The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-11-20
CHAPTER vi.
ACTION AT BI.ADENSBURG.

ACTION AT BLADENSBURG.
The sun had not yet riseD, when,
under the guidance of two natives,
whom our Quarter Master General had
impressed into the service, the column
began to move. Notwithstanding tie
excessive fatic Tie OF last night. Charl
ton and were far from being displeased
at finding that an increase to the
strength of the advance guard was
necessary, and that it fell to our lot to
fill that important situation. Our men.
likewise, were manifestly delighted
with the post assigned to them, for the
bad hints which had been dropped as
we pursued our way from the chateau,
as to the desirableness ola little repose,
after so many hours of waiting, were
heard no more We cheerfully took
our ground as one of the five compaE-
les committed to the direction of Major
Brown. and marched OF in the same
excellent spirits which had animated
us during the o, .erations of yesterday.
We soon cleared the open fields which
surrounded the place Of last nights
bivouac, and struck into wood, more
dense and more tangled than any which
We had yet traversed. The path was
so narrow, that four men could with
difficulty move abreast, and the thick
cts were so close and rough on either
side, that the flank patrols could make
their way through only by dint ofpow-
erful exertions, and at a very leisurely
pace. Yet of one comfort we were |
very sensible. The boughs meeting
o 'erhead, completely sheltered us from
the rays of the sun; and notwithstanG-
ing the gloom which SO broad Il canopy
cast around us, we saw, from the col
oring which fell upon the grass, that to
be so sheltered from such sun was a
source of no slender selfcongratula-
tion. We were now it appeared, cross
ing the country, by way little used
except for sportsmen, and fastening
hack into the great road to Washing
ton, which had yesterday been aban-
doned.
Not single event fell out worthy
Of repetition, during the four hours
which were expended in traversing this
forest. No ambuscades lay in our way,
nor did any skrmishers attempt to
harass our movement. Extreme bodi-
ly weakness, and the most impervious
nature OF the thicket, alone served to
make our progress tardy. But at last
the woods began to assume a more open
appearance; spaces occurred here and
there, which gave proof of attempts
became wider, more firm, and more like
a road adapted to the common traffic
Of civilized country. In Il word,
bout nine o'clock in the morning, we
found ourselves within view of the point
to which our steps were directed; and
in half an hour after, the by-path was
abandoned, and we were once more in
fall march towards the Capital
Nothing can be imagined more strik-
ing than the change which became i'm
mediately perceptible in all the outward
appearances of nature. Instead of
trackless wilds, we found ourselves
marching through a country sufficient
ly open to convey the idea of its being
well peopled, and yet so far ftathered
with groves and plantations, As to give
to it a degree of beauty, of which a
state of over-population will doubtless
some day deprive it. Green meadows
and corn fields were separated from one
another by patches of the ancient for
eSt, which seemed to have been lett
standing, not so much for the purpose
of use as for ornament: whilst here and
there gentle hill would swell up, cul-
tivated to, perhaps, the half of its as
cent. and crowned with wood. Nor
were villages and solitary dwellings
wanting. Within the space of three
miles, We passed two haml;ts, built
each in single row, by the wayside;
| while numerous farm houses, steadings,
and larger structures rising from time
to time on either hand, indicated that
| we had ut last attained to a region of
something like refinement We were
all. both officers and men, conscious
that powerful revulsion in our feel
ings was effected by this change in our
circumstances. Numbers who had be-
gun to lag behind, acquired new vigor
from the contemplation OF so many signs
of life; and conversation, which for
some time past had almost entirely
ceased, was renewed in every rank with
fresh volubility. TO add to the gener,
al spirit of eXhilarltion, the bugles OF
he light corps sounded lively
march, and the troops moved on, in