CAMPAIGNING WITH GENERAL POPE.
The court-house village of Fauquier County contained a population of
twelve or fifteen hundred at the commencement of the war. Its people
embraced the revolutionary cause at the outstart, and furnished some
companies of foot to the Confederate service, as well as a mounted
company known as the "Black Horse Cavalry." The guns of Bull Run were
heard here on the day of battle, and hundreds of the wounded came into
town at nightfall. Thenceforward Warrenton became prominently identified
with the struggle, and the churches and public buildings were transmuted
to hospitals. After the Confederates retired from Manassas Junction, the
vicinity of Warrenton was a sort of neutral ground. At one time the
Southern cavalry would ride through the main street, and next day a body
of mounted Federals would pounce upon the town, the inhabitants,
meanwhile, being apprehensive of a sabre combat in the heart of the
place. Some people were ruined by the war; some made fortunes. The Mayor
of the village was named Bragg, and he was a trader in horses, as well
as a wagon-builder. There were two taverns, denominated respectively,
the "Warrenton Inn," and the "Warren Green Hotel." I obtained a room at
the former. A young man named Dashiell kept it. He was a
fair-complexioned, clever, high-strung Virginian, and managed to obtain
a great deal of paper money from both republics. It is an encomium in
America, to say that a man "Can keep a hotel," but what shall be said of
the man who can keep a hotel in war-time? I observed young Dashiell's
movements from day to day, and I am satisfied that his popularity arose
from his fairness and frankness. He charged nine dollars a week for
room, and "board," of three meals, but could, with difficulty, obtain
meat and vegetables for the table. His mother and his brother-in-law
lived in the house. The latter was a son of Mayor Bragg, and had been
twice in the Confederate service. He was engaged both at Bull Run and at
Fairfax Court House, and made no secret of his activity at either place.
But he was treated considerately, though he vaunted intolerably. The
"Inn" was a frame dwelling, with a first floor of stone, surrounded by a
double portico. The first room (entering from the street) was the
office, consisting of a bare floor, some creaking benches, some chairs
with whittled and broken arms, a high desk, where accounts were kept, a
row of bells, numbered, communicating with the rooms. Hand-bills were
pinned to the walls, announcing that William Higgins was paying good
prices for "likely" field hands, that Timothy Ingersoll's stock of dry
goods was the finest in Piedmont, that James Mason's mulatto woman,
named Rachel, had decamped on the night of Whitsuntide, and that one
hundred dollars would be paid by the subscriber for her return. Most of
these bills were out of date, but some recent ones were exhibited to me
calling for volunteers, labelled, "Ho! for winter-quarters in
Washington;" "Sons of the South arise!"--"Liberty, glory, and no
Yankeedom!" A bellcord hung against the "office" door, communicating
with the stables, where a deaf hostler might _not_ be rung up. In the
back yard, suspended from a beam, and upright, hung a large bell, which
called the boarders to meals. It commonly rung thrice, and I was told on
inquiry, by the cook--
"De fust bell, sah, is to prepah to prepah for de table; dat bell, when
de fust cook don't miss it, is rung one hour befo' mealtime. De second
bell, sah, is to _prepah_ for de table; de last bell, to _come_ to de
table."
I should have been better pleased with the ceremony, if the food had
been more cleanly, more wholesome, and more abundant. We used to clear
the plates in a twinkling, and if a person asked twice for beef, or
butter, he was stared at by the negroes, as if he had eaten an entire
cow. I soon brought the head-waiter to terms by promising him a dollar a
week for extra attendance, and could even get ice after a time, which
was a luxury. There was a bar upon the premises, which opened
stealthily, when there were liquors to be sold. Cider (called
champaigne) could be purchased for three dollars a bottle, and whiskey
came to hand occasionally. There were cigars in abundance, and I used to
sit on the upper porch of evenings, puffing long after midnight, and
watching the sentinels below.
There was some female society in Warrenton, but the blue-coats engrossed
it all. The young women were ardent partisans, but also very pretty; and
treason, somehow, heightened their beauty. Disloyalty is always
pardonable in a woman, and these ladies appreciated the fact. They
refused to walk under Federal flags, and stopped their ears when the
bands played national music; but every evening they walked through the
main street, arm in arm with dashing Lieutenants and Captains. Many
flirtations ensued, and a great deal of gossip was elicited. In the end,
some of the misses fell out among themselves, and hated each other more
than the common enemy. I overheard a young lady talking in a low tone
one evening, to a Captain in the Ninth New York regiment.
"If you knew my brother," she said, "I am sure you would not fire upon
_him_."
As there were plain, square, prim porches to all the dwellings, the
ladies commonly took positions therein of evenings, and a grand
promenade commenced of all the young Federals in the town. The streets
were pleasantly shaded, and a leafy coolness pervaded the days, though
sometimes, of afternoons, the still heat was almost stifling. A jaunt
after supper often took me far into the country, and the starlights were
softer than one's peaceful thoughts. To be a civilian was a
distinguished honor now, and I enjoyed the staring of the citizens, who
pondered as to my purposes and pursuits, as only villagers can do. There
is a quiet pleasure in being a strange person in a country town, and so
far from objecting to the inquisitiveness of the folk, I rather like it.
One may be passing for a young duke, or tourist, or clergyman, or what
not?
The Ninth New York (militia) regiment guarded Warrenton, and it was
composed of clever, polite young fellows, who had taken to volunteering
before there was any promise of war, and who turned out, pluckily, when
the strife began. Perhaps public sentiment or pride of organization
influenced them. They were all good-looking and tidy, and their
dress-parades, held in the main street, were handsome affairs. I have
never seen better disciplined columns, and the youthful faces of the
soldiers, with the staid locality of the exhibition,--young women,
negroes, dogs and babies, and old men looking on,--seemed to contradict
the bloody mission of the troops. The old men, referred to, were
villagers of such long standing that had the Court of Saint James, or
the Vatican, or the battle of Waterloo been moved into their country,
they would have still been villagers to the last. They met beside the
Warrenton Inn, under the shade of the trees, at eleven o'clock every
morning, and borrowed the New York papers of the latest date. One
individual, slightly bald, would read aloud, and the rest crouched or
stood about him, making grunts and remarks at intervals. They did not
wish to believe the Federal reports, but they must needs read, and as
most of them had sons in the other army, their pulses were constantly
tremulous with anxiety. I think that Pope's resolve to transport these
harmless old people beyond his lines was very barbarous, and the
soldiers denounced it in similar terms. They spoke of Pope, as of some
terrible despot, and wished to know when he was coming to town, as they
had appointed a committee, and drafted a petition, asking his
forbearance and charity. When these villagers found me out to be a
Newspaper Correspondent, they regarded me with amusing interest, and
marvelled what I would say of their town. A villager is very sensitive
as to his place of residence, and these good people read the----daily,
confounding me with all the paper,--editorial, correspondence, and, I
verily believe, advertisements. One of them wished me to board at his
residence, and I was, after a time, invited out to dinner and tea
frequently.
The negroes remained in Warrenton, in great numbers, and held carnival
of evenings when the bands played. "Contrabands" were coming daily into
town, and idleness and vice soon characterized the mass of them. They
were ignorant, degraded, animal beings, and many of them loved rum; it
was the last link that bound them to human kind. Servants could be hired
for four dollars a month and "keep;" but they were "shiftless" and
unprofitable. The Provost-Marshal of the place was a Captain
Hendrickson. His quarters were in the Court House building, and he kept
a zealous eye upon sutlers and citizens. The former trespassed in the
sales of liquors to soldiers, and the latter were accused of maintaining
a contraband mail, and of conspiring to commit divers offences. There
were a number of churches in the village, all of which served as
hospitals, and in the quiet cemetery west of the town, two hundred slain
soldiers were interred. A stake of white pine was driven at the head of
each grave. Here lay some of the men who had helped to change the
destinies of a continent. No public worship was held in the place. The
Sundays were busy as other days: trains came and went, teams made dust
in the streets, cavalry passed through the village, music arose from all
the outlying camps; parades and inspections were made, and all the
preparations for killing men were relentlessly forwarded. A pleasant
entertainment occurred one evening, when a plot of ground adjoining the
Warrenton Inn, was appropriated for a camp theatre. Candle footlights
were arranged, and the stage was canopied with national flags. The
citizens congregated, and the performers deferred to their prejudices by
singing no Federal songs. Tho negroes climbed the trees to listen, and
their gratified guffaws made the night quiver. The war lost half its
bitterness at such times; but I thought with a shudder of Stuart's
thundering horsemen, charging into the village, and closing the night's
mimicry with a horrible tragedy.
Some of the dwellings about the place were elegant and spacious, but
many of these were closed and the owners removed. Two newspapers had
been published here of old, and while ransacking the office of one of
them, I discovered that the type had been buried under the floor. The
planks were speedily torn away, and the cases dragged to light. I
obtained some curious relics, in the shape of "cuts" of recruiting
officers, runaway negroes, etc., as well as a column of a leader, in
type, describing the first battle of Bull Run. For two weeks I had
little to do, as the campaign had not yet fairly commenced, and I passed
many hours every day reading. A young lawyer, in the Confederate
service, had left an ample library behind him, and the books passed into
the hands of every invader in the town.
Pope finally arrived at Warrenton, and as the troops seemed to be
rapidly concentrating, I judged it expedient to procure a horse at once,
and canvassed the country with that object. By paying a quartermaster
the Government price ($130), I could select a steed from the pound, but
inspection satisfied me that a good saddle nag could not be obtained in
this way. After much parleying with Hebrews and chaffing with country
people, I heard that Mayor Bragg kept some fair animals, and when I
stated my purpose at his house, he commenced the business after a
fashion immemorial at the South, by producing some whiskey.
When Mayor Bragg had asked me pertinently, if I knew much about the
"pints of a hoss," and what "figger in the way of price" would suit me,
he told an erudite negro named "Jeems" to trot out the black colt. The
black colt made his appearance by vaulting over a gate, and playfully
shivering a panel of fence with his "off" hoof. Then he executed a
flourish with his tail, leaped thrice in the air, and bit savagely at
the man "Jeems."
When I asked Mayor Bragg if the black colt was sufficiently gentle to
stand fire, he replied that he was gentle as a lamb and offered to put
me astride him. I had no sooner taken my seat, however, than the black
colt backed, neighed, flourished, and stood erect, and finally ran away.
A second animal was produced, less mettlesome, but also black, finely
strung, daintily hoofed, and as Mayor Bragg said, "just turned four
year." The price of this charger was one hundred and ninety dollars; but
in consideration of my youth and pursuit, Mayor Bragg proposed to take
one hundred and seventy-five; we compromised upon a hundred and fifty
dollars, Major Bragg throwing in a halter, and by good luck I procured a
saddle the same evening, so that I rode triumphantly through the streets
of Warrenton, and fancied that all the citizens were admiring my new
purchase.
I was struck with the fact, that Mayor Bragg, though an ardent patriot,
would accept of neither Confederate nor Virginia money; he required
payment for his animal, in Father Chase's "greenbacks."
Mounted anew, I fell into my former active habits, and made two
journeys, to Sperryville and Little Washington, in one direction, to
Madison in another; each place was probably twenty miles distant; the
latter was merely a cavalry outpost, where Generals Hatch and Bayard
were stationed, and the former villages were the head-quarters,
respectively, of General Banks and General Siegel.
Madison was, at this time, a precarious place for a long tarrying. I
went to sleep in the inn on the night of my arrival, and at that time
the place was thronged with cavalry and artillery-men. Next morning,
when I aroused, not a blue-coat could be seen. They had fallen back in
the darkness, and prudently abstaining from breakfast, I galloped
northward, as if the whole Confederate army was at my heels. These old
turnpike roads were now marked by daily chases and rencontres. A few
Virginians, fleetly mounted, would provoke pursuit from a squad of
Federals, and the latter would be led into ambuscades. A quaint incident
happened in this manner, near Madison.
Captain T. was chasing a party of Confederates one afternoon, when his
company was suddenly fired upon from a wheatfield, parties rising up on
both sides of the road, and discharging carbines through the fence
rails. Three or four men, and as many horses were slain; but the
ambushing body was outnumbered, and several of its members killed. Among
others, a young lieutenant took deliberate aim at Captain T. at the
distance of twelve yards; and, seeing that he had missed, threw up his
carbine to surrender. The Captain had already drawn his revolver, and,
amazed at the murderous purpose, he shot the assassin in the head,
killing him instantly. Nobody blamed Captain T., but he was said to be a
humane person, and the affair preyed so continually upon his mind, that
he committed suicide one night in camp.
At Sperryville I saw and talked with Franz Siegel, the idol of the
German Americans. He had been a lieutenant in his native country, but
subsided, in St. Louis, to the rank of publican, keeping a beer saloon.
When the war commenced, he was appointed to a colonelcy, in deference to
the large German republican population of Missouri. His abilities were
speedily manifested in a series of engagements which redeemed the
Southern border, and he finally fought the terrible battle of Pea Ridge,
Arkansas, which broke the spirit of the Confederates west of the
Mississippi. The man who fought "mit Siegel" in those days, was always
told in St. Louis: "Py tam! you pays not'ing for your lager." Siegel
now commanded one of Pope's corps. He was a diminutive person, but
well-knit, emaciated by his active career, feverish and sanguine of
face, and, as it appeared to me, consuming with energy and ambition. As
a General he was prompt to decide and do, and his manner of dealing with
Confederate property was severer than that of any American. He battered
the splendid mansion hotel of White Sulphur Springs to the ground, for
example, when somebody discharged a rifle from its window. He preferred
to fight by retreating, and if pursued, generally unmasked his guns and
made massacre with the scattered opponents. Another German commander was
Blenker, whose corps of Germans might have belonged to the free bands of
the Black forest. They were the most lawless men in the Federal service,
and what they did not steal they destroyed. Such volunteers were
mercenaries, in every sense of the word. I have been told that they
slaughtered sheep and cattle in pure wantonness, and the rats of
Ehrenfels did not make a cleaner sweep of provisions. The Germans, as a
rule, lacked the dash of the Irish troops and the tact of the Americans.
They thought and fought in masses, had little individuality, and were
thick-skulled; but they were persevering and had their hearts in the
cause.
General Banks was a fine representative of the higher order of Yankee.
Originally a machinist in a small manufacturing town near Boston, he
educated himself, and was elected successively Legislator, Governor,
Congressman, and General of volunteers. His personal graces were
equalled by his energy, and his ability was considerable. He has been
very successful in the field, and has conducted a retreat unparalleled
in the war; these things being always reckoned among American successes.
The country hereabout was mountainous, healthy, and well adapted for
campaigning. Streams and springs were numerous, and there were fine
sites for camps. The deserted toll-houses along the way glowered
mournfully through the rent windows, and I fancied them, sometimes, as I
rode at night, haunted by the shambling tollman.
Ancient road that wind'st deserted,
Through the level of the vale,--
Sweeping toward the crowded market,
Like a stream without a sail,
Standing by thee, I look backward,
And, as in the light of dreams,
See the years descend and vanish,
Like thy tented wains and teams.--T. B. READ.
To provide myself with thorough equipment for Pope's campaign, I
returned to Washington, and purchased a patent camp-bed, which strapped
to my saddle, saddle bags of large capacity, India-rubber blankets, and
a full suit of waterproof cloth,--hat, coat, _genoullieres_, and
gauntlets. I had my horse newly shod, I drew upon my establishment for
an ample sum of money, and, to properly inaugurate the campaign, I gave
an entertainment in the parlor of the inn.
Pipes, cold ham, a keg of beer, and a demijohn of whiskey comprised the
attractions of the night. The guests were three Captains, two Adjutants,
two Majors, a Colonel, four Correspondents, several Lieutenants, and a
signal officer. There was some jesting, and much laughing, considerable
story-telling, and (toward the small hours) a great deal of singing.
Much heroism was evolved; all the guests were devoted to death and their
country; and there was one person who took off his coat to fight an
imaginary something, but changed his mind, and dropped asleep directly.
At length, a gallant Captain, to demonstrate his warlike propensities,
fired a pistol through the front window; and somebody blowing out the
candles, the whole party retired to rest upon the floor. In this
delightful way my third campaign commenced, and next evening I set off
for the advance.