Maryland free press., 1866-07-26

pair of1ofsnsetes from The house. use As passed
Mrs; Meen sitting near tlle tfoor She saw, nn-
der my shortiacket Cue large ragged hole In the
band Of my pants. Soon a;ter heard Il roar of
laughter,s and ssonsc one say. ..fhat Is q funny
place for Major Gilmore to he shot inl'' | felt
very sheepish all the rest OF the evening.
l. Suffering much pain, 4 retired ehrly, telling
them should start before they were up. Willie
ATTENDED mo very faithfully, and, though | did
not sleep much. rose qsiie refreshed intending
TO slip or without disturbing tie family. But
what guest ever left that house without being
iprsyided for? ! found Mrs. Meem already up,
and was told that breakfast would soon be on the
the table, Shewoulk not listen TO my going of
without il; indeed, she tried hard TO dissuade me
from going at all, telling me of the danger of in
famatioh. Had she known the full extent Of the
injury, she would have ordered me TO stay 'at
home,' for such it had always been to Ine, like
my fathers 5 house in Maryland.
| . THE RuRsIxG OF ciIAMBERsBURc.
: After we had break;,sted at the hotel General
McCausland ordered me to arrest fifty or more Of
the most prominent citizens and put them under
guard. had arrested about forty, when he sent
for me and said that there was no time to be lost
the town must be burned; lie way for II on ac-
count of the women and children, hut it must be
done to check the burning of private property In
Virginia, aud they had none 20 blame for it but
General Hunter and their own Press for extoll-
ing such fendish arts Of vandalism, he then or
dered me to fire the town and showed me Cen
eral Early's order to that effect Deeply regret
| ting that such d task should fall upon me had
only to obey then directed my men to fire
the town, but he kind TO the women and child
Ircn and lend them all the assistance in their pow
er. While conld remain in the streets did
nothing but assist the people and see that no cx-
| cesses were committed. Several times | received
peremptory orders to make a thorough work of
| ,kus rill atal IN off G,,n
| dwellings. ...
When the town was no longer tcnnble I took
two men, With me to fire fine brick dwelling
! leautifuly situated on an cnIinence northwest of
the town. DismOnniing, went in and told the
lady who came to the auur that was there 10
perform the extremely unpleasant duty of buri-
| / G her house. which much fegrcttcd that we
were obliged 10 resort TO such extreme measures
in order to prevent or check tie terrible d,vasta
! ton committed by such men as General Hunter
told her that the people of the towu had seen us
twice before, and that all had spoken in the high
est terms of our behavior, saying that our SOL
| diers had behaved better than their own She
was weeping evidently much distressed, but she
acknowledged the justice of my remarks, and de-
clared that she blamed none but the ndministra-
iion for allowing such horril L. acts Of cruelty to
go unpunished. Sic wos in deep distress and
shed many bit or arS; did not beg me TO spare
i her house; only asked time to remove some arti-
|
ted Breakfast was on the table, and she asked
me to eat something while she was getting her
things together. Being hungry | accepted The
the invitation, and drank a glass of wine
before sitting down. 1 delayed as much as pos
siblc, in order TO afford her more time, and when
rose from the table had half mind to diso-
| bcy orders in regard to this house.. She then
came in and entered into conversation. | asked
her the name Other husband. She replied fsCol-
Onrl Boyd of the Union army.' s'What! Colo
mel Boyd, of the lst New York Cavalry" '.The
same, sir.' ''Thcn madam your house shall not
| bo destroyed .,al + .'r. WAS
now I'm lcrstand why she had moi pleaded for
it. Tie reader will rcccolcct that this officer as
been already mentioned as operating in the val
ley. lie had ever been Kind and lenient to the
citizens, men, women and children, warning only
against men i'll arms The fact of her being the
wife Of Colonel Boyd Dc cided me Mt once told
| her that knew her husband, and had fought a.
gainst him for two years in the Valley of Virgin
ialthat he gained The reputation among the citi-
Zens tor Kindness, and eentlenianly conduct; that
| while we were there for the purpose Of punis!iing
vandalism, we were ready and axous TO repay
acts OF Kindness done to our people, who when
unprotected, had bten exposed by the fortunes Of
| war, to the mercy and harsh treatment of O,
foes. told her that her house should not br
burned, blame for 1t who would, and tnat
| would leave guard for her protection till all
were gone. She seemed to be completely over
whelmcd, as though she did not comprehend what
:, ! said; but when assured her again that neither
her house nor any thing that belonged to her
should be molested, her gratitude knew no bounds
To the pickes near by the house she nfterward
sent baskets filled with nice caiablc, hot coffee
and as much wine as they desired
| left guard; and well did, for IN officer
who had been drinking too much came up soon
after and tried to force the guard and burn the
house. ...ly ~
The burning of Chambersburg was an awful
| sight, nor could look ON without deep sorrow
i although had been hardened TO such scenes in
| Virginia At one view had We not with an
gaished tearts, from the mountain top, gazed at
the sky REDEEMED by the burning Of one hundred
and eighteen houses in that once smiling valley,
a small part indeed, In the history of llunter's
ruthless raid; inflicted too, not by ungoyernable
soldiery, but under acoldly calculated mandate
| Who then, taking dispassionate view, will
condemn our government for this act Of righteous
retribution? - Ls.. aj ,yts s.ln ,Nlaf
Hitherto the fires had been applied to the
houses oflmy friends, which reused within me
feelings OF The sternest vengeance; still felt more
like weeping over Chambersburg, although the
people covered me with feproaches, which all
who know, me, will readily believe found hard
to digest; yet my pity was highly excited in be-
half OF these poor unfortunates who were made
suffer for acts perpetrated blythe officers of their
| own government?
The day was bright but intensely hot. The
conflagration seemed to spring from one vast
building. Dense clouds Of smofe rose to the
zenith, and hovercd over the dark plain. At
night II would have been grand but terrible OBJ
ject to behold. How piteous the sight in those
beautiful green mcadows--groups,o of women and
children exposed to the rays Of a burning SUM-
hovering over the few articles they had saved
most OF them wringing their hands, and with wild
gesticulations bemoaning their ruined home.
| -t..-r q -7--+r------s.>----4------' 70 . ID
| Two C0SrEDERArE CELIBRITIEs. o. p.
Fitzgerald, editor Of the San Francisco Christian