National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-13
MATTERS IN VIRGINIA.
fConttn.sd from Fira Pags.l

Ularemont plantation he could get money enough
10 pay his taxes and maintain his family decently.
And yet he said he was willing to take an en-
larged views Of the situation encouraged North
ern men as much as he could, and would sell them
land at reasonable prices Unfortunately, as
learned afterwards, most Of his lands were en-
tailed and went to HIS Oldest son. noticed that
the negroes along the river all knew him and
gave him hearty and affectionate greeting as
they came on board at the different landings I;
lum." To one he would give q cigar, for another
he would order Q drink OF whisky at his expense.
pointing to several that had been his slaves, sand
they'll do right and take care Of themselves"
Here he hesitated for a moment, and then re-
will ruin these boys yet" Here he tossed one Of
them q quarter and told him to go and drink
julep for him; "A negro-yes the whole race
does to dirty water. The preacher and the pOlti-
clan both want to use them for their own selfish
purposes. And to that end they put the devil in
these poor eonfding creatures who will suffer in
the end"
ence during the war. His was varied and inter
esting, to me especially. When the Union army
under Mcclellan, after the Seven Days battle,
fell back to Harrison's Landing and Westover,
Allen commanded a battery posted on the oppo-
site side of the river, in thieket. He was tamil
lar with all the deer paths in that section Of Viz
camp and when our fatigued army had turned in
for the night, Allen opened his battery and sent
a number OF shells into the camp OF the First new
York cavalry, causing q lively stampede of that
regiment to the rear, as we'll as a good deal of
alarm throughout the army generally. This
circumstances, could hardly be called square and
honorable warfare.
"Iwas the officer who threw those shot, I" said
the Major "They made it lively for the aotilla.
Well, it was a mean business at night. But was
acting under orders. But"-here he shook his
dd IN @ whn on tSe next day
told that we had only killed cow and an old
negro woman. Such artillery firing as that, even
at night, was not creditable to any officer, and
was laughed at for it. That war was a cruel one,
and l never want to see another. During it, and
since, things have been going to the very devil
We had passed the mouth of the Chickahominy,
and were opposite Bermuda Hundreds, famous Is
General Buffers field of operations on the James.
The MAJOR related several very amusing stories as
to how the Confederate forces got first on the Gen
erals tanks, then in his rear, and then "pcnned
him up" General Grant, believe, called 1t bot
tied. I was surprised to hear the Major speak
kindly of General Butler. Indeed, he entertained
a much better opinion of his usefulness to the
Union and his ability as general than many OF
our own officers 1 have heard pass Judgment.
Old City Point, so famous as our base of supplies
when General Grant commanded the army in
Virginia, showed considerable business activity.
The extensive piers and warehouses rented by the
Government were in good state of preservation,
and are now used for commercial purposes. Quite
number of vessels were here loading with sawed
oak timber and tobacco for Europe.
Farther up we came to the beautiful Westover
Both of these famous plantations passed into new
and different hands during the war. They were
sold for Confederate money, which turned out TO
be worthless. The former owners, once rieh and
opulent, are now poor and dependent. Indeed, 1t
is only by the aid Of friends that they can keep up
a respectable appearance. We passed thr0G gh
the famous Dutch Gap, for cutting which Gen.
Butler was so much ridiculed 1t is now found to
be very useful to shipping, saving at least seven
miles of intricate and very bad navigation. The
gap itselfis really not much of an engineering
achievement, and one is surprised that so much
should have been said about It, pro and con. The
general impression abroad is that this famous gap
was opened by natural causes-a heavy freshet in
the river. Colonel Craighill, of the engineer
corps, informs me that this is a mistake; that as
the officer in charge Of the improvements on the
James river he took the gap in hand, finished
what Gen. Butler had begun and made it naviga-
Bile. could not helpthinking that if Gen. Butler
had projected and carried out project for cutting
canal large enough to pass ships and steamers
three and four abreast direct from Richmond TO
City Point he would have immOrtalZed himself
and placed not only the commerce of the country
but the people of Virginia under lasting obliga-
tion to him. We have the finest corps of engineer
officers in the world, kept up at heavy expense
to the people, and would suggest that it is the
Governments duty to improve the navigation OF
this river by canal from Richmond to City Point
direct.
Col Craighin also Informs me that he has sue
ceeded in removing large portion of the danger
o villa, IS called the Rockets" and Increasing
the depth of water to sixteen feet. Still Rich
mond has no harbor capacity of any Importance.
III lle Olu ARMY VI INC
will remember Drury's Bluffs. 1t was here, and
while our army, under Mcclellan, was falling
back to HarrsOn's Landing, that our gunboats
threw those shells against the enemy's flank,
which so astonished and scattered him. They
were so large and played such havoc with the
enemy's flank that he declared that we were
throwing cooking stoves at him. The sight Of
these bluffs this afternoon called up some curious
recollections of the war. In many places the
effect of those huge shells is still visible along the
shore and in the forest. We left Norfolk at six
O'Clock in the morning and reached Richmond at
4:30 D. In. F. q. 4.