The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-04-21
they were. I do not know.

~" ""iSNey' we told them we had
none. They went out very quietly,
"a some of them went into our kitch-
en- and think were the cause Of my
girls becoming SO impairment that
we had to speak to her. She had
been raised with me on my fathers
plantation. She gave some of our
breakfast to the soldiers, and was so
long i'm bringing ours in, that we had
To speak TO her about 1t, then she
flew into rage, and asked the soldiers
to help her move out. She left us.
thinking, l suppose. that the northern
people would support her. out she was
mistaken. The next We heard of her,
n was cooking. washing and ironing
for a large family. Freedom did not
inca no work. They thought free
dom meant to do as you please.
Before the main army surrounded
Petersburg. a company Of northern
cavalry came near getting i'm. They
were raiding the country, destroying
everything they could, the few regu-
lar troops. who were in the city called
on the citizens to help. and every man
Who had a gun went to the front.
Two companies Of mounted artillery
were in the city. and they went gall
Looping by my house and met the
northern soldiers just as they came
I'm sight OF the city reservoir. which
they mistook for n fort. as h e.cannon
opened on them there. They turned,
and met the men on foot. inc there
the battle was fought in hearing Of
my home. They were driven back af-
ter a sharp fight. but carried off some
of our men prisoners. and killed
two outright. wounding some others.
The two. who were killed were old
men. over sixty. good citizens and
Christian men. Il sat on my front
doorsteps with all my keys beside me,
so that. IL they did get there, they
would not need to break all the locks
In the house.
During the siege. the church bells
could not be rung. as cannon balls
would be fired at the church steeples.
After awhile they had to stop preach
ing In the churches altogether as the
I~cannonading would commence just at
the hour for service. Funerals had to
be conducted in the houses. and
burials were made in the farthest
church yards. as the cemetery was too
near the lines for any burials to take
place there. The cemetery was badly
used. so many monuments broken, SO
many graves trampled upon. So
many little children died from heat
and exposure. during the siege. Only
one child. a little boy six years old.
who was walking along the street
with his mother. was killed. A piece
of shell struck him on the head, kill
ing him instantly. We knew the par
ents. One colored woman was killed
by a shell.
One of the sad sights of The war
was to see people coming into the city.
with wagons loaded with their house.
hold goods. driving their cattle ahead
OF them. not knowing where they
would find shelter. They were fleeing
from the northern army as it was
marching on to Petersburg. These
people never saw their homes again.
The northern army destroyed every
thing before IL as 1t marched against
Lees army. l rode out around the
city with some friends after the war
was over to see the crater and other
sights. You could not see any sign of
numbers OF fine homes, that l had
seen on former drives. not even q
shade tree was left. An old Scotch
man. that we knew well. was a florist
He had a beautiful home, with large
green houses, n all kinds Of beau
tiful flowers and shrubbery. When
We arrived where all that beauty had
been, there was complete desolation.
not a green thing. not u stick or
board to tell the tale, 1t was COM
plete destruction. 1t was the same
everywhere, all ruin and desolation.
There was only one building seen on
that ride. That was an Episcopal
church. built out of Embarked, short
leaf pine logs as large as a mans leg,
and the smallest just little twigs as
big as your little finger. The walls.
the ceiling, the steeple. pews, pulpit,
altar railing. windows were all of I'M
parked logs-the steps, doors, and
everything complete. 1t was a monu-
ment to Yankee ingenuity. 1t was
built while they were camped there
during the siege. / suppose 1t is all
pona noW