Page:Journal history of the Twenty-ninth Ohio veteran volunteers, 1861-1865.djvu/23



The South Preparing for War—The Fall of Sumter—The Grand Rally to the Support of the Flag—Formation of the Regiment.

President Lincoln, in his inaugural address of March 4, 1861, said: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe that I have no lawful right, and I have no inclination to do so." The South had apparently decided otherwise, and continued the preparations for secession, begun under the administration of, and so ably seconded by that old imbecile, James Buchanan.

The outlook became so fraught with danger to the Union, that on April 7th a naval expedition sailed from New York to the relief of Fort Sumter. Its arrival off Charleston harbor was followed by a furious bombardment of the fort by the rebel batteries of General Beauregard. The capitulation on April 13th, of the little handful of gallant men who so bravely defended their country's flag, was followed by an outburst of patriotic indignation perhaps never before witnessed in the history of the world. In an incredibly short space of time the President's call for seventy-five thousand men