VISIT OF PRINCE NAPOLEON. their broken ranks, and my cavalry videts, observing their flight, reported that they finally rallied a mile and a half below, and took position up the road, where they supposed our columns would be pursuing them Captain Rosser, having no enemy left to contend with, at his own request was permitted to review the ground of the enemy's flight, and found the road ploughed up by his solid shot and strewn with fragments of shells; two men left dead on the road, one mortally wounded, and one not hurt taken prisoner. The prisoner said the havoc in their ranks was fearful, justifying what I saw myself of the confusion. Major Terrill's sharpshooters were by no means idle, firing wherever a straggling Yankee showed his head, and capturing a lieutenant, (captured by Major Terrill himself,) one sergeant and one private, all belonging to the 19th Indiana (Colonel Meredith's). . . . Our loss was not a scratch to man or horse. We have no means of knowing the enemy's, except that it must have been heavy, from the effect of the shots. We found in all four dead and mortally wounded, and captured four. Of course they carried off all they could." On the other hand, General McClellan reported to the Secretary of War that Griffin's battery silenced the enemy's battery, while Adjutant Ireland of the 79th regiment, reported the retreat of the enemy under a well directed fire from the left wing, while the right captured a Major of Colonel Stuart's cavalry regiment. The lowest estimate of the enemy's loss, he added, was four killed, two wounded, and one prisoner. "Our men," said General McClellan in his despatch, "behaved most admirably under fire." 11 The summer and autumn saw the arrival of several distinguished persons from the old world. In July, Prince Jerome Napoleon visited New York in his steam yacht, accompanied by his wife, the Princess Clotilde. He avoided ceremony on his travels, and interested himself, as a cultivated student in many lands, in the inspection of what the country had to show at this time best worthy of observation. Immediately presenting himself at Washington, he was entertained by the President, visited the houses of Congress, inspected the camps, and passed beyond the lines to the encampment of the enemy. He was accompanied by General McDowell, with an escort of cavalry, beyond Alexandria to the Confederate pickets before Fairfax Court-House, where he was received by Colonel Stuart, and conducted thence by way of Centreville to Manassas. There he was entertained by Generals Beauregard and Johnston, and after a day spent in the camps and reviewing the troops, returned to Washington without extending his journey further in the rebel States. He then rejoined the Princess at New York, visited the western prairies, Niagara and Canada, and about the middle of September left New York in his yacht for Boston and Halifax on his return to Europe. His journey was thought to have some political significance from his relationship to the Emperor Louis Napoleon, though it was probably only of importance in this way in the information of the country which an intelligent observer carried to a European court, where it was thought his influence was not unfriendly to the North. The correspondence of a member of the party with the Opinion Nationale of Paris, was noticeable for its candid criti cism of public events during the Prince's visit to the United States. As the Union army gained strength, and symptoms of an approaching movement in the ranks began to be evident, the enemy, apparently well advised of the condition of affairs in the camps, recalled their advanced pickets and receded from some of their posts of observation in the immediate neighborhood of Washington. Munson's Hill, in the vi cinity of Alexandria, their occupation of which had been something of a scandal to the army in its front, was thus evacuated by them on the morning of the 28th of September, when the position was formally taken possession of by the Union troops. On their arrival they were surprised at the slight construction of works which had been represented to the public as of A few days before the departure from New York of Prince Jerome Napoleon, several other visitors, also distinguished by relations to the French throne, arrived at the city. The new party included the Prince de Joinvilie, son of Louis Philippe, who came to place his son, the Duke de Penthievre, a youth of sixteen, in the United States naval school at Newport. He also brought with him his two nephews, sons of the late Duke of Orleans-the Count de Paris and the Duke de Chartres. Presently proceeding to Washington, the two young Princes tendered their military services to the Government, were accepted, and duly commissioned with the rank of Captain, a really formidable character. A corwere assigned to the staff of General McClellan. It was expressly stipulated by them that they would receive no pay for their services. Their motive in attaching themselves to the army was undoubtedly to secure the military experience which the organization of the large force before Washington was so well calculated to yield, and to gain for themselves, by actual service, that prestige of reputation in war which no nation values more highly than the French. It was a valued tribute also to the national cause, that the representatives of so distinguished a house, with a possible future in the politics of Europe, should, in so marked a manner, identify themselves with its interests. The Princes remained in the service, faithfully fulfilling the obligations they had assumed, and were with the army through the winter, in the forward movement in the spring, and in the battles before Richmond, in which they were honorably distinguished, to the close of the campaign... respondent who visited the spot immediately after its abandonment by the enemy, thus describes the scene on the summit of the hill. "Everybody, was laughing. The utter absurdity of the works as means of defence, their smallness, meanness, insignificance, touched everybody's sense of the ludicrous. The enclosure comprises about four acres, around which earth is roughly thrown to a height of perhaps four feet. Of course there is no ditch, no glacis—nothing, in fact, to give it the character of a fortification of any kind. It is not even regular in form, but coils loosely and waveringly about the ground, as a huge snake might enfold it. In every respect it looks a squirmy piece of work. There are no embrasures for guns, but upon two of its projections are mountedwhat! guns? No, indeed, but old logs, with a black circle painted in the middle of the sawed part to represent a formidable armament. At such a distance as that of Bailey's Roads, the deception. FORTS AROUND WASHINGTON. 13 might very easily have remained unde- "Fort Richardson;" that known as Fort tected. In the middle of this wretched Albany, "Fort Albany;" that near the 'fort,' the remains of a hastily-constructed end of Long Bridge, "Fort Runyon;" hut still stood; but, with the exception of a few trees, it contained nothing else. Behind it, on the slope of the hill, were a group of irregular shanties, thrown together for the protection of troops. Their number was sufficient for the accommodation of about one regiment, certainly not more. A considerable quantity of straw and a few forgotten rations lay about. The usual offensive odors of a rebel Virginia camp were heightened in this case by the stench from a dead and decaying horse, which the rebels apparently had not energy enough to remove, but left to rot among them." the work next on the right of Fort Albany," Fort Craig ;" the work next on the right of Fort Craig, "Fort Tillinghast ;" the work next on the right of Fort Tillinghast, "Fort Ramsay;" the work next on the right of Fort Ramsay, "Fort Woodbury:" that next on the right of Fort Woodbury, "Fort De Kalb;" the work in rear of Fort Corcoran and near the canal, "Fort Haggerty;" that known as Fort Corcoran, "Fort Corcoran ;" that to the north of Fort Corcoran, "Fort Bennett ;" that south of Chain Bridge on the height, "Fort Ethan Allen;" that near the Chain Bridge on the Leesburg road, "Fort Marcy;" that on the cliff north of the Chain Bridge, An enumeration of the military works in the vicinity of Washington, in the General Orders issued by General Mc- Battery Martin Scott;" that on the Clellan on the 30th of September, will height near the Reservoir, "Battery afford some idea of the organized labor Vermont ;" that near Georgetown, "Batperformed by officers and men of the tery Cameron" that on the left of Tenarmy in the brief period of two months- nallytown, "Fort Gaines;" that at Tenduring which, it should be remembered, nally town, "Fort Pennsylvania;" that the hastily collected levies were being at Emory's Chapel, "Fort Massachureceived, armed, equipped, and instruct-setts;" that near the camp of the 2d ed in the elements of military service. The toil thrown upon the engineering department was immense in this work of encircling the capital, on both sides of the Potomac, with a chain of mutually supporting fortified posts and intrenchments. The following names were given to these works in the "order" alluded to. The work south of Hunting Creek, "Fort Lyon;" that on Shuter's Hill, "Fort Ellsworth;" that on the left of the Seminary, "Fort Worth;" that in front of Blenker's brigade, "Fort Blenker;" that in front of Lee's House, "Fort Bard;" that near the mouth of Four Mile Creek, "Fort Scott" that on Richardson's Hill, Rhode Island regiment, "Fort Slocum;" that on Prospect Hill, near Bladensburg, "Fort Lincoln;" that next on the left of Fort Lincoln, "Fort Saratoga ;" that next on the left of Fort Saratoga, "Fort Bunker Hill;" that on the right of General Sickles' camp, "Fort Stanton;" that on the right of Fort Stanton, "Fort Carroll ;" that on the left towards Bladensburg, "Fort Greble.” A grand review of artillery and cavalry, on the 8th of October, described in the reports of the day as the grandest spectacle of the kind ever witnessed on this continent, was accepted by the public as an indication of the strength and spirit of the national army on the Potom- once, by the blessing of God, united. ac, and its rapidly advancing efficiency prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted for the early resumption of hostilities. Six thousand cavalry and one hundred and twelve guns, with an artillery force of fifteen hundred men, appeared in this spectacle, at which President Lincoln, the Secretary of State, the Prince de Joinville, and other celebrities were present. General McClellan was on the field with his staff. General Stoneman conducted the review, the artillery being commanded by General Barry, and the cavalry by General Palmer. The area for the movements embraced about two hundred acres. with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His mercy-to pray that we may be spared further punishment, though justly deserved; that our arms may be blessed and made effectual for the reëstablishment of law, order, and peace throughout our country, and that the inestimable boon of civil and religious liberty, earned, under His guidance and blessing, by the labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all its original excellence; Therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do appoint the last Thursday in September next as a day of Humiliation, Prayer, and Fasting for all the people of the Nation, and I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and especially to all Ministers and Teachers of religion of all denominations, and to all heads of families to observe and keep that day according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in all humility, and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of the Nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace, and bring down plentiful blessings upon our own country." In accordance with the resolution of the recent Congress, President Lincoln, on the 12th of August, had issued the following Proclamation for a National Fast-Day: " Whereas, a Joint Committee of both Houses of Congress has waited on the President of the United States, and requested him to recommend a day of Public Humiliation, Prayer, and Fasting, to be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace; And whereas, It is fit and becoming in all people at all times to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God, to bow in humble submission to His chastisements, to confess As the appointed day approached, the and deplore their sins and transgres- recommendation was seconded by various sions in the full conviction that the fear Proclamations of Governors of States, of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Mayors of cities, and Pastoral Letters and to pray with all fervency and con- and forms of prayer issued by the clergy. trition for the pardon of their past All breathed a serious, reverent spirit, offences, and for a blessing upon their and were calculated to impress upon the present and prospective action; And heart of individuals a sense of the calamwhereas, When our beloved country, ity which had befallen the land, and at A NATIONAL FAST-DAY. the same time nerve them for further efforts in support of the Government. "In this momentous hour," was the language of the Proclamation of Governor Morgan of the State of New York, "when rebellious hands have kindled the flames of civil war in our land, avowedly for the purpose of overthrowing a Government peculiarly blessed of God, it is most fitting that we should publicly recognize our dependence upon the favor of Him whose authority is supreme, and whose jurisdiction is universal; who raiseth up and casteth down nations, but who maketh not inquisition for blood of them that put their trust in Him; that we supplicate Him not to remember against us our former iniquities, which have justly provoked Him to inflict these heavy judgments." The fast thus proclaimed was generally observed throughout the Northern States with unusual sobriety. There was comparatively little in the sermons delivered to agitate or inflame the public mind. The political necessity of the struggle had been too fully discussed to furnish much new material for the pulpit. The war was an admitted fact, undertaken and accepted as a matter of duty, and with prayer and penitence the religious public sadly bowed to the dispensation, supplicating deliverance for the nation. On the 16th of August President Lincoln issued a Proclamation marking an important stage in the progress of the war. It was another application of the blockade, with stringent provisions for non-intercourse, with penalties of confiscation for its infringement. It ran thus: Whereas, On the 15th day of April, the President of the United States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, Constitution, and the Government of the 15 United States, which had broken out within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in pursuance of the provisions of the act entitled 'An act to provide for calling forth the militia. to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in force for that purpose,' approved February 28, 1795, did call forth the militia to suppress said insurrection, and cause the laws of the Union to be duly executed, and the insurgents have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President; and whereas, such insurrection has since broken out and yet exists within the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas; and whereas, the insurgents in all the said States claim to act under authority thereof, and such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the person exercising the functions of government in each State or States, or in the part or parts thereof in which combinations exist, nor has such insurrection been suppressed by said States; now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress, July 13, 1861, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the said States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and of such other parts of that State, and the other States hereinbefore named, as may maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be from time to time occupied and controlled by the forces engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents), are |