Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 08 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 08 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
The same spirit of rebellion, animating similar acts, appeared in the
other Rebel States. On the 3d of January, Fort Pulaski, a fortress of
considerable strength near Savannah, was occupied by Rebel troops of
Georgia, acting under orders from the Rebel Governor. On the 4th of
January, the national arsenal at Mobile, with arms, barrels of powder,
and other munitions of war, was seized by Rebel troops of Alabama,
as was also Fort Morgan on the same day. On the 11th of January, the
marine hospital, two miles below New Orleans, was seized by Rebel
troops of Louisiana, and the patients of the hospital, numbering
two hundred and sixteen, were ordered away to make quarters for the
Rebels,--thus repeating the indefensible atrocity of Napoleon, when,
near Dresden, he seized an insane asylum for his troops, and set
its inmates loose, saying, “Turn out the mad.”[128] On the 12th of
January, Fort Barrancas and the navy-yard at Pensacola, with all their
ordnance stores, were obliged to surrender to armed Rebels of Florida
and Alabama, the commandant reporting to the National Government,
“Having no means of resistance, I surrendered, and hauled down my
flag.” On the 24th of January, the national arsenal at Augusta, in
Georgia, also surrendered, upon demand of the Rebel Governor. On the
31st of January, the national branch mint, containing $389,000, and the
national sub-treasury, containing $122,000, were seized at New Orleans
by the Rebel authorities. Such, most briefly told, are some of the
positive incidents of actual war through which the Rebellion became
manifest. And you also know, that, throughout the anxious period, when
these things were occurring, the National Capital was menaced by the
Rebels, proposing especially to disperse Congress, to drive away the
National Government, and to seize the National Archives. Nor can you
forget that Lieutenant-General Scott, then at the head of our army,
under the exigencies of the time, changed his head-quarters from New
York to Washington, where he gave his best powers to the national
defence,--organizing the local militia, summoning the national troops,
planting cannon, and in every way preparing to meet the threatened
danger.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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