Studies in American History 
261 
1861, illustrate this. A glance at a railroad map of this period 
shows that Washington was connected with the North by only 
one railroad line and that this line passed thru Baltimore. 
When in response to the president’s call the Massachusetts 
troops were on the way to Washington and were transferring 
from one depot to another thej^ were attacked by a mob of 
southern sympathizers and the whole city thrown into a 
frenzy. That night the railroad bridges between Baltimore 
and the Pennsylvania boundary line were burned to prevent 
the further movement of Federal troops. Thus Washington 
was cut off from land communication with the North, and 
since Virginia had seceded two days previously and was mov- 
ing to seize Norfolk and Harper’s Ferry, the national capital 
was at least thought to be in the greatest danger and remained 
in such condition till troops came to its defense via Annapolis. 
Not till May 13 did General B. F. Butler occupy Baltimore, 
tho the bridges and railroad had been repaired the day before, 
and only after this date was the regular movement of troops 
thru the city resumed.^^ 
The disturbance at Baltimore was only an inconvenience and 
not a serious factor in the war, but a few months later an 
event happened to the south of Washington that proved con- 
clusively to military authorities that in the strategic move- 
ment of troops the railroad was an almost indispensable 
means of transportation. All students of history are familiar 
with the insistent but unreasonable clamor in the North for an 
advance against Richmond. Neither the Union nor the Confed- 
erate forces were ready for war, tho each side had established 
defensive lines. The Federal forces extended from the Ohio 
River to Fortress Monroe, Va., including a part of the Balti- 
more and Ohio Railroad, the Potomac River, Chesapeake Bay, 
and Hampton Roads. A similar line was established by the 
Confederates extending from the mountains of western Vir- 
ginia to the Dismal Swamp, embracing the Shenandoah Valley, 
the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the Manassas Gap Rail- 
road, the lower Potomac, Yorktown, and Norfolk. 
The authorities at Washington were anxious that the attack 
on Richmond be made along the line of the Orange and 
Alexandria Railroad as far as Manassas Junction and thence 
John G. Nicolay, Ahraham Lincoln (New York, 1903), 199. 
20 A. L. Long- and Marcus J. Wright, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee (Philadelphia, 
1887), 104. 
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