The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-02-05

ANXIOUS expectation OF WnaC the next
instant might bring forth. Yet was
the eXcitation very far from being dis
agreeable. True. we might he called
upon to sustain the first shock of a
force great deal too numerous to Ee
long opposed with success; but we
were aware, that succor would not he
slow in arriving; and we could not for
moment doubt as to the final issue.
Then there was much in our position
and attitude in the highest degree i'm
posing. You could tell that troops
were in line beside you, only by an oc
casional rustic in the long grass in
which they couched; for all kept close
to the earth, and not a man spoke,
even in a whisper, to his nearest neigh
Dor.
As day dawned, however, it became
a5undantly manifest that SO much eau
tioa had been quite unnecessary; not a
living creature was in sight, nor could
the smallest trace that even picket
had kept guard here. be observed. Be
fore us lay a few open green fields,
measuring, perhaps, some three hun
dred yards across, and then their con-
dition furnished proof enough that
neither infantry nor calvary had ira
versed them. The grass waved in the
breeze, undefied by horses tread or
hnman tramp; no track of foragers in
tersected it; and even upon the road,
which ran a little to our right, the dust
lay wholly undisturbed. The different
regiments drew up according to their
brigades; the officers took their sta
tions, and the word was given in adj
vance The following is the order in
which the column moved.
Major Browne, the officer who lead
the advance in the inroad upon Wash
ington, having been severely wounded
and left behind at Bladensburg, Gen
eral Ross saw fit to dissolve the little
corps altogether. Whether this arose
from a feeling that there was not, in
the army, another man capable of
guiding it Alright, l know not. All
| that | do know is, that in Browne he
| reposed the most unbounded confidence
that Browne fully deserved that con-
fidencc-and that if he changed his
plan from the apprehension that there
was no fit successor to him, his judg-
| ment was not very erroneous. When
| | say that this advance Was dissolved.
mean not to affirm, that the army be-
gan its march with a front entirely un-
covered. Three companies were, as
formerly, pushed forward; but instead
of forming a separate division, placed
permanently under the command of a
distinct leader, they fell, for the mo-
ment, under the guidance of the officer
who chanced to be senior in rank among
those attached to them. Itwas to that
Il ulfortunate arrangement, without
doubt, that the country owed the early
death of our gallant leader. After the
first DAYS march towards Washington,
General Ross gave himself little or no
concern about the advance guard-he
saw that the individual to whom he had
intrusted it, understood his business
perfectly; and to him the business was
entirely left. 1t was not so now. 1g-
norant of the talents of those on whose
sagacity the welfare of the whole col
umn so much depended, the General
could not keep behind; he would, in
his own person, see that things were
going on as he wished them to 60 on;
and he fell in the very first skirmish.
In rear of the three companies, leav-
ing, however, sufficient interval be-
tween. came the light brigade, now un-
der the command of Major Jones.
Next to that corps moved a brigade of
$ amen, armed with muskcts, and
amounting to nearly thousand men;
then followed the artillery, Of which
light pieces guns and two howit-
zers-were in the field; and as suffi-
cient number of horses to drag them
had been procured, they bid fair to
prove CT marked utility in the enter
prise. Immediately upon the artillery
came the second brigade; and imme-
diately upon the second brigade came
the third. or the exact number of
combatants thus brought together, l
can hardly venture an opinion. We
had lost at Bladensburg about five hLn
dred men in all; but of these many
were already 50 far convalescent as to
take the field again; and our reinforce
| ncnUS lIOII llle uteU were Z.
Balancing the one against the other,
therefore | should be disposed to say,
that somewhere about five thousand
or five thousand five hundred NEIL
moved from the waters edge this morn.
ing.
1t fell to the lot of my friend and
myself, on this present occasion, to
f,rm part Of the flank patrol. Having
cleared the open fields, we soon found
ourselves in a country resembling, in
many respects, that which we had trav-
ersed in our late operations; that is to
say, thick woods hemmed us in on
every side, and the spots Of cultivated
soil were few and of small compass.
There was however one STRIKING DIFF