Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WAR SI * Stray 33its of Con (Mr. B. Wella, writer of the follow ing article, was a clerk in the war de partment in Washington several years during and after the civil war. After the fall cf the Confederacy lie was placed in charge of thc Confederate government papers which had been sent to Washington by General Sher man. In thia capacity Mr. Wella was summoned aa witness to the trial of Jefferson Davis in Ilichinond.) It is the settled policy of the Amer ican people that when a matter of na tional interest has ouce been fought out to the end, either on the fle'.d of battle, or thc lesa dangeroun field of public debate, thc issues involved thereafter pass from thc domain of politics to the domain of history, and are discussed L?y the victorious ur de feated party without any heat of pas sion or rancorous feeling. In thia way all parties alike discuss from the standpoint of history the Mexican war, the slavery question, secession and the late civil war. It in wonder ful how soon prejudice disappears, and thc political atmosphere becomes clear when once the struggle ia over. An issue settled once ia settled for all time. In thc busy rush of American life no F.ection of thc country can afford to sulk, or be illnatured over a defeated cauac. The commercial tica which bind tho nation together will not permit any section either to be revengeful in tho hour of victory or , ?strated io the hour of defeat. Cummeroo carries the olivo branch and brings about friendly relations. We are all fellow citizens now, loving our common country, using the past in such a manner that wo may thereby better serve tho present and future. I have been requested by some friendo to write a Bketoh of what I know of the "Confederate Archives," after a study of them for more than six years immediately after the close of the eivil war. What I shall have to say will be from a purely objective standpoint, and with no politics inter woven. I shall, in the language of the unfortunate Othello: "Nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice." The subject naturally divided itself into three heads: First-How were the archivos ob tained? Seoond-Of what do they consist? Third-Of what u?o have they beon to the country? Lee's Warning to Davis. A statement as to the manner in which the Confederate archives were obtained recalls lo oar minda the closing scenes of the war. With General Lee in the early p-;t of 1865 the question of the duration of the war was narrowed down to a mere matter of weeks or months, as circum stances might develop. Ho had kept Jefferson Davis duly advised of the dangerous tendency of passing events in military oiroles, and of the move ments whioh General Grant was mak ing or likely to make. Re saw that the boa constrictor of hostile forooB was tightening its hold and stiffening its muscles and drawing its folds slow ly and surely toward the center of the eirole within whioh lay the Confed erate oapital and its defenders. No help eould come to the threatened oapital from the far South, for Gen eral Joseph E. Johnston had more than ho oould handlo in opposing General Sherman. In view ot the gathering olouds General Leo had ad vised the Confederate government to be really to leave the beleaguered city cf Richmond on short notice. To meet such an emergency tho Confed erate government had strong boxes made of hard pine, suitable for hold ing valuable papers and booka. The ! Tccords were carefully packed in them, ' and the boxes wire ready to be closed, locked and shipped at thc last mo ment. Then came that memorable Sunday morning in April. 1805, when Lee's messenger sought Mr. Davis in church, and conveyed to him tho news that the Confederate lines wero hopelessly broken, and must fall baok and un cover Richmond and Petersburg. The Confederate government must leave Bichmond. All was hurry. Ware houses containing ootton and military -supplies were in flames ?nd dismay waa everywhere. Tho boxes of re cords, several hundred in number, were placed on the cars and shipped with all ppeed ?o Danville, and thence -into the line?* of Gen. Joe Johnston's army in North Carolina. Possibly some of tho records did not get that ifar hut I am speaking of the bulk of ?thc- Mr. DAV?B, John C. Brecken ridge, r crciary of war; John H. Rea gan, pi: (.master general, Judah P. 'Benjamin, secretary of state; General Sam Cooper, adjutant and inspector general, as well as other officials, were ORIES. .federate History. soon io tho same neighborhood, and in close communication with General Johnston. The last cabinet meeting took place within bis military lines. It was finally decided that Johnston could not hold out, and he was left to make bis own terms wi'.h Sherman. At that last meeting the question came up, "What shall be done with : the records?" One of the parties j present advised that they he burned j in order to prevent their capture by j the Federal troops. Hut General j Johnston was cool headed, as well ns a good lighter. Ile stated that when ! the war was over there would come a i time when tho history of the events I would have to he written. The United ; States would have the reports of bat ? tier, sent in by the Federal generals on I which to draw for historical material as well as the Congressional records. Thc South might want to write its version of the battles and sieges, the victories and defeats fought out in ? the Southern cause. Thc records of ; thc Confederate government would he of priceless value along this line. The South's side of thc war could not he written without access to the re cords written by Confederate officers. To destroy these records might he to cripple the South, ?nd render a South ern history well nigh impossible. He therefore advised that the Confeder ate archives bo turned over to General Sherman, with a request that they bo sent to tho adjutant general at Wash ington, and there preserved as a part of tho records of the war. The Davis Beauregard Fend. The records of thc armies under Beauregard, Johnston and Robert E. Lee were found among the archives. These were the records kept at the headquarters of these generals re spectively. It is needless to say that theso officers, having had a military ed;-.ration, kept their records well and in regulation style. Among the lot tere captured at Beauregard's head quarters were many letters of a politi cal oharacter, written by Augusta J. Evans, the Southern novelist and authoress of "St. Elmo," "Macarie" and "Beulah," books which had quito a run between 1861 and 1865, but now somewhat out of date, being founded on political conditions which are now settled and referred to only as matters of past history. These letters were on the current political affairs of that dato. They wore in her usual pleas ant style and breathed a lofty senti ment from a Southern standpoint. She was deoidedly opposed to the manner in whioh Jefferson Davis treated both Beauregard and "doe" Johnston, and denounced the Confed erate president for bis overbearing methods and despotic will. She dis liked Davis almost as much as she did the "Yankees." Beauregard's records showed the answers to these Jotters. They were strictly dignified responses to her viows, dwelling on his personal opinions of tho military situation, and the way in whioh affairs were con ducted by the Confederate chief mag istrate. His criticisms of him were many and bitter. It was an ill-con cealed secrot in military circles in the South that Davis and Beauregard wasted no love on each other, but hated with an intensity which noth ing ezcopt the danger to their com mon causo kept within bounds. Beauregard claimed that after the bat tle of Shiloh Mr. Davis, without cause, withdrew him from activo ser vice in the field, where he oould win distinction, and assigned him to en gineering and defensive duty at Charleston and other seacoast towns, whore he was practically shelved. Among other dooumcnts captured with Beauregard were several hundred anonymous printed pamphlets severe ly criticizing Mr. Davis for partiality, obstinacy and imperfect knowledge of tho military situation and for abuse of power. Under military law Beaure gard would have been oourlmartialed if bc had publioly expressed senti ments whioh were thus privately dis tributed among his trusted friends. The author was discreet enough to havo printed across the front page of j eaoh pamphlet in conspicuous type thc words "Printed but Not Publish ed." It was a fine point in the strategy of libel to .ell a '-hing with out saying it. It is not known wheth er Mr. Davis ever saw any of these documents, as they wero only intend ed for distribution among Davis's per sonal enemies in the Confederate Congress. In the letters of Beaure gard and Miss Evans and in the print ed pamphlet it was stated that Mr. Davis had, in the most important crisis of the war in the West, relieved General Johnston of a highly impor tant position in the field in front of Sherman's army, and had assigned him to the command of the defenses of Mobile, thus depriving the South of his valuable services, and had placel General John B. Hood i ri his place, for which position, they de clared. Hood was incompetent, as the battle of Franklin showed. Ali the disasters of the Confederate army in the West were ascribed to Mr. Davis's obstinacy and partiality. The corre spondence disclosed the fact that other officers were chafing under the arbitrary usc of power by Mr. Davis. At this same time enemies of the executive were making themselves heard io the Confederate house of representatives, notably Henry S. Foot, of Mississippi. Davis was be coming unpopular every day in the South, as one disaster after another befell the Confederacy and was charged up to him as the cause. Secrets from the Confederate Congress. The records of the Confederate Con gress came to us almost entire. They covered all the legislation from the beginning to thc close of the war. These debates and acts have all been published and need no special mention here. They have passed into history. In thc Confederate House were many speeches of criticism of Davis, Mr. Foote being conspicuously, a leader of the anti-administration party. Foote (?nally left Richmond in disgust and endeavored to reach the federal lilied and go North. Mr. Davis made the mistake of his life when he* sent troops after him and caught him be fore he reuched the federal iiucw and brought him buck to Richmond. Mr. Foote resumed his pljce iu the house and assailed Davis as before. The records of the executive ses sions of the Confederate Senate dis closed a bitter feud between Seuator Hill and Senator Yancey. In the heat of debate Hill struck Yancey a hard blow and felled him to thc floor. It is said that Yancey never entirely recovered from the effect of it, aud that it shortened bis life. The Senate passed a resolution that no account of it should be published. No records of the Confederate State department were found among the surrendered archiv?e. Certainly there must have been such records, but what became of them has never been disclosed. In the records of the Con federate Congress, however, were found many interesting papers sent there by the State department in an swer to resolutions of the Senate from time to time. In this way we have copies of many letters written fron France and England by Mason and Sidell. Judah P. Benjamin was Sec retary of State at Richmond at the time of the downfall of the govern ment. He made his way to Cuba anc thence to England, where he evei afterwards resided. Whether he tool the records of his department witt him, or destroyed them, or hid them has nover been known. Nap oh cn III Deceived the South. Here and there among the recordi of the Confederate war department and the letters of Mason and Sidell mentioned as found in congressional proceedings, we find that the Goofed orate government had secret agents ii France, England, Germany and th Netherlands. We ascertained th names of some of these. The letter from these men detail the efforts mad in France, England and Holland to oh tain recognition abroad. If we cai rely on the letters written from Paris found among the congressional re cords, tho late Louis Napoleon bel out hopes of ultimate recognition, an kept the Confederate representativ at Paris in a constant state of ezpec tanoy. We know now, however, tha the wily emperor did not intend t recognise the Confederaoy, but kop Confederate envoys dangling at th end of his fishing polo, playing wit them for politioal purposes, in ordc to keep tho United States in suffioiec awo to prevent an interference wit his plans for the establishment c Maximilian on the throne of Mexioc The Confederacy firmly expected rt cognition and the letters from Pari held out hopes to the last. 'The lei tors from England were not so buoj ant. While many of tho nobilit favored tho South, the middle olassei on account of slavery, were not t favorable. There were also among the archive incomplete reoordsof the Confedera! treasury department, showing the roi tine business, issues of treasury cote and bonds of various denomination Everyone has seen specimens of thei and a description of them is not n oessary. Tho heads represented c ^ them were these cf Jefferson Davi Alexander H. Stephens, "Stonewall Jackson, Mr. Trenholm and Mr. Men inger. The South had few facilitr for the manufacturo of suitable pap for suoh purposes or for engravin Tho bonds and notes presented rath a shabby appearance, when oompan with those of the United States. Se eral large dry goods boxes, sontainii Confederate money and bonds, we found among the records. The f* value of them amounted to many m lions of dollars, but the market val was quite another thing. Our offer turn the boxes of money ov r to t United States treasury, to be held 1 tho treasurer, was regarded as t standing joke of the season. F. '. Spinner, the treasurer, deolarod th the war department must not make t ornee a dumping ground nor an "0 Curiosity Shop." Besides that, he insisted no one was so well qualified to hold tho money of the deceased as the "administrator of the late lament ed." So we had to hold the money, but we were not required to give any bond on that account, and thc auditor of the treasury never asked auyone for an accounting along that line. Gen eral T. T. Eckert, assistant secretary of war, jocosely remarked that the more a man had of that kind of money the poorer ho was. So great had the value of the money depreciated in the latter days of thc war that a pair of boots cost $100, and it required more than that to pay a week's board. It was jokingly remarked that a head of a family needed a market basket full of money to buy a basket full of pro visions. This rise in the price of the necessities of life caused the authori ties at Richmond to appoint commis sioners to ^T?gulate the price of the commodities used in daily life. In the archives wc often ran across lists of prices established hy these commis sioners. Paper for writiog or print ing was very scarce in many parts of tho South. Some of the official re turns made by officers to the govern ment wore written on wall paper, and envelopes were often mado of the same material. Paper for printing hank notes was so scarce that they used ?"??ne times old paper of broken or su. pended hanks and printed new bills^of current hauks on thc reverse side of thc suspended bauk and can celled tho old hills with a stamp. Very few of the records of the Con federate navy were captured. Per haps sumo of tho missing papers oi the navy and State departments were accidentally burned at Richmond at the time of the exacuation. There fell iuto our hands much that related tc blockade running and correspondence with ageuts in Europe. This corre Bpondenoe was preserved on account of having been sent to Mr. Seddon secretary of war, and these lettcrf were kept at the Confederate wai office. When the Confederate forces wen driven out of New Orleans, and after wards.from Baton Rouge they carrier, away with t..em old records relating to the time when Louisiana was i Spanish, and afterwards French prov ince. They also took with them thi records of the Supreme Court of th? State. These records drifted abou from pillar to post in Louisiana an? Texas within the lines of General E K. Smith, and when he surrenderee to General Frank B. Heron of th United States volunteer forces, thee records of the State of Louisiana wen with the other property and fouu their way to Washington. Old, dust and crumbling with age, the record? written in Spanish and Frenoh over hundred years ago, were quaint an interesting as a study of a bygone age They were in strange contrast wit the records whioh were the product c the war. Old fashioned paper manu factured before any of the actors i the civil war were born, tied togethe with ribbons, whioh was the style i the days of Spanish and French ru! when high officials of noble blood re] resented their sovereigns beyond tl sea, an air of departed aristoorao hovered over the papers. Stately ac dignified to the last degree were tl doouments they handled and oareful! filed away for our respectful invest gatioo. We could almost imagine v saw the knightly royal officers wi had written and signed tnem in the Toyal master's name. The dooumen survived to tell their story of tl kingly days on Amerioan soil loi after the hands whioh had writti them had crumbled to dust. T doouments were cared for and at later day when peace had fully coi they were restored to the State Louisiana. One San's Double Dealing. For obvious reasons I wiihhold t name, but for the sake of couvenien I will oall him Colonel T. He was Southern birth and education, b lived in a Northern State before t war and when it began. He too) prominent part in politics, and opel and boldly proclaimed his sentimei in favor of the Southern cause. Th came the firing on Sumter and t President's call for troops to put do the secession movement. To the s priso of everyone, among the first enlist in the State where he was livi was Colonel T. He obtained a cc mission as major in the volunteer s vioc. From that moment he seen like a ohaoged man. He expresi no more sympathy for the South? oause, but entered heartily into < Union service. His regiment was dered to the front and participated many battles. He was not defioi in personal oourago, and was promo for bravery on the field of battle, the close of the war his regiment 01 to Washington with Sherman's ari Ho rod* ?*. fhn o panel raviAV in M 1865, wearing th<-. star of a brigac general. After the disbanding of tho vol teers forces ho'sought a poaitioi the regular army. Friends in h official circles testified to his gallar and to wounds reoeived in tho serv But his was the fate of Tantalus. 1 ooveted prite of a commission snatched from his outstretched ha by a circumstance as unforeseen as it was dramatic. Just at that time the Confederate archives arrived in Wash ington and were being inspected. Among the papers and letters captured from Jefferson Davis was one from Colonel T. * lt waB written to Mr. Davis one or two months before the firing on Sumter. It addressed him as an old friend and acquaintance of years gone by, approved of his course and expressed a wish for the success of the Confederate causo, and closed with a request for acommission in tho Southern army. There was no evi dence that Davis had ever answered the letter, no indorsement by him be yond the date of receipt. By one of those striking coincidences which arc sometimes met with in history, and startle us by the exactness with which they matoh the occasion, this letter to Mr. Davis was resurrected from the officia! graveyard tofrhich the Con federate chief had consigned it and hundred.-; of similar letters during the four years of war, and was carried to the Secretary, Mr. Stanton. Thus it came to pass that on a bright summer morning Mime months after the war there lay on the dei;k of the Secretary the application of the colonel asking for a commission in thc regular ser vice, and by its side this ghastly let ter for former years. Could tho letter of 1861 and the ap plication of 18G5 have been vitalized and made to assume human shape they would have stood arrayed against each other in armed hostility, so divergent were they in sentiment. The ghost of 1801 murdered the bright and loyal hopes of 1865. The four years of fighting, the soars received in battle, were all outweighed by thc words of the ill omened letter, written perhaps in a moment of haste and indiscretion, and before the feelings of the people had crystalled into that all consum ing loyalty which swept over the North after the fall of Sumter. He did not get his commission. He sought a civil position in the West at the hands of President Johnson. His name was sent in to the Senate by the Executive, but the Senate and the President were not on speaking terms just at that time, and spent their time principally in making faces at eaoh other from opposite ends of Pennsyl vania avenue. The Senators had heard of the letter and sent for a cer tified copy of it. The reading of the letter caused tho Senator? to say "no" with emphasis. Than letter came up against him every time he applied for a position and defeated him. I am not discussing whether this result was right. I am ouly stating facts. Puzzled. A man had been absent for some time, and during his absence had raised a pretty luxuriant crop of whiskers, mustache, etc. On return ing home he visited a relative, whose little girl he was very fond of. The little girl made no demonstra tion toward saluting him with a kiss, as was usual. "Why, ohild," said the mother, "don't you give Unole Will a kiss?" "Why, ma," returned the little girl, with the most perfect simplicity, "I don't see any place!" - A Germam inventor has produced an instrument to assist people to swallow pills. A small apparatus is plaoed in the mouth so that the open tube goes olose to the throat, the end is pressed and the pill is on its travel before the taker is svfare of the faot. - No wonder E*e didn't care for the Garden of Eden when-no furs were worn there. - Tho bigger a woman is in some spots the more ohp wishes she .were not so in some other spots. HEAL ENJOYMENT. The woman who reads this will under stand to the full what Mrs. Tipton meant when alie says; ?I am enjoying good many women who jjjpP^^^ ^^^B women, heals in? 81 iBwre^ffi^Sj ?animation and ulc?ration, and,'cures* female weakness. It makes weak women strong, sick women well. "It ia with pleanure X recommend Dr. Pierce's medicine," writes Mrs. Kora Tipton, of Cropper (Cropper Station), Shelby Ca, Kentucky. * You remember my case wa? one of female weakness and weak lunns. X bsd no appetite and would often snit blood ; waa confined lo my bed HlUfrt half of the time and could hardly stand on sny feet at times for the pains through my whole body and system. My husband had to pay large doctor bills for me, but since I have taken four homes of Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discov ery, four of ' Favorite Prescription ' and three vials of 1 Pleasant Pell*.ls' wc haven't paid any more doctor bills. It liad been seven months since I stopped usina *>.". Pierce's medicines and X have been enjayiniar good health all the time. ! ? ~- r-JLver prat-- Qu JJ - ;.-!Hr..-5 tnn MajhftsL for ? have received eomuch benefit. X pray thai many ??ho suffer as X did will take Dr. Pierce's medicines. X am sure they win never fhU to cure when given ? fair trial. Everybody tells me I took better than they ever saw me. X em sure I feel better than I ever did before." Favorite Prescription w has the testi mony of thousands of women to its com plete core of womanly diseases. Do not accept an unknown and unproved sub stitute in ita place. Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pelleta are a ladies*, laxative. No other medicine equals them for gentleness and thorough ness. The Kind Ton Havo Always Bought, and which has been is use for over SO years, has horne tho signature of and has been made under his pe?. ??^^*2^- sonal supervision since its infancy, ? S'C??C?u/?? Allow no ono to deceive you in this. All Counterfeits, Imitations and '? Just-as-good are but Experiments that trifle with and endanger the health of Infants and Children-Exp?rience against Experiment. What is CASTORIA Castoria is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Pare. goricV Drops and Soothing Syrups It is Pleasant, it contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other Narcotic substance. Its age is its guarantee. It destroys Worms and allays Feverishness. It cures Diarrhoea and Wind Colic. It relieves Teething Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food, regulates tho Stomach and Bowels, giving healthy and natural sleep, The Children's Panacea-The Mother's Friend? GENUINE CASTOR?A ALWAYS Bears the Signature of The Kind You Have Always Bought In Use For Over SO Years. THC CENTAUR COMPANY, TT MURRAY nTPCET. NEW YORK O ITT. Who PlltS Tip Your Prescriptions ? WE invite the privilege. We use the best quality of every drug ; we exercise the moat exacting care wita every part of the work. We produce medicine that brings the best p< ?tibie results. We charge only a living profit above tho cost ol materials. Let Us F jil Yuur Prescriptions. EVANS PHARMACY, i ANDERSON. 8. C. D. 8. VANDIVER. B. P. VANDP7ER VANDIVER BROS., GENERAL MERCHANTS, ? ANDERSON, 8. C., October 8, 1902. We propose pulling trade our way this Fall, and have made prices OD good, reliable, honest Goods that will certainly bring it. We have the strongest liue of Men's, Women's and Children's SHOES we have ever shown, and have them marked down so low that every pair ia a great value. We have another big lot of Sample Shoes that we throw on the market at factory prices. Come quick while we have your size. We are money savers on GROCERIES. Best Patent Flour $4.50 per J barrel, Best Half Patent Flour 84.00. Extra Good FI COFFEE, SUGAR, LARD, BACON, BR AN* * CORN and 0?T8 alnada in stock, just a little cheaper tuan the market prices. We are strictly in for business and want your trude. Try us and you will stick to us. Your truly, __^_VANDIVER BROS. JUST RECEIVED, TWO CARS OP BUGGIES, ALL PRICES, from a ?35.00 Top Buggy up to the finest Rubber Tired job -ALSO, - A LOT OF WAGONS, That we want to sell at once. We keep a large stock of Georgia Home Mrie Harness Cheap. The finest, light draft Mower In the world. Come and see it. * Yours in earnest, VANDIVER BROS. & MAJOR. Have J ust Received Two Oars Fine Tennessee Valley Red Cob Corn. PERFECTLY SOUND. You run no risk in feeding this to your a;u^. Will also make the very finest meal. Come quick before it is all gone. O. f?< ANDERSON A LONG LOOK AHEAD A man thinks it is when the matter of Un insurance suggests itself-but circumstan ces of late have shown how life hsuagsj??* thread when war, flood, hurricane and fi* ?HAICTIITT nvaitejrao vOS, ?Sd til" Onlj to be sure that your family is protected ? ease of calamity overtaking you is to v sure in a solid Company like The Mutual Benefit Life lus. Cfc Drop in and see us about it. SS? Sol. STATE AGENT, Peoples' Bank Building, : ANDERSON 0- &