Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-01


entered the hail. armed with their carbines,
and he was conducted past and IN front of them
70 TIE neao OF the column, where Mr.. Clay
STOOD with belt around HIM outside his blue
coat rom which depended pair of navy re-
soIxers and a long bowie knife-kentucky
style. Not knowing whether he among
Iriends or enemies at first he refused to give
any account OF himself. Clay asked him why
ne was at Mr.. Stewards house and so late at
sisht, out he made no answer. Mr.. Clay
nnaily SAID: 1--WE are all friends of Mr.. Seward
ana II you are his friend no harm will
come TO you" With this assurance he said
ne was from Alexandria; that he had seen
1oFernor Seward once and had given him in
formation and had promised to give him more
| IN case ho should learn nything; that there
n1o peeh great dinner at one of the hotels in
Alexandra (where he was waiter); that many
| southern generals and other military men were
| present; that they sat several hours over their
wine, talking over their plans for immediate
ae'ioh' whieh included the capture of Washing
ton and Harper's Ferry. He gave the names of
the generals or others who were to have COM
| manu- Oh the inherent undertakings. the num-
| Der Oh men each was to have and the routes
uy railroad OF otherwise by which they were to
travel Ihe plan for taking Washington was to
plant cannon on Arlington Heights i'll the dark
ness OF Saturday night, and, at the time for
| me beginning OF church service Sunday morn
ing, to demand the surrender of the city, and
IN case OF refusal, to open fire with shells and
| burn 1t to the ground
such IN brief was the substance of the young
mans story; at the conclusion of which Col
Gay sent guard with him to Mr.. Stewards
| mousse, and he was aroused and forced to get
| up AZ 3 o clock IN the morning. l much regret
| tiat am unable to give the name OF the young
| man (tnen about elghteau) who hazarded his
ne on that event.ul night to serve his country.
| nc deserves to be hOEorably remembered as
one OF the heroes Of the war.
| FoETIFYISG GEORGETOWN HEIGHTS.
Arlington Heights at that time was covered
| with heavy growth of hardwood timber that
| would afford very convenient cover for artil-
| iery. About sunrise on the same morning that
MT. Seward was called up heavy artillery went
numbering up Pennsylvania avenue and WAS
| panied on Georgetown Heights, from which
| Arlington Is In easy range, being mile and
| a nail or two miles distant. Later in the day
| ana the day following scouts were sent over to
| scour the woods of Arlington for batteries of
! artillery, but nothing was found This was
| the 18Th of April and late in the afternoon the
sixth Massachusetts reached Washington, with
| tElrty-slx men wounded and four killed in
| passing through Baltimore. But their presence
| unuer the circumstances afforded no encour-
agement, but rather increased the anxiety.
| lLe rough treatment they had received in
| baltimore was dlsheartening, and the more SO
! because that was the only way by which
| troops could come by railroad to the relief
| OF Washington. On the evening OF
the day of the riot kilograms passed between
! the President and the mayor or marshal of
! Baltimore, which were read at Clay's hcadquar-
| ters by the reporter of the New York Herald
| (Nr Stacy The first one read was from Dal-
:lmore and said: Don't have any more troops
come through Baltimore for Gods sake" Tie
Presldeut answered that Other troops are on
| the road and must come through Baltimore. !"
Other dispatches followed; one from Baltimore
| SAID, I'VE are at the mercy of the mob and can
| give the troops no protection, and a telegram
| from the President said something about the
government fort in the harbor being directed
| 70 sheii the city IN case more troops were as
saulted. The reporter Of the Herald was back
| aHL .OEtA between the White House. the War Of
fee and Clay sheadquarters till late in the night
reading dispatches and telling what was going
| on. The President could come to no agree
ment with baltimore by telegraph, the latter OBJ
| lect.ng 20 having more troops sent through that
| city, aud the President claiming they must
come that way.
CUTTING OFF COMMUNICATIONS.
During the night the secessionists of Balti-
more settled the matter in their favor bv burn
| ing bridges and tearing up the railroad track,
| thus cutting off all connection with the north
y IthOut mail facilities or other means OF COM
munlcat0n with tho outside world the gloom
th.ckencd. Men now had great desire to
lave Washington aad some pad extravagant
ana almost fabulous sums to be carried north
by livery teams. and others of southern birth
were equally anxious to get south, and III a few
days Washington was considerably thinned out
| OF Its transient population. Whether they re-
garded the city as sinking ship or their bust
ness called them suddenly away canno. be told
his was believed, howe CT. to be time of
real danger-whcn the DAYS were filled with an
pr"heEslon and tn" nights with dread One
crisis had passed-the time when the secession
| 49, nloht nave possessed themselves OF the
| public buildings ca9Iv and PERHAPS without
the spillinS of blood, had gone by. But now
| Ouf encihI>s seemed 20 be closing In around US
| and there night be struggle tor the posses
| sIon OF the capital. and 1t might eventually be
| lost. 1t WAS sad there were several thousand
| men under arms ii Alexandria, and others
were said to be erecting batteries farther dc Sn
| the river to cut off communication with Wash
| lnSton by water; lfarpcr's Ferry was occupio d
| by the eneny and there were daily REPORTS @.
| somebody having seen troops crossing the Po-
| tomac into Maryland. sometimes above and
| sometimes below Washlngton; and Baltimore.
| according to the Official statements of the CITY
| marshal and mayor was controlled by the
moi" another name in thatiustance for seces-
| sl0nists.
| GUARDING THE NAVY YARD.
And there was as yet comparatively but a
handful OF men in Washington under arms
not enough to hold the city against the vigor-
| Gus attack OF 1000 disciplined mon. At this
| time there were good many designations in
T..
| the retrlng officials taking their departure for
| the south without delay. Among the more i'm
portan' of these Says the author of the Life
| OF Lincoln was that of Commodore Buchanan
| in the navy yard, who took with him several
| other subordinate officers. This was on Mon
day. the 22d, when Commander J. A. DahIrren
| being left IL command, requested that a com.
pany OF troops be sent there to guard the prom
erty, and the Clay battalion was detailed for
| that purpose. There was a rumor which came
| to them that an attempt would be made to seize
or burn the property. Before starting on the
| march TO the navy yard Col. Clay made one of
| his characteristic speeches. about as follows:
| Comrades: Perhaps the time has come whom
| we shall be required to prove our loyalty and
| to show for what purpose we are organized and
armed, and if il is ordained that we sbould
have our Threats cut before the sun rises to.
| morrow morning hope that 40 one will show
the white feather, but that every man will do
his duty"
My words may fail to do him Justice al
| though they convey the substance of his speecb
! He was capable Of making an eloquent and
ringing speech in well-chosen words. Rut at
| that time, surrounded as he was by secession.
lists who sought his life and whom he hated IA
ardently they hated him, he was ALWAYS
somber and stern and seemed to look only on
| the gloomy side He never smiled or tested or
| showed the least bit of humor in his speecb
The nearest he ever came to doing so was when
| a report got into Il Montgomery paper to the
| effect that he was in Washington and in COM
mand Of gang of 1000 cutthroats, whom he
| said that that didn't hurt him, and he would az
| soon they should think he had 5000 as !, OOO
THE POST OF HONOR.
On arriving at the navy yard guard was
1 \