The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-12-08

,..omcnts Of Historical Value stolen
,,ominsnt Residence Taken Possession
m, Federal Oficsrs.
CONCLUDED.
Having at last got rid OF Camp Lee
md the negro troops. my ellow-ofticer
~o1 myself now made efforts 20 yet
-, psrolcs. Tne Capitol building was,
~ course. in possession OF the Federal
e,tborities. II had been ransacked from
b~,tom e. top not only by the troops.
lst which was far worse, by the bum
- and thieves who had been hang.
me Oh % the rear ef the army. There
INST have been. however, a class Of
n.undercrs Of q higher grade than these,
lad not the less guilty. Books and
documents of great historical value
uere stolen. These were doubtless
,.len by educated thieves. The head
oc.rters Of the officer who granted
,,,olcs had been established in the
ibary hall Of the Capitol. We were
,.oyifed L. appear on the eastern side
NJ tbo building and to take our place
m the line Of the crowd of applicants
foy al manner Of privileges. Other
rooms in the building were occupied
nv officials whose duty il was to receive
and consider these other applications
We had been patiently awaiting our
tnrus Tor an hour or two when we were
.h..fved by some Federal officers on
tbe TOD of the steps Two soldiers we;s
al once dispatched by them To- open A
vay through the crowd, ara we were
invited 90 10 up withor. further delay.
A. We passed up, being in uniform
The officers gave Us tho military salute,
which we re,uInci, and moved on up
10 iho library room. As soon ss our
wishes we're made known, the proper
documents were made out, and We
wtre lmparatively free. Although
rot now exposed 10 the danger of
arrest and allowed certain liberty. a
seville SOFT If feeling still chung to me.
Iheld in my hand piece of paper, the
urce Of my liberty, so that the hand OF
The cOnquerOr was still on me. Then,
100. when | looked around and
recalled She associations Of the place
how little did | ever expect to see those
innocent repositories of learning, the
unconscious books, witnessing my
ean humiliation and that of my fell
l0w.cOnutrymen. Ii was the abOmina-
t0n OF dcsoiation standing where il
ouyht rot. and / rushed from the
room for the open air. Here my fell
iow.oAicer and had a short. but sad
have taking He left the city for re
mote part II the country, and ] soon
after for another continent.
a few hours afterward found me
making an inspection of the burned /
district. Thousands of negroes, under
che eyc Of Federal soldiers, swarmed !
along tire line of Main and Cary streets |
clearing away the rubbish aud pulling |
down the ruins made by the late Ere. |
Very few whites were at work. the /
Union soldiers appearing more than |
willing that the late slaves should re- ]
lease them from such ignoble drudgory. |
Having nothing To do, AID being met |
eyerywhere by disagFeeable and often
fige objects, / felt as an alien in my |
own town. The evenings were spent
with adde's ead the few other congenial |
trends VINO had Just returned from the
drllteErated army.
On these occasions wecOuld talk free |
Is. abuse the Yankees. and make all /
sorts Of dire predictions, express hopes |
dlabOlIcal, and relieve our pent-up feel
ug- generally. without fear Of inter
TgptiOg. We men who had Just real
led the situUtiOn were rather serious
ard doubtful as TO the future, and dis.
posed to acqulesce IN what seemed 10
us the inevitable. No, so with our lady
friends. Their voices were still for
war. 'and not very still, either. when
Uused. They would hope against hope.
and declared it was shameful in US all
thgs 10 give up the fight. that we ought
rather to have died than TO desert dear
old General Lee ana the flag as we
were doing. OF course we understood
aud took IN good part the patriotic EN-
thusiasm Of our fair friends, whose fer
v0r in behalf Of our great leader and
the cause he defended appeared to us
but the glow TO the final settiUg of our
country 5 sun.
All during the day the streets were
filled with soldiers in thir dirty. soil
ell blue sacks. Few vehicles were to
BE- seen, except when the Federal Off
GERS chose t. drive outside of the town
either for pleasure or curiosity. Up TO
this time there had been not the slight
est evidence Of any social intercourse
between the citizens and the sOldiery.
The ladies still kept secluded behind
their closed blinds. never appearing on
che streets ruless forced by circum-
: a ces TO do so. The officers in charge
Of The several departments had. by de-
groes, taken possession of of such pri-
vate aud public buildings as suited
their tastes and their convenience.
General Wetzel. then commanding
negro division. occupied President
Davis late residence, and had charge Of
the city. Tie was afterwards succeeded
by General Ord, who occupied the old
Nickham house. then occupied by Mr..
lanes G.. Brooks. The Allen house,
which has been lately pulled down and
which then stood on tho corner of
Broad aud Twelfth streets, was the
ieadQuarters of General Devns. Gen
raj Curtis occupied Mr. James II.
rants residence on east side OF
twelfth street.
Other prominent residences were
dken possession OF by the fedefal
authorities. Among them was the old
Hills residence on Leigh street, now
lwned by Mr.. Everard Meade; Colonel
ieorge Wythe Munford's home on
rankin street. now gone, to give place
o Mr. John Z. Branch s new residence;
he house on Grace street now owned
By MI. Isaac Davenport and others now
ore1tten, The Baptist Female lnssi-
uie was held by the quartermasters.
aud was also general head
quarters. The consent of The owners or
was generally obtained be-
ore an officer took possession Of a
iVeliing. and in some instances, as IN
hat Of the Institute, rent was paid for
he use OF buildings. ,
Tho monotony Of my daily expert
nee was Unexpectedly interrupted on
ne occasion by an interview with an .
9ielhgeHt Federal officer. Wandering p.
lone about the city, had taken seat :
20 bench in the Capitol Square away !.
rom the crowd, and as much as posi- s.
dc segregated from the repulsive sur !
oundiug.. A few minutes afterwards ,