The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-11-29
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
tour OWN CoRRESP PoNDENT.


MANASSAS, Nov. 9th.
been beautiful in Its day, although
its present appearance Il far nom
inviting. II is very compactly built,
and has some neat and handsome dwell
ings. The streets are narrow, but reg
ular, running parallel with and towards
the river. The houses are placed close upon
the streets, leaving no room for stdewalks,
and rs in some OF the narrow lanes of Naples.
one has TO tramp along the carriage way
through the mud and dirt. Formerly, I
should say the place was of some I'm por tancs
but now, nothing is doing, and, in fact, little
has been done since the attempt to raise an
abolition party in the town during The last
Presidential canvass in the United States. At
the upper portion 10 q stone mill, built for q
cotton factory, and below 1t two or three 9TH
ers, devoted 10 different manufactures. The
factory seems TO be in gooa repair, the
dam and raceway, the wheel, ana the ma
chinery inside. for spinning cotton being now
Just as they were some 1--WE or six years ago,
when the business was suspended. In the
centre OF the village is machine and black
smith shop, with water power, and at It's low.
er extremity, a tannery, i'll may Judge from
number Of hides hanging upon its wall
There is one Touring mill in operation but
little business is done in it on account Of the
difficulty of procuring grain. Before the war
the occupations OF the citizens 0f Occoquon
We're various. Some culngated small farms
IN 'tife siessfity, others gss iissnx ry hshfng
nearer markets, and in making barrels. The
town was bnilt up principally by Northern
artzans and mechanics coming with small
capital 10 set up business for themselves. In
1850 party sprung up headed by a man by
the name of Underwood, calling itself "the
Union party but which was only Il band of
Atolltlonlsts, principally of Northern birth
Underwood was justice In Prince William
county, but bv his freely expressed senti-
ments made himself obnoxious to his asso-
cltles, and they refused TO sit in court with
him. Thinking mild course would reclaim
him, the people offered terms of settlement,
which he refused, and became more bitter in
his error and more open III his express
sions of hostility to the South. FL
nally l nGerwood got few adherents, and
being man of some soon
ganIzei party that came out In open rebel
lion IL the loyal people of the section. A
Linccia flag was raised and threats made to
shoot any person who atten pied to remove
IL This was too great an outrage 10 be
borne, aud the citizens got together and cut
1t down, the first blow being struck by the
martyr Jackson. After this the matter was
settled by the States proceeding against
them, and The Union party went out of
existence. The men composing II have now
left the town, and are either in Washington
or fighting against us in the Lincoln army
Thsir houses are now deserted, except in
few instances, where some true Virginia
woman has refused 10 & O with her husband
into the lines OF the enemy.
The scenery around the village of Deco
quon Is very fine reminding one OF some OF
the nall Swiss valleys in captons Berne or
Zurich. The creek comes tumbling over a
rocky bed, while Its banks on either side are
precipitous and rocky. In one place, sin-
gle boulder rises above the stream to a height
of near one hundred feet. Beside the river,
running up it about three fourths Of 4 mile,
is the haule which carries water to the mills,
and beside it a fine path, where one can walk
and enjoy the scenery and the roaring of the
water. The opposite bank of the creek is
a nyrz Ci n II is,C
down Il towards the shore a. point where
there was formerly a bridge, but which is
now destroyed. Immediately at The rear of
the village, and rising abruptly above it, is q
high hill from which fine bird's-eye view
of the surrounding scenery can be had. Be
low lies the village, and beyond it the Occo-
Quon run winding towards the Potomac,
whose blue hue can be seen for several
miles.
Two miles below Occoquon village, on the
opposite side of the run, is Colchester. There
the steep hills end, and the road passes over
a comparatively level country to the ferry
1t is at this point the enemy will cross the
main portion OF his force, terrifying, proba.
bly,, the nearer hills, and then crossing under
cover Of the batteries. The river is about
one hundred yards wide. The only other
place for Il passage would be ford about a
mile and half above the village, where the
water is quite shallow. The roads here are
very bad and might be obstructed so as TO re-
tard the advance for some time. But it is
vet problematical whether McClellanintends
TO advance i'll that direction, or whether he
will choose to come further into thecouutry
and cross mt Wolf Run Shoals, near Bacon
Race Church.
For som etime the people Of Occoquon havs
been cut off from mail facilities, a1d
the arrival OF one on Saturdy evening pro-
duced quite a stir. A crowd collected around
the carrier and asked eagerly for news. Half
a dozen questions were asked at once, and he
was soon hemmed in by an anxious band
SO that his progress was entirely stopred.-
"Have you Dispatch 2' said dozen voices,
and as soon as it was aScertained he had the
desired paper, there was no peace until one
of the party had 1t in his hands. The village
miller was the fortunate person, and follow
ed by an audience, went into the hotel to
read "tne news" Seating himSel If in a chair,
he was soon surrounded by circle OF heads
that pressed around him with listening ears
/ sat in the corner and watched the proceed
ings, both i'll terested and amused. The best
part of all was the rustic comments made
upon the various paragraphs as they We're
read.
Late in the evening a courier from "Hamp-
TOM Legion came in with the news that
the enemy were advancing from the vicin-
ity of Accotinck, and for the pickets
TO be on the alert. This frightened the citi-
zsns, who had no idea OF falling into the
hands of the Yankees, and several of them
made preparations to leave at daylight
During the night company OF our cavalry
came into the village and drew up In line
through the principal street. supposing
them the els emy, three or four men left with
out without waiting for daylight. My land
lord hastily packed his saddlebags, and,
stealing out OF the back window, took to the
woods, where he remained until morning.
Discovering his mistake, ne came in about
sunrise nearly frozen by the cold night air.
Sunday morning the sun rose clear, and
shone brilliantly upon the frosty earth, max
ing it seem DIS ii covered with brlliIants, AT
ter breakfast / went ont to take look at the
town, and soon returned 70 make preparations
"A pftlyn :.
parlur of Il house in which l called, We're
some women who Were lamenting the sad
state of thugs brought about by the war
One SAD eyed wife with q babe in her arms,
dear friend on the other side, while the
third, ia girl, who must have been pretty
when she weighed about two hundred
pounds, lamented in general Her frequent
sighs and detected appearance attracted my
attention and sympathy.
Perhaps you, too, have husband on the
other sideT" said I.
"No indeed was the reply.
sI may presume he is q sweetheart then
and husband in futaro esse."
"Iya got no sweetheart either"
Undoubtedly, then, you have some dear
friend you fear will be killed ~
"Well, why does the war affect you 60
much % said /, mpathizingly.
Because il make snuff SO consumed high,
and such hard work TO git any at all, was
the maiden's tender response.
Your Own subsidized, and springing into
the saddle soon left Occoqucn behind him.
Should it ever be his good fortune to visit the
village again, ne in tends taking package OF
good Macaboy or Rappee, and bunch OF Al
thea twigs, In order to make his standing
good, and to keep from getting his hair pulled
for "lelling tales ont of school"
The road to Manassas was exceedingly bad,
being e greater part Of the way hlled with
the m muddiest of mud, the dirtiest dirt, and
most abominable siush. Both horse and
rider were bespat tered from head to foot, and
presented ut but by no means gaudy ap-
pearance when they reached their journeys
end, and turned into the farm house OF a
friend boHBAIAN.