Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-05-15
The Civil War In Arkansas.

Little Rock was not much of city Deiore
| the war, and indeed it Is not much OF a city
now, but it shows signs OF considerable ini-
proyement, in the shape OF new ouiidlngs-
| though the most conspicuous OF these were
erected by the Clayton ring with the pro
! ceeds OF public plumber. On driving up
/ from the station, we were good deal sur
p,ised by the absence of all sign OF the
war" until we reached the State House.
| Everywhere else life seemed to go on muGh
as usual. The State House Is smail'
mean building, with succeed ureek por,
tico, and considerably stained by time anu
weather The yard, space OF an acre OF
so, is surrounded by a low iron railing. AZ
the principal gateway were white sehtiheis.
each wearing a fancy uniform, conslstin y Oh
short. unbuttoned jacket with yellow
braid an open space, occupied oy pro'
| truding dirty shit, partly concealed by
red sash; and pair OF gray pantaioons'
with braid down the sides. The men were
lounging against the gate-posts, one win
the muzzle of his piece resting on ms loot,
the other holding it at arms length, ana
| both chewing and splitting all around win
a certain leisurely activity. Beside the rail-
ING. pacirg ND and down with an air OF
preternaturai solemnity, were two negroes,
clad 10 rags of various hues and origin, anu
carving. one a single-barrelled, the other a
double barrelled shotgun. These were cyl
IDENTIFY in earnest, and impressed with tne
gravity of the occasion. One warned US III
sepulchral tones not TO approach the raining,
but was satisfied with our assurance tnat
nothing would induce US to do so: RAISING
on. we entered the jurisdiction of his COM
rade WIN warned US off the sidewalk alto
| pether. We stared in amaZement, and he
| repeated his order We then asked HIM
where we should 90 to. lie brought his
piece tc the charge, and. pointing the muz-
zle mena cipgly both toward US ana toward
the middle of the street, shouted angrlly,
..Down dab ~ down dab" we according
lv went. having serious doubts as to his re-
spect for the constitution and the laws, IN
side the enclosure was scene In wnich
CARLYLE would have taken grim satisiac-
tion There was a barrlcade of TIM
her. forming kind of lunetteat one corner,
in the directi. n of Bakers quarters, and
another larger one-about four feet high
across the portion Of the yard IN front oil
the portico. A similar one extended across
the portico inside the pillars, and WITHIN II,
en- barJette, there was small neld'piece,
with a little pyramid of balls on the plank
in front of the muzzle. y ragged black
sentinel with shotgun stood behind each
barrIcade, evidently intent on the business
but this was all the sign of war there was:
The ward swarmed with negro loaters OF all
ages and sizes, and wearing costumes OF
which words can give no adequate idea.
They were yelling, hallooing, romping,
skylarking. playing pitch-and-toss, squad
bling on the ground, gambling and signal
ing TO friends outside the railing. lhey
were all unmarried, and were simply ENJOY
ing the spree of the half-serlOus holiday
Moving amongst them were one or two
colored officers, wearing saShes and dandy
swords, cracking Jokes and shouting IKE
the resi-. The ground was covered with
the debris which one would naturally look
for-broken crockery, sardine and vegetable
cans. old guilds and cigar-ends. the ashes OF
old fires, old shoes, rags, hats, bones, ana,
in fact. every accompaniment OF an aoan-
doned camping ground, except dead AMI
mails. The crowd we saw before US evident
ly passed their days and nights there except
when it rained. Over the way. IN an
empty store. was their commlssariat, which
was simple In Its supplies. consisting
mainly. i was told, of crackers and cheese.
Asking for an interview with Mr.. Brooks,
we were readily passed into the interior OF
the building. At the door and at the foot
of the stairs sat negro sentinels, very
ragged, and wrapped IN old blankets. ana
armed with fOwlilg pieces. We found the
governor No. = in an inner room, middle
sized man, with large crop OF irowzy
hair, strong, rugged face, with
cunning mouth. which looked cruel
when he showed his teeth, a he
did whenever he said anything sar-
castle and bitter. He was pale and evident
" nervous, as one might expect n9n-nili-
tary man to be who was standing siege,
bat there i no doubt entertained oil his cour-
age and determination. lie has gone down
to the barricade with his carbne Ike the
rest when there was talk OF an attack. lhe
carbine in question: sort of pistol with
very long barrel-stOod behind his chair
apparently ready for use and, indeed, pis-
tolls and muskets were plentifully dlstri-
buted in all the rooms. Mr.. Brooks made |
Us full statement of his case. His main
point was that the Legislature and .he !
courts had concurrent jurisdiction over the |
title of the goyernorshlp, and, the Legisla-
ture having declined 10 exercise II when he 1
presented his petition, the courts were Julti- |
fed in passing on his claim and had decided |
in his favor All he asked now was that |
the federal troops should be withdrawn |
and then he said he would settle the ques-
ton 50 that it should not be raised again IN /
fifty years. Passing out. we stopped Tor a |
few minutes to watch the drill of a squad OF
the Brooks forces il a vacant lot near the |
State House 1t was composed Of about
thirty negroes OF various sizes and ages,
surrounded by about an equal number OF
lookers-on, and was going through the
manual of arms under a very weak-yoiced
mulatto. wearing a stylish blue frOck-eoat,
the usual southwestern dirty shirt and dia-
mond pin, and pair of light, low pumps.
Il.
helfashamed apparently OF what they were
doing. and making one think sadly Of the
honest callings in which they might have
been engaged. The only real enjoyment of
the scene was TO be found among the lockers
on. One of those, large, jolly-faced fel-
low, black as the ace of spades, was lying
on his belly on a plank on the grass hard
by, turning his head 50 as 70 see the drill,
and grinning from ear to ear as he did so.
Whenever he caught our eye, and noticed
the amused expression of our faces, he po-
litely INDUCED in a tremendous OUTLAW and
rolled about on the plank in conyuisiye
merriIent.
The shop keepers did not take by any
means 50 cheerful view of the situation.
We stopped at two or three stores on our
way to the Baxter headquarters and found
the owners in kind Of good humored de-
5pair. There was something so farcical in
the anarchy in which they were living that
they could not talk of it altogether serious.
Y they smiled sadly when We spoke Of
what we had seen at the State House, but
aid that to get the full benefit of the COM
,dy we ought to stay few days. One man
aid the Batteries mad taken $500 worth
# stoves and tin ware from him on ''requi-
ition. and had given him nothing for it '
)ut vouchers" The grOcers had suffered .
worse than Others, because their goods were
r hat fighting men most need. All agreed
hat business was at a stand-still, and that
prolongation of the situation would work
uin. The negroes of course were utterly !
lemoralized by it. All thought of honest
abor was banished for the chance OF play ;
NJ at soldiers or watching their brother a
negroes garrisoning the capitol. In fact, a
considered as moral lesson to race jus, u
ntering on a civilized life, nothing could
eem more deplorable. a
Bakers quarters were in a hotel, which {
eemed TO be entirely given up to him and b
is followers. Two sentries, of the type of z
nan with which either actual service in the Il
eld or the sight Of rebel prisoners during 5
ne war made most people at the North IA l.
liliar. were at the door. One was about Z
* feet two, straight as an arrow. who #
q blanket and slouched hat, from under {
'hich peered out pair of dauntless eyes. g
lie looked every inch soldier, and made o
ne feel that il Baxter had many such fol- 81
,wers Brooks had to thank the President c
IT not having been already eaten without \
alt. But the other was an old fellow of GO. h
18th cough and bent knees, who waved h
is piece about like a welking-stck, and
azed open mouthed at the paSsers-by. The e.
flee was filed with loungers Of various a
yes, black and white, and We were ut Sc
nee introduced to the Commander-in-Chief 81
| Bakers forces, determined looking Il
in seedy clothes, who appear Il
/ as if he had not undressed for a f.
reat many nights. and who carried the t.
ock of a revolver in the hollo~ of his Z
and, the barrel being thrust up mis- sleeve. b
he staircase was not as well guarded as at {"
rooks's headquarters. and Mr.. Baxter's 81