The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1861-12-05
LETTERS FROM "TIIE DOCTOR.-
A Visit to Dixie, and What Saw There
SEMINARY llospIrAL,

| nau Tue pleasure, Yesterday, ut making "A
flying visit to Dj>ic. The day was very
unpleasant as there VAS a STRONG aud chill.
ing northwest wind. had another y,uu,
surgeon of the hospital in company with
me. We hired an open one horse buggy
and horse for .to"r dollars, from II n. m,
until 6 p. m. The ferry across the Po,o-
mae is at the foot of High street, in this
city. 1t is tiath"at, and is propelled by
man power. by means nfa rope stretched
from shore to shore. 1t is ccvtainI, the
most antiquatcd way Of crossing a river
have ever read of. am pleased to state,
though, that IN ii few days it will he dis
placed by steam ferry boats that have
been running between PHILADELPHIA and
Camden, NJ. After crossing the Poto-
mac, which, by the way, is IL noble river,
we struck into Virginia at 2:4O gait
Every few steps we would meet sentinel
who would demand Il pass. The first for,
we came t" was Corcuran. named after
Col. Corc"ran, of,hc 10Th n y regiment.
1t is a splendid fort and commands "A vast
extent Of country. will here state that
there is a long range of forts. the one com.
mandIng the other, for more thun ten miles,
extending from the Potomac below Alex
andra to the chain bridge. You can form
n" idea OF the stratcgetic position of the
'or's, as we'll as the impossibility of the
capture of Washington, by way Of Airing
ton Heights, without seeing il for yourself
There is Il vast chain Of Notifications
mounting the long PARROT guns. Even
should the rebels succeed in passing thro'
between the front forts they will only meet
with terrible cross as well as direct fires,
from rear range Of fortiticatiuns. Then
t" reach these forts they will have to pass
for miles and miles over fallen trees and
across bitches, cNp,sed all the while, to
the most calling fires. So ynu may at
once quiet your fears in regard to the pos
SibiIi;y "tthc capture of Washincton. Any
one who is disposed to blame the Govern.
ment with inactivity will be etltctualy
cured by looking at the vast and gigantic
preparations that have been made to pre-
vent Washington from falling into the
hands of rebel hordcs. Now WASHINGTON
is SAFE and already fleets are being fitted
out that are making their marks on the
south Atlantic coast.
We were at Balls Cross Roads. Bailey's
Cross Roads, on Munsons, Minons and
pton's Hills upon all of which there are
! formidable batteries. Near Munsun' S
Hill we struck the turnpike leading to Al.
eAandria, whichwc followed until ". came
to that city. We stopped with the n. ].
Brigade, at the Episcopal Theological Sem
mary, which is now used as general hos
pItaI, or rather Brigade hospital. From
the observatory of this building we had u
splendid vie" of the whole country for
miles around We here got return papers
from Brig. Gen. kearney All along this
turnpike one utter scene Of demolition and
devastation presents itself 1t is imposs-
ble for you to imagine that you are in an
old country; or where it does look old it
looks nnnatnraIly so. The trees are fell
ed in all directions, the fences are torn
down, the houses dcsroiled aud everyt
indicative of the ravagcs of war. Vast
military cncampments meet your eye at
every turn, and the bug!es echo and drums
enliveninr sound fall strangely ON the ear.
Virginia is paying dearly for this sclfim-
posed war, and her Imprisoned Mason no
doubt wishes now that hc at least had
never engaged in it.
Before arriving at Alexandria we went
into Fort Ellsworth; the best, believe, in
Virginia. We had the pleasure of going
around through the fort and looking at the
crripsitics. 1t is heavily mounted with |
guns Of the longest range and heaviest cal
ibre and stands on a commanding posi-
ton. The guns are mostly rif'cd -
Founders. ! saw here what had often |
read Of, but never bad a correct idea before
namely, grape shot. They were abont
the size of the largest black walnnts with
the "hull' on. There are about twelve of
them arranged cy'indrically between two
fat round plates, held together by an IRON
bolt passing from one to the other. The
shot are kept in their place by two iron
rings passing around them about equi dis
tant from each other, and on line with
the plates. This put together in this man
ncr constitutes a charge, and when dis
charged the rings, and balls, and plates
sepcrate, and each proves death dealing
missive.
Around on the outside Of the fort is
deep ditch, about six feet deep and ten
wide. Outside of this is a defense Of trees.
SO arranged that the sharp and fnrked ends
stand out in all directions. making in itself
an almost impossible barrier, even if no
firing were going on.
After We had seen all we could at the fort
we started for Alexandria, where we ar
rived about II p. IN. 1t is the dreariest,
most dismal and most fororn looking
place was ever in. But for the soldiers
who are there it would be perfectly intol-
cradle, 1t is an oId-fishioncd, dingv.
dirty looking place, with scarcely any thing
to make one believe that a people Of even
moderate energy live there. We visited
the Marshall House, ana asked to be
shown the spot where Ellsworth fell. A
soldier gallan;ly lent us his guidance. The
railing of the stairs is all torn down, and
on the third floor, where Ellsworth fell,
the floor, for considerable distance, is
torn up and the joce Clipped off, all to
get ''interesting rcics' was strongly
tempted to splinter of piece too. but
then thought it would hardly pay and did
not. The walls are literally covered With
pencil marks, breathing patriotism and
revenge, and shaving a long list OF names
of soldiers. The Stars and Stripes Loaf
defiantly from the top Of the building, and