, 1864-07-17
SIEGE OF WASHINGTON.
a Cosyardly and Dlngruceful Piece Of
NueIneHB.

Especial Dispatch to tha C1nctnn1tt Gazette
WAsnrsa7os, Jnly II, 1s;4.-
The absurd aud ridiculous, and vet dis
graceful, blege Of Washington is over. Tele-
Lrnphic communication with the North WIS
renewed last night, but the Government re-
quirei the wires it'r It's uses, and this Is the
earliest time at which we cen pres ans con
nectcd view of the transactions since COM
manifestations Tert cut oil.
1t is understood, though not definitely
known, that the whole rdhrl force crossed
the Potomac at Pooltsvflle and Bafrs Blutl,
abont tbirty-bye miles up the river from
Washington, and that they are now We'll on
their way to Richmond, with long trains Of
wagons laden With supplies and droyes Of
cattle, and that Q large proportion of them
4ro now mounled on horses etolen through
out Mar, land. Tie bulk ct their force must
have btcn concentrating at poblesyi1ie, while
their rear gond was besieging Washington.
| y critical Inspection Of their camping ground
| will convince any one ut all accustomed to
such matters that they never had more than
eight hundred, or ut the very outside q thou
sand. r.cu Gu the Seventh street roaA, be-
| sieEtnE this city.
The best opinion is that when the rebels,
lnying collected all the pluudcr they could,
eross tne peo tev e
| guard OF 1900 men to lay seige to Wishing
| ton, and possibly to Dlltimore. THIS force
oiviued Itself into parties which burned rail.
road bridges, penetrated to the subul bs Of
Two cities, aud Ibid selge to Washington It,
is Of cuu5re unnecessary to saJ tllat the gen
eral feeling here is one Of indignation that
anything Uf the Eort should be permitted
Every nun feels that ne have been tusulted,
| tieaed, urd spit upon By u beggariy stray, tor
the whole or whom VIC could easily have
fuuad room In the Old Capitol Prison. No
rason Is known why they should have been
permitted to cut us of from the North for
ten minutes. The whole OF the fighting, II
hn.1 h..
james, would not have eltclted u passing re-
marx from the Commanding General, much
IS dispatch to the Government about it.
Up to Tuesday afternoon It was absolutely
| nothing but the slightest skirmish, In which
the rebels managed, By aid Of telescoplc rifles,
charge then ordered by Gen Wright, was the
only lighting OF the whole atIair, and It most
} ly goes to show that the rebcl force httack-
! Ing us and laying siege to the city, WAS the
t1imstest OF sltruish liues, In Washington
: nobody WIS alarmed or exclted. From thu
! most carctul estimates of one OF our cores
pondeuts, sent ont trom The Washington Of
ices, WHO has BEEN through the whole affair,
from the first fight on the old Antietam bat
E tle-eronnd, the following conclusions ars
reached concerning the strength Of Il; {, en-
ocacY, under EARLY and Breckenridge, 1900
!, Johnson's cavalry, 1850; Gilmore>s marAn
1 ders, operating mainly about Baltimore, 800
In all, 1S,sooi and to be sure Of making !
large enough, 1900. Gen. Wallace esa
i N lies the force he fought at Monocacy q
5000 more than the figures gt7en above, bu
other circumstances lead to the conviction
that Is, 600 is ull there were there. THIS Wa
nearly cubic his strength.
The general belief in Baltimore Is, that II
TINT battle, Wallace did all any General coul
a have been expected to do. OF this Who'll
= number Of 14,0oo nearly 1900 moved frot
! Monocacy to Poolesvil1e, while the othe
:. 2,CoD etole horses, impressed Marylandct
y into the service, cut railroads, burnt ho1se:
- destroyed bridges, and laid siege to VAST
- iugton. A force Of twelve or fifteen hu1
:. dred came in to reinforce them, but II ou1
~ rot as far as BladeusbuFg.
/. It Is time that oil Of old Frank BlaiTs pr
l. vate correspondence wes o7.rhauled by tt
a. rebels, and 1t Is believed that whatever VIC
= difcovertd to be Of political Importance VI
Ia carried of. Some curious revelations
IT late political Wire pulling are likely to !
If produced in these papers If they ever see Il
- ! j;uht