To secure the public buildings against a rising among the secessionists living in Washington, the volunteer companies and the regular army batteries were conveniently posted, the bridges and highways leading to the city were guarded, and signals were arranged for the concentration at any given point of the eight thousand men who now constituted the garrison of the capital. Provisions were collected and stored, many of them in the Capitol building, and, to such extent as the force warranted, Washington was considered secure unless a Southern army was marched against it. And this impending danger was daily increasing. On April 17, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, had called for thirty-two thousand troops, and had offered letters of marque to vessels to attack American commerce. The arrival of the militia called out by President Lincoln's proclamation was anxiously awaited. * * * * * Almost before the boom of the guns that were fired on Sumter had ceased, military preparations were actively under way in nearly every city and village in the North. The uniformed {23} militia regiments were promptly filled up to their full numbers by new enlistments. Home Guards were organized in country towns, to defend their homes should the war be waged in the North, and to man afresh, when necessary, the companies already sent out. To fife and drum, the ununiformed farmers marched up and down the village green, temporarily armed with shot-guns and smooth-bore rifles, acquiring proficiency in "Hardee's Tactics" under the direction of old militia officers who had shone resplendent on former "training days." Neither custom nor regulations prescribing any particular uniforms, the greatest variety of fancy was shown in the equipment of the volunteers. Some adopted the zouave uniform, which had become popular through the then recent war between France and Austria and the memories of Magenta and Solferino. Garibaldi was a popular hero of the day, and the red shirts of his trusty men were another of the uniforms particularly favored. The war enthusiasm extended to the women and children, and sewing circles were organized for the making of many useful, and also many useless, articles for camp and hospital. The "havelocks"--a cap-cover and cape combined--however useful in India, were not wanted in America. Later, when there were sick and wounded to be cared for, these organizations of women were of inestimable service in preparing lint, bandages, and delicacies for the hospitals. [Illustration: BRIGADIER-GENERAL MONTGOMERY C. MEIGS.] [Illustration: MAJ.-GEN. JOHN E. WOOL.] [Illustration: OLD CAPITOL PRISON, WASHINGTON, D. C.]