Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-12
|EARLY DAYS OF
THE CIVIL WAR
Story of the Capture of Alex
andria by Union Soldiers.
AS TOLD BY GEN. WILCOX
Proclamation Issued Upon Taking
] Possession of the City.
DEATH OF COL. ELLSWORTH
"reminiscences Of Stormy Period by
One Of the Chief Actors in At
tendant Strife.

dutuOIlty 10 OHS VI tilc ulOSl III
teresting documents of the early days of
! the war, issued as it was in the first city
south of the Potomac occupied by federal
| troops.
"PROCLAMATION!
! Headquarters, Alexandria, Va, May %,
1861
Special Orders No. !.
Capt. Whittelsey, 1st Michigan Infantry,
| is detailed for duty as provost marshal Of
this city and such parts of the vicinity as
may come within the range Of outposts.
He will report for duty Immediately to
the commanding officer until further orders.
Company H is detailed as city police
| guard under command of the provost mar
shall The headquarters of the police will
be the Marshall House.
by order Of
"COL. o. B. WILCOX.
y. D. FAIRBANKS. Adjutant."
Assumes Command.
HEADQUARTERS, AreSandria, May 26, 1861.
Order No. e..
THE undersigned assumes command Of
the Union forces in and about Alexandria
from the oath instant. -~.
1.-The peace of the city will be preserved
unless attacked by the enemy, when the
consequences will rest upon themselves.
Private property will be respected and pro-
tected by the officers and men Of the w. e
command.
'Peaceable citizens will be held inviolate
in the persons of themselves, their families
ana servants.
"All disorders will be promptly stopped
and offenders arrested and punished
In ordinary cases the city police will
not be fnterfered with in the performance
of their duty, day or night. The police
guard will form the military police Of the
city, and the provost marshal may be
applied to by citizens for protection or
redress Of grievances from soldiers. 49,
Citizens will apply to- the provost mar
shall for passes. which he will grant at his
discretion, under orders received from the
commanding officer. fs-i = -
BY order of <
col. o. B. WILCOX, /;
y. D. FAIRBANKS AAd3utant.'
Proclamation Suppressed.
This proclamation was ISSUED" the day
OF the capture of the city, but its publica-
ton was attended by some difficulties. Gen.
Wilcox, then a colonel, sent it to the
publisher of the old Alexandria Gazette
Mr.. Snowden, one of the family which has
owned 1t for generations and asked its
insertion. The paper made its appearance
In the evening, as 1t had done from the
time Of Burgoyne, but did not contain the
proclamation. He at once sent an officer
to ascertain the cause of its suppression.
The publisher said he did not consider 1t
sound policy to print the proclamation in
his columns. The paper was seized but
printers were not available Mntil two pri-
Yates in the LIST Michigan regiment, Gallo
way of Detroit and ODonnell of Jackson
volunteered their services, and. with ma
teriai found in the Office succeeded in issll-
ing the proclamation in handful form. To
It they attached the legend, Galloway &
ODonnell, printers, LIST Michigan "Volun-
teers." One of these young men was James
O'Donnell, long an efficient member Of
Congress.
The other Alexandria paper the senti-
mol cf0 mad Np,hls L.
1t had announced in the last. issue before
the taking of the city: I'VE are able to
meet the foe, eye to eye, front to front
column to column, and chase them back
from our soil. We shall gloriously triumph
over them"
The Generals Own Story.
Gen. Willcox.s own story of the occupa-
ton of Alexandria will doubtless be read
with keen interest by many old citizens Of
Washington and her sister city. He al
ways entertained the warmest regard for
many whom he met in both cities. In his
story of the occupation he says:
THE jurisdiction of the federal govern
ment extends over the Potomac river
There Is no boundary line of demarkation
in midstream. Therefore, the LIST Michigan
In Its advance on ancient Alexandria did
not reach the soil of the Old Dominion until
1t came to the Virginia end of the Long
Bridge. AS the regiment was crossing all
minds were full. This was for us the actual
beginning Of the long, bitter story of the
civil war. The invasion was made cheer
fully enough. The officers and men were
full OF enthusiasm and zeal, conscious that
their cause was just and determined that
their duty should be done. But looking
back over the long retrospect Of more than
forty years cannot help recalling the grim
fate that awaited SO many of the bright
brave boys Of the first regiment that ever
came under my command. Many of them
fell on the soil OF the state which we were
that dark night invading Others died in
hospitals and noisome prisons. Some Of
| them still sleep In old Virginia. handful
OF the veterans yet survive, to whom their
colonels hat is OF with due pride mingled
with tender remembrance!
"At the Virginia end of the Long Bridge
Col Charles p. Stone was stationed with
battalion Of District Of Columbia guards
which greeted us in passing. This officer
afterward gained fame at Balls Bluff and
was subsequently distinguished pasha in
the army Of the Egyptian khedive.
Regiments at Arlington Heights
Several regiments had already crossed
and right-wheeled up to Arlington Heights
where Gen. Sanford commanded. We turn
ed down to the left. marching as far as
Halfway creek toward Alexandria, which
was then considered the danger point most
eminently threatening our capital. There
were other war Clouds, Manassas, Gull
pepper. Harpers Ferry, Fredericksburg, etc.,
but these were all more remote.
"Col Butterworth of the 18th New York
marched his regiment with US as far as
Halfway creek. but as we found no hostile
forces there to oppose US he turned back
for Arlington. his proper destination. At
Halfway creek we had to wait for Col
Ellsworth's steamer on the Potomac, whose
signal we looked for to renew our route
The plan had been for our two commands
to advance-one by land and one by water
and enter Alexandria simultaneously, in
order to insure its capture, strike for the
Orange and Alexandria railway depot and
break up the track as far out as necessary
in order to destroy railroad communication
with Manassas, where the confederates had
gathered formidable force. But as the
steamer hove in sight and moved right on
and much faster than our legs could carry
US, the simultaneous part Of the business
collapsed.
1T was imperative that Ellsworth should
slow up instead of which my gallant
young friend impatiently padded ahead,
landing at the old King street wharf,