The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-01-22

Of some days preceding, and we retired
to rest, in the full expectation, that to-
morrow, or at farthest. the next day,
would see us once more employed in
the field
Our hopes in this respect suffered no
diminntion, when, on ascending the
deck on the following morning, we
found that the fleet was again under
way, and moving towards the Potomac.
The last circumstance, indeed did puz-
zle us little. What could be done
there? Alexandria had been already
visited by Captain Gordon; nor was
there any other place of note along its
course. Nevertheless, we took it for
granted, that there must be some OBJ
ject in view, and, provided only they
saw fit to bring us into play, we cared
but little whittier the heads of the eX-
petition should lead us. In all this,
however, we were doomed to endure
the misery of hope deferred. Having
stemmed the current during the whole
Of tha day, and till dusk on the day
following, the fleet once more cast an
chor; and we, as matter of course,
felt ourselves once more unable to guess
for what purpo these repeated delays
were permitted.
well recollect, that on the night of
the Sth of September, the Potomac
was visited by one of those sublime
thunder storms, OF which | have al
ready spoken as occurring so frequent
ly in this hemisphere. During the
whole of the day, there had been an
oppressive closeness in the atmosphere;
and as the sun drew towards his set
ting, many masses of clouds began to
rise at different points in the horizon.
Those gradually increased in quantity
and blackness, till at last the whole
lace of the sky became over-spread with
them. The thunder and lightning fol-
lowed; thunder, which in the stiffness
of the night made the far-off forests re-
echo; and lightning, which at every
flash rendered the minutest object dis
tinctly visible, both throughout the
feet and on the shore. Nor was rain
long wanting; it came down, as it gen.
orally does under such circumstances,
in torrents; and as there was no find
ing shelter against it anywhere, except
in the cabin, was reluctantly COM
PEELED to abandon the seat which had
taken on one of the guns for the pur-
pose of watching the storm, and retire
below
An early hour on the morning of the
9th saw us again under way, and stem
ming the current at a slow and majes-
tic rate; but our progress was very
limited. The "Tonnant," shooting
ahead, pushed Oh by herself; whilst the
remainder Of the ships, in defiance Of
as fair a wind as ever blew, beat back
wards and forwards, from one side of
the river to the other. What was to
be done. we could not surmise. That
landing would take place before long,
everything about us testified, but
whether the port CT debarkatiOn had
as yet been determined upon, seemed
extremely problematical Thus was
it with us during the whole Of the
morning: hour after hour passed away
in anxious suspense: till at last, when
the sun was again approaching the
west, our doubts and anxiety were put
an end to. The ''Tonnant,' of which
we had long lost sight, once more made
her appearance; all her canvass was
set, and she was followed by numer-
Gus fleet of small craft, each of which
bore an English ensign at its masthead,
with an American flag under. The
vessels thus distinguished were prizes;
they soon joined us and the whole
squadron putting about, bore down in
body towards the bay. Finally,
signal was thrown out from the Adj
mirals ship, which directed us to steer
towards the Patapsco; and it became
Immediately known, among all ranks,
that the capture of Baltimore would be
attempted.
Now mems minds became to a GER
lin degree tranquil; curiosity was set
at rest: and it remained for lis only to
make such preparations as each might
think necessary for taking the field.
Nor were we tardy in anything about
that matter inasmuch as but little time
'emcd likely to he granted for tt e
purpose; for, as if Heaven had favored
Oar designs, the fleet scarcely reached
the bay, when the wind, shifting few
points, blew directly towards the place
of landing; and we stood on our course
with a rapidity which promised to
bring us, within a few hours, to the end
of our voyage. This was, in itself, suf-
fciently agreeable; but there were 9TH
er circumstances attending the passage,
which gave to it a more than ordinary
degree of interest. The breeze coming
from the larboard side, enabled us to
stand in close to the shores of Mary
land; and seldom have | looked upon
more striking spectacle than these
shores presented.
1t is well known that Mary land hap
pens to be one of the most thickly in
habited and civilized states in the In