Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-08-10
What ID Woman Saw Of the Fight
Ing inn and around Winchester.


Miss Mary Tucker Magill, Of Staunton,
furnishes an interesting letter to the Phil
adelph1a "Times" about Winchester dur
ing the war, of which we make the follow
ing extract:
mo non-combatants saw more of the
shifting panorama of the civil war in the
United States, than did the citizens of Win
chester, In the Valley Of Virginia. Held
as an outpost by the Confederates the first
year, 1t afterwards served as shuttlecock
between the gray and blue battledoreS. It
thus changed hands eighty-four times, and
when the game was over the ShuttlecOck
was denuded Of feathers. velvet and tinsel
"a poor, useless, ruined thing. The best
houses IN the town had served as hospitals,
barracks, and even stables, A lady after the
war, upon taking possession of a house
newly painted and repaired, was Informed
by her neighbor that they had many a time
seen the heads of cavalry horses at The win
dows from which the children of the family
now gazed. 1t is needless to say that that
her relish for her new home was slightly
disturbed, as one does not like the idea Of
living in stable, even if it is newly PAINT
ed.
OF course, in common with the rest of
Virginia, the town was almost a unit in
its enthusiastic loyalty to the Southen
cause, and such being the case suffered &C
cordingly. Jackson and Ashby were pecu-
liarly the Valley heroes their approach
was the signal for wild joy, their retreat
for bitter tears. 1t seems wonderful. in
,, looking back, that ordinary physiques could
so long have stood the severe strain upon
their powers; the excitement Of battle fol-
lowed by an occupation by the enemy; Of
weeks and months during which time COM
munication was utterly cut off with
friends; the terrible depression thus caus-
ed, to be obliterated by another season Of
excitement and eXulta ton; this constitu-
ted the war life at an outpost. Nor was
it without its effect. There never was a
time in the history of the town when SO
many young girls and old people died It
took very little disease to result fatally; the
| system sank almost immediately; and vet
| with all the terrors of that time, there was
| a charm in the life which was so much
| more and SO much less than life ever was
| before, Or ever will be again. We would
none OF us part with our war experience,
bitter as it was; when hope and despair fol-
| lowed each other as the minutes in the
| hour, when The issues in each day were so
| imminent, containing in them often more
! than the measure OF joy and sorrow which
| is the ordinary allotment Of a life time A
| bare narration OF facts would hardly be
credited. [ have seen the town change
masters four times in one day. First
| battle, followed by a triumphal occupation
| by one party for d few hours, the first
greeting of long absent friends interrupted
by another battle, followed by the gloom
| OF defeat, and while our tears yet flowed
another battle, another scene Of 10y, and
so on through the day. One never knew
what an hour would bring forth. Too Of
ten we would rise in the morning to find a
different flag floating over the town from
| that which blessed our vision when we re-
tired to rest. Sometimes this change was
quietly made, one army retreating before
the other, without disturbing the slumber-
ingcitizens; but far more frequently was our
rest rudely disturbed by the booming Of the
cannon Or the more terrible crashing Of
musketry at our very doors, and our start
led vision has opened upon the glare OF
burning buildings; or we would be stun
ned by the explosion of a monster maya
zine, while the crashing window-elass and
falling mortar, attested too surely the re-
ality of the danger; and we thanked God
| lor one more miraculous escape from sud
den death. This was Invariably the pre-
cursor OF an evacuation of the town before
the Confederates entered.