April 13, 1861; The New York Herald
An extraordinary session of the Confederate States Congress has been called for the 29th inst.
Pennsylvania is preparing for war. A bill was reported to the Legislature of that State yesterday appropriating half a million dollars for arming and equipping the militia, and subsequently passed in both houses, all the democrats voting against it. On the announcement of the beginning of hostilities, one democrat changed his vote.
The work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is being carried on with unabated vigor. The Perry is nearly ready for sea. It is expected that the masts of the Wabash will be taken in today, while every factory and workshop resounds with the din of preparation. Similar activity prevails in the Philadelphia, Charlestown and other navy yards.
Yesterday was the eighty fourth anniversary of the birthday of the illustrious Henry Clay, the conciliator in chief of the feuds which, in the troublous times of 1850, threatened to disrupt the Union. Strange and melancholy it is, that on this anniversary, that peace which the sage of Ashland secured to the country for a brief period has fled, and that the telegraph brought us the intelligence that fratricidal blood had been shed in the harbor of Charleston in a conflict between the army of the Confederate States and the troops of the United States. The morning had brought no news of the fray, and hope yet lingered in many a breast that hostilities would be averted, and on that feeling the minds of our citizens were anxious to do honor to the memory of the departed patriot. Flags were displayed in more than usual number from the City Hall, Custom House, the Battery, the Exchange, and from all the hotels and from numerous stores the flag of the old United States threw its broad folds to the breeze, and many a hopeful glance was directed to its flaunting, and many an aspiration, no doubt, went forth that it would again be the emblem of a reunited people. In the evening the usual Clay banquet was held at the St. Denis Hotel, to which upwards of a hundred gentlemen sat down. Patriotic toasts and speeches were the order of the night, while full justice was done to the bounteous spread prepared for the occasion.
The anxiety to hear later news from Charleston seemed to absorb the thoughts of commercial circles yesterday in nearly all branches of business, to the exclusion of almost everything else. Many bogus reports about despatches having come to hand were circulated – one declaring that Sumter was to be evacuated, another that it was to be provisioned. Another account reported the wires down and the mails stopped. It was not until after business hours, or between five and half past five P.M., that the first despatch announcing the attack on Fort Sumter was received. The day’s fighting soon after appeared in an extra edition of this paper. The news, though late, produced the greatest excitement.