Troops mustered into companies and massed themselves into regiments in the North and the great West so numerous and so fast that a swift pen might fail to keep the record. The uprising was general. Along our water courses, along our railroads, down the broad avenues of our cities, regiment after regiment swept a continued stream of armed men, all bearing toward the capital. For the whole great North rose as one man and sprang to arms. The plough was left in the furrow—the hammer upon the anvil—the saw upon the bench—the reaper in mid prairie—the shuttle in the loom—the pen upon the ledger—the engine untended—the press unfed—the busy sails of commerce unfurled, and the whirring mill unsupplied. A patient people had arisen in its might, with clear steel and the rolling thunder of cannon they were prepared to uphold the sacred majesty of the Union flag, while a splinter remained of the staff, or a shred of the fabric! An electric flash stirred the long-patient and dumb millions to life and speech, and under the red ensign of war they rallied in the common cause.
No one State or town could claim pre-eminence in patriotic fervor over its neighbors, for no where did this wild enthusiasm find check or hindrance. Our great cities could only claim superiority over the smaller towns from the hospitality with which they received troops from the country and cheered them onward to the battle field. Boston, Portland, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, and the leading Western cities formed a great thoroughfare for the mustering army, for the country around poured their patriotic masses through the streets of these cities, and the press gave eclat to the movements which reflected back upon the cities themselves. But in the great North and the great West there was no nook or corner where this patriotic furor did not exist.
Monster Union meetings were held in every city of the loyal States, and within an incredibly short time, Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand men responded to the call of the President. Great as the number was, it proved but small to what would have volunteered had they been needed, or could they have been accepted, for with bonfires blazing upon every hill, and flags waving from every house-top—with the red, white and blue upon every breast, and the long roll beating in every heart—with wives sending their husbands—mothers their sons and girls their lovers, such a battle cry was raised as the earth had never listened to, and nations of the old world heard with astonishment.
REINFORCEMENT OF FORT PICKENS.
April 12, 1861.
The Navy Yard and forts in the harbor of Pensacola, from their extent and importance, were particularly the objects of insurgent ambition. General Bragg and his counsellors had so adroitly arranged their plans that it was confidently expected that the government forts, buildings and property would fall into their peaceable occupation. On the 12th of January, the navy yard and barracks, together with Fort Barrancas, fell into their possession, and shortly afterwards Fort McRae met with the same fate; but Lieutenant Slemmer, the United States officer in command of the forts of Pensacola harbor, courageously threw his small force of eighty-two men into Fort Pickens, and had thus far held at bay the large army of insurgents who were preparing to attack him.
The harbor of Pensacola is probably the largest and finest on the whole coast of the Mexican Gulf. The bay is six miles wide and about twelve long. The Warrington navy yard was seven miles by land from Pensacola and six miles and three-quarters by water. About a mile from the navy yard, west, stood Fort Barrancas, and a mile farther Fort McRae, which commands the bar. Opposite Fort McRae was Fort Pickens, the channel running between them. Near Fort Pickens was a redoubt. On the opposite side of Pensacola, across the bay, Santa Rosa island extends several miles to the bar, at the extremity of which is Fort Pickens. A vessel coming into the harbor must necessarily pass between Fort Pickens and Fort McRae, and in close proximity to Barrancas.
Fort Pickens is a bastioned work of the first class, built of New York granite; its walls forty-five feet in height and twelve in thickness. It is embrasured for two tiers of guns, placed under bomb-proof casemates, besides having one tier en barbette. The work was commenced in 1848 and finished in 1853, at a cost of nearly one million dollars. Its war complement of soldiers is 1,260. Its full armament consists of 210 guns, howitzers, and mortars, of all calibres.
Simultaneous with the determination to reinforce Fort Sumter, the government resolved to send relief to Fort Pickens, which was then threatened by a force of 7,000 men under General Bragg, strongly entrenched, and occupying the other forts in the harbor.
A fleet of six United States vessels lay in the harbor, and they had been notified by General Bragg that he would immediately open fire upon them and Fort Pickens also, should they attempt to reinforce the garrison.