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.  So be it; we but accept the gauntlet which has been flung in our faces.  The future will tell a tale worthy of the South and of her noble cause.”

But the delays were not yet over.  On the 27th May, the United States steamer Brooklyn made her appearance, and commenced the blockade of the river.  The following day brought the powerful frigates Niagara and Minnesota to her assistance; and when on the 1st of June Captain Semmes began at length to look hopefully seawards, the Powhattan was discovered carefully watching the only remaining exit from the river.

One by one, however, the difficulties were fairly overcome, and the infant navy of the Confederate States was ready to take the sea.  The Sumter’s crew consisted of Captain Semmes, commanding, four lieutenants, a paymaster, a surgeon, a lieutenant of marines, four midshipmen, four engineers, boatswain, gunner, sail-maker, carpenter, captain’s and purser’s clerks, twelve marines, and seventy-two seamen.  Thus manned and equipped, she dropped down the river on the 18th June, and anchored off the Barracks for the purpose of receiving on board her ammunition and other similar stores.  From thence she again proceeded on the same evening still lower down the river to Forts Philip and Jackson, where she brought up on the following day, to await a favourable opportunity for running the blockade.