Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-08-17
AN ENGLIsHMAN'S VIEWS OF THE
AMERICAN WAR
Russelrs Letters to the Lenden Times

Gen. Scott a fattering pdSSe-p -partOut for the
army, but, in addition, was armed with
British passport and an ordinary pass from
Gen. Mansfeld's Office. No unauthorized
person is allowed to visit any of the military
posts, but there is little real efficacy in any
system of passes On a large scale. The visitors
most formidable to camps are diseases and al
though this army is not very sickly, there are
certain signs in some of the corps that care
Will be required to prevent the spread of the
epidemics and disrrhea, scurvy and dysentery.
There Is, indeed, Sanitary Commission al
ready at work, headed by a distinguished
Unitarian minister, DIR. Bellows, whose quail
fcation for hunting bad smells are not obvious,
and provided with the services, as secretary,
of the indefatigable, earnest, Jealous author of
the works on slavery which have attracted at
tentien In England, Mr.. f. l.. 0lmsted. On it
are medical men and chemists of reputation,
and 1t Is to be hoped their representations will
be better attended to to than those of Sir J M
Neil and DR.. Sutherland though their mission
is fear not more popular among commanding
officers. They complain of want of authority,
but suggestions have been made to them which
will probably be embodied in a Bill One of
Grants cooking wagons would probably be
an acceptable present as a pattern for there
as more mischief in bad cooking than in bad
smells, and the food of an American soldier
does not appear calculated to keep men healthy
IN camp. Chollets preparations are about
being introduced, and the vendors of preserved
meats have great career before them nor
are the holders of ght wines likely to want a
market As confederate aide-de-camp said
he war times we expect nothing better than
grape ana canister" In this cOnnexion, as
our American brethren are pleased to say, I
may, as an instance of The knowledge and
temper displayed by some journals in New York
as 10 English affairs, and above all, English
military history, relate that one of them re-
Gently In an elaborate article dwelt upon the
great misery and destitutien of the British
army In the Crimea, and the neglect of the
government, at the very time the Emperor
Napoleon, with a prOvident foresight, had
sent out no less person than the famous
french cook SOyer to dress the food of his bat
tallOns! This, however, was not quite so sur
prisIng as the statement in another, think,
that the English infantry at Inkermann were
charged oy cavalry, and beat them back by
tne elegant and simple expedient Of forming
IN line four deep
In the evening l was invited by Mr. Blair,
rather OF the Postmaster General, to accompa-
ny him on visit to Arlington Heights, across
the Potomac, which are the headquarters of
brlgsdler-General Mcdowell, commanding the
troops which cover Washington on the South
Mr.. Blair is we'll known as one of the oldest
ana most prominent, able and active members
oil the Republican party, and he is also one
VINO was persuaded long ago that the present
coHhlet was inevitable, and that ii would come
sooner or later in consequence Of the hold
which the " treason" of Secession had taken
on the minds of the Southern people he has
lived to see bis judgment verified How short
American history seems when we see Washing
ton menaced With hostile armies drawn from
the States Of the Union, and speak to men who
have seen IN the flesh the man who gave his
name to this capital
"i've stood upon Achilles tomb
And heard Troy doubted-Time may doubt Of
Rome"
To the Americans Of the North il is little
short Of blssphemy to doubt of the Union,
which is now dissolved by rebellion, and can
only be cemented again by blood. The motto
of Belgium is s'L' Union fair la force" the
motto of the Re-United States ought to be
"L1 Force far FURtOR" | would sooner
outrage all the OrthOdoxies in Boston than de-
clare my belief, in that city, that Great Britain
will outliye the great Republic, though it may
not be better to be blasphemous and live than
to be honest and be pelted TO death. The real
Northern Union man probably believes in his
soul, as ne takes down his musket to fight
against the citizens of eleven Confederate
states, that when the famous New Zealander
with an eye for the picturesque, takes his seat
on the broken arch of London Bridge to sketch
the ruins Of st. PauPs, United States pass
Port will be in the pocket of the enterprising
member Of the Hskedsdi Travellers, and that
New England policeman will be in attend
ance to show the visitors over the remsins of
the British empire. Arlington Heights, to
which We are proceeding, was the property of
Mr.. Custis, son Of Mrs. George Washington
by her first husband, and il belongs, if not
forfeited or escheated by treason to the SOW
ereignty OF the United States, to General Lee
who is now in the Confederate armies Follow
the train Of thought, and you may become as
perplexed as / am in reference to the possible
status OF the pateT PEtri9, whose family man
SION, not very many miles lower down the
same bank of the Potomac, belongs to a
descendant, whe is also in arms against the
North. II is easier to follow the broad dusty
road, over the long bridge which connects
Washington city with the Virginan shore and
the road to Alexandria, the spires of which
appear above the treetOpS. Passes are ex-
amined by the soldiers Of the post at the Co.
lumbar side OF the river, and the process is
repeated on the wooden causeWay which Is
called a bridge, and at the post on the other
side, where men were busy cutting down pine
trees to make stockass or palisade across the
road. Slowly telling past camps, earthworks
filled With cannon and Volunteer soldiery, up
towards height covered with trees, the party
gained the plateau, on the top of which stands
Arlington House and the camp of the 9Th New
York Regiment, who were just turning out for
evening parade. They were drawn up in line,
having wheeled into il from columns Of compa-
nies; the eye was at once arrested by certain
white cross-belts breaking the uniformity Of
the line Of black waistbelts, as well as by other
deficiencies Of uniformity. But the men were
take them all in all, above the average Of good
infantry regiments. A strong body Of drum
mers on the French model beat some noisy
rappel; the colOrs were saluted, then arms were
shOuldered, or sloPed, or presented; rear rank
took open order, and then the whole regiment
was exercised in a run at the double round
the camp, with the noisy drums at their head
and the parade seemed over. The approach
to Arlington House bears marks of rough
usage, and the mansion itself, a very ugly edi.
fee, which locks as if the architect at first in
tended to build q Methodist meeting house.
and had got ss far as Doric portioO of stu
pendous dimensions, when he was suddenly
moved to continue his designs with view to
found lunatic asylum Of the Hsnwell type,
may not be the better for the presence Of the
military. The rooms inside are lofty and COM
Portable enough. Some of the walls are deco
rated with remarkable works by Mr.. Custis,
VINO evidently did not possess the advantage
OF srswing master, and had limited natural
capacity Tor art but the true patriot has a
soul sooVe color or form, and as the works in
question are intended to immortalize the over
tnro" OF the British rule, and destroy a tyran-
ny almost as bad as that which the North az