Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-03-07
YOUTHS IMPRESSIONS
OF WAR BETWEEN States
\ Boys Visit To Richmond and Its
Battlcflclds, and What He
Witnessed.
TELLS STORY 80 YEARS LATER
Jacob Michaux Travels by Canal to
Capital OF ConfedeEacy and Looks
Upon Forces OF North and South
Struggling for Supremacy.
BY JACOB MICHAUX.
p dET RI

They passed on out OF our view and
we resumed our way toward the city.
which we reached in an hour or so.
Young Booker then took us straight to
his house and entered, and | walked
through the hall and looked In idle
curiosity out into the back yard, and
my eye fell upon Il treasure. viz: n bull
let sticking In the paiing OF the yard
fence / pricd it out with my knife
point and kept II many years. Mean
time Booker returned to the front yard.
or rather. pavement. and we were about
to return rs we came, when. bang, n
shrek and roar, and evcrybody--the
rev who reinained-began TO run.
had just noticed several wheelbarrow
loads Of fragments of shells and wac
told they had been gathered UP to be
sent TO Richmond TO be recast for new
shells. Before we could fairly get our
wits together another shell came
screaming over. and we were we'll OH
our way 10 Campbell's bridge Moses.
the great law -givcr was slow Of Speech
wc are told, and | had been account ed
fat and slow Of foot. but It was uni
Vcrshlly conceded that day that easily
led the party. And when got over the
bridge and landed on earth again, my
cousin, malicious youngster, softly
whispered Never touched him" Then
We assembled the hill--Dunn's hill some
times called Oak iIill--by a path which
!tn up 10 the lett IN slantinS drcc-
ton.
From this elevation tho batteries
from which the firing was taking place
could plainly be seen, but not n man
was In sight. Every few seconds a vast
cloud OF smoke poured from one or an
other OF the cmbrazures TO be seen,
then III" explosion OF an enormous
shell; then the prolonged charactcris-
TIC shrek. and finally the report of the
cannon, lot. remember, we were hear
ing these by no means rcassurinr
SOUNDS in the inverse order. These wero
nov neldpieces' but siege guns OF
heavy calibrc. as could be seen from
the shells that landed without explod
ing, as well rs by the awful chasms
torn In the walls of the houses IN the
city. remember that during tina.
morning the wind was blowing down
the river, which lay quiet and yellow
under US, and when the houses were
struck, which took place in Il majority
OF the cases. the great clouds Of red
brick dust rolled across the streets
ana finally disappeared. This was at
tended by the characteristic noise OF
the carload of bricks torn out Of tho
wall and scattered over the floors
ihese sounds were plainly audible To
US and easily recognizable But TO me
one OF the most striking things was
me noise made by the shells in passing
through the air. II was something ne
tween Shrek and roar, and loud
enough TO be audible plainly at a dis
lance OF two miles, possibly more And
wheh those terrific shrapnel were
,aunGheo. II was thing to be rcmcm-
( ptred' ~ sounded to me like the noise
made by four horse wagon loadet,
with scrap iron and trotted down hill
on paved street. Then the singing of
'hc fragments OF all the shells had an
ihcahny sound. Now and again one
s landed IN the yellow Appomattox. and
u
snow. The whole body Of the air over
ana about the city was necked win
ciouniets caused by the bursting of
Sh-iis' ana these slowly drifted away
in the summer wind.
Non'fiERN SHELLS BRAVED
TO WATCH RONn,npu,.x,,
AFTER while we decided to GO home
10 dinner. but II was impossible TO GO