Considerable amusement has been furnished us on the flotilla by an old copy of the Richmond (Va.) Examiner, containing an editorial on John B. Floyd, in which he is mentioned as “the hero of thirty battles.” I never knew a Richmond paper to be wittingly guilty of a joke of any sort; but that appellation applied to the notorious fugacious thief must certainly have been intended as a jest. Floyd – who not only never had any martial success, but ran away from a fight whenever he had an opportunity – the “hero of thirty battles!” Is not this exceedingly droll?
Speaking of Floyd reminds me of what a gentleman from Memphis, now on his way there, told me of the unprincipled ex-Secretary’s reputation in the vicinity where he lived for a number of years. My informant was traveling to Lynchburg, Va., and discovered that Floyd was on the cars. After arriving at the hotel, he found that the “distinguished son of the South,” as the Rebel journals have dubbed him, was also stopping there, and he noticed during the day, that all the persons who called on or conversed with him were of the most unprepossessing appearance, and disgustingly coarse and profane in speech. The Gentlemen remarked to the proprietor of the hotel, the singularity of Floyd’s associations, and wondered that so important a personage should not attract a better class.
The reason is, Sir,” replied the landlord, “that Floyd is known here. He lived in Lynchburg a number of years, and a greater scoundrel never escaped the penitentiary, where he ought to have been long ago. There are hundreds of men in the Richmond Prison who are honest compared with Floyd. Everybody despises him in this city and county. He never had a transaction with any one, whom he did cheat or attempt to cheat.
“He is an infamous liar and villain, and never was anything else. He could not obtain credit for five dollars unless he would leave his watch as a pledge; and if he did that, I would believe the watch stolen. He has swindled hundreds of people in this town, and he will do more injury to our cause – I am a strong advocate of Southern Rights – than a dozen of our best men will do it good. Confound him, I hope the Yankees will catch him and hang him; for he deserves it.”
On further inquiry, the Memphis merchant learned that the opinion of the hotel-proprietor had expressed of Floyd was general, and that he was as much despised as a pickpocket or a thimble-rigger. Floyd himself looked quite venerable, but looked care-worn and prematurely old, with a stoop in his shoulders (as if he had been trying to carry a small portion of what he had stolen on his back) and a very unprepossessing manner. He was generally quiet in manner and reticent; corroborating the idea that great scoundrels are usually silent, for fear of exposing their principles or misdeeds.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 10, 1862, p. 2
Speaking of Floyd reminds me of what a gentleman from Memphis, now on his way there, told me of the unprincipled ex-Secretary’s reputation in the vicinity where he lived for a number of years. My informant was traveling to Lynchburg, Va., and discovered that Floyd was on the cars. After arriving at the hotel, he found that the “distinguished son of the South,” as the Rebel journals have dubbed him, was also stopping there, and he noticed during the day, that all the persons who called on or conversed with him were of the most unprepossessing appearance, and disgustingly coarse and profane in speech. The Gentlemen remarked to the proprietor of the hotel, the singularity of Floyd’s associations, and wondered that so important a personage should not attract a better class.
The reason is, Sir,” replied the landlord, “that Floyd is known here. He lived in Lynchburg a number of years, and a greater scoundrel never escaped the penitentiary, where he ought to have been long ago. There are hundreds of men in the Richmond Prison who are honest compared with Floyd. Everybody despises him in this city and county. He never had a transaction with any one, whom he did cheat or attempt to cheat.
“He is an infamous liar and villain, and never was anything else. He could not obtain credit for five dollars unless he would leave his watch as a pledge; and if he did that, I would believe the watch stolen. He has swindled hundreds of people in this town, and he will do more injury to our cause – I am a strong advocate of Southern Rights – than a dozen of our best men will do it good. Confound him, I hope the Yankees will catch him and hang him; for he deserves it.”
On further inquiry, the Memphis merchant learned that the opinion of the hotel-proprietor had expressed of Floyd was general, and that he was as much despised as a pickpocket or a thimble-rigger. Floyd himself looked quite venerable, but looked care-worn and prematurely old, with a stoop in his shoulders (as if he had been trying to carry a small portion of what he had stolen on his back) and a very unprepossessing manner. He was generally quiet in manner and reticent; corroborating the idea that great scoundrels are usually silent, for fear of exposing their principles or misdeeds.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 10, 1862, p. 2
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