Newspaper Page Text
(NEW SERIES,I
X VOL. 11. /
NO. 13.
Letter from California.
Evergreen Home, ) .
Linns Valley, Kern Cos., Cal., J-
Nov4l2th, 1871. ) I
Friend Banner: \
The enclosed editorial, clipped from
the Bakersfield CovUrur, (a ]taper pub
lished in this countyYjgill be a sufficient
ajto ogy for my introducing to your
columns the invincible Capt. Hudnut,
of the Federal army.
In said editorial - he takes notice of
the modest little note I wrote to you,
in which I attempted a short eulogy
upon the character of Gens. Lee,
Jackson and A. P. Hill. He deals me
a thundering anathema for naming u»y
boy for Stonewall Jackson. My object
in this letter is to assert that right,
while 1 fconcede to him the right tq
name his son for Beast Ben. Butler, if
he choose to do so, consoling myself
with the fact that the colt of an as!
was named for an ass.
This brtd anathema, in which w|
are forbidden to name our sons for tl®
noblest men of the sunny South, lias
aroused both the ire and the fears of
our Southern dames
,111../*, VoliF humble servant
was commissioned to give the odorifer
ous varmint a pounding. I obey. Now,
hat, lie there! Ladies give me some
cotton to stuff in my nose till I give the
pestiferious brute such a thrashing
that he will, for the future, keep closee
to his hole. I hereby announce that
for the future he shall not disturb either
children or hen-roosts. Perhaps it
would be best to farther advance the
Captain’s claims to notoriety to give a
short biograpical sketch of his life. I
shall limit myself to his achievements
while in the Federal army. At the
time the war broke out he was engaged
in the business of gold mining in Cali
fornia. He found nothing in the char
acter of the war to call forth his pa
triotic ardor, until colored troops were
introduced into the service. This at
once raised his patriotism to a burning
heat, and laid the foundation for his
future glory.
He ruslfcd East; was given the
command of a company of colored
gentlemen (we are not allowed to say
“niggers” these days). He was both
commander and companion of these
chivalrous gentlemen soldiers; with
them he rushed to the rear of the Fed
eral army. Here history loses sight of
him and his splendid deeds, but he
burns a beacon light in the pleasant
places of romance and tradition. He
won especial notoriety in one of those
gallant charges in which he joined
from Gen. Jeb. Stuart, leading off in
the advance ip magnificent style, he
and his colored troops rushing fearless
ly, on. One of his achievements in
this charge is worthy of particular
notice, as given in the traditions of
Shenandoah. While charging bold.y
in advance of Gen. Stuart, his zeal be
came so great that he outran his horse,
leaped over his head and caught up
wrong end down in a hollow' black
gum stump!—his extremities present
ing the romantic appearance of a pair
of inverted fire tongs. This was no
doubt the greatest achievement of the
war. Tradition has busied itself w'ith
another of his achievements, which is
worthy of notice, in which he made
twenty marches in as many days, con
querred, as many henroosts, drove
twenty rebel widows into their cellars,
BY THE CHRONICLE POBUfPNG COMPANY, AUGUSTA, GA.
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1872.
made his boy to the colored
fair Qpoks,jind returned—to the Fed
eral lines, 'covered with glor—-pshaw!
I mean, feathefsl Now, Captain, stand
aside, tSi I talk Vith gentlemen awhile.
Friend Banner, I propose now, to
»ho\k Gen. Jackson’s political enemies’
Union history of unquestionable integ
i|ty, that his character is worthy of the
highest honors. I shall quote from
'fenny’s History of the Great Rebel
lion, pages 756-7. “The character of
Jackson was developed only during
the two brief but momentuous years
which succeeded the outbreak of the
war. Had secession never taken place,
he might have lived and died the ob
scure and eccentric professor which the
could have predicted (hat under so
quiet an exterior he concealed an im
petuous bravery, rivaling that of Nev
aud Launes, and an energy, ripened
judgment, and command of resources to
which those generals could lay no
claim."- Here an eminent historian,
and a tVoble political enemy, has the
maafnahlmity to place Gen. Jackson in
advance of two of the great cat -
’Jr
"AgmnTfrom^me'Same authority we
read: “To extreme simplicity of man
lier and address he united*transparent
honesty of character, and a genuine
humanity, which, in the midst, of a
civil war, of unexampled fury, caused
him to be respected alike by friends
and foes.” Surely none but a demon
could censure a man for honoring a
moral and military-hero, thus presented
to the world by his political foes.
While virtue lingers upon earth, surely
Jackson’s name will be revered. Now
for one of the reasons, (I say one, for
the reasons are very numerous,) why I
honor Gen. A. P. Hill as one of the
Lions of the Sogth: “Orders were
given to Gen. Jackson to cover the re
treat in case the army should have to
fh.ll back, and directions were sent to
Richmond to get all the public proper
ly ready for removal. The Federal
forces perceiving the confusion, began
step by step to press forward. The
posture of affairs at this time is thus
related by a Confederate officer : ‘The
enemy noticing our confusion, now
advanced with the cry. “Onward to
Richmond.” Along the whole hostile
front rang the shout “Onward to
Richmond!” Manyj old soldiers who
had served in distant Missouri, and on
the plains of Arkansas, wept in the
bitterness of their souls like children.
Os what avail had it been to us that
our best Wood had flowed for six long
days ? Os what avail all our unceas
ing and exhaustless endurance! Eve
rything seemed lost, and a general de
pression came over all our hearts.
Batteries dashed by in .headlong flight.
Ammunition, hospital and supply wa
gons rushed along and swept the troops
away with them from the battle-field.
In vain the most frantic exertion, en
treaty and self-sacrifice of the staff offi
cers. The troops bad lost their foot
hold and all was over with the South
ern Confederacy. In this moment of
\ desperation, Gen. A. P. Hill came up
with a few regiments he had managed
to rally. But the enemy was continu
ally pressing nearer and nearer. Cav
alry officers sprang from their saddles
and rushed into the ranks of the in
fantry regiments, now deprived of their
proper officers. Gen. Hill the
standard of the 4th North Carolina
regiment, which lie had formerly com
manded, and wilted to the soldiers,
‘lf you will not fellow me I will per
ish alone!’ Upeu this a number of
officers dashed foifeard to cover their
beloved general wfti their bodies ; the
soldiers hastily jallied; and the cry
‘Lead on, Hill; a*ad your old North
Carolina boys!’ ose over the field.
And now Hill cl irged forward with
this mass he hadt ms worked up to the
wildest enthusiast . The enemy halted
when they now s< v these columns in
flight a moment b Pore, now advancing
to the attack, and Hill burstupon his
late pursuers like a famished lion!"
Page 250. I hard not room to make
further quotations, but will state that
the result of thffl heroic devotion re
stored the Confed ?rate army to order
and saved it until approaching dark
ness, and should embalm the meitl'ory
of Hill in the betfrfr of every son and
daughter of Dixiell Then let me say
to Southern dames," bring your tribute
of evergreen and pfecc it on his grave,
and honor him by aiming for him your
healthiest and boys. Now,
-OtftU.H ,
worthy, but time and space admonish.
As my name is anathema, and as the
Courier has predicted that .in a short
time there will be no rebels bold enough
to name their sons for such men as
Jackson, Davis and Hill, I suppose I
would as well make a clean breast
confess all my sins. I shall do so by
transcribing a few lines from the Poeti
cal Panorama of Life, p. Ist, in which
I have attempted to do further honor
to the memory of Jackson. These
lines were written a few davs after his
death:
SOLDIERS’ FAREW LL TO STONE
WAI ~
Fare thee well, Stone\ .11, though thou’rt
gone to the gravi
Thy spirit still wars i the heart of the
brave;
Thy memory shall nerv Jus when we strike
the dread blow,
At the heart of the t *ant—our country’s
wild foe.
Thy name is enrolled id thy story is told
On the page with Time on, Cincinnatus of
old;
May thy deeds ever be e boast of the free,
And thy monument a nd by our Liberty
tree.
When the goddess ol eedom is crowned
in our land, -
And we lead forth #vr lildren to greet the
fair dame;
With hearts overHowiito the Maker of all
They’ll whisper with ujerence the name of
Stonewall t
Modest, reserved, lira thy country iiad
peace,
But to tyrants thy sbrfl was the antrel of
death ;
In flanking the so the whole annals of
time,
Can show no examp-to rival thy fame.
No marble is neededGfame to imparts
’Tis written by wort lot the whole human
heart;
And history has caujtkp the bright blazon
tale, *
Triumphant it rides <|te sea and the gale.
Peace, peace to thee Me wall, in the king
dom above, 1 i
Where men are all bditrs and the Father
is love;
There calmly reposc-a me bosom of Him
Whose life is eterl 4id unbounded by
time. | ,
Thy warfare is ove>nd tnded thy strife,
Go, rest in the sliadneaf the River of Life;
The heroes who and foj their own sunny
South,
Now rest with fr chief in immortal
youth.
I shall complete my confession by
showing that in the “Panorama of
Southern Life” I have taken notice of
another notable General of the Shenan
doah —for instance, the immortal John
Pope, selected by the President to take
Richmond in forty, days.
THE IMMORTAL JOHN POPE.
“How long to take Richmond, including
delays ?”
He’d bag the old city In just forty days.
The President smiled; being fc4d of mean
tools,
To conquer Virginia selected a fool.
Him shall we compare to the Alfreds and
Bruces.
They fought for their crowns, John Pope
for the gooses;
Their object was glory—our hero’s pot pie,
Instead of the rebels he made feathers fly.
Yes, Pope is the general, yes, Pope is the
man,
Yet he “ratted” a little on old Uncle Sam.
He massed Ills troops near the famous Bull
Run,
But by a mistake charged on Washington.
Headquarters in saddle, and in his shirt
He swept on the city of a breeze;
| On the sea offfifamywetewrt^^Ufl^L
We can not affirm if astride or astraddle.
But this much is certain, headquarters in
saddle;
The pony being lashed, dashed off to the
devil,
And left his grand army a prey to the rebel.
These are a few out of the many
compliments that I have bestowed upon
the immortal John Pope. ‘X am sure
the Captain will thank me for these,
and if properly appreciated I shall’
perhaps, enlarge upon the virtues of
that general who was especially com
missioned to take Richmond in iust
forty days!
I hope this confession will be duly
appreciated by my friend the Courier. '
Yours, in faith, hope and charity, *
Will iam Higgins, p
A Specimen or the Kern County
Democracy. —A citizen of this county
| manifests himself in a letter which ap
pears in the Banner or tiie South,
published at Augusta, Ga., dated
“Evergreen Home, Linn’s Valley, Kern
County, Cal., July 27th, 1871,” in
vvjhich he sets out by thanking the pro
prietors of that journal for their kind
ness in continuing it to him two
months after his subscription had run
out, while we infer that he encloses
the price of anew subscription with
directions to send it in the name of his
“little son.” He then proceeds to in
form the editor that said “little son” is
named after the “immortal Stonewall
Jackson, and that life object in having
the paper sent in his name is, “to in
spire him to read, v and to bring within
the scope of his mind, the true spirit
of the South." He then impresses it
upon the editorial mind that, “In our
admiration of ‘Father Lee’ (the greatest
man of the American continent) let us
not forget Stonewall Jackson and A.
R. Hill, the LIONS of the South.”
We can assure him there is no danger
of these men being forgotten, as lon<v
as history chronicles the infamous, liift
we trust there are few, at this day, to
be found insane enough to be guility
of the stupid fully of placing the brand
of Cain on their offspring in order to
oontinue their notoriety.
lie then bestows a deserved tribute
on the value of the “Banner” as an ag
ricultural paper. If it were not for
(OLD SERIES,!
X VOL. 111. I
its treasonable tendencies, we are free
to admit, it would deserve a place
among the first-class journals of the
country, but, so long as this unhealth
ful, morbid spirit pervades it, the im
pression it conveys must be something
like that of a fine tree, its vitality be
ing sapped with the disgusting ad
vances of decay. Its views, however,
on agriculture and rural economy are
generally sound, and particularly adapt
ed to this latitude, and the announce
ment that the writer makes that he in
tendends to get up a club of ten sub
scribers to it, affords us pleasure. It is
an able advocate of the polioy of doing
away with the fence system, and if it
were widely circulated through our
mountain valleys, it might do much to
open the eyes of the residents in those
places to the rank injustice and iniquity
of lending their aid to perpetuate it.
In conclusion he cheers the “Ban
ner” with the assurance that “we in
tend to run the Democratic ticket
straight through.in California, Gover
nor Haight beating the standard.”
The “Banner” is aware, probably, be
loyalty and treason growß more
table; the names of such men as Lee,
Davis, Stonewall Jackson and others’
more infamous, and there is no doubt
that the Democracy of this State owe
their overwhelming defeat to the
affiliation of such men with them, as
the writer of this letter and other ad
mirers of the traitors we have named.
Iheir only hope for the future is to at
once cast off all such excrescetiscsand to
compel them to form an insignificant
party by themselves, where they will
have nothing to shield them from the
full measure of obloquy and contempt
they deserve, and which now fails
equally, if not to a greater extent on
those who do not deserve it.—Bakers
field ( Cal.) Courier.
. Sleep and Rest for Farmers. —Said one
, th <L old , eßt and most successful farmers in
New York: “I do not care to have my men
get up before five or half-past five m the
, morning, and if they go to.bcd early and
| if they can sleep soundly, they will do more
work than if they got up at four or half-past
four. We do not believe in the eight-hour
law, but, nevertheless, are inclined to think
that, as a general rule, we work too many
hours on the farm. The best man we ever
had to dig ditches seldom worked, when dig
n by the rod, more than nine hours a day.
it is so in chopping wood by the cord,
me men who accomplish, the most, work the
ffewest hours. They bring all their brain
and muscle into exercise, and make every
blow tell. A slow, plodding Dutchman may
turn a grindstone or fanning-mill better than
an energe! :c Yankee, but this kind of work
is now mostly done by horse-power, and the
farmer needs, above all else, a clear head
with all his faculties of mind and muscle
light and active aud under complete control.
Much, of course, depends on temperament;
but, as a rule, such men meed sound sleeD
and plenty of it. F
? bo Y on the farm, we were told
that Napoleon needed only four hours sleep,
and the old nonsense of “five hours for a
man, six for a woman, and seven for a fool ”
was often quoted. But the truth is, that
.Napoleon was enabled in a great measure to
accomplish what he did from the faculty of
sleeping soundly—of sleeping when he slept
and working when he worked. We have
sat in one of his favorite traveling carriages,
a "<J ” w . as 80 arranged that he could lie down
at ruli length, and when dashing through
the country as fast as eight horses, frequent
y changed, could carry him, he slept sound
vi and when he arrived at his destination
was as fresh bs if he had risen from a bed
ot down. Let farmers, and especially far
mere boys, have plenty to eat, and nothing
t 0 nn * £ ’ a ** sleep tiiey can take.
— N. Y. Agriculturist
NO. 82