Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-30


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bravest Roman Of them all was dead. sh.
herself went out on the street 10 ascer
tain the truth. and as she approached tn,
Capitol she met some soldiers carrying
covered corpse, and marching with bowet
heads to the beat OF the muffied drums
Who Is that they are carrying" she
asked with white lips. And the simple
answer came back, "Stonewall Jackson
1.-THE death of General Jackson" SAID
| Mr.. Semmes, "cast a shadow on the for.
tunes of the Confederacy that reached &C
the catastrophe of the war. dis death
was not only loss to his country; 1t was
a calamity to the world. AS some one
has nobly said: 1T was a subtraction
from the living generation Of genius; the
extinction Of a great light in the temple
| Of Christianity Thousands followed him
to the grave and consecrated 1t with their
| tears"
Then he spoke OF Robert Lee, that
grand old chieftain whose name Is never
mentioned to this day without throb-
bling heart by the old veterans OF the
South. General Lee was a frequent
visitor at our house in Richmond; he was
then. as he is to-day. the great ideal Of
southern chivalry and truth. Great in
defeat, as he was In victory, the annals of
the worlds history bear no purer or
greater name than that of Robert Lee"
OTHER NoTABLEs.
Many "reminiscences did Mr.. Semmes
recall Of Mason and Sidell. Yancey and
Breckenridge. and Mallory and Stephens,
Beauregard and Johnston. He remem-
bered, as though 1t were only yesterday,
every incident of that war and spoke OF
the death Of Albert Sidney Johnston, the
brave and peerless, whose loss, as Mr..
Davis said In his message to Congress,
was irreparable: whose last breath
cheered his comrades on to victory; whose
last thought was his country. II never
shall forget" continued Mr. Semmes,
how strong men wept when the special
message OF Mr. Davis was read on the
floor of that Confederate Congress. and
how sobs almost choked the voice of the
reader as he concluded, Among the
shining hosts of the great and good who
now cluster around the banner of our
country, there exists no purer spirit, no
more heroic soul, than that Of the Illus
trious man whose death I join you in
lamenting.'"
Tell about our visit to the battlefield
of Manassas said Mr.. Ser1mes to his
wife, as he warmed with his subject, and
with a sweet pathos Mrs. Semmes told
how, after the famous First Manassas, it
was resolved to erect marble shaft on
the spot where General Barlow had fall
en-, shot through the heart General Bar
tow was one Of the most promising and
bravest spirits in the South. He had led
the Georgia regiment. which had fought
with the Fourth Alabama like tigers in
the strife. General Berrien. brother-in-
law Of DR.. Semmes; Mr.. and Mrs.
Semmes. the Doctor, General Sam Jones
and staff. all went out to Manassas early
in the morning to see the shaft erected
For some reason or other It was impos-
sible for Mr.. Davis, who had been ex-
pected to be the orator OF the day. to be
present AZ the last moment the Georgia
regiment and General Sam Jones called |
upon Mr.. Semmes to be the orator Of the |
occasion"
He was so totally taken by SURPRISE"
said Mrs. Semmes, that he came up to |
me and whispered. L really don't know |
what to say on such short notice. Yes, |
you do / replied; just tell them about |
he bravery and heroism of our southern |
boys; tell them how they are suffering |
and how they still cling to the cause
which is so dear to us all. And he did,
said Mrs. Semmes. ~ think that 1t was
the grandest speech he ever made in his
life, even IL he Is my husband. Perhaps
Il was the time and pfSce; but know
that we were all in tears as he spoke
)f our southern boys and the brave man
who had laid down his life for the cause.
shall never forget how Manassas looked
hat day; 1t seemed as though a hurri-
zane had swept over the place. The battle
1ad ragged long and fiercely between two
|
Robinson houses, at some distance from
ZACH other on the plateau. General Bar
ow had fallen near the Henry house. 1t
lad been a great victory for our men.
rhe house was just riddled with bullets.
went in to look at it; all along the
cute, too, for over three miles, were
he evidences of the indescribable rout:
shapeess, morbid mass OF bones and
inews, wood and iron, powder-blackened
rees, charred bridges. Oh, it was dread
ul. dreadful, and one of the most ter
ible pictures of the war"
my old home OF Warrenton saw much
( the bloody battling" said Mr.. Semmes.
When General Stuart was defending
yarrenton the women OF the place
bowed their undaunted heroism. My own
lister, Mrs. Payne. who was the wife of
iajor Rice w. Payne. turned her own
ONE into hospital for the Confederate
rounded. The best rooms in the house
Tere for the soldiers, and when sick and
ying they were brought there. and she
erself nursed them. making even the
title children in the house play the
urse too, by tanning the soldiers while
hey slept, and handing them water and
D on. Several Of her children contracted
ne fever. Four OF the soldiers having
led in my sisters home. they were
uried with military honors. The children,
apply, recovered, but my sister was
ken i'll and died. victim TO her love
" the stricken South.
Some amusing incidents occurred in
rarrenton. When the Yankee soldiers
ould pass through and ask for food, the