The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-04-05
BAYONET THRUSTS.
"Reminiscences of secession. War and
heeonstTuctIon., by Lieutenant
General Richard Taylor.


"Reminiscences of secession. War and
heeonstr nction." by Lieutenant
General Richard Taylor.
The following advance sheets from
General Taylor's forthcoming book will
be read with an interest which will excite
a desire to see the whole work
THF VALLEY OF VIRGINIA.
The great valley of Virginia was before
US IN all its beauty. Fields of wheat
spread tar and wide, interpreted with
woodlands, bright in their robes of tender
green. Wherever appropriate sites ex-
lsted, quaint old mills, with turning
wheels, were busily grinding the previous
| years harvest, and from grove and emil
nence, showed comfortable hOmesteads.
The soft vernal influence shed languid
| grace over the scene.
The theater of war in this region was
| from Stsunton to the Potomac, one hun
/ dred ard twenty miles, with an average
width OF some twenty five, and the Blue
/ Ridge and Allegheny bounded 1t east
and west. Drained by the Shenandoah
with Its numerous affluents, the surface
was nowhere fiat, but succession OF
! graceful swells, occasionally rising into
| abrupt hills. Resting on limestone, the
soil was productive, especially OF wheat,
and the underlying rock furnished album
! dant metal for the construction OF roads.
! Frequent passes or gaps in the mountains,
! through which wagon roads had been
/ constructed. afforded easy access from
east and west, and, as has been stated,
( pixies were excellent, though uDmetaled
roads became heavy after rams.
( But the glory of the valley IS Massa-
muffin. Rising abruptly from the plain
near HarrisOnbury, twenty-five miles
north of Staunton, this lovely mountain
extends fifty miles, and as suddenly
ends near Strasburg. Parallel with Blue
/ Ridge, and of equal height, its sharp peaks
/ have a holder and more picturesque
aspect. while the abruptness of its slopes
gives it the appearance of greater atti-
/ tude Midway OF Massanuttin gap
affords communication between New
market and LuraY. This eastern OF
/ Iurav valley, much narrower than the
one west OF Massanuttin, is drained by
/ the eastern branch of the Shenandoah
which. at Front Royal, at the northern
end of the mountain, is Joined by it.
western afiluent, whence the united
/ waters flow north, near the base of Blu,
/ Ridge. to meet the Potomac at Harper
Ferry.
were worthy of their inheritance Tn,
/ north and south were peopled By scion
of colonial families, and the proud name
of the Ola Dominion ab9unded II
/ the central counties of Rockingham auS
F Shenandoah were many descendants o
/ Hessians, captured at Trenton and Prince
ton during the revolutionary era. Thes'
we're thrifty, substantial farmers, anC
like their kinsmen of Pennsylvania, ex
pressed their Opulence in huge barns sut
fat cattle. The devotion Of all 10 tn
southern cause was wonderful. Jackson
A valley man by reason Of his residence
at Lexington (seuth of Staunton), wa
their hero and idol. The women sen
husbands, sons, lovers 10 battle as cheer
fully as To marriage feasts. No opFres
sion, no restitution could abate this zeal
/ Upon q march | was accosted by TIVE
elderly ladies, sisters, who told me the
/ had secreted q large quantity of bacon II
( a well on their estate, hard by. Federal
( had been in possession Of the country
and, fearing the indiscretiOn of thei
/ slaves, they had done the work st nigh
with their own hands, and now desired
/ to give the meat to their own people
/ Wives and daughters of millers, who's
/ husbands and brothers were in arms
/ worked the mills, night and day, to fur
nish -four TO their soldiers. To the last
women would 90 distances TO carry til,
/ modicum of food between themselve
and starvation TO a suffering confederate
/ Sh uld the sons of Virginia ever commi
/ dishonorable acts, grim indeed will b,
/ their reception on the farther shores o
/ Styx They can expect no recognition
from the mothers that bore them.
The year the s~ar closed the valley wa
! ravaged with a cruelty surprising tina
inflicted on the Palatinate two hundred
wears agone. That foul act smirched the
fame of Dubois and Turenne, and public
opinion, in what has been deemed a rude
age, forced an apology from the grand
! mOnarque.' Yet we have seen of
federal general, wherein is recounted tht
many barns, mills and other building
destroyed, concluding with the assertion
that - crow hving over the valley mus
take ratiOns with him" In the opinion
of the admir- rs of the officer making thi
report the achievement on which it j
based ranks with " MsrengO." Moreover
this same officer lieutenant Genera
Sheridan) many years after the close O
the war, denounced several hundreC
thousands of his fellow citizens S
" banditti," and solicited permission 0
his government to deal with them a
such May we not pause and refec
whether religion, education, science anC
art combined have lessened the brutalit,
Of man since the days of Wallenstein anC
lilly:
GETTYSBURG.