The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-06-12
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Is the section Of country on the james
river in the vicinity Of Richmond, the trip
BY rail to Petersburg is mainly through 8
barren, unsettled and uninteresting region
Distance twenty-five miles fare one dollar,
and the Government runs but n train q
day each way. A short distance from
Richmond q line of rebel Notifications is
passed, esrthworks and rife pits.
Petersburg is at the head of navigation
on the Appomsttox river, a branch Of the
James. The rebels IN their retreat burned
the bridges, and fragments of a locomotive
sndtrsin in the river show 8 determination
to prevent pursuit by steam. Some Of the
large tobacco and other warehouses on the
river we're also burned, as well IS the de-
Dot of the Weldon railrOsd. The rebels,
however, when compelledto yield thecity,
left no such extensive track of desolatlon
as at Richmond.
Petersburg ranks as the second city in
Virginia in sizs, was the hot-bed of seces-
sion. and bears many marks of Yankee
siege and shell. Our brave boys advanced
their works so near the proud "Cocksee
Cityn that shot and she'll which passed
over the rebel forts plunged into the
town. and many buildings, particularly In
the vicinity of the gas works, were stru'k
from one to three or four times. Shells
make ugly holes in brick walls and in
roofs, and many are still unrePsirsd.- Even
the Jsrrstt House,on n ofthep rincipal hotels,
bears two shot marks, and the steeple ofone
of the Petersburg churches stands awFy
from the crash of . shell through it. In
the suburbs nearest our lines the bank
where the street leads through q ravine is
filed with oven looking holes in which The
inhabitants took shelter when lombard
mens were going on. Cellars and bsse-
ments were also frequently used as places
of refuge, and life in Petersburg was any
thing but q holiday. A feeling of real re-
lief was general when the Yankees came
marching in with the old flag hyirg, and
the negroes describe their demonstrations
| of 10Y as fully equal to the wild exults-
lions in the North on the fall of Richmond
and the surrender of Lee. Petersburg,
under the military rule of General Hart
suf, is the most orderly and quiet of cities.
The people appear to submit eheerfully to
the new order of things, business is reviT-
ing. Northern visitors are focking bere,
coIored schools have been established, and
two loysl daily papers have taken the place
of the former reasonable fighting cocks,
one of them being the "Daily Express
whose rebel editor died ever 30 many times
tin the last ditch" of bloodless bIavsdo.
| The HExpressn still lives, and again ~'rsIlies
round the old fsg.p The HDaily News
has been established since Petersburg be-
/ came q conquered and loyal city. os
There is 8 large negro population IN
Petersburg, who constitute the original
true Union men, women and children.
The change from slavery to freedom has
b~roughtiov u~nspeakAble. The Institutional
marriage and schools are eagerly embraced.
At noon, coming in from a view of the
Notifications, q procession of eolored school
girls wos met with books in hand and hap
piness beaming from dusky faces. In riding
about the city towards evening, negroes
were often seen sitting in or about the
doors of their homes, intent . upon
books, trying hard to master privileges
never accorded to them as slaves. The
emsncipated noE get wages In striking
vice. A woman who had been 8 servant
a tthe Jarrstt House for twenty six years
stated that last year the entire pay give1
her was forty dollars in Confederate
money, with which amount she only
bought 8 pound of sugar and q pound
of soapt Now she gets her six dollars q
month in good ~greenbacks. One of tht
men servants, who formerly worked fol
his board and clothes, his extra pay being
stripes, now receives fifteen dollars q week
His black face wore q look of real ~satisfae
tion as be said he hoped sosn 70 be able Il
buy q snug home for his BOW own wiiS
and children He had two boys employed
in the Jarratt at good wages. The jar
raft House, closed during the hottest of tbt
siege, by the way, is now in enterprisin[
Yankee hsndL well kept and doing well
Terms, four dollars 3 day, in greenbacks
sosp included. Confederate currency i
fiat here as in Richmond, : colored boot
black Indignantly refusing q @C@ for 4
single poIishl "Ameriesn citizens of Al
rican DESCENT in the Old Duminion viii
coon settle the vexed question OF q what j
TO be done with the segro2" SO far a
they are concerned, if let alone" They
will be found "irrepressible enough t
take care of themselves.
Petersburg is nearly surrounded with 6
broad belt of desolatioD, the result Of rebe
war. The Notifications, Confederate AnC
Federal, extend in q continuous line, evel
thirty miles, and their description must b
familiar TO every newspaper reader. II
see and examine can only give a full idsl
of their extent and their Importance
The rebels deliberately erected two
liues of splendid eArthWork defeoses, anC
our brave, determined boys threw up two
and often three lines of similar works il
their front in spite of b~syonets and big
guns. The country worked over is eleva
ted and undulatiDg, and before the Wal
was covered with plantations and frequent
pine groves with an occasional oak iOrest
The soil is light and easily ~e1cavsted, AnC
for some miles in width not a vestige o
buildings and fences is left, and most O
the timber has been cut off for forts
huts and fuel. Far as the eye can reach
esrthworks of every kind are visible, the
whole country appearing to have beer
dug through, and this for a full dsy'sjournsy
In many places, such as Fort Stesdman
Fort Hell, the Crster, sc, where tbs
bloodiest fighting was done, The lines are
within Almcet a stones throw of eacE
other and still bear marks of the terrible
hail of shot and she'll Fort Stesdman il
an earthwOrk in 8 clump of big oaks snd
the trunks and limbs are gsshed and
crashed with rebel missiles. The now
peaceful vale between the works is fs.
voriGe resort of battlefield relic hunters
the narrow space being literally planted
with the iron seed of Mara. From Stead.
man as well as Fort He'll the city Of Pc
tersburg lies within Smelling range, and
from these works and the batteries between
received many scarf as we'll as seaFes. u
The famous Mine, now called by the
rebels the Crater, is another point Of great
interest. 1t is in the midst Of heavy forti,
fcstions stretching IS far as sight on The
right and left, snd has already been so wash.
ed down by rains as to be accessible from