The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-13


 ry incident of those days of griei should be imprinted on the minds o those of us who do not know that W, may realize through what ordeals tn, quiet and content of today was wor for us, that we may learn to "seel peace and ensue it" all our days. The. story of blood and death il frightened as is the living through such times with touches of true hu. nor. Some of the stories told herein are familiar from the talks of vete. rams. Mrs. Pryor deserves thanks fol putting them into permanent form What's de matter, Mingor asks e fellow servant ct was in the heat oi a battle) "Wher you gwine wid such 2 hurrification?
 "T gwine to git out O trouble--dal whar I gwine. Oars too much powder in dem big things. Dis chile ain't gwine bun hisse'f! An dars dem Min .nie bullets, too, comin' froo de ar singin: Whar is you? Whar Is you? aint gwine stop an tell lem whar is! Ise a twenty-two-hundre dollar nigger, and I'se gwine tek keer Q what b'longs to marster, I is" And this mot is told all over the South Under fire at Manassas, a raw recruit was doing pretty we'll, when a rabbit loped across the field. Dropping his gun as he was about to shoot, he yell ed, with honest pathos:-"Go it. lit- tie cotton-tail, go iti I'm jest as skeer. ed as you be, an if I dared. I'd run toov"
 And this of the deserter stopped or the run by an officer with: "'Why don't you shoot back. You are crying like a baby knows 1t, Gin'ral-l | Ir,. { ,fal. hal o,,I r gal-baby, too, and then I wouldn't have been conscripted'."
 The descriptions of her lonely life ir the swamps of the Backwater, where General Pryor made the stand witt his handful of men that made the rep utation for him that is worldwide ars inimitable. We all feel that we know the little black maid who was SO will ling and helpful and who introduced herself: "Charity's meh name an Charity's meh naycher."
 The story of the wall of the womer after Things" is humorous and pa | thetic, think what it would be to b, | without all those necessary things pins. needles, thread, cloth, coffee, te, the list might be multiplied a hun dredfold.
 Of the rare blessing of the running
 
 Mary Meade made me a visit. Away beautiful, her face wore on this after noon a seraphic, beatifc expression. Tell me dear, I said, all about 1t. | I supposed she had heard her lover hat | been promoted or was coming hom, | on furlough. She held up her hands
 It's just these gloves" said Mary. : cant help it. They make me perfect 1y happy! They have just com, through the blockade"
 Such stories of deprivation of off cers and men have never before beer written as these of the need of Gene ral Lees Army of Virginia in the lat ter days of the war. Never in the his tory of the world have soldiers sC cheerfully endured and died. Of General Buffers move on Peters burg, June g. 1864. Mrs. Pryor gives { most graphic account. The cradle ant the grave were robbed to fill the thir ranks that met and repulsed the enc my.
 Then the siege: AS soon as the enc my brought up their siege guns o heavy artillery, they opened on tht city with shell, without the slightes notice or without giving opportunity for the removal of non-combatants, the sick, the wounded, or the women ant children"
 Such warfare.
 Then follows the story of Genera Pryor's capture. Then of the capture of Rev. Thedor!c Pryor, chaplain. The story of the year in the rear o1 General Lees army. of the dire wan that all Virginia suffered. of the ekine out of a livelihood by weaving, spin ming, knitting by women who had never known want or work is marvel. ous reading.
 The heart rending story of sacri. fee ends with General Lees surrender and General Johnston's army was surrendered to General sherman in North Carolina on April 26. The ban ner which had led the armies of thC South through fire and blood to victo' ry to defeat, in times of starvation cold, and friendliness; the banner that Helen's lover had reared aloft on g forlorn hope until it fell from his life. less hands; the banner found under the dying boy at Gettysburg, who hat smilingly refused assistance lest il be discovered, the banner of thous' and histories was furled forever, with none so poor to do 1t reverence"
 In a few words Mrs. Pryor tells the story of General Pryor's removal tc New York. Of the fight he made here with diversity, a battle as brave as any fought on the backwater, a battle this last where every step was victo' ry.
 A little volume of itself might be made of the life and letters of "Ag- nes" which Mrs. Pryor has given us Agnes" being an eminently respect able lady of the old school who would be most shocked to see her name in a book!
 The better for books were more people of Agnes brilliancy in them.
 The personal incidents told of Gen. eral Lee are of value, just now of es- pecial interest with the letters and recollections of General R. E. Lee by his son before us: Tt is well known that General Lee did not approve of the hasty, ill-considercd action of the early seceders from the Union. He foresaw the perils and was doubtful of such action. He knew that war-as my own husband had so earnestly said in Congress-'meant widows and or phans, the punishment of the inno- cent, the ruin of the foNunes of all. Still, the old Mother had been forced to accept 1t at the hands of others The simple question was: With or agS4nst blood and kin? For or against the Old Mother? And the question answered itself in the asking"
 General Lees tribute to General Johnston is typical of the man: If General Johnston was not a soldier, America never produced one. If he was not competent to command his
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