The National tribune., 1902-10-16

tiOns were given totallDw nothing to be
passed to the prisoners Swhich order was
enforced SO far as III could be without re.
sorting to actual violence, and threats and
bluster did not always avail. The ladies
especially were persistent, as women some
times are, and in utter disregard of orders
and threats improved every opportunity to
carry out their p4Et IQf the program
! noticed group Of fhree or four who had
chosen a favorable position, from which
they refused to be dEiten, and were pass
ing supplies to all who came within reach
officer Of the guard whipped out his sword
and, flashing it in their faces, ordered
them back with an oath, but they stood
their ground, like brave women true and
tried, and one Of them, in contempt of his
authority, coming nearer, instead of re-
of indignation and her eyes flashing de-
fiance, in clear and ringing tones replied:
"Oh, you needn't think you can scare us.
We are used to this sir; We have seen
rebels in Martinsburg before today
When l passed out of sight the ladies
were still holding the fort, all honor to
them. Our guards hurried us through the
town and far beyOud ere we camped for
the night.
In the vicinity Of Winchester we met a
kind of relief corps, en- route from Rich
mond to Lees army. There were 30 or
40 vehicles of various kinds, each drawn
by from two to four horses or mules, and
carrying from four to eight men. They
seemed mostly rather old men, many of
them quite portly, all Of them well dressed.
and were probably the wealthy class of
Richmond, who were too fat as well as too
old to go to the war; They all wore
badges on their hat-crowns containing the
Inscription: ITO care for our wounded" !"
Many, in fact, most of them, wore high
crowned silk hats, called plugs" for
short, and they presented comicai APP
pearance, though their mission was very
praisewOrthy.
| This paper could hardly be complete
without including one incident that illus
| trates in clear and vivid lines the lofty
character, the high mightiness of the
proud and naughty Southerner of those
| days, educated, as he was, in the brutal
izing school Of slavery, where humanity
had no teacher. During Lees Pennsyl
| vania campaign he captured from 40 to
so negroes. l do not know where or in
| what capacity they served in the army,
for at that time We had no regularly-en-
listed black soldiers, though we after
ward had. These negroes may not have
been in our army at all. l only know that
they were Lees prisoners, and that what
| l am about to relate is true, although it
was SO utterly devoid Of humanity and so
! unnecessary and uncalled for that its
truth may be doubted. For several days
these black men were kept close to us,
| under separate guard, and two or three
times beeves were killed by the guards,
| of which we received a portion of the
meat, but to these black men they gave
| only the offal, and on such dainties rare
they were obliged to subsist or starve.
Was there any excuse for this? Oh, yes !;
the same excuse that in the "befo' the
wah" days was an excuse for every act Of
.inhumanity; justification for every crime
in the category, against the black race
they were only "niggahs."
What glorious advance in the civil
zation Of the 18th century, if, in the name
Of Liberty, the catise FOR which Davis
planned, Lee fought and Jackson prayed,
had succeeded, and a Government had
been established where justice and equity
could be meted out after that manner to
the degraded sons and daughters of our
late Uncle Ham, down through the count
| less ages. ~
IN CLOVER.
| Up to the time Of our arrival at Staun-
| ton, which was about the middle of July,
| we had received no i'll treatment from our
captors. We had been allowed to retain
our own property, such ds tents, blankets,
| pOnchos, haversacks9 and canteens, and
with them to make ourselves as comforta-
BILE as possible; but at Staunton there was
| change. 9dYq5
| "A ue.Q ADJOINING the rdlirOaQ was Sc
lected, strong guard posted around it,
| in the presence OF On officer, and by his
| orders, we were iybbed of every tent
blanket, pOncho, knapsack, haversack and
canteen in our possession, and as so many
cattle were turned into pasture in the
beautiful valley of the Potomac.
Even our pocket-kniyes and everything
| useful or ornamental to be found about
US were taken from us, and not one Of
these things was ever again returned, nor
anything to supply their places, and while
we remained in this pasture, our only shell
ter was such as we were able to construct
out Of boughs and grass that we gathered
by hand, with very limited supply in
store to draw from.
On or about July 20, q train Of nice
freight cars was backed up beside our
pasture for the purpose of conveying a
portion Of us to Richmond. We could
see at glance that the train would not
carry more than half Of us. OF our little
squad of I'd Wis. men, some were in favor
| of remaining in pasture there, thinking we
| would receive worse treatment in Rich
| mond. / said: eff we expect to serve out
our terms of enlistment in prison-pens
| and pastures, that is the correct theory;
but the first to reach Richmond will be
the first exchanged. and I'm on the first
train" So we divided, about half of us
going. 1 took my tent-mate, Frank Will
kins, and with the others who were in ia
| vor of taking the first train we moved at
| once upon the railroad, where, in short
time, we secured free tickets and free
checks for our baggage, and the same day
we, rode in grand style from our clover
pasture in the picturesque hill country to
the great city, the Capital of the Confed-
| eracy.
THE CAPITAL.
1t was after dark when we arrived in
Richmond. We were invited by those
high in authority to walk up to the Hotel
de Libby, and we walked. The landlord,
seemingly, was not expecting us, and had
made no preparation for our reception. 1t
| was wartime, the price Of provisions in
the Capital was high, while the provisions
| in our hotel larder were low; besides, the
cooks had retired for the night, and the
dining-rOom girls were attending a presi-
Dental levee, for we were in the city
where Jefferson Davis held his august
court; it was, therefore, not convenient
to furnish supper for SO many guests, OF,
possibly, the landlord supposed we had
taken supper in the dining-car. Still, we
were not entirely neglected; the landlord
seemed aware that we had Travelled far,
and instructed the head clerk to show us
| up to our rooms. The hotel accommOda-
tons, for SO large city, were not ample.
There was a lack, Of ,,conveniences that
hotels in smaller cities OF the North afford
ed. Many were obliged to occupy the
same room; the ventilation was imperfect,
the beds needed re.bedding, and above all
the odor Of tobacco was triumphant. We
were NOT inclined tn find fault with our