The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-02-18
BULL RUN BATTLEFIELDS.
&. {. Round Urges Government sc
QUESTION Wholly or In Part.

Secretary Root Of the War Department,
has received memorial from George
Carr Round. Of Manassas. Va. urging the
acquisition by the Government Of the But
Run battiehelds, in part II not WHOLLY
He says.
Il think the land should be kept es,-
actly as it now is and substantially as g.
was before the war. with the exception or
two or three convenient roadwavs ana
some fencing OF a permanent character.
The bin bow pending before the Hcus
OF Representatives proposes TO leave T..
details 90 the Secretary Of War. Il o.
consideration you should ind 10 poss-g.
TO do more than has been indicated then
suggest from so 90 90 permanent tar
lets. III lieu Of the wooden ones erected Ir
the Grand Army committee 10 Isgg Ties
tablets. located on The grounds purchase.
and aiou- he DItiiJ roads. would give al
the information ordinarily s5ugh. by Wis
itors.
u also suggest two steel towers. one o..
Henry Hin and another on Douglass Hin
rom which tourists could easily see tu.
two lines Of railroad and their junction G..
Manassas, Fairfax Court House, Centre
Vile Heights and The whole valley OF BuIi
Run from SuLley TO Union Mills, the bat
tlehelds OF BlacA5urn's Ford and Chautl-
ly, the location OF Fitz John Porter's col
umn. and OF the two battles o. Bristou
Station ThOToughfare Gap. Hopewou
Gap. and the whole length or the Bull Run
range, 10 the north could be seen the Vi
entity of Balls BluA. the outlines of th.
Potomac valley and beyond the Sugari0at
Mountain and the adjacent hills of Mary
land, TO the southwest would be- seen
Warrenton, the outlines o. the RaDPahau-
mock V2iIey and far beyond the Blue Ridge
for more than q hundred miles In fact
the whole strategy OF the campaigns OF
81, 90, and 60 could be read as from an
open book IF there is any other part of
the world whore so many military opera
lions can be seen and studied 10 ac-I1-
JaEe I do not know IT,
u believe the whole expense need not
exceed $50. 600. and I think 10 could be
fairly well done for half that sum, the
amount named in Mr. RiNey's bill. Tn
annual expenditure need not thereafter
exceed 500 or $500 for a keeper. who
could be allowed the use Of the land for
grazing and cultivation. under reason
able restrictions.
Personally, / should be opposed 10 the
erection OF any new memorials 10y the
United States The present monuments
are of course, rude, but they were erect
tools as they had IN camp. They SPEAK
20 future generations a soldiers love for
his defeated and dead comrades. Lee
them stand forever as they are. To my
mind they are worth more than the most
imposing mausoleums OF marble and GOLD.
The inscription. To the patriots who
fell at Bull Run written. as it was. by
the chief Of stan OF the commanding gen
eral. is siugularly brief and appropriate
Not scintilla Of reflection ia those who
fought against us, but rather, as I prefer
TO consider It. a prophecy Of the time nov
at hand when all American soldiers who
died for what they believed right viii be
considered patriotic even though mis-
taken
1T is true that since the monuments
were erected most OF the Union dead have
been removed 10 Arlington. but they are
not all removed. The plOwman has fire.
qucntly revealed this fact though now
no distinction can be discerned between
friend and foe. The duty Of the Govern
ment, however, is clear, whether We con
slider its duty 10 the owners Of the soil
or its duty to the dead and living or its
duty 10 itself"