FIRST FEDERAL TROOPS IN VIRGINIA.
The day after the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a
proclamation calling for 75,000 men. The call was responded to with
alacrity by the Northern States, and by the first of May the required
number had been raised and concentrated at Washington and other
points along the borders of the seceded States; and although by far the
greater number lay at the capital, yet no advance was made until the
23d of May. The force destined for the invasion of Virginia consisted
of 8,000 infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two sections of Sherman's
artillery battalion, the whole under the command of General
Mansfield. Four thousand New York troops, under command of General
McDowell, were to co-operate with Mansfield's force. The object of
the advance was to take possession of Alexandria and drive the Confederates
from their position on Arlington Heights. The 1st Michigan
regiment was the first to enter Alexandria. They immediately took
possession of the depot and made prisoners of one hundred Confederate
cavalry stationed at that place. A Zouave regiment under Colonel
Ellsworth was the second that reached Alexandria, and at once began
to tear up the Richmond railroad. As they passed the Marshall hotel,
Ellsworth discovered a Confederate flag flying from the balcony. He
rushed through the hall, up a flight of stairs, pulled down the flag, and
was returning, when he was met by Jackson, the enraged proprietor,
who discharged the contents of a double-barreled shot-gun into his body.
Ellsworth fell to rise no more; but no sooner had the fatal shot been
fired than a private, named Brownell, shot Jackson through the heart,
and he and his victim expired at the same moment.
The first engagement of a serious nature occurred at Big Bethel, near
Fortress Monroe. Early in June, General Pierce with four regiments
was sent by General Butler to occupy Newport News. From here they
pushed on to Big Bethel, where they were met and defeated by a
body of Confederates. Pierce fell back with a loss of forty killed and
wounded.
