The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-12-10

| protect the city. He received no salts
| faction. the cry was They won't come
| here: they will go to New York. BaIti-
more, or Philadelphia; nothing will at
| tract them to this little inland village
Others said. 'Cockburn won't leave his
base OF supplies to march overland aud
he dare not trust his fleet in the PO-
tomac.' All this was stubborn over-con-
] fdence, which forgot that in war no
moral effect can be greater than to cap
. ture the capital of the opposing force.
That was why Napoleon headed for Mos
COW. the allies for Paris. the British. for
Pretoria. the Federals for Richmond
Cockburn did take the risk they said
he would not. When ready he sailed NJ
the bay. turned into the Patuxent. scat
tered the little fleet of defenders, and
landed in Maryland thirty or forty miles
away. Wild panic followed the receipt of
this news in Washington but General
Armstrong still asserted. .The:r will strike
somewhere. but they will not come here
No. no: Baltimore is the place. sir: that
is OF SO much more consequence
"On hastily chosen ground at Bladens-
burg the American stand was made. Sew
en- Thousand men. made up Of sailors, ma
rines regulars. militia and outsiders
had been gathered to defend the Capital.
They were mostly men without training.
many exhausted from their haste in get
ting there. 1t was in no sense army; IL
was a mob, but brave, heroic and patriot
ic to the core. Against them were hurled
1000 seasoned veterans. fresh from their
triunphs in the peninsula. Most OF you
are familiar with the battlefield and, like
myself. treasure the memory of hercism
displayed on that fatal day. Two lines
of battle stretched across the pike. one
under General Winder at the bridge the
other the reserve under Commodore Bar
ney, mile back at the spring. 1t was
simply story of the outfianking of raw
leyies by men who knew how to fight. I'm
availing was the defence. Artillery held
back the enemy at first. but Congreve
rockets threw many of the militia into q
panic. The President started cross cGun-
try; by scores and hundreds the militia
broke and soon nothing was left but Bar
ney's little lire back at the ravine. Trey.
too. were attacked by thanking parties on
the right and left In the fight which en-
sued the British lost more men in pro-
portion TO the number engaged than in
any battle they had ever been engaged in.
The gallant Barney was fatally wounded
and his men at last were compelled to re-
treat. That night. Behold the smoke of
the city assembled up TO heaven, Ross and
Cockburn burned the Capitol the Treas
ury. the White House and other build
ings destroying between one and two mil
lion dollars worth of public property and
half million dollars worth OF private
property including the house built on
Capitol Hill for Washington.
TO the credit OF the English people let
it be said they looked with horror upon
this vandalism. Willingly said the Lon
don Statesman, would we throw a veil
OF oblivion over our transactions at Wash
ington. The Cossacks spared Paris. bat
we spared not the Capital of America
Glad are We to remember tonight the
beautiful the coura geous incidents of that
unhappy chapter in our history. The fig
ure of Dolly Madison standing at her post
in the White House until the last. and
then endangering her safety that she
might secure the painting OF Washington.
Proud are we 10 remember what raw
troops could do in spite of poor planning
and widespread panic. But the lesson of
that event we must not forgotten enler-
eeucies this Government must be pre-
pared whether IL concerns the fighting
of typhoid fever in the District of Co
lumbia or the guarding of our coasts from
n foreign foe Blindness today. as hun
bred years ago. will resul; in disaster.
Ne wait TO miiitarisli or imperisii7-,a
but we DO want careful prcparatic
emergencies which we know may
Human life is too precious to be sac
morally. mentally, or physically.
fight vice ignorance and disease
District so that never again can it sf
that the smoke OF the burning city -
70 heaven.