USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 25
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specter melted away, leaving scarcely a wreck behind. What it might have accomplished, however, was shown on May 28, 1851, by Hon. II. S. Foote, United States Senator from Mississippi, in a speech in Attala County, that State, in which he said: "The idea of demand- ing amendments to the Constitution, and in case of failing to obtain them, resorting to secession, was first broached by Mr. Calhoun after our October convention in 1849"; that Mr. Calhoun told him that he had no expectation of obtaining these amendments; but Mr. Cal- houn thought that if they should be refused, then the South would unite in favor of a Southern convention, and that Mr. Calhoun had prepared a constitution for the new republic which was to have been formed out of one of the fragments of the Union as it then existed. All of this revelation by Hon. Mr. Foote as to Mr. Calhoun's plans and purposes was in perfect accord with Mr. Calhoun's prediction, made in 1846, that within a generation there would be formed a Southern Confederacy, and that Atlanta, Georgia, would be its capital.
The insurrection at Harper's Ferry occurred October 16, 1859. The particulars of this insurrection are so well known that it is not necessary to more than refer to them in this connection, and no attempt is made in this work to do more than to narrate the events transpiring in Washington immediately connected with that foolhardy affair, which in itself was equally unnecessary and unjustifiable with the later and much greater insurrection which had for its object the breaking up of the Government of the United States, except that the motive actuating the insurrectionists at Harper's Ferry was the liberation of the slave. The outbreak came without premonition, and was caused by no special provocation. Of course great excitement was caused in this city, as elsewhere, and during the day following the announcement of the outbreak there was manifested the greatest eagerness to learn of its progress and success. At three o'clock of the morning of October 18, Governor Wise, of Virginia, arrived in Wash- ington, accompanied by the Greys of Richmond, about sixty in number, and the Alexandria Rifles. Governor Wise found Mayor James G. Berrett at the City Hall, surrounded by the police, and remained there most of the time until six o'clock, when he took the train for Harper's Ferry. At three o'clock in the afternoon the mail boat from Acquia Creek, and other boats on the Potomac River, brought up five companies of the Virginia troops, numbering about three hundred men, two or three of which companies marched imme- diately to the railroad depot, but receiving there a dispatch from Governor Wise, they returned, the Young Guard of Richmond taking
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the opportunity to parade along Pennsylvania Avenue. The order and quiet in Washington for the next succeeding two or three days were painful in the extreme, no one knowing what to expect, and hence fearing the worst. On Sunday, November 20, 1859, Governor Wise, with a regiment of Virginia volunteers from Richmond, four hundred and four strong in rank and file, arrived in Washington, leaving for Harper's Ferry at 10:00 A. M. that day. In the afternoon . three companies from Petersburg arrived, and as they could not get ont of town they remained until next morning.
November 27, 1859, a company of troops arrived in Washington for Charlestown, Virginia, and on the 28th three other companies arrived for the same destination, notwithstanding there were then stationed at that point six hundred and fifty men, and in the entire county there were under arms not less than one thousand men; thus showing the supposed necessity for a strong force to prevent the spreading of the John Brown heresy into Virginia. The execution of John Brown followed in a few days afterward, on December 2, with a promptness and certainty which were commendable.
The excitement caused by this episode in American history did not subside before other causes of excitement arose. The Republican Association of Washington, on May 28, 1860, held a meeting to ratify the nomination of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the positions of Presideney and Vice-Presidency, respectively. B. B. French, president of the association, addressed the assemblage, which was in front of the southwest portico of the City Hall, and read a series of resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the Republican Party. Hon. J. R. Doolittle, Senator from Wisconsin, presented very briefly the positions of the two great parties. Hon. Israel Washburn, of Maine, said that while he had favored Mr. Seward, yet he would do all he could to secure the election of Mr. Lincoln. Hon. B. F. Wade, Hon. G. A. Grow, Hon. Henry Wilson, Hon. Ely Spaulding, Hon. John A. Bingham, and Mr. Mckean of New York, each made short addresses.
On July 3, 1860, another ratification meeting was held at the same place, to ratify the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas and Her- schel V. Johnson to the same offices. A large banner was thrown to the breeze, bearing the inscription, "No SECESSION," in large letters. The meeting was addressed by George W. Brent of Alexandria, Ellis . B. Schnabel of Philadelphia, and Dr. Culver of Washington.
On July 9, a similar meeting was held by those favoring the elec- tion of Hon. John C. Breckinridge and Hon. Joseph Lane. Their
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motto was, "The Constitution, and the Equality of the States." Mayor Berrett, of Washington, presided, and James M. Carlisle, A. B. Meek of Alabama, Isaac I. Stevens of Washington Territory, A. G. Brown of Mississippi, and Jefferson Davis made addresses.
Still another ratification meeting, and the largest of all, was held in front of the City Hall August 8, 1860, to ratify the nomination of IIon. John Bell and Hon. Edward Everett to the same positions. The central portion of the City Hall was used on this occasion, and a large platform erected between the two wings. Mr. B. O. Tayloe called upon Philip R. Fendall to preside, who claimed that Mr. Bell, like Themistocles, on a former occasion, was the second choice of all the parties that had candidates in the field, and argued hence that he was at least fit to be the first choice of all. Robert E. Scott of Fauquier County, Virginia, Hon. J. Morrison Harris of Baltimore, Robert J. Bowie of Maryland, B. L. Hodge of Louisiana, Hon. Alex- ander R. Boteler of Virginia, and Joseph HI. Bradley of Washington, addressed the meeting.
Mr. Lincoln was elected November 6, 1860, and on the next day occurred what may perhaps be called the first battle of the subsequent civil war. Late at night on the day of election, it became known what the result was, and toward midnight it was proposed and agreed to, at the Breckinridge headquarters, on Pennsylvania Avenue between Four and a Half and Sixth streets, that the fifty or sixty members of the National Volunteers should repair in a body to the Republican headquarters at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Second Street, and "wreck the shanty." There was then a large party of Breckinridge men at Brown's Hotel, which united with the National Volunteers, making the combined strength of the two parties about three hundred men. Proceeding to the. Republican building, they began, when in front of it, to fire pistols and throw stones at the windows, soon demolishing all in the second story of the building. Going around to the Second Street side, they broke open the door, which was locked, went up stairs, and began the destruction of the paraphernalia and furniture of the rooms. They also entered the room above the wigwam and destroyed the stands of type, and scattered type all around the room. Some half dozen scared Republicans retreated to the roof of the building. Soon several policemen, headed by Lieu- tenant MelIenry, entered and took possession of the rooms, and made arrests of those in the building, including three Republicans and five of the Volunteers. An investigation was had at the office of Justice Donn, but no very severe punishment was inflicted.
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That it was the full determination of the Southern leaders to take their States out of the Union, in case of the election of Mr. Lincoln, -toward which they lent their powerful and essential assistance by breaking up the Democratic Party at Charleston, South Carolina, in the summer of 1860,-though then not so widely known as now, was yet well known to those who had opportunities of finding out the truth. Notwithstanding the well-known fact that many patriotic citi- zens were preparing to meet in convention in Washington, at the call of the State of Virginia, to agree upon measures which they intended to propose to the people of the United States as a basis of compro- mise for all serious difference between the sections, yet on the 5th of January, 1861, there was held a caucus in this city by Southern seces- sion Senators from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, at which these gentlemen in effect resolved to assume to themselves the political and military power of the South, to control all political and military movements for the immediate future, and telegraphed to their followers in the South to complete the plan by seizing forts, arsenals, customhouses, and other property belonging to the United States; and advised the conventions then in session and soon to be in session, to pass ordinances of secession; but themselves, in order to thwart any operations of the General Government, were to retain their places in the Senate. These Senators at this eaucus also advised, ordered, or directed the assembling of a convention of delegates from the seceding States to be held at Montgomery, Ala- bama, about February 13, 1861, which could be done only by the seceding conventions usurping the powers of the people and sending delegates over whom they would lose control in the establishment of a provisional government, which was the plan of the caucus members. This same caneus also resolved to take the most efficient measures to influence the legislatures of the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Mis- souri, Arkansas, Texas, and Virginia, into following in the wake of the seceding cotton States; nor was Maryland to be forgotten or overlooked.
This was a most remarkable and startling exposition: Senators of the United States, representing sovereign States and sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, looked to by at least a portion of their constituents to effect some method of adjustment by which civil war might be avoided, deliberately considering and con- cocting a conspiracy by means of which the Government might be the more easily, and thus the more surely, overthrown -that Govern- ment which they were at the time under the most solenm of oaths to
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maintain and support, the contemplated overthrow to be accomplished through such military organizations as the Knights of the Golden Circle, Committees of Safety, Southern Leagues, and other similar agencies, all at their command, thus dividing the South from the North, and then dividing the South among themselves.
Only a day or two afterward, the Washington correspondent of the Baltimore Sun corroborated the statement, as given in substance above, by saying that the leaders of the Southern movement were consulting together as to the best method of consolidating their interests into a Southern Confederacy, under a provisional govern- ment, etc.
Not only in corroboration of, but in full demonstration of, the accuracy of this remarkable exposition, was the letter of Hon. D. L. Yulee, United States Senator from the State of Florida, which is here introduced.
" WASHINGTON, D. C., January 7, 1861.
"MY DEAR SIR: On the other side is a copy of resolutions adopted at a consultation of the Senators from the seceding States in which Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida were present.
"The idea of the meeting was that the States should go out at onee, and provide for the organization of a Confederate Government not later than the 15th of February. This time is allowed to enable Louisiana and Texas to participate.
"It seemed to be the opinion that if we left here, force, loan, and volunteer bills might be passed, which would put Mr. Lincoln in immediate condition for hostilities; whereas, by remaining in our places until the 4th of March, it is thought we can keep the hands of Mr. Buchanan tied, and disable the Republicans from effecting any legislation which will strengthen the hands of the incoming administration.
[ Another paragraph followed, which is of no historic interest in this connection.] "D. L. YULEE.
"To Joseph Finegan, Esq., "Sovereignty Convention, " Tallahassee, Florida."
The resolutions referred to in this letter as having been adopted at the caucus of January 5, were as follows:
"1. That in our opinion each of the Southern States should, as soon as may be, secede from the Union.
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"2. That provision should be made for a convention to organize a confederacy of the seceding States, the convention to meet not later than the 15th of February, at the city of Montgomery, in the State of Alabama.
"3. That in view of the hostile legislation that is threatened against the seceding States, and which may be consummated by the 4th of March, we ask instructions whether the delegates are to remain in Congress until that date for the defeating of such legislation.
"4. That a committee be and are hereby appointed, consisting of Messrs. Davis, Slidell, and Mallory, to carry out the objects of this meeting."
Soon afterward, upon the solicitation of the State of Virginia, speaking through her legislature, a peace convention, above referred to, assembled in Washington, meeting in Willard's Hall, on F Street, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets. This convention was organized February 4, 1861, with Ex-President Jolm Tyler as its chairman, and S. C. Wright as secretary. Much was hoped from this convention by the Northern and border Slave States, but nothing by the more southern Slave States, because, as has been intimated before, they were determined to secede irrespective of what might be done by any portion of the people, or by the Government itself. On the same day that this Peace Convention met in Washington, the delegates to the Confederate Congress met in Montgomery, the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida being represented. President Tyler addressed the convention, saying that the members thereof had as grand a task before them as had been performed by their "godlike fathers" in the founding of the glorious Constitution and Government which was then imperiled by the seces- sion movement. On the 23d of February, the convention, having completed its labors by formulating an amendment to the Constitu- tion, closely resembling the Crittenden compromise, which it proposed to the country for adoption, and by passing a resolution advising the Government of the United States not to make war on the seceded and seceding States, adjourned.
About the middle of January, there were rumors afloat of combi- nations being formed to interfere with the inauguration of Mr. Lin- coln. Of course the city of Washington was interested in knowing the truth or falsity of these rumors, and in order to learn something definite, if possible, as to their truth, Mayor James G. Berrett wrote to Marshal George P. Kane, of Baltimore, receiving a reply dated January 16, to the effect that so far as Baltimore was concerned, nothing
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could be further from the truth. Such rumors, however, continued to cirenlate. One form these rumors took was that the President- elect had contemplated coming to Washington over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, but that on account of apprehended dangers had changed his purpose. Mayor Berrett therefore, on February 1, wrote to John W. Garrett, president of that company, asking information as to the truth of alleged threats against Mr. Lincoln's safety. February 4, Mr. Garrett replied that there was not, nor had there been, the slightest foundation for any of the rumors to which the Mayor referred. On the same day that Mr. Garrett wrote this letter to Mayor Berrett, Major-General R. C. Weightman, in command of the militia of the District of Columbia, requested of the Mayor of Wash- ington the names and residences of the police for both day and night service, because, as he said, if the assistance of the police should be required it would be of importance to have the means of reaching them as early as practicable. To this request the Mayor replied that he was not ignorant of the fact that secret organizations were alleged to have been set on foot in Washington and in the adjoining States of Virginia and Maryland for the purpose of seizing upon the District of Columbia by force of arms with the view of effecting a revolution in the Federal Government by preventing the inauguration of the President-elect; nor was he ignorant of the fact that in order to oppose and thwart the supposed conspiracy in the execution of its unhallowed designs, orders had been issued, and were in process of execution, for enrolling, arming, and disciplining the militia of the District, while for the same purpose unusual numbers of Federal troops were concentrating at this point. And more than that, not- withstanding he had used every possible effort to ferret out the conspiracy, yet he had been unable to find one tittle of evidence that any such conspiracy existed. The Mayor closed by declining to furnish the desired information.
It was generally expected that Mr. Lincoln would arrive in Wash- ington on Saturday, February 23, 1861, and thousands of the citizens of both sexes determined to witness his entrance into the city. This determination was, however, defeated by the arrival of Mr. Lincoln some time during the preceding night, having come directly through from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, instead of stopping at Baltimore on Saturday and reaching Washington in the afternoon or evening of Saturday, according to the original arrangement. This was not merely surprising, it was actually amazing, to the people of the entire country, as it was flashed over the wires on the morning of the 23d. Several
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theories were immediately in circulation to account for this sudden and seeret change of plan on Mr. Lincoln's part. One explanation was, that he had been telegraphed to be present during the meeting of the Peace Convention. Another was, that he had been advised to come direct to Washington, to prevent possible disturbances that might grow out of conflicting purposes of political clubs in Baltimore-of the Republican clubs to honor him, and of Democratic clubs to prevent any such demonstration. Of course there was great disappointment in Baltimore. On the 26th of February, it was given out, on the authority of Marshal Kane, of that city, that Mr. Lincoln had passed quietly through Baltimore, to avoid any demonstration that might be made by his political friends; for, while there was no doubt that Mr. Lincoln would be treated with all the respect due to him person- ally, yet there was no assurance that his political friends, in giving him a welcome, would be treated in the same manner. The Baltimore American said that Mr. Lincoln's incognito entrance into Washington was in accordance with his wish to escape from his pretended friends, and thus to prevent a breach of the peace, which would be disgraceful to the city and derogatory to the American character.
Upon arriving in the city, Mr. Lincoln went to Willard's Hotel, where he was met by Mr. Seward, and they together called upon President Buchanan. On the following Wednesday, the Mayor and Council of Washington waited upon him and tendered him a welcome. The next evening he was serenaded by the Republican Association, accompanied by the Marine Band. At his inauguration there was a greater display of military force than had ever been seen on a similar occasion. Nearly twenty of the well-drilled companies of the militia of the District of Columbia were out, comprising a force of more than two thousand men. In addition, Georgetown contributed companies of cavalry, infantry, and artillery of fine accomplishments. Collected at two or three points, as at the City Hall and at Willard's Hotel, they were centers of attraction for the citizens. After attending at the Capitol in the morning, President Buchanan, accompanied by the Senate committee, left the Executive Mansion, went to Willard's Hotel to receive the President-elect, and the party thus composed, attended by distinguished citizens in carriages, on horseback, and on foot, proceeded along Pennsylvania Avenue, with military in front and rear, and at a quarter past one in the afternoon the President and President-elect entered the Senate chamber, and soon afterward pro- ceeded to the cast front of the Capitol, where Mr. Lincoln read his inaugural address, listened to by at least ten thousand of his fellow-
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citizens, at the close of which the oath of office was administered to him by the venerable Chief Justice of the United States. The mil- itary preparations were so thorough and complete that it would have been practically impossible for anyone to have successfully attempted violence to the President on this occasion; but when all was over, apprehensions were allayed and all breathed with their accustomed freedom, so far as the question of the safe inauguration of the Presi- dent was concerned.
On April 10, there was a hurried gathering of all the members of the various military companies in the city, the order having been issued late on Tuesday night, the 9th inst. Inspections took place at different places; of four companies at Temperance Hall by Colonel Stone, and in front of the War Department all the companies were inspected by A. A. G. McDowell in the presence of Adjutant-General Thomas and several other officers of the army. Ten companies in all were inspected, eight from Washington and two from Georgetown. The object of the inspection was to muster them into the service of the United States. Several of the men, however, refused to take the oath, though this refusal it was said was based upon the suppo- sition that the Government wanted to send them outside of the District. The names of the companies, together with the numbers composing them, were as follows: Washington Light Infantry Battal- ion, Colonel Davis, 125 men; Company A, Captain E. C. Carrington, 100 men; Companies A, B, C of the National Guard, each company about 100 men; the Washington Rifles, Captain Balbach, 50 men; Company B of the Union Regiment, Captain Kelly, 60 men; the National Rifles, Captain Smead, 27 men; the Carrington Home Guard, Captain Goddard, 60 men; Potomac Light Infantry, of George- town, Captain MeKenny, 61 men.
The demand for the surrender of Fort Sumter was made April 11, and the batteries on Sullivan's Island and at other points opened upon the fort at four o'clock the next morning. Then came the call for troops from all over the South. Fort Sumter was surrendered April 13, and on Monday, the 15th, eame the proclamation from the President calling for seventy-five thousand men to suppress combina- tions of men too powerful for the ordinary means of the Government, and to cause the laws to be duly executed, and also convening Congress in extra session on July 4, 1861. The law under which the militia was thus called out by President Lincoln was the act of 1795, enacted by Congress for the purpose of providing means to suppress the Whisky Insurrection in Pennsylvania, when several
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thousands of insurgents were in arms against the Federal Gov- ernment.
On the Saturday previous to the issuance of the proclamation, about 40 men were mustered into Captain Carrington's company, and 20 into Captain Kelly's. The Anderson Rifles, from Georgetown, to the number of 52, all were mustered in, which made the tenth com- pany mustered. On the 15th, the enlistment of men into the United States service went forward as rapidly as practicable, the greater part of the day being thus occupied. Captain Gerhardt, of the Turner Rifles, added 30 men to his company, making 120 in all; the Met- ropolitan Rifles, Captain Nalley, added 17 men, making the number up to 100; Captain Thistleton, of the Putnam Rifles, added 30 men to his company; the howitzer corps at the Navy Yard numbered 100 men; the Henderson Guards, consisting almost exclusively of residents of the First Ward, under Captain Foxwell, numbered 80 men; Captain Kelly's company added 22 men; Captain Patrick II. King, Company A, National Guard Battalion, had 70 men; and the National Rifles, to the number of 42, came forward and were mustered in. On April 16, the Henderson Guards increased their number to 100; the Car- rington Home Guard, of Georgetown, was increased to the number of 52; the President's Mounted Guard, Captain S. W. Owen, numbering about 80 men, tendered their services, which were not accepted, as cavalry was not then needed. The troops were placed at different points in the vicinity of the city, the artillery on the heights and roads leading out of the city, and twenty-five cart loads of cartridges, grape shot, and other missives taken up the avenue to be placed near the cannoneers and other soldiers. On this same day, Colonel E. E. Ellsworth left Washington for New York for the purpose of raising a regiment of Zouaves for the war. A call was made on the 18th of the month upon the members of the Association of the Soldiers of the War of 1812 of the District of Columbia to meet at the City Hall on the next Monday for the purpose of adopting a military organization and of offering their services to the Government for the defense of the city. On this same day, about five hundred men, con- sisting of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, were stationed at the Long Bridge, to repel any attempt of the rebels to cross the Potomac at that point. On the evening of the 18th, seventeen car loads of soldiers arrived in Washington from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and were quartered in rooms in the Capitol building, having passed through Baltimore about five o'clock the same day without molestation. These troops were the Washington Artillery Company and the National
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