The National tribune., 1902-03-20

was not much thicker than sheet Of pa
per. Biscuits not much larger than wal
nuts sold readily at 90 cents per dozen.
During the first week of our occupation
Gen. Sherman reviewed the several corps
in succession, ours taking place on Dec.
81. Gen. Sherman sat on his horse in
front of his headquarters, OH one Of the
principal streets.
The citizens attended these reviews,
many through curiosity to see those fa-
nous marching columns whose resistless
progress through the center of the Con-
federacy had excited their wonder and ap-
prehension. The magnitude and uneX-
pcctedness of this achievement suggested
to their fevered imagination serried
ranks of an unfamiliar race OF men
vaguely called Westerners, giant in stat
ure, fierce in countenance and savage IN
nature, with the reckless turbulence of
the frontier and the revengeful spirit of
the Indian.
My part in these reviews being that of
spectator, an opportunity was afforded me
to mingle with the citizens and listen to
their comments.
4 conversation by two business men
may be cited as a sample OF the prevail
ing sentiment, as follows:
These soldiers seem to act very peace
ably. | have not heard of them doing
anything bad yet"
''WeI, yes; they have conducted them
selves very well, excepting the first day."
"Oh, of course there were some viola
tiOns of orders then, but the damage was
small compared to what our soldiers did"
Yes, that's true; the cavalry did act
in Il shameful manner They are law
less set, and the liquor they got made
them worse"
did you notice their officers appeared
| to have no control, and some of them act
| ed as badly as the men, for they were
! drunk, too, and encouraged their men to
break open stores and houses and steal"
Yes, | noticed that, and my opinion is
| they are worse than the Yankees, who
steal from their enemies, but our fellows
| rob their own people"
two comrades, | visited the Episcopal
Church, where the wealth and fashion Of
the city attended. Many gaily-dressed Ia
dies and a considerable number of we'll
dressed men were present, but the larger
portion of the congregation was com
posed of soldiers.
We noticed three Generals and many
officers OF lower rank, and also several
naval officers. The men in the ranks We're
well represented and altogether the pews
were filed to their capacity. From our
seats in the gallery we looked down upon
a striking combination of cOlors produced
| by the varied hues of the ladies' costumes
and the blue uniforms of the military. 1t
reminded one of my comrades of a cab
bage patch interspersed with blooming
| flowers.
No congregation more quiet or atten-
tive ever assembled there.
| The most remarkable feature of the
| service was not what we heard, but what
we did not hear-the prayer for the Pres
| ident of the United States, but as the
Rector also omitted the prayer for the
President of the Confederate States, we
concluded that his purpose was to let the
| Lord decide, and as we felt sure that
Father Abraham would receive the
blessing, we held our peace.
| When the collection plates were passed
around they returned to the chancel
lheaped with greenbacks and fractional
currency, contributed by the soldiers.
About the middle of January, 1865, we
noticed the preliminary movements of a
new campaign-camps suddenly vacated,
troops marching to the river and crossing
into South Carolina, transports arriving
with troops from Virginia to relieve us
from the duty of garrisOning Savannah,
and then orders to our corps to be ready
| to march in three days.
Finally, on the morning of Jan. 20, just
30 days after our entrance, we formed our
ranks i'll the midst of our dismartled
camps, fully equipped for the march,
and awaited the tap of the drum to
plunge once again into the heart of hos
tile country and blaze a destructive path
from the sea to Richmond.
| (The end.)