National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1880-08-31
Nobody at Home In YORKTOWN

Tho few white people we found in thi
miserable old town were composed chiefly o
| old men and women, who assumed q suler
air and were not inclined 10 enter into friendly
relations with what they were pleased to torn
the invaders of their homes. There was little
or no union sentiment in tho place, and VIVA,
thcro was no banker with his eyes omen
would have invested ten cents in. To be
candid, these poor, misguided people nursed
the idea that wo had come TO carry OFF their
'niggers," and moro than ono of their women
rcprOached us for cnticng their servants to
run away, thus making white people slaves TO
their own household.
There was evidcntlya great struggle going
on between tho pride and the poverty of these
poor people, who were in sore distress in con.
sequence Of the sad straits war had reduced
them TO. And yet they said that it was all
brought about by the yankees. That was the
most stupid part Of all. Nor was this singular
struggle between pride and poverty softencd
by the conduct Of the negroes, who taking nd
vantage of our appearance in military force
and sincerely believing that their Liberation
was the object we had come south for, at once
threw OF all obligation to their owners and
began packing up their traps for now and
independent voyage down the stream of life.
have said there was nobody at home at
Yorktown. There was and i will tell Won
who she was. Well, the most nimbe- tongued
and the most on spoken soCessiOnist we found
in Yorktown WAS the little black.eyed daugh.
ter Of an humble cordwainer, an honest man
who had cobbled tho soes OF the genuine old
Virginia arstOcraCy for at least q quarter of
a century, And after all ii was said of this
poor old cobbler that he had never risen above
the poor white trash Of tho country because
he had never owned q "nigger," never wal.
Topped "nigger' aud never had "niggerp
to sell
This honest oordwainer's daughter, how.
ever, assumed all tho airs of a genuine L. +. V.
family, and, indeed, acted in such a manner as
TO lead us 10 believe that all tho pride of the
old dominion had been inuusted TO her keen.
ing. have been In many parts of the world,
have met some queer persons, but / never
heard so glib u tongue us the blaclS.eyed
daughter Of this honest cordwaincr had. It
was continually tripping tripping, tripping
IN contempt OF the yankees. Some Of our sol.
diers, under tho pretenso Cfgetting their boots
mendod, would drop in at the humble cord.
wainors cottage und gocd-naturedly make love
to this damsep which would sorely iGcr ease
hcrmiseIY,
! was always a silent observer of these lit.
tie matters, and enjoyed them hugely. More
than ono Of our Boys in Blue proposed a
matrimonial alliance, but this only increased
herindignatlou aud made more emphatic her
expressions vi loyalty to dear Old Virginia
HHu uhuylnS maze 10 inc yankees VINO once
cheated her father by selling him bad leather
In truth, am afraid It was tho bad leather
that did the thing for this damse's loyalty to
the south
Just hero desire 10 add that before leay.
ing Yorktown / detected this truly southern
damsel carrying on quite Irritation with q
dashug young cavalry officer, Of foreign
birth, and that too, over a nice cup of tea she
had prepared with her own hauds.-["Story
of o Trooper" page 1856
We believe we are correct in saying that
tho dashing young cavalry officer referred to
is our iriond and follow.citizon, Colonel
Charles HerIzog, wine merchant, OF tho Grm
of Schumacher g. Hersog, that's all.