Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-05-26
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
IN THE LAST DAYS.
stirring scenes in the south During th
Closing of the War.

stirring scenes in the south During the
Closing of the War.
There are not many OF US left who ac-
companied Mr. Davis from Greensboro.
y. C.. To Washington. Ga. We reached
the former place at or about midnight
April Il. with orders to escort and guard
the president and his cabinet and the
archives OF the confederate govern
ment Solemn is no word TO apply to
that cortege. Still don't believe there
was that agony that one beholds IN
Meissonier's wonderful painting of 1872.
But there was no hilarity. can assure
You. although Mr.. Davis was always
affable, kind, cheerful and resolute. We
rode at the head of the column all the
way Gen. Cooper ar.5 Judah p. Benja-
min rode in an ambulance. and so did
Mr.. Trelholm, and family. If l remem-
Der correctly Reagan ana Lubbock, of
Texas, and Preston Johnston, a nephew
OF Albert Sidney Johnston, rode to the
right of the president, while upon his
left were George Davis and Gen. st.
Johns There were. also, Quartermas-
ter-General Lawton and Chief Engineer
Gilmer and their stats. l had fought all
through the war as high private of
Dibrell's command and had never been
IL SO much exalted company before.
l never had put my eyes on Mr.. Davis
until then-nor any one have named.
But you should have seen us when we
arrived at Salisbury. Here were rem
nants of lost armies from Georgia, Nir-
ginia and various parts of the Caro-
Inns, all being pushed to a common
center by Grant, Sherman, Stoneman,
Wilson and other victorious federals.
No pen can describe or pencil delineate
that heartrending scene. Here were
the president of the lost cause, many
civil functionaries, gilt-edged-officers
and half-starved soldiers, negroes and
refugees. Here was a debris such as
will never be aggregated again Surely
the bottom of the cOnfederacy had fall
out felt it in my soul. But on we
pressed, and at every little town or
crossroads we encountered refugees and
furloughed confederates, who would
thrill us with the unwelcome intelli-
gence of Stoneman's approach. l re-
member particularly, after we had
crossed Yadlxin river, that Gen. Dibrell
received word from Gen. Ferguson that
Stoneman was nearing Charlotte, and
so we were marched all night, arriving
at Charlotte about sunrise. | must ad-
nit that we did not want to see Stone
man; still we felt somewhat disap-
appointed when we discovered that he
had deceived us and burned all the
bridges over the Catawba. The end
was near.
We were soon again on our way. Gen.
Ferguson moved out of Charlotte a few
hours after we arrived, and proceeded to
Nation Ford, at a point where the CO.
lumbia railroad crossed the Catawba.
Shortly afterward Gen Basil Duke, with
about $50 veterans of John Morgan's
renowned cavalry, put in an appearance
on artillery horses and wagon mules,
bareback and all other ways. These an
imals had been picked up here and
there, as the Kentuckians had been dis
mounted at Christianburg. Soon Echolo
and Vaughan came with about 400 men,
and the same day Mr.. Davis made that
speech which was so falsely reported
How many in all? About $500, 1900
But there was not much fight left in us,
l can assure you. And a great many
were disheartened and not a small num-
Der utterly demoralized. Two days af-
terward Gen. Breckenridge arrived from
Greensboro and informed us of his
agreement with Sherman, and the eX-
istence of truce was officially promul-
gated. On the morning of the Goth we
started for Abbeyville. Our original in
tention was to cross the Catawba at Ma
ton Ford; but high water, burnt
bridges and other obstacles necessi-
tated change of route, and we went by
way of Yorl5ville and Unionville to
Col1esbury and arrived at Abbeyyille
May l. In the meantime news had
reached us of 10 Johnston's sur
render and that Gen. Bragg had dis
banded the Second and Third South
Carolina cavalry. The fall of Spanish
Fort and Blakely and the occupation of
Mobile and the successes of Wilson came
right along with the other shocks.
Then came rumors of Forests defeat at
Selma and Stoneman's capture of Athens
and the occupation of Atlanta, Macon,
Augusta and the utter decentralization
of that part of Johnston's army that had
not surrendered. Think! | thought
nothing / knew it all. And l saw the
utter hopelessness of reaching the Mis-
sissippi.-An Ex-Confederate in Chicago
Tribune.