The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-02-26
gagged her in a sharp fight for an hous
and a half and compelled her to strikd

II IL SOlllClIilICo dSSel leu lildl Tie OUT
break of hostilities between the United
States and Great Britain in 1912 was
not preceded by a formal declaration,
but this is an error. On the 18th Of
June congress passed an act "declar-
ing var between the United Kingdom
Of Great Britain and Ireland and the
dependencies thereof and the United
States Of America n their territories"
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 Brit
ish government repealed the orders in
council and, had there been a tele-
graphic cable as now to bring the news,
it is probable that hostilities would
never have been begun.
One month after the declaration the
first engagement occurred, William
Hull, one of the new %brigadier 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 follow up with effective military
operations. Upon being attacked by
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
braEe men stood with tears in their
eyes ready to begin the fight.
The Contest With Mexico.
The of the beginning of tn,
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 other;
the MeXicans without entering upon
the disputed territory modified their
troops at Matamoras, near the border.
The United States then dispatched it's
forces across the disputed territory to
a point directly opposite Matamoras
as If TO provoke the Mexicans into
making IN 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 a
message to congress-, saying that THE
MeXicans have passed the boundary of
the United States, invaded American ter
s NN 'AAS dpOll
American soil" and that war exists, not
withstanding all efforts to avoid it, 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 a whig
member of congress 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 point
out the exact pot upon which American
blood had been shed.
Civil War Without Declaration.
The civil war was begun without any
declaration; In fact, civil wars, said Jus
ttce Grier In the prize cases, are never
formally declared; they become such by
accident. The legal effects Of the war be-
gan with the issue Of the presidents proc
lamation blockading the southern ports, al
though the war actually began several
days earlier by the bombardment 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
oClil lllS dlucS, MAUI CHESTNUT ana Gap
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 u General Beaure-
gard notified Major Anderson that he
wou.~ open the fire of his batteries on
Fort Sumter in one hour from that time,
Surgeon Samuel w. Crawford, one of
the officers of the fort, records that the
sea was calm and the night still under
the bright starlight when, at 4:30 a. M,
the sound Of a mortar from a battery at
Fort Johnson broke upon the stiffness. It
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, fired
by Edward Ruffln, a Virginia volunteer.
Hardly had its echo died upon the air
when the mortars opened fire, followed in
succession by the batteries until the fort
was surrounded by a circle of fire. 1t
was not until Z o'clock that Fort Sumter
opened It's fre, 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 it was evident that the fort was a
heap of ruins and the strength Of the
garrison exhausted. Aides were sent. to
General Beauregard to inquire If the en-
envy wished assistance, but before they
reached the fort a white flag had been
hoisted. The fort had surrendered.
The Late War With Spain.
The train Of events leading up to the
late var with Spain are Still fresh in
memory. The horrible restitution in Gu
ba, the DeLome incident Of February 9,
the sinking of the Maine in the 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 are some
Of the preliminary incidents too familiar
to require detailed description. After the
destruction of the Maine active prepara-
tons for war were begun in all depart
ments of the government. Congress, with
remarkable unanimity, placed $50, 000, 900 at
the disposal of the president, the navy
was placed in readiness, war vessels were
and. on the 18th of April, President Nc
Kinley sent a message to congress recit-
ing the conditions prevailing in Cuba and
asking for authority to terminate hostll-
tiles in the island.
On April % congress passed a formal
declaration reciting that war now existed