To our banner we are clinging,
And a song we are singing,
Whose chorus is ringing
From each mouth;
'Tis "The old Constitution
And a stern retribution
To the South."
Vanity Fair, April 27, 1861.
SUMTER
So, they will have it!
The Black Witch (curse on her)
Always had won her
Greediest demand—for we gave it—
All but our honor!
Thirty hours thundered
Siege-guns and mortars—
(Flames in the quarters!)
One to a hundred
Stood our brave Forters!
No more of parties!—
Let them all moulder—
Here's work that's bolder!
Forward, my hearties!
Shoulder to shoulder.
Sight o'er the trunnion—
Send home the rammer—
Linstock and hammer!
Speak for the Union!
Tones that won't stammer!
Men of Columbia,
Leal hearts from Annan,
Brave lads of Shannon!
We are all one to-day—
On with the cannon!
Henry Howard Brownell.
Nor was there any hesitation as to what that action should be. On Monday, April 15, 1861, President Lincoln issued a call for seventy-five thousand militia to suppress combinations obstructing the execution of the laws in seven of the Southern states.