The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-05-06
~ From The ondon Tines, March Il.
THE CIVIL WAR In AMERICA.
-F,FRoM souREoWNs scoRREsPoNDENT.
= WASHINGTON, February 2

PROM youRsowN CORRESPONDENT.
- - WASHINGTON, February 2S.,.
New York exhibits no outward signs of tht
war and desolation that affiict the lam Wash
linefos, on the contrary, betrays them at eve
ry turn. The long struggling Avenues, plan
ned in spirit of magni6cence, but so meaniy
executed, swarm with soldiers, camp follow,
ers, forage wagons, ambulanccs, and Parapher
MALTA of strife Thousands of young men, IN
teray blue uniforms, sswagger about the streets,
or lounge at the doors Of the hotels, with the
| fresh jauhtiness Of the inexperience that has
never yet confronted a foe; while mingled
among the m, at intervals painfully frequent,
arctic be seen tie 1uckless veterans OF the
lstruggle-the men who can fight no more,
the manned and mutilated victims of tglory
and sspatriotism, y Tlimping along crutches,
and turning their sunken eyes towards the by
passcr with piteous expression of counten-
ance, as if to crave the sympathy of all who
are still in the enjoyment of their limbs and
faculties The mud in all the main Avenues
is ankle-deep, for there has been heavy fall
of SNOW six inches thick, that only lay ore
day upon the ground before it began to yield
TO the fervid rays of summer like sun, and
the breath of wind as warm, If not as balmy,
as that of an English June. Through the riv-
ers and lakes of slush pass and repass at all
hours Of the day and night immense droyes of
cattle, as many as 4 900 or 5000 at a time,
some going into Virginia for the use of the
Army of the Potomac, and some destined. for
the consump ption of the 10000 men retained
for the defence of the Capital, together aoith an
almost continuous procession Of supply and
forage ,raaons, each drasrn By sia. males, and
driuea by a negro or an Irish teanasfe,, shout
tng and swearing as he goes On any ordina-
nv roads in England or in Europe, two mules
would he amply sufficient for any vehicle of
tie kind, however heavily laden, but in the
deep, greasy, tenacious mud of this region, six
are none too many for the task they have to
perform. Never, perhaps, in any city of the
world was so much horse and mule flesh to be
seen as in Washington at this moment, and
such miserable horse flesh. never before en-
riched mob Of contractors, or impoverished
a nation. The soldiers are for the most part
as rough and shaggy as the mules. Raw lads
of Is and 20 form the bulk of the army that
defends Washington against the imminent ag-
grctsion of General Lee. These youths revel
and riot in their premature manhood. and ex
hibit their exuberant strength and insolence
in drunken and other orgies that seem to have
no limits buttheir purses, To inycigle the
ssgIsena backs. out of their pockets and those
of their officers. whole army of brazen cour-
tisuns and tsy,aintcd Jezebels" has invaded the
city. who ply tier trade by advertisement in
the newspapers and by public exhibition in
the streets affera Fashion SO gross that it would
shame even the IIaymarket. The places where
they have congregated have received the name
new to American slang, and peculiar to Wash
ington, of Ranches a word that in Texas
signi6es an enclosure for cattle. The "Ran-
chcs" of Madame This or That are as openly
conducted as the hotels or boarding houses,
and the Provost Marshal and his officials make
every street corner, and place of public resort,
are to De seen printed notices, warning simple
minded strangers against the mrltitudinous
thieves who have Ycopgregated here from all
parts of the world In those fIhoahng cara<1
vanserais" the leading hotels, here theT1t-
most possible discomfort is paid for >dt the
highest possible price, aud where the bad cook I
cry and the bad wine arc only cquafled by the
bad accommodation and the bad attendance, are 7
posted up at every anglesof the vestibules, cor;
ridors, and reception rooms. conspicuous war
nings against the hotel thieves who have come
hither from England and France, as we'll as
from New York, to break into ladies' bedrooms
at the dinner heur and decanp with their jew |
elry! Three days ago one of them succeeded |
in making off with the money and private pa |
pers of Mr.. Ex Secretary Cameron, while that |
diplomatist was quietly dining at |
Willard s., Another class Of thieves, not SO |
in polite society, but worthy of the |
name-the people who sell tho Government |
rotten and unseaworthy STEAMBOATS, for the con-
yeyance of troops and stores; shoes for the |
army that wear out ineone days march and /
sheddy garments, neither and upper, that 10. |
like biotting paper in a shower Of rain; the
people who plumber under form
Of law and with the decent observance of trade, |
feed daily at Wizards and other public pIa |
ces, and make themselves conspicuous by .the |
of claret and champagne which they |
consume, and by the general loudness of their
talk and behavior. Then there are the "wire- |
pullers" and "long g-rolers that is to say, men |
who have schemes before Congress, and who |
'engineer" their bills through both Ious
by the vulgarsst agencies of dinner and drink,
as well as by other means not so visible to |
spectators, though perhaps more satisfactory |
to such members of the Legislature as are |
neither too honest nor too proud to be pur.
chased But the roguerys and rasca!ity- of |
Washington are equalled by its misery There |
are estimated to1ben less than 40, ,0G0 sick, |
wounded and mutilated soldiers within the |
District Of Columbia, receiving such poor re-
lief and consolation as circumstances will al |
low, not one twentieth part of whom will ever
again be in a condition to fight the battles Of |
The North. In addition to these are the me-
groes,, or "eon,rabands," as they are called in |
The slang which Gen. raj Butler originated and |
made popular, who have escaped from Mary
land and Virginia into the Federal lines, and |
ire maintained By the Government at heavy. |
cost. Many of these poor creatures are able |
bodied men, for whom no work is to be found |
even as teamsters-an occupation for which |
tkey are we'll fitted; but large proportion are
aged and infrm persons and young Ichildren. |
All of them are huddled together in wretched |
shanties at remote corner of the town. Small i
pox is making fearful havoc among them, and
thence extending its rayages among the whits
population. Washington though an immense
city upon the map, is not sufficiently builtap
been drawn within its focus by the necessities
Of the war and the Government It's drainage
is SO misernbly defective that the wonder ou sht
to be that it has not long ago been the taeatre