April 24, 1861 (Wednesday)

Where is the North --
Moments of Angst

Narrative of the Day:  Civil War Daily Gazette, The Story of Troops Trying to Get to Washington from Annapolis, 'I Don't Believe There Is Any North,'  Keeping the Rails Open and Clear.

"Abraham Lincoln visited with the Sixth Massachusetts, the veterans of the Baltimore Riots.  Washington had been virtually cut off for days.  No news about any of the hoped for Northern militia units had reached the city.  'I don't believe there is any North,' said Lincoln to the boys of the Sixth.  Of the regiments supposedly en route to Washington, he exclaimed, 'the Seventh Regiment is a myth.  Rhode Island is not known in our geography any longer.  You are the only Northern realities.'"

"Diary of a Yankee in the Patent Office," Daily Chronicles of the American Civil War, April 24, 1861.   "Another warm day with some rain in the afternoon.  The day has passed off much as yesterday.  No troops from the North.  No mails since Friday, and in fact no news at all from the North...."

Daily Observations from the Civil War, "Diary of a Young Officer -- Josiah Marshall Favill:  Orders to march, but cannot do so...."    The continued story of the march of troops towards Washington from the North. 

Daily Observations from the Civil War, "Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hays:  We are rapidly preparing for war...." 


The American Civil War, "USS Cumberland bags a prize," April 24, 1861.

And finally, "Union Proud," by Gary W. Gallagher, Disunion--New York Times, April 23, 2011.   A good argument is given as to the major motivation for winning the Civil War:  It was to save the Union.  Excellent article and worth reading.  Nowadays, we hear the Civil War was fought because of slavery...and that is true to a certain extent...however, from this article we get a picture of the overall theme was to save the Union...to be proud of the Union and to keep it alive.