Daily national Republican., 1865-04-27

The crown OF martyrdom, aud DER
The witness Of his life there glows
The lurid grandeur Of Its close,
10 light the ages eycrmore.
AREMINIsoENcH OF TIE EVACUATION
AZ the events OF that dreadful Monday
aprnlng Of April 90 recede from us up
~ the tide Of time, circumstances tina
Terc then swallowed up and lost sight o
10 the Papdemonlum stand out most prom
neutly upon the minds vision. Il WA
tstween the hours Of aud z O'Clock, A
Y. The Government hsd gone-crossed
ike turb'd wsters OF the jana, never n
ee urn sgain-And the city OF Richemnd
cps no more the capital OF the South err
'ypnfederScy. The bridges and river side
q the city were IN fames, and the fire
struek by q southeast breeze, swept To-
wards Maine street, leapIng from huOse 10
apuse aud block TO block. The inces.
-aut noise OF exploding shells from the
srsenals snd magazines, and the crash oi
Falling walls, went up on every side,
ehlle the lurid smoke, ashes and red.hoi
FLINDERS rolled down into the adjacent
streets, envelopiUg the thousands who
hllrd them, some hurryiI 4 to and fro with
pitful relics Of their house, oIds goods
'pthers, and by far the greater number
tnient on pluDder. The sun rose red and
|tDurd, and hang amid the lurid smoke
and glare Of the 14mo Ike a great beacon
W woe, or the awful unlashed eye OF aD
gvenRing Deity. Men we'e not excited
hut stunned, and stood dumb apparently,
estchirg with vacant stare the rolling SBo
|Hnrgir Z Of the sea Of Ore, that was tapping
Ipp Win tongues Of fame their conserrH.
I'D homes audsweeping away the accu-
'bulAied comforts and toll Of years
snme wep: silently ike children, and
erurg their hands like women. Remorse
Iess hAme! what cared It for tenrs2 Il
{Issped for very JOYS 1t lespoi aud dane q
'hpou the house r6ot; It shot up In great
.py ramids, and curled up and nesting down
;bn the cbSmb.r,-
Ever In q new place
Lifting It's hery face.
AT about b O'clnck, The cOnhagratlon
|yiewed from an elevated petition, fear.
fully reminded the spectator oftbe ancient
paintings representing hell. Whole acre.
were billo~ ed over by flames and sun Ike,
and u great cloud, the smoke OF It's tor
,neut, hung over the ciIy. Verify had thu
t'dty for which all others days were msde'
been actually come, the nnsternation,
Ter or and Hvouy ofthe scene ,culd hardly
have been enhanced. The devil was Ioosed
for bis little season; God seem I'D 70 have e.
lmoyed His providence, and all was Whirl-
|iug u chAus and ruin together. Thieves,
BLACK and white, were abroad by hundreds.
.Retreating In a0Vance of the fire, they
Ibruke open stores, robbed and plundered,
|snd then aided In the spread OF the
~ imes by firing the stores plundered. Few
.sAyed tenth part ofth,ir plunder, aud thai
'plundered by one set oi thieves often fell
into the hands ofanOLher gang orpiIsgers
The CUTTERS and sideWaIks OF Maine etrett
were streWed with silks, SAtins, bonnets,
boots, hats, clothiug, fancy goodA, coz m, l.
les. Men drunk with the quor that wac
70 he had al 10 tuH, flowing In the streets
and decorALn z the sidewalks In bottles
bud casks, etHy gered III der the burden o.
great loads ofsLOlen goods. Men, women,
boys, aud girls, half stiaed with Ihr
smoke that rolled along the street, tug
god, pulled, hauled, aud tusselled" with
one another, all endeavoring to save At
much as possible from the general wreck
and rum impending-not for the owners,
but for themselves. Weak children tugg, d
Rt boxes OF tobacco, rolling them wuen
too heavy, end over end, TO places OF safety
Women grabbed with bar. els of hour,
screeched aud yelled 10 each other for
assistance, but rarely got II unless a
eopartnership Of spOils was agreed upon
Carts, drays and wheelbarrows were H.
tue continuous train up town, carrying
away the plunder Of the plllsgers. No
law, no police, there was NO one TO stop
The Wholesale pluudering and transfer OI
goods. Rights In property were wiped
ouii no man owned anything. And II was
wonderful To witness the apathy OF owners
Men who were threatened with the greatest
loss, seemed the least concerned, aud the
least disposed 10 save their stock. The,
stood like blocks and saw their wealth
scattered to the four winds, parted among
thisves, scattered and trHmpled In the
street. Some few had realizing seLs0 o
the sitr alton, and exerted themselves TO
saTo what they could.
When the red demon OF hre had grazed
up 70 Main street, and leaped upon one
Of the dne large buildings near 18TH street,
the owner and occupant, who was standng
Il the crowd Of pillageIs and spectators,
wrung his hands aud exclaimed, "0r,
just look therel Its going TO burn up my
house, aud everything l'ye got in the world.
i have worked hard twenty-five years aud
cheaIei nobody, and now I'm going 10 be
robbed Of II all in q moment. On God,
|lt Is too hard" Then As the flames envUl-
|oped the roof, and glared out OF the win
dove, Il seemed too much for the poor
man, There goes 1ye hundred thousand
dollars TO h-ll aud hAv'ut got ono dollar
lin my pocket" Then turning to the
crowd he continued, his tears and tue
an ke combined sitting his utterance,
I"Go IN boys, go in. III give you u gold
|dolar for every piece Of goods you save. 1"
he pillaysrs went IN, but aL that moment
the roof fell in, and store aud stock was
ruin.
The conhagrStion was about Its height
when the van OF the Union army OF oaupl
tion entered the city In gallop by way Of
Naine street. Their blue uniforms aud
the cavalry markers they carried were de-
scribod Tor some distance down Main
street, and, as they came up al full speed,
The crowds Of citizens that hlled the street
could be seen swsying back and forth hkea
forest touched by a tornado.
At the corner Of Maine and Governor