The Republican., 1908-12-31
MEMORIES OF MARYLAND.
Writer Recalls Barbara Frietchie
Incident.
[C. w Archbold, in Parkersburg Dis
patch News

/ [C. W Archbold, in Parkersburg Dis
/ patch News.
/ A most interesting feature OF the trip
about which | am writing consisted in
travelling about somewhat on the same
/ soil traversed by me in the fall of 1862.
refer specially to that part of Mary
lrnd lying between Harpers Ferry, W.
Va, and Frederick, Md During the
campaigns of that dreadful au'umn the
section in question had been overrun by
both Lees and McClelland's armies.
| Some of Stonewali Jackson's men told
me that they had had but little to eat
foG several weeks but green corn, taken
of course from the regions over which
they had marched. The farmers had
been despoiled of their crops and in
many instances their fences had been
burned as fuel used in cooking by the
hungry soldiers.
As illustrating the horrors of war, l
remember as our company of paroled
prisoners approached Frederick we
| passed by a small farm where a large
number of cattle had been slaughtered
/ by Confederate soldiers for the pur-
/ pose Of securing necessary food. They
had left the debris from this slaughter
4 on the surface of the ground and the
/ effluvia from it had become so terrible
at the time of our arrival that many of
US found it necessary to fall face down
ward on the ground and bury our noses
IN the soil to escape an odor otherwise
intolerable. All this section IS again
fair as the garden of the Lord" with
no evil smells discoverable. We found
the visit to Frederick (town) an attrac-
tive episode. | confess to a hearty
liking for this quaint old town founded
in 1745 and named for Frederick, Prince
of Wales.
One object in visiting Frederick was
to reassure ourselves somewhat regard
ing the story of Barbara Frietchie, the
heroine of the famous wartime poem by
the Quaker poet, John G. Whittier. In
my Judgment, this is the most notable
poem of the wartime, though am free
to confess that Maryland, Ny Mary
land is good second. | have noticed
within few days that some people in
Texas have made a protest because
certain passages from Barbara Friet-
chrie" were included in a grammar
used in their schools and insisted that
such passages should be excluded. This
is certainly an exhibition of very mar
row spirit, but | should have as little
patience with any Northern community
that would protest against the render
ng by Northern bands of that beautiful
tune identified with the poem MARY
land, My Maryland" We found our
way to the site of Barbara Frietchie' S
house, which is now really part of the
bed of creek flowing through the
town, as at the time of a flood this
creek encroached upon her house to
such an extent that it had to be torn
down. We found a tablet on the site of
of Barbara Fretchie's home reading as
follows:
This tablet marks the spot where
stood the home of Barbara Frietchie,
bravest of all in Fredericktown. She
took up the flag the men hauled down.
j. G. Whittier
We were led to believe through inter
views with people in Frederick and the
reading Of the life of Barbara Frietchie
that the statements made by the poet
! in the poem were substantially correct.
There is no doubt that Stonewall Jack
sons corps marched by the home of
Barbara Frietchie, but we found that
there was some doubt as to whether
jackson himself actually gave the order
to fire on Barbara FrIetchie's flag, as
stated in the poem, but if not such an
order might easily have been given by
another officer. The belief seems to be
general in Frederick that Stonewall
Jackson turned aside from marching
| Will HIS COllIUdIlu LOT IlIIe lOT Jne
purpose of visiting a friend-a Presby-
teran minister. The people of Frederick
seem proud of the fame of Dame Bar
bara, who died in December. 1868, aged
little oyer SO years. We visited her
grave in what is called the Reformed
Cemetery. The ladies' of our party re-
calling this couplet from the poem
"Over Barbara Frietchie's grave
Flag of Freedom and Union wave"
said surely there ought to be flag
over her grave. Our guide thereupon
reached down and picked up a flag staff
from which the flag had been ruthlessly
torn away-showing that the Unsuitable
relic hunter had visited the grave of the
gool cid dame. AS illustrating the
spirit of the Quaker poet, | would like
to quote another couplet:
Honor to her! and let a tear
Fan for her sake on Stonewall's BIER
"a - - IL A