Evening star., 1951-01-15


slaves used to die on him. They
are buried right behind those
Shacks."
Mrs. Cristofane drove back to
the Peace Cross, turned right and
went towards Washington to a
wooded gully on the northeast
border of Fort Lincoln Cemetery
Before we get to the battle let
me show you the dueling grounds,
she said. There's some dispute
about their location but have an
1848 volume of Harper's Magazine
with an article on the Bladens-
burg duels and it indicates the
dueling ground was that little Level
spot there now all overgrown with
trees.
ut was there Commodore Bar
ron fatally wounded Stephen De-
catur in 1890 in one exchange of
shots. Decatur had been on the
board of inquiry and the court
martial that cashiered Barron for
allowing a British war vessel to
stop his command, the Chesa-
peake. on the high seas in 1903
and impress seamen without a
shot being fired. Barron opened a
correspondence with Decatur over
a matter of honor which con-
tinued for six months, Decatur
giving him all the satisfaction in
the matter that a gentleman of
honor could. Barron finally sent
a direct challenge. wonder how
many of these character assassins
today would risk a duel"
Had Transatlantic Shipping.
Mrs. Cristofane drove back tc
the Peace Cross.
"One difficult thing to realize
about Bladensburg," she said, "is
that the docks were right where
the Peace Cross is. The river took
a loop then and flowed right
through that grove south of the
Peace Cross. The old pictures
show their mastS and spars right
there. The town had a century OF
transatlantic shipping; the last
ship cleared in 1843.
when the British came ur
from Nottingham on the Patuxent
on August "a, 1914 they had their
choice Of two roads into Washing
ton. One would have taken them
to the Kentucky avenue bridge
across the Eastern Branch. That
was about where the Sousa bridge
is now. It was blown up that day
by Marines from the Navy Yard
They chose instead to come north
to Bladensburg, probably because
they knew the river was fordable
above the Bladensburg bridge.
For some reason, Gen. Stans-
bury, in command of the American
brigade at Bladensburg, didn't de-
stroy the bridge. He said in his
report that he gave orders fol
men with axes to cut it away, but
the orders were not carried out
There was a good deal of con-
fusion about orders in this battle
The units were almost all militia
"To get to the bridge, the Brit.
ISL had to march north of the
Peace Cross, probably in the spac,
there between the Dixie Pig ane
the Cross Roads,"
Mrs. Cristofane drove across tn.
bridge toward Washington, tool
the first cross street to the righ'
and made another right turn thai
took her back to the river, a bloch
upstream. She pointed to tht
remains of a mill, broken stone
walls.
Mill Mentioned in Stories.
There's the mill mentioned ir
accounts of the BATTLE" she said
"1t was kept in operation until
1882"
Mrs. Cristofane drove back tc
the Washington highway and
turned into town. She passed
the gulley, where the duelling
ground is supposed to have been,
and continued in past the late
Jimmy La Fontaine's gambling
place across the District line to
where the same little stream
of the duelling ground gulley
crosses the highway again before
winding around the Fort Lincoln
Cemetery hill.
"And here is where Commodore
Joshua Barney and his Marines
and f1otilla men fought their guns
They kept the road clear until
their ammunition was exhausted
and the ammunition wagons hao
Joined the general rout.
It's only four miles from here
to Washington. The British
marched in parade formation with
Gen. Ross and Admiral Cockburn
in the lead. About the only shots
fired at them were those from
Robert Sewell's house, now the
headquarters of the National
Women's Party, at Maryland ave-
nue. and Second street NE. The
shots killed Gen. Ross horse.
"I know things are bad now but
these people that talk about the
United States being in the worst
situation in her history ought to
give a little thought to that day
when we were much worse off,
militarily. politically and morally"