The Washington times., 1911-07-08
Proposed Memorial.
THE BATTLEFIELD.

in her arms. sitting under ti.a shelter
ing branches Of sycamore tree that
| still grows within the fort. The woman
| and child were weeping. Piled around
! them was collection Of household fur
aishings that had tecn taken from what
short time before had been their
nome. but was now dIsmantled and in
ruins, for the cellar was needed Tor a
powder magazine and the house had
stood exactly in the right place for II.
The President locked at the ruins and
turning to the woman said:
1T is very hard. but your reward
shall be great"
The reward has not yet come. But
as Aunt Betty, who was Elizabeth
Thomas. and received Lincoln's prom
If Mr.. Lin4oln had not been killed
he would have made the Government
settle for nv home
Aunt Betty's Home.
Aunt Betty, who is now a very old
woman, today lives in a neat cottage
less that twenty feet from the still Wis
ible cellar of her former home. She is
an essential part of the forts history.
When Early was preparing to rush the
defenses General McCook appeared
among the cabins that dotted the i'm
mediate vicinity.
Il want all you women and children
to get away from here" he ordered.
These cabins will be burned
Nv hat fOr?'' asked Aunt Betty.
Il am going to form line OF battle,
answered McCook.
'Huh!' said Aunt Betty, looking at
the crippled men of the garrison, you
can't form much of line of battle
with that force, when there amt none
of EN- can fire gun
You will have to move out. The
rebels are coming, again ordered the
general.
ty The rebels have always been
here
In spite of Aunt Betty's protest the
cabins were DESTROYED, for on Tuesday
morning. april L. Eariys naIDsSo0ters Lines Ters
were exacting a deadly toll. and it was
determined to dislOdge them from IN
front of the fort. They were within
twenty rods of the battlements. Inc
veterans Of the Sixth Corps advanced
to the attack and after a sharp skir-
mish Early retreated before the charge,
but every commanding othcer OF tne
Third Brigade, Second Division, was
killed or wounded. Their graves are in
Battle Ground Cemetery, where, with
their men, forty in all, they sleep in the
uniforms in which they fell
Lincoln Sees Retreat.
Lincoln witnessed the retreat OF
Early's forces and cheered the success
of the Union arms. Sergt. John NJ
Richard, 139th Pennsylvania, a Pitts
burg regiment, was the frs. man killed
on the Union side in this battle, and
the first Union soldier to lose his life
In Fort Stevens was Private Frederick
Walther, of B Company, Ninety-eightn
Pennsylvania. During Early's attack on
the Capital the Federal forces COM
end Divisions of the Sixth Corps, the
Twenty-second Corps, marines. nome
guards, citizens. and convalescerts.
The losses were fifty-four killed and
made Of General Early's numerical!
strength, but his losses are estimated
at 900 killed and wounded, The battle
number Of Fort Stevens is 1853.
chusetts by. the soldiers who built it.
After the heroic death at Chantilly,
Va, of Gen. Isaac Ingalls, Stevens, the
name was changed to honor his mem
ory. When his troops were wavering
under the terrific fire of the enemy,
General Stevens rushed forward to the
leading regiment, the Seventy-ninth
Highlanders, and seized the colors from
the wounded bearer, and, crying High
landers! Ny Highlanders! Follow your
generalr Five color-bearers of this
regiment had already fallen, The enemy
was hurled back, but in the moment Of
victory Stevens fell, his brain pierced
by bullet
But still the nag he lifted high
And onward bore to victory;
In his dead hand was clerched.
Mr.. Cox's Efforts.
Heroic Stevens! And the gallant fort
that bears his name and bore the brunt
of battle! Where Lincoln courted death
for the cause Of united country; the
very spot on which he stood has thus
far been saved to the nation only be-
cause of the unselfish efforts of William
v. Cox, of Brightwood and Washington,
who, to prevent its entire spoliation,
purchased out Of his own means the
last remaining walls, and who intends
to mark with q suitable monument the
spot whereon was enacted one of the
most momentous scenes in tie nations
history.