After the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln on April 15th issued a call for 75,000 militia for a period of 90 days. Two days later Virginia seceded from the Union. These troops coming by rail from the north would have to pass through Baltimore. Baltimore was the fourth largest city in the Union at the time. In the 1860 Presidential election Lincoln had received only 2,294 of the 90,000 votes cast in Maryland. Trouble was anticipated given the strong southern sympathies of the city. The police chief, George P. Kane, was an outspoken advocate of secession.

In addition, Baltimore’s railroad system created a logistical challenge. Southbound trains arrived via the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad’s President Street Station (#1 in the map above). The only outbound rail line to Washington, DC was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Camden Station (#6 in the map), which was 1.5 miles across town. A rail line ran along Pratt Street between the two stations but the cars had to be individually pulled by horses to get from one station to the other. A city ordinance prohibited locomotives from passing through Baltimore. On April 19, 1861, 720 soldiers from the Sixth Massachusetts commanded by Colonel Edward Jones would attempt to run this gauntlet through a mob of angry Southern sympathizers determined to prevent them from reaching Washington, D.C. Also arriving in Baltimore with the 6th MA were 1200 volunteers of the 26th PA under Colonel William F. Small. The soldiers of the 26th PA, however, unlike the 6th MA, were not in uniform. The 6th MA departed first and were in nine cars each pulled by a team of four horses. As they turned on to Pratt Street from President Street the mob blocked the tracks over the bridge at Jones Falls near Concord and Pratt Streets. The first eight cars managed to make it successfully through the obstruction, but the final car was forced to return to the President Street Station. This car contained companies C, D, I and L of the 6th MA under the command of Captain Albert S. Follansbee, and the brigade band of Lowell, Massachusetts. Colonel Jones ordered Follansbee to proceed on foot to Camden Station as quickly as possible following the railroad tracks. The band stayed behind at the station. As the men marched on to Pratt Street they could see the 8th and final rail car not far ahead of them. The mob by this time had grown out of control. Edward W. Beatty picked up a musket that was dropped by a soldier, who had been injured by a flying rock, and shot and killed a soldier. The soldiers then began firing back into the crowd. Follansbee and his men ran the final blocks to Camden Station. The confrontation left 4 soldiers of the 6th MA and 12 citizens dead in what was the first bloodshed of the Civil War. The 26th PA unable to leave the President’s Street Station were advised by Governor Hicks to return to Pennsylvania. Prior to their return they were attacked by the mob and one of their men, George Leisenring, was killed. The band members tore the regimental stripes off their uniforms and blended into the city.

There are six Civil War Trails tablets along the 1.6-mile route known as the Baltimore Riot Trail. The Baltimore Civil War-President Street Station Museum at the corner of President and Fleet Streets near the first tablet interprets the city’s role in the Civil War.

1- Death at President Street Station– The 6th MA arrived at President Street Station at 10:00 AM. Colonel Edward Jones ordered the men to load their weapons as the 9 cars containing soldiers were pulled individually by four horses toward the Camden Street Station. The first eight cars arrived safely. The ninth car was forced to return back to the President Street Station after the crowd blocked the tracks. Jones ordered Captain Albert Follansbee to march the four companies from that car to Camden Station as quickly as possible.

2- Flag Waving at Flag Street– As Captain Follansbee marched his 240 men up President Street the crowd threw rocks and bricks at them. As they reached the corner of Fawn Street two of the men were knocked down and injured. The crown taunted the men with a Palmetto flag (South Carolina). One of the soldiers, Leander Lynde, tore the flag from the pole and carried it off. A single Baltimore policeman agreed to help them reach Camden Station which was about a mile away.

3- Barricade at Jones Falls Bridge– Near the bridge here an anchor and other objects placed on the tracks derailed the 8th car carrying Major Benjamin Watson’s company. Watson commandeered a team of horses and managed to get the car back on the tracks. The mob threw rocks and bricks at the car causing the frightened driver to unhitch his horses and flee. He was brought back at gunpoint. By the time Follansbee’s remaining 4 companies reached the bridge on foot it had been barricaded and an unloaded cannon was there, but the men were able to pass.

4- Combat at Pratt Street– In this area a soldier was struck by a rock and dropped his musket. Edward W. Beatty, a port customs officer, picked up the weapon, and fired the first shot into Captain Follansbee’s column. The men returned fire killing William Clark from Company C of the 15th South Carolina Heavy Artillery, the first Confederate casualty of the war. As he tried to seize the regimental flag, Francis Xavier Ward in the crowd was wounded.

5- Keep Back or I Shoot– Four soldiers were killed. Corporal Sumner Henry Needham (Company I) was struck in the head and died. Privates Luther C. Ladd and Addison Whitney, both from Company D, were shot and killed. Private Charles Taylor (Company D) was beaten to death. The mayor, George W. Brown, and the Police Chief George P. Kane assisted the remainder of the men to safety.

6- Last Shots at Camden Station– Colonel Edward Jones ushered Captain Follansbee’s men into the cars and shut all the blinds. When departing at 1:30 PM a final shot from the train killed Robert W. Davis a local merchant. Four soldiers from the 6th MA were killed and 36 wounded. Twelve civilians were also killed and many others wounded.

Some of the citizens that died- James Clark- shot in the head, James Myers- shot in the right side, Flannery, John McCann, Malony, William Reed, Robert W. Davis, and William Clark.

The aftermath- Later that evening under orders from the Governor, Mayor and Police Chief secessionists burned the railroad bridges, tore up track and cut telegraph lines to the north. With Union troops unable to pass through Baltimore Lincoln and the capital city were cut off from the rest of the Union. The 8th MA under Benjamin Butler traveling by rail and ferry reached Annapolis and occupied the Naval Academy on April 21st. Two regiments (3rd MA, 4th MA) were sent by sea to reinforce Fort Monroe at the mouth of the James River on Old Point Comfort. Butler began repairing the railroad between Annapolis and Washington, D.C. opening a route for troop transport that bypassed Baltimore. The 7th NY arrived in the nation’s capital on the 24th much to Lincoln’s relief. On April 27th the President issued General Order 100 imposing martial law and suspending the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland. The police chief George Kane and mayor George Brown were arrested. Judges, state legislators, private citizens and newspaper editors were imprisoned with no formal charges ever filed. Initially many of these men were confined at Fort McHenry.

On May 13th Butler moved 1000 troops from the 8th MA and six cannons overland into Baltimore. The cannons were moved to the top of Federal Hill and aimed straight at the heart of the city markedly reducing secessionist activity. Lincoln’s General-in-Chief Winfield Scott recalled Butler to Washington, D.C. because he had occupied Baltimore and sent troops to Frederick without orders. He was replaced by Major General George Cadwalader. Cadwalader was appointed the military commander in Maryland on May 15 and established his headquarters at Fort McHenry. The city would remain occupied for the rest of the war. Butler was unique in that he was a Democrat that supported the war and very popular in Massachusetts. Lincoln, a Republican, could not afford to alienate him at this early stage of the war. As a result, Butler was promoted to Major General of Volunteers and reassigned to Fort Monroe where he was given command of the fort and the Department of Virginia and North Carolina.

Sources

Baltimore in the Civil War, The Pratt Street Riot and a City Occupied by Harry A. Ezratty.

Maryland Civil War Trails, Baltimore A House Divided, War on the Chesapeake Bay