Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. A Young Confederate Writer "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore Friday, March 22, 1991 A few days ago I found a letter dated March 21, 1865, written by a young lady living in the western section of Cumberland County to a cousin. Her father was too old to go to war. This letter gives one an idea of the suffering of women and children by deeds of Sherman's Army. When this letter was written she probably had received news of the fighting at the Battle of Bentonville. My Dear Cousin: Well I have seen the Yankees at last and I earnestly pray that I may never see them again. The 9th of March will ever be remembered by me. The vagabonds appeared here early this morning. We had no idea that they were within fifty miles of here. It seemed that day that heaven had forever turned from us. There were 150 men in the first squad that came here and such a yell as they gave when they rode in the gate a mortal ever heard ! I was not frightened one bit, it seemed as though my very soul turned to stone and I never felt nor cared for anything. Papa ran to the swamp as soon as he saw them coming, and they started in the woods to find him and swore by all the saints in Heaven that they would kill him if they found him. You can imagine our anguish and how we suffered on his and Willie's account, who was with him. The rascals all came in and in less than ten minutes, the the house was stripped of almost everything. Pa had fortunately the night before concealed his watches and our jewelry in a very nice place somewhere about the house. I did not know where, and the Yankees, of course, concluded as there was so much in the house that there must be watches also. One of them came to me to know where they were, and I of course refused to tell. He then immediately presented a pistol to my head and swore he would take my life if I did not tell him but I was firm as a rock and though I was completely in his power, I defied him to touch me. Finding at last that it was utterly useless to try to get anything out of me, he went off swearing that was the d--st rebel he had ever seen, which I considered was very much a compliment. There was an officer with the first men that came and our drooping spirits were revived about one o'clock by the sight of a Yankee officer. He came to the house and introduced himself as Lieutenant Bracht. Mama and I immediately appealed to him for protection and he soon had order restored in the house and gave us a guard. I think he was very much of a gentleman. He was very kind to me which is something I did not expect. I did not think there was a gentleman in the whole Yankee army, but now I know there is one, if no more. He came too late to save any of our property that the Yankees wanted. They carried off everything we had to eat, did not leave us a grain of corn or coffee or anything that would sustain life. They found all our silver and took every knife, fork and spoon that we had. Twenty-five thousand men passed here and I assure you that I could not see across the road for three whole days for the men. They set pine woods on fire all around us. They set on fire all the rosin they could find and turned night into day. I hope that you may never go through all the anguish I did in that one week. They carried off a great many of our clothes, have not left me a cloak or shawl of any kind, tore the silk off all to pieces and carried off my best dresses and two of mama's silks. We have not one blanket in the house, and only a half dozen quilts. Every one of our servants went, and mama and I have had to do all the work. The Yankees burned our barn and swore they would burn the house over our heads, but Providence saved it, I cannot tell you now how. The 14th Yankee army corps, the one that was here has been cut to pieces, so I hear. I hope they will not spare one of them ! The Yankees were about to find the watches when mama took them to Lieut. Bracht and he took care of them for us so long as he stayed with us. He was here all Thursday and that night and guarded the house for us. I sat up in the parlor and played on the piano and sang for the Yankees till 12 o'clock Thursday night. The first that came compelled me to play for them, but I vowed that I would play nothing but Southern songs, and I know you would have been surprised if you could have looked in and seen how cooly I was sitting there, surrounded by most deadly enemies, singing "The Bonnie Blue Flag," "Dixie" with all my might. I am confident that I never in all my life sang so well. I breathed all the fire of my soul into those two songs ! Well, I must close by telling you that the Yankees never caught papa and that we are not quite starved to death, though we came very near it. We went five days without a mouthful of bread. All we had to eat were the grains of corn which the Yankee horses had left on the ground where they were fed and which we parched. You will please excuse this paper as it is all the Yankees left in the house and it is a wonder that they left this. Oh, how I do hate the very name of Yankee ! They can never prosper. May the chilling blight of Heaven fall on their dark and doomed souls ! May all the power of earth and Heaven combine to destroy them. May their land be one of vast scene of ruin and desolation as ours is ! This is the blessing of the innocent and injured one. I forgive them ! May Heaven never ! 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