Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/105



F the four columns of Federal invasion in 1861, by which Scott and Lincoln expected to overrun and subjugate Virginia in ninety days, the third, that from Washington toward Richmond, was the most important, as it had for its object, not only a direct movement upon the capital of Virginia and of the Confederacy, but also the protection of the Federal capital; furthermore, it was under the special supervision of the general-in-chief of the United States army, Lieut.-Gen. Winfield Scott. The important result of the operations of that line of invasion was the famous Bull Run, or Manassas, campaign of 1861. The events leading up to this require at least a brief notice.

President Buchanan, alarmed by the action of the Southern States and by the excitement throughout the Union that followed the election of Lincoln, called Scott, from the headquarters of the army in New York, to Washington, and on the last day of 1860 conferred with him in reference to the protection of that city and of the coming inauguration of Lincoln, both of which, he was led to believe, were threatened with violence. As the result of this, Col. Charles P. Stone was appointed inspector-general for the special purpose of reorganizing and arming the volunteer militia companies of the District of Columbia, in such a way as to secure their loyalty to the Union, in the belief that these would furnish all the military protection Washington then needed. This work was thoroughly done, and these citizen soldiery served as guards in the city and at the inauguration of President Lincoln, on the 4th of March, 1861; and sixteen companies of them, organized into battalions, were mustered into the service of the United States, about the 12th of April, when Fort Sumter was fired on, and became the nucleus for the great volunteer army that later