The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-04-15
FoRTY-FoUR YEARS AGO.
A Raleigh Printer Tells Of the Day
That Sherman's Army Marched
Through This City.

Through This City.
On Tuesday morning while the
reporter was glancing over the morn
ing papers dropped into his quarters
TO find out the news The reporter
freely impaired all the news that he
thought would be Of interest to the
typo" man. After awhile the prin-
ter became reminiscent, and re-
marked that this Ia mean drizzly
day. was just such a morning as
that one forty-four years ago to-day
when Sherman and his army march
ed through the streets of Raleigh.
He said that just prior to that time
that Johnston's army had marched
through on retreat and he had
wondered why that many men had
to retreat from any other army un-
til he had watched Sherman's army
march through all day, and then he
could understand. That he never
saw as many men and as many con-
ditions of men as went to make up
Sherman's army. There were whites
blacks, Indians, goats, sheep, chick
ems, and in fact a regular Noah's
Ark was represented in the line Of
march. 1t was reported in Raleigh
that President Lincoln had been as
sassinated and the inhabitants OF the
city greatly feared that the troops
would carry out their threat to burn
the town, but wiser heads prevented
the deed. An old mill near the city
and the old depot, where the South
ern freight depot now stands, was
burned. At that time Governor
Vance was prisoner and General
Grant came to Raleigh and had
conference with Sherman in the Gov
ernor's Mansion, which was located
at the end of Fayetteville street,
where the graded school building
now stands, and he persuaded Sher-
man to be lenient with the South
erners and to allow the Southern
troops to surrender on easy terms.
The printers story was indeed an
interesting one, but the writer can
not remember it all, and it is proba-
bly, well that he can't and none Of
the few lines penned above are in
tended to stir up prejudice. 1t has
been frequently said that thu great
est enemies the South has to-day are
the men within her borders who are
continually trying to stir up section
al strife. The war is overt ended
forty-four years ago. We are living
in the present, our ancestors will
| live in the future, and in fact nobody
will live in the past; therefore, there
can be no earthly good in going back
forty or fifty years ago, and dig up
things that were settled long ago,
and infiict them on the present gen.
Grafton 1t is all right to revert to
| them in a historical sense, but for
| any other purpose, the man who
does it is hurting our dear South
| land, whether he so intends it or
not. Did the writer say forget the
| Confederate soldier? He did not!
No one respects the Confederate SOL
| der or has a greater reverence for
him than this writer, and he further
hopes that no pains will be spared
| to make the remaining days Of the
brave Confederate soldiers as COM
Portable and happy as it is within
the power of this State to do. The
point is the politician who makes po-
litical capital out of the late "un-
pleasantness" by trying to stir up
sectional and race prejudice, is him.
self an enemy to the South. The
writer was born and bred in the
South and within a few years he ex-
poets to see it recognized by others
as the garden spot of the world
May nothing be said or done to re-
tard it's progress.