Jefferson Davis was at that time fifty-three years old. He was born in Kentucky, but while he was still an infant his father removed to Mississippi. After an academical education, Jefferson became a student in Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky, but when sixteen years old he received the appointment of a cadet in the Military Academy at West Point. He was graduated there in 1828, and afterward served in the army, both in the infantry and cavalry, until 1835, when he resigned and became a cotton planter in Mississippi. About that time he married the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterward President of the United States. For several years Mr.

Davis lived a quiet life, taking but little part in political questions, but in 1845 he was elected by the Democrats to Congress, where he soon made his mark as an able debater, and took a prominent part in the discussion of questions relating to the war with Mexico. When the war began he was chosen colonel of the first regiment of Mississippi riflemen, in command of which he won distinction at Monterey and Buena Vista. The next year (1847), the time of the enlistment of the regiment having expired, he returned home, and was appointed United States Senator from Mississippi. This position he held until 1851, when he resigned on account of his nomination for Gov

1861.]

DAVIS AND STEPHENS.

47

ernor of Mississippi, but he was defeated in the election. When Franklin Pierce became President he appointed Mr. Davis his Secretary of War, in which office he showed great ability, and was very popular with the army. Under President Buchanan he again entered the United States Senate, and took a prominent part until his resignation, January 21, 1861, when he made a farewell speech, and returned to Mississippi to take part with his State in the war against the Union. Soon afterward Mr. Davis was appointed commander-in-chief of the militia of Mississippi, with the rank of major-general, and he was occupied

with the duties of that position when called to the Presidency of the Confederate States.

Alexander Hamilton Stephens, who was chosen Vice-President of the Confederacy, was then forty-nine years old. He was a lawyer, and prominent in politics in his native State, and had served several terms in Congress. He strongly opposed secession in 1860, but when Georgia followed South Carolina, he did all he could to aid it.

While the disunionists were thus maturing their plans and preparing for war, a Peace Congress had been in session at Washington, trying to settle upon some plan of conciliation by which peace might be assured and the Union preserved. This Congress had been called together at the invitation of the Legislature of Virginia, and was made up of delegates from thirteen.

free States and seven slave States (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri), the latter being, with the exception of Arkansas, all the slave States which had not joined in secession. It was presided over by ex-President John Tyler, of Virginia. Resolutions yielding to some of the demands of the South were adopted by it and reported to Congress, but the effort ended in failure. Meanwhile

Brigadier-General Twiggs, in command of the Department of Texas, surrendered his whole army, with all the fortifications, arms, equipments, and other United States property in Texas, into the hands of the disunionists. Twiggs was dismissed from the army, March 1, and soon after entered the service of the Confederate States. The disunionists had now in their possession nearly all the forts and arsenals in the Southern States, the principal exceptions being Fortress Monroe in Virginia, Fort Sumter in South Carolina, Fort Pickens in Florida, and the forts on Key West and the Tortugas, off the coast of Florida. Fort Pickens was saved to the Union through the foresight and bravery of Lieutenant Adam Slemmer. The map shows the situation of Pensacola and the United States Navy Yard, and the forts defending them. CONFEDERATE ROSETTE Pensacola is a small place on the northwest side of the bay of the same name, about ten miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The bay forms a fine harbor, deep enough for the largest vessels, and important as the site of the Pensacola Navy Yard, seven miles below the town. Close to the Navy Yard are the villages of Woolsey and Warrington, where most of the employees lived. Below, near the lighthouse, stands an old Spanish fort named San Carlos de Barrancas, but commonly called simply Barrancas. The entrance of the bay, which is about a mile wide, is defended by Fort McRee on the west and Fort Pickens on the east side. The Navy Yard and Fort Barrancas were seized (January 12) by Southern troops. Lieutenant Slemmer, who was in Fort

AND BADGE.

1861.]

FORT PICKENS.

49

McRee with between seventy and eighty men, crossed over with his force and took possession of Fort Pickens, on the western

end of Santa Rosa Island, which could be more easily easily defended than the forts on the mainland. He was soon besieged by Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi troops, but reinforcements and provisions were sent to him by sea in time to save the fort, which never fell into the hands of the Confederates.

The Harper's Ferry Arsenal and the Gosport Navy Yard were still in possession of the United States, but

they

soon had to be abandoned.

It is estimated that the

disun

ionists

had ob

tained up to this time over forty million dollars' ($40,000,000)

worth of United States property.

CHAPTER IV.

SUMTER.

INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN.-HIS EARLY LIFE.-LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS.—PEACE OR WAR ?-THE CABINET. THE STARS AND BARS.-THE CONFEDERATE COMMISSIONERS.-SECRETARY BLAIR'S OPINION. SECRETARY SEWARD AND THE WAYWARD STATES.-CAPTAIN FOX.-THE ATTEMPT TO PROVISION SUMTER.-GENERAL BEAUREGARD.-THE FIRST SHOT AGAINST SUMTER.-THE CIVIL WAR BEGUN.-ANDERSON AND HIS MEN.-THE BARRACKS ON FIRE.-MAKING CARTRIDGES.-KNOCKED DOWN TEMPORARILY.-FLAMES AND SMOKE. THE FLAG HIT.-THE SURRENDER.-SALUTE TO THE FLAG.-YANKEE DOODLE.

A

BRAHAM LINCOLN took the oath of office, as sixteenth President of the United States, March 4, 1861. The new President was in every way a man of the people. He was born in Kentucky, of poor, unlearned parents, his father being able neither to read nor to write. When Abraham was seven years old the family left Kentucky, floating down the Ohio on a raft, and built a log cabin in the forests of Indiana, then but thinly settled. When a boy he did general farm-work, and only had one year's schooling, but he read diligently all the books he could get, and, being naturally quick and intelligent, soon became unusually well informed for one in his position. As he grew up he became noted for wit and shrewdness, and for his great strength and agility, and there were few at the farmers' gatherings who could wrestle with him. When of age, he was six feet and four inches high. In 1830 the family removed to Illinois, on the Sangamon River, where Abraham helped to build a log cabin for their home, to clear the land, and to split rails to fence it. He afterward engaged in various occupations, and was by turns a flat-boatman, a clerk in a country store, captain of a company in the Black-Hawk War, a partner in a store, and a surveyor. In 1834 he was elected as a Whig to the Illinois Legislature, where he served four terms. His ready command of language, his homely and forcible ideas, the earnestness of his convictions, and his knowledge of the people gained by his intimate relations with all classes, made him a by no means unequal match for the few educated men whom he met in debate. Meantime he had been admitted to