The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-08-08
VIVID DESCRIPTION GIVEN
Of RICHMOND'S EVACUATION

Finding il impossible To get out OF
the city, l returned TO my boarding
house thoroughly disheartencd and
worn out, and so | laid down To- rest
and 60 consider what was best next
10 try To do in my then novel and
trying surroundings. The FIRE. through
out the business portions Of the CITY.
was still raging; the ire department
OF the city was broken down and nj
tcrly incapa BILE of coping with or 10
prevent II from destroying the CITY.
ana i knew, without some material
ala, the late Confederate capital must
soon be only heap OF ashes and Gin
oerS- j had scarcely lain down when
one OF the ladies of the house rushed
into my room with the alarming intel
hgencc that the roof Of the house i'm
winch we were had already caught on
IRE from the Cinders flying i'm almost
every direction, and that very soon ~
would be destroyed. / at once arose
chmbcd out of a dOrmcr window mn
to the roof OF the house. and with n
DUcNet OF water put the fire out This
repeated several times during the
day, and in this way only saved that
house from destruction
1hiS work gave me occupation and
thought, which / sOrely needed at
Such a time. In the meantime the
Federal soldiers had been ordered Nv,
General Weitzel to assist i'm eaN,ine, ~.
city, and these responded with alacitv
anu contributed greatly to this end
As IL was, however, more than three
lourths OF the heart of the business
seV'ioh OF the city was destroyed. ex-
tending from Ninth to Fifteenth ON
Main, and from the Capitol SQUARE on
the north, TO the river on the south
including the State Courthouse. which
stood just inside the square. where
FRANKLIN Street enters it on the cast
ana the United Presbyterian Church
(how Grace street,, which stood at
the northwest corner of Eighth and
Franklin.
Valuable Records Burned.
me burning of the State Courthouse
was serious, and, in many respects.
rreparaDle loss, since this building
contained not only the records of the
supreme Court of Appeals. the Circuit
Court OF the city of Richmond and
county of HenricO, a few of which
were saved by the faithful clerks of
those courts; but il also contained the
Tecorus OF the late General Court of
virginia, and those of many of the
counties of Eastern Virginia. which
had been removed and stored there TO
protect them from destruction at the
hands OF the Federal troops who oc-
cupleu that section of the State and
seemed TO delight in that form of van
stroyed.
walked up to the Capitol Square
the day after the evacuation. and tho
smoldering ruins and general desola-
uoI spread out before me was a scene
.ha' made me weep, and that would
nave saddened the stoutest heart Tho
custom house, and a part of what is
now the First National Bank. were
the only buildings then left standing
between the square and the river. and
'heSe stood as monuments of the ruin
ana uesolation by which they were
surrounded, and also as monurnon+s
Oh the blasted hopes and ruin of a
hoDie and brave people who had
risked all. and lost all, in defense of
their God-given rights, and of their
homes and firesides
General WcitZcI Not Unkind
General Weitzels conduct towards
ana treatment of, the people of Rich
mona were, on the whole. good and
KIND much better than most of us
apprehended they would be. Mr.. lin
coin came to Richmond on the 5tb
OF, perhaps, the 9th, Of April. and |
remember. wildly, seeing him. and
MS motley crew of whites and blacks
as lhey proceeded on foot from Rock
Gus TO President Davis house. whore
am quite sure he spent the whole
OF that day, and where he had The
interview with Judge Campbell. As
Slstant Confederate Secretary of War
ana Mr.. Gustavus 4. Myers. then n
representative from Richmond i'm tho
NlrSlnla legislature. and in which he
ou'iioI i~eu the recOnNening of the Nir-
Slhla Legislature. But he recalled this
authority on his return to NVashincton
presumably because il did NOT meef
the approval of Seward and Staunton
IN whose hands Mr.. Lincoln was I
mink mere piece of putty, to be used
ana moulded as they thought. whether
Tor good or evil.
knocked Down Il CriDpIc.
My experiences, for "A time after tba
evacuation, Were novel and not on
HISN devoid OF interest. AS 1 have
Ntulcated, General Weitzel and his
SOLDIERS We're generally we'll behaved.
ana put lew outrageS were committed
by them. They saw that l was "A
crippled Confederate. unable to harm
thSm, and, with one exception. they
ana not try TO hurt me. ON the oc
coSion To which 1 refer / had coD,o
through the Capitol square. and va
crossing Ninth Street. just by ST
faUl : Church, when Federal cav
alryman came gallOping up Ninth and
came so near riding over me that
ShreW up my cane to ward off his
morse. lie jumped from his horse and
shocked me down three times. as fast
as could get up. This was NOT hard
TO do, however. as l was very un-
steady on my underpinning at the
time and he was a StalWart but COW
ardly. scoundrel. a citizen. whose
name l did not then know, ran to my
assistance, but the stalwart Knocked
him down too, and then remounted
his horse and rode off. As could
not Identity him / never tried to find
out who he was or to what command
he belonged.
Hoped Until the Last
Whilst l knew that General Lees
army had left the vicinity of Peters
burg. l did not know accurately in
what direction it had gone. until
heard the firing of artillery on the
morning of the 9th OF April. | was
then standing, talking with a friend
on the corner of Madison and Frank
lin Streets. and l remarked to this
friend that the Army of Northern
Virginia was whipping its old adVer-
sary' as usual. and I was as conf
dent of the final success of our cause
then as 1 ever was AS I said near
the beginning of this article. 1 was a
goose about the Confederate cause
and il may be that some of my read
ers will say that l am SO yet. Ger
tainly | believe. with all my heart.
in the justice of that cause. and, in
the language of a distinguished son
of Massachusetts, 1 believe that
such character and achievement
were not all in vain; that though the
Confederacy fell as an actual physical
!