Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-19
PAwSEE SUNDAY.
DIR. EDWARDS AccoySroFT

Sas ~rssse ~. Rsehmsss. Aprsi i-"''
upss the News that The Pswsss wsscs"'ss
IN the silver.
Rev. John r. Edwards, d. d., has
in Herpa's Monthly for August an ar
ticle entitled 1.-THE Pawnee Panic,
which, after some introductory remarks
about panics in communities and CROWDS
generally, proceeds to say; =.
Tho pawpee was . comparatively
small naval craft, hardly worthy OF the
uame---carrying three or four guns ana
perhaps forty or fifty men. But by
some freak Of fortune this notorious ut
lie steamboat rapidly acquired wonder
fol celebrity, and in . day became the
terror Of al good Confederates border
ine on the James and the circumjacent
country. None Of the triple-turreted,
iron-clsi stsel-plated, heavy-metal,
long. ranee-mounted monitors Of later
day created one-hundredth part OF the
alarm and CONSERVATION that were oc-
casioned by the Pawnee at the begin
ming of the war. The very name be-
came raw head and bloody bones
70 men. women, and children. This is
not the only instance, however, in
which the late war forced little con-
temptible things from obscurity into
notoriety. The shoddy aristocrscy,
the bedizened martincts, and the small
men in Office clothed with little brief
authority, furnish abundant proof, II
proof were necessary, 70 the contrary.
THE LYvIATHAN OF THE BAY.
But, was saying, the Pawnee had
become q fright and terror to the no
vitistes in the Confederate cause. 1t
had become the leviathan Of Chesapeake
bay, of Hampton Roads, the Elizabeth
river, and the James. In the excited
imaginations Of the masses Of the people
IL was conceived Of as being but little
less in capacity than the Great Eastern
with perhaps q hundred guns oil enor-
nous calibre, protruding their dark
And hideous muzzles from the port
holes along its iron -sheSthed sides
hung with cutlasses and battle
.xes. stored with vast magazines
and other munitions Of war, crowded
besides its complement Of men for ma
val seryice) with q whole brigade of
soldiers, who, with cleaning muskets
and glittering bayonets, backed by
artillery, were ready TO leap on shore
at any point and deal death and de-
struction to the fratricidal rebels who
had dared To lift their hands against
the best Government in the world
In itself, the Pawnee was regarded as
the impersonation and embodiment of
all the strength of "Yankee Doodle
dunn
THE PAwNEE's ESCAPE.
On Saturday the Goth day of April,
1861, several companies Of Confederate
soldiers from Richmond and Peters
burg had gone down to Norfolk, and
by their arrival and by the running Of
empty trains Of cars up and down the
railroad till late hour of the night,
making the impression that large num-
bers of troops were constantly arriving,
frightened the Federal forces into the
rash and desperate deed Of burning,
with their own hands, the great navy
yard at Gosport, together with the
large naval vessels lying dismantled in
the harbor. The Pawnee escaped UNI
harmed. Tidings reached Richmond
and Petersburg by telegraph early on
Sunday morning, the 2lst Of April, of
the destruction of the navy-yard, and
Of the evacuation Of the port by the
Federal troops. The State and military
authorities at Richmond congratulated
themselves on the quiet possession of
Norfolk and Portsmouth, and only re-
GREETED that the Pawnee had not been
captured or disabled.
SUNDAY SCENE.
II was Sunday. The churches Of
Richmond we're crowded with worship
pers. Religious services were pro-
crossing. Early in the morning OF that
memorable day the First Virginia regi-
ment, under the command Of Colonel
Moore, who had held his headquarters
at the elegant Spotswood Hotel, had
gone out to camp, marching through
the streets to the tune discoursed
by the band, Ever of Thee I'm Fondly
Dreaming" Many of the worshippers
in the churches were sad, and their
eyes were red with weeping on account
Of the separations of the morning with
husbands, sons, brothers, and lovers,
who had been ordered out Of the city
to the camp.
Orders had been issued by the mill
tary authorities that in the event of any
alarm the bells should be rung as a
signal to citizens and soldiers to put
themselves in an attitude Of defence.
Ministers were in their pulpits, congre-
cations large and serious, the streets
well-nigh deserted, and quiet pervaded
the city. Suddenly the bells at the po-
lice stations were struck, and simulta-
neously with the sharp, quick clang Of
the bells, the startling cry was heard
ringing through the streets, The
Pawnee! the Pawnee :" The services
in the churches were abruptly closed
congregations from score Of houses
Of worship rushed into the streets
without any regard TO the order o.
their going" The soldiers from the
camp, in double-quick, swept through
the city on their way to Rockets, the
steamboat landing at the lower end o
the city.
COSsTERNATIoN.
1.-THE Pawnee, with thousands o
men aboard, is approaching the city y
was now the cry, which was caught VI
by panic-stricken crowds and shoute'
10 the echo.
CONSERVATION seized the public mind
and wives seized their husbands, AM
sisters their brothers, and maidens thei
sweeihearts, for q last embrace an,
parting kiss (; and these, in their turn
seized their double-barrellea shot-guns
and revolyers, and old muskets, an
hurried 10 the scene Of action.
on LIBBY HILL.
"The Pawnes is in sight; can b
seen from Hbby's Hill IS steamin
up the river. and will soon opea he