Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-03-31

when both sections stood ready to seize
the national forts, arsenals, vessels. arms
and other materials of war, what was
the connecting link between the old, shaky
armament that went to pieces on April IA
and the new, firm power that arose in the
last days of April and the first days Of
May?
The question as to who were the heroes
of Washington's dark days" is called up
by the plans now under way for mann
moth reunion Of war veterans at the cap
ital next September. In the proposed
pageant of battle SCARED soldiers and bat
tie torn banners on "Washington's chiefest
avenue" the place of honor at the right of
the line of Grand Army posts has been
given to the Sixth Massachusetts regi-
mcnt This was the body of volunteers
mobbed in Baltimore on April 49, 1861,
while en- route to protect the capital. 1t
has been singled out for special honor i'll
the great parade because it was the first
to reach the capital after communications
had been severed" between Washington
and the north The first northern troops
to go through after that event were
the Seventh New York and the Eighth
Massachusetts, The New Workers reached
Washington by way of Annapolis at noon,
end of the crisis that had hung over Wash
ington, not for days, but for weeks.
When the first step of the war was taken
by the dispatch of a naval force to Charles
ton harbor with an ultimatum about Fort
Sumter, President Lincoln began to look
to the defense of the capital in case war
should break out over the Sumter bust
ness. That was about April |, and after
that date Gen. Scott made a daily report
to the executive of the state of the de-
fenSrs The president was anxious not to
create alarm or exceed his lawful authori
ty and the only safe recourse in the alb
SCnce Of regulars, which were widely dis
perstd, was to call out the District militia
The call was issued April 9, three days be-
/ fore Sumter was fired upon.
On the 9th, the day after the presidents
call for 1900 troops at large, Scott report
ed the state OF the forces at hand and IL fresh
addition of eight companies of District vol
untrcrs (making sixteen in alb. These, |
| Think he concluded, place the capital a
/ little ahead of impending dangers, and we
/ will maintain at least that advantage till,
| by the arrival lin Il week. Of regulars and
/ abundant volunteers, our relative advan-
| tage will, | trust, be more than doubled. y
, On the 22d, when the crisis was at its
height, the roads from the north blocked,
/ the volunteers from Massachusetts and
/ New York lying helpless mt Annapolis, the
/ line of the Potomac and Washington itself
menaced by armed seceders he declared,
Il feel confident that with our present
forces we can defend the capital, the ar
senal and all the executive buildings
against 10000 troops not better than our
District Volunteers
No t,nt i.fr ri
tecr troops? Grn. Charles p. Stone, who
commanded them, spoke in his Century
| article in this strain:
II think that the country has never prop
erly appreciated The services of those Dis
trict Of Columbia volunteers.
They did their duty quietly, and they did
it well and faithfully. Although not
! mustered into the service and placed on
pay until after the fatal day when the flag
was fired upon at Sumter, yet they rem
dcrcd great service before that time in Civ
| ing confidence to the Union men, to the
members of the Legislature and also to the
president in the knowledge that at least
there WAS "A small force ready to re-
spond at any moment to his call 1t
should be remembered that the first
troops mustered into the service were
companies of these volunteers, and that
during the dark days when Washington
was cut Off from communication with the
north, when railway bridges were burned
and tracks torn up, when the Potomac was
| b.Oclladed, these troops were the only reli
| ancc OF the government for guarding the
public departments, for preserving order
and for holding the bridges and other out
posts; that these were the troops which re
covered possession of the railway fron
Washington to Annapolis junction anG
made practicable the reopcning of commu
ncatious. They also formed the advance
Of the force which first crossed the PotO
mac into Virginia and captured the city %
Alexandria, Moreover, these were thu
troops which insured the regular inaugu
ration on the steps of the Capto
Of the consttutionally elected prcsi
dent. firmly believe that withou
them Mr.. Lincoln would never have becl
inauguratld. believe that tumults woul,
have been created during which he woul'
have been killed, and that we should hav
found ourselves engaged in "A struggle
without preparation and without recog
nized head at the capital"
!, The war history of the District voluu
teers is traced in the annals of the cracI
company of that body, the National RI
|
the John Brown war, in 1899, and was LEI
by Mexican veteran of southern sympa
thies. 1t was the banner troop of its class
When the war clol IS began to fly, in tn
winter of 1901, the captain talked openl
about marching to the ua..'. 40 SU
quehanna to defend Maryland from lal
kec invasion, seized cannon, pistols an
cutlasses not L.,a2-ng to the equii
; men. of his command, refused to pa
, rade the men at I.incoln's inaugurs
: ton, and was forced to give wa
to that brave hero John II. Smead, of tn
Second United States artillery, who's
hearts blood belonged to the old flag an
, eventually went to its own on the battl,
field. Thc E.lrS contained sprinkling
Union men. and on April 10, when til
Sumter situation had an ugly look, til
: company paraded at the call of the wa
Q department for volunteers of the DistriC
t to act against IAN invasion OF insurre
ton, or probable prospect thereof"
The call was made under an act Of col
: gress Of l9oS-ths only authority Lincol
! had for warlike measures ut that stag
! Cant Smaad aAad TO he p>s. shA andi