The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1814-08-27
TO ARMS, TO ARMS ,

.,S ."s OF ueatn ['refiQre, prepare. : fine
Phiiistines be upon you.
! In what words shalt we break Tho t;,,;,rs
to the ear 2 Tile blush OF shame and Of ,.,.s
tmsses the cheek, while we say that Washing
ton has been III the hands of the enemy -
ne Capitol and the Presidents hous.. are in
RUNS The particulars CT this meiancholv
news have reached us in so confused a way.
That we are unable to state then, with system
or precision. Such Is they are, we give them
. precisely as we get them.
we were appiised on Tuesday and We'd
"esuay, OF the advance OF the enemy, as web
as the march of our reinforcemcnts. Put the
extent OF their force as well as or o.,7, was
entrely.a secret The most sanenine had
iflttered down the force OF tho enemy to 6 O.,
foOJ--the mcst calculating put i down at 10
OF i2,OOo. Our own force was var:ouslv re-
ported trom 10 iO,O00--and we were in
hi9res that by delaying the march of the inva-
uei' sunicient relnforcements would press for
ward TO cut him from his shipping. We heard
1hat troops were pouring in from all elirecti-
ons--and we had some hores that they wmld
arrive IN time to baifle his scheme OF cevast.-
ton.
nings stood thus, until "Wednesday last
IN the course of that day, various explosions
were heard by different individuals like the
rnnhoine sound of thunder--vet no sneck of
Cloud tinged the ilorizon--the wind was against
inc sound, II 1t came from the Potomac-and
many persons were OF opinion that IT could not
iTaVei trorn such a distance under such Cir
cumstances-yet every eve was bept unou
Washington, and the general impression was
that tins mysterious explosion came from that
quarter and that it was the roar of the artilie
cy' at Port Warburton.
cn Thursday, 8 o'clock, the Accommoda-
ton f'tsge arrived. The report of tine mas
sehgers was, that the enemy was pressing
or 70 the. city, that Gen. Wnder finding him.
sen unao.a to cope with them at that nioment.
iiao thrown himself in their rear with 5oOU
.roops-and that corps or equal amount
were accommodating, and would collect at Bla-
uersburg, about mldsdsy, on "Wednesday. in
.me to take the enemy in front, and arrest
ms march to the city It was said, that .
500 troops had pushed on from Baltimore
@ooO from Stansbury's brigade, IN the county
OF baltimore, that Barney had blown nm his
not'iia, and joined our troops with 500 of his
brave crew that Rodgers, wHh lis com
races was pushing on from Philadelpiic, &
thae variety OF reinforcements were nsar-
invader. ''--
On thursday night, we had no mail from
washington This was ominous Put we had
printed sheet and few letters from Alex,
aiiorla' Inns seemed to prove that on We'd
nesday the mail communication between these.
TWO places was cut eff. 1t was too true Our
an:ious cltlzens retired from the Post Office.
lnu OF corJectures, full of melancholy forebo-
dings.
Yesterday morning the disastrous tale
reached our ear. Two gentlemen arrived
IN IN inc stage Mr.. Johnson from North Caro-
ma and DR.. Judah from II. York.--Thev
nad passed through Washington on Wednes-
day-they had seen our troops on the retreat
they heard the explosion, and saw TIE iirht
OF our blazingshouses.
ihey were travelling in the Stage from
haitimore-near Bladensburg, they were met
Dy shi1ek'ng females, who reported that the
enemy were approaching They saw our.
troops posted on the h;ll on this side, prepar
cd to meet the enemy. The Stage was there
lore DRIVEN out of the mail road-into cir
cuitous route, nor did they strike it again I'M
lthey entered Washington near the Post
ounce. I'D the mean time they heard the ex-
pioslon OF the guns and saw the smoke ascen-
Ding, they supposed at Bladensburg. The
sound and smoke lasted from 90 to 40 minutes.
I. Opr troops were seen upon the Capitol-hiH on
the retreat, the militia scattered and in con-
fusion--the Volunteers Of Bajtimore and o.
thers, IN hne order. They were supposed to
be retreatng on the road towards Frederick
town. Finding the crowd Coming on, and re-
treating, these Gentlemen thought it HIGH
time To provide tor their own safety--and as
no stage offered Itself at Daviss, where tbey
stopped, they left their baggage behind them.
SEEING only few articles for their Immediate
accommodations. While engaged in this Of
ice they heard the CRY of IS There goes the
PRESIDENT this was on the PENNSYLVANIA f.
venue, leading from the Capitol to his House.
One OF them looked up and saw him DRIVING
in carriage to his house They sabseouentlv
understood, that he had been in the acton.
doing all he could to animate the trocps.
Messrs. Johnson and Judah, made, for. trc
oto'pac, which they crossed on the great Po-
toniac bridge, along with nearly 900 baggage
Wagons hey saw an officer and few men
wounded IN the waggons--and understood dat
few OF the British had been taken prisoners.
IN Alexandria, they understood the Com
mon Council had met and were debating to
send terms OF capitulation to the merciless en-
emy-repor stated, the offer of a million of
dollars to spare the city.--No stage offering at
Alexandra, they took the way ON foot to DC
co9uan, where they entered the stage and
arrived with all the alacrity of an expS,ess In
our city. About eight o'clock, they heard Vi
client explosions +; thick smoke and floods of
light succeeded, which they concluded TO be
the Capitol and Presidents house devoted to
ruin--Ihe light continued until daylight. so
bright, as to have enabled them to read a
newspaper,
The particulars Of the engagement, the
particulars OF the cOnlagratiOn, are OF course
unknown to us. They are yet to be told
Different accounts are given Of the conduct of
the militia--onc, to their credit-the other,
very much to their DISGRACE Roinfo,,c eu,e,,+,