Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-01-25
Gen. Halleck's Administration i'm Hir-
ginia-" Married to Order"

SHORTLY after the fall of Richmond,
General Halleck came on to the ruined
city and took command of the Depart
ment of Virginia, making his headquar-
tiers, we believe, in the house previously
occupied by the fugitive chieftain of the
Confederacy, President Jefferson Davis.
The writer was In Richmond at the time,
and remembers several interesting Incl
dents of General HIS administration,
among others the following:
The young ladies of Virginia who had
given up their sweethearts to the South
ern cause all looked forward eagerly to
the time when the softer claims of love
should take the place of the stern de-
mands of duty; so that when the crash
came, and, amid the wreck and ruin of
the Confederacy, the survivors stood
stunned and bewildered by overwhelming
disaster, there was chastened realization
of long hoped-for privilege-that of re-
newing dear associations and cementing
the fondest and tendereSt ties. Engage
ments were formed, and weddings began
to be talked of, but they were in many
cases necessarily postponed to a day
much further off than was agreeable to
ardent young lovers. The "old folks"
held by too doubtful a tenure the little
property they had saved from the wreck,
business was as yet out of the question,
and, in fact, every pecuniary interest was
in such a condition of uncertainty and
confusion that even eager and thoughtless
youth was compelled to acknowledge the
necessity for delay before entering upon
such important responsibilities as were
involved in the support of family, and
reluctantly consented to wait till affairs
should be more settled.
In the midst of all this General Halleck
unintentionally interfered in the behalf of
hymen, and gave the matrimonial aspira-
tions of the young people push ahead
that brought the consummation of their
wishes within the compass of few short
days. He promulgated an order similar
in purpose to many Others issued in the
South after the war, having in view the
imposition of the oath of allegiance, at
that time naturally very obnoxious to
many people of all classes, as condition
precedent to the transaction of any kind
of business. This order included minis
tiers and magistrates who were allowed a
certain brief time in which to take the
oath, and at the expiration Il that time
all who had not taken it were forbidden,
among other things, to perform the marriage
ceremony! Immediately there was great
stir and commotion among all who had
hopes to fulfill in that direction. The
ladies were aghast and the gentleman in
dignant, and the older heads that had not
| quite lost their sense of independence
could not help sympathizing with the
younger people, whose plans and pros
poets were so effectually disconnected by
! the order. But there was no appeal from
it. The country was under purely mill
tary government, and, for all the Virgin
| ions t-pavv u-O1111 ha ntharrt-icn
and General Halleck's dictum was law
Then there was consultation after con
sultation. The ladies had their favorit,
ministers, without whose sacred offices s
wedding would be no wedding at all
Each lover consulted his .fdncee, and boil
consulted the parents, and all consulted
the minister, and the minister consulted
his feelings, and declared that he didn'
think he could ever take the oath. "TheI
we can never get marriedp' shouted tn,
indignant gentleman. "Oh, my" ex
claimed the ladies in a flutter of alarm
The lovers stormed Their sweetheart
wept, or at least looked very disconsolate
and the old folks shared in the genera
feeling, which was compounded of indig
nation, perplexity and regret. But ther
seemed to be no help for it. Howeve
obnoxious the order was, they were ap
parently impotent to avoid or avert it
consequences. Only apparently" how
ever. Whether woman's wit first sug
gested it or not we can only surmise, bu
certain it was that an avenue of escap
was suggested which the young peopl
eagerly availed themselves Of 1t wa
simply to get married before the day o
which the order went into effect. TIL
young gentleman, of course, seized upo
this proposition with ardor, while tn
young ladies-well, if they did not bold
endorse the plan, it is quite natural t
suppose that papa got sly hint or tw
and few coaXing smiles, or a pout if
t was obdurate, which helped matters alon
t amazingly.
1t is hardly necessary to say that imm,
| diately all was activity and hustle in tn
, matrimonial market. Splendid trousseau
: were out of the question, but, by som
means or other, quite handsome bridi
outfits were improvised, comfortable wee
: ding dinners were prepared, and, as if
< magic, the paraphernalia peculiar to h,
menial celebrations was arranged to th
: qualification, if not to the satisfaction, of th
f parties interested. We cannot undertak
1 to say how many marriages occurred
t this time, which were hurried forward
Y the manner described, but there were
/ considerable number of them-perhaI
more than Richmond ever saw, before {
: since, in the same brief space of tim,
t Many a young couple thus owe the earl
f consummation of their happiness to Gel
e eral Halleck's order, though, of course, /
f did not issue it for, that purpose w
t only hope that they have all good reaso
t to thank him for the unintentional bles
a ing he bestowed upon them. For SON
b time after, it was standing jest anon
e the ladies that they had been married I
4 r."-LOuiscilIe COuTier-JouTna.
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n | Mites of miratiOn-T ove- -lattarc