Siege of Washington, D.C Part 5

Why this was, my son, I cannot explain. Perhaps the Secretary of War will, when he gets his historian, at $2,500 a year, to write a national history of the war. Some malicious people said the Secretary of War had two reasons for this: the first, to show his contempt for military science; the second, because he wanted to show what fools some of these strange generals were. I have also heard it intimated that the reason why some of these strange generals were a.s.signed to such important posts at such a moment of peril to the nation, was because they were of sufficient consequence to be made victims. And as it was always necessary to have a victim to cover up and excuse the blundering of high officials, these men would come in handy enough. But I never considered this a good excuse for thus superseding the officers, the only officers who really knew how to defend the city.

It was not surprising, however, that, with such an opportunity for gaining distinction as the defense of the capital of the nation, major and brigadier-generals should spring up as by magic. Their number was truly marvelous. Nor was it strange that they should all want to be heroes. It was a little queer, however, that they should all be in the city just at this time, and seemingly without employment. Each, on application, was a.s.signed to an important command, though but few of them knew the road to the forts, and fewer still what they were going to command when they got there.

The alarm and confusion continued to increase as General Early and his rebel hosts approached. And now the great question arose as to who was to be regarded as responsible for the safety of the city?

Was it the President, the Secretary of War, or the great Chief of Staff? people inquired. No, it could be neither of these, for the President, though frequently seen at the front, seemed only a pleasant observer, and gave no orders to the troops. The Secretary of War and Chief of Staff were issuing orders, as I have before described, and a.s.signing strange generals to commands. It could not be General Auger, for the War Department seemed to have forgotten him, and he remained quietly in command of the department. The Military Governor was discharging the active duties of his office, and so it could not be him. Some persons said General Haskins was the man. He had been in charge of the defenses north of the Potomac, and knew them well. But it could not be him, for he had been superseded by General Hardin; and General McDowell McCook ranked both of them; and, as I have before informed you, was placed in command and sent out to see to General Early.

This, my son, was very hard on General McCook, who found himself in a predicament he would willingly have escaped from. It is no more than right, my son, that I should give you an account of how this general went to the field, and what he found when he got there.

Provided with a pocket full of orders, the general mounted his horse late on Sat.u.r.day afternoon and set out for the front, over the Fourteenth-street road. The corpulent engineer I have described in the early part of this history was a.s.signed to General McCook for duty; and this officer, and two sorry-looking orderlies, were all that bore him company. The corpulent engineer alone knew the military roads, and the location of the forts, which was very fortunate. As they advanced over the road beyond Meridian Hill, they overtook several straggling generals, each proceeding to the front with a pocket full of orders, and generally accompanied by a single orderly. Two or three of these generals seemed quite at a loss as to where they were going, or what they were to command. I have thus explained this matter to you, my son, to show you what a nice way our war authorities had of producing confusion.

When the general and his staff, which I have described above, were well nigh Brightwood, he halted to inquire, of the alarmed negroes and straggling citizens who were wending their way into the city, what news they had of the enemy outside. But no trustworthy information could he get from any of them. They all knew that General Early was coming; and that they had left just before he had got to where they lived. This sort of information was not exactly the kind a general would consider it safe to base his plan of operations on. Nor was the general any more fortunate in getting information concerning the enemy from a number of squads of cavalry, whose business it seemed to be to ride excitedly to the front and then ride excitedly back again. Indeed, the whole business of these doughty troopers, it seemed to me, was to increase the alarm and confusion.

It was nearly sundown, the weather was hot and oppressive, and the general was full of troubles. The worst of these was that he could not find the troops he was sent to command. Nor could he get any tidings concerning General Early and his rebels. Hence it was that he concluded, and very naturally, that the enemy would not be within sight of the defenses until morning, and that the city would at least be safe until that time without any more of his generals.h.i.+p.

He therefore went into camp for the night, pitching his headquarters in a clump of wood near Rock Creek, and not far from Crystal Spring.

And here let me record that the general had not even a camp guard.

To make the matter worse, there was no forage for the horses, and nothing for supper. Never was general so much to be pitied. The two orderlies, however, were willing fellows, and soon had a fire lighted. They then proceeded to a neighboring house, and got refreshments for the general, without which he must have gone hungry to bed.

As the night advanced, the discomforts of the situation increased.

In short, it may as well be confessed, the general's headquarters were besieged long before midnight, and that sleep was a thing not to be enjoyed. You may have made up your mind that the besiegers were an advance guard of the rebels; but they were not. They were nothing less than an army of fierce musquitoes, who made such a persistent attack on the general and his staff as to make his position almost untenable. In truth, they so hara.s.sed the corpulent engineer, in rear and flank, that he mounted his horse and returned to the city, where he spent a comfortable night at Willard's Hotel, and went back in the morning refreshed. My authority for this is the distinguished engineer himself.

A little after midnight, the two orderlies became seriously alarmed (I ought to mention that one was recently from Cork, and the other from Kerry), and reported to the general that a conversation was being carried on in an unknown language by two persons in the woods beyond, and whom they verily believed to be spies of the enemy. The general was not a little perplexed at this intelligence, for the better informed orderly declared, that while one shouted in very bad Irish, the other seemed to answer him in Dutch. The general listened attentively for a minute or more, when the noise was again heard. It turned out, however, that the intruders were only a pair of owls, who had perched in some trees near by, and were exchanging hootings for their own entertainment.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE KIND OF REINFORCEMENTS WE HAD TO DEFEND THE CITY.

THIS is an exact portrait of General Jubal A. Early, who was sent to capture Was.h.i.+ngton, but arrived a little too late.

There was great excitement in the city during Sunday, the 10th of July, and strange stories were set afloat concerning the arrival of General Early, and his rebel army. There was also great excitement in and around the forts north of the city. The hundred-day men did not feel themselves safe in the forts, and those outside were making a desperate effort to keep their courage up.

We had heroes enough in the city, but the great question was, how we were to get them organized, provisioned, armed, and sent to the front in time to be of service. The District militia, which we have all heard so much of and seen so little, was not enrolled, and, of course, could not be made available. It was said there would be some desperate fighting done if the Treasury Guard only got to the front.

This valuable body of distinguished heroes was composed of nice young men, who wore fine linen and patent leather boots, and in appearance were unexceptionable.

It was a trying time for the nation, my son, and the young men of this Treasury Guard felt that they had a duty to perform in defending the capital, and must perform it with courage. There was one little drawback, however, to their conduct as soldiers; and that was, that each man wanted to go to the front enc.u.mbered with a carpet bag, filled with sandwiches and clean s.h.i.+rts. Aside from this, let me say, the guard was got in order for marching, and their gallant commander, Colonel Floyd A. Willett, made a speech, in which he declared there was not a chicken-hearted man in his ranks. And when it marched for the front, which it did with drums beating, its gallant colonel at its head, and Corporal Spinner, of Company B, bringing up the rear, there was many a tear shed and handkerchief waved by the pretty female clerks of the Department. Many of these damsels had more than a friendly interest in these young heroes, who they averred would never come back, but whiten the battle-field with their bones.

As the War Department has not yet condescended to give us a report in detail of the defense of Was.h.i.+ngton, I cannot inform you, my son, of the heroic part performed by this distinguished body of nice young men. There was a rumor that they returned to the city, after the siege, in a very hungry condition; but had been so saving of their powder and lead as not to waste a single round.

Now, our quartermaster-general was not to be beaten by any of them when there was a chance for glory. Seeing the Treasury Guard march off with so much courage and determination, the general mounted his war horse, and a.s.sembled a whole brigade of his employees, as gallant fellows as ever took the field, notwithstanding little could be said of their discipline or soldierly appearance. This gallant brigade was called the Bushwhackers, in contradistinction to the Beef-eaters of the War Department. There was no mistaking this brigade, for it was armed with muskets and bill-hooks. As it moved off for the front, as it did with no very regular step, there was a sight seldom seen. How else could it be, with our gallant quartermaster-general at its head, and General Rucker bringing up the rear! After a rapid march of four miles, the brigade reached the front; and as no enemy was in sight, and there was no use for their powder, the men went energetically to work, and did good service in clearing away the bushes in front of the forts, so that our gallant defenders could have an un.o.bstructed view of the rebels as soon as they made their appearance. This was a very happy thought; one for which the quartermaster-general deserved the brevet he afterwards got.

You will see by this, my son, that we were fast getting our gallant defenders to the front. And now all that was needed to afford them an opportunity to show themselves heroes was General Early and his army of rebels.

I must also inform you that Provost-Marshal Todd, Captain and A. D.

C., had got a company of his men to the front, lying in ambush for the rebels.

There was still another, and equally important force to be added to our defenders. This was a brigade of what was called Ancient Mariners, got together by that solid old salt, Admiral Goldsborough.

The admiral was brim-full of pluck, and his name had become famous for not fighting the rebels afloat. Here was an opportunity to give them a broadside or two ash.o.r.e, and the admiral was not the man to let it slip through his fingers. Indeed, he sounded his war trumpet as quick as any of them, and when he had piped his Ancient Mariners to arms, he told them that G.o.d and their country demanded them to do their duty.

"Aye, aye!" responded the Ancient Mariners; "we will do it, we will."

When the gallant admiral had got his "Ancient Mariners" ready to march, armed with cutla.s.s and various other well-known weapons, he placed himself at their head and moved out to meet the enemy. His manner of doing this, however, was somewhat novel, and deserves to be described here. You must know, my son, that the admiral was of a very rotund figure, and, although well enough at home on the quarter-deck, was not accustomed to the saddle. His weight was, indeed, such as to preclude the idea of his being a skilled horseman. It was, therefore, necessary that he go to the field in some more comfortable as well as becoming manner. Thereupon a carriage and four was provided, and in this stately manner the gallant admiral proceeded to the front, at the head of his strange command. I may add also, my son, that the movement of this force afforded no little amus.e.m.e.nt to the numerous urchins that followed it. On reaching the front, it took up a strong position, and made ready to give the enemy a broadside whenever he made his appearance.

Some mischievous person reported that it was the intention of these "Ancient Mariners" to support the cavalry, in the event of its being attacked. Having brought them to the front, however, we must leave them there, the quartermaster with his spy-gla.s.s keeping a sharp look out for any stray craft that might appear in the offing.

I have been thus minute in describing these forces, in order that you may form a just estimate of what General McDowell McCook had to command.

Sunday pa.s.sed away, and there was no appearance of General Early and his army. Still the excitement in the city had not abated. Our good President, I must tell you, was out along the lines nearly all day, with the apparent purpose of encouraging the feeble garrisons in the forts.

Early on Monday morning (the 11th of July, 1864), the smoke and dust of the rebel column rose in the distance, and was clearly seen from the defenses. News of this soon spread about, and our cavalry got more and more excited, and went galloping out and then came galloping in at an increased rate of speed.

Then the enemy's long, thin line of skirmishers debouched into the fields, like specter figures in a panorama. Next his artillery was seen moving to the right and left, and apparently taking up positions on the distant hills. These were followed by his hungry troopers, very dirty and forlorn, and looking like shadowy figures just issuing from a desert of dust. The movements of these rebels in the distance gave new features to the face of the siege. General McDowell McCook was seen to ride rapidly over the field, followed by his two orderlies. Generals Meigs and Rucker urged on their Bushwhackers, who went to work with renewed energy clearing up the forest. The "Ancient Mariners" whetted their cutla.s.ses, and continued to exhaust their ordnance, a large stock of which they had brought to the field in the shape of tobacco. And the Treasury Guard stopped eating sandwiches and looked to their ammunition. In fine, our gallant defenders went to getting their courage up in various ways. Our good President (may his memory never die!) took up a position near Fort Stevens, as if to encourage the hundred-day men to stand by their guns and keep their pluck warm.

A little after noon there was a material change in the situation.

The enemy's advance skirmishers made their appearance within range of Fort Stevens and began a miscellaneous firing. Then our own cannon opened, and their echoes over the hills first sounded the alarm and awakened the people of the city from their dream of security. There were as yet no really efficient troops to send to defend the point of attack. The people knew that between them and the enemy there were strong and heavily armed forts; and in these they placed their trust. They did not, however, reflect that these forts, without proper garrisons, were only so many inert ma.s.ses, incapable of resisting for one hour the vigorous a.s.sault of an enemy. But it was very different with the military authorities. As the rattle of small arms and the booming of cannon increased during Monday evening and night, they knew that the city was in peril, and their anxiety for its safety increased. They knew that the forts were not properly garrisoned. They knew that communication with the North was cut off, that no reinforcements from that quarter could be relied on. Further, that although reinforcements from General Grant's army had been ordered up from the James River, they had not had time to arrive.

Such was our situation on that memorable Monday night. Yes, my son, such was the feeble condition of the defenses when General Early and his rebel army came in sight of the dome of the Capitol. We all looked confidently for an attack in force on Tuesday morning. Had it been made by a column of ten thousand men, led by a bold and determined commander, capable of infusing his own impulse into their movements, they might, feebly garrisoned as the forts were at that moment (with no support between or behind them), have treated our defenses with contempt, and marched into the city.

Yes, my son, they could have marched almost unmolested between any two of the forts, entered the city, seized the a.r.s.enal, the Capitol, the Treasury, and other public buildings, and enjoyed a bounteous breakfast at the expense of our citizens. And when they had done this, they might have enforced a legitimate surrender of the city, together with the defenses on both sides of the river.

But General Jubal A. Early was not the man for such an enterprise.

Was.h.i.+ngton was at his mercy, but fortunately for us he did not know it, and let the opportunity slip. Even had he known it, I am of opinion that he lacked the nerve to grasp the advantages of the opportunity. On that Tuesday morning, Early was at Silver Springs, enjoying the luxuries of a s.p.a.cious headquarters, and within sight of the grand old dome of the Capitol. What strange emotions the sight of this dome must have excited in his bosom, what reminiscences of happier days pa.s.sed under its shadow must have seared his thoughts as they pa.s.sed in review, he alone can describe.

Perhaps it was the contemplation of those happier days that stayed his hand and made him hesitate to grasp the prize at his feet.

No, my son, Jubal A. Early was of too phlegmatic a temperament for such an undertaking. He was slow in every thing but name. And, as I have informed you before, so notoriously cautious and slow was he to act, even when a youth at West Point, that he gained the sobriquet of "The Late Early," by which he is known at this day by his intimate friends.

How sad it is for us, to-day, to contemplate that the safety of Was.h.i.+ngton, the capital of this great country, should have depended on the temperament of a general. Let the future historian do this subject justice and elaborate it as it deserves. And let him portray, if he can, the consequences of the rebel flag greeting the rays of the rising sun on that morning victoriously from the dome of the Capitol.

CHAPTER XIV.

HOW THE REBEL GENERALS DEPORTED THEMSELVES.

THIS history would not be complete, my son, without a portrait of General John C. Breckinridge. This general accompanied General Early, in command of a division, and was extremely useful as a subordinate, since he knew Was.h.i.+ngton and all its surroundings, and had many friends in the city, whose respect and hospitality he had enjoyed. What curious emotions must have excited his breast when he saw the dome of that building where he had sat as a Senator, and by his talents and deportment secured the respect and confidence of the nation, I will leave the reader to imagine. Who but himself can describe his thoughts when he recurred to that scene in the Senate Chamber, when he raised the voice of prophecy and foreshadowed the traitor's reward? Was there a pang in the thought that he was himself reaping the bitterest fruit of that reward?