REESE LIBRARY
OK THE
I UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
Class
'
.
DOWN SOUTH.
VOLUME I.
/
E1V7
DAY,
• . OF THE "MORNING HERALD.
IN TWO VOLUMES. . VOL, I.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
13, GREAT MARLBOKOUGH STREET.
1862.
The right of Translation is resetted.
DOWN SOUTH;
OR,
AN ENGLISHMAN'S EXPERIENCE
AT THE SEAT OF
THE AMERICAN WAR.
BY
SAMUEL PHILLIPS DAY,
SPECIAL CORKESPONDENT OF THE " MORNING HERALD.'
IN TWO VOLUMES. I yOL, I.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
13, GREAT MARLBOIiOUGH STREET.
1862.
The right of Translation is reserved.
LONDON :
PRINTED BY R. BORN, GLOUCESTER STREET. REGENT'S PARK.
TO
MY FRIENDS IN AMERICA,
NORTH AND SOUTH,
TO WHOM
I AM INDEBTED FOR MANY KIND ATTENTIONS
WHILE FAR FROM HOME.
THESE VOLUMES
ARE GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED.
227193
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER I.
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, AND " ON TO RICHMOND."
A Motley Group— Fogs and Icebergs — Burial at Sea — A False Alarm — New York Harbour — Scene at the Custom House — Feeling against the " Rebels " — The Kentucl^j Volunteers — Vineyards of Cincinnati — Insubordination in the Camps — Monument to Henry Clay — An African Church — Firing into a Train — Southern Liberality — Unexpected Visitors — City of Lynchburg — Arrival in Richmond '1
CHAPTER II.
THE BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL EVACUATION OF
HARPER'S FERRY.
Strength of Belligerent Forces under Magruder and Pierce — Mistaking the Enemy — Taking up Positions — Brilliant Cavalry Charge— The Defeat— Official Report— Whole sale Dispossession — Evacuation of Harper's Ferry — Burning of Bridges and the Arsenal — Topography of the Village — Jefferson's Rock — The John Brown Raid — Exe cution — Secret Plans — A Panegyrist — Religious Delusion — Brown's Address to his Men . . 36
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
ABOUT RICHMOND.
Origin of the City— The Westover MSS.— " Cities in the Air" — An Agreeable Surprise — The Capitol — Colonial Relics — The Washington Statue — Monumental Church — Burning of the Theatre — An August Assembly — An cient Church — Tredegar Works — Speculative Folly — Tobacco Manufacture — James River Canal — Penitentiary — " Ducking Stool" — An Eccentric Celebrity — " Scratch ing" — Attorney and Client . , ,. . . ' . . 56
CHAPTER TV.
LIFE IN THE CAPITAL OF " OLD VIRGINIA."
Grotesque Uniforms — " Faro Banks" — An Alarm — A Sol dier-Bishop—" For Rent"— Hotel Life—" Message of Old Abe"— The " Bars"— Governor Letcher— An Ex pedition — Prizes — " The French Lady" — " Getting up a
^ Regiment— Female Industry — A Tornado in Camp — The Bivouac— Public Markets— The Game of "Loo" — A Facile Introduction — The Barbacue Club —The Coloured Population — The " Invisible Lady " — Tom Moore's Eu logy . s ; . ' .-• .. . • >, . . 96
CHAPTER V.
THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN.
The Union an " Experiment" — The First Confederacy — Laws of Connecticut — The "Republican Basis"— A Religious Oligarchy — Penn's Government— A Commer cial Aristocracy — The Dutch West India Company — Commercial Warriors — Jurisdiction of the States- Gene ral — Gross System of Plunder — Colonial Contests — The Law a Dead Letter — General Corruption of Morals . 147
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER VI.
THE CAVALIERS OF THE SOUTH.
The " Old Dominion" — First Settlers in Virginia— Attach ment to the Constitution and Church of England — Utopia Realized — A Catholic Colony — Lord Baltimore — Tho Fruitful Mother of States — Temporizing Policy — North Carolina — Foundation of Charleston — Oglethorpe, the Founder of Georgia — Character of the Emigrants . 172
CHAPTER VII.
GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
European Misconception — A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing — The Force of u King Numbers " — Conflicting Interests — " The Letter " and " the Spirit " — " The Holy Text of Pike and Gun " — " Beggar my Neighbour" — The "Ame rican System" — A War of Tariffs — Territorial Aggres sion — Domestic Aggression — Infractions of the Constitu tion — Effects of the War on NorthernCommerce — Northern Hallucination -» ^ ^ , * • • • 193
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
Government Out-and-Out — The Inauguration — Roll of the Convention — Provisions of the Constitution — The Hon. Jefferson Davis — The Hon. Alexander H. Stephens— The Hon. Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter — The Hon. Howell Cobb — Extent of Territory — Opening of Congress — Con federate State Bonds — The President's Proclamation — Act of Sequestration — Capability of Self- Sustenance — Wide Field for Enterprize— Destiny of the Republic 223
VOL. I. A *
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
VISIT TO NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
City of Petersburg — The Alleghany Mountains — " Staging1' It — Town of Beverly — Cheat Mountain — Encounter with Indians — A Deed of Daring — Preparing for the Attack — Defence of Laurel Mount — The Retreat — Ascent of Cheat Mountain — Impugned Generalship — Town of Staunton— The Cyclopean Towers , « . 278
CHAPTER X.
VISIT TO MANASSAS — THE BATTLE OF BLACKBURN'S FORD.
A Second Joan of Arc — The Fortifications — History and Character of General Beauregard — Forces under Generals Beauregard, Johnston, and Bonham — Condition of the Camps — The Culpepper " Minute Men" — Washington Artillery of New Orleans — A Skirmish — Death of Lieu tenant Ashby — The Village of Romney — Gaudy's Castle — General Floyd's Brigade — Life in Camp — Battle of Blackburn's Ford— Defeat of the Federal Troops . 307
DOWN SOUTH.
CHAPTER I.
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, AND " ON TO RICHMOND."
A Motley Group— Fogs and Icebergs — Burial at Sea — A False Alarm — New York Harbour — Scene at the Custom House — Feeling against the " Rebels " — The Kentucky Volunteers — Vineyards of Cincinnati — Insubordination in the Camps — Monument to Henry Clay — An African Church — Firing into a Train — Southern Liberality — Unexpected Visitors — City of Lynchburg — Arrival in Richmond.
I LEFT Southampton for New York on the 22nd of May, in the Hamburg and American Company's steam-ship " Borussia," commanded by Captain Trautman. The living freight comprised some six hundred passengers, about fifty of whom were first-class. Although I had repeatedly crossed the Channel, and could bear the sea tolerably well, I rather dreaded a trip across the Atlantic. In deed, I have always, in a greater or lesser degree, VOL. I. B
2 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
felt some apprehension at sea; a circumstance which, I know, is not uncommon. When a youth my chief delight consisted in perusing books of voyages and travels ; and intense was the love of adventure thereby created, which I have not yet quite overcome.
The first-class passengers, among whom were a few ladies, married and single, old and young, consisted of a motley group — Lager beer-drink ing Germans, Californian adventurers, sharp- sighted Yankees, and a few open-hearted Southerners. Notwithstanding our diversity of character and pursuit, we managed to get along tolerably well. For two or three days the weather was very propitious, and the ocean as sumed the placidity of a lake unruffled by the wind. This was contrary to my preconceived notions of the Atlantic, so I felt exceedingly com fortable both in mind and body. A change, how ever, shortly came over the spirit of my dream ; and the soothing feelings which the sight of the ocean at first produced, changed but too rapidly to those of wonderment and terror! The fourth day a strong southerly wind blew, and the sea rose mountains high, as if it had been touched by the wand of the enchanter. From that time until we sighted Sandy Hook, a period of eight weary days, we had a succession of storms, attended
FOGS AND ICEBERGS. 3
by dense fogs and the presence of icebergs, so that, during their continuance, the ship was propelled only at half speed. A storm on the Atlantic must be observed to be appreciated. It is indeed a majestic and awe-inspiring spectacle, rendered infinitely more so when mountains of solid ice, as large as islands at their base, float along in close proximity, threatening sure and sudden destruction to whatever ill-fated vessel may happen to strike against them ! Although, while the fog lasted, the signal-bell was tolled every few minutes, still the " Borussia" had very nigh run down a small craft which had got right across her bows. It was almost miraculous how the ship and crew escaped ; and had it not been for the agility and presence of mind displayed by one of the officers on watch, who ordered the engines to be reversed, the fate of both was in evitable ; while possibly none on board our vessel would have known of the disaster — so insecure is life at sea.
Nothing can well be more monotonous than a voyage of even twelve days. The body grows restless, the mind becomes weary, and, for want of its customary aliment, preys, pelican -like, upon itself. For my part, I could neither read nor write, only walk the decks when practicable, and if not, gaze out upon the billows as they chased
B 2
4 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
each other in wild fury, dashing our brave vessel about as a child might play with a feather. Whether the prevailing presence of the Sublime disposes the mind to more than ordinary sensitive ness I cannot tell ; but I have experienced this acute mental susceptibility during my voyage, and to such a disagreeable degree as not only to interrupt, but to banish repose. The author of the " Night Thoughts" observes that
" An undevout astronomer is mad ;"
but surely an irreligious mariner is the madder of the two. If the solemn grandeur of the ocean — that "glorious mirror of the Almighty's form" — when ruffled by the winds of heaven, and its majestic, quiet flow when those winds are lulled, be not sufficient to impress man's soul, and awake within him religious sentiment, I know of nothing else in Nature capable of producing such an effect. One night during the passage a child died in the steerage. Before sunrise the following morn ing a number of passengers, who had got intima tion of an intended burial at sea, assembled on the deck of the vessel. The corpse, which had been placed in a coffin containing a quantity of lead, was decorously borne by a few sympathisers. The captain then read the burial-service amid affecting silence, only interrupted by the roar of
A BURIAL AT SEA. 5
the sea and the sighing of the wind. Afterwards the lifeless body was consigned to the ocean, to await the " final restitution of all things," when " the sea shall deliver up the dead which were in it." This simple event created much feeling among all classes of passengers, and great sympathy was expressed for the bereaved parents, to whom the decease of their child, under such peculiarly painful circumstances, was more than ordinarily distressing.
Captain Trautman omitted nothing on his part to render the voyage bearable, if not agreeable ; and only those who cross the Atlantic, or go other long journeys by sea, can form an idea of the extent to which the character and manners of a commander influence those with whom he comes in contact. The couple of hours which dinner occupied were always pleasantly passed, and inva riably enlivened by the captain's good humour, when the state of the weather allowed of his being present, and when the harmony was not interrupted by the sudden roll of the ship inter fering with the steward's arrangements, and sending the contents of each individual's plate — and sometimes the plates themselves — into the lap of his opposite neighbour ! One day while off Newfoundland the attendance at dinner was more than usually numerous, as the passengers were
6 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
growing convalescent. We had only just been seated, when the captain came to the door of the saloon and lustily shouted out —
" An iceberg !"
There was an immediate rush from the table ; and a crush followed in our eager attempt to reach the deck. Sure enough there was a tower ing iceberg to the north of our ship ; but all fears were allayed upon discovering that it was fully a mile distant. The effect was magnificent. The base of this prodigious body of ice appeared of immense circumference, and gradually tapered up to a formidable altitude. As the sun had not yet sunk below the horizon, the apex of the iceberg reflected his rays, looking as though it had been covered with a robe of fire ! The captain chuckled over the practical joke he had perpetrated upon us; but the sight of this natural phenomenon more than compensated for the penalty exacted.
At length we sighted Sandy Hook, when the countenances of all on board assumed more than their wonted animation. It was certainly cheer ing to reflect that, " the perils and dangers of the ocean passed," we should shortly be upon terra firma again. Everybody now prepared for dis- em burking. People threw off their sea-clothing and put on their best habiliments, while I en countered strange faces for the first time. The
SCENE AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE. 7
vessel steamed slowly up the beautiful harbour of New York, rendered so picturesque by the number of stately villas by which it is adorned on either side. Finally, the engines ceased work ing, the anchor was cast, and the passengers were conveyed to land in a steam tender. Commotion and confusion followed at the Custom House. So soon as my luggage was "passed," a porter placed the same on a barrow, and preceded rne towards the place where carriages and omnibusses were in waiting. But I found the exit from the Custom House literally blockaded and besieged by scores of " rowdies," who consisted of porters and drivers, to whom the few police (armed with batons) that were present proved far from ob jects of terror, notwithstanding the vigorous use of their voices and their clubs. My baggage was seized by several porters and conveyed into dif ferent vehicles, while all the police could do was ineffectual in producing order. After considerable trouble I succeeded in collecting my scattered luggage. Such a scene of ruffianism I never before witnessed in any country I had been in ; consequently my first impressions of America and Republicanism were far from favourable. My companions in distress seemed to take such unne cessary annoyances as a matter of course, even without remonstrance ; while I, Englishman-like,
8
began to bully my tormenters, and once, I believe, in the height of passion, uncharitably consigned some of them to a place that shall be nameless.
" Where shall I drive you to?" asked one of these rascals, in a most familiar manner, while engaged about my luggage.
u Drive me to the White House, and be -- ," I replied, very petulantly, — a response which called forth hearty shouts and ironical laughter from the by-standers, against the party who had interrogated me. Finally, I seated myself in a carriage and drove off to the Fifth Avenue Hotel.
I sojourned but two days in New York, and candidly acknowledge I was greatly disappoint ed with the appearance of the city. It is only Liverpool on a larger scale, minus the attrac tions which the latter town possesses. New- York may be said to consist of one prodigiously- extended street, called the Broadway, although how it came to get that designation I cannot con ceive. The New Yorkers seem to take pride in the size of their shops — " stores," they term them — and monster hotels; ju*t as a Londoner is proud of some sacred monument or depositary of art, like Westminster Abbey, or the British Museum. Great exertions were being made to raise re cruits, which, as they were only mustered in for
FEELING AGAINST THE " REBELS." 9
three months' service, there was no difficulty in obtaining. Bad times had already set in ; shops and hotels were not paying rent ; so bankrupt haberdashers, and others pecuniarily affected by the threatening crisis, essayed to stave off immi nent ruin by raising companies and battalions, and thereby acquiring positions of command and consequent emolument — tangible rewards of pa triotism ! But why should not virtue and valour meet with their due deserts ?
In the various circles I entered it was plain that the feeling against the " rebels" ran very high, and numerous attempts were made to impress my mind with ex parte notions of the causes that had facilitated the Civil War. " We have right and justice on our side," observed one gentleman to me, " the South is in the wrong. They have nothing but what we give them ; they have lived and fattened upon us ; and now they aspire to be our superiors, and foolishly fancy that they can dissolve the Union !" The impression everywhere was, that the insurrection would be " crushed out" speedily, the ringleaders hanged, and that renewed commerce and prosperity would follow after a while. Some people, however, were disposed to take a more merciful view of men and manners down South — regarded that section of the country as a physician would a patient labouring under
10 "ON TO RICHMOND."
temporary delusion — and expressed pity for the political hallucinations of the people, forcibly re calling to my mind the language of Byron —
"Why,
My good old friend, for such I deem you, Though our different parties make us fight so shy, I ne'er mistake you for a personal foe : Our difference is political, and I Trust that whatever may occur, You know my great respect for you, and this Makes me regret whatever you do amiss."
I was desirous of proceeding to Richmond without delay, and accordingly felt chagrined upon ascertaining that in consequence of the regular line of communication from Philadelphia to Baltimore being interrupted by the destruction of some bridges, and a portion of the railroad, I should be compelled to make a circuitous journey around by Canada, the Niagara Falls, through Kentucky and Tennessee into Virginia — a route of several thousand miles. I endeavoured, however, to bear this disappointment patiently, convinced of the philosophy of Dr. Syntax's reflections —
" That man, I trow, is doubly curst, Who of the best doth make the worst, And he, I'm sure, is doubly blest, Who of the worst can make the best. To sit and sorrow and complain, Is adding folly to our pain."
THE KENTUCKY VOLUNTEERS. 11
Early on the morning of the 5th of June, I started from New York, and arrived at Cincin nati late on the evening of the 8th. During this portion of my journey I experienced an additional disappointment ; for while crossing the Suspension Bridge over the Niagara river, I could neither see the Falls nor hear the sound of their mighty waters. I am informed that this wonderful phenomenon can be both seen and heard from the bridge alluded to ; but I presume that the noise of the train and the darkness of the night combined, pre vented me from enjoying either pleasure. All I could do was to open one of the windows of the " car" and look down on the vast and appalling abyss that existed between me and the rapids. At Cincinnati I took up my quarters for the night in a hotel adjoining the Ohio, and for hours gazed silently upon the moonbeams as they fell fitfully upon that murky river.
Next morning I visited the head-quarters of the Kentucky Volunteers at Camp Clay, situated at Pendleton, about five miles up the Ohio. The troops consisted of the 1st and 2nd Kentucky regiments, numbering the full complement of 1,000 men each, or ten companies of 100 strong. Why these should have been designated Kentucky regiments I cannot understand, except it was to de ceive the uninitiated, as one company was entirely
12
composed of Germans, and I have reason to be lieve that but a very insignificant portion of the men were " raised" in this particular State. The commanding officers were Colonels Guthrie and Woodruff, and Lieutenant-Colonels Euyart and Neff. The troops had been encamped about five weeks, and were only awaiting clothing and equipment to be drafted off to Washington. The ages of the men ranged from eighteen to thirty years. They appeared, for the most part, dirty and ragged, and some, for want of coats, were doing duty in their shirt sleeves, making very unpicturesque-looking sentinels. Colonel Euyart informed me, however, that there were volunteers in the ranks worth 50,000 dollars, besides others who, in the capacity of lawyers (my in formant was one) and physicians, possessed high social standing and affluent means, which they cheerfully resigned to aid in re-establishing the Union. If such was actually the case, to observe these men as I did, stretched upon straw, herded together in small confined tents, or exposed to the rays of an oppressive sun, was certainly suffi ciently expressive of their patriotism. Colonel Euyart seemed very desirous that I should go away with a favourable impression of his com mand, and very politely accompanied me all over the camp, which was supplied with a kitchen and
VINEYARDS OF CINCINNATI. 13
bake-house; the only camp, North or South, in which I have seen such desirable conveniences. The very "raw" and undisciplined appearance of the troops was far from prepossessing ; so all that the Colonel could say failed to raise them in my estimation. Indeed, during my rounds with the Colonel, not a single military salute was given. The men seemed dogged and apathetic, and were wanting in those marks of outward respect to their superiors which are among the primary duties of soldiers.
In the immediate vicinity of Camp Clay — called after the eminent Kentuckian general and states man — I noticed the famous vineyards of Nicholas Longworth, a millionaire, who, some half century ago, entered Cincinnati a poor, friendless boy, at the time when this important manufacturing and hog-raising city comprised but a few log huts. Here the celebrated Catawba wine is pro duced, very similar in colour and flavour to that I have drank at Asti, in France, where it is largely made, and by which name it is designated. I was informed that the cellars of the successful grower, contained no less than 300,000 of champagne, besides an immense quantity of dry wines in wood. Nicholas Longworth first introduced grape-growing into Ohio, when he procured "cuttings" from all parts of the world.
14 " ON TO RICHMOND."
From Cincinnati, I rode over to Camp Den- nison, about fourteen miles distant. I found several regiments encamped, numbering alto gether 1 2,000 strong, under command of Briga dier-general McClellan, who has succeeded General Scott as Commander-in-chief of the United States army. These regiments included the Guthrie Grays — called the crack regiment of the West — two batteries of Flying Artillery, in an excellent state of efficiency, as I was informed by one of the commandants ; the Zouaves, and the German Skirmishers ; the last two regiments being fully equipped and ready for the march. The Zouaves looked particularly imposing and effective. Dis affection, owing to sundry causes, was very rife here — not at all an unusual occurrence. Most of the troops had grown tired of waiting for their uniforms ; the water supply was limited, and its quality very bad — so bad, indeed, that it had a sickening effect upon the men, and could not be used ; whilst, though last not least, the nomina tions for field-officers created deep-seated discon tent. The appointment of Colonel Bosby to a high position of command had called forth much animadversion and ill-feeling in the Guthrie Gray regiment. Hundreds of the men, and numerous officers, openly avowed their intention not to serve under him, so that there was a prospect of the
INSUBORDINATION IN THE CAMPS. 15
regiment speedily becoming not only hopelessly disorganized, but actually broken up, should he not be removed, or have the good taste to resign his post. I have heard nothing positively injuri ous to the military character of this officer, beyond the fact that, for some cause or another, he had become objectionable to the men of his command. Perhaps, in consequence of his having been a citizen-soldier, the old Federal troops conceived an antipathy to him.
But this is not the only instance in which party- feeling and secret animosity have usurped the place of patriotism. Dissension, and even insub ordination, are more general than those can con ceive who are not behind the scenes. The day after my arrival in New York, an affray, likely to have terminated seriously, occurred at the military barracks in the Broadway, between two regiments manifestly on ill terms with each other. The matter was hushed up, and the belligerent regiments removed to some distant quarters. In the Confederate States' army similar evils existed, although to a far less extent, rendering the establishment of Court Martials necessary.
While at Cincinnati, I heard, upon unquestion able authority, that a fracas had just taken place at Harper's Ferry, between two Southern officers, named Colonel Blanton Duncan, and Major liar-
16 " ON TO RICHMOND."
more, the quartermaster. Some dispute arose, and high words ensued. Colonel Duncan grew very angry, and spat in the face of the Quarter master, who resented the insult by laying his whip sharply upon Duncan's shoulders ; the latter drew his knife, and were it not for the timely inter ference of the bystanders, might have inflicted a fatal wound upon his antagonist.
Cincinnati is a remarkable illustration of that go- a-headativeness so characteristic of the Northern people. Perhaps no city or town ever progressed at such a rapid rate. In 1800, its population was but 750. It increased in 1830 to 24,831 ; while in 1850, when the last census was taken, it had reached 115,436. Cotton, woollen, and tobacco factories are established here, besides ship-build ing-yards. Cincinnati is considered the principal pork-market in the Union, and hogs are raised throughout all the surrounding country. Since the commencement of hostilities, trade has naturally declined, work-people have been thrown out of employment, and much poverty and misery have ensued.
I passed a portion of two days at Lexington, Kentucky, during which time I was the guest of Captain Morgan, brother-in-law to Colonel Hill, who then commanded the Confederate troops at Harper's Ferry. Lexington is a small and
MONUMENT TO HENRY CLAY. 17
unimportant town, but is picturesquely situated. About two miles distant is Ashville, the resi dence of the late eminent statesman, Henry Clay. His remains lie in Lexington Cemetery, and, until recently, not so much as a simple tablet had marked his resting-place. A fitting monument and mau soleum is now erected to the memory of this great man, which does credit to the architect and sculptor, Mr. Michael Hogarty, who originally came from the county Mayo, Ireland ; a circum stance of which he appeared to be proud. I knelt reverently upon the defunct statesman's grave, and pressed my lips to the sod which covered it. Here I was presented with a walk ing-stick, made from a branch of the Hickory-tree which overhung his grave — a souvenir I now treasure.
The statue of Henry Clay had given eminent satisfaction, and was a source of considerable pride, to the Kentuckians. The height of the figure is twelve feet, which is mounted upon a Corinthian column, with a composite capital. From the base to the summit of the figure is one hundred and thirty-two feet — rather an imposing altitude. Under the shaft of the column is a finely-wrought mausoleum, the sarcophagus being of Pennsyl vania marble, presented by a citizen of Philadel phia. This noble monument cost 68,000 dollars,
VOL. I. C
18 " ON TO RICHMOND."
or 14,0007., to which sum the State of Kentucky contributed 20,000 dollars., or 4,OOOZ. ; the re mainder of the amount was made up by individual subscriptions throughout the United States. The monument has been four years in erection. Al though inaugurated on the 27th of June, 1861, the ceremonies did not take place until the 4th of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence.
On Sunday, June 8th, I took a drive with some friends. Judge of my surprise, reader, when I found almost the entire negro population abroad; some parading the thoroughfares, and others riding about in carriages ! They were dressed so showily and so finely, and appeared so happy and contented, that I was voluntarily forced to exclaim several times —
" Surely these people are not slaves ?"
The response was —
" Certainly they are."
Positively some of the women wore lace shawls and gold watches, and, as I then observed, "" looked (only for their colour) like London duchesses going to a ball I" The men, too, were well attired — most of them in light clothes, and immaculate shirts and collars, ornamented with gold studs. Watch-guards and rings, ostentatiously displayed, aided in the completion of their toilets. I reflected
AN AFRICAN CHURCH. 19
for a moment on the condition of British agricul tural labourers and London needlewomen —
" With fingers weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red."
The contrast was too painful to dwell upon. My early conventional ideas of slavery, however, were quickly dissipated, just as returning con sciousness, upon awaking from a dream, dissolves the " unsubstantial pageant."
In the evening I went to the African Church, a large building, every portion of which was filled with the ebony race, male and female. An ex cellent discourse was delivered by a white preacher belonging to the Baptist denomination, a com munion to which the negroes generally are at tached. The congregation were all well dressed, and appeared singularly devout, sung the hymns with great vigour and remarkable sweetness, and kept their eyes, which rolled about in their large while orbits, turned upwards in the direction of the minister during the sermon. The sight was alike interesting and novel. When I considered that these people had been removed from a state of barbarism in Africa, and had become semi- civilized and semi-Christianized in the South, the thought flashed across my mind that there was nothing so very \vicked in slavery after all — that
c2
20 " ON TO RICHMOND."
it possessed a bright as well as a dark side — and that Mrs. Beecher Stowe, and persons of similar shades of opinion, having lent the charms of their imagination to depict the one, it were well if something should be said regarding the more agreeable aspects of the other.
The war spirit prevailed to a high degree throughout those portions of the Northern States which I had passed. In some instances it reached fever height, amounting, indeed, to a positive thirst for blood. Kentucky had just declared her self u an armed neutrality," although the majority of the State was opposed to the Union. About 5,000 volunteers had combined for self-protection. These were fully armed and equipped, and ready to respond to any call made by the Governor.
On the afternoon of Monday I started for Lynchburg, en route for the Seat of War.
A formidable body of Secession troops had taken up various positions contiguous to the Kentucky line, and branching onwards througli Tennessee. The following are the names and strength of the principal camps along my route : —
« Camp Trousdale," near Kentucky line, 6,000 men, commanded by General Zollicoffer.
" Camp Cheetham," Tennessee, twenty- eight miles from Nashville, 5,000 troops, under General Foster.
FIRING INTO A TRAIN. 21
"Camp Port Randolph," on the Mississippi, contained over 5,000 men — above and below which port were a number of masked batteries.
" Camp Humboldt," Tennessee, consisted of nearly 2,000 strong.
Camp at Knoxville, Tennessee, contained three regiments (3,000 men).
" Camp Davis," thirteen miles from Nashville, consisted of a cavalry depot of 300 men.
The city of Memphis, Tennessee, was fortified, and a large number of troops therein.
At Nashville station I met with a body of Ackland Rifles, a fine dashing set of fellows, who appeared full of enthusiasm and spirit. They were about to join a regiment going onwards to the Seat of War.
When about twenty or thirty miles from Knox ville., the train in which I travelled, containing unarmed soldiers for the most part, was deliberately fired into by a few resident Unionists. Some alarm was created, but no one was hurt; and during the remainder of the journey this dastardly and ruffianly attack continued the subject of vigorous animadversion. However, if the miscreants have only received a tithe of the punishment they were then doomed to they will have atoned for their crime. Knoxville was always a Unionist district ; and as the election happened to be going on,
22
these barbarians fired into the railway "cars"'' in order to produce an effect upon the votes.
The counties in East and West Tennessee sup plied 44,000 votes in favour of Secession, while the entire number of votes in the State for the same object amounted to nearly 105,000. Ten nessee, therefore, legally became a sister State of the Southern Confederacy.
During my journey through Tennessee and Virginia I discovered but one feeling animating the inhabitants, and I believe that these States of the Confederacy perfectly represent the spirit and determination which actuate the others. The call for troops made by President Jefferson Davis had been readily responded to. The flower of the country had volunteered into the service of the Government, not for three months merely, but for as many years, or during the continuance of the war; and the authorities had in frequent instances to refuse the aid they had been proffered. Young and middle-aged men were everywhere quitting their homes, parting from their families, and resigning their prospects in life to accept the doubtful chances of war. I could narrate many touching incidents that came under my observa tion — such as children taking leave of their aged parents, husbands of wives, and brothers of sisters. The scenes at the railway depots were
SOUTHERN LIBERALITY. 23
often of a heart-rending description, and made one feel acutely the horrors of civil war, which unfortunately bids fair to decimate the population, and turn a rich and fertile country into a land of mourning and woe. Persons of the highest cha racter and largest resources, some of whom were worth tens of thousands of dollars, fre quently entered the ranks of the army. Many captains equipped and supported entire com panies, with little Government aid, and every body seemed but too ready to make sacrifices on the important occasion which had called forth their patriotism and their resistance. Mr. E. K. Mar shall, planter, of Vicksborg, Mississippi, sub scribed 25,000 dollars ; Colonel Henry Marshall, of Desoto, Louisiana, gave 6,000 dollars, and told his men that when this sum was expended they were " to draw on Henry Marshall." Others again tendered two- thirds of their cotton crops to the Government, for the purpose of meeting the demands of the war. An universal spirit of rivalry pervaded the people. All were anxious to do or sacrifice something for the general weal. Every man and every boy capable of carrying but a bowie- knife was " eager for the fray," and anxious to defend his native soil against the pollution of the invader. It was pitiable occasionally to observe the extreme youth of the volunteers, but, never-
24 " ON TO RICHMOND."
theless, they appeared undaunted and full of con fidence. Even clergymen were turning soldiers, and leading battalions into the field ; such as Captain Fontaine, of Hind's County, Mississippi, who possessed the ad vantage of having been trained at West Point Military School — an institution near New York, connected with the Federal Govern ment. Most of this officer's company, I was informed, consisted of the wealthy youths of his congregation.
Along the line of route I fell in and travelled with large bodies of Southern troops. To Vir ginia, especially, they seemed to concentrate in immense numbers. Indeed, so great was the pressure, that, besides waggon cars, other rough means of transit, of a very unsafe and unsightly character, had to be improvised by the various railway companies. Fifteen "cars" of this descrip tion I have seen attached, each teeming with troops, half-baked from the sun, and all but suffocated with dust. Yet, despite of these positive disadvantages, they exhibited unmis- takeable exuberance of feeling, and talked and laughed, sung and shouted, as if they were jour neying to some modern promised land, instead of to the sanguinary battle-field. These troops wore a neat but inexpensive uniform, the hues of which were as diversified as the colours of the rainbow.
ENTHUSIASM OF THE TROOPS. 25
In this sense it was not uniform at all. Their arms also partook of a medley character ; which, if they possessed not an imposing appearance, may ultimately prove more effective than the orthodox weapons of warfare. The reception given to the volunteers throughout the entire line of railway, whenever a town, a village, or even but a log-hut appeared in sight, evinced the profoundest feel ing on the part of the spectators, who princi pally consisted of women. The Secession flag floated wherever I observed a human habita tion ; the sight of which frequently occasioned a shout from the troops that literally rent the air, and echoed beyond in the distant forests. I have seen tens of thousands of well- disciplined and good-looking soldiers in foreign lands, as well as our own army and volunteer regiments at home, and I must say that the troops of the Confederate States are, in point of appearance and martial bearing, not inferior to either.
The military ardour and aptitude of the South erners struck me as remarkable. It is surprising how, in so short a time, tens of thousands of men could have been drilled, uniformed, and equipped, and prepared to meet the enemy in open field. With regard to weapons, the Federal troops had decidedly the advantage; for, from the abundance of rifles at the disposal of the
26 " ON TO RICHMOND/'
Government, they were not compelled to seize any arms that might have been available. A Southern officer said to me that he would pay any amount of money could he but procure one hundred rifles for the use of his company. In this respect, how ever, the Confederate army is better off at present than it was months ago. Arms have been pro cured from England, notwithstanding the Queen's proclamation and the blockade of the Southern ports ; and as for ammunition, there is enough in the country to last during two campaigns.
That the South was not totally destitute of weapons of warfare, may be inferred from the annexed tabular statement of seizures made since the inception of the Secession movement : —
Baton Rouge .... 70,000
Alabama Arsenal . . . 20,000
Elizabeth, North Carolina . 30,000
Fayetteville, North Carolina . 35,000
Charleston .... 23,000
Harper's Ferry . . . 5,000
Norfolk 7,000
Other places .... 100,000
Total . . . 290,000
The State arms previously purchased by the States amounted to : —
Alabama 80,000
Virginia . . . . . 73,000
VIGILANCE OF THE AUTHORITIES. 27
Louisiana .... 30,000
Georgia 120,000
South Carolina . . . 47,000
Mississippi .... 50,000 Florida .... 17,000
Total . . . 417,000
The grand total makes 707,000 stand of arms, besides 200,000 revolvers, said to be on hand at various points; while the arms in the States of Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia, have been set down at 1,000,000. I have likewise heard it stated that 2,000,000 of private weapons could be procured in case of necessity.
The utmost vigilance was employed to detect spies and look after suspected persons. It unfor tunately happened that innocent travellers were sometimes subjected to inconvenience, owing to the operation of an espionage which possibly could not well be obviated. To this, I myself can testify, from practical experience.
On Thursday morning, June 12th, the day set apart by proclamation of the President of the Confederate States, as one of "solemn fast," I reached Lynchburg, a town one hundred and thirty miles distant from Richmond. At the station I observed several printed notifi cations posted up to the effect that no person
28 "ON TO RICHMOND."
would be suffered to proceed further without a permit from the Mayor. The " cars " at all events did not run on that day ; and having journeyed three days and as many nights without sleep, and part of the time under a scorching sun, which the wood-work of the carriages seemed only to intensify, I was glad of a halting-place, and ac cordingly adjourned, with a number of officers and other travelling companions, to the Norvell House. After- breakfast I strolled into one of the neigh bouring churches, belonging, from what I subse quently learnt, to the Presbyterian denomination. The congregation was large and decorous, the scripture selections and hymns appropriate, but the tenor of the discourse was most unbecoming.
O
Indeed, nothing could have been less appropriate to the occasion. The minister of the Gospel of Peace blew the trumpet of slaughter, and haran gued his audience in a strain more suited to a general rallying and stimulating his armed hosts to battle ! In the evening I visited cavalry and infmtry camps — beautifully situated, not far from the city, on a high elevation, in an extensive park thickly covered with pine-trees, and commanding a fine view of distant mountain scenery. I was politely received by the commanding officers, Colonels Kudford and Eieves, ex-minister to Belgium. Altogether, the troops numbered 1,635
UNEXPECTED VISITORS. 29
rank and file. The cavalry expected to be drafted off in a few days to Fairfax Court-house, where an emeute was anticipated. The appearance of the men was admirable, and they all seemed in high spirits. Here and there groups of soldiers and their friends were collected. Violins were brought into requisition, and one party struck up the national and lively air, " I wish I was in Dixie," which was accompanied by a number of voices. The camp fires, which burnt .brightly around as the shades of night were falling, lent a magical effect to the scene.
I returned to the hotel and proceeded to my chamber, feeling that repose had become neces sary after such protracted fatigue. About mid night, however, I was disturbed by the tramp of feet and the sound of voices on the stairs. Sud denly the door of my room was unceremoniously thrown open, when an officer of the Confederate army, the chief of police, and several stout men, armed with formidable clubs, (who were regaling themselves by smoking cigars), entered, followed by a bevy of u darkies " bearing lights, altogether making up a formidable procession. I was some what startled, for it was clear that I was a " sus pected " character. They remained in my apart ment fully three-quarters of an hour, inspecting letters and asking questions, one of which was,
30 " ON TO RICHMOND."
" Plow did you get here ? " To which I curtly replied, "By the 'cars!' ' After making sundry explanations, and assuring them of my good in tentions, my unwelcome visitors departed, greatly mortified, no doubt, that their sagacity turned out to be stupidity ; so I was left to enjoy slumber as best I might. At five o'clock next morning, the Mayor attended at the railway depot, and I had great difficulty, notwithstanding the produc tion of my Foreign Office passport, and letters of introduction to President Davis, and the Attorney- general, in convincing him that my object in Richmond was as innocent as I had asserted. After many urgent remonstrances, I was suf fered to depart in peace. A lieutenant of the Confederate army, meanwhile, had kindly pro posed to pass me to my destination with his men, who were just proceeding onwards. Had the Mayor continued obstinate in his determination, I certainly should have seized so opportune a means of outwitting municipal authority,
I shall now, en passant, revert to the flourishing town of Lynchburg, situated in the county of Campbell, named in honour of General William Campbell, a distinguished officer of the American Revolution. On the south bank of the James River, in the midst of bold and beautiful scenery, within view of the famous Blue Ridge and the
CITY OF LYNCHBURG. 31
Peaks of Otter, Lynchburg is situated. The town, which occupies a steep declivity, was first established in 1786, when forty-five acres of land, the property of one John Lynch, were appro priated to this purpose. Lynch's father was an Irish emigrant, who took up land here before the Revolution. He resided at Chesnut Hill, after wards the seat of Judge Winston, about two miles distant. Upon the death of Lynch, senior, the present site of Lynchburg became entailed to his son John, who did much to establish and extend the town. The original founder, however, was a Quaker, who died a quarter of a century back, at a very advanced age. When the town was formed it contained but a single house, which occupied the site where the toll-house to the bridge now stands. A few tobacco ware houses and two or three stores were thereupon built, under the hill, from which time the growth of the place has slowly but continuously pro gressed. Lynchburg now contains a population of 8,000, thirty tobacco factories and stemmeries, iron foundries, flouring-mills, and a cotton factory operating 1,400 spindles, besides handsome stores and excellent hotels. It possesses also a magnifi cent line of canal, extending to Richmond, a distance of one hundred and forty-seven miles, which opens to the former city the brightest era
32 " ON TO RICHMOND."
which has yet dawned upon her fortunes, capable of furnishing an ample thoroughfare for the countless produce and merchandize of the western and south western parts of the State, as well as for that of Tennessee, Alabama, and adjoining States. But the Lynch burg water-works really possess much interest. They were constructed in 1828-29, at a cost of 50,OOOZ., and the laying of the corner stone was celebrated by civic, masonic, and mili tary ceremonies. None of similar magnitude have been attempted in Virginia.
During the halcyon days of Lynchburg, and when it was the centre of fashionable resort, a speculative t( Yankee" adventurer, as the story goes, purchased a plot of ground contiguous to the town. He dug a well on the premises, supposed to have yielded a strong mineral water, similar, it was considered, to the celebrated springs in the mountain region. The announcement of the discovery caused some excitement. Visitors tried the water, and found it different in colour and taste to what that fluid generally is. The report of its virtues spread rapidly, and numerous in valids resorted to the yellow fountain at sunrise. Even the Faculty recommended the use of the water, especially to patients whose diseases were imaginary. Its good effects were felt or fancied, so lono; as it was drunk in moderation and at an
"YANKEE" INGENUITY. 33
early hour, for the sun dispelled its virtues, and as he rose they fell. Young ladies resorted to the spring, which they found to deepen the hue of the roses on their cheeks, and juveniles of the opposite sex went to fill the glasses and admire the roses !
Finally, a suggestion was made to the pros perous proprietor, that a regular hydropathic and Hygeian establishment should be opened for the convenience and benefit of invalids, and the advantage of the city. A handsome sum was at the same time offered for the property ; the bargain was closed, and the Northern sharper, having pocketed the proceeds, retired from the neighbourhood. After a while the waters were considered to have lost their pristine virtue, a cir cumstance at first attributed to an unusually heavy fall of rain. A season of drought, however, succeeded, but did not enhance their strength, so it was resolved to have the well cleansed and examined. The process was duly commenced, when, to the dismay of the new proprietor, upon reaching the bottom sundry bags of brimstone, rusty nails, pieces of iron, et hoc genus omnes, were discovered. The saline and other soluble ingredients had long before disappeared.
The term " Lynch Law" originated thus. An officer of the American Revolution, named Colonel
VOL. I. D
34 " ON TO RICHMOND."
Charles Lynch, brother to the founder of Lynch- burg, took up his residence at Staunton, in the south-west part of Campbell county. At that time the county, being very sparsely inhabited, was in fested by a lawless band of desperadoes. On the principle that desperate diseases require desperate remedies, the Colonel apprehended some of the marauders, and by the infliction of summary punishment dispensed with the necessity for any superfluous legal ceremony. For many years afterwards the practice of " Lynching" was followed up, and became applied to mere cases of suspicion of guilt, not admitting of regular proof. " In 1792," observes Wirt, in his Life of Henry, " there were many suits on the south side of James River for inflicting Lynch's law."
After a disagreeable journey of four days since I had left Lexington, I reached Rich mond on the 15th of June. Although the routs I was compelled to take through the West proved necessarily tedious and disagreeable, never theless it was productive of advantages which the course through Washington and Baltimore would have failed to produce. I was thereby enabled to judge of the spirit and bearing of the people who separated themselves from the Federal Government, and who are now defending their territory against armed aggression and invasion.
EXCITEMENT OF THE CITIZENS. 35
Upon arriving at the Seat of Government, I found the greatest possible excitement prevailing amongst the citizens. The streets were crowded with military running hither and thither, whilst others collected in sundry groups upon the door steps, the balconies, and in front of the hotels, all seemingly engaged in eager conversation. I put up at the Ballard House, and had some difficulty in getting accommodation, as there were already eight hundred guests in this monster establish ment. The excitement I allude to was occasioned by the intelligence of a defeat sustained by the Federalists, during a recent encounter with the Southern troops, at Great Bethel, in Elizabeth county.
36
CHAPTER II.
THE BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL, AND THE
Strength of Belligerent Forces under Magruder and Pierce — Mistaking the Enemy — Taking up Positions — Brilliant Cavalry Charge— The Defeat—Official Report— Whole sale Dispossession — Evacuation of Harper's Ferry — Burning of Bridges and the Arsenal — Topography of the Village — Jefferson's Rock — The John Brown Raid — Exe cution — Secret Plans — A Panegyrist — Religious Delusion — Brown's Address to his Men.
THE Confederate troops having advanced from Yorktown, took up an entrenched position at Great Bethel Bridge, situated between the boun dary line of York and Elizabeth City counties, under command of Colonel Magruder. Bethel is fifteen miles from Yorktown, nine from Hampton, bordering upon Fortress Monroe, and lies nearly in a direct line between the two points. Colonel Magruder's forces consisted of 500 strong — one artillery corps, numbering 100 men and 6 field-
MISTAKING THE ENEMY. 37
pieces, and a cavalry corps of 100 men, in addition to 300 riflemen and infantry.
General Butler, who commanded the military department of Virginia, having ascertained the position of the Confederate troops, and that they were gradually extending their outer line, made instant preparations for driving them back. Orders were accordingly dispatched for several regiments to hold themselves in readiness for the march, and at the same time the chief of the Ordnance Bureau received instructions to prepare a battery of howitzers, consisting of four 12-poun- ders, with a detachment of artillery. Ere long a force of about 3,000 strong, commanded by Briga dier-General Pierce, were on their way, having struck their tents shortly after midnight on Sun day, June 9th. This force comprised the New York Zouaves (Colonel Duryea), the Albany Eegiment (Colonel Townsend), the 7th Regiment (Colonel Benedix), with a few companies drawn from other regiments. The Zouaves started fully an hour before the other troops.
A very serious occurrence took place on the line of march, owing to some blundering or another, which was attributed to a misunder standing with reference to the signals. Colonel Townsend's regiment, having been mistaken for a detachment of the enemy, was fired upon
38 BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL.
by the men under Colonel Benedix's command. This singular circumstance was not discovered until daybreak the following morning, when the supposed enemy having evacuated his position, the Federal forces were left masters of the field ! I am not enabled to state how many were killed and wounded in this rencounter, but think the loss inconsiderable, as one of the combatants had the prudence to retire.
Although Colonel Magruder fully expected the approach of the foe, he was not, however, exactly prepared for his immediate presence. The troops were engaged in erecting a battery to intercept the advance of General Butler on Yorktown, when the arrival of a wounded picket, who had been shot from his horse, gave the alarm that the Unionists were in close proximity to the Southern lines. Six guns were immediately planted near the bank of the stream, or creek, which flowed in a south-easterly direction by the field of battle, while four additional guns were mounted in front, and two others a short distance in the rear, on the hill-side.
The infantry and riflemen took up positions in the unfinished trenches on each side of the road behind the creek, and in front of it, on the right-hand side, looking towards the south west — from which point the enemy advanced —
THE DEFEAT. 39
while the cavalry fell back as a reserve. Right in front of the line stood a large orchard, some five or six yards distant, with a house or two ad jacent. Under the shelter thus afforded the enemy opened fire from Lieutenant Greble's battery. The action commenced at a quarter past nine on the morning of Monday, June 10th, and raged fiercely until one in the afternoon. The Zouaves operated under cover against the one gun placed in front of the creek, on the right-hand side of the road, which was protected in flank by the North Carolina troops of Captain Walker's Virginian Guard. This gun was captured by the enemy ; but it was eventually recovered by the dashing bayonet charge made by two North Carolina companies. The Zouaves fled in con fusion even before the bayonets got within dan gerous proximity !
After repeated and desperate attacks, which were effectually repulsed, the issue of the conflict was decided by a brilliant charging column of 1,000 men, whose destructive fire drove the enemy before them, until he was compelled to re tire from the field. It was while crossing the creek and ravine, thereby endeavouring to turn the Confederate flank, that General Pierce's com mand met with such resistance as decided the fate of the engagement. Completely dispirited and
40 BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL.
demoralized, they were beaten from every posi tion, and finally forced to retire, when they were hotly pursued to within a few miles of Hampton. The same evening the Confederate troops fell back upon Yorktown. The loss on the side of the enemy was computed at 400, including killed, wounded and missing, although some accounts represented this number as far below the truth. The Confederates had only one man killed and six wounded ; a circumstance which was regarded as a special interposition of Providence. I was assured by a gentlemen high in authority, that two days had transpired before a flag of truce was sent in by the enemy for permission to bury his dead, and that, during the interim, the bodies of seventy men, which remained on the field, had been interred by Southern troops.
General Butler, I h:ive reason to believe, has been strongly censured for having given the command to General Pierce, the ex-President. Although having served in the Mexican war, he is not con sidered an able field-officer. Indeed, I have heard it alleged that he has been known to swoon on the field from sheer fright. However this may be, the signal defeat of the troops under his com mand on the present occasion, notwithstanding their vast superiority in numbers, was attributed to General Butler's want of discretion in choosing such a military leader as Pierce.
OFFICIAL REPORT. 41
The following is the first official account of this engagement, furnished by Colonel Hill, of the Confederate States' army. It is addressed to the Governor of North Carolina : —
u Yorktown, Ya., June 11.
" SIR, — I have the honour to report that 800 men of my regiment and 360 Virginians were engaged for five hours and a quarter with four and a half regiments of the enemy at Bethel Church, nine miles from Hampton, this afternoon.
" The enemy made three distinct and well- sustained charges, but were repulsed with heavy loss. Our cavalry pursued them for six miles, when their retreat became a total rout. Fearing that heavy reinforcements would be sent up from Fortress Monroe, we fell back at nightfall upon our works at Yorktown. I regret to report the loss of one man killed, Private Henry L. Wyatt, Edgecombe Guards, and seven wounded.
" The loss of the enemy, by their own confes sion, was 150, but it may be safely estimated at 250.
" Our regiment behaved most gallantly. Not a man shrunk from his post or showed symptoms of fear. When more at leisure, I will give you a detailed report of the operation.
" Our Heavenly Father has most wonderfully interposed to shield our heads in the day of battle.
42 HARPER'S FERRY.
Unto His great name be all the praise for our success. With much respect,
«D. H. HILL,
" Col. 1st Regiment N. C. Volunteers. " Hon. J. W. Ellis, Governor of North Carolina."
So far the Secessionists had obtained a second victory over their Northern antagonists — a circum stance which inspired the former with renewed hope and confidence.
For some time a large body of troops, under command of Colonel Hill, occupied Harper's Ferry and the adjacent heights of Maryland. So inefficient was the accommodation, that groups of seventy men were huddled together in •single apartments, and over two hundred took up quar ters in a neighbouring church.
Fearful lest the absence of sanitary arrange ments should engender illness amongst the soldiers, Colonel Hill preferred taking high handed measures, and accepting the consequences. Accordingly, he ejected a number of persons from their residences, in order to render his men com fortable. Naturally enough, the army had become inimical to the inhabitants, for this wholesale dispossession of families would be sure to entail considerable annoyances and excite alarm.
It was generally considered that Harper's Ferry would be the scene of the first great
BURNING OF THE POTOMAC BRIDGE 43
encounter between the belligerent armies, which circumstance accounts for the concentration of troops in that quarter. The position was re garded as an important and tenable one. Hence the first intelligence of its having become eva cuated created at Richmond nox small degree of disappointment and disquiet. On the morning of the loth of June, however, the Confederate troops, numbering about 12,000, evacuated this place, leaving only a garrison behind sufficient to cover the retreat of the main body, in case of a sudden attack. The Potomac Bridge, a mile above the Ferry, built at a cost of 250,000 dollars, together with the bridges crossing at Martinsburg and SheppardVtown, were burnt down. The Government buildings and workshops fronting the river were also destroyed, the machinery having been previously removed into the interior. Some thousands of gun-barrels and other war materiel were left behind. Upon the troops withdrawing from Harper's Ferry, they marched to Leesburg and Winchester.
The object of the Confederates in evacuating Harper's Ferry was to co-operate with troops in the rear, and especially with those under com mand of General Beauregard, at Manassas Junc tion, in opposing the advance of the Federal army from Alexandria. After this movement, the
44 HARPER'S FERRY.
enemy retired from Romley, a position he had occupied only the day before, and fell back upon Cumberland, about one hundred and thirty miles from Winchester. This manoeuvre on the part of the Southerners was finally much applauded, as it was calculated to interrupt very seriously the plans of attack formed by General Scott.
And here it may not be inopportune to give a brief description of this interesting locality. The Ferry is situated one hundred and seventy-three miles from Richmond, over fifty miles from Wash ington, and thirty from Winchester. It occupies the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, and was, until lately, a thriving manufac turing village. Originally it was designated the Shenandoah Falls, owing to a ferry long since established across the Potomac, where the river breaks through the Blue Ridge. It is compactly though irregularly built, at the summit of a hill, and possessed a population of nearly 4,000, now scat tered in various directions. Here the United States had a States' Armoury and national Arsenal, in which from 80,000 to 90,000 muskets were usually kept. The fine bridge that connected the village with Maryland was eight hundred feet in length. On the Maryland side of the Ferry are some stupen dous rocks, said to form a faithful likeness of Wash ington. The scenery all around is singularly
45
picturesque, perhaps not to be equalled in America.
Upon climbing the Blue Ridge by a narrow winding path, the junction of the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers is immediately observed by the spectator twelve hundred feet below; while the Allaghany mountains rise beyond the wide and woody plains grandly in the distance. On a hill overhanging the town is Jefferson's Rock. Its summit is flat, and about twelve feet square ; its base, which is nearly five feet in width, rests upon the top of a larger rock ; while its height only reaches five feet. So nicely poised is the entire mass, that the application of very slight force will produce considerable vibration. President Jeffer son, who once inscribed his name upon this very rock, paints the following glowing picture of the beauties of the locality : —
" The passage of the Potomac, through the Blue Ridge," he observes, uis perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of a mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Potomac, in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction, they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion
46 HARPER'S FERRY.
that this earth has been created in time ; that the mountains were formed first ; that the rivers began to flow afterwards ; that in this place par ticularly they have been dammed up by the Blue Ridge of mountains, and have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley ; that, continuing to rise, they have at length broken over at this spot, and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, par ticularly on the Shenandoah — the evident marks of their disrupture and evulsion from their beds by the most powerful agents of Nature — corrobo rate the impression. But the distant finishing which Nature has given to the picture is of a very different character. It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and delightful as that is wild and tremendous; for t be mountain being cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the clefts, a small catch of smooth blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country, in viting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult warring around, to pass through the breach and participate of the calm below. Here the eye ulti mately composes itself; and that way, too, the road actually happens to lead. You cross the Potomac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments over
THE JOHN BROWN RAID. 47
you ; and within about twenty miles reach Frede- ricktown and the fine country adjacent. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic ; yet here, as in the neighbourhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within half a dozen miles, and have never been to survey these monuments of a war between rivers and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its centre."
Harper's Ferry is also memorable, owing to the insurrection which occurred there on the 17th October, 1859. A party of armed men, consist ing of slaves and whites, under the leadership of the notorions John (Ossawatomie) Brown, entered the village, seized the armory, shot some resi dents, took possession of the railroad-bridge, and stopped the passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio railways. The country was naturally startled by the announcement. A detachment of marines was promptly dispatched by the President to the spot, and, after some time spent in parley, in order to save some eminent citizens within the enclosures of the Armoury, who were held prisoners by the Kanzas Free- State man, the marines made an attack, beat down the gates, and took all who were not killed prisoners. Among the latter was the ringleader himself, who received a number of severe wounds,
48
from which he recovered. Brown was tried, found guilty of treason and conspiracy against the United States, and sentenced to be hanged ; which sentence was carried into effect on the 2nd December, 1859.
This desperado or enthusiast, whatever he may be called, confessed that his object was to liberate and carry off all the slaves in the adjoin ing counties of Virginia and Maryland. A few miles from Harper's Ferry, in a farm-house which Brown had hired in the name of Smith, were dis covered a quantity of ammunition, a large number of rifles, revolvers, pikes, and other weapons, together with an amount of correspondence. It is well known that this deluded man was aided and abetted in his wild scheme by several rabid Northern abolitionists. The following is a portion of the discovered programme, said to have been matured in Kansas by Brown and others, and which the former attempted partially to carry out : —
" 1 . To make war (openly or secretly, as cir cumstances may dictate) upon the property of the slaveholders and their abettors — not for its destruction, if that can be easily avoided, but to convert it to the use of the slaves. If it cannot be thus converted, then we advise its destruction. Teach the slaves to burn their masters' buildings, to kill their cattle and horses, to conceal or destroy
SECRET PLANS. 49
their farming utensils, to abandon labour in seed time and harvest, and let crops perish. Make slavery unprofitable in this way, if it can be done in no other.
"2. To make slaveholders objects of derision and contempt, by flogging them whenever they shall be guilty of flogging their slaves.
"3. To risk no general insurrection until we of the North go to your assistance, or you are sure of success without our aid.
"4. To cultivate the friendship and confidence of the slaves — to consult with them as to their rights and interests, and the means of promoting them — to show your interest in their welfare, and your readiness to assist them — let them know that they have your sympathy, and it will give them courage, self-respect, and ambition, and make men of them ; infinitely better men to live by as neighbours and friends than the indolent, arro gant, selfish, heartless, domineering robbers and tyrants who now keep both yourselves and slaves in subjection, and look with contempt on all who live by honest labour.
" 5. To change your political institutions as soon as possible, and, in the meantime, give never a vote to a slaveholder — pay no taxes to their Government if you can either resist or evade them — as witnesses and jurors, give no testimony
VOL. I. E
50 HARPER'S FERRY.
and no verdict in support of any slaveholding claims — perform no military, patrol, or police ser vice — mob slaveholding courts, jails, and sheriffs — do nothing, in short, for sustaining slavery, but everything you safely can, publicly and privately, for its overthrow."
Brown was born at Torrington, Connecticut, in the year 1800. His parents were in very humble circumstances, so that the first fifteen years of his life had been principally occupied in tending cattle, which he used to drive distances of one hundred miles through the wilderness barefoot and bareheaded.
For a short time he was sent to school ; but he learned nothing beyond wrestling, throwing snow balls, running, jumping, and knocking off "old seedy wool hats." It was his boast that he " knew no more grammar than a calf," and his acquaint ance with arithmetic was equally limited. He was also addicted to habits of lying and theft. From the age of fifteen to twenty years old he worked at the trade of a tanner, when he left Hudson, Ohio, to study for the ministry. In pursuance of this object he proceeded to Plain- field, Massachusets, where, under the tutelage of the Rev. Moses Hallock, he passed, or nearly passed, through the curriculum of studies deemed essential.
A PANEGYKIST. 51
"In 1839," observes one of his panegyrists, " he conceived the idea of becoming a liberator of the Southern slaves. He had seen, during the twenty-five years that had elapsed since he be came an Abolitionist, every right of human nature, and of the Northern States, ruthlessly trodden under the feet of the tyrannical Slave Power. He saw it blighting and blasting the manhood of the nation, and he listened to the voice of the poor that cried. He heard La Fayette loudly praised, but he saw no helper of the bondsman. He saw the people building the sepulchres of the fathers of '76, but lynching and murdering the prophets that were sent unto them. He believed that
' Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.' But the slaves scattered, closely watched, pre vented from assembling to conspire, without arms, apparently overpowered, at the mercy of every traitor, knowing the white man only as their foe, seeing, everywhere and always, that (as the Haytian proverb pithily expresses it), ' Zie blanc, bouille negues* — the eyes of the whites burn up the negroes — in order to arise and strike a blow for liberty, needed a positive sign that they had friends among the dominant race, who sympa thized with them, believed in their right to free dom, and were ready to aid them in their attempt to obtain it. John Brown determined to let them
• 2
52
know that they had friends, and prepared himself to lead them to liberty. From the moment that he formed this resolution, he engaged in no com mercial speculations which he could not, without loss to his friends and family, wind up in fourteen days. He waited patiently. ' LEARN TO WAIT : I have waited twenty years,' he often said to the young men of principle and talent, who loved and flocked around him when in Kansas."
Whilst carrying out his scheme of emancipation in Missouri, he, together with one Kangi, invaded the southern side of the Little Osage. With an armed force they visited the residence of a planter whom they shot. A female slave attempted to console her late master, upon whose ears idly fell her lamentations —
" Gosh ! massa's in a bad fix ! Hog no killed — corn no gathered — nigger run away I Laws-a- me ! what'll massa do ?"
Jim, who was driving an ox-team, and sup posed to belong to the estate, asked one of the party, " How far is it to Canada ? "
" Twenty-five hundred miles," was the curt response.
"Twenty-five hundred! Laws-a-massa! Twenty- five hundred miles! No get dar 'fore spring!" ejaculated Jim, as raising his heavy whip, and bringing it down vigorously on the ox's back, he
RELIGIOUS DELUSION. 53
shouted impatiently, " Whoa-ha, Buck, get up dar— g'lang, Bell!"
A little boy of the party is said to have grasped his father by the leg, and asked —
" How's ye feel, f adder, when you's free?"
Brown manifestly laboured under the hallucina tion that he was a second Gideon or Joshua, divinely appointed to wield the sword of the Lord, and carry out the emancipation of the negroes, no matter if their manumission had to be obtained by the slaughter of their owners. Keli- gious delusions are always the most dangerous and ineradicable ; so it was fortunate for the South that this enthusiast's plans had been frustrated. Kangi, an associate and co-leader with Brown, took, however, a lower view of his authority, for when the High Sheriff arrived with an escort at John Brown's cabin, near Harper's Ferry, to arrest the ringleaders, and observed to Kangi, "Do you know who we are? I am the High Sheriff of this county," Kangi replied —
" To the devil with the High Sheriff of Lynn county ! Hand over that gun ! "
After his arrest, and during his examination, Brown was asked by a senator of Ohio, " Who sent you here 1 " To which the culprit gruffly answered —
66 No man sent me here — it was my own prompt-
54
ing, and that of my Maker, or that of the devil, whichever you please to ascribe it to. I acknow ledge no master in human form ! "
The following lines are sufficiently indicative of Brown's objects and religious delusion. They are said to have been written by this fanatic, and addressed to his men : —
u They are coming — men, make ready ; See their ensigns — hear their drum ; See them march with steps unsteady ; Onward to their graves they come.
God of Freedom ! ere to-morrow,
Slavers' corpses thou shalt see ; Georgia maids shall wail in sorrow,
For my sacrifice to thee !
Philistines shall fall — the river That meanders through this wood
Shall be red with blood that never Throbbed for outraged womanhood.
Blood of men, who, when their brothers
Traffic human flesh for gold, Laugh, like arch fiends, as poor mothers'
Heartstrings break for daughters sold ;
Men who scoff at higher statutes Than their codes of legal wrong ;
Men whom only tyrant-rule suits ; Men whom hell would blush to own :
I will lay them as on altars,
Prairies ! on your grasses green : Cursed be the man who falters —
Better had he never been.
BROWN'S ADDRESS. 55
Brothers ! we are God-appointed
Soldiers in these holy wars ; Set apart, sealed and anointed
Children of a heavenly Mars !
Weakness we need not dissemble —
But Jehovah leads us on : Who is he that dares to tremble,
Led by God of Gideon?
Let them laugh in mad derision
At our little feeble band — God has told me in a vision
We shall liberate the land.
Rise, then, brothers, do not doubt me,
I can feel his presence now, Feel his promises about me,
Like a helmit on my brow.
We must conquer, we must slaughter I
We are God's rod, and his ire Witts their blood shall flow like water,
In Jehovah's dread name — Fire! "
It is to me a matter of surprise how such an arrant enthusiast as Brown could have obtained sympathizers and friends to promote his nefarious schemes; and that, having met with a felon's doom, he should, by some persons, be regarded as a martyr, and apotheosized as the saint of freedom.
56
CHAPTER III.
ABOUT RICHMOND.
Origin of the City— The Westover MSS.— " Cities in the Air" — An Agreeable Surprise — The Capitol — Colonial Relics — The Washington Statue — Monumental Church — Burning of the Theatre — An August Assembly — An cient Church — Tredegar Works — Speculative Folly — Tobacco Manufacture — James River Canal — Penitentiary — " Ducking Stool" — An Eccentric Celebrity — " Scratch ing " — Attorney and Client.
RICHMOND, the metropolis of Virginia, is said to owe its appellation to the resemblance which it bears to the site of its namesake on the Thames ; a circumstance which has been noticed by persons who have visited each locality. If Rougement gave a colour of adaptation to the latter, it might well have done so to the Southern city, whose hill-sides glow with a rich, auriferous tint.
This interesting capital is situated in Henrico county, on the north side of the James River, at
ORIGIN OF THE CITY. 57
the Great Falls, and is distant one hundred and seventeen miles from Washington. Although a comparatively modern city — being first established by law in 1742 — it is frequently alluded to in the early history of Virginia. The site was originally denominated Byrd's Warehouse, from the fact of the founder of the city having had a business establishment there. It occupied the ground where the elegant Exchange Hotel now stands. Colonel Byrd resided some short distance off, at a spot called Belvidere, thus described by Burn- ably, in his u Travels in America," in 1759 : —
" It is a small place, upon a hill, at the lower end of the James River Falls, as romantic and elegant as anything I have ever seen. It is situated very high, and commands a fine prospect of the river, which is half a mile broad, forming a number of cataracts. There are several little islands scattered carelessly about, very rocky, and covered with trees ; and two or three villages in view at a small distance. Over all these you discover a prodigious extent of wilderness, and the river winding majestically along through the midst of it."
In March, 1675, a grant of land, to the number of 7,351 acres, " beginning at the mouth of Shoc- coe's Creek," and extending several miles up the river, was obtained by Captain William Byrd,
58 ABOUT RICHMOND.
from the Governor, Sir William Berkeley, in con sideration of the former having introduced one hundred and twenty-two persons into the colony, whose names are recited in the document. Ten years later a patent was granted to the same individual for 956 acres, beginning on the east side of the Shoccoe's Creek at its mouth, and running up the creek and down the river. On a portion of this territory Richmond first sprung up, and subse quently spread over part of the larger grant west of Shoccoe's Creek.
In the Westover MSS., Colonel Byrd thus graphically describes his plantations at the Falls, and his building of " cities in the air " : —
"September J8th (1732), for the pleasure of the good company of Mrs. Byrd and her little governor, my son, I went about halfway to the Falls in my chariot. There we halted not far from a purling stream, and upon the stump of a propagate oak picked the bones of a piece of roast beef." It is evident that knives and forks were not considered indispensable in those days ! "By the spirit which it gave me I was better able to part with the dear companions of ray travel, and to perform the rest of my journey on horse back by myself. I reached Shoccoe's before two o'clock, and crossed the river to the mills. I had the grief to find them both stand as still, for the
THE WESTOVER MSS. 59
want of water, as a dead woman's tongue for want of breath. It had rained so little for many weeks, above the Falls, that the Naiads had hardly water enough left to wash their faces. However, as we ought all to turn our misfortunes to the best advantage, I directed Mr. Booker, my first minister there, to make use of the lowness of the water for blowing up the rocks at the
mouth of the canal The water now
flowed out of the river so slowly, that the miller was obliged to pond it up in the canal, by setting open the flood-gates at the mouth, and shutting those close at the mill. By this contrivance he was able at any time to grind two or three bushels, either for his choice customers or for the use of my plantations. Then I walked to the place where they broke the flax, which is wrought with much greater ease than the hemp, and is much better for spinning. From thence I paid a visit to the weaver, who needed a little of Minerva's inspiration to make most of a piece of cloth. Then I looked in upon my Caledonian spinster, who was mended more in her looks than
in her humour On the next day, after I
had swallowed a few poached eggs, we rode down to the mouth of the canal, and from thence crossed over to the broad-rock island in a canoe. Our errand was to view some iron ore, which we
60 ABOUT RICHMOND.
dug up in two places. That on the surface seemed very spongy and poor, which gave us no great encouragement to search deeper, nor did the quantity appear to be very great. We walked from one end of the island to the other, being about half a mile in length, and found the soil very good, and too high for any flood less than Deucalion's to do the least damage. There is a very wild prospect both upwards and downwards, the river being full of rocks, over which the stream tumbled with a murmur loud enough to drown the notes of a scolding wife. This island would make an agreeable hermitage for any good Christian, who had a mind to retire from the world."
The island referred to remains just as it was when the above description was penned ; with the exception of a log-house thereon erected, where thirsty merry-makers and contemplative loungers, who on Sundays seek relief from the sultry summer air of Richmond, can procure refreshments, and enjoy them amid the coolness of the shady woods. The spot looks peculiarly wild and romantic, especially as you approach the James River, when, looking westward, the rapids are observed rolling mournfully, and covering the surface of the water with niveous foam.
" CITIES IN THE AIR." 61
Exactly one year later Colonel Byrd's Journal has the following entry, in which he boasts of the success of his plans : — " Sept. 19 (1733). When we got home we laid the foundation of two large cities — one at Shoccoe's, to be called Richmond, and the other at the Falls of the Appomattox River, to be named Petersburg. These Major Mayo offered to lay out into lots, without fee or reward. The truth of it is, these two places being the uppermost landing of James and Appomattox Rivers, are naturally intended for marts, where the traffic of the outer inhabitants must centre. Thus we did not build castles only, but also cities in the air !"
In 1 742, the Assembly of Virginia passed " an act establishing the town of Richmond, in the county of Henrico, and allowing fairs to be held therein." In 1779, the Seat of Government at Williamsburg was removed to the town of Richmond, in consequence of the assailable situation of the former place. At this time Richmond was a very insignificant town, pos sessing no charm beyond the grandeur of its natural scenery. It could scarcely afford accom modation for the officers of Government, and was truly but a city in embryo.
The geographer, Morse, thus describes Rich mond, as it appeared in 1789, ten years after it had become the capital of Virginia : —
62 ABOUT RICHMOND.
" It contains about three hundred houses. The new houses are well built. A large and elegant State-house, or Capitol, has lately been erected on the hilL The lower part of the town is divided by a creek, over which there is a bridge : that for Virginia is elegant. A handsome and expensive bridge, between three and four hundred yards in length, has lately been thrown across James River, at the foot of the Falls. This bridge connects Richmond with Manchester ; and, as the pas sengers pay toll,* it produces a handsome revenue to Colonel Mayo, who is the sole proprietor. The Falls above the bridge are seven miles in length. A canal is cutting on the north side of the river, which is to terminate in a basin of about two acres, in the town of Richmond. The opening of this canal promises the addition of much wealth."
At this period the principal merchants of Rich mond, and indeed of all the large towns of Eastern Virginia, were Scotch and Irish. They are de scribed by one historian as being then generally "a race of ancient and respectable planters, having estates in the country, who chose it for their residence for the sake of social enjoyment. They formed a society, now seldom to be met with in any of our cities — a society of people not exclusively monopolized by money-making pur- * The toll of two cents continues to be exacted.
AN AGREEABLE SURPRISE. 63
suits, but of liberal education, liberal habits of thinking and acting, and possessing both leisure and inclination to cultivate those feelings and pursue those objects which exalt our nature rather than increase our fortune."
Before and subsequent to the Revolution, sup plies of goods were imported by foreign merchants, chiefly Scotch and Irish, into Virginia, where junior partners, or clerks, conducted business for their principals. It was said to have been one of the stipulations between the heads of foreign mer cantile houses and the young men they sent to Virginia, that they were not to marry in that country. If they did so, possibly they might make less stringent bargains, be more indulgent in requiring payments ; or perhaps their Scotch friends had conscientious scruples, imagining that the only partners they could procure in the South would be Indians or negroes. It is not very long since a gentleman carried his fair and beau tiful Virginia wife on a visit to his relations in a remote part of Scotland, and their first ex clamation upon seeing her was —
"Gude save us, she is white!"
This elegant city has steadily increased in population and wealth since it became the me tropolis of the State. The population, which in 1800 was under 6,000, now exceeds that number
64 ABOUT RICHMOND.
eight-fold ; while stately mansions occupy the places of log-huts, and extensive streets cover profound ravines, which one would suppose must have taken more than human labour to have filled up. In fact, the city was, at one time, all hills, valleys, and ravines ; and some of those precipices and deep gullies still remain at the north end of the town, and present a most forbidding aspect. With some trifling exceptions, the streets intersect each other at right angles, and tall poplars grow all along at either side. The outline of the city is seven and a-half miles in length, and its area is three and a-half miles, the larger portion of which is unoccupied by buildings.
The situation of Richmond is remarkably beautiful, and even romantic. Shoccoe and Richmond Hills stand opposite to each other, with Shoccoe Creek, a bold and lively stream, running between them. Over those hills, seven in num ber, the city is spread ; and along the margin of the river they assume various undulations, and present many points from which the Capitol can be seen to advantage.
The picturesque Falls and rapids of the river — the adjacent town of Manchester, connected with Richmond by two bridges — the rich plantations adjoining the town — the river, winding and stretching below to a great extent — the waving
THE CAPITOL. 65
hills on its north side, and the valley through which the Shoccoe passes, are the principal ob jects that attract the eye ; and from every emi nence they are seen in some new form, and under some new colouring of light and shade.
I shall now proceed to notice the chief features of interest in the capital of Virginia.
In the western division of the city, on Shoccoe's Hill, stands the Capitol, a showy-looking edifice, ornamented with Doric pillars. A flight of steps leads to the entrance, which approach gives to the building a most imposing effect. The Con federate States' Government has its council-room, and the Congress its hall of debate, in the base ment portion; while the State library, and the Governor's offices, occupy the upper story.
The Act of 1779, "for the removal of the Seat of Government" from Williamsburg to Eichmond (10 Hen. Stat. p. 85), having provided for the erection, on one square, of the Capitol, and, on another square, of " the Halls of Justice," and a " public Jail," Mr. Jefferson states (vol. i. of his Works, p. 37), that he was written to in 1785 (when in Paris), by the directors of public build ings, to advise them as to a plan for the Capitol, and to add one of a prison. For the Capitol he had a model made in stucco from the Maison Quarree of Nismes (changing the order), and, to
VOL. I. F
66 ABOUT KICHMOND.
adapt it for use, drew a plan which was forwarded to the directors in 1786, and carried into execu tion, with some variations, not for the better. The Capitol was commenced immediately, and annual appropriations were made for its erection until completed. It has not been repaired now for some time.
The roof of the Capitol was once flat, and paved with tiles. Like Noah's ark, it " was pitched without with pitch." But as a warm sun caused that substance to flow down the gutters, and, consequently, the rain to enter the halls, an elevated roof was substituted instead. In process of time the attic thus formed was converted into an arsenal, the building and the fire-arms being con sidered fire-proof, if, indeed, the risk was consi dered at all.
A finely executed statue of Washington orna ments the area of the edifice. It is the work of Houdon, a French sculptor, and was executed by order of the Virginia Assembly at Paris, under the direction of Jefferson, not very long after the American Revolution. The costume of the statue is the military dress of that period. One hand holds a cane, the other reposes upon the fasces (with which are combined the sword and plough share), and over it is thrown a martial cloak.
COLONIAL RELICS. 67
On the pedestal is an inscription, written by James Madison, which runs as follows : —
GEORGE WASHINGTON. The General As sembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia have caused this statue to be erected, as a monument of affection and gratitude to GEORGE WASHINGTON ; who, uniting to the endowments of the hero the virtues of the patriot, and exerting both to establish the liberties of his country, has rendered his name dear to his fellow-citizens, and given the world an immortal example of true glory. Done in the year of Christ, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight ; and in the year of the Commonwealth, the twelfth.
In close proximity to this statue, is a marble bust of La Fayette. Here, likewise, are two relics of old Colonial times. One is the Speaker's Chair of the defunct House of Burgesses, origin ally decorated with the Royal arms. This was removed from Williamsburg when the Govern ment came hither; and, when I last viewed it, shorn of its regal emblems, was occupied by the Speaker of the House of Congress, the Hon. Howell Cobb, brigadier-general in the Confede rate States' army. The other object of interest is a simple stove, which warmed the Colonial halls for sixty years in succession ; and for the past twenty-five years has been doing a similar
68 ABOUT "RICHMOND.
duty in the central hall of the Capitol. This stove bears the Colonial arms of Virginia, and other embellishments in relief, apparently in perfect condition. The stove itself is eight or ten feet high, and slopes gradually upwards from the base to the summit. Its founder was one Buzaglo, who evidently was proud of his workmanship and device ; for, upon its being shipped from London in August, 1770, he wrote to Lord Botetourt, observing that " the elegance of workmanship does honour to Great Britain. It excels in gran deur anything ever seen of the kind, and is a master-piece not to be equalled in all Europe. It has met with general applause, and could not be sufficiently admired." This "warming-machine," as Buzaglo termed it, was presented to the House of Congress by the Duke of Beaufort. It has survived three British monarchs, and been con temporaneous with three kingly monarchies, two republics, and two imperial governments in France, to which now may be added the disruption of even the great Republic itself.
Surrounding the Capitol is a beautiful square of about eight acres, entirely railed in, with " exits and entrances " at either side, through which persons can pass at any hour of the day or night. The grounds, which are thickly planted with trees, were originally laid out by one Mons. Godfroi, a
THE WASHINGTON STATUE. 69
Frenchman of taste and skill, according to the formal style, where
" Grove nods at grove, each valley has its brother, And half the terrace just reflects the other."
But a Philadelphian, of the name of Notman, modernized the west side; so that literally "half the terrace" does not "reflect the other." I always take it for an axiom that other people's work had best be left alone.
The great embellishment of the square consists in a striking equestrian statue of Washington, by Crawford, which was inaugurated on the 22nd of February, 1858, in presence of an immense as semblage, undeterred by a heavy snow-storm, which prevailed until the statue was uncovered, when the sun is said to have saluted it with a bright beam. This statue was modelled at Kome, from which place the sculptor proceeded to Munich, to have it cast in bronze. The figures of both horse and rider are admirable, if not faultless. The height from the plinth to the crown of Washington's hat is twenty feet ; the total height from the ground sixty feet. Washington is represented as in command, and checking his horse while in full career, at the same time pointing to some distant object, which seems to excite the animal into intense animation.
70 ABOUT RICHMOND.
Surrounding this fine statue are six pedestals, upon which stand sculptured figures of Jefferson, Henry, Marshall, Governor Nelson, George Mason, and Andrew Lewis, the frontier warrior who drove the Indians beyond the Ohio. The cost of the Washington Statue was about 100,000 dollars.
Further to the left is a very small statue of Clay, by Hart, which, although finely exe cuted, loses its effect from the position it occupies, and the size of the pedestal on which it rests. It was inaugurated on the 12th April, 1860, the eighty-third anniversary of Henry Clay's birth, and was originated and effected by Southern ladies. I have sometimes observed groups of Kentucky volunteers around this statue, embracing it as if it had been the living man, and not a block of cold, inert marble ! In one portion of Capitol Square, stands the City Hall, decorated at each end by a fine Doric portico of four columns. At the eastern side is a splendid mansion, erected for the residence of the Governor. His Excellency, J. Letcher, at present fulfils that office.
Formerly the Court-room and present Senate- chamber of the Capitol used to answer as substi tutes for churches — Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, and even Roman Catholic clergymen were wont to officiate therein. Among the latter was
THE MONUMENTAL CHURCH. 71
the Abbe Dubois, who taught a French class in a public school, but closed his career as Catholic bishop of New York.
Nearly all the primitive churches of Richmond have been converted to "base uses," such as tobacco - factories, bakeries, and concert-halls. Other and stately edifices, however, have taken their places, to the number of twenty-three. Most of the churches have spires, which enhance con siderably the beauty and picturesque aspect of the city. St. Paul's is considered the fashionable Epis copal church, the minister being the Rev. Charles Minnegerode. The Prince of Wales, when in Richmond, attended service here; an event which, of course, has rendered it more aristocratic and attractive still. The majority of the inhabi tants consists of Episcopalians and Baptists. A church is likewise exclusively appropriated for " coloured persons," although they are suffered to attend other places of worship.
A beautiful Corinthian structure, termed the Monumental Church, is erected upon the site of the Richmond Theatre, which was burnt down on the evening of the 26th December, 1811 — the most horrid disaster that ever overwhelmed that city — when seventy-two persons perished in the flames. The portico of the church covers the tomb and ashes of the victims^ to whom a monu-
72 ABOUT KICHMOND.
ment is erected, on which is inscribed their names* The subjoined account of this terrible disaster I reproduce from the Richmond Standard of the following morning : —
(t Last night the play-house in this city was crowded with an unusual audience. There could not have been less than six hundred persons in the house. Just before the conclusion of the play the scenery caught fire, and in a few minutes the whole building was wrapt in flames. It is already ascertained that sixty -one persons were devoured by that most terrific element. The editor was in the house when the deplorable accident occurred. He is informed that the scenery took fire in the back part of the house by the rising of a chan delier. . . . This unfortunately happened at a time when one of the performers was playing near the orchestra, and the greatest part of the stage, with its horrid danger, was obscured from the audience by a curtain.
" The flames spread with the rapidity of light ning ; and the fire falling from the ceiling upon the performer, was the first notice the audience had of their danger. Even then many supposed it part of the play, and were a little time restrained from flight by a cry from the stage that there was no danger. The performers and their attendants in vain endeavoured to tear down the scenery;
BUKNING OF THE THEATRE. 73
the fire flashed in every part of the house with a rapidity horrible and astonishing ; and, alas ! gush ing tears deprive me of utterance ! . . . The editor was among the first who escaped, being near the door. No words can express his horror when, on turning round, he discovered the whole build ing in flames. There was but one door for the greatest part of the audience to pass. Men, women, and children, were pressing upon each other, while the flames were seizing on those be hind. The editor went to the different windows, and implored his fellow-creatures to save their lives by jumping out of them. Those nearest the windows, ignorant of their danger, were afraid to leap down, while those behind them were seen catching on fire, and writhing in the greatest agonies of pain and distress. At length those be hind, urged by the pressing flames, pushed those who were nearest to the windows, and people of every description began to fall upon one another, some with their clothes on fire, others severely burnt. .- . . Fathers and mothers were de ploring the loss of their children, children the loss of their parents ; husbands were heard to lament their lost companions, wives were bemoaning their burnt husbands. The people were seen wringing their hands, beating their heads and breasts ; and those who had secured themselves seemed to
74 ABOUT RICHMOND.
suffer greater torments than those enveloped in the flames.
" Oh ! distracting memory ! who that saw this can think of it again, and yet retain his senses ? Do I dream ? No ! no ! Oh ! that it were but a dream ! My God ! who that saw his friends and nearest connections devoured by fire, and lying in heaps at the door, will not regret that he ever lived to see such a sight. Could savages have witnessed this memorable event it would even soften their hearts. A sad gloom pervades this place, and every countenance is cast down to the earth. The loss of a hundred thousand friends in the battle-field could not touch the heart like this."
Even to this day the terrible tragedy of half-a century ago is recalled to mind with sorrow. For several years after this catastrophe the inhabi tants, I am informed, abstained from all public amusements, and gaiety of every kind became suspended.
There is a picturesque old church on Richmond Hill, named after St. John, the oldest Colonial place of worship in the city, which, unlike others, has escaped desecration. It is preserved with re ligious care, and has been somewhat modernized by the addition of a tower and belfry, which, rising in pure white, amid clusters of tall trees, presents a
AN AUGUST ASSEMBLY. 75
strong contrast to the ancient but simple archi tecture of the other portion of the church. This venerable edifice occupies the centre of a grave yard, where all around, in crowded hillocks, are the habitations of the dead. The sight is a solemn and impressive one. During the Conven tion of '75, it was here that Patrick Henry de livered his famous oration in advocacy of liberty, and uttered that remarkable sentence, " Give me liberty, or give me death !" The Convention of '88, which met to ratify the Federal Constitution, framed in Philadelphia, assembled within these walls, when the transcendent talents engaged in its discussion " tempted industry to give up its pursuits, and even dissipation its objects." Wirt, in his " Life of Patrick Henry," thus eloquently describes that august assemblage of genius : —
" Day after day, from morning till night, the galleries were filled with an anxious crowd, who forsfot the inconvenience of their situation in the
o
excess of their enjoyment ; and, far from giving any interruption to the course of debate, increased its interest and solemnity by their silence and at tention. No bustle, no motion, no sound was heard among them, save only a slight movement when some new speaker arose, whom they were all eager to see as well as to hear ; or when some master-stroke of eloquence shot thrilling along
76 ABOUT EICHMOND.
their nerves, and extorted an involuntary and in articulate murmur. Day after day was this banquet of the mind and of the heart spread before them, with a delicacy and a variety which could never cloy. There every taste might find its peculiar gratification. The man of wit, the man of feeling, the critic, the philosopher, the historian, the meta physician, the lover of logic, the admirer of rhe toric — every man who had an eye for the beauty of action, or an ear for the harmony of sound, or a soul for the charms of poetic fancy — in short, every one who could see, or hear, or feel, or understand, might find, in the wanton profusion and prodigality of that Attic feast, some delicacy adapted to his peculiar taste. Every mode of at tack and of defence of which the human mind is capable in decorous debate — every species of weapon and armour, offensive and defensive, that could be used with advantage, from the Roman javelin to the Parthean arrow, from the cloud of ^Eneas to the shield of Achilles — all that could be accomplished by human strength, and almost more than human activity, was seen exhibited on that floor."
Severity-three years have passed away since that memorable event, but how altered are the conceits of men, and the condition of things ! In the very city where the Convention of '88
ANCIENT CHURCH YAED. 77
assembled, is a new Government, and a population as hostile to the Federation as Madison, Marshall, Monroe, Randolph, Mason, and Patrick Henry, were warm in defence of it. Truly
" Times change, and men change with them."
One of the most charming views of Richmond I had from the church-yard of St. John — the tortuous James River, the rocks and islands, the foaming rapids, the murmuring Falls, the stately Capitol, the tall spires, the expanding city itself, the floating mists, all light and glorious under a clear blue sky and a setting sun, formed a pano rama of extraordinary grandeur. It was a pros pect upon which the eye could rest without fatigue, and the mind dwell without weariness.
This sacred spot has not been exempt from the desecration of the thoughtless. Tombs have been mutilated, and some destroyed ; while others have mouldered or toppled over from neglect. Singular to say, however, that one of the oldest, dated 1751, almost coeval with the church itself, remains unimpared, except being cracked by the fall of a tree. This ancient cemetery seemed greatly neglected.
The practice of intramural interment has been discontinued in Richmond, as in England, for some time past. The progress of science, and the dis-
78 ABOUT RICHMOND.
semination of facts connected with Hygeian laws, have somewhat interfered with the gratifica tion of religious sentiment and veneration. The most elegant necropolis I have seen is that of Hollywood, a short distance from the city. Nature has done her part in hills, valleys, rivulets, and woods ; while Art has embellished, without rendering formal, the beauties of Nature. The landscape embraces every variety — forest and placid stream ; hills crowned with woods, or with turrets; shaded valleys; bridges on which rail road vehicles are moving sixty feet in the air, and almost beneath one's feet ; and boats gliding in the graceful curve of a broad canal. In the distance, vast flour-mills, and beyond them blockaded vessels laden with their products ; the perspective closing with cultivated and teeming plantations, whose grain serves partly to supply those mills. The sight was almost enough to " make one in love with death ! "
Richmond contains several iron foundries, some of which are on a large scale. The Tredegar Works are the principal, which immense establish ment covers thirty-two acres of ground. I was kindly conducted over it by the proprietor, Mr. Anderson, and was perfectly astonished at its extent. I observed rolling-mills, cannon and other foundries, machine shops, and locomotive
THE TKEDEGAR WORKS. 79
works for all manner of iron operations. Huge Dahlgren guns were being cast and bored, while an almost countless number of shells, shot, and cannister were piled in various apartments, and in the yards. One portion of the building was ap propriated to the manufacture of gun carriages, caissons, ambulances, boarding pikes, etc. The boilers and machinery for several of the largest United States* ships of war were constructed here. So far the Southern Confederacy has been exceedingly fortunate.
Adjoining the Tredegar Works is the State Armoury, which is apparently getting into a condition of desuetude. It was erected shortly after the adoption of the celebrated " Resolutions of 1798-99," when the apprehended encroach ments of the Federal Government on "State Eights and Strict Construction," induced Virginia to prepare for the worst. At this establishment the manufacture of arms and artillery, from pistols to thirty-two pounders, was carried on for many years. I believe, however, it is proposed to resume the manufacture of implements of warfare, and to introduce all the recent improvements.
Another foundry I visited had also many hands engaged in preparing cannon and shells. Here I noticed seven pieces of brass ordnance, formerly presented by La Fayette to the State of Yirginia,
80 ABOUT KICHMOND.
undergoing the process of being rifled. The mate rial of which these guns were composed resembled gold, so I brought away a few pieces as a curiosity.
The "Richmond Flour-Mills" are considered the largest in the world, and form a huge cluster of brick buildings, which tower up to an amazing height. Twenty-two pair of mill- stones are in operation, capable of grinding one thousand five hundred barrels of flour per day. Additional buildings are in progress, which, when com pleted, will allow of some ten or twenty more mills being employed. The first grist mill in the city occupied the spot where Haxell's celebrated mills now stand. It consisted of a wooden shanty, built on rocks in the river, and approached by planks laid from one rock to another. The machinery was a common tub wheel, propelled by a natural rapid, and gave motion to a pair of mill stones, which served to grind corn for the inhabi tants. There are two or three other establish ments of a like nature in the city and its vicinity, all of modern construction, one being twelve stories high, the machinery of which can be pro pelled by the same water-power repeated.
About half a century ago an attempt was made to establish cotton and woollen factories in Rich mond on the joint-stock principle ; and as primi tive spinning-wheels and hand-looms could not
SPECULATIVE FOLLY. 81
supply the patriotic demand for homespun fabrics, a resort to machinery was proposed. Shares were slowly taken up, expensive buildings erected, machinery and the raw material procured ; but it was found, in commercial parlance, "not to pay." Dividends ceased, debts were contracted, and finally the concerns had to wind up, when the establishments, with their mules and jennies, were sold, at a loss to the stockholders of seventy -five per cent. One or two of these fac tories have been converted into flour-mills.
During those days of speculative fervour, a public meeting was convened at the Capitol, for the purpose of raising a sufficient sum by sub scription, in order to erect an extensive cotton and woollen factory. Frothy speeches were made, but no substantial residium in money was the result. This circumstance became the subject of a lively satire by one Parson Blair, commencing thus : —
" I've seen with pleasure in your patriot city, The appointment of an august committee, To encourage manufactures of our own, And bring Old England to her marrow-bone ; To spoil her commerce, since she's made us wroth, And bring her pride down with Virginia cloth."
Virginia cotton cloth was at this epoch worth more than one dollar per yard — four times its present value ; and many of the citizens who could afford it, especially the Terrapin politicians, VOL. I. G
82 ABOUT RICHMOND.
as they were termed, arrayed themselves from head to foot in that particular manufacture.
The tobacco warehouses of Richmond, origi nally a mere cluster of wooden sheds, now consist of solid and spacious brick buildings, and occupy an extensive space, both at the south and north end of the town. Several of these buildings have been converted into hospitals, military prisons, and even commissariat stores ; one of which was consumed shortly before my arrival. While being conducted over some of these monster edifices, nine hundred hogsheads of tobacco were pointed out to me, which I was informed belonged to the French Government ; four hundred of an old, and five hundred of a recent purchase. The fact that M. Luel, the agent of Messrs. Huller and Co., French con tractors, was in Richmond superintending the purchase of tobacco for the French Empire, inspired confidence, and gave an impetus to this branch of trade. Some planters were sanguine enough to imagine that it indicated a short con tinuance of the blockade. At all events, the prices of tobacco ranged as high as at any period during the past or preceding year.
Next to the flour-mills, the largest buildings in the city are tobacco factories ; and I dare say more tobacco used to be manufactured in Rich-
TOBACCO MANUFACTURE. 83
mond than in any other place in the world. The war, however, has greatly interfered with this branch of commercial industry ; so that, instead of being at work, I constantly found groups of great fat negroes, stretched upon their faces and hands, fast asleep upon the hogsheads. The tobaccos manufactured are not plebeian "Negro- head" and " Pigtail." Fanciful appellations have been substituted for these vulgar terms, such as " Honey -dew" " Christians -comfort" "Hearts-delight," "Perfect-love" "Rose-bud" and " Cousin Sally" Artists are engaged to design and execute embellishments for the packages, and a variety of sweets, spirits, spices, and essences are employed in the manufacture of the masticatory product, either to give a good flavour or to conceal a bad one. Italy, Spain, and France furnish thousands of boxes of liquo rice and of olive oil to sweeten and brighten the quid, although they do not accept a quid pro quo by permitting the importation of " Christian's- comfort" or " Hearts-delight" or any of the other consolations prepared abroad for the lovers of tobacco. Before the disruption occurred, there were over seventy factories in full operation, employing 4,000 hands, and working up 25,000 hogsheads of tobacco annually.
In the early days of Virginia — that is, seventy
G2
84 ABOUT RICHMOND.
or eighty years ago — tobacco served for a circu lating medium, and fully answered as a substi tute for specie. Even the clergyman's stipend and fees were rated at so many pounds of tobacco, estimated at two-pence per pound.
The primitive mode in which tobacco used to be transported to market, before the introduction of railways into Virginia, may not be uninte resting to the reader: — Each hogshead contain ing this commodity was rolled along on its own periphery through mud and stream. A long wooden spike driven into the centre of each end, and projecting some inches beyond it, served for an axle-tree ; a split sapling answered for shafts, which extended in rear of the cask, where the parts were connected by a hickory withe ; a few slabs were nailed to these in front, forming a sort of box, in which were stowed some bacon, a bag of meal, a frying-pan, a hoe, an axe and a blanket, for the bipeds ; the whole covered to some height with fodder for the quadrupeds. The tobacco roller, as the driver (occasionally the owner) was called, sought no roof for shelter during the period of his journey and incessant toil. As night approached he kindled a fire in the woods by the road side, baked a hoe cake, fried some bacon, fed his team, rolled his blanket around him and went to sleep, When, at the
THE JAMES RIVER CANAL. 85
end of the sixth or seventh day, he reached the warehouse, his tobacco was inspected, and a note expressing its weight and other qualities was handed to him. No sooner were these prelimi naries gone through, than he sallied forth into the streets in search of a purchaser, calling out, as he entered each store —
" Mister, do you buy tobacco ?"
The James River Canal is likewise an object of interest. It was the first canal commenced in the United States, and derives additional notoriety from the circumstance of its having been projected by Washington. Boats of sixty tons can travel with facility to Lynchburg, and sixty-five miles further, nearly to Craig's Creek. Twenty-nine miles of the canal remain to be completed. The cost of this work has already exceeded ten mil lion of dollars ; the estimate of that to be executed is about thirteen million dollars.
Richmond contains few public buildings worthy of notice beyond the Capitol, although the new Post-office is far from unornamental. Several apartments in this edifice are occupied as bureaus by the Government. A mile or two from the town, in a westerly direction, is the Reservoir which supplies the citizens with water. At night the streets are tolerably well lighted with gas — that is, if the moon does not shine, for under such
86 ABOUT RICHMOND.
circumstances her silvery radiance is deemed sufficient, and the artificial accordingly dispensed with.
North and west of the city, which is now strongly fortified at assailable points, are a num ber of "training camps," where the volunteers pass a noviciate before they are sent to engage the enemy. As many as thirty thousand troops have been encamped here. When last I visited Church Hill I observed extensive lines of log-houses, each one capable of accommodating five hundred men. These houses were designed as winter quarters for the army. The position is high and healthy, overlooking the James River above the Rockets.
Richmond possesses a Medical College, which was established in 1837 by a few prominent physicians of that city. It has since acquired sta bility and celebrity under a succession of competent professors. In 1860, nearly two hundred medical students seceded in a body from the Northern colleges, in consequence of the John Brown raid at Harper's Ferry, and the excitement created by his admirers, the Abolitionists. Thereupon the Legislature of Virginia granted thirty thousand dollars for the extension of the college and hospital. Although Richmond is considered one of the healthiest cities in the Southern States, the annual average of deaths being one in eighty-five, never-
THE PENITENTIARY. 87
theless a large proportion of the population con sists of medical practitioners. Indeed, throughout Virginia, the number of Esculapius's disciples is almost apocryphal.
Travel where we may we will find no society of virtuous citizens without a sprinkling of vicious ones ; no community that respects the laws, with out, unhappily, an admixture of Pariahs and denizens to violate them. Necessity, therefore, no less than philanthropy, compels " the powers that be" to have recourse to punitive discipline, and to erect prisons, where such discipline can be effectually carried out. Accordingly, Richmond has its "Penitentiary," — a large, unsightly brick edifice, the exterior appearance of which I should deem sufficient to strike awe into the culprit's breast without at all undergoing incarceration therein. Fortunately for this city, the "evil doers" are few, so that the chief magistrate and jail warder almost enjoy sinecure positions, save when, now and again, an unlucky negro is brought up and immured for theft (to which that class is constitutionally addicted), or for running away from his master, inspired with a sudden notion of the blessings of liberty, which, to him, proves " a fugitive false good." This sparseness of the criminal class in Virginia might possibly be attribut able to the fact that the authorities have not yet
88 ABOUT RICHMOND.
erected temples to the god of plunder, or rendered jail discipline less irksome than ordinary labour. English philanthropy on this question has yet to be imported ; and " model penitentiaries," or palatial edifices, like that at Pentonville, have yet to be built.
" The cage" is a term peculiar to Richmond, as applied to the receptacle for criminal offenders. It originated from a structure so designated which
o w
was erected some half century ago at the north-east end of the market bridge. Its long parapet brick walls were surmounted by a coping of free-stone, and extended in an octagonal form. It had open gratings on three sides, about ten feet above the street, and the floor of the prison was arranged after the form of an amphitheatre, so that each occupant could see into, and be seen from, the street. Here were encaged the unfeathered night hawks that prowl for prey, and screeching owls, that make "night hideous" ; blackbirds who had flown from their own nests to nestle elsewhere, like cuckoos ; and some birds, both black and white, who had no nests at all (like hundreds of our London popula tion), until that official ornithologist, the police constable, should examine into their character. This was a somewhat convenient arrangement to the citizen, who, on rising in the morning, missed the attendant on his household comforts, and as
THE " DUCKING STOOL." 89
he went to market had only to peep into the cage for his flown bird.
A structure made memorable to future ages
D
by the author of Hudibras, stood in rear- of " the cage" : —
" In all the fabrick, You shall not see one stone or brick, But all of wood, by powerful spell Of magic, made impregnable : There's neither iron bar, nor gate, Portcullis, chain, nor bolt, nor grate ; And yet men durance there abide, In dungeon, scarce three inches wide ; With roof so low, that under it They never stand, but lie or sit ; And yet so foul, that whoso is in, Is to the middle-leg in prison ; In circle magical confined, With wall of subtile air and wind ; Which none are able to break through, Until they're freed by the head-borough."
This mystical prison, together with the " whip ping-post " and the " ducking-stool," were at one period the universal correctors of peccadillos and more heinous forms of peccancy. The last engine of correction was exclusively appropriated to the gentler sex, and " common scolds " were some times subjected to the process of " ducking." In 1661, it was enacted by the " Grand Assembly of Virginia," that there should be erected in each county — then seventeen in number — a pillory,
90 ABOUT RICHMOND.
whipping-post, ducking-stool, and stocks. Civili zation has progressed, and with it these obnoxious instruments of barbarism have disappeared.
Among the antiquities of the Virginia metro polis, the most remarkable is "the old stone house" of one story, the age of which no anti quary can clearly fix. It is situated at the east end of Main-street, as you approach the bridge that leads to the suburban village of Manchester, and seems in a state of perfect preservation. Singular to say, for generations this property belonged to the Ege family, and it is but lately that the notification " For Rent " had been posted on its walls for the first time. The original owner was a German, named Ege, who settled on this spot when there were few or no inhabitants on the site of the town ; and previous to the erec tion of Byrd's Warehouse, which I have already described. When President Monroe was a young man, and attended school at Richmond, he boarded here, it being at that time considered one of the best houses in the city. It has likewise been honoured by the visits of Washington, Jefferson, La Fayette, Madison, Henry, and other distin guished persons.
Richmond is favourably situated for commerce. Vessels drawing ten feet of water can come to Rockets, a mile below the centre of the city;
AN ECCENTRIC CELEBRITY. 91
and those drawing fifteen feet, to Warwick, three miles lower down. The Falls in the James River are obviated by the canal, and above them is navigable to Lynchburg. Regular lines of packets used to connect this city with New York, and other places ; and steamboats from Norfolk daily plied to and fro. The principal articles of exportation are wheat, flour, and tobacco, and several vessels lie in the river with these products, awaiting the raising of the blockade.
With the memory of olden times is generally preserved and associated that of eccentric celebri ties. The traditional literature of Richmond is rife with such lore. "About Richmond" would be incomplete except a passing notice was given of a few of the most remarkable individuals, who, after the lapse of years, still serve either " To point a moral or adorn a tale."
Other cities besides London have had their Whittingtons. Richmond can boast of one who, although not associated with his tc cat," neverthe less was with the " anvil," upon which he both forged out and worked out his future fortune. The worthy to whom I allude was in early life a poor Irish blacksmith, who, by dint of perse verance and industry, attained to "competence and ease," and finally became chief magistrate of the town ; a position which, although devoid of
92 ABOUT RICHMOND.
emolument, was yet one of dignity, and therefore fed and flattered the vanity of the Hibernian aspirant. Our hero was fat — as mayors usually are — and fatuitous to boot ; and besides proving a bore to those lawyers with whom his legal de cisions came in conflict, likewise drilled the militia, of which body he was captain. Butler's description of his hero aptly applies to the pompous ex-black smith, who was —
*' Chief of domestic knights and errant, Either for chartel or for warrant ; Great on the bench, great in the saddle, That could as well bind o'er as swaddle ; Mighty he was in both of these, And styl'd of war as well as peace. But here our authors make a doubt, Whether he was more wise than stout ; Some hold the one and some the other, But, howsoe'er, they make a pother. The diff ' rence was so small, his brain Outweighed his rage but half a grain ; Which made some take him for a tool That knaves do work with, call'd a fool."
The mayor was what an American would term a " strict constructionist." Upon one occasion he was officially applied to by an old woman for a search-warrant to recover a stolen turkey. Puzzled as to his duty, he referred to the magis trates' book of forms, which, however, had not the effect of dispelling the legal fog that gathered
" SCRATCHING." 93
round his mental vision. Here he could find no mention of turkeys ; but he alighted upon a form of warrant to search for a stolen cow. Having explained to applicant the legal difficulties sur rounding the case, he suddenly assumed a reflec tive attitude, and, after a few moments' considera tion, overcame them thus —
" I will give you a warrant for a cow ; and, if in searching for a cow, you find the turkey, you may take possession, and bring it and the thief before me!"
By this and similar exercises of his judicial functions, the civic dignitary attained and retained his popularity, not only by the dispensation of justice, but by furnishing 'amusement for his con stituents.
Some years ago two lawyers named M'Rae and M'Craw, were members of the Executive Council of Richmond. Rotation in that office was then regulated, not by a term of service, but by a rule, that triennially one of the members should be elected out by a joint vote of the Senate and delegates. The least popular member would, of course, by this means obtain a majority. This ostracising process was termed u scratching." On one occasion the contest lay between the parties alluded to, who divided the negative votes between them, so that, when the ballot-papers were read,
94 ABOUT RICHMOND.
the monotonous and uneuphonious patronymics of " M'Rae, M'Craw," "M'Craw, M'Rae," came in continued succession. The ludicrous effect created on the occasion caused a votary of the Muses, who was present in the gallery, to scribble the following parody, in imitation of Swift, which is still preserved : —
" Hurray for M'Rae and Hurrau for M'Craw ! Hurray and Hurrau for M'Rae and M'Craw ! Hurrau for M'Craw and Hurray for M'Rae ! Hurrau and Hurray for M'Craw and M'Rae ! Hurrau for M'Rae and Hurray for M'Craw ! Hurray and Hurrau for M'Rae and M'Craw ! Hurray for M'Craw and Hurrau for M'Rae ! Hurrau and Hurray for M'Craw and M'Rae !"
This M'Rae was subsequently appointed United States' Consul at Paris, which post he held until his death.
I shall both wind up this chapter, and my sketches of ancient Richmond notorieties, with a brief account of an attorney and his client.
Mr. Call, an able and distinguished lawyer, was a person of sharp intellect, but extraordinary phy sique. He was tall and thin, and so loosely jointed that when he essayed to walk his head moved from shoulder to shoulder. When he sat his legs would become twisted round each other, and his jaws even seemed to partake of the general re laxation. Once, whilst in his office, a boorish
ATTORNEY AND CLIENT. 95
client entered and found him writing. The stranger took a seat, and, after informing the lawyer that he came to consult him on a subject of some importance, observed —
" My father died and made a will."
" You say," remarked the lawyer, writing steadily, " your father died and made a will ? "
" Yes, sir, my father died and made a will."
"Humph!" still writing and paying no atten tion.
"I say, Mr. Call, my father died and made a will."
"Very strange!" writing, and not noticing his client.
" Mr. Call, I say again," taking out his purse, and placing a fee on the table, "'my father made a will and died."
"Oh, now we may understand each other!" said the lawyer, all attention, " your father made a will before he died. Why didn't you say so at first I Well, now, go on, let's hear."
96
CHAPTER IV.
LIFE IN THE CAPITAL OF " OLD VIRGINIA."
Grotesque Uniforms — uFaro Banks" — An Alarm — A Sol dier-Bishop — " For Rent" — Hotel Life — " Message of Old Abe"— The " Bars"— Governor Letcher— An Ex pedition — Prizes — " The French Lady" — " Getting up a Regiment— Female Industry — A Tornado in Camp — The Bivouac— Public Markets— The Game of "Loo"— A Facile Introduction — The Barbacue Club— The Coloured Population — The " Invisible Lady " — Torn Moore's Eu-
logy.
THE removal of the Confederate Government to Richmond, together with the propinquity of this city to the Seat of War, had wrought a wonderful and sudden transformation in the aspect of that place and people. The constant arrival and transit of troops, cavalry, infantry and artillery, kept up unflagging excitement, stimulated by the expectation of the Federal army marching upon
GROTESQUE UNIFORMS. 97
the capital before ample preparations could be made to resist its encroachments. The town literally teemed with volunteers, and scarcely an individual was to be met with in the streets who did not wear a military or semi-military garb. Never, perhaps, were soldiers uniformed less uniformly, or with such utter disregard to out ward appearances. It seemed to me as if a large quantity of odd garments had been got together by some means, and then indiscriminately dis pensed to the troops ; for 1 seldom found two articles of dress to harmonize, either in texture or colour, upon the same person. Numbers were confined to one regimental article, such as a coat or "pants;" not, however, because this grotesque habiliment would indicate that they were " citizen soldiers," but from sheer necessity. Some parties contented themselves with a cloth cap, ornamented with Confederate States' buttons, and a patent- leather strap meant to fasten under the chin. Several officers wore epaulets attached to their civilian coats ; and clergymen who had command of regiments drilled their men in long black sur- touts, having gold stripes on the shoulders, and belts of the same material round the waist. The weapons of the Southern army were as diverse as their costumes, and both in many cases not of much worth. Over twenty thousand troops were VOL. I. H
98 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
encamped around the capital, while an additional force of from ten to twenty thousand were quar tered within it, creating, as will be supposed, one perpetual buzz and whirl of excitement, " from early morn till dewy eve."
Owing to the insuperable difficulty of providing sleeping accommodation for so numerous an army, public lecture-halls and similar places were con verted into barracks ; while in the leading hotels guests were packed together in a manner incon sistent with comfort or even decency. Bishops, generals, ex-presidents, statesmen, all had " to room it," with one, two, or three others, accord ing to the size of the apartments they occupied. Hundreds could not be accommodated even in this way, and had to put up with a chair or a sofa-seat in the capacious vestibules, thankful if they had not to sit upon the steps or wander about the streets.
The sudden influx of such vast and varied multitudes from different States of the Con federacy, did not, as a matter of course, improve the morality of the town, which during ordinary times, and considering its limited population, was not of the highest order. The fact is, that an under-current of vice flowed freely here. It could not be perceived by a casual observer, but it required neither a very long nor laborious study
"FARO BANKS." 99
of men and manners to see beneath the surface of both. Gambling-houses, and other places of a demoralizing character, apparently reaped a rich harvest. The game of " faro" seemed to be much indulged in ; and as, according to Hoyle, the chances in this play of hazard are greatly in favour of the "dealer," those "banks" derived immense returns. The s( respectable" resorts of this kind were four in number; but there were others of a " disreputable" class, which regularly sent out scouts to hunt for prey, who seldom returned unaccompanied by some unsuspecting victim. In the leading gambling establishments dinners and suppers, with the choicest vintages, not omitting champagne, were served out daily, ad libitum, and without charge ! This was a seduction which neither youth nor age could well withstand; and accordingly the young stripling and the hoary-headed gamester frequently met together around the same table. .One of these "faro banks" had not been long opened previous to my leaving the city. Its proprietor had come from New Orleans, and fitted up suites of rooms adjoining the Spotswood Hotel, in a style of almost Eastern luxury. Here I met with some leading persons, such as ex-ministers, judges, and Government officials. The dinners and suppers prepared at this establishment were of the most
H 2
100 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
rechercJie kind, and magnificently served up ; affording a rich treat to those who, like myself, had been accustomed to take their meals at a hotel, or in one of the numerous private boarding- houses of the city. The municipal authorities, one would think, mi^ht easily have done some thing, if not entirely to suppress, at least to mitigate the evil; but as Southern gentlemen are proverbially fond of ease and pleasure, the task might prove a difficult one. At all events, it was plain that the laws against gambling were inoperative.
Shortly after my arrival I began to cogitate upon the " difficulties of the situation," and, to be candid, felt anything but secure. Federal gun-boats might have steamed up the James River at any moment, while Richmond could be threatened by way of Manassas. Then the idea of having hot shot and shell poured into the capital, with the chance of getting into too close contact with one of those errant missiles, was anything but re-assuring. One Sunday afternoon a report gained currency that the United States' frigate, "Pawnee," was coming up the river. The excitement grew intense, and the entire population turned out, having seized whatever weapons were available, determined, should the enemy land, to dispute every inch of the territory
AN ALARM. 101
with him. Even the fair and delicate daughters of Virginia, armed with revolvers and bowie- knives, formed on that occasion an invincible corps, resolved to outvie the maids of Saragossa, and give no quarter to the invaders ! Fortu nately, neither their valour nor the prowess of their natural protectors was called into requisi tion ; so, upon the unfounded nature of the alarm being ascertained, the vast multitude retreated, in excellent order, to their homes — as much elated as though they had gained a victory !
I had sojourned but a short time at the Ballard House, when one night I was startled from my slumbers by the sudden ringing of bells, followed by commotion in the streets, and the police crying out —
"Fire! Fire!"
I jumped out of bed, awoke the two friends who " roomed" with me, and rushed to the window, when I observed a vast conflagration in the neighbourhood of the Rockets, which enveloped the entire metropolis in a blaze of light. My first impression was that the " Lincoln troops" had effected a landing, and that they had fired the city ; so I turned on the gas, which was not quite extinguished, and rang the bell lustily for one of the servants. In a few moments the summons was answered, when a stout negro, half
102 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
dressed and half asleep, entered, rubbing his greasy eyelids with his shirt sleeves. « Boy," said I, " what's all this about?" " Oh, it's nothin', Mas'r. Only de fire. Dem ar de bells you 'ear !" " Are you not afraid 1 " " I'm not 'fraid, Mas'r." " Sure it's not the enemy, Uncle ? " "Thar," chuckled the nigger, with a hearty "Yah, yah!" — pointing in the direction of the fire — " No en'my cum thar, Mas'r. 'Spects dem Yankee too cute ! Him 'no he be whipp'd !"
With the double assurance of personal safety and Northern prescience, and therefore avoidance of danger, I became more composed. Subse quently I ascertained that the steamer " Glencoe" had taken fire, and was consumed to the water's edge. This elegant little vessel had been em ployed in the transportation of troops to various points on the river, and the opinion obtained pretty widely that an incendiary had wrought the mischief. The boat originally cost forty thousand dollars, and her destruction necessarily proved a great inconvenience to the Government in the existing crisis of affairs. Fortunately, there were two or three other steam-vessels available for pur poses of transport, one of which, the " Yorktown,"
A SOLDIER-BISHOP. 103
has since been iron-plated, furnished with heavy guns, and a large number of marines.
I had not been long in Richmond, when the appointment of Bishop Polk to a major-general ship in the Provisional army of the Confederate States was made public. This incident became the subject of constant comment, and even, gave rise to indiscreet merriment, for several days. I know that grave considerations existed to justify President Davis in urging the acceptance of such an apparently incompatible post upon the distin guished divine, and in inducing his concurrence. The fact, however, must sound somewhat strange in both hemispheres, as savouring too much of the chivalric spirit of the middle ages, when the cowl of the priest was combined with the armour of the warrior, and the hand that held the crosier did not disdain to wield the sword ! One day I observed to General Henningsen, an accom plished Englishman and soldier, who had been commander-in-chief under General Walker, during the Nicaraguan war, but whose services had not then been accepted at the War Office —
" Tell me, General, what post are you about to fill during the present campaign?"
Cfl am going," the brave veteran drily, but good-naturedly rejoined, " to apply for a Chap laincy ! "
104 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
The moral was obvious — the irony rather keen. General Henningsen's merits and military quali fications at length met with their due reward, for he was appointed colonel of a regiment, and sent to assist General Floyd in Missouri, with the prospect of a higher command.
And here I shall entertain the reader with a brief biographical sketch of the respected soldier- bishop : —
Leonidas Polk, cousin to the President of that name, is a finely built, well-proportioned man of the ordinary height, and about fifty years of age. His countenance is open and intellectual, his features classic, and his forehead expansive, indi cating great intellectual capacity. He interests as well by his manly appearance as by the bland- ness of his manners and the vivacity of his con versational powers. He is of Irish descent — his grandfather having taken part in the siege of Derry — and was born in North Carolina. His father was an officer in the United States' service, who distinguished himself, and was wounded in the Eevolutionary war. Having graduated and duly taken his degree in the university of his native city, Mr. Polk was appointed cadet at West Point Military Academy. Here he re mained during four years. When he had com pleted the regular curriculum of studies, he
105
received a commission as second lieutenant in an artillery company. Daring his residence at the Military College he became a communicant of the Episcopal Church, under the impressive preaching of the chaplain, Dr. M'llvaine, the present Bishop of Ohio. After an association of a few months with the army, he retired from the service, and offered himself as a candidate for holy orders. Having completed his ecclesiastical studies, and passed through the deaconate, he was ordained priest, when he became the assistant of Bishop Moore, of Virginia, and assistant rector of the Monumental Church in Richmond. Mr. Folk's health at length failing, he journeyed to England, where he remained for some time. On his return to his native country, and being in possession, by marriage and inheritance, of a large number of slaves, he took up his abode, with his family, in Tennessee. Upon his estate he erected a beau tiful chapel for the spiritual edification of the slaves, for whom he regularly performed religious ministrations. From this work, however, he was called, by the Convention of the United States' Episcopal Church, to the distinguished position of missionary bishop. His episcopate compre hended some six thousand miles of territory, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Ala bama, Texas, and the Southern Indian States,
106 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
the visitation of which usually occupied him six months.
Bishop Polk was consecrated at Christ Church, Cincinnatti, in 1838; on which occasion Dr. M'llvaine delivered the consecration sermon. One striking passage in the discourse, with reference to the " chaplain and the student," made so great an impression that it was subse quently re-produced in the English journals. In 1841, Bishop Polk was elected to the episcopate of Louisiana, (which he still retains), when he retired from his more arduous office. He belongs to what is termed the moderate or sound school of theology, holding neither high church nor low church opinions or predilections. In addition to distinguished and comprehensive intellectual en dowments, Bishop Polk possesses considerable military knowledge, which, coupled with the moral influence he necessarily exerts, have, no doubt, induced President Davis (his class-mate at West Point) to urge his acceptance of a command in the Provisional army. As an evidence of Bishop Polk's religious zeal, I have authority for asserting that, since his appointment to the epis copate of Louisiana, he has built fifty churches, and collected and expended 750,000 dollars in the work of church extension. Thnt in taking com mand of an army he is influenced by the strongest
107
and purest of motives, I am fully conscious, from his repeated personal conversations with myself. One day he observed to me : —
" If our cause be holy, to become a soldier is an obligation not less religious than civil ! "
The ordinary trade and commerce of Richmond was all but suspended. The blockade of the Southern ports necessarily kept out goods, and as the principals of some large establishments had nothing to sell, they shut up their " stores," and either volunteered into the army, or retreated from the sun to the cool air of the mountains and the Sulphur Springs — places of fashionable resort during the summer months ; but which, however, were but very thinly attended during the recent season.
Whilst passing along the leading thoroughfares, I observed several closed stores, (which seemed to be daily increasing,) on the doors and shutters of which were inscribed the portentous words, " For Rent." Sometimes this notification would be printed on paper, but occasionally large black boards, with white letters painted thereon, showed how desirous the landlord was to get a tenant for the concern. As it was no concern of mine, I passed on, musing, meanwhile, on the transitory nature of all sublunary things, and recalling the
103 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
sentence uttered of yore by the sage Hebrew king, who had enough to make him in love with life —
" Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher ; all is vanity ! "
Complaints were constantly made of the dis honesty of small traders, in demanding exor bitant prices for their goods, to the manifest injury of the soldier, who generally submitted to the extortion. Animadversions upon this species of " sharp practice " were repeatedly resorted to by the local journals, seemingly without effect ; and no remedy, municipal or legal, could be applied. It is but just to state, that the majority of these extortionate tradesmen were neither Virginians nor Southerners, but Northern men, who, years since, settled in Richmond, and who expressed sympathy for the Secessionists from motives of policy, when they found that their safety and livelihood were involved.
Although ordinary business was almost sus pended, trade, so far as regards military outfits, and munitions of war, was brisk enough. Indeed, some contractors were realizing considerable fortunes. In one manufactory, three hundred women and boys were constantly employed making cartridges ; while sixty thousand percus sion caps were daily prepared in another. Foun dries were in full operation, which turned out guns
HOTEL LIFE. 109
of calibres ranging from 7 to 64-pounders. Every description of sabre and bayonet was likewise manufactured here ; while old flint muskets were fitted for percussion caps, at the rate of three thousand a week. Iron and powder were actively manufactured ; wool converted into cloth for soldiers' uniforms ; and hides, which had been previously sent to New York and Philadelphia to be prepared, were tanned at home. Obviously, the contest with the North has developed re sources not hitherto exhibited ; and stimulated a people, rather over-fond of their ease, to healthy exertion, and all within a few months.
Hotel life, in the aggregate, was anything but enjoyable. From early dawn until midnight, or long after, was one uninterrupted scene of boisterous commotion. When the " gong " sounded for meals, there was a general rush of the guests to the refectory, where a scramble for seats at the long rows of tables usually took place. Then one had to wait such a wearisome time to get served, that however keen the appetite might have been in the first instance, it was sure to become blunted, if not sated, by the unctious smells in the meanwhile. Besides, many of the dishes were so novel, and the cook ing so odious, that no English palate or stomach could either relish or digest them. The etiquette
110 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
observed at table was not what would pass muster in polite circles at home ; but the novelty soon wears off, and one ceases to be fastidious. After all, conventional rules may be carried too far ; and English travellers are unfortunately too prone to make " mountains of mole-hills " in this respect ; so that the unlucky wight who puts his knife to his mouth during dinner is regarded as though he had broken one of the commandments of the Decalogue.
At the hotel where I stayed, parties of friends were wont to assemble in each other's rooms, from a certain hour of the night until a very uncertain hour in the morning, where, with doors and win dows flung open, and our coats off, we discussed the events and rumours of the day, assisted by rye-whiskey and ice-water, whenever the latter luxury could be procured by bribing the negro with a piece of silver. It is surprising how these " niggers " covet money. Keep them but supplied with this, and they will do anything for you ; but without it — nothing. But this I mention paren thetically. Sometimes these assemblages became convivial, but not Bacchanalian ; and many an hour that would 'erst have proved monotonous have I passed — far away from home, and with no immediate prospect of returning — listening to the sweet and familiar strains of " G od Save the
A TRAVESTIE. 1 1 1
Queen/' "Rule Britannia," and similar national effusions, perhaps joining in the inspiring choruses. To have heard such songs sung " down South " had the effect of reconciling me to my temporary exile from that land where
" Britons never shall be slaves /"
At one of these social gatherings, shortly after President Lincoln had issued his important Mes sage to the Federal Congress, calling for men and money, (July 4, 1861,) the following burlesque, written by one of the party, was sung to a popular air. It is entitled the
"MESSAGE OF OLD ABE; "OR, 'THERE'S NOBODY HURT!'
" Once more, Representatives, Senators all, You come to my Capitol, swift at my call. 'Tis well, for you've something important to do In this most disagreeable national stew ; For since I came hither to run the machine, Disguised in Scotch cap and in full Lincoln green,
There's the devil to pay in the whole d d concern,*
As from Cameron, Seward, and Chace you will learn ;
Yet, though everything here of a burst-up gives warning,
I'm certain you'll put it all right in the morning.
So to do as I tell you, be on the alert,
For the panic's fictitious, and nobody's hurt !
* He indulges in no profanity : — " They shan't do it,
d n them," is the nearest approach known to have
issued from his lips.— Memoir of Abraham Lincoln.
112 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
" I have started no war of invasion, you know, Let who will pretend to deny it — that's so ; But I saw from the White House an impudent rag, Which they told me was known as Jeff. Davis's flag, A- waving above Alexandria high, Insulting my Government, flouting the sky ; Above my Alexandria (isn't it, Bates? Retrocession's a humbug — what rights have the States ?) So I ordered young Ellsworth to take the rag down — Mrs. Lincoln she craved it to make a new gown — But young Ellsworth, he kinder got shot in the race, And came back in a galvanized burial case ; But then Jackson, the scoundrel, he got his desert — The panic's fictitious, and nobody's hurt.
u It is true, I sent steamers which tried for a week To silence the Rebels down there at the Creek ; But they had at Game Point about fifty or more Rifled cannon set up in a line on the shore, And six thousand Confederates practised to fire 'em, (Confound these Virginians, we never can tire 'em !) Who made game of our shooting and crippled our fleet, So we prudently ordered a hasty retreat ; With decks full of passengers, dead heads indeed ! For whom of fresh coffins there straightway was need ; And still later at Gresham's they killed Captain Ward, In command of the ' Freeborn' — 'twas devilish hard — But in spite of all this, the rebellion's a spurt — The panic's fictitious, and nobody's hurt !
" Herewith I beg leave to submit the report Of Butler, the General, concerning the sport They had at Great Bethel, near Fortress Monroe, With Hill and Magruder, some four weeks ago ; And here let me say, a more reckless intruder, I never have known than this Colonel Magruder ;
"MESSAGE OF OLD ABE." 113
He has taken the Comfort away from Old Point,
And thrown our peninsular plans out of joint.
While in matters of warfare to him Gen. Butler
Would scarce be thought worthy to act as a sutler.
And the insolent Rebels will call to our faces
The flight at Big Bethel— the " Newmarket Races !"
Then supersede Butler at once with whoever
Can drive this Magruder clean into the river ;
And I shall be confident still to assert,
That the panic's fictitious, and nobody's hurt !
u 'Tis my province, perhaps, herein briefly to state The state of my provinces— surly of late, Missouri and Maryland — one has the paw Of my Lyon upon her, and one has the law, Called Martial, proclaimed through her borders and cities ; Both are crushed, a Big Thing, I make bold to say it is. St. Louis is silent, and Baltimore dumb — They hear but the monotone roll of my drum. In the latter vile seaport I ordered Cadwallader To manacle Freedom, although the crowd followed her — Locked up in M'Henry, she's safe, it is plain, With Merryman, Habeas Corpus, and Kane ; And as for that crabbed old dotard, Judge Taney, For much, I would put him on board of the ' Pawnie,' And make his decisions a little more curt — For the panic's fictitious, and nobody's hurt !
•' And now I'll just say what I'd have you to do, In order to put your new President through — First, three hundred millions is wanted by Chase — He cannot run longer the Government's face ; And Cameron wants, for the use of old Scott, . Some four hundred thousand more men than he's got. Then sixty new iron-plate ships to stand shells Are loudly demanded (must have 'em) by Wells ;
VOL. I. I
114 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
For England, the bully, won't stand our blockade, And insists that we shall not embarrass her trade. But who fears the British ? I'll speedily tune 'em, As sure as my name is E Pluribus Unum. For I am myself the whole United States, Constitution and laws (if you doubt it, ask Bates,) The star-spangled banner's my holiday-shirt— Hurrah for Abe Lincoln — there's nobody hurt !"
I need scarcely observe, that considerable merri ment was created by the above effusion, or that the author and singer were duly applauded, and their healths drank in overflowing bumpers. Some of the points told immensely.
The " bars" form an institution in American society. These consist of showily-furnished apart ments, not exclusively attached to hotels, but forming distinct and independent establishments. A number of sturdy negroes, — sometimes white men — were constantly engaged from eight in the morning until ten or eleven o'clock at night mixing drinks to suit the diversified fancies of visitors, who kept pouring in and out the live long day, like a living tide, ebbing and flowing continually. Here could be obtained a variety of drinks not known in this country, but which, in a warm climate, are exceedingly refreshing, and prob ably, if taken in moderation, conducive to health. The principal beverages consisted of "whiskey and brandy-juleps," and " claret-sangaree," although
THE "BARS." 115
"cock-tails" and "brandy-smashes" were not omitted from the long catalogue of inven tions. All classes of the population frequented the "bars," nor was this practice considered in any way derogatory to an individual's reputation. In most of these places a " free luncheon" was provided daily at eleven o'clock for the habitues, which, owing to the immense profits realized, might easily have been afforded.
In consequence of the scarcity of silver and copper coinage — necessitating a resort to paper currency — bar proprietors had recourse to an expedient more advantageous to themselves than serviceable to the public. Small pieces of card board, with the name of the "bar" or proprietor printed thereon, would represent any sum from five to twenty cents, and these were freely dis tributed as specie. In numerous instances they would be either lost or mislaid, sometimes the holders would not take the trouble to present them, so that, in either case, the bar proprietors were the gainers. On one occasion I received in lieu of change a piece of red leather, with the name of the " bar" stamped upon it in gilt letters. The following is a fac-simile :- —
BEAUREGAND.
GOOD FOR
TEN CENTS.
116 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
An announcement in no way flattering to the monetary reputation of the excellent General whose name it bore.
Although the municipal authorities required that all "bars" should be closed at ten, P.M., never theless the law was often violated. There were generally back-door and circuitous entrances, through which the known visitor mi^ht enter and
e> o
get his fill of good things long after the prescribed time. As the police were few, and did not bother themselves with such matters, these establish ments could keep open with impunity.
General Scott did not prosecute his original plan with much vigour. Richmond was to have been taken about June ; but the delay of the Federal forces in marching upon it had strengthened the hands of the Confederate Government, and ren dered its capital less liable to assault. War pre parations were carried on incessantly. Notwith standing the slight confusion attendant upon the removal of the Government to Richmond, the great object of supplying, equipping, and dispatching troops to various points proceeded with the utmost regularity. In and around the city was concentrated a force of fully twenty thousand men ; while volunteers from the interior continu ally arrived, who were dispatched with as little delay as possible to the Seat of War. Although
THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. 117
immense numbers of soldiers were continually thronging the streets, and enjoying themselves in the " bars," the greatest order prevailed. Indeed, I have not seen anything bordering upon a riot but on one occasion ; and the only precaution taken by the military authorities was that of re quiring places of refreshment to be closed at ten o'clock, P.M. This fact tells favourably in behalf of the Southern troops, and proves that they pos sess a remarkable degree of self-control. Vague rumours were constantly afloat, which, after a while, one became so accustomed to, that they produced not only disbelief but indifference. The Administration did all they could to suppress in formation as to the movements of the army. No bulletins were issued; so the public mind being con tinually on the qui vive for news, it was not sur prising that it should grasp at shadows, and enter tain every canard that happened to be on the wing. One morning I accompanied the Hon. R. S. Montague, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, to the office of the Governor, his Excellency J. Letcher, in the Capitol, for the purpose of being presented. After waiting a moment in the ante room, we were ushered into the august presence of the Governor. Judge of my surprise when I found this official ensconced in an arm-chair, with a pipe in his mouth nearly a yard long, and he
118 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
puffing away the cares of office at a vigorous rate, while his "aide" was scribbling by his side. Had this pipe been a Turkish one, why, I might have reconciled it to my notions of things ; but as it consisted of a Chinese clay bowl and wooden tube, it looked unpardonably vulgar. Besides, the pipe was in keeping with the man. Neither in man ners nor appearance was there any indication of his being well-bred, and certainly nature did not do much in the way of polish. In conversation he was rough and gruff, while his coarse, unintel- lectual, red face, disfigured by eruption, impressed me with no favourable idea of his temperate liv ing. His attire was shabby, and slovenly arranged, which rendered him still less prepossessing, Al together 1 was sadly disappointed with the indi vidual, who, I subsequently ascertained, was not, by any means, a favourite with the Virginians. In this and every other respect he afforded a striking contrast to the Lieutenant-Governor. Indeed, I have heard several persons question the purity of his motives and the patriotism of his public acts ; while some averred that the tardi ness of Virginia in seceding from the Union, and her deferred preparation against attack, were at tributable to his disengenuous and temporising policy, which were construed to mean attachment to the Federalist party.
AN EXPEDITION. 1 1 9
At the Governor's House, one evening, I met with a romantic and daring individual, named Colonel Thomas, alias Zarvona. He had just returned from an exploit of a very adventurous and dangerous nature. I narrate the occurrence as it was told to me by the leader of the move ment : —
On the 15th of June a plan was formed by Lieutenant Henry Lewis, late of the United States' Navy, and a relative of General AYashing- ton, to rid the Potomac of the Federal war steamers. Commander Maury, late of the Obser vatory ; Captain Hollins, late of the United States' Navy (known in England as the captain of the steam-frigate " Susquehanna," in the Mediter ranean), were associated in maturing this scheme. Colonel Thomas, to whom the Governor of Vir ginia had given the name of Zarvona, was selected to visit Baltimore, and to take passage for Wash ington in the " St. Nicholas," with sixteen Zouaves, attired as ordinary travellers. Four hundred Tennessee troops, under General Bates, were to have joined the party after the capture of the steamer, and for this purpose they proceeded to Monascow by water, disembarked,, and inarched across the country to Cone River, near the mouth of the Potomac. Disguised as a French lady, Thomas went on board the " St. Nicholas," at
1 20 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
Baltimore, with a number of companions, the majority of whom appeared to be good and liege subjects of the United States ; indeed, so strong was their patriotism, that they more than hinted they were going to join the Lincoln army at Washington. About four o'clock one Friday evening the steamer left the wharf, got under weigh, and steamed uninterruptedly on her course until she reached Point Look-out. Here the vessel stopped, and took in additional pas sengers in various disguises, who turned out to be a reinforcement of Zouaves, ready to follow their adventurous commander. Among the latter was Lieutenant Alexander, who, upon entering the saloon, immediately recognized his old lady acquaintance from Paris, when a general conver sation (in French, of course) ensued relative to maturing their pre-arranged plans. Captain Hollins, attired in citizen's dress, then took passage, and speedily found that all was right for further action. Thomas now threw off his disguise, and appeared in full Zouave costume ; while, from his capacious trunks, he distributed arms and ammu nition to each man, which were carefully loaded and concealed about the person. Sentries were next quietly posted about the boat, when, at one P.M. next day, Captain Hollins approached the captain, and gave the order to " Stop her," as
CAPTURE OF VESSELS. 121
the vessel was a prize to the Confederate Govern ment. Appalled at this sudden and unexpected command, and perceiving that resistance was useless, he immediately " knocked under," and yielded up his authority. The " St. Nicholas" was then run across the Potomac River to the Vir ginia shore, and was lying at her mooring, when Colonel Bates and Lieutenant Louis arrived with the expected forces from Fredericksburg. Here, to the great astonishment of the men, the order was made known that they were not to go on board the steamer; and as this injunction was presumed to have come from head-quarters at Richmond, they had no other course to pursue but to retrace their steps to Fredericksburg, leaving Captain Hollins to take the boat into some place where she would be out of the enemy's reach.
The original design of attacking the Federal steamers had thus to be abandoned ; for, as the services of the Confederate troops were refused, it was impossible for some seventeen sailors, about the same number of Zouaves, and eight or ten officers, to cope successfully with two ships of war. It was ' next decided to run the " St. Nicholas" into the Rappahannock River. Having got her under weigh, she steamed out unob- structedly into the bay, where she captured the
122 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
brig " Monticello," from Rio, laden with coffee ; the schooner " Mary Pierce," from Boston, with a cargo of ice for Washington; and the schooner " Margaret," from Alexandria, laden with anthra cite coal for Staten Island. The four prizes were then safely towed up the river above the bat teries, when all hands on board, nearly forty in number, were forwarded to Richmond under escort, as prisoners of war. The combined value of the vessels and cargoes was estimated at four hundred thousand dollars.
I have conversed with the captain of the " St. Nicholas," the pilot of the brig, and others of the prisoners. The captain seemed rather amused at the occurrence, and facetiously observed : —
" I didn't like the appearance of that French woman at all, I guess. She sat next to me at table, and so close that our knees touched. I fancied she looked mighty queer, but I'll be hanged if I thought she was a man!"
The pilot of the brig, who looked as stout and jolly as a Dutchman, could scarcely restrain his risibility, although it threatened to do him consum mate damage about the region of the diaphragm. " He had been used to that sort of thing," and appeared to think no more about being a prisoner than if he had been swallowing his dinner —
st All I know is," he jocularly observed, " that I
" THE FRENCH LADY." 123
was piloting the brig, when they overhauled me, and piloted me up here, where you see me now !" I have had lengthy interviews with Colonel Zarvona and his adjutant, Lieutenant George W. Alexander, a fierce-looking, but withal intelligent person, who, he informed me, was chief officer of the ship which first brought Kossuth to England. Zarvona is twenty-seven years of age, fragile in form, with sharp, irregular features, deep inden tions in his cheeks, blue eyes, aquiline nose, and was closely shaved on the head and face. He is a native of Maryland, and served in the ranks, under Garibaldi, during the guerilla war in Italy. There was a deep-seated melancholy about the man, which might be taken for misanthropy, or even monomania. He looked downcast and miserable in the extreme, and seemed to entertain no idea of enjoyment in this world. He appeared to me exceedingly gentle, and spoke in a low, weak voice. His temperament is of the sanguine type ; and he does not possess what physiologists recognise as a well-balanced mind. No one would imagine that so feeble a frame could contain such a dauntless, daring spirit. I was assured that some years ago he formed a tender attachment, but that the object of his regard expired in his arms while endeavouring to rescue her from drowning. Ever since this unhappy occurrence he is said to be
124 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
erratic and gloomy, and incapable of enduring the slightest disappointment. Referring to the partial failure of his plans, and the (to him) valueless cargo which one of the captured vessels contained, he remarked : —
" What is ice to me, my dear sir I I want flannel ! "
Colonel Zarvona presented a highly-picturesque appearance, attired in blue Zouave costume, white gaiters, crimson cloth cap with gold tassel, and light, elegant sword. When in public he attracted considerable attention ; and from the feat he accomplished, became the " lion " of the hour.
Elated by this success, and yet disappointed at the partial failure of their plans, Colonel Thomas, his first lieutenant, and a party of Zouaves, shortly afterwards set out upon a similar expedition, in the programme of which, the capture of the Federal war-steamer " Pawnee," armed with ten heavy guns, was, I believe, included. That Colonel Thomas had been too premature in his action, is observable from the fact of his having been arrested at Baltimore, and removed to Fort MacHenry. Great fears were entertained in Richmond for his safety, as it was surmised that he could be indicted for piracy and treason. Some thought that he would not be harshly dwelt with by the Northern Government,
" GETTING UP A REGIMENT." 125
simply for fear of retaliation. I cannot tell who were Thomas's advisers, but he was considered to have acted partially upon his own responsibility. I have reason to believe, however, that the Governor of Virginia and General Lee, the Commander-in-chief, were fully cognisant, if they did not wholly approve, of his second but unfortu nate expedition. The very night previous to his setting out, I was in company with the Governor and himself, and parted from them as they were going to call upon General Lee, at the Spotswood Hotel.
I could not refrain from smiling one day upon observing, while walking down Broad-street, a large placard, headed, "IRISHMEN TO THE FIELD!" and appealing to their well-known heroism and patriotism to volunteer, in order to defeat and drive out the " Northern tyrant." I apprehend the announcement referred to emanated from some individual ambitious of command, and who was desirous of "getting up a regiment."
It is nevertheless certain that the settlers from the old country, whether Saxon or Celtic, entertain profound sympathy for the South, and in many instances have volunteered into the ranks. The First Regiment of Virginia, under Colonel Moore, (who was severely wounded at Manassas,) is nearly, if not altogether, composed of Irish-
126 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
men, and several of its commanders are men of business who have accumulated fortunes in Richmond.
The system extensively adopted amongst volun teer regiments, with regard to the selection and election of officers, is fraught with abuse, and is likely to prove disastrous. Favouritism and influence sometimes take precedence of higher motives ; and amiability of disposition, especially when combined with pecuniary resources, is more regarded in a candidate for command than military knowledge, or a capacity for directing the move ments of an army. I have been informed that there are persons in command of regiments who are wofully wanting in all the needful character istics of the soldier and officer, and who, even during an ordinary drill, have " to ask men in the ranks what they are to do ! " Surely, it is impos sible that troops can have confidence in command ing officers who exhibit little aptitude for, and as little practical acquaintance with, the onerous nature and duties of military life. Even sup posing that such men are not deficient in courage, this circumstance alone is no proof of their fitness for military command. Mere bravery in an officer, without experience, is rather an evil than a good, more to be avoided than desired. The history of the American campaign, even up to the present, is
FEMALE INDUSTRY. 127
sufficiently illustrative of this assertion. What gallant officers have been cut down for want of exercising ordinary discretion !
During my sojourn in Richmond the theatre was closed, and all kinds of public amusements were suspended. The people had no desire for out-door enjoyment, as their hearts and minds were too much subdued by the terrible calamity that had fallen upon them. Even very few parties were given ; and on such occasions merriment was studiously avoided. The ladies of every household were perpetually occupied either in nursing the sick and wounded, or in making coarse gar ments for the soldiers. Some worked at their homes, others in schoolrooms, where benevolent societies were formed. Each church and chapel possessed an organization of this kind ; and I can bear honourable testimony to the zeal and dili gence with which the ladies of Virginia laboured in the cause of patriotism. Were it not for the exertions of the Southern women, the volunteers would have been ill-provided for, indeed ; as the labour necessary to produce quantities of clothing in a circumscribed time could not be procured in the country.
In consequence of the excessive heat, which rendered out-door exercise disagreeable or dan gerous during the day, visits were invariably made
128 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
at an advanced hour in the evening. Cards were sometimes left for me with the announcement : —
"At home from nine to eleven p.m." which at first 1 considered remarkably strange, but after a while the novelty wore off. Friends generally met at each other's houses after " sun down," At these social gatherings the war and politics became the prevailing topics of conversa tion ; and I have often been surprised at the facility and ability with which the fair sex would discuss these questions. Frequently during the evening glasses of ice-water would be served upon salvers to the visitors, which, together with the use of fans, counteracted in some degree the combined warmth of the weather and the debates.
The frequent " dress parades" at the neighbour ing camps formed a source of attraction for the elite of the population. The President, or his lady, would sometimes attend to witness the volunteers going through their evolutions, on which occasions the accession of sight-seers was invariably en hanced. Ladies formed the chief proportion of the spectators, and their presence had a very in spiriting effect upon the men.
On one of these occasions an occurrence took place which put a sudden termination to all military manoeuvres, except, indeed, the display of the new
A TORNADO IN CAMP. 129
evolution^ for which the " Grand Army of the North " has become so notorious since the Bull Kun disaster. A whole regiment had just formed into line, preparatory to further drill, in presence of a large concourse of citizens, who came on horseback and in carriages to witness the spectacle. Suddenly, a dark cloud was noticed moving from the city in the direction of the camp. In less than two minutes we were in the midst of a hur ricane. The dust was positively blinding, and rendered the light invisible. Numerous camps " struck " of their own accord and mounted high in the air, while their heterogeneous paraphernalia were blown about in every direction. The military line broke, and the men ran faster than if they had been surprised and pursued by the enemy. Every one sought shelter in such tents as were not blown away. Bayonets, bowie-knives, every thing that could be rendered available, were pro cured to aid in securing the fragile canvas from the violence of the storm. During its greatest fury I got into a small tent sheltered by trees, and seated myself upon a knapsack, expecting every moment that both the tent and myself would be blown about the encampment. The rain fell in torrents ; the lightning flashed vividly, and in quick succession; while the artillery of Heaven burst with a reverberation that made the very earth VOL. I. K
130 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
tremble. Fortunately, this fearful tornado did not continue quite half an hour, or else there would have been neither shelter for man or beast. When the wind and rain abated, I crawled out of the tent in which I took shelter, partially suffo cated, and entirely drenched. The occurrence was fraught with serious disadvantages to the troops ; and several days elapsed before they had everything in statu quo order again.
Notwithstanding that the camps were kept as clean and neat as constant industry could effect, nevertheless there was more than an ordi nary degree of illness among the soldiers. A close tent, of all other contrivances, seems best adapted to secure any given amount of disease. Six or eight, sometimes a dozen, individuals slept in one of these ; so that the atmosphere became not only tainted by their united breath, but kept in an unwholesome state by the non-introduction of fresh air. In addition to this, wherever rain fell — and the season last summer was unusually moist — the interior of each tent necessarily be came damp ; so that the volunteers laboured under the double disadvantage of sleeping in an atmos phere surcharged with mephitic gases, and laden with noxious vapour. It is not surprising that hale and hearty men were soon prostrated in body
THE BIVOUAC. 131
and mind, and that fevers, measles, and other camp diseases should have supervened.
From the injurious results incident to camp life, I have often been surprised that it was not su perseded by the system of bivouac. Napoleon always resorted to this expedient ; and, assuredly, his acute mind, combined with nineteen years practical experience of military life, ought to have qualified him to judge correctly of what was best for the soldier's health, and the preservation of an army. This eminent general has left on record the opinion that tents are an obstruction to mili tary operations, especially by engendering disease and impairing the strength of an entire military organization. He himself dispensed with tents in all his campaigns, and substituted the bivouac. Considering the strength of his armies, the long and forced marches they were accustomed to make, the severe privations they had occasionally to undergo, and the arduous labours in which they were en gaged, no troops of modern times have been so healthy. Soldiers on the march kindled large fires, and sat or slept around them. These fires served to purify the atmosphere, which became rarified, and carried off all the poisonous exhala tions that were hovering in the air, ready to stag nate into pestilence. The French besieging army before Mantua was kept in good physical condi-
K 2
132 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
tion by the single and simple expedient of kindling large fires every night. These fires destroyed, or rendered inoxious, the prevailing malaria of that unhealthy situation. In a country so abounding in forests as the South, facilities would always be at hand for building a temporary shelter from the rain. The hunters of the Far West do not en cumber themselves with tents. The Indians like wise dispense with a luxury so pernicious. Both kindle fires, around which they roll themselves in blankets and sleep ; and yet these men are the hardiest and healthiest of the human race, being capable of enduring all sorts of fatigue, and every species of privation.
When a canal or railroad is first opened up, a very baleful influence is exercised upon the im mediate vicinity. The inhabitants, especially during the autumn season, become prostrated from chills, and intermittent, and even typhoid fevers. The exciting cause is properly attribut able to the quantity of fresh earth that is turned up. This is sure to produce disease wherever it is practised. How much of the sickness at Rich mond, Manassas, and other places, has been occa sioned by the turning up of large quantities of earth is not for me to say, although the medical inspectors well know that this has been a power ful agent in engendering it. The inactive life
PUBLIC MARKETS. 133
followed in camp also seriously militates against the health of an army. Inactivity induces dul- ness and debility. Set but an army in motion and disease will almost disappear. Under such circumstances the men have no leisure to be sick. Neither have they leisure or inclination to think about themselves ; and for a soldier to commence thinking about himself is the premonitory symptom of disease. The Southern army has sustained greater loss by the monotony and ennui of camp than by the various encounters it has had with the enemy. I have often grieved to see fine brave fellows helpless as children after being im mured in camps for a few weeks. For my own part, I never desired to stay longer in camp than five or six days together; and I generally grew weary of it before that time.
There are two public markets in Richmond, one at either extremity of the city. The princi pal one was rebuilt in 1855, previous to which the upper portion of the old building used to be employed as a theatre. All the busy housewives, boarding-house keepers, and others, make their sundry purchases from seven to nine o'clock every morning, after which hour the stalls become cleared, and the markets are closed for the day.
In the first decade of the present century the game of Loo was a favourite pastime with
134 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
the Virginia ladies. After discussing a " dish" of tea, the card-table was introduced, and a circle formed around it. To these fashionable assem blies gentlemen were admitted, and he who played the most careless and hazardous game was sure to become the most welcome. The original stake was small, but by the forfeits of losers and the contri butions of dealers, the money in the pool would accumulate to a considerable number of dollars. During the play many an agreeable countenance would lose its sweetness, many a rosy cheek its hue, and many a smooth temper would betray the indications of an impending storm. Gentle ac cents would give place to loud tones, and endear ing epithets to harsh and insulting expletives. This species of gambling became so universal that some moralist, who had the welfare of society (espe cially the fairer portion of it), at heart, made sundry onslaughts upon the prevailing fashion of the times. The following metrical burlesque of the pernicious practice was indited in 1806; from which the reader will form an idea of the ton-ish foibles of the day, happily now so changed : —
u First, all the morning the debates I attend, Of the folks who our laws come to make and to mend ; Where sometimes I hear much fine declamation 'Bout judges and bridges, the banks and the nation ; But last night my amazement was somewhat more new, Being asked to a party of ladies at Loo. >
THE GAME OF " LOO." 135
Oh ! then, my dear friends, what splendour was seen,
Each dame that was there was arrayed like a queen.
The camel, the ostrich, the tortoise, the bear,
And the kid, might have found each his spoils on the fair.
Though their dresses were made of the finest of stuff,
It must be confessed they were scanty enough ;
Yet naught that this scant may their husbands avail,
What they save from the body, they waste in the tail.
When they sit, they so tighten their clothes, that you can
See a lady has legs just the same as a man.
Then stretched on the floor were their trains all so nice —
They brought to my mind JEsop's council of mice.
Ere tea was serv'd up they were prim as you please,
But when cards were produced, all was freedom and ease.
Mrs. Winloo, our hostess, each lady entreated
To set the example — ' I pray, ma'am, be seated.'
* After you, Mrs. Clutch ' — ' Well, if you insist ' — •
4 Tom Shuffle, sit down, you prefer Loo to whist.'
Around the green board now they eagerly fix,
Two beaux and four ladies composing the six.
4 Well, Mr. Shuffle, you are dealer — begin.'
' Is that the trump card — then I cannot standS
1 And I must throw up.' * Let me look at your hand.'
4 Oh, there's Mrs. Craven, she threw up the knave /' 4 1 know I did, madam, I don't play to save.'
And thus they went on — checking, stumping, and fleeting, And much other jargon that's not worth repeating — Till at length it struck twelve, and the winners propose That the Loo which was up then the session should close. On a little more play, though the losers were bent, They could not withhold their reluctant assent. Mrs. Craven, who long since a word had not spoke, Who scarce gave a smile to the sly equivoque,
136 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
But like an old mouser sat watching her prey, Now uttered the ominous words of — ' I play ! * And swept the grand Loo, thus proving the rule, That the still sow will ever swill most from the pool. Though much had been lost, yet now they had done, The deuce of them all would confess she had won. But soon I discovered, it plain could be seen In each lady's face what her fortune had been."
The reformation wrought in female society down South tended, doubtlessly, to diminish the vice of gaming in the " lords of creation," and to confine it, in some degree, to the frequenters of the u faro banks," where sometimes the very men who have enacted laws against gambling experience the futility of their own enactments.
Southern society admits of considerable freedom of introduction and intercourse, the great gulfs between class and class, such as we find in Euro pean cities, being entirely unknown. Clients who desire to have interviews with the officers of State find no impediment whatever thrown in their way. They have only to wralk into the vari ous bureaus, and, when an opportunity offers, to advance towards the functionary who presides. I have seen the office of the Secretary at War literally crowded with visitors, most of them with their hats on, some talking, and others ruminating, and felt surprised how, in the midst of such in terruption, that official could get through his one-
A FACILE " INTRODUCTION." 137
rous duties. When I had business with either the Secretary of State or the Secretary at War, on no occasion did I meet with detention, no matter how numerous the visitors who could have claimed precedence.
One morning I was accosted by a gentleman — an entire stranger — in front of one of the Government offices, who assured me that he had travelled some hundreds of miles to see the President, and wished to be informed how he could get introduced. 1 was somewhat puzzled what reply to give, when, fortunately, a literary acquaintance happened to pass, to whom I ob served —
" This gentleman is desirous of being presented to your President. He informs me that he has come a long distance for no other purpose, and he has no acquaintances in the city. Can you direct him how his wishes may be gratified 1 "
" Certainly, certainly ! I shall introduce the gentleman with pleasure," was the ready response.
So both parties went up to the President's chamber in the new Post-office, where he was in the habit of giving daily audience. I met the stranger afterwards, who returned me a multitude of thanks for the pleasure I was the means of affording him. This trivial circumstance is sufficiently indicative of the esteem and reverence
138 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
with which the President of the Southern Con federacy is regarded.
The citizens were in the habit of sitting on the balconies, and even upon the door-steps of their houses, during the summer evenings, to enjoy re lief from the oppressive atmosphere within. By this means the otherwise dull streets were made to present an animated appearance, enlivened by the fair faces and showy costumes of the ladies, who were using up the remaining finery of former seasons. Next summer, should the war and the blockade continue, they will be compelled to put up with plain homespun material.
I was perfectly astonished to find young gentle men unshod in the saloons of hotels, riding in carriages, and even perambulating the streets. During the summer months the younger male branches of a family invariably go barefoot ; and I was informed that youths look forward with pleasing anticipation to each returning season in order to enjoy immunity from one trammel of civilization. One day, while conversing with Prince Polignac upon this unsightly habit, he re marked : —
"It is barbarous — positively barbarous !"
I confess that I sympathized with his opinion ; for, to my mind, this was the most repulsive fea ture of Southern life.
THE BARBACUE CLUB. 139
A large proportion of the inhabitants are Germans, who either keep Lager-beer saloons, or clothing-stores. They occupy the lower part of the city, support their own private theatres, " Volks Garten" — a favourite resort on Sundays — two newspapers, and a few churches. The German population is not liked in Virginia ; they seldom associate, and never assimilate, with the regular citizens, and are generally dirty and untidy in their habits. In some parts of Rich mond more German than other names appear over the doors ; and to judge from the conversa tion heard in the streets, one might be at a loss to ascertain whether German or English was the language of the country.
The oldest festive society in the capital is the Barbacue or Quoit Club,
u Who mix reason with pleasure, and Wisdom with mirth." ••
It was formed more than sixty years ago, and its members comprised some of the foremost men of their day. The fraternity still assemble once a month during the season, upon the Island in the James River, and, under the ample shade of fine old oak trees, seek relaxation from the ordinary pursuits and wearisome cares of life. Quoits are the game, and toddy, punch, and mint-julep the beverages to assist in assimilating a plain but
140 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
substantial dinner. Respectable strangers, and especially foreigners, are always invited to the feast of the Barbacue, where Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity can be seen without licentious ness, presumption, or demagogueism. I passed one very agreeable Saturday afternoon with the gentlemen who compose this body.
The Common Council Chamber was occasionally enlivened by the addresses of its members, some of whom were more sensitive than sensible. One gentleman, by trade a brass-founder, especially signalized himself by his grandiloquent style of speaking. On one oecasion, while inveighing against the proposition of another member, he observed : —
" Before I would do such a thing, I would cross to the transmultine states, and there grapple with the most feline animosities of human nature!"
A conflagration had occurred in the city, and when the fire-plugs were removed no water was found. At a Common Council Meeting the question was discussed, as to whether the super intendent of the water-works had committed a breach of duty, when the same orator indig nantly asked —
" Where is your superintendent ? The cry of fire is heard, and where is he? At his rural country seat, his feet concocted upon the mantel-
THE COLOURED POPULATION. 141
piece, reading the periodics of the day, with the key of the reservoir in his pocket."
On another occasion, while descanting upon the triumph of the Democracy, he remarked —
" The Democracy have come down like a mountain torrent, with epaulets (laurels) on his brow!"
No doubt the Richmond Demosthenes is a " Representative Man," for his counterpart may be observed and heard in municipal guilds not transatlantic, and which boast of a higher degree of refinement and intelligence. In any case, the union of arrogance and ignorance is repulsive.
The coloured population are fond of attraction and amusement. Like their betters, they possess a mock gentility, which they sustain chiefly in dress and pretension. On Sundays, dashing satin or bright silk bonnets cover woolly false curls ; a handsome veil conceals a sooty face, which is screened from the sun's rays by a stylish parasol. Gaudy silk dresses sweep the ground, concealing splay feet and receding heels, while the best kid gloves hide the deformities of the digital members. The sable beau who struts beside a chamber-maid, attires himself in Talma or shawl, pantaloons whose checks or stripes exceed the circumference of his leg, and a vest in which the prismatic colours vie for brilliancy. He twirls
142 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
his watch-chain or his cane with affected non chalance, and might almost put a Broadway dandy or a Pall-Mali fop to the blush. These gentry make complimentary calls and drop cartes de visite at each other's kitchens. On occasion of a wed ding, Miss Dinah and her intended spouse have their cards connected by a silken tie, emblematic of that which is to connect themselves ; while a third card announces — " At home from ten to one;" cake, fruits and other refreshments being liberally provided for all comers.
The sable race has also its aristocracy ; and those who are owned by the " first families of Virginia" disdain to hold intercourse with the
O
slaves of persons in lower condition. An old negro, who was considered so entirely " one of the family," as to be in the habit of calling his young mistress "cousin," when addressing her, was asked by the lady : " Why he did not, as formerly, attend the meeting-house of his brethren on Sunday?" His reply was : —
" When I could not sit by Mr. Wickham's Bob and Judge Marshall's Jack, I lik'd to join 'siety, but now I never 'no who I sot by, so I stays at home !"
This individual was once invited to a party, and induced to attend. Having been furnished with a " pass" from his master up to eleven o'clock that
THE "INVISIBLE LADY." 143
night, he went to the house where the festival was held, but became so disgusted with the parvenu character of the company, that he retired to an adjacent apartment and locked himself in until the time arrived for his return home, under the impression that he should not retrace his steps before the hour designated in the document.
When a negro is found abroad after eight o'clock at night, the police invariably require to see his a pass." The non-possession of such a safe- conduct entails the 6f lock-up " until next morn ing. Returning from church one Sunday evening, I happened to pick up a document of this character, which reads as follows : —
" Permit the bearer, Jordan, to pass from Mr. John T. Sizer, on Clay, to Mr. Kents, on Franklin Street, and return by eleven o'clock, P.M., unmolested.
" JOHN T. SIZER, JR.
"Sept. 8, 1861."
The absence of this paper most probably pro cured a night's confinement for the unlucky wight from whose person it had got detached.
The " Invisible Lady," immortalized by Thomas Moore, although her eyes lack lustre and the roses on her cheeks have become seared as autumn leaves, has not yet ft shuffled off this mortal coil." She was the queen of beauty in her day ; but her
144 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
reign, like that of most coquettes, was short and brilliant, and soon forgotten. When Moore was in Richmond, A.D. 1803, this lady, although very young, had reached the zenith of her fame. She possessed numerous admirers, but the Irish bard was the most favoured and flattered of them all. As he addressed odorous odes and idolatrous idylls to all the pretty Caras and Coras, Neas and Noras, Psyches and Chloes, whom he met, it was impos sible that he could have withheld a like tribute of affection to one so fascinating as Cara, the "sweet spirit of mystery." Accordingly we find him inditing the following fanciful lines to this fair enchantress : —
"TO THE INVISIBLE GIRL.
" They try to persuade me, my dear little sprite, That you're not a true daughter of ether and light, Nor have any concern with those fanciful forms That dance upon rainbows and ride upon storms ; That, in short, you're a woman — your lip and your eye As mortal as ever drew gods from the sky. But I will not believe them — no, Science, to you I have long bid a last and a careless adieu : Still flying from Nature to study her laws, And dulling delight by exploring its cause, You forget how superior for mortals below Is the fiction they dream to the truth that they know. Oh ! who that has e'er enjoyed rapture complete Would ask how we feel it, or why it is sweet ;
TOM MOORE'S EULOGY. 145
How rays are confus'd, or how particles fly
Through the medium refin'd of a glance or a sigh ;
Is there one who but once would not rather have known it,
Than written, with Harvey, whole volumes upon it ?
"As for you, my sweet-voiced and invisible love, You must surely be one of those spirits that rove By the bank where at twilight the poet reclines, When the star of the west on his solitude shines ; As the magical fingers of fancy have hung Every breeze with a sigh, every leaf with a tongue. Oh ! hail to him then ! — 'tis retirement alone Can hallow his harp or ennoble its tone. Like you, with a veil of seclusion between, His song to the world let him utter unseen ; And like you, a legitimate child of the spheres, Escape from the eye to enrapture the ears.
" Sweet spirit of mystery ! how I should love, In the wearisome ways I am fated to rove, To have you thus ever invisibly nigh, Inhaling for ever your song and your sigh ! 'Mid the crowds of the world and the murmurs of care I might sometimes converse with my nymph of the air, And turn with distaste from the clamorous crew, To steal in the pauses one whisper from you !
" Then come and be near me, for ever be mine, We shall hold in the air a communion divine, As sweet as of old was imagined to dwell In the grotto of Numa, or Socrates' cell. And oft at those lingering moments of night, When the heart's busy thoughts have put slumber to flight, You shall come to my pillow and tell me of love, Such as angel to angel might whisper above. Sweet spirit ! — and then could you borrow the tone Of that voice, to my ear, like some fairy-song known ; VOL. I. L
146 LIFE IN THE CAPITAL.
The voice of the one upon earth, who has twin'd With her being for ever my heart and my mind, Though lonely and far from the light of her smile, An exile, and weary and hopeless the while, Could you shed for a moment her voice in my ear, I will think for a moment that Cara is near ; That she comes with consoling enchantment to speak, And kisses my eye -lid and breathes on my cheek, And tells me the night shall go rapidly by, For the dawn of our hope — of our heaven is nigh. ,
" Fair spirit ! if such be your magical power, It will lighten the lapse of full many an hour ; And let fortune's realities frown as they will, Hope, fancy, and Cara may smile for me still."
A number of fashionable belles still grace the metropolis of Virginia ; but to say that they render themselves " invisible " would be sadly to belie them. Still, I greatly prefer the soft Southern women, with all their little foibles and frailties, varium et mutabile semper, to their pe dantic, petulant, masculine, cold, and harsh- mannered sisters of the North.
147
CHAPTER V.
THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN AND NEW YORK SETTLER.
The Union an "Experiment" — The First Confederacy — Laws of Connecticut — The " Republican Basis" — A Religious Oligarchy — Penn's Government— A Commer cial Aristocracy — The Dutch West India, Company — Commercial Warriors — Jurisdiction of the States-Gene ral — Gross System of Plunder — Colonial Contests — The Law a Dead Letter — General Corruption of Morals.
FROM the earliest period strong antagonisms have existed between the Northern and Southern sec tions of the American Continent. The two races have been aliens in blood, religion, sentiment, pursuits, and politics. Indeed, the North has always admitted that the "aristocracy of the
L 2
148 THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN.
Union " was confined to the South ; and no Englishman who has travelled through both por tions of the country can fail to perceive the strong contrasts which obtain in the manners, customs, and habits of the people. This difference is clearly attributable to the diverse character of the early colonists. Even when Europe was agitated by conflicting principles of government, and mighty revolutions were being developed, the colonists of the New World were divided among themselves, politically, socially, and religiously.
At length the American Revolution broke out which, for the time being, suppressed all differences of opinion. The colonists were actuated by a common danger and a common interest; and hence that apparent national unity which united them together in the contest for sell- government.
Both sections having fought side by side were subsequently induced, from motives of necessity, to enter into a Confederation, which resulted in the formation of the Union of the several States. Viewing the parties to this compact now, at the distance of nearly a century, it is clearly per ceptible that there existed, in the very outset of their national career, principles inherited from their various progenitors, so distinct and dis cordant as to render it impossible for any power
THE UNION AN "EXPERIMENT." 149
short of a military despotism to perpetuate the Union for any considerable time.
I was forcibly struck, upon perusing some of "Washington's Maxims," to find that even so emi-
rt /
nent and far-seeing an American statesman enter tained a doubt of the integrity of the Union being preserved. It seems to me, if I interpret his language aright, that he simply regarded the Union of the States as an experiment, to be set aside so soon as experience proved its impracti cability. Alluding to the extent of the Union, he observes : —
" Is there a doubt whether a common govern ment can embrace so large a sphere ? Let experi ence solve it. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective sub divisions, will afford a happy issue to the experi ment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability , there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavour to weaken its bands."
The Puritans were the first settlers of the Northern — the Cavaliers, with the Huguenots and Covenanters, of the Southern Colonies. The
150 THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN.
former affected to escape from the thraldom of tyranny, but were in their hearts tyrants. The Cavaliers designed not only to become free them selves, but to disseminate the principles and dis pense the blessings of liberty to those who might live among them and come after them.
No historian has yet written the true history of the Puritan, or justly delineated the outlines of his character. Bancroft, the most voluminous writer of American history, although generally accurate in his statement of facts, is yet a partial and prejudiced historian, constantly mani festing a sectional bias in behalf of the New Englanders. Webster, who never expressed an opinion that was not laudatory of the people among whom he lived, devoted the powers of his intellect to extol in them virtues he knew they did not possess, and to conceal vices to which he was conscious they were addicted. Even Story, the eminent jurist — a man remarkable for his clearness of comprehension and calmness of ex pression — threw around them, in captivating terms, excellences of character, existing only in the beauties of a falsely-bestowed rhetoric.
I do not mean to aver that there was an abso lute negation of good in the Puritan. The settlers of the North possessed a few traits of character, which, if properly directed and well-
THE FIRST CONFEDERACY. 151
poised, are always estimable. In their views they were firm and persistent; but those views were wrong. In their habits they were industrious and economical; but it was an industry actuated by a sordid love of self, and an economy born of the most parsimonious meanness. If they made sa crifices for independence, it was because they coveted the power of exercising the most intoler able despotism — a despotism which manacled the conscience and debased the sentiments. If they wished to worship God according to their pecu liar tenets, it was with a spirit the reverse of Christian, which ignored the right or justice of religious toleration to those who differed from them in opinion.
The first Union of the colonies of New England, which made "one as all," was enacted in 1643. This act of Union embraced the separate Govern ments of Massachusets, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, and required that the affairs of the newly-formed Confederacy should be dele gated to commissioners, consisting of two from each colony. For this office church membership was the only qualification required. Provision was subsequently made for the adoption of new members into the League ; but the people beyond the Piscataqua were not admitted, because tc they ran a different course" from the Puritans, "both
152 THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN.
in their ministry and in their civil administration." The plantations of Providence also desired, but in vain, to participate in the benefits of the Union. The request of Rhode Island was refused on the same denominational grounds.
During the reign of James I. the Puritans from the north of England fled to Holland. Their intolerance as religious subjects had excited the anger of the English monarch, and their expatria tion was inevitable. They laboured under the delusion that the liberal spirit of the Dutch Re formers would open the way for the development of their own violent and sectarian sentiments; so they endeavoured to plant the seeds of religious intolerance in Holland, from which, in their own country, they were deterred. The genius of the Dutch Republic, as well as the sentiments of the Hollanders, was as much at variance with the doctrines of the Puritans as with the persecution of James; consequently they found an equally in compatible and hostile feeling between themselves and the Dutch as that which had exiled them from their native land. They were crushed out in England, defeated in Holland ; their only alternative, therefore, was to seek — not an asylum, for they might have been protected in Amster dam or Leyden, had they been satisfied with pro tection — but a home, where they would be unin-
153
terrupted in their intolerant rule. Hence the true motive which had impelled them to the American shores. Their ulterior aim was not re ligious, but political ascendancy ; for, previous to landing, they resolved themselves into a political body, formed a constitution, and elected a gover nor. So soon as they were organized they acted out the legitimate consequences of their early and constant principles. At first they endeavoured to establish, by coercion, uniformity of faith ; and, failing in this, within ten years after their landing, the entire colony was thrown into con fusion by religious dissensions and theological disputations. Even political advantages they con fined to church members, so that fully five-sixths of the colony were deprived of the privileges and immunities of freemen.
In illustration of Puritan intolerance it will be sufficient to advert to the obnoxious Laws of Con necticut, which, among others equally illiberal, enacted that " No one shall be a freeman, or give a vote, unless he be converted, or a member in a free communion in one of the churches in this dominion. No food or lodging shall be afforded to a Quaker, Adamite, or other heretic. No one shall run of a Sabbath day, or walk in his garden or elsewhere, except reverently to and from the church. No one shall travel, cook victuals, make
154 THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN.
beds, sweep houses, cut hair, or shave on the Sabbath-day. No mother shall kiss her child on the Sabbath or fasting-day.'1 The State enact ments even descended to the ordinary modes of dress, which were prescribed under heavy penal ties, and even to matters of conscience. Those people who fled from persecution in their own country, would not permit the citizens to read the " Book of Common Prayer." Thus did they u strain at a gnat and swallow a camel."
The statutes of New England were not less stringent and intolerant than the " Blue Laws" of Connecticut. People holding obnoxious religi ous views had to undergo expatriation. Strangers were forbidden a residence in the colony without the license of a magistrate. All persons were forbidden to run or walk from church except re verently. Individuals wearing apparel which the grand jury should account disproportioned to their fortune, were to be admonished in the first instance, and, if contumacious, fined. A fine was imposed upon a woman for cutting her hair short, or suffering it to hang loosely over her face. The "select men" assessed, in every family, the quantity of spinning which the young women were rec koned capable of producing, and enforced by fines the production of the requisite quantities. A male child above sixteen years of age, accused by
THE "REPUBLICAN BASIS." 155
his parents of rebellion against them, incurred, conformably with the Mosaic code, the doom of capital punishment ; and any person courting a maid without the sanction of her parents, was fined and imprisoned ; while in cases where the redress of wrongs was not provided for by the ordinances or customs of the province, recourse was had to Sacred Writ.
Such was the "Republican basis" upon which the Union was originally constructed — the corner stone upon which once rested the mighty national superstructure which we now behold riven in twain, defying the art of the most skilful political master-builder to restore the fallen fabric.
The Puritans, upon leaving England, laboured under an acerbity of temper, consequent upon high excitement, which rendered them harsh and domineering; and these emotions subsequently became emanative in their habits and embodied in their laws. In a highly-civilized community, the existence of a penal code denotes the senti ments of the legislators by whom it was framed. Among a rude and violent people, penal statutes indicate the condition of society. From the strict and severe character of the laws of New England, and the cruel manner of their enforce ment, it is obvious that they were a rough, coarse, and turbulent people, provided there was a neces-
156 THE NEW ENGLAND PURITAN.
sity for such laws. If there was no such neces sity, then are they amenable to the historic criticism of being unprincipled tyrants.
It is clearly to be deduced from the history of the Puritans, that the condition of their society demanded rigorous enactments, and that these were enforced with a tyrannical spirit, which, as is generally the case, fell with greater severity on the most deserving. Some excellent, and even distinguished persons, were banished from the colony on account of their religious opinions, and forced to seek a home elsewhere. The States of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, were settled principally by dissenters from the Massachusets colony; but, notwithstanding this circumstance, they carried with them the same indomitable policy, which subsequently developed into action.
For political purposes, which they rendered auxiliary to the Church, they persisted in perse cuting individuals for the alleged crime of witch craft. It is impossible to ascertain the number executed under this miserable pretence. Two sons of the Governor had fled from the charge ; while charges were preferred against Lady Phipps, the Governor's wife, and other prominent persons. This species of political inquisition had been coun tenanced by the Executive. At length, fearing
A RELIGIOUS OLIGARCHY. 157
the power of the populace, they endeavoured to cure the evil by a subterfuge. They allowed the arrests for witchcraft to proceed, but punished the accusers for perjury, unless the evidence was deemed conclusive ; and then the convicted persons were pardoned by the Governor. But the avoidance of an error they had not the firmness to acknowledge, only shows moral imbe cility of character. Convinced of the evil, they should have grappled with it promptly, and not pusillanimously have resorted to unstatesman-like and disingenuous measures. Yet, as late as 1693, with a view to remedy an evil, eating like a cancer into the body politic, they committed the stupendous folly of convoking an assembly of divines to take this matter into consideration. Here, again, is exhibited the supremacy of a religious oligarchy in the Government ; for this course was adopted by order of the Governor. The folly of the convocation is evinced by the report which they drew up, exhibiting the fact, that not only were political affairs under eccle siastical domination, but that such a body was unfit to decide upon matters of State. After solemn consideration, these divines pronounced, as their deliberate judgment : " That the appari tions of persons afflicting others was no proof of their being witches;" and that "it was by no
158 THE NEW YORK SETTLEK.
means inconsistent with Scripture or reason, that the devil should assume the shape of a good man, or even cause the real aspect of that man to pro duce impressions of pain on the bodies of persons bewitched." They, however, united in recom mending to the Government the rigorous prose cution of all persons accused of witchcraft ; at the same time deciding on the validity of the cus tomary evidence, in a manner that made it almost impossible to procure a conviction. It would be difficult to conceive a more vicious decision. The recognized influence of witches was no evidence of their existence ; yet they did exist. All persons accused of witchcraft wrere to be rigor ously prosecuted; nevertheless, the proof was placed so high, as to render conviction unattain able, and the prosecution necessarily abortive.
By degrees, this folly of prosecuting for witch craft wore out; but the influence it possessed over the minds of the people, in rendering the fundamental principles of legislation subservient to the dicta of the Church, remained not only uneradicated, but became stamped for all time on the political character of the Puritan. The States of New York and Pennsylvania were peopled with a different class of settlers, who possessed some distinctive traits of character from the colonists of New England. However, both sections gra-
PENH'S GOVERNMENT. 159
dually became blended into one people, possessing sympathies and interests in common; a fact which I shall endeavour to demonstrate.
The colonial settlement of Philadelphia was commenced, as everybody knows, under the auspices of a good but an unwise man, William Penn, a member of the Society of Friends. I do not propose to analyze the distinctive moral and religious tenets of this class of religionists. They have generally been mild and virtuous, and, as a social and religious confraternity, have demeaned themselves with strict propriety. Penn was a mere visionary pretender, as regards philosophical science, and in no sense a statesman. The very doctrines of Quakerism unfit its advocates for civil stations, and destroy their capacity for government, and the ordinary details of legisla tion. They regard mankind as they should be, not as they actually are. The fundamental theory of Penn's government, and, indeed, of ^Quakerism itself, is an absolute Democracy — a belief in the entire equality of man, with no distinction of moral, social, or political worth or station. In Church government, there was no distinction between laity and clergy ; in affairs of State, no supremacy of authority. It is apparent that the doctrines of this sect oppose the supremacy of all governmental pre-eminence. " Every man has
160 THE NEW YORK SETTLER.
God in the conscience/' taught the Quaker ; but they forgot that every man would not act up to it. Thus — unwittingly, I acknowledge — they planted not only the seeds of the most plebeian form of philosophy, but struck, in their innocent simplicity, at every form and feature of govern ment. They obeyed for a while the law, but not because it was law; and, unloosing the anchor of the ship of State, launched precipitately into mid- ocean, without either chart or compass to direct their course. The result was inevitable : they were overwhelmed by the fury of the winds and waves which their own action had aroused. Quakers could not be magistrates, even in a Quaker community. Hence we find that its first fruits resulted in the subversion of its own authority. Upon this principle, it was contended that the King should send churchmen from Eng land to govern them ; -but to such a measure they would not consent.
The history of no American colony presents more disquietude than that of Pennsylvania. Its early settlers differed among themselves. Quarrels con stantly arose between them and their neighbours of Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland, which were only quieted after transferring the Govern ment to other hands. This step was unavoidable ; but still they preserved, in the social organization,
A COMMERCIAL ARISTOCRACY. 161
that principle which tends to the disruption of every government — for they ignored the sanctity of the law, which they professed to obey, not as citizens, but from the obligations of conscience. The colony of Pennsylvania had the most mixed population, embracing English, Irish, Scotch, French, German, and even Swedes and Dutch. Unlike Puritans, they compromised liberty of conscience, and indulged in every theological whim and caprice. Asa people, they exhibited little stability or uniformity, until forced into a common effort by the exigencies of the first war against this nation.
The early colonists of New York, originally de nominated New Netherland, possessed also several distinctive peculiarities, which marked them with a character in some respects unlike any other in pursuit or habit. The condition of the United Provinces had rendered them essentially a com mercial people. The States were, in fact, the representatives of a fixed commercial aristocracy ; its nature and its interest forced them to resist every tendency to popular innovation, as well as to seek commercial wealth with an exclusive and even selfish anxiety. To this spirit every poli tical question was made to yield. The division of parties extended to every question of domestic politics, to theology and national intercourse. VOL. I. M
162 THE NEW YORK SETTLER.
Manrico, in the embodiment of power in the stadtholdership, favoured colonization in America, but was opposed by the aristocratic class, who feared it would lead to the increase of the execu tive power. A violent struggle ensued, in which the Calvinists, with all the excitement of popular enthusiasm, united with the stadtholder in oppo sition to the Provincial States and the municipal authorities, who represented the commercial or aristocratic party. It was the success of this very party that ultimately occasioned the colo nization of New York. This controversy was carried on with the most violent pertinacity, attended with excesses, disguised under the veil of religious questions; the consequences of which are still remembered in the history of the impri sonment of Borneveld and Grotius, the latter the greatest political writer of his time.
Under the auspices of the Dutch West India Company, the colony of Manhattan was ushered into life. This Company was composed of a number of merchants, who obtained a charter from the States-General, and by means of its wealth became the ruling power in the central portion of the United Provinces. Its charter allowed the exclusive privilege to traffic and plant colonies on the coast of Africa, from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope ; on the
COMMERCIAL WARRIORS. 163
coast of America, from the straits of Magellan to the remotest north. This miniature nation of merchants was invested with extensive, and, in some instances, absolute authority. It laid its own plans, and provided for its own protection. Its boats entered the waters of the Northern colonies, and took possession of the country in its own name. It had five branches in the principal cities of the Netherlands. The direction was entrusted to a board of nineteen members, only one of whom was selected by the States. The year 1623 is the era of the permanent settlement of New York.
At once a line of policy was adopted by the Company, which mainly regarded the acquisition of material wealth, but little the means of its attainment ; hence the seizure of Spanish vessels, and the constant depredation on Spanish com merce. This may have resulted from the rela tions existing between the United Provinces and Spain ; yet neither authority nor protection was received from the States-General. These occur rences clearly indicate the spirit of the colonists, while the profit that ensued may have calmed their conscience, as they were devoted, if not abandoned, to commercial gain. The profits that thus accrued to this Company of merchant warriors were immense. The Spanish prizes
M2
164 THE NEW YORK SETTLER.
taken by the chartered privateers on a single occasion, were almost eight-fold more valuable than the entire amount of exports from New Netherlands for the four preceding seasons.
In 1629, the States-General exercised a special jurisdiction over the colony, by which they sub jected the government of foreign conquests to a council of nine ; and the corporation of nineteen, to which I have already alluded, prescribed a charter of privileges for those who washed to colonize in .New Netherlands. This is the earliest form of government to which New York was sub jected, and is a curious document, illustrating not only the political institutions of the Dutch of that day, but reflecting the character of the New York colony. Every one was promised as much land as he could cultivate. He who planted, in four years, a colony of fifty souls, became lord of the manor, and possessed, in absolute property, lands to the extent of sixteen miles in length ; the width was not designated, unless the lands were located on both sides of the river, then it was eight miles on each bank, penetrating as far into the interior as the situation might require. If cities grew up, their government was with the lord of the manor, who could exercise judicial power, though subject to appeal.
The Corporation, or college of nineteen, mani-
SYSTEM OF PLUNDER. 165
fested a selfish spirit of monopoly, which was transmitted in full force to the colonists after their independence. By a series of proscriptive laws, they placed others under similar restrictions to those under which they had themselves suf fered. Even the charter prohibited the colonists, under penalty of exile, from manufacturing any woollen, linen, or cotton fabric. This charter had a baneful influence on the moral and political character of the settlers. It engendered a sys tem of aggressive measures on the part of the directors and agents, which infest to this day their political rule. Shortly afterwards they began to seize and occupy the most valuable portions of the territory ; a procedure which was tolerated, because the system of plunder was such, that each man thought he had an oppor tunity for personal aggrandizement.
Their depredations on the sea had prepared the mind for such lawless pursuits on land. The system of monopoly practised by the home Government had trained them in every faculty of selfish and aggressive legislation. In a few years we find them engaged in constant contentions for lands with neighbouring colonies, as well as the sur rounding Indians, which occasioned the first contest in New York with the Aborigines, known as the war between the Dutch and the
166 THE NEW YORK SETTLER.
Algonquins. It is a striking fact in the history of this colony, that its settlers were at first clamorous for Free Trade, which the department at Amsterdam strenuously refused. In 1648, the colonists succeeded, and Manhattan, now New York, began to flourish. But the inhabitants, true to the instincts they brought from Holland, perceived that a monopoly like that to which the commercial prosperity of Amsterdam was attri butable, became necessary to build up the city of New York.
A few years had but elapsed, when a struggle for popular power ensued between the colony and the fatherland. A remonstrance was sent to the States-General of the United Provinces, drafted by George Baxter. It acknowledged the States-General as their liege lords, but contended that their " rights and privileges ought to be in harmony with those of the fatherland ; for," they observed, c'we are a member of the State, and not a subjugated people. We have come together from various parts of the world, and are a blended community of various lineage; we have, at our own expense, exchanged our native lands for the protection of the United Provinces ; we, who have transformed the wilderness into fruitful farms, demand that no new laws shall be enacted but with the consent of the people; that none
COLONIAL CONTESTS. 167
shall be appointed to office without the approba tion of the people." And here an interesting epoch in the history of New York opens up. The Governor, Stuyvesant, treated the remonstrance with contempt, observing to the colonists : " We derive our authority from God and the West India Company, not from the pleasure of a few ignorant subjects."
The contest between the colonists and the Government shortly merged into one of a diffe rent character. Disputes respecting land brought about a quarrel with Great Britain, which re sulted in the conquest of New Netherlands. It was one of comparative ease. The colonists disliked the authority of the West India Com pany ; they had no regard for the colony ; and the present States of New York and Jersey were transferred to the Crown of England. It was an important era in their colonial history, which produced some modification of character by the introduction of the English. However, the morale of New Jersey was moulded by New England Puritans, English Quakers, and Scotch Dissenters. New Netherlands was afterwards re conquered from the English. Had it remained in the possession of the Dutch until the Revo lutionary war, the moral, social, political, and religious aspect of the people would have been different.
168 THE NEW YOEK SETTLER.
After the annexation of New York to the British Crown, the population began to assume a more mixed character of Dutch and English. These differences in origin produced distinct classes, with not a particle of assimilation for each other. The stern Dissenters opposed the Churchmen ; and among the Dutch, the greater portion of them, who belonged to the lower classes, had but little sympathy in common with high-bred Englishmen, or, as they designated them, " gentlemen of figure." A political feud ensued. From the first, feudal distinctions had existed among the emigrants from Holland. Leister, in assuming power, rested chiefly for his support upon the uneducated Dutch resi dents, while he was bitterly opposed by the English Dissenters. The acting Governor of New York, accordingly, with his son-in-law, fell victims to party rage, and in May, 1691, were led to the gallows. Leister was succeeded by Fletcher, a covetous and passionate man, whose fickleness and feeble judgment forced the colonists into more decided resistance to the Royal government, although they were not at that time disloyal to the Throne. They were more distracted upon religious questions — which had become entangled with secular affairs — than on politics, which com plication had assumed an aggressive form.
LAW A DEAD LETTER. 169
The desire for aggrandizement in trade, and the extension of territorial limits, excited the passions of the New York settlers, so they began to cast a longing eye upon the Canadian shores. Indi vidually, personal dissensions rankled in their bosoms. In matters of religion, the English inha bitants, though partially admitting the Anglican establishment, yet bordered on the Puritanism of New England. They were subject to that in fluence which shaped the political dissensions of the day, in obedience to the passions of religious sects. The original settlers from Holland were Calvinists ; but their Church organization was less popular than the New England system, pro bably because they assimilated, in many parti culars, with the ecclesiastical polity of Episcopacy.
When the colony became English, the conquest was made by men devoted to the Anglican Church, and this influence predominated in the legislation of the colony. The city of New York, composed, in part, of aliens by birth and feeling to the British authority, united by no bonds of common history, kindred, or tongue, refused obedience to the laws ; and no voice of conscience declared their violation a moral offence, respect for them being only the calculation of gain — a species of moral deformity congenial with Northern character, which has not declined even
170 THE NEW YORK SETTLER.
with the progress of time. Truly does our great Dramatist affirm —
u Oh, when degree is shak'd, Which is the ladder of all high designs, The enterprise is sick ! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from dividable shores, The primogenitive and due of birth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, But by degree, stand in authentic place ? Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows ! each thing meets In mere oppugnancy. The bounded waters Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores, And make a sop of all this solid globe : Strength should be lord of imbecility, And the rude sou should strike his father dead : Force should be right ; or rather, right and wrong, (Between whose endless jar justice resides,) Should lose their names, and so should justice too."
Before and after the Revolution, the civil and domestic aspect of New York exhibited almost continual dissensions and bickerings, a circum stance which has stamped the political and social relations of the colony with a permanent cha racter, from which that State has not recovered. How, indeed, could it be otherwise, when the colony has received a constant increase of popu lation from every source of emigration that could be engendered by poverty, oppression, ignorance, and crime, in every kingdom of Europe. There
CORRUPTION OF MORALS. 171
was a population of every lineage and language, of every religion and every propensity, bound by no sympathy, restrained by no ties, impelled by no reverence for the laws, and actuated by no principle but that of gain. As Lord Macauley appositely observes : "A people which takes no pride in the achievements of remote ancestors, will never do anything worthy of remembrance by remote descendants."
The morals of the colony were further cor rupted, at the beginning of the last century, by becoming the recipient of a large body of felons, who were transported thither from England. Even at this advanced period of its history, individuals who have forfeited all claim to con sideration, and even legal protection, in a foreign country, may here become " lionized," receive the privilege of citizenship, and the rewards due only to probity, morality, and merit.
172
CHAPTER VI.
THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
The " Old Dominion "—First Settlers in Virginia— Attach ment to the Constitution and Church of England — Utopia Realized — A Catholic Colony — Lord Baltimore — Th3 Fruitful Mother of States — Temporizing Policy — North Carolina — Foundation of Charleston — Oglethorpe, the Founder of Georgia — Character of the Emigrants.
HAVING in the preceding chapter drawn a few outlines of the New England Puritan, I now pro ceed to offer an agreeable contrast by presenting a portrait of the Southern Cavalier. It is only by becoming conversant with the discordant ele ments which have always existed between both people, that a just idea can be formed of the causes that have led to the present American dis-
THE "OLD DOMINION." 173
ruption, and of the impossibility of the Union being re-constructed.
There was a powerful and distinctive element in those colonists who founded and formed the Southern States. Beginning with Virginia, we perceive, even from the earliest epoch of its his tory, the basis of a moral, social, and political structure, exhibited in the government, the juris prudence, and the religion of that state. The first emigration to the " Old Dominion " came without political or religious cast, and without political or religious objects. It is true, they were mere adventurers, bold and hardy, and in search of gain ; but, by degrees, it was peopled with a mixed community, the most prominent and in fluential of which were the supporters of loyalty in England — known as the Cavaliers.
The Cavalier element in Virginia, and Puritanism in New England, were manifested by the loyalty of the one and the disloyalty of the other. The Puri tans left home the bitter opponents of the Stuart dynasty. Their purpose was to establish a reli gious government, in opposition to that of Eng land. They seized the first opportunity that arrived to subvert the charter which Charles had granted to Massachusets. They coincided with the Cromwellian party, and strongly adhered to the principles of the Long Parliament. Virginia,
174 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
on the other hand, true to her Cavalier sentiment, remained loyal throughout. Upon the Restora tion, the fires of loyalty blazed up more brilliantly than before. The fundamental differences between the colonies of Massachusets and Virginia were, that the latter, proud of the Constitution of their mother country, sought not to overthrow the Government, and were not impelled to seek a new home, for the purpose of establishing a Consti tution which would pander to their own peculiar dogmas ; consequently, they allowed affairs of state and affairs of religion to be administered as they were in England.
This is evident from their universal conformity to the Anglican Church, the manner in which they were favoured by the Crown, and the absence of any enactment militating against the rules and ritual of the Church of England. As Mr. Rives, an accomplished Virginia scholar and orator, remarks in his "Life of Madison," — u No fact is better established than that the early English emigrants to Virginia, for the first half- century of her history, with here and there an exception, serving only to prove the general rule, were ' loyal subjects to both King and Church.' It could not but be so ; for the strin gent laws of the country from the beginning, with regard to Church conformity, rendered it
FIRST SETTLERS IN VIRGINIA. 175
altogether an uninviting abode to persons of other persuasions."
When the civil war broke out in England, and during the existence of the Commonwealth, a heavy immigration tended to Virginia. This population was evidently of the Cavalier party, who gladly sought an asylum where their political, as well as religious and social predilections were unre strained. Upon the restoration of Monarchy, it is probable an occasional admirer of Cromwell found his way to Virginia ; but in the early period of the colony, both prior and subsequent to the Commonwealth, the Cavaliers formed the basis of Virginia colonial society. Every inducement was held out to them, in preference to any other class ; while the political and religious aspect of the colony corresponded with their views.
One writer has asserted that Virginia was settled by " the great Anglo-Saxon family, whose swords were never drawn in vain, and before whom the hosts of the Cavaliers in the Old World were driven as chaff before the wind." The author of the "Address in the Virginia Convention of 1776," has evidently fallen into an error, by confounding the earlier colonial settlement with the period of Virginia history contemporary with the Eevolution. If, indeed, it was not the Cavalier who settled Virginia, why, until the
176 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
period that ushered in the Revolution, do we dis cover such conformity and attachment to the Constitution and the Church of England ! There was no other class that could thus represent it. It was not the Covenanter, nor could it be the Huguenot — the latter having come over, to the number of three hundred, in 1710, after William was established on the Throne, and the former not being attached to the English Church. In addi tion to this evidence may be added the fact, that a considerable number of the leaders of the Revo lution were known to be descended from those who had fought and bled for Charles I. Among these worthies was Henry Washington, the first- cousin of the grandfather of George Washington, who fought for the King at Bristol. The pater nal ancestor of George Mason raised a company, and fought against the army of Cromwell.
Indeed, many of the emigrants had been Roy alists in England, officers in the war, men of education, of property, and condition. But the waters of the Atlantic divided them from the political strifes of Europe. Their industry was employed in turning their plantations to the best advantage. Virginia had long been the home of its inhabitants. " Among many other blessings," said their statute-book, " God Almighty hath vouchsafed increase of children to this colony,
UTOPIA REALIZED. 177
who are now multiplied to a very considerable number."
The genial climate and transparent atmosphere delighted those who had come from the denser air of this country. Every object in Nature was new and wonderful. The hospitality of the colo nists became proverbial. Labour was valuable ; land was cheap ; competence promptly followed industry. There was no need of a scramble, as abundance gushed from the earth for all. The morasses were alive with water-fowl ; the forests were nimble with game ; the woods rustled with coveys of quails and wild-turkeys, while they sung with the merry notes of the singing birds. Hogs ran at large in troops. It was truly u the best poor man's country in the world."
The Cavaliers, in the early days of the Virginia colony, formed the largest portion of her populn- lation, and, consequently, the controlling element of her society, embracing the first half century of her existence after the colony had recovered from the disasters of the Jamestown settlements. The conclusion is inevitable — that the habits, tastes, manners, and government of the colony received its character from the Cavalier. Before noticing the direct influence of this element in Virginia society, it will elucidate the subject to catch the other streams of early liberty in the sister colonies,
VOL. I. N
1 78 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
and, with their confluences, to trace the develop ment of liberty, and the peculiar mission per formed by those States.
Maryland, it is true, was colonized by Roman Catholics ; but they were generally tolerant, and singularly free from bigotry. The King, as is well known, was never bitter against those of his sub jects who adhered to that persuasion. Lord Balti more, himself a Roman Catholic, became interested in colonizing America. He was at first desirous to form a settlement in some part of Virginia ; but, after visiting the inhabited section of this colony, he at once discovered an antipathy to his religion. The country beyond the Potomac was untenanted by any but a few Indians. The can celling of the Virginia patents had restored to Charles the full authority of his prerogative over the soil. It was a vast territory, and he deter mined to sever a province therefrom. Conse quently, Calvert obtained a charter from that colony, afterwards named Maryland, in honour of Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henry IV., and wife of Charles I. Calvert, to whom the charter was granted, was a man of moderation, sincere and honest, and disengaged from political and religious cliques.
This charter, avowedly drawn up by the first Lord Baltimore, although it issued for the benefit
A CATHOLIC COLONY. 179
of his son, was exceedingly liberal in its spirit and its terms. No provision was made or required in reference to the power of the King, which was a sufficient pledge of the intended liberties of the colony. It was held by the tenure of fealty, only paying a yearly rental of two Indian arrows, and a fifth of all gold or silver ore which might be found. The liberality of the charter secured to the emi grants an independent share in the legislation of the colony, the laws of which were to be enacted with the consent of a majority of the freemen by their deputies. It was the earliest and most com plete Representative Government ever established by letters patent from the Crown. No prefe rence was given to any sect, while equality in civil and religious matters was thereby ensured to all. Monopolies were renounced. All present and future liege subjects of the English Monarch, except such as were expressly forbidden, might emigrate with their families to this colony. The King reserved no right of superintendence over it, and covenanted that neither he, nor his heirs, nor his successors, should ever set any imposition or tax upon the inhabitants of the province.
Lord Baltimore was a mild and kind-hearted man ; and, in bringing with him to Maryland his small colony of Catholics — who in England had become at that time objects of special dislike —
N2
180 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
he exhibited a marked difference from the Puri tans. The colony rapidly increased in population and wealth, and its legislation was characterized by wisdom and virtue. In order to diffuse a spirit of liberality throughout the community, protection was proffered to persecuted Protes tants. Even the relentless Puritans were invited by Lord Baltimore to immigrate to Maryland — a proof that he not only designed protection to all, but exhibited to the inhabitants of Massachusets a determination to have no government protection to one class of religionists who should strain the Constitution to suit their sectarian views, to the maltreatment and exclusion of all others, and as an offset to Puritanical legislation. Massachusets might at this day learn a lesson of pious liberality and honest legislation from even Papal Maryland in 1649, when she placed in her statute-book the wise law : —
"And whereas the enforcing of the conscience in matters of religion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequences in those Common wealths where it has been practised, and for the more quiet and peaceable government of this pro vince, and the better to preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person within this province, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be anyways troubled, molested, or discoun-
THE MOTHER OF STATES. 181
tenanced, for his or her religion, or in the free exercise thereof."
Here Maryland exhibited a wise liberality. The design of her law was to protect freedom of religious opinion. The civil liberty of the colony was confirmed by an equal union between all branches of the government, and questions of religion left to the unbiassed, unrestrained, and unthreatened conscience of the colonists. Politics were based upon religion, but religion was not debased by politics. While Puritanism in New England was enacting rigorous laws, fettering the conscience, burdening the faith, and directing the industry of the field, the shop, and the domicile, Maryland was effecting a grand political reform in all the industrial and social relations of life.
Virginia may be called the fruitful Mother of States, and claim kindred, among others, with the State of North Carolina. This State was origi nally explored by "Virginians born." In 1653 a company was led by Roger Green from Nanse- mond, or the country on the river bearing that name, into the forest, and to the waters that flow into Albemarle Sound. Three years later the Speaker of the Assembly conceived the design of exploring the country still further south, and planting a settlement between Cape Hatteras and
182 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
Cape Fear. The result of this scheme I am un able to learn.
The motives which induced an emigration from Virginia can only be presumed. Most probably a restless spirit, actuated by a love of gain, and not, as Bancroft intimates, a distrust of the Go vernment of Virginia, in reference to the enforce ment of religious conformity. Such could never have been their dread. The Chief of the Yeopins, in 1662, granted to George Durant an extensive area of land, which still bears his name ; and Sir Wil liam Berkley bestowed soon after a large tract on an individual, as a reward for having established sixty-seven persons in Carolina. These planta tions were chiefly on the north-east bank of the Chowan. Buckley was commissioned to organize a government over this region; but, being an ex tensive landholder in Carolina, and perhaps from motives of individual wealth, preferred found ing a separate government. Accordingly, he se vered the colony from Virginia — the offspring from its parent — and appointed William Drum- mond, a Scotch emigrant, Governor of the same, who is described as a man of popularity and pru dence, and deeply imbued with the spirit of popu lar liberty. He instituted a simple form of go vernment, allowing of the utmost freedom.
Such was the introduction of white people into
TEMPORIZING POLICY. 183
North Carolina — simple, unostentatious, honest people, with no ambition but to be free and happy. They were not, however, suffered long to enjoy undisturbedly their sylvan retreat. A company of West India planters purchased from the Indians a tract of land, thirty- two miles square, near Cape Fear Kiver. They procured the appointment of Sir John Yeamans, the son of a Cavalier, as Governor of this territory, with a jurisdiction extending as far as the Saint Matheo. The country was called Clarendon. Little was known of Sir John or his government beyond the fact, that he adopted a temporizing policy. His instructions were : —
" Make things easy to the people of New Eng land. From thence the greatest supplies are ex pected."
Through the influence of Lord Clarendon ignor ing the claims of Virginia, and defying the rights of Spain, the former settlement at length engaged the attention of our nobility at home. This was in 1666, when the population of the territory amounted to eight hundred. A charter was finally obtained, extending from the Atlantic to the Pa cific Ocean, and embracing all the land between 25° and 36 J° north latitude — an important terri tory, settled by less than a thousand white people, and extending over 7° from north to south, and
184 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
above 40° from east to west. This area com prised North and South Carolina, Georgia, Ten nessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and a considerable portion of Mexico, as well as Florida.
This wide domain, with bounteous soil and delightful climate, attracted the famous Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. His influence on the gentle and philosophic Locke, then unknown to fame, induced him to write for a people he never saw, and whose interest he did not under stand, a paper, known in history as " Locke's Constitution for Carolina." The Constitution was duly signed in the spring of 1670, and dis patched from England to the Governor.
But the wisdom of philosophers, authors, and statesmen, melted beneath the influence of plain old William Edmonson and honest George Fox, who said of himself, a What I am in words, I am the same in life." The people living in the lonely woods welcomed old George to their homes. The Governor's wife paddled him to the shore in her canoe ; and he was proud to sleep on a mat spread upon the floor ; the best that the Executive man sion afforded in those days — simple and primitive times, truly !
The Constitution of Locke, however correct in its general principles, and worthy of estimation,
NORTH CAROLINA. 185
was scarcely adapted for a small colony of men, scattered like hermits amid primeval forests. Among a plain agricultural people, remote from the busy haunts of men, untutored in the snares of implicated commercial and international inter course, their wants are few, and the demands of legislation limited. As the requirements of social life increase and expand the machinery of govern ment needs a corresponding development.
The North Carolinians had adopted a code of laws before the Cabinet Constitution had been expected. The records of its legislative history extend as far back as the autumn of 1669. These laws, although simple, were suited to the exigences of the settlers ; and through them we gain a deep insight into their character — for laws always shine with a reflective power. In some instances those laws were defective. They were not a com mercial people ; and, therefore, had not adopted the strictest rules for the recovery of debt. In mercantile pursuits delay sometimes becomes ruinous. Among communities of planters it is of less moment ; consequently, the law of the colony forbade the bringing of a suit against an emigrant debtor for five years. Marriage was made a civil contract, such as it now is in this country, requir ing only the consent of the parties before a magis trate, with witnesses ; a principle of legislation
186 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
retained to this day. New settlers were invited among them by an exemption from taxation until the second year of their residence. Every settler was entitled to bounty-land; but to prevent fraud his title was withheld for two years. Political offices were not sought for emolument. The members of the Legislature received no stipend. The expenses of the Government held out no glittering bait for speculation or peculation, being defrayed by a fee of thirty pounds of tobacco on every law-suit ; and it is not probable that at this period many were instituted. In 1715 the laws were re-enacted, and remained valid for over half- a-century. As Bancroft remarks — " North Caro lina was settled by the freest of the free ; by men to whom the restraints of the other colonies were too severe. They had no vindictive passions ; they were gentle in their temper, and enemies to violence and bloodshed ; they felt the spirit of freedom ; they understood and appreciated its heaven-impelled mission ; and were free, because they had it without guarantees, and were un- kindled by sectarian passions."
The constituent elements of South Carolina, another sister star in the Southern galaxy, also exhibit a strong contrast to those which entered into the formation of New England society. After the failure of the first French colonial
FOUNDATION OF CHARLESTON. 187
settlement, and the tentative but fruitless effort of Caligny to provide, in the wilderness of the New World, a secure retreat from the tyrannies of the Old, we find a colony of Englishmen estab lishing themselves upon the Ashley River.
In 1663, after the efforts of Sir Eobert Heath had proved abortive for settling the territory which stretched southward of Virginia (including Louisi ana, on the Mississippi) by the name of Carolina, the Earl of Clarendon and several associates formed a plan for establishing a colony in that region. This settlement was principally effected by the agency of Lord Clarendon, the Duke of Albemarle (famous for the energy he manifested in the restoration of the Stuarts), by the Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lords Craven, Colleton, and Berkley — each an influential representative of the Cavaliers of that day. In these men there was nothing sectarian or bigoted. According to the charter they obtained, the applicants were " excited by a laudable pious zeal for the propa gation of the Gospel." It was under the auspices of this colony that the foundation of the present city of Charleston was laid ; and so devoid were they of all party feeling or acerbity, that Round head and Cavalier alike sought refuge in Caro lina, which, for a long time, continued a pet pro vince of the proprietors.
188 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
Upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which deprived the Huguenots of the security of life, liberty, and fortune, a large immigration of this class set in to Carolina from Languedoc, Rochelle, Bordeau, Tours, Dieppe, and other places. In 1679 two vessels of French Protes tants were sent over by Charles II., at his own expense. These men and women, who escaped from a land where the profession of their religion was a felony, came with hearts softened and sub dued ; with more than the virtues of the Puritan, and none of his bigotry, to a free and happy country, where toleration was considered a moral, and even religious, duty, no less obligatory upon governments than individuals. Emigrants fol lowed from Switzerland, Germany, and Holland. The tastes and habits of the dwellers on the Seine and the Rhine, of the French Huguenot and German Palatine, became mingled in the flowery forest of this land of freedom. The Cavalier preserved his character distinct from religious pursuits ; the Calvinist his piety apart from poli tical predilections.
The Cavalier element was indisputably predo minant at the beginning of the English settlements in South Carolina. However, as the tide of emi gration from Europe set in, the Cavalier was placed politically in the minority. The proud
THE FOUNDER OF GEORGIA. 189
and haughty adherents of the Throne took com mon cause with the proprietories, but were ulti mately voted down. But in all the contests carried on by the opponents of the Crown, there was no effort to control liberty of conscience. The Cavalier thought himself sufficiently free under the protection of the Crown ; while the opposing party, composed of all classes, advocated larger parliamentary powers, which they considered neither inconsistent with their loyalty nor their chartered privileges. The Cavalier spirit in South Carolina, as in Virginia, was characterized by honour and liberality of feeling, courtesy, and high breeding. In the former State these quali ties were combined with Calvinistic piety ; in the latter, with warm attachment to the Anglican Church; thereby forming a social basis upon which was erected the fabric of civil and religious liberty, without tainting religion with politics, or imbuing politics with religion.
Not alone one or two, but all the Southern colo nies, were founded by individuals whose prevailing motives and characteristics were zeal for the ad vancement of religious truth and political freedom. In this respect few persons present higher claims to consideration than Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of Georgia, whose name stands in brilliant contrast to the minions of power who
190 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
held sway over Massachusets, New York, and other Northern provinces. He was a member of the British Legislature, rich in varied learning and acquirements. An hereditary Koyalist, he had served with distinction in the British army, was present at the siege of Belgrade, and through out the brilliant campaign on the Danube. His philanthropy was remarkable, and he was the first who succeeded in making legal provision for re dressing the grievances of the debtor class who were confined in English prisons.
At his request George II. granted a charter, by which the territory lying between the Savannah and the Alatamaha Rivers was formed into the province of Georgia. It was placed under the guardianship of a corporation for twenty-one years, in trust for the poor. The common seal bore the striking impress of a group of silk worms on one side, with the motto, " Non sibi sed aliis." The obverse represented two figures reposing on urns, having between them the genius of " Georgia Agusta," with the cap of liberty on her head, a spear in one hand, and the cornucopia in the other. This was emphatically a Cavalier colony. At its head stood the Earl of Shaftesbury, with individuals of kindred feeling and sympathies. The King expressed and exhibited great interest in its welfare, and Parliament continued its benefac-
CHARACTER OF THE EMIGRANTS. 191
tions. Finally, a company of Gaelic mountaineers, possessing the blood and bearing the names of the prominent loyalists who had fought under the banner of the Stuarts, embarked for America, and established New Inverness, in Darien. Later still, Oglethorpe collected a fresh company of three hundred emigrants, among whom was a con fraternity of Moravians, with John and Charles Wesley. These desired to render Georgia a re ligious colony, having no theory of ecclesiastical legislation, but acknowledging in religion a heaven- born freedom, which trains the heart to virtue and quickens the sentiments to piety.
Although the emigrants induced to Georgia were, in the aggregate, poor, still they were honest and religious, while their religion possessed neither acerbity nor selfishness. They were truly pilgrims, but far superior to those familiarly designated the " Pilgrim Fathers," who settled at Plymouth. The governors and legislators were all men of education, of high birth and station ; and, in the discharge of their functions, acquitted themselves with honour as well as advantage to the colony.
That there existed a palpable difference in character and purpose between the Northern and Southern colonists, history demonstrates. This distinction is in part traceable to the political
192 THE CAVALIER OF THE SOUTH.
and religious condition of Europe, which formed diverse organizations in society. The Reformation had incorporated the political and religious passions of the people in a mingled con test. But the age in which these excitements were united was passing away, and under a changed political and commercial regime might have been altogether extinguished, but for that intense pretension to mysticism, and that morbid piety, which the Puritan planted in New England. North and South presented two separate and distinct nationalities. The Southern colonies were agricultural. The Northern colonists engaged in the more profitable pursuits of commerce and manufactures. That was a fundamental error which bound together, under the compact of the Union, the people of both sections, with so many discordant elements, and possessing scarcely a feature in common. A nation divided against itself cannot stand. The existing rupture was inevitable. It could brook no delay, and will admit of no reconciliation. As Christopher North observes :—" There is a great deal of human nature in man ;" or, as the proverb pithily has it: — u Expel nature with a fork, and she will again return!"
193
CHAPTER VII.
GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
European Misconception — A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing — The Force of " King Numbers " — Conflicting Interests — " The Letter " and " the Spirit " — " The Holy Text of Pike and Gun "— " Beggar my Neighbour"— The "Ame rican System " — A War of Tariffs — Territorial Aggres sion — Domestic Aggression — Infractions of the Constitu tion — Effects of theWar on NorthernCommerce — Northern Hallucination.
I FOUND that the prevailing idea throughout the Confederate States was " to whip the Yankees ;" and certainly, if confidence, enthusiasm, and self- sacrifice can be regarded as omens of success, then, indeed, such a result may be expected. The conflicts that have already taken place be tween the belligerent armies tell vastly in favour of the " rebels," as they are contemptuously desig nated by the North ; and this success has stimu lated the ardour and bravery of the Southern VOL. I. O
194 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
troops, and aroused the spirit of the people. The feeling on both sides is more than hostile ; it amounts to unmitigated, undisguised hatred. The North will show no mercy, and the South will give none. Consequently, the civil war now raging is likely to prove one of the most, if not the most sanguinary on record. The campaign may not be prolonged, nor the general engage ments numerous ; but, however short the struggle, it will be both desperate and bloody.
Even the Southern women are extensively ino culated with the universal war spirit. If the men endeavour to vie with the heroic Spartans, the women are ambitious of rivalling those of Sara- gossa. Not only do many of the gentler sex pos sess revolvers and bowie-knives, but also endeavour to become proficient in the use of them. I believe that, in case Richmond should become invaded, a large number of Amazons would be found ready to defend their principles, their pro perty, and their homes, by sheer force of arms. In this respect they would but exhibit the courage of their ancestors, when wives assisted their liege lords in guarding the sanctity of their hearths against the fierce and savage Indian.
I have heard Southerners frequently complain that the real causes of the disruption of the Union, and the consequent war, were not rightly under-
EUROPEAN MISCONCEPTION. 195
stood in Europe ; that the North, by false asser tions, had prejudiced the minds of foreigners against the Confederacy, while endeavouring to enlist sympathy for herself; and they only asked the "attentive hearing" of enlightened European nations, while they exposed their grievances, and explained the circumstances which have brought about the present unhappy condition of affairs. The vexed question of slavery, they averred, had only been put forward in order to withdraw attention from the real causes at issue, knowing from expe rience how readily such a bait would be seized in England by a certain class of politicians, who are always on the alert for " sensation " topics.
There certainly appears to exist in the minds of European journalists and the public a great deal of misconception with reference to the prin ciples involved in the existing conflict between the American people. The contest between the colonies and the mother country mainly arose out of the claim of the latter to tax the former in all cases whatsoever ; while the colonies contended that taxation and representation should go toge ther — in other words, that no free people could or ought to be taxed without their own consent, either expressed or implied. At the time of the Revolution the thirteen colonies were, in a great measure, what might be called " Slave States " — •
o2
196 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
although, in process of time, the Northern people, finding the institution unprofitable, gradually and almost imperceptibly got rid of the burden. The climate, the soil, and the productions of the North were unsuited to slave labour, as the support of the negro bondman during the winter months cost more than the profits derived from his in dustry in the spring, summer, and autumn. Con sequently, these sagacious and sharp-sighted people freed themselves from an incumbrance, and, at the same time, claimed for their conduct all the merit of a self-sacrificing and disinterested philanthropy. In some instances, however, their emancipation laws were prospective, enabling the owners of slave property to dispose of their chattels in the Southern markets, while, apparently, they acted under the dictates of a generous love of human liberty. At all events, the Federal Constitution, adopted in 1787 between the thirteen States, expressly guarantees to the owners of slaves the protection of that, as well as all other species of property.
It is a notorious fact, that the Northerners were at one time the most aggravated slave-dealers. They transported the miserable captives from Africa, sold them at the South, and got amply remunerated for their living merchandize. Even when the emancipation laws forbade the pro-
A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 197
longation of slavery at the North, crowds of negroes used to be collected along the shores of New England and the Middle States, to be shipped to latitudes where their bondage would be per petual. Their posterity toil to-day on the Southern plantations. The trade was thus carried on, with all its historic inhumanity, by the sires and grand- sires of the very individuals who, for thirty years, have been denouncing slavery as an outrage against Heaven, and slaveholders as the vilest
c5 '
class of tyrants ; and the very wealth in which many of these agitators now revel, has descended to them as the fruit of the slave-trade, in which their progenitors grew fat.
During the debate on the Missouri question, a Senator from South Carolina introduced into the Senate a document from the Custom-house of Charleston, containing the names and owners of vessels engaged in the African slave-trade. In reading the document the name of De Wolfe was repeatedly called. De Wolfe, who was the Sena tor-elect from Rhode Island, was present, but had not been qualified. The Carolina Senator was called to order. " Order ! order ! " echoed through the Senate-Chamber. " It is contrary to order to call the name of a Senator," said a distinguished gentleman. The Senator contended he was not violating the privilege of the House,
198 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
as the Senator from Rhode Island had not been qualified, and, consequently, was not entitled to a seat. He appealed to the Chair. The Chair re plied — " You are correct, sir — proceed ; " and proceed he did, calling the name of De Wolfe so frequently, that, before he had finished the document, he had proved the honourable gentle man the importer of three-fourths of the "poor Africans" brought to the Charleston market ; and the Rhode Island abolitionist " bolted," amid the sneers of the auditors.
The Constitution assumed the nature of a con tract between the States that had become parties to it, and gave to the general or common Govern ment of all certain specified and enumerated powers — reserving to the States, or the people respectively, all other powers not so granted. By referring to the 8th section of Art. I. of the Con stitution, it will at once be perceived that the legislative power of the general Government is restricted to objects in which all the States are equally interested ; and that Congress has no power whatever (any more than a foreign nation) over the domestic institutions of the different States, except to protect them. As there has always been a large party, particularly in the Northern section of the Union, who claim for the general Government an almost unlimited power
THE FORCE OF "KING NUMBERS." 199
over the States and the people, it is not surprising that foreigners should have fallen into the same error. Viewing this as a centralized government, based upon Republican ideas, the prevalent notion on both sides of the Atlantic is, that " the majo rity should rule." The American Government, however, is not, and never was intended to be, a Government of majorities. Otherwise, how is it that the little State of Delaware, with its 110,000 inhabitants, and Florida, with its 81,800 people, are the equals in the United States' Senate with the great States of New York with its 3,000,000, Pennsylvania with its 2,300,000, and Ohio with its 1,890,000 souls?
This fact, it is averred, establishes the principle of State rights and State equality, which lies at the foundation of the system, and ignores the theory of the Washington Executive and his Cabinet, that the States are no more sovereign and inde pendent than the " counties " within their respec tive limits. With nineteen free to fifteen slave States, and two-thirds of the popular vote in favour of an opposing section (on a sectional issue), maxims of construction are laid down at variance with the letter and spirit of the Constitutional compact, for the express purpose of converting the North into a Government of unlimited powers, in which the brute force of "King Numbers," and
200 GKOTINDS OF ANTAGONISM.
not the Constitution, is to decide the destiny of the Union.
Many leading Northern men have already de clared that the Constitution of the United States, in so far as it tolerates African slavery, is "a league with the Devil, and a covenant with Hell!" — and that, in consequence of the " irrepressible conflict " between freedom and slavery, there is a "higher law" than that instrument, which it is the duty of all good men to obey. The party who elected the present Executive, in the " plat form " of principles which they adopted at Chicago during the summer of 1 860, and upon which their candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency planted themselves, virtually declared a sectional warfare against the equality of the Southern or Slave States with reference to the settlement of the new territories or embryo States of the Union — thereby ignoring the provisions of the Federal compact and the solemn advice of Wash ington in the Federal Address which he left as a legacy to his countrymen on retiring from the Presidency. " In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union," observes that remarkable Statesman, " it occurs, as a matter of serious con cern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical designa tions — Northern and Southern, Atlantic and
CONFLICTING INTERESTS. 201
Western — whence designing men may excite a belief that there is a real difference of local inte rests and views," etc. This advice, however well- timed and necessary, was disregarded by the minority, who, owing to party divisions, elected the present Rulers of the late United States. Hence America finds herself the battle-ground of a most embittered civil revolution, and cut up into two belligerent sections ; the people who compose each agreeing in nothing but the intensity of the hatred which they mutually entertain for each other.
The North, as the descendants of the Puritans, and the South as the offspring of the Cavaliers, never fully sympathized or affiliated in sentiment or feeling, although, when combined into a federal compact, they formed an amalgam beneficial to both. The South raised agricultural or staple products, and the North acted as its factor. While, at the same time, it manufactured almost everything the people of the other section wore or used, either for domestic or agricultural pur poses, the North created, not a discriminating, but a prohibitory tariff, so as to exclude all foreign competition. Northern theological and collegiate institutions — such as they are — t( manu factured" preachers, teachers, physicians, and lawyers, to meet the Southern demand ; and rich
202 GKOUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
Southern family alliances frequently rewarded the enterprize of the "Yankee" adventurers in the religious, the scientific, and the literary, as well as in the manufacturing line ! The South was, therefore, a rich pasture for the poor but energetic New Englanders to fatten upon.
In tormenting and tantalizing the Hotspurs of the South into the folly of " Secession," the Northern people have obviously stood very much in their own light. Secession seems to be an act not sanctioned by Constitutional Law; although there is no actual prohibition against it — less through inadvertence than from design, I apprehend — but then, the Declaration of American Independence, adopted in 1776, expressly lays it down, that to secure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, " Governments were instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; " and that, " whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such prin ciples, and organizing its powers in such forms, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." The Southern people affirm that, although Mr. Lincoln's election was in accordance with the prescribed forms of
"THE LETTER" AND "THE SPIRIT." 203
law, it was nevertheless in direct violation of the spirit of the compact between the Northern and Southern States — for it was the first time a Presi dent of the United States had been elected upon a purely sectional issue, and by an exclusively sectional vote. Not a single electoral vote was cast for him in any of the Southern or Slave States, and only 27,000 scattered votes through out the States of the Union. As the South pos sesses nearly 4,000,000 of slaves, worth, on an average, about 150/. each, and as property is ever sensitive, it was but natural that the South should have been alarmed at the election of a President on principles hostile to its stability.
The excitement and agitation consequent upon that event, were but the logical sequences of an election conducted on such principles and achieved by such means, and were anticipated and predicted by unbiassed and reflecting ob servers. It is idle to aver that Lincoln was legally and constitutionally elected, because, although the letter of the law was complied with, its spirit was outraged by the sectional " plat form," upon which he planted himself as a can didate, and by his undignified pledge in his Inaugural Address, to adhere to the shibboleth of party. Elected by a plurality of the popular vote (the opposing candidates receiving nearly a
204 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
million more of the people's suffrages), he, by that pledge, placed the platform of a sectional faction upon the high footing of the fundamental law of his whole country.
The arbitrary and illegal measures that have been, and are still resorted to, for the purpose of silencing the voice of criticism or dissent, and even the due forms of law, have already changed the whole structure of the Government, and con verted it into an unlimited military despotism. To be guilty of being suspected, is all that is necessary to involve the confiscation of property and the loss of personal liberty. Respectable men, and even women, are now incarcerated in private houses and public prisons, without, in many cases, knowing the charges against them ; while the recent deposition and arrest of the municipal and judicial authorities and Legislature of Bal timore, and their imprisonment, that their places might be filled with the pliant tools of the Administration (although no insurrection existed in that city), is a stretch of power and au thority never exceeded by the Bourbons, the Stuarts, or even Bomba, of Naples, himself !
Gentlemen of high position in Washington — some of them members of Congress — recently told me, that they knew not at what moment they would be deprived of their liberty, simply
because their " proclivities" were considered antagonistic, and therefore obnoxious, to the Government. The legitimate inference from all this is, that should the North succeed in subjugating the South — an impossibility, in my opinion — the latter can only be held as conquered provinces; and we will then have the singular spectacle of a Republic, where all power is sup posed to be "derived from the consent of the governed," in which one-half of the people will be rulers, and the other subjects — a hydra-headed despotism, with rulers animated by sectional hatred and antagonism, determined to tax their victims to the last dollar for their own benefit.
Conquest and pains and penalties are every where followed, in the South, by the multiplication of Secessionists. No one appears convinced by those who preach to them from " the holy text of pike and gun;" clearly demonstrating that a peaceful separation, and a re-adjustment between the sections, would involve less of evil to both than the inauguration and prolongation of this misera ble, unnecessary, and unjust war. In America, incompatibility of temper becomes a legitimate cause of divorce between man and wife. Happy would it have been had the same principle ob tained and been recognized as applicable to the Northern and Southern belligerents !
206 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
There can be no doubt that all the wealth and power of the North, all its political prestige and commercial greatness, have been owing to the facili ties afforded by the Southern States of the Union. For merely transacting business between Southern planters and European merchants, the North has received not less than forty million dollars per annum ; while its manufacturers have, for the most part, been maintained by Southern capital.
" Notwithstanding the large production of wealth at the South," observes the author of Southern Wealth and Northern Profits, "capital accumulates there but slowly. All the profitable branches of freighting, brokering, selling, banking, insurance, etc., that grow out of the Southern products, are enjoyed in New York : and crowds of Southerners come North in the summer to enjoy and spend their share of the profits. The profits that importers, manufacturers, bankers, factors, jobbers, warehousemen, carmen, and every branch of industry connected with merchandizing, realize from the mass of goods that pass through the Northern cities, are paid by Southern consumers. There can then be no matter of wonder that the North accumulates, or that the South does so slowly. When, however, people at the North reproach the South with these advantages, derived from them as some of the ( blessings of free
" BEGGAR MY NEIGHBOUR." 207
labour,' the depth of ignorance and the sublimity of impudence seem to have combined."
Not satisfied with these advantages, the Federal Government have endeavoured, by the most op pressive of imposts, to further enrich one portion of the Union by comparatively beggaring the other. For a long time the North has been play ing at the hazardous political game of " Beggar my Neighbour ; " but the last or crowning throw of the cards was the Morrill Tariff. Herein lies the fruitful cause of the fearful and bloody struggle now enacting, and to the upshot of which all Europe looks with unconcealed, unmitigated anxiety.
Dr. Russell, the special correspondent of the Times, falls into a grave error by supposing that the Southerners to a man believe that their " domestic institution of slavery is the main cause of the civil war." I have not met with an individual, during five months' residence in the South, who believed anything of the kind. Northern aboli tionists of course would give vent to this senti ment, although a dangerous one at the best. But the authorities dare not do so ; for they well know that if such a notion were to be generally enter tained, not a foreign mercenary but would lay down his arms and refuse to serve. Hence the prevalent idea that the Northern Government is
208 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
simply fighting to maintain the " Union," which, de facto, no longer exists !
Maddened by opposition, and humiliated by defeat, the North is employing all her resources, both by land and sea, to reduce an independent people to subjection. Her attitude towards the South has been one of uniform, persistent, and irreconcilable hostility. The sword that is now pointing at Southern breasts was drawn, in anger, more than thirty years ago ; and has only been awaiting an opportune moment to throw away the scabbard and inaugurate the carnival of blood.
This is no civil strife ; no struggle of Guelph and Ghibelline ; no contest between York and Lancaster ; but a war of alien races, distinct na tionalities, and antagonistic governments. Cava lier and Roundhead no longer designate parties — but nations, whose separate foundations, as I have already shown, were laid on Plymouth Rock and the banks of the James River. Whoever would rightly understand the causes of the present con vulsion in America, must find their explanation in the irreconcilable character of the Courtier and Puritan, the antagonisms of commercial and agricultural communities, and the conflicts between free and slave labour, when the manufacturing and navigating interests attempt to wrest the sceptre from agriculture by unfriendly legislation.
THE "AMERICAN SYSTEM." 209
The contests between the two sections of the Union were invariably founded on political and economical considerations — they never involved a moral question. They were but the revival, on a new theatre, of that eternal war which has in all countries waged between land and sea — the spade and the rudder. They were the result of the same motives and policy that induced Augustus Cassar to remit the duty imposed on foreign grain for the protection of his Gallic provinces, and allow the corn from the Nile, where four annual crops were made, to come in duty free, and pros trate the agriculture of the provinces, whose austerer climate allowed but of one annual harvest. They were produced by the same facts and causes which in this country gave rise to the two parties known as the Corn Law and the Anti-Corn La\v League.
The " American system," with its splendid retinue of banks, tariffs, internal improvement schemes, meant nothing but the building up of Northern trade and manufactures, at the expense of Southern agriculture ; and shifting the burden of the Government on the shoulders of the pro ducing or tax-paying section, by forcing it to purchase, at ruinous prices, from the North those articles of consumption which foreign nations were ready to furnish at reasonable rates. Boston,
VOL. I. p
210 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
New York, and Philadelphia got possession of the Government, and, like the old feudal free booters of the Rhine, planted themselves in the great highways of trade, and levied tribute upon all that were too feeble to resist. The South attempted to dislodge them by appealing to the doctrine of State sovereignty, and maintaining the right of Secession, but gained nothing but promises of desistance, the design of which was to allow the enemy to fortify more strongly his position ; when, appealing to those fierce instincts and passions that lawless power knows so well how to employ, he raised the black flag, avowed his long- cherished designs of subjugation, but found a nation of invincible warriors where he expected to dis cover a mere timid colony of slaves. But these and all former issues are now dead, and swallowed up in events of mightier moment.
So long as the South submitted to the imposi tion of ruinous tariffs, the North was satisfied ; for she enjoyed all the profits of tropical pro duction without its toils and vexations. But when the South demanded free-trade and the lowering of duties, the North trembled for her supremacy, shook her fists at Carolina, but yielded, only to change her plans of attack, and assure a final triumph, by the Abolition agitation, and the augmentation of Abolition States. This promised
A WAR OF TARIFFS. 211
well, until South Carolina caught a glimpse of the Morrill Bill, as it attempted to conceal itself under the cloak of " Squatter Sovereignty," in the act of joining hands with the " Irreprensible Conflict," prior to consummating the grand design of striking the South from the map of the Constitution, and establishing a military despotism.
This war commenced with tariffs, and waged with tariffs, till a better substitute was found in bullets ; nor will it end so long as Boston sits upon her bleak hills and casts wistful glances over that fair region where bright tropical suns warm into life those rich products that feed the com merce of the world. The long and desolating wars of the Fronde and Palatinate were not more protracted arid sanguinary than the struggle will be that is now going on in America, unless the Con federate Government and people bow their necks to the despotic North ; which, however, is not probable. Both England and France have, com mercially, a vital interest in this struggle ; and their armed interference has been suggested by political considerations of no inferior magnitude. Manchester, Liverpool, Rouen, Lyons, and Mar seilles stand, in interest, pledged to protest against this unholy war ; while the Court of St. James's is far from being insensible to the obligation of up holding the cause of Constitutional government
212 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
throughout the world. Nor can the Court of St. Cloud stand idly by, and see an armed and lawless despotism butchering freemen, driving commerce from the ocean, and wantonly destroying the finest ports and harbours on the Southern seaboard. I believe that the Confederate Government is, of itself, abundantly able to hold its own in the struggle ; but without the interposition of the European Powers, this conflict must be a long, bloody, and disastrous one; involving not only the interests of the American continent, but crippling the industry and paralyzing the enterprize of the world. If this nation were but once made to see that it was in the interest of justice and to her own advantage to have this war speedily ter minated, to-morrow the Federal fleet would be swept from the ocean ! Since the commencement of hostilities I am frequently reminded of De Tocqueville's prediction, that, u if civil war ever broke out in America, it would be attended with atrocities unknown since the Christian era."
For a long time previous to the present dis ruption the South had been shut out from parti cipation in the benefits of a common Government. While it sustained the chief burden of the Ad ministration it received none of the disburse ments. While depending for that protection which " vultures give to lambs," the Southern
TERRITORIAL AGGRESSION. 213
States sustained to the Federal Government the relation of a foreign province or a submissive vice- royalty. Nothing could have changed this abject relationship but dismemberment. It was the only force that could have replaced the pyramid of society on its original base. Submission to the Federal yoke involved dishonour, subjected the liberties and institutions of the South to the dangers of absolutism; and the genius of the Government seemed approaching this type. Po litical parties cannot arrest the course of destiny. A Government based upon oppression, like that of Washington, cannot but perish ; and a Union held together by violence and plunder was felt to be a brand of ignominy to its supporters, and a monu ment of disgrace to such as bent the knee in homage to its mandates.
Politically, also, the policy of the North has been pertinaciously aggressive upon the other section of the Union.
The extent of territory owned by the Southern States at the time of the old Confederation was 647,202 square miles; that owned by the North ern States being 164,081. In the latter part of the last century Virginia ceded to the United States, for the common benefit, all her immense territory north-west of the Ohio. In 1787, four years later, the North appropriated it exclusively
214 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
to herself, by passing an ordinance whereby Virginia and the other Southern States were ex cluded from the benefits of the territory. This was the first in the series of aggressions.
In 1803, the United States purchased from France, for fifteen millions of dollars, the coun try of Louisiana, comprising an area of 1,189,112 square miles, the whole of which was slaveholding territory. The passing of the Missouri Compro mise, in 1821, converted 964,667 square miles of this into free territory. By the treaty with Spain of February, 1809, the United States gained the territory from which the present State of Flo rida was formed, with an area of 59,268 square miles, and also the Spanish title of Oregon, from which they acquired an area of 341,463 square miles. Of this cession Florida only has been al lowed to the Southern States, while the other portion — nearly six -sevenths of the whole — was rapaciously appropriated by the North. Finally, by the Mexican cession was acquired 526,078 square miles, which the North attempted to ag grandize, under the specious pretext of the Mexi can laws, but was prevented by the measures of the Compromise of 1850. The extent of slave territory abstracted from Texas has been 44,662 square miles.
The total amount of territory acquired under
DOMESTIC AGGRESSION. 215
the Constitution of the United States has been as follows : —
Square miles.
North-west cession .... 286,681 Louisiana cession . . . .1,189,112 Florida and Oregon cession . . . 400,731 Mexican cession 526,078
Total . . 2,377,602
Only 283,713 square miles of this immense territory have the South been permitted to pos sess, while the North has been suffered to engross 2,083,889 square miles, or nearly eight- fold more than was allowed to the other section of the Union. These facts speak trumpet-tongued of the course of aggressive action pursued by the Federal Government.
With regard to the domestic institutions of the South, the North has likewise exhibited an aggres sive policy. There have been various attempts, on the part of the Northern States, to limit the practice of slave-owning. Many persons have conceived the idea of prohibiting the institution in any States not already existing and enjoying it; this, how ever, would be in direct contravention to the Constitution of the United States. All the "compromises" which have been arranged are virtually infringements of that Constitution, since they interfere with the constitutional equality of
216 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
the free and slave-owning States, without the proper appeal to the constituents of the Federal Congress. In former years some three or four of the Southern States had gone far towards passing a law for the prospective abolition of slavery — the enactment to fix a day, after which every person born should be free, and a later day after which every person surviving should enjoy the same immunity and privilege. I believe John Randolph took a very conspicuous part in this movement ; at all events, it was promoted by men belonging to the Clay school. The scheme, how ever, was cut short by the reaction against the demands of the Abolitionists in the North for immediate emancipation.
Within the last few years — after the Preston Brooks affair — a discussion took place at public meetings in the Southern States, and gentlemen of the South openly promulgated the idea, that it would be well to abolish slavery gradually. It is quite a mistake, therefore, to suppose that the in tellect of the South is pledged in favour of the " domestic institution." It was mainly through Clay that Liberia was established, this great statesman believing that the way to prevent the slave-trade, and to provide for the emancipated slaves of America, would be to create freedom in Africa, and develope civilization there.
INFRACTIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 217
Quite recently some of the Northern agitators have asserted, that although each State can de termine for itself whether it will or will not tole rate slavery, the " territory " is subject to the law of the Federal States ; and that the Federal autho rities, therefore, can, and are bound to, prevent the admission of slaves into the territories. Ob viously, this would not only prejudge the ques tion for each territory, but it would prejudge the question for the State to be developed out of the territory, and is manifestly in violation of the Constitution. All these infractions of the Con stitution are the more contrary to the letter and spirit of law, since the Constitution provides for the means of mending itself. Any amendment of the Constitution must be submitted to con ventions summoned in all the States, or to the legislatures of the States, and must be carried by clear majorities. The prohibition of slavery in the territories, therefore, if it were enacted by Congress, should first be sanctioned by the State legislatures or conventions. The Southern States seceded, not because the Northern States are averse to slavery, but because they infringed the fundamental Constitution of the Republic. The Secession is a reaction against what amounted to revolution. Those who in England object to the conduct of the Northern States, base their objec-
218 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
tion, first, on the fact, that the conduct of the North in the territories question was a violation of the Constitution ; secondly, on the fact that the North treated as "rebels" those who adhered to the letter of the Constitution ; thirdly, on the fact that the North endeavoured to appeal to anti-slavery feeling, though the responsible admi nistrators dare not act on anti-slavery principles ; fourthly, on the fact that the North has seized the occasion of a civil war to revive a prohibitory and exclusory tariff; and, lastly, that it has wan tonly assailed British subjects in their liberty and property, and even gone so far as to threaten hos tilities against Great Britain, without provocation. Personally the conduct of the Secretary of State at Washington has been very offensive to the re presentative of this country.
The cost of the Northern army, within six months from the breaking out of hostilities, amounted to at least 300,000,000 dollars, a sum far exceeding that which it took Great Britain to sustain the Crimean war. Such a prodigious outlay, without any commensurate results, might naturally enough excite apprehensions in the minds of public men, and make them desirous of bringing about a termination of hostilities that never should have been commenced. But what ever be the upshot of the present struggle —
EFFECTS ON NORTHERN COMMERCE. 219
whether the unhappy war that now wages be of short or of long duration, one thing is certain — that neither a re-union of States nor of people can ever be effected. The Jews and Samaritans of old did not keep aloof from each other with more rigid religious scrupulosity than will members of both sections of the Republic. The bitter feeling on either side is as strong as death — the enmity lasting as eternity.
" I wish to see," observed a gentleman to me one day, u a wall built between us and the Yankees as high as Heaven and as low as Hell ; for, if it were less deep, they would be sure to get under it ! "
The cessation of friendly intercourse, and the disruption of commercial dealing between the North and South, must have a serious effect, especially upon the former. How this will event ually terminate it is impossible to opine, although I was assured by a Northern merchant that New York was on the eve of a monetary crisis, and almost hopeless bankruptcy. Men who had been accustomed to realize princely fortunes — and who learned how to live up to them — by doing business for Southern planters and tobacco- growers, did not make a sum sufficient to remune rate their clerks. From the leading Northern cities families were departing daily — some in alarm,
220 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
others in order to ward off total monetary ruin, and try their fortunes in distant lands.
Not content with the declaration and prosecu tion of war between both Governments, the Northern and Southern journals had likewise entered the field as belligerents ; although I must do the latter the justice to admit, that they excelled their rivals in mildness of tone and truthfulness of statement. It is a painful thing to see journal ism thus degraded, and the columns of a news paper made the medium of scurrility and wilful mis representation. Character was handled as though it were a thing of nought, and the vilest libels were published without scruple or compunction.
By a singular accident a copy of the New York Tribune, of June 28, reached me while in Rich mond. It is stated in that number, on the alleged authority of the Hon, John Minor Botts, who had arrived in Washington — having left the South in disguise — that General Beauregard had made a requisition to the authorities of the Gulf States, calling for volunteers. The General is made to say, that —
" If the cotton States do not raise and equip
100,000 men in six weeks, we are ruined
The troops in Virginia are busy in suppressing insurrection among the blacks. They are break ing out in every direction ! "
NORTHERN HALLUCINATION. 221
Now, I most emphatically refute such a bare faced, mendacious assumption. Neither has General Beauregard indited such a proposal, nor have the negroes risen in insurrection. Indeed, so far from this being the case, I have only heard of one instance of negro insubordination ; whereas in every camp I visited there were numerous blacks, who cheerfully accompanied their masters in their perilous campaign. It is really too bad that such reports should gain currency ; but that a news paper, desirous of maintaining a character for respectability and truthfulness, should ventilate the same, is more than I can comprehend. Mr. J. Minor Botts, upon whose alleged authority this unfounded statement has been made, is a well-known abolitionist, and a man generally repudiated in his own country. One of the New Orleans papers, however, asserts that Mr. Botts did not see the letter referred to until it had appeared in print.
The Northern States have laboured under the hallucination that the slaves were disloyal, and would avail themselves of the first opportunity to unite with the enemies of their owners. There could not be a greater mistake. It is most remarkable that now, when the invasion of the South has actually occurred, not an instance has been brought to light of any disposition on the
222 GROUNDS OF ANTAGONISM.
part of the slaves to desert their masters. Cases have come directly under my own observation, where all the males of a family had abandoned their plantations and taken up arms, leaving their wives, mothers, sisters, and children to the mercy of their negroes, whom, however, they considered admirable protectors.
But the pure-blooded negro, born in the South ern States, is the most loyal of all human creatures. His attachment to his native home, and the associations of his childhood, bind him to those whose destiny he shares with a devotion almost religious. During the John Brown raid at Harper's Ferry, no Virginia negro could be induced to join the forces of the invading marau ders, notwithstanding the promises of freedom held out to him as the reward of infidelity to his master.
The notion that the Southern negroes will, at some future day, rise en masse to assert their right of freedom, as the social and political equal of their masters, is not only absurd, but impossible. Even should the insurrectionary element become concentrated, so as to strike a simultaneous blow, the negro possesses neither the physical nor the moral attributes necessary to accomplish such an end.
223
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
Government Out-and-Out — The Inauguration — Roll of the Convention — Provisions of the Constitution — The Hon. Jefferson Davis — The Hon. Alexander H. Stephens — The Hon. Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter — The Hon. Howell Cobb — Extent of Territory — Opening of Congress — Con federate State Bonds — The President's Proclamation — Act of Sequestration — Capability of Self -Sustenance — Wide Field for Enterprise— Destiny of the Republic.
THE American Union, that "Model Government of the World," has, notwithstanding the numerous predictions of its stability, only survived eighty- five years. But for the stimulus of " outside pressure," it would have died long before. Brought into being by the necessities and exigences of the times, so soon as those creative and sustaining influences departed, it perished with them. Al though never strictly a Government, it was, like
224 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
all governments, a natural outgrowth. After the Kevolutionary war the Southern States, feeling too weak to stand alone, formed an alliance with the North, in order to preserve the independence they had fought for and won. The Constitution, in equivocal terms, invited the larger section to oppress the smaller ; while the latter feeling itself aggrieved, and strong enough to assert and main tain a separate independence, has thrown off the yoke of the dominant and domineering power, and formed a separate Confederacy. Governments and confederacies alike grow up by imperceptible degrees. Individuals unite together in society from natural impulse, and not from contract, or preconcerted arrangement. Laws should but give expression, expansion, and enforcement to man's natural relations and duties. Small States unite together in the same manner, and for mutual advantages. Constitutions or compacts that violate the natural relations of States speedily be come as inoperative as laws that contravene the natural relations of individuals. " If we look into history," observes Beccaria, " we shall find that laws which are, or ought to be, conventions be tween men in a state of freedom, have been, for the most part, the work of the passions of a few, or the consequences of a fortuitous or temporary necessity, not dictated by a cool examiner of
GOVERNMENT OUT-AND-OUT. 225
human nature, who knew how to collect in one point the actions of a multitude, and had this only end in view, the greatest happiness of the greatest number. -'•.-. V . The sum of the liberty of each individual constitutes the sovereignty of a nation."
Strictly speaking, written constitutions are not constitutions at all. They are simply statute, and not organic law. " Government," says Mr. Calhoun, the foremost statesman of his age, " is of Divine origin. Constitution is the contrivance of man." If government be of Divine origin, it follows that constitutions or organic laws are of Divine origin also ; for there can be no government without its organism or constitution any more than a human being without a constitution. Law or written constitution stands towards government precisely as manures in cultivation stand towards plants, or food and physic towards man. They aid it in its operations, but assuredly do not, and cannot, create it. The Americans forgot the Aris totelian philosophy, and presumptuously essayed to make government out-and-out. The thing has exploded at Washington, as it will ever explode. Leagues and compacts are nevertheless necessary, and the Federal compact might havelasted for many centuries under Democratic rule and construction, which have invariably treated it as a mere league. When it attempted to play the part of a Govern-
VOL. I. Q
226 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
ment it fell ; and so will the Southern Confederacy, should any Administration be foolish enough to mistake it for a government proper, or attempt to exercise the presumptive powers of government. It has been tersely observed by Lord Macaulay, that " where liberty is not, security and order can never be, for anarchy is the sure consequence of tyranny. No power which is not limited by laws can ever be protected by them."
The Southern Confederacy originated with six seceding States of the Union, which, on the 9th of February, 1861, organized an independent Govern ment, adopted a Constitution, and elected a Pre sident, and a Vice-President. These States passed their respective ordinances of dissolution as follows : —
States. Dates.
South Carolina , ' • > . Dec. 20, 1860.
Mississippi . ... . Jan. 9, 1861.
Alabama . . . . Jan. 11, 1861.
Florida . . . . . Jan. 11, 1861.
Georgia , , . , Jan. 19, 1861.
Louisiana r f Jan. 25, 1861.
Five other States subsequently gave in their adhesion, viz., North Carolina, admitted May 17 ; Arkansas, May 20 ; Virginia, May 7 ; Texas and Tennessee, admitted May 17.
The Convention which consummated this re markable and memorable event assembled at Mont-
THE INAUGURATION, 227
gomery, Alabama, on the 4th of February, 1861. The Hon. K. M. Barnwell, of South Carolina, was appointed Chairman, when the proceedings were inaugurated by the invocation of the Divine blessing. The first impressive prayer in the Congress of the new Confederacy is worthy of being reproduced, as it is strikingly illustrative of the religious earnestness by which the Delegates were animated on the important political occasion which had called them together. The supplica tion was offered up by the Eev. Dr. Manly : —
" O Thou God of the Universe, Thou madest all things ; Thou madest man upon the earth ; Thou hast endowed him with reason and capacity for government. We thank Thee that Thoii hast made us at this late period of the world, and in this fair portion of the earth, and hast established a free government and a pure form of religion amongst us. We thank Thee for all the hallowed memories connected with our past history. Thou hast been the God of our fathers ; oh, be Thou our God. Let it please Thee to vouchsafe Thy sacred presence to this assembly. O our Father, we appeal to Thee, the searcher of hearts, for the purity and sincerity of our motives. If we are in violation of any com pact still obligatory upon us with those States from which we have separated, in order to set up a new Government — if we are acting in rebellion to and in contravention of piety towards God and good faith to our fellow man, we cannot hope for Thy presence and blessing. But oh, Thou heart- searching God, we trust that Thou seest that we are pur suing those rights which were guaranteed to us by the solemn covenants of our fathers, and which were cemented with their blood. And now we humbly recognize Thy hand
Q2
228 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
in the Providence which has brought us together. YTe pray Thee to give the spirit of wisdom to Thy servants, with all necessary grace, that they may act with deliberation and purpose, and that they will wisely adopt such measures, in this trying condition of our affairs, as shall redound to Thy glory and the good of our country. So direct them that they may merge the lust for spoil and the desire for office into the patriotic desire for the welfare of this great people. O God, assist them to preserve our Republican form of government and the purity of the forms of religion, without interference with the strongest forms of civil govern ment. May God in tender mercy bestow upon the Deputies here assembled health and strength of body, together with calmness and soundness of mind ; may they aim directly at the glory of God and the welfare of the whole people ; and when the hour of trial which may supervene shall come, enable them to stand firm in the exercise of truth, with great prudence and a just regard for the sovereign rights of their constituents. O God, grant that the union of these States, and all that may come into this Union, may endure as long as the sun and moon shall last, and until the Son of Man shall come a second time to judge the world in righteousness. Preside over this body in its organization, and in the distribution of its offices. Let truth and justice, and equal rights, be secured to our Government. And now, our Father in Heaven, we acknowledge Thee as our God — do Thou rule in us, do Thou sway us, do Thou control us ; and let the blessings of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon this assembly, now and for ever. Amen."
A Secretary, pro. tern., having been appointed in the person of the Hon. A. R. L/amar, of Georgia, the Deputies from the five seceding States presented their credentials in alphabetical
ROLL OF THE CONVENTION.
229
order, and affixed their signatures to the Roll of the Convention, as follows : —
ALABAMA. R. W. Walker, R. H. Smith, J. L. M. Curry, W. P. Chilton, S. F. Hale Colon. J. McRae, John Gill Shorter, David P. Lewis, Thomas Fearn.
FLORIDA. James B. Owens, J. Patten Anderson, Jackson Morton.
GEORGIA. Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, F. S. Bartow, M. J. Crawford, E. A. Nisbet, B. H. HiU, A. R. Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, A. H. Kenan, A. H. Stephens.
LOUISIANA. John Perkins, Jun., A. Declonet, Charles M. Conrad, D. F. Kenner, G. E. Sparrow, Henry Marshall.
MISSISSIPPI. W. P. Harris, Walter Brooke, N. S. Wilson, A. M. Clayton, W. S. Barry, J. T. Harrison.
SOUTH CAROLINA. R. B. Rhett. R. W. Barnwell, L. M. Keitt, James Chesnut, Jun. C. G. Memminger, W. Porcher Miles, Thomas J. Withers, W. W. Boyce.
The above comprise the leading men of the several States, some of whom had previously signalized themselves as senators and statesmen
230 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
in the defunct United States' Parliament and Government.
Subsequently, on the motion of Mr. Rhett, the Hon. Howell Cobb was chosen President, and Mr. J. I. Hooper, Secretary of the Convention. Thus permanently organized, the usual routine of business was proceeded with.
A Committee was then appointed, to report upon a plan for the Provisional Government, upon the basis of the Constitution of the United States ; and after remaining in secret Session for five days, the Congress — the term " Convention " being ignored — at half-past ten o'clock on the night of February 8, unanimously adopted a Pro visional Constitution, differing in several features from that of the Federal Union.
The old Constitution commences with the words—" We, the people of the United States." The new Constitution, upholding the doctrine of State sovereignty, and yet indicating the neces sity of mutual reliance, opens thus — "We, the Deputies of the sovereign and independent States of South Carolina," etc. The new Constitution reverentially invokes the Divine favour ; while, in the old, the existence of a Supreme Being appears to have been either ignored or overlooked.
Contrary to the expectation of the majority of Northern people, who persistently maintained
PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 231
that the chief object of the South in breaking up the Union was to re-open the African slave- trade, the most stringent measures were adopted for its suppression.
The Confederate Constitution declares, that — "1. The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slave-holding States of the Confederated States, is hereby for bidden, and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.
" 2. The Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy."
The Constitution likewise provides that — " 1. The Government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for the settlement of all matters between States forming it and their late Confederates of the United States, in relation to the public property and public debt at the time of their withdrawal from them, these States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust everything pertaining to the common property, common liabilities, and com mon obligations of that Union, upon principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith."
This provision alone is indicative of a high moral purpose in the framers of the Constitution ; although it was generally averred in the North
232 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
that the Confederate States would pass a decree of repudiation, and have no regard to the pecuniary claims of the Union from which they separated.
On the sixth day, the Congress proceeded to the election of a President and Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy, which resulted in the unanimous vote of the Hon. Jefferson Davis as President, and the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens as Vice- President. Immense enthusiasm and rejoicing followed this announcement, and one hundred guns were fired in the city to inaugurate the event. During the evening a serenade was given to the Vice-President elect, who acknow ledged the honour conferred upon him in a bril liant and appropriate speech.
Annexed are the names of the gentlemen who originally composed the Confederate Cabinet : —
Secretary of State Robert Toombs.
Secretary of the Treasury . . . C. S. Memminger. Secretary of the Interior . . . (Vacant.)
Secretary at War L. P. Walker.
Secretary of the Navy .... John Perkins, Junr.
Postmaster- General H. T. Ebett.
Attorney- General J. P. Benjamin.
During the month of April the Government removed to Richmond, Virginia ; and in August following a few changes were made in the Ad ministration, viz. : —
crrr OF MONTGOMERY. 233
Secretary of State .... Robert Mercer T. Hunter. Secretary at War .... General Lee (appointed). Postmaster- General . . . Judge Reagan.
Before I proceed to give a few biographical sketches of the leading men who compose the Southern Administration, I shall briefly describe the late Seat of the Confederate Government, and the Hall in which the Convention conducted their deliberations.
Montgomery city, the capital of Alabama, is situated on the left bank of the Alabama River, about three hundred and thirty miles from Mobile, and over eight hundred from Washington. It is considered the second city in the Confederate States, as regards its natural advantages, trade, and population. For steamboat navigation, the Alabama River is not inferior to any in America, and the largest steam-vessels can ascend to this point from Mobile. A number of iron foundries, factories, mills, large warehouses, and elegant " stores," and handsome private residences, give a very imposing aspect to this nourishing inland town. One hundred thousand bales of cotton used to be shipped annually from this place. The State House was consumed in 1749, but another has been erected on the same site. The population of Montgomery considerably exceeds fifteen thousand souls.
234 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
The Hall of the Southern Congress at Mont gomery may be deemed worthy of a passing notice. On the extreme left of the Hall was a' list of names of the gallant corps constituting the Palmetto regiment of South Carolina, so distin guished in the history of the Mexican War. Still further to the left was a portrait of John C. Cal- houn, the eminent statesman ; contiguous to which was a painting of Albert J. Pickett, the historian of Alabama. To the right of the President's desk was a portrait of Dixon H. Lewis, formerly a representative in the United States' Congress from Alabama. Over the desk hung the portrait of Washington, painted by Stuart ; which forms one of the three original por traits of that eminent soldier and statesman now in existence. A second one, painted by Trumbull, ornaments the White House, Washington, and is the identical portrait that Mrs. Madison cut out of its frame when the British forces attacked that capital in 1812. The remaining picture is in the possession of a gentleman at Boston. Next to the portrait of Washington, were those of Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and the Hon. W. L. Yancy, of Alabama, one of the Southern Com missioners to this country. There was also a well painted historical piece, representing the swamp encampment scene of General Marion, when he
JEFFERSON DAVIS. 235
invited the British officer to partake of his scanty fare. On the extreme right of the door was another portrait of Washington, very excellently painted.
The following sketches of the most prominent Southern statesmen will doubtless be perused with interest : —
THE HON. JEFFERSON DAVIS,
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES.
Perhaps there is no individual "down South" more universally popular than the President of the Confederate States. In appearance he is tall, slim, prim, and smooth — rather precise, but gentlemanly in manner, and exhibits a stiff mili tary carriage, which to a stranger savours of austerity. Naturally, however, his temper is genial, and he quickly wins upon those with whom he comes in contact. His private life is irreproachable, and his social qualities endear him to all his personal friends. As a public speaker he is lucid, cogent, and argumentative, while his voice is clear, firm, and without the least approach to tremor. His features are prominent, his brow intellectual, and his entire person evinces a marked individuality of character. His fine countenance is somewhat disfigured by an
236 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
injury received in one eye, so severe as to render it sightless. Few individuals have led a more stirring or eventful life than the subject of rny sketch.
Jeff. Davis, the American soldier and states man, was born on the 3rd of June, 1808, in Christian County (now Todd County), Kentucky. Shortly after his birth, his father — a planter, who had served in the Revolutionary War — removed with his family to Woodville, Mississippi, where he settled down. When a mere youth, Jefferson was sent to Transylvania College, Kentucky. In 1824 he quitted his alma mater for the United States' Military Academy at West Point, where, upon graduating in 1828, he received the appoint ment of second-lieutenant, brevet rank. For seven years he remained attached to the military service, during which time he served as an infantry and staff officer on the north-west frontier in the Black Hawk War of 1831-2, with such distinction that, in the March of the follow ing year, he was appointed to a first-lieutenancy of Dragoons. A somewhat romantic attachment arose between himself and his prisoner, the famous Chief, Black Hawk, in which the latter forgot his animosity to the people of the United States, in his admiration for the young lieutenant ; and not
JEFFERSON DAVIS. 237
until his death did the bond of amity become severed beween the two brave men.
After having served with honour in sundry expeditions during the frontier wars, he resigned his commission in 1835, and returned to Missis sippi, where he married the daughter of General Taylor, and pursued the peaceful occupation of a planter. In 1843 he emerged from his retirement and took an active part in politics, uniting him self with the Democratic party. The following year he was chosen one of the presidential electors to vote for Polk and Dallas. In Novem ber, 1845, he became elected a representative of Congress, and took his seat in the ensuing December. Various important topics happened to be discussed during that Session — such as the Oregon question, the Tariff, and the Mexican dispute — in all of which he took a conspicuous part. He resigned his seat in the House in July, 1846, to take command of a regiment of Mississippi Volunteers (then enrolled for service in Mexico), who had elected him as their colonel.
Having overtaken his regiment at New Orleans, he proceeded to reinforce the army of General Taylor on the Rio Grande, after which he was actively engaged in the attack and storming of Monterey, and was one of the Commissioners deputed to arrange the conditions of the capitulation.
238 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
Colonel Davis commanded at the celebrated battle of Buena Vista (February 23, 1847). Twice during that desperate conflict did he save the day by his coolness and bravery, and for a long time maintained his ground, unsupported against immensely superior numbers. Wherever fire was hottest or danger greatest there the gallant soldier and the Mississippi Rifles were to be found. Although severely wounded in the early part of the action, he remained in the saddle till the fight was won, refusing to delegate his command to a subordinate officer. His cool ness and gallantry were alike commended by the commander-in-chief in the official report of the engagement.
In July, 1847, the Mississippi regiment was ordered home, the term of its enlistment having expired. Upon Colonel Davis' return to New Orleans he received a commission from President Polk, as brigadier-general of volunteers. This honour he declined, on the ground that the Con stitution reserved to the States the nomination of militia officers ; and that their appointment by the Federal executive was consequently a violation of State rights. In 1847 he was appointed United States' Senator to fill a vacancy, and at the ensuing Session of the Legislature was unani mously elected to the same office for the residue
JEFFERSON DAVIS. 239
of the term. In 1850 he was re-elected for the ensuing full period. In the Senate he was chosen chairman of committee on military affairs. He resigned his seat in the Senate, September, 1851, upon being chosen candidate for the Governor ship of Mississippi, by the Democratic party, in opposition to the Union candidate, but was defeated. The large number of votes he received, however, indicated a marked popularity.
After his defeat he again sought retirement, until the presidential contest of 1852, when he took the stump in behalf of General Pierce, and rendered essential service to his political party. The fol lowing year President Pierce conferred on him the Secretaryship of the War Department, which post he held until the period of the Buchanan administration in 1857. His administration of this Department rendered him highly popu lar with the army, and was conducted with singular energy and ability. Among other useful and public measures, he was instrumental in effecting the introduction of the light infantry or rifle system of tactics, the manufacture of rifles and the use of the Minie ball, the importation of camels into the States, and the system of explora tions into the western part of the American Con tinent, for geographical purposes, and in order to determine the most eligible route for a railroad to
240 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
the Pacific. In 1857 he was re-elected Senator from Mississippi for the term of six years, which distinguished office he filled with honour, until his resignation on the secession of his State from the Union.
THE HON. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS,
VICE-PRESIDENT.
The subject of my sketch was born in Georgin, in February, 1812. His father was a planter of moderate means, and his mother, Margaret Grier, was a sister to the compiler of a Grier's Almanac." When but an infant his mother died, leaving him with four brothers and one sister, of whom only one brother survives.
He had scarcely attained his fourteenth year when he lost his other parent, and for the first time experienced the misery of orphanage, and the deep, unutterable griefs which that condition entails upon the young and helpless. His home stead was sold, when his share of the estate rea lized about five hundred dollars. In 1828, through the kindness of a benevolent lady, he was enabled to enter the University of Georgia, where, in 1832, he graduated at the head of his class. Two years later he commenced the study of jurisprudence, which he prosecuted with such
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 241
ardour, that in less than twelve months he was called to the bar, and engaged in one of the most important cases that for many years had come before a court of judicature. Upon juries his eloquence always exerted a powerful influence, from the admirable simplicity of his arguments, and the earnest and legal authority with which they were supported.
Mr. Stephens became a member of the Georgia Legislature in 1837, which position he held for three years. In 1842 he was elected to the State Senate, and, the following year, entered Congress. He was connected with the Whig party in its palmiest days ; but, since its dissolution, has acted with the Southern politicians. Such has been the upright, undeviating, and patriotic policy he has pursued, that not a solitary individual in the pre sent era of faction, selfishness, and suspicion, has mooted, even " with bated breath and whispering humbleness," an accusation of selfish motives or degrading intrigues against him. In Congress he served prominently as chairman of important committees, and effected the passage of the Kan sas Nebraska Bill through the House, when its warmest supporters despaired of its success. The political course he pursued on various measures has occasionally excited the transient displeasure of the Southern people; but he has invariably
VOL. I. B
242 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
succeeded in emerging from every contest with honour, and even approbation. His elevation to the Vice-Presidency of the Confederate States of America is conclusive of the profound esteem en tertained for him, and of the public appreciation manifested for his qualities as a statesman.
With a commendable Anglo-Saxon attachment to his ancestry and ancestral estates, Mr. Stephens has re-purchased his ancient homestead, together with the original estate, comprising three hundred acres, and has added thereto six hundred acres more. Prompted by the dictates of honour and inflexible integrity, he has likewise refunded the money advanced for his education, although I believe no such stipulation was made in the first instance with the benevolent lady into whose good graces he had fallen.
Mr. Stephens is distinguished as an orator, al though he does not look like one who can com mand attention. His health from childhood has been very feeble ; and he suffers from an organic derangement of the liver, which gives him a con sumptive appearance. He has never weighed over ninety-six pounds, and to see his attenuated figure bent over his desk, his shoulders contracted, and the shape of his slender limbs visible through his garments, a stranger would never select him as the "modern John Randolph," more dreaded
ALEXANDER II. STEPHENS. 243
when in the United States' Congress as an adver sary, and more prized as an ally in a debate, than any other member of the House of Representa- tives. When speaking he has at first a shrill, sharp voice; but, as he warms with his subject, the clear tones and vigorous sentences roll out with a pleasing sonorousness. He is witty, rhe torical, and solid, and has a dash of keen satire that puts an edge upon every speech. He is a careful student, but so very careful that no trace of study is perceptible as he dashes along in a flow of facts, arguments, and language, that to common minds is almost bewildering.
I passed one evening with Mr. Stephens when he came up from Georgia to attend Congress at Richmond, and must confess that I was greatly entertained. His knowledge is immense ; his grasp of mind wonderful. His geniality of dis position is, however, somewhat marred by a slight tincture of dogmatism, which, perhaps, is pardon able in such a man. Spare, cadaverous, and slightly stooping in the shoulders, his person gives no indication of the dignity and grace which cha racterize his appearance when his singular genius is aroused. His countenance is grave and thought ful, somewhat stern in repose, and strongly marked with lines of deep, patient, even painful reflection, which infuse over it an air of forbidding severity.
R 2
244 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
Mr. Stephens is universally and justly beloved in the South ; and, no doubt, if he survives, will be elected the future President of the new Republic.
THE HON. ROBERT MERCER TALIAFERRO HUNTER,
SECRETARY OF STATE.
Mr. Hunter, the eminent financial statesman, was born in Essex County, Virginia, in April, 1809. He graduated at the University of his native State ; and having chosen the legal profes sion, attended the lectures of Judge Tucker, at the Law-school at Winchester.
In 1830, upon arriving at his majority, he re turned to Essex County, and pursued the practice of the law. At the early age of twenty-four he was elected to the House of Delegates, where he remained during three Sessions, when he was chosen representative of the Essex district in Congress. In the discussions arising out of the commercial convulsions of that year he bore a distinguished part, and supported the Adminis tration in favour of the Independent Treasury Bill. He delivered his maiden speech in October, 1837. In exposing the banking system of America, and the creation of a national bank as both un-
ROBERT M. T. HUNTER. 245
constitutional and dangerous, he avowed his adhe sion to the Treasury Bill, and developed those principles of free-trade to which he has unwaver ingly adhered throughout his public career. After the subsequent Session, as chairman of a select committee, he drew up a report, sustaining the principles advocated in his speeches. In the succeeding Congress he was elected to the Speak- ership ; and when his term of service expired, a vote of thanks was passed without a dissenting voice, in a House of Representatives as strongly marked by partisan feeling and acrimony as any other in the history of the Government.
In the Session of J 841-2, Mr. Hunter strongly opposed the Loan Bill, and the proposed measure for incorporating a fiscal bank of the United States ; while he supported General Tyler's veto of the Temporary Tariff Bill, and denounced any attempt to modify or abolish that provision of the Constitution. In his ensuing speech on the General Tariff Bill,, he exhausted the question — elabo rately pointing out its injurious and protective character ; while he contended that the greatest results for American capital and labour could only be realized by the removal of legislative impedi ments upon commercial enterprise.
Mr. Hunter was defeated in the election for members of the Twenty-eight Congress during
246 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
the spring of 1843; but was successful at the ensuing Congressional election. He supported Mr. Folk's election to the Presidency, and was the first public man who brought before the country the idea of immediate annexation, which he ad vocated in speeches and pamphlets. When the Oregon question was before the House, in the Session of 1845-6 — a dispute which had brought Great Britain and America almost to the verge of war, and a large party were for immediate mea sures to terminate the joint occupancy by the two nations, and for an exclusive occupation by the United States of the disputed territory — Mr. Hunter advocated a reasonable and equitable compromise ; a pacific policy that was rejected in both branches of Congress by large majorities. He supported the Tariff Bill of 1846, which was drawn up by him, having for its object the ad vantage of the merchant without substracting from the national revenue.
In 1846, when the Mexican war broke out, he took his stand against the celebrated Wilmot Proviso, and voted for such measures as were necessary to prosecnte the war to a just and honourable conclusion — indignantly rejecting the project, favoured by some, of incorporating the entire Mexican States into the Union.
In 1847, Mr. Hunter was elected by the Legisla-
EGBERT M. T. HUNTER. 247
ture of Virginia to the United States' Senate, and accordingly took his seat in the December of that year; a position which he sustained with dignity and honour. Here he took a leading part in the debates of 1848, when an attempt was made to extend the United States' administration throughout California — regarding such proceed ings as a lawless usurpation.
Subsequently, he was chosen chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate ; a post he fulfilled for a considerable time. In this capacity he drew up an elaborate report upon the gold and silver coinage of the country ; and initiated the reduction in the value of silver coins of fifty cents and less ; a circumstance which arrested their shipment to foreign countries. On the ex piration of his first term of office he was re-elected by a very flattering vote. With a solitary excep tion, every Democrat supported him, and fully one half of the Whigs ; a most unusual occurrence, and which his extensive popularity in the Legisla ture could alone have occasioned.
The passing of the Tariff Act of 1857 has ren dered that Session memorable. By this Act (which was framed by Mr. Hunter) duties on various commodities were considerably lowered, and a great reduction was effected in the revenue.
During the Session of 1858, Mr. Hunter was a
248 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
re-elected Senator for the third time ; only ten out of one hundred and sixty members having voted for other candidates.
Mr. Hunter's system of Government is the para mount idea which pervades all his speeches and public addresses. The most important oration, perhaps, he ever pronounced, was at the inaugu ration of the Washington Statue at Richmond, February 22, 1858. As he had but just succeeded Mr. Toombs in office previous to my quitting the South, I had not the pleasure of his acquaintance ; and, consequently, cannot describe his personal appearance.
THE HONOURABLE HOWELL COBB,
PRESIDENT OF THE HOUSE OF CONGRESS.
This distinguished statesman was born in Jefferson County, Georgia, on the 7th September, 1815. When but a youth his parents removed to Athens, in the same State. He finally entered Franklin College, where he graduated in 1834. For some years he pursued the study of the law, and was admitted as a practitioner in 1836. Subsequently, he was elected by the Legislature Solicitor-General of the Western Circuit. He held this lucrative office during three years, and in the discharge of his duties displayed social
HOWELL COBB. 249
qualities and mental ability of a high order, that obtained for him extensive popularity.
Mr. Howell Cobb commenced his Congressional career in 1843, having been elected to the House of Representatives, in which, by three successive re-elections, he sat until 1850.
In the thirtieth Congress he strenuously advo cated, and became the most efficient defender of, the measures of President Folk's administration relative to the Mexican war, and secured, by his remarkable boldness and ability, a position of dis tinction as a statesman rarely accorded to so young a man, namely, the leadership of his party. From his intimate acquaintance with the rules of the House, and the obligations they imposed, he constantly obtained advantages in Parliamentary encounters. Upon the assembling of the ensuing Congress in December, 1849, Mr. Cobb was elected Speaker, a most difficult position, owing to the Executive department being held by his political opponents. When Georgia became the battle-ground of the Southern Rights' party and the Union party, he was nominated for Governor by the latter, and after a violent contest was elected by the largest majority ever given in any similar political contest. In 1855 he was again chosen to represent his constituency in Congress. Dur ing the Presidential campaign that succeeded the
250 THE SOUTHEKN CONFEDERACY.
adjournment of the Thirty-fourth Congress, Mr. Cobb visited several of the Northern States, vindicating the policy of the Democratic party, and advocating Mr. Buchanan's election. Upon the accession of Mr. Buchanan to the Presidency, one of his earliest acts was to confer upon Mr. Cobb the Secretaryship of the Treasury.
Mr. Ho well Cobb is of middle height, and inclined to corpulency. He possesses heavy features, but remarkably keen eyes. His forehead is lofty and expansive, indicating vast intellectual power. In manners he is ingenuous and courte ous; characteristics which are rather heightened by a little brusquerie of demeanour, which, so far from being disagreeable, only throws out his in dividuality in a bolder light.
At the close of the Congressional Session atKich- mond, on the 30th August, President Cobb made a brief speech, in which he returned thanks to the members of that body for their complimentary notice, during his absence the day before, of his intended departure for the Seat of War, having had a brigadier-generalship conferred upon him by the President of the Confederate States. In the closing portion of his address he observed : — " In the sincerity of my heart 1 believe that man was never engaged in a more just and holy cause than the one which has called our people to the
HO WELL COBB. 251
defence of their homes, their families, and their firesides, and that the Supreme Ruler of the earth will continue to manifest His favour towards us, hitherto so remarkable. With this full conviction I go forward to the discharge of a solemn and im perative duty."
I might add, that Mr. Ho well Cobb's brother, Colonel Thomas R. R. Cobb, an eminent lawyer, member of Congress, and author of several legal works, has raised a legion in his native State, with whom he has been in the field since August last. His command is known as " Cobb's Legion" — a splendid body of volunteers.
The Southern Confederacy is composed of men as remarkable for the purity of their morals, and simplicity and elegance of their manners, as for their firmness, judgment, and general intelligence. Their modesty equals their merit and tempers their dignity. Untiring industry, devoted patriotism, and a Roman simplicity and frugality, characterize and distinguish their daily lives. They have won golden opinions from all sorts of people, and are equally respected in Europe as " down South." Their public action has been marked by a prudence, wisdom, firmness, and liberality, that has silenced the hypercritical spirit of Aboli tionism itself, and elicited universal respect and admiration.
252 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
Perhaps it will not be inopportune to give a concise account of the extent of territory and popu lation included in the eleven States, which at present comprise the Southern Confederacy.
1. Virginia is 270 miles long and 200 broad, containing 61,352 square miles of territory, and a population, including slaves, of 1,598,190, of whom 22 1 ,000 are liable to military duty. Some twenty- five out of the one hundred and fifty-three counties that compose the State of Virginia have opposed the ordinance of Secession, recognize the Union, and have established a Government for themselves, which, strange to say, the Federal Power has acknowledged, although openly at variance with Constitutional privileges and prece dent. These twenty-five counties are what is termed the Pan-handle, or north-western portion of the State — being a little strip of land running between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The inhabitants of these districts, some 200,000 in number, were never considered to possess Southern sympathies or political predilections, so that their adhesion to the Union has created no feeling of surprise.
2. North Carolina comprises an area of 45,000 square miles, and has a population of 1,008,340, including slaves, of whom 132,000 are liable to military duty.
3. South Carolina, the first State which seceded
EXTENT OF TERRITORY. 253
from the Union, is 200 miles long and 125 broad, embracing 28,000 square miles of territory, and possessing a population of 715,370, including slaves, of whom 60,000 are liable to military duty.
4. Georgia is 300 miles long from north to south, 240 miles broad, and contains a population of 1,082,827, including slaves, of whom 78,000 are liable to perform military duty.
5. Florida is a State 385 miles long, and from 50 to 250 miles wide. It contains 59,268 square miles of territory, and has a population of 145,000, including slaves, of whom 16,000 are liable to military duty.
6. Alabama possesses 50,672 square miles of territory, and a population of 955,914, including slaves, of whom 119,000 are liable to military duty.
7. Louisiana is 240 miles long, from its northern to its southern extremity, and 216 miles broad, embracing an extent of territory equal to 41,346 square miles. Its population numbers 666,530, including slaves, of whom 75,000 are liable to military duty.
8. Texas is a State containing 325,000 square miles of territory, with a population of 605,950, including slaves, of whom 84,000 are liable to military duty.
254 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
9. Arkansas is 240 miles long by 228 miles wide, and contains 54,000 square miles of terri tory. Its population numbers 440,775, including slaves, of whom 65,000 are liable to perform military duty.
10. Mississippi is 339 miles long from north to south, and 150 miles broad. It embraces 47,151 square miles, and possesses a population of 886,658, including slaves, of whom 71,000 are liable to military duty.
11. The last State that has at present joined the Confederacy is Tennessee. It is 400 miles long and 114 broad, embracing a territory of 44,000 square miles. Its population number 1,146,690, including slaves, of whom 160,000 are liable to do military duty.
The Congress of the Confederate States opened its sittings on Saturday, July 20, for the first time in Richmond, in the Hall of the House of Dele gates, which had been fitted up for the occasion. The Hall itself is but a plain and incommodious apartment in the Capitol. The only objects of interest are the Speaker's chair — which, I was informed, once belonged to the English House of Commons — and paintings of Jefferson and Chatham, the former by Stuart, the latter by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Long before twelve o'clock, the hour appointed for the sitting of Congress,
OPENING OF CONGRESS. 255
the side galleries and the privileged seats on the floor of the House were thronged with eager and evidently interested spectators, to whom, for the most part, such a sight must have been a novelty. Several ladies were sprinkled about ; but the paucity of their number did not exactly accord with the character which the fairer portion of creation have obtained for curiosity and a love for sight seeing. Probably the warmth of the sun had kept them at home, although they do not always seek the shade.
As noon approached, the Representatives took their places, sundry interchanges of civilities hav ing meanwhile taken place between them. So soon as the Speaker, the Hon. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, took the chair, silence was observed, when an appropriate prayer was offered up by the chaplain for the day. After some preliminary business was disposed of — such as calling the roll, and swearing in of new members — a communication was forwarded to the President, who, in reply, sent his Message. The reading of this document devolved upon the Hon. Johnson I. Hooper, the secretary, author of a book of humour bearing the singular title of "Simon Suggs." During the reading of the Message breathless attention was manifested, and its moderate tone and general tenour appeared to produce unanimous approval.
256 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
It was indeed a masterly production ; and I think justly deserving of the high encomiums passed upon it by the English and other foreign journals. Seventy members out of ninety-two responded to the roll-call; but the absence of some was accounted for by the circumstance of their having taken the field in command of regiments. Most of the Representatives appeared of middle age ; and although there was no approach to display of any kind in the proceedings, it would be difficult to find a more grave or impressive Constitutional assembly. They all seemed to be influenced by the solemnity of the occasion which had called them together, and convinced of the responsibility of their position. Shortly after the reading of the President's Message, Congress adjourned until the ensuing Monday.
The following are a few of the leading provi sions, or legislative measures, adopted by the Confederate Congress : —
CONFEDERATE LOAN. — " The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to make, and continue de posits of money in banks which have suspended specie payments, but which have agreed to re deem, in coin or its equivalent, their notes, which have been paid in by subscribers to the loan."
COTTON AND PRODUCE PROCEEDS LOAN, ETC. — " Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue
CONFEDERATE STATE BONDS. 257
bonds to the amount of fifty millions of dollars, drawing eight per cent, semi-annually, and having twenty years to run, in exchange for specie, mili tary stores, or for the proceeds of raw produce, or manufactured goods, or for foreign bills of exchange. In lieu of said bonds, he may issue twenty millions of dollars in Treasury notes, with out interest, and not lower in denomination than five dollars ; said notes receivable by Government in every way, except for cotton export duty, or in exchange for above-named bonds. Notes to be payable in two yeirs in specie, but may be ex changed for Confederate bonds due in ten years, with eight per cent, interest. For the purpose of raising ten millions of dollars within the present calendar year, and of providing for the ultimate redemption of the debt herein authorized to be contracted, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to collect information in regard to the value of the property, the revenue system, and the amount collected during the last fiscal year in each of the Confederate States, and to report the same to Congress at its next Session, so as to enable it to lay a fair, equal, and convenient system of internal taxation, for the purpose of securing the payment of the interest and principal of the debt hereby authorized to be created, in VOL. I. S
258 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
such a manner as may fully discharge the obliga tion herein contracted by the pledge of the faith of the Confederate States to pay the principal and interest of the said debt when due."
MINTS, — " Suspended in the Confederate States. The Superintendent of the one at New Orleans is made custodian of the property, without any other salary than the use of the dwelling attached."
REGULAR ARMY. — "The five general officers provided for shall be denominated i General/ which is the highest military grade known to the Confederate States. Until a military academy is established, cadets shall be selected from the States according to their representation in the House of Representatives, to be attached to com panies as supernumerary officers, with the pay of forty dollars per month. A bounty of ten dollars allowed to recruits."
INCREASE OF THE ARMY. — The President " is authorized to employ the militia, military, and naval forces of the Confederate States of America, and to ask for and accept the services of any number of volunteers, not exceeding four hundred thousand, who may offer their services, either as cavalry, mounted riflemen, artillery, or infantry, in such proportion of these general arms as he may deem expedient, to serve for a period not less than twelve months, nor more than three years
259
after they shall be mustered into service, unless sooner discharged."
PRIVATEERS. — " Private armed vessels will re ceive twenty per cent, of the value of every vessel of war belonging to the enemy they may sink or destroy."
DEBTORS. — " Persons indebted to citizens of the United States, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky' excepted, are prohibited from paying over the debt during the war; but are authorized to pay it into the Treasury of the Confederate States, receiving a certificate for the same, redeemable at the close of the war."
EXPORTS. — " Cotton or yarn shall not be exported from the Confederate States, except through the seaports, under penalty of five thou sand dollars, and imprisonment for six months. Extended August 2nd, to include sugar, tobacco, rice, molasses, syrup, and naval stores."
COYPRIGHT. — "All the rights and privileges of copyright are extended to citizens of foreign States, granting like privileges to our citizens, provided, 1st, Said copyright is applied for within four months of the publication of the work in said foreign States ; and, 2nd, That the publication shall be commenced within the limits of the Confederate States within six months of the date of letters granted in them."
a-2
260 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
The following proclamation, with regard to alien enemies was issued by the President, in conformity with an Act of Congress : —
" Whereas, The Congress of the Confederate States of America did, by an Act approved on the 8th day of August, 1861, entitled, 'An Act respecting Alien Enemies,' make provision that proclamation should be issued by the President in relation to alien enemies, and in conformity with the provisions of said Act —
" Now, therefore, I, JEFFERSON DAVIS, Pre sident of the Confederate States of America, do issue this, my proclamation ; and I do hereby warn and require every male citizen of the United States, of the age of fourteen years and upward, now within the Confederate States, and adhering to the Government of the United States, and acknowledging the authority of the same, and not being a citizen of the Confederate States, to de part from the Confederate States within forty days from the date of this proclamation. And I do warn all persons above described who shall remain within the Confederate States after the expiration of said period of forty days, that they will be treated as alien enemies. Provided, how ever, that this proclamation shall not be considered as applicable, during the existing war, to citizens of the United States residing within the Confederate
THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION. 261
States, with intent to become citizens thereof, and who shall make a declaration of such intention in due form, acknowledging the authority of this Government; nor shall this proclamation be con sidered as extending to the citizens of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, the district of Columbia, the territories of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Indian territory south of Kansas, who shall not be chargeable with ac tual hostility or other crime against the public safety, and who shall acknowledge the authority of the Government of the Confederate States.
" And I do further proclaim and make known, that I have established the rules and regulations hereto annexed in accordance with the provisions of said law.
" Given under my hand, and the seal of the Confederate States of America at the city of Kichmond, on this fourteenth day of August, A.D. 1861.
" By the President,
"JEFFERSON DAVIS.
" R. M. T. HUNTER, Secretary of State."
This proclamation at first occasioned consider able uneasiness among a large number of British subjects, who mistook the meaning of its require ments. Her Majesty's acting-Consul at Bich-
262 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
mond, Mr. F. J. Cridland, had his office besieged for days afterwards by parties asking for advice. Poor frightened Irishmen arrived in scores, under the impression that they were " alien enemies." I must say that the Vice-Consul took pains to dissi pate their fears. Indeed, the British subjects in Virginia owe much to his gentlemanly attention and discreet counsel.
The humanity and statesmanship of the Con federate Administration, in simply sequestrating the property of Northerners, in order to reimburse those of its own people whose property may have been confiscated by the Federal Government, command the respect of foreign nations. It has been openly averred in the public journals — and I have reason to believe the impression obtains in England — that the property of Northern citizens has been confiscated in the South. I desire to give a denial to this statement. The act of Congress, approved the 29th of August last, authorizing the sequestration of the estates, etc., of aliens under certain circumstances, was merely framed out of retaliation, as will be seen from the following preamble to the first section of the re solution, which is entitled, "An Act for the sequestration of the estates, property, and effects of alien enemies, and for the indemnity of citizens of the Confederate States, and persons aiding the
ACT OF SEQUESTRATION. 263
same in the existing war with the United States" :—
" Whereas, the Government and people of the United States have departed from the usages of civilized warfare in confiscating and destroying the property of the people of the Confederate States of all kinds, whether used for military pur poses or not ; and whereas, our only protection ugainst such wrongs is to be found in such mea sures of retaliation as will ultimately indemnify our own citizens for their losses, and restrain the wanton excesses of our enemies : therefore —
(l Section 1. — Be it enacted by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, that all and every the lands, tenements, and hereditaments, goods and chattels, rights and credits within these Confederate States, and every right and interest therein held, owned, possessed, or enjoyed by or for any alien enemy since the 21st day of May, 1861, except such debts due to an alien enemy as may have been paid into the Treasury of any one of the Confederate States prior to the passage of this law, be, and the same are hereby sequestrated by the Confederate States of America, and shall be held for the full indemnity of any true and loyal citizen or resident of these Confederate States, or other person aiding said Confederate States in the orosecution of the present war
264 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
between said Confederate States and the United States of America, and for which he may suffer any loss or injury under the act of the United States to which this act is retaliatory, or under any other act of the United States, or of any State thereof, authorizing the seizure, condemna tion, or confiscation of the property of citizens or residents of the Confederate States, or other per son aiding said Confederate States, and the same shall be seized and disposed of as provided for in this act. Provided, however, when the estate, property, or rights to be affected by this act were, or are, within some State of this Confederacy, which has become such since said 21st day of May, then this act shall operate upon, and as to such estate, property, or rights, and all persons claiming the same from and after the day such State so became a member of this Confederacy, and not before ; provided, further, that the pro visions of the act shall not extend to the stocks or other public securities of the Confederate Govern ment, or of any of the States of this Confederacy, held or owned by any alien enemy, or to any debt, obligation, or sum due from the Confederate Government, or any of the States, to such alien enemy ; and provided, also, that the provisions of this act shall not embrace the property of citizens or residents of either of the States of Delaware,
RETALIATION. 265
Maryland, Kentucky, or Missouri, or of the dis trict of Columbia, or the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, or the Indian territory south of Kansas, except such of said citizens or residents as shall commit actual hostilities against the Con federate States, or aid and abet the United States in the existing war against the Confederate States."
The Act of Sequestration contains twenty-two sections, but the first section embraces its chief provisions.
The Northern Government has only itself to blame for this act of the Southern Administra tion ; for such a wanton course as it has adopted, in confiscating the property of Southern citizens, could not be expected to be patiently borne or quietly submitted to. The South has the advan tage in this respect as in most others ; for the property of Northerners held in the South is ten or even twenty times greater than that held by Southerners in the Federal cities. In the city of New Orleans there are 10,000/. of real estate, besides an additional 10,OOOZ. of stocks and other property held by Northern citizens, and subject to the Sequestration Act.
The South cherishes no lawless aims, neither indulges in the ambitious project of annexation. Justice and equity form the frame-work of her
266 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
policy, and those principles she purposes to main tain. " We will show to Europe," observes one of the leading Southern reviews, " that we are satisfied with the present extent of our territory, and would not increase it, for fear of introducing new and conflicting elements into our population. When we satisfy foreign nations that we not only abjure the Monroe doctrine, but are anxious that other nations of high civilization should set foothold in America, in order that we may establish here a balance of power, as it exists in Europe, we shall at once command the respect and friendship of Christendom. This friendship will be greatly enhanced, too, from the fact that our agricultural products are everywhere the necessaries of life, and that we propose to trade on the most liberal terms with all the people of the world. The North, in fact, is making war on all the world, seeking to deprive its population of the necessaries of life by excluding them from the Southern market, which she proposes to monopolize. She would first subjugate and enslave us, and then swindle all Europe. Her Morrill tariff would operate to enhance the price of our cotton, tobacco, rice, and other agricultural products, about thirty per cent, in the European markets, which would pass over as a bounty or premium into the pockets of her manufacturers."
PECUNIARY RESOURCES. 267
The pecuniary resources of the Southern Con federacy may be said to consist in the whole staple produce of the country, amounting even in the article of cotton from three and a half to four and a half million bales per annum, nearly three and a half millions of which are exported to Europe. The Government purchases from the planter a certain portion of his crops at a fair market value, and pays him in their bonds, bear ing eight per cent, interest. These bonds are a legal tender in all branches of trade, and are re ceived as a specie medium by the banking houses of the Southern Confederacy, who put them in circulation at their pleasure. By this means the Government possesses an overflowing Treasury, besides value in its possession to meet every obli gation. Such are the views taken by thinking people (t down South " of the pecuniary position of the Southern Confederacy ; and they believe, in consequence, that the South must come off best, whether the war be of long or of short duration.
The condition of the crops throughout the South was a matter of much thankfulness; in deed, people looked upon it as a token of Divine favour. In 1860 the crops were indifferent and scanty, while last season they were of fine quality, and in rich, almost unparalleled, profusion. For
268 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
many years there has not been such a bountiful supply yielded by the lap of Nature. The wheat, oat, and rye crops were garnered and in barn early in July, and all the cereals, with the excep tion of Indian corn, were fully ripe. There was likewise a fine yield of grass. The North has evidently been mistaken by fancying it could sub jugate the South by starvation. There is suffi cient food now in the country to last for two years, even if the earth were blasted. Wheat was cheaper last summer than it had been for several years past, the price of which at the Richmond mills was but II. per barrel of 200lbs. weight.
Considerable misapprehension prevails with re ference to the extent of the cereal productions of the South, and her capability of self-sustenance. That the South is better off in this respect than her Northern antagonist the annexed statements, founded upon the " Seventh Census," render demonstrative : —
Virginia and North Carolina produce jointly thir teen million, three hundred and sixty-three thou sand bushels of wheat, or two hundred and forty- one thousand more bushels than the great wheat state of New York, or a quantity equal to the entire product of the six New England States, with New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin combined. Virginia, North Carolina, and Ten-
CAPABILITY OF SELF-SUSTENANCE. 269
nessee produce over one hundred and fifteen mil lion bushels of corn ; a quantity exceeding by three hundred thousand bushels the joint product of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusets, New Hampshire, Ver mont, and Maine.
South Carolina, which has been supposed to yield nothing but cotton and rice, and is the most derided of the slave-holding States, produces nearly five-sixths of all the rice grown, besides wheat to within three thousand bushels of that produced by the six New England States. In addition to which, she likewise produces as much corn as the State of New York, and six million bushels more than all the New England States.
South Carolina produces more oats than Maine ; more by one million bushels than Massachusets, one million bushels of potatoes in excess of Maine; more beans and peas by one hundred and eighty thousand bushels than all the Northern States to gether, New York excepted. This State likewise raises nearly two thousand more heads of beef-cattle than Pennsylvania, and almost as many as the whole New England States; more sheep than Iowa and Wisconsin by eleven thou sand ; more hogs than New York by over forty- seven thousand, more than Pennsylvania by twenty-five thousand, and eighty-six thousand
270 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
more than all the New England States, with New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, and California com bined ; more horses and mules by ten thousand than Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusets, and Rhode Island together ; in addition to which, South Carolina produces large numbers of oxen, cows, and a variety of products of the smaller kinds.
It will, doubtless, be a matter of surprise for many persons at both sides of the Atlantic to be informed that the seven Gulf or Cotton States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, produce over forty-five thousand more beef-cattle than the six States of New England.
Even Tennessee alone produces nearly seven teen thousand more hogs than the six New Eng land States — although it is generally considered that the North is the principal hog-producing sec tion. The slave -holding States furnish more than two-thirds of the aggregate swine productions of the late United States.
These instances of Southern production and resources will serve to exhibit the utter impossi bility of the blockade necessitating a scarcity of provisions — much less " a famine in the land," as some Northern croakers prophesied at the com mencement of the civil war.
WIDE FIELD FOR ENTERPRIZE. 271
In the absence of all intercourse, commercial or otherwise, with the Northern States, from which Southern supplies have hitherto been derived, an immense field is laid open to foreign traders, and those who shall become pioneers in the enterprize are likely to reap abundant advantages. The great and immediate want of the Confederate States consists of articles adapted to the slave popu- lation, hitherto almost exclusively obtained from the North. These embrace coarse heavy woollen fabrics, cassinets, and goods of which the compo nent parts are wool and cotton — stout, strong, and capable of bearing a tolerable degree of exposure and hard usage; besides linseys and kerseys of vari ous colours and qualities, occasionally manufac tured with bright plaids, after the style of the cashmeres, or merino checks, sent over in past seasons for the better classes. Together with this supply, large quantities of grey and white blankets will be required, similar in quality and price to those shipped during past seasons to New York, Boston, and other Northern cities.
In addition to the class of stock enumerated, vast quantities of printed and white goods will find a ready market — such as calicoes of every quality, white cambrics, jaconets, nainsooks, book and other muslins, bleached cottons and long cloths, checked and striped cambrics, dimities, etc-
272 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
Of bleached cotton goods for sheetings the con sumption is large ; and a considerable supply will be needed of Irish linens, linen sheetings, pillow linens, birdseye and other descriptions of diaper. Apart from the classes of goods particularized, others might be mentioned, such as hats, boots, shoes, broad-cloths, casimeres, bonnets, silks, and indeed almost every article suitable for ladies and gentlemen of taste and wealth ; besides jewellery, cutlery, etc.
The South produces immense quantities of the best ship timber, and also iron and coal in abundance; and yet, with inconsiderable excep tions, her people have heretofore procured their machinery, ships, and even fire-arms from the North. The disruption that has now taken place between both sections of the Union opens up a wide and inviting field for Europeans, and, more especially, British enterprize, which, doubtless, will take advantage of the opportunity afforded when the blockade becomes raised, or the country recovers from the shock occasioned by civil war.
As an encouragement to the foreign shipper, it may be well to state, that in most of the articles mentioned the South has never even attempted to supply her own wants ; nor has so much as a bleachery been established in any of her borders. Manufacturing efforts in this section have been
DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC. 273
exceedingly limited, being simply confined to the production of a few coarse woollen and cotton goods.
The foreign merchant will have another de cided advantage over his Northern competitor, even should commercial intercourse be renewed, owing to the Southern tariff, which will amount almost to prohibition upon goods manufactured on that side of the Atlantic. But even irrespective of this impediment, the Southern people will all be in favour of the foreign article. With regard to the disposal of foreign manufactures, Southern merchants have informed me that every inducement will be held out, so that no unnecessary charges' shall be laid upon them. And it was suggested, that auction and commission houses, similar to those in New York, should be established, whereby an opportunity would be afforded every buyer to enter the market upon equal terms.
Doubtless, a great many 'arguments might be advanced to induce the English capitalist to direct his means and his efforts (upon the opening of the Southern ports) to the development of this enter- prize ; but it was believed that the good practical sense and judgment of the British people would parcel it out for themselves, and that speedy steps would be taken for its accomplishment.
As to the future destiny of the Southern
VOL. I. T
274 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDEEACY.
Republic, but one opinion obtained. It was asserted that, after Southern independence had been ac knowledged, and the people had returned to their industrial pursuits, a new and prosperous era would be ushered in. Possessing all the elements of wealth and prosperity, people looked forward to that portion of the Western world becoming the centre of empire. All the great products needed by other nations are raised in immense quan tities, and the amount may be stimulated with a limitless hand. The great valley of the South has barely been opened, while the cotton crop alone may be largely increased in a few years. The determination of the Southern people is, that what they cannot make or get at home they will do without, unless supplied by foreign friends. This self-imposed decree they aver to be as un changeable as the laws of gravitation ; and they are determined to abide by it, whatever be the cost or inconvenience.
In nothing are the Southern people more determined than in their resistance to the Federal yoke. They claim the right of having, and to the last man will maintain, a separate and distinct Government. They desire no connection with their Northern antagonists in the way of commer cial, social, or political relations. They wish a great gulf fixed between them, that nothing can
" MURDER AS A FINE ART." 275
bridge over. In future they will become their own factors, and have direct dealings with European merchants and traders.
" The Yankees," said a Richmond gentleman to me, " have even corrupted our mother tongue. We shall use no more of their miserable school- books, but shall procure them from England ! Their impertinence and conceit could not be more strikingly displayed than when they attempted to improve our old Saxon language ! "
" We have," observed another gentleman to me, " a few reluctant Secessionists and disguised submissionists among us — a ' peace at any price ' party — who desire to renew trade and intercourse with the Yankee, to buy his vile notions, to hire his teachers, to encumber the mind with his con temptible literature and his swindling circulars, and to send their sons to his medical schools to learn, dirt cheap, ' murder as a Fine Art/ We want neither books, letters, nor newspapers from the North, for they are all either immoral, swindling, or in some way deleterious. The best exponent of the inconceivable meanness of Northern society is a Senator who, chastised for his impertinence, exhibited his bruised head for the admiration of a public among whom impertinence and cowardice are equally approved. To be caned, kicked, or cow-hided is a sure way to fame and
T2
276 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
fortune at the North. Disunion, unless it result in non- intercourse, will be an empty and useless form. We fear not war, but we do fear peace. There is great danger that in making peace with the North we shall restore the old Union in all but the name. We are sure to be cheated by them ; but we care not how much we may be cheated, provided we are not cajoled into making friends with them. All intercourse with them debauches our morals, and robs us of our money, our character, and our intellect."
The same party, on another occasion, remarked, with considerable animation — "Some people affirm that the Yankee possesses the same amount of personal courage, and makes as good a soldier as a Southerner. They do not believe what they say. No quality, my dear sir, depends so much upon education as courage. From infancy the Yankee is taught to be a coward ; and he learns his lesson rapidly and capitally. All men are afraid of dangers to which they are unaccustomed, and vice versa. The Yankee is unused to guns, to horses, and to fighting. He mounts a horse only to fall off, fights to get f whipped,' and fires guns over the heads of his enemies, or into the ranks of his friends. He has, sir, believe me, neither the skill nor the courage to qualify him for a soldier!"
A SOLEMN AVOWAL. 277
Of the determination of the South to maintain its independence and resist aggression the follow ing lines, extensively circulated, and reproduced from a Richmond paper, may be regarded as evidence : —
"Kneel, ye Southrons, kneel and swear,
On your bleeding country's altar ; All the Tyrant's rage to dare — E'en the crushed Tyrant's halter.
We swear, we swear, we swear !
" Swear by all the shining stars,
Swear in blunt old Anglo-Saxon, To defend the 4 Stars and Bars,' Hallowed by the blood of Jackson.
We swear, we swear, we swear !
u Swear by all the noble deeds,
By heroic valour prompted ; Swear that while our country bleeds Gleaming blades shall not be wanted. We swear, we swear, we swear !
" Swear our country shall be free !
Submit to subjugation ? — Never ! Swear that Stars and Bars shall be Our insignia for ever.
We swear, we swear, we swear ! "
278
CHAPTER IX.
A TRIP TO NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA — THE DEFEAT OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
City of Petersburg — The Alleghany Mountains — " Staging" It — Town of Beverly — Cheat Mountain — Encounter with Indians — A Deed of Daring — Preparing for the Attack — Defence of Laurel Mount — The Retreat — Ascent of Cheat Mountain — Impugned Generalship — Town of Staunton — The Cyclopean Towers.
BEING desirous to visit the north-west portion of Virginia, and anticipating an engagement in that quarter between the belligerent armies, I set out on the 8th of July from the Seat of Government, and took the train to Petersburg. Here I tarried with a friend until the hour fixed for the depar ture of the coach which was to take me on to Beverly.
CITY OF PETERSBURG. 279
Petersburg is a large, wealthy, and flourishing town, containing 13,000 inhabitants. It is situated in Dinwiddie county, on the south bank of the Appomattox Kiver, twenty-two miles south of Eichmond. The harbour admits vessels of con siderable draught, and ships can even come up six miles below the town, where there is a branch railroad, extending only three miles, but which connects the Richmond and Petersburg Railroads. Here I noticed no less than eight cotton, besides a large number of tobacco factories. General Scott, the late Commander-in-Chief of the Federal army, was born near this place, on the 13th of June, 1785.
Blandford, which is older than Petersburg, was formerly the " court end " of the town, by which title it is still known. The houses here, although decayed, are superior in architecture to its sister settlement, which appears to have absorbed all the vitality of the former. Blandford possesses a highly picturesque old church, —
" Lone relic of the past ! — old mouldering pile, "Where twines the ivy round its ruins gray."
In form it resembles the letter T, with a short column, and is acknowledged to be one of the most interesting ruins in the country. The grave stones and one tall obelisk enhance the solemnity of the view.
280 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
In this locality, on the north bank of the river, and within a few feet of its margin, is a large dark-grey stone, conical in form, five feet in height and about the same in diameter. On its eastern side, three feet from the ground, there is an oval excavation, twelve inches across and six in depth. The stone is solitary, and lifts itself conspicuously above the level of the earth. It is called the " Basin of Pochahontas," and is seldom without water, except during very dry seasons.
While slaking my thirst and exhilarating my spirits — rendered low by the influence of an oppres sive atmosphere — with a glass of iced champagne, a lumbering old vehicle of a stage-coach pulled up at the door, when the driver rang forth a merry note upon his horn — a signal for me to sling on my haversack, which my kind host had filled with many a dainty, to reconcile me to my tedious journey. I entered the coach, which was crowded both inside and out with military men, on their way to rejoin their respective regiments. Shortly it drove away, although at a very slow speed. Man must try and become reconciled to all circumstances, so I resigned myself to the leather cushions, and became interested in the beau tiful grass meadows and luxuriant corn-crops of the limestone valley, which met my gaze as I jour neyed onwards. When night came on I wrapped
THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 281
myself in an overcoat, and slept as comfortably as the uneasy motion of the vehicle over a tole rably good road would admit.
On the morning of the 9th July, sunrise greeted us at Monterey — that locality of kingly moun tains ; and truly they looked kingly, as they rose in majesty and hemmed us within a crescent. This village is the county seat of Highland, and possesses a curious-looking court-house, several churches of most un-architectural and unsightly appearance, and two miserable taverns, boasting of the soubriquet of hotels. Here both myself and fellow - travellers were furnished with a wretched breakfast; and in addition to being compelled by hunger alone to swallow this un- palateable meal, the landlord had the heartless- ness to make an extortionate demand of twenty- five cents each. My opinion of the place fell with the meanness of the swindle ; so having arranged to exchange places with another pas senger, I mounted the coach with an undignified celerity that would not have been excusable under other circumstances. Shortly afterwards we were ascending the eastern slope of the mighty Alleghanies.
This magnificent range of mountains form the western boundary of the Valley of Virginia, and I was now about to plunge into an uncivilized
282 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
country — literally uninhabited and uninhabitable. As the horses crept up the slope, they dragged themselves like
" The wounded serpent with its weary length ;"
so for the first time I began to grow weary of my journey. The mountains swelled up in every direction like huge solidified storm waves. No object met my gaze beyond the placid blue sky and the forest-covered eminences. I experienced a similar feeling as when I have stood upon ship- deck, and at every point beheld only the dome of heaven, the circle of the horizon, and felt the heavy oscillations of the ocean.
Early in the afternoon I attained the summit of the Alleghanies, where I descried a small inn. Here I partook of a frugal repast, and while a fresh relay of horses were being got ready, engaged in conversation with the landlord, a very communicable and agreeable person. Fifty years ago he had built that little house himself and during that long period dispensed hospitality to the few way-farers who, at long intervals of time, passed his solitary dwelling. He wandered from his personal history to comment upon the terrible troubles that had befallen the country, and after several strong expressions of sympathy and ani madversion, very warmly and feelingly exclaimed —
" STAGING " IT. 283
" Friend, the enemy is but fifty miles off. You see this hand, how it trembles with age ? Still, as long as life stimulates those nerves (wielding his arm up and down,) as long as I can fill a pan or draw a trigger, the Northern invader shall not pass this place ! "
In a few moments I was off again. In descend ing the mountain, I experienced another phaze of travelling, that put me in better humour, and reconciled me somewhat to the wearisome mono tony of " staging". Crack went the whip, to warn the horses that gravity was rolling the cumbrous coach along at a speed which dispensed with their assistance. The frail conveyance rolled around curvatures, and rattled down declivities, at a rate enough to make one fearful of the consequences ; while the driver, for the first time, became elated, and treated us to a few lines of a song, which he roared out in a hoarse, husky voice, wofully deficient in melody: — , * ,
" Click, clack, whip and spur ; Says Billy, ' Wing the wind— • 4 Oh ! when the road is good before, ' The Devil may drive behind ! ' "
The air was exhilirating, the scenery varied and magnificent, changing with kaleidioscopic suc cession at every curve in the road. By-and-bye I reached the foot of Cheat Mountain, and had
284 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
scarcely time to appease my appetite at the neighbouring inn, when the horn sounded, inform ing me that the coach was again starting. It was just sunset as I ascended this celebrated and picturesque range of hills. Cheat Mountain is so extensive that I had to traverse the distance of eighteen miles before I reached its opposite foot. The road leading across it passes through a country many parts of which has never been trodden by civilized man. The fir-pine, the cypress, the hemlock, and other primitive growths, shot up to a height that the eye could scarcely reach. Below was .an undergrowth of laurel, and smaller trees, so thick and rank as to be im penetrable. Amid this profuse vegetation, Nature had cast about, in wild confusion, huge old boulders of the secondary period ; which would make a splendid study for the geologist. In the tv\7ilight their effect was startling, for they seemed like monsters, with mossy hair and beard, spring ing from the earth, decked with laurel and fern.
Before midnight the coach drew up at an hum ble mountain inn, where I was accommodated with a bed in a room with several of my companions. Shortly afterwards I heard a great tumult, which was occasioned by the entrance of a picket-guard, who amused themselves by stirring up one of the officer's servants, an Italian named Lanzaroni,
TOWN OF BEVERLY. 285
with the points of their bayonets. He could not speak English, and, but for the interference of his master, would have been taken prisoner as a sus picious person. Early next morning, after par taking of very frugal fare, I was on the wing again, having been suffered to pass within the lines. After three more "challenges" at various interval?!, I was allowed to pass beyond the lines and pursue my journey in peace.
At daylight on the 10th of July, I arrived at Beverly, within seven miles of which the Union forces were mustered for battle. I put up at the hotel. This establishment had certainly more of the appointments — to employ a theatrical phrase — of an hotel than the institution that bore a like name at Monterey; nevertheless its attempt at importance was forlorn.
Having partaken of breakfast, I went upon an exploring expedition about the town, which proved very irksome from its paucity of attractions. It is situated in Randolph county, two hundred and ten miles north-west of Richmond. A court-house, one or two churches, a few dwellings, and a gun smith's establishment, complete the category of sights. Its population does not reach much above two hundred souls. Although there was very little to see, I learnt a few of the traditions respect ing the locality, which, before I describe the
286 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
battle and defeat of Rich Mountain, may not prove unacceptable.
As early as 1754, an attempt was made to settle in this section of the country by one David Ty- gart, and a Mr. Files. They arrived with their families at the east fork of the Monongahela, and, after examining the country, selected posi tions for their future residences. Files chose a spot on the river, at the mouth of the creek where Beverly has since been established. Tygart settled a few miles farther off, but also on the river. The valley in which the latter had taken up his abode has since been called after his name, and the east fork of the Monongahela, Tygart's Yalley River. The difficulty of procu ring bread-stuffs for their families, their contiguity to an Indian village, and the fact that an Indian war-path passed near their dwellings, soon de termined them to retrace their steps. Before this intention was carried into effect the family of Files became the victims of savage cruelty. At a time when all the household except an elder son were in their cabin, they were discovered by a party of Indians supposed to be returning from the South Branch, who inhumanly butchered them all. The elder son not being very distant from the dwelling, upon hearing the uproar, ap proached until he witnessed too distinctly the
ENCOUNTER WITH TWO INDIANS. 287
deeds of death which were doing ; and, convinced of the impossibility of affording relief to his own, resolved if he could to effect the safety of Ty- gart's family. This was accomplished, and the country finally abandoned by them.
A singular character lived in this region during the latter part of the last century. From his Herculean exterior he went by the pseudonym of "Bio- Joe." His boast used to be, "I can out-
O '
run, out-hop, out-jump, throw down, drag out, and whip, any man in the country." He passed some time in Kentucky during the prevalence of the Indian wars, where he once had a desperate encounter with two Indians.
Once, in riding along a path which led to a fort, he approached a fine vine richly laden with grapes. He laid his gun across the pommel of his saddle, set his hat on it, and filled it with the luscious fruit ; then, turning into the path, rode leisurely along, partaking of the grapes he had gathered. The first intimation he received of danger was the crack of two rifles, one from each side of the road. One of the balls struck him on the breast, simply grazing the skin. The other missile hit his horse, when Joe was immediately pitched off. Still he was on his feet in an instant, with his rifle ready. The moment the guns fired an ath letic Indian sprang towards him with a tomahawk
288 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
in hand. Joe's eye was fixed on him, ready, if he approached near enough, to make a sure shot. When the Indian discovered this he jumped behind two large saplings some short distance apart, neither of which was large enough to conceal his body, so he adopted the expedient of jumping from one to the other.
Big Joe, knowing that there were two Indians on the ground, kept a sharp look out for the other. Presently he discovered his enemy behind a tree, in the act of loading his weapon. While engaged in ramming down the ball, a portion of his body became exposed ; so Joe, in the twinkling of an eye, took advantage of the opportunity offered and fired; giving his antagonist the contents of his gun. Upon this the athletic Indian, with a mighty " Ugh ! " rushed towards him with his raised tomahawk. The Indian had the advantage in size of physique, but Joe in weight and muscular strength. Suddenly the former halted, at a dis tance of twenty feet, and flung his fierce weapon at the latter with terrible force. It did not, how ever, strike its object. Joe then clubbed his gun and made at the Indian, thinking to knock him down ; but he sprung into some brushwood to escape his blows. At length, Joe, thinking he had a fair chance, made a side blow with such energy that, missing the manoeuvring Indian, the
A DEED OF DARING. 289
rifle, now reduced to the naked barrel, flew entirely out of his reach. The Indian then gave another exulting cry, and sprang at him with all the savage fury he could command. A terrible scuffle ensued, in which Joe left his antagonist for dead. However, he rallied again, and while un sheathing a knife as he lay on the ground, Joe snatched it from his grasp, and quickly plunged it in his body.
Joe next thought of his other enemy ; and not knowing how far he had succeeded in killing or crippling him, sprang to his feet. He found the wounded Indian had crawled some distance, and had propped his broken back against a log, while endeavouring to load his gun and to fire; in attempting which he would fall forward, and by the aid of the weapon raise himself again. Joe, perceiving that he was safe, concluded he had fought long enough for healthy exercise that day ; and not desirous of being killed by a crippled Indian, made for the fort. He reached his desti nation at nightfall, covered with blood and dust from head to foot — dispossessed of horse, hat, and gun. Pie gave an account of the exploit to his comrades, who regarded his statements as dubious ; simply believing him to be indulging in one of his accustomed exaggerations. They were prevailed upon, however, to go and judge for
VOL. I. U
290 DEFEAT OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
themselves. Next morning a company volun teered to visit Joe's battle-ground, where they discovered both Indians lying dead. Some years afterwards, when peace with the Indians was restored, that frontier, like many others, became infested with a gang of outlaws, who perpetrated a number of depredations. To counteract these, a company of " regulators " was raised.
In a contest between these and the depredators, " Big Joe " lost his life ; a mode of procedure which in civil society would not be highly estimated. But in frontier settlements, where savages and beasts had to be contended against for the right of the soil, the use of such a man was very conspicuous. Without such, the country could never have been cleared of its natural rudeness, so as to admit of the more brilliant and ornamental exercises of art, science and civilization.
I now proceed to describe the battle near Beverly, which resulted in the defeat of the Con federate forces.
Rich and Cheat mountains are wild and almost impassable regions, in the north-western portion of Virginia. In a gorge situated between Rich and another mountain, General Garnett, with some 350 men, took up a position and commenced throwing up breastworks, in order to be prepared against an attack of the enemy, who was in close
PREPARATIONS FOR THE ATTACK. 291
proximity to the camp, should he show fight. Colonel Scott, who commanded a Virginia regi ment, occupied Beverly, on the road to Staunton, with about 800 men ; and Colonel Pegram, with a force of 1,500 men, occupied another portion of Rich Mountain, directly in front of Beverly. Garnett's command was the furthest north, and almost faced M'Clellan's army.
The picket-guard, at the last-mentioned place, consisted of the Upshur Greys, Buckingham Lee Guard, Hardy Blues, Captain cle Lagnier's artil lery, and two other companies. The enemy's force was very numerous, and occupied a twofold position in front of the Confederate troops. General M'Clellan, perhaps the ablest soldier in the United States' army, had 6,000 men and six field- pieces directly in front of Laurel-hill, 'while at Eich Mountain he had a force of 7,000 men and twelve guns. On the morning of the llth July, General Rosencrantz had started with a division of the Federal forces, and made a circuitous route, in order to attack Colonel Pegram in the rear of his position, knowing that he would be unable to offer much resistance. This intelligence having become known to (Jolonel Pegram, he forwarded a communication in haste to General Garnett, re questing that he would order Colonel Scott, who was at Beverly, to occupy a certain point on the
u 2
292 DEFEAT OF KICH MOUNTAIN.
route by which the enemy was expected to advance. General Garnett immediately sent the necessary instructions to Colonel Scott, to move forward to the place indicated by Colonel Pe- gram, and defend it at all hazards; but, if forced back, to block the road behind the enemy, and dispute every inch of the way. Diagrams also accompanied this written order, so as to secure its being carried out with precision. For some reason, as yet unexplained, Colonel Scott did not come to the aid of his brother-officer, to which circumstance, in a great measure, if not entirely, is attributable the disasters of the day.
The same day, Colonel Scott, according to orders received, left Beverly and took up his line of march towards Laurel Hill, for the purpose of forming a junction with General Garnett. He had not, however, advanced more than six miles when he received a very urgent dispatch from Colonel Pegram, who was in command at Camp Garnett (seven miles in another direction from Beverly), requesting immediate assistance, as an early engagement with the enemy was anticipated. Immediately the regiment was faced about, and proceeded towards Beverly, but by another road, at right angles with the one through which it had previously marched. When within seven miles of the camp, firing was distinctly heard; so
DEFENCE OF LAUREL MOUNT. 293
Colonel Scott ordered his men to advance in quick time towards the scene of action.
Laurel Mount runs parallel with the Alleghany and Cheat Mountains, and forms the extreme range in North- Western Virginia, being then the outpost of the Confederate defences. In this range are two passes through which an opposing army could effect an entrance. That at Laurel Hill, defended by General Garnett in person, and that at Camp Garnett, held by Colonel Pegram. Should either of these positions become forced, the flank of the other would necessarily be turned. Colonel Peg-ram's command being the weaker, the
O O /
enemy showed indications of a speedy attack. Camp Garnett was situated in a gorge just beyond the pass through which the road from Beverly runs. On both sides stupendous mountains rose defiantly. The long slope of one retreated from the camp, so that it could not be commanded from any point. The more perpendicular slope of the other mountain overlooked the forces under Colonel Pegram, and toward the summit was an elevation, which was considered the key to the position. Convinced of the importance of this point, Colonel Pegram had dispatched some 250 men, early in the morning, up the mountain, to fortify and hold it at all hazards.
About one, P.M., the enemy, 8,000 strong,
294 DEFEAT OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
under General Rosencrantz, who had, by the aid of the Union men of that district, made their way behind and above that position, began a very vigorous assault from front and rear, upon the unfinished breastworks, which had been raised only to the height of two logs. The enemy formed in a slope of the mountain, and kept up an incessant fire from his Minie rifles, at a distance of fifteen hundred yards; causing the limbs of the lofty and adjacent trees to suffer terribly, as they fell in confusion at every dis charge ! A desperate struggle ensued, extend ing over three hours, during which time this brave little band of 300 men kept the enemy's forces at bay. The Unionists of this mountainous region appear to have been a more formidable foe to the Confederate troops than their legitimate enemy, for they kept up a bold and deliberate fire to the rear, while they themselves were secure in ambush. The Southerners had only one piece of ordnance in the field, which) however, became disabled as soon as the eleventh round had been fired. After all the gunners had been shot, the commander, Captain De Lagnier, seized the ram mer, primed, loaded, and fired the piece himself, until it burst, although having been shot through the body several times, when, falling from loss of blood, he died by his own charge ! When the
THE RETREAT. 295
enemy's forces had approached within six hundred yards a fire was opened upon them from flint-lock muskets, which did deadly execution, every dis- char^e causing them to fall back in confusion.
£5 D
Pressing, in overwhelming numbers from the rear, the enemy reached the breast-works, and fired point blank into the faces of Colonel Pegram's men, who, finding it useless to cope with such dis proportionate numbers, desisted from the attack and sought safety in flight, after a loss in killed, wounded, and missing, of about 200. Several officers and about 60 men were placed hors de combat. The Federalists suflfered more severely, having lost about 400 men. The battle lasted from one until nearly four o'clock. The enemy's force was estimated at 8,000 — 3,000 of whom had been engaged in the attack, while the others were held in reserve.
Upon General Garnett hearing of this result, he at once prepared to retreat to Huttonsville, by way of Beverly ; but upon discovering that Colonel Scott had failed to carry out his plans, he changed his course, and purposed making a circuitous inarch by the North-western Turnpike to Petersburg, Franklin, and Monterey. The reserve of the enemy, who had occupied Rich Mountain, descended its side, crossed the road, and took up position on the opposite ridge, thus
296 DEFEAT OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
intending to ambuscade and cut off Colonel Pegram, should he attempt a retreat through that pass from his camp at Beverly. Colonel Scott, with his men, arrived at the scene of action just as the firing ceased, when they halted at this very pass. From either side of the road the enemy was surveying them, and had they not been mistaken for one of his own regiments, must inevitably have been cut to pieces. Colonel Scott, unconscious of the enemy's proximity, sent for ward a scout to reconnoitre ; but hardly had he gone the distance of one hundred yards before he was shot down. Being thus warned of the immi nent danger in which both himself and his com mand were placed, he at once faced about and commenced a precipitate retreat, attended with numerous disasters. By the time the troops reached Beverly the ground was saturated with rain — which had fallen in torrents all day — and the weather was intensely cold, while the men were sorely exhausted from marching and counter marching some thirty-six miles. However, an order came to resume the march towards Cheat Hill, which was readily obeyed, although many would have preferred meeting the enemy rather than encountering further fatigue. The road was deeplv rutted from the passing and repaseing of heavy baggage trains. Nevertheless, amid the
ASCENT OF CHEAT MOUNTAIN. 297
deep darkness of night this shivering column staggered on, knee-deep in mud, until day dawned, when the troops positively refused to move further. Fires were then lighted, so that some of the numbness was driven from the poor fellows' limbs. Many of the men threw themselves upon the dank ground and slept; others eagerly devoured some hard navy biscuit that they were fortunate enough to possess ; whilst others, again, who had no store, stripped the bark off trees and devoured it eagerly. After an hour's respite, the column was again ordered to advance. Resuming the line of march, it proceeded some eight miles, when the painful ascent of Cheat Mountain had to be ac complished. Up this huge acclivity the worn-out troops patiently toiled from ten o'clock A.M. until six P.M., when, upon making a halt, shouts of joy rang along the line. The men now spread them selves upon the banks of a large river that ran through a gorge in this mountain top, and began to prepare their "supper" — the first meal they had tasted for two days. Having partaken of needful refreshment, they lay down on the ground, being too much worn out to think of pitching their tents. A couple of hours had only elapsed, how ever, ere the order to "march" was again given; so the jaded troops were compelled once more to move forward.
298 DEFEAT OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
The descent of Cheat Mountain, owing to the condition of the roads, and the darkness of the night, was equally difficult with the march up the other side, while the circuitous direction of the route rendered it much more perilous. About one P.M. on the 13th, a very distressing accident occurred. VYorn out from fatigue, a number of officers mounted one of the Commissary's waggons, in which position they fell asleep. In turning a short curve, the waggon whirled over a steep precipice, and crushed its living burden under its load ; three of the number having met with in stantaneous, inglorious deaths, away from the bosom of their families, on that lone mountain side, amid the beating of an unpitjing storm! " Pallida mors cequa fede pulsat " has proved false here. This casualty delayed the march until daylight, when the troops moved on to Green- brier River, a distance of nine miles from the scene of the accident, where they halted for the day. Subsequently Colonel Scott's regiment joined, with another from Georgia, and fell back upon Montery. In the meantime, General Gar- nett had engaged the enemy and cut his way through with considerable loss, the General him-
O '
self having fallen in the struggle, while the re mainder of his forces effected a junction with Colonel Scott. A portion of Colonel Pegram's
IMPUGNED GENERALSHIP. 299
command succeeded in forcing an entrance through the enemy's lines; but the Colonel had been taken prisoner, together with 600 of his men.
The routing of Southern troops from their position in the mountains, with such loss in killed, wounded, prisoners, stores, and munitions of war, produced a powerful sensation. People averred that General Garnett should not have been entrusted with such a responsible command; while his generalship had been impugned, owing to the fact of his having divided his small forces into three squads, and placed them miles apart. Colonel Scott, it was rumoured, actuated by per sonal feelings of antagonism to Colonel Pegram, refused to obey General Garnett's orders, and come to Pegram's assistance ; and it was expected that a court-martial would have tried the merits of the case.
Intelligence of the disaster quickly spread throughout the Confederacy, producing a deep and painful effect, although many persons re garded it with considerable distrust. The sanguine character of the Southern people — rendered still more confident by the success that had hitherto attended their exertions and crowned their arms — had so unfitted them to bear disap pointment, that one unexpected reverse plunged them into involuntary gloom, until, like Eachael
300 DEFEAT OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
weeping for her children, they refused to be comforted. The public heart had been touched to its profoundest depths, and a variety of feelings called forth, which the previous incidents of this unhappy campaign had failed to produce. For several months previously both belligerent armies had occupied the field, but beyond a few skir mishes and the Battle of Great Bethel, no serious engagement had taken place until that just re corded. This apparent lull in the progress of warlike events only foreshadowed the coming com motion, although some people were sanguine enough to view it in a different and more favour able light. The storm, however, had at length burst over the land.
Early on the 14th of July, I posted off as ra pidly as possible for Staunton, which I reached late in the afternoon — where I rejoined a few friends. During my journey I encountered twelve hundred North Carolinians, well armed with rifles, and a fine battery of field-pieces, in full inarch to strengthen the Confederate forces in North-western Virginia. This acquisition must doubtless have proved valuable, as the want of a battery had caused the late reverse.
Staunton is a large, flourishing town, the county seat of Augusta, and contains a population of over 2,000 inhabitants. It lies two hundred and sixteen
TOWN OF STAUNTON. 301
miles in a north-westerly direction from Richmond, on one of the extreme head branches of the east fork of the Shenandoih River, in a rich valley between the Blue Ridge and the north mountain chains. The Virginia Lunatic Asylum, and the In stitution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, are situated here. They are both spacious and imposing brick edifices, surrounded by parks. According to the United States' Census returns, the number of in sane and idiotic persons was 892, or one to every 866 persons; the number of deaf and dumb in the State was 603, or one to every 2,056 of the population ; while the number of blind was 802, or one to every 1,390 of the popula tion.
During the war of the Revolution, when Colonel Tarleton, who commanded the British forces, pursued the Legislature to Charlottesville, to which place they had adjourned from Richmond, they again fled and met in this town, where they finished their session. Here two conventions were held to deliberate in forming the Constitu tion of the State. The last assembled in July 1825, and made an appeal to the legislature, who thereupon submitted the question to the people, and it finally resulted in the adoption of the new Constitution.
This county has been the birth-place of some
302 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
eminent men, the most remarkable of whom was the Honourable Daniel Sheflfey, a self-made man, who subsequently rose to eminence in the country. Sheffey was bred a shoemaker, and worked in his father's shop. His education was inconsiderable ; but, possessing a thirst for knowledge, he passed his leisure in reading, and became particularly fond of astronomical and mathematical studies. Having arrived at manhood, he travelled on foot, with his " kit " on his back, to Winchester. From thence he walked through the Valley of Virginia, stopping at various villages on his way, barely earning sufficient money by his trade to defray his expenses, until he arrived at Abbey ville. Here he was a stranger, friendless and destitute. But he prosecuted his calling once more, while the novelty of his presence, the originality of his character, and the flashes of genius that en livened his conversation, compelled his acquain tances to regard the eccentric youth with wonder. By and by he entered the office of a local lawyer, and finally was admitted a member of the bar, when he was employed in conducting several important suits. After some years he settled in Staunton, and obtained a lucrative practice. He represented Augusta in the House of Delegates, and was even elected a member of Congress in 1811. On one occasion he gave John Randolph,
THE CYCLOPEAN TOWERS. 303
whose bitter sarcasm few could withstand, a severe retort. In commenting upon a speech of Shef- fey's the eminent statesman observed, that " the shoemaker ought not to go beyond his last" In an instant, with a heart beating with pride and indignation, Sheffey retorted : —
" If that gentleman had ever been on the bench lie never would have left it."
A. very singular natural curiosity is observed near the celebrated Augusta Springs* in this county, called the Cyclopean Towers. For many years they were known only in the immediate vicinity, and bore the rude appellation of "the Chimneys." They are about seventy feet in height. Passing over a hilly and somewhat pic turesque country, the road opens upon a fertile valley, which, though narrow, is of considerable length ; and, when seen from an elevated position, resembles the bed of an ancient lake, or, as it really is, the alluvial border of a flowing stream. A strata of limestone hills follow their usual order of parallel lines to the great mountains of the American continent, as though a strong cur rent had once swept through this magnificent valley, forming in its course islands and promon-
* These waters are strongly impregnated with sulphu retted hydrogen, and are said to equal the renowned springs of Harrowgate.
304 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
tories, which are now discoverable in numerous short hills and rocky bluffs, that are either naked and barren, or covered with a growth of stately trees. At such a projection the traveller first descries the grey summits of what seems a ruined castle, resembling those which were raised in feudal times to guard the passes of the Rhine, or like such as are still to be met with in mouldering majesty, on many an Alpine rock.
These towers — of which there are seven — lift their heads above the lofty elms like so many antique chimneys in the midst of a grove ; but, on a nearer approach, they are observed to rise almost perpendicularly from the bed of a stream, which, winding around their base, serves as a natural moat to a building not made with hands. These rocks in their formation resemble the Pali sades, on the Hudson, but are more regular in their strata, which appear to have been arranged in huge masses of perfect workmanship, with pro jections, like cornices, of Gothic architecture in a state of dilapidation. Those who are ac quainted with the structure of the Cyclopean walls of the ancients would be struck with the resemblance. Gazing upwards from their base, they seem, although not stupendous, yet grand, and enable the observer to realize an impressive sense of the Sublime in Nature.
WEYER'S CAVE. 305
In the same county, and about seventeen miles to the north of Staunton, is a still more remark able phenomenon, called Weyer's Cave, after a person of that name, who, in 1804, discovered it while hunting. A few yards distant is Ma dison's Cave, but the former possesses infinitely greater attractions. No language can convey an adequate idea of the vastness and sublimity of some, or the exquisite beauty and grandeur of other of its innumerable apartments, with their snowy-white concretions of a thousand forms. Many of these, possessing striking and pictur esque objects, have names exceedingly inappro priate, which degrade the association of the Sublime and Beautiful by vulgar appellations. Washington Hall, the largest apartment, is two hundred and fifty feet in length. Weyer's Cave may well compare with the celebrated Grotto of Antiparos. In one room there is a beautiful concre tion, which has the form and drapery of a gigantic statue. It bears the title of the Nation's Hero. If the interesting and the awful are the elements of the Sublime, here sublimity reigns as in her own domain — in darkness, silence, and in deeps profound !
The white (or red) clover is said to have been of indigenous growth in this region, and to have abounded on the banks of the river. The
VOL. I. X
306 NORTH-WESTERN VIRGINIA.
red was introduced by the early settler, John Lewis, a native of Ireland, who descended from a family of Huguenots who took refuge in that land from the persecutions that followed the as sassination of Henry IV. of France. It was ge nerally believed by the Indiana that the blood of the red men slain by the Lewises and their sue* cessors had dyed the trefoil a sanguine hue.
On the following morning, July the 14th, having enjoyed a good night's repose and a com fortable breakfast, I took the " cars" and started for Kichmond.
307
CHAPTER X.
MY VISIT TO MANASSAS — THE BATTLE OF BLACK- BURN'S FORD.
A Second Joan of Arc — The Fortifications — History and Character of General Beauregard — Forces under Generals Beauregard, Johnston, and Bonham — Condition of the Camps — The Culpepper "Minute Men" — Washington Artillery of New Orleans — A Skirmish — Death of Lieu tenant Ashby — The Village of Romney — Gaudy's Castle — General Floyd's Brigade — Life in Camp — Attack and Defeat of the Federal Troops.
UPON my arrival at Richmond, and having pro vided myself with the necessary " pass " from the Secretary-at-War, and introductory letters to Generals Beauregard and Bonham, I ran over to Manassas Junction, the head-quarters of the army of the Potomac (about one hundred and thirty miles from Richmond), to view the entrenched encampment and inspect the troops located there.
x2
308 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
All along the line of route I observed numerous bodies of troops, apparently well -clothed and equipped, moving onwards ; while I passed seve ral large encampments. The train by which I travelled, comprising some eight or ten carriages, was filled with volunteers, who whiled away the time by singing " Dixie's Land " and chewing tobacco. As the "cars" stopped at a station near Manassas, I noticed a tall young lady, attired in black, silent and sombre-looking as death, firmly grasping a revolver in her right hand, which was stretched out in the direction of the enemy, as if in defi ance. Upon observing this second Joan of Arc, a volunteer who happened to sit beside me ener getically remarked : —
"You see, sir, when the Yankees Mil all the Southern men, they will have to fight the women, — and they'll find them a more formidable foe than they expected, I reckon!"
Upon my arrival I was not a little disappointed to learn that General Bonham had left Manassas some days before, in command of a large force, with the view of taking up a position in front. This cir cumstance gave rise to the conjecture that a general engagement between the belligerent forces could not long be delayed, especially as both armies were almost within sight of each other. A few thousand troops, however, were encamped in the
THE FORTIFICATIONS. 309
immediate vicinity of the Junction; and I observed lines of tents stretching out in all directions, wherever the eye could penetrate, investing the locality with a very picturesque and warlike ap pearance. One portion of the ground was appro priated to horses, waggons, and ambulances, while in close proximity to the Station all kinds of army stores were piled, awaiting further transit. Deep ravines, bastions, and enfilades met my gaze, while upon the principal fortifications stood guns of heavy calibre, frowning defiance. Considering the nature of the defences, the character of the country, and the force that could readily be brought to bear upon any point, the position might almost be regarded as impregnable. In this light Beauregard viewed it ; and the opinion of so eminent a military engineer carries consider able force.
The hitherto quiet country around Manassas Junction had indeed undergone a remarkable transformation. With the exception of a hotel on an exceedingly limited scale, I observed but two or three dwelling-houses, then occupied by the military authorities. In one of these, about a quarter of a mile from the railway depot, General Beauregard and his Staff had taken up their head-quarters. It was a small, unpretending building, not unlike an English cottage, with a
310 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
garden in front, in which a number of officers' marquees were spread out. In consequence of the basement rooms having been appropriated to military offices, the house afforded no accommo dation for refectory purposes ; so a long table of plain pine had been erected at one side of the dwelling, where the General and his Staff always took their meals. This table, when laid out with metal plates, tin cans, and similar camp parapher nalia — divested, too, of the luxury of a white linen cloth — had certainly a most primitive appearance, and did not particularly serve to stimulate one's appetite. Nevertheless, the creature comforts were of a substantial kind; and although roughly prepared, proved sufficiently acceptable, even with out the grateful addition of condiments.
Upon presenting an introduction from the Hon. Kobert Toombs, Secretary of State, Gene ral Beauregard received me very courteously, invited me to his mess while I remained, and afforded me every needful facility for visiting the numerous camps scattered around. This distin guished soldier was "raised" in the State of Louisiana, is of Creole parents, and not more than forty-three years of age. He graduated at West Point Military School, where his studious habits and professional acquirements obtained for him the highest honours. Upon the expiration of his
GENERAL BE AUREGARD. 311
collegiate course, he was appointed to the Engineer Corps of the United States' army. Subsequently he took part in the Mexican War. Indeed, it was at his suggestion, when yet but a lieutenant, that General Scott successfully attacked the city of Mexico by the Belau, or western gate. This simple circumstance only shows what a high opinion was entertained of the young soldier by his superior officers, even at the commencement of his military career. He was at length elevated to the rank of major, and, prior to the disruption of the Union, was appointed Superintendent of the United States' Military Academy at West Point. From this honourable position, however, his sympathy with the South caused him to retire just before the commencement of hostilities, when President Davis elevated him to the rank of brigadier-general in the Confederate army. He commanded during the attack on Fort Sumpter. Beauregard is about the middle height, slender in figure, but muscular. His features are some what sharp, his forehead intellectual, his eyes singularly bright and piercing, and his aspect grave. He is remarkable for circumspection and reticence, so that no one can worm more informa tion out of him than he deems it prudent to convey. He possesses large concentrativeness and vivid perception ; and having once formed his
312 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
determination, is inflexible in his purpose. In appearance and habits of life he strongly resembles the first Napoleon, and like him eats but frugally. At supper I have frequently observed him only partake of a small portion of biscuit and a glass of water. He passes most of his time in privacy, and is always busy over maps and plans. Although soldier-like and austere, there is a blandness and suavity of manner about him which quickly win upon one. Nevertheless, at first, a stranger is liable to be unfavourably impressed, like the Prince Napoleon, by his mannerism ; as it requires more than a casual acquaintance with the man to discover his shining and noble qualities of heart and head.
Manassas may be regarded as the key to the Upper Potomac. Beauregard's command ex tended to the right of this line, while that of General Johnston occupied the left. The former had advanced posts at Centreville and Fairfax, under General Bonham, whose pickets were within five or six miles of the Federalists ; so that skirmishes between the scouts were of frequent occurrence. Beauregard's forces occupied two triangular positions, within a wide range of terri tory. Each position was judiciously selected, and well protected by extensive redoubts, deep en trenchments, and guns of heavy calibre, although
CONDITION OF THE CAMPS. 313
I could not discover any of those " masked bat teries," of which the Northern army seems to entertain such undisguised apprehension. The defences at the Junction assumed a formidable character, although still incomplete, as this place was meant to fall back upon in the event of a defeat or retreat, should the fortunes of war so determine. To the right of Camp Pickens, in the direction of the Potomac, the Confederate army stretched out as far as the Accoquan River, and in the direction of Leesburg to the left ; even Arlington Heights were protected on all sides, while advanced parties continued to annoy the enemy along the Loudon and Hampshire Railroad, from Leesburg to their camp at Hillsboro.
There was no scarcity of provisions — but water, so essential to the comfort, cleanliness, and conse quent health of an army, was both deficient and bad. This inconvenience was more severely felt when some eight or ten thousand additional troops were encamped in the locality of the Junction. Artesian wells, however, were being sunk, so that a larger and purer supply of water might be obtained. Sickness, more especially measles, prevailed among the men to a considera ble extent, and several deaths occurred daily. In the encampment three temporary hospitals were erected, distinguished by a large yellow flag
314
VISIT TO MANASSAS.
floating in front; but the chief portion of the sick had been removed to Culpepper Court house — a small village, forty miles nearer Kich- mond, where commodious hospitals and an efficient medical and surgical staff had been provided.
Culpepper was distinguished during the Kevo- lution for the services of her "Minute-men," who are said to have been u raised in a minute, armed in a minute, to have marched in a minute, fought in a minute, and vanquished in a minute !" The flag used by the Culpepper men is depicted in the accompanying engraving, with the figure of a rattlesnake in the centre. The head of the snake represented Virginia, and the twelve rattles the other States.
THE ARTILLERY OF NEW ORLEANS. 315
The corps were habited in green hunting- shirts, with the words "LIBERTY OR DEATH'* in large white letters on their bosoms ; which caused a wag to remark that he was willing to enlist, provided the motto was altered to "Liberty or be Crippled!" In their hats they wore buck-tails, and in their belts toma hawks and scalping-knives ; while their savage and warlike appearance excited the terror of the inhabitants as they marched through the country to Williamsburg.
About three miles from the Junction, in a very picturesque locality, called Mitchell's Ford, I found the Washington Artillery of New Orleans en camped. The site appeared open, elevated, and salubrious, bordered by dense woods, so that the tops of the stately trees could be observed in the distance, forming, as it were, a magic circle around the camp. Contiguous was a broad, undulating stream, like a small river, called the Bull Run, which is several miles in extent, affording an abundant supply of good, wholesome water.
Being one of the crack corps of the Southern army, the Washington Artillery is deserving of more than a passing allusion. As early as 1839 this distinguished battalion became formally in corporated ; but since 1850, when its present commander. Maior Walton, identified himself
316 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
with it, the corps has grown in numbers and re putation, so as to become the just pride of Louisi ana and a powerful addition to the army of the Confederacy. Mainly through the efforts of this body the Louisiana Polytechnic Academy was es tablished, from which have emanated general and field-officers now in the army of the Potomac. Indeed, from its own ranks have arisen proficient military men, who have obtained distinguished posts of command in other organizations. The battalion numbered 500 rank and file; 325 of whom were in Virginia, and the remainder in New Orleans. Its force of ordnance comprised four teen field- pieces, rifled cannon, howitzers, and six-pounders, the last of which once belonged to the old Ringgold Battery. The status of the in dividuals who compose the Washington Artillery is high. In its ranks are young men of liberal edu cation, high-toned character, social position, and occasionally of considerable wealth. In exchang ing their distant and happy homes for the rough and disagreeable duties, and the inevitable priva tions of a soldier's life, they have made large and heroic sacrifices. The strong ties of kindred have been snapped asunder, and the relations of blood all but forgotten, in what they consider the holy cause of country and duty. This bat talion aided in routing the United States' forces from Louisiana, in January, 1861, when they took
A SKIRMISH. 317
possession of the Arsenal at Baton Rouge, and seized all the arms and war material collected there, amounting in value to three millions of dollars. The men are well officered : Major Wal ton — who is greatly and deservedly estimated by his command — having been engaged in the Mexi can war, together with one company of the Washington Artillery; while several of the officers in subordinate positions are graduates of West Point Military School. The standard of the battalion, which is very magnificent, and cost one thousand dollars, was presented by the ladies of New Orleans, on the 22nd of February. Ser geant Louis Montgomery, co-editor of the New Orleans Delta, and one of the finest-looking men in the corps, partially owing to his stately appear ance, was appointed colour-sergeant. The Wash ington Artillery have equipped, and, I believe, either entirely, or partially, maintain themselves, so that they are of little expense to the Con federate Treasury. On the 27th of the previous May they had volunteered into service.
A very brilliant affair had previously occurred a few miles from Romney, along the track of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, between a scouting party of the Mountain Rangers — twenty men under Lieutenant Richard Ashby, and some forty Federalists who had been in ambush. Lieutenant
318 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
Ashby had but just left his post at Patterson's Creek, and gone in search of some suspicious cha racter, when he was surprised by the appearance of the enemy. Finding himself almost entirely hemmed in, and without the power of filing to the right or left, he halted his men and fired upon his pursuers, killing a few of them. This disaster somewhat checked their advance, when Lieutenant Ashby gave the order to wheel up a ravine which led to some open ground, where he determined to make his stand. In attempting this movement one man had his horse disabled and others mis took the way. Upon arriving at the rally ing- point, fighting as he retreated, Lieutenant Ashby found his men engaged with another party of Federal troops, who had ambushed in a similar manner. After a short but desperate engagement, Lieutenant Ashby, who was dreadfully cut on the head and elbow, fell from exhaustion, and was left for dead, but was discovered late the same evening. His brother, Captain Turner Ashby, having been apprised of the enemy's designs, hastened with a small party of his men — only eleven in number — to the scene of action. Amid the drift wood that abounds on either side of the road run ning parallel to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and opposite to Kelly's Island, he discovered that the Federalists, some sixty or seventy strong, had
THE VILLAGE OF ROMNEY. 319
taken cover. Immediately Captain Ashby and his small band were fired upon, when a charge was made through the river, about forty yards wide, when one man was wounded. Several shots were exchanged with effect, when the Captain called out to his men — "Bring up the reserve, boys; dismount, and at them with your bowie-knives ! " — upon which the opposing party left their cover and retreated, firing, however, as they departed. The killed on the Confederate side were but three, while those of the Federalists were estimated at fully twice that number. When Lieutenant Ashby was discovered, six hours after he fell, he could scarcely articulate. He, however, faintly asked for water, which was duly supplied. He was then removed to a neighbourine: cabin, where his wounds
O c5 /
were dressed. Great expectations had been en tertained of his recovery ; but the intelligence of his death from lock-jaw, consequent upon his wounds, had produced a profound sensation.
Homney, the county seat of Hampshire, con tains about 500 inhabitants, and was originally laid off by Lord Fairfax, its founder, into streets and half-acre lots. For a village it is a very stirring place, and does considerable business. A large proportion of the county is mountainous, and much of the high mountain-land is untillable.
One of the principal natural curiosities in Vir-
320 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
ginia is the Ice Mountain of Hampshire. It rises from the eastern bank of the North River — a branch of the Capon, twenty-six miles north west of Winchester, and sixteen miles east of Romney — and reaches the height of nearly five hundred feet. The west side of this mountain, for a quarter of a mile in extent, is covered with a mass of loose stones of a light colour, which reach down to the bank of the river. By re moving a few of these pure crystal ice can always be had in the warmest days of summer. It has been obtained as late as the middle of September, but never in October, although it might be found throughout the entire year, pro vided the rocks were excavated to a sufficient depth. The body of rocks where the ice is con cealed is subject to the full rays of the sun, but it has not the effect of melting the ice like continuous rain. At the base of the mountain is a spring of water, colder by many degrees than the usual temperature of spring water. Should a snake in his rambles happen to pass over the rocks which cover the ice, he loses all motion, and even vitality. Many have been discovered dead in this wav.
•/
Four miles north of Romney is another natural curiosity, known by the name of the Hanging Rocks. There the Wappatomka River has cut
GAUDY'S CASTLE. 321
its way through a mountain fully five hundred feet in height. The prominence of the rocks and the scene excite instant awe in the beholder. According to tradition a sanguinary battle was once fought here between contending parties of the Catawba and Delaware Indians, where it is said several hundreds of the latter were slain. Judging from the signs now observable, this traditional account seems to be based on fact. A row of Indian graves is plainly perceptible between the rocks and the public road, along the margin of the river, extending nearly seventy yards.
In the same county are other objects of interest — such as Gaudy's Castle and the Tea- table. The former was so named from having been the retreat of an early settler when pursued by the Indians. It forms the fragment of a stu pendous mountain in the shape of a half cone, with a very narrow base, which rises from the banks of the Capon to the height of five hundred feet, and pre sents a sublime and majestic appearance. The latter is situated nine miles below Gaudy's Castle, in a deep ragged glen, three or four miles east of the Capon. It is four feet in height, and the same in diameter. From the summit issues a clear stream of water which, flowing over the brim on all sides, forms a fountain of exquisite beauty.
But to resume. A general engagement along VOL. I. Y
322 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
the line of the Potomac had been fully expected for some time previous ; but although both armies were within a few miles of each other, no move ment of importance had taken place. Various rumours were afloat in camp as to the motives that actuated General Scott in thus avoiding a battle. Some considered that the repulses his troops received at Aquia Creek, Yorktown, and on the Norfolk side of the channel, had dispirited his command ; whilst others imagined that the recent evacuation of Harper's Ferry by the Con federate forces had disconcerted his plan of attack, and so far embarrassed his movements as to force him to reconstruct it. One thing was certain, however, that since this position was abandoned and its fortifications destroyed, Generals Patterson and Cadwallader — who headed detachments of the Union army — had shown no disposition to give fight. It was not considered improbable that Winfielcl Scott, having altered his pro gramme, should try and cut his way through South-western Virginia. That such a scheme on his part had been apprehended was clear from the fact, that a strong force had been dispatched to threaten General M'Clellan's flank and attack his base of operations.
Amongst the troops thus sent forward was the brigade of General Floyd, late United States'
GENERAL FLOYD'S BRIGADE. 323
Secretary of War, which is deserving of a passing reference. This force is considered one of the crack corps of the service, and is principally com posed of the athletic mountaineers belonging to South-western Virginia, who appeared all well- mounted. The leading officers of this brigade are descendants of the English Cavaliers who settled in that portion of Virginia in old Colonial times. Colonel .Reynolds, second in command, with whom I am well acquainted, is the grandson of a brave officer who fell during the Revolutionary war at the battle of Camden, and whose un daunted courage earned for him the soubriquet, more expressive than elegant, of " Dare-devil Tom !" The Colonel manifestly possesses some of the traits of his illustrious ancestor, with the important addition of an accomplished military education. He graduated at West Point Military School, and for a considerable time was a class mate of General Beauregard.
For some days previous to my arrival no person was permitted to pass from Manassas Junction to Camp Pickens — only a few yards distant — without special authority from the Secretary at War. Owing to the concourse and repeated succession of visitors, and the interruptions they necessarily occasioned, General Beauregard had found it in cumbent to advise and enforce this regulation.
Y2
324 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
Many persons, also, who had obtained passports, came here, en route for Alexandria, and, conse quently, had to receive "passes" from the General in command before they would be suffered to penetrate his lines.
" My decree," observed Beauregard to me, alluding to this arrangement ; " is as inviolable as death. Now, I would not even pass myself!"
" Then, General," I remarked, " you must be greater than yourself — which is a mathematical absurdity." The suggestion produced a smile on a face of such imperturbable gravity as the General's.
Camp life, under the most favourable condi tions, is not an agreeable kind of existence. I am only surprised how men delicately brought up, as many of the volunteers have been, can bear it so well, or without inducing injurious conse quences to a far greater extent. Let the reader imagine five men being placed side by side in every tiny tent, not large enough to well accom modate one, with merely a rug or blanket between them and the ground. Then the bugle, at the early hour of four in the morning, arousing the troops from their slumbers, and ushering in a round of duties, which continue without intermis sion until nine at night, when the tatto gives notice to retire, after which strict silence is en-
LIFE IN CAMP.
joined. When, in addition to these drawbacks and discomforts, are added, coarse, ill-prepared, and often sparse fare, the deprivation of all sti- mulatino- drinks, and sometimes bad or insufficient
O '
water, together with guard-duty and picket-duty — to which all are liable by turn — an idea may be formed of a soldier's life. I, who enjoyed many privileges needless to enumerate, found it tire some and monotonous enough. I could endure seeing numerous creeping and flying things in my tea and coffee ; but sleeping on the ground was an unpleasant novelty. I usually awoke with rigid, aching limbs, over which I could scarcely exert volition. Then to have to put on clothes as dank from the dew as if they had been immersed in water, was anything but exhilarating. The ex citement, however, made me forget personal dis comforts, with the prospect of witnessing " the pomp and circumstance of glorious war." The farm-houses in the neighbourhood of Mitchell's Ford sometimes sent in luxuries to Major Wal ton's camp. Frequently one or two of the officers would ride out in the afternoon to more distant dwellings ; and just about supper hour would dash into quarters laden with hot corn-cakes, and other creature comforts. The former were consi dered a great treat, and accordingly were par taken of with avidity. These excursions were designated by the name of " pirouting."
326 VISIT TO MANASSAS.
While in this locality, I was very much ex posed, being close upon the enemy's advanced position ; so close, indeed, that I could distinctly hear the report of rifles when the outposts would be firing into each other. Besides, it might have so happened that we would be surprised during the night by the unwelcome visit of the Union troops before preparations could be made for resistance, and either cut up or taken prisoners — they would not be particular which. At night, Major Walton was always on the alert ; and as we slept in the same marquee, I have known him, upon hearing of the slightest noise, to rise out of bed, hastily put on his clothes, and wander about the encampment. One night we were all greatly alarmed. Long after we had retired to rest, con siderable clamour was heard, and the report of musketry at distant intervals. The whole batta lion was aroused in an instant ; and, after a few minutes, were at their guns. No foe, however, approached. In the morning we ascertained that a regiment of Confederate troops, encamped about two miles off, had struck their tents during the night, and were on the march. The firing we heard was occasioned by the sentinels discharging their muskets.
For some days preceding the encounter which I am about to describe, General Beauregard had
BATTLE OF BLACKBURN'S FORD. 327
been anticipating an attack in the neighbourhood of Manassas ; and, consequently, made every available preparation to meet the enemy. Ac cordingly, General Bonham, with six regiments of infantry, five hundred cavalry, and two batte ries of light artillery, was despatched to Fairfax Court-house — thirteen miles from Manassas, and fourteen from Alexandria. At Fairfax Station, four miles distant, General Ewell was posted with three regiments of infantry, each regiment being one mile apart; while at Centreville, a village occupying the south-western angle of the county, and nearest to Manassas, Colonel Cooke was sta tioned with his regiment and a light battery.
On Thursday, the 18th of July, the enemy made his way cautiously from Alexandria in three columns of, perhaps, ten or fifteen thousand men each ; one down the line of Railroad, another along the Braddock Road, and the third from the direc tion of Fall's Church. Before noon an attack was suddenly made upon our advance d lines, and, after the discharge of a few hundred rounds, a retreat was sounded, when the troops fell back upon the Bull Run, about three and a-half miles from Manassas and eight from Fairfax Court house. This locality was expressly selected for the battle-ground, and the retreat ordered was simply strategical on the part of Beauregard, who
328 DEFEAT OF THE FEDERAL TROOPS.
commanded the forces, to entrap the enemy. The retreating party were pursued as far as Blackburn's Ford, where they made a stand. A general action ensued, which lasted several hours ; when, after making three ineffectual attempts to cross the stream, the Federal forces were repulsed, finally vanquished, and driven back in disorder. The Washington Artillery of New Orleans fought valiantly, and did splendid execution, and, toge ther with the 1st, llth, and 1 7th Virginia regi ments, bore the brunt of the fight. Several of the enemy's guns were captured, while over 900 of his dead were left on the field. The Confederate loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, was about 250. In this engagement Major Harrison and Lieutenant Miles, of the Washington Artillery, were slain — warm-hearted friends with whom I had passed many agreeable hours. Requiescant in pace!
END OF VOL. I.
K. BORN, PRINTER, GLOUCESTER STREET, REGENT'S PARK.
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any
University of California Library
or to the
NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698
ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling
(510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books
to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days
prior to due date
DUE AS STAMPED BELOW
DEC % 9 1991
"
/
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
-
' '•:- fi '
ill