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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..84453cd --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51211 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51211) diff --git a/old/51211-8.txt b/old/51211-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0dd17b0..0000000 --- a/old/51211-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5616 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Rebel's Recollections, by George Cary Eggleston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: A Rebel's Recollections - -Author: George Cary Eggleston - -Release Date: February 14, 2016 [EBook #51211] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS *** - - - - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - All misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, - have been retained. For example, indorsement; demarkation; clew; - land owners, landowners. - - - - -WORKS BY GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - - - =THE AMERICAN IMMORTALS.= The Record of Men who by their - Achievements in Statecraft, War, Science, Literature, Art, Law, - and Commerce, have created the American Republic, and whose names - are inscribed in the Hall of Fame. - - New and cheaper edition, 8vo, fully illustrated _net_ $ 3.50 - Cloth, royal 8vo, with 29 full-page photogravures " 6.00 - Full leather " 10.00 - - =THE BIG BROTHER.= 12mo, cloth $1.25 - - "The thinking powers, as well as those of observation, will be - strengthened in any boy who reads this book."--_Churchman._ - - =CAPTAIN SAM.= 12mo, cloth $1.25 - - "This is a juvenile historical story which will please boys and - even people of larger growth."--_New Orleans Times._ - - =THE SIGNAL BOYS; or, Captain Sam's Company.= A - Tale of the War of 1812. Illustrated. Octavo, cloth $1.25 - - "A story for boys of the right kind, personal experience and - stirring adventures."--_Philadelphia Times._ - - =THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD.= A Story of the - Carolina Coast. Illustrated. Octavo $1.25 - - "A wholesome, readable story."--_Chicago Times._ - - =A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS= $1.00 - - "The author deserves the thanks of all true Americans.... His - sketches are models of characterization."--_Phila. Bulletin._ - - =HOW TO EDUCATE YOURSELF.= A Complete Guide to - Student's showing how to study, what to study, and how and - what to read. It is in short, a "Pocket School-Master." 12mo; - 151 pages, boards 50 cts. - - "We write with unqualified enthusiasm about this book, which is - untellably good, and for good."--_N. Y. Evening Mail._ - - =HOW TO MAKE A LIVING.= 12mo, boards 50 cts. - - "Shrewd, sound, and entertaining."--_N. Y. Tribune._ - - - G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS - 27 AND 29 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET, NEW YORK - - - - - A - Rebel's Recollections - - - By - George Cary Eggleston - - Author of "Dorothy South," "A Captain in the Ranks," - "Running the River," etc. - - - Fourth Edition, with an additional chapter on the - Old Régime in the Old Dominion - - - G. P. Putnam's Sons - New York and London - The Knickerbocker Press - 1905 - - - - - Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington - - Copyright, 1905 - by - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - - - - - DEDICATION. - - - I wish to dedicate this book to my brother, EDWARD EGGLESTON; and - even if there were no motives of affection impelling me thereto, - I should still feel bound to inscribe his name upon this page, as - an act of justice, in order that those critics who confounded me - with him, when I put forth a little novel a year ago, may have no - chance to hold him responsible for my political as they did for - my literary sins. - - - - -PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. - - -"A Rebel's Recollections" was published in 1874. It has ever since -enjoyed a degree of public favor that is perhaps beyond its merits. - -However that may be, my friends among the historians and the -critical students of history have persuaded me that, for the sake of -historical completeness, I should include in this new edition of the -book the prefatory essay on "The Old Régime in the Old Dominion," -which first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for November, 1875. - -I am doing so with the generous permission of Messrs. Houghton, -Mifflin, & Co., publishers of the Atlantic Monthly. - -The scholars have said to me and to my publishers that during its -thirty years of life the book has become a part of that body of -literature to which historians must look as the sources of history. -They have urged that the introductory chapter, now for the first time -included in the volume, is an essential part of that material of -history. - -The story of the book and of this introductory chapter may, perhaps, -have some interest for the reader. In that belief I tell it here. - -In the year, 1873, I was editing the weekly periodical, Hearth and -Home. I went to Boston to secure certain contributions of literary -matter. There, for the first time, I met Mr. William Dean Howells, -then editor of the Atlantic Monthly,--now recognized as the foremost -creative and critical writer of America. - -In the course of our conversation, Mr. Howells asked me why I should -not write my reminiscences of life as a Southern soldier. At that -time war passions had only just begun to cool, and so I answered that -it would be hardly fair to the publishers of Hearth and Home for me -in that way to thrust upon the readers of that periodical the fact -that its editor had been a Rebel soldier. - -"Oh, I didn't mean," answered Mr. Howells, "that you should write -your reminiscences for Hearth and Home. I want you to write them for -the Atlantic." - -I put the matter aside for a time. I wanted to think of it, and I -wanted to consult my friends concerning the propriety of doing what -Mr. Howells had suggested. Then it was that I talked with Oliver -Johnson, and received from him the advice reported in the preface to -the first edition of this book, which is printed on another page. - -An arrangement was at once made with Mr. Howells that I should write -seven of the nine papers composing the book, for publication in the -Atlantic, the two other papers being reserved in order to "give -freshness" to the volume when it should appear. - -After the first paper was published, Mr. Howells wrote me that it had -brought a hornets' nest about his ears, but that he was determined to -go on with the series. - -After the second paper appeared, he wrote me a delightful letter, -saying that the hornets had "begun to sing psalms in his ears," in -view of the spirit and temper of my work. - -After all the papers were published, and on the day on which the -book, with its two additional chapters, appeared, there was held at -the Parker House in Boston a banquet in celebration of the fifteenth -anniversary of the founding of the Atlantic. At that dinner, and -without warning, I was toasted as the author of the latest book of -Civil War reminiscences. I made a feeble little speech in reply, -but I found that the spirit in which I had written "A Rebel's -Recollections" had met with cordial response from the New England -audience. A company of "original abolitionists" had even planned -to give me a dinner, all my own, with nobody present but original -abolitionists and my Rebel self. - -In the same way the book was received by the press, especially in New -England, until I was satisfied that my work had really ministered -somewhat to that reconciliation between North and South which I had -hoped to help forward. - -Some months later, in 1875, I wrote the article on the old Virginian -life, and sent it to Mr. Howells. Mindful of his editorial injunction -to confine articles to six magazine pages in length, I condensed -what I had to say into that space. Then for the first time in my life -I had an experience which has never since been repeated. Mr. Howells -sent the article back to me with a request that I should _double its -length._ - -Some years later, the Authors Club gave a reception to Mr. Howells -as our foremost living novelist, and it fell to me, as the presiding -officer of the club's Executive Council, to escort the guest of the -evening to the club. The war papers of the Century Magazine were at -that time attracting a country-wide attention. As we drove to the -club, Mr. Howells said to me: - -"It was you and I who first conceived the idea of 'War Papers' as -a magazine's chief feature. We were a trifle ahead of our time, -I suppose, but our thought was the same as that which has since -achieved so great a success." - -In view of all these things, I inscribe this new and expanded -edition of "A Rebel's Recollections" to the true godfather of the -book,--to - - WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, - -with admiration for his genius, with a grateful recollection of his -helpfulness, and with personal affection. - - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON. - - THE AUTHORS CLUB, - _January, 1905_. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Lunching one day with Oliver Johnson the best "original abolitionist" -I ever knew, I submitted to him the question I was debating with -myself, namely, whether I might write this little volume of -reminiscences without fear of offending excellent people, or, still -worse, reanimating prejudices that happily were dying. His reply -was, "Write, by all means. Prejudice is the first-born of ignorance, -and it never outlives its father. The only thing necessary now to -the final burial of the animosity existing between the sections is -that the North and the South shall learn to know and understand each -other. Anything which contributes to this hastens the day of peace -and harmony and brotherly love which every good man longs for." - -Upon this hint I have written, and if the reading of these pages -shall serve, in never so small a degree, to strengthen the kindly -feelings which have grown up of late between the foemen of ten years -ago, I shall think my labor well expended. - -I have written chiefly of the things I saw for myself, and yet this -is in no sense the story of my personal adventures. I never wore a -star on my collar, and every reader of military novels knows that -adventures worth writing about never befall a soldier below the rank -of major. - - G. C. E. - - _October, 1874._ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - I. THE MUSTERING 1 - - II. THE MEN WHO MADE THE ARMY 29 - - III. THE TEMPER OF THE WOMEN 56 - - IV. OF THE TIME WHEN MONEY WAS "EASY" 77 - - V. THE CHEVALIER OF THE LOST CAUSE 108 - - VI. LEE, JACKSON, AND SOME LESSER WORTHIES 138 - - VII. SOME QUEER PEOPLE 169 - - VIII. RED TAPE 193 - - IX. THE END, AND AFTER 229 - - - - -THE OLD RÉGIME IN THE OLD DOMINION. - - -It was a very beautiful and enjoyable life that the Virginians led -in that ancient time, for it certainly seems ages ago, before the -war came to turn ideas upside down and convert the picturesque -commonwealth into a commonplace, modern state. It was a soft, dreamy, -deliciously quiet life, a life of repose, an old life, with all its -sharp corners and rough surfaces long ago worn round and smooth. -Everything fitted everything else, and every point in it was so well -settled as to leave no work of improvement for anybody to do. The -Virginians were satisfied with things as they were, and if there -were reformers born among them, they went elsewhere to work changes. -Society in the Old Dominion was like a well rolled and closely -packed gravel walk, in which each pebble has found precisely the -place it fits best. There was no giving way under one's feet, no -uncomfortable grinding of loose materials as one walked about over -the firm and long-used ways of the Virginian social life. - -Let me hasten to say that I do not altogether approve of that life -by any means. That would be flat blasphemy against the god Progress, -and I have no stomach for martyrdom, even of our modern, fireless -sort. I frankly admit in the outset, therefore, that the Virginians -of that old time, between which and the present there is so great a -gulf fixed, were idle people. I am aware that they were, when I lived -among them, extravagant for the most part, and in debt altogether. -It were useless to deny that they habitually violated all the wise -precepts laid down in the published writings of Poor Richard, and set -at naught the whole gospel of thrift. But their way of living was -nevertheless a very agreeable one to share or to contemplate, the -more because there was nothing else like it anywhere in the land. - -A whole community, with as nearly as possible nothing to do, is apt -to develop a considerable genius for enjoyment, and the Virginians, -during somewhat more than two centuries of earnest and united effort -in that direction, had partly discovered and partly created both a -science and an art of pleasant living. Add to idleness and freedom -from business cares a climate so perfect that existence itself is a -luxury within their borders, and we shall find no room for wonder -that these people learned how to enjoy themselves. What they learned, -in this regard, they remembered too. Habits and customs once found -good were retained, I will not say carefully,--for that would imply -effort, and the Virginians avoided effort always,--but tenaciously. -The Virginians were born conservatives, constitutionally opposed to -change. They loved the old because it was old, and disliked the new, -if for no better reason, because it was new; for newness and rawness -were well-nigh the same in their eyes. - -This constitutional conservatism, without which their mode of life -could never have been what it was, was nourished by both habit and -circumstance. The Virginians were not much given to travelling beyond -their own borders, and when they did go into the outer world it was -only to find a manifestation of barbarism in every departure from -their own prescriptive standards and models. Not that they were more -bigoted than other people, for in truth I think they were not, but -their bigotry took a different direction. They thought well of the -old and the moss-grown, just as some people admire all that is new -and garish and fashionable. - -But chief among the causes of that conservatism which gave tone -and color to the life we are considering was the fact that ancient -estates were carefully kept in ancient families, generation after -generation. If a Virginian lived in a particular mansion, it was -strong presumptive proof that his father, his grandfather, and his -great-grandfather had lived there before him. There was no law of -primogeniture to be sure by which this was brought about, but there -were well-established customs which amounted to the same thing. -Family pride was a ruling passion, and not many Virginians of the -better class hesitated to secure the maintenance of their family -place in the ranks of the untitled peerage by the sacrifice of their -own personal prosperity, if that were necessary, as it sometimes -was. To the first-born son went the estate usually, by the will of -the father and with the hearty concurrence of the younger sons, when -there happened to be any such. The eldest brother succeeded the -father as the head of the house, and took upon himself the father's -duties and the father's burdens. Upon him fell the management of -the estate; the maintenance of the mansion, which, under the laws -of hospitality obtaining there, was no light task; the education of -the younger sons and daughters; and last, though commonly not by -any means least, the management of the hereditary debt. The younger -children always had a home in the old mansion, secured to them by the -will of their father sometimes, but secure enough in any case by a -custom more binding than any law; and there were various other ways -of providing for them. If the testator were rich, he divided among -them his bonds, stocks, and other personal property not necessary to -the prosperity of the estate, or charged the head of the house with -the payment of certain legacies to each. The mother's property, if -she had brought a dower with her, was usually portioned out among -them, and the law, medicine, army, navy, and church offered them -genteel employment if they chose to set up for themselves. But these -arrangements were subsidiary to the main purpose of keeping the -estate in the family, and maintaining the mansion-house as a seat of -elegant hospitality. So great was the importance attached to this -last point, and so strictly was its observance enjoined upon the new -lord of the soil, that he was frequently the least to be envied of -all. - -I remember a case in which a neighbor of my own, a very wealthy -gentleman, whose house was always open and always full of guests, -dying, left each of his children a plantation. To the eldest son, -however, he gave the home estate, worth three or four times as much -as any of the other plantations, and with it he gave the young -man also a large sum of money. But he charged him with the duty -of keeping open house there, at all times, and directed that the -household affairs should be conducted always precisely as they had -been during his own lifetime. The charge well-nigh outweighed the -inheritance. The new master of the place lived in Richmond, where he -was engaged in manufacturing, and after the death of the father the -old house stood tenantless, but open as before. Its troops of softly -shod servants swept and dusted and polished as of old. Breakfast, -dinner, and supper were laid out every day at the accustomed hours, -under the old butler's supervision, and as the viands grew cold -his silent subordinates waited, trays in hand, at the back of the -empty chairs during the full time appointed for each meal. I have -stopped there for dinner, tea, or to spend the night many a time, in -company with one of the younger sons who lived elsewhere, or with -some relative of the family, or alone, as the case might be, and I -have sometimes met others there. But our coming or not was a matter -of indifference. Guests knew themselves always welcome, but whether -guests came or not the household affairs suffered no change. The -destruction of the house by fire finally lifted this burden from its -master's shoulders, as the will did not require him to rebuild. But -while it stood, its master's large inheritance was of very small -worth to him. And in many other cases the preference given to the -eldest son in the distribution of property was in reality only a -selection of his shoulders to bear the family's burdens. - -In these and other ways, old estates of greater or less extent were -kept together, and old families remained lords of the soil. It is not -easy to overestimate the effect of this upon the people. A man to -whom a great estate, with an historic house upon it and an old family -name attached to it, has descended through several generations, -could hardly be other than a conservative in feeling and influence. -These people were the inheritors of the old and the established. -Upon them had devolved the sacred duty of maintaining the reputation -of a family name. They were no longer mere individuals, whose acts -affected only themselves, but were chiefs and representatives -of honorable houses, and as such bound to maintain a reputation -of vastly more worth than their own. Their fathers before them -were their exemplars, and in a close adherence to family customs -and traditions lay their safety from unseemly lapses. The old -furniture, the old wainscot on the walls, the old pictures, the old -house itself, perpetually warned them against change as in itself -unbecoming and dangerous to the dignity of their race. - -And so changes were unknown in their social system. As their fathers -lived, so lived they, and there was no feature of their life -pleasanter than its fixity. One always knew what to expect and what -to do; there were no perplexing uncertainties to breed awkwardness -and vexation. There was no room for shams and no temptation to vulgar -display, and so shams and display had no chance to become fashionable. - -Aside from the fact that the old and the substantial were the -respectable, the social status of every person was so fixed and -so well known that display was unnecessary on the part of the -good families, and useless on the part of others. The old ladies -constituted a college of heralds and could give you at a moment's -notice any pedigree you might choose to ask for. The "goodness" of -a good family was a fixed fact and needed no demonstration, and -no _parvenu_ could work his way into the charmed circle by vulgar -ostentation or by any other means whatever. As one of the old dames -used to phrase it, ostentatious people were thought to be "rich -before they were ready." - -As the good families gave law to the society of the land, so their -chiefs ruled the State in a more positive and direct sense. The -plantation owners, as a matter of course, constituted only a minority -of the voting population, at least after the constitution of 1850 -swept away the rule making the ownership of real estate a necessary -qualification for suffrage; but they governed the State nevertheless -as completely as if they had been in the majority. Families naturally -followed the lead of their chiefs, voting together as a matter of -clan pride, when no principle was involved, and so the plantation -owners controlled directly a large part of the population. But a more -important point was that the ballot was wholly unknown in Virginia -until after the war, and as the large landowners were deservedly -men of influence in the community, they had little difficulty, under -a system of _viva-voce_ voting, in carrying things their own way -on all matters on which they were at all agreed among themselves. -It often happened that a Whig would continue year after year to -represent a Democratic district, or _vice versa_, in the Legislature -or in Congress, merely by force of his large family connection and -influence. - -All this was an evil, if we choose to think it so. It was -undemocratic certainly, but it worked wonderfully well, and the -system was good in this at least, that it laid the foundations of -politics among the wisest and best men the State had; for as a rule -the planters were the educated men of the community, the reading -men, the scholars, the thinkers, and well-nigh every one of them was -familiar with the whole history of parties and of statesmanship. -Politics was deemed a necessary part of every gentleman's education, -and the youth of eighteen who could not recapitulate the doctrines -set forth in the resolutions of 1798, or tell you the history of the -Missouri Compromise or the Wilmot Proviso, was thought lamentably -deficient in the very rudiments of culture. They had little to do, -and they thought it the bounden duty of every free American citizen -to prepare himself for the intelligent performance of his functions -in the body politic. As a result, if Virginia did not always send -wise men to the councils of the State and nation, she sent no -politically ignorant ones at any rate. - -It was a point of honor among Virginians never to shrink from any of -the duties of a citizen. To serve as road-overseer or juryman was -often disagreeable to men who loved ease and comfort as they did, but -every Virginian felt himself in honor bound to serve whenever called -upon, and that without pay, too, as it was deemed in the last degree -disreputable to accept remuneration for doing the plain duty of a -citizen. - -It was the same with regard to the magistracy. Magistrates were -appointed until 1850, and after that chosen by election, but under -neither system was any man free to seek or to decline the office. -Appointed or elected, one must serve, if he would not be thought to -shirk his duties as a good man and citizen; and though the duties -of the office were sometimes very onerous, there was practically no -return of any sort made. Magistrates received no salary, and it was -not customary for them to accept the small perquisites allowed them -by law. Under the old constitution, the senior justice of each county -was _ex-officio_ high sheriff, and the farming of the shrievalty--for -the high sheriff always farmed the office--yielded some pecuniary -profit; but any one magistrate's chance of becoming the senior -was too small to be reckoned in the account; and under the new -constitution of 1850 even this was taken away, and the sheriffs -were elected by the people. But to be a magistrate was deemed an -honor, and very properly so, considering the nature of a Virginian -magistrate's functions. - -The magistrates were something more than justices of the peace. -A bench of three or more of them constituted the County Court, a -body having a wide civil and criminal jurisdiction of its own, and -concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit Court over a still larger -field. This County Court sat monthly, and in addition to its judicial -functions was charged with considerable legislative duties for the -county, under a system which gave large recognition to the principle -of local self-government. Four times a year it held grand-jury -terms--an anomaly in magistrate's courts, I believe, but an excellent -one as experience proved. In a large class of criminal cases a bench -of five justices, sitting in regular term, was a court of oyer and -terminer. - -The concurrent jurisdiction of this County Court, as I have said, -was very large, and as its sessions were monthly, while those of -the circuit judges were held but twice a year, very many important -civil suits involving considerable interests were brought there -rather than before the higher tribunal. And here we encounter a -very singular fact. The magistrates were usually planters, never -lawyers, and yet, as the records show, the proportion of County-Court -decisions reversed on appeal for error was always smaller than that -of decisions made by the higher tribunals, in which regular judges -sat. At the first glance this seems almost incredible, and yet it -is a fact, and its cause is not far to seek. The magistrates, being -unpaid functionaries, were chosen for their fitness only. Their -election was a sort of choosing of arbitrators, and the men elected -were precisely the kind of men commonly selected by honest disputants -as umpires--men of integrity, probity, and intelligence. They came -into court conscious of their own ignorance of legal technicalities, -and disposed to decide questions upon principles of "right between -man and man" rather than upon the letter of the law; and as the law -is, in the main, founded upon precisely these principles of abstract -justice, their decision usually proved sound in law as well as right -in fact. - -But the magistrates were not wholly without instruction even -in technical matters of law. They learned a good deal by long -service,--their experience often running over a period of thirty -or forty years on the bench,--and, in addition to the skill which -intelligent men must have gained in this way, they had still another -resource. When the bench thought it necessary to inform itself on -a legal point, the presiding magistrate asked in open court for the -advice of counsel, and in such an event every lawyer not engaged in -the case at bar, or in another involving a like principle, was under -obligation to give a candid expression of his opinion. - -The system was a very peculiar and interesting one, and in Virginia -it was about the best also that could have been hit upon, though it -is more than doubtful whether it would work equally well anywhere -else. All the conditions surrounding it were necessary to its -success, and those conditions were of a kind that cannot be produced -at will; they must grow. In the first place, the intelligence and -culture of a community must not be concentrated in certain centres, -as is usually the case, especially in commercial and manufacturing -States, but must be distributed pretty evenly over the country, else -the material out of which such a magistracy can be created will not -be where it is needed; and in the very nature of the case it cannot -be imported for the purpose. There must also be a public sentiment -to compel the best men to serve when chosen, and the best men must -be men of wealth and leisure, else they cannot afford to serve, -for such a magistracy must of necessity be unpaid. In short, the -system can work well only under the conditions which gave it birth -in Virginia, and those conditions will probably never again exist in -any of these States. It is a matter of small moment to the citizen -of Massachusetts or New York that Virginia once had a very peculiar -judiciary; but it is not a matter of light importance that our scheme -of government leaves every State free to devise for itself a system -of local institutions adapted to its needs and the character and -situation of its people; that it is not uniformity we have sought and -secured in our attempt to establish a government by the people, but -a wise diversity rather; that experience and not theory is our guide; -that our institutions are cut to fit our needs, and not to match a -fixed pattern; and that the necessities of one part of the country do -not prescribe a rule for another part. - -But this is not a philosophical treatise. Return we therefore to -the region of small facts. It is a little curious that with their -reputed fondness for honorary titles of all kinds, the Virginians -never addressed a magistrate as "judge," even in that old time when -the functions of the justice fairly entitled him to the name. And -it is stranger still, perhaps, that in Virginia the members of the -Legislature were never called "honorable," that distinction being -held strictly in reserve for members of Congress and of the national -cabinet. This fact seems all the more singular when we remember that -in the view of Virginians the States were nations, while the general -government was little more than their accredited agent, charged with -the performance of certain duties and holding certain delegated -powers which were subject to recall at any time. - -I have said that every educated Virginian was acquainted with -politics, but this is only half the truth. They knew the details -quite as well as the general facts, and there were very many of them -not politicians and never candidates for office of any kind who could -give from memory an array of dates and other figures of which the -Tribune Almanac would have no occasion to be ashamed. Not to know -the details of the vote in Connecticut in any given year was to lay -oneself open to a suspicion of incompetence; to confess forgetfulness -of the "ayes and noes" on any important division in Congress was -to rule oneself out of the debate as an ignoramus. I say debate -advisedly, for there was always a debate on political matters when -two Virginia gentlemen met anywhere except in church during sermon -time. They argued earnestly, excitedly, sometimes even violently, -but ordinarily without personal ill-feeling. In private houses they -could not quarrel, being gentlemen and guests of a common host, or -standing in the relation of guest and host to each other; in more -public places--for they discussed politics in all places and at all -times--they refrained from quarrelling because to quarrel would -not have been proper. But they never lost an opportunity to make -political speeches to each other; alternately, sometimes, but quite -as often both, or all, at once. - -It would sometimes happen, of course, that two or more gentlemen -meeting would find themselves agreed in their views, but the pleasure -of indulging in a heated political discussion was never foregone for -any such paltry reason as that. Finding no point on which they could -disagree, they would straightway join forces and do valiant battle -against the common enemy. That the enemy was not present to answer -made no difference. They knew all his positions and all the arguments -by which his views could be sustained quite as well as he did, and -they combated these. It was funny, of course, but the participants in -these one-sided debates never seemed to see the ludicrous points of -the picture. - -A story is told of one of the fiercest of these social political -debaters--a story too well vouched for among his friends to be -doubted--which will serve, perhaps, to show how unnecessary the -presence of an antagonist was to the successful conduct of a debate. -It was "at a dining-day," to speak in the native idiom, and it so -happened that all the guests were Whigs, except Mr. E----, who was -the staunchest of Jeffersonian Democrats. The discussion began, of -course, as soon as the women left the table, and it speedily waxed -hot. Mr. E----, getting the ear of the company at the outset, laid on -right and left with his customary vigor, rasping the Whigs on their -sorest points, arguing, asserting, denouncing, demonstrating--to his -own entire satisfaction--for perhaps half an hour; silencing every -attempt at interruption by saying: - -"Now wait, please, till I get through; I'm one against seven, and you -must let me make my points. Then you can reply." - -He finished at last, leaving every Whig nerve quivering, every Whig -face burning with suppressed indignation, and every Whig breast full, -almost to bursting, with a speech in reply. The strongest debater -of them all managed to begin first, but just as he pronounced the -opening words, Mr. E---- interrupted him. - -"Pardon me," he said, "I know all your little arguments, so I'll go -and talk with the girls for half an hour while you run them over; -when you get through send for me, and I'll come and SWEEP YOU CLEAR -OUT OF THE ARENA." - -And with that the exasperating man bowed himself out of the -dining-room. - -But with all its ludicrousness, this universal habit of "talking -politics" had its uses. In the first place, politics with these -men was a matter of principle, and not at all a question of shrewd -management. They knew what they had and what they wanted. Better -still they knew every officeholder's record, and held each to a -strict account of his stewardship. - -Under the influence of this habit in social life, every man was -constantly on his metal, of course, and every young man was bound -to fortify himself for contests to come by a diligent study of -history and politics. He must know as a necessary preparation for -ordinary social converse all those things that are commonly left to -the professional politicians. As well might he go into society in -ignorance of yesterday's weather or last week's news, as without full -knowledge of Benton's Thirty Years' View, and a familiar acquaintance -with the papers in the Federalist. In short, this odd habit compelled -thorough political education, and enforced upon every man old enough -to vote an active, earnest participation in politics. Perhaps a -country in which universal suffrage exists would be the better if -both were more general than they are. - -But politics did not furnish the only subjects of debate among these -people. They talked politics, it is true, whenever they met at all, -but when they had mutually annihilated each other, when each had -said all there was to say on the subject, they frequently turned to -other themes. Of these, the ones most commonly and most vigorously -discussed were points of doctrinal theology. The great battle-ground -was baptism. Half the people were, perhaps, Baptists, and when -Baptist and pedo-Baptist met they sniffed the battle at once,--that -is to say, as soon as they had finished the inevitable discussion of -politics. - -On this question of Baptism each had been over the ground many -hundreds of times, and each must have known when he put forth an -argument what the answer would be. But this made no manner of -difference. They were always ready to go over the matter again. I -amused myself once by preparing a "part" debate on the subject. I -arranged the remarks of each disputant in outline, providing each -speech with its proper "cue," after the manner of stage copies of a -play, and, taking a friend into my confidence, I used sometimes to -follow the discussion, with my copy of it in hand, and, except in -the case of a very poorly informed or wholly unpractised debater, my -"cues" and speeches were found to be amusingly accurate. - -The Virginians were a very religious as well as a very polemical -people, however, and I do not remember that I ever knew them, even -in the heat of their fiercest discussions upon doctrine, to forget -the brotherly kindness which lay as a broad foundation under their -card-houses of creed. They believed with all their souls in the -doctrines set down by their several denominations, and maintained -them stoutly on all occasions; but they loved each other, attended -each other's services, and joined hands right heartily in every good -work. - -There was one other peculiarity in their church relations worthy of -notice. The Episcopal Church was once an establishment in Virginia, -as every reader knows, but every reader does not know, perhaps, that -even up to the outbreak of the war it remained in some sense an -establishment in some parts of the State. - -There were little old churches in many neighborhoods which had stood -for a century or two, and the ancestors of the present generation -had all belonged to them in their time. One of these churches I -remember lovingly for its old traditions, for its picturesqueness, -and for the warmth of the greeting its congregation gave me--not -as a congregation but as individuals--when I, a lad half grown, -returned to the land of my fathers. Every man and woman in that -congregation had known my father and loved him, and nearly every -one was my cousin, at least in the Virginian acceptation of that -word. The church was Episcopal, of course, while the great majority, -perhaps seven eighths of the people who attended it and supported -it were members of other denominations--Baptists, Presbyterians, and -Methodists. But they all felt themselves at home here. This was the -old family church where their forefathers had worshiped, and under -the shadow of which they were buried. They all belonged here no -matter what other church might claim them as members. They paid the -old clergyman's salary, served in the vestry, attended the services, -kept church, organ, and churchyard in repair, and in all respects -regarded themselves, and were held by others, as members here of -right and by inheritance. It was church and family, instead of Church -and State, and the sternest Baptist or Presbyterian among them would -have thought himself wronged if left out of the count of this little -church's membership. This was their heritage, their home, and the -fact that they had also united themselves with churches of other -denominations made no difference whatever in their feeling toward -the old mother church, there in the woods, guarding and cherishing -the dust of their dead. - -All the people, young and old, went to church; it was both pleasant -and proper to do so, though not all of them went for the sake of -the sermon or the service. The churches were usually built in the -midst of a grove of century oaks, and their surroundings were nearly -always pleasantly picturesque. The gentlemen came on horseback, the -ladies in their great lumbering, old-fashioned carriages, with an -ebony driver in front and a more or less ebony footman or two behind. -Beside the driver sat ordinarily the old "mammy" of the family, or -some other equally respectable and respected African woman, whose -crimson or scarlet turban and orange neckerchief gave a dash of color -to the picture, a trifle barbaric, perhaps, in combination, but -none the less pleasant in its effect for that. The young men came -first, mounted on their superb riding horses, wearing great buckskin -gauntlets and clad in full evening dress--that being _en rčgle_ -always in Virginia,--with the skirts of the coat drawn forward, over -the thighs, and pinned in front, as a precaution against possible -contact with the reeking sides of the hard-ridden steeds. - -The young men came first to church, as I have said, and they did so -for a purpose. The carriages were elegant and costly, many of them, -but nearly all were extremely old-fashioned; perched high in air, -they were not easy of entrance or exit by young women in full dress -without assistance, and it was accounted the prescriptive privilege -of the young men to render the needed service at the church door. -When this preliminary duty was fully done, some of the youths took -seats inside the church, but if the weather were fine many preferred -to stroll through the woods, or to sit in little groups under the -trees, awaiting the exit of the womankind, who must, of course, be -chatted with and helped into their carriages again. - -Invitations to dinner or to a more extended visit were in order -the moment the service was over. Every gentleman went to dine with -a friend, or took a number of friends to dine with him. But the -arrangements depended largely upon the young women, who had a very -pretty habit of visiting each other and staying a week or more, -and these visits nearly always originated at church. Each young -woman invited all the rest to go home with her, and after a deal of -confused consultation, out of whose chaos only the feminine mind -could possibly have extracted anything like a conclusion, two or -three would win all the others to themselves, each taking half a -dozen or more with her, and promising to send early the next morning -for their trunks. With so many of the fairest damsels secured for -a visit of a week or a fortnight, the young hostess was sure of -cavaliers in plenty to do her guests honor. And upon my word it was -all very pleasant! I have idled away many a week in these old country -houses, and for my life I cannot manage to regret the fact, or to -remember it with a single pang of remorse for the wasted hours. -Perhaps after all they were not wholly wasted. Who shall say? Other -things than gold are golden. - -As a guest in those houses one was not welcome only, but free. There -was a servant to take your horse, a servant to brush your clothes, a -servant to attend you whenever you had a want to supply or a wish to -gratify. But you were never oppressed with attentions, or under any -kind of restraint. If you liked to sit in the parlor, the women there -would entertain you very agreeably, or set you to entertaining them -by reading aloud, or by anything else which might suggest itself. If -you preferred the piazza, there were sure to be others like-minded -with yourself. If you smoked, there were always pipes and tobacco on -the sideboard, and a man-servant to bring them to you if you were not -inclined to go after them. In short, each guest might do precisely as -he pleased, sure that in doing so he should best please his host and -hostess. - -My own favorite amusement--I am the father of a family now, and may -freely confess the fancies and foibles of a departed youth--was to -accompany the young mistress of the mansion on her rounds of domestic -duty, carrying her key-basket for her, and assisting her in various -ways, unlocking doors and--really I cannot remember that I was of any -very great use to her after all; but willingness counts for a good -deal in this world, and I was always very willing at any rate. As a -rule, the young daughter of the mansion was housekeeper, and this may -perhaps account for the fact that the habit of carrying housekeeper's -key-baskets for them was very general among the young gentlemen in -houses where they were upon terms of intimate friendship. - -Life in Virginia was the pursuit of happiness and its attainment. -Money was a means only, and was usually spent very lavishly whenever -its expenditure could add in any way to comfort, but as there was -never any occasion to spend it for mere display, most of the planters -were abundantly able to use it freely for better purposes. That is -to say, most of them were able to owe their debts and to renew their -notes when necessary. Their houses were built for comfort, and most -of them had grown gray with age long before the present generation -was born. A great passage-way ran through the middle, commonly, and -here stood furniture which would have delighted the heart of the -medićvalist: great, heavy oaken chairs, black with age and polished -with long usage--chairs whose joints were naked and not ashamed; -sofas of ponderous build, made by carpenters who were skeptical as -to the strength of woods, and thought it necessary to employ solid -pieces of oak, four inches in diameter, for legs, and to shoe each -with a solid brass lion's paw as a precaution against abrasion. A -great porch in front was shut out at night by the ponderous double -doors of the hallway, but during the day the way was wide open -through the house. - -The floors were of white ash, and in summer no carpets or rugs -were anywhere to be seen. Every morning the floors were polished -by diligent scouring with dry pine needles, and the furniture -similarly brightened by rubbing with wax and cork. In the parlors -the furniture was usually very rich as to woods and very antique -in workmanship. The curtains were of crimson damask with lace -underneath, and the contrast between these and the bare, white, -polished floor was singularly pleasing. - -The first white person astir in the house every morning was the -woman who carried the keys, mother or daughter, as the case might -be. Her morning work was no light affair, and its accomplishment -consumed several hours daily. To begin with she must knead the light -bread with her own hands and send it to the kitchen to be baked and -served hot at breakfast. She must prepare a skillet full of light -rolls for the same meal, and "give out" the materials for the rest -of the breakfast. Then she must see to the sweeping and garnishing -of the lower rooms, passages, and porches, lest the maids engaged in -that task should entertain less extreme views than her own on the -subject of that purity and cleanliness which constituted the house's -charm and the housekeeper's crown of honor. She must write two or -three notes, to be dispatched by the hands of a small negro to her -acquaintances in the neighborhood,--a kind of correspondence much -affected in that society. In the midst of all these duties, the young -housekeeper--for somehow it is only the youthful ones whom I remember -vividly--must meet and talk with such of the guests as might happen -to be early risers, and must not forget to send a messenger to the -kitchen once every ten minutes to "hurry up breakfast!" not that -breakfast could be hurried under any conceivable circumstances, but -merely because it was the custom to send such messages, and the young -woman was a duty-loving maid who did her part in the world without -inquiring why. She knew very well that breakfast would be ready at -the traditional hour, the hour at which it always had been served -in that house, and that there was no power on the plantation great -enough to hasten it by a single minute. But she sent out to "hurry" -it nevertheless. - -When breakfast is ready the guests are ready for it. It is a merit of -fixed habits that one can conform to them easily, and when one knows -that breakfast has been ready in the house in which he is staying -precisely at nine o'clock every morning for one or two centuries -past, and that the immovable conservatism of an old Virginian cook -stands guard over the sanctity of that custom, he has no difficulty -in determining when to begin dressing. - -The breakfast is sure to be a good one, consisting of everything -obtainable at the season. If it be in summer, the host will have a -dish of broiled roe herrings before him, a plate of hot rolls at -his right hand, and a cylindrical loaf of hot white bread--which -it is his duty to cut and serve--on his left. On the flanks will -be one or two plates of beaten biscuit and a loaf of batter bread, -_i. e._, corn-bread made rich with milk and eggs. A dish of plain corn -"pones" sits on the dresser, and the servants bring griddle-cakes or -waffles hot from the kitchen; so much for breads. A knuckle of cold, -boiled ham is always present, on either the table or the dresser, as -convenience may dictate. A dish of sliced tomatoes and another of -broiled ditto are the invariable vegetables, supplemented on occasion -with lettuce, radishes, and other like things. These are the staples -of breakfast, and additions are made as the season serves. - -Breakfast over, the young housekeeper scalds and dries the dishes -and glassware with her own hands. Then she goes to the garden, -smoke-house, and store-room, to "give out" for dinner. Morning rides, -backgammon, music, reading, etc., furnish amusement until one -o'clock, or a little later. The gentlemen go shooting or fishing, -if they choose, or join the host in his rides over the plantation, -inspecting his corn, tobacco, wheat, and live stock. About one the -house grows quiet. The women retire to their chambers, the gentlemen -make themselves comfortable in various ways. About two it is the duty -of the master of the mansion to offer toddy or juleps to his guests, -and to ask one of the dining-room servants if "dinner is 'most -ready." Half an hour later he must send the cook word to "hurry it -up." It is to be served at four, of course, but as the representative -of an ancient house, it is his bounden duty to ask the two-o'clock -question and send the half-past-two message. - -Supper is served at eight, and the women usually retire for the night -at ten or eleven. - -If hospitality was deemed the chief of virtues among the Virginians, -the duty of accepting hospitality was quite as strongly insisted -upon. One must visit his friends, whatever the circumstances, if he -would not be thought churlish. Especially were young men required -to show a proper respect and affection for elderly female relatives -by dining with them as frequently as at any other house. I shall -not soon forget some experiences of my own in this regard. The most -stately and elegant country-house I have ever seen stood in our -neighborhood. Its master had lived in great state there, and after -his death his two maiden sisters, left alone in the great mansion, -scrupulously maintained every custom he had established or inherited. -They were my cousins in the Virginian sense of the word, and I had -not been long a resident of the State when my guardian reminded me -of my duty toward them. I must ride over and dine there without a -special invitation, and I must do this six or eight times a year -at the least. As a mere boy, half-grown, I made ready for my visit -with a good deal of awe and trepidation. I had already met the two -stately dames and was disposed to distrust my manners in their -presence. I went, however, and was received with warm, though rather -stiff and formal, cordiality. My horse was taken to the stable. I -was shown to my room by a thoroughly drilled servant, whose tongue -had been trained to as persistent a silence as if his functions had -been those of a mute at a funeral. His name I discovered was Henry, -but beyond this I could make no progress in his acquaintance. He -prided himself upon knowing his place, and the profound respect with -which he treated me made it impossible that I should ask him for the -information on which my happiness, perhaps my reputation, just then -depended. I wanted to know for what purpose I had been shown to my -room, what I was expected to do there, and at what hour I ought to -descend to the parlor or library. - -It was manifestly out of the question to seek such information at -the hands of so well-regulated a being as Henry. He had ushered me -into my room and now stood bolt upright, gazing fixedly at nothing -and waiting for my orders in profound and immovable silence. He -had done his part well, and it was not for him to assume that I -was unprepared to do mine. His attitude indicated, or perhaps I -should say aggressively asserted, the necessity he was under of -assuming my entire familiarity with the usages of good society and -the ancient customs of this ancient house. The worst of it was I -fancied that the solemn rogue guessed my ignorance and delighted in -exposing my fraudulent pretensions to good breeding. But in this -I did him an injustice, as future knowledge of him taught me. He -was well drilled, and delighted in doing his duty, that was all. No -_gaucherie_ on my part would have moved him to smile. He knew his -place and his business too well for that. Whatever I might have done -he would have held to be perfectly proper. It was for him to stand -there like a statue, until I should bid him do otherwise, and if I -had kept him there for a week I think he would have given no sign -of weariness or impatience. As it was, his presence appalled and -oppressed me, and in despair of discovering the proper thing to do, I -determined to put a bold face upon the matter. - -"I am tired and warm," I said, "and will rest awhile upon the bed. I -will join the ladies in half an hour. You may go now." - -At dinner, Henry stood at the sideboard and silently directed the -servants. When the cloth was removed, he brought a wine tub with -perhaps a dozen bottles of antique Madeira in it and silently -awaited my signal before decanting one of them. When I had drunk a -glass with the ladies, they rose and retired according to the custom, -leaving me alone with the wine and the cigars,--and Henry, whose -erect solemnity converted the great silent dining-room into something -very like a funeral chamber. He stood there like a guardsman on duty, -immovable, speechless, patient, while I sat at the board, a decanter -of wine before me and the tub of unopened bottles on the floor by my -side--enough for a regiment. - -I did not want any wine or anything else except a sound of some sort -to break the horrible stillness. I tried to think of some device by -which to make Henry go out of the room or move one of his hands or -turn his eyes a little or even wink; but I failed utterly. There was -nothing whatever to be done. There was no order to give him. Every -want was supplied and everything was at my hand. The cigars were -under my nose, the ash pan by them, and a lighted wax candle stood -within reach. I toyed with the decanter in the hope of breaking the -stillness, but its stand was too well cushioned above and below to -make a sound. I ventured at last to move one of my feet, but a strip -of velvet carpet lay between it and the floor. - -I could stand it no longer. Filling a glass of wine I drank it off, -lighted a fresh cigar, and boldly strode out of the house to walk on -the lawn in front. - -On the occasion of subsequent visits I got on well enough, knowing -precisely what to expect and what to do, and in time I came to regard -this as one of the very pleasantest houses in which I visited at all, -if on no other account than because I found myself perfectly free -there to do as I pleased; but until I learned that I was expected -to consult only my own comfort while a guest in the house the -atmosphere of the place oppressed me. - -Not in every house were the servants so well trained as Henry, -but what they lacked in skill they fully made up in numbers, and -in hardly anything else was the extravagance of the Virginians -so manifest as in their wastefulness of labor. On nearly every -plantation there were ten or twelve able-bodied men and women -employed about the house, doing the work which two or three ought to -have done, and might have done; and in addition to this there were -usually a dozen or a score of others with merely nominal duties or no -duties at all. But it was useless to urge their master to send any of -them to the field, and idle to show him that the addition which might -thus be made to the force of productive laborers would so increase -his revenue as to acquit him of debt within a few years. He did not -much care to be free of debt for one thing, and he liked to have -plenty of servants always within call. As his dinner table bore every -day food enough for a battalion, so his nature demanded the presence -of half a dozen servitors whenever one was wanted. Indeed, these -people usually summoned servants in squads, calling three or four -to take one guest's horse to the stable or to bring one pitcher of -ice-water. - -And yet I should do the Virginians great injustice were I to leave -the impression that they were lazy. With abundant possessions, -superabundant household help and slave labor, they had a good deal of -leisure, but they were nevertheless very industrious people in their -way. It was no light undertaking to manage a great plantation and -at the same time fulfil the large measure of duties to friends and -neighbors which custom imposed. One must visit and receive visitors, -and must go to court every month, and to all planters' meetings. -Besides this there was a certain amount of fox hunting and squirrel -and bird and turkey shooting and fishing to be done, from which it -was really very difficult to escape with any credit to oneself. -On the whole, the time of the planters was pretty fully occupied. -The women had household duties, and these included the cutting and -making of clothes for all the negroes on the plantation, a heavy task -which might as well have been done by the negro seamstresses, except -that such was not the custom. Fair women who kept dressmakers for -themselves worked day after day on coarse cloths, manufacturing coats -and trousers for the field hands. They did a great deal of embroidery -and worsted work too, and personally instructed negro girls in the -use of the needle and scissors. All this, with their necessary -visiting and entertaining, and their daily attendance upon the sick -negroes, whom they always visited and cared for in person, served to -make the Virginian women about the busiest women I have ever known. -Even Sunday brought them little rest, for, in addition to other -duties on that day, each of them spent some hours at the "quarters" -holding a Sunday-school. - -Nevertheless the Virginians had a good deal of leisure on their -hands, and their command of time was a very important agent, I should -say, in the formation of their characters as individuals, and as a -people. It bred habits of outdoor exercise, which gave the young -men stalwart frames and robust constitutions. It gave form to their -social life. Above all, it made reading men and students of many, -though their reading and their study were of a somewhat peculiar -kind. They were all Latinists, inasmuch as Latin formed the staple -of their ordinary school course. It was begun early and continued -to the end, and even in after life very many planters were in the -habit of reading their Virgil and their Horace and their Ovid as -an amusement, so that it came to be assumed, quite as a matter of -course, that every gentleman with any pretension to culture could -read Latin easily, and quote Horace and Juvenal from memory. - -But they read English literature still more largely, and in no -part of the country, except in distinctly literary centres like -Cambridge or Concord, are really rich household libraries so common a -possession, I think, as they were among the best classes of Virginian -planters. Let us open the old glass doors and see what books the -Virginians read. The libraries in the old houses were the growth of -many generations, begun perhaps by the English cadet who founded the -family on this side of the water in the middle of the seventeenth -century, and added to little by little from that day to this. They -were especially rich in the English classics, in early editions with -long _s's_ and looped _ct's_, but sadly deficient in the literature -of the present. In one of them, I remember, I found nearly everything -from Chaucer to Byron, and comparatively little that was later. From -Pope to Southey it furnished a pretty complete geologic section of -English literature, and from internal evidence I conclude that when -the founder of the family and the library first took up his residence -in the Old Dominion, Swift was still a contributor to the Gentleman's -Magazine, and Pope was a poet not many years dead. - -There was a copy of "Tom Jones," and another of "Joseph Andrews," -printed in Fielding's own time. The "Spectator" was there, not in the -shape of a reprint, but the original papers, rudely bound, a treasure -brought from England, doubtless, by the immigrant. Richardson, -Smollett, Swift, and the rest were present in contemporary editions; -the poets and essayists, pretty much all of them, in quaint old -volumes; Johnson's "Lives of the Poets;" Sheridan's plays, stitched; -Burke's works; Scott's novels in force, just as they came, one after -another, from the press of the Edinburgh publishers; Miss Edgeworth's -moralities elbowing Mrs. Aphra Behn's strongly tainted romances; Miss -Burney's "Evelina," which was so "proper" that all the young ladies -used to read it, but so dull that nobody ever opens it nowadays; and -scores of other old "new books," which I have no room to catalogue -here, even if I could remember them all. - -Byron appeared, not as a whole, but in separate volumes, bought as -each was published. Even the poor little "Hours of Idleness" was -there, ordered from across the sea, doubtless, in consequence of the -savage treatment it received at the hands of the Edinburgh Review, -bound volumes of which were on the shelves below. There was no copy -of "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," but as nearly all the rest -of Byron's poems were there in original editions, it seems probable -that the satire also had once held a place in the library. It had -been read to pieces, perhaps, or borrowed and never returned. - -There were histories of all kinds, and collected editions of standard -works in plenty, covering a wide field of law, politics, theology, -and what not. - -Of strictly modern books the assortment was comparatively meagre. -Macaulay's "Miscellanies," Motley's "Dutch Republic," Prescott's -"Mexico," "Peru," etc.; stray volumes of Dickens, Thackeray, Bulwer, -and Lever; Kennedy's "Swallow Barn," Cooke's "Virginia Comedians," -half a dozen volumes of Irving, and a few others made up the list. - -Of modern poetry there was not a line, and in this, as in other -respects, the old library--burned during the war--fairly represented -the literary tastes and reading habits of the Virginians in general. -They read little or no recent poetry and not much recent prose. I -think this was not so much the result of prejudice as of education. -The schools in Virginia were excellent ones of their kind, but their -system was that of a century ago. They gave attention chiefly to "the -humanities" and logic, and the education of a Virginian gentleman -resembled that of an Englishman of the last century far more closely -than that of any modern American. The writers of the present -naturally address themselves to men of to-day, and this is precisely -what the Virginians were not, wherefore modern literature was not at -all a thing to their taste. - -To all this there were of course exceptions. I have known some -Virginians who appreciated Tennyson, enjoyed Longfellow and Lowell, -and understood Browning; just as I have known a few who affected a -modern pronunciation of the letter "a" in such words as "master," -"basket," "glass," and "grass." - - - - -A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE MUSTERING. - - -That was an admirable idea of De Quincey's, formally to postulate -any startling theory upon which he desired to build an argument or -a story, and to insist that his readers should regard the postulate -as proved, on pain of losing altogether what he had to say. The -plan is a very convenient one, saving a deal of argument, and -establishing in the outset a very desirable relation of mastery and -subordination between writer and reader. Indeed, but for some such -device I should never be able to get on at all with these sketches, -fully to understand which, the reader must make of himself, for the -time at least, a Confederate. He must put himself in the place of -the Southerners and look at some things through their eyes, if he -would understand those things and their results at all; and as it is -no part of my purpose to write a defense of the Southern view of any -question, it will save a good deal of explanation on my part, and -weariness on the part of the reader, if I follow De Quincey's example -and do a little postulating to begin with. I shall make no attempt -whatever to prove my postulates, but any one interested in these -pages will find it to his advantage to accept them, one and all, as -proved, pending the reading of what is to follow. After that he may -relapse as speedily as he pleases into his own opinions. Here are the -postulates:-- - -1. The Southerners honestly believed in the right of secession, not -merely as a revolutionary, but as a constitutional right. They not -only held that whenever any people finds the government under which -it is living oppressive and subversive of the ends for which it -was instituted, it is both the right and the duty of that people to -throw off the government and establish a new one in its stead; but -they believed also that every State in the Union held the reserved -right, under the constitution, to withdraw peaceably from the Union -at pleasure. - -2. They believed that every man's allegiance was due to his State -only, and that it was only by virtue of the State's continuance in -the Union that any allegiance was due to the general government -at all; wherefore the withdrawal of a State from the Union would -of itself absolve all the citizens of that State from whatever -obligations they were under to maintain and respect the Federal -constitution. In other words, patriotism, as the South understood it, -meant devotion to one's State, and only a secondary and consequential -devotion to the Union, existing as a result of the State's action in -making itself a part of the Union, and terminable at any time by the -State's withdrawal. - -3. They were as truly and purely patriotic in their secession and in -the fighting which followed, as were the people of the North in their -adherence to the Union itself. The difference was one of opinion as -to what the duties of a patriot were, and not at all a difference in -the degree of patriotism existing in the two sections. - -4. You, reader, who shouldered your musket and fought like the hero -you are, for the Union and the old flag, if you had been bred at the -South, and had understood your duty as the Southerners did theirs, -would have fought quite as bravely for secession as you did against -it; and you would have been quite as truly a hero in the one case as -in the other, because in either you would have risked your life for -the sake of that which you held to be the right. If the reader will -bear all this in mind we shall get on much better than we otherwise -could, in our effort to catch a glimpse of the war from a Southern -point of view. - -With all its horrors and in spite of the wretchedness it has wrought, -this war of ours, in some of its aspects at least, begins to look -like a very ridiculous affair, now that we are getting too far away -from it to hear the rattle of the musketry; and I have a mind, in -this chapter, to review one of its most ridiculous phases, to wit, -its beginning. We all remember Mr. Webster's pithy putting of the -case with regard to our forefathers of a hundred years ago: "They -went to war against a preamble. They fought seven years against -a declaration. They poured out their treasures and their blood -like water, in a contest in opposition to an assertion." Now it -seems to me that something very much like this might be said of -the Southerners, and particularly of the Virginians, without whose -pluck and pith there could have been no war at all worth writing -or talking about. They made war upon a catch-word, and fought until -they were hopelessly ruined for the sake of an abstraction. And -certainly history will not find it to the discredit of those people -that they freely offered themselves upon the altar of an abstract -principle of right, in a war which they knew must work hopeless ruin -to themselves, whatever its other results might be. Virginia did not -want to secede, and her decision to this effect was given in the -election of a convention composed for the most part of men strongly -opposed to secession. The Virginians believed they had both a moral -and a constitutional right to withdraw voluntarily from a Union into -which they had voluntarily gone, but the majority of them preferred -to remain as they were. They did not feel themselves particularly -aggrieved or threatened by the election of Mr. Lincoln, and so, -while they never doubted that they had an unquestionable right to -secede at will, they decided by their votes not to do anything of -the kind. This decision was given in the most unmistakable way, -by heavy majorities, in an election which involved no other issue -whatever. But without Virginia the States which had already passed -ordinances of secession would have been wholly unable to sustain -themselves. Virginia's strength in men, material, and geographical -position was very necessary, for one thing, and her moral influence -on North Carolina, Arkansas, and other hesitating States, was even -more essential to the success of the movement. Accordingly every -possible effort was made to "fire the heart" of the conservative -old commonwealth. Delegations, with ponderous stump speeches in -their mouths and parchment appeals in their hands, were sent from -the seceding States to Richmond, while every Virginian who actively -favored secession was constituted a committee of one to cultivate a -public sentiment in favor of the movement. - -Then came such a deluge of stump speeches as would have been -impossible in any other state or country in the civilized world, for -there never yet was a Virginian who could not, on occasion, acquit -himself very well on the hustings. The process of getting up the -requisite amount of enthusiasm, in the country districts especially, -was in many cases a very laughable one. In one county, I remember, -the principal speakers were three lawyers of no very great weight -except in a time of excitement. One of them was colonel of the county -militia, another lieutenant-colonel, and the third captain of a troop -of volunteer cavalry, a fine body of men, who spent three or four -days of each month partly in practicing a system of drill which, I -am persuaded, is as yet wholly undreamed of by any of the writers -upon tactics, and partly in cultivating the social virtues over that -peculiar species of feast known as a barbecue. When it became evident -that the people of Virginia were not duly impressed with the wrong -done them in the election of Mr. Lincoln, these were unquestionably -the right men in the right places. They were especially fond of -fervid speech-making, and not one of them had ever been known to -neglect an opportunity to practice it; each could make a speech on -any subject at a moment's warning. They spoke quite as well on a -poor theme as on a good one, and it was even claimed for one of them -that his eloquence waxed hottest when he had no subject at all to -talk about. Here, then, was their opportunity. The ever-full vials -of their eloquence waited only for the uncorking. It was the rule of -their lives to make a speech wherever and whenever they could get an -audience, and under the militia law they could, at will, compel the -attendance of a body of listeners consisting of pretty nearly all the -voters of the county, plus the small boys. When they were big with -speech they had only to order a drill. If a new gush of words or a -felicitous illustration occurred to them overnight, they called a -general muster for the next day. Two of them were candidates, against -a quiet and sensible planter, for the one seat allowed the county in -the convention, and the only difference of opinion there was between -them was involved in the question whether the ordinance of secession -should be adopted _before or after_ breakfast on the morning of the -first day of the convention's existence. One wanted coffee first and -the other did not. On the day of election, a drunken fellow, without -a thought of saying a good thing, apologized to one of them for not -having voted for him, saying, "I promised you, Sam,--but I couldn't -do it. You're a good fellow, Sam, and smart at a speech, but you see, -Sam, you _haven't the weight o' head_." The people, as the result of -the election showed, entertained a like view of the matter, and the -lawyers were both beaten by the old planter. - -It was not until after the convention assembled, however, that -the eloquence of the triad came into full play. They then labored -unceasingly to find words with which to express their humiliation in -view of the degeneracy and cowardice of the ancient commonwealth. - -They rejoiced in the thought that sooner or later the People--which -they always pronounced with an uncommonly big P--would "hurl those -degenerate sons of illustrious sires," meaning thereby the gentlemen -who had been elected to the convention, "from the seats which they -were now polluting," and a good deal more of a similar sort, the -point of which was that these orators longed for war of the bloodiest -kind, and were happy in the belief that it would come, in spite of -the fact that the convention was overwhelmingly against secession. - -Now, in view of the subsequent history of these belligerent orators, -it would be a very interesting thing to know just what they thought -a war between the sections promised. One of them, as I have said, -was colonel of the two or three hundred militia-men mustered in -the county. Another was lieutenant-colonel, and the third was -captain of a volunteer troop, organized under the militia law for -purposes of amusement, chiefly. This last one could, of course, -retain his rank, should his company be mustered into service, and -the other two firmly believed that they would be called into camp -as full-fledged field-officers. In view of this, the colonel, in -one of his speeches, urged upon his men the necessity of a rigid -self-examination, touching the matter of personal courage, before -going, in his regiment, to the battle-field; "For," said he, "where -G. leads, brave men must follow," a bit of rhetoric which brought -down the house as a matter of course. The others were equally valiant -in anticipation of war and equally eager for its coming; and yet -when the war did come, so sorely taxing the resources of the South -as to make a levy _en masse_ necessary, not one of the three ever -managed to hear the whistle of a bullet. The colonel did indeed -go as far as Richmond, during the spring of 1861, but discovering -there that he was physically unfit for service, went no farther. The -lieutenant-colonel ran away from the field while the battle was yet -afar off, and the captain, suffering from "nervous prostration," sent -in his resignation, which was unanimously accepted by his men, on the -field during the first battle of Bull Run. - -I sketch these three men and their military careers not without a -purpose. They serve to correct an error. They were types of a class -which brought upon the South a deal of odium. Noisy speech-makers, -they were too often believed by strangers to be, as they pretended, -representative men, and their bragging, their intolerance, their -contempt for the North, their arrogance,--all these were commonly -laid to the charge of the Southern people as a whole. As a matter -of fact, these were not representative men at all. They assumed the -_rôle_ of leadership on the court-house greens, but were repudiated -by the people at the polls first, and afterwards when the volunteers -were choosing officers to command them in actual warfare. These men -were clamorous demagogues and nothing else. They had no influence -whatever upon the real people. Their vaporings were applauded and -laughed at. The applause was ridicule, and the laughter was closely -akin to jeering. - -Meantime a terrible dread was brooding over the minds of the -Virginian people. They were brave men and patriots, who would -maintain their honor at any cost. They were ready to sacrifice -their lives and their treasures in a hopeless struggle about an -abstraction, should the time come when their sense of right and honor -required the sacrifice at their hands. There was no cowardice and no -hesitation to be expected of them when the call should come. But -they dreaded war, and most of them prayed that it might never be. -They saw only desolation in its face. They knew it would lay waste -their fields and bring want upon their families, however it might -result in regard to the great political questions involved in it. -And so they refused to go headlong into a war which meant for them -destruction. Some of them, believing that there was no possibility of -avoiding the struggle, thought it the part of wisdom to accept the -inevitable and begin hostilities at once, while the North was still -but poorly prepared for aggressive measures. But the majority of the -Virginians were disposed to wait and to avoid war altogether, if that -should prove possible. These said, "We should remain quiet until -some overt act of hostility shall make resistance necessary." And -these were called cowards and fogies by the brave men of the hustings -already alluded to. - -There was still another class of men who were opposed to secession -in any case. Of these, William C. Wickham, of Hanover, and Jubal -Early will serve as examples. They thought secession unnecessary and -imprudent in any conceivable event. They believed that it offered no -remedy for existing or possible ills, and that it could result only -in the prostration of the South. They opposed it, therefore, with -all their might; not only as not yet called for, but as suicidal in -any event, and not to be thought of at all. And yet these men, when -the war came, believed it to be their duty to side with their State, -and fought so manfully in behalf of the South as to make themselves -famous military leaders. - -Why, then, the reader doubtless asks, if this was the temper of -the Virginians, did Virginia secede after all? I answer, because -circumstances ultimately so placed the Virginians that they could -not, without cowardice and dishonor, do otherwise; and the -Virginians are brave men and honorable ones. They believed, as I have -said, in the abstract right of any State to secede at will. Indeed, -this right was to them as wholly unquestioned and unquestionable as -is the right of the States to establish free schools, or to do any -other thing pertaining to local self-government. The question of -the correctness or incorrectness of the doctrine is not now to the -purpose. The Virginians, almost without an exception, believed and -had always believed it absolutely, and believing it, they held of -necessity that the general government had no right, legal or moral, -to coerce a seceding State; and so, when the President called upon -Virginia for her quota of troops with which to compel the return of -the seceding States, she could not possibly obey without doing that -which her people believed to be an outrage upon the rights of sister -commonwealths, for which, as they held, there was no warrant in law -or equity. - -She heartily condemned the secession of South Carolina and the rest -as unnecessary, ill-advised, and dangerous; but their secession did -not concern her except as a looker-on, and she had not only refused -to be a partaker in it, but had also felt a good deal of indignation -against the men who were thus endangering the peace of the land. When -she was called upon to assist in reducing these States to submission, -however, she could no longer remain a spectator. She must furnish the -troops, and so assist in doing that which she believed to be utterly -wrong, or she must herself withdraw from the Union. The question was -thus narrowed down to this: Should Virginia seek safety in dishonor, -or should she meet destruction in doing that which she believed to be -right? Such a question was not long to be debated. Two days after the -proclamation was published Virginia seceded, not because she wanted -to secede,--not because she believed it wise,--but because, as she -understood the matter, the only other course open to her would have -been cowardly and dishonorable. - -Now, unless I am sadly mistaken, the Virginians understood what -secession implied much more perfectly than did the rest of the -Southern people. They anticipated no child's play, and having cast in -their lot with the South, they began at once to get ready for war. -From one end of the State to the other, every county seat became -a drill field. The courts suspended their sessions, on the ground -that it was not a proper time for the enforced collection of debts. -Volunteer companies soon drained the militia organization of its -men. Public opinion said that every man who did not embrace the very -surest and earliest opportunity of getting himself mustered into -actual service was a coward; and so, to withdraw from the militia and -join a volunteer company, and make a formal tender of services to -the State, became absolutely essential to the maintenance of one's -reputation as a gentleman. - -The drilling, of which there was literally no end, was simply funny. -Maneuvers of the most utterly impossible sort were carefully taught -to the men. Every amateur officer had his own pet system of tactics, -and the effect of the incongruous teachings, when brought out in -battalion drill, closely resembled that of the music at Mr. Bob -Sawyer's party, where each guest sang the chorus to the tune he knew -best. - -The militia colonels, having assumed a sort of general authority over -the volunteer companies which had been formed out of the old militia -material, were not satisfied with daily musterings of the men under -their captains,--musterings which left the field-officers nothing to -do,--and so in a good many of the counties they ordered all the men -into camp at the county seat, and drew upon the people for provisions -with which to feed them. The camps were irregular, disorderly -affairs, over which no rod of discipline could very well be held, as -the men were not legally soldiers, and the only punishment possible -for disobedience or neglect of duty was a small fine, which the -willful men, with true Virginian contempt for money in small sums, -paid cheerfully as a tax upon jollity. - -The camping, however, was enjoyable in itself, and as most of the men -had nothing else to do, the attendance upon roll-call was a pretty -full one. Every man brought a servant or two with him, of course. How -else were his boots and his accouterments to be kept clean, his horse -to be groomed, and his meals cooked? Most of the ladies came, too, in -their carriages every morning, returning to their homes only as night -came on; and so the camps were very picturesque and very delightful -places to be in. All the men wore epaulets of a gorgeousness rarely -equaled except in portraits of field-marshals, and every man was a -hero in immediate prospect. - -One day an alarming report came, to the effect that a little -transport steamer, well known in James River, was on her way up to -Richmond with ten thousand troops on board, and instantly the camps -at the court-houses along the railroads were astir. It entered into -nobody's head to inquire where so many troops could have come from -at a time when the entire active force of the United States army -from Maine to Oregon was hardly greater than that; nor did anybody -seem surprised that the whole ten thousand had managed to bestow -themselves on board a steamer the carrying capacity of which had -hitherto been about four or five hundred men. The report was accepted -as true, and everybody believed that the ten thousand men would be -poured into Richmond's defenseless streets within an hour or two. In -the particular county to which I have alluded in the beginning of -this chapter, the cavalry captain sent for half a dozen grindstones, -and set his men to grinding their sabres,--a process which utterly -ruined the blades, of course. The militia colonel telegraphed a stump -speech or two to Richmond, which did no particular harm, as the old -station agent who officiated as operator could not for his life send -a message of more than three words so that it could be read at the -other end of the line. A little telegraphic swearing came back over -the wires, but beyond that the colonel's glowing messages resulted -in nothing. Turning his attention to matters more immediately within -his control, therefore, he ordered the drums to beat, and assembling -the men he marched them boldly down to the railroad station, where -mounting a goods box he told them that the time for speech-making was -now past; that the enemy (I am not sure that he did not say "vandal," -and make some parenthetical remarks about "Attila flags" and things -of that sort which were favorites with him) was now at our very -thresholds; that he (the colonel) had marched his command to the -depot in answer to the call of his country; that they would proceed -thence by rail to Richmond and at once encounter the enemy, etc., -etc., etc. He had already telegraphed, he said, to General Lee and to -Governor Letcher, requesting them to dispatch a train (the colonel -would have scorned to say "send cars" even in a telegram), and the -iron horse was doubtless already on its way. - -No train came, however, and after nightfall the men were marched back -to their quarters in the court-house. - -A few days later some genuine orders came from Richmond, accepting -the proffered services of all the companies organized in the -county, and ordering all, except the one cavalry troop, into camp -at Richmond. These orders, by some strange oversight, the colonel -explained, were addressed, not to him as colonel, but to the several -captains individually. He was not disposed to stand on ceremony, -however, he said; and so, without waiting for the clerical error -to be rectified, he would comply with the spirit of the order, and -take the troops to Richmond as soon as the necessary transportation -should arrive. Transportation was a good, mouth-filling word, which -suited the colonel exactly. In order that there should be no delay or -miscarriage, he marched the men a hundred yards down the hill to the -station, ten hours in advance of the time at which the cars were to -be there; and as there was nothing else to do, he and his lieutenant -thought the occasion a good one for the making of a speech apiece. -The colonel expressed his hearty sympathy with the woes of the -cavalry, who were to be left at home, while the infantry was winning -renown. And yet, he said, he had expected this from the first. The -time had been, he explained, when the cavalry was the quick-moving -arm of the service, but now that the iron horse-- The reader -must imagine the rest of that grandiloquent sentence. I value my -reputation for veracity too much to risk it by following the colonel -in this, his supreme burst of impassioned oratory. He was sorry for -the cavalry, but they should console themselves with the thought -that, as preservers of order in the community and protectors of their -homes, they would not be wholly useless in their own humble way; and -should any of them visit the army, they would always meet a hearty -welcome in his camp. For the present his head-quarters would be in -the Spottswood Hotel, and he would be glad, whenever military duty -did not too greatly absorb his attention, to grasp the hand of any -member of the troop who, wishing to catch a glimpse of real warfare, -should seek him there. - -The train came, after a while, and the unappreciative railroad -men obstinately insisted that the State paid for the passage of -certain designated companies only, and that these distinguished -field-officers, if they traveled by that train at all, must pay -their way at regular passenger rates. The colonel and his lieutenant -pocketed the insult and paid their fare; but when, upon the arrival -of the troops at Richmond, nobody seemed to know anything about -these field-officers, and the companies were sent, without them, -into camps of instruction, the gallant leaders returned by passenger -train to their homes. The colonel came back, he said in a speech at -the station, still further to stir the patriotism of the people. -He had been in consultation with the authorities in Richmond; and -while it would not be proper for him to reveal even to these, his -patriotic countrymen, the full plan of campaign confided to him as -a field-officer, he might at least say to them that the government, -within ten days, would have fifteen thousand men in line on the -Potomac, and then, with perchance a bloody but very brief struggle, -this overwhelming force would dictate terms to the tyrants at -Washington. - -This time the colonel got himself unmistakably laughed at, and, so -far as I have heard, he made no more speeches. - -Meantime it had become evident to everybody that a very real and -a very terrible war was in prospect, and there was no longer any -disposition to tolerate nonsense of the sort I have been describing. -As fast as arrangements could be made for their accommodation, the -volunteers from every part of the State were ordered into camps of -instruction at Richmond and Ashland. As soon as any company was -deemed fit for service, it was sent to the front and assigned to -a regiment. Troops from other States were constantly pouring into -Richmond, and marching thence to the armies which were forming in the -field. The speech-making was over forever, and the work of the war -had begun. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE MEN WHO MADE THE ARMY. - - -A newspaper correspondent has told us that the great leader of the -German armies, Count Von Moltke, has never read anything--even a -history--of our war, and that when questioned on the subject, he has -said he could not afford to spend time over "the wrangling of two -armed mobs." If he ever said anything of the kind, which is doubtful, -his characterization of the two armies had reference, probably, to -their condition during the first year or two of the struggle, when -they could lay very little claim indeed to any more distinctively -military title. The Southern army, at any rate, was simply a vast mob -of rather ill-armed young gentlemen from the country.[1] As I have -said in a previous chapter, every gentleman in Virginia, not wholly -incapable of rendering service, enlisted at the beginning of the war, -and the companies, unarmed, untrained, and hardly even organized, -were sent at once to camps of instruction. Here they were in theory -drilled and disciplined and made into soldiers, by the little handful -of available West-Pointers and the lads from the Military Institute -at Lexington. In point of fact, they were only organized and taught -the rudiments of the drill before being sent to the front as -full-fledged soldiers; and it was only after a year or more of active -service in the field that they began to suspect what the real work -and the real character of the modern soldier is. - -Our ideas of the life and business of a soldier were drawn chiefly -from the adventures of Ivanhoe and Charles O'Malley, two worthies -with whose personal history almost every man in the army was -familiar. The men who volunteered went to war of their own accord, -and were wholly unaccustomed to acting on any other than their -own motion. They were hardy lovers of field sports, accustomed to -out-door life, and in all physical respects excellent material -of which to make an army. But they were not used to control of -any sort, and were not disposed to obey anybody except for good -and sufficient reason given. While actually on drill they obeyed -the word of command, not so much by reason of its being proper to -obey a command, as because obedience was in that case necessary to -the successful issue of a pretty performance in which they were -interested. Off drill they did as they pleased, holding themselves -gentlemen, and as such bound to consult only their own wills. Their -officers were of themselves, chosen by election, and subject, by -custom, to enforced resignation upon petition of the men. Only -corporals cared sufficiently little for their position to risk any -magnifying of their office by the enforcement of discipline. I make -of them an honorable exception, out of regard for the sturdy corporal -who, at Ashland, marched six of us (a guard detail) through the very -middle of a puddle, assigning as his reason for doing so the fact -that "It's plagued little authority they give us corporals, and -I mean to use that little, any how." Even corporals were elected, -however, and until December, 1861, I never knew a single instance in -which a captain dared offend his men by breaking a non-commissioned -officer, or appointing one, without submitting the matter to a vote -of the company. In that first instance the captain had to bolster -himself up with written authority from head-quarters, and even then -it required three weeks of mingled diplomacy and discipline to quell -the mutiny which resulted. - -With troops of this kind, the reader will readily understand, a -feeling of very democratic equality prevailed, so far at least as -military rank had anything to do with it. Officers were no better -than men, and so officers and men messed and slept together on terms -of entire equality, quarreling and even fighting now and then, in a -gentlemanly way, but without a thought of allowing differences of -military rank to have any influence in the matter. The theory was -that the officers were the creatures of the men, chosen by election -to represent their constituency in the performance of certain duties, -and that only during good behavior. And to this theory the officers -themselves gave in their adhesion in a hundred ways. Indeed, they -could do nothing else, inasmuch as they knew no way of quelling a -mutiny. - -There was one sort of rank, however, which was both maintained and -respected from the first, namely, that of social life. The line of -demarkation between gentry and common people is not more sharply -drawn anywhere than in Virginia. It rests there upon an indeterminate -something or other, known as family. To come of a good family is -a patent of nobility, and there is no other way whatever by which -any man or any woman can find a passage into the charmed circle of -Virginia's peerage. There is no college of heralds, to be sure, to -which doubtful cases may be referred, and there is no law governing -the matter; but every Virginian knows what families are, and what are -not good ones, and so mistakes are impossible. The social position of -every man is sharply defined, and every man carried it with him into -the army. The man of good family felt himself superior, as in most -cases he unquestionably was, to his fellow-soldier of less excellent -birth; and this distinction was sufficient, during the early years of -the war, to override everything like military rank. In one instance -which I remember, a young private asserted his superiority of social -standing so effectually as to extort from the lieutenant commanding -his company a public apology for an insult offered in the subjection -of the private to double duty, as a punishment for absence from -roll-call. The lieutenant was brave enough to have taken a flogging -at the hands of the insulted private, perhaps, but he could not face -the declared sentiment of the entire company, and so he apologized. -I have known numberless cases in which privates have declined dinner -and other invitations from officers who had presumed upon their -shoulder-straps in asking the company of their social superiors. - -In the camp of instruction at Ashland, where the various cavalry -companies existing in Virginia were sent to be made into soldiers, it -was a very common thing indeed for men who grew tired of camp fare to -take their meals at the hotel, and one or two of them rented cottages -and brought their families there, excusing themselves from attendance -upon unreasonably early roll-calls, by pleading the distance from -their cottages to the parade-ground. Whenever a detail was made for -the purpose of cleaning the camp-ground, the men detailed regarded -themselves as responsible for the proper performance of the task by -their servants, and uncomplainingly took upon themselves the duty -of sitting on the fence and superintending the work. The two or -three men of the overseer class who were to be found in nearly every -company turned some nimble quarters by standing other men's turns -of guard-duty at twenty-five cents an hour; and one young gentleman -of my own company, finding himself assigned to a picket rope post, -where his only duty was to guard the horses and prevent them, in -their untrained exuberance of spirit, from becoming entangled in -each other's heels and halters, coolly called his servant and turned -the matter over to him, with a rather informal but decidedly pointed -injunction not to let those horses get themselves into trouble if he -valued his hide. This case coming to the ears of Colonel (afterwards -General) Ewell, who was commanding the camp, that officer reorganized -the guard service upon principles as novel as they were objectionable -to the men. He required the men to stand their own turns, and, worse -than that, introduced the system, in vogue among regular troops, of -keeping the entire guard detail at the guard-house when not on post, -an encroachment upon personal liberty which sorely tried the patience -of the young cavaliers. - -It was in this undisciplined state that the men who afterwards made -up the army under Lee were sent to the field to meet the enemy at -Bull Run and elsewhere, and the only wonder is that they were ever -able to fight at all. They were certainly not soldiers. They were -as ignorant of the alphabet of obedience as their officers were of -the art of commanding. And yet they acquitted themselves reasonably -well, a fact which can be explained only by reference to the causes -of their insubordination in camp. These men were the people of the -South, and the war was their own; wherefore they fought to win it of -their own accord, and not at all because their officers commanded -them to do so. Their personal spirit and their intelligence were -their sole elements of strength. Death has few terrors for such men, -as compared with dishonor, and so they needed no officers at all, and -no discipline, to insure their personal good conduct on the field -of battle. The same elements of character, too, made them accept -hardship with the utmost cheerfulness, as soon as hardship became a -necessary condition to the successful prosecution of a war that every -man of them regarded as his own. In camp, at Richmond or Ashland, -they had shunned all unnecessary privation and all distasteful duty, -because they then saw no occasion to endure avoidable discomfort. But -in the field they showed themselves great, stalwart men in spirit -as well as in bodily frame, and endured cheerfully the hardships of -campaigning precisely as they would have borne the fatigues of a -hunt, as incidents encountered in the prosecution of their purposes. - -During the spring and early summer of 1861, the men did not dream -that they were to be paid anything for their services, or even -that the government was to clothe them. They had bought their own -uniforms, and whenever these wore out they ordered new ones to be -sent, by the first opportunity, from home. I remember the very first -time the thought of getting clothing from the government ever entered -my own mind. I was serving in Stuart's cavalry, and the summer of -1861 was nearly over. My boots had worn out, and as there happened -at the time to be a strict embargo upon all visiting on the part of -non-military people, I could not get a new pair from home. The spurs -of my comrades had made uncomfortable impressions upon my bare feet -every day for a week, when some one suggested that I might possibly -buy a pair of boots from the quartermaster, who was for the first -time in possession of some government property of that description. -When I returned with the boots and reported that the official had -refused my proffered cash, contenting himself with charging the -amount against me as a debit to be deducted from the amount of my -_pay and clothing allowance_, there was great merriment in the camp. -The idea that there was anybody back of us in this war--anybody -who could, by any ingenuity of legal quibbling, be supposed to be -indebted to us for our voluntary services in our own cause--was too -ridiculous to be treated seriously. "Pay money" became the standing -subject for jests. The card-playing with which the men amused -themselves suffered a revolution at once; euchre gave place to poker, -played for "pay money," the winnings to fall due when pay-day should -come,--a huge joke which was heartily enjoyed. - -From this the reader will see how little was done in the beginning -of the war toward the organization of an efficient quartermaster's -department, and how completely this ill-organized and undisciplined -mob of plucky gentlemen was left to prosecute the war as best it -could, trusting to luck for clothing and even for food. Of these -things I shall have occasion to speak more fully in a future chapter, -wherein I shall have something to say of the management of affairs at -Richmond. At present, I merely refer to the matter for the purpose -of correcting an error (if I may hope to do that) which seems -likely to creep into history. We have been told over and over again -that the Confederate army could not possibly have given effectual -pursuit to General McDowell's flying forces after the battle of -Bull Run. It is urged, in defense of the inaction which made of -that day's work a waste effort, that we could not move forward -for want of transportation and supplies. Now, without discussing -the question whether or not a prompt movement on Washington would -have resulted favorably to the Confederates, I am certain, as -every man who was there is, that this want of transportation and -supplies had nothing whatever to do with it. We had no supplies -of any importance, it is true, but none were coming to us there, -and we were no whit better off in this regard at Manassas than we -would have been before Washington. And having nothing to transport, -we needed no transportation. Had the inefficiency of the supply -department stopped short at its failure to furnish wagon trains, it -might have stood in the way of a forward movement. But that was no -ordinary incompetence which governed this department of our service -in all its ramifications. The breadth and comprehensiveness of that -incompetence were its distinguishing characteristics. In failing -to furnish anything to transport, it neutralized its failure to -furnish transportation, and the army that fought at Bull Run would -have been as well off anywhere else as there, during the next ten -days. Indeed, two days after the battle we were literally starved out -at Manassas, and were forced to advance to Fairfax Court House in -order to get the supplies which the Union army had left in abundance -wherever there was a storing-place for them. The next morning after -the battle, many of the starving men went off on their own account -to get provisions, and they knew very well where to find them. There -were none at Manassas, but by crossing Bull Run and following the -line of the Federal retreat, we soon gathered a store sufficient to -last us, while the authorities of the quartermaster's department were -finding out how to transport the few sheet-iron frying-pans which, -with an unnecessary tent here and there, were literally the only -things there were to be transported at all. Food, which was the only -really necessary thing just then, lay ahead of us and nowhere else. -All the ammunition we had we could and did move with the wagons at -hand. - -To return to the temper of the troops and people. Did the Southerners -really think themselves a match for ten times their own numbers? I -know the reader wants to ask this question, because almost everybody -I talk to on the subject asks it in one shape or another. In answer -let me say, I think a few of the more enthusiastic women, cherishing -a blind faith in the righteousness of their cause, and believing, -in spite of historical precedent, that wars always end with strict -regard to the laws of poetic justice, did think something of the -sort; and I am certain that all the stump speakers of the kind I -have hitherto described held a like faith most devoutly. But with -these exceptions I never saw any Southerner who hoped for any but -well-fought-for success. It was not a question of success or defeat -with them at all. They thought they saw their duty plainly, and they -did it without regard to the consequences. Their whole hearts were -in the cause, and as they were human beings they naturally learned -to expect the result for which they were laboring and fighting and -suffering; but they based no hopes upon any such fancy as that the -Virginian soldier was the military equivalent of ten or of two -Pennsylvanians armed as well as he. On the contrary, they busily -counted the chances and weighed the probabilities on both sides from -the first. They claimed an advantage in the fact that their young -men were more universally accustomed to field sports and the use of -arms than were those of the North. They thought too, that, fighting -on their own soil, in an essentially defensive struggle, they would -have some advantage, as they certainly did. They thought they might -in the end tire their enemy out, and they hoped from the first for -relief through foreign intervention in some shape. These were the -grounds of their hopes; but had there been no hope for them at all, I -verily believe they would have fought all the same. Certainly they -had small reason to hope for success after the campaign of 1863, but -they fought on nevertheless, until they could fight no more. Let the -reader remember that as the Southerners understood the case, they -could not, without a complete sacrifice of honor, do anything else -than fight on until utterly crushed, and he will then be prepared to -understand how small a figure the question of success or failure cut -in determining their course. - -The unanimity of the people was simply marvelous. So long as the -question of secession was under discussion, opinions were both -various and violent. The moment secession was finally determined -upon, a revolution was wrought. There was no longer anything to -discuss, and so discussion ceased. Men got ready for war, and -delicate women with equal spirit sent them off with smiling faces. -The man who tarried at home for never so brief a time, after -the call to arms had been given, found it necessary to explain -himself to every woman of his acquaintance, and no explanation was -sufficient to shield him from the social ostracism consequent upon -any long-tarrying. Throughout the war it was the same, and when the -war ended the men who lived to return were greeted with sad faces by -those who had cheerfully and even joyously sent them forth to the -battle. - -Under these circumstances, the reader will readily understand, the -first call for troops took nearly all the men of Virginia away from -their homes. Even the boys in the colleges and schools enlisted, and -these establishments were forced to suspend for want of students. In -one college the president organized the students, and making himself -their commander, led them directly from the class-room to the field. -So strong and all-embracing was the thought that every man owed it -to the community to become a soldier, that even clergymen went into -the army by the score, and large districts of country were left too -without a physician, until the people could secure, by means of a -memorial, the unanimous vote of the company to which some favorite -physician belonged, declaring it to be his patriotic duty to remain -at home. Without such an instruction from his comrades no physician -would consent to withdraw, and even with it very many of them -preferred to serve in the ranks. - -These were the men of whom the Confederate army was for the first -year or two chiefly composed. After that the conscription brought -in a good deal of material which was worse than useless. There were -some excellent soldiers who came into the army as conscripts, but -they were exceptions to the rule. For the most part the men whose -bodies were thus lugged in by force had no spirits to bring with -them. They had already lived a long time under all the contumely -which a reputation for confessed cowardice could bring upon them. -The verdict of their neighbors was already pronounced, and they could -not possibly change it now by good conduct. They brought discontent -with them into the camp, and were sullenly worthless as soldiers -throughout. They were a leaven of demoralization which the army would -have been better without. But they were comparatively few in number, -and as the character of the army was crystallized long before these -men came into it at all, they had little influence in determining the -conduct of the whole. If they added nothing to our strength, they -could do little to weaken us, and in any estimate of the character -of the Confederate army they hardly count at all. The men who early -in the war struggled for a place in the front rank, whenever there -was chance of a fight, and thought themselves unlucky if they -failed to get it, are the men who gave character afterwards to the -well-organized and well-disciplined army which so long contested the -ground before Richmond. They did become soldiers after a while, well -regulated and thoroughly effective. The process of disciplining them -took away none of their personal spirit or their personal interest -in the war, but it taught them the value of unquestioning obedience, -and the virtue there was in yielding it. I remember very well the -extreme coolness with which, in one of the valley skirmishes, a few -days before the first battle of Bull Run, a gentleman private in my -own company rode out of the ranks for the purpose of suggesting to -J. E. B. Stuart the propriety of charging a gun which was shelling -us, and which seemed nearer to us than to its supporting infantry. I -heard another gentleman without rank, who had brought a dispatch to -Stonewall Jackson, request that officer to "cut the answer short," -on the ground that his horse was a little lame and he feared his -inability to deliver it as promptly as was desirable. These men and -their comrades lost none of this personal solicitude for the proper -conduct of the war, in process of becoming soldiers, but they learned -not to question or advise, when their duty was to listen and obey. -Their very errors, as General Stuart once said in my hearing, proved -them the best of material out of which to make soldiers. "They are -pretty good officers now," he said, "and after a while they will make -excellent soldiers too. They only need _reducing to the ranks_." - -This personal interest in the war, which in their undisciplined -beginning led them into indiscreet meddling with details of policy -belonging to their superiors, served to sustain them when as -disciplined soldiers they were called upon to bear a degree of -hardship of which they had never dreamed. They learned to trust -the management of affairs to the officers, asking no questions, -but finding their own greatest usefulness in cheerful and ready -obedience. The wish to help, which made them unsoldierly at first, -served to make them especially good soldiers when it was duly -tempered with discipline and directed by experience. The result was -that even in the darkest days of the struggle, when these soldiers -knew they were losing everything but their honor, when desperation -led them to think of a thousand expedients and to see every blunder -that was made, they waited patiently for the word of command, and -obeyed it with alacrity and cheerfulness when it came, however absurd -it might seem. I remember an incident which will serve to illustrate -this. The Federal forces one day captured an important fort on the -north side of James River, which had been left almost unguarded, -through the blundering of the officer charged with its defense. It -must be retaken, or the entire line in that place must be abandoned, -and a new one built, at great risk of losing Richmond. Two bodies of -infantry were ordered to charge it on different sides, while the -command to which I was then attached should shell it vigorously with -mortars. In order that the attack might be simultaneously made on the -two sides, a specific time was set for it, but for some unexplained -reason there was a misunderstanding between the two commanders. The -one on the farther side began the attack twenty minutes too soon. -Every man of the other body, which lay there by our still silent -mortars, knew perfectly well that the attack had begun, and that they -ought to strike then if at all. They knew that, without their aid and -that of the mortars, their friends would be repulsed, and that a like -result would follow their own assault when it should be made, twenty -minutes later. They remained as they were, however, hearing the -rattle of the musketry and listening with calm faces to the exulting -cheers of the victorious enemy. Then came their own time, and knowing -perfectly well that their assault was now a useless waste of life, -they obeyed the order as it had been delivered to them, and knocked -at the very gates of that fortress for an hour. These men, in -1861, would have clamored for immediate attack as the only hope of -accomplishing anything, and had their commander insisted, in such a -case, upon obeying orders, they would in all probability have charged -without him. In 1864, having become soldiers, they obeyed orders even -at cost of failure. They had reduced themselves to the ranks--that -was all. - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] In order that no reader may misconceive the spirit in which this -chapter is written, I wish to say, at the outset, that in commenting -upon the material of which the Southern army was made up, nothing has -been further from my thought than to reflect, even by implication, -upon the character of the Union army or of the men who composed it, -for indeed I honor both as highly as anybody can. I think I have -outlived whatever war prejudices I may have brought with me out of -the struggle, and in writing of some of the better characteristics of -the early Virginian volunteers, I certainly have not meant to deny -equal or like excellence to their foemen. I happen, however, to know -a great deal about the one army and very little about the other,--a -state of things consequent upon the peculiar warmth with which we -were always greeted whenever we undertook to visit the camps of our -friends on the other side. Will the reader please bear in mind, -then, that my estimate of the character of the Southern troops is a -positive and not a comparative one, and that nothing said in praise -of the one army is meant to be a reflection upon the other? Between -Bull Run and Appomattox I had ample opportunity to learn respect for -the courage and manliness of the men who overcame us, and since the -close of the war I have learned to know many of them as tried and -true friends, and gentlemen of noblest mold. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE TEMPER OF THE WOMEN. - - -During the latter part of the year in which the war between the -States came to an end, a Southern comic writer, in a letter addressed -to Artemus Ward, summed up the political outlook in one sentence, -reading somewhat as follows: "You may reconstruct the men, with your -laws and things, but how are you going to reconstruct the women? -_Whoop-ee!_" Now this unauthorized but certainly very expressive -interjection had a deal of truth at its back, and I am very sure -that I have never yet known a thoroughly "reconstructed" woman. The -reason, of course, is not far to seek. The women of the South could -hardly have been more desperately in earnest than their husbands and -brothers and sons were, in the prosecution of the war, but with -their woman-natures they gave themselves wholly to the cause, and -having loved it heartily when it gave promise of a sturdy life, they -almost worship it now that they have strewn its bier with funeral -flowers. To doubt its righteousness, or to falter in their loyalty to -it while it lived, would have been treason and infidelity; to do the -like now that it is dead would be to them little less than sacrilege. - -I wish I could adequately tell my reader of the part those women -played in the war. If I could make these pages show the half of their -nobleness; if I could describe the sufferings they endured, and tell -of their cheerfulness under it all; if the reader might guess the -utter unselfishness with which they laid themselves and the things -they held nearest their hearts upon the altar of the only country -they knew as their own, the rare heroism with which they played their -sorrowful part in a drama which was to them a long tragedy; if my -pages could be made to show the half of these things, all womankind, -I am sure, would tenderly cherish the record, and nobody would wonder -again at the tenacity with which the women of the South still hold -their allegiance to the lost cause. - -Theirs was a peculiarly hard lot. The real sorrows of war, like those -of drunkenness, always fall most heavily upon women. They may not -bear arms. They may not even share the triumphs which compensate -their brethren for toil and suffering and danger. They must sit still -and endure. The poverty which war brings to them wears no cheerful -face, but sits down with them to empty tables and pinches them sorely -in solitude. - -After the victory, the men who have won it throw up their hats in a -glad huzza, while their wives and daughters await in sorest agony -of suspense the news which may bring hopeless desolation to their -hearts. To them the victory may mean the loss of those for whom they -lived and in whom they hoped, while to those who have fought the -battle it brings only gladness. And all this was true of Southern -women almost without exception. The fact that all the men capable -of bearing arms went into the army, and stayed there, gave to every -woman in the South a personal interest not only in the general -result of each battle, but in the list of killed and wounded as -well. Poverty, too, and privation of the sorest kind, was the common -lot, while the absence of the men laid many heavy burdens of work -and responsibility upon shoulders unused to either. But they bore -it all, not cheerfully only, but gladly. They believed it to be the -duty of every able-bodied man to serve in the army, and they eagerly -sent the men of their own homes to the field, frowning undisguisedly -upon every laggard until there were no laggards left. And their -spirit knew no change as the war went on. Their idea of men's duty -comprehended nothing less than persistence as long as a shot could be -fired. When they saw that the end was not to be victory, but defeat, -that fact made no change whatever in their view of the duty to be -done. Still less did their own privations and labors and sufferings -tend to dampen their ardor. On the contrary, the more heavily the war -bore upon themselves, the more persistently did they demand that it -should be fought out to the end. When they lost a husband, a son, or -a brother, they held the loss only an additional reason for faithful -adherence to the cause. Having made such a sacrifice to that which -was almost a religion to them, they had, if possible, less thought -than ever of proving unfaithful to it. - -I put these general statements first, so that the reader who shall -be interested in such anecdotes as I shall have to tell may not be -misled thereby into the thought that these good women were implacable -or vindictive, when they were only devoted to a cause which in their -eyes represented the sum of all righteousness. - -I remember a conversation between two of them,--one a young wife -whose husband was in the army, and the other an elderly lady, with no -husband or son, but with many friends and near relatives in marching -regiments. The younger lady remarked,-- - -"I'm sure I do not hate our enemies. I earnestly hope their souls may -go to heaven, but I would like to blow all their mortal bodies away, -as fast as they come upon our soil." - -"Why, you shock me, my dear," replied the other; "I don't see why you -want the Yankees to go to heaven! I hope to get there myself some -day, and I'm sure I shouldn't want to go if I thought I should find -any of them there." - -This old lady was convinced from the first that the South would -fail, and she based this belief upon the fact that we had permitted -Yankees to build railroads through the Southern States. "I tell you," -she would say, "that's what they built the railroads for. They knew -the war was coming, and they got ready for it. The railroads will -whip us, you may depend. What else were they made for? We got on well -enough without them, and we oughtn't to have let anybody build them." -And no amount of reasoning would serve to shake her conviction that -the people of the North had built all our railroads with treacherous -intent, though the stock of the only road she had ever seen was held -very largely by the people along its line, many of whom were her own -friends. - -She always insisted, too, that the Northern troops came South and -made war for the sole purpose of taking possession of our lands and -negroes, and she was astonished almost out of her wits when she -learned that the negroes were free. She had supposed that they were -simply to change masters, and even then she lived for months in -daily anticipation of the coming of "the new land owners," who were -waiting, she supposed, for assignments of plantations to be made to -them by military authority. - -"They'll quarrel about the division, maybe," she said one day, -"and then there'll be a chance for us to whip them again, I hope." -The last time I saw her, she had not yet become convinced that -title-deeds were still to be respected. - -A young girl, ordinarily of a very gentle disposition, astonished -a Federal colonel one day by an outburst of temper which served at -least to show the earnestness of her purpose to uphold her side of -the argument. She lived in a part of the country then for the first -time held by the Federal army, and a colonel, with some members of -his staff, made her family the unwilling recipients of a call one -morning. Seeing the piano open, the colonel asked the young lady -to play, but she declined. He then went to the instrument himself, -but he had hardly begun to play when the damsel, raising the piano -top, severed nearly all the strings with a hatchet, saying to the -astonished performer, as she did so,-- - -"That's my piano, and it shall not give you a minute's pleasure." The -colonel bowed, apologized, and replied,-- - -"If all your people are as ready as you to make costly sacrifices, we -might as well go home." - -And most of them were ready and willing to make similar sacrifices. -One lady of my acquaintance knocked in the heads of a dozen casks -of choice wine rather than allow some Federal officers to sip as -many glasses of it. Another destroyed her own library, which was -very precious to her, when that seemed the only way in which she -could prevent the staff of a general officer, camped near her, from -enjoying a few hours' reading in her parlor every morning. - -In New Orleans, soon after the war, I saw in a drawing-room, one day, -an elaborately framed letter, of which, the curtains being drawn, I -could read only the signature, which to my astonishment was that of -General Butler. - -"What is that?" I asked of the young gentlewoman I was visiting. - -"Oh, that's my diploma, my certificate of good behavior, from -General Butler;" and taking it down from the wall, she permitted me -to read it, telling me at the same time its history. It seems that -the young lady had been very active in aiding captured Confederates -to escape from New Orleans, and for this and other similar offenses -she was arrested several times. A gentleman who knew General Butler -personally had interested himself in behalf of her and some of her -friends, and upon making an appeal for their discharge received this -personal note from the commanding general, in which he declared his -willingness to discharge all the others, "But that black-eyed Miss -B.," he wrote, "seems to me an incorrigible little devil whom even -prison fare won't tame." The young lady had framed the note, and she -cherishes it yet, doubtless. - -There is a story told of General Forrest, which will serve to show -his opinion of the pluck and devotion of the Southern women. He was -drawing his men up in line of battle one day, and it was evident that -a sharp encounter was about to take place. Some ladies ran from a -house, which happened to stand just in front of his line, and asked -him anxiously,-- - -"What shall we do, general, what shall we do?" - -Strong in his faith that they only wished to help in some way, he -replied,-- - -"I really don't see that you can do much, except to stand on stumps, -wave your bonnets, and shout 'Hurrah, boys!'" - -In Richmond, when the hospitals were filled with wounded men brought -in from the seven days' fighting with McClellan, and the surgeons -found it impossible to dress half the wounds, a band was formed, -consisting of nearly all the married women of the city, who took -upon themselves the duty of going to the hospitals and dressing -wounds from morning till night; and they persisted in their painful -duty until every man was cared for, saving hundreds of lives, as the -surgeons unanimously testified. When nitre was found to be growing -scarce, and the supply of gunpowder was consequently about to give -out, women all over the land dug up the earth in their smoke-houses -and tobacco barns, and with their own hands faithfully extracted the -desired salt, for use in the government laboratories. - -Many of them denied themselves not only delicacies, but substantial -food also, when by enduring semi-starvation they could add to the -stock of food at the command of the subsistence officers. I myself -knew more than one houseful of women, who, from the moment that food -began to grow scarce, refused to eat meat or drink coffee, living -thenceforth only upon vegetables of a speedily perishable sort, in -order that they might leave the more for the soldiers in the field. -When a friend remonstrated with one of them, on the ground that her -health, already frail, was breaking down utterly for want of proper -diet, she replied, in a quiet, determined way, "I know that very -well; but it is little that I can do, and I must do that little at -any cost. My health and my life are worth less than those of my -brothers, and if they give theirs to the cause, why should not I do -the same? I would starve to death cheerfully if I could feed one -soldier more by doing so, but the things I eat can't be sent to camp. -I think it a sin to eat anything that can be used for rations." And -she meant what she said, too, as a little mound in the church-yard -testifies. - -Every Confederate remembers gratefully the reception given him when -he went into any house where these women were. Whoever he might be, -and whatever his plight, if he wore the gray, he was received, not -as a beggar or tramp, not even as a stranger, but as a son of the -house, for whom it held nothing too good, and whose comfort was the -one care of all its inmates, even though their own must be sacrificed -in securing it. When the hospitals were crowded, the people earnestly -besought permission to take the men to their houses and to care for -them there, and for many months almost every house within a hundred -miles of Richmond held one or more wounded men as especially honored -guests. - -"God bless these Virginia women!" said a general officer from one of -the cotton States, one day, "they're worth a regiment apiece;" and he -spoke the thought of the army, except that their blessing covered the -whole country as well as Virginia. - -The ingenuity with which these good ladies discovered or manufactured -onerous duties for themselves was surprising, and having discovered -or imagined some new duty they straightway proceeded to do it at any -cost. An excellent Richmond dame was talking with a soldier friend, -when he carelessly remarked that there was nothing which so greatly -helped to keep up a contented and cheerful spirit among the men as -the receipt of letters from their woman friends. Catching at the -suggestion as a revelation of duty, she asked, "And cheerfulness -makes better soldiers of the men, does it not?" Receiving yes for an -answer, the frail little woman, already overburdened with cares of -an unusual sort, sat down and made out a list of all the men with -whom she was acquainted even in the smallest possible way, and from -that day until the end of the war she wrote one letter a week to -each, a task which, as her acquaintance was large, taxed her time -and strength very severely. Not content with this, she wrote on -the subject in the newspapers, earnestly urging a like course upon -her sisters, many of whom adopted the suggestion at once, much to -the delight of the soldiers, who little dreamed that the kindly, -cheerful, friendly letters which every mail brought into camp, were -a part of woman's self-appointed work for the success of the common -cause. From the beginning to the end of the war it was the same. No -cry of pain escaped woman's lips at the parting which sent the men -into camp; no word of despondency was spoken when hope seemed most -surely dead; no complaint from the women ever reminded their soldier -husbands and sons and brothers that there was hardship and privation -and terror at home. They bore all with brave hearts and cheerful -faces, and even when they mourned the death of their most tenderly -loved ones, they comforted themselves with the thought that they -buried only heroic dust. - -"It is the death I would have chosen for him," wrote the widow of -a friend whose loss I had announced to her. "I loved him for his -manliness, and now that he has shown that manliness by dying as a -hero dies, I mourn, but am not heart-broken. I know that a brave man -awaits me whither I am going." - -They carried their efforts to cheer and help the troops into every -act of their lives. When they could, they visited camp. Along the -lines of march they came out with water or coffee or tea,--the best -they had, whatever it might be,--with flowers, or garlands of green -when their flowers were gone. A bevy of girls stood under a sharp -fire from the enemy's lines at Petersburg one day, while they sang -Bayard Taylor's Song of the Camp, responding to an encore with the -stanza:-- - - "Ah! soldiers, to your honored rest, - Your truth and valor bearing, - The bravest are the tenderest, - The loving are the daring!" - -Indeed, the coolness of women under fire was always a matter of -surprise to me. A young girl, not more than sixteen years of age, -acted as guide to a scouting party during the early years of the -war, and when we urged her to go back after the enemy had opened a -vigorous fire upon us, she declined, on the plea that she believed -we were "going to charge those fellows," and she "wanted to see the -fun." At Petersburg women did their shopping and went about their -duties under a most uncomfortable bombardment, without evincing the -slightest fear or showing any nervousness whatever. - -But if the cheerfulness of the women during the war was remarkable, -what shall we say of the way in which they met its final failure and -the poverty that came with it? The end of the war completed the ruin -which its progress had wrought. Women who had always lived in luxury, -and whose labors and sufferings during the war were lightened by the -consciousness that in suffering and laboring they were doing their -part toward the accomplishment of the end upon which all hearts were -set, were now compelled to face not temporary but permanent poverty, -and to endure, without a motive or a sustaining purpose, still sorer -privations than any they had known in the past. The country was -exhausted, and nobody could foresee any future but one of abject -wretchedness. It was seed-time, but the suddenly freed negroes had -not yet learned that freedom meant aught else than idleness, and the -spring was gone before anything like a reorganization of the labor -system could be effected. The men might emigrate when they should get -home, but the case of the women was a very sorry one indeed. They -kept their spirits up through it all, however, and improvised a new -social system in which absolute poverty, cheerfully borne, was the -badge of respectability. Everybody was poor except the speculators -who had fattened upon the necessities of the women and children, and -so poverty was essential to anything like good repute. The return -of the soldiers made some sort of social festivity necessary, and -"starvation parties" were given, at which it was understood that the -givers were wholly unable to set out refreshments of any kind. In -the matter of dress, too, the general poverty was recognized, and -every one went clad in whatever he or she happened to have. The want -of means became a jest, and nobody mourned over it; while all were -laboring to repair their wasted fortunes as they best could. And all -this was due solely to the unconquerable cheerfulness of the Southern -women. The men came home moody, worn out, discouraged, and but for -the influence of woman's cheerfulness, the Southern States might have -fallen into a lethargy from which they could not have recovered for -generations. - -Such prosperity as they have since achieved is largely due to the -courage and spirit of their noble women. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -OF THE TIME WHEN MONEY WAS "EASY." - - -It seems a remarkable fact that during the late Congressional -travail with the currency question, no one of the people in or out -of Congress, who were concerned lest there should not be enough -money in the country to "move the crops," ever took upon himself the -pleasing task of rehearsing the late Confederacy's financial story, -for the purpose of showing by example how simple and easy a thing -it is to create wealth out of nothing by magic revolutions of the -printing-press, and to make rich, by act of Congress, everybody not -too lazy to gather free dollars into a pile. The story has all the -flavor of the Princess Scheherezade's romances, with the additional -merit of being historically true. For once a whole people was rich. -Money was "easy" enough to satisfy everybody, and everybody had it -in unstinted measure. This money was not, it is true, of a quality -to please the believers in a gold or other arbitrary standard of -value, but that is a matter of little consequence, now that senators -and representatives of high repute have shown that the best currency -possible is that which exists only by the will of the government, and -the volume of which is regulated by the cravings of the people alone. -That so apt an illustration of the financial views of the majority in -Congress should have been wholly neglected, during the discussions, -seems therefore unaccountable. - -The financial system adopted by the Confederate government was -singularly simple and free from technicalities. It consisted chiefly -in the issue of treasury notes enough to meet all the expenses of -the government, and in the present advanced state of the art of -printing there was but one difficulty incident to this process; -namely, the impossibility of having the notes signed in the Treasury -Department, as fast as they were needed. There happened, however, to -be several thousand young ladies in Richmond willing to accept light -and remunerative employment at their homes, and as it was really a -matter of small moment whose name the notes bore, they were given out -in sheets to these young ladies, who signed and returned them for a -consideration. I shall not undertake to guess how many Confederate -treasury notes were issued. Indeed, I am credibly informed by a -gentleman who was high in office in the Treasury Department, that -even the secretary himself did not certainly know. The acts of -Congress authorizing issues of currency were the hastily formulated -thought of a not very wise body of men, and my informant tells me -they were frequently susceptible of widely different construction by -different officials. However that may be, it was clearly out of the -power of the government ever to redeem the notes, and whatever may -have been the state of affairs within the treasury, nobody outside -its precincts ever cared to muddle his head in an attempt to get at -exact figures. - -We knew only that money was astonishingly abundant. Provisions -fell short sometimes, and the supply of clothing was not always as -large as we should have liked, but nobody found it difficult to get -money enough. It was to be had almost for the asking. And to some -extent the abundance of the currency really seemed to atone for its -extreme badness. Going the rounds of the pickets on the coast of -South Carolina, one day, in 1863, I heard a conversation between a -Confederate and a Union soldier, stationed on opposite sides of a -little inlet, in the course of which this point was brought out. - -_Union Soldier._ Aren't times rather hard over there, Johnny? - -_Confederate Soldier._ Not at all. We've all the necessaries of life. - -_U. S._ Yes; but how about luxuries? You never see any coffee -nowadays, do you? - -_C. S._ Plenty of it. - -_U. S._ Isn't it pretty high? - -_C. S._ Forty dollars a pound, that's all. - -_U. S._ Whew! Don't you call that high? - -_C. S._ (after reflecting). Well, perhaps it is a trifle uppish, but -then you never saw money so plentiful as it is with us. We hardly -know what to do with it, and don't mind paying high prices for things -we want. - -And that was the universal feeling. Money was so easily got, and its -value was so utterly uncertain, that we were never able to determine -what was a fair price for anything. We fell into the habit of paying -whatever was asked, knowing that to-morrow we should have to pay -more. Speculation became the easiest and surest thing imaginable. -The speculator saw no risks of loss. Every article of merchandise -rose in value every day, and to buy anything this week and sell it -next was to make an enormous profit quite as a matter of course. So -uncertain were prices, or rather so constantly did they tend upward, -that when a cargo of cadet gray cloths was brought into Charleston -once, an officer in my battery, attending the sale, was able to -secure enough of the cloth to make two suits of clothes, without any -expense whatever, merely by speculating upon an immediate advance. He -became the purchaser, at auction, of a case of the goods, and had no -difficulty, as soon as the sale was over, in finding a merchant who -was glad to take his bargain off his hands, giving him the cloth he -wanted as a premium. The officer could not possibly have paid for the -case of goods, but there was nothing surer than that he could sell -again at an advance the moment the auctioneer's hammer fell on the -last lot of cloths. - -Naturally enough, speculation soon fell into very bad repute, and -the epithet "speculator" came to be considered the most opprobrious -in the whole vocabulary of invective. The feeling was universal that -the speculators were fattening upon the necessities of the country -and the sufferings of the people. Nearly all mercantile business was -regarded at least with suspicion, and much of it fell into the hands -of people with no reputations to lose, a fact which certainly did not -tend to relieve the community in the matter of high prices. - -The prices which obtained were almost fabulous, and singularly enough -there seemed to be no sort of ratio existing between the values of -different articles. I bought coffee at forty dollars and tea at -thirty dollars a pound on the same day. - -My dinner at a hotel cost me twenty dollars, while five dollars -gained me a seat in the dress circle of the theatre. I paid one -dollar the next morning for a copy of the Examiner, but I might have -got the Whig, Dispatch, Enquirer, or Sentinel, for half that sum. For -some wretched tallow candles I paid ten dollars a pound. The utter -absence of proportion between these several prices is apparent, and -I know of no way of explaining it except upon the theory that the -unstable character of the money had superinduced a reckless disregard -of all value on the part of both buyers and sellers. A facetious -friend used to say prices were so high that nobody could see them, -and that they "got mixed for want of supervision." He held, however, -that the difference between the old and the new order of things was -a trifling one. "Before the war," he said, "I went to market with -the money in my pocket, and brought back my purchases in a basket; -now I take the money in the basket, and bring the things home in my -pocket." - -As I was returning to my home after the surrender at Appomattox -Court House, a party of us stopped at the residence of a planter for -supper, and as the country was full of marauders and horse thieves, -deserters from both armies, bent upon indiscriminate plunder, our -host set a little black boy to watch our horses while we ate, with -instructions to give the alarm if anybody should approach. After -supper we dealt liberally with little Sam. Silver and gold we had -none, of course, but Confederate money was ours in great abundance, -and we bestowed the crisp notes upon the guardian of our horses, -to the extent of several hundreds of dollars. A richer person than -that little negro I have never seen. Money, even at par, never -carried more of happiness with it than did those promises of a dead -government to pay. We frankly told Sam that he could buy nothing -with the notes, but the information brought no sadness to his simple -heart. - -"I don' want to buy nothin', master," he replied. "I's gwine to keep -dis al_ways_." - -I fancy his regard for the worthless paper, merely because it was -called money, was closely akin to the feeling which had made it -circulate among better-informed people than he. Everybody knew, long -before the surrender, that these notes never could be redeemed. There -was little reason to hope, during the last two years of the war, that -the "ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States -and the United States," on which the payment was conditioned, would -ever come. We knew the paper was worthless, and yet it continued to -circulate. It professed to be money, and on the strength of that -profession people continued to take it in payment for goods. The -amount of it for which the owner of any article would part with his -possession was always uncertain. Prices were regulated largely by -accident, and were therefore wholly incongruous. - -But the disproportion between the prices of different articles -was not greater than that between the cost of goods imported -through the blockade and their selling price. The usual custom of -blockade-running firms was to build or buy a steamer in Europe, bring -it to Nassau in ballast, and load it there with assorted merchandise. -Selling this cargo in Charleston or Wilmington for Confederate money, -they would buy cotton with which to reload the ship for her outward -voyage. The owner of many of these ships once told me that if a -vessel which had brought in one cargo were lost with a load of cotton -on her outward voyage, the owner would lose nothing, the profits -on the merchandise being fully equal to the entire value of ship -and cotton. If he could get one cargo of merchandise in, and one of -cotton out, the loss of the ship with a second cargo of merchandise -would still leave him a clear profit of more than a hundred per cent. -upon his investment. And this was due solely to the abnormal state -of prices in the country, and not at all to the management of the -blockade-runners. They sold their cargoes at auction, and bought -cotton in the open market. - -Their merchandise brought fabulous prices, while cotton, for want of -a market, remained disproportionately low. That the merchants engaged -in this trade were in no way the authors of the state of prices may -be seen from two facts. First, if I am correctly informed, they -uniformly gave the government an opportunity to take such articles as -it had need of, and especially all the quinine imported, at the price -fixed in Richmond, without regard to the fact that speculators would -pay greatly more for the goods. In one case within my own knowledge -a heavy invoice of quinine was sold to the government for eleven -hundred dollars an ounce, when a speculator stood ready to take it -at double that price. Secondly, the cargo sales were peremptory, -and speculators sometimes combined and bought a cargo considerably -below the market price, by appearing at the sale in such numbers as -to exclude all other bidders. In one case, I remember, the general -commanding at Charleston annulled a cargo sale on this account, and -sent some of the speculators to jail for the purpose of giving other -people an opportunity to purchase needed goods at prices very much -higher than those forced upon the sellers by the combination at the -first sale. - -In the winter of 1863-64 Congress became aware of the fact that -prices were higher than they should be under a sound currency. If -Congress suspected this at any earlier date, there is nothing in the -proceedings of that body to indicate it. Now, however, the newspapers -were calling attention to an uncommonly ugly phase of the matter, and -reminding Congress that what the government bought with a currency -depreciated to less than one per cent. of its face, the government -must some day pay for in gold at par. The lawgivers took the alarm -and sat themselves down to devise a remedy for the evil condition -of affairs. With that infantile simplicity which characterized -nearly all the doings and quite all the financial legislation of the -Richmond Congress, it was decided that the very best way to enhance -the value of the currency was to depreciate it still further by -a declaratory statute, and then to issue a good deal more of it. -The act set a day, after which the currency already in circulation -should be worth only two thirds of its face, at which rate it was -made convertible into notes of the new issue, which some, at least, -of the members of Congress were innocent enough to believe would be -worth very nearly their par value. This measure was intended, of -course, to compel the funding of the currency, and it had that effect -to some extent, without doubt. Much of the old currency remained in -circulation, however, even after the new notes were issued. For a -time people calculated the discount, in passing and receiving the -old paper, but as the new notes showed an undiminished tendency to -still further depreciation, there were people, not a few, who spared -themselves the trouble of making the distinction. - -I am sometimes asked at what time prices attained their highest -point in the Confederacy, and I find that memory fails to answer the -question satisfactorily. They were about as high as they could be -in the fall of 1863, and I should be disposed to fix upon that as -the time when the climax was reached, but for my consciousness that -the law of constant appreciation was a fixed one throughout the war. -The financial condition got steadily worse to the end. I believe the -highest price, relatively, I ever saw paid, was for a pair of boots. -A cavalry officer, entering a little country store, found there one -pair of boots which fitted him. He inquired the price. "Two hundred -dollars," said the merchant. A five hundred dollar bill was offered, -but the merchant, having no smaller bills, could not change it. -"Never mind," said the cavalier, "I'll take the boots anyhow. Keep -the change; I never let a little matter of three hundred dollars -stand in the way of a trade." - -That was on the day before Lee's surrender, but it would not have -been an impossible occurrence at any time during the preceding year. -The money was of so little value that we parted with it gladly -whenever it would purchase anything at all desirable. I cheerfully -paid five dollars for a little salt, at Petersburg, in August, 1864, -and being thirsty drank my last two dollars in a half-pint of cider. - -The government's course in levying a tax in kind, as the only -possible way of making the taxation amount to anything, led speedily -to the adoption of a similar plan, as far as possible, by the -people. A physician would order from his planter friend ten or -twenty visits' worth of corn, and the transaction was a perfectly -intelligible one to both. The visits would be counted at ante-war -rates, and the corn estimated by the same standard. In the early -spring of 1865 I wanted a horse, and a friend having one to spare, I -sent for the animal, offering to pay whatever the owner should ask -for it. He could not fix a price, having literally no standard of -value to which he could appeal, but he sent me the horse, writing, in -reply to my note,-- - -"Take the horse, and when the war shall be over, if we are both alive -and you are able, give me as good a one in return. Don't send any -note or due-bill. It might complicate matters if either should die." - -A few months later, I paid my debt by returning the very horse I -had bought. I give this incident merely to show how utterly without -financial compass or rudder we were. - -How did people manage to live during such a time? I am often asked; -and as I look back at the history of those years, I can hardly -persuade myself that the problem was solved at all. A large part -of the people, however, was in the army, and drew rations from -the government. During the early years of the war, officers were -not given rations, but were allowed to buy provisions from the -commissaries at government prices. Subsequently, however, when -provisions became so scarce that it was necessary to limit the amount -consumed by officers as well as that eaten by the men, the purchase -system was abolished, and the whole army was fed upon daily rations. -The country people raised upon their plantations all the necessaries -of life, and were generally allowed to keep enough of them to live -on, the remainder being taken by the subsistence officers for army -use. The problem of a salt supply, on which depended the production -of meat, was solved in part by the establishment of small salt -factories along the coast, and in part by Governor Letcher's vigorous -management of the works in southwestern Virginia, and his wise -distribution of the product along the various lines of railroad. - -In the cities, living was not by any means so easy as in the country. -Business was paralyzed, and abundant as money was, it seems almost -incredible that city people got enough of it to live on. Very many of -them were employed, however, in various capacities, in the arsenals, -departments, bureaus, etc., and these were allowed to buy rations at -fixed rates, after the post-office clerks in Richmond had brought -matters to a crisis by resigning their clerkships to go into the -army, because they could not support life on their salaries of nine -thousand dollars a year. For the rest, if people had anything to -sell, they got enormous prices for it, and could live a while on -the proceeds. Above all, a kindly, helpful spirit was developed by -the common suffering and this, without doubt, kept many thousands -of people from starvation. Those who had anything shared it freely -with those who had nothing. There was no selfish looking forward, -and no hoarding for the time to come. During those terrible last -years, the future had nothing of pleasantness in its face, and -people learned not to think of it at all. To get through to-day was -the only care. Nobody formed any plans or laid by any money for -to-morrow or next week or next year, and indeed to most of us there -really seemed to be no future. I remember the start it gave me when -a clergyman, visiting camp, asked a number of us whether our long -stay in defensive works did not afford us an excellent opportunity -to study with a view to our professional life after the war. We were -not used to think of ourselves as possible survivors of a struggle -which was every day perceptibly thinning our ranks. The coming of -ultimate failure we saw clearly enough, but the future beyond was a -blank. The subject was naturally not a pleasant one, and by common -consent it was always avoided in conversation, until at last we -learned to avoid it in thought as well. We waited gloomily for the -end, but did not care particularly to speculate upon the question -when and how the end was to come. There was a vague longing for rest, -which found vent now and then in wild newspaper stories of signs and -omens portending the close of the war, but beyond this the matter was -hardly ever discussed. We had early forbidden ourselves to think of -any end to the struggle except a successful one, and that being now -an impossibility, we avoided the subject altogether. The newspaper -stories to which reference is made above were of the wildest and -absurdest sort. One Richmond paper issued an extra, in which it was -gravely stated that there was a spring near Fredericksburg which had -ceased to flow thirty days before the surrender of the British at -Yorktown, thirty days before the termination of the war of 1812, and -thirty days before the Mexican war ended; and that "this singularly -prophetic fountain has now again ceased to pour forth its waters." At -another time a hen near Lynchburg laid an egg, the newspapers said, -on which were traced, in occult letters, the words, "peace in ninety -days." - -Will the reader believe that with gold at a hundred and twenty-five -for one, or twelve thousand four hundred per cent. premium; when -every day made the hopelessness of the struggle more apparent; when -our last man was in the field; when the resources of the country -were visibly at an end, there were financial theorists who honestly -believed that by a mere trick of legislation the currency could be -brought back to par? I heard some of these people explain their -plan during a two days' stay in Richmond. Gold, they said, is an -inconvenient currency always, and nobody wants it, except as a -basis. The government has some gold,--several millions in fact,--and -if Congress will only be bold enough to declare the treasury notes -redeemable at par in coin, we shall have no further difficulty with -our finances. So long as notes are redeemable in gold at the option -of the holder, nobody wants them redeemed. Let the government say to -the people, We will redeem the currency whenever you wish, and nobody -except a few timid and unpatriotic people will care to change their -convenient for an inconvenient money. The gold which the government -holds will suffice to satisfy these timid ones, and there will be -an end of high prices and depreciated currency. The government can -then issue as much more currency as circumstances may make necessary, -and strong in our confidence in ourselves we shall be the richest -people on earth; we shall have _created_ the untold wealth which our -currency represents. - -I am not jesting. This is, as nearly as I can repeat it, the -utterance of a member of the Confederate Congress made in my presence -in a private parlor. If the reader thinks the man was insane, I beg -him to look over the reports of the debates on financial matters -which have been held in Washington. - -The effects of the extreme depreciation of the currency were -sometimes almost ludicrous. One of my friends, a Richmond lady, -narrowly escaped very serious trouble in an effort to practice a wise -economy. Anything for which the dealers did not ask an outrageously -high price seemed wonderfully cheap always, and she, at least, lacked -the self-control necessary to abstain from buying largely whenever -she found anything the price of which was lower than she had supposed -it would be. Going into market one morning with "stimulated ideas of -prices," as she phrased it, the consequence of having paid a thousand -dollars for a barrel of flour, she was surprised to find nearly -everything selling for considerably less than she had expected. -Thinking that for some unexplained cause there was a temporary -depression in prices, she purchased pretty largely in a good many -directions, buying, indeed, several things for which she had almost -no use at all, and buying considerably more than she needed of other -articles. As she was quitting the market on foot,--for it had become -disreputable in Richmond to ride in a carriage, and the ladies would -not do it on any account,--she was tapped on the shoulder by an -officer who told her she was under arrest, for buying in market to -sell again. As the lady was well known to prominent people she was -speedily released, but she thereafter curbed her propensity to buy -freely of cheap things. Buying to sell again had been forbidden under -severe penalties,--an absolutely necessary measure for the protection -of the people against the rapacity of the hucksters, who, going -early into the markets, would buy literally everything there, and by -agreement among themselves double or quadruple the already exorbitant -rates. It became necessary also to suppress the gambling-houses in -the interest of the half-starved people. At such a time, of course, -gambling was a very common vice, and the gamblers made Richmond -their head-quarters. It was the custom of the proprietors of these -establishments to set costly suppers in their parlors every night, -for the purpose of attracting visitors likely to become victims. -For these suppers they must have the best of everything without -stint, and their lavish rivalry in the poorly stocked markets had -the effect of advancing prices to a dangerous point. To suppress the -gambling-houses was the sole remedy, and it was only by uncommonly -severe measures that the suppression could be accomplished. It -was therefore enacted that any one found guilty of keeping a -gambling-house should be publicly whipped upon the bare back, and as -the infliction of the penalty in one or two instances effectually -and permanently broke up the business of gambling, even in the -disorganized and demoralized state in which society then was, it may -be said with confidence that whipping is the one certain remedy for -this evil. Whether it be not, in ordinary cases, worse than the evil -which it cures, it is not our business just now to inquire. - -The one thing which we were left almost wholly without, during the -war, was literature. Nobody thought of importing books through the -blockade, to any adequate extent, and the facilities for publishing -them, even if we had had authors to write them, were very poor -indeed. A Mobile firm reprinted a few of the more popular books of -the time, Les Misérables, Great Expectations, etc, and I have a -pamphlet edition of Owen Meredith's Tannhäuser, bound in coarse -wall-paper, for which I paid seven dollars, in Charleston. Singularly -enough, I bought at the same time a set of Dickens's works, of -English make, well printed and bound in black cloth, for four dollars -a volume, a discrepancy which I am wholly unable to explain. In -looking through a file of the Richmond Examiner extending over most -of the year 1864, I find but one book of any sort advertised, and the -price of that, a duodecimo volume of only 72 pages, was five dollars, -the publishers promising to send it by mail, post-paid, on receipt of -the price. - -Towards the last, as I have already said, resort was had frequently -to first principles, and bartering, or "payment in kind," as it was -called, became common, especially in those cases in which it was -necessary to announce prices in advance. To fix a price for the -future in Confederate money when it was daily becoming more and -more exaggeratedly worthless, would have been sheer folly; and so -educational institutions, country boarding-houses, etc., advertised -for patronage at certain prices, payment to be made in provisions -at the rates prevailing in September, 1860. In the advertisement of -Hampden Sidney College, in the Examiner for October 4, 1864, I find -it stated that students may get board in private families at about -eight dollars a month, payable in this way. The strong contrast -between the prices of 1860 and those of 1864 is shown by a statement, -in the same advertisement, that the students who may get board at -eight dollars a month in provisions, can buy wood at twenty-five -dollars a cord and get their washing done for seven dollars and fifty -cents a dozen pieces. - -This matter of prices was frequently made a subject for jesting -in private, but for the most part it was carefully avoided in the -newspapers. It was too ominous of evil to be a fit topic of editorial -discussion on ordinary occasions. As with the accounts of battles -in which our arms were not successful, necessary references to the -condition of the finances were crowded into a corner, as far out of -sight as possible. The Examiner, being a sort of newspaper Ishmael, -did now and then bring the subject up, however, and on one occasion -it denounced with some fierceness the charges prevailing in the -schools; and I quote a passage from Prof. Sidney H. Owens's reply, -which is interesting as a summary of the condition of things in the -South at that time:-- - -"The charges made for tuition are about five or six times as high as -in 1860. Now, sir, your shoemaker, carpenter, butcher, market man, -etc., demand from twenty, to thirty, to forty times as much as in -1860. Will you show me a civilian who is charging only six times the -prices charged in 1860, except the teacher only? As to the amassing -of fortunes by teachers, spoken of in your article, make your -calculations, sir, and you will find that to be almost an absurdity, -since they pay from twenty to forty prices for everything used, and -are denounced exorbitant and unreasonable in demanding five or six -prices for their own labor and skill." - -There were compensations, however. When gold was at twelve thousand -per cent. premium with us, we had the consolation of knowing that it -was in the neighborhood of one hundred above par in New York, and a -Richmond paper of September 22, 1864, now before me, fairly chuckles -over the high prices prevailing at the North, in a two-line paragraph -which says, "Tar is selling in New York at two dollars a pound. It -used to cost eighty cents a barrel." That paragraph doubtless made -many a five-dollar beefsteak palatable. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE CHEVALIER OF THE LOST CAUSE. - - -The queer people who devote their energies to the collection of -autographs have a habit, as everybody whose name has been three times -in print must have discovered, of soliciting from their victim "an -autograph _with_ a sentiment," and the unfortunate one is expected, -in such cases, to say something worthy of himself, something -especially which shall be eminently characteristic, revealing, in -a single sentence, the whole man, or woman, as the case may be. -How large a proportion of the efforts to do this are measurably -successful, nobody but a collector of the sort referred to can -say; but it seems probable that the most characteristic autograph -"sentiments" are those which are written of the writer's own -motion and not of malice aforethought. I remember seeing a curious -collection of these once, many of which were certainly not unworthy -the men who wrote them. One read, "I. O. U. fifty pounds lost at -play,--CHARLES JAMES FOX;" and another was a memorandum of sundry -wagers laid, signed by the Right Honorable Richard Brinsley Sheridan. -These, I thought, bore the impress of their authors' character, and -it is at the least doubtful whether either of the distinguished -gentlemen would have done half so well in answer to a modest request -for a sentiment and a signature. - -In the great dining-hall of the Briars, an old-time mansion in the -Shenandoah Valley, the residence of Mr. John Esten Cooke, there hangs -a portrait of a broad-shouldered cavalier, and beneath is written, in -the hand of the cavalier himself, - - "_Yours to count on_, - J. E. B. STUART," - -an autograph sentiment which seems to me a very perfect one in its -way. There was no point in Stuart's character more strongly marked -than the one here hinted at. He was "yours to count on" always: your -friend if possible, your enemy if you would have it so, but your -friend or your enemy "to count on," in any case. A franker, more -transparent nature, it is impossible to conceive. What he was he -professed to be. That which he thought, he said, and his habit of -thinking as much good as he could of those about him served to make -his frankness of speech a great friend-winner. - -I saw him for the first time when he was a colonel, in command of -the little squadron of horsemen known as the first regiment of -Virginia cavalry. The company to which I belonged was assigned to -this regiment immediately after the evacuation of Harper's Ferry by -the Confederates. General Johnston's army was at Winchester, and -the Federal force under General Patterson lay around Martinsburg. -Stuart, with his three or four hundred men, was encamped at Bunker -Hill, about midway between the two, and thirteen miles from support -of any kind. He had chosen this position as a convenient one from -which to observe the movements of the enemy, and the tireless -activity which marked his subsequent career so strongly had already -begun. As he afterwards explained, it was his purpose to train and -school his men, quite as much as anything else, that prompted the -greater part of his madcap expeditions at this time, and if there -be virtue in practice as a means of perfection, he was certainly an -excellent school-master. - -My company arrived at the camp about noon, after a march of three -or four days, having traveled twenty miles that morning. Stuart, -whom we encountered as we entered the camp, assigned us our -position, and ordered our tents pitched. Our captain, who was even -worse disciplined than we were, seeing a much more comfortable -camping-place than the muddy one assigned to us, and being a -comfort-loving gentleman, proceeded to lay out a model camp at a -distance of fifty yards from the spot indicated. It was not long -before the colonel particularly wished to consult with that captain, -and after the consultation the volunteer officer was firmly convinced -that all West Point graduates were martinets, with no knowledge -whatever of the courtesies due from one gentleman to another. - -We were weary after our long journey, and disposed to welcome the -prospect of rest which our arrival in the camp held out. But resting, -as we soon learned, had small place in our colonel's tactics. We -had been in camp perhaps an hour, when an order came directing that -the company be divided into three parts, each under command of a -lieutenant, and that these report immediately for duty. Reporting, we -were directed to scout through the country around Martinsburg, going -as near the town as possible, and to give battle to any cavalry force -we might meet. Here was a pretty lookout, certainly! Our officers -knew not one inch of the country, and might fall into all sorts of -traps and ambuscades; and what if we should meet a cavalry force -greatly superior to our own? This West Point colonel was rapidly -forfeiting our good opinion. Our lieutenants were brave fellows, -however, and they led us boldly if ignorantly, almost up to the very -gates of the town occupied by the enemy. We saw some cavalry but met -none, their orders not being so peremptorily belligerent, perhaps, as -ours were; wherefore they gave us no chance to fight them. The next -morning our unreasonable colonel again ordered us to mount, in spite -of the fact that there were companies in the camp which had done -nothing at all the day before. This time he led us himself, taking -pains to get us as nearly as possible surrounded by infantry, and -then laughingly telling us that our chance for getting out of the -difficulty, except by cutting our way through, was an exceedingly -small one. I think we began about this time to suspect that we were -learning something, and that this reckless colonel was trying to -teach us. But that he was a hare-brained fellow, lacking the caution -belonging to a commander, we were unanimously agreed. He led us out -of the place at a rapid gait, before the one gap in the enemy's lines -could be closed, and then jauntily led us into one or two other -traps, before taking us back to camp. - -But it was not until General Patterson began his feint against -Winchester that our colonel had full opportunity to give us his field -lectures. When the advance began, and our pickets were driven in, -the most natural thing to do, in our view of the situation, was to -fall back upon our infantry supports at Winchester, and I remember -hearing various expressions of doubt as to the colonel's sanity -when, instead of falling back, he marched his handful of men right -up to the advancing lines, and ordered us to dismount. The Federal -skirmish line was coming toward us at a double-quick, and we were -set going toward it at a like rate of speed, leaving our horses -hundreds of yards to the rear. We could see that the skirmishers -alone outnumbered us three or four times, and it really seemed that -our colonel meant to sacrifice his command deliberately. He waited -until the infantry was within about two hundred yards of us, we being -in the edge of a little grove, and they on the other side of an open -field. Then Stuart cried out, "Backwards--march! steady, men,--keep -your faces to the enemy!" and we marched in that way through the -timber, delivering our shot-gun fire slowly as we fell back toward -our horses. Then mounting, with the skirmishers almost upon us, we -retreated, not hurriedly, but at a slow trot, which the colonel -would on no account permit us to change into a gallop. Taking us out -into the main road he halted us in column, with our backs to the -enemy. - -"Attention!" he cried. "Now I want to talk to you, men. You are brave -fellows, and patriotic ones too, but you are ignorant of this kind of -work, and I am teaching you. I want you to observe that a good man on -a good horse can never be caught. Another thing: cavalry can _trot_ -away from anything, and a gallop is a gait unbecoming a soldier, -unless he is going toward the enemy. Remember that. We gallop toward -the enemy, and trot away, always. Steady now! don't break ranks!" - -And as the words left his lips a shell from a battery half a mile to -the rear hissed over our heads. - -"There," he resumed. "I've been waiting for that, and watching those -fellows. I knew they'd shoot too high, and I wanted you to learn how -shells sound." - -We spent the next day or two literally within the Federal lines. We -were shelled, skirmished with, charged, and surrounded scores of -times, until we learned to hold in high regard our colonel's masterly -skill in getting into and out of perilous positions. He seemed to -blunder into them in sheer recklessness, but in getting out he -showed us the quality of his genius; and before we reached Manassas, -we had learned, among other things, to entertain a feeling closely -akin to worship for our brilliant and daring leader. We had begun -to understand, too, how much force he meant to give to his favorite -dictum that the cavalry is the eye of the army. - -His restless activity was one, at least, of the qualities which -enabled him to win the reputation he achieved so rapidly. He could -never be still. He was rarely ever in camp at all, and he never -showed a sign of fatigue. He led almost everything. Even after he -became a general officer, with well-nigh an army of horsemen under -his command, I frequently followed him as my leader in a little party -of half a dozen troopers, who might as well have gone with a sergeant -on the duty assigned them; and once I was his only follower on a -scouting expedition, of which he, a brigadier-general at the time, -was the commander. I had been detailed to do some clerical work at -his head-quarters, and, having finished the task assigned me, was -waiting in the piazza of the house he occupied, for somebody to give -me further orders, when Stuart came out. - -"Is that your horse?" he asked, going up to the animal and examining -him minutely. - -I replied that he was, and upon being questioned further informed -him that I did not wish to sell my steed. Turning to me suddenly, he -said,-- - -"Let's slip off on a scout, then; I'll ride your horse and you can -ride mine. I want to try your beast's paces;" and mounting, we -galloped away. Where or how far he intended to go I did not know. -He was enamored of my horse, and rode, I suppose, for the pleasure -of riding an animal which pleased him. We passed outside our picket -line, and then, keeping in the woods, rode within that of the Union -army. Wandering about in a purposeless way, we got a near view of -some of the Federal camps, and finally finding ourselves objects of -attention on the part of some well-mounted cavalry in blue uniforms, -we rode rapidly down a road toward our own lines, our pursuers riding -quite as rapidly immediately behind us. - -"General," I cried presently, "there is a Federal picket post on the -road just ahead of us. Had we not better oblique into the woods?" - -"Oh no. They won't expect us from this direction, and we can ride -over them before they make up their minds who we are." - -Three minutes later we rode at full speed through the corporal's -guard on picket, and were a hundred yards or more away before they -could level a gun at us. Then half a dozen bullets whistled about our -ears, but the cavalier paid no attention to them. - -"Did you ever time this horse for a half-mile?" was all he had to say. - -Expeditions of this singular sort were by no means uncommon -occurrences with him. I am told by a friend who served on his staff, -that he would frequently take one of his aids and ride away otherwise -unattended into the enemy's lines; and oddly enough this was one of -his ways of making friends with any officer to whom his rough, boyish -ways had given offense. He would take the officer with him, and when -they were alone would throw his arms around his companion, and say,-- - -"My dear fellow, you mustn't be angry with me,--you know I love you." - -His boyishness was always apparent, and the affectionate nature of -the man was hardly less so, even in public. He was especially fond -of children, and I remember seeing him in the crowded waiting-room -of the railroad station at Gordonsville with a babe on each arm; a -great, bearded warrior, with his plumed hat, and with golden spurs -clanking at his heels, engaged in a mad frolic with all the little -people in the room, charging them right and left with the pair of -babies which he had captured from their unknown mothers. - -It was on the day of my ride with him that I heard him express his -views of the war and his singular aspiration for himself. It was -almost immediately after General McClellan assumed command of the -army of the Potomac, and while we were rather eagerly expecting him -to attack our strongly fortified position at Centreville. Stuart -was talking with some members of his staff, with whom he had been -wrestling a minute before. He said something about what they could -do by way of amusement when they should go into winter-quarters. - -"That is to say," he continued, "if George B. McClellan ever allows -us to go into winter-quarters at all." - -"Why, general? Do you think he will advance before spring?" asked one -of the officers. - -"Not against Centreville," replied the general. "He has too much -sense for that, and I think he knows the shortest road to Richmond, -too. If I am not greatly mistaken, we shall hear of him presently on -his way up the James River." - -In this prediction, as the reader knows, he was right. The -conversation then passed to the question of results. - -"I regard it as a foregone conclusion," said Stuart, "that we shall -ultimately whip the Yankees. We are bound to believe that, anyhow; -but the war is going to be a long and terrible one, first. We've only -just begun it, and very few of us will see the end. _All I ask of -fate is that I may be killed leading a cavalry charge._" - -The remark was not a boastful or seemingly insincere one. It was -made quietly, cheerfully, almost eagerly, and it impressed me at the -time with the feeling that the man's idea of happiness was what the -French call glory, and that in his eyes there was no glory like that -of dying in one of the tremendous onsets which he knew so well how to -make. His wish was granted, as we know. He received his death-wound -at the head of his troopers. - -With those about him he was as affectionate as a woman, and his -little boyish ways are remembered lovingly by those of his military -household whom I have met since the war came to an end. On one -occasion, just after a battle, he handed his coat to a member of his -staff, saying,-- - -"Try that on, captain, and see how it fits you." - -The garment fitted reasonably well, and the general continued,-- - -"Pull off two of the stars, and wear the coat to the war department, -and tell the people there to make you a major." - -The officer did as his chief bade him. Removing two of the three -stars he made the coat a major's uniform, and the captain was -promptly promoted in compliance with Stuart's request. - -General Stuart was, without doubt, capable of handling an infantry -command successfully, as he demonstrated at Chancellorsville, -where he took Stonewall Jackson's place and led an army corps in -a very severe engagement; but his special fitness was for cavalry -service. His tastes were those of a horseman. Perpetual activity -was a necessity of his existence, and he enjoyed nothing so much as -danger. Audacity, his greatest virtue as a cavalry commander, would -have been his besetting sin in any other position. Inasmuch as it -is the business of the cavalry to live as constantly as possible -within gunshot of the enemy, his recklessness stood him in excellent -stead as a general of horse, but it is at least questionable whether -his want of caution would not have led to disaster if his command -had been of a less mobile sort. His critics say he was vain, and he -was so, as a boy is. He liked to win the applause of his friends, -and he liked still better to astonish the enemy, glorying in the -thought that his foemen must admire his "impudence," as he called -it, while they dreaded its manifestation. He was continually doing -things of an extravagantly audacious sort, with no other purpose, -seemingly, than that of making people stretch their eyes in wonder. -He enjoyed the admiration of the enemy far more, I think, than he -did that of his friends. This fact was evident in the care he took -to make himself a conspicuous personage in every time of danger. -He would ride at some distance from his men in a skirmish, and in -every possible way attract a dangerous attention to himself. His -slouch hat and long plume marked him in every battle, and made him -a target for the riflemen to shoot at. In all this there was some -vanity, if we choose to call it so, but it was an excellent sort of -vanity for a cavalry chief to cultivate. I cannot learn that he ever -boasted of any achievement, or that his vanity was ever satisfied -with the things already done. His audacity was due, I think, to his -sense of humor, not less than to his love of applause. He would laugh -uproariously over the astonishment he imagined the Federal officers -must feel after one of his peculiarly daring or sublimely impudent -performances. When, after capturing a large number of horses and -mules on one of his raids, he seized a telegraph station and sent a -dispatch to General Meigs, then Quartermaster-General of the United -States army, complaining that he could not afford to come after -animals of so poor a quality, and urging that officer to provide -better ones for capture in future, he enjoyed the joke quite as -heartily as he did the success which made it possible. - -The boyishness to which I have referred ran through every part -of his character and every act of his life. His impetuosity in -action, his love of military glory and of the military life, his -occasional waywardness with his friends and his generous affection -for them,--all these were the traits of a great boy, full, to running -over, of impulsive animal life. His audacity, too, which impressed -strangers as the most marked feature of his character, was closely -akin to that disposition which Dickens assures us is common to all -boy-kind, to feel an insane delight in anything which specially -imperils their necks. But the peculiarity showed itself most strongly -in his love of uproarious fun. Almost at the beginning of the war -he managed to surround himself with a number of persons whose -principal qualification for membership of his military household -was their ability to make fun. One of these was a noted banjo-player -and ex-negro minstrel. He played the banjo and sang comic songs to -perfection, and _therefore_ Stuart wanted him. I have known him to -ride with his banjo, playing and singing, even on a march which -might be changed at any moment into a battle; and Stuart's laughter -on such occasions was sure to be heard as an accompaniment as far -as the minstrel's voice could reach. He had another queer character -about him, whose chief recommendation was his grotesque fierceness -of appearance. This was Corporal Hagan, a very giant in frame, with -an abnormal tendency to develop hair. His face was heavily bearded -almost to his eyes, and his voice was as hoarse as distant thunder, -which indeed it closely resembled. Stuart, seeing him in the ranks, -fell in love with his peculiarities of person at once, and had him -detailed for duty at head-quarters, where he made him a corporal, -and gave him charge of the stables. Hagan, whose greatness was -bodily only, was much elated by the attention shown him, and his -person seemed to swell and his voice to grow deeper than ever under -the influence of the newly acquired dignity of chevrons. All this -was amusing, of course, and Stuart's delight was unbounded. The man -remained with him till the time of his death, though not always as a -corporal. In a mad freak of fun one day, the chief recommended his -corporal for promotion, to see, he said, if the giant was capable of -further swelling, and so the corporal became a lieutenant upon the -staff. - -With all his other boyish traits, Stuart had an almost child-like -simplicity of character, and the combination of sturdy manhood -with juvenile frankness and womanly tenderness of feeling made him -a study to those who knew him best. His religious feeling was of -that unquestioning, serene sort which rarely exists apart from the -inexperience and the purity of women or children. - -While I was serving in South Carolina, I met one evening the general -commanding the military district, and he, upon learning that I had -served with Stuart, spent the entire evening talking of his friend, -for they two had been together in the old army before the war. He -told me many anecdotes of the cavalier, nearly all of which turned -in some way upon the generous boyishness of his character in some -one or other of its phases. He said, among other things, that at -one time, in winter-quarters on the plains of the West I think, he, -Stuart, and another officer (one of those still living who commanded -the army of the Potomac during the war) slept together in one bed, -for several months. Stuart and his brother lieutenant, the general -said, had a quarrel every night about some trifling thing or other, -just as boys will, but when he had made all the petulant speeches -he could, Stuart would lie still a while, and then, passing his arm -around the neck of his comrade, would draw his head to his own breast -and say some affectionate thing which healed all soreness of feeling -and effectually restored the peace. During the evening's conversation -this general formulated his opinion of Stuart's military character in -very striking phrase. - -"He is," he said, "the greatest cavalry officer that ever lived. He -has all the dash, daring, and audacity of Murat, and a great deal -more sense." It was his opinion, however, that there were men in -both armies who would come to be known as greater cavalry men than -Stuart, for the reason that Stuart used his men strictly as cavalry, -while others would make dragoons of them. He believed that the nature -of our country was much better adapted to dragoon than to cavalry -service, and hence, while he thought Stuart the best of cavalry -officers, he doubted his ability to stand against such men as -General Sheridan, whose conception of the proper place of the horse -in our war was a more correct one, he thought, than Stuart's. "To the -popular mind," he went on to say, "every soldier who rides a horse -is a cavalry man, and so Stuart will be measured by an incorrect -standard. He will be classed with General Sheridan and measured by -his success or the want of it. General Sheridan is without doubt -the greatest of dragoon commanders, as Stuart is the greatest of -cavalry men; but in this country dragoons are worth a good deal more -than cavalry, and so General Sheridan will probably win the greater -reputation. He will deserve it, too, because behind it is the sound -judgment which tells him what use to make of his horsemen." - -It is worthy of remark that all this was said before General Sheridan -had made his reputation as an officer, and I remember that at the -time his name was almost new to me. - -From my personal experience and observation of General Stuart, as -well as from the testimony of others, I am disposed to think that -he attributed to every other man qualities and tastes like his own. -Insensible to fatigue himself, he seemed never to understand how a -well man could want rest; and as for hardship, there was nothing, -in his view, which a man ought to enjoy quite so heartily, except -danger. For a period of ten days, beginning before and ending after -the first battle of Bull Run, we were not allowed once to take our -saddles off. Night and day we were in the immediate presence of the -enemy, catching naps when there happened for the moment to be nothing -else to do, standing by our horses while they ate from our hands, -so that we might slip their bridles on again in an instant in the -event of a surprise, and eating such things as chance threw in our -way, there being no rations anywhere within reach. After the battle, -we were kept scouting almost continually for two days. We then -marched to Fairfax Court House, and my company was again sent out in -detachments on scouting expeditions in the neighborhood of Vienna -and Falls Church. We returned to camp at sunset and were immediately -ordered on picket. In the regular course of events we should have -been relieved the next morning, but no relief came, and we were -wholly without food. Another twenty-four hours passed, and still -nobody came to take our place on the picket line. Stuart passed some -of our men, however, and one of them asked him if he knew we had been -on duty ten days, and on picket thirty-six hours without food. - -"Oh nonsense!" he replied. "You don't look starved. There's a -cornfield over there; jump the fence and get a good breakfast. You -don't want to go back to camp, I know; it's stupid there, and all the -fun is out here. I never go to camp if I can help it. Besides, I've -kept your company on duty all this time as a compliment. You boys -have acquitted yourselves too well to be neglected now, and I mean to -give you a chance." - -We thought this a jest at the time, but we learned afterwards that -Stuart's idea of a supreme compliment to a company was its assignment -to extra hazardous or extra fatiguing duty. If he observed specially -good conduct on the part of a company, squad, or individual, he was -sure to reward it by an immediate order to accompany him upon some -unnecessarily perilous expedition. - -His men believed in him heartily, and it was a common saying among -them that "Jeb never says 'Go, boys,' but always 'Come, boys.'" We -felt sure, too, that there was little prospect of excitement on any -expedition of which he was not leader. If the scouting was to be -merely a matter of form, promising nothing in the way of adventure, -he would let us go by ourselves; but if there were prospect of "a -fight or a race," as he expressed it, we were sure to see his long -plume at the head of the column before we had passed outside our own -line of pickets. While we lay in advance of Fairfax Court House, -after Bull Run, Stuart spent more than a month around the extreme -outposts on Mason's and Munson's hills without once coming to the -camp of his command. When he wanted a greater force than he could -safely detail from the companies on picket for the day, he would send -after it, and with details of this kind he lived nearly all the time -between the picket lines of the two armies. The outposts were very -far in advance of the place at which we should have met and fought -the enemy if an advance had been made, and so there was literally -no use whatever in his perpetual scouting, which was kept up merely -because the man could not rest. But aside from the fact that the -cavalry was made up almost exclusively of the young men whose tastes -and habits specially fitted them to enjoy this sort of service, -Stuart's was one of those magnetic natures which always impress their -own likeness upon others, and so it came to be thought a piece of -good luck to be detailed for duty under his personal leadership. The -men liked him and his ways, one of which was the pleasant habit he -had of remembering our names and faces. I heard him say once that he -knew by name not only every man in his old regiment, but every one -also in the first brigade, and as I never knew him to hesitate for a -name, I am disposed to believe that he did not exaggerate his ability -to remember men. This and other like things served to make the men -love him personally, and there can be no doubt that his skill in -winning the affection of his troopers was one of the elements of his -success. Certainly no other man could have got so much hard service -out of men of their sort, without breeding discontent among them. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -LEE, JACKSON, AND SOME LESSER WORTHIES. - - -The story goes that when Napoleon thanked a private one day for some -small service, giving him the complimentary title of "captain," -the soldier replied with the question, "In what regiment, sire?" -confident that this kind of recognition from the Little Corporal -meant nothing less than a promotion, in any case; and while -commanders are not ordinarily invested with Napoleon's plenary powers -in such matters, military men are accustomed to value few things -more than the favorable comments of their superiors upon their -achievements or their capacity. And yet a compliment of the very -highest sort, which General Scott paid Robert E. Lee, very nearly -prevented the great Confederate from achieving a reputation at all. -Up to the time of Virginia's secession, Lee was serving at Scott's -head-quarters, and when he resigned and accepted a commission from -the governor of his native State, General Scott, who had already -called him "the flower of the American army," pronounced him the best -organizer in the country, and congratulated himself upon the fact -that the Federal organization was already well under way before Lee -began that of the Southern forces. This opinion, coming from the man -who was recognized as best able to form a judgment on such a subject, -greatly strengthened Lee's hand in the work he was then doing, and -saved him the annoyance of dictation from people less skilled than -he. But it nearly worked his ruin, for all that. The administration -at Richmond was of too narrow a mold to understand that a man could -be a master of more than one thing, and so, recognizing Lee's supreme -ability as an organizer, the government seems to have assumed that -he was good for very little else, and until the summer of 1862 he -was carefully kept out of the way of all great military operations. -When the two centres of strategic interest were at Winchester and -Manassas, General Lee was kept in Western Virginia with a handful of -raw troops, where he could not possibly accomplish anything for the -cause, or even exercise the small share of fighting and strategic -ability which the government was willing to believe he possessed. -When there was no longer any excuse for keeping him there, he was -disinterred, as it were, and reburied in the swamps of the South -Carolina coast. - -I saw him for the first time, in Richmond, at the very beginning -of the war, dining with him at the house of a friend. He was then -in the midst of his first popularity. He had begun the work of -organization, and was everywhere recognized as the leader who was -to create an army for us out of the volunteer material. I do not -remember, with any degree of certainty, whether or not we expected -him also to distinguish himself in the field, but as Mr. Davis and -his personal followers were still in Montgomery, it is probable -that the narrowness of their estimate of the chieftain was not yet -shared by anybody in Richmond. Lee was at this time a young-looking, -middle-aged man, with dark hair, dark moustache, and an otherwise -smooth face, and a portrait taken then would hardly be recognized -at all by those who knew him only after the cares and toils of war -had furrowed his face and bleached his hair and beard. He was a -model of manly beauty; large, well made, and graceful. His head was -a noble one, and his countenance told, at a glance, of his high -character and of that perfect balance of faculties, mental, moral, -and physical, which constituted the chief element of his greatness. -There was nothing about him which impressed one more than his eminent -_robustness_, a quality no less marked in his intellect and his -character than in his physical constitution. If his shapely person -suggested a remarkable capacity for endurance, his manner, his -countenance, and his voice quite as strongly hinted at the great -soul which prompted him to take upon himself the responsibility -for the Gettysburg campaign, when the people were loudest in their -denunciations of the government as the author of that ill-timed -undertaking. - -I saw him next in South Carolina during the winter of 1861-62. He -was living quietly at a little place called Coosawhatchie, on the -Charleston and Savannah Railroad. He had hardly any staff with him, -and was surrounded with none of the pomp and circumstance of war. -His dress bore no marks of his rank, and hardly indicated even that -he was a military man. He was much given to solitary afternoon -rambles, and came almost every day to the camp of our battery, where -he wandered alone and in total silence around the stables and through -the gun park, much as a farmer curious as to cannon might have done. -Hardly any of the men knew who he was, and one evening a sergeant, -riding in company with a partially deaf teamster, met him in the road -and saluted. The teamster called out to his companion, in a loud -voice, after the manner of deaf people: - -"I say, sergeant, who _is_ that durned old fool? He's always a-pokin' -round my hosses just as if he meant to steal one of 'em." - -Certainly the honest fellow was not to blame for his failure to -recognize, in the farmer-looking pedestrian, the chieftain who was -shortly to win the greenest laurels the South had to give. During the -following summer General Johnston's "bad habit of getting himself -wounded" served to bring Lee to the front, and from that time till -the end of the war he was the idol of army and people. The faith he -inspired was simply marvelous. We knew very well that he was only a -man, and very few of us would have disputed the abstract proposition -that he was liable to err; but practically we believed nothing of -the kind. Our confidence in his skill and his invincibility was -absolutely unbounded. Our faith in his wisdom and his patriotism was -equally perfect, and from the day on which he escorted McClellan to -his gun-boats till the hour of his surrender at Appomattox, there -was never a time when he might not have usurped all the powers of -government without exciting a murmur. Whatever rank as a commander -history may assign him, it is certain that no military chieftain was -ever more perfect master than he of the hearts of his followers. -When he appeared in the presence of troops he was sometimes cheered -vociferously, but far more frequently his coming was greeted with -a profound silence, which expressed much more truly than cheers -could have done the well-nigh religious reverence with which the men -regarded his person. - -General Lee had a sententious way of saying things which made all -his utterances peculiarly forceful. His language was always happily -chosen, and a single sentence from his lips often left nothing -more to be said. As good an example of this as any, perhaps, was -his comment upon the military genius of General Meade. Not very -long after that officer took command of the army of the Potomac, a -skirmish occurred, and none of General Lee's staff officers being -present, an acquaintance of mine was detailed as his personal aid for -the day, and I am indebted to him for the anecdote. Some one asked -our chief what he thought of the new leader on the other side, and in -reply Lee said, "General Meade will commit no blunder in my front, -and if I commit one he will make haste to take advantage of it." It -is difficult to see what more he could have said on the subject. - -I saw him for the last time during the war, at Amelia Court House, -in the midst of the final retreat, and I shall never forget the -heart-broken expression his face wore, or the still sadder tones -of his voice as he gave me the instructions I had come to ask. The -army was in utter confusion. It was already evident that we were -being beaten back upon James River and could never hope to reach the -Roanoke, on which stream alone there might be a possibility of making -a stand. General Sheridan was harassing our broken columns at every -step, and destroying us piecemeal. Worse than all, General Lee had -been deserted by the terrified government in the very moment of his -supreme need, and the food had been snatched from the mouths of the -famished troops (as is more fully explained in another chapter) that -the flight of the president and his followers might be hastened. -The load put thus upon Lee's shoulders was a very heavy one for so -conscientious a man as he to bear; and knowing, as every Southerner -does, his habit of taking upon himself all blame for whatever went -awry, we cannot wonder that he was sinking under the burden. His face -was still calm, as it always was, but his carriage was no longer -erect, as his soldiers had been used to see it. The troubles of those -last days had already plowed great furrows in his forehead. His eyes -were red as if with weeping; his cheeks sunken and haggard; his face -colorless. No one who looked upon him then, as he stood there in -full view of the disastrous end, can ever forget the intense agony -written upon his features. And yet he was calm, self-possessed, and -deliberate. Failure and the sufferings of his men grieved him sorely, -but they could not daunt him, and his moral greatness was never -more manifest than during those last terrible days. Even in the -final correspondence with General Grant, Lee's manliness and courage -and ability to endure lie on the surface, and it is not the least -honorable thing in General Grant's history that he showed himself -capable of appreciating the character of this manly foeman, as he did -when he returned Lee's surrendered sword with the remark that he knew -of no one so worthy as its owner to wear it. - -After the war the man who had commanded the Southern armies remained -master of all Southern hearts, and there can be no doubt that the -wise advice he gave in reply to the hundreds of letters sent him -prevented many mistakes and much suffering. The young men of the -South were naturally disheartened, and a general exodus to Mexico, -Brazil, and the Argentine Republic was seriously contemplated. -General Lee's advice, "Stay at home, go to work, and hold your land," -effectually prevented this saddest of all blunders; and his example -was no less efficacious than his words, in recommending a diligent -attention to business as the best possible cure for the evils wrought -by the war. - -From the chieftain who commanded our armies to his son and successor -in the presidency of Washington-Lee University, the transition is a -natural one; and, while it is my purpose, in these reminiscences, -to say as little as possible of men still living, I may at least -refer to General G. W. Custis Lee as the only man I ever heard of -who tried to decline a promotion from brigadier to major general, -for the reason that he thought there were others better entitled -than he to the honor. I have it from good authority that President -Davis went in person to young Lee's head-quarters to entreat a -reconsideration of that officer's determination to refuse the honor, -and that he succeeded with difficulty in pressing the promotion -upon the singularly modest gentleman. Whether or not this younger -Lee has inherited his father's military genius we have no means of -knowing, but we are left in no uncertainty as to his possession of -his father's manliness and modesty, and personal worth. - -Jackson was always a surprise. Nobody ever understood him, and nobody -has ever been quite able to account for him. The members of his own -staff, of whom I happen to have known one or two intimately, seem -to have failed, quite as completely as the rest of the world, to -penetrate his singular and contradictory character. His biographer, -Mr. John Esten Cooke, read him more perfectly perhaps than any one -else, but even he, in writing of the hero, evidently views him from -the outside. Dr. Dabney, another of Jackson's historians, gives us a -glimpse of the man, in one single aspect of his character, which may -be a clew to the whole. He says there are three kinds of courage, -of which two only are bravery. These three varieties of courage are, -first, that of the man who is simply insensible of danger; second, -that of men who, understanding, appreciating, and fearing danger, -meet it boldly nevertheless, from motives of pride; and third, the -courage of men keenly alive to danger, who face it simply from a high -sense of duty.[2] Of this latter kind, the biographer tells us, was -Jackson's courage, and certainly there can be no better clew to his -character than this. Whatever other mysteries there may have been -about the man, it is clear that his well-nigh morbid devotion to duty -was his ruling characteristic. - -But nobody ever understood him fully, and he was a perpetual surprise -to friend and foe alike. The cadets and the graduates of the Virginia -Military Institute, who had known him as a professor there, held him -in small esteem at the outset. I talked with many of them, and found -no dissent whatever from the opinion that General Gilham and General -Smith were the great men of the institute, and that Jackson, whom -they irreverently nicknamed Tom Fool Jackson, could never be anything -more than a martinet colonel, half soldier and half preacher. They -were unanimous in prophesying his greatness after the fact, but of -the two or three score with whom I talked on the subject at the -beginning of the war, not one even suspected its possibility until -after he had won his _sobriquet_ "Stonewall" at Manassas. - -It is natural enough that such a man should be credited in the end -with qualities which he did not possess, and that much of the praise -awarded him should be improperly placed; and in his case this seems -to have been the fact. He is much more frequently spoken of as the -great marcher than as the great fighter of the Confederate armies, -and it is commonly said that he had an especial genius for being -always on time. And yet General Lee himself said in the presence of -a distinguished officer from whose lips I heard it, that Jackson was -by no means so rapid a marcher as Longstreet, and that he had an -unfortunate habit of _never being on time_. Without doubt he was, -next to Lee, the greatest military genius we had, and his system of -grand tactics was more Napoleonic than was that of any other officer -on either side; but it would appear from this that while he has not -been praised beyond his deserving, he has at least been commended -mistakenly. - -The affection his soldiers bore him has always been an enigma. -He was stern and hard as a disciplinarian, cold in his manner, -unprepossessing in appearance, and utterly lacking in the apparent -enthusiasm which excites enthusiasm in others. He had never been -able to win the affection of the cadets at Lexington, and had hardly -won even their respect. And yet his soldiers almost worshiped him. -Perhaps it was because he was so terribly in earnest, or it may have -been because he was so generally successful,--for there are few -things men admire more than success,--but whatever the cause was, no -fact could be more evident than that Stonewall Jackson was the most -enthusiastically loved man, except Lee, in the Confederate service, -and that he shared with Lee the generous admiration even of his foes. -His strong religious bent, his devotion to a form of religion the -most gloomy,--for his Calvinism amounted to very little less than -fatalism, and his men called him "old blue-light,"--his strictness -of life, and his utter lack of vivacity and humor, would have been -an impassable barrier between any other man and such troops as he -commanded. He was Cromwell at the head of an army composed of men -of the world, and there would seem to have been nothing in common -between him and them; and yet Cromwell's psalm-singing followers -never held their chief in higher regard or heartier affection than -that with which these rollicking young planters cherished their -sad-eyed and sober-faced leader. They even rejoiced in his extreme -religiosity, and held it in some sort a work of supererogation, -sufficient to atone for their own worldly-mindedness. They were never -more devoted to him than when transgressing the very principles upon -which his life was ordered; and when any of his men indulged in -dram-drinking, a practice from which he always rigidly abstained, -his health was sure to be the first toast given. On one occasion, -a soldier who had imbibed enthusiasm with his whisky, feeling the -inadequacy of the devotion shown by drinking to an absent chief, -marched, canteen in hand, to Jackson's tent, and gaining admission -proposed as a sentiment, "Here's to you, general! May I live to see -you stand on the highest pinnacle of Mount Ararat, and hear you give -the command, 'By the right of nations front into empires,--worlds, -right face!'" - -I should not venture to relate this anecdote at all, did I not get it -at first hands from an officer who was present at the time. It will -serve, at least, to show the sentiments of extravagant admiration -with which Jackson's men regarded him, whether it shall be sufficient -to bring a smile to the reader's lips or not. - -The first time I ever saw General Ewell, I narrowly missed making it -impossible that there should ever be a _General_ Ewell at all. He -was a colonel then, and was in command of the camp of instruction at -Ashland. I was posted as a sentinel, and my orders were peremptory -to permit nobody to ride through the gate at which I was stationed. -Colonel Ewell, dressed in a rough citizen's suit, without side-arms -or other insignia of military rank, undertook to pass the forbidden -portal. I commanded him to halt, but he cursed me instead, and -attempted to ride over me. Drawing my pistol, cocking it, and placing -its muzzle against his breast, I replied with more of vigor than -courtesy in my speech, and forced him back, threatening and firmly -intending to pull my trigger if he should resist in the least. He -yielded himself to arrest, and I called the officer of the guard. -Ewell was livid with rage, and ordered the officer to place me in -irons at once, uttering maledictions upon me which it would not do to -repeat here. The officer of the guard was a manly fellow, however, -and refused even to remove me from the post. - -"The sentinel has done only his duty," he replied, "and if he had -shot you, Colonel Ewell, you would have had only yourself to blame. -I have here your written order that the sentinels at this gate shall -allow nobody to pass through it on horseback, on any pretense -whatever; and yet you come in citizen's clothes, a stranger to the -guard, and try to ride him down when he insists upon obeying the -orders you have given him." - -The sequel to the occurrence proved that, in spite of his infirm -temper, Ewell was capable of being a just man, as he certainly was -a brave one. He sent for me a little later, when he received his -commission as a brigadier, and apologizing for the indignity with -which he had treated me, offered me a desirable place upon his staff, -which, with a still rankling sense of the injustice he had done me, I -declined to accept. - -General Ewell was at this time the most violently and elaborately -profane man I ever knew. Elaborately, I say, because his profanity -did not consist of single or even double oaths, but was ingeniously -wrought into whole sentences. It was profanity which might be -parsed, and seemed the result of careful study and long practice. -Later in the war he became a religious man, but before that time -his genius for swearing was phenomenal. An anecdote is told of -him, for the truth of which I cannot vouch, but which certainly -is sufficiently characteristic to be true. It is said that on one -occasion, the firing having become unusually heavy, a chaplain who -had labored to convert the general, or at least to correct the -aggressive character of his wickedness, remarked that as he could -be of no service where he was, he would seek a less exposed place, -whereupon Ewell remarked: - -"Why, chaplain, you're the most inconsistent man I ever saw. You say -you're anxious to get to heaven above all things, and now that you've -got the best chance you ever had to go, you run away from it just as -if you'd rather not make the trip, after all." - -I saw nothing of General Ewell after he left Ashland, early in -the summer of 1861, until I met him in the winter of 1864-65. Some -enormous rifled guns had been mounted at Chaffin's Bluff, below -Richmond, and I went from my camp near by to see them tested. General -Ewell was present, and while the firing was in progress he received -a dispatch saying that the Confederates had been victorious in an -engagement between Mackey's Point and Pocotaligo. As no State was -mentioned in the dispatch, and the places named were obscure ones, -General Ewell was unable to guess in what part of the country the -action had been fought. He read the dispatch aloud, and asked if any -one present could tell him where Mackey's Point and Pocotaligo were. -Having served for a considerable time on the coast of South Carolina, -I was able to give him the information he sought. When I had finished -he looked at me intently for a moment, and then asked, "Aren't you -the man who came so near shooting me at Ashland?" - -I replied that I was. - -"I'm very glad you didn't do it," he said. - -"So am I," I replied; and that was all that was said on either side. - -The queerest of all the military men I met or saw during the war was -General W. H. H. Walker, of Georgia. I saw very little of him, but -that little impressed me strongly. He was a peculiarly belligerent -man, and if he could have been kept always in battle he would have -been able doubtless to keep the peace as regarded his fellows and his -superiors. As certain periods of inaction are necessary in all wars, -however, General Walker was forced to maintain a state of hostility -toward those around and above him. During the first campaign he got -into a newspaper war with the president and Mr. Benjamin, in which -he handled both of those gentlemen rather roughly, but failing -to move them from the position they had taken with regard to his -promotion,--that being the matter in dispute,--he resigned his -commission, and took service as a brigadier-general under authority -of the governor of Georgia. In this capacity he was at one time in -command of the city of Savannah, and it was there that I saw him for -the first and only time, just before the reduction of Fort Pulaski by -General Gilmore. The reading-room of the Pulaski House was crowded -with guests of the hotel and evening loungers from the city, when -General Walker came in. He at once began to talk, not so much to the -one or two gentlemen with whom he had just shaken hands, as to the -room full of strangers and the public generally. He spoke in a loud -voice and with the tone and manner of a bully and a braggart, which I -am told he was not at all. - -"You people are very brave at arms-length," he said, "provided it is -a good long arms-length. You aren't a bit afraid of the shells fired -at Fort Pulaski, and you talk as boldly as Falstaff over his sack, -now. But what will you do when the Yankee gun-boats come up the river -and begin to throw hot shot into Savannah? I know what you'll do. -You'll get dreadfully uneasy about your plate-glass mirrors and your -fine furniture; and I give you fair warning now that if you want to -save your mahogany you'd better be carting it off up country at once, -for I'll never surrender anything more than the ashes of Savannah. -I'll stay here, and I'll keep you here, till every shingle burns and -every brick gets knocked into bits the size of my thumb-nail, and -then I'll send the Yankees word that there isn't any Savannah to -surrender. Now I mean this, every word of it. But you don't believe -it, and the first time a gun-boat comes in sight you'll all come -to me and say, 'General, we can't fight gun-boats with any hope of -success,--don't you think we'd better surrender?' Do you know what -I'll do then? I've had a convenient limb trimmed up, on the tree in -front of my head-quarters, and I'll string up every man that dares -say surrender, or anything else beginning with an _s_." - -And so he went on for an hour or more, greatly to the amusement of -the crowd. I am told by those who knew him best that his statement of -his purposes was probably not an exaggerated one, and that if he had -been charged with the defense of the city against a hostile fleet, -he would have made just such a resolute resistance as that which he -promised. His courage and endurance had been abundantly proved in -Mexico, at any rate, and nobody who knew him ever doubted either. - -Another queer character, though in a very different way, was General -Ripley, who for a long time commanded the city of Charleston. He was -portly in person, of commanding and almost pompous presence, and -yet, when one came to know him, was as easy and unassuming in manner -as if he had not been a brigadier-general at all. I had occasion -to call upon him officially, a number of times, and this afforded -me an excellent opportunity to study his character and manners. On -the morning after the armament of Fort Ripley was carried out to -the Federal fleet by the crew of the vessel on which it had been -placed, I spent an hour or two in General Ripley's head-quarters, -waiting for something or other, though I have quite forgotten what. I -amused myself looking through his telescope at objects in the harbor. -Presently I saw a ship's launch, bearing a white flag, approach Fort -Sumter. I mentioned the matter to my companion, and General Ripley, -overhearing the remark, came quickly to the glass. A moment later he -said to his signal operator,-- - -"Tell Fort Sumter if that's a Yankee boat to burst her wide open, -flag or no flag." The message had no sooner gone, however, than it -was recalled, and instructions more in accordance with the rules of -civilized warfare substituted. - -General Ripley stood less upon rule and held red tape in smaller -regard than any other brigadier I ever met. My company was at that -time an independent battery, belonging to no battalion and subject -to no intermediate authority between that of its captain and that -of the commanding general. It had but two commissioned officers on -duty, and I, as its sergeant-major, acted as a sort of adjutant, -making my reports directly to General Ripley's head-quarters. One day -I reported the fact that a large part of our harness was unfit for -further use. - -"Well, why don't you call a board of survey and have it condemned?" -he asked. - -"How can we, general? We do not belong to any battalion, and so have -nobody to call the board or to compose it, either." - -"Let your captain call it then, and put your own officers on it." - -"But we have only one officer, general, besides the captain, and -there must be three on the board, while the officer calling it cannot -be one of them." - -"Oh, the deuce!" he replied. "What's the difference? The harness -ain't fit for use and there's plenty of new in the arsenal. Let -your captain call a board consisting of the lieutenant and you and -a sergeant. It ain't legal, of course, to put any but commissioned -officers on, but I tell you to do it, and one pair of shoulder-straps -is worth more now than a court-house full of habeas corpuses. Write -'sergeant' so that nobody can read it, and I'll make my clerks -mistake it for 'lieutenant' in copying. Get your board together, -go on to say that after a due examination, and all that, the board -respectfully reports that it finds the said harness not worth a damn, -or words to that effect; send in your report and I'll approve it, and -you'll have a new set of harness in three days. What's the use of -pottering around with technicalities when the efficiency of a battery -is at stake? We're not lawyers, but soldiers." - -The speech was a peculiarly characteristic one, and throughout his -administration of affairs in Charleston, General Ripley showed this -disposition to promote the good of the service at the expense of -routine. He was not a good martinet, but he was a brave, earnest man -and a fine officer, of a sort of which no army can have too many. - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] As I have no copy of Dr. Dabney's work by me, and have seen none -for about ten years, I cannot pretend to quote the passage; but I -have given its substance in my own words. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -SOME QUEER PEOPLE. - - -Generals would be of small worth, indeed, if there were no lesser -folk than they in service, and the interesting people one meets in -an army do not all wear sashes, by any means. The composition of the -battery in which I served for a considerable time afforded me an -opportunity to study some rare characters, of a sort not often met -with in ordinary life, and as these men interested me beyond measure, -I have a mind to sketch a few of them here in the hope that their -oddities may prove equally entertaining to my readers. - -In the late autumn of 1861, after a summer with Stuart, -circumstances, with an explanation of which it is not necessary -now to detain the reader, led me to seek a transfer to a light -battery, in which I was almost an entire stranger. When I joined -this new command, the men were in a state of partial mutiny, the -result of a failure to receive their pay and clothing allowance. -The trouble was that there was no one in the battery possessed of -sufficient clerical skill to make out a proper muster and pay roll. -Several efforts had been made, but to no purpose, and when I arrived -the camp was in a state of turmoil. The men were for the most part -illiterate mountaineers, and no explanations which the officers were -able to give served to disabuse their minds of the thought that -they were being swindled in some way. Learning what the difficulty -was, I volunteered my services for the clerical work required, and -two hours after my arrival I had the pleasure of paying off the men -and restoring peace to the camp. Straightway the captain made me -sergeant-major, and the men wanted to make me captain. The popularity -won thus in the outset served me many a good turn, not the least -of which I count the opportunity it gave me to study the characters -of the men, whose confidant and adviser I became in all matters of -difficulty. I deciphered the letters they received from home and -wrote replies from their dictation, and there were parts of this -correspondence which would make my fortune as a humorous writer, if I -could reproduce here the letters received now and then. - -The men, as I have said, were for the most part illiterate -mountaineers, with just a sufficient number of educated gentlemen -among them (mostly officers and non-commissioned officers) to join -each other in a laugh at the oddity of the daily life in the camp. -The captain had been ambitious at one time of so increasing the -company as to make a battalion of it, and to that end had sought -recruits in all quarters. Among others he had enlisted seven genuine -ruffians whom he had found in a Richmond jail, and who enlisted for -the sake of a release from durance. These men formed a little clique -by themselves, a sort of miniature New York sixth ward society, which -afforded me a singularly interesting social study, of a kind rarely -met with by any but home missionaries and police authorities. There -were enough of them to form a distinct criminal class, so that I -had opportunity to study their life as a whole, and not merely the -phenomena presented by isolated specimens. - -All of these seven men had seen service somewhere, and except as -regarded turbulence and utter unmanageability they were excellent -soldiers. Jack Delaney, or "one-eyed Jack Delaney," as he was -commonly called, was a tall, muscular, powerful fellow, who had -lost an eye in a street fight, and was quite prepared to sacrifice -the other in the same way at any moment. Tommy Martin was smaller -and plumper than Jack, but not one whit less muscular or less -desperately belligerent. Tim Considine was simply a beauty. He was -not more than twenty-one years of age, well-built, with a fair, -pearly, pink and white complexion, regular features, exquisite -eyes, and a singularly shapely and well-poised head. His face on -any woman's shoulders would have made her a beauty and a belle in -a Brooklyn drawing-room. I group these three together because they -are associated with each other in my mind. They messed together, and -occupied one tent. Never a day passed which brought with it no battle -royal between two or all three of them. These gentlemen,--for that -is what they uniformly called themselves, though they pronounced -the word "gints,"--were born in Baltimore. I have their word for -this, else I should never have suspected the fact. Their names were -of Hibernian mold. They spoke the English language with as pretty a -brogue as ever echoed among the hills of Galway. They were much given -to such expletives as "faith" and "be me sowl," and "be jabers," and -moreover they were always "afther" doing something; but they were -born in Baltimore, nevertheless, for they solemnly told me so. - -I am wholly unable to give the reader any connected account of the -adventures and life struggles through which these men had passed, for -the reason that I was never able to win their full and unreserved -confidence; but I caught glimpses of their past, here and there, from -which I think it safe to assume that their personal histories had -been of a dramatic, not to say of a sensational sort. My battery was -sent one day to Bee's Creek, on the South Carolina coast, to meet an -anticipated advance of the enemy. No enemy came, however, and we lay -there on the sand, under a scorching sub-tropical sun, in a swarm of -sand-flies so dense that many of our horses died of their stings, -while neither sleep nor rest was possible to the men. A gun-boat -lay just out of reach beyond a point in the inlet, annoying us by -throwing at us an occasional shell of about the size and shape of a -street lamp. Having a book with me I sought a place under a caisson -for the sake of the shade, and spent an hour or two in reading. While -I was there, Jack Delaney and Tommy Martin, knowing nothing of my -presence, took seats on the ammunition chests, and fell to talking. - -"An' faith, Tommy," said Jack, "an' it isn't this sort of foightin' -I'm afther loikin' at all, bad luck to it." - -"An' will ye tell me, Jack," said his companion, "what sort of -foightin' it is, ye loikes?" - -"Ah, Tommy, it's mesilf that loikes the raal foightin'. Give me an -open sea, an' _close quarthers_, an' a _black flag_, Tommy, an' -that's the sort of foightin' I'm afther 'oikin', sure." - -"A-an' I believe it's a poirate ye are, Jack." - -"You're roight, Tommy; it's a poirate I am, ivery inch o' me!" - -Here was a glimpse of the man's character which proved also a hint of -his life story, as I afterwards learned. He had been a pirate, and -an English court, discovering the fact, had "ordered his funeral," -as he phrased it, but by some means or other he had secured a pardon -on condition of his enlistment in the British navy, from which he -had deserted at the first opportunity. Jack was very much devoted to -his friends, and especially to those above him in social or military -rank; and a more loyal fellow I never knew. The captain of the -battery and I were tent mates and mess mates, and although we kept -a competent negro servant, Jack insisted upon blacking our boots, -stretching our tent, brushing our clothes, looking after our fire, -and doing a hundred other services of the sort, for which he could -never be persuaded to accept compensation of any kind. - -When we arrived in Charleston for the first time, on our way to the -post assigned us at Coosawhatchie, we were obliged to remain a whole -day in the city, awaiting transportation. Knowing the temper of our -"criminal class," we were obliged to confine all the men strictly -within camp boundaries, lest our Baltimore Irishmen and their fellows -should get drunk and give us trouble. We peremptorily refused to let -any of the men pass the line of sentinels, but Jack Delaney, being -in sad need of a pair of boots, was permitted to go into the city in -company with the captain. That officer guarded him carefully, and as -they were returning to camp the captain, thinking that there could -be no danger in allowing the man one dram, invited him to drink at a -hotel counter. - -"Give us your very best whisky," he said to the man behind the bar; -whereupon that functionary placed a decanter and two glasses before -them. - -Jack's one eye flashed fire instantly, and jumping upon the counter -he screamed, "What d'ye mean, ye bloody spalpeen, by insultin' me -captain in that way? I'll teach ye your manners, ye haythen." The -captain could not guess the meaning of the Irishman's wrath, but he -interfered for the protection of the frightened servitor, and asked -Jack what he meant. - -"What do I mean? An' sure an' I mean to break his bit of a head, -savin' your presence, captain. I'll teach him not to insult me -captain before me very eyes, by givin' him the same bottle he gives -Jack Delaney to drink out of. An' sure an' me moother learnt me -betther manners nor to presume to drink from the same bottle with me -betthers." - -The captain saved the bar-tender from the effects of Jack's wrath, -but failed utterly to convince that well-bred Irish gentleman that no -offense against good manners had been committed. He refused to drink -from the "captain's bottle," and a separate decanter was provided -for him. - -On another occasion Jack went with one of the officers to a tailor's -shop, and, without apparent cause, knocked the knight of the shears -down and was proceeding to beat him, when the officer commanded him -to desist. - -"An' sure if your honor says he's had enough, I'll quit, but I'd -loike to murdher him." - -Upon being questioned as to the cause of his singular behavior, he -explained that the tailor had shown unpardonably bad manners by -keeping his hat on his head while taking the lieutenant's measure. - -These men were afraid of nothing and respected nothing but rank; but -their regard for that was sufficiently exaggerated perhaps to atone -for their short-comings in other respects. A single chevron on a -man's sleeve made them at once his obedient servants, and never once, -even in their cups, did they resist constituted authority, directly -asserted. For general rules they had no respect whatever. Anything -which assumed the form of law they violated as a matter of course, if -not, as I suspect, as a matter of conscience; but the direct command -of even a corporal was held binding always. Jack Delaney, who never -disobeyed any order delivered to him in person, used to swim the -Ashley River every night, at imminent risk of being eaten by sharks, -chiefly because it was a positive violation of orders to cross at all -from our camp on Wappoo Creek to Charleston. - -Tommy Martin and Tim Considine were bosom friends, and inseparable -companions. They fought each other frequently, but these little -episodes worked no ill to their friendship. One day they quarreled -about something, and Considine, drawing a huge knife from his belt, -rushed upon Martin with evident murderous intent. Martin, planting -himself firmly, dealt his antagonist a blow exactly between the -eyes, which laid him at full length on the ground. I ran at once to -command the peace, but before I got to the scene of action I heard -Considine call out, from his supine position,-- - -"Bully for you, Tommy! I niver knew a blow better delivered in me -loife!" And that ended the dispute. - -One night, after taps, a fearful hubbub arose in the Irish quarter of -the camp, and running to the place, the captain, a corporal, and I -managed to separate the combatants; but as Jack Delaney had a great -butcher knife in his hands with which it appeared he had already -severely cut another Irishman, Dan Gorman by name, we thought it best -to bind him with a prolonge. He submitted readily, lying down on the -ground to be tied. While we were drawing the rope around him, Gorman, -a giant in size and strength, leaned over us and dashed a brick with -all his force into the prostrate man's face. Had it struck his skull -it must have killed him instantly, as indeed we supposed for a time -that it had. - -"What do you mean by that, sir?" asked the captain, seizing Gorman by -the collar. - -Pointing to a fearful gash in his own neck, the man replied,-- - -"Don't ye see I'm a dead man, captain? An' sure an' _do ye think I'm -goin' to hell widout me pardner_?" - -The tone of voice in which the question was asked clearly indicated -that in his view nothing could possibly be more utterly preposterous -than such a supposition. - -Charley Lear belonged to this party, though he was not a Celt, but -an Englishman. Charley was a tailor by trade and a desperado in -practice. He had kept a bar in Vicksburg, had dug gold in California, -and had "roughed it" in various other parts of the world. His was -a scarred breast, showing seven knife thrusts and the marks of two -bullets, one of which had passed entirely through him. And yet he -was in perfect health and strength. He was a man of considerable -intelligence and fair education, whose association with ruffians -was altogether a matter of choice. He was in no sense a criminal, I -think, and while I knew him, at least, was perfectly peaceful. But he -liked rough company and sought it diligently, taking the consequences -when they came. He professed great regard and even affection for me, -because I had done him a rather important service once. - -Finding it impossible to govern these men without subjecting the -rest of the company to a much severer discipline than was otherwise -necessary or desirable, we secured the transfer of our ruffians to -another command in the fall of 1862, and I saw no more of any of -them until after the close of the war. I went into a tailor's shop -in Memphis one day, during the winter of 1865-66, to order a suit of -clothing. After selecting the goods I was asked to step up-stairs -to be measured. While the cutter was using his tape upon me, one of -the journeymen on the great bench at the end of the room suddenly -dropped his work, and, bounding forward, literally clasped me in his -arms, giving me a hug which a grizzly bear might be proud of. It was -Charley Lear, of course, and I had the utmost difficulty in refusing -his offer to pay for the goods and make my clothes himself without -charge. - -Our assortment of queer people was a varied one, and among the -rest there were two ex-circus actors, Jack Hawkins and Colonel -Denton, to wit. Hawkins was an inoffensive and even a timid fellow, -whose delight it was to sing bold robber songs in the metallic -voice peculiar to vocalists of the circus. There was something -inexpressibly ludicrous in the contrast between the bloody-mindedness -of his songs and the gentle shyness and timidity of the man who -sang them. Everybody domineered over him, and he was especially -oppressed in the presence of our other ex-clown, whose assumption -of superior wisdom and experience often overpowered stronger men -than poor John Hawkins ever was. Denton was one of those men who -are sure, in one way or another, to become either "colonel" or -"judge." He was sixty-five years old when I first knew him, and had -been "the colonel" longer than anybody could remember. He was of -good parentage, and until he ran away with a circus at the age of -eleven had lived among genteel people. His appearance and manner -were imposing always, and never more so than when he was drunk. He -buttoned his coat with the air of a man who is about to ride over -broad ancestral acres, and ate his dinner, whatever it might consist -of, with all the dignity of a host who does his guests great honor -in entertaining them. He was an epicure in his tastes, of course, -and delighted to describe peculiarly well-prepared dinners which he -said he had eaten in company with especially distinguished gentlemen. -He was an expert, too, he claimed, in the preparation of salads and -the other arts of a like nature in which fine gentlemen like to -excel even professional cooks. When rations happened to be more than -ordinarily limited in quantity or worse than usual in quality, Denton -was sure to visit various messes while they were at dinner, and -regale them with a highly wrought description of an imaginary feast -from which he would profess to have risen ten minutes before. - -"You ought to have dined with me to-day," he would say. "I had a -deviled leg of turkey, and some beautiful broiled oysters with -Spanish olives. I never eat broiled oysters without olives. You try -it sometime, and you'll never regret it. Then I had a stuffed wild -goose's liver. Did you ever eat one? Well, you don't know what a -real titbit is, then. Not stuffed in the ordinary way, but stuffed -scientifically and cooked in a way you never saw it done before." -And thus he would go on, naming impossible viands and describing -preposterous processes of cookery, until "cooked in a way you never -saw it done before" became a proverb in the camp. The old sinner -would do all this on an empty stomach too, and I sometimes fancied he -found in the delights of his imaginary banquets some compensation for -the short rations and hard fare of his actual experience. - -He was in his glory, however, only when he was away from camp and -among strangers. He always managed to impress people who didn't know -him with his great wealth and prominence. I overheard him once, in -the office of the Charleston Hotel, inviting some gentlemen to visit -and dine with him. - -"Come out this evening," he said, "to my place in Charleston Neck, -and take a bachelor dinner with me. I've just got some duck from -Virginia,--canvas-back, you know,--and my steward will be sure to -have something else good on hand. I've got some good madeira too, -that I imported myself. Now you'll not disappoint me, will you? And -after dinner we'll have a turn at billiards: I've just had my tables -overhauled. But you'll have to excuse me long enough now for me to -ride down and tell the major to take care of things in camp till -morning." - -And with that he gave them an address in the aristocratic quarter -of Charleston, leaving them to meditate upon the good luck they had -fallen upon in meeting this wealthy and hospitable "colonel." - -Denton was an inveterate gambler, and was in the habit of winning a -good deal of money from the men after pay-day. One day he gave some -sound advice to a young man from whom he had just taken a watch in -settlement of a score. - -"Now let me give you some advice, Bill," he said. "I've seen a good -deal of this kind of thing, and I know what I'm talking about. You -play fair now, and you always lose. You'll win after a while if you -keep on, but I tell you, Bill, nobody ever can win at cards without -cheating. You'll cheat a little after a while, and you'll cheat a -good deal before you've done with it. You'd better quit now, while -you're honest, because you'll cheat if you keep on, and when a man -cheats at cards he'll steal, Bill. _I speak from experience._" All -of which impressed me as a singularly frank confession under the -circumstances. - -Among other odd specimens we had in our battery the most ingenious -malingerer I ever heard of. He was in service four years, drew his -pay regularly, was of robust frame and in perfect health always, -and yet during the whole time he was never off the sick-list for a -single day. His capacity to endure contempt was wholly unlimited, -else he would have been shamed by the gibes of the men, the sneers -of the surgeons, and the denunciations of the officers, into some -show, at least, of a disposition to do duty. He spent the greater -part of his time in hospital, never staying in camp a moment longer -than he was obliged to do. When discharged, as a well man, from one -hospital, he would start toward his command, and continue in that -direction till he came to another infirmary, when he would have a -relapse at once, and gain admission there. Discharged again he would -repeat the process at the next hospital, and one day near the end -of the war he counted up something like a hundred different post -and general hospitals of which he had been an inmate, while he had -been admitted to some of them more than half a dozen times each. The -surgeons resorted to a variety of expedients by which to get rid -of him. They burned his back with hot coppers; gave him the most -nauseous mixtures; put him on the lowest possible diet; treated him -to cold shower-baths four or five times daily; and did everything -else they could think of to drive him from the hospitals, but all to -no purpose. In camp it was much the same. On the morning after his -arrival from hospital he would wake up with some totally new ache, -and report himself upon the sick-list. There was no way by which to -conquer his obstinacy, and, as I have said, he escaped duty to the -last. - -Another curious case, and one which is less easily explained, was -that of a much more intelligent man, who for more than a year feigned -every conceivable disease, in the hope that he might be discharged -the service. One or two of us amused ourselves with his case, by -mentioning in his presence the symptoms of some disease of which he -had never heard, the surgeon furnishing us the necessary information, -and in every case he had the disease within less than twenty-four -hours. Finally, and this was the oddest part of the matter, he gave -up the attempt, recovered his health suddenly, and became one of -the very best soldiers in the battery, a man always ready for duty, -and always faithful in its discharge. He was made a corporal and -afterwards a sergeant, and there was no better in the battery. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -RED TAPE. - - -The history of the Confederacy, when it shall be fully and fairly -written, will appear the story of a dream to those who shall read it, -and there are parts of it at least which already seem a nightmare to -those of us who helped make it. Founded upon a constitution which -jealously withheld from it nearly all the powers of government, -without even the poor privilege of existing beyond the moment when -some one of the States composing it should see fit to put it to -death, the Richmond government nevertheless grew speedily into a -despotism, and for four years wielded absolute power over an obedient -and uncomplaining people. It tolerated no questioning, brooked no -resistance, listened to no remonstrance. It levied taxes of an -extraordinary kind upon a people already impoverished almost to the -point of starvation. It made of every man a soldier, and extended -indefinitely every man's term of enlistment. Under pretense of -enforcing the conscription law it established an oppressive system -of domiciliary visits. To preserve order and prevent desertion it -instituted and maintained a system of guards and passports, not -less obnoxious, certainly, than the worst thing of the sort ever -devised by the most paternal of despotisms. In short, a government -constitutionally weak beyond all precedent was able for four years -to exercise in a particularly offensive way all the powers of -absolutism, and that, too, over a people who had been living under -republican rule for generations. That such a thing was possible seems -at the first glance a marvel, but the reasons for it are not far -to seek. Despotisms usually ground themselves upon the theories of -extreme democracy, for one thing, and in this case the consciousness -of the power to dissolve and destroy the government at will made the -people tolerant of its encroachments upon personal and State rights; -the more especially, as the presiding genius of the despotism was -the man who had refused a promotion to the rank of brigadier-general -of volunteers during the Mexican war, on the ground that the general -government could not grant such a commission without violating the -rights of a State. The despotism of a government presided over by -a man so devoted as he to State rights seemed less dangerous than -it might otherwise have appeared. His theory was so excellent that -people pardoned his practice. It is of some parts of that practice -that we shall speak in the present chapter. - -Nothing could possibly be idler than speculation upon what might have -been accomplished with the resources of the South if they had been -properly economized and wisely used. And yet every Southern man must -feel tempted to indulge in some such speculation whenever he thinks -of the subject at all, and remembers, as he must, how shamefully -those resources were wasted and how clumsily they were handled in -every attempt to use them in the prosecution of the war. The army -was composed, as we have seen in a previous chapter, of excellent -material; and under the influence of field service it soon became a -very efficient body of well-drilled and well-disciplined men. The -skill of its leaders is matter of history, too well known to need -comment here. But the government controlling army and leaders was -both passively and actively incompetent in a surprising degree. It -did, as nearly as possible, _all_ those things which it ought not to -have done, at the same time developing a really marvelous genius for -leaving undone those things which it ought to have done. The story -of its incompetence and its presumption, if it could be adequately -told, would read like a romance. Its weakness paralyzed the army and -people, and its weakness was the less hurtful side of its character. -Its full capacity for ill was best seen in the extraordinary strength -it developed whenever action of a wrong-headed sort could work -disaster, and the only wonder is that with such an administration at -its back the Confederate army was able to keep the field at all. I -have already had occasion to explain that the sentiment of the South -made it the duty of every man who could bear arms to go straight to -the front and to stay there. The acceptance of any less actively -military position than that of a soldier in the field was held to be -little less than a confession of cowardice; and cowardice, in the -eyes of the Southerners, is the one sin which may not be pardoned -either in this world or the next. The strength of this sentiment it -is difficult for anybody who did not live in its midst to conceive, -and its effect was to make worthy men spurn everything like civic -position. To go where the bullets were whistling was the one course -open to gentlemen who held their honor sacred and their reputation -dear. And so the offices in Richmond and elsewhere, the bureaus of -every sort, on the proper conduct of which so much depended, were -filled with men willing to be sneered at as dwellers in "bomb-proofs" -and holders of "life insurance policies." - -Nor were the petty clerkships the only positions which brought odium -upon their incumbents. If an able-bodied man accepted even a seat -in Congress, he did so at peril of his reputation for patriotism -and courage, and very many of the men whose wisdom was most needed -in that body positively refused to go there at the risk of losing -a chance to be present with their regiments in battle. Under the -circumstances, no great degree of strength or wisdom was to be looked -for at the hands of Congress, and certainly that assemblage of -gentlemen has never been suspected of showing much of either; while -the administrative machinery presided over by the small officials and -clerks who crowded Richmond was at once a wonder of complication and -a marvel of inefficiency. - -But, if we may believe the testimony of those who were in position to -know the facts, the grand master of incapacity, whose hand was felt -everywhere, was President Davis himself. Not content with perpetually -meddling in the smallest matters of detail, and prescribing the petty -routine of office work in the bureau, he interfered, either directly -or through his personal subordinates, with military operations which -no man, not present with the army, could be competent to control, -and which he, probably, was incapable of justly comprehending in -any case. With the history of his quarrels with the generals in the -field, and the paralyzing effect they had upon military operations, -the public is already familiar. Leaving things of that nature to the -historian, I confine myself to smaller matters, my purpose being -merely to give the reader an idea of the experiences of a Confederate -soldier, and to show him Confederate affairs as they looked when seen -from the inside. - -I can hardly hope to make the ex-soldier of the Union understand -fully how we on the other side were fed in the field. He fought and -marched with a skilled commissariat at his back, and, for his further -staff of comfort, had the Christian and Sanitary commissions, whose -handy tin cups and other camp conveniences came to us only through -the uncertain and irregular channel of abandonment and capture; and -unless his imagination be a vivid one, he will not easily conceive -the state of our commissariat or the privations we suffered as a -consequence of its singularly bad management. The first trouble was, -that we had for a commissary-general a crotchety doctor, some of -whose acquaintances had for years believed him insane. Aside from -his suspected mental aberration, and the crotchets which had made -his life already a failure, he knew nothing whatever of the business -belonging to the department under his control, his whole military -experience having consisted of a few years' service as a lieutenant -of cavalry in one of the Territories, many years before the date of -his appointment as chief of subsistence in the Confederacy. Wholly -without experience to guide him, he was forced to evolve from his -own badly balanced intellect whatever system he should adopt, and -from the beginning of the war until the early part of the year 1865, -the Confederate armies were forced to lean upon this broken reed in -the all-important matter of a food supply. The generals commanding -in the field, we are told on the very highest authority, protested, -suggested, remonstrated almost daily, but their remonstrances were -unheeded and their suggestions set at naught. At Manassas, where the -army was well-nigh starved out in the very beginning of the war, -food might have been abundant but for the obstinacy of this one -man. On our left lay a country unsurpassed, and almost unequaled, -in productiveness. It was rich in grain and meat, these being its -special products. A railroad, with next to nothing to do, penetrated -it, and its stores of food were nearly certain to be exposed to the -enemy before any other part of the country should be conquered. -The obvious duty of the commissary-general, therefore, was to draw -upon that section for the supplies which were both convenient and -abundant. The chief of subsistence ruled otherwise, however, thinking -it better to let that source of supply lie exposed to the first -advance of the enemy, while he drew upon the Richmond _dépôts_ for -a daily ration, and shipped it by the overtasked line of railway -leading from the capital to Manassas. It was nothing to him that -he was thus exhausting the rear and crippling the resources of the -country for the future. It was nothing to him that in the midst of -plenty the army was upon a short allowance of food. It was nothing -that the shipments of provisions from Richmond by this railroad -seriously interfered with other important interests. System was -everything, and this was a part of his system. The worst of it -was, that in this all-important branch of the service experience -and organization wrought little if any improvement as the war went -on, so that as the supplies and the means of transportation grew -smaller, the undiminished inefficiency of the department produced -disastrous results. The army, suffering for food, was disheartened -by the thought that the scarcity was due to the exhaustion of -the country's resources. Red tape was supreme, and no sword was -permitted to cut it. I remember one little circumstance, which -will serve to illustrate the absoluteness with which system was -suffered to override sense in the administration of the affairs of -the subsistence department. I served for a time on the coast of -South Carolina, a country which produces rice in great abundance, -and in which fresh pork and mutton might then be had almost for -the asking, while the climate is wholly unsuited to the making of -flour or bacon. Just at that time, however, the officials of the -commissary department saw fit to feed the whole army on bacon and -flour, articles which, if given to troops in that quarter of the -country at all, must be brought several hundred miles by rail. The -local commissary officers made various suggestions looking to the use -of the provisions of which the country round about was full, but, so -far as I could learn, no attention whatever was paid to them. At the -request of one of these post commissaries, I wrote an elaborate and -respectful letter on the subject, setting forth the fact that rice, -sweet potatoes, corn meal, hominy, grits, mutton, and pork existed -in great abundance in the immediate neighborhood of the troops, and -could be bought for less than one third the cost of the flour and -bacon we were eating. The letter was signed by the post commissary, -and forwarded through the regular channels, with the most favorable -indorsements possible, but it resulted in nothing. The department -presently found it impossible to give us full rations of bacon and -flour, but it still refused to think of the remedy suggested. It -cut down the ration instead, thus reducing the men to a state of -semi-starvation in a country full of food. Relief came at last in -the shape of a technicality, else it would not have been allowed to -come at all. A vigilant captain discovered that the men were entitled -by law to commutation in money for their rations, at fixed rates, -and acting upon this the men were able to buy, with the money paid -them in lieu of rations, an abundance of fresh meats and vegetables; -and most of the companies managed at the same time to save a -considerable fund for future use out of the surplus, so great was the -disparity between the cost of the food they bought and that which the -government wished to furnish them. - -The indirect effect of all this stupidity--for it can be called -by no softer name--was almost as bad as its direct results. The -people at home, finding that the men in the field were suffering for -food, undertook to assist in supplying them. With characteristic -profusion they packed boxes and sent them to their soldier friends -and acquaintances, particularly during the first year of the war. -Sometimes these supplies were permitted to reach their destination, -and sometimes they were allowed to decay in a depot because of some -failure on the part of the sender to comply with the mysterious -canons of official etiquette. In either case they were wasted. If -they got to the army they were used wastefully by the men, who -could not carry them and had no place of storage for them. If they -were detained anywhere, they remained there until some change of -front made it necessary to destroy them. There seemed to be nobody -invested with sufficient authority to turn them to practical account. -I remember a box of my own, packed with cooked meats, vegetables, -fruits,--all perishable,--which got within three miles of my tent, -but could get no farther, although I hired a farmer's wagon with -which to bring it to camp, where my company was at that moment in -sore need of its contents. There was some informality,--the officer -having it in charge could not tell me what,--about the box itself, -or its transmission, or its arrival, or something else, and so it -could not be delivered to me, though I had the warrant of my colonel -in writing, for receiving it. Dismissing my wagoner, I told the -officer in charge that the contents of the box were of a perishable -character, and that rather than have them wasted, I should be glad -to have him accept the whole as a present to his mess; but he -declined, on the ground that to accept the present would be a gross -irregularity so long as there was an embargo upon the package. -I received the box three months later, after its contents had -become entirely worthless. Now this is but one of a hundred cases -within my own knowledge, and it will serve to show the reader how -the inefficiency of the subsistence department led to a wasteful -expenditure of those private stores of food which constituted our -only reserve for the future. - -And there was never any improvement. From the beginning to the end -of the war the commissariat was just sufficiently well managed to -keep the troops in a state of semi-starvation. On one occasion the -company of artillery to which I was attached lived for thirteen -days, _in winter quarters_, on a daily dole of half a pound of -corn meal per man, while food in abundance was stored within five -miles of its camp--a railroad connecting the two points, and the -wagons of the battery lying idle all the while. This happened -because the subsistence department had not been officially informed -of our transfer from one battalion to another, though the fact of -the transfer was under their eyes, and the order of the chief of -artillery making it was offered them in evidence. These officers -were not to blame. They knew the temper of their chief, and had been -taught the omnipotence of routine. - -But it was in Richmond that routine was carried to its absurdest -extremities. There, everything was done by rule except those things -to which system of some sort would have been of advantage, and they -were left at loose ends. Among other things a provost system was -devised and brought to perfection during the time of martial law. -Having once tasted the sweets of despotic rule, its chief refused to -resign any part of his absolute sovereignty over the city, even when -the reign of martial law ceased by limitation of time. His system -of guards and passports was a very marvel of annoying inefficiency. -It effectually blocked the way of every man who was intent upon -doing his duty, while it gave unconscious but sure protection to -spies, blockade-runners, deserters, and absentees without leave -from the armies. It was omnipotent for the annoyance of soldier and -citizen, but utterly worthless for any good purpose. If a soldier on -furlough or even on detached duty arrived in Richmond, he was taken -in charge by the provost guards at the railway station, marched to -the soldiers' home or some other vile prison house, and kept there -in durance during the whole time of his stay. It mattered not -how legitimate his papers were, or how evident his correctness of -purpose. The system required that he should be locked up, and locked -up he was, in every case, until one plucky fellow made fight by -appeal to the courts, and so compelled the abandonment of a practice -for which there was never any warrant in law or necessity in fact. - -Richmond being the railroad centre from which the various lines -radiated, nearly every furloughed soldier and officer on leave was -obliged to pass through the city, going home and returning. Now -to any ordinary intelligence it would seem that a man bearing a -full description of himself, and a furlough signed by his captain, -colonel, brigadier, division-commander, lieutenant-general, and -finally by Robert E. Lee as general-in-chief, might have been allowed -to go peaceably to his home by the nearest route. But that was no -ordinary intelligence which ruled Richmond. Its ability to find -places in which to interfere was unlimited, and it decreed that no -soldier should leave Richmond, either to go home or to return direct -to the army, without a brown paper passport, signed by an officer -appointed for that purpose, and countersigned by certain other -persons whose authority to sign or countersign anything nobody was -ever able to trace to its source. If any such precaution had been -necessary, it would not have been so bad, or even being unnecessary, -if there had been the slightest disposition on the part of these -passport people to facilitate obedience to their own requirements, -the long-suffering officers and men of the army would have uttered -no word of complaint. But the facts were exactly the reverse. The -passport officials rigidly maintained the integrity of their office -hours, and neither entreaty nor persuasion would induce them in any -case to anticipate by a single minute the hour for beginning, or to -postpone the time of ending their daily duties. I stood one day in -their office in a crowd of fellow soldiers and officers, some on -furlough going home, some returning after a brief visit, and still -others, like myself, going from one place to another under orders -and on duty. The two trains by which most of us had to go were both -to leave within an hour, and if we should lose them we must remain -twenty-four hours longer in Richmond, where the hotel rate was then -sixty dollars a day. In full view of these facts, the passport men, -daintily dressed, sat there behind their railing, chatting and -laughing for a full hour, suffering both trains to depart and all -these men to be left over rather than do thirty minutes' work in -advance of the improperly fixed office hour. It resulted from this -system that many men on three or five days' leave lost nearly the -whole of it in delays, going and returning. Many others were kept in -Richmond for want of a passport until their furloughs expired, when -they were arrested for absence without leave, kept three or four days -in the guard-house, and then taken as prisoners to their commands, -to which they had tried hard to go of their own motion at the proper -time. Finally the abuse became so outrageous that General Lee, in his -capacity of general-in-chief, issued a peremptory order forbidding -anybody to interfere in any way with officers or soldiers traveling -under his written authority. - -But the complications of the passport system, before the issuing -of that order, were endless. I went once with a friend in search -of passports. As I had passed through Richmond a few weeks before, -I fancied I knew all about the business of getting the necessary -papers. Armed with our furloughs we went straight from the train to -the passport office, and presenting our papers to the young man in -charge, we asked for the brown paper permits which we must show -upon leaving town. The young man prepared them and gave them to us, -but this was no longer the end of the matter. These passports must -be countersigned, and, strangely enough, my friend's required the -sign-manual of Lieutenant X., whose office was in the lower part of -the city, while mine must be signed by Lieutenant Y., who made his -head-quarters some distance farther up town. As my friend and I were -of precisely the same rank, came from the same command, were going -to the same place, and held furloughs in exactly the same words, I -shall not be deemed unreasonable when I declare my conviction that -no imbecility, less fully developed than that which then governed -Richmond, could possibly have discovered any reason for requiring -that our passports should be countersigned by different people. - -But with all the trouble it gave to men intent upon doing their duty, -this cumbrous passport system was well-nigh worthless for any of -the purposes whose accomplishment might have excused its existence. -Indeed, in some cases it served to assist the very people it was -intended to arrest. In one instance within my own knowledge, a -soldier who wished to visit his home, some hundreds of miles away, -failing to get a furlough, shouldered his musket and set out with -no scrip for his journey, depending upon his familiarity with the -passport system for the accomplishment of his purpose. Going to a -railroad station, he planted himself at one of the entrances as a -sentinel, and proceeded to demand passports of every comer. Then he -got upon the train, and between stations he passed through the cars, -again inspecting people's traveling papers. Nobody was surprised at -the performance. It was not at all an unusual thing for a sentinel to -go out with a train in this way, and nobody doubted that the man had -been sent upon this errand. - -On another occasion two officers of my acquaintance were going from -a southern post to Virginia on some temporary duty, and in their -orders there was a clause directing them to "arrest and lodge in -the nearest guard-house or jail" all soldiers they might encounter -who were absent without leave from their commands. As the train -upon which they traveled approached Weldon, N. C., a trio of guards -passed through the cars, inspecting passports. This was the third -inspection inflicted upon the passengers within a few hours, and, -weary of it, one of the two officers met the demand for his passport -with a counter demand for the guards' authority to examine it. The -poor fellows were there honestly enough, doubtless, doing a duty -which was certainly not altogether pleasant, but they had been sent -out on their mission with no attendant officer, and no scrap of paper -to attest their authority, or even to avouch their right to be on -the train at all; wherefore the journeying officer, exhibiting his -own orders, proceeded to arrest them. Upon their arrival at Weldon, -where their quarters were, he released them, but not without a lesson -which provost guards in that vicinity remembered. I tell the story -for the sake of showing how great a degree of laxity and carelessness -prevailed in the department which was organized especially to enforce -discipline by putting everybody under surveillance. - -But this was not all. In Richmond, where the passport system had its -birth, and where its annoying requirements were most sternly enforced -against people having a manifest right to travel, there were still -greater abuses. Will the reader believe that while soldiers, provided -with the very best possible evidence of their right to enter and -leave Richmond, were badgered and delayed as I have explained, in -the passport office, the bits of brown paper over which so great an -ado was made might be, and were, bought and sold by dealers? That -such was the case I have the very best evidence, namely, that of -my own senses. If the system was worth anything at all, if it was -designed to accomplish any worthy end, its function was to prevent -the escape of spies, blockade-runners, and deserters; and yet these -were precisely the people who were least annoyed by it. By a system -of logic peculiar to themselves, the provost marshal's people seem to -have arrived at the conclusion that men deserting the army, acting as -spies, or "running the blockade" to the North, were to be found only -in Confederate uniforms, and against men wearing these the efforts of -the department were especially directed. Non-military men had little -difficulty in getting passports at will, and failing this there were -brokers' shops in which they could buy them at a comparatively small -cost. I knew one case in which an army officer in full uniform, -hurrying through Richmond before the expiration of his leave, in -order that he might be with his command in a battle then impending, -was ordered about from one official to another in a vain search for -the necessary passport, until he became discouraged and impatient. He -finally went in despair to a Jew, and bought an illicit permit to go -to his post of duty. - -But even as against soldiers, except those who were manifestly -entitled to visit Richmond, the system was by no means effective. -More than one deserter, to my own knowledge, passed through Richmond -in full uniform, though by what means they avoided arrest, when there -were guards and passport inspectors at nearly every corner, I cannot -guess. - -At one time, when General Stuart, with his cavalry, was encamped -within a few miles of the city, he discovered that his men were -visiting Richmond by dozens, without leave, which, for some reason -or other known only to the provost marshal's office, they were -able to do without molestation. General Stuart, finding that this -was the case, resolved to take the matter into his own hands, and -accordingly with a troop of cavalry he made a descent upon the -theatre one night, and arrested those of his men whom he found there. -The provost marshal, who it would seem was more deeply concerned -for the preservation of his own dignity than for the maintenance of -discipline, sent a message to the great cavalier, threatening him -with arrest if he should again presume to enter Richmond for the -purpose of making arrests. Nothing could have pleased Stuart better. -He replied that he should visit Richmond again the next night, with -thirty horsemen; that he should patrol the streets in search of -absentees from his command; and that General Winder might arrest him -if he could. The jingling of spurs was loud in the streets that -night, but the provost marshal made no attempt to arrest the defiant -horseman. - -Throughout the management of affairs in Richmond a cumbrous -inefficiency was everywhere manifest. From the president, who -insulted his premier for presuming to offer some advice about the -conduct of the war, and quarreled with his generals because they -failed to see the wisdom of a military movement suggested by himself, -down to the pettiest clerk in a bureau, there was everywhere a morbid -sensitiveness on the subject of personal dignity, and an exaggerated -regard for routine, which seriously impaired the efficiency of the -government and greatly annoyed the army. Under all the circumstances -the reader will not be surprised to learn that the government at -Richmond was by no means idolized by the men in the field. - -The wretchedness of its management began to bear fruit early in the -war, and the fruit was bitter in the mouths of the soldiers. Mr. -Davis's evident hostility to Generals Beauregard and Johnston, which -showed itself in his persistent refusal to let them concentrate -their men, in his obstinate thwarting of all their plans, and in -his interference with the details of army organization on which -they were agreed,--a hostility born, as General Thomas Jordan gives -us to understand, of their failure to see the wisdom of his plan -of campaign after Bull Run, which was to take the army across the -lower Potomac at a point where it could never hope to recross, for -the purpose of capturing a small force lying there under General -Sickles,--was not easily concealed; and the army was too intelligent -not to know that a meddlesome and dictatorial president, on bad -terms with his generals in the field, and bent upon thwarting their -plans, was a very heavy load to carry. The generals held their peace, -as a matter of course, but the principal facts were well known -to officers and men, and when the time came, in the fall of 1861, -for the election of a president under the permanent constitution -(Mr. Davis having held office provisionally only, up to that time), -there was a very decided disposition on the part of the troops to -vote against him. They were told, however, that as there was no -candidate opposed to him, he must be elected at any rate, and that -the moral effect of showing a divided front to the enemy would be -very bad indeed; and in this way only was the undivided vote of the -army secured for him. The troops voted for Mr. Davis thus under -stress of circumstances, in the hope that all would yet be well; but -his subsequent course was not calculated to reinstate him in their -confidence, and the wish that General Lee might see fit to usurp all -the powers of government was a commonly expressed one, both in the -army and in private life during the last two years of the war. - -The favoritism which governed nearly every one of the president's -appointments was the leading, though not the only, ground of -complaint. And truly the army had reason to murmur, when one of the -president's pets was promoted all the way from lieutenant-colonel to -lieutenant-general, having been but once in battle,--and then only -constructively so,--on his way up, while colonels by the hundred, -and brigadier and major generals by the score, who had been fighting -hard and successfully all the time, were left as they were. And when -this suddenly created general, almost without a show of resistance, -surrendered one of the most important strongholds in the country, -together with a veteran army of considerable size, is it any wonder -that we questioned the wisdom of the president whose blind favoritism -had dealt the cause so severe a blow? But not content with this, as -soon as the surrendered general was exchanged the president tried to -place him in command of the defenses of Richmond, then hard pressed -by General Grant, and was only prevented from doing so by the man's -own discovery that the troops would not willingly serve under him. - -The extent to which presidential partiality and presidential -intermeddling with affairs in the field were carried may be guessed, -perhaps, from the fact that the Richmond Examiner, the newspaper -which most truly reflected the sentiment of the people, found -consolation for the loss of Vicksburg and New Orleans in the thought -that the consequent cutting of the Confederacy in two freed the -trans-Mississippi armies from paralyzing dictation. In its leading -article for October 5, 1864, the Examiner said:-- - -"The fall of New Orleans and the surrender of Vicksburg proved -blessings to the cause beyond the Mississippi. It terminated the -_régime_ of pet generals. It put a stop to official piddling in the -conduct of the armies and the plan of campaigns. The moment when it -became impossible to send orders by telegraph to court officers, at -the head of troops who despised them, was the moment of the turning -tide." - -So marked was the popular discontent, not with Mr. Davis only, but -with the entire government and Congress as well, that a Richmond -newspaper at one time dared to suggest a counter revolution as -the only means left of saving the cause from the strangling it -was receiving at the hands of its guardians in Richmond. And the -suggestion seemed so very reasonable and timely that it startled -nobody, except perhaps a congressman or two who had no stomach for -field service. - -The approach of the end wrought no change in the temper of the -government, and one of its last acts puts in the strongest light -its disposition to sacrifice the interests of the army to the -convenience of the court. When the evacuation of Richmond was begun, -a train load of provisions was sent by General Lee's order from -one of the interior _dépôts_ to Amelia Court House, for the use of -the retreating army, which was without food and must march to that -point before it could receive a supply. But the president and his -followers were in haste to leave the capital, and needed the train, -wherefore it was not allowed to remain at Amelia Court House long -enough to be unloaded, but was hurried on to Richmond, where its -cargo was thrown out to facilitate the flight of the president and -his personal followers, while the starving army was left to suffer -in an utterly exhausted country, with no source of supply anywhere -within its reach. The surrender of the army was already inevitable, -it is true, but that fact in no way justified this last, crowning act -of selfishness and cruelty. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE END, AND AFTER. - - -It is impossible to say precisely when the conviction became -general in the South that we were to be beaten. I cannot even -decide at what time I myself began to think the cause a hopeless -one, and I have never yet found one of my fellow-Confederates, -though I have questioned many of them, who could tell me with any -degree of certainty the history of his change from confidence to -despondency. We schooled ourselves from the first to think that we -should ultimately win, and the habit of thinking so was too strong -to be easily broken by adverse happenings. Having undertaken to make -good our declaration of independence, we refused to admit, even -to ourselves, the possibility of failure. It was a part of our -soldierly and patriotic duty to believe that ultimate success was -to be ours, and Stuart only uttered the common thought of army and -people, when he said, "We are bound to believe that, anyhow." We -were convinced, beyond the possibility of a doubt, of the absolute -righteousness of our cause, and in spite of history we persuaded -ourselves that a people battling for the right could not fail in the -end. And so our hearts went on hoping for success long after our -heads had learned to expect failure. Besides all this, we never gave -verbal expression to the doubts we felt, or even to the longing, -which must have been universal, for the end. It was our religion -to believe in the triumph of our cause, and it was heresy of the -rankest sort to doubt it or even to admit the possibility of failure. -It was ours to fight on indefinitely, and to the future belonged -the award of victory to our arms. We did not allow ourselves even -the poor privilege of wishing that the struggle might end, except -as we coupled the wish with a pronounced confidence in our ability -to make the end what we desired it to be. I remember very well the -stern rebuke administered by an officer to as gallant a fellow as -any in the army, who, in utter weariness and wretchedness, in the -trenches at Spottsylvania Court House, after a night of watching in -a drenching rain, said that he hoped the campaign then opening might -be the last one of the war. His plea that he also hoped the war would -end as we desired availed him nothing. To be weary in the cause -was offense enough, and the officer gave warning that another such -expression would subject the culprit to trial by court-martial. In -this he only spoke the common mind. We had enlisted for the war, and -a thought of weariness was hardly better than a wish for surrender. -This was the temper in which we began the campaign of 1864, and so -far as I have been able to discover, it underwent little change -afterwards. Even during the final retreat, though there were many -desertions soon after Richmond was left behind, not one of us who -remained despaired of the end we sought. We discussed the comparative -strategic merits of the line we had left and the new one we hoped -to make on the Roanoke River, and we wondered where the seat of -government would be, but not one word was said about a probable or -possible surrender. Nor was the army alone in this. The people who -were being left behind were confident that they should see us again -shortly, on our way to Richmond's recapture. - -Up to the hour of the evacuation of Richmond, the newspapers were -as confident as ever of victory. During the fall of 1864 they even -believed, or professed to believe, that our triumph was already at -hand. The Richmond Whig of October 5, 1864, said: "That the present -condition of affairs, compared with that of any previous year at the -same season, at least since 1861, is greatly in our favor, we think -can hardly be denied." In the same article it said: "That General Lee -can keep Grant out of Richmond from this time until doomsday, if he -should be tempted to keep up the trial so long, we are as confident -as we can be of anything whatever." The Examiner of September 24, -1864, said in its leading editorial: "The final struggle for the -possession of Richmond and of Virginia is now near. This war draws -to a close. If Richmond is held by the South till the first of -November it will be ours forever more; for the North will never throw -another huge army into the abyss where so many lie; and the war will -conclude, beyond a doubt, with the independence of the Southern -States." In its issue for October 7, 1864, the same paper began its -principal editorial article with this paragraph: "One month of spirit -and energy now, and the campaign is over, and the war is over. We do -not mean that if the year's campaign end favorably for us, McClellan -will be elected as Yankee President. That may come, or may not come; -but no part of our chance for an honorable peace and independence -rests upon that. Let who will be Yankee President, with the failure -of Grant and Sherman this year, the war ends. And with Sherman's army -already isolated and cut off in Georgia, and Grant unable either to -take or besiege Richmond, we have only to make one month's exertion -in improving our advantages, and then it may safely be said that the -fourth year's campaign, and with it the war itself, is one gigantic -failure." The Richmond Whig of September 8, 1864, with great gravity -copied from the Wytheville Dispatch an article beginning as follows: -"Believing as we do that the war of subjugation is virtually over, -we deem it not improper to make a few suggestions relative to the -treatment of Yankees after the war is over. Our soldiers know how to -treat them now, but _then_ a different treatment will be necessary." -And so they talked all the time. - -Much of this was mere whistling to keep our courage up, of course, -but we tried very hard to believe all these pleasant things, and in -a measure we succeeded. And yet I think we must have known from the -beginning of the campaign of 1864 that the end was approaching, and -that it could not be other than a disastrous one. We knew very well -that General Lee's army was smaller than it ever had been before. -We knew, too, that there were no reinforcements to be had from any -source. The conscription had put every man worth counting into the -field already, and the little army that met General Grant in the -Wilderness represented all that remained of the Confederate strength -in Virginia. In the South matters were at their worst, and we knew -that not a man could come thence to our assistance. Lee mustered a -total strength of about sixty-six thousand men, when we marched out -of winter quarters and began in the Wilderness that long struggle -which ended nearly a year later at Appomattox. With that army alone -the war was to be fought out, and we had to shut our eyes to facts -very resolutely, that we might not see how certainly we were to be -crushed. And we did shut our eyes so successfully as to hope in a -vague, irrational way, for the impossible, to the very end. In the -Wilderness we held our own against every assault, and the visible -punishment we inflicted upon the foe was so great that hardly any -man in our army expected to see a Federal force on our side of the -river at daybreak next morning. We thought that General Grant was -as badly hurt as Hooker had been on the same field, and confidently -expected him to retreat during the night. When he moved by his left -flank to Spottsylvania instead, we understood what manner of man he -was, and knew that the persistent pounding, which of all things we -were least able to endure, had begun. When at last we settled down in -the trenches around Petersburg, we ought to have known that the end -was rapidly drawing near. We congratulated ourselves instead upon the -fact that we had inflicted a heavier loss than we had suffered, and -buckled on our armor anew. - -If General Grant had failed to break our power of resistance by his -sledge-hammer blows, it speedily became evident that he would be more -successful in wearing it away by the constant friction of a siege. -Without fighting a battle he was literally destroying our army. The -sharp-shooting was incessant, and the bombardment hardly less so, and -under it all our numbers visibly decreased day by day. During the -first two months of the siege my own company, which numbered about a -hundred and fifty men, lost sixty, in killed and wounded, an average -of a man a day, and while our list of casualties was greater than -that of many other commands, there were undoubtedly some companies -and regiments which suffered more than we. The reader will readily -understand that an army already weakened by years of war, with no -source from which to recruit its ranks, could not stand this daily -waste for any great length of time. We were in a state of atrophy -for which there was no remedy except that of freeing the negroes and -making soldiers of them, which Congress was altogether too loftily -sentimental to think of for a moment. - -There was no longer any room for hope except in a superstitious -belief that Providence would in some way interfere in our behalf, and -to that very many betook themselves for comfort. This shifting upon -a supernatural power the task we had failed to accomplish by human -means rapidly bred many less worthy superstitions among the troops. -The general despondency, which amounted almost to despair, doubtless -helped to bring about this result, and the great religious "revival" -contributed to it in no small degree. I think hardly any man in that -army entertained a thought of coming out of the struggle alive. The -only question with each was when his time was to come, and a sort of -gloomy fatalism took possession of many minds. Believing that they -must be killed sooner or later, and that the hour and the manner of -their deaths were unalterably fixed, many became singularly reckless, -and exposed themselves with the utmost carelessness to all sorts of -unnecessary dangers. - -"I'm going to be killed pretty soon," said as brave a man as I ever -knew, to me one evening. "I never flinched from a bullet until -to-day, and now I dodge every time one whistles within twenty feet of -me." - -I tried to persuade him out of the belief, and even got for him -a dose of valerian with which to quiet his nerves. He took the -medicine, but assured me that he was not nervous in the least. - -"My time is coming, that's all," he said; "and I don't care. A -few days more or less don't signify much." An hour later the poor -fellow's head was blown from his shoulders as he stood by my side. - -One such incident--and there were many of them--served to confirm -a superstitious belief in presentiments which a hundred failures -of fulfillment were unable to shake. Meantime the revival went on. -Prayer-meetings were held in every tent. Testaments were in every -hand, and a sort of religious ecstasy took possession of the army. -The men had ceased to rely upon the skill of their leaders or the -strength of our army for success, and not a few of them hoped now -for a miraculous interposition of supernatural power in our behalf. -Men in this mood make the best of soldiers, and at no time were -the fighting qualities of the Southern army better than during the -siege. Under such circumstances men do not regard death, and even -the failure of any effort they were called upon to make wrought no -demoralization among troops who had persuaded themselves that the -Almighty held victory in store for them, and would give it them in -due time. What cared they for the failure of mere human efforts, when -they were persuaded that through such failures God was leading us to -ultimate victory? Disaster seemed only to strengthen the faith of -many. They saw in it a needed lesson in humility, and an additional -reason for believing that God meant to bring about victory by his own -and not by human strength. They did their soldierly duties perfectly. -They held danger and fatigue alike in contempt. It was their duty as -Christian men to obey orders without question, and they did so in -the thought that to do otherwise was to sin. - -That the confidence bred of these things should be of a gloomy kind -was natural enough, and the gloom was not dispelled, certainly, by -the conviction of every man that he was assisting at his own funeral. -Failure, too, which was worse than death, was plainly inevitable in -spite of it all. We persisted, as I have said, in vaguely hoping and -trying to believe that success was still to be ours, and to that end -we shut our eyes to the plainest facts, refusing to admit the truth -which was everywhere evident, namely, that our efforts had failed, -and that our cause was already in its death struggles. But we must -have known all this, nevertheless, and our diligent cultivation of an -unreasonable hopefulness served in no sensible degree to raise our -spirits. - -Even positive knowledge does not always bring belief. I doubt if a -condemned man, who finds himself in full bodily health, ever quite -believes that he is to die within the hour, however certainly he may -know the fact; and our condition was not unlike that of condemned men. - -When at last the beginning of the end came, in the evacuation of -Richmond and the effort to retreat, everything seemed to go to -pieces at once. The best disciplinarians in the army relaxed their -reins. The best troops became disorganized, and hardly any command -marched in a body. Companies were mixed together, parts of each being -separated by detachments of others. Flying citizens in vehicles of -every conceivable sort accompanied and embarrassed the columns. Many -commands marched heedlessly on without orders, and seemingly without -a thought of whither they were going. Others mistook the meaning -of their orders, and still others had instructions which it was -impossible to obey in any case. At Amelia Court House we should have -found a supply of provisions. General Lee had ordered a train load -to meet him there, but, as I have stated in a previous chapter, the -interests of the starving army had been sacrificed to the convenience -or the cowardice of the president and his personal following. The -train had been hurried on to Richmond and its precious cargo of -food thrown out there, in order that Mr. Davis and his people might -retreat rapidly and comfortably from the abandoned capital. Then -began the desertion of which we have heard so much. Up to that time, -as far as I can learn, if desertions had occurred at all they had -not become general; but now that the government, in flying from -the foe, had cut off our only supply of provisions, what were the -men to do? Many of them wandered off in search of food, with no -thought of deserting at all. Many others followed the example of the -government, and fled; but a singularly large proportion of the little -whole stayed and starved to the last. And it was no technical or -metaphorical starvation which we had to endure, either, as a brief -statement of my own experience will show. The battery to which I was -attached was captured near Amelia Court House, and within a mile or -two of my home. Seven men only escaped, and as I knew intimately -everybody in the neighborhood, I had no trouble in getting horses for -these to ride. Applying to General Lee in person for instructions, I -was ordered to march on, using my own judgment, and rendering what -service I could in the event of a battle. In this independent fashion -I marched with much better chances than most of the men had, to get -food, and yet during three days and nights our total supply consisted -of one ear of corn to the man, and we divided that with our horses. - -The end came, technically, at Appomattox, but of the real -difficulties of the war the end was not yet. The trials and the -perils of utter disorganization were still to be endured, and as the -condition in which many parts of the South were left by the fall of -the Confederate government was an anomalous one, some account of it -seems necessary to the completeness of this narrative. - -Our principal danger was from the lawless bands of marauders who -infested the country, and our greatest difficulty in dealing with -them lay in the utter absence of constituted authority of any -sort. Our country was full of highwaymen--not the picturesque -highwaymen of whom fiction and questionable history tell us, those -gallant, generous fellows whose purse-cutting proclivities seem -mere peccadilloes in the midst of so many virtues; not these, by -any means, but plain highwaymen of the most brutal description -possible, and destitute even of the merit of presenting a respectable -appearance. They were simply the offscourings of the two armies and -of the suddenly freed negro population,--deserters from fighting -regiments on both sides, and negro desperadoes, who found common -ground upon which to fraternize in their common depravity. They -moved about in bands, from two to ten strong, cutting horses out of -plows, plundering helpless people, and wantonly destroying valuables -which they could not carry away. At the house of one of my friends -where only ladies lived, a body of these men demanded dinner, which -was given them. They then required the mistress of the mansion to -fill their canteens with sorghum molasses, which they immediately -proceeded to pour over the carpets and furniture of the parlor. -Outrages were of every-day enactment, and there was no remedy. There -was no State, county, or municipal government in existence among us. -We had no courts, no justices of the peace, no sheriffs, no officers -of any kind invested with a shadow of authority, and there were not -men enough in the community, at first, to resist the marauders, -comparatively few of the surrendered soldiers having found their -way home as yet. Those districts in which the Federal armies were -stationed were peculiarly fortunate. The troops gave protection to -the people, and the commandants of posts constituted a government -able to enforce order, to which outraged or threatened people could -appeal. But these favored sections were only a small part of the -whole. The troops were not distributed in detached bodies over the -country, but were kept in considerable masses at strategic points, -lest a guerrilla war should succeed regular hostilities; and so the -greater part of the country was left wholly without law, at a time -when law was most imperatively needed. I mention this, not to the -discredit of the victorious army or of its officers. They could -not wisely have done otherwise. If the disbanded Confederates had -seen fit to inaugurate a partisan warfare, as many of the Federal -commanders believed they would, they could have annoyed the army -of occupation no little; and so long as the temper of the country -in this matter was unknown, it would have been in the last degree -improper to station small bodies of troops in exposed situations. -Common military prudence dictated the massing of the troops, and -as soon as it became evident that we had no disposition to resist -further, but were disposed rather to render such assistance as we -could in restoring and maintaining order, everything was done which -could be done to protect us. It is with a good deal of pleasure that -I bear witness to the uniform disposition shown by such Federal -officers as I came in contact with at this time, to protect all quiet -citizens, to restore order, and to forward the interests of the -community they were called upon to govern. In one case I went with a -fellow-Confederate to the head-quarters nearest me,--eighteen miles -away,--and reported the doings of some marauders in my neighborhood, -which had been especially outrageous. The general in command at once -made a detail of cavalry and instructed its chief to go in pursuit of -the highwaymen, and to bring them to him, dead or alive. They were -captured, marched at a double-quick to the camp, and shot forthwith, -by sentence of a drum-head court-martial, a proceeding which did -more than almost anything else could have done, to intimidate other -bands of a like kind. At another time I took to the same officer's -camp a number of stolen horses which a party of us had managed to -recapture from a sleeping band of desperadoes. Some of the horses we -recognized as the property of our neighbors, some we did not know -at all, and one or two were branded "C. S." and "U. S." The general -promptly returned all the identified horses, and lent all the others -to farmers in need of them. - -After a little time most of the ex-soldiers returned to their homes, -and finding that there were enough of us in the county in which I -lived to exercise a much-needed police supervision if we had the -necessary authority, we sent a committee of citizens to Richmond -to report the facts to the general in command of the district. He -received our committee very cordially, expressed great pleasure in -the discovery that citizens were anxious to maintain order until a -reign of law could be restored, and granted us leave to organize -ourselves into a military police, with officers acting under written -authority from him; to patrol the country; to disarm all improper or -suspicious persons; to arrest and turn over to the nearest provost -marshal all wrong-doers, and generally to preserve order by armed -surveillance. To this he attached but one condition, namely, that -we should hold ourselves bound in honor to assist any United States -officer who might require such service of us, in the suppression -of guerrilla warfare. To this we were glad enough to assent, as -the thing we dreaded most at that time was the inauguration of a -hopeless, irregular struggle, which would destroy the small chance -left us of rebuilding our fortunes and restoring our wasted country -to prosperity. We governed the county in which we lived, until the -establishment of a military post at the county seat relieved us of -the task, and the permission given us thus to stamp out lawlessness -saved our people from the alternative of starvation or dependence -upon the bounty of the government. It was seed-time, and without a -vigorous maintenance of order our fields could not have been planted -at all. - -It is difficult to comprehend, and impossible to describe, the state -of uncertainty in which we lived at this time. We had surrendered -at discretion, and had no way of discovering or even of guessing -what terms were to be given us. We were cut off almost wholly from -trustworthy news, and in the absence of papers were unable even -to rest conjecture upon the expression of sentiment at the North. -Rumors we had in plenty, but so many of them were clearly false that -we were forced to reject them all as probably untrue. When we heard -it confidently asserted that General Alexander had made a journey -to Brazil and brought back a tempting offer to emigrants, knowing -all the time that if he had gone he must have made the trip within -the extraordinarily brief period of a few weeks, it was difficult to -believe other news which reached us through like channels, though -much of it ultimately proved true. I think nobody in my neighborhood -believed the rumor of Mr. Lincoln's assassination until it was -confirmed by a Federal soldier whom I questioned upon the subject one -day, a week or two after the event. When we knew that the rumor was -true, we deemed it the worst news we had heard since the surrender. -We distrusted President Johnson more than any one else. Regarding -him as a renegade Southerner, we thought it probable that he would -endeavor to prove his loyalty to the Union by extra severity to -the South, and we confidently believed he would revoke the terms -offered us in Mr. Lincoln's amnesty proclamation; wherefore there -was a general haste to take the oath and so to secure the benefit of -the dead president's clemency before his successor should establish -harsher conditions. We should have regarded Mr. Lincoln's death as -a calamity, even if it had come about by natural means, and coming -as it did through a crime committed in our name, it seemed doubly a -disaster. - -With the history of the South during the period of reconstruction, -all readers are familiar, and it is only the state of affairs between -the time of the surrender and the beginning of the rebuilding, that -I have tried to describe in this chapter. But the picture would be -inexcusably incomplete without some mention of the negroes. Their -behavior both during and after the war may well surprise anybody not -acquainted with the character of the race. When the men of the South -were nearly all in the army, the negroes were left in large bodies on -the plantations with nobody to control them except the women and a -few old or infirm men. They might have been insolent, insubordinate, -and idle, if they had chosen. They might have gained their freedom -by asserting it. They might have overturned the social and political -fabric at any time, _and they knew all this too_. They were -intelligent enough to know that there was no power on the plantations -capable of resisting any movement they might choose to make. They -did know, too, that the success of the Federal arms would give them -freedom. The fact was talked about everywhere, and no effort was -made to keep the knowledge of it from them. They knew that to assert -their freedom was to give immediate success to the Union cause. -Most of them coveted freedom, too, as the heartiness with which they -afterwards accepted it abundantly proves. And yet they remained -quiet, faithful, and diligent throughout, very few of them giving -trouble of any sort, even on plantations where only a few women -remained to control them. The reason for all this must be sought in -the negro character, and we of the South, knowing that character -thoroughly, trusted it implicitly. We left our homes and our helpless -ones in the keeping of the Africans of our households, without any -hesitation whatever. We knew these faithful and affectionate people -too well to fear that they would abuse such a trust. We concealed -nothing from them, and they knew quite as well as we did the issues -at stake in the war. - -The negro is constitutionally loyal to his obligations as he -understands them, and his attachments, both local and personal, -are uncommonly strong. He speedily forgets an injury, but never -a kindness, and so he was not likely to rise in arms against the -helpless women and children whom he had known intimately and loved -almost reverentially from childhood, however strongly he desired the -freedom which such a rising would secure to him. It was a failure to -appreciate these peculiarities of the negro character which led John -Brown into the mistake that cost him his life. Nothing is plainer -than that he miscalculated the difficulty of exciting the colored -people to insurrection. He went to Harper's Ferry, confident that -when he should declare his purposes, the negroes would flock to his -standard and speedily crown his effort with success. They remained -quietly at work instead, many of them hoping, doubtless, that freedom -for themselves and their fellows might somehow be wrought out, but -they were wholly unwilling to make the necessary war upon the whites -to whom they were attached by the strongest possible bonds of -affection. And so throughout the war they acted after their kind, -waiting for the issue with the great, calm patience which is their -most universal characteristic. - -When the war ended, leaving everything in confusion, the poor blacks -hardly knew what to do, but upon the whole they acted with great -modesty, much consideration for their masters, and singular wisdom. -A few depraved ones took to bad courses at once, but their number -was remarkably small. Some others, with visionary notions, betook -themselves to the cities in search of easier and more profitable work -than any they had ever done, and many of these suffered severely from -want before they found employment again. The great majority waited -patiently for things to adjust themselves in their new conditions, -going on with their work meanwhile, and conducting themselves with -remarkable modesty. I saw much of them at this time, and I heard -of no case in which a negro voluntarily reminded his master of the -changed relations existing between them, or in any other way offended -against the strictest rules of propriety. - -At my own home the master of the mansion assembled his negroes -immediately after the surrender; told them they were free, and under -no obligation whatever to work for him; and explained to them the -difficulty he found in deciding what kind of terms he ought to offer -them, inasmuch as he was wholly ignorant upon the subject of the -wages of agricultural laborers. He told them, however, that if they -wished to go on with the crop, he would give them provisions and -clothing as before, and at the end of the year would pay them as -high a rate of wages as any paid in the neighborhood. To this every -negro on the place agreed, all of them protesting that they wanted -no better terms than for their master to give them at the end of -the year whatever he thought they had earned. They lost not an hour -from their work, and the life upon the plantation underwent no change -whatever until its master was forced by a pressure of debt to sell -his land. I give the history of the adjustment on this plantation -as a fair example of the way in which ex-masters and ex-slaves were -disposed to deal with each other. - -There were cases in which no such harmonious adjustment could -be effected, but, so far as my observation extended, these were -exceptions to the common rule, and even now, after a lapse of nine -years, a very large proportion of the negroes remain, either as hired -laborers or as renters of small farms, on the plantations on which -they were born. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Rebel's Recollections, by George Cary Eggleston - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS *** - -***** This file should be named 51211-8.txt or 51211-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/1/51211/ - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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text-align: left;} - -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; - margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em;} -.poetry .verse4 {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 4.5em; - margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em;} -.poetry .verseq {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 2.6em; - margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em;} - -@media handheld -{ - .poetry {display: block; margin-left: 4.5em;} -} - - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:90%; - padding:0.5em; - margin-top:5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; -} - -.transnote p {text-indent: 0em;} - -.customcover {visibility: hidden; display: none;} -@media handheld { - .customcover {visibility: visible; display: block;} -} - - </style> - </head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's A Rebel's Recollections, by George Cary Eggleston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: A Rebel's Recollections - -Author: George Cary Eggleston - -Release Date: February 14, 2016 [EBook #51211] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS *** - - - - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="transnote"> -<p><strong>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE</strong></p> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been -corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within -the text and consultation of external sources.</p> - -<p>All misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, -have been retained. For example, indorsement; demarkation; clew; -land owners, landowners.</p> - -<p class="customcover">The cover image was created by the transcriber -and is placed in the public domain.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> - -<p class="center">WORKS BY GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON</p> - -<div class="p1 adpage"> -<p class="negin1"><b>THE AMERICAN IMMORTALS.</b> The Record of Men who -by their Achievements in Statecraft, War, Science, Literature, -Art, Law, and Commerce, have created the American Republic, -and whose names are inscribed in the Hall of Fame.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="96%" summary=""> -<tr><td class="tdl">New and cheaper edition, 8vo, fully illustrated</td><td class="tdr wd10"><em>net</em> $ 3.50</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdl">Cloth, royal 8vo, with 29 full-page photogravures</td><td class="tdr">" 6.00</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdl">Full leather</td><td class="tdr">" 10.00</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="noindent"><b>THE BIG BROTHER.</b> 12mo, cloth</p> -<p class="rt">$1.25</p> - -<p class="fs80">"The thinking powers, as well as those of observation, will be strengthened in -any boy who reads this book."—<cite>Churchman.</cite></p> - -<p class="noindent"><b>CAPTAIN SAM.</b> 12mo, cloth</p> -<p class="rt">$1.25</p> - -<p class="fs80">"This is a juvenile historical story which will please boys and even people of -larger growth."—<cite>New Orleans Times.</cite></p> - -<p class="negin1"><b>THE SIGNAL BOYS; or, Captain Sam's Company.</b><br /> -A Tale of the War of 1812. Illustrated. Octavo, cloth</p> -<p class="rt">$1.25</p> - -<p class="fs80">"A story for boys of the right kind, personal experience and stirring adventures."—<cite>Philadelphia -Times.</cite></p> - -<p class="negin1"><b>THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD.</b><br /> -A Story of the Carolina Coast. Illustrated. Octavo</p> -<p class="rt">$1.25</p> - -<p class="fs80">"A wholesome, readable story."—<cite>Chicago Times.</cite></p> - -<p class="noindent"><b>A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS</b></p> -<p class="rt">$1.00</p> - -<p class="fs80">"The author deserves the thanks of all true Americans.... His sketches -are models of characterization."—<cite>Phila. Bulletin.</cite></p> - -<p class="negin1"><b>HOW TO EDUCATE YOURSELF.</b> A Complete Guide to -Student's showing how to study, what to study, and how and -what to read. It is in short, a "Pocket School-Master."<br /> -12mo; 151 pages, boards</p> -<p class="rt">50 cts.</p> - -<p class="fs80">"We write with unqualified enthusiasm about this book, which is untellably -good, and for good."—<cite>N. Y. Evening Mail.</cite></p> - -<p class="noindent"><b>HOW TO MAKE A LIVING.</b> 12mo, boards</p> -<p class="rt">50 cts.</p> - -<p class="fs80">"Shrewd, sound, and entertaining."—<cite>N. Y. Tribune.</cite></p> -</div> - -<p class="p2 pfs100">G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS</p> - -<p class="pfs90 smcap">27 and 29 West Twenty-third Street, New York</p> - - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> - -<h1>A<br /><br /> -Rebel's Recollections</h1> - -<p class="p4 pfs120">By</p> -<p class="p1 pfs135">George Cary Eggleston</p> - -<p class="pfs70">Author of "Dorothy South," "A Captain in the Ranks," -"Running the River," etc.</p> - -<p class="p4 pfs80">Fourth Edition, with an additional chapter on the -Old Régime in the Old Dominion</p> - -<p class="p4 pfs120">G. P. Putnam's Sons<br /> -<span class="fs90">New York and London</span><br /> -<span class="antiqua fs90">The Knickerbocker Press</span></p> - -<p class="pfs100">1905</p> -<p class="p4" /> - - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> -<p class="p6" /> - -<p class="pfs80"> -Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by<br /> -<span class="smcap">George Cary Eggleston</span><br /> -In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington<br /> -<br /> -Copyright, 1905<br /> -by<br /> -<span class="smcap">George Cary Eggleston</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="p6" /> - - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> -<p class="p6" /> - -<p class="pfs135">DEDICATION.</p> - -<hr class="r10" /> -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>I wish to dedicate this book to my brother, -<span class="smcap">Edward Eggleston</span>; and even if there were -no motives of affection impelling me thereto, I -should still feel bound to inscribe his name -upon this page, as an act of justice, in order -that those critics who confounded me with him, -when I put forth a little novel a year ago, may -have no chance to hold him responsible for my -political as they did for my literary sins.</p></div> - -<p class="p6" /> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="PREFACE_TO_THE_FOURTH" id="PREFACE_TO_THE_FOURTH">PREFACE TO THE FOURTH -EDITION.</a></h2> - -<hr class="r10" /> - -<p>"A Rebel's Recollections" was -published in 1874. It has ever since -enjoyed a degree of public favor that is -perhaps beyond its merits.</p> - -<p>However that may be, my friends -among the historians and the critical -students of history have persuaded me -that, for the sake of historical completeness, -I should include in this new edition -of the book the prefatory essay on "The -Old Régime in the Old Dominion," which -first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly for -November, 1875.</p> - -<p>I am doing so with the generous permission -of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin, & -Co., publishers of the Atlantic Monthly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> - -<p>The scholars have said to me and to -my publishers that during its thirty years -of life the book has become a part of that -body of literature to which historians -must look as the sources of history. -They have urged that the introductory -chapter, now for the first time included -in the volume, is an essential part of that -material of history.</p> - -<p>The story of the book and of this introductory -chapter may, perhaps, have some -interest for the reader. In that belief I -tell it here.</p> - -<p>In the year, 1873, I was editing the -weekly periodical, Hearth and Home. I -went to Boston to secure certain contributions -of literary matter. There, for the -first time, I met Mr. William Dean -Howells, then editor of the Atlantic -Monthly,—now recognized as the foremost -creative and critical writer of -America.</p> - -<p>In the course of our conversation, Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> -Howells asked me why I should not write -my reminiscences of life as a Southern -soldier. At that time war passions had -only just begun to cool, and so I answered -that it would be hardly fair to the -publishers of Hearth and Home for me in -that way to thrust upon the readers of -that periodical the fact that its editor had -been a Rebel soldier.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I didn't mean," answered Mr. -Howells, "that you should write your -reminiscences for Hearth and Home. I -want you to write them for the Atlantic."</p> - -<p>I put the matter aside for a time. I -wanted to think of it, and I wanted to -consult my friends concerning the propriety -of doing what Mr. Howells had -suggested. Then it was that I talked -with Oliver Johnson, and received from -him the advice reported in the preface to -the first edition of this book, which is -printed on another page.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p> - -<p>An arrangement was at once made with -Mr. Howells that I should write seven of -the nine papers composing the book, for -publication in the Atlantic, the two other -papers being reserved in order to "give -freshness" to the volume when it should -appear.</p> - -<p>After the first paper was published, -Mr. Howells wrote me that it had brought -a hornets' nest about his ears, but that -he was determined to go on with the -series.</p> - -<p>After the second paper appeared, he -wrote me a delightful letter, saying that -the hornets had "begun to sing psalms in -his ears," in view of the spirit and temper -of my work.</p> - -<p>After all the papers were published, and -on the day on which the book, with its -two additional chapters, appeared, there -was held at the Parker House in Boston -a banquet in celebration of the fifteenth -anniversary of the founding of the Atlan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span>tic. -At that dinner, and without warning, -I was toasted as the author of the -latest book of Civil War reminiscences. I -made a feeble little speech in reply, but I -found that the spirit in which I had written -"A Rebel's Recollections" had met -with cordial response from the New England -audience. A company of "original -abolitionists" had even planned to give -me a dinner, all my own, with nobody -present but original abolitionists and my -Rebel self.</p> - -<p>In the same way the book was received -by the press, especially in New England, -until I was satisfied that my work had -really ministered somewhat to that reconciliation -between North and South which -I had hoped to help forward.</p> - -<p>Some months later, in 1875, I wrote -the article on the old Virginian life, and -sent it to Mr. Howells. Mindful of his -editorial injunction to confine articles to -six magazine pages in length, I condensed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> -what I had to say into that space. Then -for the first time in my life I had an experience -which has never since been repeated. -Mr. Howells sent the article -back to me with a request that I should -<em>double its length.</em></p> - -<p>Some years later, the Authors Club -gave a reception to Mr. Howells as our -foremost living novelist, and it fell to me, -as the presiding officer of the club's -Executive Council, to escort the guest of -the evening to the club. The war papers -of the Century Magazine were at that -time attracting a country-wide attention. -As we drove to the club, Mr. Howells -said to me:</p> - -<p>"It was you and I who first conceived -the idea of 'War Papers' as a magazine's -chief feature. We were a trifle ahead of -our time, I suppose, but our thought was -the same as that which has since achieved -so great a success."</p> - -<p>In view of all these things, I inscribe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> -this new and expanded edition of "A -Rebel's Recollections" to the true godfather -of the book,—to</p> - -<p class="p1 pfs90">WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS,</p> - -<p class="p1 noindent"> -with admiration for his genius, with a -grateful recollection of his helpfulness, -and with personal affection.</p> - -<p class="right smcap padr4">George Cary Eggleston.</p> - -<p class="fs80"><span class="smcap">The Authors Club</span>,<br /> -<span class="pad2"><em>January, 1905</em>.</span></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span><br /> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></h2> -<hr class="r10" /> - -<p>Lunching one day with Oliver Johnson -the best "original abolitionist" I ever knew, -I submitted to him the question I was debating -with myself, namely, whether I might -write this little volume of reminiscences -without fear of offending excellent people, -or, still worse, reanimating prejudices that -happily were dying. His reply was, "Write, -by all means. Prejudice is the first-born of -ignorance, and it never outlives its father. -The only thing necessary now to the final -burial of the animosity existing between the -sections is that the North and the South -shall learn to know and understand each -other. Anything which contributes to this -hastens the day of peace and harmony and -brotherly love which every good man longs -for."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span></p> - -<p>Upon this hint I have written, and if the -reading of these pages shall serve, in never -so small a degree, to strengthen the kindly -feelings which have grown up of late between -the foemen of ten years ago, I shall -think my labor well expended.</p> - -<p>I have written chiefly of the things I saw -for myself, and yet this is in no sense the -story of my personal adventures. I never -wore a star on my collar, and every reader -of military novels knows that adventures -worth writing about never befall a soldier -below the rank of major.</p> - -<p class="right">G. C. E.</p> - -<p class="fs80"><em>October, 1874.</em></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p4" /> - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</a></h2> - -<div class="center smcap fs90"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" width="90%" summary=""> -<tr><td class="tdr"></td><td class="tdl"></td><td class="tdr fs70">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td><td class="tdl">The Mustering</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td><td class="tdl">The Men who made the Army</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td><td class="tdl">The Temper of the Women</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td><td class="tdl">Of the Time when Money was "Easy"</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td><td class="tdl">The Chevalier of the Lost Cause</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td><td class="tdl">Lee, Jackson, and some Lesser Worthies</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td><td class="tdl">Some Queer People</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td class="tdl">Red Tape</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td><td class="tdl">The End, and After</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td></tr> -</table></div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span><br /> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2>THE OLD RÉGIME IN THE OLD DOMINION.</h2> - - -<p>It was a very beautiful and enjoyable -life that the Virginians led in that ancient -time, for it certainly seems ages ago, before -the war came to turn ideas upside -down and convert the picturesque commonwealth -into a commonplace, modern -state. It was a soft, dreamy, deliciously -quiet life, a life of repose, an old life, -with all its sharp corners and rough surfaces -long ago worn round and smooth. -Everything fitted everything else, and -every point in it was so well settled as to -leave no work of improvement for anybody -to do. The Virginians were satisfied -with things as they were, and if there -were reformers born among them, they -went elsewhere to work changes. Society -in the Old Dominion was like a well rolled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</a></span> -and closely packed gravel walk, in which -each pebble has found precisely the place -it fits best. There was no giving way -under one's feet, no uncomfortable grinding -of loose materials as one walked about -over the firm and long-used ways of the -Virginian social life.</p> - -<p>Let me hasten to say that I do not altogether -approve of that life by any means. -That would be flat blasphemy against the -god Progress, and I have no stomach for -martyrdom, even of our modern, fireless -sort. I frankly admit in the outset, -therefore, that the Virginians of that old -time, between which and the present -there is so great a gulf fixed, were idle -people. I am aware that they were, -when I lived among them, extravagant -for the most part, and in debt altogether. -It were useless to deny that they habitually -violated all the wise precepts laid -down in the published writings of Poor -Richard, and set at naught the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[xix]</a></span> -gospel of thrift. But their way of living -was nevertheless a very agreeable one to -share or to contemplate, the more because -there was nothing else like it anywhere -in the land.</p> - -<p>A whole community, with as nearly as -possible nothing to do, is apt to develop -a considerable genius for enjoyment, and -the Virginians, during somewhat more -than two centuries of earnest and united -effort in that direction, had partly discovered -and partly created both a science -and an art of pleasant living. Add to -idleness and freedom from business cares -a climate so perfect that existence itself is -a luxury within their borders, and we -shall find no room for wonder that these -people learned how to enjoy themselves. -What they learned, in this regard, they -remembered too. Habits and customs -once found good were retained, I will not -say carefully,—for that would imply -effort, and the Virginians avoided effort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[xx]</a></span> -always,—but tenaciously. The Virginians -were born conservatives, constitutionally -opposed to change. They loved the old -because it was old, and disliked the new, -if for no better reason, because it was -new; for newness and rawness were well-nigh -the same in their eyes.</p> - -<p>This constitutional conservatism, without -which their mode of life could never -have been what it was, was nourished by -both habit and circumstance. The Virginians -were not much given to travelling -beyond their own borders, and when they -did go into the outer world it was only to -find a manifestation of barbarism in every -departure from their own prescriptive -standards and models. Not that they -were more bigoted than other people, for -in truth I think they were not, but their -bigotry took a different direction. They -thought well of the old and the moss-grown, -just as some people admire all -that is new and garish and fashionable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi">[xxi]</a></span></p> - -<p>But chief among the causes of that conservatism -which gave tone and color to -the life we are considering was the fact -that ancient estates were carefully kept in -ancient families, generation after generation. -If a Virginian lived in a particular -mansion, it was strong presumptive proof -that his father, his grandfather, and his -great-grandfather had lived there before -him. There was no law of primogeniture -to be sure by which this was brought -about, but there were well-established customs -which amounted to the same thing. -Family pride was a ruling passion, and -not many Virginians of the better class -hesitated to secure the maintenance of -their family place in the ranks of the untitled -peerage by the sacrifice of their own -personal prosperity, if that were necessary, -as it sometimes was. To the first-born -son went the estate usually, by the -will of the father and with the hearty concurrence -of the younger sons, when there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxii" id="Page_xxii">[xxii]</a></span> -happened to be any such. The eldest -brother succeeded the father as the head -of the house, and took upon himself the -father's duties and the father's burdens. -Upon him fell the management of the -estate; the maintenance of the mansion, -which, under the laws of hospitality obtaining -there, was no light task; the -education of the younger sons and daughters; -and last, though commonly not by -any means least, the management of the -hereditary debt. The younger children -always had a home in the old mansion, -secured to them by the will of their father -sometimes, but secure enough in any case -by a custom more binding than any law; -and there were various other ways of providing -for them. If the testator were -rich, he divided among them his bonds, -stocks, and other personal property not -necessary to the prosperity of the estate, -or charged the head of the house with the -payment of certain legacies to each. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxiii" id="Page_xxiii">[xxiii]</a></span> -mother's property, if she had brought a -dower with her, was usually portioned -out among them, and the law, medicine, -army, navy, and church offered them genteel -employment if they chose to set up -for themselves. But these arrangements -were subsidiary to the main purpose of -keeping the estate in the family, and -maintaining the mansion-house as a seat -of elegant hospitality. So great was the -importance attached to this last point, -and so strictly was its observance enjoined -upon the new lord of the soil, that he was -frequently the least to be envied of all.</p> - -<p>I remember a case in which a neighbor of -my own, a very wealthy gentleman, whose -house was always open and always full of -guests, dying, left each of his children a -plantation. To the eldest son, however, -he gave the home estate, worth three or -four times as much as any of the other -plantations, and with it he gave the young -man also a large sum of money. But he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxiv" id="Page_xxiv">[xxiv]</a></span> -charged him with the duty of keeping -open house there, at all times, and directed -that the household affairs should be conducted -always precisely as they had been -during his own lifetime. The charge -well-nigh outweighed the inheritance. -The new master of the place lived in Richmond, -where he was engaged in manufacturing, -and after the death of the father -the old house stood tenantless, but open -as before. Its troops of softly shod servants -swept and dusted and polished as -of old. Breakfast, dinner, and supper -were laid out every day at the accustomed -hours, under the old butler's supervision, -and as the viands grew cold his silent -subordinates waited, trays in hand, at the -back of the empty chairs during the full -time appointed for each meal. I have -stopped there for dinner, tea, or to spend -the night many a time, in company with -one of the younger sons who lived elsewhere, -or with some relative of the family,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxv" id="Page_xxv">[xxv]</a></span> -or alone, as the case might be, and I have -sometimes met others there. But our -coming or not was a matter of indifference. -Guests knew themselves always -welcome, but whether guests came or not -the household affairs suffered no change. -The destruction of the house by fire -finally lifted this burden from its master's -shoulders, as the will did not require him -to rebuild. But while it stood, its master's -large inheritance was of very small worth -to him. And in many other cases the -preference given to the eldest son in the -distribution of property was in reality -only a selection of his shoulders to bear -the family's burdens.</p> - -<p>In these and other ways, old estates of -greater or less extent were kept together, -and old families remained lords of the -soil. It is not easy to overestimate the -effect of this upon the people. A man -to whom a great estate, with an historic -house upon it and an old family name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxvi" id="Page_xxvi">[xxvi]</a></span> -attached to it, has descended through -several generations, could hardly be other -than a conservative in feeling and influence. -These people were the inheritors -of the old and the established. Upon -them had devolved the sacred duty of -maintaining the reputation of a family -name. They were no longer mere individuals, -whose acts affected only themselves, -but were chiefs and representatives -of honorable houses, and as such bound -to maintain a reputation of vastly more -worth than their own. Their fathers before -them were their exemplars, and in a -close adherence to family customs and -traditions lay their safety from unseemly -lapses. The old furniture, the old wainscot -on the walls, the old pictures, the -old house itself, perpetually warned them -against change as in itself unbecoming -and dangerous to the dignity of their race.</p> - -<p>And so changes were unknown in their -social system. As their fathers lived, so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxvii" id="Page_xxvii">[xxvii]</a></span> -lived they, and there was no feature of -their life pleasanter than its fixity. One -always knew what to expect and what to -do; there were no perplexing uncertainties -to breed awkwardness and vexation. -There was no room for shams and no -temptation to vulgar display, and so -shams and display had no chance to become -fashionable.</p> - -<p>Aside from the fact that the old and the -substantial were the respectable, the social -status of every person was so fixed -and so well known that display was unnecessary -on the part of the good families, -and useless on the part of others. The -old ladies constituted a college of heralds -and could give you at a moment's notice -any pedigree you might choose to ask for. -The "goodness" of a good family was a -fixed fact and needed no demonstration, -and no <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">parvenu</i> could work his way into -the charmed circle by vulgar ostentation -or by any other means whatever. As one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxviii" id="Page_xxviii">[xxviii]</a></span> -of the old dames used to phrase it, ostentatious -people were thought to be "rich -before they were ready."</p> - -<p>As the good families gave law to the -society of the land, so their chiefs ruled -the State in a more positive and direct -sense. The plantation owners, as a matter -of course, constituted only a minority -of the voting population, at least after -the constitution of 1850 swept away the -rule making the ownership of real estate -a necessary qualification for suffrage; but -they governed the State nevertheless as -completely as if they had been in the -majority. Families naturally followed -the lead of their chiefs, voting together -as a matter of clan pride, when no principle -was involved, and so the plantation -owners controlled directly a large part of -the population. But a more important -point was that the ballot was wholly unknown -in Virginia until after the war, and -as the large landowners were deservedly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxix" id="Page_xxix">[xxix]</a></span> -men of influence in the community, they -had little difficulty, under a system of -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">viva-voce</i> voting, in carrying things their -own way on all matters on which they -were at all agreed among themselves. It -often happened that a Whig would continue -year after year to represent a -Democratic district, or <em>vice versa</em>, in the -Legislature or in Congress, merely by -force of his large family connection and -influence.</p> - -<p>All this was an evil, if we choose to -think it so. It was undemocratic certainly, -but it worked wonderfully well, and the -system was good in this at least, that it -laid the foundations of politics among the -wisest and best men the State had; for as -a rule the planters were the educated men -of the community, the reading men, the -scholars, the thinkers, and well-nigh every -one of them was familiar with the whole -history of parties and of statesmanship. -Politics was deemed a necessary part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxx" id="Page_xxx">[xxx]</a></span> -every gentleman's education, and the -youth of eighteen who could not recapitulate -the doctrines set forth in the resolutions -of 1798, or tell you the history of -the Missouri Compromise or the Wilmot -Proviso, was thought lamentably deficient -in the very rudiments of culture. They -had little to do, and they thought it the -bounden duty of every free American -citizen to prepare himself for the intelligent -performance of his functions in the -body politic. As a result, if Virginia did -not always send wise men to the councils -of the State and nation, she sent no politically -ignorant ones at any rate.</p> - -<p>It was a point of honor among Virginians -never to shrink from any of the duties -of a citizen. To serve as road-overseer -or juryman was often disagreeable to men -who loved ease and comfort as they did, -but every Virginian felt himself in honor -bound to serve whenever called upon, and -that without pay, too, as it was deemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxi" id="Page_xxxi">[xxxi]</a></span> -in the last degree disreputable to accept -remuneration for doing the plain duty of -a citizen.</p> - -<p>It was the same with regard to the -magistracy. Magistrates were appointed -until 1850, and after that chosen by election, -but under neither system was any -man free to seek or to decline the office. -Appointed or elected, one must serve, if -he would not be thought to shirk his duties -as a good man and citizen; and though the -duties of the office were sometimes very -onerous, there was practically no return -of any sort made. Magistrates received -no salary, and it was not customary for -them to accept the small perquisites -allowed them by law. Under the old -constitution, the senior justice of each -county was <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ex-officio</i> high sheriff, and the -farming of the shrievalty—for the high -sheriff always farmed the office—yielded -some pecuniary profit; but any one magistrate's -chance of becoming the senior<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxii" id="Page_xxxii">[xxxii]</a></span> -was too small to be reckoned in the account; -and under the new constitution of -1850 even this was taken away, and the -sheriffs were elected by the people. But -to be a magistrate was deemed an honor, -and very properly so, considering the nature -of a Virginian magistrate's functions.</p> - -<p>The magistrates were something more -than justices of the peace. A bench of -three or more of them constituted the -County Court, a body having a wide civil -and criminal jurisdiction of its own, and -concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit -Court over a still larger field. This County -Court sat monthly, and in addition to its -judicial functions was charged with considerable -legislative duties for the county, -under a system which gave large recognition -to the principle of local self-government. -Four times a year it held -grand-jury terms—an anomaly in magistrate's -courts, I believe, but an excellent -one as experience proved. In a large<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxiii" id="Page_xxxiii">[xxxiii]</a></span> -class of criminal cases a bench of five -justices, sitting in regular term, was a -court of oyer and terminer.</p> - -<p>The concurrent jurisdiction of this -County Court, as I have said, was very -large, and as its sessions were monthly, -while those of the circuit judges were -held but twice a year, very many important -civil suits involving considerable interests -were brought there rather than -before the higher tribunal. And here we -encounter a very singular fact. The -magistrates were usually planters, never -lawyers, and yet, as the records show, -the proportion of County-Court decisions -reversed on appeal for error was always -smaller than that of decisions made by -the higher tribunals, in which regular -judges sat. At the first glance this seems -almost incredible, and yet it is a fact, and -its cause is not far to seek. The magistrates, -being unpaid functionaries, were -chosen for their fitness only. Their elec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxiv" id="Page_xxxiv">[xxxiv]</a></span>tion -was a sort of choosing of arbitrators, -and the men elected were precisely the -kind of men commonly selected by honest -disputants as umpires—men of integrity, -probity, and intelligence. They came -into court conscious of their own ignorance -of legal technicalities, and disposed -to decide questions upon principles of -"right between man and man" rather -than upon the letter of the law; and as -the law is, in the main, founded upon -precisely these principles of abstract justice, -their decision usually proved sound -in law as well as right in fact.</p> - -<p>But the magistrates were not wholly -without instruction even in technical matters -of law. They learned a good deal by -long service,—their experience often running -over a period of thirty or forty years -on the bench,—and, in addition to the -skill which intelligent men must have -gained in this way, they had still another -resource. When the bench thought it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxv" id="Page_xxxv">[xxxv]</a></span> -necessary to inform itself on a legal point, -the presiding magistrate asked in open -court for the advice of counsel, and in -such an event every lawyer not engaged -in the case at bar, or in another involving -a like principle, was under obligation to -give a candid expression of his opinion.</p> - -<p>The system was a very peculiar and interesting -one, and in Virginia it was about -the best also that could have been hit -upon, though it is more than doubtful -whether it would work equally well anywhere -else. All the conditions surrounding -it were necessary to its success, and -those conditions were of a kind that cannot -be produced at will; they must grow. -In the first place, the intelligence and -culture of a community must not be concentrated -in certain centres, as is usually -the case, especially in commercial and -manufacturing States, but must be distributed -pretty evenly over the country, -else the material out of which such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxvi" id="Page_xxxvi">[xxxvi]</a></span> -magistracy can be created will not be -where it is needed; and in the very nature -of the case it cannot be imported for the -purpose. There must also be a public -sentiment to compel the best men to serve -when chosen, and the best men must be -men of wealth and leisure, else they cannot -afford to serve, for such a magistracy -must of necessity be unpaid. In short, -the system can work well only under the -conditions which gave it birth in Virginia, -and those conditions will probably never -again exist in any of these States. It is -a matter of small moment to the citizen -of Massachusetts or New York that Virginia -once had a very peculiar judiciary; -but it is not a matter of light importance -that our scheme of government leaves -every State free to devise for itself a system -of local institutions adapted to its -needs and the character and situation of -its people; that it is not uniformity we -have sought and secured in our attempt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxvii" id="Page_xxxvii">[xxxvii]</a></span> -to establish a government by the people, -but a wise diversity rather; that experience -and not theory is our guide; that -our institutions are cut to fit our needs, -and not to match a fixed pattern; and -that the necessities of one part of the -country do not prescribe a rule for another -part.</p> - -<p>But this is not a philosophical treatise. -Return we therefore to the region of small -facts. It is a little curious that with their -reputed fondness for honorary titles of all -kinds, the Virginians never addressed a -magistrate as "judge," even in that old -time when the functions of the justice -fairly entitled him to the name. And it -is stranger still, perhaps, that in Virginia -the members of the Legislature were -never called "honorable," that distinction -being held strictly in reserve for members -of Congress and of the national cabinet. -This fact seems all the more singular -when we remember that in the view of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxviii" id="Page_xxxviii">[xxxviii]</a></span> -Virginians the States were nations, while -the general government was little more -than their accredited agent, charged with -the performance of certain duties and -holding certain delegated powers which -were subject to recall at any time.</p> - -<p>I have said that every educated Virginian -was acquainted with politics, but this -is only half the truth. They knew the -details quite as well as the general facts, -and there were very many of them not -politicians and never candidates for office -of any kind who could give from memory -an array of dates and other figures of -which the Tribune Almanac would have -no occasion to be ashamed. Not to -know the details of the vote in Connecticut -in any given year was to lay oneself -open to a suspicion of incompetence; to -confess forgetfulness of the "ayes and -noes" on any important division in -Congress was to rule oneself out of the -debate as an ignoramus. I say debate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxix" id="Page_xxxix">[xxxix]</a></span> -advisedly, for there was always a debate -on political matters when two Virginia -gentlemen met anywhere except in church -during sermon time. They argued earnestly, -excitedly, sometimes even violently, -but ordinarily without personal ill-feeling. -In private houses they could not quarrel, -being gentlemen and guests of a common -host, or standing in the relation of guest -and host to each other; in more public -places—for they discussed politics in all -places and at all times—they refrained -from quarrelling because to quarrel would -not have been proper. But they never -lost an opportunity to make political -speeches to each other; alternately, -sometimes, but quite as often both, or -all, at once.</p> - -<p>It would sometimes happen, of course, -that two or more gentlemen meeting -would find themselves agreed in their -views, but the pleasure of indulging in a -heated political discussion was never fore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xl" id="Page_xl">[xl]</a></span>gone -for any such paltry reason as that. -Finding no point on which they could -disagree, they would straightway join -forces and do valiant battle against the -common enemy. That the enemy was -not present to answer made no difference. -They knew all his positions and all the -arguments by which his views could be -sustained quite as well as he did, and -they combated these. It was funny, of -course, but the participants in these one-sided -debates never seemed to see the -ludicrous points of the picture.</p> - -<p>A story is told of one of the fiercest of -these social political debaters—a story -too well vouched for among his friends to -be doubted—which will serve, perhaps, -to show how unnecessary the presence of -an antagonist was to the successful conduct -of a debate. It was "at a dining-day," -to speak in the native idiom, and -it so happened that all the guests were -Whigs, except Mr. E——, who was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xli" id="Page_xli">[xli]</a></span> -staunchest of Jeffersonian Democrats. -The discussion began, of course, as soon -as the women left the table, and it speedily -waxed hot. Mr. E——, getting the -ear of the company at the outset, laid on -right and left with his customary vigor, -rasping the Whigs on their sorest points, -arguing, asserting, denouncing, demonstrating—to -his own entire satisfaction—for -perhaps half an hour; silencing -every attempt at interruption by saying:</p> - -<p>"Now wait, please, till I get through; -I'm one against seven, and you must let -me make my points. Then you can -reply."</p> - -<p>He finished at last, leaving every Whig -nerve quivering, every Whig face burning -with suppressed indignation, and every -Whig breast full, almost to bursting, with -a speech in reply. The strongest debater -of them all managed to begin first, but -just as he pronounced the opening words, -Mr. E—— interrupted him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlii" id="Page_xlii">[xlii]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Pardon me," he said, "I know all -your little arguments, so I'll go and -talk with the girls for half an hour -while you run them over; when you get -through send for me, and I'll come and -SWEEP YOU CLEAR OUT OF THE -ARENA."</p> - -<p>And with that the exasperating man -bowed himself out of the dining-room.</p> - -<p>But with all its ludicrousness, this universal -habit of "talking politics" had its -uses. In the first place, politics with -these men was a matter of principle, and -not at all a question of shrewd management. -They knew what they had and -what they wanted. Better still they -knew every officeholder's record, and held -each to a strict account of his stewardship.</p> - -<p>Under the influence of this habit in -social life, every man was constantly on -his metal, of course, and every young -man was bound to fortify himself for -contests to come by a diligent study of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xliii" id="Page_xliii">[xliii]</a></span> -history and politics. He must know as a -necessary preparation for ordinary social -converse all those things that are commonly -left to the professional politicians. -As well might he go into society in ignorance -of yesterday's weather or last week's -news, as without full knowledge of Benton's -Thirty Years' View, and a familiar -acquaintance with the papers in the -Federalist. In short, this odd habit compelled -thorough political education, and -enforced upon every man old enough to -vote an active, earnest participation in -politics. Perhaps a country in which -universal suffrage exists would be the -better if both were more general than -they are.</p> - -<p>But politics did not furnish the only -subjects of debate among these people. -They talked politics, it is true, whenever -they met at all, but when they had mutually -annihilated each other, when each -had said all there was to say on the sub<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xliv" id="Page_xliv">[xliv]</a></span>ject, -they frequently turned to other -themes. Of these, the ones most commonly -and most vigorously discussed were -points of doctrinal theology. The great -battle-ground was baptism. Half the -people were, perhaps, Baptists, and when -Baptist and pedo-Baptist met they sniffed -the battle at once,—that is to say, as -soon as they had finished the inevitable -discussion of politics.</p> - -<p>On this question of Baptism each had -been over the ground many hundreds of -times, and each must have known when -he put forth an argument what the answer -would be. But this made no manner of -difference. They were always ready to -go over the matter again. I amused myself -once by preparing a "part" debate on -the subject. I arranged the remarks of -each disputant in outline, providing each -speech with its proper "cue," after the -manner of stage copies of a play, and, -taking a friend into my confidence, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlv" id="Page_xlv">[xlv]</a></span> -used sometimes to follow the discussion, -with my copy of it in hand, and, except -in the case of a very poorly informed or -wholly unpractised debater, my "cues" -and speeches were found to be amusingly -accurate.</p> - -<p>The Virginians were a very religious as -well as a very polemical people, however, -and I do not remember that I ever knew -them, even in the heat of their fiercest -discussions upon doctrine, to forget the -brotherly kindness which lay as a broad -foundation under their card-houses of -creed. They believed with all their souls -in the doctrines set down by their several -denominations, and maintained them -stoutly on all occasions; but they loved -each other, attended each other's services, -and joined hands right heartily in every -good work.</p> - -<p>There was one other peculiarity in -their church relations worthy of notice. -The Episcopal Church was once an estab<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlvi" id="Page_xlvi">[xlvi]</a></span>lishment -in Virginia, as every reader -knows, but every reader does not know, -perhaps, that even up to the outbreak of -the war it remained in some sense an -establishment in some parts of the State.</p> - -<p>There were little old churches in many -neighborhoods which had stood for a century -or two, and the ancestors of the -present generation had all belonged to -them in their time. One of these churches -I remember lovingly for its old traditions, -for its picturesqueness, and for the -warmth of the greeting its congregation -gave me—not as a congregation but as -individuals—when I, a lad half grown, -returned to the land of my fathers. -Every man and woman in that congregation -had known my father and loved him, -and nearly every one was my cousin, at -least in the Virginian acceptation of that -word. The church was Episcopal, of -course, while the great majority, perhaps -seven eighths of the people who attended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlvii" id="Page_xlvii">[xlvii]</a></span> -it and supported it were members of other -denominations—Baptists, Presbyterians, -and Methodists. But they all felt themselves -at home here. This was the old -family church where their forefathers had -worshiped, and under the shadow of -which they were buried. They all belonged -here no matter what other church -might claim them as members. They -paid the old clergyman's salary, served in -the vestry, attended the services, kept -church, organ, and churchyard in repair, -and in all respects regarded themselves, -and were held by others, as members -here of right and by inheritance. It was -church and family, instead of Church and -State, and the sternest Baptist or Presbyterian -among them would have thought -himself wronged if left out of the count -of this little church's membership. This -was their heritage, their home, and the -fact that they had also united themselves -with churches of other denominations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlviii" id="Page_xlviii">[xlviii]</a></span> -made no difference whatever in their feeling -toward the old mother church, there -in the woods, guarding and cherishing -the dust of their dead.</p> - -<p>All the people, young and old, went to -church; it was both pleasant and proper -to do so, though not all of them went for -the sake of the sermon or the service. -The churches were usually built in the -midst of a grove of century oaks, and -their surroundings were nearly always -pleasantly picturesque. The gentlemen -came on horseback, the ladies in their -great lumbering, old-fashioned carriages, -with an ebony driver in front and a more -or less ebony footman or two behind. -Beside the driver sat ordinarily the old -"mammy" of the family, or some other -equally respectable and respected African -woman, whose crimson or scarlet turban -and orange neckerchief gave a dash of -color to the picture, a trifle barbaric, perhaps, -in combination, but none the less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlix" id="Page_xlix">[xlix]</a></span> -pleasant in its effect for that. The young -men came first, mounted on their superb -riding horses, wearing great buckskin -gauntlets and clad in full evening dress—that -being <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en rčgle</i> always in Virginia,—with -the skirts of the coat drawn forward, -over the thighs, and pinned in front, as a -precaution against possible contact with -the reeking sides of the hard-ridden -steeds.</p> - -<p>The young men came first to church, -as I have said, and they did so for a purpose. -The carriages were elegant and -costly, many of them, but nearly all were -extremely old-fashioned; perched high in -air, they were not easy of entrance or exit -by young women in full dress without -assistance, and it was accounted the prescriptive -privilege of the young men to -render the needed service at the church -door. When this preliminary duty was -fully done, some of the youths took seats -inside the church, but if the weather were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_l" id="Page_l">[l]</a></span> -fine many preferred to stroll through the -woods, or to sit in little groups under the -trees, awaiting the exit of the womankind, -who must, of course, be chatted with and -helped into their carriages again.</p> - -<p>Invitations to dinner or to a more extended -visit were in order the moment the -service was over. Every gentleman went -to dine with a friend, or took a number -of friends to dine with him. But the -arrangements depended largely upon the -young women, who had a very pretty -habit of visiting each other and staying a -week or more, and these visits nearly always -originated at church. Each young -woman invited all the rest to go home with -her, and after a deal of confused consultation, -out of whose chaos only the feminine -mind could possibly have extracted -anything like a conclusion, two or three -would win all the others to themselves, -each taking half a dozen or more with -her, and promising to send early the next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_li" id="Page_li">[li]</a></span> -morning for their trunks. With so many -of the fairest damsels secured for a visit of -a week or a fortnight, the young hostess -was sure of cavaliers in plenty to do her -guests honor. And upon my word it was -all very pleasant! I have idled away -many a week in these old country houses, -and for my life I cannot manage to regret -the fact, or to remember it with a single -pang of remorse for the wasted hours. -Perhaps after all they were not wholly -wasted. Who shall say? Other things -than gold are golden.</p> - -<p>As a guest in those houses one was not -welcome only, but free. There was a -servant to take your horse, a servant to -brush your clothes, a servant to attend -you whenever you had a want to supply -or a wish to gratify. But you were never -oppressed with attentions, or under any -kind of restraint. If you liked to sit in -the parlor, the women there would entertain -you very agreeably, or set you to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lii" id="Page_lii">[lii]</a></span> -entertaining them by reading aloud, or -by anything else which might suggest -itself. If you preferred the piazza, there -were sure to be others like-minded with -yourself. If you smoked, there were always -pipes and tobacco on the sideboard, -and a man-servant to bring them to you -if you were not inclined to go after them. -In short, each guest might do precisely -as he pleased, sure that in doing so he -should best please his host and hostess.</p> - -<p>My own favorite amusement—I am the -father of a family now, and may freely -confess the fancies and foibles of a departed -youth—was to accompany the -young mistress of the mansion on her -rounds of domestic duty, carrying her -key-basket for her, and assisting her in -various ways, unlocking doors and—really -I cannot remember that I was of any very -great use to her after all; but willingness -counts for a good deal in this world, and -I was always very willing at any rate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_liii" id="Page_liii">[liii]</a></span> -As a rule, the young daughter of the -mansion was housekeeper, and this may -perhaps account for the fact that the -habit of carrying housekeeper's key-baskets -for them was very general among -the young gentlemen in houses where -they were upon terms of intimate friendship.</p> - -<p>Life in Virginia was the pursuit of happiness -and its attainment. Money was a -means only, and was usually spent very -lavishly whenever its expenditure could -add in any way to comfort, but as there -was never any occasion to spend it for -mere display, most of the planters were -abundantly able to use it freely for better -purposes. That is to say, most of them -were able to owe their debts and to renew -their notes when necessary. Their houses -were built for comfort, and most of them -had grown gray with age long before the -present generation was born. A great -passage-way ran through the middle, com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_liv" id="Page_liv">[liv]</a></span>monly, -and here stood furniture which -would have delighted the heart of the -medićvalist: great, heavy oaken chairs, -black with age and polished with long -usage—chairs whose joints were naked -and not ashamed; sofas of ponderous -build, made by carpenters who were -skeptical as to the strength of woods, and -thought it necessary to employ solid -pieces of oak, four inches in diameter, -for legs, and to shoe each with a solid -brass lion's paw as a precaution against -abrasion. A great porch in front was -shut out at night by the ponderous -double doors of the hallway, but during -the day the way was wide open through -the house.</p> - -<p>The floors were of white ash, and in -summer no carpets or rugs were anywhere -to be seen. Every morning the -floors were polished by diligent scouring -with dry pine needles, and the furniture -similarly brightened by rubbing with wax<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lv" id="Page_lv">[lv]</a></span> -and cork. In the parlors the furniture -was usually very rich as to woods and -very antique in workmanship. The curtains -were of crimson damask with lace -underneath, and the contrast between -these and the bare, white, polished floor -was singularly pleasing.</p> - -<p>The first white person astir in the house -every morning was the woman who carried -the keys, mother or daughter, as the -case might be. Her morning work was -no light affair, and its accomplishment -consumed several hours daily. To begin -with she must knead the light bread with -her own hands and send it to the kitchen -to be baked and served hot at breakfast. -She must prepare a skillet full of light -rolls for the same meal, and "give out" -the materials for the rest of the breakfast. -Then she must see to the sweeping -and garnishing of the lower rooms, passages, -and porches, lest the maids engaged -in that task should entertain less extreme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lvi" id="Page_lvi">[lvi]</a></span> -views than her own on the subject of that -purity and cleanliness which constituted -the house's charm and the housekeeper's -crown of honor. She must write two or -three notes, to be dispatched by the -hands of a small negro to her acquaintances -in the neighborhood,—a kind of -correspondence much affected in that society. -In the midst of all these duties, -the young housekeeper—for somehow it -is only the youthful ones whom I remember -vividly—must meet and talk with -such of the guests as might happen to be -early risers, and must not forget to send -a messenger to the kitchen once every ten -minutes to "hurry up breakfast!" not -that breakfast could be hurried under any -conceivable circumstances, but merely -because it was the custom to send such -messages, and the young woman was a -duty-loving maid who did her part in the -world without inquiring why. She knew -very well that breakfast would be ready<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lvii" id="Page_lvii">[lvii]</a></span> -at the traditional hour, the hour at which -it always had been served in that house, -and that there was no power on the plantation -great enough to hasten it by a -single minute. But she sent out to -"hurry" it nevertheless.</p> - -<p>When breakfast is ready the guests are -ready for it. It is a merit of fixed habits -that one can conform to them easily, and -when one knows that breakfast has been -ready in the house in which he is staying -precisely at nine o'clock every morning -for one or two centuries past, and that -the immovable conservatism of an old -Virginian cook stands guard over the sanctity -of that custom, he has no difficulty in -determining when to begin dressing.</p> - -<p>The breakfast is sure to be a good one, -consisting of everything obtainable at the -season. If it be in summer, the host will -have a dish of broiled roe herrings before -him, a plate of hot rolls at his right hand, -and a cylindrical loaf of hot white bread—which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lviii" id="Page_lviii">[lviii]</a></span> -it is his duty to cut and serve—on -his left. On the flanks will be one or -two plates of beaten biscuit and a loaf of -batter bread, <em>i. e.</em>, corn-bread made rich -with milk and eggs. A dish of plain corn -"pones" sits on the dresser, and the servants -bring griddle-cakes or waffles hot -from the kitchen; so much for breads. -A knuckle of cold, boiled ham is always -present, on either the table or the dresser, -as convenience may dictate. A dish of -sliced tomatoes and another of broiled -ditto are the invariable vegetables, supplemented -on occasion with lettuce, radishes, -and other like things. These are the -staples of breakfast, and additions are -made as the season serves.</p> - -<p>Breakfast over, the young housekeeper -scalds and dries the dishes and glassware -with her own hands. Then she goes to -the garden, smoke-house, and store-room, -to "give out" for dinner. Morning rides, -backgammon, music, reading, etc., fur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lix" id="Page_lix">[lix]</a></span>nish -amusement until one o'clock, or a -little later. The gentlemen go shooting -or fishing, if they choose, or join the host -in his rides over the plantation, inspecting -his corn, tobacco, wheat, and live stock. -About one the house grows quiet. The -women retire to their chambers, the gentlemen -make themselves comfortable in -various ways. About two it is the duty -of the master of the mansion to offer -toddy or juleps to his guests, and to ask -one of the dining-room servants if "dinner -is 'most ready." Half an hour later -he must send the cook word to "hurry it -up." It is to be served at four, of course, -but as the representative of an ancient -house, it is his bounden duty to ask the -two-o'clock question and send the half-past-two -message.</p> - -<p>Supper is served at eight, and the -women usually retire for the night at ten -or eleven.</p> - -<p>If hospitality was deemed the chief of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lx" id="Page_lx">[lx]</a></span> -virtues among the Virginians, the duty -of accepting hospitality was quite as -strongly insisted upon. One must visit -his friends, whatever the circumstances, -if he would not be thought churlish. Especially -were young men required to show -a proper respect and affection for elderly -female relatives by dining with them as -frequently as at any other house. I shall -not soon forget some experiences of my -own in this regard. The most stately and -elegant country-house I have ever seen -stood in our neighborhood. Its master -had lived in great state there, and after -his death his two maiden sisters, left -alone in the great mansion, scrupulously -maintained every custom he had established -or inherited. They were my -cousins in the Virginian sense of the -word, and I had not been long a resident -of the State when my guardian reminded -me of my duty toward them. I must -ride over and dine there without a special<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxi" id="Page_lxi">[lxi]</a></span> -invitation, and I must do this six or eight -times a year at the least. As a mere boy, -half-grown, I made ready for my visit -with a good deal of awe and trepidation. -I had already met the two stately dames -and was disposed to distrust my manners -in their presence. I went, however, and -was received with warm, though rather -stiff and formal, cordiality. My horse -was taken to the stable. I was shown to -my room by a thoroughly drilled servant, -whose tongue had been trained to as persistent -a silence as if his functions had -been those of a mute at a funeral. His -name I discovered was Henry, but beyond -this I could make no progress in his -acquaintance. He prided himself upon -knowing his place, and the profound respect -with which he treated me made it -impossible that I should ask him for the -information on which my happiness, perhaps -my reputation, just then depended. -I wanted to know for what purpose I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxii" id="Page_lxii">[lxii]</a></span> -been shown to my room, what I was expected -to do there, and at what hour I -ought to descend to the parlor or library.</p> - -<p>It was manifestly out of the question -to seek such information at the hands of -so well-regulated a being as Henry. He -had ushered me into my room and now -stood bolt upright, gazing fixedly at -nothing and waiting for my orders in profound -and immovable silence. He had -done his part well, and it was not for him -to assume that I was unprepared to do -mine. His attitude indicated, or perhaps -I should say aggressively asserted, the -necessity he was under of assuming my -entire familiarity with the usages of good -society and the ancient customs of this -ancient house. The worst of it was I -fancied that the solemn rogue guessed my -ignorance and delighted in exposing my -fraudulent pretensions to good breeding. -But in this I did him an injustice, as -future knowledge of him taught me. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxiii" id="Page_lxiii">[lxiii]</a></span> -was well drilled, and delighted in doing -his duty, that was all. No <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">gaucherie</i> on -my part would have moved him to smile. -He knew his place and his business too -well for that. Whatever I might have -done he would have held to be perfectly -proper. It was for him to stand there -like a statue, until I should bid him do -otherwise, and if I had kept him there for -a week I think he would have given no -sign of weariness or impatience. As it -was, his presence appalled and oppressed -me, and in despair of discovering the -proper thing to do, I determined to put -a bold face upon the matter.</p> - -<p>"I am tired and warm," I said, "and -will rest awhile upon the bed. I will join -the ladies in half an hour. You may go -now."</p> - -<p>At dinner, Henry stood at the sideboard -and silently directed the servants. -When the cloth was removed, he brought -a wine tub with perhaps a dozen bottles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxiv" id="Page_lxiv">[lxiv]</a></span> -of antique Madeira in it and silently -awaited my signal before decanting one -of them. When I had drunk a glass with -the ladies, they rose and retired according -to the custom, leaving me alone with the -wine and the cigars,—and Henry, whose -erect solemnity converted the great silent -dining-room into something very like a -funeral chamber. He stood there like a -guardsman on duty, immovable, speechless, -patient, while I sat at the board, a -decanter of wine before me and the tub -of unopened bottles on the floor by my -side—enough for a regiment.</p> - -<p>I did not want any wine or anything -else except a sound of some sort to break -the horrible stillness. I tried to think of -some device by which to make Henry go -out of the room or move one of his hands -or turn his eyes a little or even wink; but -I failed utterly. There was nothing -whatever to be done. There was no order -to give him. Every want was supplied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxv" id="Page_lxv">[lxv]</a></span> -and everything was at my hand. The -cigars were under my nose, the ash pan -by them, and a lighted wax candle stood -within reach. I toyed with the decanter -in the hope of breaking the stillness, but -its stand was too well cushioned above -and below to make a sound. I ventured -at last to move one of my feet, but a -strip of velvet carpet lay between it and -the floor.</p> - -<p>I could stand it no longer. Filling a -glass of wine I drank it off, lighted a fresh -cigar, and boldly strode out of the house -to walk on the lawn in front.</p> - -<p>On the occasion of subsequent visits I -got on well enough, knowing precisely -what to expect and what to do, and in -time I came to regard this as one of the -very pleasantest houses in which I visited -at all, if on no other account than because -I found myself perfectly free there to do -as I pleased; but until I learned that I -was expected to consult only my own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxvi" id="Page_lxvi">[lxvi]</a></span> -comfort while a guest in the house the -atmosphere of the place oppressed me.</p> - -<p>Not in every house were the servants -so well trained as Henry, but what they -lacked in skill they fully made up in numbers, -and in hardly anything else was the -extravagance of the Virginians so manifest -as in their wastefulness of labor. On -nearly every plantation there were ten or -twelve able-bodied men and women employed -about the house, doing the work -which two or three ought to have done, -and might have done; and in addition to -this there were usually a dozen or a score -of others with merely nominal duties or -no duties at all. But it was useless to -urge their master to send any of them to -the field, and idle to show him that the -addition which might thus be made to the -force of productive laborers would so increase -his revenue as to acquit him of debt -within a few years. He did not much -care to be free of debt for one thing, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxvii" id="Page_lxvii">[lxvii]</a></span> -he liked to have plenty of servants always -within call. As his dinner table bore -every day food enough for a battalion, -so his nature demanded the presence of -half a dozen servitors whenever one was -wanted. Indeed, these people usually -summoned servants in squads, calling -three or four to take one guest's horse to -the stable or to bring one pitcher of ice-water.</p> - -<p>And yet I should do the Virginians -great injustice were I to leave the impression -that they were lazy. With abundant -possessions, superabundant household -help and slave labor, they had a good -deal of leisure, but they were nevertheless -very industrious people in their way. It -was no light undertaking to manage a -great plantation and at the same time -fulfil the large measure of duties to -friends and neighbors which custom imposed. -One must visit and receive visitors, -and must go to court every month,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxviii" id="Page_lxviii">[lxviii]</a></span> -and to all planters' meetings. Besides -this there was a certain amount of fox -hunting and squirrel and bird and turkey -shooting and fishing to be done, from -which it was really very difficult to escape -with any credit to oneself. On the whole, -the time of the planters was pretty fully -occupied. The women had household -duties, and these included the cutting -and making of clothes for all the negroes -on the plantation, a heavy task which -might as well have been done by the -negro seamstresses, except that such was -not the custom. Fair women who kept -dressmakers for themselves worked day -after day on coarse cloths, manufacturing -coats and trousers for the field hands. -They did a great deal of embroidery and -worsted work too, and personally instructed -negro girls in the use of the -needle and scissors. All this, with their -necessary visiting and entertaining, and -their daily attendance upon the sick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxix" id="Page_lxix">[lxix]</a></span> -negroes, whom they always visited and -cared for in person, served to make the -Virginian women about the busiest women -I have ever known. Even Sunday -brought them little rest, for, in addition -to other duties on that day, each of them -spent some hours at the "quarters" holding -a Sunday-school.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless the Virginians had a good -deal of leisure on their hands, and their -command of time was a very important -agent, I should say, in the formation of -their characters as individuals, and as a -people. It bred habits of outdoor exercise, -which gave the young men stalwart -frames and robust constitutions. It gave -form to their social life. Above all, it -made reading men and students of many, -though their reading and their study were -of a somewhat peculiar kind. They were -all Latinists, inasmuch as Latin formed -the staple of their ordinary school course. -It was begun early and continued to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxx" id="Page_lxx">[lxx]</a></span> -end, and even in after life very many -planters were in the habit of reading their -Virgil and their Horace and their Ovid as -an amusement, so that it came to be assumed, -quite as a matter of course, that -every gentleman with any pretension to -culture could read Latin easily, and quote -Horace and Juvenal from memory.</p> - -<p>But they read English literature still -more largely, and in no part of the country, -except in distinctly literary centres -like Cambridge or Concord, are really rich -household libraries so common a possession, -I think, as they were among the -best classes of Virginian planters. Let -us open the old glass doors and see what -books the Virginians read. The libraries -in the old houses were the growth of -many generations, begun perhaps by the -English cadet who founded the family on -this side of the water in the middle of the -seventeenth century, and added to little -by little from that day to this. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxi" id="Page_lxxi">[lxxi]</a></span> -were especially rich in the English classics, -in early editions with long <em>s's</em> and looped -<em>ct's</em>, but sadly deficient in the literature -of the present. In one of them, I remember, -I found nearly everything from -Chaucer to Byron, and comparatively -little that was later. From Pope to -Southey it furnished a pretty complete -geologic section of English literature, and -from internal evidence I conclude that -when the founder of the family and the -library first took up his residence in the -Old Dominion, Swift was still a contributor -to the Gentleman's Magazine, -and Pope was a poet not many years -dead.</p> - -<p>There was a copy of "Tom Jones," and -another of "Joseph Andrews," printed -in Fielding's own time. The "Spectator" -was there, not in the shape of a -reprint, but the original papers, rudely -bound, a treasure brought from England, -doubtless, by the immigrant. Richardson,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxii" id="Page_lxxii">[lxxii]</a></span> -Smollett, Swift, and the rest were present -in contemporary editions; the poets and -essayists, pretty much all of them, in -quaint old volumes; Johnson's "Lives of -the Poets;" Sheridan's plays, stitched; -Burke's works; Scott's novels in force, -just as they came, one after another, -from the press of the Edinburgh publishers; -Miss Edgeworth's moralities elbowing -Mrs. Aphra Behn's strongly tainted -romances; Miss Burney's "Evelina," -which was so "proper" that all the young -ladies used to read it, but so dull that -nobody ever opens it nowadays; and -scores of other old "new books," which -I have no room to catalogue here, even -if I could remember them all.</p> - -<p>Byron appeared, not as a whole, but in -separate volumes, bought as each was -published. Even the poor little "Hours -of Idleness" was there, ordered from -across the sea, doubtless, in consequence -of the savage treatment it received at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxiii" id="Page_lxxiii">[lxxiii]</a></span> -hands of the Edinburgh Review, bound -volumes of which were on the shelves -below. There was no copy of "English -Bards and Scotch Reviewers," but as -nearly all the rest of Byron's poems were -there in original editions, it seems probable -that the satire also had once held a -place in the library. It had been read to -pieces, perhaps, or borrowed and never -returned.</p> - -<p>There were histories of all kinds, and -collected editions of standard works in -plenty, covering a wide field of law, politics, -theology, and what not.</p> - -<p>Of strictly modern books the assortment -was comparatively meagre. Macaulay's -"Miscellanies," Motley's "Dutch -Republic," Prescott's "Mexico," "Peru," -etc.; stray volumes of Dickens, Thackeray, -Bulwer, and Lever; Kennedy's -"Swallow Barn," Cooke's "Virginia -Comedians," half a dozen volumes of -Irving, and a few others made up the list.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxiv" id="Page_lxxiv">[lxxiv]</a></span></p> - -<p>Of modern poetry there was not a line, -and in this, as in other respects, the old -library—burned during the war—fairly -represented the literary tastes and reading -habits of the Virginians in general. They -read little or no recent poetry and not -much recent prose. I think this was not -so much the result of prejudice as of -education. The schools in Virginia were -excellent ones of their kind, but their -system was that of a century ago. They -gave attention chiefly to "the humanities" -and logic, and the education of a -Virginian gentleman resembled that of an -Englishman of the last century far more -closely than that of any modern American. -The writers of the present naturally address -themselves to men of to-day, and -this is precisely what the Virginians were -not, wherefore modern literature was not -at all a thing to their taste.</p> - -<p>To all this there were of course exceptions. -I have known some Virginians<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxv" id="Page_lxxv">[lxxv]</a></span> -who appreciated Tennyson, enjoyed -Longfellow and Lowell, and understood -Browning; just as I have known a few -who affected a modern pronunciation of -the letter "a" in such words as "master," -"basket," "glass," and "grass."</p> - - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pfs135">A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS</p> - -<hr class="r10" /> - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2 class="no-brk"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER I.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">THE MUSTERING.</span></h2> - - -<p>That was an admirable idea of De Quincey's, -formally to postulate any startling -theory upon which he desired to build an -argument or a story, and to insist that -his readers should regard the postulate as -proved, on pain of losing altogether what -he had to say. The plan is a very convenient -one, saving a deal of argument, and -establishing in the outset a very desirable -relation of mastery and subordination between -writer and reader. Indeed, but for -some such device I should never be able -to get on at all with these sketches, fully -to understand which, the reader must make -of himself, for the time at least, a Confeder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>ate. -He must put himself in the place of -the Southerners and look at some things -through their eyes, if he would understand -those things and their results at all; and -as it is no part of my purpose to write a -defense of the Southern view of any question, -it will save a good deal of explanation -on my part, and weariness on the part of -the reader, if I follow De Quincey's example -and do a little postulating to begin with. -I shall make no attempt whatever to prove -my postulates, but any one interested in -these pages will find it to his advantage to -accept them, one and all, as proved, pending -the reading of what is to follow. After -that he may relapse as speedily as he pleases -into his own opinions. Here are the postulates:—</p> - -<p>1. The Southerners honestly believed in -the right of secession, not merely as a revolutionary, -but as a constitutional right. -They not only held that whenever any people -finds the government under which it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -living oppressive and subversive of the ends -for which it was instituted, it is both the -right and the duty of that people to throw -off the government and establish a new one -in its stead; but they believed also that -every State in the Union held the reserved -right, under the constitution, to withdraw -peaceably from the Union at pleasure.</p> - -<p>2. They believed that every man's allegiance -was due to his State only, and that -it was only by virtue of the State's continuance -in the Union that any allegiance -was due to the general government at all; -wherefore the withdrawal of a State from -the Union would of itself absolve all the -citizens of that State from whatever obligations -they were under to maintain and respect -the Federal constitution. In other -words, patriotism, as the South understood -it, meant devotion to one's State, and only -a secondary and consequential devotion to -the Union, existing as a result of the State's -action in making itself a part of the Union,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -and terminable at any time by the State's -withdrawal.</p> - -<p>3. They were as truly and purely patriotic -in their secession and in the fighting -which followed, as were the people of the -North in their adherence to the Union itself. -The difference was one of opinion as -to what the duties of a patriot were, and -not at all a difference in the degree of patriotism -existing in the two sections.</p> - -<p>4. You, reader, who shouldered your -musket and fought like the hero you are, -for the Union and the old flag, if you had -been bred at the South, and had understood -your duty as the Southerners did -theirs, would have fought quite as bravely -for secession as you did against it; and you -would have been quite as truly a hero in -the one case as in the other, because in -either you would have risked your life for -the sake of that which you held to be the -right. If the reader will bear all this in -mind we shall get on much better than we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -otherwise could, in our effort to catch a -glimpse of the war from a Southern point -of view.</p> - -<p>With all its horrors and in spite of the -wretchedness it has wrought, this war of -ours, in some of its aspects at least, begins -to look like a very ridiculous affair, now that -we are getting too far away from it to hear -the rattle of the musketry; and I have a -mind, in this chapter, to review one of its -most ridiculous phases, to wit, its beginning. -We all remember Mr. Webster's pithy putting -of the case with regard to our forefathers -of a hundred years ago: "They -went to war against a preamble. They -fought seven years against a declaration. -They poured out their treasures and their -blood like water, in a contest in opposition -to an assertion." Now it seems to me that -something very much like this might be -said of the Southerners, and particularly of -the Virginians, without whose pluck and -pith there could have been no war at all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -worth writing or talking about. They made -war upon a catch-word, and fought until -they were hopelessly ruined for the sake of -an abstraction. And certainly history will -not find it to the discredit of those people -that they freely offered themselves upon the -altar of an abstract principle of right, in a -war which they knew must work hopeless -ruin to themselves, whatever its other results -might be. Virginia did not want to -secede, and her decision to this effect was -given in the election of a convention composed -for the most part of men strongly -opposed to secession. The Virginians believed -they had both a moral and a constitutional -right to withdraw voluntarily from -a Union into which they had voluntarily -gone, but the majority of them preferred to -remain as they were. They did not feel -themselves particularly aggrieved or threatened -by the election of Mr. Lincoln, and so, -while they never doubted that they had an -unquestionable right to secede at will, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -decided by their votes not to do anything -of the kind. This decision was given in the -most unmistakable way, by heavy majorities, -in an election which involved no other -issue whatever. But without Virginia the -States which had already passed ordinances -of secession would have been wholly unable -to sustain themselves. Virginia's strength -in men, material, and geographical position -was very necessary, for one thing, and her -moral influence on North Carolina, Arkansas, -and other hesitating States, was even -more essential to the success of the movement. -Accordingly every possible effort -was made to "fire the heart" of the conservative -old commonwealth. Delegations, -with ponderous stump speeches in their -mouths and parchment appeals in their -hands, were sent from the seceding States -to Richmond, while every Virginian who -actively favored secession was constituted -a committee of one to cultivate a public -sentiment in favor of the movement.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then came such a deluge of stump -speeches as would have been impossible in -any other state or country in the civilized -world, for there never yet was a Virginian -who could not, on occasion, acquit himself -very well on the hustings. The process of -getting up the requisite amount of enthusiasm, -in the country districts especially, was -in many cases a very laughable one. In one -county, I remember, the principal speakers -were three lawyers of no very great weight -except in a time of excitement. One of -them was colonel of the county militia, -another lieutenant-colonel, and the third -captain of a troop of volunteer cavalry, a -fine body of men, who spent three or four -days of each month partly in practicing a -system of drill which, I am persuaded, is -as yet wholly undreamed of by any of the -writers upon tactics, and partly in cultivating -the social virtues over that peculiar species -of feast known as a barbecue. When -it became evident that the people of Vir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>ginia -were not duly impressed with the -wrong done them in the election of Mr. -Lincoln, these were unquestionably the -right men in the right places. They were -especially fond of fervid speech-making, and -not one of them had ever been known to -neglect an opportunity to practice it; each -could make a speech on any subject at a -moment's warning. They spoke quite as -well on a poor theme as on a good one, and -it was even claimed for one of them that his -eloquence waxed hottest when he had no -subject at all to talk about. Here, then, was -their opportunity. The ever-full vials of -their eloquence waited only for the uncorking. -It was the rule of their lives to make -a speech wherever and whenever they could -get an audience, and under the militia law -they could, at will, compel the attendance -of a body of listeners consisting of pretty -nearly all the voters of the county, plus the -small boys. When they were big with -speech they had only to order a drill. If a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -new gush of words or a felicitous illustration -occurred to them overnight, they called -a general muster for the next day. Two of -them were candidates, against a quiet and -sensible planter, for the one seat allowed the -county in the convention, and the only difference -of opinion there was between them -was involved in the question whether the -ordinance of secession should be adopted -<em>before or after</em> breakfast on the morning of -the first day of the convention's existence. -One wanted coffee first and the other did -not. On the day of election, a drunken fellow, -without a thought of saying a good -thing, apologized to one of them for not -having voted for him, saying, "I promised -you, Sam,—but I couldn't do it. You're -a good fellow, Sam, and smart at a speech, -but you see, Sam, you <em>haven't the weight -o' head</em>." The people, as the result of the -election showed, entertained a like view of -the matter, and the lawyers were both -beaten by the old planter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was not until after the convention assembled, -however, that the eloquence of the -triad came into full play. They then labored -unceasingly to find words with which -to express their humiliation in view of the -degeneracy and cowardice of the ancient -commonwealth.</p> - -<p>They rejoiced in the thought that sooner -or later the People—which they always -pronounced with an uncommonly big P—would -"hurl those degenerate sons of illustrious -sires," meaning thereby the gentlemen -who had been elected to the convention, -"from the seats which they were now -polluting," and a good deal more of a similar -sort, the point of which was that these -orators longed for war of the bloodiest kind, -and were happy in the belief that it would -come, in spite of the fact that the convention -was overwhelmingly against secession.</p> - -<p>Now, in view of the subsequent history -of these belligerent orators, it would be a -very interesting thing to know just what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -they thought a war between the sections -promised. One of them, as I have said, -was colonel of the two or three hundred -militia-men mustered in the county. Another -was lieutenant-colonel, and the third -was captain of a volunteer troop, organized -under the militia law for purposes of amusement, -chiefly. This last one could, of -course, retain his rank, should his company -be mustered into service, and the other two -firmly believed that they would be called -into camp as full-fledged field-officers. In -view of this, the colonel, in one of his -speeches, urged upon his men the necessity -of a rigid self-examination, touching the -matter of personal courage, before going, in -his regiment, to the battle-field; "For," -said he, "where G. leads, brave men must -follow," a bit of rhetoric which brought -down the house as a matter of course. -The others were equally valiant in anticipation -of war and equally eager for its coming; -and yet when the war did come, so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -sorely taxing the resources of the South as -to make a levy <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en masse</i> necessary, not one -of the three ever managed to hear the -whistle of a bullet. The colonel did indeed -go as far as Richmond, during the spring -of 1861, but discovering there that he was -physically unfit for service, went no farther. -The lieutenant-colonel ran away from the -field while the battle was yet afar off, and -the captain, suffering from "nervous prostration," -sent in his resignation, which was -unanimously accepted by his men, on the -field during the first battle of Bull Run.</p> - -<p>I sketch these three men and their military -careers not without a purpose. They -serve to correct an error. They were types -of a class which brought upon the South a -deal of odium. Noisy speech-makers, they -were too often believed by strangers to be, -as they pretended, representative men, and -their bragging, their intolerance, their contempt -for the North, their arrogance,—all -these were commonly laid to the charge of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -the Southern people as a whole. As a -matter of fact, these were not representative -men at all. They assumed the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</i> of -leadership on the court-house greens, but -were repudiated by the people at the polls -first, and afterwards when the volunteers -were choosing officers to command them in -actual warfare. These men were clamorous -demagogues and nothing else. They had -no influence whatever upon the real people. -Their vaporings were applauded and -laughed at. The applause was ridicule, and -the laughter was closely akin to jeering.</p> - -<p>Meantime a terrible dread was brooding -over the minds of the Virginian people. -They were brave men and patriots, who -would maintain their honor at any cost. -They were ready to sacrifice their lives and -their treasures in a hopeless struggle about -an abstraction, should the time come when -their sense of right and honor required the -sacrifice at their hands. There was no -cowardice and no hesitation to be expected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -of them when the call should come. But -they dreaded war, and most of them prayed -that it might never be. They saw only -desolation in its face. They knew it would -lay waste their fields and bring want upon -their families, however it might result in -regard to the great political questions involved -in it. And so they refused to go -headlong into a war which meant for them -destruction. Some of them, believing that -there was no possibility of avoiding the -struggle, thought it the part of wisdom to -accept the inevitable and begin hostilities -at once, while the North was still but poorly -prepared for aggressive measures. But the -majority of the Virginians were disposed to -wait and to avoid war altogether, if that -should prove possible. These said, "We -should remain quiet until some overt act of -hostility shall make resistance necessary." -And these were called cowards and fogies -by the brave men of the hustings already -alluded to.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was still another class of men who -were opposed to secession in any case. Of -these, William C. Wickham, of Hanover, and -Jubal Early will serve as examples. They -thought secession unnecessary and imprudent -in any conceivable event. They believed -that it offered no remedy for existing -or possible ills, and that it could result only -in the prostration of the South. They opposed -it, therefore, with all their might; -not only as not yet called for, but as suicidal -in any event, and not to be thought of -at all. And yet these men, when the war -came, believed it to be their duty to side -with their State, and fought so manfully in -behalf of the South as to make themselves -famous military leaders.</p> - -<p>Why, then, the reader doubtless asks, if -this was the temper of the Virginians, did -Virginia secede after all? I answer, because -circumstances ultimately so placed -the Virginians that they could not, without -cowardice and dishonor, do otherwise; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -the Virginians are brave men and honorable -ones. They believed, as I have said, in -the abstract right of any State to secede at -will. Indeed, this right was to them as -wholly unquestioned and unquestionable as -is the right of the States to establish free -schools, or to do any other thing pertaining -to local self-government. The question -of the correctness or incorrectness of -the doctrine is not now to the purpose. -The Virginians, almost without an exception, -believed and had always believed it -absolutely, and believing it, they held of -necessity that the general government had -no right, legal or moral, to coerce a seceding -State; and so, when the President -called upon Virginia for her quota of troops -with which to compel the return of the seceding -States, she could not possibly obey -without doing that which her people believed -to be an outrage upon the rights of -sister commonwealths, for which, as they -held, there was no warrant in law or equity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p>She heartily condemned the secession of -South Carolina and the rest as unnecessary, -ill-advised, and dangerous; but their secession -did not concern her except as a looker-on, -and she had not only refused to be a -partaker in it, but had also felt a good deal -of indignation against the men who were -thus endangering the peace of the land. -When she was called upon to assist in reducing -these States to submission, however, -she could no longer remain a spectator. -She must furnish the troops, and so assist -in doing that which she believed to be utterly -wrong, or she must herself withdraw -from the Union. The question was thus -narrowed down to this: Should Virginia -seek safety in dishonor, or should she meet -destruction in doing that which she believed -to be right? Such a question was -not long to be debated. Two days after -the proclamation was published Virginia -seceded, not because she wanted to secede,—not -because she believed it wise,—but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -because, as she understood the matter, the -only other course open to her would have -been cowardly and dishonorable.</p> - -<p>Now, unless I am sadly mistaken, the -Virginians understood what secession implied -much more perfectly than did the rest -of the Southern people. They anticipated -no child's play, and having cast in their lot -with the South, they began at once to get -ready for war. From one end of the State -to the other, every county seat became a -drill field. The courts suspended their sessions, -on the ground that it was not a -proper time for the enforced collection of -debts. Volunteer companies soon drained -the militia organization of its men. Public -opinion said that every man who did not -embrace the very surest and earliest opportunity -of getting himself mustered into -actual service was a coward; and so, to -withdraw from the militia and join a volunteer -company, and make a formal tender of -services to the State, became absolutely es<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>sential -to the maintenance of one's reputation -as a gentleman.</p> - -<p>The drilling, of which there was literally -no end, was simply funny. Maneuvers of -the most utterly impossible sort were carefully -taught to the men. Every amateur -officer had his own pet system of tactics, -and the effect of the incongruous teachings, -when brought out in battalion drill, closely -resembled that of the music at Mr. Bob -Sawyer's party, where each guest sang the -chorus to the tune he knew best.</p> - -<p>The militia colonels, having assumed a -sort of general authority over the volunteer -companies which had been formed out of -the old militia material, were not satisfied -with daily musterings of the men under -their captains,—musterings which left the -field-officers nothing to do,—and so in a -good many of the counties they ordered all -the men into camp at the county seat, and -drew upon the people for provisions with -which to feed them. The camps were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -irregular, disorderly affairs, over which no -rod of discipline could very well be held, as -the men were not legally soldiers, and the -only punishment possible for disobedience -or neglect of duty was a small fine, which -the willful men, with true Virginian contempt -for money in small sums, paid cheerfully -as a tax upon jollity.</p> - -<p>The camping, however, was enjoyable in -itself, and as most of the men had nothing -else to do, the attendance upon roll-call was -a pretty full one. Every man brought a -servant or two with him, of course. How -else were his boots and his accouterments -to be kept clean, his horse to be groomed, -and his meals cooked? Most of the ladies -came, too, in their carriages every morning, -returning to their homes only as night -came on; and so the camps were very picturesque -and very delightful places to be in. -All the men wore epaulets of a gorgeousness -rarely equaled except in portraits of -field-marshals, and every man was a hero -in immediate prospect.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<p>One day an alarming report came, to the -effect that a little transport steamer, well -known in James River, was on her way up -to Richmond with ten thousand troops on -board, and instantly the camps at the court-houses -along the railroads were astir. It -entered into nobody's head to inquire where -so many troops could have come from at a -time when the entire active force of the -United States army from Maine to Oregon -was hardly greater than that; nor did anybody -seem surprised that the whole ten -thousand had managed to bestow themselves -on board a steamer the carrying -capacity of which had hitherto been about -four or five hundred men. The report was -accepted as true, and everybody believed -that the ten thousand men would be poured -into Richmond's defenseless streets within -an hour or two. In the particular county -to which I have alluded in the beginning -of this chapter, the cavalry captain sent for -half a dozen grindstones, and set his men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -to grinding their sabres,—a process which -utterly ruined the blades, of course. The -militia colonel telegraphed a stump speech -or two to Richmond, which did no particular -harm, as the old station agent who -officiated as operator could not for his life -send a message of more than three words -so that it could be read at the other end -of the line. A little telegraphic swearing -came back over the wires, but beyond that -the colonel's glowing messages resulted in -nothing. Turning his attention to matters -more immediately within his control, therefore, -he ordered the drums to beat, and assembling -the men he marched them boldly -down to the railroad station, where mounting -a goods box he told them that the time -for speech-making was now past; that the -enemy (I am not sure that he did not say -"vandal," and make some parenthetical remarks -about "Attila flags" and things of -that sort which were favorites with him) -was now at our very thresholds; that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -(the colonel) had marched his command to -the depot in answer to the call of his country; -that they would proceed thence by -rail to Richmond and at once encounter -the enemy, etc., etc., etc. He had already -telegraphed, he said, to General Lee and -to Governor Letcher, requesting them to -dispatch a train (the colonel would have -scorned to say "send cars" even in a telegram), -and the iron horse was doubtless -already on its way.</p> - -<p>No train came, however, and after nightfall -the men were marched back to their -quarters in the court-house.</p> - -<p>A few days later some genuine orders -came from Richmond, accepting the proffered -services of all the companies organized -in the county, and ordering all, except -the one cavalry troop, into camp at Richmond. -These orders, by some strange -oversight, the colonel explained, were addressed, -not to him as colonel, but to the -several captains individually. He was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -disposed to stand on ceremony, however, he -said; and so, without waiting for the clerical -error to be rectified, he would comply -with the spirit of the order, and take the -troops to Richmond as soon as the necessary -transportation should arrive. Transportation -was a good, mouth-filling word, -which suited the colonel exactly. In order -that there should be no delay or miscarriage, -he marched the men a hundred yards -down the hill to the station, ten hours in -advance of the time at which the cars were -to be there; and as there was nothing else -to do, he and his lieutenant thought the -occasion a good one for the making of a -speech apiece. The colonel expressed his -hearty sympathy with the woes of the cavalry, -who were to be left at home, while the -infantry was winning renown. And yet, he -said, he had expected this from the first. -The time had been, he explained, when the -cavalry was the quick-moving arm of the -service, but now that the iron horse— The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -reader must imagine the rest of that grandiloquent -sentence. I value my reputation -for veracity too much to risk it by following -the colonel in this, his supreme burst of -impassioned oratory. He was sorry for the -cavalry, but they should console themselves -with the thought that, as preservers of order -in the community and protectors of -their homes, they would not be wholly useless -in their own humble way; and should -any of them visit the army, they would always -meet a hearty welcome in his camp. -For the present his head-quarters would be -in the Spottswood Hotel, and he would be -glad, whenever military duty did not too -greatly absorb his attention, to grasp the -hand of any member of the troop who, -wishing to catch a glimpse of real warfare, -should seek him there.</p> - -<p>The train came, after a while, and the -unappreciative railroad men obstinately insisted -that the State paid for the passage -of certain designated companies only, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -that these distinguished field-officers, if they -traveled by that train at all, must pay their -way at regular passenger rates. The colonel -and his lieutenant pocketed the insult -and paid their fare; but when, upon the -arrival of the troops at Richmond, nobody -seemed to know anything about these field-officers, -and the companies were sent, without -them, into camps of instruction, the gallant -leaders returned by passenger train to -their homes. The colonel came back, he -said in a speech at the station, still further -to stir the patriotism of the people. He -had been in consultation with the authorities -in Richmond; and while it would not -be proper for him to reveal even to these, -his patriotic countrymen, the full plan of -campaign confided to him as a field-officer, -he might at least say to them that the government, -within ten days, would have fifteen -thousand men in line on the Potomac, -and then, with perchance a bloody but very -brief struggle, this overwhelming force<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -would dictate terms to the tyrants at -Washington.</p> - -<p>This time the colonel got himself unmistakably -laughed at, and, so far as I have -heard, he made no more speeches.</p> - -<p>Meantime it had become evident to -everybody that a very real and a very terrible -war was in prospect, and there was no -longer any disposition to tolerate nonsense -of the sort I have been describing. As fast -as arrangements could be made for their -accommodation, the volunteers from every -part of the State were ordered into camps -of instruction at Richmond and Ashland. -As soon as any company was deemed fit -for service, it was sent to the front and assigned -to a regiment. Troops from other -States were constantly pouring into Richmond, -and marching thence to the armies -which were forming in the field. The -speech-making was over forever, and the -work of the war had begun.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER II</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">THE MEN WHO MADE THE ARMY.</span></h2> - - -<p>A newspaper correspondent has told us -that the great leader of the German armies, -Count Von Moltke, has never read anything—even -a history—of our war, and that -when questioned on the subject, he has said -he could not afford to spend time over "the -wrangling of two armed mobs." If he ever -said anything of the kind, which is doubtful, -his characterization of the two armies -had reference, probably, to their condition -during the first year or two of the struggle, -when they could lay very little claim indeed -to any more distinctively military title. -The Southern army, at any rate, was simply -a vast mob of rather ill-armed young gentlemen -from the country.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> As I have said -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>in a previous chapter, every gentleman in -Virginia, not wholly incapable of rendering -service, enlisted at the beginning of the -war, and the companies, unarmed, untrained, -and hardly even organized, were sent at -once to camps of instruction. Here they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -were in theory drilled and disciplined and -made into soldiers, by the little handful of -available West-Pointers and the lads from -the Military Institute at Lexington. In -point of fact, they were only organized and -taught the rudiments of the drill before being -sent to the front as full-fledged soldiers; -and it was only after a year or more of active -service in the field that they began to -suspect what the real work and the real -character of the modern soldier is.</p> - -<p>Our ideas of the life and business of a -soldier were drawn chiefly from the adventures -of Ivanhoe and Charles O'Malley, two -worthies with whose personal history almost -every man in the army was familiar. -The men who volunteered went to war of -their own accord, and were wholly unaccustomed -to acting on any other than their -own motion. They were hardy lovers of -field sports, accustomed to out-door life, and -in all physical respects excellent material -of which to make an army. But they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -not used to control of any sort, and were -not disposed to obey anybody except for -good and sufficient reason given. While -actually on drill they obeyed the word of -command, not so much by reason of its -being proper to obey a command, as because -obedience was in that case necessary -to the successful issue of a pretty performance -in which they were interested. Off -drill they did as they pleased, holding themselves -gentlemen, and as such bound to -consult only their own wills. Their officers -were of themselves, chosen by election, and -subject, by custom, to enforced resignation -upon petition of the men. Only corporals -cared sufficiently little for their position to -risk any magnifying of their office by the -enforcement of discipline. I make of them -an honorable exception, out of regard for -the sturdy corporal who, at Ashland, -marched six of us (a guard detail) through -the very middle of a puddle, assigning as -his reason for doing so the fact that "It's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -plagued little authority they give us corporals, -and I mean to use that little, any -how." Even corporals were elected, however, -and until December, 1861, I never -knew a single instance in which a captain -dared offend his men by breaking a non-commissioned -officer, or appointing one, -without submitting the matter to a vote of -the company. In that first instance the -captain had to bolster himself up with written -authority from head-quarters, and even -then it required three weeks of mingled -diplomacy and discipline to quell the mutiny -which resulted.</p> - -<p>With troops of this kind, the reader will -readily understand, a feeling of very democratic -equality prevailed, so far at least as -military rank had anything to do with it. -Officers were no better than men, and so -officers and men messed and slept together -on terms of entire equality, quarreling and -even fighting now and then, in a gentlemanly -way, but without a thought of allow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>ing -differences of military rank to have any -influence in the matter. The theory was -that the officers were the creatures of the -men, chosen by election to represent their -constituency in the performance of certain -duties, and that only during good behavior. -And to this theory the officers themselves -gave in their adhesion in a hundred ways. -Indeed, they could do nothing else, inasmuch -as they knew no way of quelling a -mutiny.</p> - -<p>There was one sort of rank, however, -which was both maintained and respected -from the first, namely, that of social life. -The line of demarkation between gentry -and common people is not more sharply -drawn anywhere than in Virginia. It rests -there upon an indeterminate something or -other, known as family. To come of a -good family is a patent of nobility, and -there is no other way whatever by which -any man or any woman can find a passage -into the charmed circle of Virginia's peer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>age. -There is no college of heralds, to be -sure, to which doubtful cases may be referred, -and there is no law governing the -matter; but every Virginian knows what -families are, and what are not good ones, -and so mistakes are impossible. The social -position of every man is sharply defined, -and every man carried it with him into the -army. The man of good family felt himself -superior, as in most cases he unquestionably -was, to his fellow-soldier of less -excellent birth; and this distinction was -sufficient, during the early years of the war, -to override everything like military rank. -In one instance which I remember, a young -private asserted his superiority of social -standing so effectually as to extort from -the lieutenant commanding his company a -public apology for an insult offered in the -subjection of the private to double duty, as -a punishment for absence from roll-call. -The lieutenant was brave enough to have -taken a flogging at the hands of the in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>sulted -private, perhaps, but he could not -face the declared sentiment of the entire -company, and so he apologized. I have -known numberless cases in which privates -have declined dinner and other invitations -from officers who had presumed upon their -shoulder-straps in asking the company of -their social superiors.</p> - -<p>In the camp of instruction at Ashland, -where the various cavalry companies existing -in Virginia were sent to be made into -soldiers, it was a very common thing indeed -for men who grew tired of camp fare -to take their meals at the hotel, and one or -two of them rented cottages and brought -their families there, excusing themselves -from attendance upon unreasonably early -roll-calls, by pleading the distance from -their cottages to the parade-ground. Whenever -a detail was made for the purpose of -cleaning the camp-ground, the men detailed -regarded themselves as responsible for the -proper performance of the task by their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -servants, and uncomplainingly took upon -themselves the duty of sitting on the fence -and superintending the work. The two or -three men of the overseer class who were -to be found in nearly every company turned -some nimble quarters by standing other -men's turns of guard-duty at twenty-five -cents an hour; and one young gentleman -of my own company, finding himself assigned -to a picket rope post, where his only -duty was to guard the horses and prevent -them, in their untrained exuberance of -spirit, from becoming entangled in each -other's heels and halters, coolly called his -servant and turned the matter over to him, -with a rather informal but decidedly pointed -injunction not to let those horses get themselves -into trouble if he valued his hide. -This case coming to the ears of Colonel -(afterwards General) Ewell, who was commanding -the camp, that officer reorganized -the guard service upon principles as novel -as they were objectionable to the men.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -He required the men to stand their own -turns, and, worse than that, introduced the -system, in vogue among regular troops, of -keeping the entire guard detail at the guard-house -when not on post, an encroachment -upon personal liberty which sorely tried the -patience of the young cavaliers.</p> - -<p>It was in this undisciplined state that the -men who afterwards made up the army -under Lee were sent to the field to meet -the enemy at Bull Run and elsewhere, and -the only wonder is that they were ever able -to fight at all. They were certainly not -soldiers. They were as ignorant of the -alphabet of obedience as their officers were -of the art of commanding. And yet they -acquitted themselves reasonably well, a fact -which can be explained only by reference -to the causes of their insubordination in -camp. These men were the people of the -South, and the war was their own; wherefore -they fought to win it of their own -accord, and not at all because their officers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -commanded them to do so. Their personal -spirit and their intelligence were their sole -elements of strength. Death has few terrors -for such men, as compared with dishonor, -and so they needed no officers at all, -and no discipline, to insure their personal -good conduct on the field of battle. The -same elements of character, too, made them -accept hardship with the utmost cheerfulness, -as soon as hardship became a necessary -condition to the successful prosecution -of a war that every man of them -regarded as his own. In camp, at Richmond -or Ashland, they had shunned all -unnecessary privation and all distasteful -duty, because they then saw no occasion to -endure avoidable discomfort. But in the -field they showed themselves great, stalwart -men in spirit as well as in bodily frame, -and endured cheerfully the hardships of -campaigning precisely as they would have -borne the fatigues of a hunt, as incidents -encountered in the prosecution of their purposes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> - -<p>During the spring and early summer of -1861, the men did not dream that they -were to be paid anything for their services, -or even that the government was to clothe -them. They had bought their own uniforms, -and whenever these wore out they -ordered new ones to be sent, by the first -opportunity, from home. I remember the -very first time the thought of getting clothing -from the government ever entered my -own mind. I was serving in Stuart's cavalry, -and the summer of 1861 was nearly -over. My boots had worn out, and as -there happened at the time to be a strict -embargo upon all visiting on the part of -non-military people, I could not get a new -pair from home. The spurs of my comrades -had made uncomfortable impressions -upon my bare feet every day for a week, -when some one suggested that I might -possibly buy a pair of boots from the quartermaster, -who was for the first time in -possession of some government property of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -that description. When I returned with -the boots and reported that the official had -refused my proffered cash, contenting himself -with charging the amount against me -as a debit to be deducted from the amount -of my <em>pay and clothing allowance</em>, there was -great merriment in the camp. The idea -that there was anybody back of us in this -war—anybody who could, by any ingenuity -of legal quibbling, be supposed to be -indebted to us for our voluntary services in -our own cause—was too ridiculous to be -treated seriously. "Pay money" became -the standing subject for jests. The card-playing -with which the men amused themselves -suffered a revolution at once; euchre -gave place to poker, played for "pay -money," the winnings to fall due when pay-day -should come,—a huge joke which was -heartily enjoyed.</p> - -<p>From this the reader will see how little -was done in the beginning of the war toward -the organization of an efficient quar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>termaster's -department, and how completely -this ill-organized and undisciplined mob of -plucky gentlemen was left to prosecute the -war as best it could, trusting to luck for -clothing and even for food. Of these -things I shall have occasion to speak more -fully in a future chapter, wherein I shall -have something to say of the management -of affairs at Richmond. At present, I -merely refer to the matter for the purpose -of correcting an error (if I may hope to do -that) which seems likely to creep into history. -We have been told over and over -again that the Confederate army could not -possibly have given effectual pursuit to -General McDowell's flying forces after the -battle of Bull Run. It is urged, in defense -of the inaction which made of that day's -work a waste effort, that we could not move -forward for want of transportation and supplies. -Now, without discussing the question -whether or not a prompt movement on -Washington would have resulted favorably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -to the Confederates, I am certain, as every -man who was there is, that this want of -transportation and supplies had nothing -whatever to do with it. We had no supplies -of any importance, it is true, but none -were coming to us there, and we were no -whit better off in this regard at Manassas -than we would have been before Washington. -And having nothing to transport, we -needed no transportation. Had the inefficiency -of the supply department stopped -short at its failure to furnish wagon trains, -it might have stood in the way of a forward -movement. But that was no ordinary incompetence -which governed this department -of our service in all its ramifications. -The breadth and comprehensiveness of that -incompetence were its distinguishing characteristics. -In failing to furnish anything -to transport, it neutralized its failure to -furnish transportation, and the army that -fought at Bull Run would have been as -well off anywhere else as there, during the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -next ten days. Indeed, two days after the -battle we were literally starved out at Manassas, -and were forced to advance to Fairfax -Court House in order to get the supplies -which the Union army had left in -abundance wherever there was a storing-place -for them. The next morning after -the battle, many of the starving men went -off on their own account to get provisions, -and they knew very well where to find -them. There were none at Manassas, but -by crossing Bull Run and following the line -of the Federal retreat, we soon gathered a -store sufficient to last us, while the authorities -of the quartermaster's department were -finding out how to transport the few sheet-iron -frying-pans which, with an unnecessary -tent here and there, were literally the only -things there were to be transported at all. -Food, which was the only really necessary -thing just then, lay ahead of us and nowhere -else. All the ammunition we had -we could and did move with the wagons at -hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> - -<p>To return to the temper of the troops -and people. Did the Southerners really -think themselves a match for ten times -their own numbers? I know the reader -wants to ask this question, because almost -everybody I talk to on the subject asks it -in one shape or another. In answer let me -say, I think a few of the more enthusiastic -women, cherishing a blind faith in the -righteousness of their cause, and believing, -in spite of historical precedent, that wars -always end with strict regard to the laws -of poetic justice, did think something of the -sort; and I am certain that all the stump -speakers of the kind I have hitherto described -held a like faith most devoutly. -But with these exceptions I never saw any -Southerner who hoped for any but well-fought-for -success. It was not a question -of success or defeat with them at all. They -thought they saw their duty plainly, and -they did it without regard to the consequences. -Their whole hearts were in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -cause, and as they were human beings they -naturally learned to expect the result for -which they were laboring and fighting and -suffering; but they based no hopes upon -any such fancy as that the Virginian soldier -was the military equivalent of ten or of -two Pennsylvanians armed as well as he. -On the contrary, they busily counted the -chances and weighed the probabilities on -both sides from the first. They claimed an -advantage in the fact that their young men -were more universally accustomed to field -sports and the use of arms than were those -of the North. They thought too, that, -fighting on their own soil, in an essentially -defensive struggle, they would have some -advantage, as they certainly did. They -thought they might in the end tire their -enemy out, and they hoped from the first -for relief through foreign intervention in -some shape. These were the grounds of -their hopes; but had there been no hope -for them at all, I verily believe they would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -have fought all the same. Certainly they -had small reason to hope for success after -the campaign of 1863, but they fought on -nevertheless, until they could fight no more. -Let the reader remember that as the Southerners -understood the case, they could not, -without a complete sacrifice of honor, do -anything else than fight on until utterly -crushed, and he will then be prepared to -understand how small a figure the question -of success or failure cut in determining -their course.</p> - -<p>The unanimity of the people was simply -marvelous. So long as the question of -secession was under discussion, opinions -were both various and violent. The moment -secession was finally determined upon, -a revolution was wrought. There was no -longer anything to discuss, and so discussion -ceased. Men got ready for war, and -delicate women with equal spirit sent them -off with smiling faces. The man who tarried -at home for never so brief a time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -after the call to arms had been given, found -it necessary to explain himself to every -woman of his acquaintance, and no explanation -was sufficient to shield him from the -social ostracism consequent upon any long-tarrying. -Throughout the war it was the -same, and when the war ended the men -who lived to return were greeted with sad -faces by those who had cheerfully and even -joyously sent them forth to the battle.</p> - -<p>Under these circumstances, the reader -will readily understand, the first call for -troops took nearly all the men of Virginia -away from their homes. Even the boys in -the colleges and schools enlisted, and these -establishments were forced to suspend for -want of students. In one college the president -organized the students, and making -himself their commander, led them directly -from the class-room to the field. So strong -and all-embracing was the thought that -every man owed it to the community to -become a soldier, that even clergymen went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -into the army by the score, and large districts -of country were left too without a -physician, until the people could secure, by -means of a memorial, the unanimous vote -of the company to which some favorite -physician belonged, declaring it to be his -patriotic duty to remain at home. Without -such an instruction from his comrades no -physician would consent to withdraw, and -even with it very many of them preferred -to serve in the ranks.</p> - -<p>These were the men of whom the Confederate -army was for the first year or two -chiefly composed. After that the conscription -brought in a good deal of material -which was worse than useless. There were -some excellent soldiers who came into the -army as conscripts, but they were exceptions -to the rule. For the most part the -men whose bodies were thus lugged in by -force had no spirits to bring with them. -They had already lived a long time under -all the contumely which a reputation for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -confessed cowardice could bring upon them. -The verdict of their neighbors was already -pronounced, and they could not possibly -change it now by good conduct. They -brought discontent with them into the -camp, and were sullenly worthless as soldiers -throughout. They were a leaven of -demoralization which the army would have -been better without. But they were comparatively -few in number, and as the character -of the army was crystallized long before -these men came into it at all, they had -little influence in determining the conduct -of the whole. If they added nothing to our -strength, they could do little to weaken us, -and in any estimate of the character of -the Confederate army they hardly count at -all. The men who early in the war struggled -for a place in the front rank, whenever -there was chance of a fight, and thought -themselves unlucky if they failed to get it, -are the men who gave character afterwards -to the well-organized and well-disciplined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -army which so long contested the ground -before Richmond. They did become soldiers -after a while, well regulated and thoroughly -effective. The process of disciplining -them took away none of their personal -spirit or their personal interest in the war, -but it taught them the value of unquestioning -obedience, and the virtue there was in -yielding it. I remember very well the extreme -coolness with which, in one of the -valley skirmishes, a few days before the -first battle of Bull Run, a gentleman private -in my own company rode out of the ranks -for the purpose of suggesting to J. E. B. -Stuart the propriety of charging a gun -which was shelling us, and which seemed -nearer to us than to its supporting infantry. -I heard another gentleman without rank, -who had brought a dispatch to Stonewall -Jackson, request that officer to "cut the -answer short," on the ground that his horse -was a little lame and he feared his inability -to deliver it as promptly as was desirable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -These men and their comrades lost none of -this personal solicitude for the proper conduct -of the war, in process of becoming -soldiers, but they learned not to question or -advise, when their duty was to listen and -obey. Their very errors, as General Stuart -once said in my hearing, proved them -the best of material out of which to make -soldiers. "They are pretty good officers -now," he said, "and after a while they will -make excellent soldiers too. They only -need <em>reducing to the ranks</em>."</p> - -<p>This personal interest in the war, which -in their undisciplined beginning led them -into indiscreet meddling with details of -policy belonging to their superiors, served -to sustain them when as disciplined soldiers -they were called upon to bear a degree of -hardship of which they had never dreamed. -They learned to trust the management of -affairs to the officers, asking no questions, -but finding their own greatest usefulness -in cheerful and ready obedience. The wish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -to help, which made them unsoldierly at -first, served to make them especially good -soldiers when it was duly tempered with -discipline and directed by experience. The -result was that even in the darkest days -of the struggle, when these soldiers knew -they were losing everything but their honor, -when desperation led them to think of a -thousand expedients and to see every blunder -that was made, they waited patiently -for the word of command, and obeyed it -with alacrity and cheerfulness when it came, -however absurd it might seem. I remember -an incident which will serve to illustrate -this. The Federal forces one day captured -an important fort on the north side of -James River, which had been left almost -unguarded, through the blundering of the -officer charged with its defense. It must -be retaken, or the entire line in that place -must be abandoned, and a new one built, at -great risk of losing Richmond. Two bodies -of infantry were ordered to charge it on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -different sides, while the command to which -I was then attached should shell it vigorously -with mortars. In order that the attack -might be simultaneously made on the -two sides, a specific time was set for it, but -for some unexplained reason there was a -misunderstanding between the two commanders. -The one on the farther side began -the attack twenty minutes too soon. -Every man of the other body, which lay -there by our still silent mortars, knew perfectly -well that the attack had begun, and -that they ought to strike then if at all. -They knew that, without their aid and that -of the mortars, their friends would be repulsed, -and that a like result would follow -their own assault when it should be made, -twenty minutes later. They remained as -they were, however, hearing the rattle of -the musketry and listening with calm faces -to the exulting cheers of the victorious -enemy. Then came their own time, and -knowing perfectly well that their assault<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -was now a useless waste of life, they obeyed -the order as it had been delivered to them, -and knocked at the very gates of that fortress -for an hour. These men, in 1861, -would have clamored for immediate attack -as the only hope of accomplishing anything, -and had their commander insisted, in such -a case, upon obeying orders, they would in -all probability have charged without him. -In 1864, having become soldiers, they -obeyed orders even at cost of failure. They -had reduced themselves to the ranks—that -was all.</p> - - -<div class="p2 footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> In order that no reader may misconceive the spirit -in which this chapter is written, I wish to say, at the outset, -that in commenting upon the material of which the -Southern army was made up, nothing has been further -from my thought than to reflect, even by implication, -upon the character of the Union army or of the men who -composed it, for indeed I honor both as highly as anybody -can. I think I have outlived whatever war prejudices -I may have brought with me out of the struggle, -and in writing of some of the better characteristics of the -early Virginian volunteers, I certainly have not meant -to deny equal or like excellence to their foemen. I happen, -however, to know a great deal about the one army -and very little about the other,—a state of things consequent -upon the peculiar warmth with which we were -always greeted whenever we undertook to visit the camps -of our friends on the other side. Will the reader please -bear in mind, then, that my estimate of the character of -the Southern troops is a positive and not a comparative -one, and that nothing said in praise of the one army is -meant to be a reflection upon the other? Between Bull -Run and Appomattox I had ample opportunity to learn -respect for the courage and manliness of the men who -overcame us, and since the close of the war I have -learned to know many of them as tried and true friends, -and gentlemen of noblest mold.</p></div></div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER III.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">THE TEMPER OF THE WOMEN.</span></h2> - - -<p>During the latter part of the year in -which the war between the States came to -an end, a Southern comic writer, in a letter -addressed to Artemus Ward, summed up -the political outlook in one sentence, reading -somewhat as follows: "You may reconstruct -the men, with your laws and things, -but how are you going to reconstruct the -women? <em>Whoop-ee!</em>" Now this unauthorized -but certainly very expressive interjection -had a deal of truth at its back, and I -am very sure that I have never yet known -a thoroughly "reconstructed" woman. The -reason, of course, is not far to seek. The -women of the South could hardly have -been more desperately in earnest than their -husbands and brothers and sons were,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -in the prosecution of the war, but with -their woman-natures they gave themselves -wholly to the cause, and having loved it -heartily when it gave promise of a sturdy -life, they almost worship it now that they -have strewn its bier with funeral flowers. -To doubt its righteousness, or to falter in -their loyalty to it while it lived, would have -been treason and infidelity; to do the like -now that it is dead would be to them little -less than sacrilege.</p> - -<p>I wish I could adequately tell my reader -of the part those women played in the war. -If I could make these pages show the half -of their nobleness; if I could describe the -sufferings they endured, and tell of their -cheerfulness under it all; if the reader -might guess the utter unselfishness with -which they laid themselves and the things -they held nearest their hearts upon the -altar of the only country they knew as their -own, the rare heroism with which they -played their sorrowful part in a drama which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -was to them a long tragedy; if my pages -could be made to show the half of these -things, all womankind, I am sure, would -tenderly cherish the record, and nobody -would wonder again at the tenacity with -which the women of the South still hold -their allegiance to the lost cause.</p> - -<p>Theirs was a peculiarly hard lot. The -real sorrows of war, like those of drunkenness, -always fall most heavily upon women. -They may not bear arms. They may not -even share the triumphs which compensate -their brethren for toil and suffering and -danger. They must sit still and endure. -The poverty which war brings to them -wears no cheerful face, but sits down with -them to empty tables and pinches them -sorely in solitude.</p> - -<p>After the victory, the men who have won -it throw up their hats in a glad huzza, while -their wives and daughters await in sorest -agony of suspense the news which may -bring hopeless desolation to their hearts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -To them the victory may mean the loss of -those for whom they lived and in whom -they hoped, while to those who have fought -the battle it brings only gladness. And -all this was true of Southern women almost -without exception. The fact that all the -men capable of bearing arms went into the -army, and stayed there, gave to every -woman in the South a personal interest not -only in the general result of each battle, but -in the list of killed and wounded as well. -Poverty, too, and privation of the sorest -kind, was the common lot, while the absence -of the men laid many heavy burdens of work -and responsibility upon shoulders unused to -either. But they bore it all, not cheerfully -only, but gladly. They believed it to be -the duty of every able-bodied man to serve -in the army, and they eagerly sent the men -of their own homes to the field, frowning -undisguisedly upon every laggard until -there were no laggards left. And their -spirit knew no change as the war went on.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -Their idea of men's duty comprehended -nothing less than persistence as long as a -shot could be fired. When they saw that -the end was not to be victory, but defeat, -that fact made no change whatever in their -view of the duty to be done. Still less did -their own privations and labors and sufferings -tend to dampen their ardor. On the -contrary, the more heavily the war bore -upon themselves, the more persistently did -they demand that it should be fought out -to the end. When they lost a husband, a -son, or a brother, they held the loss only an -additional reason for faithful adherence to -the cause. Having made such a sacrifice -to that which was almost a religion to them, -they had, if possible, less thought than ever -of proving unfaithful to it.</p> - -<p>I put these general statements first, so -that the reader who shall be interested in -such anecdotes as I shall have to tell may -not be misled thereby into the thought that -these good women were implacable or vin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>dictive, -when they were only devoted to a -cause which in their eyes represented the -sum of all righteousness.</p> - -<p>I remember a conversation between two -of them,—one a young wife whose husband -was in the army, and the other an -elderly lady, with no husband or son, but -with many friends and near relatives in -marching regiments. The younger lady -remarked,—</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I do not hate our enemies. I -earnestly hope their souls may go to heaven, -but I would like to blow all their mortal -bodies away, as fast as they come upon our -soil."</p> - -<p>"Why, you shock me, my dear," replied -the other; "I don't see why you want the -Yankees to go to heaven! I hope to get -there myself some day, and I'm sure I -shouldn't want to go if I thought I should -find any of them there."</p> - -<p>This old lady was convinced from the -first that the South would fail, and she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -based this belief upon the fact that we -had permitted Yankees to build railroads -through the Southern States. "I tell you," -she would say, "that's what they built the -railroads for. They knew the war was -coming, and they got ready for it. The -railroads will whip us, you may depend. -What else were they made for? We got -on well enough without them, and we -oughtn't to have let anybody build them." -And no amount of reasoning would serve -to shake her conviction that the people of -the North had built all our railroads with -treacherous intent, though the stock of the -only road she had ever seen was held very -largely by the people along its line, many -of whom were her own friends.</p> - -<p>She always insisted, too, that the Northern -troops came South and made war for -the sole purpose of taking possession of our -lands and negroes, and she was astonished -almost out of her wits when she learned -that the negroes were free. She had sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>posed -that they were simply to change -masters, and even then she lived for months -in daily anticipation of the coming of "the -new land owners," who were waiting, she -supposed, for assignments of plantations to -be made to them by military authority.</p> - -<p>"They'll quarrel about the division, maybe," -she said one day, "and then there'll -be a chance for us to whip them again, I -hope." The last time I saw her, she had -not yet become convinced that title-deeds -were still to be respected.</p> - -<p>A young girl, ordinarily of a very gentle -disposition, astonished a Federal colonel -one day by an outburst of temper which -served at least to show the earnestness of -her purpose to uphold her side of the argument. -She lived in a part of the country -then for the first time held by the Federal -army, and a colonel, with some members of -his staff, made her family the unwilling -recipients of a call one morning. Seeing -the piano open, the colonel asked the young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -lady to play, but she declined. He then -went to the instrument himself, but he -had hardly begun to play when the damsel, -raising the piano top, severed nearly all the -strings with a hatchet, saying to the astonished -performer, as she did so,—</p> - -<p>"That's my piano, and it shall not give -you a minute's pleasure." The colonel -bowed, apologized, and replied,—</p> - -<p>"If all your people are as ready as you -to make costly sacrifices, we might as well -go home."</p> - -<p>And most of them were ready and willing -to make similar sacrifices. One lady -of my acquaintance knocked in the heads -of a dozen casks of choice wine rather than -allow some Federal officers to sip as many -glasses of it. Another destroyed her own -library, which was very precious to her, -when that seemed the only way in which -she could prevent the staff of a general -officer, camped near her, from enjoying a -few hours' reading in her parlor every morning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - -<p>In New Orleans, soon after the war, I -saw in a drawing-room, one day, an elaborately -framed letter, of which, the curtains -being drawn, I could read only the signature, -which to my astonishment was that -of General Butler.</p> - -<p>"What is that?" I asked of the young -gentlewoman I was visiting.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's my diploma, my certificate -of good behavior, from General Butler;" -and taking it down from the wall, she permitted -me to read it, telling me at the -same time its history. It seems that the -young lady had been very active in aiding -captured Confederates to escape from New -Orleans, and for this and other similar offenses -she was arrested several times. A -gentleman who knew General Butler personally -had interested himself in behalf of -her and some of her friends, and upon -making an appeal for their discharge received -this personal note from the commanding -general, in which he declared his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -willingness to discharge all the others, -"But that black-eyed Miss B.," he wrote, -"seems to me an incorrigible little devil -whom even prison fare won't tame." The -young lady had framed the note, and she -cherishes it yet, doubtless.</p> - -<p>There is a story told of General Forrest, -which will serve to show his opinion of the -pluck and devotion of the Southern women. -He was drawing his men up in line of -battle one day, and it was evident that a -sharp encounter was about to take place. -Some ladies ran from a house, which happened -to stand just in front of his line, and -asked him anxiously,—</p> - -<p>"What shall we do, general, what shall -we do?"</p> - -<p>Strong in his faith that they only wished -to help in some way, he replied,—</p> - -<p>"I really don't see that you can do much, -except to stand on stumps, wave your bonnets, -and shout 'Hurrah, boys!'"</p> - -<p>In Richmond, when the hospitals were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -filled with wounded men brought in from -the seven days' fighting with McClellan, -and the surgeons found it impossible to -dress half the wounds, a band was formed, -consisting of nearly all the married women -of the city, who took upon themselves the -duty of going to the hospitals and dressing -wounds from morning till night; and they -persisted in their painful duty until every -man was cared for, saving hundreds of lives, -as the surgeons unanimously testified. -When nitre was found to be growing scarce, -and the supply of gunpowder was consequently -about to give out, women all over -the land dug up the earth in their smoke-houses -and tobacco barns, and with their -own hands faithfully extracted the desired -salt, for use in the government laboratories.</p> - -<p>Many of them denied themselves not -only delicacies, but substantial food also, -when by enduring semi-starvation they -could add to the stock of food at the command -of the subsistence officers. I myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -knew more than one houseful of women, -who, from the moment that food began to -grow scarce, refused to eat meat or drink -coffee, living thenceforth only upon vegetables -of a speedily perishable sort, in order -that they might leave the more for the soldiers -in the field. When a friend remonstrated -with one of them, on the ground -that her health, already frail, was breaking -down utterly for want of proper diet, she -replied, in a quiet, determined way, "I -know that very well; but it is little that I -can do, and I must do that little at any -cost. My health and my life are worth less -than those of my brothers, and if they give -theirs to the cause, why should not I do the -same? I would starve to death cheerfully -if I could feed one soldier more by doing so, -but the things I eat can't be sent to camp. -I think it a sin to eat anything that can be -used for rations." And she meant what -she said, too, as a little mound in the -church-yard testifies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> - -<p>Every Confederate remembers gratefully -the reception given him when he went into -any house where these women were. Whoever -he might be, and whatever his plight, -if he wore the gray, he was received, not as -a beggar or tramp, not even as a stranger, -but as a son of the house, for whom it held -nothing too good, and whose comfort was -the one care of all its inmates, even though -their own must be sacrificed in securing it. -When the hospitals were crowded, the people -earnestly besought permission to take -the men to their houses and to care for -them there, and for many months almost -every house within a hundred miles of -Richmond held one or more wounded men -as especially honored guests.</p> - -<p>"God bless these Virginia women!" said -a general officer from one of the cotton -States, one day, "they're worth a regiment -apiece;" and he spoke the thought of the -army, except that their blessing covered the -whole country as well as Virginia.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<p>The ingenuity with which these good -ladies discovered or manufactured onerous -duties for themselves was surprising, and -having discovered or imagined some new -duty they straightway proceeded to do it at -any cost. An excellent Richmond dame -was talking with a soldier friend, when he -carelessly remarked that there was nothing -which so greatly helped to keep up a contented -and cheerful spirit among the men -as the receipt of letters from their woman -friends. Catching at the suggestion as a -revelation of duty, she asked, "And cheerfulness -makes better soldiers of the men, -does it not?" Receiving yes for an answer, -the frail little woman, already overburdened -with cares of an unusual sort, sat -down and made out a list of all the men -with whom she was acquainted even in the -smallest possible way, and from that day -until the end of the war she wrote one letter -a week to each, a task which, as her acquaintance -was large, taxed her time and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -strength very severely. Not content with -this, she wrote on the subject in the newspapers, -earnestly urging a like course upon -her sisters, many of whom adopted the suggestion -at once, much to the delight of the -soldiers, who little dreamed that the kindly, -cheerful, friendly letters which every mail -brought into camp, were a part of woman's -self-appointed work for the success of the -common cause. From the beginning to -the end of the war it was the same. No -cry of pain escaped woman's lips at the -parting which sent the men into camp; no -word of despondency was spoken when -hope seemed most surely dead; no complaint -from the women ever reminded their -soldier husbands and sons and brothers -that there was hardship and privation and -terror at home. They bore all with brave -hearts and cheerful faces, and even when -they mourned the death of their most tenderly -loved ones, they comforted themselves -with the thought that they buried -only heroic dust.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It is the death I would have chosen for -him," wrote the widow of a friend whose -loss I had announced to her. "I loved him -for his manliness, and now that he has -shown that manliness by dying as a hero -dies, I mourn, but am not heart-broken. I -know that a brave man awaits me whither -I am going."</p> - -<p>They carried their efforts to cheer and -help the troops into every act of their -lives. When they could, they visited camp. -Along the lines of march they came out -with water or coffee or tea,—the best they -had, whatever it might be,—with flowers, -or garlands of green when their flowers -were gone. A bevy of girls stood under a -sharp fire from the enemy's lines at Petersburg -one day, while they sang Bayard Taylor's -Song of the Camp, responding to an -encore with the stanza:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"> -<p class="verseq">"Ah! soldiers, to your honored rest,</p> -<p class="verse4">Your truth and valor bearing,</p> -<p class="verse">The bravest are the tenderest,</p> -<p class="verse4">The loving are the daring!"</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> - -<p class="noindent">Indeed, the coolness of women under fire -was always a matter of surprise to me. A -young girl, not more than sixteen years of -age, acted as guide to a scouting party during -the early years of the war, and when -we urged her to go back after the enemy -had opened a vigorous fire upon us, she -declined, on the plea that she believed we -were "going to charge those fellows," and -she "wanted to see the fun." At Petersburg -women did their shopping and went -about their duties under a most uncomfortable -bombardment, without evincing the -slightest fear or showing any nervousness -whatever.</p> - -<p>But if the cheerfulness of the women during -the war was remarkable, what shall we -say of the way in which they met its final -failure and the poverty that came with it? -The end of the war completed the ruin -which its progress had wrought. Women -who had always lived in luxury, and whose -labors and sufferings during the war were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -lightened by the consciousness that in suffering -and laboring they were doing their -part toward the accomplishment of the end -upon which all hearts were set, were now -compelled to face not temporary but permanent -poverty, and to endure, without a -motive or a sustaining purpose, still sorer -privations than any they had known in the -past. The country was exhausted, and nobody -could foresee any future but one of -abject wretchedness. It was seed-time, but -the suddenly freed negroes had not yet -learned that freedom meant aught else than -idleness, and the spring was gone before -anything like a reorganization of the labor -system could be effected. The men might -emigrate when they should get home, but -the case of the women was a very sorry -one indeed. They kept their spirits up -through it all, however, and improvised a -new social system in which absolute poverty, -cheerfully borne, was the badge of re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>spectability. -Everybody was poor except -the speculators who had fattened upon the -necessities of the women and children, and -so poverty was essential to anything like -good repute. The return of the soldiers -made some sort of social festivity necessary, -and "starvation parties" were given, -at which it was understood that the givers -were wholly unable to set out refreshments -of any kind. In the matter of dress, too, -the general poverty was recognized, and -every one went clad in whatever he or she -happened to have. The want of means -became a jest, and nobody mourned over -it; while all were laboring to repair their -wasted fortunes as they best could. And -all this was due solely to the unconquerable -cheerfulness of the Southern women. -The men came home moody, worn out, -discouraged, and but for the influence of -woman's cheerfulness, the Southern States -might have fallen into a lethargy from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -which they could not have recovered for -generations.</p> - -<p>Such prosperity as they have since -achieved is largely due to the courage and -spirit of their noble women.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">OF THE TIME WHEN MONEY WAS "EASY."</span></h2> - - -<p>It seems a remarkable fact that during -the late Congressional travail with the currency -question, no one of the people in or -out of Congress, who were concerned lest -there should not be enough money in the -country to "move the crops," ever took -upon himself the pleasing task of rehearsing -the late Confederacy's financial story, -for the purpose of showing by example how -simple and easy a thing it is to create -wealth out of nothing by magic revolutions -of the printing-press, and to make rich, by -act of Congress, everybody not too lazy to -gather free dollars into a pile. The story -has all the flavor of the Princess Scheherezade's -romances, with the additional merit -of being historically true. For once a whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -people was rich. Money was "easy" enough -to satisfy everybody, and everybody had it -in unstinted measure. This money was not, -it is true, of a quality to please the believers -in a gold or other arbitrary standard of -value, but that is a matter of little consequence, -now that senators and representatives -of high repute have shown that the -best currency possible is that which exists -only by the will of the government, and the -volume of which is regulated by the cravings -of the people alone. That so apt an -illustration of the financial views of the majority -in Congress should have been wholly -neglected, during the discussions, seems -therefore unaccountable.</p> - -<p>The financial system adopted by the Confederate -government was singularly simple -and free from technicalities. It consisted -chiefly in the issue of treasury notes enough -to meet all the expenses of the government, -and in the present advanced state of the art -of printing there was but one difficulty in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>cident -to this process; namely, the impossibility -of having the notes signed in the -Treasury Department, as fast as they were -needed. There happened, however, to be -several thousand young ladies in Richmond -willing to accept light and remunerative -employment at their homes, and as it was -really a matter of small moment whose -name the notes bore, they were given out -in sheets to these young ladies, who signed -and returned them for a consideration. I -shall not undertake to guess how many -Confederate treasury notes were issued. -Indeed, I am credibly informed by a gentleman -who was high in office in the Treasury -Department, that even the secretary -himself did not certainly know. The acts -of Congress authorizing issues of currency -were the hastily formulated thought of a -not very wise body of men, and my informant -tells me they were frequently susceptible -of widely different construction by different -officials. However that may be, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -was clearly out of the power of the government -ever to redeem the notes, and whatever -may have been the state of affairs -within the treasury, nobody outside its precincts -ever cared to muddle his head in an -attempt to get at exact figures.</p> - -<p>We knew only that money was astonishingly -abundant. Provisions fell short sometimes, -and the supply of clothing was not -always as large as we should have liked, -but nobody found it difficult to get money -enough. It was to be had almost for the -asking. And to some extent the abundance -of the currency really seemed to -atone for its extreme badness. Going the -rounds of the pickets on the coast of South -Carolina, one day, in 1863, I heard a conversation -between a Confederate and a -Union soldier, stationed on opposite sides -of a little inlet, in the course of which this -point was brought out.</p> - -<p><em>Union Soldier.</em> Aren't times rather hard -over there, Johnny?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<p><em>Confederate Soldier.</em> Not at all. We've -all the necessaries of life.</p> - -<p><em>U. S.</em> Yes; but how about luxuries? -You never see any coffee nowadays, do -you?</p> - -<p><em>C. S.</em> Plenty of it.</p> - -<p><em>U. S.</em> Isn't it pretty high?</p> - -<p><em>C. S.</em> Forty dollars a pound, that's all.</p> - -<p><em>U. S.</em> Whew! Don't you call that -high?</p> - -<p><em>C. S.</em> (after reflecting). Well, perhaps -it is a trifle uppish, but then you never saw -money so plentiful as it is with us. We -hardly know what to do with it, and don't -mind paying high prices for things we -want.</p> - -<p>And that was the universal feeling. -Money was so easily got, and its value was -so utterly uncertain, that we were never -able to determine what was a fair price for -anything. We fell into the habit of paying -whatever was asked, knowing that to-morrow -we should have to pay more. Specu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>lation -became the easiest and surest thing -imaginable. The speculator saw no risks -of loss. Every article of merchandise rose -in value every day, and to buy anything -this week and sell it next was to make an -enormous profit quite as a matter of course. -So uncertain were prices, or rather so constantly -did they tend upward, that when a -cargo of cadet gray cloths was brought into -Charleston once, an officer in my battery, -attending the sale, was able to secure -enough of the cloth to make two suits of -clothes, without any expense whatever, -merely by speculating upon an immediate -advance. He became the purchaser, at -auction, of a case of the goods, and had no -difficulty, as soon as the sale was over, in -finding a merchant who was glad to take -his bargain off his hands, giving him the -cloth he wanted as a premium. The officer -could not possibly have paid for the -case of goods, but there was nothing surer -than that he could sell again at an advance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -the moment the auctioneer's hammer fell -on the last lot of cloths.</p> - -<p>Naturally enough, speculation soon fell -into very bad repute, and the epithet -"speculator" came to be considered the -most opprobrious in the whole vocabulary -of invective. The feeling was universal -that the speculators were fattening upon -the necessities of the country and the sufferings -of the people. Nearly all mercantile -business was regarded at least with -suspicion, and much of it fell into the hands -of people with no reputations to lose, a fact -which certainly did not tend to relieve the -community in the matter of high prices.</p> - -<p>The prices which obtained were almost -fabulous, and singularly enough there -seemed to be no sort of ratio existing between -the values of different articles. I -bought coffee at forty dollars and tea at -thirty dollars a pound on the same day.</p> - -<p>My dinner at a hotel cost me twenty -dollars, while five dollars gained me a seat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -in the dress circle of the theatre. I paid -one dollar the next morning for a copy of -the Examiner, but I might have got the -Whig, Dispatch, Enquirer, or Sentinel, for -half that sum. For some wretched tallow -candles I paid ten dollars a pound. The -utter absence of proportion between these -several prices is apparent, and I know of no -way of explaining it except upon the theory -that the unstable character of the money -had superinduced a reckless disregard of all -value on the part of both buyers and sellers. -A facetious friend used to say prices were -so high that nobody could see them, and -that they "got mixed for want of supervision." -He held, however, that the difference -between the old and the new order -of things was a trifling one. "Before the -war," he said, "I went to market with the -money in my pocket, and brought back my -purchases in a basket; now I take the -money in the basket, and bring the things -home in my pocket."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>As I was returning to my home after the -surrender at Appomattox Court House, a -party of us stopped at the residence of a -planter for supper, and as the country was -full of marauders and horse thieves, deserters -from both armies, bent upon indiscriminate -plunder, our host set a little black boy -to watch our horses while we ate, with instructions -to give the alarm if anybody -should approach. After supper we dealt -liberally with little Sam. Silver and gold -we had none, of course, but Confederate -money was ours in great abundance, and -we bestowed the crisp notes upon the -guardian of our horses, to the extent of -several hundreds of dollars. A richer person -than that little negro I have never seen. -Money, even at par, never carried more of -happiness with it than did those promises -of a dead government to pay. We frankly -told Sam that he could buy nothing with -the notes, but the information brought no -sadness to his simple heart.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I don' want to buy nothin', master," he -replied. "I's gwine to keep dis al<em>ways</em>."</p> - -<p>I fancy his regard for the worthless paper, -merely because it was called money, -was closely akin to the feeling which had -made it circulate among better-informed -people than he. Everybody knew, long before -the surrender, that these notes never -could be redeemed. There was little reason -to hope, during the last two years of -the war, that the "ratification of a treaty -of peace between the Confederate States -and the United States," on which the payment -was conditioned, would ever come. -We knew the paper was worthless, and yet -it continued to circulate. It professed to -be money, and on the strength of that profession -people continued to take it in payment -for goods. The amount of it for -which the owner of any article would part -with his possession was always uncertain. -Prices were regulated largely by accident, -and were therefore wholly incongruous.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> - -<p>But the disproportion between the prices -of different articles was not greater than -that between the cost of goods imported -through the blockade and their selling -price. The usual custom of blockade-running -firms was to build or buy a steamer in -Europe, bring it to Nassau in ballast, and -load it there with assorted merchandise. -Selling this cargo in Charleston or Wilmington -for Confederate money, they would -buy cotton with which to reload the ship -for her outward voyage. The owner of -many of these ships once told me that if a -vessel which had brought in one cargo were -lost with a load of cotton on her outward -voyage, the owner would lose nothing, the -profits on the merchandise being fully equal -to the entire value of ship and cotton. If -he could get one cargo of merchandise in, -and one of cotton out, the loss of the ship -with a second cargo of merchandise would -still leave him a clear profit of more than a -hundred per cent. upon his investment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -And this was due solely to the abnormal -state of prices in the country, and not at all -to the management of the blockade-runners. -They sold their cargoes at auction, -and bought cotton in the open market.</p> - -<p>Their merchandise brought fabulous -prices, while cotton, for want of a market, -remained disproportionately low. That the -merchants engaged in this trade were in no -way the authors of the state of prices may -be seen from two facts. First, if I am correctly -informed, they uniformly gave the -government an opportunity to take such -articles as it had need of, and especially all -the quinine imported, at the price fixed in -Richmond, without regard to the fact that -speculators would pay greatly more for the -goods. In one case within my own knowledge -a heavy invoice of quinine was sold to -the government for eleven hundred dollars -an ounce, when a speculator stood ready to -take it at double that price. Secondly, the -cargo sales were peremptory, and specu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>lators -sometimes combined and bought a -cargo considerably below the market price, -by appearing at the sale in such numbers -as to exclude all other bidders. In one -case, I remember, the general commanding -at Charleston annulled a cargo sale on this -account, and sent some of the speculators -to jail for the purpose of giving other people -an opportunity to purchase needed -goods at prices very much higher than -those forced upon the sellers by the combination -at the first sale.</p> - -<p>In the winter of 1863-64 Congress became -aware of the fact that prices were -higher than they should be under a sound -currency. If Congress suspected this at -any earlier date, there is nothing in the proceedings -of that body to indicate it. Now, -however, the newspapers were calling attention -to an uncommonly ugly phase of -the matter, and reminding Congress that -what the government bought with a currency -depreciated to less than one per cent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -of its face, the government must some day -pay for in gold at par. The lawgivers took -the alarm and sat themselves down to devise -a remedy for the evil condition of affairs. -With that infantile simplicity which -characterized nearly all the doings and -quite all the financial legislation of the -Richmond Congress, it was decided that -the very best way to enhance the value of -the currency was to depreciate it still further -by a declaratory statute, and then to -issue a good deal more of it. The act set a -day, after which the currency already in circulation -should be worth only two thirds of -its face, at which rate it was made convertible -into notes of the new issue, which -some, at least, of the members of Congress -were innocent enough to believe would be -worth very nearly their par value. This -measure was intended, of course, to compel -the funding of the currency, and it had -that effect to some extent, without doubt. -Much of the old currency remained in cir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>culation, -however, even after the new notes -were issued. For a time people calculated -the discount, in passing and receiving the -old paper, but as the new notes showed an -undiminished tendency to still further depreciation, -there were people, not a few, -who spared themselves the trouble of making -the distinction.</p> - -<p>I am sometimes asked at what time -prices attained their highest point in the -Confederacy, and I find that memory fails -to answer the question satisfactorily. They -were about as high as they could be in the -fall of 1863, and I should be disposed to -fix upon that as the time when the climax -was reached, but for my consciousness that -the law of constant appreciation was a fixed -one throughout the war. The financial -condition got steadily worse to the end. -I believe the highest price, relatively, I -ever saw paid, was for a pair of boots. A -cavalry officer, entering a little country -store, found there one pair of boots which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -fitted him. He inquired the price. "Two -hundred dollars," said the merchant. A -five hundred dollar bill was offered, but the -merchant, having no smaller bills, could -not change it. "Never mind," said the -cavalier, "I'll take the boots anyhow. -Keep the change; I never let a little matter -of three hundred dollars stand in the -way of a trade."</p> - -<p>That was on the day before Lee's surrender, -but it would not have been an impossible -occurrence at any time during the preceding -year. The money was of so little -value that we parted with it gladly whenever -it would purchase anything at all desirable. -I cheerfully paid five dollars for a little salt, -at Petersburg, in August, 1864, and being -thirsty drank my last two dollars in a half-pint -of cider.</p> - -<p>The government's course in levying a tax -in kind, as the only possible way of making -the taxation amount to anything, led speedily -to the adoption of a similar plan, as far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -as possible, by the people. A physician -would order from his planter friend ten or -twenty visits' worth of corn, and the transaction -was a perfectly intelligible one to -both. The visits would be counted at ante-war -rates, and the corn estimated by the -same standard. In the early spring of -1865 I wanted a horse, and a friend having -one to spare, I sent for the animal, offering -to pay whatever the owner should ask for -it. He could not fix a price, having literally -no standard of value to which he could -appeal, but he sent me the horse, writing, -in reply to my note,—</p> - -<p>"Take the horse, and when the war shall -be over, if we are both alive and you are -able, give me as good a one in return. -Don't send any note or due-bill. It might -complicate matters if either should die."</p> - -<p>A few months later, I paid my debt by -returning the very horse I had bought. I -give this incident merely to show how -utterly without financial compass or rudder -we were.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> - -<p>How did people manage to live during -such a time? I am often asked; and as -I look back at the history of those years, -I can hardly persuade myself that the problem -was solved at all. A large part of the -people, however, was in the army, and drew -rations from the government. During the -early years of the war, officers were not -given rations, but were allowed to buy provisions -from the commissaries at government -prices. Subsequently, however, when -provisions became so scarce that it was -necessary to limit the amount consumed by -officers as well as that eaten by the men, -the purchase system was abolished, and -the whole army was fed upon daily rations. -The country people raised upon their plantations -all the necessaries of life, and were -generally allowed to keep enough of them -to live on, the remainder being taken by -the subsistence officers for army use. The -problem of a salt supply, on which depended -the production of meat, was solved in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -part by the establishment of small salt factories -along the coast, and in part by Governor -Letcher's vigorous management of -the works in southwestern Virginia, and his -wise distribution of the product along the -various lines of railroad.</p> - -<p>In the cities, living was not by any means -so easy as in the country. Business was -paralyzed, and abundant as money was, it -seems almost incredible that city people -got enough of it to live on. Very many of -them were employed, however, in various -capacities, in the arsenals, departments, -bureaus, etc., and these were allowed to -buy rations at fixed rates, after the post-office -clerks in Richmond had brought matters -to a crisis by resigning their clerkships -to go into the army, because they could not -support life on their salaries of nine thousand -dollars a year. For the rest, if people -had anything to sell, they got enormous -prices for it, and could live a while on the -proceeds. Above all, a kindly, helpful spirit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -was developed by the common suffering -and this, without doubt, kept many thousands -of people from starvation. Those -who had anything shared it freely with -those who had nothing. There was no -selfish looking forward, and no hoarding for -the time to come. During those terrible -last years, the future had nothing of pleasantness -in its face, and people learned not -to think of it at all. To get through to-day -was the only care. Nobody formed -any plans or laid by any money for to-morrow -or next week or next year, and indeed -to most of us there really seemed to be no -future. I remember the start it gave me -when a clergyman, visiting camp, asked a -number of us whether our long stay in -defensive works did not afford us an excellent -opportunity to study with a view to -our professional life after the war. We -were not used to think of ourselves as -possible survivors of a struggle which was -every day perceptibly thinning our ranks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -The coming of ultimate failure we saw -clearly enough, but the future beyond was -a blank. The subject was naturally not a -pleasant one, and by common consent it -was always avoided in conversation, until -at last we learned to avoid it in thought as -well. We waited gloomily for the end, but -did not care particularly to speculate upon -the question when and how the end was to -come. There was a vague longing for rest, -which found vent now and then in wild -newspaper stories of signs and omens portending -the close of the war, but beyond -this the matter was hardly ever discussed. -We had early forbidden ourselves to think -of any end to the struggle except a successful -one, and that being now an impossibility, -we avoided the subject altogether. -The newspaper stories to which reference -is made above were of the wildest and absurdest -sort. One Richmond paper issued -an extra, in which it was gravely stated -that there was a spring near Fredericksburg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -which had ceased to flow thirty days before -the surrender of the British at Yorktown, -thirty days before the termination of the -war of 1812, and thirty days before the -Mexican war ended; and that "this singularly -prophetic fountain has now again -ceased to pour forth its waters." At another -time a hen near Lynchburg laid an -egg, the newspapers said, on which were -traced, in occult letters, the words, "peace -in ninety days."</p> - -<p>Will the reader believe that with gold at -a hundred and twenty-five for one, or twelve -thousand four hundred per cent. premium; -when every day made the hopelessness of -the struggle more apparent; when our last -man was in the field; when the resources -of the country were visibly at an end, there -were financial theorists who honestly believed -that by a mere trick of legislation -the currency could be brought back to par? -I heard some of these people explain their -plan during a two days' stay in Richmond.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -Gold, they said, is an inconvenient currency -always, and nobody wants it, except as a -basis. The government has some gold,—several -millions in fact,—and if Congress -will only be bold enough to declare the -treasury notes redeemable at par in coin, -we shall have no further difficulty with our -finances. So long as notes are redeemable -in gold at the option of the holder, nobody -wants them redeemed. Let the government -say to the people, We will redeem the -currency whenever you wish, and nobody -except a few timid and unpatriotic people -will care to change their convenient for an -inconvenient money. The gold which the -government holds will suffice to satisfy -these timid ones, and there will be an end -of high prices and depreciated currency. -The government can then issue as much -more currency as circumstances may make -necessary, and strong in our confidence in -ourselves we shall be the richest people on -earth; we shall have <em>created</em> the untold -wealth which our currency represents.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> - -<p>I am not jesting. This is, as nearly as I -can repeat it, the utterance of a member of -the Confederate Congress made in my -presence in a private parlor. If the reader -thinks the man was insane, I beg him to -look over the reports of the debates on -financial matters which have been held in -Washington.</p> - -<p>The effects of the extreme depreciation -of the currency were sometimes almost -ludicrous. One of my friends, a Richmond -lady, narrowly escaped very serious trouble -in an effort to practice a wise economy. -Anything for which the dealers did not ask -an outrageously high price seemed wonderfully -cheap always, and she, at least, lacked -the self-control necessary to abstain from -buying largely whenever she found anything -the price of which was lower than -she had supposed it would be. Going into -market one morning with "stimulated ideas -of prices," as she phrased it, the consequence -of having paid a thousand dollars<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -for a barrel of flour, she was surprised to -find nearly everything selling for considerably -less than she had expected. Thinking -that for some unexplained cause there -was a temporary depression in prices, she -purchased pretty largely in a good many -directions, buying, indeed, several things -for which she had almost no use at all, and -buying considerably more than she needed -of other articles. As she was quitting the -market on foot,—for it had become disreputable -in Richmond to ride in a carriage, -and the ladies would not do it on any account,—she -was tapped on the shoulder -by an officer who told her she was under -arrest, for buying in market to sell again. -As the lady was well known to prominent -people she was speedily released, but she -thereafter curbed her propensity to buy -freely of cheap things. Buying to sell -again had been forbidden under severe penalties,—an -absolutely necessary measure -for the protection of the people against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -rapacity of the hucksters, who, going early -into the markets, would buy literally everything -there, and by agreement among themselves -double or quadruple the already exorbitant -rates. It became necessary also -to suppress the gambling-houses in the interest -of the half-starved people. At such -a time, of course, gambling was a very common -vice, and the gamblers made Richmond -their head-quarters. It was the custom -of the proprietors of these establishments -to set costly suppers in their parlors -every night, for the purpose of attracting -visitors likely to become victims. For -these suppers they must have the best of -everything without stint, and their lavish -rivalry in the poorly stocked markets had -the effect of advancing prices to a dangerous -point. To suppress the gambling-houses -was the sole remedy, and it was -only by uncommonly severe measures that -the suppression could be accomplished. It -was therefore enacted that any one found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -guilty of keeping a gambling-house should -be publicly whipped upon the bare back, -and as the infliction of the penalty in one -or two instances effectually and permanently -broke up the business of gambling, -even in the disorganized and demoralized -state in which society then was, it may be -said with confidence that whipping is the -one certain remedy for this evil. Whether -it be not, in ordinary cases, worse than the -evil which it cures, it is not our business -just now to inquire.</p> - -<p>The one thing which we were left almost -wholly without, during the war, was literature. -Nobody thought of importing books -through the blockade, to any adequate extent, -and the facilities for publishing them, -even if we had had authors to write them, -were very poor indeed. A Mobile firm reprinted -a few of the more popular books of -the time, Les Misérables, Great Expectations, -etc, and I have a pamphlet edition of -Owen Meredith's Tannhäuser, bound in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -coarse wall-paper, for which I paid seven -dollars, in Charleston. Singularly enough, -I bought at the same time a set of Dickens's -works, of English make, well printed and -bound in black cloth, for four dollars a -volume, a discrepancy which I am wholly -unable to explain. In looking through a -file of the Richmond Examiner extending -over most of the year 1864, I find but one -book of any sort advertised, and the price -of that, a duodecimo volume of only 72 -pages, was five dollars, the publishers promising -to send it by mail, post-paid, on receipt -of the price.</p> - -<p>Towards the last, as I have already said, -resort was had frequently to first principles, -and bartering, or "payment in kind," as it -was called, became common, especially in -those cases in which it was necessary to -announce prices in advance. To fix a price -for the future in Confederate money when -it was daily becoming more and more exaggeratedly -worthless, would have been sheer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -folly; and so educational institutions, country -boarding-houses, etc., advertised for -patronage at certain prices, payment to be -made in provisions at the rates prevailing -in September, 1860. In the advertisement -of Hampden Sidney College, in the Examiner -for October 4, 1864, I find it stated -that students may get board in private -families at about eight dollars a month, payable -in this way. The strong contrast between -the prices of 1860 and those of 1864 -is shown by a statement, in the same advertisement, -that the students who may -get board at eight dollars a month in provisions, -can buy wood at twenty-five dollars -a cord and get their washing done for seven -dollars and fifty cents a dozen pieces.</p> - -<p>This matter of prices was frequently -made a subject for jesting in private, but -for the most part it was carefully avoided -in the newspapers. It was too ominous of -evil to be a fit topic of editorial discussion -on ordinary occasions. As with the ac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>counts -of battles in which our arms were -not successful, necessary references to the -condition of the finances were crowded into -a corner, as far out of sight as possible. -The Examiner, being a sort of newspaper -Ishmael, did now and then bring the subject -up, however, and on one occasion it -denounced with some fierceness the charges -prevailing in the schools; and I quote a -passage from Prof. Sidney H. Owens's reply, -which is interesting as a summary of -the condition of things in the South at that -time:—</p> - -<p>"The charges made for tuition are about -five or six times as high as in 1860. Now, -sir, your shoemaker, carpenter, butcher, -market man, etc., demand from twenty, to -thirty, to forty times as much as in 1860. -Will you show me a civilian who is charging -only six times the prices charged in -1860, except the teacher only? As to the -amassing of fortunes by teachers, spoken -of in your article, make your calculations,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -sir, and you will find that to be almost an -absurdity, since they pay from twenty to -forty prices for everything used, and are -denounced exorbitant and unreasonable in -demanding five or six prices for their own -labor and skill."</p> - -<p>There were compensations, however. -When gold was at twelve thousand per -cent. premium with us, we had the consolation -of knowing that it was in the neighborhood -of one hundred above par in New -York, and a Richmond paper of September -22, 1864, now before me, fairly chuckles -over the high prices prevailing at the North, -in a two-line paragraph which says, "Tar -is selling in New York at two dollars a -pound. It used to cost eighty cents a barrel." -That paragraph doubtless made many -a five-dollar beefsteak palatable.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER V.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">THE CHEVALIER OF THE LOST CAUSE.</span></h2> - - -<p>The queer people who devote their energies -to the collection of autographs have -a habit, as everybody whose name has been -three times in print must have discovered, -of soliciting from their victim "an autograph -<em>with</em> a sentiment," and the unfortunate -one is expected, in such cases, to say -something worthy of himself, something -especially which shall be eminently characteristic, -revealing, in a single sentence, the -whole man, or woman, as the case may be. -How large a proportion of the efforts to do -this are measurably successful, nobody but -a collector of the sort referred to can say; -but it seems probable that the most characteristic -autograph "sentiments" are those -which are written of the writer's own mo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>tion -and not of malice aforethought. I remember -seeing a curious collection of these -once, many of which were certainly not -unworthy the men who wrote them. One -read, "I. O. U. fifty pounds lost at play,—<span class="smcap">Charles -James Fox</span>;" and another was a -memorandum of sundry wagers laid, signed -by the Right Honorable Richard Brinsley -Sheridan. These, I thought, bore the impress -of their authors' character, and it is -at the least doubtful whether either of the -distinguished gentlemen would have done -half so well in answer to a modest request -for a sentiment and a signature.</p> - -<p>In the great dining-hall of the Briars, an -old-time mansion in the Shenandoah Valley, -the residence of Mr. John Esten Cooke, -there hangs a portrait of a broad-shouldered -cavalier, and beneath is written, in the -hand of the cavalier himself,</p> - -<p class="right padr6">"<em>Yours to count on</em>,</p> -<p class="right smcap padr2">J. E. B. Stuart,"</p> - -<p class="noindent">an autograph sentiment which seems to me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -a very perfect one in its way. There was -no point in Stuart's character more strongly -marked than the one here hinted at. He -was "yours to count on" always: your -friend if possible, your enemy if you would -have it so, but your friend or your enemy -"to count on," in any case. A franker, -more transparent nature, it is impossible to -conceive. What he was he professed to -be. That which he thought, he said, and -his habit of thinking as much good as he -could of those about him served to make -his frankness of speech a great friend-winner.</p> - -<p>I saw him for the first time when he was -a colonel, in command of the little squadron -of horsemen known as the first regiment of -Virginia cavalry. The company to which I -belonged was assigned to this regiment -immediately after the evacuation of Harper's -Ferry by the Confederates. General -Johnston's army was at Winchester, and -the Federal force under General Patterson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -lay around Martinsburg. Stuart, with his -three or four hundred men, was encamped -at Bunker Hill, about midway between the -two, and thirteen miles from support of any -kind. He had chosen this position as a -convenient one from which to observe the -movements of the enemy, and the tireless -activity which marked his subsequent career -so strongly had already begun. As -he afterwards explained, it was his purpose -to train and school his men, quite as much -as anything else, that prompted the greater -part of his madcap expeditions at this time, -and if there be virtue in practice as a means -of perfection, he was certainly an excellent -school-master.</p> - -<p>My company arrived at the camp about -noon, after a march of three or four days, -having traveled twenty miles that morning. -Stuart, whom we encountered as we -entered the camp, assigned us our position, -and ordered our tents pitched. Our captain, -who was even worse disciplined than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -we were, seeing a much more comfortable -camping-place than the muddy one assigned -to us, and being a comfort-loving gentleman, -proceeded to lay out a model camp -at a distance of fifty yards from the spot -indicated. It was not long before the -colonel particularly wished to consult with -that captain, and after the consultation the -volunteer officer was firmly convinced that -all West Point graduates were martinets, -with no knowledge whatever of the courtesies -due from one gentleman to another.</p> - -<p>We were weary after our long journey, -and disposed to welcome the prospect of -rest which our arrival in the camp held -out. But resting, as we soon learned, had -small place in our colonel's tactics. We -had been in camp perhaps an hour, when -an order came directing that the company -be divided into three parts, each under -command of a lieutenant, and that these report -immediately for duty. Reporting, we -were directed to scout through the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -around Martinsburg, going as near the -town as possible, and to give battle to any -cavalry force we might meet. Here was -a pretty lookout, certainly! Our officers -knew not one inch of the country, and -might fall into all sorts of traps and ambuscades; -and what if we should meet a cavalry -force greatly superior to our own? This -West Point colonel was rapidly forfeiting -our good opinion. Our lieutenants were -brave fellows, however, and they led us -boldly if ignorantly, almost up to the very -gates of the town occupied by the enemy. -We saw some cavalry but met none, their -orders not being so peremptorily belligerent, -perhaps, as ours were; wherefore they gave -us no chance to fight them. The next -morning our unreasonable colonel again -ordered us to mount, in spite of the fact -that there were companies in the camp -which had done nothing at all the day before. -This time he led us himself, taking -pains to get us as nearly as possible sur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>rounded -by infantry, and then laughingly -telling us that our chance for getting out -of the difficulty, except by cutting our way -through, was an exceedingly small one. I -think we began about this time to suspect -that we were learning something, and that -this reckless colonel was trying to teach us. -But that he was a hare-brained fellow, lacking -the caution belonging to a commander, -we were unanimously agreed. He led us -out of the place at a rapid gait, before the -one gap in the enemy's lines could be -closed, and then jauntily led us into one or -two other traps, before taking us back to -camp.</p> - -<p>But it was not until General Patterson -began his feint against Winchester that our -colonel had full opportunity to give us his -field lectures. When the advance began, -and our pickets were driven in, the most -natural thing to do, in our view of the situation, -was to fall back upon our infantry -supports at Winchester, and I remember<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -hearing various expressions of doubt as to -the colonel's sanity when, instead of falling -back, he marched his handful of men right -up to the advancing lines, and ordered us -to dismount. The Federal skirmish line -was coming toward us at a double-quick, -and we were set going toward it at a like -rate of speed, leaving our horses hundreds -of yards to the rear. We could see that -the skirmishers alone outnumbered us three -or four times, and it really seemed that our -colonel meant to sacrifice his command -deliberately. He waited until the infantry -was within about two hundred yards of us, -we being in the edge of a little grove, and -they on the other side of an open field. -Then Stuart cried out, "Backwards—march! -steady, men,—keep your faces to -the enemy!" and we marched in that way -through the timber, delivering our shot-gun -fire slowly as we fell back toward our -horses. Then mounting, with the skirmishers -almost upon us, we retreated, not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -hurriedly, but at a slow trot, which the -colonel would on no account permit us to -change into a gallop. Taking us out into -the main road he halted us in column, with -our backs to the enemy.</p> - -<p>"Attention!" he cried. "Now I want -to talk to you, men. You are brave fellows, -and patriotic ones too, but you are -ignorant of this kind of work, and I am -teaching you. I want you to observe that -a good man on a good horse can never be -caught. Another thing: cavalry can <em>trot</em> -away from anything, and a gallop is a gait -unbecoming a soldier, unless he is going -toward the enemy. Remember that. We -gallop toward the enemy, and trot away, always. -Steady now! don't break ranks!"</p> - -<p>And as the words left his lips a shell -from a battery half a mile to the rear hissed -over our heads.</p> - -<p>"There," he resumed. "I've been waiting -for that, and watching those fellows. I -knew they'd shoot too high, and I wanted -you to learn how shells sound."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> - -<p>We spent the next day or two literally -within the Federal lines. We were shelled, -skirmished with, charged, and surrounded -scores of times, until we learned to hold in -high regard our colonel's masterly skill in -getting into and out of perilous positions. -He seemed to blunder into them in sheer -recklessness, but in getting out he showed -us the quality of his genius; and before we -reached Manassas, we had learned, among -other things, to entertain a feeling closely -akin to worship for our brilliant and daring -leader. We had begun to understand, too, -how much force he meant to give to his -favorite dictum that the cavalry is the eye -of the army.</p> - -<p>His restless activity was one, at least, of -the qualities which enabled him to win the -reputation he achieved so rapidly. He -could never be still. He was rarely ever -in camp at all, and he never showed a sign -of fatigue. He led almost everything. -Even after he became a general officer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -with well-nigh an army of horsemen under -his command, I frequently followed him as -my leader in a little party of half a dozen -troopers, who might as well have gone with -a sergeant on the duty assigned them; and -once I was his only follower on a scouting -expedition, of which he, a brigadier-general -at the time, was the commander. I had -been detailed to do some clerical work at -his head-quarters, and, having finished the -task assigned me, was waiting in the piazza -of the house he occupied, for somebody to -give me further orders, when Stuart came -out.</p> - -<p>"Is that your horse?" he asked, going -up to the animal and examining him minutely.</p> - -<p>I replied that he was, and upon being -questioned further informed him that I did -not wish to sell my steed. Turning to me -suddenly, he said,—</p> - -<p>"Let's slip off on a scout, then; I'll -ride your horse and you can ride mine. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -want to try your beast's paces;" and -mounting, we galloped away. Where or -how far he intended to go I did not know. -He was enamored of my horse, and rode, -I suppose, for the pleasure of riding an animal -which pleased him. We passed outside -our picket line, and then, keeping in -the woods, rode within that of the Union -army. Wandering about in a purposeless -way, we got a near view of some of the -Federal camps, and finally finding ourselves -objects of attention on the part of some -well-mounted cavalry in blue uniforms, we -rode rapidly down a road toward our own -lines, our pursuers riding quite as rapidly -immediately behind us.</p> - -<p>"General," I cried presently, "there is a -Federal picket post on the road just ahead -of us. Had we not better oblique into the -woods?"</p> - -<p>"Oh no. They won't expect us from -this direction, and we can ride over them -before they make up their minds who we -are."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> - -<p>Three minutes later we rode at full speed -through the corporal's guard on picket, and -were a hundred yards or more away before -they could level a gun at us. Then half a -dozen bullets whistled about our ears, but -the cavalier paid no attention to them.</p> - -<p>"Did you ever time this horse for a half-mile?" -was all he had to say.</p> - -<p>Expeditions of this singular sort were by -no means uncommon occurrences with him. -I am told by a friend who served on his -staff, that he would frequently take one of -his aids and ride away otherwise unattended -into the enemy's lines; and oddly enough -this was one of his ways of making friends -with any officer to whom his rough, boyish -ways had given offense. He would take -the officer with him, and when they were -alone would throw his arms around his -companion, and say,—</p> - -<p>"My dear fellow, you mustn't be angry -with me,—you know I love you."</p> - -<p>His boyishness was always apparent, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -the affectionate nature of the man was -hardly less so, even in public. He was -especially fond of children, and I remember -seeing him in the crowded waiting-room of -the railroad station at Gordonsville with a -babe on each arm; a great, bearded warrior, -with his plumed hat, and with golden -spurs clanking at his heels, engaged in a -mad frolic with all the little people in the -room, charging them right and left with the -pair of babies which he had captured from -their unknown mothers.</p> - -<p>It was on the day of my ride with him -that I heard him express his views of the -war and his singular aspiration for himself. -It was almost immediately after General -McClellan assumed command of the -army of the Potomac, and while we were -rather eagerly expecting him to attack our -strongly fortified position at Centreville. -Stuart was talking with some members of -his staff, with whom he had been wrestling -a minute before. He said something about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -what they could do by way of amusement -when they should go into winter-quarters.</p> - -<p>"That is to say," he continued, "if -George B. McClellan ever allows us to go -into winter-quarters at all."</p> - -<p>"Why, general? Do you think he will -advance before spring?" asked one of the -officers.</p> - -<p>"Not against Centreville," replied the -general. "He has too much sense for that, -and I think he knows the shortest road to -Richmond, too. If I am not greatly mistaken, -we shall hear of him presently on his -way up the James River."</p> - -<p>In this prediction, as the reader knows, he -was right. The conversation then passed -to the question of results.</p> - -<p>"I regard it as a foregone conclusion," -said Stuart, "that we shall ultimately whip -the Yankees. We are bound to believe -that, anyhow; but the war is going to be a -long and terrible one, first. We've only -just begun it, and very few of us will see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -the end. <em>All I ask of fate is that I may be -killed leading a cavalry charge.</em>"</p> - -<p>The remark was not a boastful or seemingly -insincere one. It was made quietly, -cheerfully, almost eagerly, and it impressed -me at the time with the feeling that the -man's idea of happiness was what the -French call glory, and that in his eyes -there was no glory like that of dying in one -of the tremendous onsets which he knew so -well how to make. His wish was granted, -as we know. He received his death-wound -at the head of his troopers.</p> - -<p>With those about him he was as affectionate -as a woman, and his little boyish -ways are remembered lovingly by those of -his military household whom I have met -since the war came to an end. On one occasion, -just after a battle, he handed his -coat to a member of his staff, saying,—</p> - -<p>"Try that on, captain, and see how it fits -you."</p> - -<p>The garment fitted reasonably well, and -the general continued,—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Pull off two of the stars, and wear the -coat to the war department, and tell the -people there to make you a major."</p> - -<p>The officer did as his chief bade him. -Removing two of the three stars he made -the coat a major's uniform, and the captain -was promptly promoted in compliance with -Stuart's request.</p> - -<p>General Stuart was, without doubt, capable -of handling an infantry command successfully, -as he demonstrated at Chancellorsville, -where he took Stonewall Jackson's -place and led an army corps in a very severe -engagement; but his special fitness -was for cavalry service. His tastes were -those of a horseman. Perpetual activity -was a necessity of his existence, and he enjoyed -nothing so much as danger. Audacity, -his greatest virtue as a cavalry commander, -would have been his besetting sin -in any other position. Inasmuch as it is -the business of the cavalry to live as constantly -as possible within gunshot of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -enemy, his recklessness stood him in excellent -stead as a general of horse, but it is -at least questionable whether his want of -caution would not have led to disaster if -his command had been of a less mobile -sort. His critics say he was vain, and he -was so, as a boy is. He liked to win the -applause of his friends, and he liked still -better to astonish the enemy, glorying in -the thought that his foemen must admire -his "impudence," as he called it, while they -dreaded its manifestation. He was continually -doing things of an extravagantly audacious -sort, with no other purpose, seemingly, -than that of making people stretch -their eyes in wonder. He enjoyed the admiration -of the enemy far more, I think, -than he did that of his friends. This fact -was evident in the care he took to make -himself a conspicuous personage in every -time of danger. He would ride at some -distance from his men in a skirmish, and -in every possible way attract a dangerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -attention to himself. His slouch hat and -long plume marked him in every battle, and -made him a target for the riflemen to shoot -at. In all this there was some vanity, if we -choose to call it so, but it was an excellent -sort of vanity for a cavalry chief to cultivate. -I cannot learn that he ever boasted -of any achievement, or that his vanity was -ever satisfied with the things already done. -His audacity was due, I think, to his sense -of humor, not less than to his love of applause. -He would laugh uproariously over -the astonishment he imagined the Federal -officers must feel after one of his peculiarly -daring or sublimely impudent performances. -When, after capturing a large number of -horses and mules on one of his raids, he -seized a telegraph station and sent a dispatch -to General Meigs, then Quartermaster-General -of the United States army, -complaining that he could not afford to -come after animals of so poor a quality, and -urging that officer to provide better ones<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -for capture in future, he enjoyed the joke -quite as heartily as he did the success -which made it possible.</p> - -<p>The boyishness to which I have referred -ran through every part of his character and -every act of his life. His impetuosity in -action, his love of military glory and of the -military life, his occasional waywardness -with his friends and his generous affection -for them,—all these were the traits of a -great boy, full, to running over, of impulsive -animal life. His audacity, too, which -impressed strangers as the most marked -feature of his character, was closely akin to -that disposition which Dickens assures us -is common to all boy-kind, to feel an insane -delight in anything which specially imperils -their necks. But the peculiarity showed -itself most strongly in his love of uproarious -fun. Almost at the beginning of the -war he managed to surround himself with -a number of persons whose principal qualification -for membership of his military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -household was their ability to make fun. -One of these was a noted banjo-player and -ex-negro minstrel. He played the banjo -and sang comic songs to perfection, and -<em>therefore</em> Stuart wanted him. I have known -him to ride with his banjo, playing and -singing, even on a march which might be -changed at any moment into a battle; and -Stuart's laughter on such occasions was -sure to be heard as an accompaniment as -far as the minstrel's voice could reach. He -had another queer character about him, -whose chief recommendation was his grotesque -fierceness of appearance. This was -Corporal Hagan, a very giant in frame, -with an abnormal tendency to develop hair. -His face was heavily bearded almost to his -eyes, and his voice was as hoarse as distant -thunder, which indeed it closely resembled. -Stuart, seeing him in the ranks, fell in love -with his peculiarities of person at once, and -had him detailed for duty at head-quarters, -where he made him a corporal, and gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -him charge of the stables. Hagan, whose -greatness was bodily only, was much elated -by the attention shown him, and his person -seemed to swell and his voice to grow -deeper than ever under the influence of the -newly acquired dignity of chevrons. All -this was amusing, of course, and Stuart's -delight was unbounded. The man remained -with him till the time of his death, though -not always as a corporal. In a mad freak -of fun one day, the chief recommended his -corporal for promotion, to see, he said, if -the giant was capable of further swelling, -and so the corporal became a lieutenant -upon the staff.</p> - -<p>With all his other boyish traits, Stuart -had an almost child-like simplicity of character, -and the combination of sturdy manhood -with juvenile frankness and womanly -tenderness of feeling made him a study to -those who knew him best. His religious -feeling was of that unquestioning, serene -sort which rarely exists apart from the inex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>perience -and the purity of women or children.</p> - -<p>While I was serving in South Carolina, I -met one evening the general commanding -the military district, and he, upon learning -that I had served with Stuart, spent the entire -evening talking of his friend, for they -two had been together in the old army -before the war. He told me many anecdotes -of the cavalier, nearly all of which -turned in some way upon the generous -boyishness of his character in some one or -other of its phases. He said, among other -things, that at one time, in winter-quarters -on the plains of the West I think, he, Stuart, -and another officer (one of those still -living who commanded the army of the -Potomac during the war) slept together in -one bed, for several months. Stuart and -his brother lieutenant, the general said, had -a quarrel every night about some trifling -thing or other, just as boys will, but when -he had made all the petulant speeches he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -could, Stuart would lie still a while, and -then, passing his arm around the neck of -his comrade, would draw his head to his -own breast and say some affectionate thing -which healed all soreness of feeling and -effectually restored the peace. During the -evening's conversation this general formulated -his opinion of Stuart's military character -in very striking phrase.</p> - -<p>"He is," he said, "the greatest cavalry -officer that ever lived. He has all the dash, -daring, and audacity of Murat, and a great -deal more sense." It was his opinion, however, -that there were men in both armies -who would come to be known as greater -cavalry men than Stuart, for the reason -that Stuart used his men strictly as cavalry, -while others would make dragoons of them. -He believed that the nature of our country -was much better adapted to dragoon than -to cavalry service, and hence, while he -thought Stuart the best of cavalry officers, -he doubted his ability to stand against such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -men as General Sheridan, whose conception -of the proper place of the horse in our war -was a more correct one, he thought, than -Stuart's. "To the popular mind," he went -on to say, "every soldier who rides a horse -is a cavalry man, and so Stuart will be measured -by an incorrect standard. He will be -classed with General Sheridan and measured -by his success or the want of it. General -Sheridan is without doubt the greatest -of dragoon commanders, as Stuart is the -greatest of cavalry men; but in this country -dragoons are worth a good deal more -than cavalry, and so General Sheridan will -probably win the greater reputation. He -will deserve it, too, because behind it is the -sound judgment which tells him what use -to make of his horsemen."</p> - -<p>It is worthy of remark that all this was -said before General Sheridan had made his -reputation as an officer, and I remember -that at the time his name was almost new -to me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> - -<p>From my personal experience and observation -of General Stuart, as well as from -the testimony of others, I am disposed to -think that he attributed to every other man -qualities and tastes like his own. Insensible -to fatigue himself, he seemed never to -understand how a well man could want -rest; and as for hardship, there was nothing, -in his view, which a man ought to enjoy -quite so heartily, except danger. For a -period of ten days, beginning before and -ending after the first battle of Bull Run, we -were not allowed once to take our saddles -off. Night and day we were in the immediate -presence of the enemy, catching naps -when there happened for the moment to be -nothing else to do, standing by our horses -while they ate from our hands, so that we -might slip their bridles on again in an instant -in the event of a surprise, and eating -such things as chance threw in our way, -there being no rations anywhere within -reach. After the battle, we were kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -scouting almost continually for two days. -We then marched to Fairfax Court House, -and my company was again sent out in detachments -on scouting expeditions in the -neighborhood of Vienna and Falls Church. -We returned to camp at sunset and were -immediately ordered on picket. In the -regular course of events we should have -been relieved the next morning, but no -relief came, and we were wholly without -food. Another twenty-four hours passed, -and still nobody came to take our place on -the picket line. Stuart passed some of our -men, however, and one of them asked him -if he knew we had been on duty ten days, -and on picket thirty-six hours without food.</p> - -<p>"Oh nonsense!" he replied. "You don't -look starved. There's a cornfield over -there; jump the fence and get a good -breakfast. You don't want to go back to -camp, I know; it's stupid there, and all -the fun is out here. I never go to camp -if I can help it. Besides, I've kept your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -company on duty all this time as a compliment. -You boys have acquitted yourselves -too well to be neglected now, and I mean -to give you a chance."</p> - -<p>We thought this a jest at the time, but -we learned afterwards that Stuart's idea of -a supreme compliment to a company was -its assignment to extra hazardous or extra -fatiguing duty. If he observed specially -good conduct on the part of a company, -squad, or individual, he was sure to reward -it by an immediate order to accompany him -upon some unnecessarily perilous expedition.</p> - -<p>His men believed in him heartily, and it -was a common saying among them that -"Jeb never says 'Go, boys,' but always -'Come, boys.'" We felt sure, too, that -there was little prospect of excitement on -any expedition of which he was not leader. -If the scouting was to be merely a matter -of form, promising nothing in the way of -adventure, he would let us go by ourselves;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -but if there were prospect of "a fight or a -race," as he expressed it, we were sure to -see his long plume at the head of the column -before we had passed outside our own -line of pickets. While we lay in advance -of Fairfax Court House, after Bull Run, -Stuart spent more than a month around the -extreme outposts on Mason's and Munson's -hills without once coming to the camp of -his command. When he wanted a greater -force than he could safely detail from the -companies on picket for the day, he would -send after it, and with details of this kind -he lived nearly all the time between the -picket lines of the two armies. The outposts -were very far in advance of the place -at which we should have met and fought -the enemy if an advance had been made, -and so there was literally no use whatever -in his perpetual scouting, which was kept -up merely because the man could not rest. -But aside from the fact that the cavalry -was made up almost exclusively of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -young men whose tastes and habits specially -fitted them to enjoy this sort of service, -Stuart's was one of those magnetic -natures which always impress their own -likeness upon others, and so it came to be -thought a piece of good luck to be detailed -for duty under his personal leadership. -The men liked him and his ways, one of -which was the pleasant habit he had of -remembering our names and faces. I heard -him say once that he knew by name not -only every man in his old regiment, but -every one also in the first brigade, and as I -never knew him to hesitate for a name, I -am disposed to believe that he did not -exaggerate his ability to remember men. -This and other like things served to make -the men love him personally, and there can -be no doubt that his skill in winning the -affection of his troopers was one of the elements -of his success. Certainly no other -man could have got so much hard service -out of men of their sort, without breeding -discontent among them.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">LEE, JACKSON, AND SOME LESSER WORTHIES.</span></h2> - - -<p>The story goes that when Napoleon -thanked a private one day for some small -service, giving him the complimentary title -of "captain," the soldier replied with -the question, "In what regiment, sire?" -confident that this kind of recognition -from the Little Corporal meant nothing -less than a promotion, in any case; and -while commanders are not ordinarily invested -with Napoleon's plenary powers in -such matters, military men are accustomed -to value few things more than the favorable -comments of their superiors upon their -achievements or their capacity. And yet -a compliment of the very highest sort, -which General Scott paid Robert E. Lee, -very nearly prevented the great Confederate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -from achieving a reputation at all. Up to -the time of Virginia's secession, Lee was -serving at Scott's head-quarters, and when -he resigned and accepted a commission -from the governor of his native State, General -Scott, who had already called him "the -flower of the American army," pronounced -him the best organizer in the country, and -congratulated himself upon the fact that -the Federal organization was already well -under way before Lee began that of the -Southern forces. This opinion, coming -from the man who was recognized as best -able to form a judgment on such a subject, -greatly strengthened Lee's hand in -the work he was then doing, and saved -him the annoyance of dictation from people -less skilled than he. But it nearly -worked his ruin, for all that. The administration -at Richmond was of too narrow a -mold to understand that a man could be -a master of more than one thing, and so, -recognizing Lee's supreme ability as an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -organizer, the government seems to have -assumed that he was good for very little -else, and until the summer of 1862 he was -carefully kept out of the way of all great -military operations. When the two centres -of strategic interest were at Winchester -and Manassas, General Lee was kept -in Western Virginia with a handful of raw -troops, where he could not possibly accomplish -anything for the cause, or even exercise -the small share of fighting and strategic -ability which the government was -willing to believe he possessed. When -there was no longer any excuse for keeping -him there, he was disinterred, as it -were, and reburied in the swamps of the -South Carolina coast.</p> - -<p>I saw him for the first time, in Richmond, -at the very beginning of the war, -dining with him at the house of a friend. -He was then in the midst of his first popularity. -He had begun the work of organization, -and was everywhere recognized as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -leader who was to create an army for us -out of the volunteer material. I do not -remember, with any degree of certainty, -whether or not we expected him also to -distinguish himself in the field, but as Mr. -Davis and his personal followers were still -in Montgomery, it is probable that the -narrowness of their estimate of the chieftain -was not yet shared by anybody in -Richmond. Lee was at this time a young-looking, -middle-aged man, with dark hair, -dark moustache, and an otherwise smooth -face, and a portrait taken then would hardly -be recognized at all by those who knew -him only after the cares and toils of war -had furrowed his face and bleached his hair -and beard. He was a model of manly -beauty; large, well made, and graceful. -His head was a noble one, and his countenance -told, at a glance, of his high character -and of that perfect balance of faculties, -mental, moral, and physical, which constituted -the chief element of his greatness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -There was nothing about him which impressed -one more than his eminent <em>robustness</em>, -a quality no less marked in his intellect -and his character than in his physical -constitution. If his shapely person -suggested a remarkable capacity for endurance, -his manner, his countenance, and his -voice quite as strongly hinted at the great -soul which prompted him to take upon himself -the responsibility for the Gettysburg -campaign, when the people were loudest -in their denunciations of the government -as the author of that ill-timed undertaking.</p> - -<p>I saw him next in South Carolina during -the winter of 1861-62. He was living -quietly at a little place called Coosawhatchie, -on the Charleston and Savannah -Railroad. He had hardly any staff with -him, and was surrounded with none of the -pomp and circumstance of war. His dress -bore no marks of his rank, and hardly indicated -even that he was a military man. -He was much given to solitary afternoon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -rambles, and came almost every day to the -camp of our battery, where he wandered -alone and in total silence around the stables -and through the gun park, much as a -farmer curious as to cannon might have -done. Hardly any of the men knew who -he was, and one evening a sergeant, riding -in company with a partially deaf teamster, -met him in the road and saluted. The -teamster called out to his companion, in a -loud voice, after the manner of deaf people:</p> - -<p>"I say, sergeant, who <em>is</em> that durned old -fool? He's always a-pokin' round my -hosses just as if he meant to steal one of -'em."</p> - -<p>Certainly the honest fellow was not to -blame for his failure to recognize, in the -farmer-looking pedestrian, the chieftain -who was shortly to win the greenest laurels -the South had to give. During the -following summer General Johnston's "bad -habit of getting himself wounded" served -to bring Lee to the front, and from that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -time till the end of the war he was the -idol of army and people. The faith he inspired -was simply marvelous. We knew -very well that he was only a man, and very -few of us would have disputed the abstract -proposition that he was liable to err; but -practically we believed nothing of the kind. -Our confidence in his skill and his invincibility -was absolutely unbounded. Our -faith in his wisdom and his patriotism was -equally perfect, and from the day on which -he escorted McClellan to his gun-boats till -the hour of his surrender at Appomattox, -there was never a time when he might not -have usurped all the powers of government -without exciting a murmur. Whatever -rank as a commander history may assign -him, it is certain that no military chieftain -was ever more perfect master than he of -the hearts of his followers. When he appeared -in the presence of troops he was -sometimes cheered vociferously, but far -more frequently his coming was greeted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -with a profound silence, which expressed -much more truly than cheers could have -done the well-nigh religious reverence -with which the men regarded his person.</p> - -<p>General Lee had a sententious way of -saying things which made all his utterances -peculiarly forceful. His language was -always happily chosen, and a single sentence -from his lips often left nothing more -to be said. As good an example of this -as any, perhaps, was his comment upon the -military genius of General Meade. Not -very long after that officer took command -of the army of the Potomac, a skirmish -occurred, and none of General Lee's staff -officers being present, an acquaintance of -mine was detailed as his personal aid for -the day, and I am indebted to him for the -anecdote. Some one asked our chief what -he thought of the new leader on the other -side, and in reply Lee said, "General Meade -will commit no blunder in my front, and if -I commit one he will make haste to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -advantage of it." It is difficult to see what -more he could have said on the subject.</p> - -<p>I saw him for the last time during the -war, at Amelia Court House, in the midst -of the final retreat, and I shall never forget -the heart-broken expression his face wore, -or the still sadder tones of his voice as he -gave me the instructions I had come to -ask. The army was in utter confusion. It -was already evident that we were being -beaten back upon James River and could -never hope to reach the Roanoke, on which -stream alone there might be a possibility -of making a stand. General Sheridan was -harassing our broken columns at every -step, and destroying us piecemeal. Worse -than all, General Lee had been deserted by -the terrified government in the very moment -of his supreme need, and the food -had been snatched from the mouths of the -famished troops (as is more fully explained -in another chapter) that the flight of the -president and his followers might be has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>tened. -The load put thus upon Lee's -shoulders was a very heavy one for so -conscientious a man as he to bear; and -knowing, as every Southerner does, his -habit of taking upon himself all blame for -whatever went awry, we cannot wonder -that he was sinking under the burden. His -face was still calm, as it always was, but his -carriage was no longer erect, as his soldiers -had been used to see it. The troubles of -those last days had already plowed great -furrows in his forehead. His eyes were -red as if with weeping; his cheeks sunken -and haggard; his face colorless. No one -who looked upon him then, as he stood -there in full view of the disastrous end, can -ever forget the intense agony written upon -his features. And yet he was calm, self-possessed, -and deliberate. Failure and the -sufferings of his men grieved him sorely, -but they could not daunt him, and his -moral greatness was never more manifest -than during those last terrible days. Even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -in the final correspondence with General -Grant, Lee's manliness and courage and -ability to endure lie on the surface, and it -is not the least honorable thing in General -Grant's history that he showed himself -capable of appreciating the character of this -manly foeman, as he did when he returned -Lee's surrendered sword with the remark -that he knew of no one so worthy as its -owner to wear it.</p> - -<p>After the war the man who had commanded -the Southern armies remained -master of all Southern hearts, and there -can be no doubt that the wise advice he -gave in reply to the hundreds of letters -sent him prevented many mistakes and -much suffering. The young men of the -South were naturally disheartened, and a -general exodus to Mexico, Brazil, and the -Argentine Republic was seriously contemplated. -General Lee's advice, "Stay at -home, go to work, and hold your land," -effectually prevented this saddest of all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -blunders; and his example was no less -efficacious than his words, in recommending -a diligent attention to business as the -best possible cure for the evils wrought by -the war.</p> - -<p>From the chieftain who commanded our -armies to his son and successor in the -presidency of Washington-Lee University, -the transition is a natural one; and, while -it is my purpose, in these reminiscences, -to say as little as possible of men still living, -I may at least refer to General G. W. -Custis Lee as the only man I ever heard -of who tried to decline a promotion from -brigadier to major general, for the reason -that he thought there were others better -entitled than he to the honor. I have it -from good authority that President Davis -went in person to young Lee's head-quarters -to entreat a reconsideration of -that officer's determination to refuse the -honor, and that he succeeded with difficulty -in pressing the promotion upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -singularly modest gentleman. Whether -or not this younger Lee has inherited his -father's military genius we have no means -of knowing, but we are left in no uncertainty -as to his possession of his father's -manliness and modesty, and personal -worth.</p> - -<p>Jackson was always a surprise. Nobody -ever understood him, and nobody has ever -been quite able to account for him. The -members of his own staff, of whom I happen -to have known one or two intimately, -seem to have failed, quite as completely as -the rest of the world, to penetrate his singular -and contradictory character. His biographer, -Mr. John Esten Cooke, read him -more perfectly perhaps than any one else, -but even he, in writing of the hero, evidently -views him from the outside. Dr. -Dabney, another of Jackson's historians, -gives us a glimpse of the man, in one single -aspect of his character, which may be a -clew to the whole. He says there are three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -kinds of courage, of which two only are -bravery. These three varieties of courage -are, first, that of the man who is simply insensible -of danger; second, that of men -who, understanding, appreciating, and fearing -danger, meet it boldly nevertheless, -from motives of pride; and third, the courage -of men keenly alive to danger, who face -it simply from a high sense of duty.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Of -this latter kind, the biographer tells us, was -Jackson's courage, and certainly there can -be no better clew to his character than this. -Whatever other mysteries there may have -been about the man, it is clear that his -well-nigh morbid devotion to duty was his -ruling characteristic.</p> - -<p>But nobody ever understood him fully, -and he was a perpetual surprise to friend -and foe alike. The cadets and the graduates -of the Virginia Military Institute, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>who had known him as a professor there, -held him in small esteem at the outset. I -talked with many of them, and found no -dissent whatever from the opinion that -General Gilham and General Smith were -the great men of the institute, and that -Jackson, whom they irreverently nicknamed -Tom Fool Jackson, could never be anything -more than a martinet colonel, half -soldier and half preacher. They were unanimous -in prophesying his greatness after -the fact, but of the two or three score with -whom I talked on the subject at the beginning -of the war, not one even suspected its -possibility until after he had won his <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sobriquet</i> -"Stonewall" at Manassas.</p> - -<p>It is natural enough that such a man -should be credited in the end with qualities -which he did not possess, and that much -of the praise awarded him should be improperly -placed; and in his case this seems -to have been the fact. He is much more -frequently spoken of as the great marcher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -than as the great fighter of the Confederate -armies, and it is commonly said -that he had an especial genius for being -always on time. And yet General Lee -himself said in the presence of a distinguished -officer from whose lips I heard it, -that Jackson was by no means so rapid a -marcher as Longstreet, and that he had an -unfortunate habit of <em>never being on time</em>. -Without doubt he was, next to Lee, the -greatest military genius we had, and his -system of grand tactics was more Napoleonic -than was that of any other officer on -either side; but it would appear from this -that while he has not been praised beyond -his deserving, he has at least been commended -mistakenly.</p> - -<p>The affection his soldiers bore him has -always been an enigma. He was stern and -hard as a disciplinarian, cold in his manner, -unprepossessing in appearance, and -utterly lacking in the apparent enthusiasm -which excites enthusiasm in others. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -had never been able to win the affection of -the cadets at Lexington, and had hardly -won even their respect. And yet his soldiers -almost worshiped him. Perhaps it -was because he was so terribly in earnest, -or it may have been because he was so -generally successful,—for there are few -things men admire more than success,—but -whatever the cause was, no fact could -be more evident than that Stonewall Jackson -was the most enthusiastically loved -man, except Lee, in the Confederate service, -and that he shared with Lee the generous -admiration even of his foes. His -strong religious bent, his devotion to a -form of religion the most gloomy,—for his -Calvinism amounted to very little less than -fatalism, and his men called him "old blue-light,"—his -strictness of life, and his utter -lack of vivacity and humor, would have -been an impassable barrier between any -other man and such troops as he commanded. -He was Cromwell at the head of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -an army composed of men of the world, and -there would seem to have been nothing in -common between him and them; and yet -Cromwell's psalm-singing followers never -held their chief in higher regard or heartier -affection than that with which these rollicking -young planters cherished their sad-eyed -and sober-faced leader. They even rejoiced -in his extreme religiosity, and held it in -some sort a work of supererogation, sufficient -to atone for their own worldly-mindedness. -They were never more devoted -to him than when transgressing the very -principles upon which his life was ordered; -and when any of his men indulged in dram-drinking, -a practice from which he always -rigidly abstained, his health was sure to -be the first toast given. On one occasion, -a soldier who had imbibed enthusiasm -with his whisky, feeling the inadequacy -of the devotion shown by drinking to -an absent chief, marched, canteen in hand, -to Jackson's tent, and gaining admission<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -proposed as a sentiment, "Here's to you, -general! May I live to see you stand on -the highest pinnacle of Mount Ararat, and -hear you give the command, 'By the right -of nations front into empires,—worlds, -right face!'"</p> - -<p>I should not venture to relate this anecdote -at all, did I not get it at first hands -from an officer who was present at the -time. It will serve, at least, to show the -sentiments of extravagant admiration with -which Jackson's men regarded him, whether -it shall be sufficient to bring a smile to the -reader's lips or not.</p> - -<p>The first time I ever saw General Ewell, -I narrowly missed making it impossible -that there should ever be a <em>General</em> Ewell -at all. He was a colonel then, and was in -command of the camp of instruction at -Ashland. I was posted as a sentinel, and -my orders were peremptory to permit nobody -to ride through the gate at which I -was stationed. Colonel Ewell, dressed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -a rough citizen's suit, without side-arms -or other insignia of military rank, undertook -to pass the forbidden portal. I commanded -him to halt, but he cursed me instead, -and attempted to ride over me. -Drawing my pistol, cocking it, and placing -its muzzle against his breast, I replied with -more of vigor than courtesy in my speech, -and forced him back, threatening and firmly -intending to pull my trigger if he should -resist in the least. He yielded himself to -arrest, and I called the officer of the guard. -Ewell was livid with rage, and ordered the -officer to place me in irons at once, uttering -maledictions upon me which it would -not do to repeat here. The officer of the -guard was a manly fellow, however, and refused -even to remove me from the post.</p> - -<p>"The sentinel has done only his duty," -he replied, "and if he had shot you, Colonel -Ewell, you would have had only yourself to -blame. I have here your written order that -the sentinels at this gate shall allow nobody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -to pass through it on horseback, on any -pretense whatever; and yet you come in -citizen's clothes, a stranger to the guard, -and try to ride him down when he insists -upon obeying the orders you have given -him."</p> - -<p>The sequel to the occurrence proved -that, in spite of his infirm temper, Ewell -was capable of being a just man, as he certainly -was a brave one. He sent for me a -little later, when he received his commission -as a brigadier, and apologizing for the -indignity with which he had treated me, -offered me a desirable place upon his staff, -which, with a still rankling sense of the injustice -he had done me, I declined to accept.</p> - -<p>General Ewell was at this time the most -violently and elaborately profane man I ever -knew. Elaborately, I say, because his profanity -did not consist of single or even -double oaths, but was ingeniously wrought -into whole sentences. It was profanity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -which might be parsed, and seemed the -result of careful study and long practice. -Later in the war he became a religious -man, but before that time his genius for -swearing was phenomenal. An anecdote -is told of him, for the truth of which I cannot -vouch, but which certainly is sufficiently -characteristic to be true. It is said that -on one occasion, the firing having become -unusually heavy, a chaplain who had labored -to convert the general, or at least to -correct the aggressive character of his wickedness, -remarked that as he could be of no -service where he was, he would seek a less -exposed place, whereupon Ewell remarked:</p> - -<p>"Why, chaplain, you're the most inconsistent -man I ever saw. You say you're -anxious to get to heaven above all things, -and now that you've got the best chance -you ever had to go, you run away from it -just as if you'd rather not make the trip, -after all."</p> - -<p>I saw nothing of General Ewell after he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -left Ashland, early in the summer of 1861, -until I met him in the winter of 1864-65. -Some enormous rifled guns had been -mounted at Chaffin's Bluff, below Richmond, -and I went from my camp near by -to see them tested. General Ewell was -present, and while the firing was in progress -he received a dispatch saying that the -Confederates had been victorious in an engagement -between Mackey's Point and Pocotaligo. -As no State was mentioned in -the dispatch, and the places named were -obscure ones, General Ewell was unable to -guess in what part of the country the action -had been fought. He read the dispatch -aloud, and asked if any one present could -tell him where Mackey's Point and Pocotaligo -were. Having served for a considerable -time on the coast of South Carolina, -I was able to give him the information he -sought. When I had finished he looked at -me intently for a moment, and then asked, -"Aren't you the man who came so near -shooting me at Ashland?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<p>I replied that I was.</p> - -<p>"I'm very glad you didn't do it," he -said.</p> - -<p>"So am I," I replied; and that was all -that was said on either side.</p> - -<p>The queerest of all the military men I -met or saw during the war was General -W. H. H. Walker, of Georgia. I saw very -little of him, but that little impressed me -strongly. He was a peculiarly belligerent -man, and if he could have been kept always -in battle he would have been able doubtless -to keep the peace as regarded his fellows -and his superiors. As certain periods of -inaction are necessary in all wars, however, -General Walker was forced to maintain a -state of hostility toward those around and -above him. During the first campaign he -got into a newspaper war with the president -and Mr. Benjamin, in which he handled -both of those gentlemen rather roughly, -but failing to move them from the position -they had taken with regard to his pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>motion,—that -being the matter in dispute,—he -resigned his commission, and took -service as a brigadier-general under authority -of the governor of Georgia. In this -capacity he was at one time in command -of the city of Savannah, and it was there -that I saw him for the first and only time, -just before the reduction of Fort Pulaski -by General Gilmore. The reading-room of -the Pulaski House was crowded with guests -of the hotel and evening loungers from the -city, when General Walker came in. He -at once began to talk, not so much to the -one or two gentlemen with whom he had -just shaken hands, as to the room full of -strangers and the public generally. He -spoke in a loud voice and with the tone -and manner of a bully and a braggart, -which I am told he was not at all.</p> - -<p>"You people are very brave at arms-length," -he said, "provided it is a good -long arms-length. You aren't a bit afraid -of the shells fired at Fort Pulaski, and you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -talk as boldly as Falstaff over his sack, -now. But what will you do when the Yankee -gun-boats come up the river and begin -to throw hot shot into Savannah? I -know what you'll do. You'll get dreadfully -uneasy about your plate-glass mirrors -and your fine furniture; and I give you fair -warning now that if you want to save your -mahogany you'd better be carting it off up -country at once, for I'll never surrender -anything more than the ashes of Savannah. -I'll stay here, and I'll keep you here, till -every shingle burns and every brick gets -knocked into bits the size of my thumb-nail, -and then I'll send the Yankees word -that there isn't any Savannah to surrender. -Now I mean this, every word of -it. But you don't believe it, and the first -time a gun-boat comes in sight you'll all -come to me and say, 'General, we can't -fight gun-boats with any hope of success,—don't -you think we'd better surrender?' -Do you know what I'll do then? I've had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -a convenient limb trimmed up, on the tree -in front of my head-quarters, and I'll string -up every man that dares say surrender, or -anything else beginning with an <em>s</em>."</p> - -<p>And so he went on for an hour or more, -greatly to the amusement of the crowd. I -am told by those who knew him best that -his statement of his purposes was probably -not an exaggerated one, and that if he had -been charged with the defense of the city -against a hostile fleet, he would have made -just such a resolute resistance as that -which he promised. His courage and endurance -had been abundantly proved in -Mexico, at any rate, and nobody who knew -him ever doubted either.</p> - -<p>Another queer character, though in a -very different way, was General Ripley, -who for a long time commanded the city -of Charleston. He was portly in person, -of commanding and almost pompous presence, -and yet, when one came to know him, -was as easy and unassuming in manner as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -if he had not been a brigadier-general at -all. I had occasion to call upon him officially, -a number of times, and this afforded -me an excellent opportunity to study his -character and manners. On the morning -after the armament of Fort Ripley was carried -out to the Federal fleet by the crew of -the vessel on which it had been placed, I -spent an hour or two in General Ripley's -head-quarters, waiting for something or -other, though I have quite forgotten what. -I amused myself looking through his telescope -at objects in the harbor. Presently -I saw a ship's launch, bearing a white flag, -approach Fort Sumter. I mentioned the -matter to my companion, and General Ripley, -overhearing the remark, came quickly -to the glass. A moment later he said to -his signal operator,—</p> - -<p>"Tell Fort Sumter if that's a Yankee -boat to burst her wide open, flag or no -flag." The message had no sooner gone, -however, than it was recalled, and instruc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>tions -more in accordance with the rules of -civilized warfare substituted.</p> - -<p>General Ripley stood less upon rule and -held red tape in smaller regard than any -other brigadier I ever met. My company -was at that time an independent battery, -belonging to no battalion and subject to no -intermediate authority between that of its -captain and that of the commanding general. -It had but two commissioned officers -on duty, and I, as its sergeant-major, acted -as a sort of adjutant, making my reports -directly to General Ripley's head-quarters. -One day I reported the fact that a large -part of our harness was unfit for further -use.</p> - -<p>"Well, why don't you call a board of survey -and have it condemned?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"How can we, general? We do not -belong to any battalion, and so have nobody -to call the board or to compose it, either."</p> - -<p>"Let your captain call it then, and put -your own officers on it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But we have only one officer, general, -besides the captain, and there must be -three on the board, while the officer calling -it cannot be one of them."</p> - -<p>"Oh, the deuce!" he replied. "What's -the difference? The harness ain't fit for -use and there's plenty of new in the -arsenal. Let your captain call a board -consisting of the lieutenant and you and a -sergeant. It ain't legal, of course, to put -any but commissioned officers on, but I tell -you to do it, and one pair of shoulder-straps -is worth more now than a court-house full -of habeas corpuses. Write 'sergeant' so -that nobody can read it, and I'll make my -clerks mistake it for 'lieutenant' in copying. -Get your board together, go on to -say that after a due examination, and all -that, the board respectfully reports that it -finds the said harness not worth a damn, -or words to that effect; send in your report -and I'll approve it, and you'll have a new -set of harness in three days. What's the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -use of pottering around with technicalities -when the efficiency of a battery is at -stake? We're not lawyers, but soldiers."</p> - -<p>The speech was a peculiarly characteristic -one, and throughout his administration -of affairs in Charleston, General Ripley -showed this disposition to promote the -good of the service at the expense of routine. -He was not a good martinet, but he -was a brave, earnest man and a fine officer, -of a sort of which no army can have too -many.</p> - - -<div class="p2 footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> As I have no copy of Dr. Dabney's work by me, and -have seen none for about ten years, I cannot pretend to -quote the passage; but I have given its substance in my -own words.</p></div></div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">SOME QUEER PEOPLE.</span></h2> - - -<p>Generals would be of small worth, indeed, -if there were no lesser folk than -they in service, and the interesting people -one meets in an army do not all wear -sashes, by any means. The composition -of the battery in which I served for a considerable -time afforded me an opportunity -to study some rare characters, of a sort not -often met with in ordinary life, and as -these men interested me beyond measure, -I have a mind to sketch a few of them here -in the hope that their oddities may prove -equally entertaining to my readers.</p> - -<p>In the late autumn of 1861, after a summer -with Stuart, circumstances, with an -explanation of which it is not necessary -now to detain the reader, led me to seek a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -transfer to a light battery, in which I was -almost an entire stranger. When I joined -this new command, the men were in a state -of partial mutiny, the result of a failure to -receive their pay and clothing allowance. -The trouble was that there was no one in -the battery possessed of sufficient clerical -skill to make out a proper muster and pay -roll. Several efforts had been made, but to -no purpose, and when I arrived the camp -was in a state of turmoil. The men were -for the most part illiterate mountaineers, -and no explanations which the officers were -able to give served to disabuse their minds -of the thought that they were being swindled -in some way. Learning what the -difficulty was, I volunteered my services for -the clerical work required, and two hours -after my arrival I had the pleasure of paying -off the men and restoring peace to the -camp. Straightway the captain made me -sergeant-major, and the men wanted to -make me captain. The popularity won<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -thus in the outset served me many a good -turn, not the least of which I count the -opportunity it gave me to study the characters -of the men, whose confidant and -adviser I became in all matters of difficulty. -I deciphered the letters they received from -home and wrote replies from their dictation, -and there were parts of this correspondence -which would make my fortune -as a humorous writer, if I could reproduce -here the letters received now and then.</p> - -<p>The men, as I have said, were for the -most part illiterate mountaineers, with just -a sufficient number of educated gentlemen -among them (mostly officers and non-commissioned -officers) to join each other in a -laugh at the oddity of the daily life in the -camp. The captain had been ambitious at -one time of so increasing the company as -to make a battalion of it, and to that end -had sought recruits in all quarters. Among -others he had enlisted seven genuine ruffians -whom he had found in a Richmond<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -jail, and who enlisted for the sake of a -release from durance. These men formed -a little clique by themselves, a sort of -miniature New York sixth ward society, -which afforded me a singularly interesting -social study, of a kind rarely met with by -any but home missionaries and police authorities. -There were enough of them to -form a distinct criminal class, so that I had -opportunity to study their life as a whole, -and not merely the phenomena presented -by isolated specimens.</p> - -<p>All of these seven men had seen service -somewhere, and except as regarded turbulence -and utter unmanageability they were -excellent soldiers. Jack Delaney, or "one-eyed -Jack Delaney," as he was commonly -called, was a tall, muscular, powerful fellow, -who had lost an eye in a street fight, and -was quite prepared to sacrifice the other in -the same way at any moment. Tommy -Martin was smaller and plumper than Jack, -but not one whit less muscular or less des<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>perately -belligerent. Tim Considine was -simply a beauty. He was not more than -twenty-one years of age, well-built, with a -fair, pearly, pink and white complexion, -regular features, exquisite eyes, and a singularly -shapely and well-poised head. His -face on any woman's shoulders would have -made her a beauty and a belle in a Brooklyn -drawing-room. I group these three -together because they are associated with -each other in my mind. They messed together, -and occupied one tent. Never a -day passed which brought with it no battle -royal between two or all three of them. -These gentlemen,—for that is what they -uniformly called themselves, though they -pronounced the word "gints,"—were born -in Baltimore. I have their word for this, -else I should never have suspected the fact. -Their names were of Hibernian mold. They -spoke the English language with as pretty -a brogue as ever echoed among the hills of -Galway. They were much given to such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -expletives as "faith" and "be me sowl," -and "be jabers," and moreover they were -always "afther" doing something; but they -were born in Baltimore, nevertheless, for -they solemnly told me so.</p> - -<p>I am wholly unable to give the reader -any connected account of the adventures -and life struggles through which these men -had passed, for the reason that I was never -able to win their full and unreserved confidence; -but I caught glimpses of their past, -here and there, from which I think it safe -to assume that their personal histories had -been of a dramatic, not to say of a sensational -sort. My battery was sent one day -to Bee's Creek, on the South Carolina -coast, to meet an anticipated advance of the -enemy. No enemy came, however, and we -lay there on the sand, under a scorching -sub-tropical sun, in a swarm of sand-flies so -dense that many of our horses died of their -stings, while neither sleep nor rest was -possible to the men. A gun-boat lay just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -out of reach beyond a point in the inlet, -annoying us by throwing at us an occasional -shell of about the size and shape of -a street lamp. Having a book with me I -sought a place under a caisson for the sake -of the shade, and spent an hour or two in -reading. While I was there, Jack Delaney -and Tommy Martin, knowing nothing of -my presence, took seats on the ammunition -chests, and fell to talking.</p> - -<p>"An' faith, Tommy," said Jack, "an' it -isn't this sort of foightin' I'm afther loikin' -at all, bad luck to it."</p> - -<p>"An' will ye tell me, Jack," said his -companion, "what sort of foightin' it is, ye -loikes?"</p> - -<p>"Ah, Tommy, it's mesilf that loikes the -raal foightin'. Give me an open sea, an' -<em>close quarthers</em>, an' a <em>black flag</em>, Tommy, -an' that's the sort of foightin' I'm afther -'oikin', sure."</p> - -<p>"A-an' I believe it's a poirate ye are, -Jack."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You're roight, Tommy; it's a poirate -I am, ivery inch o' me!"</p> - -<p>Here was a glimpse of the man's character -which proved also a hint of his life -story, as I afterwards learned. He had -been a pirate, and an English court, discovering -the fact, had "ordered his funeral," -as he phrased it, but by some means or -other he had secured a pardon on condition -of his enlistment in the British navy, from -which he had deserted at the first opportunity. -Jack was very much devoted to -his friends, and especially to those above -him in social or military rank; and a more -loyal fellow I never knew. The captain of -the battery and I were tent mates and -mess mates, and although we kept a competent -negro servant, Jack insisted upon -blacking our boots, stretching our tent, -brushing our clothes, looking after our fire, -and doing a hundred other services of the -sort, for which he could never be persuaded -to accept compensation of any kind.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<p>When we arrived in Charleston for the -first time, on our way to the post assigned -us at Coosawhatchie, we were obliged to -remain a whole day in the city, awaiting -transportation. Knowing the temper of -our "criminal class," we were obliged to -confine all the men strictly within camp -boundaries, lest our Baltimore Irishmen -and their fellows should get drunk and give -us trouble. We peremptorily refused to -let any of the men pass the line of sentinels, -but Jack Delaney, being in sad need of a -pair of boots, was permitted to go into the -city in company with the captain. That -officer guarded him carefully, and as they -were returning to camp the captain, thinking -that there could be no danger in allowing -the man one dram, invited him to drink -at a hotel counter.</p> - -<p>"Give us your very best whisky," he -said to the man behind the bar; whereupon -that functionary placed a decanter and two -glasses before them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jack's one eye flashed fire instantly, -and jumping upon the counter he screamed, -"What d'ye mean, ye bloody spalpeen, by -insultin' me captain in that way? I'll -teach ye your manners, ye haythen." The -captain could not guess the meaning of the -Irishman's wrath, but he interfered for the -protection of the frightened servitor, and -asked Jack what he meant.</p> - -<p>"What do I mean? An' sure an' I mean -to break his bit of a head, savin' your presence, -captain. I'll teach him not to insult -me captain before me very eyes, by givin' -him the same bottle he gives Jack Delaney -to drink out of. An' sure an' me moother -learnt me betther manners nor to presume -to drink from the same bottle with me -betthers."</p> - -<p>The captain saved the bar-tender from -the effects of Jack's wrath, but failed utterly -to convince that well-bred Irish gentleman -that no offense against good manners had -been committed. He refused to drink from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -the "captain's bottle," and a separate decanter -was provided for him.</p> - -<p>On another occasion Jack went with one -of the officers to a tailor's shop, and, without -apparent cause, knocked the knight of -the shears down and was proceeding to -beat him, when the officer commanded him -to desist.</p> - -<p>"An' sure if your honor says he's had -enough, I'll quit, but I'd loike to murdher -him."</p> - -<p>Upon being questioned as to the cause -of his singular behavior, he explained that -the tailor had shown unpardonably bad -manners by keeping his hat on his head -while taking the lieutenant's measure.</p> - -<p>These men were afraid of nothing and -respected nothing but rank; but their regard -for that was sufficiently exaggerated -perhaps to atone for their short-comings in -other respects. A single chevron on a -man's sleeve made them at once his obedient -servants, and never once, even in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -cups, did they resist constituted authority, -directly asserted. For general rules they -had no respect whatever. Anything which -assumed the form of law they violated as a -matter of course, if not, as I suspect, as a -matter of conscience; but the direct command -of even a corporal was held binding -always. Jack Delaney, who never disobeyed -any order delivered to him in person, -used to swim the Ashley River every night, -at imminent risk of being eaten by sharks, -chiefly because it was a positive violation -of orders to cross at all from our camp on -Wappoo Creek to Charleston.</p> - -<p>Tommy Martin and Tim Considine were -bosom friends, and inseparable companions. -They fought each other frequently, but -these little episodes worked no ill to their -friendship. One day they quarreled about -something, and Considine, drawing a huge -knife from his belt, rushed upon Martin -with evident murderous intent. Martin, -planting himself firmly, dealt his antagonist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -a blow exactly between the eyes, which laid -him at full length on the ground. I ran at -once to command the peace, but before I -got to the scene of action I heard Considine -call out, from his supine position,—</p> - -<p>"Bully for you, Tommy! I niver knew -a blow better delivered in me loife!" And -that ended the dispute.</p> - -<p>One night, after taps, a fearful hubbub -arose in the Irish quarter of the camp, and -running to the place, the captain, a corporal, -and I managed to separate the combatants; -but as Jack Delaney had a great butcher -knife in his hands with which it appeared -he had already severely cut another Irishman, -Dan Gorman by name, we thought -it best to bind him with a prolonge. -He submitted readily, lying down on the -ground to be tied. While we were drawing -the rope around him, Gorman, a giant -in size and strength, leaned over us and -dashed a brick with all his force into the -prostrate man's face. Had it struck his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -skull it must have killed him instantly, as -indeed we supposed for a time that it had.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by that, sir?" -asked the captain, seizing Gorman by the -collar.</p> - -<p>Pointing to a fearful gash in his own -neck, the man replied,—</p> - -<p>"Don't ye see I'm a dead man, captain? -An' sure an' <em>do ye think I'm goin' to hell -widout me pardner</em>?"</p> - -<p>The tone of voice in which the question -was asked clearly indicated that in his -view nothing could possibly be more utterly -preposterous than such a supposition.</p> - -<p>Charley Lear belonged to this party, -though he was not a Celt, but an Englishman. -Charley was a tailor by trade and -a desperado in practice. He had kept a -bar in Vicksburg, had dug gold in California, -and had "roughed it" in various -other parts of the world. His was a -scarred breast, showing seven knife thrusts -and the marks of two bullets, one of which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -had passed entirely through him. And -yet he was in perfect health and strength. -He was a man of considerable intelligence -and fair education, whose association with -ruffians was altogether a matter of choice. -He was in no sense a criminal, I think, and -while I knew him, at least, was perfectly -peaceful. But he liked rough company -and sought it diligently, taking the consequences -when they came. He professed -great regard and even affection for me, -because I had done him a rather important -service once.</p> - -<p>Finding it impossible to govern these -men without subjecting the rest of the -company to a much severer discipline than -was otherwise necessary or desirable, we -secured the transfer of our ruffians to another -command in the fall of 1862, and I -saw no more of any of them until after the -close of the war. I went into a tailor's -shop in Memphis one day, during the winter -of 1865-66, to order a suit of clothing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -After selecting the goods I was asked to -step up-stairs to be measured. While the -cutter was using his tape upon me, one -of the journeymen on the great bench at -the end of the room suddenly dropped -his work, and, bounding forward, literally -clasped me in his arms, giving me a hug -which a grizzly bear might be proud of. It -was Charley Lear, of course, and I had the -utmost difficulty in refusing his offer to pay -for the goods and make my clothes himself -without charge.</p> - -<p>Our assortment of queer people was a -varied one, and among the rest there were -two ex-circus actors, Jack Hawkins and -Colonel Denton, to wit. Hawkins was an -inoffensive and even a timid fellow, whose -delight it was to sing bold robber songs in -the metallic voice peculiar to vocalists of -the circus. There was something inexpressibly -ludicrous in the contrast between -the bloody-mindedness of his songs and -the gentle shyness and timidity of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -man who sang them. Everybody domineered -over him, and he was especially -oppressed in the presence of our other -ex-clown, whose assumption of superior -wisdom and experience often overpowered -stronger men than poor John Hawkins ever -was. Denton was one of those men who -are sure, in one way or another, to become -either "colonel" or "judge." He was sixty-five -years old when I first knew him, and -had been "the colonel" longer than anybody -could remember. He was of good -parentage, and until he ran away with a -circus at the age of eleven had lived among -genteel people. His appearance and manner -were imposing always, and never more -so than when he was drunk. He buttoned -his coat with the air of a man who is about -to ride over broad ancestral acres, and ate -his dinner, whatever it might consist of, -with all the dignity of a host who does his -guests great honor in entertaining them. -He was an epicure in his tastes, of course,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -and delighted to describe peculiarly well-prepared -dinners which he said he had -eaten in company with especially distinguished -gentlemen. He was an expert, -too, he claimed, in the preparation of salads -and the other arts of a like nature in which -fine gentlemen like to excel even professional -cooks. When rations happened to -be more than ordinarily limited in quantity -or worse than usual in quality, Denton was -sure to visit various messes while they were -at dinner, and regale them with a highly -wrought description of an imaginary feast -from which he would profess to have risen -ten minutes before.</p> - -<p>"You ought to have dined with me to-day," -he would say. "I had a deviled -leg of turkey, and some beautiful broiled -oysters with Spanish olives. I never eat -broiled oysters without olives. You try it -sometime, and you'll never regret it. Then -I had a stuffed wild goose's liver. Did you -ever eat one? Well, you don't know what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -a real titbit is, then. Not stuffed in the -ordinary way, but stuffed scientifically and -cooked in a way you never saw it done before." -And thus he would go on, naming -impossible viands and describing preposterous -processes of cookery, until "cooked -in a way you never saw it done before" -became a proverb in the camp. The old -sinner would do all this on an empty stomach -too, and I sometimes fancied he found -in the delights of his imaginary banquets -some compensation for the short rations -and hard fare of his actual experience.</p> - -<p>He was in his glory, however, only when -he was away from camp and among strangers. -He always managed to impress people -who didn't know him with his great -wealth and prominence. I overheard him -once, in the office of the Charleston Hotel, -inviting some gentlemen to visit and dine -with him.</p> - -<p>"Come out this evening," he said, "to -my place in Charleston Neck, and take a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -bachelor dinner with me. I've just got -some duck from Virginia,—canvas-back, -you know,—and my steward will be sure to -have something else good on hand. I've -got some good madeira too, that I imported -myself. Now you'll not disappoint me, -will you? And after dinner we'll have a -turn at billiards: I've just had my tables -overhauled. But you'll have to excuse me -long enough now for me to ride down and -tell the major to take care of things in camp -till morning."</p> - -<p>And with that he gave them an address -in the aristocratic quarter of Charleston, -leaving them to meditate upon the good -luck they had fallen upon in meeting this -wealthy and hospitable "colonel."</p> - -<p>Denton was an inveterate gambler, and -was in the habit of winning a good deal of -money from the men after pay-day. One -day he gave some sound advice to a young -man from whom he had just taken a watch -in settlement of a score.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Now let me give you some advice, -Bill," he said. "I've seen a good deal of -this kind of thing, and I know what I'm -talking about. You play fair now, and you -always lose. You'll win after a while if -you keep on, but I tell you, Bill, nobody -ever can win at cards without cheating. -You'll cheat a little after a while, and -you'll cheat a good deal before you've done -with it. You'd better quit now, while -you're honest, because you'll cheat if you -keep on, and when a man cheats at cards -he'll steal, Bill. <em>I speak from experience.</em>" -All of which impressed me as a singularly -frank confession under the circumstances.</p> - -<p>Among other odd specimens we had in -our battery the most ingenious malingerer -I ever heard of. He was in service four -years, drew his pay regularly, was of robust -frame and in perfect health always, and yet -during the whole time he was never off the -sick-list for a single day. His capacity to -endure contempt was wholly unlimited, else<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -he would have been shamed by the gibes -of the men, the sneers of the surgeons, and -the denunciations of the officers, into some -show, at least, of a disposition to do duty. -He spent the greater part of his time in -hospital, never staying in camp a moment -longer than he was obliged to do. When -discharged, as a well man, from one hospital, -he would start toward his command, -and continue in that direction till he came -to another infirmary, when he would have -a relapse at once, and gain admission there. -Discharged again he would repeat the process -at the next hospital, and one day near -the end of the war he counted up something -like a hundred different post and -general hospitals of which he had been an -inmate, while he had been admitted to -some of them more than half a dozen times -each. The surgeons resorted to a variety -of expedients by which to get rid of him. -They burned his back with hot coppers; -gave him the most nauseous mixtures; put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -him on the lowest possible diet; treated -him to cold shower-baths four or five times -daily; and did everything else they could -think of to drive him from the hospitals, -but all to no purpose. In camp it was -much the same. On the morning after his -arrival from hospital he would wake up -with some totally new ache, and report -himself upon the sick-list. There was no -way by which to conquer his obstinacy, -and, as I have said, he escaped duty to the -last.</p> - -<p>Another curious case, and one which is -less easily explained, was that of a much -more intelligent man, who for more than a -year feigned every conceivable disease, in -the hope that he might be discharged the -service. One or two of us amused ourselves -with his case, by mentioning in his -presence the symptoms of some disease of -which he had never heard, the surgeon -furnishing us the necessary information, -and in every case he had the disease within<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -less than twenty-four hours. Finally, and -this was the oddest part of the matter, -he gave up the attempt, recovered his -health suddenly, and became one of the -very best soldiers in the battery, a man -always ready for duty, and always faithful -in its discharge. He was made a corporal -and afterwards a sergeant, and there was -no better in the battery.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">RED TAPE.</span></h2> - - -<p>The history of the Confederacy, when it -shall be fully and fairly written, will appear -the story of a dream to those who shall -read it, and there are parts of it at least -which already seem a nightmare to those -of us who helped make it. Founded upon -a constitution which jealously withheld -from it nearly all the powers of government, -without even the poor privilege of -existing beyond the moment when some -one of the States composing it should see -fit to put it to death, the Richmond government -nevertheless grew speedily into a despotism, -and for four years wielded absolute -power over an obedient and uncomplaining -people. It tolerated no questioning, brooked -no resistance, listened to no remonstrance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -It levied taxes of an extraordinary kind -upon a people already impoverished almost -to the point of starvation. It made of every -man a soldier, and extended indefinitely -every man's term of enlistment. Under -pretense of enforcing the conscription law -it established an oppressive system of domiciliary -visits. To preserve order and prevent -desertion it instituted and maintained -a system of guards and passports, not less -obnoxious, certainly, than the worst thing -of the sort ever devised by the most paternal -of despotisms. In short, a government -constitutionally weak beyond all precedent -was able for four years to exercise in a -particularly offensive way all the powers -of absolutism, and that, too, over a people -who had been living under republican rule -for generations. That such a thing was -possible seems at the first glance a marvel, -but the reasons for it are not far to seek. -Despotisms usually ground themselves upon -the theories of extreme democracy, for one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -thing, and in this case the consciousness of -the power to dissolve and destroy the government -at will made the people tolerant of -its encroachments upon personal and State -rights; the more especially, as the presiding -genius of the despotism was the man -who had refused a promotion to the rank -of brigadier-general of volunteers during -the Mexican war, on the ground that the -general government could not grant such a -commission without violating the rights of -a State. The despotism of a government -presided over by a man so devoted as he -to State rights seemed less dangerous than -it might otherwise have appeared. His -theory was so excellent that people pardoned -his practice. It is of some parts of -that practice that we shall speak in the -present chapter.</p> - -<p>Nothing could possibly be idler than -speculation upon what might have been accomplished -with the resources of the South -if they had been properly economized and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -wisely used. And yet every Southern man -must feel tempted to indulge in some such -speculation whenever he thinks of the subject -at all, and remembers, as he must, how -shamefully those resources were wasted -and how clumsily they were handled in -every attempt to use them in the prosecution -of the war. The army was composed, -as we have seen in a previous chapter, of -excellent material; and under the influence -of field service it soon became a very efficient -body of well-drilled and well-disciplined -men. The skill of its leaders is -matter of history, too well known to need -comment here. But the government controlling -army and leaders was both passively -and actively incompetent in a surprising -degree. It did, as nearly as possible, <em>all</em> -those things which it ought not to have -done, at the same time developing a really -marvelous genius for leaving undone those -things which it ought to have done. The -story of its incompetence and its presump<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>tion, -if it could be adequately told, would -read like a romance. Its weakness paralyzed -the army and people, and its weakness -was the less hurtful side of its character. -Its full capacity for ill was best -seen in the extraordinary strength it developed -whenever action of a wrong-headed -sort could work disaster, and the only wonder -is that with such an administration at -its back the Confederate army was able to -keep the field at all. I have already had occasion -to explain that the sentiment of the -South made it the duty of every man who -could bear arms to go straight to the front -and to stay there. The acceptance of any -less actively military position than that of -a soldier in the field was held to be little -less than a confession of cowardice; and -cowardice, in the eyes of the Southerners, -is the one sin which may not be pardoned -either in this world or the next. The -strength of this sentiment it is difficult for -anybody who did not live in its midst to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -conceive, and its effect was to make worthy -men spurn everything like civic position. -To go where the bullets were whistling was -the one course open to gentlemen who held -their honor sacred and their reputation dear. -And so the offices in Richmond and elsewhere, -the bureaus of every sort, on the -proper conduct of which so much depended, -were filled with men willing to be -sneered at as dwellers in "bomb-proofs" -and holders of "life insurance policies."</p> - -<p>Nor were the petty clerkships the only -positions which brought odium upon their -incumbents. If an able-bodied man accepted -even a seat in Congress, he did so -at peril of his reputation for patriotism and -courage, and very many of the men whose -wisdom was most needed in that body -positively refused to go there at the risk -of losing a chance to be present with their -regiments in battle. Under the circumstances, -no great degree of strength or wisdom -was to be looked for at the hands of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -Congress, and certainly that assemblage of -gentlemen has never been suspected of -showing much of either; while the administrative -machinery presided over by the -small officials and clerks who crowded -Richmond was at once a wonder of complication -and a marvel of inefficiency.</p> - -<p>But, if we may believe the testimony of -those who were in position to know the -facts, the grand master of incapacity, whose -hand was felt everywhere, was President -Davis himself. Not content with perpetually -meddling in the smallest matters of -detail, and prescribing the petty routine of -office work in the bureau, he interfered, -either directly or through his personal subordinates, -with military operations which -no man, not present with the army, could -be competent to control, and which he, -probably, was incapable of justly comprehending -in any case. With the history of -his quarrels with the generals in the field, -and the paralyzing effect they had upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -military operations, the public is already -familiar. Leaving things of that nature to -the historian, I confine myself to smaller -matters, my purpose being merely to give -the reader an idea of the experiences of a -Confederate soldier, and to show him Confederate -affairs as they looked when seen -from the inside.</p> - -<p>I can hardly hope to make the ex-soldier -of the Union understand fully how we on -the other side were fed in the field. He -fought and marched with a skilled commissariat -at his back, and, for his further staff -of comfort, had the Christian and Sanitary -commissions, whose handy tin cups and -other camp conveniences came to us only -through the uncertain and irregular channel -of abandonment and capture; and unless -his imagination be a vivid one, he will not -easily conceive the state of our commissariat -or the privations we suffered as a -consequence of its singularly bad management. -The first trouble was, that we had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -for a commissary-general a crotchety doctor, -some of whose acquaintances had for -years believed him insane. Aside from -his suspected mental aberration, and the -crotchets which had made his life already -a failure, he knew nothing whatever of the -business belonging to the department under -his control, his whole military experience -having consisted of a few years' service -as a lieutenant of cavalry in one of the -Territories, many years before the date of -his appointment as chief of subsistence in -the Confederacy. Wholly without experience -to guide him, he was forced to evolve -from his own badly balanced intellect whatever -system he should adopt, and from the -beginning of the war until the early part -of the year 1865, the Confederate armies -were forced to lean upon this broken reed -in the all-important matter of a food supply. -The generals commanding in the field, we -are told on the very highest authority, -protested, suggested, remonstrated almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -daily, but their remonstrances were unheeded -and their suggestions set at naught. -At Manassas, where the army was well-nigh -starved out in the very beginning of -the war, food might have been abundant -but for the obstinacy of this one man. On -our left lay a country unsurpassed, and almost -unequaled, in productiveness. It was -rich in grain and meat, these being its -special products. A railroad, with next to -nothing to do, penetrated it, and its stores -of food were nearly certain to be exposed -to the enemy before any other part of the -country should be conquered. The obvious -duty of the commissary-general, therefore, -was to draw upon that section for the -supplies which were both convenient and -abundant. The chief of subsistence ruled -otherwise, however, thinking it better to -let that source of supply lie exposed to the -first advance of the enemy, while he drew -upon the Richmond <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dépôts</i> for a daily -ration, and shipped it by the overtasked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -line of railway leading from the capital to -Manassas. It was nothing to him that he -was thus exhausting the rear and crippling -the resources of the country for the future. -It was nothing to him that in the midst of -plenty the army was upon a short allowance -of food. It was nothing that the shipments -of provisions from Richmond by this -railroad seriously interfered with other important -interests. System was everything, -and this was a part of his system. The -worst of it was, that in this all-important -branch of the service experience and organization -wrought little if any improvement -as the war went on, so that as the -supplies and the means of transportation -grew smaller, the undiminished inefficiency -of the department produced disastrous results. -The army, suffering for food, was -disheartened by the thought that the scarcity -was due to the exhaustion of the country's -resources. Red tape was supreme, -and no sword was permitted to cut it. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -remember one little circumstance, which -will serve to illustrate the absoluteness -with which system was suffered to override -sense in the administration of the affairs -of the subsistence department. I served -for a time on the coast of South Carolina, -a country which produces rice in great -abundance, and in which fresh pork and -mutton might then be had almost for the -asking, while the climate is wholly unsuited -to the making of flour or bacon. Just at -that time, however, the officials of the commissary -department saw fit to feed the -whole army on bacon and flour, articles -which, if given to troops in that quarter of -the country at all, must be brought several -hundred miles by rail. The local commissary -officers made various suggestions looking -to the use of the provisions of which the -country round about was full, but, so far as -I could learn, no attention whatever was -paid to them. At the request of one of -these post commissaries, I wrote an elabo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>rate -and respectful letter on the subject, -setting forth the fact that rice, sweet potatoes, -corn meal, hominy, grits, mutton, -and pork existed in great abundance in the -immediate neighborhood of the troops, and -could be bought for less than one third the -cost of the flour and bacon we were eating. -The letter was signed by the post commissary, -and forwarded through the regular -channels, with the most favorable indorsements -possible, but it resulted in nothing. -The department presently found it impossible -to give us full rations of bacon and -flour, but it still refused to think of the -remedy suggested. It cut down the ration -instead, thus reducing the men to a state -of semi-starvation in a country full of food. -Relief came at last in the shape of a technicality, -else it would not have been allowed -to come at all. A vigilant captain discovered -that the men were entitled by law -to commutation in money for their rations, -at fixed rates, and acting upon this the men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -were able to buy, with the money paid them -in lieu of rations, an abundance of fresh -meats and vegetables; and most of the -companies managed at the same time to -save a considerable fund for future use out -of the surplus, so great was the disparity -between the cost of the food they bought -and that which the government wished to -furnish them.</p> - -<p>The indirect effect of all this stupidity—for -it can be called by no softer name—was -almost as bad as its direct results. The -people at home, finding that the men in the -field were suffering for food, undertook to -assist in supplying them. With characteristic -profusion they packed boxes and sent -them to their soldier friends and acquaintances, -particularly during the first year of -the war. Sometimes these supplies were -permitted to reach their destination, and -sometimes they were allowed to decay in a -depot because of some failure on the part -of the sender to comply with the mysteri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>ous -canons of official etiquette. In either -case they were wasted. If they got to the -army they were used wastefully by the -men, who could not carry them and had no -place of storage for them. If they were -detained anywhere, they remained there -until some change of front made it necessary -to destroy them. There seemed to be -nobody invested with sufficient authority -to turn them to practical account. I remember -a box of my own, packed with -cooked meats, vegetables, fruits,—all perishable,—which -got within three miles of -my tent, but could get no farther, although -I hired a farmer's wagon with which to -bring it to camp, where my company was -at that moment in sore need of its contents. -There was some informality,—the officer -having it in charge could not tell me what,—about -the box itself, or its transmission, -or its arrival, or something else, and so it -could not be delivered to me, though I had -the warrant of my colonel in writing, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -receiving it. Dismissing my wagoner, I -told the officer in charge that the contents -of the box were of a perishable character, -and that rather than have them wasted, I -should be glad to have him accept the -whole as a present to his mess; but he -declined, on the ground that to accept the -present would be a gross irregularity so -long as there was an embargo upon the -package. I received the box three months -later, after its contents had become entirely -worthless. Now this is but one of a hundred -cases within my own knowledge, and -it will serve to show the reader how the -inefficiency of the subsistence department -led to a wasteful expenditure of those private -stores of food which constituted our -only reserve for the future.</p> - -<p>And there was never any improvement. -From the beginning to the end of the war -the commissariat was just sufficiently well -managed to keep the troops in a state of -semi-starvation. On one occasion the com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>pany -of artillery to which I was attached -lived for thirteen days, <em>in winter quarters</em>, -on a daily dole of half a pound of corn meal -per man, while food in abundance was -stored within five miles of its camp—a -railroad connecting the two points, and the -wagons of the battery lying idle all the -while. This happened because the subsistence -department had not been officially informed -of our transfer from one battalion -to another, though the fact of the transfer -was under their eyes, and the order of the -chief of artillery making it was offered them -in evidence. These officers were not to -blame. They knew the temper of their -chief, and had been taught the omnipotence -of routine.</p> - -<p>But it was in Richmond that routine -was carried to its absurdest extremities. -There, everything was done by rule except -those things to which system of some sort -would have been of advantage, and they -were left at loose ends. Among other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -things a provost system was devised and -brought to perfection during the time of -martial law. Having once tasted the -sweets of despotic rule, its chief refused -to resign any part of his absolute sovereignty -over the city, even when the reign -of martial law ceased by limitation of time. -His system of guards and passports was a -very marvel of annoying inefficiency. It -effectually blocked the way of every man -who was intent upon doing his duty, while -it gave unconscious but sure protection to -spies, blockade-runners, deserters, and absentees -without leave from the armies. It -was omnipotent for the annoyance of soldier -and citizen, but utterly worthless for -any good purpose. If a soldier on furlough -or even on detached duty arrived in Richmond, -he was taken in charge by the provost -guards at the railway station, marched -to the soldiers' home or some other vile -prison house, and kept there in durance -during the whole time of his stay. It mat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>tered -not how legitimate his papers were, -or how evident his correctness of purpose. -The system required that he should be -locked up, and locked up he was, in every -case, until one plucky fellow made fight by -appeal to the courts, and so compelled the -abandonment of a practice for which there -was never any warrant in law or necessity -in fact.</p> - -<p>Richmond being the railroad centre from -which the various lines radiated, nearly -every furloughed soldier and officer on -leave was obliged to pass through the city, -going home and returning. Now to any -ordinary intelligence it would seem that a -man bearing a full description of himself, -and a furlough signed by his captain, -colonel, brigadier, division-commander, lieutenant-general, -and finally by Robert E. -Lee as general-in-chief, might have been -allowed to go peaceably to his home by the -nearest route. But that was no ordinary -intelligence which ruled Richmond. Its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -ability to find places in which to interfere -was unlimited, and it decreed that no soldier -should leave Richmond, either to go -home or to return direct to the army, without -a brown paper passport, signed by an -officer appointed for that purpose, and -countersigned by certain other persons -whose authority to sign or countersign -anything nobody was ever able to trace to -its source. If any such precaution had -been necessary, it would not have been so -bad, or even being unnecessary, if there -had been the slightest disposition on the -part of these passport people to facilitate -obedience to their own requirements, the -long-suffering officers and men of the army -would have uttered no word of complaint. -But the facts were exactly the reverse. -The passport officials rigidly maintained -the integrity of their office hours, and neither -entreaty nor persuasion would induce -them in any case to anticipate by a single -minute the hour for beginning, or to post<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>pone -the time of ending their daily duties. -I stood one day in their office in a crowd -of fellow soldiers and officers, some on furlough -going home, some returning after a -brief visit, and still others, like myself, going -from one place to another under orders -and on duty. The two trains by which -most of us had to go were both to leave -within an hour, and if we should lose them -we must remain twenty-four hours longer -in Richmond, where the hotel rate was -then sixty dollars a day. In full view of -these facts, the passport men, daintily -dressed, sat there behind their railing, -chatting and laughing for a full hour, suffering -both trains to depart and all these -men to be left over rather than do thirty -minutes' work in advance of the improperly -fixed office hour. It resulted from this -system that many men on three or five -days' leave lost nearly the whole of it in -delays, going and returning. Many others -were kept in Richmond for want of a pass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>port -until their furloughs expired, when -they were arrested for absence without -leave, kept three or four days in the guard-house, -and then taken as prisoners to their -commands, to which they had tried hard to -go of their own motion at the proper time. -Finally the abuse became so outrageous -that General Lee, in his capacity of general-in-chief, -issued a peremptory order forbidding -anybody to interfere in any way -with officers or soldiers traveling under his -written authority.</p> - -<p>But the complications of the passport -system, before the issuing of that order, -were endless. I went once with a friend -in search of passports. As I had passed -through Richmond a few weeks before, I -fancied I knew all about the business of -getting the necessary papers. Armed with -our furloughs we went straight from the -train to the passport office, and presenting -our papers to the young man in charge, we -asked for the brown paper permits which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -we must show upon leaving town. The -young man prepared them and gave them -to us, but this was no longer the end of the -matter. These passports must be countersigned, -and, strangely enough, my friend's -required the sign-manual of Lieutenant X., -whose office was in the lower part of the -city, while mine must be signed by Lieutenant -Y., who made his head-quarters -some distance farther up town. As my -friend and I were of precisely the same -rank, came from the same command, were -going to the same place, and held furloughs -in exactly the same words, I shall not be -deemed unreasonable when I declare my -conviction that no imbecility, less fully developed -than that which then governed -Richmond, could possibly have discovered -any reason for requiring that our passports -should be countersigned by different people.</p> - -<p>But with all the trouble it gave to men -intent upon doing their duty, this cumbrous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -passport system was well-nigh worthless -for any of the purposes whose accomplishment -might have excused its existence. -Indeed, in some cases it served to assist -the very people it was intended to arrest. -In one instance within my own knowledge, -a soldier who wished to visit his home, -some hundreds of miles away, failing to -get a furlough, shouldered his musket and -set out with no scrip for his journey, depending -upon his familiarity with the passport -system for the accomplishment of his -purpose. Going to a railroad station, he -planted himself at one of the entrances as -a sentinel, and proceeded to demand passports -of every comer. Then he got upon -the train, and between stations he passed -through the cars, again inspecting people's -traveling papers. Nobody was surprised -at the performance. It was not at all an -unusual thing for a sentinel to go out with -a train in this way, and nobody doubted -that the man had been sent upon this -errand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> - -<p>On another occasion two officers of my -acquaintance were going from a southern -post to Virginia on some temporary duty, -and in their orders there was a clause -directing them to "arrest and lodge in the -nearest guard-house or jail" all soldiers -they might encounter who were absent -without leave from their commands. As -the train upon which they traveled approached -Weldon, N. C., a trio of guards -passed through the cars, inspecting passports. -This was the third inspection inflicted -upon the passengers within a few -hours, and, weary of it, one of the two -officers met the demand for his passport -with a counter demand for the guards' -authority to examine it. The poor fellows -were there honestly enough, doubtless, doing -a duty which was certainly not altogether -pleasant, but they had been sent out -on their mission with no attendant officer, -and no scrap of paper to attest their authority, -or even to avouch their right to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -on the train at all; wherefore the journeying -officer, exhibiting his own orders, proceeded -to arrest them. Upon their arrival -at Weldon, where their quarters were, he -released them, but not without a lesson -which provost guards in that vicinity remembered. -I tell the story for the sake -of showing how great a degree of laxity -and carelessness prevailed in the department -which was organized especially to -enforce discipline by putting everybody under -surveillance.</p> - -<p>But this was not all. In Richmond, -where the passport system had its birth, -and where its annoying requirements were -most sternly enforced against people having -a manifest right to travel, there were still -greater abuses. Will the reader believe -that while soldiers, provided with the very -best possible evidence of their right to -enter and leave Richmond, were badgered -and delayed as I have explained, in the -passport office, the bits of brown paper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -over which so great an ado was made might -be, and were, bought and sold by dealers? -That such was the case I have the very -best evidence, namely, that of my own -senses. If the system was worth anything -at all, if it was designed to accomplish any -worthy end, its function was to prevent the -escape of spies, blockade-runners, and deserters; -and yet these were precisely the -people who were least annoyed by it. By -a system of logic peculiar to themselves, -the provost marshal's people seem to have -arrived at the conclusion that men deserting -the army, acting as spies, or "running -the blockade" to the North, were to be -found only in Confederate uniforms, and -against men wearing these the efforts of -the department were especially directed. -Non-military men had little difficulty in -getting passports at will, and failing this -there were brokers' shops in which they -could buy them at a comparatively small -cost. I knew one case in which an army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -officer in full uniform, hurrying through -Richmond before the expiration of his -leave, in order that he might be with his -command in a battle then impending, was -ordered about from one official to another -in a vain search for the necessary passport, -until he became discouraged and impatient. -He finally went in despair to a Jew, and -bought an illicit permit to go to his post -of duty.</p> - -<p>But even as against soldiers, except those -who were manifestly entitled to visit Richmond, -the system was by no means effective. -More than one deserter, to my own -knowledge, passed through Richmond in -full uniform, though by what means they -avoided arrest, when there were guards and -passport inspectors at nearly every corner, -I cannot guess.</p> - -<p>At one time, when General Stuart, with -his cavalry, was encamped within a few -miles of the city, he discovered that his -men were visiting Richmond by dozens,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -without leave, which, for some reason or -other known only to the provost marshal's -office, they were able to do without molestation. -General Stuart, finding that this -was the case, resolved to take the matter -into his own hands, and accordingly with -a troop of cavalry he made a descent upon -the theatre one night, and arrested those -of his men whom he found there. The -provost marshal, who it would seem was -more deeply concerned for the preservation -of his own dignity than for the maintenance -of discipline, sent a message to the great -cavalier, threatening him with arrest if he -should again presume to enter Richmond -for the purpose of making arrests. Nothing -could have pleased Stuart better. He -replied that he should visit Richmond again -the next night, with thirty horsemen; that -he should patrol the streets in search of -absentees from his command; and that -General Winder might arrest him if he -could. The jingling of spurs was loud in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -the streets that night, but the provost marshal -made no attempt to arrest the defiant -horseman.</p> - -<p>Throughout the management of affairs -in Richmond a cumbrous inefficiency was -everywhere manifest. From the president, -who insulted his premier for presuming to -offer some advice about the conduct of the -war, and quarreled with his generals because -they failed to see the wisdom of a -military movement suggested by himself, -down to the pettiest clerk in a bureau, -there was everywhere a morbid sensitiveness -on the subject of personal dignity, -and an exaggerated regard for routine, -which seriously impaired the efficiency of -the government and greatly annoyed the -army. Under all the circumstances the -reader will not be surprised to learn that -the government at Richmond was by no -means idolized by the men in the field.</p> - -<p>The wretchedness of its management -began to bear fruit early in the war, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -the fruit was bitter in the mouths of the -soldiers. Mr. Davis's evident hostility to -Generals Beauregard and Johnston, which -showed itself in his persistent refusal to let -them concentrate their men, in his obstinate -thwarting of all their plans, and in his -interference with the details of army organization -on which they were agreed,—a -hostility born, as General Thomas Jordan -gives us to understand, of their failure to -see the wisdom of his plan of campaign -after Bull Run, which was to take the army -across the lower Potomac at a point where -it could never hope to recross, for the purpose -of capturing a small force lying there -under General Sickles,—was not easily -concealed; and the army was too intelligent -not to know that a meddlesome and -dictatorial president, on bad terms with his -generals in the field, and bent upon thwarting -their plans, was a very heavy load to -carry. The generals held their peace, as a -matter of course, but the principal facts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -were well known to officers and men, and -when the time came, in the fall of 1861, for -the election of a president under the permanent -constitution (Mr. Davis having held -office provisionally only, up to that time), -there was a very decided disposition on the -part of the troops to vote against him. -They were told, however, that as there was -no candidate opposed to him, he must be -elected at any rate, and that the moral effect -of showing a divided front to the enemy -would be very bad indeed; and in this -way only was the undivided vote of the -army secured for him. The troops voted -for Mr. Davis thus under stress of circumstances, -in the hope that all would yet be -well; but his subsequent course was not -calculated to reinstate him in their confidence, -and the wish that General Lee -might see fit to usurp all the powers of -government was a commonly expressed -one, both in the army and in private life -during the last two years of the war.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>The favoritism which governed nearly -every one of the president's appointments -was the leading, though not the only, -ground of complaint. And truly the army -had reason to murmur, when one of the -president's pets was promoted all the way -from lieutenant-colonel to lieutenant-general, -having been but once in battle,—and -then only constructively so,—on his way -up, while colonels by the hundred, and -brigadier and major generals by the score, -who had been fighting hard and successfully -all the time, were left as they were. -And when this suddenly created general, -almost without a show of resistance, surrendered -one of the most important strongholds -in the country, together with a veteran -army of considerable size, is it any -wonder that we questioned the wisdom of -the president whose blind favoritism had -dealt the cause so severe a blow? But not -content with this, as soon as the surrendered -general was exchanged the president<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -tried to place him in command of the defenses -of Richmond, then hard pressed by -General Grant, and was only prevented -from doing so by the man's own discovery -that the troops would not willingly serve -under him.</p> - -<p>The extent to which presidential partiality -and presidential intermeddling with -affairs in the field were carried may be -guessed, perhaps, from the fact that the -Richmond Examiner, the newspaper which -most truly reflected the sentiment of the -people, found consolation for the loss -of Vicksburg and New Orleans in the -thought that the consequent cutting of the -Confederacy in two freed the trans-Mississippi -armies from paralyzing dictation. In -its leading article for October 5, 1864, the -Examiner said:—</p> - -<p>"The fall of New Orleans and the surrender -of Vicksburg proved blessings to -the cause beyond the Mississippi. It terminated -the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</i> of pet generals. It put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -a stop to official piddling in the conduct of -the armies and the plan of campaigns. -The moment when it became impossible to -send orders by telegraph to court officers, -at the head of troops who despised them, -was the moment of the turning tide."</p> - -<p>So marked was the popular discontent, -not with Mr. Davis only, but with the entire -government and Congress as well, that -a Richmond newspaper at one time dared -to suggest a counter revolution as the only -means left of saving the cause from the -strangling it was receiving at the hands of -its guardians in Richmond. And the suggestion -seemed so very reasonable and -timely that it startled nobody, except perhaps -a congressman or two who had no -stomach for field service.</p> - -<p>The approach of the end wrought no -change in the temper of the government, -and one of its last acts puts in the strongest -light its disposition to sacrifice the interests -of the army to the convenience of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -the court. When the evacuation of Richmond -was begun, a train load of provisions -was sent by General Lee's order from one -of the interior <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dépôts</i> to Amelia Court -House, for the use of the retreating army, -which was without food and must march to -that point before it could receive a supply. -But the president and his followers were in -haste to leave the capital, and needed the -train, wherefore it was not allowed to remain -at Amelia Court House long enough -to be unloaded, but was hurried on to Richmond, -where its cargo was thrown out to -facilitate the flight of the president and his -personal followers, while the starving army -was left to suffer in an utterly exhausted -country, with no source of supply anywhere -within its reach. The surrender of the -army was already inevitable, it is true, but -that fact in no way justified this last, crowning -act of selfishness and cruelty.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> - - <div class="chapter"></div> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a><a href="#CONTENTS">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /><br /> - -<span class="fs70">THE END, AND AFTER.</span></h2> - - -<p>It is impossible to say precisely when -the conviction became general in the South -that we were to be beaten. I cannot even -decide at what time I myself began to -think the cause a hopeless one, and I have -never yet found one of my fellow-Confederates, -though I have questioned many of -them, who could tell me with any degree of -certainty the history of his change from -confidence to despondency. We schooled -ourselves from the first to think that we -should ultimately win, and the habit of -thinking so was too strong to be easily -broken by adverse happenings. Having -undertaken to make good our declaration -of independence, we refused to admit, even -to ourselves, the possibility of failure. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -was a part of our soldierly and patriotic -duty to believe that ultimate success was -to be ours, and Stuart only uttered the -common thought of army and people, when -he said, "We are bound to believe that, -anyhow." We were convinced, beyond the -possibility of a doubt, of the absolute righteousness -of our cause, and in spite of history -we persuaded ourselves that a people -battling for the right could not fail in the -end. And so our hearts went on hoping -for success long after our heads had learned -to expect failure. Besides all this, we -never gave verbal expression to the doubts -we felt, or even to the longing, which must -have been universal, for the end. It was -our religion to believe in the triumph of -our cause, and it was heresy of the rankest -sort to doubt it or even to admit the possibility -of failure. It was ours to fight on -indefinitely, and to the future belonged the -award of victory to our arms. We did not -allow ourselves even the poor privilege of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -wishing that the struggle might end, except -as we coupled the wish with a pronounced -confidence in our ability to make -the end what we desired it to be. I remember -very well the stern rebuke administered -by an officer to as gallant a fellow -as any in the army, who, in utter weariness -and wretchedness, in the trenches at Spottsylvania -Court House, after a night of -watching in a drenching rain, said that he -hoped the campaign then opening might be -the last one of the war. His plea that he -also hoped the war would end as we desired -availed him nothing. To be weary -in the cause was offense enough, and the -officer gave warning that another such expression -would subject the culprit to trial -by court-martial. In this he only spoke -the common mind. We had enlisted for -the war, and a thought of weariness was -hardly better than a wish for surrender. -This was the temper in which we began -the campaign of 1864, and so far as I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -been able to discover, it underwent little -change afterwards. Even during the final -retreat, though there were many desertions -soon after Richmond was left behind, not -one of us who remained despaired of the -end we sought. We discussed the comparative -strategic merits of the line we had -left and the new one we hoped to make -on the Roanoke River, and we wondered -where the seat of government would be, -but not one word was said about a probable -or possible surrender. Nor was the -army alone in this. The people who were -being left behind were confident that they -should see us again shortly, on our way to -Richmond's recapture.</p> - -<p>Up to the hour of the evacuation of -Richmond, the newspapers were as confident -as ever of victory. During the fall -of 1864 they even believed, or professed to -believe, that our triumph was already at -hand. The Richmond Whig of October 5, -1864, said: "That the present condition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -of affairs, compared with that of any previous -year at the same season, at least -since 1861, is greatly in our favor, we think -can hardly be denied." In the same article -it said: "That General Lee can keep -Grant out of Richmond from this time -until doomsday, if he should be tempted to -keep up the trial so long, we are as confident -as we can be of anything whatever." -The Examiner of September 24, 1864, said -in its leading editorial: "The final struggle -for the possession of Richmond and of -Virginia is now near. This war draws to a -close. If Richmond is held by the South -till the first of November it will be ours -forever more; for the North will never -throw another huge army into the abyss -where so many lie; and the war will conclude, -beyond a doubt, with the independence -of the Southern States." In its issue -for October 7, 1864, the same paper began -its principal editorial article with this paragraph: -"One month of spirit and energy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -now, and the campaign is over, and the war -is over. We do not mean that if the year's -campaign end favorably for us, McClellan -will be elected as Yankee President. That -may come, or may not come; but no part -of our chance for an honorable peace and -independence rests upon that. Let who -will be Yankee President, with the failure -of Grant and Sherman this year, the war -ends. And with Sherman's army already -isolated and cut off in Georgia, and Grant -unable either to take or besiege Richmond, -we have only to make one month's exertion -in improving our advantages, and then it -may safely be said that the fourth year's -campaign, and with it the war itself, is one -gigantic failure." The Richmond Whig of -September 8, 1864, with great gravity -copied from the Wytheville Dispatch an -article beginning as follows: "Believing -as we do that the war of subjugation is -virtually over, we deem it not improper to -make a few suggestions relative to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -treatment of Yankees after the war is over. -Our soldiers know how to treat them now, -but <em>then</em> a different treatment will be necessary." -And so they talked all the time.</p> - -<p>Much of this was mere whistling to keep -our courage up, of course, but we tried -very hard to believe all these pleasant -things, and in a measure we succeeded. -And yet I think we must have known from -the beginning of the campaign of 1864 that -the end was approaching, and that it could -not be other than a disastrous one. We -knew very well that General Lee's army -was smaller than it ever had been before. -We knew, too, that there were no reinforcements -to be had from any source. The -conscription had put every man worth -counting into the field already, and the little -army that met General Grant in the -Wilderness represented all that remained -of the Confederate strength in Virginia. -In the South matters were at their worst, -and we knew that not a man could come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -thence to our assistance. Lee mustered a -total strength of about sixty-six thousand -men, when we marched out of winter quarters -and began in the Wilderness that long -struggle which ended nearly a year later at -Appomattox. With that army alone the -war was to be fought out, and we had to -shut our eyes to facts very resolutely, that -we might not see how certainly we were to -be crushed. And we did shut our eyes so -successfully as to hope in a vague, irrational -way, for the impossible, to the very -end. In the Wilderness we held our own -against every assault, and the visible punishment -we inflicted upon the foe was so -great that hardly any man in our army expected -to see a Federal force on our side -of the river at daybreak next morning. -We thought that General Grant was as -badly hurt as Hooker had been on the -same field, and confidently expected him to -retreat during the night. When he moved -by his left flank to Spottsylvania instead,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -we understood what manner of man he -was, and knew that the persistent pounding, -which of all things we were least able -to endure, had begun. When at last we -settled down in the trenches around Petersburg, -we ought to have known that the -end was rapidly drawing near. We congratulated -ourselves instead upon the fact -that we had inflicted a heavier loss than -we had suffered, and buckled on our armor -anew.</p> - -<p>If General Grant had failed to break our -power of resistance by his sledge-hammer -blows, it speedily became evident that he -would be more successful in wearing it -away by the constant friction of a siege. -Without fighting a battle he was literally -destroying our army. The sharp-shooting -was incessant, and the bombardment hardly -less so, and under it all our numbers visibly -decreased day by day. During the first -two months of the siege my own company, -which numbered about a hundred and fifty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -men, lost sixty, in killed and wounded, an -average of a man a day, and while our list -of casualties was greater than that of many -other commands, there were undoubtedly -some companies and regiments which suffered -more than we. The reader will readily -understand that an army already weakened -by years of war, with no source from -which to recruit its ranks, could not stand -this daily waste for any great length of -time. We were in a state of atrophy for -which there was no remedy except that of -freeing the negroes and making soldiers of -them, which Congress was altogether too -loftily sentimental to think of for a moment.</p> - -<p>There was no longer any room for hope -except in a superstitious belief that Providence -would in some way interfere in our -behalf, and to that very many betook themselves -for comfort. This shifting upon a -supernatural power the task we had failed -to accomplish by human means rapidly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -bred many less worthy superstitions among -the troops. The general despondency, -which amounted almost to despair, doubtless -helped to bring about this result, and -the great religious "revival" contributed to -it in no small degree. I think hardly any -man in that army entertained a thought of -coming out of the struggle alive. The only -question with each was when his time was -to come, and a sort of gloomy fatalism took -possession of many minds. Believing that -they must be killed sooner or later, and -that the hour and the manner of their -deaths were unalterably fixed, many became -singularly reckless, and exposed themselves -with the utmost carelessness to all sorts of -unnecessary dangers.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to be killed pretty soon," -said as brave a man as I ever knew, to me -one evening. "I never flinched from a -bullet until to-day, and now I dodge every -time one whistles within twenty feet of -me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p> - -<p>I tried to persuade him out of the belief, -and even got for him a dose of valerian -with which to quiet his nerves. He took -the medicine, but assured me that he was -not nervous in the least.</p> - -<p>"My time is coming, that's all," he said; -"and I don't care. A few days more or -less don't signify much." An hour later -the poor fellow's head was blown from his -shoulders as he stood by my side.</p> - -<p>One such incident—and there were -many of them—served to confirm a superstitious -belief in presentiments which a -hundred failures of fulfillment were unable -to shake. Meantime the revival went on. -Prayer-meetings were held in every tent. -Testaments were in every hand, and a sort -of religious ecstasy took possession of the -army. The men had ceased to rely upon -the skill of their leaders or the strength of -our army for success, and not a few of -them hoped now for a miraculous interposition -of supernatural power in our behalf.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -Men in this mood make the best of soldiers, -and at no time were the fighting -qualities of the Southern army better than -during the siege. Under such circumstances -men do not regard death, and even -the failure of any effort they were called -upon to make wrought no demoralization -among troops who had persuaded themselves -that the Almighty held victory in -store for them, and would give it them in -due time. What cared they for the failure -of mere human efforts, when they were -persuaded that through such failures God -was leading us to ultimate victory? Disaster -seemed only to strengthen the faith -of many. They saw in it a needed lesson -in humility, and an additional reason for -believing that God meant to bring about -victory by his own and not by human -strength. They did their soldierly duties -perfectly. They held danger and fatigue -alike in contempt. It was their duty as -Christian men to obey orders without ques<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>tion, -and they did so in the thought that to -do otherwise was to sin.</p> - -<p>That the confidence bred of these things -should be of a gloomy kind was natural -enough, and the gloom was not dispelled, -certainly, by the conviction of every man -that he was assisting at his own funeral. -Failure, too, which was worse than death, -was plainly inevitable in spite of it all. -We persisted, as I have said, in vaguely -hoping and trying to believe that success -was still to be ours, and to that end we -shut our eyes to the plainest facts, refusing -to admit the truth which was everywhere -evident, namely, that our efforts had failed, -and that our cause was already in its death -struggles. But we must have known all -this, nevertheless, and our diligent cultivation -of an unreasonable hopefulness served -in no sensible degree to raise our spirits.</p> - -<p>Even positive knowledge does not always -bring belief. I doubt if a condemned man, -who finds himself in full bodily health, ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -quite believes that he is to die within the -hour, however certainly he may know the -fact; and our condition was not unlike that -of condemned men.</p> - -<p>When at last the beginning of the end -came, in the evacuation of Richmond and -the effort to retreat, everything seemed to go -to pieces at once. The best disciplinarians -in the army relaxed their reins. The best -troops became disorganized, and hardly any -command marched in a body. Companies -were mixed together, parts of each being -separated by detachments of others. Flying -citizens in vehicles of every conceivable -sort accompanied and embarrassed the columns. -Many commands marched heedlessly -on without orders, and seemingly -without a thought of whither they were going. -Others mistook the meaning of their -orders, and still others had instructions -which it was impossible to obey in any -case. At Amelia Court House we should -have found a supply of provisions. Gen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>eral -Lee had ordered a train load to meet -him there, but, as I have stated in a previous -chapter, the interests of the starving -army had been sacrificed to the convenience -or the cowardice of the president and his -personal following. The train had been hurried -on to Richmond and its precious cargo -of food thrown out there, in order that Mr. -Davis and his people might retreat rapidly -and comfortably from the abandoned capital. -Then began the desertion of which we -have heard so much. Up to that time, as -far as I can learn, if desertions had occurred -at all they had not become general; but -now that the government, in flying from -the foe, had cut off our only supply of provisions, -what were the men to do? Many -of them wandered off in search of food, -with no thought of deserting at all. Many -others followed the example of the government, -and fled; but a singularly large proportion -of the little whole stayed and -starved to the last. And it was no tech<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>nical -or metaphorical starvation which we -had to endure, either, as a brief statement -of my own experience will show. The battery -to which I was attached was captured -near Amelia Court House, and within a -mile or two of my home. Seven men only -escaped, and as I knew intimately everybody -in the neighborhood, I had no trouble -in getting horses for these to ride. Applying -to General Lee in person for instructions, -I was ordered to march on, using my -own judgment, and rendering what service -I could in the event of a battle. In this independent -fashion I marched with much -better chances than most of the men had, -to get food, and yet during three days and -nights our total supply consisted of one ear -of corn to the man, and we divided that -with our horses.</p> - -<p>The end came, technically, at Appomattox, -but of the real difficulties of the war -the end was not yet. The trials and the -perils of utter disorganization were still to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -be endured, and as the condition in which -many parts of the South were left by the -fall of the Confederate government was an -anomalous one, some account of it seems -necessary to the completeness of this narrative.</p> - -<p>Our principal danger was from the lawless -bands of marauders who infested the -country, and our greatest difficulty in dealing -with them lay in the utter absence of -constituted authority of any sort. Our -country was full of highwaymen—not the -picturesque highwaymen of whom fiction -and questionable history tell us, those gallant, -generous fellows whose purse-cutting -proclivities seem mere peccadilloes in the -midst of so many virtues; not these, by -any means, but plain highwaymen of the -most brutal description possible, and destitute -even of the merit of presenting a respectable -appearance. They were simply -the offscourings of the two armies and of -the suddenly freed negro population,—de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>serters -from fighting regiments on both -sides, and negro desperadoes, who found -common ground upon which to fraternize -in their common depravity. They moved -about in bands, from two to ten strong, cutting -horses out of plows, plundering helpless -people, and wantonly destroying valuables -which they could not carry away. At -the house of one of my friends where only -ladies lived, a body of these men demanded -dinner, which was given them. They then -required the mistress of the mansion to fill -their canteens with sorghum molasses, -which they immediately proceeded to pour -over the carpets and furniture of the parlor. -Outrages were of every-day enactment, and -there was no remedy. There was no State, -county, or municipal government in existence -among us. We had no courts, no -justices of the peace, no sheriffs, no officers -of any kind invested with a shadow of authority, -and there were not men enough in -the community, at first, to resist the ma<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>rauders, -comparatively few of the surrendered -soldiers having found their way home -as yet. Those districts in which the Federal -armies were stationed were peculiarly -fortunate. The troops gave protection to -the people, and the commandants of posts -constituted a government able to enforce -order, to which outraged or threatened people -could appeal. But these favored sections -were only a small part of the whole. -The troops were not distributed in detached -bodies over the country, but were -kept in considerable masses at strategic -points, lest a guerrilla war should succeed -regular hostilities; and so the greater part -of the country was left wholly without law, -at a time when law was most imperatively -needed. I mention this, not to the discredit -of the victorious army or of its officers. -They could not wisely have done -otherwise. If the disbanded Confederates -had seen fit to inaugurate a partisan warfare, -as many of the Federal commanders<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -believed they would, they could have annoyed -the army of occupation no little; and -so long as the temper of the country in this -matter was unknown, it would have been in -the last degree improper to station small -bodies of troops in exposed situations. -Common military prudence dictated the -massing of the troops, and as soon as it became -evident that we had no disposition to -resist further, but were disposed rather to -render such assistance as we could in restoring -and maintaining order, everything -was done which could be done to protect -us. It is with a good deal of pleasure that -I bear witness to the uniform disposition -shown by such Federal officers as I came -in contact with at this time, to protect all -quiet citizens, to restore order, and to forward -the interests of the community they -were called upon to govern. In one case I -went with a fellow-Confederate to the head-quarters -nearest me,—eighteen miles away,—and -reported the doings of some maraud<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>ers -in my neighborhood, which had been -especially outrageous. The general in -command at once made a detail of cavalry -and instructed its chief to go in pursuit of -the highwaymen, and to bring them to -him, dead or alive. They were captured, -marched at a double-quick to the camp, and -shot forthwith, by sentence of a drum-head -court-martial, a proceeding which did more -than almost anything else could have done, -to intimidate other bands of a like kind. -At another time I took to the same officer's -camp a number of stolen horses which a -party of us had managed to recapture from -a sleeping band of desperadoes. Some of -the horses we recognized as the property -of our neighbors, some we did not know at -all, and one or two were branded "C. S." -and "U. S." The general promptly returned -all the identified horses, and lent all the -others to farmers in need of them.</p> - -<p>After a little time most of the ex-soldiers -returned to their homes, and finding that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -there were enough of us in the county in -which I lived to exercise a much-needed -police supervision if we had the necessary -authority, we sent a committee of citizens -to Richmond to report the facts to the general -in command of the district. He received -our committee very cordially, expressed -great pleasure in the discovery that -citizens were anxious to maintain order -until a reign of law could be restored, and -granted us leave to organize ourselves into -a military police, with officers acting under -written authority from him; to patrol the -country; to disarm all improper or suspicious -persons; to arrest and turn over -to the nearest provost marshal all wrong-doers, -and generally to preserve order by -armed surveillance. To this he attached -but one condition, namely, that we should -hold ourselves bound in honor to assist any -United States officer who might require -such service of us, in the suppression of -guerrilla warfare. To this we were glad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -enough to assent, as the thing we dreaded -most at that time was the inauguration of -a hopeless, irregular struggle, which would -destroy the small chance left us of rebuilding -our fortunes and restoring our wasted -country to prosperity. We governed the -county in which we lived, until the establishment -of a military post at the county -seat relieved us of the task, and the permission -given us thus to stamp out lawlessness -saved our people from the alternative of -starvation or dependence upon the bounty -of the government. It was seed-time, and -without a vigorous maintenance of order -our fields could not have been planted at -all.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to comprehend, and impossible -to describe, the state of uncertainty in -which we lived at this time. We had surrendered -at discretion, and had no way of -discovering or even of guessing what terms -were to be given us. We were cut off -almost wholly from trustworthy news, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -in the absence of papers were unable even -to rest conjecture upon the expression of -sentiment at the North. Rumors we had -in plenty, but so many of them were clearly -false that we were forced to reject them all -as probably untrue. When we heard it -confidently asserted that General Alexander -had made a journey to Brazil and -brought back a tempting offer to emigrants, -knowing all the time that if he had gone he -must have made the trip within the extraordinarily -brief period of a few weeks, it -was difficult to believe other news which -reached us through like channels, though -much of it ultimately proved true. I think -nobody in my neighborhood believed the -rumor of Mr. Lincoln's assassination until -it was confirmed by a Federal soldier whom -I questioned upon the subject one day, a -week or two after the event. When we -knew that the rumor was true, we deemed -it the worst news we had heard since the -surrender. We distrusted President John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>son -more than any one else. Regarding -him as a renegade Southerner, we thought -it probable that he would endeavor to prove -his loyalty to the Union by extra severity -to the South, and we confidently believed -he would revoke the terms offered us -in Mr. Lincoln's amnesty proclamation; -wherefore there was a general haste to take -the oath and so to secure the benefit of the -dead president's clemency before his successor -should establish harsher conditions. -We should have regarded Mr. Lincoln's -death as a calamity, even if it had come -about by natural means, and coming as it -did through a crime committed in our -name, it seemed doubly a disaster.</p> - -<p>With the history of the South during the -period of reconstruction, all readers are -familiar, and it is only the state of affairs -between the time of the surrender and the -beginning of the rebuilding, that I have -tried to describe in this chapter. But the -picture would be inexcusably incomplete<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> -without some mention of the negroes. -Their behavior both during and after the -war may well surprise anybody not acquainted -with the character of the race. -When the men of the South were nearly all -in the army, the negroes were left in large -bodies on the plantations with nobody to -control them except the women and a few -old or infirm men. They might have been -insolent, insubordinate, and idle, if they -had chosen. They might have gained -their freedom by asserting it. They might -have overturned the social and political -fabric at any time, <em>and they knew all this -too</em>. They were intelligent enough to know -that there was no power on the plantations -capable of resisting any movement they -might choose to make. They did know, -too, that the success of the Federal arms -would give them freedom. The fact was -talked about everywhere, and no effort was -made to keep the knowledge of it from -them. They knew that to assert their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> -freedom was to give immediate success to -the Union cause. Most of them coveted -freedom, too, as the heartiness with which -they afterwards accepted it abundantly -proves. And yet they remained quiet, -faithful, and diligent throughout, very few -of them giving trouble of any sort, even on -plantations where only a few women remained -to control them. The reason for -all this must be sought in the negro character, -and we of the South, knowing that -character thoroughly, trusted it implicitly. -We left our homes and our helpless ones in -the keeping of the Africans of our households, -without any hesitation whatever. -We knew these faithful and affectionate -people too well to fear that they would -abuse such a trust. We concealed nothing -from them, and they knew quite as well as -we did the issues at stake in the war.</p> - -<p>The negro is constitutionally loyal to his -obligations as he understands them, and his -attachments, both local and personal, are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -uncommonly strong. He speedily forgets -an injury, but never a kindness, and so he -was not likely to rise in arms against the -helpless women and children whom he had -known intimately and loved almost reverentially -from childhood, however strongly -he desired the freedom which such a rising -would secure to him. It was a failure to -appreciate these peculiarities of the negro -character which led John Brown into the -mistake that cost him his life. Nothing is -plainer than that he miscalculated the difficulty -of exciting the colored people to insurrection. -He went to Harper's Ferry, -confident that when he should declare his -purposes, the negroes would flock to his -standard and speedily crown his effort with -success. They remained quietly at work -instead, many of them hoping, doubtless, -that freedom for themselves and their fellows -might somehow be wrought out, but -they were wholly unwilling to make the -necessary war upon the whites to whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -they were attached by the strongest possible -bonds of affection. And so throughout -the war they acted after their kind, waiting -for the issue with the great, calm patience -which is their most universal characteristic.</p> - -<p>When the war ended, leaving everything -in confusion, the poor blacks hardly knew -what to do, but upon the whole they acted -with great modesty, much consideration for -their masters, and singular wisdom. A few -depraved ones took to bad courses at once, -but their number was remarkably small. -Some others, with visionary notions, betook -themselves to the cities in search of easier -and more profitable work than any they -had ever done, and many of these suffered -severely from want before they found employment -again. The great majority waited -patiently for things to adjust themselves in -their new conditions, going on with their -work meanwhile, and conducting themselves -with remarkable modesty. I saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -much of them at this time, and I heard of -no case in which a negro voluntarily reminded -his master of the changed relations -existing between them, or in any other way -offended against the strictest rules of propriety.</p> - -<p>At my own home the master of the mansion -assembled his negroes immediately -after the surrender; told them they were -free, and under no obligation whatever to -work for him; and explained to them the -difficulty he found in deciding what kind -of terms he ought to offer them, inasmuch -as he was wholly ignorant upon the subject -of the wages of agricultural laborers. He -told them, however, that if they wished to -go on with the crop, he would give them -provisions and clothing as before, and at -the end of the year would pay them as high -a rate of wages as any paid in the neighborhood. -To this every negro on the place -agreed, all of them protesting that they -wanted no better terms than for their mas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>ter -to give them at the end of the year -whatever he thought they had earned. -They lost not an hour from their work, -and the life upon the plantation underwent -no change whatever until its master was -forced by a pressure of debt to sell his land. -I give the history of the adjustment on this -plantation as a fair example of the way in -which ex-masters and ex-slaves were disposed -to deal with each other.</p> - -<p>There were cases in which no such harmonious -adjustment could be effected, but, -so far as my observation extended, these -were exceptions to the common rule, and -even now, after a lapse of nine years, a very -large proportion of the negroes remain, -either as hired laborers or as renters of -small farms, on the plantations on which -they were born.</p> - - -<hr class="r10" /> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Rebel's Recollections, by George Cary Eggleston - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A REBEL'S RECOLLECTIONS *** - -***** This file should be named 51211-h.htm or 51211-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/2/1/51211/ - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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