National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-09-06

in rifling the commissariat buildings and
the private stores on Main street, man
aged to work my way to the provost mar
shaps office. Here l found that II was
useless TO sock my men, as thoy were
under Con. GUSTS Lees orders, by com
msnd Of the president. who had directed |
that every officer and man then in Rich
mond should be detailed for the special |
duty of guarding the streets OF
tho city. l made my way back |
to the river as soon as possible, |
and 1t was pitiful to SEQ tho anxious and
haggard faces of the non -oombatant pop |
ulation as they appeared at the windows,
fully expecting that their city would be
RACED to the ground flor so IL had beon
threatened by the last ditch" and war
to the-knife" partisans) as thoroughly as
was Jerusalem by Titus, when literally
one stone was not leftupon another. After,
with much difficulty, forcing my way
through ravonous mob, who were plum
dering tho commisssry stores on the dock
in tho midst of blazing buildings and Ere
brands hurled about by the strong wind
then prevailing and which injured many
of these starving creatures, reached my
boat, recrossed the river, regained tho en-
CINE and about midnihht was very glad TO
reach my bunk in tho camp on the Tele-
graphr Dad. But tho news that l brought
stimulated to instant action tho captain of
tho battalion, o. Q. Henderson, and he
at once gave orders for the men to take
three days rations and sleep upon their
arms.
OF what I have learned since that
oventful night of April 2, whom tho city
seemed to me to.be TN entrance to pande-
monium or Of hell proper, am naturally
disinclined to speak. AS far as my own
experience extended in tho burning city
the better class of citizens were cowed by
the robbers, and there was the worst
| gang of robbers in Richmond at this
time-ruthless men and women, strangers
to the city and its proper people-that
ever has arisen In the tide Of time. II
may be said: Why did not the military
prevent this state Of things2 The an
swer is that the guards were required on
the lines; and worse and moro despicable,
If possible, is the fact that some Of the
high officials, exempt under tho official
enactment, were partners in tho schemes.
1t may BIO thought that in the troublous
times spoken of above that Richmond
was sort of Sodom and Gomorrah. 1t
was not. The native people were all
right In point of morals and conduct, but
it was tho accursed race Of Shem Whom
Grant kicked ont of his army before
Vicksburg) who have given to historians
q distorted view Of the beleagured city at
the time of its abandonment by the forces
of Gen. Custis Lee. who was left behind
to make matters smooth with the incom-
ing Yankee troops. Now, to conclude
this article l am compelled to rely on
hearsay, and the following is the
result: About IL o'clock of Sunday
morning, the I'd of April, messenger
was sent by Gen. Lee to President
JEFF Davis declaring that he could
hold his position no longer, but that he
must retreat. This message was given to
Mr. Davis while ho was sitting beside his
wife in his church pow. He Immediately
went in the middle Of the sermon from
the building, and speculations were rife
among tho crowded congregation Oh to
what could DO the meaning of tho dis
patch. All know that this dispatch was
important, and all prayers and hopes
were then dependent on the conflict
which the whole congregation know was
raging. They hastily dispersed for their
homes when the president and his wife
least was lost to the south, and that the
conflict, if maintained hereafter, must be
maintained in tho wildly mountainous
parts of North Carolina.
There Is a word wish to say in behalf
of newspaper men, who were exempt from
CONSUMPTION. The first company Of COM
positors and newspaper men, to fight when
called for on the breastworks, was organ
lied under the command of Capt. Il. c.
Crump (who had been desperately
wounded and disabled in tho battle OF
KerIlstown in 1862 in 1864, and they
frequently did good service in manning
the breastworks, especially in what are
known as the Deep Bottom raid and the
Dahlgren raid. On Saturday, tho day
before the evacuation of Richmond, Mr..
X. bI. Smith, tho editor of tho Sentinel,
the accredited organ of JEFF Davis, in
formed his employees (of whom Crump,
aforementioned, was foreman) that the
city was to DO surrendered tho next day.
The printers nevertheless kept ut work,
ana on the morrow of the entry of the
federal troop got out their edition, flaming
with wrath in editorials against the in
vaders and counseling all Of the citizens
to behave courteously to the invaders In
case they might attempt to wreak ven
geance on the erstwhile proud capital in
this her day of capture and degradation.
1t is settled fact, we'll known to all
readers OF history, that JEFF Davis and
the gang he had about him, seized upon
the engines and cars which Gen. Lee
destined to meet him with provisions at
| Amelia Court House on the retreat and
thereby broke down his regiments. In.
stead of acting as dignified officials, men
A and women, official and otherwise
crowded the trains and passed Sheridan
before had an opportunity to block the
railroad; but while they blocked the rail.
roads they effectually starved to death
the men who were waiting for something
to eat and ready to fight at Amelia Court
Hodse. / recollect that hero we blew up
| ~
had not forage for the horses, and I re.
member well, moreover, that the men
generally swore an oath "as deep as help
that if ever they could catch JEFF Davis
he would feed the ravens of the air ut the
end of a moose.
[By tho way, this restlessness in regard
to Davis and his methods was prevalent
throughout the army, and il the war had
lasted three months longer we would
have seen the whole confederate ma
chinery hurled from power, with Leo al
supreme Dictator position in which,
because of our knowledge Of his charac
ter, we could easily trust him.
About 10 o'clock on the morning o.
April 3 horseman, bearing q flag and
followed by o large squad of cavalry, gal
direction of the Williamsburg road, anc
hating only in the suburbs of tho city
sufficient time to ask the route to the
state capitol building, he with his follow
ers rushed to that building, and in few
moments tho Stars and Stripes were float
ing from the flagstaff on the south OF the
capitol.
And in short time other federal regi
ments followed, and their commander
conspicuous among them Gen. Godfrey
Woitzel) set to'work to stay the flame'
that were raging and to quell the furious
mob which had seized upon tho best por
tions of tho city for plumber. Within
twenty-four hours the flames were sub
dued and the mob dispersed, and til,
captors OF the city were distributing gov
ernment rations to tho starving inhab
itants.