During his administration, three new States had been added to the Union,— Minnesota (1858), Oregon (1859), and Kansas (1861). Of these, Minnesota and Kansas were both formed mainly from the territory gained by the Louisiana purchase; and both bear the Indian names of rivers flowing through them. Oregon was formed out of the territory secured to the United States by the boundary treaty of 1846; and the name is said to come from the word "Oregano," meaning wild rice, which grows profusely on the Pacific coast. By the census of 1860, taken during Mr. Buchanan's administration, the whole population of the country was nearly thirty-one and a half millions (31,443,321).

one who was not in the midst of it can ima

gine the excitement that arose in all the Northern States when it was heard that Fort Sumter had been attacked. Up to that moment, there had been a great division of feeling at the North; and there were many who thought, that, by patient efforts, those who wished to secede from the Union could be brought back again. Few really believed that there was to be any serious fighting. While the white population of the South had been preparing for war, the Northern people had gone about their usual employments; and, when the attack came, they were quite taken by surprise. Although, three months before, the rebels in Louisiana had seized upon the fort at the mouth of the Mississippi, and upon the United States Arsenal at Baton Rouge, the Northern people could not convince themselves that actual war would take place. So they were still unprepared.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

293

When President Lincoln was inaugurated (March 4, 1861), the regular army was very small, and very much scattered; but, on the 15th of April, he issued a call for seventy-five thousand volunteers for three months only. A few regiments of militia were hastily summoned from the different States for the defence of Washington. One of these, the Sixth Massachusetts,

SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT ATTACKED BY A MOB.

was attacked by a mob in passing through Baltimore; and, after three men had been killed by stones and clubs, one company fired on the mob in return, killing nine men, and wounding many. This took place on April 19, 1861, the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington. It produced almost as much excitement as the attack on Fort Sumter, not that the Baltimore

affair was a deliberate act of organized rebellion, but that it showed the feeling of hostility to the government wherever slavery existed.

When it was necessary to send the next troops through Maryland, they were not marched through Baltimore, but through Annapolis. General Butler, with regiments of militia from Massachusetts and New York, passed along the line of railway from Annapolis to Washington; the soldiers repairing it as they went. Finding a wrecked locomotive by the roadside, the general asked if there was any one in the ranks who could repair it. "I can," said a soldier who had been examining the engine; "for I built it." In truth, these troops were made up of men of all occupations, just taken from the daily pursuits of life; and there were few trades which were not represented in every regiment. After a while, troops were sent through Baltimore again; and it became, almost of necessity, a loyal city. But at first the thing most essential was to reach Washington without delay, and make it secure.

When the first alarm about the safety of Washington was relieved, it became necessary to create an army. Recruits were gathered in all the States, under the president's proclamation, and were organized into regiments by the governors of the States. But all the materials of war had to be collected by the United States Government. Mr. Buchanan's secretary of war, himself a secessionist, had sent several hundred thousand muskets to Southern arsenals, and left the Northern arsenals almost bare. It was the same with cannon and ammunition. All these, therefore, had to be bought, or manufactured by the government, at very short

notice. It was necessary to have uniforms made for the soldiers, to organize a supply of horses and armywagons, camp-equipage, medicines, and provisions, and to provide for the proper distribution of these to the troops in such way that there should be no waste or want. This all had to be begun at once, and to be completed as quickly as possible. President Lincoln also issued a proclamation, announcing that the Southern ports were blockaded, and forbidding vessels to enter or leave them.

On the 24th of May, troops were sent from Washington into Virginia, some being ordered to Alexandria, some to Arlington Heights near Washington. Colonel Ellsworth, the youthful commander of a part of these troops, seeing a rebel flag flying from a hotel, entered the house to take it down, and was shot by the proprietor. He was well known in the Northern cities; and his death produced much indignation. Fighting soon began in both Eastern and Western Virginia. In Western Virginia, there was a strong Union party; and the rebel troops were finally driven out in a series of engagements in which General McClellan was the chief commander. In Eastern Virginia, there was an engagement at Big Bethel, in which the Union troops were defeated; but there was no general engagement till July. Then Lieutenant-General Scott, the commander-in-chief, made an attempt to advance on Richmond; and his troops, under General McDowell, were defeated at Bull Run. This was on July 21; some thirty thousand troops being engaged on each side. The result of the battle had seemed very doubtful until three o'clock in the afternoon, when re-enforcements arrived for the rebel troops;