Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/181

 I Ion- Virginia Supplied Maryland with Arm*. 165

ance of the service, he and his men obeyed cheerfully, some carrying arms, others straw, while we packed them in the car.

By 2 A. M. I was on my way to Baltimore, riding on the bumper of the car which carried the arms, enveloped in a cloud of steam and cinders, until, at the end of the journey I resembled more a miner than a soldier, so blackened and disfigured was I. But, not- withstanding my appearance, I met with a royal welcome from those gallant sons of old Maryland whom I afterwards learned to admire for their soldierly bearing in times that tried men's souls.

I was escorted to the Institute, where the Maryland Line was quartered; then to Holliday street, where Marshal Kane had his po- lice and cannon. Everywhere the colors of the Confederacy were displayed upon the houses and the people as if all Baltimore was of one mind, and that was with the South; I was urged to tell the Virginia authorities to move the army from Harpers Ferry to Balti- more. Before leaving for Harpers Ferry that evening, I was told that John W. Garrett, president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, desired to talk to me. I went to his office, where I met him and the chief officers of the road.

JOHN w. GARRETT'S ADVICE.

He told me to go at once to Richmond, and tell the authorities there to move their men to Baltimore and make the fight there; that everything was favorable for such a move; the railroads north of Baltimore were cut and nothing from the west was leaving the city; that they were taking all the freight offered in the west, and that Baltimore was then full of supplies necessary to an army. They seemed much in earnest, and desirous to have the move made.

LEE REFUSED.

When I reached Harpers Ferry and delivered their messages to General Harper, he sent me immediately to Richmond. Arriving there the next day, I had an interview with General Lee, who, on the 23d of April, had been put in command of all the Virginia troops. He was eminently a cautious leader and did not approve of moving our forces to Baltimore. If the command of the troops had not been turned over to him, the armies of Virginia would have been marched to join the Marylanders in the defense of Baltimore, and the first battle of the war would have been fought there. Lee's caution may have lost Maryland from the list of Confederate States,