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Title: The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina
Author: Spencer, Cornelia Phillips
Language: English
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THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR IN NORTH-CAROLINA.
by
CORNELIA PHILLIPS SPENCER.
New-York:
Watchman Publishing Company,
W. H. Chase, Publishing Agent
1866.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
Charles F. Deems,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New-York.
TO THE
Hon. D.L. Swain, LL.D.,
AT WHOSE SUGGESTION IT WAS UNDERTAKEN, AND BY WHOSE
INVALUABLE ADVICE, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND ASSISTANCE
IT HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THIS BOOK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
The papers on the Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina, which
originally appeared in the New-York WATCHMAN, and are now presented
in book form, were commenced with no plan or intention of continuing
them beyond two or three numbers. The unexpected favor with which they
were received led to their extension, and finally resulted in their
republication.
To do justice to North-Carolina, and to place beyond cavil or reproach
the attitude of her leaders at the close of the great Southern States
Rights struggle--to present a faithful picture of the times, and a just
judgment, whether writing of friend or foe, has been my sole object.
Slight as these sketches are, they may claim at least the merit of
truth, and this, I am persuaded, is no slight recommendation with the
truth-loving people of North-Carolina.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Difficulties of the History--The Position of North-Carolina--The Peace
Convention--The Montgomery Convention--Governor Vance--The Salisbury
Prison--Testimony on the Trial, 13
CHAPTER II.
Winter of 1864-'5--Letter of Governor Vance--Appeal for General Lee's
Army--The Destitution of the People--Fall of Fort Fisher--Advance of
General Sherman--Contrast between Sherman and Cornwallis--Extracts
from Lord Cornwallis's Order-book--The "Bloody Tarleton," 26
CHAPTER III.
Judge Ruffin--His History--His Character--His Services--General Couch's
Outrages after Peace had been declared--General Sherman's Outrages--His
unblushing Official Report--"Army Correspondents"--Sherman
in Fayetteville--Cornwallis in Fayetteville--Coincidences of
Plans--Contrasts in Modes--The Negro Suffers--Troops Concentrating under
General Johnston, 40
CHAPTER IV.
Laws of War--"Right to Forage older than History"--Xenophon--Kent on
International Law--Halleck's Authority _versus_ Sherman's Theory and
Practice--President Woolsey--Letter of Bishop Atkinson, 53
CHAPTER V.
Lord Cornwallis in Fayetteville--A young Lady's Interview with him--How
he treated her--How Sherman's Men treated her Grandson--"The
Story of the Great March"--Major Nichols and the "Quadroon Girls"--Such
is NOT War--Why these Things are recorded--Confederate Concentration
in North-Carolina--A Sad Story, 65
CHAPTER VI.
"Shays's Rebellion"--Kent on Massachusetts--Conduct of a Northern
Government to Northern Rebels--The "Whisky Insurrection"--How
Washington treated a Rebellion--Secession of New-England Birth--The
War of 1812--Bancroft on 1676--The Baconists--An Appeal, 76
CHAPTER VII.
Schofield's Army--Sherman's--Their Outrages--Union Sentiment--A
Disappointment--Ninety-two Years Ago--Governor Graham--His Ancestry--His
Career--Governor Manly, 94
CHAPTER VIII.
Governor Graham opposes Secession--But goes with his State--Is sent to
the Confederate Senate--His Agency in the Hampton Roads
Interview--Remarkable and Interesting Letters from Governor Graham,
written from Richmond in 1865, 109
CHAPTER IX.
State of Parties--The Feeling of the People--The "Peace"
Party--Important Letter from Governor Vance in January, 1864--His
Reëlection--The War Party--The Peace Party--The Moderates--Governor
Graham's Letter of March, 1865--Evacuation of Richmond, 121
CHAPTER X.
General Johnston preparing to uncover Raleigh--Urgent Letter from
Governor Swain to Governor Graham--Governor Graham's Reply--A Programme
of Operations agreed upon--Finally Governors Graham and
Swain start for Sherman's Headquarters, 134
CHAPTER XI.
Raleigh, when uncovered--The Commissioners to General Sherman--They
start--Are recalled by General Johnston--Are stopped by Kilpatrick's
Forces--Their Interview with Kilpatrick--Are carried to Sherman's
Headquarters--His Reply to Governor Vance--The further Proceedings
of the Commission--A Pleasant Incident--The Commissioners return
to Raleigh--Governor Vance had left--His Letter to Sherman--The
Federal Troops enter Raleigh--Incidents, 145
CHAPTER XII.
Johnston's Retreat--Governors Graham and Swain misunderstood--Wheeler's
Cavalry--Confederate Occupancy of Chapel Hill--The Last Blood--"Stars
and Stripes"--One in Death--General Atkins--Scenes around
Raleigh--Military Lawlessness, 165
CHAPTER XIII.
Correspondence between Governor Swain and General Sherman--Governor
Vance's Position and Conduct--Kilpatrick--The Conduct of the
Servants--"Lee's Men"--President Lincoln, 178
CHAPTER XIV.
General Stoneman--Outrages--Cold-blooded Murders--General
Gillam--Progress through Lenoir, Wilkes, Surry, and Stokes--Stoneman's
Detour into Virginia--The Defense of Salisbury--The Fight in the Streets
of Salisbury--General Polk's Family--Temporary Occupancy of
Salisbury--Continuous Raiding, 192
CHAPTER XV.
Iredell County--General Palmer's Courtesy to Mrs. Vance--Subsequent
Treatment of this Lady by Federal Soldiers--Major Hambright's Cruelty
in Lenoir--Case of Dr. Ballew and Others--General Gillam--His
Outrages at Mrs. Hagler's--Dr. Boone Clark--Terrible Treatment of
his Family--Lieutenants Rice and Mallobry--Mrs. General
Vaughan--Morganton, 213
CHAPTER XVI.
Plundering of Colonel Carson--Of Rev. Mr. Paxton--General Martin
repulses Kirby--Gillam plunders during the Armistice--Occupation of
Asheville--Wholesale Plunder--Dispatch from General Palmer, 225
CHAPTER XVII.
Surrender of General Lee--Why North-Carolina could not have taken
Measures to send Commissioners--Review--The Coal-fields
Railway--Difficulties of Transportation--Provisions--The Last
Call--Recreants--Privations--The Condition of the Press, 235
CHAPTER XVIII.
The University--Its Early History--Its Continued Growth--The Ardor of
the Young Men--Application for Relief from Conscription--Governor
Swain to President Davis--Another Draft on the Boys--A Dozen Boys
in College when Sherman comes; and the Bells ring on--"Commencement"
in 1865--One Graduate--He pronounces the Valedictory--Conclusion, 251
APPENDIX.
I.--UNIVERSITY RECORD, 267
II.--GENERAL JAMES JOHNSTON PETTIGREW, 278
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR
IN
NORTH-CAROLINA.
CHAPTER I.
DIFFICULTIES OF THE HISTORY--THE POSITION OF NORTH-CAROLINA--THE PEACE
CONVENTION--THE MONTGOMERY CONVENTION--GOVERNOR VANCE--THE SALISBURY
PRISON--TESTIMONY ON THE TRIAL.
It will be long before the history of the late war can be soberly and
impartially written. The passions that have been evoked by it will not
soon slumber, and it is perhaps expecting too much of human nature, to
believe that a fair and candid statement of facts on either side will
soon be made. There is as yet too much to be forgotten--too much to be
forgiven.
The future historian of the great struggle will doubtless have ample
material at his disposal; but from a vast mass of conflicting; evidence
he will have to sift, combine, and arrange the grains of truth--a work
to which few men of this generation are competent. But meanwhile there
is much to be done in collecting evidence, especially by those who
desire that justice shall be done to the South: and this evidence, it
is to be hoped, will be largely drawn from _private_ sources. History
has in general no more invaluable and irrefragable witnesses for the
truth than are to be found in the journals, memoranda, and private
correspondence of the prominent and influential men who either acted
in, or were compelled to remain quiet observers of the events of their
day. Especially will this be found to be the case when posterity shall
sit in judgment on the past four years in the South. From no other
sources can so fair a representation be made of the conflicts of
opinion, or of the motives of action in the time when madness seemed to
rule the hour, when all individual and all State efforts for peace were
powerless, when sober men were silenced, and when even the public press
could hardly be considered free.
If it be true of the South in general, that even in the most
excited localities warning voices were raised in vain, and that a
strong undercurrent of good sense and calm reflection undoubtedly
existed--overborne for a time by the elements of strife and
revolution--more especially and with tenfold emphasis is it true of the
State of North-Carolina.
"Where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down: and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death;
And prophesying, with accents terrible,
Of dire combustion, and confused events,
New-hatched to the woful time."
That North-Carolina accepted a destiny which she was unable to
control, when she ranged herself in the war for Southern independence,
is a fact which can not be disputed. And though none the less ardently
did her sons spring to arms, and none the less generously and
splendidly did her people sustain the great army that poured forth from
her borders; though none the less patient endurance and obedience to
the general government was theirs; yet it is also a fact, indisputable
and on record, that North-Carolina was never allowed her just weight
of influence in the councils of the Southern Confederacy, nor were the
opinions or advice of her leading men either solicited or regarded.
And therefore, nowhere as in the private, unreserved correspondence
of her leading men, can her attitude at the beginning, her temper
and her course all through, and her action at the close of the war,
be so clearly and so fairly defined and illustrated, and shown to be
eminently consistent and characteristic throughout.
The efforts made by North-Carolina, during the winter and spring of
1861, to maintain peace and to preserve the Union, were unappreciated,
unsuccessful, and perhaps were not even generally known. In February of
that year, two separate delegations left the State, appointed by her
Legislature, each consisting of selections from her best citizens--one
for Washington City and the other for Montgomery, Alabama. Judge
Ruffin, Governor Morehead, Governor Reid, D.M. Barringer, and George
Davis were accredited to the Peace Convention at Washington; Governor
Swain and Messrs. Bridgers and Ransom to the Convention at Montgomery,
to meet the delegations expected to convene there from the other
Southern States.
Neither of these delegations, however, were able to effect any thing.
They were received with courtesy, respect, and attention on each
side, but nothing was done. The Peace Convention at Washington was a
failure--why or how, has never been clearly shown. If one or other of
the distinguished gentlemen who formed the North-Carolina delegation
would commit an account of the mission to writing, he would be doing
the State good service. I would venture to suggest it to Judge Ruffin,
whose appearance there was said to have been in the highest degree
venerable and impressive, and his speech _for the Union_ and for the
Old Flag most eloquent and affecting.
The expected delegations from the other Southern States to Montgomery
failed to arrive, and North-Carolina was there alone, and could only
look on. The provisional government for such of the States as had
already seceded was then acting, and the general Confederate government
was in process of organization. Our delegates were treated with marked
courtesy, and were invited to attend the secret sessions of the
Congress, which, however, they declined. North-Carolina stood there
alone; and as she maintained an attitude of calm and sad deprecation,
she was viewed with distrust and suspicion by all extremists, and was
taunted with her constitutional slowness and lack of chivalric fire.
The moderation and prudence of her counsels were indeed but little
suited to the fiery temper of that latitude. Too clearly, even then,
she saw the end from the beginning; but what was left for her, when
the clouds lowered and the storm at last broke, but to stand where the
God of nature had placed her, and where affection and interest both
inclined her--_in_ the South and _with_ the South? To that standard,
then, her brave sons flocked, in obedience to her summons; for them
and for their safety and success were her prayers and tears given; for
their comfort and subsistence every nerve was strained in the mortal
struggle that followed; and their graves will be forever hallowed--none
the less, I repeat, that from the first the great body of her people
and the best and most clear-sighted of her public men deprecated the
whole business of secession, and with sad prevision foretold the result.
If history shall do her justice, the part played by North-Carolina all
through this mournful and bloody drama will be found well worthy of
careful study.
The quiet and self-reliant way in which, when she found remonstrance
to be in vain, she went to her inevitable work; the foresight of
her preparations; the thoroughness of her equipments; the splendor
of her achievements on the battle-field; her cheerful and patient
yielding to all lawful demands of the general government; her watchful
guard against unlawful encroachments, as the times grew more and
more lawless; her silence, her modesty, and her efficiency--were all
strikingly _North-Carolinian_. Not one laurel would she appropriate
from the brow of a sister State--nay, the blood shed and the sufferings
endured in the common cause but cement the Southern States together in
dearer bonds of affection. No word uttered by a North-Carolinian in
defense or praise of his own mother, can be construed as an attempt
to exalt her at the expense of others. But I am speaking now of
North-Carolina alone, and my principal object will be to present the
closing scenes of the war, as they appeared within some part of her
borders, and to make a plain record of her action therein--a sketch
which may afford valuable memoranda to the future historian.
Much of the energy and the efficiency displayed by the State in
providing for the exigencies of war, were due to the young man whom
she chose for her Governor, in August, 1862. Governor Vance was one
of the people--one of the soldiers--and came from the camp to the
palace undoubtedly the most popular man in the State. A native of
Buncombe county, he had been in a great measure the architect of his
own fortunes. Possessing unrivaled abilities as a popular speaker,
he had made his way rapidly in the confidence of the brave and free
mountaineers of Western Carolina, and was a member of the United States
House of Representatives for the term ending at the inauguration of
President Lincoln. He used all his influence most ardently to avert the
disruption of the Union, down to the time when the Convention of May,
1861, passed the ordinance of secession. Then, following the fortunes
of his own State, he threw himself with equal ardor into the ranks of
her army. Volunteering as private in one of the first companies raised
in Buncombe, he was soon elected captain, and thence rose rapidly to
be Colonel of the Twenty-sixth regiment. His further military career
was closed by his being elected Governor in 1862, by an overwhelming
vote, over the gentleman who was generally considered as the candidate
of the secession party. We were, indeed, all secessionists then; but
those who were defined as "_original secessionists_"--men who invoked
and cheered on the movement and the war--were ever in a small minority
in this State, both as to numbers and to influence. Governor Vance was
elected because he _had been_ a strong Union man, and _was_ a gallant
soldier--two qualifications which some of our Northern brethren can not
admit as consistent or admirable in one and the same true character,
but which together constituted the strongest claim upon the confidence
and affection of North-Carolina.
Governor Vance's career from the first was marked by devotion to the
people who had distinguished him, and by a determination to do his
duty to _them_ at all hazards. This is not the place, nor have I the
material for such a display of Governor Vance's course of action as
would do him deserved justice; but this I may say, that his private
correspondence, if ever it shall be published, will endear him still
more to the State which he loved, and to the best of his ability served.
His employment of a blockade-runner to bring in clothing for the
North-Carolina troops was a noble idea, and proved a brilliant
success.[1] If he had done nothing else in his official career
to prove himself worthy to be our Governor, this alone would be
sufficient. It matters but little as to the amount, great or small,
of Confederate money spent in this service. It is all gone now; but
the substantial and incalculable good that resulted at the time from
this expenditure, can neither be disputed nor forgotten. For two years
his swift-sailing vessels, especially the A.D. Vance, escaped the
blockaders, and steamed regularly in and out of the port of Wilmington,
followed by the prayers and anxieties of our whole people. "The
Advance is in!" was a signal for congratulations in every town in the
State; for we knew that another precious cargo was safe, of shoes, and
blankets, and cloth, and medicines, and cards. And so it was that when
other brave men went barefoot and ill-clad through the winter storms
of Virginia, our own North Carolina boys were well supplied, and their
wives and little ones at home were clothed, thanks to our Governor and
to our God.
I have seen tears of thankfulness running down the cheeks of our
soldiers' wives on receiving a pair of these cards, by which alone they
were to clothe and procure bread for themselves and their children. And
they never failed to express their sense of what they owed to their
Governor. "God bless him!" they would cry, "for thinking of it. And God
_will_ bless him."
One striking evidence of the fullness and efficiency of these supplies
I can not refrain from giving, as it occurred at the close of the war,
when our resources, it might be supposed, were utterly exhausted. It
will also serve to show what manner of man Governor Vance was, in more
ways than one.
In February, 1865, the attention of our people was called to the
condition of the Federal prisoners at Salisbury. The officer in charge
of them may or may not have been as he is represented. Time will bring
the truth to light. But it was alleged against him, that he would not
only do nothing himself for the unhappy prisoners under his care, but
would allow no private interference for their comfort. The usual answer
of all such men, when appealed to on the score of common humanity, was,
"What business have these Yankees here?" This was deemed triumphant
and unanswerable. That their food should be scanty and of poor quality
was unavoidable when our own citizens were in want and our soldiers
were on half-rations; but sufficient clothing, kind attendance, and
common decencies and comforts were, or might have been, extended to
all within the bounds of our State. How far the Federal Government
was itself responsible and criminal in this matter, by its refusal to
exchange prisoners, future investigations will decide. The following
extract of a letter from a prominent member of our last Legislature to
a distinguished citizen, shows what the State of North-Carolina could
and would have done for their relief:
"I called at Governor Vance's office, in the capitol, and found him
sitting alone; and though his desk was covered with papers and
documents, these did not seem to engage his attention. He rather seemed
to be in profound thought. He expressed himself pleased to see me,
and proceeded to say that he had just seen a Confederate surgeon from
Salisbury--mentioning his name--and was shocked at what he had heard
of the condition of the Federal prisoners there. He went on to detail
what he had heard, and testified deep feeling during the recital. He
concluded by saying that he wished to see the State take some action on
the subject. I assured him immediately how entirely I sympathized with
him, and asked what relief it was in our power to bestow. He replied
that the State had a full supply of clothing, made of English cloth,
for our own troops, and that she had also a considerable quantity made
of our own factory cloth. And further, that the State had also a very
large supply of under-clothing, blankets, etc.; a supply of all which
things might be dispensed to the prisoners, without trenching upon the
comfort of our own troops. I told him that a resolution, vesting him
with proper authority to act in the matter, could, I thought, be passed
through the Legislature. That I thought it very desirable that such a
resolution should be passed unanimously; and with a view to obviate
objections from extreme men, it was better so to shape the resolution
as to make it the means of obtaining reciprocal relief for our own
prisoners at the North. This was done. The resolution requesting
Governor Vance to effect an arrangement by which, in consideration of
blankets, clothing, etc., to be distributed by the Federal Government
to prisonners of war from North-Carolina, blankets, clothing, etc.,
in like quantity, should be distributed by the State of North-Carolina
to the Federal prisoners at Salisbury, passed both houses, I think,
without one dissentient voice, within the next day."
The letter-books of Governor Vance, it will be remembered, passed into
the hands of the military authorities in May, 1865; and, under the
order of General Schofield, were transmitted to the State Department
at Washington. Whether they have been or are to be returned to the
Executive Department of this State, to whom they properly belong,
remains to be seen. A correspondent of the New-York press, who was
allowed to examine them, remarks that "among much evil they exhibited
_redeeming traits of character_!" that "the letters of Governor Vance
to Mr. Secretary Seddon, of the War Department of Richmond, and to
General Bradley Johnson, who had control of the prisoners at Salisbury,
_urged_ upon both these functionaries the immediate relief of the
suffering prisoners, as alike dictated by humanity and policy." This
correspondence, when it shall come to light, will show that the action
of the executive was as prompt and decided as that of the legislative
department of the State. Whatever may be said of the treatment of
prisoners at Andersonville and elsewhere, it is certain that no efforts
were spared on the part of the public authorities of North-Carolina,
nor, we may add, of the community around Salisbury, to mitigate, as far
as was possible, the inevitable horrors of war; and that our Governor,
especially, exerted all the power and influence at his command to
render immediate and effectual relief.
Governor Vance received no reply to his application to the Federal
authorities. From General Bradley Johnson, at Salisbury, he received in
reply a list of clothing and provisions then being received from the
North for the prisoners; and a statement that they needed nothing but
some tents, which Governor Vance was unable to send them.
The investigations of the Gee trial, held at Raleigh since the above
was written, have served to substantiate all that I have said. What
we could do, we were willing to do for our unhappy prisoners. But our
own people, our own soldiers, were on the verge of starvation. Every
effort was made by our authorities to induce the Northern Government
to exchange, without effect. Their men died by thousands in our
semi-tropical climate, because we were powerless to relieve them with
either food or medicine. No one can read the testimony given at the
Gee trial without a deep impression of the awful state of destitution
among us. The country around Salisbury was stripped bare of provisions,
and the railroads were utterly unfit for service. One of the witnesses
stated that they had to take up the turn-outs to mend the road with.
"Writing now, at a distance of nearly two years, I can not recall
the dark and hopeless days of that winter without a shudder. We knew
the condition of those prisoners while we were mourning over the
destitution of our own army. The coarse bread served at our own meagre
repasts was made bitter by our reflections. A lady, writing from
Salisbury, said: I am much more concerned at the condition of these
prisoners than at the advance of Sherman's army."
That North-Carolina had at least clothing to offer them was more than
could be said for any other Southern State in that respect. She was
probably worse off for provision than those south of her. She gave what
she had. She did what she could.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Since the publication of the above, I have been informed
by Governor Vance that the first suggestion of this plan was due to
Gen. J.G. Martin alone. He was at that time Adjutant-General of the
State, and at a consultation held by Governor Vance soon after his
entrance upon office, to devise ways and means for providing for our
soldiers, Gen. Martin suggested and advocated the employment of a
blockade-runner. It was a bold and happy thought, and as boldly and
happily carried out by Governor Vance.]
CHAPTER II.
WINTER OF 1864-'5--LETTER OF GOVERNOR VANCE--APPEAL FOR GENERAL LEE'S
ARMY--THE DESTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE--FALL OF FORT FISHER--ADVANCE OF
GENERAL SHERMAN--CONTRAST BETWEEN SHERMAN AND CORNWALLIS--EXTRACTS
FROM LORD CORNWALLIS'S ORDER-BOOK--THE "BLOODY TARLETON."
The fall and winter of 1864-'5 were especially gloomy to our people.
The hopes that had so long delusively buoyed up the Southern States
in their desperate struggle against overwhelming odds were beginning
to flag very perceptibly in every part of the Confederacy where
people were capable of appreciating the facts of the situation. More
especially, then, in North-Carolina, situated so near to the seat of
war that false rumors, telegrams, and "reliable gentlemen" from the
front had never had more than a very limited circulation here, and
whose sober people never had been blinded or dazzled by the glare of
false lights; more especially here were there only gloomy outlooks for
the year 1865, as it dawned.
In September, 1864, our representative Governor had written thus
confidentially to his oldest and most warmly attached personal friend,
a gentleman of the highest consideration in the State--a letter that
needs neither introduction nor comment to secure it attention:
"RALEIGH, September 22, 1864.
"I would be glad if I could have a long talk with you. I never before
have been so gloomy about the condition of affairs. Early's defeat
in the valley I consider as the turning-point in this campaign;
and, confidentially, I fear it seals the fate of Richmond, though
not immediately. It will require our utmost exertions to retain
our footing in Virginia till '65 comes in. McClellan's defeat is
placed among the facts, and abolitionism is rampant for four years
more. The army in Georgia is utterly demoralized; and by the time
President Davis, who has gone there, displays again his obstinacy
in defying public sentiment, and his ignorance of men in the change
of commanders, its ruin will be complete. They are now deserting by
hundreds. In short, if the enemy pushes his luck till the close of the
year, we shall not be offered any terms at all.
"The signs which discourage me more than aught else are the utter
demoralization of the people. With a base of communication five
hundred miles in Sherman's rear, through our own country, not a bridge
has been burned, not a car thrown from its track, nor a man shot
by the people whose country he has desolated. They seem everywhere
to submit when our armies are withdrawn. What does this show, my
dear sir? It shows what I have always believed, that _the great
popular heart_ is not now, and never has been in this war. It was a
revolution of the _Politicians_, not the _People_; and was fought at
first by the natural enthusiasm of our young men, and has been kept
going by State and sectional pride, assisted by that bitterness of
feeling produced by the cruelties and brutalities of the enemy.
"Still, I am not out of heart, for, as you know, I am of a buoyant
and hopeful temperament. Things may come round yet. General Lee is _a
great man_, and has the remnant of the best army on earth, bleeding,
torn, and overpowered though it be. Saturday night may yet come to
all of our troubles, and be followed by the blessed hours of rest.
God grant it! 'Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief' in final
liberty and independence. I would fain be doing. How can I help to
win the victory? What can I do? How shall I guide this suffering and
much-oppressed Israel that looks to me through the tangled and bloody
pathway wherein our lines have fallen? Duty called me to resist to
the utmost the disruption of the Union. Duty calls me now to stand by
the new union, 'to the last gasp with truth and loyalty.' This is my
consolation. The beginning was bad: I had no hand in it. Should the
end be bad, I shall, with God's help, be equally blameless.
"I hope when you come down, you will give yourself time to be with me
a great deal.
"I am, dear sir, very truly yours,
"Z.B. Vance."
The saddest forebodings of this letter, which would have been echoed
by many a failing heart in the State, were soon to be realized. By
January, 1865, there was very little room left for "belief" of any sort
in the ultimate success of the Confederacy. All the necessaries of life
were scarce, and were held at fabulous and still increasing prices. The
great freshet of January 10th, which washed low grounds, carried off
fences, bridges, mills, and tore up railroads all through the central
part of the State, at once doubled the price of corn and flour. Two
destructive fires in the same month, which consumed great quantities
of government stores at Charlotte and at Salisbury, added materially
to the general gloom and depression. The very elements seemed to have
enlisted against us. And soon, with no great surplus of food from the
wants of her home population, North-Carolina found herself called upon
to furnish supplies for two armies.
Early in January, an urgent and most pressing appeal was made for
Lee's army; and the people, most of whom knew not where they would
get bread for their children in three months' time, responded nobly,
as they had always done to any call for "the soldiers." Few were the
hearts in any part of the land that did not thrill at the thought that
those who were fighting; for us were in want of food. From the humble
cabin on the hill-side, where the old brown spinning-wheel and the
rude loom were the only breastworks against starvation, up through all
grades of life, there were none who did not feel a deep and tender,
almost heartbreaking solicitude for our noble soldiers. For them the
last barrel of flour was divided, the last luxury in homes that had
once abounded was cheerfully surrendered. Every available resource was
taxed, every expedient of domestic economy was put in practice--as
indeed had been done all along; but our people went to work even yet
with fresh zeal. I speak now of Central North-Carolina, where many
families of the highest respectability and refinement lived for months
on corn-bread, sorghum, and peas; where meat was seldom on the table,
tea and coffee never; where dried apples and peaches were a luxury;
where children went barefoot through the winter, and ladies made their
own shoes, and wove their own homespuns; where the carpets were cut up
into blankets, and window-curtains and sheets were torn up for hospital
uses; where soldiers' socks were knit day and night, while for home
service clothes were twice turned, and patches were patched again; and
all this continually, and with an energy and a cheerfulness that may
well be called _heroic_.
There were localities in the State where a few rich planters boasted
of having "never felt the war;" there were ladies whose wardrobes
encouraged the blockade-runners, and whose tables were still heaped
with all the luxuries they had ever known. There were such doubtless in
every State in the Confederacy. I speak not now of these, but of the
great body of our citizens--the _middle_ class as to fortune, generally
the _highest_ as to cultivation and intelligence--_these_ were the
people who denied themselves and their little ones, that they might be
able to send relief to the gallant men who lay in the trenches before
Petersburgh, and were even then living on crackers and parched corn.
The fall of Fort Fisher and the occupation of Wilmington, the failure
of the peace commission, and the unchecked advance of Sherman's army
northward from Savannah, were the all-absorbing topics of discussion
with our people during the first months of the year 1865. The tide
of war was rolling in upon us. Hitherto our privations, heavily as
they had borne upon domestic comfort, had been light in comparison
with those of the people in the States actually invaded by the
Federal armies; but now we were to be qualified to judge, by our
own experience, how far their trials and losses had exceeded ours.
What the fate of our pleasant towns and villages and of our isolated
farm-houses would be, we could easily read by the light of the blazing
roof-trees that lit up the path of the advancing army. General
Sherman's principles were well known, for they had been carefully
laid down by him in his letter to the Mayor of Atlanta, September,
1864, and had been thoroughly put in practice by him in his further
progress since. To shorten the war by increasing its severity: this
was his plan--simple, and no doubt to a certain extent effective. But
it is surely well worth serious inquiry and investigation on the part
of those who decide these questions, and settle the laws of nations,
how far the laws and usages of war demand and justify the entire ruin
of a country and its unresisting inhabitants by the invading army;
or if those laws, as they are interpreted by the common-sense of
civilized humanity, do indeed justify such a course, how far they are
susceptible of change and improvement.
That the regulations which usually obtain in armies invading an
enemy's country do at least permit every species of annoyance and
oppression, tending to assist the successful prosecution of the war,
to be exercised toward non-combatants, is unhappily testified by the
annals of even modern and so-called Christian warfare. Especially are
the evil passions of a brutal soldiery excited and inflamed where the
inhabitants betake themselves to guerrilla or partisan warfare; and
more especially and fatally in the case of long-protracted sieges,
or the taking of a town by storm. The excesses committed by both
the English and the French armies in the war of the Peninsula are
recorded (and execrated) by their own generals, and are characterized
by the historian as "all crimes which man in his worst excesses can
commit--horrors so atrocious that their very atrocity preserves them
from our full execration because it makes it impossible to describe
them." Havoc and ruin have always accompanied invading armies to
a greater or less degree, modified by the causes of the war, the
character of the commanding officers, and the amount of discipline
maintained.
A little more historical and political knowledge diffused among her
people might have saved the South the unnecessarily bitter lesson she
has received on this matter. Very, very few of the unthinking young
men and women who clamored so madly for war four years ago, knew
what fiend they were invoking. Few, very few of their leaders knew.
Could the curtain that vailed the future have been lifted but for
a moment before them, how would they have recoiled horror-stricken!
But while admitting that in cases of very bitter national hatreds,
ill-disciplined soldiery, and raw generals, excesses are allowed and
defended, it is also the province of history to point with pride to
those instances where veteran commanders, knowing well the horrors of
war, seek to alleviate its miseries, and "seize the opportunities of
nobleness," and, believing with Napier, that "discipline has its root
in patriotism," do effectually control the armies they lead. Of such
as these there are happily not a few great names whose humanity and
generosity exhibited to the unfortunate inhabitants of the country they
were traversing lend additional lustre to their fame as consummate
soldiers. I shall, however, recall but one example to confirm this
position--an example likely to be particularly interesting to
Southerners as a parallel, and most striking as a contrast, to General
Sherman's course in the South.
In the month of January, 1781, exactly eighty-four years before General
Sherman's artillery trains woke the echoes through the heart of the
Carolinas, it pleased God to direct the course of another invading
army along much the same track; an army that had come three thousand
miles to put down what was in truth "a rebellion;" an army stanch
in enthusiastic loyalty to the government for whose rights it was
contending; an army also in pursuit of retreating "rebels," and panting
to put the finishing blow to a hateful secession, and whose commander
endeavored to arrive at his ends by strategical operations very much
resembling those which in this later day were crowned with success.
Here the parallel ends. The country traversed then and now by invading
armies was, eighty-four years ago, poor and wild and thinly settled.
Instead of a single grand, deliberate, and triumphant march through
a highly cultivated and undefended country, there had been many of
the undulations of war in the fortunes of that army--now pursuing,
now retreating--and finally, in the last hot chase of the flying (and
yet triumphant) rebels from the southern to the northern border of
North-Carolina, that invading army, to add celerity to its movements,
voluntarily and deliberately destroyed all its baggage and stores, the
noble and accomplished Commander-in-Chief himself setting the example.
The inhabitants of the country, thinly scattered and unincumbered with
wealth, exhibited the most determined hostility to the invaders, so
that if ever an invading army had good reason and excuse for ravaging
and pillaging as it passed along, that army may surely be allowed it.
What was the policy of its commander under such circumstances toward
the people of Carolina?
I have before me now Lord Cornwallis's own order-book--truly venerable
and interesting--bound in leather, with a brass clasp, the paper coarse
and the ink faded, but the handwriting uncommonly good, and the whole
in excellent preservation. A valuable relic in these days, when it is
well to know what are the traits which go to make a true soldier, and
how he may at least endeavor to divest war of its brutality. A few
extracts will show what Cornwallis's principles were.
"CAMP NEAR BEATTIE'S FORD, }
January 28, 1781. }
"Lord Cornwallis has so often experienced the zeal and good-will of
the army, that he has not the smallest doubt that the officers and
soldiers will most cheerfully submit to the ill conveniences that
must naturally attend war so remote from water carriage and the
magazines of the army. The supply of rum for a time will be absolutely
impossible, and that of meal very uncertain. It is needless to
point out to the officers the necessity of preserving the strictest
discipline, and of preventing the oppressed people from suffering
violence by the hands from whom they are taught to look for protection.
"To prevent the total destruction of the country and the ruin of his
Majesty's service, it is necessary that the regulation in regard to
the number of horses taken should be strictly observed. Major-General
Leslie will be pleased to require the most exact obedience to
this order from the officers commanding brigades and corps. The
supernumerary horses that may from time to time be discovered will be
sent to headquarters."
"HEADQUARTERS, CANSLER'S PLANTATION, }
February 2, 1781. }
"Lord Cornwallis is highly displeased that several houses have been
set on fire to-day during the march--a disgrace to the army--and he
will punish with the utmost severity any person or persons who shall
be found guilty of committing so disgraceful an outrage. His Lordship
requests the commanding officers of the corps will endeavor to find
the persons who set fire to the houses this day."
"HEADQUARTERS, DOBBIN'S HOUSE, }
February 17, 1781. }
"Lord Cornwallis is very sorry to be obliged to call the attention of
the officers of the army to the repeated orders against plundering,
and he assures the officers that if their duty to their king and
country, and their feeling for humanity, are not sufficient to enforce
their obedience to them, he must, however reluctantly, make use of
such power as the military laws have placed in his hands.
"Great complaints having been made of negroes straggling from the line
of march, plundering and using violence to the inhabitants, it is Lord
Cornwallis's positive orders that no negro shall be suffered to carry
arms on any pretense, and all officers and other persons who employ
negroes are desired to acquaint them that the provost-marshal has
received orders to seize and shoot on the spot any negro following the
army who may offend against these regulations.
"It is expected that captains will exert themselves to keep good order
and prevent plundering. Should any complaint be made of the wagoners
or followers of the army, it will be necessarily imputed to neglect on
the part of the captains. Any officer who looks on with indifference,
and does not do his utmost to prevent shameful marauding, will be
considered in a more criminal light than the persons who commit these
scandalous crimes, which must bring disgrace and ruin on his Majesty's
service.
"All foraging parties will give receipts for the supplies taken by
them."
"HEADQUARTERS, FREELANDS, }
February 28, 1781. }
MEMORANDUM.
"A watch found by the regiment of Bose. The owner may have it from the
adjutant of that regiment on proving his property."
"CAMP SMITH'S PLANTATION, }
March 1, 1781. }
"BRIGADE ORDERS.
"It is Brigadier-General O'Hara's orders that the officers commanding
companies cause an immediate inspection of the articles of clothing,
etc., in the possession of the women in their companies, and an
exact account taken thereof by the pay-sergeants; after which, their
necessaries are to be regularly examined at proper intervals, and
every article found in addition thereto burnt at the head of the
company--except such as have been fairly purchased on application
to the commanding officers and added to their former list by the
sergeants as above. The officers are likewise ordered to make these
examinations at such times, and in such manner as to prevent the women
(supposed to be the source of infamous plundering[2]) from evading the
purport of this order.
"A woman having been robbed of a watch, a black silk handkerchief,
a gallon of peach brandy, and a shirt, and, as by the description,
by a soldier of the Guards, the camp and every man's kit is to be
immediately searched for the same by the officers of the brigade.
"Notwithstanding every order, every entreaty that Lord Cornwallis has
given to the army, to prevent the shameful practice of plundering
and distressing the country, and these orders backed by every effort
that can have been made by Brigadier-General O'Hara, he is shocked to
find that this evil still prevails, and ashamed to observe that the
frequent complaints he receives from headquarters of the irregularity
of the Guards particularly affect the credit of that corps. He
therefore calls upon the officers, non-commissioned officers, and
those men who are yet possessed of the feelings of humanity, and
actuated by the principles of true soldiers, _the love of their
country, the good of the service, and the honor of their own corps_,
to assist with the same indefatigable diligence the General himself is
determined to persevere in, in order to detect and punish all men and
women so offending with the utmost severity of example."
Such was Lord Cornwallis's policy. What was the disposition toward
him of the country through which he was passing? "So inveterate
was the rancor of the inhabitants, that the expresses for the
Commander-in-Chief were frequently murdered; and the people, instead
of remaining quietly at home to receive pay for the produce of their
plantations, made it a practice to waylay the British foraging parties,
fire their rifles from concealed places, and then fly to the woods."
(Stedman's History.)
In all cases where the country people practice such warfare,
retaliation by the army so annoyed is justified. But even in Colonel
Tarleton's ("bloody Tarleton's") command, Lord Cornwallis took care
that justice should be done. In Tarleton's own narrative we read:
"On the arrival of some country people, Lord Cornwallis directed
Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton to dismount his dragoons and mounted
infantry, and to form them into a rank entire, for the convenient
inspection of the inhabitants, and to facilitate the discovery of the
villains who had committed atrocious outrages the preceding evening.
A sergeant and one private were pointed out, and accused of rape and
robbery. They were condemned to death by martial law. The immediate
infliction of this sentence exhibited to the army and manifested to the
country the discipline and justice of the British General."
In Lee's Memoirs, we learn that on one occasion he captured on the
banks of the Haw, in Alamance, two of Tarleton's staff, "who had been
detained in _settling for the subsistence of the detachment_." What was
the course of General Sherman's officers, eighty-four years afterward,
in the very same neighborhood, on the very same ground, let us now see.
"Look on this picture, then on that."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2: 'Tis a thousand pities that a certain gallant
major-general, late of the cavalry service in General S.'s army, (now
Minister to Chili,) could not have his attention drawn to this.]
CHAPTER III.
JUDGE RUFFIN--HIS HISTORY--HIS CHARACTER--HIS SERVICES--GENERAL
COUCH'S OUTRAGES AFTER PEACE HAD BEEN DECLARED--GENERAL
SHERMAN'S OUTRAGES--HIS UNBLUSHING OFFICIAL REPORT.--"ARMY
CORRESPONDENTS"--SHERMAN IN FAYETTEVILLE--CORNWALLIS IN
FAYETTEVILLE--COINCIDENCES OF PLANS--CONTRASTS IN MODES--THE NEGRO
SUFFERS--TROOPS CONCENTRATING UNDER GENERAL JOHNSTON.
In the first week of May, 1865, _after_ the final surrender of General
Johnston's army, and _after_ General Grant's proclamation of protection
to private property, Major-General Couch, with a detachment of some
twelve or fourteen thousand infantry, passing up the main road from
Raleigh to Greensboro, encamped on a noble plantation, beautifully
situated on both sides of the Haw river, in Alamance county. Of
the venerable owner of this plantation I might be pardoned if I
were to give more than a cursory notice; for, as a representative
North-Carolinian, and identified for nearly fifty years with all
that is best in her annals and brightest in her reputation at home
and abroad, no citizen in the State is regarded with more pride and
veneration than Judge RUFFIN. His claims to such distinction, however,
are not to be fairly exhibited within the limits of such a sketch as
this, though a reference to his public services will have a significant
value in my present connection.
Judge Ruffin was born in 1786, graduated at Princeton in 1806, was
admitted to the bar in 1808, and from the year 1813, when he first
represented Hillsboro in the House of Commons, to the present time,
he has been prominently before the people of our State, holding the
highest offices within her gift with a reputation for learning,
ability, and integrity unsurpassed in our judicial annals. In the
year 1852, after forty-five years of brilliant professional life, he
resigned the Chief-Justiceship, and, amid the applause and regret of
all classes of his fellow-citizens, retired to the quiet enjoyment of
an ample estate acquired by his own eminent labors, and to the society
of a numerous and interesting family.
The judicial ermine which Judge Ruffin had worn for so many years
not only shielded him from, but absolutely forbade, all active
participation in party politics. He was, however, no uninterested
observer of the current of events. He had been warmly opposed to
nullification in 1832, and was no believer in the rights of peaceable
secession in 1860. In private circles, he combated both heresies
with all that "inexorable logic" which the London _Times_ declared
to be characteristic of his judicial opinions on the law of master
and slave. He regarded the "sacred right of revolution" as the remedy
for the redress of insupportable grievances only. His opinions on
these subjects were well known, when, in 1861, he was unexpectedly
summoned by the Legislature to the head of the able delegation sent by
the State to the Peace Convention at Washington. The reference to his
course there, in the first of these sketches, renders it unnecessary
to say more at present. Eminent statesmen, now in high position in the
national councils, can testify to his zealous and unremitting labors in
that Convention to preserve and perpetuate the union of the States; and
none, doubtless, will do so more cordially than the venerable military
chieftain[3] who, sixty years ago, was his friend and fellow-student in
the office of an eminent lawyer in Petersburgh.
Judge Ruffin returned home, dispirited and discouraged by the temper
displayed in the Convention, and still more by the proceedings of
Congress. He still cherished hopes of reconciliation, however, when,
without any canvass by or for him, he was elected to the Convention
which, on the twentieth of May, 1861, adopted, by a unanimous vote, the
Ordinance of Secession.
Having given that vote, he was not the man to shrink from the
responsibilities it involved. In common with every other respectable
citizen in the State, he felt it his duty to encourage and animate our
soldiers, and to contribute liberally to their support and that of
their families at home. His sons who were able to bear arms were in the
battle-field, and his family endured all the privations, and practiced
all the self-denial common to our people; cheerfully dispensing with
the luxuries of life, and laboring assiduously for the relief of the
army and the needy around them.
Toward this most eminent and venerable citizen, whose name added weight
to the dignity and influence of the whole country, what was the policy
of Major-General Couch, encamped on his grounds, in the pleasant month
of May? The plantation had already suffered from the depredations of
Major-General Wheeler's cavalry of the Confederate army in its hurried
transit; but it was reserved for General Couch to give it the finishing
touch. In a few words, ten miles of fencing were burned up, from one
end of it to the other; not an ear of corn, not a sheaf of wheat,
not a bundle of fodder was left; the army wagons were driven into
the cultivated fields and orchards and meadows, and fires were made
under the fruit-trees; the sheep and hogs were shot down and left to
rot on the ground, and several thousand horses and cattle were turned
in on the wheat crops, then just heading. All the horses, seventeen
in number, were carried off, and all the stock. An application for
protection, and remonstrance against wanton damage, were met with
indifference and contempt.
Such being the course of one of General Sherman's subaltern officers
in time of peace, it is natural to turn to General Sherman himself,
and inquire what was the example set by him in the progress of "the
great march." He speaks for himself, and history will yet deliver an
impartial verdict on such a summing up:
"We consumed the corn and fodder in the region of country thirty miles
on either side of a line from Atlanta to Savannah; also the sweet
potatoes, hogs, sheep, and poultry, and carried off more than ten
thousand horses and mules. I estimate the damage done to the State of
Georgia at one hundred million dollars; at least twenty million dollars
of which inured to our advantage, and the remainder was simple waste
and destruction." (Official Report.)
Simple people, who understand nothing of military necessities, must
be permitted to stand aghast at such a recital, and ask why was this?
To what end? What far-sighted policy dictated such wholesale havoc?
Lord Cornwallis--a foreigner--acting as a representative of the
_mother_ country, seeking to reclaim her alienated children, we have
seen everywhere anxious to conciliate, generously active to spare the
country as much as possible, to preserve it for the interests of the
mother country, and enforcing strict discipline in his army for the
benefit of the service. What changes have been effected in the _morale_
of war by nearly a century of Christian progress and civilization
since Lord Cornwallis's day? An army, in the middle of the nineteenth
century, acting as the representative of _sister States_, seeking to
reclaim "wayward sisters"--an army enlisted with the most extraordinary
and emphatic avowals of purely philanthropic motives that the world has
ever heard--an army marching through what it professes to consider AS
ITS OWN COUNTRY--this army leaves a waste and burning track behind it
of sixty miles' width!
"O bloodiest picture in the book of Time!
Sarmatia fell unwept, without a crime;
Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,
Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe!
Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear,
Closed her bright eye, and curbed her high career."
The gay and airy pen-and-ink sketches, furnished to the Northern
press by "our own army correspondents," of the exploits of bummers,
the jocular descriptions of treasure-seekers, the triumphant
records of fire, famine, and slaughter, served up with elegant
illustrations--wood-cuts in Harper's best style--and, if likely to
be a trifle too glaring for even radical sensibilities, toned down
and made to assume an air of retributive justice by a timely allusion
to the "wretched slaves"--these interesting reports, piquant and
gayly-colored and suggestive though they were, were yet dull and tame
and faded in comparison with the dismal reality. And all this "waste
and destruction," it will be the verdict of posterity, even the calmed
sense of the present generation will agree, was wholly uncalled for,
wholly unnecessary, contributed in no way to the prosperous and speedy
termination of the war, but added materially to the losses by the
war of the General Government, lit up the fires of hatred in many a
hitherto loyal Southern breast, brutalized and demoralized the whole
Federal army, and was in short inexcusable in every aspect except
upon the determination to exterminate the Southern people. We knew
that there were men in the Church and in the State who openly avowed
such aspirations; but as to the great body of the sober, intelligent,
and conscientious Northern people, we do them the justice to believe
that when the history of the war _at the South_ comes to be truthfully
written, they will receive its records with incredulity; and when
belief is compelled, will turn from them shuddering.
The smoke of burning Columbia, and of the fair villages and countless
plantations that lay in the route, where, for hundreds of miles, many a
house was left blazing, and not a panel of fence was to be seen, rolled
slowly up our sky; and panic-stricken refugees, homeless and penniless,
brought every day fresh tales of havoc and ruin. By the eleventh of
March, General Sherman was in possession of Fayetteville, in our own
State.
The coïncidences in the plan, and the contrasts in the mode of
conducting the campaigns of Lord Cornwallis and General Sherman,
are striking, and suggestive to the student of history. Cornwallis
hesitated whether to strike North-Carolina in the heart of the whig
settlements--between the Yadkin and the Catawba--or enter among his
friends between the Pedee and Cape Fear, and ultimately decided to
accomplish both purposes. In January, 1781, Sir James Henry Craig
captured Wilmington, and on the nineteenth of February, Lord Cornwallis
forced the passage of the Catawba at Beattie's Ford. General Schofield
had possession of Wilmington when General Sherman, making _a feint_ at
Charlotte, captured Fayetteville.
In Lord Cornwallis's progress through Carolina he met with every thing
to exasperate him in the conduct of the people. On his first entrance
into Charlotte, September, 1780, the whole British army was actually
held at bay for half an hour by a body of about one hundred and fifty
militia, and a few volunteers, commanded by Major Joseph Graham, posted
behind the court-house and houses, and commanded by Colonel Davie,
who was "determined to give his lordship an earnest of what he might
expect in the State." Three separate charges of the British Legion were
repulsed by this handful of devoted men, who retired at last on being
flanked by the infantry, in perfect order, with but a loss of eleven
killed and wounded, while the British admitted a loss of forty-three
killed and wounded. "When the Legion was afterward reproached for
cowardice in suffering such a check from so small a detail of militia,
they excused themselves by saying that the confidence with which the
Americans behaved made them apprehend an ambuscade, for surely nothing
of that sort was to be expected in an open village at mid-day." I have
by me as I write, in Colonel Davie's own handwriting, his account of
"the affair at Charlotte," as he modestly styles it, and it is well
worth comparing with Tarleton's and Stedman's report of the same. A
more brilliant and audacious exploit was not performed during the whole
Revolutionary war. A series of such annoyances, heading and dogging
the British army at every step all through that country, gained for
Charlotte the well-earned and enviable _sobriquet_ of "The Hornets'
Nest," and the commander-in-chief paid the whole region the compliment
of declaring that "Mecklenburg and Rowan were the two most rebellious
counties in America."
Yet Cornwallis burned no houses here--plundered no plantations. His
aim was very apparently to conciliate if possible, to teach the people
to look to him for protection and a good government. To be sure, he
had not enjoyed the benefit of a West-Point military training--he was
evidently in profound ignorance of the advantages to be derived from
the principle of "smashing things generally," as he passed along; but
he was, nevertheless, (perhaps in consequence,) a _gentleman_, and an
accomplished statesman, as well as a consummate soldier. He well knew--
"----who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe."
As to Fayetteville, and her lot in these later days, no such slight
sketch as this will suffice for the story. Perhaps no town in the
South had surpassed her in the ardor and liberality with which (after
secession had become the law of the State) she supported the war. She
gave her bravest sons; her best blood was poured out like water in the
cause of the South, and then she gave of her substance. The grace of
giving had surely been bestowed upon the people of Cumberland without
measure, for there seemed literally no end to their liberality. For
four years the columns of their papers had exhibited an almost weekly
list of donations, that in number and value would have done infinite
credit to a much wealthier community. The ladies, as usual, were
especially active and indefatigable. Where, indeed, in all the sunny
South were they not? And why should they not have been? They were
working for their fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, and lovers, and
for principles which these beloved ones had instructed them to cherish.
Would it not have been culpable in the last degree for the women of the
country to have remained even indifferent to a cause (good or bad) for
which the men were laying down their lives? Why should they not take
joyfully all privations and all hardships, for the sake of these, and
soothe the agony of bereavement with the belief that they who needed
their cares no longer, lying rolled in their bloody blankets in the
bosom of Virginia, or on the fatal hills of Pennsylvania, had died in a
good cause and were resting in honored graves? Who shall question the
course of the women of the South in this war, or dare to undervalue
their lofty heroism and fortitude, unsurpassed in story or in song?
When I forget you, O ye daughters of my country! your labors of love,
your charity, faith, and patience, all through the dark and bloody
day, lighting up the gloom of war with the tender graces of woman's
devotion and self-denial, and now, in even darker hours, your energy
and cheerful submission in toil and poverty and humiliation--when I
cease to do homage to your virtues, and to your excellences, may my
right hand forget its cunning and my voice be silent in the dust!
The people of Fayetteville supported the Confederate Government warmly
to the last gasp, upon the principle that _united_, the South might
stand--_divided_, she certainly would fall. After the failure of the
Peace Commission, the citizens met and passed vigorous war resolutions,
calling on all classes to rally once more in self-defense--a
proceeding which did more credit to their zeal than to their ability to
read the signs of the times; for, rally or no rally, the fate of the
Confederacy was already written on the wall.
All these antecedents doubtless conspired to give Fayetteville a bad
character in the opinion of our Northern brethren, who, for their
part, were bent on peace-making; and accordingly, when the hour and
the man arrived, on the eleventh of March, 1865, she found she must
pay the penalty. A skirmish took place in the streets between General
Sherman's advanced-guard and a part of General Hampton's cavalry, which
covered the retreat of Hardee's division across the Cape Fear. This,
no doubt, increased the exasperation of feeling toward this "nest of
rebels," and the determination to put a check to all future operations
there in behalf of the cause. In less than two hours after the entrance
of the Federal forces, so adroitly had every house in the town and
its suburbs been ransacked and plundered, that it may be doubted if
all Fayetteville, the next day, could have contributed two whole
shirts or a bushel of meal to the relief of the Confederate army. The
incidents of that most memorable day, and for several days succeeding,
would fill (and _will_ fill) a volume; and as for the nights, they
were illuminated by the glare of blazing houses all through the pine
groves for several miles around Fayetteville. One of the first of
the "soldiers in blue" who entered the town, accosted in the street
a most distinguished and venerable clergyman, Rev. William Hooper,
D.D., LL.D., more than seventy years of age--the grandson of one of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence--and who had suffered
reproach for his adherence to the Union, and whose very appearance
should have challenged respect and deference--accosted him as a
"d----d rebel," and putting a pistol to his head, demanded and
carried off his watch and purse.
Southerners can not write calmly of such scenes yet. Their houses
were turned into seraglios, every portable article of value, plate,
china and glass-ware, provisions and books were carried off, and the
remainder destroyed; hundreds of carriages and vehicles of all kinds
were burned in piles; where houses were isolated they were burned;
women were grossly insulted, and robbed of clothing and jewelry; nor
were darker and nameless tragedies wanting in lonely situations. No;
they hardly dare trust themselves to think of these things. "That way
lies madness." But the true story of "THE GREAT MARCH" will yet be
written.
Not the least remarkable of all these noble strategical operations was
the fact that black and white suffered alike. Nothing more strikingly
evinces the entire demoralization and want of honor that prevailed.
The negro whom they came to liberate they afterward plundered; his
cabin was stripped of his little valuables, as well as his master's
house of its luxuries; his humble silver watch was seized, as well as
the gentleman's gold repeater. This policy is also modern, and due to
the enlightenment of the nineteenth century. A good many years ago, a
grand liberation of slaves took place, where the leaders and deliverer
sanctioned the "spoiling of the Egyptians," but they hardly picked the
pockets of the freedmen afterward.
During the month of March our central counties were traversed by
straggling bodies of Confederate soldiers, fragments of the once
powerful army of Tennessee, hurrying down toward Raleigh to concentrate
under General Johnston once more, in the vain hope of being able yet
to effect something. Tennesseeans, Texans, Georgians, Alabamians, men
who had been in every fight in the West, from Corinth to Perrysville,
from Perrysville to Atlanta--men who had left pleasant homes, wives and
children, many of whom they knew were without a house to shelter them;
"For the blackness of ashes marked where it stood,
And a wild mother's scream o'er her famishing brood!"
The whole population of our town poured out to see these war-worn men;
to cheer them; to feed and shelter them. The little children gathered
handfuls of the early daffodils "that take the winds of March with
beauty," and flung to them. What we had to eat we gave them, day after
day. Repeatedly the whole of a family dinner was taken from the table
and carried out to the street, the children joyfully assisting. They
were our soldiers--our own brave boys. The cause was desperate, we
knew--the war was nearly over--our delusions were at an end; but while
we had it, our last loaf to our soldiers--a cheer, and a blessing, with
dim eyes, as they rode away.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: General Winfield Scott.]
CHAPTER IV.
LAWS OF WAR--"RIGHT TO FORAGE OLDER THAN HISTORY"--XENOPHON--KENT ON
INTERNATIONAL LAW--HALLECK'S AUTHORITY VERSUS SHERMAN'S THEORY AND
PRACTICE--PRESIDENT WOOLSEY--LETTER OF BISHOP ATKINSON.
In the preceding chapter, attention was drawn to the striking contrast
between the policy pursued by General Sherman toward the inhabitants of
the country he was invading, and that of his illustrious predecessor in
the days of the Revolution. I think there can be but little doubt as
to which of these distinguished commanders is entitled to most credit
on the score of _humanity_. General Sherman's friends, considering
that he who conducts a campaign to a successful issue may well afford
to disregard the means to the desired end, will doubtless support
his policy; for where Cornwallis failed, he succeeded, and succeeded
brilliantly. Lord Cornwallis, however, in the general benevolence of
his character--tempering, as far as was practicable, the severities of
war with forbearance and generosity--is more justly entitled to stand
by the side of WASHINGTON than any other military commander of his age.
As to his failure, time has shown that it was well for both countries
that he did fail; and his memory is crowned with more unfading laurels
than the title of mere conqueror could have conferred. Self-control,
discipline, and magnanimous consideration for the weak and the
defenseless are better than burning houses and a devastated country.
If, however, it still be asserted that humanity is _necessarily_ no
part of a soldier's duty, and that his business is to win the fight, no
matter how, an appeal to the authorities on such points, recognized in
all civilized nations, will show that the law is otherwise laid down.
General Sherman begins his famous letter to General Hampton with the
assertion that "the right to forage is older than history." What was
the precise character of this right among barbarians in the morning
twilight of civilization it may hardly be worth our while to inquire.
But we have clear historic evidence that, long before the coming
of the Prince of Peace, in the earliest ages of profane history,
among civilized nations the "right to forage" did _not_ mean a right
to indiscriminate pillage, "waste, and destruction"--destruction
extending not only to the carrying off of the cattle necessary in
farming operations, but to the agricultural tools and implements of
every description. More than twenty centuries ago, Xenophon, at the
head of the Ten Thousand, accomplished his famous retreat from Babylon
to the sea. The incidents of that great march are given by himself
in a narrative, whose modesty, spirit, and elegance have charmed all
subsequent ages. His views as to the right to forage are clearly
stated in the following passage, taken from _Kent's Commentaries
on International Law_--an authority that was studied by General
Sherman at West-Point, and was taught by him when Superintendent
of the Military Academy of Louisiana. Treating of plunder on land,
depredations upon private property, etc., he says:
"Such conduct has been condemned in all ages by the wise and virtuous,
and it is usually punished severely by those commanders of disciplined
troops who have studied war as a science, and are animated by a sense
of duty or the love of fame. We may infer the opinion of Xenophon on
this subject, (and he was a warrior as well as a philosopher,) when
he states, in the _Cyropoedia_, that Cyrus of Persia gave orders to
his army, _when marching upon the enemy's borders_, not to disturb
the cultivators of the soil; and there have been such ordinances in
modern times for the protection of innocent and pacific pursuits. If
the conqueror goes beyond these limits wantonly, or when it is not
clearly indispensable to the just purposes of war, and seizes private
property of pacific persons for the sake of gain, and destroys private
dwellings, or public edifices devoted to civil purposes only; or makes
war upon monuments of art, and models of taste, he violates the modern
usages of war, and is sure to meet with indignant resentment, and to be
held up to the general scorn and detestation of the world." (Part I.
Sec. 5.)
To this authority may be added a still more modern and binding
exposition of the laws of war. _Halleck's International Law and Laws of
War_, written and published in 1861 by an officer of the Government,
and for a time a major-general and commander-in-chief of the Federal
army, may be considered as the latest and ablest summary of the best
authorities on these subjects. It was in the hands of General Sherman
and his officers, and its decisions may be regarded as final. Nothing
can be more explicit or more emphatic than the following extracts.
First, as to general right of war in an enemy's property (on land):
"The general theory of war is, as heretofore stated, that all private
property may be taken by the conqueror; and such was the ancient
practice. But the modern usage is, not to touch private property
on land without making compensation, except in certain specified
cases. These exceptions may be stated under three general heads: 1st.
Confiscations or seizures by way of penalty for military offenses;
2d. Forced contributions for the support of the invading army, or as
an indemnity for the expenses of maintaining order, and affording
protection to the conquered inhabitants; and 3d. Property taken on the
field of battle, or in storming a fortress or town.
"In the first place, we may seize upon private property, by way of
penalty for the illegal acts of individuals, or of the community to
which they belong. Thus, if an individual be guilty of conduct in
violation of the laws of war, we may seize and confiscate the private
property of the offender. So, also, if the offense attach itself to a
particular community or town, all the individuals of that community or
town are liable to punishment; and we may seize upon their property,
or levy upon them a retaliatory contribution by way of penalty. When,
however, we can discover and secure the individuals so offending, it is
more just to inflict the punishment on them only; but it is a general
law of war that communities are accountable for the acts of their
individual members. If these individuals are not given up, or can not
be discovered, it is usual to impose a contribution upon the civil
authorities of the place where the offense is committed; and these
authorities raise the amount of the contribution by a tax levied on
their constituents." (Chap. 19, pages 457, 458.)
If the town of Fayetteville had in any way become peculiarly obnoxious
to the Federal army, one would have thought that a glance into Halleck
might have satisfied the commanding officers as to their rights and
duties there on the eleventh of March, 1865. Not a word here of
plunder, pillage, or arson. There can be no doubt that Fayetteville
would have gladly compounded for her offenses by a tax of almost any
possible amount, levied and collected in a lawful and civilized way, in
preference to her actual experiences.
Next, as to right of forage, etc.:
"In the second place, we have a _right_ to make the enemy's country
contribute to the expenses of the war. Troops in the enemy's country
may be subsisted either by regular magazines, by forced requisitions,
or by authorized pillage. It is not always politic, or even possible,
to provide regular magazines for the entire supply of an army during
the active operations of a campaign. When this can not be done, the
general is obliged either to resort to military requisitions, or to
intrust their subsistence to the troops themselves. The inevitable
consequences of the latter system are universal pillage, and a total
relaxation of discipline: the loss of private property, and the
violation of individual rights, are usually followed by the massacre
of straggling parties; and the _ordinary peaceful and non-combatant
inhabitants are converted into bitter and implacable enemies_. The
system is, therefore, regarded as both impolitic and unjust, and is
coming into general disuse among the more civilized nations--at least
for the support of the main army. In case of small detachments, where
great rapidity of motion is requisite, it sometimes becomes necessary
for the troops to procure their subsistence wherever they can. In such
a case, the seizure of private property becomes a necessary consequence
of the military operations, and is, therefore, unavoidable. Other cases
of similar character might be mentioned. But even in most of these
special and extreme cases, provisions might be made for subsequently
compensating the owners for the loss of their property." (Page 459.)
"The evils resulting from irregular requisitions, and foraging for
the ordinary supplies of an army, are so very great, and so generally
admitted, that it has become a recognized maxim of war, that the
commanding officer who permits indiscriminate pillage, and allows the
taking of private property without a strict accountability, whether he
be engaged in defensive or offensive operations, fails in his duty to
his own government, and violates the usages of modern warfare. It is
sometimes alleged, in excuse for such conduct, that the general is
unable to restrain his troops; but in the eye of the law there is no
excuse; for _he who can not preserve order in his army has no right
to command it_. In collecting military contributions, trustworthy
troops should be sent with the foragers, to prevent them from engaging
in irregular and unauthorized pillage; and the party should always
be accompanied by officers of the staff and administrative corps,
to see to the proper execution of the orders, and to report any
irregularities on the part of the troops. In case any corps should
engage in unauthorized pillage, due restitution should be made to the
inhabitants, and the expenses of such restitution deducted from the
pay and allowances of the corps by which such excess is committed. But
modify and restrict it as you will, the system of subsisting armies on
the private property of an enemy's subjects without compensation is
very objectionable, and almost inevitably leads to cruel and disastrous
results. There is, therefore, very seldom a sufficient reason for
resorting to it." (Chap. 19, page 451.)
"While there is some uncertainty as to the exact limit fixed by the
voluntary law of nations to our right to appropriate to our own use
the property of an enemy, or to subject it to military contributions,
_there is no doubt whatever respecting its waste and useless
destruction_. _This is forbidden alike by the law of nature and the
rules of war._ There are numerous instances in military history
where whole districts of country have been totally ravaged and laid
waste. Such operations have sometimes been defended on the ground of
necessity, or as a means of preventing greater evils. 'Such violent
remedies,' says Vattel, 'are to be sparingly applied: there must be
reasons of suitable importance to justify the use of them. He who
does the like in an enemy's country when impelled by no necessity, or
induced by feeble reasons, becomes the scourge of mankind.'
"The general rule by which we should regulate our conduct toward
an enemy is _that of moderation; and on no occasion should we
unnecessarily destroy his property_. 'The pillage and destruction of
towns,' says Vattel, 'the devastation of the open country, ravaging and
setting fire to houses, are measures no less odious and detestable on
every occasion when they are evidently put in practice without absolute
necessity, or at least very cogent reasons. But as the perpetrators of
such outrageous deeds might attempt to palliate them, under pretext
of deservedly punishing the enemy, be it here observed that the
natural and voluntary law of nations does not allow us to inflict such
punishments, except for enormous offenses against the law of nations;
and even then it is glorious to listen to the voice of humanity and
clemency, when rigor is not absolutely necessary.'" (Pages 455--456.)
To these unimpeachable decisions I can not refrain from adding that of
President Woolsey, of Yale College. In his Introduction to the Study
of International Law, sec. 130, pp. 304--5, he says: "The property,
movable and immovable, of private persons in an invaded country is to
remain uninjured. But if the wants of the hostile army require, it
may be taken by authorized persons at a fair value; but marauding must
be checked by discipline and penalties." And even as to "permissible
requisitions," which Wellington regarded as iniquitous, and opposed as
"_likely to injure those who resorted to them_," President Woolsey adds
that they "are demoralizing; they arouse the avarice of officers, and
_leave a sting in the memory of oppressed nations_."
It is this _sting_, left in the breasts of the Southern people, these
bitter hatreds aroused by the indiscriminate and licensed pillage to
which they were subjected, which are more to be deprecated than any
consequence of the blood shed in fair and open fight during the war.
Hard blows do not necessarily make bad blood between generous foes. It
is the ungenerous policy of the exulting conqueror that adds poison to
the bleeding wounds.
From a mass of agreeing testimony, as to the conduct of the Federal
troops on their entrance into our State, I select the following letter
from a clergyman of distinction, the authorized head of one of the most
influential denominations in the State; a man of national reputation
for the learning, ability, and piety with which he adorns his high
office in the Church of God. Let it be carefully read, and its calm and
moderate tone be fairly estimated and appreciated:
... "I am altogether indisposed to obtrude myself on the public, and
especially to bring before it complaints of personal grievance; but
it seemed to me important, not only for the interests of justice,
but of humanity, that the truth should be declared concerning the
mode in which the late civil war was carried on, and I did not see
that I was exempted from this duty rather than any one else who had
personal knowledge of facts bearing on that subject. For this reason I
made the statement to my Convention which you allude to, and for the
same reason I have, after some hesitation, felt bound to give you the
information you ask.
"When General Sherman was moving on Cheraw, in South-Carolina, one
corps of his army, under General Slocum, I believe, advanced in
a parallel line north of him, and extended into this State. Some
companies of Kilpatrick's cavalry attached to this corps came on
Friday, third March, to Wadesboro, in Anson county, where I was
then residing. As their approach was known, many persons thought it
best to withdraw from the place before the cavalry entered it; but
I determined to remain, as I could not remove my family, and I did
not suppose that I would suffer any serious injury. I saw the troops
galloping in, and sat down quietly to my books, reading, having
asked the other members of my family to remain in a room in the rear
of the building. After a time a soldier knocked at the door, which
I opened. He at once, with many oaths, demanded my watch, which I
refused to give him. He then drew a pistol and presented it at me,
and threatened to shoot me immediately if I did not surrender it. I
still refused, and, the altercation becoming loud, my wife heard it,
ran into the room and earnestly besought me to give it up, which I
then did. Having secured this, he demanded money, but as we had none
but Confederate, he would not take that. He then proceeded to rifle
our trunks and drawers, took some of my clothes from these, and my
wife's jewelry; but he would have nothing to do with heavy articles
as, fortunately, he had no means of carrying them off. He then left
the house, and I went in search of his officers to ask them to compel
him to return what he had taken from me. This might seem a hopeless
effort; for the same game had been played in every house in the town
where there seemed to be any thing worth taking. However, in my case,
the officers promised, if I could identify the robber, to compel him
to make restitution. The men, accordingly, were drawn up in line, and
their commander and I went along it examining their countenances,
but my acquaintance was not among them. It turned out that he had
gone from my house to that of a neighbor, to carry on the same work,
and during my absence had returned to my house, taken a horse from
the stable, and then moved off to his camp at some miles' distance.
The next day other bands visited us, taking groceries from us and
demanding watches and money. They broke open the storehouses in the
village; and as at one of these I had some tierces of china and boxes
of books, these they knocked to pieces, breaking the china, of course,
and scattering the books, but not carrying them off, as they probably
did not much value them, and had, fortunately, no wagons. I finally
recovered nearly all of them. Another part of Sherman's army, in
their march through Richmond county, passed by two railroad stations
where I had a piano and other furniture, which they destroyed; and
also at Fayetteville I had furniture at the house of a friend,
which shared the fate of his. Yet I was among those who suffered
_comparatively lightly_. Where the army went with its wagons, they
swept the country of almost every thing of value that was portable. In
some instances defenseless men were killed for plunder. A Mr. James C.
Bennet, one of the oldest and wealthiest men in Anson county, was shot
at the door of his own house because he did not give up his watch and
money, which had been previously taken from him by another party.
"These and the like atrocities ought to be known; for even men who do
not much fear the judgments of God, are kept somewhat in awe by the
apprehension of the sentence of the civilized world and of posterity.
"In conclusion, I must say that I wish as little reference to be made
to me, and the injuries done me, as is consistent with the faithful
narrative which you have undertaken to give of the last ninety days of
the war in North-Carolina.
"I remain, very truly and respectfully yours,
"Thomas Atkinson."
Bishop Atkinson, it is well known, was the first to set the example,
after the war was closed, of leading his church half-way to reünite the
church connection North and South. An example of Christian charity,
meekness, and forbearance most worthy of our admiration and imitation.
CHAPTER V.
LORD CORNWALLIS IN FAYETTEVILLE--A YOUNG LADY'S INTERVIEW WITH
HIM--HOW HE TREATED HER--HOW SHERMAN'S MEN TREATED HER GRANDSON--"THE
STORY OF THE GREAT MARCH"--MAJOR NICHOLS AND THE "QUADROON
GIRLS"--SUCH IS NOT WAR--WHY THESE THINGS ARE RECORDED--CONFEDERATE
CONCENTRATION IN NORTH-CAROLINA--A SAD STORY.
When Lord Cornwallis was on his march to Wilmington, after the battle
of Guilford Court-House, passing by the residence of a planter near
Cross Creek, (now Fayetteville,) the army halted. The young mistress
of the mansion, a gay and very beautiful matron of eighteen, with the
impulsive curiosity of a child, ran to her front piazza to gaze at the
pageant. Some officers dismounting approached the house. She addressed
one of the foremost, and begged that he would point out to her Lord
Cornwallis, if he was there, for "she wished to see a lord." "Madam,"
said the gentleman, removing his hat, "I am Lord Cornwallis." Then
with the formal courtesy of the day he led her into the house, giving
to the frightened family every assurance of protection. With the high
breeding of a gentleman and the frankness of a soldier, he won all
hearts during his stay, from the venerable grandmother in her chair
to the gay girl who had first accosted him. While the army remained,
not an article was disturbed on the plantation, though, as he himself
warned them, there were stragglers in his wake whom he could not
detect, and who failed not to do what mischief they could in the way of
plundering, after he had passed. 'Tis eighty-four years ago, and that
blooming girl's granddaughters tell the story with grateful regard for
the memory of the noble Englishman, who never forgot what was due to a
defenseless homestead, and who well deserves to be held in admiration
by woman.[4]
How tender the light that plays round this great captain's memory!
Smarting from recent virtual defeat, hurrying through a hostile
country, disappointed in his expectations of receiving relief and
reënforcement in this very neighborhood of Cross Creek, he is master
of himself and of his army through all reverses of fortune--gentle and
considerate in the midst of adversity.
The recollections of that young Southern matron's grandson, Charles B.
Mallett, Esq., of the great army passing so lately over the very same
ground, and of their visit to his plantation, afford matter for curious
consideration and comparison. These are his reminiscences:
"The china and glass-ware were all carried out of the house by
the Federal soldiers, and deliberately smashed in the yard. The
furniture--piano, beds, tables, bureaus--were all cut to pieces with
axes; the pantries and smoke-houses were stripped of their contents;
the negro houses were all plundered; the poultry, cows, horses, etc.,
were shot down and carried off; and then, after all this, the houses
were all fired and burned to the ground. The cotton factory belonging
to the family was also burned, as were six others in the neighborhood
of Fayetteville."
I have also the statement of a near neighbor of this gentleman, John M.
Rose, Esq., condensed as follows:
"The Federal soldiers searched my house from garret to cellar, and
plundered it of every thing portable; took all my provisions, emptied
the pantries of all stores, and did not leave me a mouthful of any kind
of supplies for one meal's victuals. They took all my clothing, even
the hat off my head, and the shoes and pants from my person; took most
of my wife's and children's clothing, all of our bedding; destroyed my
furniture, and robbed all my negroes. At leaving they set fire to my
fences, out-houses, and dwelling, which, fortunately, I was able to
extinguish. The remains of a dozen slaughtered cattle were left in my
yard. (Nine dwellings were burned to the ground in this neighborhood.
Four gentlemen, whose names are given, were hung up by the neck till
nearly dead, to force them to tell where valuables were hidden. One
was shot in his own house, and died soon after.) The yard and lot were
searched, and all my money, and that of several companies which I
represent, was found and taken. All my stocks and bonds were likewise
carried off. My wagon, and garden, and lot implements were all burned
in my yard. The property taken from another family--the jewelry, plate,
money, etc.--was estimated to be worth not less than twenty-five
thousand dollars. Hundreds of pleasure vehicles in the town were either
wantonly burned in parcels and separately, or carried off with the
army. Houses in the suburbs and vicinity suffered more severely than
those in the town. No private dwellings in the town were burned, and
after the guards were placed the pillage ceased. The misfortune was,
that the guards were not placed till the houses had been sacked."
I have other statements, but perhaps these are sufficient for my
present purpose.[5] I have given none that can not be verified if
necessary, though they differ widely from those of a book lately
published at the North, entitled The Story of the Great March, and
which is doubtless regarded there as of unquestionable authority. On
page 251 I observe it is stated, "Private property in Fayetteville has
been respected to a degree which is remarkable;" and on page 253: "The
city of Fayetteville was offensively rebellious, and it has been a
matter of surprise that our soldiers, who are quick to understand the
distinction, have not made the citizens feel it in one way or another."
It is just possible that Major Nichols did not know the truth; that,
being very evidently of an easy and credulous temper, and too busy
making up his little book for sale, he allowed himself to be imposed
upon by wicked jokers. Let us all believe that he knew nothing of
the robberies that were going on. He was evidently hard of hearing,
besides; for he says, page 240, "I have yet to hear of a single outrage
offered to a woman by a soldier of our army." Let us all believe that
he was too deeply interested in his interviews with the handsome
"quadroon family," mentioned on page 237, to know what was going on
among the whites. By the way, it would seem these quadroon girls were
too deep for him too. His reported conversation with the family is
a very amusing tissue of blunders and misrepresentation. Foot-notes
should certainly accompany the thirtieth edition, and in particular it
should be stated of these "intelligent quadroons," not one of whom was
ever named Hannah, and not one of any name was ever sold, that not one
of them has yet left the lot of their old master, or expressed a wish
to leave. Major Nichols does not seem to know much; but he probably
knows this, that it was not for want of asking that these handsome
quadroons did not go.
Enough of such disclosures and of such scenes. If it be asked why these
have been presented, and why I seek to prolong these painful memories,
and to keep alive the remembrances that ought rather to slumber and be
forgotten with the dead past, let me reply that it is deliberately,
and of set purpose, that I sketch these outlines of a great tragedy
for our Northern friends to ponder. The South has suffered; that they
admit in general terms, and add, "_Such is war_." I desire to call
their attention to the fact that such is is NOT war, as their own
standards declare; that the career of the grand army in the Great
March, brilliant as was the design, masterly as was the execution, and
triumphant as was the issue, is yet, in its details, a story of which
they have no reason to be proud, and which, when truly told, if there
be one spark of generosity, one drop of the milk of human kindness
in Northern breasts, should turn their bitterness toward the South
into tender pity, their exultation over her into a manly regret and
remorse. They do not know--they never will know unless Southerners
themselves shall tell the mournful story--what the sword hath done in
her fair fields and her pleasant places. Their triumphant stories and
war-lyrics are not faithful expositors of the woe and ruin wrought upon
a defenseless people. When the sounds of conflict have finally died
away, I would fain see the calmed senses of a great people who, having
fairly won the fight, can afford to be magnanimous, take in clearly the
situation of the whole Southern country, and "repent them for their
brother Benjamin, and come to the house of God, and weep sore for their
brother, and say, O Lord God, why is this come to pass that there
should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel?"
Thousands of delicate women, bred up in affluence, are now bravely
working with their hands for their daily bread; many in old age, and
alone in the world, are bereft of all their earthly possessions.
Thousands of families are absolutely penniless, who have never
before known a want ungratified. Let me not be mistaken to represent
Southerners as shrinking from work, or ignobly bewailing the loss of
luxury and ease. The dignity and the "perennial nobleness" of labor
were never more fairly asserted than among us now, and I have never
seen, or read, or heard of a braver acceptance of the situation, a
more cheerful submission to God's will, or a more spirited application
to unaccustomed toils and duties, than are exhibited here this day.
Nobody is ashamed of himself, or ashamed of his position, or of his
necessities. What the South wants is not charity--charity as an
alms--but generosity; that generosity which forbears reproach, or
insult, or gay and clamorous exultation, but which silently clears
the way of all difficulties, and lends an arm to a fainting, wounded
brother; that says, "There _must_ be an inheritance for them that be
escaped of Benjamin."
It is for this that I present these sketches, which, but for some good
to be accomplished by them, would better have never been written. Where
wrongs can not be redressed, or their recital be made available for
good, they would far better be buried in oblivion, the wrong-doer and
the sufferer alike awaiting in dread repose the final award of the
Great Tribunal.
How shall the South begin her new life? How, disfranchised and denied
her civil rights, shall she start the wheels of enterprise and business
that shall bring work and bread to her plundered, penniless people?
How shall her widows and orphans be fed, her schools and colleges be
supported, her churches be maintained, unless her rights and liberties
be regained--unless every effort be made to give her wounds repose,
and restore health and energy to her paralyzed and shattered frame? Is
there any precedent in history of a war that ended with the freeing not
only from all obligation to labor, but from all disposition to labor,
of all the operatives of the conquered country? Is not the social
status of the South at present without a parallel? Just emerging from
an exhausting and devastating war, the country might well be crippled
and poverty-stricken; but with three or four millions of enfranchised
slaves, a population that is even now hastening to inaugurate the worst
evils of insubordination, idleness, and pauperism among us, what hope
for us unless the Northern sense of justice can be aroused into speedy
action!
While General Sherman's wagons were wallowing in the mud between
Fayetteville and Goldsboro, vain attempts were being made in Raleigh
to galvanize into some show of action and strength the fragments
of an army that were concentrating there. General Lee's desperate
situation in Virginia was not understood and realized by the multitude,
nor that the Confederate territory was fast narrowing down to the
northern counties of Central North-Carolina, and that Raleigh was
the last capital city we could claim. Beauregard, Johnston, Hardee,
Hoke, Hampton, Wheeler--names that had thrilled the whole Southern
country with pride and exultation--they were all there, and for a time
people endeavored to believe that Raleigh might be defended. General
Sherman's plans appeared to be inscrutable. When he left Columbia,
Charlotte was supposed to be his aim; but when he fell suddenly upon
Fayetteville, then Raleigh was to be his next stage. The astute plan
of a junction with Schofield at Goldsboro, which appears now to have
been pre-arranged while he was yet in Savannah, did not dawn upon our
minds till it was too late to prevent it. The fight at Bentonsville
was a desperate and vain attempt to do what might possibly have been
done before, and in that last wild struggle many a precious life was
given in vain. With sad anxiety for the fate of those we loved, with
sinking hearts, we heard, from day to day, from Averasboro and from
Bentonsville, of the wild charge, the short, fierce struggle, and the
inevitable retreat, little thinking that these were indeed the last
life-throbs of our dying cause.
There was one from our own circle, whose story is but a representative
one of the many thousand such that now darken what was once the Sunny
South. He had joined the army in the beginning of the war, and his
wife and children had fled from their pleasant home near New-Berne,
on its first occupation by the Federal forces, leaving the negroes,
plantation, house, furniture, and all to the invaders. They had
taken refuge at Chapel Hill among old friends; and in a poor and
inconvenient home, those who had counted their wealth by thousands
were glad of a temporary shelter, as was the case with hundreds of
families from the east, scattered all over the central part of the
State. The energetic wife laid aside the habits of a lifetime and
went to work, while her brave husband was in the army. From New-Berne
to Richmond, from Charleston to the Blackwater, we, who had known
him from boyhood, traced his gallant career, sharing his wife's
triumphs in his successes, and her fears in his perils. Her health in
unaccustomed toils began to fail, but we looked forward hopefully to
the time when she might return to her beautiful home on the sea-shore,
where a blander air would restore her. So we read his loving, cheerful
letters, and believed that the life which had been spared through
so many battles would yet be guarded for the sake of the wife and
the curly-haired little ones. On the twenty-second of March, riding
unguardedly near a thicket, our friend received the fire of a squad
of sharp-shooters concealed there. He fell from his horse and was
carried to a place of safety, where he lay on the muddy ground of the
trampled battle-field for a few hours, murmuring faintly at intervals,
"My wife! my poor wife!" till death mercifully came. He was wrapped by
his faithful servant in his blood-stained uniform and muddy blankets
as he lay; a coarse box was procured with great difficulty, and so the
soldier was brought back to his family. His last visit home had been
just before the fall of Fort Fisher; and when the news of the attack
came, though his furlough was not out by ten days, yet he left at once
for Wilmington, saying, "It was every man's duty to be at the front."
He had returned to us now, "off duty forever." Loving hands laid him
slowly and sadly down to a soldier's honored rest, while his little
children stood around the grave. The wife made an effort to live for
these children. She bore up through that woful spring and summer, and
the thin, white, trembling hands were ever at work. But the brown hair
turned gray rapidly, the easy-chair was relinquished for the bed, and
before winter came the five children were left alone in the world.
The wife had joined her husband. The ample estate that should have
been theirs was gone. Strangers were in their home by the sea, and
had divided out their lands; nor is it yet known whether they will be
permitted to claim their inheritance.
This man, Colonel Edward B. Mallett, brave, beloved, lamented, was also
a grandson of the gay girl who had entertained Lord Cornwallis in her
house near Cross Creek, and his fortunes were linked with those of the
brother whose house and factory had been burned so lately. Thus did the
destruction in one part of the State help on and intensify the ruin in
another part.
Stories such as these are our inheritance from the great war; and
yet, looking at the fate of those who have survived its dangers to be
crushed by its issues, we may rather envy those who were laid sweetly
to their rest while their hope for the country was not yet subjugated
within them.
Let them rave!
Thou art quiet in thy grave.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: His own beloved young wife, dying of a broken heart on the
separation caused by his coming to America, "directed on her death-bed
that a thorn-tree should be planted on her grave, as nearly as possible
over her heart, significant of the sorrow that destroyed her life.
Her request was complied with, and that thorn-tree is still living."
(1857.)--The Cornwallis Correspondence, chap. i. p. 14.]
[Footnote 5: The writer might have mentioned that J.P. McLean was hung
up by the neck three times and shot at once, to make him disclose
hidden valuables. W.T. Horne, Jesse Hawley, and Alexander McAuthor,
were all hung up until nearly dead. John Waddill was shot down and
killed in his own house. The country residences of C.T. Haigh, J.C.
Haigh, Archibald Graham, and W.T. Horne, were all burned within a short
distance of one another; this was all in one neighborhood. Dr. Hicks,
of Duplin, was hung until nearly dead, and will probably never recover.
So it was elsewhere.--Editor.]
CHAPTER VI.
"SHAYS'S REBELLION"--KENT ON MASSACHUSETTS--CONDUCT OF A NORTHERN
GOVERNMENT TO NORTHERN REBELS--THE "WHISKY INSURRECTION"--HOW
WASHINGTON TREATED A REBELLION--SECESSION OF NEW-ENGLAND BIRTH--THE
WAR OF 1812--BANCROFT ON 1676--THE BACONISTS--AN APPEAL.
By the last of March General Sherman had entered Goldsboro, and
effected his long meditated junction with General Schofield. He
himself at once proceeded to Southern Virginia to hold a conference
with General Grant, while the grand army lay quiet a few days to rest,
recruit, and prepare for its further advance. Leaving them there, I
venture to make a digression, suggested by the concluding lines of the
preceding number of these sketches--a digression having for its object
the consideration of the present policy of the Federal Government
toward vanquished rebels, as compared with its policy in former
cases of rebellion against its authority, even more inexcusable and
unprovoked.
Chancellor Kent, adverting to the first rebellion against the
government of this country, known in history as "Shays's Rebellion,"
pays the State of Massachusetts the following well-merited compliment
on her conduct upon its suppression: "The clemency of Massachusetts
in 1786, after an unprovoked and wanton rebellion, in not inflicting
a single capital punishment, contributed, by the judicious manner in
which its clemency was applied, to the more firm establishment of
their government." (Com. on Am. Law. Vol. i. p. 283.) What were the
circumstances of this first rebellion?
In 1786, the Legislature of that State laid taxes which were expected
to produce near a million of dollars. The country had just emerged
from the war of the Revolution in an exhausted and impoverished
condition. Litigation abounded, and the people, galled by the pressure
of their debts and of these taxes, manifested a spirit of revolt
against their government. From loudly-expressed complaints they
proceeded to meetings, and finally took up arms. They insisted that
the courts should be closed; they clamored against the lawyers and
their exorbitant fees, against salaried public officers; and they
demanded the issue of paper money. The Governor of Massachusetts,
John Bowdoin, convened the Legislature, and endeavored to allay the
general and growing mutiny by concessions; but the excitement still
increasing, the militia were ordered out, and Congress voted a supply
of thirteen thousand men to aid the State Government. The leader of
the insurrection was Daniel Shays, late a captain in the Continental
army. At the head of one thousand men he prevented the session of
the Supreme Court at Worcester, and his army soon increasing to two
thousand, they marched to Springfield, to seize the national arsenal.
Being promptly repulsed by the commandant there, they fled, leaving
several killed and wounded. General Lincoln, at the head of four
thousand militia, pursued them to Amherst, and thence to Pelham. On his
approach they offered to disperse on condition of a general pardon;
but General Lincoln had no authority to treat. They then retreated to
Petersham. Lincoln pursued, and pushing on all night through intense
cold and a driving snow-storm, he accomplished an unprecedented march
of forty miles, and early next morning completely surprised the rebels
in Petersham, taking one hundred and fifty prisoners, and dispersing
the rest so effectually that they never rallied again. Many took
refuge in New-Hampshire and the neighboring States, where they were
afterward arrested on requisition of Massachusetts. This ill-sustained
and wanton rebellion was easily quelled. Fourteen of the prisoners
were convicted of treason, but not one was executed, and the terms of
pardon imposed were so moderate that eight hundred took the benefit of
them. Prudence dictated this moderation and clemency, for it was known
that at least a third of the population sympathized with the rebels. It
was a significant fact that at the ensuing election, Governor Bowdoin,
who had distinguished himself by his zeal and energy, was defeated,
and other public officers who had been especially active against the
rebels lost their seats, and were replaced by more popular men. Daniel
Shays lived to a good old age, and died still in the enjoyment of his
revolutionary pension.[6] Such was the generous policy of a Northern
government to Northern rebels in the first rebellion.
The second rebellion, commonly called the "Whisky Insurrection" of
Western Pennsylvania, assumed more formidable proportions, and was
instigated by even more sordid and inexcusable motives. In 1784, the
distillers of that part of the State were resolved to deny the right
of excise to the Federal Government. The excise law, though very
unpopular, had been carried into execution in every part of the United
States, and in most of the counties of Pennsylvania; but west of the
Alleghany the people rose in arms against the Government officers,
prevented them from exercising their functions, maltreated them, and
compelled them to fly from the district, and finally called a meeting
"to take into consideration the situation of the western country." They
seized upon the mail, and opened the letters to discover what reports
had been sent of their proceedings to Philadelphia, and by whom. They
addressed a circular letter to the officers of the militia in the
disaffected counties, calling on them to rendezvous at Braddock's
Field on the first of August, with arms in good order, and four days'
provisions, an "expedition," it was added, "in which they could have
an opportunity of displaying their military talent, and of serving
the country." This insurrection was headed by David Bradford, the
prosecuting attorney for Washington county, and was secretly fomented
by agents of the French Republic, who desired nothing better than to
see the downfall of Washington's administration, and the reign of
anarchy inaugurated on this continent. A large body of men, estimated
at from five to ten thousand, met on the day appointed at Braddock's
Field. Bradford took upon himself the military command. Albert Gallatin
(lately a rejected United States Senator, on the ground that he had
not been a resident of the State the length of time prescribed for
foreigners) was appointed Secretary. "Cowards and traitors" were freely
denounced, and those who advocated moderate measures were over-awed and
silenced. The rioters then marched to Pittsburgh, which they would have
burned but for the conciliatory conduct of the people of the town. They
burned the houses of several obnoxious men, compelled them to leave
the country, and then dispersed. It had been Bradford's design to get
possession of Fort Pitt, and seize the arms and ammunition there; but
not being supported in this by the militia officers, he had abandoned
it. All the remaining excise officers in the district were now forced
to leave. Many outrages were committed, houses burned, citizens
insulted, and a reign of terror completely established.
The news of this formidable and wide-spread insurrection reaching
Philadelphia, the President issued a proclamation reciting the acts
of treason, commanding the insurgents to disperse, and warning others
against abetting them. This was the first of such proclamations ever
issued in this country, and was no doubt the model proposed, to
himself, and followed by President Lincoln in 1861. But Washington, at
the same time, appointed three commissioners--a member of his cabinet,
a Pennsylvania United States Senator, and a judge of the Supreme
Court in that State--to repair to the scene of action, confer with
the insurgents, and make every practicable attempt toward a peaceful
adjustment. The policy of calling out the militia was discussed in the
Cabinet. Hamilton and Knox were in favor of it. Randolph opposed it,
and so did Governor Mifflin, who was consulted, on the ground that a
resort to force might influence and augment the excitement and unite
the whole State in rebellion. Washington finally determined to take
the responsibility on himself and act with vigor, since if such open
and daring resistance to the laws were not met and checked at once,
it might find many imitators in other parts of the country, then so
agitated and unsettled. The commissioners having failed to come to
any satisfactory terms with the rebels, the opinion rapidly gained
ground that the interposition of an armed force was indispensable.
A body of fifteen thousand militia was called out from the States
of Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, and the whole
force put under the command of Governor (and General) Henry Lee, of
Virginia,[7] the father of _our_ General Robert E. Lee. The news
that this army was on the march materially increased the numbers and
influence of the moderate party in Western Pennsylvania. The Standing
Committee of the insurgents met and recommended submission, which was
ably and zealously advocated by Albert Gallatin and Breckenridge.
Nothing decisive was agreed upon, and pending another convention,
many of the ring-leaders fled from the State; David Bradford, who had
been foremost among them, being the first to seek safety in flight to
New-Orleans.
A resolution of submission was passed at the second convention, and
a committee of two, one of whom, Findley, was a member of Congress,
appointed to convey it to the President at Carlisle. The President
received this committee courteously, but the march of the troops was
not arrested. A third convention being held, and resolutions to pay
all excise duties and recommending the surrender of all delinquents
having passed, General Lee issued a proclamation granting an amnesty
to all who had submitted, and calling on the people to take the oath
of allegiance to the United States. Orders were issued and executed
to seize those offenders who had not submitted, and send them to
Philadelphia. Of those who were tried before the Circuit Court, only
two were found guilty of capital offenses, one of arson and the
other of robbing the mail; and both were ultimately pardoned by the
President. In less than four months from the burning of the first
house, the insurrection was completely defeated, and entire order
restored. A force of twenty-five hundred militia was retained in
the disaffected district during the ensuing winter, under command of
General Morgan. Provision was made to indemnify those whose property
had been destroyed, and an appropriation of more than a million of
dollars was made by Congress to defray the expenses incurred. Albert
Gallatin, who was then a hardly naturalized foreigner, notwithstanding
the part he had taken in the earlier stages of the rebellion, by
his subsequent moderate counsels had regained the confidence of the
Government, and being the choice of the people of that district, was
elected to the next Congress, taking his seat without any opposition
or word of rebuke. His subsequent brilliant career is now part of our
national history. Findley, who was a member of Congress at the time of
the outbreak, and was at one time prominent among the sympathizers,
though he acted at no time with decision, did not forfeit his seat by
his participation in the revolt. He appeared in his place in Congress
the ensuing November. He afterward wrote an elaborate history of the
insurrection and a vindication of himself and his friends. According
to him the troops sent to quell the rebellion would have left more
emphatic tokens of their desire for vengeance on the rebels, "if it had
not been for the moderation of Washington and his resistless weight of
character in the execution of his purposes."[8]
The prompt, energetic, and efficient measures of the Administration
in arresting the progress of this revolt, and its magnanimity
and moderation toward the offenders afterward, contributed very
materially to strengthen the Government at a critical period of its
existence, to give it dignity and influence, and to rally round it
the best affections of the people. And its patience and forbearance
had been somewhat tried by the State of Pennsylvania in those days.
There had been many symptoms of instability in the "Keystone" of the
newly-erected arch of civil liberty. There were two examples of mutiny
among the Pennsylvania troops during the Revolution, and two popular
insurrections in regard to the excise laws, and this one had opened
with the exhibition of a temper ferocious and reckless. The estimate
by the Administration of the danger of the rebellion in 1794 may be
inferred from the fact that the number of troops called for to suppress
it was greater, in proportion to the then population of the United
States, than the call made by President Lincoln in 1861 to the present
population. In 1790, the white population of the United States was
3,172,464. The troops called out in '94 were 15,000. In 1860, the white
population was 26,690,206. Troops ordered out, 75,000. The proportion
in 1794 was greater, according to these figures, in the ratio of 389 to
354, without allowing for increase from 1790 to '94. And the magnitude
of the danger did indeed fully justify all the apprehensions and
precautions of the guardians of the state. The young republic was but
newly formed, the Government scarcely settled. Many prominent and able
men in different parts of the country were turning admiring eyes toward
France in her wild career, others toward some vision of a monarchical
form. Emissaries from the distracted states of the Old World were
prompt and zealous to foment discords and disturbances, and precedents
were wanting every day to meet new issues that arose continually. The
situation needed all the wisdom, prudence, and magnanimity of the
illustrious man called by Providence to guide the first steps of a
great nation.
Does any one hesitate to believe that if we had had a Washington for
President in 1860 and 1861, the late war would never have taken place;
that secession would never have been accomplished? How vigorous and
yet how conciliatory would have been the measures. The seventy-five
thousand would no doubt have been called for, but commissioners of
peace to the "wayward sisters" would have preceded them. In our day it
was the insurgents who sent commissioners. The best men of the South
were a month in Washington City, vainly endeavoring for a hearing,
vainly hoping for some oiler of conciliation or adjustment, and deluded
by promises from the highest officials that were never meant to be
fulfilled.
Does any one doubt what would have been Washington's conduct of the
grand army through its unparalleled and immortal march of triumph? Even
had he not been guided by Christian principles of honor and humanity,
he would at least have emulated the example and shared the glory of
the noble heathen of whom it was said: "_Postremo signa, et tabulas,
ceteraque ornamenta Græcorum oppidorum, quæ ceteri tollenda esse
arbitrantur, ea sibi ille ne visenda quidem existimavit. Itaque omnes
quidem nunc in his locis Cn. Pompeium sicut aliquem non ex hac urbe
missum, sed de ælo delapsum, intuentur._"[9]
And finally, can any one doubt what his policy would now be toward the
people so lately in arms against their Government? Alas! to him alone,
first in war and first in peace, can the whole of the splendid eulogy
of the Roman orator to the great captain of _his_ day be fittingly
applied: "_Humanitati jam tantâ est, ut difficile dictu sit, utrum
hostes magis virtutem ejus pugnantis timuerint, an mansuetudinem victi
delixerint_."[10]
Just twenty years from the time of the second rebellion, the third, and
by far the most evil-disposed, malignant, and far-reaching expression
of hostility to the General Government was organized. The Hartford
Convention indeed never proceeded so far as to make an appeal to arms,
but the spirit that suggested it, and the temper displayed by its
leaders, give it undoubtedly the best claim to have inaugurated the
hateful doctrine of secession.
The war of 1812 with England was, in general, excessively unpopular in
the New-England States. Their commerce was burned; their fisheries were
broken up, and their merchants and ship-owners, who constituted the
wealthiest and most influential class among them, were heavy losers.
The Administration had always been unpopular with them, and now its
policy of embargo, non-importation, non-intercourse, and finally of
war, were sufficient to rouse them into active opposition. This was
manifested in various ways; in the annual addresses of their governors;
in reports of legislative committees; in laws to embarrass the action
of the Federal Executive, as, for instance, forbidding it the use
of any of their jails for the confinement of prisoners of war, and
ordering all their jailers to liberate all British prisoners committed
to their keeping; in refusing to contribute their quota of men for the
support of the war, and even to allow them to march beyond the limits
of their own State. The spirit of disaffection was diligently cherished
by the leaders, and went on increasing in bitterness and extent till
a convention was proposed and agreed upon. On the 15th of December,
1814, there assembled in the city of Hartford twelve delegates from
Massachusetts, seven from Connecticut, four from Rhode Island, three
county delegates from New-Hampshire, and one from Vermont. They sat
with closed doors till the 5th of January, 1815, when they adjourned,
having issued a report setting forth their grievances and aims. The
following extract from a report of the proceedings of the Legislature
will exhibit the spirit that prevailed through the State:
"We believe that this war, so fertile in calamities, and so threatening
in its consequences, has been waged with the worst possible views, and
carried on in the worst possible manner, forming a union of wickedness
and weakness which defies, for a parallel, the annals of the world. We
believe also that its worst effects are yet to come; that loan upon
loan, tax upon tax, and exaction upon exaction, must be imposed, until
the comforts of the present and the hopes of the rising generation are
destroyed. _An impoverished people will be an enslaved people._" Of the
right of the State to prevent the exercise of unconstitutional power
by the General Government, they had no doubt. "A power to regulate
commerce is abused when employed to destroy it, and a voluntary
abuse of power sanctions the right of resistance as much as a direct
and palpable usurpation. The sovereignty reserved to the States was
reserved to protect the citizens from acts of violence by the United
States, as well as for purposes of domestic regulation. We spurn the
idea that the free, sovereign, and independent State of Massachusetts
is reduced to a mere municipal corporation, without power to protect
its people, or to defend them from oppression, from whatever quarter
it comes. Whenever the national compact is violated, and the citizens
of this State oppressed by cruel and unauthorized enactments, this
Legislature is bound to interpose its power, and to wrest from the
oppressor its victim. This is the spirit of our Union."
The manifesto of the Convention did not, could not, use stronger
language. After proposing seven amendments to the Constitution, and
giving reasons for their adoption, they disclaimed all hostility to
that Constitution, and professed only to aim to unite all the friends
of the country of all parties, and obtain their aid in effecting a
change of Federal rulers. Should this be hopeless, they hinted at the
"necessity of more mighty efforts," which were plainly set forth in
their resolutions, and everywhere understood to refer to a secession of
the five New-England States, their consolidation into an independent
government of their own, or alliance with England.[11]
The time chosen for such a display of enmity to the Union was most
opportune for the purposes of the traitors. A war with a foreign foe,
and that foe the most powerful nation on earth, was in progress; the
Administration was greatly embarrassed; the country was rent with
fierce party factions. What would be the issue no human wisdom could
foresee; but that the ruin of the country was not then effected, can
not be attributed to the patriotism of the New-England States. Three
commissioners, appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts, to whom
Connecticut added two others, proceeded to Washington to lay their
resolutions and applications before the Government. But, most happily,
news of the treaty of Ghent and consequent peace arriving at the same
time with these envoys, their mission became the theme of unsparing
taunt and ridicule in the papers, and they returned home without
disburdening themselves of their object. Thus the third rebellion
was snuffed out by events; but its sparks were blown far and wide by
viewless winds, and effected a lodgment where, though smothered for a
generation or two, they yet burned in secret, and at length burst out
in the great conflagration of 1860, which lit the whole horizon and
dyed the very heavens with its crimson. The principles of the Hartford
Convention were the seeds of nullification and secession.
The eminent historian from Massachusetts records in glowing pages the
stifling of the earliest throbs of civil and religious liberty on
this continent in 1676. The earliest martyr in the Bacon Rebellion
against monarchical tyranny was William Drummond, the first Governor
of North-Carolina. His name is written on the beautiful sheet of water
that lies within the tangled brakes of the great swamp on the borders
of the land he loved and served so well. In that rebellion the women
(as at this day) shared the popular enthusiasm. "The child that is
unborn," said Sarah Drummond, "shall rejoice for the good that will
come by the rising of the country." She would not suffer a throb of
fear in her bosom, and in the greatest perils to which her husband was
exposed, she confidently exclaimed, "We shall do well enough," and
continually encouraged the people and inspired the soldiers with her
own enthusiasm. When Edmund Cheesman was arraigned for trial, his wife
declared that but for her he never would have joined the rebellion,
and on her knees begged that she might bear the punishment. Yet these
devoted people saw the cause for which they had risked and lost every
thing in the dust, overthrown, and trampled upon with vindictive fury
by the triumphant royalists. In the judicial trials that followed,
a rigor and merciless severity were exhibited, worthy of the gloomy
judge whose "bloody assize," ten years later, on the western circuit
of England, has left an indelible blot on her history. Twenty-two were
hanged; three others died of cruelty in prison; three more fled before
trial; two escaped after conviction. Nor is it certain when Sir William
Berkeley's thirst for blood would have been appeased if the newly
convened assembly had not voted an address that the Governor "should
spill no more blood." On Berkeley's return to England he was received
with coldness, and his cruelty openly disavowed by the government.
"That old fool," said the kind-hearted Charles II., "has taken more
lives in that naked country than I for the murder of my father."[12]
"More blood was shed," adds the historian, "than, on the action of
our present political system, would be shed for political offenses
in a thousand years." Alas! for the sunny South, the scorched and
consumed South, alas for her! that the prediction of the great American
historian is not history!
Considering this rebellion in the perspective afforded by nearly two
hundred years, it is easy for us to understand how the severity with
which it was punished by the fanatic old royal Governor only drove
the entering-wedge of separation between the mother country and her
colonies in America deeper. The principles of Bacon and his party had
obtained a great hold on the popular mind; and though for years all
tendency to a popular government appeared to be crusted out and forever
silenced, yet they were there, in the hearts of men, silently growing,
nurtured by a deep sense of injustice and wrong, and biding their time.
Just a century from the suppression of the "Baconists," the Declaration
of Independence was adopted; Sarah Drummond's words were verified, and
Bacon and Drummond and Cheesman and Hansford were amply avenged.
It is to such pages of history as these that I would turn the attention
of our Northern friends now. Here they may see how the Father of his
country dealt with his wayward children. How a prompt and dignified
and successful assertion of the rights of the Federal Government were
followed by leniency and generous and prudent forbearance such as a
great government can afford to show, and by which it best exhibits its
strength and its claims to the love and veneration of its people. Here
they may see how a brutal gratification of vengeance, a lust of blood,
like the tiger's spring, overleaps its mark. The hardest lesson to be
learned is moderation in the hour of triumph; the greatest victory to
be achieved is the victory over self.
Where now are the Bowdoins, the Hancocks, the Dexters, the Ames, the
Websters of Massachusetts? Has she no statesman now capable of rising
to the magnanimity which characterized her early history? Has thrice
revolting and thrice pardoned Pennsylvania no representative man who
can rise to the height of the great argument, and vindicate the cause
of a country pillaged and plundered and peeled to an extent of which
the history of civilized humanity affords us no parallel? Is there no
one now to stand up and advocate for Southerners the same measure of
forbearance and generosity that was shown by a Southern President to
Northern rebels?
"O thou that spoilest and wast not spoiled, that dealt treacherously,
and they dealt not treacherously with thee!" haste to the work of
reconciliation and to build up the waste places! Even now on our
thresholds are heard the sounds of the departing feet of those who in
despair for their country, hopeless of peace or of justice, are leaving
our broad, free, noble land for the semi-civilized haciendas of Mexico
or of far-off tropical Brazil. Even now are their journals scattered
freely among us--invitations, beckonings, sneers at the North, flattery
of the South, fair promises, golden lures, every inducement held out
to a high-hearted and fainting people to cast their lot in with them.
Haste to arrest them by some display of returning fraternity and
consideration, ere for them we raise the saddest lament yet born of the
war: "Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for
him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native
country!"
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 6: For these particulars, I am indebted to Tucker's History
of the United States, vol. i. chap. 4, and to Hildreth's History of the
United States, first series, vol. iii. chap. 45.]
[Footnote 7: My readers will remember the reference in the second
chapter to the capture by this officer of a portion of Tarleton's staff
on Haw River, while engaged in satisfying the claims of a countryman
for forage. No member of General Sherman's command is known to have
suffered a surprise under similar circumstances. Certainly not in this
region!
Washington's characteristic sagacity and humanity were shown in the
selection of General Lee as commander of the forces.]
[Footnote 8: Tucker's History, vol, i. chap. 7. Hildreth's History,
second series, vol. i. chap. 7.]
[Footnote 9: "Lastly, the statues and pictures and other ornaments of
Grecian cities, which other commanders suppose might be carried off, he
indeed thought that they ought not even to have been looked at by him.
Therefore now all the inhabitants in those places look upon Cn. Pompey
as one not sent from this city, but descended from heaven."]
[Footnote 10: "Now, by the exercise of such great humanity it has
become hard to say whether his enemies feared his valor more when they
were fighting, or loved his humanity more when they were conquered."]
[Footnote 11: Tucker's History, vol. iii. chap. 18. Hildreth, vol. iii.
chap. 29.]
[Footnote 12: Bancroft's History, vol. ii. chap. 14.]
CHAPTER VII.
SCHOFIELD'S ARMY--SHERMAN'S--THEIR OUTRAGES--UNION SENTIMENT--A
DISAPPOINTMENT--NINETY-TWO YEARS AGO--GOVERNOR GRAHAM--HIS
ANCESTRY--HIS CAREER--GOVERNOR MANLY.
The town of Goldsboro was occupied by General Schofield's army on the
twenty-first of March. No resistance was offered by the Confederates,
who had withdrawn in the direction of Smithfield, with the exception of
one regiment of cavalry, which had a slight skirmish with Schofield's
advance near the town. General Schofield's conduct toward the citizens
of the town was conciliatory. No plundering was allowed by him;
efficient guards were stationed, and beyond the loss of fences and
out-houses torn down for firing, etc., depredations on poultry-yards,
etc., and a few smoke-houses, there was but little damage done. But
in the surrounding country the outrages were innumerable, and in many
places the desolation complete. On the twenty-third of March General
Sherman's grand army made its appearance, heralded by the columns of
smoke which rose from burning farm-houses on the south side of the
Neuse. For thirty-six hours they poured in, in one continuous stream.
Every available spot in the town, and for miles around it, was covered
with the two armies, estimated at one hundred and twenty-five thousand
men. General Sherman's reputation had preceded him, and the horror and
dismay with which his approach was anticipated in the country were
fully warranted. The town itself was in a measure defended, so to
speak, by General Schofield's preöccupation; but in the vicinity and
for twenty miles round, the country was most thoroughly plundered and
stripped of food, forage, and private property of every description.
One of the first of General Sherman's own acts, after his arrival, was
of peculiar hardship. One of the oldest and most venerable citizens
of the place, with a family of sixteen or eighteen children and
grandchildren, most of them females, was ordered, on a notice of a few
hours, to vacate his house, for the convenience of the General himself,
which of course was done. The gentleman was nearly eighty years of
age, and in very feeble health. The out-houses, fences, grounds, etc.,
were destroyed, and the property greatly damaged during its occupation
by the General. Not a farm-house in the country but was visited and
wantonly robbed. Many were burned, and very many, together with
out-houses, were pulled down and hauled into camps for use. Generally
not a live animal, not a morsel of food of any description was left,
and in many instances not a bed or sheet or change of clothing for
man, woman, or child. It was most heart-rending to see daily crowds
of country people, from three-score and ten years of age, down to the
unconscious infant carried in its mother's arms, coming into the town
to beg food and shelter, to ask alms from those who had despoiled them.
Many of these families lived for days on parched corn, on peas boiled
in water without salt, on scraps picked up about the camps. The number
of carriages, buggies, and wagons brought in is almost incredible. They
kept for their own use what they wished, and burned or broke up the
rest. General Logan and staff took possession of seven rooms in the
house of John C. Slocumb, Esq., the gentleman of whose statements I
avail myself. Every assurance of protection was given to the family by
the quartermaster; but many indignities were offered to the inmates,
while the house was as effectually stripped as any other of silver
plate, watches, wearing apparel, and money. Trunks and bureaus were
broken open and the contents abstracted. Not a plank or rail or post
or paling was left anywhere upon the grounds, while fruit-trees,
vines, and shrubbery were wantonly destroyed. These officers remained
nearly three weeks, occupying the family beds, and when they left the
bed-clothes also departed.
It is very evident that General Sherman entered North-Carolina with
the confident expectation of receiving a welcome from its Union-loving
citizens. In Major Nichols's story of the Great March, he remarks,
on crossing the line which divides South from North-Carolina: "The
conduct of the soldiers is perceptibly changed. I have seen no evidence
of plundering, the men keep their ranks closely; and more remarkable
yet, not a single column of the fire or smoke which a few days ago
marked the positions of the heads of columns, can be seen upon the
horizon. Our men seem to understand that they are entering a State
which has suffered for its Union sentiment, and whose inhabitants would
gladly embrace the old flag again if they can have the opportunity,
which we mean to give them," (page 222.) But the town-meeting and war
resolutions of the people of Fayetteville, the fight in her streets,
and Governor Vance's proclamation, soon undeceived them, and their
amiable dispositions were speedily corrected and abandoned.
On first entering our State, Major Nichols, looking sharply about him,
and fortunately disposed to do justice, under the impression that he
was among friends, declares: "It is not in our imagination alone that
we can at once see a difference between South and North-Carolina. The
soil is not superior to that near Cheraw, but the farmers are a vastly
different class of men. I had always supposed that South-Carolina was
agriculturally superior to its sister State. The loud pretensions of
the chivalry had led me to believe that the scorn of these gentlemen
was induced by the inferiority of the people of the old North State,
and that they were little better than 'dirt-eaters;' but the strong
Union sentiment which has always found utterance here should have
taught me better. The real difference between the two regions lies in
the fact that here the plantation owners work with their own hands,
and do not think they degrade themselves thereby. For the first time
since we bade farewell to salt water, I have to-day seen an attempt to
manure land. The army has passed through thirteen miles or more of
splendidly-managed plantations; the corn and cotton-fields are nicely
plowed and furrowed; the fences are in capital order; the barns are
well built; the dwelling-houses are cleanly, and there is that air of
thrift which shows that the owner takes a personal interest in the
management of affairs," (page 222.)
It happens curiously enough that North-Carolina, ninety-two years ago,
made much the same impression on a stranger then traveling peacefully
through her eastern border; and his record is worth comparing with the
foregoing, as showing that her State individuality was as strongly and
clearly defined then as now, and that the situation of our people in
1773 closely resembled in some particulars that of their descendants in
1865.
"The soils and climates of the Carolinas differ, but not so much as
their inhabitants. The number of negroes and slaves is much less
in North than in South-Carolina. Their staple commodity is not so
valuable, not being in so great demand as the rice, indigo, etc.,
of the South. Hence labor becomes more necessary, and he who has an
interest of his own to serve is a laborer in the field. Husbandmen and
agriculture increase in number and improvement. Industry is up in the
woods at tar, pitch, and turpentine; in the fields plowing, planting,
clearing, or fencing the land. Herds and flocks become more numerous.
You see husbandmen, yeomen, and white laborers scattered through the
country instead of herds of negroes and slaves. Healthful countenances
and numerous families become more common as you advance. Property is
much more equally diffused through one province than in the other, and
this may account for some if not all the differences of character in
the inhabitants. The people of the Carolinas certainly vary much as to
their general sentiments, opinions, and judgments; and there is very
little intercourse between them. _The present State of North-Carolina
is really curious; there are but five provincial laws in force through
the colony, and no courts at all in being. No one can recover a debt,
except before a single magistrate, where the sums are within his
jurisdiction, and offenders escape with impunity. The people are in
great consternation about the matter; what will be the consequence
is problematical._" (_Memoir of Josiah Quincy, Jr._, page 123.) The
situation of North-Carolina during the last eight months of 1865
furnishes an exact parallel to the above concluding paragraph, and the
whole may be taken as a fair illustration of the oft-repeated sentiment
that history but repeats itself.
Major Nichols's impression of the old North State would scarcely have
been so favorably expressed had he known what reception her people
were to give the grand army. One week later, he writes: "Thus far we
have been painfully disappointed in looking for the Union sentiment in
North-Carolina, about which so much has been said. Our experience is
decidedly in favor of its sister State. The city of Fayetteville was
offensively rebellious;" and further on, "The rebels have shown more
pluck at Averasboro and at Bentonsville than we have encountered since
leaving Atlanta."
While the Federal armies lay at Goldsboro, trains were running day
and night from Beaufort and from Wilmington, conveying stores for
the supply and complete refit of Sherman's army. The Confederate
army, lying between Goldsboro and Raleigh, having no supplies or
reënforcements to receive, waited grimly and despairingly the order to
fall back upon Raleigh, which came as soon as General Sherman, having
effected his interview with General Grant, had returned to Goldsboro,
with his future plan of action matured, and once more, on the tenth of
April, set the grand army in motion. The scenes in Raleigh during the
first week of April were significant enough. The removal of government
stores, and of the effects of the banks; the systematic concealment of
private property of every description; the hurried movements of troops
to and fro; the doubt, dismay, and gloom painted on every man's face,
told but too well the story of anticipated defeat and humiliation.
If there were any who secretly exulted in the advance of the Federal
army, they were not known. The nearest approach to any such feeling
in any respectable man's breast was probably the not unnatural sense
of satisfaction with which men who had long seen their opinions
derided and execrated now felt that their hour of vindication was
arriving, the hour which every thoughtful man in the State had long
since foreseen. The united North was too strong for the South, and
the weaker cause--whether right or wrong--was doomed. I repeat, not a
thoughtful or clear-headed man in North-Carolina but had foreseen this
result as most probable, while at the same time not a thoughtful man
or respectable citizen within our borders but had considered it his
duty as well as his interest to stand by his State and do all in his
power to assist her in the awful struggle. Till the Northern people,
as a body, can understand how it was that such conflicting emotions
held sway among us, and can see how an honorable people could resist
and deplore secession, and yet fight to the last gasp in support of the
Confederacy, and in obedience to the laws of the State, it is idle to
hope for a fair judgment from them. This, however, contradictory as it
may seem to superficial observers, was the position of North-Carolina
all through the war, from its wild inception to its sullen close, and
as such was defended and illustrated by her best and ablest statesmen.
Foremost and most earnest in her efforts to maintain peace and preserve
the Union--for she was the only State which sent delegates to both the
Northern and Southern peace conventions--she was yet foremost also
in the fight and freest in her expenditure of blood and treasure to
sustain the common cause, which she had so reluctantly embraced; and
now the time was fast approaching when she was again to vindicate her
claims to supreme good sense and discretion, by being among the first
to admit the hopelessness and sin of further effort, and the first to
offer and accept the olive-branch.
Frequently during the winter of 1864-65, had the eyes of our people
been turned toward our Senator in the Confederate Congress, anxious
for some public expression of opinion as to the situation from
him, waiting to see what course he would indicate as most proper
and honorable. For of those who stood foremost as representative
North-Carolinians, of those who possessed the largest share of personal
popularity and influence in the State, it is not too much to say that
Ex-Governor GRAHAM was by far the most conspicuous and preëminent--the
man of whom it may be said more truly than of any other, that as he
spoke so North-Carolina felt, and as he acted, so North-Carolina
willed. And now, in the approaching crisis, there was no man by whose
single deliberate judgment the whole State would have so unanimously
agreed to be guided.
It may be well to pause here and glance at Governor Graham's
antecedents and associations, the better to understand his claims to
such prominence and such influence.
In a country such as ours, where hereditary distinctions do not exist,
it is peculiarly pleasant to observe such a transmission of principles,
and virtues, and talents, as is exhibited in the Graham family. The
father of Governor Graham was General Joseph Graham, of Revolutionary
fame, than whom there did not exist a more active and able partisan
leader in North-Carolina. In the affair at Charlotte in 1780, referred
to in a preceding number, when one hundred and fifty militia, under
Colonel Davie, gave the whole British army under Cornwallis such a warm
reception, most efficient aid was rendered by Major Joseph Graham,
who commanded a small company of volunteers on that occasion. He was
covered with wounds, and his recovery was considered by his friends
as little short of miraculous. But he was afterward distinguished in
many heroic exploits, and commanded in no less than fifteen different
engagements.
His youngest son, William Alexander, was born in 1804, in Lincoln
county, graduated at the State University in 1824, chose the profession
of the law, and entered upon public life as member of the General
Assembly in 1833, three years before the death of his venerable father.
The talents, patriotism, and energy which had distinguished the
Revolutionary patriot, were transmitted in full measure to his son, and
North-Carolina evinced her appreciation of his abilities by retaining
him in public office whenever he would consent to serve, from the time
of his first entrance. And Governor Graham has never failed, has never
been unequal to the occasion, or to the expectations formed of him,
however high. His very appearance gives assurance of the energy, calm
temper, high ability, and nerve which have always characterized him.
As a lawyer and advocate, his reputation is eminent and his success
brilliant; but it is as a statesman that his career is particularly to
be noted now. He was United States Senator in 1840, elected Governor
of the State in 1844, and reëlected in 1846. His immediate predecessor
in this office was the Hon J.M. Morehead, previously referred to as a
member of the Peace Convention at Washington; and his successor was
the Hon. Charles Manly--all Whigs--and Governor Manly, the last of
that school of politics elected to that office, previous to the civil
war. Governor Graham was appointed Secretary of the Navy in 1850,
by President Fillmore, which he resigned in 1852 on receiving the
nomination for Vice-President on the ticket with General Scott. He was
repeatedly member of the General Assembly, and in all positions has
merited and enjoyed the fullest and most unhesitating confidence of the
people he represented, worthy of them and worthy of his parentage.
His connection in politics having been ever with the Whig party, he was
thereby removed in the furthest possible degree from any countenance to
the doctrines of Nullification and Secession. Hence he had concurred
with Webster's great speech in reply to Hayne in 1830, with the
proclamation of Jackson in 1832, with Clay in 1850, and with the entire
policy of President Fillmore's eminently national administration.
In February, 1860, he visited Washington City to consult with such
friends as Crittenden of Kentucky, Hives of Virginia, and Granger of
New-York, on the dangers then environing and threatening the country,
the result of which was a convention nominating Bell and Everett for
the Presidential ticket, with the motto, "The Union, the Constitution,
and the enforcement of the laws." He canvassed the State on his return
home, for these candidates and principles, warning the people, however,
that there was a likelihood of Mr. Lincoln's election; and that in such
a case it was evidently the purpose of the Secessionists who supported
Breckinridge, to break up the Government and involve the country in
civil war. Party, however, was at that time stronger than patriotism,
and Breckinridge carried the State. On Mr. Lincoln's election,
Governor Graham made public addresses, exhorting the people to submit
and yield due obedience to his office. When the Legislature that winter
ordered an election to take the sense of the people on the call of a
convention, and at the same time to elect delegates, Governor Graham
opposed the call, and it was signally defeated in the State. He was
proposed as a Commissioner to the Peace Convention at Washington, but
was rejected by the secessionist majority because of his decided and
openly expressed Union sentiments.
After the attack on Fort Sumter, and the secession of Virginia and of
Tennessee, leaving North-Carolina perfectly isolated among the seceded
States, and with civil war already begun, Governor Graham decided to
adopt the cause of the Southern States, but with pain and reluctance,
not upon any pretense of right, but as a measure of revolution, and of
national interest and safety. He was a member of the convention which
in May, 1861, carried the State out of the Union, and from the date
of the secession ordinance he endeavored in good faith and honor to
sustain the cause of the Confederate States, but without any surrender
on the part of the people of the rights and liberties of freemen. In
the Convention of 1862, he delivered an elaborate speech in opposition
to test oaths, sedition laws, the suspension of the privilege of
_habeas corpus_, and all abridgments of the constitutional rights
of the citizen, either by State conventions, or by Legislatures, or
by Congress, which may be safely pronounced the clearest and ablest
vindication of the cardinal principles of civil liberty presented in
the annals of the Confederacy.
The expression of such views, such an evident determination that
the country should be free, not only in the end, but in the means,
coupled with great moderation of opinion as to the final result of the
struggle, and a total absence of all fire-eating proclivities, drew
down upon him the free criticism of the secession press and party,
many of whom did not hesitate to brand him as a traitor to the cause,
notwithstanding the assurances he gave of five sons in the army, some
one of whom was in every important battle on the Atlantic slope, except
Bull Run and Chancellorsville; two being present when the flag of Lee
went down on his last battle-field at Appomattox, while a third then
lay languishing with a severe and recent wound at Petersburg. Governor
Graham's sons derived no advantage from their father's distinguished
position in North-Carolina. They received no favors or patronage from
the Government, but were engaged in arduous and perilous service all
through, in such subordinate offices as were conferred by the election
of their comrades, or in the ordinary course of promotion.
No families in the State gave more freely of their best blood and
treasure in the support of the war than the Graham family and its
connections. Governor Graham's younger sister, Mrs. Morrison, wife
of the Rev. Dr. Morrison, of Lincoln county, the first President of
Davidson College, had three sons in the service, and four sons-in-law,
namely, Major Avery, General Barringer, General D.H. Hill, and _O
præclarum et venerabile nomen_, STONEWALL JACKSON! Perhaps no two
families entered upon the rebellion more reluctantly, nor in their
whole course were more entirely in unison with the views and feelings
of the great body of our citizens.
Major Avery, the youngest of Dr. Morrison's sons-in-law, was one of
five brothers, sons of Colonel Isaac T. Avery, of Burke; grandsons
of Colonel Waightstill Avery, who commanded a regiment during the
revolutionary war, and was a member of the Mecklenburg Convention, and
a colleague there of Major Robert Davidson, Mrs. Morrison's maternal
grandfather. Three of these five brothers fell in battle. The youngest,
Colonel Isaac T. Avery, named for his father, fell at Gettysburgh.
He survived his wounds a few minutes, long enough to beckon to his
lieutenant-colonel for a pencil and a scrap of paper, on which with his
dying fingers he assured his father that he died doing his whole duty.
His father, approaching his eightieth year, received the note, stained
with his son's life-blood, and died a few weeks afterward. The oldest
of the brothers, Waightstill, named for his grandfather, and the pride
of the family, was a son-in-law of Governor Morehead, and his colleague
in the first Confederate Congress. He fell in Kirk's raid near
Morganton. Governor Morehead,[13] who was, with the exception of the
distinguished President of the University, Governor Swain, the oldest
of the surviving ex-governors of the State, had two sons and two
sons-in-law in the army; the two latter were killed. Governor Graham's
immediate successor as governor--Charles Manly, of Raleigh--had three
sons in the army, all of whom saw hard service; and three sons-in-law,
two of whom were killed. There were not wanting those in the dark
hours of the contest who spoke of it as "the rich man's war, and the
poor man's fight." These examples show that it was the war of all. The
rich and the poor met together, and mingled their blood in a common
current, and lie together among the unrecorded dead. The history of
many families may be traced whose sacrifices were similar to the above
instances. And it is now the imperative duty of those fitted for the
work, to gather up these records for posterity, and for the future
historian and annalist of the country. Many striking coïncidences
and connections in family history, many most affecting instances of
unselfish devotion and of irreparable loss, are yet to be preserved by
hands eager
"To light the flame of a soldier's fame
On the turf of a soldier's grave."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 13: This distinguished gentleman has departed this life since
these sketches were first published in The Watchman.--Editor.]
CHAPTER VIII.
GOVERNOR GRAHAM OPPOSES SECESSION--BUT GOES WITH HIS STATE--IS
SENT TO THE CONFEDERATE SENATE--HIS AGENCY IN THE HAMPTON ROADS
INTERVIEW--REMARKABLE AND INTERESTING LETTERS FROM GOVERNOR GRAHAM,
WRITTEN FROM RICHMOND IN 1865.
Whatever distrust of Governor Graham was manifested by those who had
invoked the war, he was fully sustained by the people; for the adoption
of the ordinance of secession by no means implied the accession of
secessionists to power in the State. That step having been taken, the
Confederate Constitution ratified, and the honor and future destiny
of our people being staked on the revolution, Governor Graham stood
prepared to devote all the energies of the State to give it success;
and the mass of the people, not being willing to forgive the authors of
the movement, demanded the services of the Union men who had embraced
it as a necessity. Governor Graham was sent from the Legislature by
a majority of three fourths to the Confederate Senate, in December,
1863, on the resignation of the Hon. George Davis, who had accepted
the appointment of Attorney-General in the Cabinet of President
Davis. Before the commencement of his term, (May, 1864,) by means
of conscription and impressment laws, and the suspension of _habeas
corpus_, the whole population and resources of the country had been
placed at the command of the President for the prosecution of the war.
The implicit and entire surrender by the whole Southern people of their
dearest civil rights and liberties, of their lives and property into
the hands of the Government, for the support of a war, which, it may be
safely asserted, the large majority were opposed to, will form a field
of curious and interesting speculation to the future historian and
philosopher. There can not be a higher compliment paid to the character
of our people, and the principles in which they had been nurtured, than
the fact that no intestine disorders or disasters followed, upon such
extraordinary demands of power on the one part, and such extraordinary
resignation of rights on the other. Whatever the Confederate Government
asked for its own security, the people gave, and gave freely to the
last.
The defeats at Gettysburgh and Vicksburgh had turned the tide of
success in favor of the North, and although this was partially
relieved by the minor victories of Plymouth and elsewhere, the hopes
of ultimate success were becoming much darkened. Governor Graham had
never doubted that the North had the physical ability to conquer, if
her people could be kept up to a persevering effort, nor that our
only chances depended on their becoming wearied of the contest. As
our fortunes lowered, all men of prevision and sagacity turned their
thoughts toward the possibility of overtures for peace as becoming
daily of greater importance and more imminent necessity. But how could
this be done? With a powerful enemy pressing us, with war established
by law, with entire uncertainty as to the terms to be expected in
case of submission, with the necessity imposed of making no public
demonstration which should dampen the ardor of our troops, or depress
still further the spirits of our people, and excite the hopes of the
enemy; with such obstacles in the way, peace could not be approached
by a public man without involving the risk of inaugurating greater
evils than those he sought to avert. Besides all this, by the adoption
of the Constitution of the Confederate States, (which, by the way,
Governor Graham had vainly endeavored to prevent in convention, without
a second,) all legal power to terminate the war had been surrendered to
the President. Any other method would have been revolutionary, and have
provoked civil strife among us, and, doubtless, sharp retribution.
The only plan, therefore, which could afford reasonable hope of success
was to operate upon and through the President. This was attempted at
the first session of Congress of which Governor Graham was a member,
by secret resolutions introduced by Mr. Orr, the present Governor of
South-Carolina, which, however, failed to get a majority vote of the
Senate. Governor Graham, who was deeply impressed with a sense of the
absolute necessity of some movement toward peace, and who was not among
the confidential friends of the President, attempted next to operate on
him through those who were in some measure influential with him. By
this means he had an agency in setting on foot the mission to Fortress
Monroe, the result of which is well known. In the absence of Mr. Hunter
on that mission, Governor Graham was president _pro tem._ of the
Senate. Disappointed and mortified by that failure, he then approached
President Davis directly, and the results were stated in his private
correspondence with a confidential friend in North-Carolina. There can
be no better exponent of Governor Graham's position and views at this
momentous crisis in our history, than is found in these letters, and
I esteem myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to present to my
readers such extracts from them as will assist my purpose. They are
the letters of a consummate statesman, and of a patriot, and need no
heralding:
RICHMOND, January 28, 1865.
My Dear Sir: The intervention of F.P. Blair, who has passed two or
three times back and forth from Washington to this city recently, has
resulted in the appointment to-day by the President of an informal
commission, consisting of Messrs. A.H. Stephens, R.M.T. Hunter, and
J.A. Campbell, to proceed to Washington and confer with a like band
there, on the subject-matters of difference between the Northern
and Southern States, with a view to terms of peace. The action of
the Senate was not invoked, it is presumed because the appointment
of formal ministers might be considered inadmissible until the
question of recognition should be settled in our favor. I trust
that a termination of hostilities will be the result. From several
conversations with Mr. Hunter, in concert with whom I have been
endeavoring to reach this form of intercourse since the commencement
of the session of Congress, I am satisfied that the first effort
will be to establish an armistice of as long duration as may be
allowed, and then to agree upon terms of settlement. Upon the latter
I anticipate great conflict of views. The Northern mind is wedded
to the idea of reconstruction, and notwithstanding the violence of
the extravagant Republicans, I am convinced would guarantee slavery
as it now exists, and probably make other concessions, including of
course, amnesty, restoration of confiscated property, except slaves,
and perhaps some compensation for a part of these. On the other hand,
while the people of the South are wearied of the war, and are ready
to make the greatest sacrifice to end it, there are embarrassments
attending the abdication of a great government such as now wields the
power of the South, especially by the agents appointed to maintain
it, that are difficult to overcome. The commission is a discreet one,
and upon the whole is as well constituted as I expected, and I trust
that good will come of it. I have not seen any of the gentlemen since
hearing to-day of their appointment, and I learn they are to set
off to-morrow. I am therefore ignorant of the instructions they may
carry, if any have been given. The Vice-President was not on terms
with the head of the Government until a reconciliation yesterday.
Although the North would seem to be bent on war unless and until the
Union be restored, they yet regard us as a formidable foe, and I
suspect the ruling authorities estimate our power as highly as it
deserves. The Secretary of State here, I understand, says they have
been frightened into negotiations by the articles in the Richmond
_Enquirer_, threatening a colonial connection with England and France;
while others, I hear from Mr. Rives, assert that the North is much
troubled by the proposition to make soldiers of slaves. I have no
faith in either of these fancies, but have no doubt they regard us as
far from being subdued, and are willing to treat rather than incur
the preparations for what they conceive necessary for final success.
An intelligent prisoner, Mr. Roulhac of Florida, recently returned,
informs me that by the influence of his mercantile acquaintance, he
was paroled and allowed to spend six weeks in the city of New-York,
and to travel to Washington, etc. According to his observation,
there is an abatement in the feelings of hostility to the South, and
a disposition to peace, but upon the basis of reconstruction. Mr.
Singleton of Illinois, who has been here at times for two or three
weeks, and is a supposed _quasi_ diplomat, but from the company he
keeps is more of a speculator, gives the same account. The Virginia
delegation in Congress, having in view the Secretary of State,
declared a want of confidence in the cabinet, but struck no game
except their own Secretary of War. He has resigned, and Breckinridge,
it is announced, is to succeed him, ... a representative of a State
which has not ten thousand men in our army. No reports are given
from official sources of the fall of Fort Fisher. Private accounts
represent it as a disgraceful affair.... Mr. Trenholm insists on
adding one hundred per cent to the taxes of last year, including
tithes. He is a good merchant and has talent, but is not versed in
the finances of a nation. General Lee has addressed a letter to a
member of the Virginia Senate, advocating the enlistment of slaves as
soldiers, with emancipation of themselves and families, and ultimately
of the race. With such wild schemes and confessions of despair as
this, it is high time to attempt peace, and I trust the commission
above named may pave the way to it....
Very faithfully yours,
W.A. Graham.
RICHMOND, Feb. 5, 1865.
My Dear Sir: The commission to confer with the Northern Government
returned yesterday evening. I have not seen any of the gentlemen, but
learn on good authority that nothing was effected of a beneficial
nature, except that a general exchange of prisoners on parole may
be looked for. They were met on shipboard by Messrs. Lincoln and
Seward in person, (in sight of Fortress Monroe,) who said they could
entertain no proposition looking to the independence of the Southern
States, and could only offer that these States should return to the
Union under the Constitution in the existing condition of affairs,
with slavery as it is, but liable to be abolished by an amendment of
the Constitution. They brought also the information that Congress,
on Wednesday last, had passed a bill, by a vote of one hundred
and eighteen to fifty-four, to amend the Constitution, so as to
abolish slavery in the States, which is to be submitted to the State
Legislatures for approval of three fourths. These officers are said
to have exhibited great courtesy and kindness in the interview,
Lincoln recurring to what he had been willing to do in the outset,
and from time to time since, but that public opinion now demanded
his present ultimatum. The Commissioners saw large numbers of black
troops on their journey. I have seen but few persons to-day; but the
impression will be that there is no alternative but to prosecute the
war. The administration is weak in the estimation of Congress, and
a vote of want of confidence could be carried through the Senate if
approved by those it has been accustomed to consider Opposition. I am
not sure that this vote will not be carried as to the Secretary of
State. Senator Hill left yesterday for Georgia, to attend the session
of the Legislature, and endeavor to revive public confidence, etc.
The committee of our Legislature left the evening before the return
of the Commissioners, disposed, I believe, to await further progress
of events. The situation is critical, and requires a guidance beyond
human ken.
Very truly yours.
RICHMOND, Feb. 12, 1865.
My Dear Sir: You will have seen in the papers the report of the
Commissioners appointed to confer with the United States Government,
with the message of the President, as well as his speech at the
African Church, the addresses of the Secretary of State, and of
several members of Congress, at a public meeting to give expression to
sentiment on the result of the mission. Judging from these, and the
editorials of the newspapers of this city, there would appear to be
nothing in contemplation but _bella, horrida bella_. I was not present
at any of these proceedings, but learn that the assemblages were
large and apparently very enthusiastic; but no volunteers were called
for, nor any offered. Instead of that, labored arguments were made
in favor of making soldiers of slaves. The speech of the Secretary
of State went far beyond the newspaper reports, and its imprudences
in his situation are the subject of severe criticism. He declared
among other things, "that unless the slaves were armed, the cause was
lost;" with revelations of details of the attempt at negotiation,
exceedingly impolitic. All these demonstrations are likely to pass
off as the idle wind, and the great question still remains, What
is to be done to save the country? Mr. Stephens and Judge Campbell
refused to make any public addresses. The former has gone home, and
it is understood does not design to speak in public there, though
the papers have announced the contrary.... It seems they were under
instructions not to treat except upon the basis of independence,
and carried romantic propositions about an armistice, coupled with
an alliance to embark in a war with France, to maintain the Monroe
doctrine, and expel Maximilian from Mexico. Lincoln was courteous and
apparently anxious for a settlement; but firm in the announcement that
nothing could be entertained till our difficulties were adjusted,
and that upon the basis of a restoration of the Union. That as far
as he had power as President, amnesty, exemption from confiscation,
etc., should be freely extended; reviewed his announcements in his
inaugural, proclamations, messages, etc., to show what he considered
his liberality to the South, and that he could unsay nothing that
he had said. As to slavery, it must stand on the legislation of
Congress, with the proposed amendments to the Constitution, which he
informed them had passed both Houses, but which the dissent of ten
States could still reject. These terms not being agreed to, he and
Seward rose to depart, but with a manifestation of disappointment,
as inferred by my informant, that propositions were not submitted on
our side. Thus terminated the conference. There is a widening breach
between the President and Congress; a growing opinion on their part
that he is unequal to the present duties of his position while there
is a division of opinion as to the prospect of relief in a different
line of policy and under different auspices. The military situation
is threatening. Grant has been reënforced. Sherman seems to advance
almost without impediment, and with divided counsels among our
generals in that quarter, Judge Campbell thinks another mission should
be sent; but regards it as out of the question in the temper and with
the committals of the President. Our Legislature has adjourned; that
of Georgia meets this week. _Speed in affairs is necessary._ There is
not time for States to act in concert, (without which they can effect
nothing,) nor sufficient harmony of views here for action without the
executive; and many, perhaps a majority, are for the most desperate
expedients. A short time will bring forth important results. I have
written very freely, but in confidence that you would observe the
proper secrecy. I would be glad to have any suggestions that may occur
to you. Opportunities for consultation here are not so numerous as I
could wish.
Very truly yours.
RICHMOND, Feb. 22, 1865.
My Dear Sir: ... A bill to conscribe negroes in the army was postponed
indefinitely in the Senate yesterday, in secret session. I _argued it_
at length as unconstitutional according to the Dred Scott decision
as well as inexpedient and dangerous. A bill for this purpose, which
had passed the House, was laid on the table. There may be attempts to
revive this fatal measure. All the influence of the administration and
of General Lee was brought to bear, but without success. An effort
is being made to instruct the Virginia senators to vote for it. Mr.
Benjamin has been writing letters to induce the brigades of the army
to declare for it. I rather regret that I did not join in a vote of
want of confidence in him, which only failed. Had I gone for it, I
learn it would have been carried by a considerable majority.
The military situation is exceedingly critical. There will be no stand
made short of Greensboro; whether there successfully, is doubtful....
Opinion is growing in favor of more negotiations, to rescue the
wreck of our affairs, if military results continue adverse. I shall
meet some friends this evening on that topic. I write in haste. As
to matters of confidence, please observe the proper secrecy. It is
the duty of the people to sustain the war till their authorities,
Confederate or State, determine otherwise. But in the mean time
there is no reason for inflamed resolutions to do what may be found
impossible, and which they may be compelled to retract.
Very truly yours,
W.A. Graham.
The publication of further extracts from these representative letters
must be deferred to the succeeding chapter. Meanwhile the thoughtful
student of the events of that day will recognize the direct hand of
Providence in the continuation of the war till the utter failure of our
resources was so fully manifest that peace, when it came, should be
_unchallenged_, _profound_, and _universal_.
CHAPTER IX.
STATE OF PARTIES--THE FEELING OF THE PEOPLE--THE "PEACE"
PARTY--IMPORTANT LETTER FROM GOVERNOR VANCE IN JANUARY, 1864--HIS
REËLECTION--THE WAR PARTY--THE PEACE PARTY--THE MODERATES--GOVERNOR
GRAHAM'S LETTER OF MARCH, 1865--EVACUATION OF RICHMOND.
He who would write a history of public events passing in his own day
will find, among the many obstacles in the way of a clear and correct
delineation, that he is continually met with doubts and hesitations
in his own mind as to the impartiality of his views and decisions.
The prejudices of party feeling must inevitably confuse and blind to
some extent even the clearest judgment; and while a consciousness of
this renders the faithful historian doubly anxious to exercise strict
impartiality, he will find himself embarrassed by the divisions and
subdivisions of opinion, bewildered by conflicting representations, and
in danger of becoming involved in contradictions and inconsistencies.
In the first chapter of these sketches it was remarked, with reference
to the North and the South, that there was too much to be forgotten
and too much to be forgiven between them, to hope at present for a
fair and unprejudiced history of the war on either side. In relation
to the parties that existed among ourselves during the war, it is
equally true that the time has not yet arrived for a fair statement
or comparison of their respective merits or demerits. While there
is much that may be written and much that has been written which
may with propriety be given to the public, there is much more that
must at present be suppressed or receive only a passing notice. More
especially is this true in regard to the secession party and its
adherents. Yet in presenting even these slight sketches of the state
of things during the war in North-Carolina, it would be impossible
to ignore them, and unfair to represent them as without influence
among us. For while it is incontestably true that the great mass of
our people engaged reluctantly in the war, and hailed the prospect of
peace and an honorable reünion, yet there was at the same time hardly
a town in the State or an educated and refined community which did
not furnish their quota of those who, without having been _original
secessionists_, yet had thrown themselves with extreme ardor on the
side of the Southern States rights, and were ready to go all lengths
in support of the war, and who are even now, though helpless and
powerless, unwilling to admit that they were either in the wrong or in
the minority. With many of them it was the triumph of heroic sentiment
and generous feeling over the calmer suggestions of reason, for they
were chiefly among our most refined and highly cultivated citizens.
As a party, if not numerous, they were well organized and compact;
they were socially and politically conspicuous, and did most of the
writing and talking. They differed from the great body of their
fellow-citizens, chiefly in the intensity of their loyalty toward
President Davis and his government--being resolved to support him at
all hazards--and in the implacable temper they manifested toward the
common enemy. One who mingled freely with both parties, and by turns
sympathized with both, and who would fain do justice to both, will find
it impossible to adjust their conflicting representations, and at the
same time observe the prudent reticence which our present circumstances
imperatively demand. Two of the most prominent and influential leaders
of the war party, Governors Ellis and Winslow, have passed beyond the
reach of earthly tribunals, and of the living actors it is obvious
that no mention can now be made. Very different but no less cogent
reasons impose a similar reticence in relation to the more numerous but
not more respectable or influential organization known as the "Peace
Party" of the last eighteen months of the war, and as "Union men of
the straitest sect" at this day. Of this party, Governor Holden is
the admitted founder and the present head, and Senator Pool his most
prominent exponent. A representation of their principles and their
history should be made by themselves. They possess all the materials
and all the abilities requisite for the work, and they owe it to
themselves and to the public to place it on record for the judgment of
their cotemporaries and of posterity. They and they alone are competent
to the performance of this duty in the best manner. The precise date of
the earliest formation of this party is given in the following letter
from Governor Vance, which, is inserted here, not only as affording
a clear view of the principles which guided _his_ course of action,
but as enabling the reader to comprehend Governor Graham's policy,
exhibited in the further extracts from his correspondence.
This letter was addressed by Governor Vance to the same friend who
received the letter given in my first number, and is marked by the same
clearness and energy of thought, the same generosity of feeling, and
the same unaffected ardor of patriotism which characterize all of the
Governor's letters that I have been privileged to see.
RALEIGH, January 2, 1864.
My Dear Sir: The final plunge which I have been dreading and
avoiding--that is to separate me from a large number of my political
friends, is about to be made. It is now a fixed policy of Mr. Holden
and others to call a convention in May to take North-Carolina back to
the United States, and the agitation has already begun. Resolutions
advocating this course were prepared a few days ago in the _Standard_
office, and sent to Johnson county to be passed at a public meeting
next week; and a series of meetings are to be held all over the State.
For any cause now existing, or likely to exist, I can never consent to
this course.
Never. But should it be inevitable, and I be unable to prevent it, as
I have no right to suppose I could, believing that it would be ruinous
alike to the State and the Confederacy, producing war and devastation
at home, and that it would steep the name of North-Carolina in
infamy, and make her memory a reproach among the nations, it is my
determination quietly to retire to the army and find a death which
will enable my children to say that their father was not consenting to
their degradation. This may sound a little wild and romantic--to use
no stronger expression--but it is for your eye only. I feel, sir, in
many respects, as a son toward you; and when the many acts of kindness
I have received at your hands are remembered, and the parental
interest you have always manifested for my welfare, the feeling is not
unnatural. I therefore approach you frankly in this matter.
I will not present the arguments against the proposed proceeding.
There is something to be said on both sides. We are sadly pushed to
the wall by the enemy on every side, it is true. That can be answered
by military men and a reference to history. Many people have been
worse off, infinitely, and yet triumphed. Our finances and other
material resources are not in worse condition than were those of
our fathers in 1780-'81, though repudiation is inevitable. Almost
every argument against the chances of our success can be answered
but one: that is the cries of women and little children for bread!
Of all others, that is the hardest for a man of humane sentiments to
meet, especially when the sufferers rejoin to your appeals to their
patriotism, "You, Governor, have plenty; your children have never felt
want." Still, no great political or moral blessing: ever has been or
can be attained without suffering. Such is our moral constitution,
that liberty and independence can only be gathered of blood and
misery, sustained and fostered by devoted patriotism and heroic
manhood. This requires a deep hold on the popular heart; and whether
our people are willing to pay this price for Southern independence, I
am somewhat inclined to doubt. But, sir, in tracing the sad story of
the backing down, the self-imposed degradation of a great people, the
historian shall not say it was due to the weakness of their Governor,
and that Saul was consenting unto their death! Neither do I desire,
for the sake of a sentiment, to involve others in a ruin which they
might avoid by following more ignoble counsels. As God liveth, there
is nothing which I would not do or dare for the people who so far
beyond my deserts have honored me. But in resisting this attempt to
lead them back, humbled and degraded, to the arms of their enemies,
who have slaughtered their sons, outraged their daughters, and wasted
their fields with fire, and lay them bound at the feet of a master
who promises them _only life_, provided they will swear to uphold
his administration, and surrender to the hangman those whom they
themselves placed in the position which constitutes their crime--in
resisting this, I say, I feel that I am serving them truly, worthily.
In approaching this, the crisis of North-Carolina's fate, certainly
of my own career, I could think of no one to whom I could more
appropriately go for advice than yourself for the reasons before
stated. If you can say any thing to throw light on my path, or enable
me to avoid the rocks before me, I shall be thankful. My great
anxiety now, as I can scarcely hope to avert the contemplated action
of the State, is to prevent civil war, and to preserve life and
property as far as may be possible. With due consideration on the part
of public men, which I fear is not to be looked for, this might be
avoided. It shall be my aim, under God, at all events.
All the circumstances considered, do you think I ought again to be
a candidate? It is a long time to the election, it is true, but the
issue will be upon the country by spring. My inclination is to take
the stump early, and spend all my time and strength in trying to warm
and harmonize the people.
* * * * *
Believe me, my dear sir, yours sincerely,
Z.B. Vance.
Governor Vance, it is well known, took the field against this new
party; and in the overwhelming majority with which he was reëlected
the following summer, convincing proof was given that much as
North-Carolinians desired peace, they were not willing to take
irregular or revolutionary measures to obtain it, and that they
preferred even a hopeless war to a dishonorable reünion.
Besides the Moderates, who constituted the bulk of the people, and
the War Party, and the "Peace Party," there were many besides of a
class which can never be influential, but may well be counted among
the _impedimenta_ of all great movements; who, unable to answer the
arguments of either side, could give no counsel to either, though
they were always prepared to blame any unsuccessful movement made in
any direction. These, overwhelmed by doubts and fears in the moment
of peril, could only wring their hands in hopeless inefficiency.
Surrounded with such conflicting elements, those who fain would have
led the people "by a right way," found the obstacles interposed by
party spirit almost insurmountable. In presenting Governor Graham,
therefore, as a representative North-Carolinian, it must be borne in
mind that there were many men among us true and patriotic, but so
ardently devoted to the cause of the Confederacy as to remain to the
last implacable toward any attempt at negotiation, who looked upon
all suggestions tending that way as dastardly and traitorous to the
South, and who, backed by the whole civil and military Confederate
authorities, were ready to brand and arrest as traitors the authors of
any such move.
With these reflections, I resume the extracts from Governor Graham's
correspondence, assured that his inaction in the momentous crisis,
deprecated as it was at the time, by one party as evincing too little
energy in behalf of peace, if not a disposition to continue the
war; and reviled by the other as indicative of a disposition toward
inglorious surrender and reconstruction, was in effect _masterly_, that
masterly inactivity with which he who surveys the tumult of conflict
from an eminence, may foresee and calmly await the approaching and
inevitable end.
RICHMOND, March 12, 1865.
My Dear Sir: The passing week will develop important events. The
President has requested Congress to prolong its session to receive
communications which he desires to make. Three days have since
elapsed, but nothing but routine messages have thus far been received.
I am not at liberty to anticipate what is coming, or probably to
reveal it when received; but doubtless the whole horizon of the
situation will be surveyed, and an occasion presented for determinate
action as to the future. In my opinion, he is powerless, and can
neither make peace for our security nor war with success. But _nous
verrons_.
The bill to arm slaves has become a law. It professes to take them
only with the consent of their masters; and in the event of failure in
this, to call on the State authorities to furnish. I trust no master
in North-Carolina will volunteer or consent to begin this process of
abolition, as I feel very confident the General Assembly will not.
We hear the enemy are near Fayetteville, notwithstanding the check
to Kilpatrick by Hampton. I think our officers of state, except the
Governor, should not leave Raleigh, but should claim protection for
the State property from fire or other destruction, if the enemy come
there. A raid of Sheridan's force has been above this city some days,
destroying the James River Canal and other property; and last night,
at one A.M., the alarm-bell was rung, calling out the local force for
the defense of the city, it being reported that the enemy was within
seven miles. It is said to-day that the party has joined Grant below
Richmond. Commander Hollins and several citizens are said to have been
killed by them.
You may conceive that the path of those intrusted with the great
interests of the people is beset with difficulties; but it must be
trodden with what serenity and wisdom we may command.
Very truly yours, W.A. Graham.
HILLSBORO, N.C., March 26, 1865.
My Dear Sir: I am much indebted for your note by Dr. H----. I arrived
at home on this day week, and the next day went to Raleigh to have
an interview with the Governor on the subject-matter referred to in
your letter. The result was a convocation of the Council of State to
assemble to-morrow. The Legislature of Virginia has taken a recess
until the twenty-ninth instant, and I think it very important that
that of North-Carolina shall be in session as early thereafter as
possible. The war is now nearly reduced to a contest between these
two States and the United States. The military situation is by no
means favorable, and I perceive no solution of our difficulties except
through the action of the States. The public men in the service of
the Confederacy are so trammeled by the parts they have borne in
past events, and their apprehensions as to a consistent record,
that the government does not answer the present necessities of the
country. I wish, if possible, to see you in the course of this week
for a full conference on these important topics. The Governor is,
I think, reasonable, but was much surprised by some of the facts I
communicated to him. I do not know the disposition of the Council. If
the Legislature shall be convened, I will attend their session, and
if desired, will address them in private meeting. Much pertaining to
the present position of affairs can not with propriety be communicated
to the public.
I received last night a telegram from my son James, informing me
that his brothers John and Robert were both wounded--the former in
both legs, the latter in the left, in an attack by General Lee on
the left of Grant's line yesterday morning. I am expecting another
message to-night from General Ransom, which may occasion me to go to
Petersburg to attend to them. Lee was successful in surprising the
enemy and driving him from three lines of intrenchments and taking
five hundred prisoners; but by a concentrated fire of the artillery of
the foe, was compelled to retire. James says he was unhurt.
I am also under a great necessity to go to the Catawba, but with
a large force of _reserve artillery_ all around us, and some
apprehensions of the advance of Sherman, I know not which way to turn.
I had a conversation with Governor Morehead at Greensboro, and believe
he realizes the situation.
Very sincerely yours, W.A. Graham.
If the Legislature of Virginia convened at Richmond on the twenty-ninth
of March, 1865, small time was allowed for their deliberations; and
it would have been of very little practical utility if the General
Assembly of North-Carolina had been summoned to correspond with it
at that date. On the second of April, Richmond was evacuated. Our
President and his cabinet were fugitives in the clear starlight of
that woful night; our capital was delivered over to a mob, and in
flames. But we did not even dream of it. It was more than a week
before the certain intelligence was received in Central Carolina,
and even then many doubted. Dismal rumors from Lee's army, of the
fall of Petersburg, of the fate of Richmond, were whispered, but were
contradicted every hour by those whose wish was father to the thought
that there was hope yet, that all was not lost. We were indeed in the
very turning-point and fatal crisis of the great _Southern States
rights struggle_; but we hardly realized through what an era of history
we were living. In the quiet and secluded village in which I now
write, the uninterrupted order of our daily life afforded a strong
confirmation of the great English historian's saying, that in all wars,
after all, but a comparatively small portion of a nation are actually
engaged or affected. The children plan their little fishing-parties,
the plow-boy whistles in the field, the wedding-supper is provided, and
the daily course of external domestic life in general flows as smoothly
as ever, except immediately in the track of the armies. It is not
indifference nor insensibility. It is the wise and beneficent order of
Providence that it should be with the body politic as with our physical
frame. One part may suffer mutilation, and though a sympathetic thrill
of anguish pervade every nerve of the whole body, yet the natural
functions are not suspended in any other member. Men must lie down,
and sleep, and eat, and go through the ordinary routine of daily duty
in circumstances of the most tragic interest. It is only on the stage
that they tear their hair and lie prostrate on the ground. So we still
exchanged our Confederate money with each other--the bright, new, clean
twenties and tens, which we tried to believe were worth something, for
there was still a faint magical aroma of value hovering round those
promises to pay "six months after a treaty of peace with the United
States;" $25 a yard for country jeans, $30 a yard for calico, $10 for
a pair of cotton socks, $20 for a wheat-straw hat, $25 for a bushel of
meal, and $10 to have a tooth pulled, and very cheap at that--if we
had only known all. Mothers were still preparing boxes for their boys
in the army; the farmer got his old battered tools in readiness for
his spring's work; the merchant went daily to preside over the scanty
store of thread, needles, and buttons, remnants of calico, and piles
of homespun, which now constituted his stock in trade; and our little
girls still held their regular meetings for knitting soldiers' socks,
all unconscious of the final crash so near, while the peach-trees were
all abloom and spring was putting on all her bravery.
CHAPTER X.
GENERAL JOHNSTON PREPARING TO UNCOVER RALEIGH--URGENT LETTER PROM
GOVERNOR SWAIN TO GOVERNOR GRAHAM--GOVERNOR GRAHAM'S REPLY--A
PROGRAMME OF OPERATIONS AGREED UPON--FINALLY GOVERNORS GRAHAM AND
SWAIN START FOR SHERMAN'S HEADQUARTERS.
When the intention of General Johnston to uncover the city of Raleigh
became generally known, and when the retrograde movement of his army
commenced in the direction of Chapel Hill, and along the line of the
Central Railroad; when General Wheeler's troopers, followed hard
by Kilpatrick's command, poured along our country roads, and the
people gave half of their provision to the retreating friends, and
were stripped of the other half by the advancing foe; there were few
thoughtful persons in Orange county whose waking and sleeping hours
were not perturbed and restless.
What could be done? Whither were we tending? What was to be the
result? An hour or two of anxious reflection on such questions before
day on the morning of April 8th, induced Governor Swain, President
of the University of North Carolina--than whom, though immured in
the cloisters of a venerable literary institution, no man in the
Confederacy took a keener interest in the progress of public events,
surveyed the action of parties with more sagacious apprehension, or
was oftener consulted by leading men--induced him to rise at an early
hour and make another effort to influence the public authorities of
the State to adopt immediate measures for saving what remained of the
country from devastation, and the seat of government and the University
from the conflagration which had overwhelmed the capitals of our sister
States. He wrote the subjoined letter to Governor Graham, at daylight;
but such was the apprehension of the time, that it was difficult to
find a messenger, and still more difficult to procure a horse to bear
it from the University to Hillsboro. By ten that morning it was on the
way, and by six in the evening Governor Graham's reply was received.
CHAPEL HILL, }
Saturday Morning, April 8, 1865. }
My Dear Sir: Since the organization of the State government, in
December, 1776, North-Carolina has never passed through so severe
an ordeal as that we are now undergoing. Unless something can be
done to prevent it, suffering and privation, and death--death in the
battle-field, and death in the most horrible of all forms, the slow
and lingering death of famine, are imminent to thousands, not merely
men, but women and children.
The General Assembly, by its own resolution, is not to meet until the
16th of May. If the Governor shall desire to convene the members
at an earlier day, it may not, in the present state of the country,
be possible to effect his purpose. Some of the members will find it
impossible to reach Raleigh in the existing state of the railroads,
others may be in danger of arrest if they shall attempt it in any
way, and there are few who can leave home without peril to person or
property. We are compelled, then, to look to other sources for relief
from the dangers by which we are environed. In ancient times, when the
most renowned of republics experienced similar trials, the decree went
forth:
"_Viderent consules ne quid detrimenti respublica caperet._"
A dictatorship is, in my opinion, repugnant to every principle of
civil liberty, and I would neither propose nor support one under
any existing circumstances. But something must be done, and done
immediately, or the opening campaign will be brief and fatal. Anarchy
may ensue, and from anarchy the descent to a military despotism is
speedy and natural.
The State has no such citizen to whom all eyes turn with deep anxiety
and confident hope for the counsel and guidance demanded by the
crisis, as yourself. Fully satisfied of this fact, I venture to
suggest the propriety of your meeting me in Raleigh on Monday morning,
and inviting a conference with the Governor on the state of public
affairs. He numbers among his many friends none who have yielded
him earlier, more constant, or more zealous support, in the trying
circumstances in which Providence has been pleased to place him, than
ourselves. I am the oldest of his predecessors in his office, and
about the time of your entrance into public life, was summoned to the
discharge of similar duties in the midst of similar perils. I have had
from him too numerous and decided proofs of confidence, respect, and
affection, to doubt that he will listen to me kindly; and I know that
he will receive you with as great cordiality and give as favorable
consideration to your suggestions as he would yield to any citizen
or functionary in the Confederacy. Perhaps he may be disposed not
only to hear us, but to invite all his predecessors--Morehead, Manly,
Reid, Bragg, and Clark--to unite with us in consultation at a time and
under circumstances, calling for the exercise of the highest powers of
statesmanship. At present, I do not deem it incumbent on me, even if
my views were more fully matured, to intimate the ideas I entertain of
what must be done, and done promptly, to arrest the downward tendency
of public affairs.
I content myself with simply urging that you shall meet me in Raleigh,
as above proposed, on Monday, if it be possible, and if you concur
with me in opinion that we are in the midst of imminent perils.
Yours very sincerely,
D.L. Swain.
HILLSBORO, April 8, 1865.
My Dear Sir: Yours of this date has just been received, and I entirely
concur in your estimate of the dangers that environ us.
I left Richmond thoroughly convinced that--
1st. Independence for the Southern Confederacy was perfectly hopeless.
2d. That through the administration of Mr. Davis we could expect no
peace, so long as he shall be supplied with the resources of war; and
that
3d. It was the duty of the State government immediately to move for
the purpose of effecting an adjustment of the quarrel with the United
States.
I accordingly remained at home but twenty-four hours (that being
the Sabbath, and having had no sleep the night preceding) before
repairing to Raleigh to lay before the Governor such information
as I possessed, and to urge him to convene the General Assembly
immediately. I told him that Richmond would fall in less than thirty
days, and would be followed probably by a rout or dispersion of Lee's
army for want of food, if for no other cause. That the Confederate
Government had no plan or policy beyond this event, although it was
generally anticipated. That I had reason to believe that General Lee
was anxious for an accommodation. That Johnston had not and could not
raise a sufficient force to encounter Sherman. That I had conferred
with the President, and found him, though in an anxious frame of mind,
constrained by the scruple that he could not "commit suicide" by
treating his Government out of existence, nor even ascertain for the
States what terms would be yielded, provided they consented to readopt
the Constitution of the United States. That the wisest and best men
with whom I had been associated, or had conversed, were anxious for a
settlement; but were so trammeled by former committals, and a false
pride, or other like causes, that they were unable to move themselves,
or in their States, but were anxious that others should; and that it
was now the case of a beleaguered garrison before a superior force,
considering the question whether it was best to capitulate on terms,
or hold out to be put to the sword on a false point of honor.
The Governor was evidently surprised by my statement of facts, and,
I apprehend, incredulous at least as to my conclusions. He agreed to
consider the subject, and to convene the council on that day week. I
heard nothing of their action, and being solicitous on the subject,
on Thursday last I visited Raleigh again, found the Governor on the
cars here returning from Statesville, and we journeyed together, and I
dined with him after arrival. He said he had purposed visiting me, but
it had been neglected; that a bare _quorum_ of his council attended
the meeting, and being equally divided, he had not summoned the
Legislature; but that Mr. Gilmer, whom I had advised him to consult,
and every body else now he believed agreed with me in opinion. He
had recently seen Mr. Gilmer, and he suggested to him to solicit an
interview with General Sherman on the subject of peace. I told him
that President Davis would probably complain of this, and should be
apprised of it if held. He replied that this of course should be done.
I suggested, however, that even if this course were taken, he should
be in a position to act independently of the President, and therefore
should convene the General Assembly. On this he was reluctant, but
finally agreed to call the Council of State again. I told him in
parting, that if, in any event, he supposed I could be useful to him,
to notify me, and I would attend him. I am induced to believe that
the result of the deliberation of the council was not disagreeable to
him; but since the fall of Richmond he has a truer conception of the
situation. I wrote him a note on the day the council met, advising him
of your concurrence in the necessity of calling the General Assembly.
He went, on Friday last, to witness a review of Johnston's army, and
proposed to me to accompany him. I declined; not seeing any good to be
accomplished there. General Johnston I know, and appreciate him highly.
* * * * *
I hope you will go, as you propose, to see Governor Vance. I thought
of inviting you to my first interview with him; and if he shall
contrive a meeting with Sherman, I hope you may be present. I do
not think it necessary, perhaps not advisable myself, to visit him
again on these topics. My conversations with him were very full
and earnest. I told him I should attend the session of the General
Assembly, and if desired would address them in secret session; that I
had had confidential conversations with a committee of the Virginia
Legislature, which had taken a recess for ten days, and that it was
important to act in concert with that body; that my colleagues in the
House, the Leaches, Turner, Ramsay, Fuller, and Logan, were ready to
call a session of the Assembly together by advertisement; but all this
had no effect in procuring a recommendation to the council in favor
of the call.
* * * * *
I do not perceive that any thing will be gained by a convention of
those who have held the office of chief magistrate.... _Prejudices
are still rife_, and the poison of party spirit yet lurks in
the sentiments of many otherwise good men, who swear by the
Administration, and will wage indefinite war while other people can be
found to fight it.
Suppose you come to my house to-morrow, and take the cars from here
next morning. There is much to say that I can not write. I set off to
Chapel Hill this morning to see you; but riding first to the depot
to inquire for news, thought I had intelligence of my sons in the
army. This proved a mistake, but prevented my visit. I fear that
John and Robert and my servant Davy fell into the enemy's hands on
the evacuation of Petersburg. They were at the house of William R.
Johnson, Jr., and doing well. Cooke's brigade, in which James is a
captain, was hotly engaged in the action of Sunday. I have no tidings
of his fate. Hoping to see you soon, I remain, yours very truly,
W.A. Graham.
Governor Swain, in compliance with Governor Graham's request that he
would take Hillsboro in his way to Raleigh, spent the next day at his
house in Hillsboro, in consultation as to the best mode of effecting
their common purpose. They agreed upon the course of action indicated
in the following outline drawn up by Governor Graham:
My Dear Sir: Referring to our conversation in relation to the critical
and urgent condition of our affairs as regards the public enemy, I am
of opinion that--
1st. The General Assembly should be convened at the earliest day
practicable.
2d. That when convened, it should pass resolutions expressive of a
desire for opening negotiations for peace, and stopping the effusion
of blood; and inviting the other States of the South to unite in the
movement.
3d. That to effect this object, it should elect commissioners to treat
with the Government of the United States, and report the result to a
convention, which should be at once called by the Legislature to wield
the sovereign power of the State in any emergency that may arise out
of the changing state of events.
4th. That in the event of Sherman's advance upon the capital, or
indeed without that event, let the Governor propose a conference, or
send a commission to treat with him for a suspension of hostilities,
until the further action of the State shall be ascertained in regard
to the termination of the war.
All this I should base upon the doctrine of the President of the
Confederate States, that he conceives it inconsistent with his duty to
entertain negotiations for peace except upon the condition of absolute
independence to the Southern Confederacy, with all the territories
claimed as belonging to each State comprising it, and should give him
the earliest information of the proceedings in progress.
Very truly yours, W.A. Graham.
April 9, 1865.
At seven the next (Monday) morning, Governor Swain took the train from
Hillsboro to Raleigh, dined with Governor Vance, and at the close of
a long and earnest conference, the latter agreed to carry out the
scheme submitted if the concurrence of General Johnston could be
obtained. He promised to ride out immediately to General Johnston's
headquarters and consult him upon the subject. The next morning he
authorized Governor Swain to telegraph Governor Graham and request his
presence. The latter responded promptly that he would come down in the
eleven o'clock train that night, and Governor Swain spent the night
with Governor Vance in anxious expectation of his arrival. The train
failed to arrive until three o'clock on Wednesday morning. Governor
Swain, at early dawn, found Governor Vance writing dispatches by
candle-light, and Governor Graham was at the door before sunrise. Mrs.
Vance and her children had retired from Raleigh to a place of supposed
greater safety, and the three gentlemen, together with Colonel Burr,
of Governor Vance's staff, were the only occupants of the executive
mansion. After an early breakfast, they went to the capitol, where a
communication from Governor Vance to General Sherman was prepared.
General Johnston, in the mean time, had retired in the direction of
Hillsboro, and General Hardee was the officer of highest grade then in
Raleigh. He promptly accepted an invitation from Governor Vance to be
present at a conference, prepared a safe-conduct through his lines for
Governors Swain and Graham, who undertook the commission to General
Sherman; and by ten o'clock, attended by three of the Governor's
staff--Surgeon-General Warren, Colonel Burr, and Major Devereux--they
left Raleigh in a special train, bearing a flag of truce, for General
Sherman's headquarters. Governor Bragg, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Raynor had
all been consulted in relation to the course proposed to be pursued,
and all had concurred most heartily in its propriety and necessity.
There were others who were not consulted, who nevertheless suspected
the design of those concerned in these conferences; and one of them is
understood to have kept President Davis, who was then in Greensboro,
regularly advised by telegraph of all, and more than all, that was
contemplated by the embassy.
The fate of the mission, and its final results, form, as I doubt not
my readers will agree, as interesting and important a chapter in the
history of the State as has occurred since its organization.
CHAPTER XI.
RALEIGH, WHEN UNCOVERED--THE COMMISSIONERS TO GENERAL SHERMAN--THEY
START--ARE RECALLED BY GENERAL JOHNSTON--ARE STOPPED BY KILPATRICK'S
FORCES--THEIR INTERVIEW WITH KILPATRICK--ARE CALLED TO SHERMAN'S
HEADQUARTERS--HIS REPLY TO GOVERNOR VANCE--THE FURTHER PROCEEDINGS
OF THE COMMISSION--A PLEASANT INCIDENT--THE COMMISSIONERS RETURN TO
RALEIGH--GOVERNOR VANCE HAD LEFT--HIS LETTER TO SHERMAN--THE FEDERAL
TROOPS ENTER RALEIGH--INCIDENTS.
The commissioners to General Sherman from Governor Vance left Raleigh
on Wednesday morning, April twelfth, at ten o'clock, as before stated.
They were expected to return by four o'clock that afternoon, at the
farthest, as General Sherman was understood to be not more than
fourteen miles from the city.
That day Raleigh presented, perhaps, less external appearance of terror
and confusion than might have been supposed. That General Sherman
would arrive there in the course of his march, had been anticipated
ever since his entrance into the State; and General Johnston, on the
tenth, had given Governor Vance notice of his intention to uncover
the city, so that such preparations as could be made to meet their
fate had been completed. An immense amount of State property had been
removed to various points along the Central Railroad. Some forty
thousand blankets, overcoats, clothes, and English cloth equal to at
least one hundred thousand suits complete; leather and shoes equal
to ten thousand pairs; great quantities of cotton cloth and yarns,
and cotton-cards; six thousand scythe-blades; one hundred and fifty
thousand pounds of bacon; forty thousand bushels of corn; a very large
stock of imported medical stores; and many other articles of great
value, together with the public records, Treasury and Literary Board,
and other effects, were mostly deposited at Graham, Greensboro, and
Salisbury. Governor Vance and the State officers under his direction
had worked day and night, with indefatigable zeal, to effect this
transportation, so that before mid-day on the twelfth every thing was
in readiness. Every suggestion of ingenuity, meanwhile, had been put in
practice by the citizens in concealing their private property, though,
indeed, with very little hope that they would escape such accomplished
and practiced marauders as those who composed the approaching "grand
army." Men who had been on the _qui vive_, ever since leaving Atlanta,
to discover and appropriate or wantonly destroy all of household
treasures and valuables that lay in their way, or anywhere within sixty
miles of their way, snappers-up of even such unconsidered trifles as
an old negro's silver watch or a baby's corals--from the hands of such
as these what was to be expected; what nook, or cranny, or foot of
inclosed ground would be safe from their search! Many citizens repaired
to Governor Vance's office for advice and comfort, and none left him
without greater courage to meet what was coming. Though overburdened
with cares and unspeakable anxieties on this memorable day, all found
him easy of access and ready to give prudent counsel to those who asked
for it. He advised the citizens generally to remain quiet in their
own houses, and, as far as possible, protect their families by their
presence. He himself was resolved to await the return of the embassy to
Sherman, and learn upon what conditions he could remain and exercise
the functions of his office, or if at all.
When the train bearing the commissioners reached General Hampton's
lines, they requested an interview with him. The safe-conduct from
General Hardee, and the letter from Governor Vance to General Sherman
were shown him. He remarked that General Hardee was his superior,
and that of course he yielded to authority, but expressed his own
doubts of the propriety or expediency of the mission. He prepared a
dispatch, however, immediately, and transmitted it by a courier to
General Sherman, together with a note from Governors Graham and Swain,
requesting to be advised of the time and place at which a conference
might take place.
General Hardee then retired with his staff, and the train moved slowly
on. When at the distance, perhaps, of two miles, one of his couriers
dashed up, halted the train, and informed the commissioners that he
was directed by General Hampton to say that he had just received an
order from General Johnston to withdraw their safe conduct, and direct
them to return to Raleigh. They directed the courier to return and
say to the General that such an order ought to be given personally or
in writing, and that the train would be stationary till he could be
heard from. This message was replied to by the prompt appearance of the
General himself. The extreme courtesy of his manner, and his air and
bearing confirmed the impression made in the previous interview, that
he was a frank, and gallant, and chivalrous soldier. He read the copy
of a dispatch that he had sent by a courier to General Sherman, which
in substance was as follows:
"GENERAL: Since my dispatch of half an hour ago, circumstances have
occurred which induce me to give you no further trouble in relation
to the mission of ex-Governors Graham and Swain. These gentlemen will
return with the flag of truce to Raleigh."
This dispatch he had sent immediately on receiving General Johnston's
order to direct their return. The commissioners were of course
surprised and disappointed. The mission was not entered upon without
the deliberate assent and advice of General Johnston, after a full
consultation with Governor Vance, and also with General Hardee's entire
concurrence, and a safe-conduct from him in General Johnston's absence.
The engine, however, was reversed, General Hampton retired, and the
train had proceeded slowly about a mile or so in the direction of
Raleigh, when it was again halted, and this time by a detachment of a
hundred Spencer rifles, a portion of Kilpatrick's cavalry, under the
command of General Atkins. The commissioners were informed that they
must proceed to the headquarters of General Kilpatrick, distant a mile
or more. While waiting for a conveyance they were courteously treated,
and a band of music ordered up for their entertainment. After a brief
interval General Kilpatrick's carriage arrived for them, and they
proceeded in it under escort to the residence of Mr. Fort, where the
General then was. He received them politely, examined the safe-conduct
of General Hardee, and the dispatches for General Sherman, and then
remarked that the circumstances in which they were placed, according
to the laws of war, gave him the right, which, however, he had not the
smallest intention of exercising, to consider them as prisoners of war.
"It is true, gentlemen," said he, "that you came under the protection
of a flag of truce, and are the bearers of important dispatches from
your Governor to my Commanding General, but that gave you no right to
cross my skirmish-line while a fight was going on."
Governor Graham remarked that the circumstances under which they came
explained themselves, and were their own justification. That in a
special train, with open windows, proceeding with the deliberation
proper to a flag of truce, with only five persons in a single car, they
had little temptation to proceed if they had known, in time to stop,
that they were to be exposed to a cross-fire from the skirmish-lines of
the two armies.
General Kilpatrick replied that all that was very true, but that it was
proper, nevertheless, that he should require them to proceed to General
Sherman's headquarters. He then remarked that the war was virtually
at an end, and that every man who voluntarily shed blood from that
time forth, would be a murderer; and read a general order from General
Sherman, congratulating the army on the surrender of General Lee,
intelligence of which had just reached him by telegraph. This was the
first intimation our commissioners had received of this final blow to
the Southern cause. It was indeed not unexpected, but no anticipation
of such tidings can equal the moment of realization; and to receive
it under such circumstances, where extreme caution and self-command
were an imperative duty, and where no expression could be allowed to
the natural feelings of anguish and dismay with which it filled their
breasts, gave an additional pang.
General Kilpatrick further stated, among other things, that the course
pursued by General Lee was illustrative of the importance of regular
military training; that an able and skillful commander knew when to
fight, and when it was a more imperative duty to surrender; that a
brave but rash and inexperienced officer would have sacrificed his
army, and involved the whole country in ruin for the want of the proper
skill to direct, and the _prestige_ to sustain him in the discharge of
a duty requiring more than courage.
After an hour or two's delay, the commissioners were escorted back to
the train which was in waiting where they had left it, and thence
proceeded to General Sherman's headquarters, passing for several miles
through open columns of large bodies of troops, amidst the deafening
cheers with which they welcomed the surrender of the great Confederate
commander, and the arrival of a commission which, as they supposed, was
authorized to treat for the surrender of General Johnston's army.
General Sherman, attended by his aids, met the commission at the
station-house at Clayton, and conducted them to his tent. Governor
Graham presented the letter from Governor Vance, and entered into
a discussion of the various points it embraced, and found General
Sherman apparently desirous to accede to its propositions as far as
was possible for him, and ready to make an amicable and generous
arrangement with the State government.
I have endeavored to procure copies of all the official letters written
by Governor Vance at this important crisis in our affairs, but, with
one exception, have failed. Copies of these letters, together with his
letter-book then in use, with other important documents, were packed in
a box which was captured at Greensboro, and taken to Washington City,
as I have elsewhere mentioned. These records will doubtless be restored
to the State at no distant day; and our people will yet have proof
that their Governor did all that man could do--I may say all that a
man thwarted by undue interference could do--to save the State and her
capital from outrage, and humiliation, and anarchy.
I subjoin General Sherman's reply to the letter delivered by the
commission:
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION }
OF THE MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, }
GULLY'S STATION, N.C., April 12, 1865. }
_To his Excellency Z.B. Vance, Governor of the State of
North-Carolina_:
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
of this date, and inclose you a safeguard for yourself and any
members of the State government that choose to remain in Raleigh. I
would gladly have enabled you to meet me here, but some interruption
occurred to the train by the orders of General Johnston, after it had
passed within the lines of my cavalry advance; but as it came out of
Raleigh in good faith, it shall return in good faith, and will in no
measure be claimed by us.
I doubt if hostilities can be suspended as between the army of the
Confederate government and the one I command; but I will aid you all
in my power to contribute to the end you aim to reach--the termination
of the existing war.
I am, truly, your obedient servant,
W.T. Sherman,
Major-General.
In however unfavorable a light strict regard for the truth of history
places General Sherman as a disciplinarian and leader of the great army
that swept the Southern States with a besom of destruction; however
dark the pictures of lawless pillage and brutal outrage, unrestrained
and uncensured by the Commanding General--if indeed they were not
especially directed and approved by him and his officers; however
unenviable General Sherman's fame in _these_ respects, equal regard for
truth demands that in representing him at the council-board he shall
appear in a much more commendable aspect, exhibiting there feelings
of humanity and a capacity for enlarged and generous statesmanship
entirely worthy of a really great general. If General Sherman's views
and plans for closing the war had been adopted by his government, there
can be no doubt that peace would have been _accomplished_ in less than
two months from the surrender of our armies; peace that would have been
speedily followed by good-will in every Southern State, in spite of the
waste and burning track of his army.
The hope which the commissioners had entertained of being able to
return to Raleigh on the evening of the same day, was now found to
be impracticable, owing to the various delays and impediments they
had met with. General Sherman promised that their detention should
be as brief as possible; but it soon became obvious that he intended
they should spend the night at his headquarters. He had been promptly
advised of General Hampton's having required their return to Raleigh,
and had taken the necessary measures to prevent it, and was now equally
determined that nothing should thwart the beneficial results of their
conference, or any advantage that might accrue therefrom. The gentlemen
were in his power, and submitted to his requisitions quietly, not
cheerfully. It was intimated to them that the engine which brought
them down required some repairs, and so soon as this could be effected,
the train should again be at their service. The reply to Governor
Vance's letter was placed in their hands, and a safe-conduct and
permission to proceed in the train to Hillsboro, after the necessary
interview with Governor Vance. General Sherman hoped they might be
able to get off by midnight; but if that should be found impossible,
they might retire to rest, take a cup of coffee with him at daylight,
and breakfast in Raleigh. A couple of hours were spent in general
conversation on public affairs, and less exciting topics.
At the close of the official conference between Governor Graham and
General Sherman, Governor Swain remarked to the latter that, at the
beginning of their troubles they were engaged in kindred pursuits.
"Yes, sir," said the General. "I am aware that you are the President
of the University of North-Carolina; and I was the Superintendent
of the State Military Academy of Louisiana." "Two or three of your
boys," said the Governor, "were with me for a time." "Yes," replied
the General, "and many more of yours have been with me during the war,
who came, poor fellows, before they were men, and when they ought
to have remained with you; and they too frequently helped to fill
my hospitals. I think, however, when they return, they will do me
the justice to tell you that I treated them kindly." Governor Swain
inquired for General Blair, remarking that he was his pupil in 1837.
General Sherman replied that he was only two hours in the rear, and
that he had just been reading terrible accounts in a Raleigh paper
of his proceedings in Fayetteville, adding, "I will turn Frank over
to you to answer for it in the morning." In connection with this,
reference was made to the burning of Columbia. The General remarked
with great emphasis: "I have been grossly misrepresented in regard to
Columbia. I changed my headquarters eight times during that night, and
with every general officer under my command, strained every nerve to
stop the fire. I declare in the presence of my God that Hampton burned
Columbia, and that he alone is responsible for it. He collected immense
piles of cotton in the streets and set them on fire; the wind rose
during the night, and dispersed the flakes of burning cotton among the
shingle-roofs, and created a conflagration beyond human control."
At the close of the conversation General Sherman intimated that the
gentlemen had better retire to rest; that he would have them called at
any hour that the train might be in readiness; and that, at all events,
they should be ready to proceed by sunrise. Governor Graham was invited
to occupy the General's tent, and they shared the same apartment. Every
courtesy was extended to the other members of the commission.
And now occurred one of those little coïncidences which brighten life
under its best aspects, and which are capable of giving pleasure even
in such dispiriting circumstances as these; which, from constitutional
predilections, no man appreciates more highly than Governor Swain,
and which, perhaps, for that very reason, happen more frequently to
him than to most men. One of General Sherman's aids approached the
Governor, inviting him to go with him--that he had vacated his tent for
his benefit. The Governor replied that he must object to turning him
out, but would occupy it with him with pleasure. The officer replied
that he could find a lodging elsewhere, and wished to make the Governor
comfortable. He then apologized for desiring to introduce himself, by
remarking that no name was more familiar than Governor Swain's in his
mother's household. The Governor inquired his name, and found him to
be the son of a school-companion, the beloved friend of earlier years,
a lady of rare merits and accomplishments, who had long since entered
upon her rest. She, with the mother of Governor Vance, had been in
early girlhood the Governor's schoolmates, and competitors with him
for school distinctions in the most anxious and generous strife he has
ever known. Governor Graham and Governor Swain both voted, in 1860,
for the uncle of this gallant young officer, for President of the
United States, as the advocate of "the Union, the Constitution, and the
enforcement of the laws," in the vain hope that the evils which then
threatened and have since overwhelmed the country might be averted. To
such offered kindness from such a quarter, under such circumstances,
one might well respond,
"I take thy courtesy, by Heaven,
As freely as 'tis nobly given."
At sunrise the next morning the commissioners proceeded on their
return in the train, somewhat in advance of the army, with the
understanding that they were to go to Raleigh, notify Governor Vance
of the conditions agreed upon, and return to advise General Sherman of
their acceptance before he should reach the boundaries of the city.
When within a mile of the capital they saw the flames rising to a great
height above the station-house, which had been first plundered and
then set on fire by stragglers from the retreating forces of General
Wheeler. The fire put a sudden stop to the progress of the train. The
commissioners alighted, and passed around the blazing building in the
hope of finding another train on the other side in which they might
proceed to Hillsboro, on the conclusion of their business in Raleigh,
but were disappointed. They went to the house of a friend at the
head of Hillsboro street, but found it shut up, and the proprietor a
refugee. They walked the entire length of the street, and did not see
a human being till they reached the State House. Every door was shut,
every window-blind was closed. The same absence of all signs of life,
the same death-like silence and air of desertion, the same precautions
against intrusion characterized Fayetteville street from the Capitol to
the Palace. The very air seemed shriveled. In the brief interval that
elapsed from the retreat of her protectors to the arrival of her foes,
the beautiful city of Raleigh stood under the outstretched arms of her
noble oaks, embowered in the luxuriant shrubbery of a thousand gardens,
just touched with vernal bloom and radiance--stood with folded hands
and drooping head, in all the mortal anguish of suspense, in a silence
that spoke, awaiting her fate.
Governor Vance, it was soon ascertained, had left the city, together
with all the State officers, having heard the night before that the
commission had been captured, and detained as prisoners of war.
Despairing then of obtaining any terms from General Sherman, and
unwilling to surrender himself unconditionally into his hands, in
entire uncertainty of what treatment he might expect, Governor Vance
had decided to leave for Hillsboro, after making every possible
arrangement for the surrender of the city by the Mayor and Council. He
wrote the following letter to General Sherman, to be delivered by the
city authorities:
STATE OF NORTH-CAROLINA, }
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, }
RALEIGH, April 12, 1865. }
_General W.T. Sherman, Commanding United States Forces_:
GENERAL: His Honor, Mayor William B. Harrison, is authorized to
surrender to you the city of Raleigh. I have the honor to request the
extension of your favor to its defenseless inhabitants generally; and
especially to ask your protection for the charitable institutions of
the State located here, filled as they are with unfortunate inmates,
most of whose natural protectors would be unable to take care of them,
in the event of the destruction of the buildings.
The capitol of the State, with its libraries, museum, and most of the
public records, is also left in your power. I can but entertain the
hope that they may escape mutilation or destruction, inasmuch as such
evidences of learning and taste can advantage neither party in the
prosecution of the war, whether destroyed or preserved.
I am, General, very respectfully,
Z.B. Vance.
The Governor lingered in Raleigh till midnight, hoping to receive some
news of the commission, and then, _without a single member of his
staff_, accompanied by Captain Bryan and Captain J.J. Guthrie, who
volunteered to escort him, he rode out to General Hoke's encampment,
not far from Page's, (Carey's,) some eight miles from the city.
Generals Hardee, Hampton, Hoke, and Wheeler, with their commands, had
passed through Raleigh in the evening.
Leaving Governor Vance's course for future consideration, I return to
the group of gentlemen standing in front of the State House shortly
after sunrise on the morning of Thursday, thirteenth. The only person
they met at the capitol was the servant who waited in the executive
office, and who had been intrusted by Governor Vance with the keys.
True to the trust reposed in him, he was present at the proper time
to deliver the keys as he had been directed--an instance of fidelity
and punctuality under trying circumstances that would, doubtless, have
been rewarded with his freedom, even had there been no liberating army
at hand. The commission received the key from him, and after a hasty
consultation, it was agreed that one should open the State House and
remain till the arrival of the Federal army, taking such measures as he
might deem most expedient; and that the other should make his way, with
the best means he could command, to Hillsboro, taking the University
in his way, and endeavoring to provide for the safety of friends and
neighbors in that quarter.
When walking from the railroad station to the city, the commissioners
had passed through the lines of General Wheeler's cavalry, pressing in
the direction of Chapel Hill. Half an hour after reaching the State
House, a dozen men, the _débris_ of our army, were observed at the
head of Fayetteville street, breaking open and plundering the stores.
Governor Swain, who had remained at the State House, approached them,
and stated that he was immediately from General Sherman's headquarters,
and had assurance from him that if no resistance was offered to his
advance-guard, the town should be protected from plunder and violence,
and urged the soldiers to leave at once and join their retreating
comrades. They replied, "D----n Sherman and the town too; they cared
for neither." Robert G. Lewis, Esq., the first citizen of Raleigh
who had yet been seen, came up just then, and joined his entreaties
with earnestness. More and more vehement remonstrances were used
without effect, till the head of Kilpatrick's column appeared in sight
advancing up the street, when they all, with a single exception,
sprang to their horses and started off in full gallop. Their leader, a
lieutenant whose name and previous history are yet unknown, mounted
his horse, and took his station midway between the old New-Berne bank
and the book-store, drew his revolver, and waited till Kilpatrick's
advance was within a hundred yards, when he discharged it six times in
rapid succession in the direction of the officer at the head of the
troops. He then wheeled, put spurs to his horse, and galloped up Morgan
street, followed by a dozen fleet horsemen in hot pursuit. Turning a
corner his horse fell. He remounted, and dashed round the corner at
Pleasant's store on Hillsboro street. A few yards further on, near
the bridge over the railroad, he was overtaken, and was brought back
to the Capitol Square, where General Kilpatrick ordered his immediate
execution. It is said that he asked for five minutes' time to write to
his wife, which was refused. He was hung in the grove just back of Mr.
Lovejoy's, and was buried there. He died bravely--a vile marauder, who
justly expiated his crimes, or a bold patriot, whose gallantry deserved
a more generous sentence, as friend or foe shall tell his story. No
Southerner will cast a reproach on that solitary grave, or will stand
beside it with other than feelings of deep commiseration. His crime was
more the rash act of a passionate and reckless boy, an aimless bravado
from one wild and despairing man to a hundred and twenty thousand. What
our soldiers did or did not do in those last dark days of confusion and
utter demoralization, we record with sad and tender allowance. Wrong
was done in many instances, and excesses committed; but we feel that
the remembrance of their high and noble qualities will in the end
survive all temporary blots and blurs. And for those who perished in
the wrong-doing engendered by desperation and failure and want, their
cause has perished with them. _So perish the memory of their faults!_
Governor Graham, accompanied by Colonel Burr, set out for Hillsboro on
foot, the road to Chapel Hill being blocked up by Wheeler's retreating
squadrons, and resolved to trust to the chances of obtaining horses by
the way. Finding themselves, however, involved in a skirmish between
Hampton's rear-guard and Kilpatrick's advance, and in somewhat perilous
circumstances, they made the best of their way back to Raleigh, where
they arrived in the course of the morning.
Governor Swain, meanwhile, had received at the State House the Federal
officer charged with the erection of the national flag over the dome
of the building. He met him with the remark, "I am just from your
Commanding General, and have his promise that this edifice shall not
be injured." The officer replied, "I know you, sir, and have orders to
attend to your wishes." They took quiet possession, and the Stars and
Stripes were soon waving from the summit. Governor Swain remained at
the capitol, in company with Mayor Harrison, who, assisted by Mayor
Devereux, Major Hogg, and Surgeon-General Warren, and other gentlemen,
advised with the Provost-Marshal in relation to the stationing of
guards for the protection of the citizens, and other matters, until
two o'clock, when, with Governor Graham, he went to General Sherman's
quarters in the Government house, and delivered the keys to him.
General Sherman regretted Governor Vance's departure from the city, and
desired his return as speedily as possible. He therefore wrote him a
letter inviting his return, and inclosing a safe-conduct through his
lines for him and any members of the State or city government.
HEADQUARTERS RALEIGH, N.C., }
ARMY IN THE FIELD, April 13, 1865. }
_To all Officers and Soldiers of the Union Army_:
Grant safe-conduct to the bearer of this to any point twelve miles
from Raleigh and back, to include the Governor of North-Carolina and
any members of the State or city government, on his way back to the
capital of the State.
W.T. Sherman.
Major-General Commanding.
This letter the commission undertook to transmit to Governor Vance
without loss of time; but no horses were to be had among their friends
in the city, nor could any messenger be got willing to undertake
the errand. As soon as General Sherman heard this, he directed his
adjutant-general to furnish the gentlemen with the means of locomotion,
which was promptly done. The next morning (Friday) they left Raleigh
for Hillsboro, where it was supposed Governor Vance was; passed rapidly
through Kilpatrick's columns, and then through Hampton's; had a short
interview with the latter at Strayhorns, where he was to spend the
night; reached Hillsboro in the evening, and, entering Governor
Graham's parlor, found Governor Vance there, with Colonel Ferebee,
quietly awaiting intelligence. Till informed by the commissioners,
neither he nor General Hampton had heard of the surrender of General
Lee, and even then could hardly be induced to believe it.
General Sherman's letter inviting his return to Raleigh was put in
his hands, and he was urged to return thither immediately with the
commissioners; but he had also just received a dispatch from President
Davis, urging him most earnestly to meet him in Greensboro by the
returning train. General Johnston had also gone on to Greensboro, and
before returning to Raleigh, Governor Vance desired to see both him
and the President--the former to get his permission to pass his lines,
and the latter, to learn his future plans and acquaint him with his
intention to surrender. This much was due, at least in courtesy, to the
falling chieftain, though he was President only in name of a nation
that had no longer any existence. Governor Vance was never the man to
turn his back upon the setting sun to pursue his own advantage. So he
decided to obey President Davis's last requisition before accepting
General Sherman's invitation, and left Hillsboro for Greensboro on
Saturday morning.
Governor Graham remained at home with his family, and Governor Swain
proceeded to Chapel Hill, where he arrived on Saturday morning, and
found it occupied by General Wheeler's cavalry, General Hoke's command
having passed through, pressing on to Greensboro.
CHAPTER XII.
JOHNSTON'S RETREAT--GOVERNORS GRAHAM AND SWAIN
MISUNDERSTOOD--WHEELER'S CAVALRY--CONFEDERATE OCCUPANCY OF CHAPEL
HILL--THE LAST BLOOD--"STARS AND STRIPES"--ONE IN DEATH--GENERAL
ATKINS--SCENES AROUND RALEIGH--MILITARY LAWLESSNESS.
When the retrograde movement of General Johnston's army was at last
fairly understood--the supply-trains moving slowly along the roads of
Orange, and General Wheeler's cavalry, acting upon the maxim that all
that they left behind them was so much aid and comfort to the enemy,
taking care to leave at least as few horses and mules as possible--then
deluded people, who had all along hugged themselves in the belief that
their remoteness was their security, began to shake the dust from their
eyes, and open them to admit a view of the possibility of Sherman's
army reaching even their secluded homes.
The mission of Governors Graham and Swain was not generally understood,
even by their near neighbors. That any available attempt to check the
ruin and devastation that had hitherto accompanied that army could
be made, or was even consistent with honor and our allegiance to the
Confederate Government, very few believed. A distinguished Confederate
general, standing on our sidewalk, as his division of infantry marched
through on Friday, fourteenth, said, in reference to the commissioners,
that they were a couple of traitors, and ought to be hung. General
Wheeler's cavalry held the village of Chapel Hill until mid-day of
April sixteenth, Easter Sunday. Not a house in the place but was thrown
open to show them kindness and hospitality. There were rough riders
among these troopers--men who, if plunder was the object, would have
cared little whether it was got from friend or foe. How much of this
disposition to subsist by plunder was due to the West-Point training
of their General, it would perhaps be inquiring too curiously to
consider. A few such reckless men in a regiment would have been enough
to entail an evil name upon the whole; and at the time of which I now
speak there were more than a few in General Wheeler's command who were
utterly demoralized, lawless, and defiant. Having said this much,
because the truth must be told, I will add that of that famous band
by far the greater part were true and gallant men. We mingled freely
with them, from General Wheeler himself, who slept in the drenching
rain among his men, and was idolized by them, to his poorest private,
and the impression made by them was altogether in their favor. There
were men from every Southern State, and from every walk in life. There
were mechanics from Georgia and planters from Alabama: one of the
latter I especially remember, who had been a country physician in the
north-east corner of the State; a frank and steady, gray-haired man,
whose very address inspired confidence, and whose eldest boy rode by
his side: there were gay Frenchmen from Louisiana and lawyers from
Tennessee, some of whom had graduated at this university in the happy
days gone by, who revisited these empty corridors with undisguised
sadness, foreboding that not one stone would be left upon another of
these venerable buildings, perhaps not an oak left standing of the
noble groves, after Sherman's army had passed. Many of these men had
not been paid one cent, even of Confederate currency, in more than a
year. Few of them had more than the well-worn suit of clothes he had
on, the inefficient arms he carried, and the poor and poorly equipped
horse he rode. A lieutenant, not four years before a graduate of this
university, who had not seen his home within a year, and who had not
long before received intelligence that his house in Tennessee had
been burned to the ground by the enemy, and that his wife and child
were homeless, when the certain news was brought by Governor Swain of
General Lee's surrender, covered his face with his hands to hide a
brave man's tears. He told us that a twenty-five cent Confederate note
was all that he possessed in the world besides his horse. The privates
generally discussed the situation of affairs calmly and frankly, and
with an amount of intelligence that the Southern and South-western
yeomanry have not generally had credit for possessing. They one and all
agreed that, if the end was near, they would not surrender. "No, no,"
said a red-cheeked Georgian boy of nineteen, "they won't get me;" and
one six-foot-six saturnine Kentuckian assured me that he would join
the army of France, and take his allegiance and his revolver over the
water. I trust he is on his little farm, by the Licking River, as I
write, and has found him a wife, and is settled down to do his whole
duty to the country once more.
These men rode up frankly to our gates. "May I have my dinner here?"
"Can you give me a biscuit?" Well, it was not much we had, but we gave
it joyfully--dried fruit, sorghum, dried peas, and early vegetables.
Poor as it was, we seasoned it with the heartiest good-will and a
thousand wishes that it were better. The divisions of infantry passed
through at a rapid step without halting, so that we could give them no
more than the mute welcome and farewell, and a hearty God bless them,
as they passed. Their faces were weather-beaten but cheery; their
uniforms were faded, stained, and worn; but they stepped lightly, and
had a passing joke for the town gazers, and a kindly glance for the
pretty girls who lined the sidewalks, standing in the checkered shade
of the young elms.
On Friday afternoon General Wheeler rode in from the Raleigh road with
his staff, and alighted at the first corner. One of his aids came up
with a map of North-Carolina, which he unrolled and laid on the ground.
General Wheeler knelt down to consult it, and the group gathered round
him. Several of our citizens drew near, and a circle of as bright eyes
and fair faces as the Confederacy could show anywhere, eager to look
upon men whose names had been familiar for four years, and whose fame
will be part of our national history.
The Federal cavalry were in close pursuit, and several skirmishes had
taken place on the road from Raleigh. A brigade under General Atkins
followed General Wheeler, while Kilpatrick, with the rest of his
division, followed Hampton toward Hillsboro, along the Central Railroad
line. The last skirmish occurred, and perhaps the last blood of the war
was shed on Friday evening, fourteenth, at the Atkins Plantation, eight
miles from Chapel Hill, near the New-Hope River, which was much swollen
by heavy rains, and the bridge over which, as well as all others on
the road, was destroyed by General Wheeler's men. They attacked the
enemy endeavoring to cross on fallen trees and driftwood, and several
were killed on both sides. Some of our men were killed in a skirmish at
Morrisville, and some of the wounded came on with the trains. One poor
fellow from Selma, Ala., mortally wounded, was carried to the house of
one of our principal physicians, and tenderly cared for, for two or
three days, while he talked of his distant home and his mother, and
sent messages to those who would see him no more. After his comrades
had passed on and the place was in the hands of the Federals, he
resigned himself to die with childlike patience, asking for a favorite
hymn, and begging the lovely girl who had watched him with a sister's
fidelity to kiss him, as he was dying, "for his sister." He was laid to
rest in the garden, and perhaps as bitter tears of regret and despair
fell on that lonely grave as on any during the war; for the war was
over, and he and the rest had died in vain.
On Sunday, at two P.M., General Wheeler called in his pickets; and once
more, and for the last time, we saw the gallant sight of our gray-clad
Confederate soldiers, and waved our last farewell to our army. A few
hours of absolute and Sabbath stillness and silence ensued. The groves
stood thick and solemn, the bright sun shining through the great boles
and down the grassy slopes, while a pleasant fragrance was wafted from
the purple panicles of the Paullonia. All that nature can do was still
done with order and beauty, while men's hearts were failing them for
fear, and for looking after those things which were coming on the earth.
We sat in our pleasant piazzas and awaited events with quiet
resignation. The silver had all been buried--some of it in springs,
some of it under rocks in the streams, some of it in fence-corners,
which, after the fences had been burned down, was pretty hard to find
again; some of it in the woods, some of it in the cellars. There was
not much provision to be carried off--that was one comfort. The sight
of our empty store-rooms and smoke-houses would be likely to move our
invaders to laughter. Our wardrobes were hardly worth hiding--homespun
and jeans hung placidly in their accustomed places. But the libraries,
public and private, the buildings of the university--all minor selfish
considerations were merged in a generous anxiety for these. So we
talked and speculated, while the very peace and profound quiet of the
place sustained and soothed our minds. Just at sunset a sedate and
soldierly-looking man, at the head of a dozen _dressed in blue_, rode
quietly in by the Raleigh road. Governor Swain, accompanied by a few
of the principal citizens, met them at the entrance, and stated that
he had General Sherman's promise that the town and university should
be saved from pillage. The soldier replied that such were his orders,
and they should be observed. They then rode in, galloped up and down
the streets inquiring for rebels; and being informed that _there were
none_ in town, they withdrew for the night to their camp; and the next
morning, being Easter Monday, April seventeenth, General Atkins, at
the head of a detachment of four thousand cavalry, entered about eight
A.M., and we were captured.
That was surely a day to be remembered by us all. For the first time
in four years we saw the old flag--the "Stars and Stripes," in whose
defense we would once have been willing to die, but which certainly
excited very little enthusiasm now. Never before had we realized how
entirely our hearts had been turned away from what was once our whole
country, till we felt the bitterness aroused by the sight of that flag
shaking out its red and white folds over us. The utmost quiet and
good order prevailed. Guards were placed at every house immediately,
and with a promptness that was needful; for one residence, standing
a little apart, was entered by a squad of bummers in advance of the
guard, and in less than ten minutes the lower rooms, store-rooms, and
bed-rooms were overhauled and plundered with a swift and business-like
thoroughness only attainable by long and extensive practice. A guard
arriving, they left; but their plunder was not restored. The village
guards, belonging to the Ninth Michigan cavalry, deserve especial
mention as being a decent set of men, who, while they were here,
behaved with civility and propriety.
That was surely a day to be remembered by us all; yet the first
returning anniversary of that day brought the village of Chapel Hill
an occasion as generally interesting, but invested with a tenderness
of its own. On the sixteenth of April, 1866, the whole town poured
out to receive two Confederate soldiers--two brothers--who had fallen
in battle in our defense.[14] They came back home that day, and were
placed side by side in that church, whose aisles their infant feet
had trodden. The plain deal boxes that inclosed them were graced with
garlands, and the emblem of the holy faith in which they had died "more
than conquerors," woven of the flowers of their own dear native State.
It was all that North-Carolina could do for her sons who had died in
obedience to her laws.
Come, Southern flowers, and twine above their grave;
Let all our rath spring blossoms bear a part;
Let lilies of the vale and snowdrops wave,
And come thou too, fit emblem, bleeding-heart!
Bring all our evergreens--the laurel and the bay,
From the deep forests which around us stand;
They know them well, for in a happier day
They roamed these hills and valleys hand in hand.
Ye winds of heaven, o'er them gently sigh,
And April showers fall in kindliest rain,
And let the golden sunbeams softly lie
Upon the sod for which they died in vain.
It was something--it was much, that we could lay them among their own
familiar hills, pleasant in their lives and undivided in their deaths.
And North-Carolina dust will lie lightly on their gentle and noble
breasts.
While the command of General Atkins remained in Chapel Hill--a period
of nearly three weeks--the same work, with perhaps some mitigation, was
going on in the country round us, and around the city of Raleigh, which
had marked the progress of the Federal armies all through the South.
Planters having large families of white and black were left without
food, forage, cattle, or change of clothing. Being in camp so long,
bedding became an object with the marauders; and many wealthy families
were stripped of what the industry of years had accumulated in that
line. Much of what was so wantonly taken was as wantonly destroyed and
squandered among the prostitutes and negroes who haunted the camps. As
to Raleigh, though within the corporate limits, no plundering of the
houses was allowed; yet in the suburbs and the country the inscrutable
policy of permitting unrestrained license to the troops prevailed to
its widest extent. From the statements of several of the prominent
citizens of Raleigh I make the following extracts, the first giving a
general view, and the other simply one man's personal experience:
"Immediately around Raleigh the farms were completely despoiled of
every thing in the shape of provisions and forage, so as to leave
literally nothing for the support of man or beast. In many instances
the houses were burned or torn to pieces, and the fences and inclosures
entirely destroyed, so as to render it impossible at that season of the
year to produce one third of a crop, even with the greatest industry
and attention. Every horse and mule found in the country fit for
service was taken off, and only a few old and half-starved ones are to
be found on the farms."
The other statement I give in full:[15]
"On the thirteenth day of April, General Sherman took military
possession of Raleigh. A portion of his body-guard pitched their
tents (eight in number) in my front-yard, which, with a room in my
office, were occupied by officers. Their servants--cooks, waiters, and
hostlers--took possession of my kitchens, out-houses, and stables,
appropriating them in a most riotous and insolent manner. The soldiers
tore down my yard and garden-fences for fuel and tents, and turned
their horses and mules upon my vegetables and fruit-trees, destroying a
large lot of corn, potatoes, peas, etc.; took off my horses and mules,
tore off the doors, flooring, and weather-boarding of my out-houses
and barns for tents; killed all my poultry, upward of thirty young
hogs, cooking them in my kitchen for the officers' tables. After the
removal of this squad, another took instant possession, and pitched
twenty-four tents in my front-yard and a large number in the lower
part of my grounds, still using my kitchen, beside building fires
all over the yard. At my plantation, three miles from town, the
devastation was thorough and unsparing. I had no overseer there. The
negroes, some seventy in number, were plundered of their clothing
and provisions, consisting of bacon, pickled beef, corn-meal, and
flour. My dwelling-house was broken open, weather-boarding, flooring,
and ceiling carried off, every window-sash and glass broken out, and
every article of furniture for house or kitchen either carried off or
wantonly destroyed. Barns, cotton-house, and sheds were all torn down;
blacksmith's, carpenter's, and farming implements carried off or broken
up; three carts and two large wagons, with their gear, destroyed; the
fences burned; and a large number of mules and horses pastured on the
wheat-fields; all my mules and horses there (seventeen in number)
carried off; fifty head of cattle, forty sheep, fifty hogs, and a large
flock of geese and poultry either taken off or wantonly shot down; a
quantity of medicine, some excellent wines, brandy, whisky, and two
hundred gallons of vinegar were taken. Wagon-trains went down day after
day, till 150 barrels of corn, 15,000 pounds of fodder, 12,000 pounds
of hay, and all my wheat, peas, cotton, etc., were carried off, leaving
the whole place entirely bare, so that my negroes had to come in town
for rations."
By the above account it will be seen that the having a guard did
not avail to protect the premises, even within the city, though,
as a general rule, their presence did avail to protect the grounds
immediately around the house. A lady residing beyond the city limits,
the wife of a general officer in our army, had her house repeatedly
pillaged, and all the provisions belonging to her negroes, as well
as her own, carried off. The tent of a general in the Federal army
was pitched just in front of the house, and every marauder going in
and coming out laden with spoils was immediately in his view; yet
not a word was said to check the men, nor any steps allowed for her
protection. A guard was refused her, on the ground of the action of
Wheeler's men at their entrance; and when, after repeated solicitation,
a guard reluctantly came, he allowed all who were on the premises
laden, to march off with what they had in hand, saying he had no
authority to take any thing away from them! The unfortunate negroes
were the severest sufferers, they being literally stripped of their
all, and, beginning a new life of freedom, began it without even the
little savings and personal property accumulated in slavery.
That General Sherman was well aware of all this, and not only
tacitly permitted it, but considered it a necessary part of war that
non-combatants lying at the mercy of his army should receive no mercy
at all, is one of the extraordinary developments of the war. There
would rather seem to be a deficiency of judgment on his part than a
real want of humanity, for which he may have been indebted to the
astute military training received at West-Point.
To that institution alone must be conceded the unenviable distinction
of sending out soldiers instructed to carry fire, famine, and slaughter
through the invaded country, and then sententiously declaring that
"_such is war_."
"To her alone the praise is due,
She let them loose and cried Halloo!"
Even while the peace negotiations were in progress, as we have seen,
and in many cases after peace was declared, the grand army hastened
to improve the shining hours in Wake, Orange, and Alamance. Wholesale
robbery, abuse, and insult were practiced in so many instances under
the eyes of the commanding officers, that those who would have said
that the _officers_ did not know or permit such things, and that they
were the work of only lawless stragglers and camp-followers, such as
are found in all armies, were forced to the unavoidable conclusion that
this species of warfare was encouraged and approved by the commanders
as an important branch of the service, and an invaluable aid in the
work of subjugation and reconstruction.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 14: Junius C. and W. Lewis, the two youngest sons of the Hon.
W.H. Battle.]
[Footnote 15: There seems to be no good reason to refrain from saying
that this statement describes the treatment received by Governor Manly,
and that the lady mentioned in the next paragraph is the wife of
General Cox.--Editor.]
CHAPTER XIII.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN GOVERNOR SWAIN AND GENERAL SHERMAN--GOVERNOR
VANCE'S POSITION AND CONDUCT--KILPATRICK--THE CONDUCT OF THE
SERVANTS--"LEE'S MEN"--PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
I am persuaded that it requires the exercise of an implicit faith,
and a total rejection of the evidence of things seen, to believe that
General Sherman as a man, deplored the policy which, as a general,
he felt bound to pursue. I shall, however, give him the benefit of
his own professions, which, whether sincere or not, are certainly in
unison with the part he played in the treaty with General Johnston. The
following correspondence will be read with interest:
CHAPEL HILL, April 19, 1865.
_Major-General W.T. Sherman, commanding United States Forces_:
GENERAL: ... On my return to this village on Saturday morning,
fifteenth instant, I found that General Wheeler, with his division of
cavalry, had been encamped here for two days. He resumed his march
on Sunday morning, leaving the country denuded to a considerable
extent of forage, and taking with him a number of horses and mules.
General Atkins arrived with his brigade on Monday morning, and is in
camp here now. I have had several interviews with General Atkins, and
have pleasure in stating that he manifests a disposition to execute
his orders with as much forbearance as he deems compatible with the
proper discharge of his duty. Nevertheless, many worthy families have
been stripped by his soldiers of the necessary means of subsistence.
A Baptist clergyman--a most estimable, quiet, and charitable citizen,
and the most extensive farmer within a circle of three miles--is
almost entirely destitute of provision for man and beast; and with
a family of more than fifty persons, (white and colored,) has not a
single horse or mule. Other instances, not less striking, exist, of
families in less affluent circumstances; but I refer particularly to
Mr. Purefoy, because he has been my near neighbor for about thirty
years, and I hold him in the highest estimation. He, like many others,
is not merely without the present means of subsistence, but unless his
horses and mules are restored or replaced, can make no provision for
the future. The delay of a few days even may render it impossible to
plant corn in proper time.
I am satisfied from the impression made on me in our recent interview,
that personally, you have no disposition to add to the unavoidable
horrors of war, by availing yourself of the utmost license which
writers on the subject deem admissible, but that, on the contrary,
you would prefer to treat the peaceful tillers of the soil with no
unnecessary harshness. I venture to hope, therefore, that the present
state of negotiations between the contending armies will enable you
to relax the severity of the orders under which General Atkins is
acting, and I am satisfied that if you shall feel yourself justified
by the course of events in doing so, an intimation of your purpose
will be welcome intelligence to him.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D.L. Swain.
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE }
MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, }
RALEIGH, N.C., April 22, 1865. }
_Hon. D.L. Swain, Chapel Hill, N.C._:
My Dear Sir: Yours of April nineteenth was laid before me yesterday,
and I am pleased that you recognize in General Atkins a fair
representative of our army.
The moment war ceases, and I think that time is at hand, all seizures
of horses and private property will cease on our part. And it may be
that we will be able to spare some animals for the use of the farmers
of your neighborhood. There now exists a species of truce, but we must
stand prepared for action; but I believe that in a very few days a
definitive and general peace will be arranged, when I will make orders
that will be in accordance with the new state of affairs.
I do believe that I fairly represent the feelings of my
countrymen--that we prefer peace to war; but if war is forced upon
us, we must meet it; but if peace be possible, we will accept it, and
be the friends of the farmers and working classes of North-Carolina,
as well as actual patrons of churches, colleges, asylums, and all
institutions of learning and charity. Accept the assurances of my
respect and high esteem.
I am, truly yours,
W.T. Sherman,
Major-General Commanding.
Without ascribing to General Sherman any extraordinary degree of merit
as a writer, I am inclined to give him credit for sincerity in these
professions, simply because of the corroborating evidence afforded by
his conduct in the treaty with Johnston. Their first agreement was
not ratified at Washington, and General Sherman's position therein
was severely censured; but no one who rightly estimated the condition
of the South at the close of the war, and the state of public feeling
among us, has ever doubted that, if that treaty had been ratified, the
happiest results would have followed, and an immense amount of trouble,
expense, and evil would have been avoided by the whole country. I
repeat what I have said previously, that General Sherman alone, of all
the prominent men and leaders among our antagonists, was at that time
possessed of the requisite ability and statesmanship and magnanimity to
comprehend the situation, and seize the opportunity and the means for
an equitable adjustment of our difficulties. I greatly regret not being
able to present my readers with a copy of his letter of invitation
to Governor Vance to return to Raleigh. On the fourteenth of April
General Johnston sent him his first letter, requesting a suspension of
hostilities, with a view to entering into arrangements for putting a
stop to the war. This application was replied to by General Sherman in
a really noble and generous spirit, and their correspondence resulted
in those interviews at Durham's Station, on the North-Carolina Central
Railroad, which concluded the war and have become historical. No one
can read that correspondence without seeing unmistakable evidence
that General Sherman manifested an eager anxiety to save the South
from further devastation. Perhaps a late remorse had touched him; but
however that may be, in the _civil_ policy he has always advocated
toward the South, he has shown himself at once generous and politic.
If he had pursued an equally far-sighted course as a soldier; if he
had advocated a humane forbearance toward the defenseless people who
were crushed beneath his march; if he had enforced a strict discipline
in his army, and chosen to appear as a restorer rather than as a
destroyer, there are few at the South who would not join to pronounce
him the hero of the war on the Northern side, and his name would
worthily go down to posterity by the side of the great captain of the
age, who declared, when leading his victorious veterans into France,
that rather than suffer them to pillage the country as they passed, he
would resign his command.
* * * * *
While Generals Johnston and Sherman were engaged in their negotiations
at Durham's, Governor Vance found that by having obeyed President
Davis's summons to Greensboro before accepting General Sherman's
invitation to Raleigh, he was effectually precluded from all further
participation in the affairs of the State. I am not at liberty to say
why or how this was; but it is probable the Governor himself does
not very deeply regret it, since it is not likely he would have been
permitted by the Federal authorities to retain his office, even if he
had returned to Raleigh and resumed the reins. All General Sherman's
views and official acts as peacemaker were speedily disavowed and
overruled at Washington; and though Governor Vance was willing to have
made the experiment, being urged thereto by his best friends, yet, as
_matters have since turned out_, it is as well that he was prevented.
He and his noble State were equally incapable of any attempt to make
terms for themselves, even had it been likely that any terms would have
been granted. Our fortunes were to be those of our sister States whom
we had joined deliberately, fought for, and suffered with; and Governor
Vance was never more truly our representative than in the treatment he
received from the Federal Government after the surrender.
Our Governor left Hillsboro on Saturday, arrived in Greensboro on
Sunday morning, April sixteenth, and found that President Davis had
left for Charlotte the day before. The whole Confederate Government
left Danville the preceding Monday, April tenth, arrived at Greensboro
on the same day, and had ever since been living in the cars around the
railroad station at that place. Mr. Trenholm being very ill, had been
taken to Governor Morehead's. But the Confederate President, and all
the Government officials lived for five rainy days in the miserable
leaky cars that had brought them thither, having abundant government
stores of provision in their train. On the slope of a hill near by,
which tradition points out as that on which General Greene had held a
council of war previous to the battle of Guilford, in 1781, President
Davis and his Cabinet, and Generals Beauregard and Johnston held their
last conference a day or two before Governor Vance's arrival. It had
resulted in the first terms which General Johnston was authorized
to make with General Sherman, and he was already on his way back to
Hillsboro, to hold his first interview with the Federal commander.
Failing to see the President, Governor Vance would now have returned
to Raleigh. All that can be said at this point is, that he _was not
permitted by our military authorities to pass through their lines while
the negotiations were pending_. He then followed President Davis to
Charlotte, and had a final interview with him, giving him notice of his
intention, as General Johnston was then on the point of surrendering
the army, to surrender himself to Sherman, and use what means were
in his power to save the State and State property from further ruin,
treating the Confederacy as at an end. Returning to Greensboro, he
found the first terms agreed upon had been rejected at Washington,
and the two commanding generals were engaged in a fresh negotiation.
Failing still to receive permission to proceed to Raleigh, he wrote a
letter to General Sherman, and sent it by Treasurer Worth, who found
on his arrival in Raleigh that General Sherman was gone, and General
Schofield was in command, who refused to allow Governor Vance to return
at all.
The Governor then remained quietly in Greensboro until Schofield's
arrival there, when he had an interview with him, giving him necessary
information as to State property, records, etc., etc., and bespeaking
his protection for them and for our people, especially in those
localities where they were at feud with each other. He then tendered
his own surrender, which General Schofield refused to accept, saying he
had no orders to arrest him, and he might go where he pleased. Governor
Vance then told him he would join his family at Statesville, and would
be found there if requisition should be made for him. He arrived in
Statesville, rejoining his family on the fourth of May--by a curious
coincidence, the very day on which, four years before, he had left
them, a volunteer for the war! And four such years!--sketched for us
thirty years ago in that sublime and solemn picture upon the canvas
of Webster, where lay a land rent with civil feuds, and drenched in
fraternal blood. He remained until the thirteenth, when he was arrested
by order of the Federal Government, by Major Porter, commanding a
detachment of three hundred cavalry, Ninth Pennsylvania, conveyed a
prisoner to Raleigh, and thence to the Old Capitol Prison at Washington
City.
On the thirteenth of April, General Sherman entered Raleigh. The
day before, General Stoneman had occupied Salisbury. He entered the
State from Knoxville, Tenn., taking most of the towns in his way,
and committing an immense amount of damage, and finally arriving
in Salisbury just in time to destroy utterly all the valuable State
and Confederate property which had been so sedulously conveyed from
Raleigh, to escape General Sherman! The particulars of this important
and successful move I have as yet been unable to procure. I hope,
however, to present them at some time in a detailed and authentic
narrative. The coöperation with Sherman was timely, and would have
been a perfect success if Stoneman had ventured to hold Salisbury. He
might easily have done so, though, to be sure, he did not know that;
but if he had, he might have given checkmate to the Confederacy at
once. President Davis would never have reached Charlotte. As it was,
the raiders from Stoneman's command, who cut the Danville road above
Greensboro, were within half an hour of capturing the whole Confederate
Government in its flight.
During the occupation of Chapel Hill by Kilpatrick's cavalry, the
citizens of the place possessed their souls in as much patience as
they could muster up, endeavoring to arrive at a stoical not to say
philosophical frame of mind, in view of the sudden dislocation of all
things--among other things, maintaining a decent degree of composure
upon the establishment of Liberia in our midst, and accommodating
ourselves to this new phase of things with a good deal of grim humor.
The negroes, however, behaved much better, on the whole, than Northern
letter-writers represent them to have done. Indeed, I do not know a
race more studiously misrepresented than they have been and are at
this present time. They behaved well during the war: if they had not,
it could not have lasted eighteen months. They showed a fidelity and
a steadiness which speaks not only well for themselves but well for
their training and the system under which they lived. And when their
liberators arrived, there was no indecent excitement on receiving the
gift of liberty, nor displays of impertinence to their masters. In one
or two instances they gave "Missus" to understand that they desired
present payment for their services in gold and silver, but, in general,
the tide of domestic life flowed on externally as smoothly as ever. In
fact, though of course few at the North will believe me, I am sure that
they felt for their masters, and secretly sympathized with their ruin.
They knew that they were absolutely penniless and conquered; and though
they were glad to be free, yet they did not turn round, as New-England
letter-writers have represented, to exult over their owners, nor
exhibit the least trace of New-England malignity. So the bread was
baked in those latter days, the clothes were washed and ironed, and the
baby was nursed as zealously as ever, though both parties understood
at once that the service was voluntary. The Federal soldiers sat a
good deal in the kitchens; but the division being chiefly composed
of North-western men, who had little love for the negro, (indeed I
heard some d----n him as the cause of the war, and say that they would
much rather put a bullet through an abolitionist than through a
Confederate soldier,) there was probably very little incendiary talk
and instructions going on. In all which, in comparison with other
localities, we were much favored.
So we endeavored to play out the play with dignity and self-possession,
watching the long train of foragers coming in every day by every
high-road and by-way leading from the country, laden with the substance
of our friends and neighbors for many miles, (though in many cases,
let me say, the Government made payment for food and forage taken
after peace was declared,) watching them with such feelings as made us
half ashamed of our own immunity, wondering where it would all end,
and that we should have lived to see such a day; reviewing the height
from which we had fallen, and struggling, I say, to wear a look of
proud composure, when all our assumed stoicism and resignation was put
to flight by the appearance, on a certain day, of a squad of unarmed
men in gray, dusty and haggard, walking slowly along the road. A
moment's look, a hasty inquiry, and "_Lee's men!_" burst from our lips,
and tears from our eyes. There they were, the heroes of the army of
Virginia, walking home, each with _his pass_ in his pocket, and nothing
else. To run after them, to call them in, to feel honored at shaking
those rough hands, to spread the table for them, to cry over them,
and say again and again, "God bless you all; we are just as proud of
you, and thank you just as much as if it had turned out differently;"
this was a work which stirred our inmost souls, and has left a tender
memory which will outlast life. Day after day we saw them, sometimes
in twos and threes, sometimes in little companies, making the best
of their way toward their distant homes, penniless and dependent on
wayside charity for their food, plodding along, while the blue jackets
pranced gayly past on the best blood of Southern stables. But I am
glad to record that wherever a Federal soldier met any of them, he
was prompt to offer help and food, and express a kindly and soldierly
cordiality. Grant's men, they all said, had been especially generous.
There was something worth studying in the air and expression of these
men, a something which had a beneficial and soothing effect on the
observers. They were not unduly cast down, nor had any appearance of
the humiliation that was burning into our souls. They were serious,
calm, and self-possessed. They said they were satisfied that all had
been done that could be done, and they seemed to be sustained by the
sense of duty done and well done, and the event left to God, and
with His award they had no intention of quarreling. It was a fair
fight, they said, but the South had been starved out; one dark-eyed
young South-Carolinian said, for his part he was going home to settle
down, and if any body ever said "secesh" to him again, he meant to
knock 'em over. Many looked thin and feeble; and a gallant major from
Fayetteville told me himself that when ordered to the last charge, he
and his men, who had been living for some days on parched corn, were so
weak that they reeled in their saddles. "But we would have gone again,"
he added, "if Lee had said so."
The news of the death of President Lincoln, received at first with
utter incredulity, deepened the gloom and horrible uncertainty in which
we lived. That he was dead simply may not have excited any regret
among people who for four years had been learning to regard him as
the prime agent in all our troubles. But when the time, place, and
manner of his death came to be told, an unaffected and deep horror
and dismay filled our minds. The time has not yet come for Southern
people to estimate President Lincoln fairly. We never could admire
him as he appeared as a candidate for the Presidency, nor look upon
him as a great man, in any sense of the word. But even if we had
recognized him as a lofty and commanding genius, fit to guide the
destiny of a great nation through a crisis of imminent peril, the
smoke of the battle-fields would have obscured to us all his good
qualities, and we should have regarded him only as the malignant star,
whose ascendency boded nothing but evil to us. He was always presented
to us in caricature. The Southern press never mentioned him but with
some added _sobriquet_ of contempt and hatred. His simplicity of
character and kindliness of heart we knew nothing of; nor would many
now at the South, much as they may deplore his death, concede to him
the possession of any such virtues. They judged him by the party which
took possession of him after his inauguration, and by his advisers.
But a sense of remorse fills my mind now as I write of him, realizing
how much that was really good and guileless, and well-intentioned and
generous, may have come to an untimely end in the atrocious tragedy at
Ford's Theatre. The extravagance of eulogy by which the Northern people
have sought to express their sense of his worth and of his loss, has
had much to do with our unwillingness to judge him fairly. To place the
Illinois lawyer by the side of Washington would have been an offense
against taste and common-sense; but to compare him to the SON OF GOD,
to ascribe to him also the work of "dying the just for the unjust,"
is an impious indecency which may suit the latitude of Mr. Bancroft,
and the overstrained tone of the Northern mind generally, but whose
only effect at the South is to widen the distance between us and the
day when we shall frankly endeavor to understand and do justice to
President Lincoln.
CHAPTER XIV.
GENERAL STONEMAN--OUTRAGES--COLD-BLOODED MURDERS--GENERAL
GILLAM--PROGRESS THROUGH LENOIR, WILKES, SURRY, AND STOKES--STONEMAN'S
DETOUR INTO VIRGINIA--THE DEFENSE OF SALISBURY--THE FIGHT IN THE
STREETS OF SALISBURY--GENERAL POLK'S FAMILY--TEMPORARY OCCUPANCY OF
SALISBURY--CONTINUOUS RAIDING.
On the same day that General Sherman entered Raleigh, General Stoneman
occupied Salisbury, April 12-13th, thus completing the chain of events
which was closing in upon the Confederacy. Among the prisoners kept at
Salisbury were some of the better class, who were at large on _parole_.
This they broke in the winter of 1864-'5, and, making their escape over
the mountains into Tennessee, carried such accounts of the accumulation
of stores, etc., at Salisbury, as made its capture an object of
importance.
General Stoneman entered the State during the last week of March, by
the turnpike leading from Taylorsville, Tennessee, through Watauga
county to Deep Gap, on the Blue Ridge. His force was probably six or
seven thousand strong, though rumor increased it to fifteen, twenty,
thirty, and in one instance to sixty thousand.
They entered Boone, the county-seat of Watauga, on the twenty-sixth of
March. The village was completely taken by surprise. No one was aware
of the approach of an enemy till the advance-guard dashed up the main
street, making no demand for surrender, but firing right and left at
every moving thing they saw. Mrs. James Council, hearing the noise,
stepped into her piazza with her child in her arms, and immediately a
volley of balls splintered the wood-work all around her. She, however,
escaped unhurt. The people of this county had been warmly attached to
the Confederate cause, and had bravely resisted East-Tennessee raiders
and marauders. The county-seat was therefore, perhaps, especially
obnoxious; and whatever may have been General Stoneman's policy, there
were subordinate officers in his command who were only too happy in the
opportunity to retort upon a defenseless and unresisting population.
The jail was burned by order of General Gillam. For this it is said he
was sternly rebuked by General Stoneman; but all the county records,
books, and private papers were destroyed. Private houses were of course
plundered, and the citizens were consoled by the assurance that "Kirk
was to follow and clean them out." Several citizens were shot under
circumstances of peculiar aggravation. A party of the raiders went into
the field of Mr. Jacob Council, where he was plowing with a negro. He
was over the conscript age, a prudent, quiet man, who had taken no part
in the war. He was shot down in cold blood, notwithstanding his piteous
appeals for mercy, because, upon the negro's statement, he was "an
infernal rebel." Another, Warren Green, was killed while holding up
his hands in token of surrender. Another, Calvin Green, was pursued and
surrendered, but they continued firing upon him after his surrender.
He then resolved to defend himself, and fought, loading and firing
till he was shot down and left for dead. He shattered the arm of one
of the Federal soldiers, so that it had to be amputated that night.
But instead of dying himself, he recovered, and is now living. Steele
Frazier, a lad of fifteen, was chased by a squad of half a dozen. He
made a running fight of it. Getting over a fence, he coolly waited
till they were within range, and then fired and shot one through. He
then ran again, loading, and turned again and killed another of his
pursuers; and notwithstanding the pursuit was kept up some distance,
the balls whistling round him, he finally made good his escape, and
will probably make none the worse citizen, when he is grown, for his
adventurous boyhood.
Through the whole of this raid General Stoneman is represented to have
been apparently anxious to mitigate the distresses and horrors of
war as far as was practicable, by courteous and humane treatment of
the people. His record and that of General Palmer are in refreshing
contrast to those of his subordinate, General Gillam, and of certain
other higher names in the Federal army. There is one story, however,
told of him in Boone, which, after all, may be due to his quartermaster
or commissary-in-chief. Mrs. Council had been kind to some Federal
prisoners confined in the jail; and the invaders hearing of it,
requited her by affording her protection during their stay. Kirk's
raiders, however, came down after Stoneman had passed on, and stripped
the place of all that had been left--the gallant Colonel Kirk himself
making his headquarters with this lady--keeping her a close prisoner in
her own room, while he and his men made free with the rest of the house
and the premises. That they left little or nothing but the bare walls,
may be inferred from General Stoneman's remark on his return to the
place after the capture of Salisbury. Standing in the piazza and taking
a survey of what had once been a happy and beautiful home--the fencing
all gone, the gardens, shrubbery, and yard trampled bare, covered with
raw hides of cattle and sheep, decaying carcasses, and all manner of
filth--he turned to the lady and said, "Well, Mrs. C., I suppose you
hardly know whether you are at home or not." Gratefully remembering
his former courtesy to her, she exerted herself to entertain him with
such scanty stores as the raiders had left. A firkin of uncommonly fine
butter had been overlooked by them, and she placed some of this on the
table. The General commended this butter especially, and asked her if
she had any more of it. She told him it was about the only thing to
eat she had left, and congratulated herself on its safety under his
protection. What was her mortification, a short time after, to see the
firkin ordered out and placed in the General's own provision-wagon. So
much that is favorable to General Stoneman's character has reached me,
that I can not help hoping he was ignorant of this unspeakably small
transaction.
On the twenty-seventh of March, the column was divided. General
Stoneman, with one division, went direct to Wilkesboro. The other,
under General Gillam, crossed the Blue Ridge at Blowing Rock, and
went to Patterson, in Caldwell county, thence rejoining Stoneman at
Wilkesboro. At Patterson General Gillam took the responsibility of
ordering the extensive cotton factory there to be burned. General
Stoneman is said to have regretted this destruction especially, as Mr.
Patterson, the owner, had received a promise that it should be spared,
and the people of East-Tennessee had been largely supplied from it.
But General Gillam, when not immediately under General Stoneman's eye,
could not restrain his propensities. He announced that "the Government
had been too lenient, and rebels must look out for consequences," and
ordered the torch to be applied.
While the raiders were in the Yadkin river-bottom, they were detained
three days by freshets. Small parties scoured the country, carrying
off all the horses and mules, and burning the factories. There seemed
to be no systematic plan of destruction; for while some mills and
factories were burned, others in the same neighborhood and quite as
easily accessible were spared. Much depended on the personal character
and disposition of the commanding officer of these detachments.
If he happened to be a gentleman, the people were spared as much
as possible; if he were simply a brute dressed in a little brief
authority, every needless injury was inflicted, accompanied with true
underbred insolence and malice. The privates always followed the lead
of their commander. The factories on Hunting Creek, in the upper part
of Tredell, were burned with large quantities of cotton. Eagle Mills
alone lost eight hundred bales. Among General Gillam's exploits in
Wilkesboro, was the finding the horse of the late General James Gordon
in the stable of a brother-in-law of the General. This, General G.
immediately, with great intrepidity, "captured;" and further to impress
the family with a sense of his heroic achievement, he had a man to
mount the animal and parade him slowly up and down before the door of
the house for an hour or two.
Leaving Wilkesboro on the thirty-first of March, General Stoneman moved
over into Surry county, in the direction of Mount Airy, and thence
into Virginia, aiming for Christiansburg, on the Tennessee Railroad.
A portion of the command being detached to Wytheville, was met near
that place by General Duke's cavalry, and repulsed, but rallying, took
the town and destroyed the depot of supplies there. Having effectually
destroyed the road above Wytheville, between New River and Big Lick,
General Stoneman turned back upon North-Carolina, reëntering it from
Patrick county, Virginia, and marching rapidly through Stokes county,
appeared suddenly in Salem and Winston on the tenth of April. Here he
sent out various detachments to cut the North-Carolina Central Road and
the Danville and Greensboro Road, destroy bridges, supplies, etc., etc.
One of these parties, as I have said before, narrowly missed capturing
the train conveying the whole Confederate government, in its flight to
Greensboro. They burned the bridge at Jamestown, and were about to fire
the depot, but upon a sudden false alarm, fled precipitately without
finishing their work. At High Point they burned the depot and large
quantities of government stores, also seventeen hundred bales of cotton
belonging to Francis Fries, of Salem. The public buildings and stores
at Lexington and Thomasville were saved by the arrival of a body of
Ferguson's cavalry, who chased the raiders back to Salem. The general
plan of the whole raid seemed to contemplate the destruction of stores
and the cutting off communications without risking a battle.
At Salem and Winston private property was protected, no pillage being
permitted. This was probably owing to the fact that the inhabitants
having had notice of the approach of the raiders, sent a deputation to
meet them and make a formal surrender of the town. I am not aware that
a demand for surrender was made of any place during the entire raid, or
that any place beside Salem and Winston, which may be regarded as one,
offered a surrender. The first notice of the presence of any enemy, in
most cases, was given by the unlooked-for arrival of the advance-guard
galloping in and taking possession.
At Mocksville, a number of the citizens, supposing it was only a small
squad that was hurrying through the country and plundering, prepared
to give them a warm reception, and a short distance from town fired
upon the advancing column. Soon finding their mistake, they retreated.
Threats of burning the village for this audacious thought of
resistance were made, but as General Stoneman was pressing forward with
all speed upon Salisbury, no time was allowed for any such exchange of
compliments.
General Stoneman's _detour_ into Virginia had completely mystified the
people of North-Carolina. They breathed freely as he passed over the
border, and congratulated themselves that the dreaded raid, which for
weeks had been anticipated, was so soon at an end. The troops which had
been posted by General Beauregard at Salisbury, for its protection,
were moved off to Greensboro and to the railroad bridge across the
Yadkin, and the town was left with little or no defense. If Stoneman
had marched thither from Wilkesboro, he would probably have been
repulsed with disaster; for a large body of infantry, with artillery
and cavalry, had been concentrated there; but when Salisbury was
attacked, on the morning of the twelfth of April, the whole effective
force did not much exceed five hundred men, including two batteries
on their way to join Johnston at Raleigh. Of these five hundred two
hundred were "galvanized" Irish, recruited from among the Federal
prisoners--besides artisans in the government employ from the various
shops, Junior reserves, and a number of citizens who volunteered in
defense of their homes. In the absence of General Bradley T. Johnson,
the commandant of the post, General Gardner took command, and disposed
his handful of men at various points on the road toward Mocksville, so
as to man and support the batteries, there being nowhere more than one
hundred and fifty men at any point.
The attack began at daylight. By eight o'clock the batteries were
flanked. The artillery-men fought bravely, but were of course soon
overpowered and compelled to leave their guns in the hands of the
enemy. A few of the "galvanized" Irish fought well, but the majority
went over in a body to the Federals soon after the fight commenced,
leaving the artillery without support, and of course betraying the
weakness of the Confederates. A desultory fight was kept up till the
suburbs of the town were reached, and then all order and subordination
were lost, the Confederates scattering through the town and to the
woods beyond. Several of them were wounded, and one or two were
killed in the town. The loss of the Federals is unknown, but several
were buried on the battle-field. A number of Confederates were taken
prisoners, some citizens, negroes, etc. By nine o'clock the place was
in quiet possession of the enemy, who galloped in with drawn swords and
full of strange oaths. Many of the citizens, negroes, and children,
were in the doors and on the sidewalks gazing for the first time at
the Federal uniform. In the desultory running fight that was kept
up through the streets, one of the Irish recruits before mentioned,
fighting bravely, was shot through the lungs; but he continued to
load and fire as he retreated till he fell on the piazza of Mrs. M.E.
Ramsay. Though the balls fell thick about him, and she was alone with
her little children, she went out to him and managed to get him inside
the house, where she nursed and stimulated him the greater part of the
day, till she could get a physician to him and have him removed to the
hospital. He said to her, "They have killed me, but I die a brave man;
I fought them as long as I could stand." She supposed that of course
his wound was mortal, but a fortnight after, to her astonishment, he
returned to thank her for her kindness.
Captain Frank Y. McNeely was found in the Arsenal and shot. Lieutenant
Stokes, of Maryland, was sitting on his horse in front of General
Bradley Johnson's headquarters, when a squad of the enemy dashed
into the street. An officer in front cried out, "There's a d----d
rebel--charge him." The Lieutenant waited till the officer was in
point-blank range, and then shot him through, and putting spurs to his
horse fled--hotly pursued. One of the pursuers was gaining on him,
considerably in advance of the rest, and probably intended to sabre
him; but the Lieutenant suddenly reining his horse aside, let the
raider pass, and as he passed fired and killed him, and then made good
his escape. The officer shot proved to be one of General Stoneman's
staff.
A small squad of the Confederates retreated fighting through the yard
and premises of Frank Shober, Esq. One of their number was killed in
the piazza of the house.
This hand-to-hand fighting in the streets--such incidents as these,
and the fact that Salisbury was an especial object of hatred to the
invaders as the prison depot of so many of their unfortunate comrades,
whose graves were to be counted there by thousands--these things
certainly gave General Stoneman every excuse for the plunder and
destruction of the whole town had he chosen to interpret the laws of
war as did General Sherman. But he did not so interpret them; he did
not even fall back upon the reserve that he was unable to restrain his
justly infuriated soldiers. He declined to avail himself of General
Gillam's burning zeal for the honor of the Union. This latter officer
was heard to say that, if he had his way, he would make the people of
Salisbury think "all hell was let loose upon them." Another account
states that he declared that "_though born in Salisbury_, he would be
glad to lay it in ashes."[16]
But General Stoneman's policy toward the inhabitants of Salisbury is
a very striking illustration of the principles which, in a previous
chapter, I have endeavored to show were the only true and generous
and really politic guide for the commanders of an invading army.
Private property was protected, guards were stationed, and General
Stoneman repeatedly gave strict orders for the enforcement of quiet and
protection of the citizens. He himself in person inspected the public
stores, which were of course by the laws of war doomed to destruction,
and refused to allow the Confederate Quartermaster's depot to be burned
lest it should endanger the town. The officers, whether willingly or
not, seconded their commander. Whatever plundering and insolence the
people were subjected to--and there were a number of such cases--was
very evidently the work of unauthorized bummers, who appeared in mortal
dread of the guards, and did their work hurriedly and furtively.
Corn-cribs and smoke-houses were entered, horses and mules and arms
were seized; but, on the whole, the general policy was the sound one of
protection to non-combatants.
Early in the morning of the attack several large trains with
government stores made their escape from Salisbury toward Charlotte
and Greensboro, but a passenger train on the Western road was not so
fortunate. Having proceeded a mile or two from town, the track was
found obstructed; and as soon as the train stopped, a volley was poured
into it without any demand for surrender. Several passengers were
wounded, but happily none of the ladies, among whom were the widow and
daughters of General Leonidas Polk. The cars being set on fire, much
of the baggage belonging to the passengers was burned--all that was
rescued was plundered--and among Mrs. Polk's valuables were found the
sword, uniform, papers, and other cherished relics of her husband.
These things were all seized with great triumph, and though much that
was taken besides was afterward restored to Mrs. Polk, no inducements
could prevail upon the gallant Colonel Slater of the Eleventh Kentucky
Cavalry to return to the widowed lady these mementos of her husband. He
claimed them as "taken on the battle-field," and kept them.
As soon as the town was quiet, a strong force was detailed to attack
the railroad bridge across the Yadkin, six miles distant. Here strong
fortifications on the Davidson side of the river had been erected,
under Beauregard's supervision, on a hill commanding the bridge and
the Rowan shore. General York of Louisiana, with ten or twelve hundred
men--home-guards and "galvanized" Irish--defended the bridge: its
preservation was of the greatest importance to the Confederate cause,
and strict orders had been issued by General Beauregard to defend
it at all hazards. At two o'clock P.M., on the twelfth, the raiders
arrived, and brisk skirmishing was kept up on the Rowan side. At
three o'clock some of the cannon captured in the morning on the other
side of Salisbury, were brought down, and opened on the Confederate
batteries. Heavy cannonading between the two continued till dark, when
the raiders, thinking the place too well fortified to risk an assault,
returned to Salisbury, destroying the railroad as they went. A few
Confederates were wounded, one or two were killed. The Federal loss, if
any, is unknown.
The assailants returned to assist in the destruction of the public
stores at Salisbury, which I have before stated were immense. They had
been accumulating there for weeks from Columbia, Charlotte, Richmond,
Danville, and Raleigh. The clothing, provisions, medical stores, etc.,
were collected in the main street and fired. The length of four entire
squares was occupied by the burning mass, valued at at least a million
in specie. Much was given away to negroes and the lower class of the
white population--much was quietly appropriated, and by some who should
have known better. The distresses and privations of war make times of
strong temptation, and the general demoralization that prevailed all
over our country was no greater at Salisbury than elsewhere. To people
who had been half starved for months, and many of them half clothed,
it was hard to see such quantities of sugar, coffee, spice, flour,
bacon, luxuries to which they had long been strangers, burning in their
streets like so much rubbish. The stores were all emptied besides of
private property--and many people were to be seen passing along the
streets loaded with what they chose. Many soldiers had dozens of coats,
shirts, etc., piled up before them on their horses.
The value of the medical stores alone was estimated at $100,000 in
gold. It is a little curious that, while such an amount was being
thrown into the flames, one of the surgeons of the Federal army entered
the office of one of the principal physicians in the place--Dr. J.J.
Summerell--and was about to carry off all his scanty store of medicine;
but upon remonstrance, he agreed to _divide_, saying, he could not bear
to rob a brother practitioner.
On the night of the 12-13th the ordnance stores, arsenal, foundry,
with much valuable machinery, the Government steam distillery, the
depots and other buildings belonging to both the Central and Western
roads, and other public buildings were fired. The night being perfectly
still, the sheets of flame rose steadily into the air, and the great
conflagration was plainly visible at the distance of fifteen miles;
and for several hours the incessant and distinct explosions of shells
and fixed ammunition conveyed the impression to the anxious watchers,
miles away, in the adjoining counties, that a fierce battle was raging.
There was no hallooing by the soldiers--no shouts--only the crackling
of the flames and the bursting of the shells. Now and then a mounted
troop swept through the streets, the horsemen in profound silence,
the lurid flames from the burning distillery making their rough faces
look ghastly enough, while the buttons and other mountings of their
equipments sparkled in the firelight. No one thought of sleep that
night, not even the children.
A large building, three stories high, originally built for a cotton
factory, but for some time past occupied by Federal prisoners--all of
whom a few weeks previously had been sent to Richmond and Wilmington
for exchange--together with the barracks and all other buildings
connected with it, were burned; and it may be well imagined that the
Federal soldiers felt a peculiar satisfaction in the destruction of a
spot so memorable to them--the scene of so much wretchedness and want
and despair. Many of the men with Stoneman had been among the prisoners
there, and many had had brothers and other relatives there. I have
heard that General Gillam himself had been one of the number before
his promotion. No one who knows what the condition of these prisoners
was, can wonder at any amount of rage expressed by the survivors
and avengers. The way in which both sides, during the war, treated
their prisoners, is an exceedingly curious commentary on the boasted
Christian civilization of the whole country, from Maine to Texas. For
the Northern side there is no excuse. For the Southern side there is
one--and but one. Our prisoners were starved, as I have said before,
because we were starving ourselves; our children were crying for bread,
and our soldiers were fighting on half-rations of parched corn and
peas. We could not tell our enemies this! We were not to confess to
them this fatal weakness in our cause! But what we could do to induce
their Government to take these poor wretches home and give us our own
in exchange, we did do. Every inducement was offered to them again and
again in vain. So far, then, our skirts are clear. But brutality of
speech and behavior, cruel indifference to their situation, unnecessary
harshness and violence to helpless unarmed men, diseased and dying--of
this there may have been much among certain of our officials, and for
this we will yet have to repent before Him who hears the sighing of the
prisoner.
It has been estimated that the loss in buildings alone, which were
mostly of brick, would reach to half a million in specie, and the
total loss of all property to several millions. Had the war continued,
the capture of Salisbury would have been a stunning blow to General
Johnston, and would have severely crippled his movements. As it was, it
is a matter of great regret that such a vast amount of most valuable
property should have been destroyed just at a time when its destruction
was no longer necessary to the overthrow of a cause already dead.
General Stoneman might safely have held Salisbury from the hour he
entered it, and preserved every dollar's worth of its stores for the
advantage of his own government. He might have prevented the further
flight of the Confederate Government, and President Davis and all his
cabinet might have been forced to surrender with General Johnston. And
it would have been better if they had. But General Stoneman did not
know what a brilliant part he was playing in the last act of the great
tragedy, and he hurried to get through with it and leave Salisbury as
rapidly as he had entered it. On the 13th a terrific explosion of the
magazine finished the work, and that evening the Federals moved off
toward Statesville, riding most of the night as if under apprehension
of pursuit.
General Stoneman must certainly be allowed to have accomplished his
ends with a skill, celerity, and daring, which entitle him to high
praise as a military leader. Add to this the higher praise of humanity,
and the ability to control his troops, and he well deserves a higher
niche than some who led grand armies on great marches. Salisbury,
comparing her lot with that of Columbia and Fayetteville, may well
afford to hold General Stoneman's name in grateful remembrance.
I have taken no pleasure in this recital of injuries, insults,
inhumanity, and breach of faith. The truth of history demands that
the facts shall be told on both sides calmly and with impartiality.
The world, which has heard so much of one side, should hear the other
too; and posterity, at whose bar we shall all stand for this four
years' work, should have every opportunity afforded for a righteous
verdict. And there are other ways in which the truth plainly told
may do good. People will be enabled, looking at these details, to
arrive at a just estimate of what war may become, even among Christian
people, and shudder to invoke its horrors lightly, and may teach their
children so. How many of us knew in the spring of 1861 what was about
to break out among us--what wide-spread ruin, what raging passions,
what furies of hell, which once evoked will not down at our bidding?
Quiet men, who were familiar with the pages of European history and
knew what Christian armies had done again and again in the fairest and
most civilized portion of her empires, these came gravely from their
studies with words of warning to the gay throngs of young people who
were cheering each other on to the impending strife. But these were the
old fogies of that day--cold-blooded--unpatriotic--who did not love
the South. What a short and brilliant programme was laid down! The
girls made their silken banners, and the boys marched proudly off to
glorious victory; England and France would see fair play; and this dear
and sunny South was to spring at once upward and onward in a career of
glory. One of the most influential journals in the South--one of the
soberest--dealing lightly and easily with the great issues of the war;
settling at a word the boundary lines of the new Southern republic,
and dotting what were to be our frontier States with a chain of forts;
establishing the new war office, and the standing army, henceforth to
be a necessary feature, grew enthusiastic over the splendid resource
thus to be afforded to our "aristocratic young men of family and
fortune." The army was to be especially for the _gentlemen_ of the
South. Alas! and alas! Now, torn and bleeding and broken-hearted,
humiliated, stripped, crushed, disfranchised, and helpless, we may look
back and learn a lesson.
It may be well, too, if public attention can be directed by such
narratives to an investigation of the laws of war, and some inquiry be
suggested as to the necessity of their being revised and mitigated. And
it can not but a have a beneficial effect that even victorious military
heroes shall be made amenable to public opinion for the manner in which
they have wielded the great powers intrusted to them, and find, in some
cases, their fresh-plucked laurels withering in their grasp.
The actual loss and injury inflicted by the enemy, in the progress
of the war, on personal and public property, was very far from being
the greatest evil which its continuance entailed upon us. I speak not
now of losses by death. _Inter arma leges silent_ is an old saying;
and though framed in a dead language, its drift is well understood
and acted upon by people who can not even read it. The longer the war
lasted the more evident became the demoralization of our people, and
their disregard for laws and principles of action by which they had
been guided all their lives. At the break-up respectable citizens, who
would once have shrunk from even the imputation of such conduct, helped
themselves unblushingly to Government stores and public property,
even when it had been intrusted to them for safe keeping. When their
betters set such an example, the common people of course threw off
all restraint; and we could then plainly see how petty, compared with
the advantages gained, are the taxes which we pay for the support of
law and government. There seemed to be a general feeling, during the
last ninety days, that there was no government outside of the military
pressure for conscripts, deserters, and tithes. I am reminded of a
poor neighbor as I write, who, during the winter of '64-'65, like many
others, provided his family with wood to which he had no right. Being
remonstrated with, he said with energy, "There is no law in the land in
these days," and continued his depredations openly. And I do believe
the general feeling was, "What else _can_ he do, with wood at forty
dollars a cord?"
Nor are such fruits of war confined to the Southern side of the
Potomac. The fires that have lit up so many Northern cities; the tales
of murder, robbery, and riot, which have crowded the columns of their
journals for the past year; and the general lawlessness and contempt of
authority which prevail there, point unmistakably to the dangers which
accompany a triumphant and utterly undisciplined army, whether in the
enemy's land or returning home flushed with victory and demoralized
with licensed rapine and riot. Did Northern people soberly believe that
it was zeal for the Union and hatred of secession that prompted such
wholesale plunder in the South? Let their own experience since, and
the records of their criminal courts within the last year, show, that
when plunder is to be had, lawless and unrestrained men care little
whether it belongs to friend or foe; and that lust, once aroused and
let loose, can not distinguish, and is amenable to no laws. Herein, as
in thousands of other instances, is that saying true, "The measure we
mete is measured to us again."
Human nature is indeed a wild beast that has need to be chained and
continually surrounded with restraints, or we should prey upon each
other as savages do, and so lapse into barbarism. Let the experience of
the last five years teach the people of this great Republic henceforth
to preserve indissolubly the bonds of PEACE, that so, as a nation, they
may do their appointed part toward hastening on the coming of that
PRINCE of whose kingdom there shall be no end.
"Te duce, qui maneant sceleris vestigia nostri
Irrita perpetuâ solvent formidine terras."[17]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 16: _Is_ General Gillam a son of North-Carolina? I put
the note and query for the future historian. If so, then we have
only another proof that decency and good principles are not always
hereditary.]
[Footnote 17: With Thee for our guide, whatever relics of our crimes
remain shall be taken away, and free the world from perpetual fears.]
CHAPTER XV.
IREDELL COUNTY--GENERAL PALMER'S COURTESY TO MRS. VANCE--SUBSEQUENT
TREATMENT OF THIS LADY BY FEDERAL SOLDIERS--MAJOR HAMBRIGHT'S CRUELTY
IN LENOIR--CASE OF DR. BALLEW AND OTHERS--GENERAL GILLAM--HIS
OUTRAGES AT MRS. HAGLER'S--DR. BOONE CLARK--TERRIBLE TREATMENT OF HIS
FAMILY--LIEUTENANTS RICE AND MALLOBRY--MRS. GENERAL VAUGHN--MORGANTON.
Statesville was entered on the night of the 13th, and occupied for a
few hours only. Long enough, however, to insure the destruction of the
Government stores and railroad depot, and of the _Iredell Express_
office, a paper which was obnoxious from the warmth with which it
had advocated the cause of the Confederacy. No county in the State
had suffered more severely than Iredell in the loss of her best and
bravest sons in the army. The famous Fourth North-Carolina regiment was
composed of Iredell boys, and the colors of no regiment in the service
were borne more daringly or more nobly. I remember to have heard it
said, after one of the great battles around Richmond, that half the
families of Iredell were in mourning. When it became known that the
_Express_ office was to be burned, the ladies and citizens plead
earnestly that it might be spared for the sake of the town, which was
in great danger of being involved in the conflagration. The citizens
offered to tear it down and remove the materials to a vacant square to
be burned, but this was not allowed by the officer who had charge of
the business. The office was fired where it stood, and in consequence
a large private dwelling, belonging to Dr. Dean, standing near it, was
also consumed, and a large family turned out houseless and utterly
prostrated otherwise--Gen. Sherman's army having just previously
destroyed certain other resources of theirs. The wind providentially
blowing in the right direction, saved the town from general ruin. One
of the citizens, Mr. Frank Bell, was cruelly beaten and tortured to
make him disclose the hiding-place of gold which they suspected he
possessed. He, however, had none.
The raiders moved, on the 14th, to Taylorsville, Alexander county, and
from thence to Lenoir, Caldwell county, which they reached on Saturday,
15th, and occupied till Monday, 17th. On the road from Statesville a
part of the command was dispatched in the direction of Lincolnton,
under General Palmer. Of this officer the same general account is given
as of General Stoneman, that he exhibited a courtesy and forbearance
which reflected honor on his uniform, and have given him a just claim
to the respect and gratitude of our western people. The following
pleasant story is a sample of his way of carrying on war with ladies:
Mrs. Vance, the wife of the Governor, had taken refuge, from Raleigh,
in Statesville with her children. On the approach of General Stoneman's
army, she sent off to Lincolnton, for safety, a large trunk filled
with valuable clothing, silver, etc., and among other things two
thousand dollars in gold, which had been intrusted to her care by one
of the banks. This trunk was captured on the road by Palmer's men,
who of course rejoiced exceedingly over this finding of spoil more
especially as belonging to the rebel Governor Vance. Its contents were
speedily appropriated and scattered. But the circumstance coming to
General Palmer's knowledge, within an hour's time he had every article
and every cent collected and replaced in the trunk, which he then
immediately sent back under guard to Mrs. Vance with his compliments.
General Palmer was aiming for Charlotte when he was met by couriers
announcing news of the armistice.
There was no plundering allowed in Statesville. Mrs. Vance was
treated with respect and entirely unmolested. But several weeks
afterward, when Governor Vance was a prisoner in Washington, a squad
of Federal soldiers came to her residence and carried away every
article of furniture in the house. Some of this belonged to the
Mansion House in Raleigh, and had been removed to Statesville for
safety at the same time when other Government property was sent off.
The officer who was in command had the grace to appear ashamed of his
business, and apologized to Mrs. Vance repeatedly, stating that he
was acting under orders, and that it was done at the suggestion of
North-Carolinians in Raleigh, who desired that the articles belonging
to the executive mansion should be restored. Every thing in the house
was taken away, private property and all, and not one article ever
reached the executive mansion. Two queries occur: First, Who were the
North-Carolinians who instigated this insult to Mrs. Vance? And second,
Whatever _did_ become of the furniture? Every thing in the way of
furniture was carried off, and Mrs. Vance, who was then ill, and her
children were left without even a bed. In less than twelve hours after
this raid extraordinary became known to the people in the town and
neighborhood, the house was entirely refurnished with more than it had
contained previously. I can well imagine that there was no one who did
not esteem it a privilege thus to testify their love and respect for
the Governor and his family.
General Stoneman pressed on toward Tennessee through Watauga county,
with the prisoners, leaving General Gillam, with three hundred men, to
proceed to Asheville _via_ Morganton.
Of the prisoners it was estimated there were about nine hundred. Many
of them were old men past the conscript age, some were boys, others
were discharged Confederate soldiers in feeble health or maimed, who
had been captured at their homes. In regard to them no settled course
or plan of action seems to have been adopted. In some instances they
easily escaped, or were allowed to do so tacitly, and regained their
homes in a short time. Most of them, however, were dragged on with
every circumstance of barbarity and cruelty. A few instances may be
given illustrative of their treatment.
In Lenoir they were confined in and about the Episcopal church,
under a strong guard, with peremptory orders from General Gillam to
shoot every man who attempted to escape. The gallant General added,
that he "would rather have ten men shot than one escape." It must
be remembered that a number of them were over sixty years of age;
some were permanently diseased; some were men who had not walked
continuously five miles for years, or perhaps hardly in their whole
lives; and that, when they reached Lenoir, they had all of them marched
twenty-five and thirty miles in eight or ten hours. They had been
double-quicked a good part of the way from Taylorsville to Lenoir,
and arrived there on Saturday afternoon nearly exhausted with fatigue
and hunger. Notwithstanding their deplorable condition, they had
nothing to eat after that march till Sunday at ten A.M., and then they
were only partially supplied from the scanty stores of the plundered
villagers; for Lenoir, having been pronounced a "rebellious little
hole," was sentenced to receive its full share of punishment at the
hands of General Gillam. It was not till the afternoon of Sunday that
rations were issued. Whenever any of the towns-people carried any
thing to the prison, the scene was said to have been most piteous, so
many men begging for just one morsel of dry bread. There seemed to
be an especial spirit of bitterness toward the prisoners among the
Federal soldiers generally, and in some instances among the officers.
S. Hambright, Major and Provost-Marshal, with headquarters at the same
place with General Gillam, was especially insulting to citizens, and
cruel to the prisoners. Dr. Ballew, a citizen of Lenoir, enfeebled and
emaciated with consumption, was arrested and carried to headquarters.
Feeling exhausted with the effort to walk there, he sat down on the
steps of the piazza, to await the Major's pleasure. It was determined
to send him to prison, and he was ordered to get up and march, but,
from his feebleness, not being able to move quickly enough to suit
the chivalrous soldier, the Major, to help him rise, stepped behind
and gave him "_a rousing kick_." The citizens were heartily cursed
for taking food to them. From Lenoir they were marched rapidly up to
the top of the Blue Ridge; several gave out, several who started from
Salisbury died. They were all urged forward with threats of death.
A Lieutenant Shotwell attempted to escape, but being overtaken,
surrendered. He was then shot down and left on the roadside unburied.
A Mr. Wilfong, who had captured a straggler of Kirk's command, brought
him into Lenoir, not knowing the Federals were there. The tables were
of course turned, and he in his turn became a prisoner, and was given
in charge to his former captive, who wreaked such cruel vengeance on
him that he died before reaching Greenville, Tenn. All who reached
Knoxville were sent to Camp Chase, Ohio.
General Gillam deserves especial notice at the hands of the historian.
All concurrent testimony represents him as most supercilious,
insulting, and unfeeling. His headquarters in Lenoir, were at Mr.
Albert Hagler's. The family were all crowded off into one room, while
the gallant General and his staff appropriated all the rest of the
premises, including kitchen and stables. To Miss Sarah Hagler, an
accomplished young lady, he was especially impertinent, though she
parried his attacks with the civility of a lady. On one occasion
he said to her rudely, "I know you are a rebel from the way you
move--an't you a rebel?" She replied, "General Gillam, did you ever
hear the story of the tailor's wife and the scissors?" "Yes." "Then
I am a rebel as high as I can reach." Coarseness, however, can not
always be met playfully, and Mrs. Hagler incurred his anger to its
fullest extent when, in reply to his violent denunciation of the
Confederates for starving their prisoners, she ventured to suggest that
the Federal authorities might have saved all this suffering had they
agreed to exchange and take them North, where provisions were plenty.
The General's reply to this was the giving his men tacit license to
plunder and destroy the houses of Mrs. H.'s married daughter and
niece, who lived very near her, and who, she had supposed, were to be
protected, from his headquarters being at her house. No houses in the
place suffered more severely than theirs. The house of her daughter,
Mrs. Hartley, was pillaged from top to bottom. Barrels of sorghum were
broken and poured over the wheat in the granary, and over the floors
of the house. Furniture and crockery were smashed, and what was not
broken up was defiled in a manner so disgusting as to be unfit for use.
Mrs. Clark, the niece, was driven out of her house by the brutality
of her plunderers. Her husband, Dr. Boone Clark, was a captain in the
Confederate service, had been wounded in the battle of Leesburg, early
in the war--an admirable and most graphic account of which engagement
he wrote for the Raleigh _Standard_ soon after. In several subsequent
battles he had received severe wounds, and though partially disabled
by one of them at this time, he was endeavoring to raise a company of
cavalry for home defense, as marauders, under the notorious Keith and
Blalock, were constantly threatening to pillage Lenoir. These facts
were known to some of Gillam's men, and they evidently enjoyed the
opportunity to plunder his house and insult his defenseless wife. He
himself was at home, sitting at table, when the raiders dashed in town.
Seizing his gun, he ran out and secreted himself behind some adjoining
buildings, and though a colonel did him the honor to enter his house
almost immediately, and with a squad made a thorough search for him,
his retreat remained undiscovered, and at night he left for more
secure quarters. The raiders swarmed through the house that evening
and night, breaking open trunks, wardrobes, drawers; searching for
arms and carrying off all the valuables, and destroying what they did
not want. Finding a coat of the Captain's, they cut it to pieces. They
destroyed all the provisions, all the furniture, crockery, and wearing
apparel. They tore up fine silk dresses into ribbons for their hats,
or cut large squares out and carefully wrapped up quids of tobacco in
them and deposited them on the mantel-piece. The little daughter's hat
and garments were placed on the floor, and loathsomely polluted. They
even took the lady's thimble from her work-box, and carried off the
likeness of her deceased mother, paying no regard to her entreaties.
They constantly addressed her, as she sat weeping and motionless
amid the wreck they were making, in the most profane and obscene and
insulting language, repeatedly calling her a liar and other degrading
names. They compelled her and her little daughter to remain and witness
the destruction; and, finally, when there was nothing more to break and
steal, one of them approached her and thrust his fist in her face. As
she raised her head to avoid it, he struck her forehead, seized her by
the throat, cursing her furiously. She begged him not to kill her; he
let her throat loose then; seizing the neck of her dress, tore it open,
snatched her gold watch, which hung by a ribbon, tore it off and left
her. Half dead with fright, she rushed to the door with the child, and
amid curses and cries of "Stop her!" "Don't let her go!" got out of
the house, ran down to her aunt's, and fell fainting on the threshold.
After she was recovered, the ladies begged General Gillam to interfere,
but he refused, saying, "There were bad men in all crowds." In the case
of Mrs. Hartley he turned his back to the ladies without a word. Mrs.
Clark then appealed to Lieutenant Jerome B. Rice of the Signal Corps,
and also to Lieutenant Theodore Mallobry in the same command. These
were _gentlemen_, and manifested a determination to protect her. One of
them returned to her house with her and viewed the utter destruction of
her household property with every appearance of shame and indignation.
As they entered the house a soldier--the last of the gang--ran out. The
Lieutenant had him arrested and carried to headquarters. When Mrs.
Clark was called on to identify him as one of the robbers, he denied
having been near her house. "Why," said she, "that is a piece of a silk
dress of mine round your hat now." "Is it?" said he, coolly taking it
off and handing it to her; "well, then, you may have it back." This
was in the presence of General Gillam, for whom, by the way, it was
generally observed, the men seemed to have no respect. General Brown
sent a strong guard to Mrs. Clark's house; but it was too late to save
any thing, and she had no redress.
I have been thus particular to give an account which is, after all,
a condensed one, of the treatment of _one_ Southern lady by certain
soldiers of the army of the Union. There are thousands of such cases
unreported. This I present as a sample. So much is said of the
"unharmonized" attitude of Southern women at present that I think it
is as well to let the world see upon what ground it is they feel as if
some time must elapse before they can honestly profess to love their
enemies.
While plundering one house in the village, the marauders forced
themselves into the chamber of a lady while she was in child-birth.
With great difficulty the attending physician prevented them from
plundering that room.
Mrs. General Vaughn was residing in Lenoir at this time. It is said
that Generals Gillam and Vaughn had been friends before the war, and
had agreed together that if the family of one should fall into the
hands of the other, they should be protected. General Gillam placed a
guard at Mrs. Vaughn's house; but as soon as he left the town, two of
his men went in and demanded her watch. On her refusal they attempted
to search her. She drew a pistol, but they took it from her before she
could fire. She resisted their search with all her might, and at last
they left her without the watch, having nearly torn her dress off.
Shortly after, the same two returned with five others, and with threats
of violence compelled her to give the watch up. That night squads of
half-intoxicated men came back and committed further depredations in
the village and neighborhood. The house of Dr. Felix Dula, with all
its furniture, was burned. This, however, it is conjectured, might
have been done by deserters. They left Lenoir for Morganton on the
17th, and on the way burned the house of a Mr. Johnston, one of the
home guards. On reaching Rocky Ford, on the Catawba river, a mile or
two from Morganton, they found a party of about fifty Confederates,
strongly posted on the opposite side, well armed, and with one brass
howitzer. This party was under the command of Captain George West,
Lieutenant-Colonel S. M'Dowell Tate volunteering with them. They were
well posted and sheltered on their side, while the enemy approached
without cover to attempt a very difficult ford. A sharp engagement
ensued, which resulted in General Gillam's withdrawal toward Fleming's
Ford, a little higher up. He lost about twenty-five, killed and
wounded. Few were wounded. An eye-witness says he counted eight dead
bodies of Federal soldiers floating down the stream. The Confederates
lost none, their position being so advantageous. At Fleming's Ford
General Gillam easily forced his way, the fifty Confederates taking to
the mountains on finding themselves overpowered here.
The raiders remained at Morganton a day or two. There was very little
plundering done in the houses here. They exercised their ingenuity in
searching for hidden treasure out of doors. It seemed to have been
understood that the Morganton people, warned of their approach, had
_cached_ most of their valuables. These _caches_ were hunted up with
unremitting vigor, and most of them were discovered and rifled. Many
amusing stories are current now all through the South, of valuable
deposits, scarcely hidden at all, which escaped, and some, not so
amusing, of others hidden in inscrutable places which were pounced upon
at once. Of a quantity of old family silver buried out of town, by a
clump of rocks shaded with a persimmon-tree or two and a grape-vine,
and on the departure of the enemy the owner going out and finding that
a camp had been made just there, and the camp-fire built just over the
_cache_, which was untouched. Of a valuable _cache_ made by several
families united, in a secluded spot in the woods, and found afterward
undisturbed save by the hoof of a raider's horse having sunk in upon
it, having evidently caused a stumble, but no suspicion of the cause.
Of valuable papers and jewels so well hidden that it was months before
the owners themselves could find where they had put them.
CHAPTER XVI.
PLUNDERING OF COLONEL CARSON--OF REV. MR. PAXTON--GENERAL MARTIN
REPULSES KIRBY--GILLAM PLUNDERS DURING THE ARMISTICE--OCCUPATION OF
ASHEVILLE--WHOLESALE PLUNDER--DISPATCH FROM GENERAL PALMER.
On the road from Morganton to Asheville General Gillam's men went
through their usual programme, wherever a house was to be plundered and
ladies were to be insulted and robbed! At Pleasant Garden one of them,
feeling that some clean linen was necessary to his comfort, demanded
a shirt of Colonel Carson. The Colonel assured him that the house had
been thoroughly plundered, and the only shirt remaining to him was
the one he then had on. Having satisfied himself of this fact, the
soldier compelled the Colonel (an old gentleman) to strip, and carried
off his sole remaining shirt. I believe no officers were present at
the plundering of Colonel Carson's; but at the house of the Rev. Mr.
Paxton, an aged and amiable man, a minister of the Presbyterian Church,
officers were present, and countenanced, if they did not directly aid,
the pillage. They carried off all that was portable, even to knives
and forks, and destroyed the rest of the furniture. Having found some
marmalade and molasses, they made a mixture and smeared it over the
bedroom furniture, etc. Some of them locked Mrs. Paxton in her room,
and attempted to torture her into the disclosure of hidden treasure, if
she had such. Her cries brought others to the door, and they desisted.
Mr. Paxton's horse, watch, and all his clothing were taken of course.
Such were the rudeness and brutality which accompanied these robberies,
that people were thankful to escape with their lives.
About the time that General Stoneman's return was expected in the West,
a brigade of infantry, under command of a Colonel Kirby, was moved by
the Federals from Greenville, Tenn., on Asheville, N.C. It was supposed
they would meet Stoneman there; but they arrived a little too soon,
during the second week of April, and were met by the Confederates near
Camp Woodfire, and so successfully repulsed that they turned about at
once and returned to Greenville.
The troops by whom Kirby was repulsed were a part of the command of
General J.G. Martin, referred to in our first chapter as the originator
of the plan to furnish our soldiers through the blockade-runners. He
was, as Governor Vance writes of him, a most gallant and efficient
officer, especially valuable for the prompt energy which he infused
into every department of business under his control. When it was
found that General Gillam intended to take Asheville, General Martin
ordered his whole command, consisting of Palmer's brigade (composed of
the Sixty-second, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-ninth North-Carolina, and
a South-Carolina battery) and Love's regiment of Thomas's Legion,
to the vicinity of Swannanoa Gap, on the road from Morganton to
Asheville. Love's regiment was ordered to the Gap. They reached it
before Gillam did, and after cutting down some trees, and making a
few other arrangements to receive the raiders, waited their approach,
and on their advance repulsed them without difficulty. General Gillam
spent two days at this Gap, vainly endeavoring to effect a passage, and
finally moved off in the direction of Hickory-nut Gap. Palmer's brigade
was ordered to meet them there; but General Martin, giving an account
of this affair, adds, "I regret to say the men refused to go." Rumors
of General Lee's surrender and of Johnston's armistice were floating
through the country, and men who fought bravely as long as there was
hope were only too willing to lay down their arms at the first news of
peace.
General Martin ordered the South-Carolina battery to Greenville, S.C.,
their horses being in too bad condition for active service. On its
way it fell in with General Gillam, and was captured. On Saturday,
twenty-second of April, General Martin received notice of General
Johnston's armistice with Sherman, and immediately sent out two flags
of truce, on different roads, to meet General Gillam. On Sunday
afternoon he was met on the Hendersonville road, about six miles from
Asheville. He agreed to abide by the truce, and requested an interview
with General Martin, who accordingly, on Monday morning, twenty-fourth,
went out to his camp. The interview resulted in an agreement that
General Gillam should go through Asheville to Tennessee, and that he
should be furnished with three days' rations for his men, and that they
would observe the truce. General Gillam, it should be remarked, upon
the testimony of his own officers, had had official information of
the armistice while at Rutherfordton, on his way from Swannanoa. But,
nevertheless, he had continued the same system of depredation all along
his route from Rutherfordton, sweeping the country of horses, mules,
carriages, and property of every description, and destroying what they
could not take along. On the twenty-fifth, General Gillam arrived
in Asheville. Perfect order was observed. The nine thousand rations
required were duly issued to him. General Gillam and his staff dined
with General Martin; and as he was about to mount his horse to join
his command, in the evening, General Martin asked him if he would give
_him_ the forty-eight hours' notice provided for in the truce, before
renewing hostilities. General Gillam replied, "_Certainly--that the
notice should be given_."
That night General Gillam left his command encamped not far from
Asheville, and went on to Tennessee. During the day, while the
Federals were coming in, a party of officers dashed into town from
the French Broad road, in a state of very apparent excitement. This
was the notorious Colonel Kirke and his staff, who had approached at
the head of two regiments for the openly avowed purpose of plundering
Asheville, having heard of the dispersion of the Confederates from
Swannanoa, and feeling sure of their prize at last. But finding the
town quietly occupied by General Gillam, under the terms of the
armistice, they expressed deep disappointment, and swore roundly they
would yet return and lay it in ashes. Now they were compelled to leave
in advance of General Gillam.[18] The Federal army led in its rear
an immense train of plunder--animals of all sorts, and carriages and
wagons piled with property--household goods and treasures. One load,
however, was of questionable value, being no less than fifteen negro
babies, the mothers marching in the crowd. The Asheville people had
the mortification of seeing the guns of the South-Carolina battery,
just captured, driven through by negroes. Not a citizen was visible
in the streets; doors and windows were all closed; but I have the
best authority--that of a lady--for saying that from behind curtains
and blinds many a glance was shot from bright eyes, of contempt and
hatred, on the blue jackets. Such lightning, however, is unfortunately
innocuous, and not known to produce fatal effects outside of romances;
and so the raiders lounged carelessly about, or sat down on the
street-corners and played cards, while waiting for their rations, in
perfect immunity from such electrical batteries.
Tuesday night passed quietly, and Asheville was beginning to hope that
hostilities suspended would prove to be hostilities ended. Our troops
had almost ceased to exist in an organized form. The town was guarded
by only one company--Captain Teague's scouts--besides General Martin
and his staff, including in all about thirty officers. A small party
of Federals passed through during the twenty-sixth, under flag of
truce, carrying dispatches to General Palmer, who was then approaching
from Lincolnton by the Hickory-Nut Gap. At sunset on the twenty-sixth,
General Brown, in command of a portion of the same troops that had just
passed through with Gillam, suddenly reëntered the place, capturing all
the officers and soldiers, and giving up the town to plunder. The men
were paroled to go home, the officers to report to General Stoneman at
Knoxville.
This, be it remembered, was within twenty-four hours after the above
agreement with General Gillam, on official news of General Sherman's
armistice.
General Martin being arrested, was taken to General Brown, and after
less than an hour's absence, was permitted to return home in charge
of a United States officer. On arriving at his house, he found the
ladies of his family, with lighted candles, going over the house at
the bidding of the marauders, lighting them while they broke open
doors, trunks, drawers, and boxes, and helped themselves to what they
chose. And this was the experience of every house in the place that
night. Many were entered by three or four different gangs at once. They
swarmed in at every avenue of entrance, generally by the back-door,
having taken counsel with the negroes first. Mrs. Martin recovered
some of her stolen goods by the assistance of a guard who was detailed
after the house had been plundered. Not even the town of Fayetteville
suffered more severely from pillage. Mrs. James W. Patton and her
sister were both sick in bed. Their house was entered from front and
back at the same time. The ladies' rooms were entered, they were
dragged from their beds, their persons and the rooms searched, and
their valuables taken. This was supposed to have been done upon the
information of a servant, who had told that there were four watches
in the house. Of these four watches, three were afterward recovered,
through the agency of a Captain Patterson, Assistant Adjutant-General
to General Gillam, who had been quartered at Mrs. Patton's, and who
proved to be one of the few _gentlemen_ in that division of the United
States army.
Judge Bailey's family suffered as severely as any others, every thing
portable of value being carried off, even to the boots from the Judge's
feet. The wedding-rings of his wife and daughter were forced from
their hands. Other ladies were stopped in the street and their jewelry
forced from them. Those who applied to General Brown, who had the
honor to command this extraordinary expedition, received no redress
whatever. Dr. Chapman, a well-known and widely respected minister
of the Presbyterian Church, was so entirely robbed of all his goods
and valuables, that he had not a change of clothes left beside what
he wore. The Tenth and Eleventh Michigan regiments certainly won for
themselves in Asheville that night a reputation that should damn them
to everlasting fame. No excuse was given for this violation of the
armistice, except a lame story of their having been attacked by General
Vaughn and returning to Asheville to revenge themselves. General Vaughn
was at that time in Virginia. On Thursday, parties scoured the country
in all directions, carrying on the work of plunder and destruction. On
Friday, they left, having destroyed all the arms and ammunition they
could find and burned the armory. On Friday afternoon, they sent off
the officers they had captured under a guard. The town being left thus
without arms or protectors, the citizens, remembering Kirke's threats,
begged General Brown to leave a small force as guard; but he refused,
saying, "They might take care of themselves."
On the twenty-eighth, the following dispatch from General Palmer--who
was Brown's senior officer--to General Martin, released our officers
and men from their parole, and set the disgraceful circumstance of
their surprise and capture in its proper light, though not stigmatizing
it as it deserved:
HEADQUARTERS OF EAST TENN. CAV. DIV., }
HICKORY-NUT GAP ROAD, }
April 28, 1865. }
GENERAL: I could not learn any of the particulars of your capture
and that of Colonel Palmer and other officers and men, at Asheville,
on the twenty-sixth, and as our troops at that point were obliged to
leave immediately, there was no time for me to make the necessary
investigation.
I therefore ordered your release on a parole of honor, to report to
General Stoneman.
On further reflection, I have come to the conclusion that our men
should have given you, under all the circumstances, notice of the
termination of the armistice, and that in honor we can not profit by
any failure to give this notice. You will therefore please inform
all the officers and soldiers paroled by General Brown under the
circumstances referred to, that the parole they have given (which was
by my order) is not binding, and that they may consider that it was
never given.
Regretting that your brother officers and yourself should have been
placed in this delicate position, I am, General, respectfully your
obedient servant,
William J. Palmer,
Brevet Brigadier-General Commanding.
General J.G. Martin, Asheville.
The citizens of Asheville also owed it to General Palmer's interference
that two regiments of negroes, which had been sent over into Yancey
county, and which were bearing down upon Asheville, (it was said, at
the suggestion and with the concurrence of Kirke and Gillam,) for the
purpose of plunder and arson, were countermanded and sent over into
Tennessee.
The Asheville pillage concludes such accounts of General Stoneman's
remarkable raid through Western Carolina as I have been able to
collect. A rich harvest of incident yet remains for the future
historian. I have done little more than indicate his route. Much of
the above is taken verbatim from a ms. narrative furnished me, at my
request, by Dr. R.L. Beall, of Lenoir, so admirably and accurately
prepared that I hope it will be given to the public entire at no
distant day. It gives me pleasure to acknowledge here my indebtedness
to this gentleman, and my thanks for the generous public spirit he has
displayed in his invaluable contribution to these pages.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 18: Perhaps it is not generally known in North-Carolina that
Colonel Kirke had ardent aspirations for the provisional governorship
of his beloved native State. I saw a letter from him just after
the break-up, in which he avowed this noble ambition, evidently
anticipating no very distant day when a grateful country should reward
his patriotism and gallantry. By the way, it is said that Colonel Kirke
also is a native of Salisbury. Both Kirke and Gillam! I am afraid there
is a disposition to slander that fine old borough.]
CHAPTER XVII.
SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE--WHY NORTH-CAROLINA COULD NOT HAVE
TAKEN MEASURES TO SEND COMMISSIONERS--REVIEW--THE COAL-FIELDS
RAILWAY--DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORTATION--PROVISIONS--THE LAST
CALL--RECREANTS--PRIVATIONS--THE CONDITION OF THE PRESS.
Not till we had seen General Lee's farewell to his army, printed on a
slip from the Danville _Register_ office, and read in household circles
with tears and sobs--not till then did we finally and fairly give up
the Southern cause, and feel that it was indeed lost. That (for us)
dismal fact once established, the large majority--I may say, the great
body of Southern people--surrendered with their beloved and trusted
leader. Here and there were doubtless some resolved still to blind
themselves, to hope against hope, who talked wildly of collecting the
scattered fragments of our armies, and prolonging the war beyond the
Mississippi--or somewhere; but they were the exceptions, few and far
between--_rari nantes_--who took counsel of their desperation rather
than of their reason. For all men knew now, what had long been feared
and suspected, that the ground on which we stood was hollow, and had
given way hopelessly and forever, and that now we were to pay the
reckoning of our four years' madness.
If North-Carolina had, through her Executive, anticipated the final
crash, and after the failure of the peace mission to Fortress Monroe,
had endeavored to treat separately with the United States Government,
and be the first to tender her submission, (as there were some who
would fain have had her try the experiment,) if our State had taken
this step, four generations would not have heard the last of it. The
whole failure of the cause would in time have been attributed to the
treachery and faint-heartedness of Old Rip, as there are even now those
who say it was the croakers who ruined us, and that Generals Lee and
Johnston should not have surrendered so lightly. Besides the infamy, we
should have gained _absolutely nothing_, as is plainly indicated by the
course pursuing and pursued of the United States Government.
Governor Graham, as our representative in the Confederate Senate, and
from his position, high _prestige_, and extended reputation, commanding
the entire confidence of our people, might very well recommend that
some steps should be taken, _if possible_, to avert the approaching
crash, and spare the State the horrors of military subjugation. This it
was his duty to do; for to him more than any other man in the State,
our people looked for guidance, and for some indication of the policy
proper to be pursued in circumstances so critical and so desperate.
But if Governor Vance had moved in the matter of sending commissioners
to General Sherman one week sooner than he did, or had taken one
step looking toward reconciliation, or submission, or negotiation,
at any time previous to the second week of April, 1865, he would in
all probability have been arrested by our military authorities as a
traitor. There was positively nothing that with honor or credit could
have been done to meet the United States army sooner than it was done.
Our affairs were at a dead-lock from the time of the adjournment of the
Confederate Congress. Let those, therefore, who may yet be inclined
to deplore that certain steps were not taken by our Executive, be
satisfied that the course pursued was the only one possible. There
is no room for misconstruction or misrepresentation in the future.
Inaction in certain great and supreme moments is the highest wisdom,
the truest dignity, as the Indian who finds his bark within the sweep
of the rapids, and on the verge of the abyss, folds his arms and awaits
the inevitable plunge with self-possession and calmness.
North-Carolina had nothing to retract, nothing to unsay, no pardon
to beg. She had acted deliberately in joining the Southern cause.
She had given her whole strength to it, with no lukewarm adherence;
and now, in the hour of acknowledged defeat and failure, she did not
attempt to desert, or abjectly bespeak any favors for herself on the
ground of her anti-secession record or proclivities. And when the
negotiations were completed and peace was finally announced, it would
not be difficult to say what feelings most predominated amongst us.
We had desired peace--an end to the bloodshed and to the impending
starvation of women and children. Peace we had longed and prayed for;
but not _this_ peace. The reünion was not _this_ reünion. With all her
former attachment to the old Union--with all her incredulity as to the
stability or possibility of a separate independent Confederacy of the
Southern States, even in case of its triumphant establishment--with all
her sober conservative principles--I will venture to say, that there
were not five hundred decent men within the limits of North-Carolina
who could be found to rejoice in her military subjugation, or who,
under such circumstances, welcomed the reäppearance of the Stars and
Stripes as our national emblem. I have never yet seen one who did, or
who was, at any rate, willing to avow it. At the same time, I must say,
I have never seen one who evinced any intention of other than an honest
acceptance of the situation, and a determination to do their whole duty
and make the best of the inevitable.
Looking back at our delusions, errors, and miscalculations for the
four years of the war, the wonder is, that the Confederacy lasted as
long as it did. The last six mouths of its existence were indeed but
mere outside show of seeming. That Richmond was doomed, was patent to
all shrewd observers in the fall of 1864; and there was probably not
a member of the Confederate Congress who did not know it when he took
his seat at the beginning of its last session. It certainly reflects
very little credit on the wisdom or the patriotism of that body that
they did not, before adjourning, take some steps in concert to notify
their respective constituents of their opinion as to the situation,
and give some indication of the course they judged their States
should pursue. Respect for President Davis, who was well known to be
extremely averse to any movement looking toward reconstruction, and who
refused to contemplate the event of our subjugation as possible--due
respect for him may have influenced the extraordinary reticence of our
Congress; but it is more probable that an undue regard for their own
political reputation and influence was the prime object with most of
them. Whatever it was, history will point with a dubious expression to
our representatives, each nudging his neighbor and desiring him to go
forward--all convinced of the hopelessness of the cause, yet almost no
man bold enough to say so publicly.
The Confederacy did not fail for want of genius to direct our military
operations, nor for lack of the best qualities that go to make good
soldiers in our armies, nor for lack of devotion and self-sacrifice
among our people; for they who most doubted the wisdom of our policy
or of our success gave as freely as the most sanguine. The history of
the rise and fall of the Confederate currency will be a singularly
interesting and instructive lesson if it should ever be honestly
written. Its steady, unchecked decline but too surely marshaled us the
way we were going, and in the successive stages of its destruction we
may read as in a mirror the story of our own facile descent.
After General Grant had succeeded in cutting the Petersburg Railroad,
the authorities at Richmond looked with anxiety to the Deep River
coal-fields in our State as the point where workshops could be
located. Before that time there was but little interest felt or
expressed in the struggle North-Carolina was making to get a road
opened to them; but when the Richmond coal-fields were almost
surrounded by the enemy, Chatham county, in our State, became an object
of great interest to the Government. All the heads of departments were
at once willing to lend a helping hand to the Raleigh and Chatham
Coal-fields road. The iron from the Danville road, which had been taken
up on account of the necessity of relaying that road with a more heavy
rail, (taken from the Charlotte and Statesville road,) was granted to
it, and a part of it was already on the way when Sherman arrived in
Raleigh.
It is an interesting and suggestive fact connected with the want of
transportation facilities in our last days, and showing the dire
extremity to which we were reduced, that coal was carried from Deep
River by rail and river past Fayetteville to Wilmington, thence
by rail _via_ Goldsboro, Raleigh, and Greensboro, to supply the
government workshops in Salisbury and Charlotte. South-Carolina also
sent trains for it to Wilmington. This coal was pronounced to be of
the first quality, equal to the Cumberland coal, and one hundred per
cent superior to the Richmond for blacksmith purposes. This want of
transportation was one of the many stumbling-blocks in the way of the
fainting Confederacy, and connected with the scarcity of provisions,
and the strict military surveillance established in every district,
brought many of us to the verge of starvation. Provisions were
confined by military order to particular districts, each general
taking care of his own. I have been told by Kemp P. Battle, Esq., our
present State Treasurer, at that time President of the Raleigh, and
Chatham road, that on one occasion he was compelled--though he could
have bought an abundance of provisions in Eastern Carolina--to send
for bacon to South-western Georgia. He had to go to Richmond to see
Secretary Seddon himself, and send an agent to General Beauregard at
Charleston, in order to get permission to move it to North-Carolina. He
was endeavoring; on one occasion to get some corn for his own family up
to Raleigh from his plantation in Edgecombe county, when the general
in command of that department seized it, and in reply to application
for it said, "If the owner is in the field, he may have his corn;
if otherwise, not." In this connection what were called "the bonded
plantations" were a curious institution in those latter days, which
greatly added to the distress of our non-producers. For instance, the
owner of a large estate with slaves, in order to keep an overseer out
of the army to attend to it, gave bond with good security to deliver
to the Government, or to soldiers' families, all his surplus produce
at Government prices. By this arrangement of course our large planters
could only sell their produce at much below the market price, and in
fact for almost nothing, considering the value of our currency. And
even this the Government did not pay. It died in debt to many: to
Mr. Battle for nearly his whole crop of 1864. With great difficulty
he got from a quartermaster, in March, 1865, six thousand dollars,
which he immediately exchanged for fifty-seven dollars in gold.
Besides this the Government impressed half the working mules, a source
alone of no little vexation and distress among our small farmers. Our
quartermasters were not always fair in their assessment, nor competent
to decide.
The difficulties in the way of procuring provision can hardly be
imagined by any but those who lived through that time. One of the
last resorts was to smuggle cotton to the Chowan country in exchange
for bacon, pound for pound. The greatest irregularities, of course,
prevailed in different parts of the South. In some of the central
counties of the Gulf States provisions were almost a drug in the
market, (there being no transportation,) while here and in the army we
were starving.
One of the last desperate expedients of our Government, and which
bore as hardly on our people as any other, was the calling out of men
between the ages of forty-five and fifty, and the Junior Reserves, mere
children who should have been at home with their mothers. When the
heads of families were taken away, often leaving a houseful of girls
only to assist the mother to make bread, the distress and trouble were
most piteous. At first the Government was inclined to be liberal in
exemptions, but in the last ninety days all were taken.
On some counties of our State there was a disposition to resist or
evade this wholesale conscription, and there were in consequence many
deserters, many of whom lived by plundering their neighbors, and thus
added to the general confusion and anxiety and peril of the times. Many
acts of violence were committed in certain localities. Their expedients
to escape capture, the modes of living they resorted to, the singular
hiding-places they improvised or elaborated, would make an amusing and
curious chapter in the history of the war--only these are the points
which historians who desire to represent a people as unanimous in a
great national struggle for rights and liberty do not generally care to
present. If any of the immortal three hundred faltered on the way to
Thermopylæ we have never been told of it. I know that we were greatly
mortified to hear the stories that were told by those who were sent
in search of our recreants. It was a severe shock to our high-strung
theories of Southern chivalry and patriotism, to think of Southerners
hiding in dens and caves of the earth, resolved with great constancy
NOT to be martyrs, having to be unearthed in these burrows and dragged
out to the fight. One warrior lived for weeks in a hollow tree, fed
by his wife; another was conscripted from beneath his own hen-house,
where he had dug out a sort of grave, into which, well supplied with
blankets, he descended in peace every morning. One took possession
of an old, deserted, and forgotten mine in his neighborhood, and by
a skillful disposal of brush and rubbish at the entrance, kept house
quite comfortably for months, plying his trade of shoemaker meanwhile,
and supplied with food from home. The women, in such cases, were the
instigators of the skulking. One soldier returning to his regiment,
after a furlough at home in a certain county, said "He'd be d----d if
Jeff Davis wouldn't desert too if he were to stay at ---- awhile."
The history of our personal privations, our household expenses, our
public donations, and our taxes, will be a curious study of domestic
and political economy combined. People who before the war had lived up
fully to incomes of two thousand dollars a year, were reduced to less
than one tenth of that sum, and are fully qualified now to give an
answer to the question of how little one can live on. Fifty dollars in
gold would have been gladly taken in exchange for many a whole year's
salary in Confederate currency for the last year or two. Even now it is
an inexplicable mystery to me how people with moderate salaries lived
who had families to feed and clothe. It was done only by confining
themselves strictly to the most common and coarsest articles, and by
an entire renunciation of all the luxuries and most of the comforts
of life. When tallow was thirty dollars per pound, people necessarily
sat in darkness. I have walked from end to end of our town at night
and not observed half a dozen lights. If we did not realize Charles
Lamb's notion of society, as it must have existed before the invention
of lights, when people had to feel about for a smile, and handle a
neighbor's cheek to be sure that he understood a joke, it was because
lightwood-knots were plentiful, and turpentine easy of access.
The condition of the press was a striking commentary on the state of
things among us. Some pains have been taken to secure an accurate
list of our State papers from an entirely reliable source. At the
commencement of the war there were but two daily papers in the State;
at the close, there were four in the city of Raleigh alone. Of
fifty-seven papers in existence in May, 1861, twenty-six ceased during
the war. There are thirty-three now in the State, of which ten are
dailies. People who had never taken more than their own county weekly
in all their lives, found the Richmond dailies a necessity during the
war, so great was the general anxiety to have the latest news, and
above all from the army. The post-offices were besieged for the dingy
half-sheets that came freighted with momentous intelligence for us.
The _Fayetteville Observer_ and the _North-Carolina Presbyterian_
were the only two papers in the State whose dimensions were not
reduced to a half-sheet. The _Fayetteville Observer_ had been for
forty years one of the most ably edited, most sterling, and most
influential journals in the State, and I may add, in the whole Southern
country.[19] Its influence for good all through that long period can
hardly be overrated. The editor, E.J. Hale, was an old-line whig in
politics--a conservative of the strictest sort. His paper ranged
side by side with the _National Intelligencer_, the _Richmond Whig_,
and the other noble old journals of that school which had stood as
breakwaters for more than a generation against the incoming tide of
radicalism North and South, but were swept away at last in the great
flood. Mr. Hale opposed the doctrine of secession, and resisted its
movement as long as it was possible to do so. Mr. Lincoln's call
for seventy-five thousand men to coerce the South first aroused his
opposition to the United States Government; and after this State had
gone over he supported her Act, and supported the war with all his
power, giving his sons, giving most liberally of all his substance,
and devoting his paper enthusiastically to the benefit of the army,
and the upholding of the State and general government. For though no
admirer in past times of Mr. Davis's record as a Democrat politician,
yet when he was elevated to the post of President of the Confederacy,
and became the representative of the Southern people, no man gave him a
more generous support. His paper was published weekly and semi-weekly
without intermission, and with a constantly increasing circulation and
influence, until the appearance in Fayetteville of General Sherman's
army, on the twelfth of April, 1865, when the office was entirely
destroyed, and the fruits of a lifetime of labor scattered to the
winds. The office of the _North-Carolina Presbyterian_ was also
destroyed at the same time.
The _Raleigh Standard_, edited by W.W. Holden, was for many years the
leading organ of the Democratic party in the State; indeed it may be
said to have been the creator and preserver of that party, and was
perhaps the most widely-circulated and influential of all our journals,
for its reputation was not confined to the State. It was edited with
marked ability by a man, unsurpassed as a party tactician, who
thoroughly understood his business, and who always kept his powder
dry. During the first two years of the war all parties seemed melted
down and fused into one by the general ardor and excitement of the
times; and our heretofore antagonist papers presented a most edifying
spectacle of concord and agreement. In 1863, Mr. Holden seeing no
prospect of a favorable end to the war by fighting, began to advocate a
resort to negotiation upon the basis of possible reconstruction. This
speedily rendered him obnoxious to those of us who desired the war to
go on, preferring even military subjugation to peaceful reconstruction;
while it drew more closely to his support those who desired peace on
any terms. The state of feeling between these two parties came to be
such that an internecine war among ourselves might have broken out at
any time. It was excessively difficult and dangerous for our public men
to move either way. A party of soldiers passing through Raleigh, in
September, 1863, mobbed the _Standard_ office, and the compliment was
returned, by the friends of Mr. Holden mobbing the office of the war
paper, conducted at that time by John Spelman, under the title of the
_State Journal_. Mr. Holden deemed it prudent to suspend the issue of
his paper for two months in the spring of 1864 in consequence of the
passage of the act suspending the writ of _habeas corpus_--suspended
also for a day or two on the arrival of General Sherman's army.
The _State Journal_ changed hands and name in 1864. Under the title of
_The Confederate_, and edited by Colonel D.K. McRae, it became the
daily organ of the Confederate Government in this State, and continued
to advocate the policy of our chief and the indefinite continuance
of the war till within three days of General Sherman's entrance into
Raleigh, when the office was entirely destroyed. It was edited with
much spirit and ability, but with singular audacity and bitterness.
The organ of Governor Vance's administration was _The Conservative_,
established in 1864 as a daily, and continuing till General Sherman's
arrival, when it shared the fate of the _Confederate_, being utterly
destroyed, except one small press, which General Slocum carried away
with him. _The Progress_, daily, followed the lead of the _Standard_
in politics, and like the _Standard_, was suspended for only a day or
two on the occupation of Raleigh. It had the reputation of being the
earliest and sprightliest retailer of news--generally ahead of its
competitors in that department. All these, as well as all others in
the Confederacy, with a few exceptions, were printed on half-sheets
of exceedingly dingy paper, and their price ranged from twenty-five
dollars to fifty dollars for six months. No subscriptions were taken
for a longer period, in consequence of the steady decline in value of
our currency. The typography and general appearance, to say nothing
of their matter, would have rendered them objects of curiosity in any
part of the civilized world, and afford a close resemblance to the
journals published in the days of the Revolution of 1776. Such was the
scarcity of paper among us, that they disappeared as fast as they were
received; and a complete file of one of our Confederate papers, which
would be an invaluable possession for an historical society fifty years
hence, is probably even now an impossibility.
All literary influences were of course greatly checked and straitened,
while our people held their breath in suspense as to the issue of
the war. Colleges were closed, schools went on lamely for want of
teachers, who were in the army, and for want of text-books. An effort
was made here and there to supply the increasing demand for grammars,
arithmetics, readers, and primers; but the paper was coarse and
dark, and the type was old and worn--the general getting up of these
home-made books affording the clearest evidence of the insurmountable
difficulties under which our people labored in endeavoring to make
books while struggling for bread. Some of them ran the blockade, being
sent abroad to be stereotyped. Some of them need only a new dress to
take their place as standards in any school in the country now; but the
majority of them may be set down as failures. The common-schools, kept
going at first, shared at last in the general decline and relaxation of
order, and were hardly in existence at all at the close. As to books
from abroad--magazines, papers, etc.--it may well be imagined that in
the interior of the Confederacy at least, we were at a standstill in
regard to all such means of improvement or information. Occasionally
a copy of the _London Times_, or one or two of the leading New-York
journals found its way from Richmond, or Wilmington, or Charleston, and
was sent from house to house until utterly worn out. Occasionally some
enterprising publishing house, getting hold of a copy of the latest
English novel, would issue a reprint of it, solitary copies of which
circulated through a county, and soon shared the fate of the papers.
Northern magazines or books were but little in request, and little read
if obtained.[20] I am by no means certain that the loss of the current
"light literature" of the day was a loss much to be deplored. Such
privations may rather be classed among the benefits of the war.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 19: The writer might have added--or in America. Its editor,
Mr. Hale, is a gentleman of broad intellect, large information, and
rare journalistic ability.--Ed. Watchman.]
[Footnote 20: But one number of _Harper's Magazine_ was seen at Chapel
Hill during the war; this ran the blockade from Nassau: and one number
of the _London Quarterly Review_, found among the effects of Mrs. Rosa
Greenhow, which floated ashore from the wreck in which she perished.
Among such of her books as were recovered, much damaged and stained
with sea-water, was her narrative of her imprisonment in Washington,
just published in London, and the MS. of her private journal kept
during her visit to London and Paris. Her elegant wardrobe was sold at
public sale in Raleigh, by order of the Confederate Government, for the
benefit of her daughter in Paris.]
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE UNIVERSITY--ITS EARLY HISTORY--ITS CONTINUED GROWTH--THE ARDOR
OF THE YOUNG MEN--APPLICATION FOR RELIEF FROM CONSCRIPTION--GOVERNOR
SWAIN TO PRESIDENT DAVIS--ANOTHER DRAFT ON THE BOYS--A DOZEN BOYS IN
COLLEGE WHEN SHERMAN COMES; AND THE BELLS RING ON--"COMMENCEMENT" IN
1865--ONE GRADUATE--HE PRONOUNCES THE VALEDICTORY--CONCLUSION.
As to the State University, perhaps more than a mere reference to its
condition at the close of the war may not unjustly form part of a
contribution to our State history, since its influence and reputation
have been second to those of no similar institution in the country,
and its benefits have been widely diffused through every State of the
Confederacy. Its Revolutionary history is not uninteresting in this
connection. At the very time when all our State interests lay prostrate
and exhausted from the Revolutionary struggle, the very time when
a superficial observer would have thought it enough for the people
to get bread to eat and clothes to wear, our far-seeing patriots,
who knew well that without education no state can become great,
and that the weaker we were physically the more need there was for
intellectual force and power to enable us to maintain our stand among
the nations--these wise men projected and laid the foundations of a
State literary institution, which, uncontrolled and uncontaminated by
party politics or religious bigotries, should be an honor and a benefit
to the commonwealth through all future generations. General Davie may
be said to have been the father of the University, though every man of
distinction in the State at that time manifested a deep and cordial
interest in its establishment.
Most of my readers are sufficiently familiar with the history of the
State to be aware that, before the Revolution, the mother country
would permit no college or university or school to be established
but upon certain conditions utterly repugnant to principles of civil
and religious liberty. The charter of Queen's College, at Charlotte,
Mecklenburg county, (the college, town, and county, all three being
named in loyal compliment to his queen,) was disallowed by George
III., because other than members of the Established Church of England
were appointed among the trustees. This act of tyranny did more to
arouse the revolutionary spirit than the Stamp Act and all other
causes combined. The money that belonged to the common-school fund was
squandered by the mother country in the erection of a palace for the
royal governor--the most splendid edifice of the time on the continent.
And at the close of the war for independence, so impoverished was the
country that the General Assembly could contribute nothing toward the
establishment of the University, beyond endowing it with doubtful
debts, escheats, and derelict property. So that if aid had not
been given from private sources, it would never have struggled into
existence. At the first meeting of the trustees, Colonel Benjamin
Smith, the aide-de-camp of General Washington and subsequent Governor
of the State, made a donation of twenty thousand acres of Chickasaw
lands. Major Charles Girard, who had served throughout the perils of
the war, childless in the providence of God, adopted the newly-born
University, and bestowed on it property supposed to be equal in value
to forty thousand dollars. General Thomas Person, the old chief of the
Regulators, gave in cash ten hundred and twenty-five dollars[21] to
the completion of one of the buildings; and Girard Hall, Person Hall,
and Smith Hall, preserve in their names the grateful remembrance of
the earliest and most munificent patrons of the institution. It is a
striking evidence of the poverty of the times that the ladies of the
chief city of North-Carolina were able to present only a quadrant in
token of their interest in the new undertaking, and the ladies of
Raleigh a small pair of globes.
In 1795, the first student arrived, and from that day to this the whole
course of the University has been one of great and steadily increasing
reputation and usefulness. Dr. Joseph Caldwell was president from 1796
to 1835, (with the exception of four years, when Rev. Dr. Chapman
presided,) when the Hon. David L. Swain was appointed his successor,
and he still remains at the head, the oldest college president in the
United States, and one of the most successful. It is a remarkable fact,
and one strongly illustrative of the conservative tone of our society,
and of our North-Carolina people in general, that for the long period
of seventy years there have been virtually but two presidents--that two
of the senior professors have remained for forty years each, one of
them occupying the same chair for that whole period. Another professor
has held his chair for twenty-eight years, another for twenty-four,
another for seventeen years. I doubt if any other college in the
country can show a similar record. During the five years immediately
preceding the war, the average number of students was about four
hundred and twenty-five--a larger number than was registered at any
similar institution in the Union except Yale. The average receipts for
tuition exceeded twenty thousand dollars per annum; and it is another
circumstance which probably has no parallel in American colleges, that
with a meagre endowment, the munificent patronage of the public enabled
the authorities of the institution to make permanent improvements in
the edifices and grounds, and additions to the library and apparatus,
amounting in value, as exhibited by the reports of the trustees, to
the sum of more than a hundred thousand dollars! This was effected
by skillful financiering, and by giving the faculty very moderate
salaries, and is a striking illustration at least of North-Carolina
thrift and careful management. Since 1837, moreover, the faculty have
been authorized to receive without charge for tuition or room-rent, any
native of the State possessed of the requisite endowments, natural
and acquired, whose circumstances may make such assistance necessary.
About ten young men annually have availed themselves of this privilege,
and these have in numerous instances won the highest honors of the
University, and attained like distinction in the various walks of life.
Two remarkable cases of this character, presented during the discussion
of the proposition to extend temporary relief to the University, in the
last General Assembly, must be fresh in the remembrance of many of my
readers. In addition to the beneficence of this general ordinance, the
two Literary Societies of the institution have each annually defrayed
the entire expenses of one or more beneficiaries, during the time
referred to, and these recipients of their bounty have rendered service
and occupy positions of eminence and usefulness which offer the highest
encouragement to perseverance in such benefactions. An account current
between the State and the University for the past quarter of a century,
will show the amount of the tuition and room-rent of those young men,
added to the benefactions of the Societies, is greatly in excess of
all the direct contributions for its support derived from the public
authorities. Nay, more, that these sums, added to the hundred thousand
dollars resulting from the net earnings of the institution, were
quite equal in amount to the entire endowment now annihilated by the
repudiation of the war-debt, and the consequent insolvency of the Bank
of North-Carolina, in the stock of which more than the entire endowment
was invested.
Can any other College in the United States say as much?
At the opening of the war, the ardor with which the young men rushed
into the military service may be inferred from the fact that of the
eighty members of the Freshman class, but _one_ remained to continue
his education, and he was incapacitated by feeble health from joining
his comrades in the field. Five members of the faculty volunteered for
the war; and those who remained in their chairs, being incapacitated by
age or by their sacred profession from serving their country otherwise
than as teachers, resolved to keep the doors of the University open as
long as a dozen boys could be found amid the din of arms who might be
able to profit by it. When conscription was resorted to, to fill up
the depleted armies of the South, the trustees resolved to appeal to
President Davis in behalf of the University, lest it should be entirely
broken up by too rigid an enforcement of the law. The results were an
important part of our State history during the war, and embodied facts
which had a significant influence at the close.
"RALEIGH, October 8, 1863.
"At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the University this day,
present: His Excellency Governor Vance, President; W.A. Graham,
Jonathan Worth, D.M. Barringer, P.H. Winston, Thomas Ruffin, J.H.
Bryan, K.P. Battle, Charles Manly.
"_Resolved_, That the President of the University be authorized to
correspond with the President of the Confederate States, asking a
suspension of any order or regulation which may have been issued for
the conscription of students of the University, until the end of the
present session, and also with a view to a general exemption of young
men advanced in liberal studies, until they shall complete their
college course.
"That the President of the University open correspondence with the
heads of other literary institutions of the Confederacy, proposing
the adoption of a general regulation, exempting for a limited time
from military service the members of the _two higher classes_ of our
colleges, to enable them to attain the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
"Charles Manly, Secretary."
In accordance with this resolution, Governor Swain addressed the
following letter to President Davis, which will be read with interest,
as presenting some very remarkable statements in regard to the
University and the village of Chapel Hill:
"UNIVERSITY OF NORTH-CAROLINA, }
CHAPEL HILL, Oct. 15, 1863. }
"_To His Excellency, Jefferson Davis, President of
the Confederate States_:
"Sir: The accompanying resolutions, adopted by the trustees of this
institution at their meeting in Raleigh, on the eighth instant, make
it my duty to open a correspondence with you on the subject to which
they relate.
"A simple statement of the facts, which seem to me to be pertinent,
without any attempt to illustrate and enforce them by argument, will,
I suppose, sufficiently accomplish the purposes of the trustees.
"At the close of the collegiate year 1859-60, (June seventh, 1860,)
the whole number of students on our catalogue was four hundred and
thirty. Of these, two hundred and forty-five were from North-Carolina,
twenty-nine from Tennessee, twenty-eight from Louisiana, twenty-eight
from Mississippi, twenty-six from Alabama, twenty-four from
South-Carolina, seventeen from Texas, fourteen from Georgia, five
from Virginia, four from Florida, two from Arkansas, two from
Kentucky, two from Missouri, two from California, one from Iowa, one
from New-Mexico, one from Ohio. They were distributed in the four
classes as follows: Seniors eighty-four, Juniors one hundred and two,
Sophomores one hundred and twenty-five, Freshmen eighty.
"Of the eight young men who received the first distinction in the
Senior class, four are in their graves, (soldiers' graves,) and a
fifth a wounded prisoner. More than a seventh of these graduates are
known to have fallen in battle.
"The Freshmen class of eighty members pressed into the service with
such impetuosity that but a single individual remained to graduate at
the last commencement; and he in the intervening time had entered the
army, been discharged on account of impaired health, and was permitted
by special favor to rejoin his class.
"The Faculty at that time was composed of fourteen members, no one of
whom was liable to conscription. Five of the fourteen were permitted
by the trustees to volunteer. One of these has recently returned from
long imprisonment in Ohio, with a ruined constitution. A second is a
wounded prisoner, now at Baltimore. A third fell at Gettysburgh. The
remaining two are in active field-service at present.
"The nine gentlemen who now constitute the corps of instructors are,
with a single exception, clergymen, or laymen beyond the age of
conscription. No one of them has a son of the requisite age who has
not entered the service as a volunteer. Five of the eight sons of
members of the faculty are now in active service; one fell mortally
wounded at Gettysburgh, another at South-Mountain.
"The village of Chapel Hill owes its existence to the University, and
is of course materially affected by the prosperity or decline of the
institution. The young men of the village responded to the call of
the country with the same alacrity which characterized the college
classes; and fifteen of them--a larger proportion than is exhibited in
any other town or village in the State--have already fallen in battle.
The departed are more numerous than the survivors; and the melancholy
fact is prominent with respect to both the village and the University,
that the most promising young men have been the earliest victims.
"Without entering into further details, permit me to assure you, as
the result of extensive and careful observation and inquiry, that
I know of no similar institution or community in the Confederacy
that has rendered greater services or endured greater losses and
privations than the University of North-Carolina, and the village of
Chapel Hill.
"The number of students at present here is sixty-three; of whom
fifty-five are from North-Carolina, four from Virginia, two from
South-Carolina, and one from Alabama; nine Seniors, thirteen Juniors,
fourteen Sophomores, and twenty-seven Freshmen.
"A rigid enforcement of the Conscription Act may take from us nine or
ten young men with physical constitutions in general better suited to
the quiet pursuits of literature and science than to military service.
They can make no appreciable addition to the strength of the army;
but their withdrawal may very seriously affect our organization, and
in its ultimate effects compel us to close the doors of the oldest
University at present accessible to the students of the Confederacy.
"It can scarcely be necessary to intimate that with a slender
endowment and a diminution of more than twenty thousand dollars in
the annual receipts for tuition, it is at present very difficult and
may soon be impossible to sustain the institution. The exemption of
professors from the operation of the Conscript Act is a sufficient
indication that the annihilation of the best established colleges
in the country was not the purpose of Our Congress; and I can but
hope with the eminent gentlemen who have made me their organ on this
occasion, that it will never be permitted to produce effects which I
am satisfied no one would more deeply deplore than yourself.
"I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, your obedient
servant,
D.L. Swain."
The result of this application was that orders were issued from the
Conscript Office to grant the exemption requested. President Davis
is reported to have said in the beginning of the war in reference to
the drafting of college boys, that it should not be done; "that the
_seed-corn_ must not be ground up."
But as the exigencies of the country became more and more pressing, the
wisdom of this precept was lost sight of. In the spring of 1864, in
reply to a second application in behalf of the two lower classes, Mr.
Seddon returned the following opinion to the Conscript Bureau:
"I can not see in the grounds presented such peculiar or exceptional
circumstances as will justify departure from the rules acted on in
many similar instances. Youths under eighteen will be allowed to
continue their studies. Those over, capable of military service, will
best discharge their duty and find their highest training in defending
the country in the field.
"March 10, 1864."
In compliance with this opinion, the Conscript Act was finally enforced
at the University; the classes were still further reduced by the
withdrawal of such as came within the requirements of the act, or who
were determined to share at all hazards the fate of their comrades in
the army. The University, however, still struggled on; and when General
Sherman's forces entered the place, there were some ten or twelve boys
still keeping up the name of a college. The bell was rung by one of the
professors, and morning and evening prayers attended to during the
stay of the United States forces. The students present, with two or
three exceptions, were those whose homes were in the village. The two
or three who were from a distance, left on the advent of the Federals,
walking to their homes in neighboring counties, there being no other
means of locomotion in those days. But one Senior, Mr. W.C. Prout,
graduated at the ensuing commencement, having taken the whole course.
There were three others who received diplomas at the same time. For
the first time in thirty years, the President was absent from these
exercises, having been summoned by President Johnson to Washington
City, to confer with him and with other North-Carolina gentlemen on
the condition of affairs in the State. Not a single visitor from
abroad attended the commencement, with the exception of some _thirty
gentlemen dressed in blue_, who had been delegated to remain here and
keep order. The residents of the village were the only audience to hear
the valedictory pronounced by the sole remaining representative of his
class. Where were the hundreds who had thronged these halls four years
before? Virginia, and Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and
Georgia were heaving with their graves! In every State that had felt
the tread of armies, and wherever the rough edge of the battle had
joined, there had been found the foster-children of North-Carolina's
University;[22] and now, sitting discrowned and childless, she might
well have taken up the old lamentations which come to us in these later
days more and more audibly across the centuries, "Oh! that my head were
waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for the slain of the daughter of my people!"
There is not a prettier village in the South than that which lies
around the University, and has grown up with it and has been sustained
and elevated by it. And not a village in the South gave more freely of
its best blood in the war, not one suffered more severely in proportion
to its population. Thirty-five of our young men died in the service.
Some of them left wives and little ones; some were the only support
and blessing of aged parents; all were, with very few exceptions, the
very flower of our families, and were representatives of every walk
and condition of life. The first company that left the place in May,
1861, commanded by Captain R.J. Ashe, was attached to the famous First
North-Carolina regiment, which so distinguished itself at the memorable
battle of Bethel, June tenth of that year. Upon the disbanding of this
regiment, the members of the Orange Light Infantry attached themselves
to other companies--for no fewer than four were raised here and in the
vicinity--and many of them were among those who dragged themselves home
on foot from Lee's last field.
The decline of the University threw many of our citizens out of
employment, and the privations endured here tell as sad a story as
can be met with anywhere. There was some alleviation of the general
distress for those who had houses or furniture to rent; for every
vacant room was crowded at one time by refugee families from the
eastern part of the State, from Norfolk, and latterly from Petersburg.
And this was the case with every town in the interior of the State.
Some of these settled here permanently during the war, attracted by
the beauty and secluded quiet of the place, and by the libraries--best
society of all! Some of them merely alighted here in the first hurry of
their flight, and afterward sought other homes, as birds flit uneasily
from bough to bough when driven from their nests. These families were
generally representatives of the best and most highly cultivated of our
Southern aristocracy. They fled hither stripped of all their earthly
possessions, except a few of their negroes. Many came not only having
left their beautiful homes in the hands of invaders, but with heads
bowed down with mourning; for gallant sons who had fallen in vain
defense of those homes. Some of them, the elders among them, closed
their wearied eyes here, and were laid to rest among strangers, glad to
die and exchange their uncertain citizenship in a torn and distracted
country for that city which hath foundations.
The benefits of the war in our State should not be overlooked in
summing up even a slight record concerning it. It brought all classes
nearer to each other. The rich and the poor met together. A common
cause became a common bond of sympathy and kind feeling. Charity was
more freely dispensed, pride of station was forgotten. The Supreme
Court judges and the ex-governors, whose sons had marched away in the
ranks side by side with those of the day-laborer, felt a closer tie
henceforth to their neighbor. When a whole village poured in and around
one church building to hear the ministers of every denomination pray
the parting prayers and invoke the farewell blessings in unison on the
village boys, there was little room for sectarian feeling. Christians
of every name drew nearer to each other. People who wept, and prayed,
and rejoiced together as we did for four years, learned to love each
other more. The higher and nobler and more generous impulses of our
nature were brought constantly into action, stimulated by the heroic
endurance and splendid gallantry of our soldiers, and the general
enthusiasm which prevailed among us. Heaven forbid we should forget the
good which the war brought us, amid such incalculable evils; and Heaven
forbid we should ever forget its lessons--industry, economy, ingenuity,
patience, faith, charity, and above all, and finally, humility, and a
firm resolve henceforth to _let well alone_.
That North-Carolina has within herself all the elements of a larger
life and hope, and a more diffused prosperity than she has ever known,
is not to be doubted by those who are acquainted with the wealth of her
internal resources and the consummate honesty, industry, and resolution
of her people. Time will heal these wounds yet raw and bleeding; the
tide of a new and nobler life will yet fill her veins and throb in
all her pulses; and taught in the school of adversity the noblest of
all lessons, our people will rise from their present dejection when
their civil rights have been restored them, and with renewed hope in
God will go on to do their whole duty as heretofore. Silently they
will help to clear the wreck and right the ship; silently they will do
their duty to the dead and to the living, and to those who shall come
after them; silently and with the modesty of all true heroism they will
do great things, and leave it to others to publish them. Remarkable
as North-Carolinians have ever been for reticence and sobriety of
speech and action, it is reserved for such epochs as those of May
twentieth, 1776, and May twentieth, 1861, and for such great conflicts
as succeeded them, to show what a fire can leap forth from this grave,
impassive people--what a flame is kindled in generous sympathy, what
ardor burns in defense of right and liberty. They are now to show the
world what true and ennobling dignity may accompany defeat, surrender,
and submission.
I close these slight and inadequate sketches of a memorable time with
the words of my first sentence. The history of the great war is yet
to be written, and can scarcely be fairly and impartially written by
this generation. But it is our imperative duty to ourselves and to our
dead to begin at once to lay up the costly material for the great work.
Every man should contribute freely according to his ability, gold and
silver, precious stones, iron and wood; and with this motive, I have
ventured to present such an outline of events in the last ninety days
as circumstances would permit me to gather.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 21: There was then, as now, no money in the country, and this
was the largest cash donation ever received by the University.]
[Footnote 22: It is stated upon good authority, and is confidently
believed, that there was not a single regiment in the entire
Confederate service in which could not be found one or more old
students of Chapel Hill.]
APPENDIX.
I.
"_More than a seventh of the aggregate number of graduates are known to
have fallen in battle._"
This was written in October, 1863. When the war was closed, the
proportion was much greater.
It is hardly consistent with the slight character of these sketches
to enter deeply into questions of constitutional law, involving the
rights of belligerents and insurgents in time of civil war. I had no
intention of attempting more than a plain, unvarnished statement of
facts; with some hope, I confess, that a faithful narrative of the
losses and the sufferings of the vanquished might do something at least
toward arousing a generous remorse and regret in the breasts of the
victors. This volume will produce an effect altogether contrary to what
is intended if it serves only to prolong the remembrances which excite
sectional animosity.
The records of our literary institutions all over the South will be
found especially valuable in making up the estimate of our losses on
the battle-field; for they will show unerringly that it was the _best_
blood of the South that was poured out like water; that her educated
young men were the first to offer themselves in what they deemed a
glorious cause, and were among the first to fall. And North-Carolina,
in particular, may point with pride to her University for an example of
patriotic devotion unsurpassed by any other institution in the South.
I had hoped to be able to exhibit in this Appendix a collection of
statistical details in connection with our University, of a deep and
melancholy interest; and have taken much pains and made numerous
inquiries to ascertain what proportion of the living Alumni had
participated in the contest, and what number had fallen in battle.
It is, however, impossible to accomplish this design at present, and
a complete record, if it can ever be obtained, must be reserved for
future publication. I must content myself with a general view in
relation to the actors of one particular era; judging by which we may
form some estimate of the whole number of those, who, having enjoyed
the best advantages of education, and representing the best classes of
society, counted not their lives dear in the service of their country.
Let me here present one scene at the University as it occurred in the
days when the Almighty was yet with us, when His candle shined upon our
head, and our children were about us.
The annual commencement of 1847 was rendered a literary festival
of unusual interest, by the attendance of President Polk, and the
Secretary of the Navy, Judge Mason, both of whom were alumni of the
University.
The commencement of 1859 was rendered no less memorable by the visit
of President Buchanan, and the Secretary of the Interior, Hon. Jacob
Thompson, who was not only a graduate, but had been at one time a tutor
in the Institution. How vivid is the recollection of those scenes in
the minds of all who witnessed them! How interesting and imposing the
assemblage of all that could give dignity or influence to a State, or
shed the light of beauty and grace on these venerable cloisters and
schools of learning. In 1859, apprehensions of the permanency of the
Union were beginning to be excited by symptoms of dissatisfaction in
the neighboring States. Secretary Thompson, in reply to the welcome
addressed to him at his reception in front of Governor Swain's
residence, referring to these ominous indications, congratulated the
assembly on the steadiness of attachment to the Union everywhere
manifested by the people of his native State. He was applauded with
a vehemence which gave full assurance of the deep and universal
loyalty of his hearers. President Buchanan repeatedly expressed his
pleasure at these evidences of feeling which were reïterated whenever
occasion offered. How little did he, how little did any one, foresee
what changes a single year was to effect. On the evening preceding
commencement-day, President Buchanan appeared upon the rostrum and
performed an interesting part in the exercises. At the request of the
Rev. Dr. Wheat, the then Professor of Rhetoric, he delivered the prize
awarded to the best English writer in the Sophomore class, Eldridge E.
Wright, of Memphis, Tenn., who afterward graduated with the highest
distinction, and the most flattering hopes and promises of future
usefulness. He fell, a captain of artillery, in defense of his battery
at the battle of Murfreesboro. The two eldest sons of Dr. Wheat both
fell in battle--one at Shiloh and the other in Virginia. Of the six
college tutors then present but one survives. Of the crowd of trustees
and distinguished North-Carolinians who surrounded that rostrum, time
would fail me to tell of the prostrate hopes and darkened hearths; but
in brief, I may say, that of the four hundred and thirty young men then
listening with intense eagerness and prolonged applause to words of
wisdom and affection from their chief magistrate, more than a fifth, in
less than five years, fell in fratricidal strife on every battle-field
from Pennsylvania to Texas. Could the curtain that in mercy vailed
the future, have been that day withdrawn, what would have been the
emotions of the audience? Could they have seen one hundred of those
four hundred and thirty gay and gallant boys lying in all the ghastly
and bloody forms of death on the battle-field; a like proportion with
amputated limbs, or permanently impaired constitutions; and all, with
few exceptions, seamed with honorable scars, would they not have
recoiled horror-stricken from such a revelation of war as it really is?
What would have been the effect on that veteran statesman could he have
seen all this--seen his friend and associate in the councils of the
nation an exile, wandering in foreign lands, and all the wide-spread
havoc, ruin, and woe of a four years' merciless war darkly curtaining
the broad and smiling land? In the providence of God he was childless.
How many fathers of that goodly throng have gone down to the grave
sorrowing--for sorrow slays as well as the sword; how many mothers,
sisters, and wives refuse to be comforted, and long for the grave, and
are glad when they find it!
I have selected the catalogue of 1859-60 referred to in the letter
from Governor Swain to President Davis, as best calculated to show the
results of the fearful change produced among us in the brief interval
preceding the civil war.
The Senior class of 1860 consisted of eighty-four members. The
subjoined table will show that every one of these able to bear arms,
with perhaps a single exception, entered the service, and that _more
than a fourth_ of the entire number now fill soldiers' graves. The
proportion of the wounded to the killed is ordinarily estimated as not
smaller than three to one; and judging by this rule, it appears and
is believed to be the fact, that very few of the whole class remained
unscathed. Of the younger classes, my information is not sufficiently
complete to justify the giving a list; but enough is ascertained to
make it certain that the sacrifice of life among them was in very
nearly the same proportion as among the Seniors. As a matter of undying
interest to the people of my own State, and significant enough to those
of others, I present this record of the sons of her University.
Adams, Robert B. In service from South-Carolina.
Alexander, Sydenham B., Capt. 42d N.C. Regt.
Anderson, Lawrence M., Lieut. Killed at Shiloh.
Askew, George W., Capt. Miss. Regt.
Attmore, Isaac T. Killed in Virginia.
Baird, William W., Lieut. N.C. Regt.
Barbee, Algernon S., Lieut. Com. Dept. Army of the West.
Barrett, Alexander, Lieut. 49th N.C. Regt.
Battle, Junius C., Killed at Sharp's Mountain.
Bond, Lewis, Chief Ord. to Gen. Jackson.
Borden, William H., Lieut. 50th N.C. Regt.
Bowie, John R., Sergt. Signal Corps, Louisiana.
Brickell, Sterling H., Capt, 12th N.C. Regt. Resigned from wounds.
Brooks, William M., 3d N.C. Cav.
Bruce, Charles, Jr. Killed at Richmond.
Bryan, George P., Capt. 2d N.C. Regt. Killed.
Bullock, Richard A., Com. Sergt. 12th N.C. Regt.
Butler, Pierce M., 1st Lieut. 2d S.C. Cav.
Cole, Alexander T., Capt. 23d N.C. Regt.
Coleman, Daniel R., 20th N.C. Regt.
Cooper, Robert E., Chaplain Cobb's Legion.
Cooper, Thomas W., 1st Lieut. 11th N.C. Regt. Killed at Gettysburgh.
Daniel, S. Venable, 1st Lieut. 17th N.C. Regt.
Davis, Samuel C., Lieut. 4th N.C. Regt.
Davis, Thomas W., Lieut. 8th N.C. Regt
Drake, Edwin L., Col. Tenn. Regt. Cav.
Fain, John H.D., Capt. 33d N.C. Regt. Killed at Petersburg,
2d April, 1865.
Ferrand, Horace, Louisiana Regt.
Fogle, James O.A., Medical Dept. Richmond.
Franklin, Samuel R. Died in service.
Garrett, Woodston L., Lieut. 8th Ala. Cav.
Gay, Charles E., Lieut. Miss. Artillery.
Graham, James A., Capt. 27th N.C. Regt.
Haigh, Charles, Sergt.-Major 5th N.C. Cav.
Hale, Edward J., Jr., Capt. A.A.G. to Gen. Lane.
Hardin, Edward J., Lieut. and Adjt. Conscript Bureau.
Hays, Robert B., Forrest's Cavalry.
Headen, William J., Lieut. 26th N.C. Regt. Killed.
Henry, William W., Capt. Artillery, Army of the West.
Hightower, Samuel A., 26th Louisiana Regt.
Holliday, Thomas C., Capt. A.A.G. to Gen. Davis. Killed.
Houston, R. Bruce B., Lieut. 52d N.C. Regt.
Jones, H. Francis, Lieut. A.D.C. to Gen. Young. Killed.
Jones, Walter J., Heavy Artillery. Afterward 40th N.C. Regt.
Kelly, James, Presbyterian clergyman.
Kelly, John B., 26th N.C. Regt.
King, William J., Medical Dept. Richmond.
Lutterloh, Jarvis B., Lieut. 56th N.C. Regt. Killed at Gum Swamp.
Martin, Eugene S., Lieut. 1st Battery Heavy Artillery.
Martin, George S., Capt. Tenn. Art'y. Killed by bushwhackers.
McCallum, James B., Lieut. 51st N.C. Regt. Killed at Bermuda Hundreds.
McClelland, James C. Died in 1861, in Arkansas.
McKethan, Edwin T., Lieut. 51st N.C. Regt.
McKimmon, Arthur N., Q.M. Dept. Raleigh.
McKimmon, James, Jr., Lieut. Manly's Battery.
Mebane, Cornelius, Adjt. 6th N.C. Regt.
Mebane, John W. Capt. Tenn. Artillery. Killed at Kenesaw Mountain.
Micou, Augustin, Lieut. and A.A.G. Drew's Battalion.
Mimms, Thomas S., Western Army.
Nicholson, William T., Capt. 37th N.C. Regt. Killed.
Pearce, Oliver W., 3d Regt. N.C. Cav.
Pittman, Reddin G., 1st Lieut. Eng. Dep.
Pool, Charles C.
Quarles, George McD. Died in service.
Ryal, Tims, Louisiana Regt.
Royster, Iowa, Lieut. 37th N.C. Regt. Killed at Gettysburgh.
Sanders, Edward B., Sergt.-Major 35th N.C. Regt.
Saunders, Jos. H., Lieut.-Col. 33d N.C. Regt.
Scales, Erasmus D., Capt. and Com. Sub. 2d N.C. Cav.
Smith, Farquhard, Jr., 3d N.C. Cav.
Smith, Norfleet, 1st Lieut. 3d N.C. Cav.
Smith, Thomas L. Killed at Vicksburgh.
Sterling, Edward G. Died in service.
Strong, Hugh. In South-Carolina service.
Sykes, Richard L. In Mississippi service.
Taylor, George W., Ass't. Surgeon, 26th La.
Thompson, Samuel M., Colonel Tenn. Regt.
Thorp, John H., Capt. 47th N.C. Regt.
Vaughan, Vernon H. In Alabama service.
Wallace, James A., 44th N.C. Regt.
Wier, Samuel P., Lieut. 46th N.C. Regt. Killed at Fredericksburgh.
Whitfield, Cicero, Sergt. 53d N.C. Regt.
Wilson, George L. Died.
Wooster, William A., Capt. 1st N.C. Regt. Killed at Richmond.
Of field-officers in the Confederate service, at least thirteen
illustrious names are among the Alumni of the University, namely:
Lieut.-General Leonidas Polk,
Brig.-Generals Geo. B. Anderson,
Rufus Barringer,
L. O'B. Branch,
Thomas L. Clingman,
Robert D. Johnston,
Gaston Lewis,
James Johnston Pettigrew,
Matt. W. Ransom,
Ashley W. Spaight; and
Adjutant-Generals
R.C. Gatlin,
John F. Hoke.
Generals Polk, Anderson, Branch, and Pettigrew were killed, and all
the others (with the exception of the two bureau officers) severely
wounded, and most of them more than once.
I regret that my information in regard to many other gallant
field-officers is at present too imperfect to justify the enumeration;
much less am I able to give a correct list of subaltern officers,
and the unrecorded dead. It will be a labor of love to continue my
inquiries, in the hope of being able at some future day to present a
suitable memorial of all our loved and lost.
Beloved till Time can charm no more,
And mourned till Pity's self be dead.
In looking over the list of even so few as are recorded above, one
is struck with the number of those killed, of whom interesting and
touching obituary memorials might be written. Nearly all of them
were men of rank. One of the most widely read and admired and useful
religious biographies of the day has been Miss Marsh's Life of Captain
Hedley Vicars of the English Crimean Army. We had many a Captain Vicars
in our Southern Confederate army, whose life, if written as well, would
be quite as striking, quite as valuable--many pure and noble Christian
young men, the beauty of whose daily lives still sheds a glow around
their memories. It was in fact a common remark, during the war, that it
was the best who fell. I am sure that North-Carolinians, at least, will
not be displeased with particular mention of a few of their dead in
this place.
Of the six tutors connected with the University at the opening of
the war, all of whom volunteered at once, _five_--namely, Captains
Anderson, Bryan, Johnson, Morrow, and Lieutenant Royster--fell on the
battle-field, and they were all, without one exception, young men of
more than ordinary promise.
Captain Anderson, of Wilmington, was a brother of General George B.
Anderson. He graduated with the highest distinction in the year 1858.
His class consisted of ninety-four members, nearly all of whom it
is believed entered the army. Two of the seven who shared the first
distinction with him--one subsequently tutor in the University, W.C.
Dowd, the other Captain W.C. Lord, of Salisbury--are in their graves.
Captain William Adams, of Greensboro, whose name occurs first on
the roll of his classmates, was killed at Sharpsburgh. Captain Hugh
T. Brown, (half-brother to General Gordon,) fell at Springfield;
and Lieutenant Thomas Cowan, at Sharpsburgh. Among those who have
survived the perils of the battle-field and the hospital, are
Lieutenant-Colonels H.C. Jones, A.C. McAllister, and J.T. Morehead,
Colonels John A. Gilmer and L.M. McAfee, and General Robert D. Johnston.
Captain Anderson was a candidate for orders in the Episcopal Church,
but believed it his duty to contribute his share to the vindication
of the rights of his country. He served with continually increasing
reputation, and fell in the battle of the Wilderness Creek.
Captain George Pettigrew Bryan, of Raleigh, was another most rare
spirit. Belonging to the class of 1860, enumerated above, he was the
youngest of eight who received the first distinction. During his
college life, and throughout the whole of his brief but brilliant
career, he was as conspicuous for his fidelity to duty as for his
intellectual attainments. He, too, was to have consecrated his rare
gifts to the ministry of the Church. He fell, while leading a charge
on the enemy's works, ten miles east of Richmond. Mortally wounded in
the breast, he said, "Boys, I'm killed, but I wish I could live to see
you take those works." In a few moments the works were carried and the
enemy routed. In half an hour after, he died peacefully and calmly: his
promotion to lieutenant-colonel arriving just after his death.
Captain George B. Johnson, of Edenton, a graduate of 1859, bearing away
the highest honors, died in Chapel Hill of a decline brought on by the
hardships of prison life at Sandusky, Ohio. One of his professors wrote
of him: "His powers of mind were unusual, his energy of character very
marked, his tastes all scholarly, and his attainments extensive and
accurate. Always pure and upright and truthful and unselfish. Never was
a whisper of reproach or censure uttered against him."
Lieutenant I. Royster, of Raleigh, was one of the graduates of this
University who would have shed a lustre on its name had he lived. One
of the eight of 1860 who received the first distinction, he was in many
respects a remarkable genius--intellectually one of the most gifted
young men who ever left these halls. He fell at Gettysburgh, advancing
to the charge considerably in front of his company and singing "Dixie"
as he met his instant death.
Captain E. Graham Morrow, of Chapel Hill, fell at Gettysburgh.
Another noble, modest, gallant, and true young man. He was a son
of North-Carolina in a particular sense, for he came of fathers,
grandfathers, great-grandfathers and ancestors even more remote who
had been an honor to the same soil before him. On these six slight
memorials there is yet a crown to be placed. These young men were all
Christians. That light above any that ever shone by sea or shore falls
upon their graves.
In the list of the Seniors of 1860 given above, of the eight who
received the first honors of the University, but three survive; of the
_twenty-seven_ distinguished (more than a third of the whole number)
ten are no more. Of the twenty-four dead, who shall estimate the loss
to their country, and to their families of even these? Of one of the
fairest and best, Captain John Fain, of Warren, who was the only child
of his mother, and she a widow; killed after passing safely through
four years of peril and suffering, and falling in the last day of
the last fight before Petersburg, April 2d, 1865. Another of the
first eight was Junius C. Battle, of Chapel Hill, fourth son of the
Law Professor, Judge Battle. Having suffered amputation of the left
leg, after the battle of South-Mountain, he occupied such of the few
remaining hours of his life as he could redeem from his own sufferings,
in reading to the crowd of Confederate and Federal wounded around him.
We can well imagine, wrote a friend, how eloquent such reading was to
such an audience. The reader's own eye was fast glazing, and the pains
of death among strangers were upon him, but he rallied the remnants of
his vision and self-control, and spent them in directing the fading
eyes around him to that WICKET-GATE and SHINING LIGHT. Surely it was
a cup of cold water given in the name of his Master, and even now is
abundantly rewarded.
Of William A. Wooster of Wilmington, and of George L. Wilson of
New-Berne, of whom, standing before him to say farewell, Gov. Swain
said that he never had under his care, never had known two young men of
higher character, purer faith, or more gifted intellect than these two
beloved pupils.
I am tempted to go on with this list, but am reminded that I shall
exceed my limits. Some abler hand, I trust, will some day gather up for
preservation all these records of our noble boys; worthy, all of them,
of that glorious epitaph once to be seen at Thermopylæ: "Tell it in
_North-Carolina_, that we lie here in obedience to HER laws."
Of our Generals much might be said that would be of deep and permanent
interest. In General Pettigrew, North-Carolina was universally and
justly considered to have lost one of the most remarkable men that
this continent has ever produced. He graduated in 1847, when he and
General Ransom received the first distinction in their class. The
latter delivered the Salutatory of his class to President Polk, and
fortunately survives the perils of many a battle-field still further
to honor and receive honor from his native State. Of General Pettigrew
I append a biographical sketch, which originally appeared in the
_Fayetteville Observer_, by a hand fully competent to do him justice,
and which presents him not overdrawn nor too highly colored. Of none
of the thousands of the flower of this Southern land who fell in her
defense can it be said more justly than of James Johnston Pettigrew:
"_Felix non solum claritatê vitæ, sed etiam opportunitatê mortis._"[23]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 23: Fortunate not only in the renown of his life, but also in
the opportunity of his death.]
II.
GEN. JAMES JOHNSTON PETTIGREW.
From The Fayetteville Observer.
James Johnston Pettigrew, late a Brigadier in the army of the
Confederate States, was born at Lake Scuppernong, in Tyrrell county,
North-Carolina, upon the 4th day of July, 1828. His family is
originally of French extraction. At an early period, however, one
branch of it emigrated to Scotland, where it may be traced holding
lands near Glasgow about the year 1492. Afterward a portion of it
removed to the northern part of Ireland. From this place James
Pettigrew, the great-grandfather of the subject of this notice,
about the year 1732, came into Pennsylvania, and, some twenty years
afterward, into North-Carolina. About 1770, this gentleman removed
to South-Carolina, leaving here, however, his son Charles, who was
a resident successively of the counties of Granville, Chowan, and
Tyrrell. Charles Pettigrew was subsequently the first Bishop-elect of
the Protestant Episcopal Church in this diocese. He died in 1807, and
his memory survives, fragrant with piety, charity, and an extended
usefulness. His son Ebenezer succeeded to his estates and reputation.
Devoting his life to the successful drainage and cultivation of the
fertile lands which he owned, and to the government of the large family
of which he was the head, Mr. Pettigrew resisted every solicitation
presented by his neighbors for the employment of his talents in public
service. Upon one occasion alone was his reluctance overcome. In 1835,
he was chosen by a very flattering vote to represent his District in
the Congress of the United States. At that election he received the
rare compliment of an almost unanimous vote from his fellow-citizens
of Tyrrell, failing to obtain but three votes out of more than seven
hundred. He could not be prevailed upon to be a candidate at a
second election. Mr. Pettigrew married Miss Shepard, a daughter of
the distinguished family of that name seated at New-Berne. She died
in July 1830, when her son James Johnston was but two years of age.
Ebenezer Pettigrew lived until July, 1848, having witnessed with great
sensibility the very brilliant opening of his son's career among the
cotemporary youth of the land.
After his mother's death the child was taken to the home of his
grandmother at New-Berne, and there remained until he was carried
into Orange county, to pursue his education. Owing to an unfortunate
exposure whilst an infant, young Pettigrew was a delicate boy, but by
diligent and systematic exercise he gradually inured his constitution
to endure without harm extraordinary fatigue and the extremes of
weather. He was a member of various schools at Hillsboro from the year
1836, enjoying the advantages of instruction by Mr. Bingham for about
four years previously to his becoming a student at the University.
During this period the state of his health required him to be often at
home for several months together. He was a member of the University of
North-Carolina during the full term of four years, graduating there
at the head of his class in June, 1847. From early childhood young
Pettigrew had been noted as a boy of extraordinary intellect. At all
the schools he was easily first in every class and in every department
of study. He seemed to master his text-books by intuition. They formed
the smallest portion of his studies, for his eager appetite for
learning ranged widely over subjects collateral to his immediate tasks.
Nor did they always stop here. His father was amused and gratified
upon one occasion to observe the extent to which he had profited by
his excursions among the medical books of an eminent physician at
Hillsboro, of whose family he was an inmate at the age of fourteen.
In the class-room at the University he appeared in reciting rather
to have descended to the level of the lesson, than to have risen up
to it. Student as he was, and somewhat reserved in demeanor, he was
nevertheless very popular with his fellows, and the object of their
enthusiastic admiration. Anecdotes were abundant as to the marvelous
range of his acquirements, and the generosity and patience with which
he contributed from his stores even to the dullest applicant for aid.
Nor was it only in letters that he was chief. A fencing-master, who
happened to have a class among the collegians, bore quite as decided
testimony to his merits as he had obtained from the various chairs of
the faculty.
The commencement at which he graduated was distinguished by the
attendance of President Polk, Mr. Secretary Mason, and Lieutenant
Maury of the National Observatory. Impressed by the homage universally
paid to his merits, as well as by the high character of his graduating
oration, these gentlemen proposed to him to become an assistant in
the Observatory at Washington City. After spending some weeks in
recreation, Mr. Pettigrew reported to Lieutenant Maury, and remained
with him for some six or eight months. In the occupations of this
office he fully maintained his earlier promise; but soon relinquished
the position, inasmuch as the exposure and labor incident to it were
injuriously affecting his health.
After an interval of travel in the Northern States, Mr. Pettigrew, in
the fall of 1848, became a student of law in the office of James Mason
Campbell, Esq., of Baltimore, where he remained for several months. At
the close of this period, by the solicitation of his kinsman, the late
James L. Petigru of Charleston, S.C., he entered his office with the
design of being subsequently associated with him in the practice of his
profession. Upon obtaining license, Mr. Pettigrew, by the advice of
his kinsman just mentioned, proceeded to Berlin and other universities
in Germany in order to perfect himself in the civil law. He remained
in Europe for nearly three years. Two years of this time he devoted to
study, the remainder he spent in traveling upon the Continent, and
in Great Britain and Ireland. He availed himself of this opportunity
of becoming acquainted with modern European languages so far as to be
able to speak with ease in those of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
During this tour he contracted a great partiality for the Spanish
character and history, having had considerable opportunity for studying
the former not only as a private gentleman, but also as Secretary of
Legation for a short while to Colonel Barringer, then Minister of the
United States near the Court of Spain. It may be proper to add here,
that among the unaccomplished designs of Mr. Pettigrew, to which he had
given some labor, was that of following Prescott in further narratives
of the connection of Spain with America, and as a preliminary to this
he had formed a collection of works in Arabic, and had made himself
acquainted with that language.
Mr. Pettigrew returned to Charleston in November, 1852, and entered
upon the practice of law in connection with his honored and
accomplished relative. He profited so well by his studies in Europe and
by his subsequent investigations, that in the opinion of his partner,
who was well qualified to judge, he became a master of the civil law
not inferior in acquisition and in grasp of principle to any in the
United States. His success at the bar was brilliant. In 1856, he was
chosen one of the representatives of the city in the Legislature,
holding his seat under that election for the two sessions of December,
1856, and December, 1857. He rose to great distinction in that body.
His report against the reöpening of the Slave Trade, and his speech
upon the organization of the Supreme Court, gave him reputation beyond
the bounds of the State. He failed to be reëlected in 1858.
Mr. Pettigrew persistently refused to receive any portion of the income
of the partnership of which he was a member. Independent in property,
and simple in his habits of personal expenditure, he displayed no
desire to accumulate money. Noble in every trait of character, he held
the contents of his purse subject to every draft that merit might
present.
For some years previous to the rupture between the North and the South,
Mr. Pettigrew had anticipated its occurrence, and believing it to be
his duty to be prepared to give his best assistance to the South in
such event, had turned his attention to military studies. Like many
other rare geniuses, he had always a partiality for mathematics, and
so very naturally devoted much time to that branch of this science
which deals with war. Even as far back as 1850 he had been desirous of
becoming an officer in the Prussian army; and negotiations for that end
set upon foot by military friends whom he had made at Berlin, failed
only because he was a republican. Afterward he became Aid to Governor
Alston of South-Carolina, and more recently to Governor Pickens. Upon
the breaking out of the war between Sardinia and Austria, Colonel
Pettigrew at once arranged his private business and hastened to obtain
position in the army under General Marmora. His application to Count
Cavour was favorably received, but after consideration his offer was
declined on the ground that the event of the battle of Solferino had
rendered further fighting improbable. He was greatly disappointed, as
his reception had inspired him with hopes of seeing active service in
the Sardinian army with rank at least as high as that of a colonel.
Availing himself, however, of his unexpected leisure, he revisited
Spain, and after a stay of a few months returned to South-Carolina.
The fruits of this second visit were collected by him into a volume
entitled Spain and the Spaniards, which he printed for the inspection
of his friends in 1860. It will be found to be a thoughtful, spirited,
and agreeable record of his impressions of that romantic land.
At the opening of the present war, Colonel Pettigrew, as Aid to
Governor Pickens, took a prominent part in the operations of
Charleston. He was at that time also colonel of a rifle regiment in
which he was much interested, and which became conspicuous amongst the
military organizations around Charleston in the winter of 1860-1861. As
commander of this body he received the surrender of Castle Pinckney,
and subsequently held himself in readiness to storm Fort Sumter, in
case it had not surrendered after bombardment. Later in the spring,
having failed to procure the incorporation of his regiment into the
army of the Confederate States, and believing there was little chance
of seeing active service in South-Carolina, he transferred himself as
a private into Hampton's Legion, and early in the summer accompanied
that corps into Virginia. A few days afterward he was recalled to the
service of his native State by an unsolicited election as Colonel of
the 12th Regiment of North-Carolina Volunteers, now the 22d Regiment
of North-Carolina Troops. It had been Colonel Pettigrew's earnest
wish to become connected with the North-Carolina army, and so he at
once accepted the honorable position, and repaired to Raleigh where
his regiment was stationed in its camp of instruction. He devoted his
attention to its discipline with great assiduity, and in the early
days of August was ordered into Virginia. The fall and winter of 1861
were spent by him near Evansport, upon the Potomac. He gave his whole
time and attention to the perfecting of his regiment, in the duties of
soldiers. He fully shared in every hardship that was incident to their
situation. In this new position Colonel Pettigrew became conspicuous
for another characteristic necessary to eminent success in every
department, but especially in that of military life. The men under
his command became devotedly attached to him. Their enthusiasm knew
no bounds. Their confidence in his administration of the police of
the camp was perfect, and their assurance of his gallantry and skill
unqualified. He soon felt that he might rely upon his brave men for
all that was possible to soldiers, and his attachment to the regiment
became marked. Being offered promotion to the rank of brigadier, he
declined it on the ground that it would separate him from his regiment.
Some time later in the spring of 1862, an arrangement was made by which
the 12th Regiment was included in the brigade that was tendered to him,
and he no longer felt any difficulty in accepting the promotion.
General Pettigrew shared in the march under General Johnston into the
Peninsula, and afterward in the retreat upon Richmond. On the 1st day
of June, 1862, in the battle of Seven Pines, he was severely wounded
by a ball which passed transversely along the front of his throat and
so into the shoulder, cutting the nerves and muscles which strengthen
the right arm. This occurred in a charge which he had headed with
great gallantry. He was left upon the field for dead, and recovered
his consciousness only to find himself in the hands of the enemy. Some
weeks later his exchange was effected, and, being still an invalid,
he was placed in command at Petersburg. The exigencies of the service
having required his regiment to be transferred to another brigade, he
found, upon his return, that it had been placed under the gallant--and
now, alas! lamented--General Pender. By degrees a new brigade assembled
around General Pettigrew, and such was his pains in its instruction,
and such the desire among the North-Carolina soldiers to make part of
his command, that by the close of the year he was at the head of a
brigade which, in point of quality, numbers, and soldierly bearing,
was equal to any in the army. He commanded this brigade in repelling
the Federal raid into Martin county, late in the fall of 1862, and
again in General Foster's expedition against Goldsboro, in December,
1862, and although the quick dexterity of the enemy in falling back did
upon neither occasion afford him and his associates an opportunity of
trying conclusions with them, yet upon both occasions the magnificent
appearance of Pettigrew's Brigade tended greatly to revive the spirit
of a community recently overrun by the enemy. He was also with
General D.H. Hill during the spring of this year, in his attempt upon
Washington in this State; and in the very brilliant affair at Blount's
Creek gave the public a taste of what might be expected from his
abilities when untrammeled by the orders of a superior.
At the time of General Stoneman's raid on the north of Richmond,
General Pettigrew was ordered to the protection of that city, and
shortly afterward took position at Hanover Junction. His brigade
subsequently made part of the Army of Northern Virginia, and
accompanied General Lee into Pennsylvania. At the battle of Gettysburgh
he was in command of General Heth's division, and won many laurels. His
division was greatly cut up. The loss of his brigade in killed and
wounded was so heavy as almost to destroy its organization. He himself
was wounded by a ball which broke one of the bones of his hand. He
regarded it so little as not to leave the field. Moving afterward with
General Lee to Hagerstown and the Potomac, it devolved upon General
Pettigrew, on the night of the 13th and the morning of the 14th of
July, to assist in guarding the passage of that part of the army which
recrossed at Falling Water. About nine o'clock in the morning of the
latter day, having been in the saddle all night, General Pettigrew and
other officers had thrown themselves upon the ground for a few moments'
rest, when a party of Federal cavalry rode into their midst. In the
_mêlée_ which ensued General Pettigrew was shot--the ball taking effect
in the abdomen and passing through his body. When the enemy had been
repulsed, he was taken up by his sorrowing soldiers and carried across
the river some seven miles into Virginia, along the track of the army.
Upon the next day he was carried some fifteen miles further, to the
house of Mr. Boyd at Bunker Hill, where he received every attention of
which his situation allowed. Upon General Lee's expressing great sorrow
for the calamity, he said that his fate was no other than one might
reasonably anticipate upon entering the army, and that he was perfectly
willing to die for his country. To the Rev. Mr. Wilmer he avowed a firm
persuasion of the truths of the Christian religion, and said that in
accordance with his belief he had some years before made preparations
for death, adding, that otherwise he would not have entered the army.
He lingered until the 17th, and then at twenty-five minutes after six
in the morning, died, quietly and without pain. The expression of
sympathy for his sad fate was universal. Private soldiers from other
commands and distant States, vied with his own in repeated inquiries
after his condition. Upon its way to Raleigh his body was received
by the authorities and by the citizens everywhere with all possible
respect and attention. On the morning of Friday, the 24th of July, the
coffin, wrapped in the flag of the country, and adorned with wreaths
of flowers and other tributes of feminine taste and tenderness, lay
in the rotunda of the Capitol, where, within the year, had preceded
him his compatriots Branch and Anderson. Later in the day the State
received his loved and honored remains into her bosom.
It was a matter of great gratification to North-Carolina when this
son, after an absence of a few years, gladly returned to her service.
She views his career in arms with a just pride. She will ever reckon
him among the most precious of her jewels; and will hold him forth as
the fittest of all exemplars to the coming generations of her young
heroes. Chief among his triumphs will it be reckoned that in the midst
of his elevation and of the high hopes which possessed his soul, he so
demeaned himself as to secure a place, hallowed by grief, in many an
humble heart throughout North-Carolina. His name is to be pronounced
reverently and with tears by the winter fireside of many a hut; and
curious childhood will beg to have often repeated the rude stories in
which soldiers shall celebrate his generosity, his impartiality, his
courtesy, and his daring. It is true that many eyes which flashed with
enthusiasm as their favorite urged his gray horse into the thick of the
battle, are forever dull upon the fatal hills of Pennsylvania; but this
will render his memory only the more dear to the survivors; what of his
fame was not theirs originally, they will claim to have inherited, from
the dead around Gettysburgh.
If this story has been properly told, little remains to be said by
way of comment. A young man of very rare accomplishments and energy,
fitted equally for the cloister of the scholar and for the field of
battle, has been snatched from our midst. Admirably qualified to be
of assistance to the country as a soldier or as a statesman, General
Pettigrew has been suddenly removed at the very commencement, as it
were, of his career.
_Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, neque ultra
Esse sinent._
Although what he has achieved is sufficient for fame, that which
impresses the observer most forcibly is that such vast preparation
should, in the course of Providence, be defeated of an opportunity
for display at all commensurate with what seemed its reasonable
requirements. Under the circumstances his death looks like a prodigious
waste of material. It adds a striking illustration to that class of
subjects which has always been popular in poetry, and in morals whether
heathen or Christian. It appears very clearly that the Ruler of all
things is under no necessity to employ rare talents and acquirements
in the course of His awful administration, but in the crisis of great
affairs can lay aside a Pettigrew with as little concern as any other
instrument, even the meanest.
Upon some fitting occasion no doubt his friends will see that the
public is furnished with a more suitable and detailed account of the
preparation he had made to do high service to his generation. It will
then be better known that no vulgar career of ambition, and no ordinary
benefit to his country, had presented itself to him as worthy of the
aims and endowments of James Johnston Pettigrew.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina" ***
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