The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-03-29

that the very foodgateS OF society
were being upturned." Then the last
hair broke the camei's back" when o.
going TO Captain Starr with my griev-
ance. he laughed grlmly and said that
sergeant had done exactly right.
The war taught many a lesson OF this
kind, and the Confederate veteran IS
probably all the better man for them
today.
The Louisiana Zouaves were part OF
the forces under Magruder on the Pc
ninsula. arriving. If my memory
serves me. on the day after the battle
Of Bethel. Sharper contrasts were new
er presented than were seen in the per-
sonnet Of this North Carolina regi-
ment and this Louisiana command.
In the first the men were as good as
the officers and felt themselves to be
so; many of them were better educat-
ed (Rob Sanford. of Fayetteville, al
ways carried his Euripides and jour
ma in his pocket to relieve the tediuln
of camp duty,) and not a few took c
deeper view of the gravity OF war sit
uation. In social standing there was
not a shade of difference between rank
and file. The enlisted Zouayes were,
it seemed TO me. the very scum of the
earth-gallows birds and prison con
victs of New Orleans and other South
ern cities. A broad gulf of social dis
tinction n discipline was fixed be-
tween them and their officers, who
were handsome, faultlessly groomed
young fellows OF the best families OF
New Orleans and the plantations OF,
Louisiana.
The Zouaves, too. received their les
son at Yorktown. Only a few days
after their coming, impatient at the
Celay in the serving of rations from
the commissary department, they went
out, guns in hand, TO make a commits
sary for themselves. and deliberately
set to work, killing the cattle of the
farmers in the neighborhood. But they
did not know their commander. Gen
eral Magruder mounted mis- horse at
the historic Nelson house, surrounded
the mutineerS with his infantry and
artillery. and made them a short, very
vigorous speech, to the effect that on
h second such serious violation OF
discipline. he YOU shoot them down
without any mercy. But these cut
threats with their faultless drawn
corps, their French caps and vivid
blue and red, uniforms. mad a strik-
ing picture on the drill. Their gun
manual and evolutions were perfect,
and their march, entirely from that
Of the ordinary regiment. was an cas-
graceful swing on perfect time. And
they would fight. If 1 DO not greatly
mistake. it is part OF the history OF the
war, that when they met Ellsworth'5
New York Zouaves on the field, It WIS
a case Of determination, and that very
few were left living of either COM
mand when the engagement was over.
1t became evident when the govern
ment officers ~canvassed the different
companies at the close of their six
months term of enlistment, that very
few men of the First North Carolina
regiment intended to reenlist-at least,
not just then. A few were heartily
tired of the service. others had 10:
even yet realized the vastness Of the
struggle in which the South was en-
gagged; but the large majority were good
soldiers, saw that they had got into
no childs' play. had no idea OF desert
ing their country, but they were de-
termined to spend a short while at
home before taking the field a second
time.
The regiment returned home by
Richmond in two battallions Of six
companies each, and l well remember
the difference Of bearing Of the people
Of that city and Petersburg towards
US, compared with the fervor and en-
thusiasm with which they greeted the
regiment when it marched through
their streets on the way to the scene
of war. There was nothing Sullen or
discourteous about their bearing. but
there was an air OF melancholy and
f~oreboding in the attitude Of the peo-
~ oh - o. SAS
filed by in all the mastery precision of
six months training. The truth is
Petersburg and Richmond were al
ready hearing and feeling the groan-
ing and rumble of the earthquake. the
volcanic fires were under their feet;
and it impossible to be so close to an
already sore beset government with
out being appraised of the truth.
Even in that November homing
Of the two companies I was impressed,
boy as I was, with the changes that
had taken place. The welcome given
to the returning soldiers was, of course,
-fervent. ever tumultuous; but I won
dered why peoples heads had turned
gray so fast, why the roses had with
cred from so many cheeks, and my
heart was striker at the number Of
crippled and wounded, for it was now
five months since the battle Of Bethel,
and many a fierce, bloody blow had
since been struck.
1t will be seen that no attempt has
been made in the above article to take
the part of an historian; the design
has simply been to set forth the pic
t~uresqeness of the first days of the
civil war. j. h. M.
Fayetteville. March, %.