The Cecil Whig., 1864-07-16
From Washington!
The Fighting NGrtll Of the City {!
From Washington Chronicle Of Tucsiayl

From Washington Chronicle Of Tncsday.l
Visiting Tennallytown yesterday to ascer,
tain the truth Of the various rumor' respect.
ing the Rebel advance. We found that our
cavalry, under command of Major Fry have
been stubbornlv contesting their advance
rctreatng only when fanked by superior
| numbers. Sunday afternoon they fought
from 3 o clock to . P. NJ, aud were driven
back but five miles. Yesterday. at the time
Of our visit. the rebels were kept at bay two
or three miles out Of Tcnnallytown.
At Tcnnallytown, as might be expected
there was some excitement. and every now
and then wounded soldier was brought IN
Several were said to have been severely in
jured the day previous, and left at Rockville
The large clouds of dust arising beyond
the rebel shlrniish line gave strong evidence
of the movcmcnt Of considerable bodies o.
rebel troops. The rebel skirmishers had =
battery of 3-inch rifles. A shell from one
Of them struck the house of Mr.. Birch, out
| about two and quarter miles on the turn.
pike setting it on fire. His SON. boy Of
| about twelve years. escaped from It by jump,
ing upon his fathers horse aud riding across
the fields, the road being blocked by the fire
of the rebels. The force in oar front was
estimated at several thousand.
The President. accompanied by the Sec
'"rnry Of Mar. encouraged our troops h
their presence. aud were loudly Checrcd,
From cnnatlytown we proceeded 20 Fort
Stevens formerly Fort Massachusetts, o.
the Seventh stree. road. about five mile
from the city, and on the way passed lar-r
bodies of troops moving 10 meet the MA
lcrs. who maintained strong Ii!vniSh lin
in onr immediate front.
Aoolt two o clock tl~re was sor-a very
severe skrmShng, the rebel sharpshonogs
under cover Of the houses in the vicinity
having advanced to within thii,y or lor,
rods Of the fort. The til regiment Nr@.
York cavalry, commanded by Major NcPhcr
SON, gallant|y advanced as skirniShcrS, dis
mounted, and drove them from the houses
which We're then committed to the flames
as they obstructed the rarse OF the guns o!
| the fort.
An eyewitness, who watched the slirmis!
operations in front Of Fort Stevens, tormcrl,
| massachusetts, out on the Seventh street
road, for several hours yesterday afternoon
furnishes us with the following facts "A
number of houses in the vicinity of the fort
were burned in order to prevent their being
used as rebel lefenses. The house near by
! the fort was destroyed, hut our infornan,
ensconced himself in Il shed. from which he
| had Il clear view of what was going on. Odi
| Skirmishers were thrown out from the fort
and gradually compelled the enemy to tal
back Their skirmish line was very heavy
and kept up q brisk fire, especially from the
underground on the right Of the road beyont
| the toll, gate, and the house near by, which
was fairly alive with rebels.
! Two of our men were brought in dead. ant
several wounded. and our FIRE evidently told
severely on them, as he saw quite number
of them drop. The air was filed with tn,
continuous popping Of guns, and balls wills
! tied in inconvenient proximity. Large bodies
of rebels were visible in the road in the
vicinity Of +. p. Blair's gateway, about two
miles distant. and they were evidently in
force, though he could discover no batteries
| There was one sharpshooter who was in
| the advance of our skirmishers. screened by
the fence corner and the slight rise OF ground
who was particularly active and did effective
execution he belonged to the District. but
our informant did not learn bis name. Oul
men displayed great coolness and manifested
the utmost confidence.
Towards six o clock the veterans from the
Fighting Six h began to deploy as skirm
| ishcrs, aud soon the rebels commenced fall
ing back and before he left, which was no
long after, they had been driven from thei
position and forced back mile and hal
from the fort, in the vicinity of Silver Spring
the residence Of Mr. Blair. The rebels
could not stand their dashing, continuous
fire. They knew them Of old, aud they gave
way as they have done before. A few shell
wero dicctsrsci G. in,c-~a!s i.om S;eyes