Mosby's War Reminiscences

"Rebellion!How many a spirit born to bless,Hath sunk beneath that withering name,Whom but a day's-an hour's-successHad wafted to eternal fame."-Tom Moore.In April, 1861, I was attending court at Abingdon, Va., when I met a person who had just stepped out of the telegraph office, who informed me that tremendous tidings were passing over the wires. Going in, I inquired of the operator what it was, who told me that Lincoln had issued a proclamation calling out troops. Fort Sumter had...
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"Rebellion!How many a spirit born to bless,Hath sunk beneath that withering name,Whom but a day's-an hour's-successHad wafted to eternal fame."-Tom Moore.In April, 1861, I was attending court at Abingdon, Va., when I met a person who had just stepped out of the telegraph office, who informed me that tremendous tidings were passing over the wires. Going in, I inquired of the operator what it was, who told me that Lincoln had issued a proclamation calling out troops. Fort Sumter had fallen two days before. The public mind was already strained to a high pitch of excitement, and it required only a spark to produce an explosion. The indignation aroused by the President's proclamation spread like fire on a prairie, and the laws became silent in the midst of arms. People of every age, sex, and condition were borne away on the tide of excited feeling that swept over the land.