The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-07-30
Signs of the Struggle Nine Years Ago
Monuments and Scars of War

/
follows:
This is the ninth anniversary of the
battle of Bull Run, July Dist, and i
write these opening lines at the Robin
son House, where the hottest battle
was concentrated. How time flies! II
is beautiful day. not quite so warm as
the day of the battle, and we are all
looking at maps and eating soft boiled
eggs under Robinson's shed, with old
Mrs. Robinson looking down at rs lie.
nevolently.
Mrs. Robinson says one of the
ladies, were you not frightened WHEEL
You saw they were agcing to fight 4
battle round your house?'
Dear, dear, honey, says Mrs. Rob
in-on, IL was so frightened that !. cant
,,.i yuu nothing about ii. Icd.,! ""
! hal done so many sins, they sent All
Their armies aNer me a purpose that
blessed Sabbath day jist got in the
cellar and prayed and the ole man he
got under a bridge, and spect he
PRAYED too. Thank the Lord for these
bright, sill Sundays nova day.
THE OLD ROAD TO BULL RUN.
We paid twenty-five dollars for fine,
SNOWY, solid team and two horses. and
left Washington with four persons, one
y us acting as driver, on Saturday after
noon at 4 O'clock Country roads ola fair
sort led Us by Balls Cross Roads, Upton
Hill, Falls Church, and across the shall
low branches of the Accotink TO Fair
fax Court House-iully eighteen miles
where We put up for the night at the
clean and not expensive tavern of Major
TYLER, a cousin OF the deceased Presi.
dent, John Tyler and formerly com
mandant OF marines at Washington
Barracks.
CENTREvILLE.
Centreville Is one of the most ruined
OF all hamlets. There were originally
about thirty houses in it, majority OF
which are now mere chimneys standing
erect among weeds and several of the
houses which remain have been patched
up with logs and Planks, so that what
stands is, ii possible, more forbidding
than what is destroyed, At present the
only signs of life about Centrevillc seem
To be one store, one shop, one new
church, and one Methodist Sunday
School. There is no tavern in the place,
and there seems to he no wells of water
in the vicinity, and all the water is pull
ed from the branch, a halfdry arm Of
Bull Run. The site of Centreville is one
of the noblest in Virginia, standing upon
the tall spine of long, crcscent-ridge,
which bristles with dry forts along its
whole profile, and makes against the sky
a hat,lementcd horizon, which might
almost give suggestion to an architect.
Seven different roads meet at Centre
vile, and in revived times II ought to
he busy place
1T STuNEBRIDGE
one naturally expects as he approach
e. a celebrated field soon after the event
commentaries it that he will observe
many vestiges of the action There
are but two battle-tields | have seen
which bear out this character-Water-
loo, where the loop-holed brick walls OF
the orchard remain as they were on
the day of the fight, as well as the black
ened ruins of the Chateau of Hougon-
mont: the other battlefield is Bull Run,
which is full of ruin, and the signs OF
ruin begin from the time you quit Fair
fax Court-HOuse following the path o!
the Northern army. Ia the first place,
there is Fairfax itself, partly pulled
down; the Court House, which was
loopholed during threefourths of the
war, still showing the fresh bricks in
it; the Jail also loopholed, and just on
the outskirts of Fairfax a few bricks
are lying upon each other to tell where
existed the hamlet of Germantown.
About mile past Fairfax the good
turnpike runs off to Chantilly, the scene
Of Pope's final defeat, where Stevens
and Kearney gave their lives. Leaving
this turnpike our carriage descended
into what is. above all other highways
known 10 man. a road Of ruin-the
road to Centrcvillc. 4 torbidding and
lonesome look marks this road from
a far distance. Like all the turnpikcs
Of Virginia, it had been built in Il
-taunch manner, with Il hard. high,
limestone pavement in the middle oft;
some of the stone white and some red.
but all large. hard, and set upendway, !;
and. formerly this rampant OF rock was
covered with clay, and sand and gravel.
80 that il made the broad area OF the
road level and like parade. Now the
material part of the road in the centre
has been washed free ofall the graveland
the ciav. so thatlt looks like the naked
skeleton of q blasted highway, the
bones of road once merry with life
and tinkling with teams. The only
wav to travel it at all was to take the
side-paths. or what are called here the
summer roads, which sometimes run
pleasantly for little skips and then sud
denly come to little promontories OF
trap rock and outcropping limestone,
at which we could see the ladies look
inr alarmed from a distance, and ner,
vouslv holding tight their seats. This
lonely, this dcsolate, this battle-accurscd
road runs from Fairfax almost due
west for Is miles passing through Cen
treville, and short distance from
Stonebridge it is barred across It's
whole length by rails, for Stonebridge Is
still ruin after five years OF peace
and all wagons have to take to tht
fields, making long detour. and ford
ing Bull Run at point where the long
aged. gnarled roots Of the oaks, elm:
and helmlocks form dantesque bank
against the ford, while the other is ;
dark, succulent and snaky copse, viii
swamps, grape vines and wild mixture.
of dogwood, willow and Virginia creep
ers. Through this defile, worthy o
the pencil Of Salvador Rosa, on
CITY made carriage moved Tx
a London shop hunting in