The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-02-19
gagged her in a sharp fight for an houA-
and a half and compelled her to strikS
What Mas pone n 1e12.

June, congress passed an act t'declar-
ing war between the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland and tho
dependencies thereof and the United
States of America and their t~erritories.n
The president issued a proclamation
announcing the fact and calling upon
the people to sustain the public au-
thorities in the measures to be adopted
for obtaining a speedy, just and honor
able peace. -Four days later the Britt
ish government repealed the orders in
council and, had there been a tele-
graphic cable al now to bring the news.
it is probable that hostilities would
never have been begun.
One month after the declaration tho
first engagement occurred, William
Hull, one of the new b%rigadier generals
and a veteran of the revolution, crossed
the Canadian border near Detroit and
attacked the inhabitants with a grand
Eloquent proclamation which he failed
to foi,ow up with effective military
the British and their Indian allies at
Detroit he threw out the white flag
from his fort and surrendered all his,
forces without firing a shot, while his
brave men stood with tears In their
eyes ready to begin the fight.
The Contest With Mexico.
The manner of the beginning of thu
war with Mexico was in some respects
discreditable to the United States. A
boundary dispute existed between the
two republics. The United States. one
of the parties. sent an army of occu-
patton" to the disputed territory with
instructions to defend the territory
from the "encroachments" of the others
the Mexicans without entering upon
the disputed territory modified their
troops at Matamoras, near the border.
The United States then dispatched its
forces across the disputed territory to
a point directly opposite Matamoras
as if to provoke the Mexicans into
making an attack and thus putting
upon them the onus Of shedding the
first blood. Thus irritated the Mexican
general demanded the withdrawal OF
the forces of the United States from
The territory which they claimed. and.
upon refusal to do SO, the Mexican
forces crossed the Rio Grande and at
tackled the Americans.
The president was now able to send q
message to congress, saying that The
Mexicans v passed the boundary OF
the United States. invaded American ter,
ritory and shed American blood upon
American soil," and that war exists, not
w~ithstanding all efforts to avoid 1t, and
exists by the act Of Mexico herself" On
the same day congress passed an act rec
ognizing" the existence Of war.
Abraham Lincoln, at this time q whia
member Of gres from Illinois, intro
duced a resolution calling upon the presi-
dent for specific information with regard
to the attack. 1t was humorously referred
to as the spot resolution" in allusion to
Lincoln's request that the president poins
out the exact spot upon which American
blood had been shed.
Civil War Without Declaration.
The civil war was begun without an,
declaration: in fact, civil wars, said JUS
tice Grier In the prize cases, are never
formally declared; they become such by
accident. The legal effects of the war be-
gan with the issLs OF the presidents proc
lamation blockading the southern ports, al
though the war actually began several;
days earlier by the bomberdment Of Fort
Sumter. The determination Of the South
Carolina authorities to destroy the fort
was resolved upon when they received in
formation that the Star Of the West was
en- route to Charleston with supplies and
reinforcements for the b~eleaguered gar
rison.
On the 18th OF April General Beauregard
sent his aides, Major Chestnut and Cap
tain Stephen d. Lee, the latter Of whom.
still survives and Is the ranking confeder-
ate lieutenant general, to demand OF Ma
jor Anderson the evacuation Of the fort.
The brave major replied that the demand
was one which his sense of honor and OBJ
legation to his government prevented COM
pliance with. A little after 3 o'clock on
the morning of April IL General Beaure-
gard notified Major Anderson that he
wou.~ open the fire Of his batteries on
Fort Sumter In one hou from that time.
Surgeon Samuel w. Crawford, one Of
the officers Of .he fort, records that the
sea was calm and the night still under
the bright starlight when, at 4:sO a. M,
the sound of a mortar from a battery at
Fort johnson broke upon the stiffness. 1t
was a signal shell giving notice to the bat
teries to open fire.
The first shot was fired by Captain
George James. who commanded the bat
terry; the shell rose high in the air, and
curving In its course. burst almost direct
ly over the fort. After a deathly silence
of a few moments a gun opened from the
ironclad battery on Cummings Point, fred
by Edward Ruffin, a Virginia volunteer.
Hardly had it's echo died upon the air
when the mortars opened fire, followed in
succession by the batteries until the fort
was surrounded by a circ!s of fire. It
was not until Z O'Clock that Fort Sumter
opened its fire, the battery commanded by
Captain Doubleday being the first to open.
The fire continued throughout the day
and until 2 o'clock the following day.
when 1t was evident that the fort was q
heap OF ruins and the strength Of tho
garrison exhausted. Aides were sent to
General Beauregard to inquire II the en-
envy wished assistance, but before they
reached the fort a white nag had been
hoisted. The fort had surrendered.
The Late War With Spain.
The train of events leading up to the
late war with Spain are still fresh In
memory. The horrible restitution in Gu
ba, the DeLome incident Of February ..
the sinking of the Maine inAthe harbor OF
Havana on February Is with the loss OF
266 lives. the report of the committee OF
inquiry concerning the responsibility for
the sinking Of the Maine-these arc some
Of the preliminary incidents too familiar
to require detailed description. After the
destruction Of the Maine active prepare
tons for war were begun in al depart
ments Of the government. Congress, with
remarkable unanimity, placed So, 900 ii
the disposal of the president, IN. navy
was placed in readiness, war vessels were
purchased, ammunition MANUFACTURED
and, on the 18th Of April, President Nc
Kiniey sent q message to congress recit-
Ing the conditions prevailing in Cuba and
asking for authority to terminate hostil-
tiles in the island.
On April Is congress passed a formal
declaration reciting that war now existed
and had existed since April d. Already,
on the ed of April, the first shot had
been fired by the gunboat Nashville.
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