WAR PREPARATIONS IN THE NORTH.

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the beginning, but the sifting work went on fast after the troops were oncein the field. The election of field-officers, however, ought not to have beenallowed. Companies were necessarily regimented together of which eachcould have little personal knowledge of the officers of the others; intrigueand demagogy soon came into play, and almost fatal mistakes were made inselection. The evil worked its cure, but the ill effects of it were long visible.

The immediate need of troops to protect Washington caused most of theuniformed companies to be united into the first two regiments, which werequickly dispatched to the East. These off, companies began to stream in fromall parts of the State. On their first arrival they were quartered wherevershelter could be had, as there were no tents or sheds to make a camp for them.Going to my evening work at the State House, as I crossed the rotunda I sawa company marching in by the south door, and another disposing itself forthe night upon the marble pavement near the east entrance; as I passed on tothe north hall, I saw another that had come a little earlier holding a prayer-meeting, the stone arches echoing with the excited supplications of some onewho was borne out of himself by the terrible pressure of events around him,while, mingling with his pathetic, beseeching tones as he prayed for his country,came the shrill notes of the fife and the thundering din of the ubiquitousbass-drum from the company marching in on the other side. In the Senate chamber a company was quartered, and the senators were supplying themwith paper and pens with which “ the boys ” were writing their farewells tomothers and sweethearts, whom they hardly dared hope they should seeagain. A similar scene was going on in the Representatives’ hall, another inthe Supreme Court -room. In the executive office sat the governor, theunwonted noises, when the door was opened, breaking in on the quiet, business-like air of the room,—he meanwhile dictating dispatches, indicating answersto others, receiving committees of citizens, giving directions to officers of com-panies and regiments, accommodating himself to the willful democracy of ourinstitutions which insists upon seeing the man in chief command, and will nottake its answer from a subordinate, until in the small hours of the night thenoises were hushed, and after a brief hour of effective, undisturbed work uponthe matters of chief importance, he could leave the glare of his gas-lightedoffice and seek a few hours’ rest, only to renew his wearing labors on themorrow.

On the streets the excitement was of a rougher if not more intense charac-ter. A minority of unthinking partisans could not understand the strengthand sweep of the great popular movement, and would sometimes venture tospeak out their sympathy with the rebellion, or their sneers at some partyfriend who had enlisted. In the boiling temper of the time the quick answerwas a blow; and it was one of the common incidents of the day for those whocame into the State House to tell of a knock-down that had occurred here orthere, when this popular punishment had been administered to some indis-creet “ rebel-sympathizer.”

Various duties brought young army officers of the regular service to theState capital, and others sought a brief leave of absence to come and offer