El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-30

/ may God protect him, Two messengers
i covered with dust come to bid me ny,
z but ] wait for him. At this late hour
{ wagon has been procured. 1 have
valuable portable articles. Whether II
viii reach its destination, the Bank of
Maryland. or fall into the hands Of the
British. events must determine. Our
I kind friend Mr. Carroll has come to
hasten my departure. and is I'm a very
bad humOr with me because / insist on
waiting until the large picture of Gen
Washington is secured. Tt required 10
+ be unScrewed from the wall. and this
process was found too tedious for these
perilous moments: so I have ordered
the frame broken and the canvas taken
out It is done. and the precious por-
trait placed in the hands of two gem
tlemen OF New York for safekeeping
A ND now my dear sister, / must leave
/ the house, or the retreating army will
make me a prisoner in it by filling up
! the road I am to take
The Saving of the Picture.
The portrait of Washington was by
Stuart, and hung in the state dining
room Somebody. at Mrs. MadisOn's or
ders. broke with an ak the heavy gold
wood, on which she inner one was
stretched and thus il was removed I'M
injured: The oft-published statement
I Ihat the picture was cut from the
frame by Dolly herself is Incorrect
But to go back a little The British.
forces on land and sea had orders TO
districts on the coast as might be as
sailable." The enemy's fleet and trans
ports arrived off the mouth OF the Pa
tuXent go miles north Of -Annap OltS) on
the 18th day of August, 1914 The
troops, under Gen. Robert Ross. were
disembarked on the following day and
formed into three brigades NUMBERING
1900 men On August 20 the boats Of
the fleet, led by rear admiral Cockburn
started Up the PatuXent to capture a
4 bunch Of gunboats blockaded there. I'M
al h.
ney. The soldiers marched abreast Of
the boats, and Barney having blown
up his vessels TO prevent them from
falling into the hands Of the foe, re-
treated.
The Remarkable Feature.
Now comes the remarkable part Of
tne military proceedings For five days
the Britlsh troops marched across Mary
land i'm a leisuTely way, without en-
counterlng the slightest opposition.
The country, much Of 1t densely forest
ed and with few roads, was difficult.
Under such circumstances a few hun
dred determined men could have so
harassed the advancing column as TO
make its progress practically impossi- 4
Die Even the most untutOred savages
would have had sufficient military
knowledge to adopt such an eXpedient.
But Gen. Winder. with a force of $500
men, including 1000 regulars and 500
lighting sailors under Barney. did moth
ing.
As a result, the enemy was not
q III
rived actually within sight of the Cap
itol. Then, al Bladensburg Winder put
up some sort Of a fight But it was
wholly ineffective. and the Americans
soon ned-all of them, that is to say,
except the 500 sailor men under Bar
ney. who stuck by their guns, and,
against overwhelming odds, were pref
" nearly wiped out before they sur
rendered, Barney himself being badly
wounded and made prisoner.
There Is no question Of the face that
Do
in command Of the American forces. the
foe would never have got anywhere
near Washington. He knew his business.
But, as it was the British entered the
city after nightfall on the 23d and I.
camped a quarter Of mile east Of the /
capitol.
Washington in Panic.
Meanwhile. in Washington. alarm had /
turned into panic. The American troops, ;
after the fight at Bladensburg. were in 4
dlsorderly retreat Crowds Of flying fu- I
bridge across the Potomac, and when F.
the British entered the population had .
dvindled to a few stragglers and the .
slaves Of absent residents. All private +
houses were shut up and there were :
few signs OF life
During the previous II hours clerks &
at the presidents house had been busy (
packing and aiding In the removal OF F.
valuables- Coarse linen bags hastily /
made for the purpose, were hung around 4
the walls to receive portable stuff and f,
particularly documents. Among the lat /
ter were the Declaration Of Independ- I
ence. the constitution of the United I
States. and Washington's commission as /
ccmmanderinchief Of the American.
forces. The records of the COntfnentT
congress are said to have been carTSNAi
away by Mrs. Madison in a small red {
trunk which is preserved to tbs day /
as an historical relic i'm the department I
of state
History relates that Cen. Ross was /
in favor OF attacking Baltimore rather +
than Washington. because Of the larger +.
loot there to BE obtained; but Cock !
burn thought would be more spec Z
tacular TO Taid the Capital city and his 4
plan prevafle d-one notion of his be- (
ing that it would be a fine scheme TO Z
axe the president and his wife and ex- {
hibit them as captfves in England.
COckburn had strong sense Of the J