other States, through the Congress of the United States, and such extraordinary conventions, if there shall be need thereof, as the Federal Constitution contemplates and authorizes to be assembled.

It is, however, the purpose of the Secretary of State on this occasion not to invite or engage in any discussion of these subjects, but simply to set forth his reasons for declining to comply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford.

On the 4th of March inst., the newly elected President of the United States, in view of all the facts bearing on the present question, assumed the executive Administration of the Government, first delivering, in accordance with an early, honored custom, an Inaugural Address to the people of the United States. The Secretary of State respectfully submits a copy of this address to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford.

A simple reference to it will be sufficient to satisfy those gentlemen that the Secretary of Stale, guided by the principles therein announced, is prevented altogether from admitting or assuming that the States referred to by them have, in law or in fact, withdrawn from the Federal Union, or that they could do so in the manner described by Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, or in any other manner, than with the consent and concert of the people of the United States, to be given through a National Convention, to be assembled in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States. Of course the Secretary of State cannot act upon the assumption, or in any way admit that the so-called Confederate States constitute a foreign Power, with whom diplomatic relations ought to be established.

Under these circumstances, the Secretary of State, whose official duties are confined, subject to the direction of the President, to the conducting of the foreign relations of the country, and do not at all embrace domestic questions, or questions arising between the several States and the Federal Government, is unable to comply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, to appoint a day on which they may present the evidences of their authority and the objects of their visit to the President of the United States. On the contrary-, he is obliged to state to Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford that he has no authority nor is he at liberty to recognize them as diplomatic agents, or hold correspondence or other communication with them.

Finally, the Secretary of State would observe that, although he has supposed that he might safely and with propriety have adopted these conclusions without making any reference of the subject to the Executive, yet so strong has been his desire to practise entire directness and to act in a spirit of perfect respect and candor towards Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, and that portion of the Union, in whose name they present themselves before him, that he has cheerfully submitted this paper to the President, who coincides generally in the views it expresses, and sanctions the Secretary's decision declining official intercourse with Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford.

This communication remained in the Department of State until the 8th of April, when it Page 712 was delivered to the secretary of the commissioners, who had been directed by the commissioners to call there for it. Reasons for this delay are stated by the commissioners in their subsequent communication, dated April 9. It was as follows:

                                                 WASHINGTON, April 9, 1861.

Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, Washington.

The "memorandum," dated Department of State, Washington, March 15, 1801, has been received through the hands of Mr. J. T. Pickett, Secretary to this Commission, who, by the instructions of the undersigned, called for it on yesterday at the Department.

In that memorandum you correctly state the purport of the official note addressed to you by the undersigned on the 12th ult. Without repeating the contents of that note in full, it is enough to say here that its object was to invite the Government of the United States to a friendly consideration of the relation between the United States and the seven States lately of the Federal Union, but now separated from it by the sovereign will of their people, growing out of the pregnant and undeniable fact that those people have rejected the authority of the United States and established a government of their own. Those relations had to be friendly or hostile. The people of the old and new Governments, occupying contiguous territories, had to stand to each other in the relation of good neighbors, each seeking their own happiness and pursuing their national destinies in their own way, without interference with the other, or they had to be rival and hostile nations. The Government of the Confederate States had no hesitation in electing its choice in this alternative. Frankly and unreservedly, seeking the good of the people who had intrusted them with power, in the spirit of humanity, of the Christian civilization of the age, and of that Americanism which regards the true welfare and happiness of the people, the Government of the Confederate States, among its first acts, commissioned the undersigned to approach the Government of the United States with the olive branch of peace, and to offer to adjust the great questions pending between them, in the only way to be justified by the consciences and common sense of good men, who had nothing but the welfare of the people of the two Confederacies at heart.

Your Government has not chosen to meet the undersigned in the conciliatory and peaceful spirit in which they are commissioned. Persistently wedded to those fatal theories of construction of the Federal Constitution always rejected by the statesmen of the South, and adhered to by those of the Administration school, until they have produced their natural and often predicted result of the destruction of the Union, under which we might have continued to live happily and gloriously together, had the spirit of the ancestry who framed the common Constitution animated the hearts of all their sons; you now, with a persistence untaught and uncured by the ruin that has been wrought, refuse to recognize the great fact presented to you of a complete and successful revolution; you close your eyes to the existence of the Government founded upon it, and ignore the high duties of moderation and humanity which attach to you in dealing with this great fact. Had you met these issues with the frankness and manliness with which the undersigned were instructed to present them to you and treat them, the undersigned had not now the melancholy duty to return home and tell their Government and their countrymen, that their earnest and ceaseless efforts in behalf of peace had been futile, and that the Government of the United States meant to subjugate them by force of arms. Whatever may be the result, impartial history will record the innocence of the Government of the Confederate States, and place the responsibility of the blood and mourning that may ensue, upon those who have denied the great fundamental doctrine of American liberty, that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," and who have set naval and land armaments in motion to subject the people of one portion of the land to the will of another portion. That that can never be done while a freeman survives in the Confederate States to wield a weapon, the undersigned appeal to past history to prove. These military demonstrations against the people of the seceded States arc certainly far from being in keeping and consistency with the theory of the Secretary of State, maintained in his memorandum, that these States are still component parts of the late American Union, as the undersigned are not aware of any constitutional power in the President of the United States to levy war without the consent of Congress, upon a foreign people, much less upon any portion df the people of the United States.

The undersigned, like the Secretary of State, have no purpose to " invite or engage in discussion" of the subject on which their two Governments are so irreconcilably at variance. It is this variance that has broken up the old Union, the disintegration of which has only begun. It is proper, however, to advise you that it were well to dismiss the hopes you seem to entertain that, by any of the modes indicated, the people of the Confederate States will ever be brought to submit to the authority of the Government of the United States. You are dealing with delusions, too, when you seek to separate our people from our Government and to characterize the deliberate, sovereign act of the people, as a " perversion of a temporary and partisan excitement." If yon cherish these dreams you will be awakened from them, and find them as unreal and unsubstantial as others in which you have recently indulged. The undersigned would omit the performance of an obvious duty were they to fait to make known to the Government of the United States that the people of the Confederate States have declared their independence with a full knowledge of all the responsibilities of that act, and with as him a determination to maintain it by all the means with which nature has endowed them, as that which sustained their fathers, when they threw off the authority of the British crown.

The undersigned clearly understand that you have declined to appoint a day to enable them to lay the objects of the mission with which they are charged, before the President of the United States, because so to do would be to recognize the independence and separate nationality of the Confederate States. This is the vein of thought that pervades the memorandum before us. The truth of history requires that it should distinctly appear upon the record that the undersigned did not ask the Government of the United States to recognize the independence of the Confederate States. They only asked audience to adjust, in a spirit of amity and peace, the new relations springing from a manifest and accomplished revolution in the Government of the late Federal Union. Your refusal to entertain these overtures for a peaceful solution, the active naval and military preparations of the Government, and a formal notice to the commanding general of the Confederate forces in the harbor of Charleston, that the President intends to provision Fort Sumter by forcible means, if necessary, are viewed by the undersigned, and can only be received by the world, as a declaration of war against the Confederate States; for the President of the United States knows that Fort Sumter cannot be provisioned without the effusion of blood. The undersigned, in behalf of their Government and people, accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to them; and appealing to God and the judgment of mankind for the righteousness of their cause, the people of the Confederate States will defend their liberties to the last against this flagrant and open attempt at their subjugation to sectional power.

This communication cannot be properly closed without adverting to the date of your memorandum. The official note of the undersigned, of the 12th March, was delivered to the Assistant Secretary of State on the l3th Page 713 of that month, the gentleman who delivered it informing him that the Secretary of this Commission would call at 12 o'clock, noon, on the next day, for an answer. At the appointed hour, Mr. Pickett did call, and was informed by the Assistant Secretary of State that the engagements of the Secretary of State had prevented him from giving the vote his attention. The Assistant Secretary of State then asked for the address of Messrs. Crawford and Forsyth, the members of the Commission then present in this city, took note of the address on a card, and engaged to send whatever reply might be made to their lodgings. Why this was not done it is proper should be here explained. The memorandum is dated March 15, and was not delivered until April 8. Why was it withheld during the intervening twenty-three days. In the postscript to your memorandum you say it " was delayed, as was understood, with their (Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford's) consent." This is true; but it is also true that, on the loth of March, Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford were assured by a person occupying a high official position in the Government, and who, as they delivered, was speaking by authority, that Fort Sumter would be evacuated within a very few days, and that no measure changing the existing status prejudicially to the Confederate States, as respects Fort Pickens, was then contemplated, and these assurances were subsequently repeated, with the addition that any contemplated change as respects Fort Pickens, would be notified to us. On the 1st of April we were again informed that there might be an attempt to supply Fort Sumter with provisions, but that Governor Pickens should have previous notice of this attempt. There was no suggestion of any reënforcements. The undersigned did. not hesitate to believe that these assurances expressed the intentions of the Administration at the time, or, at all events, of prominent members of that Administration. This delay was assented to for the express purpose of attaining the great end of the mission of the undersigned, to wit, a pacific solution of existing complications. The inference deducible from the date of your memorandum, that the undersigned had, of their own volition, and without cause, consented to this long hiatus in, the grave duties with which they were charged, is therefore not consistent with a just exposition of the facts of the case. The intervening twenty-three days were employed in active unofficial efforts, the object of which was to smooth the path to a pacific solution, the distinguished personage alluded to cooperating with the undersigned; and every step of that effort is recorded in writing, and now in possession of the undersigned and of their Government. It was only when all these anxious efforts for peace had been exhausted, and it became clear that Mr. Lincoln had determined to appeal to the sword to reduce the people of the Confederate States to the will of the section or party whose President he is, that the undersigned resumed the official negotiation temporarily suspended, and sent their Secretary for a reply to their official note of March 12. It is proper to add that, during these twenty-three days, two gentlemen of official distinction, as high as that of the personage hitherto alluded to, aided the undersigned as intermediaries in these unofficial negotiations for peace.

The undersigned, Commissioners of the Confederate States of America, having thus made answer to all they deem material in the memorandum filed in the Department on the 15th of March last, have the honor to be,

                           JOHN FORSYTH,         A. B. ROMAN,

                                     MARTIX J. CRAWFORD.

A true copy of the original by one delivered to Mr. F. W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of State, of the United States, at 8 o'clock in the evening of April 9, 1861. Attest, J. T. PICKETT, Secretary, &c., &c.

The answer to this communication, delivered on the next day, was as follows:

                                                 DEPARTMENT OR STATE. 

                                               WASHINGTON, April 10, 1861. 

Messrs. Forsyth, Crawford, and Roman, having been apprised by a memorandum which has been delivered to them that the Secretary of State is not at liberty to hold official intercourse with them, will, it is presumed, expect no notice from him of the new communication which they have addressed to him under date of the 9th inst., beyond the simple acknowledgment of the receipt thereof, which he hereby very cheerfully gives.

A true copy of the, original received by the Commissioners of the Confederate States, this 10th day of April, 1861.

                   Attest, J. T. PICKETT, Secretary, &c., &c.

A state of uncertainty now existed. Nothing was known except what was seen.

It was announced in New York on Monday morning, April 1, that every thing was dull and uninteresting on Governor's Island, Fort Hamilton, Bedloe's Island, and the Brooklyn navy yard. On Wednesday following there was intense excitement apparent at all these places.

During Monday orders were received from "Washington to fit out the United States brig-of-war Perry for sea at once. She was immediately hauled alongside the wharf at the navy yard, but operations had hardly commenced when the order was countermanded. The Powhatan was then put out of commission, and her crew temporarily transferred to the receiving ship North Carolina. This was no sooner done than they were ordered to Norfolk. And, on Tuesday, to the astonishment of every one, the Powhatan, notwithstanding the unfavorable report of the engineer, was ordered to be equipped for a new commission with all the despatch in the power of the navy yard force.

On Governor's Island, too, indications were apparent that troops were about to leave, and it was announced there was not the slightest doubt that on Saturday or Sunday a large force of soldiers would depart for some unknown destination. The garrison of Fort Hamilton was paid off Thursday—the last move preparatory to marching. Officers were arriving from Washington, individually, all day, and, carpet-bag in hand, reporting themselves for duty. The village of Fort Hamilton was like a stormed citadel. Troops that had just got their money, having been indulging freely in stimulants, thronged the sidewalks in knots of from five to ten, boisterously discussing the affairs of the nation.

The bustle and excitement continued at the navy yard and the army depots. Men were  at work all Wednesday night and Thursday night on board the steam-frigate Powhatan. Thursday a largo force of laborers employed on her were reenforced by the crew, lately detached, who assisted in getting in the various necessaries for a special cruise.

On Saturday, the 6th, it was again announced that vessels were chartered by the Government as transports, viz.: the Atlantic, Baltic, and Illinois. These vessels would proceed to sea under scaled orders, and their destination could only be conjectured.

The Atlantic cleared on Friday for Brazos Santiago, (Texas,) and the utmost despatch was made in fitting her out. She was coaled and well provisioned for a long trip, and accommodations were furnished for six hundred men and Page 714 five hundred horses. She was at the foot of Canal street, and was taking in freight as rapidly as possible. The dock was covered with barrels, boxes, bales, sacks, and all conceivable packages, while twenty or more carts stood in line on the street ready to be unloaded. The main portion of the freight to be taken comprised army stores of every kind—beef, pork, flour, fish, &c.—and there was by no means a slight sprinkling of material that would feed howitzers and columbiads. The utmost haste and energy were manifested in getting the ship ready for sea.

The Illinois received a very heavy freight, consisting of about two thousand barrels of assorted stores, five hundred cases of muskets, a large quantity of ammunition, one hundred cords of oak wood, two parks of artillery, with their appurtenances, a number of gun-carriages, &c.

The Powhatan was the only steam-frigate in the United States Navy that was ever changed from the "lying up" to the "commission" state within three days; and such rapidity of execution could scarcely be accomplished in any other yard in the country than the one at Brooklyn. At four bells, two o'clock, on Friday, the ship went into commission. She had on board an extraordinary armament and immense quantities of shell. She carried 10 nine-inch and 1 eleven-inch shell guns; but a large portion of her ordnance consisted of ten-inch shell; consequently, those were thought to be intended for the reinforcement of some forts, or possibly for land service.

On Monday morning the revenue flag on the Harriet Lane was hauled down, and the Stars and Stripes run up at her peak. At nine o'clock Captain Faunce visited the custom-house and bade adieu to some of his friends, to whom he stated that he had received sealed orders to sail immediately. The cutter was heavily armed, and the crew increased to eighty men. She went to sea before noon.

At Governor's Island station the utmost activity prevailed all day on Friday. Men were engaged in loading lighters with provisions, clothing, and large quantities of shell. On the dock, besides a large quantity of mortar-shells, were piles of the smaller but more destructive balls with which columbiads are loaded. Two of these guns, weighing 15,000 pounds each, were on an adjacent wharf, at which lay the schooner John N. Genin, which was to be laden with munitions of war. "Within a month past two other schooners had been thus laden at the same pier, and departed for parts unknown. In the vicinity of the wharves were 37,000 shells and a large number of gun-carriages, each of which was directed to Captain Vogdes, at Fort Pickens, Florida.

A large number of heavy transporting boats from the navy yard were  alongside the wharf. Troops were  packing up at Forts Columbus and Hamilton.

The correct dates of the sailing of these vessels were as follows: Two expeditions sailed from New York in the early part of April. The chartered steamers Atlantic and Illinois, which were publicly announced to have taken out clearances for the Gulf and to be under convoy of the steam-frigate Powhatan, sailed from New York, respectively, on the 7th and. 8th of April, the Powhatan having left that harbor in the afternoon of the 6th. These vessels were destined for the reënforcement of Fort Pickens, which was successfully and peacefully accomplished. The expedition which proceeded to Charleston consisted of the chartered steamer Baltic, well laden with provisions, and the steam-cutter Harriet Lane, both from New York. The latter left the harbor about 10 o'clock in the forenoon of the 8th of April, and the Baltic early in the morning of the 9th. The frigates Pawnee and Pocahontas, which also went to Charleston, left Norfolk, respectively, in the evening of the 9th and the morning of the 10th of April.

At Charleston, on the other hand, it was reported that during the whole of Thursday afternoon, the 4th, all kinds of rumors were rife on the streets. A vague impression had somehow got abroad that the long agony of suspense and inaction was to be speedily and abruptly ended; but how, or when, or by whose orders, nobody could tell. Diligent inquiry was made, and— in the absence of official information, which in such a juncture is seldom made public—the following facts were deemed to be reasonably certain: 1. That the supplies of provisions and the mails, hitherto furnished regularly to the garrison of Fort Sumter, were to be cut off that day, and that no further communication would be allowed between Major Anderson and the Government at Washington. 2. That the troops at all the State fortifications were finally disposed, equipped, and provided for, so as to be ready for action at a moment's warning. 8. That no attack of any kind would be made upon Fort Sumter until further orders, unless such an attack should be provoked by Major Anderson, or by an attempt on the part of his Government to bring aid to the beleaguered fortress. 4. That these measures are taken at the instance of the Government of the Confederate States, which had lost all confidence in the professions of Mr. Lincoln's Administration.

All eyes were  turned towards Fort Sumter with intense interest. It was well known that the unseen future was wrapped up in her fate. If she was peaceably supplied with stores for the starving garrison, or if peaceably evacuated, then the prospect for peace would become hopeful; if, on the other hand, an assault should be made, war, with all its horrors, fraternal war, was upon the country.

On Friday morning, the 12th, about four o'clock, fire was opened from all points upon Fort Sumter, and continued for thirty-three hours, when her commander surrendered. (See SUMTER and CONFEDERATE STATES.)

Meanwhile commissioners had been sent by the Virginia State Convention to the President Page 715 with instructions to ask him to communicate to the Convention the policy which he intended to pursue in regard to the Confederate States.

In reply he made the following explicit statement:

"In answer, I have to say, that having, at the beginning of my official term, expressed my intended policy as plainly as I was able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there is great and injurious uncertainty in the public mind as to what that policy is, and what course I intend to pursue. Not having as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the inaugural address. I commend a careful consideration of the whole document as the best expression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now repeat, the power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against cr among the people anywhere. By the words 'property and places belonging to the Government,' I chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in possession of the Government when it came into my hands. But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive the United States authority from these places, an unprovoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had been seized before the Government was devolved upon me; and in any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been assaulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded, believing that the commencement of actual war against the Government justifies and possibly demands it. I scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and property situated within the States which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging to the Government of the United States as much as they did before the supposed secession. "Whatever else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed invasion of any part of the country; not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border of the country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of the inaugural address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification."

The attack on Fort Sumter began on the 12th. The fort surrendered on the afternoon of the 13th, and was evacuated on Sunday, the 14th. As the news flashed over the country by the telegraph it was instantly followed by the summons of the President, "to arms; to arms." His proclamation, ordering seventy-five thousand men into the field, was issued on the night of the 14th, as follows:

By the President of the United States.

A PROCLAMATION.

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

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me rested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed.

The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.

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

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

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

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress.

Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective Chambers, at 12 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand [l. s.] eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.

                                             ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

A call for troops was issued by the Secretary of War, Cameron, in accordance with this proclamation, and sent to the Governors of the respective States, giving the quotas allotted to each, as follows:

                                       DEPARTMENT OF WAR.

                                   WASHINGTON, April l5, 1861.

To His Excellency the Governor of —— .'

SIR: Under the act of Congress for calling for the "Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, repel invasions," &c, approved February 28, 1795, I have the honor to request your Excellency to cause to be immediately detached from the militia of your State the quota designated in the table below, to serve as infantry or riflemen, for the period of three months, unless sooner discharged.

Your Excellency will please communicate to me the time at or about which your quota will be expected at Page 716 its rendezvous, as it will be met as soon as practicable by an officer or officers to muster it into the service and pay of the United States. (See ARMY.)

These documents were spread through the country on Monday, and on Wednesday the Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts, completely equipped, passed through New York for Washington, so eager was the State to be the first in the field.

A most uncontrollable excitement now burst over the country. Both North and South rushed to arms—the former to maintain the Government and to preserve the Union, the latter to secure the independence of the Confederate States and the dissolution of the Union.

The national city of Washington became the most conspicuous object before the country. Northern troops hastened thither to secure its possession in the hands of the Government, and Southern troops gathered on its outskirts to seize it as their first prize.

The manner in which the requisition of the Secretary of War for troops was received by the authorities of the respective States, indicates the controlling sentiment of the people in those States at this time. The Governor of Kentucky replied on the same day: "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the. wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States." (See KENTUCKY.) The Governor of North Carolina answered: "You can get no troops from North Carolina." (See NORTH CAROLINA). The Governor of Virginia wrote on the next day to the Secretary of War, saying: "The militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view." (See VIRGINIA.) The Governor of Tennessee replied: "Tennessee will not furnish a single man for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessary, for defence of our rights, or those of our Southern brothers." The Governor of Missouri answered that "the requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot.be complied with."

The Governor of Rhode Island replied by tendering the services of a thousand infantry and a battalion of artillery.

The Governor of Massachusetts immediately ordered out troops, and in fifty hours three regiments had been gathered, equipped, and had left for Washington.

The Governor of Connecticut also issued his proclamation at once, calling for troops.

The Legislature of New York adjourned on the 16th; but previously to adjournment appropriated three millions of dollars to defend the Federal Government. The Seventh Regiment left for Washington on the 18th.

Orders for four regiments were issued by the Governor of New Jersey on the 17th.

A detachment of five hundred men loft Philadelphia on the night of the 17th for Washington.

The first regiment from Indiana left for Washington on the 18th. The Legislature also resolved " That the faith, credit, and resources of the State in both men and money are hereby pledged in any amount and to every extent which the Federal Government may demand to subdue rebellion ; " &c. At the same time, the State Bank tendered to the Governor a loan for the State of all the money necessary to fit out the required quota.

All the Northern or free States responded alike and instantly to the summons from Washington. The defence of the Government was proclaimed to be a most sacred cause, more especially such a Government as this of the United States had been. Arms, money, men, railroads, and all other " sinews of war," were freely offered. Men of wealth, influence, and position, without regard to party, stepped forth patriotically at this call. Four days after the issue of the proclamation, the Sixth Regiment from Massachusetts, on its way to Washington, was attacked in the streets of Baltimore by the populace. Many were killed on both sides. (See BALTIMORE.) The Governor of the State strongly advised the President against the passage of any more Northern troops through the city, to which the President replied as follows:

                                         WASHINGTON, April 20, 1861

   Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown:

GENTLEMEN: Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin, and Bruno is received. I tender you both my sincere thanks for your efforts to keep the peace in the trying situation in which you are placed.

For the future, troops must be brought here, but I make no point of bringing them through Baltimore. Without any military knowledge myself, of course I . must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this morning in the presence of these gentlemen, "March them around Baltimore, and not through it." I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will consider this practical and proper, and that you will not object to it. By this a collision of the people of Baltimore with the troops will be avoided, unless they go out of their way to seek it. I hope you will exert your influence to prevent this.

Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace consistently with the maintenance of the Government,

                                            Your obedient servant,

                                                              A. LINCOLN.

Again, through the Secretary of State, the President thus replied:

                          DEPARTMENT OF STATE, April 22, 1861.

His Excellency Thos. H. Hicks, Governor of Maryland:

Sir: I have had the honor to receive your communication of this morning, in which you inform me that you have felt it to be your duty to advise the President of the United States to order elsewhere the troops then off Annapolis, and also that no more may be sent through Maryland; and that you have further suggested that Lord Lyons be requested to act as mediator between the contending parties in our country to prevent the effusion of blood.

The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of that communication, and to assure you that he has weighed the counsels which it contains with the respect which he habitually cherishes for the Chief Magistrates of the several States, and especially for yourself. He regrets, as deeply as any magistrate or citizen of the country can, that demonstrations against the safety of the United States, with very extensive preparations for the effusion of blood, have made it his duty to call out the force to which you allude.

The force now sought to be brought through Maryland is intended for nothing but the defence of this Page 717 capital. The President has necessarily confided the choice of the national highway which that force shall take in coming to this city to the Lieutenant-General commanding the Army of the United States, who, like his only predecessor, is not less distinguished for his humanity, than for his loyalty, patriotism, and distinguished public service.

The President instructs me to add, that the national highway thus selected by the Lieutenant-General, has been chosen by him, upon consultation with prominent magistrates and citizens of Maryland, as the one which, while a route is absolutely necessary, is furthest removed from the populous cities of the State, and with the expectation that it would therefore be the least objectionable one.

The President cannot but remember that there has been a time in the history of our country when a General of the American Union, with forces designed for the defence of its capital, was not unwelcome anywhere in the State of Maryland, and certainly not "at Annapolis, then, as now, the capital of that patriotic State, and thou, also, one of the capitals of the Union.

If eighty years could have obliterated all the other noble sentiments of that age in Maryland, the President would be hopeful, nevertheless, that there is one that would forever remain there and everywhere. That sentiment is that no domestic contention whatever, that may arise among the parties of this Republic, ought in any case to be referred to any foreign arbitrament, least of all to the arbitrament of an European monarchy.

I have the honor to be, with distinguished consideration, your Excellency's most obedient servant,

                                                   WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

At the request of the President, the Mayor of Baltimore and other influential citizens waited upon him. This interview shows the importance which the Government attached to the free passage for troops through Maryland and also Baltimore. At the same time the object for which the troops were summoned, was stated. It took place in presence of the Cabinet and General Scott, and was thus reported to the public by the Mayor:

The President, upon his part, recognized the good faith of the city and State authorities, and insisted upon his own. He admitted the excited state of feeling in Baltimore, and his desire and duty to avoid the fatal consequences of a collision with the people. He urged, on the other hand, the absolute, irresistible necessity of having a transit through the State for such troops as might be necessary for the protection of the Federal Capital. The protection of Washington, he asseverated with great earnestness, was the sole object of concentrating troops there, and he protested that none of the troops brought through Maryland were intended for any purposes hostile to the State, or aggressive as against the Southern States. Being now unable to bring them up the Potomac in security, the Government must either bring them through Maryland or abandon the capital.

He called on General Scott for his opinion, which the General gave at length, to the effect that troops might be brought through Maryland, without going through Baltimore, by either carrying them from Perrysville to Annapolis, and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them to the Relay House on the Northern Central Railroad, and marching them to the Relay House on the Washington Railroad, and thence by rail to the Capital. If the people would permit them to go by either of those routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Baltimore would be avoided. If the people would not permit them a transit thus remote from the city, they must select their own best route, and, if need be, fight their way through Baltimore—a result which the General earnestly deprecated.

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

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

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

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

The troops were afterwards conveyed to "Washington through Perrysville and Annapolis, until such steps were taken by the Government ns to place Baltimore under military control. No further disturbance then took place, and the city became the common highway for tens of thousands.

 On the 19th of April the President issued another proclamation, declaring the ports of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, to be blockaded. This document was as follows:

By the President of the United States of America:

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas an insurrection against the Government of the United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be effectually executed therein conformably to that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States:

And whereas a combination of persons, engaged in such insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States:

And whereas an Executive Proclamation has been already issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Page 718 Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall hare ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and of the laws of nations in such case provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave any of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the Commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will endorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable.

And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any person, under the pretended authority of the said States, or under any other pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord [L.S.] one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United Suites the eighty-fifth.

                                                         ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

            WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

At 3 o'clock on the afternoon of the 20th of April, by order of the Government, a seizure was made by the United States marshals, of the despatches which had accumulated, during the previous twelve months, in every considerable telegraph office in all the Northern States. In these offices the originals of all despatches which are sent off, and the copies of all received, are placed on file. The object of the Government in making this seizure was to obtain evidence of the operations of Southern citizens with their Northern friends. The confidential telegrams passing between them could most certainly furnish this.

An additional proclamation was issued by the President on the 27th of April, extending the blockade to the ports of the States of North Carolina and Virginia. The most energetic measures were commenced by the Government to carry out this blockade. All the available war vessels were put into service. Mercantile steamers, and such as were not used for purposes of transportation, were fitted out as gunboats to cruise off the coast and run up shallow waters.

 On the 3d of May the President issued another proclamation, calling into the service of the United States forty-two thousand and thirty-four volunteers for three years, unless sooner discharged, also ordering an addition to the army of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and one regiment of artillery, or twenty-two thousand one hundred and fourteen officers and men; also eighteen thousand seamen for the navy. Again, on the 16th, he issued the following proclamation:

Whereas an insurrection exists in the State of Florida, by which the lives, liberty, and property of loyal citizens of the United States are endangered:

And whereas it is deemed proper that all needful measures should be taken for the protection of such citizens and all officers of the United States in the discharge of their public duties in the State aforesaid:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby direct the Commander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast to permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa which may be inconsistent with the Laws and Constitution of the United States, authorizing him at the same time, if he shall find it necessary, to suspend there the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this tenth day of Hay, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight [L. S.] hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.

By the President:

                                 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

                          WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

The President, in this proclamation, not only directs that no person shall be allowed to exercise any authority, in the places named, inconsistent with the laws, &c., of the United States, but commands the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, if necessary. (See HABEAS CORPUS.)

The Secretary of the Treasury likewise issued instructions to all collectors in the Northern and Western States relative to seizures of arms and munitions of war, saying: "In carrying out these instructions, you will bear in mind that all persons or parties in armed insurrection against the Union, however such persons or parties may be organized or named, are engaged in levying war against the United States; and that all persons furnishing to such insurgents arms, munitions of war, provisions, or other supplies, are giving them aid and comfort, and so, guilty of treason within the terms of the second section of the third article of the Constitution; and you will, therefore, use your utmost vigilance and endeavor to prevent the prohibited shipments, and to detect and bring to punishment all who are in any way concerned in furnishing to such insurgents any of the articles above described." So rigid were the details now adopted that the most insignificant coasting vessel, under a license, was required to obtain a permit in order to pass out of a district.

At this time the post-office department discontinued the steamboat mails on the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans; the steamboat mail from Mobile via Lake Ponchartrain; the steamship mail from New Orleans via Pensacola, Appalachicola, Cedar Keys, and Tampa Bay to Key West; also, all the steamship mails from New Orleans to the sea-ports in Texas, as Sabine City, Galveston, Indianola, and Brazos Santiago. This made a reduction of some $400,000 per annum of mail pay. These were all discontinued in consequence of the act of Congress at the session commencing December, 1860, directing the postmaster-general to discontinue mails when the service was interrupted in any of the States.

On the 20th of June an order was issued from the department, requiring all passports issued to persons about to proceed beyond the lines of the United States forces, or to a foreign country, to be countersigned by the Secretary of State.

Orders were also issued on the 8th of July that the telegraph would convey no despatches concerning the operations of the army not permitted by the commanding General.

Congress had now convened in extra session under the call of the President. It was prompt and efficient to furnish the means to carry on the war, and placed at the command of the President whatever amount of money or number of men he desired. (See CONGRESS, UNITED STATES, also ARMY AND NAVY.) The course pursued by the Government to extricate itself from financial embarrassment was very successful. (See Finances of the United States.) The position taken by the Federal Government relative to the Confederate States, was to regard them still as a part of the United States, whose inhabitants were in a condition of insurrection against, the Government. Those carrying on active hostilities were to be subdued by military force. When all vestiges of military power on the part of the insurgents were destroyed, it was expected that the good sense of the people of those States would convince them of the great blessings of the Union, and induce their hearty return to its support. From the outset the Government was confident of its ultimate success. This was founded upon the peculiar character of the insurgent people, being that of masters rather than laborers, and upon their commercial inability to sustain a long war. The policy of the Government, therefore, was to blockade all the ports, and thereby shut out all foreign manufactures and all foreign aid from a people exclusively devoted to agriculture, and almost entirely dependent upon other States or nations for their market, and for all the comforts and luxuries of life. The military conquest was expected to be very easy and rapid, until the disaster at Bull Run taught the Government that success would result only from the most extensive, careful, and thoroughly organized military preparations. On the other hand, the people of the Confederate States had, at first, looked upon secession as hopeless if it should be powerfully opposed by the Federal Government and Northern people; but within a short period they had become convinced that the North would not fight, and therefore flattered themselves that certain success was within their grasp. Their amazement at the valor, bravery, and vigor of the Northern troops has been inexpressible, and with the loss of all hope of foreign assistance, they have seen their prospects of success entirely fade away.

Congress, at its extra session in July, passed an act entitled " An Act to increase the pay of the privates in the regular army of the volunteers in the service of the United States, and for other purposes," The third section of the act contains these words:

That all the acts, proclamations, and orders of the President of the United States, after the 4th of March, 1861, respecting the army and navy of the United States and calling out or relating to the militia or volunteers from the States, are hereby approved, and in all respects made legal and valid, to the same intent and with the same effect as if they had been issued and done under the previous express authority and direction of the Congress of the United States.

A reference to the debates of Congress will explain the occasion for this section, and the object intended to be accomplished by it. This was to approve of the extraordinary acts and proceedings which President Lincoln authorized or executed prior to the assemblage of that body. The question of the constitutionality of this section was brought before the Circuit Court of the United States at Washington, when Judge Wayne expressed this opinion:

It is my opinion that Congress has constitutional power to legalize and confirm Executive acts, proclamations, and orders done for the public good, although they were not, when done, authorized by any existing laws; and such legislation by Congress may be made to operate retroactively to confirm what may have been done under such proclamations and orders, so as to be binding upon the Government in regard to contracts made, and the persons with whom they were made; and that the third section of an act of Congress of the 6th day of August, 1861, legalizing the acts, proclamations, and orders of the President, after the 4th of March, 1861, respecting the army and navy, and calling out and relating to the militia and volunteers of the States, is constitutional and valid.

The course of the. Government relative to the slave property in the Confederate States was designed to be in strict conformity with its views of the Constitution and laws. (See SLAVES.) The foreign policy of the Government was conducted on the principle that the troubles of the country formed a domestic affair of its own, and the interference of foreign nations was neither desired nor would be allowed. (See Diplomatic Correspondence.) The prompt manner in which the Confederate States were acknowledged as belligerents by France and England is a proof that not a doubt was entertained by the Governments of those nations of the ultimate independence of the new Confederacy.

After the adjournment of the extra session of Congress, the plan of the Government was to make the most ample and perfect preparations to recover and repossess the strongholds in the Confederate States. In its progress, due regard was had to the will of Congress, and the requirements of the emergency with a surprising unanimity among the people, its measures were steadily sustained.

The army around Washington was reorganized, greatly increased in numbers, and brought up to the highest state of discipline. In its front the camps of the flower of the Confederate States were spread, and the year closed with the two armies watching each other. The one was growing more formidable and better prepared for the approaching strife, while the Page 720 other was growing weaker by the overstrained effort to maintain a position which it finally yielded without a single blow. A foothold was obtained on the coast of North Carolina, and another at Port Royal, in the waters of South Carolina, and adjacent to Georgia. Preparations were commenced for an expedition designed to attack New Orleans. (See EXPEDITIONS.) The effect of these movements was to cut off all hope of foreign aid, either military or commercial, from the people of the Confederate States. Meantime a powerful expedition was organized in the West. It consisted of two branches, one of which was prepared in Kentucky under General Buell, and the other at St. Louis. In connection with the military force, a large number of light draft steam gunboats were built, many of which were clad with iron, and designed to cooperate on the rivers with the armed force on land. At the same time a sort of skirmishing warfare was conducted in Western Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, which resulted in the complete withdrawal of the Confederate forces from those States and that portion of Virginia. In this section of the country the people were so evenly divided in their sympathies between the North and South, that whichever had the largest force for the time, controlled the greatest portion of territory. A list of the skirmishes is embraced in the statements respecting those States. In the efforts for the war even Nebraska furnished two regiments, and the loyal people of New Mexico took the field, determined to defend their own, if no assistance came from the " States."

On the 31st of October, General Winfield Scott, the lieutenant-general of the army of the United States, or the executive officer under the President, who is the commander-in-chief, determined to resign his position. Ago and its infirmities had imposed this step upon him. This office was created and tendered to General Scott after the close of the Mexican war, in which he conducted the American arms with so much glory into the very halls of the Montezumas.

Born near Petersburg, in Virginia, June 13, 1785, he entered the army as captain of light artillery May 3, 1808, and served his country with unvarying success for more than half a century. In that time he proved his right to rank with the first commanders of the age. He was twice honored with a gold medal from Congress for distinguished services, and now retired from active duty with the reputation, after fifty years of command, of never having lost a battle when he was present in person.

To accomplish his purpose, he addressed the following letter to the Secretary of War:

                                         HEADQARTERS OF THE ARMY

                                            WASHINGTON, October 31,1861.

THE HON. S. CAMERON, Secretary of War:

SIR: For more than three years I have been unable, from a hurt, to mount a horse, or to walk more than a few paces at a time, and that with much pain. Other and new infirmities—dropsy and vertigo—admonish me that repose of mind and body, with the appliances of Surgery and medicine, are necessary to add a little more to a life already protracted much beyond the usual span of man.

It is under such circumstances—made doubly painful by the unnatural and unjust rebellion now raging in the Southern States of our (so late) prosperous and happy Union—that I am compelled to request that my name be placed on the list of army officers retired from active service.

As this request is founded on an absolute right, granted by a recent act of Congress, I am entirely at liberty to say it is with deep regret that I withdraw myself, in these momentous times from the orders of a president who has treated me with distinguished kindness and courtesy; whom I know, upon much personal intercourse, to be patriotic, without sectional partialities or prejudices; to be highly conscientious in the performance of every duty, and of unrivalled activity and perseverance. And to you, Mr. Secretary, whom I now officially address for the last time, I beg to acknowledge my many obligations, for the uniform high consideration I have received at your hands; and have the honor to remain, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant,

                                                          WINTIELD SCOTT.

This letter was laid before a Cabinet meeting called for the purpose of considering it, and it was concluded, under the authority of a recent act of Congress, to place General Scott on the retired list of the army, with the full pay and allowances of his rank. At 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the same day the President, accompanied by the Cabinet, proceeded to the residence of General Scott, and read to him the official order carrying out this decision.

The venerable general, oppressed by infirmity and emotion, rose with difficulty to make to the President his acknowledgments, which he did in touching terms, concluding with the declaration that the kindness manifested towards him on this occasion he felt to be the crowning reward of a long life spent in the service of his country, and his deep conviction of the ultimate triumph of the national arms and the happy termination of the unnatural war.

The President responded, expressing the profound sentiment of regret with which the country, as well as himself, would part with a public servant so venerable in years, and so illustrious for the services he had rendered.

The following was the official order:

On the first day of November, a. d. 1861, upon his own application to the President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired officers of the army of the United States, without reduction of his current pay, subsistence, or allowances. The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that General Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the army, while the President and unanimous Cabinet express their own and the nation's sympathy in his personal affliction, and their profound sense of the important public services rendered by him to his country during his long and brilliant career, among which will ever be gratefully distinguished his faithful devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the Flag, when assailed by parricidal rebellion.

                                                       ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

On the same day the following order was issued by the President:

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, November 1,1861.

GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 94.

The President is pleased to direct that Major-General George B. McClellan assume the command of the Page 721 Army of the United States. The head-quarters of the army will be established in the city of Washington. All communications intended for the Commanding General will hereafter be addressed direct to the Adjutant-General. The duplicate returns, orders, and other papers heretofore sent to the Assistant Adjutant-General, Head-quarters of the Army, will be discontinued.

By order of the Secretary of War:

                                 L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General.

Less than six months previous, General McClellan was engaged as the President of the eastern division of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. Born in Philadelphia in 1826, he entered the army from West Point, and rose to distinction in the war with Mexico, and was subsequently sent by the Government as one of a deputation from the army, to the Crimea during the war of France, England, and Sardinia with Russia. A few years afterwards he resigned his commission in the army and retired to private life. This appointment received the highest approbation of the retiring General.

On taking the command of the army, General McClellan issued the following order:

                           HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

                              WASHINGTON, November 1,1861.

In accordance with General Order No. 94, from the War Department, I hereby assume command of the armies of the United States.

In the midst of the difficulties which encompass and divide the nation, hesitation and self-distrust very well accompany the assumption of so vast a responsibility: but, confiding as I do, in the loyalty, discipline, and courage of the troops; and, believing as I do, that Providence will favor ours as the just cause, I cannot doubt that success will crown our efforts and* sacrifices.

The army will unite with me in the feeling of regret, that the weight of many years, and the effect of increasing infirmities, contracted and intensified in his country's service, should just now remove from our head the great soldier of our nation, the hero who, in his youth, raised high the reputation of his country in the fields of Canada, which he sanctified with his blood; who in more mature years proved to the world that American skill and valor could repeat, if not eclipse, the exploits of Cortez in the land of the Montezumas; whose whole life has been devoted to the service of his country; whose whole efforts have been directed to uphold our honor at the smallest sacrifice of life; a warrior who scorned the selfish glories of the battle field, when his great qualities as a statesman could be employed more profitably for his country; a citizen whose declining years have given to the world the most shining instances of loyalty in disregarding all the tics of birth, and clinging still to the cause of truth and honor. Such have been the career and character of Winfield Scott, whom it has long been the delight of the nation to honor—both as a man and as a soldier. While we regret his loss, there is one thing we cannot regret—the bright example he has left for our emulation. Let us all hope and pray that his declining years may be passed in peace and happiness, and that they may be cheered by the success of the country, and the cause he has fought for and loved so well. Beyond all that, let us do nothing that can cause him to blush for us; let no defeat of the army he has so long commanded embitter his last years, but let our victories illuminate the close of a life so grand.

                                      GEO. B. McCLELLAN,

                           Major-General, Commanding U. S. A.

General McClellan had undertaken, after the battle of Bull Run, to re-organize the army of the Potomac, and to these duties, together with those arising from his new position, he now devoted himself.

The only event of importance which occurred before the close of the year, was the surrender of Messrs. Mason and Slidell on the demand of the English Government. The capture of these Commissioners, and the possibility of a rupture with Great Britain, turned the attention of the Government to the unprotected condition of the northern coast and frontier. A letter was therefore addressed by the Secretary of State to the Governors of the respective States, requesting them to repair the fortifications within their-limits. For further details of the year, see President Lincoln's Message, December 3, under Public Documents.

It may not be out of place here to mention some of those brave men whom the war found engaged in peaceful pursuits of life, or in subordinate military positions, but who, upon the first call to arms, hastened to the field and trained the soldiers, and led them to victory.

Major-General John Charles Fremont was born in South Carolina in January, 1813 ; graduated at Charleston College in 1830; studied and taught civil engineering; employed by the Government on Mississippi survey; commissioned lieutenant of engineers, and in 1842 sent to explore the passes of the Rocky Mountains; made three exploring expeditious thither, of great interest and importance, assisted in the conquest of California; was made its first governor, became the victim of a quarrel between two American commanders, and was stripped of his command by court-martial; reinstated by the President, but resigned his connection with the army; made another expedition across the Rocky Mountains, and nearly perished in the snow; was sent to Washington as the first senator from California; held a largo tract of land in the Mariposa gold region, but became greatly involved for a time by litigation of its title; was republican candidate for the Presidency in 1856; improved his Mariposa estate and made it profitable in 1858-60; visited Europe in autumn of 1860; rendered material service to the United States there in 1860-61; was appointed major-general in the regular army, May, 1861, and assigned to Western Department in July, 1861; removed from command in November, 1861, and ordered to report himself at Washington ; reinstated in command in February, 1862, and assigned to Mountain Department.

Major-General Henry Wager Halleck was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1819; graduated at West Point in 1839, third in a class of 31; second lieutenant of engineers same year; acting assistant professor of engineers from July, 1839 to June, 1840; first lieutenant in-1845; author of a work on " Bitumen and its Uses," published 1841, and another on "Elements of Military Art and Science " in 1846; brevetted captain for gallant and meritorious conduct in 1847; Secretary of State in the military governments Page 722 of Generals Kearney, Mason, and Riley, 1847-49; chief of staff to Com. Shubrick, 1847-8; aided in forming the Constitution of California, 1849; promoted to captaincy of engineers, 1853; resigned in 1854, to engage in the practice of law in San Francisco; abandoned a large and lucrative practice in the summer of 1861; appointed major-general of the regular army, and put in charge of the Department of the West. Head-quarters at St. Louis.

Major-General Don Carlos Buell is a native of Ohio, born in 1820; entered West Point, 1837; graduated in 1841; became second lieutenant same year; first lieutenant in 1846; brevetted captain in 1848 for gallant and* meritorious conduct at the battle of Monterey; was adjutant in 1847 and 1848; distinguished himself at Cerro Gordo; was brevetted major for services at Contreras and Churubusco, and severely wounded in the latter battle; assistant adjutant-general in 1848 ; Relinquished his rank in the line in 1851, but subsequently resumed it, and was in service as major in California at the commencement of the war; appointed brigadier-general by Congress May 17, 1861, and given a command on the Potomac; assigned to the Department of Ohio on resignation of Anderson, and made major-general.

Major-General David Hunter, a native of the District of Columbia, born about 1802, graduated at West Point in 1822; became first lieutenant in 1828; captain First Dragoons, 1833; resigned in 1836, but returned to the army as temporary paymaster in 1841, and paymaster in 1842. In the present war, colonel in May at Washington; brigadier-general, and engaged in battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; sent to Missouri, made major-general, and took General Fremont's place temporarily; transferred to Department of Kansas in December, 1861.

Major-General John Ellis Wool was born at Newburgh, New York, 1789. At the commencement of the war with Great Britain in 1812, he obtained a captain's commission in the Thirteenth Regiment of infantry, and joined the army on the Niagara frontier. At the battle on Queenstown Heights he distinguished himself, but by the surrender was made a prisoner; upon his exchange was assigned to the Twenty-ninth Regiment infantry, having previously been appointed major. In September, 1861, appointed inspector-general, with the rank of colonel; in 1818 lieutenant-colonel, and in 1826, "for ten years' faithful service," brevetted brigadier-general; in 1836 assisted in the removal of the Indians from the Cherokee country to Arkansas; appointed brigadier-general in 1841; distinguished himself in the war with Mexico, and was brevetted major-general in 1848; after the Mexican war, General Wool was assigned to the command in the Eastern Military Department; on August 12, 1861, he was ordered to the command of the forces at Fortress Monroe, and was subsequently raised to the rank of major-general.

Major-General Benjamin F. Butler is a native of New Hampshire, born about the year 1818; chose the legal-profession; was admitted to the bar in 1842, and settled in practice at Lowell, Massachusetts, where he became distinguished as a criminal lawyer, and a rising politician; was democratic candidate for Governor in 1859; volunteered in command of one of the three months Massachusetts regiments in April. 1861 ; was appointed brigadier-general in May; stationed first at Baltimore, and subsequently nt Fortress Monroe; ordered the expedition to Great Bethel; was promoted to major-generalship; commanded the land forces in Hatteras expedition, and subsequently in the Ship Island expedition.

Major-General John Adams Dix was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, July 24,1798; entered West Point Military Academy in 1812; ensign Fourteenth Infantry, 1813; second lieutenant, 1814; first lieutenant artillery, 1818; aide-de-camp to General Brown in 1819; captain artillery, 1825; resigned, 1828, and same year settled as a lawyer in Cooperstown, New York; adjutant-general of State, 1830; Secretary of State, 1833; United States Senator, 1845-49; assistant treasurer United States, New York, in 1853; postmaster New York City, 1860; Secretary of the Treasury, (close of Buchanan Administration.) 1801; appointed brigadier-general, and major-general in summer of 1861; in command of Federal forces ut Baltimore: Has travelled extensively abroad, and is the author of "Resources of the City of New York,'' 1827; "A Winter in Madeira," 1861; "A Summer in Spain and Florence," 1855.

Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks born in Waltham, Massachusetts, January, 1816. In 1848 was representative for Waltham. In 1850 was ser.t to the State Senate; in 1852 was elected to Congress; was chosen Speaker of the 34th Congress; in 1856 elected Governor of Massachusetts, serving three terms. Was appointed major-general of volunteers in the United States army, May 11, 1861; was first commander of the Department of Annapolis, and since, of that of Shenandoah.

Brigadier-General Edwin V. Sumner, born in Massachusetts about 1800; appointed second lieutenant of infantry in 1819; first lieutenant, 1823; assistant commissary of subsistence in 1827; captain of dragoons, 1833; major Second Regiment of dragoons, 1846; brevet lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct at Cerro Gordo, where he commanded a regiment of mounted rifles and was wounded; brevet colonel for conduct at Molino del Rey; lieutenant-colonel, 1848 ; colonel First Cavalry, 1855; defeated a body of Cheyenne warriors in Kansas in 1857; remained in Kansas till 1859; made brigadier-general in August, 1861.

Brigadier-General Samuel P. Heintzelman is a native of Pennsylvania, born about 1806; graduated at West Point, 1826; second lieutenant infantry same year; first lieutenant, 1833; assistant commissary, 1836; assistant quartermaster, 1838; captain same year; brevet Page 723 major for gallantry at battle of Huaroantla, Mexico, 1847; major, 1855; colonel May, 1861; brigadier-general of volunteers May 17, 1861; fought at battle of Bull Run, and retained bis connection with the army of the Potomac.

Brigadier-General Erasmus D. Keyes is a native of Massachusetts, born about 1812; graduated at West Point in 1832; became first lieutenant artillery in 1836; aid to Major-General Scott from 1837 to 1841; appointed assistant adjutant-general in July, 1838; captain of artillery in November, 1841; instructor of artillery and cavalry at the military academy, 1844 to 1848; distinguished himself in the Indian wars in Oregon and Washington Territory in 1856 and 1858; attained the rank of major in 1858; appointed colonel of volunteers at the commencement of the war; made brigadier-general May 17, 1861; served in the battle of Bull Run, and has since that time been connected with the army of the Potomac.

Brigadier-General Fitz John Porter is a native of New Hampshire, born about 1825 ; graduated at West Point in 1845; became first lieutenant of artillery in 1847; brevetted captain and major for gallant and meritorious conduct at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, wounded at the gate of Belen; was assistant instructor at the military academy from 1849 to 1856; appointed assistant adjutant-general in June, 1856; and captain, October of the same year. At the commencement of the present war he was appointed colonel of volunteers, and made brigadier-general May 17, 1861. Was in the battle of Bull Run, and has since commanded a brigade in the army of the Potomac.

Brigadier-General Andrew Porter is a native of Pennsylvania, born about 1820; was in the military academy 1836 to January, 1837; was appointed first lieutenant mounted rifles in May, 1846; captain, May, 1847; distinguished himself, and was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious conduct at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. At the commencement of the present war was appointed colonel of volunteers, and made brigadier-general May 17,1861. He belongs to the army of the Potomac.

Brigadier-General William Benjamin Franklin is a native of Pennsylvania, born about 1823; graduated at West Point in 1843 first in his class, and was appointed to corps of topographical engineers; brevetted first lieutenant for gallant and meritorious conduct at Buena Vista; acting assistant professor of philosophy at military academy from 1848 to 1850; promoted to first lieutenant in 1853, and captain in 1857; was assigned to light-house duty in 1853; May 17, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and was connected with the army of the Potomac, in which he now commands a division.

Brigadier-General William Tecumseh Sherman is a native of Ohio, born about 1820; graduated at West Point in 1840; became first lieutenant of artillery in November, 1841; was acting assistant adjutant-general in 1847; brevetted captain for meritorious service in California during the Mexican war; appointed commissary of subsistence in 1850, and resigned in 1853. At the commencement of the present war he entered the service, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers May 17, 1861, and on the resignation of General Anderson placed in command of the Department of Kentucky, in which he was superseded November 8, 1861, by General D. C. Buell.

Brigadier-General Charles P. Stone is a native of Massachusetts, born about 1824; graduated at West Point in 1845, seventh in his class, and appointed brevet second lieutenant ordnance same year; was acting assistant professor of ethics at military academy 1845-'G; brevetted first lieutenant and captain for gallant and meritorious conduct at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec; advanced to the rank of first lieutenant in 1853; resigned in 1856. In May, 18C1, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. In October, 1861, he was in command on the Maryland side of the Potomac, and on the 21st of that month directed the movement which resulted in the disastrous battle of Ball's Bluff. His subsequent conduct led to suspicions of his loyalty, and early in 1862 he was arrested and consigned to Fort Warren on a charge of treason.

Brigadier-General John A. McClernand is a citizen of Illinois, born about 1817, and was a prominent political leader in that State for some years. Ho was a member of the 36th Congress; and resigned to enter the army in 1861; was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers May 17, 1861, and distinguished himself at the battle of Belmont, and subsequently at forts Henry and Donelson.

Brigadier-General Henry W. Benham is a native of Connecticut, born about 1816; graduated at West Point in 1837, first in his class; made first lieutenant of engineers in 1838, wounded at battle of Buena Vista, and brevetted for his gallant and meritorious conduct there; attained the rank of captain in May, 1848; appointed assistant in United States coast survey, 1853; appointed brigadier-general of volunteers in August, 1861; distinguished himself for bravery and military skill in the battle and pursuit of the Confederate forces at Rich Mountain and Cheat Mountain pass; in consequence of a misunderstanding between him and General Rosecrans in relation to the pursuit of General Floyd on the 12th of November, 1861, he was ordered by General Rosecrans to report himself at Washington as under arrest; but was, on examination, reinstated in his command, and assigned to the Department of the South.

Brigadier-General Joseph K. F. Mansfield is a native of Connecticut, born in 1798; graduated at West Point in 1823, second in his class; was chief engineer of the army of occupation in the Mexican war, and repeatedly promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct. In Page 724 1853 was made inspector-general, with the rank of colonel; and during the present war has been promoted to a brigadier-generalship in the regular army.

Brigadier-General Charles Ferguson Smith was a native of Pennsylvania, born about 1805; graduated at West Point in 1825, and made second lieutenant artillery the same year; in 1859 appointed assistant instructor in infantry tactics at West Point; in 1831 promoted to an adjutancy, and in 1832 made first lieutenant, in 1838 he was appointed instructor in infantry tactics in the military academy, and promoted to a captaincy the same year. He distinguished himself in the Mexican war at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Contreras, and Churubusco, and was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel for his gallant conduct in these battles, and the same year appointed acting inspector-general in Mexico. In 1854 he attained the rank of major, and in 1855 that of lieutenant-colonel. On the 31st of August, 1861, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, and put in command of troops at Paducah, Ky. He distinguished himself at Port Donelson by a brilliant charge of his brigade, which he led in person, and which was the decisive action of the battle. He died at Savannah, Tenn., April 25, 1862.

Brigadier-General Horatio Gates Wright is a native pf Connecticut, born about 1821; graduated at West Point, second in his class, in 1841; was acting assistant and assistant professor of engineering from 1842 to 1844; made first lieutenant, 1848, and captain of engineers, 1855, and served for four years as assistant to General Totten. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers September 14, 1861, and attached to the Port Royal expedition as commander of the third brigade. He distinguished himself there in several actions.

Brigadier-General William Nelson, a native of Kentucky, born about 1828; was at first connected with the navy, and attained the rank of passed midshipman, July, 1846 ; served with the navy battery at Vera Cruz in 1847; appointed lieutenant in the army in 1855; made brigadier-general September 16, 1861, and placed in command in Eastern Kentucky, where he defeated Humphrey Marshall in several engagements.

Brigadier-General John G. Barnard, a native of Massachusetts, born about 1813, graduated at West Point, second in his class, in 1833, and became second lieutenant of engineers same year; captain in 1838; brevetted major for meritorious conduct in the Mexican war; instructor in practical engineering at the military academy in 1854; superintendent of the military academy, 1855-6; major, 1858; author of several works on engineering and mathematical science; appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, September 23, 1861.

Brigadier-General Irvin McDowell is a native of Ohio, born about 1818; received his early education in France; graduated at West Point in 1838; second lieutenant of First Regiment of Artillery same year; aide-de-camp to General Wool, 1845; assistant adjutant-general, 1847; brevetted captain for meritorious conduct at Buena Vista; resigned in 1851; made brigadier-general in the regular army in May, 1801; commanded at Bull Run; remained with the army of the Potomac in command near Fredericksburg.

Brigadier-General Thomas W. Sherman was born in Rhode Island about 1816; graduated at West Point, 1836, and was appointed second lieutenant in the Third Artillery same year; was promoted to the first lieutenancy, 1838, and to the captaincy in 1846; was engaged in the Mexican war, and, " for gallant and meritorious conduct," was brevetted major. At the commencement of the present war was promoted colonel; made brigadier-general August, 1861; he commanded the land forces in the Port Royal expedition, and captured Tybee Island.

Brigadier-General John Pope, born in Illinois, about 1822, but was appointed a cadet from Kentucky; graduated at West Point in 1842, and received an appointment at once in the corps of topographical engineers; brevetted first lieutenant and captain for gallant and meritorious conduct at Monterey and Buena Vista; captain in 1859; colonel in June, 1861, and brigadier-general of volunteers, July, 1861; commanded in Northern Missouri in February, 1862, captured New Madrid, and aided in the capture of Island Number Ten.

Brigadier-General Charles D. Jameson was born in Cumberland County, Maine, February 24, 1827. Early in life he embarked in the lumber business, and in time became one of the most extensive manufacturers and shippers on the Penobscot River. At the commencement of the present war he was put in command of the First Regiment in his native State, and marched to the defence of the capital. On account of meritorious conduct at the battle of Bull Run, he received the appointment of brigadier-general, September 3,1861, and was soon afterwards placed in command of one of the brigades in General Heintzelman's division.

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant is a native of Ohio, born in 1822; graduated at West Point, July, 1843, and was made second lieu-" tenant of the Fourth Regiment of United States infantry. In 1847 was made first lieutenant. Ho was with General Taylor in the Mexican war, and for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Chapultepec, was brevetted captain, 1847; attained rank of captain, 1853. At the opening of the present war he offered his services to Governor Yates of Illinois, and was appointed colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. He was made brigadier-general, and won himself much honor at the battle of Belmont and the capture of Fort Donelson.

Brigadier-General George H. Thomas is a native of Virginia, born about 1820; graduated at West Point, 1840; brevetted first lieutenant for gallantry and good conduct in the war against Page 725 the Florida Indians in 1841; first lieutenant, 1844; brevet captain for conduct at Monterey, 1846 ; brevet major, for conduct at Buena Vista, 1847; instructor of artillery and cavalry at the military academy, 1850-55, with rank of captain after 1853; major Second Cavalry, 1855; brigadier-general of volunteers, August, 1861; assigned to Department of Kentucky; fought battle of Mill Spring; and was engaged on the 6th and 7th of April, 18C2, in the battle of Shiloh.

Brigadier-General Ormsby McKnight Mitchell was born in Union County, Ky., July, 1810; graduated at West Point in 1829, and appointed brevet second lieutenant of artillery; made assistant professor of mathematics 1829-31; engaged in railroad surveys June to September, 1831; detailed to St. Augustine, Florida; resigned, 1832; went to Cincinnati, practised law for two years, then opened a scientific school; in 1836 became professor of mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy in Cincinnati College; projected, and, in spite of great difficulties, achieved the establishment of the Cincinnati Observatory; has lectured extensively on astronomy; edited "Sidereal Journal," 1846-55; invented a magnetic clock in 1848; in 1859 was appointed superintendent of Dudley Observatory at Albany; has published several works on astronomy; soon after the commencement of the war, he resigned, and offered his services to the Government; was appointed brigadier-general, and assigned to the Department of Ohio. (Has distinguished himself in April, 1862, by the capture of Huntsville, Alabama, and taking possession of nearly 200 miles of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; made major-general by Congress soon after.)

Brigadier-General Thomas W. Sweeney was born in Ireland in 1818; came to this country in childhood; was second lieutenant of New York Volunteers in the Mexican war; lost an arm at Churubusco; served on the western frontier subsequently, and was promoted to a captaincy; was appointed colonel of volunteers at the commencement of the present war, and made brigadier-general in the session of 1861-2. Ho distinguished himself at "Wilson's Creek. Brigadier-General Harvey Brown is a native of New Jersey, born about 1798; graduated at "West Point in 1818; became first lieutenant of artillery in 1821; was aid to Major-General Brown in 1824-'5 ; lieutenant-colonel of mounted Creek Volunteers in the Florida war, in 1836-7; brevetted major for his gallant conduct in that war; distinguished himself at Monterey, Contreras, Churubusco, and Belen, and received two brevets for his meritorious conduct there; promoted to rank of major in 1851, and colonel in 1858; took command of Fort Pickens, Florida, in June, 1861, and twice engaged the Confederate batteries and forts on the main land; was made brigadier-general of the regular army by Congress in its session of 1861-'2, and placed in command of the forts in New York harbor.

Brigadier-General George Archibald McCall, born in Pennsylvania, about 1802, graduated at West Point, 1822; made first lieutenant of infantry, 1829; aide-de-camp to General Gaines from 1831 to 1836; promoted captain, 1836; brevet major and lieutenant-colonel in 184G, for gallant conduct at Palo Alto and Resaca do la Palma, 1846; assistant adjutant-general, 1846; major, 1847; inspector-general, 1850; brigadier-general of volunteers, 1861.

Brigadier-General William S. Rosecrans is a native of Ohio, born in 1825. He graduated with high rank at West Point in 1842; appointed brevet second lieutenant of engineers same year, and made assistant professor of engineering, and afterwards of natural philosophy at the military academy. Resigned his commission in April, 1854, and established himself as an architect and civil engineer in Cincinnati, and subsequently as a manufacturer of kerosene oil; entered the army as colonel at the breaking out of the war; distinguished himself in several battles in Western Virginia; was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in the regular army May 16, 1861.

Brigadier-General Isaac I. Stevens was born at Andover, Massachusetts, about the year 1818; graduated as the first scholar in his class at West Point, July, 1839; was appointed first lieutenant of engineers, July, 1840. He served upon General Scott's staff throughout the Mexican war, and for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec was brevetted captain and major in 1848. Since 1849 Major Stevens has assisted in the United States Coast Survey. In 1853 he was appointed Governor of Washington Territory, and in 1857 was a delegate to Congress. At the commencement of the war he volunteered, and was subsequently given the command of the Seventy-ninth Highlanders. He was made brigadier-general, September, 1860, and commanded a brigade under General Sherman at Port Royal.

Brigadier-General Benjamin M. Prentiss was born in Belleville, Wood County, Virginia, November 23, 1819. In 1840 he removed to Illinois and in 1846, being captain of the Quincy Blues, volunteered for the Mexican war with his company, and was in the battle of Buena Vista. At the commencement of the present struggle he reorganized the Quincy Blues, was elected colonel of the Seventh Regiment of Illinois, and upon the organization of a brigade at Cairo was appointed brigadier-general.

Brigadier-General Robert C. Schenck is a native of Warren County, Ohio; was born in 1810. He graduated at the Miami University, and afterwards was a professor in that institution. Ho studied law, and settled, in Dayton; served as State representative several years, and was twice elected to Congress; was appointed Minister to Brazil during the administration of President Fillmore. He received his commission of brigadier-general May 17, 1861.

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Brigadier-General Frederick W. Lander was a native of Massachusetts, born about 1820. He was for some years connected with the overland route to California; acted as second of Hon. E. F. Potter in the threatened Pryor and Potter duel; was appointed colonel of a regiment in Western Virginia early in the war, and distinguished himself by his brilliant dashes at the enemy; captured Philippi in June, 1861; was made brigadier-general for services at Rich Mountain; was wounded at the battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861; drove the Confederates from Romney in February; died from congestion of the brain, and the results of his wound, March 2, 1862.

Flag-officer Andrew H. Foote is a native of Connecticut, born in 1807, a son of the late Governor Samuel A. Foote; entered the navy in 1822 as midshipman, and has advanced through all the grades to the highest; serving in the East Indies, where he routed the pirates; on the coast of Africa, where he made the slave trade unsafe; and on the coast of China, where he maintained the rights of American citizens and the honor of their flag. At the commencement of the war, he succeeded Commodore Breese in command of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and in the fall of 1861 was assigned to the command of the Mississippi River squadron, captured Fort Henry, and aided in the capture of Fort Donelson, where he was severely wounded. In conjunction with General Pope, he took Island Number Ten after twenty-three days' siege, and subsequently besieged Fort Wright on the Mississippi.

Flag-officer Samuel F. Dupont is a native of New Jersey, born about 1802. Ho entered the navy in 1815; served with great distinction under Commodore Shubrick in California; with one hundred men defeated and routed five hundred Mexicans; and commanded the Minnesota on the China station in 1858-'9 with great success. He was appointed commander of the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1859, and flag-officer of the Port Royal expedition in 1861.

Brigadier-General Egbert L. Viele was born in Saratoga County, New York, in 1825. He graduated at West Point, 1816; served in the Mexican war; for several years has pursued his profession of civil engineer in New York, and was chief engineer upon the Central Park. In 1843 he was appointed chief engineer of the State of New Jersey; and was made brigadier-general of volunteers, August, 1861.

Brigadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher is a native of Ireland, born about 1818. He was distinguished as a lawyer for his eloquence; took part in the Irish rebellion in 1848; was banished by the English Government to Australia in 1849 ; but made his escape to California in 1853, and attained distinction there as an advocate and orator, ne joined the Sixty-ninth (Irish) Regiment of Colonel Corcoran as captain, and was promoted to be major; was in the battle of Bull Run; aided in organizing the Irish brigade from New York; was appointed colonel, and subsequently brigadier-general; and is now in service with his brigade in the army of the Potomac.

Brigadier-General James A. Mulligan was born in the city of Utica, New York, in 1829, of Irish parents. He was educated at the Catholic college of North Chicago; studied law in 1852-54; edited the Western Tablet in Chicago; admitted to the bar in 1856; clerk in Department of the Interior, Washington, 1857; captain of Shields' Guards, Chicago, 1859-61; colonel of the "Irish Brigade," Chicago, in June, 1861; defended Lexington, Missouri, for three days against a force five times his own, and finally surrendered with the honors of war.

Major-General Franz Siegel was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden, in 1824. He was educated in the military school of Carlsruhe, became chief adjutant in the Baden army in 1847, and was considered the best artillerist in Germany. In the revolution of 1848 he became commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary army, but was overpowered by the immense army of the Austrians and Prussians, and emigrated to this country. He was colonel of a German regiment in New York, professor of military science in St. Louis, colonel and acting brigadier-general under Lyon, made a successful retreat after the battle of Wilson's Creek, was present in a three days' fight at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, February, 1862; received a vote of thanks from Congress, and was made a major-general for his bravery and skill in that battle. (The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1861, vol. 1. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868, pp. 696-726.)


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