The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20

recent Spanish American War, from bull
lets. wounds. sickness. or any ether cas-
usity. showing the unsurpssset bravery
Nth which Pickett fought. and the tre-
nssndoUs odds ard Insupersble dissd-
ysntages under and against which this
ineompsysble soldier - brsvely contend
ed. bat wits George =. Pickett. while fght-
ing under the Stars and Stripes al Chapul-
teDeC. or under the stars and barr al Get
tysburg. duty was his polar star. and
With him duty was above consequences.
and. a. crisis. he would throw them
overheard. Fiat justitis pereat mundus
Gree, - the t5rf sbost thee.
Friead q ~ setter DAYS,
No1f kneE tass bit 70 lore tree
Nor rsneI tses bui 70 vrsfs
The FaIi of gIchnaond-
Oddly enough. the hook begins with a quo
tation from the man who destroyed the
confederacy. When some enc applied to
Presi1cn; Lincoln for a pass TO so into
Richmond 30 gravely replied:
7 don't know about that: have given
passes TO about e590oo men TO 20 there
during the past two years, and not one
OF them has gone there yet"
Under this quantity humorous remark
81 the grest-hearted emancipator lay
world OF sorr0w. and so IL Is with this
story, Yet It il told I'm bright. entertain
ing style, entirely free from lamentations.
but touching nevertheless. The first chap
ters. dealing with the fall Of Richmond
and Mrs. Picketts subsequent personal
experiences, are the most novel and yaiu-
bic, since they reveal in a series of
graphic pictures what might be termed
the Southern woman's side Of the war.
Later ia her history OF her husbands
battles she H. Obliged 10 rely upon rec
ords. principally on his reports; hut OF all
the scenes described in the opening chap
ters she was an eye witness and an active
participant Beginning with the morning
OF Sunday. April .. when President Davis
and his Cabinet huTriedly left church in
the midst OF the services In order TO es-
cape from the doomed city, she sketches
the ensuing scenes OF panic. riot, and ter
ror with the pen OF one in whose mind
they are yet vivid realities. The burning
OF the public buildings and ensuing de-
struction By fire which the invading Fed
erals finally subdued is dramatic bit OF
description, and Immediately afterward
she adds a humorous sketch OF the dllapl-
dated old carriage In which the city au-
thorities OF Richmond went out TO tender
10 the Federals the surrender of the city.
written on the back Of a piece OF wall
paper Truly a woman who could see the
comic side Of such a situation is possess
ed OF the saving grace Of humor, which
maketh many a rough experience smooth.
In the burning of Richmond Mrs Pick
EFT lost all her bridal presents, and house
hold furniture. A calamity which every
woman will appreciate. Heretofore the
ancestral home Of Pickett had been burn
ed by Gen. Butler. possibly out Of revenge
for having been bottled up" at Bermuda
Hundred by the dashing Confederate Cen
eral; whereupOn the author relates now
fire has followed her through her whole
life. nearly involving herself and her hus-
band in the holocaust of the SpOttswOod
Hotel in Richmond; burning UP an oil
portrait Of Gen. Pickett and two pr2sen-
tatiOn flags, and even destroying the first
manuscript of Pickett and His Men
upon which she had spent thirteen years
OF labor. Yet she Cnly adds: Let me
hope that the only fire which will attach
TO my present effort TO record the history
Of those gallant soldiers is the lOng-agO
burnt-Out flames which surged over the
capital of the Confederacy."