Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-11-10
BARBARA FREITCHIE.
WAVING The HISTORIC FiAG OF
FIR Derrick >BURG.
The Incident Upon which Mr.. Whit.
tier Based His Beautiful and
Patriotic Poem.

lnOusanuS VINO vet ref use TO give up their
credence in "Jessie Brown" Of the siege of
Lucknow, although the IL 81, irrefragable
evidence has been brought to show not
only that no such episode as that credited
to her had any existence III fact, but that
no such woman was shut up in the be-
leagured city There is, however, germ
of truth in Whittier's touching poem.
Barbara Frietchie did exist, and was asso-
ciated with the waving of flag /; while a
Union ilag was waved in the face of the
rebel General, but not by Barbara
Frietchic. To make the matter clear we
shall detail the facts as they were, assum-
ing on the part Of our TeadeIS u kaoY, edge
Of this most touching of all Whittiers
poems deroted to war themes.
in 81 temoer, 1862, General '5tone-
walp j, Sson had been ordered to cap
ture the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry,
and his troops went into camp near Fred
erick, Maryland. On the 9Th they moved,
and passed through the town. Barbara
Frietchie was an enthusiastically loyal old
lady OF nearly SO years of age, living at
the time on Patrick street. Neither
Jackson nor any of his men
passed through this street at all;
Lee did, but no flag was waved before him.
We win now let Witnesses detail the cir
cumstances. Colonel Henry hyd Douglas,
of General Jackson's staff, as quoted ia
BATTLES and Leaders of the Civil War"
Century Co., p. 622), says: 'tJust a lew
words in regard to Mr.. Whittier's poem
Barbara Frietchie.' An old woman by
that now immortal name did live in Fred
erick in those days, but she never saw Gen
eral Jackson, and General Jackson never
saw Barbara Freitchie l was with him
every minute of the time he was in that
city; he was there only twice, and nothing
like the scene so graphically described by
the poet ever happened" He then goes
on to detail how Union flags were fouted
before him by two pretty girls and their
mother in Middleton
But Mrs. Frietchie had flag, and she
did wave it, but not on the 9th to Jack
sons men, but on the 18th to Burnside's.
Here is the story as told by Mrs. Abbott,
Mrs. Handschue's daughter: jackson
and his men had been in Frederick, and
had left a short time before. We were
glad that the rebels had gone and that our
troops came. My mother and [ lived al
most opposite aunt's place. She and my
mothers cousin, Harriet Youer, lived
together. Mo.her said | should go and
see aunt, and tell her not to be frightened.
You know that aunt was then almost 90
years old. When l reached aunt's place
she knew as much as | did about matters,
and cousin Harriet was with her. They
were on the front porch, and aunt was
leaning on the cane she always carried.
When the troops marched along aunt
waved her hand, and cheer after cheer
went up from the men as they saw her
Some even ran into the yard. God bless
you, old LADY, Let me take you by the
hand May you live long, you dear old
soul,' cried one after the other, as they
rushed into the yard. Amt, being rather
feeble, and in order to save her as much
as we could, Cousin Harriet Youer said,
Aunt ought to have flag to wave.' The
flag was hidden in the family Bible, and
Cousin Harriet got it and gave it to aunt.
Then she waved the flag to the men and
they cheered her as they went by She
was very patriotic and the troops all knew
of her"
been told by Joseph Walker, of Washing
ton, in the Baltimore Herald of Septem-
Der 80, 1884. Mr.. Walker is son-in-law
of the real heroine, and gave the follow
ing account when interviewed by repre-
sentative of the paper: "Tll tell you the
exact particulars" said Mr.. Walker,
"and they have never been given cor
rectly before. In the first place, there
were none of the poetic incidents men
toned by Whittier. There was no win
dow-slll and there was no old woman
about it. Mrs. Mary A. Quantrell was at
that time woman of 80, black-haired
and very pretty. Her husband was then
at work as a compositor on the National
Intettigeneer at Washington, D. c., and
Mrs. Quantrell was living in Frederick
with her children. On the day that Stone
wall jackson passed through Frederick,
she and her little daughter were standing
at the gate. They had several small
Union flags, which they brought there to
wave as the Confederate troops passed by.
Virgie was waving a small flag, many Of
the rebel soldiers calling out "Throw
down that fiagw but the little girl kept
waving it, Suddenly Lieutenant drew
his sword and cut the staff in two, the flag
falling to the ground. The little girl then
waved another. This, too, was cut from
her hand. Then Mrs. Quantrell waved
larger flag in a conspicuous manner until
jackson and his men had marched past
her house. She was not molested. Some
OF the officers raised their hats to her, say
ing; TO you, madam, not your flag = <
The Quantrell family are in possession of
letters from Whittier acknowledging his
mistake. Mr.. Whittier says he derived
his information from Mrs. E. D. EN-.
Southworth, the sensational novelist" < x
MIR. Walker gave diagram of the streets
IN that portion of Frederick, showing that
Barbara Frietchie" did not live on Jack
sons line of march that her house was a
block and a half around the corner, and so
situated that she could not have gotten
sight at his troops without leaving her
premises; that the good old dame never
claimed the honor of waving a flag on that
day and that all Frederick knew that
Mrs. Quantrell, and not Barbara Friet-
chic, should have been immortalized by
the Quaker poet.
There is much other evidence to hand
by leading citizens of Frederick and
others-to the same effect; but what we
nave given seems ample.
"The manner in which the Frietchie
legend originated" says the authority we
have already quoted, "was very simple.
A Frederick lady visited Washington
some time after the invasion of 1862, and
spoke OF the open sympathy and valor of
Barbara Frietchie. The story was told
again and again, and it never lost IN the
telling. Mr.. Whittier received his frst
knowledge of it from Mrs. E. D. E. N.
Southworth, the novelist, who is resident
of Washington. When Mrs. Southworth
wrote TO Mr.. Whittier concerning Barbara.
she inclosed newspaper slip reciting the
circumstances of Barbara Frietchie's action
when Lee entered Frederick. When Mr..
Whittier wrote the poem he followed as
closely as possible the account sent him at
the time. ."-Ara. Notes and Queries.