A PATRIOTIC MARYLAND LADY.–

17. February 2010 by admin.

In making the surveys for the intrenchments to be made on the northern and eastern sides of the city of Washington, the engineer officers came to a lovely spot near Bladensburg. A pretty cottage stood on the brow of the hill, surrounded on all sides by shrubbery, grapevines, orchards, shade trees, a superb lawn, a beautiful flower garden, &c. It was, indeed, a little paradise. It was the residence of a lady and her daughters, whose husband was now away fighting in the service of his country. The line of the intrenchments, as surveyed, passed directly over this spot. The hill commands the surrounding country for miles, and therefore is the proper spot for a battery. But the officers saw at a glance that if a battery was erected there, it would be necessary to cut down every tree in the orchard, to clear away all the shrubbery, and to make the ditch for the parapet in the flower garden. In a word, the military works would completely demolish the place, and render it a desert. The officers made several surveys, in hopes of finding some way in which to avoid the necessity of occupying this property at all. But in vain. There was no other hill in the neighborhood that possessed the necessary military qualifications. Calling upon the lady, therefore, the officers explained, in the most delicate manner, the object of their visit, and the military necessity which doomed her beautiful grounds to destruction. The lady listened in silence. Tears rose to her eyes. She arose, walked to the open window, looked for a moment upon the lovely scene, and then, turning to the officers, said: “If it must be so, take it freely. I hoped to live here in peace and quiet, and never to leave this sweet spot, which my husband has beautified for years past. But if my country demands it, take it freely. You have my consent.” Then offering refreshments to the officers, she said no more on the subject. In the war of he revolution, in 1777, a lady of South Carolina brought to General Marion the arrows with which to set fire to her own house. But surely the devoted patriotism of this Maryland lady is deserving of no less praise.—Washington Letter.

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