Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-22
ro,fFv IN THE CIVIL WAR.
- they acted Among the Dangers of
Battle.

modern wars have been carried on
.s1ose Intentional annoyance to in
s,siva Dop-combatants than our civil
~ TIE American difference tor woman
80 ,oticeabe on many occasions dur
w. me four wears OF that conflict. What
stss this the more striking is that the
7omen who lived in the regions that were
49,. ,beatre OF the war found very much
II tbeir oircums stances to incense and
I'm 10 madden them, so that the women,
.,ong5 uou-combatant, could and did
yand do very singing things at times
roe-a are few Union soldiers who saw
n.b real service in the field who cannot
coil instances. for the most part anus
~ this. Many Northern women
.nHared severely by the loss o. relatives
mi trends in the struggle; nut they
,rs-a not brought into direct contact
~ var like their sisters Of the South.
" ava1 they not rarely showed that they
lsft,4 will if only there were way,
rive a piece OF their mind to
,s army opposed to their own On
.6s,shuie, however, the behavior OF the
7tbern women toward the Union
,r,cne was dignided, if cold and un-
frequently the Southern women mani
81 Gsfld their feelings by fastening tie
5.ors and shutters of their houses when
# ever the Union columns were marching
mast. But it was often a question amOug
he Union files, as they poured steadily
Al along between rows of apparently de-
sarred residences, whether feminine
8 eUu0stv could be suppressed by any
suc1 patriotism as a dislike for the
81 .Ysnkees,V and the question was made
all the more interesting by the CLEAN now
NJ and then of bright eyes through the Stats
nj the shutters that were so ostentati0us-
n closed.
1tis curious that the chronic stragglers
VINO were the pest OF the army, and, one
would naturally suppose from their
predatory habits, would have been the
terror of non-cOm Blatant citizens, were
oxen successful in breaking the ice that
separated the Southern women from the
Union cause. 1t was not uncommon 10
see one Of these providers, with his
musRet slung by the strap over his
81 shoulder and mis- knapsacS and haver-
81 sack bulging out suspiciOusly, standing
III az the door OF q farmhouse, laughing
heartily aud chatting gayly with the mis-
tress OF the house. just as it he were
1eigh00ring farmers son and had come
across lots on an eTraud. All the while he
had some Of the wOmen's property in his
M laversack and napsack-eggs ham, any
thing be had been able to pilter at the
81 spring house and hastily stow away, and
be was hoping, when her back should be
turned, 10 catch a pair of fowls to occupy
III his bands.
When one thinks. however, Of what the
women in the Southern States like Vir-
81 ginia for instance, must have undergone
II IN account of the war that was constant
III Is surgng around them, no matter
3 now civilized the average American
soldier was. it seems strange that they
were not even more bitter. Sometimes
this bitterness had an amusing toucn.
All like the occurrence which the writer
Witnessed In Winchester, Va, in the
spring OF 1852, while Shields division
was in occupation. The provost mar
shals office displayed the stars and
stripes from the second-story window,
but rather than pass under that flag the
ladies' Of Winchester took the opposite
sidewalk. Some of the han gers-On at tae
provost marshaPs Oftcs having noticed
Ibis, stuck another flag from a window
Just opposite their own, and when the
ladies' beg an to promenade through the
roadway, the mischieyOus fellows rigged
a halyard across from house TO house and
suspended an immense flag over the mid
die OF tue street. Thereafter the deter
mined women avoided that part Of the
street altogether.
In September, 1862 as the Union army
was passing through Frederick in pursuit.
NJ Lee, there were many evidences Of the
diversity OF sentiment among the women OF
That city. Near the bend OF the highway
where Whi'tieT's poem fixes the scene Of
Barbara Frietche's exploit, the Fedora
columns passing by we're cheered by
n group Of ladies standing on high stoop,
nutterlng little Union flags. They Were
II evidently making M tor a discontinue Of
Lne day before Sept. ~ wnen Stonewall
Il dackson's troops passed the spot: for Oc-
cdsionaliy' as ladies' with a severe, not TO
say sour. expression OF countenance hur-
/ red lndiflerently through the enthusiastic
tnrong OF spectators that filled the side
walk, those on the stoOp would wave their
hags with mallcioGsly triumphant
| flourish.
A saoder instance was at Culpepper
| oourt House, in September, 1868, WDen
Ieade.s army was marching South
through the town. A retned-looking wo-
man, dressed in black, sat at a lower
window OF a house n the roadside. and
shooA ner head at the Union men, apply
ing, though In haif-suppressed tones, in
oWll2 eplthets to them Some of the
tou-Aer men were inclined to an
s"tr o2cS, but were checked by
lleU officers aud comrades. II Is said
sltt she sat there all day with the same
/ o+uaVlor. She was undoubtedly out of
Il ger mind. and had perhaps been crazed
the war.
but II was seldom that women OF other
1oH'comoatants were very near a battle
HelL during the combat For the APP
pIoacn Of the two hostile forces was Of
user. sufficient warning OF the danger at
uauu' ana the inhabitants usually cot
sway WITH as much haste as they could.
~ tne writer well remembers seeing,
lln astonishment, a farmer blowing "A
n9!u On high mill while a brisk skirmisb
as gong on in the valley beneath But
.s leliow must have been deaf, OF else
soAe atmospheric influence prevented his
uedllhg Tue roar OF cannon and the sharp
.elue Oh musketry down below, though
ne ought TO have seen even il he could
soS q ar. And. perhaps, IL a few stray
u.e'a or spinters OF shells Travelled past
u.m he supposed It 10 be merely the whir-
"1s OF very busy bees.
me writer's regiment was in the
Sll.ade that opened the assault on
eaIyes heights al the battle OF Freder-
Aaourg, Dec. l3, 1862. The advance
ton tne city across the fields was made
we brigade 10 skrnishing, or ex-
u0td, order. Where the main road
,1 fredericksburg forks near the
V OF the heights was cluster
~ houses. Between the two prongs
the fork was brick grocery
"e, iAe narrow cutoff end containinE
B. IA