The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-06-10
THE REUNION AT RICHMOND.
Old Veterans VIII Scarcely Know The
Place.
Baltimore Sun,

Baltimore Sun.
RICHMOND, VA, May 29.-The old
Confederate veteran who attends the
reunion of the United Veterans here
in June will find that wonderful
changes have taken place in the Capital
of the Co~nfederacy since the great
confagration of April 3, 1862. Then
the city was in flames from a great
confagration which destroyed all of
the best business part Of the place.
Every bank was burned, the leading
mills, bridges spanning James River
and every newspaper Office except the
Wing. Now when they return these
old veterans will find almost q new
city. The burned district has long
ago been rebuilt, and that, too, with
business houses far superior to the
old ones. A splendid city hall, cost
ing $4,000, 900, has been reared, a
splendid new chamber of commerce,
and the whole west end, which during
the wal was little more than barren
commons, now contains the handsomest
residences here.
The old fields which during those
days we're infested with garroters who
made it dangerous for pedestrians to
pass over them at night unless heavily
armed are no. he Sit If some Of the
most palatial residences in the city.
The spot upon which Major Lewis
Ginter's magnificent city residence
now stands was during the wal part Of
an immense garden. So it is with
nearly all of the western part of the
city. The changes which have taken
place there have removed all Of the
old landmarks familiar to the eyes Of
the Southern soldiers during the war.
Where the Jefferson Hotel now
stands was in those days the home
and grounds Of Gen. Joseph r. An
dersor.
Every building Of note occupied by
the Confederate departments except
the postofice was destroyed in the
great conaagration of April 8. On
the site Of the Mechanics Institute,
which was the war department, now
stands a building used as an auction
house. The Postmaster Generals
Office was in Goddings Hall, 18th and
Bank which is now used as real estate
and lawyers Offices. Castle Thunder,
which was used for the imprisonment
of deserters, Federal spies, counter
feiters' of Confederate money, and
other offenders against the Govern
ment, has long since been demolished,
and upon its site stands a planning
mill. It was in this famous prison
that Mrs. CDR" Mary Walker was
confined for a time. (She had been ar
rested within the Confederate lines
after an engagement.) Here was exc
cuted the first Federal spy, and within
it's walls were imprisoned scores Of
women, some of whom had histories
which would have furnished a theme
for an imaginative novelist. Among
this number was a pretty Louisiana
woman. She had followed her lover,
who was an officer in a regiment from
that State, to this city. He deserted
her, was killed in one Of the battles
around the city, and the woman be-
came ~entangled in some way with
some offenders against the law of the
C%onfederacy and found herself in
Castle Thunder. The prison was
under charge Of Major Turner, who is
still living here.
Libby, the famous Federal prison,
has been torn down and removed to
Chicago. Bellisle, where thousands
Of Union soldiers were confined during
the four years struggle, is just across
the river. The island is row the
scene of busy industry. Here are
located the plant Of the Old Dominion
Nail Works and other similar indus
tries.
Richmond contains more monuments
thar y other city in the South.
Be. the JEFF Davis monument, the
cornerstone of which is to be laid
during the coming reunion, this city
has the equestrian statue of Gen.
Robert T.. Lee, the bronze figure of
Stonewall Jackson in the Capital
Square, presented by Sir Bersford
Hope, a distinguished En~glishman, to
the State of Virginia, the handsome
monument on Libby Hill to the private
soldiers and sailors Of the C,nfederacy /;
the monument to Gen. a: P. Hill on
Hermitage Road, the bronze figure Of
Gen. William G.. Wickham in Monroe
Park, that to the Richmond Howitzers
on a special space at the intersection
of Grove avenue and Park avenue,
and the granite pyramid erected in
Hollywood Cemetery to the ten thou
sand Southern heroes who sleep the
long sleep of death in that beautiful
Getty Of the dead" These are only
Confederate monuments, and do not.
of course, include the many other
memorials here to revolutionary and
other heroes. The equestrian statue
of Washington, in Capital Square sur
rounded by figures Of Virginia prom
inent men of revolutionary fame, the
Houdon statue of Washington in the
State House and that of Henry Clay
in the lower part of the grounds of the
same park are some Of the other con
%spicuous monuments here. So it will
he easily seen that the Richmond Of
to-day is a very different city from
that which Lees army knew in 1855.
This metamorphosis will be easily
appreciated by thousands of veterans
who trod these streets during the war,
and who have never been here since
those eventful days.
The programme for singing Of Con-
federate airs by an immense choir is
to be an interesting feature Of the
reunion. This concert will take place
in the Auditorium.
The reception which Mrs. JEFF Davis
and her daughters, Miss Winnie and
Mrs. Hayes, will give at the Confede-
rate White House, now the museum
building, will probably present some
of the most pathetic scenes of this
great reunion. Mrs. Davis's health
is feeble, and it may be the last time
she will ever be present at n Of
these gatherings. Thousands Of old
veterans who have not seen Mrs.
Davis since the close Of the war will,
in all likelihood, neye meet with her