Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-06-10
the escitensnt which might have been ex.

pected.
Dufing the morning and early hours of the
forenoon, immense multitudes of peonle COL
lected from all directions, to look at The Wig
llants, who pushed them back rudely whenever
they crowded past the forbidden corners. The
squad who stopped people from passing along
Chartres street, in front of jackson Square.
refused to answer who they were, and when
asked to show the authority by which thew
prevented people from passing by. replied that
their authority was the authority of force.
We should add that the usurpers took pos
session not only of the lookup and police
office, but of all the Offices in that building
the Sixth District Court, Recorder Fabre's
Court, the Assessors office, and the School
Library No one having business there was
permitted to pass Without questioning, in
tone OF politeness 'or of insolence, graduated
to his known political preferences. Judge
Howell, for insisting upon his right to pro-
coed to his Court unmolested, was collared
and Jerked about as if he were a common
vagabond- Several other respectable citizens,
for insisting upon their right to pass, were
grossly insulted, two that we know of were
collared and vigorously led into the lookup,
with the muzzles of cooked revolvers stuck
at their ears.
Judge Howell being finally permitted to
enter his Court, with the few others who had
talked their way through the besieging line,
at once adjourned the Court, it being utterly
out of the question to proceed to business as
usual, from the armed occupancy of the bull
ding The Courts in the lower building, near
St. Ann street, also adjourned, after doing
little or nothing Recorder Fabre's clerk,
Mr.. Blacbe, was permitted to enter his Court
and dispose of the few petty arrests that were
made in the night. before the Vigilants took
possession. In short, all the court business
was stopped; the Coroner likewise had to
close his office; and the inhabitants, in alarm,
close their shops and stores, for squares
around.
Meantime, the news of all this operated
wildly up town and down. The known poll
teal character of the movement created an
ind gnation of the intensest description. Great
multitudes of people collected about the
City Hall, feeling that as the act of the vi
giants was one of riot and treason, the
Mayor was to be looked to as the one to take
the Initiative in putting that act down. The
Mayors first act was to convene the City
Council. That body met at ten o'clock and
after a secret session of nearly two hours
decided upon giving the Mayor full authority
to act as the nature of the case might require.
Meantime, the Mayor had sent for Major
General Lewis, and Brig Generals Tracy and
Palffey, to have them in readiness for his
orders Captains Walton, of the Washington
Artillery; DreuX, of the National Guards;
and jacques, of the Southern Rifles, appre-
hending that they might be needed, mustered
their men as speedily as possible, and long
before the Council adjourned were at their
armories, armed, equipped, and ready for fight
The Continental Guards, or portion of them
also assembled and held themselves in readi-
ness.
Mayor Waterman, upon being invested with
full power by the Council, held a deliberation
with the leaders of the military, the result of
which was, that he and those leaders went
down to see the leaders of the Vigilance Com
mittee, to demand their unconditional sur
render. The leader or captain of the Vigi-
lance Committee. we should here state, was
Lieut.. Duncan, late of the u. S. Army, but
latterly Superintendent of the u. S. Marine
Hospital, now building out on Common street
The Mayor, upon visiting this gentleman at
his hcadquarters-the headquarters of the
Committee, in the seized arsenal-demanded
of him an unconditional surrender of himself
and the men under his command.
This, Capt. Duncan refused; but offered to
compromise. His proposal was, that if the
Mayor would commission all the members of
the Vigilance Committee special police
man to serve during the election of Monday,
they would hand over the Arsenal and their
arms and ammunition to Mayor General
Lewis. who is Superintendent of Elections
under the infamous ''army bill."1 The Mayor
refused TO entertain this proposal. and return
ed to the City Hail at Lafayette Square. By
the time he got back, large numbers of men
had obtained muskets and side-arms. and were
organizing and drilling in the square, with
the view of aiding the military soon as the
order should be given to march down to take
the Vigilants. Upon hearing the news of
the Vigilants offer of compromise. the shout
of "No compromised rose iercely on all
sides.
There were by this time three or four hun
dred men on the Square. with muskets and
other Weapons (besides the military at their
armOries) and the force would have been
much larger had muskets been procurable.
There was, in fact, regular scramble for the
muskets. A part of the armed force had
come up from the Third District in procession
with music and flying colors There was no
the fact that the spirit of fight was
thoroughly aroused. and that all were ready
to march at the word, and, if necessary, poor
out their hearts best blood, in crushing po-
litical coup detm which has had no parallelin
the annals of infamy.
But somehow or other the word didn't
come. The force assembled could have gone
to the Arsenal, and for all their cannon, taken
the Vigilants in ten minutes But the Vigil
lants having set law and order at defiance,
the uptown forces scOrned to emulate them,
legal order. The Mayor was closeted with
the Generals of the different divisions, and
whilst an order was looked for momentarily,
the whole afternoon passed away without
that order coming: although the Mayor issued
the order to Gen. Lewis at O'Clock to bring
out his men Immediately. This was veXa-
tious and irritable to the last degree, to the
soldiers and volunteers who had been wait
ing all day. When evening came, the great
cff l.I did hot
the Mayor had concluded not to issue any
order at all, and so by degrees dispersed.
il not dispirited. Had it been
known at II O'Clock that no order would be
issued before evening, we doubt whether the
volunteers would have considered it necessary
to wait for the word and if they had gone
down they would have scattered the Vigilants
like chat.
During the afternoon, the Vigilants busted
themselves in fortifying their position. They
built barricade across Chartres street. at its
upper intersection with st. Peter. This bar
ricade was about three feet high, and made of
granite blocks torn up from the street. They
stationed three cannons on st. Peter street,
one on Chartres street and two in the alley
between the Arsenal and the Church-the
cannon on each street pointing in opposite
directions. Across st. Peter street and the
alley We're built wooden barricades-more !
fences TO keep people from starting that way.
After shutdown. a second barricade was built |
across Chartres street. Ii was made of cotton
bales, and extended from the front of the
Church to the railing of the square opposite. !
The distance between the two barricades was
about halt square, and in this space, as
we'll rs up and down ST. Peter street aud the
alley. the Vigilants were marching in squads, |
going through infantry drill and sitting around
heir cannon.
In the afternoon, business was more or less |
everywhere, and great crowds of |
people kept ST. Charles and Royal streets
alive, passing up and down TO see |
he two armies at Jackson and Lafayette !
square. II was by all odds the most extra /
ordinary and exciting spectacle ever witness