ing, half pausing over the letter, he
briefly said:--

"A long and bloody war is upon us, in which the whole country will be
engaged. We shall desire you to take the field; probably in the West.
It may be several weeks before we need you, but the war cannot be long
delayed."

At that time few persons in the North looked upon the situation with
any fears of trouble. There were some who thought a hostile collision
was among the possibilities, but these persons were generally in the
minority. Many believed the secession movement was only the hasty work
of political leaders, that would be soon undone when the people of the
South came to their senses.

That the South would deliberately plunge the country into civil war
was difficult to comprehend, even after the first steps had been
taken. The majority of the Northern people were hoping and believing,
day by day, that something might transpire to quell the excitement and
adjust the difficulties threatening to disturb the country.

Before leaving the Rocky Mountains I did not believe that war was
certain to ensue, though I considered it quite probable. As I passed
through Missouri, the only slave State that lay in my route, I found
every thing comparatively quiet. In St. Joseph, on the day of my
arrival, the election for delegates to the State Convention was being
held. There was no disorder, more than is usual on election days in
small cities. Little knots of people were engaged in discussion, but
the discussions partook of no extraordinary bitterness. The vote of
the city was decidedly in favor of keeping the State in the Union.

Between the 7th of December and the 12th of April, the Northern blood
warmed slowly. The first gun at Sumter quickened its pulsations. When
the President issued his call for seventy-five thousand men for three
months, to put down insurrection, the North woke to action. Everywhere
the response was prompt, earnest, patriotic. In the Northern
cities the recruiting offices were densely thronged. New York and
Massachusetts were first to send their favorite regiments to the
front, but they were not long in the advance. Had the call been for
four times seventy-five thousand, and for a service of three years,
there is little doubt the people would have responded without
hesitation.

For a short time after my arrival at the East, I remained in a small
town in Southern New Hampshire. A few days after the first call was
issued, a friend invited me to