Rabies and the Pox

MAD DOGS AT LARGE.

Attacks Several Other anies(?) Before

He is Killed. 

[Special to The Times-Dispatch.] 

Roxbury, Va. May 23.- The usual quiet neighborhood of Quinton was thrown into a state of excitement a few days ago when a mad dog made its appearance running at large for several days before It was killed. Several fine fox-hounds were bitten, but fortunately no human being was attacked.  

To-day three cases of fully developed smallpox- are reported near Tunstall Station. All are colored. Every precaution s being taken to prevent the spread of the disease. W.P. Tunstall, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, has called a meeting of the board to take such action as may be deemed proper.

-Times Dispatch, 24 May 1912

VACCINATION IS ORDERED. 

New Kent, Va., May 28-The local Board of Health of New Kent county met at the courthouse Saturday to take such steps as are necessary to prevent the spread of smallpox in the county. Dr. C.L. Bailey, Dr. U.H. Johnson, Dr. J.R. Parker, W.P. Tunstall and T.N. Harris, members composing the board, were present and ordered that all persons in the two districts in which the disease exists be vaccinated, the expense of such vaccination to be borne by the county.  

There are only three cases in this county fully developed and several suspected of being infected.

-Virginia Gazette(Williamsburg), 30 May 1912

There had been an outbreak in the early spring in Richmond. Contemporaneous with the cases in New Kent was an outbreak at Western State Hospital.

The last widespread outbreak in the United States of the deadly form of smallpox(variola major) occurred in 1924-25 in the Lake Erie region.¹ The above cases were probably the milder form(variola minor.)

¹ Smallpox and its Eradication,  F. Fenner, D.A. Henderson, I. Arita, Z. Jezek, I.D. Ladnyi
WHO 1988

Conclusion of Washington's "Farewell Address"

 . . . . from the post of February 29. . .

George Washington by Gilbert Stuart(1796)-the Lansdowne portrait

 All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.

However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations, which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that, for the efficient management of our common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for, though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.

Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ?

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages, which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its Virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices ?

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim.

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the  favorite Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, (who devote themselves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the Public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they  actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a  portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no  greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

[43-50 omitted from some newspaper printings.]

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course, which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.

How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them.

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proclamation of the 22d of April 1793, is the index to my Plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness.

The considerations, which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all.

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who views it in the native soil of himself and his  progenitors for several generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.

George Washington
United States - September 17, 1796

My annual "It is not Presidents' Day it is Washington's Birthday," post

 . . . to remind you it is actually Washington's Birthday; and so today, for our edification, I serialize Washington's Farewell Address. Serialized because we seem to have rather short attention spans compared to the Eighteenth Century.*

George Washington by Gilbert Stuart (1796)

George Washington's Farewell Address

FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:

The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the executive government of the United States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed designating the person, who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you at the same time to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives, which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement, from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence impelled me to abandon the idea.

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety; and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.

The impressions, with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied, that, if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.

In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; than, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it.

Here, perhaps I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.

The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of american, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.

But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those, which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the Union of the whole.

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, that your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who in any quarter may endeavour to weaken its bands.

In contemplating the causes, which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by Geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavour to excite a belief, that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings, which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those, who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which they were procured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens?

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions, which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.

To be continued tomorrow . . .


* and he was married to a New Kent girl.

The New York Times from the Peninsula, 1862- Pt. III

The final of my three excerpts from the New York Times' Peninsula Campaign reportage that touch specifically on New Kent County . . .

The Advance from White House Traditions; Crump's Plantation Gen. Sickles' Arrival- Rebel Liberality- Successful Skirmishing.

WHITE OAK SWAMP, MIDDLE ROAD, Wednesday, May 28, 1862. 

From the White House landing to our present encampment, a distance of 15 miles, and within ten miles of Richmond, we found few farm-houses that could be either called comfortable inside or beautiful without. The style of architecture varies, but is by no means pleasing to the eye. How these old dilapidated exteriors and interiors looked in the days of Virginia's earliest history, I am unaware. At the present time they are a mass of tottering brick and wood, decayed by time, falling piece by piece. None bear the slightest trace of repair or of that compound known as paint. The occupants seem to have abandoned all veneration for the homes of their progenitors, so much so that when the front portico gave way before old Time, they no doubt felt thankful they had still the back one left to make their entrance into and exit from their crumbling domicils(sic). 

The White House, belonging to the Custis family, you have had a full description of in previous letters. I might here mention, however, that one of your correspondents is in error relative to the original house being destroyed by fire. The present house with the exception of the two wings attached, is the identical one where WASHINGTON courted the widow CUSTIS. The estate is known as the "Old Quarter." About a mile and a half from the house, on the road leading to the Baltimore cross-roads and the Richmond turnpike, there is a cluster of large oak trees of ancient growth, standing on the edge of the rising ground facing the level track where the White House stands. The roots cover the surface for fifty feet in circumference. Beneath the base of the largest tree a spring of water gushes forth of great purity. 

Tradition states that POCAHONTAS, tired and weary with hunting, with some of her father's chiefs, discovered this spring and tarried to bathe her feet, while the chiefs hunted the forest for game. Early settlers from this tradition named the spring Pocahontas' Bath. It is now called the Old Quarter Spring, after the farm. WASHINGTON, on his return from his marriage ceremony at St. Peter's Church to the house of his wife, together with his attendant friends, halted at the spring and drank from a wooden bucket to the health of the bridesmaids. About a mile back from the spring, and a little to the right, stands a residence of tolerable antiquity, belonging to the Mason family, now occupied by a descendant, Dr. MASON1, who is the Presiding Justice of New-Kent County, as well as a practicing physician. He is a personification of the old type of a Virginia F.F.V. The polish on his waxen floors look like glass, and his sideboard is decorated with crystal cut glasses, with two decanters in bold relief, containing old Bourbon of the rarest quality. Over his mantelpiece hangs an oil painting, representing a facsimile of the original house, built by the MASONS, on Mason Island, in the Pamunkey River. On the mantelpiece lies a brick, with raised letters, 1698. This is the date, the Doctor says, when the house represented in the painting was built. The outside of the Doctor's present residence shows a calm resignation to the havoc of Time. The beautiful lattice-work around the portico has the moss growing on its broken fragments. The stables, barns, and out-buildings severally, have rude cedar posts propping up their sides and roofs, supporting their decrepit age. As I gazed upon their tottering aspect, I thought Slavery was linked with their decay. I trust it is so. There is nothing in the mouldering ruins of Virginia's first families to recommend its perpetuity. 

Next to the White House, the Mason mansion is the best, toward Baltimore Cross-roads. There are many small farm-houses, apparently built by the first settlers, crude in finish, and in a frightful state of dilapidation. 

The place next in order worthy of notice is Dr. CRUMP's2  plantation -- seven hundred acres, situated at the Baltimore Cross-roads3, eight miles from the White House, on the road to Richmond. There is quite an elegant house upon the estate, as well as numerous out-buildings, in a fine condition of repair. Dr. CRUMP, like Dr. MASON, is also a Justice of New-Kent. County, and was a member of the Legislature when the ordinance of secession was passed, and voted heartily for that measure. Dr. CRUMP is very wealthy. He owns forty-two negroes, sixteen of which, at the present moment, are not come-at-able, owing to strange motions of being free. When our army landed at the White House, they hired themselves out us cooks, &c., to the officers, without as much as saying to CRUMP -- their master -- "By your leave," and they peremptorily refuse to "go back to their quarters," CRUMP's grief is overwhelming. His wife and the young CRUMPS share his feelings of affliction with a devotion worthy of stories. 

Dr. CRUMP's house being the most respectable of its class, I took up any abode there for three days. Gen. SICKLES arrived at the same time, with Capt. CHAS. L. YOUNG and Lieut. LAURIA of his staff, and the General was assigned the bed occupied by Gen. JOE JOHNSTON some two weeks since, in his retreat from Williamsburgh. Dr. CHUMP was an obliging host, and Mrs. CRUMP4 was indefatigable in endeavors to make our stay comfortable. The General started off the following morning, to report in person to Gen. MCCLELLAN, and before leaving called for his bill. The landlord of the "Golden Lion" could not have hit on a more outrageous demand. The General has often dined and supped at renowned cafes, but CRUMP, Justice CRUMP, overstepped all bounds of conscience. The General paid his bill without questioning its correctness, and in answer to CRUMP's hoping to see him again soon, the General made the satirical reply, "I fully appreciate your kindness." 

Down at the forks of the road we have a temporary hospital. CRUMP's kindness to the patients is often spoken of among the invalids. It consists of his liberal supply of milk, for which he charges thirty cents a quart, and butter one dollar a pound. To the officer of the guard stationed at the house for CRUMP's exclusive protection from straggling soldiers, CRUMP suggested the guard should be provided with rations, as he would not be able to feed them, (there were only two,) for bacon was high, and he was afraid he would not have sufficient to last until the war was over. 

Provost-Marshal withdrew the guard when we advanced here. 

CRUMP was on great terms of intimacy with JEFF. DAVIS, whom he styled the President in his conversations with me. DAVIS advised CRUMP to burn his dwelling and destroy all his movable property, as the National forces had invariably done the same thing wherever they advanced. "Our patriots," said JEFF. DAVIS, "when they can afford no assistance to our cause, fly with our armies." CRUMP replied, he would consider the matter. DAVIS came down from Richmond, with several of his Cabinet officers, after the fight at Williamsburgh on Tuesday, and held a consultation with his prominent officers. What transpired at this interview, CRUMP was not informed, but DAVIS left, on the morning of Wednesday, for Richmond, in great haste. JOE JOHNSTON stayed at CRUMP's until his rear column came up, Thursday evening, and then left. Our troops came up on Friday following, and occupied the ground. 

Dr. CRUMP obtained a pass from the Provost Marshal to visit the White House, and there met with some of his hands, whom he accosted in a kind manner, desiring them to return to their quarters. One of them, a likely negro, who, CRUMP assured me, was worth $1,800 -- he had him insured for $1,200 -- replied to his salutation: "Now, Dr. CRUMP, dis ain't de way you talk to us when we home; you say you d -- d blacks -- b --, do dat; and last week you hit me ober de head with a rail. Der am de spot. I kin show him to any gemman." The negro took off his cap and displayed a bruised cranium. 

CRUMP was about losing his equanimity of temper, when he concluded to mount his horse and leave the place. 

On reaching home, Mrs. CRUMP was much affected to hear he had not returned with his property, and advised him to shoot a colored preacher, by the name of GORDON, who they suspected was the instigator of their troubles. To make matters still worse, the principal housewoman was not expected to live. She was a faithful servant, about 40, worth $800. 

Dr. CRUMP shed tears, so did Mrs. CRUMP. I appreciated their feelings at losing so worthy a servant, but was a little surprised when CRUMP said; "You will excuse me, Mr. ----- , but it's too bad. Them sixteen niggers were worth $12,000, and this woman $800, easy. I could have sold her a month ago, but I was a fool." CRUMP applied the handkerchief to his eyes, and wiped away the tears that rolled down; "too bad, too bad," he ejaculated, as he sobbed audibly. 

CRUMP is a representative of Virginia planters. There are two or three fine houses between Dr. CRUMP'S and White Oak Swamp. Their owners have deserted them -- gone to Richmond. These have been turned into hospitals for our sick and wounded soldiers.

Gen. PORTER has had another successful and brilliant fight, a few miles from New Bridge, routing the rebels completely. 

The retreat of BANKS has had no effect on our forces, unless to make them more determined to capture Richmond. If the stories of contrabands and deserters prove true about the rebels having one hundred and fifty thousand men (probably half that number) it is immaterial. Gen. HOOKER, with a little over six thousand, whipped four times that number of their chosen troops at Williamsburg. M.

-New York Times, June 8, 1862



1- Actually this is probably Dr. William Hartwell Macon, owner of "Mt. Prospect" and who sat as one of the 16 members of the County Court. The Masons lived nearby, but the fact that he is described as a doctor and a magistrate and the owner of a "mansion," points to it being W.H. Macon.

2- Dr. Leonard C. Crump.

3- He is referring to Crump's Crossroads not Talleysville

4- Emily A. Crump nee Savage, daughter of Nathaniel Savage.

The New York Times from the Peninsula, 1862- Pt. II

More reports from New Kent in the New York Times coverage of the Peninsula Campaign.

A Virginia Court-house--Its Characteristics-- Paucity of Union Sentiment--Army Depredations--The Case of Col. Van Wyck Cumberland Landing--Important Reconnoissances.

NEW-KENT COURT-HOUSE, Va., Friday, May 16, 1862. 

New-Kent Court-house is a type of all the county seats I have met with thus far in Virginia; half a-dozen wooden houses clustering about a brick Court-house and jail, a post-office, a tavern and a country, store. Five families constituted the population of this place, and they are still represented by the elder members and the females, the young men having disappeared with the general draft the Southern army has demanded. The jail and store of New-Kent are now but a mass of ruins, having been burnt by the rebel authorities at their evacuation. They contained corn, and the order was to destroy this, which the rebel soldiers took the readiest way of doing by destroying buildings and all. The tavern now does double duty, as a prison and a hospital, our sick soldiers occupying the upper part, and two Confederate officers being confined in the basement.

THE BURDENS OF VIRGINIA.

The tavern, though but a rude, unfinished looking building, is of interest, in its way, as the centre about which the scattered population of the country has been accustomed to gather. In its bar-room the local great men have met over their pipes and whisky to discuss the coming crop and talk politics, thus nursing their local pride until exaggerated notions of State Rights have finally wrought their ruin, desolating their homes, and sweeping away their possessions with the rude passage of a war, for which their own acts have helped to open the way. Virginia bears a heavy responsibility for this rebellion, which her efforts might have stayed, and heavily is she paying for her mistake -- her crime. The theatre of strife, the battlefield of contending armies, she has borne more than her share of the burdens of the Confederacy, and now groans in prospect of a submission to the just requirement of the authority she has defied and outraged. Whether it be the suggestions of a guilty conscience or the mistake of a deluded people, there is a false notion among her citizens that the whole expenses of the war are to be saddled upon the South, and the people of that section stripped of their property and reduced to Slavery to pay the debt. I heard an intelligent resident of this neighborhood make such a complaint to Gen. CASEY this morning, and such is undoubtedly a common impression, which has its share in the motive inducing the hard-pressed rebels to prolong resistance. 

If there is much hearty Union sentiment in Virginia I have failed to meet with it. At the best, it is as in this town, where the people seem disposed to submit with patience to what is inevitable, and yield quietly to the rule they are in no condition to contend against. Still, their case is apparently one which will yield to kind and judicious treatment, though the first experience of subjection is not the time for developing healthy symptoms. An army is never a love-provoking institution, and there are inconveniences and trials attending the presence of the best intentioned troops, which makes their occupation irritating to a community. It is natural that men whose wheat fields have been trampled down, whose stores and stock have strangely disappeared, and whose slaves have acquired sadden notions of independence, should not see, at a glance, the blessings of Union and the fatherly love which is working their emancipation from the tyranny of secession. But it is ever the habit of the patient to make wry faces at the drugs which are working his case; and we need bate nothing of heart or hope on their account. 

Many of the complaints of depredations on the part of our army are, no doubt, exaggerated, if not wholly false; but it cannot be denied that the most liberal allowance on this score will still leave much connected with the passage of our troops that is to be regretted. Strict individual honesty is not the virtue of armies, and there are, moreover, some too convenient notions on the subject of rebel right to property current among our troops, which the authorities are making a vigorous endeavor to eradicate. They will succeed, if earnest and impartial effort promises success. For the just recognition of the principle of respect for private property, they are entitled to commendation, though it may be that, in individual instances, they have drawn taut the reins of authority too suddenly, visiting simple mistakes with the punishment of crimes. Col. VAN WYCK, of the Fifty-sixth New-York, (M.C.,) is among those who have suffered in this way, finding himself under arrest in consequence of some well-intentioned efforts to provide for his sick and hungry soldiers by making use of property to which, as he conceived, the United States had acquired a good title. The Colonel is especially careful to see that his men are well looked after, and it is to be regretted that his kindness of heart should have led him into any difficulty with the Provost-Marshal. The matter is fortunately now in a fair way of adjustment, and Col. VAN WYCK is already released from the stigma of any intentional violation of the army regulations. 

It is about two miles through the woods from this point to Cumberland, which is simply a landing on the Pamunkey, though one possessing natural advantages which at the North would make it the seat of a thriving city. The river is there divided by an island, the main channel being about four or five hundred feet in width, and having a depth, it is said, of sixty feet close in shore. From the water a magnificent plain of two thousand acres of cleared land stretches off to the woods bounding it in the distance. This is the property of man named TOLAND -- or rather of his wife* -- whose few storehouses and slave-huts on the water's edge constitute the entire settlement of Cumberland. 

The Toland residence overlooks the plain from a high hill, which rises abruptly at one aide, affording precisely such a view of the 2,000-acre farm below as one gets of a level ball-room floor from the high gallery at its end. As I looked down from this point upon our troops encamped in the wheat-fields below, I thought it must have been from such a position that XERXES reviewed his army of a million of souls before he led them forth to battle. 

TOLAND is a slave-breeder; on his plantation you have the institution presented in one of its worst aspects. With him human beings have been literally treated as cattle, his whole stock of seventy-one slaves springing from a single woman, who now, at less than sixty years of age, finds herself surrounded by three generations of offspring, without ever having been bound by the marriage relation to thwart the purposes of her master in his anxiety to improve his stock. Mr. TOLAND proposes to dispose of his estate to me for $20 an acre, providing that I would take his slaves off his hands at a low price, saying that he is getting too old to farm. I might have been disposed to consider the proposition had not my brief experience in Virginia convinced me that "niggers are mighty unsartin property." But few, indeed, are left to yield to the seductions of freedom which the presence of a Northern army bring, those left behind being mainly those who are either too old or too young to be subject to temptation. 

We remain inactive in the portion of the army at this place, no enemy appearing near enough to tempt us to effort. A reconnoissance made by Gen. PECK this morning, four or five miles beyond here, toward the Chickahominy, revealed traces of two rebel regiments, who had apparently encamped last night on this road to Richmond, toward which they must have withdrawn. SATURDAY, May 17 -- A.M. 

A reconnoissance(sic) was made yesterday by Capt. GEARHART, of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, who advanced with twenty men seven miles beyond here on the road to Richmond, crossing the Chickahominy at Bottom's Bridge. There they met with the Sergeant and Adjutant of the First Virginia Cavalry, the first of whom was taken prisoner by Lieut. SMITH, the Adjutant escaping to the woods. In chasing these two men Capt. GEARHART came with his handful of men upon a squad of thirty rebel horsemen, who were driven in on a larger body of 120, supported by a force of some 2,500 men, two or three miles further toward the Chickahominy. It is supposed that the rebels have a strong rear guard in this direction, and a reconnoissance in force is to be made by Gen. COUCH's Division this morning to ascertain the strength of the enemy. The prisoner taken by Lieut. SMITH reports that one of their men was wounded by Capt. GEARHART's Cavalry, and another is supposed to have suffered from their attack, as a second horse was seen without a rider. None of our men were injured. 

PIERREPONT.

-New York Times, May 21, 1862



"Pierrepont," was William Conant Church


* Toler, Susan

The New York Times from the Peninsula, 1862- Pt. I

I have collected a few of the New York Times reports from the Peninsula in 1862 which touch upon New Kent specifically, starting with the below . . .

Prince Robert Philippe Louis Eugène Ferdinand of Orléans, Duke of Chartres

 GEN. McCLELLAN'S ADVANCE.; Our Army Advancing Capture of a Rebel Battery Union Feeling White Flags Abundant Beautiful Weather The Country Beyond Williamsburgh Gen. McClellan and his Staff The Local Feeling The Rebel Retreat.

BERNA ORDINARY,* Va., May 9, 1862 -- 1 P.M.

Gen. KEYES has advanced his headquarters today twelve miles beyond Williamsburg, on the road toward New-Kent Court-house which now lies 15 or 16 miles beyond him. His corps is in the advance, the Second Rhode Island and the Sixty-eighth Pennsylvania being ported over the Chickahominy, near its month, 10 or 15 miles beyond us, with STONEMAN's Cavalry. The rebels are to make no stand here, as was reported, but continue their rapid flight toward Richmond: The report now is that they are to make their stand 10 miles this side of that city.

The Second Rhode Island came up with a battery of four guns, supported by infantry, stationed at one of the fords of the Chickahominy. to dispute their passage. Without standing on etiquette, the brave Rhode Islanders delivered their fire and charged bayonet, putting the confederates to instant route, many of them throwing away their muskets and running as though the which army of the Potomac was after them.

A hospital has been established on the James River opposite Williamsburgh, where some 500 of those wounded in the engagement of Monday have been removed. Yesterday a Confederate vessel, supposed to be the Merrimac, was seen within one or two miles of the place going up toward Richmond:

For six miles beyond Williamsburgh the country was heavily wooded, then we came upon a fine open country, with farms magnificent for size, producing wheat and corn, with some tobacco, though the land is now given up almost entirely to the former staples. The wheat fields are already green with blades ten or a dozen inches high, and present a beautiful sight as they wave in the sun. Streams are plenty, and our soldiers find an abundance of good water.

The country rises gradually, and over the Chickahominy we came upon the level country between that and Richmond. It is an inviting region and shows fewer marks of the ravages of war than any section we have yet come upon. The fences are standing in good order; the houses, as a general thing, occupied and undisturbed. Provisions Abundant, and plenty seems to prevail.

BARBOURSVILLE †, Va., Saturday -- 2 P.M.

At this point we are within five miles of West Point, as I am told by one of Cen. PORTER's aids, who has just come up front there. Gen. PORTER's troops have not got on their way inland, but must be shortly, as our army is rapidly concentrating around Richmond. Gen. MCCLELLAN came up this morning as far as the house of a Dr. JONES¹, just beyond Barboursville, where I am now writing. He remained here for an hour or two, the [???] of his Staff entertaining themselves with [???] intelligent young ladies belonging to the doctor [???]. The scene about the house as I entered [???] for a painter. At one side of the [???] "Little Corporal" stood, in the sun, [???] by several of his Generals, members of his Staff, the Prince De JOINVILLE, in citizen's [???], and a huge fur cap, being [???] among them, sauntering about with his hands in his breeches pockets. On the steps and the porch was a similar group of notables taking their ease at their noonday halt. In the hall [???] several gathered in a little group about several [???] standing in a side doorway, and conversing with great animation, receiving and imparting new [???] prevailing in the two sections toward each other. Among those here were three young [???] officers, and the Duc De CHATRES, whose younger brother came in while we were waiting, hot and [???] a long ride he had taken with a message from Gen. MCCLELLAN. I saw the young nobleman driving about in hot haste during the fight of Monday, so it would appear that he is a useful, as well as an ornamental, member of the General's Staff. Your correspondent [???] himself with his own seedy condition by the discovery that this scion of royalty was in an even more dilapidated condition as to wardrobe.

What I learn of local feeling, thus far, in my journeying into Virginia, increases my hope of a peaceful restoration of this State to the Union, when we shall have driven the Confederates away from her borders. State pride and local feeling is strong; but there appears to be little bitterness of feeling toward the North, except such as is engendered by an entire misapprehension of the purpose and animus of this war. Nothing will do so much to remove this misapprehension as intercourse with Northerners in the person of the officers of our army. The ladies in the family, as the result of to-day's conversation with our officers, tell me that they have either been greatly misled us to the sentiments and feelings of the North, or the gentlemen of Gen. MCCLELLAN staff cannot be true representatives of Northern opinion.

I have seen reason to somewhat modify my first opinion of the demoralization of the Southern army, based upon such hasty statements as I received from others. Their retreat, as a whole, seems to have been conducted in the masterly manner for which JOHNSTON has distinguished himself. Near Williamsburgh, there were many evidences of the hasty flight of the rear guard, in deserted artillery, mumtions of war, as well as in the knapsacks, tents, wagons and other things strewing the way. But to-day there are no signs of anything but deliberation, the roads being so much better as to enable the army trains to pass without difficulty.

I learn here that JOHNSTON and MAGRUDER separated at Barboursville, one taking the right and the other the left. It is provable that Gen. FRANKLIN was attacked by the advance guard of JOHNSTON at West Point, as he must have been very near them in passing. They expected another fight on Monday. being determined to make a stand to delay our progress, and their scouts reporting our troops to be rapidly advancing upon them. As we did not come they continued on their way without stopping for us.

I have omitted to mention before, that on Thursday last,Gen. KLEIN, of Gen. CASEY's Division, made a reconnoissance with two squadrons of Sixth Cavalry, Capts. HAMILTON and GUY, and a section of artillery. He advanced to York River, where he found a good landing fix miles from Williamsburgh. Four prisoners were taken. Many of the inhabitants subsequently came to his headquarters, demanding protection for themselves and property, including, in some cases, negroes; but such of the latter as wished to go down the peninsula were not molested, their owners being left to the civil authorities for the recovery of this species of "portable property."

-New York Times, May 15, 1862


*- Burnt Ordinary


†- I'm assuming "Barhamsville."


¹ Dr. Jones lived about a mile west of Barhamsville