The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-12-11

also should he required to push on as
soon as the men were collected. \ few
minutes only elapsed, before the bugle
gave notice, that the corps was mus
tered. We obeyed the summons in
stantly; and in five minutes more, the
Light Brigade took the road to Wash
ington.
1t was dusk when we quilted the
position, and perfectly dark before we
reached the high-road; but neither con-
fusion nor delay took place. The path
was broad and wcll-marked; and the
troops were all in that state of disci-
pline, which would have carried them
through more serious difficulties, had
such come in their way, whilst the con-
sciousness Of having done their duty,
and the expectation of reaping the
the fruits Of their toll. supported them
under the eNertion which was required.
For my own part, though the effort to
keep up became by degrees, seriously
painful, l shall never cease to congrat-
ulate myself on having persisted in
making it. No one, unless he has
chanced to travel under similar cir
cumstances. can form the most distant
notion of the state of our feelings dur
ing the progress Oh that journey. The
destruction of Washington, or rather
of the stores or public buildings in
Washington, had already begun; and
the heavy explosions which from time
to time occurred, the sheets of fire
which quivered through the air-the
very waving of the flames heard in the
stiffness of night to an extraordinary
distance-formed altogether such a
scene as have no words adequate to
describe The field of battle was dis
tant not more than four miles from the
city; from the first, therefore, these
sights and sounds reached us; but rs
we drew nearer and nearer to the spot
from whence they proceeded, we all
felt that conversation, under such cir
cumstanccs, would have been sacri-
legious. We moved III that state of
admiration, or rather awe. which locks
up the voice. and oppresses the very
reason.
Having arrived at sort of com"on
about "A quarter of mile distant from
the town, the halt was sounded, and
bivouac directed to he formed With
this view the men piled their arms and
lighted large fires, for which fuel was
found among the fences and palings
near, and set about preparing their
evening meal That done, all sat
down; not with our usual noisy merri-
ment, but to gaze in silence upon the
conflagration which still proceeded.
The hum of conversation which gener
ally murmurs through camp, was not
heard tonight; those who spoke at all,
spoke only in whispers, as if we had
been guilty of some act which made us
ashamed to hear the sound of our own
voices, or were placed in situation of
extreme peril. 1t was thus with us
for full two hours. At last. however,
a consciousness of great bodily fatigue
overcame every other sensation, and
we turned our feet towards our fires:
and, wrapping up as usual, soon fell
asleep.
But the night was not even now des-
tined to be passed in quiet. 1t might
be about twelve or one o'clock, when
tremendous peal Of thunder, so loud as
| to drown, for an instant, every noise,
awoke us. The rain was falling in tor
| rents, and flash after flash of vivid
lightning displayed not only the biv-
ouac, but the streets, the houses, nay
the very windows in the town, with a
degree of minuteness far greater than
the beams of Il noon-day sun would
have produced. The effect was mag
nifcent beyond the power of language
to describe. Not even the drenching,
against which cloaks and blankets fail
ed to afford protection, could lead me
to neglect the occurrence; for | really
do not recollect, at any period of my
life, to have been witness to spectacle
SO imposing. The thunder storms in
*Virgnia, though violent to degree
unknown in European countries. are
seldom of very long continuance. In
less than an hour, the present had died
away, and there was again nothing to
break in upon the quiet of the night,
except an occasional roar as maga-
ne blew up. or Il crash, as Il wall or
roof fell to the ground But these
were already familiar to us; they in
terfcred in no respect with our slum-
bers, which being speedily renewed,
continued unbroken till the hour of
general muster dispelled them.
AS soon as dawn appeared, the brig
ade moved from its bvouac upon the
| common. and marched into the town.
Proceeding along 4 narrow street,
which was crossed at right angles by
| two or three of similar description,
we arrived at a large open space, sur
rounded on three sides 10y the rudi-
ments ola square, and having its fourth
imperfectly occupied by the ruins of
the Senate House. 1t is slightly raised
above the level of the rest of the city,
*Maryand