Charleston, S.C., April 12 – The new game called “baseball”, which was to be demonstrated by Capt. Abner Doubleday and men of his command on Wednesday at Charleston’s Palmetto Park, has been cancelled. Capt. Doubleday, of the U.S. Army, and his command are returning to New York tonight after evacuating Fort Sumpter to Confederate forces this morning.
Lincoln Calls 75,000
Washington, D.C., April 14 – Word was received just prior to press time that President Lincoln will issue a call tomorrow for 75,000 troops to “restore the Union.” He reiterated a portion of his last month’s inaugural address to the people of the South. Lincoln said: “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine is the momentous issue of civil war.”
Final Salute Kills Soldier
Charleston, S.C., April 14 – The only casualties reported by either side in the artillery battle for Ft. Sumpter came, ironically, after the cease-fire order.
An accidental explosion of a powder magazine while U.S. troops were firing the 50-round salute before surrendering. took the life of Pvt. Daniel Hough. Two other Federal soldiers were seriously injured.
No Confederate casualties have been reported.
CSA Needs Ships
Mongomery, AL April 17 – President Jefferson Davis has asked shipowners in the Confederacy to apply for letters for marque to operate as privateers on the high seas. Davis, aware of the critical shortage of ships in the South, plans to build a large fleet of privately owned merchant ships to support the war effort.
Lee in C.S. Army
Arlington, VA, April 20 -Word has just been received that Col. Robert E. Lee, who last week was offered command of all U.S. forces, has today resigned his commission in the Federal army and cast his lot with his native state, Virginia. It was Col. Lee and tropps of his command that subdued the fanatical John Brown and his followers two years ago at Harpers Ferry, VA.
The 54-year-old Lee, us a 36-year U.S. army veteran. He is a considerable loss to the Union army.
Confederates Seize Federal Arsenal, Mint – U.S. Troops Mobbed
Washington, D.C., April 21 – This city is virtually cut off from the rest of the Union tonight. President Lincoln’s call for troops last week has enraged the South. Word from Richmond tells of Confederate “regiments arriving hourly” in that city. Union troops which have occupied Arlington Heights across the river from Washington report “much activity to the south”.
Federal soldiers are bivouacked tonight on the White House grounds. Leroy P. Walker, Secretary of Ware in the newly formed Rebel government in Montgomery, AL announced that “the flag of the Southern Confederacy” will float in splendor over the capitol at Washington before the first day of May.
All this plus the seizing of the Federal arsenal in Fayetteville, NC and the U.S. Mint in Charlotte, NC, the capture of Ft. Smith, AR, by Rebel troops and the surrender of U.S. steamship Catawba in New Orleans has left the nation’s capital a tense and anxious city.
But an even greater threat came to Washington this week from the north. Maryland, one of the states torn by inner conflict in this struggle between North and South, openly defied the Federal government last Friday when mobs in Baltimore attacked troops enroute to Washington. The 60th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the first units to answer Lincoln’s call for volunteers, arrived in Baltimore Friday morning by train. They were an ill-clad outfit, many without uniforms or weapons. It was expected they would be outfitted and armed on arrival here.
During the transfer from the Philadelphia station to the Washington station it is necessary for the cars of the train to be horse drawn through the streets of Baltimore. It was at this part of the journey that the regiment was attacked.
A street mob, estimated at 7000, swarmed over the last two cars of the train as they were being drawn along Pratt Street. The regiment attempted to form in the street but was battered and stoned by the mob. Several of the troops lost their rifles in the melee and an open gun battle threatened between troops and rioters.
Capt. John Dike, of Stoneham, Mass., managed to form a line of troops who, with fixed bayonets, fought their way through the mob. During the street fighting Dike was shot down, more than a score of the soldiers were wounded and two privates – Luther Ladd and A.O. Whitney – were killed. “Seven of the rioters were killed and many more wounded,” sain an eye-witness who arrived here today.
Tonight, all communications between Washington and the outside world have been severed. Telegraph lines between here and Baltimore have been cut and there has been no liaison to the south since Virginia joined the growing list of Confederate states last Wednesday.
Baltimore Mob Attack Angers Northern States
Baltimore, MD, April 21 – An angered North is rallying tonight to the Union cause. The Baltimore riot has enraged the country north of the Potomac. The governors of Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania immediately issued proclamations censuring the South and calling for more troops.
Counties in western Virginia have defied their state capital in Richmond. Virginis’s governor, John Letcher, wired the mayor of Wheeling yesterday to “take possession of all public buildings and documents in the name of Virginia.” Mayor Andrew Sweeney answered, “I have taken possession of all public buildings and property in the name of the President of the United States, whose property they are.”
Scuttled Yard Falls to Rebels
Norfolk, VA, April 22 – Explosions shook this city shortly after midnight last night as Federal demolition crews systematically destroyed the U.S. Navy Yard before evacuating it to the Confederates.
Virginia troops have seized the yard. All Union personnel escaped by ship to Ft. Monroe. Several large U.S. warships were scuttled by the Federals before they departed. Confederate authorities believe that a least one of these, the USS Merrimac, can be salvaged.
To Stay Neutral
Louisville, KY, April 27 – The Kentucky legislature has resolved to keep neutral in the war looming between North and South. Factions for both the Union and Confederacy, however , are actively engaged in recruiting state regiments.
Most Promising
Washington DC, April 28 – President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, George B. McClellan, has been named as commander of all Federal troops in the state of Ohio. The 35-year-old McClellan is a West Point graduate and one of the most promising Union commanders now in uniform.
Lincoln Confers with General Scott
Washington, D.C., April 28 – President Lincoln and Army Chief of Staff Winfield Scott spent much of this week in conference discussing the Baltimore riot crisis and mobilization problems. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and his brigade of New York and Massachusetts regiments moved into Baltimore on Wednesday from Annapolis and placed the city under martial law. No opposition has been made to the occupation force, and troop movements to Washington are proceeding on schedule.
The city is feeling the first effects of the mobilization. Few arrangements had been made for their coming. The lack of tents, rifles, and uniforms has left Washington’s streets crowded with aimless, wandering soldiers awaiting orders. Hotel accommodations are next to impossible to get, and the bars from the Navy Yard to Tenth Street are filled.
Despite the idleness on the streets, work the White House continues around the clock. Courriers and staff officers gallop to and from the Presidential mansion at all hours of the day and night. The strain of the past week has been too much for the 75-year-old Gen. Scott. The aging chief of staff has been confined to his bed with gout since Thursday.
Across the Potomac on Arlington Heights all is quiet. The stately mansion of Col. Robert E. Lee is deserted. The colonel and his family left their home earlier in the week after his decision to side with the Confederacy.
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