The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-04-23

that Sherman's subsequent raid on the
barns and smoke-houses of our unneigh
borly neighbors excited in our breasts
feelings more akin to pleasure than tC
! pain. Then, too, the high officials-no-
tably the quartermasters- lived in luxu-
ry and the blockade runners accumula-
ted large fortunes. Meanwhile, though
our country was being overrun by the
enemy, we felt confident of our ultimate
success as long as Richmond was in our
possession.
Our noble Lee" we would declare;
"he will drive them back
"Ah," our unbeliever would rejoin
"our Lee is noble, but he is successful?
He has not gained single victory since
the death of Jackson"
What a shameful speech! How un-
grateful to speak SO about our great
leader, who is sacrificing everything for
our sacred cause"
"He has not sacrificed more than food
clothes and the necessaries of life" re-
piled the agnostic, who, having conclu-
ded her evening repast of cornbread and
sassafras tea, was engaged in patching
an irredeemable garment by the faint
light Of G. tallow candle.
In the winter of 1864, when Atlanta
had been taken, our newspapers and
military men derided the idea Of ,Sher-
mans ability to advance through the
country. "Oh," they declared, "the bot
toms of the Georgia roads fall out in
winter, and we would like to see him
try to bring his guns and wagons over
such fathomlesa mud-holes.
| he toll nf Co hn
uation Of Charleston, and the burning of
| Columbia, some of us still believed that
the lid of providence, the might of cur
noble Lee" and the fine material Of our
army would eventually prevail to gain
our cause. But others were of the opin-
ion that most of our best men had been
killed, that the majority of those who
remained were weary of the struggle,
and that love of money, hitherto con-
spicuously absent from the character of
our people, was now weeping over the
land, destroying honesty, patriotism,
and even natural family affection.
| One morning in the early spring of
| 1865 our little maid rushed into the
sitting-room where we were assem-
bled, excaiming that the Yankees
were coming and were dis 10 mile
down de rode" and sure enough, while
we We're at dinner, which was the dig
nified term bestowed on the scrap of
| bacon, boiled with mounds of peas and
rice, which constituted our principal
daily meal, bang! bang! was heard
just beside our windows, and glanc-
ing out, our terrified eyes beheld men
in blue and gray, pursuers and pur-
sued galloping furiously down the
road, discharging pistols as they went.
War had come to us individually at
last, and the excitement we had
craved proved to be anything but the
agreeable sensation of our anticipa-
ton.
A prodigious hiding and burying of
valuables now took place; the servants
seized upon silver cups, pitchers wait
ers, etc. and rushing into the garden,
sowed them broadcast among the po-
tato beds, which precaution event
ually proved quite unnecessary, as we
quickly obtained a guard who pro-
tected our property completely. In
deed. we profited by the raid to the
extent of a huge pile of pens and paper
belonging to the government, which
was bestowed upon us by thrifty
Yankee soldier when the confederate
treasury was being burned and de-
stroyed. This department had just
previously been removed from Rich
mond and sent for salty to our little
town, where it was established in a
very large building on our premises,
and with all its clerks, officials and
-.
out it's extremely Improbable cur
rency. Being 'the treasury" of
course 1t offered very strong objec-
tive point to the raiders, who, however,
found neither gold nor silver, and
threw out of the windows the money
that they did find; so every denomina-
ton We're speedily gathered up by the
deluded darkies. who now esteemed
themselves not only free, but rich.
The discipline of the troops must
have been complete, for one guard, a
little whipper-enapper of II or IS
years, while lying on the grass before
our door, would merely rise on his
elbow, turning his juvenile counten-
ance on the parties of marauders who,
from time to time, would galop up on
CIVIL u6euS lHleHt, ana OIL Lney would
go, Immediately recognizing his au-
thority. Many of our neighbors, not
having secured a guard, Jared very
badly at the hands of our visitors,
who, however, remained only two
days, and then carried their undesir-
able presence elsewhere. Oh, how
much we all had now to hear and to
tell Such experiences of outrage and
robbery as our friends had to relate
made us almost ashamed of our good
fortune, and caused us to feel that our
escape from such tribulations must
have been through some fault or lack
of patriotism on our part
Not long after our raid, one lovely |
afternoon in April, we heard of Lees |
surrender. Shermans army having |
destroyed the railroads, we We're with
out regular mails and we were told !!
Of the Appomattox finale by discharg-
ed soldiers passing through our town. |
Some Of us dsbelieved the news, and |
some shed tears at its announcement; |
some heard in silence, and others with !
explanations and calculations; but |
some degenerate ones, alas, had |
glimpses of the feshpots of Egypt! |
Visions of good food, nice clothes, new
books, and shoes, real shoes, danced |
before their unpatriotic eyes, dazzling
them greatly though thp rea1tza tian of