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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.