The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-28

ol goou tlncS, were crammcd to their
utmost capacity with whiskcy. canned
goods and "chcap clothing" till they
fairly shook with dclirium Of excite
ment. The negroes, liberated by the
coming Of the Yankees, swarmcd
in the streets, spent their money and
got drunk in celebration Of their free
dom
Three weeks passed away. the main
body Of the Federal army had gone as
far south as Oxford, Mississippi, their
advance had reached Coticcyllc and
it seemed as if nothing short Of Il mir
aclc conld turn them back. The
Confederate army had apparently
melted away, and there was at
even skirinish TO relieve the nionoto-
ny.
Ia Tie meantime tncic Sam was
pouring into the little town If Holly
Springs Il wealth Of provisions for the
Boys in Blue. Many officers wives
had settled themselves for the winter
iii the homes of the citizens, who, true
to their Southern traditions, were Of
fcring them kindly, if Il compulsory
hospitality.
On the morning Of December 20, as
| lay in bed, | heard sound which |
thought was the singing Of the wood
fire, but on going near it found that
the sound came from a distance Rails
ing Il window, cried out ooh, it is
the rebel yell. and l. hear firing out at
the railroad station In a moment
there dashed up the street squad of
the most disrcputablc looking fellows,
who cried out: Got any Yankees in
your housc?' but before they could re-
ply to my what the matter? they were
gone.
The firing grew more and more fu-
rious, and unframed as was in the
noise Of battle, thought thousand
men mast be falling ut every cxplo-
sion. In . little while another squad
of men went dashing by, bat they
called out that Van Dorm cavaly had
captured the town. ran down to the
public square and rushed into pandc-
moniun such as is never cxactcd cx-
ccpt in captured towns.
Citizens, negroes, Yankees and
Rebels were stirring around in mex
tricablc confusion; squads of Federal
prisoners being brought in faster than
they could be parolcd, and there were
not Confcdcratcs enough to guard
them. The suffers stores were being
rihcd, while the officers were having
the heads of the whiskey barrels
knocked in for fear the soldiers might
get drunk. The postoffice seemed to
offer a rich booty and great many
of the negroes sat all day opening
letters with the hope Of finding some
money.
Many Of the citizons were delirious
with joy and for the moment in
dulgcd in the hope Of permanent oo-
cupation by the Confederates but we
soon learned that Van Dorm entire
force consisted of but sixteen hundred
men, who with their horses were ex-
hausted from several days and nights
hard riding, and that they must "fire
and fall back.
The warehouses and depot buildings
where the clothing and commissaries
OF :he Federal army we're stored, were
half mile away and soon great COL
umns of smoke floating over the town
told that the work of destruction had
begun. The winter clothing of the en-
tire army, an immense store of food
and medical supplies, it was estimated
at eight millions of dollars, vas all
burned. The greatest difficulty en-
countercd by the Confederates was
in getting rid Of the magazine stores.
They were packed in brick livery
stables on the public square and to
have set fire to one of them would
have blown up the town. So the
principal occupation Of the soldiers
aud citizens was to take the ammuni-
tiou out, make it into small piles in
the streets, and set them off, one by
one. A stable which was not entirely
by the soldiers was set on fire
after they left and the explosion>broke
almost every window pane in the
town.
1t must have gone hard with the
hungry, ragged Rebels to burn all
these warm clothes and good rations,
but they dared not overburden their
tired horses, as they had long, dan
gerous journey before them. But the
prOSpect of Ost.bitten feet was mora