The National tribune., 1902-02-06
EARLY WARTIME DAYS.
Mr.. Grows RecolIections of President
Lincoln. Il

dllNSS HI tue out VI INT wal VI
the rebellion, has written a lengthy ar
ticle for Golfers Weekly detailing many
interesting recollections of those days.
The Capital. when the 9th Mass. ar
rived, had taken on an appearance very
like that of q city in n state of siege.
Theaters and places of amusement were
closed, and nearly all business was at a
standstill. No supplies could come in
from Maryland or Virginia. Provisions
of all kinds were bought up at extrava-
CANT prices, much to the benefit of the
grOce:s, who refused credit to anybody;
and families were put on short allow
ance. while the large stores Of -four and
grain at Georgetown Mills, and even those
already loaded for shipment on schooners,
were seized and long trains of carts were
engaged in removing them to safer stOr-
age in the public buildings. Other trains
of carts and wagons traversed the streets
at night, carrying food, arms and ammu-
milton to the Patent Office, the POstOtiice,
the Treasury and the Capitol, while the
arches in the Easements of the two last
named buildings were filed with frewood
and other materials as barricades for
muSketeers. The three or four batteries
of Regulars, which had been ordered on
before the war began, were kept con-
Stantly on the move, going to or returning
from picket duty; and at all hours of the
day hOrSemen were seen galloping from
Gen. Scott's headquarters in every direc-
ton, as if on the most urgent errands,
while in almost every street the militia
men of the District of Columbia were be
ing drilled, with much distrust as to their
loyalty.
When the Baltimore route was closed
by the riot and bridge-burning Of April
10, the railroad authorities at PhiladeI
phia had promptly devised and prepared
u. no rnptp-hv rail n parryy-IlIn on tho
Susquchanna; thence by water on Ches-
apeakc Bay to Annapolis; thence by rail
road, or, if that should be destroyed, by
common wagon roads to Washington.
Gen. Scott ordered this route adopted on
April 30, and, when communication with
the NORTH was cut off later in the same
day, two -regimcEts-the Sth Mass. and
ing to the defense Of the Capital. But
one anxious day of isolation followed an
other without bringing the expected
troops. 1t was believed that they had
been ut Annapolis since Sunday morning
Why did they not land and advance? The
Annapolis road was known to be dam
aged; but could they not march 30 miles:
Such were the questions asked by those
who collected ut the railroad station, or
anxiGusly- scanned the Potomac, with
scarce Il ripple or sail thereon.
The only answers received, for the mo-
mcnt, were rumors of theJmost alarming
sort. We were told Nf an, immense Con
federate force coming, to Alexandria. Its
mortars had been planted on the nights
Of Arlington; the city was to be shelled
the public buildings blown up, and the
place left in ruins, which the North
would find useless to fight for, and the
South be saved the, cost of defending
yet obtain all the prestige in the eyes =
foreign nations which the; capture of the
seat of Government could affo-d. The re
port said that PLAY was, beng formed
by Southern sympathiaers TO fire the city
in many places at once, and, in the con
fusion. make it easy II conquest by n,
armed mob from Baltimore and Alexan-
dlia. The more tinid ones fled from the
city, by whatever chIDccS. of trarspOrta
ton offered themselves, These. however,
were exceptions to the general rule. The
majority seemed resolved to await the re
suit as calmly as possible, conscious that
they could do nothing 10 change IT, Some
there were among tlle bolder ones who
voiced their confidence in the power and
determination Of the North, hut they
found doubling listeners in those who
reasoned that the South was prepared.
but the North was not, and who had so
long seen the former carrying every point
that they could not realize the possibiI-
ity of her present failure. The cnnvic
tion, indeed, was general that all hope for
the Union was gone, and that those who
had been friends were turned to foes.
breeding in every man a distrust of his
nciShbOr.
The President, during those trying days.
was, in outward appearance, the most
self-possesscd man in the Capital. He
knew that his call for men had been ap-
proved by the loyal Nation, that more
men than he had called for had been tcp-
dered by single State, and that from
Maine to Oregon the people had begun
the work of preparation. Present facts,
on the other hand, demonstrated that he
was environed by the unknown. and that
whether a Union or "A Confederate army
would first reach the Capital an uncer-
tain future alone would show. 1t is not
surprising, therefore, that the suspense Of
isolation. the fear of hourly attack, and
the non-arrival of the expected troops
proved Il sore strain even to LincOln's
strong fiber, and cngcndered Il bitterness.
Of soul that more than once found
poignant, half-ironical expression. Il be
gin to believe" said he TO the mounted
men of the 9Th Mass. that there is ne
North. The 18th Regiment is myth
Rhode Island is another. You are the
only real thing. Again, pacing the foo
Of his deserted Office. cool as any man
that ever lived he was heard to cXcIaim
10 himself: VIII don't they come? Why
don't they Gomez
This question was happily answered at
"Gon Of Thursday. April -, when the
whistle Of a locomotive broke the silence
that brooded over the city, and soon the
Ith \. V, trayrl-stancd and dirty. but
iiankcd by cheering crowds, was march
jng from the station to the White House
there to he received by the President. The
ith and Sth Mass. had reached Phiadcl-
0hia SiX days before. to find the usual
route to Washington blocked by wrecFeI,
abroad bridges. and communication with
the Capital almost impossible; but Ben
iamin +. Butler. commander of the Sth
had pushed on by rail to Perryvillc, and
thence by rail- to Annapolis. when Col
Lcfferts, of the 9TH. placing his mcn
aboard the first steamer he could find
started for the same point by way of the
capes of Delaware and of Virginia. The
two regiments met on Monday at An
napOliS. Massachusetts soldiers repaired
the diSmantlcd locomotives found there:
cannon and men 10 servto them We're placed
on platform car in trout, and the bag
gage of the regiments was loaded on
other ears in the rear Then the two
commands. with train thus made up.
began their march toward Washington.
and, building bridges and laying tracks as
they advanced, on Thursday morning
reached Annapolis Junction.
The Sth was halted there by rumor
that Il numerous body of Confederates
on to Washington. No Confederates ap-
bearing, the Sth, after a wait of some
hours, resumed its advance 1t fonnd
quarters early next morning in the CaritOl.
and the same day Brought the 1st r. l.
lInpOln'S most trying unpk anIad