Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-16

1
be followed by accounts Of huge SNOWFALL
battles between the troops camped here or
OF light frivolitissein field or camp. Those
same soldiers ia their fatlings, too, 1t
would seem from The Stars files. which
contain some pretty vigorous protest.
against boys in1Hue who found amuse-
hnpp in up ash pso
| The provost guSn6, 1t is needless to say.
was earnestly s1Horted by The Star Then
there was the constant complaint OF cit-
| zens to be voiced that officers would insist
! on riding on SEkdewalks. By the winter
| of 1862 many OF tie city streets had been
churned to such an extent by heavy wagons.
| and heavier ordnance, that after a thaw
horses sank over their knees in the mixture.
Officers naturally took to the sidewalks, but
| The Star did Its best to drive them back
] into the street.
| In February, 1862, by telegraph and by
| official statements from the government,
the victories Of Grant at Donelson were
! fully covered, and from that time on the
| name Grant was to be found more ana more
frequently in The Stars columns.
| Emancipation and '62.
| In March columns were printed as tele-
graph and as accounts of eye witnesses Of
the famous fight between the Monitor and
| the Merrimac. In the spring of 1862 the
great event Of the war, locally. was the
passage of the emancipation bill for the Dis
/ trict Of Columbia. The Star fully described
the passage of this measure through Con-
| gress, its signature by the President on
| April 10, the consequent jubilee meetings or
| colored people and the appointment and
| work in detail of the emancipation commits
| sion. The accounts, too, at this period or
| the capture of fugitive slaves here and OF
| the gathering of upward of LOO coloreo
| men and women in what was known as the
Contraband Camp are full of interest today
| as then.
| The summer of 1862 was largely taken up
| with the Peninsula campaign; and by tele-
| graph by correspondence and by news from
headquarters here The Star struggled nara
| to give its readers an understanding OF sit
uations that puzzle the historian to ex-
| plain after forty years. With this were
| full accounts Of the Presidents various
| visits to the troops and Of his efforts to
| push the border states into gradual eman-
| cipation. In August, too. there was the
| monster war meeting held in front of the
| Capitol. which was covered in full detail by
| The Star.
The second battle of Bull Run, fought in
August, caused great excitement ana Tear
| in the city Disorganized troops were not
| flooding the place after the first battle
| but thousands of wounded were being
| brought in The Star contained official calls
| for nurses and doctors, the hospitals were
| crowded churches and the Capitol were
| drafted for hospital purposes, and all the
| department clerks were being organized
| into companies. The Star files picture vivid
| ly a scene of excitement of work and or
| apprehension during those first days OF
| September, 1862 There was no let up to
| the excitement here until the battle of An
tietam had been fought on the 18th. and
| when, a few days later. it was known def
| nitely that the coufederates had crossed into
| Virginia once more and the capital had
| been relieved there came the first breath
| ing space for the citizens and for The Star.
| The crossing of the confederates into Mary
| land, the march of Mcclellan up the river
| and the great battle were of such local i'm
| port that the elaborate treatment by The
| Star Is not surprising.
| Scenes of 1868.
The winter of 63 saw the tide of war
| sweep back toward Richmond once more
and the great battles fought were for The
| Star telegraph ana correspondence. with
| the added task of rejecting the admins
tration and congressional feelings and ac-
| tons.
Then In June came that marvellous trans
| formation scene, fraugbt with so much dan
| ger to the capital. Instead of facing his
| antagonist before Richmond, Lee was on
the march. He had crossed the river, Penn
! sylvania invaded the capital again
| was in dire danger. 1t is needless to say
| that these movements were followed care
| fully-by The Star and hat the invasion
| brought out elaborate stories and big heads.
| News of the great battle at Gettysburg
| was slow in getting to Washington, and 1t
| is interesting 10 note that The Star of April
| 9 contains the Presidents order dated 1 80
| that day. calling out al of the District
militia for sixty days Later that even
| fight. to be folieWea with others the next
| day, until by the 9Th Lee had been con-
| Quoted back to the Potomac. The actual
news of a great battle as this is not the
only interesting thing in the study of the
| work done by The STIR during the war.
After Gettysburg and the other great bat
| ties for many days much space would be
| given up to stories of participants. scenes
! and incidents, many of them related for the
first time then. but now to be found in
every history.
| Along with Gettysburg came news of the
fall of Vicksburg. and as seen in the local
| columns the twin events were celebrated
deliberately by officials ard citizens.
| In the latter part Of 63 there We're fire.
| quent local stories of the draft here, the
names drawn in the different wards and the
| scenes being given, while TIE advertising
| columns contained a few bids for substi-
! tutes.
Early's Raid.
The great events OF the war in 1851
when the panorama showed vivid pictures
are strongly portrayed in The Stars files
The arrival of General Grant In Washing
ton In March and the presentation to him
by Mr. Lincoln of his commission were
written of in detail and the appearance Of
the great commander described. He
known in Washington then only by reputa-
ton, but that reputation made him the CEN
ter of observation 1t took many extras to
keep pace with the tremendous fighting be-
tween Grant and Lee in the Wilderness in
May, and when, in July, Early came knock
ing at the very doors of the city. The Stars
presses could not run fast enough to supply
the public hunger for news. July 5 The
Star printed an 'unconfirmed rumor that
the confederates had crossed a force into
MARYLAND with designs on the capital.
From that day until the following Monday,
the 18th. when General Early had passed
through Rockville and his advance
skirmishing this side of Silver Spring The
Star through its regular and extra editions.
traced every inch Of his advance That
Monday night and the next day noisy
and exciting ones for citizens and news
pa pers and both drew a deep sigh of relief
on Wednesday when it was known that the
confederate force had disappeared from
Washington's front. The local stories in
| The Star Of the fighting around Fort Stew
ems. the movements of the President and
| the citizen soldier during those anxious
| days afford interesting reading today and
| were simply devoured then.
The Closing Events.
| Saturday. April L. 1865. an extra Star an
nounced the closing of the tolls around the
| brave Lee and his army at Petersburg and
| on the following Monday. with heavy head
| lines reading
GLORY.!!
| HAIL COLUMBIA!
| HALLELUJAH,!
| RICHMOND OURS!!!