Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-07-10
GENERAL HOODS ROMANCE.


time, Il lady b"on%in% to Il family in th'
South OF very powerful convictions, who, il
beauty, clrVrrlc<, and ambition, has never
had her superior in that section. She Wa
engaged to be- married to General Hood
With all il WomAn'~ natural ambition fol
her promised husband, Sh" determined, il
possible, To hrIp him to Il position where
his unqualified abiIiir, IL Il fighter would
find Il proper sphere. The instant Il change
in the commander Of the second Great
army OF the CUntr'lrracy was noted. Sh,
saw her opportunity. II will try to hnv,
YOU given tn" command of the West
crn .\rmN,' she wrote him, "Hnd YOU must
succeed ~ General Hood WAS then about
EE' years oId. and had first distinguished
himself in two of the greatest battles of the
war aS Il division and corps commander
He W;l> Il man who WAS always ready to
fight, no matter against what odds and IL
the Army Of the Tennessee could not be- rr-
crllitch much more it WAS decided ut Rich
mond that some one should command il
who would risk two or three terrible bat
ties, and, if it were possible, get Shrrman'>
corps far enough apart to fall on them and
defeat, carh one ut Il time. So General
lluWl Was selected. Every one knew hr
Wou!H fight whenever he got the chance.
and that W;l$ mainly what WAS wanted ut
Richmond. 1t WAS Il proud day for the
stately woman hr loved when ii Wa~ an
nonncrd that General Hood was to be- raised
professionally to the grade Of full General
and given To this Wclltrainrd army. On
the Eth Of July q believe that was the
tlatc) General Johnston was relieved, and it
was understood that thereafter there would
be no more Hawking or strategic operations.
but some terrible battles. Hood did his
best, but the tran>crndant genius of john
son was lacking, and the final battles Of the
, llth and 18th Of December, l>Gl, in front of
! Nashville, nearly destroyed his army. .\f-
/ ter this occurred General Hood Wl> sent for
to come to Richmond ut once. The day af-
ter his arrival he received Il note from the
lady mentioned, requesting him to call ON
her 1T his earliest convenience. There hap
pcncd to he IN officer with General Hood
whom he knew very we'll when the note
reached him, and n" asked the officer to go
with him to the house where Miss - WAS.
After Il few moments of waiting when they
were announced the lady came in with Il
packet in her hand. "Gcncra IIood," She
said, looking straight into his eyes, "whrn
became engaged to YOU | had the fullest
faith in your >urcr>>. tried to help you,
and did assist in having the command Of
the Army of Tennessee given you. You
have failed why or how iS now beside the
question. ! can never bring myself to bear
the name of a man who wears the prestige
Of defeat, and sent for YOU to say that our
engagement must be ut IN end. Here are
your letters and some things YOU gave me.
Now. good-byr, and Let the dead past be-
forgotten. G0od-byc!" While this was be-
crutchr~, for hi-; left lr" WAS gone and one
, arm >lnttrrcd |" turned very whit" but
said not Il Wnr'l, nor did hr look ut the hand
Out->trctchcd to bid him gOOd-byc. He
gravrly bent his stately head and went out
from her presence forever more. But he
never forgot nor iory;lvr the bitter. cruel
words, and years AFTER in speaking Of Tn"
matter, hr >hoWc'l deep emotion. 1t was
so hard to bear, for hc had done all that the
most distinguished courage could tlu to win.
1t was an awful position for the officer who
went with him. When the conversation
commenced hc rose ami walked over To Il
window in nrrr that hc might not hr wit
nr-S To what nc inrr>;lW W"uld br Il most
painful scene. I;u hr could not help hear
ing, amd never until his dying day will hr
forget enc Of the most remarkable incidents
Of the war. General Hood i'm 1850 married
Miss Marie llrnnrn, Il daughter of Hon. ID.
y. IIrnnrn. of New Orleans. She was Il
tall handsome woman. worthy of her gal
liant and chivalric soldier husband. The
sad death of both husband and wife in quick
succession Of the yellow fever in ISIS is still
fresh in the public mind. A- j. the fact that
nine years old, to tn" care of strangers.
PRESIDENT puI.K'> WlnOW.-Riyht in |
the heart Of Nashville stands large, old ,
fashioned homestead of dull rcd brick, it, ,
roof projecting over the broad piazza. sup !
ported by great tlutrd pillars, and it>grncr- /
Ill aspect conveying an impression Of severe |
>tat"Iinc>>. in pleasing variance with the !
distorted, WOuId-hr fashionable architecture
in the same nci@hburhGuI. \ LONG lawn |
stretches in front of the house and its pleas .
ant green munotony is unbrokrn save by Il
plain and massive tomb OF white marblr /
which carries it, own best rptaph in the /
simple in~cri ption. James X. Polk. \ ring .
1T the bell brought to the door Il good-nl-
turrd rOl0rrd girl, who took our cards to the
venerable and vcncratcd widow Of PrcSi- ;
dent Polk. y woman like Mrs. Polk is a
revelation to the beauties of old AGE. Gem
Tie rbrncvnlrncr, ,broad-rachngrharity ripe
experience and Il cultivation Of mind that |
extends beyond letters to mankind. slime
through her conversation, ami Il ready nlcn-
orN, Keen Wit and Il store of "reminiscences
illuminate il. sixty years ago. at the time
OF her nlarria%r. Mrs. Polk was considered
for her beauty. and twenty years
it WAS 80 fresh and unimMlircd d. to attract
great admiration and be- noted in the pub
li>hrd works and private Journals of di>lin-
%u-hrd foreigners. Time. of course. ha>
stolen tn" vivid colnrin~ and curved out
lines of youth. but Ir has not robbed her Of
the upright figure and di"niIird carriage
and has left brightness in hrrryr> and vivac-
ity in her voice, br>itl,> lending an added
charm in her iauItlr-S manners. Crowned
with eighty years of honor she rose to re-
Irivr lis. From the library of the dead
President She can "Hzr upon the tomb that
marks his resting place, and in that same
Just where he laid them when hr came
home for the last time. The book he wHs
reading lies open on the table, and the pa
pcr> of the day beside it. III ~r,.irly. and
fond of il. Mrs. Polk has yr; nry"r accepted
III invitation since her husbands death,
though with graceful hospitality and tact
she has RECEIVED on the first clay Of each
wear the Tennessee Legislature. which adj
ourn> in Il hndyto call upon hrr-anI which
am told i the highest compliment ever {
naH by State authorities to Il Iady-;nd the |
t point t" pay their Respects To her.
Ia'""'r.
THE FIRST POLAR ENrIoEEE>.--In SCI,
\ad"d. Il rowing pirate, in one of hi~ vny |
lgr~ To the North, W;l> cast away on what ,
lr supposed to be- IN immense continent. :
md which ne designated by tine name Of i
,noWand. about three years later. two .
swedish mAvigatnr> visited this laEd and t
allied completely around the supposed 'on- |
inrnl. proving it to be an island. Having
nund Il great quantity "I drift ir" collected
NJ the north side in the nci~Iborhu"d of :
ape North. they gave il the maine of lee {;