Siege of Washington, D.C.
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F. Colburn Adams >> Siege of Washington, D.C.
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6 PREFACE.
MY publisher gives it as his opinion that a great many persons will
be offended at what I have said in this work. He thinks, also, that
"quite a number" of our great generals will be seriously disturbed
in their dignity on seeing what liberties my artist has taken with
them. Such opinions as these are rather too common with publishers
in this country, who generally take very narrow views as to what
public men think and do. This work was not written to offend, but to
amuse and instruct little people. I have too much respect for our
great generals to believe that they will feel offended at what I
have said of them. Some of our little generals may perhaps take
exception to the positions my artist has assigned them, and feel
disposed to make war on him. But there will be nothing new in this,
inasmuch as any close observer of the war must have seen that these
little generals were always more fierce in making war on writers and
artists than courageous in facing the enemy. That the Siege of
Washington was the most remarkable military event history has any
account of, is very well understood among those who participated in
it. I must beg the reader, then, not to place false judgment on the
pleasantry introduced here and there, since I have recorded, with
great care and correctness, all the military movements, that took
place during that memorable occasion.
F. COLBURN ADAMS.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 15, 1867.
CONTENTS.
I.-WASHINGTON A REMARKABLE CITY
II.-GOING TO WAR TO SETTLE OUR DIFFICULTIES
III.-THE FORTS AROUND WASHINGTON
IV.-COMING HOME AFTER THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN
V.-BRAVE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
VI.-NOBODY HOME AT YORKTOWN
VII.-POPE DID IT
VIII.-HOW GENERAL POPE CAME TO TOWN
IX.-BRIGHT PROSPECTS AHEAD
X.-THE GENERAL THAT FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORVILLE
XI.-HANGING IN THE BALANCE
XII.-ALARMING SYMPTOMS OF THE ENEMY'S APPROACH
XIII.-THE GREAT COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF TAKES THE FIELD
XIV.-THE WAY GENERAL EARLY CAME TO TAKE THE CITY
XV.-A REBEL GENERAL BROUGHT TO GRIEF
XVI.-THE DISTINGUISHED STATESMAN WHO ENGAGED IN THE WORK OF
REBELLION WITH GREEN SPECTACLES ON
SIEGE OF WASHINGTON.
A TRUE AND AUTHENTIC STORY, WRITTEN EXPRESSLY FOR LITTLE PEOPLE.
CHAPTER I.
WASHINGTON AS A REMARKABLE CITY.
YOU, my son, have heard, and perhaps read, how Rome was once saved
by a goose. There were, as you know, my son, a great many geese
abroad during the siege of Washington; but it was not through any
act of theirs that the city was saved. As I love you dearly, my son,
so is it my first desire to instruct you correctly on all subjects
in which the good of our great country is concerned. Before
concluding my history of this remarkable siege, I shall prove to
your satisfaction that Washington was saved, and the fate of the
nation determined, by a barrel of whisky.
Let me say to you, my son, that the siege of Washington, however
much people abroad may laugh at it, was one of the most
extraordinary events in the history of modern warfare. It took place
in the year of our Lord, 1864; and there is no other event in the
war of the great rebellion to compare with it. You will, therefore,
my son, understand why it is that the history of an event of so much
importance should be written only by an impartial historian--one who
has courage enough to tell the truth, and no official friends to
serve at the expense of honor. I must tell you, also, my son, that
the great military problem of this siege has afforded a subject of
deep study for our engineers, from General Delafield downward, who
have puzzled their wits over it without finding a solution.
Should we be unfortunate enough to have another great war, and the
nation again be compelled to give itself up to the profession of
arms, the conduct of this siege would afford us an excellent
example, as well as a profitable key to the art of war, as
understood by our War Department in the said year of our Lord, 1864.
This, then, is another reason why this great military event should
be faithfully rendered. I will also add, my son, that though I may
fail to instruct you after the manner and style of the most profound
historian of our day, I will at least make my account of this great
siege so plain and simple that you will comprehend it in all its
multiplicity of parts.
But first let me tell you a few things about Washington, the capital
city of this great nation. You, my son, may have seen one hundred
other cities, and yet it will remind you of none of them. It is very
elongated, and spreads over a great deal of ground, apparently for
personal inconvenience. Indeed, my son, it has the appearance of
having been dropped down late of a Saturday night by some eccentric
gentleman who had a large quantity of architectural odds and ends on
hand, and had no other use for them. It has been famous always for
its acute angles and broad avenues. The former, I have heard more
than one person say, were skillfully arranged by a very
accommodating French engineer, for the special benefit of persons
who went home late of nights and were liable to get confused on the
way. The population is rather a curious one, and may be classified
as the distinct and indistinct, the settled and unsettled. The
census report, a remarkably unreliable account, has it that they
number "some" sixty thousand. A large proportion of this settled and
unsettled population is of such variety of color as to render it
almost impossible to define the nice proportions of blood it is so
strongly mixed with. On this point, my son, you must not be too
particular, but accept it as your father does, as a proof that the
races, whom we are told can never be got to live in harmony
together, have, to say the least, gone very extensively into a
system which gives strength to the belief that it could be done. The
French call this the commingling system, and their philosophers
argue from it, and with much force, that it is impossible to
establish the question as to what kind of blood the best society is
based upon. For myself, I feel that we can with safety accept these
French philosophers as good authority in such matters. You will also
find among the population of Washington natives of nearly every
country on the face of the globe. These speak no end of tongues,
follow all manner of professions and occupations, and what is most
valuable, preserve that delightful diversity for which what is
called the "old society" has always been famous. Picturesque hills
encircle the city at a distance, and a beautiful river flows past on
its way to the sea. The city has many fathers and few friends. These
fathers, while in an ornamental mood, built a grand canal into the
very bowels of the city, after the manner of Venice, that commerce
might be encouraged, and such persons as had a passion for moonlight
and gondolas could gratify it. But the people were not given to
sailing in gondolas, so this famous canal was diverted from the
object for which it was originally intended. It is now used as a
tomb where deceased animals of a domestic nature are carefully
deposited. The old inhabitants regard this tomb with a reverence I
never could understand clearly, even though I had sought for a cause
in their instinctive opposition to all and every manner of reform.
Indeed, the fathers of the city regard this grand canal as
performing a very humane part, inasmuch as it supplies an excellent
and very convenient burial-place for their domestic animals, and
increases the practice of a large number of doctors. The city
fathers, I am informed, find some consolation in the fact that other
canals have performed equally humane services.
And it came to pass, my son, that there was a great war in all the
land; and greater than was ever known before in any other land. Thus
Washington became the centre of our anxieties and our thoughts. The
people of the North, and the people of the West, and the people of
the South, who constituted the people of one great nation, had long
held different opinions as to the right of making merchandise of
men, of women, and of little children. Yes, my son, it was at last
claimed to be in accordance with Christianity to doom these people
to a life at once hopeless and miserable. As you grow up, my son,
and begin to think and act for yourself, you will think it very
strange that such a great national crime as this should have existed
in a land so blessed with the fruits of a ripe civilization. And it
will be a cause of wonder to you that a society based upon such an
abomination did not sooner break down under the burden of its
wrongs. And yet you must always bear in mind, my son, that men do
not view great crimes alike, and that even good and great men differ
as to what constitutes national rights and national wrongs. It is
said that great nations have gone to decline because their people
became blind with pride, and refused to think right. A nation is
always safe while its people think right; but you must teach the
children right before you can have the people think right. Education
and association had much to do in training the thoughts of men in
the South into wrong channels. Taking this view of the subject you
may find much to forgive in a political system that seems wrong in
your eyes and right in the eyes of its supporters. Indeed, my son, I
would enjoin you to treat with a reasonable amount of deference the
arguments advanced by those who differ with you on questions of
public policy, and also to remember that right and reason are your
strongest weapons. Never get angry with your opponent, never use
language that will cause you a regret; and if you cannot convince by
the moral force of your argument, abandon the undertaking. And
whatever else you do to advance your material prosperity, never let
it be said of you that you advocated a great political wrong merely
because it was popular and brought you the applause of the
unthinking. You cannot do so with a clear conscience; and what is
life without it?
I have, unwittingly, my son, wandered away from my subject. The
people of the South forgot all the great principles which govern
humanity for humanity's good; they were betrayed into wrong doing by
false friends, and made blind by their own prosperity. And they even
forgot that God was their truest and best guardian, and to Him they
must look for that care and protection which shall last forever.
But, my son, I would enjoin you to bear these people no ill will,
and remember how much better it is in the sight of God to deal with
the erring in the spirit of forgiveness. They were a brave and a
gallant people, who fought in the belief that they were right, and
with a heroism worthy of a good cause. It is only the meanest nature
that has no respect for the courage and gallantry of an enemy--that
cannot find in it something to admire. It was the selfishness, my
son, which slavery begat in these people, that perverted their
natures, and caused them to forget God.
Yes, my son, it was the curse of slavery that corrupted the hearts
and turned the heads of these people; that found them requesting the
race they had made suffer so long in bondage, to be thankful that
their sufferings were no worse. I never could, my son, see why any
human being, who had been made the victim of the greatest outrage
against his rights, should be thankful. The Church might, and did,
attempt to sanctify this greatest of crimes; but that did not change
the character of the cruelty and injustice. It will, no doubt, seem
strange to you that ministers of the Gospel should be found the
defenders of crime. And yet slavery found its ablest defenders in
the pulpit of the South. I am afraid it always will be so, for even
now we see ministers of the Gospel more ready to hang out false
lights to lead their people into darkness, than to give them that
truth and instruction they so much need. But you must not let the
thought of this lessen your respect for the Church. Examine with
great care until you have found out in what true Christianity
consists; and when you have, practice accordingly to the extent of
your ability. Never forget that it was the preaching of popular
errors that cost the nation so much blood and treasure, so much
sorrow and distress. That bishops should put aside their lawn, and
gird on the sword--that they should lead men to war and death,
instead of the baptismal, and all to perpetuate the sorrows of an
oppressed race, is, my son, only another proof that error may gain a
victory over truth in the hearts and feelings of the best of us.
CHAPTER II.
WE GO TO WAR TO SETTLE OUR DIFFERENCES.
HERE let me present you, my son, with an exact portrait of the
distinguished general who is commonly accepted as striking the first
blow of this war. He was kindly educated at the expense of the
nation, and was first among its enemies. For a time his fame ran
high enough, and timid people were inclined to give him the
character of a monster. But it turned out in time that he was a very
peaceable gentleman, and not so much of a terrible warrior, after
all.
But I want to tell you, my son, how it was that the people of this
great nation took to swords and cannon, to settle their differences
of opinion.
The people of the great North, and the people of the great West,
were educated to a very different way of thinking on the question of
slavery; and differed with the people of the South as to what
constituted a national blessing. They were willing, for the sake of
peace, to tolerate slavery, as a great evil it were dangerous to
attempt to remove; but it was too much to ask them to accept it as a
great national blessing. These people were energetic, thrifty,
lovers of right and justice, and had grown rich and powerful by
their own industry. They could not see why the whole people of so
great a nation as ours should be required to bow down and worship
what the rest of the civilized world had stigmatized as the greatest
scourge of mankind. Seeing the power this great wrong was obtaining
over the nation, as well as the danger it was causing us by
corrupting the minds of the people, they consulted together and
elected a President after their own way of thinking. And this so
offended the people of the South, who were a brave people, and quick
to anger, that they gathered together from all parts of their
country, gave up their peaceful pursuits, and went to war for what
they called their independence. But I always found, my son, that
independence was an abused phrase, much on the tongues of these
people. Indeed their idea of independence extended only to giving
one class the full and exclusive right to enslave the other. The
Southern idea of independence was so shaped as to contain the very
worst features of a despotism. But you must look with forgiveness on
these people, my son, and seek to forget many of those acts of
vindictiveness which characterized them during the war.
At the same time, my son, you must not lose sight of the lesson
which the result of this war teaches. Let it be a guide to your own
actions that these people went to war to tear down what they could
not build up, to destroy a Government the world had come to respect
and admire, and under which they had found a safe refuge and a
tolerance for their institution of slavery. But the edifice they
sought to build up crumbled to the ground, and they are now left
without even a safe refuge for their pride. Yes, my son, these
people scorned the example of the Christian world, went to war in
defense of a great crime, and ceased only when they had destroyed
themselves.
I have been thus serious while instructing you as to how the war
began, because I am aware that a very large number of writers will
tell you that it began in a very different manner. If the account I
may hereafter give of what took place at the siege may be less
serious, you must charge it to my love for the truth of history.
Indeed much that occurred during that remarkable military event, was
not of so serious a nature as is generally conceded by an
intelligent public. Unless, then, it be written down as it occurred,
we shall not convey a faithful picture of it to the public.
Now that the war spirit was full to the brim, the people of the
South gathered in great numbers on the plains of Manassas. They were
earnest, serious, and even savage in their intentions; and they
brought with them their powder and shot-guns, and a large quantity
of whisky. They also brought with them a great number of negroes,
who were to build the forts, and do all work it would not become a
gentleman to do. And while this work was progressing, the
"gentlemen" soldiers of the South were to talk very loudly and
courageously, and invite all the Yankees round about to come out and
get whipped. These people resolved themselves into a great and
powerful army, with Peter Beauregard, the French gentleman of whom I
have before spoken, for its commander. This gentleman was somewhat
eccentric, and much given to saying things, the true meaning of
which he did not understand. A waggish friend of mine once told me
that this Mr. Beauregard was educated for an apothecary at West
Point, a place where young gentlemen are instructed in the various
ways of getting a living honestly. Being very skillful in the use of
mortars, he was held by Mr. Davis as a most proper person to command
a southern army, inasmuch as he could give the Yankees all the
physic they wanted in the shortest time. And as it is always
expected that a great general will say a great many things that are
neither sensible nor wise, and which afford politicians an excellent
opportunity of picking them to pieces, he is a wise general who
issues his orders and keeps his lips sealed on politics. I say this,
my son, because it is popularly understood that a general who knows
his business bears the same relations to a politician that pepper
does to the stomach.
And it came to pass that the people of the North and the people of
the West became seriously alarmed at the capers Mr. Beauregard and
his men were cutting at Manassas. Indeed, many false reports were
circulated concerning the great power of this Mr. Beauregard; and
our people began to give way to their fears, and to declare that he
might enter the capital any dark night and capture or send the
Government on a traveling expedition. The aged gentlemen at the head
of our Government shook their heads discouragingly, and declared
there was no safety in going to bed at night while Mr. Beauregard
was so near a neighbor. The honest farmers in the country round
about were also very much alarmed at the unruly conduct of Mr.
Beauregard's men, who carried off their pigs and chickens, and eat
up all their vegetables. They also made a great noise, and planted
guns on all the adjacent hills, a proceeding the honest farmers did
not fully comprehend. Then these unruly men became very defiant,
felt like fighting the world, and, in the honest belief that they
could do it, invited all the rest of the nation to come out and get
whipped. Yes, my son, and to show what confidence they had in
themselves, they said we might bring "five for one;" and for that
matter, all Germany and all Ireland. It was considered wisdom with
them to say nothing about England and France. Those two peaceably
inclined nations might, at some future day, be disposed to step in
and help them out--in a quiet way. It was not so much humanity as a
matter of profitable trade with these two great nations, and if
things should take a successful turn, they might see the confederacy
in a strong light, and give it material as well as moral help,
notwithstanding it had slavery for its foundation. In short, these
Southern gentlemen acted on the wise axiom, that it will not do to
make enemies in a direction where you may need friends and
assistance.
Now, my son, the eccentric French gentleman, of whom I have spoken
as capable of administering physic enough to settle the question
with the Yankees, soon became an object of great admiration with his
noisy people. And this so pleased him, that he came in time to
admire himself, and to firmly believe in his own mind that the world
had no greater warrior. Self-confidence, my son, is one of the most
necessary things in war. I have sometimes thought that this element
of an army's strength was not fully understood. It was at least not
understood by us when the war began. If it had been, a much less
number of our people would have shared Mr. Beauregard's opinion of
himself. As it was, our timid people so magnified his proportions as
to see danger in his very shadow. But then, my son, we were very
innocent of the practical part of war when the great rebellion
began; and this innocence led us into the very grave error of giving
our adversary more than his proper dimensions. It was this that led
the Northern mind to over-measure Mr. Beauregard.
I have always had a good deal of sympathy for Mr. Beauregard, and
never believed him anything but a pleasant, harmless gentleman, who
got into bad company by mere accident. Nor do I believe he ever had
any more serious design on the capital of the nation than to look at
it longingly from a distance, and perhaps a desire now and then to
enjoy the hospitality of some old friend. That he would have played
the ruthless invader, if he had got into the city, no reflecting
mind ever believed. But then there were people ready enough to
believe anything in those days--even to believe that there was truth
to be found in the stories told by Mr. Detective Baker.
It was natural enough that Mr. Beauregard should amuse his soldiers
by telling them romantic stories of the pleasant days he had spent
in Washington, as well as the great value of what it contained. It
was necessary also that he should ascertain how far the Government
at Washington could be frightened, and what were the best means to
that end. You must know, my son, that a Frenchman regards it as one
of the first principles in war to find out how far you can frighten
your adversary before proceeding to fight him. This will account for
a good deal that Mr. Beauregard said and did while at Manassas, and
which, at the time, was somewhat unintelligible.
As we were not sure, however, as to what the real intentions of Mr.
Beauregard and his master were, it was concluded that we could
better preserve our respect for them, as well as the peace of mind
of our own people, by applying the proper means to keep them at a
respectful distance outside. Indeed the capital contained a great
many things which would be extremely useful to an ambitious
gentleman resolved on setting up a government of his own, and with
the machinery all working according to his own way of thinking. And
as the honest intentions of these ambitious men (I refer to Mr.
Beauregard and his master) were no more to be trusted than their
loyalty, we set our engineers to work building a cordon of forts,
such as the world had never seen before, and supposed to be strong
enough to keep all our enemies out. And these forts were mounted
with such reasoning powers as the largest cannon in the world were
capable of.
Among the things in Washington so very desirable to a gentleman
about to set up a government of his own was the White House. Mr.
Davis had long regarded this pleasant looking old mansion as a
desirable residence for a gentleman born to rule over a people. Once
comfortably seated in this pleasant mansion, a wonderful change
would be worked in the political opinions of those whose minds were
in doubt. Considered as master of the situation, his friends in the
North would increase fourfold. And there was no knowing the turn
respect for him abroad might take. A gentleman quietly settled down
in the White House, if only for four years, is sure to have a large
increase in the number of his friends, all ready either to accept
his favors or sound his virtues. Even slavery, that had scourged
mankind for so many generations, would have found a great increase
of friends and admirers if Mr. Davis had made a home in the White
House; so prone is weak human nature to bow to power. Indeed, I am
not so sure that, with such a turn in our political affairs, those
preachers who had been asserting the divine origin of slavery would
not then have proclaimed that God himself was its great protector--a
blasphemy the Christian Church will some day be ashamed of.
In addition to the White House being a desirable residence for Mr.
Davis, there were those fine public buildings so much admired by
strangers. They were just what Mr. Davis and his friends wanted in
starting a new government, and would come in very handy. With
Washington in his possession, and our worthy President and his
Cabinet locked up in the arsenal, or sent on a traveling expedition
into a colder climate for the benefit of their health, Mr. Davis's
new enterprise would become a fixture in the history of nations. And
there was a time when Mr. Davis could, with the means in his power,
have accomplished all these things.
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