National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-07-23

that Gen Lee intended to have his orders
obeyed, and that 1.-The Irish" were lust
the men to carry them out TO the letter.
But IL sometimes happened that officers
would slip by the guards without proper
passes. and on two occasions the writer
was compelled to put brigadier generals,
detected on the train without passes,
under arrest, aud at the end of the route
to march them through the streets of
Richmond and turn them over TO the
provost marshal, Mai j. @. Darlington.
Both of them took the matter as a huge
joke, but they found IL WINS no joke when
brought before q general court martial
by order Of Gen. Lee.
The orders ON these trains were hide
bound, and even Gen. Lee himself. when
riding on the train, had a pass for himself
and aid signed by himself. Now, the
stringent order about passports was os-
tensibly intended also to pre- vent the
speedy passage of spies along the line be-
tween the two cities. But as far as that
purpose was concerned the order was
dead letter, for the train officers were
directed to recognize in the case Of either
civilian or soldier the pass of any COM
mandant of n post outside the main army
proper. SO that any man might forge
the pass of such an officer, and the train
officers had no means of knowing whether
the signature was genuine or not.
LEES TACTICS.
The why in which Lee utilized his
slender force north of the Appomattox
was to keep n division camped in the
rear within two or three miles of the
railroad and about the center of the line.
All the rolling stock of the road was
under a standing order 10 be in prepare
ton at moments warning for the trans
portation of troops. Many time the
writer received orders only few min
utes before the hour appointed for the
starting of the passenger train, filed
with passengers, and it was always filed,
Ito clear the train for troops" And the
troops would come down at the quick
step and bundle themselves into the cars
and be off up or down the line. accord
ing TO the threatened point of attack, in
twenty minutes. II was one Of the most
disagreeable tasks imaginable to thus
clear these passenger trains The station
was over two miles from Petersburg, the
roads horrible, and it often happened
that orders were brought in the midst of
cold and dismal rain, for Peters,
burg has anything but pleasant
solutely no transportation by hacks
or carriages to and from the city, 80 that
the elected passengers were forced to
trudge back disconsolately through mud
or slush. With the men il was easy
enough to deal, as when they proved re-
iractory they were elected at the point of
the bayonet by the guards, but the pitt
full pleading of the women to be allowed
to remain on the train was distressing to
q man with heart in him. Nothing
would convince them that the train was
not going to Richmond forthwith, and
said that 1--WE do not object to the pres
ence of the troops" &c. The train Off
GERS frequently were compelled to call in
couple of the guards, and as gently as
possible lead women from the car. and
then generally the fearful pleading was
changed into spiteful abuse. We always
managed when women were elected from
the train to borrow ambulances enough
from the general hospital near by to
transport them back to Petersburg.
should feel very uncomfortable if, while
on visit to Richmond and Petersburg,
some of the ladies of those cities should
recognize me as one of the officers of the
train guard in the last winter of the war.
THE WOMEN OF PETERSBURG.
Speaking of the women of Petersburg
will say they showed remarkable cour-
age and endurance during the siege. On
the morning of the battle of the "crater, ~
to which l have previously referred, as
soon as possible after reaching the end of
the route 1 left the train guard in charge
of n sergeant, and made my way across
the country to Petersburg and the pro.
vost marshal's Office. The batteries on
both sides were rapidly firing, and the
ricochet shots from the federal guns rem.
dered travelling anywhere within two
miles of the lines very hazardous, but
that was nothing to the danger within
the city.
Shells were dropping constantly in
every quarter. The showers of bricks
knocked off from the corners of the
houses and the fragments of she'll hurl.
ing spitefully through the air did not
seem to disturb the inhabitants very
much, for there were women and chill
dren at the doors and windows and on
the streets, seemingly unmindful of the
awful danger they ran, and all appeared
anxious only to ascertain how matters
were going on at the front. declare IL
shocked me to see them placed in such q
position with such seeming unconscious.
ness of their peril, In fact, they had
become so accustomed to the explosion
of shells that they looked upon this bonn.
bardment as an ordinary occurrence.
But 1 have reached the limit of my
space. THOMAS j. MURRAY.