Charlotte, N. C.—We
barely escaped with the skin of our teeth! The flight from Richmond was even
more hasty and exciting than the exodus from Columbia, only I am not equal to
writing about it. Congressman F—— accompanied us and other friends. I fear it
is all up with the Confederacy, and with me also. I am ill; I have fever—typhoid.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 284
As it grew daylight
we arrived at Greenboro, N. C., a pleasant place, appropriately named, I judge,
for the beauty of the scene cheered and made me forget I was not on a pleasure
trip. The village is full of green trees and flower gardens, splendidly located
in a slightly undulating, but not hilly region. Away to the west the Blue Ridge
appeared like a panorama. We stopped near a large, thickly wooded park charming
as the original forest. The wide streets, rows of green trees glistening with
dew as the sun shone on them, the morning songs of birds, and the people on the
street and those that came to look at us as though we were a caravan of strange
animals again made us think of lost liberty. The people appeared anxious to
talk but were prevented. The soldiers said a strong Union feeling existed. I
judge they are tolerable compromisers. We left Greenboro at 8 p. m.; while
there I traded by hat cord for three biscuits with a Rebel soldier going to the
front. Thompson and I call it breakfast. From here to Salisbury we halted at
three stations; the people appeared kindly disposed, mannerly, our folks like.
At one station a citizen gave the boys a few cakes. I find human nature is the
same everywhere. Men may differ widely in opinion, still they are alike. Today
we can forgive or embrace what yesterday we fought. Whoever we meet and
wherever we meet them, we see something of ourselves reflected. This is
consoling in circumstances like these; so if we love ourselves we must love our
enemies. Man is a curious compound of many animate beings with an additional
quality higher and better.
"His nature none can o'errate, and none
Can under rate his merit."
At Salisbury we
stopped two hours. Men and women came out to talk but were not freely allowed.
One family inquired for Pennsylvanians, stated that they formerly lived in that
State, and sent two little negro girls to bring us water, but were finally
forbidden intercourse. Here is a prison where many Union officers and Union
citizens and newspaper correspondents are confined. At 6:30 p. m. we reach
Charlotte, 93 miles south of Greenboro and were marched a mile and camped.
After dark we drew a day's ration of hard bread and bacon; had had nothing for
36 hours.
SOURCE: John Worrell
Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville
and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, p. 50-1
(Waiting at the
depot). Going as usual to the department this morning, I found orders had been
issued for our immediate removal to Richmond. Barely had I time to run home,
dash a few more articles into my trunk, say good-bye, and join the others here.
We girls are all together—Elise, Ernestine, Sadie, Bet, and myself. We have
been seated in the train for hours and hours. Oh! this long waiting; it is
weary work! A reign of terror prevails in the city, and the scene about me will
ever live in memory. Government employees are hastening to and fro, military
stores are being packed, troops in motion, aids-de-camp flying hither and
thither, and anxious fugitives crowding about the train, begging for
transportation. All kinds of rumors are afloat, every newcomer bringing a new
version. The latest is that Hardee has refused to evacuate Charleston, and will
not combine forces with Hampton in order to save the capital. I am strangely
laden; I feel weighted down. Six gold watches are secreted about my person, and
more miscellaneous articles of jewelry than would fill a small jewelry shop—pins,
rings, bracelets, etc. One of my trunks is packed with valuables and another
with provisions. Shelling has begun from the Lexington heights, and under such
conditions this waiting at the depot has a degree of nervousness mixed with
impatience. We catch, now and again, peculiar whizzing sounds—shells, they say.
Sherman has come; he is knocking at the gate. Oh, God! turn him back! Fight on
our side, and turn Sherman back!
Charlotte, N. C.—We
stopped in Winnsboro awhile, but at last came on here. That was a sad, sad
parting! Shall I ever look into their dear faces again—my father and mother,
and poor little Johnnie, wrested by the exigencies of war from his mother's
knee? People who have never been through a war don't know anything about war.
May I never pass through another. Why will men fight? Especially brothers? Why
cannot they adjust their differences and redress their wrongs without the
shedding of woman's tears and the spilling of each other's blood?
But I dare not
write, nor even think much on this strain. My old friend J. B. L. is along. He
is very kind. Think of his lifting our heavy trunks into the baggage car with
his own hands! Otherwise they would be sitting on the railroad platform in
Columbia yet. Say what you please, it is, after all, the men whom we women have
to depend on in this world. J. B. L's. friend, whom he asked permission to
present to us, is a graduate of the Medical College of New York, a young
Hippocrates of profoundly scientific attainments. Nor is that all—he is
possessed of all that ease of manner and well-bred poise for which the F. F.
V.'s are noted.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 275-6
The people of
Charlotte received us with unbounded kindness, and are treating us with royal
hospitality. They met us in their carriages and, although utter strangers,
conducted us, as honored guests, to their beautiful homes. How is that for
Confederate Treasury girls? Bet has gone to General Young's, but the others of
us have fallen to the lot of Mr. Davidson, and a very enviable lot it is for
us, in a home so well ordered and abounding in plenty. I do not know how long
we shall be here. Mr. Duncan, who has charge of our division, says until
transportation can be secured. Tonight some troops were passing through the
city, and I could hear in the far, faint distance, a band playing
"Dixie" and "Old Folks at Home." It made me cry, the sound
was so sweet, so mournful, so heart-breaking. How fare my old folks at home?
Are there any old folks left at my home? Maybe not! Alas! we can hear nothing
definite!
SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 276
Greensboro, N. C. — We
positively hated to leave Charlotte, so many friends did we make there.
Howbeit, a Treasury signer, like a good soldier, must obey orders. At this place,
we are not half so pleasantly situated, being all crowded together in one small
room. But we are in no mood to cavil; our soldiers fare worse. We begin to
realize, as we never before have done, their hardships, and the thankfulness
which ought to fill the heart of each one whose head is roof-covered. Daily
blessings are not mere matters of course. We are too apt to think so until
times like these come our way. General John S. Preston has just been in to see
us. He is a grand looking man—not only that, he has the look of being somebody
in particular, which he is. He could tell us nothing on the subject nearest our
hearts—the fate of Columbia. But he fears the worst.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 276-7
