MILITARY: Sabre Strokes of the Pennsylvania Dragoons in the War of 1861-1865 - Chapter 20 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/1picts/dornblaser/sabre-strokes.htm ________________________________________________ SABRE STROKES of the PENNSYLVANIA DRAGOONS in the WAR OF 1861-1865. INTERSPERSED WITH PERSONAL REMINISCENCES By T. F. DORNBLASER PENNSYLVANIA DRAGOONS. 239 CHAPTER XX. RECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. THE state of society in the South, at the close of the war, was completely demoralized. Laws that had been on the statute-book for a century were null and void; the relation between master and slave was thoroughly revolutionized; the courts of the insurgent states were themselves out-lawed by the act of secession - the officers of the law, being self-deposed, stood powerless in the face of crime, stripped of proper authority to make arrests; in short, the whole fabric of society had suddenly crumbled into ruins, and it was apparent that the future structure must be built new from the foundation up. The people of the South were so disheartened, and so impoverished by the war, that they were ready to acknowledge their inability to adapt themselves to the changed condition of society. The "decree of emancipation" was irrevocable; the freedom of all men, irrespective of race or color, must be the corner-stone of the new structure. It was no easy matter for the slave-holding population of the South to give up a favored institution cherished for centuries, under the sanction of politicians 240 SABRE STROKES. and divines, and at once adapt themselves to the new relation of citizens and freedmen, instead of master and slave. Never was the Union soldier welcome in the South, until these disordered elements of white and black, of master and servant, began to clash and grate upon each other in the effort at re-adjustment. Between these discordant elements, there was a mutual hatred and suspicion. The slave hated his master and overseer who had beaten him with many stripes. The master and overseer hated the race which they had helped to degrade. Both parties appealed to the Union soldier for protection. The white citizens of the town sent delegations to the commanding officer, asking for a detachment of soldiers to protect themselves against the depredations of the colored people; and the freedmen were even more urgent in their appeals to the soldier for protection from the concealed weapons and menacing shots of their former masters. It may seem incredible, and yet it is true, that the ladies of the South felt much more kindly toward the Union soldier after the rebellion was crushed than before. They had respect for the men who had met and humbled the boasted prowess of Southern chivalry. They went so far as to say that the "Yankees" must be brave; some admitted that they were handsome, and a precious few even acknowledged that they were lovable. PENNSYLVANIA DRAGOONS. 241 It is wonderful how easily ladies can be won by superior gallantry - how readily they can set aside former prejudices, and how gracefully and charmingly they can ring in with the winning side! The Confederate soldier was "without honor," and without money," in his own country," and being weighed in the balances, by the ladies, with a "Yankee" who had both, he would be, necessarily, found wanting. The following is an extract from a letter written to Brother Luther, dated Macon, June 21, 1865: "It does not seem like soldiering any more. We have no pickets out to watch the rebels. On Sunday last Lieut. Hayes, Sergeant Best and myself, were out in the country five miles to attend church. There was quite a number of young ladies present; not many male citizens in attendance. Their ranks have been thinned by the casualties of war. The young ladies in this country are not hard to get acquainted with. They think very favorably of the Union soldier. A few of the 'Yankee boys' have been married to ladies in Macon and vicinity since we came here. "The citizens are going to work, and everything is moving along smoothly. Visiting the hospitals in Macon, a few days ago, in company with Sergeant Best, we noticed that the stores were all running, and trade was reviving. The rebel soldiers are going home as fast as they can. They are satisfied to live under the 'old flag' once more. "Last Sunday a few of us, by invitation, dined with an old planter. He owns a large plantation and fifty servants. He told his neighbors before the South seceded, how it would come out. They threatened to ride him on 242 SABRE STROKES. a rail. He told them he had plenty of other conveyances, that they need not go to that trouble. He always was an emancipationist, but he did not approve the policy of our government, in turning them all loose at once. He favored gradual emancipation." Soon after our arrival in Macon in the latter part of April, the writer received a letter from Sergeant Hayes, dated at Annapolis, Md., March 16, 1865, in which he speaks of the mortality of our soldiers on the voyage from Charleston to Annapolis. "Sixty dead bodies were taken from the steamer 'Northern Light' at one time, besides a number left at Fortress Monroe, and others whom they were compelled to throw overboard before reaching that place. None but those who have experienced it, can form any idea of prison-life in Dixie. Over two hundred have been buried at Annapolis in one week." After spending a furlough of thirty days with his friends in Nittany, Pa., Sergeant Hayes returned to Annapolis, where he received a Lieutenant's commission, with instructions to report to his company. In the month of June, Lieut. William Hayes assumed command of Company "E" at Macon. On the tenth day of July, 1865, our company was ordered to Eatonton, Ga., the county seat of Putnam county. We marched the distance, fifty miles, in two days. We passed Milledgeville on our right, moving directly through Clinton. All along the way we could discover some traces yet remaining of "Sherman's march to the sea." PENNSYLVANIA DRAGOONS. 243 At Eatonton, Lieut. Hayes established his headquarters as military governor of Putnam county. He issued an order through the county press to the citizens and freedmen, explaining the new relation they sustained to each other, urging mutual forbearance, and promising to punish every violation of the peace and good order of the community. It was not long until he was overwhelmed with complaints from both sides of the color-line. A young negro came into camp at day-break almost breathless, saying that his "master had shot at him with his revolver, that he heard the bullet whiz past his ears." An old colored woman walked four miles one morning to report to the governor that her master had struck her over the head with a wooden bucket, bruising her face badly. Then he choked her, leaving the marks of his finger-nails on her neck. These men were sent for, and requested by the Lieutenant to make answer to the several charges preferred. The first prisoner acknowledged that he had fired a random shot at the young negro, that he had no intention of killing him, that he meant only to scare him, that he was a worthless "nigger," and refused to work, that he ordered him to leave the premises, and upon refusing to do so, he shot at him. The second prisoner stated frankly that he had struck the old woman senseless, that he had choked 244 SABRE STROKES. her, and that he would do it again, if she ever insulted his wife again. It was wash-day on that plantation, and the women had some sharp words; and in the midst of the quarrel, the black woman made this dreadful remark to her haughty mistress: "I is just as free as you is!" This was too much for a slave-driver to take from a defenceless black woman, so he simply knocked her down and choked her. The Lieutenant was sorely perplexed. He could not refer the case to a jury, and ask them to bring in a verdict according to the testimony. He was both judge and jury. After reprimanding sharply these two proud Southerners, he sent the first prisoner to his home, requiring him to give pledge for his good behavior. The second prisoner was kept in the guard-house a few days, in order to cool his ardor to a more even temperature. The owner of a large plantation rode up to the Lieutenant's tent one morning, and requested that a soldier be sent to his house immediately, to compel his negroes to stay at their work. The Lieutenant sent Fred. Mantel, a trusty soldier, with the planter. The negroes worked faithfully every day in the week except Saturday. Saturday morning they all refused to go to work. They claimed, as freedmen, they had an inalienable right to do as they pleased one day out of six. The overseers were black men, and took sides with their brethren. "Fred" ordered all the work- PENNSYLVANIA DRAGOONS. 245 hands to fall into line in front of the house. Sixty stood in line. He tried to explain to them that freedom did not mean idleness on week-days, and urged them to go to work as usual. But the response was that they were free, and could do as they pleased. Seeing that extraordinary arguments must be used, he ordered the overseers to step three paces to the front; then he brought his "Spencer" to a level, telling the refractory overseers that he had seven powerful arguments in his gun, which he would give them in less time than they could count their fingers and thumbs, if they did not promise to go to work instanter. The frightened overseers cried out; "Hold on, Capting, we'll go to work; but if Massa Lincoln was a livin', we wouldn't need to do it." These are only a few of the many perplexing cases that were presented to the Lieutenant in the short space of three or four weeks. On Sabbath we attended services in the Presbyterian church. A prominent lawyer and member of the church invited the Governor and his private secretary to dine at his house. He had an elegant residence, and a large number of colored servants. He said it had been a penitentiary offence for years to teach a colored person to read; but his daughter, a handsome and intelligent young lady, whose acquaintance we had already formed, paid no attention to this law, and had for years devoted each 246 SABRE STROKES. Sabbath afternoon to teaching their colored servants to read and write. Such laws are now shelved among the relics of barbarism. The following notices, copied from the Chattanooga Daily Rebel, of July 25th, 1863, sound very ludicrous in the ears of young voters of to-day, who had no voice and no hand in removing the curse of slavery from our fair land. "NOTICE. "Fifty Dollars Reward: During the recent retreat from Tullahoma, my negro boy, Will, who was last seen a few miles north of Tennessee river, is missing. Said boy is six feet high, twenty-four years of age, very black, whites of his eyes very large and conspicuous, and has a swaggering walk. Any one giving information leading to his recovery, will receive the above reward. "W. S. HIGGINS." "Notice. Taken up and committed to jail in Chattanooga, on the 22d of July, 1863, a negro girl, who calls her name Jinnie; says she belongs to Dr. Leaton, of Kingston, Ga. Said girl is black, low and well built, about thirteen years old; the master is requested to come forward, prove the slave, pay charges, and take her away, J. H. SWAIN, Jailer." "One Hundred Dollars Reward will be paid for the apprehension of my boy, Tom, a mulatto, about thirty years old, 5 feet 7 inches high, weighs 145 to 150 pounds, speaks slowly, is slightly ruptured and wears a truss. He left me at Sewannee, wearing a blue-checked shirt, grey homespun jeans pants, made reinforced, and will try to reach Charleston or Mobile, if he did not go to the PENNSYLVANIA DRAGOONS. 247 Yankees. He has been occupied as an ostler and house-servant. For his delivery to me at Chattanooga, I will pay $100. L. T. WOODRUFF." These are some of the relics of the accursed institution of slavery. It is not difficult to see how hard it must have been for the owner of slaves to give up his claim upon them as his property, and thereafter to admit them into the body politic upon an equality as citizens. Masters losing their property-interest in slaves, felt disposed to turn out of doors all the aged and helpless negroes who were no longer of any use to them as laborers. Other planters refused to give employment to their former slaves, sending them adrift, and then hunting them down as vagabonds. These grave difficulties, the utter helplessness of the colored population to take their own part, their necessary ignorance and poverty, called for the organization of the "Freedmen's Bureau," under the efficient management of that gallant one-armed soldier and noble Christian gentleman, General O. O. Howard. The only way for the seceded states to resume their place in the Union was, first of all, to rescind the ordinance of secession, to repudiate the Confederate debt, and subsequently to ratify the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, decreeing respectively the freedom, the equality, and the 248 SABRE STROKES. suffrage of the black man. This was a bitter dose for the aristocracy of the South, but rather than submit to military rule, one state after another assembled in convention and ratified the articles of reconstruction. The State of Georgia was among the first to take this step; and, removing her Capitol from Milledgeville to the battle-scarred city of Atlanta, she has taken on new life ever since, and rising out of her ashes with increasing splendor, she is destined to resume her high place in the galaxy of states.