History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia Part 18

WAR OF 1812.

_The Compelling Cause._

Following the Revolution, a number of new towns sprang into being, educational inst.i.tutions multiplied, the population of the County steadily increased, and the people were industrious, enterprising, and happy.

A second difficulty, however, soon interrupted this tranquillity, and the quarrel between the two governments was referred to the arbitrament of the War of 1812, fought by the United States against England for maritime independence.

The honor of the new republic was a.s.sailed on the high seas by the insistence of Great Britain of a right to search American vessels for fugitive British subjects. A doctrine which America regarded as established by the Revolution, to wit, that a citizen of a foreign country could voluntarily surrender his native citizenship and swear allegiance to another government, was disputed by Great Britain, who held that "once an Englishman was to be an Englishman always." Upon this ground American vessels were held up on the ocean by English men-of-war and searched to such an extent that within the eight years of forbearance over 6,000 men were taken from the ships of the United States and forced into the British navy.

This audacious conduct thoroughly aroused the indignation of the American people, in which resentment it is supposed the people of Loudoun warmly concurred. Seeing that bloodshed was necessary in order to maintain the national honor, and spurred by urgent pet.i.tions, President Madison recommended to Congress a declaration of war, which was accordingly promulgated June 18, 1812.

_State Archives at Leesburg._[23]

When the British were on their way from Bladensburg to Washington, in August, 1814, James Monroe, then Secretary of State, had been for several days with General Winder, reconnoitering the enemy, and watching the movements of both armies. Knowing the weakness of the American forces, he believed Washington to be in great peril. He dispatched a letter to President Madison, advising the removal of the official records. Stephen Pleasanton, then a clerk in the State Department, made immediate preparation for the removal of the books and papers in that department. He had linen bags hastily made and placed in them the State archives, which were then loaded in wagons and hauled across the chain bridge, over the Potomac, to the grist mill of Edgar Patterson, two miles above Georgetown. Not feeling sure of their safety there, he had them reloaded on wagons and conveyed to Leesburg, where they were placed in an unoccupied building,[24] the key of which was given to a recently ordained clergyman, named Littlejohn.

There they remained until the last hostile Briton had reached Baltimore, when they were carefully hauled back to Washington.[25] Thus we saved the precious doc.u.ments of the revolutionary war, as well as our state archives, and thus does Leesburg boast, with abstract truthfulness, that for a little more than two weeks it was the Capital of the United States.

[Footnote 23: Anonymous.]

[Footnote 24: Perhaps the most precious of these doc.u.ments was the Declaration of Independence, which it has been a.s.serted, was deposited here.]

[Footnote 25: Mrs. A.H. Throckmorton, in an interesting narrative to which allusion is made elsewhere in this volume, differs with the authority here quoted as to the disposition of these important papers.

She says: "For one night they remained in the court-house here (Leesburg) and were then carried several miles out in the country to the estate of "Rockeby," now owned by Mr. H.B. Nalle,... and securely locked within the old vault and remained out of reach of the enemy for two weeks."]

THE MASON-McCARTY DUEL.

The duel, February 6, 1819, between Armistead T. Mason and John M.

McCarty, both residents of Loudoun County, was the second "affair of honor" to be settled on the now famous field of Bladensburg. They were cousins, who became enemies during Mason's brief term in the United States Senate. Mason, known as "The Chief of Selma," was a graduate of William and Mary College and the commander of a cavalry regiment[26] in the war of 1812. He later became brigadier general of the Virginia militia. He married and took up his residence at Selma plantation, four miles north of Leesburg. Wishing to make it possible for the Quakers of Loudoun to contribute their share toward the support of the army, Mason introduced in the Senate a bill to permit, in case of draft, the furnishing of subst.i.tutes on payment of $500 each. For this McCarty branded him a coward, and thence sprung a succession of bitter quarrels, the real basis of which was a difference of political opinions. The details of both sides of the feud were published weekly in the Leesburg "Genius of Liberty," and later were issued in pamphlet form as campaign material.

[Footnote 26: Many of the Germans of Loudoun served in this regiment which partic.i.p.ated in the Battle of Baltimore.]

Mason's side was defeated. He earnestly wished to avoid a duel, but McCarty continued to provoke him, with the hope of compelling him to fight. This he finally decided to do. He left his home without revealing his intentions and on reaching Washington made his final preparations with great deliberation. "The Chief of Selma" fell February 6, 1819, his heart pierced by the ball of his antagonist. He was but 32 years of age. His body was borne to Leesburg, where it was buried in the Episcopal churchyard, with an imposing Masonic ritual.

The grief of his slaves was painful to witness. His only child became an officer in the United States army, and was mortally wounded in the battle of Cerro Gordo.

HOME OF PRESIDENT MONROE.

"Oak Hill," the country seat of James Monroe, ex-President of the United States and author of the world-famed Monroe Doctrine, is situated near Aldie, in Loudoun County, on the turnpike running south from Leesburg to Aldie, about nine miles from the former and three from the latter place.

The main building, with an imposing Grecian facade, was planned by Monroe while in the presidential chair, and its construction superintended by William Benton, an Englishman, who served him in the triple capacity of steward, counselor, and friend. The dimensions are about 50 by 90 feet; it is built of brick in a most substantial manner, and handsomely finished; has three stories (including bas.e.m.e.nt), a wide portico fronting south, with ma.s.sive Doric columns thirty feet in height, and is surrounded by a grove of magnificent oaks, locusts, and poplars, covering several acres. It has been said that prior to his inauguration he occupied a wooden dwelling of humble pretensions standing within a stone's throw of its palatial progeny.

Monroe's term of office expired March 4, 1825, and soon after the inauguration of his successor he retired to "Oak Hill," which immediately became, like Monticello and Montpelier, although to a lesser degree, a center of social and political pilgrimages.

The financial affairs of its owner were seriously embarra.s.sed from the first, and he labored in vain to obtain justice from the country he had served so long and so well, at heavy pecuniary cost and loss. His old friend, Lafayette, now once more prosperous, sent an offer of a.s.sistance with a delicacy and generosity which did him honor. A little was done at last by Congress, but not enough, and the day came when "Oak Hill" was offered for sale.

While residing here, the post of regent of the University of Virginia, which was inst.i.tuted in 1826, was accepted by Mr. Monroe as not inconsistent with his view of the entire retirement from public life becoming an ex-President. a.s.sociated with him in the discharge of his duties as regent, as in so many long years of patriotic toil, were Jefferson and Madison.

When the State of Virginia called a convention for the revision of her const.i.tution, Mr. Monroe consented to become a member. He took an active interest in the affairs of his own neighborhood, discharging the duties of a local magistrate.

Mrs. Monroe died at "Oak Hill" on September 23d, 1830, and after her departure the old man found his lonely farm life insupportable. He had previously visited much with his daughters, and he now went to live with Mrs. Gouverneur, in New York. He wrote to Mr. Madison, April 11, 1831:

"It is very distressing to me to sell my property in Loudoun, for besides parting with all I have in the State, I indulged a hope, if I could retain it, that I might be able occasionally to visit it, and meet my friends, or many of them, there. But ill health and advanced years prescribe a course which we must pursue...."

GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S VISIT.[27]

The greatest social event in the history of Leesburg was the visit of General Lafayette, August 9, 1825. The great Frenchman, accompanied by President John Quincy Adams, had visited ex-President Monroe at "Oak Hill," from which place the august procession, headed by two troops of cavalry, made the eleven mile journey to Leesburg. Lafayette, the President, the ex-President and the chairman of the Town Council, rode in the first carriage, drawn by four white horses. On reaching Leesburg, they were greeted by six companies of militia, among them a few old soldiers of the Revolution. At the firing of the national salute, Lafayette descended from his carriage and shook hands with those veterans and heroes.

[Footnote 27: This account of General Lafayette's visit, save for a few minor alterations and one or two supplementary facts, is from the pen of Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton, of this County, having formed part of an historical sketch of Leesburg contributed by her to the old Richmond _Times_, July 19, 1902.]

Standing on his front porch, Dr. McCabe, the town's Mayor, delivered an address of welcome to which Lafayette responded. Across the street at Osborne's Hotel[28] a reception was tendered him, after which the distinguished visitor was driven through the princ.i.p.al streets of the town. On reaching the court-house square, then, as now, a large inclosure shaded by giant trees, Lafayette, on alighting from the coach, kissed a tiny maiden upheld in the arms of her negro nurse. The little girl was Mrs. Wildman, who after reaching a venerable age departed this life in the summer of 1901.

[Footnote 28: A fine stone mansion, still standing, and the residence of the late Colonel John H. Alexander, during his lifetime one of the foremost lawyers of the State.]

Lafayette pa.s.sed up an avenue formed on the right by boys and girls and the young ladies of Leesburg Female Academy, and on the left by the youths of the Leesburg Inst.i.tute. The former wore white, with blue sashes, and their heads were tastefully adorned with evergreens. They held sprigs of laurel with which they strewed the great guest's pathway. The lads wore red sashes and white and black c.o.c.kades.

One of them p.r.o.nounced an address of welcome, and was amply rewarded by a grasp of the hero's hand. As Lafayette ascended the portico of the court-house a little girl stepped forward, holding a wreath of laurel, and said:

Hail Patriot, Statesman, Hero, Sage!

Hail Freedom's friend, hail Gallia's son, Whose laurels greener grow in age, Plucked by the side of Washington.

Hail, champion in a holy cause, When hostile bands our sh.o.r.es beset; Whose valor made the oppressor pause, Hail, holy warrior, Lafayette?

She, too, was honored by a grasp of Lafayette's hand as well as a kiss. After an oration by Ludwell Lee, the distinguished party returned to the hotel where they were entertained by a delegation of the ladies of the village, while another delegation superintended the spreading of a banquet on court-house square. Two hundred persons partic.i.p.ated in this banquet. The numerous toasts were remarkable for loftiness of thought and elegance of diction. President Adams launched the following sentiment:

"The living records of the war of Independence like the prophetic books of the Sibyl, increasing in value as they diminish in numbers."

Lafayette toasted General Bolivar, "who has felt true patriotism, and understood true glory." Another toast was "To the memory of Washington, fresh as the pa.s.sing moment, lasting as eternity."

It is estimated that 10,000 persons witnessed the festivities.

Lafayette, after a brief sojourn at the plantation of Ludwell Lee, departed for a visit to Madison at "Montpelier," and Jefferson, at "Monticello."

MEXICAN WAR.

Scarcely a generation had pa.s.sed, during which the whole country pa.s.sed through several years of financial distress, when the United States became involved in a brief successful war with Mexico, caused chiefly by the resistance of that country to the "annexation of Texas." But it is not within the scope of this sketch to follow the history of that foreign struggle. It is sufficient to say that the people of Loudoun favored most heartily the annexation of Texas, and responded, indirectly of course, to the small quota of men and money required by the Government.

The entire United States force employed in the invasion of Mexico was composed of 26,690 regulars and 56,926 volunteers, not including those serving in the navy. The losses of men by death from disease and wounds were about 11,000, and the number killed in battle, about 1,500. The cost in money amounted to $150,000,000. The gain consisted of the cession of extensive territory stretching to the Pacific Ocean, several thousand miles of valuable sea coast and an immense bound of the United States into international power. In the accomplishment of this general result Loudoun sent many of her st.u.r.diest sons, who served from the State in various bodies throughout the war.

SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR.

_Loudoun County in the Secession Movement._

The election of Lincoln and attendant success of the Republican party revived the determination of the South to secede from the Union.

Just at this juncture the prosperity of Loudoun was unprecedented, and the threatened dissolution was a serious menace to her progress.