The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-05-06

and pleasant men I ever knew. AS
gentle and as tender as a woman, he
possessed an enlarged knowledge Of the
physical sciences which always made
him instructive. And his State papers
were characterized by an erudition
rarely, if ever, surpassed by English.
speaking scholars. In his official
capacity he was guided by a strong
sense of duty, and had but little toler-
alton for that class Of men who were
given to much talk and had no real
information to communicate. 1t Isl
likely that such is the class who as
sumed that he was harsh and self
willed. You will understand that in
his position his whole time was neces-
sarily occupied with great duties and
cares, and that he could not afford to
spend his time in Improbable talk.
In relation to suggestions which have
been made that he was self-willed and
did not consult others on public meas
ures, l know this to be incorrect. When
a question of Importance came up for
consideration, his habit was to exhaust
all available sources Of information,
whether from persons or documents,
and when this had been done and a
decision reached, that vas an end Of
the question with him. And it is
probable that persons who, under such
circumstances, still insisted on further
| discussion, without realizing the pes
sure on his time, thought MIN self
willed. You will understand that n
in his position, who had constantly to
be deciding the curse to be pursued
on great questions, must have acted
as he did in order to get through with
the public business.
UNPUBLISHED HISTORY.
J! said there were some things illus
trative of the character Of Mr.. Davis
not generally known to the public.
When General Grant was moving his
army down the Mississippi below
| Vicksburg, MI. Davis was notified
that his Briarfeld plantation and large
property wouldfall into Federal hands,
and was. advised to send and have the
movable property carried out of danger.
To this suggestion he replied that the
president of the Confederacy could
not afford to employ men to take care
of his private property. And when
the Federal army vas moving on Jack
son, Miss, he was advised that his
hill home in Kinds County and his
valuable liberty and other property
there would fall into Federal hands,
and that he ought to have it removed
to a place of safety, he made the same
reply, that the president of the Con-
federacy could not afford to use men
for the security of his private property.
And all movable property at both
places, including his negroes, were
lost to him. I make these statements
because I was present at each of these
conversations, and I have not seen
them in print.
I may also refer to another incident
illustrative of both his character and
his conservatism. Colonel Dahlgreen
made a raid on Richmond, the then
capitol of the C%onfederacy, the object
of which was to liberate some $4,000
prisoners, to kill the president and the
members of his cabinet, and to burn
the city. Richmond and our people
were saved from these calamities by
the merest accident. W had no troops
in or zeal the city at that time for its
defense. But a regiment of clerks
and officers in the department and
citizens had been organized, and a.
battalion of workmen at the Tredegar
works, where our cannon and small
arms were being made, who, on occa-
sions of danger, were called out for
the defense of the city. Colonel
Dahlgreen's plan was to cross James
river some distance above the city and
pass down the south side Of the river
to Belle Isle, where the prisoners
were, release the prisoners and then
commence the work of. destruction and
death in the city. But on reaching
the river he found it swollen too much
to be forded, and turned down the
north side of the river towards the
city. In the meantime notice of his
approach had been given, and the
Tredegar battalion and the regiment
of clerks and others had been called
to arms and sent up the river to meet
him, the Tredegar battalion in advance
of the regiment.
A short distance above the city, at
a bend in the road, this battalion was
suddenly met by Dahlgreen's command,
and vas dispersed, and some of the
men captured. A countryman some
distance from them saw what had hap
pened and galloped his horse towards
the city to give the alarm. just at
the edge of this city he met the regi-
ment which was commanded by Colonel
McAnery and informed him of the
disaster to the battalion, and that
Dahlgreen's command was coming
down the road. 1t was then getting
dusk in the evening. McAnery form
ed his line of battle across the road.
By then it had become dark. He
directed his men to lie down and sent
his skirmishers forwards, with direc-
tions as the enemy approached, to fall
back slowly on the line of battle, but
in order, and to keep up the fire, so
as to define the advance and position
of the enemy. This duty was we'll
performed, as many of these men were
trained soldiers who had been crippled
in battle and appointed to places in
the departments. 1t was a dark night,
and whesD ahlgreen' men approached
zeal e1S.gh the ~Confederates opened
a destructive fire on them, killed a
number of men and horses and STAN
peded the Federals. They retreated
north across the Chickahominy, and
after passing the Pomunky were am
pushed by some %furloughed soldiers
who happened to be in the vicinity,
and learning of Dahlgreen's move
ments prepared to meet him. They
killed Col. Dahlgreen and a number
of his men, and made prisoners of
more than 400 Of them. These we're
brought to Richmond, and with them
was brought the papers and orders
showing the purposes Of the raid as
above stated, and also the turpentine
balls and combustible matter to be
used in firing the city. If he had
Hn M 1---