266 Norto Carotina Troops, 1861-65.

use the barn for lodgings and the privilege of water from the
well in the yard. . They received us not only with politeness,
but with kindness. They also added to our bread and coffee
a piece of bacon and some sorghum molasses. In front of the
barn we made a live coal fire and soon had our supper pre-
pared. When the meal was over we filled our pipes with
“Zephyr Puff,” a brand of smoking tobacco, several packages
of which I had taken from a burning pile in the streets of
Petersburg, the night of the evacuation, and for the time for-
got our troubles. About 9 o’clock we went again to the
house and inquired of the two householders if they would
like to hear some music, and upon the response, of course, in
the affirmative, Watson, who was a musician, leading with his
cornet, and accompanied by the voices of the two Bobbitts,
my brother and myself, all of us having belonged to a glee
club in the army, we entertained them for half an hour. On
retiring to the barn and making our beds upon the straw, we
stumbled upon our only acquaintance on the way, who was in
a helpless condition, and who could not tell us how he came
to be there. He only said that he could go no further and
had laid down there to die. He was exhausted from fatigue
and want of food and upon our preparing for him something
to eat and a strong pot of coffee, his strength was revived. We
left him in fair condition. He reached his home in Warren
County and is now a well-to-do farmer and the head of a
large family. We heard of General Ransom along our route
helping along the tired and foot-sore by often dismounting
and placing such in his saddle, and speaking to them words of
hope and cheer. We greatly wished to come up with him,
and to talk with him, for we had great interest and pride in
him; his people and ours having been for generations con-
nected by ties of friendship. We had watched his career
as a soldier which had reflected honor on his State and upon
the South, and especially his strikingly brilliant conduct at
Five Forks, a few days before.

We spent the next night (Thursday) near the town of
Chase City, then called Christiansburg. In passing through
Charlotte Court House, on that day, we called at a large well-
appointed home in the midst of extensive grounds, and at

eee PSN REESE ED ER Rt RR OYE Tt SATE TREAT OI IR eGR feet etm erm resem het ep

APPOMATTOX AND THE RETURN Home. 267

once were asked into the family living room, the family con-
sisting entirely of ladies and children, and at once were made
to feel at ease. An invitation, heartily pressed upon us, to
dine we, of course, accepted. In the interval the cornet and
the voices added interest to the occasion, delighting young
and old, who had heard no sound of music for months. The
war songs and old Southern ballads we had practiced, and

often along the Shenandoah and Rappahannock we had given

solace and pleasure to our friends and companions; but un-
fortunately on the present occasion we, without proper fore-
thought, began ‘““There Will Be one Vacant Chair,” when the
younger lady commenced to weep.

At once we knew the cause. We were thoughtless because
there were so many vacant chairs in Southern households. In
that particular case it was the husband’s. But the elder
lady made everything so easy and so delicately explained the
situation, that it passed off without further embarrassment,
and we left their home after dinner with their thanks and
prayers, as if we had conferred a favor upon them.

Our last night was spent near the Roanoke at the hospita-
ble home of Colonel Eaton, the uncle of Captain M. F. Tay-
lor, who was-mortally wounded on the retreat from Gettys-
burg. The nephew was, in truth, a most estimable gentle-
man and capable officer, and a great favorite with the whole
regiment. He was ‘the idol of the uncle, and we all could,
sitting around that hearthstone with truth and propriety join
in honoring the dead hero and kinsman. The host was of
large means, given to hospitality, and until a late hour we
grieved over our losses, celebrated our victories and mourned
over the disappointment of our hopes. On rising the next
morning for an early breakfast, had at our request, we found
our shoes cleaned, our tattered uniforms brushed and hung
on chairs. After the meal we left our kind entertainer stand-
ing on the front portico and almost overcome by his feelings,
watching us as we disappeared forever from his sight, down
the road that led us to our own beloved and bereaved ones.

All along our route we met with only kindness and consid-
eration with one exception, and that at the house of a man
who was formerly a resident of our own county. He refused