Evening star., 1928-05-27

OF him, he no doubt abandoned all in
tention of attempting to enter the Cap
ital True, the oath New York Cavalry
had arrived from the James on July 16
but even this reinforcement would not
have been sufficient to have repulsed
Early without the help of the 9th Corps,
One of the reasons assigned for Early
not entering Washington Immediately
upon his arrival was that his men came
upon a perfectly good barrel of Bourbon
whisky in the cellar of the home OF
Francis p Blair at Silver Spring and
that they could not be induced to leave
it for fear 1t might spoil or evaporate
in their absence. Montgomery Blair,
then Lincoln's Postmaster General, and
Francis P.'s son, lived nearby and he
did not fare so well, for their home
was burned.
The Star printed on July IL, 1864,
this story of the events:
"The Invasion"
"The heavy skirmishing in front
of Fort Stevens, in the vicinity of
the Seventh street road, yesterday
afternoon, continued until after
dark.
THE rebels held position in the
WOOA5 A1OlA WAAANAA why bAAAEW OAV
Skirmi6hes, who crept along the
ground or fired from behind trees
At one time they succeeded in get
ting within range Of the fort and
their sharpshooters were enabled to
pick of gunners, two of whom
were wounded. The rebels used no
artillery, but their movements indi-
Gated that they were endeavoring
to plant battery to bear on Fort
Stevens Oately known as Fort
Massachusetts, and in order to frus-
trate their designs the fort threw
shells occasionally amongst them.
About half-past six our cavalry
charged upon them, which had the
effect of driving them back some
distance. The Skir1nishing was
still kept up, however, and a little
after seven o'clock our infantry was
brought up and placed in line in
front of Fort Stevens, while the
cavalry deployed to the right. The
object of this movement, or its re-
suits, was not known when we LETT
the vicinity of the scene Of action
last night.
1.-THE house of F. p. Blair has not
been burned as reported yesterday
The rebels appear to be using 1t as
hospital, as they were seen to
carry some of their wounded into
it. The house of Mrs. Reeves and
Mr.. Carbery, on either side of the
Seventh street road. were occupied
by rebel sharpshooters, who an
noyed our troops somewhat. Dur
ing the afternoon they picked off
three of our sergeants, shooting
them through the head.
1T was found necessary to de-
stIoy quite a number of houses on
either side of the Seventh street
road to prevent them being occupied
by the rebel sharpshooters Among
the houses destroyed were MessrS.
Richard Butts, William Bells, j. Fl.
McChesney's, Mr.. Shoemaker's and
he house occupied by the family Of
he late William M. Morrison.
Time, however, was allowed the
owners of these to remove the furni-
ture, and the road leading to this
city was lined with wagons convey
ing 1t to a place of safety.
1.-The farmers in the vicinity lost
the most OF their stock, owing, as
they say, to our pickets refusing to
let the drivers pass through the
lines without permit. The farm
ers had taken the precaution to
drive their stock towards the city
as the rebels advanced, but not
being allowed to enter, 1t fell into
the hands of the enemy.
Several citizens, policemen and
others took active part in the en-
gagement, prominent among whom