|
 A dispatch to The Associated Press in late June reports the U.S. Navy has
opened bids for the construction of a number of "steam gun-boats" as war
preparations continue. There were 100 to 150 bidders, the dispatch states,
adding, "the largest portion are from New England Shipyards and
manufacturers."
War jitters are running high. Dispatches published in the
North in late June discuss speculation and rumors of a possible Confederate
attack on Arlington Heights, just outside the nation's capital, or possibly a
Confederate push near Washington at Fairfax, northern Virginia. "There are
strong reasons to suspect a Confederate advance at Fairfax," one report says
of the speculation, adding the Federal forces defending the capital are
"deemed impregnable."
Accounts late in the month speak of Confederate
pickets sporadically ranging up the banks of the Potomac River while firing
weapons, raising alarm in the Georgetown section of Washington. Spotters for
federal forces command a high hilltop near the capital and scour the
surrounding countryside for any signs of Confederate movements.
[Associated
Press]
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