The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1869-07-22
BARBARA fREiIChiE.


In his address before the Grand Army ul
the Republic, when they put flowers on the
graves OF the dead of the Federal army ii
Arlington, Hon. 5. j. Fisher. Commissioner
of Patents, alluded to the iay" As = The nag
which Barbara Freitchie waved" If the
'' flag has no more substantial claim than
this. then is the flag in a bad way, and had
best, to borrow Mr.. Greeley poetry, he to.i.
down as a - Haunting lie Barbara treitcll-
lie never had any flag 10 wave Below will Dc
found what Mr. Whittier SAYS of Barbara
Freitche. with the real facts" between the
stanzas. After nalrating the march of ,hn
Confederate army into the Civ ii Frederick
the poet says:
tp rose Barbara Freitrhc then.
Bowed with her iore-Score YEATS aud Ten.
She didn't rise up al all. She remained III
bed, where for four months she had been con.
fined with what she called ian orful lhcu-
matiZ in her bones, OF which she died soon
after Indeed, the old woman didn't know
that the Confederate army had passed
through AT all till after they had gone
Continues the poet:
Brayest of all in Frederick town.
She took up the Nag the men hauled down
In her attic-winlow the -tait she set,
TO show that one heart was loyal yet
Being in bed asleep, suffering from rheu-
matism, not having left her mattress since
her last ''spell, never leaving it till carried
to her grave. no men having "hauled down
any flag, there being, too, no flag in her
house, which, likewise, had no ''attc-win III
dow" but only hole in the roof, and th,
lumber-room itself being approached only
by q ladder, which had been removed TIL,
conspicuous eNactneSs otthe verses is obvious
But listen to Mr.. Whittier:
Up the street came the rebel tread,
StoneWall jackson riding ahead
Under his ,louchel hat len and rgln
Tie glanced; the old Nag met lis sight
Halt" the dust brown ranks stood !tt
Fire" out blazcd the rifle blast.
1t -hiyered the window pane and sash
1t rent the banner with seam and gasli,
Quick as it fell from the broken stall
Dame Barbara Snatelltd the -ilkcn SCEli.
She leaned lar out The window-;il
And shook it forth with 4 rUyAl will
shoot, il You must, this old grey heat
But spare your collntry's 1ag," sl, said
"Who touches a hair Of Won erey head
Dies like dog! March on"' be >,tid
The Confederate army passed through
Frederick at 4 O'Clock in the morning No
part of it went by Barbara Freitchie's house
The portion which marched nearest To thar
place WAS tnc corps Oh StOneWall jackson,
and they and he, Al o'clock A. NJ. came
quietly through a street five blocks below the
humble house of Barbara treitchie Every
single incident in the StanZas quoted j. pune
fiction, and very good fiction il j.. Barbara
Freitche, whose bed-ridden state has been
described, was a daughter of a Caspar Frcit-
chic, hanged in the Revolutionary war for be
ing Tory; otherwise, however, the family
always have been and are respectable, worthy
folks, OF German extraction. Her children
still live in Frederick, and are Wel-to-do ami
as well thought Of as are any Of those who
deserted the cause of their section and
favored the invaders of the South The hi,
torical house was a miserable little one story
affair, as has been described which has re
Gently been onc-halt washed away by Hood
the other half being sold by the heirs 10 tn,
corporation, which needed the site To- allow
for necessary enlargement of the banks ut
a creek. Mr.. Whittier is understood to have
been imposed upon by nephew of hi, an
officer on the staff of 4 Federal general, WHO
had a prolific imagination, only inferior -
that of the poet himself. Such are the fact
in the case of Barbara Frcitchic, asrertanrd
by gentleman who had occasion to visit
Frederick within fortnight, World