USA > Texas > The Confederate capital and Hood's Texas brigade > Part 3
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There were only Virginia troops for a few days after secession of the State. General Winfield Scott telegraphed the Secretary of War to send down a force and capture Richmond. His ad- vice was unheeded, but being in such close proximity to the Federal capital, no one would have been astonished had his message been favorably considered.
Governor Letcher had no power to order the State troops to seize Fortress Monroe, as before secession he had no right to take such an aggressive step.
Fortress Monroe commands the entrance of James river and Hampton Roads, and would have been quite an advantage to the Confederate cause could it have been retained, effectually render- ing the blockade of the James river useless, but the opportunity was lost.
When the fortress was re-enforced and put on the defensive, the possibility of recovering it was forever lost; to besiege it would have been worse than useless.
Colonel Kershaw's South Carolina Regiment was present at the fall of Fort Sumter. It was immediately ordered to Rich- mond. Never were soldiers received with such an ovation as
*Now Munroe Park.
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was tendered them on their arrival. Crowds lined the side- walks when the cars came in, and they were escorted to their camp in grand style. Baskets filled with dainties, and waiters piled with every delicacy, were borne to their camp by servants, every one striving to add their mite to welcome the first heroes of the Southern cause, -and inviting them into the homes of the best citizens.
Greggs' regiment from South Carolina was the next to arrive. They were also as eagerly welcomed. Conventionalities were thrown aside; cvery soldier respectfully lifting his hat while passing a group of ladies, and they responding to the salutation.
Their manners were genteel, dignified, and bespoke a gentle- manly refinement and chivalrous courtesy. They were, of course, very much pleased and flattered by their reception. No other troops were afterwards shown so much general attention, as they began to arrive too fast; it became impossible to feast them so sumptuously. The feeling towards those who came first was peculiar. We felt insecure so close to danger. They were our defenders. They had participated in the battle of Fort Sumter, were heroes in the eyes of the people, and their arrival awakened considerable enthusiasm.
Some may wonder what the ladies were doing while affairs were in so much commotion. Nearly every church, previous to the war, had its sewing circle, and appropriated the money earned to some benevolent purpose. The regiments arriving, as a gen- eral thing, were not uniformed. These societies resolved them- selves into bands to meet the emergency of the times.
The basement of every church was open each morning, the officers of circles busy distributing work, while the click of the sewing machine and the cheerful hum of voices was heard, as women worked to equip warriors for the field. Day after day this labor of love went on, and regiment after regiment was pre- pared for service by those who had never made a masculine gar- ment before. Some amusing mistakes were made by these nov- ices at the beginning, but never were they rectified more cheer- fully, and never was soldiers' clothing so neatly made, as when it was the gratuitous offering of these ladies whose hearts were in the cause. Tents, haversacks for carrying provisions, battle- flags, havelocks to button around their caps for protection from the sun, had all to be made, and canteens covered with woolen cloth which, when kept wet, cooled the water within, the hottest day.
All this was necessary to be done in this way. The depart- ments of government had not been systematized, no clothing bureau had been established, and therefore the soldiers had to be uniformed by the ladies. There was no shirking of duty, but
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rather a laudable ambition to excel one another in good works. The brave soldiers nobly redeemed their honor; but the women deserve to go down to posterity with a fame as great as the most valiant.
I well remember hearing old ladies tell about Revolutionary stories their mothers had told them, how women worked to pre- pare their friends for the field, and very knowingly would they shake their heads and deplore the degeneracy of the times. They grieved that in these latter days nothing received attention but dress, and personal enjoyment; that the vim and determina- tion of our grandmothers had departed; that while women had superior advantages for study and education, yet in a time of trial they would not be able to meet an emergency as those who had enjoyed fewer facilities for improvement.
These prophecies were not fulfilled. Great events bring forth great characters, and those who seemed least likely to be service- able, when the tfine came, proved worthy descendants of those distinguished for their zeal and patriotism in the past. These petted favorites of fortune, these ladies who had graced society's halls, the beautiful, intellectual and true, vied with each other in this good work for the sake of those who took their lives in their hands and went forth to battle for their personal rights.
President Lincoln issued a proclamation April 19th, declaring the Southern ports in a state of blockade, shutting out the South from any assistance from abroad. Gun-boats were ordered to the mouth of each stream that opened its port to the shipping of the world, so the rebels might be forced, from sheer necessity, to de- sist from their efforts to maintain the rights of States. There were large stocks of dry goods, shoes, groceries, medicines, etc., on hand in the Richmond market at the time, but as these could only last a short while at farthest, prices immediately advanced, as, according to an established rule of political economy, when the supply is limited and. the demand great, the value is bound to be enhanced. Coffee, that great product of foreign countries, and which is considered essential to the happiness and comfort of so many persons, went up in the scale of prices; but there were many who resolved to have all commodities at any risk, and they prepared to run the blockade and bring in goods by which they could not only meet the demand, but make a fortune. Thus. amidst all this tribulation, the avarice of man became manifest, and this method of procedure became inaugurated thus early in the conflict.
The Confederate government was removed from Montgomery. Alabama, to Richmond, May 20th. President Davis was enthu- siastically received by the people, but without public demonstra- tion. The large residence, corner of Clay and Twelfth streets
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the old home of the Bruce family, a fine, elegant mansion, was placed at his disposal, and there he resided during all the days he was President of the Southern Confederacy. The city council offered to purchase him a home and present it to him and his heirs forever, but he kindly, yet firmly, declined to be the recip- ient of their bounty, evincing his unselfish principles, which rose above place and power of personal aggrandizement.
As stated above, General Lee was given command of the State forces, before Virginia united with the Confederacy. After that event, when the seat of government was removed to Richmond, there arose a serious difficulty. There were officers in the South- ern Army who outranked General Lee, and his admirers in Vir- ginia were unwilling he should yield supremacy to others, as the Convention had ratified his appointment. When the diffi- culty was explained to General Lee, he quietly obtained com- missions for his staff and prepared to take up the line of duty as a private soldier. This was found out and his proper place as- signed him. He had to wait his turn through the line of succes- sion, yet fate had decreed he should prove the grand central figure of the times.
Pollok in his history of the war, says: "General Lee took com- mand of the Confederate forces in Virginia immediately." This is not a true statement of facts from personal recollection verified by Dr. Jones' Life of General Lee. It is unfortunate for pos- terity that so much time and labor was spent upon a work so full of inaccuracies.
General Floyd, Secretary of War, during President Buchanan's administration, doubtless foreseeing the approaching struggle, had distributed to Southern arsenals a large quantity of the most im- proved firearms, which furnished the States with their equipments for the time. The indomitable energy of the people under the pressure of events, brought forth the hidden resources of the country and made them subservient to the cause involved.
The Tredegar iron works, where every description of machin- ery was manufactured, from a steam engine to the plainest of ag- ricultural implements, became government works, and here was cast cannons, field pieces, and even the largest columbiads, which afterwards figured in the defenses of the Confederate capi- tal. Cartridges were made at regular laboratories established for the purpose, by women, girls and boys, who in this manner earned a livelihood while their protectors were absent, and at the same time performed important service for the public benefit.
Thus was every branch and industry utilized until everything and everybody were enlisted.
All kinds of government work was found on every hand, for making cartridge-boxes, knapsacks, swords, gun-carriages, am-
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bulances and everything needed for supplying the army-all had their grand center in and around Richmond, the work being done by those detailed for the purpose or not subject to military duty. There were some persons, at first, who hired substitutes-paid others to do their fighting, but the flower of the South was in the rank and file of the Confederate Army.
Everything was on a war-footing. Even the boys played sol- dier, gathered their companies, and with tin-horns, whistles, bones rattling for martial music, sticks for guns, wornout case-knives strapped around their waists for swords, and a piece of cloth tied to a stick for flags, they marched up and down the streets play- ing "Dixie," "Bonny Blue Flag," etc., their captain giving the order "hep" as lustily as any sergeant in the army. It was quite amusing to sit in some secluded place, free from observation, and watch these pickaninnies manœuvre their forces, their dirt be- grimed faces beaming with as much enthusiasm, and as terribly in earnest at their play efforts to "fight the Yankees," as if the weight of a nation was resting upon their puny shoulders.
The troops, during the first year of the war, were scattered about in different localities defending the route across the Poto- mac, operating in the Shenandoah valley, and occupying the "Peninsula," a neck of land running down between the James and York rivers, and others still, defending points along the lower James, Sewell's Point, Suffolk, etc. To a sane person, now the conflict is over, it seems ridiculous that our people should ever have contemplated such mighty schemes for defense, trying to hold the vast Federal Army, with all its resources of men and means, in check by means of this remarkable division of strength. The people were inspired by a lofty patriotism and the belief in a just cause, and the idea of not being able to cope with any amount of unequal numbers never crossed their minds. They believed they would succeed in establishing their independence, and be recognized by the great powers of Europe.
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CHAPTER III.
Battle of Bethel-Funeral of Henry Wyatt, the First Martyr of the South-Arrival at Richmond of Washington Artillery and Dreux's Bat- talion from New Orleans-Colonel Zulukowsky's Regiment, from: the Levees of New Orleans, afterward known as Tigers -- Battle of Rich Mount- ain-Bravery of General Garnett -- Suffering of the Soldiers-Northern Sentiments-Refusal of the 7th New York Regiment to Fight Against the People of Richinond after their Reception when President Monroe's Re- mains were Removed from New York to Richmond, when they Acted as Guard of Honor.
Col. J. Bankhead Magruder had command of the forces on the Peninsula, about eighteen hundred men. Here was fought the first battle upon Virginia soil.
The Confederates were entrenched at a place called Bethel, about nine miles south of Hampton, sent there to watch Federal operations about Fortress Monroe and prevent an advance to Richmond by that route.
A force, estimated at four thousand, was landed from their boats, in two bodies, one above, the other below, Magruder's troops, and made the attack simultaneously, June 10. A bat- tery of the Richmond Howitzers, under command of Major Randolph, received the first shots. The firing was cool and deliberate. The troops engaged were Virginians and North Car- olinians. The attack was repulsed.
Major Winthrop, a brave Federal officer, fell pierced with a bullet, while standing upon a log waving his sword and vainly striving to rally his men to the charge. Their loss was some thirty killed and one hundred wounded. The Confederates, one man killed and seven wounded.
There was a small house in front of our works which was thought to afford protection to the enemy. Four private soldiers. from North Carolina, volunteered to set it on fire. One man ad- vanced beyond the rest and fell shot through the forehead. This was the first Confederate who died in his country's service.
Everybody was elated at this victory, this battle-as it was called-but which did not afterwards amount to a skirmish. such affairs sometimes not being considered of sufficient importance to receive more than official mention. The enemy was repulsed, · the Confederates victorious; the public mind inspired with con- fidence and a great victory gained.
Henry L. Wyatt will go down to posterity remembered as a
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brave man who voluntarily exposed himself in the line of duty. His remains were taken to Richmond. Sympathy for the wid- owed mother was felt by every one, who had sacrificed her only child. first, upon her country's altar. The body was prepared for burial, the finest of caskets procured for its reception, and the funeral was announced to take place from Broad street Meth- odist church. Very solemn and impressive was this first burial service of the Confederate dead. The church was crowded to its utmost capacity by those eager to honor one who had so fear- lessly laid down his life. The coffin, wrapped in the Confederate flag, the stars and bars of the Southern cross, was borne by Gov- ernor Letcher and the distinguished of Virginia's sons. Presi- dent Davis and his Cabinet occupied seats near the altar. The organ pealed forth its saddest dirges; the mother, shrouded in deepest mourning, was supported on the arm of a noble and and wealthy citizen who had added substantial sympathy in her bereavement. The heads of the gentlemen were all bowed in awe and the ladies wept throughout the ceremonies. Dr. James A. Duncan, one of the finest pulpit orators the South bas ever produced. delivered a most stirring discourse. This scene was touchingly referred to in a fast-day sermon, preached by the same eminent divine, during the last year of the war, when the nation was steeped to the lips in the blood and agony of her children.
The procession passed out to Hollywood Cemetery, and there deposited the remains in those grounds rendered famous since. as the resting place of the great army of the Confederate dead. Thus died this brave young spirit; in this way was he honcred and buried-the first of that vast number who fell upon Vir- ginia's battle-fields-martyrs of the "Lost Cause."
About June roth the Washington Artillery and Dreux's hat- talion of infantry from New Orleans reached Richmond. They were the most splendidly equipped and uniformed of the South- ern troops, from the highest ranks of life, many serving as pri- vates worth large fortunes. Their uniform was fine blue cloth, brass buttons and white gloves. They were physically a mag- nificent looking set of men: born and bred in society, refined and cultivated. they had acquired a polish, graceful and courteous. and were. in every respect, fit specimens of the high-toned chiv- alry of the Sunny South. Their dress was soon exchanged for the Confederate grey; they went immediately into the field. and gained a great reputation for intrepid bravery. Those who had graced the drawing-rooms of the Crescent city fought her battles most heroically.
Just the reverse of these gentlemanly soldiers was Colonel Zu- lukowsky's regiment, which arrived at the same time, and
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were a terror to the city until ordered to the front. They were ferocious-looking men, utterly destitute of morality, who could only be controlled by brute force. Their commander was a Polish exile who had collected these men from the levees of New Or- leans; criminals from every nationality; the most debased and hardened of their species. Their dress was that of French Zouaves full red cloth pants, trimmed up the sides with blue, and gath- ered round the ankle; a short blue sacque, trimmed with yellow. and a red tasseled cap. Such a uniform was odd and startling. but when wom as the dress of such a class of men, the effect was horrible in the extreme. All ordinary methods of punishment under military rule failed, and their commander would coolly present his pistol and threaten them with instant death unless obeyed. He was a man of iron nerve, trained to a soldier's life in a foreign land, and exacted and compelled obedience. They committed so many outrages while quartered in the city, that they had to be removed. They obeyed through fear, and fought bravely from a thirst for blood. They gained afterwards the soubriquet "Tigers," and became famous by their exploits upon the battle-field of Manassas.
General Joseph E. Johnston was the senior officer in the Con- federate Army. He was placed in command at Harper's Ferry. Amongst the regiments there stationed were Colonel Jackson's and Colonel Stuart's. Opposing him was General Patterson, making his way from Maryland.
General Beanregard was at Manassas. Opposing him was General McDowell. General Garnett was appointed to the com- mand of the forces in Northwestern Virginia, and occupied a strong position at Rich Mountain in Randolph county. Gen. Geo. B. McClellan was advancing into the upper portion of the valley.
The Federal generals all acted under the direction of General Winfield Scott, a Virginia officer, born and reared under the folds of her banner, distinguished for his courage and bravery during the Mexican war, honored and feted by the people, yet, soilins the proud escutcheon of his fame by turning his hand against them in their hour of extremity. He preferred retaining his po- sition in the United States Army, to assisting his native State, when invaded by a hostile foe; to receive the emoluments of a Federal position, rather than cast his fortunes with those who had everything at stake. The measure he had meted to others was destined, very early in the war, to be measured to him again, and this proud officer with all his pomposity was brought so low there were none to do him honor.
General McClellan advanced upon General Garnett at Rich Mountain and attacked him in front, General Rosencrans ad-
GEN. R. E. LEE.
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vancing in the rear, and Colonel Pegram's forces occupied the mountain, with General Garnett himself at Laurel Hill in the vi- cinity.
On the morning of July If he ordered an officer to move his men to the path by which the enemy must come. That officer failed to perform his duty, and the road was not defended. The fight lasted three hours, and the men nobly resisted the ad- vance, but were unable to cope with the large force brought against them.
The artillery was not available; the heavy timber of the moun- tain side concealing the Federals from view, was cut down by our batteries, but failed to damage the enemy.
Colonel Pegram, while endeavoring to escape with five hun- dred men, was wounded, and most of them captured. A portion of his men made their way to General Garnett, who was com- pelled to retreat.
He fell back to Cheat river, his command in good order but suffering terribly, the blue coats in full pursuit. The river had to be waded, their knapsacks, haversacks, blankets, and all un- necessary clothing thrown away, to facilitate their progress, and their sufferings were great in the hot, sultry weather. After crossing the river, they took a stand and fought manfully, pre- venting their opposers from crossing the river, till nearly every cartridge was expended. They retreated to the second ford. General Garnett selected Captain Tomkins' company of sharp- shooters, from Richmond, belonging to the 23d Virginia Regi- ment, to form a skirmish line. Firing suddenly began again. His little body of men and himself were exposed. He gave the order to retire, and was struck by a ball and instantly killed.
The Federals abandoned the pursuit in a few moments, but the little army was worn out with fatigue and hunger, a portion of their comrades and one gallant officer wounded and captured. many left dead, and to crown the disaster of the day, their com- mander killed.
General Garnett is perhaps overlooked and his courage over- shadowed by those whose fame was afterwards developed, but there was no braver man, none more faithful and true to the cause he loved, and no officer met his death more gallantly. His life was a sacrifice. He was sent into a mountainous country with men unused to hardship, untried in the field, and with in- sufficient numbers to resist a determined foe.
This initiation for the men was terrible. The remnant made their way to General Jackson, at Monterey, but those who were sick returned to their homes. A young officer, of Richmond Sharp-Shooters, was so exhausted from fatigue and exposure when he reached his home, that he was only able to ring the
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bell, and sank fainting upon the threshold. This is only one in- stance of the fatal disaster at Rich Mountain.
The people began to see what war, with its train of evils. meant, when they saw the pale, saddened look of the defeated. and watched the ravings of their delirium. There were never more woe-begone looking objects than these men who had gone forth with enthusiasm, and returned broken down in health and spirits.
Northwestern Virginia was lost to the South. Soon afterwards its people, adhering to the Union cause, banded themselves to- gether as a separate State, was admitted by the Congress of the United States under the name of West Virginia, and remains to this day a distinct State.
The feeling at the North was bitter against the rebels. but their troops only volunteered for three months, as they laughed to scorn the idea of the South, shut in from the world, holding out for any length of time.
The famous 7th Regiment, of New York City, refused at first to fight against the State of Virginia. A brief digression to ex- plain this reluctance will be admissible:
President Monroe, one of Virginia's distinguished sons. died and was buried in New York. Years passed. Hollywood Cem- etery was purchased by a company of stockholders. Its natural growth of holly was trimmed; its grounds, diversified by hill and dale, was laid off and beautified in every conceivable man- ner. Its graveled, winding walks, its artificial lakes and islands, flower-bedecked graves and gleaming monuments, all attested to the artistic eye that had chosen this spot as a burial place for the loved and lost.
One of the most elevated sites was selected and reserved for the distinguished of Virginia's dead, -overlooking the falls of the James river; commanding a view of weird, rugged beauty, wooded plain and flowery dale unsurpassed, while in the dis- tance was the majestic city-a queen upon her seven hills.
The Legislature decided to remove the remains of President Monroe here, amongst his own people he had so faithfully served. The 4th of July was the day selected for the ceremonies to take place. The 7th Regiment of New York volunteered to act as escort. This was in '58, or '59, I fail to remember which, but before the John Brown raid.
The steamer, with its precious dust and escort, arrived the evening before, at the wharf at Rockett's, and the regiment was received and magnificently entertained by the Council, at the ex- . pense of the city.
Next day, the casket was placed in a hearse drawn by four white horses with black plumes waving. Preceded by the band,
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followed by the New York escort, the military companies of Richmond, Governor, State officers and citizens in carriages, they proceeded to pay the debt of gratitude Virginia owed a true son, and deposited his remains within her bosom. This spot has ever since been called President's Hill.
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