The daily clarion. [volume] (Meridian, Miss.) 1863-1866, 1865-12-01
NUMBER III.

tending the war; with sergeant aud ten
men: the sight was both ridiculous and
distressing However, he captrred the
cars, and we shipped our stores aud NOV
ed off to Charlotte about the Zoth OF
April. arriving in the afternoon, amid
cheers and waving of handkerchieis.
We rested there about week, and act
ually began to assume the form and APP
pearance of a government, There was IL
Presidents office and a War Department,
with adj its bureaus. and Treasury. Bat
there was little use Tor the State and Post
Office Departments and when we LETT, the
Attorney General was abandoned as use
less baggage.
Duke and Vaughn had arrived from
Western Virginia. and a part OF Wheel
er's commaud-about iiVeor SIX thousand
men, all told.
Charlotte was the birth place Of Ameri-
can Independence, the first ordinance of
secession from England having been pass
ed there in 1875, a year before the general
declaration. By singular coulcdence,
it is also the place where American liberty
continued, say for right there secession
died The Confederate Government re-
ceived its mortal stroSe at Dauvtlle, the
consequences were perceived at Greens-
boro', and took final effect al Chario te;
for 1t was in Charlotte that Jetfel -on
Davis ratified the Shermautand Johnson
treaty which President Johnson repudl-
ated | saw Mr.. DAVIS that evening
when he had yilded his last hope-anI
there was no hing of the ludicrous
mingled with the gloom of that scene
He was sitting with his eyes fixed on the
pages of pamphlet, aud his mind appar-
entity far away. Those that were present
moved on tip toe, spoke seldom and with
mutlied voices. There was a shadow
IN that room that RembTaut could not
paint, The spirit of the young Conieder-
acy was now min Cling with the shades OF
Greece, Rome and Carthage but the body
still remained, and the vultures were mar
rowing .heir great circles and swooping
low.
The ubiquitous Breckinridge came up,
and we moved on, with all this cavalry as
escort, on the Goth, crossed the Catawba
on flying bridge, and swept rapidly
through South Carolina to Washington,
Georgia, pic nicing in tho groves ct That
beautiful town on the lst OF. May. Tren-
holm, George Davis and Cooper, and near
ly all the Virginians aud North Carols
mans had fallen off at Charlotte; but
the final dissolution of the clements COM
posing the body of the Confederate Gov
eminent took place at Washington, on
the ID day of May, just one month from
the evacuation Of Richmoud-the most
eventful month that the history OF the
world can show.
Before reaching Washington it became
manifest that the escort was becoming
demoralized by the amount of specie with
| the train, some of them openly declaring
that IF the Yankees charged them they
would charge the specie In fact, they
did make a rush on it near the Savannah
River, and captured about $4,000. but
when some OF the captors learned that ID
| belonged to the banks, and not the Gov
eminent. 100000 was returned. The
Government gold was divided among
them at Washington. and they wee dis.
handed except Dukes and Williams
Kentucky brigades, which set forth on
the 3D.. with the intention of crossing the
| MississiJ pi i understand they made one
days march, and fud.ng Yankees TO
the right OF them-Yankees 10 the left OF
| them" and toward tho other thirty
points of the compass, these gallant splr-
| it's Welded to the force of circumstances
and the United States.
Mr.. Davis disappeared some time on
| the 2nd, almost alone, and l. never saw
him again. | remember wondering that
he shook hands with those who saw him
every day and expected To continue do
ing so. and that his eyes moistened as
he did so. Here Breckenridge began to
take care of himself, and every knows
how well he succeeded. Throughout the
whole retreat he was far in the rear, bear
ing on his single shoulders the whole
weight Of the falling empire.
He never crossed bridge or ford till
its safety or practicabiIIty was tested by
every one of the rest of the party.
1t is to be hoped that America will not
forever lose that mans services, The
government being entirely dissolved, your
narrator rode from Washington TO Au-
gusta; thence down the Savannah river,
md out by the ocean, from the land oil
shadows, into the world again, after four
, years absence,
The above is written solely from mem
; ory. without any kind of aidenemorie; but
. believe it to be a correct outline of tins
, ever-memorable journey. cannot claim
psrfect accuracy as to the intermediate
dates, and would be oblidged 20 any body
( thot will correct them. The events o
} that month are enough to fiji volume
! of history, and they should be recorded
, bv some ADLER and better informed than
AsPIRATE.
"