Eye-witness, or, Life scenes in the Old North State : depicting the trials and sufferings of the Unionists during the Rebellion

Front matter

BOUGHT WI-TH THE INCOME FROM THE

SAGE ENDOWNENT FUND

THE GIFT OF

Dedication

TO THE FEIENDS OF LIBEETT WHEEETEE FOUND.

To Gbnukals Grant, Sherman, and Buknside, and OTHER Officers of the Army and Navy ; also the Soldiers, WHO have so nobly fought our Battles : —

My admiration of the devotion you have shown to the cause of preserving the integrity of the Union, the unspeakable joy of receiving from your hands Liberty's Flag, and from your lips her words, "Be free;" and, above all, my confidence in your ability to reHndle, through the length and breadth of my adopted State, the signal fires of " 76,'' are my inducements to dedicate this work to you.

Preface

The prevailing opinion at the North is, that there is but little Union feeling at the South, and that of rather an equivocal character. Should these pages be the means of convincing any of our ITorthem friends that there is a strong, imperishable feeling existing for the Union and " Did Flag," it will conipensate in a measure for the trouble in bringing these pages before the public.

This work was mostly written at the South, more than two years ago, while these scenes were being enacted. The incidents here related are true. The characters are drawn from life. The writer was conversant with most all, while others, were related by the actors themselves. Liberty has been taken to weave them so together, as to form a pleasing narrative, and by this means they will reach, and be read, by a greater number, than could be found to read each isolated fact ; and this knowledge of the Unionist sufferings would be more generally known, and my promise to those' heroic souls in part cancelled.

The question has often been asked, both in public and private, what are ^Jhe feelings of the Southern women in regard to this war, striking as it does at their homes and domestic relations, uprooting at once their long-cherished and inherent distinction, of mistress and slave. To this part of the community, these pages are chiefly confined. You are taken to their firesides and homes, during one of the greatest struggles ever witnessed by mankind. In this respect, it will be found

6 PEBPACE.

this work differs almost entirely from all others written on Southern life. The world has never witnessed greater devotion, nobler instincts, and heroic deeds, than has been developed by these uncompromising Unionists. Those brave, selfreliant souls, who have shown such patient endurance, selfdenial, and unflinching courage, are worthy of a " niche in the gallery of Fame." In time, it will be admitted that the real heroes and heroines of this war are these Unionist men and women.

How successful this attempt to portray the position and feelings, trials and sufferings, of our friends South, during this lamentable strife, the public wiU now best judge.

Contents

Chapter Poge

I.— The Soldiers' Relief Society ... 9

H. — Two Unionists caught .... 17

CHAPTER I. THE soldiers' BELIEF SOCIETY

That gun !

The city heard — and was soon a " city of stirs."* But not with the privateer and his white-winged victims, whose arrival that salute heralded, nor with the exultant crowd which thronged the streets and landing, to see the Yankee vessels, and their crews, have we to do at present.

Into a pleasant breakfast-room let me introduce you, reader, and to its occupants, three, — a gentleman and two ladies. The gentleman is speaking : —

" Then the ' Pigeon ' is in? Miss Helen, I must see your brother. Have Nise at the door in five minutes," he said, turning to a servant; "you will go with me."

" Stay, no haste, Mr. Blout. Will has been so long without sleep, a forty-pounder would not awake

* Wilmington N. C.

10 EYE-WITXESS.

him. He will be at papa's office at twelve o'clock; finish your breakfast, then take my carriage to town."

" And you will spend the morning with Maggie? I accept your offer, and will bring your brother out with me to dine."

We will follow the ladies to the window, where they had moved, that their conversation might not be overheard.

For some moments Helen Bierce, the early caller, sat absently drawing her gloves through her delicate fingers. Then, raising her head with startling abruptness she exclaimed : —

' ' Why does not Harry Blout fit out a privateer ? he certainly has ample means for doing so. It is unaccountable to me," she added, "how any one can enter the army when such another field for serving the South is open to them. This privateer- ^ ing would suit me splendidly ! ±o secure two such prizes as the ' Pigeon ' has just brought in ; to meet an armed turtle; put on steam, up and away, and, just when the danger of capture is most imminent, slip over the bar, and up the river home ! There is no State m the Confederacy like our own for such sport, for none has such a coast, — sand-bar on sand-bar ! "

" Harry looks upon privateering as nothing less than -piracy upon the high seas," said her companion ; " I have heard him say, repeatedly, the luckless fellows, caught in the act, would meet the pirate's doom, and deservedly."

" And I see by your looks, Maggie, you are of the same opinion. However,.! have no disposition to enter into a discussion of the legality or illegality of the thing ; that is nothing here or there now, so long as it is sanctioned by our President. To change the topic, on^ object of my visit here this morning, is to secure your services on the morrow, for a begging excursion."

" Do not urge me, Nellie," Maggie replied, with a deprecatory shake of her head ; ' ' surely there are others, differently situated from myself, to share your burdens and divide your cares."

" So there are ; but none who can aid me so efficiently as you."

" My purse is at your disposal," was the evasive reply. *

"'Your time would serve me best."

' ' That you have ; look at this pile of military cloth.".

" There are willing hands enough for such work ; mere machine drudgery. My sorest need is for your personal influence upon the obdurate hearts my eloquence ,does not affect. Now hear of a recent affair which occurred with one of our merchants, Mr. Weasel, then you can better appreciate some of the trials and annoyances which ^tend the Visiting Committee. One after another of our ladies called upon him, soliciting aid ; Minnie Bent made the first advances, but fled, like a frightened canary, from his most emphatic ' nothing to give.' Others tried, but with no better success ; finally, our President, Mrs. Vinton, declared her intention to visit the miser; and did so. Imagine our surprise, when, not an hour after her departure, her carriage returned, piled high, with bolts of domestic flannel, yarn, and innumerable other things, of which, for aJong time, we had been in desperate want. From Mr. Weasel's store

12 BYE-WITNESS.

they came, for there was his card attached to the bundles ! ' Spirited away they must have been,' we cried, ' for nothing could leave that store without cash down ! ' and We knew when Mrs. Vinton left us she had not a dollar in her purse. To all of our entreaties to make known her weapon of attack, she smilingly shook her head saying : —

" ' Time is money ; let Saturday night find this goodly heap made up into garments and packed for Richmond.' At night, when the room was deserted by all but ourselves, she related to me the incidents of the morning's call. But you are laughing, why?" *

" Nothing much."

" Mr. Blout cannot hear us?"

" Jlis breakfast and paper seem to engross his attention."

At the name of Mr. Weasel, a close observer could not have failed to notice that the loiterer at the breakfast-table was unusually cautious in setting down his cup, and that his paper remained unread in his hand. Indifferent as the ybung man was to female chit-chat, Helen, had she noticed it, could not have complained, for that morning at least, of his taking only a negative interest in her conversation. His look of interest and inquiry, however, escaped her, and she chatted on incautiously loud. When Mrs. Vinton's name was mentioned in connection with Mr. Weasel's, an irresistible impulse brought Maggie's head without the folds of the lace drapery which graced the window. Her eye caught Harry's ; the significant glance escaped detection, but the unfinished smile brought the-question.

Satisfied that Maggie alone heard, Helen resumed :

EYE-AVITNESS. 13

*'I must give you Mrs. Vinton's adventure in her own words : ' I stepped into the store and found Mr. Weasel corapLicently awaiting customers. I returned his gracious salutation, complimented him • upon having so full a stopk of goods at such a time, and selected some hundred yards of domestic, — but here are the pacljages, so I need not particularize. His alacrity in bringing down and putting up his goods, and in sending out for what he had not, was really quite refreshing. The secret is, his many refusals to help fit out our soldiers have aroused the suspicion that, at heart, he is a traitor. Consequently no one goes int(J*his store except those whom necessity drives there.

" ' You are purchasing supplies for the soldiers, I perceive, madam,' he remarked, glancing at the huge bundles as he tied on the last string and aflSxed his card ; ' where will you have them sent ? '

" To No. 9, two doors this sjdeof the barracks." " You are a great friend of the soldier." " Not more than yourself, sir, I hope." " Not more than I should be, did I see the necessity for arming men."

' ' Where was there ever a greater ? " "War, Mrs. Vinton, is with us, as yet, but an abstract question."

" I cannot agree with you. The recent fight at Big Bethel shows me this war of independence is fairly inaugurated, — a war, which may prove unprecedented in its expenditure of treasure and kindred blood, but one, which shall see the South free or blotted out of existence."

" The fight at Big Bethel, madam, was a mere skirmish. A few more such, and some conciliatory measures will be adopted, and then an end put to this strife, ruinous alike to North and South."

" This is a time for action, not argument, Mr. Weasel. Willing hands must work if we would follow up our successes." Then, seeing that I was deliberately drawing on my gloves, he said : —

" Excuse me. At any other time we should be happy to have your name on our books, but now " —

" No apology, sir. 1 have no desire to have it there."

" You see," said he, pointing to a white card above his head, on which two very black words were painted, " ' My terms are cash.' Something very scarce, very precious, just now."

" But not so precious as the blood, that has been already and is to be spilled before we can call ourselves free from Northern rule. Northern cupidity. Northern fanaticism. When this struggle is over, when you have found your security in the brave soldiers, who do battle. for you, for all ; if this cashaccount is not wiped out by blood, generously spilt, by suffering patiently borne ; then, sir, I will sell my own flesh and blood to Northern vandals and cancel your claim with their villainous gold."

" All very well, madam ; all very well ! but I have no use for any body's flesh and blood. I demand my money ! "

Not noticing his interruption, I continued — "When the call came for three hundred thousand men, our people uprose nobly. Who was ignoble, cowardly enough to think of the pay he should get ! Ours is a common cause ; the old and infirm stay at home : they give freely, give all they possess ; the young and brave fight, women and children work.

Cash down i Money I Serve your country, sir I imitate the example so nobly set by your countrymen, and your one talent of money-making shall.be as blest to you as the five talents profitably laid out by the wise servant in the parable," and I turned to leave the store.,

"Zounds! madam," I heard; " flesh and blood can't stand this ! — it is theft, burglary of high order ! — restore my goods, or, madam, you shall feel the full rigor of the law ! " As I reached the door, Mr. Weasel was at my side ; Pete, however, at my order, had driven on. I left him in his store door gazing after the carriage, crying — "too late! too late HJ! Now, Maggie, was n't that well done ? "

"•No, Nellie, your. own true sense of justice tells you Mr. Weasel was right, when he said ' such a procedure was burglary of a high order.' Let those give who do so willingly, not "

"Nonsense! Maggie," interrupted Helen, "you remember the old adage, ' the end, if a laudable one, justifies the means ;' and if to . put the screws on misers, to make them disgorge some of their ill-gotten gains, is not. justifiable, it is, at least, merciful; for we spare these money-changers, these ' votaries of Mammon,' the horrible fate of falling a sacrifice to their own devotions, by lopping offshoots of interest, as we would the boughs of a tree, breaking beneath the weight of its own fruit, — is it not so? But let me finish my story : the week's close found our work complete, and the box packed and marked — ' Soldiers' Relief Society, Richmond.' It was left in the work-room, the door was locked and every window secured, — I am sure of that. Monday morning, when Pete went to the building, the box was there, but not a shirt, comfort, sock, blanket, or bandage^ — no not one, to be seen ! Of course the negroes are accused of the theft ; but Mrs. Vinton and myself have discussed the matter thoroughly, and, having heard nothing from the belligerent gentleman of Store No. 70, are convinced that to catch a weasel asleep is no easy matter. We, however, shall match him yeit ; for let the public be fully assured that this Mr. Weasel is one of the proscribed set. Union men, and not one box-fui but his entire stock is ours."

Chapter II. Two Unionists Caught

An unusual noise from without, at this moment, attracted the attention of Maggie and her guest, and fully conscious that the tumult was approaching the house, they arose and through the open window stepped on to the verandah. As the curtain fell behind the retreating figure of her mistress, Lizzie from her lookout groaned : "It makes my blood freeze to har dem hounds ; somebody's blood runin' when dey howl like dat ! " Then dropping her work and herself upon her kneeg, she prayed that the poor, hunted negro might find favor in the sight of the Lord, who made him, and be spared the torture of his white master.

"Confound that of an abolitionist, —

see how he bleeds ! Swing him from yonder limb, or he'll die before we twist the necklace ! He '11 fight for Old Abe, and nobody else — will he? Swing him, and let him try his strength with them buzzards yonder ! Hear 'em cracking their beaks ! — hold on a bit, old fellows, the meat will soon swing ! " Such shouts rent the air as, mounted and afoot, an eager crowd pressed round their victim — a man not more than twenty-five, and a boy scarce eighteen ; whose

2*

EYE-WITNESS.

clothes, if such rags might so be called, were mired and fearfully rent, displaying the gaping wounds where the bloodhounds had taken hold.

Deadly pale, but undaunted, the man walked in the midst of his merciless tormentors, seemingly unconscious of his own sufferings, though the warm blood Jrickled from his legs and shoulder, where the burnt, flesh showed only too plainly, the nearness of the weapon, the sure lodgment of a ball, which had buried itself in his broad chest.

No persecuted runaway negro was he, kind reader, but worse, far worse, — a hunted, hounded, and denounced " traitor" I — the victim of an enraged and maddened people. His crime, the oath to stand by the good old flag, and Abe Lincoln, forever !

Again and again the prisoner turns a fond and encouraging look towards the sinking boy at his side, who, faint with loss of blood, staggers on, now pitched forward by a kick from behind, then sinking from sheer exhaustion amid the feet of the crowd ; while large drops of sweat, mingling with the tears, his agony wrung from him, poured down his face and bloodstained body. Human nature could bear no more. The fierce grapple of the hounds, the kicks and oaths of the exultant captors, were now alike unheard, unfelt.

As the stalwart hunter's arm was upraised, bearing' aloft the lash, now of a deep red dye, which told of the strength of its cruel owner, a cry went out from the bloodless lips of the brother so heart-rending that for a moment the slave-driver was cowered and his arm fell to his side.

Fiercely his victim tugged at the iron bands, which bound his hands before him. The flesh parted and the blood flowed at each endeavor, but the iron would not give ; deeper and deeper it sunk into his flesh ; it was not felt, but in his soul it rankled and tore.

Must the boy die thus? if life was still there, must the laat lingering spark be crushed out beneath the trampling hoofs of the horses, whose merciless riders jeered and mocked at the misery they caused ? Could these be men, with hearts of flesh, who could so wantonly kill and so derisively laugh at that one, last look for mercy ; mercy, not for himself, but for the dying, innocent boy, who lay at their feet ?

Yes, they were men : made after God's image, rich in acres of cotton lands, and turpentine lots ; boastful of many heads of negroes ; pleasure-seekers ; livers in the saddle ; not drunk, the day was not far spent enough for that ; not wholly soulless nor heartiest, for there were those in that crowd, so eagerly thirsting for blood, so jubilant over the death-agony of their victims, who h^d voluntarily encountered peril of fire and water to save human life.

To plunge into the swollen creek amid the pitiless storm, which had overtaken him, to rescue a drunken, worthless fellow, whose stumbling steps had slipped from the foot-logs ; to bear him on his back to a distant cabin, to find it deserted, and then walk the iiight out in a soaking rain to secure aid for the dying wretch ;■■ — to dash amid the burning ruins of a cabin and bring to the widowed mother, her missing boy; lo drive from sight the overseer for brutally beating the "^ boys," because not up to the task assigned theni, — were deeds, done from the natural promptings of these very hearts, which now madly yearned for the lifeblood of a Yankee sympathizer, -^ the '.' traitor,"

who would sell his countrymen into the most galling of all vassalage — that to Yankee lords !

Once more the fair listeners on the verandah shuddered, as that wild, agonizing cry reached them, and — pitying heaven.

A powerful arm upraised the boy ; and an eye, which flashed the challenge that struggled for utterance upon his lips, repelled the crowd.

Athletic in figure, his large, black eyes dilated and flashing, his face a-glow with the honest anger which burned within him at the cowardly, dastardly act, just perpetrated, — a perfect type of manly and powerful beauty, Harry Blout stood, as unconscious of the deference which, on being recognized, was obsequiously tendered, as of the sun which beat scorchingly upon his uncovered head. He bent down, and lifting the bleeding body handed it carefully to a servant, who had followed him to the road.

" There is life yet," he said, placing his hand upon the boy's heart ; " take him. Pomp, to Aunt Lizzie. Bring water," he added, " and a sponge ; hold, bring brandy, your mistress wiU tell yoii where it is to be found."

The crowd, speechless, heard these orders given, nor was a hand raised to prevent their execution ; for know, reader, that these men in soldierly array were a company of Blout's Rifles, proud and boastful of the name they bore, splendidly equipped a^ was the entire regiment of which this company was a part, by the munScence of the one whose presence held them spellbound.

What wonder is it that they spurred "their horsea from the road, and, seemingly engaged in managing their suddenly restless steeds, endeavored to escape

KTE-WITNESS. 21

the withering look which was turned upon them. But the fierce, hang-dog eye of Grimes, the hunter, brightened as he recognized the man at his side ; for even this brute, rich in the possession of the fiercest pack of bloodhounds to-be found the country around, who spent six days out of seven in the woods and swamps, starving his " pets" to fatten them upon the blood of the luckless runaways, whom they never failed to scent and fasten themselves upon, had heard of and seen the city wonder, ' ' the Cuban cousin ; " upoa whom was showered exuberant praise, such as " rich as Croesus ; " " generous as handsome," " such munificence princely revenues alone could support ; " and the like.

' ' Never did a better .chance ofier to make good his losses," (in the morning's scuffle, two of his .hounds had been killed,) he said, in an aside to one of the crowd, and the natural repulsiveness of his brutal face was heightened by the smile which the comforting words called up. At a stern gesture of command, the handcuffs were struck from the lacerated wrists of the prisoner, his wounds cleansed, and his weary frame invigorated with stimulants. Then, for the first time, turning to the hunter, Harry Blout demanded the price set upon the boy's head.

"No price," growled the man, the scowl which the question brought increasing as the unwelcome truth was drawn from him.

" How came he in your power?"

" Caught him with that d abolitionist yonder,"

pointing to the man whom Pomp, at the command of his master, had mounted upon his favorite saddlenag.

" Why let your dogs take his life? " Harry asked

22 EYE-WITKESS.

sternly. At the savage answer, Harry turned away and beckoned Captain Green, who, for a commissioned officer had, on this occasion, been refreshingly modest, to approach.

" This is your first appearance with your company," he said; "I congratulate you upon the occasion which has so heroically displayed the courage of the men in your charge. Take this man," he added, the sarcasm in his voice giving place to command, " into your care, and see to it that he is spared further abuse until, at least, he is in the hands of the city authorities." *

Captain Green bowed and gave the order for his company to form. With remarkable alacrity they wheeled their horses into line, and, with the prisoner, slowly paced down the road.

Swindled into Secession by as diabolical a fraud as could be perpetrated ; straining every nerve to fill her quota of troops ; suffering her noble-hearted sons to be denounced and imprisoned because suspicion marked tlwm as "traitors." Stricken, convulsed, torn, pouring out- her treasures of blood and gold into a tyrant's lap, to be scorned and publicly maligned by him, as weak, cowardly, a drag upon the Young Confederacy, North Carolina, — where these scenes are Mid, — lay wrecked and helpless, — the victim of South Carolina's treachery and Virginia's bold, unscrupulous, law-defying partisans. Who that is conversant with her mighty struggles to break from her bleeding hands the manacles of iron despotism, could doubt, had she been situated as Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, that as many of her sons would have emptied their veins for the preservation of the Union, as those States can boast?

1EYK-WITNESS. 23

Up to this time no executions had defamed the once fair name of the " staid old State." That lynch-law was to be the order of the day was apparent to all.

Chapter III. The Powee Of Gold On The Hunter

Simultaneously with the departure of Captain Green and his company, Harry Blout turned to the slave-hunter. He was stooping low in the road, vainly endeavoring to staunch the blood which flowed from the side of one of his "pets," whose lolling tongue, dull eye, and gaping wounds, tell of a fierce struggle within, — a struggle which, will never be repeated. Even now he falls upon his side, and with imploring eye begs for the caress his master bestows with a lavish hand ; his eyes close, his jaw drops ; nothing but the. slowly wagging tail tells of his gratitude. Big tears roll down the fiercevisaged man's cheeks, for he knows his dog must die, — yes, is dead already. With a wild stare and a convulsive tremor of the bleeding body, a third victim of the morning's hunt has been offered upon the altar of human rage and demoniac fury.

Fire flashed from the hunter's eye as he turned upon the one who stood by, an unmoved spectator of the scene ; and curses thick and fast rushed to his lips, but were checked as he noticed the cool, determined face turned towards him. A Jow voice met his ear bidding him name his price for the remaining hounds, — would he sell? There was but a momentary hesitation. The negro-hunter worshipped his profession and his hounds, and he as devotedly worshipped the gains they brought, and to sell his dogs was to throw himself quite out of employment. Comforting himself, however, with the thought that with the handsome sum, such as he should demand, there were other fields where his talents might have full scope, he signified his consent to dispose of his pack. With the price named he growled, " not too much ; give 'em blood — "

With a gesture of disgust, Harry silenced further encomiums upon the " pets," and handed the man the amount he asked ; then, with a significant glance, bidding Pomp " take care of the dogs," he cleared the low gate with a leap and entered the house.

For such as. Grimes, war was a profitable thing. Never was heard such a running away of negroes ; and with the tales of bloody violence and vicious theft which followed, came the unceasing cry for "hunters and bloodhounds."

But a degree of danger attended these hunts, — for not a limited number, but scores, hundreds of runaways infested the woods and swamps, which made even the boldest of them tremble for their lives and their dogs, when the scent was struck and the grapple at hand with a dozen or- more stalwart negroes, who had scented the blow which was to waft them to liberty.

Hunters were not infrequently found dead beside their dogs, and such negroes, as were brought in, were but few in number, and, in most cases, crippled for life. The pay, therefore,, although fair, scarcely compensated for the risk.

So it followed that nine of ten of these followers of the negro-hunt disposed of their packs to the more venturesome, and stood in the ranks as substitutes, — their services being purchased by such lukewarm partisa,ns as cried ' ' war ! war ! " and then, with glass and pipe, settled down to the comforting reflection that war, on the whole, was a good thing; for, if productive of no other result, It swept the streets of paupers, and city and country of a " rake-helly " set, that lent themselves to be the instruments of any villainy, provided the pay were good.

In the prevision of the ardent antagonist, however, there was no such inglorious end to a strife of which they were the abettors and supporters, but a free and recognized South. One red field, one thunder-like groan from a prostrate, suppliant foe, and a people had attained their pre-ordained position, — that of framing for themselves a new, bright destiny.

But to the few, uncorrupted, undaunted defenders of Unity and Law, that " first gun at Sumter" was no signal-gun, arousing a people, oppressed, to rise and burst the shackles of despotic power. To ihem, that gun was a death-knell, booming over the South, bidding ' ' Chivalry " rise and finish the work, defeated ambition and unextinguishable rancor and jealousy had begun, — the digging of tlicir awn graves !

Having carefully chained his pack of hounds. Pomp followed on his master's footsteps. He stopped not at the house, but over the lawn, by the stables, down through the orchard, he trudged ; his"eye flashing the intensity of his joy, which the proper time and place heard to roll out, peal after peal, from the very depths of his capacious chest.

Seeking the shelter of a wide-spreading gum-tree, he stopped to rest, and, holding his hounds at arm's length, thus soliloquized : —