USA > New Hampshire > History of the Twelfth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 33
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This is the greatest day I have seen yet in this war. Thank God ! Richmond is ours, and the stars and stripes are now floating over the doomed city. Our brigade has not yet entered the city, but it lies before us all in flames, and there has been a continual roar of bursting shells and exploding magazines all the morning.
We are now on a hill just outside of the city, which is in full view; we passed through the outskirts of the city as we came up. We started from camp at 7 o'clock and got here at 9. We came straight up on the New Market road. I write this on a leaf of a company book of the Nineteenth Georgia, Company B.
The boys have caught a peacock and cut his tail off, and are sending pieces of his feathers home in their letters, that nearly all are engaged in writing while we are waiting here.
The rebels blew up three gun-boats on the James river just before we started, and there were two or three heavy explosions earlier in the morning, the first about 2 o'clock.
It was indeed a day for history.
To those so long residing securely within the seemingly impregnable fortifications of their capital city, that they had come to the conclusion that Lee was invincible against any and every attempt of the Yankee invaders, it was a blow as severe and crushing as it was sudden and unexpected.
Many of the citizens, as soon as they found the city was to be evacu- ated, made haste to gather up all that was most valuable and follow their retreating army, still hoping that all was not lost, but that Lee might save his army, and by retreating southward and uniting with the forces under General Johnson, be able to hold out for months or years longer. Though the more intelligent of them had long foreseen the dreaded inevitable fast approaching, they tried to console themselves with the hope that by foreign intervention, or a divided North, they would either gain their independence, or etfeet some kind of a compromise that would leave them half victors, striving and praying with the officers of their boasted Confederacy for anything rather than an unconditional surrender to our arms, and resubmission to the laws of the land, which they called and pretended to look upon as "the most abject subjugation." It was certainly a very bitter pill for the elite of the Southern chivalry in their long nourished pride and arrogance to swallow : and especially after such a determined struggle and great sacrifice to avoid it. But vital diseases require severe remedies. The knife of the operator must reach beyond the roots of the cancer, or the blood and suffering are all in vain.
But how little did they realize, and how hard then to have made them believe, that the night-doom of their cause would be the day-dawn of their own liberty and greatness, not only as an inseparable part of a
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reunited whole, but as especially applying to and affecting their own particular states and section.
" So blind is passion the real truth to see, And prone to ruin what had better be."
But there was another class who, though ignorant and degraded, could plainly see, and indeed had seen from the very commencement, as if by the eye of faith, what the end would be. It was this class that welcomed us with smiling faces and many a "God bless you," and mingled their cheers with ours as we marched through the streets of Richmond between crowded sidewalks of these dark-faced sons of unrequited toil. Long and patiently had they waited, never mistaking the issue nor doubting the result.
Nothing is more remarkable in the whole history of the war than the knowledge and corresponding action of the slaves of the South. Unable to read, and without a chance to know or hear anything but from their master's side of the conflict. they seemed, intuitively, to understand the full intent and consequence of the mad attempt to dissolve the Union from the first gun fired upon Fort Sumter, and felt it shake the shackles of their bondage. They heard it as the key-note of their redemption that was to reverberate down the ages of coming time.
" Well, Sambo, what think you of this ?" asked one of the soldiers of an aged negro who stood, a picture for an artist, with a broad grin upon his ebony face, waving a big bandanna fastened to the end of his cane as the troops marched by.
"'Pears though de jubilee has come at last, and de Lord be praised," responded the old patriarch.
Such was the trusty bondman's faith, and he proved it by his works when and wherever the opportunity was given him.
No soldier in blue ever asked for food or shelter from him in vain, if within his power to render or supply, even though he did so at the risk of his own life. In perfect trust and confidence the Union soldier had learned to seek aid or refuge within the hovel of the slave, for he knew he would neither be denied nor betrayed.
Surrounded by traitors he alone stood loyal, and always proved true to the stars and stripes, for which he bravely fought as soon as per- mitted to do so, and upon which he now looked through tears of joy as they floated triumphantly, in the bright sunlight of that April morn, over the dome of what, but an hour before, was the capitol of the slave holder's Confederacy.
It was from this patriotic race that exclamations of joy and praise, varied and multifold, greeted our ears upon every side.
It would be impossible to recall them all now, but they were most interestingly amusing to the boys who heard them then. It seemed quite beyond their widest range of thought to find words to express their
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gladness. "God bless you" was on almost every tongue ; and no one could doubt, who saw and heard, but it came from the heart. Among their many queer and comical expressions and ejaculations, memory recalls but a very few of the most witty and unique :
" Who's boss, now?" " We's all black and blue (referring to their own crowd and the blue uniforms of the soldiers), yer see, but '] isn't we uns that's beaten." "Rec'on Marsa woun't 'spect to fool us any mo'e." " Yankee Doodle forever ! Hurrah !" "Golly ! isn't I glad I's alive?" " Here's what I've prayed fo' so long. Oh, bless de Lord for eber and eber !" "But one mo'e jump to Heben !" " Blue 's de color for me, if I am black." " I's a white woman now ; take dis chile."
But not only were they rewarded for their faith and devotion by the sight of the old flag, which was now to them no longer a mockery but the symbol of freedom, for their joy burst out into the wildest enthusiasm when the next day the great Emancipator himself, all unexpected, rode through the streets of the city.
When it became certain that it was really " Marsa Abraham " that was in their midst, there was such a rush to see and speak with him that it was almost impossible, at times, for his carriage to move. A number of bright eyed and woolly headed urchins, taking advantage of this delay, climbed upon the top of the carriage and took a peep at him over the rim, greatly to the amusement of the President.
Ilis reception in a city which, only a day or two before, had been the headquarters and centre of the Rebellion, was most remarkable: and more resembled the triumphal return from, than an entry into the enemy's capital. Instead of the streets being silent and vacated, they were filled with men, women, and children, shouting and cheering wherever he went.
"I'd rather see him than see Jesus," excitedly exclaims one woman, as she runs ahead of the crowd to get a full view of his benign counte- nance. "De kingdom's come, and de Lord is wid us," chants another. " Hallelujah !" shouts a third ; and so on through a whole volume of prayers, praises, blessings, and benedictions showered down upon him, the great emancipator of a race, and the saviour of his country, thus redeemed, as he walked slowly forward with smiling face and uncovered head, greater and happier in his plain and unassuming presence than ever Persian king or Roman conqueror with all the pomp and blazonry of ill-gotten wealth and power.
From the "Rocketts," where the President, accompanied by Admiral Porter and other naval officers, landed from a gun-boat, to General Weitzel's headquarters at the late residence of Jefferson Davis, it was one triumphal march. Crowds surrounded the house and sent up cheer after cheer. After the officers were presented to him, the citizens gen- erally were allowed the high honor and glad privilege of taking his hand in theirs. He was dressed in a long, black overcoat, high silk hat, and black pants, giving to his form a very commanding appearance.
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Subsequently the President and his suite, with a cavalry escort of colored troops, appeared on the square, drawn in a carriage and four, and was driven round the works. Everywhere the reception was the same - bands playing and crowds besieging the grounds, each anxious for a closer inspection of the distinguished occupant of the carriage.
It was in the chair and on the desk of the fugitive Ex-Confederate chief (for the sceptre of his command was already broken) that Presi- dent Lincoln sat and wrote his famous order in relation to the reassem- bling of the Virginia legislature. which, though never carried out in the manner and spirit intended, showed, nevertheless, his statesmanlike wisdom, as well as that noble magnanimity which is only allied with the highest type of human greatness. No wonder that the intelligent citizens of the South, who had already learned to respect and were willing to trust him, should have so deeply regretted his untimely death.
But it was not the colored population alone that welcomed the Union troops and their great commander-in-chief into the city of Richmond. Thousands of the white citizens were glad to be again under the protec- tion of the flag of their fathers: and some, who had been true to it from the first, keeping it safely hidden away as a sacred emblem of their loy- alty, were more happy, if possible, though less demonstrative, than the negro, as they once more were allowed the privilege of spreading its bright folds to the free air of heaven.
In another letter, written a few days later, Sergeant Clarke says :
Of all the sights I ever saw, Richmond, on the 3d of April, was the hardest. The people were literally starving. The market looked as if it had not had a pound of meat in it for years. The stores were all empty or burned, women and children begging for something to eat, and a great many old men and boys had gone into the army rather than go hungry at home. The rebel army had to be fed, if the citizens starved.
A conversation overheard by one of the regiment shows that even some of the aristocratic were not entirely blind to the scene before them and the cause of it, and were obliged to give the " Yankee devils " their due of praise for saving their property and the city, and feeding their starving families.
" Who would have thought of this ? Our enemies, whom we have so long fought and hated, our saviours at last ! See them doing everything they can to save our property from the flames that our own soldiers have kindled to destroy." "Yes," remarks another, both apparently belonging to the wealthy class, " not satisfied with pillaging our houses and robbing us of everything to eat, they are willing to see our homes and city de- voured by the flames. But 1 suppose they were ordered to do so, and are but destructive tools in the hands of desperate leaders."
"So much the worse for the leaders," replies the first speaker. "The fact is, we have been blindly following such leaders altogether too long ;
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followed not simply like sheep to the slaughter, but like fools to this very brink of ruin upon which in poverty, humiliation, and shame we are now standing. But, thank God, my eyes are open at last, and I am heartily glad that the reign of Jeff. Davis & Co. has come to an end."
Closely akin to the sentiments thus plainly spoken is the following communication published in the "Richmond Whig" of April 4, the day after the possession of the city by our troops :
Once more through the mercy and favor of Him who is the giver of all good, we have the inexpressible joy and glorious privilege of greeting the flag of the Union. For four years we have been a down-trodden and oppressed people. Volumes could not contain or express the misery, suffering, and oppression which we have been subjected to. The darkest pages of the world's history reveal nothing that can be compared to the terrible ordeal through which we have passed. We should be grateful indeed for this token of Divine favor in deliver- ing us from the most tyrannical and despotic government which has existed since " darkness was changed into light."
We shall now soon have the peace, prosperity, and happiness which was once ours, and enjoy the freedom and liberty which was vouchsafed us by our sires of the Revolution.
Concerning the evacuation of Richmond, the following from the pen of Capt. Clement Sulivan, an Ex-Confederate soldier, gives an interest- ing view of the situation during the afternoon and night before the entry of our troops : *
About 11.30 A. M., on Sunday, April 2, a strange agitation was perceptible on the streets of Richmond, and before half an hour it was known on all sides that Lee's lines had been broken below Petersburg; that he was in full retreat on Danville ; that the troops covering the city at Chapin's and Drury's Bluff's were on the point of being withdrawn, and that the city was forthwith to be abandoned.
A singular security had been felt by the citizens, so that the news fell like a bomb-shell in a peaceful camp, and dismay reigned supreme.
All the Sabbath day the trains came and went, wagons, vehicles, and horse- men rumbled and dashed to and fro, and in the evening ominous groups of ruffians, more or less in liquor, began to make their appearance on the principal thoroughfares of the city. As night came on, pillage, rioting, and robbing took place. The police and a few soldiers were at hand, and, after the arrest of a few ringleaders and the more riotous of their followers, a fair degree of order was restored ; but Richmond saw few sleeping eyes during the pandemonium of that night. * * * *
I was at this time assistant adjutant-general of Gen. G. W. C. Lee's division, in Ewell's corps, and was in the city on some detached duty. * *
Upon receipt of the news from Petersburg, I reported to General Ewell -then in the city -for instructions, and was ordered to assemble and command the local brigade, cause it to be well supplied with provisions and ammunition and await further orders. All that day and night I was engaged in this duty, but
* See Century's War Book, Vol. IV.
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with small results, as the battalions melted away as fast as they were formed - mainly under orders from the heads of departments who needed all their em- ployés in the transportation and guarding of the archives, etc., but partly, no doubt, from desertions. When morning dawned fewer than two hundred men remained under the command of Capt. Edward Mayo.
Shortly before day General Ewell rode in person to my headquarters, and informed me that Gen. G. W. C. Lee's division was then crossing the pontoon at Drury's ; that he would destroy it and press on to join the main army ; that all the bridges over the river had been destroyed, except Mayo's, between Richmond and Manchester, and that the wagon bridge over the canal in front of Mayo's had already been burned by Union emissaries. My command was to hasten to Mayo's bridge and protect it, and the one remaining foot-bridge over the canal leading to it. until General Gary, of South Carolina, should arrive. I hurried to my command, and fifteen minutes later occupied Mayo's at the foot of Fourteenth street. and made military disposition to protect it to the last extremity.
This done, I had nothing to do but listen for sounds, and gaze upon the terrible splendor of the scene. And such a scene probably the world has seldom wit- nessed. Either incendiaries or fragments of bombs from the arsenals had fired several buildings, and the two cities, Richmond and Manchester, were like a blaze of day amid the surrounding darkness. Three high-arched bridges were in flames; beneath them the waters sparkled, dashed, and rushed on by the burning cities. Every now and then, as a magazine exploded, a column of white smoke rose up as high as the eye could reach, instantly followed by a deafening sound. The earth seemed to rock and tremble, as with the shock of an earth- quake, and immediately afterward hundreds of shells would explode in air and send their iron spray down far below the bridge. As the immense magazines of cartridges ignited, the rattle as of thousands of muskets would follow, and then all was still for the moment, except the dull roar and crackle of the fast- spreading fires. At dawn we heard terrific explosions about "The Rocketts" from the unfinished ironclads down the river.
At daylight, on the 3d, a mob of men, women, and children to the number of several thousands had gathered at the corner of Fourteenth and Cary streets, and other outlets near the bridge, attracted by the vast commissary depot at that point ; for it must be remembered, that in 1865 Richmond was a half- starved city, and the Confederate government had that morning removed its guards and abandoned the removal of the provisions which it was impossible to move for the want of transportation. The depot doors were forced open and a demoniacal struggle for the countless barrels of hams, bacon, whiskey, flour, sugar, coffee, etc .. raged about the buildings among the hungry mob. The gut- ters ran whiskey, and it was lapped up, as it flowed down the streets, while all fought for a share of the plunder. The flames came nearer and nearer, and at last caught in the commissariat itself.
At daylight the approach of the Union forces could be plainly discerned. After a little came the clatter of horses' hoofs. galloping up Main street. My infantry guard stood to arms, and the engineer officer lighted a torch of fat pine. By direction of the Engineer Department, barrels of tar, surrounded by pine knots, had been placed at intervals on the bridge, with kerosene at hand, and a lieutenant of engineers had reported for the duty of firing them at my order.
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The noisy train proved to be Gary's ambulances. sent forward preparatory to his final rush for the bridge. The muleteers galloped their animals about half- way down, when they were stopped by the dense mass of human beings. Rapidly communicating to Captain Mayo my instructions from General Ewell, I ordered that officer to stand firm at his post until Gary got up.
I then rode forward into the mob and cleared a lane, and ambulances were driven swiftly down to the bridge. I retired to my post, and the mob closed in after me and resumed its wild struggle for plunder. A few minutes later a long line of cavalry in gray turned into Fourteenth street, and, sword in hand, gal- loped straight down to the river. Gary had come. The mob scattered right and left before the armed horsemen, who reined up at the canal. Presently a single company of cavalry appeared in sight, and rode at a head-long speed to the bridge. "My rear-guard," exclaimed Gary. Touching his hat to me, he called out : " All over, good bye ; blow her to h-1," and trotted over the bridge. This was the first and last I ever saw of General Gary, of South Carolina.
In less than sixty seconds Captain Mayo was in column of march, and as he reached the little island, about half-way across the bridge, the single piece of artillery, loaded with grape-shot, that had occupied that spot, arrived on the Manchester side of the river. The engineer officer, Dr. Lyons, and I walked leisurely to the island, setting fire to the provided combustible matter, as we passed along, and leaving the north section of the bridge wrapped in flames and smoke. At the island we stopped to take a view of the situation north of the river, and saw a line of blue-coated horsemen riding in furious haste up Main street. Across Fourteenth street they stopped and then dashed down that street to the flaming bridge. They fired a few random shots at us there on the island, and we retreated to Manchester. I ordered my command forward ; the lieuten- ant of engineers saluted and went about his business, while my companion and myself sat on our horses for nearly a half-hour watching the occupation of Rich- mond. We saw another line of horsemen in blue pass up Main street, then we saw a dense column of infantry march by, seemingly without end; we heard the very walls ring with cheers as the United States forces reached Capitol square, and then we turned and slowly rode on our way.
A further description of that terrible night to the citizens of Richmond is copied from the evening edition of the " Richmond Whig," of April 6, 1865, which now, August 6, 1894, lies before the writer :
For a month past the Confederates have been evacuating the city with all the speed and means they could command, but somehow the people refused to be- lieve that the removal meant evacuation, and all declared that the measures were only precautionary.
Matters went on in this way until last Sunday, the Confederates hurrying away every species of property, the people blindly refusing to believe that the city was to be given up, and clinging to their Confederate shinplasters as if they were things of worth.
Sunday morning General Lee telegraphed to Davis, giving an account of the general attack upon his lines, and stating that the lines had been pierced in several
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places and that unless he could re-establish them, Richmond must be given up that night. His tone for the first time since the war was despondent; he said his men were not coming up to their work.
At 11 o'clock that morning he telegraphed again that all efforts to re-establish his lines had been utterly unsuccessful. Immediately began among the officials in Richmond, a scurry and panic, still the majority of the people were in the dark, and refusing to believe their eyes, remained many of them till night. The gold and silver coin belonging to the Louisiana banks, and recently appropriated by the Confederate Congress, was run down to the Danville train with hot haste. So also was the specie of the Richmond banks.
Here follows what the editor calls the " programme of departure," rela- tive to the trains and Confederate officials, Davis departing on train at 7 P. M., and Breckinridge going on horseback with the last of the army the next morning ; and also an account of the cowardly flight of Gover- nor Smith, and the wise and timely action of the Mayor and Council in ordering the destruction of all liquors in the city, and making prepara- tions for surrendering the city, and asking the protection of life and property by our troops :
In the meantime a saturnalia had begun in the city. About dusk the govern- ment commissaries began the destruction of an immense quantity of whiskey and brandy stored in the large building at the corner of Pearl and Cary streets. Several hundred soldiers and citizens gathered in front of the building and con- trived to save much of the liquor in pitchers, bottles, and basins. This liquor was not slow in manifesting itself. The crowd quickly became a mob and began to howl. Soon other crowds collected in front of other government warehouses, and some attempts were made to distribute supplies, but so frenzied had the mob become that the officers in charge, in many cases, had to flee for their lives.
All through the night crowds of men, women, and children traversed the streets, running from one storehouse to another, loading themselves with all kinds of supplies to be thrown away immediately on something more tempting offering itself. Men could be seen rolling hogsheads of molasses, bacon, and sugar, barrels of liquor, and bushels of tea and coffee ; others had wheelbarrows loaded with all manner of goods, while others again had gone into the plunder- ing business on a large scale, and were operating with bags, furniture wagons, and drays. This work went on fast and furious until after midnight, about which time a large number of straggling Confederate soldiers made their appear- ance on the street, and at once set about robbing the principal stores on Main street. The scenes that then followed have been already described. There was a regular sack.
Next follows an account of General Ewell's order to fire the four prin- cipal tobacco warehouses of the city, and the vain efforts of the mayor and a committee of leading citizens to have the order revoked. Their expressions of fear that the firing of the warehouses would destroy the city were met by the reply that it was all " a cowardly pretext, trumped up on the part of the citizens to save their property for the Yankees."
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