The Valley Campaigns - Chapters XXV-XXVIII



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CHAPTER XXV 
MOSBY AND HIS MEN

   THE Federal cavalry and the Confederate had faced each other for some 
days at Millford, 12 miles south of our village. At length it became 
necessary for the Federals to send a large wagon train back to Winchester 
to get food for the horses and men. The country in which they were 
operating was a very poor one and the army could gather no supplies from 
the territory. Colonel Mosby, - who commanded a battalion of cavalry that 
operated as an independent command, - had learned of this situation and 
had arranged to attack this wagon train on its return north. 

   Mosby had about three hundred men in his battalion, which were divided 
into three or four companies that operated as a whole or a part, as 
circumstances required. This command had no given place for an encampment, 
but the men disbanded and stayed at different places in the mountains or 
safe retreats, and only assembled when called together for a raid. They 
operated in the northern counties of Virginia and by their activity kept a 
large body of Federal troops watching their lines of communication and 
guarding their stores. 

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   It has been claimed that Mosby with his three hundred men kept as many 
as 20,000 Federal troops on the lookout. He would pounce down on them at 
any unexpected time and destroy the railroads or capture supplies at 
unguarded points. Mosby and his men were a terror to the Federal troops 
and they called him a bandit and a guerilla, although he had a regular 
commission in the Confederate army and his men were regularly enlisted. 
These men were all well mounted on captured horses and armed with captured 
weapons. They were a brave and daring band and made trouble at all times, 
rendering valuable service to our citizens by preventing small bodies of 
Federal cavalry from raiding and pillaging the people who lived away from 
the main lines of travel. The Federal army wagons had to be well guarded 
in traveling through the country, and Mosby often attacked these wagon 
trains and made valuable captures. 

   He was here to-day and many miles away tomorrow, and though Federals 
set many traps for him, he usually escaped them and inflicted heavy 
damages in return. The operations of Mosby's command have gone down in 
history, and it is not necessary for me to repeat his many exploits. I 
wish to refer to only one incident that came under my personal 
observation, - an incident that illustrates his methods of work. 

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   The wagon train that General Custer had determined to send back from 
Millford to Winchester was presumed to have a small body-guard, and it was 
this train that Mosby had arranged to attack in a narrow road some two 
miles south of our village. Mosby divided his command into two companies, 
with about 150 men in each company. It was arranged that one company would 
fall on the rear of the train when it passed a given point and that the 
other would make the attack in front when the train reached a certain 
place. Mosby expected to catch the wagon train in a narrow passage, walled 
in on one side by the river and on the other by a high bluff. In this 
gorge there was no way to spread, and the Federals would be held as in a 
vise. 

   When the column of Federal cavalry with its wagons came down the road 
from Millford, and before it entered the gorge in the road, the command, 
which Mosby had sent to make the attack on the rear of the train, 
discovered that the train was guarded by the entire Federal cavalry, which 
was in retreat from Millford. The officer in command of the men that were 
to attack the rear sent a courier to notify the commander of the men that 
were to attack in front to withdraw his forces, as the Federal army was 
too strong for an attack. In some way the courier failed to deliver the 
message in time; and when the Federal 

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advance came in sight the order for the attack was given. 

   The road going south in front of my home crosses a hill about three 
hundred yards away and then descends along a deep ravine to the river. The 
road is hemmed in by this ravine on the east side and by a high, wooded 
hill on the west side, so there is no room for expansion. 

   In the early afternoon I was playing in our front yard when I saw a 
company of Confederate cavalry gallop across a field at right angles to 
the road, and I heard the officer in command give the order, "Wheel to the 
left. Charge!" As he gave the command the men in front turned into the 
road and charged over the bill. They had scarcely disappeared from sight 
where the air was filled with the reports of firearms. 

   I rushed back to the house to tell my mother what I had seen; but 
before I could enter the house I saw an ambulance coming down the road as 
fast as the horses could carry it. In a second I saw a horse running with 
the saddle turned and the saber striking the ground. The horse was trying 
to get out of the way of the saber. In less time than I can tell the story 
men were running in every direction and the whole earth seemed to be 
swarming with Federal cavalry. They came up like a flock of birds when a 
stone is cast into it. 

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   It was apparent at once what all this meant. Mosby's men had run into 
the wagon train, which was guarded by a large force of cavalry, and had 
fallen into such close quarters that the command had run in every 
direction to escape capture. It was stated afterward that the Federal 
commander had gotten information of this attack and had arranged to trap 
Mosby. He had placed the wagon train in the advance, with a very small 
guard, but had a large force following, which was to come to the relief of 
the train when the attack was made. The front wagon in the train was an 
ambulance, and in this ambulance was a sick officer. The men in the charge 
fired into the ambulance, - which was the one I saw coming down the road 
at such speed, - and unfortunately killed the officer. 

   In the charge down the narrow road Mosby's men became wedged in between 
the wagons and the ravine on one side and embankment on the other, so that 
it was almost impossible for them to extricate themselves. They broke in 
disorder and every man had to look out for himself. 

   One of Mosby's men had his horse killed in the beginning of the charge. 
Anderson, - that was his name, - ran back on foot, but was captured before 
he could find a hiding place. Five more were captured at different places. 

   As soon as the rout was over the Federals took 

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these prisoners and, without trial, had them shot. Two young men, Love and 
Jones, were shot in a lot back of a church in our village; Anderson was 
shot under a large elm-tree about a half-mile south of the village; a boy 
by the name of Rhodes was captured and brought through the village between 
two cavalrymen and taken a half-mile north and shot under a walnut tree. 
This boy had been a schoolmate of mine, and was only 17 years of age. He 
had not been in the army, and that morning he borrowed an old horse from 
one of our citizens to join in this raid so that he might capture a horse 
to enable him to become a member of Mosby's command. The old horse broke 
down in the retreat, and Rhodes was taken prisoner. I doubt whether be 
fired a gun. As he was led through the village he passed the door of the 
house where lived his widowed mother and single sister; but he was not 
permitted to stop and say good-by to them. His dead body was left on the 
ground where he was shot, and was afterwards brought to his home by some 
of the citizens. 

   Two men, Ogelvie and Carter, were taken a mile north and hung on a 
walnut tree. Rope being attached to a limb and the noose placed around 
their necks, they were made to stand up on their horses' backs, then the 
horses were removed from under them. They were left hanging 

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to the tree all night, as our citizens were afraid to go near them and cut 
them down. On one of the bodies a note was attached, saying, "Hung in 
retaliation for the death of a Federal major, killed in an ambulance this 
afternoon." 

   The following morning, September 24th, several of Mosby's men rode into 
the village and then went out to the place where their comrades were still 
hanging. They cut them down and brought their bodies into the village on 
their horses, a body being thrown across the saddle in front of each 
rider. The sight was the most ghastly incident our citizens had ever 
witnessed. 

   The Federal cavalry did not go into camp that night at the village but 
hurried on to Winchester. They were greatly exasperated and it was 
fortunate that they were hurried on. Our people were thrown into the 
deepest distress by this experience, and it was made more so because of 
the sad death of young Rhodes who was known to everyone. He was an 
amiable, kind, and industrious boy, and had been most helpful to his 
mother and sister. 

   Such were the experiences of civil war. No one could foresee the 
results of this brutal strife that regarded human life and property as of 
no value and made the innocent as deserving of punishment as were the 
guilty. 

   A few days later Mosby captured some 18 men 

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belonging to the command that had hung and shot his men. He took these 
innocent prisoners and had them shot in retaliation, giving notice to 
General Custer that if he wished to conduct war on that basis, he was 
prepared to do the same. I think this put an end to the murder of 
prisoners by both sides. 

   After this experience we were not exposed to the presence of the 
Federal troops until after the 19th of October. General Early, in command 
of the Valley army, was located in the neighborhood of Fisher's Hill and 
Strasburg on the main Valley pike. The Federal army was around Cedar Creek 
and Middletown; the two armies were facing each other and looking for 
opportunities to get an advantage. 

   The opportunity at last seemed to be favorable to Early to make an 
attack. On the morning of the 19th of October before daybreak he put his 
men in action and by a flank movement made an attack on the left of the 
Federal line at Cedar Creek. He took the Federals completely by surprise 
and drove them out of their camps before they had time to form. The rout 
was complete; and they were driven back to Middletown before the stampede 
was checked. Early's men had been starved and, for want of shoes and 
clothes, were in such poor condition that when they captured the Federal 
camp they began 

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to pillage and look for food and clothes. Many left their commands and 
became stragglers at a time when their services were needed on the firing 
line. 

   After driving the routed army back some six miles the men in the 
advance, who were doing all the fighting, were so reduced in numbers that 
they were unable to hold the position they had gained. The Federal 
stampede was arrested and fresh men were brought up from Winchester to aid 
in the defense and inaugurate an advance on the scattered and depleted 
Confederate lines. Early's men were not only held in check, but they were 
driven back in as much disorder as they had advanced. They soon lost all 
the advantages they had gained; and by evening the entire army had been 
completely routed. A brilliant victory in the early morning was brought to 
a most humiliating disaster by the close of the day by the straggling and 
disorder of the Confederates, who found too many temptations in the 
deserted camps of the enemy. 

   I remember that early morning in October as well as any day of my life. 
We were aroused by the reports of the cannon and muskets on the Valley 
pike, not over ten miles distant in a bee line. We could follow the 
advance and then in the afternoon could locate by the firing the changes 
in position of the two armies. The noise of the 

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battle was terrific, and we knew that a great engagement was going on. It 
was Sunday morning; the quiet of the Sabbath was disturbed not only by the 
noise of artillery and muskets, for my father had told Uncle Lewis that he 
had better get busy and try to save his corn crop on that day. 

   Uncle Lewis had cultivated a small field of corn near the house, and up 
to that time it had not been disturbed. My father told him he had better 
gather it at once, for not an ear would be left if the Federals returned. 
While the battle was going on in the Valley, and while we could hear the 
firing as distinctly as though close by, we all turned out and went into 
the field and shucked and brought to the house in bags some 18 to 20 
barrels of corn. The work was largely done by the servants on the place, 
but I did a full share of the duty. We put the corn in the garret of the 
house, and what we gathered that Sunday was all the corn we had for man 
and beast the following winter. Early the next morning a large body of 
Federal cavalry came in and took possession of the place. They cleaned up 
what corn they could find in the field, but left the fodder standing and 
did not take the time to gather the nubbins. 

   The main body of cavalry pushed south by the Page Valley but met the 
Confederate cavalry at Millford, where it had been held back in 

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September. Millford was a strong position, for the Valley was not over 
four miles wide at the place, and the river wound around between the 
mountains and lowlands in such curves that the place could not easily be 
flanked. A small force could easily defend the only road that led through 
the country. 

   After this second attempt to advance south by way of the Page Valley 
the Federal cavalry again retired north, and in this retreat they swept 
our county of everything that they could find in the way of food supplies; 
and what they could not carry away they set on fire or destroyed in other 
ways. They burned all the flour and grist mills in our county, with two 
exceptions, along the route of travel, all the barns that were stored with 
grain, wheat stacks, hay stacks, and fodder. The skys were red at night 
with the glare from these burning buildings. General Sheridan, at that 
time in command of the Federal army operating in the Valley of Virginia, 
made the boasting remark, "A crow will have to carry its rations in flying 
over the Valley." And this would have been literally true, if Sheridan 
could have had his own way; but, fortunately for our citizens that were 
non-combatants, the bounty of nature is often more beneficent than man. 

   Our country had never known such seasons as we had during the four 
years of war. Whatever 

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was put in the ground grew in profusion. Wheat, corn, oats, rye, and grass 
yielded large crops, with little cultivation. The orchard bore heavily, 
small fruits and the nuts on the trees were in the greatest abundance; 
wild game was prolific and the poultry, hiding in weeds and briars around 
the houses, gave abundance of food that could not be removed or burned. 
Our people relied on these food supplies in the scarcity of flour and 
cornmeal. Potatoes, which were buried under ground, were used as 
substitutes for bread, and molasses made from sorghum was used for sugar. 
Coffee found a substitute in parched rye and the root of the sassafras was 
used to make tea. Salt was often scarce and hard to get, and clothing had 
to be of the plainest character. Many of our men and boys were clothed in 
the old discarded uniforms of Federals, - clothes that had either been 
left in camps or captured by our soldiers, - dyed black with the bark of 
the tree. But for these resources our people would have starved; and in 
some instances there was much suffering for the actual necessaries of 
life, where families were in the enemy's lines and had no one to extend 
aid to them. Leather was scarce and it was difficult to get shoes. Many of 
the boys and girls of good size went barefooted for nine months of the 
year. A good pair of shoes for man or woman was a luxury; yet in spite of 

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all these drawbacks our men and women were tidy and neat in appearance, 
and our young girls never looked more beautiful than when dressed in their 
linsey garments and homemade hats. 

   This was the last raid the Federal cavalry ever made in our village. 
They had cleaned up the country so thoroughly that it was hardly necessary 
to return; for they could not find enough food for the men and horses and 
perhaps deemed it unwise to occupy a territory that was unproductive. 
Their operations were confined to the main Valley, and when the spring 
came, both the Confederate army and the Federal were transferred to the 
country east of the Blue Ridge. 



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CHAPTER XXVI 
THE SPRING OF 1865 - THE SURRENDER

   THE winter of 1864-65 was passed quietly by our people, for we were not 
disturbed by the visits of the Federal troops. They had treated us so 
badly during the fall months, and had so completely devastated our 
country, that there was nothing left to tempt them to come our way. The 
condition of the Southern cause and the position of our armies, - now 
facing such odds and reduced to such small bodies, - filled us with great 
anxiety. The contest had almost worn out the patience of our most loyal 
citizens, who seemed to feel that the spring campaign would bring further 
disasters. The resources of our section of the South were so completely 
exhausted that we were scarcely able to support our home population, much 
less give aid to the men in the field. Every man available for military 
service was in the army and the crop of boys coming on for the spring 
enlistment was too small to be of any value. Our lands were out in the 
commons; barns, mills, and farming implements had been burned or 
destroyed; only a few old horses were left for farm work, and we had 
little labor with 

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which to cultivate the crops. Our farmers looked forward to the spring 
with little encouragement. If the war continued, little farm work could be 
done as the farm lands, labor, and implements necessary to cultivate the 
land were all in such a condition as to make farming operations 
impracticable, except on the smallest scale. Small crops of wheat had been 
sown in the fall by a few farmers who lived off the main roads of travel; 
and in the mountains it was possible to raise rye and corn. The lands had 
grown up in weeds and bushes, but the grass was in good condition; such 
live stock as was left could find good grazing all through the winter, and 
was kept alive by this fortunate condition. 

   The privations and distress of our people can best be illustrated by a 
few examples. A lady in our village, - who had given birth to an infant 
about the time the Federals were harassing our citizens by all kinds of 
pillaging and destruction, - was so disturbed that she was unable to give 
nourishment to her baby. She was compelled to give it milk from the only 
cow that was available. The Federal troops butchered this animal, though 
it had a calf only a few weeks old. This left the infant almost without 
nourishment, and it would have soon perished had not a young woman, the 
wife of a Confederate soldier, had an infant about the same age. She 
volunteered 

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to nurse the baby in connection with her own infant, and it was necessay 
for the mother of the first infant to have it sent frequently through the 
picket lines to nurse, as the wet nurse lived some distance away and 
outside the lines. This had to be kept up until the Federals left and 
other arrangements could be made. The life of the infant was saved in this 
way. 

   A widow, whose only son was killed in the army, lived on a large farm 
at some distance from any neighbors. She had several grown daughters and 
one or two old female relatives living with her. Her farm had been 
stripped of everything that would give support to life. She had a number 
of old negroes, both men and women, with their small children, all 
dependent on the farm; and they were all the protection these ladies had. 
These faithful negroes not only gave protection but they worked the 
garden, looked after the poultry, cows, and small animals on the place, 
and managed to keep the ladies from starving. 

   An old gentleman nearly fourscore years old, - whose only son was in 
the army and who had an invalid wife and several single daughters, nearly 
grown, - had to go to work in the field to get food for his family. He 
rented a tract of land that was very poorly fenced, and by his own labor, 
with some little assistance from small boys, 

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sowed the land in wheat. The following summer he harvested the wheat, with 
the assistance of a few boys and old men. When his crop was gathered the 
Federals came along and robbed him of almost all his toil. He had worked 
hard for the actual food of life, and the enemy reaped where he had sown. 

   An old physician in our village, - who had four sons in the army and an 
equal number of grown daughters at home, dependent on his labors, - made 
his professional rounds on such old horses as he could pick up or as his 
patients could send for him, and often went on foot. I have seen this old 
doctor in the very hottest weather of summer hoeing and weeding a lot of 
sorghum, trying to raise the food for his family. 

   A pastor of one of the two remaining churches worked his own garden, 
milked his only cow, and did all the menial work around his parsonage. I 
saw him going to the gristmill with a small bag of corn on his back to 
have it ground and then bring it back as meal. He was the most heroic man 
of his profession I ever knew. His sermons were filled with the spirit of 
patriotism and yet of humble resignation, - ever encouraging his 
congregation to bear all things and trust to the will of God. These are 
only a few of the incidents I could relate. They are sufficient to show 
the conditions of the times and the spirit of 

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the people who were making every effort to meet them. 

   One of the greatest hardships that our citizens had to bear was the 
complete interruption of all business relations. After the fall of 1862 
every store and shop in the village was closed until after the war. 
Nothing could be had in the way of clothing, groceries, and household 
goods, except where purchases were made in other localities. The courts of 
law seldom convened, all civil authority was practically suspended, our 
mechanics and tradespeople had little to do, and the income from property 
and from business was cut off. The avenues of trade being closed, the 
wants of the people could not be met; and everyone had to get along in the 
best way possible. 

   This meant great hardship to many who had little money, and afforded no 
way of making a living by the usual methods of work. Our people learned by 
necessity to do without the most necessary articles of food and clothing, 
and lived in the simplest way. It is surprising how little one can live on 
when necessity reduces his wants to the simplest details. Just as Robinson 
Crusoe, on a lonely island learned the simplest problems of life, so our 
people, by force of circumstances, were reduced to a life of great 
simplicity. Yet in this life there was contentment and patient forbearance 
with the conditions that surrounded them. 

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   Although there were no military operations of any importance in the 
Valley of Virginia during the winter of 1864-65, a Federal garrison was 
kept at Winchester. As far as I can remember, however, we never saw in our 
village a body of Federal troops after the last of November. The 
Confederate boys came home on furlough and were not disturbed during their 
visits. As poor as our people were in worldly goods they maintained a 
spirit of cheerfulness and of hope. The results of the war were still in a 
balance, and some still hoped for better success to the Southern cause 
when the spring opened. 

   Our young people were still intent on having all the pleasure that 
would come their way; and though they had to do the greater part of the 
work of the home and of the farm, they found time for their social 
pleasures. Dances and parties were not infrequent and at these affairs the 
boys home from the army had their enjoyment. Love-making and weddings were 
still popular. There seemed to be nothing incompatible between love-making 
and soldiering. As a general rule the boys in the army had some girl on 
the string and were courting and marrying whenever the opportunity was 
favorable. I often wondered how men exposed to the dangers of war could 
assume the responsibilities of marriage; but the soldiers took these risks 
as they did those of battle, 

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with the greatest composure; for few men ever expected to be killed in 
battle; they usually thought the other fellow would be hurt but not 
themselves. This was a fortunate delusion, for few men deeply impressed 
with a sense of danger and fear of death will do their full duty on the 
firing-line, however faithful they may be in camp or on the march. 

   During the winter and early spring months the army under Grant and the 
army under Lee were facing each other in the trenches of Petersburg. The 
forces under Grant had been recruited and enlarged while the army under 
Lee had suffered heavy losses by death and sickness, and had dwindled to 
less than 40,000 men. These men were poorly fed and clad but were still 
fired with courage and resolution. They were making a gallant stand 
against the odds that were facing them. As soon as weather conditions 
would permit Grant began his old tactics of moving on the flank. He began 
on Lee's right flank and forced Lee to extend his slim lines over greater 
distances. This movement soon forced Lee to evacuate Petersburg, and with 
the withdrawal from this place, the evacuation of Richmond was necessary. 
The prize the Federals had so long coveted fell into the hands of Grant, 
and the capital of the Confederacy was lost to the South. The Government 
stores and papers were removed before 

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the evacuation, and Mr. Davis with his Cabinet and his office force, left 
for an interior place. 

   Lee then retreated in the direction of Lynchburg; and when he reached 
Appomattox Court House his small band of men was almost completely 
surrounded by the Federal forces. On the 9th of April Lee saw the 
uselessness of further resistance, and so he surrendered the Army of 
Northern Virginia. His men were paroled and allowed to return to their 
homes. A few weeks later the army under General Joseph E. Johnston 
surrendered in North Carolina. With this final scene the War between the 
States came to an end. 

   Four years of strife had completely exhausted the resources of the 
Confederacy, both in men and in money, and the drama was closed. The 
Government that our people had fought to establish went down in disaster, 
and the Southern States were at the mercy of the Federal Government. Next 
came the period of reconstruction with all its calamities for our people. 



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CHAPTER XXVII 
THE OLD FAMILY SERVANT

   THERE was something in the life of the old family servant that was 
peculiarly attractive to the child. Many a Southern boy and girl of my 
generation will recall the old negro "Mammie," as she was called, - her 
gentleness, patience, and faithfulness, her spirit of unselfishness and 
kindness, and her interest in the pleasures and enjoyments of our young 
lives. I can remember my old nurse, - her songs and stories, her gentle 
care of my diet and clothes, her mild way of correcting my outbreaks of 
passion and temper and her ways of training my disposition and character. 
No mother could have been more considerate of my comfort and happiness 
than was this old negress. 

   Then the old negro men on the farm were ever ready to contribute to the 
happiness of the boy. In fishing and hunting, in the breaking and riding 
of the horse, in the harvesting and gathering of the crops the negro man 
was at all times sporty and full of spirit and life. He usually had a fund 
of anecdote and folklore which, told in his 

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negro dialect, produced a striking effect which gave keen enjoyment to 
himself and audience. Generally the negro had a most musical and inspiring 
voice; and he not only sang sweetly but often played with pathos and skill 
on the violin, jew's-harp and bones. He was seldom morose or disagreeable 
but, to the contrary, had a joyfulness of spirit that removed the 
irksomeness of labor and added to the pleasures of his daily tasks. 

   In the labor of the farm, of the house, or of the barn he was always 
the same light-hearted creature, - full of merriment and gossip, often 
humming in a monotone some old plantation melody. By nature a social 
being, - his best efforts are given in rivalry with other laborers. This 
was best shown in the harvest field, in the thrashing of wheat, and in the 
old-time corn-shucking parties. 

   As our negroes had been emancipated the system of labor had now to be 
adjusted to meet the new conditions. Many of our negroes had not left 
their old homes and the great majority had behaved with such loyalty and 
consideration toward their old masters that a feeling of kindest respect 
was entertained for them. Only one of my father's negroes had left him. 
The older servants were as faithful and true as it was possible for a 
people to be. In fact but for Uncle Lewis and Aunt Susan we would have had 
a very 

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hard time and I cannot recall the services of these old negroes without 
the tenderest emotions. 

   A few days after the surrender, when we were assured that the war was 
over, my father called all of the servants together under a large tree in 
the yard and explained to them that under the order of the President of 
the United States the negroes had been liberated and were now free to do 
as they pleased. He told them that he had no further control over them, 
that in future he would pay them for services such wages as would be 
established in the community, and that if they wished to remain in his 
employ they could do so as long as they desired; but that if any of them 
wished to find new homes, they were at liberty to make a change. He 
assured them of his friendly interest in them and of his desire to see 
them do well and be happy. He told them of the altered conditions that 
would surround them under freedom and urged them to cultivate habits of 
thrift and industry, which would make them useful citizens and self-
respecting men and women. 

   After he had finished his remarks, which he had made in a tone of deep 
emotion, Uncle Lewis stood up and tried to be the spokesman for his race. 
In his illiterate way, but with strong sense, he said he did not wish to 
be free, that all his life he had been a slave in my father's family, 

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that he had always been treated with the greatest kindness by my 
grandfather and after his death by my father and that in his old age he 
did not want to be thrown on the world to make his own living and to be 
neglected by strangers. He then broke down in tears and wept copiously. 

   My father told him that he need not fear, that as long as he lived he 
should have a home with us and would receive the same attention he had 
always received. The other negroes assented to what Lewis had said, but, 
as they were younger, it was not expected that they would wish to remain 
indefinitely in our family. It was, however, several years after the war 
before they all found new homes. Aunt Susan stayed with us some three 
years before she went to live in her own home. She had accumulated enough 
money to buy a neat little house in Front Royal, and by taking in washing 
and doing light work she lived in comfort until she died. 

   A few weeks after the incident mentioned above Uncle Lewis went to his 
room with an illness that soon led to his death. We waited on the old man 
and did all we could for his comfort, but he expressed a desire to die, 
for he said he was heartbroken and had nothing left to live for. 

   When Uncle Lewis had passed away my father had him buried in the lot 
where for many years 

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his people had been buried. He had the faithful old friends assemble under 
the shade trees in the yard and a short service was held over the remains. 
My father and I accompanied the body to its last resting place, where 
Lewis now sleeps. I wept then, and the tears now come into my eyes as I 
write these words; for this good old negro had been one of the best 
friends of the days of my childhood and boyhood. He had taught me the 
early lessons of outdoor life, - how to ride, to load and shoot a gun, to 
hunt, and do many of the little things about the farm and home; he had 
entertained me by the hour in his room with stories and tales of his early 
life; he had told me many things about my grandfather, who died before I 
was born, and about other members of my family whom I had never seen, 
about the western country and the Valley in which we lived when he was a 
young man. This old man had a colored skin, but a white man's heart. I 
loved him dearly. 



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CHAPTER XXVIII 
REBUILDING THE WASTE PLACES

   THE close of the war found our country almost a desert. Over 80 per 
cent of the personal property of our people had been swept away. Little 
was left but the land and the buildings on it, many of which had been so 
neglected during the four years of war that they were almost 
uninhabitable. Fences, barns, granaries, and the outbuildings on many of 
the farms were completely destroyed. Only two or three old mills were left 
in our county, and they were in a dilapidated condition. The farm lands 
had grown up in weeds and bushes and were scarcely fit for pasturage. A 
few old horses, cows, hogs, and sheep were left on some of the farms 
removed from the highroads. Farming implements were almost worthless, and 
the tools used by the blacksmiths and mechanics were almost useless. With 
everything in this condition, and with little or no money to buy the 
necessary articles for industrial work, the problem of rebuilding the 
waste places was a serious one. 

   No sooner had peace been declared than our 

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people began the work of construction and of repair. Everyone with the 
physical strength began to labor about the house and in the field. The 
boys who had been in the army came back and resumed their home duties. A 
few, who had been trained for mercantile life or clerical duties, left for 
other fields of employment in the cities or elsewhere. With the opening of 
the spring, the work of building fences and of planting crops began in 
earnest, and was pushed with vigor and industry. The stores and shops in 
the village were opened and, with the credit extended by the merchants in 
Baltimore and some of the Northern cities, supplies were brought and the 
necessities of the people were provided for. 

   The scarcity of labor was made up by the return of the men who had been 
in the army and by the negro laborers who had not left their old homes. 
The farmers who had sown wheat the previous fall were fortunate in getting 
good prices for the wheat crop. This brought some ready money into the 
community. On many of the farms there was much good timber and this was 
cut and sold at good prices; and by the time the summer months had come 
our country began to assume a more prosperous appearance, and the wants of 
our people became less pressing. The young people soon began to resume 
their former pleasures. Picnics, dances, and other pastimes 

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were resumed, and all entered into the enjoyment of a refined social life. 

   About six miles from our village there was an old watering place which 
had been abandoned during the war. In some way it had escaped the 
firebrand, and only suffered from the loss of windows and doors, and from 
the hands of idleness. It was admirably located for the pleasure of the 
young people. The young men and women from the country for miles around 
would meet at this old place and spend the day in dancing and merriment. 
They would come on horseback or in any old vehicle, and bring provisions 
for the midday meal. The floor of the ballroom was large and smooth, so 
that dancing was continued the entire day, and sometimes thirty or forty 
couples would be on the floor at one time. An old citizen with his violin 
made music and the old-time dances were stepped off as the fiddler called 
out the figures: "Dance to your partner; turn partner; salute partner; 
dismiss partner." 

   A large lunch was spread for the company at midday and the dance was 
resumed until late in the afternoon, when the party broke up. The Virginia 
Reel wound up the dance for the day. No one enjoyed these dancing parties 
more than the boys who had been in the army. They were the heroes of the 
day and had the swing with the girls. I belonged to the juvenile set and 
took 

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my chances for a partner with any of the girls that happened to be without 
an escort. One of the boys who entered into the spirit of these dances 
with a light heart and energetic soul was an old schoolmate of mine who 
had entered the army at the very outbreak of the war. He met with a wound 
in the second year of the war and lost one half of one foot. He was able 
to walk on his heel and no man ever made better use of a heel than he did. 
He was on the floor all the time and with his game foot could tire out the 
best dancers on the floor. I have never known anyone who equaled him in 
the love of the dance. He had a very sweet and musical voice and sang old 
Irish songs to perfection. He was very popular with the girls. 

   We had a custom in those days of going to these parties in the country 
in a large wagon with the bed filled with straw. Four horses pulled the 
load and we often had twenty or thirty boys and girls in the wagon. This 
is what is now known as a straw ride. We did not give it that name in my 
boyhood days. It was a great source of pleasure and was an innocent sport. 

   The summer of 1865 passed so pleasantly that it was soon gone. When the 
fall months came a school was opened in the old Academy in our village by 
a young man who had been an officer in the army. He was well qualified for 
the work 

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of the teacher and soon had a large school of boys and girls. In the class 
that assembled there were some ten or twelve boys who had been in the 
army, and were now eager to make up for lost time. Several of them had 
belonged to the class of the principal that had commanded the company 
which went to Harper's Ferry on April 20th, 1861, and who had risen to the 
rank of colonel of his regiment, and had been killed in front of 
Petersburg in 1864. These boys who had served from one to four years in 
the war were good students and progressed rapidly. Later in life some of 
them became distinguished citizens. During the fall we had several 
incidents to happen that brought sadness to many hearts. A number of the 
men in the army from our county had died away from home and had been 
buried among strangers in widely separated places. Several had found 
graves on battlefields. As soon as it was possible the friends and 
relatives of these men had their bodies brought home for burial. When 
their remains were brought back our school would close and all of our 
citizens would attend the reinterment of these bodies. In some cases these 
boys had been lost in battle or had died so far from friends that their 
bodies were never recovered, and they now sleep in unknown graves, though 
their memories are still cherished by their loved ones. One of my old 
classmates was 

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wounded and captured. He died in some Federal prison, and his friends have 
never been able to learn his fate nor his last resting place. 

   One of the first duties our good women undertook after the surrender 
was to organize a memorial association for the care and preservation of 
the bodies of the Confederate dead buried in our community. A large lot 
was secured near the place first selected for the Confederate dead and in 
this beautiful spot all the dead were brought together and placed in 
graves, marked with headstones, with such information as was at command 
for their identification. 

   The unknown dead were placed in a large central mound with a monument 
over them. This labor of love and devotion to the memory of those who had 
given up their lives for the Southern cause involved much sacrifice, for 
our people were poor in material wealth, though generous and unselfish in 
heart. The work of caring for the dead was carried through a number of 
years and finally resulted in a beautiful memorial to the Confederate 
dead. 

   I have mentioned in a previous chapter the burial of Captain Laslie and 
Hugh Garth of the Second Virginia Cavalry, killed in September, 1864, near 
our village. I assisted in the removal of the remains of these bodies to 
the new cemetery after the close of the war, and they now sleep in marked 

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graves near their comrades-in-arms. In this acre, consecrated to the men 
who perished in the war, over three hundred men sleep "on fame's eternal 
camping ground." 

   While our citizens were collecting the bodies of the Confederate dead 
the Federal Government was engaged in the same work and some three hundred 
Federal dead in our county were removed to the National Cemetery at 
Winchester. These men were buried in many places, often in the neglected 
spots where they had fallen in battle. In a field adjoining my home nine 
men, killed in a charge, May 30th, 1862, were buried in one grave. A few 
weeks later a soldier belonging to an Ohio Regiment died in the home of 
one of our citizens and was buried in this lot. Some days later his 
friends came and removed his body and left the grave open with the coffin 
in it. About the same time a negro died in one of the camps and was buried 
in this open grave. This negro had on an old uniform of a Federal captain. 
When these bodies were removed to Winchester the body of the negro was 
marked "Federal captain. Name unknown." He rests now with the Federal dead 
in the National Cemetery. What is fame? 

   The men employed by the Government to remove the dead were a cold-
blooded set. I watched them open a number of graves, and when they found 
anything on the dead that was worth 

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keeping they appropriated it to their own use. They invariably examined 
the teeth to see if any had gold fillings, and if such fillings were 
found, the teeth were removed and placed in the men's pockets. No gold was 
ever buried with the dead, if these ghouls could help it. 

   These inhuman practices were the outgrowth of the war. These men, - now 
employed by the Federal Government to collect the bodies of the men who 
had lost their lives in service, - were members of the same army that had 
pillaged and robbed our people during the last two years of the war. As 
they could no longer rob the living they were robbing the remains of their 
dead comrades. I saw one of these men take a skull of one of these dead 
soldiers, and on examining it he found some four or five of the teeth were 
filled with gold. He took a stone and deliberately knocked out these teeth 
and put them in his pocket, with the remark, "They are of no use to this 
dead man, and they are of some value to me." 

   A Federal soldier had been buried in a field in front of my home. A 
depression in the ground marked his grave. I had often passed the place 
and thought it was a hog wallow. One of my boy associates had seen the man 
buried and called the attention of the grave-diggers to the spot. I was 
somewhat shocked at the way they asked for the information. We boys were 
watching the 

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removal of some of the dead and one of the men, turning to us, asked if we 
knew where any more of these men were "planted." It was then that the boy 
called attention to the grave. I followed the grave-diggers and saw them 
open the grave. The man had been buried in a shallow grave without a 
coffin. When the earth was removed one of the diggers discovered a black 
silk handkerchief and pulled it from under the earth. He then shook off 
the dirt and held it up for inspection. It was in good condition, so he 
put it in his pocket. He next examined the teeth for gold fillings, but 
found none. The bones were collected and thrown into a small box for 
transportation to Winchester. 

   Those are but a few of the examples of civil war with its sad features 
of human suffering and death. I have often thought that many of the poor 
fellows who had given their lives in the civil strife, and were now 
sleeping in unknown graves, had sorrowing relatives at their homes, who 
were looking in vain for their return. 

   I have estimated as carefully as I could that there were between five 
and six hundred Federal and Confederate soldiers buried in my county 
during the war. This loss is but trivial compared with the slaughter in 
many of the great battles of the war, where as many as ten thousand were 
left dead on the field. 

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   I have already asked the question, was this war worth what it cost in 
blood and treasure? From my point of view I have answered no. Those who 
differ with me must show wherein lies the profit. 

   So long as the brutal instincts of man control the policies of 
countries and nations war may be a necessary evil, but if civilization 
cannot be maintained on higher grounds, then civilization is a failure, 
and all human rights are exposed to the evil passions of human nature. The 
great laws that control all forms of animal life in the struggle for 
existence dominate in a measure the spirit of man. The gradual uplift of 
the human race is the outcome of this struggle. Upon this theory alone is 
there any justification in war between kindred peoples and foreign 
nations. When civilization has reached a standard when all human 
contentions can be regulated by arbitration then we may hope for an era of 
peace and good will between men. 

   The evil passions engendered by the War between the States should have 
ended at Appomattox. This was the hope of the people of the South. They 
had fought bravely for their Constitutional rights and had submitted this 
question to the arbitration of arms. The contest had been decided against 
them, and they were prepared to accept this decision in a patriotic way. 

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The emancipation of the negro was accepted in the same spirit; but the 
people who fully understood the nature and character of the negro expected 
that a domestic question of such importance to the negro and to the white 
race in the South would be referred largely to the latter to adjust. It 
was not believed when the war was first closed that a policy of 
reconstruction would be enforced by the Federal Government with harshness 
and barbarity, that a proud and high-spirited people would be subjected to 
such humiliation, and would have to contend with an ignorant and servile 
race, - a race totally unfit for the duties of citizenship, - for its 
principles of domestic government. 

   It is not my wish to revive the memories of reconstruction. That 
chapter of American history had best be forgotten by the men of my 
generation, and those who have come since the war are better off without a 
knowledge of that period, - a period that the historian can only view as a 
disgrace to a government which gave assent to it. 

   If the War between the States was justifiable, then any civil war, 
conducted on the same basis, will be equally justifiable. If war is the 
only protest a people can make against arbitrary power, then war will be 
inevitable in the nature of things. 

   The Civil War brought great wealth and political power to the North and 
Northwest. It built up an aristocracy of wealth and political 

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power that has dominated the nation for the last fifty years. It has made 
the few rich at the expense of the great mass of the people. It has been 
worth to the North all it cost in blood and treasure, but it has made a 
wage service as oppressive as slavery was to the negro in the South. While 
the laborer has been paid for his labor, he has grown restless and 
dissatisfied with his wages. Labor Unions have grown in numbers and in 
strength. They have become more and more outspoken in their demands, and 
they threaten to involve this country in greater embarrassment than the 
negro ever caused. The outcome of these conditions no man can foresee. All 
will depend upon the spirit of justice and fair play that the Government 
and public opinion will exercise in arbitrating differences and in 
adjusting balances. 

   These disturbances between labor and capital have been confined almost 
entirely to the Northern States, - to the people who have profited by the 
results of the war. The South has so far been comparatively free from 
labor contentions, for the reason that the negro labor of the South has 
been regulated by a domestic situation that does not exist where white 
labor is almost exclusively employed. 

   I have brought my story down to the winter of 1865. I will leave it 
here, with the hope that 

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it has presented a view of the war from a point not usually taken by the 
historian. Many of the facts are seen from the standpoint of a boy, others 
are viewed from the standpoint of a matured man, who has lived long after 
the events, and whose opinions are no doubt biased by contemporary 
observations and experiences. The author believes that the time has come 
when the people of the South should try to forget and forgive the rough 
usages of the war and take hold of the larger views that will strengthen 
and ennoble the life and influence of our nation. 


I
The soldier's tent is pitched at last 
On camping ground across the stream, 
Where war's fierce cry and bugle blast 
No more disturb his peaceful dream. 

II
The musket's crash and cannon's roar 
That raised his martial spirits high, 
In vain their music peals may pour 
Where his immortal ashes lie. 

III
The call to arms at early morn, 
The evening "taps" at close of day 
Fall silent from the bugler's horn 
When death has reaped its final pay. 

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IV
'Neath many a moldering heap of earth 
On fields of carnage stained with blood 
They honor those who gave them birth, - 
Proud offspring of their parenthood. 

V
No costly urn their ashes hold; 
In nameless graves they often sleep; 
Their deeds of valor where'er told 
In loving hearts will ever keep. 

VI
In duty's paths they firmly trod, 
Obedient to their holy trust; 
Believing in Almighty God, 
The Cause they loved to them was just. 

VII
From Sumter's fire and final fall 
To Appomattox's end in peace 
They gave their best - it was their all; 
The time had come for war to cease. 

VIII
If truth be truth, if truth be right, 
Truth and untruth can ne'er agree. 
To flee from darkness to the light 
Is all the cost of liberty.