St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-10-23

of prOlnbitionists to save him from a
defeat by Gov. Cleveland.-IV Vermont
Christian Messenger.
RObbing "a Gray Head of Glory.
| Much has been written about the
| alleged mistake of Whittier in making
heroine out of Barbara Freitche for
waving the Union cOlors in the face OF
Stonewall Jackson as they marched
through Frederick, Md, saws the
! Washington correspondent of the Bal
| timore Herald. There are some in
teresting facts, however, connected
with this conspicuous blunder which
have never before been published
| These have been furnished by SON.
inlaw of Mrs. Quantrell, who was the
real hero on that occasion. He is en-
| tirely familiar with the dramatic scene
in which Dame Barbara, "bOwed with
her four score years and ten" is sup
| posed to have Haunted the silken scarf
of patriotism from the window sill, and
exclaimed "ShoOt, if you must, this
old gray head, but spare your country's
| flag ~ she said. 1t was Byron who
defined military glory as a going to
the wars, getting killed and having
your name mispelled in the gazette.
So Mrs. Quantrell and her little daugh-
| ter, after having undergone the peril
Gus experience of having the stars and
stripes cut from their hands, suffered
the melancholy injustice of seeing the
valorous feat ascribed to helpless
old woman who lived block and u
half away, out of sight of the profession.
and who was SO deaf and blind that
she could not have told the boom of a
cannon from the blow of a horn, or
the starry emblem of the Union from IA
striped bandanna. 1t appears that
none of the versions heretofore pub
lished is accurate. In the first place,
there was none of the poetic incidents
mentioned by Whittier. There was
no window sill, and there was no old
woman about it. Mrs. Mary A. Guam
trell was ut that time a woman of 81,
black haired, and very pretty. Her
husband was then ut work as Il COM
pOsitor on the Baltimore National In
telligencer, and Mrs. Quantrell was
living in Frederick with her children.
On the day that jackson and his army
passed through Frederick, she and her
little daughter, Virgie Quantrell, were
standing ut the gate. They had sew
eral small Union flags, which they
brought there to wave as the cOnfed-
crates marched by. Mrs. Quantrell
was enthusiastically loyal, and she,
womanlike, simply took advantage of
the occasion to show her devotion to
the Union. They stood within few
feet of the line of march. Virgie was
waving a very small flag, such as chill
dren play with on patriotic days.
Many of the rebel soldiers had called
out "ThrOw down that flag ~ but the
little girl kept waving it. Suddenly n
lieutenant drew his sword and cut the
staff in two, the flag falling to the
ground. The little girl then took
another small flag and waved it, and
this in turn was cut from her hand
Then Mrs. Quantrell displayed larg
er flag and waved it in q conspicuous
manner. This she continued to do un-
til Stonewall jackson and his men had
all marched past her house. She was
not molested in the least. In fact,
many of the officers and men treated
her with marked courtesy. Some of
the officers raised their hats and said
go you, madam; not to your flag"
1t further appears that Barbara
Freitche did not live on JacksOn's line
of march that her house was block
and half around the corner, and so
situated that she could not have gotten
a sight of the confederates without
leaving her premises that the good
old dame never claimed the honor of
having waved a flag on that day, and
that all Frederick knew it was Mrs.
Mary A. Quantrell, and not Barbara
Freitche, who should have been i'm
mortalized in verse by the Quaker
poet.
The Quantrell family is now in pos
session of the letters from Whittier
acknowledging his mistake and the
injustice that had been done the real
heroine, or rather the two herOines, Us
it would seem that the little Virgie was
rs much entitled to niche i'll the
| temple of fame rs her patriotic mother.
In one OF them Mr.. Whittier SAYS that
he derived his information as to Barba-
ra Freitche from Mrs. Z. ID. n. South
worth, the manufacturer of sensational
literature, who wrote him letter de-
failing the incident and suggested that
| it afforded material for masterfnl
poem. Whereupon he sat down and
evolved the thrilling story of the non
ogenarian dame who had Haunted the
stars and stripes in the face of the rebel
invaders. Mr.. Whittier admitted that
! Mrs. SouthwOrth made mistake, but
says the poem has become so wide
| spread that Il correction of the name
would he impossible. The Quantrells
evidently fail to appreciate the force of
Mr.. Winters logic, as they are unable
to see how it is too late to correct
/ such an a,rrauinuS hIundar