Evening Star Newspaper, September 19, 1892, Page 10

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER “19, 1892-PART TWO. ASHINGTON IS the center of @ i omparative f «mall area in j ane fi » / . t- sles of thewar of ue rebellion were fought. It is indeed surprising to discover | of the map bow much of the war was fonght within a distauce from Washfgton | not beyond the limits of an easy day's jour- | As the national ¢: 1 this city was the | scone of events connected with the great war ch have filled many pages of the nation’s Listory. All around the city, on every hill, are footprints of the war. Near by are Bull Run and Antietam, Gettysburg and the hundred battlefields where the Army of the Potomac enguged in bloody contest with the comfeder- aie armies, These ficids have erated, as Lincoin said at Gettysburg, not by what orators have said there. bat by what these men, the veterans of the war who gather in ‘Washington today, did there. There are thou- | sauds of men here today who fought in the south or west, in the splendid armies of Sher- | man or Thomas or other great generals, and to whose bravery on fieils distant from Washing- | ton i duo in large measure the final success of | the Uniom arms. But the gathering here in | ‘Washington recalls at this moment with espe- ett vividness the struggle about the national | capital, Many whoassemble here to take part in the great parade or the attendant reunions will tuke advantage of the opportunity to visit the | fields on which battles were waged around the | pational capital and to trace the pathways fol- lowed by the powerful armies that confronted each other and struggled for four years until the borrors of war became like commonplace ineidenta. To supply a record a» correct as possible of these historic battles Tux Evesixa Bran secured the services of Mr. Leslie J. Perry, one of the expert members of the government board having charge of the work of publish- ing the official records of the rebellion. ‘fme Sram bas had a double object in this—to sup- ply its readers with spirited and tintely ac- counts of the great engagements on this thea- ter of action during the war; secondly, to make ‘them really valuable and instructive by reason ot their official accuraey and connected, com- pendious form. Mr. Perry was in a position to do this in his leisure hours daring the summer and has taken considerable pains to fulfill Tur SBran’s desires in this respect. The papers will be given to the readers of Tur Stax from day to day in the Grand Army editions. | been conse- THE FIRST BATTLE. Strange Effect of the Union Defeat on the ‘Two Sections, NE OF THE MOST celebrated battlefields of the civil war is that | known by the federnis | ae Bull Raw and by the | confederates as Man- | asses, lying twenty-five miles due west from | Alexandria, on the high | ground back of the ~ river abont a mile and | J a half southwest of the as iz Stone bridge over | wes Bull Run, at a point | where the old Warrenton turnpike ctusses | the Sudley Springs road. This scene of | two great battles is most quickly and! eheaply reached by the tourist from Wash- | ington by rail to Manassas junction, from whence by carriage over a fine road the ficid is Jess than five miles distant. ‘The round trip | ean easily be made in one day. So faras monaments, memorial stones, or ether artificial markings are concerned, it is Perhaps more utterly neglected than anv other Battie ground of the rebellion, although some @f the most determined and stubborn open eld fighting of the entire war took place in the second battle. and not lesa than 25,000 men fell in the aggregate killed and wounded in the two actions fought here within a space of two Biles square. Bat in + satural aspect it is a Deautifui. rolling coun fields and groves end streams, and today it is very dificult for ene to conjure up the mortal strife that ebbed end flowedon these peaceful ficlds in the Battie timer. Very Ii change has taken piace in the thirty y since the last battlé @veurred. and the participant will have no diffi- @ulty in recognizing the old landmarks. Compared with Gettrebury and many othe | Dattlos. the first Bull Hun was but a secondary Affair, yet it caused more excitement through- lized world than the bloodiest releliion. Its result was so extra- ordinary, aud being the first baitle, it could bardly be otherwise. The lines of cou:munica- tion between the capital and the worth baving been made secure by the occupation of Balti- muore and other points in Maryland. and after Alexandria had been occupied by the federal troops, there was a iull for some weeks, but Beanwhiic Lincoln was collecting an army at ‘asingion. under the superintendence of ‘Wineld Scott. with the ultimate intention of @ttacking and defeating the coufederute forces fortified at Manassas junction, and thus ciear- img the road to Richmond, which had been made the capital of the new-born confederacy, a poweL.’s aDvaxce. ‘ Béing too oid for ficld service himself, Gen. Beott had chosen Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell to command the active Union army. MeDowell moved forward from the Potomac July 16, | the | action at Miteh ‘61, with forty-nive regiments of volunteers force amounted to commanders were Brig. Runyon, and Cols. Hunter, : Miles, and the brigades were led by brig. Gen. Schenck, Cols. Keyes, Sherman, Richardson, ‘Andrew Porter, Burnside, Franklin, Willcox, Howard, Blenker and Davies. New York fur- nished nineteen regiments, New Jersey seven, Michigan fonr, Maine four, Massachusetts throe, Connecticut three, Ohio two, Rhode Island two, Pennsylvania one, New Hampshire one, Vermont one, Minnesota one and Wiscon- sin one. With three exceptions—Schenck, Runyon and Bienker—the division and brigade commanders were all West Pomt graduates, and many of the regiments and battalions were commanded by educated soldiers, Siocum. McCook, Quinby, Sykes, Montgomery. Peck and others were West Pointers, Almost with- ont exception the staff and artillery ofticers of McDowell's army were professional soldiéra. ‘IME COXFFDYRATE ARMY. ‘The confederate army, lying along tie south side of Bull Run from Stor to Union Milla, about 35,000 strong (these figures ineInde the Shenandoah army). usfder Gens. Joseph E. Johnston and Gustave T. Beauregard, was composed of fifty-three regiments of infantry. ts of four of cavalry. with forty-nine guns, formed into eleven brigades, Eight regiments were not brigaded. These brigades were under ckson, Gens, Heintz command of Brig. Gens. e, Holmes, Bonham, Longstreet. Ewell and Jones, and Cpis. Cocke. Early. Bartow and Elzey —with obe or two exceptions all educated at West Point, The artillery and staff officers were likewise from West Point. Virginia fur- nished nineteen regiments. South Carolina seven, Mississippi four, Louisiana tour, Georgia three, North Carolina three, Alabama three, GEN. BEAUREGARD. Tennessee three, Kentucky two, Maryland one, Arkansas one, and seven uukuown, PRELIMINARY MENT. Owing to the rawness and general inexpe- rience ‘of both officers and men, MeDowell’s march was very slow, but by the 14th the federal advance bad entered Centerville with but little opposition. On that day Richardson's brigade and Ayres’ battery, with some caval supported by Sherman's brigade, all of Tyler's division, made @ reconnoistance to Bull Run, three miles distaut, and ‘Tyler, against McDowell's specitie orders, brought on a lively hington artillery, but the bulk of the rebel force was close at hand in ease of need. The federals lost fifty-seven and the confederates sixty-eight men killed and wa in this preliminary engagement. ‘s army was therenpon encamped at Centerville until the morning of the Zist. Ata Ister period of the war this fight would have been of consequence, but at the time it was gi magnified, and had a bad effeet upon the army. and cheered the confederates corre- sponding!y. GEN. DOWELL. According to Gen. Scott, Manassas junction ‘was to be “turned and stormed.” * ‘The original lan was to croes Bull [tun at and below Bla urn’s ford and e rabel right, After the repulse of Tyler on McDowell concluded this li racticable. More than two “enterville deliberating upon a feasible plan of attack, although it was claimed by McDowell that this time was necessarily spent in waiting for the supply trains to come up. It was finally resolved to strike the rebel left by crossing at Sudley Springs ford, abont two miles above Stone bridge. This plan, it appears, waa arrived at some time on the’ afternoon of the 20th, after the locality had been examined by the “engineer officers. and McDowell himself wished to begin the movement that eveni but was persuaded by his military advisers that an early movement on Sunday morning would be as well. It is generally conceded by military writers that McDowell's plan of opera- tions was well conceived. m'DOWELL'S PLAX. Gen, Tyler was to advance down the Warren- tom pike and take position threatening Stone bridge. supposed to be defended by the rebels ol. Hunter's division to follow the 18th, however, fadvane i Tyler along the pike as the latter's cleared the road toward Bull Run, to the inter- ‘an old by road on the right, which to” pursue up to Sudiey’s ford. After crossing at Sudiey's Hunter was to tarn down ‘stream on the south side, strike the exposed sobet lott tn Stalk, voll np sad enserer other Gvening dlar by Leslie J. Perry of the Gar Records Board. | fords and the Stone, bridge itself to tho cross- | ing of Heintzelman's and Tyler's forces. Col. Heintzelman’s division was ‘to follow and jon | Hunter's column as rapidly as possible by way | of the lower crossings, as they were opened by the former's advauce on the south side. Coil, Miles’ division remained in reserve at Centor- ville, and Runyon's was still further back | guarding the road to Washington, while Col. | Richardson's, brigade of Tyler's division was an | posted in observation of Blackburn | Mitchel’s fords below. | Accordingly Gen. Tyler moved about 2 "clock | of Sunday morning, July 21, 1861, The distance from his camps to Bull Run was only about ve miles, yet li did not get mto position siong thh ran until after 6 o'clock. Tyler's latory movements impeded and delayed the mareh of the other divisions, and Hutter had not yet left the pike upon the old by road at 6 o'clock. at which hour it was intended he slould be well across Sudley's ford and at the confederates OINNING THE ATTACK. It was fully 10:30 a. m. before Hunter, whose crossing was entirely unopposed, commenced the attack, and at least four hours after it could and should have been deliverod. But RUINS OF THE STONE | was a sort of free-for-ail fight, wiih | for himself, £0 to 5 fadvanee or counter clurge’ of the rebels, | though in the meanwhile the balance of John- the same ground whip the entire Union force. ‘The manner of the fight was bad for the federals, No iden of forming a general line of battle “and making a concerted advance ‘seems to have entered anybody's head, When the federal troops discovered that it rybody ak, they lost heart. “After these isolated repulses ‘the disorganized regi- inenite gradually fell away in further tetreat “talking and in great confusion,” but this eon- fusion Was not caused by, any immediate ston's army had urrived upon the field from the Sbhepandoah, Nobody knows where it began, but suddenly the entire Union army went to pieces in utter rout. Everything was flung away that cotld impede rapid fight, Many soldiers and some officers reached Washington by daylight on the morning of the 22d. In this stampede to the rear it was printed at the time and is probably true that many of the zouaves did hot stop until they reached New York, ‘ THE ROUT. ‘There wero at least 12,000 troops in reserve who neither saw a rebel nor fired a gun on that day. But, incredible as it may appear, some of these latter promptly joined in the -demoralizing rush when it reached them, five miles away, and were many of them first into Washington, The rebels, fortunately, made no pursuit tospeak of,or thoentire Union army could certainly have been captured, and it is probable that Washington itself would have fallen without the least resistan main flight was covered by Blenker's and Richardson's brigades and @ few other troops, in measurably good order, ‘The southern public came to believe that a vigorous advance after the Bull Run victory would have ended the war, and certainly cap- tured Washington, giving ‘them great advan- tagos. Davis, Jobnston and Beauregard were in turn severely criticised for what was gener- deemed a disastrous error, ‘These three rs had a controversy afterward about the responsibility belonged, which grow into a raucorous bitterness that was never allayed. Gen, McDowell in his official report, says h passed over Bail run with “about 14,000 me: | Union roporis ‘The records fix: the uumber at 18,572. The show losses in killed and BRIDGE AT BULL RUN. |his advance was immediately successful in Qpening up the fords beldw Sudtey's and un- covering Stone bridge. Slow as he was in | reaching his position, once engaged Hunter and his column accomplished everything ex- pected of them, Meanwhile. let us see what the confederates were doing to meet the federal advance. The only advantage that accrued from Ty i advised fight of the 18th was to deceive the confederate commander as to his enemy's intentions, for the records show that Beau gard not ‘only misunderstood the two da: -inaction after the Blackburn ford affur, but entirely misapprehended McDowell's subse- quent plans. Lystead of being concentrated nt or near the Stone bridge, the point really threatened by the government troops, the confederate forces were mainly in front of Mitchell’s and Blackburn's fords, and below, but considerably scattered, Indeed, w Hunter's attack Beauregard was’ lis ing for the openmg guus of a counter attuck which he had ordered toward Centerville from & point on his right, at least five miles from where Hunter struck his left. It may seem pertinent to ask, if Hunter accomplisied everything expected of him, why the movement should be criticiwed for being slow. For this reason: Tue whole confederate army of the Shenandoah was on the march from the valley to join Beauregard, and time 3 the rebel lend 0, with a detachment of his army after the combat of the 18th, ed. Tt was was fatal to Union 1 an doa! and the balance was hourly expe the loss of time that hopes. An essential point in McDowell's origin design was to turn the enemy, cnt off the road and other lines of communication with th nandoah, and thna prevent Johnston from coming to Beanre;ard’s support. But for the time lost at Centerville and other delays, it seems probable that McDowell would have accomplished this objec THE CONFEDERATE SITUATI When Hunter's long-delay the confederate situation wasa most critical one. Both Johnston and I this at once. ‘Tho meditated operations against the federal positions in and around Center were instantly abandoned; Beauregard hurried off to the point of attack to raily his br troops, while Johnston devoted his energ bringing up the scattered brigades to their support. The fight that ensued, thongh not destructive, was one of the most remarkable of the rebeilion. It can hardly be called a battle between two armics; it was rather a series of ted skirnitshes by regimental fronts, Gen. Sherman said that Bull Run was the “best planned but worst fonght battle of the war. Contederate reports show that the moment Hunter's pressure was felt from above the entire rebel line under Evans in front of Tyler was withdrawn to meet the flank attack, and even Stone bridge itself was left guarded by a few companies only. Lut in this erisis, when eagle-eyed action was required, Tyler proved to be vacillating and weak, and did not avail himself of the easy opening to strike a decisive biow until after noon, when his real opportn- nity had passed away. Instead of energetically hing directly across to join Huuter’s ad. vance, Heintzelman followed in the wake of that officer, crossing the run mostly at Sudiey’s ford, He clored up as rapidly ax possible by this eireuitous route and joined in the fight about noon, Col. Wm. T. Sherman's brigade of,tyler’s forded the run about 12:30 p.m. began, SUDLEY cuvncH. and finally did the hardest fighting that took place. Col. E. D. Keyes’ brigade also crossed about this time, but was not seriously engaged. Gen. Schenck’ brigade did not cross at all, but remained inactive on the north side. Hunter from the time he crossed Bull Run, teadily pressed back to the sontheast the small force of confederates opposing his advance, past Tyler's front, and eventually across the Warrenton tarnpike. He was here joined by Heintaclman's division and Sherman's rigade. The snecess of the Union infantry, splendidly su; by the artillery, up to ut 3 o'clock p.m. bad been but the bravest and coolest of the mob of discom- fited confederates had about this time rallied in a broken and confused sort of way with the wly arrived fresh troops, near the Henry house, some two miles from Sudley's ford, on high, partially wooded ground, from which they were delivering w the advancing federala a pretty warm and musketry ‘s front. wore attacke in ey ale hon fas over- wered. one of the greatest misfortunes and the turning palms te the bane FIGHTING THE UNION FORCE IN DETAIL. Several Union regiments were here pushed up to the front and repulsed one after another. Pelee deroncamprar yee fr 3 was brought forward, and no two were against the enemy at the same time, 1 be result of this system of attack was to afford. enemy free opportanity to co force upon small wounded in thirty-six regiments and battalions ‘and seven batteries. The Union army lost 460 officers and men killed, and 1,124 officers and meu wounded, or a total of 1,584. In addition, the revised reports show the loss of 1,312 prisoners. some of whom were wounded. Beau- regard claimed 1,460 prisoners captured. ‘The confederate force actually engaged was ! just about equal to MePowell’s. viz., 18,053 of allarms. But» larger force was immediately available. ‘The figures given for both armics of strength and losses aro now accepted by all participants and commentators—Union ‘and | confederate practically correct. The southern reports show | in thirty-five different regiments and b ns aud four batteries, total rebel loss wax 387 ofiicers and men killed. and 1,582 officers and men wounded, or a total of 1,969—335 in excess of the federals, REGIMENTAL Losszs, The heaviest al regimental losses were: First Minnesota, 155; cleventh New York (zouaves), 109; sixty-ninth New York (Irish), 97; second Wisconsin, 83; seventy-ninth Ni York (Scotch), 83; fourteenth Brooklyn, twenty-seventh New York, 72; second Rhode DISTINGUISHED SPECTATORS. One singular feature of the battle was the Presence on the ficld on both sides of many Uniou Congressmen, bet on seeing the elo- Phant, had accompanied McDowell's army. among them John A. Logan. Isnac N. Arnold and Alfred Ely. Tho iast named was captured and carried away to Richmond, where he ro- JEFFERSON DAVIS, Jefferson Davis came up from Richmond and rode out from Manassas junctic ° where be arrived after the fed 5 It is obvious that he greatly clated, but iis tehes to Richmond recuunting the vietory were surprisingly moderate in one, consider- ing its importance to himself and the south. Asa closing commentary it may be noted that while the confederate generals were ener- getically and in many instances ably supported | by their subordinates throughout the contest, | some of McDowell's brigade and division con | manders were worse than useless, In fact, on the Union side it was entirely » soldiers’ and not an officers’ fight. And it is toa palpabl lack of leadership from top to bottom that we | may ascribe the primary cause of the Union rout, The loss inflicted on the confederates is proof that McDoweli’s troops fought well enough. No, such opportumity for victory often oscurs in war, and had they been pit into battle in the right form the confederates would have been routed, EFFECT OF THF BATTLE, Thus the first victory was with the ene of the government, Lut even the defeat bad its compensations, Naturally the south was very much elated, but its joy assumed such an exaggerated phase as to encourage the conceit among the chivalry, which in ,these turbulent times rose to the surface Tike froth on eddying water, that the war had been ended by one mag- ut blow, and the only question remaining was to settle by treaty the line of demarcation between the ‘two countries,” Never was there a greater mistake thin this, While the sclf-satistied south was fatally be- guiling Itself into a state of careless over-conti- dence, the north, suddenly awakened from some of its illusions, but in nowise cast down, began manfully to gird up its loins fur the great contest itnow fully reulized for the first time was impending, Bull Kun was a terrific shock, but it frightened nobody. It simply made the northern people mad. What follow- ing Sumter had been a mere impulse, an evan- escent wave of passion. crystallized into cold, calculating determination to conquer the slave- holders’ rebellion after Bull Run, OFFICERS WHO ROSE TO DISTINCTION, Many of the Union officers who were present at Bull Run roso to high rank in the army af- terward. Col. W. ‘I. Sherman, who died two years ago, ran through ail the grades of briza- dier, major and lieutenant general* and snc- ceeded Grant as full general in command of the army when the latter took the office of President, March 4, 1869, The Bull Run officers besides Sherman who became major generals were: Brigadier Gen- erals Irvin McDowell and Robert C, Schenck: Colonels A. McD. McCook, first Ohio; David Hunter, third United States cavalry; William B. Franklin, twelfth United States infantry P, Heintzelman, seventeenth United States in- fant D. Keyes, eleventh United Stai fantry: Oliver O. Howard, third Maine: fred H. Terry, second Counceticut; Hiram G. Berry. fourth Maine; Israel B. Richardson second Michigan: Henry W. Slocum, tweuty seventh New York: Ambrose E. Burnsidi Rhode Island; Lieut, Col, Julius Stabe New York; Major George Sykes, fou United States infantry; Captains H. G. Wri: and Amiel W, Whipple, gineers; Charles Grittin, ‘fifth United States Isiand, 72, The confederate regiments suffer- artillery, and James B, Ricketts, tirst United United States en- | | were at Bull Run became brigadiors before the close of the war, vix., Colouels Andrew Porter, sixteenth United States infantry; Louis distinguished civilian spectators. Several ) Blenker, eighth New York; William R. Mont- | | Komery, first New Jersey; Orlando B. Willcox, | Sr#t Michigan; Isane ¥. Quinby, thirteenth | New York; John F. Hartrantt, fourth Peni vania; Gilman Matston. second New Hamp- Thomas A. Davies, sixteenth New York; twenty-ninth New . #ixty-ninth New York; Willis A. Gorman, first’ Minnesota: George W. Taylor. third New Jersey; Robert Cowdin, first Massachusetts; C. E. Pratt, thyrty-firs: New York; J. H. Hobart Ward, thirty-cighth. York; Charles D. Jameson, second Maine Lient. Cols, Frank Wheaton, second Khode Island; George J. Stannard, second Vi Majors James S. Wadsworth, voluntec Gen. McDowell; J. chief of engineers and Tespectively;:J, J. Bartlett, twenty- th New York; I. N. Palmor, second United States cavairy; Stephen G. Champlin, third Michigan; Henry J. Hunt, second United States artillery; Captains RO. Tyler. assistant quartermaster; Richard Arnold, second United States artill Thomas Francis Meagher, Joseph Rh, Hawiey, first MR. H. F. HENRY, §R., NOW RESIDING OX THE OLD BATTLEFIELD. Connecticut: James B. Fry. McDowell's assist ant adjutant general: am D, Whipple Hunter's assistant adjutant general; Kom J, Ayres and N. H. Davis of the United Sta Baird, assis ' division 5 United States engine ieuts. W. W, Averell, Edmund Kirby, J. 8, Brisbin, Joun P. Hawkins, Adelbert Ames, Alex. 8. Webb and Emory Upton. . Of ‘this number twenty-cight have passed over the river, leaving but fourteen alive. | Taylor was killed at econd Ball Run; | Wadsworth at the Wilderness; Kirby at Chan cellorsville, Wheaton, Brisbin and Hawkins GEN. W. 7. SHERMAN, only remain in the active service, and Wheaton | was last spring made a brigadier general in | the regular army; Fry, Willcox, Whipple, Palmer, Baird and’ Averell are on’ the retired list of the army; Hawley is in the Senate: Ames, Webb, Bartlett, Davies, Ward, Pratt and | Quinby passed into civil life. 'A very few years | more and the last of the veterans will have dis- appeared. Avery large proportion of the officers who fbccame prominent on the southern side took | part in the Bull Run campaign in one eapacity jor another. Brig. Gena, Thomas J. Jackson, | James Longstreet, R. 8. Ewell, E. Kirby Smith | and. F, Holmes, and Cols, Wade Hampton of Hampton's (8. C.) legion; Jubal A. Early, | twenty-fourth Virginia; Ambrose P. Hill, thir- | teenth Virginia, and J. E, B, Stuart of the cav- | alry all rose to the rank of licutenant general. | Brig. Gem. D, BR. Jones of Georgia; Cols. ON THE OTHER SIDE. be witLe | ‘SPOTTSYLVANIA BATTLEFIELDS AROUND WASHINGTON. ing most voverely were: Eighth Georgia, 200 fourth Alabama, 197; fourth Virginia, 131 Hampton's (South Carolina) legion, 119; second Mississippi, 107. (See vol. II, War Records. page 910.) Besides the prisoners, the rebels captured twenty-five pieces of artil- lery & few caissons and small arms and some ea, wi otherwise abe vetory was a” very A WOMAN KILLED. In the old weatherbeaten Henry homestead, ‘v ituated in tho very center of the fight and iddied by the Union shot and shell. occurred one of the saddest tragedies of the war. It was oecupied by the widow Judith Henry—a bedridden woman of eighty—mother of the press mortally wounded by an expiod@isg «toil, and lies buried in the yard, on tte wer .“@ of the new house which succeeded the vie States artillery. and Lieut, George C. Strong of the ordnance department. The list includes some of the most conspicuous names de- veloped in the war. Thero are only six of living. viz., Howard, Wi Ketan, Septiinber 11 i86l Bert amt a We ntietam, mi |, 1862; Ber ni '. Whipp! cellorsville, tay 3. 3903, and assault on Fort Wagner. r= well, Burnside, Schenck, Hunter, Heintzelman, Griffin, Ricketts, Sykes and have all died since the war, Howard (eCook are still in the actiye service, and Keyes and discatia- these generals now ht, Franklin, Slocum, and it owner, Mr. H. F. Henry. Sho was| Slocum, Howard, James L. Kemper, seventh Virginia; Joseph B. Kershaw, second South Carolina; Robert E. Rodes, fifth Alabama; Sam Jones, Beauregard's chief ‘of artillery: Arnold Elzey, first Mary- land (confederate); William Smith (“Extra Billy,” the and politician), forty- ia; Harry T. Hays, seventh Lou- mason, cavalry, all became brigadicr general ‘obably there were some others at Ball Ron ubetdinate capacity who became geucral | i: ' j ies | AROUND HARPERS FERRY. A Region That Many Armies Marched and ‘ough? Over, MONG THE MOST important points in the ’ eastern military zone ceuter, was the town of Harper's Ferry “B=, Largo numbers of the | of the civil war,of which | veterans from Washington over th road, through a beautituily ‘try, part of the way alc promontories of the T waysin fail view of a varied and spi ip eeenery. This famous town is situated at the point of | fJanction of the swift-tlow Indiaa for “daugdter of stately Potomac, in the deep the two rivers in their passage thr rock-ribbed Blue Kidgr, Isuttrossed i mountains of two states for the rc pietares: % cir h the se formed by agh the WAR-TIME PICTUE fal; our little Virginia hamlot is easily imagined | to have been a very Eden unto itself, hidden } away from the cold outer world, wholly free from the harassments of sordid and selfish struggles after wealth and power, Bat the | disturbances engendered, first by the slaver; contest and then a long and bloody war, en- tirely changed the conditions of life in Har- per’s Ferry. It 1s peculiar that old John Brown and Thomas Jonathan Jackson, whose exploits have most served to give the town and vicinity as well as themselves a name and fame through- out the world, were singularly alike in their more conspicuous characteristics, Both were perfectly honest in their convictions; both were intensely religious throughout their lives, | fervently calling on the same God for support | and direction; both were endowed with a gloomy, brooding fanaticism in favor of prin- ciples as diametrically opposite as light and darkness, and both were silent, deliberate men; set all their actions were governed by an en- ergy and earnestness bordering on fary. They were men of war. Their peculiarities trended closely to crankism, but there was wonderful | method in their madness, It was the scene of old John Brown's mad attempt to free the slaves which fired the con- tinent, and in the ensuing war became the fortified camp of armies and the focus of bat- tle. In the trying times of this period many of the happy and contented ‘burghers of former days sullenly plunged into the vortex of war and lost their lives, while others abandoned or | were driven from their homes never to return, The old town, deep down in its sylvan valley, officers, la per's Ferry and aveaumed command. Bo vital ath te bold this paint that soon afterward one of the most couspicw- ‘ons of their military leaders, Gen, Joseph E. Johnston, was diepatebed there to mobilize an army in ite defense and to cover the vailey. nstou superseded Jackson om the 23d of rowed the: towed Hare a ver the north was it deemed by th: quently be TY to the federal athed more freeiv, There were demonstta- ns of jor main citadel of the re on had been captared and the southern » valley conttnaed ud retroat for L bat this and hat de- Ty wae intrine- of no stratogical \d not dare to hold s army crowed the Po- Lircetiy threate rward, when Lee ptof Co, Miles to defend a gareh Omen was @ Lott rg invasion oo ou authorities, er experionce xege body of n soldiers in and wana strange the Washington gov- main route lowh valiey wae employ per's Berry, pon the p ernment im trom by way Martinebure, twenty m Lhe garrison nt Harper's Perry ot evon cower the Balti- more and Oo nod beyond the reach of online slinost iadipensable to the J military aathurtiios, Davis aud Lee at first regarded Harper's ry RE OF HARPER'S FERRY. Ferry as. “natural fortress.” but Gen. Jo! ston prononneed it “untenable against an army by auy force not strong enough to hold the neighboring heights.” This is the verdict of military critics. Johnston very properly held that Winchester, thirty miles south, was the most commanding military position in the lower Shenandoah vailey for both sides, JOHN BROWN'S RAID, ‘This sleepy Hollow’s rude awakening from ite long dream of happy repose was on Sunday evening, October 16, 1859, when John Brown invaded the town with seventeen whites and five negroes to begin the work of “freeing the slaves.” He had been « prominent actor in some of the recent turbulent scenes in “bleed- ing Kansas,” where the war of the rebellion was “actually begun by the attempt of the southern leaders and their followers to fasten slavery upon that territory. In this conflicton the Kansas prairies old man Brown had bibed a bitter hatred of the slave power. He was a silent, detormined man, ruthless in the execution of his purposes, which he honestly dcemed to be right; in ‘fact, a zealot of the order now popularly known as cranks, But the | result of his eccentric career and his place in | history shows that Brown Was something more than a mere crank. ‘The writer was afterward for many « resident “ the same county in Kansas which Brown and his sons made headquarters during the pro-slavery contest and became in- imately woquaiuted with tauy of thelr amoci- atesand followers in that anarchical time. ‘There was a marked division of opinion am them concerning Brown's character and deeds iu Kansas. Many undoubtedly looked upon old Brown as a being with a beaven-directed mis- had been well performed; the greater number, while genorally justifying his methods as the only means to a much desired was riddied now and again from the mountain heights with the shot and shell of both friend inhabitants, no matter which was at hand, ‘The old town emerged from these troubles all shattered and shora, to find itself in a new state and with a mame famous thronghout the civilized world; just as quaint and far more interesting than ever; its shores still washed by the rippling waters of its magnificent war could not quench; en- vironed and overshadowed by the everlasting cliffs®and mountains that cannon could not level—the same which 100 years ago excited the wonder and admiration of Thotas Jeffer- son, who wrote that this sceue was worth cross- ing the Atlantic to view. Bat notwithstandi the beauty and grandeur of its site and the ad- vantage of being a point of debouche from the Harper's Ferry never excceded the limits of a small country village, even after the government established there a military arsenal, In n 39. In 1880 it had dwindied iow it is about 1 wn to 764. Since the war it has re- 4 sumed its old happy stato of ease and content- ment, with of late the additional manifestation of growth and enterprise, whe VIEW FROM THE HEIGHTS, Ashort carriage ride up its winding street of ancient houses brings the tourist quickly out upon the adjacent heights through which the Shenandoah barsts to reach the Potomac, | and from which the great Shenandoah valley otherwise the Valley of Virgmia—spreads out before and beyoud his ken toward the south, ‘The weltmarked line of the Io s hedges the vailey just at hand on the left far to the southward, while many m: ard the ‘im horizon on the right are seen the tower- ing Alleghanies, which form its western wall, } ‘The Valley of the Shenandoah proper is fully 250 miles long and varies in width from forty | or fifty miles down to ten or fifteen miles, but the lower and main valley averages generally about twenty-five miles in width. Within the lines of its mountain walls the valley presents the aspect of a beautiful rolling eouutry of gentle swells and slopes in a high and thrifty state of cuitivation. With its mountain be ground it forms oue of the richest aud grand- est agricultural landscapes on this continent. | The entire length of the vailey is now covered | by two trunk lines of railway, with still othe crossing it at various points, but. in the war days there was but one line up the valley and that penetrated but a short distance into the | interior, But its fine turnpike roads afforded every facility for marching armies; its fat eat- tle and pigs and its mills, supplied from full | granaries, fed thousands of soldicrs of bouk | sides during the war. Some of the greatest military operations the rebellion occurred in this lovely valley au around Harper's Ferry. From Maryland Hei pposite the village, several great battletields of the war are in easy view, nota- biy those of Soath mountain, Antictam and Monocacy. > | i AS A STRATEGIC PorsT. When hostilities broke out between the north and south undue importance was attached and foe, and life was a travail to its remaining |* end, merely thought him to be a bold, uneda cated man of brawn and bone, with a lawless love of turmoil, who had turged up in Kansas as nat- urally as vultures haunt battlefields and had mp in” on the right side at the Bat there was a «mall minority and viewed him as @ and liste better than a comin: liowe y in 1877 a monu- mont was raised to his memory at the village of Osawatomie, the center of his Kanass ex- ploits, whi dedicated: with impressive nonies and able addresses, I think most people will agree that thisevont would not have occurred if Brown's record had closed with his services to the free state cause Kan was his subsequen! af lke power, hima martyr and acause in the Kansas neighbors aud the free iowa widened during the Kansas Vhile still operating. there be bad im Caneda with the organized a “ove @ coustitution, president « Gabinct officers, and matured plans for a hrect attac! mo slavery, fis ex et Kansas had satisiied him the day.of moral sus sion was past, and that the institution could only be with ¥ Was loca ed there, and he descended town, It was a desperate undertakins TAKING POSRESKION OF THE TOWN, The armory buildings, guarded by only three watchmen, were easil