he ordered segments of the army of the potomac to move out to mannases. they would do so in early march. but in every case he urged caution. in other words, well, to put it in modern army jargon, our current strategy calls for this, don't do nothing dumb [ laughter ] >> in other words, be careful of your flanks. tidy flanks would be important. not wanting to find himself isolated in northern virginia when joe johnston heard about all this activity, especially the fact that there was going to be a major attempt to move down the chesapeake bay, he said, i am very vulnerable here. and quick pointed out, jo joe johnston had no intention of attacking washington. in fact, he didn't really like to attack anyone. so he withdrew. he withdrew more precipitously than jeff davis thought he was going to withdraw. when he did withdraw his forces from mannases and centerville they left mountains of supplies he didn't have any way of moving out. those supplies were still burning on the 11th of march when the union forces basically marched into centerville and mannases un

he may sweep down the potomac and attack washington, we've got to keep him here. what this meant for mcclellan was not that they weren't going to attack to siege richmond, but they weren't going to be able to do it through strategical point maneuver, they'd have to rely more on a pounding, slow process starting at yorktown and he thought to bring along a siege artillery, so in early april his forces arrived near yorktown. the whole revolutionary war entrenchments now much improved by the confederates but lightly manned and began actual siege operations near yorktown that would last throughout the month of april. and while this was going on, mcclellan, being a thoroughly modern major general decided that he was going to use all the enhancements that technology could bring to him first off, he hired professor thaddeus lowe to bring the balloon corps down to the area around fortress monroe and lowe's balloons began to rise on tethers with people on board looking to see what the confederates looked like around yorktown. and, by the way, they had a t e teleographer in

gwen is with us she is here in house this morning because we sent tucker out to dupont circle, with potomac phil a new feature for groundhog day. i think phil predicted six more weeks of winter is that right? >> sure, he saw his shadow earlier we have six more weeks of winter but, we didn't want pennsylvania to have all the fun we have our very first annual groundhog day here in washington dc i am being joined by aaron the organizer of the event down here in washington aaron thanks so much for inviting us down today tell me about what transpired earlier. >> thanks tucker, dupont festival organized today's events we brought potomac phil out and started with a rabbi giving us a blessing and then we carried into the national anthem, and then that quickly lead to the groundhog committee, top hats came over and talked to potomac phil and listened to what he had to say and it was basically, that we

he reorganized the army of the potomac. and he moved subsequent to the battle of second manassas into maryland where lee had taken his army in northern virginia. on the 13th of september, 1862, he came across a marvelous special order 1891 outlining how lee was conducting his campaign. mcclellan has sent this message down to washington, lee has made a gross mistake. i have his plans. i'm going to defeat him. i'll send you trophies. and then came in rapid succession the battle for the south mountain on the 14th of december where mcclellan's battle went into battle cheering, less than two weeks after they'd been defeated at second manassas. they seized passes over the south mountain and fought lee on the bloodiest civil day in the civil war, along antiem creek. he should have soundly defeated lee's army. part of his army wasn't even employed. that would be fitzjohn porter's fourth corps. but later on the 17th as they held a little council of war many of the generals said let's go after lee again. remember, general, my corps r

did you just say you were going out for potomac phil? >> i am headed down to meet potomac phil. >> i am not sure what we are going to get but we will find out. >> i hope it is a groundhog. >> yesterday they were looking for a groundhog so looking forward to it. >>> let me kick off your forecast, rain showers moving through the area, they will be with us for another hour or two gradually we should see it return to sunshine, pleasant temperatures, hd radar, shower activity generally city and south and out to the west, we are getting more showers that are redeveloping out here, front royal, manassas and win chester we have to get rid of that last band of showers the cooler air will start to filter in from the north and west and we should be in for afternoon sunshine. temperatures cooler than yesterday, that said, not bad, 49 washington 50 baltimore, good morning ocean city you are 49 degrees, hagerstown 44 where you are just waking up with cloud cover. showers and clouds to start your day by afternoon a return to at least partial sunshine a

get you back again and do something bigger. >> all right now i want to know about the origins of potomac phil apparently there is a good story behind this as you can see, our phil here in washington doesn't move a whole lot what is up with that. >> yeah, he has been hanging out on theodore, roosevelt island for awhile he has been here while but wasn't until this year when he came out and as you can see he is cryo generalically frozen but we are hoping next year we can reanimate him and will have a live one ready to go. >>> all right, live dupont circle very first annual groundhog day thank you for joining me we enjoyed the vi ps and the whole show we had a lot of fun and are looking forward to a better event next year. >> looking forward to reanimation of phil thank you tucker. >>> too bad he has passed on and can't enjoy the festivities especially the cookies. >> speaking of groundhog day how much dirt does the average groundhog move when digging its burrow, 50 pounds, 250 pounds, 710 pounds? we have the answer coming up later if you want to guess now head to our facebook page s you can

this is our local potomac phil's first go-round. little bit to cajole him out of his hole or cage. >> they t. will probably be a big surprise when they see potomac phil. >> they take this so seriously. they dress to the nines, as my grandmother would say. >> maybe we'll get the crowd for you out there and potomac phil. >> not feeling we'll have the same crowd. they are hoping to make it an annual event. we'll get it started this year. >> that is the weather predicts but political predictions too. that hold a lot of weight. >> if it does become an annual thing be, you need to get you an outfit like that guy with the top hat. >> i've already talked to management. we'll step it up next year. lets he get started with alike at your forecast. we've got rain showers for the big event down at dupont circle this morning at 8:30. we'll have a leftover rain shower. we should be looking at improving conditions by late morning. it won't be a terrible day . we have a live look here. now, we are getting this lastle band out to the west out toward

so this is the potomac here. chesapeake bay. there used to be a light house and then there was a huge hospital facility for sailors and marines who would be serving on the blockading squadrons. in 1863, there's a massive stockade to hold about 5,000 confederate prisoners. nearly 50,000 inmates would be incarcerated there. this section right here is the stockade. it was a huge wooden barricade on the north side of the beach adjacent to the chesapeake bay. these images -- these positions here are the camps of the sentries. the main road kind of led in. you can see one of the reasons that this region was chosen, because it was on the peninsula and is nearly impossible to break out. there was a huge creek called lookout creek which had two narrow causeways. then there were forts and each of the causeways with artillery pieces that faced along them. so if there was a mass breakout, the leaders of that breakout would be blown to adams by trying to cross into southern maryland. now, at first, the situation in this prison camp is fairly

. >>> vegas on the potomac? >> president obama unknowingly played a role in a drug bust that netted 10 kilos of marijuana. >> plus bobby brown takes the stage right here in our area paying tribute to ex-wife whitney houston. we're going to begin with our weather, a storm everyone is starting to talk about because there is sn-n-o-w in the forecast. douglas? >> amazing. people are saying if this is going to be the one, we'd like to know what's going on. this storm is going to make its way up the coast from the south and make its way offshore by sunday afternoon. it's going to wrap in enough cold air that i do think most of the area will see a changeover to all snow. i do mean most othe area including parts of southern maryland are going to see the chance for some snow here. right now we did see rain come through the area a little earlier. that rain is out of here. we have a couple of nice days ahead on thursday and saturday. some of the latest data coming out right now, i'll update on what i think you may get in y

general, longstreet responded, if you put every man now on the other side of the potomac on that field to approach me over the same line and give me plenty of ammunition, i will kill them all before they reach me. and he did. this is what lee did in 1862. he wrote in what would qualify as a christmas letter to his wife, mary, but what a cruel thing is war to separate and destroy families and friends and mar the purist joy and happiness god has granted us in this world. to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world. i pray that on this day when peace and goodwill are preached to all mankind, that better thoughts will fill our hearts, fill the hearts of our enemy and turn them to peace. the confusion that now exists in their council will thus result in good. we all know that somebody who we all thought would get nominated today proclaimed emancipation, preliminarily -- in a preliminary fashion. on september 22nd, 1862, and just passed our -- or john koskie's deadline january 1 the action document that proclaimed sl

we have potomac phil. although we think it should be potomac pete but it's potomac phil. and he's stuffed. he's a groundhog. he predicted the weather this morning at the city's first annual celebration at dupont circle. he was a man of few words. just like punxsutawney phil, he's calling for six more weeks of temperatures in the 60s. and this being d.c. he added a political twist. potomac phil said there will be nine more months of gridlock on the hill but who can't predict that? organizers couldn't find a real groundhog this year so they settled for this little stuffed version. >> yeah. >> we'd much rather be going with you. >> you know, for one thing, the best part about it with those guys is they come to the weather conferences every year. it's great to see them individually in person. >> the groundhog? >> yeah. they're great. they come to every weather convention. they're fantastic. >> do they ever pick up a check? >> once in a while. >> punxsutawney phil. he's a drinker i hear. >> well, hi everybody. you can tell we love groundhog day. it is my brother's birthday. >>

and then finally, barely, was able to get across butler's ford and back across the potomac into virginia. and then, of course, he fought on december 13th at fredericksburg. the plain between fredericksburg and crossed a significant drainage ditch, then the attacking ranks had to cross more open ground to confront a sunken road which formed a perfect four-foot trench for

potomac phil. stuffed groundhog predicted the weather this morning in the city's first annual groundhog day celebration here. just like punxsutawney phil, potomac phil predicted there will be six more weeks of win r winter. political twist, saying there would also be nine months of political gridlock. organizers say they hope next year potomac phil won't be so stiff. >> we looked around really quick and couldn't find a live -- all of them are reserved on this day for other events. you know. they all have their schedules. start earlier next year. >> d.c. council also made potomac phil's prediction to be the official celebration much groundhog day here in the nation's capital. >>> and turning to the weather now, rainy but mild morning. storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein joins us with the first 4 forecast. that looks more like a pilgrim's hat than a top hat he was wearing, didn't it? >> anything to help the chamber of commerce. this morning, we have had clouds and rain around but now the cloud cover be

tomorrow 52, a chance of an isolated sprinkle northwest of the metro, mainly the potomac highlands.doun and frederick county could have a few drops tomorrow afternoon with trace accumulations. a taste of spring by thursday and friday, well into the 60s by then. we have a chance of rain with the warmer air that will move into town. best chance of rain will be friday and starting on thursday. >> traffic is increasing, but we anticipate light volume for the morning rush hour on this federal holiday. newschopper 7 is looking at traffic in bethesda over 270 where it merges with the beltway, emerging towards old georgetown road towards navy medical, looking good. 27 sao0 of democracy boulevard and across the american legion bridge, no problems. the will of a look at va if in less than 10 minutes. >> if you would like to avoid getting a ticket while riding on metro, don't drink. 97% of the hundred tickets written by transit police last year were for drinking and driving. -- and riding. >> two movies battling for the weekend box office crown. >> and what santorum said that has the white hou

we will have isolated sprinkles in the potomac highlands this afternoon. the next few days overall despite some chance of rain in the forecast tonight into tomorrow morning. here is a wider view. we did have rainfall late last night and much earlier this morning especially south of the metro area. that has cleared away. we will have a warm flow out of the southwest today into tomorrow. this developing low will track our way. the cold front will drop colder air down from canada and moving overhead and to washington friday afternoon and into the weekend. tomorrow we will start the day very mild, probably in the low to mid 60's. by lunchtime but temperatures will drop when they would normally be rising. that is what will happen with the cold front moving into town. a mild start. 50 degrees now in winchester in cumberland 51 in quantico. 51 in annapolis, 48 at reagan national. prize well into the 60s today. about 68 in the district, 72 farther south. spotsylvania culpeper, you could break 70 degrees later on today. added clouds and cooler north west of town, n

no problems to report over any of the anacostia or potomac river crossings. everything looks good. more on area roadways at 5:00. >>> a milestone in space exploration celebrated last night. 50 years ago yesterday, john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. he circled the globe three times in a tiny capsule called friendship 7. glenn marked the moment at a forum on nasa's future which was held at ohio state university. during the forum glenn spoke to the crew of the international space station. >> i'd just like to say we know you have an awful lot on your plate for the next couple of days and we're delighted just to -- [ inaudible ] >> some rousing birthday cheers for george washington at his mount vernon estate on president's day 2012. thousands of people gathered for a wreath laying ceremony at what was billed as a surprise birthday party. visitors got a behind-the- scenes look at the washington kitchen through a new exhibit. >> they all look so good for 280 years old. >>> the city of alexandria celebrated washington's birthday with a traditional president's day para

the teens regrouped across the road at potomac mills road, police responded again to dispurse the rowdy crowd then the two groups of teens headed to old triangle road where this man, opened fire, no one was hit initially but apparently he wasn't done yet. >> the vehicle containing the initial shooter drove to another location where he opened fire on two innocent by standers walking in the area. one of those bystanders was struck, grazed in the head by a

this is from our rooftop camera looking across the potomac into the district. there is a few high clouds overhead but you will notice an overall increase in cloud cover throughout the day. it is 21 degrees in warrenton. stafford is 26 degrees we will warm up nicely today. 53 will be a high temperature this afternoon. we may have a sprinkle or two north west of the metro. 51 the high temperature tomorrow -- 61 by temperature tomorrow with some sprinkles but not much in terms of rainfall until friday morning. >> same-sex marriage could face a crucial vote in the maryland general assembly today. >> they could recommend the bill to recommend gay marriage to the full floor where it is expected to pass. >> the civil marriage protection act would go into effect next year ending a 39-year-old law that defines marriage between a man and woman. a key vote with common a few hours. >> we will blew everything we can -- >> a key senate panel will vote on governor martin o'malley's same-sex bill after the controversial legislation narrowly passed the house of delegates theme

potomac massage training institute in d.c. is offering a couples massage class for two or massage workshop for one. couples can learn massage techniques for classes starting at 39 bucks. >> and on living social, this site has a deal to pamper your pet. it's from the "purr-fect" grooming company in falls church. get your dog groomed with a bath, hair cut, nail trim and ear cleaning for just 29 bucks. more than 600 people have bought the deal. >> that's a deal. my dog sorely needs it. >>> coming up on news 4 at 4:00 a long-awaited shopping center is coming to an area in the district. plus a woman takes honda to small claims court and walks away a winner. >> join us tonight at 9:00 and catch nonstop foodies. doug kammerer takes us inside a belgian gastro pub famous for its mussels and treats. >> and stay tuned for nonstop. we'll head to a local favorite among celebrity designers. a furniture store with one of a kind finds and housewares with a history at 9:30 on nbc washington n what makes the sleep number store different? the sl

a high-profile campaign to cast the potomac river rapist still was not produced a single suspect.gators say they receive and handle dna samples. the rapist has been linked to nine attacks on women in as well as d.c. the publicity campaign was launched late last year. >> prince george's county wants to bring an fbi headquarters to the county. it's hiring a lobbyist and wanted a task force. the fbi is looking into reloadin -- looking into relocating, but a new headquarters would not be finished until 2020 at the earliest but site selection could begin this year. orange yellow, and red and green lines, shuttle buses would replace orange line trains between east and west falls church tonight. trains will single track on sections of the red and green lines. tomorrow and sunday, yellow trains will operate through the blue line between huntington and stadium-armory. >> making knows, reaction to yesterday's record mortgage deal. the end of an era for kodak. and why the fbi kept a file on apple founder steve jobs. rob nelson has those stories and more. >> complaints about the foreclosure s

that would be essentially in the potomac highlands. 48 and sunny. the diminishing 5to- 10 later this afternoon. warme der becoming partly cloudy. you want a little taste of spring, back into the mid 60's for higher temperatures. how does traffic? >> it is fabulous. we have no problem all along interstate 70. a pretty good trepp on the green way, the dulles toll road. we are going to report normal travel times and for you between father hurley and the beltway. we check with police to rockville park. nothing complicated on new york avenue through sundays. you go to virginia as well. 956 a esseknd >> we are looking at 32 degrees in rockville. >> is jeremy lin's world. the only one with game. find out what durant did. >> a swing and a line drive hit to left-center. a diving catch by cameron. >> he made some great catches over his career. the nationals began up workouts. one guy who is not going to be there is mike cameron. he inform the nationals that he is going to retire. he was expected to fill the vacant center field job. werth could move over from

internal power of weather prediction to both of his sons unfortunately did news search for pontiac potomac phil is proving to be very hard most well groundhogs are hibernating this time of year as efforts to contact wildlife sanctuaries and animal rescue groups has yet to pay off nonetheless he was prepared for this possibility so he has a puppet groundhog and a stuffed dead groundhog ready to go for thursday's festivities given that a dead groundhog can't see his shadow looks like summer is just around the corner. coming up after the break violence and destruction filled the streets of oakland over the weekend is there a way to stop the radical factions of the occupy movement or will they be it's alan fall. who was shot four times in total in the air war as it were. sort of the bullets are still in my body. and people should be allowed to defend themselves wherever they are guns in the hands of law abiding decent people are not a problem national rifle association there's a group of basically retired military police loves to shoot holes in i'm sorry if you know that the bullet comes out h

now there's the sunrise over the potomac. live view, 37 now at reagan national. we have a light south/southwesterly breeze, and temperatures in the shenandoah valley and much of west virginia just in the low to mid 20s. blue ridge east and from south mountain east, generally in the upper 20s to near 30. near 30 in fairfax, arlington, montgomery, prince george's counties, upper 30s in washington and right by the bay. and around the northern neck. now the view from space showing a large area of high pressure over us, giving us plenty of sunshine for the day. as it does move off the coast, winds will shift into the south. that will warm us quickly. we'll have it near 60 by noontime. then the mid 60s by mid-afternoon. here's the evening planner, sunset at 5:58. and we'll be down into the 50s by then. with a few clouds around. clearing out after that, the mid 40s by midnight. then by dawn on tuesday, near 30 degrees. cold start tomorrow. but with increasing clouds in the afternoon, not as warm today. in the upper 50s. chilly rain likely on wednesday, near 50. then sun

possible sprinkle later on today mostly in the potomac highlands. it's 33 in the district, 21 in manassas and culpeper. 23 in martinsburg, 27 in lexington park. we will be warming up nicely into audience low 50's across the metro area. isolated sprinkle possible northwest of town. a little breezy at times today. breeze out of the south. 60 tomorrow afternoon with an isolated sprinkle. near 70 degrees by thursday. now lisa baden. >> not much of an effort needed to navigate around town this morning. there's dry pavement, light volume of traffic. all clear around the beltway. overnight construction is complete. looks good in maryland on 270. headlights are southbound leaving clarksburg. quantitative to one of the side streets. looks good getting through olney. coming from colombia into silver spring. a nice ride through southern maryland. in springfield virginia, 95 is quiet. looks good on 66. no problems across the potomac river. newschopper 7 in a little while. now to news. >> police are gathering more details and what led to a terrible crash in prin

internal power of weather prediction to both of his sons unfortunately the news search for pontiac potomac phil is proving to be very hard most well groundhogs or hibernating this time of year as efforts to contact wildlife sanctuaries and animal rescue groups has yet to pay off nonetheless he was prepared for this possibility so he has a puppet groundhog and a stuffed dead groundhog ready to go for thursday's festivities given that a dead groundhog can't see his shadow looks like summer is just around the corner. coming up after the break violence and destruction filled the streets of oakland over the weekend is there a way to stop the radical factions of the occupy movement or will they be it's downfall. would be soon much brighter if you move about from fines to pressure. for instance on t.v. dot com. more news today violence has once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of care.

the potomac and into stafford county, we have areas of light rain. we could have a few more sprinkle here and there through lunchtime but otherwise, we will have some sunny breaks into the afternoon. some isolated light little sparkles not amounting to too much but some breaks in the cloud cover today which will help bring temperatures into the mid-60's. tonight the next system booster when that will give as areas of bread locally and south of the metro area. the bulk of the moisture tonight and tomorrow will be south of d.c. this is one computer model in terms of rainfall accumulation. it gives a good ballpark estimate. look for the to the south fredericksburg could see almost zero 0.75 inches of rain tomorrow. 50 in the district, on their way to the mid-60's later today and tomorrow cooling and still 10 degrees above average. >> spring fever is really setting in. >> the time is 6:52 and 48 degrees in beltsville. >> stay with us. [ mom m hey guys. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday

but first, poker on the pennsylvania potomac. more than a few slots. details of that idea are coming your way in just minutes. >>> would you believe casino gambling right along the potomac river? it could happen. the maryland state senate is considering a bill that would allow construction of a casino at the national harbor in oxen hill. and folks, we aren't just talking slots, but blackjack and roulette. voters would have the final say at the ballot box. >> a crushing blow. that's how maryland controller characterized the economic effects of raising the state's gasoline tax. governor martin o'malley's proposed leveeing a 6% sales tax on gasoline. that would be in addition to the 23 1/2 gas tax already in place. sales taxes would add another 20 cents per gallon and that would devastate maryland's families and businesses. >> this undercuts their ability to pay their bills, save money for college or retirement and will pull money that might have been spent at local stores and restaurants out of the economy. and for all the maryland businesses who rely on

a lot of the cooler in the potomac highlands, 62 in cumberland. saturday, cooling down to the upper 40's for the weekend. >> six months after the east coast earthquake hit the washington national cathedral has finally raised enough money to start the repairs. but the church still have a long way to go. officials say donations totaled about $2 million but they need another $18 million to finish the project. those repairs could take as long as 10 years. it is now 6:11 a.m. this thursday morning. >> coming up, why your tax refund could take longer to arrive. >> of the sexual harassment epidemic underground. at the steps metro is taking to protect riders. >> gop contenders for the white house met for >> a key debate in the republican race for the white house may have put mitt romney back on top this morning. >> whatever momentum rick santorum may have had may have come to a screeching halt. and look back at some of the reasons why. jummy olabanji. >> it is a two-man race for the republican nomination. rick santorum has been on the rise lately but mitt

. >> we have potomac phil. we have some areas of rain this morning alike yesterday. we will start the day dampen clear out into sunshine this afternoon. you can see areas of rain right along 66 all the way from front royal east to the beltway and in southern maryland. 49 degrees in the district and 46 in leesburg and now 50 in culpeper. some rain through about 11:00 a.m. and the sky will clear this afternoon. it is not as warm as yesterday 57 degrees but well above average for this time of year and near 60 south of the metro. tomorrow will be sunny and we will cool down. upper 40's and locally we will be in the lower 50's but in outlying areas, it will be cooler than that tomorrow afternoon. the weekend will have added cloud cover. >> 270 northbound has an accident that has to 70 northbound closed. this is after democracy boulevard before montresor road. this accident involved a couple of tractor trailers. you can see northbound after democracy boulevard and before montrose road remains close. another 50 minutes before they can let anyone by. >> that is not pretty. p

meet potomac phil. groundhog who predicted the weather this morning in the city's first annual celebration in dupont circle. just like punxsutawney phil he is calling for six more weeks of winter and this being d.c. he's got a political twist to his prediction. potomac phil said there will be nine more months of gridlock on capitol hill. organizers couldn't find a real groundhog this year so they settled for a stuffed one and left unsaid in this piece of copy is how exactly a stuffed groundhog could see a shadow. >> yeah.

the president was equally -- to locate a permanent capital on the banks of the potomac. quote, that there is a diversity of interest in the union, no one has denied washington told a friend who warned him of regional animosity. this is the case also in every state is equally certain. but i ask again, which is most blameworthy, those who see and will steady pursue their interests or those who cannot see or seeing will not act wisely. here was a coded endorsement of the hamiltonian program combining a strong central government with a unified financial structure topped by a presidential cult of personality, bordering on adulation. at one point, for example, hamilton seriously suggested that washington's profile grace leon nation's coinage but the house of representatives rejected that idea as incompatible with the republican virtue. senator clay of pennsylvania went so far as to call washington a cat's paw in the hands of designing speculators, led of course, by the secretary of the treasury. quote, the president has become in the hands of hamilton the dish clout of every d

with mclellan's army of the potomac, 100,000 strong looking like any day here at the beginning of june they were going to march into richmond. could the confederacy have survived this succession of defeats climaxed by the capture of their capital. but of course we know counter-offensives by the army of virginia and other confederate armies turned that situation around. so that by the late summer of 1862 rather than being in danger of losing capital, confederate armies crossed potomac river and threatening to cross the ohio river. then the battle of antietam, of somewhat less importance but significance nonetheless, battle of perryville in the fall of 1862 stopped that seemingly inevitable confederate momentum. i would argue that was the second turning point, this time in favor or at least stopping confederate momentum. but that momentum revived in the spring of 1863 and was stopped again by gettysburg and vicksburg and later in the fall chattanooga. so that was the third turning point. as i and others have written, it looked like the north was prepared to throw in the towel in the summ

of 1862, rather than being in danger of losing their capital, confederate armies had crossed the potomac river and were threatening to cross the ohio river. then the battle of antietam and of somewhat less importance but significant nevertheless the battle of perriville stopped that seemingly inevitable confederate momentum. so i would argue that that was the second turning point, this time in favor or at least stopping confederate momentum. but that momentum revived in the spring of 1863, and was stopped again by gettysburg and vicksburg. and then later in the fall chattanooga. so that was the third turning point. but as i and others have written, it looked like the north was prepared to throw in the towel in the summer of 1864 because of huge casualties without any apparent kind of progress in both virginia and georgia. in august of 1864, lincoln was sure that he would lose re-election. the re-election on the grounds of military failure. yet with the fall of atlanta and the union victories in the shenandoah valley in the fall of 1864 and then the re-election of lincoln, i see that as t

vernon had more than doubled his acreage along the potomac. he was likewise expanding his manor house, constructing an elegant dining room to accommodate a growing stream of visitors, and serve as a stage of sorts for the public man he had become. washington had already completed a second private wing containing his study and a bedroom for he and martha. in short, he had arrived in the very colonial society he now proposed to upend. along with the emotional security provided by his marriage and the social position occupied by the successful soldier, planter, and civic-minded gentleman, there is a third factor setting general washington apart from his younger self. almost in spite of himself, he had become a leader of men, and not just on the battlefield. his patriotism was not unrelated to his pocketbook. to modern ear, it has the sound of an oxymoron. but george washington was an established revolutionary, willing to sacrifice everything but honor in a war to ensure property rights as well as human rights. truth be told, washington was never

i thought about giving washington a 70 but i think with its proximity to the potomac, we'll hold it back here. these temperatures unseasonably warm. >> i had to do a double take when the fox 5 weather app said it was in the others this morning. >> outside, it is amazing right now. >> thank you. >>> good morning to you, julie. >> again, i was looking for sarah as i was working out. >> i worked out. my run is today. i got two days to get this in. >> two days to run five miles. can you do it girl. 395 coming across the 14th street bridge, no problems to report early this morning. construction has been cleared. you will find the beltway is cleared of construction in the hot lane zone so all lanes here are open. inbound canal road leaving foxhall road, headed out to the key bridge, no problems to report here. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >>> all right. well, after days of fierce fighting, mitt romney is the winner in the florida primary. with 98% of the votes in, romney as 46%. gingrich has 32%. rick santorum has 13 and ron paul has 7. we have a report. >> reporter: ten days

jefferson and madison urged that the new national capital be located as it is now on the banks of the potomac. and you look at that right now, that's full of irony. joseph ellis said by selecting the potomac location, they had decided to separate the political and financial capitals of the united states, washington and new york. the exciting synergy of institutional life in our all-purpose metropolis, new york, was deem less important than the corruptions likely to inflict the financiers. if you don't feel the irony about that one in the year 2011, you haven't been reading the newspapers or believing them. these are -- that agreement, of course, jefferson thought would be a way whereby as ellis puts it that they would not abandon the new government of the united states, but they would capture it, like a new capital, it would become an extension of virginia. which was virginia, both virginia and massachusetts ambitions for the future of this tr well, irony may not be the most popular mood for political rhetoric, but seems to me we will find that lot of it in history if we believe it. next to l

officers broke up that fight only to have the teens regroup across the road at potomac mills mall. police responded again to the crowd and then the two groups of teens headed to the old triangle road area where police say this man, 19-year- old johnny kamara, also known as blaze, opened fire. no one was hit initially but apparently he was not done yet. >> and the vehicle containing the initial shooter drove to another location where he opened fire on to innocent bystanders walking in the area. one of those bystanders was struck in the head by a bullet. >> not cool to be doing stuff like this when people have kids and that is a lot of kids around here. >> and i have a 9-month-old myself. not able to bring him outside and go to the store bothers me. i'm afraid that something is going to happen. >> and they need to take that wherever and -- they don't need to bring it here. >> reporter: there is late word that police arrested the suspected gunman without incident and they also tell us that the woman who was shot in the head should be okay. her injury described as a graze wound. will?

potomac phil appeared in dupont cirqueel this morning.ldn't you think we could get another name? something different. >> and he's different than the others you have seen. tucker barnes has more from the ceremony. >> reporter: the very first ever groundhog day here in washington, d.c. i think it was a big success, and i'm being joined by the organizer here in dupont circle. tell me about the event? >> we were lucky to have a lost people with us this morning to see potomac phil deliver his message. he said six more weeks of winter weather and gave a political prediction of nine more months of political gridlock. >> i could have predicted that one. [ laughter ] >> all right, aaron, tell me about the people that showed up today? we had v.i.p.'s, didn't we in. >> we were lucky to have people from the mayor's office, jack evans, the lieutenant from the area, we had our sponsoring dupont circle hotel, a bunch of friends and family, and we had students from ross elementary, all kinds of people. >> it was a lot of fun and i think that was a good s

at crossing the potomac river where they were lost, their second attempt where they crossed. eventually ended up at the garrett farm where john wilkes booth and herald were caught and captured. john wilkes booth was ultimately killed there. because he was captured in a ta tobacco barn, our final exhibit -- we have a recreated tobacco barn which has light and sound and moving image. visitors will be able to look into the barn and hear a sound track where union soldiers come to capture booth and booth refuses to surrender. they'll get to see the barn lit on fire. and then boston corbet shooting john wilkes booth and john wilkes booth's final words to his mother. >> let me have a moment. if you'll take your men 50 yards from the door, i'll come out and fight you. give me a chance for my life. >> we did not come here to fight you. we came to make you a prisoner. >> well, my brave boys, prepare a stretcher for me. [ horses whinnying ] [ gunshot ] >> mother, i died for my country. >> so it's just kind of an interactive way like our street scene to take people into 1865 and give the