Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1867-12-10
A Visit to Petersburg.
l[From the Episcopal Meth hodist.]

A Visit to Petersburg. 1a
11@ From the Episcopal Methodist r.
We paid visit to the famous lines around
which the late fearful contest was so long con-
ceotrateds For Is miles earthworks extended.
The eobject Of the Federal army was to get pos
session of.railroads, by which the scanty food Of
Lees army was transported. For this purpose,
Grant had only to continue his lines, from day
to day, as men arrivetto make and man them I
The lines were made before and behind his
troops, and "a railway running between, daily
brought supplies Of all necessaries. he,starv-
ing Confederates could hear the Federal supply
train coming with the regularity of clock to
furnish stheir enemies. AS the Federal lines
extended, the Southern were necessarily ex-
tended parallel with them but as no more
men came to man tie longer lines, they were
finally unde ended At last there was but one
soldier to fifteen PAGES, and: the Federal army
had scarcely an obstacle before Sthem. The
struggle against this fearful odds was the
bravest and most skilltul Known to history
The North ought to be proud Of the people
who did such deeds, We went to see
'the crater" as it is called. 1t Is the fort
under which s,the mine was exploded,
Our readers all remember the horrible story.
Wetraced the mine from the bottom Of the
bill, where its opening was concealed, to the
fort where the ten tons OF powder were ex-
ploded Into the hole it excavated "a column
of Federal soldiers was driven on the afternoon
of the explosion and from that hole niue hun
dred of their bodies we're taken. Five thous
and fell on that terrible day on the narrow field
between the lines, not more than eighty yards
apart This field was covered when l saw it
with cotton. .plants-the dethroned king in the
midst of the ruins of his empire. 1t was mel
ancholy to see the young peach trees that
marked the line Of Confederate entertainments,
where the seed had been thrown by the SOL
diers.4 Alas how few, of those who carelessly
planted those trees, survived the horrors Of
that awful strife4 There is National Gene
terry here We visited it with painful feelings.
Five thousand bodies of Federal soldiers are
decenty buried In it, and with them few OF
the Confederates. Il We were pleased to- see
that the tombstones of the latter were marked,
not for Rebel but for Confederate soldiers,
How sad that these young men from Maine
should have fallen here by the hands Of those
young men from Texas !: W hat awful plaques
of q country are mediocrity 10, high places, and
fanatcism inflow! Y H1't. -.
Petersburg itself is, a, wonder. Since the
siege of Troy, few cities have been SO surround
ed with armies. For years the sound of can
non, by day and night, was perpetual. Bombs
were frequently thrown into the town. The
people lived as in a besieged camp; some had
caves in their yards some resorted to cellars;
the women lived in continual danger OF the
city being taken by storm. The men were all
constantly exposed to death Yet the beautl-
ful little city came out Of the fire. lunhurt, and
the inhabitants arc as serene, and courteous,
and hospitable as ever. 2o.s ~. aaaa4
We extracted some tales of gallantry and
self sacrifice, ibutit isl hard to- get them. These
people are so familiar with heroic deeds. OF
men and women that they seldom mention
the subject. Indeed, it would be very dull to
tell story of daring or endurance to COM
pany, every one of whom, perhaps, could tell
as remarkable a one of himself. l. heard
pretty good .one-nOt of the fighting kind
about. General Lee He was in the cars, going
to Richmond, end had a seataat7the extreme
end. ghstotheEseatswer filled with officers
and soldiers An7Q3d woman OF humble :ap-
pearance, entered at one OF the stations,
and fndipgh net scat, and none having been
efsred her, approachedl4the General lie
immeaiatelysrose and tgave her hisaseat: J" I'm,
fsrinr ff Sf i sests to to &c Mass Robert, but he
calmly said :. .!s,5No, gentlemen, if there was
no seat for theinfrm old woman, there can be
none fol. r. me- The effect. was remarkable
One after another got out Of the car, as it the
seats were too hot to sit on, and the General
and the old lady soon had the cars before them
where to choose. Such stories are better than
tales of blood s1t,is harder to be gentleman
than a soldier, and a great deal better .Of
General Lee himself the most remarkable
thing snot bis military talent; it is very great,
but not perhaps, of the highest order; but the
singular, thing is that during the whole war
he seems never to have said, or uttered or done
anything that was not credita bic to him. AT
ter the most diligent inquisltlon, Northern
slanderers have not been able even to manqfac-
ture q she-s which had cohesiveness enough y TO
|stick to the public mind for a day and the free
gossip of ohis own camp has not produced =: a
single anecdote that could not be tod to MS
honor i He will go down to2hlstorya as person
ally faultless. Now we are, satshed tnaC
Mass Robert hass faults. We worship no
man we do not choose; IN cur own. dlsparaage- az
iment,, ,tofthinkstoo well Of other people. Q but
we do wonder at the perfect selt-domn'on = ,ol
General Lee, and the perfection OF that geat1e,
1nanness which, even inits lower degrees IS Sc
hard to attain. and which is suffering danger
GUS violence I'M this carnival OF &.Vutgarlty
through which we are living. - -.
WAKEFIELD & HALL, t& 9ias fI TGi A}@& =
III ILi- yISoOF