Newspaper Page Text
LEE'S MISERABLE*).
BY JOHN ESTEN COOKE.
They called tliemselvea “Lee’s Misera
bles.”
That was a grim piece of humor, was it
not, reader? And the name had a some
what curious origin. Victor Hugo’s work,
Les Miserables , had been translated and
published by a house in Richmond ; the
soldiers, in the great dearth of reading
matter, had seized upon it; and thus, by
a strange chance the tragic story of the
great French writer, had become known
to the soldiers in the trenches. Every
where you might see the gaunt figures in
their tattered jackets bending over the
dingy pamphlets, “Fantine,” “Cosette,”
or “Marius,” or “St. Denis”—and the woes
of “Jean Valjean,” the old galley-slave,
found an echo in the hearts of these brave
soldiers, immured in the trenches and
fettered by duty to their muskets and their
cannon.
Singular fortune of a writer! Happy M.
Hugo! Your fancies crossed the ocean,
and, transmitted iuto anew tongue,
whiled away the dreary hours of the old
soldiers of Lee, at Petersburg!
Thus, that history of “The Wretched,”
was the pabulum of the South in 1864;
and as the French title had been retained
on the backs of the pamphlets, soldiers,
little familiar with the Gallic pronuncia
tion, called the book “Lee’s Miserables !”
Then another step was taken. It was no
longer the book, but themselves whom
they referred to by that name. The old
veterans of the army thenceforth laughed
at their miseries, and dubbed themselves
grimly “Lee’s Miserables!”
The sobriquet was gloomy, and there
was something tragic in the employment
of it; but it was applicable. Like most
popular terms, it expressed the exact
thought in the mind of every one—coined
the situation into a p.irase.
Truly, they were “The Wretched”—the
soldiers of the army of Northern Virginia,
in the fall and winter of 1864. They had a
quarter of a pound of rancid “Nassau ba
cou”—from New England—for daily ra
tions of meat. The handful of flour, or
corn meal, which they received, was
musty. Coffee and sugar were doled out
as a luxury, now and then only ; and the
microscopic ration became a jest to those
who looked at it. A little “grease” and
corn bread—the grease rancid, and the
bread musty —these were the food of the
army.
Their clothes, blaukets and shoes were
no better —even worse. Only at long in
tervals could the Government issue new
ones to them. Thus the army was in tat
ters. The old clothes hung on the men
like scarecrows, Their gray jackets were
in rags, and did not keep out the chilly
wind sweeping over the frozen fields.
Their old blankets were in shreds, and
gave them little warmth when they
wrapped themselves up in them, shiver
ing in the long cold nights. The old shoes
patched and yawning, had served iu
many a march and battle —and now al
lowed the naked soul to touch the hard
and frosty ground.
Happy the man with anew blanket!
Happy the possessor of a whole rounda
bout ! What millionaire or favorite child
of fortune passes yonder, the owner of an
unpatched oair of shoes ?
Such was" the rationsand clothing of the
army at that epoch—rancid grease, musty
meal, tattered jackets, and wornout shoes.
And these were the fortunate ones. Whole
divisions often went without bread, even,
for two days. Thousands had no jackets,
no blankets, and no shoes. Gaunt forms,
iu ragged old shirts and torn pantaloons,
only, clutched the musket. At night
they huddled together for warmth by the
fire in the trenches. When they charged,
their naked feet left blood-marks on the
abattis through which they went at the
enemy.
That is not an exaggeration, reader.
These facts are of record.
And that was a part only. It was not
only famine and hardship which they un
derwent, but the incessant combats and
mortal tedium of the trenches. Ah, the
trenches! Those words summed up a
whole volume of suffering. No longer
fighting in open field; no longer winter
quarters with power to range; no longer
freedom, fresh air, healthful movement—
til© trenches!
Here, cooped up and hampered at every
turn, they fought through all those long
months of the dark autumn and winter
of 18G4. They were no longer men, but
machines loading and firing the musket
and the cannon. Burrowing in their
holes, and subterranean covered-ways,
they crouched in the darkness, rose at the
sound of coming battle, manned the breast
works, or trained the cannon, day after
day, week after week, month after mouth,
they were there in the trenches at grim
work ; and some fiat of Destiny seemed
to have chained them there to battle for
ever ! At midnight, as at noon, they
were at their posts. In the darkness, dusky
figures could be seen swinging the sponge
staff, swabbing the cannon, driving home
the charge. In the starlight, the moon
light, or the gloom lit by the red glare,
those figures, resembling phantoms, were
seen marshalled behind the breastworks
to repel the coming assault. Silence had
fled from the trenches—the crash of mus
ketry and the bellow of artillery had re
placed it. That seemed never to cease.
The men were rocked to sleep by it. They
slept on iu the dark trenches, though the
mortar-shells rose, described their flaming
curves, and, bursting, rained jagged frag
ments of iron upon them. And to many,
that was their last sleep. The iron tore
them in their tattered blankets. They
rose gasping, and streaming with blood.
Then they staggered and fell ; when you
passed by, you saw a something lying on
the ground, covered with the old blanket.
It was one of ‘Lee’s Miserables,’ killed
last night by the mortars and gone to an
swer, ‘Hero !’ before the Master.
The trenches!—ah ! the trenches !
Were you in them, reader? Thousands
will tell you more of them than /can.
There, an historic was guarding the capi
tal of an historic nation—the great nation
of Virginia—and how they guarded it?
Iu hunger, and cold, and nakedness, they
guarded it still. Iu the bright days and
the dark, they stood at their posts un
moved. In tbe black night-watches as
by day—toward morning, as at evening—
they stood, clutching the musket, peering
out into the pitchy darkness ; or lay, doz
ing around the grim cannon, in the em
brasures. Hunger, and cold, and wounds,
aud the whispering voice of Despair, had
no effect on them. The mortal tedium
left them patient.
When you saw the gaunt faces contract
and tears flow, it was because they had
received some letter, saying that their
wives and children were starving. Many
could not endure that. It made them for
get all. Torn with anguish and unable to
obtain furloughs for a day even, they went
home without leave—and civilians called
them deserters. Could such men be shot
—men who had fought like heroes, and
only committed this breach of discipline
that they might feed their starving chil
dren ? And after all, it was not desertion
that chiefly reduced Lee’s strength. It
was battle which cut down the army—
wounds and exposure which thinned its
ranks. But thin as they were, and ever
growing thinner, the old veterans who re
mained by the flag of such glorious memo
ries, were as defiant in this dark winter of
1864, as they had been in the summer days
of 1862 and 1563.
Army of Northern Virginia!—old sol
diers of Lee, who fought beside your cap
tain until your frames were wasted, and
you were truly his “wretched” ones—you
are greater to me in your wretchedness,
more splendid in your rags, than the Old
Guard of Napoleon, or the three hundred
of Thermopyhe. Neither famine, nor na
kedness, nor suffering could break your
spirit. You were tattered and half-starv
ed ; your forms were war-worn ; but you
still had faith in Lee, and the great cause
which you bore aloft on the points of your
bayonets. You did not shrink iu the last
hour—the hour of supreme trial. You
meant to follow Lee to the last. If you
ever doubted the result, you had resolved,
at least, on one thing—to clutch the mus
ket, to the end, and die in harness !
Is that extravagance —and is that pic
ture of the great army of Northern Vir
ginia overdrawn ? Did they or did they
not fight to the end? Answer! Wilder
ness, ISpottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Charles
City, every spot around Petersburg where
they closed in death-grapple with the
swarming enemy :—Answer ! winter of
’6s—bleak spring of ’6s—terrible days of
the great retreat, when hunted down ami
driven to bay like animals, they fought
from Five Forks to Appomattox Court
House—fought staggering, and starving,
and falling —but defiant to the last!
Bearded men were seen crying on the
ninth of April, 1865. But it was surren
der which wrung their hearts, and brought
tears to the grim faces Grant’s cannon
had only made “Lee’s Miserables” cheer
aud laugh. —From ‘ Mohus ’ or the Fast
Days of Lee and his Paladians—by John
Esten Cooke.
TRAVELER’S GUIDE.
The following is a corrected schedule of
the various Railroads leading out of Ma
con :
CENTRAL RAILROAD —DAT TRAIN.
Leaves Macon 7 00 A. M.
Arrives at Savannah 5 80 p. m.
Leaves Savannah 8 00 A. m.
Arrives at Macon 0 40 P. M.
NIGHT TRAIN.
Leaves Macon 6 25 P. M.
Arrives at Savannah 5 10 A. m.
Leaves Savannah 7 20 p. m.
Arrives at Macon 6 55 a. m.
CENTRAL TO AUGUSTA—DAT TRAIN.
Leaves Macon 7 00 A. m.
Arrives at Augusta 5 38 p. m.
Leaves Augusta 8 45 A. m.
Arrives at Macon 6 40 p. m.
CENTRAL TO AUGUSTA—NIGHT TRAIN.
Leaves Macon 6 25 p. it
Arrives at Augusta 3 13 a. m.
Xjeaves; Augusta -0 33 p m.
Arrives at Macon 6 55 A. M.
MACON AND EATONTON—THROUGH TRAIN.
Leaves Macon 0 25 P. M.
Arrives at Milledgeville 8 58 p. m.
Arrives at Eatonton 11 00 P. m.
Leaves Eaton ton 2 40 p. m.
Leaves ;Milledgeville 4 35 p. m.
Arrives at Macon 8 40 p. m
SOUTH-WESTERN RAILROAD—TO COLUMBUS.
Leaves Macon 7 25 A. M.
Arrives at Columbus 1 22 p. m.
Leaves Columbus 12 25 p. M
Arrives at Macon - 6 05 p. 5*
SOUTH-WESTERN—TO ALBANY AND EUFAULA.
I laves Macon 8 00 A. M.
Arrives at Eufaula 5 30 p. ir.
Leaves Eufauia 7 20 a. m.
Arrives at Macon 4 50 p. m
Connecting with Albany Trains at Smithvi!'
and Fort Gaines Trains at Cuthbert.
MACON AND WESTERN RAILROAD.
Day Train leaves Macon 7 45 A. m
Day Train arrives at Macon 1 30 p. m
Night Train leaves Macon 8 40 p. m
Night Train arrives at Macon 2 10 a. m
Day Train leaves Atlanta 7 55 A. m
Day Train arrives at Atlanta 2 00 p. m
Night Train leaves Atlanta 6 30 p. m
Night Train arrives at Atlanta 4 10 a. s>
No Day Train on Sunday.
MACON AND BRUNSWICK RAILROAD.
Passenger Train leaves Macon 3 00 p. m
Passenger Train arrives at Macon 10 30 A. M
GEORGIA RAILROAD—ATLANTA TO AUGUSTA.
Day Passenger Train.
Leaves Atlanta 5 00 A. m.
Arrives at Augusta -3 45 f. m.
Leaves Augusta 7 00 A. m.
Arrives at Atlanta 6 30 p. m.
Night Passenger Train.
Leaves Atlanta -5 40 p. m.
Arrives at Augusta -3 00 A. M.
Leaves Augusta 10 00 A. m.
Arrives at Atlanta 7 40 p. m.
Day Trains only connect with Brancn Roads at
Union Point, Cam at and Barnett.
MACON AND AUGUSTA RAILROAD.
Leaves Milledgeville 5 30 A. M.
Arrives at Augusta -3 45 p. m.
Leaves Augusta 7 00 A. M.
Arrives at Milledgeville 6 20 p. m.
Notice.
GEORGIA, JONES COUNTY.—AII persons indebted
to the estate of Beauford Stallworth, late of said
county, doceased, are hereby required to make imme
diate payment; and those having demands agaijjst
said estate are hereby notified to present them prop
erly attested, to us. within the time prescribed by law.
DAVID E. BLOUNT, ) Fxra
THOMAS H. STALLWORTH, J f ' xrß '
sept23-dtwtd.
FULL AND COMPLETE STOCK.
AND MEDICINES,
Pure and Reliable.
PATENT MEDICINES,
Standard and Humbug.
PAINTS AND OILS,
Low for the Cash.
VARNISHES,
Equal 1 •' any.
TOILET PERFUMERY.
French, English, and Yankee.
COMBS AND BRUSHES,
In fine Variety.
WINDOW GLASS,
French, of all sizes.
SMOKING TOBACCO, "THAT."
CHEWING TOBACCO,
Best in Macon.
All of which we can be easily induced to part
with tor the Cash.
oel7-ct MASSENBURG, SON & HARRIS.
W. J. McELROY,
Manufacturer of Copper and
Tin Ware.
ORDERS from Mercliautslor Wholesale bills of
Tiu Ware will meet with prompt attention.
Direct to W. J. McELROY', Macon, Ga., or leave
with D. Good & Hon, 3d Str et, where I have a lot
of St ill-, Stoves, and Tin Ware for sale, and am
prepared to make any sized Stills to order.
ie2s ly.
| 'it J
Ift ■ ...rf;
rsvHE UNDERSIGNED IS PREPARED TO FUU-
J. rush the TRADE with this
CELEBRATED TIE,
ALSO,
. S"W BEX'S
SELF-FASTENING BUCKLE,
In quauties Irom one ton aud upwards, at LOW
EST MARKET PRICES.
JAMES A. HALL,
jy 6-dawtf AgentMhhlle ands, W. Ha.
HARDEMAN & SPARKS
TO THE PLANTERS IN
Middle and Southern Georgia.
FOR TWENTY YEARS we have served yon,
we believe faithfully. Our success depends
upon your prosperity ; hence we have zealously
ought to promote your interest and advance It
oy every means In our power. As Commission
Merchants we again tender you our services, at
our old stand, which has withstood the flames of
a burning square (thereby proving Its security),
and where we hope to merft the very liberal pat
ronage always given us.
The sale of Cotton is our specialty. We flatter
ourselves none can excel us. To old friends we
return tnanks; to new ones, try u», we will try
to please you.
Usual accommodations given to enable you to
make a crop. THUS. HARDEMAN, Ju.,
sept23-daw3m O. G. HPARKB.
Jonathan Collins & Son,
• AT THE OLD
Coates & Woolfolk Warehouse,
THIRD STREET, MACON, GA.,
WOULD RESPECTFULLY CALL THE AT
TENTION of their Planting friends, and
Cotton Shippers generally, to the fact that their
Warehouse, Having been put in complete order,
is now ready lor the reception of consignments.
Thanking them for past favors, our utmost ef
forts shall De to deserve their confidence In the
future. ocl2-d*wlm
SASH, BLINDS, DOORS,
MOULDINGS AND BRACKETS,
Ready-Made and Bash Glazed.
-ALL KINDS OF
-ORNAMENTAL, COTTAGE, HOUSE AUD STORE
Work done to order In the best and latest
styles.
House and Kitchen Furniture,
Planing, Sawing and Turned Work, Counters,
Tables, and Stool* for Store*.
Repairing of all kinds done cheaply, and with
dispatch. Send or call at Factory, foot of Third
Street, on
Wharf Street, Macon, Ga.
GRENVILLE WOOD.
Jan3o-ly-w6m _
SEYMOUR AND BLAIR
PAPER AND ENVELOPES.
For sale by
sepls-tf] J. W. BURKE & CO.
OFFICIAL.
PROCLAMATION
BY THE GOVERNOR,
\IfIIKREAS, Notwithstanding the l’xtcu. ~. p
V, clain.uion of September 14ih. 186s
acts have occurred in violation thereof, where', ’"
lives anti property of citizens have been de.ir ~ .
light of free speech impa'red, tbe perform n i
duties of the offices to which citizens have t f
ed dutiied. the lives of citizens so threatened
cause them to abandon their homes un ij r
and
Wiurkas, “The protection of persons ami p r .
is the paramount, duty of Government, .vjj .
impartial and complete';” and
Whirkas, The Sheriff of each county is, (, T ,
charged with the preservation of life, propf.ru v ,
peace in each county:
.Vow, Therefore. I, ltufus B. Bullock, to v. rn, ,
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and N»w -
State of Georgia, and of the Militia thereof, do
issue this, my I’roclamotion, charging and r m r ~
the said Sheriffs, and each and every other c.v.
in every county in this State, to sec to it that th, , .
and property of all citizens, anil the pea e ; ./
peace of the community, are preserved'; audt ,
persons are protected in the free exercise ■
civil and political rights and privileges; and
to make known that, for failure in the porform.• .
duty, the said Sheriffs, ami other civil officers. .
held to a strict accountability under the law .
charge upon every person resident in this su;-7- ,
they render prompt and willing obedience to tic
Sheriffs and other civil officers, under all tireu, o ~.
whatsoever ; and that they demand from said u,
protection, when threatened or diaturlieu in th.,:
sons or property, or with denial of political, r V
rights; and that, failing to receive such prcu-oima
they report facts to this Department
The following extract from General Orders. N ,
dated October S, IS6B, from headquarters lispartmrm
of the South, is published for tho information of■ :
officers and the general public, by which it will l„- D
that said civil officers will, in the performance oft., ,
duties, be sustained by the military power of • .
United States.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the Slat,
at the Capitol iu Atlanta, this Ninth ilav of ci.h.;Ut
in the Year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and
Sixty-Eight, and of the Independence of the Unite I
States of America the Minty-Third.
RUFUS 11. BULLOCK,
By the Governor: Governor.
David G. Lotting,
Secretary of State.
IIZADQCARTBRS Dt£?ARTMF.NT OP T!!K Sol Eg, 1
Atlanta, Ga., October Sth, 18GS. j
General Orders No. 27.
“WitiRZAS, By an act of the Congress of Die United
States, approved March J2,186i it is made the duty of
the military authority t < pres i#b the peace .a ,
at any election which nay Im, hel, 1 in liny of tlieMiate*;
and.
“Whzrxas, This duty has become the more impera
tive from the existing political excitement in the put,
lie mind, from the recent organization of civil guv •rn
ment, and front the fact that Congress has by ,i»:uie
prohibited the organization of military forces in the
■everal States of this Department; it is therefor •
“ Ordered , That the several District Commander,
will, as soon as practicable on tho recept of this one,
distribute the troops under their commands a# („
lows:
*•**••*•
In the District of Georgia:
One Company 16th Infantry to Albany.
One Company 16th Infantry to Columbus.
One Company 10th Infantry to Macon.
One Company 16th Infantry to Augusta.
One Company 16th Infantry to Washington, Wilke<
County.
One Company 16th Infantry to Americus.
000 Compauy (C) sth Cavalry to Athens.
The Company at Savaunah to be reinforced, should
occasion require, by such men at Fort l’tila-ki us can
be spared from the post.
*•••••••
“Detachments, when neces-ary, may be made to
points in the vicinity of each post; but in no ca-e, nor
on any pretext whatever, will detachments be sen
without a commissioned officer, who in 11 bo fully in.
structed by liis post commander.
“The troops will be considered as in the field,and
snpplied witti the necessary camp equipage; the men
to be furnished with common tents, if practicable, and
if not practicable, with shelter tents. Oommaiutini;
officers are permitted to hire quarters, temporar, ),
when it can be done for reasonable rales; but this will
not preclue tho necessity of carrying tents, as th#
commands, in all cases, must be in readiness to tnov#
at tbe shortest uotice, with all supplies required for
their efficiency,
“District Commanders will instruct Post Command
ers in their duties, and the relative position of civil
and military powers. They will impress on Post Com
manders that they arc to act in aid and i-o-operati ,n.
and in subordination to the civil authorities; that they
are to exercise discretion and judgment, unbiased
by political or other prejudices; that their object
should be exclusively to preserve the peace and up
hold law and order, and they must be satisfied such i«
the object of the civil officer calling on them for aid;
that they must in all cases, where time will penn.t, ip
ply for instruction to superior authority, but they
must, at all hazards, preseve the peace, and not lie
restrained by technical points, when, in their nm-r
--entious judgment, tinder the rules above set forth, it is
their duty to act. Post Commanders, on beingootinci
of the proposed holding of political meeting., mtr
send an officer, and, if necessary, a detachment, to
watch the proceedings and see that th# pea'’# a
preserved.
“To tt e people of the several States comp,-.ngth*
Department the Major Genera! Conimandiny sv'i’*I**' 1 **'
that they will co-operate with him and the civil auvi.oi
ities in sustaining law atid order, in preserving tt#
'p»ace, and in avoiding those soenes of riot and I
shed, and the wanton destruction of property at
llte, which has already, in some instance#,been en
acted in this Department. He urges abstinence r n
all inflammatory and incendiary appeals to the p»-
sions; discountenancing the keeping open ofhi.'r
shops on days of political meetings and of elec: i.
the abstaining from carrying arms, and asserting!:.#;
individual right of construing laws by force of arm*.
No juet cause is advanced by resort to violence.
there be charity and forbearance among j.olitical P
ponents. whatever may be the resuli. Let each K and
citizen determine that all who, under tho law, h»»# *
right to the ballot shall exercise it undisturbed. It
there are disputed points of law, let them ben-furred
to the Courts, and let not metis or poiitieal club". >r
other irresponsible bodies, conetnie and uudfwtafca to
execute the law. This appeal is made in the earnest
hope that the Major General Commanding can rely ‘ n
the good sense and correct judgment of the m ' >
the people, and that he will not he compelled to n-- ’rt
to the ex.-rcise of the power with which he in
trusted, and which he will most reluctantly emr Inf-
But he thinks it his duty to make known lhat,»o far a#
the power under his command will admit, he will not
permit the peace to be broken, and tliat he will not 1*
restrained in the conscientious discharge of his duty
by technicalities of laws made when the present anom
alous condition of affairs was neither anticipated nor
provided for.
“By order of Major General Meade.
ocl3el*wnov3 “R. C. DRUM, A. A-G.
Initial Paper and Envelopes.
TYAPER AND ENVELOP JM with Initials, plainer*
1 •oloia, for a»l* bjr J. W. kURJKfI AW.