The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-09-25

tucSo many ycoTS, auu III tuat tiIuc nus
been brought into contact with thou
sands of officials, Congressman, For
eign Ministers, who have long since
been numbered among the dead. He
was not old enough to take a hand in
the battle of Bladensburg, but remem-
bers the day very well, as also the entry
of the British into this city on the even
ing following the battle. 1 will attempt
to reproduce the story of that day as it
was told to me by Mr.. Callan. Starting
out he said: "The authorities here had
received information from various
sources that the British were coming,
and that they intended to burn the
public buildings in this city. No
one knew by which road they
would come. There were no tele-
phones, telegraph or fast mails in those
days, and news was sent by carriers or
by the pony expresses only. 1t was
learned day or SO before the British
came here that they had arrived some
where along the coast of the Chesa-
peake Bay; that they would come up
the Patuxent to Washington. 1t was
expected that they would cross the
bridge over the eastern branch of the
Potomac, known then and at the pres
ent day as Benning's bridge. Prepara-
tions were made SO that the bridge
could be set on fire as the British were
crossing it, or destroyed so that they
could not get back. Commodore Bar
ney had charge of a detail of sailors.
and Major Miller company of marines.
They were stationed at the bridge and
remained there until they found out
that the British intended to enter the
city by the Bladensburg pike. They
then went to Bladensburg and played q
most important part in that battle,
which resulted in the defeat of our side.
Our forces at that battle consisted of
several thousand volunteers, cavalry
and infantry. The majority of the cav
airy had never been on the back Of a
horse before that day; and as for the
infantry, the great majority of them
had never fired q gun, or pistol even,
in their lives. Firearms were not as
plentiful in those days as now, and such
q thing as percussion-cap or breech-
loader was never thought of. The Brit
ish attacking force Was a great deal
smaller than ours, but was disciplined.
President Madison and his Cabinet wit
messed the battle, having gone ont
there on horseback that morning. One
of our regiments had no guns. The
others did not get to the battlefield
until it was too late for them to be of
service"
How was thatr'' ventured to ask.
"Well," continued Mr.. Callan, "the
man who was on duty in, the. arsenal
did not know much about counting. and
he had some difficulty in getting out the
guns for the volunteers, many of whom
did not know how to FIRE them after
they had received them; and then,
again. he was a long time in getting
and counting out the flints for them.
He counted out the iints several times
before he issued them, so particular
was he that he would not make q mis-
take. On the road out they met the
others coming in on lively retreat" :"
when did the British arrive in this
cityr' I inquired. ID = -
They got here pretty soon after our
army did," said Mr.. Callan, " reaching
the city about four or five O'Clock in the
afternoon. The battle was fought about
noon, or little before that hour. l
remember very well their march into
the city. As they were coming along a
couple of squares east of the capitol
some one fired at General Ross. who
was in command Of the red coats, miss
ing him, but killing his horse. The gun
was fired from the house of a gentle
man named Sewall. General Ross Or
dered that the house be burned, and in
few minutes it was in flames. No
other private property was destroyed.
Soon after that the British soldiers
burned the capitol, and then marching
TO the treasury building, burned that.
Then they fired the Presidents house,
and after that marched to a place on
Maryland avenue, where they camped
for the night"
1.-The burning having been anticipa-
ted, was any preparation made for it?''
Yes. ALI of the important records
of the departments had been boxed up
and removed to hidiug-places in Vir-
ginia. They were hid so well that the
British never found them. I lived then
where my Office is now, on + street,
near Fifteenth (about one hundred
yards from the Treasury Department.
and remember very well the appearance
of President Madfson's messenger as
he passed along New York avenue bear
ing message froms the President, who
was at Bladensburg, to Mrs. Madison,
telling her to 'leave the city as soon as
possible; the British have arrived 1t
was understood in advance where she
should 60 if she received such a mes
sage. She Immediately left for place
in Virginia, where she remained, as did
the President and several members of
his Cabinet, until the British left for
Baltimore, eight or ten days after. You
have read, no doubt, Of the death of
General Ross near Old Point, at Balti-
more, on September II; following. As
he was riding along, two boys fired at
and killed him from large tree in the
woods. The boys were riddled by bull
let's, whole regiment returning their
fire. Mrs. Madison left the White
4oase in the charge of q messenger
ten years ago. 1t was Mr.. Souissa,
Stuart's portrait of Washington out of
woods, SO that the British could not de-
and several others who were employed
at the White House at the time"
"This matter was the subject Of an
inquiry recently, was it notP''
"Yes. Mr.. Hayes sent for me a
couple of months ago. went 10 the
White House to see him. He asked me
W tcll ulHu the cutiTc StOEy VI Inc saw
ing of the Stuart portrait of Washing
ton, which is still there, and is the best
portrait in existence. / did so. Mr..
Hayes said be had been told that the
portrait had been cut out of its frame
by a colored man, but satisfied him it
was saved by Mr.. Souissa- The Oldest
Inhabitants Association recently inves-
tigated the matter thoroughly, and
found beyond doubt that it was Souissa
who saved the picture. Edward Nc
Manus, who was door-keeper at the
White House for nearly thirty years,
told me several days ago that when the
picture was reframed, Just before Bu-
chanan left the White House, he saw
the jagged edges made by the knife,
just as Mr.. Souissa had described them
4 II