Baltimore was now disarmed. The Army of the United States had control of
the city. There was no longer necessity to regard the remonstrance of
Baltimore against sending troops through the city, and that more
convenient route was henceforth to be employed. George P. Kane, Marshal
of the Police of Baltimore, who had rendered most efficient service for
the preservation of peace, as well in the city of Baltimore as at Locust
Point, where troops were disembarked to be dispatched to Washington, was
arrested at home by a military force, and sent to Fort McHenry, and a
provost-marshal was appointed by General Banks, who had succeeded to the
command. The excuse given for the arrest of Marshal Kane was that he was
believed to be cognizant of combinations of men waiting for an
opportunity to unite with those in rebellion against the United States
Government. Whether the suspicion were well or ill founded, it
constituted a poor excuse for depriving a citizen of his liberty without
legal warrant and without proof. But this was only the beginning of
unbridled despotism and a reign of terror. The Mayor and Police
Commissioners, Charles Howard, William H. Gatchell, and John W. Davis,
held a meeting, and, after preparing a protest against the suspension of
their functions in the appointment of a provost-marshall, resolved that,
while they would do nothing to "obstruct the execution of such measures
as Major-General Banks may deem proper to take, on his own
responsibility, for the preservation of the peace of the city and of
public order, they can not, consistently with their views of official
duty and of the obligations of their oaths of office, recognize the
right of any of the officers and men of the police force, as such, to
receive orders or directions from any other authority than from this
Board; and that, in the opinion of the Board, the forcible suspension of
their functions suspends at the same time the active operations of the
police law.
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