The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-08-04

course no danger Of them but on the whoie
| there was very general preparation lor
stampede. Confederate bills. when Wouio
| still buy something on saturday; De,
! came on Sunday afternoon IKE .nosJ
! green leaves which are the clrcuEatioh a,.o
ilegal.tendcr Of the FAIRIES anu .hoa s,r ~" ~
were about to fec the city had TO resort w
J extraordinary means OF providing the,'
| families with something to eat in their ~
scncc. Happy were those who had +" r opn ~
missarv i'm the family or connection ~, ~ -
| thc military stores were all to be DlIneI, ~
was Thought no harm was done IL sonis So. u
rels of flour and flitches OF pacon .,'nro s,,oh
from the fire and sent to houses "t .s s ,os
viands would be appreciated, no .o .nu a "
80, n Io,,SnS we're yictualled rs II for, a
sicpc. Later in the evening mob-work
heSan cSneciaIlv among the negroes, and
i,Isrl mon and women might be seen rolling
f1o,,r barrels along the street from commits
sary stores.
Our house was on Fifth street, at the
corner Of Cary street; large old house,
which had belonged to the Munford family,
on high bank which had been left when
the street was graded; and within hun
dred yards higher up was the house OF
General Moore. All that Sunday evening
there was degree of uncertainty rs to the
realty Ol luc cfit lic"S ahu TC"p.> >
rushing to one anothcr's verandas TO hear
or to tell the latest story. In our house,
besides our own family, dwclt another
houschold-a very usual Arrangement III
those days. They had a visitor, lovely
girl, from one Of the river counties VINO
had, us every one else had, dear lrleluS
and relatives in the army. She ana
her fathers house had suffered, hke
others, many privationS,. ana lily, nat
made sacrifices, thinking it all hShE
matter, in the cause of the independence OF
their old Virginia. She had never, sup
pose, suffered the thought to come near lci
that so many victories, so mucn cnl.aa'' ~
bravery and devotion Wollla Goilo w.
nouoht at lust. This girl sat IN the porch
With the other members of the two families
nil the afternoon, silently drinking IN I'LL
the news that came from hour 10 hour,
but growing palcr ut all the news that came.
Al lyst the terrible reality came nome 10
her. With a bursting shrek, she rushed
into the house, threw herself down III the
pnrlor, ind wcpt long and .pteouSly.
surely it is pity of these Firginians.
General Moore was in command OF bTl-
cade of reserves i'll and around the Guy,
with his headquarters III Il short street Ieau-
ing from Main street to Capltol square. vi
course his office was Il centre Of intelligence
WAS TO omit the CITY. so was General
kemper ION whose staff at that time was
James MITCHELL; and rs they were all under
orders to retreat SouthweStward and stay
with General Lees army, determined 10
do the same, and keep within our Contede-
rate lines so long as we had any lines ut ali.
1t was not that | had any serious appre-
henson Of being arrested il / should De
found in the city by the Yankees, but
| was not without hope that Lee might
be able to strike the enemy. yet
mortal blow and recover all he had lost, IN
which case | preferred being inside his
lines and not outside. our respective faml-
lies were provided against immediate
famine; and accordingly some time after
l repaired with my ambulance
James Mitchell was with his own chief,
Kcmper and that party were to move
their own way. Moore had to 90 also by
the way he was ordered, but found in his
rooms two young officers, who agreed TO 90
with me and gain Danvillc by such roads
and couveyances as we might ind still avail
able.
1t was after o'clock, think, on Mon
d,v morning, that an ambulance stopped
Mt the door Of the headquarters, carrying
two corpscs. The blanket that covered
them was lifted moment, and there We're
the pale masks of General A. =. Hill, and
Major Willy Peeram, of the artillery, two
of the best and bravcst officers Of our army.
Tbev had fallen of course, in the front of
the battle that day. Pcgram, when his bat
tcrv was overwhelmed by the masses of
Yankee infantry, would neither surrender
nor cease to fight, 50 Of course he had been
shot dead.
As passed down, in company with my
two companions, to cross the river TO
Mayo's bridge, various ill-omencd sounds
and ugly sights Informed lis of the impcnd-
ing wreck and ruin of our beautiful city of
Richmond. Flames were already bursting
forth from some Government stores, and us
these were mingled with other stores, mills,
factories. and the like, and aS the night was
rather windy, and knew that the Fire De-
partment of the city WAS somewhat ul>or-
"anzed. | torcS:lw Il cOnlla@fatlOn, yet no.
thing like so awful and deSolating ruin us
did actually bct;l. As we came to Mayo's
bridge, a wooden structure laid upon stone
piers. there stood an official person in COM
mand of some workmcn who had piled up
combuStible material on the end of the
bridge. lie told us we had better hasten
across, as he was goin" to burn down the
bridge. Reaching the other side, at Mali
chester, we found that to gain the Danrille
railroad we should have to walk some four
teen miles, for the ears were no longer ruiz
ming nearer to Richmond than that. We
walked rapidly the remainder of the night,
sometimes crossing road crowded with
trains of commiS>arics' and quarter
masters wagons; and before sunrise we
had sat down to rest and eat Il crust and
morscl of bacon, when suddenly, in the di-
rcction of the city, there burst forth Il most
tremendous thunder of artillery. Can the
Yankee Williams be bombarding the defence
less city we exclaimed. Again and again
the heavy volleys rolled along; it was the
explosion of our own irOn-clad ships in the
river, with all their loaded shells. BY this
time there was Il dull red glare upon the
eastern sky, which was not the dawn Of the
spring morning. We knew then that the
city was burning.
Carlyle says: "Make yourself q good
man, and then you may be sure there Is one
the less rascal in the world"