Humphreys, in charge of the arsenal at Charleston, that, on Sunday, the 30th, it was taken by force by the authorities of South Carolina, the munitions of war belonging to it being worth half a million of dollars. He concluded by observing, that while it was his duty to defend Fort Sumter, as a portion of the public property of the United States, against hostile attack, he did not perceive how such a defence could be construed into a standing menace against the city of Charleston. On the 1st of January, 1861, the reply of the president was acknowledged by the commissioners; who, after recapitulating the events which had led to the existing state of affairs between South Carolina and the federal government, and combating the arguments used by Mr. Buchanan in support of his policy, expressed themselves as follows: : "By your course you have probably rendered civil war inevitable. Be it so. If you choose to force this issue upon us, the state of South Carolina will accept it; and relying upon Him who is the God of Justice, as well as the God of Hosts, will endeavour to perform the great duty which lies before her, hopefully, bravely, and thoroughly. "Our mission being one for negotiation and peace, and your note leaving us without hope of a withdrawal of the troops from Fort Sumter, or of the restoration of the status quo existing at the time of our arrival, and intimating, as we think, your determination to reinforce the garrison in the harbour of Charleston-we respectfully inform you that we purpose returning to Charleston to-morrow afternoon." This document, signed by the three commissioners-Messrs. R. W. Barnwell, J. H. Adams, and James J. Orr-was rejected by the president, with the following indorse "Executive Mansion, 3 o'clock, Wednesday. "This paper, just presented to the president, is of such a character that he declines to receive it." Pending this correspondence, the attitude of the authorities at Charleston became decidedly warlike. A censorship was exercised over the telegraph, and a military patrol nightly watched over the safety of the city. Steps were taken to prevent the reception of supplies of any kind at Fort Sumter, and thus force the garrison to evacuate the place. At Castle Pinckney, proach the wharf head, and the river front of the city was carefully guarded. The arsenal, which had been taken possession of as before stated, was given in charge to the Palmetto guard, a hundred strong. At the same time the convention passed an ordinance to define and punish treason; which, in addition to offences already declared treason by the general assembly, provided that treason against the state should consist in levying war against it, taking part with its enemies, and affording them aid and comfort. The penalty for this was to be death. The secession of South Carolina from the Union, was followed, on the 9th of January, 1861, by that of the state of Mississippi. On the 11th of the same month, Alabama and Florida followed; on the 20th, Georgia; on the 26th, Louisiana; and, on the 1st of February, Texas. The whole of the cottonproducing states, with the exception of Arkansas, had thus seceded from the Union; and, with the exception also of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbour, and Fort Pickens, below Pensacola, the southern authorities had possession of every fort, previously garrisoned by federal troops, within the limits of the confederate territory. Events now hastened towards a crisis. On the morning of the 9th of January, a steam-ship, the Star of the West, with a reinforcement of troops for Fort Sumter, was signalled at the entrance of Charleston harbour. As the vessel approached in the direction of Fort Sumter, a shot from a battery on Morris Island crossed her bow: the flag of the United States was immediately displayed, but it brought upon her the guns at Morris Island and Fort Moultrie. Her head was then turned, and she again put out to sea. A flag was immediately sent by Major Anderson to Governor Pickens, to inquire if this act had the sanction of the state government; notifying that, unless it was disclaimed, he should regard it as an act of war, and adopt retaliatory measures. Governor Pickens, in his reply, justified the conduct complained of; and the matter was then immediately referred by Major Anderson to the federal government. On the 21st of January, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, and representing that state in the federal congress, withdrew from the senate; and as his speech, on retiring from the representative functions, seems to em the right of secession is based, the following summary of it will not be out of place:-- I "I rise for the purpose of announcing to the senate, that I have satisfactory evidence that the state of Mississippi, by solemn ordinance in convention assembled, has declared her separation from the United States. Under these circumstances, of course, my functions terminate here. It has seemed to be proper that I should appear in the senate, and announce that fact, and to say something, though very little, upon it. The occasion does not invite me to go into the argument, and my physical condition will not permit it; yet something would seem to be necessary on the part of the state I here represent, on an occasion like this. It is known to senators who have served here, that I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute to state sovereignty, the right of a state to secede from the Union. If, therefore, I had not believed there was justifiable cause-if I had thought the state was acting without sufficient provocation-still, under my theory of government, I should have felt bound by her action. I, however, may say I think she had justifiable cause, and approve of her acts. I conferred with the people before that act was taken, and counselled them, that if they could not remain, that they should take the act. I hope none will confound this expression of opinion with the advocacy of the right of a state to remain in the Union, and disregard its constitutional obligations by nullification. Nullification and secession are, indeed, antagonistic principles. Nullification is the remedy which is to be sought, and applied, within the Union, against an agent of the United States, when the agent has violated constitutional obligations, and the state assumes for itself, and appeals to other states to support it. But when the states themselves, and the people of the states, have so acted as to convince us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then, and then for the first time, arises the question of secession in its practical application. That great man who now reposes with his fathers, who has been so often arraigned for want of fealty to the Union, advocated the doctrine of nullification, because it preserved the Union. It was because of his deep-seated attachment to the Union that Mr. Calhoun advocated the doctrine of nullification, which he claimed would give peace within the limits of the Union, and not disturb it, and only be the means of bringing the agent before the proper tribunal of the states for judgment. Secession belongs to a different class of rights, and is to be justified upon the basis that the states are sovereign. The time has been, and I hope the time will come again, when a better appreciation of our Union will prevent any one denying that each state is a sovereign in its own right. Therefore, I say I concur in the act of my state, and feel bound by it. It is by this confounding of nullification and secession that the name of another great man has been invoked to justify the coercion of a seceding state. The phrase, to execute the law,' as used by Gen. eral Jackson, was applied to a state refusing to obey the laws, and still remaining in the Union. I remember well when Massachusetts was arraigned before the senate. The record of that occasion will show that I said, if Massachusetts, in pursuing the line of steps, takes the last step which separates her from the Union, the right is her's, and I will And such is neither vote one dollar nor one man to coerce her; Whatever of offence there has been to me, I leave here. I carry no hostile feelings away. Whatever of offence I have given, which has not been redressed, I am willing to say to senators in this hour of parting-I offer you my apology for anything I may have done in the senate; and I go thus released from obligation, remembering no injury I have received, and having discharged what I deem the duty of man, to offer the fullest reparation at this moment for any injury I have ever inflicted." Events now progressed rapidly towards a crisis. A convention of delegates from the seceding states, assembled in congress at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th of February; and, on the 8th, adopted a form of constitution for the confederate states. The following day, the congress proceeded to the election of a president and vice-president; and the unanimous choice centred on Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, for the first, and Alexander H. Stephen, of Georgia, for the second of those important trusts. On the 18th of the month, Mr. Davis was inaugurated, and delivered the following address: "Gentlemen of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, Friends, and Fellow-Citizens, Called to the difficult and responsible station of chief executive of the provisional government which you have instituted, I approach the discharge of the duties assigned me with an humble distrust of my abilities, but with a sustaining confidence in The seat of government of the confederate states was removed from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia, on the 20th of May. A further addition to the United States' army was ordered by President Lincoln, in the early part of the month, to the extent of 42,000 men; and 18,000 were also required for the navy. appoint a time for evacuating the fort. clared by proclamation on the 13th of This was responded to by the major favour- May, and all British subjects were for. ably his position was no longer tenable; bidden to take part in the war on either his ammunition expended; and the last side. biscuit had been eaten some thirty-six hours previous; and as any reinforcement or supply of provisions was impossible, the major consented to evacuate Fort Sumter at noon on the 15th, provided, in the meantime, orders to the contrary should not reach him from his government, and that necessary means of transport were provided. In accordance with this arrangement, the Isabel troop-ship came down the harbour, and anchored off the fort on Sunday morning, ready to embark the garrison, and convey it to New York. The terms of surrender were, that the troops should retain all private property; should march out with side and other arms, with the usual honours; and that they should salute and take with them their flag. It is remarkable that not a single individual was killed on either side in this bombardment and defence; but in firing the salute to the flag, one man was killed, and four badly wounded by accident.* By a sudden, but simultaneous, movement, under the immediate direction of the United States' government, every telegraph office throughout the Union was visited by the marshals and other authorities at 3 P.M. on the 20th of May, and the entire records and despatches of the preceding twelve months were seized. It was intended, by this extraordinary and arbitrary proceeding, to obtain evidence of the designs and operations of the south, and of the complicity of such parties in the north friendly to the secession, as the confidential telegrams passing from one to the other might probably furnish. As the seizure in every place was made at the same moment, by preconcerted arrange might lead to the destruction of the written evidence. A vast amount of miscellaneous correspondence was thus collected by the United States' government; and, amongst it, was doubtless some evidence of importance as regarded the inculpation of individuals in the northern states, which, if not immediately acted upon, served at least as a basis upon which, at the proper time, to found prosecution and punishment. In short, by this raid upon the telegraph offices, the federal government expected to obtain, as it were, the master-key to the hidden designs of the confederates, and the names of their agents within the federal borders. The president of the United States issued a proclamation, calling for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the insurrectionary movement; and, at the same time, the government, no warning could be given that ment of the confederate states summoned 32,000 men to the ranks of the army of independence. On the 19th of April, the blockade of the southern ports was declared. On the 29th of the same month, the state of Virginia sent five delegates to the confederate congress at Montgomery; and, on the 6th of May, a league, offensive and defensive, was announced with Tennessee. On the 18th of the month, the state of Arkansas was formally admitted into the confederacy; and an ordinance of secession was passed unanimously by the convention of North Carolina, on the 21st of the same month. At the same time, the navy-yard at Gosport, opposite Norfolk, Virginia, with an immense store of maté riel and munitions of war, was destroyed by the United States' officers in charge, to prevent it falling into the hands of the secessionists: the vessels in the harbour were scuttled and fired; and the value of the property destroyed amounted to 50,000,000 dollars. The first aggressive movement, on the part of the north, was arranged to be an advance from the Potomac along the Orange and Alexandria and Central roads, towards Richmond; while another invading army should be thrown into Virginia from Pennsylvania and Maryland. In accordance with this project, Alexandria was occupied, on the 21st of May, by throwing some 8,000 federal troops across the Potoand the fort surrendered on Thomas Jefferson's mac; the Virginia forces evacuating the town, and falling back to the Manassas Junction, where the main body of the confederate troops was stationed, under the command of General Bonham. The occupation of the city was accomplished under cover of the night; and a number of the confederate troops, unconscious of danger, were made prisoners at their quarters. In this affair, Colonel Ellsworth, of the New York Fire Zouaves, was shot by the keeper of an hotel, while in the act of carrying away a Palmetto flag, which he had taken from the summit of the building. bayonet; which, however, failed. The attack was gallantly made, and as gallantly repulsed. For a short time a battery of howitzers was occupied by the federal troops, who were subsequently driven out of it by a charge of the 1st North Carolina regiment. A second blunder, on the part of the federal officers, decided the conflict. A body of 250 of the Vermont men were again mistaken for confederates by Colonel Townsend, of the New York 3rd regiment, who thereupon ordered his men to fall back; and a body of Zouaves in front, finding themselves unsupported, also retired, and thus threw away every chance of victory: the order to retreat was then given. Among the casualties on the federal side, the loss most deeply felt was that of Major annals-who fell pierced through the breast while standing on a log, and attempting, by his gestures, to rally his men to a final charge. Besides this officer, the federals lost thirteen killed and thirty wounded, and several others were missing after the battle. The loss of the confederate troops amounted, it is said, to seventeen killed. The return of the discomfited troops to Hampton created much alarm and disappointment. The federal government had now secured the most important passages into Virginia; viz., the town of Alexandria, and Fortress Monroe. On the 25th of the month, Hampton bridge was also taken possession Winthrop a name famous in American of by three regiments of United States' troops. On the following day, General M'Clellan issued an address to the people of Western Virginia, announcing that the federal government did not intend to interfere with their rights in holding slaves, but would rather protect them therein. On the last day of the month, an engagement took place at Aquia Creek, thirty-five miles below Washington, on the Potomac, between the United States' gun-boats, the Freeborn, Anacosta, and Pawnee, and some shore batteries. The result of the affair, which was resumed on the 1st of June, and continued for five hours, was simply the destruction of the railroad depôt and some buildings on the shore of the creek. General Beauregard assumed the command of the confederate troops at Manassas Junction on the 3rd of June. On the 10th, a federal force of about 4,000 men, under General Pierce, at Hampton, was collected at Little Bethel, Virginia, and from thence advanced to surprise some 1,800 confederate troops, intrenched at Great Bethel, about nine miles south from Hampton, and twelve north-west of Fortress Monroe. The assailing troops marched at midnight; but, through some mistake, the main body came suddenly upon the party thrown out in advance; and, expecting it was a patrol of the enemy, opened fire upon it. By this mishap two men were killed, and nineteen wounded; and by the same mistake an alarm was given, and the midnight surprise was foiled. Under such circumstances nothing remained but to attempt to carry the intrenchment by the In consequence of some demonstrations by the federal commanders in the valley of Virginia, it was deemed prudent to withdraw the confederate troops at Harper's Ferry; and they accordingly retired to Winchester. The troops left in two columns-one with the intention of joining the force at Manassas; the other marching in the direction of Leesburg. Previous to the retirement of the troops, the splendid railroad bridge over the Potomac, which had been deemed one of the most beautiful structures of the kind in America, was partially destroyed; and many large and important buildings were also blown up and reduced to a mass of ruins. In the course of the retreat from Harper's Ferry, an immense boulder, of about a hundred tons weight, was precipitated from the Point of Rocks upon the road below, which it entirely obstructed. This, however, was subsequently removed by blasting; and the track then passed over the crushed fragments, some of which were scattered over the bed of the canal, leaving scarcely room for the passage of the canal boats. Immediately after the evacuation of Harper's Ferry, it was reported that a force, under General Paterson, had crossed the Potomac at Williamsport. The confederate troops were immediately directed to take a position that should place them between Winchester and Paterson's force. This movement disarranged the plan of the latter, and he recrossed the river. General Johnstone then marched to Winchester, where his army was in a position to repel the advance of M'Clellan from the west, or of Paterson from the north-east, and also to form a junction with General Beauregard when requisite. The armed steamer, Sumter, the first vessel of the confederate navy, ran the blockade of New Orleans on the 1st of July, and proceeded on a cruise in search of federal vessels. This war-ship, destined to act a conspicuous part in the war, was commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, and had a picked crew of sixty-five men and twenty marines. On the 2nd of July, the Potomac was again crossed by Paterson's force; and Colonel Jackson-whose brigade had been sent to the neighbourhood of Martinsburg, to support a corps of observation on the line of the Potomac, under Colonel Stuart -fell back before him, but not without inflicting severe loss upon the federal troops, from whom he took forty-five prisoners, without himself losing a man. confederate line on its right flank. The intent of the federal general was, however, soon discovered to be to hold Johnstone in check, while a powerful force, under M'Dowell, moved upon General Beauregard at Manassas. The battle of Rich Mountain, fought on the 11th of July, between a confederate force of about 2,000 men, under the command of Colonel Pegram, and a federal army of 8,000 men, commanded by General Rosencranz, ended in the defeat of the former; who, after a most determined and gallant resistance, were compelled to abandon the position, and retire with considerable loss. Hotly pursued by the enemy, they at length stood at bay at Carrock's Ford, where they severely punished the advancing federalists; and, after continuing the fight until nearly every cartridge had been expended, and securing the passage of their artillery, they continued the retreat until they reached Monterey, where they joined the division of General Jackson. In the battle at Carrock's Ford, General Garnett fell; and the result of the action to the confederate arms, showed a loss of thirty-seven killed and wounded, besides the baggage of the force, a part of which was used in blocking the road against the enemy's artillery. Congress assembled at Washington on The defeat at Rich Mountain was conthe 6th of July; and in the message of the sidered, on both sides, as an important president, it was asked "to give the executive affair. It was announced to the governgovernment legal means to make the contest ment, by General M'Clellan, as a signal a short and decisive one, by placing at its victory. "Our success," he wrote, "is control for the purpose, at least 400,000 complete, and secession is killed in the men, and 400,000,000 of dollars." The men, country.' The catastrophe certainly inhe said, "were quite ready and willing to volved the surrender of an important distake arms for the support of the govern-trict of North-Western Virginia; but the ment; and the money asked for war pur- loss was more than atoned for by the poses was quite within the ability of the favourable intelligence that, about the same country to supply." The request was responded to by the senate on the 11th of the month, by passing a bill authorising the employment of 500,000 volunteers, and the appropriation of 500,000,000 of dollars, for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion. time, reached the confederate government at Richmond, from other quarters.-On the day that the disasters at Rich Mountain were reported, accounts arrived of successes over the federal arms in Missouri, and of the blow given to the invaders at Carthage, on the 5th of the month, General Paterson proceeded to invest when General Sigel was defeated by Martinsburg; and, on the 15th of the month, Governor Jackson; and the federal arms his advance from that place was notified received a repulse that made the Missouri by Colonel Stuart. On reaching Bunker's campaign one of the most successful of the Hill, nine miles from Winchester, the federal commander halted for a day; and, on the 17th, moved his left wing towards Smithfield. From this movement it was war. In the advance of General Paterson's force towards Winchester, Virginia, it came up with a division of the confederate army |