The Portland daily press., 1863-06-27
COMMUNICATIONS.

WASHINGTON, June %, 1868.
To the Editor Of the Press
Another week of doubt and suspense, of
anxiety If not of alarm, of wild fctions and
exaggerations, of imaginary marches aad apoc-
ryphal battles, of general pother and upstir,
has come and gone. The final breaking up of
General Hooker's camp was certified TO us by
the arrival in the city on Sunday week, Of the
sick, wounded and invalid soldiers of the army
OF the Rappahannock. They are said TO have
numbered about seven thousand in all. 1t
was a sad sight to see them. halt, manned and
inirm, toiling along the streets towards the
various hospitals TO which They had been as
signed, beneath their heavy loads and under a
broiling sun, and still sadder was il TO catch
now and then glimpse Of the pale and pite-
Gus forms, that filled some OF the ambulances.
Scarcely had they disappeared from our
streets, when great flock OF ill-favored ru-
mors, like birds of evil omen, came flying
through the town. All day Monday and Tues
day the ferment continued, SO that there was
fair prospect of reopening and settling once
more the Oft debated question of the safety of
Washington. The excitement, however, did
not quite reach that point, and as the week
wore away and the truth became gradually
known, the public feeling became much calmer
in its tone. Still even now we are in doubt
whether the long anticipated raid is going to
turu out an invasion, or whether what seem
ed n week ago to be a formidable invasion will
prove mere raid, made for purposes OF plum
der and especially to distract attention from
the more important movements of Lees main
army. Yesterday the sound of cannon heard
by those upon the highlands round the city, in
the direction OF Bull Run, excited in many
minds the belief that the famous ground al
ready twice drenched with the blood of this war
was receiving another baptism. 1t proves how
ever, to have been mainly cavalry fight with
some artillery engaged at Aldie. The battle,
II such 1t may be called, seems not to have
been very important but favorable to us.
Last evening l saw an acquaintance, an officer
of the army, who left Hooker's headquarters
at Fairfax Court House on Saturday evening.
He was very hopeful and expressed the strong
est confidence that in a few days the General
and his army would report themselves to the
satisfaction of the whole country.
The hospitals here are but partially filed,
numbers convalescents having been sent
away TO the North during the last week, in an
ticipation, presume, of a general battle. /
can hardly forbear alluding TO the proverbial
che erfulness of the wounded. The other day
In going into ward discovered the man
had come to visit, out of his cot, and though
he had au ugly bullet hole through his insiep,
hitching himself about the ward in a sitting
position, a thin cushion between himself and
the floor, varying the performance with some
sort of saber exercise performed by means of
a broken broomstick.
The raising of the negro regiment in this
District is going on with fair success. The
companies already fun are quartered on the
sacred soil' just across the river. l attended
meeting of the colored people held in the
open air a few evenings since for the purpose
OF raising recruits. The speakers were all
colored, and their speeches would bear com
parison with many l have heard from lips
fIsp1 xsl .l.s II.
horted their brethren to volunteer not for pay
or bounty, not for the Union or the Consttu-
ton, but for freedom for themselves and their
race. Il never land squad OF recruits upon
the Virginia shore, said a sergeant who spoke
without raising the john Brown song" On
Thursday last the regiment marched along the
Avenue towards the Capitol and returned with
recruits. saw them from the Capitol and
cannot judge minutely OF their appearance
but it is well spoken Of As they advanced in
even column to the tap of the drum the morn
ing sunshine playing upon their FURNISHED
arms with that strange, fascinating luster,s till
strange though sadly familiar, one would not
have suspected at my distance, that they were
not human beings but only "niggers.n
And these are the allies, whose first offers
OF assistance, smitten with judicial blindness
we received with great shout of contemptu-
Gus derision; whom, after they had sought
Our lines. We retarned again ana again to
bondage, torture and death whose efforts for
freedom our generals volunteered to crush;
Whom we have all along been discouraging
from ehiistlng; and whom when received into
the service, we have treated worse than mules
and dogs; whom, it is TO be feared, we have
suffered to be enslaved or butehered, when
captureed as prisoners of war. without retalia-
tion-these are the allies, who after all this are
taking the musket and.gatherng about ourfIap
For my own part l am more than glad. am
thankful that there is yet one class OF our peo-
pie from whom we can raise a regiment with
out drafting.
In stroll this afternoon | noticed on the
Avenue one of the regiment with a sergeant's
sword by his side, and revolver at his belt.
ne walked, and not without reason, more erect
IN his new found manhood as soldier of
the United States than the officer had mel a
moment before with starred shoulder straps.
Sad news reach us Of the desperate sickness
OF Rear Admiral Foote in New York, whittier
he had gone upon his way to an important
command. Senators Hale and Wilson were in
the city very recently. TSP