Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/898

CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. 792 CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved." This example was followed by acts, similarly phrased, passed by conventions of ten other Southern States, in the following order: Jlississippi, .January 9, 1861; Florida, .January 10; Alabama, January 11; Georgia, January 19: Louisiana. .January 26; Texas, February 1; Virginia, April 17; Arkansas, May 6; North Carolina, Jlay 20; Tennessee, June 8. The States of Missouri. iMaryland, and Kentucky were divided in sentiment on the question of se- cession, and in the ensuing war had representa- tives in the governments and armies of both sec- tions. The western counties of Virginia remained loyal to the Union, and separated themselves from the rest of the State. On February 4, rS61, a Congress met at Montgomery. Ala., in which were represented all the States that had passed ordinances of secession pi-evious to that date. This Congress adopted for the new- organization a Provisional Federal Constitu- tion, which was later ratified, and the title 'Confederate States of America.' Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected President, and Alex- ander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President, of the new Confederacy. In the meantime the State forces of South Carolina had seized the United States Custom-House, Post-office, and Arsenal in Charleston, and had taken possession of Forts Pinckney and Jloultrie in the harbor of that cit.y; Major Robert Anderson, in com- mand of Fort !Moultrie, with a force of only 128 men, many of whom were non-combatants, having withdrawn to Fort Sumter, which he con- sidered more defensible. On April 12, 1861, hos- tilities began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, which, after a brave defense, although several times set on fire by shells, was surren- dered on the 11th by Major Anderson — the small garrison withdrawing with the honors of war. There were no casualties on either side. On the day following this event. President Lincoln is- sued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers for three months; this was followed by a procla- mation declaring the blockade of the Southern ports : and, on 5lay 3, a second call was issued for 64,000 men for" the army and 18,000 for the navy, to serve 'during the war.' The United States Regular Army consisted, January 1, 1861, of 16,402 officers and men ; but these had been dispersed by John B. Floyd, Secretary of War under Buchanan, to distant parts of the country. Under his directions, also, quantities of arms and ammunition had been transferred from Northern" to Southern arsenals, during 1860: and the ships of the United States Na'y were mostly absent at foreign stations by direction of the Secretary of the Na^-y, Toucey, A very large proportion of the Southern army officers re- signed and entered the Confederate service, though this course was by no means so general on the part of Southern officers in the navy. In the Southern States, preparations for war were carried on with great energy. Gen. Rolx>rt E. I^ee was appointed commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces in Virginia, their main body being concentrated at Manassas .Junction. On ,lune 10 a Union force was repulsed by the Con- federates at Big Bethel, Va. (q.v,), and on July 21 was fought the first battle of Bull Run (q.v,), when the Confederates, under Generals Johnston and Beauregard, completely defeated the Fed- erals, under General McDowell, and threatened the capital. This was the first important battle of the war, and its elfect was to rouse both sides to what now promised to be a long and bloody struggle. Meanwhile, General McClellan (q.v.) had succeeded in wresting the western portion of Virginia frcmi the Confederates; and iinme diately after the disastrous defeat at Bull Kun, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. His skill in organizing and disciplining large bodies of men, and mak- ing valuable soldiers out of raw and inexperi- enced recruits, doubtless qualified that army for the magnificent part it afterwards took in the war. The Congress of the United States met in extra session July 4, 1801, and, in response to the President's call, voted 500.000 men and .$500.- 000,000. The Northern States, in their indi- vidual capacity, had before this time drawn upon their own resources in behalf of the Union cause — New 'i"ork and Pennsylvania each vot- ing $3,000,000 for the prosecution of the war ; Massachusetts and other New England States sending regiments into the field fully armed and equipped: while in every city, town, and village volunteers were gathering and forming theni- selves into companies and regiments, to be after- wards offered to the Governors of the respective States, and through these officials to the coun- try. The latter half of the year 1861 was de- voted mainly to organization, and the engage- ments that occurred were generally without great importance. At the .South the enlistment of 400,000 men was going on under a call from the Confederate Congress, The Confederates also had possession of the L^nited States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry and of the Navy- Yard at Nor- folk, Va,, where they had seized 2000 cannon and the steam-frigate ilerrimac, one of the finest in the United States Na'y. General I^yon suc- ceeded in securing Missouri for the Union by a series of successful engagements, terminating in the battle of Wilson's Creek (near Springfield). August 10, in which he fell. On October 21 the Confederates gained a success by almost an- nihilating the Federal force of 1500 to 1700 men which had been sent to Ball's Bluff (q.v,) on the Potomac, and left there unsupported. Gen, U. S, Grant, after having seized Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee River, and another ijuportant strategic point at the mouth of the Cumlierland. captured, on November 7, the Con- federate camp at Belmont, Mo„ though he was soon driven back by the Confederate (Jeneral Pillow, acting under orders from (ieneral Polk. On the same date a United States naval fcuce under Admiral Dupont captured Forts Walker and Beauregiud at Port Royal, S, C, On the fol- lowing day tlic Confederate commissioners. Ma- son and Slidellj were taken, by Captain Wilkes of the L'nited States frigate San Jacinto, from the British mail steamer Trent, while on their way to their respective missions to England and France, Comi)lications with England were avert- ed by the prompt disavowal of Captain Wilkes's act by the United States Government. The Fed- eral iforce in the field in the beginning of 1862 was about 450,000 men: the Confederate force about 350,000, During .January some successes were gained in ICentucky, at Prestonburg and Mill Springs, by the Federals, under Colonel (Jar- field and General Thomas, General Grant, aided bv a naval force under Commodore Foote. cap-