previous next
[534] to Dranesville when they heard the whistle of Gen. Schenck's locomotive. Several rounds of grape were fired point-blank into the midst of the Ohio boys, who speedily sprang from the cars, and formed under the protection of a clump of trees on the side of the track. The engineer, who was backing the train, and, of course, in the rear of it, instantly detached his locomotive, and started at his best speed for Alexandria, leaving the cars to be burnt by the Rebels, and the dead and wounded to be brought off in blankets by their surviving comrades. The Rebels, deceived by the cool, undaunted bearing of our force, did not venture to advance, for fear of falling into a trap in their turn; so that our loss in men was but 20, including one captain. The Rebels, of course, lost none. Each party retreated immediately — the Rebels to Fairfax Court House.

As very much has since been said, on both sides, with partial justice, of outrages and barbarities, devastation and rapine, whereof “the enemy” is always assumed to be guilty, the following manifesto, issued by a Confederate chief at the very outset of the contest, and before it could have had any foundation in fact, casts light on many similar and later inculpations:

A proclamation.

Headquarters, Department of Alexandria, Camp Pickens, June 5th, 1861.
To the people of the Counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William:
A reckless and unprincipled tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless of all moral, legal, and constitutional restraints, has thrown his Abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and imprisoning your citizens, confiscating and destroying your property, and committing other acts of violence and outrage, too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enumerated.

All rules of civilized warfare are abandoned, and they proclaim by their acts, if not on their banners, that their war-cry is “Beauty and Booty.” All that is dear to man — your honor, and that of your wives and daughters — your fortunes and your lives, are involved in this momentous contest.

In the name, therefore, of the constituted authorities of the Confederate States--in the sacred cause of constitutional liberty and self-government, for which we are contending — in behalf of civilization itself — I, G. T. Beauregard. Brigadier-General of the Confederate States, commanding at Camp Pickens, Manassas Junction, do make this my Proclamation, and invite and enjoin you, by every consideration dear to the hearts of freemen and patriots, by the name and memory of your Revolutionary fathers, and by the purity and sanctity of your domestic firesides, to rally to the standard of your State and country; and, by every means in your power, compatible with honorable warfare, to drive back and expel the invaders from your land.

I conjure you to be true and loyal to your country and her legal and constitutional authorities, and especially to be vigilant observers of the movements and acts of the enemy, so as to enable you to give the earliest authentic information at these headquarters, or to the officers under my command.

I desire to assure you that the utmost protection in my power will be given to you all.

G. T. Beauregard, Brigadier-General Commanding.

Three days before, and in utter unconsciousness of the fulmination which Beauregard was preparing, Gen. McDowell, in command of our forces in his front, had issued the following:

Headquarters Department of N. E. Virginia, Arlington, June 2d, 1861.
General order No. 4.--Statements of the amount, kind, and value, of all private property taken and used for Government purposes, and of the damage done in any way to private property, by reason of the occupation of this section of the country by the United States troops, will, as soon as practicable, be made out and transmitted to department Headquarters of brigades by the commanders of brigades, and officers in charge of the several fortifications. These statements will exhibit:

First. The quantity of land taken possession of for the several field-works, and the kind and value of the crops growing thereon, if any.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
G. T. Beauregard (3)
Robert C. Schenck (1)
Irwin McDowell (1)
Abraham Lincoln (1)
Fairfax (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
June 5th, 1861 AD (1)
June 2nd, 1861 AD (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: