The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-12-02
At CITY POINT, AND PETERSBURG.

ODE L.eETTfl a. sAdltAs NAt III IuduN
rs.-~s being taken Verbatim from my journal notes,
.,,u date. K. A. ).
At CITY POINT, \ PETERSBURG.
Al ,be hanks, and hill sides in this vicin
a.ra lined with red Earth. works." and
',th them the small caves or Rat
o." which had been burrowed by the
or. Of both armies to escape the i'm
,a iror -four barrel-lik shells that daily
I richtly rained upon them. These were
..sj3ening spectacle. Nature was already
ring the redoubts with her mantle OF
In and along the trenches had sprung
- rhickets of peach sprouts and other
uE from the seeds of fruit thrown over
| bv the troops.
How hard to realize that all the mighty
hosts that three months agone kept
r,eh and ward on either side of these red
l,,bes. we're dispersed, dissolved, departed
1u existence, save on the historic page !
nj course we all rejoiced that peace were
me. and black mouthed guns no longer
Tering from yonder redoub;s. Still it was
sIIening to know that Peace had come
nv because the brave comrades who filled
same last DITCH In this same month,
relve months ago, had become worn out,
srved out, thinned out, until the conqueror
"a able 10 declare Il EACE, DIS tic nus
an proclaimed -''ORDER, In Warsaw"
Reaching Petersburg we found wretched-
-s on all sides. Although three months
nd elapsed since that eventful morning
slen the exultant foe rushed into the city
ger the dead body of Lieut. Gen. Ambrose
p Hill, the place still resembled a sacked
l.a.e. The once ~fashionah&es old Bolin-
.,,>e Hotel was Open just as a saw-mill
horn door IN SIInamQr fInaa
md not q mouthful of food could be had
ar love or money, and the crusty keeper
.mcgIngly granted us a room on fourth
-,or without furniture save an old mattrass,
90, covcringJ for the modest sum of one dol
sr Per head, per right! Capt. Henry Fry
| and Lieut.. Houston, and, [ agreed TO 'roost'
together ON the floor aud give him Sl.25 for
the three of us. Fortunately there was one
| other article Of furniture, VIZ. a bucket OF
coal. You may wonder why a scuttle OF
csl was a fortunate find In u wealth
rr2 Well, there had been continual chate-
ing between the Yankee soldiers, and the
''contrabands' OF the town, OF whom nearly
a million had gathered IN from the sur
rounding farms. The Federals having freed
the negroes felt that they had a right
to boss them, as If there had been only a
slight change of masters. SambO anG
Cutfee held diverse contrairy-wlse views, y
auI the result was quite serious Several
| bloody fights had already occurred. on
! this evening | happened to be looking down
| the sldestrcet, between DIR. Robinson's resi-
| ieuce aud the hotel. as a soldier driving az
cypress wagon rode down into the hollow.
Opposite some grog- shops he was set upon
By mob of negroes who Knocked him of
The wagon, and beat him savagely. His
cts soon collected an hundred or more
ialhecS Of an Ohio Reg't. who attacked
he darkeys with clubs and stones-both
.5es appearing to be unarmed. The negro
mob instantly sweiled to i thousand, ano
THE soldiers fled up the slope, till meeting
enforcement Of an hundred or two sol
4egS. they in turn ran charging back, yell
-"Kdi EN-! KIN them XII the
llk impS IF HeT.r' etc, etc.
but the darkeys had rallied in swarms,
all soon pushed the Hoosiers slowly back
ward until the intermingling mass of howl
1g. raging, pounding, wrestling, fighting,
Uhioans and Africans were directly under
ulr windows. 1t was almost dusk anG the
lille coats Of the Yankees, and the black
lace, OF the darkeys we've So difficult to dis
tL-ui,h from our lofty perch that we con
GUIDED to distribute the bucket of coal I'M
gHt"tlJ, and no questions asked! That
slower of coal was more effective THAI
Butcher at Waterloo, or Kirby Smith al
Bull Run Falling from the fourth story
the pebbles scattered, and as each side got a
lll share of the Jumps (size of a birds eggl,
ald without realizing In the twilight
whence 1t came, each thought the
other side had reinforcement SO the
negroes ran one way; the Yankees
elother, And before either could rally, a
Hle OF bayonets of the Provost Guard trot-
'ei up to command the Peace. After
Which We went to bed In high glee. feeling
shat We had united pleasure and patriotism
L lLe most impartial manner ; like that ole
quaker on ship-board, whose principles for
V~le his engaging in battle, but seeing the
sLetny about to Chamber up the sides, and
que bury fellow coming up a rope hand
'tI INST, seized an axe and whacked the
ie III twain, saying mildly-"Frlend since
non seem Il to Want that rope, let me cut
ii oft tor thee
TRAVELLING HoMEwARD.
Zen cannot picture the sights and sorrow.
u our SLOW %soJourn through imginia anC
l1[oiua- Three months OF Peace had done
"'He 10 obIJerate the evidences OF universal
snip wreck. The railways themselves were
"o"'eTiul spectacles OF faith in Providence
SlSe The wbeezy old locomotives could with
Ilyuty be Kept upon the tottering track,
a' bridges III most cases creake ed and groan
- win war-weariness; and the. cars, IL
= I'us Instances without backs to the seats,
~ e,el a TN cup for water, were dirty be.
y'II description. At Salisbury and Other
tausS there We're no depots a mass o.
SasNened ruins telling of Stoneman's plum
"nS iald, after the general collapse.
AT CHARLOTTE.
i1h>portatlOn ended at Charlotte: an(
rL, Aad eaten nothing from Petersbur.
.r4" and was an utter stranger In tn,
and u became necessary to swallow pride
WI ~ ''>o- ankee rations." Following
lIa ~ VI oI returning prisoners to the office o
any, roSt Commissary," | was permitte,
NJ men, '"o hours waiting while some Freed
Sian" We're served, to draw" one DAYS sub
. ,p1rJs namely pound ''Salt-Junk'
l H., aud i've Hard Tack" (crackersl
IL tN"fse Tor waite. G'wine ter eat va
larry tf tote 1t Inquired a fellow way
With month and both banl- en- :