The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-08-22
IN EARNEST W01LAN.
AN INCIDENT OF THE SECOND CoSFEDEI'-
ATE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

An ex-Confederate soldier Is writing
series of interesting "reminiscences oi ,,'
late great struggle for the New Clle'ne 'I9
TTlrd1T The f1iIoyvipcr possesses sufhcIehI
interest to Peunsvlvanians 70 Ju9IlJ 10
+orsfa, to orfr columns. The battIe OF
Characteristic had been Io"Sh' '"" ""i''
Joe Hooker with the ''Hncst army on tI!e
,,Iapet'' had been brushed out OF Lees
I'll and the entire army Of Northern Viz
irinia. flushed with victory, was moving by
forced marches through the beautiful val
lev of Virginia for a second dash into Ma
,ylaud and Pennsylvania.
About suudoWn one evening, l think 1t
was the first Of July, 1868, our battalion,
the Washington Artillery, marched down
through ClIambcrSburg and Went into camp
a few plileS on the other side, III me
grove of trees. Just before we cncainPea
| noticed very fancy edifice near the road
side, the garden and grounds OF Which oe-
smoke the inmates persons OF wealth ana
refinement and | determined to try ana
see Them in order to fern correct eSll-
mate of the feeling Of the northern people
in regard to the war. ,
Brushing up my faded and soi!ed artI-
Ierv uniform, [ sailed out, as soon as l
could leave camp, and approaching the
low rate discovered a lady leaning there
ON. watching intently the troops as they
marched past | was considerably elated
by seeing her respond politely to the cour-
teous salUtations of the officers, and ad-
vancing with boldnesS that surprises me
now. l doffcd my cap and said, Madam,
may I trouble you for 4 glass of water? p
The pleasant and thoroughly lady-like
manner in which she said, Certainly, sir,
walk IN, " made me feel just little mean
about the stratcgem | was using, but re-
jleCting that III war, ds III love, all things
are fair, and the lady herself being decI-
dcdIy fair, concluded to put bold face
on the matter, and found myself drawn
into quite Il spirited conversation as we
were advancing towards the house, up an
avenue of magnificent ccdars.
She laughingly apologized for not invit-
ing me into her parlor, saying that, appre-
hending the destruction Of the house size
had piled up the furniture in the center Of
the various rooms preparatory to a gener-
al COnflagratiOn. ''Wlat, SAID /, did
you suppose we were going to be savage
enough to burn you out of your house and
home ?'' ''Oh," she replied, I'VE heard
all sorts of horrible things about you rcb-
els and when we knew you We're coming,
we supposed of course we should be ruined,
and determined to have the melancholy
pleasure of burning our own house and the
beautiful barn that you see over there.
Oh it would almost have kHied me to burn
our beautiful barn, of which we arc all so
proud, but / would have done it, with my
own hands too, rather than have seen it
destroyed by the enemy but pray be seat
ed, sir, | have been quite remiss in keeping
you waiting so long for glass of water"
! seated myself in pretty rustic chair
on the Tose-embOwered porch, and the lady
soon returned with a dGlicately- CHASED guU-
let filed TO tie brim with crystal ice-water.
Surely the old gods themselves never
Vuaiicd more delicious nectar than that
glass contained, and | tried to say as much,
aud to express my profound appreciation
OF her kindness III waiting on q private sol
dier. ''No thanks at all said she ; Il
waited on YOU because l saw you trere u
prirdtG had you been an officer | should
have ordered my servant to bring the
water" This was said with so much can
dor and so sweeuy, that l could only bow
my thanks.
Taking a seat, she quite charmed me by
her easy, graceful manner, and chatted SO
pleasantly about the army and the situa-
tiOn that ! soon felt quite at home. ''DO
YOU know she said, u have never been
more surprised in my life than 10y your
troops. l tauCiod your army was composed
of rude uueducatcd, ragged, haIf-starved
men, and it has been matter of profound
wonder to me that our magnificent armies
have never been able to march straight on
to Richmond. But | have been watching
your troops pass for two days now, and 1
am compelled to admit that all my precon-
ceived ideas in regard TO the rebel Amy
are incorrect. a more orderly, gentle
manly and perfectly dccorOus set of men |
have never seen and they arc under such
excellent discipline, too Why, when our
own troops marched by here once, they
were very bOiSterOus and unTuly, stole
everything they could lay their hands on,
and kept us in constant state of alarm.
The contrast is very striking, and by 10
means complimentary 20 the men or the
discipline of our army
/ explained the difference of the deport-
ment of the two armies, by saying that al
most every gentleman of the South, capa-
ble of bearing arms was IN our army,
while the gentlemen of the north very gen
orally employed substitutes.
YES She replied, that has been too
much the case, but your entry into Penn
svlvauia will rouse the entire country to q
pitch of Indignation and enthusiasm which
will eventuate in the capture or utter rout
of Lees entire army"
laughed little at this, and intmated
that perhaps some Of us might he So fortu-
nate as to escape across the Potomac. She
answered by iuquiriug what we really ex-
pected to gain 10y invading Pennsylvania,
when | said, with au attectatitiOu OF entire
seriousness, ''Why, we are on our way to
Washington, aud have only stopped at
ChamberSburg for day or two to get the
army well in hand to make a proper entry
An expression of sadness oversprcad The
ady's counteuance, and after musiug {
moment, she said
'Do you know, sir, as you came up thi;
evening l was standing at the gate looking
at the nob!c-lookiug men passing in the
various regiments, and thinking how in
expressibly sad it was that they are ineyi-
tably marching to their death that few, il
any of them, would ever return to then
homes in the South. Have you any idea.
sir, of the army you must meet before you
go much further ,"
YES l said, eve expected to NEE
Hoolers army, but that we had met tha
SO often before, and so recently at Chan
celloIsville, that we did not stand much il
fear of it.'
''How terribly you will be disappointed, :
she replied, and then, with iucreasin!
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