American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1865-04-19
Petersburg After the Evacua-
tien.


make the following extracts:
Entering Petersburg at the poorer
quarter of the town, | first met none
but soldiers of the Ninth Corps, who
were everywhere, and negroes. The
blacks one meets in a newly captur.
ed rebel town are very different be
ings from those who wear the Nation.
al uniform or are employed in non
combatant capacities in the service
of the United States. The latter
fully realize that all men are free
and equal. His carriage is con
slant declaration of independence
He holds his head erect, and walks
Off iauntily about his business or plea
sure, taking his own time and route,
vet never behindhand or ont of the
way when wanted. lie never bows
to any passer, unless it be a personal
acquaintance. With the negro just
released from rebel rule, the contra
ry is the case. He bows obsequi-
ously to every passer, with the old
habits of slavery too strong to be
shaken off in an hour, but with u
lurking smile Of satisfaction on his
face which seems to say that a salute
10 the delivering Yankee is very
different matter from a bow to the OPP
ressingJohnny las even the colored
population learned to call the rebels
before the town had been an hour
in our hands.) The negroes in Pc
tersburg wear motley and outlandish
garments, giving them the most gro
tesque appearance imaginable. They
hang their heads like schoolboys
called up for punishment and sidle
and shuttle in their gait, evidently
because the manner is habitual with
them. The lesson of freedom, how
ever, is quickly learned, and in a
few days they will have acquired
much of the dignity Of manhood, and
carry themselves as citizens and not
as cattle.
Pushing on, with the churches for
a landmark, | soon reached the prin-
cipal,street of the town, AMI found
the white rebel citizens plentiful
enough. All the stores were closed
but around every doorway stood,
groups ofmen ingray clothing, some !
tiges chatting with the Union sold !
iors, who by this time-for it was
now nine o'clock-wcre as as. thick
as bees on every sidewalk, and moreI
frequently standing apart in sullen!
knots, talking only with each other,I
an staring in wonder at the cavalryI
patrols who were constantly gallop-I
ing at full speed through the plvedI
streets on mysterious missions, eachl
man with clatter and Importance!
enougo for whole squadron.
If the anonymous potentate whol
guides the course of fashion wishesj
to get ideas really ingenious and or
ignal in regard to male apparel,I
which shall relieve his inventive pow
ers from further lab r for the next;
five years, let him take an early trip tos
Petersburg, neiore the presence Of com
monplacc Union garments has leayenedl
the lump Surely never since the days.
Of Robinson Crusoe did any human beings
venture to array himself in daylight inf
such guiso rs do nearly every one Of theses
proud Petersburgians, No words can doE
justice TO the grotesqucness Of these men'sI
attire; no pen unskilled in the long obso
lete technical epithets Of the tailorism of:
twenty years ago should ever attempt til
describe it. The extraordinary character!
of the costumes Of some Of the younger!
men, who apparently aspire to be dandies,
is most lauehable. Yet the whole matter
has its mounful side hinted at when somel
citizen gazes sadly at the dusty top boots
ofa Union cavalryman dashing past.wthE
the muttered remark that them woulds
have been worth thousand dollars heres
yesterday" or notes your glance at hisl
own sleazy gray coat, and informs youE
that he paid twelve hundred dollars for i'll
in Richmond. From what observations
Icou ID make during my briefstayin Peters !
burg, | should say rich or poor, has pur-
chased a hat since the secession of South
Carolina-and that at that date most OH
them had been for several months wear
ing out their old ones for the sake Of econ
omy.
The raiment of the negroes is a parody !
amounting to a broad caricature uponI
what is itself supremely grotesque, upon
the dress of their masters. Some of theE
elder colored men are so singularly drapedb
that you expect every moment that the +
one or tw) remaining bnttons will giveE
way and the whole futtering mass of ragsp
and streamers will fly to the winds in con
fusion. The ladies of Petersburg, only u
few of whom ventured out to-day, have
survived the ordea of the rebellion, inb
the manner Of dress, much more success
fully than their lords, Most of them
dress plainly and simply, and very many
in black. 1t has been impossible t. keepE
up with the fashion as to bonnets, and an
questionable bonnet is an absurdty-E
so the fair daughters of Petersburg, with +
femanine tact, have discarded bonnets al J