The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1863-12-22

Corls and ihe 81 Diylsen a. the 9Th
Corp. halted 90 sunday. le 29ta. l3
miles from Orange Coari House, Cor
ibe night. aad improved tl,e oppsr-
iuais, 10 visit loe house which
ssos.d ia fal raee Of ihr euemy's
eans. ara eyr whose lonely roof ihe
,id .hat IHnnei aad lhr ugly she'll
creached = they tore tIrough lhea
on iher efrnds q desih pon
Knocking al ,hr door d DE gloomy
habuaiign, aich had i deserted ap.
peatance VAS net by a trembling
youth Of fifteen years, who slaod mo.
iionlyss and pale as ei',si at 'he side
oi terrified aud weeping group 81
children. Entrriag he door found
d clean and titfy, Def comioriless and
poverty.stricken apartment, whose fur
niiure consisted ol an ancient loom
dapped ia eolwebs and covered with
dust, SPEAKING picture Of the sad
changes Of war, whose harsh tones had
slencrd ihe hum Of the implement. Of
peace. aad beat the plowslare into the
sharp sword D death. An old bed-tead
covered with clean comiorlers. si-
lent clock which relu.ed 70 tirk, an
old booking glass. half i dozen antique
chairs, whose venerable forms carried
one back 10 The time Of the Pilgrim
Fathers. with q barrel aud aiew pfim-
Tive cooking utensils, completed the
stock Of earthly goods within She
dwelling. One small window OF isur
panes Of glass emitel a feeble, gloo-
my light, too weak 10 penetrate to idl
the corners OF the room. The rough
hewn logs were cemepied wth clay.
Or more properly speaking. ailh Nir-
ginia mud, aud the interior was While
washed.
found the tears conr.iag down he
cheeks Of eight orphans two boys aud
six giils, ranging in age from ike to
twenty-five years. The three young
EST were bare-fooitd, and the eldest
girl informed me that hey had never
worn any shoes. After ! quietel them
as much as possible, Brig Gen. w.
d. Terry, mmandng 81 Division,
9th Corps. came in, and upon behold.
ing the des itute condition, he cry
humanely ordered Capt. Davis, his IT.
lieitnt Provost Marshal. TO place Il
strong guard around the house, and
not allow rail or any portion of tie
property to be disturbed. He gener-
ously detailed seyetaI men u cAop
quantity Of wood for the family, and
our soldiers volunteered todo i freely
when they learned OF the drplorahle
situation Of the family. While sitting
there before the fire which burned
brightly on the opcn hearth, casting
its wierdlike shadows on tEr wall, we
yeniured to ask some questions, a>
usual with Yankees, whose inqui,ilive
bump /. acknowledged TO be consider
able larger than the rest Of the hui
man family.
Not book or newspaper could be
seen, and upon Inquiry we learned
that not one Of the family couId read
or write We asked Ii ~ how they
TO occupy their time, and
were told IN spinning and sewin.,--
Not one OF the family knew what We
meant by the American llag, aud toI
urtil pulled from my pocket a small
almanac, ornamenlcd viii
the Stars and Stripes, had they ever
beheld the emblem Of their country.
The eldest boy, Of itteer, who per-
formed all the hard labor Of the small
farm Of thirty acres, had never seen
locomotive, and did not know what
hmon vas Nhrn asked If thry ever
heard Of a God, they replie he, had
but none could tell where II was.
Meat they lad NOT tasted Of auy kind
for two months. Tea, slice, Guttcr,
rice, sugar, and molass,s ticy had not
tasted for two years. G,ofgr Wash
ingion hey never heard Of until we
informed them. A. the family Lud.
died together in one corner OF the
room. gazing Al the strarse and war-
like group around lhcm. while the ar
tillery hoarsel, boom0d and the mus
kerry along our picket lines rlitled, it
was a mbleagx whose dismal shades
tinted lhe sle,le,l hearts present with
com'as,iin and drep pity. More than
one " Yaadet' eve glistened with tie
moisture ot Tie bfipy ter which un-
noticed stole slowly down from the
windows of tie soul. A tomb like si-
lenre prevailed for a moment or two.
broken only by he sob, OF the terri
fled children and The pea Of the enc
N.Y. cannon.
The mother had b en- deal two
years, and the father had bren con-
scriptrd into the rebel army. where
disease overlook him and laid him ii
his grave. The neAt morning IL day
light We broke camp AID resumed
our march. Before leaving, Gen.
Terry and Capt liller, Qaarternas-
ter of iis division, gaze The family
500 in payment for few split rail,
which oar troops bad burned
a Washington correspondent says
HAT Vermont bri ade. selected by