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LUTHER C. LADD, A MASSACHUSETTS
VOLUNTEER, KILLED AT
BALTIMORE, APRIL 19, 1861.
THE FIRST VICTIM OF THE WAR.
WE publish herewith, from a
photograph kindly sent us from Lowell, a PORTRAIT OF THE LATE MR. LADD, who was
murdered by the
rowdies of Baltimore, on his passage through that city, on 19th
April. Our correspondent writes us :
LOWELL, May 16, 1861.
Luther Crawford Ladd was born in
Alexandria, New Hampshire, and on the 22d of last December was seven-teen years
of age. When the order came to Lowell for troops to be in readiness to march, he
enlisted with the City Guards, giving as a reason for choosing this company that
he thought it the most likely to be called out; and when the orders came for
marching his friends urged him not to go, but his reply was, "I shall go for my
stars and stripes any way:" and with a brave heart he left his machinist's tools
and shouldered his musket. Although young, 'tis said that he was a lover of
historical reading, and was well posted in our national affairs.
Hoping that the inclosed will be
of some use to you, I remain, your humble servant,
CHARLES A. KIMBALL.
OUR SOUTHERN PICTURES.
WE publish this week, from
sketches by our artist who is traveling with
W. H. RUSSELL, Esq., LL.D.,
Barrister at Law, Correspondent of the London Times, three pictures of
Montgomery, Alabama, and a couple of
Fort Pulaski, Georgia, which possess
remarkable interest at the present time. Our artist writes us as follows
respecting them :
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, May 8, 1861.
It was about noon on Mayday when
we embarked in the charming Florida steamer Tatnall, under the guidance of her
veteran commander the gallant " Commodore Tatnall," whom a sense of duty to his
native State has severed from the flag to which his bravery has added more than
a blaze of glory.
He was attended by a suite of
officers and an escort of city notables, many of the former almost beardless
youths from
Annapolis, or Midshipmen of a year's cruise. We passed down between
banks clad in reeds, the fringe of the parapets within which the coy and
sprouting rice now woos and now repels the embraces of the river gods. We had
hardly scored three leagues when the word was passed for "refreshment without
labor," and a charming collation, enlivened by merry chat, absorbed our
attention until the anchor dropped within a short pull of
Fort Pulaski, when we
were rowed ashore, landed at the wharf, and made our way to this admirable
defense of the " Queen of Georgia Waters," of which the accompanying sketch will
no doubt be of interest.
The interior of the fort was even
a more striking contrast to the dilapidated and dismantled glories of
Sumter
than a wedding is to a wake. Several hundred newly-gathered recruits, under the
guidance of officers recently of the United States Army, were learning the noble
art of war and fortification. The fort, being tenanted by but a corporal's
guard, was not prepared to accommodate these unwonted guests, whose tents were
ranged around two sides of the ramparts, and lent a picturesque and holiday
costume to the scene, at variance with the martial preparations progressing on
the sea-wall and in the casemates beneath.
When the Georgian troops took
possession of Pulaski not a gun was mounted, and there were few pieces of
artillery. Since, they have received a barbette battery of heavy guns from
Virginia and other States, and have mounted them in numbers all around the
parapet upon carriages of yellow pine—which are large and strong as one could
wish. I am told that this wood, so plentiful here, has never before been adapted
to this use. The casemates were all in order, each of which contained a
thirty-two pounder and two or three
Columbiads.
The guns en barbette, being eight
and ten inch Columbiads, are all named. The appellations of a few of which give
you : "
Beauregard," " Sumter," "Tatnall," "Lawton", " Lane," "Twiggs," "Wigfall,"
and others. I send sketch of the Columbiad called after the gallant Commadore
Tatnall, at the moment Mr. Russell (London Times) was taking with his practiced
eye the range of the piece. "'Tis well pointed," said he (it being directed
toward the outer channel). The Commodore expressed his determination, in event
of an attack, to point the monster dispenser of iron favors with his own hand.
Mr. Samuel Ward, of New York, and
Major Smith, C.S.A., are the other gents about
the gun. Many of my old friends, who have served nearly their term at West
Point—some with marked distinction for ability—are here upon duty. A son of
General Lane has command of General Columbiad Twiggs, and a son of
General
Twiggs does the honors for General Lane. I hope that no one will be rude enough
to. say any thing— a son of a gun, for instance.,
After an inspection of the fort
we were summoned to collation No. 2, in the officers' mess, which was any thing
but " short commons," and far jollier than the meagre fare that
Major Anderson
and his gallant few had to fight upon. The first sharp engagement finished, the
ominous pop and crack of "what-you-know" was a signal to fill up. Then the
stories, bon met, etc., finished a most delightful visit
to one of the finest forts in the
country. It is much larger than Sumter, and in a most perfect state of defense.
We returned to Savannah in the
cool of the evening, enjoying en route the glories of a Southern sunset ; and as
the boat came to her anchorage—within a couple of cables' length of the yacht
Camilla (America), of which Captain Decri is now the fortunate possessor—we
could not but regret that so pleasurably a spent day had come to a close.
A word en passant of the
Camilla.
The Captain is a gentleman of independent fortune, with a most charming wife and
family, who with him sail from country to country in the yacht in as comfortable
and home-like a manner as one can well conceive of. During a recent run from the
Cape de Verdes the little vessel made the distance of seven hundred miles in two
days, thus more than retrieving the laurels she lost while in the hands of
Commodore Stevens's successor. She won a race at the Plymouth last fall, which
emboldened her present proprietor to
challenge all England for a sail,
without finding a competitor. The pride of our yacht marine had lain neglected
for years, and been suffered to go to decay. But ships, unlike mortals, can have
their skeletons clothed in the new beauty of line and strength of skin ; and the
Camilla, having undergone this "Frankenstein" process, "now walks the water like
a thing of life" again.
Leaving Savannah, we journeyed on
to
Montgomery, which place just now is the quiet and peaceful
capital of the
Confederate States of America.
The meetings of Congress are held
with closed doors at present, as many subjects of importance must be discussed
without fear of what may be said being sent all over the country during the next
hour. General Beauregard, also Governor Manning, and many others are in the
city. The lady of the President, Mrs. Davis, held a morning levee yesterday (the
7th), which was largely attended by the many good people of this city. Among the
strangers Mr. Russell, Mr. Samuel Ward, of New York, and Captain Decri were
received with marked attention.
A number of guns were fired as a
salute of honor to Tennessee and Arkansas when their secession became known.
I send a sketch of the city
(Montgomery), from the opposite bank of the Alabama River, which at this place
is perhaps an eighth of a mile in width, with a current of between four and five
miles per hour. The Capitol edifice, as you will see, is the crowning object of
the landscape, and commands a graceful and extensive prospect of the fertile and
wooded scene beneath. I have had a number of pleasant rambles into the
neighboring country, which is exceedingly rich and well cultivated. I am told
that more than a third of the land last year planted with cotton is now in use
for the cultivation of corn, which is already grown to the height of between two
and three feet. The wheat will much of it be ready for harvest in a fortnight.
Strawberries are nearly gone, and the blackberries are to be had in great
abundance. The President is busily engaged, and I am told works eighteen of the
twenty-four hours; yet he looks, as usual, in good health. The hotels, when we
arrived, were crowded to excess, but the gentlemanly proprietors of the Exchange
found room for us. Are not hotels and omnibuses much alike in their never being
full? The Exchange is the hotel of the city—the others being one-horse, and in
some cases not that.
Tomorrow we shall be en route for
New Orleans. I must not omit to mention the recruiting with fife and drum. One
day of my sojourn at this place was noisy with the stern entreaties of the drum
and the persuasive whistle of the fife (and the next day the same); and weary at
length with these appeals, to which I could not respond, I revenged myself for
the annoyance by transferring to paper the
instruments of torture sans
substance.
The truculent darkey in the
centre, the punisher of the huge base-drum, I fear will some day become so
exasperated with not being able to accomplish his purpose (beating the head of
the drum in, of course), that he will rest the object by the side of a house,
and making a rush and butt, disappear. When this is to be done I am to be
forewarned, when I will forward sketches immediately.
THEO. R. Davis.
THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF
BALTIMORE.
WE mentioned in our last number
that Baltimore had been occupied by the United States forces under General
Butler, of the
Massachusetts Volunteers. We now publish on pages 344 and 345,
from a photograph by Mr. Weaver, of Baltimore, a picture of the ENCAMPMENT OF
GENERAL BUTLER'S CORPS D'ARMEE ON
FEDERAL HILL, which the troops occupied on
13th inst., having marched through part of the city of Baltimore to that point
without molestation. Our artist writes us as follows concerning his picture :
BALTIMORE, May 15, 1861.
Inclosed find photograph of
Encampment of United States troops under command of General Butler on Federal
Hill, opposite Baltimore City, or just across the Basin. General Butler left the
Relay House with 1500 men, and reached here on evening of 13th, and the picture
gives them as on the 14th inst. This place of encampment is much higher than the
city, and overlooks the some. There is also from the same point a fine view down
the river on the city side. The hill is almost perpendicular, and some 75 to 200
feet in height. You will perceive the hill is a peninsula, which runs down to
Fort McHenry, which is about one mile below,
WE publish herewith a portrait of
the famous Parson Brownlow, of Tennessee, who is now, with Senator
Andrew
Johnson, the leading champion of the Union in that State. The following sketch
of Mr. Brownlow's life has been prepared for us by a friend of his.
WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW was born in
Wythe County, Virginia, August 5, 1805. His parents were poor, and died when he
was about ten years old. They were both Virginians, and his father was a
school-mate of
General Houston, in Rockbridge County. After the death of his
parents he lived with his mother's relations, and was raised to hard labor until
he was some eighteen years old, when he served a regular apprenticeship to the
trade of a house-carpenter.
His education was imperfect and
irregular, even in those branches taught in the common-schools of the country.
He entered the Traveling Ministry in 1826, at the regular session of the Holston
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and traveled ten years without
intermission, and was a member of the General Conference held in Philadelphia.
He was untiring in his energy, and availed himself of the advantages of the
Methodist Itinerancy to study and improve his education, which he did in all the
English branches.
Mr. Brownlow is about six feet
high, and weighs about 175 pounds; has had as fine a constitution as any man
ever had. He has no gray hairs in his head, and will pass for a man of
thirty-five years. He has had the strongest voice of any man in East Tennessee,
where he has resided for the last thirty years, and raised an interesting
family. He has been speaking all that time, taking a part in all the
controversies of the day. About eighteen months ago his voice failed from an
attack of bronchitis, and he put himself under the care of Professor Horace
Green, of New York, who performed an operation on his throat, which has almost
restored his voice. He now speaks very well for the space of one hour.
He is the author of several
books; but the one which has had the largest run is one of over four hundred
pages, being a vindication of the Methodist Church against the attacks of Rev.
J. R. Graves, in
Nashville. Brownlow's work was published by the Southern
Methodist Publishing House, and something like 100,000 copies have been
circulated in the South and West. It is a work of great severity, but of marked
ability.
In 1858 he was engaged in a
debate upon the Slavery question, in Philadelphia, with the Rev. Mr. Prym, of
New York, in which he defended the institution of Slavery with marked ability,
exhibiting a familiar acquaintance with the vexed question in all its bearings.
The debate, a volume of some four hundred pages, is for sale by J. B. Lippincott
& Co.
He is known throughout the length
and breadth of this land as the "Fighting Parson;" but no man is more peaceable,
or more highly esteemed by his neighbors. Few men are more charitable, and few,
of his means—for he is not rich—give away as much in the course of a year.
He is quite a politician, though
he has never been an office-seeker or an office-holder. He commenced his
political career in Tennessee in 1828, by espousing the cause of John Quincy
Adams as against Andrew Jackson. He has been all his life, as he still is, an
ardent Whig, and Clay and Webster were his standards of political orthodoxy. His
paper, the Knoxville Whig, which he has edited for twenty-two years, has the
largest circulation of any political paper in Tennessee, and exerts a
controlling influence in the politics of the State. He is a decided Union man,
and battles with equal zeal and ability against the abolitionism of the North
and the disunion heresy of the Cotton States. He is now the independent
candidate for Governor of Tennessee, which election comes off the first Thursday
in August. His friends are numerous and devoted to him, and his enemies are not
a few in number, and very bitter.
WE publish on
page 340, from
photographs made at Washington and at Montgomery, and forwarded to us by our
correspondent Mr. Davis, now traveling with W. H. RUSSELL, Esq., LL.D.,
Barrister at Law, Correspondent of the London Times, a group of portraits of the
Cabinet at Montgomery.
The President and Vice-President,
Messrs.
Davis and Stephens, we have heretofore given ; their portraits and
biographies will be found at length in
No. 217 of the Weekly. The following
sketches will introduce the members of the
Southern Cabinet to our readers :
ROBERT TOOMBS, SECRETARY OF
STATE.
Hon.
Robert Toombs was born in
Wilkes county, Georgia, July 2, 1810. Commencing his collegiate life at the
University of Georgia, he subsequently went North, and graduated at Union
College, Schenectady, New York. In 1836 he served as a captain of volunteers in
the Creek war. In the next year he was elected to the Legislature, and since
that time has been constantly in public life as representative and United States
Senator. In the late movement of Georgia he has been active and potential in the
cause of secession. He has been called to a post of great importance—one which
will serve to display all his merits as a statesman.
C. S. MEMMINGER, SECRETARY OF THE
TREASURY,
There are few men in the South
who are more competent, in point of ability and business capacity, to administer
the Department of the Treasury under the Government of the
Confederate States
than Mr. Memminger. Possessed of a high order of intellect, a student, learned
and full of resources as an accomplished advocate, he is eminently a man of
facts and details.
LEROY POPE WALKER, SECRETARY OF
WAR.
Hon. Leroy Pope Walker is a
lawyer of Huntsville, Alabama, a native of that county (Madison), and about
forty-five years of age. He is the eldest son of the late Major Walker, and one
of a family distinguished for talent and influence. Two of his brothers are Hon.
Percy Walker, who recently represented the Mobile District in Congress, and Hon.
Judge Richard W. Walker, of Florence, chairman of the Alabama delegation in the
present Confederate Congress. Hon. L. P. Walker at one time practiced law in
South Alabama, and was for several sessions Speaker of the House of
Representatives of the State. He has been a consistent Democrat of the State
Rights school. For the last ten years he has been located in Huntsville, and has
the reputation of being the leading lawyer, and, next to
Clay, the leading Democrat of North Alabama.
Careful in the preparation of his causes, and clear, concise, logical, and
eloquent in presenting them before court, he is said to be an eminently
successful practitioner. For the last three years he has been conspicuous in his
denunciation of squatter sovereignty. In the Alabama
Democratic Convention, which took ground against it, and sent a delegation to
Charleston to carry out her instructed opposition, Mr. Walker's influence was
marked. He was one of the delegation sent to Charleston, and exerted himself in
resisting the compromises offered.
JUDAH P. BENJAMIN,
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
The Hon. J. P. Benjamin, of
Louisiana, Attorney-General, is distinguished as one of the profoundest jurists
and most accomplished advocates in the country. He is of the old line of Whig
class of State Rights politicians, and his recent speeches in the United States
Senate won for him universal admiration. No selection could have been made for
Attorney-General of the Confederate States which would he so generally esteemed
appropriate.
STEPHEN M. MALLORY, SECRETARY OF
THE
NAVY.
Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the
Navy of the Confederate States, was. for many years a Senator of the United
States from Florida, and occupied the important post of Chairman of the
Committee on Naval Affairs. He took a very active interest in the construction
of the new sloops of war, and was largely instrumental in fortifying and
improving the
harbor of Pensacola—the best in the Gulf. Mr. Mallory's experience
will be of service to the Confederates should they ever have a navy.
JOHN H. REAGAN,
POSTMASTER-GENERAL.
Mr. Reagan has never been
prominent in national politics, though he served some years in Congress. His
functions as Postmaster-General in the Seceded States have thus far been a
sinecure, as the mails are still carried by the United States.
CORRESPONDENCE.
BIG GUNS. To the Editor of
Harper's Weekly :
NEW YORK, April 11, 1861.
IN a recent issue you had an
article on " Big Guns," in which you stated the one described was the largest in
the world. Please read the inclosed, and oblige
PRAIRIE HOWITZER.
"India was not behind in the
weapons of war. The Damask sword-blades of Googerat, Wootz steel, are superior
to any thing Europe can boast of, and deemed so excellent in England that they
are used entirely for surgical instruments.
"Their cannon are the wonder of
all who have seen them. The celebrated ones at Dacca, Moorshedabad, Agra, and
Bujapore, were of fifteen, eighteen, twenty-three, and thirty inches' bore,
weighing from eleven to forty tons, and throwing shot from four hundred-weight
to a ton and a half."—IRELAMD'S Wall Street to Cashmere. p. 523.
WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW, OF TENNESSEE,-
[PHOTOGRAPHED BY SMILEY OF KNOXVILLE TENN.]
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