The Batesburg advocate. [volume] (Batesburg, S.C.) 1901-1911, 1905-07-29
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
By JOab Edwards.

On the morning of July the first
left the hospitable home of Rev. s. c.
Page baptist minister and success
ful farmer, who lives on the eastern
bank of the Cape Fear river. A half
mile travel brought me out into the
Fayetteville and Raleigh road just
where the Federal Soldiers who were
killed in the battle OF Avarasboro N.
{. were buried. The Confederate SOL
diers killed in this battle were princi-
pally from Georgia and South Carolina
and were buried some half mile further
north on this same road. AS i enter
this road. just tony right and not
more than five hundred yards stands
the residence of Mr.. Douglas Smith
deceased which was used as a hospital
for the wounded. This house stands
in the track of the battle and bears
the marks OF cannon shots. / locke d
for breast works some of which /
helped construct forty years ago but
only slight traces of them remain.
The axe. the plow, and father time
with his smoothing hand has almost
brushed away every trace of the scene
Of conflict on the sixteenth of March
1865. 1 espy near by darkey plow-
ing an o-,St q s2roach him and call
out, .hello Fne s6mething"
Well he is just what was looking FOL
He was born January the first 1928
He was slave of VIM Z. Smith; has
never used snuff, never been drunk,
never owned pistol, never been put
in prison, hid dishes, provisions and
other things from Shermans spoilsmen
and returned them to his "misSus"
Mrs. Mary Smith. His name is Will
lam Smith. Just here we are Joined
by another aged darkey whose name
is robie SIN it'll an eX-slave of Parker
Smith who has lived here all his life.
1t is now Uncle William, Uncle Tobie
and myself and Uncle Williams long
horned red OK, who lazily switches his
tail at the peStiferous flies. Uncle
William narrates while Uncle Tobie
confers. They both worked on forti-
tications near Wilmington before the
fall of fort Fisher. The narration is
as follows: when our army got here
old masters house was made head
quarters. We colored people were not
troubled, Our houses were not both
cred. i had watch with a compass
in it One OF our soldiers tried to buy
it from me. / did not sell it. When
the yankees get here they drove our
men back and right over there Ipoint-
ing to the right about 200 YARDS stood
a battery at which six gray horses
were killed with one shell, and that
stump you see right there (poi ntiug
to the left about % yards away was
cut this spring and a cannon ball was
in it. When our men fell back and
left US in the hands of the yankees
They cursed US and threatend to kill
US if we did not tell them where we
had bnried things and get them. ]
had some silver money and my wife
sowed part Of it up in the skirt of her
dress. The rest / left in a tin box
where kept my razor. They took it
and took my watch. They took poss-
esSiou of all Of our houses. l went to
one of them and said look here mister
l want house for the women an d
it is too bad to have to stay
out of doors withoutany thing to sleep
on. He told me i would have to see
an officer. told him l did not know
who the officer was and he said thay
had stripes on their arms. / went to
one and he sent me to another and he
to another and to another and never
could find the right one. ! tried to
find the right man. wen t
to Gen. Kilpatrick's quarters but
Jared no better. found them taking
misSus' things and she was crying and
callei me and busted out to crying
too and she said william l wish you
would set my lard case in my
room" and did so and saved her a
little lard. Tobie slept under my
house while me and the colored wom-
en- and children huddled about the
chimney corners outside as best we
could. l helped TO bury our dead SOL
diers in the cemetery. My recollec-
tion is that there was some fifty odd
of them. There was eighty odd yam
KEGS buried up there where you come
into this road. Two were buried