drawn from their scabbards except in self defense or in the defense of the rights and liberties of their Country, and, that if drawn for the latter purpose, they should fall with them in their hands, rather than relinquish them. Though Loudoun originally called for maintaining the Union, the Ordinance was ratified by Loudoun County on May 23 by a vote of 1,626 to 726. The votes against secession came primarily from the northwestern part of the county, where some precincts voted as much as 7 to 1 against the Ordinance. The southern and eastern portions were strongly in favor of the measure, with some precincts voting unanimously in its favor. Units and people On April 18, one day after the passage of the Ordinance of Secession, yet over a full month before its passage by referendum, Governor John Letcher called out the Loudoun Militia in anticipation of the state's seizure of the Federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. The units drilled for 9 days before being ordered to Alexandria rather than Harpers Ferry, which was promptly abandoned without a fight. The militia fell back on Manassas Junction, where they were organized into regiments and battalions. Meanwhile, back in Loudoun, recruiting efforts got underway, with men like William E. Harrison, James McCarty, both Virginia Military Institute graduates, and Eppa Hunton setting up shop in Leesburg. The first two were recruiting for the newly created professional Provisional Army of Virginia, while Hunton was recruiting for the Volunteer army. Professional soldiering was unattractive to most Loudoun men, and only four regiments from Loudoun were raised. Hunton, meanwhile raised an additional two companies to supplement the four militia units already absorbed into his regiment. On the other side of the mountain from Leesburg, in the Catoctin Valley, an entirely different situation had arisen. When the militia was called up, the 56th regiment out of Goresville, which drew from men on both sides of the mountain, mustered only the 60% of its ranks coming from the east of the Catoctin. Faced with threats of arrest and property confiscation, many of Loudoun's most staunch and prominent Unionists began trickling across the Potomac into Maryland, including Samuel C. Means, Loudoun's wealthiest miller. Many of these men enlisted in border units, such as the Maryland Home Brigades, forming on the north bank of the river. Recruiting efforts for partisan units continued in the county throughout the war, most