Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-26
WAh MEmoRIEs nEcALLED.
ChapcelloFviiie Revisited by = Vet
erRn.

NIGHT IN THE OLD MANS OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
OF THE DISASTROUS BATTLE HETEROGENEOUS
IN THAT SECTION OF VIRGINIA SINCE THE
WAR.
correspondenee Of TIE EVENING STAR.
CHASCELLoRvnLB, VA. Sept 20, 1888.
Our slumbers in the old Charlottesville man.
sion are u1disturbed by the shades of the
~, 1853 mangled bodies that shed more or less Of
their blood hereabouts in the first four beauti-
full days of May, 1853, twenty years ago; but at
first tits difficult to get rid of the impression
that shot or shell may not end our existence
before morning.
On the dreadful night of the I'd Of May Jack
son had surprised Howard, whose men were
away from their guns, making coffee, playing
cards in the bitches, &c, and had driven them.
huddled like sheep, with cannon. train wagons
beeves and all the impediments Of an army, in
wild confusion streaming down the road. past
the doors of this old house, whence Hooker
and staff sailed forth, and even killed fugltives
in their endeavors to stop the rout.
Jackson received his death wound after his
movement ceased and he had carried his men
back a mile or two to DOwdall's tavern,
and all night Sickles, with whom
we We're, fought hisway back from the furnace,
nearly three miles away, through the narrow
space between AndersOn's left and Jackson's
right. That night the cannon rOared around
Hazel Grove near here, where, about am.
we struck Jackson's left flank heavily Gone
column was forty lines deep: the whippoorwill
read dispatches thereby. All this, recollection
brings back, as we again look ON the moonlit
fields.
SMELLING AND BURNING OF THE HOUSE AT CHAN
CELLORvILLE.
Battered on the left front, and soon on the
right, the Sd corps (Sickle's) found itself near
noon Of the next day about this old house.
Our position in line was nearly behind it and
within range of thirty guns on Hazel Grove;
and of batteries run up the slope. in some
cases by hand, between the grove and the plank
road. The house was struck many times; and
Hooker was silenced here, so that for hours he
did nothing to save the army, nearly lost by
his and Towards inability in failing to pro-
tect the right ofthe 18th corps The column ofthe
portico against which he leaned was
knocked away, and with it the "old mans''
mental faculties. chimney came down. hurt
Ing the wounded lying behind. and soon we saw
the walls spring outward. settle back and
shortly the flames poured out and the roof fell
in but not until the Chancellors. in light
ralment, had been removed from the cellar
They had been under fire since earliest dawn
One of the ladies still lives near here and gives
animated variations of the affair. The field in
front, and farther down to the chimneys
(Falrview), and the grove, and back
Of us a few PAGES to Hancock's lines,
that Sunday morning were carpeted with bodies
In blue and gray. 1t was like an immense abat-
toir; but herethe butchered were fellow men.
Had Rockers too sanguine temperament and
troops out in hn enfiladed. and therefore unten-
able .pOsitiOn,ftO await Sedgewick' sexpected ap-
prOacha from fredericksburg he might have
held Chancellorvlle and the forks of the roads;
or. had he fortified, as he should all night. on
the lines where it was known Stuart would
strike in the morning with Jackson's forces,
much OF the carnage would have been avoided
on our side, and the result been changed. But
Mcclellan fortified. and his methods must not be
followed. The Wilderness battles afterwards
taught the men to dig, and thenceforth orders
to do SO were unnecessary.
THE CHANGES OF TWENTY YEARS.
Little did we think, as we moved back from
the mansion, in obedience to commands, and as
we saw the block smoke pour up after the roof
fell in, that in twenty years we should return
and sleep within those walls. part of the
old ones have been utilized in the smaller new
house. The old home, as shown by our
measurement OF the foundation. was SO feet in
length. The holes have been patched with new
brick, and 20 cOncal shells have been built in to
show their position. 1t is not difficult to inden-
tify the precise route of each regiment followed
on the battle field, the crests whence it fired,
the hollOws where it was sheltered. The woods
have not been cut of, but thickets Of small
trees have grown up in places. For the most
part the fields remain the same, and now, as
then: are covered with grass. corn and wheat
stubble. Hancock's lines, Towards, Sickles,
slocum's, and the enemys, further out In
the woods, are wonderfully we'll preserved.
especially in the dense thickets of black jack.
scrub oak, sassafras and chincapins, where there
has been no occasion for leveling the ridges.
three-fOurths Of mile north of the house. to-
words the river, and u 8. ford are well
defined. Lee is said to have Immediately forti-
fed around the house when he got possession
about noon, but the ridges have probably been
plOughed down. Roads cross here in every d.
rection, and the place should have been held 1t
was
A STRANGE FIGHT
Stuart and johnson on the west, then Hooker,
then Lee, strongly fortified; then McLaws, bat
tering Sedgewick beyond him back to the river:
then further out, beyond Sedgewick, Early, who
had re-occupied Mayres hill and the heights OF
Fredericksburg, whence Sedgewick had swept
him at heavy loss, and passed over, only to be
stopped at Salem church aud the heights
around. crowned with McLaws' batteries.
Commanders were unfortunate In this fight
Lie or reputation was largely sacrificed. OF
the three major generals in our corps (Hook-
er's) Berry and Whipple were killed and Sickles
was wounded. On .Berry's tall Mott took
| charge of his division, and was soon hurt. Re-
we're then led the troops back, and for his action
was cashiered Jackson fell, and his successor,
A. P. Hill was Immediately struck, and j. E. B.
Stuart (kiled later) took command Hooker
and Howard were in disgrace by reason of their
| failures, and one was soon after relieved and
the other sent west.
The blood that flowed has not enriched the
soil. Mr. divers corn is not particularly luxu.
RANT. The bodies have been mostly removed
| and the work of taking them out at $5 each
has been the foundation of the fortunes OF
several OF the families resident hereabouts The
stories that the bones delivered included those
! of mules. &c, they declare to be false Re-
mains are still found where the ground washes
| and we saw thigh bone uncared for, and in
| another. where skeleton lay q few days ago.
"YANKEE" SETTLERS IN "THE WILDERNESS
Land can be bought here (ttre Wilderness) al
| all prices, from $3.50 per acre up, and none il
| high It is owned in extensive tracts, and is
| largely In the market 1t is not SO productive
as some toward Orange Many northern meu
| have moved In. and the ten or twelve miles be-