The Washington herald., 1908-08-05

flll- a sfs- Correspondent
Fort Washington Aug A-Fort Wash
iagtoa has fallen into the hands Of The
enemy This last gateway and stronghold
OF the nations Capital was taken by
storm about 20 O'Clock tonight. and as
Fort He-- IS theoretically on TIE map,
for tonight al least. Washington IS at
the mercy OF the Victorious army
Landing IN small beats. the invaders.
Uader command q Lieut. Col EsIcheI-
derter. OF the First Regiment attempt
ed TO storm the ramparts. They were
repaIsed on both daaks. The main force
made a successful andl1g and captured
vith Ht-Is opposition. every important
position IN the fort The spectacle was
greatly enjoyed hy tbl hundreds of men
who were theoretically nC1existeat and
who sat around a. points OF vantage,
watching the progress Of the hsht-
station l. Blown Up.
The pumping station vaz Blown Up. the
tower station was put o-- OF business.
the fire and battle commands stations
were captured. and Col CGrand OF the
First regiment. cCuulrl-uE the defense.
was captured as was ev-ry-h5re Of value
All or the guns were spiked. and the great
fleet. theoretically anchored below Indian
Head. viii probably sail on Washington.
None CT the big guns was used against
the enemy The men detailed 20 man
them are stu at dr-u. using the passing
steamers as targets. and they paid no
attention TO being captured. but kept Up
their work
To-night's problem Of defense devoIved
upon the support The question a.. issue
was as 20 whether the mlItiauen. acting
as support. could Eol5 -T landing party
making an assault in small boats. The
drill by the batteries and by the light
operators and those detailed % the hre
and command stations were entirely in6e-
pendent OF the bartl= that surrounded
them
Brig Gen Ha-ries. commanding the
District militia. and his entire stan were
captured as was also Col Ogrard and
Col Coffin
Several days ago Lieut. Chandler threat
ened 70 capture the Fort Washington
liquid commissary." and he did. Every
thing else was taken. incidentally.
The attacking force under Lieut. Col
Reichelderfer. with the support tnstruc-
tors from Fort Hunt under Capt Chuds
embarked soon after sunset and made
preparations for the attack The two
battalions Of support under Col Ourand.
who was 20 conduct the defense. were
disposed along the water front. with
three companies az headquarters as re-
serve Displaying excellent strategy. the
enemy did not attempt 10 land con
centrated force al any one point but
split into four parties and landed wher-
ever possible
Take Part OF Company
Part Of Company \. under command Of
Capt Harry Walsh, the first land party.
was captured frst. The First Separate
Battery succeeded IN landing in Piscat-
away Creek. which empties into the Po-
tomac on the south side Of the promen-
tory, but when Capt Beans company Of
reserves arrived. they were captured
Capt. Taits command captured MAI
McCathran with his party, but the cen
tral party landing north Of the engi-
neers' wharf. with Lieut. Col. Reichelder-
fer. Capt ChiIds. and Lieut.. Chandler.
got IN unmolested- In the melee caused
by the capture Of Capt. Walsh. his com
nnand did all the damage in the fort. cap
turing Col Ourand in the headquarters
tent. where he was conducting the de-
fense.
Under actual conditions. however. none
Of, the attacking party would have sue
ceeded N making "A landing. as they were
picked up and would have been annihi-
lated half mile from shore.
Preparing for Attack.
Preparations for to-nights encounter
have been in progress all day on both
sides Of the river. Attacking and defend
ing forces have been equally busy. The
regular drills in the morning were con-
verted into a preliminary FOR to-nirht's
attack and defense. The men at the guns
fred the first real charges. and although
these were blanks. they made as much
noise as the regular service charge. IN
der Col Cof5n's orders, there were but
three charges fo-. each gun this morning.
Each succeeding day the allowance wiz
be increased
The colonel wants the miIit5amen to be
come used 10 firing real charges gradu-
ally, and also to work the guns gradu-
ally. Both last year and this. ne has ex-
ercised every caution to prevent an acci-
dent Of any sort. and in view of the
Continued on Page 2, Column l.