Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-04-12
A YANKEEIN GRAY
By CHARLES B. LEWIS (M. QUAD.
tCopyright, 1894. by American Press Associa-
CHAPTER XII.


 marked with blood The checkers are
 men-men lying in reserve. men on the
 battle lines. men charging on Hanks or '. center.
 The generals in command watch the
 board. If one makes move on the ! right or left. the other seeks to take ad- 1 vantage of it. For the time being they | shut their ears to the roar of battle. ! shut their eyes to the sight of dead and
 wounded Beauregard halted at the | thr, shold of victory at Shiloh. So with ! Mcclellan at Antietam. At Freder- ! icksbnrg Lee permitted Burnside to re- | treat after defeat. At Gettysburg Meade
 did the same with Lee. Jackson had thrown himself against Shields at ! hernstOwn on the right, on the left, on the center. He could not break the line anywhere. He left his dead along a front ! Ot a mile and half, but the sacrifice was ] iu vain. It was military tactics to re- ! treat to fall hack to a strong position ! and oblige Shields to attack him or give 1 over his march up the valley. There Is
 sometimes more generalship Tn retreat 1 than in an advance or in fighting a bat ! tie. The trains must be saved, the LAbIAt4l anu b4Nbl -ttLlLCNl NoAIl d4lNiS i picked up and reformed, the best troops sent to the rear to stand as a bulwark between the exhausted army and the en- tnusiastic enemy.
 Jackson left nothing behind him-ar- tillery, wagons OI muskets-w worth gath ering up and reporting. Most of his wounded were carried up the valley as
 he fell back. Shields followed slowly, and the rear guard had no fighting to do. The paDIc of an army, of an army corps even. is a terrible sight, but the panic of a town Is something which no one can titIy describe. The news of Jackson's defeat preceded him, and
 when nc reached Winchester 1t was to
 find a town wild with fear and crazed
 i'y terror. War was young then. In after wears the old town changed hands without d tromor, gathered up tho dead off its streets and buried them as part of the regular programme.
 The Yankees are coming! The town will be giv,n up to sack! Winchester k to he burned, and women and chil- dr, Il must tiee!''
 Sn ruSe the cry from house to house. some locked their doors and rode away on horseback or in their carriages. Others left their doors wide open and took the turnpike to the south on foot, carrying W hatever they had at first laid hands on as a burden. Furniture was brought cut and piled in the streets and st fire tu. and had not Jackson $ ad- vance arrived as it did the people of the town would nave applied the torch to their own IO0ftrCcS. The Yankee sol dicr Was poPularly supposed to be with out honor CT Iity--a ruffian who stopped ;tt uu crime. Jackson paused to refresh lis men and allay the excitement. Those who had hot ti,J decided to remain, though ftHriul uf consequences, but the general excitement scarcely abated.
 The Pcrcys were among the fist to hear of JaCk>ou's defeat and the news that the Federal army was following him up and would soon be in Winches- tcr. They Were excited. but not terrified.
 We will remain right here, and We shall not le disturbed. " said Marian to her mother. The Federals have not hurnel towns elsewhere nor made war un women and children, and they will not do sO here. We have no cause to be afraid.
 Neither had they. but circumstances winch could not be foreseen soon caused a change in the programme. Among Jack>on's 's troops was the remnant of the Shenandoah guards All the house servants about the Percy mansion were colUred people and slaves. Like others of their color, the general excitement had made them half crazy. They had left the house for the street to see and hear and were ready to catch up and believe the most absurd tales There Were two men and four women. Buck. who was young man of p, joined a party of tie fleeing inhabitants hurry ing up the valley. Uncle Ben, as he was called. was a man of 90, born and reared i'll the Percy family, and though sharing tu some extent in the general excitement he would not leave his post of duty. He had said to the female servants:
 "l nehhcr dun did see no Yankees in all my life, but hain't gwine to he afraid an run away. 1 didn't bring Cn dis wahr ! hain't killed nobody What | dclu Yankees want to hurt me fur? Mis- MlriIn hain't skccred. Her mud | der huln tskrered. If dcy hain t skecred, | what yo' all want to be skeered fur?"
 The four women were on street cor ncr in q group when Captain Wylo | passed by and recognized them as le- | longing 10 the Percy family. He had h. ard from the goS~I If the town long i a. that kcnton was to carry of the | prIz H. haI writt, to Marian with CUu~il,rall" t,ryor and without men tioniHe tn" II. w, and she had replied in 1 a very brief and formal manner. To | revenge himself on a woman was quite i fOreI-n to hIs natSre. but as he saw the. | four servants and noted their state of | alarm he remembered that he and Ike | Baxter had plan to carry out. Ten l minutes later one of his company was saying to the coloIed women:
 The Yankees are only a couple of | miles away! If you all don't hurry, | you will be taken prisoners. and that ] means that every one of you will be | burned at the stake! They shoot down | white folks and burn niggers!"
 That was sufficient to start them off | to join the fleeing throng. Not one of them returned to the house. Jackson | sent out couriers to advise the panic ! stricken people to return, but hundreds had gone too far to be oveItaken. Among them were the four women. Shields entered Winchester without opposition. Within an hour the excitement had sub sided. The Yankee soldiers had neither horns nor hoofs. No one was molested nor made afraid. Where timid women requested it guards were placed at their doors, and instead of the merchants be- ing robbed and ruined, as most of them had fully expected, their properties were safely cared for.
 Didn't I dun told you all so!'' ex- claimed Uncle Ben on the street that