It was impossible
to hold the Capital of the Nation with a hostile State separating it
from the loyal North.
The steps he took were all clearly unconstitutional, but they were
necessary to save the Capital. They were the acts of a dictator, for
Congress was not in session, but he dared to act. Troops were suddenly
thrown into the city of Baltimore and its streets and heights planted
with cannon. The chief of police was arrested and imprisoned, the police
board was suspended and the city brought under the rule of drumhead
court-martial. The writ of _habeas corpus_ was suspended by Federal
authorities in a free and sovereign State whose Legislature had
proclaimed its neutrality in the sectional conflict. Blank warrants were
issued by military officers and the house of every suspect entered by
force and searched. The mayor and his Council were arrested without
warrant, held without trial, and imprisoned in a military fortress, and
when the Legislature dared to protest, its members were arrested and its
session closed by bayonets.
So thoroughly was this work done that within thirty days from the attack
on the troops of New England, Maryland's Governor by proclamation called
for four regiments of volunteers to assist the Washington Government in
the proposed invasion of the South.
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