TO THE

ion. p. I: Swain, }E-P.,

AT WHOSE SUGGESTION IT was ‘UNDERTAKEN, AND BY WHOSE
INVALUABLE ADVICE, ENCOURAGEMENT, AND ASSIST-
ANCE IT HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THIS BOOK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED,

EyterepD, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

  
   
  

  
   
 

ee, CHARLES F, DEEMS,
& . '

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New-York.
me papers on the Lasr Ninery Days op THe War w

Norra-Caronra, which originally appeared in the New-York

and are now presented’ in book form, were com-

menced with no plan or intention of continuing them beyond
‘two or three riumbers,

Warcuman,

The unexpected favor with which
they were received led to their extension, and finally resulted
in their republication.

To do justice to North-Carolina, and to place beyond cayil
or reproach. the attitude of her leaders at the close of the

great Southern States Rights struggle—to present a faithful

picture of the timies, and a just judgment, whether writing
of friend or foe, has been my sole object. Slight as these
sketches are, they may claim at least the merit of truth, and

this, I am persuaded, is no slight recommendation with the.
* truth-lovying people of North-Carolina,

-

 
CHAPTER f.

; PAGE
Difficulties of the Wistory—The Position of North-Carolina—The Peace Con-

vention—The Montgomery Convention—Governor Vance—The Salis- °

*

bury Prison—Testimony on the Trial,

CHAPTER II,

Winter of 1864-S—Letter of Governor Vance—Appeal for General Lee’s
Army—The Destitution of the People—Fall of Fort Fisher—Advance of
General Sherman—Contrast between Sherman and Cornwallis—Ex-

tracts from Lord Cornwallis’s Order-hook—The “ Bloody Tarleton,”

CHAPTER III,

Judge Rufin—His History—His Character—Itis Services—General Couch’s
Outrages after Peace had been declared—General Sherman's Outrages
-—His unblushing Official Report—* Army Correspondents”*—Sherman

; in Fayetteville—Cornwallis in Fayetteville—Coincidences of Plans—

Contrasts in Modes—The Negro Suffers—Troops Concentrating under
General Johnston, . . ‘ § ‘ . . .

 
 

8 CONTENTS.

Iv.
CHAPTER Este

Laws of War—“ Right to Forage older than History’—Xenophon—Kent on
* International Law—Halleck’s Authority versus Sherman's Theory and

Practice—President Woolsey—Letter of Bishop Atkinson, ri . 53
»

* CHAPTER vy. *

Lord Cornwallis in Fayetteville—A young Lady’s Interview with him—How
he treated her—How Sherman’s Men treated her Grandson—‘ The
Story of the Great March”.—Major Nichols and the “ Quadroon Girls”—
Such is NOT War—Why these Things are recorded—Confederate’ Con-
centration in North-Carolina—A £ad Story, Pa . ‘ ~ 65

OHAPTER VI.

“Shays’s Rebellion” —Kent on Massachusetts—Conduct of a Northern Gov-
ernment to Northern Rebels—The ‘Whisky Insurrection” —How
Washington treated a Rebellion—Secession of New-England Birth—
The War of 1812—Bancroft on 1676—The Baconists—An Appeal, “ane

CHAPTER VIt.

Schofiela’s Army—Sherman’s—Their Outrages—Union Sentiment—A Disap-
pointment—Ninety-two Years Ago—Governor Graham—His Ancestry

~—-His Career—Governor Manly, . i ‘ < $ . 9

-
CHAPTER’ VIII

Governor Graham opposes Secession—But goes with his State—Is sent to the
Confederate Senate—His Agency in the Hampton Roads Interview—
Remarkable and Interesting Letters from Governor Graham, written

from Richmond in 1865, . ‘ i ‘ i onto: 108

      

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Ix.

PAGE
State of Parties—The Feeling of the People—The “ Peace” Party—Important

Letter from Governor Vance in January, 1864—His Reélection—The

War Party—The Peace Party—The Moderates—Governor Graham's

Letter of March, 1865—Evacuation of Richmond, < F: - 121
- oe °

CHAPTER xX.
ae

General Johnston preparing to uncover Raleigh—Urgent Letter from Gover-
nor Swain to Governor Graham—Governor Graham's Reply—A Pro-

gramme of Operations agreed upon—Finally Governors Graham and-

Swain start for Sherman’s Headquarters, . > : ‘ - 184

*

CHAPTER XI,

Raleigh, when uncovered—The Commissioners to General Sherman—They
start—Are recalled by General Johnston—Are stopped by Kilpatrick’s

Forces—Their Interview with Kilpatrick—Are carried to Sherman’s
Headquarters—His Reply to Governor Vance—The further Proceedings
of the Commission—A Pleasant Incident—The Commissioners return

to Raleigh—Governor Vance had left—His Letter to Sherman—The
Federal Troops enter Raleigh—Incidents, .

.

' ° . + 145

CHAPTER XII,

Jchnston’s Retreat—Governors Graham and Swain misunderstood—Wheel-

er’s Cavalry—Confederate Occupancy of Chapel Hill—The Last Blood—

“Stars and Stripes"—One in Death—General Atkins—Scenes around
Raleigh—Military Lawlessness ‘ ° - + 165

   

™

 
10 CONTENTS.

- CHAPTER XIII.
PAGE

Correspondence between Governor Swain and General Sherman— Governor
Vance’s Position and Conduct—Kilpatrick—The Conduct of the Serv-

ants—‘ Lee’s Men”—President Lincoln, : : ‘ , 178

CHAPTER XIV. e

General Stoneman — Outrages — Cold-blooded Murders — General Gillam—
Progress through Lenoir, Wilkes, Surry, and Stokes—Stoneman’s De-
tour into Virginia—The Defense of Salisbury—The Fight in the Streets

of Salisbury—General Polk's Family—Temporary @ccupancy of Salis-

* pury—Continuous Raiding, ; . < * ° . 192

CHAPTER XV.

Iredell County —General Palmer's Courtesy to Mrs. Vance —Subsequent

Treatment of this Lady by Federal Soldiers—Major Hambright’s Cru-
elty in Lenoir—Case of Dr. Ballew and Others—General Gillam—His

Outrages at Mrs, Hagler’s—Dr. Boone Clark—Tefrible Treatment of
his Family—Lieutenants Rice and Mallobry—Mrs. General Vaughan—

Morganton, . . . . . : . » ¥ 2g

CHAPTER XVI.

Plundering of Colonel Garson—Of Rev. Mx Paxton—General Martin re-
pulses Kirby—Gillam plunders during the Armistice—Occupation of
Asheville—Wholesale Plunder—Dispatch from General Palmer, - 225

MRL RE EN PE OER REE RINT Ye set

CONTENTS.

«

CHAPTER XVII.

~? PAGE

Surrender of General Lee—Why North-Carolina could not have taken Meas-
ures to send Commissioners—Review—The Coal-fields Railway—Difi-

culties of Transportation—Proyvisions—The Last Call—Recreants—Pri-
vations—The Condition of the Press, 4 - 285

CHAPTER XVIII.

The University—Its Early History—Its Continued Growth—The Ardor of the
Young Men— Application for Relief from Conscription — Governor
Swain to President Davis—Another Draft on the Boys—A Dozen Boys
in College when Sherman comes ; and the Bells ring on—* Commence-

ment” in 1865—One Graduate—He pronounces the Valedictory—Con-

clusion, “

APPENDIX,

I.—Universtry Recorp, . . iy

I.—Generst James JouNsToN Perricrew,

 
 

 

|

.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR

° IN

NORTH-CAROLINA.

 

CHAPTER I.

DIFFICULTIES OF THE HISTORY—THE POSITION oF NORTH-CARO-
LINA—THE PEACE CONVENTION—THE MONTGOMERY CONVEN-

TION—GOVERNOR VANCE—THE SALISBURY PRISON—TESTI-

MONY = TRIAL,

Ir will be long before the history of the late war
can be soberly and impartially written. The passions
that have been evoked by it will not soon slumber,
and it is perhaps expecting too much of human nature,
to believe that a fair and candid statement of facts on
either side will soon be made. There is as yet too ,

Much to be forgotten—too much to be forgiven.

aS

The future historian of the great struggle will
doubtless have ample material at his disposal; but
from a vast mass of conflicting evidence he.will have
to sift, combine, and arrange the grains of truth—a
work to which few men of this generation are compe «
tent. But meanwhile theres much to be done in col-

/:

Pee 2. ial Nee . sii acme — es Se

 
     
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
   
  

= of pe State of North-Carolina.

14 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

lecting evidence, especially by those who desire that
justice shall be done to the South: and this evidence,
it is to be hoped, will be largely drawn from private
sources. History has in general no more invaluable and
irrefragable witnesses for the truth than are to be found
in the journals, memoranda, and private correspond-
ence of the prominent and influential men who either
acted in, or were compelled to remain quiet observers of
the events of their day. Especially will this be found
to be the case when posterity shall sit in judgment on
the past four years in the South. From fo other
sources can so fair a representation be made of the
conflicts of opinion, or of the motives of action in the
time when madness seemed to rule the hour, when all
individual and all State efforts for peace were power-
less, when sober men were silenced, and when even
the public press could hardly be considered free.

If it be true of the South in general, that even in
the most excited localities warning voices were raised
in vain, and that a strong undercurrent of good sense
and calm reflection undoubtedly existed—overborne
for a time by the elements of strife and revolution—
more especially and with tenfold. emphasis is it true

*&
> “ Where we lay,

~ Our chimneys were blown down: and, as they say,

Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death ;

And prophesying, with accents terrible,

Of dire combustion, and confused events,

New-hatched to the woful time.”

That North-Carolina accepted a destiny which she

ae)

a |

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 15

was unable to control, when she ranged herself in the
war for Southern independence, is a fact which can
not be disputed. And though none the less ardently
did her sons spring to arms, and none the less gener-
ously and splendidly did hier people sustain the great
army that poured forth from her borders; though none
the less patient endurance and obedience to the gen-
eral government was theirs; yet it is also a fact, in-
disputable and on record, ‘that North-Carolina was

* never allowed her just weight of influence in the coun-

ceils of the Southern Confederacy, nor were the opin-
ions or advice of her leading men either solicited or
regarded, And therefore, nowhere as in the private,
unreserved correspondence of her leading men, can her
attitude at the beginning, her temper and her course
all through, and her action at the close of the war, be
so clearly and so fairly defined and illustrated, and
shown to be eminently consistent and characteristic
throughout.

The efforts made by North-Carolina, during the
winter and spring of 1861, to maintain peacesand to
preserve the Union, were stanppeicishiel, unsuccessful,
and perhaps were not even generally known, In Feb-

ruary of that” year, two separate delegations cn oe

State, appointed by her Legislature, each

of selections from her best citizens—one for ‘Washing
ton City and the other for Montgomery, Alabama.
Judge Ruffin, Governor Morehead, Governor Reid,
D.M. Barringer, and George Davis were accredited to
the Peace Convention at Washington ; Governor Swain
and Messrs. Bridgers and Ransom to the Convention

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
  

 

16 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

at Montgomery, to meet the delegations expected to
convene there from the other Southern States,
Neither of these delegations, however, were able to.
effect any thing. They were received with courtesy,
respect, and attention on each side, but nothing was
done." The Peace Convention at Washington was a
failure—why or how, has never been clearly shown.
If one or other of the distinguished gentlemen who
formed the North-Carolina delegation would commit
an account of the mission to writing, he would be
doing the State good service. I would vefiture to
suggest. it to Judge Ruffin, whose appearance there
- was said to have been in the highest degree venerable
and impressive, and his speech for the Union and for
the Old Flag most eloquent and affecting.
_ The expected delegations from the other Southern
States to Montgomery failed to arrive, and North-Car-
olina was there alone, and could only look on. The
provisional government for such of the States as had
already seceded was then acting, and the general Con-

——— — —
:

Lerreaeee empyema

federate government was in process of organization. §

Our delegates were treated with marked courtesy, and

were invited to attend the secret sessions of the Con-
ae which, however, they declined. North-Caro-

~ lina stood there alone; and ag she maintained an atti-
tude of calm and sad deprecation, she was viewed with
distrust and suspicion by all extremists, and was taunt-
ed with her constitutional slowness and lack of chivale
ric fire. The moderation and prudence of her counsels _
were indeed but little suited to the fiery temper of that

latitude. Too clearly, even then, she saw the end.

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 17

from the beginning ; but what was left for her, when
the clouds lowered and the storm at last broke, but to
stand where the God of nature had placed her, and
where affection and interest both inclined her—in the
South and with the South? To that standard, then,
her brave sons flocked, in obedience to her summons;
for them and for their safety and success were her
prayers and ,tears given; for their comfort and sub-
sistence every nerve was strained in the mortal strug-
gle that followed; and their graves will be forever hal-
lowed—-none the less, I repeat, that from the first the
great body of her people and the best and most clear-
sighted of her public men deprecated the whole busi-
ness of secession, and with sad prevision foretold the
result.

If history shall do her justice, the part played by
North-Carolina all through this mournful and bloody
drama will be found well worthy of careful study.

The quiet and self-reliant way in which, when she
found remonstrance to be in vain, she went to her in-
evitable Work; the foresight of her preparations; the
thoroughness of her equipments; the splendor of her
achievements on the battle-field ; her cheerful and pa-
tient yielding to. all lawful demands of the gene:
government; her watchful guard against unlawful
croachments, as the times grew more and more lawless;
her silence, her modesty, and her efliciency—were all
‘Strikingly North-Carolinian. Not one laurel would she
Appropriate from the brow of a sister State—nay, the
blood shed and the sufferings endured in the common
cause but cement the Southern States+together in dear~
      
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

18 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR,

_. “8F bonds of affection. No word uttered by a North-
Carolinian in defense or praise of his own mother, can
be construed as an attempt to exalt her at the expense
of others. But Iam speaking now of North-Carolina
alone, and my principal object will be to present the
closing scenes of the war, as they appeared within
some part of her borders, and to make a plain record
of her action therein—a sketch which may afford valu.

- able memoranda to the future historian.

Much of tlie energy and the efficiency displayed by
the State in providing for the exigencies of War, were
due to the young man whom she chose for her Gover-
nor, in August, 1862. Governor Vance was one of the
people—one of the soldiers—and came from the camp
to the palace undoubtedly the most popular man in
the State. A native of Buncombe county, he had been
in a great measure the architect of his own fortunes.
Possessing unrivaled abilities as a popular speaker, he
had made his way rapidly in the confidence of the
brave and free mountaineers of Western Carolina, and
was a member of the United States House of Represent,
atives for the term ending at the inauguration of Pres-
ident Lincoln. He used all his influence most ardently

_ to avert the disruption of the Union, down to the time

when the Convention of May, 1861, passed the ordi-
nance of secession. Then, following the fortunes of his
own State, he threw himself with equal ardor into the
ranks of her army. Volunteering as private in one of
the first companies raised in Buncombe, he was soon.
elected captain, and thence roge rapidly to be Colonel
of the Twenty-sixth regiment, His further pilitary

 

oe

Se oe

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 19

career was closed by his being elected Governor i”.

1862, by an overwhelming vote, over the gentleman
who was generally considered as the candidate of the
Secession party. We were, indeed, all secessionists
then; but those who were defined as “ original seces-
sionists”—men who invoked and cheered on the move-
ment and the war—were ever in a small minority in
this State, both as to numbers and to influence. Gov-
ernor Vance was elected because he had been a strong .
Union man, and was a gallant soldier—two qualifica-
tions which some of our Northern brethren .can not
admit as consistent or admirable in one and the same

true character, but which together constituted the
strongest claim upon the confidence and affection of
North-Carolina.

Governor Vance’s career from the first was marked
by devotion to the people who had distinguished him,
and by a determination to do his duty to them at all
hazards. This is not the place, nor have I the material
for such a display of Governor Vance’s course of action
as would do him deserved justice; but this I may say,
that his private correspondence, if ever it shall be pub-
lished, will endear him still more to the State which
he loved,-and to the best of his ability served. :

His employment of a blockade-runner to bring in
clothing for the North-Carolina troops was a noble
idea, and proved a brilliant success.* If he had done

wits
*

»_* Since the publication of the above, I have been informed by Governor Vance

that the first suggestion of this plan was due to Gen, J. G. Martin alone, He was

at that time Adjutant-General of the State, and at a consultation held by Goyernor

Vance soon after his entrance upon office, to devise ways and means for providing

*

 
20 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

‘Wothing else in his official career to prove himself
worthy to be our Governor, this alone would be suf-
ficient. It matters but little as to the amount, great

or small, of Confederate money spent in this service:

It is all gone now; but the substantial and inealculable
good that resulted at the time from this expenditure,
can neither be disputed nor forgotten. For two years
his swift-sailing vessels, especially the A. D. Vance,
escaped the blockaders, and steamed regularly in and
out of the port of Wilmington, followed by the pray-
- ers and anxieties of our whole people. “The Ad-
vance is in!” was a signal for congratulations in
every town in the State; for we knew that another
precious cargo was safe, of shoes, and blankets, and
cloth, and medicines, and cards. And so it was that
when other brave men went barefoot and ill-clad
through the winter storms of Virginia, our own N orth
Carolina boys were well supplied, and their wives and
little ones at home were clothed, thanks to our Goy-
ernor and to our God.
I have seen tears of thankfulness running down the
cheeks of our soldiers’ wives on receiving a pair of
these cards, by which alone they were to clothe and
procure bread for themselves and their children. And
they never failed to express their sense of what they
owed to their Governor. “God bless him!” they would
ery, “for thinking of it. And God will bless him.”
~_ One striking evidence of the fullness and. efficiency

’

for our soldiers, Gen. Martin Suggested and advocated the employment of a block-

Ade-runner. W was a bold and happy thought, and as boldly and happily carried
out by Governor Vance, ait

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 21

of these supplies I can not refrain from giving, as it
Occurred at the close of the war, when our resources,
it might be supposed, were utterly exhausted. It will
also serve to show what manner of man Governor
Vance was, in more ways than one.

In February, 1865, the attention of our people was
called to the condition of the Federal prisoners at
Salisbury. The officer in charge,of them may or may
not have been as he is represented. Time will bring
the truth to light. But it was alleged against him,
that he would not only do nothing himself forthe un-
happy prisoners under his care, but would allow no
private interference for their comfort. The usual answer
of all such men, when appealed to on the score of com-
mon humanity, was, “What business have these Yan-
kees here?” ‘This was deemed triumphant and unan-
Swerable. That their food should be scanty and of
poor quality was unavoidable when our own citizens
Were in want and our soldiers were on half-rations ;
but sufficient clothing, kind attendance, and common
decencies and comforts were, or might have been, ex-
tended to all within the bounds of our State. How
far the Federal Government was itself responsible and
criminal in this matter, by its refusal to exchange”
prisoners, future investigations will decide. The fol-
lowing extract of a letter from a prominent member
of our last Legislature to a distinguished citizen, shows ‘
What the State of North-Carolina could and wuld.
have done for their relief : ’

“TI called at Governor Vance’s office, in the capitol, *
and found him sitting alone ; and though his desk was

 
22 . THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

covered with papers and documents, these didnot
seem to engage his attention. He rather seemed to be
in profound’ thought. He expressed himself pleased
to see me, and proceeded to say that he had just seen
a Confederate surgeon from Salisbury—mentioning his
“name—and was shocked at what he had heard of the
condition of the Federal prisoners there. He went on
to detail what he had heard, and testified deep feeling
during the recital. He concluded by saying that he
wished to see the State take some action on the sub-
ject. I assured him immediately how entifely I sym-
pathized with him, and asked what felief it was in our
power to bestow. He replied that the State had a
full supply of clothing, made of English cloth, for our
own troops, and that she had also a considerable quan-
tity made of our own factory cloth. . And further, that
the State had also a very large supply of under-clothing,
blankets, ete.; a supply of all which things might be
dispensed to the prisoners, without trenching upon the
comfort of our own troops. I told him that a resolu-
tion, vesting him with proper authority to act in the
matter, could, I thought, be passed through the Legis-
lature. That I thought it very desirable that such a
«resolution should be passed unanimously; and with a
view to obviate objections from extreme men, it was
better so to shape the resolution as to make it the
means of obtaining reciprocal relief for our own prison-
ners at the North. This was done. The resolution
requesting Governor Vance to effect an arrangement
by which, in consideration of blankets, clothing, ete.,

to be distributed by the Federal Government to prison- _

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 23

ners of war from North-Carolina, blankets, clothing,
etc., in like quantity, should be distributed by the State
of North-Carolina to the Federal prisoners’ at Salis-
bury, passed both houses, I think, without one dis-
Sentient voice, within the next day.” ¥

The letter-books of Governor Vance, it will be re
membered, passed into the hands of the military

authorities in May, 1865; and, under the order of
General Schofield, were t i

L Y properly belong, remains to
be seen. A correspondent of the New-York press,
who was allowed to examine them, remarks that

“among much evil they exhibited redeeming traits of
character!” that “the letters of Governor Vance to
Mr. Secretary Seddon, of the War Department of Rich-
mond, and to General Bradley Johnson, who had con-
trol. of the prisoners at Salisbury, urged upon both
these functionaries the immediate relief of the suffering
prisoners, as alike dictated by humanity and policy”
This correspondence, when it shall come to light, will’
show that the action of the executive was Py presage
and decided as that of the legislative department of *
the State. Whatever may be said of the treatment
of prisoners at Andersonville and elsewhere, it is cer-
tain that no efforts were Spared on the part of the
public authorities of N orth-Carolina, nor, we may add
of the community around Salisbury, to mitigate, as far
48 Was: possible, the inevitable horrors of War ; and

that our Governor, especially, exerted all the power *

 
 

‘hice atid mame aner tc

>

24 . THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

and influence at his command to render immediate and
effectual relief. ’

. Governor Vance received no reply to his application

to the Federal authorities, From General Bradley
Johnson, at Salisbury, he received in reply a list of
clothing and provisions then being received from the

North for the prisoners; and a statement that they —

needed nothing but some tents, which Governor Vance

was unable to send them. 5
The investigations of the Gee trial, held at Raleigh
since the above was written, have served to substan-

tiate all that I have said. What we could do, we were

willing to do for our unhappy prisoners. But our own
“people, our own soldiers, were on the verge of starva-

» tion. Every effort was made by our authorities to in-

duce the Northern Government to exchange, without
effect. Their men died, by thousands in our semi-
tropical climate, because, we were powerless to relieve

them with either food or medicine. No one can tead —

the testimony given at the Gee trial without a deep
inipression of the awful state of destitution among us.

The country around Salisbury was stripped bare of —

provisions, and the railroads were utterly unfit for ser-
* vice.
take up the turn-outs to mend the road with. Writing
now, at a distance of nearly two years, I can not recall
the dark and hopeless days Of that winter without a
‘shudder. We knew the condition of those prisoners
while we were mourning over the destitution of our
own army. The coarse bread served at our owr
meagre repasts was made bitter by our reflections. a A

One of the witnesses stated that they had to

oc

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 25

lad riti i
Y, Writing from Salisbury, said: “I am much.more

concerned at the conditi
ndition of these pris
oner
the advance of Sherman’s army.” . peed

ite North-Carolina had at least clothin
was more than could be
ern State in that respect.

off for provision than those
What she had. She did what s

g to offer
said for any otherSouth-

She was probably worse
sguth of her,

e could,
ey

She gave

 

 
CHAPTER IL.

WINTER oF 18645—LETTER OF GOVERNOR VANCE—APPEAL
FOR GENERAL LEB’S ARMY—THE DESTITUTION OF THE PEO-
PLE—FALL OF FORT FISHER—ADVANCE OF GENERAL SHER-
MAN—CONTRAST BETWEEN SHERMAN AND CORNWALLIS—
EXTRACTS FROM LORD CORNWALLIS’S ORDER-BOOK—THE

* BLOODY TARLETON.”

Tun fall and winter of 18645 were especially —

gloomy to our people. The hopes that had so long
delusively buoyed up the Southern States in their des-
perate struggle against overwhelming odds were be-
ginning to flag very perceptibly in every part of the
Confederacy where people were capable of appreciat-
ing the facts of the situation. More especially, then,
in North-Carolina, situated so near to the seat of war
that false rumors, telegrams, dnd “reliable gentlemen”
*from the front had never had more*than a very limited
circulation here, and whose sober people never had
been blinded or dazzled by the glare of false lights ;
more especially here were there only gloomy -
for the year 1865, as it dawned. : ‘ate
In September, 1864, our representative Gov
had written thus confidentially to his oldest and 3
warmly attached personal friend, a gentlem

the great popular heart is not now, and never has been

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 27

highest consideration in the State—a letter that needs
neither introduction nor comment to secure it atten-
tion: .
“Raieian, September 22, 1864.

“T would be glad if I could have a long talk with
you. I never before have been so gloomy about the
Condition of affairs. Early’s defeat in the valley I
Consider as the turning-point in this campaign; and,
confidentially, I fear it seals the fate of Richmond,
though not immediately. It will require our utmost
exertions to retain our footing in Virginia till 65
Comes in, McClellan’s defeat is placed among the
facts, and abolitionism is rampant for four years more.
The army in Georgia is utterly demoralized; and by
the time President Davis, who has gone there, dis-
Plays again his,obstinacy in defying public sentiment,
and his ignorance of men in the change of command~
ers, its ruin will be complete. They are now desert- ~

~ ing by hundreds. In short, if the enemy pushes his

luck till the close of the year, we shall not be offered

any terms atall. _
“The signs which discourage me more than aught

*» else are the utter demoralization of the people. Wi

& base of communication five hundred miles in Sher- *
man’s.rear, through our own country, not a bridge has
aie not a car thrown from its track, nor a
nan shot by the people Whose country he has deso.
They seem everywhere to submit when our
are withdrawn. What does this show; my”

¥? It shows what I have always believed, that ,

<

*

 
28 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

in this war. It was a revolution of the Politicians,
not the People ; and was fought at first by the natural
enthusiasm of our young men, and has been kept
going by State and sectional pride, assisted by that
bitterness of feeling produced by the cruelties and
brutalities of the,enemy.
7

“Still, I am not out of heart, for, as you know,.I
am of a buoyant and hopeful temperament. Things
may come round yet. General Lee is a@ great man,
and has the remnant of the best army on earth, bleed-
ing, torn, and overpowered though it be. Saturday
night may yet come to all of our troubles, and be fol-
lowed by the blessed hours of rest. God grant it!
‘Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief’ in final
liberty and independence. I would fain be doing.
How can I help to win the victory? What can I do?
How shall I guide this suffering and much-oppressed
Israel that looks to me through the tangled and bloody
pathway wherein our lines have fallen? Duty called
me to resist to the utmost the disruption of the Union.
Duty calls me now to stand by the new union, ‘to the
last gasp with truth and loyalty.’ This is my consola-
tion. The beginning was bad: I had no hand in it.
Should the end be bad, I shall, with God’s help, be
equally blameless.

“TI hope when you come down, you will give your-
self time to be with me a. great deal.

“Tam, dear sir, very truly yours,
“Z. B. Vancr.”

The saddest forebodings of this letter, which would

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 29

have been echoed by many a failing heart in the State,
Were soon to be realized. By January, 1865, there
Was very little room left for “belief” of any sort in
the ultimate success of the Confederacy. All the
necessaries of life were scarce, and were held at fabu-
lous and still increasing prices. The great freshet of
J anuary 10th, which washed low grounds, carried off
fences, bridges, mills, and tore up railroads all through
the central part of the State, at once doubled the
Price of corn and flour. Two destructive fires in the
Same month, which consumed great quantities of gov-
ernment stores at Charlotte and at Salisbury, added
materially to the general gloom and depression. The
very elements seemed to have enlisted against us.
And soon, with no great surplus of food from the
Wants of her home population, North-Carolina found
herself called upon to furnish supplies for two armies.

Early in January, an urgent and most pressing ap-
peal was made for Lee’s army; and the people, most
of whom knew not where they would get bread for

‘their children in three months’ time, responded nobly,

_ they had always done to any call for “the soldiers.”
Few were the hearts in any part of the land that did
Not thrill at the thought that those who were fighting
for us were in want of food. From the humble cabin
on the hill-side, where the old brown spinning-wheel
and the rude loom were the ‘only breastworks against
Starvation, up through all geades of life, there were
none who did not feel a deep and tender, almost heatt-
breaking solicitude for our noble soldiers. For them
the last barrel of flour was divided, the last luxury in

 
30 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

homes that had once abounded was cheerfully surren-
dered. Evéry ‘available resource was‘ taxed, every ex-
pedient of domestic economy was put in practice—as
indeed had been done all along ; but our people went
to work even yet with fresh zeal. I speak now of Cen-
tral North-Carolina, where many families of the high-
est respectability and refinement lived for months on
corn-bread, sorghum, and peas; where meat was sel-
dom on the table, tea and coffee never; where dried
apples and peaches were a luxury; where children
went barefoot through the winter, and ladies made
their own shoes, and wove their own homespuns;
where the carpets were cut up into blankets, and win-
dow-curtains and sheets were torn up for hospital uses ;
where soldiers’ socks were knit day and night, while
for home service clothes were twice turned, and
patches were patched again; and all this continually,
and with an energy and a cheerfulness that may well
be called heroie.

There were localities in the State where a few rich
planters boasted of having “‘never felt the war;”
there were ladies whose wardrobes encouraged the
blockade-runners, and whose tables were still heaped
with all the luxuries they had ever known. There
were such doubtless in every State in the Confederacy.
I speak not now of these, but of the great body of
our citizens—the middle class as to fortune, generally
the highest as to cultivation and intelligence—these
were the people who denied themselves and their little
ones, that they might be able to send relief to the gal-
lant men who lay in the trenches before Petersburgh,

}

g
#

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 31

and were even then living on crackers and parched
corn.

The fall of Fort Fisher and the occupation of Wil-
mington, the failure of the peace commission, and the
unchecked advance of Sherman’s army northward from
Savannah, were the all-absorbing topics of discussion
With our people during the first months of the year
1865. The tide of war was rolling in upon us. Hith-
erto our privations, heavily as they had borne upon
domestic comfort, had been light in comparison with —
those of the people in the States actually invaded by

’ the Federal armies ;. but now we were to be qualified

to judge, by our own experience, how far their trials
and losses had exceeded ours. What the fate of our
pleasant towns and villages and of our isolated farm-
houses would be, we could easily read by the light of
the blazing roof-trees that lit up the path of the ad-
vancing army. General Sherman’s principles were
well known, for they had been carefully laid down by
him in his letter to the Mayor of Atlanta, September,
1864, and had been thoroughly put in practice by him
in his further progress since. To shorten the war by
Mcreasing its severity: this was his plan—simple, and
no doubt to a certain extent effective. But it is surely
Well worth serious inquiry and investigation on the
Part of those who decide these questions, and settle
the laws of nations, how far the laws and usages of
War demand and justify the entire ruin ofta country
and its unresisting inhabitants by the invading army 3
or if those laws, as they are interpreted by the com-
Mon-sense of civilized humanity, do indeed justify such

 
*.
32 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

a course, how far they are susceptible of change and
improvément.

That the regulations which usually obtain in armies
invading an enemy’s country do at least permit every
species of annoyance and oppression, tending to assist
the successful prosecution of the war, to be exercised
toward non-combatants, is unhappily testified by the
annals of even modern and so-called Christian warfare.
Especially are the evil passions of a brutal soldiery
excited and inflamed where the inhabitants betake
themselves to guerrilla or partisan warfare; and more
especially and fatally in the case of long-protracted
sieges, or the taking of a town by storm. The ex-
cesses committed by both the English and the French
armies in the war of the Peninsula are recorded (and
execrated) by their own generals, and are character-
ized by the historian as “all crimes which man in his
worst excesses can commit—horrors so atrocious that
their very atrocity preserves them from our full exe-
eration because it makes it impossible to describe
them.” Havoc and ruin have always accompanied in-
vading armies to a greater or less degree, modified by
the causes of the war, the character of the command-
ing officers, and the amount of discipline maintained.

A little more historical and political knowledge dif-
fused among her people might have saved the South
the unnecessarily bitter lesson she has received on
this matter. Very, very few of the unthinking young
men and women who clamored so madly for war four
years ago, knew what fiend they were invoking. Few,
very few of their leaders knew. Could the curtain

~

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 33

that vailed the future have been lifted but for a mo-
ment before them, how would they have recoiled hor-
ror-stricken! But while admitting that in cases of
Very bitter national hatreds, ill-disciplined soldiery,
and raw generals, excesses are allowed and defended,
it is also the province of history to point with pride
to those instances where veteran commanders, know-
Ing well the horrors of war, seek to alleviate its mise-
Ties, and “seize the opportunities of nobleness,” and,
believing with Napier, that “discipline has its root in
Patriotism,” do effectually control the armies they
lead. Of such as these there are happily not & few
great names whose humanity and generosity exhibited
to the unfortunate inhabitants of the country they
Were traversing lend additional lustre to their fame
48 consummate soldiers. I shall, however, recall but
One example to confirm this position—an example
likely to be particularly interesting to Southerners as
4 parallel, and most striking as a contrast, to General
Sherman’s course in the South.

In the month of January, 1781, exactly eighty-four
Years before General Sherman’s artillery trains woke
the echoes through the heart of the Carolinas, it
Pleased God to direct the course of another invading
army along much the same track; an army that had
come three thousand miles to put down what was in
truth “a rebellion;” an army stanch in enthusiastic
loyalty to the government for whose rights it was
Sontending ; an army also in pursuit of retreating

rebels,” and panting to put the finishing blow toa
hateful secession, and whose commander endeavored

 
34 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

to arrive at his ends by strategical operations very
much resembling those which in this later day were
crowned with success. Here the parallel ends. The
country traversed then and now by invading armies
was, eighty-four years ago, poor and wild and thinly
settled. Instead of a single grand, deliberate, and
triumphant march through a highly cultivated and un-
defended country, there had been many of the undu-
lations of war in the fortunes of that army—now pur-
suing, now retreating—and finally, in the last hot chase
of the flying (and yet triumphant) rebels from the
southern to the northern border of North-Carolina,
that invading army, to add celerity to its movements,
voluntarily and deliberately destroyed all its baggage
and stores, the noble and accomplished “Commander-
in-Chief himself setting the example. The inhabit-
ants of the country, thinly scattered and unincum-
bered with wealth, exhibited the most determined
hostility to the invaders, so that if ever an,invading
army.had good reason and excuse for ravaging and
pillaging as it passed along, that army may surely be
allowed it.

What was the policy of its commander under such
circumstances toward the people of Carolina ?

I have before me now Lord Cornwallis’s own order-
' book—truly venerable and interesting —bound in
leather, with a brass clasp, the paper coarse and the
ink faded, but the handwriting uncommonly good, and
the whole in excellent preservation. A valuable relic
in these days, when it is well to know what are the
traits which go to make a true soldier, and how he

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 85

may at least endeavor to divest war of its brutality.

A few extracts will show what Cornwallis’s principles
were,

“ Camp NEAR BEATTIn’s Forb,
January 28, 1781. t
“Lord Cornwallis has so often experienced the zeal
and good-will of the army, that he has not the smallest
doubt that the officers and soldiers will most cheer-
fully submit to the ill conveniences that must naturally
Attend war so remote from water carriage and the
Magazines of the army. The supply of rum for a time

Will’ be absolutely impossible, and that of meal very »

Uncertain, It is needless to point out to the officers
the necessity of preserving the strictest discipline, and
of preventihg the oppressed people from suffering vio-

lence by the hands from whom they are taught to look
for protection.

“To prevent the total destruction of the country
and the ruin of his Majesty’s service, it is necessary
that the regulation in regard to the number of horses
taken should be strictly observed. Major-General
Leslie will be pleased to require the most exact obedi-
€nce to this order from the officers commanding bri-
Sades and corps. The supernumerary horses that may

from time to time be discovered will be sent-to head
quarters,”

“THeapquarrers, CanstEr’s PLANTATION,
February 2, 1781.

“Lord Cornwallis is highly displeased that several
houses have been set on fire to-day during the mareh—
® disgrace to the army—and he will punish with the

 
36 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

utmost severity any person or persons who shall be
found guilty of committing so disgraceful an outrage.
His Lordship requests the commanding officers of the
corps will endeavor to find the persons who set fire to
the hduses this day.”
'¢ Fiapquarters, Dozsry’s House,
February 17, 1781. '

“ Lord Cornwallis is very sorry to be obliged to call
the attention of the officers of the army to the repeated
orders against plundering, and he assures the officers
that if their duty to their king and country, and their
feeling for humanity, are not sufficient to enforce their
obedience to them, he must, however reluctantly,
make use of such power as the military laws have
placed in his hands.

%* Great’ complaints having been made of negroes
straggling from the line of march, plundering and
using violence to the inhabitants, it is Lord Corn-
wallis’s positive orders that no negro shall be suffered
to carfy arms on any pretense, and all officers and
other persons who employ negroes are desired to ac-
quaint them that the provost-marshal has received or-
ders to seize and shoot on the spot any negro following
the army who may offend against these regulations.

“Jt is expected that captains will exert themselves
to keep good order and prevent plundering. Should
any complaint be made of the wagoners or followers
of the army, it will be necessarily imputed to neglect
on the part of the captains, Any officer who looks on

with indifference, and does not do his utmost to pre-
yent shameful marauding, will he considered in a more

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 37

criminal light than the persons who commit these
Scandalous crimes, which must bring disgrace and ruin
on his Majesty’s service.

i All foraging parties will give receipts for roy:
plies taken by them.” :

“ HEADQUARTERS, FREELANDS,
February 28, 1781.

MEMORANDUM.

“ A watch found by the regiment of Bose. The
Owner may have it from the adjutant of that regiment
on proving his property.”

“ Camp Suira’s PLANTATION,
March 1, 1781. ;
“BRIGADE ORDERS.

“Tt is Brigadier-General O’Hara’s orders that the
officers commanding companies cause an immediate in-
Spection of the articles of clothing, ete., in the posses-
sion of the women in their companies, and an exact ac-

count taken thereof by the pay-sergeants; after which,
their necessaries are to be regularly examined at pro-
per intervals, and every article found in addition
thereto burnt at the head of the company—except such
as have been fairly purchased on application to the
commanding officers and added to their former list by
the sergeants as above. The officers are likewise or-
dered to make these examinations at Such times, and
in such manner as to prevent the women (supposed to
be the source of infamous plundering*) from evading
the purport of this order.

* "Tis a thousand pities that a certain gallant major-general, late of the cay-

 
 

338 © THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

« A woman having been robbed of a watch, a black
silk handkerchief, a gallon of peach brandy, and a shirt,
and, as by the description, by a soldier of the Guards,

the Gamp" and every man’s kit is to be immediately
searched for the same by the officers of the brigade.

“ Notwithstanding every order, every entreaty that
Lord Cornwallis has given to the army, to prevent the
shameful practice of plundering and distressing the
country, and these orders backed by every effort that
can have been made by Brigadier-General O’Hara, he
is shocked to find that this evil still prevails, and
ashamed to observe that the frequent complaints he
receives from headquarters of the irregularity of the
Guards particularly affect the credit of that corps.
He therefore calls upon the officers, non-commissioned
officers, and those men who are yet possessed of the
feelings of humanity, and aetuated by the principles
of true soldiers, the love of their country, the good of
the service, and the honor of their own corps, to assist
with the same indefatigable diligence the General
himself is determined to perseveré in, in order to de-
tect and punish all men and women so offending with
the utmost severity of example.”

Such was Lord Cornwa lis’s policy. What was the
disposition toward him of the country through which
he was passing’? “So inveterate was the rancor of
the inhabitants, that the expresses for the Commander-
in-Chief were frequently murdered; and the people,

alry service in General §.’s army, (now Minister to Chili,) could not have his at-
tention drawn to this.

f

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 89

instead of remaining quietly at home to receive pay
for the produce of their plantations, made it a practice
to waylay the British foraging parties, fire their rifles
from concealed places, and then fly to the wo6ds.”
(Stedman’s History.) .

In all cases where the country people practice such
warfare, retaliation by the army so annoyed is justi-
fied. Buteven in Colonel Tarleton’s (“ bloody Tarle-
ten’s”) command, Lord Cornwallis took care that
justice should be,done. In Tarleton’s own narrative
We read : .

*< On the arrival of some country people, Lord Corn-
wallis directed Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton to dis-
mount his dragoons and mounted» infantry, and to
form them into a rank entire, for the convenient in-
spection of the inhabitants, and to facilitate. the dis-
covery of the villains who had committed atrocious
outrages the preceding evening. A sergeant and one
private were pointed out, and accused of rape and
robbery. They were condemned to death by martial

law. The immediate infliction of this sentence exhi-
bited to the army and manifested to the country the
discipline and justice of the British General.”

Tn Lee’s Memoirs, we learn that on one occasion he
captured on the banks of the Haw, in Alamance, two
of Tarleton’s staff, “who had been detained in settling
Jor the subsistence of the detachment.” What was
the course of General Sherman’s officers, eighty-four”
years afterward, in the very same neighborhood, on
the very same ground, let us now see. “ Look on this
Picture, then on that.”

 
      
       
      
       
     
    
   
    
 
    
 
   
   
    
      
   
 
 
 
 
 
  

CHAPTER MI.

JUDGE RUFFIN—HIS HISTORY—HIS CHARACTER—HIS SERVICES
—GENERAL COUCH’S OUTRAGES AFTER PEACE HAD BEEN
DECLARED — GENERAL SHERMAN’S OUTRAGES — HIS UN-
BLUSHING OFFICIAL REPORT.— “ARMY CORRESPONDENTS” —

SHERMAN IN FAYETTEVILLE— CORNWALLIS IN FAYETTE-
VILLE — COINCIDENCES OF PLANS — CONTRASTS IN MODES —

THE NEGRO § ‘RS — TROOPS CONCENTRATING UNDER
GENERAL JOHNST

In the first week of May, 1865, after the final sur-
render of General Johnston’s army, and after General
Grant’s proclamation of protection to private property,
Major-General Couch, with a detachment of some

twelve or fourteen thousand infantry, passing up the
main road from Raleigh to Greensboro, encamped on

a noble plantation, beautifully situated on both sides .

_of the Haw river, in Alamance county. Of the vener-
able owner of this plantation I might be pardoned if I
were to give more than a cursory notice; for, as a rep-
resentative North-Carolinian, and identified for nearly
fifty years with all that is best in her annals and
brightest in her reputation at home and abroad, no
citizen in the State is regarded with more pride and

veneration than Judge Rurrix. His claims to such

distinction, however, are not to be fairly exhibited

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 41

Within the limits of such a sketch as this, though a
reference to his public services will have a significant
value in my present connection.

Judge Ruffin was born in 1786, graduated at Prince-
ton in 1806, was admitted to the bar in 1808, and
from the year 1813, when he first represented Hills-
boro in the House of Commons, to the present time,
he has been prominently before the people of our
State, holding the highest offices within her gift with
4 reputation for learning, ability, and integrity unsur-
Pagsed in our judicial annals. In the year 1852, after
forty-five years of brilliant professional life, he resigned.
the Chief-Justiceship, and, amid theyapplause and re-
gret of all classes of his fellow-citizéns, retired to the
quiet enjoyment of an ample estate acquired by his
Own eminent labors, and to the society of a numerous
and interesting family. -

The judicial ermine which Judge Ruffin had worn
for so many years not only shielded him from, but
absolutely forbade, all active participation in party
polities. He was, however, no uninterested observer
of the current of events. He had been warmly op-
Posed to nullification in 1832, and was no believer in
the rights of peaceable secession in 1860. In private
Circles, he combated both heresies with all that “in:
exorable logic” which the London T'imes declared to
be characteristic of his judicial opinions on the law of
master and slave. He regarded the “ sacred right of
kevolution” as the remedy for the redress of insup-
portable grievances only. His opinions on these sub-
Jects were well known, when, in 1861, he was unex-

    
     
  
 
       
     

 
 

yay
42 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

pectedly summoned by the Legislature to the head of

the able delegation’ sent by the State to the Peace’

Convention at Washington. The reference to his
course there, in the first of thege sketches, renders it,
unnecessary to say more at present. Eminent states-
men, now in high position in the national councils, can
testify to his zealous and unremitting labors in that
Convention to preserve and perpetuate the union of
the States; and none, doubtless, will do so more cor-
dially than the venerable military chieftain* who, sixty
years ago, was his friend and fellow-student in the
office of an eminent lawyer in Petersburgh.

Judge Ruffin returned home, dispirited and discour-
aged by the temper displayed in the Convention, and
still more by the proceedings of Congress. He still
cherished hopes of reconciliation, however, when, with.
ouf any canvass by or for him, he was elected to the
Convention which, on the twentieth of May, 1861,
adopted, by a unanimous vote, the Ordinance of Seces-
sion. — ;

Having given that vote, he was not the man to
shrink from the responsibilities it involved. In com-
mon with every other respéctable citizen in the State,

_ he felt it his duty to encourage and animate our sol-_
diers, and to contribute liberally to their support and

'
{
r

that of their’families at home. His sons who were |.

able to bear arms were in the battle-field, and his
»~ family endured all the privations, and practiced all
the self-denial common to our people; cheerfully dis-
pensing with the luxuries of life, and laboring assidu-

* General Winfield Scott.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 43

ously for the relief of the army and the needy around
‘them. :
Toward this most eminent and venerable citizen,
Whose name added weight to the dignity and influence
of the whole country, what was the policy of Major-
General Couch, encamped 6n his grounds, in the pleas-
ant month-of May? The plantation had already
Suffered from the depredations of. Major - General
Wheeler’s cavalry of the Confederate army in its hur-
ried transit ; but-it was reserved for General Couch to
ive it the finishing touch. In a few words, ten miles
offencing were burned up, from one end of it to the
Other ; not an ear of corn, not a sheaf of wheat, not a
bundle of fodder was left; the army wagons, were
driven into the cultivated fields and orchards and
Meadows, and fires';were made under the fruit-trees ;
the sheep and hogs were shot down and left to rot on
the ground, and several thousand horses andpattlc
Were turned in on the wheat crops, then just heading.
All the horses, seventeen in number, were carried off,
and all the stock. An application for protection, and
remonstrance against wanton damage, were met with
indifference and contempt. :
_ Such being the course of one of General Sherman’s
Subaltern officers in time of peace, it is natural to turn
to General Sherman himself, and inquire what was the
example set by him in-the progress of “ the. great
march.” He speaks for himself, and history will yet
Acliver an impartial verdict on such a summing up:
“We consumed the corn and fodder in the region
of country thirty miles on either side of a line from

 
se ie EDS, ra

ina ates esi tnie iG

44 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

Atlanta to Savannah; also the sweet potatoes, hogs,
sheep, and poultry, and carried off more than ten thou-
sand horses and mules. I estimate the damage done
to the State of Georgia at one hundred million dollars ;
at least twenty million dollars of which inured to our
advantage, and the remainder was simple waste and
destruction.” (Official Report.)

Simple people; who understand nothing of military
necessities, must be permitted to stand aghast at such
a recital, and ask why was this?’ To what end ?
What far-sighted policy dictated such wholesale havoc?
Lord Cornwallis—a foreigner—acting as a representa-
tive of the mother country, seeking to ‘reclaim her

alienated children, we have seen everywhere anxious.

to conciliate, generously active to spare the country
as much as possible, to preserve it for the interests of
the mother country, and enforcing strict discipline in
his army for the benefit of the service. What changes
have been effected in the morale of war by nearly a
century of Christian progress and civilization since
Lord Cornwallis’s day? An army, in the middle of
the nineteenth century, acting as the representative of
sister States, secking torreclaim “ wayward sisters ”—

_ an army enlisted with the most extraordinary and

emphatic avowals of purely philanthropic motives
that the world has ever heard—an army marching
through what it professes to consider as rrs own
counTRY—this army leaves a waste and burning track
behind it of sixty miles’ width!

“O bloodiest picture in the book of Time !
Sarmatia fell unwept, without a crime ;

pa ile

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,

Strength in her arms, nor merey in her woe!
Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear,
Closed her bright eye, and curbed her high career.”

The gay and airy pen-and-ink sketches, furnished to
the Northern press by “our own army correspond:
ents,” of the exploits of bummers, the jocular deserip-
tions of treasure-seekers, the triumphant records of
fire, famine, and slaughter, served up with elegant
illustrations—wood-cuts in Harper’s best style—and,
if likely to be a trifle too glaring for even radical sen-
Sibilities, toned down and made to assume an air of
retributive justice by a timely allusion to the “ wretch-
ed slayes”— these ifiteresting reports, piquant and
8ayly-colored and suggestive though they were, were
yet dull and tame and faded in comparison with the
dismal reality. And all this “waste and destruction,”
it will be the verdict of posterity, even the calmed
Sense of the present generation will agree, was wholly
Unealled for, wholly unnecessary, contributed in no
Way t the prosperous and speedy termination of the
War, but added materially to the losses by the war of
the General Government, lit up the fires of hatred in
many a hitherto loyal Southern breast, brutalized and
demoralized the whole Federal army, and was in short
Mexeusable in every aspect except upon the determin-
ation to exterminate the Southern people. We knew
that there were men in the Church and in the State
Who openly avowed such aspirations; but as to the
Steat body of the sober, intelligent, and conscientious
Northern people, we do them the justice to believe

  
         
     
   
    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  

 
  
      
 
     
 

46 que LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

that when the history of the war at the South comes
to be truthfully written, they will receive its records
with incredulity ; and when belief is compelled, will
turn from them shuddering.

The smoke of burning Columbia, and of ‘the fair
villages and countless plantations that lay in the route,
where, for hundreds of miles, many a house was left

lazing, and not a panel of fence was to be seen, rolled
slowly up our sky ; and panic-stricken refugees, home-
less and penniless, brought everyeday fresh tales of
havoc and ruin. By the eleventh of March, General
Sherman was in possession of Fayetteville, in our own

State.
The coincidences in the plan,*and the contrasts in

the mode of conducting the campaigns of Lord Corn-

. wallis atl General Sherman, are striking, and sugges-
© | tive to the student of history. Cornwallis hesitated
nee whether to strike North-Carolina in the heart of the
2. whig settlements—between the Yadkin and the Ca-*
tawba—or enter among his friends between the Pedee

» and Cape Fear, and ultimately decided to accomplish
-both* purposes. In January, 1781, Sir James Henry
Oraig captured Wilmington, and on the nineteenth of
February, Lord Cornwallis forced the passage of the

.  Gatawba at Beattie’s Ford. General Schofield had
‘ possession of Wilmington when General Sherman,

making « feint at Charlotte, captured Fayetteville.

In Lord Cornwallis’s progress through Carolina he

met with every thing to exasperate him in the conduct

of the people. On his first entrance into Charlotte,
September, 1780, the whole British army was actually

'
io

}.

.
;

: . «
a“ Wounded.

a

% that country, gained for Charlotte the well-earned and

4

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 47

held at bay for half an howtr by a body of about one
hundred and fifty militia,.and a few volunteers, com-
manded by Major Joseph Graham, posted behind the
court-house and houses, and commanded by Colonel
Davie, who was “determined to give his lordship
ve earnest of what he might expect in the Statey?
Three separate charges of the British Legion were re-
pulsed by this handful of devoted men, who retired at
last on being flanked by the infantry, in perfect order, J
: With but a loss‘of “eleven killed and wounded, while : k
the British admitted a loss of forty-three killed and 2
“ When the Legion was afterward re- ” ie
proached for cowardice in suffering such a check from a
80 small a detail of militia, they excused themselves
a by saying that the confidence with which the Ameri- a
. Cans behaved made them appré¢hend an ambu8eade, for ‘q
Surely nothing of that sort was to he expected in an
Open village at mid-day.” Ihave by me as I write, in ;
“Colonel Davie’s own handwriting, his account of “ the rR
affair at Charlotte,” as he modestly styles it, and it is
Well worth comparing with Tarleton’s and Stedman’s *»
report of the same. A more brilliant and audacious «
exploit was not performed during the whole Revolt?
tionary war. A seties of such annoyances, heading
and dogging the British army at every step all through =, |

—s

 
 
 
 
 
 
  

enviable sobriquet of “The Hornets’ Nest,” and the
commander-in-chief paid the whole region the compli-
ment of declaring that “ Mecklenburg and Rowan were
the two most rebellious counties in America.”

Yet Cornwallis burned no houses here—plundered

rs
48 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

no plantations. His aim was very apparently to con-
ciliate if possible, to teach the people to look to him
for protection and a good government. To be sure,
he had not enjoyed the benefit of a West-Point mili-
tary training—he was evidently in profound ignorance
of the advantages to be derived from the principle of
“smashing things generally,” as he passed along; but
he was, nevertheless, (perhaps in consequence,) a gen-
tleman, and an accomplished statesman, as well as a
consummate soldier. He well knew—

«__. who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.”

As to Fayetteville, and her lot in these ‘later days,

no such slight sketch as this will suffice for the story.
Perhaps no town in tite South had surpassed her in

a the ardor and liberality with which (after secession

had become the law of the State) she supported the
war. She gave her bravest sons ; her best blood was
poured out like water in the cause of the South, and
then she gave of her substance. The grace of giving
had surely been bestowed upon the people of Cum-
perland without measure, for there seemed literally
no end to their liberality. For four years the columns
of their papers had exhibited an almost weekly list of
donations, that in number and value would have done
infinite credit to a much wealthier community. The

ladies, as usual, were especially active and indefatiga- © —

ble. Where, indeed, in all the sunny South were they
- not? And why should they not have been? They

were working for their fathers, husbands, sons, bro-

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 49

thers, and lovers, and for principles which these be-
loved ones had instructed them to cherish. , Would it
not have been culpable in the last degree for the wo-
men of the country to have remained even indifferent
to a cause (good or bad) for which thé men were laying
down their lives ? Why should they not take joyfully ,
all privations and all hardships, for the sake of these,
and soothe the agony of bereavement with the belief
that they who needed their cares no longer, lying
rolled in their bloody blankets in the bosom of Vir-
Sinia, or on the fatal hills of Pennsylvania, had died
1M a good cause and were resting in honored graves?
Who shall question the course of the women of the
South in this war, or dare to undervalue their lofty
heroism and fortitude, unsurpassed in story or in song ?
When I forget you, O ye daughters of my country!
your labors of love, your charity, faith, and patience,

all through the dark and bloody day, lighting up the
gloom of war with the tender graces of woman’s de-

Votion and self-denial, and now, in even darker hours,

your energy and cheerful submission in toil and poy-

erty and humiliation—when I cease to do homage to

‘YOur virtues, and to your excellences, may my right

Po forget its cunning and my voice be silent in the
ust !

The people of Fayetteville supported the Confeder-
ate Government warmly to the last gasp, upon the
Principle that wnited, the South might stand—divided,
She certainly would fall. After the failure of the
Peace Commission, the citizens met and passed vigor
ous war resolutions, calling on all classes to rally once

 
   

 
 
 
 
  

eee pee se Ao ent

"across the Cape Fear.

50 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

more in self-defense—a proceeding’ which did more
credit to their zeal than to their ability to read the
signs of the times ; for, rally or no rally, the fate of
the Confederacy was already written on the wall.

All these antecedents doubtless conspired to give
Fayetteville a bad character in the opinion of our

Northern brethren, who, for their part, were bent on

peace-making ; and accordingly, when the hour and
the man arrived, on the eleventh of March, 1865, she
found she must pay the penalty. A skirmish took
place in the streets between General Sherman’s ad-
vanced-guard and a part of General Hampton’s cav-
alry, which covered the retreat of Hardee’s division
This, no doubt, increased the
exasperation of feeling toward this “nest of rebels,”
and the determination to put a check to all future
operations there in behalf of the cause. In less than
two hours after the entrance of the Federal forces, so
adroitly had every house in the town and its suburbs
been ransacked and plundered, that it may be doubted
if all Fayetteville, the next day, could have contrib-
uted two whole shirts or a bushel of meal to the relief
of the Confederate army. The incidents of that most
memorable day, and for several days succeeding, would
fill (and will fill) a volume; and as for the nights, they
were illuminated by the glare of blazing houses’ all
through the pine groves for several miles around Fay-
etteville. One of the first of the “soldiers in blue”
who entered the town, accosted in the street a most
distinguished and venerable clergyman, Rey. William

*

;

Hooper,.D.D., LL.D., more than seyenty years of ‘age

yee

.
:
:

  

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 51

eo of one of the signers of the Declaration +
. ndependence—and who had suffered reproach for
1s adherence to the Union, and whose very appear-
ince should have challenged respect and deference—
oe him as a “ d—d rebel,” and putting a pistol to
1s head, demanded and carried off his watch and purse.
Saree yes can not write calmly of such scenes yet.
heir houses were turned into seraglios, every port-
able article of value, plate, china and glass-ware, pro-
Visions and .books were carried off, and the remainder
eee hundreds of carriages and vehicles of all
ne were burned in piles; where houses were iso-
a “ they were burned ; women were grossly insulted,
rer robbed of clothing and jewelry ; nor were darker
my “aieiaslene tragedies wanting in lonely situations.
haa — susie dare trust themselvés to think of
my e things. “That way lies madness.” But the true
ry of “Tur Grear Marcu” will yet be written,
Not the least remarkable of all these noble strate-
Sical operations was the fact that black and white
er alike. Nothing more strikingly evinces: the
Pe demoralization and want of honor that pre-
Gate The negro whom they ‘came to liberate they
dos tee plundered ; his cabin was stripped of his lit-
ee e Pe as well as his master’s house of its luxu-
sas > his meant silver watch was seized, as well as
va gectlemant's gold repeater. This policy is also
cman and due to the enlightenment of the nine-
dineiae century. A good many years ago, ® grand
Sittie sar of slaves took place, where the leaders and
ver sanctioned the “ spoiling of the Egyptians,”

ar)

    
 
     
     
 
     
       
     
        
        
        
     
     
     
  
      
     
  
 
 
 
  
  

52 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

but they hardly picked the pockets of the freedmen
afterward.

During the month of March our central counties
were traversed by straggling bodies of Confederate
soldiers, fragments of the once powerful army of Ten-
nessee, hurrying down toward Raleigh to concentrate
under General Johnston once more, in the vain hope
of being able yet to effect something. Tennesseeans,
Texans, Georgians, Alabamians, men who had been in
every fight in the West, from Corinth to Perrysville,
from Perrysville to Atlanta—men who had left pleas-
ant homes, wives and children, many of whom they
knew were without a house to shelter them;

“For the blackness of ashes marked where it stood,

» And a wild mother’s scream o’er her famishing brood !”

» The whole population of our town-poured out to see
these war-worn men ; to cheer them; to feed and shel-
‘ter them. The little children gathered handfuls of

the early daffodils “that take the winds of March with
beauty,” and flung to them. What we had to eat we
gave them, day after day. Repeatedly the whole

_ ried out to the street, the children joyfully assisting.
They were our soldiers—our own brave boys. The
cause was desperate, we knew—the war was nearly

over—our delusions were at an end; but while we

had it, our last loaf to our soldiers—a cheer, and a

blessing, with dim eyes, as they rode away.

Y TES a SO. SE ey eS ee

of a family dinner was taken from the table and car-

mang iisirs

.

:

a 3 A .
nd his memory is crowned with more unfading laurels

      
     
    
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

CHAPTER IV. ° a

LAWS OF WAR—“RIGHT. TO FORAGE OLDER THAN HISTORY”
——XENOPHON—KENT [ON INTERNATIONAL LAW-—HALLECK’S
AUTHORITY VERSUS SHERMAN’S THEORY AND PRACTICE —
PRESIDENT WOOLSEY—LETTER OF BISHOP ATKINSON.

Ty the preceding chapter, attention was drawn to
the striking contrast between the policy pursued by
General Sherman toward the inhabitants of the country”
he Was invading, and that of his illustrious predecessor
™m the days of the Revolution. I think there can bé
but little doubt as to which of these distinguished
Commanders is entitled to most credit on the score E
humanity. General Sherman’s friends, considering
that he who conducts a campaign to a successful issue.
May well afford to disregard the means to the desired
end, will doubtless support his policy; for where
Cornwallis failed, he succeeded, and streceeded bril-
liantly, Lord Cornwallis, however, in the general be-
Nevolence of his character—tempering, as far as was
Ptacticable, the severities of war with forbearance and
Senerosity—is more justly entitled to stand by the
Side of Wasmiveron than any other military com-
mee of his age. As to his failure, time has shown

At it was well for both countries that he did fail;

 
54 THE LAST NINEFY DAYS OF THE WAR.

than the title of mere conqueror could have conferred.
Selfcontrol, discipline, and magnanimous consideration
for the weak and the defenseless are better than burn-
ing houses and a devastated country.

If, however, it still be asserted that humanity is ne-
cessarily no part of a soldier’s duty, and that his busi-
ness is to win the fight, no matter how, an appeal to
the authorities on such points, recognized in all civil-
ized nations, will show that the Jaw is otherwise laid
down.

General Sherman begins his famous letter to General
Hampton with the assertion that “ the right to forage
is older than history.” What was the precise charac-
ter of this right among barbarians in the morning twi-
light of civilization it may hardly be worth our while
toimquire. But we have clear historic evidence that,
long before the coming of the Prince of Peace, in the
- earliest ages of profane history, among civilized nations
the “right to forage” did not mean a right to indis-
eriminate pillage, “waste, and destruction ”—destruc-
‘tion extending not only to the carrying off of the
cattle necessary in farming operations, but to the agri-

_ eultural toots* and implements of every description.
More than twenty centuries ago, Xenophon, at the
head of the Ten Thotisand, accomplished his famous
retreat from Babylon to the sea. The incidents of
that great march are given by himself in a narrative,
whose modesty, spirit, and elegance have charmed all

subsequent ages. His views as to the right to forage
are clearly stated in the following passage, taken from ~
Kent’s Commentaries on International Law—an

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 55

Authority that was studied by General Sherman at
West-Point, and was taught by him when Superin-
tendent of the Military Academy of Louisiana. Treat-
ing of plunder on land, depredations upon private
Property, ete., he says:

“Such conduct has been condemned in all ages by
the wise and virtuous, and it is usually punished se-
verely by those commanders of disciplined troops who
have studied war as a science, and are animated by a
Sense of duty or the love of fame. We may infer the
°pinion of Xenophon on this subject, (and he was a

“Warrior as well as a philosopher,) when he states, in

the Cyropedia, that Cyrus of Persia gave orders to
his army, when marching upon the enemy’s borders,
not to disturb the cultivators of the soil; and there
have been such ordinances in modern times” forthe
Protection of innocent and pacific pursuits. e
Conqueror goes beyond these limits wantonly, or when
1t is not clearly indispensable to the just purposes of
war, and seizes private property of pacific persons for
the sake of gain, and destroys private dwellings, or
public edifices devoted to civil purposes only; or
makes war upon monuments of art, and models of
taste, he violates the modern usages of war, and is
Sure to meet with indignant gesentment, and to be

held up to the general scorn and detestation of the
World.” (Part L. See. 5.)

To this authority may be added a still more modern

— binding exposition of the laws of war. Halleck’s
Anternational Law and Laws of War, written and

Published in 1861 by an officer of the Government, and

 
56 [THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

for a time a major-general and commander-in-chief of
the Federal army, may be considered as the latest and
ablest summary of the best authorities on these subjects.
It was in the hands of General Sherman and his officers,
and its decisions may be regarded as final. Nothing
can be more explicit or more emphatic than the follow-
ing extracts. First, as to general right of war in an
enemy’s property (on land) :

“The general theory of war is, as heretofore stated,
that all private property may be taken by: the con-
queror; and such was the ancient practice. But the
modern usage is, not to touch private property on
land without making compensation, except in certain
specified cases. These exceptions may be stated under
three general’heads: 1st. Confiscations or seizures by
way, of penalty for military offenses ; 2d. Forced con-
tributions for the support of the invading army, or as
an indemnity for the expenses of maintaining order,
and affording protection to the conquered inhabitants ;
and 3d. Property taken on the field of battle, or in
storming a fortress or town.

“In the first place, we may seize upon private pro-
perty, by way of penalty for the illegal acts of indi-
viduals, or of the community to which they belong.
Thus, if an individual be guilty of conduct in violation
of the laws of war, we may seize and confiscate the
private property of the offender. So, also, if the offense
attach itself to a particular community or town, all
the individuals of that community or town are liable
to punishment ; and we may seize upon their property,

or levy upon them a retaliatory contribution by way

nonin tn iptacntetasammomeaenninetia

pee Eons

* tax levied on their constituents.”

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 57
.

of penalty. When, however, we can discover and
Secure the individuals so offending, it is more just to
inflict the punishment on them only ; but it-is a general
law of war that communities are accountable for the
acts of their individual members. If these individuals
ae not given up, or can not be discovered, it is usual
to impose a contribution upon the civil authorities of
the place where the offense is committed ; and these

authorities raise the amount of the contribution by a

(Chap. 19, pages

457, 458.)

If the town of Fayetteville had in any way become
peculiarly obnoxious.to the Federal army, one would
have thought that a glance into Halleck might have
Satisfied the commanding officers as to théir rights and
duties there on the eleventh of March, 1865. Nota
word here of plunder, pillage, or arson. There can be
no doubt that Fayetteville would have gladly com-
pounded for her offenses by a tax of almost any possible
amount, levied and collected in a lawful and civilized

* Way, in preference to her actual experiences.

Next, as to right of forage, ete. :

“In the second place, we have aright to make the
enemy’s country contribute to the expenses of the war.
Troops in the enemy’s country may, be subsisted either
by regular magazines, by forced requisitions, or by au-
thorized pillage. It is not always politic, or even
Possiblé, to provide regular magazines for the entire
‘Supply of an army during the active operations of a
Campaign, When this can not be done, the general is
obliged either to resort to military requisitions, or to

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
58 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

>
intrust their subsistence to the troops themselves. The

inevitable consequences of the latter system are uni-
versal pillage,.and a total relaxation of discipline : the
loss of private property, and the violation of individ-
ual rights, are usually followed by the massacre of
straggling parties; and the ordinary peaceful and
non-combatant inhabitants are converted into bitter
and implacable enemies. The system is, therefore, re-
garded as both impolitic and unjust, and is coming
into general disuse among the more civilized nations
—at least for the support of the main army. In case

of small detachments, where great rapidity of motion
is requisite, it sometimes becomes necessary for the

troops to procure their subsistence wherever they can.
In such a case, the seizure of private property becomes
a necessary consequence of the military operations,
and is, therefore, unavoidable. Other cases of similar
character might be mentioned. But even in most of |
these special and extreme cases, provisions might be
made for subsequently compensating.the owners for
the loss of their property.” (Page 459.)

“The evils resulting from irregular requisitions, and - +

foraging for the ordinary supplies of an army, are so
very great, and so generally admitted, that it has be-
come a recognized maxim of war, that the command-
ing officer who permits indiscriminate pillage, and
allows the taking of private property without a strict
accountability, whether he be engaged in defensive or
offensive operations, fails in his duty to his own gov-
ernment, and violates the usages of modern warfare.
It is sometimes alleged, in excuse for such conduct,

me: ~ ?
al nil “3 ae _

pa on ee - _

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 59

ane the general is unable to restrain his troops; but

n the eye of the law there is no excuse; for he who
Can not preserve order in his army has. no right to
command it. In collecting military contributions
trustworthy troops should be sent with the regatl,
i Prewent them from engaging in irregular and unau-

orized pillage; and the party should always be ac-
companied. by officers of the staff and administrative
Corps, to see to the proper execution of the orders, and
to report any irregularities on the part of the troops.
Tn case any corps should engage in unauthorized pil-
lage, due restitution should be made to the inhabitants, ~

«nd the expenses of such restitution deducted from
the pay*and allowances of the corps by which such
©xcess is committed. But modify and restrict it as
YQu will, the system of subsisting armies on the private
Property of an enemy’s subjects without compensation
1S very objectionable, and almost inevitably leads to
cruel and disastrous results. There is, therefore, very
Seldom a sufficient reason for resorting to it.” (Chap,
19, page 451.)

; “While there is some uncertainty as to the exact
limit fixed by the voluntary law of nations’ to our
Tight to appropriate to our own use the property of an
fnemy, or to subject it to military contributions, here
*8 no doubt whatever respecting its waste and useless
destruction. This is Sorbidden alike by the law of na-
ture and the rules of war. ‘There are numerous instances
‘a, military history where whole districts of country ;
ni, totally rayaged and laid waste. Such ope-

tong ave sometimes been defended on the ground

a

Ped

 
ee Ree

60 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

of necessity, or as a means of preventing greater evils.
‘Such violent remedies,’ says Vattel, ‘are to be spar-
ingly applied: there must be reasons of suitable im-
portance to puntite the use of them. He who does the
like in an enemy’s country when impelled by no neces-
sity, or induced by feeble reasons, becomes the scourge

of mankind.’
“The general rule by which we should regulate our

~~ conduct toward an enemy is that of moderation ; and

on no occasion should we unnecessarily destroy his
property. ‘The pillage and destruction of towns,’

says Vattel, ‘the devastation of the open country,
ravaging and setting fire to houses, are measures no

Jess odious and detestable on every occasion when
they are evidently put in practice without absolute
necessity, or at least very cogent reasons. But as the

‘perpetrators of such outrageous deeds might attempt

to palliate them, under pretext of deservedly punish-

ing the enemy, be it here observed that the natural ~

and voluntary law of nations does not allow us to in-
flict such punishments, except for enormous offenses

against the law of nations; and even then it is glori- _—

ous to listen to the voice of humanity and clemency,
when rigor is not absolutely necessary.’” (Pages 455
456.)

To these unimpeachable decisions I can not refrain
from adding that of President Woolsey, of Yale Col-
lege. In his Introduction to the Study of Internation-
al Law, sec. 130, pp. 304-5, he says: “ The pr ;
movable and immovable, of private persons ae
yaded country is to remain uninjured. But if the

ee

.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 61

wants of the hostile army require, it may be taken by
authorized persons at a fair value; but marauding
must be checked by discipline and penalties.” And
even as to “permissible requisitions,” which Welling-
ton regarded as iniquitous, and opposed as “likely to
injure those who resorted to them,” President Woolsey
adds that they “are demoralizing; they arouse the
avarice of officer ie and leave a sting in the memory ¥.

Oppressed nations.”
It is this sting, left in the breasts of the Southern

People, these bitter hatreds aroused by the indiscrim-
inate and licensed pillage to-which they were subject-
ed, which are more to be deprecated than any conse-
quence of the blood shed in fair and open fight during
the war. Hard blows do not necessarily make bad
blood between generous foes, It is the ungenerous

-

Policy of the exulting conqueror that adds poison to _

the bleeding wounds.
From a mass of agreeing testimony, as to the con-
duct of the Federal troops on their entrance into our

State, I select the following letter from a clergyman
of distinction, the authorized head of one of the most
influential denominations in the State; a man of na-
tional reputation for the learning, ability, and piety
With which he adorns his high office in the Church of
God. Let it be car efully read, and its calm and mod-

erate tone be fairly estimated and appreciated :

. “Tam altogether indisposed to obtrude -
ie: the public, and especially to bring before it
oma of personal grievance ; but it seemed to me

nen

 
62 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

important, not only for the interests of justice, but of
humanity, that the truth should be declared concern-
ing the mode in which the late civil war was carried
on, and I did not, see that I was exempted from this
duty rather than any one else who had personal know-
ledge of facts bearing on that subject. For this rea-
son I made the statement to my Convention which
you allude to, and for the same reason I have, after
some hesitation, felt bound to give you the information
you ask.

“ When General Sherman was moving on Cheraw,
in South-Carolinia, one corps of his army, under Gen-
eral Slocum, I believe, advanced in a parallel line north
of him, and extended into this State. Some companies
of Kilpatrick’s cavalry attached to this corps came on
Friday, third March, to Wadesboro, in Anson county,
where I was then residing. As their approach was
known, many persons thought it best to withdraw
from the place before the cavalry entered it; but I de-
termined to remain, as I could not remove my family,
and I did not suppose that I would suffer any serious

injury. Isaw.the troops galloping in, and sat down

quietly to my books, reading, having asked the other
members of my family to remain in a room in the rear
of the building. After a time a soldier knocked at
the door, which I opened. He at once, with many
oaths, demanded my watch, which I refused to give
him. He then drew a pistél and presented it at me,
and threatened to shoot me immediately if I did not
surrender it. I still refused, and, the altercation e-
coming loud, my wife heard it, ran into the room and

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 63

earnestly beséught me to give it up, which I then did.
Having secured this, he demanded money, but as we
had none but Confederate, he would not take that.
He then proceeded to rifle our trunks and drawers,
took some of my clothes from these, and my wife’s
Jewelry ; but he would have nothing to do with heavy
articles as, fortunately, he had no means of carrying
them off.. He then left the house, and I went in search
of his officers to-ask them to compel him to return what’
he had taken from me. This might seem a hopeless
effort ; for the same game had been played in every
house in the town where there seemed to be any thing
Worth taking. However, in my cage, the officers pro-
mised, if I could identify the robber, to compel him to
make restittttion. The men, accordingly, were drawn
Up in line, and their commander and I went along it
€xamining their countenances, but my acquaintance
Was not among them. It turned out that he had gone
from my house to that of a neighbor, to carry on the
Same work, and during my absence had returned to
my house, taken a horse from the stable, and then
moved off to his camp at some miles’ distance. . The
next day other bands visited us, taking groceries from
us and demanding watches and money. They broke
©pen the storehouses im the village; and as at one of
these I had some tierces of china and boxes of books,
these they knocked to pieces, breaking the china, of
Course, and scattering Fic books, but not carrying

them off, as they probably did not much value them,
and had, fortunately,"no wagons. I finally recovered
Dearly all‘of them. Another part of Sherman’s army,

 
64 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. .

in their march through Richmond county, passed by
two railroad stations where I had a piano and other
furniture, which they destroyed ; and also at Fayette-
yille I had furniture at the house of a friend, which
shared the fate of his. Yet I was among those who

- suffered comparatively lightly. Where the army went
with its wagons, they swept the country of almost
every thing of value that was portable. In some in-
stances defenseless men were killed for plunder. A
Mr. James C. Bennet, one of the oldest and wealthiest
men in Anson'county, was shot at the door of his own
house because he did not give up his watch and money,
which had been previously taken from him by another
party.

“ These and the like atrocities ought to be known;
for even men who do not much fear the judgments of
God, are kept somewhat in awe by the apprehension

) of the sentence of the civilized world and of posterity.

“In conclusion, I must say that I wish as little re-
ference to be made to me, and the injuries done me, as
is consistent with the faithful narrative whicli you
have undertaken to give of the last ninety days of the
war in North-Carolina.

“JT remain, very truly and respectfully yours,

“TuoMAS ATKINSON,”

Bishop Atkinson, it is well known, was the first to
get the example, after the war was closed, of leading
‘his church half-way to retinite the church connection
North and South. An example of Christian charity,

meekness, and forbearance most worthy of our ad
tion and imitation.

Se

CHAPTER V.

LORD CORNWALLIS IN FAYETTEVILLE—A YOUNG LADY’S INTER-
VIEW WITH HIM—HOW HE TREATED HER—HOW SHERMAN’S
MEN TREATED HER GRANDSON—“ THE STORY OF THE GREAT
MARCH”—MAJOR NICHOLS AND THE “QUADROON GIRLS”—
8ucH 1s NOT WAR—WHY THESE THINGS ARE RECORDED—

CONFEDERATE CONCENTRATION IN NORTH-CAROLINA—A SAD
SToRY.

Wuen Lord Cornwallis was on his march to Wil-
Mington, after the battle of Guilford Court-House,
passing by the residence of a planter near Cross Creek, F
(now Fayetteville,) the army halted. The young mis-
tress of the mansion, a gay and very beautiful matron
of eighteen, with the impulsive curiosity of a child,
Yan to her front piazza to gaze at the pageant. Some
Officers dismounting approached the house. She ad-
dressed one of the foremost, and begged that he would
Point out to her Lord Cornwallis, if he was there, for
‘she wished to see a lord,” “Madam,” said the gen-
“leman, removing his hat, “I am Lord Cornwallis.”
Thenswith the formal courtesy of the day he led her
Mto the house, giving to the frightened family every
4ssurance of protection. With the high breeding of a
Sentleman and the frankness of a soldier, he won all

 
66 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

hearts during his stay, from the venerable grandmother .
in her chair to the gay girl who had first accosted

him. While the army remained, not an article was’ |

- disturbed on the plantation, though, as he himself
warned them, there were stragglers in his wake whom
he could not detect, and who failed not to do what
mischief they could in the way of plundering, after he
had passed. ’Tis eighty-four years ago, and that
blooming girl’s granddaughters tell the story with
grateful regard for the memory of the noble English-
man, who never forgot what was due to a defenseless
homestead, and who well deserves to be held in ad-
miration by woman.*

How tender the light that plays round this great
captain’s memory! Smarting from recent virtual de-
feat, hurrying through a hostile country, disappointed
in his expectations of receiving relief and reénforce-
ment in this very neighborhood of Cross Creek, he is
master of himself and of his army through all reverses
of fortune—gentle and considerate in the midst of ad-
versity. Aria sited

The recollections of that young Southern matron’s
grandson, Charles B. Mallett, Esq., of the great army
passing so lately over the very same ground, and of
their visit to his plantation, afford matter for curious
consideration and comparison. These are his reminis-
cences : .

‘ . » .
‘The china and glass-ware were all carried out of
* His own beloved young wife, dying of a broken heart on the separation

caused by his coming to America, “directed on her death-bed that a thorn-treé,
should be planted on her grave, as nearly as possible over her heart, significant

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 67

the house: by the Federal soldiers, and deliberately

smashed in the yard. The furniture—piano, beds,
tables, bureaus—were all cut to pieces with axes;
the pantries and smoke-houses were stripped of their »
contents; the negro houses were all plundered; the
poultry, cows, horses, ete., were shot down and car-
ried off; and then, after all this, the houses were all
fired and burned to the ground. The cotton factory
belonging to the family was also burned, as were six
Others in the neighborhood of Fayetteville.”

I have also the statement of a near neighbor of this
gentleman, John M. Rose, Esq., condensed as follows:

“THe Federal soldiers searched my house from gar-
ret to cellar, and plundered it of every thing portable ;
took all my provisions, emptied the pantries of all
Stores, and did not leave me a mouthful of any kind
of supplies for one meal’s victuals. They took all
my clothing, even the hat off my head, and the shoes
and pants from my person ; took most of my wife’s
and children’s clothing, all of our bedding; destroyed
my furniture, and robbed all my negroes. At leaving
they set fire to my fences, out-houses, and dwelling,
which, fortunately, I was able to extinguish. The re-
mains of a dozen slaughtered tattle were left in my
yard. (Nine dwellings were burned to the ground in
this neighborhood. Four gentlemen, whose names are
given, were hung up by the neck till nearly dead, to
fovediiiem to tell where valuables were hidden. One

of the sorrow that destroyed her life. Her request was complied with, and that

“ thorn-tree is still living,” (1857.)—The Cornwallis Correspondence, chap. i. p. 1d

 
68 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

was shot in his own house, and died soon after.) The
yard and lot were searched, and all my money, and
that of several companies which I represent, was found
and taken. All my stocks and bonds were likewise
carried off. My wagon, and garden, and lot imple-
ments were all burned in my yard. The property
taken from another family—the jewelry, plate, money,
etc.—was estimated to be worth not less than twenty-
five thousand dollars. Hundreds of pleasure vehicles
in the town were either wantonly burned in parcels
and separately, or carried off with the army. Houses
in the suburbs and vicinity suffered more severely than
those in the town. No private dwellings in the town
were burned, and after the guards were placed the
pillage ceased. The misfortune was, that the guards
were not placed till the houses had been sacked.”

I have other statements, but perhaps these are sufii-

cient for my present purpose.* I have given none all 4

can not be verified if necessary, though they diffe
widely from those of a book lately published at the
North, entitled The Story of the Great March, and
which is doubtless regarded there as of unquestionable
authority. On page 251 I observe it is stated, “ Pri-
vate property in Fayetteville has been respected to a
degree which is remarkable ;” and on page 253: “'The

. * The writer might have mentioned that J. P. McLean was hung up by the neck ‘
three times and shot at once, to make him disclose hidden valuables, W. 'T, Horne,
Jesse Hawley, and Alexander McAuthor, were all hung up until nearly d John
Waddill was shot down and killed in his own house, The country residences of
©. T. Haigh, J. C. Haigh, Archibald Graham, and W..T. Hofne, Were all burned
within a short distance-of one another ; this was all in one neighborhood, Dr,

Hicks, of Duplin, was hung until nearly dead, and will probably never recover.
So it was elsewhere.—Epiror,

‘

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 69

city of Fayetteville was offensively rebellious, and it
has been a matter of surprise that our soldiers, who
‘re quick to understand the distinction, have not made
the citizens feel it in one way or another.” It is just
Possible that Major Nichols did not know the truth;
that, being very evidently of an easy and credulous
temper, and too busy making up his little book for
Sale, he allowed himself to be imposed upon by wicked
jokers, -Let us all believe that he knew nothing of
the robberies that were going on. He was evidently
hard of hearing, besides; for he says, page 240, “I
have yet to hear of a single outrage offered to a wo-
Man by a soldier of our army.” Let us all believe
that he was too deeply interested in his interviews

With the handsome “ quadroon family,” mentioned on
Page 237, to know what was going on among the

Whites. By the way, it would seem these quadroon
P= were too deep for him too, His reported con-

ersation with the family is a very amusing tissue of
blunders and misrepresentation. Foot-notes should
Certainly accompany the thirtieth edition, and in par-
ticular it should be stated of these “ intelligent quad-
Toons,” not one of whom was ever named Hannahyand
Not one of any name was ever sold, that not one of
them has yet left the lot, of their old master, or ex-
Pressed a wish: to leave. Major Nichols does not
Seem to know much; but he probably knows this,

_ that iif was not for want of asking that these hand-

Some quadroons did not go.
_ Enough of such disclosures and of such scenes. If
't be asked why these have been presented, and why

 
a

The Mee:

Le Bias he.

70 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

I seek to prolong these painful memories, and to keep

-qlive the remembrances that ought rather to slumber

and be forgotten with the dead past, let me reply that
it is deliberately, and of set purpose, that I sketch
these outlines of a great tragedy for our Northern
friends to ponder. The South has suffered ; that they
admit in general terms, and add,“ Such is war.” I
desire to call their attention to the fact that such is
Nor war, as their own standards declare; that the
career of the grand army in the Great March, brilliant
as was the design, masterly as was the execution, and
triumphant as was the issue, is yet, in its details, a
story of which they have no reason to be proud, and

which, when truly told, if there be one spark of gener-
osity, one drop of the milk of human kindness in North-
ern breasts, should turn their bitterness toward the
South into tender pity, their exultation over her into
a manly regret afd remorse. They do not know—
they never will know unless Southerners themselves
shall tell the mournful story—what the sword hath
done in her fair fields and her pleasant places. Their
triumphant stories and war-lyrics are not faithful ex-
positors of the woe and ruin wrought upon a defense-
less people. When the sounds of conflict have finally
died away, I would fain see the calmed senses of a
great people who, having fairly won the fight, can
afford to be magnanimous, take in eléarly the situation
of the whole Southern country, and “repent them for

their brother Benjamin, and come to thehouse of God, ~
and weep sore for their brother, and say, Lord God,”

why is this come to pass that there should be to-day
one tribe lacking in Israel ?”

|
;

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 71

Thousands of delicate women, bred up in affluence,
*re now brayely working with their hands for their
daily bread; many in 6ld age, and alone in the world,
are bereft of all their earthly possessions. Thousands
= families are absolutely penniless, who have never
lene. pansies ee lye

s shrinking from work,
— 1gnobly bewailing the loss of luxury and ease.
The dignity and the ‘“ perennial noblenéss” of labor
Were never more fairly asserted than among us now,
and I have never seen, or read, or heard of a braver
Acceptance of the situation, a more cheerful submission
to God’s will, or a more spirited application to unac-
Customed toils and duties, than are exhibited here
this day. Nobody is ashamed of himself, or ashamed
of his position; or of his necessities. What the
South wants is not charity—charity as an alms—but
Senerosity ; that generosity which forbears reproach,
or insult, or gay and elamorous exultation, but which
Silently clears the way of all difficulties, and lends an
arm to a fainting, wounded brother; that says, “There
“ust be an inheritance for them that be escaped of
Benjamin.” ~

It is for this’ that I present these sketches, which,
but for some good to be accomplished by them, would
better have never been written. Where wrongs can
not be redressed, or their recital be made available for
Sood, they would far better be buried in oblivion, the
WTong-doer agd the sufferer-alike awaiting in dread
repose the final award of the Great Tribunal.

How shall the South begin her new life? How,

te

 
72 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

disfranchised and denied her civil rig its; shall she start
«the wheels of enterprise and business that shall bring
work and bread to her plundered; penniless people ?
How shall her widows and orphans be fedyher schools
and colleges be supported, her churehes be-Maintained,
unless her rights and liberties be regained—unless
every effort be made to give her wounds repose, and
restore health and energy to her, paralyzed and shat-
tered frame? Is there any precedent’ in history of a
war that-ended with the freeing not only from all obli-
gation to labor, but from all disposition to labor, of all
the operatives of the conquered country.? Is not the
social Status of the South at present twithout a paral-
lel? Just emerging from an exhausting and devastat-
ing*war, the country might well be crippled dnd poy-
erty-stricken; but with three or four millions of en-
franchised slaves, a population that is even now hast-
ening to inaugurate the worst evils of insubordination,
idleness, and, pauperism. amongsus, what hope for us
~ unless the Northern sense of justice can be aroused
into speedy action ! -s
While General Sherman’s wagons were wallowing
in the mud between Fayetteville and Goldsboro, vain
attempts were being made in Raleigh to galvanize
into some show of action and strength the fragments
of an army that were concentratingythere. General
Lee’s desperate situation in, Virginia Was not under-
stood and realized by the multitude, nor that the Con-
federate territory was fast narrowing down to the
northern counties of Central North-Carolifia, and that
Ralei gh was the last capital eve couldclaim, Beau-

:

} .

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 78

Oe es

regard, Johnston, Hardee, Hoke, Hampton, Wheeler—
names that had thrilled the whole Southern country
With pride and exultation—they were all there, and
for a time people endeavored to believe that Raleigh
might be defended. General Sherman’s plans appeared
to be inserutable. When he left Columbia, Charlotte
was supposed to, be his aim; but when he fell sudden-
ly upon Fayetteville, then Raleigh was to be his next
Stage. The astute plan of a junction with Schofield
at Goldsboro, which appears now to have been pre-
arranged while he was yet in Savannah, did not dawn
"pon our minds till it was too late to prevent it. The
fight at B ntonsville was a desperate and vain attempt
to do what might possibly have been done before, and
in that last wild struggle many a precious’ lifé was,
Sven in vain. With sad anxiety for the faté of those
We loved, with sinking hearts, we heard, from day to
day, from Ayerasboro and from Bentonsville, of the wild
charge, the short, | ee struggle, and the inevitable
retreat, littlé thinking that these were indeed the last
life-throbs of our dying cause.

There was one from our own circle, whose story is »
but a representative one of the many thousand such
that now darken what was once the Sunny South.
He had joined the army in the beginning of the war,
and his wife an@echildren had fled from their pleasant
home near New-Bérne, on its first occupation by the

Federal forces, leaving the negroes, plantation, housé, *

furniture, and all to the invaders, They had taken
refi uge at Cfiapel Hill among old friends ; and ima poor
and inconvenient home, thiose who had counted their

.

 
4
]
i
|

a, eee

*
hin.

negate

«Ami Rac. cau Bc eee

"4 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

+

wealth by thousands were glad of a temporary shelter, .

as was the case with hundreds of families from the
east, scattered all over the central part of the State.
The energetic wife laid aside the habits of a lifetime
and-went to work, while her brave husband was in
the army. From New-Berne to Richmond, from
Charleston to the Blackwater, we, who had known
him from boyhood, traced his gallant career, sharing
his wife’s triumphs im his successes, and her fears in
his perils. Her health in unaccustomed toils began
to fail, but we looked forward hopefully to the time
when she might return to her beautiful home on the
sea-shore, where a blander air would restore her. So
we read his loving, cheerful letters, and believed that
the life which had been spared through so many bat-
tles would yet be guarded for the sake of the wife and
the curly-haired little ones. On the twenty-second of
March, riding unguardedly near a thicket, our friend
received the fire of a squad of sharp-shooters concealed
there. He fell from his horse and was carried to a
place of safety, where he lay’on the muddy ground of the

, trampled battle-field for a few hours, murmuring faintly

at intervals, “My wife! my poor wife!” till death merci-
fully came. He was wrapped by his faithful servant
in his blood-stained uniform and muddy blankets as he
lay ; a coarse box was procured with great difficulty,
and so the soldier was brought back to his family.

- His last visit home had been just before the fall of i
Fort Fisher ; and when the news of the attack came,
though his furlough was not out by ten days, yet he —

left at once for Wilmingtén, saying, “It was every

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 75

man’s duty to be at the front.” He had returned to
US now, “ off duty forever.” Loving hands laid him
slowly and sadly down to a soldier’s honored rest,
While his little children stood around the grave. The
wife made an effort to live for these childreny* She
bore up through that woful spring and summer, and
the thin, white, trémbling hands were ever at work,
But the brown hair turnedygray rapidly, the easy-chair
Was relinquished for the bed, and before winter came
the five children were left alone in the world. The
Wife had joined her husband. The ample estate that
Should have been theirs was gone. Strangers were in
their home by the sea, and had divided out their lands;
Hor is it yet known whether they will be permitted to
Claim thejr inheritance. f
This man, Colonel Edward B. Mallett, brave, be-
loved, lamented, was also a grandson of the gay girl
who had entertained Lord Cornwallis in her house
Near Cross Creek, and his fortunes were linked with
those of the brother whose house and factory had been
burned so lately. Thus did the destruction in one
Part of the State help on and intensify the ruin in an-
Other part. an
Stories such as these are our inheritance from the
Steat war; and yet, looking at the fate of those who
have survived its dangers to be crushed by its issues,
we may rather envy those who were laid sweetly to
their rest while their hope for the country was not yet
Subjugated Within them. i

Let them rave !
Thou art quiet in thy grave.

 
CHAPTER VI:

“SHAYS’S REBELLION”—KENT ON MASSACHUSETTS—CONDUCT

OF A NORTHERN GOVERNMENT TO NORTHERN REBELS—
THE “WHISKY INSURRECTION’’—HOW WASHINGTON TREAT-

ED A REBELLION—SECESSION OF NEW-ENGLAND BIRTH—
THE WAR: oF 1812—BANcRoFT oN 1676—THE BACONISTS—
AN APPEAL.

- By the last of March General Sherman had entered
Goldsboro, and effected his long meditated junction
with General Schofield. He himself at once proceed-
ed to Southern Virginia to hold a conference with
General Grant, while the grand army lay quiet a few
days to rest, recruit, and prepare for its further ad-

.. yance. Leaving them there, I venture to make a di-

gression, suggested by the concluding lines of the
preceding number of these sketches—a digression
having for its object the consideration of the present
policy of the Federal Government toward vanquished
rebels, as compared with its policy in former cases of
rebellion against its authority, even more inexcusable
and unprovoked.
_ Chancellor Kent, adverting to the first rebellion
against the government of this country, known in his-
tory as “Shays’s Rebellion,” pays the State of Massa-—

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. . ¥¢

chusetts the following well-merited compliment on her
Conduct upon its suppression: “The clemency of
Massachusetts in 17 86, after an unprovoked and wan-
ton rebellion, in not inflicting a single capital punish-
Ment, contributed, by the judicious manner in which
its clemency was applied, to the more firm establish-
ment of their government.” (Com. on Am. Law.
Vol. i. p, 283.) What were the circumstances of this
first rebellion?

In 1786, the Legislature of that State laid taxes
Which were expected to produce near a million of dol-
lars. The country had just emerged from the war of
the Revolution in an exhausted and impoverished con-
dition, Litigation abounded, and the people, galled

y the pressure of their debts and of these ‘taxes,
Manifested a spirit of revolt against their governments
From loudly-expressed complaints tley. proceeded to
Meetings, and finally took up arms. They insisted
that the courts should be closed; they clamored
against the lawyers “and their exorbitant fees, against
Salaried public officers; and they demanded the issue
of paper money. The Governor of Massachusetts,
John Bowdoin, convened she Legislature, and endea-
Vored to allay the general and growing mutiny by
Concessions; but the excitement still increasing, the
militia were ordered out, and Congress voted a supply
of thirteen thousand men to aid the State Government.
The leader of the insurrection was Daniel Shays, late
4 captain in the Continental army. At the head of
one thousand men he prevented the session of the Su-
Preme Court at Worcester, and his army soon inereas-

 
, none Bree 2 Pn

Ws is Hie inns lacie slim iain B.

ay
ah
as

78 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

ing to two thousand, they marched to Springfield, to
seize the national arsenal. Being promptly repulsed
by the commandant there, they fled, leaving several
killed and wounded. General Lincoln, at the head of
four thousand militia, pursued them to Amherst, and
thence to Pelham. On his approach they offered to
disperse on condition of a general pardon; but Gen-
eral Lincoln had no authority to treat. They then
retreated to Petersham. Lincoln pursued, and push-
ing on all night through intense cold and a driving
snow-storm, he accomplished an unprecedented march

of forty miles, and early next morning completely sur-*

prised the rebels in Petersham, taking one hundred
and fifty prisoners, and dispersing the rest so effectu-
ally that they never rallied again. Many took refuge
in New-Hampshire and the neighboring States, where
they were afterward arrested on requisition of Massa-
chusetts. This ill-sustained and wanton rebellion was
easily quelled. Fourteen of the prisoners were con-
victed of treason, but not one was executed, and the
terms of pardon imposed were so moderate that eight
hundred took the benefit of them. Prudence dictated
this moderation and clemeney, for it was known that
at least a third of the population sympathized with
the rebels. It was a significant fact that at the ensu-
ing election, Governor Bowdoin, who had distinguish-
ed himself by his zeal and energy, was defeated, and
other public officers who had been especially active
against the rebels lost their seats, and were replaced
by more popular men. Daniel Shays lived to a good
old age, and died still in the enjoyment of his reyolu-

THE LAST NIQETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 79

tionary pension.* Such was the generous policy of a
Northern government to Northern rebels in the first
rebellion.

The second rebellion, commonly called the “ Whisky
Insurrection” of Western Pennsylvania, assumed more
formidable proportions, and was instigated by even
more sordid and inexcusable motives. In 1784, the
distillers of that part of the State were resolved to
deny the right of excise to the Federal Government.
The excise law, though very unpopular, had been car-
ried into execution in every part of the United States,
and in most of the counties of Pennsylvania; but west
of the Alleghany the people rose in arms against the
Government officers, prevented them from exercising
their functions, maltreated them, and compelled them
to fly from the district, and finally called a meeting
“to take into consideration the situation of the west-
ern country.” They seized upon the mail, and open-
ed the letters to discover what reports had been sent
of their proceedings to Philadelphia, and by whom.
They addressed a circular letter to the officers of the
Militia in the disaffected counties, calling on them to
Tendezvous at Braddock’s*Field on the first of August,
With arms in good order, and four days’ provisions, an

expedition,” it was added, “in which they could
have an opportunity of displaying their military talent,
and of serving the country.” This insurrection was
headed by David Bradford, the prosecuting attorney

*¥or these particulars, Iam indebted to Tucker’s History of the United States,

Vol. i. chap. 4, and to Hildreth’s History of the United States, first series, vol.
ili, chap, 45.

 
80 THE LAST NINETY DAYSg@F THE WAR.

for Washington county, and was secretly fomented by
agents of the French Republic, who desired nothing

better than to see the downfall of Washington’s ad-

ministration, and the reign of anarchy inaugurated on
this continent. A large body of men, estimated at
.from five to ten thousand, met on the day appointed
at Braddock’s Field. Bradford took upon himself the
military command. Albert Gallatin (lately a rejected
United States Senator, on the ground that he had not
been a resident of the State the length of time pre-
scribed. for foreigners) was appointed. Secretary.
“ Cowards and traitors” were freely denounced, and
those who advocated moderate measures were over-
awed and silenced. The rioters then marched to Pitts-

burgh, which they would have burned but for the con-
ciliatory conduct of the people of the town. They
burned the houses of several obnoxious men, com-
pelled them to leave the country, and then dispersed.
It had been Bradford’s design to get possession of
Fort Pitt, and seize the arms and ammunition there;
but not being supported in this by the militia officers,
he had abandoned it. All the remaining excise offli-
cers in the district were now forced to leave. Many
outrages were committed, houses burned, citizens in-
sulted, and a reign of terror completely established.
The news of this formidable and wide-spread insur-
rection reaching Philadelphia, the President issued a
proclamation reciting the acts of treason, commanding
the insurgents to disperse, and warning others against
abetting them. This was the first of such proclama-
tions ever issued in this country, and was no doubt

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 81

the model proposed to himself, and followed by Presi-
dent Lincoln in 1861. But Washington, at the same
time, appointed three commissioners—a member of
his cabinet, a Pennsylvania United States Senator, and
a judge of the Supreme Court in that State—to repair
to the scene of action, confer with the insurgents, and
make every practicable attempt toward a peaceful ad-
justment. *The policy of calling out the militia was
discussed in the Cabinet. Hamilton and Knox were
in favor of it. Randolph opposed it, and so did Goy-
ernor Mifflin, who was consulted, on the ground that
& resort to force might influence and augment the ex-
citement and unite the whole State in rebellion.
Washington finally determined to take the responsi-
bility on himself and act with vigor, since if such open
and daring resistance to the laws were not met and
checked at once, it might find many imitators in other
parts of the country, then so agitated and unsettled.
The commissioners having failed to come to any satis-
factory terms with the rebels, the opinion rapidly
gained ground that the interposition of an armed force
was indispensable. A body of fifteen thousand mi-
litia was called out from the States of Pennsylvania,
New-Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia, and the whole
force put under the command of Governor (and Gen-
eral) Henry Lee, of Virginia,* the father of our

* My readers will remember the reference in the second chapter to the capture
by this officer of a portion of Tarleton’s staff on Haw River, while engaged in
Satisfying the claims of a countryman for forage. No member of General Sher-
Man’s"command is known to have suffered a surprise under similar circumstan-
ces. Certainly not in this region !

Washington’s characteristic sagacity and humanity were shown in the selection
of General Lee as commander of the forces,

 
cP Sam wee ena igt ie res re Ca

ele eed

See ae

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

General Robert E. Lee. The news that this army was
on the march materially increased the numbers and
influence of the moderate party in Western Pennsyl-
yania, The Standing Committee of the insurgents
met and recommended submission, which was ably
and zealously advocated by Albert. Gallatin and
Breckenridge. Nothing decisive was agreed upons
and pending another convention, many of the ring-

leaders fled from the State; David Bradford, who had °

been foremost among them, being the first to seek
safety in flight to New-Orleans.

A resolution of submission was passed at the second
convention, and a committtee of two, one of, whom,
Findley, was a member of Congress, appointed to con-
vey it to the President at Carlisle. The President re-
ceived this committee courteously, but the march of
the troops was not arrested. A third convention be-
ing held, and resolutions to pay all excise duties and
recommending the surrender of all delinquents haying
passed, General Lee issued a proclamation granting an
unnesty to all who had submitted, and calling on the
people to take the oath of allegiance to the United
States. Orders were issued and executed to seize
those offenders who had not submitted, and send them
to Philadelphia. Of those who were tried before the
Circuit Court, only two were found guilty of capital
offenses, one of arson and the other of robbing the
mail; and both were ultimately pardoned by the
President. In less than four months from the burning
of the first house, the insurrection was completely de-
feated, and entire order restored, A force of twenty-

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 83

five hundred militia was retained in the disaffected
district during the ensuing winter, under command of
General Morgan. Provision was made to indemnify
those whose property had been destroyed, and an ap-
propriation of more than a million of dollars was
made by Congress to defray the expenses incurred,
Albert Gallatin, who was then a hardly naturalized
foreigner, notwithstanding the part he had taken in
the earlier stages of the rebellion, by his subsequent
Moderate counsels had regained the confidence of the
Government, and being the choice of the people of
that district, was elected to the next Congress, taking
his seat without any opposition or word of rebuke,
His subsequent brilliant career is now part of our
national history. Findley, who was a member of
Congress at the time of the outbreak, and was at one
time prominent among the sympathizers, though he
Xcted at no time with decision, did not forfeit his seat
by his participation in the revolt. He appeared in his
Place in Congress the ensuing November, He after-
Ward wrote an elaborate history of the insurrection
and a vindication of himself and his friend’. Accord-

ing to him the troops sent to quell the rebellion would
have left more emphatic tokens of their desire for ven-
Seance on the rebels, “if it had not been for the
Moderation of Washington and ‘his resistless weight
of character in the execution of his purposes,””*

The prompt, energetic, and efficient measures of the
Administration in arresting the progress of this re-

ee ert History, vol. 1. chap. 7. Hildreth’s History, second series, vol. L
hap, 7,

 
hee. el -Ge.

Na Se inaltie ie ce

iu

4
tie
a
i j

a

84 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

volt, and its magnanimity and moderation toward the
offenders afterward, contributed very materially to
strengthen the Government at a critical period of its
existence, to give it dignity and influence, and to rally
round it the best affections of the people. And its
patience and forbearance had been somewhat tried by
the State of Pennsylvania in those days. There had
been many.symptoms of instability in the ‘‘ Keystone”
‘of the newly-erected arch of civil liberty. There were
two examples of mutiny among the Pennsylvania
troops during the Revolution, and two popular insur-
rections in regard to the excise laws, and this one had

opened with the exhibition of a temper ferocious and
a The estimate by the Administration of the

danger of the rebellion in 1794 may be inferred from
the fact that the number of troops called for to sup-
press it was greater, in proportion to the then popula-
tion of the United States, than the call made by Pre-
sident Lincoln in 1861 to the present population, In
1790, the white population of the United States was
3,172,464. The troops called out in ’94 were 15,000.

- In 1860, the white population was 26,690,206. Troops

ordered out, 75,000. The proportion in 1794 was
greater, according to these figures, in the ratio of 389
to 354, without allowing for increase from 1790 to 94.
And the magnitude of the danger did indeed fully jus-
tify all the apprehensions and precautions of the guar-
dians of the state. The young republic was but newly
formed, the Government scarcely settled. Many promi-
nent and able men in different parts ofthe country were
turning admiring eyes toward France in her wild ca-
~ -

“4

*

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR, 85
a
Teer, others toward some vision of a monarchical form.
Emissaries from the distracted states of the Old World
Were prompt and zealous to foment discords and dis-
turbances, and precedents were wanting every day to
Meet new issues that arose continually. The situation
needed all the wisdom, prudence, and magnanimity,of
the illustrious man called by Providence to guide the
first steps of a great nation.
Does any one hesitate to believe that if we had had

& Washington for President in 1860 and 1861, the
late war would never have taken place ; that secession
Would never have been accomplished? How vigor-
Cus and yet how conciliatory would have been the
Measures. The seventy-five thousand would no doubt
have been called for, but commissioners of peace t0°
the “wayward sisters” would have preceded’ them.
Th our day it was thé insurgents who sent commission-
ers. “Lhe best men of the South were a month in

Washington ‘City, vainly endeavoring for a hearing,
vainly hoping for some offer of conciliation or adjust-

ment, and deluded by promises from the highest offi-
cials that were never meant to be fulfilled.

_ Does any one doubt what would have been Wash-
ington’s conduct of the grand army through its un-
paralleled and immortal march of triumph? Even had
he not been guided by Christian principles of honor
and humanity, he would at least have emulated the
example and shared the glory of the noble heathen of
Whom it was said: “ Postremo signa, et tabulas, cete-
Paque ornamenta Greacorum oppidorum, que ceteri
tollenda, esse arbitrantur, ca sibi ille ne visenda quidem

* =

 
oa ea a iin lll ete wie B:. -

86 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR

existimavit. Itaque omnes quidem nune in his locis

On. Pompeium sicut aliquem non ex hac urbe missum,
sed de ccelo delapsum, intuentur.?* j

And finally, can any one doubt what his policy would
now be toward the people so lately in arms against
their Government? Alas! to him alone, first in war
and first in peace, can the whole of the splendid eulogy
of the Roman orator to the great captain of his day
be fittingly applied : “ Hiumanitati jam tantd est, ut
difficile dictu sit, utrum hostes magis virtutem ejus
pugnantis timuerint, an mansuetudinem victi deliver
int.’”}

Just twenty years from the time of the second re-
bellion, the third, and by far the most evil-disposed,
malignant, and far-reaching expression of hostility to
the General Government was organized. The Hart-
ford Convention indeed never proceeded so far as to

Symake an appeal to arms, but the spirit that suggested

it, and the temper displayed by its leaders, give it un-
doubtedly the best claim to have inaugurated the hate-
ful doctrine of secession.

The war of 1812 with England was, in general,

excessively unpopular in the N ew-England States.
Their commerce was burned; their ‘fisheries were

broken up, and their merchants and ship-owners, who

*“ Lastly, the statues and pictures and other ornaments of Grecian cities,
which other commanders suppose might be carried off, he indeed thought that

they ought not even to have been looked at by him. . Therefore now all the inha-
bitants in those places look upon Cn. Pompey

descended from heaven,”

+ “Now, by the exercise of such great humanity it has become hard
whether his enemies feared his valor more when they were fighting, or Io
humanity more when they were conquered,”

“haat

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR, 87

Constituted the wealthiest and most influential class
among them, were heayy losers. The Administration
had always: been unpopular with them, and now its
Policy of embargo, non-importation, non-intercourse,
and finally of war, were sufficient to rouse them into*
Active opposition. This was manifested in various
Ways; in the annual addresses of their governors ; in
reports of legislative committees; in laws to embar-
Yass the action of the Federal Executive, as, for in-
Stance, forbidding it the use of any of their jails for
the confinement of prisoners of war, and ordering all
their jailers to liberate all British prisoners committed
to their keeping ; in refusing to contribute their quota of
Men for thesupport, of the war, and even to allow them
to mareh beyond the limits of their own State. The

Spirit of disaffection was diligently cherished by the”

leaders, and went on ‘increasing in bitterness and ex-
tent till a convention was proposed and agreed upon.

City of Hartford twelve delegates from Massachusetts,
Seven#from Connecticut, four from Rhode Island, three
County delegates from New-Hampshire, and one from
Vermont. They sat with closed doors till the 5th of
January, 1815, when they adjourned, having issued a
report setting forth their grievances and aims. The
following extract from a report of the proceedings of
the Legislature will exhibit the spirit that prevailed
through the State:

“ We believe that this war, so fertile in calamities,

nd so threatening in its consequences, has been waged

With the worst possible views, and carried on in the

,

On the 15th of December, 1814, there assembled in the

 
UR A a Nai ll ll am ue

88 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

worst possible manner, forming a union of wickedness
and weakness which defies, for a parallel, the annals
of the world. We believe also that its worst effects
are yet to come; that loan upon loan, tax upon tax,
and exaction upon exaction, must be imposed, until the
comforts of the present and the hopes of the rising
generation are destroyed. An impoverished people will
be an enslaved people.” Of the right of the State to

prevent the exercise of unconstitutional power by the _

General Government, they had no doubt. “A power
to regulate commerce is abused when employed to de-
stroy it, and a voluntary abuse of power sanctions the
right of resistance as much as a direct and palpable
usurpation. The sovereignty reserved to the States
was reserved to protect the citizens from acts of vio-
lence by the United States, as well as for purposes of
domestic regulation. We. spurn the idea that the
free, sovereign, and independent State of Massachu-
setts is reduced to a mere municipal corporation, with-
out power to protect its people, or to defend them
from oppression, from whatever quarter it comes.
Whenever the national compact is violated, and the
citizens of this State oppressed by cruel and unauthor-
ized enactments, this Legislature is bound to interpose
its power, and to wrest from the oppressor its victim.
This is the spirit of our Union.”

The manifesto of the Convention did not, could not,
use stronger language. After proposing seven amend-
ments to the Constitution, and giving reasons for their
adoption, they disclaimed all hostility to that Con-

stitution, and professed only to aim to unite all the —

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 89

friends of the country of all parties, and obtain their
aid in effecting a change of Federal rulers. Should
this be hopeless, they hinted at the “necessity of more
mighty efforts,” which were plainly set forth in their
resolutions, and everywhere understood to refer to a
Secession of the five New-England States, their con-
Solidation into an independent government of their
Own, or alliance with England.*

The time chosen for such a display of enmity to the

nion was most opportune for the purposes of the
traitors, A war with a foreign foe, and that foe the
Most powerful nation on earth, was in progress; the
Administration was greatly embarrassed ; the country
Was rent with fierce party factions. What would be
the issie no human wisdom could foresee; but that
the ruin of the country was not then effected, can not
be attributed to the patriotism of the New-England
States. Three commissioners, appointed by the Gov-
ernor of Massachusetts, to whom Connecticut added
two others, proceeded to Washington to lay their re-
Solutions and applications before the Government.
But, most happily, news of the treaty of Ghent and
Consequent peace arriving at the same time with these
envoys, their mission became the theme of unsparing
taunt and ridicule in the papers, and they returned
home without disburdening themselves of their object.
Thus the third rebellion was snuffed out by events ;
but its sparks were blown far and wide by viewless
Winds, and effected a lodgment where, though smoth-

* Tucker’s History, vol. ili. chap. 18, Hildreth, vol. ili, chap. 29

 
90 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

ered for a generation or two, they yet burned in
secret, and at length burst out in the great conflagra-
tion of 1860, which lit the whole horizon and dyed the

very heavens with its crimson. The principles of the ©

Hartford Convention were the seeds of nullification
and secession.

The eminent historian from Massachusetts records
in glowing pages the stifling of the earliest throbs of
civil and religious liberty on this continent in 1676.
The earliest martyr in the Bacon Rebellion against
monarchical tyranny was William Drummond, the
first Governor of North-Carolina. His name is written
on the beautiful sheet of water that lies within the
tangled brakes of the great swamp on the bordes rof
the land he loved and served so well. In that rebel-
lion the women (as at this day) shared the popular

enthusiasm. “The child that is unborn,” said Sarah

Drummond, “ shall rejoice for the good that will come
by the rising of the country.” She would not suffer
a throb of fear in her bosom, and in the greatest perils
to which her husband was exposed, she confidently
exclaimed, “We shall do well enough,” and continu-
ally encouraged the people and inspired the soldiers
with her own enthusiasm. When Edmund Cheesman
was arraigned for trial, his wife declared that but for
her he never would have joined the rebellion, and on

her knees begged that she might bear the punishment. —

Yet these devoted people saw the cause for which
they had risked and lost every thing in the dust,
overthrown, and trampled upon with vindictive fury
by the triumphant royalists, In the judicial trials

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 91

that followed, a rigor and merciless severity were ex-
hibited, worthy of the gloomy judgewhose “ bloody
assize,” ten years later, on the western circuit of Eng-
land, has left an indelible blot on her history. Twenty-
two were hanged; three others died of cruelty in
prison ; three more fled before trial ; two escaped after
Conviction. Nor is it certain when Sir William Berke-
ley’s thirst for blood would have been appeased if the
Newly convened assembly had not voted an. address
that the Governor “should spill no more blood.” On
Berkeley’s return to England he was received with
Coldness, and his cruelty openly disavowed by the gov-
ernment. “That old fool,” said the kind-hearted
Charles IL, “has taken more lives in that naked coun-
try than I for the murder of my father.” *

“More blood was shed,” adds the historian, “ than,
On the action of our present political system, would be
Shed for political offenses in a thousand years.” Alas!
for the sunny South, the scorched and consumed South,
alas for her! that the prediction of the great Ameri-
Cin historian is not history ! :

Considering this rebellion in the perspective afford-
ed by nearly two hundred years, it is easy for us to
Understand how the severity with which it was pun-
ished by the fanatic old royal Governor only drove
the entering-wedge of separation between the mother
Country and her colonies in America deeper. The
Principles of Bacon and his party had obtained a great
hold on the popular mind; and though for years all

* Bancroft's History, vol. ii, chap. 14.

 
92 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

tendency to’ a popular government appeared to be
crushed out and forever silenced, yet they were there,
in the hearts of men, silently growing, nurtured by a
deep sense of injustice and wrong, and biding their
time. Just a century from the suppression of the
“ Baconists,” the Declaration of Independence was
adopted ; Sarah Drummond’s words were verified, and
Bacon and Drummond and Cheesman and Hansford
were amply avenged.

It is to such pages of history as these that I would
turn the attention of our Northern friends now. Here
they may see how the Father of his country dealt with
his wayward children. How a prompt and dignified
and successful assertion of the rights of the Federal
Government were followed by leniency and generous
and prudent forbearance such as a great government
can afford to show, and by which it best exhibits its
strength and its claims to the love and veneration of
its people. Here they may see how a brutal gratifi-
cation of vengeance, a lust of blood, like the tiger’s

spring, overleapsvits mark. The hardest lesson to be
learned is moderation in the hour of triumph; the

greatest victory to be achieved is the victory over
self. ;

|

Where now are the Bowdoins, the Hancocks, the |

Dexters, the Ames, the Websters of Massachusetts ?

Mas she no statesman now capable of rising to the
magnanimity which characterized her early history ?
Has thrice revolting and thrice pardoned Pennsylvania
no representative man who can rise to the height of

the great argument, and vindicate the cause of a
. on

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 93

Country pillaged and plundered and" peeled to an ex-
tent of which the history of civilized humanity affords
Us no parallel? Is there no one now to stand up and
advocate for Southerners the same measure of forbear-
ance and generosity that was shown by a Southern
President to Northern rebels ?

“O thou that spoilest and wast not spoiled, that
dealt treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously
With thee!” haste to the work of reconciliation and
to build up the waste places! Even now on our
thresholds are heard the sounds of the departing feet
of those who in despair for their country, hopeless of
Peace or of justice, are leaving our broad, free, noble
land for the semi-civilized haciendas of Mexico or of
far-off tropical Brazil. Even now are their journals
Scattered freely among us—invitations, beckonings,
Sneers at the North, flattery of the South, fair prom-
ises, golden lures, every inducement held out to a
high-hearted and fainting people to cast their lot in
With them. Haste to arrest them by some display of
returning fraternity and consideration, ere for them we
Taise the saddest lament yet born of the war: “ Weep
ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him ; but weep
Sore for him that goeth away, for he shall return no
More, nor see his natiye country !”

 
a ES a. AO cette eee ou

~

‘2a Pau.

CHAPTER VIL

SCHOFIELD’S ARMY—SHERMAN’S—THEIR OUTRAGES—UNION SEN.
TIMENT—A DISAPPOINTMENT—NINETY-TWO YEARS AGO—GOV-
ERNOR GRAHAM—HIS ANCESTRY—HIS CAREER—GOVERNOR
MANLY.

Tue town of Goldsboro was occupied by General
Schofield’s army on the twenty-first of March. No
resistance was offered by the Confederates, who had
withdrawn in the direction of Smithfield, with the ex-
ception of one regiment of cavalry, which had a slight
skirmish with Schofield’s advance near the town.
General Schofield’s conduct toward the citizens of the
town was conciliatory. No plundering was allowed
by him ; efficient guards were stationed, and beyond
the loss of fences and outhouses torn down for firing,
ete., depredations on poultry-yards, etce., and a few
smoke-houses, there was but little damage done. But
in the surrounding country the outrages were innumer-
able, and in many places the desolation complete. On
the twenty-third of March General Sherman’s grand
army made its appearance, heralded by the columns
of smoke which rose from burning farm-houses on the
south side of the Neuse. For thirty-six hours they

poured in, in one continuous stream. Every available

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 95

Spot in the town, and for miles around it, was covered
with the two armies, estimated at one hundred and
twenty-five thousand men. General Sherman’s repu-
tation had preceded him, and the horror and dismay
with which his approach was anticipated in the coun-
try were fully warranted. The town itself was in a
Measure defended, so to speak, by General Schofield’s
Predccupation ; but in the vicinity and for twenty miles
round, the country was most thoroughly plundered
ind stripped of food, forage, and private property of
€very description. One of the first of General Sher-
Man’s own acts, after his arrival, was of peculiar hard-
Ship. One of the oldest and most venerable citizens
of the place, with a family of sixteen or eighteen child-
Ten andsgrandchildren, most of them females, was or-
dered; on a notice of a few hours, to vacate his house,
for the convenience of the General himself, which of
Course was done. The gentleman was nearly eighty

Years of age, and in very feeble health. The out-
houses, fences, grounds, ete., were destroyed, and the
Property greatly damaged during its occupation by,
the General. Not a farmshouse in the country but
Was visited and wantonly robbed. Many were burn-
€d, and very many, together with out-houses, were
Pulled down and hauled into camps for use. Gener-
ally not a live animal, not a morsel of food of any
description was left, and in many instances not a bed

°r sheet or change of clothing for man, Woman, or

child, It was most heart-rending to see daily crowds

of country people, from thtee-score and ten years of

*e, down to*the unconscious infant carried in its

 
OB Ac tel lia

asa

96 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

mother’s arms, coming into the town to beg food and
shelter, to ask alms from those who had despoiled
them. Many of these families lived for days on

_ parched corn, on peas boiled in water without salt,

of scraps picked up about the camps. The number
of carriages, buggies, and wagons brought in is almost
incredible. They kept for their own use what they —
wished, and burned or broke up the rest. General
Logan and staff took possession of seven rooms in the
house of John C. Slocumb, Esq., the gentleman of whose
statements I avail myself. Every assurance of pro-
tection was given to the family by the quartermaster ;
but many indignities were offered to the inmates,
while the house was as eff€ctually stripped as any

-other of silver plate, watches, weating apparel, and

‘money. Trunks and bureaus were broken open and
the contents abstracted. Not a plank or rail or post |
or paling was left anywhere upon the grounds, while —
fruit-trees, vines, and shrubbery were wantonly de-
Stroyed. These officers remained nearly three weeksy
occupying the family beds, and when they left the

_bed-clothes also departeds
It is very evident that General Sherman entered

ta

|

' North-Carolina with the confident expectation of re-_

ceiving a welcome from its Union-loving citizens. In
Major Nichols’s story of the Great March, he remarks,
on crossing the line which divides South from North-
Carolina: “The conduet of the soldiers is perceptibly
changed. I have seen no evidence of plundering, the
men keep their ranks closely ; and more remarkable yet
not a single column of the fire or smoke which a few —

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 97

days ago marked the positions of the heads of columns,
can be seen upon the horizon. Our men seem to
understand that they are entering a State which has
Suffered for its Union sentiment, and whose inhabit-
ants would gladly embrace the old flag again if they
Wan oh the opportunity, which we mean to give

tem, ; (page 222.) But the town-meeting and war
oman of the people of Fayetteville, the fight in

er streets, and Goyernor Vance’s proclamation, soon
Undeceived them, and théir amiable dispositiéns were
Speedily corrected and abandoned.

On first entering our State, Major Nichols, looking
Sharply about him, and fortunately disposed to do jus-
tice, under the impression that he was among friends,
declares: “It is not in our imagination alone that we
ben at once see a difference between South and North-
Carolina. The soil is not superior to that near Che-
raw, but the farmers are a vastly different class of men.
Thad always supposed that South-Carolina was agri-
Culturally superior to its sister State. The loud pre
tensions of the chivalry had led me to believe that the
Scorn of these gentlemen Was induced by the inferior-
ity of the people of the old North State, and that they
Were little better than “dirt-eaters ; but the strong
Union sentiment which has always found utterance
here should have taught me better. The real differ-
©nee between the two regions lies in the fact that here
the plantation owners work with their own hands, and
do not think they degrade themselves thereby. For
the first time since we bade farewell to salt water, I

have to-day seen an attempt to manure land. The

 
Sie aM nd i ll ec gt ee on

98 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

army has passed through thirteen miles or more of
splendidly-managed plantations ; the corn and cotton-
fields are nicely plowed and furrowed ; the fences are
in capital order; the barns are well built; the dwell-
ing-houses are cleanly, and there is that air of thrift
which shows that the owner takes a personal interest
in the management of-affairs,” (page 222.)

It happens curiously enough that North-Carolina,
ninety-two years ago, made much the same impres-

sion on a stranger then traveling peacefully through ,

her eastern border ; and his record is worth comparing
with the foregoing, as showing that her State individ-

uality was as strongly and clearly defined then as now, ~

and that the situation of our people in 1773 closely re-
sembled in some particulars that of their descendants
in 1865.

“The soils and climates of the Carolinas differ, but
Hot so much as their inhabitants. The number of ne-

he people of the Carolinas

to ir i
their general Sentiments, opinions, and judgments .
>

an ‘ ‘ :

a there is very little intercourse between them

Bis € present State of North-Carolina is really curi-
8 5 there are but five provincial laws in Sorce through

ty
Pe colony, and no courts at all in being. LVo one can
rec y
Over a debt, except before a single magistrate, wheré

certainly vary much as

: he re. as
sums are within his Jurisdiction, and offenders

esea * . *
‘pe with impunity. The people are in great con-

St i
Parise! about the mM&ter ; what will be the conse-
‘ence is problematical,” (Memoir of Josiah Quincy
?

ea oases
ta page 123.) The situation of North-Carolina dur-
& the last eight months of 1865 furnishes an exatt.,

Paraliel to the above concluding paragraph, and the...

P - s s and slaves is much less in North than in South- Whole may be taken as a fait illustration of the oft

Warolina. Their staple commodity is not so valuable,

not being in so great demand as the rice, indigo, ete.,
of the South. Hence labor becomes more necessary,
and he who has an interest of his own to serve is a
laborer in the field. Husbandmen and agriculture in-
crease in number and improvement. Industry is up

in the woods ‘at tar, pitch, and turpentine; in the .

fields plowing, planting, clearing, or fencing the land.
Herds and flocks become more numerous. You see
husbandmen, yeomen, and white laborers scattered
through the country instead of herds of negroes and

slaves. Healthful countenances and numerous fami-

*epeated sentiment that history but repeats itself,
Major Nichols’s impression of the old North State

Would scarcely have been go fi
avorabl
BS y expressed had

Stand army. O

re aon her people were to give the
ne week later, he writes: “Thus far
pa ( ater, h ; us far
- have been painfully disappointed in looking for

voter Sentiment in N orth-Carolina, about which
in ie ee said. Our experience is decidedly
ve : of its sister State, The city of Fayetteville
Mind ensiyely rebellious ;” and further on, “The

8 have shown more pluck at Averasboro and af

en ~
tonsville than we have encountered ‘since leaving
tlanta,” :

 
te eee

cage

- Aine
a .

100 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

While the Federal armies lay at Goldsboro, trains
were running day and night from Beaufort and from
Wilmington, conveying stores for the supply and com-
plete refit of Sherman’s army. The Confederate army,
lying between Goldsboro and Raleigh, having no sup-
plies or reénforcements to receive, waited grimly and
despairingly the order to fall back upon Raleigh, which

came as soon as General Sherman, having effected his -

interview with General Grant, had returned to Golds-
boro, with his future plan of action matured, and once
more,.on the tenth of April, set the grand army in

motion. . The scenes in Raleigh during the first week —

of Aptil were significant enough. The removal of
government stores, and of the effects of the banks ;

the systematic concealment of private property’ of
every description ; the hurried movements of troops
to and fro; the doubt, dismay, and gloom painted

_On every man’s face, told but too well the story

of anticipated defeat and humiliation. If there
were any who secretly exulted in the advance of the
Federal army, they were-not known. The near
est approach to any such feeling in any respectable
man’s breast was probably the not unnatural sense

of satisfaction with which men who had long seen’

their opinions derided and execrated now felt that —
their hour of vindication was arriving, the hour which —
every thoughtful man in the State had long since fore-

seen. The united North was too strong for the South,
and the weaker cause—whether right or wrong—was

doomed. I repeat, not a thoughtful or clear-headed

* man in North-Carolina but had foreseen this result 28

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 101

most probable, while at the same time not a thoughtful
man or respectable citizen within our borders but had
Considered it his duty as well as his interest to stand
by his State and do all in his power to assist her in the
awful strugglé. Till the Northern people, as a body,
can understand how it was that such conflicting emo-
tions held sway among us, and can see how an honor-
able people could resjst and deplore secession, and yet
fight to the last gasp in support of the Confederacy,
and in obedience to the laws of the State, it is idle
to hope for a fair judgment from them. This, how-
€ver, contradictory as it may seem to superficial observ-
ers, was the position of North-Carolina all through the
War, from its wild inception to its sullen close, and as
Such was defended and illustrated by her best and
Ablest statesmen. Foremost and most earnest in her
efforts to maintain peace and presérve the Union—for
she was the only State which sent delegates to both
the Northern and Southern peace conventions—she wasgy
Yet foremost also in the fight and freest in her expend- "9
iture of blood and treasure to sustain the common
Cause, which she had so reluctantly embraced; and
Now the time was fast approaching when she was
Again to vindicate her claims to supreme good sense
and disexetién, by being among the first to admit the
hopelessness and sin of further effort, and the first to .
offer and accept the olive-branch, —,

Frequently during the winter of 1864-65, had the
eyes of our people been turned toward our Senator in
the Confederate Congress, anxious for some public
€xpression of opinion as to the situation from him,

 
102 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

waiting to see what course he would indicate as most

properand honorable. For of those who stood fore- |
most as representative Nortlt-Carolinianis, of those who

possessed the largest share of personal popularity and
influence in the State, it is not too much to say that
Ex-Governor Granam was by far the most. conspicu-
ous and preéminent—the man of whom it may be said
more truly than of any other, that as he spoke so North-
* Carolina felt, and as he acted, so North-Carolina will-
ed. And now, in the approaching crisis, there was no
man by whose single deliberate judgment the whole
State would have so unanimously agreed to be guided,

It may be well to pause here and glance at Goy-
ernor Graham’s antecedents and associations, the bet-

ter to understand his claims to such prominence and
such influence.

In a country such as ours, where hereditary distine-
tions do not exist, it-is peculiarly pleasant to observe
such a transmission of principles, and virtues, and tal-
ents, as is exhibited in the Graham family. The father
of Governor Graham was General J oseph Graham, of
Revolutionary fame, than whom there did not exist a
more active and able partisan leader in North-Carolina.
In the affair at Charlotte in 1780, referred to in a pre-
ceding number, when one hundred and fifty militia,
under Colonel Dayie, gave the whole British army
under Cornwallis such a warm reception, most, effi-
cient aid was rendered by Major Joseph Graham, who
commanded a small company of volunteers on that
occasion. He was covered with wounds, and his re-
covery was considered by his friends as little short of

|
|

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 103

miraculous. But he was afterward distinguished in
many heroic exploits, and commanded in no less than
fifteen different engagements.

His youngest son, William Alexander, was born in
1804, in Lincoln county, graduated at the State Uni-
Versity in 1824, chose the profession of the law; and
ntered upon public life as member of the General As-
Sembly in 1833, three years before the death of his
Venerable father. The talents, patriotism, and energy
Which ‘had distinguished the Revolutionary patriot,
Were transmitted in full measure to his son, and North-
Carolina evinced her appreciation of his abilities by
retaining him in public office whenever he would con-
Sent to serve, from: the time of his first entrance. And
Governor Graham has never failed, has never been
Unequal to the occasion, or to the expectations formed
of him, however high. His very appearance gives as-
Surance of the energy, calm temper, high ability, and
nerve which have always characterized him. As a
lawyer and advocate, his reputation is eminent and
his suecess brilliant ; but it is as a statesman that his
Career is particularly to be noted now. He was
United States Senator in 1840, elected Governor of
the State in 1844, and reélected in 1846. His imme-
diate predecéssor in this office was the Hon J. M.
Morehead, previously referred to as a member of the
Peace Convention at Washington ; and his sticcessor
Was the Hon. Charles Manly—all Whigs—and Gov-
€rnor Manly, the last of that school of politics elected
to that office, previous to the civil war. Governor
Graham was appointed Secretary of the Navy in 1850, ©

:

 
a ie i a alll lie Nak a

tae

Sindee Aelia 3 sites

ee

104 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

by President Fillmore, which he resigned in 1852 on

receiving the nomination for Vice-President on the
ticket with General Scott. He was repeatedly mem- |

ber of the General Assembly, and in all positions has
merited and enjoyed the fullest and most unhesitating
confidence of the people he represented, worthy of
them and worthy of his parentage.

His connection in politics haying been ever with
the Whig party, he was thereby removed in the fur-

thest possible degree from any countenance to the —

doctrines of Nullification and Secession. Hence he
had éoneurred with Webster’s great speech in reply
to Hayne in 1830, with the proclamation of Jackson
in 1832, with Clay in 1850, and with the entire policy
of President Fillmore’s eminently national adminis-
tration. In February, 1860, he visited Washington
City to consult with such friends as Crittenden of
Kentucky, Rives of Virginia, and Granger of New-
York, on the dangers then environing and threaten-
ing the country, the result of which was a convention
nominating Bell and Everett for the Presidential tick-
et, with the motto, “The Union, the Constitution,
and the enforcement of the laws.” He canvassed the
State on his return home, for these candidates and
principles, warning the people, however, that there

was adikelihood of Mr, Lincoln’s election; and that

in such a case it was evidently the purpose of the Se-
cessionists who supported Breckinridge, to break up
the Government and involve the country in civil war.

Party, however, was at that time stronger than patri-
otism, and Breckinridge carried the State. On Mr. —

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 105

Lincoln’s eleetion, Governor Graham made public ad-
dresses, exhorting the’people to submit and yield due
obedience to his office. When. the Legislature that
winter ordered an election to take the sense of the
people on the call of a convention, and at the same
time to elect delegates, Governor Graham opposed
the call, and it was signally defeated in the State.
He was proposed as a Commissioner to the Peace

‘Convention at Washington, but was rejected. by the

secessionist majority because of his decided and open-
ly expressed Union sentiments.
After the attack on Fort Sumter, and the secession
of Virginia and of Tennessee, leaving North-Carolina
perfectly isolated among the seceded States, and with
civil war already begun, Governor Graham decided
to adopt the cause of the Southern States, but with

pain and reluctance, not upon any pretense of right,
but as a measure of revolution, and of nafional inter-

est and safety. He was a member of the convention
which in May, 1861, carried the State out of the Union,
and from the date of the secession ordinance he en-
deavored in good faith and honor to sustain the cause
of the Confederate States, but without any surrender
on the part of the people of the rights and liberties of
freemen, In the Convention of 1862, he delivered an
claborate speech in opposition to test oaths, sedition .
laws, the suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus,
and all abridgments of the constitutional rights of the
citizen, either by State conventions, or by Legislatures,
or by Congress, which may be’safely pronounced the
clearest and ablest vindication of the cardinal prin

 
106 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

ciples of civil liberty presented in the annals of the
Confederacy.

The expression of such views, such an evident de-
termination that the country should-be free, not only
in the end, but in the means, coupled with great mod-
eration of opinion as to the final result of the struggle,
and a total absence of all fire-eating proclivities, drew
down upon him the free criticism of the secession press
and- party, many of whom did not hesitate to brand
him as a traitor to the cause, notwithstanding the as-
surances he gave of five sons in the army, some one
of whom was in every important battle on the Atlan-
tic. slope, except Bull Run and Chancellorsville ; two
being present when the flag of Lee went down on his
last battle-field at Appomattox, while a third then lay
languishing with a severe and recent wound at Pe-
tersburg. Governor Graham’s sons derived no ad-
vantage from their father’s distinguished position in
North-Carolina, They received no favors or patron-
age from the Government, but were engaged in ardu-
ous and perilous service all through, in such subor-
dinate offices as were conferred by the election of their
comrades, or in the ordinary course of promotion.

No families in the State gave more freely of their

best blood and treasure in the support of the war than *

the Graham family and its connections. Governor
Graham’s younger sister, Mrs. Morrison, wife of the
Rey. Dr. Morrison, of Lincoln county, the first Presi-
dent of Davidson College, had three sons in the sor.
vice, and four sons-inlaw, namely, Major Avery, Gen-
eral Barringer, General D. H. Hill, and O praeclarum

- THE LAST NINETY DAYS: OF THE WAR. 107

et venerabile nomen, STONEWALL Jackson! Perhaps
no two families entered upon the rebellion more Te-
luctantly, nor in their whole course were more entirely
in unison with the views and feelings of the great
body of our citizens.

Major Avery, the youngest of Dr. Morrison’s sons-
in-law, was one of five brothers, sons of Colonel Isaac
T. Avery, of Burke; grandsons of Colonel Waightstill
Avery, who commanded a regiment during the revo-
lutionary war, and was a member of the Mecklenburg
Convention, and a colleague there of Major Robert
Davidson, Mrs. Morrison’s _maternal grandfather.
Three of these five brothers fell in battle. The
youngest, Colonel Isaac T. Avery, named for his
father, fell at Gettysburgh. He survived his wounds
i few minutes, long enough to beckon to his lieuten-

ant-colonel for a pencil and a scrap of paper,on which
With his dying fingers he assured his father that he

died doing his whole duty. His father, approaching
his eightieth year, received the note, stained with his
80n’s life-blood, and died a few weeks afterward. The
Oldest of the brothers, Waightstill, named® for his
Srandfather, and the pride of the family, was a son-in-
law of Governor Morehead, and his colleatue in the
first, Confederate Congress. He fell in Kirk’s raid
Near Morganton. Governor Morehead,* who was, with
the exception of the distinguished Presidént of the
University, Governof Swain, the oldest of the surviv-
ing ex-governors of the State, had two sons and two

* This distinguished gentleman has departed this life since ey sketches were
Srst published in Taw WatcHMAN,—EbiToR,

 
7
“108 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE Wan,

sons-in-law in the army; the two latter were killed.
Govornor Graham’s immediate successor as governor
—Charles Manly, of Raleigh—had three sons in the
army, all of whom saw hard service ; and three sons-
in-law, two of whom were killed. ‘There were not
wanting those in the dark hours of the contest who
spoke of it as “the rich man’s war, and the poor man’s
fight.”" These examples show that it was the war of
all. The rich and the poor met together, and mingled
their blood in a common current, and lie together

among. the unrecorded dead. The history of many.

families may be traced whose sacrifices were similar
_ to the above instances,

duty of those fitted for the work, to gather up these
records for posterity, and for the future historian and
annalist of the couritry. Many striking coincidences

© sand confiections in family history, many most. affect-

» “ing instances of unselfish devotion and of irreparable
loss," are yet,to be preserved by hands eager

ik

ars et To light the flame of a soldier’s fame
Re “an On the turf of a soldier's grave,”
3

And it is now the imperative

’

7
‘

|
|
|

«
OHAPTER VIIy

GOVERNOR GRAHAM OPPOSES SECESSION—BUT GOES WITH HIS
STATE—IS SENT TO THE CONFEDERATE SENATE—HIS AGEN-
CY IN THE HAMPTON ROADS INTERVIEW—REMARKABLE »
AND INTERESTING LETTERS FROM GOVERNOR GRAHAM, ;
WRITTEN FROM RICHMOND IN 1865.

. * : x
Wuarever distrust of Governor Graham was mani- ;
fested by those who had invoked the war, he was.

fully sustained by the people ; for the pee the

ordinance of secession by no means implied the ae 7 *
Sion of secessionists to power in the~ State. at ae
Step having been taken, the Confederate Constitution ~~;
ratified, and the honor and future destiny of our ‘peo-. 8
ple being staked on the revolution; Governor Graham _
Stood prepared to devote all the enérgies of the State

to give it success; and the mass of the people, not be- » =

ing willing to,forgive the authors of the move nity

demanded the services of the Union men who ha :
braced it asa necessity. Governor Graham was sent |
from the Legislatume by a majority of three fourths to * ~
the Confederate Senate, in December, 1863, on the re ~~ J
Signation of the Hon. George Davis, whovhad potnict a
the appointment of Attorney-Genefal in the Cabimet -_ ahs

‘ent

-

ey > 8
> :

of Pres Davis. Before the comme t of mys va 3

“=

 
      
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  

110 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

* terni, (May, 1864,) by means of conscription and im-
pressment laws, and the suspension of habeas corpus,
the whole population and resources of the country had
been placed at the command of the President for the
prosecution of the war. The implicit and entire sur-
render by the whole Southern people of their dearest
civil rights and liberties, of their lives and property
into the hands of the:Government, for the support of
a war, which, it may be safely asserted, the large ma-
jority were opposed to, will form a field of curious and
interesting speculation to the future historian and
philosopher. There can not be a higher compliment
paid to the character of our people, and the principles
in which they had been nurtured, than the fact that no
intestine disorders or disasters followed, upon such ex-
traordinary demands of power on the one part, and

“such extraordinary resignation of rights on the other.
Whatever the Confederate Government asked for its
own security, the people gave, and gave freely to the
last,’

The defeats at Gettysburgh and Vicksburgh had
turned the tide of success in favor of the North, and al-
though this was partially relieved by the minor victo-
ries of Plymouth and elsewhere, the hopes of ultimate
suécess were becoming much darkened.» Governor Gra-
ham had never doubted that the North hadthe physical
ability to conquer, if her people could be kept up to a
persevering effort, nor that our only chances depended
on their becoming wearied of the contest. As our for-
tunes lowered, all. men of* prevision and sagacity

_ tutned theirthoughts toward the possibility of over-

 

.f the Confederate States, (which, by the way, Gover-

  

 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 111

tures for peace as becoming daily of greater import-
ance and more imminent necessity. But how could
this be done? With a powerful enemy pressing us,
with war established by law, with entire uncertainty
4S to the terms to be expected in case of submission,
With the necessity imposed of making no public de-
Monstration which should dampen the artlor of our
troops, or depress still further the spirits of our peo-
Ple, and excite the hopes of the enemy; with such
Obstacles in the way, peace could not be approached
bya public man without involving the risk of in-
‘Ugurating greater evils than those he sought t6 avert. d
Besides. all this, by the adoption of the Constitution = §

nor Graham had vainly endeavored to preventwin
©onvention, without a second,) all legal power to ter- *
"nate the war had been surrendered to the President,
Any other method would have been revolutionary, and ~
have provoked civil strife among us, and, doubtless, *
Sharp retribution. . °
The only plan, therefore, which could afford reason- °
Able hope of success was to operate upon and through -
the President. This was attempted at the first’séssion
of Congress of which Governor Graham was a mem-
her, by secret resolutions introduced by Mr. Orr, the
Present Governor of South-Carolina, which, however,
4Uiled to get a majority vote of the Senate. ‘Governor
‘aham, who was deeply impressed with a sense of »
the absolute necessity of some movement toward
Peace, and who was not among the confidential friends )
of the President, attempted next to operate on him
‘“

            
112 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

through those who were in some measure influential
with him. By this means he had an agency in setting
on foot the mission to Fortress Monroe, the result of
which is well known. In the absence of Mr. Hunter

on that mission, Governor Graham was president pro —

tem. of the Senate. Disappointed and mortified by
that failure, he then approached President Davis dir
rectly, and the results were stated in his private cor-
respondence with a confidential friend in North-Caro-
lina. There can be no better exponent of Governor
Graham’s position and views at this momentous crisis in
our history, than is found in these letters, and I esteem
myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to present to
my readers such extracts from them as will assist my

pttpose. They are the letters of a consummate states-
man, and of a patriot, and need no heralding :

Ricumonp, January 28, 1865.

My Drar Str: The intervention of F. P. Blair, —
who has passed two or three times back and forth
* from Washington to this city recently, has resulted in

the appointment to-day by the President of an infor:

mal commission, consisting of Messrs. A. H. Stephens,
R. M. T. Hunter, and J. A. Campbell, to proceed to
Washington and confer with a like band there, on
the subject-matters of difference between the Northern
and Southern States, with a view to terms of peace,
The action of the Senate was not invoked, it is pre-
sumed because the appointment of formal ministers
might be considered inadmissible until the question of ©
recognition should be settled in our favor. Itrust that

.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 113

termination of hostilities will be the result. From sever-
al conversations with Mr. Hunter, in concert with whom
Thave been endeavoring to reach this form of inter-
Course since the commencement of the session of Con-
Sress, I am satisfied that the first effort will be to
establish ‘an armistice of as long duration as may be
allowed, and then to agree upon terms of settlement.
Upon the latter I anticipate great conflict of views.
The Northern mind is wedded to the idea of recon-
Struction, and notwithstanding the violence of the ex-
travagant Republicans, I am convinced would guar-
antee slavery as it now exists, and probably make other
Concessions, including of course, amnesty, restoration
of confiscated property, except’ slaves, and perhaps -
Some compensation for a part of these. On the other
hand, while the people of the South are wearied of

' the war, and are ready to make the greatest sacrifice

to end it, there’ are embarrassments attending the ab-
dication of a great government such as now wields the
power of the South, especially by the agents appointed
to maintain it, that are difficult to overcome, The
Commission is a discreet one, and upon the whole is
as well constituted as I expected, and I trust that good
will come of it. Ihave not seen amy of the gentlemen
Since hearing to-day of their appointment, and I learn
they are to set off to-morrow. Iam therefore ignorant
of thé instructions they may carry, if any have been
given. The Vice-President was not on terms witht the
head of the Government untila reconeiliation yesterday.
Although the North would seem to be bent om war
unless and until the Union be restored, they yet Te

 
114 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

gard us as a formidable foe, and I suspect the ruling
authorities estimate our power as highly as it de-
serves. The Secretary of State here, I understand,
says they have been frightened into negotiations by
the articles in the Richmond Enquirer, threatening a
colonial connection with England and France ; while
others, I hear from Mr. Rives, assert that the North
is much troubled by the proposition to make soldiers
of slaves. Ihave no faith in either of these fancies,
but have no doubt they regard us as far from being

subdued, and are willing to treat rather than incur the :

preparations for what they conceive necessary for final

success. An intelligent prisoner, Mr. Roulhac of Flori-,

da, recently returned, informs me that by the influence
of his mercantile acquaintance, he was paroled and
allowed to spend six weeks in the city of New-York,
and to travel to Washington, ete. According to his
observation, there is an abatement in the feelings of
hostility to the South, and a disposition to peace, but
upon the basis of reconstruction. Mr. Singleton of
Miinois, who has been here at times for two or three
weeks, and is a supposed quasi diplomat, but from the
company he keeps is more of a speculator, gives the
same account. The Virginia delegation in Congress,
having in view the Secretary of State, declared a
want of confidence in the cabinet, but struck no game
except their own Secretary of War.» He has resigned,
and Breckinridge, it is announced, is to suéceed him,
+ + + + & Tepkesentative of a State which has not
ten thousand men in our army. No reports are given
from official sources of the fallof Fort Fisher, Private

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 115 «

accounts represent it as a disgraceful affair. . + +

Mr. Trenholm insists on adding one hundred per
Cent to the taxes of last year, including tithes. He
isa good merchant and has talent, but is not versed
in the finances of a nation. General Lée has addressed
letter to a member of the Virginia Senate, advocating
the enlistment of slaves as soldiers, with emancipation
of themselves and families, and ultimately of the race.
With such wild schemes and confessions of despair as
this, it is high time to attempt peace, and I trust the
Commission above named may pave the way toit....

Very faithfully yours,
W. A. Grawam.

: BY Ricumonp, Feb, 5, 1865.
My Dear Sir: The commission to confer with the

Northern Government returned yesterday. evening. I
have not seen any of the gentlemen, but learn on good
authority that nothing was effected ofa beneficial

Nature; except that a general exchange of prisoners on
Parole may be looked for. They were met on ship-
board by Messrs. Lincoln and Seward in person, (in
Sight of Fortress Monroe,) who said they could enter-
tain no proposition looking to the independence of the
Southern States, and could only offer that these States
Should return to the Union under the Constitution in
the existing condition of affairs, with slavery as it is,
but liable sto be abolished by an amendment of the
Constitution. ley brought also the information that
Congress, on Wednesday last, had passed a bill, 4
® vote of one hundred and eighteen to fifty-four, to

Q

 
      
  
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
    
   
 
 

116 THE DAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

amend the Constitution, so as to abolish slavery. in
the States, which is to be submitted to the State Legis-
latures for approval of thyee fourths, These officers
are said to have exhibited great courtesy and kindness
in the interview, Lincoln recurring to what he had
been willing to do in the outset, and from time to
time since, but that public opinion now demanded his
present ultimatum. The Commissioners saw large
numbers of black troops on their journey. I have seen
but few persons to-day; but the impression will be
that there is no alternative but to prosecute the war.
The administration is weak in the estimation of Con-
gress, and a vote of want of confidence could be car-
ried through the Senate if approved by those it has
been accustomed to consider Opposition. Iam not sure
that this vote will not be carried as to the Secretary
of State. Senator Hill left yesterday for Georgia, to
attend the session of the Legislature, and endeayor to
revive public confidence, ete. The committee of out
Legislature left the evening before the return of the
Commissioners, disposed, I believe, to await further
progress of events. The situation is critical, and re-
quires a guidance beyond human ken.
Very truly yours.

Ricumonp, Feb. 12, 1865.
My Dear Sm: You will have*seen in the papers

the report of the Commissioners appointed to confer -

with the United States Government, with the message

of the President, as well as his speech at the African

Church, the addresses ot the Seeretary of State, and
* Ry

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF ol: WAR. 117

of several members of Congress, at a public meeting
to give expression to sentiment on the result of the
Mission. Judging from@®these, and “the editorials
of the newspapers of this city, there would appear
to be nothing in contemplation but bella, horrida
bella. _I was not present at any of these proceed-
ings, but learn that the assemblages were large and
apparently very enthusiastic ; ‘but no volunteers were
Called for, nor any offered. Instead of that, labored
arguments were made in favor of making soldiers of
Slaves, The speech of the Secretary of State went far
beyond the newspaper reports, and its imprudences in
his situation are the subject of severe criticism. He
declared among other things, “that unless the slaves
Were armed, the cause was lost ;” with revelations of
details of the attempt at negotiation, exceedingly im-
Politic, All these demonstrations are likely to pass
off as the idle wind, and the great question still re- .
Mains, What is to be done to save the country ? Mr.
Stephens and Judge Campbell refused to make any
public addresses. The former has gone home, and it
is understood does not design to speak in public there,
though the papers have announced the contrary, . . -
It seems they were under instructions not to treat ex--
cept upon the basis of independence, and carried To-
mantic propositions about an armistice, coupled with
4n alliance to embark in a war with France, to main-
tain the Monroe doctrine, and expel Maximilian from
Mexico, Lincoln was courteous and apparently anxt-
ous for a settlement; but firm in the announcement
that nothing could be entertained till our difficulties

   
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
   
   
   
  
  
 
 
  
   
  
  
obo Tie) Sams i tia eal raiicai

i

Se idan

a

118 THE “ae NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

were adjusted, and that upon the basis of a restoration —

of the Union. That as far as he had power as Presi-

dent, amnesty, exemption from confiscation, etc., should.

be freely extended; reviewed- his announcements in
his inaugural, proclamations, messages, etc., to show.
what he considered his liberality to the South, and
that he could unsay nothing that he had’ said. As ‘to
slavery, it must stand on the legislation of Congress,
with the proposed amendments to the Constitution,
which he informed them had passed both Houses, but
which the dissent of ten States could still reject.
These terms not being agreed to, he and Seward rose
to depart, but with a manifestation of disappointment,
» as inferred by my informant, that propositions were
not submitted on our side, Thus terminated the con-
ference. There is a widening breach between the Presi-

dent and Congress ; a growing opinion on their part.
that he is unequal to the present duties of his, position, ©

while there is a division of opinion as to the prospect
of relief in a different line of policy and under different
auspices. The military situation is threatening. Grant
has been reénforced. Sherman seems to advance
almost without impediment, and with divided coun-
sels among our generals in that quarter, Judge Camp-
bell thinks another mission should be sent 3 but re-
gards it as out of the question in the temper and with
the committals of the President. Our Legislature has
adjourned; that of Georgia meets this week. Speed
in affairs #3 necessary. There is not time for States
to.act in concert, (without which they can effect noth-
ing,) nor sufficient harmonyof views here for action

te

THE ‘LASI NINETY DAYS OF rit WAR. 119

‘

Without the executive ; and many, perhaps a majority,
are for the most desperate expedients. A short time
Will bring forth important results, Phave written
very freely, bué in confidence that you would observe
the proper secrecy. I would be glad towave any sug-
Sestions that may occur to you. Opportunities for
Consultation here are not so numerous as I could wish.
- Very truly yours.

Ricumonp, Feb. 22, 1865.

My Dear Sm: . ... . A bill to conscribe
negroes in the army was postponed indefinitely in the
Senate yesterday, in secret session. I argued it at
length as unconstitutional according to the Dred Scott
decision as well as inexpedient and dangerous. A bill
for this purpose, which had passed the House, was
laid on the table. There may be attempts to revive
this fatal measure. All the influence of the adminis-
tration and of General Lee was brought to bear, but
Without success. An effort is being made to instruct
the Virginia senators to vote for it. Mr. Benjamin
has been writing letters to induce the brigades of the
army to declare for %. I rather regret that I did not
Join in a yote of want of confidence.in him, which
Only failed. Had I gone for it, I learn it would have

en carried by a considerable majority. :

The military situation is exceedingly critical. There
Will be no stand made short of Greensboro ; whether
there successfully, is doubtful. . . « Opinion
‘8S growing in favor of more negotiations, to rescue ”
the wreck of our affairs,af military results continue

=

 
120 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

adverse. Ishall meet some friends this eyening on
that topic. I write in haste. As to matters of confi-
dence, please Observe the proper secrecy. It is the
duty of the people to sustain the war till their author-
ities, Confedgrate or State, determine otherwise. But
in the mean time there is no reason for inflamed reso-
lutions to do what may be found impossible, and which
they may be compelled to retract.

Very truly yours,
W. A. Granam.

*

The publication of further extracts from these repre-
sentative letters must be deferred to the succeeding
chapter. Meanwhile the thoughtful student of the
events of that day will recognize the direct hand of
Providence in the continuation of the war till the utter

failure of our resources was so fully manifest that

peace, when it came, should be unchallenged, profoundy —

and universal. ‘ ah
*

CHAPTER IX.

STATE OF PARTIES—THE FEELING OF THE PEOPLE— THE
“PEACH” PARTY—IMPORTANT LETTER FROM GOVERNOR VANCE
IN JANUARY, 1864—HIS REMLECTION—THE WAR PARTY—
THE PEACE PARTY—THE MODERATES—GOVERNOR GRAHAM'S
LETTER OF MARCH, 1865—EVACUATION OF RICHMOND.

Hz who would write a history of public eyents
Passing in his own day will find, among the many
Obstacles in the way of a clear and correct delineation,
that he is continually met with doubts and hesitations
in his own mind as to the impartiality of his views
and decisions. The prejudices of party feeling must
inevitably confuse and blind to some extent even the
Clearest judgment; and while a consciousness of this
Tenders the faithful historian doubly anxious to exer-
,_ Se strict impartialit¥, he will find himself embarrassed

Y the divisions and subdivisions of opinion, bewildered

Y Conflicting representations, and in danger of be-
Yoming involved in contradictions and inconsistencies.
Th the first chapter of these sketches it was remarked,
With reference to the North and the South, that there
Was too much to be forgotten and too much to be for
S1ven between them, to hope at present for a fair and
“nprejudiced history of the war on either side. In re-

a

 
ee? Tan Sa a 7 lA Alls a Sag

122 ‘THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

lation to the parties that existed among ourselves dur.

ing the war, it is equally true that the time has not yet

arrived for a fair statement or comparison of their re-

spective merits or demerits. While there is much
that may be written and much that has been written
which may with propriety be given to the public, there
is much more that must at present be suppressed or

_ receive only a passing notice. More especially is this

true in regard to the secession party and its adherents.
Yet in presenting even these slight sketches of the
state of things during the war in North-Carolina, it
would be impossible to ignore them, and unfair to re:
present them as without influence among us. For
while it is incontestably true that the great mass of

our people engaged reluctantly in the war, and hailed ~
the prospect of peace and an honorable reiinion, yet —

there was at the same time hardly a town in the State
or an educated and refined community which did not
furnish their quota of those who, without having been
original secessionists, yet had thrown themselves with
extreme ardor on the side of the Southern States rights,
and were ready to go all lengths in support of the
war, and who are even now, though helpless and power
less, unwilling to admit that they were either in the
wrong or in the minority. With many of them it was
the triumph of heroic sentiment and generous feel
ing over the calmer suggestions of reason, for they
were chiefly among our most refined and highly culti-

vated citizens. As a party, if not numerous, they

were well organized and compact; they were socially
and politically conspicuous, and did most of the writ

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 123

ee ase talking. They differed from the great body
ms a fellow-citizens, chiefly in the intensity of their
‘ yalty toward President Davis and his government—
“ng resolved to support him at all hazards—and in
the implacable temper they manifested toward the
common enemy. One who mingled freely with both
Parties, and by turns sympathized with both, and who
Would fain do justice.to both, will find it impossible to
adjust their conflicting representations, and at the same
time observe the prudent reticence which our present
Circumstances imperatively demand. Two of the most
Prominent arid influential leaders of the war party,
Governors Ellis and Winslow, have passed beyond the
reach of earthly tribunals, and of the living actors it is
Obvious that no mention can now be made, Very dif-
ferent but no less cogent reasons impose a similar reti-
Cence in relation to the more numerous but not more
respectable or influential organization known as the
“Peace Party” of the last eighteen months of the war,
and as “Union men of the straitest sect” at this day.
Of this party, Governor Holden is the admitted found-
er and the present head, and Senator Pool his most
Prominent exponent. A representation of their princi-
Ples and their history should be made by themselves.
They possess all the materials and all the abilities
requisite for the work, and*they owe it to themselves
4nd to the public to place it on record for the judg-
Ment of their cotemporaries and of posterity. They
‘nd they alone are competent to the performance of
‘this duty in the best manner, The precise date of the
farliest formation of this party is given in the follow-

 
124 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

ing letter from Governor Vance, which is inserted here,
not only as affording a clear view of the principles
which guided his course of action, but as enabling the
reader to comprehend Governor Graham’s policy, ex-
hibited in the further extracts from his correspond-
ence. ;

This letter was addressed by Governor Vance to the
same friend who received the letter given in my first
number, and is marked by the’ same clearness and
energy of thought, the same generosity of feeling, and
the same unaffected ardor of patriotism which char-
acterize all of the Governor’s letters that I have» been
privileged to see.

Raxeren, January 2, 1864. ~ J
My Dear Sir: The final plunge which I have been

dreading and avoiding—that is to separate me from a
large number of my political friends, is about to be
made, It is now a fixed policy of Mr. Holden and
others to call a convention in May to take North-Car-
olina back to the United States, and the agitation has
already begun. Resolutions advocating this course
were prepared a few days ago in the Standard office,
and sent to Johnson county to be passed at a public
meeting next week; and a series of meetings are to be.
held all over the State,

For any cause now existing, or likely to exist, I can:
never consent to this course.

Never, But should it be inevitable, and I be unable
to prevent it, as I have no right to suppose I could, be-
lieving that it would be ruinous alike to the State and
the Confederacy, producing war and devastation at

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 125

home, and that it would steep the name of North-Car-
Olina in infamy, and make her memory a reproach
“mong the nations, it is my determination quietly to
retire to the army and find a death which will enable
my children to say that their father was not consent-
ng to their degradation. This may sound a little wild
and romantic—to use no stronger expression—but it is
for your eye only. I feel, sir, in many respects, as a
Son toward you; and when the many acts of kindness
T have received at your hands are remembered, and
the parental interest you have always manifested for
my welfare, the feeling is not unnatural I therefore
*pproach you frankly in this matter.

I will,not present the arguments against the pro-
Posed proceeding. ‘There is something to be said on -
both sides. We are sadly pushed to the wall by the
enemy on every side, it is true. That can be answered
by military men and a reference to history. Many
people have.been worse off, infinitely, and yet tri-
umphed.- Our finances and other material resources
are not in worse condition than were those of our fa-
thers in 1780—81, though repudiation is inevitable.
Almost every argument against the chances of our suc-
©ess can be answered but one: that is the cries of wo-
men and little children for bread! Of all others, that
‘8 the hardest for a man of humane sentiments to meet,
“specially when the sufferers rejoin to your appeals to
their patriotism, “You, Governor, have plenty; your
children have never felt want.” Still, no great politi-
cal or moral blessing ever has been or can be attained
Without suffering. Such is our moral constitution, that

 
126 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

liberty and independence can only be gathereéof blood
and misery, sustained and fostered by devoted patriot-
ism and heroic manhood. This requires a deep hold
on the popular heart ; and whether our people are will-
ing to pay this price for Southern independence, I am
somewhat inclined to doubt. But, sir, in tracing the
sad story of the backing down, the selfimposed degra-
dation of a great people, the historian shall not say it
was due to the weakness of their Governor, and that
Saul was consenting unto their death! Neither do I
desire, for the sake of a sentiment, to involve others in
a ruin which they might avoid by following more ig-
noble counsels. As God liveth, there is nothing which
I would not do or dare for the people who so far be-

yond my deserts have honored me. But in resisting —

this attempt to lead them back, humbled and degraded,
to the arms of their enemies, who haye slaughtered
their sons, outraged their daughters, and wasted their
fields with fire, and lay them bound at.the feet of a
master who promises them only life, provided they will
swear to uphold his administration, and surrender to
the hangman those whom they themselves placed in
the position which constitutes their crime—in resist-
ing this, I say, I feel that I am serving them truly,
worthily.

In approaching this, the crisis of North-Carolina’s
fate, certainly of my own career, I could think of no
one to whom I could more appropriately go for advice
than yourself for the reasons before stated. If you can
say any thing to throw light on my path, or enable me
to avoid the rocks before me,I shall be thankful. My

Fiscal

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 127

Sreat anxiety now, as I can scarcely hope to avert the
Contemplated action of the State, is to prevent civil
war, and to preserve life and property as far as may be
Possible. With due consideration on the part of pub-
lic men, which I fear is not to be looked for, this might
he avoided, It shall be my aim, under God, at all
events,

All the circumstances considered, do you think I
Ought again to be a candidate ? _It is along time to the
election, it is true, but the issue will be upon the coun-
try by spring. My inclination is to take the stump
carly, and spend all my time and strength in trying
to warm and harmonize the people,

° . . . .

Believe me, my dear sir, yours sincerely,
Z. B. Vance.

Governor Vance, it is well known, took the field
Against this new party; and in the overwhelmine ma-
jority with which he was reélected the following sum-
Mer, convincing proof was given that much as North-
Carolinians desired peace, they were not willine to
take irregular or revolutionary measures to obtain it,
and that they preferred even a. hopeless war to a dis-
honorable reiinion. :
Besides the Moderates, who constituted the bulk of
the people, and the War Party, and the “ Peace Party,”
there were many besides of a class which can never be
influential, but may well be counted among the dmpedi-
mentaof all great movements ; who, unable to answer
the arguments of either side, could give no counsel to

Sm.

 
as aN as SE

Fac 3 Mite fie cane

128 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

either, though they were always prepared to blame any

unsuccessful movement made in any direction. These,

overwhelmed by doubts and fears in the moment of peril,
could only wring their hands in hopeless inefliciency.
Surrounded with such conflicting elements, those who
fain would have led the people “ by aright way,” found
the obstacles interposed by party spirit almost insur
mountabler In presenting Governor Graham, therefore,
as a representative North-Carolinian, it must be borne
in mind that there were many men among us true and
patriotic, but so ardently devoted to the cause of the
Confederacy as to remain to the lagt implacable toward
any attempt at negotiation, who looked upon all swe-
gestions tending that way as dastardly and traitorous
to the South, and who, backed by the whole civil and
military Confederate authorities, were ready to brand
and arrest as traitors the authors of any such move.
With these reflections, I resume the extracts from
Governor Graham’s correspondence, assured that his
inaction in the momentous crisis, deprecated as it was
at the time, by one party as evincing too little energy
in behalf of peace, if not a disposition to continue the
war; and reviled by the other as indicative of a dis-
position toward inglorious surrender and reconstruc
tion, was in effeet masterly, that masterly inactivity
with which he who surveys the tumult of conflict from

an eminence, may foresee and calmly await the ap-
proaching and inevitable end.

Ricumonp, March 12, 1865.
My Dear Str: The passing week will develop inm-
portant events, The President has requested Con-

\

have been killed by them. :

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 129

706 ag Prolong its session to receive communications
ae . desires to make. Three days have since
— % » but nothing but routine messages have thus
baht oon received, I am not at liberty to anticipate
a 18 Coming, or probably to reveal it when re-

Cived; but doubtless the whole horizon of the situ-
_Ation will be surveyed, and an occasion presented for

cterminate action as to the future. In my opinion,

© 18 powerless, and:can neither make peace for our
Security nor war with success. But nous verrons,

_ The bill to arm slayes has become a law. It pro-
fesses to take them only with the consent of their mas-

ters; and in the event of failure in this, to call on the

tate authorities to furnish. I trust no master in
orth-Carolina will volunteer or consent to begin this

Process of abolition, as I feel very confident the Gen-
cral Assembly will not.

We hear the enemy are near Fayetteville, notwith-
Standing the check to Kilpatrick by Hampton. I
think our officers of state, except the Governor, should
not leave Raleigh, but should claim protection for the
State property from fire or other destruction, if the
enemy come there. <A raid of Sheridan’s force has
been above this city some days, destroying the James

Iver Canal and other property ; and. last night, at
One a.m., the alarm-bell was rung, calling out the local
force for the defense of the city, it being reported that
the enemy was within seven miles. It is said to-day

oft the party has joined Grant below Richmond.
°mmander Hollins and several citizens are said to

.

 
:
fh
i

S sta OD Sl Tak

*

130 THE LAST ‘NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

You may conceive that the path of those intrusted
with the great interests of the people is beset with
difficulties ; but it must be trodden with what serenity
and wisdom we may command.

Very truly yours, W. A. Granam.
Hirtszoro, N. C., March 26, 1865.

My Dear Sir: Iam much indebted for your note
by Dr. H—. I arrived at home on this day week,
and the next day went to Raleigh to have an inter-
view with the Governor on the subject-matter referred
to in your letter. The result was.a convocation of the
Council of State to assemble to-morrow. The Legis-
lature of Virginia has taken a recess until the twenty-
ninth instant, and I think it very important that that
of North-Carolina shall be in session as early there-
after as possible. The war is now nearly reduced to
a contest between these two States and the United
States. The military situation is by no means favor-
able, and I perceive no solution of our difficulties ex-
cept through the action of the States. The public
men in the service of the Confederacy are so tram-
meled by the parts they have borne in past events,
and their apprehensions as to a consistent record, that
the government does not answer the present necessi-
ties of the country. I wish, if possible, to see you in
the course of this week. for a full conference on these
important topics. The Governor is, I think, reason-
able, but was much surprised by some of the facts I com-
municated to him. Ido not know the disposition of
the Council. If the Legislature ghall be convened, I

|

f

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 131

Will attend their session, and if desired, will address
them in private meeting. Much pertaining to the
Present position of affairs can not with propriety be
communicated to the public. ;

_ Treceived last night a telegram from my son James,
Informing me that his brothers John and Robert were
both wounded—the former in both legs, the latter in
the left, in an attack by General Lee on the left of
Grant’s line yesterday morning. I am expecting an-
other message to-night from General Ransom, which
may occasion me to go to Petersburg to attend to
them. Lee was successful in surprising the enemy
and driving him from three lines of intrenchments
and taking five hundred prisoners ;. but by a concen-
trated fire of the artillery of the foe, was compelled to
retire. James says he was unhurt. ‘

Tam also under a great necessity to go to the Ca-
tawba, but with a large force of reserve artillery all
around us, and some apprehensions of the advance of
Sherman, I know not which way to turn. *

I had a conversation with Governor Morehead at
Greensboro, and believe he realizes the situation,

Very sincerely yours, W. A. Gramam.

If the Legislature of Virginia convened at Richmond
on the twenty-ninth of March, 1865, small time was
allowed for their deliberations; and it would have
been of very little practical utility if the General As-
Sembly of North-Carolina had been summoned to cor-
respond with it at that date. On the second of April,
Richmond was evacuated, Qur President and his

 
132 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR,

cabinet were fugitives in the clear starlight* of that
woful night ; our capital was delivered over to a mob,
and in flames. But we did not even dream of it. It
was more than a week before the certain intelligence
was received in Central Carolina, and even then many
doubted. Dismal rumors from Lee’s army, of the fall
of Petersburg, of the fate of Richmond, were whis-
pered, but were contradicted every hour by those
whose wish was father to the thought that there was
hope yet, that all was not lost. We were indeed in
the very turning-point and fatal crisis of the great
Southern States rights struggle ; but we hardly real-
ized through what an era of history we were living.
In the quiet and secluded village in which I now
write, the uninterrupted order of our daily life afford-
ed a strong confirmation of the great English histori-
an’s saying, that in all wars, after all, but a compara-
tively small portion of a nation are actually engaged
or affected. The children plan their little fishing-
parties, the plow-boy whistles in the field, the wed-
ding-supper is provided, and the daily course of ex-
ternal domestic life in general flows as smoothly as
ever, except immediately inthe track of the armies.
It is not indifference nor insensibility. It is the wise
and. beneficent order of Providence that it should be
with the body politic as with our physical ‘frame.
"One part may suffer mutilation, and though a sympa-
thetic. thrill of anguish pervade every nerve of the
whole body, yet the natural functions are not sus-
pended in any other member. Men must lie down,
and sleep, and eat, and go through the ordinary rou-

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. _ 133

tine of daily duty in circumstances of the most tragic
interest. It is only on the stage that they tear their
hair and lie prostrate on the ground. So we still ex-
changed our Confederate money with each other—the
bright, new, clean twenties and tens, which we tried
to believe were worth something, for there was still a
faint magical aroma of value hovering round those

promises to pay “six months after a treaty of peace
with the United States;” $25 a yard for country

jeans, $30 a yard for calico, $10 for a pair of cotton
socks, $20 for a wheat-straw hat, $25 for a bushel of
meal, and $10 to have a tooth pulled, and very cheap
at that— if we -had only known all. Mothers were
still preparing boxes for their boys in the army; the
farmer got his old battered tools in readiness for his
spring’s work; the merchant went daily to preside
over the scanty store of thread, needles, and buttons,
remnants of calico, and piles of homespun, which now
constituted his stock: in trade; and our little girls still
held their regular meetings for knitting soldiers’
socks, all unconscious of the final crash go near, while.
the peach-trees were all abloom and spring was put-
ting on all her bravery.

 
CHAPTER X.

GENERAL JOHNSYON PREPARING TO UNCOVER RALEIGH—URGENT
LETTER FROM GOVERNOR SWAIN TO GOVERNOR GRAHAM—
GOVERNOR GRAHAM’S REPLY—A, PROGRAMME OF OPERATIONS
AGREED UPON—FINALLY GOVERNORS GRAHAM AND SWAIN
START FOR SHERMAN’S HEADQUARTERS,

Wuen the intention of General Johnston to uncoy-
er the city of Raleigh became generally known, and
when the retrograde movement of his army com-
menced in the direction of Chapel Hill, and along the
line of the Central Railroad; when General Wheel-
er’s troopers, followed hard by Kilpatrick’s command,
poured along our country roads, and the people gave
half of their provision to the retreating friends, and
were stripped of the other half by the advancing foe;
there were few thoughtful persons in Orange county
whose waking and sleeping hours were not: perturbed
and restless,

What could be done? Whither were we tending?
What was to be the result? An hour or two of anx
ious reflection on such questions before day on the
morning of April 8th, induced Governor Swain, Pre-
sident of the University of North Carolina—than
whom, though immured in the cloisters of a venerable

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 135

«

literary {nstitution, no man in the Confederacy took a
keener interest in the progress of public events, sur-
veyed the action of parties with more sagacious ap-
prehension, or was oftener consulted by leading men—
induced him to rise at an early hour and make another
effort to influence the public authorities of the State
to adopt immediate measures for saving what remain-
ed of the country from devastation, and the seat of
government and the University from the conflagration
which had overwhelmed the capitals of our sister

States. He wrote the Subjoined letter to Governor
Graham, at daylight ; but such was the apprehension
of the time, that it was difficult to find a messenger,
and still more difficult to procure a horse to bear it
from the University to Hillsboro. By ten that morn-
ing it was on the way, and by six in the evening Gov-
ernor Graham’s reply was received.

; Cuaret Hinz,
Saturday Morning, April 8, 1865. '

My Dear Sir: Since the organization of the State
government, in December, 1776, North-Carolina has
never passed through so severe an ordeal as that we
are how undergoing. Unless something can be done
to prevent it, suffering and privation, and death—
death in the battle-field, and death in the most horri-
ble of all forms, the slow and lingering death of fam- °
ine, are imminent to thousands, not merely men, but
women and children.

The General Assembly, by its own resolution, is not
to meet until the 16th of May. If the Governor shall

 
136 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

“* desire to convene the members at an earlier day, it
may not, in the present state of the country, be possi-
ble to effect his purpose. Some of the members will
find it impossible to reach Raleigh in the existing
state of the railroads, others may be in danger of arrest
if they shall attempt it in any way, and there are few
who can leave home without peril to person or prop-
erty. We are compelled, then, to look to other sources
for relief from the dangers by which we are environed.
In ancient times, when the most renowned of republics
experienced similar trials, the decree went forth:

“* Viderent consules ne quid detrimenti respublica
caperet.” 5

A dictatorship is, in my opinion, repugnant to every
principle of civil liberty, and I would neither propose
nor support one under any existing circumstances,
But something must be done, and done immediately,
or the opening campaign will be brief and fatal. An-
archy may ensue, and from anarchy the descent to a
military despotism is speedy and natural.

The State has no such citizen to whom all eyes turn
with deep anxiety and confident hope for the counsel
and guidance demanded by the crisis, as yourself,
Fully satisfied of this fact, I venture to suggest the
propriety of your meeting me in Raleigh on Monday
morning, and inviting a conference with the Governor
on the state of public affairs. He numbers among his
many friends none who have yielded him earlier, more
constant, or more zealous support, in the trying cir-
cumstances in which Providence has been pleased to
place him, than ourselves. I am the oldest of his pre-

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 187

decessors in his office, and about the time of your en-
trance into public life, was summoned to the discharge
of similar duties in the midst of similar perils. I
have had from him too numerous and decided proofs
of confidence, respect, and affection, to doubt that he
will listen to me kindly ; and I know that he will re-
ceive you with as great cordiality and give as favora-
ble consideration to your suggestions as he would
yield to any citizen or functionary in the Confederacy.
Perhaps he may be disposed not only to hear us, but
to invite all his predecessors—Morechead, Manly, Reid,
Bragg, and Clark—to unite with us in consultation at
a time and under circumstances calling for the exer-
cise of the highest powers of statesmanship, At pre-
sent, I do not deem it incumbent on me, even if
my views were more fully matured, to intimate the
ideas I entertain of what must be done, and done
promptly, to arrest the downward tendency of public

affairs.

ee
I content myself with simply urging that you shall

meet me in Raleigh, as above proposed, on Monday,
if it be possible, and if you concur with me in opinion
that we are in the midst of imminent perils.

Yours very sincerely,
D. L. Swat.

Hittsporo, April 8, 1865.

My Dear Sir: Yours of this date has just been
received, and I entirely concur in your estimate of the

dangers that environ us. .
LI left Richmond thoroughly convinced that—

 
“

138 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

. 1st. Independence for the Southern Confederacy
was perfectly hopeless.

2d. That through the administration of Mr, Davis
we could expect no peace, so long as he shall be sup-
plied with the resources of war; and that

3d. It was the duty of the State government imme-
diately to move for the purpose of effecting an adjust-
ment of the quarrel with the United States.

I accordingly remained at home but twenty-four
hours (that being the Sabbath, and having had no
sleep the night preceding) before repairing to Raleigh

_to lay before the Governor such information as I pos-
sessed, and to urge him to convene the General As-
sembly immediately.. I told him that Richmond would
fall in less than thirty days, and would be followed
probably by a rout or dispersion of Lee’s army for
want of food, if for no other cause. That the Confed-
erate Government had no plan or policy beyond this
event, although it was generally anticipated. That I
had reason to believe that General Lee was anxious

- for an accommodation. That Johnston had not and

could not raise a sufficient force to encounter Sher-

a man. That I had conferred with the President, and

s
found him, though in an anxious frame of mind, con-

strained by the scruple that he could not “ commit
suicide” by treating his Government out of existence,
nor even ascertain for the States what terms would
be yielded, provided they consented to reiidopt the
Constitution of the United States. That the wisest
and best men with whom I had been associated, or
had conversed, were anxious for a settlement ; but

*

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 139%

were so trammeled by former committals, and a false
pride, or other like causes, that they.were unable to
move themselves, or in their States, but were anxious
that others should ; and that it was now the case of a
beleaguered garrison before a superior force, consider-
ing the question whether it was best to capitulate on
terms, or hold out to be put to the sword on a false

point of honor.
The Governor was evidently surprised by my state-

ment of facts, and, I apprehend, incredulous at least as
to my conclusions. He agreed to consider the sub-
ject, and to convene the council on that day week. I

‘heard nothing of their action, and being solicitous on

the subject, on Thursday last I visited Raleigh again,
found the Governor on the cars here ‘returning from
Statesville, and we journeyed together, and I dined
with him after arrival. He said he had purposed visit-
ing me, but it had been neglected ; that a bare guorwm

of his council attended the meeting, and being equally,

divided, he had not summoned the Legislature; but
that Mr. Gilmer, whom I had advised him to consult,
and every body else now he believed agreed with me

in opinion. He had recently seen Mr. Gilmer, and he 3

suggested to him to solicit an interview with General
Sherman on the subject of peace. I told him that
President Davis would probably complain of this, and
should be apprised of it if held. He replied that this
of course should be done. I suggested, however, that
even if this course were taken, he should be in a posi-
tion to act independently of the President, and there-
fore should convene the General Assembly. On this

oo PVRS RIE OR ew See: ae ITE?

 
°

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

5

he was reluctant, but finally agreed to call the Coun-
cil of State again. I told him in parting, that if, in
any event, he supposed I could be useful to him, to no-
. tifyme, and I would attend him. I am induced to be-
lieve that the result of the deliberation of the council
was not disagreeable to him; but since the fall of
Richmond+he has a truer conception of the situation.
I wrote him a note on the day the council met, advis-
ing him of your concurrence in the necessity of calling
the General Assembly. He went, on Friday last, to
witness a review of Johnston’s army, and proposed to

me to accompany him. I declined; not seeing any
good to be accomplished there. General Johnston I

know, and appreciate him highly.

T hope you will go, as you propose, to see Governor
Vance. I thought of inviting you to my first inter-
view with him; and if he shall contrive a meeting
with Sherman, I hope you may be present. I do not
think it necessary, perhaps not advisable myself, to
visit him again on these topics. My conversations
with him were very full and earnest. I told him I
should attend the session of the General Assembly,
and if desired would address them injgecret session ;
that I had had confidential conversations with a com-
mittee of the Virginia Legislature, which had taken a
recess for ten days, and that it was important to act
in concert with that body; that my colleagues in the
House, the Leaches, Turner, Ramsay, Fuller, and Lo-
gan, were ready to call a session of the A&sembly to-
gether by advertisement ; but all this had no effect in

~

"3 ~
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 4141,

procuring a recommendation to the council in favor
of the call.

I do not perceive that any thing will be gained by ©
a convention of those who have held the office of chief
magistrate. . . . Prejudices are still rife, and the
poison of party spirit yet lurks in the sentiments of
many otherwise good men, who swear by the Admin-
istration, and will wage indefinite war while other
people can be found to fight it.

Suppose you come to my house to-morrow, and take
the cars from here next morning. There is much to
say that I can not write. I set off to Chapel Hill this
morning to see you; but riding first to the dépdt to
inquire for news, thought I had intelligence of my

sons in the army. This proved a mistake, but pre-

vented my visit. I fear that John and Robert and

my servant Davy fell into the enemy’s hands on the

evacuation of Petersburg. They were at the house

of William R. Johnson, Jr., and doing well. Cooke’s

brigade, in which James is a captain, was hotly en-

gaged in the action of Sunday. I have no tidings of »
his fate. Hoping to see you soon, I remain, yours

very truly, i W. A. Granam.

Governor Swain, in compliance with Governor Gra-
ham’s request that he would take Hillsboro in his
way to Raleigh, spent the next day at his house in
Hillsboro, in consultation as to the best mode of ef
fecting their common purpose. They agreed upon

 
     
   
   
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  

142. THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

the course of action indicated in the following outline
drawn up by Governor Graham :

My Dear Sir: Referring to our conversation in re-

»,Jation to the critical and urgent condition of our af-

fairs as regards the public enemy, I am of opinion
that—

1st. The General Assembly should be convened at
the earliest day practicable.

2d. That when convened, it should pass resolutions
expressive of a desire for opening negotiations for
peace, and stopping the effusion of blood; and invit-

ing the other States of the South to unite in the moye-
ment. ;

3d. That to effect this object, it should elect com-
missioners to treat with the Government of the United
States, and report the result to a convention, which
should be at once called by the Legislature to wield
the sovereign power of the State in any emergency
that may arige out of the changing state of events.

4th. That in the event of Sherman’s advance upon
the capital, or indeed without that event, let the Goy-
ernor propose a conference, or send a commission to
) with him for a suspension of hostilities, until
the further action of the State shall be ascertained in
regard to the termination of the war.

All this I should base upon the doctrine of the
President of the Confederate States, that he conceives
it inconsistent with his duty to entertain negotiations
for peace except upon the condition of absolute inde-

pendence to the Southern Confederacy, with all the:

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 143

territories claimed as belonging to each State com-

prising it, and should give him the earliest information
of the proceedings in progress.

Very truly yours,
April 9, 1865.

W. A. Granam.

%

At seven the next (Monday) morning, Governor
Swain took the train from Hillsboro to Raleigh, dined
with Governor Vance. and at the close of a long and
earnest conference, the latter agreed to carry out the
scheme submitted if the concurrence of General John-
ston could be obtained. He promised to ride out im-
mediately to General Johnston’s headquarters and
consult him upon the subject. The next morning he
authorized Governor Swain to telegraph Governor
Graham and request his presence. The latter re-
sponded promptly that he would come down in the
eleven o’clock train that night, and Governor Swain
spent the night with Governor Vance in anxious ex-
pectation of his arrival. The train failed to arrive
until three o’clock on Wednesday morning. Governor
Swain, at early dawn, found Governor Vance writing
dispatches by candle-light, and Governor Graham was
at the door before sunrise. Mrs. Vance and her chil-
ren had retired from Raleigh to a place of supposed
greater safety, and the three gentlemen, together with
Colonel Burr, of Governor Vance’s staff, were the only
occupants of the executive mansion. After an early
breakfast, they went to the capitol, where a communi-
cation from’ Governor Vance to General Sherman was
prepared. General Johnston, in the mean time, had

ee

ie de) Bt ia

SLL CSA LT ee

har

;
i
i
i

 
144 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

retired in the direction of Hillsboro, and General Har-
dee was the officer of highest grade then in Raleigh.
He promptly aceepted an invitation from Governor
Vance to be present at a conference, prepared a safe-
conduct through his lines for Governors Swain and
Graham, who-undertook the commission to General
Sherman; and by ten o’clock, attended by three of
the Governor’s staff—Surgeon-General Warren, Colonel
Burr, and Major Devereux—they left Raleigh in a spe-
cial train, bearing a‘flag of truce, for General Sherman’s
headquarters. Governor Bragg, Mr. Moore, and’ Mr.
Raynor had all been consulted in relation, to the
course proposed to be pursued, and all had concurred
most heartily in its propriety and necessity. There
were others who were not consulted, who nevertheless
suspected the-design of those concerned in these con-
ferences ; and one of them is understood to have kept
President Davis, who was then in Greensboro, regu-
larly advised by telegraph of all, and more than, all,
that was contemplated by the embassy.

The fate of the mission, and its final results, form, as
I doubt not my readers will agree, as interesting and
important a chapter in the history of the State as has
ogeurred since its organization.

.CHAPTER XI.

RALEIGH, WHEN UNCOVERED—THE COMMISSIONERS TO GEN-
ERAL SHERMAN—THEY START—ARE RECALLED BY GEN-
ERAL JOHNSTON—ARE STOPPED BY KILPATRICK’S FORCES—
THEIR INTERVIEW WITH KILPATRICK—ARE CALLED To
SHERMAN’S HEADQUARTERS—HIS REPLY TO GOVERNOR
VANCE—THE FURTHER PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSION
—A PLEASANT INCIDENT—THE COMMISSIONERS RETURN TO
RALEIGH—GOVERNOR VANCE HAD LEFT—HIS LETTER To
SHERMAN—THE FEDERAL TROOPS ENTER RALEIGH—INCI- »
DENTS. "

Tur commissioners to General Sherman from Goy-
ernor Vance left Raleigh on Wednesday morning,
April twelfth, at ten o’clock, as before stated. They
were expected to return by four o’clock that after-
noon, at the farthest, as General Sherman was under-.
stood to be not more than fourteen miles from the
city. es

‘That day Raleigh presented, perhaps, less extern:
appearance of terror and confusion than might have
been supposed. That General Sherman would arrive
there in the course of his march, had been anticipated
ever since his ertrance into the State; and General,
Johnston, on the tenth, had given Governor Vance
notice of his intention to uncover the city, so that

 
146 THE LASI NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

such preparations as could be made to meet their fate
had been completed. An immense amount of State
property had been removed to various points along
- the Central Railroad. Some forty thousand blankets,
overcoats, clothes, and English cloth.equal to at least
one hundred thousand suits complete; leather and
shoes equal to ten thousand pairs; great quantities of
cotton cloth and yarns, and cotton-cards; six thousand
scythe-blades; one hundred and fifty thousand pounds
of bacon; forty thousand bushels of corn; a very large
stock of imported medical stores; and many ‘other
articles of great value, together with the public re-
cords, Treasury and Literary Board, and other effects,
were mostly deposited at Graham, Greensboro, and
Salisbury. Governor Vance and the State officers
under his direction had worked day and night, with
indefatigable zeal, to effect this transportation, so that
before mid-day on the twelfth every thing was in
readiness. Every suggestion of ingenuity, mean-
while, had been put in practice by the citizens in con-
cealing their private property, though, indeed, with
very little hope that they would escape such accom-
plished ‘and practiced marauders as those who com-
posed the approaching “grand army.” Men who had
been on thé gui vive, ever since leaving Atlanta, to
discover and appropriate or wantonly destroy all of
household treasures and valuables that lay in their
way, or anywhere within sixty miles of their way,
_snappers-up of even such unconsidered trifles as an
old negro’s silver watch or a baby’s corals—from the
hands of such as these what was to be expected ; what

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 147

nook, or cranny, or foot of inclosed ground would be
safe fiom their search! Many citizens repaired to
Governor Vance’s office for advice and comfort, and
none left him without greater courage to meet what
was coming. Though overburdened with cares and
unspeakable anxieties on this memorable day, all
found him easy of access and ready to give prudent
counsel to those who asked for it. He advised the
citizens generally to remain quiet in their own houses,
and, as far as possible, protect their families by their
presence. He himself was resolved to await the re-
turn of the embassy to Sherman, and learn upon what
conditions he could remain and exercise the func-
tions of his office, or if at all.

When the train bearing the commissioners reached
General Hampton’s lines, they requested an interview"
with him. The safe-conduct from General Hardee,
and the letter from Governor Vance to General Sher-
man were shown him. He remarked that General

‘ Hardee was his superior, and that of course he yielded

to authority, but expressed his own doubts of the pro-
priety or expediency-of the mission. He prepared a
dispatch, however, immediately, and transmitted it by
a courier to General Sherman, together with a note
from Governors Graham and Swain, requesting to be
advised of the time and place at which a conference
might take place.

General Hardee then retired with his staff, and the
train moved slowly on. When at the distance, per-
haps, of two miles, one of his couriers dashed up, halt-
ed the train, and informed the commissioners that he

 
148 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

was directed by General Hampton to say that he had
just received an order from General Johnston to with-
draw their safe conduct, and direct them to return to
Raleigh. They directed the courier to return and say
to the General that such an order ought to be given
personally or in writing, and that the train would be
stationary till he could be heard from. This message
was replied to. by the prompt appearance of the Gen-
eral himself. The extreme courtesy of his manner,
and his air and bearing confirmed the impression made
in the previous interview, that he was a frank, and
gallant, and chivalrous soldier. He read the copy of

a dispatch that he had sent by a courier to General
Sherman, which in substance was as follows:

“ GENERAL: Since my dispatch of half an hour ago.
circumstances have occurred which induce me totgive
you no further trouble in relation to the mission of
ex-Governors Graham and Swain. . These gentlemen
will return with the flag of truce to Raleigh.”

This dispatch he had sent immediately on receiving
General Johnston’s order to direct their return. The
commissioners were of course surprised and disap-
‘pointed. The mission was not entered upon without
the deliberate assent and advice of General Johnston
after a full consultation with Governor Vance, ahd
also with General Hardee’s entire concurrence, and a
safe-conduct from him in General Johnston’s absence.
The es. Soest however, was reversed, General Hamp-
ton retired, and the train had proceeded slowly about
a mile or so in the direction of Raleigh, when it was
again halted, and this time by a detachment of a hun-

,

.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 149

dred Spencer rifles, a portion of Kilpatrick’s cavalry,
under the command of General Atkins. The commis-
sioners were informed that they must proceed to the
headquarters of General Kilpatrick, distant a mile or
more. While waiting for a conveyance they were
courteously treated, and a band of music ordered up
for their entertainment. After a brief interval Gen-
eral Kilpatrick’s*carriage arrived for them, and they
proceeded in it under escort to the residence of Mr,
Fort, where the General then was. He received them
politely, examined the safe-conduct of General Har-
dee, and the dispatches for General Sherman, and then
remarked that the circumstances in which they were
placed, according to the laws of war, gave him the
right, which, however, he had not the smallest inten-
tion of exercising, to consider them as prisoners of
war.

“Jt is true, gentlemen,” said he, “that you came
under the protection of a flag of truce, and are the
bearers of important dispatches from your Governor
to my Commanding General, but that gave you no
right to cross my skirmish-line while a fight was going,
on.”

Governor Graham remarked that the circumstances
under which they game explained themselves, and were
their own justification. That in a special train, with
open windows, proceeding with the deliberation proper ~
to a flag of truce, with only five persons in a single
car, they had little temptation to proceed if they had
known, in time to stop, that they were to be ex
posed to a cross-fire from the skirmish-lines of the two

armies.

 
150 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

General Kilpatrick replied that all that was very
true, but that it was proper, nevertheless, that he
should require them to proceed to General Sherman’s
headquarters. He then remarked that the war was
virtually at an end, and that every man who yolun-
tarily shed blood from that time forth, would be a
murderer; and read a general order from General
Sherman, congratulating the army on the surrender
of General Lee, intelligence of which had just reached
him by telegraph. This was the first intimation our
commissioners had received of this final blow to the

Southern cause. It was indeed not unexpected, but
no anticipation of such tidings ean equal the moment
of realization 3 and to receive it under such circum-

stances, where extreme caution and selfcommand were

an imperative duty, and where no expression could be
allowed to the natural feelings of anguish and dismay
with which it filled their breasts, gave an additional
pang.

General Kilpatrick further stated, among other
things, that the course pursued by General Lee was
illustrative of the importance of regular military train-
ing; that an able and skillful commander knew when
to fight, and when it was a more imperative duty to
surrender ; that a braye but rash and inexperienced
officer would have gacrificed his army, and involved
the whole country in ruin for the want of the proper
skill to direct, and the prestige to sustain him in the
discharge of a duty requiring more than courage.

After an hour or two's delay, she commcte nadia
were escorted back to the train which was in gd

_ propositions as far as

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 151

where they had left it, and thence proceeded - a
eral Sherman’s headquarters, passing for severa aero
through open columns of large bodies of oa : cam
the deafening cheers with which they we sre or
surrender of the great Confederate commander, oe
the arrival of a commission which, as they nip ser
was authorized to treat for the surrender of Ge

hnston’s army. i ae
“Tad aal Sherman, attended by his aids, met the

t the station-house at Clayton, and con-
o his tent. Governor Graham presented
the letter from Governor Vance, and seapgetesot
discussion of the various points it embraced, an

ir de to its
: apparently desirous to acce
pis ciiae ved possible for him, and ready

d generous arrangement with

Gommission. a
ducted them.t

to make an amicable an

e government. ae 2
‘” ala ceaeavoved to procure copies of all the offi

ial letters written by Governor Vance at this import-
ce is in our affairs, but, with one exception, have
fil £ Cupies of these letters, together with his let-
eevee then in use, with other important ee
were packed in a box which was captured at Gree

boro, and taken to Washington City, as T have else-
Pidag mentioned. ‘These records will doubtless be

i day; and our
to the State at no distant :
Tsai pee yet have proof that their Governor did all

h an could do—I may say all that a man nee
ie <a interference could do—to save the State an
pci from outrage, and humiliation, and am
a i

archy.

 
152° THE TAsT NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

I subjoin General Sherman’s reply to the letter de.
livered by the commission :

Or THE Mississrppr, iy THE Frexp,
GULLY’s Station, N. C., April 12, 1865,

To his Excellency Z. B. Vance, Governor of the State
of North- Carolina:

Sm: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your communication of this date, and inclose you a
safeguard for yourself and any members of the State
government that choose to remain in Raleigh. T
would gladly have enabled you to meet me here, but
some interruption occurred to the train by the orders
of General Johnston, after it had passed within the
lines of my cavalry advance; but as it, came out of
Raleigh in good faith, it shall return in good faith,
and will in no measure be claimed by us.

I doubt if hostilitie scan be suspended as between

_ the arty of the Confederate government and the one
“. command ; but I will aid you all in my power to

contribute to the end you aim to reach—the termina-
tion of the existing war.

Tam, truly, your obedient servant,
W. T. Surry,
Major-General.

Heapquarters Mirrrary Drviston

-

In however unfavorable a light strict regard for the
truth of history places G

narian and leader of th
Southern States with a bes
dark the pictures of lawles

eneral Sherman as a discipli-
e great army that swept the
om of destruction ; however.
8 pillage and brutal ontgane,

, wt
v. 153
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. m

unrestrained and uncensured by the Neer mi |
General—if indeed they were not especially 4
and approved by him and his officers ; — 68
viable General Sherman’s fame in these respec si : i
regard for truth demands Ba in sages cor
uncil-board he shall appea :
emails aspect, exhibiting there yey A sion
manity and a capacity for enlarged and ¢

statesmanship entir el y wor thy of ar eally great gen-
r ax If Gener ‘al Sherman 8 views and plans for closing
era.

the war had been adopted by his ig 86 ee
ld have been accom-

be no doubt that peace wou '
Miahed in less than two months from the surr see
armies; peace that would have been speedily ol-
ered by goodewill in every Southern State, in spite

i f his army.
aste and burning track 0 :
bo pie which the commissioners had entertained

f being able to return to Raleigh on the evening of.
°

j . ae
the same day, was now found to be impraetiéable,
e

wing to the various delays and es ae pen
haa met with. General Sherman onesie : . wes }
detention should be as brief as ener : ht a =
became obvious that he og oes ~~ . nat .
night at his ote, ell Ne Sree pe
ETA cat hed taken the ay ee

t ent it, and was now equally determine a
iin h uld thwart the beneficial results of their
~aieraa 9 any advantage that might accrue there-
pre athe gentlemen were ih his power, and sub- ;

mit#é@e to his requisitions quietly, not cheerfully. Tt

*

 
_ 154 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR
. _— .

was intimated to them that the engine which brought
them down required some repairs, and so soon as this
could be effected, the train should again be at their
service, The reply to Governor Vance’s letter was
placed in their hands, and a safe-conduct and permis-
sion to proceed in the train to Hillsboro, after the
necessary interview with Governor Vance, General
Sherman hoped they might be able to get off by mid-
night 3; but if that should be found impossible they
might retire to rest, take a cup of coffee with Hy at
daylight, and breakfast in Raleigh. A couple of hours

were spent in general conversation on public affairs, -

and less exciting topics.
At the close of the official conference between Go
_ernor Graham and General Sherman, Governor Seek ‘
remarked to the latter that, at the beginning of ate
troubles they were engaged in kindred pursuits
“Yes, sir,” said the General. “I am aware that ten
are the President of the University of North-Carolina;
and Iwas the Superintendent of the State Military
_ Aca emy of Louisiana.” “Two or three of your boys,”
ead the Governor, “were with me for a €ine.”
Yes,” replied the General, “ and many more of sont
have been with me during the war, who came, poor
fellows, before they were men, and when they fa
to have remained with you; and they too frequentl
helped to fill my hospitals. I think, however te
they return, they will do me the justice to tell you
that I treated them kindly.” Governor eck
quired for General Blair, remarking that he was his
pupil in 1837. General Sherman replied that he was

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 155

only two hours in the rear, and that he had just been
reading terrible accounts in a Raleigh paper of his
proceedings in Fayetteville, adding, “I will turn
Frank over to you to answer for it in the morning.”
In connection with this, reference was made to the
burning of Columbia. The General remarked with
great emphasis: “I have been grossly misrepresented
in regard to Columbia. I changed my headquarters
eight times during that night, and with every general
officer undér my command, strained every nerve to
stop the fire. I declare in the presence of my God
that Hampton burned Columbia, and that he alone is
responsible for it. He collected immense piles of cot-
ton in the streets and set them on fire; the wind rose
during the night, and dispersed the flakes of burning
cotton among the shingle-roofs, and created a confla-

gration beyond human control.”
At the close of the conversation General Sherman

intimated that the gentlemen had better retire to rest 5
that he would have them called at any hour that the
train might be in readiness 5 and that, at all events,
they should be ready to proceed by sunrise. Gover-
nor Graham was invited to occupy the General’s tent,
and they shared the same apartment. Every courtesy
was extended to the other members of the commis-

sion. :
‘And now occurred one of those little coincidences

which brighten life under its best aspects, and which
are capable of giving pleasure even in such dispiriting
circumstances as these; which, from constitutional

predilections, no man appreciates more highly than
fon }

.

 
156 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 5

Governor Swain, and which, perhaps, for that very
reason, happen more frequently to him than to most
men. One of General Sherman’s aids approached the
Governor, inviting him to go with him—that he had
vacated his tent for his benefit. The Governor replied
that he must object to turning him out, but would oc-
‘eupy it with him with-pleasure. The officer replied
that he could find a lodging elsewhere, and wished to
make the'Governor comfortable. He then apologized
for desiring to introduce himself, by remarking that
no name was more familiar than Governor Swain’s in
his mother’s household. The Governor inquired his
name, and found him to be’ the son of a school-com:
panion, the beloved friend of earlier years, a lady of
rare merits and accomplishments, who had long since
entered upon her rest. She, with the mother of Gov-
ernor Vance, had been in early girlhood the Goyer-
nor’s schoolmates, and competitors with him for
school distinctions in the most anxious and generous
strife he has ever known. Governor Graham and
Governor Swain both voted, in 1860, for the uncle of
this gallant young officer, for President of the United
States, as the advocate of “the Union, the Constitu-
‘tion, and the enforcement of the laws,” in the vain
hope that the evils which then threatened and have -
since overwhelmed the country might be averted. To
such offered kindness"from such a quarter, under such
circumstances, one might well respond,

“T take thy courtesy, by Heaven,
As freely ag ’tig nobly given.”

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 157

At sunrise the next morning the commissioners pro-

ceeded on their return in the train, somewhat in ad-
vance of the army, with the understanding that they
were to go to Raleigh, notify Governor Vance of the
conditions agreed upon, and return to advise General
Sherman of their acceptance before he should reach

the boundaries of the city. When within a mile of

the capital they saw the flames rising toa great height
above the station-house, which had been first plun-

dered and then set on fire by stragglers from the re-
treating forces of General Wheeler. The fire put a

sudden stop to the progress of the train. The com-
missioners alighted, and passed around the blazing
building in the hope of finding another train on the
other side in which they might proceed to Hillsboro,
on the conclusion of their business in Raleigh, but

i i he house of :
re disappointed. They went to t a
friend at a head of Hillsboro street, but found it

shut up, and the proprictor a refugee. They walked
the entire length of the street, and did not see a
human being till they reached the State House. Every
door was shut, every window-blind was closed. The
same absence of all signs of life, the same death-like,..
silence an@ air of desertion, the same precautions:
against inttusion characterized Fayetteville street
from the os to the Palace. The very air seemed
shriveled. In the brief interval that elapsed from the
_retreat of her protectors to the arrival of her foes, the
beautiful city of Raleigh stood under tlre outstretched
arms of her noble oaks, embowered in the lie
shrubbery of a thousand gardens, just touched wit

 
158 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

vernal bloom and radiance—stood with folded hands
and drooping head, in all the mortal anguish of sus
pense, in a silence that spoke, awaiting her fate.
Governor Vance, it was soon ascertained, had left
the city, together with all the State officers, having
heard the night before that the commission had been
captured, and detained as prisoners of war. Despair-
ing then of obtaining any terms from General Sher-
man, and unwilling to surrender himself uncondition-
ally, into his hands, in entire uncertainty of what
treatment he might expect, Governor Vance had de-
cided to leave for Hillsboro, after making every possi-
ble arrangement for the surrender of the city by the
Mayor and Council. He wrote the following letter

to General Sherman, to be delivered by the city au-
thorities ;:

Exxrcurtve Department,
Raxrigu, April 12, 1865.

General W. T. Sherman
Porees:

Pm Stare or Norrn-Carorma, ¥

» Commanding United States

GENERAL: His Honor, Mayor William B, Harrison,
is authorized to surrender to you the city of Raleigh.
I have the honor to request the exter of your
favor to its defenseless inhabitants coca ; and es-™
pecially to ask your protection for the éharitable in-
stitutions of the State located here, fill

ed as they are
with unfortunate inmates, most of whose natural pro-

tectors would.be unable to take care of them, in the
event of the destruction of the buildj -

museum,

5
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. he 9

and _most of the public records, is st ey aie
power. Ican but entertain the hope t * sneered
escape mutilation or destruction, Inasmuc i one
dences of learning and taste can ni ey pin
party in the prosecution of the war, whether de

served.
won I am, General, very respectfully,

Z. B. Vance.
:
ae in Raleigh till midnight,
overnor lingered in g mi
h hid receive some news of the commission, and
iin without a single member of ved ona
i ri
i in Br d Captain J.J. Gu ;
nied by Captain Bryan an pedis
he rode out to Gen
lunteered to escort him,
Hoke’s encampment, not far from ae ee 4
i i Generals Hardee,
ight miles from the city. :
Himptot Hoke, and Wheeler, with their commands,
?

h Raleigh in the evening.
Ke? ag i Vance’s course for future consid-
e

of gentlemen standing

em ; if . eae aeag wen after sunrise on

By dataiog of Thursday, thirteenth. The only be

son they, pet at the capitol was the meee ™

ited . e executive office, and who had been -
Eaatad overnor Vance with the keys. True

in him, he was present at the proper
es isp aE Om as he had been directed—an
a bi f fidelity and punctuality under trying ei
ated a that would, doubtless, have been rewarded
i seen, Ca even had there been no liberating
May ae hand. The commission received the key

 
yet been seen, came y

2

160 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

from him, and after a hasty consultation,
that one should open the State House a
the arrival of the Federal army, taking

as he might deem most expedient ; and that the other
should make his way, with the best means he could
command, to Hillsboro, taking the University in his
way, and endeavoring to provide for the safety of
friends and neighbors in that quarter,
When walking from the railroad station to the city,

» the commissioners had passed through the lines of
General Wheeler’s cavalry, pressing in the direction

of Chapel Hill. Half an hour after reaching the State
House, a dozen men, the débr

served at the head of Fayetteville street, breaking open
and plundering the stores. Governor Swain, who had
remained at the State House, approached them, and
Stated that he was immediately from General Sher-
man’s headquarters, and had assurance from him that
if no resistance was offered to his advaace-guard, the
town should be protected from plunder and violence,
and urged the soldiers to leave at once and join their
retreating comrades, They replied, “D—n Sherman
and the town too; they cared for neither.” Robert
G. Lewis, Esq., the first citizen of Raleigh who had
p just then, and joined his en-
treaties with earnestness. More and more vehement
*remonstrances were used without effect, till the head
of Kilpatrick’s column appeared in sight advancing up
the street, when they all, with a single exception,
sprang to their horses and started off in full gallop.
Their leader, a lieutenant whose name and previous

it Was agreed
nd remain till
such measures

. 161
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR .

history are yet unknown, mounted his ee a se
Te soon deem tiocesetionjana wien
e book-store, drew his’ :
tar advance was within a hundred pee! —
he discharged it six facertay on ee ns ae;
irection of the officer at the head of F
ssa put spurs to his re ee -
Morgan street, followed by a —, wis presage oN
hot pursuit. Turning a corner his horse : te
nted, and dashed round the corner a a
er on Hillsboro street. Afew yards further yar
Rie bridge over the railroad, he was overtaken, itor
brought back to the Capitol Square, where ssid 7
Kilpatrick ordered his immediate execution. - : ne
that he asked for five minutes’ chron pe
i $
bas bend r: ee oss buried there. He
aa aaa ae vile marauder, who justly para
a ave, ora bold patriot, whose feainge coy pe
amore generous sentence, as mipor te - ie ro
ii ry. No Southerner wl | & repr
Tees grave, or will stand aren “ _
than feelings of deep commiseration.. = a Hs
more the rash act of a passionate and reckles bs ys “
‘aimless bravado from one wild and despairing preva
a hundred and twenty thousand. What our s

- did or did not do in those last dark days of confusion, *

and utter demoralization, we record with sad ——
der allowance. Wrong was done in many sa a an
and excesses committed ; but we feel that t o *
brance of their high and noble qualities w

a7

 
162 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

end survive all temporary blots and blurs. “And for
those who perished in the wrong-doing engendered b
desperation and failure and want, thaw comae has a
ished with them. So perish the memory of =
faults! -
Governor Graham, accompanied by Colonel Burr
set out for Hillsboro on foot, the road to Chapel Hill
being blocked up by Wheeler’s retreating squadrons
and resolved to trust to the chances of obtaining
horses by the way. Finding themselves, however in
volved in a skirmish between Hampton’s réar-guard
and Kilpatrick’s advance, and in somewhat perilous
teen they made the best of their way back
amin » Where they arrived in the course of the
Governor Swain, meanwhile, had received at th
State House the Federal officer charged with the nots
tion of the national flag over the dome of the buildin
He met him with the remark, “I am just from a
Commanding General, and have his promise that this
edifice shall not be injured.” The officer replied, “I
know you, sir, and haye orders to attend to yout
wishes,” They took quiet possession, and the Stars
and Stripes Were soon waving from the summit. Gov-
ernor Swain remained at the capitol, in company with
Mayor Harrison, who, assisted by Mayor Devereux
Major Hogg, and Surgeon-General Warren, and cities
gentlemen, advised with the Provost-fapahal in rela-
tion to the stationing of guards for the protection of
the citizens, and other matters, until two'o’elock, when
with Governor Graham, he went. to General Sharmas’

2

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 163

quarters in the Government house, and delivered the
keys to him. :

General Sherman regretted Governor Vance’s de-
parture from the city, and desired his return as speedi-
ly as possible. He therefore wrote him a letter invit-
ing his return, and inclosing a safe-conduct through
his lines for him and any members of the State or

city government.

Heapquarrers Raterén, N. C.,
Army in THE Frutp, April 13, 1865.

To all Officers and Soldiers of the Union Army:
Grant safe-conduct to the bearer of this to any point

twelve miles from Raleigh and back, to include the

Governor of North-Carolina and any members of the

State or city government, on his way back to the capi-
tal of the State. W. T. SHermMan.

Major-General Commanding.

This letter the commission undertook to transmit to
Vance without loss of time; but no horses
were to be had among their friends in the city, nor

Governor

could any messenger be got willing to undertake the
errand. As soon as General Sherman heard this, he
directed his adjutant-general to furnish the gentlemen
with the means of locomotion, which was promptly
done. The next morning (Friday) they left Raleigh
for Hillsboro, where it was supposed Governor Vance.
was; passed rapidly through Kilpatrick’s columns,
and then: through Hampton’s; had a short interview
with the latter at Strayhorns, where he was to spend
the night; reached Hillsboro in the evening; and,

 
164 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

entering Governor Graham’s parlor, found Governor
Vance there, with Colonel Ferebee, quietly awaiting
intelligence. ‘Till informed by the commissioners,
neither he nor General Hampton had heard of the sur-

render of General Lee, and even then could hardly be .

induced to believe it.

General Sherman’s letter inviting his return to Ra-
leigh was put in his hands, and he was urged to re-
turn thither immediately with the commissioners ; but
he had also just received a dispatch from President
Davis, urging him most earnestly to meet him in
Greensboro by the returning train. General Johnston

had also gone on to Greensboro, and befare returning
to Raleigh, Governor Vance desired to see both him

and the President — the former to get his permission
to pass his lines, and the latter, to learn his future

plans and acquaint him with his intention to surren- -

der. This much was due, at least in courtesy, to the
falling chieftain, though he was President only in
name of a nation that had no longer any existence,
Governor Vance was never the man to turn his back
upon the setting sun to pursue his own advantage,
So he decided to obey President Davis’s last requisi-
before accepting General Sherman’s invitation, and

left Hillsboro for Greensboro on Saturday morning.
Governor Graham remained at home with his fami-
ly, and Governor Swain proceeded to Chapel Hill,
where he arrived on Saturday morning, and found it
occupied by General Wheeler’s cavalry, gate

Hoke’s command having passed through, pressing on
to Greensboro. :

*

 

CIIAPTER XII.

SUN-

RAHAM AND SWAIN. MI

EAT—GOVERNORS &@

JOHNSTON’S RETR *3 CAVALRY—CONFEDERATE OCCUPANCY
DERSTOOD—WHEELER ,

77
HILL—T “STARS AND STRIPES —
CHAPEL ; ‘HE LAST BLOOD— : :
ps DEATH — GENERAL ATKINS — SCENES AROUND RaA-
ONE IN

LEIGH—MILITARY LAWLESSNESS.

Wuen the retrograde movement of General J _
ston’s army was at last fairly understood—the supp 7
trains moving slowly along the roads of Orange, an

ing upon the maxim,
1 Wheeler’s cavalry, acting :
‘oe that they left behind them was so much aid

and comfort to the enemy, taking care to leave ad oat
as few horses and mules as aoe gai = the

d themselves

ho had all along hugge :
eae i as their security, began
ief that their remoteness Ww
pelea the dust from their eyes, and open snes to
admit a view of the possibility of Sherman’s army
i i homes.
hing even their secluded :
The ptr ig of Governors soba eee
by their near neigh-
nerally understood, even

bee that fe available attempt to check the eae
d ‘a yastation that had hitherto accompanied tha
ate uld-be made, or was even consistent with
ia! ea dur allegiance to the Confederate Govern-

. . oe . h. d Confeder- *
ment, very few believed. A distinguis a

 
 

166 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

ate general, standing on our sidewalk, as his division
of imfantry’marched through on Friday, fourteenth,
said, in reference to the commissioners, that they were
a couple of traitors, and ought to be hung. General
Wheeler’s cavalry held the village of Chapel Hill until
mid-day of April sixteenth, Easter Sunday. Not a
house in the place but was thrown open to show them
kindness and hospitality. There were rough riders
among these troopers—men who, if plunder was the
object, would have cared little whether it was got from
friend or foe. How much of this disposition to sub-
sist by plunder was due to the West-Point training of
their General, it would perhaps be inquiring too curi-
ously to consider. A few such reckless men in a regi-
ment would have been enough to entail an evil name
upon the whole; and at the time of which I now speak
there were more than a few in General Wheeler’s com-
mand who were utterly demoralized, lawless, and de-
fiant. Having said this much, because the truth must
be told,I will add that of that famous band by far the
greater part were true and gallant men. We mingled
freely with them, from General Wheeler himself, who
slept in the drenching rain among his men, and was
idolized by them, to his poorest private, and the im-
pression made by them was altogether in their favor.
There were men from every Southern State, and from
every walk in life. There were mechanics from Geor-
gia and planters from Alabama: one of the latter I es-
pecially remember, who had been a country physician
in the north-east corner of the State; a frank and.
steady, gray-haired man, whose very address inspired —
*

 

*)

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 167

confidence, and whose eldest boy rode by his side:
there were gay Frenchmen from Louisiana and law-
yers from Tennessee, some of whom had graduated
at this university in the happy days gone by, who re-
visited these empty corridors with undisguised sad-
ness, foreboding that not one stone would be left upon
another of these venerable buildings, perhaps not an
oak left standing of the noble groves, after Sherman’s
army had passed. Many of these men had not been
paid one cent, even of Confederate currency, in more
than a year. Few of them had more than the well-
worn suit of clothes he had on, the inefficient arms he
carried, and the poor and poorly equipped horse he
rode. A lieutenant, not four years before a graduate
of this university, who had not seen his ea within
a year, and who had not long before recely ed intelli-
gence that his house in Tennessee had been burned to
the ground by the enemy, and that his wife and child
were homeless, when the certain news was brought
by Governor Swain of General Lee’s surrender, ae
ered his face with his hands to hide a brave man’s ,
tears. He told us that a twenty-five cent Confederate
note was all that he possessed in the world besides his
horse. The privates generally discussed the situation
of affairs calmly and frankly, and with an amount of
intelligence that the Southern and South-western yeo-
manry have not generally had credit for possessing.
They one and all agreed that, if the end was near, they
would not surrender. ‘ No, no,” said a red-cheeked
Georgian boy of nineteen, “ they won't get me ;” and
one six-foot-six saturnine Kentuckian assured me that
-

 
  
  
   
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
   
  
 
 

168 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE wea,
i

he would join the army of France, and take his alle-
‘ giance and his revolver over the water. I trust he is
on his little farm, by the Licking River, as I write
and has found him a wife, and is settled down to re
his whole duty to the country once more.

These men rode up frankly to our gates. “ May
“I have my dinner here?” “Can you give me a bis-
cuit?” Well, it was not much we had, but we gave
it joyfully—dried fruit, sorghum, dried peas, and early
vegetables. Poor as it was, we seasoned it with the
heartiest good-will and a thousand wishes that it were
better. The divisions of infantry passed through at a

rapid step without halting, so that we could give them
no more than the mute welcome and farewell, and a
hearty God bless them, as they passed. Their faces
were weather-beaten but cheery; their uniforms were
faded, staimed, and worn; but they stepped lightly.
and had a passing joke for the town gazers, and ;
» kindly glance for the pretty girls who lined the side-
F bag standing in the checkered shade of the young
elms.

On Friday Ss General Wheeler rode in
from the Raleigh road with his staff, and alighted at
the first corner. One of his aids came up with a map
of North-Carolina, which he unrolled and laid on the
ground. General Wheeler knelt down to consult it
and the group gathered round him. Several of our
citizens drew near, and a circle of as bright eyes and
fair faces as the Confederacy could show any wher
eager to look upon men whose names had been A

miliar for four years, and whose fame will be part of
our nationak history. :

!

     
   
   
   
   
    
    
     
   

 

—

      

       
 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

The Federal cavalry were in close pursuit, and sev-
eral skirmishes had taken place on the road from
Raleigh. A brigade under General Atkins followed . j

169

General Wheeler, while Kilpatrick, with the rest of 9.
his division, followed Hampton toward Hillsboro, f
along the Central Railroad line. The last skirmish i

occurred, and perhaps the last blood of the war was
shed on Friday evening, fourteenth, at the Atkins
Plantation, eight miles from Chapel Hill, near the
New-IHope River, which was much swollen by heavy.
rains, and the bridge over which, as well as all others
on the road, was destroyed by General Wheeler’s men.
They attacked the enemy endeavoring to cross on
fallen trees and driftwood, and several were killed on
both sides. Some of our men were killed in a skirmish
at Morrisville, and some of the wounded came on with
the trains. One poor fellow from Selma, Ala., mor-
tally wounded, was carried to the house of one of our

principal physicians, and tenderly cared for, for two or © 3
three days, while he talked of his distant home and ~~
his mother, and sent messages to those who would see
him no more. After his comrades had passed on and
the place was in the hands of the Federals, he resigned .
himself to die with childlike patience, asking for a >
favorite hymn, and begging the lovely girl who had
watched him with a sister’s fidelity to kiss him, as he , * 5
was dying, “for his sister.” He was laid to rest in :
the garden, and perhaps as bitter tears of regret and
despair fell on that lonely grave as on any during the ‘
war; for the war was over, and he and the rest had +

died in vain.

>

 
 

 

170 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

On Sunday; at two p.m., General Wheeler called in
his pickets; and once more, and for the last, time, ave
saw the gallant sight of our gray-clad Confederate
soldiers, and waved our last farewell to our army.
A few hours of absolute and Sabbath stillness and
silence ensued. The groves stood thick and solemn,
the bright sun shining through the great boles and
down the grassy slopes, while a pleasant fragrance
was wafted from the purple panicles of the Paullonia.
All that nature can do was still done with order and
beauty, while men’s hearts were failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which were coming
on the earth.

We sat in our pleasant piazzas and awaited events
with quiet resignation. The silver had all been
buried—some of it in springs, some of it under rocks
in the streams, some of it in fence-corners, which, after
the fences had been burned down, was pretty hard to
find again ; some of it in the woods, some of it in the
cellars. There was not much provision to be carried
off—that was one cont The sight of our empty

store-rooms and smoke-houses would be likely to moye~

our invaders to laughter. Our wardrobes were hardly
worth hiding—homespun and jeans hung placidly in
their accustomed places: But the libraries, public and
private, the buildings of the university—all minor self.
ish considerations were merged in a generous anxiety
for these. So we talked and speculated, while the
veryspeace and profound quiet of the place sustained
and soothed our minds. Just at sunset a sedate and
soldierly-looking man, at the head of a dozen dressed

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. ri

in blue, rode quietly in by the Raleigh road. Gover-
nor Swain, accompanied by a few of the principal citi-
zens, met them at the entrance, and stated that he had

sity should be saved from pillage. The soldier replied
that such were his orders, and they should be observed.
They then rode in, galloped up and down the streets
inquiring for rebels; and being informed that there
were none in town, they withdrew for the night to
their camp ; and the next morning, being Easter Mon-
day, April seventeenth, General Atkins, at the head
of a detachment of four thousand cavalry, entered
about eight a.w., and we were’captured.

That was surely a day to be remembered by us all.
For the first time in four years we saw the old flag—
the “Stars and Stripes,” in whose defense we would
once have been willing to die, but which certainly ex-
cited very little enthusiasm now. Never before had
we realized how entirely our hearts had been turned
away from what was once our whole country, till we
felt the bitterness sonst Dy the sight of that flag
shaking out its red and white folds over us. The
utmost quiet and good order prevailed. Guards were
placed at every house immediately, and with a prompt-
ness that was needful; for one residence, standing a
little apart, was entered by a squad of bummers in,
advance of the guard, and in less than ten minutes the
lower rooms, store-rooms, and bed-rooms were over-
hauled and plundered with a swift and -business-like
thoroughness only attainable by long and extensive
practice. A guard arriving, they left; but their plun-

“General Sherman’s promise that the town and univer-

’

     
 

pe
 

.

172 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR,

der was not restored. The village guards, belonging
to the Ninth Michigan cavalry, deserve especial men-
tion as being a decent set of men, who, while they
were here, behaved with civility and propriety.

That was surely a day to be remembered by us all ;
yet the first returning anniversary of that day brought
the village of Chapel Hill an occasion as generally in-
teresting, but invested with a tenderness of its own.
On the sixteenth of April, 1866, the whole town
poured out to receive two Confederate soldiers—two
brothers—who had fallen in battle in our defense.*
They came back home that day, and were placed side
by side in that church, whose aisles their infant feet
had trodden. The plain deal boxes that inclosed them
were graced with garlands, and the emblem of the
holy faith in which they had died “more than con-
querors,” woven of the flowers of their own dear
native State. It was all that North-Carolina could
do for her sons who had died in obedience to her
laws.

Come, Southern flowers, ahd twine above their grave ;
Let all our rath spring blossoms bear a part ;

Let lilies of the vale and snowdrops wave,
And come thou too, fit emblem, bleeding-heart !

Bring all our evergreens—the laurel and the bay,
From the deep forests which around us stand ;
They know them well, for in a happier day
They roamed these hills and valleys hand in hand.

Ye winds of heaven, o’er them gently sigh,.
And April showers fallin kindliest rain,

* Junius C. and W. Lewis, the two youngest sons of the Hon. W. H. Battle,

ety

>

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 173

And let the golden sunbeams softly lie
Upon the sod for which they died in vain.

It was something—if was much, that we could Jay
them among their own familiar hills, pleasant in their
lives and undivided in their deaths. And North-
Carolina dust will lie lightly on their gentle and noble

breasts. : “ee
While the command of General Atkins remained in

Chapel Hill—a period of nearly three weeks—the same
work, with perhaps some mitigation, was going on in
the country round us, and around the city of Raleigh,
which had marked the progress of the Federal armies
all through the South. Planters having large families
of white and black were left without food, forage, cat-
tle, or change of clothing. Being in camp so long,
bedding became an object with the marauders ; and
many wealthy families were stripped of what the in-
dustry of years had accumulated in that line. Much

of what was so wantonly taken was as wantonly de-
stroyed and squandered among the prostitutes and

- negroes who haunted the eamps. As to Raleigh,

though within the corporate limits, no plundering of
the houses was allowed; yet in the suburbs and the
country the inscrutable policy of permitting unre-
strained license to the troops prevailed to its widest
extent. From the statements of several of the promi-
nent citizens of Raleigh I make the following extracts,
the first giving a general view, and the other simply
one man’s personal experience :

“Immediately around Raleigh the farms were com-
pletely despoiled of every thing in the shape of prov!-

"

 

      
 

*

174 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

sions and forage, so as to leave literally nothing for
the support of man or beast. In.many instances the
houses were burned or torn to piecés, and the fences

and inclosures entirely destroyed, so as to render it®

impossible at that season of the year to produce one
third of a crop, even with the greatest industry and
attention. Every horse and mule found in the coun-
try fit for service was taken off, and only a few old
and half-starved ones are to,be found on the farms.”

The other statement I give in full :*

“On the thirteenth day of April, General Sherman
took military possession of Raleigh. <A portion of his
body-guard pitched their tents (eight in number) in
my front-yard, which, with a room in my office, were
occupied by officers. Their servants—cooks, waiters,
and hostlers—took possession of my kitchens, out-
“houses, and stables, appropriating them in a most riot-
ous and insolent manner. The soldiers tore down my
yard and garden-fences for fuel and tents, and turned
their horses and mules upon my vegetables and fruit-
trees, destroying a large lot of corn, potatoes, peas,
etc.; took off my horses and mules, tore off the doors,
flooring, and weather-boarding of my out-houses and
barns for tents ; killed all my poultry, upward of thirty
young hogs, cooking them in my kitchen for the offi-
cers’ tables. After the removal of this squad, another

took instant possession, and pitched twenty-four tents

in my front-yard and a large number in the lower part

* There seems to be no good reason to refrain from saying that this statement
describes the treatment received by Governor Manly, and that the lady men-
tioned in the next paragraph is the wife of General Cox,—Eprror.

‘
{

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 175

of my grounds, still using my kitchen, beside building —

fires all over the yard. At my plantation, three miles
from town, the devastation was thorough and unspar-
ing. I had no overseer there. The negroes, some
Seventy in number, were plundered of their clothing
and provisions, consisting of bacon, pickled beef, corn-
meal, and flour, My dwelling-house was broken open,
weather-boarding, flooring, and ceiling carried off,
every window-sash and glass broken out, and every
article of furniture for house or kitchen either carried

off or wantonly destroyed. . Barns, cotton-house, and
sheds were all torn down; blacksmith’s, carpenter’s,
and: farming implements carried off or broken up;
three carts and two large wagons, with their gear, de-
Stroyed; the fences burned; and a large number of
mules and horses pastured on the wheat-fields ; all my

mules and horses there (seventeen in number) carried +

off; fifty head of cattle, forty sheep, fifty hogs, and a
large flock of geese and poultry either taken off or

wantonly shot down; a quantity of medicine, some
excellent wines, brandy, whisky, and two hundred
gallons of vinegar were taken. Wagon-trains went
down day after day, till 150 barrels of corn, 15,000
pounds of fodder, 12,000 pounds of hay, and all my
Wheat, peas, cotton, ete., were carried off, leaving the
whole place entirely baits: so that my negroes had to
come in town for rations.”

By the above account it will be seen that the hav-
ing a guard did not avail to protect the premises, even
within the city, though, as a general rule, their pres-
ence did avail to protect the erqpade immediately

x

cy

    
 
   
 
  
 
   
   
  
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

176 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. .

around the house. <A lady residing beyond the city
limits, the wife of a general officer in our army, had
her house repeatedly pillaged, and all the provisions

belonging to her negroes, as well as her own, carried.

off. The tent of a general in the Federal army was
pitched just in front of the house, and every marauder
going in and coming out laden with spoils was imme-
diately in his view; yet not a word was said to check
the men, nor any steps allowed for her protection.
A guard was refused her, on the ground of the action
of Wheeler’s men at their entrance; and when, after
repeated solicitation, a guard reluctantly came, he
allowed all who were on the premises laden, to march
off with what they had in hand, saying he had no
authority to take any thing away from them! The
unfortunate negroes were the severest sufferers, they
being literally stripped of their all, and, beginning a
new life of freedom, began it without» even the little
savings and personal property accumulated in slavery.
That General Sherman was well aware of all this,
and not only tacitly permitted it, but considered it a
necessary part of war that non-combatants lying at
the mercy of his army should receive no mercy at all,
is one of the extraordinary developments of the war.
There would rather seem to be a deficiency of judg-
- ment on his part than a real want of humanity, for
which he may have been indebted ‘to the astute mili-
tary training received at West-Point.
To that institution alone must be conceded the un-
enviable distinction of sending out soldiers instructed
to carry fire, famine, and slaughter through the invaded

——————

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 177

country, and then sententiously declaring that “such

de war,”

“To her alone the praise is due,
She let them loose and cried Halloo !”

Even while the peace negotiations were in progress,
as we have seen, and in many cases after peace was
declared, the grand army hastened to improve the
Shining hours in Wake, Orange, and Alamance.
Wholesale robbery, abuse, and insult were practiced
in so many instances under the eyes of the command-
ing officers, that those who would have said that the
officers did not know or permit such things, and that
they were the work of only lawless stragglers and
camp-followers, such as are found in all armies, were
forced to the unavoidable conclusion that this species
of warfare was encouraged and approved by the com-
manders ‘as an important branch of the service, and an
invaluable aid in the work of subjugation and recon-

struction,

4

    

  
  

CHAPTER XIII. °‘

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN GOVERNOR SWAIN AND GENERAL
SHERMAN—GOVERNOR VANCH’S POSITION AND CONDUCT—
KILPATRICK — THE CONDUCT OF THE SERVANTS — “LEE’S
MEN ”’—PRESIDENT LINCOLN. "

I am persuaded that it requires the exercise of an
implicit faith, and a total rejection of the evidence of
things seen, to believe that General Sherman as a man,
deplored the policy which, as a general, he felt bound
to pursue. I shall, however, give him the benefit of
his owh professions, which, whether sincere or not,
* are certainly in unison with thePart he played in the
treaty with General Johnstom. The following corre-
spondence will be read with interest:

Cuaret Hirt, April 19, 1865.

Major-General W. T. PQermnan, ‘commanding United
States Forces :

GENERAL: . ..,. On my return. to this village
on Saturday morning, fifteenth instant, I found that
General Wheeler, wi his division of cavalry, had
been encamped here for two days. He resumed his
march on Sunday morning, leaving the country de-
nuded to @ considerable extent of forage, and taking
with him a _ of horses and mules. General

 

 

,

s

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 179

Atkins arrived with his brigade on Monday mornin

and is in camp here now. I have had several inter-
views with General Atkins, and have pleasure in stat-
ing that she manifests a disposition to execute his
orders with as much forbearance as he deems compati-
ble with the proper discharge of his duty. Neverthe-
less, many worthy families have been stripped by his
soldiers of the necessary means of subsistence. A
Baptist clergyman—a most estimable, quiet, and
charitable citizen, and the most extensive farmer
within a circle of three miles—is almost entirely des-
titute of provision for man and beast; and with a
family of more than fifty persons, (white and colored,)
has not a single horse or mule. Other instances, not
less striking, exist, of families in less affluent cireum-
stances; but I refer particularly to Mr..Purefoy, be-

cause 1 has been my near neighbor for about thirty
years, and I hold him in-the highest estimation. He,

like many others, is*mot merely without the presenti

means of subsistence, but unless his horses and mules
are restored or replaced, can make no provision for
the future. The delay of a few days even may render
it impossible to plant corn in proper time.

I am satisfied from the impression made on me in
our recent interview, that personally, you have no dis-
Position to add to the unavoidable horrors of war, by
availing yourself of the utmost license which writers
on the subject deem admissible, but that, on the con-

trary, you would prefer to treat the peaceful tillers of -

the soil with no unnecessary harshness. I venture to
hope, therefore, that the present state of negotiations

    
 

a

 
180 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

between the contending armies will enable you to re-
lax the severity of the orders under which General
Atkins is acting, and I am satisfied that if you shall
feel yourself justified by the course of events in doing
so, an intimation of your purpose will, be welcome in-
telligence to him.

Iam, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. L. Swat.

Mississippi, IN THE FrELp,
Raxzien, N. C., April 22, 1865,

Fon. D. L. Swain, Chapel Hill, N. C.:
' My Dear Sm: Yours of April nineteenth was laid
before me yesterday, and I am pleased that you recog
nize in General Atkins a fair representative of our
army.
The moment war ceases, and I think that time is at
hand, all seizures of horses and private property will
cease on our part. And it may be that we will be
able to spare some animals for the use of the farmers
of your neighborhood. There now exists a species of
truce, but we must stand prepared for action; but I
believe that in a very few days a definitive and gen-
eral peace will be arranged, when I will make orders
that will be in accordance with the new state of af:
fairs.

I do believe that I fairly represent the feelings of

Herapquarters Mirirary Division oF ad

my countrymen—that we prefer peace to war; but if |

war is forced upon us, we must meet it; but if peace
_be possible, we will accept it, and be the friends of the

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 181

farmers and working classes of North-Carolina, as well
as actual patrons of churches, colleges, asylums, and
all institutions of learning and charity. Accept the
assurances 6f my respect and high esteem.
Tam, truly yours, W. T. Surman,
Major-General Commanding.

Without ascribing to General Sherman any extra-
ordinary degree of merit as a writer, I am inclined to
give him credit for sincerity in these professions, sim-
ply because of the corroborating evidence afforded by
his conduct in the treaty with Johnston. Their first
agreement was not ratified at Washington, and Gen-
eral Sherman’s position therein was severely censured ;
but no one who rightly estimated the condition of the
South at the close of the war, and the state of public
feeling among us, has ever doubted that, if that treaty
had been ratified, the happiest results would have fol-
lowed, and an immense amount of trouble, expense,
and evil would have been avoided by the whole coun-
try. I repeat what I have said previously, that Gen-
eral Sherman alone, of all the prominent men and lead-
ers among our antagonists, was at that time possessed
of the requisite ability and statesmanship and magna-
nimity to comprehend the situation, and seize the op-
portunity and the means for an equitable adjustment
of our difficulties. I greatly regret not being able to
present my readers with a copy of his letter of invita-
tion to Governor Vance to return to Raleigh. On the
fourteenth of April General Johnston sent him his first
letter, requesting a suspension of hostilities, with a

 
 

182 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. .

view to entering into arrangements for putting a stop
to the war. This application was replied to by Gen-
eral Sherman. in a really noble and generous spirit,
and their correspondence resulted in those interviews
at Durham’s Station, on the North-Carolina Central
Railroad, which concluded the war and have become
historical. No one can read that correspondence with-
out seeing unmistakable evidence that General Sher-
man manifested an eager anxiety to save the South
from further devastation, Perhaps alate remorse had
touched him; but however that may be, in the civil
policy he has always advocated toward the South, he
has shown himself at once generous and politic. If he

had pursued an equally far-sighted course as a soldier ; *

if he had advocated a humane forbearance toward the
defenseless people who were crushed beneath his march;
if he had enforced a strict discipline in his army, and
chosen to appear as a restorer rather than as a de-
stroyer, there are few at the South who would not
join to pronounce him the hero of the,war on the
Northern side, and his name would worthily go down
to posterity by the side of the great captain of the
age, who declared, when leading his victorious veterats
into France, that rather than suffer them to pillage the
country as they passed, he would resign his command.

While Generals Johnston and Sherman were en-
gaged in their negotiations at Durham’s, Governor
Vance found that by having obeyed President Davis’s
summons to Greensboro before accepting General Sher-
man’s invitation to Raleigh, he was effectually pre-

- “Rye

bd THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 183

cluded from all further-participation in the affairs of
the State. I am not at liberty to say why or how this
was; but it is probable the Governor himself does not
very deeply regret it, since it is not likely he would
have been permitted by the Federal authorities to re-
tain his office, even if he had returned to Raleigh and
resumed the reins. All General Sherman’s views and
official acts as peacemaker were speedily disavowed
and overruled at Washington; and though Governor
Vance was willing to have made the experiment, be-
ing urged thereto by his best friends, yet, .as matters
have since turned out, it is as well that he was pre-
vented. He and his noble State were equally incapa-
ble of any attempt to make terms for themselves, even
had it been likely that any terms would have been
granted. Our fortunes were to be those of our sister
States whom we had joined deliberately, fought for,
and suffered with; and Governor Vance was never
more truly our representative than in the treatment
he received: from the Federal Government after the
surrender. r

Our Governor left Hillsboro on Saturday, arrived in
Greensboro on Sunday morning, April sixteenth, and
found that President Davis had left for Charlotte the
day before. The whole Confederate Government left
Danville the preceding Monday, April tenth, arrived
at Greensboro on the same day, and had ever since
been living in the cars around the railroad station at
that place. Mr, Trenholm being very ill, had been
taken to Governor Morehead’s.
President, and all the Government officials lived for

+e

 

        

But the Confederate

 
   
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
   
 
  
   

Q
' 184 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. .

five rainy days in the miserable leaky cars that had
brought them thither, having abundant. government
stores of provision in their train. On the slope of a
hill near by, which tradition points out as that on
which General Greene had held a council of war pre-
vious to the battle of Guilford, in 1781, President
Davis and his Cabinet, and Generals Beauregard and
Johnston held their last conference a day or two be-
fore Governor Vance’s arrival. It had resulted in the
first terms which General Johnston was authorized to
make with General Sherman, and he was already on
his way back to Hillsboro, to hold his first interview
with the Federal commander. Failing to see the Presi-
dent, Governor Vance would now have returned to
Raleigh. All that can be said at this point is, that he
was not permitted by our military authorities to pass
through their lines while the negotiations were pending.
He then followed President Davis to Charlotte, and
had a final interview with him, giving him notice of
his intention, as General Johnston was then on the
point of surrendering the army, to surrender himself
to Sherman, and use what means were in his power to
save the State and State property from further ruin,
treating the Confederacy as at an end. Returning to
‘Greensboro, he found the first terms agreed upon had
been rejected at Washington, and the two command-
ing generals were engaged in a fresh negotiation.
Failing still to receive permission to proceed to Ra-
leigh, he wrote a letter to General Sherman, and sent
it by Treasurer Worth, who found on his arrival in
Raleigh that General Sherman was gone, and General

* >
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 185

Schofield was in command, who refused to allow Gov-
ernor Vance to return at all.

The Governor then remained quietly in Greensboro
until Schofield’s arrival there, when he had an inter-

view with him, giving him necessary information as to-

State property, records, ete., ete., and. bespeaking his
protection for them and for our people, especially in
those localities where they were at feud with each
other. He then tendered his own surrender, which
General Schofield refused to accept, saying he had no
orders to arrest him, and he might go where he pleased.
Governor Vance then told him he would join his fami-
ly at Statesville, and would be found there if requisi-
tion should be made for him. He arrived in States-
Ville, rejoining his family on the fourth of May—by a
curious coincidence, the very day on which, four years
before, he had left them, a volunteer for the war!
And four such years !—sketched for us thirty years
ago in that sublime and solemn picture upon the can-
vas of Webster, where lay a land rent with civil feuds,
and drenched in fraternal blood. He remained until
the thirteenth, when he was arrested by order of the

deral Government, by Major Porter, commanding a
detachment of three hundred cavalry, Ninth Pennsyl-
vania, conveyed a prisoner to Raleigh, and-thence to
the Old Capitol Prison at Washington City.

On the thirteenth of April, General Sherman en-
tered Raleigh. The day before, General Stoneman
had occupied Salisbury. He entered the State from
Knoxville, Tenn., taking most of the towns in his way-
and committing an immense amount of damage, and

     

 
 
   
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

ae ic nasal:

ren

¥
186 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

finally arriving in Salisbury just in time to destroy

utterly all the valuable State and Confederate proper-

ty which had been so sedulously conveyed from Ra-
leigh, to escape General Sherman! The particulars
of this important and successful move Ihave as yet
been unable to procure. I hope, however, to present
them at some time in a detailed and authentic narra-
tive. The codperation with Sherman was timely, and
would have been a perfect success if Stoneman had
ventured to hold Salisbury. He might easily have
done so, though, to be sure, he did not know that;
but if he had, he might have given checkmate to the
Confederacy at once. President Davis would never
have reached Charlotte. As it was, the raiders from
Stoneman’s command, who cut the Danville road
above Greensboro, were within half an hour of cap-
turing the whole Confederate Government in its flight.

During the occupation of Chapel Hill by Kilpa-
trick’s cavalry, the citizens of the place possessed their
souls in as much patience as they could muster up, en-
deavoring to arrive at a stoical not to say philosophi-
cal frame of mind, in view of the sudden dislocation

~ of all things —among other things, maintaining a de-

cent degree of composure upon the establishment of
Liberia in our midst, and accommodating ourselves to
this new phase of things with a good deal of grit
humor. The negroes, however, behaved much better,

* on the whole, than Northern letter-writers represent

them to have done. Indeed, I do not know a race
more studiously misrepresented than they have been
and are at this present time. They behaved well

a

|
|

e
THE LAST-NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 187

during the war: if they had not, it could not have
lasted eighteen months, They showed a fidelity and
a steadiness which speaks not only well for themselves
but well for their training and the system under which
they lived. And when their liberators arrived, there
Was no indecent excitement on receiving the gift of
liberty, nor displays of impertinence to their masters.
In one or two instances they gave “ Missus” to under-
stand that they desired present payment. for their
services in gold and silver, but, in general, the tide of

‘domestic life flowed on externally as smoothly as ever.

In fact, though of course few at the North will believe
me, I am sure that they felt for their masters, and
Secretly sympathized with their ruin. They knew
that they were absolutely penniless and conquered ;
and though they were glad to be free, yet they did
not turn round, as New-England letter-writers have
represented, to exult over their owners, nor exhibit
the least trace of New-England malignity. So the
bread was baked in those latter days, the clothes were
washed and ironed, and the baby was nursed as zeal-
ously as ever, though both parties understood at once
that the service was voluntary. The Federal soldiers
Sat a good deal in the kitchens ; but the division being
chiefly composed of North-western men, who had little
love for the negro, (indeed I heard some d—n him as
the cause of the the war, and say that. they would
much rather put a bullet through an abolitionist than
through a Confederate soldier,) there was probably
Very little incendiary talk and instructions going oD.
In all which, in comparison with other localities, we
Were much favored,

    
 
 

:
j
i
>

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 

  

188 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

So we endeavored to play out the play with dignity
and self-possession, watching the long train of for-
agers coming in every day by every high-road and by-
way leading from the country, laden with the sub-
stance of our friends and neighbors for many miles,
(though in many cases, let me say, the Government
made payment for food and forage taken after peace
was declared,) watching them with such feelings as
made us half ashamed of our own immunity, wonder-

ing where it would all end, and that we should have.
lived to see such a day; reviewing the height from

which we had fallen, and struggling, I say, to weara
look of proud composure, when all our assumed stoi-
cism and resignation was put to flight by the appear-
ance, on a certain day, of a squad of unarmed men in
gray, dusty and haggard, walking slowly along the
road. A moment’s look, a hasty inquiry, and “ Zee’s
men!” burst from our lips, and tears from our eyes.
There they were, the heroes of the army of Virginia,
walking home, each with his pass in his pocket, and
nothing else. To run after them, to call them in, to
feel honored at shaking those rough hands, to spread
the table for them, to ery over them, and say again
and again, “God bless you all; we are just as proud
of you, and thank you just as much as if it had turned
out differently ;” this was a work which stirred our
inmost souls, and has left a tender memory whieh will
outlast life. Day after day we saw them, sometimes
in twos and threes, sometimes in little companies,
making the best of their way toward their distant
homes, penniless and dependent on wayside charity

_

    

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 189

for their food, plodding along, while the blue jackets
Pranced gayly past on the best blood of Southern sta-
bles. But Iam glad to record that wherever a Fede-
Tal soldier met any of them, he was prompt to offer
help and food, and express a kindly and soldierly cor-
diality, Grant’s men, they all said, had been espe-
Clally generous. There was something worth study-
ing in the air and expression of these men, a something
which had a beneficial and soothing effect on the ob-
Servers, They were not unduly cast down, nor had
any appearance of the humiliation that was burning
nto our souls. They were serious, calm, and self-pos-
Sessed. They said they were satisfied that all had
been done that could be done, and they seemed to be
Sustained by the sense of duty done and well done,
and the event left to God, and with His award they
had no intention of quarreling. It was a fair fight,
they said, but the South had been starved out; one
dark-eyed. young South-Carolinian said, for his part he
Was going home to settle down, and if any body ever
Said “secesh” to him again, he meant to knock ’em
Over. Many looked thin and feeble; and a gallant
Major from Fayetteville told me himself that when or-
dered to the last charge, he and his men, who had
been living for some days on parched corn, were so
Weak that they reeled in their saddles. “But we
Would have gone again,” he added, “if Lee had

Said go.
The news of the death of President Lincoln, re-

Ceived at first with utter incredulity, deepened the
Sloom and horrible uncertainty in which we lived.

 
 

Pas

~ 190 ‘fHE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

That he jvas dead simply may not have excited any |
regret among people who for four years had been
learning to regard him as the prime agent in all our
troubles. But when the time, place, and manner of
his death came to be told, an unaffected and deep hor-
ror and dismay filled our minds. The time has not
yet come for Southern people to estimate President
Lincoln fairly. We never could admire him as he ap-
peared as a candidate for the Presidency, nor look
upon him as a great man, in any sense of the word.
But even if we had recognized him as a lofty and com-
manding genius, fit to guide the destiny of a great na-
tion through a crisis of imminent peril, the smoke of
the battle-fields would have obscured to us all his good
qualities, and we should have regarded him only as
the malignant star, whose ascendency boded nothing
but evil to us. He was always presented to us in
caricature. The Southern press never mentioned him
but with some added sobriquet of contempt and
hatred, His simplicity of character and kindliness of
heart we knew nothing of; nor would many now at
the South, much as they may deplore his death, con-
cede to him the possession of any such virtues. They
judged him by the party which took possession of
him after his inauguration, and by his advisers. But
a sense of remorse fills my mind now as I write of him,
realizing how much that was really good and guileless,
and well-intentioned and generous, may have come to
an untimely end in the atrocious tragedy at Ford’s
Theatre. The extravagance of eulogy by which the
Northern people have’sought to express their sense of

+k-#

 

 

ae!

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 191
his worth and of his loss, has had much to do with
OUreunwillingness to judge him fairly. To place the
Illinois Jawyer by the side of Washington would have
been an offense against taste and common-sense; but
to compare him to the Son or Gon, to ascribe re him
also the work of “ dying the just for the unjust,” is an
impious indecen¢éy which may suit the latitude of Mr.
Bancroft, and the overstrained tone of the N orthane
mind generally, but whose only effect at the South is
to widen the distance between us and the day when

we shall frankly endeavor to understand and do justice
to President Lincoln.

     

5
4

 

 
CHAPTER XIV.

GENERAL STONEMAN—OUTRAGES—COLD-BLOODED MURDERS—
GENERAL GILLAM — PROGRESS THROUGH LENOIR, WILKES,
SURRY, AND STOKES—STONEMAN’S DETOUR INTO VIRGINIA—
THE DEFENSE OF SALISBURY—THE FIGHT IN THE STREETS OF
SALISBURY — GENERAL POLK’S FAMILY — TEMPORARY OCOU-
PANCY OF SALISBURY—CONTINUOUS RAIDING.

On the same day that General Sherman entered
Raleigh, General Stoneman occupied Salisbury, April
12-13th, thus completing the chain of events which
was closing in upon the Confederacy. Among the
prisoners kept at Salisbury were some of the better
class, who were at large on parole. This they broke
in the winter of 1864-5, and, making their escape over
the mountains into Tennessee, carried such accounts
of the accumulation of stores, etc., at Salisbury, as

made its capture an object of importance.
General Stoneman entered the State during the last

week of March, by the turnpike leading from Taylors-
ville, Tennessee, through Watauga county to Deep
Gap, on the Blue Ridge. His force was probably six
or seven thousand strong, though rumor increased it
to fifteen, twenty, thirty, and in one instance to sixty
thousand.

They entered Boone, the county-seat of Watauga,

+

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 193

on the twenty-sixth of March. The village was com-
pletely taken by surprise. No one was aware of the
approach of an enemy till the advance-guard dashed
up the main street, making no demand for surrender,
but firing right and left at every moving thing they
saw. Mrs. James Council, hearing the noise, stepped
into her piazza with her child in her arms, and imme-
diately a volley of balls splintered the wood-work all
around her. She, however, escaped unhurt. The peo-
ple of this county had been warmly attached to the

Confederate cause, and had bravely resisted East-Ten-
nessee raiders and “marauders. The county-seat was
therefore, perhaps, especially obnoxious; and what-
ever may have been General Stoneman’s policy, there
were subordinate officers in his command who were
only too happy in the opportunity to g@etort upon a
defenseless and unresisting population. The jail was
burned by order of General Gillam. Tor this it is said
he was sternly rebuked by General Stoneman ; but all
the Gounty records, books, and private papers. were
destroyed. Private houses were of course plundered,
and the citizens were consoled by the assurance that
“ Kirk was to follow and clean them out.” Several
Citizens were shot under circumstances of peculiar ag-
grayation. A party of the raiders went into the field
of Mr. Jacob Council, where he was plowing with a
negro, He was over the conscript age, a prudent,
quiet man, who had taken no part in the war. He
was shot down in cold blood, notwithstanding his pit-
€ous appeals for mercy, because, upon the negro’s
Statement, he was “an infernal rebel.” Another, War-

 
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194 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. |
reiGreen, wast while holding up his hands in
token of surrender. Another, Calvin Green, was pur-
sued and surrendered, but they continued firing upon
him after his surrende#, He then resolved to defend
himself, and fought, loading and firing till he was
shot down and left for dead. He shattered the arm
of one of the Federal soldiers, so that it had to be
amputated that night. But instead of dying himself,
he recovered, and is now living. Steele Frazier, a lad
of fifteen, was. chased by a squad of half a dozen. He
made a running fight of it. Getting over a fence, he
coolly waited till they were within range, and then.

fired and shot one through. He then ran again, load-
ing, and turned again and killed another of his pur-

suers; and notwithstanding the pursuit was kept up
some distance, the balls whistling round him, he finally
made good his escape, and will probably make none
the worse citizen, when he is grown, for his adven-
turous boyhood. ;

Through the whole of this raid General Stoneman
is represented to have been apparently anxious to mit-
igate the distresses and horrors of war as far as was
practicable, by courteous and humane treatment of
the people. His record and that of General Palmer
are in refreshing contrast to those of his subordinate,
General Gillam, and of certain other higher names in
the Federal army. There is one story, however, told
of him in Boone, which, after all, may be due to his
quartermaster or commissary-in-chief. Mrs, Council
had been kind to some Federal prisoners confined in
the jail; and the invaders hearing of it, requited her

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 195

by affording her protection ari stay. Kirk's
raiders, ‘however, came down after Stoneman had
passed on, and stripped the place of all that had Deen
left —the gallant Colonel Kirk himself making his
headquarters with this lady—keeping her a close pris-
oner in her own room, while he and his men made
free with the rest of the house and the premises.
That they left little or nothing but the bare walls,
may be inferred from General Stoneman’s remark on
his return to the place after the capture of Salisbury.
Standing in the piazza and taking a survey of what
had once been a happy and beautiful home — the
fencing all gone, the gardens, shrubbery, and yard
trampled bare, covered with raw hides of cattle and
sheep, decaying carcasses, and all manner of filth—he
turned to the lady and said, “ Well, Mrs. C., I sup-
pose you hardly know whether you are at home or
not.” Gratefully remembering his former courtesy to

her, she exerted herself to entertain him with such
scanty stores as the raiders had left. A firkin of un-
commonly fine butter had been overlooked by them,
and she placed some of this on the table. The Gen-
eral commended this butter especially, and asked her
if she had any more of it. She told him it was about
the only thing to eat she had left, and congratulated

herself on its safety under his protection. What was
her mortification, a short time after, to see the firkin

ordered out and plaeed in the General’s own provi-
sion-wagon. So much that is favorable to General
Stoneman’s character has reached me, that I ean not
help hoping he was ignorant of this unspeakably small
transaction.

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196 HE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

On the twenty-seventh of March, the column was
divided. General Stoneman, with one division, went
direct to Wilkesboro. The other, under General Gil-
lam, crossed the Blue Ridge at Blowing Rock, and

+ to Patterson, in Caldwell county, thence rejoining
foneman at Wilkesboro. At Patterson General Gil-
lam took the responsibility of ordering the extensive
cotton factory there to be burned. General Stoneman
is said to have regretted this destruction especially, as
Mr. Patterson, the owner, had received a promise that
it should be spared, and the people of East-Tennessee
had been largely supplied from it. But General Gil-
lam, when not immediately under General Stoneman’s
eye, could not restrain his propensities, He announced
that “the Government had been too lenient, and reb-
els must look out for consequences,” and ordered the
torch to be applied.

While the raiders were in the Yadkin river-bot-
tom, they were detained three days by freshets.
Small parties scoured the country, carrying off all the
horses and mules, and burning the factories. There
seemed to be no systematic plan of destruction ; for
while some mills and factories were burned, others in
the same neighborhood and quite as easily accessible
were spared. Much depended on the personal char-
acter and disposition of the commanding officer of

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR, 197

vates always followed the lead of their commander,

The factories on Hunting Creek, in the upper part of
Tredell, were burned with large quantities of cotton,
Eagle Mills alone lost eight hundred bales. Among

General, Gillam’s exploits in Wilkesboro, was the find: ,

 
 
  

ing the horse of the late General James Gordon i
stable of a brother-in-law of the General. Thi
eral G. immediately, with great intrepidity,
tured ;” and further to impress the family with a
of his heroic achievement, he had a man to mount the
animal and parade him slowly up and down before
the door of the house for an hour or two.

Leaving Wilkesboro on the thirty-first of March,
General Stoneman moved over into Surry county,
in the direction of Mount Airy, and thence into Vir-
ginia, aiming for Christiansburg, on the Tennessee
Railroad. A portion of the command being detached
to, Wytheville, was met near that place by General
Duke’s cavalry, and repulsed, but rallying, took the
town and destroyed the depot of supplies there. Hay-
ing effectually destroyed the road above Wythesyville,
between New River and Big Lick, General Stoneman
turned back upon North-Carolina, reéntering it from

Patrick county, Virginia, and marching rapidly through
Stokes county, appeared suddenly in Salem and Win- -

ston on the tenth of April. Here he sent out various

    
 

detachments to cut the North-Carolina Central Road .. .
and the Danville and Greensboro Road, destroys ‘ .
bridges, supplies, ete., etc. One of these parties, as Z = P '
have said before, narrowly missed capturing the train
conveying the whole Confederate government, in its

™ these detachments. If he happened to be a gentle-
~ man, the people were spared as eo as possible ; if
he were simply a brute dressed in a little brief author-

ity, every needless injury was inflicted, accompanied
with true underbred insolence and malice. The pri-

 
   
   

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198 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

flight to Greensboro. They burned the bridge at
Jamestown, and were about to fire the depot, but upon

” g sudden false alarm, fled precipitately withou finish-

ing their work. At High Point they burned the depot
and large quantities of government stores, also seven-

teen hundred bales of cotton belonging to Francis

Fries, of Salem. The public buildings and stores at
Lexington and Thomasville were saved by the arrival
of a body of Ferguson’s cavalry, who chased the raid-
ers back to Salem. The general plan of the whole
raid seemed to contemplate the destruction of stores

“and the cutting off communications without risking a

battle.
At Salem and Winston private property was pro-

tected, no pillage being permitted. This was probably
owing to the fact that the inhabitants having had no-
tice of the approach of the raiders, sent a deputation
to meet them and make a formal surrender of the
town. I am not aware that a demand for surrender
was made of any place during the entire raid, or that
any place beside Salem and Winston, which may be

. regarded as one, offered a surrender. The first notice

of the presence of any enemy, in most cases, was
given by the unlooked-for arrival of the advance-guard
galloping in and taking possession,

At Mocksville, a number of the eitizens, supposing
it was only a small squad that was hurrying through

the country and plundering, prepared to give them a

warm reception, and.a short distance from town fired
upon the advancing column. Soon finding their mis-
take, they retreated. Threats of burning the village

   

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 199

for this audacious thought of resistance were made,
but as General Stoneman was pressing forward with
all speed upon Salisbury, no time was allowed for any
such exchange of compliments.

General Stoneman’s detowr into Virginia had com-
pletely mystified the people of North-Carolina. They
breathed freely as he passed over the border, and con-
gratulated themselves that the dreaded raid, which
for weeks had been anticipated, was so soon at an end,
The troops which had been posted by General Beau-
regard at Salisbury, for its protection, were moved off
to Greensboro and to the railroad bridge across the.
Yadkin, and the town was left with little or no de-
fense. If Stoneman had marched thither from Wilkes-
boro, he would probably have been repulsed with dis-
aster; for a large body of infantry, with artillery and
cavalry, had been concentrated there; but when Salis-
bury was attacked, on the morning of the twelfth of

April, the whole effective force did not much exceed .

five hundred men, including two batteries on their way
to join Johnston at Raleigh. Of these five hundred
two hundred were “ galvanized” Irish, recruited from
among the Federal prisoners—besides artisans in the
government employ from the various shops, Junior
reserves, and a number of citizens who volunteered
in defense of their homes. In the absence of General
Bradley T. Johnson, the commandant of the post,
General Gardner took command, and disposed his
handful of men at various points on the road toward
Mocksville, so as to man and support the batteries, -
there being nowhere more than one hundred and fifty
men at any point.

     
 

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200 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

The attack began at daylight. By eight o’clock
the batteries were flanked. The artillery-men fought
bravely, but were of course soon overpowered and
compelled to leave their guns in the hands of the
enemy. <A few of the “ galvanized” Irish fought well,
but the majority went over in a body to the Federals
soon after the fight commenced, leaving the artillery
without support, and of course betraying the weak-
ness of the Confederates. A desultory fight was kept
up till the suburbs of the town were reached, and then
all order and subordination were lost, the Confeder-

gates scattering through the town and to the woods
~~ beyond. Several of them were wounded, and one or

two were killed in the town. The loss of the Feder-
als is unknown, but several were buried on the battle-

field. A number of Confederates were taken prison-
ers, some citizens, negroes, etc. By nine o’clock the
place was in quiet possession of the enemy, who gal-
loped in with drawn swords and full of strange oaths.
Many of the citizens, negroes, and children, were in
the doors and on the side-walks gazing for the first
time at the Federal uniform. In the desultory running
fight that was kept up through the streets, one of the

Irish recruits before mentioned, fighting bravely, was’

shot through the lungs; but he continued to dow d
fire as he retreated till he fell on the pi

M. E. Ramsay. Though the balls fell thick bs al
him, and she was alone with her little children, she
went out to him and managed to get him inside the
house, Where she nursed and stimulated him the
greater part of the day, till she could get a physician

* oJ

PS ee a

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR, 201

to him and have him removed to the hospital. He
said to her, “They have killed me, but I die a brave

man; I fought them as long as I could stand.” She -

supposed that of course his wound was wortal, but a
fortnight after, to her astonishment, he returned to
thank her for her kindness.

Captain Frank Y. McNeely was found in the Ar-
senal and shot. Lieutenant Stokes, of Maryland, was
sitting on his horse in front of General Bradley John-
son’s headquarters, when a squad of the enemy dashed
into the street. An officer in front,cried out, “* There’s

a d—d rebel—charge him.” The Lieutenant waited,

till the officer was in point-blank range, and then shot
him through, and putting spurs to his horse fled—
hotly pursued. One of the pursuers was gaining on
him, considerably in advance of the rest, and probably
intended to sabre him; but the Lieutenant suddenly
reining his horse aside, let the raider pass, and as he
passed fired and killed him, and then made good his
escape. The officer shot proved to be one of General
Stoneman’s staff.

A small squad of the Confederates retreated fight-
ing through the yard and premises of Frank Shober,
Esq. One of their number was killed in the piazza
of the house.

a ee in the streets—such in-
cidents as these, and the fact that Salisbury was an
especial object of hatred to the invaders as the prison
depot of so many of their unfortunate comrades,

whose graves were to be counted there by thousands—

these things certainly gave General Stoneman every

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202 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

excuse for the plunder and destruction of the whole
town had he chésen to interpret the laws of war as
did General Sherman. But he did not so interpret
them; he did not éven fall back upon the reserve that
he was unable to restrain his justly infuriated soldiers.
He declined to avail himself of General Gillam’s burn-
ing zeal for the honor of the Union. This latter offi-
cer was heard to say that, if he had his way, he would
make the people of Salisbury think “all hell was let
loose upon them.” Another accoumt states that he
declared that “though born in Salisbury, he would be

glad to lay it in ashes.”*

But General Stoneman’s policy toward the inhabit-°
ants of Salisbury is a very striking illustration of
the principles which, in a previous chapter, I have en-
deavored to show were the only true and generous
and really politic guide for the commanders of an in-
yading army. Private property was protected, guards
were stationed, and General Stoneman repeatedly
gave strict orders for the enforcement of quiet and
protection of the citizens. He himself in person in-
spected the* public stores,.which were of course by
the laws of war doomed to destruction, and refused
to allow the Confederate Quartermaster’s depot to be
burned lest it should endanger the town. The officers,
whether willingly oxnot, seconded their commander.
Whatever plundering and insolence the people were
subjected to—and there were a number of such cases

* Jg General Gillam a son of North-Carolina? I put the note and query for
the future historian. If so, then we have only another proof that decency and

_ good principles are not always hereditary.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 203

was very evidently the work of unauthorized bum-
mers, who appeared in mortal dread of the guards,
and did their work hurriedly and furtively. Corn-
cribs and smoke-houses were entered, horses and
mules and arms were seized; but, on the whole, the
general policy was the sound one of protection to non-
combatants.

Early in the morning of the attack several large
trains with government stores made their escape from
Salisbury towat@&, Charlotte and Greensboro, but a
passenger train on the Western road was not so for-
tunate. Having proceeded a mile or two from town
the track was found obstructed; and as soon as the

train stopped, a volley was poured into it without
any demand for surrender. Several passengers were
wounded, but happily none of the Jadies, among
whom were the widow and daughters of General
Leonidas Polk. The cars being set on fire, much of
the baggage belonging to the passengers was burned
—all that was rescued was plundered—and among
Mrs. Polk’s valuables were found the sword, uniform,
papers, and other cherished relics of her husband.
These things wereyall seized with great triumph, and

@though much that Was ‘taken besides was afterward

restored to Mrs. Polk, no inducements could prevail
upon the gallant Colonel Slater of the Eleventh Ken-
tucky Cavalry to return to the widowed lady. these
mementos of her husband. He claimed them as
“taken on the battlefield,” and kept them.

_ As soon as the town was quiet, a strong foree was
detailed to attack the railroad bridge across the

 

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AP ante TI Aa a er

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204 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

Yadkin,,six miles distant. Here strong fortifications
on the Davidson side of the river had been erected,

‘under Beauregard’s supervision, on a hill commanding

the bridge and they Rowan shore. General York of
Louisiana, with ten or twelve hundred men—home-
guards and “ galvanized ” Irish-—defended the bridge :
its preservation was of the greatest importance to the
Confederate cause, and strict orders had been issued
by General Beauregard to defend it at all hazards.
At two o’clock p.m, on the twelfth} the raiders ar-
rived, and brisk skirmishing was kept up on the Row-
an side. At three o’clock some of the cannon captured
in the morning on the other side of Salisbury, were *
brought down, and opened on the Confederate batter-
jes. Heavy cannonading between the two continued

till dark, when the raiders, thinking the place too well
fortified to risk an assault, returned to Salisbury, de-
stroying the railroad as they went. A few Confeder-
ates were wounded, one or two were killed. The

Federal loss, if any, is unknown. J
The assailants returned to assist in the destruction

of the public stores at Salisbury, which I have before
stated were immense. They hadsbeen accumulating
there for weeks from Columbia, OF
Danville, and Raleigh. The clothing, provisions, med-
ical stores, etc., were collected in the main street and
fired. The length of four entire squares was occupied
by the burning mass, valued at at least a million in
specie. Much was given away to negroes and the
lower class of the white population—much was quietly
appropriated, and by some dwho should have known

#,

arlotte, Richmondys 7

     
  

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 205

better, The distresses and privations of war make
times of strong temptation, and the general demorali-
zation that prevailed all over our country Was no”
greater at Salisbury than elsewhere. To people who
had been half starved for months, and many of them
half clothed, it was hard to see such quantities of
sugar, coffee, spice, flour, bacon, luxuries to which
they had long been strangers, burning in their streets
like so much rubbish. The stores were all emptied

besides of priv property—and many people were
to be seen passing along the streets loaded with what

they chose. Many soldiers had dozens of coats, shirts,
ete., piled up before them on their horses.

The value of the medical stores alone was estimated
at $100,000 in gold. It is a little curious that, while
such an amount was being’ thrown into the flames,
one of the surgeons of the Federal army entered the
office of one of the principal physicians in the place—
Dr. J. J. Summerell—and was about to carry off all
his scanty store of medicine; but upon remonstrance,
h@agreed to divide, saying, he could not bear to rob
a brother practitioner.

On the night ofthe 12-13th the ordnance stores,
arsenal, foundry, with much valuable machinery, the
Government ‘steam distillery, the dépdts and other
buildings belonging to both the Central and Western
roads, and other public buildings were fired. The
night being perfectly still, the sheets of flame rose
Steadily into the air, and the great conflagration was
plainly visible at the distance of fifteen miles; and for
several hours the incessant and distinct explosions of :

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
  
   
 
  

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206 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

shells and fixed ammunition conveyed the impregsion
to the anxious watchers, miles away, in the adjoining
counties, that a fierce battle was raging. There was
no hallooing by the soldiers—no shouts—only the crack-
ling of the flames and the bursting of the shells. Now
and then a mounted troop swept through the streets,
the horsemen in profound silence, the lurid flames from
the burning distillery making their rough faces look
ghastly enowgh, while the buttons and other mountings
of their equipments sparkled in the gis’. No one
thought of sleep that night, not even the children.

A large building, three stories high, originally built

for a cotton factory, but for some time past occupieds

by Federal prisoners—all of whom a few weeks pre-
viously had been sent to Richmond and Wilmington
for exchange — together with the barracks and all
other buildings connected with it, were burned; and it
may be well imagined that the Federal soldiers felt a
peculiar satisfaction in the destruction of a spot so
memorable to them—the scene of so much wretéhed-
ness and want and despair. Many of the men with
Stoneman ‘had been among the prisoners there, and
many had had brothers and other relatives there. I
have heard that General Gillam himself had been one
of the number before his promotion, No one who
knows what the condition of these prisoners was, can
wonder at any amount of rage expressed by the survi-
vors and avengers. The way in which both sides,
during the war, treated their ptisoners, is an exceed-
ingly curious commentary on the boasted Christian
civilization of the whole country, from Maine to Texas.

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 207

For the Northern side there is no excuse. For the
Southern side there is one—and but one. Our prison-
ers were starved, as I have said before, because we
were starving ourselves; our children were crying for
bread, and our soldiers were fighting on half-rations
of parched corn and peas. We could not tell our ene-
mies this! We were not to confess to them this fatal
weakness in ouréause! But what we could do to induce
their Government to take these poor wretches home and
giveus our own itexchange, we did do. Every induce-
ment was offered to them again and again in vain.
So far, then, our skirts are clear. But brutality of
speech and behavior, cruel indifference to their situa-
tion, unnecessary harshness and violence to helpless
unarmed men, diseased and dying—of this there may

have been much among certain of our officials, and for
this we will yet have to repent before Him who hears

the sighing of the prisoner.
Tt has been estimated that the loss in buildings

alone, which were mostly of brick, would reach to half
a million in specie, and the total loss of all property to
several millions. Had the war continued, the capture
of Salisbury would have been & stunning blow to Gen-
eral Johnston, and would have seyerely crippled his
movements. As it was, it is a matter of great regret
that such a vast amount of most valuable property
should have been destroyed just at a time when its
destruction was nO longer necessary to the overthrow
of a cause alreatly dead. General Stoneman might
safely have held Salisbury from the hour he

it, and preserved every dollar’s worth of its § for

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208 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

the advantage of his own government. - He might have
prevented the further flight of the Confederate Govern-
ment, and President Davis and all his cabinet might
have been forced to surrender with General Johnston.
And it would have been better if they had.” But Gen-
eral Stoneman did not know what a brilliant part he
was playing in the last act of the great tragedy, and

- he hurried to get through with it and leave Salisbury

as rapidly as he had entered it. On the 13th a terrific
explosion of the magazine finished the work, and that

evening the Federals moved off toward Statesville,

riding most of the night as if under apprehension of
pursuit.

General Stoneman must certainly be allowed to have
accomplished his ends with a skill, celerity, and daring,
which entitle him to high praise as a military leader,
Add to this the higher praise of humanity, and the
ability to control his troops, and he well deserves
a higher niche than some who led grand armies on
great marches, Salisbury, comparing her lot with
that of Columbia and Fayetteville, may well afford to
hold General Stoneman’s name in grateful remem-
brance,

I have taken no pleasure in this recital of injuries,
insults, inhumfnity, and breach of faith. The truth of
history demands that the facts shall be told on both
sides calmly and with impartiality. Theworld, which
has heard so much of one side, should hearithe other
too; and posterity, at whose bar we shall all stand for
thig,four years’ work, should have every opportunity
afforded for-a righteous verdict, And there are other

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 209

Ways in which the truth plainly told may do good.
People will be enabled, looking at these details, to arrive
at a just estimate of what war may become, even
among Chgistian people, and shudder to invoke its
horrors lightly, and may teach their children so. How
many of us knew in the spring of 1861 what was about
to break oft among us—what wide-spread ruin, what
raging passions, what furies of hell, which once evoked
will not down at our bidding? Quiet men, who were
familiar with the pages of European history and knew
what Christian armies had done again and again in
the fairest and most civilized portion of her empires,
these came gravely from their studies with words of
warning to the gay throngs of young people who were
cheering each other on to the impending strife. But
these were the old fogies of that day—cold-blooded—
unpatriotic—who did not love the South. What a
short and brilliant programme was laid down! The
girls made their silken banners, and the boys marched
proudly off to glorious victory; England and France
would see fair play; and this dear and sunny South
was to spring at once upward and onward in a career
of glory. One’ of the most influential journals in the
South—one of the soberest—dealing lightly and easily
with the great issues of the war; settling at a word
the boundary lines of the new Southern republic, and
dotting what! Were to be our frontier States with a
chain of forts} establishing the new war office, and the
Standing army, henceforth to be a necessary ae
grew enthusiastic over the splendid resource thus:

be afforded to our “aristocratic young men of y

        
  

 
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210 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

and fortune.” The army was to be especially for the

‘ gentlemen of the South. Alas! and alas! Now, torn

and bleeding and broken-hearted, humiliated, stripped,
crushed, disfranchised, and helpless, we may look back
and learn a lesson. .

It may be well, too, if public atfention can be di-
rected by such narratives to an investigation of the
laws of war, and some inquiry be suggested as to the
necessity of their being revised and mitigated. And
it can not but a have a beneficial effect that even vic-
torious military heroes shall be made amenable to pub-
lic opinion for the manner in which they have wielded
the great powers intrusted to them, and find, in somé
cases, their fresh-plucked laurels withering in their
grasp.

The actual loss and injury inflicted by the enemy, in
the progress of the war, on personal and public proper-
ty, was very far from being the greatest evil which its
continuance entailed upon us. I speak not now of
losses by death. Inter arma leges silent is an old say-
ing ; and though framed in a dead language, its drift is
well understood and acted upon by people who can
not even read it. The longer the war lasted the more
evident became the demoralization of our people, and
their disregard for laws and principles of action by
which they, had been guided all their lives. At the
break-up respectable citizens, who would once have
shrunk from even the imputation of such conduct,
helped themselves unblushingly to Government stores
and public property, even when it had been intrusted

-to them for safe keeping, When their betters set such

THE LAST; NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 211

an example, the common people of course threw off all
restraint ; and we could then plainly see how petty,
compared with the advantages gained, are the taxes
which we pay for the support of law and government.
There geemedsto be a general feeling, during the last
ninety days, that there was no government outside of
the military pressure for conscripts, deserters, and tithes.
I am reminded of a poor neighbor as I write, who, dur-
ing the winter of ’64~65, like many others, provided
his family with wood to which he had no right. Be-
ing remonstrated with, he said with energy, fi There is
no law in the land in these days,” and continued his
depredations openly. And I do believe the general
feeling was, “ What else can he do, with wood at forty

dollars a cord ?”
Nor are such fruits of war confined to the Southern

side of the Potomac. The fires that have lit up so
many Northern cities ; the tales of murder, robbery,

and riot, which have crowded the columns of their
journals for the past year ; and the general lawlessness
and contempt of authority which prevail there, point
unmistakably to the dangers which accompany a tri-
umphant and utterly undisciplined army, whether in
the enemy’s land or returning ‘home flushed with vie-
tory and demoralized with licensed rapine and riot.
Did Northern people soberly believe that-it was zeal
for the Union and hatred of secession that prompted
such wholesale plunder in the South? Let their own
experience since, and the records of their criminal
courts within the last year, show, that when plunder 18
to be had, lawless and unrestrained men care little

 

        
212 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

whether it belongs to friend or foe; and that, lust, once
aroused and let loose, can not distinguish, and is amen-
able to no laws. Herein, as in thousands of other in-
stances, is that saying true, “The measure we mete is
measured to us again,” '

Human nature is indeed a wild beast that has need
to be chained and continually surrounded with re-
straints, or we should prey upon each other as savages
do, and so lapse into barbarism. Let the experience
of the last five years teach the people of this great
Republic henceforth to preserve indissolubly the bonds
of Puace, that so, as a nation, they may do their ap-

pointed part toward hastening on the coming of that
Price of whose kingdom there shall be no end.

“Te duce, qui maneant sceleris vestigia nostri
Trrita perpetua solvent formidine terras.”*

* With Thee for our guide, whatever relics of our crimes remain shall be taken
away, and free the wotld from perpetual fears,

CHAPTER XV.

IREDELL COUNTY — GENERAL PALMER’S COURTESY TO MRS.
VANCE—SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT OF THIS LADY BY FEDERAL
SOLDIERS—MAJOR HAMBRIGHT’S CRUELTY IN LENOIR—CASE

OF DR. BALLEW AND OTHERS—GENERAL GILLAM—HIS OUT-
RAGES AT MRS. HAGLER’S — DR. BOONE CLARK — TERRIBLE
TREATMENT OF HIS FAMILY—LIEUTENANTS RICH AND MAL-
LOBRY—MRS. GENERAL VAUGHN—MORGANTON.

STATESVILLE was entered on the night of the 13th,.

and oceupied for a few hours only. » Long enough,
however, to insure the destruction of the Government
stores and railroad dépédt, and of the Iredell Fx-
press office, a paper which was obnoxious from the
warmth with which it had advocated the cause of the
Confederacy. No county in the State had suffered
more severely than Iredell in the loss of her best and
bravest sons in the army. The famous Fourth North-
Carolina regiment was composed of Iredell boys, and
the colors of no regiment in the service were borne
more’ daringly or more nobly. I remember to have
heard it said, after one of the great battles around
Righmond, that half the families of Iredell were in
mourning. When it became known that the Ex-
Press office was to be burned, the ladies and citizens
plead earnestly that it might be spared for the sake

 
    
   
  
   
  
  
   
     
  
  
   
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  

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214 . THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

of the town, which was in great danger of being in-
volved in the conflagration. The citizens offered to
tear it down and remove the matérials to a vacant
square to be burned, but this was not allowed by the
officer who had charge of the business, The office
was fired where it stood, and in consequence a large
private dwelling, belonging to Dr. Dean, standing near

it, was also consumed, and a large family turned out _

houseless and utterly prostrated otherwise—Gen. Sher-
man’s army having just previously destroyed certain
other resources ’of theirs. ‘The wind providentially
blowing in the right direction, saved the town from

general ruin. One of the citizens, Mr. Frank Bell,
was cruelly beaten and tortured to make him disclose

the hiding-place of gold which they suspected he pos-
sessed. He, however, had none.

The raiders moved, on the 14th, to Taylorsville,
Alexander county, and from thence to Lenoir, Cald-
well county, which they reached on Saturday, 15tp,
and occupied till Monday, 17th. On the road from
Statesville a part of the command was dispatched in
the direction of Lincolnton, under General Palmer. Of
this officer the same general account is given as of
General Stoneman, that he exhibited a courtesy and for-
bearance which reflected honor on his uniform, and
have given him a just claim to the respect and grati-
tude of our western people. The following pleasant
story is a sample of his way of carrying on war with
ladies: Mrs. Vance, the wife of the Governor, had
taken refuge, from Raleigh, in Statesville with her
children. On the approach of General Stoneman’s army,

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 215

she sent off to Lincolnton, for safety, a large trunk filled

With valuable clothing, silver, etc., and among other
things two thousand dollars in gold, which had been
intrusted to her care by one of the banks. This trunk
Was captured on the road by Palmer’s men, who of
course rejoiced exceedingly over this finding of “spoil,
more especially as belonging to the rebel Governor
Vance. Its contents were speedily appropriated and
Scattered, But the circumstance coming to General
Palmer’s knowledge, within an hour’s time he had
every article and every cent collected and replaced in
the trunk, which he then immediately sent back under
guard to Mrs. Vance with his compliments, General
Palmer was aiming for Charlotte when he was met

by couriers announcing news of the armistice.
There was no plundering allowed in Statesville.

Mrs. Vance was treated with respect and entirely

unmolested. But several weeks afterward, when

Governor Vance was a prisoner in Washington, a squad
of Federal soldiers came to her residence and carried
away every article of furniture in the house. Some of
this belonged to the Mansion House in Raleigh, and
had been removed to Statesville for safety at the same
time when other Government property was sent off.
The officer who was in command had the grace to
appear ashamed Of his business, and apologized to Mrs.
Vance repeatedly, stating that he was acting under
orders, and that it was done at the suggestion of North-
Carolinians in Raleigh, who desired that the articles
belonging to the executive mansion should be restored.
Every thing in the house was taken away; private

     

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216 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

property and all, and not one article ever reached the
executive mansion. Two queries occur: First, Who
were the North-Carolinians who instigated this insult
to Mrs. Vance ? And sécond, Whatever did become of
the furniture? Every thing in the way of furniture
was carried off, and Mrs. Vance, who was then ill, and

her children were left without even a bed. In less”

than twelve hours after this raid extraordinary
became known to the people in the town and neigh-
borhood, the house was entirely refurnished with more
than it had contained previously. I can well imagine
that there was no one who did not esteem it a privi-

lege thus to testify their love and respect for the Gov-
ernor and his family.

General Stoneman pressed on toward Tennessee
through Watauga county, with the prisoners, leaving
General Gillam, with three hundred men, to proceed to
Asheville via Morganton.

Of the prisoners it was estimated there were about
nine hundred. Many of them were old men past the
conscript age, some were boys, others were discharged
Confederate soldiers in feeble health or maimed, who
had been captured at their homes. In regard to them
no settled course or plan of action seems to have
been adopted. In some instances they easily escaped,
or were allowed to do so tacitly, and régained their
homes in a short time. Most of them, however, were

dragged on with every circumstance of barbarity and ~

cruelty. A few instances may be given illustrative of
their-treatment.

In Lenoir they were confined in and about the

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 217

Episcopal church, under a strong guard, with peremp-
tory orders from General Gillam to shoot every man who
attempted to eseape. The gallant Generaladded, that
he “ would rather have ten men shot than one escape.”
It must be remembered that a number of them were
Over sixty years of age; some were permanently
diseased ; some were men who had not walked continu-
ously five miles for years, or perhaps hardly in their
whole lives; and that, when they reached Lenoir, they
had all of them marched twenty-five and thirty miles
in eight or ten hours, They had been double-quicked
@ good part of the way from Taylorsville to Lenoir,
and arrived there on Saturday afternoon nearly
exhausted with fatigue and hunger. Notwithstand-
ing their deplorable condition, they had nothing to
eat after that march till Sunday at ten a.m., and then
they were only partially supplied from the scanty stores
of the plundered villagers; for Lenoir, having been
pronounced a “rebellious little hole,” was sentenced
to receive its full share of punishment at the hands of
General Gillam. It was not till the afternoon of Sunday
that rations were issued. Whenever any of the towns-
people carried any thing to the prison, the scene was
said to have been most piteous, 80 many men begging
for just one morsel of dry bread. There seemed to be
an especial: spirit of bitterness toward the prisoners
among the Federal soldiers generally, and in some
instances among the officers. S. Hambright, Major
and Provost«Marshal, with headquarters at the same
place with General Gillam, was especially insulting t0
citizens, and eruel to the prisoners, Dr. Ballew, 2

        
  
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218 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

citizen of Lenoir, enfeebled and emaciated with con-
sumption, was arrested and carried to headquarters.
Feeling exhausted with the effort to walk there, he
sat down on the steps of the piazza, to await the
Major’s pleasure. It was determined to send him to
prison, and he was ordered to get up and march, but,
from his feebleness, not being able to move quickly
enough to. suit the chivalrous soldier, the Major, to
help him rise, stepped behind and gave him “ @ rousing
hich.” The’ citizens were heartily cursed for taking
food to them. From Lenoir they were marched ra-
pidly up to the top of the Blue Ridge; several gave
out, several who started from Salisbury died. They
were all urged forward with threats of death. A
Lieutenant Shotwell attempted to escape, but being
overtaken, surrendered. He was then shot down and left
on the roadside unburied. A Mr. Wilfong, who had
captured a straggler of Kirk’s command, brought him
into Lenoir, not knowing the Federals were there.

The tables were of course turned, and he in his turn.

became a prisoner, and was given in charge to his
former captive, who wreaked such cruel vengeance on
him that he died before reaching Greenville, Tenn.
All who reached Knoxville were sent to Camp Chase,
Ohio. ;

General Gillam deserves especial notice at the hands
of the historian. All concurrent testimony represents
him*as most supercilious, insulting, and unfeeling.
His headquarters in Lenoir, were at Mr..Albert Hag-
ler’s. The family were all crowded off into one room,

while the gallant General and his staff appropriated.

   
  

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 219

all the rest of the premises, including kitchen and sta-
bles. To Miss Sarah Hagler, an accomplished young
lady, he was especially impeftinent, though she parried
his attacks with the civility of a lady. On one occa-
Slon he said to her rudely, “I know you are a rebel
from the way you move—an’t you a rebel?” She
replied, “ General Gillam, did you ever hear the story
of the tailor’s wife and the scissors ?” “Yes.” “'Then
Tam a rebel as high as I can reach.” Coarseness,

however, can not always be met playfully, and Mrs.
Hagler incurred his anger to its fullest extent when,
In reply to his violent denunciation of the Confederates
for starving their prisoners, she ventured to suggest
that the Federal authorities might have saved all this
Suffering had they agreed to exchange and take them
North, where provisions were plenty. The General’s
reply to this was the giving his men tacit license to
plunder and destroy the houses of Mrs. H.’s married
daughter and niece, who lived very near her, and who,
she had supposed, were to be protected, from his head-
quarters being at her house. No houses in the place
Suffered more severely than theirs. The house of her

daughter, Mrs. Hartley, was pillaged from top to bot- ~

tom. Barrels of sorghum were broken and poured
Over the wheat in the granary, and over the floors of
the house. Furniture and crockery were smashed,
and what was not broken up was defiled in a manner
pe disgusting as to be unfit for use. Mrs. Clark, the
niece, was diiven out of her house by the brutality of
her plunderers. Her husband, Dr. Boone Clark, was

a captain in the Confederate service, had been wound-

     
  

 
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

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220 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

ed in the battle of Leesburg, early in the war—an
admirable and most graphic account of which engage-
ment he wrote for the Raleigh Standard soon after.
In several subsequent battles he had received severe
wounds, and though partially disabled by one of them
at this time, he was endeavoring to raise a company
of cavalry for home defense, as marauders, under the
notorious Keith and Blalock, were constantly threaten-
ing to pillage Lenoir, These facts were known to some
of Gillam’s men, and they evidently enjoyed the op-
portunity to plunder his house and insult his defense-
less wife. He himself was at home, sitting at table,
when the raiders dashed in town. Seizing his gun,
he ran out and secreted himself behind some adjoining
buildings, and though a colonel did him the honor to
enter his house almost immediately, and with a squad
made a thorough search for him, his retreat remained
undiscovered, and at night he left for more secure
quarters. The raiders swarmed through the house
that evening and night, breaking open trunks, ward-
robes, drawers ; searching for arms and carrying off all
the valuables, and destroying what they did not want.
Finding a coat of the Captain’s, they cut it to pieces.
They destroyed all the provisions, all the furniture,
crockery, and wearing apparel. They tore up fine
silk dresses into ribbons for their hats, or, cut large
squares out and carefully wrapped up quids of tobacco
in them and deposited them on the mantel-piece. The
little daughter’s hat and garments were placed on the
floor, and loathsomely polluted. They even took the
lady’s thimble from her work-box, and carried off the

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THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 221

likeness of her deceased mother, paying no regard to
her entreaties. They constantly addressed her, as she
Sat weeping and motionless ‘amid the wreck they were
making, in the most profane and obscene and insulting
language, repeatedly calling her a liar and other de-
grading names. They compelled her and her little
daughter to remain and witness the destruction ; and,
finally, when there was nothing more to break and
Steal, one of them approached her and thrust his fist
in her face. As she raised her head to avoid it, he
struck her forehead, seized her by the throat, cursing
her furiously. She begged him not to kill her; he let
her throat loose then; seizing the neck of her dress,
pegs it open, snatched her gold watch, which hung by
& ribbon, tore it off and left her. Half dead with
fright, she rushed to the door with the child, and amid
curses and cries of “Stop her!” “Don’t let her go!”
got out of the house, ran down to her aunt’s, and fell
fainting on the threshold. After she was recovered,
the ladies begged General Gillam to interfere, but he
refused, saying, “'There were bad men in all crowds.”
Tn the case of Mrs. Hartley he turned his back to the
ladies without a word. Mrs. Clark then appealed to
Lieuténant Jerome B. Rice of the Signal Corps, and also
bes Lieutenant Theodore Mallobry in the same command.
These were gentlemen, and manifested a determination
be protect her. One of them returned to her house
With her and viewed the utter destruction of her-house-
hold property with every appearance of shame and
indignation. As they entered the house’a soldier—
the last of the gang—ran out. The Lieutenant had him

  

 
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222 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

arrested and carried to headquarters. When Mrs.
Clark was called on to identify him as one of the rob-
bers, he denied having been near her house. “ Why,”
said she, “that is a piece of a silk dress of mine round
your hat now.” “Ts it?” said he, coolly taking it off
and handing it to her; “well, then, you may have it
back.” This was in the presence of General Gillam,
for whom, by the way, it was generally observed, the
men seemed to have no respect. General Brown sent
a strong guard to Mrs. Clark’s house; but it was too
late to save any thing, and she had no redress. ~

I have been thus particular to give an account whigh

is, after all, a condensed one, of the treatment of one

Southern lady by certain soldiers of the army of the
Union. There are thousands of such eases unreported.
This I present as a sample. So much is said of the
“unharmonized” attitude of Southern women at pres-
ent that I think it is as well to let the world see upon
what ground it is they feel as if some time must elapse
before they can honestly profess to love their enemies.

While plundering one house in the village, the ma-
rauders forced themselves into the chamber of a lady
while she was in child-birth. With great difficulty
the attending physician prevented them from plunder-
ing that room.

Mrs. General Vaughn was residing in Lenoir at this
time. It is said that Generals Gillam and Vaughn
had been friends before the war, and had agreed together
that if the family of one should fall into the hands of
the other, they should be protected. General Gillam
placed a guard at Mrs. Vaughn’s house; but as soon as

 
 

  

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 223

he left the town, two of his men went in and demanded

her watch. On her refusal they attempted to search

her. She drew a pistol, but they took it from her be-

fore she could fire. She resisted their search with all

her might, and at last they left her without the watch,

having nearly torn her dress off. Shortly after, the
Same two returned with five others, and with threats
of violence compelled her to give the watch up. That
night squads of half-intoxicated men came back and
committed further depredations in the village and
neighborhood. The house of Dr, Felix Dula, with all
its furniture, was burned. This, however, it is con-
jectured, might have been done by deserters. They
left Lenoir for Morganton on the 17th, and on the way
burned the house of a Mr. Johnston, one of the home
guards. On reaching Rocky Ford, on the Catawba
river, a mile or two from Morganton, they found a
party of about fifty Confederates, strongly posted on
the opposite side, well armed, and with one brass
howitzer. This party was under the command of
Captain George West, Lieutenant-Colonel 8. M’Dow-
ell Tate volunteering with them. They were well
posted and sheltered on their side, while the enemy
approached without cover to attempt a very difficult
ford. A sharp engagement ensued, which resulted in
General Gillam’s withdrawal toward Fleming’s Ford,
a little higher up. He lost about twenty-five, killed
and wounded. Few were wounded. An eye-witness
Says he counted eight dead bodies of Federal soldiers
floating down the stream. The Confederates lost none,
their position being so advantageous. At Fleming’s

  
    
   
 

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Ford General Gillam easily foreed his way, the fifty
Confederates taking to the mountains on finding them-
selves overpowered here.

The raiders remained at Morganton a day or two.
There was very little plundering doné in the houses
here. They exercised their ingenuity in searching for
hidden treasure out of doors. It seemed to have been
understood that the Morganton people, warned of
their approach, had cached most of their valuables.
These caches were hunted up With unremitting vigor,
and most of them were discovered and rifled. Many
amusing stories are current now all through the South,
of valuable deposits, scarcely hidden at all, which es-
caped, and some, not so amusing, of others hidden in
inscrutable places which were pounced upon at once,
Of a quantity of old family silver buried out of town,
by a clump of rocks shaded with a persimmon-tree or
two and a grape-vine, and on the departure of the ene-
my the owner going out and finding that a camp had
been made just there, and the camp-fire built just
over the cache, which was untouched. Of a valuable
cache made by several families united, in a secluded
spot in the woods, and found afterward undisturbed
save by the hoof of a raider’s horse having sunk in
upon it, having evidently caused a stumble, but no sus-
picion of the cause, Of valuable papers and jewels so
well hidden that it was months before the owners
themselves could find where they had put them.

  
 
 

 

CHAPTER XVI.

 

PLUNDERING OF COLONEL CARSON—OF REV. MR. PAXTON—GEN-
ERAL MARTIN REPULSEX KIRBY—GILLAM PLUNDERS DURING
THE ARMISTICE—OCCUPATION OF ASHEVILLE—WHOLESALE
PLUNDER—DISPATCH FROM GENERAL PALMER.

On the road from Morganton to Asheville General
Gillam’s men went through their usual programme,
wherever a house was to be plundered and ladies were
to be insulted and robbed! At Pleasant Garden one
of them, feeling that some clean linen was necessary
to his comfort, demanded a shirt of Colonel Carson.
The Colonel assured him that the house had been
thoroughly plundered, and the only shirt remaining to
him was the one he then had on. Having satisfied
himself of this fact, the soldier compelled the Colonel
(an old gentleman) to strip, and carried off his sole re-
maining shirt. I believe no officers were present at
the plundering of Colonel Carson’s; but at the house
of the Rev. Mr. Paxton, an aged and amiable man, a
minister of the Presbyterian Church, officers were
present, and countenanced, if they did not directly aid,
the. pillage. They carried off all that was portable,
even to knives and forks, and destroyed the rest of
the furniture. Haying found some marmalade and

 
 

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226 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

molasses, they made a mixture and smeared it over
the bedroom furniture, etc. Sdime of them locked Mrs.
Paxton in her room, and attempted to torture her into
the disclosure of hiddefi treasure, if she had such. Her
eries brought others to the door, and they desisted.
Mr. Paxton’s horse, watch, and all his clothing were
taken of course. Such were the rudeness and brutali-
ty which accompanied these robberies, that people.
were thankful to escape with theit lives.

About the time that General,Stoneman’s return was
expected in the West, a brigade of infantry, under
command of a Colonel Kirby, was moved by the Féd-
erals from Greenville, Tenn., on Asheville, N. C. It

was supposed they would meet Stoneman there; but
they arrived a little too soon, during the second week

of April, and were met by the Confederates near Camp
Woodfire, and so successfully repulsed that they turned
about at once and returned to Greenville.

The troops by whom Kirby was repulsed were a
part of the command of General J. G. Martin, referred
to in our first chapter as the originator of the plan
to furnish our soldiers through the blockade-runners.
He was, as Governor Vance writes of him, a most

gallant and efficient officer, especially valuable for the’

prompt energy which he infused into every depart-
ment of business under his control. When it was
found that General Gillam intended to take Asheville,
General Martin ordered his whole command, consist-
ing of Palmer’s brigade (composed of the Sixty-
second, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-ninth North-Carolina,
and a South-Carolina battery) and Love’s regiment of

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 227

Thomas’s Legion, to the vicinity of Swannanoa Gap,
on the road from Morganton to Asheville. Love’s
regiment was ordered to the Gap. They reached it
before Gillam did, and after cutting down some trees,
and making a few other arrangements to receive the

- raiders, waited their approach, and on their advance

repulsed them without difficulty. General Gillam
Spent two days at this Gap, vainly endeavoring to
effect a passage, and finally moved off in the direction
of Hickory-nut Gapg Palmer’s brigade was ordered
to meet them there; but General Martin, giving an
account of this affair, adds, “I regret to say the men
refused to go.” Rumors of General Lee’s surrender
and of Johnston’s armistice were floating through the
country, and men who fought bravely as long as there

was hope were only too willing to lay down their arms
at the first news of peace.
General Martin ordered the South-Carolina battery

to Greenville, 5. C., their horses being in too bad con-
dition for active service. On its way it fell in with
General Gillam, and was captured. On Saturday,
twenty-second of April, General Martin received no-
tice of General Johnston’s armistice with Sherman,
and immediately sent out two flags of truce, on differ-

“ ent roads, to meet General Gillam. On Sunday after-

noon he was met on the Hendersonville road, about
six miles from Asheville. He agreed to abide by the
truce, and requested an interview with General Mar-
tin, who accordingly, on Monday morning, twenty-
fourth, went out to his camp. The interview resulted
in an agreement that General Gillam should go through

 
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228 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

 

Asheville to Tennessee, and that he should be furnished
with three days’ rations for hi8 men, and that they
would observe the truce. General Gillam, it should
be remarked, upon the testimony of -his own officers,
had had official information of the armistice while
at Rutherfordton, on his way from Swannanoa. But,
nevertheless, he had continued the same system of
‘depredation all along his route from Rutherfordton,
sweeping the country of horses, mules, carriages, and
property of every description, and destroying what
they could not take along. On the twenty-fifth, Gen-
eral Gillam arrived in Asheville. Perfect order was

observed. ‘The nine thousand rations required were -

duly issued tohim. General Gillam and his staff dined
with General Martin; and as he was about to mount

his horse to join his command, in the evening, General
Martin asked him if he would give him the forty-eight
hours’ notice provided for in the truce, before renew-
ing hostilities. General Gillam replied, “ Certainly—

that the notice should be given.”
That night General Gillam left his command en-

camped not far from Asheville, and went on to Ten-_

nessee. During the day, while the Federals were
coming in, a party of officers dashed into town from

the French Broad road, in a state of very apparent

excitement. This was the notorious Colonel Kirke
and his staff, who had approached at the head of two
regiments for the openly avowed purpose of plunder-
ing Asheville, having heard of the dispersion of the

Confederates from Swannanoa, and feeling sure of

their prize at last. But finding the town quietly

——

        
      

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 229

Occupied by General Gillam, under the terms of the
armistice, they expressed deep disappointment, and
Swore roundly they would yet return and lay it in
ashes. Now they were compelled to leave in advance
of General Gillam.* The Federal army led in its rear
an immense train of plunder—animals of all sorts,
and carriages and wagons piled with property—house-
hold goods and treasures. One load, however, was of
questionable value, being no less than fifteen negro
babies, the mothers marching in the crowd. The
Asheville people had the mortification of seeing the
guns of the South-Carolina battery, just captured,
driven through by negroes. Not a citizen was visible
in the streets; doors and windows were all closed ;
but I have the best authority—that of a lady—for say-
ing that from behind curtains and blinds many a glance
was shot from bright eyes, of contempt and hatred, on
the blue jackets. Such lightning, however, is unfor-
tunately innocuous, and not known to produce fatal
effects outside of romances ; and so the raiders lounged
carelessly about, or sat down on the street-corners and
played cards, while waiting for their rations, in perfect
immunity from such electrical batteries.

Tuesday night passed quietly, and Asheville was
beginning to hope that hostilities suspended would

* Perhaps it is not generally known in North-Carolina that Colonel Kirke had
ardent aspirations for the provisional governorship of his beloved native State.
I saw a letter from him just after the break-up, in which he avowed this noble
ambition, evidently anticipating no very distant day when a grateful country
should reward his patriotism and gallantry. By the way, it is said that Colonel
Kirke also is a native of Salisbury. Both Kirke and Gillam! I am afraid there
is a digposition to slander that fine old borough.

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230 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

prove to be hostilities ended. Our troops had almost
ceased to exist in an organized form. The town was
guarded by only one company—Captain Teague’s

scouts—hbesides General Martin and his staff}including |

in all about thirty officers. A small party of Federals
passed through during the twenty-sixth, under flag
of truce, carrying dispatches to General Palmer, who
was then approaching from Lincolnton by. the Hickory-
nut Gap. At sunset on the twenty-sixth, General
Brown, in command of a portion of the same troops
that had just passed through with Gillam, suddenly
reéntered the place, capturing all the officers and sol-

diers, and giving up the town to plunder. The men

were paroled to go home, the officers to report to Gen-
eral Stoneman at Knoxville,

This, be it remembered, was within twenty-four
hours after the above agreement with General Gillam,
on official news of General Sherman’s armistice.

General Martin being arrested, was taken to Gen-

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 231

covered some of her stolen goods by the assistance of
@ guard who was detailed after the house had been
plundered. Not even the town of Fayetteville suffered
more severely from pillage. Mrs. James W. Patton
and her sister were both sick in bed. Their house was
entered from front and back at the same time. The
ladies’ rooms were entered, they were dragged from
their beds, their persons and the rooms searched, and
their valuables taken. This was supposed to have
been done upon the information of a servant, who had
told that there were four watches in the house. Of
these four watches, three were afterward recovered,
through the agency of a Captain Patterson, Assistant
Adjutant-General to General Gillam, who had been
quartered at Mrs. Patton’s, and who proved to be one
of the few gentlemen in that division of the United
States army.

Judge Bailey’s family suffered as severely as any
others, every thing portable of value being carried off,

even to the boots from the Judge’s feet. The wed-
ding-rings of his wife and daughter were forced from
their hands. Other ladies were stopped in the street
and their jewelry forced from them. Those who ap-
plied to General Brown, who had the honor to com-
mand this extraordinary expedition, received no re-
dress. whatever. Dr. Chapman, a well-known and
widely respected minister of the Presbyterian Church,
was so entirely robbed of all his goods and valuables,
that he had not a change of clothes left beside what
he wores The Tenth and Eleventh Michigan regi-
ments'¢ertainly won for themselves in Asheville that

eee ee

eral Brown, and after less than an hour’s absence, was
permitted to return home in charge of a United States
officer. On arriving at his house, he found the ladies
of his family, with lighted candles, going over the
house at the bidding of the marauders, lighting them
while they broke open doors, trunks, drawers, and
boxes, and helped themselves to what they. chose.
"And this was the experience of every house in the
place that night. Many were entered by three or four
different gangs at once. They swarmed in at every
avenue of entrance, generally by the back-deor, having
taken counsel with the negroes first. Mrs, Martin re-

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232 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

night a reputation that should damn them to everlast-
ing fame. No excuse was given for this violation of
the armistice, except a lame story of their having been
attacked by General Vaughn and returning to Ashe-
ville to revenge themselves. General Vaughn was at
that time in Virginia. On Thursday, parties scoured
the country in all directions, carrying on the work of
plunder and destruction. On Friday, they left, having
destroyed all the arms and ammunition they could
find and burned the armory. On Friday afternoon,
" they sent. off the officers they had captured under a
guard.» The town being left thus without arms or
protectors, the citizens, remembering Kirke’s threats,
begged General ;Brown to leave a small force as guard ;
‘but he refused, saying, “ They might take care of them-
selves.”

On the twenty-eighth, the following dispatch from
General Palmer—who was Brown’s senior officer—to
General Martin, released our officers and men from
their parole, and set the disgraceful circumstance of
their surprise and capture in its proper light, though
not stigmatizing it as it deserved :

Hickory-Nvur Gap Roan,
April 28, 1865.

GENERAL: I could not learn any of the particulars
of your capture and that of Colonel Palmer and other
officers and men, at -Asheville, on the twenty-sixth,
and as our toops at that point were obliged fo leave
immediately, there was no time for me to make the
necessary investigations

Heapquarrers or East Tenn, Cay. Drv.,

-

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THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 233

I therefore ordered your release ona parole of honor,
to report to General Stoneman. :

On further reflection, I have come to the conclusion
that our men should have given you, under all the oe
cumstances, notice of the termination of the armistice,
and that in honor we can not profit by any failure to
give this notice. You will therefore please inform all
the officers and soldiers paroled by General Brown
under the circumstances referred to, that ‘the parole
they have given (which was by my order) is not bind-
ing, and that they may consider that it was never
given.

Regretting that your brother officers and yourself
Should have been placed in this delicate position, I am,

General, respectfully your obedient servant,
Wiu41am J. Pater,
Brevet Brigadier-General Commanding. _—

General J. G. Martin, Asheville.

The citizens of Asheville also owed it to General
Palmer’s interference that two regiments of negroes,
which had been sent over into Yancey county, and
Which were bearing down upon Asheville, (it was said,
at the suggestion and with the concurrence of Kirke and
Gillam,) for the purpose of plunder and arson, were
countermanded and sent over into Tennessee. 2 -

The Asheville pillage concludes such accounts of
General Stoneman’s remarkable raid through Western
Carolina as I have been able to collect. A rich har-
vest of incident yet remains for the future historian.
T have done little more than indicate his route. Much

>

    
 
 

  

  
     
 
 

 
234 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

of the above is taken verbatim from a ms. narrative
furnished me, at my request, by Dr. R. L. Beall, of
Lenoir, so admirably and accurately-prepared that I
hope it will be given to the public entire at no distant
day. It gives me pleasure to acknowledge here my
indebtedness to this gentleman, and my thanks for the
generous public spirit he has displayed in his inyalu-
able contribution to these pages.

CHAPTER XVII.

SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE—WHY NORTH-CAROLINA COULD
NOT HAVE TAKEN MEASURES TO SEND COMMISSIONERS—RE-
VIEW—THE COAL-FIELDS RAILWAY—DIFFICULTIES OF TRANS-
PORTATION—PROVISIONS—THE LAST CALL—RECREANTS—PRI-
VATIONS—THE CONDITION OF THE PRESS.

Nor till we had seen General Lee’s farewell to his
army, printed on a slip from the Danville Register
Office, and read in household circles with tears and
sobs—not till then did we finally and fairly give up
the Southern cause, and feel that it was indeed lost.
That (for us) dismal fact once established, the large
majority—I may say, the great body of Southern peo-
ple—surrendered with their beloved and trusted leader,
Here and there were doubtless some resolved still to
blind themselves, to hope against hope, who talked
wildly of collecting the scattered fragments of our
armies, and prolonging the war beyond the Mississip-
pi—or somewhere; but they were the exceptions, few
and far between—rari nantes—who took counsel of
their desperation rather than of their reason. For all
men knew now, what had long been.feared and sus-
pected, that the ground on which we stood was hol-
low, and had’ given way hopélessly and forever, and

 
    

236 «THE LAST NINETY DAys oF THE WAR.

 

that now we were to pay the reckonin
years’ madness.

If North-Carolina had, through her Executive, anti-
cipated the final crash, and after the failure of the
peace mission to Fortress Monroe, had endeavored to
treat separately with the United States Government,
and be the first to tender her submission, (as there
were some who would fain have had her try the experi-
ment,) if our State had taken this step, four genera-
tions would not have heard the last of it. The whole
failure of the cause would in time have been attrib-
uted to the treachery and faint-heartedness of Old
Rip, ‘as there are even now those who say it was the
croakets who ruined us, and that Generals Lee and
Johnston should not have surrendered so lightly. Be-
sides the infamy, we should have gained absolutely
nothing, as is plainly indicated by the course pursuing
and pursued of the United States Government. .
Governor Graham, as our representative in the Con-
federate Senate, and from his position, high prestige,
and extended reputation, commanding the entire con-
fidence of our people, might very well recommend that
Some steps should be taken, if possible, to avert the
approaching crash, and spare the State the horrors of
military subjugation. This it was his duty to do; for
to him more than any other man in the State, our peo-
ple looked for guidance, and for some indication of the
policy proper to be pursued in circumstances so criti.
cal and so desperate. But if Governor Vance had
.moved in the matter of sending commissioners to
General Sherman one week sooner than he did, or

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THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 237

had taken one step looking toward recoheiliation; pe
Submission, or negotiation, at any time praens Me
the second week of April, 1865, he would in al pt >
ability have been arrested by our military author "
as a traitor, There was positively nothing that wit
honor or credit could have been done to meet the
United States army sooner than it was done. Our
affairs were at a dead-lock from the time vf the
adjournment of the Confederate Congress. 7 t A
therefore, who may yet be inclined to dep ore .
Certain steps were not taken by our Executive, e
Satisfied that the course pursued was the only one
possible. There is no room for misconstruction or
misrepresentation in the future. Inaction in certain
great and supreme moments is the day Hy Tet
the truest dignity, as the Indian who finds his use
Within the sweep of the rapids, and on the verge o
the abyss, folds his arms pl oe the inevitable
-with self-possession and calmness. P

i rl ag had nothing to retract, nothing to
unsay, no pardon to beg. She had acted ies
in joining the Southern cause. She had given o*
Whole strength to it, with no lukewarm adherence ;
and now, in the hour of acknowledged defeat and fail-
ure, she did not attempt to desert, or abjectly bespeak
any favors for herself on the ground of her anti-seces-
sion record or proclivities. And when the negotia-
tions were completed and peace was finally announced,
it would not be difficult to say what feelings most pre-
dominated amongst us. We had desired peace—an
end to the bloBdshed and to the impending. starvation

    
    
  

   
  
 

 
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238 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

of women and children. Peace we had longed and
prayed for; but not this peace. The reiinion was Not
this retinion. With all her former attachment to the
old Union—with all her incredulity as to the stability
or possibility of a separate independent Confederacy
of the Southern States, even in case of its triumphant
establishment—with all her sober conservative princi:
ples—I will venture to say, that there were not five
hundred decent men within the limits of North-Caro.
lina wh® could be found to rejoice in her military sub-
jugation, or who, under such circumstances, weleemed
the reiippearance of the Stars and Stripes as our na-
tional emblem. I have never yet seen one who did,
or Who was, at any rate, willing to avow it.» At the
same time, I must say, I have never seen one who
evinced any intention of other than an honest accept-
ance of the situation, and a determination to do their
whole duty and make the best of the inevitable.
Looking back at our delusions, errors, and mis-
calculations for the four years of the war, the wonder
is, that the Confederacy lasted as long as it did. The
last six months of its existence were indeed but mere
outside show of'seeming. That Richmond was doom-
ed, was patent to all shrewd observers in the fall of
1864; and there was probably not a member of the
Confederate Congress who did not know it when he
took his seat at the beginning of its last session. It
certainly reflects very little credit on the wisdom or
the patriotism of that body that they did not, before
adjourning, take some steps in concert to notify their

respective constituents of their opinion as to the situ: _

aerheeiehdtieinee cnentieeene naan a

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 239

ation, and give some indication of the Course they
Judged their States should pursue, Respect for Pres-
ident Davis, who was well known to be extremely averse
to any movement looking toward reconstruetion, and
who refused to contemplate the event of our subjugation
4S possible—due respect for him may have influenced
the extraordinary reticence of our Congress ; but it is
more probable that an undue regard for their own
Political reputation and influence was the prime object
With most of them. Whatever it was, histo®y will
point with a dubious expression to our representatives,
each nudging his neighbor and desiring him to go for-
ward—all convinced of the hopelessness of the cause,
yet almost no man bold enough to say so publicly?

The Confederacy did not fail for want of genius to
direct our military operations, nor for lack of the best
qualities that go to make good soldiers in our arniiies,
nor for lack of devotion and self-sacrifice among our
people; for they who most doubted the wisdom of our
policy or of our success gave as freely as the most
Sanguine. The history of the rise and fall of the Con-
federate currency will be a singularly interesting and
instructive lesson if it should ever be honestly written.
Its steady, unchecked decline but too surely marshaled
us the way we were going, and in the successive stages
of its destruction we may read as in a mirror the story
of our own facile descent.

After General Grant had succeeded in cutting the
Petersburg Railroad, the authorities at Richmond
looked with anxiety to the Deep River coal-fields in .
our State as the point where workshops could be lo-

 
  

 

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240 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

cated. Before that time tere was but little interest
felt or expressed in the struggle North-Carolina was
making to get a road opened to them; but when the
Richmond coal-fields were almost surrounded by the
enemy, Chatham county, in our State, became an object
of great interest to the Government. All the heads
of departments were at once willing to lend a helping
hand to the Raleigh and Chatham Coal-fields road.
The iron from the Danville road, which had been
taken up on account of the necessity of relaying that
road with a more heavy rail, (taken from the Char-
lotte and Statesville road,) was granted to it, and a
part of it was already on the way when Sherman. ar-
rived in Raleigh,

It is an interesting and suggestive fact connected
with the want of transportation facilities in our last
days, and showing the dire extremity to which we
were reduced, that coal was carried from Deep River
by rail and river past Fayetteville to Wilmington,
thence by rail via Goldsboro, Raleigh,and Greensboro,
to supply the government workshops in Salisbury
and Charlotte. South-Carolina also sent trains for it

ee ee

nmin

sibel isith esnips

to Wilmington. This coal was pronounced to be of —
the first quality, equal to the Cumberland coal, and —
one hundred per cent superior to the Richmond for

blacksmith purposes. This want of transportation
was one_of the many stumbling-blocks in the way of
the fainting Confederacy, and connected with the

scarcity of provisions, and the strict military surveil- —

lance established in every district, brought many of —

us to the verge of starvation. Provisions were con-

   

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 241

fined by military order fo particular districts, each
Seheral taking care of his own. I have been told by
Kemp P. Battle, Esq., our present State Treasurer, at
that time President of the Raleigh and Chatham road,
that on one occasion he was compelled—though he could
have bought an abundance of provisions in Eastern
Carolina—to send for bacon to South-western Geor-
Sia. He had to go to Richmond to see Secretary .

Seddon himself, and send an agent to General Beau-

Tegard at Charleston, in order to get permission to
Move it to North-Carolina. He was endeavoring on
©ne occasion to get some corn for his own family up
to Raleigh from his plantation in Edgecombe county,
when the general in command of that department
Seized it, and in reply to application for it said, “If
the owner is in the field, he may have his corn; if other-
Wise, not.” In this connection what were called “the
bonded plantations” were a curious institution in
those latter days, which greatly added to the distress
of our non-producers. For instance, the owner of a
large estate with slaves, in order to keep an overseer
Out of the army to attend to it, gave bond with good
Security to deliver to the Government, or to soldiers’
families, all his surplus produce at,Government prices.
By this arrangement of course our large planters
could only sell their produce at much below the mar-
ket price, and in fact for almost nothing, considermg the
value of our currency. And even this the Government
dia not pay. It died in debt to many: to Mr. Battle
for nearly his whole crop of 1864. With great difficulty
he got from a quartermaster, in March, 1865, six thou-

       
      

    
     
 

 
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242 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

sand dollars, which he intmediately exchanged for

fifty-seven dollars in gold. Besides this the Govern- —

ment impressed half the working mules, a source alone
of no little vexation and distress among our small
farmers. Our quartermasters were not always fair in
their assessment, nor competent to decide.

The difficulties in the’ way of procuring provision
can hardly be imagined by any but those who lived

‘

through that time. One of the last resorts was to

smuggle cotton to the Chowan country in exchange

for bacon, pound for pound. The greatest irregula-’

rities, of course, prevailed in different parts of the

South. In some of the central counties of the Gulf
States provisions were almost a drug in the market,

(there being no transportation,) while here and in the
army we were starving.

Ohe of the last desperate expedients of our Govern. |

ment, and which bore as hardly on our people as any
other, was the calling out of men between the ages of
forty-five and fifty, and the Junior Reserves, mere
children who should have been at home with thei
mothers. When the heads of families were taken
away, often leaving a houseful of girls only to assist

the mother to make bread, the distress and trouble —
were most piteous. At first the Government was in- |
clined to be liberal in exemptions, but in the last
F ninety days all were taken. :
! ‘some counties of our State there was a disposi-
tion to resist or evade this wholesale conscription,
and there were in consequence many deserters, many —
of whom lived by plundering their neighbors, and —

i

—-

 

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 243

thus added to the general confusion and anxiety and
peril of the times. Many acts of violence were com-
mitted in certain localities. Their expedients to
escape capture, the modes of living they resorted to,
the singular hiding-places they improvised or elabo-
rated, would make an amusing and curious chapter m
the history of the war—dhly these are the points
which historians who desire to represent a people as
unanimous in a great national struggle for rights and
liberty do not generally care to present. If any of
the immortal three hundred faltered on the way to
Thermopyle we have never been told of it. I know
that we were greatly mortified to hear the stories that
were told by those who were sent in search of our re-
creants. It was a severe shock to our high-strung
thories of Southern chivalry and patriotism, to think
of Southerners hiding in dens and caves of the Garth,
resolved with great constancy Nor to be martyrs,
having to be unearthed in these,burrows and dragged
out to the fight. One warrior lived for weeks in a
“hollow tree, fed by his wife; another was conscripted
from beneath his own hen-house, where he had dug
out a sort of grave, into which, well supplied with
blankets, he descended in peace.every morning. One
took possession of an old, deserted, and forgotten
mine in his neighborhood, and by a skillful disposal
of brush and rubbish at the entrance, kept House quite
comfortably for months, plying his trade of shoe-
maker meanwhile, and supplied with food from home.
The women, in such cases, were the instigators of the
skulking. One soldier returnin ¢ to his regiment, after
A pee | A Pom aca Lh <6 >

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244 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

a furlough at home in a certain county, said, “ He'd be

d—d if Jeff Davis wouldn’t desert too if he were to
stay at —— awhile.”

The history of our personal privations, our house-
hold expenses, our public donations, and our taxes
will be a curious study of domestic and political econ-
omy combined. People wo before the war had lived
up fully to incomes of two thousand dollars a year,
were reduced to less than one tenth of that sum, and
are fully qualified now to give an answer to the ques.
tion of how little one can live on. Fifty dollars jn
gold would have been gladly taken in exchange for

many a whole year’s salary in Confederate currency
for the last year or two. Even now it is an inexpli-

cable mystery to me how people with moderate sala-

ries lived who had families to feed and clothe. It was

done only by confining themselves strictly to the most
common and coarsest articles, and by an entire renun-
ciation of all the luxuries and most of the comforts of
life. When tallow was thirty dollars per pound, peo-
ple necessarily sat in darkness. I have walked from
end to end of our town at night and not observed half

a dozen lights. If we did not realize Charles Lamb’s

notion of society, as it must have existed before the
invention of lights, when people had to feel about for
a smile, and handle a neighbor's cheek to be sure that
he understood a joke, it was because lightwood-knots
were plentiful, and turpentine easy of access,

The condition of the press was a striking commen-
tary on the state of things among us. Some pains
have been taken to secure an accurate list of our State

oni

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 245

papers from an entirely reliable source. At mig bcm
mencement of the war there were but two aily
papers in the State; at the close, there were me: vf
the city of Raleigh alone. Of fifty-seven papers -
existence in May, 1861, twenty-six ceased during t ,
war. There are thirty-three now in the State,
which ten are dailies. People who had never taken
more than their own county weekly in call their livess
found the Richmond dailies a necessity during the
War, so great was the general anxiety to have the oo
est news, and above all from the army. The post-
Offices were besieged for the dingy half-sheets that
came freighted with momentous intelligence for us.
The Ftryetteville Observer and the North- Carolina
Presbyterian were the only two papers in the State
whose dimensions were not reduced to a halfsheet.
The Ftryetteville Observer had been for forty years
one of the most ably edited, most sterling, and most
influential journals in the State, and I may add, in the
swhole Southern country.* Its influence for good all
through that long period can hardly be overrated.
The editor, E. J. Hale, was an old-line whig in poli-
tics—a conservative of the strictest sort. His paper
ranged side by side with the National Intelligencer,
the Richmond Whig, and the other noble old jour-
nals of that school which had stood as breakwaters for
more than a generation against the incoming tide of
radicalism North and South, but were swept away at

. *

* The writer might have added—or in America. Its editor, Mr. Hale, the
gentleman of broad intellect, large information, and rare journalistic ability,
Ep, WATCHMAN.

    
      
 
  

   
 
  

 
 
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246 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

last in the great flood. Mr. Hale opposed the doc-
trine of secession, and resisted its movement as long
as it was possible to do so. Mr. Lincoln’s’ call for
seventy-five thousand men to coerce the South. first
aroused his opposition to the United States Govern.
ment; and after this State had gone over he support-
ed her Act, and aioe tan the war with all his power,
giving his sons, giving most liberally of all his sub-
stance, and devoting his paper enthusiastically to the
benefit of the army, and the upholding of the State
and general government. For though no admirer in
past-times of Mr. Davis’s record as a Democrat poli-

tician, yet when he was elevated to the post of Presi-
dent of the Confederacy, and became the representa-

tive of the Southern people, no man gave him a more
Senerous support. His paper was published weekly
and semi-weekly without intermission, and with a con-
stantly increasing circulation and influence, until the

“appearance in Fayetteville of General Sherman’s army,

on thestwelfth of April, 1865, when the office was en-
tirely destroyed, and the fruits of a lifetime of labor
Scattered to the winds. The office of the North-Car-
olina Presbyterian was also destroyed at the same
time.

The Raleigh Standard, edited by W. W. Holden,
was for many years the leading organ of the Demo-
cratic party in the State; indeed it may be said to
have been the creator and preserver of that party, and
was perhaps the most widely-circulated and influential
‘of all our journals, for its reputation was not confined
to the State. It was edited with marked ability by a

iis Su te

ee ee

4
‘THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 247

Man, unsurpassed as a party tactician, who erent
understood his, business, and who always ‘a fava
powder dry. During the first two years of t mia
all parties seemed melted down and fused into ai ha,’
the genexal ardor and excitement of the times; :
our heretofore antagonist papers presented a =
edifying spectacle of conéerd and pipe cies
1863, Mr. Holden seeing no prospect of a vast
end to the war by fighting, began to advocate a Pane
to negotiation upon the basis of possible mick ta
tion. This speedily rendered him obnoxious 0
of us who desired the war to. go on,#preferring zy
military subjugation to peaceful reconstruction x wh :
it drew more closely to his support those who esired |
peace on any terms. The state of feeling between
these two parties came to be such that an internecine
war among ourselves might have broken out at ris
time. It was excessively difficult and dangerous for

our public men to move either way. A party of sol- ul
diers passing through Raleigh, in September, 1863,
mobbed the Standard office, and the compliment was
returned, by the friends of Mr. Holden mobbing the
office of the war paper, conducted at that time by John
Spelman, under the title of the State Journal. Mr.
Holden deemed it prudent to suspend the issue of his
paper for two months in the spring of 1864, in ene
quence of the passage of the act suspending the wrl
of habeas corpus—suspended also for a day or two on
the arrival of General Sherman’s army.

The State Journal changed hands and name‘in 1
Under the title of The Confederate, and edited by Col-

 
—

248

 
 

THE. LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

onel D, K. McRae,

Confederate Government in this State, and continued

» when the office
dited with much
but with singular audacity and _)it-

was entirely destroyed. It was e
spirit and ability,
terness,

. The organ of Governor Vance’s administration was
The Conservative, established in “1864 as a daily, and
continuing till General Sherman’s arrival, when. it

shared the fate of the ConfedéFate, being utterly
destroyed, except one small

Slocum carried away with him. Zhe
followed the lead of the Standard in politics, and like
the Standard, was suspended for only a day or two,
on the occupation of Raleigh. It had the reputation
of being the earliest and sprightliest retailer of news—
generally ahead of its competitors in that department,
All these, as well as all others in the Confederacy, with
a few exceptions, were printed on half-sheets of ex-
ceedingly dingy paper, and their price ranged from
twenty-five dollars to fifty dollars for six months. No
subscriptions were taken for a longer period, in conse-
quence of the steady decline in value of our currency.
The typography and general appearance, to say noth-
ing of their matter, would have rendered them objects
of curiosity in any part of the civilized world, and
afford a close resemblance to the journals published in
the days of the Revolution of 1776. Such was the ~

searcity of paper among us, that they disappeared as

        
       
        
     
       
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

Lehi AR NBR Re igo Ae tk a Mie

Progress, daily,

= = — ——— ~ i Ser ;
eee ee re ere ee eam
ja ok pat = 2 nila

~

a Pi : ; SS Wa
Oe ee ee = ; =

;

Dos ae oe ee Ly be =

it became thé daily organ of the _

‘

press, which General’ —

i
i

we

 

" 49

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR 2
" le of one

fast as they were received ; and a sen sy sn halt

of our Confederate papers, which woul sistas

able possession for an historical — '

hence, is probably even now an impossibility.

AJl literary influences were of course greatly west
ed and straitened, while our people held their

in Suspense as to the issue of the war. pips cee
closed, schools went on lamely for busts oe 7
Who were in the army, and for want 0 . —
An effort was made here and there to supply es
creasing demand for grammars, oe sate . 4
and primers; but the paper was coarse an ig > om
the type was old and worn—the genera gi ed
up of these home-made books affording the clea sr
evidence of the insurmountable difficulties under whi

i i ile
' Our people labored in endeavoring to make books whi

Struggling for bread. Some of them ran the gal
being sent abroad to be stereotyped. wert cae
need only a new dress to take their place as ae i
in any school in the country now } but the majority
them may be set down as failures. The ae
schools, kept going at first, shared at last in the gene
eral decline and relaxation of order, and were hardly
in existence at all at the close. As to books from
abroad—magazines, papers, ete.—it may well Ve nd
agined that in the interior of the Confederacy at lea y
we were at a standstill in regard to all such means
improvement or information. Occasionally a pe! iy
the London Times, ox one or two of the leading wt.
York journals found its way from Rh, ah z
mington, or Charleston, and was sent from how

4
2

    
    
   
     
   
      
   
    
  

> PRE a ep ere a te

 
250 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. o
~

house until utterly worn out. Occasionally some .en-
terprising publishing house, getting hold of a copy of
the latest English novel, would issue a reprint of it,
solitary copies of which circulated through a county,
and soon shared the fate of the papers. Northern
magazines or books were but little in request, and lit-
tle read if obtained.* Iam by no means certain: that
the loss of the current “light literature” of the day
was a loss much to be deplored: Such privations may
rather be classed among the benefits of the war.

“ é
* But one number of Harper's Magazine was seen at Chapel Hill during the

war ; this ran the blockade from Nassau: and one number of the London Quar- .

terly Review, found among the effects of Mrs. Rosa Greenhow, which floated
ashore from the wreck in which she perished. Among such of her books as were
rec@vered, much damaged and stained with sea-water, was her narrative of her
imprisonment in Washington, just published in London, and the ms. of her private
journal kept during her visit to London and Paris, Her elegant wardrobe was

sold at public sale in Raleigh, by order of the Confederate Government, for*the
benefit of her daughter in Paris,

CHAPTER XVIIL

THE UNIVERSITY —ITS EARLY HISTORY — ITS ae Fig
GROWTH—THE ARDOR OF THE YOUNG pitty anf
TOR RELIEF FROM CONSCRIPTION — GOVERNOR phere
PRESIDENT DAVIS — ANOTHER DRAFT ON aa aa ia
DOZEN BOYS IN COLLEGE WHEN sHEEM AN COMES ; aon
BELLS RING ON—“ COMMENCEMENT ” IN 1865—ON
UATE—HE PRONOUNCES THE VALEDICTORY—CONCLUSION. |

As*to the State University, perhaps more than a
mere reference to its condition at the close of the war
may not unjustly form part of a contribution append
State history, since its influence and reputation have

been second to those of no similar institution in the
country, and its benefits have been widely aeerg
through every State of the Confederacy. Its Revo u-
tionary history is not uninteresting In this connection.
At the very time when all our State interests lay pros-
trate and exhausted from the Revolutionary struggle,
the very time when a superficial observer would orem
thought it enough for the people to get bread to ea

and clothes to wear, our far-seeing patriots, who knew
well that without education no state can become great,

and that the weaker we were physically. the more

Q le
there was for intellectual force and power iss
us to maintain our stand among the nations—t

 
i. cect  Ma

Oe Slt ti i Ks

i Rl AB lle ca

1h CEPR RRR ae ERI ST ION I lh

Ment abe i Dae ie et alla lS tia cali

fe ae allt a

Nh

>
252 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR,

wise men projected and laid the foundations of a State
literary institution, which, uncontrolled and uncon-
taminated by party politics or religious bigotries,
should be .an honor and a benefit to the common-
wealth through all future generations. General Davie
may be said to have been the father of the University,
though every man of distinction in the State at that
time manifested a deep and cordial interest in its es-
tablishment.

Most of my readers are sufficiently familiar with the
history of the State to be aware that, before the Revo-
lution, the mother country would permit no college* or
university or school to be established but upon certain
conditions utterly repugnant to principles of civil and
religious liberty. The charter of Queen’s College, at
Charlotte, Mecklenburg county, (the college, town,
and county, all three being named in loyal compliment
to his queen,) was disallowed by George III., because
other than members of the Established Church of
England were appointed among the trustees. This
act of tyranny did more to arouse the revolutionary
spirit than the Stamp Act and all other causes com-
bined. The money that belonged to the common-
school fund was squandered by the mother country in
the erection of a palace for the royal governor—the
most splendid edifice of the time on the continent.
And at the close of the war for independence, so im-
poverished was the country that the General Assem-
bly could contribute nothing toward the establish- .
ment of the University, beyond endowing it with
doubtful debts, escheats, and derelict property. So

|
;
}
|
i

 

  

. 253
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR

that if aid had not been given from private egie' Fi i
would never have struggled into earache Smith
first meeting of the trustees, Colonel a ype saved
the aid-de-camp of General Washington ane ig
quent Governor of the State, made a ag jor
twenty thousand acres of Chickasaw lands. wile
Charles Girard, who had served throughout o pret
of the war, childless in the providence of God, P poe
the newly-born University, and bestowed 7 v be 4
erty supposed to be equal in value to — f of the
dollars, General Thomas Person, the ti ‘ -five
Regulators, gave in cash ten hundred-and. peer i td
dollars* to the completion of one of the a . S85
and Girard Hall, Person Hall, and Smith Hall, goed
Serve in their names the grateful remembrance of. se
earliest and most munificent patrons of the institution.

iki i f the times
It is a striking evidence of the poverty 0 ;
that the ladies of the chief city of North-Carolina

were able to present only a quadrant in token of ord
interest in the new undeftaking, and the ladies o
igh a small pair of globes.

ng a the prot student arrived, and from that day
to this the whole course of the University has been
one of great and steadily increasing reputation and
usefulness. Dr. Joseph Caldwell was president from
1796 to 1835, (with the exception of four years, ae
Rey. Dr. Chapman presided,) when the Hon. ee
L. Swain was appointed his successor, and he stil -
mains at the head, the oldest college president m

the largest
* There was then, as now, no money in the country, and this was

cash donation ever received by the University.

  

    
 
   
           
      
  
         
      
 
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
 
  
 
  
  
 

i lia a Na

fi RE ROR Re Oe A ti BR eK

“ - ~ ie oe
ee eee ea

aad My dite! aA Oe Jai Se ally calli allie

|

\

parallel in American colleges,

dowment, the munificent patronage of the public en.
abled the authorities of the in

nent improvements in the e
additions to the library and apparatus,
value, as exhibited by the reports of th
the sum of more than a hundred thou
This was effected by skillful financiering,
the faculty very moderate salaries,

illustration at least of North-
ful management,

have been authori
tuition or room-

254 THE LAST NINETY DAYs oF THE WAR.

United States, and one of the most successful. It isa
remarkable fact, and one Strongly illustrative of the
conservative tone of our society, and of our North-
Carolina people in general, that for’ the long period
of seventy years there haye been virtually but two
presidents—that two of the Senior professors have re-
“mained for forty years each, one of them occupying
the same chair for that whole period. Another pro-
fessor has held his chair for twenty-eight years, an-

other for twenty-four, another for seventeen years, I
doubt if any other college in the

similar record. * During the five
preceding the war, the average number of students
was about four hundred and twenty-five —q larger
number than was registered at any similar institution
in the- Union except Yale,
tuition exceeded twenty thousand dollars per annum ;
and it is another circumstance which probably has no

that with a meagre en-

stitution to make perma-
difices and grounds, and
amounting in
é trustees, to
sand dollars!
and by giving
and is a striking
Carolina thrift and care-
Since 1837, moreover, the faculty
zed to receive without charge for
rent, any native of the State possessed

 

The average receipts for °

eg a EN
=

ics crus hanes

   

 

    

; 255
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

d acquired,
of the requisite endowments, natural, and aeq

: ces-
istance ne
whose circumstances may make such ass

vailed
lly have aval
sary. About ten young men annually

: e in nume-
themselves of this privilege, and a a the Uni-
rous instances won the highest hono

per ea arious
ike distinction in the v
si attained like : ques
‘ae Two remarkable cases of this ae ” :
presented during the discussion oe ta the last
Peaster ets snd et a8 ete een
in
bly, must_be es ficence
a sea pr In addition to the pagers
of Jib ginal ordinance, the two Literary

siaries
tire expenses of one or more rg their bounty
time referred to, and these recipien

iti of emi-
have rendered service and occupy eae ota
nence and usefulness which offer the hig

i ch benefactions. An
to perseverance in su site

p> cies between the State and the ne =

Po ne past quarter of a century, will show i sa peer

f the tuition and room-rent of those young < i mene

‘ Gal benefactions of the Societies, is grea a -

i of all the direct contributions a its oe a

i ities. Nay, v

i he public authori -

rr ci asie to the hundred o— —
i of the institution,

ing from the net earnings of t st
eiciae in amount to the entire endowment

repudiation of the war-debt, an
oA roar iano et Bank of North-Caro-

the consequent insolvency than the entire en-

lina, in the stock of which more
dowment was invested.

ee ea

     
     
         
      
       
       
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
    
 
   
    
   
 
 
   

3 and those who
remained in their chairs, being incapacitated by age
or by their sacred profession from servi
try otherwise than as teachers, resolve
doors of the University open as long a
could be found amid the din of arms

able to profit by it. When conscriptio
to, to fill up the depleted armies of
trustees resolved to appeal to Preside

8 a dozen boys
who might be
n was resorted

sults were an important part of our St
ing the war, and embodied fa
cant influence at the close.

ate history dur-
cts which had a signifi.

“Rateten, October 8, 1863.
“At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Unis

versity this day, present: His Excellency Governor
Vance, President ; W. A. Graham, Jonathan Worth,

D. M. Barringer, P, H. Winston, Thomas Ruflin, J. H.
Bryan, K. P. Battle, Charles Manly.

* “ Resolved, That the President of the University be
authorized to correspond with the President gt the |

   

|

 

. 267
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR

i i any order
Confederate States, asking a suspension be 7 been
or regulation which may have been issue

, a
ipti he University, until the en
ec te mene and also with a view toa ae
nee panel of young men advanced in libera
er oo they shall complete their college course.
pes ~ plas President of the University open corre-

orl the heads of other literary institutions
sponde

ing the adoption of a gen-
oral sogelation, exempting for a limited time from

pre ij 2 is e two higher classes

n i members of th
ilitary service the me 4 force
peor colleges, to enable them to attain the deg

5

r of Arts. aii i Oe
of Bachelor o “ Onartes Manty, Secretary.

. *. in
i i lution, Governor Swai
rdance with this reso y eva
is be 9 the following letter to President = . ‘
oon be read with interest, as Pp 768
be " remarkable statements in regard to
ver

versity and the village of Chapel Hill:

« UNIVERSITY OF oa at } 9
Cuapet Hirt, Oct. 15, 1863.

“To His Excellency, Jefferson Davis, President of
the Confederate States:

“Srr: The accompanying resolutions, adopted by .

F 2 so te
the trustees of this institution at their aoe ae
Raleigh, on the eighth instant, make it pele | i:
open a ‘correspondence with you on the subj

ich they relate. : oe
ho ea pe statement of the facts, which seem

illustrate and
to be pertinent, without any attempt to illust

eon

    

}
¢
i

‘

an

WS

Le ii es aS

a ed

(ggg rere ne
258 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

-

enforce them by argument, will, I suppose, sufficiently

accomplish the purposes of the trustees.

“At the close of the collegiate year 1859-60, (June
seventh,:1860,) the whole number of students on our
catalogue was four hundred and thirty. Of these,
e two hundred and forty-five were from North-Carolina,
twenty-nine from Tennessee, twenty-eight from Loui-
siana, twenty-eight from Mississippi, twenty-six from
Alabama, twenty-four from South-Carolina, seventeen
from Texas, fourteen from Georgia, five from Virginia,
four from Florida, two from Arkansas, two from Ken-
tucky, two from Missouri, two from California, one
from Iowa, one from New-Mexico, one from Ohio,
They were distributed in the four classes as follows:
Seniors eighty-four, Juniors one hundred «and two,
, Sophomores one hundred and twenty-five, Freshmen
eighty. rie

“Of the eight young men who received the first

    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

tion, Five of the fourteen were per

trustees to volunteer. : ;
turned from long imprisonment in Ohio,

. 259
THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. ‘

mitted by the

One of these has recently re-
with a ruined

A second is a wounded prisoner, now
A third fell at Gettysburgh. The re-

i ice at present.
ini i ve field-service ‘at p
weet oubiebe tl me who now constitute the corps
os nine gentlemen t
fia aie with a single exception, clergymen,
; the age of conscription. cn
f the requisite age who has no

ive eight
tered the service as a volunteer. Five of the eig

y W i i ve ser-

Sons of members of the facult are no in nice e

vice 5 one fell mortally wounded at Gettysburg h an-
? . Dp.)

South-Mountain. : ab
aie village of Chapel Hill owes its existence to

i terially affected by
iversity, and is of course mater
oa brontieses or decline of the institution. The young

i -esponded to the call of the country
oa vai ala ver gc characterized the college

constitution.
at Baltimore.

of instructors
or laymen beyond
of them has a son 0

iol
sie

    

F
if
E
t

  
  
 
 
 
  
  
   

distinction in the Senior class, four are in their graves, with the same alacrity whi larger proportion than 3
(soldiers’ graves,) and a fifth a wounded prisoner. W classes ; and fifteen of them—a villa sate the State— ie
More than a seventh of these graduates are known to is exhibited in any other town or v1 r rebate ical i
have fallen in battle. have already fallen in battle. The ade weeptny 5 . |
- “The Freshmen class of eighty members pressed numerous than the survivors; an 1 tie vias a
into the service with such impetuosity that but a sin- fact is prominent with respect to _ : re " nis men z
gle individual remained to graduate at the last com- , the University, that the most promising young ‘ x
» mencement; and he in the intervening time had en- have been the earliest victims. ils, permit Me» 4
tered the army, been discharged on account of im- “ Without entering“into further — : re careful q
paired health, and was permitted by special favor to ~ to assure -you, as the result of siege cnesaae
rejoin his class, observation and inquiry, that I know of nos oa tas +2 f
“The Faculty at that time was composed of four- stitution or community in the ColifoReeny /

r endere Vv er losses F + E
| i red reat }
d greater services or endu g ;

>

= Baa iy, obaitl , + ‘ Fee
on aaiail 2 Ye ae
260 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR,

and privations than the University of North-
and the village of Chapel Hill.

four from Virginia, two from South-Carolina, and one

from Alabama; nine Seniors, thirteen J uniors, four-
teen Sophomores, and twenty-seven Freshmen,

“A rigid enforcement of the Conscription Act may
take from us nine or ten young men with physical
constitutions in general better suited to the quiet pur-
suits of literature and science than to military service,

They can make no appreciable addition to the stren gth
of the army ;

affect our organization, and in its ultimate effects com-

pel us to close the doors of the oldest
present accessible to the students of the
“Tt can scarcely be necessary to intim
a slender endowment and a diminution
twenty thousand dollars in the annual r
ition, it is at present very difficult and
impossible to sustain the institution. The exemption
of professors from the operation of the Conscript Act
is a sufficient indication that the annihilation of the
best established colleges in the country was not the
purpose of our Congress ;

and I-ean but hope with
the eminent gentlemen who have made me their organ
on this occasion, that it wi

ll never be permitted to
produce effects which I am satisfied no one would
more deeply deplore than yourself.

“Thave the honor to be, with the highest consider-
ation, your obedient servant, ~ D. L. Swat.”

University at
Confederacy.
ate that with
of more than
eceipts for tu-
may soon be

Carolina, '

but their withdrawal may very seriously -

t

|

|

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 261
A v we rere

The result of this application was that . nai: ne
issued from the Conscript Kos to — cs

i s is

tion requested. President Davi : ;
said ore beginning of the war in reference ’ ” ,
drafting of college boys, that it should not be done ;

”
“that the seed-corn must not be gr sania uP. et
But as the exigencies .of the country beca

i i was
and more pressing, the wisdom of this precept

i f 1864, in reply to a

1 ight of. In the spring 0
a naa lication in behalf of the two lower meg
Mr. Seddon returhed the following opinion to

ipt Bureau: '
Tana not see in the grounds presented _ —=
liar or exceptional circumstances as will justify —_
ure from the rules acted on in many similar ins a
Youths under eighteen will be allowed pee lg
theln studies. Those over, capable “gme aed a
i i i their duty and fin
ice, will best discharge oe
oad training in defending the country in the fie

“ March 10, 1864.”

In compliance with this opinion, the a s
was finally enforced at the re ; ; se a
were still further reduced by the with a —
as came within the requirements of - ge pone
were determined to share at all hazards pom
their comrades in the army. eee ee —_
ever, still struggled on; and when Genera a‘ —
forces entered the place, there were a ten pp i
boys still keeping up the name of a co pp 7
was rung by one of the professors, and m

 
  

2€2 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

evening prayers attended to during the stay of the
United States forces. The students present, with two

. or three exceptions, were those whose homes were in

the village. The two or three who were from a dis-
tance, left on the advent of the Federals, walking to
their homes in neighboring counties, there being no
other means of locomotion in those days. But one
Senior, Mr. W. C. Prout, graduated at the ensuing
commencement, having taken the whole course. There
were three others who received diplomas at the same
time. For the first time in thirty yéars, the President
was absent from these exercises, having been sum-

moned by President Johnson to Washington City, to _

confer with him and with other North-Carolina gen-
tlemen on the condition of affairs in the State. “Not a
single visitor from abroad attended the commence-
ment, with the exception of some thirty gentlemen

dressed in blue, who had been delegated to remain

here and keep order. The residents of the village
were the only audience to hear the valedictory pro-
nounced by the sole remaining representative of his
class. Where were the hundreds who had thronged
these halls four years before? Virginia, and Mary-
land, and Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and Georgia
were heaving with their graves! In every State that
had felt the tread of armies, and wherever the rough
edge of the battle had joined, there had been found
the foster-children of North-Carolina’s University ;*

>

* It is stated upon good authority, and is confidently Believed, that there was

not a single regiment in the entire Confederate service in which could not be

found one or more old students of Chapel Hill, >

 

 

WHE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 263

and now, sitting discrowned and childless, —
well have taken up the old lamentations whic com!
to us in these later days more and more a
the. centuries, “Oh! that my head were waters, an
mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might _
day and night for the slain of the daughter of my
7?
pit oe is not a prettier village in the — than
that which lies around the University, pe oar
up with it and has been sustained and elev _ -
And not a village in the South gave more se y a :
best blood in the war, not one suffered ari —
in proportion to its population. Thirty-fiv ae .
young men died in the service, Some of them le :
wiveg and little ones; some were the only supper
and blessing of aged parents ; all were, with peso
exceptions, the very flower of our families, we “4
representatives of every walk and condition ats
The first company that left the place in wines mah i
commanded by Captain R. J . Ashe, was say Pe
the famous First North-Carolina regiment, . tee
distinguished itself at the memorable battle of Bethel,

June tenth of that year. Upon the disbanding of this

regiment, the members of the Orange Light i
attached themselves to other companies—for no —_
than four were raised here and in the ee :
many of them were among those who dragged them
selves home on foot from Lee’s last field. ee

The decline of the University threw many of “i
citizens out of employment, and the priv :
dured here tell as sad a story as can be met wit) y

  
      
       
       
       
    
      
      
        
     
      
        
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

sata
pa

PA REE
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  

   

264 THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR!

where. There was some alleviation of the general
distress for those who had houses or furniture to rent;
for every vacant room was crowded at one time by

refugee families from the eastern part of the State, .

from Norfolk, and latterly from Petersburg. And
this was the case with every town in the interior of
the State. Some of these settled here permanently
during ‘the war, attracted by the beauty and secluded
quiet of the place, and by the libraries—best society

of all! Some of them merely alighted here in the first.

hurry of their flight, and afterward sought other
homes, as birds flit uneasily from bough to bough
when driven from their nests. These families were

generally representatives of the best and most highly
cultivated of our Southern aristocracy. They fled

hither stripped of all their earthly possessions, except
a few of their negroes. Many came not only having
left their beautiful homes in the hands of invaders,
but with heads bowed down with mourning for gal-
lant sons who had fallen in vain defense of those
homes. Some of them, the elders among them, closed
their wearied eyes here, and were laid to rest among
strangers, glad to die and exchange their uncertain
citizenship in a torn and distracted country for that
city which hath foundations. c
The benefits of the war in our State should not be
overlooked in summing up even a slight record con.
cerning it. It brought all classes nearer to each
other. The rich and the poor met together, A‘com-
mon cause became a common bond of sympathy and
kind feeling. Charity was more freely dispensed,

*

 

     
  

 

pride of station was forgotte

away in the ranks side b

THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR. 265

n. The Supreme Court

: had marched
j the ex-governors, whose sons
atic ; y dine with those of the day-

laborer, felt a closer tie henceforth to their neighbor.

i i d one

whole village poured in and aroun
pot puilding to hear the ministers of every denom-
the parting prayers and invoke the fare-
on the village boys, there was
feeling. Christians of every

People who wept,
drew nearer to each .other.
haa and rejoiced together as we did for four

years, learned to love each other more. The higher

i ature
more generous impulses of our 0
ose ne ; stimulated by the

were brought constantly into action, bei

heroie uae and splendid gallantry of our ae

diers, and the general enthusiasm which prevaile
?

among us. Heaven forbid we should forget the -~
which, the war brought us, amid such incalculable

evils; and Heaven forbid we should ever forget its ~
>

i i tience, faith,
—i economy, ingenuity, pa A
lessons—industry, y> eT ad oie

charity, and above all, and finally,

forth to let well alone.
pti cpa eR has within herself all the ele-

ments of a larger life and hope, and a more nee
prosperity than she has ever known, 18 a eo -
doubted by those who are acquainted with the W ae
of her internal resources and the consummate —-
esty, industry, and resolution of her people. ee
will heal these wounds yet raw and ‘bleeilineaae
tide of a new And nobler life will yet fill her — ve
throb in all her pulses; and taught.in the s

ination pray "
well blessings In unison
little room for sectarian

a

‘

    

 
266 . THE LAST NINETY DAYS OF THE WAR.

adversity the noblest of all lessons, our people will
rise from their present dejection tyhen their civil
rights have been.restored them, and with renewed
hope in God will go on to do their whole duty as
heretofore. Silently they will help to clear the wreck
and right the ship; silently they will do their duty to
the dead and to the living, and to those who shall
come after them ; silently and with the modesty of all

,true heroism they will do great things, and leave it to’

M others to publish them. Remarkable as North-Caro-
* ‘Tinians have ever been for reticence and sobriety of
speech and action, it is reserved for such epochs as
those of May twentieth, 1776, and May twentieth,
1861, and for such great conflicts as sueceeded them,
to show what a fire can leap forth from this graye,
impassive people—what a flame is kindled in gene-
rous sympathy, what ardor burns in defense of right

and liberty. They are now to show the world what -

true and ennobling dignity may accompany defeat,
surrender, and submission.

I close these slight and inadequate sketches of a
memorable time with the words of my first sentence.
The history of the great war is yet to be written, and
can seareely be fairly and impartially written by, this
generation. But it is our imperative duty to our-*
selves and to our dead to begin at once to lay up the
costly material for the great work. Every man should
contribute freely according to his ability, gold and
silver, precious stones, iron and wood; and with this
motive, I have ventured to present such an outline of

events in the last-ninety days as circumstances would
permit me to gather. :

“ will be found especially valuable i

APPENDIX.

as

°

way SF

1 ad

« More than a seventh of the aggregate number of graduates

are known to have fallen in battle.”
This was written in October, 1863.

the proportion was much greater.

Tt is hardly’ consistent with e uract -
sketches to enter deeply into questions of constitutional law, in

volving the rights of belligerents and insurgents in time of civil

i ion of attempting more than a plain, un-
eS aii be of Si sh “soma hope, I confess, that a

varnished statement of facts ; wi : :
faithful narrative of the losses and the sufferings of the van.

uished might do something at least toward arousing neg
iad and regret in the breasts of the victors. This volume

will produce an effect altogether contrary to what is intended if
it serves only to prolong the remembrances which excite sec

tional animosity.
The records of our literary

When the war was closed,
a

institutions all over the South
n making up the estimate of
our losses on the battle-field ; for they will show unerringly emg
it was the best blood of the South that was poured out like ts Ba
that her educated young men were the first to offer themse'! Abs
what they deemed a glorious cause, and were among the oni
fall, And North-Carolina, in particular, may point with pri

her University for an example of patriotic devotion

by any other institution in the South. a

-

 
 

2
aie APPENDIX,

Thad hoped to be able to exhibit in
. . * . th i i i

x ieee — in connection with i a sag
ee 7 pant and have taken much petri see a
Se an e sigan what proportion of the vette
vera a ns in the contest, and what at
See pecan io'y owever, impossible to accomplish re

Bee aca a . complete record, if it can ever be :
wee? sits ee -” for future publication. I must co: —
a ee oe relation to the actors of acy me
ne ii ed ~ : sf which we may form some helsieria aa
tages of education, and Lions sie pe ne ae san
counted not their lives dear in asa org se ARs

untry.

Let me here present one scene at the University as dt occurred

in the days whe
n the Almight
candle ghty was yet wi 3
The Fe cot our head, and our MAb ai asa
festival of ote ia. of 1847 was cat inbred rae
Batk, and the eee oe Sin attendance of rear t
of the Na en
= were alumni of the awit: , Judge Mason, both of
e comm :
ba ser as yew of 1859 was rendered no less m
iikeer fen, 5 a. Buchanan, and the Secret pen
, - Jacob Thompson, wh ary of the
put had be fee neo. nO Was Dot ont
: en at one time a tutor in the Institution. ‘ fea
E vivi

light of

ba oe arene on these venerable cloiste

of the Union lee: Ait ‘ ar ected rie se

Le ea : 0 be excited i

or ie. ters neighboring States, mata Thank td

Weare Beck wre; addressed to him at his socal Ea. 2

Ge thsi 2 8 wg referring to these ominade oa

cat Fa sam the assembly on the steadiness oe ar

ee verywhere manifested by the peopl ead
was applauded with a Be Ng Shick 4 i.

gave

permanency |

 

APPENDIX. 269

rsal loyalty of his hearers.
diy expressed his pleasure at these

ere reiterated whenever occasion

full assurance of the deep and unive

President Buchanan repeate

evidences of feeling which w
offered. How little did he, how little did any one, foresee what

changes a single year was to effect. On the evening preceding

commencement-day, President Buchanan appeared upon the
rostrum and performed an interesting part in the exercises. At
Wheat, the then Professor of Rhe-

the request of the Rev. Dr.
toric, he delivered the prize awarded to the best English writer
Memphis, Tenn.,

in the Sophomore class, Eldridge E. Wright, of
who afterward graduated with the highest distinction, and the

most flattering hopes and promises of future usefulness. He
fell, a captain of artillery, in defense of his battery at the battle
of Murfreesboro. The two eldest sons of Dr. Wheat both fell in
pattle—one at Shiloh and the other in Virginia. Of the six col-
lege tutors then present but one survives. Of the crowd of trus-
tees and distinguished North-Carolinians who surrounded that
rostrum, time would fail me to tell of the prostrate hopes and
darkened hearths ; but in brief, I may say, that of the four hun-
dred and thirty young men then listening with intense eagerness
and ‘prolonged applause to words of wisdom and affection from
their chief magistrate, more than a fifth, in less than five years,
fell in fratricidal strife on every battlefield from Pennsylva-
niato Texas. Could the curtain that in mercy vailed the future,
have been that day withdrawn, what would have been the emo-

tions of the audience ? Could they have seen one hundred of
those four hundred and thirty gay and gallant boys lying in all
onthe battle-field ; a like

the ghastly and bloody forms of death
rmanently impaired con

« proportion with amputated limbs, or pe
stitutions; and all, with few exceptions, seamed with honorable
scars, would they not have recoiled horror-stricken from such a

revelation of war as it really is? What would have been the
effect on that veteran statesman could he have seen all this—
seen his friend and associate in the councils of the nation ®P
exile, wandering in foreign lands, and all the widespread havoc,
ruin, and woe of a four years’ merc

jless war darkly curtaining

 

 
270 APPENDIX. a

the broad and smiling land? In the providence of God he was
childless. How many fathers of that goodly throng have gone
down to the grave sorrowing—for sorrow slays as well as the
sword ; how many mothers, sisters, and wives refuse to be com-
forted, and long for the gravé, and are gladéwhen they find it! aH
T have selected the catalogue of 1859-60 referred to in the
letter from Governor Swain to President Davis, as best caleu-
lated to show the results of the fearful change produced among us ;
in the brief interval preceding the civil war,
The Senior class of 1860 consisted of eighty-four members.
The subjoined table will show that every one of these able to
_ bear arms, with perhaps a single exception, entered the service,
and that whore than w fourth of the entire number now fill sol,
diers’ graves. The proportion of the wounded to the killed is
ordinarily estimated as not smaller than three to one; and judg-

ing’ by this rule, it appears and is believed to be the fact, that }
very; féw of the whole class remained unscathed. Of the

- syqunger classes, my information is not sufficiently complete to
justify the giving a list; but enough is ascertained to make it
certain that the sacrifice of life among them was in very nearly

the Pe proportion as among the Seniors. Asa matter of un-
dying interest to the people of my own State, and significant

enough to those of others, I present this record of the sons of
her University. ~~

Adams, Robert B. In service from South-Carolina,
Alexander, Sydenham B., Capt. 42d N. C. Regt.
Anderson, Lawrence M., Lieut. Killed at Shiloh.

:
Askew, George W., Capt. Miss. Regt. ;
‘Attmore, Isaac T. Killed in Virginia.

Baird, William W., Lieut. N. C. Regt.
Barbee, Algernon §., Lieut. Com. Dept. Army of the West.

Barrett, Alexander, Lieut. 49th N. ©. Regt. . ps
Battle, Junius C. Killed at Sharp’s Mountain. ie }
Bond, Lewis, Chief Ord. to Gen. Jackson. : yy

Borden, William H., Lieut. 50th N, C. Regt. Sg
Bowie, John R., Sergt. Signal Corps, Louisiania, MD ahs /
¢ * es by ee Je

 

*
= APPENDIX. 271 ;
igned from a
Brickell, Sterling H., Capt. 12th N. o. 42) Resign 9
wounds. kt a used Ae
illi Cay.
Brooks, William M., 8d N.C. é
Bruce, Charles, Jr. Killed at Richmond. r

Bryan, George P.yjCapt. 2d N. C.iRegt. ge
Bullock, Richard A., Com. Sergt. 12th N. C. *
Butler, Pierce M., 1st Lieut. 2d 8. C. Cav.
Cole, Alexander T., Capt. 23d N. C. Regt. %
Coleman, Daniel R., 20th N, Cc. inte sa *
Cooper, Robert E., Chaplain Cobb’s os ale is i
Cooper, Thomas W., ist Lieut. 11th N. ©. ip
burgh. : a
ore Vesbale. ist Lieut. 17th N. C. Regt. ‘J
Davis, Samuel C., Lieut. 4th N. C. — 4
Davis, Thomas W., Lieut. Sth N. C. Regt | i

i . Regt. Cav. é
ke, Edwin L., Col. Tenn i .
~raeaet HL. D., Capt. 88d N. C. Regt. Killed at ——- if —.
April,-1865. ts Cae ee
“y moe 5 . « $
Ferrand, Horace, Louisiana eee : Mid : :
ied i ice. 2
Franklin, Samuel R. Died in servi bo
Garrett, Woodston L., Lieut. 8th Ala. |
Graham, James .A., Capt. 27th N.C. et 4 4 " :
Haigh, Charles, Sergt.-Major 5th N.C. F - 7
Hardin, Edward J., Lieut. and Adjt. Conscript Bureau. — . 4
Hays, Robert B., Forrest’s Cavalry. ;
Arm IT. ae
Henry, William W., Capt. Artillery, y of the West. « : hi a .
Hightower, Samuel A., 26th Louisiana Regt. ;

Fogle, James O. A., Medical Dept. Richmond, : |
Ree, ote
Gay, Charles Bi, Lieut. Miss. Artillery. » - a
Hale, Hdward J., Jr., Capt. A.A. G. to Gen, Lane.
‘Headen, William J., Lieut. 26th N.C. Regt. Killed. ei; Se
2 ee tue:
omas C., Capt. A. A. G. to Gen. Davis. Killed, ~ oo ae

 

       
  

Holliday, a
edad R. Bruce B., Lieut. 52d N. C. Regt. 52" = *
~~ Jones, HL. Francis, Lieut. A. D. C. to Gen. Young.

i MM
-. Jones, Walter J., Heavy Artillery. Afterward 40th ;

Kelly, James, Presbyterian clergyman."  y/
ie 272 APPENDIX.
S. Kelly, John B., 26th N. C. Regt.
‘ be William J ., Medical Dept. Richmond
utterloh, Jarvis B., Lieut. 56th N. CG Re t, i
= - C. Regt. Killed at Gum
Martin, Eugene §., Lieut, 1 :
ing "s - Ist!Battery HeavysArtill
he George §., Capt. Tenn. Art’y. Killed by seeks rhisae

um, James B., Lieut. 5ist N. C. Regt. Killed nda

; Hundreds. , ae

A aa James C. Died in 1861, in Arkansas
mag br dea Edwin T., Lieut. 51st N. GC. Regt. : '
; rena Arthur N., Q. M. Dept. Raleigh:
PF ots immon, James, Jr., Lieut. Manly’s Battery

tans x Map Adjt. 6th N. C. Regt
Mebane, John W. Capt. T iller i %
BE : = nto pt. Tenn. Artillery. Killed at Kenesaw
, «Micou, Augustin, Lieut. and A. A.

‘Mico stin, : . A. G, Drew’ i
: Net 8, Thomas 8., Western Army, ee
ee William T., Capt. 37th N.C. Regt. Killed.
Pearce, Oliver W., 3d Regt, N. C. Cay. : i

ae” Reddin G., 1st Lieut. Eng. Dep.
< a ae awit ( *

Quarles, George McD. Died i i
arlesy % in se ,
Ryal, ‘Tims, Louisiana Regt. iio
ter, Iowa, Lieut. 87th N. C, Re i ‘ “
* 3 -C, Regt. Killed at @
ders, Edward B., Sergt.-Major 35th N. G. Re rene
leaner, Jos. H, Liout-Col. 90. C. Regt”
an _ Seales, Erasmus D., Capt. and Com. Sub. 2d ;
* " ee Smith, Farquhard, Jr., 3d N. C. Cay. _ . _
Se me Norfleet, 1st Lieut.34 N.C. Cav.
Re < om » Thomas L, Killed at Vicksburgh.
eae terling, Edward G. Died in service.
as i ating H h. In South-Carolina service,
_ Pd “e Richard L. In Mississippi service.
~~ or, George W., Ass’t. Surgeon, 26th ‘La.
; ompson, Samuel M., Colonel Tenn. Regt,
‘Thorp, John H.; Capt. 47th N. C. Regt.

Be
‘#

CD

   
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  

 

  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  

*
a

  
  
  
  
 
    

 

Vaughan, Vernon HH. In Alabama service

Wallace, James A., 44th N. C. Regt.
Wier, Samuel P., Lieut. 46th N. C. Regt.

  

APPENDIX.

Killed at Fredericks-

burgh. “

Whitfield, Cicero, Sergt. 53d N. GPRegt.

Wilson, George L. Died.
Wooster, William A., Capt. ist N.C. Re;

* field-officers is at “present too imperfe

4 and the unrecorded dead. i :
tinue my inquiries, in the hope of being able at some futureday 5 a

ry Fy

Ha

Of field-officers in the Conf
Justrious names are among the

and all the others qwith th
officers) severely W

*

Lieut.-General Leonidas Polk,
Brig.-Generals Geo. B, Anderson,
Rufus Barringer,
L, OB. Branch,
Thomas L. Clingman,
Robert D. Johnston,

Gaston Lewis,

James Johnston Pettigrew,
Matt. W. Ransom,
‘ ‘Ashley W. Spaight ; and. 2
» “Adjutant-Generals : #
R. GC, Gatlin,
John F. Hoke. %.

+

gt. Killed at Richmond. ©

ederate service, at least thirteen il-
Alumni of the University, namely:

Generals Polk, Anderson, Branch, and Pettigrew were ——

ounded, and most of them more than once,

‘I regret that my information in regard to many other

) Present a suitable memorial of all our loved and lost.

Beloved till Time can charm no more, .
And mourned till Pity’s self be dead. *

<< Ta looking over the list of even so few as

gallant
ct to justify the enumerar

e exception of the two bureau

*

pagent
areerecorded Rove)

    
i AR ig ly

 

ine dag Ala na mS a Mt in ih PB tate lbe nacat ee. es

 

in ca aR ll te a ta lal od“ Net

274 APPENDIX.

one is struck with the number of those killed, of whom interest-
ing and touching obituary memorials might be written. Nearly
all of them were men of rank. One of.the most widely read
and admired and useful religious biographies of the day has
been Miss Marsh’s Life of Captain Hedley Vicars of the English
Crimean Army. We had many a Captain Vicars in our South-
ern Confederate army, whose life, if written as well, would be
quite as striking, quite as valuable—many pure and noble Christ-
ian young men, the beauty of whose daily lives still sheds a
glow around their memories. It was in fact a common remark,
during the war, that it was the best who fell. I am sure that
North-Carolinians, at least, will not be displeased with particular
mention of a few of their dead in this place.

Of the six tutors connected with the University at the opening”

of the war, all of whom volunteered at once, five—namely, Cap-
tains Anderson, Bryan, Johnson, Morrow, and Lieutenant Royster
—fell on the battle-field, and they were all, without one exception,
young men of more than ordinary promise.

Captain Anderson, of Wilmington, was a brother of General
George B. Anderson. He graduated with the highest distine-
tion in the year 1858. His class consisted of ninety-four members,
nearly all of whom it is believed entered the army. T'wo of the
seven who shared the first distinction with him—-one subsequently
tutor in the University, W. C. Dowd, the other Captain W. C.
Lord, of Salisbury—are in their graves.

Captain William Adams, of Greensboro, whose name occurs
first on the roll of his classmates, was killed at Sharpsburgh.
Captain Hugh T. Brown, (half-brother to General Gordon,) fell

at Springfield ; and Lieutenant Thomas Cowan, at Sharpsburght |

Among those who have survived the perils of the battle-field
and the hospital, are Lieutenant-Colonels H. C. Jones, A. C. Me
Allister, and J. T. Morehead, Colonels John A. Gilmer and L. M.
McAfee; and General Robert D. Johnston. ,

Captain Anderson was a candidate for orders in the Episcopal
Church, but believed it his duty to contribute his share to the
‘vindication of the rights of his country. He served with con-

cea aia elie CUNIRS ogroy M e cae Momi Ch

   
   
 
    
   
   
   
 
  
  
  

APPENDIX. 275

tinually increasing reputation, and fell in the battle of the Wil-

derness Creek.
Captain George Pettigrew Bryan, of Raleigh, was another most
rare spirit. Belonging to the class of 1860, enumerated above, he
was the youngest of eight who received the first distinction. Dur
ing his college life, and throughout the whole of his brief but bril-
was as conspicuous for his fidelity to duty as for
i i have consecrated his

his intellectual attainments. He, too, was to
rare gifts to the ministry of the Church. He fell, while leading
a charge on the ‘enemy’s works, ten miles east of eee 4

ded in the breast, he said, “ Boys, I’m killed, bu
sears ake those works.” In a few mo-

wish I could live to see you t
ments the works were carried and the enemy routed. In half an

hour after, he died peacefully and calmly : his promotion to
Jieutenant-colonel arriving just after his death.

Captain George B. Johnson, of Edenton, a graduate of 1859,
pearing away the highest honors, died in Chapel Hill of a pes
brought on by the hardships of prison life at Sandusky, Ohio.
One of his professors wrote of him: “His powers of mind were
unusual, his energy of character very marked, his tastes alk
scholarly, and his attai ments extensive and ‘accurate. Always
pure and upright and truthful and unselfish. Never was a whis-

inst him.”
er of reproach or censure uttered agains
" Lieutenant I. Royster, of Raleigh, was one of the graduates of

this University who would have shed a lustre on its name had he

lived. . One of the eight of 1860 who received the first distinction,
cts a remarkable genius—intellectually

he was in many respe'
one of the most gifted young men who ever left these halls. He

fell at Gettysburgh, advancing to the charge considerably in front
of his company and singing “Dixie” as he met his instant death.

Captain E. Graham Morrow, of Chapel Hill, fell at Gettysburgh.
Another noble, modest, gallant, and true young man. He was &
gon of North-Carolina in a particular sense, for he came of fa-
thers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and ancestors even ee
remote who had been gn honor to the same soil before him. OP
these six slight memorials,there is yet a crown to. be

liant career, hi

 

 
276 APPENDIX.

These young men were all Christians. That light above any
that ever shone by sea or Shore falls upon their graves.

In the list of the Seniors of 1860 given above, of the eight
who received the first honors of the University, but three sur-
vive ; of the twenty-seven distinguished (more than a third of the
whole number) ten are no more. Of the twenty-four dead, who
shall estimate the, loss to their country, and to their families of
eventhese? Of one of the fairest and best, Captain John Fain, of
Warren, who was the only child of his mother, and she a wid-
ow ; killed after passing safely through four years of peril and
suffering, and falling in the last day of the last fight before Pe-
tersburg, April 2d, 1865. Another of the first eight was Junius C.
Battle, of Chapel Hill, fourth son of the Law Professor, Judge
Battle. Haying suffered amputation of the left leg, after the®
battle of South-Mountain, he occupied such of the few remain-
ing hours of his life as he could redeem from Iris own sufferings,
in reading to the crowd of Confederate and Federal wounded
around him. We can well, imagine, wrote a friend, how elo-
quent such reading was to such an audience. The reader’sown
eye was fast glazing, and the pains of death among strangers
were upon him, but he rallied the remnants of his vision and
self-control, and spent them in directing the fading eyes around
him to that WICKET-GATE and SHINING LicHT. Surely it was a
cup of cold water given in the name of his Master, and even
now is abundantly rewarded. " -

Of William A. Wooster of Wilmington, and of George L.
Wilson of New-Berne, of whom, standing before him to say fare-
well, Goy. Swain said that he never had under his care, never
had known two young men of higher character, purer faith, or
more gifted intellect than these two beloved pupils.

Tam tempted to go on with this list, but am reminded that I
shall exceed my limits. Some abler hand, I trust, will some day
gather up for preservation all these records of our noble boys ;
_ worthy, all of them, of that glorious epitaph once to be seen at

* Thermopyle: “Tell it in North-Ourolina, that we lie here in
obedience to HER laws.” P

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

   

‘and permanent interest.

APPENDIX. O77
might be said that would be of deep

In General Pettigrew, North-Carolina
o have lost one of the

has ever produced. He

Of our Generals much

was universally and justly considered t

° saienk
most remarkable men that this continen ¥
graduated in 1847, when he and General Ransom see _
first distinction in their class. The latter delivered the

tory of his class to President Polk, and fortunately survives the

perils of many a battle-field still further to honor and receive

honor from his native State. Of General Pettigrew I append

a biographical sketch, which originally nae ph) aa =

etteville Observer, by a hand fully competent to o = j cae

and which presents him not overdrawn at's er ; ‘ “ er
uu

Of none of the thousands of the flower f

who fell in her defense can it be said more justly than of

James Johnston Pettigrew:

“Felix non solum claritaté vite, sed etiam eppgrientsay
mortis.” *

of
* Fortunate not only in the renown of his life, but also in the opportunity

his death,

« si,

a
. oe
: Fe tl
einal
* oo ¢
se a
>

 

:
é
&
E

-
II.
GEN. JAMES J OHNSTON PETTIGREW.

From The Fayetteville Observer,

_ JAMES JOHNSTON PETTIGREW, lat igadier i
ey oe Sa td States, was sina sean wots com
eer Cr encanta upon the 4th day of July, 1828
pinperemion Pr re : of French extraction. At an ently rer
aia: yen ye h of it emigrated to Scotland, where sta :
> semper g “1 near Glasgow about the year 1492 rv
ae tetbanieet coir
, , : , the great-
na ie pies Saae about the year 1788, Kream
arte cask a wenty years afterward, into NorthOarolini
pat ‘cy gentleman removed to South-Carolina, loa
+ Prag ck his son Charles, who was a resid } eces-
5 olan see of Granville, Chowan, and Tyrrell. Charles
ae saisdoon-on 9 ee gen first Bishop-elect of the Protest-
Dihaby anaes “ee in this diocese. He died in 1807, and his
com co ie es oe with piety, charity, and an extended
utation. Devoting his sis, the shies os ‘anda geane a
Wimiete enced which he ana ary etn coma
resisted every tintsatar’ pion is oy =p Patio
, ente hi i
vi cbr i natn in public seni: vow set
was his reluctance overcome, In 1835, he was chosen by &

*

very flattering vote to represent his
the United States. At that election

* hundred. He could not be p

daughter of the distin

APPENDIX. 279

District in the Congress of
he received the rare compli-

m. his fellow-citizens of
e than seven,

three votes out of mor
revailed upon to be a,can

Mr. Pettigrew married Miss Shepard,
guished family of that name seated at

New-Berne. She died in July 1830, when herson James J ohnston
Ebenezer Pettigrew lived until

was but two years of age.
July, 1848, having witnessed with great sensibility the very bril-
the cotemporary youth

liant opening of his son’s career among
‘ld was taken to the home of

of the land.

After his mother’s death the chi
his grandmother at New-Berne, and there remained until he was
y, to pursue his education. Owing to”

carried into Orange count,
ilst an infant, young Pettigrew was

an unfortunate exposure W
a delicate boy, but by diligent and systematic exercise he grad-

ually inured his constitution to end
nary fatigue and the extremes of weather.
s at Hillsboro from the year 1836, enjoying the

of various school
advantages of instruction by Mr. Bingham for about four years
student at the University. During

previously to his becoming a
this period the state of his health required him to be often at

home for several months together.
University of North-Carolina during
class in June, 1847. From -

graduating there at the head of his
early childhood young Pettigrew had been noted as a boy of ex-

traordinary intellect. At all the schools he was easily first in *
every class and in every department of study. He seemed to mas
ter his text-books by intuition. They formed the smallest por
tion of his studies, for his eager appetite for learning ranged
widely over subjects collateral to his immediate tasks. Nor did
they always stop here. His father was amused and gratified

upon one occasion to observe the extent to which he 2
among the medical books of an eminent

ited by his excursions
physician at Hillsboro, of whose family he was ap inmate at the
©

Tyrrell, failing to obtain but

a second election.

.

 
280 APPENDIX.

age of fourteen. In the classroom at the University he ap-

peared in reciting rather to have descended to the level of the :

lesson, than to have. risen up to it, Student as he was,
and somewhat reserved in demeanor, he was nevertheless very
popular with his fellows, and the object of their enthusiastic ad-
miration. Anecdotes*were abundant as to the marvelous range
of his acquirements, and the generosity and patience with which
he contributed from his stores even to the dullest applicant for
aid. Nor wasit only in letters that he waschief. A fencing-mas-
ter, who happened to have a class among the collegians, bore
quite as decided testimony to his merits as he had obtained from
the various chairs of the faculty. ,

The commencement at which he graduated was distinguished ,
by the attendance of President Polk, Mr. Secretary Mason, and
Lieutenant Maury of the National Observatory. Impressed by
the homage universally paid to his merits, as well as by the high
character of his graduating oration, these gentlemen proposed
to him to become an assistant in the Observatory at Washing-
ton City. After spending some weeks in recreation, Mr. Petti-
grew reported to Lieutenant Maury, and remained with him
for some six or eight months. In the occupations of this office
he fully maintained his earlier promise; but soon relinquished
the position, inasmuch as the exposure and labor incident to it
were injuriously affecting his health.

After an interval of travel in the Northern States, Mr. Petti-
grew, in the fall of 1848, became a student of law in the office
of James Mason Campbell, Esq., of Baltimore, where he re-
mained for several months. At the close of this period, by the
solicitation of his kinsman, the late James L. Petigru of Charles-
ton, 8. C., he entered his office with the design of being subse-
quently associated with him in the practice of his profession.
Upon obtaining license, Mr. Pettigrew, by the advice of his
kinsman just mentioned, proceeded to, Berlin and other univer-
sities in Germany in order to perfect himself in the civil law.
He remained in Europe.for nearly three years. Two years of
this time he devoted to study, the remainder he spent in travel-

w

  

     
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

WW

 

* modern European languages so far as

81
APPENDIX. 2

ing upon the Continent, and in Great Britain and Ireland. He

‘ ‘ th
i i i j coming acquainted wit
availed himself of this opportunity of 8 aga ope

in.” ing this
ease in those of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.” During

tour he contracted a great — pee re san vont
istory, having had considera ;
= ase only as a private gentleman, — weet eta
ry of Legation for a short while to Colonel we ge , pastored
ister of the United States near the Court © ase ae
roper to add here, that among the unaccomp rpm
Mo] Pettigrew, to which he had given some neni a mo a
following Prescott in further narratives ea vas sieeve
Spain with America, and as a preliminary hap ccniapuseaiiel
a collection of works in Arabic, and had ©) :

ed with that language. ;
Mr. Pettigrew returned to Charleston in} prvmbor
entered: upon the practice of law in co tion Ww: ored

tudes

and accomplished relative. He profited so well isn ro wa
in Europe and by his subsequent investigations, coerce
inion of his partner, who was well qualified to oa oi ss
bs a master of the civil law not inferior in acq re nee
ps f principle to any in the United States. His su :
aoe tana In 1856, he was chosen one of the rep

the bar was brilliant. : verre"
aaa of the city in the Legislature, vege “8 om br
der that election for the two sessions of Dees en vies a
December, 1857. He rose to great distinction in :

i h
report against the redpening of the Slave Trade, ca a hon
upon the organization of the Supreme vee et eh
tion beyond the bounds of the State. He fi

in 1858.
Mr. Pettigrew persistently refused

the income of the partnership of whi

dqgualane ta/pocperty a8 = rae ulate money. Noble

i ire to accum
enditure, he displayed no desire
th every trait of character, he held the contents of his purse

sail t
subject to every draft that merit might presen’ :
ae

November, 1852, and

to receive any portion of
ch he was a member. In-

his habits of personal ex-

&

*

 

 
m= APPENDIX.

For some years previous to the rupture between the North
and the South, Mr. Pettigrew had anticipated its occurrence,
and believing it to be his duty to be prepared to give his best
assistance tothe South in such event, had turned his attention
to military studies. Like many other rare geniuses, he had al-
ways a partiality for mathematics, and so very naturally devoted
much time to that branch of this science which deals with war.
Even as far back as 1850 he had been desirous of becoming an
officer in the Prussian army ; and negotiations for that end set
upon foot by military friends whom he had made at Berlin,
failed only because he was a republican. Afterward he became
Aid to Governor Alston of South-Carolina, and more recently to
Governor Pickens. Upon the breaking out of the war between,
Sardinia and Austria, Colonel Pettigrew at once arranged his pri-
vate business and hastened to obtain position in the army under
General Marmora. His application to Count Cavour was favor-

ably received, but a aa his offer was declined on

the ground that the @vent of the battle of Solferino had ren-
dered further fighting improbable. He was greatly disappoint-
ed, as his reception had inspired him with hopes of seeing
active service in the Sardinian army with rank at least as high
as that of a colonel. Availing himself, however, of his unex-
pected leisure, he revisited Spain, and after a stay of a few
months returned to South-Carolina. The fruits of this second
visit were collected by him into a volume entitled Spain and
the Spaniards, which he printed for the inspection of his
friends in 1860, It will be found to be a thoughtful, spirited,
and agreeable record of his impressions of that romantic land,

At the opening of the present war, Colonel Pettigrew, as Aid to
Governor Pickens, took a prominent part in the operations of
Charleston. He was at that time also colonel of a rifle regiment
in which he was much interested, and which became conspicuous
amongst the military organizations around Charleston in the
winter of 1860-1861. As commander of this body he received
the surrender of Castle Pinckney, and subsequently held himself
in readiness to storm Fort Sumter, in case it had not surren-

=>
ea

dered after bombardment.
to procure the ine
the Confederate States,
seeing active service in
as a private into Hampt

i si
accompanied that corps 1”
he was recalled to the service

ited election as Colone
Volunteers, now the 2

APPENDIX.

Later in the spring,

i i iment int
orporation of his regime: nas aan

nd believing there was 10 ene
Routh: Carélings, he — smd
’s Legion, and early 1
red vigil A few days ‘afterward
of his native State l
1 of the 12th Regiment of ee
54 Regiment of North-Carolina —
iorew’s earnest wish to become connec *
mi he at once accepted the

d so o .
aa rr Raleigh where his regiment
tion. He devoted his atten-

It had been Colonel Pett
with the North-Carolina arm
honorable position, and repaire tech
psdgeeerie a Ah grote and in the early days of
tion to its discipline wl

i inter of 1861
August was ordered into Virginia. The fall and w

i rt, upon the Potomac. He gave
Te a ~ sephiche nana the perfecting of ie ae
re ire i si fsoldiers. He fully shared in every ea
pati said ‘ their situation. In this new pened a :
bates conspicuous for another character! o meer ol
po Shar gs in every department, but especially seve itor
2 eer “gor? men under his command gerne ord
pce ee : Their enthusiasm knew no ee ae _
Saga “s administration of the bnjer sie seer Bo
pr rachel argaer % a cn hie Bead men for all that

ight rel, 3 ;
pdr Sauer iae ‘his attachment to the regimen

i Jined it on ;
dier, he dec pel es

hisregiment. Some ti .
eat wis made by which the ae
the brigade that was tendered to i

difficulty in accepting the promotion. tor Goneanae

j -in the march wn “q
Se ha Pati ee peer tr in the retreat upo? Ri

i insula, Mes
al a ins pies day of June, 1862, in the pattle of Seven
mond.

 
  
 
  
 

APPENDIX.

along the front of his throat and so into the shoulder, cutting the
nerves and muscles which strengthen the right arm. This oc-
curred in a charge which he had headed with great gallantry.
He was left upon the field for dead, and recovered his consciousness
only to’ find himself in the hands of the enemy. ‘Some weeks
later his exchange was effected, and; being still an invalid, he was
placed in command at Petersburg. The exigencies of the service
having required his regiment to be transférred to another brigade,
he found, upon his return, that it had been placed under the gal.
lant—and now, alas! lamented—General Pender. By degrees a
new brigade assembled around General Pettigrew, and such-was
his pains in its instruction, and such the desire among the North,
Carolina soldiers to make part of his command, that by the close
of the year he was at the head of a brigade which, in point of qual-
ity, numbers, and soldierly bearing, was equal to any in the army.
He commanded this brigade in repelling the Federal raid into
Martin county, late in the fall of 1862, and again in General Fos-
ter’s expedition against Goldsboro, in December, 1862, and al-
though the quick dexterity of the enemy in falling back did

upon neither occasion afford him and his associates an opportu.

nity of trying conclusions with them, yet upon both occasions

the magnificent appearance of Pettigrew’s Brigade tended

greatly to revive the spirit of a community recently overrun by

the enemy. He was also with General D. H. Hill during the
spring of this year, in his attempt upon Washington in this

State ; and in the very brilliant affair at Blount’s Creek gave the
public a taste of what might be expected from his abilities when
untrammeled by the orders of a superior.

At the time of General Stoneman’s raid on the north of Rich-
mond, General Pettigrew was ordered to the protection of that
city, and shortly afterward took position at Hanover Junction.
His brigade subsequently made part of the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia, and accompanied General Lee into Pennsylvania. At the
battle of Gettysburgh he was in command of General Heth’s di-
vision, and won many laurels. His division was greatly cut up.

:

 
 

he was severely wounded by a ball which passed transversely

   
  
  
   
    
  
  
   
  
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
 
    
  
   
  
   
   
   
  
   
  
   
  
  
  
  
 
 
    

APPENDIX.

  

     
  
    
   
 
  
  
   
    
    
    
    
    
  
     
  
   
   
      
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  
  
  
   
    
      
   
 

heavy as
The loss of his brigade in killed and bacagennete riage 7
almost to destroy its organization. He sei omg A
pall which broke one of the bones of his hand. a petty
7 little as not to leave the field. Moving plies ha fenanth
Lee to Hagerstown and the Potomac, it devo ie wes
Pettigrew, on the night of the 13th and the tore -. +
of July, to assist in guarding the weer RN ae
army which recrossed at Falling Rapes pager peers et
the morning of the latter day, having bee sangha pee

i ers hi
General Pettigrew and other =a A ica a ot Hedi

   
    
  
    
 
  
    
   
   
     
    
    
  
    

round for a few mome’ se which ensued
F pa rode into their — ng mee in the abdo-
. General Pettigrew was shot—the ye to te enemy had been
} men and passing through his La diers and carried

py his gorrowing sol

ken w Bs;
ep re x 4 miles into Virginia,

across the river some seven

army. Upon the next day ill, where
pe a eg pate house of Mr. yah agin on Poe IY
he received every attention of sunray for the calamity, he
Upon General Lee’s expressing yitT might reasonably an-

said that his fate was no other than one pot verfocily dn]

ti cipate upon entering the army and that he
. t V Wi ed.
" to die for his count . To the Re ~ Mr. jlmer he avow

g k

2
a firm persuasion of the truths of the Christian religion. and

before
: : jef he had some years
said that in accordance with his belief he herwise he would

j that ot

e i 0) death. adding,
mad preparations for ee ;
He lingered until the 17th, and then

not have entered the army. , ss hea ed
$ i the morning, ,
at twenty-five minutes after six in sana “ad fato Was

nt *
diers from other peower: oot ee
States, vied with his own in repeated aed va
tion, "Upon its way to Raleigh his body oe oe

ath ities and by the citizens everywhere meer! —
perro i On the morning of Friday,
respect and attention.

J wy > the coffin, wrapped in the flag of the country , and
* vo
with wreaths of flow ers and other tributes of feminine

along the track

   
  
  
   
  

    
    
  
   
  
  
   
   
 

 

universal. Private sol

    
  
  
 

.

RES
~

» 286. + appENDIX.

tenderness, lay in the rotunda of the Capitol, where, within the
year, had-preceded him his compatriots Branch and Anderson.
Later in the day the State received his loved and honored re-
mains into her bosom. "

It was a matter of great gratification to North-Carolina when
this son, after an absence of a few years, gladly returned to her
service. She views his career in arms with a just pride. She will

ever reckon him among the most precious of her jewels ; and will

hold him forth as the fittest, of all exemplars to the coming gen-
erations of her young heroes. Chief among his triumphs will
it be reckoned that in the midst of his elevation and of the high
- hopes which possessed his soul, he so @emeaned himself as to
secure a place, hallowed by grief,'in many an humble heart
throughout North-Carolina. His name is to be pronounced rey-
erently and with tears by the winter fireside of many a hut;
and curious childhood will beg to have often repeated the rude
stories in which soldiers shall celebrate his generosity, his im-
partiality, his courtesy, and his daring. It is true that many
“eyes which flashed with enthusiasm as their favorite urged his
gray horse into the thick of the battle, are forever dull upon the
fatal hills of Pennsylyania ; but this will render his memory only
the more dear to the survivors; what of his fame was not theirs

age they will claim to have inherited from the dead

round Gettysburgh.

If this story has been properly told, little remains to be said
by way of comment. A young man of very rare accomplish-
ments and energy, fitted equally for the cloister of the scholat
and for the field of battle, has been snatched from our midst.
Admirably qualified to be of assistance to the country as a sol-
dier or as a statesman, General Pettigrew has been suddenly re-
moved at the very commencement, as it were, of his career.

Ostendent terris hune tantum Sata, neque ultra
Eisse sinent.

Although what he has achieved is sufficient for fame, that
which impresses the observer most forcibly is that such vast

APPENDIX.

i feated of
preparation should, in the course of Pro yaa ih ase
an opportunity for display at all commensura e a
its reasonable requirements. Under the Te ae a
looks like a prodigious waste of material. np a2 on
lustration to that class of eee Wi, Jas sy delle
lar in poetry, and in morals whether eathen ~ mre
appears very clearly that the Ruler of all — ae } gahobes
cessity to employ rare talents and wees oan tien
His awful administration, but in the crisis © * ee.
lay aside a Pettigrew with as little concern as

Se ee abt his friends will see that .

e fitting occasion ‘no do k yey
pec furnished with 4 more suitable and mee your
of the preparation he had made to do high servi

reer of
ation. It will then be better known that no vulgar ca f

i ted
and no ordinary benefit to his country, had presen

ambition, d endowments of JamES

itself to him as worthy of the aims an
JOHNSTON PETTIGREW.

 
   

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missions are liberal. Send for Circular.

 
    

“THE BURIAL OF LATANE,’

_ A SPLENDID PICTURE,
Painted by W. D. Washington, Esq.,

OF VIRGINIA, AND

PHOTOCRAPHED BY FONTAYNE,
OF NEW-YORK.

     
 
   
   
      
       
 
    
 
   
     
 
      
   
   
   
   
   
        
     
 
      
 
 
     

Tuts elegant production of art has been greatly admired and sought
after. We propose to give all our people, North and South, an op-
portunity to possess it. The photograph is fourteen by eighteen
inches when mounted.

The Press has pronounced the highest praise upon this beautiful
picture. Dr. Deems, in Tak Warcuman, thus describes his first sight
of the picture :

“Tt represented an open grave, and near it a bier on which lay a
corpse of a Confederate soldier, as was manifest from the uniform
which was thrown over the concealed figure. Around this bier and
this grave stood a group of persons, the most conspicuous being a
lady, at the head of the grave, in simple matronly attire, with a most
serene and noble face uplifted toward the sky, while she held an open
volume of the Common Prayer. To her left were several ladies and
very young girls, all with most tender expressions of sadness and
grief upon their fair faces. To her right was a group of servants,
women and men, one of the latter of whom rested upon the spade
with which he had been digging the new-made grave. The whole
grouping was impressive. It was a representation of the Burial of
Latané, Having once seen it, we felt sure that it would be in ours
memory forever.”

Pes Captain Latané was killed on Stuart’s raid around McClellan’s
r army, when in front of Richmond, in 1862. The enemy refusing to
allow him Christian burial, the funeral services were performed by
Mrs. Brockenborough, on whose place he fell. There were no males
present except the negroes who dug the grave.

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BOX 5780, NEW-YORKE, ‘dl
: a} :

 

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