The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1866-11-24
Misffllaiteons.
The Battlo-Fields ofseven Pines and
Fair Oaks-..The Cemetery.

The following letter from Richmond to the
New York Jimes. vii! he read with interest by
hundreds ~ families Who's hopes lie buried 10
trs loealiiirs vhich II describes
Two days ago, With the gladstone beams Of
tue october sun dancing among the pines and
me l"fs dTraunes- al IN october dAy Atout Us
parry OF tour aadc q tour Of the batile-6clds Of
seven Pines aSd Fair Oaks. A, respective de.
innCes ~ seSsa srd nine miles from the eitv
these haiiie-helds are more ifeQuentlv visited Is
the Vi,itUrs 10 Richmond than any other Of tLs
numerous s,Vnes o. by.gone deadly slris. that en-
eOmpnss the Citv, because more accessible So
lar - Se'tn fiGes ana Fair oA.s arc concerned
TIE 1olsii nHds little 10 reward him for his jol;-
ng oseF the horrible roads leading FROM the citv
to The hrlds, which the armies reduced 10 moth
ing more than series OF rru and which have
never teen repaired. Gong out On what is cali
ed Tue NiHr-iuile road. At about six miles from
the CIV the outer iue Of the deienres a. Rich
mOnd Is reached and here the sight-seer had
test make his longest pause for here the band
oi war has teen laid 50 heavily upon the earth
that the impress o. the s,roak will lAst for wears
This defensive line is probably the Longest and
most elaborate ever constructed for field defence.
beginning on the James River, II sweeps around
the city a. an average distance OF sx miles from
u. until u touches the North Anna far 10 the
norihward. Up and down the hillocks run the
great trenches clasping between them on every
summit 4 bastioncd fort, whose huge sides Of
yellow earth are landmarks FOR miles in their
front. Thvfc Is a newness OF appearance about
these works that Is remarkable. when the fact is
considered that the rains ola quarieiie Of years
have beaten upon them. hut the TACT is partly ex.
plainrd by considering the care aud skill with
which they were originally constructed. and by
remembering that they never icit the shock OF
hattie, for they have all been built since tha,
disastrous Spring. when, from the marshes Of the
Chckahominy. Mcclellan was tndeavoring 10
reach out his hand 10 take Richmond by tue
throat. But, though upstained by blood there
they stand to-day, most impressive memorials of
the gigantic dimensions our civil war assumed
aud oi the skill, fortiiudc and energy with which
il Was wagel
Standing y, the for, on this line, which
'roH ns prlnly upon the approaches TO the Nine
mllr road. down in the front, "a mile away, a
group ~ isolated oaks, Irenching upon the edge
- pune woods can be observed. These are the
Fair Oaks. aud they are passing fair to the eye.
N that wilderness q pines and dwarf growth
briwrrn these oaks and pines aud the liue Of
works where Lees ines then were, is open
groubd-once cultivated fields now abandoned
WASTES. save here and there patch Of corn-Geld
Ia the pine forest 10 the right Of the Oaks, Casey
was encsmped that terrible day when the enemy
pouncrd upon him. and converted the piuery In
To shamhle. There are few traces Of the sirug-
gle visible now Scruicnixe closely, and the
trees can be seen TO be marked with bullets here
aud there one shattered with n cannon ball Of
inierva open graves, from which the dead have
been removed to other sepulchers aud these are
all. have seen bAitle-felds while the battle
ragged, have traversed them rs soon as IL ceased,
and mus; cay that VI then they were exciting,
AT -four years After that battle ihey are more
sgTerablr places of resort or the torn and man.
Rled forms OF men and beasts. and the hardly
irss sorrowful suggestive deLris Of armies that
then alway Cumhers and airighu mother earth,
there IL here At Fair Oaks not trace. The dead
have been buried or have mouldered out ofsight;
the wounded have been carried AWAY TO get well
or die the broken muskeis. the blankets, can
teens and other articles that fall from the nerve
less soldier the bullet strikes him, have ell been
carried of by tourists or utilized by the people Of
the surrounding country Fair Oaks 10 to-day
then, nothing but n solitude, holding yet be-
meath iis @som the mouldering bones Of many
Of he victims, but bearing on lie face hardly q
scar Of the terrible strife that so hacked and
mAnglsd IL four years ago
SouIhwardly and cAsiwardiy two miles from
the grove Of oaks touching the edge Of that
horrible corduroy road. called 10 irony the viii
iiamshurg Jike At precisely seven miles from
Richmond. 10 the beginning Of heavy pine for |
rsl hcoce the nHmys Of Seven pinss, suggested
by the distance ffom the city and not descriptive
ofihe number ~ trees, for they arc almost as
sands on the sea-fhore, sweeIing over a great
breadth of ground down 10 the Chickahominy
aud over the hArren hills beyond. The ground |
know - seven pines bean no impress Of the
isrFihlr srrnes onee enacted upon u than does
Fair Oaks. snd the two fields are so contiguous |
~ 10 he blended 10 ono a. the battles were %
in time that only the peu OF critical
history eau draw the line between them. Our
arcounis. Indeed, II ] remember tightly, class /,
them as one. under the name Of Seven Pines /
but the confederaies seem 10 consider them two |
sr,araie and distinct actions and have ehriseued
them Fair Oaks and Seven Pines.
itmA,iers little whether one or two, there iies |
the ground to-day seven miles away from this |
populous city, aud Il 10 = wilderness aud = sol |
iude know not whether before the war u |
bore the sane aspect or not but as Il looks now
Il does not require lively imagination 10 con- |
slider the curse Of the shedder ofbiood is upon.-
On very few acres Of the entire breadth has the |
plow followed in the track Of havoc, and where |
Il has, the vegetation is stunied and has sickly
appearance. The pines seem murmuFlng an
everlasting Fequium the few Of human klnd
ever TO he seen about the place we're dfieeled
look, IN short, the whole scene brtngs wildly |
20 mind that painting OF desolation, hooss
Haunted House
No, the least eorrowfui Of the inspirations Of
seven Pines Il one Of thcse cemeteFies With which
the Government is dliIasing, might almost cay |
dssscra,Ing, all The baiils.6slds Of ths ver.-
ThFps asEis n nrnnnd hafa he,n nRFehaH'a a.