National Republican., 1883-11-13
Visiting the Scenes Of the Memorable Peters
burg Mine Explosion.
A Field Drenched in a Sea Of Human
Blood.
One Of the Old Dominions Many Growing In
dustries.
How Libby Prison Looks Eighteen Years
After.
SDecidt Letter.

Casional trace OF the lines OF earthworks tnab
covered the hill back of Petersburg now re-
main. They have been leveled by time and
the hand of man, aud corn and cotton is
growing where twenty years ago there stood
huge Notifications that protected the con-
federate hosts and frowned forbiddingly upon
the opposing armies. The ''crater" is still
there, however, to mark the spot where
Burnside's engineers blow up tort, and
where thousands of negro soldiers were slain
in the charge that was made upon the works
after the explosion and in the recapture.
l strolled through the confederate cemetery
and out into the country beyond, while at
Petersburg the other day, and found myself
in the vicinity of the "crater" almost before
i knew it. While stood upon the top of the
highest pile Of earth / could find overlooking
the scene, matron, with comely, fresh,
young face, came hurriedly in my direction
from q farm house close by, and, running up
the steep embankment, began to tell me all
about the exciting incidents that occurred in
that immediate neighborhood.
"Right down there in the hollow about 500
feet" she exclaimed between gasps for breath,
"is where the Yankees commenced digging
into the hill. They run tunnel right up
under where we are now standing, and stored
five tons of powder in chamber sixty feet
long They intended to explode the mine
lust before daybreak before our soldiers were
awake, and then in the confusion capture the
works, and press on and enter Petersburg,
and but for a delay of two hours in getting the
fuses to work they would probably have sue
ceeded. AS it was, about 200 men were blown
up, and we never did know what became of
them. Then the negro troops swarmed up
the hill and through the smoking gap. They
were as badly demoralized as our people,
though, but they overrun and captured the
works right here and would most likely
have held their ground had not they raised
the cry of "no quarter" That made our
soldiers furious. They couldn't stand that
kind of talk from their old slaves, and they
turned and fought like tigers to recover lost
ground. 1t was a hand to hand fight for two
hours. Our men regained the works, and
threw the negroes into state of panic.
They were too frightened to fight or to run
away and there they stood huddled
together. Then the maddened whites
went at them and slaughtered them by the
thousands. That field" pointing to level
space ten or twelve acres in extent, was
covered with human bodies, and in some
places they were piled up four or five deep.
My father-in-law, who owned the farm at
that time, has told me that three days after
the fight a man could walk all over the field
on dead bodies which had not been removed.
They killed 10000 negroes that day l am
told"
Inasmuch as the killed and missing on the
union side on that memorable thirtieth of
July, 1864, aggregated less than 3,000 it
is evident that she had been wrongly
Informed on that point but she
had the geography down very fine, having
1ieved on the battle field for twelve years
The owners of the farm have recompensed
themselves in a measure for the damage done
thcm by the armies through the sale of relics
of the war. They have large collection of
war curiosities, embracing everything from a
solid shot as big Ms mans head to broken
fragments of shells, belt buckles, and the like
These relics are all on the market, and sell
from cents to $50 each wbitened, dirty
mimic ball being rated at nickel, chunk
of lead, made by two mimic balls fattening
out against each other in midair at $40, and
so on through the list.
One of the principal industries of the war
swept portions of Virginia seems to be the sale
of lcaden and iron relics of the late unpleas-
antness. Every man who owns farm upon
which notable battle was fought, some mem-
orable charge made or where something con-
spicuous in military annals took place. has
fenced the spot in and gone regularly into the
business of levyiug tax on all visitors in
the way of an admission Charge. This tax,
added to the revenue yielded by the sale of
trinkets, is an important item in the internal
economy of the country. Iti safe to say that
the supply of relics will never give out so
long as there is demand unless
the lead mines should be exhausted.
Twenty times as many bullets have been
picked up ON the field Of Waterloo and sold
TO VlSltOrS as were bnOb from tnS guns OF the
French and English armies. This is a pecu-
liar field of commercial enterprise that is
practically inexhaustble Travellers in the
Orient can buy cords of splinters from the
holy cross, and bushels of original thorns to
this day.
Verify, a battle field is good thing to have
in the family. 1t is as profitable as little
bonanza, and can be handed down as an heir
loom, and then it is fixture. There is no
possible way of taking it up and moving it
into another country. An attempt TO blow it
into the next township has been tried and
proved failure
The point Of greatestinterest to northern
man in Richmond is Libby prison. A regis
ter was opened two years ago, and since then
more than 6,000 visitors have affixed their
signatures ON the pages of the book, 95 per
cent being from northern and western states.
The old building stands just as the unfor-
tunate Yankees" who were imprisoned
there remember it. 1t is dingy brick
structure, fronting the river in the lower
quarter of the city. The river front is four
stories high. 1t is built back into the bank,
and the street front is only three stories in
height. 1t is now q fertilizing factory, but
an effort has been made to preserve the upper
floors as they were left. The marks made
on the floors and walls have not been dis
turbed, lead pencil marks even remaining
quite distinct. Hundreds OF names are carved
in the woodwork, upon the window frames,
from its hinges not long ago upon which are
cut not less than fifty names. Visitors are
shown this among the first things. Ex-
prisoners have offered the owners $500 for the
door repeatedly, but they will not part
with it,
Rude checker boards cut into the floor are
to be seen in nearly every one of the long
narrow, low-ceilinged rooms, that extend
across tho building from front TO front, and
the chimney is pointed out down which
about 200 prisoners climbed to reach the tun-
mel dug beneath the walls of the prison by
Col. A, d. Streight aud his brave comrades
Bloodhounds, human and canine, ran down
and recaptured many of them, but others
made good their escape.
These are only few Of the objects of alb
sorbing interest that are pointed out by the
intelligent and we'll Informed guides, 1t is a
place that nobody who visits the capital of
the late confederacy should fail to see.
JASON.
Intolerance in Virginia.
To he Editor
As illustrating the intolerant snirit of the