The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1866-08-18

MfHFf w W#fF H8HNH FA#FNW II wv
|afeI. flpHeHI NJ aasIahH ofllsfad
ne n arrest ffly " m#e NJ lhs Hlt~s
prominent eiIlfths AHd pHl Them
Illl'IsF guard had affssisd eIoui
Ibfly, whaH NJ Aehf M me And mld
|htie shs no lime u he lerl ihs
Igwr Hasi 10 bhfuasI It NAs Atgy |
1T Il ~ HftoHhi n ihe wsHth and
but Il iHuat " doHe H.
uheek lIle burning N private pfup.
efiy II Virginia. hnd they bad none
10 blame fr 4 hut tIencfaI Hunter
and their own pres Ivf exioIIlnf such |
hendIah Aeis n Vandalism. ITe |
then of'IefeI me 10 hfe Tho iuwn, and
showed me General fafly's order n |
that effect. Deeply feprcttInR that |
such 4 task should f,II upon me, | |
had only 10 eIcy. | then directed
my men 10 fire the town, bat be
Kind 10 The wompn and children, and
lend all The assistance In their puwer.
While could remain In the streets,
| did nothing but assist Che people,
and see that no cxccsses were COM
mlttcd. Several times | received
pcrcmptory orders 10 make a thor
ough work Of II, and waa especially
directed 10 destroy all fine dwellings.
When the town was no longer
tenable, | took two men with mo 70
fire a fine brick dwelling beautifully
situated on an cmInence northwest Of
the town. Dismounting, l went In
and told tho lady who came 10 the
door that | was there to perform the
extremely unpleasant duty Of burn
Ing her house.. which much regret
ted; that we were Obliged to resort
to such extreme measures In order to
prevent or check the terrible devas-
tation committed BY such men as
General Hunter. Itold her that the
people Of that town had seen us
twice before, and that all had spoken
in the highest terms Of our behavior,
saying that our soldiers behaved bet
ter than their own. She was weep
ing, evidently much distressed, but
she acknowledged the Justice Of my
remarks, and declared that she
blamed none but the administration
for allowing such horrible acts Of
cruelty to go unpunished. She was
in deep distress, and shed many Bit
ter tears; did not beg 70 spare her
house; onlyaasked time to remove
some articles Of value or clothing.
This was readily granted. Breakfast
was onfthe table, and she asked me
to ct something while she was get
ting her things together. Being hun
CRY ! accepted the invitation, and
drank a glass OF wine before sitting
down. | delayed as much as posi-
bic, in order TO afford her more
time, and when | arose from the
table had q hall mind to disobey
orders in regard to this house. She
then came IN and entered into con-
versation. ! asked the name Of her
husband. She replied, "Col. Boyd,
Of the Union army" "Whatl Col.
Boyd, Of the lst New York Caval-
ry?" "Ihe same, SIR" Then, madam,
your house shall not be destroyed. "
1 now understand why she had
not pleaded for i. The reader will
recollect that this officer has been
already mentioned as operating in
the Valley. lie had ever been kind
and lenlent to the citizens, men,
women, and children, warring only
against men in arms. The fact Of
her being the wife Of Colonel Boyd
decided me at once. / told her thai
l knew her husband, and had fought
against him for two years in the Val
ley Of Virginia; that he gained q
reputation among the citizens foI
kindness and gentlemanly conduct
that while we were there for the pur.
pose Of Furnishing vandalism, W,
were ready and anxious to repay act,
of kindness done TO our people, who
when unprotected, had been exposed
oy the fortunes Of war, to the mere,
ana narsn treatment Oh our Toes.
.o'o ner !aa' ner mouse should not D
purned, p'ame Ior II VINO would, sn'
ina. ! wou'u =, ,eave guard TOT ne
profession until al were gone. Sh'
seemed % oesomPiesely overwh1ed
y 'noqgn sne a'd not comprenen'
wn.' ! SAID nut when assured he
aln Una! neither her house nor any
I 'n'ns .Ia' peelonsed to ner should .
a'o's sI ~ Se. esusuoe knew .
~ ~sounus; 40 'ne p'eke~ near py u
nouse s sne ai'e1watas sent baskets 9
n,ce easap'es' 40, Gomez, ana as mue
wine - tney desired.