s, burned seven, and released two on a heavy ransom to
be paid to the Confederate Government at the end of the war. It is
needless to say these ransoms were never paid. Capt. Semmes, with his
crew, proceeded to England, and took command of a mysterious ship,
"No. 290," just built at Liverpool, which soon appeared on the high
seas as the dreaded "Alabama."

CHAPTER IV.

THE POTOMAC FLOTILLA. -- CAPTURE OF ALEXANDRIA. -- ACTIONS AT
MATTHIAS POINT. -- BOMBARDMENT OF THE HATTERAS FORTS.

In petty skirmishes and in general inactivity the forces of both
contestants idled away the five months following the fall of Fort
Sumter. The defeat of the Union armies at Bull Run had checked active
operations along the Potomac. On either side of the river the hostile
armies were drilling constantly to bring the raw recruits down to the
efficiency of trained soldiers. Four hundred thousand men lay in
hostile camps within sight of each other. From the national Capitol at
Washington the stars and bars of the Confederate flag could be seen
floating over the camp at Arlington. Occasionally the quiet would be
broken by the crack of a rifle, as some straggler, on one side or the
other, took a casual shot at the sentry pacing on the other side of
the broad stream. Sometimes a battery would come driving down to the
shore, select an advantageous spot, and begin an afternoon's target
practice at the hostile camp; but the damage done was immaterial, and
after wasting much powder and shot the recruits would limber up their
guns and return to their camp. It would have been easy, at almost any
time, for either army to have crossed the Potomac and invaded the
territory of the enemy; but each hung back in apparent dread of taking
the first decisive step. Abraham Lincoln at this time illustrated the
existing condition of affairs, by one of those stories which have made
him celebrated as a raconteur. A number of politicians, calling at the
White House, spoke of the apparent inactivity of the army authorities,
and demanded that some decisive move should be made; some powerful
preparations to beat back the enemy should he attempt to cross the
Potomac. "Gentlemen," said Lincoln, with the twinkle in his eye that
always foretold a story, "when I was a boy I saw an incident which I
have always recollected, and which seems to me to resemble very much
the attitude now assumed by the parties in this impending war. My
father owned a dog,--a part