The weekly Ottumwa courier., 1861-05-22
From Occasional" in Forney's Prees.,
Robert Anderson

s:s
Among all the lions now attracting the at
! tention Of strangers in and residents o
Washington, stimulating the curiosity ofthe
outside world, Robert Anderson, as he called
himself in his great despatch to the Secreta-
" of War after his gallant defence Of Sum.
ter, Major of the First Artillery of the Army
Of the United States, has unquestionably
awakened the most interest | met him
yesterday, and studied his character from an
earnest survey of his appearance. Robert
Anderson is a singularly unpretcnding man,
of medium height, a complexion evidently
bronzed by exposure and hard service, iron
gray hair, and slightly bald, a face closely
shaven, a large blue gray eye, deep set and
overshadowed by a heavy eyebrow thin,
compressed lips fine forehead his features
long and fixed, indicating selfreliance, com.
posure of mind, and withal wearing the
semblance of the greatest benevolence. He
seemed to avoid observation and to be some.
W hat oppressed with the knowledge that he
was the centre of it. When I saw him he
was in one Of the departments, and strolled
! from room to room with hands full Of pa
pers, quietly humming an air, and evidently
unconcerned and satisfied that he had done
his duty. should judge his years to be at
least forty five. Major Anderson has re-
turned from Charleston more than ever i'm
pressed with the belief that but for the in
tervention of a experimenting Providence
he could not have escaped sacrfc to the
savage and unprovoked attacks of the Dis
unionlsts. Silent as he is, and cautious in
the utterance of his sentiments, he does
not conceal his opinion that under the sur
face of their ostentatiouS courtesy these
men bore to him, as the representative Of a
flag they feared becau' they had insultedit,
deep, implacable hatred. There Is one
opinion he does not hide, either from Presi-
dent or Cabinet ministers, and that is that
the hand of God has been stretched forth to
protect our Union, and to save it from its
adversaries. But for the unprovoked attack
on Sumter the Northern people would have
been divided into factions Had he evacua.
ted it, as at one time proposed his own fame
would have suffered, and the Government
would have fallen into contempt. The
| Secessionists would have taken courage, and
the Dsunionists in the free States would
have taunted the friends of the Administra-
ton with want of resolution, and would have
insisted upon a recognition of the Southern
Confederacy In fact, nothing prevented
the evacuation Of this fortress but the arro-
gance of the Disuniouists, who, inflated
with the hope that by their ten thousand
men they could easily extcrminate less than
one hundred, refused to allow the Admins
tration 10 furnish him supplies, and therefore
compelled him to defense which, while sa.
wing the Government from overthrow, has
immortalized his own name. The victory Of
these thousands of fmadmen, achieved after a
/ terrible destruction Of their own stolen forts
and do not doubt, after heavy loss of life
among their own troops, intoxicated them
with the expectation of an easy conquest o
j the Government, and no doubt instigated
the mobs of Baltimore to the attack upon
the Massachusetts, soldiery so that, when
Major Anderson reached New York, and
4 when he arrived in Washington, he found
not only grateful people glad to do him
honor, but a people consolidated around the
| Administration, tired of making peaceful
propositions to traitors, burning to avenge
unprovoked wrongs and resolved that nc
truce should be agreed upon until a complete
surrender had been made to the authority
of the law and the Executive, and ful
return of all the property forcibly seizet
upon by the Disuniouists.
! The Administration, penetrated with ;
profound sense of the inappreciable service!
Of Anderson and his men, are ready t.
confer upon him any honor. The Presiden
would have gladly nominated him to on
of the highest military appointments iii hi
. gift, and it is believed that an offer wa
: made to him to 90 abroad for the purpose Q
restoring his health, greatly shattered b.
his long captivity behind the battlements c
Sumter. learn, however, that lie has il
reserve the fulflment of duty which h
believes he owes to his country, and tha,
after having settled his accounts, he will re
turn to his native State of Kentucky ant
there raise the banner of the Constitution
and the Union, and proclaim himself i
favor of the existing policy of the Govern
g ment. How much like Garibaldi, who
I putting behind him tine glittering honors eS
I tendedby Victor Emanuel, avoiding display
$ before the populace, retires to his little Islam
of Caprera,
"whose sapphire gates
fl Deguile him to her fair estates"
: to his Kentucky, there to rest him from hi
e tolls, and still, like the rcd-shirt General c
, Italy, ready to offer his life to his bellows
g country.
ENcAMrMENT OF THE FIRE ZouAvEs.-Co
Ellsworth has received orders to encamp ol
q Arlington Hights. His men are at once t
! erect tents and prepare for outdoor life. A
! this prospect they are delighted, and a
aoree that. having now fair start they nj