A Snapshot of Virginia on the Brink: The "Alexandria Gazette," January 19, 1861

The other day while researching for a future post on contraband camps in Northern Virginia, I came across a copy of the January 19, 1861 edition of the Alexandria Gazette. I soon realized the historic value of this particular paper. The articles and classifieds on page three paint a fascinating picture of Virginia on the precipice of the Civil War. The Commonwealth had not yet left the Union, but events were unfolding that would set Virginia on the tragic road to secession. Meanwhile, an innkeeper from Fairfax had just opened a business in Alexandria that would soon become a scene of wartime violence and martyrdom.

In mid-January 1861, the General Assembly of Virginia called for a state convention to consider the question of secession. By the time the Gazette was published on January 19, the campaign to elect delegates was in full swing. The paper published several items related to candidates in Northern Virginia:

The election for delegates was held on February 4, 1861. (See my previous post here.) Moss, a supporter of secession, lost to moderate Unionist William Dulany. George W. Brent, a strong pro-Union candidate from Alexandria County, won his election to the Convention. Janney and Carter, both Unionist candidates, took Loudoun's two seats. Janney would go on to become the President of the Convention. On April 17 the Convention voted to leave the Union, although Brent, Carter, Dulany, and Janney joined the minority against the Ordinance of Secession. Both Dulany and Brent, who placed loyalty to Virginia first and foremost despite their votes in the Convention, served as Confederate officers.

The January 19 edition of the Gazette also reported on a new innkeeper in town:

James Jackson, apparently eager to spread the word about his business, also placed a glowing advertisement in the same paper:

Only a few short months later, the Marshall House would make headlines across the county. On May 23, Virginia voters ratified the Ordinance of Secession by overwhelming numbers. In a public display of his allegiance to the secessionist cause, Jackson hoisted the stars and bars above the Marshall House. As Federal troops moved to occupy Alexandria on May 24, Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves rushed to the roof of the Marshall House and ripped down the Confederate flag flying there. Jackson confronted Ellsworth in the stairwell and shot him dead. Cpl. Francis Brownell of the Fire Zouaves then killed Jackson with a musket blast. In the aftermath of Ellsworth's death, the young colonel and friend of Lincoln became a martyr for the Union cause. Confederates in Virginia and elsewhere exalted Jackson as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Southern independence. Almost immediately, souvenir hunters began to carry away pieces of the Marshall House. Jackson's new business venture, announced with great fanfare in the Gazette, had become just another casualty of war. 

Engraving of the Marshall House from Harper's Weekly, June 8, 1861 (courtesy of House Divided). The site is today occupied by the Hotel Monaco.

This one page in the Gazette speaks volumes about the interconnectedness of history. The fate of Jackson and the Marshall House were related to the Virginia Convention in ways that no one could have imagined on January 19, 1861. The Unionist candidates from Northern Virginia still hoped that secession could be averted. Jackson supported a break with the Union, but he also had a business to run and money to make. The Convention unleashed forces beyond the Unionist delegates' control. Secession and war soon followed. Jackson, a local innkeeper only months before, met his demise confronting Union troops and came to symbolize the Confederate cause in the early days of the conflict. On January 19, no one knew what the future would hold. Yet the story was all right there, on page three, waiting to happen.

Sources

Martha M. Boltz, "Jackson and Ellsworth: Death on both sides in the Civil War," Washington Times, May 18, 2011; Library of Virginia, Virginia Memory: Union or Secession (on-line resource); University of Richmond, Virginia Secession Convention (on-line resource).

February 2013: A Month of Acquisitions

Last month I made a few welcome additions to my ever-growing collection of antique books and newspapers related to the Civil War.  I am always on the lookout for intriguing acquisitions at a reasonable price, and February was a month of particularly notable discoveries.  I tend to gravitate towards publications with a Northern Virginia or Washington connection, although I am always open to purchasing books or papers on other interesting topics.

The on-line auction site eBay is an excellent starting point for finding original Civil War-era newspapers.  A few weeks ago I bid on, and won, a May 25, 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly.  This issue focuses heavily on the early days of the war in Washington.  In fact, I illustrated a two-part series on Union volunteers arriving in the nation's capital with prints from this edition of Harper's Weekly.  (See here and here.)   The front page features a dramatic engraving of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves fighting to extinguish flames that threatened to engulf the famed Willard's Hotel.  (The complete story can be found here.)  A few other prints depict the quartering of Federal troops in the U.S. Capitol and at the Treasury Department.  I also was drawn to a full-page illustration of the 79th New York on parade by Winslow Homer.  This regiment, which fought at Bull Run, was later commanded by Isaac Stevens and played at key role at Lewinsville, a local engagement near and dear to my heart.

Front cover of the May 25, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly, showing "Willard's Hotel, Washington, Saved by the New York Fire Zouaves."  The paper noted that the soldiers "worked like heroes, performing wonderful feats of agility and bravery."  Their leader, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, was shot dead in Alexandria, Virginia by a secessionist the day before this issue appeared.

"The Seventy-Ninth Regiment (Highlanders) New York State Militia," Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861.  The parade depicted here likely took place in New York City prior to the regiment's departure for Washington.

"Galleries Under the Senate Chamber, Converted into Granaries," Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861.  

One evening last month I also spent some time browsing AbeBooks and ended up purchasing an 1881 first edition of John C. Ropes' The Army Under Pope for less than twenty dollars.  This slim book was part of a multi-volume series, Campaigns of the Civil War, published by Charles Scribner's Sons.  My copy, including a fold-out map, is in very good condition, with the exception of some minor shelf and edge wear.  Ropes, a lawyer and historian, founded the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts.  Incidentally, he was also a co-founder of the Boston law firm Ropes & Gray.  Ropes dedicated the book to his youngest brother Henry, a lieutenant in the 20th Massachusetts who fell at Gettysburg.

The Army Under Pope, which appeared less than 20 years after Second Manassas, offers a critical examination of John Pope's performance as commander of the short-lived Army of Virginia.  Ropes made use of official battle reports that were appearing in print for the first time.  The author defends Gen. Fitz John Porter, who was court-martialed and dismissed from the Union Army for his alleged failures at Second Bull Run.  In other passages that I've read, Ropes tackles the popular argument that Gen. George B. McClellan intentionally contributed to Pope's defeat. 

Of course, I don't purchase all of my books on-line.  One day in February I was browsing the shelves at my favorite bookstore, The Old Book Co. of McLean, when the owner alerted me to an 1860 first edition of Ezra B. Chase's Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen; or, the "Founders of the Republic" on Slavery.  I took one look and knew that I couldn't let this one get away.

The front cover of Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen, first edition, J.W. Bradley (publishers), Philadelphia, 1860.  I was particularly drawn to the gilt-embossed American eagle design.

At the outset, Chase informed readers that the was taking a non-controversial approach:

In compiling the following pages, I have not been influenced by partisan purposes; neither have I compiled them for the notoriety of having my name appended to a book. The country is sufficiently flooded already with partisan literature—books written for political advantage, or pecuniary gain, or both. To such authorship I do not aspire. If I have cherished an ambition in reference to this work, it has been an ambition to place before the people information upon the subject that is now agitating the country, upon which they can rely,—the views and opinions of those distinguished patriots and statesmen who formed the government, and whose intentions and principles should be heeded and carried out, if we would preserve it from disruption and decay. 

The book contains the text of various speeches and writings related to slavery, from the time of the Articles of Confederation through the 1860 election.  Chase covers such controversial issues as the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision.  He also quotes liberally from the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.  Chase's book is a piece of history from a time when the nation was on the brink of war over slavery.  The copy at the Old Book Co. was in good condition, and the price was right, so I walked out the owner of this unique work.

I have no idea how many copies of Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen sold in 1860.  Presumably interest in such publications ran high as sectional tensions over slavery mounted.  Chase, a Democratic lawyer and former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, became embroiled in controversy during the Civil War.  After losing an 1861 election for district attorney by a narrow margin attributable to the absentee soldiers' vote, Chase challenged the Pennsylvania law allowing for military voting before the state supreme court and won.  (See here.)  Chase was also arrested in 1862 for encouraging men to abstain from enlisting in the Union Army.  (See here.) 

All told, February was a better than expected month for acquisitions.  The discoveries that I made remind me why I enjoy the hobby of collecting antique books and newspapers.  Owning a tangible, written connection to the Civil War era brings the past alive on the paper before me in a way that a modern publication cannot do.  My only hope now is that I find a way to get more space, but I don't think a new home library is yet on the horizon!

Snapshots of Alexandria at the Start of the Peninsula Campaign

A few of my recent posts have focused on George A. McCall's Pennsylvania Reserves as they moved across Northern Virginia from Langley to Hunter's Mills and Alexandria in March 1862.  The division established camp on the outskirts of Alexandria at a spot near the Fairfax Seminary (today's Virginia Theological Seminary).  During the course of my research, I discovered several fascinating newspaper accounts about occupied Alexandria at the start of the Peninsula Campaign.  Some of these articles were written by soldiers for their hometown papers back in Pennsylvania.  The Philadelphia Press also published special dispatches by war correspondent George Alfred Townsend, who came to Alexandria as the divisions of the Army of the Potomac converged on the town in mid-March.  These news articles paint a portrait of wartime Alexandria as seen through the eyes of Northern observers.  Together, they reveal a city profoundly transformed by military occupation and civil strife.

Starting around March 17, 1862 and continuing for a few weeks, the Union Army moved 121,500 soldiers, 14,592 horses, 1,150 wagons, 74 ambulances, 44 batteries, and mountains of other supplies and equipment to Ft. Monroe at the tip of the Peninsula.  (McClellan 109.)  Gen. George McClellan used Alexandria as his primary point of embarkation for the campaign.  Most of the Union soldiers waiting in Alexandria were struck by the sheer magnitude of this logistical feat unfolding before them.   The scene made quite an impression on a soldier from the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves (or "Bucktails").  As he wrote to the Wellsboro Agitator on April 3:

From the hills adjoining our camp, we have a fine view of Alexandria . . . also the old Potomac is clearly seen for ten miles in extent, thickly dotted with vessels of all descriptions.  The wharfs in Alexandria are crowded with vessels for the embarkation of troops, who are leaving daily for Fortress Monroe, and other places down in "Dixie."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 9, 1862.)

A soldier from Clearfield, Pennsylvania realized that he was witnessing a truly historic moment:

Last night at its mid-hour I stood on the brow of the gentle eminence on which we are bivouacked, and grazed on the sublime spectacle before me.  The glancing of the [P]otomac moonbeams, the blazing camp fires of a vast army scattered over thousands of acres, and the myriad twinkling lights of the national capital formed a night scene, the likes of which I may probably never look upon again.  (Democratic Banner, Mar. 26, 1862.)

Townsend provided newspaper readers with a dramatic description of his view from atop Seminary Hill outside of Alexandria:

The monument to Washington lifted its stumpy shaft against the hills, and the great dome of the Capitol was purely and beautifully white.  A hundred steam transports lay in the river; half as many clusters of white tents stretched along Arlington Heights; a score of forts bristled upon as many hilltops, and the foreground was a confused plain of wagons, mules, artillery, and men.  The pregnancy of the time and the power of the Government was here revealed at a winkfull, as never, for all ages, it shall be again.  What other generations shall only read I had seen!  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)

Orrin Stebbins, another soldier-correspondent from the Bucktail regiment, editorialized on McClellan's personal involvement in the preparations for the upcoming campaign:

Gen. McClellan is as busy as a bee, every moment of his time; either dashing from camp to camp--at the wharf, or the Capital, or else in his room laying plans to puzzle the brains of common politician, and to crush this great rebellion.  His boat is now anchored in the bay, with his staff and body guard on hand, ready to start at a moment's warning. . . . (Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 9, 1862.) 

Townsend rode to McClellan's headquarters at "a cosy farm house on a hill top."  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)  He captured the sense of importance that had descended on the place:

Here. . . paymasters, quartermasters, commissaries, and brigadier generals have quarters.  Forage of every description surrounds the house; teamsters come lumbering through the rents in the garden fence, and discharge their burdens under the apple tree boughs in the orchard.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)

The nearby Fairfax Seminary also attracted Townsend's attention.  He considered it "a noble building, with wings, dormitories, and chapels."  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)  The Union Army had converted the seminary into a hospital to treat the sick and wounded.  With a touch of characteristic melodrama, Townsend lamented that "where tuitions were once made in the quiet mysteries of religion, lives now go out in pain, and the wounded and diseased toss and tremble in the agonies of death."  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)

Wartime view of the Fairfax Seminary outside of Alexandria (courtesy of Library of Congress). Townsend took note of "the lofty cross" atop the cupola.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 20, 1862.)  Stebbins described the seminary as "a splendid building. . . situated on a high and beautiful hill, in the midst of a splendid grove."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.)

Stebbins had an opportunity to visit town and offered readers a few observations. He felt that "Alexandria, next to Cumberland, Maryland, is the most forsaken and dilapidated place I ever saw." (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.) He noticed that "[h]undreds of houses are deserted, and the whole city looks as though it was built before the flood, and had never repair." (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.) Stebbins passed by the Marhsall House, scene of Col. Elmer Ellsworth's slaying the year before, and discovered that "[t]he old secesh flag-staff is still standing on the top of the house." (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26,1862.)

Townsend contemplated the changes that the war and occupation brought to Alexandria.  As he wrote in an article entitled "Transition Period in Alexandria":

If one fact in Alexandria is more apparent that any other, it is that the city is losing its Southern character.  Alexandria will never again be a Virginia town.  The Yankees have occupied its dwellings, hotels, and warehouses; driven out the negro and the negro-trader, and put his foot upon the old customs, institutions, and laws.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

He was particularly struck by the war's impact on slavery in Alexandria:

The slave-pen, as such, is no more. . . .  whatever Congress may enact relative to bondage, here or elsewhere, I am sure that slavery is at an end wherever the Northern army goes.  The soldiers, unused to such scenes, will not tolerate them; and the slave auctioneer -- an old favorite in Alexandria -- would provoke the cry of "shame" if he mounted the block to auction off either man or woman in the presence of these hard-fisted freemen of Vermont, Michigan, or Pennsylvania.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

The former slave pen in Alexandria, located at 1315 Duke Street (courtesy of Library of Congress).  Before the Civil War, the city was a major center of the domestic slave trade.  Franklin & Armfield, located here prior to Price, Birch &  Co., was one of the largest slave dealers in the United States.  The firm sent over 3,750 slaves to cotton and sugar plantations in the Deep South.  Following occupation in May 1861, the Union Army used the slave pen as a guard house. 

Townsend may have exaggerated the strength of anti-slavery sentiment prevailing in the Union Army at the time.  He also overlooked the complicity of the Federal authorities in holding fugitive slaves at the city jail or in taking money from absentee masters to keep slaves locked up.  But some soldiers, like Stebbins, surely were appalled by the vestiges of slavery in Alexandria and elsewhere in Northern Virginia.  As Stebbins explained to readers:

I always, from my earliest recollections, had a natural hatred for that Southern institution, but that hatred grows stronger and stronger, as I see the ignorance and immorality which follows in its train, and the desolated country, dilapidated towns and cities which might hum with industry, with the grass growing in their streets.  (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.)

Stebbins saw the slave pen in Alexandria, but the words would not come:  "I would describe it if I knew what to compare it to, but I do not, for nothing but a slave-pen can be compared to it."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862.)

The Northern presence in Alexandria encouraged migration of all kinds.  Townsend commented on one such demographic shift:

The importation of Northern ladies. . . has not been calculated, thus far, to impress the Virginians with our social superiority.  There are about five hundred women in Alexandria, all of the migratory description, many of whom should have been camp vivandiers.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

When all was said and done, Townsend betrayed a sense of affection for the natives, or at least those of wealth and power:

The leading families have gone, and in many respects, Alexandria will miss them.  There was much of hospitality, ingenuousness, and real nobility about these Virginians.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.)

The war correspondent also expressed his hope for the future and his belief in Northern superiority:

With the ascendancy of the wild tribes of the North. . . a new era will dawn upon this beautiful, but neglected country.  I hope to see Pennsylvania barns and stack-houses upon these hills, and Yankee mills by all the steams.  (Phila. Press, Mar. 28, 1862.) 

Townsend and the solider-correspondents witnessed and wrote about the movement of the very army that could win a victory and bring peace to the land.  However the war would unfold in the coming months, they also captured the dramatic changes that had already arrived in Alexandria along with the Union Army.  Lucky for us, their articles survive to tell the story.

Sources

City of Alexandria/Alexandria Black History Museum, "Alexandria's African-American History" (web page); Civil War Washington, D.C., "Alexandria's Jail and Contrabands;" The Friends of Freedmen's Cemetery (website); Democratic Banner, Mar. 26, 1862; George B. McClellan, Report on the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac (1864); Philadelphia Press, Mar. 20, 1862; Philadelphia Press, Mar. 28, 1862; Wellsboro Agitator, Mar. 26, 1862; Wellsboro Agitator, Apr. 9, 1862.

The Confederates Evacuate Alexandria for the Second and Final Time

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Union occupation of Alexandria, Virginia. (Yes, yet another event to commemorate as part of the Sesquicentennial. . . .)  Probably the best-known story of the invasion is the murder of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, who was shot taking down a Confederate flag flying atop the Marshall House.  Ellsworth's death is a pretty familiar topic by now, so rather than go over old ground, I'd like to shed light on another aspect of the Union takeover on May 24, 1861.

As I discussed in a couple of recent posts, Virginia volunteers evacuated Alexandria at the start of May 1861.  (See here and here.)  Readers may recall that Lt. Col. Algernon Taylor lost his job for abandoning the city in disobedience of an order from Brig. Gen. Philip St. George Cocke.  Algernon was replaced by Col. George H. Terrett, a former Marine, who was commander when Virginia voters approved the Ordinance of Secession on May 23.  He would soon have the unenviable task of ordering a retreat that would leave Alexandria in Union hands for the duration of the war. 

Early on the morning of May 24, 1861, three main columns of Federal troops moved quickly to occupy Virginia.  Two of the columns crossed the Potomac at the Aqueduct and Long Bridges.  The 11th New York Fire Zouaves, under Col. Ellsworth, boarded steamers and disembarked at the wharves in Alexandria.  The U.S.S. Pawnee covered the regiment from the river.  After crossing the Potomac at Long Bridge, the First Michigan, under Col. Orlando B. Wilcox, marched down Washington Street towards Alexandria.

Terrett had already put his troops on high alert earlier that morning after learning that a squadron of Union cavalry had entered Virginia across the Chain Bridge.  Around 4:30 a.m., a U.S. Navy officer went ashore from the Pawnee and met with Col. Terrett under a flag of truce.  According to Terrett, the officer "informed me that an overwhelming force was about entering the city of Alexandria, and it would be madness to resist, and that I could have until 9 a. m. to evacuate or surrender."  Terrett wasted no time in organizing an evacuation.  Surrender was not an option.

Civil War-era photograph of the Lyceum at 201 S. Washington Street (courtesy of Historic Alexandria).

The Lyceum in Old Town today.

The Virginia troops, including units that would soon form the 17th Virginia Infantry, proceeded to the Lyceum on Washington Street.  From there, Terrett marched them down Duke Street and away from Wilcox's advancing soldiers.  The Old Dominion Rifles narrowly escaped capture, but in the end, managed to join up with the main body of troops.  The retreat was covered by two cavalry units -- Captain Edward Powell's Fairfax Cavalry and Captain Mottrom Dulany Ball's Chesterfield Troop.

Terrett reported that his Virginians "five hundred in number, retreated in good order."  The Union troops were hard on the tail of Terrett's force, whose rear guard was "in sight of and within two hundred yards of the advance guard of the enemy."  Given the apparent aggressiveness of the pursuit, one wonders how sincere of a choice Terrett was given between surrender and evacuation. 

Ball accompanied Terrett and his men as far as Ball's quarters, "a little west of the railroad depot" on the Orange & Alexandria R.R.  The volunteers continued for a half-mile beyond the depot, where they boarded cars for Manassas.  Terrett asked the cavalry to follow in his rear, but for whatever reason, Ball's thirty-five men took too long, and were captured by the Federals.

As the train headed down the tracks, Terrett had his men burn the railroad bridges behind them. A contingent of Union troops "pursued [the Confederates] a short distance, also burning such bridges as they had spared." (Report of Maj. Gen. Samuel P. Heinzelman, July 20, 1863.) Around half past five, Col. Wilcox was able to report to Washington, "Alexandria is ours."

Terrett's force arrived safely in Manassas and joined other Confederate soldiers assembling in the vicinity.  Brig. Gen. Milledge Bonham, commander at Manassas, reported to Maj. Gen. Robert E. Lee on May 25:

The Alexandria (Va.) troops are here, without cooking utensils, and many without arms. Please send to the quartermaster of this place cooking utensils and other camp equipage for six hundred men, as destitute men are hourly joining me. Caps, ammunition, and arms greatly needed.

Lucky for Bonham, the Federal advance on Manassas was still a couple months away.

Note on sources
For a complete set of reports associated with the Union occupation of Alexandria, see the Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 37-44. Further information can be found in Alexandria in the Civil War by James G. Barber (1988) and 17th Virginia Infantry, from the Virginia Regimental History Series, by Lee A. Wallace, Jr. (1990).

The Volunteers Take Over Washnigton (Part 1)

Over the last few weeks, I have written about Virginia state forces in and around Alexandria during late April and early May 1861.  This week, I'd like to cross to the other side of the Potomac and describe some of the scenes in Washington City during the tension-filled spring of 1861.  Following the attack on Ft. Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion.  Many of the volunteers headed to the nation's capital.  However welcome a sight these defenders were, the U.S. Government was little prepared to accommodate the influx.  Many of Washington's famous government buildings soon became makeshift barracks for the new regiments.  By the end of April, some 11, 000 soldiers had descended on Washington and taken up residence across the city. 

The U.S. Capitol under construction, May 1861 (courtesy of Library of Congress)

The U.S. Capitol, whose dome was still under construction in 1861, served as temporary quarters for many raw recruits.  The 6th Massachusetts arrived in Washington not long after its violent and deadly confrontation with a mob in Baltimore on April 19.  The regiment, greeted by Lincoln upon arrival, marched through the streets and headed to the Capitol.  The 6th Massachusetts established "camp" in the Senate Chamber and the surrounding galleries and corridors.

Other regiments soon followed.  The 7th New York Militia, whose ranks were filled by members of New York City's upper crust, took over the House Chamber towards the end of April.  The regiment's colonel made himself at home in the Speaker's parlor, while staff officers occupied the committee rooms.  The Eighth Massachusetts arrived at the Capitol about the same time.  The volunteers from the Bay State settled down in the Capitol Rotunda. 

Soldiers of the 8th Massachusetts in the Rotunda, Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

Soldiers drilled on the Capitol grounds and performed picket duty.  During down time, they wrote letters home and endured army food, although the well-bred 7th New York left Capitol Hill to dine in Washington's large hotels.  According to Margaret Leech's Reveille in Washington, "mock sessions of Congress were a favorite diversion":

The uproar started every  morning with the rattle of reveille. A self-appointed presiding officer rapped for order. The galleries shouted to the floor, and the floor bawled back.  There were pompous speeches and burlesque debates, greeted by howls of applause and hoots of derision. 

The 7th New York was gone by the start of May, but the famed 11th New York Fire Zouaves under Col. Elmer Ellsworth took the regiment's place. The firemen primarily occupied the old and new House chambers.  In a few short weeks, Ellsworth's regiment would march into Virginia, and Ellsworth would be gunned down by a secessionist innkeeper in Alexandria.  While in Washington, the Fire Zouaves gained a reputation for rough and tumble behavior.  On May 11, 1861, the New York Times commented:

Since their arrival in this city the Zouaves have been quartered in the Capitol, and scattered as they have necessarily been over different portions of the building, the opportunity for building up the discipline of the regiment has not been such as would have been offered by placing them in camp . . . .  Notwithstanding this unfavorable circumstance, the men are visibly improving in soldierly qualities, and within a very short time will be perfectly under control.

New York Fire Zouaves in the House of Representatives, Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

The men had an opportunity to prove their mettle one early morning when they rushed from camp to put out a fire in a tailor's shop that nearly destroyed neighboring Willard's Hotel.  The Times noted:

The Messrs. WILLARD, and, indeed, all Washington, is loud in praise of the gallant fellows for their heroism and public spirit, and the fact of its exhibition will be to retrieve the character of the regiment from the disgrace cast upon by the excesses of the few rogues who have been turned out of its ranks. . . .

Not long after, the Fire Zouaves left the Capitol for a new encampment at the Insane Asylum in Washington.

Bread ovens in the basement of the Capitol, Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

The army also transformed the basement of the Capitol into a bakery.  Around 150 bakers worked to produce loaves for the troops around Washington.  One estimate puts the output at an incredible 60,000 loaves a day.  The bread was loaded onto wagons and sent out for delivery to the various garrisons.

As the weeks passed, the regiments in the Capitol left and moved to duty elsewhere.  Surely many a solider must have found the experience of living in the Capitol a surreal experience. After all, these men had inhabited the very seat of the democracy and Union they were called to defend.

Note: This post is re-published from Wednesday, May 11, due to Blogger technical issues.  At least my whole blog didn't disappear--yet....

The Fairfax Rifles Head to Alexandria

Before the Civil War, volunteer militias were common throughout both the North and South. William Dulany, who later served as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention, organized the Fairfax Rifle Rangers in Fairfax Court House on December 1, 1859.  Many such companies of Virginia Militia were formed in the aftermath of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in October of that year.  Dulany became captain of the Fairfax Rifles, which was assigned to the 60th Regiment (Fairfax County) of the Virginia Militia.  One of the earlier members of the Fairfax Rifles was James Jackson, who would achieve infamy across the North for gunning down Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves in May 1861.

Mobilization of military forces in Virginia gained momentum in the days following the adoption of the Ordinance of Secession. Towards the end of April 1861, the Fairfax Rifles headed to Alexandria, an important port city not far down the Potomac River from Washington. Led by Lieutenant William A. Barnes, the Fairfax Rifles arrived on April 25.  They took up quarters on Prince Street, not far from the intersection with Fairfax Street.

Alexandria buzzed with martial activity. Soldiers from various local units, as well as militia companies from other parts of Northern Virginia, were stationed around town.  The Fairfax Rifles joined Major Montgomery Corse's command, which by the end of April consisted of several state militia companies, including the Mount Vernon Guard, the Alexandria Riflemen, the Old Dominion Rifles, the Alexandria Artillery, the Emmett Guards, the Loudoun Guard, and the Warren Rifles.  On April 27, Corse's units officially became the 6th Battalion of Virginia Volunteers.  The battalion was assigned to the overall command of  Lt. Col. Algernon S. Taylor, who led the state troops in Alexandria.  Taylor was the nephew of President and Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor.

General Montgomery Corse, who in the spring of 1861 was a major leading the 6th Battalion of Virginia Volunteers at Alexandria (courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Virginia militia leaders in Alexandria feared a possible Union invasion after adoption of the Ordinance of Secession.  They watched anxiously as the Union military presence in Washington grew.  The Fairfax Rifles, like other units, was assigned to guard the city streets and to keep an eye out for potential movements by Federal troops.  Life was not completely mundane.  The militia soldiers attracted the attention and admiration of the young women of Alexandria.  And at least one picket station was located in close proximity to a local brewery that kept beer on hand for the thirsty militiamen.

Later, in June 1861, Corse's battalion was organized into the 17th Regiment of Virginia Infantry. The Fairfax Rifles were designated as Company D, under Captain Dulany.  It is ironic that Dulany, who feared that secession would bring war to Fairfax's doorstep, was now actively playing a role in events that would ensure the very outcome he most feared.

Note on Sources

The following sources were useful in compiling this post:

Alexandria in the Civil War by James G. Barber (1988).

American Civil War Armies (5): Volunteer Militia by Philip Katcher & Ronald Volstad (1989).

"History of the Seventeenth Virginia Regiment, C.S.A," from the website of the Fairfax Rifles reenactment unit.

17th Virginia Infantry, from the Virginia Regimental History Series, by Lee A. Wallace, Jr. (1990).

Another Addition to the Collection

The other day I was in a mood to add another antique Civil War book to my collection.  At this point, however, I am looking for some relatively rare first editions, like Jefferson Davis' The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government or James Longstreet's From Manassas to Appomattox.  When I found these books online, the prices were astronomical, so I decided to explore the world of Civil War-era newspapers, which by and large are a little more within my budget.  While on eBay, a May 31, 1861 edition of the New York Semi-Weekly Tribune caught my eye because it contained a period map of Washington and surroundings.  I bought the paper, and it arrived on my doorstep just yesterday.

The map did not disappoint.  It indicates the location of several buildings and landmarks, including the Smithsonian Institution, the as-yet unfinished Washington Monument, the "President's House" (White House), the Capitol, and the War & Navy Department.  The map also marks various points in Northern Virginia, such as Little Falls Bridge (Chain Bridge), Bailey's Cross Roads, and Arlington Heights.

Photo of May 31, 1861 New York Semi-Weekly Tribune (courtesy of seller)

The paper contains a fascinating assortment of news items. The front page, in an editorial-style piece, cries "To Richmond! To Richmond! Onward!"  There is extensive coverage of General Ben Butler at Fortress Monroe, as well as early movements by both armies in Western Virginia.  The paper was published only a week after the Union entered Virginia, so several news pieces cover the occupation of Alexandria.  I also found an article on James Jackson, who had killed Union Colonel Elmer Ellsworth in Alexandria only the week before.  Aside from war news, the edition covers foreign news, such as an earthquake in Argentina.  The back page contains business news, including agricultural tidbits like cattle and coffee prices.  There are also plenty of vintage advertisements. 

In future posts, I may reference some of the more interesting articles in the newspaper.  I am not sure if I will be collecting newspapers in addition to books, but I felt quite a connection to the past holding my new purchase, knowing that nearly 150 years ago, someone was getting a daily dose of war news from this paper.  How did that person feel? What must it have been like to see such drama unfold? Collecting a document such as this conjures up all kinds of thoughts and images.  I think I can see myself buying a few more old newspapers.  Just don't tell my wife!

Fort Ward: One of the Best, but Little-Known, Civil War Sites in the D.C. Area

Back in 2006, when I began dating my wife, she introduced me to Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, not far from her condominium on the outskirts of Old Town Alexandria.  When I went to check out Fort Ward one morning, I was amazed at what I found.  Despite living in the D.C. area on and off for around seventeen years, I had never heard of, let alone visited, the place.  Now, it is one of my favorite Civil War sites around.  In a region where governments and the private sector have done a relatively inadequate job of preserving and interpreting the Civil War defenses around the nation's capital, Fort Ward -- run by the City of Alexandria -- stands out as a gem. (See here, here, and here for a description of the woeful state of preservation of the D.C. forts.)

Fort Ward was part of the ring of defensive works around Washington that totaled 161 forts and batteries by war's end.  The Union Army began construction of Fort Ward in July 1861 and completed work by September 1861.  The initial earthwork fort was 540 yards in perimeter and had 24 gun emplacements.  The fort was named after Commander James H. Ward, the first Union Naval officer to be mortally wounded in the Civil War.  Scheduled for rebuilding in 1863, Fort Ward was expanded to a perimeter of 818 yards and 36 gun emplacements by April 1865.  During the war, the fort was garrisoned by soldiers from many different units, including regiments of heavy artillery from Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.  Fort Ward, which stood guard over the approaches to Alexandria via the Leesburg Turnpike and the Little River Turnpike, never came under attack.  The Army closed the fort permanently in December 1865 and sold any salvageable materials at auction.

Map of Fort Ward (Courtesy of Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site)

In 1961, the City of Alexandria began restoration of Fort Ward as part of the Civil War Centennial.  The project focused on restoring the Northwest Bastion of the fort to its 1864 appearance.  Alexandria even had reproduction cannon manufactured and installed based on Fort Ward's table of armaments.  Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site opened in 1964.  Today, due to commendable preservation efforts, 90-95% of Fort Ward's earthen walls survive.  A few years ago, I noticed in horror that picnickers were climbing the preserved walls of the fort.  The City has since placed markers warning visitors to keep off.  Unfortunately, far too many people who visit for recreational reasons aren't there for the history, and have no idea what they are doing when they walk on fragile earthworks and rifle trenches.


Reconstruction of entrance gate to Fort Ward, originally completed in 1865.  The arch is topped by a castle, the insignia of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed and constructed Fort Ward.



Interior of the Northwest Bastion, which guarded the approach to Alexandria along the Leesburg Turnpike.  The restored bastion is armed with six reproduction weapons.  Note also the filling room in the foreground.  Artillery shells were armed and sometimes stored there.



6-pounder James rifle (foreground) and 24-pounder howitzer (background) in the Northwest Bastion

24-pounder howitzer (foreground) and two 4.5-inch rifled cannon (background) in the Northwest Bastion

Exterior view of emplacement for 24-pounder howitzer in the Northwest Bastion

Exterior view of Northwest Bastion and ditch.  Note gun emplacements.  Fort Ward's walls were 18-22 feet high, 12-14 feet thick, and slanted at 45 degrees.

Remains of a rifle trench which extended from the North Bastion to a battery located beyond the Leesburg Turnpike.  This ditch and wall were designed to protect infantry from enemy fire in the event of an attack.

Reconstruction of officers' hut, in typical board-and-batten style.  At Fort Ward, the officers' huts, soldiers barracks, and mess hall were located outside the walls of the fort, near the present-day site of the Museum.

Fort Ward Museum, patterned after a Union Army headquarters building.  There is no indication that such a building stood at Fort Ward, although structures like this were constructed at other forts around Washington.

While touring the historic site, visitors should also check out the Fort Ward Museum, which houses a small but worthwhile collection of objects related to the Civil War defenses of Washington and the Union occupation of Alexandria.  In fact, the museum is the closest thing the D.C. area has to a visitors center for the defenses of Washington. One of my favorite artifacts is a wooden letter which was part of the sign on the Marshall House, site of the death of Union Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who became a martyr to the Northern cause early in the Civil War.  The Confederate flag that Ellsworth removed from the Marshall House is also on display.  The Museum contains a research library of around 2,000 volumes, and throughout the year, hosts a variety of events, including living history demonstrations and a Civil War-era Christmas celebration.  I also encourage readers to join the Friends of Fort Ward, whose "primary goal is to work to support the City of Alexandria’s stewardship of the Fort, provide supplemental funding for the Fort Ward Museum, and advocate for the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site’s best interests."

Note on Sources:
The Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site website, linked to above, has a wealth of material on the history of Fort Ward.  In addition, the Historical Marker Database provides information on all of the markers at the site.  The photos are from the author's personal collection.

Marshall House Entry on the Historical Marker Database

I wanted to let readers know that I submitted the Marshall House historical marker for publication on the Historical Marker Database, a great on-line resource which contains information on thousands of markers across the United States. Readers may remember that the Marshall House in Alexandria, Virginia is the site of the death of Union Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who became a martyr to the Northern cause early in the Civil War. (See my previous post here.) The marker was accepted by the Historical Marker Database and can be found here.  While you are on the site, do a search and check out markers that may be of interest to you.  And when going on vacation, be sure to look up what historical sites may be available to visit.

Symbols of the "Lost Cause" in Alexandria

Alexandria, a charming town outside of Washington, DC, is known as much for its chic boutiques and fine restaurants as for its colonial past.  Just below the surface, however, lie reminders that this town was once inhabited by Confederate sympathizers who resented Union occupation during the Civil War and sought to commemorate the so-called "Lost Cause" in the years following Appomattox.  One of the most striking symbols of this past is the statue of a Rebel soldier located at the intersection of S. Washington and Prince Streets.  The Sons of Confederate Veterans led the effort to erect this memorial to Alexandria's Confederate dead.  Dedicated in 1889 by Governor Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee and a former major general of cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia, the statue defiantly faces away from the nation's capital.  An 1890 act of the Virginia House of  Delegates prohibited the statue from being moved to another location.

Confederate Statue on S. Washington Street, Old Town

But there are other, more hidden signs, that tourists and residents walk past every day without ever taking notice.  Before eating at Jackson 20 the other day, I paused to snap a picture of a marker affixed to the Hotel Monaco on King Street.  The hotel is located on the site of the Marshall House, where on May 24, 1861 Union Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth of the 11th New York "Fire Zouaves" was shot to death by innkeeper James Jackson after having torn down the Stars and Bars flying from the roof.  Jackson in turn was killed on the spot by one of Ellsworth's men.  In the immediate aftermath of Ellsworth's death, the young colonel and friend of Lincoln became a martyr for the Northern cause.  The South exalted Jackson as a defender of property rights in the face of Yankee aggression. 

The marker on the Hotel Monaco, placed by the Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veterans, salutes Jackson as "the first martyr to the cause of Southern independence."  (The date the marker was affixed is uncertain, although it has survived the change in ownership from Holiday Inn to Hotel Monaco.)  I shouldn't have been surprised to find this memorial, but I was.  Even an incident like the murder of Ellsworth survived the war to stir passions and drive Southerners to honor the alleged "heroics" of an innkeeper who used excessive and deadly force to deal with the removal of a simple flag.

Killing of Ellsworth and the Marshall House as depicted in an 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly

Marker commemorating the death of James Jackson at the corner of King and Pitt Streets

The problems with the Lost Cause mythology are numerous and are well documented in the literature of Civil War memory.  At the same time, the placement of such markers and monuments in the aftermath of the Civil War helped the United States to begin the process of reconciling, however ironic that may seem.  Within a reunited nation, Southerners were allowed to honor their "Lost Cause," veterans, and war dead.  The North would look the other way and erect its own monuments.  Unfortunately and tragically, the African American experience, and civil rights for freed slaves and their descendants, were neglected in a rush to "bind up the nation's wounds."  It would take over a hundred years to truly bind those wounds, and even then, they are sometimes still very close to the surface.

So, what to do with these markers and monuments?  After all, these tributes are part of history, and when properly explained and placed in context, they tell a powerful story of how previous generations of Americans remembered and dealt with civil conflict.  They also stand in some instances to honor war dead, even if the soldiers died for the wrong reasons.  Rather than remove such vestiges of a past that some would rather condemn and forget, these monuments and markers of the Lost Cause should be viewed critically next to sites that represent other aspects of the Civil War-era experience in Alexandria.  The Freedom House Museum, located in a former slave pen on Duke Street, features exhibits on slavery in Alexandria and beyond.  The City of Alexandria runs the Alexandria Black History Museum, and the Alexandria National Cemetery contains the graves of over 200 U.S. Colored Troops who gave their lives in service to the Union.  (See here, here, and here).  Fort Ward Museum, on the outskirts of Old Town, explains what life was like for Union soldiers stationed in one of the numerous forts in Northern Virginia guarding the area around Washington.  Alexandria can tell a story about all Americans affected by the Civil War.  All that we need to do is look, listen, and reflect.