The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-04-01
EVENTS OF THE EVACUATION.
TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES As TO THE
BURNING OF THE CITY.
Description OF Richmond I'm the Last
Days of the War-HOw Shc
Was Surrendered.

Eighteen years since the Evacuation OF
Richmond The children Of that day are
men and women now. How time flies
The lines " have been broken through
in many places by the hand of the husband
man. The early wheat is bursting into life
from the ground where rllc-pits were thick.
Upon the batteries, half overgrown with
trees, the buds are opening and the birds
singing. The plowman alield now and then
ceases to whistle, and raises from the fur
row n stray bullet, broken canteen.
rusty bayonet, or the thigh-bonc Of a sol
dier.
The river is open from falls to mouth.
The forts are silent, and the earthworks
washing away. The iron-clads have gone.
Their last shells have burst. \ few piles
on either shore, seen only at low water.
mark where the pontoon and military
bridges stood. There is not tent or camp
fire on the banks Of the river. All the
great hosts are absent-many no more TO
answer 4 rol-call i'm this life.
RICHMOND.
In and about the city there is life. but it
is not the life OF our Troy. The picketS
watch the roads 10 more. no courier
waits eager TO take the first alarm oi danger
to the capital. The provost guard Is dis
banded. On the street no dcmlnd is made
for "your papers" At the ears YOU are
not asked for your passport. Gone are the
Stu-hrOnZcd men m hOmcSpun gray. Their
faded, trench-fained suits; their brown
blankets twincd from shoulder to hip;
III, l.
tack and, on lucky days. bits OF meat their
mU>kets-constant companions in battle
and bivOuvac-all have disappeared.
In the pOignancy OF our early grief we
sworc that they should ever live i'm our
memory. We declared that come oppreS-
sion. woe. cOntumclv, and poverty. we
watches. wounds. death. Yet no stone has
been laid in Richmond in 4 monument TO
Lee and his veterans Yet il j. a yearly
struggle to get the iew dollars necessary to
keep green their graves
MEMORY.
These thoughts rW rise as the anniversary
Of Evacuation.Day approaches.
1t was sunday morning, April ,, lS6j-a
fair spring day. The trees on the Capitol
square were Quckening from bud to leaf.
The church-bclls rang out their monitiOn
to cease from labor and invitation TO WOr-
shippers. Hundreds OF the women who
entered the houses OF God were in black.
Indeed, nearly all wore black, and those
who were in mourning and those who
were not were only distinguished by some
bright trimming red band or gold mill
tarv braid ON the dresses or wraps OF such
girl, aS had not been called upon to mourn
father or brother or betrothet.
SUNDAY SERMONS.
The men were nearly all in uniform.
They were rcgIlir officers and soldiers Of
the post or from the lines on leave. conya-
lcsccnts from The hospitals OF ChimborazO,
HoWard's Grove. or Camps Jackson or
Winder. or members OF the local brigade,
organized from the employees 0f the Trcdc-
gar. Armory. and Arsenal, and from the
clerical forces in the War; Navy. State. and
POst-Oflicc Departments, and of boys and
men of the city who were either too young
or too old Tor regular service in the
army i'm the field. Hundreds OF men walk
ed on crutchcS; many more carried one or
other OF their arms in Sllng>-slgns OF
wounds received in battle.
Though no record OF the texts OF that day
remains, it may be fairly inferred that the
preachers be.ought the people to be cour-
ageous, 10 be prayeIiul. TO lie submissive.
II was a time Of great distress. The store
houses were nearly exhausted. The raid
ers. bv invading the country and stealing
/ horses and burning farm-hou>cs and barns
and carrying off the only agricultural labor
erS Uhe slaves had put Il stop 10 produc-
| ton, while blockaded ports prevented help
/ from the outer world.
BEEAD-RIOT.
The army suffered for food, but in the
city the poor women and children. de
privcd by the necessities OF war OF their
natural projectors, and often forced to cali
at "the Conmi>sary" " for help, suffered yet
more. Confederate currency was good for
gold only at rate OF from sixty 10 sixty
/ five for one, and Spectators had "corner-
ed" many articles now regarded Il OF
prime necessity.
For the people generally, coffee had long
been bani>hcd; tea was just as scarce and
high. They drank. and many learned 10
like. mixture made from grain, of wheat,
or rye. or beans, first toasted and then
Ground and mixed as coffee Rye was re-
eaIded n best. Potatoes were sometimes
used. sugar was very precious. Eight
tenthS OF the people did not Use il at all.
That to be obtained was very coarse, and
sorghum took its place.
At one time great crowd Of women
many OF them excellent women, all asScr-
tons 10 the contrary notwith-tanding-in
a parOXysm OF distress and rage against
the spectators riotcd in the streets, clam
Oring for bread. Governor Leichcr's ap-
peal to their patience and patriotism more
than the menace OF bayOnets by the Public
Guard dispersed them.
In these DAYS no man kept a family car
riage. The horses had all been "prcsSed =
for army service, and Spcctra-,0oking Oh
iecfs they were: needing food Is did their
riders. The iron Of the strcet-car track,
naid from Ninth street to Libby HID had
been taken up for use either g. armor for
an iron-clad or to put upon battery al
Drcwry's Bluff
SAD OUTLOOK.
Priyation, wounds, desertion, and death
had wasted Lees army. For Grants army
the winter OF "a had been one OF accretiOn
for Lees. one Of depletion. Grant had
heightened the lines till Lee had not the men
70 nroperly man his. The time long fore
seen had come. Lee must drive in Grant,
LETT wing, or his own communications would
he ruined. He massed several divisions and
fell upon the enemy; but the object could
not be accomplished. Retreat only was
lett.
President Davis, sitting in st. Paul,
church April 2, 1865, received from Lee {
telegram telling him that he could nc
longer hold his position. Soon thereafter
the evacuation OF Richmond was begun
The horrors Of that afternoon and night nC
man Of feeling then present can eliace from
his recollection. One Of the department.
OF the Government was in the present st
,, Claire Hotel, and at the corner OF Nintt
and Grace they commenced to make bon
- - .t,,f,. yo,or. Tbts advertised a. fla,