The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1916-01-05

departure from Abbeville, just after
the last Cabinet meeting mentioned.
He told me that he had heard his
father frequently speak of the meet
ing, and of his leaving Abbeville and
of the hospitality of Mrs. Lindsay,
where he took lunch the day he LETT
Abbeville.
Anyone acquainted with the hospi-
tality of Hon. and Mrs. Armlsted
Burt, could never imagine that any
one, much less the President of the
Confederate States would be allowed
to depart so early in the morning, on
what seemed an endless journey,
without refreshments of some kind.
Besides the party could not have
reached the home of Mrs. Lindsay
before eleven o'clock, as the horses
were jaded looking, and were making
little progress, and they could only
travel short distances without food
and rest.
1t was not many days after the
passing of Mr.. Davis before the gov
eminent wagons carrying the gold,
silver and other securities, were at
tackled by struggling soldiers between
this place and Washington, Ga.
They helped themselves to what they
could carry away and scattered the
rest upon the ground. Hearing OF
the disaster, many people, both white
and colored, made haste to the spot
to enrich themselves, and l recall
the names of two colored men that
secured quite a quantity of gold.
They were Mansfield Elliott and one
of the hack drivers between here
and Washington, Ga.
Mr.. Phil Rutledge ran a livery
stable at this place and ran a hack
line from here to Washington, Ca,
one hack leaving here one day and
returning the next. AS the hacks
would come over the blue hill, the
driver. would blow a long bugle as
a signal of his approach and the
few old men who were too old to go
to the front and all the little boys
in town would gather at the post
office to see who came in. 1t was
generally about an hour to shutdown
when they reached town from Wash
ingtcn, Ca, for Washington is forty
miles from Abbeville.
The post Office was a wooden struc-
ture standing where the Red Iron
Racket store now stands, and was
kept by a man named McLaurin. We
had no facilities for obtaining early
reports of the battles going on, and
it was from three to four days after
a battle before we received any It'd
ings from the front. If the news
was good, the faithful old engineer,
Mr.. G. w. Syfan, would blow a long
whistle some two miles from town,
then as he neared town he would
blow another long whistle, and if
the news was very extra good he
would sometimes blow a third time.
Everybody would be on ~. look
out every evening for news of some
kind, and if a long whistle was sound
ed, everybody who could get there
would make a rush for the depot,
boys, girls, old men and old ladies.
If the news was bad only a short
blast was sounded.
What was good news to some of
US was bad news for others, for in
every battle in Virginia, where most
of the fighting wa done, some South
Carolina Regiment was engaged, and
most of the time some of the Able
vile companies were there, and
some poor mother or father who was
at the depot to hear the good news,
generlyy, but also of the death of
some loved one. 1t was indeed
sad to hear the cries of some young
girl, some sister or some mother as
the news of the death of sweetheart,
brother or son was told to them.
I recall one time when Mr.. Syfan
had given three long blows and I
with many others, was rushing to the
depot trying to get there by the time
the cars came in. An old man whom
some of the older citizens will rem
ember, whose name was Maj. Andrew
Small, passed me near where Longs
ginnery now stands, and yelled as
he passed. ct must be a. hell of
a news" This man was a Scotch
man. and on most of the occasions
when the soldiers would march to the
depot to take the cars for the front,
he would march in front playing the
fife with the tune, "The Girl I Left
Behind Me-"
When the time came for a Com
pany to assemble and march to the
depot every citizen in town, old,
young, black and white, would fol-
low and they would usually have an
hour to say goodbye. These were
sad days indeed. for not more than
half of the soldiers ever returned,
and the tears of sweethcarts, moth
ers, sisters. brothers, loved ones and
old and faithful servants were ming,
led together. The women were
brave and true. and although almost
knowing that the boys would never
return they would say, Go, my boy,
and if need be, sacrifice your life for
your country.
M. E. Hollingsworth.