Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-06-26
THE RAID ON COMBAIIEE.

The picture drawn Is startling, and although
painted in plain, unvarnshcd terms, presents
facts Of very grave nature and import:
At o'clock | was awakened in my bed by
the driver, who rushed prccipitately into my
room, and informed me that two OF the enc
my's steamers were in full sight, and would
soon hc opposite tn my landing. | arose haStl-
". went upon the portico Of the house, and,
sure enough, there woe the two steamers
one quite small and the other very large.
cruw.led with armed men in dark unlturmS.-
1t seemed 10 ne that also saw women seated
in chairs upon the upper deck Of the large
steamer. surveying with. curiosity the bcautI-
full and peaceful scene that lay stretched before
them.
Upon pcrcciving that the smaller steamer
was steering for my landing, | ordered the
driver to bring the people to me, as they had
come from the fields, and were gathering at the
settlement. Finding that the negroes did not
come 10 n,c from the settlement, us | had Or
lerel, I-,mmedatolv went there, found them
all about their houses. and seeing that the
enemy had now lin'icd about twenty negroes
under the leadership Of one white man, | or
dcrcd them To follow me and take to the woods,
which form Il deep forest near my house.
They all pruIr>>cd willingness t' ii" 81. but
not unc made Il sign Of moving. As | ha'l
not Il sinmlc arm Of defence about my per
son. | waS forced to fly IL the wu"CS iur rrotcc-
ton.
took refuge in it, and determined t" watch,
as far aS could, the operations OF the enemy.
They came up To my house, and in 4 very short
time it WIS scr on fire. lnukcd towards Mr..
Kirkland'S place, and soon perceived the smoke
risin. from the direction nf his residence
Presently the mill. uvcrsccr'S house and stables
on his place ais" tl!c thrrShing mill and barns
r,on nv own place. rs well is those upon Mr..
L,wndc> and Col. lIaywari'S, were burning
almost simultaneously. The negroes, men AMI
women. were rushing To the boat with their
children, now and then greeting some one
whom they recognized among the uniformed
NEGROES. and who were probably former runa-
WAYS from the various plantations in the
ncirllmrhon1. The negroes seemed t" hc
utterly transformed, drunk with excite
mcnt and capable or the widest cXcc>scs.--
The roaring of the flames, the barbarnu- howl>
of the negroes, the blowing of horns, the cEiarSh
steam whistle. and the towering columns oi
smoke from every quarter, mad" IN impression
on nv mind which can never be cFac",l.--
Here | thought to myself, i Il repetition Of
San Domingo Remaining about five hours
in the woods. concluded 10 steal towards my
own burning house. and ascertain the amount
of destruction. | approached cautiously, aS
the small steamboat had hot yet left my land
ing, and could still see the negroes carrying
from INV burning barn bags of rice upon their
heads. in raril movement towards the steam
boat. At eleven o'clock the steamer moved
loI, h,r tnt Tnr h,urs
and WAS left alone to survey with fearful
eyes the wide scene of dcsolltiun around me.
Nv pleasant and comfortable house WAS in
ashes. My library, containing over thlrty-hvGG
hundred volumes, in the collection of which |
had employed twenty years OF my life; every
memorial nf my past life, and every materlai
object to which my heart still clung' not tor
it's intrinsic value but for the unSpeakablc
associations connected with it-ranlshcd, per-
ishcd in the flames: and this was not done III
n tempest, by the tightening Of Heaven, but
sanctioned by the order of the civilized, phi
lanthropic libcrty-loving Yankee. Besides
l.lT Own lrsrsa ticy burnt ts.Grc 1lc,ru houses,
one of which the driver lived in, my steam
thrashing mill and barn, corn house, Kitchen,
and store room, mule stable and some SIX
thousand bushels of rice. ThcyaIso carried of
scvcnty-thrcc negroes and three mules. What
contributed most to my modification, was that
in my whole gang of slaves, among whom
there were any amount of -tarnnS, AbrahamS.
[saacs and jacobs. there was not one AhdIcl
MOT onc remained loyal To the rebel. They
left an old woman who hal been bcdrr!dcn l1r
il wear. and whose house was next to the dr-
vcr's house that had been burnt. went into
her house and found her naked in her bed.
Strirt of her clothing. abandoned by hcr' chill
,lrcn and grandchildren. She has since died.
This is an instance of abolition humanity
They all left me, saints and sinners. and Moth
ing remains to testify of their former presence
but the furnishing cats and dogs, who, in
coming around me. seem to demand by their
anxious expressions the sense and meaning Of
their present loneliness. The pcgroes were
not all0wcd"bv their sympathzlng friends to
carry off any of their clothing, except what
they wore on their backs not Il pot nor a
kettle: and there was left at. the landing a
strange mrdly of clothes, pots and kettles, has
kcts. bolts of cloth, hats and shoes, together
with the familiar faces of many articles which
had miraculously disappeared from the prrmi-
SOS wears AFRO. and Of wllpsc mysterious disap-
ncarancc no ineligible explanation had ever
been given. There was enough prog to fill
ten wagons. They have all gone. and cx-
pcct by this time realize the meaning of that
other abstraction. liberty and the rights OF
man. think old Pompry will miss his gar
den and his favoritc vegetables: old Janus
will no longer captivatc his admirnS audience
bv Interpretations from the Bible; and old
driver George will find his occupation gone.
have no doubt. if ever I should sec that
':genus infdum' again. shall find them Il
wiser and a saddcr people. The boon of lib
crtv they will discover, tn their cost, does not
comprise clothing. comfortable houses, kind
treatment and medical attendance, but to them
is misery, privation, hunger and chccrlcss
death.
The question now is could this raid have
been prevented? rthink so. Had Jcit0rd 5
squadron been stationed here. | think, though
profess to be no Judge in military matters,
the enemy could have been intercepted. They
had been posted here for eighteen months,
knew every fat and by-path Of the country.
all the plantations, and. by 4 proper disposal
of n few men upon each place. might have
checked theirpr0grcss. The squadron under the
command of Maj Manuel had been recently
transferred to this country. which they did not
know, from acountry with which they were per-
frctly familiar. They were entirely Ignorant
Of the localities, and though no doubt willing
to render assistance, were unable to do so, from
their want of familiarity with this region. One
or two cannon ut Tar Bluff. feel confident,
would have arrested the progress of the stcam-
boats. and had the fort ut Combahcc Ferry re-
tanned the cannon which now rcposc at Green
Pond, it might have done them some damage.
But in these matters, | say, | am no judge.
and these are my small opinions: besides, |
am in no mood for impartial criticism. 1t is
merely my desire to give Il simple and snccinct
account Of what saw and suffered. This is
an act commanded and sanctioned by the best
of all possible governmcnts-ycS, best: indeed
in the estimation of the innumcrablc Rev. DR..
Panglosscs that swarm over the North. To talk
of reconstruction is about as sensible rs to at-
tempt the reconstruction Of the Tower Of Ba-
bel, or the rebuilding of the Temple OF Jcru-
salem.