SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS.

March 18, 1861. -Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer, U. S. Army, commanding at Fort Pickens, Fla., returns for fugitive slaves to their masters.

April 23, 1861. -Brigadier General Benjamin F. Butler, U. S. Army, offers to use U. S. troops in co-operation with the Governor of Maryland to repress an apprehended slave insurrection.

May 24, 1861. -Major General Benjamin F. Butler, U. S. Army, from Fort Monroe announces to the General-in-Chief his determination to employ fugitive slaves of disloyal owners.

30, 1861. -Honorable Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, directs Major General Benjamin F. Butler, U. S. Army, not to surrender fugitive slaves to disloyal owners.

June 22, 1861. -Colonel Harvey Brown, U. S. Army, commanding Fort Pickens, Fla., reports to the War Department that he will not return fugitive slaves to their masters unless otherwise ordered.

July 9, 1861. -The House of Representatives resolves that it is not the duty of Union soldiers to capture and return fugitive slaves.

Aug. 30, 1861. -Major General John C. Fremont, U. S. Army, proclaims martial law in Missouri and his purpose to confiscate the property and liberate the slaves of disloyal owners.

Sept. 11, 1861. -President Lincoln issues an order modifying the proclamation of General Fremont to conform to act of Congress.

12, 1861. -Major General John C. Fremont, U. S. Army, issues deeds of manumission to two slaves of a disloyal owner.

Oct. 14, 1861. -Honorable Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, authorizes Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman, U. S. Army, commanding at Port Royal, S. C., to organize and arm, if necessary, squads of fugitive and captured slaves.

Nov. 4, 1861. -Major General John A. Dix, U. S. Army, directs that negroes be not allowed to come within certain military lines in Maryland.

7, 1861. -Major General George B. McClellan, U. S. Army, in a letter of instructions counsels Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell, U. S. Army, appointed to the command in Kentucky, to respect the constitutional rights of Kentuckians in their slave property.

8, 1861. -Brigadier General William T. Sherman, U. S. Army, commanding Department of the Cumberland, expresses the opinion that fugitive slaves must be delivered up on application of their masters in conformity to the laws of Kentucky.

20, 1861. -Major General Henry W. Halleck, U. S. Army, issues General Orders, Numbers 3, excluding fugitive slaves from the military camps in the Department of the Missouri.