Life in Dixie during the War Part 10

Why sings the swan its sweetest notes, When life is near its close?

Since writing the foregoing, I have had access to a journal kept during the war by my half sister, Missouri Stokes, in which are the following entries of historic value: "On the 11th of January, 1868, Arkansas Post, the fort where Thomie was stationed, fell into the hands of Yankees.

General Churchhill's whole command, numbering about four thousand, were captured, a few being killed and wounded. We knew that Thomie, if alive, must be a prisoner, but could hear no tidings from him. Our suspense continued until the latter part of March, when ma received a letter from our loved one, written at Camp Chase (military prison), Ohio, February 10th. This letter she forwarded to me, and I received it March 21st, with heart-felt emotions of grat.i.tude to Him who had preserved his life. A few weeks afterwards another letter came, saying he expected to be exchanged in a few days, and then for several weeks we heard no more."

From this journal I learn that the date of Thomie's arrival was May 16th, 1863. My sister wrote of him: "He seemed much changed, although only four years and a half had elapsed since we parted. He looked older, thinner, and more careworn, and gray hairs are sprinkled among his dark brown curls. His health had been poor in the army, and then, when he left Camp Chase, he, as well as the other prisoners, was stripped by the Yankees of nearly all his warm clothing. He left the prison in April, and was exchanged at City Point. How strange the dealings of Providence. Truly was he led by a way he knew not. He went out to Texas by way of the West, and returned home from the East. G.o.d be thanked for preserving his life, when so many of his comrades have died. He is a miracle of mercy. After their capture, they were put on boats from which Yankee small-pox patients had been taken. Some died of small-pox, but Thomie has had varioloid and so escaped. He was crowded on a boat with twenty-two hundred, and scarcely had standing room. Many died on the pa.s.sage up the river, one poor fellow with his head in Thomie's lap. May he never go through similar scenes again!"

From this same journal I take the following, written after Missouri's return to the school she was teaching in Bartow county:

"Sabbath morning, June 14th. Went to Cartersville to church. Some time elapsed before preaching commenced. A soldier came in, sat down rather behind me, then, rising, approached me. _It was Thomie._ I soon found (for we did talk in church) that he had an order to join Kirby Smith, with a recommendation from Bragg that he be allowed to recruit for his regiment.

Fortunately there was a vacant seat in the carriage, so he went out home with us. Monday 15th, Thomie left. I rode with him a little beyond the school-house, then took my books and basket, and with one kiss, and, on my part, a tearful good-bye, we parted. As I walked slowly back, I felt so lonely. He had been with me just long enough for me to realize a brother's kind protection, and now he's torn away, and I'm again alone. I turned and looked. He was driving slowly along--he turned a corner and was hidden from my view. Shall I see him no more? Or shall we meet again? G.o.d only knows. After a fit of weeping, and one earnest prayer for him, I turned my steps to my little school."

And thus our brother went back to Texas, and gladly, too, for was not his Mary there?

Of Thomie's recall to join his command at Dalton; of his arrival at home the next February, on his way to "the front;" of his partic.i.p.ation in the hard-fought battles that contested the way to Atlanta; and of his untimely death at the fatal battle of Franklin, Tennessee, I may speak hereafter.

Even in the spring and summer of 1863, the shadows began to deepen, and to hearts less sanguine than mine, affairs were a.s.suming a gloomy aspect. I notice in this same journal from which I have quoted the foregoing extracts, the following:

"Our fallen braves, how numerous! Among our generals, Zollicoffer, Ben McCulloch, Albert Sidney Johnston, and the saintly, dauntless Stonewall Jackson, are numbered with the dead; while scarcely a household in our land does not mourn the loss of a brave husband and father, son or brother."

CHAPTER VIII.

SOME SOCIAL FEATURES.

Morgan's Men Rendezvous near Decatur--Waddell's Artillery--Visits from the Texans--Surgeon Haynie and his Song.

In the winter of 1864 there seems to have been a lull of hostilities between the armies at "the front." Morgan's men were rendezvousing near Decatur. Their brave and dashing chief had been captured, but had made his escape from the Ohio penitentiary, and was daily expected. Some artillery companies were camping near, among them Waddell's. There was also a conscript camp within a mile or two; so it is not to be wondered at that the young ladies of Decatur availed themselves in a quiet way of the social enjoyment the times afforded, and that there were little gatherings at private houses at which "Morgan's men" and the other soldiers were frequently represented.

Our brother was absent in Texas, where he had been a.s.signed to duty, but my sister was at home, and many an hour's entertainment her music gave that winter to the soldiers and to the young people of Decatur. My mother's hospitality was proverbial, and much of our time these wintry months was spent in entertaining our soldier guests, and in ministering to the sick in the Atlanta hospitals, and in the camps and temporary hospitals about Decatur.

So near were we now to "the front" (about a hundred miles distant), that several of my brother's Texas comrades obtained furloughs and came to see us. Among these were Lieutenants Prendergast and Jewell, Captain Leonard and Lieutenant Collins, Captain Bennett and Lieutenant Donathan. They usually had substantial boots made while here, by Smith, the Decatur boot and shoe maker, which cost less than those they could have bought in Atlanta. We received some very pleasant calls from Morgan's men and Waddell's Artillery. Among the latter we have always remembered a young man from Alabama, James Duncan Calhoun, of remarkable intellectual ability, refreshing candor and refinement of manner. Ever since the war Mr. Calhoun has devoted himself to journalism. Among the former we recall Lieutenant Adams, Messrs. Gill, Dupries, Clinkinbeard, Steele, Miller, Fortune, Rowland, Baker, and Dr. Lewis. These gentlemen were courteous and intelligent, and evidently came of excellent Kentucky and Tennessee families. One evening several of these gentlemen had taken tea with us, and after supper the number of our guests was augmented by the coming of Dr. Ruth, of Kentucky, and Dr. H. B. Haynie, surgeon of the 14th Tennessee Cavalry. Dr. Haynie was an elderly, gray-haired man, of fine presence, and with the courtly manners of the old school. On being unanimously requested, he sang us a song ent.i.tled: "The Wailings at Fort Delaware,"

which he had composed when an inmate of that wretched prison. As one of the gentlemen remarked, "there is more truth than poetry in it;" yet there are in it some indications of poetic genius, and Dr. Haynie sang it with fine effect.

"THE WAILINGS AT FORT DELAWARE."

By B. H. HAYNIE, Surgeon 14th Tennessee Cavalry (Morgan's Division).

Oh! here we are confined at Fort Delaware, With nothing to drink but a little lager beer, Infested by vermin as much as we can bear; Oh Jeff, can't you help us to get away from here?

CHORUS--

And it's home, dearest home, the place I ought to be, Home, sweet home, way down in Tennessee, Where the ash and the oak and the bonny willow tree, Are all growing green way down in Tennessee.

The Island itself will do well enough, But the flat-footed Dutch are filthy and rough, Oh! take us away from the vandal clan, Down into Dixie among the gentlemen.

CHORUS--And its home, dearest home, etc.

Spoiled beef and bad soup is our daily fare, And to complain is more than any dare; They will buck us and gag us, and cast us in a cell, There to bear the anguish and torments of h.e.l.l.

CHORUS--

The den for our eating is anything but clean, And the filth upon the tables is plainly to be seen, And the smell of putrefaction rises on the air, "To fill out the bill" of our daily fare.

CHORUS--

[3]"The sick are well treated," as Southern surgeons say, "And the losses by death are scarcely four per day;"

It's diarrha mixture for scurvy and small-pox, And every other disease of Pandora's box!

CHORUS--

Oh! look at the graveyard on the Jersey sh.o.r.e, At the hundreds and the thousands who'll return no more; Oh! could they come back to testify Against the lying devils, and live to see them die!

CHORUS--

[3]"Our kindness to prisoners you cannot deny, For we have the proof at hand upon which you can rely; It's no Dutch falsehood, nor a Yankee trick, But from Southern surgeons who daily see the sick."

CHORUS--

Our chaplain, whose heart was filled with heavenly joys, Asked leave to pray and preach to Southern boys; "Oh, no!" says the General, "you are not the man, You are a Southern rebel, the vilest of your clan!"

CHORUS--

Oh! speak out, young soldier, and let your country hear, All about your treatment at Fort Delaware; How they worked you in their wagons when weary and sad, With only half rations, when plenty they had.

CHORUS--

The barracks were crowded to an overflow, Without a single comfort on the soldier to bestow; Oh, there they stood shivering in hopeless despair, With insufficient diet or clothing to wear!

CHORUS--

The mother stood weeping in sorrows of woe, Mingling her tears with the waters that flow; Her son was expiring at Fort Delaware, Which could have been avoided with prudence and care.

CHORUS--

Oh! take off my fetters and let me go free, To roam o'er the mountains of old Tennessee; To bathe in her waters and breathe her balmy air, And look upon her daughters so lovely and fair.

CHORUS--

Then, cheer up, my brave boys, your country will be free, Your battles will be fought by Generals Bragg and Lee; And the Yankees will fly with trembling and fear, And we'll return to our wives and sweethearts so dear.

CHORUS--

And it's home, dearest home, the place where I ought to be, Home, sweet home way down in Tennessee, Where the ash and the oak, and the bonny willow tree, Are all growing green way down in Tennessee.