National Republican., 1881-07-22
OF FAIR OAKS hND SEVEN PINES.
What the Place Where Johnston Lost Seven Thou
sand and Mcclellan Five Thousand Men Looks
Like To.Day-Unburlcd Bones In a
Ficld-Locnl Tradition.


do Its duty out of doors when campaigning with
that glorious old fellow there. said the veteran,
looking from under his cloih-llncd straw hat, and
pointing to the statue of Stonewall Jackson, u few
yards away, "War taught me many lessons"
But there are few evidences Of the war here In
Richmond and nround2'
"why. sir, didn't you hear about that shell out
in Hanover Wednesday cvening-how shell was
struck by lightning?'
"a shell struck by ightning?'
"A shell struck by lightning. Just 50. In Mr..
Faukncr's field, eight miles from the city, there Is
n tall tree pine, which remember seeing once.
During the storm Wednesday evening and while
some hands were at work In the same field, light
ming struck the tree and set It on fire. Faulkner
sent his mon to pick up the brush to keep the fire
from reaching his fences. In less than half an
hour the men heard terrific explosion in the tree,
md, with some fear, they searched for the cause.
They found that the tree had been shattered by
shell, and they picked UP pieces Of the she'll that
had torn through the bushes near by. The shell
lodged in the tree during the war, but no one
knew II was there. II that was not a relic of the
war. and n forciblc one, too, what Is? Or take q
drive out TO Oakwood and you'll sec whcresixtccn
thousand of our boys are buried, and in beautiful
Hollywood, just over there where I'm pointing,
granite monument stands in the midst of graves
containing fourteen thousand Southern soldiers.
oh, yes; Richmond has many points Of interest in
connection with the war; but as you Sec this is
now n driving business city and the people here
rarely think Fittings of the kind"
A GLIMPSE AT LTDBY.
Such an entertaining talkCr did the veteran
prove himself to be that the sun began TO whitcn
the Doric columns of the capitol before | was
fairly started and, upon invitation ofmy ntcrlocu
tor, on our way TO the Williamsburg road and
Seven Pines battle field Passing out Main street the
plNcard Washington and Lafuyette's hcadqrar-
ters' on a small stone house, with revolutionary
slant of roof caused halt, but object of koener
interest sat in plain sight square below on the
James, and thher we went. This was Libby
Prison, squat building Of brick, an ugly ware.
house sort of a place tho top of which looked hot,
even in the early morning sun. The prison walls
are full of windows, but they are trnverscd with
cobwebs Of iron, and the whole mass Is so low
pitched and altogether so suggestive of toad that
its removal would be the taking away of what
appeared TO me to be an cycsore. Yet the sign,
"The Southern Fertilizing Company" over one OF
its doorwNys, and the passing to and fro on the
wharf near by of sweating stevcdorcs, who pufGd
their pipes and cracked their jokes serves to bring
the mind away from the past, nnd all feeling is
lost in the common place Of the street.
RICHMOND Is FULL OF THINGS
to make ono tarry, and what with stopping at the
Federal Cemetery, on Williamsburg road, where
SO known and Gji2 unknown Union soldiers lie in
grass pats. dotted with blocks of granite and
fringCd with flowers, II got to be nine o'clock be-
fore wc approached the battle field, seven miles
east OF the city We moved In slow jog. for the
road Is sandy AS we ncared the place Of interest
] thought there must he more like seven million
than seven pines on the battle field, The pines
grow in thick woods, and upon their smooth
brown skaters. covering the ground beneath them
the sun Glstcns all day long. The fields are level
and now mostly iallow. BY the roadside are small
trees and bushes. and within sight Of Seven Pines
we suiled air laden with the perfume Of wild
roses, that nodded pleasantly OF either hand
sEvrH PINES AND SEVEN CEDAIs.
A. the point whittier we were bound flag
Hoated above grove Of naples and, coming to
the nine mile road we found ourselves in front of
the national cemetery, around which is the ham
| let of Seven Pines. The first thing that one looks
closely a is row Of small healthy pines seven in
number, that stand along the cemetery wall. when
the battle w1s fought on the last day of May, 1862
there grew close by this spot seven pine branches
from one stump Those branches gave the locality
its name Now the seven famous shoots have dis.
appeared, and not so much US theroots are discov-
CRADLE But nine years ago Storekeeper Lyme
brought seven little pines from the woods and
planted them where they now thrive, nut brown
and scaly of trunk and dark green OF foliage
Seven cedars line the other side of the road di.
rectly opposite, and, strange to say, seven houses
clustering around, make up the little village Of
Seven Pines. II is another case OF
"wE ARE SEVEN
the sad story thnt all Of us used to read in our
sing. song way in the school books of long ago.
| None but Union soldiers were buried in the GENE.
| terry, which contains the bones Of 1857 men, OF
whom only 80 are known by name. II is nicely
kept and everything about the place. from Keeper
Bnrrows lodge to the farther edges Of the acre and
n quarter grass plat, is trim and neat hedge
| runs around the enclosure and besides the pines
| the grove contains many maple and cedar trees.
| Roses, pinks, geraniums, lilacs, and the splrca
! bloom among the graves, while what the superin.
tcndentS mother called 1.-The devils walking
stick" stands sentry near the gate. The visitor
feels like rolling in the grass and making feast
OF the pretty picture The mir is cool and fragrant
Loneliness hangs about the spot
DOSEs USDER THE BLACKBERRY BRIARs.
But what q contrast when, under the guidance
of an obliging noighhor one walks few hun
dred yards up the Williamsburg road crosses
corn field and suddenly trips over a skeleton
hand thrust ont from patch of brlars! The
friends Of the men who rest below the blossoms
there in the cemetery won the men who lie un.
der the briars here in the field lost. The first Is
victory the last defeat. Death came to the vic
Tins Of both, but IN this field Is death with dcsola
ton, The nclghbOrs say that the bones Of abou
two hundred Southern soldiers remain in th
held n part Of the Tigrcr, or Twin House property
now occupied by Farmer r. II. Kuhn. When
ON the 3ls Of May, Johnston beat Casey bacl
upon Couch and split the lattcrs division II
twain Il was not until the attacking thousand
mad suffered scvcrly \ Georgia regiment tina
swept past the Tigncr farmhouse came, at
doablo.quicS md with fierce energy, down upol
Caseys LETT, They were met by yolley after yolley
and quite two hundred since that day have slcp
IN the field which they entered with such sterl
front and brave strides. The part of the field near
e., Seven Pines is now pine thickel. Along tn
edge Of this thickci, and along the line wher
underbrush skirts piece Of cleared land, | saw
blotches ofwecd covered earth in which, as Farme
Kuhn assured me, were
THE BoSEs or MANY MEN.
Inplowing across this field three months ago, MI
Kuhn frequently came across thigh bones Shout
der.blades, RIBS and smaller parts OF skeleton,
5 Seeing large bone he would take II and hold
. until he had reached the end OF the row wher
5 other bones were. In this way IL comes that III
2 bleaching things lie thicker along the fences tha
. elsewhere. / counted dozen clumps Of black
8 berry briars, and by kicking the sod saw undC
each evidence that the field IS Of tho nature of
K. graveyard. Where corn isn't growing round abot
grow nettes, herd grass, smart grass, and summt
. weeds, Little boys going from Seven Pines to tn
e Twin House place amer dusk walk cautiously unit
. they reach the place in the road opposite tho sp,
c Of skeletons, and then they scampcr down II
. rOOd rs though the old boy were after them no
J, louted aud with his forked tail unfurled. Mento
of the difficulty under which the Seven Pin
Is small boy lODors when night comes on brings
II mind the local tradition of the Tigncr children.
" At tue OPENING or THE BATTLE
Is the giants seized each other by tho throat,