USA > Virginia > Clarke County > Clarke County > History of Clarke County, Virginia and its connection with the war between the states > Part 21
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C. M. Louthan, prisoner for long time.
Geo. N. Barnett, wounded at Chancellorsville and died.
John Edward Barnett, Quartermaster Sergt. Pogue's Battalion Art.
7TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY FROM CLARKE
Geo. Diffenderfer
CO. A Richard Marlow
Jno. Marlow
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
CO. B
N H Carpenter
Jno. Carpenter
CO. E
Marcus Irwin
11TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY
CO. C
Capt. Jno. R. Pendleton
Warner T. Gray
Jas. Van Meter
Isaac Van Meter.
John Hughes
H. Clay Grigsby
Lieut. Edmond Pendleton, killed at Jack's Shop, fall of 1863.
D. C. Snyder
Philip P. Pendleton
Henry Catlett
Tazewell Grigsby
12TH VA. CAVALRY
D. Mason Hough John H. Shewbridge
CO. E, 12TH VIRGINIA
M. A. Boyd
Alfred Marshall
CO. I, 12TH VIRGINIA
Buckner Ashby - Russell Ashby J. Ship Mitchel
Lewis Ashby Abner Ferguson
35TH BATTALION OF CAVALRY
CAPT. JNO. F. TRAYHERN
CO. A
John Dove Joseph Dove Edwin Drish, killed at Leesburg, July, 1864.
CO. B
Jno. O. Crown, a native of Maryland, but coming to
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
Clarke at the close of the war, we feel that he is one of us.
CO. c
Magnus S. Thompson, wounded near Berryville, No- vember 1st, 1864.
Maitland Taylor, wounded and died May 5th, 1864, Wilderness.
Ben Taylor.
12TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY
CO. A
Jas. W. Whittington
Harrison A. Way
Geo. Zombro
CO. B
Edward Bonham
Chas. R. Hardesty
CO. C
Capt. Jno. Ford, wounded at Jack's Shop and Pools- ville, Md.
Sergt. Thos. N. Eddy, wounded at Berryville.
Jno. F. Bell
Harry Bell
John Bell Morgan Copenhaver
Jno. T. Colston, wounded at Ream's Station.
Chas. Carter, wounded at Wilson's Raid.
Benj. Diffenderfer
Newton Everhart
Jackson Everhart
Thos. Everhart
Chas. A. Jones, wounded in Wilderness.
Newton Patterson
Henry Patterson
W. E. Reed
Lewis Shrout
David Shrout
George Shrout
J. N. Shepherd, badly wounded at Brandy Station, June, 1863.
John P. Yowell, badly wounded at Kernstown.
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
MOSBY'S BATTALION
Lieut. Jno. S. Russell
Geo. Copenhaver
Howard Kerfoot
Washington Dearmont
John R. Ashby
Dr. Richard Sowers
J. R. Castleman Harvey Woods Z. T. Sowers Robert Elsea Edgar Dishman
Mathew Royston, Co. C, 2nd Va., then to cavalry.
LEE'S BODYGUARD-39TH VA. BATTALION CAV.
Vernon Lee
Wm. Morris
Ludwell Lee Josiah McDonald
Jacob Willingham Wm. Green, 1st Sergt.
Jas. W. Denny, on detached service at Gen. Lee's head- quarters. After the war moved to Baltimore and was elected to Congress.
6TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY
CO. A
Lewis Carroll Jeremiah Marlow D. McC. Knight Mason Hummer Samuel Martz
Chas. Brothan
Joseph Feltner Benj. Edwards Geo. Pine
Cornelius Wiley Wm. Moreland Jesse Mercer
H. T. Wiley Thomas Carroll Nathanal Mercer John McClaughrey John Hummer Jas. Marlow John Keane Alphus Maby Jno. Edwards Jas. Furr
John Willingham Wm. Sowers
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
Geo. Marlow Jas. Sowers Everard Fowler
Chas. Balthis R. E. Beavers Geo. Thompson
Edward Jenkins
CHAPTER XXX
J. E. B. STUART camp of Confederate Veterans was organized August 12th, 1891, with Col. S. J. C. Moore as Commander.
The Camp was organized for the purpose of gathering and preserving local history connected with the war, per- sonal experiences of the members and any incidents of historical value connected with the lives of the soldiers or citizens of the county at that time; also to aid any Con- federate who might be needy, and in any way possible perpetuate the memory of the men and the events of the years from 1861 to 1865. In carrying out this work they have aided the survivors of the Clarke Cavalry, an or- ganization of the county, to put up a handsome monu- ment on the Court House Square. This work was first undertaken by the Clarke Cavalry survivors and carried forward by them alone until the Camp was organized, when their efforts were united. Very material aid was given, also by the Stonewall Chapter of Daughters of the Confederacy. The monument was unveiled on the 21st day of July, 1900.
WEST SIDE
The monument has upon it the following inscription and also the names of those who lost their lives during the war.
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF
THE SONS OF CLARKE who gave their lives in defense of the RIGHTS OF THE STATES and of Constitutional Government
Fortune denied them success But they achieved IMPERISHABLE FAME
EAST SIDE
2nd Virginia Inf., Stonewall Brigade LIEUT. COL. W. W. RANDOLPH SERGT. MAJ. N. BURWELL
CO. C
CAPT. R. C. RANDOLPH
Lieut. D. Keeler
Lieut. L. T. Grubbs
W. C. Copenhaver
J. Debtor
L. Dishman
J. M. Grubbs
W. G. Grubbs
D. Kerfoot
A. Perkins
J. Puller
J. Reardon
C. H. Richards
G. W. Whitter
B. S. Wilson
P. Grubbs
J. Ritter
J. Welch
CO. I
Lieut. A. S. Allen
T. Barr
S. E. Bonham
W. Brabham
J. Broy
G. Doll
G. Breach
C. D. Castleman
J. Davis
J. J. Dobbin
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
J. Dougherty
G. Wheeler
J. Gearing
E. Hall
D. Mercer
J. Murphy
G. Patterson
E. M. Ritter
W. C. Shepherd
J. K. Willingham
SOUTH SIDE
Co. D, 6th Virginia Regiment, Cavalry LIEUT. D. H. ALLEN LIEUT. C. G. SHUMATE SERGT. W. B. MOORE
L. Ashby
J. Bell
Jas. Bell
J. Barbee
T. Baney
M. Calmes
J. Dearmont
W. Gibson
T. Grady
W. M. Hite
F. Hite
W. T. Hammond
W. Janney
J. Lindsay
F. Moore
J. Milburn
P. C. Mitchell
R. Mitchell
B. Russell
T. Smith, Jr.
P. F. Topper
C. Whiting
NORTH
OTHER COMMANDS
MAJ. H. M. NELSON SURG. W. HAY LIEUT. R. P. BURWELL
LIEUT. E. PENDLETON
D. C. Morgan
G. H. Shumate
L. Swartzwelder
T. Timberlake
J. Fuller
J. Gill
C. Riley
G. Riggle
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
T. Alexander
G. Ashby
G. N. Barnett
N. Anderson
J. Carter
J. Carroll
W. Castleman
C. L. Deahl
M. Copenhaver
C. Elyett
J. Everhart
ยท J. Feltner
J. T. Keene
V. Green
W. T. Moreland
A. Martz
W. B. Page
B. Randolph
T. G. Russell
T. T. Royston
J. W. Smith
W. M. Shumate
W. M. Sowers
A. Shores
M. Taylor
G. Thompson
J. Vorous
C. Wiley
Surg. Chas. McCormick
J. W. Ashby
The address was delivered by Hon. James Marshall, himself an old soldier. The monument was unveiled by Miss Mary Washington Gold, president of the Stone- wall Chapter. The J. E. B. Stuart Camp, assisted by the Stonewall Chapter, entertained the visiting Camps and all old soldiers and a great many others, providing a bountiful feast. The large crowd who attended on that occasion testified to the desire of the people to do honor to the Confederate Soldier and the cause he represented. It was a day memorable in the history of Berryville and Clarke County.
The Camp has now on its roll the names of one hundred and six members. Many of them have answered their last roll call on earth and have "passed over the river to rest under the shade of the trees" with their great leaders, Lee, Jackson and Stuart. A list of the members of the Camp from its formation is herein given.
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
R. O. Allen
John W. Carpenter
P. F. Affleck
B. R. Diffenderfer
W. E. Ambrose
H. P. Deahl
John H. Anderson
Joshua Dewar
Jno. F. Bell
Jas. R. Ellyett
Isaac Bowman
Rev. J. J. Engle
Chas. H. Brabham J. Edward Barnett
B. F. Foley
Rev. Julian Broaddus
Joshua Fletcher
W. S. Brown
Peter Fuqua
Fielding H. Calmes W. P. Carter E. A. Colston
J. T. Griffith
J. W. Grubbs
Jno. O. Crown
Thos. D. Gold
M. R. P. Castleman
Wm. V. Green
Jno. R. Castleman
Chas. R. Hardesty
S. A. Duling
C. W. Hardesty
Cornelius Hawks
A. Marshall Monroe
A. J. Hobson
D. B. Morrison
Jno. M. Jones
J. E. Murphy
Jas. F. Kerfoot
W. C. Morgan
W. E. Kerfoot
Julian Morales
David McKnight
Jas. F. Moore
Jos. McK. Kennerly
Dr. S. S. Neill
H. L. D. Lewis J. R. C. Lewis
Decatur Osburn
J. N. Laws
R. K. Ogden Dr. R. P. Page
B. F. Lewis A. G. Lidy J. W. Lloyd
G. E. S. Philips Jos. Price
C. E. Lippitt
Wm. M. Pipher
David Meade, Sr.
David Meade, Jr.
W. T. Milton
R. Powel Page
J. M. Pope Archie C. Page
Beverly Randolph
Robert Elsea
W. T. Grey
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
Dr. Cyrus McCormick
Thos. H. Randolph
Province McCormick
W. E. Reed
Jno. W. McCormick
Geo. C. Ricamore
Burwell McGuire
R. B. Roy
Josiah McDonald
Jno. S. Russell
Wm. N. McDonald
J. W. Roberts
Nicholas Moore
Jno. C. Rutherford
A. Moore, Jr.
J. N. Shepherd
S. J. C. Moore
Geo. C. Shepherd
R. K. Meade
John R. Shipe
John H. Shewbridge
D. C. Snyder
John B. Stannard
Chas. H. Smith
Wm. M. Struder
Rev. Jos. Thomas
W. C. R. Tapscott
B. F. Thompson
A. J. Thompson
Adam Thompson Jacob Warden
Wm. H. Thompson J. W. Vorous
Jno. R. White
J. H. Willingham
J. S. Ware
J. D. Wigginton
G. F. Willingham
Geo. H. Wright
CHAPTER XXXI
UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY
O' N January 16, 1897, a chapter of the United Daugh- ters of the Confederacy was organized in Berry- ville. The object of this chapter, as of the or- ganization of the U. D. C., was and is to collect and pre- serve material for a truthful history of the war between the States, to protect historic places in the South and to aid in any way possible needy Confederates Veterans and those dependent upon them. The Stonewall Chapter has been especially interested in gathering and preserv- ing local history. The Chapter organized by electing Miss Mary A. Lippitt, president; Miss Kate S. Neill, 1st Vice-president; Miss Louise D. Hardesty, 2nd Vice-presi- dent; Miss Mary K. Moore, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Stonewall Chapter from its organization has been very active in every good work undertaken either by the J. E. B. Stuart Camp of Veterans or by the Virginia Di- vision of the U. D. C. It has extended material aid to veterans in the county who were in need and also to the widows of veterans. It has furnished a room in the Aged Confederate Woman's Home, in Richmond, and each year sends contributions to help to maintain that institution. At the solicitation of Mrs. A. J. Montague during one year they sent one hundred and twenty-five dollars ($125.00) to the Home. thus maintaining one of the in- mates for a year. The Chapter took a very active part in raising funds for the erection of the Confederate Monu-
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
ment standing in the Court House Square, thus aiding the J. E. B. Stuart Camp most materially. They managed the great entertainment held on the day of the unveiling of the monument and did everything in their power to make the occasion the great success it was. The Chapter deserved and received the gratitude of the veterans and the applause of the whole county for their good work on this occasion. It has helped in putting monuments and other memorials not only in the State of Virginia, but at many places in other states of the South. They are es- pecially interested in helping needy widows, who under the limitations of the State pension laws, cannot receive pensions from the State.
Confederate Veterans look with hope and confidence to the organization of the U. D. C., to take up and carry on the work of the Camps, when they go out out of exist- ence, which must be in a few year. The Stonewall Chap- ter is very much in earnest in all these good works and the J. E. B. Stuart Camp appreciates most highly their help in collecting and preserving historical events, in looking after the histories used in schools and in endeav- oring to have true histories used by the schools. The Camp and Chapter both feel that such things have been neglected too long and that in a great many in- stances wrong and harmful impressions have been made upon the minds of the youth of our country by the use of histories which were unfair to the South and the men who fought for the Southern cause. A list of the members of the Stonewall Chapter is appended. In the years to come many will consider it a high honor to find the name of a mother or relative on this roll.
The Stonewall Chapter has been active in presenting crosses of honor to the veterans and such descendants as were entitled to them. If any veteran or any one entitled
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
to receive a cross fails to receive one, it will be his own fault. as the Daughters have earnestly insisted upon all such to apply. On the occasion of presenting these crosses, the Chapter has always succeeded in having a speaker to entertain and instruct all who would come. These oc- casions have been of much interest and have been well attended. The speakers have been enabled to present parts of history to the people often not found in books, and also to explain the causes of the war in such a way as to enlighten the people who hear them. These occasions have been very valuable and helpful in instilling correct views and in teaching true history.
The Stonewall Chapter has aided the Camp very ma- terially in its last work of marking the scenes of battles and engagements in the county. They stand ever ready to help every good Confederate cause.
ROLL OF STONEWALL CHAPTER, U. D. C.
BERRYVILLE, CLARKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Miss Kate B. Neill Miss Daisy Warden
Miss Mary Washington Gold
Mrs. Nelson Clarke Griffith Wilson
Mrs. E. M. VanDevanter
Mrs. Rebecca L. Green Bryarly
Miss Francis R. Wolfe
Miss Kate Henson Mrs. Pattie Hardee Page
Mrs. Louisa Dix Hardesty Kerfoot
Mrs. Maria G. Lewis
Mrs. Minnie N. Kerfoot
Mrs. W. S. Allen
Mrs. Lorenzo Lewis
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
Miss Hallie Broaddus
Miss Mary A. Lippitt
Miss Mable Barnett
Miss Annie C. Moore
Mrs. A. R. Brown
Mrs. Nannie P. McCormick
Mrs. Mary N. Crisp
Miss Elvira Daniel Moore
Miss Marie I. Crow
Mrs. Bessie McCormick Whiting
Miss Jennie Pope
Miss Mary Melville Morrison
Mrs. Florence B. Hardesty
Miss Edith Allen Morrison
Miss Jessie Castleman
Mrs. Mary Brewer Moore Miller
Miss Ida Lee Castleman
Miss Lily K. Moore
Miss Bernie Crown
Miss Minnie Lee Ogden
Mrs. Loula Henson Dix
Mrs. Ida Thompson Ramey
Miss Hallie LaRue Dorsey
Miss E. C. Turner
Miss Ada M. Drake
Miss Emily H. Smith
Mrs. Jas. W. Foley
Miss Fleda May Ramey
Miss Kathleen Ferguson
Miss Nannie D. Thomas
Miss Helen M. Ferguson
Miss Agnes Lee Tapscott
Mrs. Laura W. Gold Crawford
Mrs. Lucy Ware Lewis McCormick
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
Mrs. Lucy Neville Gold Walter Mrs. Nannie Moss Whiting Miss Mary E. White Mrs. Elizabeth E. G. Walker Miss Lucy Taylor Mumford Mrs. Ellen Douglas Neill Mrs. Mary Engle Gaunt
CHAPTER XXXII
MEMORIES OF PRISON LIFE
A
DDRESS of Mr. Thomas D. Gold, before the J. E. B. Stuart Camp.
FELLOW COMRADES :-
A third of a century has passed since the scenes and the events occurred in which it is now our highest honor to know we bore a small part, but the lapse of time, the care, the trials or successes of life cannot eclipse nor even dim our recollections of the men, the times, the exper- iences of those days. One step with memory and we are seated around the camp-fire with loved comrades; the story, the joke, the song, the merry laugh, are heard. We are on the toilsome march. The cannon boom in the distance, the column steadily pushes onward, the line of battle is formed, the skirmishers are sent out, the line advances, the enemy is in sight, muskets roar, with yells we rush forward, the guns are taken, the enemy is routed, night falls, we bivouac on the field, the roll is called; our gallant comrades-where are they? Killed, wounded, missing. It was my misfortune on two occasions to be missing and to find myself a prisoner. At Kernstown, in 1864, when I saw our lines falling back in confusion, I thought all would be taken, and decided to save myself by flank movement, and, of course, was picked up by the cavalry. With 235 others, I was sent to Baltimore jail, where we were the recipients of the kindness for which
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
good people of that city were famous, and which should forever bind us to them with hooks of steel. Books to read and a gold dollar for each prisoner were given us. We were then sent to Fort Delaware, from which I was exchanged the following August. The second time I was taken with 3,500 others in the Bloody Angle at Spottsyl- vania on that ever memorial 12th of May, 1864, when Hancock broke our lines. We were kept all that day at Grant's headquarters, where we could hear the heavy musketry fire, the heaviest of the war, hoping, as some- times the roar seemed to come nearer, that the tide of battle would reach us and free us. The rain which fell in torrents during the evening and night, we had to stand; fortunately, we had not yet thrown our blankets away, and, with Yankee oilcloths taken from out foes, we were able to keep dry. Nothing was issued to us to eat until evening of the next day, when we reached Potomac creek on our way to Point Lookout. On our march we met for the first time negro troops, who said as we passed them; "Better put 'em down in dat hollow and open grape and canister on 'em; dey make mighty good guano." Our blood boiled; if there had been no white guards to inter- fere we would have made guano of them.
After landing at Point Lookout and being divided into companies we soon fell into the life of the prisoner. The prison was a large enclosure containing forty or fifty acres, surrounded by a close plank fence 15 feet high, with a par- apet on the outside for the sentinels to walk on, from which they could overlook the prison. Ten feet inside was the "Dead-Line," to cross which was to be shot without warn- ing. Just outside of the walls was the bay, in which we were allowed to bathe, or we could remain on the beach from sunrise to sunset. The prison was laid off in streets running parallel to each other, into the main street, upon
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
which the eating houses were situated, at meals. We were marched by companies into these houses and got our very scanty rations-about half a pound of bread, two ounces of meat, and a pint of soup a day, or ten hard-tack in the place of bread. We found there, when we arrived, some friends from our command and others. We were quarter- ed in large tents mostly, some built houses of cracker boxes, obtained from the commissary, using the boxes as weather-boarding and covering with tent flies or oilcloths. I lived in one with Ed. Bonham, who was there when I arrived, and some others. They were more comfortable and not so crowded as the large tents, which had as many as twenty in them sometimes. Soon after my arrival there, our comrades, A. Moore, Jr., and Charles H. Smith, were brought in. With them was Mr. Eugene Davis, a cultured Christian gentleman, a gallant soldier, a man whom to know was a privilege, to have as a friend an hon- or. To me he became such, and I shall forever remember his kindness to a boy who needed the wise counsel and good example set by one whose quiet dignity subdued the rough, and whose pleasant manners and genial conver- sations charmed all who were brought under his influence. Twenty-five years after, when nursing my son at Charlotts- ville, he sought me out and renewed the kindness of former days by everything in his power that could comfort and help me in sore trouble. His patient endurance, without murmuring of the hardships of prison life, helped many others. I remember that during the winter at Elmira, where the thermometer was often 12 or 15 degrees below zero, that his bed consisted of two oilcloths, a blanket, and three canteens filled each night with hot water and placed around him; yet he was invariable cheerful. Soon after our getting settled we were entertained by the old sol- diers with stories of the negro guards, and warned to be
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
careful not be out after dark, as the patrol which went about over the grounds would arrest or shoot on very little provocation, in fact, we could hear shots and whistling bullets at most any time in the night.
A negro sentinel one day had brought in with him his knapsack filled to the full. He put it on the ground at one end of his beat. As he paced to and fro an old "Con- fed" could not stand the temptation to renew acquaintance with a Yankee knapsack, so when the fellow's back was turned he picked it up and was soon enjoying its contents. When the darky saw what had happened he said: "Dah, dey done got my knapsack, and, 'fore God, Dinah's pic- ture's in dah." On another occasion one of them on guard on the street near the eating house, when the street was crowded with prisoners going and coming from dinner, fired into them and wounded four men. If a leader had appeared just then I think we would have broken out, so great was the indignation among us. Their presence was an insult, and so intended, no doubt, and very galling to southern pride. The prisoners had many ways of em- ployment and amusement. One was a large school, pre- sided over by a man of education, and attended by several hundred prisoners. Among them were Mr. A. Moore, Jr., and myself. Everything was taught, from Latin and Greek to A. B. C's. We refreshed our memory of Virgil and some other Latin writers. In this connection I will say that at Elmira we had a still larger school, under the management of Mr. Davis. I was a teacher there and taught a class of men to read and write, who did not know their letters. We had a very large school, running way up in the hundreds. We were allowed for a few hours each day the use of an eating house. Books were sent from New York, Baltimore and other cities-old books of every conceivable kind. Much good was done by these
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
schools, especially in keeping the men cheerful under their privations. At Point Lookout we could bathe when we chose during the day, which was very conducive to health.
Many were engaged in manufacturing fans, rings, im- ages made from bone, chains from guttapercha and horse hair. One man made a steam engine, by which he ran a turning lathe. They demonstrated that all ingenuity was not with the Yankees. A great pastime was gambling. On the beach you could, during the day, find hundreds of games of faro, keno, lotto, poker, and sweat cloths, at which you might bet anything you had, money, chews of tobacco, rations of bread, crackers, anything and every- thing. I had a comrade in my house who used to fre- quently steal a start in crackers from an old gentleman who was with us, and like, the gambler of to-day, he sometimes got enough to pay back and have several good feeds over, but often nothing. I tried it myself once. I had only two hard-tacks and was very hungry, so concluded to risk them for enough for a good meal. Luck was with me, and I got a big pile, but was not satisfied until luck turned and left me without one, and hungrier than ever and mad because I had not eaten some of them while I played. The experience was enough, and I quit dice for good.
During the summer an old gentleman from Charles City County, Va., was brought in, about 70 years old, taken from his home without warning, with no charge against him, and leaving a family of several ladies defence- less. He was kept until the close of the war, and was as- signed to our house. He was a lawyer by profession, but had taught a school for boys many years. He determined that he would not give way, and so by exercise and every way possible he kept up his health until his release. He said he had made money all his life, and wanted to make some there, so that he could say that he had turned every
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
occasion to good account. To do it he wrote to his daughter in Richmond to send him a box of tobacco. The authorities let it in, he sold it for greenbacks; bought up Confederate money, and when he got home after the war had a pile of it. He was a plucky old man, and had faith in the south. There was another old man brought during the winter to Elmira from the southern part of Florida, 75 years old, taken with others who attempted to resist a Yankee raid. With clothing insufficient for such a cli- mate, so different from his own, there could be only one issue. He was urged by the officer, who brought him to take the oath and leave the prison. He said that if out, he could not get home and would die, and if he must die he wanted to die among his own people. His imprison- ment was a short one, and he died among his own people. The name and memory of Mark Elmore, the aged patriot, will never be forgotten by those who saw and knew him. In August many of us were removed from the Point to Elmira, N. Y. The trip was made by water to New York City, spending about forty-eight hours on the ocean. The weather was fine and the trip was as pleasant as it could be to one of 1,100 prisoners. Elmira was situated in sight of the mountains, and you may be sure that we Valley people feasted our eyes, even if our stomachs were starving. The officer in charge-a Major Colt, of New York-was a very kind hearted man, and did all he could for us, except feed us, which was what we wanted most. There were 12,000 prisoners here; and, although in many respects it was the best prison I was in, the lack of food and severe climate caused many to die. During the win- ter there were twenty-five per day taken out and buried. They lie there today in unmarked graves. How long shall it be so? Do not these men as much deserve honor as those who fell on the fields? You, those who have not
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY
endured imprisonment, can hardly understand the feel- ings of men who daily saw a large number of their comrades carried to their graves, and were conscious that their turn was likely to come at any time; seeing hundreds more, pale, emaciated, ragged, who were being starved by a slow but certain process; diseases of all kinds, such as small-pox, fevers, pneumonia, and etc., thinning us out, it required the same, or more bravery than the battle-field. Many prisoners had friends in the North who helped them. The liberality of those who sympathized with the South was wonderful, and they never seemed to tire. There was an order that we could only write to relatives. Immediately, we all became cousins and nephews to somebody. A lady would get a letter from her "dear cousin" she caught on right away, and cousin it was. Those cousins sent us clothing, good things to eat, wrote kind letters, and cheered us every way. Some day we ought to build a monument to our cousins up there. The quarters at Elmira were large buildings of rough plank, holding 250 men, in charge of two sergeants from among the prisoners. We were re- quired to keep them very clean, and to do this a detail was made each day of fifteen men, three of whom were on duty at a time from sunrise to tattoo. Breaches of rules were punished by imprisonment in the guard-house or in a black hole, by bucking, or confinement in the sweat- box. This implement of torture must have come down from the Inquisition. It was made of plank just large enough for a man to stand erect in with his hands down and so tight that he could not raise them; he could not bend his knees. The top, several feet above his head, was the only place through which air could enter, and this placed in the sun made confinement for any length of time intense torture. I remember two young men from southwest Virginia, who in some way had got enough
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