Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1862-05-23

ing this fragment OF the government, IN
place of going to Virginia and serving un-
der the banner of my native State and
I am panied to DEATH" But the old hero
vas patriotic, loyal aud wise enough to
say that his friend was wrong; and he was
right in remaining where he was.
But to proceed. You all remember,
gentlemen, the day of the President S
proclamation, calling on the people Of
Pennsylvania (because the demand was
made upon you here in common with 9th
er States) for troops to defend the nation
al capital. Ny son happening to be in
Washington, I sent him thither with the
utmost dispatch, and asked him to appeal
to every man he met in this town and
through the country. to send down every
soldier who would come. Within three
days after the issuing of the proclamation,
four hundred and eighty troops from Penn
sylvania arrived in Washington. They
were the first to inspire the Government
with hope and courage to contend with the
awful crisis then impending. They came
there without arms a1d were furnished
from the arsenal at that place. Directly
after this-within two or thre days-thre
or four regiments were assembled at Cock
eysville, Maryland, by my order. At the
same time a number Of bridges on the Phil
adelphia and Baltimore railroad, via VIII
mington, were burned or destroyed 1t
was at this sine that the mob at Baltimore
murdered our unarmed soldiers in the
streets on their way to the defence of the
capital, and the Baltimore and Ohio rail
road refused to carry our troops At
that time when the loyalty Of nearly all
the inhabitants was doubted, Mr.. Seward,
the Secretary of State, in company with
the Secretary of the Treasury, called upon
me and said "we must have somebody in
New York to assist the public officers in
collecting and forwarding troops" asking
me to name any individual whom [ eonsid-
cred competent for that purpose. [ was ac-
quainted with bat few people in New
York, but after moments reflection | rec
elected Mr.. Cummings, with whom l had
an intimacy when he was citizen of this
State The Two gentlemen then informed
me that they had appointed Mr.. Cisco, Of
the sub treasuary; General Dix, now in
the army; Mr.. Opdyke, the present May
or of the city of New York, and Mr..
Blatchford, a citizen Of New York, and as
have stated, requested me to name some
other gentlemen. gave the name Of Mr..
Cummings and ass soiated with it that oi
Gov. Morgan, of the State of New York
To show how guarded | was in these ap.
pointments l will read the order that
gave upon that occasion:
| DEPARTMENT OF WAR,
April %, 1862,
"Tn consideration Of the extraordinary
emergencies which demand immediate and
decisive measures for the preservation Of
the national capital, and the defence of the
National Government, l hereby authorize
Edwin D Morgan, Governor of the State
/ of New York, and Alexander Cummings
now III the city of New York, to make ali
necessary arrangements for the transporta
! tion of troops and munitions of war, in
aid and assistance of the officers of the
army Of the United States, until commu-
nication by mail and telegraph is complete
/ ly re-established between the cities oi
Washington and New York. Either Of
/ tn, m, in ease of inability to consult with
the other, may exercise the authority here
by given SIMON CAMERON,
Secretary Of War"
1t will be seen that [ did not intrust
those gentlemen with the expenditure Of
any money. | was careful to give them
DO authority to act independent of the
military officers Of the Government
Sometime afterwards, | received tele-
gram signed by Messrs. Morgan and Gem
mings, asking for authority to draw mon
ey, which I referred in the usual manner
to the Treasury Department That is all
| bad to do with the matter, and at the
end of fourteen days, communication hav-
ing been restored, I revoked their authori-
ty, as will be seen by the following note
War Department, May I, 1861.
Gcnt5enea The extraordinary emer-
gency which demanded immediate and de-
cisiVe measures for the preservation of our
national Capital, and the defense of the
National Government, rendered it necessa-
ry for this Department to adopt extraor-
dinary means for that purpose, and having
full confidence in your intelligence. expert
ence and integrity, you were authorized to
make all necessary arrangements for the
transportation of troops, &C., in aid and
assistance Of the officers of the army of the
| United States, until the re-establishment
of communication, by mails and telegraph
between the cities of New York and Wash
ington