The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1861-07-04
NO. f..

The Devastation at KEarper,s Ferry
A special correspondent Of the Philadelphia
Inquirer gives graphic account of the devasta-
ton at .Harper's Ferry, brought about by the
Rebels. He writes on the evening of the 18th
inst:
APPEARANCE ofthe Village at til at Hour.-The
arsenal, the bridge, the tressel-work and found
ry in the upper end of the village were still
burning; the soldiers and citizens were trying
to keep the flames from spreading to the private
houses. On the high promentory in the rear
of the church about two thousand rebels. We're
gathered On the railroad track near the bridge
men we've seen pouring grain into the river
"Cont1Gband Goods. AS our skiff drew up
to the bank on the Virginia side, we noticed
two large ebony ''contrabands' hiding behind
a wall; as we got out and told our ferryman 10
wait for us there, and not to leave till we were
ready to return, the man, (worth in good times
8 ,S00) came out and said, eyes he will come
right back me and my daughter Joe,", (worth
5 l ,20O) want to 90 over now, and It won t take
long; only few minutes!" We made no re-
ply, in they got, and off went $4,000 of Virgin
las wealth. ,e.ls
Wager HOuse.-We entered hole III the wall
and proceeded to the front street, going through
the rear of the Wager House, where a wagon
load of hospital furniture was standing. The
tongue had broken, the horses had been I'M
hitched and the wagon left. The kitchen was
the most filthy place we ever saw; the stencil
was almost suffocating. In the centre of mass
| of putrid garbage was an aged negro cooking
'corn cakes" Holding our nose we passed
rapidly to the upper story; the carpets had
been taken up and cut into blankets for the
troops; no good furniture was lett in the house,
and the few inmates had not recovered from the
fright Of the previous day, with the buildings
in flames all around them, and not knowing
what moment they would share the same fate.
Leaving this hotel which had been a rendez-
vous for the officers, and where they INDUCED
in meals, prepared in hole that in Philadel-
phia, even in the outskirts, would be indicted as
nuisance, we passed over to the
Government BuiLdingS-The Flag Stqf.-As
we entered, the flag staff was still there, and
from the top floated narrow strip of TIE rag
boosted on the 18th Of April by the rebels, on
which were the arms of Virginia About ton
feet Of rope remain at the top of the pole which
is about fifty feet high. The flag was torn to
shreds by a storm one night about month ago,
and the rope breaking, they had not ingenuity
enough in the whole twenty thousand to replace
it without cutting down the pole and replacing
it, which required too much exertion. In the
Blacksmth's shop, viii CHS nearly new and per-
fecty fire proof the contents, an old vice, "a few
horseshoes, some scraps of iron, lot of over
the building in manner that showed that the
f. f. VS. had had rather rough sleeping
apartments on the cold, damp ground.
West Of of all this is one heap of blackened
ruins, and the smoke was still rising from the
burning embers. At the side of the shop was
a stofehouSe land "J ohm Browns Engine House."
These buildings could not be burned without
destroying the town, and so were spared The
two old fashioned hand engines were standing
AllDo 49, Al. IL
been in use the previous day. All the fire plugs
and various pipes had been left running over
the buildings and yard
| J0tn BrOVN's FOrt.--The Engine House is
left by the Yirginians just as il was when old
j ohm Brown evacuated the place. Sitting dowa
| on the door step and gazing around at the dis
tressed and desolate condition of the yard,
problem arose in our own mind IF John Brown
could hold the town for over two days with sew
eHteen men, aud one Southern man has since
been found to be equal to five Northern men,
and Southern army of twenty thousand held
| the place, how long could they have kept pos
session of it with "Lincoln's hordes merely
threatening an attack Oh, ye braggarts how
your courage oozes out at your fingers ends ,ex-
cept when shielded by masked batteries.
The arsenal. the street, we found
immense piles of musket and rife barrels, that
have been dug out of the ruins of the building
y.
All the straight barrels had been selected and
taken away In piles around the yard were the
iron works OF the pieces destroyed. We select
ed few for mementoeS.
The Shenandoah BTidge-Just above where
the Shenandoah flows into the Potomac is a fine
bridge, that must have cost $25, goo. This has
not been molested, though two barrels of tar and
some cotton show that they were ready to burn
it at any time they saw fit.
Engine too Misunderstanding ON the track,
in front of the hotel was engine No. l55, of the
Baltimore q Ohio Road. This engine was fred
and was to leave on Friday afternoon, with eight
cars of provisions, and machinery for the Rich
mond Armory, and guard to demolish the
track and bridges as they passed. but when they
came to put the engine the road they found
it was too heavy for the track and they were
compelled to leave it, Orders were then given
TO throw the provision into the river, which con
sisted of coffee, sugar and molasses, and sever.
al thousand bushels OF corn and rye. It filled
three cars ard had never been bought by them
off the railroad. All the light machinery ofthe
five trucks was consigned to the river and the
heavy pieces left.
Rife a0orks sate.-One of the last chances we
took was up the Shenandoah, at the rifle works,
which were safe at p. M.
TrasSeL econt near RiUer.-The trussel work
along the river on which the cars run, was fred
about three hundred yards above the hotel and
all the wood work consumed west of that point.
The main body is iron, and rests on stone piers
1t is yet good, and the wood work on top can
soon be replaced.
The Magazine. the top of the hill is the
magazine. 1t remains unframed, save being
emptied OF its contents.
appearance Of the tovn-The town is almost
entirely abandoned. We did not see a0oman
IN the streets, or looking out from a aoindoao or
door; about thirty OF forty miserable looking
men were to be seen around the corners, doing
nothing, and gazing at US in suen silence,
All the good houses are shut up from top to
bottom. The schools churches, and all pub
lie buildings are open, the vilest flthe St look
ing dens we ever saw. They are all used as
barracks.
The Camp GTOund-The camp ground is va
Gated thoroughly, no article of any value is left;
about million buzzards and vultures are how
ering around clump of trees where they had
slaug htered large lot of beef and sheep for the
next days provisions
Their Forces and Informs From all the
information we could gather, there were twenty
thousand, all soeH armed, but their equipments
were ofmany colors and styles They did not
have regiment of one regular uniform, except
the Kentucky Regiment of six hundred which
had on common jean. Their buttons have on
the Confederate Coat of Arms, but many have
arms OF the State they came from.
Their destination. noon on Saturday
the main body were ten or twelve miles out on
the turnpike towards Winchester. The heat
was so oppressive that it was with difficulty the
men could get along. None went towards
Leesburg or Martinsburg, as was reported.
! False RepOrtS.-No men were hung or shot
| before they left, as was reported. Several were
compelled to go along who had joiend the vol
unteer companies at the time of the John Brown
excitement, who did not wish to fight against
the Stars and Stripes. We left at S p. M, and
as we came to Point of Rocks we saw six cav
airy on the Virginia side.
| artillery. They are badly off for Flying Ar
tillerya and never had strong Notifications on the
surrounding hill tops, except half dozen small
| pieces.
Railroad Buildings 70 buildings of the Bal
timore 81 Ohio Railroad Company we're destroy