 Chapter 9 of Detailed Minyushii of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861 through 1865 by Carlton McCarthy. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by David Leeson. Detailed Minyushii of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861 through 1865 by Carlton McCarthy. Chapter 9. Brave Survivors, Homeward Bound. Bitter grief for the past which seems to be forever lost and present humiliation could not long suppress the anxious thought and question, what now? The discussion of the question brought relief from the horrid feeling of vacuity which oppressed the soldier and introduced him to the new sensations of liberty of choice, freedom of action, full responsibility. For capital he had a clear conscience, a brave heart, health, strength, and a good record. With these he sought his home. Early in the morning of Wednesday, the 12th of April, without the stirring drum or the bugle call of old, the camp awoke to the new life. Whether or not they had a country, these soldiers did not know. Home to many, when they reached it, was graves and ashes. At any rate, there must be, somewhere on earth, a better place than a muddy, smoky camp in a piece of scrubby pines, better company than gloomy, hungry comrades and inquisitive enemies, and something in the future more exciting, if not more hopeful, than nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep, nothing to do, and nowhere to go. The disposition to start was apparent, and the preparations were promptly begun. To roll up the old blanket and oil cloth, gather up the haversack, canteen, axe, perhaps, and a few trifles, in time of peace of no value, eat the fragments that remained, and light a pipe, was the work of a few moments. This slight employment, coupled with pleasant anticipations of the unknown, and therefore possibly enjoyable future, served to restore somewhat the usual light-hearted manner of soldiers, and relieve the final farewells of much of their sadness. There was even a smack of hope and cheerfulness, as the little groups sallied out into the world to combat they scarcely knew what. As we cannot follow all these groups, we will join ourselves to one and see them home. Two brothers-in-arms, whose objective point is Richmond, take the road on foot. They have nothing to eat, and no money. They are bound for their home in a city which, when they last heard from it, was in flames. What they will see when they arrive there they cannot imagine, but the instinctive love of home urges them. They walk on steadily and rapidly and are not diverted by surroundings. It does not even occur to them that their situation, surrounded on all sides by armed enemies and walking a road crowded with them, is at all novel. They are suddenly roused to a sense of their situation by a sharp halt. Show your parole! They had struck the cordon of picket posts which surrounded the surrendered army. It was the first exercise of authority by the Federal Army. A sergeant, accompanied by a couple of muskets, stepped into the road with a modest air, examined the paroles, and said quietly, Pass on! The strictly military part of the operation being over, the social commenced. As the two survivors moved on they were followed by numerous remarks such as Hello Johnny, I say, going home? Ain't you glad? They made no reply, these wayfarers, but they thought some very emphatic remarks. From this point on to Richmond was the grand thought, steady work it was. The road, strangely enough considering the proximity of two armies, was quite lonesome, and not an incident of interest occurred during the day. Darkness found the two comrades still pushing on. Some time after dark a light was seen a short distance ahead and there was a sound of revelry. Approaching the light was found to proceed from a large fire, built on the floor of an old and elapidated outhouse and surrounded by a ragged, hungry, singing and jolly crowd of paroled prisoners of the Army of Northern Virginia, who had gotten possession of a quantity of cornmeal and were waiting for the ash cakes then in the ashes. Being liberal they offered the newcomers some of their bread. Being hungry the survivors accepted and eat their first meal that day. There seemed a good place to spend the night, but the party and possession were so noisy and finally so quarrelsome and disagreeable generally that the survivors, after a short rest, pushed on in the darkness, determined, if possible, to find some shelter more quiet. The result was a night march which was continued till the morning dawned. Thursday morning they entered the village of Buckingham Courthouse and traded a small pocket mirror for a substantial breakfast. There was quite a crowd of soldiers gathered around a cellar door, trying to persuade an ex-Confederate A.A.A. commissary of subsistence that he might as well, in view of the fact that the Army had surrendered, let them have some of his stores, and after considerable persuasion and some threats, he relinquished the hope of keeping them for himself and told the men to help themselves. They did so. The people of the village did not exactly doubt the fact of the surrender, but evidently thought matters had been somewhat exaggerated, facts suppressed, and everything allowed to fall into a very doubtful condition. Confederate money would not pass, however, that was settled beyond doubt. As the two tramps were about to leave the village and were hurrying along the high road which led through it, they saw a solitary horseman approaching from their rear. It was easy to recognize at once General Lee. He rode slowly, calmly along. As he passed an old tavern on the roadside, some ladies and children waved their handkerchiefs, smiled, and wept. The general turned his eyes to the porch on which they stood, and slowly putting his hand to his hat, raised it slightly, and as slowly again dropped his hand to his side. The survivors did not weep, but they had strange sensations. They pushed on, steering, so to speak, for Carter'sville and the ferry. Before leaving the village it was the sad duty of the survivors to stop at the humble abode of Mrs. P. and tell her of the death of her husband, who fell mortally wounded, pierced by a musket-ball near Sailor's Creek. She was also told that a comrade who was by his side when he fell, but who was not able to stay with him, would come along soon and give her the particulars. That comrade came and repeated the story. In a few days the dead man reached home alive and scarcely hurt. He was originally an infantryman, recently transferred to artillery, and therefore wore a small knapsack as infantrymen did. The ball struck the knapsack with a whack and knocked the man down. That was all. Some time during the night the travelers reached the ferry at Carter'sville. Darkness and silence prevailed there. Loud and continued shouts brought no ferryman, and eager searchings revealed no boat. The depth of the water being a thing unknown and not easily found out, it was obviously prudent to camp for the night. On the river's edge there was an old building which seemed a brick one, one wall near the water's edge. A flight of steep, rough steps led to an open door on the second floor. Up these steps climbed the weary men. Inside there was absolute darkness, but there was shelter from the wind. Feeling about on the floor they satisfied themselves of its cleanliness and dryness. The faithful old blankets were once more spread, their owners laid down and at once fell into a deep sleep which was not broken till morning. The room was surprisingly small. When the soldiers entered they had no idea of the size of it and went to sleep with the impression that it was very large. The morning revealed its dimensions about ten by twelve feet. The ferryman was early at his post and put the travelers across cheerfully without charge. Soon after crossing a good silver plated tablespoon bearing the monogram of one of the travelers purchased from an aged colored woman a large chunk of ash cake and about half a gallon of buttermilk. This old darky had lived in Richmond in her younger days. She spoke of grown men and women there as children while I raised. Lord, boss, don't you know Miss Sadie? Well, I'm nust her and I'm nust all of them chilling. That I did, sir. Y'all chilling does look hungry, that you does. Well, use welcome to them, viddles, and I'm powerful glad to get this spoon. God bless you, honey. A big log on the roadside furnished a seat for the comfortable consumption of the before mentioned ash cake and milk. The feast was hardly begun when the tramp of a horse's hoofs was heard. Looking up, the survivors saw, with surprise, General Lee approaching. He was entirely alone and rode slowly along. Unconscious that anyone saw him, he was yet erect, dignified, and apparently as calm and peaceful as the fields and woods around him. Having caught sight of the occupants of the log, he kept his eyes fixed on them, and as he passed, turned slightly, saluted, and said in the most gentle manner, Good mornin' gentlemen, takin' y'all breakfast? The soldiers had only time to rise, salute, and say yes, sir, and he was gone. Having finished as far as they were able the abundant meal furnished by the liberality of the good old mammy, the travelers resumed their journey greatly refreshed. It seems that General Lee pursued the road which the survivors chose, and, starting later than they, overtook them, he being mounted and they on foot. At any rate, it was their good fortune to see him three times between Appomattox and Richmond. The incidents introducing General Lee are peculiarly interesting, and while the writer is in doubt as to the day on which the next and last incident occurred, the reader may rest assured of the truthfulness of the narration. About the time when men who have eaten a hearty breakfast become again hungry as good fortune would have it happen, the travelers reached a house pleasantly situated and a comfortable place with all, approaching the house they were met by an exceedingly kind, energetic, and hospitable woman. She promptly asked, You are not deserters? No, said the soldiers. We have our paroles. We are from Richmond. We are homeward bound and called to ask if you could spare us a dinner. Spare you a dinner? Certainly I can. My husband is a miller. His mill is right across the road there, down the hill, and I have been cooking all day for the poor starving men. Take a seat on the porch there, and I will get you something to eat. By the time the travelers were seated, this admirable woman was in the kitchen at work, the pat-a-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat of the sifter, and the cracking and fizzing of the fat bacon as it fried, saluted their hungry ears, and the delicious smell tickled their olfactory nerves most delightfully. Sitting thus, entertained by delightful sounds, breathing the fragrant air, and wrapped in meditation, or anticipation rather, the soldiers saw the dust rise in the air and heard the sound of an approaching party. Several horsemen rode up to the road gate, threw their bridles over the posts or tied to the overhanging boughs, and dismounted. They were evidently officers, well-dressed, fine-looking men, and about to enter the gate. Almost at once the men on the porch recognized General Lee and his son. An ambulance had arrived at the gate also. Without delay the party entered and approached the house, General Lee preceding the others. Satisfied that it was the general's intention to enter the house, the two brave survivors instinctively and respectfully, venerating the approaching man, determined to give him and his companions the porch. As they were executing a rather rapid and undignified flank movement to gain the right and rear of the house, the voice of General Lee overhauled them thus. Well, you men going! This lady has offered to give us a dinner, and we are waiting for it, replied the soldiers. Well, you had better move on now. This gentleman will have quite a large party on him today, said the general. The soldiers touched their caps, said yes, sir, and retired, somewhat hurt, to a strong position on a hencoupe in the rear of the house. The party then settled on the porch. The general had, of course, no authority, and the surrender of the porch was purely respectful. Knowing this the soldiers were at first hurt, but a moment's reflection satisfied them that the general was right. He had suspicions of plunder, and these were increased by the movement of the men to the rear as he approached. He misinterpreted their conduct. The lady of the house, a reward for her name. Hearing the dialogue in the yard, pushed her head through the crack of the kitchen door, and as she tossed a lump of dough from hand to hand and gazed eagerly out, addressed the soldiers, Ain't that old General Lee? Yes, General Lee and his son and other officers come to dine with you, they replied. Well, she said, he ain't no better than the men that fought for him, and I don't reckon he is as hungry, so you just come in here. I am going to give you yours first, and then I'll get something for him. What a meal it was! Seated at the kitchen table, the large-hearted woman bustled about and talking away, the ravenous tramps attacked a pile of old Virginia hoecake and corn dodger, a frying pan with an inch of gravy and slices of bacon, streak of lean and streak of fat, very numerous. To finish, as much rich butter milk as the drinkers could contain, with many heartfelt thanks the survivors bid farewell to this immortal woman, and leaving the general and his party in quiet possession of the front porch pursued their way. Knight found the survivors at the gate of a quite handsome, framed country residence. The weather was threatening, and it was desirable to have shelter as well as rest. Entering and knocking at the door, they were met by a servant girl. She was sent to her mistress with a request for permission to sleep on her premises. The servant returned, saying, Mr. says she's a widow, and there ain't no gentleman in the house, and she can't let you come in. She was sent with a second message, which informed the lady that the visitors were from Richmond, members of a certain company from there, and would be content to sleep on the porch, in the stable or in the barn. They would protect her property, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This brought the lady of the house to the door. She said, if you are members of the blank, blank, you must know my nephew. He was in that company. Of course they knew him. Old chum, comrade, particular friend, splendid fellow. Hope he was well when you heard from him. Glad to meet you, madam. These and similar hearty expressions brought the longed for, come in, gentlemen. You are welcome. I will see that supper is prepared for you at once. Invitation accepted. The old haversacks were deposited in a corner under the steps, and their owners conducted downstairs to a spacious dining-room, quite prettily furnished. A large table occupied the center of the room, and at one side there was a handsome display of silver in a glass front case. A good big fire lighted the room. The lady sat quietly working at some woman's work, and from time to time questioning, in a rather suspicious manner, her guests. Their correct answers satisfied her, and their respectful manner reassured her, so that by the time supper was brought in, she was chatting and laughing with her defenders. The supper came in, steaming hot. It was abundant, well-prepared, and served elegantly. Splendid coffee, hot biscuit, luscious butter, fried ham, eggs, fresh milk. The writer could not expect to be believed if he should tell the quantity eaten at that meal. The good lady of the house enjoyed the sight. She relished every mouthful, and no doubt realized then and there the blessing which is conferred on hospitality, and the truth of that saying of old, it is more blessed to give than to receive. The wayfarers were finally shown to a neat little chamber. The bed was soft and glistening white, too white and clean to be soiled by the occupancy of two Confederate soldiers who had not had a change of under-clothing for many weeks. They looked at it, felt of it, spread their old blankets on the neat carpet, and slept there till near the break of day. While it was yet dark, the travellers, unwilling to lose time waiting for breakfast, crept out of the house, leaving their thanks for their kind hostess, and pressed rapidly on to Mannequin town on the James River and Canawa Canal, half a day's march from Richmond, where they arrived while it was yet early morning. The greenswored between the canal and river was inviting, and the survivors laid there a while to rest and determine whether or not they would push on to the city. They decided to do so as soon as they could find a breakfast to fit them for the day's march. A short walk placed them at the yard gate of a house prominent by reason of its size and finish. Everything indicated comfort, plenty, and freedom from the ravages of war. The proprietor, a well-fed, hearty man of not more than forty-two or three, who, as a soldier could tell at a glance, had never seen a day's service, stood behind the tall gate, and, without a motion towards opening it, replied to the cheery, Good Morning, sir, of the soldiers with a sullen, Marne, what do you want here? We are from Richmond, sir, members of the Blank. We are on our way home from Appomattox, where the army was surrendered, and called to ask if you could spare us something to eat before we start on the day's march. Oh, yes, I know about the surrender I do. Some scoundrels were here last night and stole my best mare, d**n. No, I don't want any more of such cattle here, replied the patriot. A large reward for his name. The foragers, having worked for a meal before and being less sensitive than penniless gentlemen sometimes are, replied, We are not horse thieves or beggars. If you do not feel that it would be a pleasure and a privilege to feed us, don't do it. We don't propose to press the matter. At last he said, Come in, then, I'll see what I can do. The seekers after food accepted the ungracious invitation, followed the dog through his yard and into his house, and took seats at his table. At a signal from the master a servant went out. The host followed, and, it is supposed, instructed her. The host returned, and was soon followed by the servant bearing two plates which were placed before the survivors. Alas, that they should survive to see that the plates contained the heads, tails, fins, and vertebrae of the fish fresh from the river, which the family of this hero and sufferer from the evils of war had devoured at their early, and no doubt, cozy breakfast. Survivor number one looked at survivor number two. Survivor number two looked at survivor number one, and simultaneously they rose to their feet, glanced at the host, and strode to and out of the door. The host followed, amazed. What's the matter, gentlemen? You did not eat. The poor soldiers replied, No, we didn't eat. We are not dogs. Permit us to say we are satisfied it would be an injustice to the canine race to call you one. You deserve to lose another mare. You are meaner than any epithets at our command. The man fairly trembled. His face was pale with rage, but he dared not reply as he would. Recovering himself and seeing an odorous name in the future, he attempted apology and reparation for the insult and complete reconciliation. Oh, come in, come in. I'll have something cooked for you. Sorry, the mistake occurred. All right, all right, boys, come in. Pulling and patting the boys. But the boys wouldn't go in. On the contrary, they stayed out persistently. And before they left that gate, heaped on its owner all the contempt, disdain, and scorn which they could express. Flung at him all the derisive epithets which four years in the army places at a man's disposal, poo-poo'd at his hypocritical regrets, and shaking off the dust of that place from their feet, pushed on to the city, the smoke of which rose to heaven. At eleven a.m. of the same day, two-foot sore, despondent and penniless men stood facing the ruins of the home of a comrade who had sent a message to his mother, tell mother I am coming. The ruins yet smoked, a relative of the lady whose home was in ashes and whose son said I am coming stood by the survivors. Well then, he said, it must be true that General Lee has surrendered. The solemnity of the remark, coupled with the certainty in the minds of the survivors, was almost amusing. The relative pointed out the temporary residence of the mother, and thither the survivors winded their way. A knock at the door startled the mother, and with agony in her eyes she appeared at the open door, exclaiming, my poor boys are safe and coming home, said the survivors. Thank God, said the mother, and the tears flowed down her cheeks. A rapid walk through ruined and smoking streets, some narrow escapes from Negro soldiers on police duty, the satisfaction of seeing two of the boys in blue hung up by their thumbs for pillaging, a few hands shaking, and the survivors found their way to the house of a relative where they did eat bread with thanks. A friend informed the survivors that farm hands were needed all around the city. They made a note of the name of one farmer. Saturday night the old blankets were spread on the parlor floor. Sunday morning, the sixteenth of April, they bid farewell to the household and started for the farmer's house. As they were about to start away, the head of the family took from his pocket a handful of odd silver pieces, and extending it to his guests, told them it was all he had, but they were welcome to half of it. Remembering that he had a wife and three or four children to feed, the soldiers smiled through their tears at his, bade him keep it all, and weep for himself rather than for them. So saying, they departed, and at sundown were at the farmer's house, fourteen miles away. Monday morning, the seventeenth, they beat their swords, muskets in this case, into plowshares, and did the first day's work of the sixty which the simple farmer secured at a cost to himself of about half rations for two men. Behold the gratitude of a people. CHAPTER X SOLDIERS TRANSFORMED Sunday night, April sixteenth, the two survivors sat down to a cozy supper at the farmer's house. Plentiful it was, and to hungry travelers, sweet and satisfying. The presence of the farmer's wife and children, two lady refugees, and an old gentleman who was also a refugee, added greatly to the novelty and pleasure of the meal. After supper the soldiers replied with questions till they were almost overcome by fatigue and about to fall asleep in their chairs. At last the farmer, with many apologies, led them kindly to the best room in the house, the parlor, where they spread their blankets on the carpeted floor and were soon sound asleep. In the morning the breakfast was enough to craze a confederate soldier, buttermilk biscuit, fresh butter, eggs, milk, fried bacon, coffee, after the breakfast, business. The farmer proposed to feed and lodge the soldiers and pay them eleven dollars monthly for such manual labor as they could perform on his farm. The soldiers, having in remembrance the supper and breakfast, accepted the terms. The new hands were now led to the garden, where the farmer had half an acre plowed up and each was furnished with an old dull hoe with crooked, knotty handles. The farmer then, with blushes and stammering, explained that he desired to have each particular clod chopped up fine with the hoe. The soldiers, townmen, thought this an almost superhuman task and a great waste of time, but so that the work procured food they cared not what the work might be, and at it they went with a will. All that morning, until the dinner hour, those two hoes rose and fell as regularly as the pendulum of a clock swings from side to side and almost as fast. The negro men and women in the neighborhood, now in the full enjoyment of newly conferred liberty, and consequently having no thought of doing any work, congregated about the garden, leaned on the fence, gazed sleepily at the toiling soldiers, chuckled now and then, and occasionally explained their presence by remarking to each other, come here to see dimmed our white folks walking. There were onions growing in that garden, which the soldiers were glad to pull up and eat. It was angels' food to men who had been fed for months on salt, bacon, and cornbread without one mouthful of any green thing. When dinner time came, the hands were, to say the least, very decidedly hungry. Buttermilk biscuit figured prominently again, and the soldiers found great difficulty in exercising any deliberation in the eating of them. It really seemed to them that, were it reasonable behavior, they could devour every morsel provided for the entire family. But when they had devoured about two-thirds of all there was to eat, and the host said, have another biscuit, they replied, no, thank you, plenty, greatest plenty, all the while as hungry as when they sat down. It was only a question of who was to be hungry, the soldiers or the children. There was not enough for all. After dinner, the survivors went again to the garden and chopped those clods of earth until the merry voice of the farmer called them to supper. At supper there was a profusion of flowers which, the kind lady of the house explained, were there to cheer the soldiers. She had noticed they were sad, and hoped that this little attention would cheer them. But the thing the soldiers most needed to enliven them was more to eat. They were not feeling romantic at all. After the supper the whole family adjourned to the parlor and were entertained with some good old fashioned piano playing and homespun duets and solos. The veterans added their might to the entertainment in the shape of a tolerably fair tenor and an intolerable bass. Singing in the open air with a male chorus is not the best preparation for a parlor mixed quartet. When the war ceased the negroes on the farm had left their quarters and gone out in search of a glorious something which they had heard described as liberty, freedom, manhood and the like. Consequently the quarters suggested themselves to the farmer as a good place for the new field hands to occupy for sleeping apartments. They were carried to an outbuilding and shown their room, ten by fifteen feet, unplastered, greasy and dusty. The odor of the man and brother did cling there still. A bench, a stool, an old rickety bedstead and a bed of straw completed the fitting out of the room. Safe for the shelter of the roof anywhere in the fields would have been far preferable. The first night disclosed the presence of fleas in abundance and other things worse. While it was yet dark the farmer, still somewhat embarrassed by the possession of the new style of laborer, began to call. Time to get up boy, uh, gentlemen, hello there, bang, bang, bang. After a while the new hands appeared outside and as they looked around noticed that the sun was looking larger and redder than they remembered it and too low down. The morning air was chilling and grass bushes everything dripping with dew. The farmer led the way to the stable yard and pointing to a very lively, restless, muscular young bull with handsome horns and glaring eyes, said he was to be yoked and hitched to the cart. If he had asked them to bridle and saddle an untamed African lion they would not have been more unwilling or less competent. So the farmer, telling them the animal was very gentle and harmless, proceeded to yoke and hitch him, hoping, he said, that having once seen the operation his new hands would know how. The yoke was a sort of collar and when the hitching was done the bull stood in the shafts of the cart just as a horse would. Instead of a bridle and reins a heavy iron chain with lengths and inch and half long was passed around the base of the animal's horns. The driver held the end of the chain and managed the animal by giving it tremendous jerks which never failed to thrill the bull with agony if one might judge from the expression of his countenance and the eagerness with which he rammed his horns into pine trees or anything near whenever he felt the shock. The soldiers constantly marveled that his horns did not drop off but they were not familiar with country life and especially ignorant of the art of driving an ox cart. After breakfast the younger of the two survivors was told to take the cart drawn by the animal already described and go down into the woods after a load of cord wood for the kitchen fire. The trip to the woods was comparatively easy. The wood was soon loaded on the cart and the journey home commenced. After going a few yards the animal concluded to stop. His driver, finding that coaxing would not induce him to start, slacked the chain, gave it a quick strong jerk and started him. He went off at a fearful rate with his nose on the ground and his tail flying like a banner in the air. In a moment he managed to hang a sapling which halted him but summoning all his strength for a great effort he bent himself to the yoke, the sapling slowly bent forward and the axle mounted it. In another moment the sapling had righted itself but the cart was turned over completely and the wood on the ground. There were a great many mosquitoes, gnats and flies in those woods and they were biting furiously. Possibly that may account for the exasperated condition of the driver and his use of strong expressions there. The cart was righted, the wood piled on again and, strange to say, got out of the woods without further mishap. But in order to reach the house it was necessary to drive up the slope of a hillside with here and there a stump. On the way up the driver saw a stump ahead and determined to avoid it so he gave the chain a shake but the animal preferred to straddle the stump and would have succeeded but for the fact that it was too high to pass beneath the axle. As soon as he felt the resistance of the stump against the axle he made splendid exertions to overcome it and succeeded in walking off with the body of the cart leaving the axle and wheels behind. He didn't go far, however, the farmer came down and released the weary animal. The survivor then toted the wood, stick by stick to the house and learned thereby the value of cord wood ready to hand. People who are raised in the country have simple ways but they can do some things much better than town people can. They are useful people, they are not afraid of cattle or horses. The next day this awful animal was yoked to a plow and placed under the care of the elder of the survivors who was to plow a field near the house. In a few minutes he did something displeasing to the bull which started him to running at a fearful speed. He dashed away towards the house, the plow flying and flapping about like the arms of a flail, tore through the flower beds, ripping them to pieces, tore down all the choice young trees about the house, frightened the ladies and children nearly to death and demoralized the whole farm. He was at last captured and affectionately cared for by the farmer who, no doubt, felt that it was a pity for any man to be compelled to trust his valuable stock to the management of green hands. In the meantime the other man had been furnished with a harrow and a mule and sent to harrow a field. The farmer pointed, carelessly no doubt, to a field and said, Now you go there and drag that field. You know how, don't you? Well. So he went and dragged that old harrow up and down, up and down for many a weary hour. Towards dinner time he heard a voice in the distance as of someone in distress. Hi-ho! Say there! Stop! Stop! Hold on! There came the farmer running, panting, gesticulating and screaming. Standing in astonishment, the agricultural survivor awaited his arrival and an explanation of his strange conduct. As soon as the farmer had breath to speak he said, Ah me, oh my, mister, my dear sir, you have gone, sir, and sir, you have tore up all my turnip salad! And he wept there sorely. You see the farmer pointed out the field carelessly and the hand got on the wrong one. He noticed some vegetation shooting up here and there but supposed it was some weed the farmer wished to eradicate. Town people don't know everything and soldiers are so careless. The three refugees before mentioned were an old gentleman, his aged wife, and their widowed daughter. Having lost their home and all their worldly possessions they had agreed to work for the farmer for food and lodging. The old gentleman was acting somewhat in the character of coachman, his wife was nurse and the widowed daughter was cook and house servant. The three were fully the equals if not the superiors of the family in which they were serving. Happily for them they soon got some good news and drove away in their own carriage. The farmer did the best he could for them while they stayed and for his survivors, but he was burdened with a large family, a miserably poor farm, deep poverty and hopeless shiftlessness. One day the farmer made up his mind to cultivate a certain field in the center of which he had an extensive cow pen enclosed by a ten rail fence. To prepare the way he wanted that fence taken down carried rail by rail to the corner of the field and there piled up. He put one of his new hands to work at this interesting job and went home probably to take a nap. The survivor toted rails that day on one shoulder until it was bleeding and then on the other until it was too sensitive. Then he walked over to see how the other hand was getting along with the horse and mule team and the harrow. He found him very warm, very much exasperated, using excited language, beating the animals and declaring that no man under the sun ever encountered such formidable difficulties in the pursuit of agricultural profit. He explained that the horse was too large and the mule too small, the traces were too old and would break every few yards, the harness was dropping to pieces, the teeth constantly dropping out of the harrow and the harrow itself ready to tumble into firewood. In addition to these annoyances, the mule and the horse alternated between going the wrong way and not going at all. The man almost wept as he described the aggravating calmness of the animals. When a trace broke they turned, gazed on the wreck, stood still, groaned by way of a sigh, and seemed to say, one more brief respite, thank Providence, fifteen minutes to tie up that old chain at least. After a careful survey of the situation and some tolerably accurate guesses as to the proximity of the dinner hour, the two battered remnants of the glorious old army decided to suspend operations and slowly winded their way to the house, one carrying his lacerated shoulders and the others steering the remains of the harrow. It had been agreed, indeed, the remnants had insisted, that they were to be directed about their work and made to serve exactly as the Negro hands would have been had they remained, but so novel was the situation the farmer had constantly to be reminded of his authority. At last a bright idea occurred to the farmer. He would undertake a little extra fine work for a neighbor and thus relieve the survivors of the monotony of the hoe, the plow, and the harrow. Some old ladies wanted their household goods moved from one house to another and we were to undertake the job. The entire force consisted of the mule and the cart there too belonging and the bull and his cart. The mule had precedence in the line and was closely followed by the bull. The farmer walked in front as pioneer, the elder survivor drove the mule, and the hero of the cowpen held the chain which agonized the bull when necessary. At the brow of a certain long hill which the humble mule had quietly walked down, the bull halted for meditation. His impatient and less romantic driver thoughtlessly gave the chain a rude jerk. In an instant he felt himself whirled down that hill at breakneck speed. Almost simultaneous with the start was the shock of the stop. Picking himself up, the driver found his cart securely fastened to a pine tree which was jammed between the wheel and the body of it. The steed was unhurt but excited. After a long coaxing the farmer persuaded him to back far enough to disengage the cart and the progress continued. The furniture was found in a small room, up a crooked and narrow stairs. Nothing was as large as the furniture. How to get it out was a conundrum. One of the survivors suggested to the farmer to knock off the roof of the house and take it out that way, but he wouldn't hear of it. Finally the cart was driven under the eaves and while those whose past services had endeared them to their countrymen, rolled the furniture out of the window and lowered it by hand from the eaves, the farmer stowed it in the cart. The ladies, though greatly agitated by the imminent danger of the furniture, found time to admire the ingenuity and originality of the plan and the intrepid daring of its execution. The farmer, who had several times been in danger of having himself mashed flat, was entirely overlooked. Both the carts being loaded, the train moved off in good order. After a few days the farmer mounted one of the men, not conquered but wearied with victory, on the mule, gave him an old meal bag and sent him to a neighbors for meal and bacon. He got, say, a peck of one and a pound or two of the other. This proceeding was repeated at intervals of a day or two and finally led to the conclusion that the farmer was living from hand to mouth, certainly, and in all probability on charity. Besides, the new hands felt a growing indisposition owing to the meagre supplies on the table to allow themselves any latitude in the matter of eating, so they resolved to try the good old plan of days gone by and send out a foraging party. The plans were discussed at length and everything decided. One morning early, the senior of the endeared survivors took the road for Richmond, distant about fourteen miles, intending there to lay in food, tobacco, pipes, information, and any other little thing calculated to brighten life on a farm. During his absence the other forlorn survivor groaned with impatience and doubt, questioning the possibility of a man returning to such a place after seeing the luxurious supplies of good eating on exhibition by the Yankee settlers in Richmond. But he did return, like a good comrade, bringing his plunder with him. He made the round trip of twenty-eight miles on foot, and at midnight reached the quarters with cold ham, good bread, pipes, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, a few clean clothes, and a good pair of shoes, which one of the party needed. These were the gift of an old friend in town. Sitting on the bedside, as morning approached, they made a hearty meal, and then smoked, smoked, smoked, as only men can smoke who love to smoke and have not had the wherewithal for a week or two. The returned forager told of the strange sights he had seen in town. Some young Confederates, who were smart, were at work in the ruins cleaning bricks at five dollars a day. Others had government work, as clerks, mechanics, and laborers, earning from one to five dollars a day. The government had established commissary stores at different points in the city, where rations were sold at nominal prices to those who could buy and supplied gratis to those who could not. He had seen gray-haired old gentlemen, all their lives used to plenty, standing about these places, waiting their turn to draw. Soldiers marched by twos and fours and by companies everywhere. Captains and lieutenants, sergeants and corporals were the masters of the city and a sort of temporary providence, dictating what sort of clothes the people were to wear, what they might eat, what they might do, what they might say and think, in short, allowing the people to live, as it were, on a limited ticket. But among other things the forager brought information to the effect that he had secured employment for both at the cheering rate of five dollars per week. So one day these two laid down the shovel and the hoe and made most excellent time for Richmond, arriving there early in the day and entering at once upon the new work. During the stay at the farm the survivors felt that they were not yet returned to civil life, but foraging on the neutral ground between war and peace, neither soldiers nor citizens. But now, in regular employment in a city, their own city, with so much per week and the responsibility of finding themselves, and especially after the provost made them cut the brass buttons off their jackets, and more especially after they were informed that they must take the oath before doing anything else, they began to think that probably the war was nearing its end. But a real good hearty war like that dies hard. No country likes to part with a good earnest war. It likes to talk about the war, write its history, fight its battles over and over again, and build monument after monument to commemorate its glories. A long time after a war people begin to find out, as they read, that the deadly struggle marked a grand period in their history. Chapter 11 of Detailed Minyushii of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by David Leeson Detailed Minyushii of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 by Carlton McCarthy Chapter 11. Campfires of the Boys in Gray The soldier may forget the long, weary march with its dust, heat and thirst, and he may forget the horrors and blood of the battlefield, or he may recall them sadly, as he thinks of the loved dead. But the cheerful, happy scenes of the campfire he will never forget. How willingly he closes his eyes to the present to dream of those happy, careless days and nights. Around the fire crystallized the memories of the soldier's life. It was his home, his place of rest, where he met with good companionship. Who kindled the fire? Nobody had matches, there was no fire in sight, and yet scarcely was the camp determined when the bright blaze of the campfire was seen. He was a shadowy fellow who kindled the fire. Nobody knows who he was, but no matter how wet the leaves, how sobby the twigs, no matter if there was no fire in a mile of the camp, that fellow could start one. Some men might get down on hands and knees and blow it and fan it, rear and charge, and fume and fret, and yet she wouldn't burn. But this fellow would come, kick it all around, scatter it, rake it together again, shake it up a little, and oh, how it burned! The little flames would bite the twigs and snap at the branches, embrace the logs, and leap and dance and laugh at the touch of the master's hand, and soon lay at his feet a bed of glowing coals. As soon as the fire is kindled, all hands want water. Who can find it? Where is it? Never mind, we have a man who knows where to go. He says, where's our bucket? And then we hear the rattle of the old tin cup as it drops to the bottom of it, and away he goes, nobody knows where. But he knows, and he doesn't stop to think, but without the slightest hesitation or doubt strikes out in the darkness. From the campfire, as a center, draw a five hundred radii, and start an ordinary man on any of them, and let him walk a mile on each, and he will miss the water. But that fellow in the mess with the water instinct never failed. He would go as straight for the spring, or well, or creek, or river, although he had lived in that immediate neighborhood all his life and never got water anywhere else. What a valuable man he was, a modest fellow who never knew his own greatness. But others remember and honor him. May he never want for any good thing. Having a roaring fire and a bucket of good water, we settle down. A man cannot be comfortable anywhere, so each man in his chum picks out a tree, and that particular tree becomes the homestead of the two. They hang their canteens on it, lay their haversacks and spread their blankets at the foot of it, and sit down and lean their weary backs against it, and feel that they are at home. How gloomy the woods are beyond the glow of our fire. How cozy and comfortable we are who stand around it and inhale the aroma of the coffee-boiler and skillet. The man squatting by the fire is a person of importance. He doesn't talk, not he. His whole mind is concentrated on that skillet. He is our cook, volunteer, natural and talented cook. Not in a vulgar sense. He doesn't mix, but simply bakes, the biscuit. Every faculty, all the energy of the man, is employed in that great work. Don't suggest anything to him if you value his friendship. Don't attempt to put on or take off from the top of that skillet one single coal. And don't be in a hurry for the biscuit. You need not say you like yours half done, etc. Simply wait. When he thinks they are ready, and not before, you get them. He may raise the lid cautiously now and then and look in, but don't you look in. Don't say you think they are done, because it's useless. Ah, his face relaxes. He raises the lid, turns it upside down to throw off the coals, and says, All right, boys. And now, with the air of a wealthy philanthropist, he distributes the solid and weighty product of his skill to, as it were, the humble dependence around him. The general of the mess, having satisfied the cravings of the inner man, now proceeds to enlighten the ordinary members of it as to when, how, and why, and where the campaign will open, and what will be the result. He arranges for every possible and impossible contingency, and brings the war to a favorable and early termination. The greatest mistake General Lee ever made was that he failed to consult this man. Who can tell what might have been if he had? Now, to the consternation of all hands, our old friend the boar, familiarly known as the old augur, opens his mouth to tell us of a little incident illustrative of his personal prowess, and by way of preface, commences at Eden, and goes laboriously through the patriarchal age, on through the mosaic dispensation, to the Christian era, takes in Grecian and Roman history by the way, then Spain and Germany and England and colonial times, and the early history of our grand republic, the causes of and necessity for our war, and a complete history up to date, and then slowly unfolds the little matter. We always loved to hear this man, and prided ourselves on being the only mess in the army having such treasure all our own. The augur, having been detailed for guard duty, walks off, his voice grows fainter and fainter in the distance, and we call forth our poet. One eye is bandaged with a dirty cotton rag, he is bareheaded, and his hair resembles a dismantled straw stack. His elbows and knees are out, and his pants from the knee down have a brown toasted tinge imparted by the genial heat of many a fire. His toes protrude themselves prominently from his shoes. He would say, what a dirty ignorant fellow, but listen to his rich, well modulated voice. How perfect his memory! What graceful gestures! How his single eye glows! See the color on his cheek, see the strained and still attention of the little group around him as he steps into the light of the fire. Hear him! I am dying, Egypt dying, ebbs the crimson life-tide fast, and the dark plutonian shadows gather on the evening blast. Let thine arms, O queen, support me, hush thy sobs, and bow thine ear. Listen to the great heart secrets thou and thou alone must hear. I am dying, Egypt dying, hark, the insulting foemans cry. They are coming, quick, my falchion, let me front them ere I die. Ah, no more amid the battle shall my heart exulting swell. This and Osiris guard thee, Cleopatra, Rome farewell. Good! Bully, go ahead, Jack, give us some more, old fellow, and he generally did, much to everybody's satisfaction. We all loved Jack, the poet of our mess. He sleeps, his battles oar, in Hollywood. The singing man generally put in towards the last and sung us to bed. He was generally a diminutive man, with a sweet voice and a sweet heart at home. His songs had in them rosy lips, blue eyes, golden hair, pearly teeth, and all that sort of thing. Of course he would sing some good, rollicking songs, in order to give all a chance, and so, with hearty chorus, three times around went she, Virginia, Virginia, the land of the free. No surrender, Lula, Lula, Lula is gone, John Brown's body, with many variations, Dixie, the Bonnie blue flag, farewell to the star-spangled banner, Hale, Columbia, with immense variations, and Maryland, my Maryland, till about the third year of the war, when we began to think Maryland had breathed and burned long enough, and ought to come. What part of her did come was first class, how the woods did ring with song. There were patriotic songs, romantic and love songs, sarcastic comic and war songs, pirate's glee, plantation melodies, lullabies, good old hymn tunes, anthems, Sunday school songs, and everything but vulgar and obscene songs. These were scarcely ever heard, and were nowhere in the army well received or encouraged. The recruit, our latest acquisition, was so interesting. His nice clean clothes, new hat, new shoes, trimming on his shirt front, letters and cross-guns on his hat, new knife for all the fellows to borrow, nice comb for general use, nice little glass to shave by, good smoking tobacco, money in his pocket to lend out, oh, what a great convenience he was. How many things he had that a fellow could borrow, and how willing he was to go on guard and get wet and give away his rations and bring water and cut wood and ride horses to water. And he was so clean and sweet, and his cheeks so rosy, all the fellows wanted to bunk with him under his nice new blanket and impart to him some of their numerous and energetic tormentors. And then it was so interesting to hear him talk. He knew so much about war, arms, tents, knapsacks, ammunition, marching, fighting, camping, cooking, shooting, and everything a soldier is and does. It is remarkable how much a recruit and how little an old soldier knows about such things. After a while the recruit forgets all, and is as ignorant as any veteran. How good the fellows were to a really gentlemanly boy, how they loved him. The scribe was a wonderful fellow and very useful. He could write a two-hours pass, sign the captain's name better than the captain himself, and endorse it respectfully forwarded approved, sign the colonel's name after respectfully forwarded approved, and then on up to the commanding officer. And do it so well. Nobody wanted anything better. The boys had great veneration for the scribe, and used him constantly. The mischievous man was very useful. He made fun. He knew how to volunteer to shave a fellow with a big beard and mustache. He wouldn't lend his razor, but he'd shave him very well. He shaves one cheek, one half the chin, one side of the upper lip, puts his razor in his pocket, walks off, and leaves his customer the most one-sided chap in the army. He knew how to do something like this every day. What a treasure to a mess! The forager was a good fellow. He always divided with the mess. If there was buttermilk anywhere inside of ten miles he found it. Apples he could smell from afar off. If anybody was killing pork in the county he got the spare ribs. If a man had a cider cart on the road he saw him first and bought him out. No hound had a keener scent. No eagle a sharper eye. How indefatigable he was. Distance, rivers, mountains, pickets, patrols, roll calls, nothing could stop or hinder him. He never bragged about his exploits, simply brought in the spoils, laid them down, and said, Pitch in! Not a word of the weary miles he had traveled, how he begged, or how much he paid, simply Pitch in! The commissary man. He happened to be in our mess. Never had any sugar over, any salt, any soda, any coffee. Oh no, but beg him, plead with him, bear with him when he says go away boy. Am I the commissary general? Have I got all the sugar in the confederacy? Don't you know rations are short now? Then see him relax. Come here my son, untie that bag there and look in that old jacket and you will find another bag, a little bag, and look in there and you will find some sugar. Now go round and tell everybody in camp, won't you? Tell them all to come and get some sugar. Oh, I know you won't, oh yes, of course. As a general rule, every mess had a bully and an argument man. Time would fail me to tell of the lazy man, the brave man, the worthless man, the ingenious man, the helpless man, the sensitive man, and the gentle man. But they are as familiar to the members of the mess as the honest man, who would not eat stolen pig, but would take a little of the gravy. Every soldier remembers, indeed was personally acquainted with, the universal man, how he denied vehemently his own identity, and talked about poison oak and heat and itch and all those things, and strove in the presence of those who knew how it was themselves, to prove his absolute freedom from anything like universality. Poor fellow, Sulphur internally and externally would not do, alas, his only hope was to acknowledge his unhappy state and stand in the presence of his peers, confessed. The boys in blue generally preferred to camp in the open fields. The confeds took to the woods, and so the Confederate camp was not as orderly or as systematically arranged, but the most picturesque of the two. The blazing fire lit up the forms and faces and trees around it with a ruddy glow, but only deepened the gloom of the surrounding woods, so that the soldier pitied the poor fellows away off on guard in the darkness, and hugging himself felt how good it was to be with the fellows around the fire. How companionable was the blaze and the glow of the coals. They warmed the heart as well as the foot. The imagination seemed to feed on the glowing coals and surrounding gloom, and when the soldier gazed on the fire, peace, liberty, home, strolls in the woods and streets with friends, the church, the school, playmates and sweethearts all passed before him, and even the dead came to mind. Sadly, yet pleasantly, he thought of the loved and lost, the future loomed up, and the possibility of death and prison and the grief at home would stir his heart, and the tears would fall trickling to the ground. Then was the time to fondle the little gifts from home, simple things, the little pen-cushion, the needle-case with thread and buttons, the embroidered tobacco bag, and the knitted gloves. Then the time to gaze on photographs, and to read and reread the letter telling of the struggles at home, and the coming box of good things, butter and bread, toasted and ground coffee, sugar cakes and pies, and other comfortable things, prepared by self-denial for the soldier, brother, and son. Then the time to call on God to spare, protect, and bless the dear, defenseless, helpless ones at home. Then the time for high resolves, to read to himself his duty, to re-enlist for the war. Then his heart grew to his comrades, his general, and his country, and as the trees, swept by the wintry winds, moaned around him, the soldier slept and dreamed, and dreamed of home, sweet home. Those whose knowledge of war and its effect on the character of the soldier was gleaned from the history of the wars of Europe and of ancient times, greatly dreaded the demoralization which they supposed would result from the Confederate war for independence, and their solicitude was directed mainly towards the young men of Virginia and the South who were to compose the armies of the Confederate States. It was feared by many that the Bivouac, the campfires, and the march would accustom the ears of their bright and innocent boys to obscenity, oaths and blasphemy, and forever destroy that purity of mind and soul which was their priceless possession when they did farewell to home and mother. Some feared the destruction of the battlefield, the wiser feared hardship and disease, and others, more than all, the destruction of morals and everything good and pure in character. That the fears of the last name were realized in some cases cannot be denied, but that the general result was demoralization can be denied, and the contrary demonstrated. Let us consider the effect of camp life upon a pure and noble boy, and to make the picture complete, let us go to his home and witness the parting. The boy is clothed as a soldier. His pockets and his haversack are stored with little conveniences made by the loving hands of mother, sister, and sweetheart, and the sad yet proud hour has arrived. Sisters, smiling through their tears, filled with commingled pride and sorrow, kiss and embrace the great hero. The mother, with calm heroism, suppressing her tender maternal grief, impresses upon his lips a fervent, never to be forgotten kiss, presses him to her heart, and resigns him to God, his country, and his honor. The father, last apart, presses his hand, gazes with ineffable love into his bright eyes, and, fearing to trust his feelings for a more lengthy farewell, says, Goodbye, my boy, God bless you, be a man. Let those scoff who will, but let them know that such a parting is itself a new and wonderful power, a soul enlarging, purifying, and elevating power worth the danger, toil, and suffering of the soldier. The sisters' tears, the father's words, the mother's kiss, planted in the memory of that boy, will surely bring forth fruit beautiful as a mother's love. As he journeys to the camp, how dear do all at home become. Oh, what holy tears he sheds, his heart how tender! Then as he nears the line, and sees for the first time the realities of war, the passing sick and weary, and the wounded and bloody dead. His soldier spirit is born, he smiles, his chest expands, his eyes brighten, his heart swells with pride. He hurries on, and soon stands in the magic circle around the glowing fire, the admired and loved pet of a dozen true hearts. Is he happy? Aye, never before has he felt such glorious, swelling, panting joy. He's a soldier now. He is put on guard, no longer the object of care and solicitude he stands in the solitude of the night, himself a guardian of those who sleep. Courage is his now. He feels he is trusted as a man, and is ready at once nobly to perish in the defense of his comrades. He marches. Dare he murmur or complain? No, the eyes of all are upon him, and endurance grows silently, till pain and weariness are familiar and cheerfully born. At home he would be pitied and petted, but now he must endure or have the contempt of the strong spirits around him. He is hungry, so are others. And he must not only bear the privation, but he must divide his pitiful meal when he gets it with his comrades, and so generosity strikes down selfishness. In a thousand ways he is tried, and that by sharp critics. His smallest faults are necessarily apparent, for, in the varying conditions of the soldier, every quality is put to the test. If he shows the least cowardice he is undone, his courage must never fail. He must be manly and independent, or he will be told he's a baby, ridiculed, teased, and despised. When war assumes her serious dress, he sees the helplessness of women and children, he hears their piteous appeals, and chivalry burns him, till he does his utmost of sacrifice and effort to protect and comfort and cheer them. It is a mistake to suppose that the older men in the army encouraged vulgarity and obscenity in the young recruit, for even those who themselves indulged in these would frown on the first show of them in a boy, and without hesitation put him down mercilessly. No parent could watch a boy as closely as his messmates did and could, because they saw him at all hours of the day and night, dependent on himself alone, and were merciless critics, who demanded more of their protégé than they were willing to submit to themselves. The young soldier's piety had to perish ignominiously, or else assume a boldness and strength which nothing else could so well impart as the temptations, sneers, and dangers of the army. Religion had to be bold, practical, and courageous, or die. In the army the young man learned to value men for what they were, and not on account of education, wealth, or station, and so his attachments, when formed, were sincere and durable, and he learned what constitutes a man and a desirable and reliable friend. The stern demands upon the boy and the unrelenting criticisms of the mess soon bring to mind the gentle forbearance, kind remonstrance, and loving counsels of parents and home-folks, and while he thinks, he weeps, and loves, and reverences, and yearns after the things against which he once strove, and under which he chafed and complained, home, father, mother, sister, oh, how far away, oh, how dear, himself, how contemptible, ever to have felt cold and indifferent to such love, then, how vividly he recalls the warm pressure of his mother's lips on the forehead of her boy, how he loves his mother, see him as he fills his pipe from the silk embroidered bag. There is his name embroidered carefully, beautifully, by his sister's hand. Does he forget her? Does he not now love her more sincerely and truly and tenderly than ever? Could he love her quite as much had he never parted, never longed to see her, and could not, never been uncertain if she was safe, never felt she might be homeless, helpless, insulted, a refugee from home? Could he ever now look on a little girl and not treat her kindly, gently, and lovingly, remembering his sister? A boy having ordinary natural goodness and the home supports described, and the constant watching of men ready to criticize could but improve. The least exhibition of selfishness, cowardice, vulgarity, dishonesty, or meanness of any kind brought down the dislike of every man upon him, and persistence in any one disreputable practice, or habitual laziness and worthlessness resulted in complete ostracism, loneliness, and misery, while on the other hand he might, by good behavior and genuine generosity and courage, secure unbounded love and sincere respect from all. Visits home, after prolonged absence and danger, open to the young soldier new treasures, new, because though possessed always, never before felt unrealized. The affection once seen only in everyday attention, as he reaches home, breaks out in unrestrained vehemence. The warm embrace of the hitherto dignified father, the ecstatic pleasure beaming in the mother's eye, the proud welcome of the sister, and the wild enthusiasm even of the old black mammy, crowd on him the knowledge of their love, and make him braver and stronger and nobler. He's a hero from that hour. Death for these, how easy. The dangers of the battlefield, and the demands upon his energy, strength and courage, not only strengthen the old, but almost create new faculties of mind and heart. The death, sudden and terrible, of those dear to him, the imperative necessity of standing to his duty while the wounded cry and groan, and while his heart yearns after them to help them, the terrible thirst, hunger, heat, and weariness, all these teach a boy self-denial, attachment to duty, the value of peace and safety, and instead of hardening him, as some suppose they do, make him pity and love even the enemy of his country who bleeds and dies for his country. The acquirement of subordination is a useful one, and that the soldier perforce has, and that not in an abject cringing way, but as realizing the necessity of it, and seeing the result of it in the good order and consequent effectiveness and success of the army as a whole, but more particularly of his own company and detachment. And if the soldier rises to office, the responsibility of command, attention to detail and minutiae, the critical eyes of his subordinates and the demands of his superiors, all withdraw him from the enticements of vice, and mold him into a solid, substantial character, both capable and willing to meet and overcome difficulties. The effect of outdoor life on the physical constitution is undoubtedly good, and as the physical improves the mental is improved, and as the mind is enlightened the spirit is ennobled. Who can calculate the benefit derived from the contemplation of the beautiful in nature, as the soldier sees, mountains and valleys, dreary wastes and verdant fields, rivers, sequestered homes, quiet, sleepy villages, as they lay in the morning light, doomed to the flames at evening, scenes which alternately stir and calm his mind, and store it with a panorama whose pictures he may pass before him year after year with quiet pleasure. War is horrible, but still it is, in a sense, a privilege to have lived in time of war. The emotions are never so stirred as then. Imagination takes her highest flights, poetry blazes, song stirs the soul, and every noble attribute is brought into full play. It does seem that the production of one Lee and one Jackson is worth much blood and treasure, and the building of a noble character, all the toil and sacrifice of war. The campfires of the Army of Northern Virginia were not places of revelry and debauchery. They often exhibited scenes of love and humanity, and the purist sentiments and gentlest feelings of man were there admired and loved, while vice and debauch, in any from highest to lowest, were condemned and punished more severely than they are among those who stay at home and shirk the dangers and toils of the soldier's life, indeed, the demoralizing effects of the late war were far more visible at home, among the skulks and bomb-proofs and suddenly diseased than in the Army, and the demoralized men of today are not those who served in the Army. The defaulters, the renegades, the bummers and cheats, are the boys who enjoyed fat places and salaries and easy comfort, while the solid, respected, and reliable men of the community are those who did their duty as soldiers, and, having learned to suffer in war, have preferred to labor and suffer and earn, rather than steal, in peace. And strange to say, it is not those who suffered most and lost most, fought and bled, saw friend after friend fall, wept the dead and buried their hopes, who are now bitter and dissatisfied, quarrelsome and fretful, growling and complaining, no, they are the peaceful, submissive, law-abiding, order-loving of the country, ready to join hands with all good men in every good work, and prove themselves as brave and good in peace, as they were stubborn and unconquerable in war. Many a weak, puny boy was returned to his parents a robust, healthy, manly man. Many a timid, helpless boy went home a brave, independent man. Many a wild, reckless boy went home sobered, serious and trustworthy. And many whose career at home was wicked and blasphemous went home changed in heart, with principles fixed, to comfort and sustain the old age of those who gave them to their country, not expecting to receive them again. Men learned that life was passable and enjoyable, without a roof or even a tent to shelter from the storm. That cheerfulness was compatible with cold and hunger, and that a man without money, food or shelter need not feel utterly hopeless, but might, by employing his wits, find something to eat where he never found it before, and feel that, like a terrapin, he might make himself at home wherever he might be. Men did actually become as independent of the imaginary necessities as the very wild beasts. And can a man learn all this and not know better than another how to economize what he has, and how to appreciate the numberless superfluities of life? Is he not made by the knowledge he has of how little he really needs, more independent, and less liable to dishonest exertions to procure a competency? If there were any true men in the South, any brave, any noble, they were in the army. If there are good and true men in the South now, they would go into the army for similar cause. And to prove that the army demoralized, you must prove that the men who came out of it are the worst in the country today, who will try it? Strange as it may seem, religion flourished in the army, so great was the work of the chaplains that whole volumes have been written to describe the religious history of the four years of war. Officers who were ungodly men found themselves restrained alike by the grandeur of the piety of the great chiefs, and the earnestness of the humble privates around them. Thousands embraced the gospel, and died triumphing over death. Instead of the degradation so dreaded, was the strange ennobling and purifying which made men despise all the things for which they ordinarily strive, and glory in the sternest hardships, the most bitter self-denials, cruel suffering, and death. Love for home, kindred and friends intensified, was denied the gratification of its yearnings, and made the motive for more complete surrender to the stern demands of duty. Discipline, the cold master of our enemies, never caught up with the gallant devotion of our Christian soldiers, and the science of war quailed before the majesty of an army singing hymns. Hypocrisy went home to dwell with the able-bodied Sculkers, being too closely watched in the army, and too thoroughly known to thrive. And so the campfire often lighted the pages of the best book, while the soldier read the orders of the captain of his salvation, and often did the songs of Zion ring out loud and clear on the cold night air, while the muskets rattled and the guns boomed in the distance, each intensifying the significance of the other, testing the sincerity of the Christian, while trying the courage of the soldier. Stripped of all sensual allurements, and offering only self-denial, patience and endurance, the gospel took hold of the deepest and purest motives of the soldiers, won them thoroughly, and made the army as famous for its forbearance, temperance, respect for women and children, sobriety, honesty and morality, as it was for endurance and invincible courage. Never was there an army where feeble old age received such sympathy, consideration and protection. Women deprived of their natural protectors, fled from the advancing hosts of the enemy, and found safe retreat and chivalrous protection and shelter in the lines of the army of northern Virginia. Children played in the camps, delighted to nestle in the arms of the roughly clad but tender-hearted soldiers. Such was the behavior of the troops on the campaign in Pennsylvania, that the citizens of Gettysburg have expressed wonder and surprise at their perfect immunity from insult, violence, or even intrusion, when their city was occupied by, and in complete possession, of the boys in gray. CHAPTER XII. DETAILD MINUSHEE OF SOLDIER LIFE IN THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1861-1865. THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG. This banner, the witness and inspiration of many victories which was proudly borne on every field from menaces to apomatics, was conceived on the field of battle, lived on the field of battle, and on the last fatal field ceased to have place or meaning in the world. But the men who followed it, and the world which watched its proud advance or defiant stand, see in it still the unstained banner of a brave and generous people whose deeds have outlived their country and whose final defeat but added luster to their grandest victories. It was not the flag of the Confederacy, but simply the banner, the battle flag, of the Confederate soldier. As such it should not share in the condemnation which our cause received, or suffer from its downfall, the whole world can unite in a chorus of praise to the gallantry of the men who followed where this banner led. It was at the Battle of Menaces, about four o'clock of the afternoon of the twenty-first of July, 1861, when the fate of the Confederacy seemed trembling in the balance, that General Beauregard, looking across the Warrington Turnpike, which passed through the valley between the position of the Confederates and the elevations beyond occupied by the Federal line, saw a body of troops moving towards his left and the Federal right. He was greatly concerned to know, but could not decide, what troops they were, whether Federal or Confederate. The similarity of uniform and of the colors carried by the opposing armies and the clouds of dust made it almost impossible to decide. Shortly before this time, General Beauregard had received from the signal officer, Captain Alexander, a dispatch saying that from the signal station in the rear he had sighted the colors of this column, grouping and covered with the dust of journeyings, but could not tell whether they were the stars and stripes or the stars and bars. He thought, however, that they were probably Patterson's troops arriving on the field and reinforcing the enemy. General Beauregard was momentarily expecting help from the right, and the uncertainty and anxiety of this hour amounted to anguish. Still the column pressed on. Calling a staff officer, General Beauregard instructed him to go at once to General Johnston, at the Lewis House, and say that the enemy were receiving heavy reinforcements, that the troops on the plateau were very much scattered, and that he would be compelled to retire to the Lewis House and their reform, hoping that the troops ordered up from the right would arrive in time to enable him to establish and hold the new line. Meanwhile, the unknown troops were pressing on. The day was sultry, and only at long intervals was there the slightest breeze. The colors of the mysterious column hung drooping on the staff. General Beauregard tried again and again to decide what colors they carried. He used his glass repeatedly, and handing it to others begged them to look, hoping that their eyes might be keener than his. General Beauregard was in a state of great anxiety, but finally determined to hold his ground, relying on the promised help from the right, knowing that if it arrived in time victory might be secured, but feeling also that if the mysterious column should be federal troops the day was lost. Suddenly a puff of wind spread the colors to the breeze. It was the Confederate flag, the stars and bars. It was early, with the 24th Virginia, the 7th Louisiana, and the 13th Mississippi. The column had by this time reached the extreme right of the federal lines. The moment the flag was recognized, Beauregard turned to his staff, right and left, saying, See that the day is ours, and ordered an immediate advance. In the meantime, Earley's brigade deployed into line and charged the enemy's right, LZ also dashed upon the field, and in one hour not an enemy was to be seen south of Bull Run. While on this field and suffering this terrible anxiety, General Beauregard determined that the Confederate soldier must have a flag so distinct from that of the enemy that no doubt should ever again endanger his cause on the field of battle. Soon after the battle he entered into correspondence with Colonel William Portier Miles, who had served on his staff during the day, with a view to securing his aid in the matter, and proposing a blue field, red bars crossed, and gold stars. They discussed the matter at length. Colonel Miles thought it was contrary to the law of heraldry that the ground should be blue, the bars red, and the stars gold. He proposed that the ground should be red, the bars blue, and the stars white. General Beauregard approved the change and discussed the matter freely with General Johnston. Meanwhile, it became known that designs for a flag were under discussion, and many were sent in. One came from Mississippi, one from J.B. Walton and E.C. Hancock, which coincided with the design of Colonel Miles. The matter was freely discussed at headquarters, till, finally, when he arrived at Fairfax Courthouse, General Beauregard caused his draftsmen, a German, to make drawings of all the various designs which had been submitted. With these designs before them, the officers at headquarters agreed on the famous old banner, the red field, the blue cross, and the white stars. The flag was then submitted to the War Department, and was approved. The first flags sent to the army were presented to the troops by General Beauregard in person, he then expressing the hope and confidence that they would become the emblem of honor and of victory. The first three flags received were made from ladies' dresses by the Mrs. Carey of Baltimore and Alexandria at their residences and the residences of friends, as soon as they could get a description of the design adopted. One of the Mrs. Carey sent the flag she made to General Beauregard. Her sister presented hers to General Van Dorn, who was then at Fairfax Courthouse. Miss Constance Carey of Alexandria sent hers to General Joseph E. General Beauregard sent the flag he received at once to New Orleans for safekeeping. After the fall of New Orleans, Mrs. Beauregard sent the flag by a Spanish man of war, then lying in the river opposite New Orleans to Cuba, where it remained till the close of the war, when it was returned to General Beauregard, who presented it for safekeeping to the Washington artillery of New Orleans. This much about the battle-flag, to accomplish if possible two things. First preserve the little history connected with the origin of the flag, and second place the battle-flag in a place of security, as it were, separated from all the political significance which attaches to the Confederate flag, and, depending for its future, place solely upon the deeds of the armies which bore it amid hardships untold to many victories. END OF DETAILD MINUCHI E. OF SOLDIER LIFE IN THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1861-1865 by Carlton McCarthy