Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/282

 266 Southern Historical Society Papers.

of the soldiers asked Mr. Ritchie for his badge, but he declined to give it."

The next troops to reach Maryland were the Eighth Massachusetts, under General B. F. Butler. They went from Perryville to Annap- olis on the 2ist and landed at the Naval Academy, although Gover- nor Hicks advised the General. against it, telegraphed to the same effect to the Secretary of War and addressed a letter to the President asking him to order elsewhere the troops then off Annapolis and to send no more through Maryland. He also suggested to the Presi- dent that Lord Lyons, the British Minister, be requested to act as mediator between the North and South. General Butler seized the railroad, restored such portions as had be'en demolished or obstructed and got his troops to Washington without opposition.

During this period of turmoil and excitement the business of Bal- timore was almost at a standstill. All communication by rail with the North and East had been stopped by the burning of the bridges, telegraph wires had been cut, and the mails were interrupted. The buoys in the harbor had been removed. Passions after awhile began to cool and merchants demanded that the avenues of trade should be reopened.

On April 24, a special election was held for members of the Leg- islature. The Governor had called an extra session, and the seats of Baltimore city were vacant because of the expulsion of the dele- gation at the session of 1860. Only one ticket was nominated, that of the States Rights party, and it was elected without opposition. It was such a delegation as the city never sent the General Assembly before or since. It was composed of John C. Brune, Ross Winans, Henry M. Warfield, J. Hanson Thomas, T. Parkin Scott, H. M. Morfit, S. Teackle Wallis, Charles H. Pitts, William G. Harrison, and Lawrence Sangston.

The Mayor and the police authorities were indefatigable in their efforts to restore quiet. By authority of a special ordinance the Mayor prohibited the display of flags of all kinds except on the Fed- eral Government buildings, as they tended to cause excitement. On May 5, General B. F. Butler occupied, with two regiments, the Relay House, and on the I3th he entered Baltimore, which was then as quiet as it is to-day. He occupied and fortified Federal Hill and issued a proclamation treating the city as conquered territory. For this achievement, which was entirely unopposed, he was made a major-general of volunteers.

From this time began a series of outrages upon the citizens of