Washington, D.C.

The flight distance from Washington, District of Columbia to Lima, Peru is:

The driving distance from Washington, District of Columbia to Richmond, Kentucky is:

Due to the diverse nature of daily tasks that they have to perform, it is not practicable for Members to be present in the House or Senate Chamber at every minute that the body is in session. Furthermore, many of the routine matters do not require the personal attendance of all the Members. A system consisting of electric lights and bells or buzzers located in various parts of the Capitol Building and House and Senate Office Buildings alerts Members to certain occurrences in the House and Senate Chambers.

In the House, the Speaker has ordered that the bells and lights comprising the system be utilized as follows:

1 long bell followed by a pause and then 3 bells and 3 lights on the left

Start or continuation of a notice or short quorum call in the Committee of the Whole that will be vacated if and when 100 Members appear on the floor. Bells are repeated every five minutes unless the call is vacated or the call is converted into a regular quorum call.

1 long bell and extinguishing of 3 lights on the left

Short or notice quorum call vacated.

2 bells and 2 lights on the left

15 minute recorded vote, yea-and-nay vote or automatic rollcall vote by electronic device. The bells are repeated five minutes after the first bell.

2 bells and 2 lights on the left followed by a pause and then 2 more bells

15 minute vote taken by a call of the roll. The bells are repeated when the Clerk reaches the R's in the first call of the roll.

2 bells followed by a pause and then 5 bells

First vote on clustered votes. Two bells are repeated five minutes after the first bell. The first vote will be not less than 15 minutes with successive votes being not less than five minutes. Each successive vote is signaled by five bells.

3 bells and 3 lights on the left

15 minute quorum call in either the House or in the Committee of the Whole by electronic device. The bells are repeated five minutes after the first bell.

3 bells followed by a pause and then 3 more bells

15 minute quorum call by a call of the roll. The bells are repeated when the Clerk reaches the R's in the first call of the roll.

3 bells followed by a pause and then 5 more bells

Quorum call in the Committee of the Whole that may be followed immediately by a five-minute recorded vote.

4 bells and 4 lights on the left

Adjournment of the House.

5 bells and 5 lights on the left

Any five-minute vote.

6 bells and 6 lights on the left

Recess of the House.

12 bells at 2-second intervals with 6 lights on the left

Civil Defense Warning.

7th light

The 7th light indicates that the House is in session.

Phil, The answer to your question would vary depending on what time period you are referring to. If you mean after the first battle of Bull Run, the fact is that the Confederate forces came very close to a disastrous defeat themselves that day. They were much too disorganised to mount a pursuit and a single regiment of Federal regulars was able to conduct a successful rear guard action. In subsequent campaigns Lee was defeated at Antietam and Gettysburg and thus could not get near the city. Even if he had been ablle to though, by then it was much too heavily defended to be taken by storm and Lee did not have the resources to conduct a siege. Michael Montagne

I am oing to go ahead and disagree with the above statement. It was because the South just wanted to be left alone. The South didn't want to take over the Federal Government, they just wanted to be left alone. The South also hoped it would show Mr. non-american Lincoln that they could have done it, but chose not to. This was to show that the South just wanted to be left alone and wanted no more bloodshed.

During Lee's 2nd invasion of the North, Lee envisioned entering Washington DC to end the war in favor of the South. If the Southerners could have taken the city they would have. After all, DC was originally carved out of Maryland and Virginia, both were states the South wanted.

I assume the question is concerning the aftermath of the battle of (1st)Manassas/Bull Run in July, 1861. In Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson said that there was a line of unbloodied reserves put in Centerville on the night of July 21 (after the battle that day). Also, the next day hard rain turned the roads "to soup", and that "Confederate logistics were inadequate for an advance even in good weather" much less with soupy roads. Admittedly there were many who at the time, including Edwin Stanton, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and George McClellan, who said that taking Washington, and thereby winning Southern independence, was a possibility. However, those responses may be motivated by Union paranoia after a loss, and Confederate postwar regret, the latter seeing an untried possibility that might have prevented ultimate defeat in the War Between the States.

THe reason the South didn't overtake Washington D.C. is because they were only defending their own country. The South didn't want to take Washington, so it didn't. Also, the disorderly chaos helped the South win the first Battle of Bull Run. They had not established a color yet. Therefore, the Union soldiers weren't always sure who they were fighting. So if they had decided to continue toward Washington, D.C. they might have been victorious. But since they were only trying to defend their country (the Confederacy) they didn't see the neccesity to overtake the Union capitol.

ANSWER

The South wanted to fight a war where they caused so many casualties to the North that they would just give up and recognize the South as a Country. Also they didn't have the manpower to take the capital.