The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-12-23
THE FIELD OF FAuR OAKS
A Thrifty Fsrnsr Specialists In osl<3srs'
Shurh and EslfSs.

Skurn and EsifSs-
The condition OF the atts-xround of
Seven Pines aad Fair Osks u . disxr ace
TO tbs citizens ct Virginia and the IA
ten at large Bones 81 these uhs died
| in that bloody esnfiss are scattered
thiekly sn Tie surface Of ths ground.
and if tis fsss we're told. asny Of tbs
stones which stand in the katensl
Csnstery IT Seven Pines, within . guar
ter Of nlls sf whore many men vhe
were ths blue and gray fell. mark Al
most empty gravss-
1t would be hard for any enc who had
not gene ever tbs ground Of ems Of the
hottest battles ever fought 10 believe
that tveHty-fsur years afterwards the
bones Of tbs slain lie haff hidden by
leaves and brush by the score, and yet
such Is the Casa Tho thsatsr Of the
great but undecisivs struggle 1t Seven
Pines has been turned into place where
few men can reap financial profit by
guiding visitors to the spot where skulls
proruds from tho ground and where al
that remains Of many brave lads who
are numbered among the missing lie.
1t ia difficult to escape the guides, but
it p.vs the visitor to make his own wsv
over the field Of battle He does no.
follow the beaten path in which those
why gain money BY exhibiting the bones
of the boys who died amid the rear OF
cannon and the rattle q naketry take
their victims, and he gains fer himself
positive information sf the actual cen
aitisa Il tAiASA
A Sunday Nescs correspondent in
company with ". Il Barrett and Mich
sel Fogsrty, Of Philadelpkia, and II. c,
Thorton, Of Wisconsin, slipped avsy
from these guides and were hcrrifed st
what they found. Under tie leaves
and twiss and amid the taioA brush of
OAK and pines. which haa sprsng sp
during the last twenty yssFs, he bones
of many brave ueH were found They
had answered ID the order - Oh arrs tie
batteries which sseod on ths esasr Ias
Of the plcushsd ksld sad had Isia aswp
thGr lives ere The set@ intrsa cins
wss taAsn. A. night AL On tAe A,t,a
day Of lay. $50, Dsay q the be-s
tAilsd to snsxsr the ssli-call and vGe
placed smong ihs HiAns 1t ~
partly eultiveted Eeii then. How pines
twenty feet ia hsi2 bit cover the bloody
ground and eve sand - tae bYeass-
worh - from bsh nd whieh sac rseel esfs-
mons bslched forth death, and where
the nerhs OF tho wheels Of the artillery
are still visible The bones Of nAsy OF
the fallen still liz there. although the
dag which fiss from the staff ia the
Seven Pines Cemetery 10 within .sighk
Whether thoss bones were clothed in
the blue or the gray il unknown, but
many men are ready to testify ths VINO
ever was iRtrnsted with the duty Of col
Letting those bones has failed ia his
trust
The reason for The failure is manifest
The fact that the bones still lie there At
tracts many people to the field OF Ca
mage, and evsry CD, that falls into to
clutches of the guides must pay his toll
A party Of twenty-one, which included
several men from Philadelphia ana
vicinity, had to pay &5.25 for ralkiBs
behind E guide for IN hour. This sam,
guilds owns 700 acres OF the land upor.
which the battle sas fought Ha began
by purchasing one acre. for when he
paid s.. The same price was paid fog
the remainder OF the ground which b.
has bought and every cent OF the MONEY
was extorted from Northern visitors u
the battlefield He ras ordered by the
Government to pick up all the bones
disinter the buried soldiers and see that
they we're removed to the cemetery JUS
across ths road Instead OF dong 80 he
has placed skulls and othsr bones of the
dead in various places and guides tho
visitors by beaten paths to these spots
Hs never takes them through the thicket.
Another dodge Of this man Lynne is TO
find . battered musket Dall on the
ground and sell it to the visitor for fiftv
! cents if he can. and for ten cents if he
can get no more The balls are drop
ped by him when the visitor is not LOOK
ing, and picked up when he is looking.
Richmond Letter to Philadelphia
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