Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-09-16
HISTORIC PLACES
ABOUT WASHINGTON
MANY RESIDENTS OF CAPITAL
CITY HAVE NEGLECTED TO
VISIT THEM.
BLADENSBURG is CLOSE BY
Scene of MiIitia's Defeat by Invading
British and Famous DueIing Ground
Fort Stevens, Braddock's Stone
and Arlington Are Interesting.
BY EDWARD 9. CLARK.

BY EDWARD 8. CLARK.
Washington. = Some residents of
Washington do not know Washington
or its environs. Scores of tenn
porary residents here also do not know
Washington and it's environs. 1t
is left for the casual visitor, the sight
seer, to learn of this town and all that
it and its neighborhood hold of historic
interest.
1t is a safe wager that there are
many senators and representatives
now sitting under the dome of the
capitol who never have visited Mount
Vernon, the residence and the place
of burial of George Washington.
Washington has hundreds of visitors
at all seasons, people who have come
here to see the places of interest, and
who in advance have prepared lists
of the things which they feel that they
must see. These visitors do the thing
as thoroughly as it can be done within
the time which they allot for their
stay. There are men and women, and
even children, living in distant parts
OF the country who know more about
Washington than do some of it's resi-
dents, temporary and permanent.
BIadensburg Is Historic.
Close to the city of Washington
there is a place called Bladensburg.
In many stories of the political and
warlike events in which the city of
Washington figures, Bladensburg
looms large. 1t was there that the I'M
organized militia of the United States
was met and overrun by the British
troops in their advance on Washing
ton, at the time they captured the city
and burned the capitol and the White
House.
Bladensburg is a historic place for
other reasons. 1t was a great dueling
ground in the old days when men were
bent on settling disputes on what they
called the field of honor. 1t was to
Bledensburg that Stephen Decatur
went in the gray of the morning one
hundred years ago to meet in person
al pistol combat Commodore Barron
Of the United States navy. On the
field of Bladensburg the great sailor,
Stephen Decatur, fell mortally wound
ed by a bullet from his adversary's
weapon. The Decatur house, built and
occupied by the sailor, still stands in
the city of Washington.
Out Seventh street way and we'll
within the city are the remains of Fort
Stevens. When the Confederate gen.
eral, Early, threatened the city from
the northeast, troops were hurriedly
brought to the city and Fort Stevens
was manned. After a smart skirmish
the Confederates retreated. Abraham
Lincoln, then president Of the United
States, went out to Fort Stevens to
witness the fight. He stood exposed
for some time to the Confederate fire.
Fort Stevens and it's historic interest
seem nearly forgotten today, except
by the men and women who come here
from a distance to see Washington.
Where Braddock Landed.
Probably not many persons in Wash
IDgtOn, lawmakers. office holders or
residents, know that General Braddock
landed his forces from barges on the
Potomac at a point well within the
present limits of the city, and from
there marched on his unfortunate cam
paIgn into western Pennsylvania, ac-
companied by the young surveyor SOL
der, George Washington. The place
where BraddOck landed is known as
Braddock's Rock, and its location is
well defined on the maps and in the
histories.
Arlington, the home of the Custises
and later of Robert e. Lee, is now a
great national cemetery. Arlington, to
be sure, is in Virginia, but 1t is within
ten minutes ride of the city of Wash
ington. The view down the Potomac
beauty. Thousands upon thousands of
the nations dead lie buried under
the great trees. The old colonial man.
sion of the Custises and the Lees still
stands. In it Robert E. Lee was mar
ried to Miss Custis. and it was there,
In later years, that he decided to cast
his lot with the Confederacy. Airing
ton Is more or less neglected by the
temporary and permanent residents Of
the city of Washington, but the visitors
from a distance go to the beautiful
place In thousands at all seasons.
of burial of George Washington.
First U. S. Army Plane Decade Ago.
Major General Menoher, head of the
air service, sent telegram to Orville
Wright the other day, the occasion be-
ing the tenth anniversary of the de-
livery of the first airplane to the gov
eminent Of the United States. The
telegram read as follows:
1.-The congratulations of the air serv-
ice are extended to you on the tenth
anniversary of the delivery of the
first airplane to the government Of
the United States, first in the world to
acquire a dynamic aircraft. The air
service appreciates to the full the
ever-increasing debt owed by mankind
to the Wright brothers, whose fore
sight, indefatigable research and prac-
teal application have aided world
progress through the invention of a
new means of communication.
It was about a decade ago that the