Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-09
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

After every military engagement in this
neighborhood during the civil war Wash
ington witnessed the mel
Trains of aneholy spectacle OF
trains of wounded men
"o0AuCu' coming into the city. At
this time fifty years ago fighting was In
progress. not only on the peninsula.
where Gen. Mcclellan was trying to get
within striking distance of Richmond. but
in the Shenandoah valley. and also i'm
mediately west of the city. In The Star
of June ,. 1862, is the following news
paragraph:
"A train of cars arrived yesterday ,Sun-
day. from Rectortown and Manassas.
bringing several hundred sick and wound
ed soldiers for the hospitals at Alexandra
and Washington. From a gentleman who
came in on the train and was with 1t
from the time it left Thursday, We learn
the following particulars: The sick OF the
several divisions in and about that neigh
borhood We're collected at Rectortown Tor
the purpose of being sent back Thursday
morning last the cars were loaded with
the sck: some of the cars We're merely
platform cars. with no shelter over them,
and the sick men suffered much. Thurs
day and Friday nights it rained and the
sick who were upon the platforms had
nothing whatever to cover them except
their blankets. At Manassas, where the
train lay nine hours, number Of gentle
men procured such necessaries as they
could and distributed them among the
sick Our informant states that there APP
peared to be no efforts whatever attempt
ed to make the sufferers comfortable. At
Rectortown and other places bread ana
milk and other nutritious and necessary
diet could easily have been procured. but
no effort whatever was made to obtain 1t.
Some parties on board the train threat
ened to report the matter to headquarters
at Washington.
The municipal election was held In
Washington on June > 1867. and resulted
in an overwhelming vic
Mnnicinal tory for the ''uncondi-
tional union" ticket as
GAecCAVA. opposed to the union
demaoratic" Richard Wallach for mayor
on the former ticket received majority
of 2S9S votes in total of 4,SU2. Inc I'M
conditional union candidates for alder
men and councilmen were elected in all
the seven wards. while the same party
carried all the assessors by large ma
iority The election passed off without
disorder of any serious character. lew
scrimmages occurring without causing
any i'll effects. The provost guard 1ortu-
nately interviewed on one occasion 70
check an eruption that threatened 10
grow into a riot during the AFTERNOON
when young man in a restaurant on
9th street near Louisiana avenue drank
a toast to Jeff Davis and one of the BY
ISLANDERS struck him. which started the
crowd toward him and gave MN cnase'
when the provost guard squad from
the I'd District Regiment, came upon the
scene and stopped further proceedings
The evening closed with the usual sere-
nades and speeches.
President Lincoln was endeavorng to
obtain from Congress some form OF enact
ment looking to the solu-
Emancipation ton of the slavery prob
lem. and meanwhile slave
1IOuleM. owners in the loyal
states and those held under military ]u-
risdiction Of the federal authority had
hard time adjusting to conditions. In me
Star of June G. 1862 is long editorial
discussion of this matter. saying In part
1T Is gratifying to perceive that our
neighbors of Maryland. who have been OF
late reaping the fruits of secession IN the
loss of their negroes are rapidly coming
IN COMPREHEND that their evident ana
only sure relief lies in promptly aooPtihs
the wise policy of gradual emancipation
enforced in the President late message
on that subject The Star repeatedly eN-
planned. in endeavorng to prevent seces-
sion. that it must inevitably result IN
destruction of the value OF slave prop
erty i'm the border states. we were there.
fore not unprepared for the existence OF
precisely the state OF Things TO WHICH we
rafer in This region We do not believe
that a single intelligent slaveholder OF
MARYLAND fails at this moment to reallZe
that his losses from the escape OF slaves
and the extraordinary depreciation OF the
value of slave property are justly charge
able upon secession While secession has
thus literally robbed shareholders of much
of their property and Immensely depre-
ciated the value of that remaining, II mas
injured even more the property holders OF
pon-slaye holding states, robbing them OF
thousands of millions of the value of their
property in stocks. bonds. business. lands.
etc, etc. 1t is not more just for the
Maryland Shareholder to charge upon the
government rather than secession, the IN
iuries he has received through the war
than it would be for the northern manu-
facturers, merchants, stockholders or me-
chanics to do the same thing. me latter
have always held the right partles-the
secession ligarchy-responsible, and the
former are rapidly coming to take the
same common-sense view of the matter.
Nor Is it more reasonable in the former TO
look to direct interference by the general
government to ward off from their inter-
ests the natural effects of the existing
state of civil war than it would be Tor
those of the north. who also find their
property and labor of every deScrlpt on
almost utterly ruined in value. TO expect
the government to make them whole again
by its direct interference to that end. All
alike deplore the fruits of secession eN-
planned above. and all patriotic people
look alone to the only sure remedy of It's
of the rebellion, with the consequences
that should rightfully flow from that
achievement.
prisoners during the civil war. those who
were taken into custody
Military for their offenses against
the local laws, those who
IIlSoHeIS. were held under charges
affecting their relations to the United
States and finally those who misbehaved
in tho course of their service under the
government. OF this last-named class
there were several score, as the following
paragraph in The Star of June I, 1862,
indicates:
There are now confined in the peni-
Tertiary about ninety-five soldiers, in
Guiding one captain, for mutiny The
,;cla or which