THE GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL WOOL. 431 Troops and subsistence so promptly forwarded to Washington by the Union Defense Committee, under the direction of General Wool, and with the cordial co-operation of Commodores Breese and Stringham, saved the Capital from seizure. Fortress Monroe, made secure by the same energetic measures, held, during the entire war, a controlling power over all lower and eastern Virginia and upper North Carolina; and the possession of the arms. in the St. Louis Arsenal by the friends of the Government, at that time, was of the greatest importance to the National cause in the Mississippi Valley. We shall consider this matter presently. When the troops sent forward had opened the way to Washington, the first communication that General Wool received from his superiors was an order from the General-in JOHN ELLIS WOOL. a April 30, 1861. May 9. ⚫ June 7. chief to return to his head-quarters at Troy, for "the recovery of his health, known to be feeble." The General's health was perfect. He, and the Union Defense Committee (who appreciated his services, and heartily thanked him for them), and the people, were surprised. The Secretary of War was asked' by the veteran why he had been sent into retirement at that critical juncture of affairs. A month later, the minister replied:-"You were ordered to return to your head-quarters at Troy, because the issuing of orders by you, on the application of the various Governors, for arms, ammunition, et cætera, without consultation, seriously embarrassed the prompt and proper administration of the Department." This sentence in the letter seemed more extraordinary than the order of the General-in-chief. The Government, during the time alluded to, could not be consulted. It was, as it were, shut up in prison, and its rescue from imminent peril had been effected only by the employment of unauthorized measures, less grave than the Government itself was compelled to resort to for its own preservation-measures which it afterward asked Congress to sanction by special act. The people were 1 "I remember how you sustained the Government by forwarding troops for the defense of the National Capital; how, by your zeal in equipping and sending forward, with the means at your disposal, large bodies of patriotic and excellent troops, which came in good time, the tide of rebellion, which commenced at Baltimore, was turned against the enemies of our country. The Government had not the means of defending itself, when they were most needed. This Committee came forward and applied the remedy, and averted the danger."Speech of General Scott before the Union Defense Committee, November 8, 1861. Before the close of the year 1861, one hundred and seven volunteer regiments had gone to the field from the State of New York, sixty-six of which were aided by the Union Defense Committee. Of these regiments, ninety were infantry, ten were cavalry, five were artillery, one of engineers, and one a coast-guard. 2 On the 31st of April, 1861, the Union Defense Committee, by unanimous vote, adopted the following resolutions: "Resolved. That this Committee regard it as an incumbent duty to express their high appreciation of the wisdom, energy, and patriotism of Major-General John E. Wool, commanding this Military District, evinced in moments of critical emergency in the affairs of the country. Resolved, As the deliberate judgment of this Committee, that the zeal, activity, and patriotism of General Wool have been eminently conspicuous in the arrangements made by him for expediting the transport of troops and supplies to the scene of action; and especially so in assuming the responsibility of dispatching the 432 a FAITHFUL SERVICES APPRECIATED. not satisfied, and, they complained. Their murmurs were heeded; and, a few weeks later, General Wool was called from his retirement and August 17, placed in command of the Department of Southeastern Virginia, 1861. which had been recently created, with his head-quarters at Fortress Monroe. He succeeded General Butler, who was assigned to another field of active duty. fine regiment of New York Fire Zouaves, commanded by Colonel Ellsworth, thus avoiding the delays which might otherwise have detained them for several days. "Resolved, That this Committee desire to express in these resolutions their grateful sense of the distinguished services rendered by General Wool since entering upon his duties in this city; and their acknowledgments to the War Department for affording this community the great advantage of his military skill and long experience in the service of his country. "Resolved, That while the organization of the Western Department of the United States, comprising within its limits the National Capital. under the able, judicious, and patriotic management of Lieutenant-General Scott, Commanding General of the Army, insures public confidence and the protection of the National honor. the Committee deem it fortunate for the country that the President has exercised the sagacions discretion of placing the Eastern Department under the control of an officer worthy of all the confidence reposed in him. 66 "Resolved, That this Committee desire most emphatically to express their gratitude to Major-General Wool for the promptness and readiness with which he has yielded to their wishes and requests, and assumed great and heavy responsibilities, which the exigency of the case and the difficulties of communicating with the Government rendered necessary; and they most earnestly request the War Department and the President of the United States to ratify and approve the conduct and action of Major-General Wool in these particulars; and also, that he may be continued in command in this city and of this Department. "Resolved. That copies of the preceding resolutions, properly authenticated, be transmitted to the President of the United States, Lieutenant-General Scott, and Major-General Wool." THE NEW YORK SEVENTH REGIMENT. 433 CHAPTER XVIII. THE CAPITAL SECURED.-MARYLAND SECESSIONISTS SUBDUED.-CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE PEOPLE. T has been observed that the Seventh Regiment of New York left that city for Washington on the memorable 19th of April. It was the favorite military corps of the metropolis, and was composed mostly of young men, a large majority of them connected with families of the higher social positions. It was known that they were to leave in the afternoon, and all New York appeared to turn out to see them depart, and bid them God speed. The regiment was formed on Lafayette Place, where an immense National flag was waving over the Astor Library. Just as it was about to march, it received intelligence of the attack on the Massachusetts Sixth, in the streets of Baltimore. Forty-eight rounds of ball-cartridges were served out to each man, and then they moved through Fourth Street into Broadway, and down that great thoroughfare to Courtlandt Street and the Jersey City Ferry. The side-walks all the way were densely packed with men, women, and children. Banners were streaming every where. "Banners from balcony, banners from steeple, Banners from house to house, draping the people; The shipping at the ferry was brilliant with flags. Already the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, Colonel Timothy Monroe,' accompanied by General Benjamin F. Butler, one of the most remarkable men of our time, had passed through the vast throng that was waiting for the New York Seventh, and being greeted with hearty huzzas and the gift of scores of little banners by the people. At sunset all had gone over the Hudson-the New York Seventh and Massachusetts Eighth-and crossed New Jersey by railway to the banks of the Delaware. It had been a day of fearful excitement in New York, and the night was one of more fearful anxiety. Slumber was wooed in vain by hundreds, for they knew that VOL. I.-28 See pages 401 and 402. PRIVATE OF THE SEVENTH REGIMENT. their loved ones, now that blood had been spilt, were hurrying on toward great peril. Regiment after regiment followed the Seventh in quick succession,' and within ten days from the time of its departure, full ten thousand men of the city of New York were on the march toward the Capital. The Massachusetts regiment had been joined at Springfield by a company under Captain H. S. Briggs, and now numbered a little over seven hundred men. It reached Philadelphia several hours before the New York Seventh arrived there, and was bountifully entertained at the Girard House by the generous citizens. There Butler first heard of the attack on the Sixth, in Baltimore. His orders commanded him to march through that city. It was now impossible to do so with less than ten thousand armed men. He counseled with Major-General Robert Patterson, who had just been appointed commander of the "Department of Washington," which embraced the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and whose head-quarters were at Philadelphia. Commodore Dupont, commandant of the Navy Yard there, was also consulted, and it was agreed that the troops should go by water from Perryville, at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, to Annapolis, and thence across Maryland to Washington City. Butler was ordered to take that route, seize and hold Annapolis and Annapolis Junction, and open and thoroughly guard a military pathway to the Capital.3 1 "The enthusiasm of the people-of the young men in particular-was wonderful. Sometimes several brothers would enlist at the same time. The spirit of our women, who were animated by the same patriotic feelings, is well illustrated by a letter written by a New York mother of five sons who enlisted, to her husband. She was absent from home at the time. Your letter,' she said, came to hand last evening. I must confess I was startled by the news referring to our boys, and, for the moment, I felt as if a ball had pierced my own heart. For the first time I was obliged to look things full in the face. But although I have always loved my children with a love that none but a mother can know, yet, when I look upon the state of my country, I can not withhold them; and in the name of their God, and their mother's God, and their country's God, I bid them go. If I had ten sons instead of five, I would give them all sooner than have our country rent in fragments. . . . I hope you will provide them each with a Bible, and give them their mother's love and blessing, and tell them our prayers will accompany them, and ascend on their behalf, night and day."-The History of the Civil War in America : by J. S. C. Abbott, i. 108. In contrast with this was the letter of a Baltimore mother to her loyal son, a clergyman in Boston, who, on the Sunday after the attack on Fort Sumter, preached a patriotic discourse to his people. The letter was as follows: "BALTIMORE, April 17, 1861. "MY DEAR SON:-Your remarks last Sabbath were telegraphed to Baltimore, and published in an extra. Has God sent you to preach the sword, or to preach Christ? YOUR MOTHER.” The son replied: "BOSTON, April 22, 1861. "DEAR MOTHER:- God has sent me not only to preach the sword, but to use it. When this Government tumbles, look amongst the ruins for YOUR STAR-SPANGLED BANNER SON." son. 2 John Sherman, now (1865) United States Senator from Ohio, was then an aid-de-camp of General PatterHe was sent by that officer to lay before General Scott the advantages of the Annapolis route, suggested by General Patterson. The route was approved of by the Lieutenant-General. See A Narrative of the Carapaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah: by Robert Patterson, late Major-General of Volunteers. 3 In the midst of the wild tumult, caused by the call to arms-the braying of trumpets and the roll of drums-the representatives of a sect of exemplary Christians, who had ever borne testimony against the praetices of war, met in the City of New York (April 23), and reiterated that testimony. That sect was the Society of Friends, or Quakers. They put forth an Address to their brethren, counseling them to beware of the temptations of the hour, and to pray for divine blessings on their country. They were a loyal "Peace party for conscience' sake. "We love our country," they said, “and acknowledge, with gratitude to our Heavenly Father, the many blessings we have been favored with under its Government, and can feel no sympathy with any who seek its overthrow; but, in endeavoring to uphold and maintain it, as followers of the Prince of Peace, we must not transgress the precepts and injunction of the Gospel."—Address to the Members of the Religious Society of Friends within the limits of the New York Yearly Meeting. Signed, "WILLIAM WOOD, Clerk.” Similar testimony was borne by the Quakers elsewhere; yet the homily was practically unheeded by a large number of the younger members, who, with many of their seniors, held that the war was an exceptional one— a holy war of Righteousness against Sin. They were, as a body of Christians, universally loyal to the flag, even it BUTLER'S EXPEDITION TO MARYLAND. 435 Late in the evening General Butler summoned all of his officers, thirteen in number, to his room. It was a singular council of war. On his table lay thirteen revolvers. "I propose," said the General, substantially, "to join with Colonel Lefferts, of the Seventh Regiment of New York, sail for Annapolis from Havre de Grace, arrive there to-morrow afternoon at four o'clock, occupy the capital of Maryland, and call the State to account for the death of Massachusetts men, my friends and neighbors. If Colonel Lefferts thinks it best not to go, I propose to take this regiment alone." Then, taking up one of the revolvers, he said: "I am ready to take the responsi bility. Every officer willing to accompany me will please take a pistol." Not one hesitated; and then the General sketched a plan of his proposed operations, to be sent to Governor Andrew after his departure. He proposed to hold Annapolis as a means of communication, and, by a forced march with a part of his command, reach the Capital in accordance with his orders. He telegraphed to the Governor to send the Boston Light Battery to Annapolis to assist in the march on Washington.' Colonel Lefferts did not feel at liberty to accept General Butler's proposition, and the latter made preparations to go on with the Massachusetts troops alone. The President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railway Company placed their great steam ferry-boat Maryland, at Perryville, at his disposal; and two companies were ordered to go forward early in the morning and take possession of it. Word came meanwhile that the insurgents had already seized and barricaded it, and Butler resolved to push on with his whole force and capture it. "If I succeed," he wrote to Governor Andrew, 66 success will justify me. If I fail, purity of intention will excuse want of judgment, or rashness. 1861. Butler left Philadelphia at eleven o'clock in the morning," and April 20, when near the Susquehanna his troops were ordered from the cars, placed in battle order, and marched toward the ferry, in expectation of a fight. Rumor had been untrue. There were no insurgents in arms at Perryville or Havre de Grace; and there lay the powerful ferry-boat in the quiet possession of her regular crew. The troops were soon embarked, and at six o'clock in the evening the huge vessel-with a captain who seemed to need watching by the vigilant and loyal eyes of the soldiers, lest he should run them into Baltimore or aground-went out toward Chesapeake Bay. Making good time, she was off the old capital of Maryland at a little past midnight, when, to Butler's surprise, Annapolis and the Naval Academy were lighted up, and the people were all astir. The town and the Academy were in possession of the secessionists. They were expecting some insurgents from Baltimore, and they intended, with united force, to seize the venerable frigate Constitution, then moored there as a school-ship, and add her to the "Confederate navy." For four days and nights her gallant commander, North Carolina; and while they avoided, as far as possible, the practices of war, which their conscience and Diseipline condemned, they aided the Government in every other way, such as services in hospitals, and other employments in which non-combatants might engage. A large number of their young men, however, bore arms in the field, and acted in compliance with the spirit of the alleged injunction of the Philadelphia mother:"Let thy musket not hold a silent meeting before the enemy." 1 General Butler in New Orleans, &c.: by James Parton, page 71. * Report of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, December 31, 1861, page 22. |
