The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-03-02

On Sunday, November 20, 1864,
squad of Howard S scouts were the
irst Of Sherman g army to enter Mil
lcdgcville. In coming into Dixie they
had found the capitals Of the States
through which they had passed cities
Of some size and prctcnsions. And
AS Georgia had for years been known
rs the Empire State Of the South
these men expected to fiud much
larger place than the town proved to
DC.
They were by no means SLOW in
ihowug their disappointment, or even
disgust, at M!lledgevillc's $ size appear
ance and pretentions. If there be any
of the people Of the good old Town who
we're there at the time, am sure that
thcy have not forgotten the lively
.imcs we passed through that cold
wintry, rainy, dreary November Sun
lay afternoon, aud probably among
other things they still remember the
ringing cry of 80 We Millcdgcvillians,"
as it came from hundreds Of yankee
soldiers throats, especially cmphasiz
ing the last,two syllablcs, to make the
williams .as ,crecouuceI as possible.
And if there sti!l lives anyone who
was on the .Ctrcet that evening, he
will romeEA1e- old man Wallis watch.
We was.c nice old gentleman, a mer-
.chant,cc' t.le town. A soldier cspied
his hesyy .sold watch chain, walked
up tcsihilc and asked the time of day.
Ar tiue watch was pulled out to look
,aS, the soldier took hold Of it, asking
'the old man "the price Of it in The
r,urroncy Of Dixie" Give thousand
dollars for it and the chain,' was the
answer. "Thank you, sir; it is not
often q man down in Dixie meets with
such valuable present." says the
yank, at the same time putting the
watch in his pocket, mounting his
horse and riding away to leave old
man Vail to count the cost of his in
discretion.
Farther down the street at the same
time of the watch transaction, four or
Eve bummers had taken girl OF some
seventeen summers, and demanded Of
her purse Of gold belonging to her
father, she was believed to have Sc
creted on her person. Not having it,
of course she could not give it up.
These soldiers, deaf alike to tho ear
nest entreaties Of bystanders and the
,piteous cries Of the poor victim, leis-
urely then, in open daylight, before a
motley crowd Of blacks and whites,
removed her clothing piece by piece.
Einding no gold, at last, they left
her in state Of nudity with on oath
and insulting remarks, to be cared for
0y faithful negro cook aud two or three
ssympathizing ladies who came to her
rescue, carried her to neighboring
room and administered to her wants.
It is true that the father did have
purse Of gold, but before leaving the
town be had been wise enough to Be-
screte it in place Of safety, where he
found it still untouched upon his re-
turn after Sherman had left.
What Sherman and his men did in
-Morgan, Putnam, Jasper and Newton,
before getting to Milledgeville, l let
.one of his men tell. "Suoh little
freaks as taking the last chicken, the
flast pound Of meat, the last bit of ba-
'Scon and the only remaining soraggy
,cow, from poor woman and her flock
iof children, black or white not con-
,sidered, came under the fordcr Of le-
Igitimate business. Even crockery,
/ bed-coveriug, or clothes, were fair
spoils. AS for plate, jewelry or
q watches, these were things rebels had
40 use for. Men with pockets pie
Shoric with silver and gold coin; sol
diers sinking under the weight of
plate and Hne bsdd;ng,materials, lean
mules and horses, with the richest
trappings of Brussels carpets and
hahgings of fine chenille negro
wenches, particularly good.looking
ones, decked in satin and silks, and
sporting diamond ornaments; officers
with sparkling rings, that would set
Tiffany in raptures-gave color to the
sstories of hanging up or feshing an
old ouss'f to make him shell out.
A planter 8 house was overrun in
aiffy; boxes, drawers and escritoires
were ransacked with q laudable zeal,
and emptied of their contents. If the
'spoils were ample, the dspredators
were satisfied, and went off in peace !;
If not, everything was torn and de-
,stroyed, and most likely the owner was