,^T3 2-3 8 // rAf.n:) 'f'/iri V/7^' ^6 RECENTLY ISSUED-BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Jilnif: or Only One Girl's Story. 871 PAGES. PAPER COVERS. PRICE, 60 CENTS. Sold by all Dealers; or Mailed (Prepaid), on receipt of Price, by The Gossip Printing Co., Mobile, Ala. CONDENSED PRESS COMMENT. *' Juny " is a lively story. — {Cincinnati Enquirer. A racily written, exciting tale of the South. — [Portland Argus. A dramatic story of southern life. It is full of incident.— [^Moh.v (TV. K.) Express. Vividly told, with a beautiful Octoroon as the central figure. — Harrisburg Telegram. Entertaining romance of the "Society crust" — upper and uuder. — [Kansas City Journal. More dramatic than " Creole and Puritan ; " more genuine fun than " Rock or the Rye." — [Augusla Neius. Sho-wing varied phases of the great city, In .the salon, the clubs and the slums.— [.Sw-a- citse Herald. It is full of excitement and adventure and, on that score alone, will prove interesting. — [Evening IVisconsin, The plot is good ; and the author's name sufficient guarantee for literary excellence. — [Columbus Despatch. By a writer who has attained reputation, the romance will prove interesting reading. — [San Francisco Call. A bright, readable .'^tory, full of action ; the dialects true to life and the climax artis tically managed. — [ Toledo ( O.) Bee. There is much to be commended In "Juny," and the character of the heroine is cer tainly well drawn. — [ Ton-n. Topics. The characters are strongly drawn ; and the story, sensational and romantic, hasdra- matlc force. — [American Stationer. From the author of " Creole and Puritan" aud other stories; and is very bright and readable. — [Rocliester Post-Express. Above any Mr. DeI.eon has yet written ; and cau be placed above the best work of modern times. — [New Orleans Picayune. A book of merit. The author shows close acquaintance with Miss Murfree's dealing with the same class. — [Minneapolis Journal. Contains many good situations and some striking types of life, of which the " Lead ing Man " is the most comic. — [ The Bookseller. Most ambitious of this author's works ; containing a plot of thrilling interest and several new American types.— [Baltimore American. Cleverly constructed and containing more than one good character. The reader -who begins it will be sure to read it to the c\ose.—[N'e-2v York Sun. Has been complimented very highly. It is very readable, the characters strong ; and the plot contains many dramatic situations.- [5ii»n«KaA Ne7vs. An exceedingly bright aud cleverly written story ; charmingly told ; most especially felicitous in all that treats of southern character and life. The old negro is a masterpiece of .g-<^«>« sketching; and the Louisiana girl and her Octoroon mother are uo less clean cut ¦and graphic. Mr. DeLeon is the promising writer of the South. He knows his people and region thoroughly. — lChira£^o Times. A very romantic story. The book is sensational ; but the skill with which the story is told saves it from being ridiculous. — \San Francisco Cin nuicle. Most successful descriptive and character studies. Animated from the very first chap ter ; and once beginning, one can scarcely leave it. — [AVa/ Ot leans Bee. The sketch of moonshiniiig life in the North Carolina mountains is, to say the least, clever. The author has made a distinct success in \.\\\s.— [Hai (ford f^st. The devotion of the old negro for his "chile" and the affection springing up between her and Wilmot Browne are the features of the book. — [.Vo; t/i A niei ican. A highly exciting story of life, in widely differing circles. All of the bad chnracters are dispjosed of rapidly, but with a proper eye to effect. — [.yew Ymk Henii'd. Just the thing for the car or hammock ; a lively novel, introducing many odd char acters in many odd situations of high and low life. — {Minneapolis Housekeeper. Well written and full of " situations," raany of thera wrought up to a point of thrilling interest. The many characters are drawn iu natural colors. — [Brooklyn Citizen, Mr. DeLeon has written several novels which had a run ; but this one surpasses any in cleverness of plot, thrilling situations and general interest.— f.Sii// Lake Herald. Brightness of dialogue and richness of incident. The suicide of the gambler is a startling effect ; worthy of the imagination and descriptive power of Zola ! — [Mobile Register. The same authority pronounces "the leading man of the Grand Duke's Opera House" the most original type in comic fiction since we met Satn Vi^eller. — [Denver Republican, Some situations, especially those in the slums ofthe "East Side," are intensely dramatic. Juny and the characters that surround her are exceedingly well drawn. — [Pfiiladelphia Times. "Juny" is bright and sensational. * * The Mobile novelist is especially happy in his southem scenes and characters ; but his plots have wide range aud embrace high and low life. — [Atlanta Constitution. T. C. DeLeon has recommended himself as a writer of talent and power. His latest work is perhaps his best, as his wit, his dramatic force and his striking ability for char acter drawing are all forcibly exhibited. — [Columbui \0.) Journal. We have not read a better story for many a day, Mr. DeLeon has advanced rapidly to foremost rank among American novelists of the present day. The plot is skillfully framed and many thrilling, as well as humorous, situations keep the reader's mind alert, — \Chi- cago Herald. T. C. DeLeon, whose " Rock or the Rye," a clever parody of Amelie Rives, was a decided success, has added "Juny" to the list of his novels: the scene changing from a. moonshiner's camp to New York, with the heroine a beautiful Octoroon girl. — \San Fran cisco Argonaut. Southem authors are coming to the front. Among those named more and more fre quently of late is T. C. DeLeon. The story is as full of plot as it can hold ; and if action plays as large a part iu fiction, as Demosthenes averred it did in oratory, *' Juny " should be a popular book. — [Boston Commotnvealt/i . Mr. DeLeon's "Creole aud Puritan " proved most conclusively that he could write well ; and his satire on the " Quick or the Dead " was laughed over by the whole country. The story of "Juny" shows the creative power of the author. It is strong and his descriptive powers have full sway. — [JVe7v Orleans Picayune. The old negro and the detective, ^Tr. Hunter Beagle, seem to have been taken from life and are carefully elaborated. * * The " Art Kvolutionist" is a very clever portrayal ofthe creature who is made possible bj', and subsists upon, i'h^fads for which the pres ent century must ever remain x^syons\!o\Q.—[Courier-JournaL FOUR YEARS IN REBEL CAPITALS: AN INSIDE VIEW OF LIFE IN THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, FROM BIRTH TO DEATH. FROM ORIGINAL NOTKS, COLLATKD IX THF, VR.\RS lS6l TO 1865, BY T. C. DeLeon. AUTHOR OF "CREOLE AND PURITAN," "CROSS PURPOSES," "jUNY," ETC. " In the land where we were dreaming ! " ~D. B. Lucas. "I leave it to men's charitable speeches, to foreign nations and to the next ages." — Francis Bacon, MOBILE. ALA. THE GOSSIP PRINTIN(i COMPANY, 1S90. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1890, Bv THS GOSSIP PRINTING COMPANY, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at -Washington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. a y -'. .'^ A TO MY VALUED FRIEND, MRS. AUGUSTA EVANS WII^ON, AS ONE LITTLE TOKEN OF APPRECIATION OF A LIFE-WORK DEDICATE TO HER SEX, TO HER SECTION AND TO TRUTH, THESE SKETCHES OF LIFE BEHIND OUR CHINESE 'WALL ARE INSCRIBED. IN PLACE OF PREFACE. Fortunate, indeed, is the reader who takes up a volume without preface ; of which the persons are left to enact their own drama and the author does not come before the curtain, like the chorus of Greek tragedy, to speak for them. But, in printing the pages that follow, it may seem needful to ask that they be taken for what they are ; simple sketches of the inner life of "Rebeldom" — behind its Chinese wall of wood and steel — during those unexampled four years of its existence. Written almost immediately after the war, from notes and recol lections gathered during its most trying scenes, these papers are now revised, condensed and formulated for the first time. In years past, some of their crude predecessors have appeared — as random articles — in the columns of the Mobile Sunday Times, Appleton's Journal, the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Philadelphia Titnes and other publica tions. Even in their present condensation and revision, they claim only to be simple memoranda of the result of great events ; and of their reaction upon the mental and moral tone of the southern people, rather than a record of those events themselves. This volume aspires neither to the height of history, nor to the depths of political analysis; for it may still be too early for either, or for both, of these. Equally has it resisted temptation to touch on many topics — not strictly belonging inside the Southern Capitals — still vexed by political agitation, or personal interest. These, if un settled by dire arbitrament of the sword, must be left to Time and his best coadjutor, "sober second-thought." Campaigns and battles have already surfeited most readers; and their details — usually so incorrectly stated by the inexpert — have little to do with a relation of things within the Confederacy, as they then appeared to the masses of her people. Such, therefore, are simply touched upon in outline, where necessary to show their reaction upon the popular pulse, or to correct some flagrant error regarding that. To the vast majority of those without her boundaries — to very many, indeed, 'within them — realities of the South, during the war, 5 6 In Place of Preface. were a sealed book. False impressions, on many important points, were disseminated; and these, because unnoted, have grown to proportions of accepted truth. A few of them, it may not yet be too late to correct. While the pages that follow fail not to record some weaknesses in our people, or some flagrant errors of their leaders, they yet endeavor to chronicle faithfully heroic constancy of men, and selfless devotion of women, whose peers the student of History may challenge that vaunting Muse to show. To prejudiced provincialism, on the one side, they may appear too lukewarm ; by stupid fanaticism on the other, they may be called treasonable. But — written without prejudice, and equally without fear, or favor — they have aimed only at impartial truth, and at near est possible correctness of narration. Indubitably the war proved that there were great men, on both the sides to it ; and, to-day, the little men on either — "May profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it ! " The sole object kept in view was to paint honestly the inner life of the South ; the general tone of her people, under strain and priva tion unparalleled ; the gradual changes of society and character in the struggling nation — in a clear, unshaded outline of things as they were. Should this volume at all succeed in giving this ; should it uproot one false impression, to plant a single true one in its place, then has it fully equaled the aspiration of THE AUTHOR. Mobile, Ala., June 25, 1890. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. "CHAPTER I. — The Forehead of the Storm 11-20 Washington City in 1861. — ^Her two Social Circles — Was she a new Sodom? — Lobbyists and Diplomats — Eve of the Storm — Echo from Charleston Harbor — A Dinner and a Ball — Popular Views of the Situa tion — Buchanan's Policy and the " Peace Congress " — Separation a Cer tainty—Preparations for the Hejira — Precautions for Lincoln's Inaugu ration — Off for Dixie. CHAPTER II. — The Cradle of the Confederacy 21-29 Through Richmond, the Carolinas and Georgia — Wayside Notes — The Masses Willing but Unprepared — Where were the Leaders? — The First Capital — A New Flag — Hotels and their Patrons — Jefferson Davis — The Man and the Government — Social Matters — The Curbstone Con gress — Early Views of the Struggle — A Notable "Mess." CHAPTER III.— Congress and Cabinet " 30-35 ,}) Bloodless Revolution — Glances at the Congress — Its Personnel and its -^ Work — Party Hacks in Place — Wind vs. Work — What People said of the Solons — The New Cabinet — Heads of Departments Sketched— T'he President's Advisers — Popular Opinion — The First Gun at Sumter. CHAPTER IV.— "The Awakening of the Lion." 3&-41 Sumter's Effect on Public Feeling — Would There be a Long War — or any? — Organizing an Army — The Will of the People — How Woraen Worked — The Camps a Novel Show — Mr. Davh_Jiandles_Csai&":fis» — His Energy and Industry — Society and tlie Strangers — Joy over Vir ginia's Secession. CHAPTER V. — A Southern River Boat Race 42-48 An Alabama Steamer — General Van Dorn — What River Travel is — A Calliope and its Master — Banter for a Race — Excitement of all on Board — A Close Shave — Neck and Neck — How a Race is Won — A, Unique Toast. CHAPTER VI. — Boat Life Afloat and Aground 49-13 Time-killers on the River — Negro Boat-hands — Cotton Loading from / " / Slides — Overboard! — " Fighting the Tiger " — Hard Aground! — Delay 1/ and Depression — Admiral Raphael Semmes — News of the Baltimore Riot — Speculation as to its Results. ii Table of Contents. TAGK. CHAPTER VII Mobile, the Gulf City 54-5* Echo from Maryland — Alabama's Preparation — Mobile's Crack Corps — John Forsyth on the Peace Commissioners — Mobile Society — Pleas ure-lovers and Their Pleasures — A Victim of the Tiger — Two Moral Axioms. CHAPTER VIIL— New Orleans, the Crescent City 59-6S Location and Commercial Importance— Old Methods of Business — Relations of Planter and Factor — A Typical Brokerage House — Secure Reliance on European Recognition and the Kingshija of Cotton — Yel low Jack and his Treatment — French Town and American — Hotels of the Day — Home Society and " The Heathen " — Social Customs — Creole Women's Taste — Cuffee and Cant — Early Regiments and Crack Com panies — Judges of \\'ine — A Champion Diner. CHAPTER IX.— A Change of Base 69-74 The Pensacola Army — Review by President Davis — Orders for Vir ginia — Breaking Camp on the Gulf — The Start of the Zouaves — They Capture a Train and a City — Pursuit and Recapture — The Riot and its Lesson — Early Ideas of Discipline. CHAPTER X.— En Route for the Border 75-83. Decision to Move the Capital — Lax Precautions — The New York "Tribune" Dispatch — Montgomery Murmurs — Troops en route, and their Feelings — The Government on Wheels — Kingsville Misnomer Profanity and Diplomacy — Grimes' Brother-in-law — With the C. S. Mail-bags. CHAPTER XL— On to Richmond 84-92; A Typical Southron — Sentiment in the Ranks — Glimpse of the new Capital — The Inflowing Caravans — Hotels and Boarding-houses City and Surroundings — A Southern Poet — A Warning in Statuary Holly wood Cemetery — The Tredegar Works — Their Importance in the War — 'T'other Consarn! CHAPTER XIL— Settling to the Real Work 93-101 Regulars of the States — Virginia Sentiment — Unanimity of Purpose — Lee and Johnston — Esprit de Corps — Centering on Virginia Varied Types of Different States — The Marylanders at the South— Mixed Equipments and " Properties "—Doubtful Points— Norfolk to Manassas — Where the Battle Ground would be— Missouri's First Move. CHAPTER XIIL— The Leaders and THE Led 102-110. General Lee comes to the Front— Mr. Davis' Labors and Responsi bilities — His Personal Popularity — Social Feeling at the new Capital Table of Contents. iii FACE. " Pawnee Sunday " Panic — Richmond Society — An After-dinner Object Lesson — How Good Blood did not Lie — Western Virginia — Society's Pets go to the Front — "The Brave at Horae." CHAPTER XIV.— The Baptism of Blood 111-121 The First War Bulletin — How Richmond received It — Practical Result of Bethel — Earnest Work in Government Bureaux — Thunder from a Clear Sky — Shadows follow Rich Mountain— Ca?-Ma^o delenda! — Popular Comparison of Fighting Qualities — The " On-to-Richmond 1 " Clangor — The Southern Pulse — "Beware of Johnston's Retreats!" Bull Run — The Day before Manassas — Waiting ! CHAPTER XV.— After Manassa? 122-128 How Rumors came — Jubilation and Revulsion — Anxiety for News — The Decisive Charge — An Austrian View — The President's Return — His Speech to the People — The First Train of Wounded — Sorrow and Consolation — How Women Worked — Material and Moral Results of Manassas — Spoils and Overconfidence — Singular Errors in Public Mind — General Belief in Advance — The Siesta and its Dreams. CHAPTER XVL— The Spawn of Lethargy .......... 129-138 Reaction of Sentiment — Conflicting Ideas about Inaction — Popular Wish for Aggressive War — Sentiment settles to Fact — Mr. Davis' Attitude to Johnston and Beauregard — After-battle Confusion — Strateg ic Reasons — Inaction breeds grave Discontent — Effect on the Army — Sober Second Thought — Government Use of the Lull — Bombast and Sense— A Glance North— The Western Outlook— John B. Floyd. CHAPTER XVIL— From Court to Camp 139-146 A Winter's Inaction and Effects — Comforts and Homesickness — Unseen Foes and Their Victory — Care and Cleanliness — Nostalgia — Camp Morality — Record of the "Cracks" — In a Maryland Mess — Mud and Memories — Has History a Parallel ? — Old Cavaliers and New. CHAPTER XVIIL— Society at the Capital i47-r57 Richmond Overflowing — Variety of Visitors — Gradual Growth of Gayety — " Danceable Teas" — Amateur Benefits — "Youth at the Helm" A Society Woman's View — Social Theories and Practice — Virginian Hospitality — Quieter Sociability — The Presidential Household — Mr. and Mrs. Davis — Formal Levees — Social Ethics — Dissipation — Disap pointing Solons. CHAPTER XIX.— Days of Depression 158-165 Reverses on All Lines — Zollicoffer's Death — Mr. Benjamin, Secre tary of War — Transportation Dangers — The Tennessee River Forts — iv Table of Contents. PAGE. Forrest and Morgan — Gloom follows Nashville's Fall — Government Blamed by People — The Permanent Government — Mr. Davis' Typical Inaugural — Its Effect and Its Sequence — Cabinet Changes. CHAPTER XX.— From Shiloh to New Orleans 166-173; Sunshine and Shadow — Clouds gather in the West — Island No. 10 — Shiloh — Illustrative Valor — Deep Depression — Was Johnston hounded to His Death? — Fall of New Orleans — Odd Situation of Her Captors — Butler in Command — His Place in Southern Opinion — Strategic Results — Popular Discontent — Effect on the Fighters — Butler and the Women — Louisiana Soldiers. CHAPTER XXL— The Conscription and Its Consequences . . . 174-188 The " More Men I " cry — Passage of the Act — State Troops Tunr53 Over — Appointment of Generals — Longings for Home — Exemptions and "Details" — The Substitute Law — Mr. Davis' Wisdom Vindi cated — Governor Joe Brown kicks — State Traits of the Conscripts — Kentucky's Attitude — Tennessee's "Buffaloes" — The " Union Feeling" Fallacy — Conscript Camps — Morals of the "New Ish" — Food and Money Scarcer — Constancy of the Soldiers — The Extension Law — Repeal of the Substitute Act — Home-Guards — "The Cradle and the Grave." CHAPTER XXII. — Waiting the Ordeal by Combat 189-197- The North Prepares a New "On to Richmond." — Joe Johnston's Strategy — From Manassas to Richmond — Magruder's Lively Tactics — The Defenders Come — Scenes of the March Through — A Young Vet eran — Public Feeling — Williamsburg's Echo — The Army of Specters — Ready ! — Drewry's Bluff — The Geese Fly South — Stern Resolve ! CHAPTER XXIIL— Around Richmond 198-20& Seven Pines — War at the Very Gates — Harrowing Scenes — Woman's Heroism — Crowded Hospitals — A Lull — J.ickson's Meteor Campaign Ashby Dead ! — The Week of Blood — Southern Estimate of McClel lan — What "Might Have Been" — Richmond Under Ordeal — "The Battle Rainbow" — Sad Sequelce — Real Sisters of Mercy — Beautiful Self-sacrifice. CHAPTER XXIV.— Echoes of Seven Days, North and South . 207-214. Confederates Hopeful, but Xot Overconfident — The Cost to the North — McClellan Sacrificed — General Pope and His Methods He "Finds" Jackson at Cedar Mountain — A Glance Trans- Allegheny Well-Conceived Federal Programme — General Bragg's Unpopular ity — To the Ohio and Back— Would-be Critics— Flashes illumine the Clouds — Kentucky Misrepresented. Table of Contents, v TAGE. CHAPTER XXV.— Thb War IN the West 215-223 A Gloomy Outlook — Lone Jack — "The Butcher, McNeil" — Corinth and Murfreesboro — Their Bloody Cost — The Cry Wrung from the Peo ple — Mr. Davis stands Firra — Johnston relieves Bragg — The Emanci pation Proclamation — Magruder's Galveston Amphiboid — The Atlantic Seaboard — Popular Estimate of the Status — Hope for the New Year. CHAPTER XXVL— The Failure of Finance 223-229 Was Cotton really King? — How it Might have been Made So — Government's Policy — Comparison with Northern Finance — Why the South believed in her Advantage — How the North buoyed up her Credit — Contractors and Bondholders — Feeling at the South on the Money Question — Supply and Demand for Paper — Distrust creeps In — Rapid Depreciation. CHAPTER XXVIL— Dollars, Cents and Less 230-240 Results of Inflation — Coraparative Cost of Living North and South — How Army and Officials were Paid — Suffering enhances Distrust — Barter Currency — Speculation's Vultures — The Auction Craze — Hoard ing Supplies — Gambling — Richmond Faro-banks — Men met There — Death of Confederate Credit — The President and Secretary held to Account — Nothing but Mismanagement. CHAPTER XXVIII.— Across the Potomac and Back 241-250 Precedents of the First Maryland Campaign — Jackson strikes Pope — Second Manassas — Why was Victory not Pushed? — The People demand Aggressive Warfare — Over the River — Harper's Ferry falls — Elation at the Soutli — Rosy Prophecies — Sharpsburg — The River Recrossed — Gloom in Richmond — Fredericksburg and its Effect on the People — Why on Pursuit? — Hooker replaces Burnside — Death of Stonewall Jackson. CHAPTER XXIX.— Over Again to Gettysburg 251-258 Popular Grief for Jackson — Again to the River — Winchester and her Women — The People Rejoice at the Advance — Public Belief in its Re sult — Washington to Fall ; the War to End — The Prelude to Disaster — Second Day at Gettysburg — Pickett's Wonderful Charge — Some one has Blundered ? How the Story came South — Revulsion and Discon tent — Lee not Blamed — Strictures on Non-retaliation— The Marylanders. CHAPTER XXX.— The Confederacy Afloat 259-271 Who the Southern Sailors were — Regular and Provisional Navy-bills Popular Estimate of Mr. Mallory — Iron-clads vs. Cruisers — The Parole of "Pirate Semmes" — What Iron-clads might have done — Treasury and Navy — The "Merrimac "—Virginia Fight in Hampton Roads — The White-flag Violation — Those wonderful Wooden Shells — Other flashing Achievements — Comparison of the two Navies — Doubtful vi Table of Contents. PACK. Torpedo Results — Summing up the Hue-and-Cry — Nashville and New Orleans — The Tatnall-" Virginia" Court-martial — Who did More than They? CHAPTER XXXL— The Chinese Wall Blockade, Abroad and at PIoME 272-287 Foundation Errors — Lost Opportunity — The Treaty of Paris View — First Southern Commissioners — Doubts — The Mason-Slidell Incident — Mr. Benjamin's Foreign Policy — DeLeon's Captured Despatches — Mur murs Loud and Deep — England's Attitude — Other Great Powers — Mr. Davis' View — " If "—Interest of the Powers — The Optimist View — Production and Speculation — Blockade Companies — Sumptuary Laws — Growth of Evil Power — Charleston and Savannah — Running the Fleet at Wilmington — Demoralization and Disgust — The Mississippi Closed — Vicksburg — "Running the Bloc." on the Border — The Spy System — Female Agents. CHAPTER XXXIL— Press, Literature and Art 288-301 Newspapers North and South — Ability Differently Used — Reasons Therefor — Criticism of Affairs; its Eflect — Magazines and their Clien tele — Prose Writers atite lielbim — Rebel War Rhymes — Origin and Characteristics — The Northern "National Hymn" — Famous Poets and Their Work — Dirge Poetry and Prison Sengs — Father Ryan and the Catholic Church — "Furled Forever!" — Musical Taste — How Songs were Utilized — Military Bands — Painters and Paintings — No Southern Art — A Few Noted Pictures. CHAPTER XXXIIL— Wit and Humor of the War 302-315 Strange Laughter — The Confederate "Mother Goose" — Travesty and Satire — The "Charles Lamb" of Richmond — Camp Wit— Novel Marriage — A "Skirmisher" — Prison Humor — Even in Vicksburg! — Sad Bill-of-Fare — Northern Misconception — Richmond Society Wit — The " Mosaic Club" and its Components — Innes Randolph's Forfeit — The Colonel's Breakfast Horror — Post-surrender Humor — Even the Emancipated. CHAPTER xxxlv.— The Beginning of the End 316-326 Gradual Weakening of the South — The Wearing-out Process — Sequelje of Vicksburg and Gettysburg— Congress vs. President— Mr. Foote and his Following— Drain of Men and Material — Home Guards — The "Speculator Squad "—Dire Straits in Camp and Home — Carpet Blank ets — Raids and their Results — Breaking down of Cavalry Mounts Echoes of Morgan's Ohio Dash— His Bold Escape— Cumberland Gap — A Glance at Chickamauga — "The Might Have Been" Once More Popular Discontent— General Grant Judged by his Compeers Long- street at Knoxville— Missionary Ridge — President's Views and People's Table of Contents. vii ,.,,,.. , PAGE. — Again the Virginia Lines — blcirmish Depletion — Desertions — " Kir- by-Sraithdom." CHAPTER xxxv. — The Upper and Nether Millstones .... 327-335 "Crushing the Spine of Rebellion" — Grant's Quadruple Plan — The Western Giant— Why its Back '^xo'Wz— Delenda est Atlanta!— Qx!mt be comes the Upper Millstone — Men and Means Unstinted — Dahlgren's Raid — The South's Feeling— The Three Union Corps— War in the Wilderness — Rumors North and South — Spottsylvania — Still to the Left!— Cold Harbor Again— The "Open Door" Closed— Glance at Grant's Campaign — Cost of Reaching McClellan's Base — Sledge-Ham- mer Strategy — Solemn Joy in Richmond. CHAPTER XXXVI. — "The Land of Darkness and the Shadow of Death" 336-346 Comparison of Numbers — The Ratio of Loss — The Process of Attri tion — Stuart's Last Fight — The Riv,er Approaches — Beauregard "bottles" Butler — Grant sits down Before Petersburg — "Swapping with Boot" — Feeling ofthe Southern People — The Lines in Georgia — Military Chess — Different Methods of Sherman and Grant — Southern View — Public Confidence in Johnston- — Hood relieves Him — How Re ceived bythe People — The Army Divided — "The Back Door" Opened at Last ! — Mr. Davis visits Hood's Army — The Truce and the Chances —On the Rack. CHAPTER XXXVIL— Dies Ir.b— Dies Illa! .347-359 The Lull at Petersburg — Strain on Array and People — North and South Waiting — Fears for Richmond — After Atlanta — Peace Proposi tions — Mr. Davis' Attitude — Mr. Stephens' Failure at Fortress Mon roe — Hood's Fatal Move — Results of Franklin — Strange Gayeties in Richmond — From the Dance to the Grave — "Starvations" and Theat ricals — Evacuation Ruraors — Only Richmond Left — Joe Johnston Rein stated — Near Desperation — Grant Strikes — The News in Church — Evacuation Scenes — The Mob and the Stores — Firing Warehouses — The Last Reb Leaves — Fearful Farewells — Dead ! CII.\PTER XXXVIIL— After THE Death-Blow WAS Dealt . . .360-372 The Form of Surrender — Federals raarch In — Richmond in Flames — Blue-Coats fight the Fire— Sad Scenes — Automatic Shelling — Disci pline Wins — At the Provost-Marshal's — A City of the Dead — Starva tion //kj Suspense — The Tin-Can Brigade — Drawing Rations — Rumors and Reality — The First Gray Jacket returns — General Lee re-enters Richmond — Woman, the Comforter — Lincoln's Assassination — Result ing Rigors — Baits for Sociability — How Ladies acted — Lectures by Old Friends — The Emigration Mania — Fortunate Collapse of Agreement — The Negro's Status — To Work, or Starve — Woman's Aid — Dropping the Curtain. ^¦~ FOUR YEARS IN REBEL CAPITALS. CHAPTER I. THE FOREHEAD OF THE STORM. The cloud no bigger than a man's hand had risen. It became visible to all in Washington over the southern horizon. All around to East and West was but the dull, dingy line of the storm that was soon to burst in wild fury over that section, leaving only seared desolation in its wake. Already the timid and wary began to take in sail and think of a port; while the most reckless looked from the horizon to each other's faces, with restless and uneasy glances. In the days of i860, as everybody knows, the society of Washing ton city was composed of two distinct circles, tangent at no one point. The larger, outer circle whirled around with crash and' fury several months in each year ; then, spinning out its centrifugal force, flew into minute fragments and scattered to extreme ends of the land. The smaller one — the inner circle— revolved sedately in its accus tomed grooves, moving no -whit faster for the buzz of the monster that surrounded and half hid it for so long ; and when that spun itself to pieces moved on as undisturbed as Werther's Charlotte. The outer circle drew -with it all the outside population, all the "dwellers in tents," from the busiest lobbyman to the laziest looker- on. All the "hotel people" — those caravans that yearly poured unceasing into the not too comfortable caravanserai down town — stretched eager hands toward this circle; for, to them, it meant Washington. Having clutched an insecure grasp upon its rim, away they went with a fizz and a spin, dizzy and delighted — devil take the hindmost ! Therein did the thousand lobbyists, who yearly came to roll logs, pull wires and juggle through bills, find their congenial prey. 12 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. Who shall rise up and write the secret history of that wonderful committee and of the ways and means it used to prey impartially upon government and client? Who shall record the "deeds without a name," hatched out of eggs from the midnight terrapin; the strange secrets drawn out by the post-prandial corkscrew ? Who shall justly calculate the influence the lobby and its workings had in hastening that inevitable, the war between the states ? Into this outer circle whirled that smaller element which came to the Capital to spend money — not to make it. Diamonds flash, point lace flounces flaunt ! Who will stop that mighty whirligig to inspect whether the champagne is real, or the turtle is prime ? Allons! lejeu est fait 1 Camp-followers and hangers-on of Congress, many of its members from the West, claim agents from Kansas, husbandless married women from California and subterranean politicians from everywhere herein found elements as congenial as profitable. All stirred into the great olla podrida and helped to " Make the hell broth boil and bubble." The inner circle was the real society of Washington. Half sub merged for half of each year by accumulating streams of strangers, it ever rose the same — fresh and unstained by deposit from the baser flood. Therein, beyond doubt, one found the most cultured coteries. the courtliest polish and the simplest elegance that the drawing-rooms of this continent could boast. The bench and the bar of the highest court lent their loftiest intellects and keenest wits. Careful selections were there from Congress of those who held senates on their lips and kept together the machinery of ap expanding nation; and those "rising men," soon to replace, or to struggle with them, across the narrow Potomac near by. To this society, too, the foreign legations furnished a strong element. Bred in courts, familiar with the theories of all the world, these men must prove valuable and agreeable addi tion to any society into which they are thrown. It is rather the fashion just now to inveigh against foreigners in society, to lay at their door many of the peccadilloes that have crept into our city life; but the diplomats are, with rare exceptions, men of birth, education and of proved ability in their own homes. Their ethics may be less strict than those which obtain about Plymouth Rock, but experience with them will prove that, however loose their Fo2ir Years in Rebel Capitals. 13 own code, they carefully conform to the custom of others; that if they have any scars across their morals, they have also the tact and good taste to keep them decorously draped from sight. In the inner circle of Washington were those ofificers of the army and navy, selected for ability or service — or possibly "by grace of cousinship " — to hold posts near the government ; and, with full allow ance for favoritism, some of these were men of culture, travel and attainment — most of them were gentlemen. And the nucleus, as well as the amalgam of all these elements, was the resident families of old Washingtonians. These had lived there so long as to be able to win now the chaff and throw the refuse off. There has ever been much talk about the corruption of Washing ton, easy hints about Sodom, with a general sweep at the depravity of its social system. But it is plain these facile fault-finders knew no more of its inner circle — and for its resident society only is any city responsible — than they did of the court of the Grand Turk. Such critics had come to Washington, had made their " dicker," danced at the hotel hops, and been jostled on the Avenue. If they essayed an entrance into the charmed circle, they failed. Year after year, even the Titans of the lobby assailed the gates of that heaven refused them ; and year after year they fell back, baffled and grommelling, into the pit of that outer circle whence they came. Yet every year, especially in the autumn and spring, behind that Chinese wall was a round of entertainments less costly than the crushes of the critic circle, but stamped with quiet elegance aped in vain by the non-elect. And when the whirl whirled out at last, with the departing Congress ; when the howling crowd had danced its mad carmagnole and its vulgar echoes had died into distance, then Wash ington society was itself again. Then the sociality of intercourse — that peculiar charm which made it so unique — became once more free and unrestrained. Passing from the reek of a hotel ball, or the stewing soiree of a Cabinet secretary into the quiet salon of a West End home, the very atmosphere was different, and comparison came of itself with that old Quartier Saint Germain, which kept undefiled from the pitch that smirched its Paris, through all the hideous dramas of the bonnet rouge. The influence of political place in this country has long spawned a social degradation. Where the gift is in the hands of a fixed power,. 14 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. its seeking is lowering enough; but when it is besought from the enlightened voter himself, " the scurvy politician " becomes a reality painfully frequent. Soliciting the ballot over a glass of green corn juice in the back room of a country grocery, or flattering the cara sposa of the farmhouse, with squalling brat upon his knee, is scarcely calculated to make the best of men more of "an ornament to society." Constant contact with sharpers and constant effort to be sharper than they is equally as apt to blunt his sense of delicacy as it is to unfit one for higher responsibilities of official station. So it was not unnatural that that society of Washington, based wholly on politics, was not found wholly clean. But under the seething surface — first visible to the casual glance — was a substratum as pure as it was solid and unyielding. Habitues of twenty years remarked that, with all the giddy whirl of previous winters in the outer circle, none had approached in mad rapidity that of 1860-61. The rush of aimless visiting, matinees and dinners, balls and suppers, followed each other without cessation- dress and diamonds, equipage and cards, all cost more than ever before. This might be the last of it, said an uneasy sense of the coming storm; and in the precedent sultriness, the thousands who had come to make money vied with the tens who came to spend it in mad distribution of the proceeds. Madame, who had made an im mense investment of somebody's capital in diamonds and lace, must let the world see them. Mademoiselle must make a certain exhibit of shapely shoulders and of telling stride in the German; and time was shortening fast. And Knower, of the Third House, had put all the proceeds of engineering that last bill through, into gorgeous plate. It would never do to waste it, for Knower meant business; and this might be the end of the thing. So the stream rushed on, catching the weak and timid ones upon Its brink and plunging them into the whirling vortex. And still the rusty old wheels revolved, as creakily as ever, at the Capital. Blobb, of Oregon, made machine speeches to the sleepy House, but neither he, nor they, noted the darkening atmosphere without. Senator Jenks took his half-hourly "nip" with laudable punctuality, thereafter rising eloquent to call Mr. President's attention to that little bill • and all the while that huge engine, the lobby, steadily pumped away in the political basement, sending streams of hot corruption into every artery of the government. Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 15 Suddenly a sullen reverberation echoes over the Potomac from the South. The long-threatened deed is done at last. South Carolina has seceded, and the first link is rudely stricken from the chain. There is a little start ; that is all. The Third House stays for a second its gold spoon; and, perhaps, a trifle of the turtle spills before reaching its mouth. Madame rearranges her parure and smoothes her ruffled lace; while Mademoiselle pouts a little, then studies her card for the next waltzer. Senator Jenks takes his "nip" just a trifle more regularly; and Blobb, of Oregon, draws a longer breath before his next period. As for the lobby-pump, its piston grows red-hot and its valves fly wide open, with the work it does ; while thicker and more foul are the streams it sends abroad. For awhile there is some little talk around Willard's about the " secesh; " and the old soldiers wear grave faces as they pass to and fro between the War Department and General Scott's headquarters. But to the outer circle, it is only a nine-day wonder; while the danc ing and dining army men soon make light of the matter. But the stone the surface closes smoothly over at tlie center makes large ripples at the edges. Faces that were long before now begin to lengthen; and thoughtful men wag solemn heads as they pass, or pause to take each other by the buttonhole. More frequent knots discuss the status in hotel lobbies and even in the passages of the departments ; careful non-partisans keep their lips tightly closed, and hot talk, pro or con, begins to grow more popular. One day I find, per card, that the Patagonian Ambassador dines me at seven. As it is not a state dinner I go, to find it even more stupid. At dessert the reserve wears off and all soon get deep in the "Star of the West" episode. " Looks mighty bad now, sir. Something must be done, sir, and soon, too," says Diggs, a hard-working M. C. from the North-west. "But, as yet, I don't see — what, exactly!" ' ' Will your government use force to supply Fort Sumter ? " asks Count B. , of the Sardinian legation. " If so, it might surely drive out those states so doubtful now, that they may not go to extremes," suggested the Prussian charge ad interim. "Why, they'll be whipped back by the army and navy within ninety days frora date," remarks a gentleman connected with pen sion brokerage. 1 6 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. "If part of the army and navy does not go to get whipped with them," growls an old major of the famed Aztec Club. And the scar across the nose, that he brought away from the Belen Gate, grows very uncomfortably purple. "By Jove! I weally believes he means it! Weally!" whispers very young Savile Rowe, of H. B. M. legation. "Let's get wid of these politics. Dwop in at Knower's ; soiwee, you know ;" and Savile tucks his arm under mine. Two blocks away we try to lose uncomfortable ideas in an atmos phere of spermaceti, hot broadcloth, jockey club and terrapin. " Next quadwille. Miss Wose ?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Rowe; and — the third galop — let me see — the fifth waltz. And oh! isn't it nasty of those people in South Carolina! Why don't they behave themselves ? Oh, dear ! what a lovely color Karmeen Sorser has to-night! Au revoir 1" and Miss Rose Ruche glides off, h deux temps, on the arm of the Turkish charge. As I stroll through the rooms, there is much glaring light and there are many nude necks. I am jostled by polking damsels and button holed by most approved bores. But, through the blare of the brass horns and over the steaming terrapin, the one subject rises again and again, refusing burial as persistently as Eugene Aram's old man. "Try a glass of this punch," Knower chirps cheerily. " Devilish good punch! Good glass, too. See the crest and the monogram blowed in. Put Kansas Coal Contriver's Company proceeds into that glass. But things are looking blue, sir, devilish blue ; and I don't see the way out at all. Fact is, I'm getting pretty down in the mouth ! " And the lobbyist put a bumper of punch in the same position. "People may talk, sir, but my head's as long as the next, and I don't see the way out. Washington's dead, sir ; dead as a hammer, if this secession goes on. Why, what'll become of our business if they move the Capital ? Kill us, sir; kill us I Lots of southern members leaving already" — and Knower's voice sunk to a whisper — "and would you believe it? I heard of nine resignations from the army to-day. Gad, sir ! had it from the best authority. That means business, I'm afraid." And little by little the conviction dawned on all classes that it did mean business — ugly, real business. What had been only mutterings a few weeks back grew into loud, defiant speech. Southern men, in and out of Congress, banded under their leading spirits, boldly and Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 17 eraphatically declared what they meant to do. Never had excitement around the Capitol run half so high. Even the Kansas-Nebraska furore had failed to pack the Senate galleries so full of men and wo men, struggling for seats and sitting sometimes through the night. One after another the southern leaders made their valedictories — some calm and dignified, some hot and vindictive — and left the seats they had filled for years. One after another, known and honored names were stricken from the army and navy lists, by resignation. One after another, states met in convention and, by ' ' ordinance of secession," declared themselves independent of the Federal Govern- merrt. It was as though the train had been prepared and the action of South Carolina was but the lighting of the fuse. Within six weeks from Mr. Buchanan's New Year reception, six states had deliber ately gone out of the Union. When it was too late, the sleepy administration opened its eyes. Not liking the looks of things, it shut them again. When it was too late, there were windy declarations and some feeble temporizing ; but all thinking men felt that the crisis had come and nothing could avert it. The earthquake that had rumbled so long in premonitory throes suddenly yawned in an ugly chasm, that swallowed up the petty differences of each side. One throb and the little lines of party were roughly obliterated; while across the gulf that gaped between them, men glared at each other with but one meaning in their eyes. That solemn mummery, the "Peace Congress," might temporarily have turned the tide it was wholly powerless to dam ; but the arch seceder, Massachusetts, manipulated even that sHght chance of com promise. The weaker elements in convention were no match for the peaceful Puritan whom war might profit, but could not injure. Peace was pelted frora under her olive with splinters of Plymouth Rock, and Massachusetts members poured upon the troubled waters oil — of vitriol ! When the " Peace Commissioners " from the southern Congress at Montgomery carae to Washington, all felt their presence only a mock ery. It was too late ! they came only to demand what the govern ment could not then concede, and every line they wrote was waste of ink, every word they spoke waste of breath. Southern congress men were leaving by every train. Families of years residence were puUing down their household gods and starting on a pilgrimage to 2 1 8 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. set them up — where they knew not, save it must be in the South. Old friends looked doubtfully at each other, and wild rumors were rife of incursions over the Potomac by wild-haired riders from Vir ginia. Even the fungi of the departmental desks, seeming suddenly imbued with life, rose and threwaway their quills — and with them the very bread for their families — to go South. It was the modern hegira E A dull, vague unrest brooded over Washington, as though the city had been shadowed with a vast pall, or threatened with a plague. Then when itwas again too late. General Scott — "the general," as the hero of Lundy's Lane and Mexico was universaUy known — virtu ally went into the Cabinet, practically filling the chair that Jefferson Davis had vacated. Men felt that they must range themselves on, one side, or the other, for the South had spoken and meant what she said. There might be war; there must be separation! I was lounging slowly past the rampant bronze Jackson in Lafay ette Square when Styles Staple joined me. ' ' When do you start ? " was his salutation. "AVhen do I start?" Staple's question was a sudden one. " Yes, for the South ? You're going, of course; and the governor- writes me to be off at once. Better go together. Eh ? Night boat,, 4th of March." Now the governor mentioned was not presiding executive of a southern state, but was Staple p'ere, of the heavy cotton firm of Sta ple, Long & Middling, New Orleans. Staple fils had been for years a great social card in Washington. The clubs, the legations, the ave nues and the german knew him equaUy well ; and though he talked about "the house," his only visible transaction with it was to make the name familiar to bill-brokers by frequent drafts. So I answered- the question by another : "What are you going to do when you get there ?" "Stop at Montgomery, see the Congress, draw on 'the house,' and then t' Orleans," he answered cheerfully. "Come with me. Lots to see ; and, no doubt, about plenty to do. If this sky holds, all men will be wanted. As you're going, the sooner the better. What do you say ? Evening boat, March 4th ? Is it a go ?" It gave only two days for preparation to leave what had come- nearer being home than any other place in a nomadic hfe. But he was right. I was going, and we settled the matter, and separated tes. wind up our affairs and take conge. Four Years in Rebel Capitals. 19 The night before President Lincoln's inauguration was a restless and trying one to every man in Washington. Nervous men heard signal for bloody outbreak in every unfarailiar sound. Thoughtful ones peered beyond the mist and saw the boUing of the mad breakers, where eight miUions of incensed and uncontroUed population hurled themselves against the granite foundation of the estabhshed govern ment. Selfish heads tossed upon sleepless pillows, haunted by the thought that the dawn would break upon a great change, boding ruin to their prospects, monetary or political. Even the butterflies felt that there was a something impending; incomprehensible, but un comfortably suggestive of work instead of pleasure. So Washington rose red-eyed and unrefreshed on the 4th of March, 1861. Elaborate preparations had been made to have the day's ceremo nial brilliant and imposing beyond precedent. Visiting militia and civil organizations from every quarter — North, East and West — had been collecting for days, and meeting reception more labored than spontaneous. The best bands of the country had flocked to the Cap ital, to drown bad blood in the blare of brass; and all available cavalry and artiUery of the regular army had been hastily rendezvoused, for the double purpose of spectacle and security. Still the public mind was feverish and unquiet; and the post commandant was like the public mind. Rumors were again rife of raids over the Potomac, with Henry A. Wise or Ben McCuUough at their head ; nightmares of plots to rob the Treasury and raze the White House sat heavy on the timid; while e?ctremists manufactured long-haired men, with air guns, secreted here and there and sworn to shoot Mr. Lincoln, whUe reading his inaug ural. All night long, orderlies were dashing to and fro at breakneck speed ; and guard detaUs were marching to all points of possible danger. Day dawn saw a light battery drawn up on G street facing the Treasury, guns unlimbered and ready for action ; whUe infantry held both approaches to the Long Bridge across the Potomac. Other bodies of regulars were scattered at points most available for rapid concentration ; squadrons of cavalry were stationed at the crossings of several avenues; and aU possible precautions were had to quell summarily any symptoms of riot. These preparations resembling more the capital of Mexico than 20 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. that of these United States, were augury of the peace of the admin istration thus ushered in ! Happily, they were needless. All who re member that inauguration will recall the dull, dead quiet with which the day passed off. The very studiousness of precaution took away from the enjoyment of the spectacle even; and a cloud was thrown over the whole event by the certainty of trouble ahead. The streets were anxious and all gayety showed effort, while many lowering faces peeped at the procession from windows and housetops. It was over at last. The new man had begun with the new era ; and Staple and I had finished our chasse at Wormley's dinner table, when that worthy's pleasant, yellow face peered in at the door. As we jumped into the carriage awaiting us and Wormley banged the door, a knot of loungers ran up to say good-bye. They were all men-about-town ; and if not very dear to each other, it was still a wrench to break up associations with those whose faces had been familiar to every dinner and drive and reception for years. We had never met but in amity and amid the gayest scenes ; now we were plunging into a pathless future. Who could tell but a turn might bring us face to face, where hands would cross with deadly purpose ; while the hiss of the Mini6-ball sang accompaniment in place of the last galop that Louis Weber had composed. " Better stay where you are, boys!" — " You're making a bad thing of it!" — " Don't leave us Styles, old fellow! " — " You'U starve down South, sure! " — were a few of the hopeful adieux showered at us. "Thank you aU, just the same, but I think we won't stay," Staple responded. "What would 'the house' do? God bless you, boys! Good-bye, Jim ! " Four Years in Rebel Capitals. CHAPTER II. "the cradle of the confederacy." Evening had faUen as evening can fall only in early Washington spring. As we plunged into the low, close cabin of the Acquia Creek steamer of that day, there was a weak light, but a strong smell of kerosene and whisky. Wet, steamy men huddled around the hot stove, talking blatant politics in terms as strong as their liquor. So, leaving the reek below, we faced the storm on deck, vainly striving to fix the familiar city lights as they faded through the mist and rain ; more vainly still peering into the misty future, through driving fancies chasing each other in the brain. The journey south in those days was not a delight. Its components were discomfort, dust and doubt. As we rattled through at gray of dawn, Richmond was fast asleep, blissfully ignorant of that May morning when she would wake to find herself famous, with the eyes of all the civilized world painfully strained toward her. But from Petersburg to Wilmington the country side was wide awake and eager for news. Anxious knots were at every station and water tank, and not overclean hands were thrust into the windows, with the cry: "Airy paper ?" Sometimes yellow faces, framed with long, lank hair, peered in at the doors ; while occasional voices indescribably twanged : "You' uns got any news from thar 'nauggeration ? " Staple's ready, whUe not very accurate, replies were hungrily swallowed ; proffered papers of any date were clutched and borne as prizes to the learned man of each group, to be spelled out to the delectation of open-mouthed listeners. For the whole country had turned out, with its hands in its breeches pockets, and so far it seemed content to gape and lounge about the stations. The men, to all ap pearance, were ready and eager ; but at that time no idea of such a thing as preparation had entered their minds. It is difficult, at best, to overcome the vis inertice of the lower-class dweller along the South Atlantic seaboard; but when he is first 2 2 Four Years in Rebel Capitals. knocked in the head with so knotty a club as secession, and then is told to be up and doing, he probably does nothing. Their leaders had not been among them yet, and the " Goobers" were entirely at sea. They knew that something had gone wrong, that something was expected of them ; but how, where or what, their conception was of the vaguest. The average inteUigence of the masses thereabout is not high ; the change noticeable before crossing the "Virginia line becom ing more and more marked as one travels straight south. Whether the monotonous stretches of pine barren depress mentally, or frequent recurring " ager " prostrates physicaUy, who shall say? But to the casual glance along that railroad line, was not presented an unvarying picture of bright, or intellectual, faces. In Wilmington — not then the busy mart and "port of the Con federacy," she later grew to be — almost equal apathy prevailed. There was more general sense of a crisis upon them; but the escape valve for extra steam, generated therefrom, seemed to be in talk only. There were loud-mouthed groups about the hotel, sundry irate and some drunken politicians at the ferry. But signs of real action were nowhere seen; and modes of organization seemed to have interested no man one met. The ' ' Old North State " had stood ready to dissolve her connection with the Union for some five weeks; but to the looker- on, she seemed no more ready for the struggle to follow her "ordi nance of secession," than if that step had not been considered. But it must be remembered that this was the very beginning, when a whole people were staggered by reaction of their own blow ; and all seemed to stand irresolute on the threshold of a vast change. And when the tug really came, the state responded so bravely and so readily that none of her sisters might doubt the mettle she was made of Her record is written frora Bethel to Apporaattox, in letters so bright that time can not dim, or conquest tarnish, them. Through South Carolina and Georgia, men seemed more awake to the greatness of the change and to the imminence of its results. Inland Georgia, especially, showed keener and shrewder. Questions were more to the point; and many a quick retort was popped through the car windows at Staple's wonderful inventions. A strongly as severated wish to do something, and that at the earliest moment, was generally clinched by a bouncing oath; but where, or how, that something was to be done was never even hinted. Briefly, Georgia Four Years in' Rebel Capitals. 23 seemed raore anxious for preparation than her neighbors ; withal she was equally far from preparation. It were manifestly unfair to judge the status of a whole people by glimpses from a railway carriage. But from that point of view, the earliest hours of revolution — those liours which, properly utilized, are most fruitful of result — were woefully and weakly wasted by " the leaders." The people had risen en masse. The flame had spread among them like lava to their lowest depths. Told that their section needed them, they had responded like the Douglas, ' ' Ready, aye, ready ! " Beyond ¦this they were told nothing ; and during those most precious weeks they waited, while demagoguery flourished and action slept. The jentire cotton growing region was in active fermentation; but, until She surface bubbles ceased, no practical deposit could be looked for. " Devilish strong hands and pretty broad backs these, but I've yet to see the first head among them ! I suppose we'll find them at Montgomery ! " After emitting which Orphic utterance at West Point, Styles Staple «mptied the partnership's pocket-flask, and then slept peacefully until we reached the "Cradle of the Confederacy." Montgomery, like Rome, sits on seven hills. The city is pictur esque in perch upon bold, high bluffs, which, on the city side, cut sheer down to the Alabama river ; here, seemingly scarce more than a ibiscuit-toss across. From the opposite bank spread great flat stretches