The sense of impending and imminent danger, which made itself felt throughout the country in the winter of 1860-61, was strongly apparent in Brooklyn, and when the crash came the city was not unprepared in any sense. It was only a few days after the election of Martin Kalbfleisch as Mayor[29] that Brooklyn was startled by the news that Fort Sumter had surrendered. The announcement occasioned intense excitement throughout the city. In a remarkably short space of time the strength of the city's loyalty to the Union cause made itself felt. Those who sympathized with the South, or who were wavering in their allegiance, were made to feel the necessity for modifying their views, or for avoiding any sign of disloyalty. The national flag appeared in every quarter of the city. Its absence was noted wherever that absence could be construed into a sign of unpatriotic feeling. Crowds threatened violence to Southern sympathizers. The Mayor urged moderation, and the early excesses of patriotism soon passed. Meanwhile, volunteers flocked to the flag. The four militia regiments in the Fifth Brigade were the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Twenty-eighth, and Seventieth. At the time of the alarm the regiments were not numerically strong. Less than 300 men were in the Thirteenth; less than 200 in the Fourteenth; the Twenty-eighth and Seventieth were somewhat stronger. At the call of the President the regiments rapidly filled. Captain W. H. Hogan organized an artillery company. In the Eastern District, the Forty-seventh Regiment was organized, with Colonel J. V. Meserole in command. Amid enthusiastic demonstrations the Fourteenth left for the front in May, 1861. The scenes during the first hours of the war period were those characteristic of every community in which the Union sentiment was strong and unquestionable. Every class in the community made response. Plymouth Church, from whose pulpit had come the loyal and stirring oratory of Henry Ward Beecher, subscribed $1000 toward the equipment of the local regiments. A sum equally generous came from the Pierrepont Street Baptist Church. The Union Ferry Company offered to continue the salaries of any of its employees who might volunteer, thus assuring the safety of their families. Local business men and corporations gave similar demonstrations of patriotism. The appropriations of the Common Council began with a provision for the disbursement of $75,000 for the relief of the families of those who should volunteer. The Kings County Medical Society resolved that its members should attend gratuitously the families of volunteers. There were signs of lukewarmness in certain quarters, and definite manifestations of sympathy with the South; but these met with decisive rebuke whenever they appeared. The Navy Yard was threatened, or was supposed to be threatened, by incendiary rebel sympathizers, but prompt action prevented the possibility of any form of attack.