The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-08-12
OLD TINES IN THE SOUTH.

Dear Aunt Jennie :

Dear Aunt Jennie:-
"I wish I was in de land OBJ cotton.
Ole times dar, am not forgotten"
The above lines from the original
"Dixie," will gently remind you of the
time forty years ago when u be-
loved Southland, Dixie" was strug.
Cling so manfully for independence,
How vivid are the recollections Of
those by-gone days, as each State de.
cided to withdraw from the Union and
link it's destiny with the Southern
Confederacy! All! how sublime was
the matchless enthusiasm; how re.
sponsive was the call to arms all over
the South, and yet, and yet, "The VIC
tory was lost, and the victory was
won"
In this letter I will recall some in
cidents, in which Goldsboro and our
noble old county figured conspicuous
ly, and in the call to arms, was one of
the first in the Old North State to or.
ganize a company to occupy Fort Ma
con. When it was preparing to leave,
a soldier was sitting down in "the Ar
mory," with his gun across his lap,
playfully cooking it and pulling the
trigger, and as he did so, James H.
Smith, one of my schoolmates, pass
ed before the gun and received a load
of shot in his leg, below the knee. The
leg was am~putated, and Jim got well.
(Of course, no one knew the gun was
loaded.)
Sometime after then, the Goldsboro
ladies gave a banquet and festival for
the benefit of the soldiers, having con-
dictionaries, ice cream, bouquets, ETC.,
for sale. It was night and the hall,
so beautifully lighted, portrayed in
splendor a most brilliant contrast be-
tween decorations, bouquets, and
beautiful girls, in which Goldsboro
then, as now, abounded.
/ was there at school, and was, Of
course, present, acting as a sort Of
cha-erone ca. A Confederate officer
purchased the prettiest bouquet and
handed it to me, with a request to
present it to the most beautiful
young lady in the house, with his COM
pliments." Their name was legion,
and I selected Miss MoIlie Green CHOW
Mrs. Kirby, who was then a very
pretty young lady indeed.
Now, with some personal reminiS-
eences, I will close. In April, 1854,
the Third Battalion Junior Reserves
was organized, and in camp at Colds
boro, and I had been promoted from
third to first sergeant of Company A.,
whose position was in front, and to
the right. One evening on drill, when
[ thought I was marching in perfect
bee line, we heard the shrill, keen
voice of Major B., the commanding
officer, exclaims: "Lieut. Mex, take
that fool from the head of your com
Iany, and put some one there VINO can
march straight" Whereat my "feath-
ers fell" and [ did not feel much like
Hon. Josiah Turner said OF Col.
Clark of Holden-Kirk fame:
"I'm Kurnel Clark, of the State
Melish,
I feel like Saul, the son of Kish,
I'm mighty proud of my high posish.
For I'm Kurnel of Holden's Army"
The Junior Reserves we're State
troops n winter quarters at Weldon,
but volunteered to leave the State to
meet the foe, and at Bellfeld, Va,
placed themselves on record for BRAY
cry in the first battle. But the Rev.
Jno. N. Andrews, a Methodist Chap
lain at Wilmington who was fond OF
a joke, told this good one on a ser
geant: cat the Kinston fight, March
6, 1865, [ met the First Sergeant OF
Company A, Second Regiment Junior
Reserves, (Seventy-frst n. @. S. t.,
going to the rear, empty handed, at
double quick, and crying as if he was
heart-broken. I halted him to ascer,,
tain the cause of his grief, and asked
why he was crying like a baby-where-
upon he responded: L wish-I was
a baby,-and-a gal baby, too,-boo-
hoo,-boo-hooP and then resumed his
course and spee1."
B. B. RAIFORD.
Mt. Olive. N. q