The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-01-31
THAT AWFUL NIGHT

THAT AWFUL NIGHT
When the Arp Family got "a Move on 'Em
~. atlanta Constitution
I was in my room answering batch
of letters. The mother and children
we're in herroom and the door was open
and about nine I heard one say: SHOW,
mamma, please tell us a story-we
have gotten our lessons please, mamma
tell us about something away back when
-you were a-girl, ), or something about the
war" -. - = - : { : .
"WelI, don't turn that chair over-sit
up straight-7you will break a rocker of
if you don't mind. That is my war chair
and I want to keep it as long ss I live.
Tyas rocked :many3a childsin that chair
and I,ye.sesp sorroY and sadness in it,
too. 1.-THE old arm chair Of mother OF
Ia grandmother. could fspeak what a life
history:it could tell" ,S., .,is.,..
t'But, mamma, we don't.want any sor.
row or sadness now nor anything about
chairs. -Plesse tell us something about
when you iun from the yankees won't
you ~
aob, you worry me. You know that I
don't love to talk about the war nor the
yankees. Iwish chat I could forget all
about both. It seems to me now, that +
lived twenty years in those four years Of
the war. But let me tell you! about that
chair and vhy.I call it ny war. chair.
It is the only chair that We saved from
The wfeck::--one chairand one bedstead.
We found them at,5a neighbor's house,
when we came back to Rome. The yam
KEGS carried off everything else, carpets,
bureaus bedsteads, bedding, tables, china,
pictures, sandrI don't know what all.
The house was. full Of nice things; the
kitchen was.lf full andl,the smoke house
and the cabin,awhere the boys SLEPT. I
had. i Observation-Disclosures cost thirty
id6llasiss ssial and 4 telegraph operator shipped
that to his home il Indians, and long
after The, ,aar, he wrote pa letter and said
he had land: felt bad about it and would
returnit.orbuy III just, as sye said. So
youripaiwrote him'a very beautiful letter
and asked him to ship it back to US by
express, for twas a birthday present; but
We e never heard from him again. He
dident feel as bad as he thought he did.
he was written to again, but he played
possum and made ont like he, was dead.
He. had better not die if be knows what
iss good for him. Those yankees got
lets of nice things from u.s. and they
lived high of our snokehouse q and pantry.
There were thirty. nice large hams hang.
ing away up on the top, and there were
shoulders and midlings and sides and
two large cans of leaf lard and barrel Of
aoap." rAss ID
aWhy, what. you. leave all. those
things couldn't you have taken them
aallong,Sin al 2 Wagon
"Why, children, We had no wagon and
no time we didn't know we had to go
until midnight. The town and the gu
.burbs was,fall ofour soldiers, enough to
whip the whole. yankee nation. Why,
we had company to supper that night,
and had strawberries and cream. We
!haden'tl been: to bed long before we were
told to get up, for Gen. johnson was fall.
ing back and our troops we're all leaving
Rome and the everlasting yankees were
coming Fight in. Just then they began
to throw their singing, sizzing.shells over
the town to scare US and make us more
lively. They bursted in the air and scar.
ed us almost to death. 1 never thought
about furniture or anything else, but
getting my children: out Of danger. I
;haven'tgot over it yet. We got tangled
up in. the street among our soldiers and
the artillery wagons and couldn't move
for two hours. The shells kept coming
and by and by the up town bridge was
set on fire to Keep the yankees back until
we all could get across the other river
and burn that bridge. Oh, it was an aw.
ful night. But We won't talk about that.
i had rather tell yon how glad I was to
get back home again after eight months
Of exile. Eight long months of running
around With half dozen children who
we're about half naked and always hungry.
Your pa was away holding court in
Macon and I had Just to bum around
from place to place and impose on kim
and friends who were scared too. I.teil
you 1 was happy when we got back to
our old home, desolate as it was. We
lived hard and rough for awhile until ne
got our bale of sheeting and that helped
us out wonderfully. We sold sheeting
for chairs and tables, and bedsteads, and
potatoes and sorghum
aWhere did you get it mamma"
"Well, just before old Sherman run us
away your pa managed to get bale of
yard wide sheeting and he hid it in the
smokehouse. Confederate money had
got so bad that nobody wanted it. It
wouldn't buy anything hardly. Salt was
a great deal better than money, and 80
was sugar and tobacco, and shifting or
anything to make clothing out of. Shoes
were splendid currency. Your grandpa
had two calf skins, and he tanned them
With ashes and rubbed about half the
hair off aud got an old cobbler to make
shoes for my children, and you never saw
such things in your life, but they were a
good deal better than none. The night