_The great battle--The town sacked by soldiers--A wonderful display of
humanity--The Federals recross the river--A great revival of
religion--The battle of Chancellorsville--The Wilderness
campaign--Citizens arrested--A statement by the Council--The citizens
and Federal soldiers release, &c._
To those who had a proper idea of the sacrifices made, the sufferings
endured and the privations experienced by the inhabitants of
Fredericksburg, up to this period, whether that idea was formed from
observation, from reading the narratives or from their rehearsals by those
who experienced them, it might appear that their cup of sorrow was full
even to overflowing, and from further troubles and trials they might be
exempted. But not so. Probably the worst was yet to come; but they firmly
believed that the same patriotic devotion to the cause they had espoused,
and the same fidelity to principle which enabled them to "bear the
spoiling of their goods" with composure in the past, would sustain them in
any additional trials and sacrifices they might have to endure in the
future. Patriotic, self sacrificing and confiding in the right, they were
prepared for the worst, and the worst came.
On taking possession of Fredericksburg the Federal soldiers abandoned
themselves to pillage and destruction. They entered the stores and
dwellings, forcing their way where force was necessary, rifling them of
all that they wanted of their contents and destroying those things that
they could not remove. China and glassware were broken up and scattered
promiscuously; silverware was carried away, books and family pictures were
mutilated and destroyed; furniture was cut up or broken up and converted
into fire-wood, beds, bedclothing and wearing apparel were destroyed or
carried off, and the residences were left despoiled of their contents. In
the three days they occupied the town they made the destruction complete.
But it is a gratification, even to those who suffered by this occupation,
to know that the commanders were not to blame for the sacking of the town.
It was the work, so it is asserted, of stragglers and camp followers--the
most detestable and destructive scabs of an army.
On Friday, the 12th of December, the Union army was drawn up in line of
battle, prepared to advance. Not less than sixty thousand men were on the
south bank of the river, with more than a hundred pieces of artillery.
Near the mouth of Deep Run there were probably as many more ready for the
final charge. The Confederate army was confronting them in a line
extending from Fall Hill to Hamilton's Crossing, between six and seven
miles in length. At one o'clock the heavy batteries on each side opened,
and for an hour kept up a brilliant duel of shell and round shot. On the
morning of Saturday, the 13th of December, a dense fog hung over the river
and the adjoining fields. Under its cover the Federal army advanced. By
eight o'clock it was in position and the dreadful conflict began.
Line after line of battle advanced on the Confederate position, at the
stone wall at the foot of Marye's Heights, to be repulsed with great
slaughter. This was kept up without cessation, charge after charge, as
rapidly as they could reform the men, from eight o'clock in the morning
until four o'clock in the afternoon, when one desperate charge, with
troops _en masse_, was made all along the line in front of the stone wall,
accompanied by the most terrific fire of artillery. In this last and
grandest effort, the men, marching to death and destruction through an
open field, got within twenty-five yards of the stone wall,
notwithstanding the deadly aim of the Confederate infantry behind it and
the destructive fire of the artillery on the heights above, so skillfully
arranged by General E. P. Alexander.
It was a sublime spectacle, and the gallantry of both officers and men won
the admiration of the commanders on both sides, Lieutenant-General
Longstreet, on the Confederate side, declaring that such gallant conduct
deserved success. But success was not to be theirs. The gallant charges of
the Federals were met with that undaunted coolness and courage so
characteristic of the Confederate soldier, and a disastrous Federal defeat
was the result. The fighting was the most desperate that had been
witnessed up to that time, and the Union loss was very great, being
nearly fifty per cent. of the numbers engaged. The battle-field was
covered with the dead, wounded and dying, and it is related by those
behind the stone wall that all during the night the most piteous groans
and cries, for water of the wounded could be heard, but no relief could be
afforded, although the Confederates deeply sympathized with them.[31] Thus
ended the battle of Fredericksburg, fought, it is claimed, against the
judgment and advice of every corps commander in the army who refused to
renew the attack next day, although it was the desire of Gen. Burnside to
do so.
THE FEDERALS RECROSS THE RIVER.
On Monday night, December the 15th, General Burnside withdrew his army
across the river and removed his pontoons. The citizens returned to their
houses, to find them stripped of everything that was left in them. What
could not be carried away was broken up and destroyed. Private residences,
orphan asylums, church buildings and lodges of benevolent and charitable
institutions, all fared alike. Not only were the residences of the
refugees deprived of everything left in them, but the returning citizens
were without money and food. They were in a destitute condition, and,
between the two great armies, with no prospect of relief, unless it
came from friends in the way of a contribution. It was at this critical
period that the appeal, made but a few days before, brought to them relief
in the way of money and supplies. The contributions in money amounted to
$164,169.45, and the provisions were ample to relieve the present needs.
Thus the wants of the destitute of the town were supplied and untold
suffering prevented.
[Illustration: Gen. Hugh Mercer's Monument on Washington avenue. (See page
162)]
[Illustration: Old Stone House near Free Bridge. Supposed to have been a
tobacco warehouse before the Revolutionary War. (See page 47)]
A GREAT REVIVAL OF RELIGION.
From the first of January to the second day of June, 1862, General
Barksdale's brigade, that had guarded the banks of the river from the
arrival of the Confederate army at this point to the great battle of the
13th of December, was quartered in town for picket and provost guard duty.
About the first of April, 1863, one of the most remarkable and successful
religious revivals took place here that was known to that generation. The
dangers and hardships of war were to yield for a time for the comforts of
religion. The services were commenced in the Presbyterian church by Rev.
Wm. B. Owens, Dr. J. A. Hackett, Rev. E. McDaniel and Rev. W. T. West,
chaplains in the brigade, aided by Rev. John L. Pettigrew, then a private
soldier in Company A, Thirteenth Mississippi regiment, but afterwards
appointed to a chaplaincy in a North Carolina regiment. Mr. Owens, a
Methodist minister, had charge of the services, and for some reason the
meetings were transferred from the Presbyterian church to the Southern
Methodist church, then standing on the corner of Charles and George
streets, where Mr. P. V. D. Conway's residence now stands.
The interest in the meetings deepened, their influence spread to the
adjoining camps,[32] and the congregations became so large that they could
not find standing room in the building. To accommodate these
rapidly-increasing crowds, Rev. A. M. Randolph, then rector, tendered the
use of St. George's church, which was gladly accepted, and the services
were conducted there until the close of the meeting, in the latter part of
May. Before the close, this revival attracted the attention of the leading
ministers of nearly all denominations, many of whom came to the assistance
of Mr. Owens and his co-workers. Among those who were at times present,
preached and rendered valuable assistance, were Rev. J. C. Stiles, D. D.,
Rev. Wm. J. Hoge, D. D., Rev. James D. Coulling, Rev. James A. Duncan, D.
D., Rev. J. Lansing Burrows, D. D., Rev. Alfred E. Dickinson, D. D., and
Rev. W. H. Carroll. During the meeting more than five hundred soldiers,
most of whom belonged to Barksdale's brigade, were converted and united
with churches of the various Christian denominations.
Of this wonderful religious awakening, Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Hoge wrote to the
_Southern Presbyterian_ as follows: "We found our soldiers at
Fredericksburg all alive with animation. A rich blessing had been poured
upon the labors of Brother Owens, Methodist chaplain in Barksdale's
brigade. The Rev. Dr. Burrows, of the Baptist church, Richmond, had just
arrived, expecting to labor with him some days. As I was to stay but one
night, Dr. Burrows insisted on my preaching. So we had a Presbyterian
sermon, introduced by Baptist services, under the direction of a Methodist
chaplain, in an Episcopal church! Was not that a beautiful solution of the
vexed problem of Christian union?"
Mr. Owens, who worked so faithfully in the great meeting at
Fredericksburg, endeared himself to all who had the pleasure of attending
the services. On his return to his Mississippi home, at the close of the
war, he at once entered upon his work as a travelling minister, and was
drowned while attempting to cross a swollen stream on horseback,
endeavoring to reach one of his preaching stations.
GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK TAKES THE TOWN.
_Chancellorsville campaign._
In the Spring of 1863, as soon as the roads began to dry off, the armies
were put in readiness to move, preparatory to another great battle.
General Joseph Hooker, known as "Fighting Joe Hooker," had succeeded
General Ambrose E. Burnside in the command of the Army of the Potomac,
which he claimed was the finest army on the planet. His desire was to
reach Richmond, which his predecessors, General McDowell, General
McClellan, General Pope and General Burnside, had failed to do.
Accordingly, about the last of April, detaching General John Sedgwick,
with twenty-two thousand men, to threaten General Lee's rear at
Fredericksburg, he crossed his army at the several fords of the
Rappahannock river above town and concentrated it at Chancellorsville. His
plan seems to have been to turn General Lee's right flank with the forces
under General Sedgwick, double back his left flank with the corps under
General Howard, and then, with the forces of General Crouch and General
Meade, make a bold and desperate dash against the center, crush it and
capture the entire army of his adversary. This accomplished, Richmond
would be an easy prey.
But while General Hooker was moving to execute his plans, General Lee had
the Army of Northern Virginia in motion, and when General Hooker reached
Chancellorsville he found to his great astonishment, the Confederate army
in his front and prepared to dispute his advance. Skirmishers were thrown
out by both armies and soon the engagement of May the 2nd and 3rd
commenced. On the morning of the 2nd General Stonewall Jackson commenced
his famous flank movement that has been the study and wonder of military
men of this and other countries, which resulted in a great disaster to the
Federal army and a great calamity to the Southern cause. General Hooker
was badly defeated and driven in haste from the field, but General Jackson
lay mortally wounded. Of that attack and result we use in substance the
language of General Lee in his official report of the Battle of
Chancellorsville.[33] After a long and fatiguing march, General Jackson's
leading division, under General Rodes, reached old turnpike, about three
miles in the rear of Chancellorsville, at four in the afternoon. As the
different divisions arrived they were formed at right angles with the
road--Rodes in front, Trible's division, under Brigadier-General R. E.
Colston, in the second, and General A. P. Hill's in the third line.
At six o'clock the advance was ordered. The enemy were taken by surprise
and fled after a brief resistance. General Rodes's men pushed forward with
great vigor and enthusiasm, followed closely by the second and third
lines. Position after position was carried, the guns captured, and every
effort of the enemy to rally defeated by the impetuous rush of our troops.
In the ardor of pursuit through the thick and tangled woods, the first and
second lines at last became mingled and moved on together as one. The
enemy made a stand at a line of breastworks across the road at the house
of Melzi Chancellor, but the troops of Rodes and Colston dashed over the
entrenchments together and the flight and pursuit were resumed and
continued until our advance was arrested by the abatis in front of the
line of works near the central position at Chancellorsville.
It was now dark, and General Jackson ordered the third line, under General
Hill, to advance to the front and relieve the troops of Rodes and Colston,
who were completely blended, and in such disorder, from their rapid
advance through intricate woods and over broken ground, that it was
necessary to reform them. As General Hill's men moved forward, General
Jackson, with his staff and escort, returning from the extreme front, met
his skirmishers advancing, and in the obscurity of the night were taken
for the enemy and fired upon. Captain J. K. Boswell, chief engineer of the
corps and several others were killed and a number wounded. General Jackson
himself received a severe injury and was borne from the field. He was
taken to the Chandler house, at Guiney's station, in Caroline county,
where, notwithstanding everything possible was done for him that loving
hearts could do or medical skill could suggest, he died on the 9th of May.
Amid the sorrow and tears of the Southern people he was laid to rest at
his home in Lexington, Virginia.
General Jubal A. Early had been left at Fredericksburg to watch General
Sedgwick, and had been instructed, in the event of the enemy withdrawing
from his front and moving up the river, to join the main body of the army.
This order was repeated on the 2nd, but by some mistake General Early was
directed to move unconditionally. Leaving Hays's brigade and one regiment
of Barksdale's at Fredericksburg, he moved with the rest of his command
towards Chancellorsville. As soon as his withdrawal was perceived the
enemy began to advance, and General Early returned to his original
position.
The line to be defended by Barksdale's brigade extended from the
Rappahannock, above Fredericksburg, to the rear of Howison's house, a
distance of more than two miles. The artillery was posted along the
heights in rear of the town.
Before dawn on the morning of the 3rd General Barksdale reported to
General Early that the enemy had occupied Fredericksburg in large force
and had bridged the Rappahannock river. Hays's brigade was sent to his
support, and placed on his extreme left, with the exception of one
regiment, stationed on the right of his line behind the Howison house.
Seven companies of the Twenty-first Mississippi regiment were posted by
General Barksdale between the Marye house and the Plank road, the
Eighteenth and the three other companies of the Twenty-first occupied the
Telegraph road, behind the stone wall, at the foot of Marye's Hill, the
two remaining regiments of the brigade being farther to the right on the
hills near Howison's house. The enemy made a demonstration against the
extreme right, which was easily repulsed by General Early. Soon afterward
a column moved from Fredericksburg along the river bank as if to gain the
heights on the extreme left, which commanded those immediately in rear of
the town. This attempt was foiled by General Hays and the arrival of
General Wilcox from Banks's Ford, who deployed a few skirmishers on the
hill near Dr. Taylor's house and opened on the enemy with a section of
artillery. Very soon the enemy advanced in large force against Marye's
Heights and the hills to the right and left. Two assaults were gallantly
repulsed by Barksdale's men and the artillery. After the second, a flag of
truce, it was claimed, was sent from the town to obtain permission to
provide for the wounded, which was granted.
At the end of the truce three heavy lines advanced and renewed the attack.
They were bravely repulsed on the right and left, but the small force at
the foot of Marye's Hill, overpowered by more than ten times their
numbers, was captured after a heroic resistance, and the Heights carried.
Eight pieces of artillery were taken on Marye's and the adjacent heights.
The remainder of Barksdale's brigade, together with that of General Hays,
and the artillery on the right, retired down the Telegraph road. The
success of the enemy enabled him to threaten Gen. Lee's communications by
moving down the telegraph road, or gain his rear at Chancellorsville by
the Plank road. He at first advanced on the Telegraph road, but was
checked by General Early, who had halted the brigades of Barksdale and
Hays with the artillery, about two miles from Marye's Hill, and reënforced
them with three regiments of General John B. Gordon's brigade. The enemy
then began to advance up the Plank road, his progress being gallantly
disputed by the brigade of General Cadmus M. Wilcox, who had moved from
Banks's Ford as rapidly as possible to the assistance of General
Barksdale, but arrived too late to take part in the action. General Wilcox
fell back slowly until he reached Salem church, on the Plank road, about
four miles from Fredericksburg.
Information of the state of affairs in our rear having reached
Chancellorsville, General McLaws, with his three brigades and one of
General Anderson's, was ordered to reinforce General Wilcox. He arrived at
Salem church early in the afternoon, where he found General Wilcox in line
of battle, with a large force of the enemy--consisting, as was reported,
of one army corps and part of another, under Major-General Sedgwick--in
his front. The brigades of General Kershaw and General Wofford were placed
on the right of General Wilcox and those of Semmes and Mahone on the left.
The enemy's artillery played vigorously upon our position for some time,
when his infantry advanced in three strong lines, the attack being
directed mainly against General Wilcox, but partially involving the
brigades on his left.
The assault was met with the utmost firmness, and after a fierce struggle
the first line was repulsed with great slaughter. The second then came
forward, but immediately broke under the close and deadly fire which it
encountered, and the whole mass fled in confusion to the rear. They were
pursued by the brigades of General Wilcox and General Semmes, in the
direction of Banks's Ford, where the enemy crossed to the Stafford side of
the river.
The next morning General Early advanced along the Telegraph road and
recaptured Marye's Heights and the adjacent hills without difficulty.
General Barksdale's brigade entered the town, to find the enemy gone, with
the exception of some stragglers who had secreted themselves in cellars
and elsewhere about town. These were captured and sent to the rear, and
the brigade took up its former quarters in the town, where it remained
until the first of June.
After some four weeks of rest and reorganization the army was again put in
motion, the object of Gen. Lee being the invasion of Pennsylvania. After
the removal of the army Fredericksburg was left practically without any
armed troops, and soon relapsed into her usual quiet, so characteristic of
the place. This condition of things existed until the return of the army
from its invasion in the Fall, when the town was occasionally visited by
scouting cavalry from the Confederate army, the main body of the troops
camping west of Fredericksburg.
GEN. GRANT'S ARMY IN POSSESSION.
_The Wilderness Campaign._
With the opening of the Spring of 1864, was inaugurated the most active
and bloody campaign of the war in Virginia. This battle embraces those of
Mine Run, the Wilderness, Todd's Tavern, the Po, the Ny and those around
Spotsylvania Courthouse, in which both armies, the Confederate, under
General Robert E. Lee, and the Federal, under General Ulysses S. Grant,
lost heavily. Many thousands of the wounded Federals were sent in
ambulances and wagons to Fredericksburg, where hospitals were established,
under the charge of United States surgeons. Every house in the town that
was at all available was converted into a hospital. Residences, stores,
churches and lodge rooms were all occupied by the wounded and the surgeons
were kept busy day and night. As fast as the wounded could be moved they
were sent north, and others were brought from the battle-fields. This was
kept up from the time the battles commenced, on the 4th of May, until they
closed, on the 20th of May, the first batch reaching town with their
authorized attendants on the 9th of May.
On Sunday, the 8th, a small body of Federal troops, numbering about
sixty, most of them slightly wounded, came into town. They were armed, and
the citizens demanded their surrender as prisoners of war. This demand was
acceded to and they were delivered over to the Confederate military
authorities at the nearest post from which they were sent to Richmond.
This action of the citizens was regarded by the Federal authorities as a
violation of law, and the arrest of an equal number of citizens was
ordered by the Federals, that they might be held as hostages until these
Union soldiers were released and returned.
This order caused great consternation in town. No one could foretell the
fate of those arrested and the worst for them was feared. Many of the male
citizens sought hiding places, but quite a number made no effort to escape
or elude the officers, as they did not consider they had done any
wrong--certainly no intentional wrong--and they were willing to abide the
consequences until an impartial investigation was made, when they believed
they would be exonerated from any crime. In the execution of this order,
sixty-two citizens were arrested and carried to Washington, ten of whom
were there liberated and the remaining fifty-two were sent to Fort
Delaware. Afterwards five other citizens were arrested and sent to the
same prison.
The families of these citizens were almost frantic at being thus deprived
of their protectors, while the town was overrun by Federal soldiers, many
of them stragglers, without any one to restrain them, and others brought
here from the Wilderness and other battle-fields, wounded and dying, their
groans and shrieks filling the air. No one can imagine the distressing
scenes enacted in town about this time who did not witness them, or form
any conception of the terrible ordeal through which these helpless
families passed save those who shared their privations and sufferings.
The town had been the scene of a bombardment unparalleled; two fearful
battles had been fought here, with their accompanying destruction of
property and consumption of food and family supplies; the town had been in
possession of both armies at different times; therefore these families
were destitute of food and the comforts of life, and now comes the order
for the arrest and imprisonment of those whom God had given them to
protect and provide for them. Notwithstanding the intense excitement of
the people of the town, and the sufferings and entreaties of the bereaved
ones, it was thought prudent to defer public action until further
developments, in the hope that the prisoners would be released and allowed
to return to their homes.
Having impatiently awaited the release of the prisoners, and their hopes
not being realized, on the 31st of May a meeting of the Common Council was
called, and upon assembling the Mayor informed the body that the object of
the meeting was to take some steps for the relief of those citizens who
had been arrested and who were then suffering in prison at Fort Delaware.
A paper was submitted by Mr. Wm. A. Little, which was unanimously adopted,
looking to their release. As the paper contains the views of the citizens
of Fredericksburg, with reference to the arrest of the Federal soldiers,
and also the names of the citizens arrested, it is here copied in full, as
follows:
FREDERICKSBURG, VA., May 31st, 1864.
_To the Honorable James A. Seddon,
Secretary of War of the Confederate States,
Richmond, Virginia._
At a meeting of the Mayor and Common Council of Fredericksburg,
Virginia, held this 31st of May, 1864, a committee of two citizens, to
wit: Montgomery Slaughter and John F. Scott, were appointed to repair
to Richmond and present to you the following statement and
application.
_Statement._
On Sunday, the 8th instant, a number of slightly-wounded and
straggling Federal soldiers, who entered the town, many of them with
arms in their hands, and with the capacity and intention, we feared,
of doing mischief in the way of pillage and injury to our people, who
were unprotected by any military force, were arrested by order of our
municipal authorities and forwarded to the nearest military post as
prisoners of war, under the guard of citizens. These prisoners
amounted to about sixty men, of whom but few are said to have been
slightly wounded. In retaliation of this act, the provost marshal,
under orders from the Secretary of War at Washington, arrested on the
20th instant some sixty of our citizens and forwarded them to
Washington, to be held as hostages for said prisoners. Ten of the
citizens were afterwards released in Washington, and have returned to
their homes, leaving some fifty-one citizens still in confinement, who
have been sent to the military prison at Fort Delaware.
In behalf of these unfortunate people, who are thus made to suffer so
seriously, and for their suffering families who are thus left without
their natural protectors, and many of them without their means of
support, we appeal to you to take such steps as may be proper and in
accordance with military regulations to return the said prisoners to
the Federal authorities and thus secure the release of our citizens.
Surely the matter of a few prisoners cannot be allowed to interfere
with the humane and generous work of restoring to these desolated
homes, and these mourning women and children, the only source of
comfort which the fate of war has left them in this war-ravaged and
desolated town, the presence of those loved ones who are separated
from them and imprisoned at Fort Delaware. The following is a list of
the citizens arrested and carried to Washington as aforesaid:
James H. Bradley, Thomas F. Knox, James McGuire, Councellor Cole,
Michael Ames, John G. Hurkamp, John J. Chew, George H. Peyton, Wm. H.
Thomas, John D. Elder, who were released at Washington.
F. B. Chewning, P. B. Rennolds, James B. Marye, George Aler, Charles
Mander,[34] Benjamin F. Currell, John L. Knight, Wm. C. Smith, Joseph
W. Sener, E. W. Stephens, Charles Cash, Charles B. Waite, Charles G.
Waite, Jr., George W. Wroten,[34] Thomas Newton, Robert H. Alexander,
Robert Smith, Lucien Love, George F. Sacrey, Henry M. Towles, Landon
J. Huffman, Lewis Moore, John T. Evans, Walter Bradshaw, Samuel D.
Curtis, Lewis Wrenn, Wm. White, John Solan, George W. Eve, James
Mazeen, Abraham Cox, Wm. Brannan, James A. Turner, A. E. Samuel,
Tandy Williams, Robert S. Parker, Christopher Reintz, Thomas F.
Coleman, Patrick McDonnell, Charles Williams, Wm. Cox, Walter M.
Mills, Thomas S. Thornton, John Joyce,[35] John Miner, Richard Hudson,
Wm. B. Webb, Alexander Armstrong, Wm. Wiltshire, Gabriel Johnston,
George Mullin, William Burke.
[Illustration: Birthplace of Hon. John Forsythe, the brilliant Georgia
Statesman. (See page 154)]
[Illustration: The "Sentry Box," the home of Gen. Hugh Mercer; now the
residence of O. D. Foster, Esq. (See page 150)]
The following citizens were arrested subsequently and are still held by
the Federal authorities: Wm. Lange, Thomas Manuell, Joseph Hall, Wm. W.
Jones, Wyatt Johnson.
The committee appointed by the Council proceeded to Richmond and laid
the matter before the Secretary of War, and, on their return home,
reported to the Council in writing. This report was filed, but was not
entered upon the records of the Council, and, from indications as
shown by subsequent entries in the Council proceedings, the committee
appointed Mr. George H. C. Rowe to visit Washington, interview the
Federal authorities and ascertain what could be done. Some of the
members of the Council claimed that this action of the committee was
without authority, as the appointment should have been made by the
Council itself and not by the committee of the Council. This claim
was, no doubt, well founded, and the action of the committee may have
been a stretch of its authority, but their great anxiety to have these
gentlemen released from prison and have them restored to their
families and friends, was a sufficient explanation and apology, if
such had been needed, for their action, independent of the Council.
And furthermore, the propriety of, and authority for, this action of
the committee may be explained, if not justified, by the fact that one
of the committeemen was the Mayor and executive officer of the town
and the other one was a leading member of the Common Council.
But be that as it may, Mr. Rowe proceeded to Washington, and on his
return, on the 20th of June, made a report of his visit to the
Council, stating that he was well received by the Federal authorities
and was assured by the Secretary of War that the exchange could be
effected. Mr. Rowe further stated that the proposition made by the
Secretary of War was that the Federal prisoners should be released and
placed in his care, and he be permitted to take them through their
lines with the assurance that the citizen prisoners would be turned
over to him. Mr. Rowe concluded his report as follows:[36]
"This proposition, it seems to me, obviates all difficulties of
misconstruction, and I will undertake the delivery and receipt of the
prisoners at Alexandria. It is proper to state that in 1862, I
undertook and executed, a similar Commission of exchange of citizens
Captured, with success, and thorough satisfaction to our
Government,[37] and I am sure with its assent and coöperation as
proposed, I will now reap a similar result."
Upon the reception of this report by the Council Mayor Slaughter and Mr.
Rowe were appointed a commission to visit Richmond and secure the release
of the Federal prisoners, and, when so released, the commission was
authorized to do what might be necessary to effect the final exchange. On
their arrival in Richmond they called on the Confederate authorities and
stated the terms of agreement, and through their solicitation the
following order was issued by Colonel Robert Ould, the Confederate
commissioner of exchange of prisoners:
"RICHMOND, VA., June 23rd, 1864.
_Brigadier General M. M. Gardner_--SIR: I will thank you to deliver to
M. Slaughter, Mayor of Fredericksburg, fifty-six Federal Soldiers
(privates) who are to be exchanged for an equal number of our people,
captured in Fredericksburg. I will thank you also to furnish M.
Slaughter the necessary guard, &c., for their transportation to
Fredericksburg. Please send two or three surgeons with the party.
Resp'y yr Obt. Sert.,
R. OULD, Agt."
The issuance of this order, with the previous assurance of the Federal
authorities, encouraged and rejoiced the hearts of all interested parties.
The mourning changed to rejoicing, and nothing now remained to complete
the joy but the presence of the loved ones, who yet lingered in prison. An
order was at once issued by the Common Council authorizing Mr. Slaughter
and Mr. Rowe to procure all the necessary transportation and make proper
arrangements for the exchange and effect the release of the imprisoned
citizens as speedily as possible. From the final report, made on the
subject, it appears that the whole matter of making the exchange of
prisoners was turned over to Mr. Rowe. On his return from Washington he
reported the transactions in full to the Council, on the 8th of July, in
the following words:[38]
"I have the honor to report that I reached the military lines of the
United States in safety with the fifty-six prisoners of war and four
civil officers of the so-called State of West Virginia, committed to
my charge by the corporation authorities, to be exchanged for the
captive citizens of Fredericksburg. After some difficulty in obtaining
personal access to the authorities at Washington, and several days'
discussion there, I succeeded in closing a negotiation that the
Federal prisoners delivered by me should be released from their
paroles simultaneously with the delivery of fifty-three captive
citizens of Fredericksburg, and seven Confederate prisoners of war, on
board of a flag of truce steamer, with transportation to Split Rock,
on the Potomac river.
"In execution of this obligation the Federal authorities delivered to
me, on board the Steamer Weycomoke, whence they were landed at Split
Rock on yesterday, forty-nine citizens and two prisoners of war,
according to the roll which accompanies this report, marked A.[39] The
four citizens and five prisoners of war still due, I have solid
assurances will be forwarded by the same route at an early day."
At the conclusion of Mr. Rowe's report, on motion made by Mr. John
James Young, the Council unanimously adopted the following resolution:
"That the thanks of this body be tendered to Mr. Rowe for the
energetic and efficient manner in which he has effected the exchange
of Federal prisoners for our captive citizens."
Having been set at liberty at Split Rock, on the banks of the Potomac
river, the march to Fredericksburg was soon commenced. Some few of the
party, and especially the sick, were fortunate enough to have carriages
sent for them, some got seats in wagons, but a large majority of them made
the journey on foot, and were delighted at the privilege of doing so. The
distance is about twelve miles. It is unnecessary to attempt (for we could
not if we did) to describe the scene upon the arrival of these unfortunate
ones to their homes and families. It is sufficient to say they reached
home in safety amidst the shouts of welcome and the rejoicing of the
inhabitants of the town, the returned prisoners joining in the refrain,
bearing testimony to the truth of Payne's declaration, "There's no place
like home."
The small batch of wounded and straggling Federal soldiers, who were
arrested by the citizens on the 8th of May, was followed next day and the
succeeding days, until there were in the different improvised hospitals in
town about fifteen thousand sick and wounded soldiers. They were attended
by a large body of surgeons and assistants of every kind, including
nurses. The native population of the town at this time was small, and
consisted entirely of women, children and elderly men. Even the colored
population had become very much reduced.
The sudden increase of the population by the advent of this large number
of sick and wounded soldiers, and their numerous attendants, caused great
suffering and distress, and during this occupation by the wounded, the
suffering, disease and sorrow endured by the people of Fredericksburg were
greater than any that had previously visited them. But notwithstanding
this, and notwithstanding the harsh and cruel treatment they received at
the hands of General Pope and his subordinates, truth demands the record
and admission that these scenes of horror were greatly mitigated by many
acts of courtesy and considerate aid on the part of the Federal officers
stationed here, which even now are kindly remembered and spoken of by many
of our citizens who were participants in the scenes referred to above.