Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1861-06-15

[For The sunbury Americana
Letter from Washington.
WASHINGTON, June 10, 1861,

Wales--wherever 20 take rain. Wben L
entered Pittsburgh the atmosphere became
sultry, the sky black With clouds, sod IL
rained. of and on, for two weeks. Al Hsr-
sisburg gave them an old fashioned pour !
st Sunbury I brought you refreshing
shower, good for the crops" and at Phla-
idelphia l empbaticslly laid the dust. But
my greatest pluvious achievement was re-.
served for w ashpgton. i made my trium.
phal entry into this temple OF Liberty in a
good North East driEsle, and had the satisfac-
ton, two hours afterwards, Of being drspcbed,
as the Spanisrds say, to the marrow. For
two days 1t never raiped, but it poured,
making q promenade impossible, and the
blues "facts accomplished" while the streets
we're occupied only by impressible hsckmeu
spasmodc newsboys and Zouaves, who turned
out for wash. The women, who OCCASION
ally made their way along with the grace
peculiar to females on a muddy day, looked
like what they were-Undines ftom Africa,
and the men, II not from Africa, were AS
certainly not Uudines.
Yesterday, however, without clearing up.
it held up, and, taking advantage Of the lull
10 the storm, 10 company with several friends.
OF whom oar common friend S. j. Packer was
one, visited Alexandria, To me this visit
had something more OF interest than il bad to
most. At school upon the heights, back Of
the town, ! bad passed nearly two years OF
my boyhood. l knew every foot OF the
srooud. There wss cot house, wood,
stream, or field with which | was not
familiar, and the very sir of the place was
redolent with the sweet savor OF old associa-
tions. had not been there since had left
the school, but eager as I, was to revisit the
old scenes NY anticipstions were clouded by
the pomp auj circumstance Of the war which
al Il ht k,As
therefore, that ! embarked upon the Thomas
Collyer, then new boat, nop ar old oue.-
AS we steamed over the river we saw nothing
but war, war, war. From the Arsenal
frowned great pieces Of artillery, among
which moved swarms Of soldiers. Along the
right bank stretched long lines OF eOcamp.
ments, and the white tents glimmered from
among the peaceful groves OF Arlington
liouse. Everywhere we saw the presence OF
u Government in arms, and as We neared the
town we passed under the open poTt-holes of
The Powbattan.
The last time that I had seen Alexandria
was one beautiful bright July morning iu the
year 1851. 1t was at Oh early hour, when
ride OF three miles bad sharpened a scholboys
appetite, which tue city II ote had with much
,rlbulstion sRis6ed, and when my heart beat
high OF ths thought that the thaldrOm Of
school vas over aud tha. the joys and rights
Of vacation lay before me. The mists OF the
morning had iouted oG, leaving the bright
sun to shine unlnterruptedly upon the calm
surface Of the river, the wharves began to
bo astir with life, the streets to fill with
negroes going to the market, the stores to
Opeu, aud the old town, never very lively,
seemed to wake up earlier than ueual that
day. The whole scene was one Of perfect
peace aud quiet, and | breathed the stmos.
phere Of repose. AS the boat moved of aud
! Hung half fearful adieu to the black boy
who stood on the wharf and cried out, Come
back sooD, Mas'r, come back so0n," how
little thought that when / did come back,
1t would be as Oh invader of the soil that
helped to nourish me. Invader Shade Of
Liberty, fergive me. | was no more au inva.
der yesterday than | was ten years before.
Now, | behave myself and let peoples pro,
perty alone tbsn-but if you want to hear
of bair breadth escapes, come down and ask
the neigbboring orchard owners Of the errors
OF the Free Companions 10 the brave days Of
old.
When landed yesterday 10 Alexandria, l
landed 10 u deserted city. A before, the
scene was one Of life, it Was uow one of death.
Save the passengers tuearly all miiltary,) and
few soldiers, there was not one living thing
TO be seen. The warehouses we're ell closed,
the occasional smack or schooner that you
saw was rotting q. 10 wharf, DO dray rumbled
over the street, no carriage was waiting, no
merchant hurried by, but the scene was one
Of blank desolatioB, from which commerce
had hnrriedly fed. AS we passed up King
street, the main street Of the town, We saw no
further signs Of life, except now and then on
open store, which guped n vain for customers
while the owner lolliug 10 the door mournfuliy
eyed us rs We went by. The negroes We met
hao forgotten how TO laugh, even they we're
moody aud silent, and upon the cellar doors
would Euddle groups OF men, who would return
our glance with averled faces or fairly scowl
st US With a contemptuous tneer. Even the
domestic animals seemed to have fed with
their owners. for 10 sSme Of the streets the
sight Of dog or u cat would have been
relief to .he desostion.
We soon came TO the Marshall House,
which was filled with u detachment Of the
Pennsylvania Fifth. Passing through the
Office We went up the stairs to the scene Of
Ellsworth's murder. The illustrated papers
give but poor idea of the place. The
stairs, instead Of being broad, are narrow aud
steep, and the hall, from being large and open,
il ca6ned. cribbed and conGned The house
is indeseribably dirty sioce its occupstion by
the troops, the atmosphere close, aud rocking
with dozen distinct odors. and the whole
place forbidding 10 the last degree. In the
dining room was quarteIed a company of the
5th through which we were shown by o
Lieutebsnt, who treated US very kindly, and
from whom we heard the tslest blessing that,
We venture to say, has ye; been given to that
pride of PennsylVania, Andrew G. Curtin
If the Governor will take my advice, be will
not waste bis valuable time 10 writing any
more letters to the 5th-his epistolary style
not being appreciated by them. From the
Marshall House we started for the camps
aud lDtrenchments which are about hall or
threo quarters OF a nile from the little stream
that bOunds the town at the foot of Shutter s
hill. On the outskirts OF the city, 10 the
grounds of large brick building that is set
back from the street, lies a battery of light
artillery. On the other side of the stream is
encamped squadron OF cavalry, and the
fields back Of them, two regiments OF infantry,
one Of them composed Of the main body OF
1he Pennsylgonia 5th. Ascending the hill
we torn off from the road to wood in which
lies the Michigan lst, fine looking body oI
men, who we're busy at that hour cleaning
the guns and attending to camp duty. Going
through the wood we came upon an opeu
gDace. ON which a laroa gano of Irish m