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"In the streets of Washington".


On July 20, 1861, British reporter William Howard Russell William Howard Russell (28 March, 1821 - 11 February, 1907) was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents, after he spent 22 months covering the Crimean War.  found people in Washington, D.C., brimming brim  
n.
1. The rim or uppermost edge of a hollow container or natural basin.

2. A projecting rim or edge: the brim of a hat.

3. A border or an edge. See Synonyms at border.
 with confidence about the Civil War. Then came the First Battle of Bull Run For other uses, see Bull Run (disambiguation).

The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas (the name used by Confederate forces and still widely used in the South), was the first major land battle of the American Civil War, fought on July
.

Read the play "Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday

(1905) Massacre of peaceful demonstrators in Saint Petersburg, marking the beginning of the Russian Revolution of 1905. The priest Georgy Gapon (1870–1906), hoping to present workers' request for reforms directly to Nicholas II, arranged a peaceful march
" [pp. 8-11]. Then read this excerpt from Russell's writings, and answer the questions below.

July 22nd--I awoke from a deep sleep this morning, about 6 o'clock. The rain was falling in torrents and beat with a dull, thudding thud  
n.
1. A dull sound, as that of a heavy object striking a solid surface.

2. A blow or fall causing such a sound.

intr.v. thud·ded, thud·ding, thuds
To make a heavy, dull sound.
 sound.... But, louder than all, came a strange sound, as if of the tread of men, a confused tramp and splashing, and a murmuring of voices. I got up and ran to the front room, the windows of which looked on the street, and there, to my intense surprise, I saw a steady stream of men covered with mud, soaked through with rain, who were pouring irregularly, without any semblance of order, up Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. joining the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street," it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches and civilian protests.  towards the Capitol....

Hastily putting on my clothes, I ran downstairs and asked an officer who was passing by, a pale young man who looked exhausted to death ... where the men were coming from. "Where from? Well, sir, I guess we're all coming out of Verginny as fast as we can, and pretty well whipped too." "What! the whole army, sir?" "That's more than I know.... I [just] know I'm going home. I've had enough of fighting to last my lifetime." ...

The morning papers are quite ignorant of the defeat ... and declare yesterday's battle to have been in favor of the

Federals.... The evening papers, however, seem to be more sensible of the real nature of the crisis. [They can hardly] deny what is passing before their very eyes. The grand army of the [Union] is in the streets of Washington, instead of being on its way to Richmond*.... I did not hear one expression of confidence, or see one cheerful face in all that vast crowd which but a few days before constituted an army.

*Richmond, Virginia Richmond IPA: [ɹɯʒmɐnɖ] is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. , was the capital of the Confederacy Confederacy, name commonly given to the Confederate States of America (1861–65), the government established by the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union. .

SOURCE: Excerpted from My Diary North and South by William Howard Russell [University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries.  Digital Library Text Collections]

QUESTIONS

1. What took place the day before the one described here?

2. Who are the men in the streets?

3. Where are they coming from?

4. Which phrase in the first paragraph tells you that Russell is in Washington, D.C.?

5. Which side did the morning newspapers believe had won the battle?

6. Why do you think reports in the morning and evening newspapers were so different?

7. What detail tells you that some Union soldiers may not have been completely devoted to their cause?

8. Why do you think the Union Army was expected to be "on its way to Richmond"?

9. In the last sentence, what does constituted mean?

10. How does "I did not hear one expression of confidence" compare with what Russell found two days before?

Skills Reproducible, p. T-6

1. the Battle of Bull Run 2. the defeated Union Army 3. Virginia [site of the battle] 4. "up Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol" 5. the Union 6. The morning papers' articles were written before defeated troops began pouring into the city. 7. The soldier who says, "I [just] know I'm going home. I've had enough of fighting to last my lifetime." Other details acceptable. 8. It was expected to beat the Confederates, then march on and capture their capital. 9. formed; made up of 10. It is a complete opposite.
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Title Annotation:DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS
Publication:Junior Scholastic
Date:Jan 8, 2007
Words:578
Previous Article:Quick quiz.
Next Article:What did he say this time?



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