294 FAIKFAX COURT HOUSE. 



FAST DAYS. 



F 



FAIKFAX COURT HOUSE is a small town 

 and the capital of Fairfax County, in Virginia. 

 It is 120 miles north of Richmond, 21 miles 

 west of "Washington, and 14 from Alexandria. 

 After the United States forces had taken pos- 

 session of the south bank of the Potomac oppo- 

 site "Washington, and the Confederate forces had 

 concentrated at Manassas Junction, near the 

 end of the month of May Fairfax, thus situ- 

 ated between the two armies, became the scene 

 of many skirmishes. On the 1st of June a dash 

 was made through the village by a company of 

 regular cavalry, consisting of forty-seven men, 

 under command of Lieut. Tompkins. The Con- 

 federate troops, in some force, were in posses- 

 sion of the village, and made a vigorous and 

 determined resistance. 



The cavalry charged through the principal 

 street, and, upon their return, were met by two 

 Confederate detachments of troops with a field- 

 piece. Again wheeling about, they found them- 

 selves assailed in the rear by another detach- 

 ment, through which the cavalry fought their 

 way and escaped, bringing off with them five 

 prisoners. 



The cavalry lost nine horses, six shot down 

 in the engagement, and three so badly wounded 

 as to render it necessary to kill them shortly 

 after leaving the village. They captured, how- 

 ever, with their five prisoners, three good 

 horses with their saddles and bridles. The loss 

 on the other side was estimated to be larger. 

 This was the first skirmish of any interest be- 

 tween the Federal and Confederate forces in 

 Northeastern Virginia. 



FAST DAYS are periods of time, usually 

 a day, in which abstinence from food is main- 

 tained as a religious observance. They are 

 designated in the institutions of religion, and, 

 in the United States, they are often appointed 

 by the highest civil officer. In some of the 

 New England States, the Governor has usually 

 fixed by proclamation a day in the spring 

 to be observed " by fasting, humiliation, and 

 prayer," when religious services have generally 

 been conducted in the churches. A few times 

 the President of the United States has, since 

 the existence of the Government, issued a proc- 

 lamation inviting all the people thus to observe 

 a particular day. During the year 1861, this 

 occasion was made more frequent than ever 

 before. On the 14th of December, President 

 Buchanan issued the following proclamation : 



A PROCLAMATION. 



Numerous appeals have been made to me by pious 

 and patriotic associations and citizens, in view of the 

 present distracted and dangerous condition of our 

 country, to recommend that a day be set apart for 

 humiliation, fasting, and prayer throughout the Union. 

 In compliance with their request, and my own sense 

 if duty, I designate 



FRIDAY, THE 4xn DAT or JANUARY, 1861, 



for this purpose, and recommend that the people as- 

 semble on tnat day, according to their several forms 

 of worship, to keep it as a solemn fast. 



The Union of the States is at the present moment 

 threatened with alarming and immediate danger- 

 panic and distress of a fearful character prevail 

 throughout the land our laboring population are 

 without employment, and consequently deprived of 

 the means of earning their bread indeed, hope seems 

 to have deserted the minds of men. All classes are 

 in a state of confusion and dismay ; and the wisest 

 counsels of our best and purest men are wholly disre- 

 garded. 



In this, the hour of onr calamity and peril, to whom 

 shall we resort for relief but to the God of our Fathers? 

 His omnipotent arm only can save us from the awful 

 effects of our own crimes and follies our own ingrati- 

 tude and guilt towards our Heavenly Father. 



Let us, then, with deep contrition and penitent sor- 

 row, unite in humbling ourselves before the Most 

 High, in confessing our individual and national sins, 

 and in acknowledging the justice of our punishment. 

 Let us implore Him to remove from our hearts that 

 false pride of opinion which would impel us to perse- 

 vere in wrong for the sake of consistency, rather than 

 yield a just submission to the unforeseen exigencies bj 

 which we are now surrounded. Let us, with deep 

 reverence, beseech Him to restore the friendship and 

 good will which prevailed in former days among the 

 people of the several States, and, above all, to save us 

 from the horrors of civil war and "blood guiltiness." 

 Let our fervent prayers ascend to His throne, that He 

 would not desert us in this hour of extreme peril, but 

 remember us as He did our fathers in the darkest days 

 of the Revolution, and preserve our Constitution and 

 our Union the work of their hands for ages yet to 

 come. An Omnipotent Providence may overrule ex- 

 isting evils for permanent good. He can make the 

 wratu of man to praise Him, and the remainder of 

 wrath He can restrain. Let me invoke every indi- 

 vidual, in whatever sphere of life he may be placed, to 

 feel a personal responsibility to God and his country 

 for keeping this day holy, and for contributing all iti 

 Lis power to remove our actual and impending diffi- 

 culties. JAMES BUCHANAN. 

 WASHINGTON, Dec 14,1861. 



On the 14th of May, the Confederate Con- 

 gress passed a resolution as follows : 



Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States, 

 That the President be requested to issue his proclama- 

 tion, appointing a day of fasting and prayer in the ob- 

 servance of which all shall be invited to join, who re- 

 cognize our dependence upon God, and who desire the 

 happiness and security ot that people " whose God is 

 the Lord." 



In compliance with this resolution, President 

 Davis issued the following proclamation : 



A PROCLAMATION. 



When a people who recognize their dependence upon 

 God feel themselves surrounded by peril and difficulty, 

 it becomes them to humble themselves under the dis- 

 pensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His right- 

 eous government, to acknowledge His goodness in 

 times past, and supplicate his merciful protectiou for 

 the future. 



The manifest proofs of the Divine blessings hitherto 

 extended to the efforts of the people of the Confederate 

 States of America to maintain and perpetuate public 

 liberty, individual rights, and national independence, 

 demand their devout and heartful gratitude. It be- 

 comes them to give public manifestation of this grati- 

 tude, and of their dependence upon the Judge of all 



