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Reminiscences of Peace and War
Reminiscences of Peace and War
BY MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR AUTHOR OF "THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON AND HER TIMES" REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1904, 1905, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1904. Reprinted December, 1904; March, 1905. New edition, with additions, September, 1905; April, 1908. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE MEMORY OF My Son WILLIAM RICE PRYO
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Preface
Preface
It will be obvious to the reader that this book affects neither the "dignity of history" nor the authority of political instruction. The causes which precipitated the conflict between the sections and the momentous events which attended the struggle have been recounted by writers competent to the task. But descriptions of battles and civil convulsions do not exhibit the full condition of the South in the crisis. To complete the picture, social characteristics and incidents of private life are in
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CHAPTER I WASHINGTON IN THE FIFTIES
CHAPTER I WASHINGTON IN THE FIFTIES
All these were little things; but do not pleasant trifles make the sum of pleasant hours? Washington was like a great village in those days of President Pierce and President Buchanan. To obtain the best of the few articles to be purchased was an achievement. My own pride in the Federal City was such that my heart would swell within me at every glimpse of the Capitol: from the moment it rose like a white cloud above the smoke and mists, as I stood on the deck of the steamboat (having run up from
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CHAPTER II PRESIDENT PIERCE'S INAUGURATION
CHAPTER II PRESIDENT PIERCE'S INAUGURATION
On the 4th of March, 1853, Franklin Pierce was inaugurated President of the United States. This was an exciting day for me. My husband had written articles for a Virginia paper which had won for him a place on the editorial staff of the Washington Union , and was now in a position to break a lance with my friends, Messrs. Gales and Seaton. Mr. Pierce had liked his articles in the Union , and sought his acquaintance. A friendship rapidly followed which was a happiness to us both. So when some mem
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CHAPTER III ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT BUCHANAN
CHAPTER III ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT BUCHANAN
Two days after Mr. Buchanan's inauguration, the nominations for the Cabinet were sent to the Senate. The venerable Lewis Cass, with many years of honorable service behind him, was Secretary of State,—selected, the "Old-Line Whigs" said, because the President meant really to be Secretary of State himself, and he wished an amiable first assistant. Moreover, he liked to say "old Lewis Cass," as though he were himself so much younger. Hon. Howell Cobb of Georgia had the Treasury Department. He was a
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CHAPTER IV SOCIAL LIFE DURING BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER IV SOCIAL LIFE DURING BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION
We attended Dr. Gurley's church and found that the President also had taken a seat in that church. Our own was near the door, and for many Sundays before I knew him, I was interested in seeing him enter the church and walk briskly up to his pew near the pulpit (while the bell was ringing), buttoned in his broadcloth coat, wearing no overcoat in the coldest weather. Immediately after the benediction he would walk rapidly down the aisle, the congregation standing until he passed. Miss Lane attende
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CHAPTER V GAY SOCIAL LIFE IN WASHINGTON
CHAPTER V GAY SOCIAL LIFE IN WASHINGTON
The rolls of the Supreme Court, Senate, and House of Representatives presented a list of great names in 1854-1860. It would seem that our country, knowing herself to be in mortal danger, had summoned the wisest of her sons for conference and council: Rufus Choate, Curtis, Seward, Douglas, Jefferson Davis, Salmon Chase, Sumner, Hale, Toombs, Hunter, Robert J. Walker, and the brilliant men of the lower House; all these were present at the great consultation. Of these men the most interesting, pict
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CHAPTER VI CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL LIFE IN 1858—LEADERS IN SOCIETY
CHAPTER VI CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL LIFE IN 1858—LEADERS IN SOCIETY
There were many brilliant and beautiful women who escaped the notice of the society newsmonger of the day. Mrs. Cyrus McCormick, recently married to the inventor of the great reaping machine, was one of these. Mr. McCormick, then a young man, was destined to be decorated by many European governments and to achieve a great fortune. His wife, just out of Miss Emma Willard's school, was very beautiful, very gentle, and winning. No sheaves garnered by her husband's famous reaper can compare with the
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CHAPTER VII THE THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS
CHAPTER VII THE THIRTY-SIXTH CONGRESS
When the famous Thirty-sixth Congress met for its long session, December 5, 1859, the whole country was in ferment over the execution of John Brown. "An indiscreet move in any direction," wrote ex-President Tyler from his plantation, "may produce results deeply to be deplored. I fear the debates in Congress, and above all the Speaker's election. If excitement prevails in Congress, it will add fuel to the flame which already burns so terrifically." [5] He, and all patriots, might well have been a
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CHAPTER VIII MEMORABLE DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY
CHAPTER VIII MEMORABLE DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY
A momentous day in the history of this country was November 6, 1860—on that day the extreme party of the North elected its candidate, with a Vice-President, making the Executive purely sectional. But few people expected the fulfilment of the evils so insistently threatened as a consequence of this election. Not for one moment had we seriously entertained the thought of secession. The question of slavery in the territories was still unsettled, and the stormy scenes in the House might possibly be
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CHAPTER IX RAPID PROGRESS OF EVENTS AT THE SOUTH
CHAPTER IX RAPID PROGRESS OF EVENTS AT THE SOUTH
When it was disclosed that a majority of the Virginia Convention opposed taking the state out of the Union, the secessionists became greatly alarmed; for they knew that without the border states, of which Virginia was the leader, the cotton states would be speedily crushed. They were positively certain, however, that, in the event of actual hostilities, Virginia would unite with her Southern associates. Accordingly, it was determined to bring a popular pressure to bear upon the government at Mon
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CHAPTER X VIRGINIA AGAIN THE BATTLE-GROUND
CHAPTER X VIRGINIA AGAIN THE BATTLE-GROUND
The day came at last when our regiments were to march. They were to rendezvous at the head of Sycamore Street, and march down to the lower depot. Every old man and boy, matron, maiden, and child, every family servant, assembled to bid them God-speed. The reigning belles and beauties of Petersburg were all there,—Alice Gregory, Tabb Bolling, Molly and Augusta Banister, Patty Hardee, Mary and Marion Meade, pretty Helen, and my own friend Agnes. "We are not to cry, you know," said Agnes, laying dow
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CHAPTER XI LIFE AT THE OAKS
CHAPTER XI LIFE AT THE OAKS
The month of July, 1861, found me with my little boys at "The Oaks"—the residence of Dr. Izard Bacon Rice, in Charlotte County, seventy miles from Richmond, and miles away from the nearest railroad depot. There I might have enjoyed a peaceful summer with my kind host—a fine type of a Christian gentleman, sometime an Old-Line Whig and fierce Union man, now an ardent advocate of states' rights, and a stanch supporter of the New Confederacy. I might—as I had often done before—have revelled in the f
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CHAPTER XII BULL RUN AND FAIR OAKS
CHAPTER XII BULL RUN AND FAIR OAKS
We had small faith in my uncle's wireless telegraphy, but in a short time we had confirmation of his news. Then came the details of the first great battle of the war. "Glorious news!" everybody said. A glorious triumph for the South,—an utter rout of the enemy; but my heart sank within me at the tale of blood. How about those boys I had seen march away? What would life hold for some of the wives and mothers and sweethearts at home? What was glory to the gallant Colonel Bartow, lying in state at
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CHAPTER XIII THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES
CHAPTER XIII THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES
The intense heat of June 26th has been noted in many of the diaries and records of the day. I remember it because I had feared its unfavorable effect upon my husband, not yet discharged by his physicians, and now lying weak and listless upon his bed at the Spotswood Hotel in Richmond. I was reading aloud to him the news in the morning papers, fanning him the while, when a peremptory knock at the door sent me to my feet. An ominous-looking note was handed in to "Brigadier-General Pryor." Upon rea
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CHAPTER XIV THE WINTER OF 1861
CHAPTER XIV THE WINTER OF 1861
The privilege of nursing in the hospital had been bought at a dear price, for it was decided positively that I was to surrender, for the present, my dream of following the army. I was remanded to the mountains, and at Charlottesville I had news of the events that rapidly followed the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond. McClellan had been relieved of his command, and the defenceless women and children of Northern Virginia were handed over to the tender mercies of General Pope. McClellan wrote, A
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CHAPTER XV GUARDING THE BLACKWATER
CHAPTER XV GUARDING THE BLACKWATER
General Pryor's brigade had been composed of regiments from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. Congress having recommended that regiments should be enlisted under officers from their own states,—in order to remedy, if possible, the disinclination to reënlist for the war,—there was a general upheaval and change throughout the entire army during the autumn of 1862. On the 10th of November General Pryor was ordered to report for duty to Major-General G. W. Smith, commandin
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CHAPTER XVI VICISSITUDES OF THE WAR
CHAPTER XVI VICISSITUDES OF THE WAR
My friend Agnes could soon record graver things than idleness or gossip. On April 4, 1863, she wrote from Richmond:— " My Dear : I hope you appreciate the fact that you are herewith honored with a letter written in royal-red ink upon sumptuous gilt-edged paper. There is not, at the present writing, one inch of paper for sale in the capital of the Confederacy, at all within the humble means of the wife of a Confederate officer. Well is it for her—and I hope for you—that her youthful admirers were
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CHAPTER XVII A HOMELESS WANDERER
CHAPTER XVII A HOMELESS WANDERER
Having no longer a home of my own, it was decided that I should go to my people in Charlotte County. One of my sons, Theo, and two of my little daughters were already there, and there I expected to remain until the end of the war. But repeated attempts to reach my country home resulted in failure. Marauding parties and guerillas were flying all over the country. There had been alarm at a bridge over the Staunton near the Oaks, and the old men and boys had driven away the enemy. I positively coul
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CHAPTER XVIII THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG
CHAPTER XVIII THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG
June 9 will always be a sacred day to the citizens of Petersburg. Every man capable of bearing arms had enlisted early in the service of the Southern Confederacy. They felt that much was expected of them. Petersburg had behaved gallantly in 1776, and had been the "Cockade City" in 1812. For the first three years of the war, as we have seen, no gun was fired near her gates. Only old men, women, and children were left in the town. The maidens bore their denied lives with cheerfulness, sustained an
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CHAPTER XIX BEHIND LEE'S LINES
CHAPTER XIX BEHIND LEE'S LINES
The month of August in the besieged city passed like a dream of terror. The weather was intensely hot and dry, varied by storms of thunder and lightning—when the very heavens seemed in league with the thunderbolts of the enemy. Our region was not shelled continuously. One shot from "our own gun," as we learned to call it, would be fired as if to let us know our places; this challenge would be answered from one of our batteries, and the two would thunder away for five or six hours. We always soug
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CHAPTER XX ARRIVING AT EXTREMITIES
CHAPTER XX ARRIVING AT EXTREMITIES
My husband's duties kept him from home several days at a time during the early autumn, but now that the lines were drawn so closely together, he could usually return to us after reporting to General Lee at night. I had ceased to feel anxious when he rode away in the morning on his gray horse, Jubal Early. Jubal had brought him safely through many a difficulty. Once he found himself suddenly confronted by a small company of Federals aligned for drill. He saluted, as if he were an officer on inspe
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CHAPTER XXI A WINTER OF WANT
CHAPTER XXI A WINTER OF WANT
I resolved to give my family a Christmas dinner. John invented a method of making a perfectly satisfactory pie out of sorghum molasses, thickened with a little flour, mixed with walnut meats, and baked in a "raised" crust. He prepared a number of these. I bought a piece of corned beef for fifty dollars. This was boiled with peas. But just as we were about to gather around the table, we saw a forlorn company of soldiers passing the door. They had gone out on some raid a week before. The snow was
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CHAPTER XXII THE EVACUATION OF PETERSBURG
CHAPTER XXII THE EVACUATION OF PETERSBURG
The happy day was not distant when the husband and father of our little family was to be restored to his own home and his own people. I never inquired the source from which John drew his materials for a festival; but, a day or two before my husband was to arrive, he appeared with a small duck! This he roasted to perfection, to be served cold, as the hour for the dinner could not be determined in advance. We were all expectation and excitement when a lady drove up rapidly and asked for shelter, a
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CHAPTER XXIII RICHMOND SURRENDERS
CHAPTER XXIII RICHMOND SURRENDERS
" Richmond , April 5, 1865. " My dear: —I am not at all sure you will ever receive this letter, but I shall risk it. First , I join you in humble thanks to God for the great mercy accorded both of us. Your General lives. My Colonel lives. What words can express our gratitude? What is the loss of home and goods compared with the loss of our own flesh and blood? Alas! Alas! for those who have lost all! "I am sure you will have heard the grewsome story of Richmond's evacuation. I was at St. Paul's
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CHAPTER XXIV SHERIDAN'S OCCUPATION OF PETERSBURG
CHAPTER XXIV SHERIDAN'S OCCUPATION OF PETERSBURG
Such alarming rumors reached us from the neighboring counties, of marauding parties plundering private houses and frightening defenceless women, that my husband obtained an extension of his parole, and permission to visit his sisters in Nottoway County. He had not heard from his father since the fight at Cottage Farm. Leaving me in the care of my neighbor, good Mr. Bishop, he set forth. The first stirring event of our new position was the arrival of prisoners, marched through the streets under a
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CHAPTER XXV WOE TO THE VANQUISHED!
CHAPTER XXV WOE TO THE VANQUISHED!
Immediately after General Lee's surrender, the United States Circuit Court held a session at Norfolk, Virginia, and made haste to indict for treason Robert E. Lee, John C. Breckenridge, Roger A. Pryor, and others. These men thereafter were not to feel any sense of personal security. A cloud of doubt and possible disaster still hung over them. Under this cloud they were to commence their lives anew. Every one who has suffered an overwhelming misfortune must be conscious of a strange deadening of
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CHAPTER XXVI STARTING LIFE ANEW
CHAPTER XXVI STARTING LIFE ANEW
We suffered terribly during the ensuing months for want of something in which we might occupy ourselves. We sat silently, looking out on a landscape marked here and there by chimneys standing sentinel over the blackened heaps where our neighbors had made happy homes. A few books had been saved, only those for which we had little use. A soldier walked in one day with a handsome volume which Jefferson Davis, after inscribing his name in it, had presented to the General. The soldier calmly requeste
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CHAPTER XXVII THE FIRST "DECORATION DAY"
CHAPTER XXVII THE FIRST "DECORATION DAY"
It was in May of this year 1866 that we inaugurated, in Petersburg, the custom, now universal, of decorating the graves of those who fell in the Civil War. Our intention was simply to lay a token of our gratitude and affection upon the graves of the brave citizens who fell June 9, 1864, in defence of Petersburg, and upon the graves of her sons who perished in the assault upon Fort Steadman. These were buried in the cemetery of the old Blandford Church, then a roofless, ivy-clad ruin. The church
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CHAPTER XXVIII VIRGINIA IN THE EARLY DAYS OF PEACE
CHAPTER XXVIII VIRGINIA IN THE EARLY DAYS OF PEACE
The result of the war was to leave the state of Virginia prostrate. It seemed it would require generations for the commonwealth to recover from the effects of the strife upon her own soil, the paralysis of the merchant and the farmer, and the consequent starvation of the people. And yet the people refused to repine. They accepted their lot with patience, fortitude, and dignity. Whatever they may have felt, they forbore to give expression to indignation or to nurse old grudges. Northern men who v
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