my friend with the black coat moved off also, though not till with his third shot he gave me a scratch in the thigh. I got the color, which now hangs in the chapel of Chelsea Hospital. My wound, though slight, made me stiff, and I was glad to enter Washington on horseback. "3. Two adventures befell me there. I was limping past a house in a street near the Capitol, when a window was opened and a negro woman invited me to enter. The family had quitted the town, and the servants offered me all manner of good things. I was amused, and told them I wanted nothing except a clean shirt, having only one which I had worn since the 19th. The clean shirt was immediately produced, which I put on, leaving mine to replace it. "4. On the 25th a hurricane fell on the city, which unroofed houses and upset our three-pounder guns. It upset me also. It fairly lifted me out of the saddle, and the horse which I had been riding I never saw again. This is surely gossip enough." In my letter of grateful acknowledgment, I inquired of Mr. Gleig respecting the conflicting accounts of the fatal explosion at the arsenal and of the alleged flag of truce. This is his reply: "I really do not know what was the cause of the explosion to which you refer. The explosion itself I perfectly recollect; but, not being near the spot where it occurred, I have nothing more to revert to respecting its cause than the rumors of the camp. Both the accounts which you give to me were circulated among us. Which is the correct one, if either, I cannot tell. I have no doubt you are right as regards the shots fired after General Ross and Admiral Cockburn entered Washington. It was dark when they entered the town, and as the American army had, I believe, evacuated the place, the men [who] fired on the general would not understand either the nature of the roll of the drum, which demands a parley, or a white flag, if it were shown. With respect to the other point, bearing on Ross's instructions, the facts are these: Twenty-three American soldiers engaged in the invasion of Canada were recognized, when taken prisoners, as deserters from the British army. They were imprisoned preparatory to trial; whereupon General Dearborn immediately imprisoned as many British prisoners, and warned the English authorities that life would go for life. Forthwith forty-six more Americans, officers and non-commissioned officers, were put in arrest as guarantees for the lives of the British prisoners. On neither side were lives taken, but the incident embittered the feeling of hostility which, on the American side, vented itself in the burning of some Canadian villages during the winter, and, on the side of England, called forth the stern order to destroy American towns on the coast. Ross's despatch was not a happy one. He seems to have been hurried by indignation into sanctioning proceedings which met with no approval in London; indeed, so little was our vandalism approved that the government withheld from him the honors which he would have otherwise received after a brilliant though short campaign." The enemy succeeded not only in destroying property valued at two million dollars, but by unparalleled barbarity in inflicting upon their country a stigma, the record of which there is not an Englishman of to-day who would not rejoice to see erased from the pages of history. Our own countrymen, too, I am inclined to believe, would be willing to see this done, provided the record and recollection of the not over-creditable defence of the capital could also at the same time be forever blotted out. CHAPTER XI. THE BLADENSBURG RACES. EDITOR OF MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: 66 I wish I had known of an amusing production, which has unexpectedly come into my hands, touching " The Bladensburg Races," since your contributor, Colonel Norton, wrote me asking for some appropriate accompaniment to the burlesque British engraving of the "Burning of Washington,' in your December issue. This is a ballad of sixty-eight stanzas, somewhat after the style of "John Gilpin's Ride." It opens in this wise: "James Madison a soldier was, Of courage and renown, And Generalissimo was he of famous Washington. "Quoth Madison unto his spouse, "To-morrow is the twenty-fourth, That then, or on the following day, "To-morrow, then,' quoth she, 'we'll fly All in our coach and four. "My sister Cutts, and Cutts and I, "He soon replied, 'I do admire And you are she, my Dolly dear; The "Generalissimo" thereupon prepares for the tripsaying his "trusty steed the Griffin bold" would "safely bear him through"-that he, with the members of his Cabinet, "would start as though for Bladensburg," but when they had cleared the town they would put "for Montgomery, and o'ertake the coach at early noon." This seemed greatly to please "Mistress Dolly," on whose ruddy cheek he pressed a kiss. "O'erjoyed was he to find, Though bent on running off, she'd still Fearing the "mob should grumble loud," the coach was not allowed to start from the White House; but "six precious souls, and all agog," entered it "at brother Cutts's." "Smack went the whip, 'round went the wheels; Were never folks so glad: The dust did rise beneath the coach, As though the dust were mad." The "General" mounted to follow, when, "looking back," he "saw his Cabinet behind." "Monroe, you're late!' quoth Madison, "Tis late indeed, I fear, For us to steer for Bladensburg; The British are so near.'' And now, as "The Cabinet on horseback sat," they "reasoned high," as to whether they should set out for the camp, "Or northward straight should fly." Before the council ended "Cuffee screamed, 'De Shappohat and sword"" of the General "be leave behind," " when he was directed to bring them at once. This caused a little delay, but the "gallant Four"-Madison, Monroe, Armstrong, and Rush (the "Boatswain," Secretary of the Navy, was detained)-soon reached the "country road," when they moved on rapidly, not a little accelerated by the "loud blast of a bugle-horn," which disturbed "our hero," the General," it scared his horse so." "Away went he, and after him Our heroes rode apace; They little dreamt, when they set out, With some mishaps and much trepidation, they at length all "came unto the spot where Winder's forces lay," when they anxiously inquired: "Where are the British? Winder, where? And Cockburn, where is he?— D'ye think your men will fight, or run, When they the British see?'" Now, telling Armstrong and Rush to "stay here in camp," the "General," with Monroe as his "aid," said he would return-adding: "And, Winder, do not fire your guns, My horse will run away.'" They flew toward Montgomery, the "General:" "Then, speaking to his horse, he said, 'Twas for your pleasure I came here; You shall go back for mine.' "Now, at Montgomery, his wife Her gallant husband, wond'ring much "Stop, stop! your Highness, here's the house!' "Stop him, Monroe! here's sister Cutts, The dinner's cold, and we are tir'd!' But the distant cannonade so frightened the steeds that "neither horse nor James a whit inclined to tarry there," and, with Monroe, the "General" kept on until they finally brought up at Frederick, much to the astonishment of everybody on the road-the women thinking "our General rode express:" "And so he did; for he first bore The news to Frederick-town; "Now, long live Madison, the brave! And Rush, and Cutts, Monroe and Jones ! |