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diff --git a/39346.txt b/39346.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3793d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/39346.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6765 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Baltimore and The Nineteenth of April, 1861, by +George William Brown + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Baltimore and The Nineteenth of April, 1861 + A Study of the War + +Author: George William Brown + +Release Date: April 2, 2012 [EBook #39346] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BALTIMORE AND THE NINETEENTH *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING ROUTE OF RAIL ROAD THROUGH BALTIMORE FROM +PRESIDENT ST. STATION TO CAMDEN ST. STATION.] + + + + + BALTIMORE + + AND + + THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL, 1861 + + A Study of the War + + + By GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN + + _Chief Judge of the Supreme Bench of + Baltimore, and Mayor of the City in 1861_ + + + BALTIMORE + N. MURRAY, PUBLICATION AGENT, + JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY + 1887 + + COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY N. MURRAY. + ISAAC FRIEDENWALD, PRINTER, + BALTIMORE. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Page +CHAPTER I. + + 1. INTRODUCTION, 9 + + 2. THE FIRST BLOOD SHED IN THE WAR, 10 + + 3. THE SUPPOSED PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE INCOMING PRESIDENT, 11 + + 4. THE MIDNIGHT RIDE TO WASHINGTON, 17 + + +CHAPTER II. + + 1. THE COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION IN REGARD TO SLAVERY, 20 + + 2. A DIVIDED HOUSE, 23 + + 3. THE BROKEN COMPACT, 25 + + 4. THE RIGHT OF REVOLUTION, 27 + + +CHAPTER III. + + 1. MARYLAND'S DESIRE FOR PEACE, 30 + + 2. EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, 31 + + 3. HIS PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR TROOPS, 32 + + 4. THE CITY AUTHORITIES AND POLICE OF BALTIMORE, 34 + + 5. INCREASING EXCITEMENT IN BALTIMORE, 39 + + +CHAPTER IV. + + 1. THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT IN BALTIMORE, 42 + + 2. THE FIGHT, 47 + + 3. THE DEPARTURE FOR WASHINGTON, 52 + + 4. CORRESPONDENCE IN REGARD TO THE KILLED AND WOUNDED, 54 + + 5. PUBLIC MEETING, 56 + + 6. TELEGRAM TO THE PRESIDENT, 57 + + 7. NO REPLY, 58 + + 8. BURNING OF BRIDGES, 59 + + +CHAPTER V. + + 1. APRIL 20th--INCREASING EXCITEMENT, 60 + + 2. APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 FOR DEFENSE OF THE CITY, 60 + + 3. CORRESPONDENCE WITH PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR, 61 + + 4. MEN ENROLLED, 63 + + 5. APPREHENDED ATTACK ON FORT McHENRY, 66 + + 6. MARSHAL KANE, 69 + + 7. INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT, CABINET, AND GENERAL SCOTT, 71 + + 8. GENERAL BUTLER, WITH THE EIGHTH MASSACHUSETTS, PROCEEDS + TO ANNAPOLIS AND WASHINGTON, 76 + + 9. BALTIMORE IN A STATE OF ARMED NEUTRALITY, 77 + + +CHAPTER VI. + + 1. SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 79 + + 2. REPORT OF THE BOARD OF POLICE, 80 + + 3. SUPPRESSION OF THE FLAGS, 82 + + 4. ON THE 5th OF MAY GENERAL BUTLER TAKES POSITION SIX MILES + FROM BALTIMORE, 83 + + 5. ON THE 13th OF MAY HE ENTERS BALTIMORE AND FORTIFIES FEDERAL + HILL, 84 + + 6. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY WILL TAKE NO STEPS TOWARD SECESSION, 85 + + 7. MANY YOUNG MEN JOIN THE ARMY OF THE CONFEDERACY, 85 + + +CHAPTER VII. + + 1. CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY AND THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, 87 + + 2. A UNION CONVENTION, 92 + + 3. CONSEQUENCE OF THE SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT, 93 + + 4. INCIDENTS OF THE WAR, 95 + + 5. THE WOMEN IN THE WAR, 95 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + 1. GENERAL BANKS IN COMMAND, 97 + + 2. MARSHAL KANE ARRESTED, 97 + + 3. POLICE COMMISSIONERS SUPERSEDED, 97 + + 4. RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 98 + + 5. POLICE COMMISSIONERS ARRESTED, 98 + + 6. RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 100 + + 7. GENERAL DIX IN COMMAND, 100 + + 8. ARREST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE MAYOR, + AND OTHERS, 102 + + 9. RELEASE OF PRISONERS, 108 + + 10. COLONEL DIMICK, 111 + + +CHAPTER IX.--A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 113 + + +APPENDIX I. + + ACCOUNT OF THE ALLEGED CONSPIRACY TO ASSASSINATE ABRAHAM + LINCOLN ON HIS JOURNEY TO BALTIMORE, FROM THE "LIFE OF + ABRAHAM LINCOLN," BY WARD H. LAMON, pp. 511-526, 120 + + +APPENDIX II. + + EXTRACT FROM THE OPINION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED + STATES, DELIVERED BY CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY, IN THE CASE OF + DRED SCOTT VS. SANFORD (19 HOW. 407), 138 + + +APPENDIX III. + + THE HABEAS CORPUS CASE.--OPINION OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE + UNITED STATES (_Ex Parte_ JOHN MERRYMAN), 139 + + +APPENDIX IV. + + MESSAGE OF THE 12th OF JULY, 1861, TO THE FIRST AND SECOND + BRANCHES OF THE CITY COUNCIL, REFERRING TO THE EVENTS OF + THE 19th OF APRIL AND THOSE WHICH FOLLOWED.--THE FIRST + PARAGRAPH AND THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS OF THIS DOCUMENT, 157 + + +APPENDIX V. + + AS A PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE TIMES, REPRODUCTION FROM THE + BALTIMORE "AMERICAN" OF DECEMBER 5, 1860, OF THE RECEPTION + OF THE PUTNAM PHALANX, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, IN + THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, 160 + + +APPENDIX VI. + + VISIT OF A PORTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS + REGIMENT TO BALTIMORE ON THE 19th OF APRIL, 1880, AND AN + ACCOUNT OF ITS RECEPTION, FROM THE BALTIMORE "SUN" AND + THE BALTIMORE "AMERICAN," 167 + + + INDEX, 171 + + + + +BALTIMORE AND THE NINETEENTH OF APRIL, 1861. + +_A STUDY OF THE WAR._ + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + INTRODUCTION. -- THE FIRST BLOOD SHED IN THE WAR. -- THE SUPPOSED + PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE INCOMING PRESIDENT. -- THE MIDNIGHT RIDE + TO WASHINGTON. + + +I have often been solicited by persons of widely opposite political +opinions to write an account of the events which occurred in Baltimore +on the 19th of April, 1861, about which much that is exaggerated and +sensational has been circulated; but, for different reasons, I have +delayed complying with the request until this time. + +These events were not isolated facts, but were the natural result of +causes which had roots deep in the past, and they were followed by +serious and important consequences. The narrative, to be complete, +must give some account of both cause and consequence, and to do this +briefly and with a proper regard to historical proportion is no easy +task. + +Moreover, it is not pleasant to disturb the ashes of a great +conflagration, which, although they have grown cold on the surface, +cover embers still capable of emitting both smoke and heat; and +especially is it not pleasant when the disturber of the ashes was +himself an actor in the scenes which he is asked to describe. + +But more than twenty-five years have passed, and with them have passed +away most of the generation then living; and, as one of the rapidly +diminishing survivors, I am admonished by the lengthening shadows that +anything I may have to say should be said speedily. The nation has +learned many lessons of wisdom from its civil war, and not the least +among them is that every truthful contribution to its annals or to its +teachings is not without some value. + +I have accordingly undertaken the task, but not without reluctance, +because it necessarily revives recollections of the most trying and +painful experiences of my life--experiences which for a long time I +have not unwillingly permitted to fade in the dim distance. + +There was another 19th of April--that of Lexington in 1775--which has +become memorable in history for a battle between the Minute Men of +Massachusetts and a column of British troops, in which the first blood +was shed in the war of the Revolution. It was the heroic beginning of +that contest. + +The fight which occurred in the streets of Baltimore on the 19th of +April, 1861, between the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers and +a mob of citizens, was also memorable, because then was shed the first +blood in a conflict between the North and the South; then a step was +taken which made compromise or retreat almost impossible; then +passions on both sides were aroused which could not be controlled.[1] +In each case the outbreak was an explosion of conflicting forces long +suppressed, but certain, sooner or later, to occur. Here the +coincidence ends. The Minute Men of Massachusetts were so called +because they were prepared to rise on a minute's notice. They had +anticipated and had prepared for the strife. The attack by the mob in +Baltimore was a sudden uprising of popular fury. The events themselves +were magnified as the tidings flashed over the whole country, and the +consequences were immediate. The North became wild with astonishment +and rage, and the South rose to fever-heat from the conviction that +Maryland was about to fall into line as the advance guard of the +Southern Confederacy. + +[Footnote 1: At Fort Sumter, it is true, one week earlier, the first +collision of arms had taken place; but strangely, that bombardment was +unattended with loss of life. And it did not necessarily mean war +between North and South: accommodation still seemed possible.] + + * * * * * + +In February, 1861, when Mr. Lincoln was on his way to Washington to +prepare for his inauguration as President of the United States, an +unfortunate incident occurred which had a sinister influence on the +State of Maryland, and especially on the city of Baltimore. Some +superserviceable persons, carried away, honestly no doubt, by their +own frightened imaginations, and perhaps in part stimulated by the +temptation of getting up a sensation of the first class, succeeded in +persuading Mr. Lincoln that a formidable conspiracy existed to +assassinate him on his way through Maryland. + +It was announced publicly that he was to come from Philadelphia, not +by the usual route through Wilmington, but by a circuitous journey +through Harrisburg, and thence by the Northern Central Railroad to +Baltimore. Misled by this statement, I, as Mayor of the city, +accompanied by the Police Commissioners and supported by a strong +force of police, was at the Calvert-street station on Saturday +morning, February 23d, at half-past eleven o'clock, the appointed time +of arrival, ready to receive with due respect the incoming President. +An open carriage was in waiting, in which I was to have the honor of +escorting Mr. Lincoln through the city to the Washington station, and +of sharing in any danger which he might encounter. It is hardly +necessary to say that I apprehended none. When the train came it +appeared, to my great astonishment, that Mrs. Lincoln and her three +sons had arrived safely and without hindrance or molestation of any +kind, but that Mr. Lincoln could not be found. It was then announced +that he had passed through the city _incognito_ in the night train by +the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, and had reached +Washington in safety at the usual hour in the morning. For this signal +deliverance from an imaginary peril, those who devised the ingenious +plan of escape were of course devoutly thankful, and they accordingly +took to themselves no little amount of credit for its success. + +If Mr. Lincoln had arrived in Baltimore at the time expected, and had +spoken a few words to the people who had gathered to hear him, +expressing the kind feelings which were in his heart with the simple +eloquence of which he was so great a master, he could not have failed +to make a very different impression from that which was produced not +only by the want of confidence and respect manifested towards the city +of Baltimore by the plan pursued, but still more by the manner in +which it was carried out. On such an occasion as this even trifles are +of importance, and this incident was not a trifle. The emotional part +of human nature is its strongest side and soonest leads to action. It +was so with the people of Baltimore. Fearful accounts of the +conspiracy flew all over the country, creating a hostile feeling +against the city, from which it soon afterwards suffered. A single +specimen of the news thus spread will suffice. A dispatch from +Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the New York _Times_, dated February +23d, 8 A. M., says: "Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect of the +United States, is safe in the capital of the nation." Then, after +describing the dreadful nature of the conspiracy, it adds: "The list +of the names of the conspirators presented a most astonishing array of +persons high in Southern confidence, and some whose fame is not +confined to this country alone." + +Of course, the list of names was never furnished, and all the men in +buckram vanished in air. This is all the notice which this matter +would require except for the extraordinary narrative contributed by +Mr. Samuel M. Felton, at that time President of the Philadelphia, +Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, to the volume entitled "A +History of Massachusetts in the Civil War," published in 1868. + +Early in 1861, Mr. Felton had made, as he supposed, a remarkable +discovery of "a deep-laid conspiracy to capture Washington and break +up the Government." + +Soon afterwards Miss Dix, the philanthropist, opportunely came to his +office on a Saturday afternoon, stating that she had an important +communication to make to him personally, and then, with closed doors +and for more than an hour, she poured into his ears a thrilling tale, +to which he attentively listened. "The sum of all was (I quote the +language of Mr. Felton) that there was then an extensive and organized +conspiracy throughout the South to seize upon Washington, with its +archives and records, and then declare the Southern conspirators _de +facto_ the Government of the United States. The whole was to be a +_coup d'etat_. At the same time they were to cut off all modes of +communication between Washington and the North, East or West, and thus +prevent the transportation of troops to wrest the capital from the +hands of the insurgents. Mr. Lincoln's inauguration was thus to be +prevented, or his life was to fall a sacrifice to the attempt at +inauguration. In fact, troops were then drilling on the line of our +own road, and the Washington and Annapolis line and other lines." + +It was clear that the knowledge of a treasonable conspiracy of such +vast proportions, which had already begun its operations, ought not to +be confined solely to the keeping of Mr. Felton and Miss Dix. Mr. N. +P. Trist, an officer of the road, was accordingly admitted into the +secret, and was dispatched in haste to Washington, to lay all the +facts before General Scott, the Commander-in-Chief. The General, +however, would give no assurances except that he would do all he could +to bring sufficient troops to Washington to make it secure. Matters +stood in this unsatisfactory condition for some time, until a new +rumor reached the ears of Mr. Felton. + +A gentleman from Baltimore, he says, came out to Back River Bridge, +about five miles east of the city, and told the bridgekeeper that he +had information which had come to his knowledge, of vital importance +to the road, which he wished communicated to Mr. Felton. The nature of +this communication was that a party was then organized in Baltimore to +burn the bridges in case Mr. Lincoln came over the road, or in case an +attempt was made to carry troops for the defense of Washington. The +party at that time had combustible materials prepared to pour over the +bridges, and were to disguise themselves as negroes and be at the +bridge just before the train in which Mr. Lincoln travelled had +arrived. The bridge was then to be burned, the train attacked, and Mr. +Lincoln to be put out of the way. The man appeared several times, +always, it seems, to the bridgekeeper, and he always communicated new +information about the conspirators, but he would never give his name +nor place of abode, and both still remain a mystery. Mr. Felton +himself then went to Washington, where he succeeded in obtaining from +a prominent gentleman from Baltimore whom he there saw, the judicious +advice to apply to Marshal Kane, the Chief of Police in Baltimore, +with the assurance that he was a perfectly reliable person. Marshal +Kane was accordingly seen, but he scouted the idea that there was any +such thing on foot as a conspiracy to burn the bridges and cut off +Washington, and said he had thoroughly investigated the whole matter, +and there was not the slightest foundation for such rumors. Mr. Felton +was not satisfied, but he would have nothing more to do with Marshal +Kane. He next sent for a celebrated detective in the West, whose name +is not given, and through this chief and his subordinates every nook +and corner of the road and its vicinity was explored. They reported +that they had joined the societies of the conspirators in Baltimore +and got into their secrets, and that the secret working of secession +and treason was laid bare, with all its midnight plottings and daily +consultations. The conspiracy being thus proved to Mr. Felton's +satisfaction, he at once organized and armed a force of two hundred +men and scattered them along the line of the railroad between the +Susquehanna and Baltimore, principally at the bridges. But, strange to +say, all that was accomplished by this formidable body was an enormous +job of whitewashing. + +The narrative proceeds: "These men were drilled secretly and regularly +by drill-masters, and were apparently employed in whitewashing the +bridges, patting on some six or seven coats of whitewash saturated +with salt and alum, to make the outside of the bridges as nearly +fireproof as possible. This whitewashing, so extensive in its +application, became (continues Mr. Felton) the nine days' wonder of +the neighborhood." And well it might. After the lapse of twenty-five +years the wonder over this feat of strategy can hardly yet have ceased +in that rural and peaceful neighborhood. But, unfortunately for Mr. +Felton's peace of mind, the programme of Mr. Lincoln's journey was +suddenly changed. He had selected a different route. He had decided to +go to Harrisburg from Philadelphia, and thence by day to Baltimore, +over another and a rival road, known as the Northern Central. Then the +chief detective discovered that the attention of the conspirators was +suddenly turned to the Northern Central road. The mysterious unknown +gentleman from Baltimore appeared again on the scene and confirmed +this statement. He gave warning that Mr. Lincoln was to be waylaid and +his life sacrificed on that road, on which no whitewash had been used, +and where there were no armed men to protect him. + +Mr. Felton hurried to Philadelphia, and there, in a hotel, joined his +chief detective, who was registered under a feigned name. Mr. Lincoln, +cheered by a dense crowd, was, at that moment, passing through the +streets of Philadelphia. A sub-detective was sent to bring Mr. Judd, +Mr. Lincoln's intimate friend, to the hotel to hold a consultation. +Mr. Judd was in the procession with Mr. Lincoln, but the emergency +admitted no delay. The eagerness of the sub-detective was so great +that he was three times arrested and carried out of the crowd by the +police before he could reach Mr. Judd. The fourth attempt succeeded, +and Mr. Judd was at last brought to the hotel, where he met both Mr. +Felton and the chief detective. The narrative then proceeds in the +words of Mr. Felton: "We lost no time in making known to him (Mr. +Judd) all the facts which had come to our knowledge in reference to +the conspiracy, and I most earnestly advised sleeping-car. Mr. Judd +fully entered into the plan, and said he would urge Mr. Lincoln to +adopt it. On his communicating with Mr. Lincoln, after the services of +the evening were over, he answered that he had engaged to go to +Harrisburg and speak the next day, and that he would not break his +engagement, even in the face of such peril, but that after he had +fulfilled his engagement he would follow such advice as we might give +him in reference to his journey to Washington." Mr. Lincoln +accordingly went to Harrisburg the next day and made an address. After +that the arrangements for the journey were shrouded in the profoundest +mystery. It was given out that he was to go to Governor Curtin's house +for the night, but he was, instead, conducted to a point about two +miles out of Harrisburg, where an extra car and engine waited to take +him to Philadelphia. The telegraph lines east, west, north and south +from Harrisburg were cut, so that no message as to his movements could +be sent off in any direction. But all this caused a detention, and the +night train from Philadelphia to Baltimore had to be held back until +the arrival of Mr. Lincoln at the former place. If, however, the delay +proved to be considerable, when Mr. Lincoln reached Baltimore the +connecting train to Washington might leave without him. But Mr. Felton +was equal to the occasion. He devised a plan which was communicated to +only three or four on the road. A messenger was sent to Baltimore by +an earlier train to say to the officials of the Washington road that a +very important package must be delivered in Washington early in the +morning, and to request them to wait for the night train from +Philadelphia. To give color to this statement, a package of old +railroad reports, done up with great care, and with a large seal +attached, marked by Mr. Felton's own hand, "Very Important," was sent +in the train which carried Mr. Lincoln on his famous night ride from +Philadelphia through Maryland and Baltimore to the city of +Washington. The only remarkable incident of the journey was the +mysterious behavior of the few officials who were entrusted with the +portentous secret. + +I do not know how others may be affected by this narrative, but I +confess even now to a feeling of indignation that Mr. Lincoln, who was +no coward, but proved himself on many an occasion to be a brave man, +was thus prevented from carrying out his original intention of +journeying to Baltimore in the light of day, in company with his wife +and children, relying as he always did on the honor and manhood of the +American people. It is true we have, to our sorrow, learned by the +manner of his death, as well as by the fate of still another +President, that no one occupying so high a place can be absolutely +safe, even in this country, from the danger of assassination, but it +is still true that as a rule the best way to meet such danger is +boldly to defy it. + +Mr. C. C. Felton, son of Mr. Samuel M. Felton, in an article entitled +"The Baltimore Plot," published in December, 1885, in the _Harvard +Monthly_, has attempted to revive this absurd story. He repeats the +account of whitewashing the bridges, and of the astonishment created +among the good people of the neighborhood. He has faith in "the +unknown Baltimorean" who visited the bridgekeeper, but would never +give his name, and in the spies employed, who, he tells us, were "the +well-known detective Pinkerton and eight assistants," and he leaves +his readers to infer that Mr. Lincoln's life was saved by the +extraordinary vigilance which had been exercised and the ingenious +plan which had been devised by his worthy father, but alas!-- + + "The earth hath bubbles as the water has," + +and this was of them. + +Colonel Lamon, a close friend of President Lincoln, and the only +person who accompanied him on his night ride to Washington, has +written his biography, a very careful and conscientious work, which +unfortunately was left unfinished, and he of course had the strongest +reasons for carefully examining the subject. After a full examination +of all the documents, Colonel Lamon pronounces the conspiracy to be a +mere fiction, and adds in confirmation the mature opinion of Mr. +Lincoln himself. + +Colonel Lamon says:[2] "Mr. Lincoln soon learned to regret the +midnight ride. His friends reproached him, his enemies taunted him. He +was convinced that he had committed a grave mistake in yielding to the +solicitations of a professional spy and of friends too easily alarmed. +He saw that he had fled from a danger purely imaginary, and felt the +shame and mortification natural to a brave man under such +circumstances. But he was not disposed to take all the responsibility +to himself, and frequently upbraided the writer for having aided and +assisted him to demean himself at the very moment in all his life when +his behavior should have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure." + +As Colonel Lamon's biography, a work of absorbing interest, is now out +of print, and as his account of the ride and of the results of the +investigation of the conspiracy is too long to be inserted here, it is +added in an Appendix. + +The account above given has its appropriateness here, for the midnight +ride through Baltimore, and the charge that its citizens were plotting +the President's assassination, helped to feed the flame of excitement +which, in the stirring events of that time, was already burning too +high all over the land, and especially in a border city with divided +sympathies. + +[Footnote 2: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 526; and see Appendix I.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + THE COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION IN REGARD TO SLAVERY. -- A + DIVIDED HOUSE. -- THE BROKEN COMPACT. -- THE RIGHT OF REVOLUTION. + + +For a period the broad provisions of the Constitution of the United +States, as expounded by the wise and broad decisions of the Supreme +Court, had proved to be equal to every emergency. The thirteen feeble +colonies had grown to be a great Republic, and no external obstacle +threatened its majestic progress; foreign wars had been waged and vast +territories had been annexed, but every strain on the Constitution +only served to make it stronger. Yet there was a canker in a vital +part which nothing could heal, which from day to day became more +malignant, and which those who looked beneath the surface could +perceive was surely leading, and at no distant day, to dissolution or +war, or perhaps to both. The canker was the existence of negro +slavery. + +In colonial days, kings, lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, +all united in favoring the slave trade. In Massachusetts the Puritan +minister might be seen on the Sabbath going to meeting in family +procession, with his negro slave bringing up the rear. Boston was +largely engaged in building ships and manufacturing rum, and a portion +of the ships and much of the rum were sent to Africa, the rum to buy +slaves, and the ships to bring them to a market in America. Newport +was more largely, and until a more recent time, engaged in the same +traffic. + +In Maryland, even the Friends were sometimes owners of slaves; and it +is charged, and apparently with reason, that Wenlock Christison, the +Quaker preacher, after being driven from Massachusetts by persecution +and coming to Maryland by way of Barbadoes, sent or brought in with +him a number of slaves, who cultivated his plantation until his death. +In Georgia, the Calvinist Whitefield blessed God for his negro +plantation, which was generously given to him to establish his +"Bethesda" as a refuge for orphan children. + +In the Dred Scott case, Chief Justice Taney truly described the +opinion, which he deplored, prevailing at the time of the adoption of +the Constitution, as being that the colored man had no rights which +the white man was bound to respect.[3] + +[Footnote 3: Judge Taney's utterance on this subject has been +frequently and grossly misrepresented. In Appendix II. will be found +what he really did say.] + +The Constitution had endeavored to settle the question of slavery by a +compromise. As the difficulty in regard to it arose far more from +political than moral grounds, so in the settlement the former were +almost exclusively considered. It was, however, the best that could be +made at that time. It is certain that without such a compromise the +Constitution would not have been adopted. The existence of slavery in +a State was left in the discretion of the State itself. If a slave +escaped to another State, he was to be returned to his master. Laws +were passed by Congress to carry out this provision, and the Supreme +Court decided that they were constitutional. + +For a long time the best people at the North stood firmly by the +compromise. It was a national compact, and must be respected. But +ideas, and especially moral ideas, cannot be forever fettered by a +compact, no matter how solemn may be its sanctions. The change of +opinion at the North was first slow, then rapid, and then so powerful +as to overwhelm all opposition. John Brown, who was executed for +raising a negro insurrection in Virginia, in which men were wounded +and killed, was reverenced by many at the North as a hero, a martyr +and a saint. It had long been a fixed fact that no fugitive slave +could by process of law be returned from the North into slavery. With +the advent to power of the Republican party--a party based on +opposition to slavery--another breach in the outworks of the +Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, had been made. +Sooner or later the same hands would capture the citadel. Sooner or +later it was plain that slavery was doomed. + +In the memorable Senatorial campaign in Illinois between Stephen A. +Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, the latter, in his speech before the +Republican State Convention at Springfield, June 17, 1858, struck the +keynote of his party by the bold declaration on the subject of slavery +which he then made and never recalled. + +This utterance was the more remarkable because on the previous day the +convention had passed unanimously a resolution declaring that Mr. +Lincoln was their first and only choice for United States Senator, to +fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. +Douglas's term of office, but the convention had done nothing which +called for the advanced ground on which Mr. Lincoln planted himself in +that speech. It was carefully prepared. + +The narrative of Colonel Lamon in his biography of Lincoln is +intensely interesting and dramatic.[4] + +[Footnote 4: Lamon's Life of Lincoln, p. 808.] + +About a dozen gentlemen, he says, were called to meet in the library +of the State House. After seating them at the round table, Mr. Lincoln +read his entire speech, dwelling slowly on that part which speaks of a +divided house, so that every man fully understood it. After he had +finished, he asked for the opinion of his friends. All but William H. +Herndon, the law partner of Mr. Lincoln, declared that the whole +speech was too far in advance of the times, and they especially +condemned that part which referred to a divided house. Mr. Herndon sat +still while they were giving their respective opinions; then he sprang +to his feet and said: "Lincoln, deliver it just as it reads. If it is +in advance of the times, let us--you and I, if no one else--lift the +people to the level of this speech now, higher hereafter. The speech +is true, wise and politic, and will succeed now, or in the future. +Nay, it will aid you, if it will not make you President of the United +States."... + +"Mr. Lincoln sat still a short moment, rose from his chair, walked +backward and forward in the hall, stopped and said: 'Friends, I have +thought about this matter a great deal, have weighed the question well +from all corners, and am thoroughly convinced the time has come when +it should be uttered; and if it must be that I must go down because of +this speech, then let me go down linked to truth--die in the advocacy +of what is right and just. This nation cannot live on injustice. A +house divided against itself cannot stand, I say again and again.'" + +The opening paragraph of the speech is as follows: "If we could first +know where we are and whither we are tending, we could then better +judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far on into the fifth +year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident +promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of +that policy that agitation has not only not ceased, but is constantly +augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have +been reached and passed. A house divided against itself cannot stand. +I believe this Government can not endure permanently half slave and +half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect +the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It +will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of +slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the +public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of +ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it +shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North +as well as South." + +The blast of the trumpet gave no uncertain sound. The far-seeing +suggestion of Mr. Herndon came true to the letter. I believe this +speech made Abraham Lincoln President of the United States. + +But the founders of the Constitution of the United States had built a +house which was divided against itself from the beginning. They had +framed a union of States which was part free and part slave, and that +union was intended to last forever. Here was an irreconcilable +conflict between the Constitution and the future President of the +United States. + +When the Republican Convention assembled at Chicago in May, 1860, in +the heat of the contest, which soon became narrowed down to a choice +between Mr. Seward and Mr. Lincoln, the latter dispatched a friend to +Chicago with a message in writing, which was handed either to Judge +Davis or Judge Logan, both members of the convention, which runs as +follows: "Lincoln agrees with Seward in his irrepressible-conflict +idea, and in negro equality; but he is opposed to Seward's higher +law." But there was no substantial difference between the position of +the two: Lincoln's "divided house" and Seward's "higher law" placed +them really in the same attitude. + +The seventh resolution in the Chicago platform condemned what it +described as the "new dogma that the Constitution, of its own force, +carries slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United +States." This resolution was a direct repudiation by a National +Convention of the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott +case. + +On the 6th of November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of +the United States. Of the actual votes cast there was a majority +against him of 930,170. Next came Mr. Douglas, who lost the support of +the Southern Democrats by his advocacy of the doctrine of "squatter +sovereignty," as it was called, which was in effect, although not in +form, as hostile to the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred +Scott case as the seventh resolution of the Chicago Convention itself. +Mr. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, the candidate of the Southern +Democracy, fell very far, and Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, the candidate of +the Union party, as it was called, a short-lived successor of the old +Whig party, fell still farther in the rear of the two Northern +candidates. + +The great crisis had come at last. The Abolition party had become a +portion of the victorious Republican party. The South, politically, +was overwhelmed. Separated now from its only ally, the Northern +Democracy, it stood at last alone. + +It matters not that Mr. Lincoln, after his election, in sincerity of +heart held out the olive branch to the nation, and that during his +term of office the South, so far as his influence could avail, would +have been comparatively safe from direct aggressions. Mr. Lincoln was +not known then as he is known now, and, moreover, his term of office +would be but four years. + +What course, then, was left to the South if it was determined to +maintain its rights under the Constitution? What but the right of +self-defense? + +The house of every man is his castle, and he may defend it to the +death against all aggressors. When a hostile hand is raised to strike +a blow, he who is assaulted need not wait until the blow falls, but on +the instant may protect himself as best he can. These are the rights +of self-defense known, approved and acted on by all freemen. And where +constitutional rights of a people are in jeopardy, a kindred right of +self-defense belongs to them. Although revolutionary in its character, +it is not the less a right. + +Wendell Phillips, abolitionist as he was, in a speech made at New +Bedford on the 9th of April, 1861, three days before the bombardment +of Fort Sumter, fully recognized this right. He said: "Here are a +series of States girding the Gulf, who think that their peculiar +institutions require that they should have a separate government. They +have a right to decide that question without appealing to you or me. A +large body of the people, sufficient to make a nation, have come to +the conclusion that they will have a government of a certain form. Who +denies them the right? Standing with the principles of '76 behind us, +who can deny them the right? What is a matter of a few millions of +dollars or a few forts? It is a mere drop in the bucket of the great +national question. It is theirs just as much as ours. I maintain, on +the principles of '76, that Abraham Lincoln has no right to a soldier +in Fort Sumter." + +And such was the honest belief of the people who united in +establishing the Southern Confederacy. + +Wendell Phillips was not wrong in declaring the principles of '76 to +be kindred to those of '61. The men of '76 did not fight to get rid of +the petty tax of three pence a pound on tea, which was the only tax +left to quarrel about. They were determined to pay no taxes, large or +small, then or thereafter. Whether the tax was lawful or not was a +doubtful question, about which there was a wide difference of opinion, +but they did not care for that. Nothing would satisfy them but the +relinquishment of any claim of right to tax the colonies, and this +they could not obtain. They maintained that their rights were +violated. They were, moreover, embittered by a long series of disputes +with the mother country, and they wanted to be independent and to have +a country of their own. They thought they were strong enough to +maintain that position. + +Neither were the Southern men of '61 fighting for money. And they too +were deeply embittered, not against a mother country, but against a +brother country. The Northern people had published invectives of the +most exasperating character broadcast against the South in their +speeches, sermons, newspapers and books. The abolitionists had +proceeded from words to deeds and were unwearied in tampering with the +slaves and carrying them off. The Southern people, on their part, were +not less violent in denunciation of the North. The slavery question +had divided the political parties throughout the nation, and on this +question the South was practically a unit. They could get no security +that the provisions of the Constitution would be kept either in letter +or in spirit, and this they demanded as their right. + +The Southern men thought that they also were strong enough to wage +successfully a defensive war. Like the men of '76, they in great part +were of British stock; they lived in a thinly settled country, led +simple lives, were accustomed to the use of arms, and knew how to +protect themselves. Such men make good soldiers, and when their armies +were enrolled the ranks were filled with men of all classes, the rich +as well as the poor, the educated as well as the ignorant. + +It is a mistake to suppose that they were inveigled into secession by +ambitious leaders. On the contrary, it is probable that they were not +as much under the influence of leaders as the men of '76, and that +there were fewer disaffected among them. At times the scales trembled +in the balance. There are always mistakes in war. It is an easy and +ungrateful task to point them out afterward. We can now see that grave +errors, both financial and military, were made, and that opportunities +were thrown away. How far these went to settle the contest, we can +never certainly know, but it does not need great boldness to assert +that the belief which the Southern people entertained that they were +strong enough to defend themselves, was not unreasonable. + +The determination of the South to maintain slavery was undoubtedly the +main cause of secession, but another deep and underlying cause was the +firm belief of the Southern people in the doctrine of States' rights, +and their jealousy of any attack upon those rights. Devotion to their +State first of all, a conviction that paramount obligation--in case of +any conflict of allegiance--was due not to the Union but to the State, +had been part of the political creed of very many in the South ever +since the adoption of the Constitution. An ignoble love of slavery was +not the general and impelling motive. The slaveholders, who were +largely in the minority, acted as a privileged class always does act. +They were determined to maintain their privileges at all hazards. But +they, as well as the great mass of the people who had no personal +interest in slavery, fought the battles of the war with the passionate +earnestness of men who believed with an undoubting conviction that +they were the defenders not only of home rule and of their firesides, +but also of their constitutional rights. + +And behind the money question, the constitutional question and the +moral question, there was still another of the gravest import. Was it +possible for two races nearly equal in number, but widely different in +character and civilization, to live together in a republic in peace +and equality of rights without mingling in blood? The answer of the +Southern man was, "It is not possible." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + MARYLAND'S DESIRE FOR PEACE. -- EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED THE + ELECTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. -- HIS PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR + TROOPS. -- THE CITY AUTHORITIES AND POLICE OF BALTIMORE. -- + INCREASING EXCITEMENT IN BALTIMORE. + + +I now come to consider the condition of affairs in Maryland. As yet +the Republican party had obtained a very slight foothold. Only 2,294 +votes had in the whole State been cast for Mr. Lincoln. Her sympathies +were divided between the North and the South, with a decided +preponderance on the Southern side. For many years her conscience had +been neither dead nor asleep on the subject of slavery. Families had +impoverished themselves to free their slaves. In 1860 there were +83,942 free colored people in Maryland and 87,189 slaves, the white +population being 515,918. Thus there were nearly as many free as +slaves of the colored race. Emancipation, in spite of harsh laws +passed to discountenance it, had rapidly gone on. In the northern part +of the State and in the city of Baltimore there were but few +slaveholders, and the slavery was hardly more than nominal. The +patriarchal institution, as it has been derisively called, had a real +existence in many a household. Not a few excellent people have I known +and respected who were born and bred in slavery and had been freed by +their masters. In 1831 the State incorporated the Maryland +Colonization Society, which founded on the west coast of Africa a +successful republican colony of colored people, now known as the State +of Maryland in Liberia, and for twenty-six years, and until the war +broke out, the State contributed $10,000 a year to its support. This +amount was increased by the contributions of individuals. The board, +of which Mr. John H. B. Latrobe was for many years president, was +composed of our best citizens. A code of laws for the government of +the colony was prepared by the excellent and learned lawyer, Hugh +Davey Evans. + +While there was on the part of a large portion of the people a +deep-rooted and growing dislike to slavery, agitation on the subject +had not commenced. It was in fact suppressed by reason of the violence +of Northern abolitionists with whom the friends of emancipation were +not able to unite. + +It is not surprising that Maryland was in no mood for war, but that +her voice was for compromise and peace--compromise and peace at any +price consistent with honor. + +The period immediately following the election of Mr. Lincoln in +November, 1860, was throughout the country one of intense agitation +and of important events. A large party at the North preferred +compromise to war, even at the cost of dissolution of the Union. If +dissolution began, no one could tell where it would stop. South +Carolina seceded on the 17th of December, 1860. Georgia and the five +Gulf States soon followed. On the 6th of January, 1861, Fernando Wood, +mayor of the city of New York, sent a message to the common council +advising that New York should secede and become a free city.[5] + +[Footnote 5: John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore, the well-known author, who +had been member of Congress and Secretary of the Navy, published early +in 1861 a pamphlet entitled "The Border States, Their Power and Duty +in the Present Disordered Condition of the Country." His idea was that +if concert of action could be had between the Border States and +concurring States of the South which had not seceded, stipulations +might be obtained from the Free States, with the aid of Congress, and, +if necessary, an amendment of the Constitution, which would protect +the rights of the South; but if this failed, that the Border States +and their allies of the South would then be forced to consider the +Union impracticable and to organize a separate confederacy of the +Border States, with the association of such of the Southern and Free +States as might be willing to accede to the proposed conditions. He +hoped that the Union would thus be "reconstructed by the healthy +action of the Border States." The necessary result, however, would +have been that in the meantime three confederacies would have been in +existence. And yet Mr. Kennedy had always been a Union man, and when +the war broke out was its consistent advocate. + +These proposals, from such different sources as Fernando Wood and John +P. Kennedy, tend to show the uncertainty and bewilderment which had +taken possession of the minds of men, and in which few did not share +to a greater or less degree.] + +On February the 9th, Jefferson Davis was elected President of the +Southern Confederacy, a Confederacy to which other States would +perhaps soon be added. But the Border States were as yet debatable +ground; they might be retained by conciliation and compromise or +alienated by hostile measures, whether directed against them or +against the seceded States. In Virginia a convention had been called +to consider the momentous question of union or secession, and an +overwhelming majority of the delegates chosen were in favor of +remaining in the Union. Other States were watching Virginia's course, +in order to decide whether to stay in the Union or go out of it with +her. + +On the 12th and 13th of April occurred the memorable bombardment and +surrender of Fort Sumter. On the 15th of April, President Lincoln +issued his celebrated proclamation calling out seventy-five thousand +militia, and appealing "to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and +aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity and existence of +our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to +redress wrongs already long enough endured." What these wrongs were +is not stated. "The first service assigned to the forces hereby called +forth," said the proclamation, "will probably be to re-possess the +forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union." On +the same day there was issued from the War Department a request +addressed to the Governors of the different States, announcing what +the quota of each State would be, and that the troops were to serve +for three months unless sooner discharged. Maryland's quota was four +regiments. + +The proclamation was received with exultation at the North--many +dissentient voices being silenced in the general acclaim--with +defiance at the South, and in Maryland with mingled feelings in which +astonishment, dismay and disapprobation were predominant. On all sides +it was agreed that the result must be war, or a dissolution of the +Union, and I may safely say that a large majority of our people then +preferred the latter. + +An immediate effect of the proclamation was to intensify the feeling +of hostility in the wavering States, and to drive four of them into +secession. Virginia acted promptly. On April 17th her convention +passed an ordinance of secession--subject to ratification by a vote of +the people--and Virginia became the head and front of the Confederacy. +North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas soon followed her lead. +Meanwhile, and before the formal acts of secession, the Governors of +Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee sent prompt and defiant answers +to the requisition, emphatically refusing to furnish troops, as did +also the Governors of Kentucky and Missouri. + +The position of Maryland was most critical. This State was especially +important, because the capital of the nation lay within her borders, +and all the roads from the North leading to it passed through her +territory. After the President's proclamation was issued, no doubt a +large majority of her people sympathized with the South; but even had +that sentiment been far more preponderating, there was an underlying +feeling that by a sort of geographical necessity her lot was cast with +the North, that the larger and stronger half of the nation would not +allow its capital to be quietly disintegrated away by her secession. +Delaware and Maryland were the only Border States which did not +attempt to secede. Kentucky at first took the impossible stand of an +armed neutrality. When this failed, a portion of her people passed an +ordinance of secession, and a portion of the people of Missouri passed +a similar ordinance. + +It is now proper to give some explanation of the condition of affairs +in Baltimore, at that time a city of 215,000 inhabitants. + +Thomas Holliday Hicks, who had been elected by the American, or +Know-Nothing party, three years before, was the Governor of the State. +The city authorities, consisting of the mayor and city council, had +been elected in October, 1860, a few weeks before the Presidential +election, not as representatives of any of the national parties, but +as the candidates of an independent reform party, and in opposition to +the Know-Nothing party. This party, which then received its quietus, +had been in power for some years, and had maintained itself by methods +which made its rule little better than a reign of terror.[6] No one +acquainted with the history of that period can doubt that the reform +was greatly needed. A large number of the best men of the American +party united in the movement, and with their aid it became +triumphantly successful, carrying every ward in the city. The city +council was composed of men of unusually high character. "Taken as a +whole" (Scharf's "History of Maryland," Vol. III., p. 284), "a better +ticket has seldom, if ever, been brought out. In the selection of +candidates all party tests were discarded, and all thought of +rewarding partisan services repudiated." Four police commissioners, +appointed by the Legislature--Charles Howard, William H. Gatchell, +Charles D. Hinks and John W. Davis--men of marked ability and worth, +had, with the mayor, who was _ex officio_ a member of the board, the +appointment and control of the police force. Mr. S. Teackle Wallis was +the legal adviser of the board. The entire police force consisted of +398 men, and had been raised to a high degree of discipline and +efficiency under the command of Marshal Kane. They were armed with +revolvers. + +[Footnote 6: The culmination of this period of misrule was at the +election in November, 1859, when the fraud and violence were so +flagrant that the Legislature of the State unseated the whole +Baltimore delegation--ten members. The city being thus without +representation, it became necessary, when a special session of the +Legislature was called in April, 1861, that a new delegation from +Baltimore should be chosen. It was this same Legislature (elected in +1859), which took away from the mayor of the city the control of its +police, and entrusted that force to a board of police commissioners. +This change, a most fortunate one for the city at that crisis, +resulted in the immediate establishment of good order, and made +possible the reform movement of the next autumn.] + +Immediately after the call of the President for troops, including four +regiments from Maryland, a marked division among the people manifested +itself. Two large and excited crowds, eager for news, and nearly +touching each other, stood from morning until late at night before two +newspaper offices on Baltimore street which advocated contrary views +and opinions. Strife was in the air. It was difficult for the police +to keep the peace. Business was almost suspended. Was there indeed to +be war between the sections, or could it yet, by some unlooked-for +interposition, be averted? Would the Border States interfere and +demand peace? There was a deep and pervading impression of impending +evil. And now an immediate fear was as to the effect on the citizens +of the passage of Northern troops through the city. Should they be +permitted to cross the soil of Maryland, to make war on sister States +of the South, allied to her by so many ties of affection, as well as +of kindred institutions? On the other hand, when the capital of the +nation was in danger, should not the kindest greeting and welcome be +extended to those who were first to come to the rescue? Widely +different were the answers given to these questions. The Palmetto flag +had several times been raised by some audacious hands in street and +harbor, but it was soon torn down. The National flag and the flag of +the State, with its black and orange, the colors of Lord Baltimore, +waved unmolested, but not side by side, for they had become symbols of +different ideas, although the difference was, as yet, not clearly +defined. + +On the 17th of April, the state of affairs became so serious that I, +as mayor, issued a proclamation earnestly invoking all good citizens +to refrain from every act which could lead to outbreak or violence of +any kind; to refrain from harshness of speech, and to render in all +cases prompt and efficient aid, as by law they were required to do, to +the public authorities, whose constant efforts would be exerted to +maintain unbroken the peace and order of the city, and to administer +the laws with fidelity and impartiality. I cannot flatter myself that +this appeal produced much effect. The excitement was too great for any +words to allay it. + +On the 18th of April, notice was received from Harrisburg that two +companies of United States artillery, commanded by Major Pemberton, +and also four companies of militia, would arrive by the Northern +Central Railroad at Bolton Station, in the northern part of the city, +at two o'clock in the afternoon. The militia had neither arms nor +uniforms. + +Before the troops arrived at the station, where I was waiting to +receive them, I was suddenly called away by a message from Governor +Hicks stating that he desired to see me on business of urgent +importance, and this prevented my having personal knowledge of what +immediately afterward occurred. The facts, however, are that a large +crowd assembled at the station and followed the soldiers in their +march to the Washington station with abuse and threats. The regulars +were not molested, but the wrath of the mob was directed against the +militia, and an attack would certainly have been made but for the +vigilance and determination of the police, under the command of +Marshal Kane. + +"These proceedings," says Mr. Scharf, in the third volume of his +"History of Maryland," page 401, "were an earnest of what might be +expected on the arrival of other troops, the excitement growing in +intensity with every hour. Numerous outbreaks occurred in the +neighborhood of the newspaper offices during the day, and in the +evening a meeting of the States Rights Convention was held in Taylor's +building, on Fayette street near Calvert, where, it is alleged, very +strong ground was taken against the passage of any more troops through +Baltimore, and armed resistance to it threatened. On motion of Mr. +Ross Winans, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: + + "_Resolved_, That in the opinion of this convention the + prosecution of the design announced by the President in his late + proclamation, of recapturing the forts in the seceded States, + will inevitably lead to a sanguinary war, the dissolution of the + Union, and the irreconcilable estrangement of the people of the + South from the people of the North. + + "_Resolved_, That we protest in the name of the people of + Maryland against the garrisoning of Southern forts by militia + drawn from the free States; or the quartering of militia from the + free States in any of the towns or places of the slaveholding + States. + + "_Resolved_, That in the opinion of this convention the massing + of large bodies of militia, exclusively from the free States, in + the District of Columbia, is uncalled for by any public danger or + exigency, is a standing menace to the State of Maryland, and an + insult to her loyalty and good faith, and will, if persisted in, + alienate her people from a government which thus attempts to + overawe them by the presence of armed men and treats them with + contempt and distrust. + + "_Resolved_, That the time has arrived when it becomes all good + citizens to unite in a common effort to obliterate all party + lines which have heretofore unhappily divided us, and to present + an unbroken front in the preservation and defense of our + interests, our homes and our firesides, to avert the horrors of + civil war, and to repel, if need be, any invader who may come to + establish a military despotism over us. + + "A. C. ROBINSON, _Chairman_." + "G. HARLAN WILLIAMS, + "ALBERT RITCHIE, + "_Secretaries_." + +The names of the members who composed this convention are not given, +but the mover of the resolutions and the officers of the meeting were +men well known and respected in this community. + +The bold and threatening character of the resolutions did not tend to +calm the public mind. They did not, however, advocate an attack on the +troops. + +In Putnam's "Record of the Rebellion," Volume I, page 29, the +following statement is made of a meeting which was held on the morning +of the 18th of April: "An excited secession meeting was held at +Baltimore, Maryland. T. Parkin Scott occupied the chair, and speeches +denunciatory of the Administration and the North were made by Wilson +C. N. Carr, William Byrne [improperly spelled Burns], President of the +National Volunteer Association, and others." + +An account of the meeting is before me, written by Mr. Carr, lately +deceased, a gentleman entirely trustworthy. He did not know, he says, +of the existence of such an association, but on his way down town +having seen the notice of a town meeting to be held at Taylor's Hall, +to take into consideration the state of affairs, he went to the +meeting. Mr. Scott was in the chair and was speaking. He was not +making an excited speech, but, on the contrary, was urging the +audience to do nothing rashly, but to be moderate and not to interfere +with any troops that might attempt to pass through the city. As soon +as he had finished, Mr. Carr was urged to go up to the platform and +reply to Mr. Scott. I now give Mr. Carr's words. "I went up," he says, +"but had no intention of saying anything in opposition to what Mr. +Scott had advised the people to do. I was not there as an advocate of +secession, but was anxious to see some way opened for reconciliation +between the North and South. I did not make an excited speech nor did +I denounce the Administration. I saw that I was disappointing the +crowd. Some expressed their disapprobation pretty plainly and I cut my +speech short. As soon as I finished speaking the meeting adjourned." + +After the war was over, Mr. Scott was elected Chief Judge of the +Supreme Bench of Baltimore City. He was a strong sympathizer with the +South, and had the courage of his convictions, but he had been also an +opponent of slavery, and I have it from his own lips that years before +the war, on a Fourth of July, he had persuaded his mother to liberate +all her slaves, although she depended largely on their services for +her support. And yet he lived and died a poor man. + +On the 16th of April, Marshal Kane addressed a letter to William +Crawford, the Baltimore agent of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and +Baltimore Railroad Company, in the following terms: + + "_Dear Sir_:--Is it true as stated that an attempt will be made + to pass the volunteers from New York intended to war upon the + South over your road to-day? It is important that we have + explicit understanding on the subject. + + Your friend, + GEORGE P. KANE." + +This letter was not submitted to me, nor to the board of police. If it +had been, it would have been couched in very different language. Mr. +Crawford forwarded it to the President of the road, who, on the same +day, sent it to Simon Cameron, the Secretary of War. + +Mr. Cameron, on April 18th, wrote to Governor Hicks, giving him notice +that there were unlawful combinations of citizens of Maryland to +impede the transit of United States troops across Maryland on their +way to the defense of the capital, and that the President thought it +his duty to make it known to the Governor, so that all loyal and +patriotic citizens might be warned in time, and that he might be +prepared to take immediate and effective measures against it. + +On the afternoon of the 18th, Governor Hicks arrived in town. He had +prepared a proclamation as Governor of the State, and wished me to +issue another as mayor of the city, which I agreed to do. In it he +said, among other things, that the unfortunate state of affairs now +existing in the country had greatly excited the people of Maryland; +that the emergency was great, and that the consequences of a rash step +would be fearful. He therefore counselled the people in all +earnestness to withhold their hands from whatever might tend to +precipitate us into the gulf of discord and ruin gaping to receive us. +All powers vested in the Governor of the State would be strenuously +exerted to preserve peace and maintain inviolate the honor and +integrity of Maryland. He assured the people that no troops would be +sent from Maryland, unless it might be for the defense of the national +capital. He concluded by saying that the people of this State would +in a short time have the opportunity afforded them, in a special +election for members of Congress, to express their devotion to the +Union, or their desire to see it broken up. + +This proclamation is of importance in several respects. It shows the +great excitement of the people and the imminent danger of domestic +strife. It shows, moreover, that even the Governor of the State had +then little idea of the course which he himself was soon about to +pursue. If this was the case with the Governor, it could not have been +different with thousands of the people. Very soon he became a thorough +and uncompromising upholder of the war. + +In my proclamation I concurred with the Governor in his determination +to preserve the peace and maintain inviolate the honor and integrity +of Maryland, and added that I could not withhold my expression of +satisfaction at his resolution that no troops should be sent from +Maryland to the soil of any other State. + +Simultaneously with the passage of the first Northern regiments on +their way to Washington, came the news that Virginia had seceded. Two +days were crowded with stirring news--a proclamation from the +President of the Southern Confederacy offering to issue commissions or +letters of marque to privateers, President Lincoln's proclamation +declaring a blockade of Southern ports, the Norfolk Navy Yard +abandoned, Harper's Ferry evacuated and the arsenal in the hands of +Virginia troops. These events, so exciting in themselves, and coming +together with the passage of the first troops, greatly increased the +danger of an explosion. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT IN BALTIMORE. -- THE FIGHT. -- + THE DEPARTURE FOR WASHINGTON. -- CORRESPONDENCE IN REGARD TO THE + KILLED AND WOUNDED. -- PUBLIC MEETING. -- TELEGRAM TO THE + PRESIDENT. -- NO REPLY. -- BURNING OF BRIDGES. + + +The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment had the honor of being the first to +march in obedience to the call of the President, completely equipped +and organized. It had a full band and regimental staff. Mustered at +Lowell on the morning of the 16th, the day after the proclamation was +issued, four companies from Lowell presented themselves, and to these +were added two from Lawrence, one from Groton, one from Acton, and one +from Worcester; and when the regiment reached Boston, at one o'clock, +an additional company was added from that city and another from +Stoneham, making eleven in all--about seven hundred men.[7] It was +addressed by the Governor of the State in front of the State House. In +the city and along the line of the railroad, on the 17th, everywhere, +ovations attended them. In the march down Broadway, in New York, on +the 18th, the wildest enthusiasm inspired all classes. Similar scenes +occurred in the progress through New Jersey and through the city of +Philadelphia. At midnight on the 18th, reports reached Philadelphia +that the passage of the regiment through Baltimore would be disputed. + +[Footnote 7: Hanson's Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, p. 14.] + +An unarmed and un-uniformed Pennsylvania regiment, under Colonel +Small, was added to the train, either in Philadelphia or when the +train reached the Susquehanna--it has been stated both ways, and I am +not sure which account is correct--and the two regiments made the +force about seventeen hundred men. + +The proper course for the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore +Railroad Company was to have given immediate notice to the mayor or +board of police of the number of the troops, and the time when they +were expected to arrive in the city, so that preparation might have +been made to receive them, but no such notice was given. On the +contrary, it was purposely withheld, and no information could be +obtained from the office of the company, although the marshal of +police repeatedly telegraphed to Philadelphia to learn when the troops +were to be expected. No news was received until from a half hour to an +hour of the time at which they were to arrive. Whatever was the reason +that no notice of the approach of the troops was given, it was not +because they had no apprehensions of trouble. Mr. Felton, the +president of the railroad company, says that _before_ the troops left +Philadelphia he called the colonel and principal officers into his +office, and told them of the dangers they would probably encounter, +and advised that each soldier should load his musket before leaving +and be ready for any emergency. Colonel Jones's official report, which +is dated, "Capitol, Washington, April 22, 1861," says, "_After_ +leaving Philadelphia, I received intimation that the passage through +the city of Baltimore would be resisted. I caused ammunition to be +distributed and arms loaded, and went personally through the cars, and +issued the following order--viz.: + +"'The regiment will march through Baltimore in columns of sections, +arms at will. You will undoubtedly be insulted, abused, and perhaps +assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march +with your faces square to the front, and pay no attention to the mob, +even if they throw stones, bricks, or other missiles; but if you are +fired upon, and any of you are hit, your officers will order you to +fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select any man whom +you may see aiming at you, and be sure you drop him.'" + +If due notice had been given, and if this order had been carried out, +the danger of a serious disturbance would have been greatly +diminished. The plainest dictates of prudence required the +Massachusetts and Pennsylvania regiments to march through the city in +a body. The Massachusetts regiment was armed with muskets, and could +have defended itself, and would also have had aid from the police; and +although the Pennsylvania troops were unarmed, they would have been +protected by the police just as troops from the same State had been +protected on the day before. The mayor and police commissioners would +have been present, adding the sanction and authority of their official +positions. But the plan adopted laid the troops open to be attacked in +detail when they were least able to defend themselves and were out of +the reach of assistance from the police. This plan was that when the +train reached the President-street or Philadelphia station, in the +southeastern part of Baltimore, each car should, according to custom, +be detached from the engine and be drawn through the city by four +horses for the distance of more than a mile to the Camden-street or +Washington station, in the southwestern part of the city. Some one had +blundered. + +The train of thirty-five cars arrived at President-street Station at +about eleven o'clock. The course which the troops had to take was +first northerly on President street, four squares to Pratt street, a +crowded thoroughfare leading along the heads of the docks, then along +Pratt street west for nearly a mile to Howard street, and then south, +on Howard street, one square to the Camden-street station. + +Drawn by horses across the city at a rapid pace, about nine[8] cars, +containing seven companies of the Massachusetts Sixth, reached the +Camden-street station, the first carloads being assailed only with +jeers and hisses; but the last car, containing Company "K" and Major +Watson, was delayed on its passage--according to one account was +thrown off the track by obstructions, and had to be replaced with the +help of a passing team; paving-stones and other missiles were thrown, +the windows were broken, and some of the soldiers were struck. Colonel +Jones was in one of the cars which passed through. Near Gay street, it +happened that a number of laborers were at work repaving Pratt street, +and had taken up the cobble-stones for the purpose of relaying them. +As the troops kept passing, the crowd of bystanders grew larger, the +excitement and--among many--the feeling of indignation grew more +intense; each new aggressive act was the signal and example for +further aggression. A cart coming by with a load of sand, the track +was blocked by dumping the cartload upon it--I have been told that +this was the act of some merchants and clerks of the neighborhood--and +then, as a more effectual means of obstruction, some anchors lying +near the head of the Gay-street dock were dragged up to and placed +across the track.[9] + +[Footnote 8: According to some of the published accounts _seven_ cars +got through, which would have been one to each company, but I believe +that the number of the cars and of the companies did not correspond. +Probably the larger companies were divided.] + +[Footnote 9: For participation in placing this obstruction, a wealthy +merchant of long experience, usually a very peaceful man, was +afterward indicted for treason by the Grand Jury of the Circuit Court +of the United States in Baltimore, but his trial was not pressed.] + +The next car being stopped by these obstructions, the driver attached +the horses to the rear end of the car and drove it back, with the +soldiers, to the President-street station, the rest of the cars also, +of course, having to turn back, or--if any of them had not yet +started--to remain where they were at the depot. In the cars thus +stopped and turned back there were four companies, "C," "D," "I" and +"L," under Captains Follansbee, Hart, Pickering and Dike; also the +band, which, I believe, did not leave the depot, and which remained +there with the unarmed Pennsylvania regiment. These four companies, in +all about 220 men, formed on President street, in the midst of a dense +and angry crowd, which threatened and pressed upon the troops, +uttering cheers for Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy, and +groans for Lincoln and the North, with much abusive language. As the +soldiers advanced along President street, the commotion increased; one +of the band of rioters appeared bearing a Confederate flag, and it was +carried a considerable distance before it was torn from its staff by +citizens. Stones were thrown in great numbers, and at the corner of +Fawn street two of the soldiers were knocked down by stones and +seriously injured. In crossing Pratt-street bridge, the troops had to +pick their way over joists and scantling, which by this time had been +placed on the bridge to obstruct their passage. + +Colonel Jones's official report, from which I have already quoted, +thus describes what happened after the four companies left the cars. +As Colonel Jones was not present during the march, but obtained the +particulars from others, it is not surprising that his account +contains errors. These will be pointed out and corrected later: + +"They proceeded to march in accordance with orders, and had proceeded +but a short distance before they were furiously attacked by a shower +of missiles, which came faster as they advanced. They increased their +step to double-quick, which seemed to infuriate the mob, as it +evidently impressed the mob with the idea that the soldiers dared not +fire or had no ammunition, and pistol-shots were numerously fired into +the ranks, and one soldier fell dead. The order "Fire!" was given, and +it was executed; in consequence several of the mob fell, and the +soldiers again advanced hastily. The mayor of Baltimore placed himself +at the head of the column beside Captain Follansbee, and proceeded +with them a short distance, assuring him that he would protect them, +and begging him not to let the men fire. But the mayor's patience was +soon exhausted, and he seized a musket from the hands of one of the +men, and killed a man therewith; and a policeman, who was in advance +of the column, also shot a man with a revolver. They at last reached +the cars, and they started immediately for Washington. On going +through the train I found there were about one hundred and thirty +missing, including the band and field music. Our baggage was seized, +and we have not as yet been able to recover any of it. I have found it +very difficult to get reliable information in regard to the killed and +wounded, but believe there were only three killed. + +"As the men went into the cars" [meaning the men who had marched +through the city to Camden Station], "I caused the blinds to the cars +to be closed, and took every precaution to prevent any shadow of +offense to the people of Baltimore, but still the stones flew thick +and fast into the train, and it was with the utmost difficulty that I +could prevent the troops from leaving the cars and revenging the death +of their comrades. After a volley of stones, some one of the soldiers +fired and killed a Mr. Davis, who, I ascertained by reliable +witnesses, threw a stone into the car." This is incorrectly stated, as +will hereafter appear. + +It is proper that I should now go back and take up the narration from +my own point of view. + +On the morning of the 19th of April I was at my law office in Saint +Paul street after ten o'clock, when three members of the city council +came to me with a message from Marshal Kane, informing me that he had +just received intelligence that troops were about to arrive--I did not +learn how many--and that he apprehended a disturbance, and requesting +me to go to the Camden-street station. I immediately hastened to the +office of the board of police, and found that they had received a +similar notice. The Counsellor of the City, Mr. George M. Gill, and +myself then drove rapidly in a carriage to the Camden-street station. +The police commissioners followed, and, on reaching the station, we +found Marshal Kane on the ground and the police coming in in squads. A +large and angry crowd had assembled, but were restrained by the police +from committing any serious breach of the peace. + +After considerable delay seven of the eleven companies of the +Massachusetts regiment arrived at the station, as already mentioned, +and I saw that the windows of the last car were badly broken. No one +to whom I applied could inform me whether more troops were expected or +not. At this time an alarm was given that the mob was about to tear up +the rails in advance of the train on the Washington road, and Marshal +Kane ordered some of his men to go out the road as far as necessary to +protect the track. Soon afterward, and when I was about to leave the +Camden-street station, supposing all danger to be over, news was +brought to Police Commissioner Davis and myself, who were standing +together, that some troops had been left behind, and that the mob was +tearing up the track on Pratt street, so as to obstruct the progress +of the cars, which were coming to the Camden-street station. Mr. Davis +immediately ran to summon the marshal, who was at the station with a +body of police, to be sent to the point of danger, while I hastened +alone in the same direction. On arriving at about Smith's Wharf, foot +of Gay street, I found that anchors had been placed on the track, and +that Sergeant McComas and four policemen who were with him were not +allowed by a group of rioters to remove the obstruction. I at once +ordered the anchors to be removed, and my authority was not resisted. +I hurried on, and, approaching Pratt-street bridge, I saw a battalion, +which proved to be four companies of the Massachusetts regiment which +had crossed the bridge, coming towards me in double-quick time. + +They were firing wildly, sometimes backward, over their shoulders. So +rapid was the march that they could not stop to take aim. The mob, +which was not very large, as it seemed to me, was pursuing with shouts +and stones, and, I think, an occasional pistol-shot. The uproar was +furious. I ran at once to the head of the column, some persons in the +crowd shouting, "Here comes the mayor." I shook hands with the officer +in command, Captain Follansbee, saying as I did so, "I am the mayor of +Baltimore." The captain greeted me cordially. I at once objected to +the double-quick, which was immediately stopped. I placed myself by +his side, and marched with him. He said, "We have been attacked +without provocation," or words to that effect. I replied, "You must +defend yourselves." I expected that he would face his men to the rear, +and, after giving warning, would fire if necessary. But I said no +more, for I immediately felt that, as mayor of the city, it was not my +province to volunteer such advice. Once before in my life I had taken +part in opposing a formidable riot, and had learned by experience +that the safest and most humane manner of quelling a mob is to meet it +at the beginning with armed resistance. + +The column continued its march. There was neither concert of action +nor organization among the rioters. They were armed only with such +stones or missiles as they could pick up, and a few pistols. My +presence for a short time had some effect, but very soon the attack +was renewed with greater violence. The mob grew bolder. Stones flew +thick and fast. Rioters rushed at the soldiers and attempted to snatch +their muskets, and at least on two occasions succeeded. With one of +these muskets a soldier was killed. Men fell on both sides. A young +lawyer, then and now known as a quiet citizen, seized a flag of one of +the companies and nearly tore it from its staff. He was shot through +the thigh, and was carried home apparently a dying man, but he +survived to enter the army of the Confederacy, where he rose to the +rank of captain, and he afterward returned to Baltimore, where he +still lives. The soldiers fired at will. There was no firing by +platoons, and I heard no order given to fire. I remember that at the +corner of South street several citizens standing in a group fell, +either killed or wounded. It was impossible for the troops to +discriminate between the rioters and the by-standers, but the latter +seemed to suffer most, because, as the main attack was from the mob +pursuing the soldiers from the rear, they, in their march, could not +easily face backward to fire, but could shoot at those whom they +passed on the street. Near the corner of Light street a soldier was +severely wounded, who afterward died, and a boy on a vessel lying in +the dock was killed, and about the same place three soldiers at the +head of the column leveled their muskets and fired into a group +standing on the sidewalk, who, as far as I could see, were taking no +active part. The shots took effect, but I cannot say how many fell. I +cried out, waving my umbrella to emphasize my words, "For God's sake +don't shoot!" but it was too late. The statement that I begged Captain +Follansbee not to let the men fire is incorrect, although on this +occasion I did say, "Don't shoot." It then seemed to me that I was in +the wrong place, for my presence did not avail to protect either the +soldiers or the citizens, and I stepped out from the column. Just at +this moment a boy ran forward and handed to me a discharged musket +which had fallen from one of the soldiers. I took it from him and +hastened into the nearest shop, asking the person in charge to keep it +safely, and returned immediately to the street. This boy was far from +being alone in his sympathy for the troops, but their friends were +powerless, except to care for the wounded and remove the dead. The +statement in Colonel Jones's report that I seized a musket and killed +one of the rioters is entirely incorrect. The smoking musket seen in +my hands was no doubt the foundation for it. There is no foundation +for the other statement that one of the police shot a man with a +revolver. At the moment when I returned to the street, Marshal Kane, +with about fifty policemen (as I then supposed, but I have since +ascertained that in fact there were not so many), came at a run from +the direction of the Camden-street station, and throwing themselves in +the rear of the troops, they formed a line in front of the mob, and +with drawn revolvers kept it back. This was between Light and Charles +streets. Marshal Kane's voice shouted, "Keep back, men, or I shoot!" +This movement, which I saw myself, was gallantly executed, and was +perfectly successful. The mob recoiled like water from a rock. One of +the leading rioters, then a young man, now a peaceful merchant, tried, +as he has himself told me, to pass the line, but the marshal seized +him and vowed he would shoot if the attempt was made. This nearly +ended the fight, and the column passed on under the protection of the +police, without serious molestation, to Camden Station.[10] I had +accompanied the troops for more than a third of a mile, and regarded +the danger as now over. At Camden-street Station there was rioting and +confusion. Commissioner Davis assisted in placing the soldiers in the +cars for Washington. Some muskets were pointed out of the windows by +the soldiers. To this he earnestly objected, as likely to bring on a +renewal of the fight, and he advised the blinds to be closed. The +muskets were then withdrawn and the blinds closed, by military order, +as stated by Colonel Jones. + +[Footnote 10: The accounts in some of our newspapers describe serious +fighting at a point beyond this, but I am satisfied they are +incorrect.] + +At last, about a quarter before one o'clock, the train, consisting of +thirteen cars filled with troops, moved out of Camden Station amid the +hisses and groans of the multitude, and passed safely on to +Washington. At the outskirts of the city, half a mile or more beyond +the station, occurred the unfortunate incident of the killing of +Robert W. Davis. This gentleman, a well-known dry-goods merchant, was +standing on a vacant lot near the track with two friends, and as the +train went by they raised a cheer for Jefferson Davis and the South, +when he was immediately shot dead by one of the soldiers from a +car-window, several firing at once. There were no rioters near them, +and they did not know that the troops had been attacked on their march +through the city. There was no "volley of stones" thrown just before +Mr. Davis was killed, nor did he or his friends throw any.[11] This +was the last of the casualties of the day, and was by far the most +serious and unfortunate in its consequences, for it was not +unnaturally made the most of to inflame the minds of the people +against the Northern troops. Had it not been for this incident, there +would perhaps have been among many of our people a keener sense of +blame attaching to themselves as the aggressors. Four of the +Massachusetts regiment were killed and thirty-six wounded. Twelve +citizens were killed, including Mr. Davis. The number of wounded among +the latter has never been ascertained. As the fighting was at close +quarters, the small number of casualties shows that it was not so +severe as has generally been supposed. + +[Footnote 11: Testimony of witnesses at the coroner's inquest.] + +But peace even for the day had not come. The unarmed Pennsylvanians +and the band of the Massachusetts regiment were still at the +President-street station, where a mob had assembled, and the police at +that point were not sufficient to protect them. Stones were thrown, +and some few of the Pennsylvania troops were hurt, not seriously, I +believe. A good many of them were, not unnaturally, seized with a +panic, and scattered through the city in different directions. Marshal +Kane again appeared on the scene with an adequate force, and an +arrangement was made with the railroad company by which the troops +were sent back in the direction of Philadelphia. During the afternoon +and night a number of stragglers sought the aid of the police and were +cared for at one of the station-houses. + +The following card of Captain Dike, who commanded Company "C" of the +Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, appeared in the Boston _Courier_: + + "BALTIMORE, _April 25, 1861_. + + "It is but an act of justice that induces me to say to my friends + who may feel any interest, and to the community generally, that + in the affair which occurred in this city on Friday, the 19th + instant, the mayor and city authorities should be exonerated from + blame or censure, as they did all in their power, as far as my + knowledge extends, to quell the riot, and Mayor Brown attested + the sincerity of his desire to preserve the peace, and pass our + regiment safely through the city, by marching at the head of its + column, and remaining there at the risk of his life. Candor could + not permit me to say less, and a desire to place the conduct of + the authorities here on the occasion in a right position, as well + as to allay feelings, urges me to this sheer act of justice. + + JOHN H. DIKE, + "_Captain Company 'C,' Seventh Regiment, + attached to Sixth Regiment Massachusetts V. M._" + +In a letter to Marshal Kane, Colonel Jones wrote as follows: + + "HEADQUARTERS SIXTH REGIMENT M. V. M. + + "WASHINGTON, D. C., _April 28, 1861_. + + "_Marshal Kane, Baltimore, Maryland._ + + "Please deliver the bodies of the deceased soldiers belonging to + my regiment to Murrill S. Wright, Esq., who is authorized to + receive them, and take charge of them through to Boston, and + thereby add one more to the many favors for which, in connection + with this matter, I am, with my command, much indebted to you. + Many, many thanks for the Christian conduct of the authorities of + Baltimore in this truly unfortunate affair. + + "I am, with much respect, your obedient servant, + + "EDWARD F. JONES, + "_Colonel Sixth Regiment M. V. M._" + +The following correspondence with the Governor of Massachusetts seems +to be entitled to a place in this paper. Gov. Andrew's first telegram +cannot be found. The second, which was sent by me in reply, is as +follows: + + "BALTIMORE, _April 20, 1861_. + + "_To the Honorable John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts._ + + "_Sir_:--No one deplores the sad events of yesterday in this city + more deeply than myself, but they were inevitable. Our people + viewed the passage of armed troops to another State through the + streets as an invasion of our soil, and could not be restrained. + The authorities exerted themselves to the best of their ability, + but with only partial success. Governor Hicks was present, and + concurs in all my views as to the proceedings now necessary for + our protection. When are these scenes to cease? Are we to have a + war of sections? God forbid! The bodies of the Massachusetts + soldiers could not be sent out to Boston, as you requested, all + communication between this city and Philadelphia by railroad and + with Boston by steamer having ceased, but they have been placed + in cemented coffins, and will be placed with proper funeral + ceremonies in the mausoleum of Greenmount Cemetery, where they + shall be retained until further directions are received from you. + The wounded are tenderly cared for. I appreciate your offer, but + Baltimore will claim it as her right to pay all expenses + incurred." + + "Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + "GEO. WM. BROWN, + + "_Mayor of Baltimore._" + +To this the following reply was returned by the Governor: + + "_To His Honor George W. Brown, Mayor of Baltimore._ + + "_Dear Sir_:--I appreciate your kind attention to our wounded and + our dead, and trust that at the earliest moment the remains of + our fallen will return to us. I am overwhelmed with surprise that + a peaceful march of American citizens over the highway to the + defense of our common capital should be deemed aggressive to + Baltimoreans. Through New York the march was triumphal. + + JOHN A. ANDREW, + + "_Governor of Massachusetts._" + +This correspondence carries the narrative beyond the nineteenth of +April, and I now return to the remaining events of that day. + +After the news spread through the city of the fight in the streets, +and especially of the killing of Mr. Davis, the excitement became +intense. It was manifest that no more troops, while the excitement +lasted, could pass through without a bloody conflict. All citizens, no +matter what were their political opinions, appeared to agree in +this--the strongest friends of the Union as well as its foes. However +such a conflict might terminate, the result would be disastrous. In +each case it might bring down the vengeance of the North upon the +city. If the mob succeeded, it would probably precipitate the city, +and perhaps the State, into a temporary secession. Such an event all +who had not lost their reason deprecated. The immediate and pressing +necessity was that no more troops should arrive. + +Governor Hicks called out the military for the preservation of the +peace and the protection of the city. + +An immense public meeting assembled in Monument Square. Governor +Hicks, the mayor, Mr. S. Teackle Wallis, and others, addressed it. + +In my speech I insisted on the maintenance of peace and order in the +city. I denied that the right of a State to secede from the Union was +granted by the Constitution. This was received with groans and shouts +of disapproval by a part of the crowd, but I maintained my ground. I +deprecated war on the seceding States, and strongly expressed the +opinion that the South could not be conquered. I approved of Governor +Hicks's determination to send no troops from Maryland to invade the +South. I further endeavored to calm the people by informing them of +the efforts made by Governor Hicks and myself to prevent the passage +of more troops through the city. + +Governor Hicks said: "I coincide in the sentiment of your worthy +mayor. After three conferences we have agreed, and I bow in submission +to the people. I am a Marylander; I love my State and I love the +Union, but I will suffer my right arm to be torn from my body before I +will raise it to strike a sister State." + +A dispatch had previously been sent by Governor Hicks and myself to +the President of the United States as follows: "A collision between +the citizens and the Northern troops has taken place in Baltimore, and +the excitement is fearful. Send no troops here. We will endeavor to +prevent all bloodshed. A public meeting of citizens has been called, +and the troops of the State have been called out to preserve the +peace. They will be enough." + +Immediately afterward, Messrs. H. Lennox Bond, a Republican, then +Judge of the Criminal Court of Baltimore, and now Judge of the Circuit +Court of the United States; George W. Dobbin, an eminent lawyer, and +John C. Brune, President of the Board of Trade, went to Washington at +my request, bearing the following letter to the President: + + "MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALTIMORE, _April 19, 1861_. + + "_Sir_:--This will be presented to you by the Hon. H. Lennox + Bond, and George W. Dobbin, and John C. Brune, Esqs., who will + proceed to Washington by an express train at my request, in order + to explain fully the fearful condition of affairs in this city. + The people are exasperated to the highest degree by the passage + of troops, and the citizens are universally decided in the + opinion that no more should be ordered to come. The authorities + of the city did their best to-day to protect both strangers and + citizens and to prevent a collision, but in vain, and, but for + their great efforts, a fearful slaughter would have occurred. + Under these circumstances it is my solemn duty to inform you that + it is not possible for more soldiers to pass through Baltimore + unless they fight their way at every step. I therefore hope and + trust and most earnestly request that no more troops be permitted + or ordered by the Government to pass through the city. If they + should attempt it, the responsibility for the blood shed will not + rest upon me. + + "With great respect, your obedient servant, + + "GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor_. + + "_To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President United States._" + +To this Governor Hicks added: "I have been in Baltimore City since +Tuesday evening last, and cooeperated with Mayor G. W. Brown in his +untiring efforts to allay and prevent the excitement and suppress the +fearful outbreak as indicated above, and I fully concur in all that is +said by him in the above communication." + +No reply came from Washington. The city authorities were left to act +on their own responsibility. Late at night reports came of troops +being on their way both from Harrisburg and Philadelphia. It was +impossible that they could pass through the city without fighting and +bloodshed. In this emergency, the board of police, including the +mayor, immediately assembled for consultation, and came to the +conclusion that it was necessary to burn or disable the bridges on +both railroads so far as was required to prevent the ingress of +troops. This was accordingly done at once, some of the police and a +detachment of the Maryland Guard being sent out to do the work. +Governor Hicks was first consulted and urged to give his consent, for +we desired that he should share with us the responsibility of taking +this grave step. This consent he distinctly gave in my presence and in +the presence of several others, and although there was an attempt +afterward to deny the fact that he so consented, there can be no doubt +whatever about the matter. He was in my house at the time, where, on +my invitation, he had taken refuge, thinking that he was in some +personal danger at the hotel where he was staying. Early the next +morning the Governor returned to Annapolis, and after this the city +authorities had to bear alone the responsibilities which the anomalous +state of things in Baltimore had brought upon them. + +On the Philadelphia Railroad the detachment sent out by special train +for the purpose of burning the bridges went as far as the Bush River, +and the long bridge there, and the still longer one over the wide +estuary of the Gunpowder, a few miles nearer Baltimore, were +partially burned. It is an interesting fact that just as this party +arrived at the Bush River bridge, a volunteer party of five gentlemen +from Baltimore reached the same place on the same errand. They had +ridden on horseback by night to the river, and had then gone by boat +to the bridge for the purpose of burning it, and in fact they stayed +at the bridge and continued the work of burning until the afternoon. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + APRIL 20th, INCREASING EXCITEMENT. -- APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 + FOR DEFENSE OF THE CITY. -- CORRESPONDENCE WITH PRESIDENT AND + GOVERNOR. -- MEN ENROLLED. -- APPREHENDED ATTACK ON FORT McHENRY. + -- MARSHAL KANE. -- INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT, CABINET AND GENERAL + SCOTT. -- GENERAL BUTLER, WITH THE EIGHTH MASSACHUSETTS, PROCEEDS + TO ANNAPOLIS AND WASHINGTON. -- BALTIMORE IN A STATE OF ARMED + NEUTRALITY. + + +On Saturday morning, the 20th, the excitement and alarm had greatly +increased. Up to this time no answer had been received from +Washington. The silence became unbearable. Were more troops to be +forced through the city at any cost? If so, how were they to come, by +land or water? Were the guns of Fort McHenry to be turned upon the +inhabitants? Was Baltimore to be compelled at once to determine +whether she would side with the North or with the South? Or was she +temporarily to isolate herself and wait until the frenzy had in some +measure spent its force and reason had begun to resume its sway? In +any case it was plain that the authorities must have the power placed +in their hands of controlling any outbreak which might occur. This was +the general opinion. Union men and disunion men appeared on the +streets with arms in their hands. A time like that predicted in +Scripture seemed to have come, when he who had no sword would sell his +garment to buy one. + +About ten A. M. the city council assembled and immediately +appropriated $500,000, to be expended under my direction as mayor, +for the purpose of putting the city in a complete state of defense +against any description of danger arising or which might arise out of +the present crisis. The banks of the city promptly held a meeting, and +a few hours afterward a committee appointed by them, consisting of +three bank presidents, Johns Hopkins, John Clark and Columbus +O'Donnell, all wealthy Union men, placed the whole sum in advance at +my disposal. Mr. Scharf, in his "History of Maryland," Volume 3, page +416, says, in a footnote, that this action of the city authorities was +endorsed by the editors of the _Sun_, _American_, _Exchange_, _German +Correspondent_, _Clipper_, _South_, etc. Other considerable sums were +contributed by individuals and firms without respect to party. + +On the same morning I received a dispatch from Messrs. Bond, Dobbin +and Brune, the committee who had gone to Washington, which said: "We +have seen the President and General Scott. We have from the former a +letter to the mayor and Governor declaring that no troops shall be +brought to Baltimore, if, in a military point of view and without +interruption from opposition, they can be marched around Baltimore." + +As the Governor had left Baltimore for Annapolis early in the morning, +I telegraphed him as follows: + + "BALTIMORE, _April 20, 1861_. + + "_To Governor Hicks._ + + "Letter from President and General Scott. No troops to pass + through Baltimore if as a military force they can march around. I + will answer that every effort will be made to prevent parties + leaving the city to molest them, but cannot guarantee against + acts of individuals not organized. Do you approve? + + GEO. WM. BROWN." + +This telegram was based on that from Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune. +The letter referred to had not been received when my telegram to +Governor Hicks was dispatched. I was mistaken in supposing that +General Scott had signed the letter as well as the President. + +President Lincoln's letter was as follows: + + "WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1861_. + + "_Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown._ + + "_Gentlemen_:--Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune 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 + 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 government. + + "Your obedient servant, + + A. LINCOLN." + +Governor Hicks replied as follows to my telegram: + + "ANNAPOLIS, _April 20, 1861_. + + "_To the Mayor of Baltimore._ + + "Your dispatch received. I hoped they would send no more troops + through Maryland, but as we have no right to demand that, I am + glad no more are to be sent through Baltimore. I know you will do + all in your power to preserve the peace. + + THOS. H. HICKS." + +I then telegraphed to the President as follows: + + "BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, _April 20, 1861_. + + "_To President Lincoln._ + + "Every effort will be made to prevent parties leaving the city to + molest troops marching to Washington. Baltimore seeks only to + protect herself. Governor Hicks has gone to Annapolis, but I have + telegraphed to him. + + "GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor of Baltimore_." + +After the receipt of the dispatch from Messrs. Bond, Dobbin and Brune, +another committee was sent to Washington, consisting of Messrs. +Anthony Kennedy, Senator of the United States, and J. Morrison Harris, +member of the House of Representatives, both Union men, who sent a +dispatch to me saying that they "had seen the President, Secretaries +of State, Treasury and War, and also General Scott. The result is the +transmission of orders that will stop the passage of troops through or +around the city." + +Preparations for the defense of the city were nevertheless continued. +With this object I issued a notice in which I said: "All citizens +having arms suitable for the defense of the city, and which they are +willing to contribute for the purpose, are requested to deposit them +at the office of the marshal of police." + +The board of police enrolled temporarily a considerable number of men +and placed them under the command of Colonel Isaac R. Trimble. He +informs me that the number amounted to more than fifteen thousand, +about three-fourths armed with muskets, shotguns and pistols. + +This gentleman was afterward a Major-General in the Confederate Army, +where he distinguished himself. He lost a leg at Gettysburg. + +By this means not only was the inadequate number of the police +supplemented, but many who would otherwise have been the disturbers of +the peace became its defenders. And, indeed, not a few of the men +enrolled, who thought and hoped that their enrollment meant war, were +disappointed to find that the prevention of war was the object of the +city authorities, and afterwards found their way into the Confederacy. + +For some days it looked very much as if Baltimore had taken her stand +decisively with the South; at all events, the outward expressions of +Southern feeling were very emphatic, and the Union sentiment +temporarily disappeared. + +Early on the morning of Saturday, the 20th, a large Confederate flag +floated from the headquarters of a States Rights club on Fayette +street near Calvert, and on the afternoon of the same day the Minute +Men, a Union club, whose headquarters were on Baltimore street, gave a +most significant indication of the strength of the wave of feeling +which swept over our people by hauling down the National colors and +running up in their stead the State flag of Maryland, amid the cheers +of the crowd.[12] Everywhere on the streets men and boys were wearing +badges which displayed miniature Confederate flags, and were cheering +the Southern cause. Military companies began to arrive from the +counties. On Saturday, first came a company of seventy men from +Frederick, under Captain Bradley T. Johnson, afterward General in the +Southern Army, and next two cavalry companies from Baltimore County, +and one from Anne Arundel County. These last, the Patapsco Dragoons, +some thirty men, a sturdy-looking body of yeomanry, rode straight to +the City Hall and drew up, expecting to be received with a speech of +welcome from the mayor. I made them a very brief address, and informed +them that dispatches received from Washington had postponed the +necessity for their services, whereupon they started homeward amid +cheers, their bugler striking up "Dixie," which was the first time I +heard that tune. A few days after, they came into Baltimore again. On +Sunday came in the Howard County Dragoons, and by steamboat that +morning two companies from Talbot County, and soon it was reported +that from Harford, Cecil, Carroll and Prince George's, companies were +on their way. All the city companies of uniformed militia were, of +course, under arms. Three batteries of light artillery were in the +streets, among them the light field-pieces belonging to the military +school at Catonsville, but these the reverend rector of the school, a +strong Union man, had thoughtfully spiked. + +[Footnote 12: Baltimore _American_, April 22.] + +The United States arsenal at Pikesville, at the time unoccupied, was +taken possession of by some Baltimore County troops. + +From the local columns of the _American_ of the 22d, a paper which was +strongly on the Union side, I take the following paragraph: + +"WAR SPIRIT ON SATURDAY. + +"The war spirit raged throughout the city and among all classes during +Saturday with an ardor which seemed to gather fresh force each +hour.... All were united in a determination to resist at every hazard +the passage of troops through Baltimore.... Armed men were marching +through the streets, and the military were moving about in every +direction, and it is evident that Baltimore is to be the battlefield +of the Southern revolution." + +And from the _American_ of Tuesday, 23d: + +"At the works of the Messrs. Winans their entire force is engaged in +the making of pikes, and in casting balls of every description for +cannon, the steam gun,[13] rifles, muskets, etc., which they are +turning out very rapidly." + +[Footnote 13: Winans's steam gun, a recently invented, and, it was +supposed, very formidable engine, was much talked about at this time. +It was not very long afterwards seized and confiscated by the military +authorities.] + +And a very significant paragraph from the _Sun_ of the same day: + +"Yesterday morning between 300 and 400 of our most respectable colored +residents made a tender of their services to the city authorities. +The mayor thanked them for their offer, and informed them that their +services will be called for if they can be made in any way available." + +Officers from Maryland in the United States Army were sending in their +resignations. Colonel (afterward General) Huger, of South Carolina, +who had recently resigned, and was in Baltimore at the time, was made +Colonel of the Fifty-third Regiment, composed of the Independent Greys +and the six companies of the Maryland Guard. + +On Monday morning, the 22d, I issued an order directing that all the +drinking-saloons should be closed that day, and the order was +enforced. + +On Saturday, April 20th, Captain John C. Robinson, now Major-General, +then in command at Fort McHenry, which stands at the entrance of the +harbor, wrote to Colonel L. Thomas, Adjutant-General of the United +States Army, that he would probably be attacked that night, but he +believed he could hold the fort. + +In the September number, for the year 1885, of _American History_ +there is an article written by General Robinson, entitled "Baltimore +in 1861," in which he speaks of the apprehended attack on the fort, +and of the conduct of the Baltimore authorities. + +He says that about nine o'clock on the evening of the 20th, Police +Commissioner Davis called at the fort, bringing a letter, dated eight +o'clock P. M. of the same evening, from Charles Howard, the president +of the board, which he quotes at length, and which states that, from +rumors that had reached the board, they were apprehensive that the +commander of the fort might be annoyed by lawless and disorderly +characters approaching the walls of the fort, and they proposed to +send a guard of perhaps two hundred men to station themselves on +Whetstone Point, of course beyond the outer limits of the fort, with +orders to arrest and hand over to the civil authorities any +evil-disposed and disorderly persons who might approach the fort. The +letter further stated that this duty would have been confided to the +police force, but their services were so imperatively required +elsewhere that it would be impossible to detail a sufficient number, +and this duty had therefore been entrusted to a detachment of the +regular organized militia of the State, then called out pursuant to +law, and actually in the service of the State. It was added that the +commanding officer of the detachment would be ordered to communicate +with Captain Robinson. The letter closed with repeating the assurance +verbally given to Captain Robinson in the morning that no disturbance +at or near the post should be made with the sanction of any of the +constituted authorities of the city of Baltimore; but, on the +contrary, all their powers should be exerted to prevent anything of +the kind by any parties. A postscript stated that there might perhaps +be a troop of volunteer cavalry with the detachment. + +General Robinson continues: + + "I did not question the good faith of Mr. Howard, but + Commissioner Davis verbally stated that they proposed to send the + Maryland Guards to help protect the fort. Having made the + acquaintance of some of the officers of that organization, and + heard them freely express their opinions, I declined the offered + support, and then the following conversation occurred: + + "_Commandant._ I am aware, sir, that we are to be attacked + to-night. I received notice of it before sundown. If you will go + outside with me you will see we are prepared for it. You will + find the guns loaded, and men standing by them. As for the + Maryland Guards, they cannot come here. I am acquainted with some + of those gentlemen, and know what their sentiments are. + + "_Commissioner Davis._ Why, Captain, we are anxious to avoid a + collision. + + "_Commandant._ So am I, sir. If you wish to avoid a collision, + place your city military anywhere between the city and that + chapel on the road, but if they come this side of it, I shall + fire on them. + + "_Commissioner Davis._ Would you fire into the city of Baltimore? + + "_Commandant._ I should be sorry to do it, sir, but if it becomes + necessary in order to hold this fort, I shall not hesitate for + one moment. + + "_Commissioner Davis_ (excitedly). I assure you, Captain + Robinson, if there is a woman or child killed in that city, there + will not be one of you left alive here, sir. + + "_Commandant._ Very well, sir, I will take the chances. Now, I + assure you, Mr. Davis, if your Baltimore mob comes down here + to-night, you will not have another mob in Baltimore for ten + years to come, sir." + +Mr. Davis is a well-known and respected citizen of Baltimore, who has +filled various important public offices with credit, and at present +holds a high position in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. +According to his recollection, the interview was more courteous and +less dramatic than would be supposed from the account given by General +Robinson. Mr. Davis says that the people of Baltimore were acquainted +with the defenseless condition of the fort, and that in the excited +state of the public mind this fact probably led to the apprehension +and consequent rumor that an attempt would be made to capture it. The +police authorities believed, and, as it turned out, correctly, that +the rumor was without foundation; yet, to avoid the danger of any +disturbance whatever, the precautions were taken which are described +in the letter of Mr. Howard, and Mr. Davis went in person to deliver +it to Captain Robinson. + +His interview was not, however, confined to Captain Robinson, but +included also other officers of the fort, and Mr. Davis was hospitably +received. A conversation ensued in regard to the threatened attack, +and, with one exception, was conducted without asperity. A junior +officer threatened, in case of an attack, to direct the fire of a +cannon on the Washington Monument, which stands in the heart of the +city, and to this threat Mr. Davis replied with heat, "If you do +that, and if a woman or child is killed, there will be nothing left of +you but your brass buttons to tell who you were." + +The commandant insisted that the military sent by the board should not +approach the fort nearer than the Roman Catholic chapel, a demand to +which Mr. Davis readily assented, as that situation commanded the only +approach from the city to the fort. In the midst of the conversation +the long roll was sounded, and the whole garrison rushed to arms. For +a long time, and until the alarm was over, Mr. Davis was left alone. + +General Robinson was mistaken in his conjecture, "when it seemed to +him that for hours of the night mounted men from the country were +crossing the bridges of the Patapsco." There was but one bridge over +the Patapsco, known as the Long Bridge, from which any sound of +passing horsemen or vehicles of any description could possibly have +been heard at the fort. The sounds which did reach the fort from the +Long Bridge during the hours of the night were probably the market +wagons of Anne Arundel County passing to and from the city on their +usual errand, and the one or two companies from that county, which +came to Baltimore during the period of disturbance, no doubt rode in +over the Long Bridge by daylight. + +General Robinson, after describing in his paper the riot of the 19th +of April and the unfortunate event of the killing of Mr. Davis, adds: +"It is impossible to describe the intense excitement that now +prevailed. Only those who saw and felt it can understand or conceive +any adequate idea of its extent"; and in this connection he mentions +the fact that Marshal Kane, chief of the police force, on the evening +of the 19th of April, telegraphed to Bradley T. Johnson, at +Frederick, as follows: "Streets red with Maryland blood; send +expresses over the mountains of Maryland and Virginia for the riflemen +to come without delay. Fresh hordes will be down on us to-morrow. We +will fight them and whip them, or die." + +The sending of this dispatch was indeed a startling event, creating a +new complication and embarrassing in the highest degree to the city +authorities. The marshal of police, who had gallantly and successfully +protected the national troops on the 18th and 19th, was so carried +away by the frenzy of the hour that he had thus on his own +responsibility summoned volunteers from Virginia and Maryland to +contest the passage of national troops through the city. Different +views were taken by members of the board of police. It was considered, +on the one hand, that the services of Colonel Kane were, in that +crisis, indispensable, because no one could control as he could the +secession element of the city, which was then in the ascendant and +might get control of the city, and, on the other, that his usefulness +had ceased, because not only had the gravest offense been given to the +Union sentiment of the city by this dispatch, but the authorities in +Washington, while he was at the head of the police, could no longer +have any confidence in the police, or perhaps in the board itself. The +former consideration prevailed. + +It is due to Marshal Kane to say that subsequently, and while he +remained in office, he performed his duty to the satisfaction of the +Board. Some years after the war was over he was elected sheriff, and +still later mayor of the city, and in both capacities he enjoyed the +respect and regard of the community. + +It may with propriety be added that the conservative position and +action of the police board were so unsatisfactory to many of the more +heated Southern partisans, that a scheme was at one time seriously +entertained by them to suppress the board, and transfer the control of +the police force to other hands. Happily for all parties, better +counsels prevailed. + +On Sunday, the 21st of April, with three prominent citizens of +Baltimore, I went to Washington, and we there had an interview with +the President and Cabinet and General Scott. This interview was of so +much importance, that a statement of what occurred was prepared on the +same day and was immediately published. It is here given at length: + + BALTIMORE, _April 21_. + + Mayor Brown received a dispatch from the President of the United + States at three o'clock A. M. (this morning), directed to himself + and Governor Hicks, requesting them to go to Washington by + special train, in order to consult with Mr. Lincoln for the + preservation of the peace of Maryland. The mayor replied that + Governor Hicks was not in the city, and inquired if he should go + alone. Receiving an answer by telegraph in the affirmative, his + Honor, accompanied by George W. Dobbin, John C. Brune and S. T. + Wallis, Esqs., whom he had summoned to attend him, proceeded at + once to the station. After a series of delays they were enabled + to procure a special train about half-past seven o'clock, in + which they arrived at Washington about ten. + + They repaired at once to the President's house, where they were + admitted to an immediate interview, to which the Cabinet and + General Scott were summoned. A long conversation and discussion + ensued. 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 asserted 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 President 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 Perryville to Annapolis, and thence by rail to + Washington, or by bringing them to the Relay House on the + Northern Central Railroad [about seven miles north of the city], + and marching them to the Relay House on the Washington Railroad + [about seven miles south-west of the city], and thence by rail to + the capital. If the people would permit them to go by either of + these 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 own 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 anything 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 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. + + On returning to the cars, and when just about to leave, about 2 + P. M., the Mayor received a dispatch from Mr. Garrett (the + President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) announcing the + approach of troops to Cockeysville [about fourteen miles from + Baltimore on the Northern Central Railroad], and the excitement + consequent upon it in the city. Mr. Brown and his companions + returned at once to the President and asked an immediate + audience, which was promptly given. The Mayor exhibited Mr. + Garrett's dispatch, which gave the President great surprise. He + immediately summoned the Secretary of War and General Scott, who + soon appeared with other members of the Cabinet. The dispatch was + submitted. The President at once, in the most decided way, urged + the recall of the troops, saying he had no idea they would be + there. Lest there should be the slightest suspicion of bad faith + on his part in summoning the Mayor to Washington and allowing + troops to march on the city during his absence, he desired that + the troops should, if it were practicable, be sent back at once + to York or Harrisburg. General Scott adopted the President's + views warmly, and an order was accordingly prepared by the + Lieutenant-General to that effect, and forwarded by Major Belger, + of the Army, who also accompanied the Mayor to this city. The + troops at Cockeysville, the Mayor was assured, were not brought + there for transit through the city, but were intended to be + marched to the Relay House on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. + They will proceed to Harrisburg, from there to Philadelphia, and + thence by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal or by Perryville, as + Major-General Patterson may direct. + + This statement is made by the authority of the Mayor and Messrs. + George W. Dobbin, John C. Brune and S. T. Wallis, who accompanied + Mr. Brown, and who concurred with him in all particulars in the + course adopted by him in the two interviews with Mr. Lincoln. + + GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor_. + +This statement was written by Mr. Wallis, at the request of his +associates, on the train, and was given to the public immediately on +their return to the city. + +In the course of the first conversation Mr. Simon Cameron called my +attention to the fact that an iron bridge on the Northern Central +Railway, which, he remarked, belonged to the city of Baltimore, had +been disabled by a skilled person so as to inflict little injury on +the bridge, and he desired to know by what authority this had been +done. Up to this time nothing had been said about the disabling of the +bridges. In reply I addressed myself to the President, and said, with +much earnestness, that the disabling of this bridge, and of the other +bridges, had been done by authority, as the reader has already been +told, and that it was a measure of protection on a sudden emergency, +designed to prevent bloodshed in the city of Baltimore, and not an act +of hostility towards the General Government; that the people of +Maryland had always been deeply attached to the Union, which had been +shown on all occasions, but that they, including the citizens of +Baltimore, regarded the proclamation calling for 75,000 troops as an +act of war on the South, and a violation of its constitutional rights, +and that it was not surprising that a high-spirited people, holding +such opinions, should resent the passage of Northern troops through +their city for such a purpose. + +Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved, and, springing up from his chair, +walked backward and forward through the apartment. He said, with great +feeling, "Mr. Brown, I am not a learned man! I am not a learned man!" +that his proclamation had not been correctly understood; that he had +no intention of bringing on war, but that his purpose was to defend +the capital, which was in danger of being bombarded from the heights +across the Potomac. + +I am giving here only a part of a frank and full conversation, in +which others present participated. + +The telegram of Mr. Garrett to me referred to in the preceding +statement is in the following words: "Three thousand Northern troops +are reported to be at Cockeysville. Intense excitement prevails. +Churches have been dismissed and the people are arming in mass. To +prevent terrific bloodshed, the result of your interview and +arrangement is awaited." + +To this the following reply to Mr. Garrett was made by me: "Your +telegram received on our return from an interview with the President, +Cabinet and General Scott. Be calm and do nothing until you hear from +me again. I return to see the President at once and will telegraph +again. Wallis, Brune and Dobbin are with me." + +Accordingly, after the second interview, the following dispatch was +sent by me to Mr. Garrett: "We have again seen the President, General +Scott, Secretary of War and other members of the Cabinet, and the +troops are ordered to return forthwith to Harrisburg. A messenger goes +with us from General Scott. We return immediately." + +Mr. Garrett's telegram was not exaggerated. It was a fearful day in +Baltimore. Women and children, and men, too, were wild with +excitement. A certainty of a fight in the streets if Northern troops +should enter was the pressing danger. Those who were arming in hot +haste to resist the passage of Northern troops little recked of the +fearful risk to which they were exposing themselves and all they held +dear. It was well for the city and State that the President had +decided as he did. When the President gave his deliberate decision +that the troops should pass around Baltimore and not through it, +General Scott, stern soldier as he sometimes was, said with emotion, +"Mr. President, I thank you for this, and God will bless you for it." + +From the depth of our hearts my colleagues and myself thanked both the +General and the President. + +The troops on the line of the Northern Central Railway--some 2400 men, +about half of them armed--did not receive their orders to return to +Pennsylvania until after several days. As they had expected to make +the journey to Washington by rail, they were naturally not well +equipped or supplied for camp life. I take the following from the +_Sun_ of April 23d: "By order of Marshal Kane, several wagon-loads of +bread and meat were sent to the camp of the Pennsylvania troops, it +being understood that a number were sick and suffering for proper food +and nourishment.... One of the Pennsylvanians died on Sunday and was +buried within the encampment. Two more died yesterday and a number of +others were on the sick list. The troops were deficient in food, +having nothing but crackers to feed upon." + +The Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, under command of General Butler, +was the next which passed through Maryland. It reached Perryville, on +the Susquehanna, by rail on the 20th, and there embarked on the +steamboat _Maryland_, arriving at Annapolis early on the morning of +the 21st. Governor Hicks addressed the General a note advising that he +should not land his men, on account of the great excitement there, and +stated that he had telegraphed to that effect to the Secretary of War. + +The Governor also wrote to the President, advising him to order +elsewhere the troops then off Annapolis, and to send no more through +Maryland, and added the surprising suggestion that Lord Lyons, the +British Minister, be requested to act as mediator between the +contending parties of the country. + +The troops, however, were landed without opposition. The railway from +Annapolis leading to the Washington road had, in some places, been +torn up, but it was promptly repaired by the soldiers, and by the 25th +an unobstructed route was opened through Annapolis to Washington. + +Horace Greeley, in his book called "The American Conflict," denounces +with characteristic vehemence and severity of language the proceedings +of the city authorities. He scouts "the demands" of the Mayor and his +associates, whom he designates as "Messrs. Brown & Co." He insists +that practically on the morning of the 20th of April Maryland was a +member of the Southern Confederacy, and that her Governor spoke and +acted the bidding of a cabal of the ablest and most envenomed +traitors. + +It is true that the city then, and for days afterwards, was in an +anomalous condition, which may be best described as one of "armed +neutrality"; but it is not true that in any sense it was, on the 20th +of April, or at any other time, a member of the Southern Confederacy. +On the contrary, while many, especially among the young and reckless, +were doing their utmost to place it in that position, regardless of +consequences, and would, if they could, have forced the hands of the +city authorities, it was their conduct which prevented such a +catastrophe. Temporizing and delay were necessary. As soon as passions +had time to cool, a strong reaction set in and the people rapidly +divided into two parties--one on the side of the North, and the other +on the side of the South; but whatever might be their personal or +political sympathies, it was clear to all who had not lost their +reason that Maryland, which lay open from the North by both land and +sea, would be kept in the Union for the sake of the national capital, +even if it required the united power of the nation to accomplish the +object. The telegraph wires on the lines leading to the North had been +cut, and for some days the city was without regular telegraphic +connection. For a longer time the mails were interrupted and travel +was stopped. The buoys in the harbor were temporarily removed. The +business interests of the city of course suffered under these +interruptions, and would be paralyzed if such isolation were to +continue, and the merchants soon began to demand that the channels of +trade should be reopened to the north and east. + +The immediate duty of the city authorities was to keep the peace and +protect the city, and, without going into details or discussing the +conduct of individuals, I shall leave others to speak of the manner in +which it was performed. + +Colonel Scharf, in his "History of Maryland," Volume III, p. 415, sums +up the matter as follows: "In such a period of intense excitement, +many foolish and unnecessary acts were undoubtedly done by persons in +the employment of the city, as well as by private individuals, but it +is undoubtedly true that the Mayor and board of police commissioners +were inflexibly determined to resist all attempts to force the city +into secession or into acts of hostility to the Federal Government, +and that they successfully accomplished their purpose. If they had +been otherwise disposed, they could easily have effected their +object." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. -- REPORT OF THE BOARD OF + POLICE. -- SUPPRESSION OF THE FLAGS. -- ON THE 5th OF MAY, + GENERAL BUTLER TAKES POSITION SEVEN MILES FROM BALTIMORE. -- ON + THE 13TH OF MAY, HE ENTERS BALTIMORE AND FORTIFIES FEDERAL HILL. + -- THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY WILL TAKE NO STEPS TOWARDS SECESSION. -- + MANY YOUNG MEN JOIN THE ARMY OF THE CONFEDERACY. + + +On the 22d of April, Governor Hicks convened the General Assembly of +the State, to meet in special session at Annapolis on the 26th, to +deliberate and consider of the condition of the State, and to take +such measures as in their wisdom they might deem fit to maintain peace +and order and security within its limits. + +On the 24th of April, "in consequence of the extraordinary state of +affairs," Governor Hicks changed the meeting of the Assembly to +Frederick. The candidates for the House of Delegates for the city of +Baltimore, who had been returned as elected to the General Assembly in +1859, had been refused their seats, as previously stated, and a new +election in the city had therefore become necessary to fill the +vacancy. + +A special election for that purpose was accordingly held in the city +on the 24th instant. Only a States Rights ticket was presented, for +which nine thousand two hundred and forty-four votes were cast. The +candidates elected were: John C. Brune, Ross Winans, Henry M. +Warfield, J. Hanson Thomas, T. Parkin Scott, H. M. Morfit, S. Teackle +Wallis, Charles H. Pitts, William G. Harrison and Lawrence Sangston, +well-known and respected citizens, and the majority of them nominated +because of their known conservatism and declared opposition to violent +measures. + +This General Assembly, which contained men of unusual weight and force +of character, will ever remain memorable in Maryland for the courage +and ability with which it maintained the constitutional rights of the +State. + +On the 3d of May, the board of police made a report of its proceedings +to the Legislature of the State, signed by Charles Howard, President. +After speaking of the disabling of the railroads, it concludes as +follows: + + "The absolute necessity of the measures thus determined upon by + the Governor, Mayor and Police Board, is fully illustrated by the + fact that early on Sunday morning reliable information reached + the city of the presence of a large body of Pennsylvania troops, + amounting to about twenty-four hundred men, who had reached + Ashland, near Cockeysville, by the way of the Northern Central + Railroad, and was stopped in their progress towards Baltimore by + the partial destruction of the Ashland bridge. Every intelligent + citizen at all acquainted with the state of feeling then + existing, must be satisfied that if these troops had attempted to + march through the city, an immense loss of life would have ensued + in the conflict which would necessarily have taken place. The + bitter feelings already engendered would have been intensely + increased by such a conflict; all attempts at conciliation would + have been vain, and terrible destruction would have been the + consequence, if, as is certain, other bodies of troops had + insisted on forcing their way through the city. + + "The tone of the whole Northern press and the mass of the + population was violent in the extreme. Incursions upon our city + were daily threatened, not only by troops in the service of the + Federal Government, but by the vilest and most reckless + desperadoes, acting independently, and, as they threatened, in + despite of the Government, backed by well-known influential + citizens, and sworn to the commission of all kinds of excesses. + In short, every possible effort was made to alarm this community. + In this condition of things the Board felt it to be their solemn + duty to continue the organization which had already been + commenced, for the purpose of assuring the people of Baltimore + that no effort would be spared to protect all within its borders, + to the extent of their ability. All the means employed were + devoted to this end, and with no view of producing a collision + with the General Government, which the Board were particularly + anxious to avoid, and an arrangement was happily effected by the + Mayor with the General Government that no troops should be passed + through the city. As an evidence of the determination of the + Board to prevent such collision, a sufficient guard was sent in + the neighborhood of Fort McHenry several nights to arrest all + parties who might be engaged in a threatened attack upon it, and + a steam-tug was employed, properly manned, to prevent any hostile + demonstration upon the receiving-ship _Alleghany_, lying at + anchor in the harbor, of all which the United States officers in + command were duly notified. + + "Property of various descriptions belonging to the Government and + individuals was taken possession of by the police force with a + view to its security. The best care has been taken of it. Every + effort has been made to discover the rightful owners, and a + portion of it has already been forwarded to order. Arrangements + have been made with the Government agents satisfactory to them + for the portion belonging to it, and the balance is held subject + to the order of its owners. + + "Amidst all the excitement and confusion which has since + prevailed, the Board take great pleasure in stating that the good + order and peace of the city have been preserved to an + extraordinary degree. Indeed, to judge from the accounts given by + the press of other cities of what has been the state of things in + their own communities, Baltimore, during the whole of the past + week and up to this date, will compare favorably, as to the + protection which persons and property have enjoyed, with any + other large city in the United States." + +Much has been said in regard to the suppression of the national flag +in Baltimore during the disturbances, and it is proper that the facts +should here be stated. + +General Robinson, in his description of the occurrences which took +place after the 19th of April, says that meetings were held under the +flag of the State of Maryland, at which the speeches were inflammatory +secession harangues, and that the national flag disappeared, and no +man dared to display it. Whether or not this statement exactly +represents the condition of things, it at least approximates it, and +on the 26th of April, an order was issued by the board of police +reciting that the peace of the city was likely to be disturbed by the +display of various flags, and directing that no flag of any +description should be raised or carried through the streets. On April +29th, the city council passed an ordinance, signed by the Mayor, +authorizing him, when in his opinion the peace of the city required +it, to prohibit by proclamation for a limited period, to be designated +by him, the public display of all flags or banners in the city of +Baltimore, except on buildings or vessels occupied or employed by the +Government of the United States. On the same day I, in pursuance of +the ordinance, issued a proclamation prohibiting the display of flags +for thirty days, with the exception stated in the ordinance, and on +the 10th of May, when I was satisfied that all danger was over, I +issued a proclamation removing the prohibition. The only violation of +the order which came under my notice during the period of suppression +was on the part of a military company which had the Maryland flag +flying at its headquarters, on Lexington street near the City Hall. On +my directing this flag to be taken down, the request was at once +complied with. + +General Robinson says that "the first demonstration of returning +loyalty was on the 28th day of April, when a sailing vessel came down +the river crowded with men, and covered from stem to stern with +national flags. She sailed past the fort, cheered and saluted our +flag, which was dipped in return, after which she returned to the +city." He then adds: "The tide had turned. Union men avowed +themselves, the stars and stripes were again unfurled, and order was +restored. Although after this time arrests were made of persons +conspicuous for disloyalty, the return to reason was almost as sudden +as the outbreak of rebellion. The railroads were repaired, trains ran +regularly, and troops poured into Washington without hindrance or +opposition of any sort. Thousands of men volunteered for the Union +Army. Four regiments of Maryland troops afterwards served with me, and +constituted the Third Brigade of my division. They fought gallantly +the battles of the Union, and no braver soldiers ever marched under +the flag." + +The tide indeed soon turned, but not quite so rapidly as this +statement seems to indicate. On the 5th of May, General Butler, with +two regiments and a battery of artillery, came from Washington and +took possession of the Relay House on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad +at the junction of the Washington branch, about seven miles from +Baltimore, and fortified the position. One of his first proceedings +was highly characteristic. He issued a special order declaring that he +had found well-authenticated evidence that one of his soldiers had +"been poisoned by means of strychnine administered in the food brought +into the camp," and he warned the people of Maryland that he could +"put an agent, with a word, into every household armed with this +terrible weapon." This statement sent a thrill of horror through the +North, and the accompanying threat of course excited the indignation +and disgust of our people. The case was carefully examined by the city +physician, and it turned out that the man had an ordinary attack of +cholera morbus, the consequence of imprudent diet and camp life, but +the General never thought proper to correct the slander. + +On the evening of the 11th of May, General Butler being then at +Annapolis, I received a note from Edward G. Parker, his aide-de-camp, +stating that he had received intimations from many sources that an +attack by the Baltimore roughs was intended that night; that these +rumors had been confirmed by a gentleman from Baltimore, who gave his +name and residence; that the attack would be made by more than a +thousand men, every one sworn to kill a man; that they were coming in +wagons, on horses and on foot, and that a considerable force from the +west, probably the Point of Rocks in Maryland, was also expected, and +I was requested to guard every avenue from the city, so as to prevent +the Baltimore rioters from leaving town. + +Out of respect to the source from which the application came, I +immediately sent for the marshal of police, and requested him to throw +out bodies of his men so as to guard every avenue leading to the Relay +House. No enemy, however, appeared. The threatened attack proved to be +merely a groundless alarm, as I knew from the beginning it was. + +On the night of the 13th of May, when the city was as peaceful as it +is to-day, General Butler, in the midst of a thunderstorm of unusual +violence, entered Baltimore and took possession of Federal Hill, which +overlooks the harbor and commands the city, and which he immediately +proceeded to fortify. There was nobody to oppose him, and nobody +thought of doing so; but, for this exploit, which he regarded as the +capture of Baltimore, he was made a Major-General. He immediately +issued a proclamation, as if he were in a conquered city subject to +military law. + +Meantime, on the 26th of April, the General Assembly of the State had +met at Frederick. "As soon as the General Assembly met" (Scharf's +History of Maryland, Vol. III, p. 444), "the Hon. James M. Mason, +formerly United States Senator from Virginia, waited on it as +commissioner from that State, authorized to negotiate a treaty of +alliance offensive and defensive with Maryland on her behalf." This +proposition met with no acceptance. On the 27th, the Senate, by a +unanimous vote, issued an address for the purpose of allaying the +apprehensions of the people, declaring that it had no constitutional +authority to take any action leading to secession, and on the next day +the House of Delegates, by a vote of 53 to 12, made a similar +declaration. Early in May, the General Assembly, by a vote in the +House of 43 to 12, and in the Senate of 11 to 3, passed a series of +resolutions proclaiming its position in the existing crisis. + +The resolutions protested against the war as unjust and +unconstitutional, and announced a determination to take no part in its +prosecution. They expressed a desire for the immediate recognition of +the Confederate States; and while they protested against the military +occupation of the State, and the arbitrary restrictions and +illegalities with which it was attended, they called on all good +citizens to abstain from violent and unlawful interference with the +troops, and patiently and peacefully to leave to time and reason the +ultimate and certain re-establishment and vindication of the right; +and they declared it to be at that time inexpedient to call a +Sovereign Convention of the State, or to take any measures for the +immediate organization or arming of the militia. + +After it became plain that no movement would be made towards +secession, a large number of young men, including not a few of the +flower of the State, and representing largely the more wealthy and +prominent families, escaped across the border and entered the ranks of +the Confederacy. The number has been estimated at as many as twenty +thousand, but this, perhaps, is too large a figure, and there are no +means of ascertaining the truth. The muster-rolls have perished with +the Confederacy. The great body of those who sympathized with the +South had no disposition to take arms against the Union so long as +Maryland remained a member of it. This was subsequently proved by +their failure to enlist in the Southern armies on the different +occasions in 1862, 1863 and 1864 when they crossed the Potomac and +transferred the seat of war to Maryland and Pennsylvania, under the +command twice of General Lee and once of General Early. + +The first of these campaigns ended in the bloody battle of Antietam. +The Maryland men, as a tribute to their good conduct, were placed at +the head of the army, and crossed the river with enthusiasm, the band +playing and the soldiers singing "My Maryland." Great was their +disappointment that the recruits did not even suffice to fill the gaps +in their shattered ranks. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY AND THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS. -- A UNION + CONVENTION. -- CONSEQUENCE OF THE SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT. -- + INCIDENTS OF THE WAR. -- THE WOMEN IN THE WAR. + + +The suspension of the writ of _habeas corpus_, by order of the +President, without the sanction of an Act of Congress, which had not +then been given, was one of the memorable events of the war. + +On the 4th of May, 1861, Judge Giles, of the United States District +Court of Maryland, issued a writ of _habeas corpus_ to Major Morris, +then in command of Fort McHenry, to discharge a soldier who was under +age. Major Morris refused to obey the writ. + +On the 14th of May the General Assembly adjourned, and Mr. Ross +Winans, of Baltimore, a member of the House of Delegates, while +returning to his home, was arrested by General Butler on a charge of +high treason. He was conveyed to Annapolis, and subsequently to Fort +McHenry, and was soon afterwards released. + +A case of the highest importance next followed. On the 25th of May, +Mr. John Merryman, of Baltimore County, was arrested by order of +General Keim, of Pennsylvania, and confined in Fort McHenry. The next +day (Sunday, May 26th) his counsel, Messrs. George M. Gill and George +H. Williams, presented a petition for the writ of _habeas corpus_ to +Chief Justice Taney, who issued the writ immediately, directed to +General Cadwallader, then in command in Maryland, ordering him to +produce the body of Merryman in court on the following day (Monday, +May 27th). On that day Colonel Lee, his aide-de-camp, came into court +with a letter from General Cadwallader, directed to the Chief Justice, +stating that Mr. Merryman had been arrested on charges of high +treason, and that he (the General) was authorized by the President of +the United States in such cases to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_ +for the public safety. Judge Taney asked Colonel Lee if he had brought +with him the body of John Merryman. Colonel Lee replied that he had no +instructions except to deliver the letter. + + _Chief Justice._--The commanding officer, then, declines to obey + the writ? + + _Colonel Lee._--After making that communication my duty is ended, + and I have no further power (rising and retiring). + + _Chief Justice._--The Court orders an attachment to issue against + George Cadwallader for disobedience to the high writ of the + Court, returnable at twelve o'clock to-morrow. + +The order was accordingly issued as directed. + +A startling issue was thus presented. The venerable Chief Justice had +come from Washington to Baltimore for the purpose of issuing a writ of +_habeas corpus_, and the President had thereupon authorized the +commander of the fort to hold the prisoner and disregard the writ. + +A more important occasion could hardly have occurred. Where did the +President of the United States acquire such a power? Was it true that +a citizen held his liberty subject to the arbitrary will of any man? +In what part of the Constitution could such a power be found? Why had +it never been discovered before? What precedent existed for such an +act? + +Judge Taney was greatly venerated in Baltimore, where he had formerly +lived. The case created a profound sensation. + +On the next morning the Chief Justice, leaning on the arm of his +grandson, walked slowly through the crowd which had gathered in front +of the court-house, and the crowd silently and with lifted hats opened +the way for him to pass. + +Roger B. Taney was one of the most self-controlled and courageous of +judges. He took his seat with his usual quiet dignity. He called the +case of John Merryman and asked the marshal for his return to the writ +of attachment. The return stated that he had gone to Fort McHenry for +the purpose of serving the writ on General Cadwallader; that he had +sent in his name at the outer gate; that the messenger had returned +with the reply that there was no answer to send; that he was not +permitted to enter the gate, and, therefore, could not serve the writ, +as he was commanded to do. + +The Chief Justice then read from his manuscript as follows: + + I ordered the attachment of yesterday because upon the face of + the return the detention of the prisoner was unlawful upon two + grounds: + + 1st. The President, under the Constitution and laws of the United + States, cannot suspend the privilege of the writ of _habeas + corpus_, nor authorize any military officer to do so. + + 2d. A military officer has no right to arrest and detain a person + not subject to the rules and articles of war, for an offense + against the laws of the United States, except in aid of the + judicial authority and subject to its control; and if the party + is arrested by the military, it is the duty of the officer to + deliver him over immediately to the civil authority, to be dealt + with according to law. + + I forbore yesterday to state the provisions of the Constitution + of the United States which make these principles the fundamental + law of the Union, because an oral statement might be + misunderstood in some portions of it, and I shall therefore put + my opinion in writing, and file it in the office of the clerk of + this court, in the course of this week. + +The Chief Justice then orally remarked: + + In relation to the present return, it is proper to say that of + course the marshal has legally the power to summon the _posse + comitatus_ to seize and bring into court the party named in the + attachment; but it is apparent he will be resisted in the + discharge of that duty by a force notoriously superior to the + _posse_, and, this being the case, such a proceeding can result + in no good, and is useless. I will not, therefore, require the + marshal to perform this duty. If, however, General Cadwallader + were before me, I should impose on him the punishment which it is + my province to inflict--that of fine and imprisonment. I shall + merely say, to-day, that I shall reduce to writing the reasons + under which I have acted, and which have led me to the + conclusions expressed in my opinion, and shall direct the clerk + to forward them with these proceedings to the President, so that + he may discharge his constitutional duty "to take care that the + laws are faithfully executed." + +It is due to my readers that they should have an opportunity of +reading this opinion, and it is accordingly inserted in an Appendix. + +After the court had adjourned, I went up to the bench and thanked +Judge Taney for thus upholding, in its integrity, the writ of _habeas +corpus_. He replied, "Mr. Brown, I am an old man, a very old man" (he +had completed his eighty-fourth year), "but perhaps I was preserved +for this occasion." I replied, "Sir, I thank God that you were." + +He then told me that he knew that his own imprisonment had been a +matter of consultation, but that the danger had passed, and he warned +me, from information he had received, that my time would come. + +The charges against Merryman were discovered to be unfounded and he +was soon discharged by military authority. + +The nation is now tired of war, and rests in the enjoyment of a +harmony which has not been equalled since the days of James Monroe. +When Judge Taney rendered this decision the Constitution was only +seventy-two years old--twelve years younger than himself. It is now +less than one hundred years old--a short period in a nation's +life--and yet during that period there have been serious +commotions--two foreign wars and a civil war. In the future, as in the +past, offenses will come, and hostile parties and factions will arise, +and the men who wield power will, if they dare, shut up in fort or +prison, without reach of relief, those whom they regard as dangerous +enemies. When that period arrives, then will those who wisely love +their country thank the great Chief Justice, as I did, for his +unflinching defense of _habeas corpus_, the supreme writ of right, and +the corner-stone of personal liberty among all English-speaking +people. + +In the Life of Benjamin R. Curtis, Vol. I, p. 240, his biographer +says, speaking of Chief Justice Taney, with reference to the case of +Merryman, "If he had never done anything else that was high, heroic +and important, his noble vindication of the writ of _habeas corpus_ +and the dignity and authority of his office against a rash minister of +State, who, in the pride of a fancied executive power, came near to +the commission of a great crime, will command the admiration and +gratitude of every lover of constitutional liberty so long as our +institutions shall endure." The crime referred to was the intended +imprisonment of the Chief Justice. + +Although this crime was not committed, a criminal precedent had been +set and was ruthlessly followed. "My lord," said Mr. Seward to Lord +Lyons, "I can touch a bell on my right hand and order the imprisonment +of a citizen of Ohio; I can touch a bell again and order the +imprisonment of a citizen of New York; and no power on earth, except +that of the President, can release them. Can the Queen of England do +so much?" When such a power is wielded by any man, or set of men, +nothing is left to protect the liberty of the citizen. + +On the 24th of May, a Union Convention, consisting of fourteen +counties of the State, including the city of Baltimore, and leaving +eight unrepresented, met in the city. The counties not represented +were Washington, Montgomery, Prince George, Charles, St. Mary's, +Dorchester, Somerset, and Worcester. The number of members does not +appear to have been large, but it included the names of gentlemen well +known and highly respected. The Convention adopted Resolutions which +declared, among other things, that the revolution on the part of +eleven States was without excuse or palliation, and that the redress +of actual or supposed wrongs in connection with the slavery question +formed no part of their views or purposes; that the people of this +State were unalterably determined to defend the Government of the +United States, and would support the Government in all legal and +constitutional measures which might be necessary to resist the +revolutionists; that the intimations made by the majority of the +Legislature at its late session--that the people were humiliated or +subjugated by the action of the Government--were gratuitous insults to +that people; that the dignity of the State of Maryland, involved in a +precise, persistent and effective recognition of all her rights, +privileges and immunities under the Constitution of the United States, +will be vindicated at all times and under all circumstances by those +of her sons who are sincere in their fealty to her and the Government +of the Union of which she is part, and to popular constitutional +liberty; that while they concurred with the present Executive of the +United States that the unity and integrity of the National Union must +be preserved, their view of the nature and true principles of the +Constitution, of the powers which it confers, and of the duties which +it enjoins, and the rights which it secures, as it relates to and +affects the question of slavery in many of the essential bearings, is +directly opposed to the views of the Executive; that they are fixed in +their conviction, amongst others, that a just comprehension of the +true principles of the Constitution forbid utterly the formation of +political parties on the foundation of the slavery question, and that +the Union men will oppose to the utmost of their ability all attempts +of the Federal Executive to commingle in any manner its peculiar views +on the slavery question with that of maintaining the just powers of +the Government. + +These resolutions are important as showing the stand taken by a large +portion of the Union party of the State in regard to any interference, +as the result of the war or otherwise, by the General Government with +the provisions of the Constitution with regard to slavery. + +After the writ of _habeas corpus_ had been thus suspended, martial +law, as a consequence, rapidly became all-powerful, and it continued +in force during the war. That law is by Judge Black, in his argument +before the Supreme Court in the case of _ex parte_ Milligan,[14] shown +to be simply the rule of irresponsible force. Law becomes helpless +before it. _Inter arma silent leges._ + +[Footnote 14: 4 Wallace Sup. Court R. 2.] + +On May 25, 1862, Judge Carmichael, an honored magistrate, while +sitting in his court in Easton, was, by the provost marshal and his +deputies, assisted by a body of military sent from Baltimore, beaten, +and dragged bleeding from the bench, and then imprisoned, because he +had on a previous occasion delivered a charge to the grand jury +directing them to inquire into certain illegal acts and to indict the +offenders. His imprisonment in Forts McHenry, Lafayette, and Delaware, +lasted more than six months. On December 4, 1862, he was +unconditionally released, no trial having been granted him, nor any +charges made against him. On June 28, 1862, Judge Bartol, of the Court +of Appeals of Maryland, was arrested and confined in Fort McHenry. He +was released after a few days, without any charge being preferred +against him, or any explanation given. + +Spies and informers abounded. A rigid supervision was established. +Disloyalty, so called, of any kind was a punishable offense. Rebel +colors, the red and white, were prohibited. They were not allowed to +appear in shop-windows or on children's garments, or anywhere that +might offend the Union sentiment. If a newspaper promulgated disloyal +sentiments, the paper was suppressed and the editor imprisoned. If a +clergyman was disloyal in prayer or sermon, or if he failed to utter a +prescribed prayer, he was liable to be treated in the same manner, and +was sometimes so treated. A learned and eloquent Lutheran clergyman +came to me for advice because he had been summoned before the provost +marshal for saying that a nation which incurred a heavy debt in the +prosecution of war laid violent hands on the harvests of the future; +but his offense was condoned, because it appeared that he had referred +to the "Thirty Years' War" and had made no direct reference to the +debt of the United States, and perhaps for a better reason--that he +had strong Republican friends among his congregation. + +If horses and fodder, fences and timber, or houses and land, were +taken for the use of the Army, the owner was not entitled to +compensation unless he could prove that he was a loyal man; and the +proof was required to be furnished through some well-known loyal +person, who, of course, was usually paid for his services. Very soon +no one was allowed to vote unless he was a loyal man, and soldiers at +the polls assisted in settling the question of loyalty. + +Nearly all who approved of the war regarded these things as an +inevitable military necessity; but those who disapproved deeply +resented them as unwarrantable violations of sacred constitutional +rights. The consequence was that friendships were dissolved, the ties +of blood severed, and an invisible but well-understood line divided +the people. The bitterness and even the common mention of these acts +have long since ceased, but the tradition survives and still continues +to be a factor, silent, but not without influence, in the politics of +the State. + +History repeats itself. There were deeds done on both sides which +bring to mind the wars of England and Scotland and the border strife +between those countries. There were flittings to and fro, and +adventures and hairbreadth escapes innumerable. Soldiers returned to +visit their homes at the risk of their necks. Contraband of every +description, and letters and newspapers, found their way across the +border. The military lines were long and tortuous, and vulnerable +points were not hard to find, and trusty carriers were ready to go +anywhere for the love of adventure or the love of gain. + +The women were as deeply interested as the men, and were less +apprehensive of personal consequences. In different parts of the city, +not excepting its stateliest square, where stands the marble column +from which the father of his country looked down, sadly as it were, on +a divided people, there might have been found, by the initiated, +groups of women who, with swift and skillful fingers, were fashioning +and making garments strangely various in shape and kind--some for +Northern prisons where captives were confined, some for destitute +homes beyond the Southern border, in which only women and children +were left, and some for Southern camps where ragged soldiers were +waiting to be clad. The work was carried on not without its risks; +but little cared the workers for that. Perhaps the sensation of danger +itself, and a spirit of resistance to an authority which they refused +to recognize, gave zest to their toil; nor did they always think it +necessary to inform the good man of the house in which they were +assembled either of their presence or of what was going on beneath his +roof. + +The women who stood by the cause of the Union were not compelled to +hide their charitable deeds from the light of day. No need for them to +feed and clothe the soldiers of the Union, whose wants were amply +supplied by a bountiful Government; but with untiring zeal they +visited the military hospitals on missions of mercy, and when the +bloody fields of Antietam and Gettysburg were fought, both they and +their Southern sisters hastened, though not with a common purpose, to +the aid of the wounded and dying, the victims of civil strife and +children of a common country. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + GENERAL BANKS IN COMMAND. -- MARSHAL KANE ARRESTED. -- POLICE + COMMISSIONERS SUPERSEDED. -- RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE GENERAL + ASSEMBLY. -- POLICE COMMISSIONERS ARRESTED. -- MEMORIAL ADDRESSED + BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL TO CONGRESS. -- GENERAL DIX IN + COMMAND. -- ARREST OF MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE MAYOR + AND OTHERS. -- RELEASE OF PRISONERS. -- COLONEL DIMICK. + + +On the 10th of June, 1861, Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks, of +Massachusetts, was appointed in the place of General Cadwallader to +the command of the Department of Annapolis, with headquarters at +Baltimore. On the 27th of June, General Banks arrested Marshal Kane +and confined him in Fort McHenry. He then issued a proclamation +announcing that he had superseded Marshal Kane and the commissioners +of police, and that he had appointed Colonel John R. Kenly, of the +First Regiment of Maryland Volunteers, provost marshal, with the aid +and assistance of the subordinate officers of the police department. + +The police commissioners, including the mayor, offered no resistance, +but adopted and published a resolution declaring that, in the opinion +of the board, the forcible suspension of their functions suspended at +the same time the active operation of the police law and put the +officers and men off duty for the present, leaving them subject, +however, to the rules and regulations of the service as to their +personal conduct and deportment, and to the orders which the board +might see fit thereafter to issue, when the present illegal +suspension of their functions should be removed. + +The Legislature of Maryland, at its adjourned session on the 22d of +June, passed a series of resolutions declaring that the +unconstitutional and arbitrary proceedings of the Federal Executive +had not been confined to the violation of the personal rights and +liberties of the citizens of Maryland, but had been so extended that +the property of no man was safe, the sanctity of no dwelling was +respected, and that the sacredness of private correspondence no longer +existed; that the Senate and House of Delegates of Maryland felt it +due to her dignity and independence that history should not record the +overthrow of public freedom for an instant within her borders, without +recording likewise the indignant expression of her resentment and +remonstrance, and they accordingly protested against the oppressive +and tyrannical assertion and exercise of military jurisdiction within +the limits of Maryland over the persons and property of her citizens +by the Government of the United States, and solemnly declared the same +to be subversive of the most sacred guarantees of the Constitution, +and in flagrant violation of the fundamental and most cherished +principles of American free government. + +On the first of July, the police commissioners were arrested and +imprisoned by order of General Banks, on the ground, as he alleged in +a proclamation, that the commissioners had refused to obey his +decrees, or to recognize his appointees, and that they continued to +hold the police force for some purpose not known to the Government. + +General Banks does not say what authority he had to make decrees, or +what the decrees were which the commissioners had refused to obey; and +as on the 27th of June he had imprisoned the marshal of police, and +had put a provost marshal in his place, retaining only the subordinate +officers of the police department, and had appointed instead of the +men another body of police, all under the control of the provost +marshal; and as the commissioners had no right to discharge the police +force established by a law of the State, and were left with no duties +in relation to the police which they could perform, it is very plain +that, whatever motive General Banks may have had for the arrest and +imprisonment of the commissioners, it is not stated in his +proclamation. + +One of the commissioners, Charles D. Hinks, was soon released in +consequence of failing health. + +On the day of the arrest of the police commissioners the city was +occupied by troops, who in large detachments, infantry and artillery, +took up positions in Monument Square, Exchange Place, at Camden-street +Station and other points, and they mounted guard and bivouacked in the +streets for more than a week. + +On July 18th, the police commissioners presented to Congress a +memorial in which they protested very vigorously against their +unlawful arrest and imprisonment. + +On the 23d day of July, 1861, the mayor and city council of Baltimore +addressed a memorial to the Senate and House of Representatives of the +United States, in which, after describing the condition of affairs in +Baltimore, they respectfully, yet most earnestly, demanded, as matter +of right, that their city might be governed according to the +Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of +Maryland, that the citizens might be secure in their persons, houses, +papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures; that +they should not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due +process of law; that the military should render obedience to the +civil authority; that the municipal laws should be respected, the +officers released from imprisonment and restored to the lawful +exercise of their functions, and that the police government +established by law should be no longer impeded by armed force to the +injury of peace and order. It is perhaps needless to add that the +memorial met with no favor. + +On the 7th of August, 1861, the Legislature of the State, in a series +of resolutions, denounced these proceedings in all their parts, +pronouncing them, so far as they affected individuals, a gross and +unconstitutional abuse of power which nothing could palliate or +excuse, and, in their bearing upon the authority and constitutional +powers and privileges of the State herself, a revolutionary subversion +of the Federal compact. + +The Legislature then adjourned, to meet on the 17th of September. + +On the 24th of July, 1861, General Dix had been placed in command of +the Department, with his headquarters in Baltimore. On that day he +wrote from Fort McHenry to the Assistant Adjutant-General for +re-enforcement of the troops under his command. He said that there +ought to be ten thousand men at Baltimore and Annapolis, and that he +could not venture to respond for the quietude of the Department with a +smaller number. At Fort McHenry, as told by his biographer, he +exhibited to some ladies of secession proclivities an immense +columbiad, and informed them that it was pointed to Monument Square, +and if there was an uprising that this piece would be the first he +would fire. But the guns of Fort McHenry were not sufficient. He built +on the east of the city a very strong work, which he called Fort +Marshall, and he strengthened the earthwork on Federal Hill, in the +southern part, so that the city lay under the guns of three powerful +forts, with several smaller ones. Not satisfied with this, on the 15th +of September, 1862, General Dix, after he had been transferred to +another department, wrote to Major-General Halleck, then +Commander-in-Chief, advising that the ground on which the earthwork on +Federal Hill had been erected should be purchased at a cost of one +hundred thousand dollars, and that it should be permanently fortified +at an additional expense of $250,000. He was of opinion that although +the great body of the people were, as he described them, eminently +distinguished for their moral virtues, Baltimore had always contained +a mass of inflammable material, which would ignite on the slightest +provocation. He added that "Fort Federal Hill completely commanded the +city, and is capable, from its proximity to the principal business +quarters, of assailing any one without injury to the others. The hill +seems to have been placed there by Nature as a site for a permanent +citadel, and I beg to suggest whether a neglect to appropriate it to +its obvious design would not be an unpardonable dereliction of duty." + +These views were perhaps extreme even for a major-general commanding +in Baltimore, especially as by this time the disorderly element which +infests all cities had gone over to the stronger side, and was engaged +in the pious work of persecuting rebels. General Halleck, even after +this solemn warning, left Federal Hill to the protection of its +earthwork. + +The opinion which General Dix had of Baltimore extended, though in a +less degree, to a large portion of the State, and was shared, in part +at least, not only by the other military commanders, but by the +Government at Washington. + +On the 11th of September, 1861, Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, +wrote the following letter to Major-General Banks, who was at this +time in command of a division in Maryland: + + "WAR DEPARTMENT, _September 11, 1861_. + + "_General._--The passage of any act of secession by the + Legislature of Maryland must be prevented. If necessary, all or + any part of the members must be arrested. Exercise your own + judgment as to the time and manner, but do the work effectively." + +On the 12th of September, Major-General McClellan, Commander-in-Chief +of the Army of the Potomac, wrote a confidential letter to General +Banks reciting that "after full consultation with the President, +Secretary of State, War, etc., it has been decided to effect the +operation proposed for the 17th." The 17th was the day fixed for the +meeting of the General Assembly, and the operation to be performed was +the arrest of some thirty members of that body, and other persons +besides. Arrangements had been made to have a Government steamer at +Annapolis to receive the prisoners and convey them to their +destination. The plan was to be arranged with General Dix and Governor +Seward, and the letter closes with leaving this exceedingly important +affair to the tact and discretion of General Banks, and impressing on +him the absolute necessity of secrecy and success. + +Accordingly, a number of the most prominent members of the +Legislature, myself, as mayor of Baltimore, and editors of newspapers, +and other citizens, were arrested at midnight. I was arrested at my +country home, near the Relay House on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, +by four policemen and a guard of soldiers. The soldiers were placed in +both front and rear of the house, while the police rapped violently on +the front door. I had gone to bed, but was still awake, for I had some +apprehension of danger. I immediately arose, and opening my bed-room +window, asked the intruders what they wanted. They replied that they +wanted Mayor Brown. I asked who wanted him, and they answered, the +Government of the United States. I then inquired for their warrant, +but they had none. After a short time spent in preparation I took +leave of my wife and children, and closely guarded, walked down the +high hill on which the house stands to the foot, where a carriage was +waiting for me. The soldiers went no farther, but I was driven in +charge of the police seven miles to Baltimore and through the city to +Fort McHenry, where to my surprise I found myself a fellow-prisoner in +a company of friends and well-known citizens. We were imprisoned for +one night in Fort McHenry, next in Fort Monroe for about two weeks, +next in Fort Lafayette for about six weeks, and finally in Fort +Warren. Henry May, member of Congress from Baltimore, was arrested at +the same time, but was soon released. + +Col. Scharf, in his "History of Maryland," Volume III, says: "It was +originally intended that they (the prisoners) should be confined in +the fort at the Dry Tortugas, but as there was no fit steamer in +Hampton Roads to make the voyage, the programme was changed."[15] + +[Footnote 15: See also the "Chronicles of Baltimore" by the same +author.] + +The apprehension that the Legislature intended to pass an act of +secession, as intimated by Secretary Cameron, was, in view of the +position in which the State was placed, and the whole condition of +affairs, so absurd that it is difficult to believe that he seriously +entertained it. The blow was no doubt, however, intended to strike +with terror the opponents of the war, and was one of the effective +means resorted to by the Government to obtain, as it soon did, entire +control of the State. + +As the events of the 19th of April had occurred nearly five months +previously, and I was endeavoring to perform my duties as mayor, in +obedience to law, without giving offense to either the civil or +military authorities of the Government, the only apparent reason for +my arrest grew out of a difficulty in regard to the payment of the +police appointed by General Banks. In July a law had been passed by +Congress appropriating one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of +such payment, but it was plain that a similar expenditure would not +long be tolerated by Congress. In this emergency an intimation came to +me indirectly from Secretary Seward, through a common acquaintance, +that I was expected to pay the Government police out of the funds +appropriated by law for the city police. I replied that any such +payment would be illegal and was not within my power. + +Soon afterwards I received the following letter from General Dix, +which I insert, together with the correspondence which followed: + + "HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA, + "BALTIMORE, MD., _September 8, 1861_. + + "TO HON. GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor of the City of Baltimore_. + + "_Sir_:--Reasons of state, which I deem imperative, demand that + the payment of compensation to the members of the old city + police, who were, by a resolution of the Board of Police + Commissioners, dated the 27th of Jane last, declared 'off duty,' + and whose places were filled in pursuance of an order of + Major-General Banks of the same date, should cease. I therefore + direct, by virtue of the authority vested in me as commanding + officer of the military forces of the United States in Baltimore + and its vicinity, that no further payment be made to them. + + "Independently of all other considerations, the continued + compensation of a body of men who have been suspended in their + functions by the order of the Government, is calculated to bring + its authority into disrespect; and the extraction from the + citizens of Baltimore by taxation, in a time of general + depression and embarrassment, of a sum amounting to several + hundred thousand dollars a year for the payment of nominal + officials who render it no service, cannot fail by creating + widespread dissatisfaction to disturb the quietude of the city, + which I am most anxious to preserve. + + "I feel assured that the payment would have been voluntarily + discontinued by yourself, as a violation of the principle on + which all compensation is bestowed--as a remuneration for an + equivalent service actually performed--had you not considered + yourself bound by existing laws to make it. + + "This order will relieve you from the embarrassment, and I do not + doubt that it will be complied with. + + "I am, very respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "JOHN A. DIX, + "_Major-General Commanding_." + + + "MAYOR'S OFFICE, CITY HALL, + "BALTIMORE, _September 5, 1861_. + + "Major-General JOHN A. DIX, _Baltimore, Md._ + + "_Sir_:--I was not in town yesterday, and did not receive until + this morning your letter of the 3d inst. ordering that no further + payment be made to the members of the city police. + + "The payments have been made heretofore in pursuance of the laws + of the State, under the advice of the City Counsellor, by the + Register, the Comptroller and myself. + + "Without entering into a discussion of the considerations which + you have deemed sufficient to justify this proceeding, I feel it + to be my duty to enter my protest against this interference, by + military authority, with the exercise of powers lawfully + committed by the State of Maryland to the officers of the city + corporation; but it is nevertheless not the intention of the city + authorities to offer resistance to the order which you have + issued, and I shall therefore give public notice to the officers + and men of the city police that no further payments may be + expected by them. + + "There is an arrearage of pay of two weeks due to the force, and + the men have by the law and rules of the board been prevented + from engaging in any other business or occupation. Most of them + have families, who are entirely dependent for support on the pay + received. + + "I do not understand your order as meaning to prohibit the + payment of this arrearage, and shall therefore proceed to make + it, unless prevented by your further order. + + "I am, very respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "GEO. WM. BROWN, + "_Mayor of Baltimore_." + + + "HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA, + "BALTIMORE, MD., _September 9, 1861_. + + "HON. GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor of the City of Baltimore_. + + "_Sir_:--Your letter of the 5th inst. was duly received. I + cannot, without acquiescing in the violation of a principle, + assent to the payment of an arrearage to the members of the old + city police, as suggested in the closing paragraph of your + letter. + + "It was the intention of my letter to prohibit any payment to + them subsequently to the day on which it was written. + + "You will please, therefore, to consider this as the 'further + order' referred to by you. + + "I am, very respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "JOHN A. DIX, + "_Major-General Commanding_." + + + "MAYOR'S OFFICE, CITY HALL, + "BALTIMORE, _September 11, 1861_. + + "Major-General JOHN A. DIX, Baltimore. + + "_Sir_:--I did not come to town yesterday until the afternoon, + and then ascertained that my letters had been sent out to my + country residence, where, on my return last evening, I found + yours of the 9th, in reply to mine of the 5th instant, awaiting + me. It had been left at the mayor's office yesterday morning. + + "Before leaving the mayor's office, about three o'clock P. M. on + the 9th instant, and not having received any reply from you, I + had signed a check for the payment of arrears due the police, and + the money was on the same day drawn out of the bank and handed + over to the proper officers, and nearly the entire amount was by + them paid to the police force before the receipt of your letter. + + "The suggestion in your letter as to the 'violation of a + principle' requires me to add that I recognize in the action of + the Government of the United States in the matter in question + nothing but the assertion of superior force. + + "Out of regard to the great interests committed to my charge as + chief magistrate of the city, I have yielded to that force, and + do not feel it necessary to enter into any discussion of the + principles upon which the Government sees fit to exercise it. + + "Very respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "GEO. WM. BROWN, + "_Mayor_." + +The reasons which General Dix assigned for prohibiting me from paying +the arrearages due the police present a curious combination. First, +there were reasons of State; next, the respect due to the Government; +third, his concern for the taxpayers of Baltimore; fourth, the danger +to the quiet of the city which he apprehended might arise from the +payment; and, finally, there was a principle which he must protect +from violation, but what that principle was he did not state. + +A striking commentary on these reasons was furnished on the 11th of +December, 1863, by a decision of the Court of Appeals of Maryland in +the case of the Mayor, etc., of Baltimore _vs._ Charles Howard and +others, reported in 20th Maryland Rep., p. 335. The question was +whether the interference by the Government of the United States with +the Board of Police and police force established by law in the city of +Baltimore was without authority of law and did in any manner affect or +impair the rights or invalidate the acts of the board. The court held +that, though the board was displaced by a force to which they yielded +and could not resist, their power and rights under their organization +were still preserved, and that they were amenable for any dereliction +of official duty, except in so far as they were excused by +uncontrollable events. And the court decided that Mr. Hinks, one of +the police commissioners, whose case was alone before the court, was +entitled to his salary, which had accrued after the board was so +displaced. + +Subsequently, after the close of the war, the Legislature of the State +passed an act for the payment of all arrearages due to the men of the +police subsequent to their displacement by the Government of the +United States and until their discharge by the Government of the +State. + +It will be perceived that General Dix delayed replying to my letter of +the 5th of September until the 9th; that his reply was not left at the +mayor's office until the tenth, and that in the meantime, on the +afternoon of the 9th, after waiting for his reply for four days, I +paid the arrears due the police, as I had good reason to suppose he +intended I should. + +A friend of mine, a lawyer of Baltimore, and a pronounced Union man, +has, since then, informed me that General Dix showed him my letter of +the 5th before my arrest; that my friend asked him whether he had +replied to it, and the General replied he had not. My friend answered +that he thought a reply was due to me. From all this it does not seem +uncharitable to believe that the purpose of General Dix was to put me +in the false position of appearing to disobey his order and thus to +furnish an excuse for my imprisonment. This lasted until the 27th of +November, 1862, a short time after my term of office had expired, when +there was a sudden and unexpected release of all the State prisoners +in Fort Warren, where we were then confined. + +On the 26th of November, 1862, Colonel Justin Dimick, commanding at +Fort Warren, received the following telegraphic order from the +Adjutant-General's Office, Washington: "The Secretary of War directs +that you release all the Maryland State prisoners, also any other +State prisoners that may be in your custody, and report to this +office." + +In pursuance of this order, Colonel Dimick on the following day +released from Fort Warren the following State prisoners, without +imposing any condition upon them whatever: Severn Teackle Wallis, +Henry M. Warfield, William G. Harrison, T. Parkin Scott, ex-members of +the Maryland Legislature from Baltimore; George William Brown, +ex-Mayor of Baltimore; Charles Howard and William H. Gatchell, +ex-Police Commissioners; George P. Kane, ex-Marshal of Police; Frank +Key Howard, one of the editors of the Baltimore _Exchange_; Thomas W. +Hall, editor of the Baltimore _South_; Robert Hull, merchant, of +Baltimore; Dr. Charles Macgill, of Hagerstown; William H. Winder, of +Philadelphia; and B. L. Cutter, of Massachusetts. + +General Wool, then in command in Baltimore, issued an order declaring +that thereafter no person should be arrested within the limits of the +Department except by his order, and in all such cases the charges +against the accused party were to be sworn to before a justice of the +peace. + +As it was intimated that these gentlemen had entered into some +engagement as the condition of their release, Mr. Wallis, while in New +York on his return home, took occasion to address a letter on the +subject to the editor of the New York _World_, in which he said: "No +condition whatever was sought to be imposed, and none would have been +accepted, as the Secretary of War well knew. Speaking of my +fellow-prisoners from Maryland, I have a right to say that they +maintained to the last the principle which they asserted from the +first--namely, that, if charged with crime, they were entitled to be +charged, held and tried in due form of law and not otherwise; and +that, in the absence of lawful accusation and process, it was their +right to be discharged without terms or conditions of any sort, and +they would submit to none." + +Many of our fellow-prisoners were from necessity not able to take this +stand. There were no charges against them, but there were imperative +duties which required their presence at home, and when the Government +at Washington adopted the policy of offering liberty to those who +would consent to take an oath of allegiance prepared for the occasion, +they had been compelled to accept it. + +Before this, in December, 1861, the Government at Washington, on +application of friends, had granted me a parole for thirty days, that +I might attend to some important private business, and for that time I +stayed with kind relatives, under the terms of the parole, in Boston. + +The following correspondence, which then took place, will show the +position which I maintained: + + "BOSTON, _January 4, 1862_. + + "MARSHAL KEYS, _Boston_. + + "_Sir_:--I called twice to see you during this week, and in your + absence had an understanding with your deputy that I was to + surrender myself to you this morning, on the expiration of my + parole, in time to be conveyed to Fort Warren, and I have + accordingly done so. + + "As you have not received any instructions from Washington in + regard to the course to be pursued with me, I shall consider + myself in your custody until you have had ample time to write to + Washington and obtain a reply. + + "I desire it, however, to be expressly understood that no further + extension of my parole is asked for, or would be accepted at this + time. + + "It is my right and my wish to return to Baltimore, to resume the + performance of my official and private duties. + + Respectfully, + "GEO. WM. BROWN." + + + "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, + "WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1862_. + + "JOHN S. KEYS, Esq., U. S. Marshal, _Boston_. + + "_Sir_:--Your letter of the 4th inst., relative to George W. + Brown, has been received. + + "In reply, I have to inform you that, if he desires it, you may + extend his parole to the period of thirty days. If not, you will + please recommit him to Fort Warren and report to this Department. + + "I am, sir, very respectfully, + "Your obedient servant, + "F. W. SEWARD, + "_Acting Secretary of State_." + + + "BOSTON, _January 10, 1862_. + + "MARSHAL KEYS, _Boston_. + + "_Sir_:--In my note to you of the 4th inst. I stated that I did + not desire a renewal of my parole, but that it was my right and + wish to return to Baltimore, to resume the performance of my + private and official duties. + + "My note was, in substance, as you informed me, forwarded to Hon. + W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, in a letter from you to him. + + "In reply to your communication, F. W. Seward, Acting Secretary + of State, wrote to you under date of the 6th inst. that 'you may + extend the parole of George W. Brown if he desires it, but if + not, you are directed to recommit him to Fort Warren.' + + "It was hardly necessary to give me the option of an extension of + parole which I had previously declined, but the offer renders it + proper for me to say that the parole was applied for by my + friends, to enable me to attend to important private business, + affecting the interests of others as well as myself; that the + necessities growing out of this particular matter of business no + longer exist, and that I cannot consistently with my ideas of + propriety, by accepting a renewal of the parole, place myself in + the position of seeming to acquiesce in a prolonged and illegal + banishment from my home and duties. + + Respectfully, + "GEO. WM. BROWN." + +On the 11th of January, 1862, I returned to Fort Warren, and on the +14th an offer was made to renew and extend my parole to ninety days +upon condition that I would not pass south of Hudson River. This offer +I declined. My term of office expired on the 12th of November, 1862, +and soon afterwards I was released, as I have just stated. + +It is not my purpose to enter into an account of the trials and +hardships of prison-life in the crowded forts in which we were +successively confined under strict and sometimes very harsh military +rule, but it is due to the memory of the commander at Fort Warren, +Colonel Justin Dimick, that I should leave on record the warm feelings +of respect and friendship with which he was regarded by the prisoners +who knew him best, for the unvarying kindness and humanity with which +he performed the difficult and painful duties of his office. As far as +he was permitted to do so, he promoted the comfort and convenience of +all, and after the war was over and he had been advanced to the rank +of General, he came to Baltimore as the honored guest of one of his +former prisoners, and while there received the warm and hearty +greeting of others of his prisoners who still survived. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A PERSONAL CHAPTER. + + +I have now completed my task; but perhaps it will be expected that I +should clearly define my own position. I have no objection to do so. + +Both from feeling and on principle I had always been opposed to +slavery--the result in part of the teaching and example of my parents, +and confirmed by my own reading and observation. In early manhood I +became prominent in defending the rights of the free colored people of +Maryland. In the year 1846 I was associated with a small number of +persons, of whom the Rev. William F. Brand, author of the "Life of +Bishop Whittingham," and myself, are the only survivors. The other +members of the association were Dr. Richard S. Steuart, for many years +President of the Maryland Hospital for the Insane, and himself a +slaveholder; Galloway Cheston, a merchant and afterwards President of +the Board of Trustees of the Johns Hopkins University; Frederick W. +Brune, my brother-in-law and law-partner; and Ramsay McHenry, planter. +We were preparing to initiate a movement tending to a gradual +emancipation within the State, but the growing hostility between the +North and the South rendered the plan wholly impracticable, and it was +abandoned. + +My opinions, however, did not lead me into sympathy with the abolition +party. I knew that slavery had existed almost everywhere in the world, +and still existed in some places, and that, whatever might be its +character elsewhere, it was not in the Southern States "the sum of all +villainy." On the contrary, it had assisted materially in the +development of the race. Nowhere else, I believe, had negro slaves +been so well treated, on the whole, and had advanced so far in +civilization. They had learned the necessity, as well as the habit, of +labor; the importance--to some extent at least--of thrift; the +essential distinctions between right and wrong, and the inevitable +difference to the individual between right-doing and wrong-doing; the +duty of obedience to law; and--not least--some conception, dim though +it might be, of the inspiring teachings of the Christian religion. +They had learned also to cherish a feeling of respect and good will +towards the best portion of the white race, to whom they looked up, +and whom they imitated. + +I refused to enlist in a crusade against slavery, not only on +constitutional grounds, but for other reasons. If the slaves were +freed and clothed with the right of suffrage, they would be incapable +of using it properly. If the suffrage were withheld, they would be +subjected to the oppression of the white race without the protection +afforded by their masters. Thus I could see no prospect of maintaining +harmony without a disastrous change in our form of government such as +prevailed after the war, in what is called the period of +reconstruction. If there were entire equality, and an intermingling of +the two races, it would not, as it seemed to me, be for the benefit of +either. I knew how strong are race prejudices, especially when +stimulated by competition and interest; how cruelly the foreigners, as +they were called, had been treated by the people in California, and +the Indians by our people everywhere; and how, in my own city, +citizens were for years ruthlessly deprived by the Know-Nothing party +of the right of suffrage, some because they were of foreign birth, +and some because they were Catholics. The problem of slavery was to me +a Gordian knot which I knew not how to untie, and which I dared not +attempt to cut with the sword. Such a severance involved the horrors +of civil war, with the wickedness and demoralization which were sure +to follow. + +I was deeply attached to the Union from a feeling imbibed in early +childhood and constantly strengthened by knowledge and personal +experience. I did not believe in secession as a constitutional right, +and in Maryland there was no sufficient ground for revolution. It was +clearly for her interest to remain in the Union and to free her +slaves. An attempt to secede or to revolt would have been an act of +folly which I deprecated, although I did believe that she, in common +with the rest of the South, had constitutional rights in regard to +slavery which the North was not willing to respect. + +It was my opinion that the Confederacy would prove to be a rope of +sand. I thought that the seceding States should have been allowed to +depart in peace, as General Scott advised, and I believed that +afterwards the necessities of the situation and their own interest +would induce them to return, severally, perhaps, to the old Union, but +with slavery peacefully abolished; for, in the nature of things, I +knew that slavery could not last forever. + +Whether or not my opinions were sound and my hopes well founded, is +now a matter of little importance, even to myself, but they were at +least sincere and were not concealed. + +There can be no true union in a Republic unless the parts are held +together by a feeling of common interest, and also of mutual respect. + +That there is a common interest no reasonable person can doubt; but +this is not sufficient; and, happily, there is a solid basis for +mutual respect also. + +I have already stated the grounds on which, from their point of view, +the Southern people were justified in their revolt, and even in the +midst of the war I recognized what the South is gradually coming to +recognize--that the grounds on which the Northern people waged +war--love of the Union and hatred of slavery--were also entitled to +respect. + +I believe that the results achieved--namely, the preservation of the +Union and the abolition of slavery--are worth all they have cost. + +And yet I feel that I am living in a different land from that in which +I was born, and under a different Constitution, and that new perils +have arisen sufficient to cause great anxiety. Some of these are the +consequences of the war, and some are due to other causes. But every +generation must encounter its own trials, and should extract benefit +from them if it can. The grave problems growing out of emancipation +seem to have found a solution in an improving education of the whole +people. Perhaps education is the true means of escape from the other +perils to which I have alluded. + +Let me state them as they appear to me to exist. + +Vast fortunes, which astonish the world, have suddenly been acquired, +very many by methods of more than doubtful honesty, while the fortunes +themselves are so used as to benefit neither the possessors nor the +country. + +Republican simplicity has ceased to be a reality, except where it +exists as a survival in rural districts, and is hardly now mentioned +even as a phrase. It has been superseded by republican luxury and +ostentation. The mass of the people, who cannot afford to indulge in +either, are sorely tempted to covet both. + +The individual man does not rely, as he formerly did, on his own +strength and manhood. Organization for a common purpose is resorted to +wherever organization is possible. Combinations of capital or of +labor, ruled by a few individuals, bestride the land with immense +power both for good and evil. In these combinations the individual +counts for little, and is but little concerned about his own moral +responsibility. + +When De Tocqueville, in 1838, wrote his remarkable book on Democracy +in America, he expressed his surprise to observe how every public +question was submitted to the decision of the people, and that, when +the people had decided, the question was settled. Now politicians care +little about the opinions of the people, because the people care +little about opinions. Bosses have come into existence to ply their +vile trade of office-brokerage. Rings are formed in which the bosses +are masters and the voters their henchmen. Formerly decent people +could not be bought either with money or offices. Political parties +have always some honest foundation, but rings are factions like those +of Rome in her decline, having no foundation but public plunder. + +Communism, socialism, and labor strikes have taken the place of +slavery agitation. Many people have come to believe that this is a +paternal Government from which they have a right to ask for favors, +and not a Republic in which all are equal. Hence States, cities, +corporations, individuals, and especially certain favored classes, +have no scruple in getting money somehow or other, directly or +indirectly, out of the purse of the Nation, as if the Nation had +either purse or property which does not belong to the people, for the +benefit of the whole people, without favor or partiality towards any. + +In many ways there is a dangerous tendency towards the centralization +of power in the National Government, with little opposition on the +part of the people. + +Paper money is held by the Supreme Court to be a lawful substitute for +gold and silver coin, partly on the ground that this is the +prerogative of European governments.[16] This is strange +constitutional doctrine to those who were brought up in the school of +Marshall, Story, and Chancellor Kent. + +[Footnote 16: Legal Tender Case, Vol. 110 U. S. Reports, p. 421.] + +The administration of cities has grown more and more extravagant and +corrupt, thus leading to the creation of immense debts which oppress +the people and threaten to become unmanageable. + +The national Congress, instead of faithfully administering its trust, +has become reckless and wasteful of the public money. + +But, notwithstanding all this, I rejoice to believe that there is a +reserve of power in the American people which has never yet failed to +redress great wrongs when they have come to be fully recognized and +understood. + +A striking instance of this is to be found in the temperance movement, +which, extreme as it may be in some respects, shows that the +conscience of the entire country is aroused on a subject of vast +difficulty and importance. + +And other auspicious signs exist, the chief of which I think are that +a new zeal is manifested in the cause of education; that people of all +creeds come together as they never did before to help in good works; +that an independent press, bent on enlightening, not deceiving, the +people, is making itself heard and respected; and that younger men, +who represent the best hopes and aspirations of the time, are pressing +forward to take the place of the politicians of a different school, +who represent chiefly their own selfish interests, or else a period of +hate and discord which has passed away forever. + +These considerations give me hope and confidence in the country as it +exists to-day. + +Baltimore is the place of my birth, of my home, and of my affections. +No one could be bound to his native city by ties stronger than mine. +Perhaps, in view of the incidents of the past, as detailed in this +volume, I may be permitted to express to the good people of Baltimore +my sincere and profound gratitude for the generous and unsolicited +confidence which, on different occasions, they have reposed in me, and +for their good will and kind feeling, which have never been withdrawn +during the years, now not a few, which I have spent in their service. + + + + +APPENDIX I. + + +The following account of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Abraham +Lincoln on his journey to Baltimore is taken from the "Life of Abraham +Lincoln," by Ward H. Lamon, pp. 511-526: + +"Whilst Mr. Lincoln, in the midst of his suite and attendants, was +being borne in triumph through the streets of Philadelphia, and a +countless multitude of people were shouting themselves hoarse, and +jostling and crushing each other around his carriage-wheels, Mr. +Felton, the President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore +Railway, was engaged with a private detective discussing the details +of an alleged conspiracy to murder him at Baltimore. Some months +before, Mr. Felton, apprehending danger to the bridges along his line, +had taken this man into his pay and sent him to Baltimore to spy out +and report any plot that might be found for their destruction. Taking +with him a couple of other men and a woman, the detective went about +his business with the zeal which necessarily marks his peculiar +profession. He set up as a stock-broker, under an assumed name, opened +an office, and became a vehement secessionist. His agents were +instructed to act with the duplicity which such men generally use; to +be rabid on the subject of 'Southern Rights'; to suggest all manner of +crimes in vindication of them; and if, by these arts, corresponding +sentiments should be elicited from their victims, the 'job' might be +considered as prospering. Of course they readily found out what +everybody else knew--that Maryland was in a state of great alarm; that +her people were forming military associations, and that Governor Hicks +was doing his utmost to furnish them with arms, on condition that the +arms, in case of need, should be turned against the Federal +Government. Whether they detected any plan to burn bridges or not, the +chief detective does not relate; but it appears that he soon deserted +that inquiry and got, or pretended to get, upon a scent that promised +a heavier reward. Being intensely ambitious to shine in the +professional way, and something of a politician besides, it struck him +that it would be a particularly fine thing to discover a dreadful plot +to assassinate the President-elect, and he discovered it accordingly. +It was easy to get that far; to furnish tangible proofs of an +imaginary conspiracy was a more difficult matter. But Baltimore was +seething with political excitement; numerous strangers from the far +South crowded its hotels and boarding-houses; great numbers of +mechanics and laborers out of employment encumbered its streets; and +everywhere politicians, merchants, mechanics, laborers and loafers +were engaged in heated discussions about the anticipated war, and the +probability of Northern troops being marched through Maryland to +slaughter and pillage beyond the Potomac. It would seem like an easy +thing to beguile a few individuals of this angry and excited multitude +into the expression of some criminal desire; and the opportunity was +not wholly lost, although the limited success of the detective under +such favorable circumstances is absolutely wonderful. He put his +'shadows' upon several persons whom it suited his pleasure to suspect, +and the 'shadows' pursued their work with the keen zest and the cool +treachery of their kind. They reported daily to their chief in +writing, as he reported in turn to his employer. These documents are +neither edifying nor useful: they prove nothing but the baseness of +the vocation which gave them existence. They were furnished to Mr. +Herndon in full, under the impression that partisan feeling had +extinguished in him the love of truth and the obligations of candor, +as it had in many writers who preceded him on the same subject-matter. +They have been carefully and thoroughly read, analyzed, examined and +compared, with an earnest and conscientious desire to discover the +truth, if, perchance, any trace of truth might be in them. The process +of investigation began with a strong bias in favor of the conclusion +at which the detective had arrived. For ten years the author +implicitly believed in the reality of the atrocious plot which these +spies were supposed to have detected and thwarted; and for ten years +he had pleased himself with the reflection that he also had done +something to defeat the bloody purpose of the assassins. It was a +conviction which could scarcely have been overthrown by evidence less +powerful than the detective's weak and contradictory account of his +own case. In that account there is literally nothing to sustain the +accusation, and much to rebut it. It is perfectly manifest that there +was no conspiracy--no conspiracy of a hundred, of fifty, of twenty, of +three--no definite purpose in the heart of even one man to murder Mr. +Lincoln at Baltimore. + +"The reports are all in the form of personal narratives, and for the +most relate when the spies went to bed, when they rose, where they +ate, what saloons and brothels they visited, and what blackguards they +met and 'drinked' with. One of them shadowed a loud-mouthed drinking +fellow named Luckett, and another, a poor scapegrace and braggart +named Hilliard. These wretches 'drinked' and talked a great deal, hung +about bars, haunted disreputable houses, were constantly half drunk, +and easily excited to use big and threatening words by the faithless +protestations and cunning management of the spies. Thus Hilliard was +made to say that he thought a man who should act the part of Brutus in +these times would deserve well of his country; and Luckett was induced +to declare that he knew a man who would kill Lincoln. At length the +great arch-conspirator--the Brutus, the Orsini of the New World, to +whom Luckett and Hilliard, the 'national volunteers,' and all such, +were as mere puppets--condescended to reveal himself in the most +obliging and confiding manner. He made no mystery of his cruel and +desperate scheme. He did not guard it as a dangerous secret, or choose +his confidants with the circumspection which political criminals, and +especially assassins, have generally thought proper to observe. Very +many persons knew what he was about, and levied on their friends for +small sums--five, ten and twenty dollars--to further the Captain's +plan. Even Luckett was deep enough in the awful plot to raise money +for it; and when he took one of the spies to a public bar-room and +introduced him to the 'Captain,' the latter sat down and talked it all +over without the slightest reserve. When was there ever before such a +loud-mouthed conspirator, such a trustful and innocent assassin! His +name was Ferrandini, his occupation that of a barber, his place of +business beneath Barnum's Hotel, where the sign of the bloodthirsty +villain still invites the unsuspecting public to come in for a shave. + +"'Mr. Luckett,' so the spy relates, 'said that he was not going home +this evening; and if I would meet him at Barr's saloon, on South +street, he would introduce me to Ferrandini. This was unexpected to +me; but I determined to take the chances, and agreed to meet Mr. +Luckett at the place named at 7 P. M. Mr. Luckett left about 2.30 P. +M., and I went to dinner. + +"'I was at the office in the afternoon in hopes that Mr. Felton might +call, but he did not; and at 6.15 P. M. I went to supper. After supper +I went to Barr's saloon, and found Mr. Luckett and several other +gentlemen there. He asked me to drink, and introduced me to Captain +Ferrandini and Captain Turner. He eulogized me very highly as a +neighbor of his, and told Ferrandini that I was the gentleman who had +given the twenty-five dollars he (Luckett) had given to Ferrandini. + +"'The conversation at once got into politics; and Ferrandini, who is a +fine-looking, intelligent-appearing person, became very excited. He +shows the Italian in, I think, a very marked degree; and, although +excited, yet was cooler than what I had believed was the general +characteristic of Italians. He has lived South for many years, and is +thoroughly imbued with the idea that the South must rule; that they +(Southerners) have been outraged in their rights by the election of +Lincoln, and freely justified resorting to any means to prevent +Lincoln from taking his seat; and, as he spoke, his eyes fairly glared +and glistened, and his whole frame quivered; but he was fully +conscious of all he was doing. He is a man well calculated for +controlling and directing the ardent-minded; he is an enthusiast, and +believes that, to use his own words, "murder of any kind is +justifiable and right to save the rights of the Southern people." In +all his views he was ably seconded by Captain Turner. + +"'Captain Turner is an American; but although very much of a +gentleman, and possessing warm Southern feelings, he is not by any +means so dangerous a man as Ferrandini, as his ability for exciting +others is less powerful; but that he is a bold and proud man there is +no doubt, as also that he is entirely under the control of Ferrandini. +In fact, he could not be otherwise, for even I myself felt the +influence of this man's strange power; and, wrong though I knew him to +be, I felt strangely unable to keep my mind balanced against him. + +"'Ferrandini said, "Never, never, shall Lincoln be President!" His +life (Ferrandini's) was of no consequence; he was willing to give it +up for Lincoln's; he would sell it for that abolitionist's; and as +Orsini had given his life for Italy, so was he (Ferrandini) ready to +die for his country and the rights of the South; and said Ferrandini, +turning to Captain Turner, "We shall all die together: we shall show +the North that we fear them not. Every man, Captain," said he, "will +on that day prove himself a hero. The first shot fired, the main +traitor (Lincoln) dead, and all Maryland will be with us, and the +South shall be free; and the North must then be ours. Mr. Hutchins," +said Ferrandini, "if I alone must do it, I shall: Lincoln shall die in +this city." + +"'Whilst we were thus talking, we (Mr. Luckett, Turner, Ferrandini and +myself) were alone in one corner of the bar-room, and, while talking, +two strangers had got pretty near us. Mr. Luckett called Ferrandini's +attention to this, and intimated that they were listening; and we went +up to the bar, drinked again at my expense, and again retired to +another part of the room, at Ferrandini's request, to see if the +strangers would again follow us. Whether by accident or design, they +again got near us; but of course we were not talking of any matter of +consequence. Ferrandini said he suspected they were spies, and +suggested that he had to attend a secret meeting, and was apprehensive +that the two strangers might follow him; and, at Mr. Luckett's +request, I remained with him (Luckett) to watch the movements of the +strangers. I assured Ferrandini that if they would attempt to follow +him, we would whip them. + +"'Ferrandini and Turner left to attend the meeting, and, anxious as I +was to follow them myself, I was obliged to remain with Mr. Luckett to +watch the strangers, which we did for about fifteen minutes, when Mr. +Luckett said that he should go to a friend's to stay over night, and I +left for my hotel, arriving there at about 9 P. M., and soon retired.' + +"It is in a secret communication between hireling spies and paid +informers that these ferocious sentiments are attributed to the poor +knight of the soap-pot. No disinterested person would believe the +story upon such evidence; and it will appear hereafter that even the +detective felt that it was too weak to mention among his strong +points, at that decisive moment when he revealed all he knew to the +President and his friends. It is probably a mere fiction. If it had +had any foundation in fact, we are inclined to believe that the +sprightly and eloquent barber would have dangled at a rope's end long +since. He would hardly have been left to shave and plot in peace, +while the members of the Legislature, the Police Marshal, and numerous +private gentlemen, were locked up in Federal prisons. When Mr. Lincoln +was actually slain, four years later, and the cupidity of the +detectives was excited by enormous rewards, Ferrandini was totally +unmolested. But even if Ferrandini really said all that is here +imputed to him, he did no more than many others around him were doing +at the same time. He drank and talked, and made swelling speeches; but +he never took, nor seriously thought of taking, the first step toward +the frightful tragedy he is said to have contemplated. + +"The detectives are cautious not to include in the supposed plot to +murder any person of eminence, power, or influence. Their game is all +of the smaller sort, and, as they conceived, easily taken--witless +vagabonds like Hilliard and Luckett, and a barber, whose calling +indicates his character and associations.[17] They had no fault to +find with the Governor of the State; he was rather a lively trimmer, +to be sure, and very anxious to turn up at last on the winning side; +but it was manifestly impossible that one in such an exalted station +could meditate murder. Yet, if they had pushed their inquiries with an +honest desire to get at the truth, they might have found much stronger +evidence against the Governor than that which they pretend to have +found against the barber. In the Governor's case the evidence is +documentary, written, authentic--over his own hand, clear and +conclusive as pen and ink could make it. As early as the previous +November, Governor Hicks had written the following letter; and, +notwithstanding its treasonable and murderous import, the writer +became conspicuously loyal before spring, and lived to reap splendid +rewards and high honors, under the auspices of the Federal Government, +as the most patriotic and devoted Union man in Maryland. The person to +whom the letter was addressed was equally fortunate; and, instead of +drawing out his comrades in the field to 'kill Lincoln and his men,' +he was sent to Congress by power exerted from Washington at a time +when the administration selected the representatives of Maryland, and +performed all his duties right loyally and acceptably. Shall one be +taken and another left? Shall Hicks go to the Senate and Webster to +Congress, while the poor barber is held to the silly words which he +is alleged to have sputtered out between drinks in a low groggery, +under the blandishments and encouragements of an eager spy, itching +for his reward? + +[Footnote 17: Mr. Ferrandini, now in advanced years, still lives in +Baltimore, and declares the charge of conspiracy to be wholly absurd +and fictitious, and those who know him will, I think, believe that he +is an unlikely person to be engaged in such a plot.] + + "'STATE OF MARYLAND, + "'EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, + "'ANNAPOLIS, _November 9, 1860_. + "'Hon. E. H. WEBSTER. + + "'_My Dear Sir_:--I have pleasure in acknowledging receipt of + your favor introducing a very clever gentleman to my acquaintance + (though a Demo'). I regret to say that we have, at this time, no + arms on hand to distribute, but assure you at the earliest + possible moment your company shall have arms; they have complied + with all required on their part. We have some delay, in + consequence of contracts with Georgia and Alabama ahead of us. We + expect at an early day an additional supply, and of first + received your people shall be furnished. Will they be good men to + send out to kill Lincoln and his men? If not, suppose the arms + would be better sent South. + + "'How does late election sit with you? 'Tis too bad. Harford + nothing to reproach herself for. + + "'Your obedient servant, + "'THOS. H. HICKS.' + +"With the Presidential party was Hon. Norman B. Judd; he was supposed +to exercise unbounded influence over the new President; and with him, +therefore, the detective opened communications. At various places +along the route Mr. Judd was given vague hints of the impending +danger, accompanied by the usual assurances of the skill and activity +of the patriots who were perilling their lives in a rebel city to save +that of the Chief Magistrate. When he reached New York, he was met by +the woman who had originally gone with the other spies to Baltimore. +She had urgent messages from her chief--messages that disturbed Mr. +Judd exceedingly. The detective was anxious to meet Mr. Judd and the +President, and a meeting was accordingly arranged to take place at +Philadelphia. + +"Mr. Lincoln reached Philadelphia on the afternoon of the 21st. The +detective had arrived in the morning, and improved the interval to +impress and enlist Mr. Felton. In the evening he got Mr. Judd and Mr. +Felton into his room at the St. Louis Hotel, and told them all he had +learned. He dwelt at large on the fierce temper of the Baltimore +secessionists; on the loose talk he had heard about 'fireballs or +hand-grenades'; on a 'privateer' said to be moored somewhere in the +bay; on the organization called National Volunteers; on the fact that, +eavesdropping at Barnum's Hotel, he had overheard Marshal Kane +intimate that he would not supply a police force on some undefined +occasion, but what the occasion was he did not know. He made much of +his miserable victim, Hilliard, whom he held up as a perfect type of +the class from which danger was to be apprehended; but concerning +"Captain" Ferrandini and his threats, he said, according to his own +account, not a single word. He had opened his case, his whole case, +and stated it as strongly as he could. Mr. Judd was very much +startled, and was sure that it would be extremely imprudent for Mr. +Lincoln to pass through Baltimore in open daylight, according to the +published programme. But he thought the detective ought to see the +President himself; and, as it was wearing toward nine o'clock, there +was no time to lose. It was agreed that the part taken by the +detective and Mr. Felton should be kept secret from every one but the +President. Mr. Sanford, President of the American Telegraph Company, +had also been co-operating in the business, and the same stipulation +was made with regard to him. + +"Mr. Judd went to his own room at the Continental, and the detective +followed. The crowd in the hotel was very dense, and it took some time +to get a message to Mr. Lincoln. But it finally reached him, and he +responded in person. Mr. Judd introduced the detective, and the latter +told his story over again, with a single variation: this time he +mentioned the name of Ferrandini along with Hilliard's, but gave no +more prominence to one than to the other. + +"Mr. Judd and the detective wanted Lincoln to leave for Washington +that night. This he flatly refused to do. He had engagements with the +people, he said, to raise a flag over Independence Hall in the +morning, and to exhibit himself at Harrisburg in the afternoon, and +these engagements he would not break in any event. But he would raise +the flag, go to Harrisburg, 'get away quietly' in the evening, and +permit himself to be carried to Washington in the way they thought +best. Even this, however, he conceded with great reluctance. He +condescended to cross-examine the detective on some parts of his +narrative, but at no time did he seem in the least degree alarmed. He +was earnestly requested not to communicate the change of plan to any +member of his party except Mr. Judd, nor permit even a suspicion of it +to cross the mind of another. To this he replied that he would be +compelled to tell Mrs. Lincoln, 'and he thought it likely that she +would insist upon W. H. Lamon going with him; but, aside from that, no +one should know.' + +"In the meantime, Mr. Seward had also discovered the conspiracy. He +dispatched his son to Philadelphia to warn the President-elect of the +terrible plot into whose meshes he was about to run. Mr. Lincoln +turned him over to Judd, and Judd told him they already knew all about +it. He went away with just enough information to enable his father to +anticipate the exact moment of Mr. Lincoln's surreptitious arrival in +Washington. + +"Early on the morning of the 22d, Mr. Lincoln raised the flag over +Independence Hall, and departed for Harrisburg. On the way Mr. Judd +'gave him a full and precise detail of the arrangements that had been +made' the previous night. After the conference with the detective, Mr. +Sanford, Colonel Scott, Mr. Felton, railroad and telegraph officials, +had been sent for, and came to Mr. Judd's room. They occupied nearly +the whole of the night in perfecting the plan. It was finally +understood that about six o'clock the next evening Mr. Lincoln should +slip away from the Jones Hotel, at Harrisburg, in company with a +single member of his party. A special car and engine would be provided +for him on the track outside the depot. All other trains on the road +would be 'side-tracked' until this one had passed. Mr. Sanford would +forward skilled 'telegraph-climbers,' and see that all the wires +leading out of Harrisburg were cut at six o'clock, and kept down until +it was known that Mr. Lincoln had reached Washington in safety. The +detective would meet Mr. Lincoln at the West Philadelphia Depot with a +carriage, and conduct him by a circuitous route to the Philadelphia, +Wilmington and Baltimore Depot. Berths for four would be pre-engaged +in the sleeping-car attached to the regular midnight train for +Baltimore. This train Mr. Felton would cause to be detained until the +conductor should receive a package, containing important 'Government +dispatches,' addressed to 'E. J. Allen, Willard's Hotel, Washington.' +This package was made up of old newspapers, carefully wrapped and +sealed, and delivered to the detective to be used as soon as Mr. +Lincoln was lodged in the car. Mr. Lincoln approved of the plan, and +signified his readiness to acquiesce. Then Mr. Judd, forgetting the +secrecy which the spy had so impressively enjoined, told Mr. Lincoln +that the step he was about to take was one of such transcendent +importance that he thought 'it should be communicated to the other +gentlemen of the party.' Mr. Lincoln said, 'You can do as you like +about that.' Mr. Judd now changed his seat; and Mr. Nicolay, whose +suspicions seem to have been aroused by this mysterious conference, +sat down beside him and said: 'Judd, there is something _up_. What is +it, if it is proper that I should know?' 'George,' answered Judd, +'there is no necessity for your knowing it. One man can keep a matter +better than two.' + +"Arrived at Harrisburg, and the public ceremonies and speechmaking +over, Mr. Lincoln retired to a private parlor in the Jones House, and +Mr. Judd summoned to meet him Judge Davis, Colonel Lamon, Colonel +Sumner, Major Hunter and Captain Pope. The three latter were officers +of the regular army, and had joined the party after it had left +Springfield. Judd began the conference by stating the alleged fact of +the Baltimore conspiracy, how it was detected, and how it was proposed +to thwart it by a midnight expedition to Washington by way of +Philadelphia. It was a great surprise to most of those assembled. +Colonel Sumner was the first to break silence. 'That proceeding,' said +he, 'will be a damned piece of cowardice.' Mr. Judd considered this a +'pointed hit,' but replied that 'that view of the case had already +been presented to Mr. Lincoln.' Then there was a general interchange +of opinions, which Sumner interrupted by saying, 'I'll get a squad of +cavalry, sir, and _cut_ our way to Washington, sir!' 'Probably before +that day comes,' said Mr. Judd, 'the inauguration-day will have +passed. It is important that Mr. Lincoln should be in Washington that +day.' Thus far Judge Davis had expressed no opinion, but 'had put +various questions to test the truthfulness of the story.' He now +turned to Mr. Lincoln and said, 'You personally heard the detective's +story. You have heard this discussion. What is your judgment in the +matter?' 'I have listened,' answered Mr. Lincoln, 'to this discussion +with interest. I see no reason, no good reason, to change the +programme, and I am for carrying it out as arranged by Judd.' There +was no longer any dissent as to the plan itself; but one question +still remained to be disposed of. Who should accompany the President +on his perilous ride? Mr. Judd again took the lead, declaring that he +and Mr. Lincoln had previously determined that but one man ought to +go, and that Colonel Lamon had been selected as the proper person. To +this Sumner violently demurred. '_I_ have undertaken,' he exclaimed, +'to see Mr. Lincoln to Washington.' + +"Mr. Lincoln was hastily dining when a close carriage was brought to +the side door of the hotel. He was called, hurried to his room, +changed his coat and hat, and passed rapidly through the hall and out +of the door. As he was stepping into the carriage, it became manifest +that Sumner was determined to get in also. 'Hurry with him,' whispered +Judd to Lamon, and at the same time, placing his hand on Sumner's +shoulder, said aloud, 'One moment, Colonel!' Sumner turned around, and +in that moment the carriage drove rapidly away. 'A madder man,' says +Mr. Judd, 'you never saw.' + +"Mr. Lincoln and Colonel Lamon got on board the car without discovery +or mishap. Besides themselves, there was no one in or about the car +but Mr. Lewis, General Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Central +Railroad, and Mr. Franciscus, superintendent of the division over +which they were about to pass. As Mr. Lincoln's dress on this occasion +has been much discussed, it may be as well to state that he wore a +soft, light felt hat, drawn down over his face when it seemed +necessary or convenient, and a shawl thrown over his shoulders, and +pulled up to assist in disguising his features when passing to and +from the carriage. This was all there was of the 'Scotch cap and +cloak,' so widely celebrated in the political literature of the day. + +"At ten o'clock they reached Philadelphia, and were met by the +detective and one Mr. Kinney, an under official of the Philadelphia, +Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. Lewis and Franciscus bade Mr. +Lincoln adieu. Mr. Lincoln, Colonel Lamon and the detective seated +themselves in a carriage which stood in waiting, and Mr. Kinney got +upon the box with the driver. It was a full hour and a half before the +Baltimore train was to start, and Mr. Kinney found it necessary 'to +consume the time by driving northward in search of some imaginary +person.' + +"On the way through Philadelphia, Mr. Lincoln told his companions +about the message he had received from Mr. Seward. This new discovery +was infinitely more appalling than the other. Mr. Seward had been +informed 'that about _fifteen thousand men_ were organized to prevent +his (Lincoln's) passage through Baltimore, and that arrangements were +made by these parties to _blow up the railroad track, fire the +train_,' etc. In view of these unpleasant circumstances, Mr. Seward +recommended a change of route. Here was a plot big enough to swallow +up the little one, which we are to regard as the peculiar property of +Mr. Felton's detective. Hilliard, Ferrandini and Luckett disappear +among the 'fifteen thousand,' and their maudlin and impotent twaddle +about the 'abolition tyrant' looks very insignificant beside the +bloody massacre, conflagration and explosion now foreshadowed. + +"As the moment for the departure of the Baltimore train drew near, +the carriage paused in the dark shadows of the depot building. It was +not considered prudent to approach the entrance. The spy passed in +first and was followed by Mr. Lincoln and Colonel Lamon. An agent of +the former directed them to the sleeping-car, which they entered by +the rear door. Mr. Kinney ran forward and delivered to the conductor +the important package prepared for the purpose; and in three minutes +the train was in motion. The tickets for the whole party had been +procured beforehand. Their berths were ready, but had only been +preserved from invasion by the statement that they were retained for a +sick man and his attendants. The business had been managed very +adroitly by the female spy, who had accompanied her employer from +Baltimore to Philadelphia to assist him in this, the most delicate and +important affair of his life. Mr. Lincoln got into his bed +immediately, and the curtains were drawn together. When the conductor +came around, the detective handed him the 'sick man's' ticket, and the +rest of the party lay down also. None of 'our party appeared to be +sleepy,' says the detective, 'but we all lay quiet, and nothing of +importance transpired.'... During the night Mr. Lincoln indulged in a +joke or two in an undertone; but, with that exception, the two +sections occupied by them were perfectly silent. The detective said he +had men stationed at various places along the road to let him know 'if +all was right,' and he rose and went to the platform occasionally to +observe their signals, but returned each time with a favorable report. + +"At thirty minutes after three the train reached Baltimore. One of the +spy's assistants came on board and informed him in a whisper that all +was right. The woman [the female detective] got out of the car. Mr. +Lincoln lay close in his berth, and in a few moments the car was +being slowly drawn through the quiet streets of the city toward the +Washington Depot. There again there was another pause, but no sound +more alarming than the noise of shifting cars and engines. The +passengers, tucked away on their narrow shelves, dozed on as +peacefully as if Mr. Lincoln had never been born.... + +"In due time the train sped out of the suburbs of Baltimore, and the +apprehensions of the President and his friends diminished with each +welcome revolution of the wheels. At six o'clock the dome of the +Capitol came in sight, and a moment later they rolled into the long, +unsightly building which forms the Washington Depot. They passed out +of the car unobstructed, and pushed along with the living stream of +men and women towards the outer door. One man alone in the great crowd +seemed to watch Mr. Lincoln with special attention. Standing a little +on one side, he 'looked very sharp at him,' and, as he passed, seized +hold of his hand and said in a loud tone of voice, 'Abe, you can't +play that on me.' The detective and Col. Lamon were instantly alarmed. +One of them raised his fist to strike the stranger; but Mr. Lincoln +caught his arm and said, 'Don't strike him! don't strike him! It is +Washburne. Don't you know him?' Mr. Seward had given to Mr. Washburne +a hint of the information received through his son, and Mr. Washburne +knew its value as well as another. For the present the detective +admonished him to keep quiet, and they passed on together. Taking a +hack, they drove towards Willard's Hotel. Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Washburne +and the detective got out into the street and approached the ladies' +entrance, while Col. Lamon drove on to the main entrance, and sent the +proprietor to meet his distinguished guest at the side door. A few +minutes later Mr. Seward arrived, and was introduced to the company +by Mr. Washburne. He spoke in very strong terms of the great danger +which Mr. Lincoln had so narrowly escaped, and most heartily applauded +the wisdom of the 'secret passage.' 'I informed Gov. Seward of the +nature of the information I had,' says the detective, 'and that I had +no information of any large organization in Baltimore; but the +Governor reiterated that he had conclusive evidence of this.'... + +"That same day Mr. Lincoln's family and suite passed through Baltimore +on the special train intended for him. They saw no sign of any +disposition to burn them alive, or to blow them up with gunpowder, but +went their way unmolested and very happy. + +"Mr. Lincoln soon learned to regret the midnight ride. His friends +reproached him; his enemies taunted him. He was convinced that he had +committed a grave mistake in yielding to the solicitations of a +professional spy and of friends too easily alarmed. He saw that he had +fled from a danger purely imaginary, and felt the shame and +mortification natural to a brave man under such circumstances. But he +was not disposed to take all the responsibility to himself, and +frequently upbraided the writer for having aided and assisted him to +demean himself at the very moment in all his life when his behavior +should have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure. + +"The news of his surreptitious entry into Washington occasioned much +and varied comment throughout the country; but important events +followed it in such rapid succession that its real significance was +soon lost sight of; enough that Mr. Lincoln was safely at the Capital, +and in a few days would in all probability assume the power confided +to his hands." + + + + +APPENDIX II. + + EXTRACT FROM THE OPINION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED + STATES, DELIVERED BY CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY IN THE CASE OF DRED + SCOTT _vs._ SANDFORD, 19 HOW. 407. + + +"It is difficult at this day to realize the state of public opinion in +relation to that unfortunate race" (the African) "which prevailed in +the civilized and enlightened portions of the world at the time of the +Declaration of Independence, and when the Constitution of the United +States was framed and adopted. + +"But the public history of every European nation displays it in a +manner too plain to be mistaken. + +"They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an +inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, +either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that +they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that +the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his +benefit." + + + + +APPENDIX III. + + THE HABEAS CORPUS CASE EX PARTE JOHN MERRYMAN, CAMPBELL'S + REPORTS, P. 246. -- OPINION OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED + STATES. + + + _Ex parte_ } Before the Chief Justice of the Supreme + JOHN MERRYMAN. } Court of the United States, at Chambers. + +The application in this case for a writ of _habeas corpus_ is made to +me under the fourteenth section of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which +renders effectual for the citizen the constitutional privilege of the +writ of _habeas corpus_. That act gives to the courts of the United +States, as well as to each justice of the Supreme Court and to every +district judge, power to grant writs of _habeas corpus_ for the +purpose of an inquiry into the cause of commitment. The petition was +presented to me at Washington, under the impression that I would order +the prisoner to be brought before me there; but as he was confined in +Fort McHenry, in the city of Baltimore, which is in my circuit, I +resolved to hear it in the latter city, as obedience to the writ under +such circumstances would not withdraw General Cadwallader, who had him +in charge, from the limits of his military command. + +The petition presents the following case: + +The petitioner resides in Maryland, in Baltimore County. While +peaceably in his own house, with his family, it was, at two o'clock on +the morning of the 25th of May, 1861, entered by an armed force +professing to act under military orders. He was then compelled to +rise from his bed, taken into custody and conveyed to Fort McHenry, +where he is imprisoned by the commanding officer, without warrant from +any lawful authority. + +The commander of the fort, General George Cadwallader, by whom he is +detained in confinement, in his return to the writ, does not deny any +of the facts alleged in the petition. He states that the prisoner was +arrested by order of General Keim, of Pennsylvania, and conducted as +aforesaid to Fort McHenry by his order, and placed in his (General +Cadwallader's) custody, to be there detained by him as a prisoner. + +A copy of the warrant or order under which the prisoner was arrested +was demanded by his counsel and refused. And it is not alleged in the +return that any specific act, constituting any offense against the +laws of the United States, has been charged against him upon oath; but +he appears to have been arrested upon general charges of treason and +rebellion, without proof, and without giving the names of the +witnesses, or specifying the acts which, in the judgment of the +military officer, constituted these crimes. Having the prisoner thus +in custody upon these vague and unsupported accusations, he refuses to +obey the writ of _habeas corpus_, upon the ground that he is duly +authorized by the President to suspend it. + +The case, then, is simply this: A military officer, residing in +Pennsylvania, issues an order to arrest a citizen of Maryland upon +vague and indefinite charges, without any proof, so far as appears. +Under this order his house is entered in the night, he is seized as a +prisoner and conveyed to Fort McHenry, and there kept in close +confinement. And when a _habeas corpus_ is served on the commanding +officer, requiring him to produce the prisoner before a justice of the +Supreme Court, in order that he may examine into the legality of the +imprisonment, the answer of the officer is that he is authorized by +the President to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_ at his +discretion, and, in the exercise of that discretion, suspends it in +this case, and on that ground refuses obedience to the writ. + +As the case comes before me, therefore, I understand that the +President not only claims the right to suspend the writ of _habeas +corpus_ himself at his discretion, but to delegate that discretionary +power to a military officer, and to leave it to him to determine +whether he will or will not obey judicial process that may be served +upon him. + +No official notice has been given to the courts of justice, or to the +public, by proclamation or otherwise, that the President claimed this +power, and had exercised it in the manner stated in the return. And I +certainly listened to it with some surprise; for I had supposed it to +be one of those points of constitutional law upon which there was no +difference of opinion, and that it was admitted on all hands that the +privilege of the writ could not be suspended except by act of +Congress. + +When the conspiracy of which Aaron Burr was the head became so +formidable and was so extensively ramified as to justify, in Mr. +Jefferson's opinion, the suspension of the writ, he claimed on his +part no power to suspend it, but communicated his opinion to Congress, +with all the proofs in his possession, in order that Congress might +exercise its discretion upon the subject, and determine whether the +public safety required it. And in the debate which took place upon the +subject, no one suggested that Mr. Jefferson might exercise the power +himself, if, in his opinion, the public safety demanded it. + +Having therefore regarded the question as too plain and too well +settled to be open to dispute, if the commanding officer had stated +that upon his own responsibility, and in the exercise of his own +discretion, he refused obedience to the writ, I should have contented +myself with referring to the clause in the Constitution, and to the +construction it received from every jurist and statesman of that day, +when the case of Burr was before them. But being thus officially +notified that the privilege of the writ has been suspended under the +orders and by the authority of the President, and believing, as I do, +that the President has exercised a power which he does not possess +under the Constitution, a proper respect for the high office he fills +requires me to state plainly and fully the grounds of my opinion, in +order to show that I have not ventured to question the legality of his +act without a careful and deliberate examination of the whole subject. + +The clause of the Constitution which authorizes the suspension of the +privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ is in the ninth section of +the first article. + +This article is devoted to the legislative department of the United +States, and has not the slightest reference to the Executive +Department. It begins by providing "that all legislative powers +therein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, +which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives"; and +after prescribing the manner in which these two branches of the +legislative department shall be chosen, it proceeds to enumerate +specifically the legislative powers which it thereby grants, and at +the conclusion of this specification a clause is inserted giving +Congress "the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and +proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other +powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United +States, or in any department or office thereof." + +The power of legislation granted by this latter clause is by its words +carefully confined to the specific objects before enumerated. But as +this limitation was unavoidably somewhat indefinite, it was deemed +necessary to guard more effectually certain great cardinal principles +essential to the liberty of the citizen, and to the rights and +equality of the States, by denying to Congress, in express terms, any +power of legislation over them. It was apprehended, it seems, that +such legislation might be attempted under the pretext that it was +necessary and proper to carry into execution the powers granted; and +it was determined that there should be no room to doubt, where rights +of such vital importance were concerned, and accordingly this clause +is immediately followed by an enumeration of certain subjects to which +the powers of legislation shall not extend. The great importance which +the framers of the Constitution attached to the privilege of the writ +of _habeas corpus_ to protect the liberty of the citizen, is proved by +the fact that its suspension, except in cases of invasion or +rebellion, is first in the list of prohibited powers--and even in +these cases the power is denied and its exercise prohibited, unless +the public safety shall require it. It is true that in the cases +mentioned, Congress is of necessity the judge of whether the public +safety does, or does not, require it; and its judgment is conclusive. +But the introduction of these words is a standing admonition to the +legislative body of the danger of suspending it, and of the extreme +caution they should exercise before they give the Government of the +United States such power over the liberty of a citizen. + +It is the second article of the Constitution that provides for the +organization of the Executive Department, and enumerates the powers +conferred on it, and prescribes its duties. And if the high power over +the liberty of the citizen now claimed was intended to be conferred +on the President, it would undoubtedly be found in plain words in this +article. But there is not a word in it that can furnish the slightest +ground to justify the exercise of the power. + +The article begins by declaring that the executive power shall be +vested in a President of the United States of America, to hold his +office during the term of four years, and then proceeds to prescribe +the mode of election, and to specify in precise and plain words the +powers delegated to him, and the duties imposed upon him. The short +term for which he is elected, and the narrow limits to which his power +is confined, show the jealousy and apprehensions of future danger +which the framers of the Constitution felt in relation to that +department of the Government, and how carefully they withheld from it +many of the powers belonging to the Executive Branch of the English +Government which were considered as dangerous to the liberty of the +subject, and conferred (and that in clear and specific terms) those +powers only which were deemed essential to secure the successful +operation of the Government. + +He is elected, as I have already said, for the brief term of four +years, and is made personally responsible by impeachment for +malfeasance in office. He is from necessity and the nature of his +duties the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia +when called into actual service. But no appropriation for the support +of the Army can be made by Congress for a longer term than two years, +so that it is in the power of the succeeding House of Representatives +to withhold the appropriation for its support, and thus disband it, +if, in their judgment, the President used or designed to use it for +improper purposes. And although the militia, when in actual service, +is under his command, yet the appointment of the officers is reserved +to the States, as a security against the use of the military power for +purposes dangerous to the liberties of the people or the rights of the +States. + +So, too, his powers in relation to the civil duties and authority +necessarily conferred on him are carefully restricted, as well as +those belonging to his military character. He cannot appoint the +ordinary officers of Government, nor make a treaty with a foreign +nation or Indian tribe, without the advice and consent of the Senate, +and cannot appoint even inferior officers unless he is authorized by +an Act of Congress to do so. He is not empowered to arrest any one +charged with an offense against the United States, and whom he may, +from the evidence before him, believe to be guilty; nor can he +authorize any officer, civil or military, to exercise this power; for +the fifth article of the Amendments to the Constitution expressly +provides that no person "shall be deprived of life, liberty or +property without due process of law"--that is, judicial process. Even +if the privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ were suspended by Act +of Congress, and a party not subject to the rules and articles of war +were afterwards arrested and imprisoned by regular judicial process, +he could not be detained in prison or brought to trial before a +military tribunal; for the article in the Amendments to the +Constitution immediately following the one above referred to--that is, +the sixth article--provides that "in all criminal prosecutions the +accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an +impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have +been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained +by law; and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; +to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory +process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the +assistance of counsel for his defense." + +The only power, therefore, which the President possesses, where the +"life, liberty, or property" of a private citizen is concerned, is the +power and duty prescribed in the third section of the second article, +which requires "that he shall take care that the laws be faithfully +executed." He is not authorized to execute them himself, or through +agents or officers, civil or military, appointed by himself, but he is +to take care that they be faithfully carried into execution as they +are expounded and adjudged by the co-ordinate branch of the Government +to which that duty is assigned by the Constitution. It is thus made +his duty to come in aid of the judicial authority, if it shall be +resisted by a force too strong to be overcome without the assistance +of the executive arm. But in exercising this power he acts in +subordination to judicial authority, assisting it to execute its +process and enforce its judgments. + +With such provisions in the Constitution, expressed in language too +clear to be misunderstood by any one, I can see no ground whatever for +supposing that the President, in any emergency or in any state of +things, can authorize the suspension of the privilege of the writ of +_habeas corpus_, or the arrest of a citizen, except in aid of the +judicial power. He certainly does not faithfully execute the laws if +he takes upon himself legislative power by suspending the writ of +_habeas corpus_, and the judicial power also, by arresting and +imprisoning a person without due process of law. Nor can any argument +be drawn from the nature of sovereignty, or the necessity of +Government for self-defense in times of tumult and danger. The +Government of the United States is one of delegated and limited +powers. It derives its existence and authority altogether from the +Constitution, and neither of its branches, executive, legislative or +judicial, can exercise any of the powers of Government beyond those +specified and granted. For the tenth article of the Amendments to the +Constitution in express terms provides that "the powers not delegated +to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the +States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." + +Indeed, the security against imprisonment by executive authority, +provided for in the fifth article of the Amendments to the +Constitution, which I have before quoted, is nothing more than a copy +of a like provision in the English Constitution, which had been firmly +established before the Declaration of Independence. + +Blackstone states it in the following words: + +"To make imprisonment lawful, it must be either by process of law from +the courts of judicature or by warrant from some legal officer having +authority to commit to prison" (1 Bl. Com. 137). + +The people of the United Colonies, who had themselves lived under its +protection while they were British subjects, were well aware of the +necessity of this safeguard for their personal liberty. And no one can +believe that, in framing a government intended to guard still more +efficiently the rights and liberties of the citizen against executive +encroachments and oppression, they would have conferred on the +President a power which the history of England had proved to be +dangerous and oppressive in the hands of the Crown, and which the +people of England had compelled it to surrender after a long and +obstinate struggle on the part of the English Executive to usurp and +retain it. + +The right of the subject to the benefit of the writ of _habeas +corpus_, it must be recollected, was one of the great points in +controversy during the long struggle in England between arbitrary +government and free institutions, and must therefore have strongly +attracted the attention of the statesmen engaged in framing a new, +and, as they supposed, a freer government than the one which they had +thrown off by the Revolution. From the earliest history of the common +law, if a person were imprisoned, no matter by what authority, he had +a right to the writ of _habeas corpus_ to bring his case before the +King's Bench; if no specific offense were charged against him in the +warrant of commitment, he was entitled to be forthwith discharged; and +if an offense were charged which was bailable in its character, the +Court was bound to set him at liberty on bail. The most exciting +contests between the Crown and the people of England from the time of +_Magna Charta_ were in relation to the privilege of this writ, and +they continued until the passage of the statute of 31st Charles II, +commonly known as the Great _Habeas Corpus_ Act. This statute put an +end to the struggle, and finally and firmly secured the liberty of the +subject against the usurpation and oppression of the executive branch +of the Government. It nevertheless conferred no new right upon the +subject, but only secured a right already existing. For, although the +right could not justly be denied, there was often no effectual remedy +against its violation. Until the statute of 13 William III, the judges +held their offices at the pleasure of the King, and the influence +which he exercised over timid, time-serving and partisan judges often +induced them, upon some pretext or other, to refuse to discharge the +party, although entitled by law to his discharge, or delayed their +decision from time to time, so as to prolong the imprisonment of +persons who were obnoxious to the King for their political opinions, +or had incurred his resentment in any other way. + +The great and inestimable value of the _habeas corpus_ act of the 31st +Charles II. is that it contains provisions which compel courts and +judges, and all parties concerned, to perform their duties promptly in +the manner specified in the statute. + +A passage in Blackstone's Commentaries, showing the ancient state of +the law on this subject, and the abuses which were practised through +the power and influence of the Crown, and a short extract from +Hallam's "Constitutional History," stating the circumstances which +gave rise to the passage of this statute, explain briefly, but fully, +all that is material to this subject. + +Blackstone says: "To assert an absolute exemption from imprisonment in +all cases is inconsistent with every idea of law and political +society, and, in the end, would destroy all civil liberty by rendering +its protection impossible. + +"But the glory of the English law consists in clearly defining the +times, the causes and the extent, when, wherefore and to what degree +the imprisonment of the subject may be lawful. This it is which +induces the absolute necessity of expressing upon every commitment the +reason for which it is made, "that the court upon a _habeas corpus_ +may examine into its validity, and, according to the circumstances of +the case, may discharge, admit to bail, or remand the prisoner. + +"And yet, early in the reign of Charles I, the Court of King's Bench, +relying on some arbitrary precedents (and those, perhaps, +misunderstood), determined that they would not, upon a _habeas +corpus_, either bail or deliver a prisoner, though committed without +any cause assigned, in case he was committed by the special command of +the King, or by the Lords of the Privy Council. This drew on a +Parliamentary inquiry and produced the Petition of Right--3 Charles +I.--which recites this illegal judgment, and enacts that no freeman +hereafter shall be so imprisoned or detained. But when, in the +following year, Mr. Selden and others were committed by the Lords of +the Council, in pursuance of His Majesty's special command, under a +general charge of 'notable contempts, and stirring up sedition against +the King and the Government,' the judges delayed for two terms +(including also the long vacation) to deliver an opinion how far such +a charge was bailable. And when at length they agreed that it was, +they, however, annexed a condition of finding sureties for their good +behavior, which still protracted their imprisonment, the Chief +Justice, Sir Nicholas Hyde, at the same time declaring that 'if they +were again remanded for that cause, perhaps the court would not +afterwards grant a _habeas corpus_, being already made acquainted with +the cause of the imprisonment.' But this was heard with indignation +and astonishment by every lawyer present, according to Mr. Selden's +own account of the matter, whose resentment was not cooled at the +distance of four-and-twenty years" (3 Bl. Com. 133, 134). + +It is worthy of remark that the offenses charged against the prisoner +in this case, and relied on as a justification for his arrest and +imprisonment, in their nature and character, and in the loose and +vague manner in which they are stated, bear a striking resemblance to +those assigned in the warrant for the arrest of Mr. Selden. And yet, +even at that day, the warrant was regarded as such a flagrant +violation of the rights of the subject, that the delay of the +time-serving judges to set him at liberty upon the _habeas corpus_ +issued in his behalf excited universal indignation of the bar. The +extract from Hallam's "Constitutional History" is equally impressive +and equally in point: + +"It is a very common mistake, and that not only among foreigners, but +many from whom some knowledge of our constitutional laws might be +expected, to suppose that this statute of Charles II. enlarged in a +great degree our liberties, and forms a sort of epoch in their +history. But though a very beneficial enactment, and eminently +remedial in many cases of illegal imprisonment, it introduced no new +principle, nor conferred any right upon the subject. From the earliest +records of the English law, no freeman could be detained in prison, +except upon a criminal charge, or conviction, or for a civil debt. In +the former case it was always in his power to demand of the Court of +King's Bench a writ of _habeas corpus ad subjiciendum_, directed to +the person detaining him in custody, by which he was enjoined to bring +up the body of the prisoner with the warrant of commitment, that the +court might judge of its sufficiency, and remand the party, admit him +to bail, or discharge him, according to the nature of the charge. This +writ issued of right, and could not be refused by the court. It was +not to bestow an immunity from arbitrary imprisonment--which is +abundantly provided for in _Magna Charta_ (if, indeed, it is not more +ancient)--that the statute of Charles II. was enacted, but to cut off +the abuses by which the Government's lust of power, and the servile +subtlety of the Crown lawyers, had impaired so fundamental a +privilege" (3 Hallam's "Const. Hist.," 19). + +While the value set upon this writ in England has been so great that +the removal of the abuses which embarrassed its employment has been +looked upon as almost a new grant of liberty to the subject, it is not +to be wondered at that the continuance of the writ thus made effective +should have been the object of the most jealous care. Accordingly, no +power in England short of that of Parliament can suspend or authorize +the suspension of the writ of _habeas corpus_. I quote again from +Blackstone (1 Bl. Com. 136): "But the happiness of our Constitution is +that it is not left to the executive power to determine when the +danger of the State is so great as to render this measure expedient. +It is the Parliament only, or legislative power, that, whenever it +sees proper, can authorize the Crown, by suspending the _habeas +corpus_ for a short and limited time, to imprison suspected persons +without giving any reason for so doing." If the President of the +United States may suspend the writ, then the Constitution of the +United States has conferred upon him more regal and absolute power +over the liberty of the citizen than the people of England have +thought it safe to entrust to the Crown--a power which the Queen of +England cannot exercise at this day, and which could not have been +lawfully exercised by the sovereign even in the reign of Charles I. + +But I am not left to form my judgment upon this great question from +analogies between the English Government and our own, or the +commentaries of English jurists, or the decisions of English courts, +although upon this subject they are entitled to the highest respect, +and are justly regarded and received as authoritative by our courts of +justice. To guide me to a right conclusion, I have the Commentaries on +the Constitution of the United States of the late Mr. Justice Story, +not only one of the most eminent jurists of the age, but for a long +time one of the brightest ornaments of the Supreme Court of the United +States, and also the clear and authoritative decision of that court +itself, given more than half a century since, and conclusively +establishing the principles I have above stated. + +Mr. Justice Story, speaking in his Commentaries of the _habeas corpus_ +clause in the Constitution, says: "It is obvious that cases of a +peculiar emergency may arise which may justify, nay, even require, the +temporary suspension of any right to the writ. But as it has +frequently happened in foreign countries, and even in England, that +the writ has, upon various pretexts and occasions, been suspended, +whereby persons apprehended upon suspicion have suffered a long +imprisonment, sometimes from design, and sometimes because they were +forgotten, the right to suspend it is expressly confined to cases of +rebellion or invasion, where the public safety may require it. A very +just and wholesome restraint, which cuts down at a blow a fruitful +means of oppression, capable of being abused in bad times to the worst +of purposes. Hitherto no suspension of the writ has ever been +authorized by Congress since the establishment of the Constitution. It +would seem, as the power is given to Congress to suspend the writ of +_habeas corpus_ in cases of rebellion or invasion, that the right to +judge whether the exigency had arisen must exclusively belong to that +body" (3 Story's Com. on the Constitution, Section 1836). + +And Chief Justice Marshall, in delivering the opinion of the Supreme +Court in the case of _ex parte_ Bollman and Swartwout, uses this +decisive language in 4 Cranch 95: "It may be worthy of remark that +this Act (speaking of the one under which I am proceeding) was passed +by the first Congress of the United States, sitting under a +Constitution which had declared 'that the privilege of the writ of +_habeas corpus_ should not be suspended unless when, in cases of +rebellion or invasion, the public safety might require it.' Acting +under the immediate influence of this injunction, they must have felt +with peculiar force the obligation of providing efficient means by +which this great constitutional privilege should receive life and +activity; for if the means be not in existence, the privilege itself +would be lost, although no law for its suspension should be enacted. +Under the impression of this obligation, they give to all the courts +the power of awarding writs of _habeas corpus_." + +And again, on page 101: "If at any time the public safety should +require the suspension of the powers vested by this Act in the courts +of the United States, it is for the Legislature to say so. That +question depends on political considerations, on which the Legislature +is to decide. Until the legislative will be expressed, this court can +only see its duty, and must obey the laws." + +I can add nothing to these clear and emphatic words of my great +predecessor. But the documents before me show that the military +authority in this case has gone far beyond the mere suspension of the +privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_. It has, by force of arms, +thrust aside the judicial authorities and officers to whom the +Constitution has confided the power and duty of interpreting and +administering the laws, and substituted a military government in its +place, to be administered and executed by military officers. For, at +the time these proceedings were had against John Merryman, the +district judge of Maryland, the commissioner appointed under the Act +of Congress, the district attorney and the marshal, all resided in the +city of Baltimore, a few miles only from the home of the prisoner. Up +to that time there had never been the slightest resistance or +obstruction to the process of any court or judicial officer of the +United States in Maryland, except by the military authority. And if a +military officer, or any other person, had reason to believe that the +prisoner had committed any offense against the laws of the United +States, it was his duty to give information of the fact, and the +evidence to support it, to the district attorney; it would then have +become the duty of that officer to bring the matter before the +district judge or commissioner, and if there was sufficient legal +evidence to justify his arrest, the judge or commissioner would have +issued his warrant to the marshal to arrest him, and upon the hearing +of the case would have held him to bail, or committed him for trial, +according to the character of the offense as it appeared in the +testimony, or would have discharged him immediately, if there was not +sufficient evidence to support the accusation. There was no danger of +any obstruction or resistance to the action of the civil authorities, +and therefore no reason whatever for the interposition of the +military. Yet, under these circumstances, a military officer stationed +in Pennsylvania, without giving any information to the district +attorney, and without any application to the judicial authorities, +assumes to himself the judicial power in the District of Maryland; +undertakes to decide what constitutes the crime of treason or +rebellion; what evidence (if, indeed, he required any) is sufficient +to support the accusation and justify the commitment; and commits the +party without a hearing, even before himself, to close custody in a +strongly garrisoned fort, to be there held, it would seem, during the +pleasure of those who committed him. + +The Constitution provides, as I have before said, that "no person +shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of +law." It declares that "the right of the people to be secure in their +persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and +seizures shall not be violated, and no warrant shall issue, but upon +probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly +describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be +seized." It provides that the party accused shall be entitled to a +speedy trial in a court of justice. + +These great and fundamental laws, which Congress itself could not +suspend, have been disregarded and suspended, like the writ of _habeas +corpus_, by a military order, supported by force of arms. Such is the +case now before me, and I can only say that if the authority which the +Constitution has confided to the judiciary department and judicial +officers may thus upon any pretext or under any circumstances be +usurped by the military power at its discretion, the people of the +United States are no longer living under a government of laws, but +every citizen holds life, liberty and property at the will and +pleasure of the army officer in whose military district he may happen +to be found. + +In such a case my duty was too plain to be mistaken. I have exercised +all the power which the Constitution and laws confer upon me, but that +power has been resisted by a force too strong for me to overcome. It +is possible that the officer who has incurred this grave +responsibility may have misunderstood his instructions and exceeded +the authority intended to be given him. I shall therefore order all +the proceedings in this case, with my opinion, to be filed and +recorded in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of +Maryland, and direct the clerk to transmit a copy, under seal, to the +President of the United States. It will then remain for that high +officer, in fulfilment of his constitutional obligation, to "take care +that the laws be faithfully executed," to determine what measures he +will take to cause the civil process of the United States to be +respected and enforced. + + R. B. TANEY, + _Chief Justice of the Supreme Court + of the United States_. + + + + +APPENDIX IV. + + +On the 12th of July, 1861, I sent a message to the First and Second +Branches of the City Council referring to the events of the 19th of +April and those which followed. The first paragraph and the concluding +paragraphs of this document are here inserted: + + "THE MAYOR'S MESSAGE. + + "TO THE HONORABLE THE MEMBERS OF THE + FIRST AND SECOND BRANCHES OF THE CITY COUNCIL. + + "_Gentlemen_:--A great object of the reform movement was to + separate municipal affairs entirely from national politics, and + in accordance with this principle I have heretofore, in all my + communications to the city council, carefully refrained from any + allusion to national affairs. I shall not now depart from this + rule further than is rendered absolutely necessary by the + unprecedented condition of things at present existing in this + city.... + + "After the board of police had been superseded, and its members + arrested by the order of General Banks, I proposed, in order to + relieve the serious complication which had arisen, to proceed, as + the only member left free to act, to exercise the power of the + board as far as an individual member could do so. Marshal Kane, + while he objected to the propriety of this course, was prepared + to place his resignation in my hands whenever I should request + it, and the majority of the board interposed no objection to my + pursuing such course as I might deem it right and proper to + adopt in view of the existing circumstances, and upon my own + responsibility, until the board should be enabled to resume the + exercise of its functions. + + "If this arrangement could have been effected, it would have + continued in the exercise of their duties the police force which + is lawfully enrolled, and which has won the confidence and + applause of all good citizens by its fidelity and impartiality at + all times and under all circumstances. But the arrangement was + not satisfactory to the Federal authorities. + + "As the men of the police force, through no fault of theirs, are + now prevented from discharging their duty, their pay constitutes + a legal claim on the city from which, in my opinion, it cannot be + relieved. + + "The force which has been enrolled is in direct violation of the + law of the State, and no money can be appropriated by the city + for its support without incurring the heavy penalties provided by + the Act of Assembly. + + "Officers in the Fire Alarm and Police Telegraph Department who + are appointed by the mayor and city council, and not by the board + of police, have been discharged and others have been substituted + in their place. + + "I mention these facts with profound sorrow, and with no purpose + whatever of increasing the difficulties unfortunately existing in + this city, but because it is your right to be acquainted with the + true condition of affairs, and because I cannot help entertaining + the hope that redress will yet be afforded by the authorities of + the United States upon a proper representation made by you. I am + entirely satisfied that the suspicion entertained of any + meditated hostility on the part of the city authorities against + the General Government is wholly unfounded, and with the best + means of knowledge express the confident belief and conviction + that there is no organization of any kind among the people for + such a purpose. I have no doubt that the officers of the United + States have acted on information which they deemed reliable, + obtained from our own citizens, some of whom may be deluded by + their fears, while others are actuated by baser motives; but + suspicions thus derived can, in my judgment, form no sufficient + justification for what I deem to be grave and alarming violations + of the rights of individual citizens of the city of Baltimore and + of the State of Maryland. + + "Very respectfully, + "GEO. WM. BROWN, _Mayor_." + + + + +APPENDIX V. + + +As a part of the history of the times, it may not be inappropriate to +reproduce an account, taken from the Baltimore American of December 5, +1860, of the reception of the Putnam Phalanx of Hartford, Connecticut, +in the city of Baltimore. At this time it still seemed to most men of +moderate views that the impending troubles might be averted through +concessions and compromise. In the tone of the two speeches, both of +which were, of course, meant to be friendly and conciliatory, there is +a difference to be noted which was, I think, characteristic of the +attitude of the two sections; in the one speech some prominence is +given to the Constitution and constitutional rights; in the other, +loyalty to the Union is the theme enforced: + +"The Putnam Phalanx of Hartford, Connecticut, under the command of +Major Horace Goodwin, yesterday afternoon reached here, at four +o'clock, by the Philadelphia train, _en route_ for a visit to the tomb +of Washington. A detachment of the Eagle Artillery gave them a +national salute. + +"The Battalion Baltimore City Guards, consisting of four companies, +under the command of Major Joseph P. Warner, were drawn up on +Broadway, and after passing in salute, the column moved by way of +Broadway and Baltimore and Calvert streets to the old Universalist +church-building. + +"As soon as the military entered the edifice and were seated, the +galleries were thrown open to the public, and in a few minutes they +were crowded to overflowing. + +"Captain Parks introduced Major Goodwin to Mayor Brown, who was in +turn introduced to the commissioned officers of the Phalanx. Major +Goodwin then turned to his command and said: 'Gentlemen of the +Phalanx, I have the honor of introducing you to the Mayor of the city +of Baltimore.' Mayor Brown arose, and after bowing to the Battalion, +addressed them as follows: + +"MAYOR BROWN'S SPEECH. + +"'_Mr. Commander and Gentlemen_:--In the name and on behalf of the +people of Baltimore, I extend to the Putnam Phalanx a sincere and +hearty welcome to the hospitalities of our city. The citizens of +Baltimore are always glad to receive visits from the citizen-soldiers +of sister States, because they come as friends, and more than +friends--as the defenders of a common country. + +"'These sister States, as we love to call them, live somewhat far +apart, and gradually become more and more separated by distance, just +as sisters will be as the children marry and one by one leave the +parent homestead. + +"'But, gentlemen, far or near, on the Connecticut or Potomac, on the +Gulf of Mexico or the great lakes, on the Atlantic or Pacific, they +are sisters still, united by blood and affection, and the holy tie +should never be severed. (Applause.) + +"'Let me carry the figure a step further, and add what I know will +meet with a response from the Putnam Phalanx, with whose history and +high character I am somewhat acquainted--that a sisterhood of States, +like separate families of sisters living in the same neighborhood, can +never dwell together in peace unless each is permitted to manage her +own domestic affairs in her own way (applause); not only without +active interference from the rest, but even without much fault-finding +or advice, however well intended it may be. + +"'Maryland has sometimes been called the Heart State, because she lies +very close to the great heart of the Union; and she might also be +called the Heart State because her heart beats with true and warm love +for the Union. (Loud applause.) Nor, as I trust, does Connecticut fall +short of her in this respect. And when the questions now before the +country come to be fairly understood, and the people look into them +with their own eyes, and take matters into their own hands, I believe +that we shall see a sight of which politicians, North and South, +little dream. (Applause.) We shall see whether there is a love for the +Union or not. + +"'But there are great national questions agitating the land which must +now be finally settled. One is, Will the States of the North keep on +their statute-books laws which violate a right of the States of the +South, guaranteed to them by the Constitution of the United States? No +individuals, no families, no States, can live in peace together when +any right of a part is persistently and deliberately violated by the +rest. Another question is, What shall be done with the national +territory? Shall it belong exclusively to the North or the South, or +shall it be shared by both, as it was gained by the blood and treasure +of both? Are there not wisdom and patriotism enough in the land to +settle these questions? + +"'Gentlemen, your presence here to-day proves that you are animated by +a higher and larger sentiment than that of State pride--the sentiment +of American nationality. The most sacred spot in America is the tomb +of Washington, and to that shrine you are about to make a pilgrimage. +You come from a State celebrated above all others for the most +extensive diffusion of the great blessing of education; which has a +colonial and Revolutionary history abounding in honorable memorials; +which has heretofore done her full share in founding the institutions +of this country--the land of Washington--and which can now do as much +as any other in preserving that land one and undivided, as it was left +by the Father of his Country. I will not permit myself to doubt that +your State and our State, that Connecticut and Maryland, will both be +on the same side, as they have often been in times past, and that they +will both respect and obey and uphold the sacred Constitution of the +country.' (Shouts of applause.) + +"As soon as the Mayor concluded, Major Goodwin arose; but it was some +time before he could be heard, such was the tremendous applause with +which he was greeted. The Major is nearly ninety years of age, and is +one of the most venerable-looking men in the country. Dressed in the +old Revolutionary uniform, a _fac-simile_ of that worn by General +Putnam, and with his locks silvered with age, we may say that his +appearance electrified the multitude, and shout after shout shook the +very building. Major Goodwin expressed himself as follows: + +"'Mr. Mayor and gentlemen of the Baltimore City Guards, permit me to +introduce to you our Judge Advocate, Captain Stuart.' + +"Captain Stuart arose and spoke as follows: + +"SPEECH OF CAPTAIN STUART. + +"'Your Honor, Mayor Brown: For your kind words of welcome, and for +your patriotic sentiments in favor of the Union, the Putnam Phalanx +returns you its most cordial thanks. I can assure you, sir, that when +you spoke in such eloquent terms of the value and importance of a +united country, you but echoed the sentiments of the whole of our +organization; and let me say, it is with great pleasure, upon a +journey, as we are, to the tomb of the illustrious Washington; that we +pause for a while within a city so famed for its intelligence, its +industry, its general opulence and its courtesy, as is this your own +beautiful Baltimore. + +"'We opine, nay, we know from what you have yourself, in such fitting +terms, just expressed, that you heartily appreciate the purpose which +lies at the foundation of our organization, that purpose being the +lofty one of commemorating, by our military attire and discipline, the +imposing foundation-period of the American Republic, of attracting our +own patriotic feeling, and that of all who may honor us with their +observation, to the exalted virtues of those heroic men who laid the +foundations of our present national prosperity and glory--men of whom +your city and State furnished, as it pleasantly happens, a large and +most honorable share. + +"'We come, sir, from that portion of the United States in which the +momentous struggle for American freedom took its rise, and where the +blood of its earliest martyrs was shed; from the region where odious +writs of assistance, infamous Courts of Admiralty, intolerable +taxation, immolated charters of government and prohibited commerce +were once fast paving the way for the slavery of our institutions; +from the region of a happy and God-fearing people--from the region, +sir, of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill and Croton Heights, of +ravaged New London and fired Fairfield and Norwalk and devastated +Danbury and sacked New Haven. And we come, Mr. Mayor, to a city and +State, we are proudly aware, which to all these trials and perils of +assaulted New England, and to the trials and perils of our whole +common country, during "the times that tried men's souls," gave ever +the meed of its heartfelt sympathy, and the unstinted tribute of its +patriotic blood and treasure; which, with a full and clear +comprehension of all the great principles of American freedom, and a +devotion to those principles that was ever ardent and exalted, +signalized themselves by their wisdom in council and their prowess on +the field. + +"'When the devoted metropolis of New England began to feel the awful +scourge of the Writ Bill, Maryland it was that then contributed most +liberal supplies for its suffering people, and with these supplies +those cheering, ever-to-be-remembered, talismanic words: "The Supreme +Director of all events will terminate this severe trial of your +patriotism in the happy confirmation of American freedom." + +"'When this same metropolis soon after became the seat of war, +Maryland it was that at once sent to the camp around Boston her own +companies of "dauntless riflemen," under her brave Michael Cresap and +the gallant Price, to mingle in the defense of New England firesides +and New England homes. She saw and felt, and bravely uttered at the +time, the fact that in the then existing state of public affairs there +was no alternative left for her, or for the country at large, but +"base submission or manly resistance"; and, Mr. Mayor, at the +memorable battle of Long Island she made this manly resistance, for +there she poured out the life-blood of no less than two hundred and +fifty-nine of her gallant sons, who fought in her own Smallwood's +immortal regiment; and elsewhere, from the St. Lawrence to the banks +of the Savannah, through Pennsylvania, Virginia and both the +Carolinas--devoted the best blood within her borders, and the flower +of her soldiery, to the battlefields of the Union. + +"'Sir, we of this Phalanx recall these and other Revolutionary +memories belonging to your city and State with pride and satisfaction. +They unite Connecticut and Maryland in strong and pleasant bonds. And +we are highly gratified to be here in the midst of them, and to +receive at your hands so grateful a welcome as that which you have +extended. + +"'Be assured, Mr. Mayor, that in the sentiments of devotion to our +common country which you so eloquently express, this Phalanx +sympathizes heart and soul. You may plant the flag of the Union +anywhere and we shall warm to it. And now, renewedly thanking you for +the present manifestation of courtesy, we shall leave to enjoy the +hospitality which awaits us in pleasant quarters at our hotel.' + +"Captain Stuart was frequently interrupted by applause." + + + + +APPENDIX VI. + + +On the 19th of April, 1880, a portion of the members of the Sixth +Massachusetts Regiment again visited Baltimore, and an account of its +reception, taken from the Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore _American_, +seems to be a fitting close to this paper: + +"Thirty-nine members of the Association of Survivors of the Sixth +Massachusetts Union Regiment came to Baltimore yesterday afternoon, to +celebrate the nineteenth anniversary of their march through Baltimore, +April 19, 1861, which gave rise to the riot of that day. The visitors +were met, on landing from the cars at President-street Depot, by +Wilson, Dushane and Harry Howard Posts, Grand Army of the Republic, in +full uniform, with band and drum corps. The line was up Broadway to +Baltimore street, to Barnum's Hotel. A file of policemen, with +Marshals Gray and Frey, kept the street open for the parade. The +streets were crowded with people. The Massachusetts men wore citizen's +dress and badges." + +Wilson Post No. 1, of the Grand Army of the Republic, received the +visitors in their hall, Rialto Building, at two o'clock. Commander +Dukehart, of Wilson Post, welcomed the guests in a brief speech, and +then introduced Comrade Crowley, of the old Sixth, who said: + +"'Nineteen years ago I was but a boy. A few days before the 19th of +April, the militia of Middlesex County were summoned for the defense +of the National Capital. We left workshops, desk and family, to come +to the defense of the capital. We thought we were coming to a picnic; +that the people of South Carolina were a little off their balance, +and would be all right on sober second thought. A few miles out from +Baltimore the Quartermaster gave us each ten rounds of ammunition. We +had been singing songs. The Colonel told us he expected trouble in +Baltimore, and impressed on each man not to fire until he was +compelled to. The singing ceased, and we then thought we had serious +business before us, and that others besides South Carolina had lost +their balance. When we reached the Baltimore Depot some of the cars +had gone ahead, and four companies--young men--were in the cars +unconscious of what was going on outside. We thought the people of +Baltimore and Maryland were of the same Government, and if not they +ought to be. (Cheers and applause.) That they had the same interest in +the Government, the best ever devised; that Maryland at least was +loyal. A man knocked on the car-door and told us they were tearing up +the track. Our Captain said, "Men, file out!" The order was given and +we marched out. The Captain said, "March as close as you possibly can. +Fire on no man unless compelled." We marched through railroad iron, +bricks and other missiles. We proved ourselves brave soldiers--proved +that we could wait, at least, for the word of command. We were pelted +in Baltimore nineteen years ago. We lost some of our comrades, and +others were disabled for life. But we went to Washington. We don't +claim to be the saviors of the capital; we take no great credit for +what we did; but we did the best we could, and the result is shown. +The success of our march through Baltimore to-day is as indelibly +fixed and will ever be as fresh as that of nineteen years ago, and our +reception will remain in our hearts and minds as long as life lasts. +My father had six sons, and five were at the front at the same time. +I had learned to think that if Maryland, South Carolina or Virginia +was to declare independence the Government would be broken up, and +that we would have no country, no home, no flag. We were not fighting +for Massachusetts, for Maryland or for Virginia, but for our +country--the United States (cheers and applause)--remembering the +declaration of the great statesman, "Liberty and Union, now and +forever, one and inseparable." This country went through four years of +carnage and blood. Few families, North or South, but have mourning at +their firesides; but it was not in vain, for it has established the +fact that we are one people, and are an all-powerful people. +(Prolonged cheers.) Our reception to-day has convinced us that the war +has ended, and that there are Union men in Maryland as in +Massachusetts; that we are brothers, and will be so to the end of +time; that this is one great country; and that the people are marching +on in amity and power, second to none on the face of the globe.' +(Cheers.) + +"In the evening there was a banquet at the Eutaw House, and Judge Geo. +William Brown, who was Mayor of Baltimore in 1861, presided. Nearly +two hundred persons were at table. After the dinner was over, Judge +Brown said: + +"'This is the 19th of April, a day memorable in the annals of this +city, and in the annals of the country. It is filled in my mind with +the most painful recollections of my life, and I doubt not that many +who are here present share with me those feelings. I shall make but +brief allusions to the events of that day. The city authorities of +Baltimore of that time have mostly passed away, and I believe I am the +only one here present to-night. In justice to the living and the dead +I have to say that the authorities of Baltimore faithfully endeavored +to do their duty. It is not necessary for me, perhaps, to say so in +this presence. (Applause.) It was not their fault that the +Massachusetts Sixth Regiment met a bloody reception in the streets of +Baltimore. The visit of that regiment on both occasions has a great +and important significance. What did it mean in 1861? It meant civil +war; that the irrepressible conflict which Mr. Seward predicted had +broken out at last, and that, as Mr. Lincoln said, a house divided +against itself cannot stand. A great question then presented itself to +the country. When war virtually began in Baltimore, by bloodshed on +both sides, it meant that the question must be settled by force +whether or not the house should stand. It took four years of war, +waged with indomitable perseverance, to decide it, because the +combatants on both sides were sustained by deep and honest +convictions. It is not surprising, looking back coolly and calmly on +the feelings of that day, that they found vent as they did. I am not +here to excuse or to apologize, but to acknowledge facts. That was the +significance of the first visit of the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment, +in response to the call of the President of the United States. After +the war there was peace. But enforced peace is not sufficient in a +family of States any more than in a household. There must be among +brothers respect, confidence, mutual help and forbearance, and, above +everything, justice and right. After nineteen years the visit of +survivors of the Sixth Massachusetts is, I hope, significant of more +than peace. It is, I hope, significant of the fact that there is a +true bond of union between the North and the South (applause), and +that we are a family of States, all equal, all friends; and if it be, +there is no one in the country who can more fervently thank God than +myself that the old house still stands.' (Applause.) + +"Judge Brown offered as a toast: 'The Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts: +Baltimore extends to her fraternal greeting.'" + + + + +INDEX. + + + A + + Acton, regiment mustered in, 42. + + Allen, E. J., dispatches addressed to, 131. + + _American, The_, on the Baltimore riot of 1861, 65; + account of the Putnam Phalanx in Baltimore, 160-167; + on the reception of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment in + Baltimore, 167-170. + + Andrew, Gov. J. A., correspondence with Mayor Brown, 54, 55. + + Arkansas, secession of, 33. + + + B + + Baltimore, unjust prejudice against, 13, 19; + supposed conspiracy in, 14, 15, 120; + slaveholders in, 30; + Sixth Massachusetts Regiment in, 42-53, 167-170; + excitement on 20th April, 60, 61, 64; + defense of, 63; + apprehension of bloodshed in, 75; + armed neutrality, 77; + Gen. Butler's entrance into, 84; + Gen. Dix's headquarters in, 100, 101; + Mayor's message to City Council, 157-159; + reception of Putnam Phalanx in, 160-166. + + Banks, Gen. N. P., in command, 97; + arrests police commissioners of Baltimore, 98, 99; + Secretary Cameron's letter to, 102; + General McClellan's letter to, 102. + + Bartol, Judge, imprisonment of, 94. + + Belger, Major, comes to Baltimore, 73. + + Bell, Presidential vote for, 25. + + Black, Judge, on martial law, 93. + + Blackstone on the right of imprisonment, 147, 149. + + Bond's, Judge, errand to Lincoln, 57, 61. + + Boston, slave-traffic in, 20; + regiment mustered in, 42. + + Brand, Rev. William F., efforts for emancipation, 113. + + Breckinridge, Presidential vote for, 25. + + Brown, Geo. Wm., meets the Massachusetts Sixth in Baltimore, 48, 49; + Captain Dike on, 54; + correspondence with Gov. Andrew, 54, 55; + speech to the excited public, 56; + writes to President Lincoln about passage of troops through + Baltimore, 57, 61, 62; + interview with President Lincoln, 71-75; + General Butler's letter to, 83, 84; + petitions Congress to restore peace to city, 99; + arrest of, 102, 103, 108; + correspondence with General Dix, 104-108; + parole offered to, 110, 111; + anti-slavery principles of, 113; + opposed to secession, 115; + on the tendencies of the age, 117, 118; + message to City Council, 157-159; + speech to the Putnam Phalanx, 160-163; + speech to the survivors of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, 169, 170. + + Brown, John, reverence for in the North, 21. + + Brune, Frederick W., efforts for emancipation, 113. + + Brune, John C., message to President Lincoln, 57, 61; + accompanies Mayor to Washington, 71; + elected to General Assembly, 79. + + Bush River Bridge partially burned to prevent ingress of troops, 58, 59. + + Butler, Gen., and the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, 76; + at the Relay House, 83; + rumor of an attack on his camp, 83, 84; + enters Baltimore, 84; + arrests Ross Winans, 87. + + Byrne, Wm., denounces the North, 38. + + + C + + Cadwallader, General, and the writ of _habeas corpus_, 88, 140. + + Cameron, Simon, advice to Governor Hicks to restrain Maryland, 40; + on the obstruction of Northern Central bridge, 73; + letter to Gen. Banks, 102. + + Carmichael, Judge, assaulted and imprisoned, 93. + + Carr, W. C. N., speaks at States Rights meeting, 38, 39. + + Cheston, G., efforts for emancipation, 113. + + Christison, Wenlock, a Quaker, owns slaves, 21. + + Clark, John, advances money for defense of city, 61. + + Crawford, William, Kane's letter to, 40. + + Crowley, Comrade, of the Massachusetts Sixth, speech in + Baltimore, 1880, 167. + + Curtis, Benj. R., Life of, quotation about Judge Taney, 91. + + Cutter, B. L., release from arrest, 109. + + + D + + Davis, Jefferson, elected President of the Confederacy, 32. + + Davis, John W., police commissioner of Baltimore, 35, 49; + errand to Fort McHenry, 66, 67, 68. + + Davis, Judge, doubts the rumors of conspiracy, 132, 133. + + Davis, Robert W., killed, 52. + + De Tocqueville, on public opinion in America, 117. + + Dike, Capt. J. H., company attacked in Baltimore, 46; + testifies as to the conduct of Baltimore civil authority + during the riot, 53, 54. + + Dimick, Col. J., releases prisoners from Fort Warren, 108; + kind treatment of prisoners, 111. + + Dix, General, headquarters in Baltimore, 101; + correspondence with Mayor Brown, 104-108. + + Dix, Miss, relates a Confederate plot, 13. + + Dobbin, Geo. W., errand to Lincoln, 57, 61; + accompanies the Mayor to Washington, 71. + + Douglas, S. A., Senatorial campaign, 22; + Presidential vote for, 25. + + Dred Scott Case, 138. + + + E + + Evans, H. D., his code for Liberia, 31. + + + F + + Felton, C. C., on the "Baltimore Plot," 18. + + Felton, Samuel M., on the supposed conspiracy, 13-18, 129-133; + advises Massachusetts Sixth to load their guns, 43; + engages spies, 120. + + Ferrandini, Captain, suspected of conspiracy to assassinate + President Lincoln, 122-129. + + Follansbee, Capt., company attacked in Baltimore, 46, 49. + + Fort McHenry, apprehended attack on, 66, 69. + + Fort Sumter, bombardment of, 32. + + Franciscus, in the car with Lincoln, 133. + + + G + + Garrett's, John W., dispatch to Mayor Brown concerning advance of + troops to Cockeysville, 73, 74, 75. + + Gatchell, Wm. H., police commissioner of Baltimore, 35; + release from arrest, 109. + + Giles, Judge, issues writ of _habeas corpus_ to Major Morris, 87. + + Gill, George M., meets the Massachusetts Sixth, 48; + counsel for John Merryman, 87. + + Goodwin, Major Horace, commands Putnam Phalanx, 160; + his appearance, 163. + + Greeley, Horace, on the conduct of the Baltimore authorities, 76, 77. + + Groton, regiment mustered in, 42. + + Gunpowder River Bridge partially burned, 58. + + + H + + _Habeas corpus_ case, 87, 139-156. + + Hall, Thomas W., release from arrest, 109. + + Hallam's Constitutional History, extract from, 151. + + Halleck, Gen., in Baltimore, 101. + + Harris, J. Morrison, errand to the Capital, 63. + + Harrison, Wm. G., elected to General Assembly, 80; + released from arrest, 108. + + Hart, Capt., company attacked in Baltimore, 46. + + Herndon, Wm. H., comments on Lincoln's senatorial campaign speech, 23; + reports of plot furnished to, 122. + + Hicks, T. H., Governor of Maryland, 34; + proclamation of, 40; + speech before excited public, 56; + writes to Lincoln not to pass troops through Baltimore, 57, 61; + suggests mediation between North and South by Lord Lyons, 76; + convenes General Assembly, 79; + letter to E. H. Webster, 128. + + Hilliard, suspected of conspiracy, 122, 123. + + Hinks, Chas. D., police commissioner of Baltimore, 35; + released from arrest, 99. + + Hopkins, Johns, advances money for city defense, 61. + + Howard, Charles, police commissioner of Baltimore, 35; + apprehends attack on Fort McHenry, 66, 67; + report on the state of city, 80, 81; + release from arrest, 108. + + Howard, F. K., release from arrest, 109. + + Huger, General, made Colonel of 53d Regiment, 66. + + Hull, Rob't, release from arrest, 109. + + Hyde, Sir Nicholas, on the writ of _habeas corpus_, 150. + + + J + + Jefferson, Thomas, and writ of _habeas corpus_, 141. + + Johnson, Capt. B. T., arrives in Baltimore, 64; + hasty dispatch from Marshal Kane, 69, 70. + + Jones, Col. Edmund F., passage through Baltimore, 43; + on the Massachusetts Sixth in Baltimore, 46, 47, 48, 51; + letter to Marshal Kane, 54. + + Judd, N. B., with Lincoln in Philadelphia, 16; + hears of conspiracy in Baltimore, 128-133. + + + K + + Kane, Marshal George P., investigates supposed plot, 15; + head of Baltimore police, 35; + letter to Crawford, 40; + keeps order at Camden Station, 48; + attempts to quell Baltimore mob, 51, 53; + Col. Jones's gratitude to, 54; + hasty dispatch to Johnson, 69, 70; + after the war elected Sheriff and subsequently Mayor, 70; + arrest of, 97; + release from arrest, 109. + + Keim, Gen., arrests John Merryman, 87, 140. + + Kenly, John R., supersedes Marshal Kane, 97. + + Kennedy, Anthony, errand to the Capital, 63. + + Kennedy, John P., on the attitude of Border States, 31, 32. + + Kentucky, temporary neutrality of, 34. + + Keys, John S., letter from Mayor Brown to, 110, 111. + + Kinney, Mr., receives Lincoln in Philadelphia, 134. + + + L + + Lamon, Colonel W. H., on Lincoln's midnight ride, 19, 120-137; + on Lincoln-Douglas campaign, 22; + ride with Lincoln, 133. + + Latrobe, John H. B., President of Maryland Colonization Society, 31. + + Lawrence, Massachusetts, regiment mustered in, 42. + + Lee, Colonel, on Gen. Cadwallader's errand to Judge Taney, 88. + + Lewis, Mr., in the car with Lincoln, 133. + + Lincoln, President, alleged conspiracy against, in + Maryland, 11-15, 121-137; + midnight ride to Washington, 17, 19, 120; + Senatorial campaign with Douglas, 22; + differs from Seward, 24; + election to Presidency, 25; + calls out the militia, 32; + letter to Gov. Hicks, 62; + Mayor Brown writes to, concerning passage of troops through + Baltimore, 57, 61; + Mayor Brown's interview with, 71-75. + + Lowell, Massachusetts, regiment mustered in, 42. + + Luckett, suspected of conspiracy, 122-127. + + Lyons, Lord, suggested as mediator between North and South, 76; + Secretary Seward's boast of his authority to, 91. + + + M + + Macgill, Dr. Charles, release from arrest, 109. + + Marshall, Chief Justice, on _habeas corpus_, 153, 154. + + Maryland, rumors of conspiracy in, 11, 12, 13; + slavery in, 20, 30; + Lincoln's call for militia, how received in, 33; + excitement, 40, 41. + + Mason, James M., sent from Virginia to negotiate with Maryland, 84. + + Massachusetts, Minute Men, 11; + slavery in, 20; + Eighth Regiment, 76; + Sixth Regiment, 42, 167-170. + + May, Henry, M. C., arrest of, 103. + + McClellan, General, letter to General Banks, 102. + + McComas, Sergeant, removes obstruction from railway track in + Baltimore, 49. + + McHenry, Ramsay, efforts for emancipation, 113. + + Merryman, John, arrest of, 87, 88, 154; + charges against unfounded, 90. + + Morfit, H. M., elected to General Assembly, 79. + + Morris, Major, refuses to obey writ of _habeas corpus_, 87. + + + N + + Negro. _See_ Slavery. + + Newport, slave-traffic in, 20. + + Nicolay, George, on Lincoln's midnight ride, 132. + + North Carolina, secession of, 33. + + + O + + O'Donnell, Columbus, advances money for city defense, 61. + + + P + + Parker, Edward P., General Butler's aide-de-camp, 83. + + Patapsco Dragoons, arrival in Baltimore, 64. + + Pemberton, Major, leads U. S. Artillery through Baltimore, 86. + + Pennsylvania troops in Baltimore, 44, 53; + at Cockeysville, 75. + + Phillips, Wendell, on States Rights, 26. + + Pickering, Captain, company opposed in Baltimore, 46. + + Pikesville, arsenal taken possession of, 65. + + Pitts, Charles H., elected to General Assembly, 80. + + Putnam Phalanx of Hartford in Baltimore, 160-166. + + Putnam's Record of the Rebellion, quotation from, 38. + + + R + + Revolution, right of, 26-29. + + Robinson, Dr. Alex. C., Chairman of States Rights Convention, 38. + + Robinson, General John C., on Baltimore in 1861, 66, 69, 81, 82, 83. + + + S + + Sanford, plans Lincoln's midnight ride, 131. + + Sangston, L., elected to General Assembly, 80. + + Scharf's History of Maryland quoted, 35, 37, 78, 103. + + Scott, General, on the passage of troops through Baltimore, 62, 72, 75. + + Scott, T. Parkin, sympathizes with the South, 38, 39; + elected Judge after the war, 39; + elected to General Assembly, 79; + release from arrest, 108. + + Seward, Secretary, position before Presidential Convention, 24; + boasts of his authority, 91; + sends news of supposed conspiracy to Lincoln, 130, 134. + + Slavery, compromises of Constitution in regard to, 20-22; + Geo. Wm. Brown opposed to, 113; + some good effects of, 114. + + Small, Colonel, leads Pennsylvania regiment, 42. + + South Carolina, secession of, 31. + + Steuart, Dr. Richard S., efforts for emancipation, 113. + + Story, Justice, on _habeas corpus_, 152, 153. + + Stuart, Captain, speech in Baltimore, 163-166. + + Sumner, Colonel, offers to accompany President Lincoln to + Washington, 132, 133. + + _Sun, The_, on the offer of service by colored people, 65, 66; + on the suffering of Pennsylvania troops in Baltimore County, 76; + Reception of 6th Massachusetts Regiment in Baltimore, 167-170. + + + T + + Taney, Chief Justice, on negro rights, 21, 138; + _habeas corpus_ case _ex parte_ John Merryman, 87-93, 139-156. + + Tennessee, secession of, 33. + + Thomas, Dr. J. Hanson, elected to General Assembly, 79. + + Trimble, Colonel I. R., defense of Baltimore, 63. + + Trist, N. P., news of conspiracy communicated to, 14. + + Turner, Capt., suspected of conspiracy, 124-126. + + + U + + Union Convention called, 92. + + + V + + Virginia, secession of, 33; + sends Mason to negotiate with Maryland, 84. + + + W + + Wallis, S. Teackle, legal adviser to Baltimore police commission, 35; + speech to the excited public, 56; + accompanies the Mayor to Washington, 71; + elected to the General Assembly, 79; + release from arrest, 108, 109. + + Warfield, Henry M., elected to General Assembly, 79; + release from arrest, 108. + + Warner, Major J. P., commands Baltimore City Guards, 160. + + Washburne, Mr., meets President Lincoln at Washington Depot, 136. + + Watson, Major, company attacked in Baltimore, 45. + + Webster, E. H., Gov. Hicks's letter to, 128. + + Whitefield, the Calvinist, owns slaves, 21. + + Williams, George H., counsel for John Merryman, 87. + + Winans, Ross, denounces passage of troops through Baltimore, 37; + elected to General Assembly, 79; + arrested by Gen. Butler's order, 87. + + Winder, Wm. H., release from arrest, 109. + + Wood, Fernando, tries to make New York a free city, 31. + + Wool, General, checks arbitrary arrest, 109. + + Worcester, regiment mustered in, 42. + + + + +Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. + +HERBERT B. ADAMS, Editor. + + +PROSPECTUS OF FIFTH SERIES.--1887. + +The Studies in Municipal Government will be continued. The Fifth +Series will also embrace Studies in the History of American Political +Economy and of American Co-operation. The following papers are ready +or in preparation: + + =I-II. City Government of Philadelphia.= By EDWARD P. ALLINSON, + A. M. (Haverford), and BOIES PENROSE, A. B. (Harvard). January + and February, 1887. _Price 50 cents._ 72 pp. + + =III. City Government of Boston.= By JAMES M. BUGBEE. March, + 1887. _Price 25 cents._ 60 pp. + + =City Government of Baltimore.= By JOHN C. ROSE, B. L. + (University of Maryland, School of Law). _In preparation._ + + =City Government of Chicago.= By F. H. HODDER, Ph. M. (University + of Mich.) Instructor in History, Cornell University. + + =City Government of San Francisco.= By BERNARD MOSES, Ph. D., + Professor of History and Politics, University of California. + + =City Government of St. Louis.= By MARSHALL S. SNOW, A. M. + (Harvard), Professor of History, Washington University. + + =City Government of New Orleans.= By HON. W. W. HOWE. + + =City Government of New York.= By SIMON STERNE and J. F. JAMESON, + Ph. D., Associate in History, J. H. U. + + =The Influence of the War of 1812 upon the Consolidation of the + American Union.= By NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, Ph. D. and Fellow of + Columbia College. + + =The History of American Political Economy.= Studies by R. T. + ELY, WOODROW WILSON, and D. R. DEWEY. + + =The History of American Co-operation.= Studies by E. W. BEMIS, + D. R. RANDALL, A. G. WARNER, _et al._ + + +FOURTH SERIES.--Municipal Government and Land Tenure.--1886. + + =I. Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River.= By IRVING + ELTING, A. B. (Harvard). January, 1886; pp. 68. _Price 50 cents._ + + =II-III. Town Government in Rhode Island.= By WILLIAM E. FOSTER, + A. M. (Brown University).--=The Narragansett Planters.= By EDWARD + CHANNING, Ph. D. and Instructor in History (Harvard University). + February and March, 1886; pp. 60. _Price 50 cents._ + + =IV. Pennsylvania Boroughs.= By WILLIAM P. HOLCOMB, Ph. D. (J. H. + U.), Professor of History and Political Science, Swarthmore + College, April, 1886; pp. 51. _Price 50 cents._ + + =V. Introduction to the Constitutional and Political History of + the Individual States.= By J. F. JAMESON, Ph. D. and Associate in + History, J. H. U. May, 1886; pp. 29. _Price 50 cents._ + + =VI. The Puritan Colony at Annapolis, Maryland.= By DANIEL R. + RANDALL, A. B. (St. John's College). June, 1886; pp. 47. _Price + 50 cents._ + + =VII-VIII-IX. History of the Land Question in the United States.= + By SHOSUKE SATO, B. S. (Sapporo), Ph. D. and Fellow by Courtesy, + J. H. U. July-September, 1886; pp. 181. _Price $1.00._ + + =X. The Town and City Government of New Haven.= By CHARLES H. + LEVERMORE, Ph. D. (J. H. U.), Instructor in History, University + of California. October, 1886; pp. 103. _Price 50 cents._ + + =XI-XII. The Land System of the New England Colonies.= By + MELVILLE EGLESTON, A. M. (Williams College). November and + December, 1886. _Price 50 cents._ + + +THIRD SERIES.--Maryland, Virginia, and Washington.--1885. + + =I. Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to the United + States.= With minor papers on George Washington's Interest in + Western Lands, the Potomac Company, and a National University. By + HERBERT B. ADAMS, Ph. D. (Heidelberg). January, 1885; pp. 102. + _Price 75 cents._ + + =II-III. Virginia Local Institutions:--The Land System; Hundred; + Parish; County; Town.= By EDWARD INGLE, A. B. (J. H. U.). + February and March, 1885; pp. 127. _Price 75 cents._ + + =IV. Recent American Socialism.= By RICHARD T. ELY, Ph. D. + (Heidelberg), Associate in Political Economy, J. H. U. April, + 1885; pp. 74. _Price 50 cents._ + + =V-VI-VII. Maryland Local Institutions:--The Land System; + Hundred; County; Town.= By LEWIS W. WILHELM, Ph. D. (J. H. U.), + Fellow by Courtesy, J. H. U. May, June, and July, 1885; pp. 130. + _Price $1.00._ + + =VIII. The Influence of the Proprietors in Founding the State of + New Jersey.= By AUSTIN SCOTT, Ph. D. (Leipzig), formerly + Associate and Lecturer, J. H. U.; Professor of History, Political + Economy, and Constitutional Law, Rutgers College. August, 1885; + pp. 26. _Price 25 cents._ + + =IX-X. American Constitutions; The Relations of the Three + Departments as Adjusted by a Century.= By HORACE DAVIS, A. B. + (Harvard). San Francisco, California. September and October, + 1885; pp. 70. _Price 50 cents._ + + =XI-XII. The City of Washington.= By JOHN ADDISON PORTER, A. B. + (Yale). November and December, 1885; pp. 56. _Price 50 cents._ + + +SECOND SERIES.--Institutions and Economics.--1884. + + =I-II. Methods of Historical Study.= By HERBERT B. ADAMS, Ph. D. + (Heidelberg). January and February, 1884; pp. 137.* + + =III. The Past and the Present of Political Economy.= By RICHARD + T. ELY, Ph. D. (Heidelberg). March, 1884; pp. 64.* + + =IV. Samuel Adams, The Man of the Town Meeting.= By JAMES K. + HOSMER, A. M. (Harvard), Professor of English and German + Literature, Washington University, St. Louis. April, 1884; pp. + 60. _Price 35 cents._ + + =V-VI. Taxation in the United States.= By HENRY CARTER ADAMS, Ph. + D. (J. H. U.), Professor of Political Economy, University of + Michigan. May and June, 1884; pp. 79.* + + =VII. Institutional Beginnings in a Western State.= By JESSE + MACY, A. B. (Iowa College); Professor of Historical and Political + Science, Iowa College. July, 1884; pp. 38. _Price 25 cents._ + + =VIII-IX. Indian Money as a Factor In New England Civilization.= + By WILLIAM B. WEEDEN, A. M. (Brown Univ.). August and September, + 1884; pp. 51. _Price 50 cents._ + + =X. Town and County Government in the English Colonies of North + America.= By EDWARD CHANNING, Ph.D. (Harvard); Instructor in + History, Harvard College. October, 1884; pp. 57.* + + =XI. Rudimentary Society among Boys.= By JOHN JOHNSON, A B. (J. + H. U.); Instructor in History and English, McDonogh Institute, + Baltimore Co., Md. November, 1884; pp. 56. _Price 50 cents._ + + =XII. Land Laws of Mining Districts.= By CHARLES HOWARD SHINN, A. + B. (J. H. U.), Editor of the _Overland Monthly_. December, 1884; + pp. 69. _Price 50 cents._ + + +FIRST SERIES.--Local Institutions.--1883. + + =I. An Introduction to American Institutional History.= By EDWARD + A. FREEMAN, D. C. L., LL. D., Regius Professor of Modern History, + University of Oxford. With an Account of Mr. Freeman's Visit to + Baltimore, by the Editor.* + + =II. The Germanic Origin of New England Towns.= Read before the + Harvard Historical Society, May 9, 1881. By H. B. ADAMS, Ph. D. + (Heidelberg), 1876. With Notes on Co-operation in University + Work.* + + =III. Local Government in Illinois.= First published in the + _Fortnightly Review_ By ALBERT SHAW, A. B. (Iowa College), + 1879--=Local Government in Pennsylvania.= Read before the + Pennsylvania Historical Society, May 1, 1882 By E. R. L. GOULD, + A. B. (Victoria University, Canada), 1882. _Price 30 cents._ + + =IV. Saxon Tithingmen in America.= Read before the American + Antiquarian Society, October 21, 1881. By H. B. ADAMS. 2d + Edition. _Price 50 cents._ + + =V. Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest.= Read before + the Social Science Association, at Saratoga, September 7, 1882. + By E. W. BEMIS A. B. (Amherst College), 1880. _Price 25 cents._ + + =VI. Parish Institutions of Maryland.= By EDWARD INGLE, A. B. + (Johns Hopkins University), 1882. _Price 40 cents._ + + =VII. Old Maryland Manors.= By JOHN JOHNSON, A. B. (Johns Hopkins + University), 1881. _Price 30 cents._ + + =VIII. Norman Constables in America.= Read before the New England + Historical & Genealogical Society, February 1, 1882. By H. B. + ADAMS. 2d Edition. _Price 50 cents._ + + =IX-X. Village Communities of Cape Ann and Salem.= From the + Historical Collection of the Essex Institute. By H. B. ADAMS.* + + =XI. The Genesis of a New England State (Connecticut).= By + ALEXANDER JOHNSTON, A. M. (Rutgers College), 1870; Professor of + Political Economics and Jurisprudence at Princeton College. + _Price 30 cents._ + + =XII. Local Government and Free Schools in South Carolina.= Read + before the Historical Society of South Carolina, December 15, + 1882. By B. J. RAMAGE. + + +The first annual series of monthly monographs devoted to History, +Politics, and Economics was begun in 1882-1883. Four volumes have thus +far appeared. + +The separate volumes bound in cloth will be sold as follows: + + VOLUME I.--Local Institutions. 479 pp. $4.00. + VOLUME II.--Institutions and Economics. 629 pp. $4.00. + VOLUME III.--Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. 595 pp. $4.00. + VOLUME IV.--Municipal Government and Land Tenure. 610 pp. $3.50. + + _The set of four volumes will be sold together for $12.50 net._ + + VOLUME V.--Municipal Government and Economics. (1887.) + + _This volume will be furnished in monthly parts upon receipt of + subscription price, $3; or the bound volume will be sent at the + end of the year 1887 for $3.50._ + + +EXTRA VOLUMES OF STUDIES. + +In connection with the regular annual series of Studies, a series of +Extra Volumes is proposed. It is intended to print them in a style +uniform with the regular Studies, but to publish each volume by +itself, in numbered sequence and in a cloth binding uniform with the +First, Second, Third, and Fourth Series. The volumes will vary in size +from 200 to 500 pages, with corresponding prices. Subscriptions to the +Annual Series of Studies will not necessitate subscriptions to the +Extra Volumes, although they will be offered to regular subscribers at +reduced rates. + + =EXTRA VOLUME I.--The Republic of New Haven: A History of + Municipal Evolution.= By CHARLES H. LIVERMORE, Ph. D., Baltimore. + + This volume, now ready, comprises 350 pages octavo, with various + diagrams and an index. It is sold, bound in cloth, at $2.00. + + =EXTRA VOLUME II.--Philadelphia, 1681-1887. A History of + Municipal Development.= By EDWARD P. ALLINSON, A. M. (Haverford), + and BOIES PENROSE, A. B. (Harvard). + + The volume will comprise about 300 pages, octavo. It will be + sold, bound in cloth, at $3.00; in law-sheep, at $3.50. + + =EXTRA VOLUME III.--Baltimore and the Nineteenth of April, 1861.= + By GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN, Chief Judge of the Supreme Bench of + Baltimore, and Mayor of the City in 1861. Price $1.00. + + * * * * * + +All communications relating to subscriptions, exchanges, etc., should +be addressed to the PUBLICATION AGENCY OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS +UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. + +The following table of contents will serve to indicate the scope and +character of the topics treated in Mr. Levermore's History of New +Haven: + + CHAPTER I. THE GENESIS OF NEW HAVEN. -- Davenport and Eaton. -- + Formation of a State. -- Town-Meetings. -- Fundamental Agreement. + -- Davenport's Policy. -- Theophilus Eaton. + + CHAPTER II. THE EVOLUTION OF TOWN GOVERNMENT. -- Social Order. -- + Town Courts. -- The Quarters. -- Military Organization. -- The + Watch. -- The Marshal. -- The Town Drummer. -- Minor Offices. -- + Roads. -- Fences. -- Cattle. -- Supervisors. -- Doctor. -- + School-Teacher. -- Viewers and Brewers. -- The Townsmen. -- + Currency and Taxation. + + CHAPTER III. THE LAND QUESTION. -- Official Control over + Alienations and Dwellings. -- Divisions of the Outland. -- New + Haven a Village Community. -- Evolution of Subordinate Townships. + -- The Delaware Company. + + CHAPTER IV. THE UNION WITH CONNECTICUT. THE BIRTH OF NEWARK. -- A + New Party within the Colony. -- Terms of Admission of Strangers. + -- Increasing Importance of Townsmen. -- The Village Question. -- + New Haven and the Restored Stuart. -- Hegira to New Jersey. + + CHAPTER V. THE WORK OF THE COURTS IN JUDICATURE AND LEGISLATION. + -- Drunkenness. -- Sabbath-breaking. -- Spiritual + Discouragements. -- Quakers and Witches. -- Lewdness. -- Methods + of Civil Procedure. -- Legislation concerning Trade and Prices. + -- Arbitration. -- Magisterial Interest in Trade. -- Revival of + the Common Law and English Usage. + + CHAPTER VI. NEW HAVEN A CONNECTICUT TOWN, 1664-1700. -- Changes + in Constitution. -- Hopkins Grammar School. -- Minister's Tax. -- + Tithingmen. -- Justice of the Peace. -- Divisions of Land. -- + Indian Reservations. -- The Village Controversy. -- Public + Benevolence. -- Indian Wars. -- Villages again. -- Tyranny of + Andros. -- Local Enactments. -- Intemperance. -- Funeral Customs. + + CHAPTER VII. NEW HAVEN A CONNECTICUT TOWN, 1700-1784. -- The + Quarrel with East Haven. -- Yale College. -- The Walpolean + Lethargy. -- Sale of the Town's Poor. -- First Post-Office. -- + First Oyster Laws. -- Sketch of the Town's Commerce. -- The + Approach of the Revolution. -- New Haven during the War. -- + Committees. -- Articles of Confederation. -- Treatment of Tories. + -- Final Division of the Township. -- The Church the Germ of the + Town. + + CHAPTER VIII. THE DUAL GOVERNMENT. TOWN AND CITY. 1784-1886. -- + Town-Born _vs._ Interloper. -- First Phases of City Politics. -- + First Charter. -- Description of the City. -- Municipal + Improvements. -- Fire Department. -- Adornment of the Green. -- + Public Letters to the Presidents and Others. -- Downfall of + Federalism. -- Slavery and Abolition. -- Municipal Growth. -- + Sects. -- Administrative Changes. -- Windfall from Washington. -- + Liquor Traffic. -- Light in the Streets. -- High School. -- Era + of Railways. -- Needs of the Poor. -- The City Meeting. -- + Charter of 1857. -- Town Officers. -- City Improvement. -- Police + and Fire Departments. -- In the Civil War. -- Recent Charters. -- + Conservative Influences in the Community. + + CHAPTER IX. THE PRESENT MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION. -- School + District. -- Town Government. -- Town-Meeting. -- Consolidation. + -- City Government. -- City Judiciary. -- City Executive. -- City + Legislature. -- Legislative Control over the Commissions. -- + Conduct of Commissions. -- Executive Organization. -- + Administrative Courts. -- Frequent Elections. -- Board of + Councilmen. -- Choice of Aldermen. + + Appendix A.--Mr. Pierson's Elegy. + " B.--The Town of Naugatuck. + " C.--Dr. Manasseh Cutler's Diary. + " D.--A Town Court of Elections. New Haven, A. D. 1656. + +The volume now ready comprises 350 pages octavo, with various diagrams +and an index. It will be sold, neatly bound in cloth, at $2.00. +Subscribers to the STUDIES can obtain at reduced rates this new +volume. + + + + +PHILADELPHIA + +1681-1887: + +A History of Municipal Development. + +BY + +EDWARD P. ALLINSON, A. M., AND BOIES PENROSE, A. B., OF THE +PHILADELPHIA BAR. + + +While several general histories of Philadelphia have been written, +there is no history of that city as a municipal corporation. Such a +work is now offered, based upon the Acts of Assembly, the City +Ordinances, the State Reports, and many other authorities. Numerous +manuscripts in the Pennsylvania Historical Society, in Public +Libraries, and in the Departments at Philadelphia and Harrisburg have +also been consulted, and important facts found therein are now for the +first time published. + +The development of the government of Philadelphia affords a peculiarly +interesting study, and is full of instruction to the student of +municipal questions. The first charter granted by the original +proprietor, William Penn, created a close, self-elected corporation, +consisting of the "Mayor, Recorder and Common Council," holding office +for life. Such corporations survived in England from medieval times to +the passage of the Reform Act of 1835. The corporation of Philadelphia +possessed practically no power of taxation, and few and extremely +limited powers of any kind. As a rapidly growing city required greater +municipal powers, the legislature instead of increasing the powers of +the corporation which, being self-elected, was held in distrust by +the citizens, established from time to time various independent +boards, commissions, and trusts for the control of taxation, streets, +poor, etc. These boards were subsequently transformed into the city +departments as they exist to-day. The State and municipal legislation, +extending over two centuries, is extremely varied and frequently +experimental. It affords instruction illustrative of almost every form +of municipal expedient and constitution. + +The development of the city government of Philadelphia has been +carefully traced through many changes in the powers and duties of the +mayor, in the election and powers of the subordinate executive +officers, in the position and relation of the various departments, in +the legislative and executive powers of councils, in the frequently +shifting distribution of executive power between the mayor and +councils, and in the procedure of councils. _In 1885 an Act of +Assembly was passed providing for a new government for Philadelphia +which embodies the latest ideas upon municipal questions._ + +The history of the government of the city thus begins with the +medieval charter of most contracted character, and ends with _the +liberal provisions of the Reform Act of 1885_. It furnishes +illustrations of almost every phase of municipal development. The +story cannot fail to interest all those who believe that the question +of better government for our great cities is one of critical +importance, and who are aware of the fact that this question is +already receiving widespread attention. The subject had become so +serious in 1876 that Governor Hartranft, in his message of that year, +called the attention of the Legislature to it in the following +succinct and forcible statement: "_There is no political problem that +at the present moment occasions so much just alarm and is obtaining +more anxious thought than the government of cities._" + +The consideration of the subject naturally resolves itself into five +sharply-defined periods, to each of which a chapter has been devoted, +as indicated by the following summary, which, while not exhaustive, +will suggest the general scope. + + CHAPTER I. FIRST PERIOD, 1681-1701. -- Founding of the city. -- + Functions of the Provincial Council. -- Slight but certain + evidence of some organized city government prior to Penn's + Charter. + + CHAPTER II. SECOND PERIOD, 1701-1789. -- Penn's authority. -- + Charter of 1701. -- Attributes of the Proprietary Charter; its + medieval character. -- Integral parts of the corporation. -- + Arbitrary nature and limited powers. -- Acts of Legislature + creating independent commissions. -- Miscellaneous acts and + ordinances. -- The Revolution. -- Abrogation of Charter. -- + Legislative government. -- Summary. + + CHAPTER III. THIRD PERIOD, 1789-1854. -- Character of Second + Charter. -- Causes leading to its passage. -- A modern municipal + corporation. -- Supplements. -- Departments. -- Concentration of + authority. -- Councils. -- Bicameral system adopted. -- Officers, + how appointed or elected. -- Diminishing powers of the mayor. -- + Introduction of standing committees. -- Finance. -- Debt. -- + Revenue. -- Review of the period. + + CHAPTER IV. FOURTH PERIOD, 1854-1887. -- Act of consolidation. -- + Causes leading to its passage. -- Features of New Charter. -- + Supplements. -- Extent of territory covered by consolidation. -- + Character of outlying districts. -- New Constitution. -- Relation + of city and county. -- Summary of changes effected. -- + Twenty-five _quasi_-independent departments established. -- + Encroachment of legislative upon executive powers. -- Resulting + Citizens' Reform movement. -- Committee of one hundred. -- + Contracts. -- Debt. -- Delusive methods of finance. -- Reform + movement in councils. -- Causes leading to the passage of the + Bullit Bill. -- Review of the period. + + CHAPTER V. FIFTH PERIOD. -- Text of the Act of 1885. -- History + of the passage of the Bullit Bill. -- Changes by it effected in + the organic law. -- Conclusions. + + +PRICE. + +The volume will comprise about 300 pages, octavo, and will be sold, +bound in cloth, at $3; in law-sheep at $3.50; and at reduced rates to +regular subscribers to the "Studies." + +Orders and subscriptions should be addressed to THE PUBLICATION, +AGENCY OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Baltimore and The Nineteenth of April, +1861, by George William Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BALTIMORE AND THE NINETEENTH *** + +***** This file should be named 39346.txt or 39346.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/3/4/39346/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Christine P. 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