JACKSON AT HARPER’S FERRY IN 1861.

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were laid through tiebuildings to be fired. Inthe shops the workmenof Southern sympathiesmanaged to wet tiepowder in many placesduring the night, render-ing it harmless. Jones’stroops, however, heldthe arsenal buildingsand stores, and whentheir commander wasadvised of Harper’s rapidapproach the gunpowderwas fired, and he crossedinto Maryland with lishandful of men. Sowe secured only the ma-chinery and the gun andpistol barrels and lochs,which, however, weresent to Richmond andColumbia, South Caro-lina , and were workedover into excellent arms.[See note, page 125.]Within a week aboutthirteen hundred Vir-ginia volunteers had as-sembled there. As thesecompanies were, in fact, apart of the State militia,they were legally undercommand of the threebrigadiers and one ma-jor-general of militia, who had authority over this, that, or the other organiza-tion. These generals surrounded themselves with a numerous staff, materialfor which was abundant in the rank and file of the volunteers; for instance, inmy battery there were at least a dozen college graduates of and below the gradeof corporal. Every fair afternoon the official display in Harper’s Ferry of“ fuss and feathers.” would have done no discredit to the Champs Elysees.

One afternoon, six or eight days after our occupation, General Harpersent for me, as the senior artillery officer (we then had three batteries, but allwithout horses), to say he had been told that a number of trains on the Balti-more and Ohio railroad would try to pass us in the night, transportingtroops from the West to Washington, and that he had decided to prevent

COLONEL ROBERT E. LEE .

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN BEFORE THE WAR.

April 23d, 1861, Robert E. Lee , with the rank of major-general, wasappointed by Governor Letcher commander-in-chief of the military andnaval forces of the State of Virginia , and assumed charge of the militarydefenses of the State. June 8th, 1861, in accordance with the proclamationof Governor Letcher, lie transferred the command to the ConfederateStates, but he remained the ranking officer of the Virginia military forces.