752 



WASHINGTON. 



of the United States and the President elect 

 entered the Senate chamber, preceded by Sen- 

 ator Foot and the marshal of the District of 

 Columbia, and followed by Senators Baker and 

 Pearce. They took seats immediately in front 

 of the clerk's desk, facing outward ; President 

 Buchanan having the President elect on his 

 right, and the senators equally distributed 

 right and left. 



In a few minutes Vice-President Hamlin, 

 who had been previously installed, ordered the 

 reading of the order of proceslion to the plat- 

 form on the east of the capitol, and the line 

 was formed, the marshal of the District of Co- 

 lumbia leading. Then followed Chief-Justice 

 Taney and the judges of the Supreme Court, the 

 sergeant-at-arms of the Senate, the Committee 

 of Arrangements of the Senate, the President of 

 the United States and President elect, Vice- 

 President of the United States and Senate, the 

 members of the diplomatic corps, governors of 

 States and Territories, and members of the 

 House of Representatives. In this order the 

 procession marched to the platform erected in 

 the usual position over the main steps on the 

 east front of the capitol, where a temporary 

 covering had been placed to protect tbe Presi- 

 dent elect from possible rain during the read- 

 ing of his inaugural address. The greater part 

 of an hour was occupied in seating the proces- 

 sion on the platform, and in the delivery of the 

 address of Mr. Lincoln, which he read with a 

 clear, loud, and distinct voice, quite intelligible 

 to at least 10,000 persons below him. At the 

 close of the address Mr. Lincoln took the oath 

 of office from the venerable chief-justice of the 

 Supreme Court. After the ceremony of inaugu- 

 ration had been completed the President and 

 ex-President retired by the same avenue, and 

 the procession, or the military part of it, 

 marched to the executive mansion. On ar- 

 riving at the President's House, Mr. Lincoln 

 met Gen. Scott, by whom he was warmly 

 greeted, and then the doors of the house were 

 opened, and thousands of persons rapidly pass- 

 ed through, shaking hands with the President, 

 who stood in the reception room for that pur- 

 pose. In this simple and quiet manner was 

 the change of rulers made. 



The proclamation of the President calling for 

 75,000 men was issued on the 15th of April. 

 The impression had spread through the North 

 that the first point of attack by the Southern 

 troops would be Washington. As early as the 

 18th, therefore, seventeen car loads of troops, 

 numbering about 600 men, arrived from Har- 

 risburg, via Baltimore, and were quartered in 

 rooms in the capitol. They passed through 

 Baltimore about five o'clock, without serious 

 molestation from disorderly persons. Other 

 bodies from the same quarter were expected to 

 arrive during the night. 



At the same time a new kind of deposit 

 was made in the basement rooms of the Treas- 

 ury building, in the shape of several hundred 

 casks of middlings, barrels of white beans, 



sugar, sacks of coffee, &c., to supply the troops 

 which were concentrating at Washington. It 

 is not often that such commodities have storage 

 in buildings of such elegant and costly archi- 

 tecture. In and around the General Post-Office 

 and public buildings also were stored hundreds 

 of barrels of pork, and other army supplies from 

 Baltimore and other points. 



During the whole day and night of the 18th, 

 the avenues to the city were guarded and 

 closely watched. Cannon were planted in com- 

 manding positions so as to sweep the river 

 along that front, and these were supported by 

 infantry. A proclamation was also issued by 

 Mayor Berret, exhorting "all good citizens 

 and sojourners to be careful so to conduct 

 themselves as neither by word or deed to give 

 occasion for any breach of the peace." After 

 the outbreak at Baltimore on the 19th, no 

 mail was received at Washington, either from 

 the North or South, except from Alexandria 

 on the one side and Baltimore on the other, 

 until the 25th. On the 27th the New 

 York Seventh Regiment arrived, having left 

 New York on the 18th. A delay took place 

 between Annapolis and Washington, in conse- 

 quence of the damage done to the railroad 

 track. The news brought to Washington by 

 the Seventh was that four New York regiments 

 were at Annapolis, with a part of a Massachu- 

 setts regiment, the remainder of which was at 

 the Junction. The Seventh, therefore, as they 

 marched up Pennsylvania Avenue, preceded 

 by their band, and making a fine appearance, 

 were received with the wildest demonstrations 

 of pleasure on the part of the citizens. On 

 the next day another body of troops arrived. 

 They consisted of one-half of the Rhode Island 

 regiment, 1,200 strong, commanded and headed 

 by Gov. Sprague; and the Butler brigade, under 

 Col. Butler, of Massachusetts, numbering nearly 

 1,400 men. They were met at the depot by the 

 Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, stationed in the 

 capitol, who greeted their friends with the hear- 

 tiest cheers. These men, though severely work- 

 ed by the toilsome labor requisite to repair the 

 bridges and road track from Annapolis to the 

 Junction, presented a fine appearance as their 

 long and serpent-like lines wound through the 

 streets. Troops now began to arrive daily, and 

 Washington soon became the most military city 

 on the continent. 



On the night of the 23d of May the troops 

 proceeded to occupy the heights on the op- 

 posite side of the Potomac in Virginia. The 

 large camps formed in such positions in Vir- 

 ginia, that a rapid concentration by railroad 

 could be made, rendered it prudent for the 

 Government to occupy these positions, which, 

 in consequence of the railroad connections 

 between Alexandria and Richmond, were of 

 great importance to the security of Washington. 

 The night of tbe 23d was beautiful on the 

 Potomac. A full moon looked peacefully down, 

 and perfect quietness prevailed over all the 

 shores in the neighborhood of Washington. 



