I must do the general the credit, however, to say, that he marched out boldly enough, and engaged Early and his men in battle as soon as he met him.  And although he had pluck enough, he was no match for the rebel, who brushed him away before him, and sent his scattered columns flying back into Baltimore, in great distress.  Perhaps the only sensible man surprised at this state of things was General Wallace himself.

When those who come after us, my son, shall read of this, it will seem very strange that the fate of Washington, the capital of this great and powerful nation, should have depended on a battle between General Lew Wallace, and his undisciplined troops, on the one side, and Jubal Early and his stonewall troops on the other.  And all this in the fourth year of the war.

Now this battle, if it can be dignified with the name, was fought on Saturday, the 9th of July.  General Early took no further notice of General Wallace, but started at once for the defenses of Washington.  And there was nothing to oppose him until he reached them; and nothing then but some cannon, and some men who did not know how to fire them.

When it got rumored round that the late General Early was not only aiming to besiege Washington, but was not far away from the defenses, there was considerable of a stir made in official circles.  Timid people tried to keep their courage up in various ways.  Heroes, who had never been out of Washington, now talked like very heroes; and it was intimated that the Treasury Guard would come out, and take the field.  Those who had no taste for fighting, and they were many, found it very uncomfortable, because there was no way of getting out of the city.

During the war, my son, I frequently noticed that when a battle was going on at the front there was sure to be a large number of heroes in uniform doing promenade duty on the Avenue.  Their number seemed to have increased prodigiously just at this time.  It was noticed also that they walked at a more rapid pace than usual, did an uncommon amount of eating and drinking, and had a large number of friends they were always ready to discuss the last battle with.  I suppose this was all for the purpose of showing the amount of courage they had.

They were ready enough to go to the front to-day if somebody would only show them the way.

It was now the morning of the 10th of July; and a bright breezy morning it was.  The symptoms of the siege now took a positive form and became really alarming.  These symptoms were manifested in a singular manner at two prominent points of the defenses.  A dilapidated and very much distressed mule, his ears erect and his tail askance, galloped down the road into Tenallytown, making a noise so hideous that the quiet inhabitants ran out in a state of great alarm.  They then went to packing up their household goods, their tubs, tables, chairs, and crockery, and getting them ready for removal to a place of safety.  In addition to this, the unruly animal sent terror into the very hearts of a number of cavalrymen who were out picketing the distant hills.  These gallant troopers put spurs to their horses and never stopped until they got safely into Georgetown, where they circulated numerous stories concerning Mr. Early and his men, who, they declared, had driven them in.