The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-09-12
some war "REMINISCENCES.
City Of Richmond Before and After the
First Battle Of hanaSSaS.
As SEEN BY A CONFEDERATE CAPTAIN
a Brilliant Array of Soldiers In Richmond
An Unknawn Hero-"Give Ne Liberty
or Make Me IA Cripple" the Motto
Of the Regiment.

or MAKO We Afiplle th' ""iL'
ofthe Regiment.
II was in May. 1861. when, with ono
hundred and twenty bold and stal"sft
men. who had kindly elected me. men
Just twenty-one years old and fresh from
college. their captain. 1 left BucSlnsham
for Richmond. We chartered a boat ON
the James River and Nanswha canal
and amid the tears OF beautiful women
and the cheers of brave men. started io
engage In a contest with hearts as Isht
as that Of lover who has just received
a smile from the maiden who Is all me
world 10 him. a ludlcrous incident add
cd much to the occasion. one OF my
men. George Austin. whose father had
represented his district in Congress as
the boat moved OF determined TO be EXTRA
polite. and made am elaborate bow rom
the deck OF tho boat 90 the ladies'. tt-
member we'll seeing the bottom oi lI~
shoe-s0les as ne went out ~ sight in
eight feet OF water AS We nshed him out
DE said. Well. boys. Ill Doe - II 10 don {
cost something 90 DE polite.
We reached Richmond in due time with
perhaps the mos. wonderful and alarming
equipment that has probably ever oatere ]
that city before or since. Each man had
a bowie knife about TWO feet long. weighs
ing some six or eight pounds. made -
slice Yankees at Drisc0lls foundry, ln
H0wardsville. Albemare The writer had
epaulettes that eclipsed anything General
Washington ever wore. and black SLOUGH
hat with feather wholly black nearly
three feet long. and J remember that we
seriously contemplated entering the city
under a black flag. but better counsels
prevailed. We had two negro musicians.
one with a fire and the other with a drum.
who could outplay all creation. We
formed a line al the old packet office
and with this outfit n will state here that
the men marched splendidly as they had
been well drilled we marched 10 the
Capitol Square amid the cheers OF the
spectators. and were mustered into ser
vice. We then took mp the line Of march
TO Camp Lee wAere quarters had been
assigned us.
RICHMOND AS 1T APPEARED.
Is IL possible FOR me 10 give the cigar
ctte-smOking ge leratiOn OF the present
day a description of Richmond an that
timer I will nj least make the effort 10
then contained more than one hundred
thousand inhabitants--twhe It's normal
size-the soldl9fs and visitors almost out
numbering the natives. Adventures Of
all kinds. brave mon and women from all
parts OF the world had hocked there
The afr res9unded with martial songs
The glare and glitter Of brilliant uniforms
was seen on every side.
II m glad / am in Dixie,
I'm Dixies land I'm take my stand.
And live aud Gle in Dixie land
with IT'S beautiful air. was heard on every
side. and once in "a while the boys would
hoist blue nag with a single star. the
star OF glorious South Carolina. of WhOm
the late Benjamin Watkins Leigh had
said She stood among the other States
OF this Union Ike a game cock In a stable
OF studs and sing that song OF this
grand little State:
"Hurrahl Hurrahl for Southern rights
hurrahl
Wen raise on high the bonnie blue flag
That bears the single star
which sent a thrill through many a
Southern heart. The Mlrsellaise too. was
not forgotten. The theatres and places
OF amusement were literally packed 20
overlooking, and the very air seemed wild
with enthusiasm. Oh, the glorious pomp
ana pride and circumstance OF war; The
swarthy Central American was there.
with General Henderson as his hero; the
Creole from Louisiana, the l0ng-haired
Texan, with hts SLOUGH hat looking. as he
was, the very Incarnation OF war every
state from the South had it's representa-
ives. and England. Germany Italy and
FRANCE all had noble aud gallant men
WILING 10 risk their an iu the great strug-
Gle for human liberty and human rights.
BRILLIANT ARRAY.
Ihe scdate and gallant \irginian as
determined as amy ot them bul less dcm-
.'ruauFr received th.s tnroug with open
arms Of welcome. Each day came some
new and splendid company or regiment.
5000. mN.l following down the street
aII looking az him with pleasure the
captain of The King Cotton Guards OF
Mississippi. all OK whose men had with
them turlt horses and negro servants and
Dee had uniform that Allied me with
envy. } was then Boo the hayday OF
youth and enjoyed this brilliant scene
with AN my heart. And the ladies'. Hea-
Ven bless them. 1 cannot leave them out
they were even more enthusiastic than
the men. Woe betide with them the
luCkless creature who skulked. Many
would say. "Ohi / wish Was man that
j might tight the battles OF my country"
They did not know and could not forsCc
would state with great sincerity i wish
/ had been born a girl baby The little
affair of the battle Of Rich Mountain
came on. 10 caused hardly futtcr and
men enough volunteered to have landed
Mcclellan on the coast of Labrador. but
Alas. ALIAS, We bad Ul arms. IOi ION 0a. r
prior TO the immortal first battle of
Manassas rumors OF some great event
were flying thick ana fast Something
was in the wind. We had thDu at Camp
Lee alone over seven thousand men and
of these more than tive thousand We're
armed n one way and another.
/ will give an incident which occurred
in my own regiment the Flfty-siNth Reg
meut ~ Virginia Volunteers, Iu-
fantrv. which is Important haCouse It
shows the desperate straits under which
we lalored for want of arms We had
been furnished with flint lock muskets TO
fight men equally as brave and armed
with the most improved weapons. The
ten captains Of our regiment bad a meet
iug TO discuss the subject, ile winter
among the number
Among those captains was as noble
man as ever lived Captain Dabney Carr
Harrison. He was an Episcopalan min
lister and had been the chaplain al The
University Of Virginia when the writer
was a student at that institution. IL IS
absolutely impossible 90 ovcrstate his
splendid Christian character. lie was
imuuCd with a high and holy patriotism
and from the very bottom Of his heart
believed In the justice Of the cause for
which he fought. At our meeting he
earnestly advocated The acceptance Of
the hlnt-lOck musket. 7 replied 20 him
with the statement that so FAR as he
WAS concerned he was exactly right be-
cause he was ready and prepared 20 80 %
the other world and receive hts reward
ard death could have no fears for him
but that the rest of as we're OF the
earth. earthly and while willing 10 ficht,
we did not propose 10 take any extra
risk about Dr. and demanded percussion
muskets az the least My motion was
carried.
AN UNKNOWN HERO.
must pause here long enough to paw
a iust and deserved tribute to That splen-
ala Christian hero Dabnev carr Harri-
SON. IL happened nearly year later In
Inc fated campaign which ended So dis