For many months preceding July, 1862, a certain group of these broadclothed money-gluttons camped in Washington—alert as hawks, keen as hungry tigers sniffing warm blood. This precious group of eminently stealthy Christian business men planned and plotted. Cunningly these pirate patriots arranged a specially “good thing”—of which I wish to tell you here.
There was, you remember, one battle in the late Civil War called the Seven Days’ Battle. Mark the dates very carefully: June 25 to July 1, 1862—seven days—a bloody, horrible week. For several reasons this battle was regarded as most critical; many thoughtful people, North and South, believed the Union would stand or fall with this battle. President Lincoln ordered General McClellan to capture the Confederate capital, Richmond, or hurry north and protect Washington. As the conflict came closer and closer capitalists and statesmen grew busier—timing a master stroke.
June 24, the nation watched Virginia: one of the most prolonged and savage struggles in the whole history of mankind was imminent.
June 24, therefore, was, for certain men, the last day of special preparation. The cannon would surely begin next day to roar around Richmond.
All was ready (in Washington).... The understanding was perfect (in Washington).
“Without a single syllable of debate,” a certain bill (precisely as it had been handsomely amended by the Senate) was passed by the House by a vote of 104 to 21. The finishing touch was thus put upon a carefully constructed trap, a trap set by “leading citizens,” a trap for big game.
Next day—June 25—the cannon did begin to boom around the Confederate capital.
The first day’s struggle—June 25—was awful. The news flashed through the land. Millions turned pale.
But the bandits in Washington were cool. The trap was set. They waited.
The second day was a slaughter.