April 18, 1861 (Thursday)

"Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song."



My Country 'Tis of Thee

The Narrative for Today:  Civil War Daily Gazette -- Celebration, Fear, Rage and Fire; Harper's Ferry Falls to the Rebels

Continued Reactions and Responses From Around the Country:  A Diary of American Events, April 18, 1861


The story of how Virginia came to secede from the Union after the surrender of Fort Sumter.  "Virginia's Moment," Week in Review...April 14-20, 1861, by Jamie Malanowski, Disunion--New York Times, April 17, 2011.


The Lincoln Log:  Col. Robert E. Lee is unofficially offered command of the Federal Army at the request of Lincoln.


From the House Divided, April 18, 1861, Chicago Tribune, "The Old Fire."

"Who can doubt that the old fire of the old Revolution still burns in the hearts of the people?  From Maine to Minnesota, the sons of '76 are rising as one man, with a prayer to the God of battles on their lips, and a clear eye on the barrels of their rifles.  The changers of money have forgotten their calling, and opened their coffers to their country's call.  The bulls and bears of Wall Street have ceased worrying...political parties have vanished in the twinkling of an eye.  The Stars and Stripes float on every corner, and in every eye.  The hatred of treason burns deep in every heart.  America is safe in the hands of her mighty people.  Thank God for giving us a Constitution and a government which makes such men!

The traitors and ingrates have sneered their last at the Puritans.  They have called us psalm-singing cowards the last time...they have sworn that a Yankee would sell his soul twenty times for twenty dollars...they have boasted their ability to drive us...they are now going to meet the despised and insulted Northerners where blood will flow.  Let us see who will be the last in putting the harness off.  History shows not the page where the hated Puritans turned their backs on the foe.  It is recorded of them that they always rejoiced greatly when they beheld the enemy...it is recorded that they fear God, but fear no man -- that they endure much for the sake of peace and good will towards the world, but that when their minds are made up, their prayers offered to the Almighty and their enemies shown them in battle array, like giants of old they crush everything in their path."