The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1891-05-30

The summer of 1854 brought the sad
intelligence to Judge Reynolds that his
son, a soldier in the federal army, had
fallen in an affray with guerrillas near
Harry Reynolds captain
wrote to the judge that Harry had
been buried in a village cemetery a
dozen miles from Memphis, and a
cedar plank, upon which his name was
carved, had been placed at his head.
Lila passed through a tempest OF
grief over the death of her brother, and
then said:
Maybe some little Tennessee girl
that hates this wicked war like | do,
will take care of brothers grave; so I'll
keep poor Charley Wallace's grave nice,
anyhow"
The tide of war flowed here and there
throughout the south. As a rule, the
women of the south were engaged n
the sterner duties of life occasiOned by
the absence of so many of the male
population. The terrible reality of war
was EVER near. and they, in many cases
became Injured to the bloody scenes of
those times. No sympathy could be
wasted upon even their dead, and
of course they had little to spare for
the northern troops.
In the town Of Barrett, Tenn, where
the remains of Harry Reynolds lay, the
ladies were especially vindictive against
the federal troops. Capt. Leslie had
buried Harry in the village graveyard,
because he wanted to leave a well de-
fined clew to his resting place, by
which his friend, Judge Reynolds,
might find the grave of his son.. The
act was bitterly resented by some OF
the ladies of the place, and a few even
talked of removing the body. One OF
them said:
After all we've suffered from the
ruthless tramping of northern soldiery
over our homes, they place their dead
alongside of ours. say, take the
Yankees body up. and put it off to
itself"
A little child with dark brown eyes
here spoke:
But. this Yankee can't do
our dead any harm. The Yankee cap
tain said his people will come some
day and take him away. If he is left
where he is, his father can find him
easily. Captain Minter wrote from
| Chicago where he is in prison, that
| Charley was killed in the Morgan raid
through Indiana. Maybe he was buried
in some graveyard, and perhaps we
we will some day find lin. | should
feel awful if we treat this poor Yankee
boy badly. and then find out that my
brothers grave had been cared for by
northern people"
The ladies gathered at Mrs. Wallace's
were touched by these tender words o.
little Cora Wallace. She saw her ad'
vantage, and continued:
Il think you might let me take care
of Harry Reynolds grave. | was
standing by when they put him in the
coffin. He was an awful pretty man
Not the same kind of pretty that my
brother Charley was. His hair was
light, but it chung to his forehead il
the sweetest curls. Brother was dark,
and | used to play with the coal-blach
hair on his head as it clustered about
his temples. We think the northerners
are wrong. but | suppose they think W.
are wrong. Anyway, this poor Yankee
soldier and brother Charley cannot dc
any harm to either side. Let's treat
the Yankee right. and maybe some one
will treat Charley right"
One of the visitors here said:
Cora is right, Mrs. Wallace We
cannot afford to carry our resentment
into the graves of our enemies. Let
us remember that once we were Chris
tian people, and the day may come
when we can again be such; and let us
not do too much now, that we may re-
greet after awhile"
Under the mellowing influences OF
talk like this, Mrs. Wallace softened,
and her little daughter asked:
May l fix up the Yankees grave
mammal
Yes, dear. do as you wish"
So it transpired that Cora Wallace
performed the same sad sweet Office:
for the grave of Harry Reynolds, thai
Lila Reynolds had been performing fol
the grave of Charles Wallace.