ssembled
in Washington, February 4th. The States represented included most of
those in the North, and Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Ex-President Tyler, of Virginia, was
made president of the conference. The proposed terms of settlement were
rejected by the Virginia and North Carolina delegates and refused by
Congress, which, since the withdrawal of the Southern members, was
controlled by the Republicans.

The next step of the Southern conventions was to send delegates to
Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed "The Confederate States of
America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander
H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. A constitution and flag, both
resembling those of the United States, were adopted and all departments
of the government organized.

As the various States adopted ordinances of secession they seized the
government property within their limits. In most cases, the Southern
United States officers resigned and accepted commissions in the service
of the Confederacy. The only forts saved were those near Key West, Fort
Pickens at Pensacola, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The South
Carolina authorities began preparations to attack Sumter, and when the
steamer _Star of the West_ attempted to deliver supplies to the fort, it
was fired upon, January 9th, and driven off. Thus matters stood at the
close of Buchanan's administration, March 4, 1861.

[Illustration: THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.]

CHAPTER XV.

ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN, 1861-1865.

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861.

Abraham Lincoln--Major Anderson's Trying Position--Jefferson
Davis--Inauguration of President Lincoln--Bombardment of Fort
Sumter--War Preparations North and South--Attack on Union Troops in
Baltimore--Situation of the Border States--Unfriendliness of England and
France--Friendship of Russia--The States that Composed the Southern
Confederacy--Union Disaster at Big Bethel--Success of the Union Campaign
in Western Virginia--General George B. McClellan--First Battle of Bull
Run--General McClellan Called to the Command of the Army of the
Potomac--Union Disaster at Ball's Bluff--Military Operations in
Missouri--Battle of Wilson's Creek--Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at
Lexington, Mo.--Supersedure of Fremont--Operations on the Coast--The
Trent Affair--Summary of the Year's Operations.

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President, ranks among the greatest that has
eve