The Greater Republic Part 34

SECESSION AND FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.

The hope was general that the South would not carry out her threat of seceding from the Union, and, but for South Carolina, she would not have done so; but that pugnacious State soon gave proof of her terrible earnestness. Her Convention a.s.sembled in Charleston, and pa.s.sed an ordinance of secession, December 20, 1860, declaring "That the Union heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America is dissolved." The other Southern States, although reluctant to give up the Union, felt it their duty to stand by the pioneer in the movement against it, and pa.s.sed ordinances of secession, as follows: Mississippi, January 9, 1861; Florida, January 10th; Alabama, January 11th; Georgia, January 19th; Louisiana, January 26th; and Texas, February 23d.

In the hope of averting civil war numerous peace meetings were held in the North, and Virginia called for a "peace conference," which a.s.sembled in Washington, February 4th. The States represented included most of those in the North, and Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Ex-President Tyler, of Virginia, was made president of the conference. The proposed terms of settlement were rejected by the Virginia and North Carolina delegates and refused by Congress, which, since the withdrawal of the Southern members, was controlled by the Republicans.

The next step of the Southern conventions was to send delegates to Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed "The Confederate States of America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. A const.i.tution and flag, both resembling those of the United States, were adopted and all departments of the government organized.

As the various States adopted ordinances of secession they seized the government property within their limits. In most cases, the Southern United States officers resigned and accepted commissions in the service of the Confederacy. The only forts saved were those near Key West, Fort Pickens at Pensacola, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The South Carolina authorities began preparations to attack Sumter, and when the steamer _Star of the West_ attempted to deliver supplies to the fort, it was fired upon, January 9th, and driven off. Thus matters stood at the close of Buchanan's administration, March 4, 1861.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.]

CHAPTER XV.

ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865.

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861.

Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops in Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of England and France--Friendship of Russia--The States that Composed the Southern Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign in Western Virginia--General George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull Run--General McClellan Called to the Command of the Army of the Potomac--Union Disaster at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in Missouri--Battle of Wilson's Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The Trent Affair--Summary of the Year's Operations.

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President, ranks among the greatest that has ever presided over the destinies of our country. He was born in Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky, February 12, 1809, but when seven years old his parents removed to Indiana, making their home near the present town of Gentryville.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

(1809-1865.) Two terms (died in office), 1861-1865.]

His early life was one of extreme poverty, and his whole schooling did not amount to more than a year; but, possessing a studious mind, he improved every spare hour in the study of instructive books. At the age of sixteen the tall, awkward, but powerful boy was earning a living by managing a ferry across the Ohio. He remained for some time after reaching manhood with his parents, who removed to Illinois in 1830, and built a log-cabin on the north fork of the Sangamon. He was able to give valuable help in clearing the ground and in splitting rails. With the aid of a few friends he constructed a flat-boat, with which he took produce to New Orleans. Selling both goods and boat, he returned to his home and still a.s.sisted his father on the farm. In the Black Hawk War he was elected captain of a company, but did not see active service.

By this time his ability had attracted the notice of friends, and at the age of twenty-five he was elected to the Illinois Legislature, in which he served for four terms. Meanwhile he had studied law as opportunity presented, and was sent to Congress in 1846. He opposed the war with Mexico, but, among such giants as Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, and others, he could not make any distinctive mark; but his powerful common sense, his clear logic, his una.s.sailable integrity, his statesmanship and grasp of public questions, and his quaint humor, often approaching the keenest wit, carried him rapidly to the front and made him the leader of the newly formed Republican party. In 1858 he stumped Illinois for United States senator against Stephen A. Douglas, his valued friend.

His speeches attracted national attention as masterpieces of eloquence, wit, and forceful presentation of the great issues which were then agitating the country. He was defeated by Douglas, but the remarkable manner in which he acquitted himself made him the successful candidate of the Republican party in the autumn of 1860.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FROM LOG-CABIN TO THE WHITE HOUSE.]

Lincoln was tall and ungainly, his height being six feet four inches.

His countenance was rugged and homely, his strength as great as that of Washington, while his wit has become proverbial. His integrity, which his bitterest opponent never questioned, won for him the name of "Honest Abe." He was one of the most kind-hearted of men, and his rule of life was "malice toward none and charity for all". He grew with the demands of the tremendous responsibilities placed upon him, and the reputation he won as patriot, statesman, and leader has been surpa.s.sed by no previous President and becomes greater with the pa.s.sing years.

MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER.

All eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. It was the strongest of the defenses. Major Robert Anderson, learning that the Confederates intended to take possession of it, secretly removed his garrison from Fort Moultrie on the night of December 26, 1860. Anderson was in a trying position, for the secretary of war, Floyd, and the adjutant-general of the army, Cooper, to whom he was obliged to report, were secessionists, and not only refused to give him help, but threw every obstacle in his way. President Buchanan was surrounded by secessionists, and most of the time was bewildered as to his course of duty. He resented, however, the demand of Secretary Floyd for the removal of Anderson because of the change he had made from Moultrie to Sumter. Floyd resigned and was succeeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, an uncompromising Unionist, who did all he could to hold up the President in his tottering position of a friend of the Union. The latter grew stronger as he noted the awakening sentiment of loyalty throughout the North. An admirable act was the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as attorney-general, for he was a man of great ability and a relentless enemy of secession.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JEFFERSON DAVIS.]

Jefferson Davis, who had been chosen President of the Southern Confederacy that was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February, was born in Kentucky, June 3, 1808. Thus he and President Lincoln were natives of the same State, with less than a year's difference in their ages. Davis was graduated at West Point in 1828, and served on the northwest frontier, in the Black Hawk War. He was also a lieutenant of cavalry in the operations against the Comanches and Apaches. He resigned from the army and became a cotton-planter in Mississippi, which State he represented in Congress in 1845-46, but resigned to a.s.sume the colonelcy of the First Mississippi regiment.

Colonel Davis displayed great gallantry at the storming of Monterey and at the battle at Buena Vista, and on his return home was immediately elected to the United States Senate, in which he served 1847-51 and 1857-61. From 1853 to 1857 he was secretary of war under Pierce. He was one of the Southern leaders, and had already been mentioned as a candidate for the presidency. He resigned his seat in the United States Senate in January, 1861, upon the secession of his State, and, being elected Provisional President of the Southern Confederacy February 9th, was inaugurated February 18th. In the following year he and Stephens were regularly elected President and Vice-President respectively, and were inaugurated on the 18th of the month.

INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

President-elect Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, on the 11th of February for Washington. He stopped at various points on the route, and addressed mult.i.tudes that had gathered to see and hear him. A plot was formed to a.s.sa.s.sinate him in Baltimore, but it was defeated by the vigilance of the officers attending Lincoln, who took him through the city on an earlier train than was expected. General Scott had the capital so well protected by troops that no disturbance took place during the inauguration.

BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER.

The Confederate government sent General Beauregard to a.s.sume charge of the defenses in Charleston harbor. Finding the fort was being furnished with supplies, he telegraphed to his government for instructions. He was ordered to enforce the evacuation. Beauregard demanded the surrender of the fort, and, being refused by Major Anderson, he opened fire, early on the morning of April 12th, from nineteen batteries. Major Anderson had a garrison of 79 soldiers and 30 laborers who helped serve the guns. He allowed the men to eat breakfast before replying. In a few hours the supply of cartridges gave out, and blankets and other material were used as subst.i.tutes. The garrison were kept within the bomb-proof galleries, and did not serve the guns on the open parapets, two of which had been dismounted by the fire from the Confederate batteries, which after a time set fire to the officers' barracks. The flames were extinguished, but broke out several times. The smoke became so smothering that the men could breathe only by lying flat on their faces. Finally the position became so untenable that Anderson ran up the white flag in token of surrender. No one was killed on either side.

The news of the surrender created wild excitement North and South and united both sections. While the free States rallied to the Union, almost as one man, the Unionists in the South became ardent supporters of the cause of disunion. It was now a solid North against a solid South.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON, WITH FORT SUMTER IN THE DISTANCE.]

Three days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, and Congress was summoned to meet on the 4th of July. Few people comprehended the stupendous work that would be required to crush the rebellion. While the South was hurrying its sons into the ranks, 300,000 answered the call of President Lincoln, who on the 19th of April issued another proclamation declaring a blockade of the Southern ports.

UNION TROOPS ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE.

Many of the Confederates demanded that an advance should be made upon Washington, and, had it been done promptly, it could have been captured without difficulty. Realizing its danger, the national government called upon the States for troops and several regiments were hurried thither.

While the Seventh Pennsylvania and Sixth Ma.s.sachusetts were pa.s.sing through Baltimore, they were savagely a.s.sailed by a mob. A portion of the Sixth Ma.s.sachusetts were hemmed in, and stoned and pelted with pistol-shots. They remained cool until three of their number had been killed and eight wounded, when they let fly with a volley which stretched nearly a dozen rioters on the ground, besides wounding many others. This drove the mob back, although they kept up a fusillade until the train drew out of the city with the troops aboard.

ACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES.

The Confederates in Virginia continued active. They captured Harper's Ferry and the Norfolk Navy Yard, both of which proved very valuable to them. Their government issued "letters of marque" which permitted private persons to capture merchant vessels belonging to the United States, against which the Confederate Congress declared war.

The border States were in perhaps the most trying situation of all, for, while they wished to keep out of the war, they were forced to act the part of buffer between the hostile States. The secessionists in Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri made determined efforts to bring about the secession of those States, but the Union men were too strong. The armies on both sides received many recruits from the States named, which in some cases suffered from guerrilla fighting between former friends and neighbors.

Kentucky, whose governor was a secessionist, thought she could hold a neutral position, but the majority of the citizens were Union in their sentiments. Besides, the situation of the State was such that it was soon invaded by armed forces from both sides, and some of the severest battles of the war were fought on its soil.

THE WAR AS VIEWED IN EUROPE.

The prospect of the splitting apart of the United States was pleasing to all the European powers, with the single exception of Russia. France was especially urgent in favoring an armed intervention in favor of the Confederacy, but England would not agree, nor would she recognize the Confederate States as an independent nation, for, had she done so, the United States would immediately have declared war against her. In May, however, England declared the Confederacy a belligerent power, thereby ent.i.tling it to make war and man war vessels, which could take refuge in foreign ports. While this recognition was of unquestionable help, it would not have amounted to a great deal had not England permitted the building of swift and powerful cruisers, which were turned over to the Confederates, and did immense damage to Northern commerce.

When June arrived, the Southern Confederacy was composed of eleven States: South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. As soon as Virginia seceded (May 23d), the capital was removed from Montgomery to Richmond. It was clear that Virginia would be the princ.i.p.al battle-ground of the war, and the Confederate volunteers throughout the South hurried into the State.

An intelligent knowledge of the direction from which danger was likely to come was shown by the placing of troops in western Virginia to meet Confederate attacks, while soldiers were moved into southern Kentucky to defend Tennessee. In Virginia they held the line from Harper's Ferry to Norfolk, and batteries were built along the Mississippi to stop all navigation of that stream. The erection of forts along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for protection against the blockading fleets soon walled in the Confederacy on every hand.

THE MILITARY SITUATION.

General Scott for a time held the general command of all the United States forces. But he was old and growing weak in body and mind, and it was evident must soon give way to a younger man. The national forces held the eastern side of the Potomac, from Harper's Ferry to Fort Monroe, and a small section of the western side opposite Washington.

While enlisting and drilling troops, they strove to hold also Kentucky and Missouri, succeeding so well that their grip was never lost throughout the war.