[CHAPTER XIV.]
Departure from Washington.—Fredericktown.—Harper’s Ferry.—Blue Ridge.—Staunton.—Natural Bridge.—Wier’s Cave.—Charlotteville.—University of Virginia.—Monticello.—Richmond.—Jamestown.—Norfolk.—Fort Monroe.—Fayetteville.—Columbia.
On the 15th of November, I set out from Washington with Mr. Huygens, jr., who was desirous of accompanying me by permission of his father. I had hired a carriage with four horses to Harper’s Ferry, about fifty miles from Washington, where we were to arrive in two days. The road was for some miles very good, but afterwards it became bad and rugged and continued so the rest of the day. We left the District of Columbia, and again entered the state of Maryland. The country through which we were passing was hilly, covered with wood, and in some places cultivated; single large houses belonging to tobacco planters, and in their vicinity small ones for the negro slaves, were scattered here and there. We went through only one decent place called Rocksville. About seven o’clock in the evening we reached an inn called Scholl’s tavern, situated in the township of Clarksburg, distant from Washington twenty-five miles.
Next morning we left Clarksburg; it was pretty cool, and the road as rough as before. It was fifteen miles to Fredericktown, over a hilly and rocky country. Sometimes we saw handsome prospects on the mountains of the Blue Ridge, which we were approaching. The houses that we passed by, were like those of yesterday; the negro houses mostly of wood, with clumsy chimnies, built close to the house. The Monocacy river we passed at a ford within four miles of Fredericktown. This is one of the principal places in the state of Maryland, and is situated in a well cultivated country surrounded by hills. It has about five thousand inhabitants, and is built very regularly. At the entrance of one of the streets stood a wooden triumphal arch raised in honour of General La Fayette. The inscriptions were already nearly effaced by the weather. I had hardly alighted at the tavern, when I received a visit from a clergyman of this place named Dr. Schaeffer, a son of a preacher of the same name in Philadelphia. This gentleman accompanied me to see Mr. Schley, whom I had known in Saratoga, and afterwards we went to a Lutheran church, a very plain building. We ascended the spire in order to have a view of the town and surrounding country. The country appeared to be very well cultivated; their principal agricultural object is tobacco. There are four churches, Lutheran, Reformed, Catholic and Methodist. The public buildings are the Court-house and prison.
Harper’s Ferry was yet twenty-one miles distant from Fredericktown. The country grew at every moment more hilly, and the road rugged and worse; as we were approaching the Blue Ridge, we often alighted and walked. We met with several herds and flocks, which are driven from the western states to different seaports for sale. The wagons we met were generally carrying products of the west; they were large wagons with five stout horses. Every horse had on its collar a set of bells, consisting of five different tones, which made a very singular music.
Meanwhile, our road passed mostly through forest; we went through but a single insignificant village called Newton. The mountains grew higher and more rocky. At last we came again to the Potomac, which we had left the day before, and enjoyed many fine views.
This country reminded me of Pranen, near Dresden. It was night when we arrived on the left bank of the Potomac, opposite to Harper’s Ferry; we were obliged to wait for a considerable length of time for the ferry-boat. When this came, we saw it was conducted by an intoxicated negro; even the ferry-boat itself was very bad; however, we fortunately crossed the shallow river, passing amidst pieces of rocks, and perceived at some distance up, three piers standing in the river, on which the next year, a bridge was to be built. Having crossed, we came into the state of Virginia. At Harper’s Ferry, we took our lodgings in a neat tavern; and I had here the pleasure to see Dr. Weise, from Dresden, who, as soon as he knew I had arrived, came to see me. I take the liberty of inserting here the following description of this country, by Thomas Jefferson, in his “Notes on the State of Virginia.”
“The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain an hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Potomac, in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion, that this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were formed first, that the rivers began to flow afterwards, that in this place particularly they have been dammed up by the Blue Ridge of mountains, and have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley; that continuing to rise they have at length broken over at this spot, and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, but particularly on the Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disrupture and avulsion from their beds, by the most powerful agents of nature, corroborate the impression. But the distant finishing which nature has given to the picture, is of a very different character. It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and delightful, as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring around, to pass through the breach and participate of the calm below. Here the eye ultimately composes itself; and that way too the road happens actually to lead. You cross the Potomac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments over you, and within about twenty miles reach Fredericktown, and the fine country round that. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. Yet here, as in the neighbourhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within half a dozen miles, and have never been to survey these monuments of a war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its centre.”
The morning after my arrival at Harper’s Ferry, I visited Mr. Stubbersfield, director of the gun manufactory, to whom I was recommended by the secretary of war, and he showed me the establishments under his orders. The workshops are in seven large stone buildings, of which the interior partitions, with regret be it spoken, are of wood. The buildings stand in rows, four at the foot of the mountain, and opposite to them, three on the bank of the Potomac. At the entrance of the street which they form, is Mr. Stubbersfield’s office, from which he can overlook the entrances of all the buildings. The machines are moved by water-wheels. All the buildings are two stories high; in the lower part are the forges, and in the higher stories, workmen who use no fire in their work. In the working of iron I saw nothing new. The iron employed for barrels, comes from Juniata, in the state of Pennsylvania, and is in plates, of which each is calculated for one barrel. The steel is German, called Halbach’s steel, furnished by Mr. Halbach, of Philadelphia. Every gun must pass through one hundred and twenty hands before it is ready. A particular workman is appointed for every part and paid for it separately, when the work has been duly examined, and proved to be good. A skilful and diligent workman can gain two dollars per day. When the workmen have prepared all the parts of a fire-lock, they deliver them to a man who examines, tries them, and puts them together. The barrels are turned by means of rings, which can be rendered smaller or larger. The machinery for making gun-stocks was the most interesting to me, because it was formerly a very laborious work. A piece of iron is screwed upon a piece of wood, which has been made in the form of a stock, at the place where the barrel is to be placed. After this the piece is screwed into the machinery; in a parallel direction to it a piece of iron is screwed, having the same form that is to be given to the stock. The planing is performed by means of a wheel, to which are adapted ledge-planes. The operation begins with the muzzle, and ends with the breech of the gun. The gun-stock moves together with the iron model, each round its axis, having a parallel direction with the axis of a plain wheel of brass, which is rubbing on the iron model, and following all its prominences and cavities. This wheel is also put in motion and drawn towards the breech by means of an endless screw; during this motion it planes the gun-stock off, and gives it the proper form. This operation lasts six or seven minutes, and there is nothing to prevent it from turning at the same time another gun-stock on the other side. The gun-stock being duly formed, is taken out of the machinery, and another put in its place; then the iron piece is taken away from the turned gun-stock, it is fixed in a cramp, and applied to a bore-plane for making the groove to receive the barrel.