It must not, however, be imagined that all this was done without many
and vexatious delays. The emergency had found the new Confederation
altogether unprepared, and trouble and confusion were the inevitable
result. Hitherto, everything had been done by the North. Up to the very
last moment it had been believed that the separation of the two sections
would be peaceably effected; and now the necessary works had to be
hastily carried out by civilian workmen, under the direction of a
department, itself as yet but provisionally and most imperfectly
organized.
Sorely tried by the delays consequent upon this condition of affairs,
Captain Semmes commences his Diary as follows:--
"_New Orleans, May 24th_.--A month has elapsed since I began the
preparation of the Sumter for sea, and yet we are not ready. Leeds
and Co. have not given us our tanks, and we only received the
carriage of the 8-inch gun to-day. The officers are all present,
and the crew has been shipped, and all are impatient to be off. The
river is not yet blockaded, but expected to be to-morrow. It must
be a close blockade, and by heavy vessels, that will keep us in.
Troops are being collected in large numbers in the enemy's States,
marchings and counter-marchings are going on; and the fleet seems
to be kept very busy, scouring hither and thither, but nothing
accomplished. Whilst penning the last paragraph, news reaches us
that the Lincoln Government has crossed the Potomac and invaded
Virginia! Thus commences a bloody and a bitter war.
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