USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Historical sketches of the ten miles square forming the District of Columbia : with a picture of Washington, describing objects of general interest or curiosity at the metropolis of the Union. > Part 30
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Potomac Sporting,
rapid succession of comers up and goers down, without order, and amidst a great splashing of water, until they find they have approached the inmost edge of the growth of grass, when sud- denly they all rise in succession to the surface, those first up waiting a moment for the last to come, and now the whole flock being above wa- ter, and exhibiting three times the number it before seemed, with one accord, they fall into close order, wheel and swim slowly along, in a direction parallel for some two or three hundred feet with the bank, as well to recover from their fatigue, as to place the column over ground, not yet foraged; and this done, facing outward, they re-commence their work of diving and feeding, now moving toward the outer edge of the shoal.
It is at this critical moment at the proper stage of the wheeling motion, that the sportsman in ambush, seeks to open on his unsuspecting vic- tims the deadly fire; it is when with elevated heads and the greater part of the body out of the water, the ducks huddled in contact, have prc- sented their sides to him, that he directs his sight and draws his trigger on that section of the flock, which, from its juxta and other position, best suits his object. In sportman's phrase, " when he has got the eye, can ruffle the feather and string," in other words, when the game is so near that their eyes can be seen, and in such po- sition that the shot may not glance off on the feathers, and that they can be raked by the fire; the proper observation of which rules often gives it more than double the effect. To gain and com- bine all these advantages, only belongs to the
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441
Water Fowl.
practised and patient sportsman; he must be ac- quainted with the habits of his game, and altho' they pass often in review very near him, in the foraging process just described, he must lie close, and often endure cold and wet for a considerable time, and to make his shot tell well, resist tempt- ation, until in its various manœuvreg, the flock puts itself most in his power; frequently during the ambuscade, the wary flock takes alarm from some movement of the real, or a supposed enemy, and fly suddenly off: at other times, in a sense of danger, not so confirmed. it scatters and swims directly from the land with great rapiditv, each duck as it emerges, dropping the fruit of its dive, and taking in haste the same track; an experi- enced gunner believing his chance gone of doing better fires on them in this state, before they get out of his reach, but does little execution. Not so with the old sportsman; he reserves his fire, well knowing that if he remains covered, or when other cause of apprehension, as of some person accidentally appearing, shall cease or have passed away.
The flock will, after reconnoitering at & distance for a while. return again to its feeding ground, and particularly with this last, so deter- mine, because he is fully aware of the fact, that this swimming retreat is always performed under the signal of sauve qui peut, and the double pre- caution of each, separating as widely as possible from the other, and sinking itself so far under the water that nothing but the head and part of the neck remains as a mark. There is a singular device practised too, by sportsmen, for shooting
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Potomac Sporting.
the canvass back, as well as the other ducks, de- nominated drift fowl, in the Potomac. The red head and black head shoveler, and also the swan, from the banks; it is called tolling them in, and there can be no question of the fact. that each of this description of water fowl are often brought within gun shot, by an artifice practised on some propensity with them, not easily accounted for. It is sometimes done by means of a dog, trained for the purpose, and sometimes by moving or shaking in a particular way, the branch of a tree with the dried leaves vet attached, a colored handkerchief or some similar thing, the colour, however, in each case, being of a reddish or vel- lowish hue; and an instance of a hunter yet living on the banks of the Potomac, who has a thick head of red hair, that he wears in a large old fashioned queue, with a long square brush at the end, often using this brush, shaken by one hand when !ving in wait, with the rest of his body concealed, as a decoy to toll in ducks, has been given us from good authority.
The swan is only tolled by a dog, that is taught to play about within easy call of his master, at the edge of the water; the several species of ducks just enumerated, are to be tolled by the dog in that way, or by the other device. In all cases the hunter contrives to place himself behind a log or some other cover well concealed, before he begins his operations, taking care to observe that the direction of the wind is not unfavorable to him, and that the flock he means to toll is near enough to distinguish such objects on the shore, and under no alarm at the time. By what mo-
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Water Fow !.
tive these fowl are influenced, we have not heard satisfactorily explained; but certain it is, they are very commonly brought in from some hun- dreds of yards distance, in this way, to within point blank shot. It is said, and perhaps truly, in the case of the dog, that they fancy themselves in pursuit of some animal, as the fox, or mink, by which their young are annoyed at their breed- ing places.
Of late years, however, these sports enjoyed by the inhabitants of the banks of the river, have been very much inter: upted, by the practice of shooting from skiff's, with long guns of large calibre, by that class of gunners, who hunt for the market. They use a very light small skiff made quite sharp at the bows, capable of taking only one man and his enormous gun, so low that when thus laden, the gun-wales are within two inches of the surface, and painted of the colour of the water; in the bottom of this skiff, scarcely wider than his body, the man lays prostrate, his face downwards, his gun fixed on a double swi- vel, to the bow-piece. muzzle out, and the breach being close by his head, so fixed with an arm over each side, and grasping a short paddle in either hand, when within a certain distance of the flock, he bears down on it so slowly and re- gularly, and keeping the little bark in such di- rection, that from its very small elevation above the level of the water, and the sharpness of the bow always presented toward the flock, he often succeeds in the day, and always in the night time, to arrive within good distance for such a piece as he uses, which is very long, and so hea.
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Potomac Sporting.
vy as not to be fired by the usual method of bring. ing to the shoulder, and with four or five times the charge of a common fowling piece, he com- mits great slaughter. Most of this mischief, if mischief it be, is done in the night time, among the flocks in the middle of the wide part of the river, where they retire for rest, and are found riding asleep with their heads under their wings; and mischief we can but think it, since it is be- lieved that the numbers of the canvass back duck have sensibly decreased since the practice was introduced, and we can but join in the opinion, that this terrible destruction of them at their rest- ing places in the night, where not only are great numbers killed, but very many are wounded and escape in the dark, for the time, only to linger and die, must ultimately drive off the whole tribe to some place of greater safety, if not offering such grateful food. The other drift fowl of this river have much the habits of, and are hunted somewhat as are the canvass back. There is nothing remarkable either in the habits or the manner of taking the nest of the wild fowl, we have enumerated and not particularly described.
There is vet, however, one other discription of water fowl frequenting the Potomac, although, of small size, less than the snipe, yet affording so great a delicacy for the table, and so much amuse- ment to the sportsman, that we must not omit to notice it. It is the Sora of Virginia, and rail of Pennsylvania, sometimes called improperly, Or- folan in the middle states. It frequents the tide water marshes of the fresh water of this river, and is here only for a few weeks, arriving carly
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Ortolana
in September, and departing toward the latter end of October. It is common also we learn, on the Delaware, and the Schuylkill, the James river and most of the rivers in the middle and south- ern states. The natural history of this bird has baffled the efforts of the most diligent and acute enquiries on such subjects, it is not known, which are its breeding places, whence it comes to, or whither it goes from us. It is only certain, that it appears suddenly in great numbers, comes lean, soon gets very fat on the seed of the wild oat, which constitutes its principal and favorite food in these waters,-and disappears, on the approach of the first smart frost, all at once, as it would seem in a single night,-no person can give evi- dence of the manner or direction, of its arrival or departure; but it is notorious among sports- men and others, that they may be found in great numbers and affording fine sport, on a given day in the fall, when if a night of smart frost inter- venes, on the next day, not one is to be found, nor another seen until the return of their time of visit on the next year. And what makes this the more remarkable is, that they seem badly provided as a bird of passage, having short wings and flying heavily, and not being in the habit, while here, of congregating; some conjecture that they plunge into the mud, and lie in a torpid state all the rest of the year, but this, like the story of the immersion of the swallow, is scarce- ly credible. Wilson supposes them to be migra- tory-that they have, when it is necessary to ex- ert it, greater power on the wing than is attribu- ted to them generally, and that they come here
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Potomac Sporting.
from a more northern, and pass on to a more southern climate which seems to be most proba- ble.
They afford fine sport to the gunner without the necessity of much fatigue or address, they are generally shot on the wing, and as they fly slowly they are easily brought down with a light charge of small shot. The time of the tide must be observed-the gunner in a light skiff, pushed with a pole, by a man in the stern, goes into the marsh on the rise of the tide, an hour or two be- fore high water, and has to leave it about the same time on the ebb, not only that he may have a sufficient depth to float his skiff over the flats and fallen grass, but because the birds dont rise as freely on an alarm, when by the absence of water they can escape on foot, by running over the mud, and hiding themselves among the grass, at which they are very adroit. At a favorable tide, and when the birds are plenty, there is busy work for 3 or 4 hours for the gunner; he may fire almost as fast as he can load, always, how- ever, at single birds: for although hundreds are often all round him, and springing at every mo- ment within gun shot, even two are rarely seeu together. In the marches on the upper part of the Eastern Branch, and within a few miles of Washington, this game is very plenty, and affords much amusement to the sportsman every fall. Lower down the Potomac they have another mode of taking the Sera, with less cost, and more expeditiously, much practised on the gentlemens' estates in that quarter. It is done in the night by means of a light. A canoe is prepared before
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Ortolan.
nand, by placing across the gunwales amidships, a few boards constituting a platform, of about 3 feet square; this is covered with clay, to the thickness of two or three inches, and when dry, affords a good hearth; a quantity of light wood, so called, (the heart of the yellow pine, which after lying fallen in the woods until the sap part is decayed, and having concentrated its resinous matter, burns fiercely) is split into small pieces, and thrown into the bottom of the canoe near the hearth, and a boy posted by it to keep up the fire: two or three men now embark provided, one with a stout common poll to push the canoe, and the others with light polls 12 or 15 feet long, having a flat board 5 or 6 inches broad, and a foot or so long, nailed on at one end; and enter the marches frequented by these birds on a dark night, at a time of the tide, when pretty well covered with water, the Sora are found perched up on the long stalks of the reeds and wild oats, to get out of its way. The blazing fire throws such a glare of light all around for twenty or thirty paces, that it not only discove:s quite plainly the birds to those at the fire, but it so de- coys or stupifies them as to detain them in their positions, peeping and peering at the light, until they are approached within striking distance with the flattened polls, and knocked on the head one by one; thirty or forty dozen are some- times killed in this way by the crew of one canoe, on a single tide.
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448
Invasion of Washington.
INVASION OF WASHINGTON.
One blow, indeed, which our enemy gave us, during the late war, severely touched the pride of this District. The capture of the City of Wash- ington, occasioned a painful sensation, the shame of which it will take many years to obliterate. For this misfortune, we do not undertake to say, that Mr. Madison, under whose administration it occurred, is absolutely culpable; but, we are free to declare that he was not altogether blame- less. It was for him to choose the commander who was to guard our metropolis, and the only virgin capital in the world.
The blaze from the capitol, like the sacred ori- flamme of the French, was a signal for rallying to its standard the undaunted hearts of the repub- lic. The yeomanry on the borders of the Poto- mac, from the neighbouring states of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, even the coldest breast, in opposition to the war, throbbed for vengeance upon the invader of our capital. The British commander, sensible of the perils by which he was surr unded, hastily fled to his ships for shelter, leaving his wounded to the humanity of his enemy. However Mr. Madison may be implicated in the censure incident to the loss of the metropolis, he is liable to no severity of
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Invasion of Washington.
criticism on account of his conduct after that event. He was seen among the foremost, reso- lutely refusing to parley with the enemy, (whose flag waved in insolent triumph over the Potomac) and energetically rallying his countrymen to bat- tle, invoking them by the renown of their fathers, in a proclamation (inserted at page 47S) whose style would not have dishonoured the pen of 'Tacitus. From this epoch, the people and the army appeared to receive new life, and the war closed with the shout of victory, long and loud, from the Niagara to New Orleans.
Ignorance or malevolence has frequently re- proached the District militia for their conduct in the face of the enemy at Bladensburgh; but these reproaches are unjust; wherever they were post- ed, and they had the honor to be chiefly posted in front, they did their duty. We cannot, in their defence, withhold the disinterested testi- Inony of Commodore Perry, who afterwards wit- nessed the intrepidity of the Washington and Georgetown volunteers at Indian Head, on the. Potomac river.
Extract of a letter from Captain Perry to the Secretary of the Vary, dated
" GEORGETOWN, Sept. 9, 1814.
" The field pieces (6 pounders) under the di- rection of that excellent officer Major Peter, of
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Invasion of Washington.
the Georgetown, and Captain Burch, of the Washington volunteers, and Captain Lewis, of General Stewart's brigade, kept up a very spirit- ed fire; these officers, together with Captains Stull and Davidson, and their brave men, behav- ed in the handsomest manner, and rendered all the assistance their limited means afforded."
The following is a condensed narrative of the " sudden incursion" of the British, in August, 1814, from official accounts:
On the morning of the 18th of August, Thurs- day, 1814, intelligence was received at Wash- ington from Point Look-out, that on the morn- ing of the 17th, the enemy's fleet off that place had been reinforced by a formidable squadron of ships and vesseis of various sizes. The com. manding general immediately made requisitions on the Governors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, various officers of militia, and the militia of the District of Columbia, were ordered out en masse.
Colonel Monroe, with Captain Thornton's troop of horse, proceeded to find and reconnoitre the enemy on Friday the 19th; on the same day the militia of Georgetown and the City of Wash- ington, under General Smith, were mustered. On Saturday the 20th, this and some other forces commenced their line of March towards Bene- dict about one o'clock, and encamped that night about four miles from the Eastern Branch bridge, on the road to Upper Marlboro. On this day Colonel Monroe communicated the intelligence
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British at Nottingham.
of the arrival of the enemy at Benedict in force.' Same day Colonel Tilman and Captain Caldwell, with their commands of horse, were ordered and despatched to annoy the enemy, impede his march, to remove and destroy forage and provi- sions before the enemy.
On Sunday morning, the 21st, the troops were mustered, and the articles of war read to them. At 12 o'clock the marines under Captain Miller joined the army; the regulars of the 36th and 38th also joined at the Wood-yard, seven miles in ad- vance, to which the main body of our troops were marched and encamped on Sunday night. Two letters from Colonel Munroe, on the 21st, one stating that he had viewed the enemy near Bene- dict, enumerated 27 square rigged vessels, some bay craft and barges; the other dated from Not- tingham, stating the advance of the enemy upon that place by land and water; and recommend- ing the commanding General to despatch 500 or 600 men to fall upon the enemy. Colonel Mon- roe and Colonel Beall both joined the army at night, and gave an account that the enemy had
been viewed by them. Colonel Beall calculated. that he had seen 4.000, without supposing he had eeen all. Colonel Monroe estimated the enemy at about 6,000: Captain Herbert joins with his troop; Colonel Lavall had joined with two com- panies of cavalry on the day previous; the enemy remained at Nottingham, except an advance de- tachment about three miles from town. Monday the 22d, early in the morning, a light detachment was ordered to meet the enemy, composed of the 36th and 38th; Lieutenant Colonel Scott, Cole-
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Invasion of Washington.
nel Lavall's cavalry, and three companies from the brigade of General Smith, under command of Major Peter, viz: his own company of artillery, Captain Stull's rifle corps, and Captain David- son's light infantry. This detachment marched on the road to Nottingham, about 9 o'clock; the remainder of the army marched about one mile in advance to an elevated position; the command- ing General, with his staff, accompanied by colo- nel Monroe, proceeded in advance to reconnor- tre the march of the enemy. Commodore Bar- ney had joined the army with his flotilla men, besides the marines under Captain Miller; the horse preceded the advance detachment of our forces, met the enemy, and retired before them. This induced the advance corps to take a posi -. tion to impede the march of the enemy; but the advance detachment was ordered to retrogade and join the main body of the army, that had re- mained some hours in line of battle, expecting the enemy to come that route to the city, but who took the road to Upper Marlboro, turning to his ri ht, after having come within a few miles of our forces; upon which the commanding general fell back with his whole forces to the Battalion Old-fields, about eight miles from Marlboro, and the same distance from the City of Washington. At this time heavy explosions in the direction of Marlboro, announced the destruction of the flo- tilla under command of Commodore Barney. The chemy arrived at Upper Marlboro about 2 o'clock, and remained there until late next day, to be joined, it is presumed, by the detachment of the enemy which had been sent against the flotilla.
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Camp at Battalion Old Fields.
The commanding General proceeded to Marl- boro, and found the enemy encamped; several prisoners taken, gave information that the enemy would remain in that position until next day; and after making observations of the enemy, till the close of the day, General Winder returned to the army. Late in the evening of this day, the President, with the Secretaries of War and Navy, and the Attorney General, joined Gene- ral Winder at the Battalion Old-fields, and re- mained with him till the evening of the 23d. In the morning the troops were drawn up and re- viewed by the President. The most contradic- tory reports prevailed as to the movements and force of the enemy, and it was doubtful in camp whether Annapolis, fort Washington, with a view to co-operate with his naval forces, or the City of Washington, was his object. As to num- bers, rumors vibrated from 4,000 to 12,000; the best opinion was from 5 to 7,600. Our forces at this time, at the Old Fields, are variously esti- mated, with no material difference, at about 3,000 men, in the following corps: about 400 horse, under the command of the following offi- cers: Lieutenant Colonel Lavall, Colonel Til- man, Captains Caldwell, Thornton, Herbert, Williams, &c. 400 regular troops, under the com- mand of Lieutenant Colonel Scott, viz: 56th, 38th, and Captain Morgan's company of the 12th infantry; 600 marines and flotilla-men under Commodore Barney and Captain Miller, with five pieces of heavy artillery-two 18 pounders and three 12 pounders: 1,800 militia and volun- teers, General Smith's brigade of Georgetown
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Invasion of Washington.
and city militia, and Maryland militia under Colonel Kramer, of which there were two com- panies of artillery under Captain Burch and Ma- jor Peter, with six 6 pounders each, making an aggregate of 3,209, with 17 pieces of artillery. The enemy was without cavalry, and had 2 small feld pieces and one howitzer, drawn by men; and the whole country well calculated for de- fence, skirmishing, and to impede the march of an enemy.
The enemy remained at Upper Marlborough till after 12 o'clock; about which time, General Winder again ordered the detachment under Lieutenant Colonel Scott and Major Peter, to advance and meet the enemy if he should be found advancing, or to attack his positions. About this time, 12 o'clock, some prisoners were taken, and, from the information given by them, and the observations of the videts, General Winder was induced to believe that the enemy intended to remain stationary for the day, which induced Chim to think of uniting with him the forces at Bladensburg, and despatched orders to General Stansbury, and other corps at Bladensburg, to move direct for Upper Marlborough, and pro- ceeded himself towards Bladensburgh, to meet and hurry on the forces to form a junction. When General Winder left the command with General Smith, and proceeded towards Bladens- burg, with several troops of cavalry, he left or- ders that the advance corps should march upon the enemy, and annoy him by all possible means if in march, or if not, then in his positions; and if he advanced upon Bladensburg, General Smith,
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Skirmish at Marlborough.
with the main body, should fall upon his flank, or be governed by circumstances in other move- ments·
An express brought intelligence that the enemy had left Upper Marlborough; that our advance had met the enemy about six miles in advance of our forces, and after a skirmish, in which captain Stull's company had about 4 or 5 rounds, was compelled to retreat, and that the enemy vas advancing. One of the aids of General Smith was despatched for General Winder; the whole army was placed in a favorable attitude of do- fence, in which position it continued until about sun-set, when General Winder, who had arrived some time previous, ordered the army to march to the City of Washington. The enemy was about three miles distant, and remained there that night. Having remained till the going down of the sun, the retreat to the city was induced by several considerations, stated by the commanding General. Ist. To effect a union of his whole forces. 2d. The fear of a night attack, from the superiority of the enemy, and want of discipline in his troups. And, Sd. In a night attack his superiority in artillery could not be used. The march of our army to the city was extremely rapid and precipitate, and orders occasionally given to captains of companies to hurry on the men, who were extremely fatigued and exhausted be- fore the camping ground was reached, near the Eastern-branch bridge, within the District of Co- lumbia.
General Stansbury had arrived at Bladensburg on the 22d, and the 5th Baltimore regiment, in-
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