The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1911-05-12
CIVIL WAR FIFTY
YEARS AGO

accompanied a party Of distinguished
men to the scene Of the battle fought
near that city. In the party were two
! United States senators, one from the
north, the other from the south. Both
/ had participated in the battle, the
northerner as a private, the southerner
as a general. During the trip each
pointed out the ground that he had
fought over and told Of the struggle
In a way to bring it to life before the
eyes. The two were at the time vot-
ing on the same side in the senate and
were warm friends, To my own mind
the incident threw a revealing light
upon the stupendous change that had
come over the country.
Such a scene would scarcely be pos
sible in any other land on earth. The
beauty Of it was that the incident
typiied a thousand others which have
occurred in meetings between the blue
and the gray. There is no pretense in
the reconciliation. These strong men
who offered their lives in battling
against each other would now as
quickly face death to support each
other Indeed, they did as much in
the Spanish war. The south was
even more eager to enlist than the
north. Sincerely and whole heartedly
the two sections are reunited, This
fact alone is enough to inspire the
heart with supreme faith in democ-
racy.
The civil war began with the firing
on Fort Sumter April -, 1861; it prac-
tically ended at Appomattox April 0,
1865, just four years later lacking
three days More strangely still, Lin
coin on the first day after he entered |
office was faced by an insistent call |
from Fort Sumter for the sending Of |
supplies, the compliance with which |
broEght on the war, and he died six |
days after Lee surrendered. He wrote |
the call for the first 10000 men on |
April II and issued it April 10, 1861. |
He was shot on April IA and died
April 10, 1865.
Three Events That Fired the North.
The firing on Fort Sumter had the
instant effect of eIectrifying and solid
flying the north and of causing Vir-
ginia to secede Up to that time only
the seven cotton states had gone out.
Virginia passed the secession ordinance
on April II, and Tennessee, Arkansas
and North Carolina followed in May.
On April 10 came the Baltimore mas
sacre, practically the first bloodshed Of
the war. 1t was the anniversary Of
the battle Of Lexington, and, strangely
enough, the troops involved We're from
Several soldiers were
killed by the mob, and more were
wounded The troops after being at
tackled fired back and inflicted more
damage than they suffered
The third event that stirred northern
excitement was the assassination Of
Colonel u. Elmer Ellsworth on May
r. At the head of his famous zouaves,
Ellsworth was ordered TO Alexandria,
Va where one Of his first acts was
10 remove Confederate flag from the
'oof Of a hotel. The proprietor shot
aim and was promptly killed in turn
Dy one Of Ellsworths soldiers.
Tho first battle of the war in which
organized troops opposed each other
was that at Big Bethel, Va, on June /
10. Compared with later engagements I
I was Il mere slsirmish. Like the first !
Bull Run, which started eleven days J
ater Zig Bethel was Union defeat
Bull Run awakened the north TO the
that the war was to be no /