vice, I am able to say this: I have yet to meet an intelligent and competent officer, present at the skirmish, and engaged upon either side, who does not believe that the place might easily have been taken. This might have been accomplished, first, by turning it upon our right, as Mr. Winthrop was attempting to do when he fell. That attempt might have succeeded; to use the language of Captain Levy, as nearly as I remember it: "Had you had a hundred men as brave as Winthrop, and one to lead when he fell, I would be in Fortress Monroe a prisoner of war to-night." It might have been accomplished, second, with much less difficulty upon the left; Captain Haggerty had discovered this, had suggested it to General Pierce, had after some difficulty secured Colonel Townsend's cooperation, when this plan was defeated by the gross blunder of whoever was in command of Townsend's left-a captain I believe in allowing three companies to become detached from the main body by a thick-to et. From this circunstance Townsend, as he was proceeding to the attack, was led to believe, as he saw the bayonets of his own men glistening through the foliage, that he was outflanked. He retreated, and that was the end of the battle.

was accessory.

rounded him, and who clouded his better judg- | If this be complicity in an unlawful act, then I ment, had designs which could be consummated only by his official aid; and they spared no efforts to entangle him in the snares they had prepared.

It is alleged by the Mayor and his witnesses that I gave my consent verbally. I am sure the public will agree with me in thinking it strange, under all the circumstances, that an act of so great importance, requiring, as it is alleged, my authority to make it valid, should have been consummated under a pretended verbal assent, admitted to have been unwillingly given by a person who "expressed some doubt as to his authority to give such an order." None but bold conspirators would have proceeded to perpetrate such an unlawful act without authority in writing from whomsoever they believed competent to give the necessary | order. According to their showing, a written order from me would have absolved the Mayor and his associates from all responsibility in the premises. But they confess they had no such authority, and attempt to justify their unlawful acts by a pretended verbal assent by me, certified to by witnesses interested very materially in sustaining the position assumed by the Mayor. It seems to me that in this respect my accusers find themselves in a difficulty from which they cannot extricate themselves.

The Mayor's communication does not profess to quote the language used by me on the occasion referred to. It is admitted that I alleged want of authority to order the destruction of the bridges. The Mayor's witnesses admit that I desired time for reflection. But time for reflection would have materially damaged the plot, inasmuch as men were already on the way to do what they desired me to endorse. Accordingly they jumped to the desired conclusion that I consented, because I contended that I had no power to consent to, and no power to prevent the outrage contemplated, and which was then in process of execution. The visit of Messrs. Brown, Kane, and Lowe to my bedchamber was at a late hour of the night. The Mayor's companions were men in whom I have no confidence. Indeed, it was only on account of the official nature of the visit that, under the circumstances, I consented to any communication with such people. No man of intelligence can fail to see that it was impossible for me to consent unequivocally to the unlawful act which was proposed to me by such men as Kane and Lowe, no matter how necessary it might have appeared to be in the emergency. Consequently I unhesitatingly assert that I refused my consent, and gave as my reason therefor that "I had no authority in the premises-that the bridges were private property-that the proposed act was unlawful-that I was a lover of law and order-that the Mayor could act as he pleased-and that I had no power to interfere with his designs." If this be consent to the destruction of the bridges, then I consented.

I do not deny that the proposed act, unlawful though it was, seemed to be the only means of averting threatened bloodshed. But it would have little become me, as Governor of the State, to interfere with the province of the Mayor of Baltimore to prevent a riot. Still less did it become me to forget my oath of office, and consent to an infraction of the laws which I had sworn to enforce. I am sure no unprejudiced man can conclude it to be within the range of probability that I could have acted in the manner ascribed to me.

As a matter of course, it is not easy to adduce proof of my position. Those who were near me throughout that trying day can bear but little accurate testimony as to what was said or done by me. Every one was full of excitement, and men whose judgment had always challenged my respect urged me to do many things which they now regret to remember. I was, perhaps, no cooler than those who surrounded me, but it was not possible for me to forget what was due to my position and to my oath of office. I did not do either. I strenuously resisted all propositions which I deemed inconsistent with law and order, and I did nothing on that eventful day which I have any reason to regret.

My accusers seem to forget that long before nightfall I positively and persistently refused my assent to the scuttling or even removal of the steam ferry boat Maryland, at Perryville, which was proposed to me by so many persons, and which, if consummated, would have prevented any necessity for the destruction of the bridges. The following letter from Col. R. S. Mercer, of Anne Arundel county, is evidence that I did refuse my assent to this proposition:

PARKHURST, May 16, 1861.

To His Excellency, Gov. Hicks

DEAR SIR: I have just read your card in the American, denying the charge made by the Mayor of Baltimore, Marshal Kane, and others, that you had given your consent and approbation to the burning of the various railroad bridges leading from Baltimore to Pennsylvania.

Having, on the 19th of April, acted as your aide-de-camp, I was present at all your consultations and interviews with the city officials and other prominent citizens, until the violent excitement which marked that day had subsided. I conceive it to be my duty to make the following statement, which suggests itself to me, as a simple act of justice to you.

I heard the request made you by Mr. McLean and others, in which His Honor, the Mayor, acquiesced, that you should order the scuttling or removal of the steam ferry boat Maryland, so as to cut off all means for the transmission of troops through Baltimore, over the Philadelphia Railroad. You peremptorily refused even to remove the boat, and explicitly gave as your

reason for such refusal that you had no right to | The bridges destroyed on the Northern Central interfere with the passage of troops of the Unit Railroad were at Ashland and Monkton, 16 and ed States through Maryland to the National 18 miles from Baltimore. The parties who deCapital; but in view of the wild excitement stroyed them left Baltimore in omnibuses. The then prevailing, which overwhelmed and defied bridges were fired a little after one o'clock. It the restraints of civil authority, as a measure being impossible for the men to have left Baltiof humanity, and regard for the loyal citizens more after it was alleged my consent was given, of Baltimore, you agreed to unite with the they must have started before my consent was Mayor in a telegraphic despatch to the Presi- asked. Thus showing that the destruction of dent, and to the Governors of the Northern the bridges was determined upon, and would States, invoking them to send no more troops have been consummated, no matter what might through Baltimore while the laws were set at have been my opinion in the premises. As evidefiance. dence of this, I offer the following letter from a highly respectable citizen, who has been kind enough to ascertain the particulars for me:

It is alleged that your consent to the destruction of the bridges was given at the residence of the Mayor. Of this, of course, I cannot speak, not having accompanied you there. But if such be the fact, you have committed a most monstrous and improbable inconsistency. If you acquiesced in this work of destruction, you departed (in the Mayor's house) from a principle which in his office, during the trying events of the day, you had consistently and manfully insisted upon the right of the Government to pass troops through Maryland to the Capital. This sentiment you reiterated on the next day, on board of the steamer Pioneer, as I accompanied you to Annapolis.

You can use this statement as you think best. I could make it more full if you wish it. I could allude to the liability of every one in Baltimore, on the 19th, confused by the excitement, to be mistaken. Indeed I remember an instance of this. General Egerton was ordered by you to drive back the mob who were pressing upon the Pennsylvania troops. He drove back the troops. I heard you give the order to Egerton, and I heard him report to you. You disapproved of his act, and he pleaded misapprehension of your order.

I remain, sir, respectfully, yours, &c.,
R. S. MERCER,
Col. Third Regiment, M. C.

It

I had not retired to my bed when the scuttling of the ferry boat was proposed to me. was not proposed by men in whom I had no confidence. Highly respectable gentlemen urged it as the easiest and most lawful means of effecting the desired object. Yet I unhesitatingly refused my consent to the step. But the people of Maryland are asked to believe that, after this, in the still watches of the night, when requested by Enoch L. Lowe and George P. Kane to consent to the destruction of the bridges, I gave an "unequivocal, and decided, and distinct reply in the affirmative." I leave my vindication from such an absurd charge to the good sense of the people, in the full confidence that justice will be done me.

It will readily occur to the reader that the time when the bridges were destroyed is a material point of this subject. The Mayor and his witnesses concur in their statement of the hour when they went to my bed-chamber to solicit my consent to the destruction of the bridges. They say it was 12 o'clock at night.

TOWSONTOWN, May 29, 1861.

His Excellency, Governor Hicks

MY DEAR SIR: Yours of this date was handed me by our mutual friend, Mr. Bryson, and I at once started to Cockeysville in company with Mr. Bryson and our friend Edward Rider, Jr., and after getting such facts connected with the burning of the bridges as we could obtain, I hasten to answer your inquiries.

On the night of the 19th ultimo I left Baltimore at precisely ten minutes past ten o'clock, and in about ten minutes more reached a point about one hundred yards nearer the city than the cemetery entrance, at which place I saw an omnibus with four horses, heads turned northward, or up the road; and about one hundred yards nearer the city I had passed previously two groups of men, about fifteen each; and when we passed the omnibus I remarked to a friend who was with me, "there is some devilment connected with that omnibus." Well, after I was home in bed, at about a quarter past eleven o'clock, the same omnibus, full of men, passed here, and a lady informed me that she saw it pass her house at precisely twelve o'clock, nine miles and a half from the city. The watchman at the bridge, whom I saw to-day, states positively that when they arrived at the bridge, and penned him in his shanty, it was about ten minutes past one o'olock; and that after cutting the telegraph wires, which took but a few minutes, they fired the bridges at about twenty or twenty-five minutes after one o'clock.

a gentleman at Cockeysville said that a man As to who the party were, I cannot say ; but named Philip Fendall (I think of the firm of Duvall, Keighler & Co.) was one of the party, but I am not prepared to say so positively. He is a cousin to the wife of John Merryman,

necessity of such a step, in furtherance of the All men who will go with me will report evident designs of the secession leaders, must themselves as soon as possible, providing thembe apparent to all. It little becomes me, how-selves with such arms and accoutrements as ever, except for my own vindication, and inci- they can; double-barrelled shot guns and buckdentally, to enter upon an exposition of that shot are efficient. They will assemble, after plot. Time will fully unveil the plans of the reporting themselves, at 10 o'clock, so as to traitors. Already has sufficient been disclosed go down in the 11 train. to satisfy any unprejudiced mind that all the BRADLEY T. JOHNSON. details were matured which were designed to precipitate Maryland into rebellion against the General Government, and thus render our State the theatre of war. The following letter will show that the burning of the bridges was a foregone conclusion before my consent was asked

FREDERICK CITY, MD.

His Excellency, Thomas II. Hicks, Governor of
Maryland-

DEAR SIR: We have received yours of the 23d instant, and, in reply, state that during the night of the 19th of April, ultimo, about one o'clock, Bradley T. Johnson sought and had an interview with us relative to a telegraphic despatch which he had received within an hour before from George P. Kane, Marshal of Police of Baltimore City, and which has since appeared in the public prints. In the course of that interview, Mr. Johnson, in unfolding the plans of those with whom he was cooperating, stated that they were determined to resist the passage of Federal troops through Maryland; and, as one of the means to accomplish that end, that the bridges on the railroads leading into Baltimore would be burned or destroyed. Some of us are clear in our recollection that he said the bridges would be destroyed that night. Others are not so clear in our recollection on that point.

Very respectfully, your obedient servants,
EDWARD T. SHRIVER,
WILLIAM P. MAULSBY,
GRAYSON EICHELBERGER,
ULYSSES HOBBS.

The annexed copy of a handbill_circulated throughout Western Maryland by Bradley T. Johnson, is evidence that Marshal Kane and his allies had made all the necessary provisions in anticipation of the pre-arranged attack upon the Massachusetts troops:

LATEST NEWS!

Marylanders, Arouse!

FREDERICK, Saturday, 7 o'clock A. M., 1861.

Add to this the undeniable fact that many of the volunteer companies in Maryland were eagerly looking for an outbreak, and the subsequent attempt of the Legislature to pass the "Public Safety bill" in secret session, and I think no one can fail to see that the conspiracy, of which an attempt has been made to make me a participant, was fully and deliberately planned, and might have accomplished its diabolical designs had not the people frustrated it by an unmistakable expression of their determination to crush it at the point of the bayonet.

Deeply regretting the necessity which has impelled me to vindicate myself from the charge brought against me, and with the assurance that I have done so only out of regard to the honor and dignity of my official position, I leave the matter to the judgment of a people whom I have endeavored faithfully to serve, and whose interests and safety I have constantly had in THOS. II. IIICKS.

view.

Doc. 57.

REBEL OFFICIAL ACCOUNT

OF THE BATTLE AT NEW CREEK, VIRGINIA.
BRIGADE HEAD-QUARTERS,

CAMP DAVIS, ROMNEY, Va., June 19, 1861. COLONEL :-I have the honor to report that on yesterday I directed Colonel J. C. Vaughan, of the Third Tennessee regiment, to take two companies from his own and two from the Thirteenth Virginia regiment, and at eight o'clock P. M. to proceed to New Creek depot, eighteen miles west of Cumberland, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, disperse the forces there collected, bring away the two pieces of artillery, and burn the railroad bridge. These directions, I am happy to assure you, were carried out to the letter, and the march of thirty-eight miles accomplished between eight P. M. and twelve the

At 12 o'clock last night, I received the follow-next day. Some 250 of the federal troops, after ing despatch from Marshal Kane, of Baltimore, a slight stand, retired in disorder, with a loss of a few men. by telegraph to the Junction, and express to The bridge was then burned, Frederick: and Colonel Vaughan retired, bringing with him two pieces of artillery and a stand of colors. To Colonel Vaughan, his officers and men, I am much indebted for the handsome manner in which my orders were carried out. Enclosed you will find the report of Colonel Vaughan. A. P. HILL, Colonel Third Regiment, commanding Brigade. Col. E. K. Smith, A.-A. General.

"Thank you for your offer. Bring your men by the first train, and we will arrange with the railroad afterward. Streets red with Maryland blood! Send expresses over the mountains and valleys of Maryland and Virginia for their riflemen to come without delay. Fresh hordes will be down upon us to-morrow (the 20th.) We will fight them, and whip them, or die. "GEO. P. KANE."