friends
by climbing to the top of the mint, hauling down the flag, dragging it
through the mud, and then tearing it to shreds. Butler brought him to
trial before a military commission, and, being found guilty of the
unpardonable insult to the flag, he was hanged.

The fall of New Orleans, one of the leading cities, was a severe blow to
the Confederacy. The only points where the Mississippi was strongly held
by the enemy were at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and attention was
already turned to them. Farragut having completed his work, for the time
took command in the Gulf of Mexico.

[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1865.]

The most momentous events of the year occurred in the east and marked
the struggle between the Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of
Northern Virginia, as it came to be called.

THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND.

McClellan continued to drill and train his army through the fall of
1861, and well into the following year. It numbered nearly 200,000 men
and was one of the finest organizations in the world. In reply to the
expressions of impatience, the commander invariably replied that a
forward movement would soon be begun, but the weeks and months passed
and the drilling went on, and nothing was done. Finally, the government
gave the commander to understand that he must advance.

McClellan's plan was to move against Richmond, from the lower part of
Chesapeake Bay, by way of Urbana on the Rappahannock. While this had
many advantages, its fatal objection in the eyes of the President was
that it would leave Washington unprotected. He issued an order on the
27th of January directing that on the 22d of February there should be a
general land and naval movement against the enemy's position on the
Potomac, and that, after providing for the defense of Washington, a
force should seize and occupy a point upon the railway to the southwest
of Manassas Junction. McClellan was offended by the act of the President
and protested, but Mr. Lincoln clung in the main to his plan, and, since
the delay continued, he issued orders directing the formation of the
army into corps and naming the generals to command them. Another order
made arrangements for the intended advance, and it was left to McClellan
to carry them out.

[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1884, BEFORE ITS REMOVAL TO CHICAGO.]

Reliable information reached Washington that General Joseph E. Johnston,
commander of the Confederate forces at Manassas, wa