Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1905-04-06
RETURNING HOME FROM APPOMATTOx.

The last shot had been fred and
the flag that we had followed for four
long years was furled. Forty years
have come and gone since We in sor-
row witnessed the tragic scene on
April 9, 1865, at Appomattox. Yes;
forty years have passed, yet it seems
but as yesterday since we turned our
backs on that ill.fated field to take
up our line of march far down the
valley of wreck and ruin, to our
homes along the green slopes of the
Potomac.
In the early morning of April 10,
'65, we broke camp for the last time,
to comrades We babe the last sad fare.
well, and in small groups We started
for our homes. Lieut.. W. n. Lemen
aDd myself made our way to Waynes-
boro, Va. | remained there several
days before starting down tue valley.
With the surrender cf General Johns
tons army there was nothing left for
us to do but return to our homes and
commence life anew. April %, with
two comrades, Lieut.. Jas. NJ. Billmy-
er and Lieut.. P. P. Marshall, l started
down the valley. The scene of DESC
lation and ruin from Waynesboro to
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad would
be impossible to describe. Although
it was the time of year when farmers
should have been busy at work plow-
ing, hauling or making fence, yet for
more than hundred miles there was
not one man at work that we saw, no
sheep or cattle grazing on the hills,
the fencing was destroyed, not barn
or mill could be seen. Here and there
man could be seen gazing upon the
ruins of his once happy home.
have often thought what strug-
gle it must have been for the Confed-
crate veteran, after he had laid down
his arms at AppomattOz, to drag his
weary steps to his old home only to
find it in ashes, fields devastated, and
not hoof to press the soil where
herds had grazed. But he was equal
to the occasion, and with the same
energy that characterized him through
the war he laid aside his gray jacket
to commence life anew. His individ-
ual struggle with poverty is story
that cannot be described.
The first night we camped at a
spring south Of Newmarket. The good
people with whom we had been stay
ing had filled our haversacks with
provisions, SO we had a nice supper.
l went to a house nearby to get some
milk. The owner of the place said
he could not let me have it unless l
had the hard stuf-meaning gold and
silver. told him had that. When
he handed me the milk, l handed him
a ten-dollar Confederate note. He
looked amazed and said, 81 thought
you said you had the hard stuff. l
replied, "Isn't that had stuff" He
laughed and said, Take the milk"
Bright and early next morning we
had breakfast, mounted our horses
and started down the valley. The
scene the entire route was the same
| literally the valley was a barren vast.
! We passed several Federal outposts,
and although we were armed we were
not halted. Below New Market we
met General Reno's brigade of caval-
ry. We passed close to the General
and his staff, but they neither saluted
nor looked toward us, and l was not
sorry, for l had never saluted Fed.
eral officer, and at this time l was IL
no humor to do so.
We encamped about FIVE miles south
of Winchester. Tae country here
seemed to be more torn to pieces and
more desolate than any place we had
yet passed through. 1t was here fol
four long years that the constant
tramp of the soldier could be heard
it was here that the shouts Of the com.
batants rang through the valley; il
was here he sang his battle anthem
Now all was still, the air was hushed
even the birds had ceased to chant
their lays.
The morning of the oath We passed
through Winchester. General Han
cocks corps was encamped near th'
town, but we had no difficulty in pass
ing through them.
There is one little incident | wish
to relate to show how true the South
ern women were to the cause anC
how losth they were to give 1t up
even after the surrender of the armies
of Generals Lee and johnson. Jus