men, decided to attack more than twice that
number of the enemy under Price and McCulloch, which he did, August 10,
at Wilson's Creek. He was killed while making a charge, and his men were
defeated.

General Fremont then took command, and drove Price to Springfield, but
he was in a short time replaced by General Hunter, because his war
policy was offensive to the enemy. Hunter was soon afterwards removed,
and Major-General Halleck took his place. Halleck gave general
satisfaction to the enemy, and even his red messages from Washington,
where he boarded during the war, were filled with nothing but kindness
for the misguided foe.

Davis early in the war commissioned privateers, and Lincoln blockaded
the Southern ports. The North had but one good vessel at the time, and
those who have tried to blockade four or five thousand miles of hostile
coast with one vessel know full well what it is to be busy. The entire
navy consisted of forty-two ships, and some of these were not seaworthy.
Some of them were so pervious that their guns had to be tied on to keep
them from leaking through the cracks of the vessel.

Hatteras Inlet was captured, and Commodore Dupont, aided by General
Thomas W. Sherman, captured Port Royal Entrance and Tybee Island. Port
Royal became the depot for the fleet.

It was now decided at the South to send Messrs. Mason and Slidell to
England, partly for change of scene and rest, and partly to make a
friendly call on Queen Victoria and invite her to come and spend the
season at Asheville, North Carolina. It was also hoped that she would
give a few readings from her own works at the South, while her retinue
could go to the front and have fun with the Yankees, if so disposed.

[Illustration: HOPED SHE WOULD GIVE A FEW READINGS FROM HER OWN WORKS.]

These gentlemen, wearing their nice new broadcloth clothes, and with a
court suit and suitable night-wear to use in case they should be pressed
to stop a week or two at the castle, got to Havana safely, and took
passage on the British ship Trent; but Captain Wilkes, of the United
States steamer San Jacinto, took them off the Trent, just as Mr. Mason
had drawn and fortunately filled a hand with which he hoped to pay a
part of the war-debt of the South and get a new overcoat in London.
Later, however, the United States disavowed this act of Captain Wilkes,
and said it was only a bit of pleasantry on his part.

The first year of the war had taught both sides a few