his was recognized by the United States Government
as open rebellion, and as soon as Mr. Lincoln took the reins of
government, he called for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion.

Virginia must either furnish her quota of troops or withdraw from the
Union. She promptly chose the latter, and shortly afterward became a
part of the Southern Confederacy. As soon as the ordinance of secession
had passed the Virginia Legislature, there were a thousand Paul Reveres
in the saddle, carrying the news to every point not reached by telegraph
lines. The young men and boys did not wait for the call from the
Governor. Military companies, infantry, cavalry and artillery sprang up
everywhere. Anyone who chose and could get a sufficient following might
raise a company. These companies were offered to the Governor and
promptly accepted. The ordinance of secession was passed at night. The
next morning Virginia troops were on their way to seize Harper's Ferry.
On the approach of these troops the small guard of United States
soldiers stationed there set fire to the buildings and fled. The fire
was extinguished by the citizens, I think, and much of the valuable
machinery and military stores was saved. The machinery was sent to
Richmond, and the arms were used in equipping the soldiers. Harper's
Ferry became one of the outposts of the Confederacy, and a place of
rendezvous for the rapidly-growing Confederate battalions. Thomas
Jonathan Jackson, afterward known as Stonewall Jackson, was sent to
Harper's Ferry to drill and organize the forces gathering there, into an
army. He was later superseded by Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, but Jackson
remained as a subordinate commander. In the meantime, the Confederate
Government had demanded that Gen. Anderson evacuate Fort Sumter, at the
entrance of Charleston harbor, and also had said, if not in words, in
action, to the Government at Washington as it saw United States armies
gathering near its northern frontier, So far shalt thou come, and no
further.

But to go back to the thirty boys. What were they doing all this time?
Just prior to the date of Virginia's secession they were gathering in
groups at noon and recess, on the way to and from school, and talking
war. How big and important we seemed as we prospectively saw ourselves
dressed as soldiers, armed and keeping step to the beat of the drum.
There was but little studying, for our preceptor was not hard on us. He
had once been a boy himself, and appre