The Civil War.Incidents of the surrender of Fort Sumter-- the feeling in North Carolina--Henry Ward Beecher — Lincoln's call for troops — the excitement in Baltimore — How the news was received, etc.
Incidents of the surrender of Sumter.A Charleston dispatch relates the following incidents: Major Anderson stated that he surrendered his sword to General Beauregard, as the representative of the Confederate Government. General Beauregard said he would not receive it from so brave a man. He says Major Anderson made a staunch fight, and elevated himself in the estimation of every true Carolinian. During the fire, when Major Anderson's flag-staff was shot away, a boat put off from Morris' Island, carrying another American flag for him to fight under — a noteworthy instance of the honor and chivalry of the South Carolina seceders and their admiration for a brave man. During the raging of the flames in Fort Sumter, the officers and soldiers were obliged to lay on their faces in the casemates to prevent suffocation. Major Anderson expressed himself much pleased that no lives had been sacrificed, and says that to Providence alone is to be attributed the bloodless victory. He compliments the firing of the Carolinian, and the large number of exploded shells lying around attest their effectiveness. The number of soldiers in the fort was about seventy, besides twenty-five workmen, who assisted at the guns. His stock of provisions was almost exhausted, however. He would have been starved out in two more days. The entrance to the fort is mined, and the South Carolina officers who visited it after the surrender were told to be careful on account of the heat, lest it should explode. The scene in the city after the raising of the flag of truce and the surrender is indescribable; the people were perfectly wild. Men on horseback rode through the streets proclaiming the news, amid the greatest enthusiasm. The forces of Major Anderson were entirely inadequate to effectually work the guns and attend to the incidental requirements. It is not to be wondered at, under the circumstances, that Fort Sumter surrendered. The men were on duty thirty-six hours, with balls or shells striking the casemates and guns of the fort constantly. Competent military men state that the intense vibration or shock produced on the brain and nervous system of those in the vicinity is terribly exhausting. At the siege of Sebastopol the men who worked the guns were relieved every twenty minutes, and groomed with whiskey and flannel to enable them to endure the concussion produced by the firing of their own guns and the shock of the enemy's balls and shells striking the fortification. The concussion attending the firing of a columbiad in the enclosed casemate of a fort is said to be terrible. In contrast with the conduct of the inaction of the war fleet, it is stated that an old slave passed through the hottest fire, with a sloop load of wool, on Friday evening, and came safely to the city. Somebody told him he would be killed in the attempt. ‘"Can't help dat, "’ said he, ‘"must go to de town to night. If anybody hurts dis chile or dis boat, massa see him about it shuah."’ His sloop received four shots. It is reported that Major Anderson sent in his resignation, to take effect on the inauguration of the Lincoln Government, but no notice was taken of it. The fort is burned into a mere shell; not a particle of wood-work can be found, The guns on one side of the parapet are entirely dismounted, others split, while the gun carriages are knocked into splinters. Major Anderson says the accuracy of the firing surprised him, and that if he had had two hundred more men, one-half would have been killed for want of suitable protection. Major Anderson says it is preposterous to fight such a people. One of the officers in the fort remarked that they had endeavored not to fire on exposed individuals. ‘"Yes,"’ said Major Anderson, ‘"I gave orders not to sight men, but to silence batteries."’ Both men and officers were begrimed with smoke and powder. The batteries which have done the most mischief are the Dahigrea battery, Stevens' battery, and the rifle can non. As regards harbor defence, the fort is just as good as ever. The casemates are perfect, the guns there in prime condition, and bear on both sides. Major Anderson was obliged to throw overboard a large quantity of powder to prevent explosion, and it was floating around the fort to-day. One of the aids carried brandy to Major Anderson in a boat, after the fire, and the latter said it was very acceptable, as the men were completely exhausted by their labors. I mention this to show the kind and chivalrous relations between the officers. Before going into action, Major Anderson sent word by an aid of General Beauregard to the Governor, thanking him for kind attentions during the past two months, and very solemnly said, ‘"Farewell, gentlemen. If we do not meet again here, I hope we shall meet in a better world."’ The fort has been garrisoned by the Palmetto Guards and put under command of Lieutenant Colonel Ripley, who commanded Fort Moultrie after the departure of Major Anderson. The city is resuming its usual quiet. Everybody is exchanging congratulations over the successful termination of the fight; but soldiers are itching for a hand-to-hand brush.-- The Confederate flag and the Palmetto flag were hoisted on separate spars simultaneously. Dr. S. Wylie Crawford, the surgeon at Fort Sumter, who was slightly wounded, is a son of the Rev. Dr. Crawford, of Philadelphia. W. Porcher Miles, of Charleston, telegraphs to Mrs. Doubleday, at Washington, that a report of her husband's insanity is without foundation. It is believed that Capt. Doubleday, who is a strong Republican, refused to obey Major Anderson's command to surrender, and was consequently placed in irons.
Will North Carolina respond?The Wilmington Journal, of Monday, asks and answers the question. Will Governor Ellis respond to Lincoln's demand for troops? We do not pretend to answer for Governor Ellis, unless where we know his position, but in this case we have no hesitation in saying distinctly, No ! Governor Ellis will not do so. Will he agree that troops should pass freely from the North over the soil of North Carolina, to coerce our Southern sisters? Again we say--No ! never. But again. Will the fifteen thousand New Yorkers, the five thousand Massachusetters, the thirteen thousand Pennsylvanians, find aid and comfort in passing over our soil to erect an abolition despotism not only over the seceded States, but over us too! Can we afford to stand idle and see our friends crushed out, knowing that we will be the next victims? We must make common cause with the seceded States. If not, we are all whelmed in a common ruin. We think that the Governor ought immediately to issue his proclamation convening the Legislature at the earliest possible moment, and that our people ought to occupy the Forts also, just as soon as they can feel that they can not only occupy but hold them. The Wilmington Herald displays a similar spirit, in commenting upon Lincoln's proclamation: Sons of North Carolina, does not your blood boil within your veins when you think of being called upon to assist in such a murderous plot? Can we, will we, give him our aid?-- No, never! Although contentions may have arisen in our midst, and ill feeling existed, it is now all banished forever. We are now all one--with one feeling and one destiny. The cause of South Carolina, or any other Southern State, is our cause. Will we prove traitors to the land of our birth? Shall we assist our friends, or shall we aid our enemies? We wait not for an answer. By all that is good, noble and pure, we will defend, with our lives, our property and our sacred honor, the cause of the South. Although the ‘"Old North State"’ has been slow to move, she will be quick to strike a death blow at any that may attempt to cross her soil or use her property in subjugating the South. With opened arms and extended hands we welcome all Yankee hirelings to a hospitable grave, that may enter our midst for that purpose. The matter seems to be settled, so far as North Carolina is concerned, according to the following dispatch, which we find in the Petersburg Express: Raleigh, April 16.--Governor Ellis received a dispatch from Secretary Cameron to-night, saying that a requisition would be made upon him for two regiments. The Governor promptly replied that he regarded the course of the Administration in attempting to subjugate States as unconstitutional, and that he would be no party to this wicked violation of law, and this war upon the liberties, of a free people, Cameron can get no troops from North Carolina.
TheIn the Episcopal Churches at New York, Sunday last, the preyer was used appointed to be said in time of war and tumults concluding with these words " Almighty God, save and deliver us, we humbly beseech Thee, from the hands of our enemies; that we, being armed with Thy defence, may be preserved evermore from all perils, to glorify Thee, who art the only Giver of all victory; through the merits of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord."
Beecher on the War.In a sermon at Brooklyn. N. Y., last Sunday evening, the political parson, Henry Ward Beecher, thus outraged the sanctity of his profession: The Southern people were sound on the question of the Bible, but Infidels as to its contents. The doctrines of their church were, that all people were not equal. According to the Constitution of the new Confederacy, every State must be opened to slavery. There would no longer be free discussion or free debate. It was on these conditions we could have peace. On those grounds, Mr. Beecher said, he utterly abhorred peace. Give him war, redder than blood. The present was no time for them to hesitate; they must take the country as their fathers gave it to them; there should be but one feeling among them, and that a feeling for liberty, which should sweep like a whirlwind over the country.-- With the North they had the strength, they had the people, and their cause was right.-- They could go to war with a Christian spirit; not with any angry feelings, but with indignation. They now had it in their power to settle this difficulty, and he hoped they would do so and not let it be breaking out for a number of years to come, like the intermittent fever.-- He then spoke of the telegraphic dispatches which had been received from Charleston for the past two days, saying the rumors were indeed depressing. He had been grieved to learn that Major Anderson-- the gallant, noble, and brave Major Anderson--had been compelled to abandon his stronghold. Since coming into the pulpit, moreover, he had received a private communication from a gentleman, which stated that it was Fort Moultrie which had been blown up instead of Fort Sumter. (On this the whole audience burst forth in one wild shout of applause and enthusiasm. People clapped their hands, men waved their hats and handkerchiefs, and some time elapsed before order was again restored.) After again beseeching them to stand up for liberty and equality — that liberty which their forefathers had stood up for — he observed that he had not intended to say so much upon this point. Since he had been their pastor he had endeavored to keep them advised of the signs of the times. The opinion seems to be well grounded that Virginia is soon to become the scene of deadly civil strife. With this plainly in view, the Washington Star comments as follows: If the Virginia Convention, influenced by the attack on Sumter, (designed avowedly to induce Virginia to join her fortunes with those of the seceded States,) pass an Ordinance of Secession, Pennsylvania, having her ‘"heart fired"’ too, by the course of Virginia, will in a week be-- as Virginia will be --one vast camp; ready to precipitate herself with fire and a word over the line to defend the Government's right to its property within her (Virginia's) limits. No man capable of drawing rational conclusions, from self-evident premises, can doubt these facts. At this moment the popular mind of Pennsylvania is in intense sympathy with Virginia, and it depends wholly upon the action of the Richmond Convention whether that sympathy shall prove sufficient to enable Virginia to settle the difficulties without the desolation of every Virginia hearth by civil war; or whether it shall be resolved into a whirlwind of mad passion, as dire as that which at this moment actuates the thousands serving in arms under the Oligarchy's authority; and be directed, of course, to the defence of what Pennsylvania regards as the plain right of the Government of the United States upon the soil of Virginia, where the sectional war will inevitably be fought out for the most part, at least for months to come. The Star having become intensely Lincolnized, it is natural enough that it should adopt the phrases of the New York Tribune. The Philadelphia North American is impressed with similar ideas; for it says: Pennsylvania has a great duty to perform. She is a border State. The threatening condition of things in Virginia, right upon her own confines, renders it of the highest importance that she should prepare herself for the worst. The aggressive policy of the Montgomery Government has been boldly announced by the head of the War Department there, who threatens to take Washington city, and even to invade the North. That this is no idle boast may be seen at a glance. There is now at Charleston a victorious army of ten thousand troops, with vast accumulations of artillery and munitions of war, and Fort Sumter being captured there is nothing to engage the attention of General Beauregard. There is a railway connection direct from Charleston to Washington, and in three days the whole of that army, with all its baggage, artillery and stores, could be at the Potomac. With the present state of feeling in Virginia there cannot be a doubt that this force could be immediately doubled by accessions from that State. In truth, we are altogether taken at a disadvantage. We did not expect war with the South, and are totally unprepared for it; while on the other hand, the whole time of the Montgomery Government has been occupied in arming its adherents, gathering men and munitions of war, and preparing the hearts of the people for a struggle. Now that the decision has been made between peace or war, all hesitation ought to end. It is our imperative duty to arm at once, and to do it generally, and to the fullest extent. We want everything; and it seems an enormous task to set about improvising an army without officers and arms or military stores. Nothing, however, is impossible to American energy.
Lincoln's call for troops.The following is the call for troops, issued in accordance with the proclamation of the President, by Secretary Cameron, and giving the quotas allotted to each State to furnish:
to his Excellency the Governor of--: Sir
|New York||17||13,280||New York, Albany, Elmira.|
|Virginia||3||2,340||Sta'nton, Wheeling, Gordonsville.|
|Illinois||6||4,688||Spring field, Chicago.|
Sumter now is transferred to Pickens, which the Federal forces are reported to have reinforced. The number of batteries directed against Pickens is very large, and Sumter shows how soon a fort may be reduced when a fire from numerous batteries with improved guns is concentrated upon it. The force before and near Pickens is from five to six thousand men. A correspondent of the New Orleans Delta says Fort Pickens, at the first blush, by no means looks the formidable place that it has been described; but when one carefully examines the various approaches, it has rather the effect of cooling any desire to make one of the party to obtain possession. The fort itself is not a high one, having but one tier of guns besides those mounted on the barbette. On the land side there is a rise in the ground which reaches to the very top of the wall, and there it is that the uninitiated fancy that it would be the easiest tiffing in the world to successfully storm the place; but fancy their astonishment when, having reached, under a heavy fire, the top, to find a most intervening, with a width of 40 feet, and sufficiently deep to float a man-of-war. Still, taking all the facts into consideration, things wear a somewhat ominous aspect for Lieut, Slemmer and his men.
Lieut, Warden not a prisoner of War.Lieut. Reed Warden contradicts the report from Montgomery that he had been taken there from Pensacola as a prisoner of war.-- He says he has never been at Pensacola, and is now attached to the steam frigate Minne- sota, at the Charlestown Navy-Yard, Massachusetta.
The New York National Guard.It has been habitually claimed here that in the event of a war between the sections, the New York Seventh Regiment would be found fighting on the side of the South; but the telegraph has already announced the tender of their services to Lincoln's Administration. After a drill of Company A, last Friday night, a scene occurred which is thus reported by the N. Y. Tribune: ‘ About this time the news from Fort Sumter was received, and created the wildest excitement; and, as general anxiety was felt to hear the account from Charleston before the news could be fully read, three cheers were heartily given for Fort Sumter and Maj. Anderson, and the band immediately played ‘"Hail Columbia,"’ causing quite a sensation. Yankee Doodle, the Star Spangled Banner and other tunes, were played, evoking the greatest enthusiasm. Ex-Col. Durgan remarked to a few of the Guards standing by him, ‘"Boys, you will have to get your armor ready now?"’ The response was generally made, ‘" We are ready now."’ But one feeling seemed to pervade the members of the regiment and visitors present — all denounced the action of the Secessionists, and cordially approved and sympathized with Major Anderson. Until a late hour the subject was discussed by the citizens and the Guards remaining about the building. ’
Philadelphia Navy-Yard.The Philadelphia Ledger, of Monday, says: ‘ The order to fit out the sloop-of-war Jamestown, at our Navy-Yard, is being carried out with the utmost promptitude. As many hands have been engaged as can be employed upon her, and she will be ready for sea in about a week. The steamer Water Witch has not yet sailed, though the order for her departure has been hourly expected for several days. Every thing is in readiness for her to go when the order is received. We learn that the order to fit out the St. Lawrence has been issued, but has not yet been received at the Navy-Yard. It will probably reach here to-day. Enlisting for the navy of seamen and ordinary seamen is now actively in progress. Both seamen and ordinaries are in demand. ’
The excitement in Baltimore.The Baltimore American, of yesterday, says: ‘ There was no abatement during yesterday in the throng of citizens assembled on the streets in the vicinity of the various newspaper offices, all discussing the melancholy condition of our national affairs, and evincing the utmost anxiety for further intelligence as to the effect of the action of the Government in the several States. There was, however, but little animosity or ill-feeling displayed among the disputants, and whatever might occur in other States, the sentiment of peace and good will seemed to predominate here. That Maryland should not be precipitated into a strife and anarchy among her own citizens, but continue to calmly await future developments, was the predominant feeling. At an early hour in the morning the organization of ‘"Minute Men"’ threw forth the American flag from their headquarters, with a pendant bearing the inscription-- ’ ‘"The Union and the Constitution,"’ whilst on the front of the building was emblazoned the platform of the Bell and Everett party during the last Presidential campaign: ‘"The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the Laws."’ This movement created some feeling in the street, and was soon followed by the throwing out of the flag from some of the newspaper offices in the vicinity. It was stated about this time that it was the purpose of those who sympathized with the seceded States to fire a salute of one hundred guns on the suburbs of the city, during the day, in honor of the capture of Fort Sumter, and some fears were expressed that it might lead to a breach of the peace. If there was such an intention, better counsels prevailed, and everything that could excite ill-feeling was carefully avoided throughout the day. About noon, among the exciting rumors put in circulation was one that Lieutenant General Scott had tendered his resignation to the President, which produced a most disheartening effect on the friends of the Union. It was soon ascertained that the announcement was merely one of those canards which have been so prevalent in this season of National humiliation, being based on the resignation of a Lieut. Scott.
Mob spirit is Philadelphia.On Monday morning an excited crowd assembled before a printing office at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia, where the ‘"Palmetto Flag,"’ a small advertising sheet, is published, and threatened to demolish the establishment. The excitement continued throughout the day. A dispatch dated at midnight says: ‘ The Mayor and police now, have possession of the building, and a large American flag has been suspended across the street. There is some danger of violence being done to the interior of the office by the mob. It would have been entirely torn out but for the interference of the Mayor. A dangerous mob feeling has evidently been excited. The Bulletin announces that the Secretary of the Charleston Secession Convention, who moved the Secession Ordinance, is now in this city at the house of a relative in the Tenth ward. The crowd, after being quieted somewhat at Fourth and Chestnut streets, moved down to the Argus office, on Third street, opposite Dock street, and demanded that the American flag should be displayed. The police are now protecting that office. At all the military rendezvous volunteers are enlisting rapidly, especially among the Germans. ’ The following speech was made by Mayor Henry to the excited mob which threatened the ‘ "Palmetto Flag"’ office: ‘ Fellow-Citizens: By the grace of Almighty God, treason shall never rear its head, or have a foothold in Philadelphia. [Immense cheering.] I call upon you, as American citizens, to stand by your flag and protect it at all hazards; at the point of the bayonet, if necessary. But, in doing so, remember the rights due to your fellow-citizens, and their private property. [Immense cheering, and cries of ‘"we will"’] That flag (referring to the American flag) was an emblem of Government, and I call upon all good citizens who love their country, to testify their loyalty by going to their respective places of abode, leaving to the constituted authorities of the city the task of protecting the peace, and preventing every act which could be construed into treason to the country. The Mayor then raised the Stars and Stripes amid great applause. ’
The Pennsylvania military loan.Philadelphia, April 15.-- Hon. John Covode has offered to Gov. Curtin fifty thousand dollars of the loan authorized by Pennsylvania to arm and equip the troops ordered from that State. A delegation of Pittsburg merchants have made a similar tender.
Lancaster, Pa., April 15.--Ex- President Buchanan exhibits intense interest in the news from the South, and participates in the expression of a determination to sustain the Government.