Baltimore and the Nineteenth of April - Chapters IV-V



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 hand 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.(1) 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.

An unarmed and un-uniformed Pennsylvania regiment, under Colonel Small, 
was added to the train, either in Philadelphia

(1) Hanson's Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, p. 14.

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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

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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

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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(1) 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 repaying 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.(2)

(1) 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.

(2) 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.

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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 hand 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

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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 hand 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

Page 48 

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

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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

Page 50 

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

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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

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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.(1) 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 dosed, 
by military order, as stated by Colonel Jones.

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. Thee was no "volley of stones" 
thrown just before Mr. Davis was killed, nor did he or his friends throw 
any.(2) This

(1) The accounts in some of our newspapers describe serious fighting at a 
point beyond this, but I am satisfied they are incorrect.

(2) Testimony of witnesses at the coroner's inquest.

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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.

But peace even for the day had not Come. The unarmed Pennsylvanians and 
the hand 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

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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 though 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 morn 
deeply than myself, but they were inevitable. Our people viewed the 
passage of armed troops another State through the streets as an invasion

Page 55 

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 hays 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

Page 56 

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 dry. 
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

Page 57 

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 cooperated with Mayor

Page 58 

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

Page 59 

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 WASHING TON.--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

Page 61 

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

Page 62 

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."

Page 63 

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

Page 64 

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 head-quarters 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.(1) 
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

(1) Baltimore American, April 22.

Page 65 

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.

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 follow-hag 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,(1) rifles, muskets, etc., which they are turning out very 
rapidly."

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

(1) 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.

Page 66 

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 the Magazine 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

Page 67 

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 dosed 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

Page 68 

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

Page 69 

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

Page 70 

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

Page 71 

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. Be 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.

Page 72 

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 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 
there 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.

Page 73 

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

Page 74 

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."

Page 75 

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

Page 76 

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

Page 77 

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.

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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."